Hong Kong: CE poll nomination starts Feb 20 The Chief Executive Election will be held on March 27. The Electoral Affairs Commission announced today the nomination period for the election will run from February 20 to March 5. It also issued the Guidelines on Election-related Activities in respect of the Chief Executive Election today. Commission Chairman Barnabas Fung explained at a press conference this morning that despite the nomination period being five days later than stated on documents earlier submitted by the Government to the Legislative Council, it still met the legal requirements. According to Section 15 of the Chief Executive Election Ordinance, the nomination period is to be designated by the Chief Electoral Officer. The period shall not be less than 14 days and it must end 21 days before the polling day. The nomination period is not decided by the Electoral Affairs Commission, but the Electoral Affairs Commission has to see to it that it is in accordance with the law and I can assure you that the nomination period is now designated in accordance with the law. According to the newly amended electoral laws, the Chief Executive shall be elected by the Election Committee (EC) members by secret ballot on a one-person-one-vote basis. A poll will be held irrespective of whether it is a contested or an uncontested election. The Chief Executive designate must obtain more than 750 valid votes in order to be returned in the election. A candidate at the election shall be nominated by not less than 188 EC members, of which the number of members of each of the five EC sectors should not be less than 15. Voting will run from 9am until 11am at the Convention & Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. An Electronic Poll Register system will be adopted for verifying electors' identity and issuing ballot papers, while the count will be conducted manually. In a contested election, a candidate who obtains more than 750 valid votes is elected in the election. In an election with three or more candidates but no candidate obtaining more than 750 valid votes in the first round of voting, the second round of voting will be conducted from 3pm until 4pm. In principle, the two candidates obtaining the highest number of votes will compete in the second round of voting. Due to the development of the COVID-19 epidemic, apart from complying with various epidemic preventive measures, the commission encouraged EC members to use the LeaveHomeSafe mobile application when entering the main polling station to cast their votes. Mr Fung stressed that a person's voting rights will not be affected by whether they choose to use the app or not. We understand that the Government is extending the use of the LeaveHomeSafe app in various venues, such as dining places and (other places) like that. But I must emphasise that the voting right is a fundamental constitutional right. The electoral legislation stipulated that all registered electors are entitled to vote and there is no provision to stop a registered voter from voting. I can give you examples that (prove) in Hong Kong, even imprisoned persons have the right to vote. He added that using the app is voluntary and encouraged electors to make use of it for their own and the publics safety. The guidelines also specify that the maximum amount of election expenses that can be incurred by a candidate in the poll has been increased from $15.7 million to $17.6 million. For an incumbent Chief Executive seeking re-election for a second term, the subsisting law does not require him/her to resign or take leave before standing for the election. Mr Fung added that if the use for private purposes of any security, transportation, secretarial services and living quarters made available with public resources is unavoidably involved in election activities in certain circumstances because of the continued need in discharging duties as the Chief Executive, the candidate is required to apportion clearly the use of resources between the Chief Executive duties versus electioneering activities and to include the relevant items in election expenses and set out the items clearly in the election return. This story has been published on: 2022-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. A Safe Bon Voyage: The Best & Safest Places To Travel This 2022! 2021 was slightly disappointing for the vagabonds and free-spirits who were excited to find adventure due to COVID-19. But only slightly as it was the year needed for 2022 to be great due to the fact that travelers will finally have an easier time to travel, responsible of course. READ: 3 Things You Need To Keep In Mind If You Want To Travel This 2022! People have been itching to go to places far and wide, but with COVID-19 still very much a serious threat, it is not optimal to just go to any place. But data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and 2021's Global Peace Index (GPI) have deemed a couple of places safe. Advertisement Prior to traveling, visitors should do a thorough research on their travel destination's protocol regarding COVID-19. To those who have been vaccinated (if mandated) and are all ready to go on an adventure, here are the best and safest places to travel to this year so far: Fiji Fiji, a paradise in the South Pacific, is a must visit to travelers, and while the archipelagic country has reopened with COVID-19 testing requirements, upcoming visitors should be happy to know that it begins 2022 at Level 1 on the State Department's travel advisory scale. Furthermore, the CDC has also reported a Level 1 travel advisory for Fiji. This means that Fiji has a low level of COVID-19. Notably, Level 1 travel advisory means that visitors should exercise normal precautions. So if you're ready for some sun, plan your next Fiji trip! United Arab Emirates Home to a plethora of wonders such as Dubai's Burj Khalifa and Marina, Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Mosque, and many more, the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East is once again one of the few countries to be dubbed a Level 1 travel advisory at the start of this 2022. Thus, if you're ready to traverse the world via the back of a camel, the UAE is the best place to travel to next. British Virgin Islands The charm of the British Virgin Islands begins with its beaches that are lined with beautiful coral reefs which can be seen by tourists who want to travel to the country. Notably, the British Virgin Islands have received Level 1 travel advisories from both the State Department and CDC. Iceland As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, Iceland ranks number one on the GPI and tops the list of Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection's ranking of the safest places to travel to for 2022. The island nation is known as the Land of Fire and Ice due to its volcanoes and glaciers. Iceland is also dotted with natural wonders such as The Blue Lagoon and Dettifoss Waterfall. Are you ready to go on a viking voyage? Then Iceland is for you. Advertisement Advertisement Like us and Follow us Follow @Koreaportal and 2022 Korea Portal, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Poplar Island in the Chesapeake Bay once washed away to just a few acres. It has been restored to its former size of 1,100 acres using material dredged from the bay's shipping channels. (Pamela Wood) I feel like the amateur scientist in pith helmet and jodhpurs, fresh from an expedition, excited to present a perfect specimen to the natural history society. However, instead of an insect fossil from the Triassic Period, I bring you a living, breathing example of Homo hypocrita from the Trumpian Period: Rep. Andy Harris. Marylands only Republican in Congress might have his flaws few accomplishments in 12 years on Capitol Hill, bizarre adoration of the authoritarian prime minister of Hungary, a fellow traveler of GOP wing-nuts but he is a truly perfect man in one respect: his hypocrisy. Advertisement Of course, this was already established. I concede that point. Harris locked up his place in the Hypocrite Hall of Fame with a stellar performance shortly after his election to Congress in 2010. During a private orientation for House freshmen, Harris, who had just won his 1st District seat as an opponent of the Affordable Care Act, complained that his federal health insurance plan would not be effective on his first day on the job. Advertisement This is the only employer Ive ever worked for where you dont get coverage the first day you are employed, Harris said. Some of the 200 guests at the meeting were so impressed with Harris hypocrisy his embrace of government-subsidized insurance, his whining about having to wait 30 days to get it they contacted the press. And so we learned about this the next day. It did not faze Harris in the least to be so exposed. He subsequently voted to repeal Obamacare dozens of times, though thousands of his constituents, from Baltimore County to the Eastern Shore, benefited from it. Now, as he runs for a seventh term he once pledged not to seek, Harris has done something that affirms his status in the Hypocrite Hall of Fame: Hes touting a federally funded environmental project for the Chesapeake Bay that he voted against. This is the specimen I present today. Its classic politics, a smarmy maneuver known as vote no and take the dough. Because he takes the most extreme line on just about everything, and because his party requires fierce opposition to every Democratic initiative, Harris voted against the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in November. Only 13 House Republicans supported the measure despite the fact that the act will provide funding for all kinds of public works and climate-related projects across the country. Some of the projects have been on the drawing boards for years. Last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported that passage of the infrastructure bill Harris opposed will go toward some 500 projects across the country, including a huge, decades-long effort to restore eroded islands in the Chesapeake. One of them, James Island in the Little Choptank River, has been sinking away for years. Ive seen it myself during fishing trips. Measured at about 1,500 wooded acres in the mid-18th Century, all thats visible today are three small clumps of land with a few trees. Now, the Baltimore District of the Corps of Engineers intends to do to James what it has done successfully over the years at Poplar Island a few miles to the north build it up, enlarge it and create marsh habitat for wildlife. Its known as the Mid-Chesapeake Bay Island Ecosystem Restoration Project, made possible with about $37.5 million from the infrastructure package championed by Biden and congressional Democrats. Besides James, nearby Barren Island will be part of this project. Dredge material from the Port of Baltimore will be used to restore the islands James to 2,100 acres, Barren to about 72 and thats why this is considered a win-win for regional commerce as well as the bay. The port will get channels and berths dredged for cargo ships while the islands will provide habitat for wildlife and greater protection from storms for Dorchester County shorelines and homes. Advertisement Dredge material might also come from nearby Slaughter Creek, and thats where we find Andy Harris. In a news release published verbatim by an Eastern Shore newspaper, Harris announced that the Corps of Engineers will devote $50,000 for initial engineering work on Slaughter Creek dredging. I have heard for years the concerns from local citizens and local government officials about the need to dredge Slaughter Creek, the Dorchester Star quoted Harris. Thankfully, with this round of funding, we will begin this long overdue process, and additionally it will allow us to continue the important work of island restoration along the Mid-Shore. Sounds great, right? Except Harris opposed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and thats exactly where all the funds for these projects come from. That makes him confirms him a hypocrite. Hes not the only Republican trying to take credit for infrastructure funding that he opposed. There are several others who opted to vote no and take the dough. The staff of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi compiled a list of them. Advertisement This is galling and appalling. Everyone understands that the nation is hyperpolarized. Republicans in Congress want Biden to fail in as many ways as possible, so that meant opposing infrastructure spending something necessary and beneficial to their very own districts. Voters dont need to play into this game, but they do. Those in Marylands 1st District keep sending to Congress a perfect specimen of a hypocrite, a man who votes against the interests of his very own constituents. Its ridiculous. Beef Cow Calf Workshop slated for February 16th at Hillsboro UW-Madison Division of Extension will host its Beef Cow Calf Workshop: Replacement Heifer Selection, Development and Calving Management at Beezers Bar and Grill Conference Room on Feb. 16. The workshop focuses on selection and development of replacement heifers, management and care of calving heifers, and secure beef supply planning. One Wisconsin BQA Continuing Education Credit is provided for those currently BQA certified in Wisconsin when attending this workshop. The workshop will begin at 6 p.m. with a meal sponsored by the Vernon County Cattlemens Association, with presentations starting at 7 p.m. and the workshop concluding at about 9 p.m. For those who do not wish to attend in person they may join a live webinar presentation of the workshop on Feb. 17 via Zoom at 6:30 p.m. To register for the Zoom presentation, visit https://livestock.extension.wisc.edu/events/ Pre-registration is required, walk-ins not allowed. Social distancing and other COVID-related recommendations will be followed. Extension reserves the right to cancel due to low enrollment or location-specific issues. All pre-registered individuals will be notified if the event is canceled. You may call the location you plan to attend to verify the meeting status. RSVP by calling the Vernon County Extension Office at 608-637-5276 by Friday Feb. 11. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sheriff John Spears reports the following ongoing activities for the year and narrative excerpts from the week ending Jan. 24. 1/22 Owen Thomas, Westby, was traveling eastbound on State Hwy. 162, town of Bergen. Thomas slid off the road and into the ditch due to the snow-covered road. Kerri Moser, Stoddard, pulled the Thomas vehicle out of the ditch. Once freed, Thomas kept backing up, and hit the side of the Moser vehicle. No injuries were reported. Both vehicles received minor damage. 1/22 Loren Bannister, DeSoto, was traveling eastbound on State Hwy. 82, town of Wheatland. Bannister was negotiating a curve, and began to slide sideways on the snow-covered road. Bannister lost control of the vehicle, slid into the ditch, and struck a tree. Bannister did not report any injuries at the time of the crash. The vehicle received disabling damage. Car/deer accidents: Dominick Muns, Westby, on U.S. Hwy. 14, town of Hamburg. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Criminal complaints have been filed against three men accused of bringing a record amount of methamphetamine into La Crosse. Armando Lara Nieto, 49, Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota; Emmanuel Flores Sauceda, 39, West St. Paul, Minnesota; and Juventino Lara Plancarte, 53, Los Angeles, face charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver. All three have initial appearances set for Jan. 28 in La Crosse County Circuit Court. Lara Plancarte is being held in the La Crosse County Jail on $150,000 cash bond. He was released from prison in 2020 after serving nine years for methamphetamine distribution. Flores Sauceda and Lara Nieto are being held in the La Crosse County Jail on $50,000 cash bonds. According to the complaints, the arrests were the result of the La Crosse Police Department conducting extra surveillance of northside hotels where suspected drug activity was taking place. While watching the 1800 block of Rose Street, police received a report from a Wisconsin State Patrol officer of a suspicious vehicle with its windows rolled down on Interstate 90. The officer told La Crosse police that the driver slowed down to 62 mph in a 70 mph zone and looked like he saw a ghost upon seeing the State Patrol car. The vehicle, driven by Lara Nieto and registered to an owner in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, exited the Interstate, pulled into the AmericInn on Rose Street and remained parked in front of a door for 30 minutes with nobody exiting or approaching the vehicle. The vehicle then headed to the parking lot of KFC, where Lara Plancarte, Flores Sauceda and Lara Nieto all got out and attempted to enter the lobby, which was closed due to COVID-19. The three got back inside the vehicle, went through the drive-through and then parked in the KFC lot for nearly an hour. The vehicle headed back to AmericInn and waited another 45 minutes with nobody exiting or approaching. Police believe the three were looking for someone they were scheduled to meet. The vehicle left the parking lot and entered Interstate 90 westbound. The vehicle was pulled over by La Crosse police for a window tint violation shortly before it would have crossed into Minnesota. Lara Nieto reportedly told police they were heading back to Minnesota after meeting a friend in La Crosse. Police summoned a K9 unit to detect for the presence of drugs. After the K9 gave a positive response, police searched the trunk and allegedly a found backpack containing nearly 10.96 pounds of methamphetamine. The drug was divided among 12 plastic bags. Police also found $778 in cash in Lara Plancartes wallet. The amount of methamphetamine is described by La Crosse police as the largest ever seized during a single arrest in the citys history. Police report the most recent major methamphetamine busts recovered 822 and 681 grams less than two pounds. 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. A Monday incident in Tomah involving suspected dynamite near the Amtrak station turned out to be fireworks instead. According to the Tomah Police Department, officers were called to Washington Street around 10 a.m. after receiving information that a person was in possession of dynamite. There were no threats connected to the report, but police blocked off streets around the Amtrak station for nearly six hours and attempted to locate the owner of the vehicle where the explosives were suspected to be stored. Tomah police summoned a Dane County explosives detection unit, which secured the suspicious items from the vehicle. They were taken back to Dane County, where technicians identified them as aerial fireworks. Assistant Police Chief Eric Pedersen said the department posted photos of the explosives online so that our community understands why it wasnt obvious to us, or the experts, what they were and why we responded with such caution. No charges have been filed, but Pedersen said the case is being discussed with the Monroe County District Attorney. 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. Former Marine Kevin Nicholson on Thursday launched his expected bid for Wisconsin governor, setting the stage for a likely heated and expensive GOP primary with fellow Republican and former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. Nicholson, an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump who launched his campaign website Thursday, has already clashed with Kleefisch and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Republican Party of Wisconsin chair Paul Farrow. Vos, R-Rochester, earlier this month called on Nicholson to not run for governor with hopes of avoiding a contested GOP primary, which could provide a leg up for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is seeking a second term this fall. Nicholson formally announced his campaign in an interview with WTAQ Thursday, describing it as an anti-establishment effort targeting both Democrats and entrenched Republicans alike. Our society is off track and everybody knows it, Nicholson said, adding later, We need people from the outside to step up and actually fight. We cant take Wisconsin to new heights if we elect a Governor from the same, tired political class that lacks the vision, ability, and will to fight for the future of our state, Nicholson said in a statement announcing his candidacy. Wisconsin needs someone with solutions to the problems plaguing our state and the leadership skills to implement those solutions. Kleefischs campaign and the Republican Party of Wisconsin did not provide comment on Nicholsons announcement Thursday. Nicholson, a business consultant, described his campaign as one aimed at re-establishing law and order, getting our schools back on track, and securing our messy elections. At least one conservative megadonor has already indicated his full support for Nicholson, who lost in the 2018 U.S. Senate Republican primary to state Sen. Leah Vukmir, who went on to lose to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Billionaire Richard Uihlein, CEO of Uline shipping company, issued a statement Monday strongly urging Nicholson to run for governor. The announcement comes after Uihleins wife, Elizabeth, donated $20,000 to Kleefischs campaign, as well as $200,000 to a political action committee supporting Kleefischs run for governor. Kevin is a born leader, Uihlein said in a statement. If he decides to run for Governor, he will have my full support and commitment to win the primary and general elections. A GOP battle While Nicholson and Kleefisch have traded barbs in the past, the battle for the GOP nomination in the Aug. 9 primary is likely to amplify the discourse between the two. After the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported comments made by Kleefisch last October expressing interest in hiring mercenaries to take on ballot-gathering activities in the state to compete with Democrats, Nicholson called the idea as dumb as a bag of hammers. Vos last week said Kleefisch should remain the most prominent Republican running for governor this fall. He also called on Nicholson not to run, noting that his entry could help Evers. On Thursday, Nicholson referred to Vos urging as taking political advice from Scooby-Doo. Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, said its likely the apparent divisions within the Republican Party are a setting of the stage or the conditions in which Nicholson and Kleefisch will have it out. Its unclear how much that will be part of the Republican primary, but its hard to believe it wont play any role, and it could play a pretty big role if Kleefisch and Nicholson appeal to different segments of that fracture in the GOP, Franklin said. Anthony Chergosky, UW-La Crosse assistant professor of political science, said a hotly contested primary could either benefit the eventual winner by drumming up support for the campaign, or push the winner further away from the ideals of general election voters. Voters in primaries are not at all representative of the general election voters, Chergosky said. Appealing to the primary election voters can certainly push a candidate outside of the mainstream. It can cause them to take positions that may alienate more middle-of-the-road voters. Dale Schultz, a former Republican state Senate majority leader who has bucked his party on various issues in the past, bemoaned the likelihood of a primary battle that serves to gin up the base, which he said ultimately fails to address the local issues that many voters care most about. Were going to see the Republican Party get further and further out on a limb with conspiracy theories, attempts to stir up the base and I think the general public is going to see this as a further shift toward extremism, Schultz said. I personally think its going to help Gov. Evers. Money pours in Nicholsons addition to the race will almost certainly push an already expensive gubernatorial race into likely historic levels of spending as Republicans look to unseat Evers, who is seeking reelection for the first time this fall. Evers and Kleefisch both announced their 2021 fundraising totals earlier this month, with the incumbent governor holding more than $10 million at the close of last year, while Kleefisch raised more than $3.3 million in the first four months of her campaign, which she launched in September. Both fundraising totals have been touted as record-breaking by their respective campaigns and underscore what could be unprecedented spending for a Wisconsin governors race. While Kleefisch has built a campaign directly targeting Evers, she first will need to go through her fellow GOP candidates in the Aug. 9 primary. On Monday, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the states largest business organization, endorsed Kleefischs campaign for governor. WMC president Kurt Bauer said on WISN conservative talk radio the last time the organization endorsed a primary candidate was in 2010, when it backed Scott Walker. The then-Milwaukee County executive and former legislator went on to serve two terms with Kleefisch as his lieutenant governor. Madison businessman Eric Hovde said earlier this month he also is weighing a potential bid for the Republican nomination. Former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, who will depart from his role as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System in March, has also indicated he may be considering a gubernatorial run, but said on Wednesday he has not made any firm decisions. Of the other Republicans already in the race, business owner Jonathan Wichmann reported raising just over $42,000 in the second half of last year. Former police officer and businessman Adam Fischer raised a little over $28,000 in the last six months of 2021. Independent candidate Joan Beglinger reported raising about $24,000 in the second half of last year, compared to about $850 raised by fellow independent Jess Hisel. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 An appointee of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker has been selected to lead Wisconsins natural resources policy board. In a secret ballot, the board voted 4-3 Wednesday to appoint Greg Kazmierski to serve as chair for 2022. A hunting advocate and archery shop owner from Pewaukee, Kazmierski defeated board member Bill Smith, a retired Department of Natural Resources staffer appointed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2019. Kazmierski said the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the cancellation of in-person meetings, has inhibited the boards cohesion as a group. This board hasnt really gotten to know each other very well except on YouTube, he said. Im looking forward to getting this board to gel like we have in the past. Kazmierski, who has served on the board since 2011, will take over the leadership role from fellow Walker appointee Fred Prehn, who will continue serving as a board member. The last years have been, shall I say, interesting, Prehn said. Despite public pressure, the Wausau dentist has refused to step down since his term expired May 1, denying Evers appointee Sandra Naas a seat. Prehn argues he can continue serving until the Senate confirms Naas. The Republican-led Senate has made no moves to do that, ensuring Walker appointees majority control over the board, which will be asked to consider politically charged policy decisions, including approval of a new wolf management plan and the states first attempts to regulate toxic chemicals known as PFAS. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit in August asking the courts to force Prehn to step aside. The state Supreme Court has agreed to decide the case, though its unclear when the conservative-majority court will issue a decision. The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on March 10. Senate Republicans have also stalled confirmation of Evers appointees to boards overseeing the higher education system, a move that could allow the GOP to quickly retake control if the party wins the governors race in November. Five of Evers picks for the state technical college system board are unconfirmed, with three of them unable to serve because Walker appointees have refused to vacate their seats even though their terms expired last spring. 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. Recently considered for a pair of hotels, a strip mall near Tanger Outlets that includes the former home of Tony Wangs Chinese Restaurant has been bought by a local furniture retailer. Landisville-based Gishs Furniture & Amish Heirlooms, which has a store at 2191 Lincoln Highway East, spent $2.25 million in December for the 6.6-acre property at 2205-2217 Lincoln Highway East, intending to build a bigger store there for itself. While that is still the primary plan, Michael Gish, the companys president and CEO, said he is now also considering some other proposals for what he calls some of the most prime retail land in the county. We are investigating any and all opportunities for redevelopment of that property, Gish said. While we are planning on enlarging our retail operations there, we are looking at some other redevelopment opportunities that are arising with that property. Gish declined to discuss any specifics about alternate proposals. A retailer of oak and cherry furniture made by Amish craftsmen in Ohio, Gish's opened its first retail store in December 2003 in Camp Hill. It now also has stores in East Earl and Cockeysville, Maryland, in addition to the current one near Tanger Outlets. With the company recently expanding its Camp Hill store and building a new warehouse in Ohio, Gish said the existing, roughly 12,000-square-foot Lancaster store has come to seem too small, noting that one five times its size could be built on the newly purchased tract nearby. If a new store is built, Gish said he would look to lease out the current Lincoln Highway East store to someone else. Gish said he hopes to have a plan in place by the end of March, noting that the company, which operates with 30 employees, would like to keep the new property even if they arent the ones to redevelop it. It was as eyesore for years and years and years. Were looking forward to the opportunity to do a significant upgrade there, regardless of what direction we decide to go, Gish said. Were not going to just sit and wait on this property. Were going to move fairly quickly. The property was sold to Gish by Lincoln Properties, a successor to S.M. McMinn Inc. which bought it from McMinns Asphalt Co. in 1971. A prime location The site is directly across Route 30 from Tanger Outlets, just west of Dutch Wonderland. It includes three small commercial buildings and a house as well as a wooded area that extends back to Mill Creek, more than 450 feet from the highway. Lincoln Beverage beer distributor still occupies the building next to the former Tony Wangs, and will be staying through the end of April, Gish said. Sams Man Cave, which sells beer memorabilia, closed in early January and is now doing online sales. Gishs Furniture got an agreement of sale on the property last July and county property records show that the sale was finalized Dec. 29. People come to that section of Lancaster from all over the East Coast. The visibility is just unbelievable, Gish said. Is there a better stretch in Lancaster County? To me its the best. IT doesnt get better than that. While there are no final plans, Gish said the existing buildings would likely be torn down as part of any redevelopment. I would highly doubt if any of those original buildings would remain on site, he said. Last vestige of landmark restaurant Tony Wang first opened his namesake Chinese restaurant at the property in 1982. It closed in March 2020 and then the owners announced in January 2021 that the closure was permanent, citing the impact of the pandemic as well as some health problems for Tony. Patricia Wang, who ran the restaurant with her husband, said she avoids driving by the old place because it makes her sad. Im looking forward to it being leveled its just a building; we have the memories, she said Wednesday. Before Tony Wangs closed, its owners had already been looking for a new location because of a plan to tear down the buildings and put up hotels. In January 2020, Delaware-based SSN Hotels disclosed plans for two four-story hotels on the property: a 96-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott extended-stay hotel and a 109-room Hyatt House conventional hotel behind it. The $32 million hotel plan received several necessary approvals from East Lampeter Township officials and had been slated to begin construction in early 2021 but was put on hold near the beginning of the pandemic in spring 2020. At the time, a SSN Hotels spokesman cited the huge impact that COVID-19 had on the lodging industry. No one from SSN Hotels responded to messages seeking comment on the former plans for the Lancaster hotels. Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer prize-winning cartoonist and graphic novelist best known for his 1991 postmodern Holocaust graphic novel Maus, is scheduled to make an appearance in Lancaster County as part of Millersville Universitys Spring 2022 Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide. The conference, which features multiple events include visual art exhibits, poetry readings, performances and speakers, runs from March 17 to May 6. Spiegelman is scheduled to appear at the conference during the P. Alan and Linda Loss Keynote Lecture An Evening with Art Spiegleman on Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m. at the Winter Visual & Performing Arts Center, located at 60 W. Cottage Ave. in Millersville. Tickets are free, but are required to attend. Get tickets and more information about the conference here. The renowned cartoonist and graphic novelist will be speaking about his most famous work, Maus, as well as his most recent book, MetaMaus. Maus earned Spiegelman a Pulitzer Prize award in 1991 and is widely regarded as a major work in comics and literature. The novel, which depicts Jews as mice and Nazis as cats and deals with themes of racism, guilt and memory, was recently banned by a school district in Tennessee. The McMinn County schoolboard voted, in a unanimous 10-to-0 decision on Jan. 10, to remove Maus from its eighth grade English curriculum. During a conversation about the words and images depicted in the book, McMinn County schoolboard member Tony Allman is quoted in the minutes of the meeting as saying, being in the schools, educators and stuff we dont need to enable or somewhat promote this stuff. It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy. See the meeting's full minutes on the school board's website here. Spiegelman responded with his thoughts on the decision during a CNN interview earlier today. Im trying to wrap my brain around it, Spiegelman told CNN about the school boards vote to remove the graphic novel. I think they're so myopic in their focus and theyre so afraid of whats implied in having to defend the decision to teach Maus as part of the curriculum that it led to this kind of daffy, myopic response, Spiegelman told CNN. The decision to ban the book is one of many recent discussions about banning literature in the classroom. It has the breath of autocracy and fascism about it, Spiegelman said in the CNN interview. Soon, groundhogs will leave their burrows to scope out their shadow and see if there will be an early spring or six more weeks of winter, a Pennsylvania tradition since the 1800s. Groundhog Day, often erroneously said as Groundhog's Day, is Feb. 2. This year, nearly all Lancaster County groundhogs will prognosticate, or predict the future of local weather, in person. Octoraro Orphie's prediction continues after a year-long hiatus, but with some changes. In 2021, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter, while Mount Joy Minnie and Poppy predicted an early spring. Here's which events are and aren't happening for Groundhog Day this year. Happening Mount Joy Minnie Mount Joy Minnie will make her prediction at the Rotary Clock on Marietta Avenue and East Main Street at 7 a.m. Participants are encouraged to wear their silliest hats for the event's crazy hat contest. American Legion Post 185 will serve coffee and hot chocolate and Voyage Mount Joy will serve donuts. M.T. Parker Manheim Township will host a Groundhog Day celebration at the Carriage House at Stauffer Mansion, at 1241 Lititz Pike, at 7 a.m. The event will feature prognostication from township's plush groundhog mascot, M.T. Parker, as well as crafts, refreshments and other activities. Octoraro Orphie The Slumbering Groundhog Lodge of Quarryville will host its in-person festivities again for Groundhog Day after a one-year hiatus. The event starts around 8 a.m. on White Rock Road in Kirkwood and will feature a marching band and a skit. This year, there will not be any initiation of the "babies," or more members into the lodge, usually done via ritual of dunking someone into the nearby creek. That will continue in 2023, according to Bill Forrey, known as "Octoraro Orphie's lips." All events will be outdoors this year. Poppy Poppy, the nearly toothless prognosticator from Acorn Acres Wildlife Rehabilitation, will make her prediction at 11 a.m. at Ville & Rue in downtown Lancaster, at 8 W. King St. People can visit her at Ville & Rue until 1 p.m. There will be Poppy-themed pillows and towels for sale, and the event will feature light refreshments like coffee, muffins and a charcuterie board. From Feb. 2 to 6, Acorn Acres will host a Poppy-themed scavenger hunt at several downtown Lancaster businesses. People who complete the scavenger hunt will have a chance at winning a Groundhog-themed gift basket with gift cards from Ville + Rue and Partake-Lancaster Charcuterie, as well as items from Acorn Acres. Punxsutawney Phil In-person events around Phil's prognostication will continue this year at Gobbler's Knob in Jefferson County. For those who can't attend in person, the Pennsylvania Cable News network will stream the celebration on its cable news channel, as well as on its website (though, the website does require a paid subscription to view). Phil will make his prediction around 7:25 a.m. Not happening - Valentino's Cafe in Lancaster city will not host its annual Groundhog Day event, citing cold temperatures and COVID-19. "Someday we will have Groundhog's Day back, unfortunately this is not the year," the cafe's owners said in a Facebook post. Valentino's also canceled its 2021 Groundhog Day event. Editor's note: This article has been updated with more events. The late Cornelius J. Neil Behan, retired police chief, made an enormous contribution to our quality of life in Baltimore County (Cornelius J. Neil Behan, Baltimore County Police chief known nationally for community outreach and gun control advocacy, dies, Jan. 11). Our terms as police chief and superintendent of schools overlapped for 15 years. Lucky me! Chief Behan was co-developer of two major programs in the school system: an educational program in the middle schools about respect for police officers and law enforcement, and a three-pronged approach in the high schools involving anti-alcohol, anti-drug and anti-violence programs. Advertisement In the middle school program, Chief Behan sent police officers to lecture on the importance of law enforcement, stressing respect. They came in costume as McGruff the Crime Dog. Chief Behan placed undercover police cadets in all high schools. The first year they made 51 arrests of students selling drugs mainly marijuana. This number decreased rapidly to two in 1992. Advertisement This program involved education, detection and counseling. The offending students were automatically expelled from the regular education program and extracurricular activities. They were placed in the Evening High School, where most of them earned diplomas. The Baltimore County Board of Education and Chief Behan stated that the 99% of the student body behaving properly deserved an orderly learning environment. During this period, no gun was ever found in the school system. When expanding the command staff development program in the police department, Chief Behan again reached out to the school system. He appointed Joseph N. McGowan, former school board president, to head the effort. Mr. McGowan had held a high-level position in the personnel department of Bethlehem Steel. This effort resulted in joint programs with several colleges and universities. Chief Behan and Mr. McGowan greatly enhanced relationships between police and many community organizations. Chief Behans legacy in Baltimore County is outstanding. Robert Y. Dubel, Glen Arm The writer retired in 1992 as superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools. Add your voice: Respond to this piece or other Sun content by submitting your own letter. Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose "1619 Project" seeks to reframe America's history with an examination of the consequences of slavery and the contributions of Black Americans, will speak in Lancaster in April. CHI St. Joseph Children's Health will host Hannah-Jones' appearance on at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 21, at St. James Episcopal Church, 119 N. Duke St., Lancaster. It's part of the Columbia organization's "Conversations About Healthy Communities" speaker series. Hannah-Jones will share her vision about healthy communities, and what she has learned in her reporting about how communities are working toward becoming healthier and offering environments where all children and families can thrive. Hannah-Jones, a reporter for the New York Times since 2015, first created "The 1619 Project" as a series of essays in the New York Times Magazine in August 2019, marking the 400th anniversary of the advent of American slavery. The project has since been expanded into a book. The examination of the country's founding through the lens of slavery and its legacy in modern America has created controversy, with some school boards and state governments labeling it racially divisive, and voting to ban the teaching of "The 1619 Project" in schools. Hannah-Jones, who covers civil rights and racial injustice for the New York Times, is also the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, sometimes referred to as the "genius grant." In July 2021, it was announced she would join the communications faculty of Howard University. Tickets for Hannah-Jones' appearance are $50 for general admission, plus an online processing fee. VIP tickets for a reception at The Pressroom restaurant are already sold out. For tickets and information, visit lanc.news/NikoleHannahJones. This story contains links that will take you to our archives site on newspapers.com. This content is free for LancasterOnline subscribers who are logged in. Click here for more information about how to subscribe. Though Lancaster's Central Market has the distinction of being the oldest continually operating farmer's market in the country, the former Farmer's Southern Market House - now reborn as Southern Market Food Hall - also played a part in local history. In fact, the Southern Market building is 14 months older than the building which holds Central Market. And it was designed by C. Emlen Urban, Lancaster's most famed architect. To commemorate the Southern Market House beginning its latest incarnation, here's a look at its time as an actual market, through the lens of LNP's digital archives. Construction and opening On Jan. 20, 1888, the New Era ran a short article reporting that the directors of the Southern Market Company were planning to build a market house at the corner of Vine and Queen streets, and had arranged to purchase all properties that would need to be razed to make way for the new building. Also, an architect had been chosen for the project: C. Emlen Urban, 24, son of Amos Urban, who was a member of the Southern Market Company's board of directors. Though the family connection undoubtedly played a part in Urban's selection, he was already an architect of growing local renown despite his youth. The new market was Urban's first large public project, and he was hired with the stipulation that he would first visit the newly completed Central Market in York for inspiration. Construction of the new market house proceeded swiftly. By April, nearly all of the old buildings on the property had been demolished - only the Lamb tavern and the Fourth Ward Hotel remained standing. Just three months later, the building had largely taken shape - the front elevation was complete except for the corner towers, and the massive trusses that would hold the roof over the cavernous space within were in place. A tentative opening date of Sept. 1 was set. By Aug. 22, the market was essentially finished, with only minor finishing touches yet to be completed. The New Era praised the "magnificent" new building, calling it "one of the grandest in size and appearance in this city." The cost of the building was reported to be $75,000 - equivalent to about $2.2 million today. A grand opening was planned for "sometime in September." That opening took place on Sept. 22, with 123 market stalls occupied and crowds of Lancaster County residents shopping and inspecting the new building. According to the New Era, visitors to the market were impressed by the structure - or, in the more flowery newspaper language of the time, "many were the encomiums passed upon it." Decades of quiet Once the market was open, little changed for decades to come. The Farmer's Southern Market House quickly became part of the fabric of downtown Lancaster. There were, of course, occasional upgrades. Minor alterations were made in 1931, for example, when rest rooms were added, the plumbing system was upgraded and a new lighting system was installed. In 1936, a more significant upgrade took place: After nearly 50 years of cold winter days at market, the building was finally heated. The steam heating system required the addition of a boiler room and a brick chimney. After World War II, as car ownership increased and suburban sprawl began, the need for more parking in downtown Lancaster - especially on market days - was a frequent topic of discussion at local government meetings and in the opinion pages of the newspaper. In May 1949, the property across Vine Street from the market house - formerly the Kreider marble works - was converted to a 55-space parking lot. However, the issue of parking would soon impact Southern Market in a more significant way. Decades of controversy On Aug. 8, 1950, the Lancaster New Era reported that the city planned to buy the Farmer's Southern Market House for $160,000, and was considering converting the space into a parking facility of some kind - either repurposing the existing building as a single-level parking garage, or razing it to make way for a multi-story garage. The move was immediately controversial, and would leave the fate of the market undecided for several years. In December 1950, former city council member Fred Ritchy, who also was a produce dealer at the market, gathered 1,500 signatures in three days on a petition to keep the market open. Mayor Howard Bare announced a postponement of the project in June 1951, but by March 1952, the long-planned change was back in the public eye. Bare announced that sometime in July or August of that year, the Southern Market building would be converted to a parking garage and standholders would relocate to Central Market, which would feature its usual set of stands on Tuesdays and Fridays, and switch to the former Southern Market stands on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Summer came and went, and none of that happened. In February of the next year, Bare made essentially the same announcement again, this time with a specific target date to close the market: April 15. However, just a couple of weeks later, another delay was announced - this time, because of a revolt by city council. Three council members voted to let the citizens of Lancaster decide the future of the market building, placing a referendum on the May 19 primary election ballot, over the objection of another council member and Mayor Bare. This meant that closing the market and repurposing the building would have to wait until after the election - if it happened at all. Echoing the petitions of three years earlier, the voters of Lancaster opposed closing the market by a vote of 4,001 to 1,907, more than a 2-to-1 margin. Bare, who for years had been a tireless advocate of closing the market, issued a statement the morning after the election indicating that the people had spoken and he would carry out their wishes to the best of his ability. The same day, he left for a six-week trip to Europe, where he would attend a global conference of mayors in Vienna. With the market granted a reprieve, the city set about making various minor repairs that had been postponed while the fate of the building was unclear. It seemed, however, that every decade brought a new effort to close the market, and a new resistance. In late 1963, the Lancaster Planning Commission recommended closing the market and consolidating it with Central Market. After a few months of consideration, in March 1964 city council rejected that recommendation, instead voting to invest more than $91,000 in repairs to the market, most of which would be spent bringing the out-of-date electrical system up to code. The 1970s brought another version of this repeated story, but this one originated with standholders. A small number of Southern Market standholders and a larger number of Central Market standholders joined forces to petition the city to consolidate the two markets in 1975. The opposing force quickly mobilized again, and 1,500 signatures were gathered on another petition against closing Southern Market. Mayor Richard Scott immediately responded to the conflicting opinions by vowing to keep both markets open. The city proceeded to undertake two significant construction projects at the Southern Market building in the second half of the 1970s. First, the roof was replaced in 1977. Then, in what would turn out to be a multi-year project, the basement of the building was completely renovated. The remodeling turned what had been a dark, dirt-floored cellar into a "craft center" for the Conestoga Valley chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. The craft group took over the basement space in 1981, with a 20-year rent-free lease. (In lieu of an annual rent payment, the craftsmen agreed to donate one handcrafted item "of nominal value" to the city.) Meanwhile, business at Southern Market had been dwindling for years, and the decline was worsened by an ordinance charging fees to tour buses coming into the city (once a common practice), and regulating their parking options near the market. The final days By the dawn of the 1980s, 50 percent of Southern Market stands were vacant on a typical Saturday. Mayor Art Morris and city officials were contemplating what could be done to either increase customer traffic at the market or supplement the farmer's market with some other sort of business in the building that could be open on a daily basis. Three years later, the city still had no plans in place, and Morris announced that a $10,000 study would be undertaken to formulate a plan. In 1984, the study was complete, recommending (again) that the city's two markets should consolidate and the Southern Market building be put to some other use - perhaps a visitors' center, a new police station, or a community recreation center. The next year, Morris announced that city officials had made their decision. They planned to consolidate the market stands into the Central Market building, which would switch to a schedule of Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The former Southern Market building would be renovated to accommodate the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce offices, city offices including City Council chambers and some sort of visitors center. Unsurprisingly, another petition was circulated by opponents of the plan, and more than 1,000 signatures were gathered. However - unlike previous iterations of this story - this time 14 of the largest standholders still at Southern Market decided to leave at the end of 1985, citing a steady drop in customers over the previous three years. On Feb. 11, 1986, city council voted unanimously to close the market to make way for office space and a "visitors plaza" of some sort. The final market day was slated to be April 26. When the final market day came, former patrons and standholders joined regulars to pay one last visit to the place that had served several generations of Lancaster County residents as not only a place to buy fresh meat and produce, but a place to socialize, to gossip, to catch up with one's friends and neighbors. Many people brought their cameras to that final market day, and many more shared stories and reminisced about the market's glory days before going their separate ways and heading home. Then, on the afternoon of April 26, 1986, the Farmer's Southern Market House closed its doors for the last time after 98 years of continuous operation. Though the visitors plaza idea never materialized, the market house was renovated into office spaces, which were occupied by city government, the Chamber of Commerce and various nonprofits starting in 1988. The city offices moved out in 2014; the Chamber followed in 2017. The building remains, though, as majestic as ever - the foundation from which a young architect launched a career of large projects that came to define the look of Lancaster city. Editor's note: A previous version of this story contained the incorrect time for the city council meeting tonight. The meeting is at 6 p.m. This story has also been updated to reflect that John Shuba is a former owner of Angry Young and Poor record store. He now works as an independent artist and at Lowe's. Lastly, it has been corrected to reflect the accurate political party that Dastra is running under, the Gold Goose Party. A refugee activist, an orthopedic surgeon, a former record store owner and a long-time director of public works are among the 18 applicants to fill an open seat on Lancaster city council. The applicants include two people who ran unsuccessfully for city council last November. One is Republican Elizabeth Elias, who came in sixth among the eight candidates on the ballot in the municipal election. The other is Joey Dastra, who founded the Gold Goose Party last year with his brother, Tony Dastra, and who placed last in the fall election. Twelve of the applicants are Democrats seeking to join the six Democrats who currently sit on the council. Just three Republicans applied, along with four independents and Dastra. One applicant looking to return to Lancaster city government is Charlotte Katzenmoyer, who was the citys director of public works for 17 years before abruptly leaving in 2018 after Mayor Danene Sorace took office. The city offered no reason for her departure. Another is Ahmed Ahmed, who was born in a refugee camp in Cameroon and after his family fled the central African nation of Chad. He now works in the hospitality industry, but remains an active advocate for local refugees and Church World Service. Most recently, Ahmed spoke during a September city council meeting to mark Welcoming Week, an initiative to celebrate communities that emphasize acceptance and appreciation of immigrants and refugees. A leader of one of the citys premier arts institutions also applied Jeff Coon, an actor and development director at Fulton Theatre also applied. When Coon and his husband moved to Lancaster in 2018, Coon said, Immediately I knew it was a community I wanted to be more than an ancillary member of. Coon said hes not interested in seeking office again in the future, but wants to be of service for the two-year term of the appointment. The applicants One seat on the seven-member body opened up earlier this month with the resignation of Xavier Garcia-Molina. Garcia-Molina, who has two years remaining on his term, resigned from his position citing his mental health and graduate school responsibilities. Ahmed Ahmed, 27, Democrat, assistant hotel manager Ricardo Almodovar, Democrat, 32, state coordinator for the Campus Vote Project Jeff Coon, 50, Democrat, actor and annual fund and foundation director at Fulton Theater Pamela Craddock, 62, Democrat, holistic womens health care provider Joey Dastra, 22, Gold Goose Party, staging technician for Tait Towers Elizabeth Elias, 55, Republican, social worker and counselor Elizabeth Figueroa, 33, Republican, full-time Evangelist Colin Heinle, 41, Democrat, orthopedic surgeon with Orthopedic Associates of Lancaster Ole Hongvanthong, 39, Democrat, photographer Charlotte Katzenmoyer, 60, Democrat, CEO of a Harrisburg water utility company and former Lancaster city director of public works Marquis Lupton, 38, Democrat, entrepreneur and journalist Seth Mariscal, 39, Independent, media director for Godfrey, a marketing firm based in the city Ali Marquart, 22, Independent, social media coordinator for Turkey Hill Experience Carol Ann Parrish, 52, Independent, professional assistant and barista Dale Shenk, 61, Republican, director of business development for Ebersole Brothers Construction John Shuba, 51, Independent, artist and former owner of Angry Young and Poor record store Alex Thompson, 28, Democrat, senior manager for UGI Corporation Katie Walsh, 35, Democrat, nonprofit consultant City council will publicly interview nine of the candidates during a special meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. The other nine candidates will be interviewed next Tuesday, said city council President Ismail Izzy Smith-Wade-El. The council must appoint someone by Feb. 11, according to state law. The current members plan to announce the appointee at their Feb. 7 weekly meeting, Smith-Wade-El previously told LNP | LancasterOnline. Majority support from the councils six current members is required for the appointment. Members of the city council are paid $8,000 per year for their part-time work. Whoever is appointed to fill Garcia-Molinas spot will serve out the remaining two years of his term. LNP|LancasterOnline publishes submitted obituaries in each of its daily editions and in a searchable format online at lancasteronline.com/obit Alfonso Ribeiro Announces Top Winners of The Caucus For Producers, Writers & Directors Foundation Student Grant Awards The Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors Foundation Announces the Top Winners of the 20th Student Grant Awards by the host Alfonso Ribeiro Hollywood actor, dancer and TV presenter (Americas Funniest Home Videos, Fresh Prince of Bel Air). The Chuck Fries 1st Place Gold Circle Award went to James Grisom of USC for his film Eye for an i James will receive an additional $2,500 from The Foundation and a camera package from legendary camera and equipment provider, Panavision. This support from Panavision is worth $60,000.00. Aaron Saffa of Panavision presented the award. The award-winning film Eye for an i is a poetic and authentic meditation on grief from the perspective of a young black teen named Jeremiah. After losing his sister to a stray bullet in a gang-related shooting, societal pressures from his Compton, California neighborhood push Jeremiah to respond. ADVERTISEMENT The 2nd Place Gold Circle Award went to Christina Yoon of Columbia University for her film Motherland, Christina will receive an additional $1,000.00 from The Foundation and an editing package from one of the premier post production facilities, illuminate Hollywood, worth $30,000.00. Jim Hardy, CEO of illuminate Hollywood presented the award. Motherland is a dark, stylized drama about Leah, a Korean American adoptee who returns to Korea to search for her birth mother. When she is blocked by the adoption agency from getting her mothers information, Leah goes on a solitary journey, driven by her longing to discover the truth of her origins. The Caucus Foundation Student Grant Awards were bestowed upon six select grantees from colleges and universities across the nation who need assistance to complete their thesis student films. The recipients will receive grants totaling $100,000 in-kind services and funds. The other winning student filmmakers chosen in 2021 by The Caucus Foundation are Michelle Falcon Fontanez-Emerson College, Chloe Herring-Columbia College Chicago, Luisa Gonzalez-University of Texas Austin and Henna Ashraf-UCLA. Generous donations by key supporters The Annenberg Foundation, Panavision, illuminate Hollywood, and The Caucus Foundation provide the bourgeoning filmmakers invaluable support needed to complete their films and elevate their careers in filmmaking. COVID Winter Surge Brings New Challenges for Elder and Youth Health Care The COVID-19 winter surge has impacted different age groups in different ways, as caretakers struggle to take care of the elderly during this pandemic and parents remain wary of their children returning to in-person classes. Its been here but its been everywhere for like the last 14 days, said Los Angeles County resident Clarence Johnson whose wife, Tanesha Johnson, decided to shut down their daycare last year. Across the United States, 1,099 children under 18 have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In California, the state Department of Public Health reports that 47 children have died of the disease. ADVERTISEMENT This past December saw a four-fold increase of children admitted to hospital over the past year, according to the African American Wellness Project. Tanesha Johnson, owner and director of the Sunshine Academy Childcare Center in Inglewood, made the choice to close her daycare after reflecting on her own concerns as a parent. When I started seeing how fast the COVID-19 virus began to spread, I had to now think as a mother and not just as a business owner, said Johnson. I said, okay, if I did not own a daycare, would I feel comfortable sending my children to school at this time, and the answer was no. Johnson said she is still cautious about her children returning to school and hopes that kids will be required to test before returning. Both the federal and state governments have been pushing for more tests in schools, with Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing each student in public school will get two at-home COVID-19 tests. The Biden administration announced that they will be implementing initiatives that will increase the number of tests in schools by 10 million per month. ADVERTISEMENT These additional tests will help schools safely remain open and implement screening testing and test to stay programs. With the additional ten million tests per month, we will make available to schools more than double the volume of testing that took place in schools across the nation in November 2021, read the press release from the White House. In the US, only 27% of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds are in favor of vaccinating their children, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a number of challenges for the countrys aging population as well, particularly for African Americans and other minorities. Only 7% of people ages 65 and older who received a booster shot are Black. Earlier this month, retired Assemblymember Cheryl R. Brown (D-San Bernardino), who is a member of the California Commission on Aging, hosted a news briefing with journalists featuring caregivers discussing the difficulties of taking care of aging adults in the state. The virtual conversation was organized by St. Paul AME Church in San Bernardino, Black Voice News in Riverside and Ethnic Media Services. According to Donna Benton, Research Professor of Gerontology at USC, caretakers of aging Californians, including family members, have also been impacted. The majority of care, elder care in our state, is done by family members, she said. We are an essential part of the healthcare system. Benton, who is also director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center and the Los Angeles Caregiver Resource Center, said there are nearly 4.5 million family caregivers in California. One caretaker, Ruth Rembert, who lives in the Inland Empire, talked about tending to her ill husband and how the pandemic puts him at greater risk. His immune system was compromised, she said. He has two strikes against him, number one is his age and also his medical issues. She also emphasized her support for more people being immunized. This pandemic has definitely been a challenge for me and for my husband, she said. We all wish this would be over, but it doesnt look like its going to be anytime soon unless we take seriously the importance of vaccinations. The Rev. Noella Buchanan, Caregiver Coordinator for the Southern California Conference of the African Methodist Church Ministerial Alliance, said most elderly African Americans are people of faith and that plays a role in the way they approach their health care. We need to share with them that if God has opened up a way for someone to come up with a vaccine, we need to trust. And part of our trust comes from what we are seeing. We are seeing loved one die. And the loved ones that are dying are the one that have not taken the shot, she said. California Black Medias coverage of COVID-19 is supported by the California Health Care Foundation. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated Mourns the Death of 27th National President, Cheryl A. Hickmon Cheryl A. Hickmon, the 27th national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated and chair of the Board of Directors, transitioned peacefully on January 20, 2022, after a recent illness, the Sorority said. Hickmon, a native of Hartford, CT, was elected the 27th president of the organization on November 22, 2021, at the sororitys 55th National Convention in Atlanta, GA. Reflecting on Hickmons election as national president, immediate past National President and CEO of Delta Sigma Theta Beverly A. Smith said, That was a lifelong dream of Cheryls. We are so happy and blessed to know that God allowed her that; to reach that goal and that dream she had. She will be sorely missed by our organization, that is for sure. Hickmon was initiated into the sorority through the Alpha Xi Chapter at South Carolina State University. Dr. Tamara Jeffries-Jackson, vice president of Student Affairs, spoke of her matriculation at the university ADVERTISEMENT She epitomized the true meaning of a Delta Woman through her many acts of kindness and service to mankind, Jeffries-Jackson said. According to the sororitys public statement, Hickmon held numerous positions within the organization at all levels of leadership. When I say her name, I have to smile. You never met a warmer, funny lady. So dedicated to Delta and a true professional in the work she did, Smith said. Hickmon received numerous accolades for her work in the community the Outstanding Accomplishments and Achievement Award from S.C. State University, the 100 Most Influential African Americans in the State of Connecticut from the states NAACP chapters, and the Citizen of the Year Award from the Tau Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi. Professionally, Hickmon was a supervisor at Montefiores Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Health. Expressions of sympathy for the Hickmon family and the Sorority poured in from around the country. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris led the national condolences for Hickmon saying, Our hearts are with the members of the sorority she led, the community she served and all those who mourn her loss. U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty, (D-OH), chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus and a Delta Sister, called Hickmon a powerful leader, a force for social action, and a loving sister. Representative Val Demings, (D-FL), also a member of the organization, said, she was devastated by the sad news. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont called Hickmon a valued member of our big Connecticut family and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin called the loss heartbreaking. Leaders of the Divine Nine and other organizations across the country also mourned Hickmons loss. Dr. Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, president of The Links, Incorporated, offered support from the organization. ADVERTISEMENT We will keep President Hickmons family and our Delta Sigma Theta sisters in our prayers and extend our love and support during this difficult time, Jeffries Leonard said. Dr. Glenda Glover, president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, shared, We join our sisters of Delta Sigma Theta in mourning the passing of their National President. The Sorority held a prayer service for its members, led by the organizations national chaplain, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, with over 20,000 Delta Sisters in virtual attendance. This is the first time in the history of the organization that a national president has died while in office. The National Chaplains Council of Delta held an International Day of Prayer in memory of Hickmon. National Vice-President Elsie Cooke- Holmes, a close friend and colleague, has become the National President of the Sorority, an interim role she fulfilled during Hickmons illness. The organization teemed with pride recalling President Hickmon as a devoted member of Delta Sigma Theta since 1982. She is remembered not only for her role as a leader, but for being a colleague, friend, and most of all, sister. Hickmon, the daughter of the late Dr. Ned Hickmon and the late Consuella Anderson Hickmon, is survived by her two brothers, Ned and David, both of Hartford. Free Program by West L.A. College and West Coast Dental Creating Jobs and Filling Gaps A new partnership between local community college, West Los Angeles College (WLAC), and major California dental employer,West Coast Dental, Inc. (WCD), is helping to address the urgent need for qualified dental assistants throughout the state. In just three months, over 40 students who have participated in this free training program have been hired. Salaries for Dental Assistants in California typically range between $40,000 $50,125, according to Salary.com. Additionally, Dental Assistants get great on-the-job experience as a career advancement stepping stone if they pursue higher levels of employment as Orthodontic Assistants or Dental Hygienist, explained Tiffany Miller, WLACs Dean of Academic Affairs overseeing apprenticeship programs. We are totally impressed with the quality and diversity of our apprentices, said Lucy Juarez, WCD Chief Operating Officer. ADVERTISEMENT Theyre ready to be contributing members of the dental community. They will make any dental office a proud and productive employee. Were very pleased with our new partnership with West LA College and will continue to contribute in a meaningful and impactful way to enhance the communities in which we serve. I feel that West Coast Dental has given me an opportunity to grow and expand my dental knowledge, said dental assistant apprentice Anthony Gamboa. I know here at West Coast Dental I will continue to advance in my career because I am supported by all the classes and training that is being offered to me. I look forward to becoming an RDA [Registered Dental Assistant] and further in my career goal of becoming and OA [Orthodontic Certified Assistant]. This program is made possible by state incentives providing registered apprentices with free tuition at community colleges. In addition to free training, WLAC provides the apprentices with the free laptops, books and supplies required for courses. WLACs dental assistant program offers a Certificate of Achievement in Dental Assisting and Associate Degree in Dental Assistant. Upon completion of the program and approval of the Dental Board of California (DBC), the apprentice will be eligible to take the California State Board Examination to be a Registered Dental Assistant (RDA). West Los Angeles College is also one of only two California Community Colleges authorized to offer a Bachelors degree in dental hygiene. The college offers many other career certificates and Associate degrees as well as paths to transfer to competitive universities as a Junior. For more information, visit WLAC.edu. Karen Bass Takes Overwhelming Lead to Become L.A.s First Woman Mayor Campaign announced over $2M has been raised while the candidate sets forth a plan to address L.A.s ever growing homeless crisis On September 27, 2021, Congresswoman Karen Bass officially announced her bid to become the next and first woman Mayor for the City of Los Angeles. Since that time, the congresswoman has been crisscrossing in the country, fulfilling her duties as the representative for the 37th Congressional District, while concurrently crossing back to Los Angeles to address the issues facing the residents of the entire city issues like the homeless crisis, working for real justice reform legislation, and the ever-increasing cost of housing. ADVERTISEMENT To win a mayoral campaign in a city as large as Los Angeles, the reality is that it cost money lots of money, and unless you are personally wealthy like former President Donald Trump, political fundraising becomes a part of the job description and is one of the key measuring sticks of a candidates legitimacy in winning. That is why political insiders, political trackers, and other potential candidates all took notice when Basss campaign manager, Jamarah Hayner, announced that since launching her bid for mayor, Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.) has raised nearly $2 million dollars. This figure demonstrated to all that Bass is by far the clear leader to replace Mayor Eric Garcetti in the upcoming mayoral election. Hayner said that $1,928,751.00 had so far been raised by 3,755 donors in less than 100 days since the California Democrat announced her Los Angeles mayoral bid. Her campaign noted the average donation was $528. Karen Bass is the leader that this city is calling for and the support she is receiving from every part of this city is proof, Hayner said in a statement. Her deep relationships spanning this entire city are generating excitement at a local level that hasnt been seen in more than a decade. But fundraising is not the only thing on Representative Basss mind; she is a leader who has been diligently out there, working and sharing with Angelenos her vision for a better L.A. Bass has made addressing the issues of the unhoused the main focus of her campaign. Last week, Bass unveiled her plan calling for 15,000 people to be housed in her first year in office. She said that this goal could be achieved by expanding current programs operated within the city and by using funds from the state and federal government. Bass also called for eliminating much of the red-tape and bureaucracy that delays, prolongs, and even destroys possible housing development and construction solutions within the city. ADVERTISEMENT Bass believes there needs to be a more comprehensive response to addressing the issues facing the homeless and that solutions need to be immediate to get people off the streets. But Rep. Bass understands that the issues regarding the homeless and unhoused is more than simply finding a place to live. There are serious mental issues and addiction issues that also must be addressed to really deal with this issue. 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. Im running for mayor to lead the emergency response that L.As homeless catastrophe requires. L.A. needs decisive leadership. We need action and urgency. We need follow-through to get the job done, declared the mayoral candidate. Assembly member Reggie Byron Jones-Sawyer applauded Bass for her leadership and supports her global approach to addressing this issue. Everyone deserves a home. But even before the COVID crisis that has displaced and impoverished so many, our city was already in the midst of a dire homelessness crisis. There are many reasons why someone might fall into homelessness and addressing a problem of this magnitude requires innovative solutions at all levels, Jones-Sawyer said. Bass is one of several candidates vying to become Los Angeless next mayor. Current Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti was tapped last year by the Biden Harris Administration to be the U.S. Ambassador to India, and last week a Senate committee advanced his nomination for full consideration of the Senate. Lifeline Education Charter School Receives Female Diversity Award Lifeline Education Charter School has earned the College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award for achieving high female representation in AP Computer Science Principles. Schools honored with the AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award have expanded girls access in AP computer science courses. In collaboration with Amazon, Lifeline offers its students a Computer Science curriculum track. Students may take electives such as, Intro to Computer Science and AP Computer Science. More than 1,000 institutions achieved either 50% or higher female representation in one of the two AP computer science courses or a percentage of the female computer science exam takers meeting or exceeding that of the schools female population during the 2020-21 school year. In 2021, Lifeline was one of 760 recognized in the category of AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). ADVERTISEMENT Were thrilled to congratulate our female AP computer science students and their teachers on this step toward gender parity in computer science education, said Obed Nartey, Lifeline Campus Administrator. Were honored that our school earned this distinction and look forward to seeing these young women and others pursue and achieve success in computer science education and careers. By encouraging young women to study advanced computer science coursework, Lifeline Education Charter School is closing the gap in computer science education and empowering young women to access the opportunities available in STEM career fields, says Stefanie Sanford, College Board chief of Global Policy and External Relations. Computer science is the foundation of many 21st- century career options, and young women deserve equal opportunities to pursue computer science education and drive technological innovation. Overall, female students remain underrepresented in our high school computer science classes, accounting for just 34% of AP Computer Science Principles participants and 25% of AP Computer Science A partcipants. Currently, 51% of the nations high schools teach foundational computer science. The 1,020 schools that receive this years AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award serve as inspirations and models for all U.S. high schools. Lura Daniels-Ball Elected President of Historic Our Authors Study Club, INC. Los Angeles, CA (January 23, 2022) The Our Authors Study Club, Inc of Los Angeles announced the election of the officers. Led by Lura Daniels-Ball, they will serve as the organizations president for 2022. The full slate of officers includes Dr. Toni-Mokjaetji Humber as Vice President, Haiba Payton-Franklin as Secretary, Paqueta Davis as Treasurer, and Ernestine Gordon as Historian. In December, the officers were sworn into their respective positions in a virtual program by Mike Davis, Los Angeles Commissioner of Public Works. Daniels-Ball is no stranger to the organization. She has been an avid supporter for more than 35 years. First as a corporate sponsor and Chair of the City-wide Black History month events, later as a member and volunteer. I welcome this opportunity that has crossed my path. To renew the life and health of OASC from the inside out is a challenging road that lies ahead, but I am very excited. We have a great team, willing to bring our best game. Stated Daniels-Ball. Our programming this coming year will focus on our national theme, Black Family Health and Wellness. Daniels-Ball spent many years in Los Angeles and the Western Region as a corporate executive, mentoring, creating, developing, and funding opportunities for the African-American, Asian, and Womens communities. She is an accomplished vocalist who received her musical training from UC Berkley as a child and the University of Southern California. Daniels-Ball recently launched a family-based benefit corporation, Luras Kitchen- makers of gourmet premium Cookie Mixes. About OASC Officers ADVERTISEMENT OASC Vice President Dr. Toni-Mokjaetji Humber is a native Angeleno who can trace her family heritage in Los Angeles to the early 1920s. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from California State University, Los Angeles, a Masters in Education from Loyola Marymount University, and her Doctorate in Sociolinguistics from Howard University. She is a professor in the Ethnic and Womens Studies Department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Her research interests focus on African and African American culture and history, Ebonics and its educational implications, ethnic studies, sociolinguistics, and inter-cultural communication. She strives to uncover truths, and dispel distorted images, perceptions, and notions about culturally diverse peoples, especially those of African descent. OASC Secretary Leona Haiba Payton-Franklin, is a Native of Los Angeles, California, holding a position with the Federal Government for 31 years. Haiba currently serves as an Administrative Assistant with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health Service. In addition, she is the Past President of the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) Los Angeles Chapter. OASC Treasurer Paqueta Davis is a native of Los Angeles, who has made a ten-year investment of mentoring adolescent girls, ranging from ages 12 to 18, while working at the DeiLu Achievement Home STRTP. She is currently on the Board of Directors for Deliann-Lucile Corporation. Paqueta enjoys traveling and listening to jazz. OASC Historian Ernestine J. Gordon graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She completed classes at UCLA and the University of San Diego in Education. She joined Our Authors Study Club in 2003, serving on various committees, and held elected offices (secretary, vice president, and president). Ernestine retired from Kaiser Permanente Medical Center as an Educator in the Health Education and Learning Department. The majority of her work experience has been with nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles (People Coordinated Services) and Kansas City, Missouri, as Executive Director. In addition, she is very active in her church, Lewis Metropolitan CME serving in local and regional positions. Ernestine loves helping others be the best they can be, as staff development and training is one of her many strengths. Other key OASC Team Members include: Membership Chair Theresa Curtis, who has a sincere desire is to reflect the image of Christ in her daily walk. Theresa serves at her church in dual capacities as Superintendent of Sunday School and the Director of Christian Education. She is a Hospice Volunteer at Kaiser Permanent Medical Center, Downey, CA, where she provides office support for the Hospice Volunteer Department. Theresa retired from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services after 32 years of service. ADVERTISEMENT Maude Johnson, Black History Chair, is a vibrant and gregarious personality. Fully committed to the goals of OASC and everything positive. She has been a member of OASC for more than 15 years and leads the planning for the city-wide African American Heritage Month programming and the OASC Black History Tour of Los Angeles. About OASC OASC is a nonprofit organization founded by Mrs. Vassie D. Wright on February 14, 1945, to study the biographies of African American authors, review their books, and learn the true history of African people throughout the diaspora. That same year, Mrs. Wright worked with Dr. Carter G. Woodson to charter Our Authors Study Club, Inc. as the Los Angeles branch of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc. (now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. www.asalh.org). In 1950, The Mayor of Los Angeles joined with OASC to establish official month-long celebrations at LA City Hall. That practice continues today. Making OASC the founders of Black History Celebrations in Los Angeles and the originators of all of the Mayors,s.city-wide diverse celebration OASC invites all who have an interest and or passion in the promotion and study of African American life to join us. Membership can be very rewarding. Look for a complete listing of OASC Black History Events at www.oascla.org. The site will be live on February 1, 2022. For more information about how you can participate, email [email protected]. Mayor Eric Garcetti Nominates First Woman to Lead LA Fire Department Mayor Eric Garcetti nominated Deputy Chief Kristin Crowley to be the first woman to lead the Los Angeles Fire Department following Chief Ralph Terrazas retirement on March 26. The mayor announced the appointment alongside City Council President Nury Martinez, Crowley and Terrazas outside the Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center. The Los Angeles City Council will have to confirm the appointment. Crowley already made history within the LAFD when she became the citys first female fire marshal in 2016. I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to be the next fire chief of the Los Angeles City Fire Department and to lead the department into the future, Crowley said. As the fire chief, if confirmed, I vow to take a strategic and balanced approach to ensure we meet the needs of the community we serve. We will focus our efforts on increasing our operational effectiveness, enhancing firefighter safety and well-being, and fully commit to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture within the LAFD. ADVERTISEMENT Crowley took the firefighters exam in 1998 and placed among the top 50 scores out of 16,000 applicants, according to the department. During her 22 years at the department, she rose through the ranks as firefighter, firefighter paramedic, engineer, fire inspector, captain I, captain II, battalion chief, assistant chief, fire marshal and deputy chief. Throughout her distinguished career, Kristin Crowley has proven her brilliance, determination and bravery on the job again and again. Shes also shown this city her heart, with her tireless commitment to helping students access life-changing educational opportunities. There is no one better equipped to lead the LAFD at this moment than Kristin. Shes ready to make history, and Im proud to nominate her as the departments next chief, Garcetti said. As deputy chief, Crowley helped develop a five-year strategic plan aimed at fostering a culture within the department that is more open to change, according to the mayors office. She will build on this effort, if confirmed as chief, to deepen existing efforts and create new ways to foster equity and inclusion within the department, the mayors office added. If confirmed as your new fire chief, I will be fully committed to leading and inspiring our tremendous department into an exciting future that is filled with new opportunities to grow, to innovate and to empower, Crowley said. Martinez said Crowley is known as someone who works hard and goes above and beyond what shes expected to do. She looks at a challenge and says Im going to do that. Im going to do that and more. Just watch me. Terrazas, who became the departments first Latino chief when appointed in 2014, previously announced his intention to retire this year. It was a privilege to serve as the fire chief of this world-class department, he said Tuesday. For nearly eight years, we made considerable strides in technology, implemented innovative ways to respond to emergencies, and became a model for other agencies. Terrazas added that Crowley is an exemplary leader and has a broad base of experience that will serve the department well Chief Crowley has been successful at every position, and I expect her success to continue as the next fire chief. ADVERTISEMENT If confirmed, Crowley would lead an agency that has recently come under fire for allegations of a culture of racism, sexism, retaliation and abuse endured by women at the department. On Oct. 19, Fire Commissioner Rebecca Ninburg called on the mayor to remove Terrazas as chief, saying, culture starts at the top and leaders set the tone. The day before Ninburg sent the letter to Garcetti, the Los Angeles Women in the Fire Service, an association of female firefighters, had a news conference to call for the chiefs removal. The associations president Kris Larson said Terrazas had brushed off the incidents as one-offs or pockets. Garcetti issued a statement to City News Service after the news conference saying he had full confidence in Terrazas and that he has done an excellent job of leading and rebuilding our fire department during some of our toughest days ever. Terrazas said in a statement to City News Service in October that he met with the Los Angeles Women in the Fire Service and discussed collaborative initiatives to improve the work environment. Mayoral Candidate Bass Meets with Leading L.A. Clergy U.S. Representative and L.A. mayoral candidate Karen Bass met with the President Joseph B. Hardwick, left and the members of the Western State Baptist Convention on January 21. Bass shared her vision for the citys future, gave an update on COVID initiatives and shared insight on the passage of voting rights legislation. At the conclusion of her remarks, the attendees pledged to support her in the election for mayor of Los Angeles. Nearly 60 faith leaders participated in event, which admitted only fully vaccinated people and required proof. ADVERTISEMENT Some of the attendees were Pastor Marvis Davis, Pastor Douglas Nelson, Bishop Sylvester Washington and Pastor K.W. Tulloss, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of L.A. and Southern California. (Courtesy photo) Pioneering fashion journalist Andre Leon Talley dies at 73 Andre Leon Talley, a towering and highly visible figure of the fashion world who made history as a rare Black editor in an overwhelmingly white industry, has died. He was 73. The death Tuesday of Talley, the influential former creative director and editor at large of Vogue magazine, was confirmed on his Instagram page early Wednesday. No details were given as to his cause of death, but he was known to have had health struggles in recent years. ADVERTISEMENT Dressed in his signature sweeping capes or colorful caftans, Talley was a regular in the front row of fashion shows in New York and Europe for decades, or atop the famous steps at the Met Gala. At 6-feet-6 inches tall, he cut an imposing and unforgettable figure; a Vogue staffer called him the pharaoh of fabulosity, the magazine wrote in its obituary. But he was celebrated even more by fashion insiders for his deep knowledge, amassed over decades of devotion to the craft that began in his youth in the Jim Crow-era South, when he would walk to the campus of Duke University, where his grandmother cleaned dorms, to read Vogue. In a 2013 Vanity Fair spread titled The Eyeful Tower, Talley was described as perhaps the industrys most important link to the past. Designer Tom Ford told the magazine Talley was one of the last great fashion editors who has an incredible sense of fashion history. . He can see through everything you do to the original reference, predict what was on your inspiration board. Talley was also a familiar figure to TV audiences, serving as a judge on Americas Top Model and appearing on Sex and the City and Empire. Among the many celebrities offering condolences on Wednesday was his friend Whoopi Goldberg, who said his death came just in time for the front line at fashion week in Heaven. ADVERTISEMENT Unforgettable in every way,Goldberg added on Twitter. Also full of praise was Kerry Washington, who wrote on Instagram: Oh Andre! Heaven is not ready for you darling!!!!!! The whole afterlife is going to be just too fabulous now You will shine so brightly from the heavens that we will know what true stardom looks like. Designer Diane von Furstenberg paid tribute on Instagram, writing: No one saw the world in a more glamorous way than you did. no one was grander and more soulful than you were. In his 2003 memoir, A.L.T.: A Memoir, Talley focused on two of the most important women in his life: his maternal grandmother, Bennie Frances Davis and the late, legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland. Bennie Frances Davis may have looked like a typical, African American domestic worker to many of the people who saw her on an ordinary day, but I, who could see her soul, could also see her secret: that even while she wore a hair net and work clothes to scrub toilets and floors, she wore an invisible diadem, he wrote. Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Durham, North Carolina, Talley worked assorted jobs before arriving in New York in the 1970s, soon meeting Vreeland and striking up a friendship that lasted until her death in 1989. After stints with Interview magazine and Womens Wear Daily, he was hired at Vogue in 1983 by Editor in Chief Anna Wintour and was appointed its creative director in 1988. Late in life he had a public falling out with Wintour, after he released another memoir in 2020, The Chiffon Trenches, that included behind-the-scenes tales about Wintour and other fashion figures like the late designer Karl Lagerfeld. The loss of Andre is felt by so many of us today, Wintour said in Vogues obituary. The designers he enthusiastically cheered on every season, and who loved him for it; the generations he inspired to work in the industry, seeing a figure who broke boundaries while never forgetting where he started from; those who knew fashion, and Vogue, simply because of him Yet its the loss of Andre as my colleague and friend that I think of now, Wintour said, calling it immeasurable. Talley told The Associated Press in a 2003 interview about having worked in the late 60s as a park ranger in Washington and in Maryland, where he told visitors about slaves who built Fort Washington and dressed up like a Civil War soldier. In that interview, he opined that of all types of apparel, he considered shoes to be most important. You can tell everything about a person by what he puts on his feet, Talley told the AP. If its a man and you can see the reflection of his face on the top of his black shoes, it means theyve been polished to perfection. . If its a woman and shes wearing shoes that hurt. well, shoes that hurt are very fashionable! But, asked what he considered the ultimate luxury item, it was not shoes, but rather a clean, fabulous bed with white Egyptian cotton sheets. His was honest about longtime struggles with his weight. Asked whether fashion and food went together, he noted that Food is not important in the fashion world, where you are supposed to look like an asparagus. In my world, its about butter poundcake, and fried chicken, and potato salad and hot biscuits. . Its hard to break away from that for a lettuce sandwich. Race and Health Care: New Report Shares Insights on Black Californians In keeping with its commitment to ending health inequities, the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) released the first phase of a three-part study documenting how race and racism shape the health care experiences of Black Californians. The report, In Their Own Words: Black Californians on Racism and Health Care, was written by health services researcher Dr. Linda Cummings. The study synthesizes hour-long interviews with 100 Black Californians conducted from June to August 2021. According to Katherine Haynes, a senior program officer serving on CHCFs People-Centered Care team, The project is to understand the interactions between racism, health and healthcare. (The first phase) is in-depth interviews that are really designed to gain a deep understanding of Black Californians perception of racism in this states healthcare system and its impact on them. ADVERTISEMENT CHCFs main objective is to advance meaningful, measurable improvements in the way the health care delivery system provides care to the people of California, specifically individuals who are financially challenged and whose needs are not well served in the healthcare system. EVITARUS, a Black-owned Los Angeles-based public opinion research firm, is conducting the three-phase Study for CHCF. The firm has extensive experience polling Californias diverse constituencies and maintains long-standing relationships with Black-led community organizations and media. Dr. Linda Cummings wrote the report and we did the research. We designed the study, performed the data collection as well as the data analysis that supported Dr. Cummings and her findings, according to Shakari Byerly, EVITARUS Managing Partner. It was a thorough recruitment process and screening and screening of those that indicated an interest in participation. The participants also received an honorarium (of $125) for their participation. Findings from the first phase cautioned that just having a Black physician did not automatically result in better care. Negative experiences with Black physicians and other health providers of color can be an obstacle to health care, too. It is the subtle, the microaggressions that happen within the health care field. So, I am resistant to get help unless I feel comfortable with the person who may or may not look like me, a 33-year-old Black woman from the San Francisco Bay Area stated. But I also have been discriminated against a lot from Black physicians as well. Cummings wrote that more than half of the respondents said that, at some time in their lives, they had been unhoused, without a stable place to live, or stayed with a family member or friend because they did not have a place of their own. ADVERTISEMENT Notably, the study highlighted that the participants took their health care seriously. The respondents really spoke about how they were taking action to pursue health, advocating for themselves, in the health care system and taking steps to protect themselves from harm in the health care system, said Haynes. Nearly all the respondents (93%) had some form of health insurance. The majority were covered through employer-sponsored plans at 40% or Medi-Cal at 26%, the study reports. The mix of participants also reflected the ethnic diversity of Black Californians. The majority of respondents identified as Black or African American (83%), Black and multiracial (6%), African (5%), Afro-Caribbean (4%), Afro-Latino (1%), and Black-Native American (1%), Byerly said. Everyone identified as Black, but we recognize that people come from different backgrounds, Byerly said. It supports our research design to make sure that we show a full range of our community in California. Byerly also shared that 62% of the participants said they have experienced some type of discrimination based on their background while getting healthcare for themselves. About 59% said they were treated unfairly while getting healthcare for a family member, she added. Phase II of the Listening to Black Californians study examines structural issues in the health care system gleaned from focus group discussions with Black Californians and key health care stakeholders, Haynes said. The third and final phase of the study will be a statewide survey of Black California residents. It will be crafted to evaluate the extent to which the Phase I and Phase II findings are represented in the general Black Californian population. The second phase with 18 focus groups, was completed right before the winter holidays. The third phase, we hope, will have over 3,000 Black-Californian participants, Hayes said. The final report is expected in the summer of 2022. Read the full report. Tioni Theus Deserves Better When 24-year-old, UCLA grad student Brianna Kupfer was murdered at a furniture store in Los Angeles, I was quite shocked at how quickly the police and news media worked together to put the suspects description and photo out to the public. Reporters even said in their reports that she was Black. While completely relevant, we usually do not include that information in news reports anymore because its been deemed politically incorrect. For the record, I am all for including relevant and useful information even if that information is upsetting to some. Dont tell me theres a murderer on the run in my neighborhood and hes 56. WTF am I supposed to do with that? Give me relevant information that I can use. If hes Black, say hes Black. If hes white, say hes white. This brings me to a column in the Los Angeles Times about the murder of 16-year-old Tioni Theus who, just days before the murder of Brianna Kupfer, was shot and dumped along the side of the freeway in South L.A. like garbage. I remember reading the column and thinking to myself at the conclusion in what way was publishing that Tioni was engaging in sex work and shoplifting at all relevant to helping find her murderer if that was in fact the authors point? ADVERTISEMENT She met a man in his 20s on Instagram, who Nafeesah Kincy says pulled her into prostitution and Rashida Kincy says used her to steal merchandise from high-end retail stores. The information wasnt shared in a way to imply that maybe a john killed her. There was no reason to share that information except to further shame her in death and blame her for being murdered. Sharing that information didnt do anything but sully Tionis image in a way. This for example, didnt happen with reportings of white Brianna Kupfer who continues to be labeled as an angel who walked on Earth among us. But the murdered Black girls business (that is not at all relevant to finding her killer) is spread across The Times in black and white for their audience to read. An audience that is still made up of mostly white people. Unlike with Brianna Kupfers murder, where the news media was Johnny-on-the-spot, they were late to report on the death of Tioni Theus, only learning about it after independent Black journalist, Slauson Girl, first reported on it. It reminds me of how the news media reported on the murders of Gemmel Moore and Timothy Dean in Ed Bucks apartment. Both Black gay men who died of crystal meth overdoses were repeatedly referred to as prostitutes and porn stars in their death by the media, while the white man who was eventually tried and convicted for his role in their deaths was labeled as a celebrated Democratic activist and donor. He still is. Los Angeles law enforcement used to refer to the murders of Black sex workers, gang members, and drug addicts as NHI, No Humans Involved. This attitude is still prevalent today and not just in the police department. ADVERTISEMENT Character assassination of Black men and women by law enforcement extends beyond just those killed by the police. Rarely do you ever hear of the occupations of murder victims as part of their identity in news reporting unless, of course, theyre alleged to be a sex worker. And I am okay with that if sharing that information is supposed to help bring justice to the victim. In Tioni Theus case, it was very disingenuous the way The Times shared that information even down to the way its written. The girl was 16-year-old and she was a victim. 16-year-olds arent prostitutestheyre trafficked. Since when did we start identifying minors as sex workers in the news media even if their cousins said they are? When did that become okay? Somebody get Olivia Benson on the phone. A cousin of Theus said in her own words. And you know once The Times says it, then it must be true and its okay for everyone else to say it. Yall are worried about whos up in your police departments and you need to be equally concerned about whos controlling your news media. Its bad enough that Tioni Theus family and friends had to watch over $350k be offered as a reward to capture Brianna Kupfers killer, a man who was caught within just 24 hours of his photo being plastered everywhere. And while only $50k of the reward money came from public funds the amount of money donated and news coverage had to have been hurtful when Tionis murder happened first and was still unsolved. Now they have to contend with Tioni being labeled as a prostitute and thief while still trying to ask for sympathy and help from the public to find her killer. Back in 2020, The Times new owner said: We believe that The Times can better represent Los Angeles and California by providing more and better coverage of Black, Latino, Asian and other underrepresented communities in our English- and Spanish-language publications. If that column is an example of better representation from The Times, Ill stick to the Black media when I want the Black perspective and to know whats going on with Black people. Ill use The Times for when I want to know what Black people are writing for white people about Black people. Jasmyne Cannick lives in Los Angeles and writes about the collisions at the intersection of race, politics, and society. Zoe Christian Fellowship-L.A. Hosts 100 Men Praying Pastor Marc Scarborough will host 100 Men Praying on Saturday, February 5, at 9:30 a.m., at Zoe Christian Fellowship of L.A., 2521 South West View Street, in Los Angeles. Breakfast will be served at 9:30 a.m., followed by prayer at 10:15 a.m. There is no cost for the breakfast. We are in a pivotal time in our country, and it is time for men to stand up and lead the charge, said Scarborough. I Tmothy 2:8 says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. ADVERTISEMENT The men will be praying for families, the nation, churches, healing, wisdom, souls, boldness and for a greater anointing, he added. To attend, RSVP by calling (323) 931-1477, ext. 3. Thursday, January 27, 2022 Two hospitals, the seven workers who quit one hospital to join the other, and a short-lived temporary restraining order. According to the complaint in Thedacare, Inc. v. Ascension N.E. Wisconsin, Inc. (and not much else), this is their story, plus a Thirteenth Amendment puzzle that never got fully litigated. Our story begins in Wisconsins Fox River Valley. There, ThedaCare owns and operates the Neenah Medical Center, which provides high-level trauma and stroke care, thanks in part to an interventional radiology and cardiovascular team (IRC team) based there. Between December 21, 2021, up through January 7, 2002, ThedaCare learned that four invasive radiology technicians on its IRC team at Neenah (all of them), plus three Thedacare nurses, intended to quit to go work for Ascension at its St. Elizabeth Hospital facility in Appleton. From work emails ThedaCare found, it believed that Ascension had interviewed and negotiated employment terms with the departing employees throughout November and December 2021. The departing IRC team workers were all scheduled to exit Thedacare at the same time. Their last day was January 21, and theyd begin working at Ascension on January 24. Before that happened, Thedacare had asked Ascension for ninety days of access to one invasive radiological technician per day and one nurse with radiology training to provide ThedaCare sufficient time to hire replacement staff for the departing IRC team members. Ascension declined. So, on January 20, 2022, Thedacare sued Ascension in Wisconsin state court, arguing that Ascension committed tortious interference with contract by poaching the resigning IRC team members from their continuing employment with ThedaCare and arranging for their simultaneous resignation. As a remedy, Thedacare asked for an injunction ordering Ascension to either (1) make available one invasive radiology technician and one registered nurse per day from among the exiting workers; or (2) stop hiring those workers until Thedacare had hired adequate staff to replace them. That same day, Thedacare got from a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge (Mark J. McGinnis) a temporary restraining order that ordered Ascension to do just that. In turn, Ascensions lawyers pressed the judge about this TRO, citing in part the Thirteen Amendments Involuntary Servitude Clause and a parallel provision in Wisconsins Constitution that barred involuntary servitude in this state, Wis. Const. art. I, sec. 2. The judge amended the TRO, striking the make available part but keeping the stop-hiring proviso. But a few days later (January 24), that judge, after a hearing on the matter, dismissed the TRO in its entirety, because, according to one press account, ThedaCare could rely on alternate staffing solutions it already is pursuing to preserve care, including cross-training employees who do similar jobs at ThedaCares Appleton hospital. Now, the puzzle that never got fully litigated: Suppose that because the seven workers left, Thedacare could no longer provide the same level of trauma and stroke care at its Neenah facility. If so, would a Wisconsin appellate court have upheld a court order enjoining Ascension in the way Thedacare originally wanted? Answer: Not likely. Had Thedacare sought to enjoin not Ascension but the departing workers to keep working for it, Thedacare would have faced a serious Thirteenth Amendment problem. Since Bailey v. Alabama (1911), courts have read the Thirteen Amendments Involuntary Servitude Clause to ban most laws that, upon the threat of criminal sanction, coerce workers into staying with their current employers when they would otherwise quit. Wisconsins parallel provision has been similarly read, see State v. Brownson, 157 Wis. 2d 404, 411-13 (Ct. App. 1990), and, in dicta, taken also to prohibit the compulsion of an individual to labor against his or her will as part of the remedy of specific performance. Id. at 412 n. 4. The idea: injunctions to compel work, while not criminal law, are still backed by a courts contempt power and thus coercive enough to justify the protections of Involuntary Servitude Clause doctrine. Here, of course, Thedacare sued Ascension, not the exiting workers. But there are some razor thin lines between (a) directly ordering the workers here to go back to work for Thedacare; (b) ordering Ascension to direct those workers to go work for Thedacare; and (c) ordering Ascension to not employ those workers until Thedacare gets enough staff to make up for their departure. The worry: In any of these cases, because of the court order, the cumulative coercive effect on the quitting workers to keep working for Thedacare is similar enough to the coercion that justifies Bailey and progeny. Sure, those workers could escape the indirect coercion options (b) and (c) by immediately quitting Ascension, but not really unless they had a third employer ready to hire them. More generally, the courts order here cut against an old idea: Involuntary Servitude Clause doctrine protects workers from legal coercion that unduly impedes labor mobility. Pollock v. Williams, 322 U.S. 4, 18 (1944) (in general the defense against oppressive hours, pay, working conditions, or treatment is the right to change employers). For commentary, see, e.g., Pandya (2020); Pope (2010); and Oman (2009). This doctrine has exceptions, but not any hospital worker or continuity of care exceptions. So if Wisconsin appellate judges take this doctrine seriously, then the court order here, if not dismissed, would likely not have survived on appeal. Sachin S. Pandya https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/laborprof_blog/2022/01/two-hospitals-seven-workers-and-the-short-lived-injunction.html An upside down house in Colombia is capturing the imagination of visitors looking for fun after months of coronavirus restrictions in the country. The house is in the town of Guatavita, about 70 kilometers from the capital, Bogota. It was designed by its Austrian owner Fritz Schall. He lives in Colombia with his family. "Everyone looked at me like I was mad, they didn't believe what I was saying," Schall said. "I said 'I'm going to make an upside down house,' and they told me, 'Ok sir, sure, go for it.'" Today, visitors from many places enjoy walking on ceilings where floors would normally be. Things like tables and chairs are above them. Everything in the place is upside down. Inspiration for building the house came from a trip to Schall's native Austria. There he saw a similar house with his grandchildren in 2015. The COVID-19 pandemic made building the house a little difficult. But it was finally finished at the start of this year, Schall said. "The pandemic slowed us down a bit, but it's done now, he added. For many people, the pandemic has turned their worlds upside down. This expression means that peoples lives have been greatly changed often in shocking or upsetting ways. But for visitors to the upside down house, the place offers a bit of lighthearted relief from restrictions and other difficulties. Lina Gutierrez has already made a visit there. She said, after a long period of movement restrictions and other pandemic measures, the house helps visitors like herself have a moment of relaxation. Im Mario Ritter, Jr. Camilo Cohecha and Javier Andres Rojas reported this story for Reuters. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. _________________________________________________ Words in This Story mad adj. (mainly British) insane; very foolish ceiling n. the highest part of a room; the inside surface of the top of a room inspiration n. something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create relief n. the removal of something painful or unpleasant; a pleasant feeling of ease moment n. a short period of time relaxation n. a way to rest and enjoy yourself; a way to ease tension We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. World health officials are offering hope that the slowing spread of Omicron may lead to a weakening of the COVID-19 pandemic. But officials also warn of hard weeks ahead and the possibility of another, more dangerous variant appearing. In the United States, daily case numbers are dropping sharply. The same thing happened weeks earlier in Britain and South Africa. Researchers predict a period of low spread in many countries by the end of March. This week, the World Health Organization said in a statement it expects the emergency phase of the pandemic to end this year. It also said the Omicron variant offers hope fornormalization. Also this week, U.S. health official Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on the television program This Week on ABC. He said COVID-19 case numbers could fall to low enough levels that the U.S. could get back to a degree of normality. Fauci leads the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden. Both Fauci and the WHOs Europe director, Dr. Hans Kluge, warned that new variants are likely to appear. But they believe that vaccines, new drug treatments, testing and masks will help keep life more normal during future surges. In the U.S., new cases are averaging a still extraordinarily high 680,000 a day. That is down from an all-time high of over 800,000 a little more than a week ago. The places in the U.S. where omicron first spread are seeing the sharpest drops. U.S. hospital admissions of patients with confirmed COVID-19 have dropped about 7 percent from the week before. That information comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Christopher Murray is with the University of Washington. He developed the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation model. The model shows all nations will be past the Omicron wave by the middle of March. The wave will leave behind high levels of immunity both from infection and vaccination. This could lead to low levels of spread for many weeks or months. Murrays model also estimates that 57 percent of the worlds population already has been infected with the virus at least once. A research group at Pennsylvania State University also predicts a strong drop in the U.S. by April. But the appearance of a new variant that is less affected by growing levels of immunity could change that. It would be dangerous to forget that possibility, as it has caught us before, said Katriona Shea. She leads the team that develops the models. Shea also noted that the models show 16,000 to 98,000 more Americans dying before the Omicron wave is over. COVID-19 has killed almost 870,000 people in the United States already. Deaths from the disease around the world total more than 5.5 million. Im Ashley Thompson. The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story variant - n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind phase - n. a part or step in a process : one part in a series of related events or actions mask - n. a covering for your face or for part of your face surge - n. a sudden, large increase The big French pet care company AgroBiothers Laboratoire will no longer sell very small containers for raising fish. The company has a 27 percent share of the French market for products used by people who raise animals at home. But it said it would no longer sell any aquariums that hold less than 15 liters of water. They will only offer rectangular ones. The company said it was animal abuse to put fish in small bowls without added oxygen and filtration . Filtration is the process of removing small particles or waste from the water with a device. AgroBiothers chief Matthieu Lambeaux recently spoke to the Reuters news agency. He used the term impulse meaning a sudden strong desire to do something to describe why many adults buy goldfish. "People buy a goldfish for their kids on impulse, he said. Lambeaux added, but if they knew what a torture it is, they would not do it. Turning round and round in a small bowl drives fish crazy and kills them quickly." Gold fish can live up to 30 years and grow to about 25 cm in large aquariums or outdoor ponds. But in very small bowls they often die within weeks or months. Lambeaux said gold fish are social animals that need other fish, lots of space and clean water. He added that having an aquarium requires some special equipment and knowledge. France is Europe's number one market for red aquarium fish, with about 2.3 million fish, Lambeaux said. In earlier years, AgroBiothers sold about 50,000 fish bowls per year at about 20 euros each. Germany and several other European countries have long banned fish bowls, but France has no laws on the issue. Lambeaux believes the use of fish bowls to be an anachronism something that seems to belong to the past. He explained the companys decision further by saying, We cannot educate all our customers to explain that keeping fish in a bowl is cruel. We consider that it is our responsibility to no longer give consumers that choice." Lambeaux suggested that the reality of fishbowls is sad. "There is demand for fish bowls, he said, but the reality is that what we offer children is the possibility to see gold fish die slowly." Im John Russell. Geert de Clercq reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. ________________________________________________ Words in This Story aquarium n. a glass or plastic container in which fish and other water animals and plants can live consumer n. a person who buys goods and services The American space agency NASA says its powerful James Webb Space Telescope has successfully reached its final position in orbit around the sun. James Webb fired its rocket thrusters Monday for nearly five minutes to push the spacecraft into position about 1.6 million kilometers from Earth, NASA said in a statement. The agency describes James Webb as the largest and most powerful space science telescope ever built. It is meant to add to the discoveries of past telescopes, while gathering more in-depth data on the early development of the universe. The orbiting observatory launched from French Guiana about a month ago. Its final position is known as the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2. This is a point where the gravitational forces of the sun and Earth balance each other. This will permit the telescope to stay in line with Earth as it orbits the sun. Sun shield to keep telescope hot and cold A large sun shield separates the telescope into hot and cold sides. One side will take in light and heat, the other will be shielded and remain cold. The side with the telescopes science instruments needs to stay cold because it will be seeking heat signals from very distant objects, NASA explains. That side is expected to operate at about 225 degrees below zero Celsius. The hot side which NASA says is designed to operate at about 85 degrees Celsius holds the telescopes solar power system and communications and other equipment. The sun shield successfully opened about a week and a half after James Webb launched. A few days later, the observatorys nearly seven-meter mirror was deployed. The mirror, a collection of 18 different pieces, still needs to be perfectly aligned before the telescope can operate. NASA expects that process to take about three months. New generation telescope James Webb is designed to detect infrared waves a kind of electromagnetic energy that cannot be seen with the human eye. The telescopes instruments were built to find infrared waves through gas and dust in an effort to observe distant objects. The infrared detection system and the telescopes scientific instruments will need to get cold enough to perform effectively. If all goes well, NASA says it expects James Webb to produce its first early release observations sometime in June. NASA officials leading the project have been pleased with how things have progressed so far. Webb is officially on station, Observatory Manager Keith Parrish told reporters. He said the telescopes orbital arrival came after a remarkable 30 days in space. James Webb is considered NASAs new generation telescope after the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. Hubble was launched more than 30 years ago and Spitzer was deployed in 2003. Both of those telescopes led to numerous discoveries and provided more detailed, colorful space images than ever before. But the new telescope aims to help scientists learn about all periods of the universe's history dating back to just after the Big Bang event, about 13.8 billion years ago. It is also designed to study exoplanets - planets that orbit stars other than the sun. "Were one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. And I cant wait to see Webbs first new views of the universe this summer, he added. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from NASA, The Associated Press and Reuters. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. Quiz - NASAs Powerful New Telescope Arrives at Orbiting Position Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz ____________________________________________________ Words in This Story thruster n. an engine that produces propulsion by releasing a jet of fluid or a stream of particles shield n. a piece of equipment that serves as a protective cover or barrier align v. to put things in an exact line or make them parallel detect v. to discover or notice something remarkable adj. very unusual or noticeable in a way that is admired view n. things that can be seen from a place In an increasingly online world where everything is digitized, more and more people are starting to wish they had not thrown away the physical Alsea Superintendent Marc Thielman's Friday, Jan. 21 announcement that his district would no longer enforce mask wearing in school settings, except while riding a bus, flies in the the face of mask mandates put forth by the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority. Because of that, two days later, the Department of Education issued a compliance letter to Thielman and school board chair Ron Koetz, withholding federal COVID-19 relief funds from the district until it once again complies with the indoor mask mandate. The only other Oregon school district that has been found willfully out-of-compliance with the mask mandate is the Adrian School District in Malheur County, and after a significant fine from ODE, they put the masks back on. Lost funds and past citations The federal funds meant to help school districts navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, formally known as Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief funding, requires districts to comply with all state laws and regulations. They come in the form of a reimbursement, so once a district spends the money and submits the reimbursement request to ODE, it will receive the funds. Alsea, a district that enrolled 858 students last year, is scheduled to receive approximately $324,000 in funds, according to ODE Public Affairs Specialist Peter J. Rudy. To date, the district has claimed reimbursement for $50,456. If Thielman and the board remain out of compliance with the guidance, they will lose out on over $270,000 in remaining eligible funds for the district. But this isnt the first time this year Alsea has had a run-in with a government agency on this issue. On Jan. 4, Oregon Occupational Safety and Health issued a citation to Alsea for three violations, one of which was violating the Oregon Health Authority mask requirement for educational institutions. The $420 penalty was the result of an inspection Oregon OSHA conducted late last year. The citation has not yet been appealed, but its not considered a final order until the employer files an appeal within 30 days. The employer confirmed receipt of the citation Jan. 10. The minimum and maximum penalty for a willful violation are $9,753 and $135,653, respectively. Thielmans statement that his district will no longer enforce masks is a willful violation, Rudy said. The school board's Jan. 13 resolution to go mask-less declared the return of local decision-making regarding masks and COVID-19 protocols. However, those rules are promulgated by state agencies and public health departments, not local boards and councils. Speaking at a Benton County Republican Women event in Corvallis this week, Thielman said the change in masking guidelines has resulted in an ethics complaint that will be investigated. He made light of the investigation in remarks to the audience. Look, if I get two more investigations, I want a tax deduction and a free toaster, he said. Thielman said he would rely on the court of public opinion to exonerate him, adding that he believes the vast majority of students and parents support the switch to optional masking. COVID-19 numbers in the district Two days after a Friday announcement that masks would no longer be enforced in school settings outside of a school bus, Thielman informed parents the district would be closing on Monday due to staffing shortages and positive cases of the virus. The district originally planned to reopen Wednesday, Jan. 26, but because of the ongoing shortages and positive case counts, they will remain closed until Monday, Jan. 31. In the message, Thielman stated, The silver lining is that our local case counts are declining and we will come out on the other side of this situation stronger than ever. Unlike other school districts', nowhere on the Alsea School District website is a COVID-19 dashboard available with case counts and information regarding outbreaks. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Corvallis Gazette-Times. According to the Benton County Health Department COVID-19 response team, the last time Alsea School District reported a case or outbreak of the virus was Dec. 7. Additionally, Alsea schools have not been included in the weekly OHA reports that publish COVID-19 data associated with schools that offer in-person instruction since Jan. 5. Thielman and the Alsea School District did not respond to Mid-Valley Media requests for COVID-19 case counts since Jan. 5. 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_. Downtown Omaha would see a stunning new high rise corporate headquarters and the long-discussed midtown streetcar line would become a reality with no projected tax increase under a blockbuster development plan announced by Mutual of Omaha and Mayor Jean Stothert. Mutual of Omaha will reshape the downtown skyline with its planned skyscraper headquarters that could become the citys tallest. An architects concept rendering depicts a glassy 40-plus story building rising above the block currently occupied by the downtown library at 14th and Douglas Streets. The tower would sit along the route of a three-mile city streetcar line that would run from the University of Nebraska Medical Center to Omahas riverfront. The mayor said rides on the streetcar will be free. Stothert said vetted projections show the $225 million cost of building the streetcar system would be completely paid for by using tax-increment financing, harnessing the new property tax dollars generated by new developments along the line. Those new developments would include not only the new Mutual headquarters but the sizable redevelopment of Mutuals current midtown campus once the company vacates it to move its 4,000-employee Omaha workforce downtown. Its the right time for Omaha to support a streetcar, Stothert said. Mutual of Omahas plan to build a new downtown headquarters is the first example of what is possible, and why now is the time. The momentum we have to change our urban core forever is undeniable. Indeed, while a number of rounds of city approvals are ahead over the next year, the plans jointly announced Wednesday by Stothert and Mutual of Omaha CEO James Blackledge carry the potential to visually and economically transform the landscape of both downtown and midtown Omaha. The new Mutual tower will be the first significant addition to downtown Omahas skyline in almost a generation. There also may never have been a bigger single infusion of workers into Omahas downtown core. And at a time businesses across the nation are crying out for skilled workers, Mutual and the city said the new developments will attract young professionals, talent and other new businesses into Omahas urban core. It about knocked me off my feet, Stothert said of the first time she saw an image of Mutuals new building. We knew that site was prime real estate, and we knew whatever was going to go there had to be something really great. Because in the future when you see the skyline or picture of Omaha, this is what you're going to see. Plans call for construction to begin on both projects by next year, with both open and functioning by 2026. While the two proposals are not technically linked, Blackledge said the citys commitment to a modern streetcar line was critical to the decision of the Fortune 500 company to locate in the heart of downtown. Not only does Mutual value having its new headquarters on the line, he said, the streetcar system brings enhanced financial value to the redevelopment of its current campus. Not only does that assure the midtown area will be viable without Mutuals workforce, he said, it helps make possible the downtown skyscraper that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build. Stothert agreed the two plans work in tandem. James has made it very clear that they would not be able to build this tower . . . if the streetcar wasn't part of the plan, she said. That's why this is so important to announce these together. Proposals to build an Omaha streetcar system date back a quarter century to the administration of then-Mayor Hal Daub. But the lack of a plan to pay the massive cost of building the system has kept the idea from ever getting on track. Stothert on Wednesday unveiled a streetcar financing and route plan that was developed in recent years by a Greater Omaha Chamber working group dedicated to enhancing Omahas urban core. The streetcar system will primarily run east and west along Farnam and Harney Street and will be bookended by two major developments that are in the works: the $400 million riverfront parks and science museum to the east; and UNMCs $2.6 billion Project NExT medical facility to the west. But Stothert said its the new private developments in between that will be the key to paying for both the systems construction and ongoing operating costs. Everywhere streetcars have been built, they have attracted private development along the route that tends to exceed expectations, Stothert said. The city expects extraordinary development along the streetcar line, she said. The city will then use tax-increment financing, or TIF, to capture a portion of the enhanced property tax dollars generated by the new developments to pay the startup costs for the streetcar system. Under TIF, the extra tax money from such projects is diverted to underwrite the redevelopment efforts, rather than boosting the property tax revenue that supports schools and other local governments. While the estimated cost of building and launching the streetcar system is estimated at $225 million, Stothert said federal guidelines call for a 35% contingency in case of unexpected costs, so the city would need to raise $306 million. But she said that should be more than covered by an estimated $354 million in generated TIF dollars. Those dollars come from three pots. New developments on three blocks either side of the streetcar would contribute 25% of their TIF proceeds. That element alone is projected to generate $218 million. Under authority it has under state law, the city also plans to extend the timeline of already existing TIF projects along the route from the current 15 years to 20 years. Those five additional years of payments would generate $50 million. The third part will come from existing properties that see increased valuations within a special TIF district that will be established by the city, raising $86 million. Stothert said the city will issue special revenue bonds and private placement bonds to pay for the systems construction. The buyers of those bonds will be paid back over time by the TIF taxes paid each year by property owners. The buyers of the bonds assume any risks with their investment, leaving little or no risk for taxpayers, she said. Stothert said the city had the chamber groups finance plan vetted both by a finance team at First National Bank of Omaha and the citys bond counsel. She said both affirmed that it can be funded without any kind of tax increase. If as expected there are additional TIF funds left after payments to bondholders, she said those dollars could be put to other good uses, including developing affordable housing, the cost of converting one-way downtown streets to two-way and improved pedestrian access. Then theres the estimated $6.4 million cost of operating the system annually. Stothert said that would be covered by parking revenues related to the new developments, including new parking garages planned along the streetcar route. Given the lack of risk to taxpayers with the vetted plan, Stothert said she is comfortable going forward without first seeking some kind of voter approval an element she has previously said a streetcar plan would need to have to earn her support. I understood the value of a streetcar, but nobody has told me how to pay for it and how to operate and maintain it without a tax increase, she said. The urban core committee has presented a funding plan to me that works. Stothert said the streetcar system would be run as a city enterprise, overseen by a new city authority whose representatives would be appointed by the city, Metro Transit and the chamber. Since the city owns the system, Stothert said it makes sense for the city to operate it, with Metro as a partner. She said Metro officials have signed on to that plan. All the elements of the plans are just proposals at this point, subject to City Council approval, Stothert said. The first elements of the plan could go to the council by March. I truly believe that this is the right thing for all of Omaha and truly the right thing for downtown right now, Stothert said. And it's going to be of great benefit to the city now and far, far into the future. One of the key developments along the streetcar route will be the new Mutual tower. Mutual's new headquarters will arguably be the first major addition to the downtown Omaha skyline since Union Pacific announced its headquarters building in 2001, which opened in 2004. First National Tower, which at 45 stories is the citys tallest building, was announced in 1998 and opened in 2002. While the current library site has been discussed previously as a possible redevelopment site, it was only within the last four months that Mutual emerged as a potential occupant for that block, Stothert and Blackledge said. Mutual for years has been studying its facilities needs and a potential new headquarters. Mutual was approached a year ago by developer Jason Lanoha, who proposed Mutual build its new headquarters downtown. The developers focus, though, was putting the tower on the long-vacant block at 14th and Dodge where Union Pacific had its former headquarters. Lanoha also suggested that Mutual ask the city if it would be willing to reroute its developing streetcar system to include the new headquarters site along its path. So Mutual approached the city in September with just such a plan. At the time, the city was in the process of relocating the downtown library and considering a half dozen potential developments for the site. Rather than mess with the streetcar route, the city instead offered up the library site to Mutual. Stothert credits the city economic development team of Troy Anderson and Kevin Andersen with hatching the idea, which she endorsed. We just felt like Mutual had a plan, it was viable and they were ready, she said. And I love that they have Omaha in their name. The rendering of the new headquarters released Wednesday shows a glass tower more than 40 stories tall. That makes it similar in size to the First National Tower. Blackledge said the exact number of floors wont be known until Mutual completes an ongoing study of its space needs in a post-pandemic world, when its believed many workers will continue to work remotely or in hybrid ways. But given the size of Mutuals current campus and Omaha workforce, he said, he believes the new building will be on the scale of the First National Tower or taller. Just what takes shape in the redevelopment of Mutuals current midtown campus will be up to the developer, though Mutual officials say they foresee the possibility of housing, corporate offices and retail, either in existing buildings or new ones. In addition to its campus, Mutual developed the neighboring Midtown Crossing complex and owns land between Turner Park and Interstate 480 that is primed for development. Blackledge said the tower is the chance to create an inspiring workplace for Mutuals workers while contributing to making downtown Omaha vital. He said hes excited that the new building will face Omahas new downtown and riverfront park redevelopment. We are inspired by the energy in downtown Omaha, he said, and recognize the importance of a vibrant urban core for the citys future. In what will be one of the most monumental endeavors of Joe Biden's presidency, the retirement of Stephen Breyer sets the stage for an immensely important decision by the President. " " Huge puppets made up of paper-mache perform at a carnival in Panaji, Goa, India. Flore Lamoureux/IndiaPictures/Universal Images Group/Getty Images Most of us have done a paper-mache project at least once, mixing paper with glue and water, in school. Paper-mache is a common crafting technique used to make sturdy molds like masks, bowls, pinatas and other fabulous creations using paper. Paper-mache translates to "chewed paper" in French. It can be made into different shapes with any paper available, creating durable yet lightweight sculptures. Advertisement The History of Paper-mache The sculpting technique of paper-mache dates back to the invention of paper in China, where they created helmets out of paper-mache for soldiers to wear into battle. Later, Egyptians used paper-mache, mainly papyrus, to create artifacts like ceremonial masks for funerals. You wouldn't know it from looking at it, but paper-mache is quite strong and durable. One of the oldest surviving paper-mache artifacts is a coffin for a falcon from ancient Persia. Following the 17th century, paper-mache was used to create less expensive ornamental details on furniture, toys, dolls and more. It was often referred to as "paper stucco" and was used to make frames and ceiling ornaments in architecture. In Japan, paper-mache items were usually covered with a glossy back coating and decorated with gold often seen in museums and temples nowadays. After the 20th century, paper-mache was reclaimed by artists and craftspeople alike. You can see the technique used to make colorful pinatas for parties and school crafts and art pieces can be found in the world's most prestigious museums. " " A craftsman works on a paper-mache mask in Venice, Italy, in preparation for the Carnival of Venice, during which the streets and canals are filled with people wearing highly decorative costumes and paper-mache masks. Marco Secchi/Getty Images Advertisement Paper-mache as Sustainable Art "During the pandemic, we've accumulated a lot more cardboard boxes around the house than we're used to," says Tatiana Bell, an artist and designer in Atlanta, Georgia, in an email interview. "I was attracted to the sustainability of paper-mache, as it lets me use materials I have around the house that would be thrown away otherwise." You can explore the versatility of paper-mache by adding steel, wire mesh and bamboo to create a framework before adding the paper-mache. Other artists use dye, pigment, dirt, flour, concrete and more to add textures and color to their projects, according to Bell. "I started collecting paper a few years ago when I worked at a museum. I started exploring other uses of paper: cutting the paper, weaving it into new shapes, creating window installations and even making recycled handmade paper," Bell says. That three-dimensional capability is what captured Bell's attention after painting and drawing for years. "Paper-mache has been my most three-dimensional approach thus far. It's not only a great tool for exploration and expression, but also a sustainable tool by requiring the reuse of paper and resulting in beautiful, functional creations," Bell shares. " " Lio Diaz-Colin makes a paper-mache brain with classmates during a pre-K class at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School in Denver, Colorado. AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/Getty Images Advertisement How to Make a Paper-mache Bowl Check out this recipe for making a beautiful bowl inspired by this Spruce Crafts project. You'll need: A bowl White glue Paintbrush Newspaper Petroleum jelly Balloon Blow up the balloon until the bottom half is the size you want your bowl to be. Tie it off. Combine equal parts glue and water in the bowl. You don't want this mixture to be too thick since you'll need to spread it over the newspaper strips quickly. Add more water if it seems too thick. Cut your newspaper strips between 3 to 5 inches (8 to 13 centimeters) long. Cut many at a time since your hands will be sticky once you start. Add a thin layer of petroleum jelly to the surface of the balloon. This will prevent the balloon from sticking to your paper-mache bowl. Dip one newspaper strip at a time into the glue and water mixture in the bowl. Once covered in the mixture, remove the excess, and apply it to the balloon. Cover the bottom half of the ballon in the shape of a bowl by applying the newspaper strips in different directions. Wait for the first layer to dry and use at least two more layers, waiting for each one to dry in between to prevent mold. Pop the balloon once the three layers are completely dry. Cut the edges to make it a little nicer. Pick your color and get to decorating your new paper-mache bowl. Advertisement How to Make a Paper-mache Sculpture Paper-mache's allure is its simplicity. You can use the same idea as in the recipe above, but make a form or mold of cardboard and tape (think a planter, jewelry box or pinata). Then cut small newspaper strips, and, one at a time, place them on the form and brush a simple mix of equal parts white glue and water. If you don't want to use cardboard for your mold, you can use balloons or chicken wire. If you don't want to use strips of paper, make some paper pulp by soaking the paper overnight in water or using a cooked paste recipe if you want more sculpting freedom. " " Preparing a pulp for paper-mache is as simple as soaking paper in water and mashing it into a spreadable pulp. Waseem Andrabi/Hindustan Times/Getty Images Bell says that paper-mache's versatility is what makes it easy to work with. Here are three more tips for future paper-mache projects. Think sustainability . Save paper and cardboard scraps with potential paper-mache projects in mind. Experiment . Paper-mache gives unlimited possibilities to the shapes you can create and the materials and recipes you can use. Start simple. Start small and simple with materials found around your home. Tackle some bigger projects once you've found the process that works best for you. Now That's Interesting Did you know that the Han Dynasty in China was the first to use paper-mache to make warrior helmets and artifacts? This technique flourished shortly after they made paper for the first time, back in 202 B.C.E. If not for Jane Does courage, former Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger, R-Lewiston, a man who stands convicted of raping her and now faces spending the rest of his life in prison would no doubt be on his way toward securing a second term representing this area in the Legislature. 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United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. 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 A Tustin man on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to fraud and firearms-related charges connected to two Santa Maria investigations after he was arrested earlier this month in Los Angeles, according to a Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. In what will be one of the most monumental endeavors of Joe Biden's presidency, the retirement of Stephen Breyer sets the stage for an immensely important decision by the President. Breyer's seat may be the only one that Biden fills on the Supreme Court, and it may not be one he fills at all -- if Republicans retake the Senate before the President's choice for a replacement is confirmed. On the campaign trail, Biden vowed to put a Black woman on the high court, which would be an historic first. A short list of potential nominees had been circulating Washington well before Breyer's retirement plans became public, and officials in the White House Counsel's office built files on various candidates in anticipation of a potential vacancy. Now, those efforts will ramp up significantly and the President will likely hold one on one meetings before announcing his pick. The White House is stacked with officials deeply familiar with the confirmation process, starting with Biden himself -- who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee -- as well as White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who has experience both at the White House counsel's office and working for the Senate Judiciary Committee. With Democrats holding the narrowest of majorities in the upper chamber, Biden will have to choose someone who can safely get 50 votes in the Senate (Vice President Kamala Harris could provide the tie-breaking vote if the Senate is split on the nomination). In addition to the vote count, Biden also has to keep an eye on the calendar. Senate Republicans are likely to retake the chamber in this year's midterms and have already signaled they would block a Biden nominee to the Supreme Court. It typically takes two to three months for a President to see his nominee confirmed by the Senate once he or she is named. The most recent justice, however, was confirmed in just a month and a half, as Senate Republicans rushed to get Justice Amy Coney Barrett approved before the 2020 election. Given the disappointments that have been recently dealt to the progressives under the Biden administration -- between the congressional demise of the President's Build Back Better proposal and his failure to find a way forward on voting rights legislation -- Biden's choice for the Supreme Court gives him the opportunity to reinvigorate the democratic base. If she is confirmed, Biden will secure a much-needed victory for his administration. Here are potential nominees who have been on observers' short list. DC Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Biden has already elevated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson once, appointing her last year to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which is considered the second-most powerful federal court in the country. Previously, the 51-year-old judge served on the federal district court in DC. Because of that appellate appointment, she's already been through a vetting process that included an interview with the President himself. Fittingly, she clerked for Breyer and holds degrees from Harvard and Harvard Law School. She also served as an assistant federal public defender, making her a prime example of the Biden's White House focus on appointing judges with backgrounds that are outside the typical prosecutor and Big Law box. As a judge, Jackson has ruled on high profile cases including the Don McGahn congressional subpoena lawsuit (where, as a district court, she ordered the former Trump White House counsel to comply with the House's subpoena). As an appellate judge, she signed on to the recent opinion ordering the disclosure of Trump White House documents being sought by the House January 6 committee -- a case Trump has now asked the Supreme Court to review. If she is confirmed to the court while the justices were still considering the case, she'd likely be asked to recuse. California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger Kruger, now 45, was the youngest person to be appointed to the California Supreme Court when then-Gov. Jerry Brown nominated her in 2014. Kruger is intimately familiar with the Supreme Court having worked as a clerk for the late Justice John Paul Stevens and served as acting deputy solicitor general in the Obama administration. While in the Solicitor General's office, she argued 12 cases in front of the Supreme Court representing the government. At the Justice Department, she also earned the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service, the department's highest award for employee performance, in 2013 and 2014. At the California Supreme Court, she has authored notable opinions on the 4th Amendment -- holding that law enforcement could not search a woman's purse without a warrant after she declined to provide a driver's license -- and upholding a California law that requires law enforcement to collect DNA samples as well as fingerprints from all persons arrested for or convicted of felony offenses. Though she is said to be well-liked among the alumni of the Solicitor General's office, she has not yet received the thorough vetting that other potential nominees have gone through. South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs Childs, a judge on South Carolina's federal court, is said to have a major booster in House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a Biden ally who helped deliver South Carolina for the eventual nominee in the 2020 Democratic primary. Just last month, Biden nominated Childs to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the nomination remains pending. A graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, Childs does not have the Ivy League pedigree shared by eight of the nine justices. Her cheerleaders have touted her public-school education and other elements of her background as an advantage for Democrats, according to a 2021 New York Times report, and as a way to fight back against claims that the party has become too elitist in its makeup. In addition to a decade spent in private practice, the 55-year-old served as a state court trial judge on the South Carolina Circuit, as the deputy director of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and as a commissioner on the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. Other names that have been floated District Judge Wilhelmina "Mimi" Wright, a judge on Minnesota's federal district court whose consideration would likely please Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who sits on the Judiciary Committee. Circuit Judge Eunice Lee, a former New York public defender whom Biden nominated to the Second Circuit on the recommendation of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Circuit Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, an alumna of Chicago's public defender's office whose appointment by Biden to the Seventh Circuit was cheered by Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin of Illinois. Sherrilyn Ifill, a civil rights attorney who recently announced plans to step down from her role as President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. Mount Horeb's downtown thrives with a diverse lineup up of shops and restaurants and now one of the few voids of the business district is about to be filled. Artemis Provisions & Cheese, which since early 2020 has been operating as an online retailer, has plans to open a brick and mortar location and bring locally produced meats and cheese to 213-215 E. Main St. The 6,000-square-foot business would include a butcher and deli counter, cheese cases and a commercial kitchen on the first floor while the lower level of the buildings would be used to process quartered cows, hogs, sheep, lamb and goat raised at 15 area farms. The animals would be slaughtered at Avon Locker Plant in Darlington before being shipped to Artemis. The $2 million project was approved Wednesday by the village's plan commission and is expected to open this summer after an extensive remodeling of the buildings. The Pop Place, a business that sells bottles of craft soda and bags of popcorn, will remain in its space but also under go a remodeling, said Kingsley Gobourne, who along with his wife, Melissa, are buying the two buildings and are owners of Artemis. The business will help serve not only local residents and tourists who may seek out meat and cheese products but will also help area farmers market their products. "All of these things started lining up and we found ourselves having access to something the village wanted and people wanted," Gobourne, 40, said. "We kept thinking we could keep this business small but because of the demand we realized that we can't operate out of our garage anymore." Kingsley Gobourne is the chief equity and engagement officer for Group Health in Madison while Melissa is a day care director for Logic Kids Camp. The couple began selling meats from local farmers they know to doctors and nurses in Madison and then expanded to farmers markets. Their products include ground beef, steak, whole chickens, pork shoulder, skinless wieners, bratwurst, meat sticks and ham steaks. The company sells stew meat from goat, a wide range of lamb products and even farm fresh eggs. The Gobournes also cater, sell gift boxes and have partnered with Brunkow Cheese in Darlington, Dairyland Bakery in Janesville and Berke and Benham Seafood in Madison in an effort to offer a more diverse line of products. The couple has applied for a $250,000 grant from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, a $50,000 grant from the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and have received a $10,000 facade grant and $125,000 in tax incremental financing from the village to help with improvements to the two buildings sandwiched between Skal Public House and Restaino & Associates Realtors. "We really need to have a brick and mortar location, people would show up at our house," Kingsley Gobourne said. "We would have never thought people would be so excited about meat and cheese." The village's downtown has been without a butcher shop since 2016 when Dick's Quality Meat's & Groceries closed its doors in 2016 after more than three decades in business. It also has been void of a cheese shop after Dee's Cheese N More closed several years ago in the 500 block of East Main Street after opening in 2009. The addition of Artemis adds to a roster of downtown food businesses that include Sjolind's Chocolate House, Brix Cider, Skal, Sunn Cafe, Grumpy Troll Brew Pub, Fink's Restaurant and Sugar Troll, a candy and Gelato shop. Driftless Social, a supper club, is being built and scheduled to open this spring in the former Schubert's Cafe space. Duluth Trading Co. has its corporate headquarters and a retail store in the downtown while other clothing retailers include Gempler's, McFee on Main and Bargain Nook. There are also several specialty shops that sell gifts, antiques, soaps, jewelry, flowers and guitars. "It will definitely add to our foodie tourism that's happening around here," said Rowan Childs, the village's economic development director said of Artemis. "It's going to be a huge destination and be a nice compliment to what is already here." 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. Tony Chen plans to open a Chinese noodle restaurant Wednesday at 604 University Ave., in a space that was briefly Crave Coffee & Donuts. Yummy Noodle will offer traditional Chinese noodle soups with sweet potato noodles or rice noodles, said Tony, 34, whose Chinese name is Wen Hua Chen. In 2013, Tony opened Sushi Express at 610 University Ave., three doors down from where his new restaurant will be. He sold it in 2016 and its now owned by Ping Jiang, who also owns Fin Sushi on the Far West Side. Yummy Noodle will be the third restaurant Tony will run and co-own at one time. In 2017, he opened Mad Boiling Crab, a Cajun seafood restaurant, which he renamed Mad Seafood Boiler, off of State Street at 201 W. Gorham St. He owns it with his uncle, Xi Cheng. In September 2019, he opened Asian Noodle at Regent and Park streets. It serves Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese dishes. Tony owns that restaurant with his cousin, Mu Lee, who was a sushi chef at Mad Seafood Boiler. Mu is also his partner in Yummy Noodle, which Tony said will have a small menu. Besides the noodle soups, he will offer a handful of appetizers, including shumai, takoyaki, fries and gyoza. He said the restaurant will target Asian people, where Asian Noodle is geared toward Americans. Tony said with the pandemic decreasing dine-in business, both Mad Seafood Boiler and Asian Noodle have seen delivery business pick up to keep them going. He said he works every day, splitting his time cooking at Mad Seafood Boiler and Asian Noodle, and now working to renovate the space that will be Yummy Noodle. Tony was at Home Depot getting materials when contacted for this story. He said he handles the easy jobs like shopping and painting and hires others to do the main remodeling work. Yummy Noodle will offer counter service with 10 tables that will seat two each, he said. Tony is from Fujian province in southeastern China and came to New York in 2005. He said he moved to Madison about 12 years ago after living in Pittsburgh, Chicago and Texas. Then finally, Im here. I think this will be my place. He became a United States citizen in 2010. Tony hasnt been back to China since coming to Madison. All my family is here, everything is here. So, Im pretty much here. He said when he came to the United States he didnt speak any English, and he studied English in New York while working part-time in restaurants. Tony came to Madison to help his uncle open Asian Kitchen, 449 State St. They sold the Chinese carryout and delivery business in 2015 to prepare to open their Cajun seafood restaurant nearby. His goal in opening a new restaurant, he said, is to improve. Yummy Noodle gives him the chance to try something new, he said. I want people to try it because I like cooking. I always create some new tastes, some new dishes. Read more restaurant news at go.madison.com/restaurants. Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in 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. Mercies Coffee, which took the place of Cool Beans coffee shop near East Towne Mall, is striking with its modern, bright, white-and-gray interior and elegant purple couch and chairs on either side of a central fireplace. A number of food items are also striking, starting with both breakfast items I tried, which are served all day. The signature breakfast sandwich ($9) comes on a fantastic housemade garlic cheddar biscuit enlivened by a red pepper garlic jam, made in house. Inside were egg, bacon and cheddar cheese. As good was the thin breakfast burrito ($7), cut in half, with egg, spinach, pico de gallo, cheddar and an excellent house chipotle mayo. The elements went together amazingly well. All three Mercies sandwiches are made with sourdough sandwich bread from Stalzys Deli & Bakery on Atwood Avenue. The turkey chipotle sandwich ($10) with bacon, tomato and arugula benefitted from that great chipotle mayo. The turkey, also from Stalzys, was cut at Mercies into small squares, which I hadnt seen in a sandwich before. Its easier to build the sandwich that way, said owner Mallory Orr. A friend who recommended the sandwich to me said she prefers hot sandwiches, as do I. Since I took my food home, after my first few bites, I heated it up, which made it even better. My daughter had good luck with the egg salad sandwich ($7) and appreciated that it was perked up with dill, green onion and pickled red onions, which gave it a pleasant sweetness. The paper menus offer a couple of pro tips, and for the egg salad it says it can be upgraded to a croissant for an extra $1.50. Thats something worth doing next time. The sandwiches and the breakfast items we ordered came with a nicely dressed, delicious side of arugula with pickled onion, but the salad was more of a garnish. It couldve been twice as big. The last section of the menu features three toast options: veggie, breakfast and dessert. The breakfast toast could also be classified a dessert. The combination of peanut butter, banana, honey, cinnamon and house granola was inspired. It, too, came on thick Stalzys sourdough. The toast would be sweet enough without the honey because there are already lots of sweet things, said my 16-year-old daughter, who enjoyed one of its four pieces. She gave high approval to her iced vanilla latte with oat milk ($4 for a 4-ounce cup, plus 75 cents each for vanilla and oat milk). Mercies uses True Coffee Roasters, which has a roastery in Fitchburg and a cafe in Monona. I wish I liked my sweet green smoothie ($9) as much. Made with kale, spinach, green apple and pineapple, it was hardly sweet. Tiny pieces of dates were the best part, there just werent enough. With only two people working, Orr preparing food, and a young woman taking orders and making drinks, service was slow. Orr said she was short-staffed last week, but just hired and is training two new employees. Business has been picking up since she opened in mid-December, she said. Weve had a very, very successful first month of being open and I just have been blown away by how supportive the community has been. I was there at 2 p.m. on a Thursday and there was a bit of a late lunch rush. The worst part of my 30-minute wait was having to listen to tired classic rock over the sound system. On the plus side, Orr has set out Mason jar mugs and a large Mason dispenser for water. I just wish it had been cold. Nearby in the hallway, discreetly, are framed informational sheets raising awareness about human trafficking locally and statewide, an issue Orr is passionate about. People are so excited that were addressing this and providing information, Orr said Tuesday. That were not just a coffee shop. That its a place for people to both enjoy good food and good coffee, but also support something thats bigger than that. Orr opened the original Grace Coffee on State Street in May 2019 with her then-business partner, Carlos Falcon, but ended up leaving Grace after a few months. With its name and look, Mercies has a lot in common with Grace, now with six locations. Im very proud of Carlos and what hes doing and we are still very close, Orr told me in October. At Mercies, a coffee shop whose name came from a Bible verse, Orr is doing almost everything right. The passage talks about Gods mercy being new every morning, she said, referencing Lamentations 3:22-23. All I can say is that, in my book, any morning that starts with Mercies breakfast burrito or signature breakfast sandwich is a good morning. Diner's scorecard Restaurant: Mercies Coffee Location: 1748 Eagan Road Phone: 608-467-8017 Website: See Facebook or Instagram. Website in the works. Hours: Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Weekday hours will be extended until 5 p.m. as soon as the owner can hire more people. Prices: Breakfast $7 to $9, sandwiches $7 to $12, toast $6 to $8, smoothies $9, kids $6. Noise level: Medium Credit cards: Accepted Accessibility: Yes Outdoor dining: In warmer weather Delivery: Possibly in the future Gluten-free: GF bread available; sandwiches can be turned into salads; the homemade chocolate peanut butter cookies are flourless and dairy-free. Vegetarian offerings: Many Kids menu: Yes Parking: Large lot Service: Excellent Bottom line: Great food, coffee and atmosphere make Mercies a destination for breakfast or lunch. Read restaurant news at go.madison.com/restaurantnews Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in 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. A death investigation is underway on the West Side of Beloit, Beloit police said. Police urged people to avoid the area of the 1400 block of Madison Road starting around 2 p.m. on Wednesday. "There is no danger to the public at this time," police said on Facebook. "This is an active investigation and we will provide more details as we are able." Police spokesperson Sarah Lock said the department won't be providing an update on the investigation until late Thursday morning at the earliest. 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 Rock County man who admitted killing his 97-year-old grandmother, but was found not legally responsible for her death because of a mental disorder, was ordered committed for life Tuesday to the state Department of Health Services. Jamie B. Beggs, 37, was also ordered by Rock County Circuit Judge Barbara McCrory to be sent to a state mental institution where he would get treatment for schizoaffective disorder of the bipolar type. She declined to order him to take medications because hes taking them on his own now, but could add that order if he decides to stop. Beggs pleaded guilty earlier this month to first-degree intentional homicide for the June 14 stabbing and strangulation death of his grandmother, Kathleen N. Beggs, with whom he was living after being kicked out of his fathers home. She lived on a farm in the town of Center, about 12 miles west of Janesville. Under a plea agreement, it was stipulated that Jamie Beggs was mentally ill at the time of his grandmothers death and so he was found not legally responsible for the act. After his arrest, a criminal complaint states, Beggs talked with police about demons and how he had killed his grandmother to make her a saint. McCrory said the lifetime commitment, which should be at a minimum of 25 years until he can seek to end it, is appropriate because of Beggs criminal history, his serious mental health history and his inability to address his condition despite past trips to state mental hospitals. The seriousness of the consequences should Beggs not address his mental health condition was also a factor in the decision, McCrory said. To the victims in this case, there is nothing this court can do to bring your grandmother back, McCrory said. My heartfelt sympathy to you in losing her in such a way. I hope that you can continue to heal. I hope that this helps in some way, but Im not sure its going to because as youve said youve lost not only your grandmother but youve also lost Jamie to some extent at this point. A granddaughter of Kathleen Beggs, who was not identified by name in court, told McCrory that her grandmother was a tough, honest and independent woman and was able to look after herself on the farm even at her age, and even dolled herself up on a daily basis with her pearls and cashmere and always had her nails freshly painted. At Christmas, she said, it was hard to know whether family members could talk about her grandmothers death. None of us knew what to do, she said. Her uncles had watched over their mother, she said, with such great protection and admiration. They failed. You can see it in their eyes. No sentence or apology would fix it. I feel like I failed her, the granddaughter said. She was strong enough to watch over me, but I trusted that she knew what was best for herself. Fond memories of visits to talk about fashion and jewelry have been replaced by replays of her death, she said. I imagine her fighting back, looking at him with her beautiful blue eyes, thinking about how he could do this to her, she said. Beggs spoke briefly. I just hope everybody can find peace somehow, he said. Whatever you got in store for me, Ill take it. I just hope my family finds peace. My family that really knows me knows that that isnt me. I could never hurt my grandmother. I just hope that they find peace. 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 Madison Police Department named Thursday a man who allegedly ran from a crash earlier this month that killed a 14-year-old La Follette High School student and injured another child. Sardarius A. Goodall is facing tentative felony charges of hit-and-run involving death and hit-and-run involving great bodily harm stemming from the Jan. 15 two-vehicle crash on the Southwest Side, police spokesperson Stephanie Fryer said in an update Thursday. The crash killed Jeremiah Broomfield, a freshman at La Follette whose been described as a "dynamic personality," and seriously injured another 12-year-old boy in same vehicle, police have said. Both boys were passengers in the other vehicle, whose driver suffered minor injuries, according to police. Police have previously said witnesses reported seeing a man run from the scene of the crash on the 6200 block of Schroeder Road. The man, now identified as Goodall, was initially arrested on a probation hold. 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 Dodge County Sheriff's Office said a bank in the small community of Neosho was robbed Wednesday afternoon while no weapons were displayed or anyone injured during the robbery. In a statement, the Sheriff's Office said an alarm came in from the Horicon Bank one of the few businesses in the village of 591 around 3:20 p.m. Deputies responded to the village, which is about 45 miles east of Madison, and were able to confirm a robbery took place, the Sheriff's Office said, otherwise offering little additional information. "More information will be released as it is determined appropriate and as the investigation progresses," the statement said. "The residents in and around Neosho are believed to be safe." 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 Dane County jury ruled late Wednesday that a Madison woman did not act in self-defense in 2018 when she shot a man to death in a Downtown parking ramp. The jury of six men and six women deliberated for close to 19 hours over two days before finding Kenyairra I. Gadson, 24, guilty of first-degree reckless homicide for the Oct. 28, 2018, shooting death of Steven Villegas, 21, during a confrontation in the Frances Street side of the State Street Campus Garage. She faces up to 65 years of prison and extended supervision when she is sentenced at a later date by Circuit Judge Chris Taylor. The shooting happened as Freakfest wound down and Downtown bars closed. Chaos in the courtroom met the verdict. Supporters of Gadson and Villegas sat on opposite sides of the small courtroom. Members of Villegas family wept with relief, and one family member held her hands aloft and said repeatedly, Thank you, Lord. Gadsons supporters, upset by the verdict, hurled abuse at District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, who prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Tracy McMiller. A woman stood on a back bench, pointed and screamed abuse at Ozanne. Ismael Ozanne, were coming for you, she shouted. You better be ready. Bailiffs removed the woman and cleared the courtroom, while Taylor, attempting to maintain calm, excused the jury. The woman was not taken into custody, a bailiff supervisor said. When the session resumed, Taylor accepted the verdicts and entered judgments of conviction. Taylor also revoked Gadsons bail, ruling that the seriousness of the conviction and the loss of the presumption of innocence required it. Gadson had been free after community activists posted her $100,000 bail in July 2020. The jury began deliberating early Tuesday afternoon after hearing closing arguments in the case. Testimony had taken about two weeks. The jury went home about 9 p.m. Tuesday and returned Wednesday morning to resume deliberations before reaching a verdict around 8 p.m. Gadsons attorneys, state assistant public defenders Laura Breun and Matthew Giesfeldt, argued that Gadson was followed into the parking ramp by Donivan Lemons and others that included Villegas and she had no choice but to shoot Villegas to protect herself after he struck her cousin, Courtney Miller, then approached her. Villegas was not armed. Two groups meet Villegas, Lemons and the others were hanging out near the Red Shed on Frances Street when Gadson and her group arrived Downtown as Freakfest waned. Gadsons lawyers said Gadson was afraid of Lemons and had a long-running feud with him that had in part stemmed from Lemons role in naming Gadsons brother, Raequon Allen, as the man who had shot a friend of Lemons in the face with a flare gun in 2015. Gadson labeled Lemons a snitch. Gadsons lawyers said a series of confrontations between Lemons and Gadson occurred, some of which were punctuated by gunshots. Prosecutors said it was never shown that Lemons had ever brandished or fired a gun at Gadson during those confrontations. But that didnt matter, Giesfeldt said, because Donivan stands shoulder-to-shoulder with people who have guns. That line was repeated several times during Giesfeldts closing argument Tuesday. You do not get to shoot anybody who is standing with Donivan Lemons, McMiller responded during her closing argument. McMiller told the jury Tuesday that the confrontations with Lemons and his friends generally involved fistfights, not gunplay. If anyone escalated the bad blood, she said, it was Gadson, who appeared to make sure just days before the shooting that she got a gun back that she had loaned to another person. It was the defendant who brought the gun to the fistfight, McMiller said. Having been found delinquent of a felony-level juvenile crime years earlier, Gadson was not allowed to possess a gun. The jury also found her guilty of illegal gun possession, which carries up to 10 years of combined prison and extended supervision. McMiller argued Gadson isnt afraid of Lemons. She also said Gadson and her friends did not know Villegas and had never seen him before that night. Video evidence The shooting took place in the parking ramp away from any city or business surveillance camera, McMiller said, but Gadson, Lemons and their friends appear in many minutes of footage taken by street and business cameras. Not surprisingly, the two sides interpret events shown in the videos very differently. Prosecutors saw Gadson as fearlessly charging through Lemons group, egging him into a confrontation. After parking, Gadson, Miller and Mekayla Buckner walked out of the ramp and were spotted on Frances Street by Lemons and his group. The three returned to the ramp for several minutes, then went back out onto Frances Street and walked toward the Red Shed and Wandos before heading back, followed by Lemons, Villegas and others. Giesfeldt said Gadson, before heading out again to Frances Street, had waited several minutes for Lemons and his group to leave, but instead they waited there for Gadson, then later followed her back into the ramp where the fatal confrontation occurred. McMiller argued Gadson was never in danger of suffering great bodily harm if she did not shoot Villegas. A third-party witness who saw some of what happened testified Gadson pulled the gun from her waistband and not from the cars glove compartment, as Gadson had testified, and that Gadson moved toward Villegas before shooting him, not the other way around. Giesfeldt said after the shooting, Gadson was afraid and left the gun behind in the car, dumped the guns magazine in a trash can and walked away toward State Street. But McMiller argued that if Gadson was still afraid, she would have kept the gun, not knowing where Lemons could be. She could also have summoned one of the many police officers who were in the area that night for help, McMiller said. 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 incoming leader of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources policy board is questioning whether the agency should include a population target in its forthcoming wolf management plan. The agency began working last year to revise the states 15-year-old wolf management plan. Randy Johnson, the DNRs large carnivore specialist, told the Natural Resources Board Wednesday the agency plans to release a draft next month for public comment and have a finalized version ready for board review by this spring. Johnson said the plan will be based on factors including gray wolf ecology, human interaction and cultural significance and will be informed by 138 priorities advanced by stakeholder groups, which include conservation groups as well as representatives of the states 11 native tribes. Johnson said the agency has not determined whether to include a target population level or an outcome based objective, though there is consensus within the committee to minimize human-wolf conflicts. Defining what a healthy population is is a difficult thing to do, Johnson said. Board members appeared split on the value of a numeric target. Either a number or a range would be very important for this board, said Terry Hilgenberg. Unless you have a number or a range, youre kind of shooting in the dark. Greg Kazmierski, who was elected Wednesday as the boards new chair, suggested triggers to dictate when there are too many or too few wolves, similar to the way the state manages deer and bear populations, saying few people believe the agencys population estimates. I call it management by pain, Kazmierski said. If were feeling the pain, we need to move population in a downward direction to alleviate it. The current plan, adopted in 1999 and last updated in 2007, has a population goal of 350 wolves. The DNR estimates there were at least 1,034 wolves in the state as of April 2020, but the agency has not completed a population survey since hunters killed at least 218 wolves, exceeding combined state and tribal quotas, during a court-ordered hunt in February following removal of federal protections. With billions at stake, Wisconsin lawmakers seek to block power line competition Wisconsin's three transmission utilities would be able to block competitors from bidding on projects within their territories, which opponents say would boost their profits at ratepayers expense. Because that hunt occurred during the breeding season and later than any previously sanctioned hunt, wildlife officials said they could not accurately predict the impact to the population. Johnson said the DNR is analyzing data gathered during this winters survey and would release a revised population estimate this summer. This winters hunt mandated by state law when wolves are not listed as endangered was put on hold this fall by a Dane County judge who ruled the DNR must first update its management plan and adopt rules for setting quotas and issuing licenses. Second wildlife group boosts reward for tips on wolf poaching Wildlife groups are now offering $15,000 for tips leading to convictions for illegal wolf hunting. The state is facing a separate federal lawsuit from six Native American tribes that accuse the DNR of violating treaty rights and endangering an animal they consider sacred. The DNR received more than 15,000 public comments last spring split almost evenly between those with favorable and unfavorable views of wolves but with two-thirds of people saying it is important to maintain a wolf population in Wisconsin. 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. An attorney for Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Monday said he provided little guidance to former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman about how to respond to requests for public records related to his ongoing review of the 2020 election. At a hearing in Dane County Circuit Court Monday, Assembly staff attorney Steve Fawcett also testified he has not received weekly reports from Gableman on the review, which is required under the contract between the former justice and the state Assembly. Assembly Chief Clerk Ted Blazel also testified, but more than two hours of Mondays hearing focused on Fawcett. Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn noted Fawcett helped negotiate the Assemblys contract with Gableman and is listed as the former justices point of contact for the agreement. Bailey-Rihn again questioned why so few documents have been provided in the case, which was filed last year by liberal watchdog group American Oversight. Hes supposed to be doing weekly investigative reports, Bailey-Rihn said. Im just having difficulty believing that Mr. Gableman did nothing for three months and received payment. Fawcett said he has no idea whether Gableman has been compiling the weekly reports. Gableman was hired last summer by Vos, R-Rochester, to review the election at a cost of $676,000 to taxpayers. His contract expired at the close of December, but Vos has said he hopes to have the review finished by the end of February. The case stems from one of three ongoing lawsuits filed by American Oversight over public records requests the organization filed last year. Attorneys for American Oversight have asked that Vos be held in contempt for not releasing the records sooner, while attorneys for Vos have said all available records have been provided. Bailey-Rihn ordered Vos to turn over records last November. She said on Monday she will decide at a future date whether to hold Vos in contempt. She added on Monday that ultimately the buck stops with Mr. Vos and his office to produce relevant documents. Fawcett also said he did not try to obtain Gablemans records or ask him to provide documents in response to the initial request from American Oversight. Fawcett later said he notified Gableman of Bailey-Rihns November court order seeking the records; however, he added he could not remember whether he specified what records were requested. He also noted he does not know what parameters Gableman used when searching for records. Fawcett also said Gableman at times used text messages and a personal Yahoo email account to discuss his ongoing review. He added he does not know whether Gableman uses other means of communication such as Facebook Messenger or encrypted messaging apps such as Signal. In a separate case, Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington on Friday ordered Gablemans office to provide the court with documents responsive to a records request regarding his 2020 election review by Jan. 31. That order will only stand if the court has personal jurisdiction over the case, which the judge will review at a hearing Jan. 27. A recount and court decisions have affirmed that President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes. Similarly, reviews of the election by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau and the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty found no evidence of widespread fraud but did lead to recommendations on how elections can be improved. 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 request to rename the Fitchburg City Hall after former Mayor Frances Huntley-Cooper the first and still only elected African American mayor in Wisconsin history was met with a mixed response from City Council members Wednesday, with some arguing that city halls shouldnt be named after people at all. During the citys first discussion of the proposal, council members agreed that Huntley-Cooper is a trailblazer who deserves to be honored, but disagreed on how. A few said naming a park or building a statue would be better because legislative buildings are the peoples house. The name change hasnt been formally proposed, but a few council members said they planned draft a resolution that, if approved, would rename Fitchburg City Hall as the Frances Huntley-Cooper Municipal Building. On Wednesday, the council heard testimony from more than a dozen members of the public on the renaming, all of whom were in support. Among them were representatives of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, which started advocating for the change in November. We want to make sure that all kids have an opportunity to see somebody that looks like them and that they are celebrated in your city, Boys & Girls Clubs president and CEO Michael Johnson said. The meeting was informational, but three of Fitchburgs eight City Council members Alds. Joe Maldonado, Julia Arata-Fratta and Gabriella Gerhardt committed to supporting the name change. Asked what his position was, Mayor Aaron Richardson declined to take a stance. Ald. Jim Wheeler, 4th District, said he believes some buildings including fire stations, police stations and Capitol buildings should not be named after people, even the most highly qualified, such as Huntley-Cooper. He said doing so removes we the people from center stage. Im really torn. This is a house the peoples house. Its for everybody, Wheeler said. Should we elevate a person more than democracy? Wheeler suggested a statue of Huntley-Cooper outside of City Hall instead. Ald. Dave Herbst, 1st District, who felt similarly, suggested a park. Johnson said Huntley-Cooper was a public servant for all Fitchburg residents, so he doesnt think the renaming would detract from democracy. Gerhardt said even though it is rare for a city to name its city hall after a person, with Huntley-Cooper the honor is warranted. I think we should strongly consider that this might be the right choice for our community, Gerhardt said. Serving as Fitchburgs mayor from 1991 to 1993, Huntley-Cooper is the only Black person ever elected to lead a city in Wisconsin. The only other African American to serve as mayor was Marvin Pratt, who was acting mayor of Milwaukee in 2004. Before that, Huntley-Cooper had been a City Council member since 1987 and council president in 1990. She has won several awards for her work in government and was elected as a delegate for former President Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic Convention. Outside of elected office, Huntley-Cooper worked in social services and social work for nearly 30 years, including for the Department of Workforce Development and the Dane County Department of Human Services. She is now retired. Said Maldonado: Whether it be her career as social worker, her involvement in civic organizations and her work mentoring youth even after her retirement, I think having her name on our building is a very symbolic gesture of what our community can be. 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. Legal contracts signed by Republican legislative leaders with taxpayer-funded attorneys leading up to Wisconsins decennial redistricting process were entered into legally, the state Supreme Court decided Thursday. The 4-3 ruling comes as the Wisconsin Supreme Court prepares a decision on how the states next legislative and congressional district maps should be drawn a decision that could have major implications for state elections over the next decade. The lawsuit alleged Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, illegally signed contracts with two law firms more than a year ago. The lawsuit charged that because no redistricting litigation existed in the state at that time, state law doesnt allow for the Legislature to hire outside counsel at taxpayer expense. It appears that, at least with regard to redistricting, the majority of the Supreme Court has determined that the Legislature can hire outside counsel when it thinks it might have an interest in a lawsuit, Lester Pines, an attorney who is representing the taxpayers in the case, said Thursday. Its a disappointing decision. Chief Justice Annette Ziegler, who wrote the majority opinion, was joined by fellow conservative justices Rebecca Bradley, Brian Hagedorn and Patience Roggensack. Liberal justices Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Dallet and Jill Karofsky dissented. While the redistricting case is now underway, the courts ruling determined that the Legislature does have the authority to hire attorneys in anticipation of a lawsuit, rather than have to wait until after a formal legal challenge is launched. Pines said the ruling could set up a precedent for future preemptive attorney contracts and the state Department of Administration, which monitors state spending, will need to be the check and balance against this apparent unlimited power of the Legislature to spend whatever amount of money it wants whenever it thinks it might have a lawsuit that it might be involved in. The Legislature doesnt pay its own bills, the executive branch pays the bills and theyre going to have to look very carefully at whether the legislature is spending like a bunch of drunken sailors, which they will do if given the opportunity, he said. Vos and LeMahieu entered into a contract in December 2020 with the law firm Consovoy McCarthy for possible redistricting litigation and in January with Bell Giftos St. John for advice on legal requirements for redistricting as well as potential litigation. The Republican leaders argued they were justified in hiring the law firms, despite there being no current redistricting litigation, based on the Legislatures core power under the Wisconsin Constitution. In a 4-3 decision last summer, the state Supreme Court put on hold a previous ruling from Dane County Circuit Court Judge Stephen Ehlke that voided the legal contracts signed by the Republican legislative leaders with taxpayer-funded private attorneys to represent them in the anticipation of litigation over the states redistricting process. Ehlke last April granted the request filed by a taxpayer group that includes the head of the Madison teachers union, Andrew Waity. He also turned down a motion by the Legislature to put his ruling on hold, which the Supreme Court overturned a few months later. The Supreme Courts decision Thursday reversed Ehlkes ruling. 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. Research News Forward-thinking gym lifts weights, shifts attitudes The idea behind the UB study was to learn whether the benefits of reciprocal mentoring would appear in this context where people of different races and classes work in a provider-client relationship by providing meaningful engagement. By BERT GAMBINI This current racial moment in society exists because this country has spent trillions of dollars in segregationist policies and practices that keep people apart. Programs like ICWs can combat that investment. A gym in Boston, Massachusetts, with an inventive vocational path that prepares students to work as personal trainers serves as a telling example for how community-based programs can develop anti-racism practices within organizations that contribute to the cultivation of racial unity, according to a paper published by a UB social work researcher. Efforts like this can help break down segregation and begin moving society out of its current racial divide, says Christopher St. Vil, the papers author and an associate professor in the School of Social Work. These programs work. Intergroup contact theory is at the center of St. Vils study. This theory suggests that contact between different racial and class groups is an effective means of reducing bias and prejudice. Hundreds of papers have been published that support this idea, but that research has been conducted mostly through laboratory studies. St. Vil took the theory into the real world, exploring it qualitatively by speaking with the participants of the Boston program in order to expand understanding for how intergroup contact works in society. This study is one example of the effectiveness of programs that utilize intergroup contact to break down racial barriers, but the research also shows how Black and Brown men can serve in these programs that advance anti-racism practices that further diversity and inclusion, St. Vil says. His findings appear in the Journal of Community Practice. Much of St. Vils research represents a wide-angle look at cross-age peer mentoring, where older adolescents mentor their younger peers. Unlike traditional mentoring, where the mentee realizes most of the relationships benefits, cross-age peer mentoring provides reciprocal benefits, with the mentor realizing the same gains as the mentee, such as elevated self-esteem and improved connections in school and at home. Mentoring participants for this research often relied on identifying ideal students, but St. Vils work suggests similar results when mentors are selected from underserved populations. Thats why he went to Boston after hearing about Inner-City Weightlifting (ICW). ICW is a non-profit established in Boston in 2010. Its goal is curbing gun violence by extending opportunities to individuals who have engaged in gun violence or have been incarcerated. The gyms mission is twofold, and merges physical fitness with social justice. While the track to becoming a personal trainer fulfills the fitness passion, the second passion of social justice is grounded in improving the plight of Black and Brown men from marginalized communities and eradicating racism, stigmatization and prejudice through anti-racism work, says St. Vil. ICWs location is not public because of the need to navigate social situations that could lead to recidivism. Its a safe place, a place to work out, but it also teaches, prepares and pays for students interested in pursuing careers as credentialed personal trainers. St. Vil recruited 19 participants for the study: 10 trainers who completed ICWs preparation, all of whom were Black and Latinx ranging in age from 21 to 33, who would train clients at a gym in Cambridge. All nine clients for the study were white, between the ages of 29 and 80, and had college degrees, including seven with advanced or terminal degrees. The idea was to learn whether the benefits of reciprocal mentoring would surface in this context, where people of different races and classes work in a provider-client relationship, by providing meaningful engagement. Overall, the findings suggest that the intergroup contact facilitated by ICW resulted in a shift in worldview and attitudes of the clients, says St. Vil. Further, the shift in attitudes of the trainers included shifts in views around race and class, as well as behavior changes that included desistance of crime. St. Vil says additional research could explore whether the themes that emerged from his ICW study are as effective in other areas where there exist opportunities for bringing people of different races and classes together. This current racial moment in society exists because this country has spent trillions of dollars in segregationist policies and practices that keep people apart, he says. Programs like ICWs can combat that investment. Thats what it does. And thats what we need. ICW provides one example of an initiative bursting the bubble of racism that currently grips our society. Absentee ballot drop boxes come in various sizes, but theyre built of steel, locked, and emptied on a regular schedule by authorized personnel operating in teams. Supporters say they are as secure, if not more so, than U.S. Postal Service mailboxes. So why have Republicans launched multiple legal challenges against the use of the boxes in Wisconsin and elsewhere? The principal reason cited in court filings in Wisconsin is that nothing in state law expressly authorizes the state Elections Commission to issue guidance to clerks allowing them to set up the boxes. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, the conservative law firm that has filed multiple legal challenges against the use of drop boxes in the state, notes that state law says an absentee ballot shall be mailed by the elector, or delivered in person, to the municipal clerk issuing the ballot or ballots. Wisconsin voters, candidates, and election officials deserve certainty on the legal methods to cast an absentee ballot, WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said in a statement. At the same time, state law also doesnt forbid drop boxes. Proponents including the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Disability Rights Wisconsin, Wisconsin Faith Voice For Justice and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin say the boxes provide a safe, secure and accessible alternative to mailing in a ballot or voting in person during a pandemic. Hundreds of municipal clerks made use of the freestanding, mailbox-like structures in 2020 when there still wasnt a vaccine for COVID-19 and public health officials were warning against large gatherings, like at polling places. At the same time, the large number of absentee ballots requested that year, combined with cutbacks at the U.S. Postal Service, led many to worry their ballots wouldnt make it back in time if they were mailed. In Madison, 13 of the citys 14 drop boxes are located at fire stations, with one more at Elver Park, according to the city website. Ballots are retrieved from the boxes by two sworn election officials, who secure the ballots in a ballot bag with a tamper-evident seal and return them to the City Clerks Office. So what is the harm in allowing people to place their ballots in the boxes? In short, some Republicans argue that adding any unauthorized method for returning ballots opens the door to fraudulent activity, despite multiple reviews of the 2020 election finding no evidence of widespread fraud. And when clerks in largely Democratic areas like Madison make more use of the boxes than clerks in other areas, some conservatives have questioned if that provides an unfair advantage even though the boxes have been used throughout Wisconsin, including areas that voted heavily for Republicans. I think there is a much broader and concerted effort here to make it harder to vote and to cast doubt on our electoral process and I think this is just one piece of that bigger picture, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said. In its review of elections administration, the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau reported that, based on results from the nearly half of the 1,835 municipal clerks in Wisconsin who responded to an agency survey, the boxes had appeared in all corners of the state prior to the November 2020 election. Nearly 29% of respondents, or 245 clerks, said they had used the boxes, according to the Audit Bureau. According to a map the agency created, from 24 to 54 municipalities in each of seven regions of the state used them, including in the northeast and northwest parts of the state where former President Donald Trump won the vast majority of counties. In all, the boxes were in use in at least 43 cities, 46 villages and 156 towns, according to the Audit Bureau. 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. Former Marine Kevin Nicholson on Thursday launched his expected bid for Wisconsin governor, setting the stage for a likely heated and expensive GOP primary with fellow Republican and former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. Nicholson, an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump who launched his campaign website Thursday, has already clashed with Kleefisch and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Republican Party of Wisconsin chair Paul Farrow. Vos, R-Rochester, earlier this month called on Nicholson to not run for governor with hopes of avoiding a contested GOP primary, which could provide a leg up for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is seeking a second term this fall. Nicholson formally announced his campaign in an interview with WTAQ Thursday, describing it as an anti-establishment effort targeting both Democrats and entrenched Republicans alike. Our society is off track and everybody knows it, Nicholson said, adding later, We need people from the outside to step up and actually fight. We cant take Wisconsin to new heights if we elect a Governor from the same, tired political class that lacks the vision, ability, and will to fight for the future of our state, Nicholson said in a statement announcing his candidacy. Wisconsin needs someone with solutions to the problems plaguing our state and the leadership skills to implement those solutions. Kleefischs campaign and the Republican Party of Wisconsin did not provide comment on Nicholsons announcement Thursday. Nicholson, a business consultant, described his campaign as one aimed at re-establishing law and order, getting our schools back on track, and securing our messy elections. At least one conservative megadonor has already indicated his full support for Nicholson, who lost in the 2018 U.S. Senate Republican primary to state Sen. Leah Vukmir, who went on to lose to U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. Billionaire Richard Uihlein, CEO of Uline shipping company, issued a statement Monday strongly urging Nicholson to run for governor. The announcement comes after Uihleins wife, Elizabeth, donated $20,000 to Kleefischs campaign, as well as $200,000 to a political action committee supporting Kleefischs run for governor. Kevin is a born leader, Uihlein said in a statement. If he decides to run for Governor, he will have my full support and commitment to win the primary and general elections. A GOP battle While Nicholson and Kleefisch have traded barbs in the past, the battle for the GOP nomination in the Aug. 9 primary is likely to amplify the discourse between the two. After the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported comments made by Kleefisch last October expressing interest in hiring mercenaries to take on ballot-gathering activities in the state to compete with Democrats, Nicholson called the idea as dumb as a bag of hammers. Vos last week said Kleefisch should remain the most prominent Republican running for governor this fall. He also called on Nicholson not to run, noting that his entry could help Evers. On Thursday, Nicholson referred to Vos urging as taking political advice from Scooby-Doo. Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, said its likely the apparent divisions within the Republican Party are a setting of the stage or the conditions in which Nicholson and Kleefisch will have it out. Its unclear how much that will be part of the Republican primary, but its hard to believe it wont play any role, and it could play a pretty big role if Kleefisch and Nicholson appeal to different segments of that fracture in the GOP, Franklin said. Anthony Chergosky, UW-La Crosse assistant professor of political science, said a hotly contested primary could either benefit the eventual winner by drumming up support for the campaign, or push the winner further away from the ideals of general election voters. Voters in primaries are not at all representative of the general election voters, Chergosky said. Appealing to the primary election voters can certainly push a candidate outside of the mainstream. It can cause them to take positions that may alienate more middle-of-the-road voters. Dale Schultz, a former Republican state Senate majority leader who has bucked his party on various issues in the past, bemoaned the likelihood of a primary battle that serves to gin up the base, which he said ultimately fails to address the local issues that many voters care most about. Were going to see the Republican Party get further and further out on a limb with conspiracy theories, attempts to stir up the base and I think the general public is going to see this as a further shift toward extremism, Schultz said. I personally think its going to help Gov. Evers. Money pours in Nicholsons addition to the race will almost certainly push an already expensive gubernatorial race into likely historic levels of spending as Republicans look to unseat Evers, who is seeking reelection for the first time this fall. Evers and Kleefisch both announced their 2021 fundraising totals earlier this month, with the incumbent governor holding more than $10 million at the close of last year, while Kleefisch raised more than $3.3 million in the first four months of her campaign, which she launched in September. Both fundraising totals have been touted as record-breaking by their respective campaigns and underscore what could be unprecedented spending for a Wisconsin governors race. While Kleefisch has built a campaign directly targeting Evers, she first will need to go through her fellow GOP candidates in the Aug. 9 primary. On Monday, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the states largest business organization, endorsed Kleefischs campaign for governor. WMC president Kurt Bauer said on WISN conservative talk radio the last time the organization endorsed a primary candidate was in 2010, when it backed Scott Walker. The then-Milwaukee County executive and former legislator went on to serve two terms with Kleefisch as his lieutenant governor. Madison businessman Eric Hovde said earlier this month he also is weighing a potential bid for the Republican nomination. Former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, who will depart from his role as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System in March, has also indicated he may be considering a gubernatorial run, but said on Wednesday he has not made any firm decisions. Of the other Republicans already in the race, business owner Jonathan Wichmann reported raising just over $42,000 in the second half of last year. Former police officer and businessman Adam Fischer raised a little over $28,000 in the last six months of 2021. Independent candidate Joan Beglinger reported raising about $24,000 in the second half of last year, compared to about $850 raised by fellow independent Jess Hisel. 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. An appointee of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker has been selected to lead Wisconsins natural resources policy board. In a secret ballot, the board voted 4-3 Wednesday to appoint Greg Kazmierski to serve as chair for 2022. A hunting advocate and archery shop owner from Pewaukee, Kazmierski defeated board member Bill Smith, a retired Department of Natural Resources staffer appointed by Gov. Tony Evers in 2019. Kazmierski said the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the cancellation of in-person meetings, has inhibited the boards cohesion as a group. This board hasnt really gotten to know each other very well except on YouTube, he said. Im looking forward to getting this board to gel like we have in the past. Kazmierski, who has served on the board since 2011, will take over the leadership role from fellow Walker appointee Fred Prehn, who will continue serving as a board member. The last years have been, shall I say, interesting, Prehn said. Despite public pressure, the Wausau dentist has refused to step down since his term expired May 1, denying Evers appointee Sandra Naas a seat. Prehn argues he can continue serving until the Senate confirms Naas. The Republican-led Senate has made no moves to do that, ensuring Walker appointees majority control over the board, which will be asked to consider politically charged policy decisions, including approval of a new wolf management plan and the states first attempts to regulate toxic chemicals known as PFAS. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit in August asking the courts to force Prehn to step aside. The state Supreme Court has agreed to decide the case, though its unclear when the conservative-majority court will issue a decision. The court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on March 10. Senate Republicans have also stalled confirmation of Evers appointees to boards overseeing the higher education system, a move that could allow the GOP to quickly retake control if the party wins the governors race in November. Five of Evers picks for the state technical college system board are unconfirmed, with three of them unable to serve because Walker appointees have refused to vacate their seats even though their terms expired last spring. 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. With legislation and court challenges stalled, Wisconsin regulators have deadlocked on the legality of a financing mechanism that could expand access to clean energy. Two Public Service Commissioners disagreed Thursday on whether the states largest utility acted legally when it blocked an Iowa solar company from leasing solar panels to the city of Milwaukee. Eagle Point Solar won a contract in 2018 to install 1.1 megawatts of solar panels on municipal buildings to help the city meet its clean energy goals. But We Energies refused to allow the panels to be connected to its system, saying Eagle Point would be selling electricity to one of its customers in violation of its monopoly agreement. The utility later agreed to hook up panels on three of the seven sites after the city decided to buy rather than lease the panels. Eagle Point appealed the denial and asked the PSC to clarify whether a financing arrangement would make it a public utility. With billions at stake, Wisconsin lawmakers seek to block power line competition Wisconsin's three transmission utilities would be able to block competitors from bidding on projects within their territories, which opponents say would boost their profits at ratepayers expense. Commissioner Ellen Nowak agreed with We Energies position that the arrangement is illegal under current law. Eagle Point seeks permission to operate as a public utility ... in another public utilitys exclusive area, she said. Chair Rebecca Valcq said We Energies had no legal basis to deny the connection, which would allow electricity from the panels to flow onto the grid. What were talking about here are purely financial arrangements, Valcq said. These are scare tactics of a monopoly trying to hold on to the very last scraps of their monopoly. Citing his advocacy for third-party financing prior to joining the PSC, Commissioner Tyler Huebner recused himself from the decision, and the split vote resulted in no action on Eagle Points appeal. Representatives of Eagle Point and the city of Milwaukee did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. Follow the law We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said policies like third-party financing favor wealthy customers at the expense of those who cant afford solar. He said the utility will continue to urge the commission to follow the law. We Energies and other utilities have developed their own programs to lease customer rooftop space for utility-owned solar panels, recovering the costs with a 10% profit from all ratepayers. Clean energy and consumer advocates say utilities are standing in the way of a financing mechanism that could make solar energy available to more people, including residents who dont have thousands of dollars to pay up front and local governments, schools and nonprofits that cant benefit from federal tax credits. (We Energies) supports renewables that it can build itself and for which it can recover a return on equity, solar advocates wrote. And at the same time, (the company) seeks to block third-party financing that could open the door to affordable and accessible distributed self-generation by customers. Environmental advocates challenge PSC approval of MGE rates, WEC gas storage The Sierra Club says fixed charges -- the minimum monthly fee every customer pays to have an account -- included in rates authorized in November, are illegal and discriminatory. A hot potato Thursdays vote marked a turning point in the commissions willingness to engage on the issue. In 2019, Nowak and then-commissioner Mike Huebsch voted to deny Eagle Points request to rule on the legality of third-party financing, arguing that was a job for the Legislature. But the commission did agree to take up the narrower issue of the interconnection denial. Eagle Point then asked the courts to weigh in. A Dane County judge dismissed the case, throwing the issue back to the PSC, and Eagle Points appeal was also rejected. Cardinal-Hickory Creek: Judge blocks Mississippi River crossing for $492M power line 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. The commission is facing a separate lawsuit from clean energy advocates seeking to force it to allow third-party financing. Last year a pair of Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to allow third-party financing for solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. But the bills have yet to receive a hearing. Theyre not moving at this point, said one of the sponsors, Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay. Valcq said the commission has an obligation to evaluate connection agreements based on the existing law. Clearly to me the Legislature has not demonstrated an interest in taking this up. It has become a hot potato, Valcq said. We already have a statute in front of us that we have the expertise and experience interpreting. Nowak agreed that the commission can evaluate individual agreements on a case-by-case basis, but said this one was not legal. If Eagle Point wants the law changed ... they must petition the Legislature for a change in the law, she said. The Legislature has had the opportunity to modify it and they have chosen not to. 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 Madison School District has settled two labor complaints by the teachers union, allowing the district and the union to resume good faith talks over teacher base wages, both sides said. The district agreed to bargain directly with Madison Teachers Inc. after going around the union in a mailing this summer and admitted to sending a misleading email to employees regarding negotiations last month, according to the settlement agreement. Its important for us to continue to work collaboratively to ensure our students are at the center of everything we do, district spokesman Tim LeMonds said. Were prepared to go back in and engage in some additional discussions on cost-of-living adjustments in teacher wages, said Andy Waity, president of MTI. Waity and Ed Sadlowski, executive director of MTI, said teachers are relieved now that the two sides have reached a settlement. The tensions over the summer, its not what folks needed at this time, Waity said. Theres enough happening in the world thats causing stress. The first of the two complaints, filed in June, involved a survey sent by the district to teachers regarding potential budget cuts for the 2020-21 school year. The survey asked teachers if they would prefer a wage freeze or layoffs to stave off a potential $5 million to $9 million budget gap in the 2020-21 school year. The union said the district used the survey in an effort to bypass MTI as the bargaining representative and threatened to eliminate 92 full-time educator positions and change staffing plans for the fall unless the union agreed to no increase in base wages for this school year. When you have an employer surveying our members directly, Would you accept a zero base-wage adjustment in exchange for not laying off staff. It was a matter-of-fact violation of the law, Sadlowski said. The pattern of behavior, we thought, was egregious enough we had to call (them) on it. The second complaint, filed in December, involved an email sent by the district to employees that falsely asserted the School Board and MTI ratified an agreement to increase base wages for staff by 0.5%. Peter Davis, an attorney with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, said he anticipated both complaints would be resolved without the need for a hearing or decision from WERC. These parties have historically worked out their differences without the need for litigation, and hopefully that will become the pattern again going forward, he said. 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. TWIN FALLS Jan Rogers was appointed Thursday as the new interim executive director of Southern Idaho Economic Development. Rodgers has a history with the organization. She served as the founding executive director from 2001 to 2015. During that time she worked with city and county officials to bring in more than 30 companies and numerous business expansions. Southern Idaho Economic Development is excited to welcome Jan Rogers as our interim director, said Dan Olmstead, SIED board chair, in a press release. Jans broad economic development experience, regional relationships, and her 15-year previous history with SIED will serve our economic development efforts in the region very well. Connie Stopher, the most recent executive director, stepped down on Nov. 5 to take a similar position with the Economic Development Coalition based in Temecula, California. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 HEYBURN A crowd turned out Wednesday for the Idaho Transportation Departments unveiling of possible new designs for two Interstate 84 interchanges. The Exit 208 interchange for Burley and Exit 211 interchange for Heyburn were built in 1961. ITDs first public meeting for the projects was held Wednesday at the Minidoka County Fire Protection Districts building to get public comment on the options. I think these projects are long overdue, Heyburn resident Edward Gemar said. I think it is needed, especially at the Heyburn one because of the way trucks backup waiting to turn onto the highway to get to Loves. They have to wait because there is no light there. If they dont do anything else it will be worthwhile to put those traffic signals in. People who were unable to attend the meeting can review the information and comment on the options for each exit online at i84burleyandheyburn.com. The project, which is still in the design phase, includes redesigning the 208 and 211 interchanges so they continue to meet the heavy freight traffic, business, economic development and motorists needs, ITD spokesperson Jessica Williams said. Tonight we are bringing this to the public to present the different design options along with the benefits and challenges of each, Williams said. The public comments will be combined with technical analysis to reach a decision on which option will be used. There are no preferred options at this point, Williams said. Crystal Craig, deputy program manager for ITDs bonding office, said the funding for the projects will come through Gov. Brad Littles Leading Idaho Initiative, which changed the use of sales tax. The change raised the amount of sales tax ITD can use for projects from 1% to 4.5%, which will yield $80 million a year. All of the projects in the program will be geared towards expansion, increasing capacity and mobility along with safety. We wont be using the money for projects like chip seal or repainting roads, Craig said. Craig said ITD plans to leverage the sales tax money through a bonding program called Transportation Expansion Capacity Mitigation (TECM) and the program will have its first bond sale this year. A second public meeting will be held for the projects in 2023 prior to the start of a 2024 construction phase. The engineers have designed four options for each exit: Burley option 1, enhanced existing: Would include improving the loop ramp, adding new traffic signals at both intersections and lengthening acceleration lanes at four ramps. The challenges would be the westbound off-ramp is sharp for high speed and the project must extend further west for an acceleration lane for westbound on-ramps. Burley option 2, westbound loop ramp: Would realign southbound to westbound on-ramp, improve loop ramp, lengthen acceleration lanes at four ramps, construct Idaho Highway 27 bridges beside existing ones and add signals at both intersections. The challenges would be the westbound off-ramp design is sharp for high speeds, adding curves to Idaho 27 is undesirable, and northwest improvements are very close to the right-of-way and will require retaining walls. Burley option 3, tight diamond: Would eliminate loop ramp, soften off-ramp curves and add new signals at both intersections. Challenges include wider bridge would be required to accommodate left turns lanes on Idaho 27 accessing ramps, which would increase costs. Burley option 4, diverging diamond: Would eliminate loop ramp, soften off-ramp curves and add signals to both intersections. The challenge is the interchange type may require a learning period for drivers. Heyburn option 1, enhanced existing: Would improve curves and ramp lengths for all ramps, add eastbound and westbound I-84 merging lanes, add signals at on and off ramps, add a third lane to eastbound and westbound I-84 bridges and have a speed limit of 45 mph on Idaho Highway 24. The challenges would be it requires retaining walls and longer structures on I-84 to span the canal, railroad and the highway, which would increase costs. Heyburn option 2, tight diamond northbound Idaho 24: The features would include realigning northbound Idaho 24, a posted speed of 40 mph on Highway 24, adding a bridge over the interstate for northbound Idaho 24 traffic and signals at on and off ramps. Challenges would be the design features, including bridges over the interstate and railroad, walls and fill material, which would increase costs, the connection from southbound Idaho 24 to westbound I-84 would require longer driving distance and there would be three signals for westbound I-84 traffic heading south on Idaho 24. Heyburn option 3, tight diamond north and south Idaho 24: The option would realign both sides of Idaho 24, the posted speed limit on Idaho 24 would be 40 mph, and the option would include a bridge over I-84 and signals at ramps. The challenges would be the design features, including the bridge, which would increase costs. Heyburn option 4, tight modified rotary: Features would realign northbound Idaho 24, the speed limit on Idaho 24 would be 35 mph, Idaho 24 traffic goes over I-84 and includes signals at ramps. The challenges would include the bridges over the interstate and railroad, walls and fill material, which would greatly increase cost and the connection from southbound Idaho 24 to westbound I-84 would create a longer driving distance. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 BOISE Idahos 2021 high school graduation rate fell to 80.1% after a year rocked by COVID-19. The number represents a 2 percentage point drop from 2020, when the rate climbed from 80.7% in 2019 to 82.1%. The State Board of Education in April of 2020 directed schools to close through the end of that academic year to slow the spread of COVID-19. Some learning shifted online, but the state waved some graduation requirements, such as completion of senior projects. Challenges tied to the pandemic continued into 2021, as educators here and nationwide grappled with transitions to remote and hybrid learning. Those issues likely fueled declines in at least 20 other states in 2021, halting nearly two decades of nationwide progress toward getting more students diplomas, Chalkbeat reported Monday. On Tuesday, state superintendent Sherri Ybarra linked Idahos 2021 drop to COVID-19. The traditional four-year graduation rate for the Class of 2021 shows the impacts of the pandemic, not surprising considering COVID-19 disrupted both the junior and senior years for these students, Ybarra said in a statement Tuesday. EdNews requested statewide graduation rates on Jan. 10 from Ybarras State Department of Education. The SDE sent the information Tuesday afternoon, two hours before Ybarras prepared statement. Heres a look at the rate since 2017: 2017, 79.9% 2018, 80.6% 2019, 80.7% 2020, 82.1% 2021 80.1% Numbers released Tuesday show declines among various at-risk and student minority groups from 2020 to 2021: The number fell from 75.7% to 71.8% among Hispanic and Latino students, Idahos largest student minority group. The grad rate among these students increased by nearly 2 percentage points in 2020. The rate dropped from 59% to 55.8% for students with disabilities. These students saw a 3 percentage point increase in 2020. The grad rate for English language learners dropped from 64.6% to 61.1%. This groups rate fell by nearly 10 percentage points in 2020. Migrant students saw rates fall from 70.3% to 63.7%. The number increased by 6 percentage points in 2020. Idahos 2021 graduation rate fell well short of the states 2021 goal of 92.4%. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 TWIN FALLS Growth in the city has increased attendance at some schools, and the school district has developed a plan to prevent overcrowding at one elementary by shifting attendance zones for two schools on the north part of Twin Falls. At a meeting on Wednesday night, the school district presented a plan to the Board of Trustees that proposed adjusting the attendance zones for Rock Creek Elementary and Perrine Elementary. If approved, the shift would become effective for the 2022-2023 school year, and would divert about 85 students from Rock Creek to Perrine Elementary. There will be an open house to provide information and take feedback on the proposal at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3 at Perrine Elementary. The school board could make a decision about the change at its Feb. 14 meeting. With about 690 students in attendance at Rock Creek Elementary, the school is nearing its maximum capacity of 700 students. Perrine has about 490 students, out of a maximum capacity for 670 students. Superintendent Brady Dickinson said doing nothing at this point was not an option. Were going to be overcrowded at Rock Creek. Its imminent, Dickinson said. Were just at a point where we need to relieve some pressure. Dickinson said affected families could make transfer requests to the district that would allow their children to remain at their current school. The school district owns some land in the north part of the city, and has the option in the future of building a new elementary school. By adjusting the attendance boundaries the district is hoping to buy some time and fill the current schools before looking into the option of asking taxpayers to help pay for a new building Operations Director Ryan Bowman said shifting the attendance zones for the two schools was the minimum the district could do to address the question of how to balance school populations. It will relieve some pressure, said Bowman. Its not a permanent fix, but it buys us some time. The shift of the two schools attendance zones is greatly scaled back from an earlier proposal explored two years ago to adjust the boundaries of school zones across the district. In the previous proposal, which was brought forth in March of 2020, school boundaries for all Twin Falls elementary schools would have been altered to move students from the two new schools, which have filled faster than anticipated, to the districts older schools. The pandemic lockdowns took place the same week the school board was preparing to take public input on the proposals, and the process was put on hold. Since then, school enrollments saw some fluctuations during the pandemic, with some parents choosing to school their children from home. Temporary changes to enrollment and attendance have made it tricky to predict student growth district wide, so administrators chose to focus on relieving the likely overcrowding of Rock Creek. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 BOISE The court proceedings for a public records lawsuit against Rep. Priscilla Giddings, R-White Bird, wont take place until after the adjournment of this legislative session, according to legal representatives. Giddings, who is running for lieutenant governor, is the subject of a civil complaint filed by Erika Birch, a Boise attorney who represents the 19-year-old legislative intern who accused former Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger of rape in April. Birchs complaint states she sent a public records request to Giddings on Aug. 19, 2021, for any written or electronic communications between Giddings and von Ehlinger that were related to her client, who is referred to as Jane Doe to protect her identity. Birchs request encompassed the ethics committee complaint and hearing involving von Ehlinger in March, as well as the ethics complaint and hearing for Giddings in August. Her request also included communications between Giddings and David Leroy, an attorney who briefly represented von Ehlinger during the ethics investigation. The Idaho Statesman was first to report on the complaint. Two days after Birchs request, Giddings responded to Birch by saying, My office does not have any public record related to your request that isnt already public. I have asked the Legislative Services Office to search their databases as well. My office considers this request closed. In an emailed response, Birch said she did not know what Giddings meant by her statement and cited two sections of Idaho Code related to the Idaho Public Records Act that Birch said Giddings did not follow with her response, including identifying a statutory authority for the denial of the request. According to the complaint, Giddings did not respond after Birchs follow-up email. Birch then sent an email in December reiterating her request to avoid initiating a lawsuit that also went unanswered, according to Birch. Giddings could not be reached for comment by the Idaho Capital Sun. She has posted about the lawsuit on her campaign page on social media. This lawsuit is over a public records request for records that dont exist, she wrote. The legislative services office even searched all my files and found nothing related to their request. Lawsuit is over process and compliance with the law, Boise attorney saysUnder Idahos Public Records Act, the request would include letters, emails, text messages, chats, instant messages or any other communication, whether or not it took place on state-run devices or platforms. If the content of the messages was about Jane Doe or the ethics committee proceedings, the records would be subject to public disclosure. Wendy Olson, who is representing Birch in the civil suit, said it doesnt matter whether the documents exist or not. The request was made for public records, and then rather than responding substantively, Rep. Giddings responded the way she did, Olson said. Thats not an appropriate response under the public records law, so the purpose of the lawsuit is to enforce the (law). In Idaho, legislators can invoke a constitutional privilege against civil suits during a legislative session, and Giddings has taken that option, Olson said. We want the records, we want an appropriate response to see if there are any records, and we have agreed with the (Idaho) Attorney Generals office to hold off on resolving this issue until the completion of the legislative session, Olson said. According to court documents, Deputy Attorney General W. Scott Zanzig has been assigned to represent Giddings in the case, but the office declined to comment on the matter. Based on the pending nature of the litigation, our office will not have comment beyond the contents of the court filings, spokesman Scott Graf said. Boise attorney has also filed civil complaint against the Idaho LegislatureThe Idaho House of Representatives voted 49-19 to censure Giddings in November, following the recommendation of the Ethics on House Policy Committee that was formally issued in September. Republicans and Democrats in the House lodged a complaint against Giddings over the summer that said she engaged in conduct unbecoming of a legislator. On her Facebook page, Giddings posted a link to a blog that named and included the photo of the intern who said von Ehlinger raped her. Von Ehlinger, who represented the Lewiston area and resigned his legislative seat following the ethics hearings on his behavior, was arrested on felony charges of rape and forcible penetration with a foreign object on Oct. 8. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in November, and the case is scheduled to go to a jury trial on April 26. Von Ehlinger has maintained his innocence and testified before the ethics committee in April that the sexual contact was consensual. Birch has also filed a civil suit against the Idaho Legislature on behalf of Jane Doe, citing a violation of the Respectful Workplace Policy, emotional distress and defamation of Does character. According to reporting from the Idaho Statesman, the tort claim filed in September against the Legislature also mentioned Giddings Facebook post that revealed Does identity. The claim also stated von Ehlinger and his attorney, Leroy, were told that they should not identify Doe, but claims Leroy did release her information. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 It's a great place to visit or shop The new street is nice but shops have disappeared I have no reason to go there Vote View Results BOISE Idaho is once again in a health care crisis. The states health and welfare director on Monday announced he re-activated Idahos crisis standards of care rationing protocol that morning. Saint Alphonsus Health System requested the activation last week, and Idaho Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen convened the Crisis Standards of Care Activation Advisory Committee virtually on Jan. 21, according to a news release Monday. This crisis declaration applies only to Southwest District Health, Central District Health and South Central District Health, which surround the Boise-Nampa metro area, the Twin Falls metro area and the Ketchum-Sun Valley area. Other regions of the state are likely to move into crisis standards, too, if current COVID-19 trends continue, the release said. The highly contagious Omicron variant has thrown us a curve ball, Jeppesen said in the release. Once again, the situation in our hospitals and health systems is dire we dont have enough resources to adequately treat patients. Please get vaccinated and boosted if you can and wear a high-quality protective mask in public places. Omicron is so much more contagious than previous variants, and even though a lower percentage of cases are ending up in the hospital, the record number of cases is still putting strain on our healthcare system. The health care rationing protocol is meant to help health care providers make decisions on how to use scarce resources. It does not mean that patients will be left to die. The states prior crisis declarations from early September through late December resulted from a surge of unvaccinated, critically ill patients with the delta coronavirus variant. There were too many sick patients, and not enough hospital staff or beds. Other states, including Montana, were driven to crisis standards by the delta surge. Now, Idahos neighbor Washington is also teetering on the edge of crisis standards as omicron surges there. This crisis is more complicated. Not only do hospitals have too many patients coming in with COVID-19, and not enough nurses and beds for all of them, hospital workers themselves are out for COVID-related reasons. Jeppesen said this month that 10 times as many (hospital) staff are out now as they were at the end of December, during the delta surge, which made the staffing struggles worse. Idaho hospitals on Sunday reported 510 patients with COVID-19. Idaho Deputy State Epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Turner recently shared data showing that omicron infections are more than 2.5 times more prevalent among Idahoans who arent fully vaccinated; and, even with breakthrough cases, that divide between vaccinated and not is growing fast. What you can do Idahoans can help in this crisis. You can donate blood (see other box). You can volunteer to help as part of Idahos Medical Reserve Corps. You can send a card to health care workers at facilities in your community, to let them know theyre appreciated and not alone in this fight. You can get your COVID-19 vaccine or booster, if youre already vaccinated and get your annual flu shot. Hospitals also dont have enough blood to give people who need a transfusion, causing a shortage of that lifesaving resource. Idaho Division of Public Health Administrator Elke Shaw-Tulloch this month issued a plea to the public to donate blood. According to the American Red Cross, we are facing the worst blood shortage in over a decade, posing concerning risks to our patient care, Shaw-Tulloch said. I have my appointment to donate blood tonight, and I encourage you all to make an appointment today. Blood products help patients survive and recover from a wide variety of injuries and illnesses, from women who lose blood in childbirth, to car crash and burn victims, to cancer patients. How to donate blood Whether youre a first-time blood donor or a seasoned pro, you can help by donating blood. Visit redcrossblood.org for more information and to find a local blood drive. Dr. James Souza of St. Lukes Health System, in a recent media briefing, echoed that call to action. Were doing everything we can, he said, explaining that St. Lukes was taking steps to ration blood products and postponing elective surgeries that can create a need for blood transfusions. On top of hospital staffing, bed and blood shortages, there is a logjam of patients in Idahos hospitals. Long-term care and rehabilitation centers cant take patients who are ready to leave the hospital, but not ready to go home. That is dramatically slowing the movement of patients through the hospital, Jeppesen said this month. The reason is that long-term care facilities are struggling in general just to hire staff coupled with (high rates of COVID-19) among their staff, causing them to be out of work, Jeppesen said. The staffing problems are worse than at any point before in the pandemic, he said. That is actually causing patients who are ready for discharge to stay at hospitals until either something opens up at a long-term care facility or they get well enough that they can be discharged to home, he said. So, that causes them to be housed at the hospital. The following students have been recognized by their schools for their accomplishments Morgan Whittemore Morgan Whittemore of Marion earned the distinction of Faculty Honors for Fall 2021 at the Georgia Institute of Technology. This designation is awarded to undergraduate students who have earned a 4.0 academic average for the semester. The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts and sciences degrees. Its nearly 40,000 students, representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry and society. Gena Huff Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute, which has campuses in Hudson and Boone, has released its presidents, deans and honors lists for the fall 2021 semester. For inclusion in the presidents list, a student must be full-time and have a grade point average of 4.0. For the deans list, a student must be full-time and have earned a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Part-time students who earn a 3.5 grade point average or higher qualify for the honors list. Gena Huff of Marion made the deans list for fall 2021. Landen Smith Landen Smith of Nebo has been named to the 2021 fall quarter deans list at Palmer College of Chiropractics Florida campus in Port Orange, Fla. Palmer College of Chiropractic, the first and largest college in the chiropractic profession, has campuses in Davenport, Iowa; San Jose, Calif.; and Port Orange, Fla. Alexander Smith Alexzander Smith of Marion was named to the Gardner-Webb University honor roll for the 2020 fall semester. Smith is a freshman majoring in biology. The honor roll is composed of undergraduate college students with a grade point average of 3.5 who are enrolled for 12-14 hours with no grade below a C, or students with a grade point average of 3.2 who are enrolled for 15 or more hours with no grade below a C. The university commends Smith for this significant scholastic achievement in higher education. Israeli President Isaac Herzog will make an official visit to Turkey at the beginning of February, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday evening. This visit could open a new path in relations between Turkey and Israel, said President Erdogan during an interview with Turkish private television NTV, indicating that he was ready to take steps towards Israel in all areas, including natural gas. The rapprochement between the two countries has already begun for several weeks through telephone exchanges in particular, between Erdogan and Israeli leaders. Last week, the Turkish president said he was ready to cooperate with Israel on a gas pipeline project in the eastern Mediterranean, thus marking Ankaras desire to renew ties with Tel Aviv. This new gas pipeline project would bring gas from the Eastern Mediterranean to Europe. Turkey had previously strongly opposed a similar project in which Israel and its historical rival, Greece, were associated. Named EastMed, it was backed at the time by former US President Donald Trump. But according to the Israeli and Turkish media, Washington would have warned Athens that it no longer supported this project because of the tensions it caused with Ankara. Erdogan then mentioned talks with Israeli President Herzog and hinted that he could visit Turkey. Prime Minister (Naftali) Bennett also has a positive approach, he assured. Relations between Ankara and Israel had been strained since the Mavi Marmara incident in 2010, when Israeli forces launched a deadly assault on a Turkish ship trying to deliver aid to Gaza. Both countries recalled their ambassadors in 2018 after Palestinian protesters died in Gaza. Qatar is planning to launch its first green Fund as it aims to secure Environmental, Social, and Governance funding, reports say. The ministry of finance, Bloomberg reports, is in contact with global banks in an attempt to accrue billions of dollars via green bonds. The Gulf country is set to appoint several banks to develop a plan on how the money is going to be spent. A potential deal with state owned petroleum firm Qatar Energy could be sealed soon, Bloomberg notes. The tiny gas-rich country aims to cut emissions by 25 percent by 2030. The Gulf country is investing an estimated $30 billion to increase production capacity by 50 percent in the upcoming six years. King Mohammed VI of Morocco chaired Thursday, in the province of Benslimane, the launching ceremony of the works for the realization of a manufacturing plant for Covid-19 and other vaccines, a structuring project which, in the long term, will contribute to ensure the vaccine sovereignty of the Kingdom and the African Continent as a whole. This industrial unit is in line with the vision of the King to position the Kingdom of Morocco as a key biotechnology hub in Africa and in the world, capable of meeting the health needs of the continent in the short and long term, by integrating pharmaceutical research, clinical development, manufacturing and marketing of biopharmaceutical products of great necessity. It should eventually mobilize an investment of approximately 400 to 500 million euros. The Benslimane project consists of setting up a plant for the manufacture and syringing of vaccines (anti-Covid and other vaccines), with 3 industrial lines whose combined production capacity will reach 116 million units in 2024. These lines will be dedicated to the production of pre-filled syringes, liquid vials and lyophilized vials. The projected investment is approximately 200 million, and the start of production of the trial batches is scheduled for July 30, 2022. The project, which is the result of a public-private partnership, including the support of one of the world leaders in biotechnology and the Fill & Finish industry, the Swedish company Recipharm, will ensure the Kingdoms self-sufficiency in vaccines and make the country a leading biotechnology platform on the African continent and the world in the field of the fill & finish industry. Named SENSYO Pharmatech, the industrial unit, the largest platform by capacity of Fill & Finish of vaccines in Africa, will eventually become one of the first 5 in the world. This large-scale project aims, in the medium term (2022-2025), to transfer the aseptic filling and active substance manufacturing of more than 20 vaccines and bio-therapeutic products, including 3 anti-Covid-19 vaccines, to Morocco in less than 3 years, covering more than 70% of the Kingdoms needs and more than 60% of those of the Continent. It is planned in this framework the transfer to Morocco of advanced biotechnology platforms, including clinical research, development and production of cell and gene therapies, stem cells, and advanced in vitro diagnostic technologies. The project aims, in the long term (2023-2030), the creation of an African Pole of biopharmaceutical and vaccine innovation in Morocco recognized worldwide and this, within the framework of a partnership between major international players in the fields of research and development of advanced technologies in vaccines and bio-therapeutic products and all Moroccan institutions of supervision, including the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Industry and Finance. A massive and continuous transfer of know-how is planned to position the Kingdom in the next 5 years as the continents locomotive in research, development and production of advanced biopharmaceutical products. It should be noted that today, thanks to the mobilization of aseptic filling lines available locally in Morocco as well as the transfer of the filling of vials in clean room of the vaccine against Covid-19 of Sinopharm to Morocco, the Kingdom produces more than 3 million doses locally per month. Production capacity will increase to about 5 million doses starting in February 2022 and to more than 20 million doses per month by the end of 2022. By 2025, Morocco will be able to produce more than 2 billion doses of vaccine. On this occasion, the King chaired the signing ceremony of the investment agreement for the realization of the manufacturing unit of anti Covid-19 and other vaccines, in Benslimane. It was signed by Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Economy and Finance, Nizar Baraka, Minister of Equipment and Water, Khalid Ait Taleb, Minister of Health and Social Protection, Younes Sekkouri, Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills, and Mohcine Jazouli, Minister Delegate for Investment, Convergence and the Evaluation of Public Policies. It was also inked by Othman Benjelloun, president of the company Sensyo Pharmatech, Said Ahmidouch, Wali of the region of Casablanca-Settat, Samir Lyazidi, Governor of the province of Benslimane, aoufiq Moucharraf, Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and Abdellah Kabiri, Director of the industry pole at the National Office of Electricity and Drinking Water. With the launch of this project, Morocco, under the enlightened leadership of King Mohammed VI, is taking another step towards effective and proactive management of the pandemic crisis and its consequences. Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita said that one of Moroccos priorities is to ensure the spiritual security of Moroccans and of Africans against Irans threats and ambitions on the continent. During parliamentary debates last week on a report by the Foreign Affairs Committee, the head of Moroccan diplomacy focused on the question of the spiritual security of Moroccans and Africans. Nasser Bourita affirmed that Iran is trying to interfere in Africa, especially in West Africa, by propagating its Shiite current, and to sow instability in other spots, through the financing and arming of rebels as it does with in Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon. He recalled in this connection that the harmful influence of Iran was evidenced in the recent attack by the Houthi rebels from Yemen that targeted the United Arab Emirates. This attack was denounced by the entire international community. Moroccos support for what the emirate of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates suffered was a clear message to denounce the abuses of the Houthis and the policy of Iran which is financing and arming these rebels, he said. Morocco severed diplomatic ties with Iran in 2018 after it was discovered that Teheran was supporting the Algeria-backed Polisario Front. Rabat announced that it had discovered that Iran was supervising military exercises by the separatist group through elements of Hezbollah, its other strategic ally in Lebanon. The head of Moroccan diplomacy recalled that Morocco had a strong and deep presence in its African dimension, deeming it important that the cultural dimension in Africa be preserved. Agreements with a cultural dimension can contribute to the restoration of cultural monuments on the African continent, declared Mr. Bourita, adding that Morocco has many tools of influence at the international level through the mechanisms of religion, culture and security. These international agreements signed with several countries in Africa but also in Latin America, reflect the extent of the diversity of the tools of Moroccos international influence, added the minister. Marie-Elena studied creative writing, art, and photography at University of Nebraska at Omaha, graduating with a BA in Studio Art -Visual Media. She moved to California from Nebraska in 2019 and is happy to call Calaveras County her home. Comment Policy Calaveras Enterprise does not actively monitor comments. However, staff does read through to assess reader interest. When abusive or foul language is used or directed toward other commenters, those comments will be deleted. If a commenter continues to use such language, that person will be blocked from commenting. We wish to foster a community of communication and a sharing of ideas, and we truly value readers' input. On Tuesday, the parliamentary budget committee blocked a request for military funding. The money was for the Ugandan armys military operation in eastern Congo called Shujaa. The soldiers officially entered the DRC on December 3 to attack the Ugandan rebel group ADF. But the Ministry of Defence did not consult parliamentarians beforehand, leading to the anger of elected officials, who have slapped it in the face. Parliamentarians didnt take kindly to being presented with a fait accompli when Ugandan soldiers entered the Congo. So on Tuesday, when defense officials came to them asking for $26 million to fund Operation Shujaa, members of the budget committee made their disagreement clear. Parliament is still waiting for explanations. And now you are asking us for 26 million. But on what basis? In my opinion, this money should be blocked until we are informed. See this casualness, as if it were their own private company. No, no, no and no, says Ibrahim Semujju Nganda, from the Kira constituency. The money is supposed to finance logistics, military and communications equipment and salaries. But the parliamentarians are still questioning the opacity of the operation. The Parliament is even entitled to know the exit strategy of our troops from Congo. But here, we dont even know how many soldiers have been sent, how many have died, or how many have been captured by the terrorists, said opposition MP John Baptiste Nambeshe. The Minister of Defence has acknowledged a lack of communication, explaining that it was necessary to surprise the enemy. However, the freezing of this money should not jeopardize the operation. Credit: Springer Countries in sub-Saharan Africa have experienced considerable political and social instability. They also have the highest rates of HIV/AIDS and malaria globally, resulting in a myriad of physical and cognitive consequences for young people. The burden of mental health problems among children and adolescents in Africa is significant, and the treatment gap in mental health is widening. Mental health policy in the region is also at an early stage and needs context-specific attention to its successes and shortcomings. A trio of Brown School researchersProfessors Mary McKay and Professor Fred Ssewamala, with Research Assistant Professor Ozge Sensoy Baharco-edited a recently published book highlighting the emerging research and policy efforts to address child and adolescent behavioral health in sub-Saharan Africa. Titled "Child Behavioral Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Towards Evidence Generation and Policy Development," the book brings together accomplished researchers, practitioners, and leaders both from the region and the U.S. to examine evidence-based, culturally appropriate child and adolescent behavioral health research from the region; highlight intervention research and dialog on what works to improve child and adolescent behavioral health; and offer insights on how to advance child and adolescent behavioral health in policy, research, and practice. "This unique and timely book will be a valuable resource to individuals and organizations that are committed to improving child behavioral health and strengthening mental health service models for a healthier future for children and their families in the region," said Ssewamala, the William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor. Ssewamala has spent years designing economic empowerment interventions in Sub-Saharan Africa that address children and adolescents' health, mental health, and educational outcomes. This book is the first work of its kind with an exclusive focus on the understudied region of Sub-Saharan Africa. The chapters highlight the current state of policy and research evidence both in the region as a whole and in country-specific contexts, including Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. McKay, the newly appointed vice provost of interdisciplinary initiatives, said the book brings together the critical work being done by colleagues in Sub-Saharan Africa and the U.S. who are committed to generating research evidence and policy to improve children's well-being in the region. "It outlines the current state of child behavioral health in Sub-Saharan Africa and provides a framework for next steps in research, policy and practice," she said. The book was inspired by the team's work at the Brown School's SMART Africa Center (Strengthening Mental Health and Research Training) and the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD), which have field offices in Uganda. The book is a collective effort to draw attention to the importance of investing in child and adolescent behavioral health in sub-Saharan Africa, where children and adolescents make up more than half of the population. Explore further Adolescent sexual and reproductive health research is patchy in Africa Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new Yale study found that child care programs in the United States that practiced child masking early in the COVID-19 pandemic (May-June 2020) experienced a 13% reduction in program closure within the following year, and continued child masking throughout the one-year study period was associated with a 14% reduction in program closure. The first-of-its-kind study of child masking, publishing Thursday in JAMA Network Open, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Medical Association, followed the experiences of 6,654 center-based and home-based child care professionals from all 50 states during a one-year period (May/June 2020 through May/June 2021). It was part of a series of studies aimed at informing policies regarding the health and wellbeing of children in child care programs, as well as the 1.1 million child care professionals who care for them. It is believed to be the first large-scale longitudinal study of the potential effects of various safety measures used to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in child care programs and keep this essential service open for working families. The findings come at a time when child masking in schools and child cares continues to be hotly debated, particularly as a surge in cases related to the omicron variant has led to a wave of child care disruptions, affecting millions of American families. During the study period, 43% of child care programs had closed at least temporarily due to a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 in either a child or staff member, researchers said. Although several safety measures were studied (e.g., adult and child masking, 6-foot distancing, staggered arrivals and departures, outdoor drop-off and pick-up), child masking emerged as the strategy most associated with reduced child care closure rates, keeping children in safe learning and care environments and allowing working parents and child care providers to remain employed, researchers said. Six-foot distancing of seating and cots in child care facilities, when used over the one-year period, was associated with a 7% reduction in the odds of COVID-19-related child care closure. The study controlled for the degree of local COVID-19 transmission in the community. "We have been seeing increased numbers of children, especially young children not yet able to be vaccinated against COVID-19, admitted to our children's hospital," said Thomas Murray, associate medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Children's Hospital and the study's lead author. "It is heartening to know that following child masking recommendations for children two years and older may be an effective means for keeping young children in child care programs and potentially lowering their risk for COVID-19." Although the study provides encouraging evidence for the effectiveness of child masking, only 9% of child care programs required children two years and older to wear face masks during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. That percentage increased to 33% by May and June 2021. Masking rates were much higher for staff members, with 64% reporting that all adult staff were wearing masks in May and June 2021. Research has shown that children two years and older can safely wear masks in child care settings. "It's the disruptions in learning opportunities and care routines that harm children, not the masks," said Walter Gilliam, a professor of child psychiatry and psychology at the Yale Child Study Center and the study's senior author. "It is our responsibility to protect our young children by providing them with safe learning environments," Gilliam said. "We need to remember that young children are incredibly observant. If they cannot see us smile with our mouths, they still will see us smile with our eyes or in the way in which we talk with them. Masks don't harm children; COVID-19 does." Previous research from the Yale team, released in August 2021, showed that 78% of child care providers are vaccinated against COVID-19, a rate significantly higher than the general population at that time (65%). However, most children in child care programs are under five years old and not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccination. This leaves these young children more vulnerable for complications due to COVID-19. "Until children under five years old are able to be vaccinated against COVID-19, they are a particularly vulnerable population," said Murray, a pediatric infectious disease expert. "We need to ensure that the adults and older children around them are vaccinated and following other proven precautions for keeping young children safe, such as having children two years and over wearing facial masks when in congregate settings like child care programs." The study was conducted before the highly contagious omicron variant became the predominant strain of COVID-19 in the United States. "It is possible that child masking may be even more important during the current surge of cases caused by omicron," explained Dr. Murray. The study comes at a time when child care programs are experiencing increased staffing shortages due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, which further threatens the vulnerable child care infrastructureand when much-anticipated funding increases for early care and education is stalled in the U.S. Senate. Child care closures due to COVID-19 illnesses and staffing challenges have made it very difficult for working parents to sustain employment. These closures also harm the ability of young children to benefit from the important social and early learning opportunities provided by a stable, safe, and caring early childhood program, researchers said. "We know that children benefit from in-person learning opportunities, and this includes young children, and we know that many parents rely on child care in order to go to work," said Gilliam, an expert on child care and early childhood policy. "Child masking will not eliminate all child care closures, but it may help reduce some of them, keeping our young children with caring adults who support their learning and development. "Child care professionals have had it very rough these past two years," Gilliam added. "They struggle to obtain even simple things like access to COVID-19 testing, masks, and pay protection during inevitable closures. We show how much we care for our children through how well we support these child care professionals who are doing their best in very trying times to keep our young children safe and well." More information: Association of Child Masking With COVID-19Related Closures in US Childcare Programs, JAMA Network Open (2022). Journal information: JAMA Network Open Association of Child Masking With COVID-19Related Closures in US Childcare Programs,(2022). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.41227 Public confidence in health authorities (Very confident to not at all confident) from Annenberg Public Policy Center ASK survey conducted January 11-17, among 1,656 U.S. adults. Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center Battered by waves of COVID-19 and confusion over shifting government messages about it, Americans' confidence in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declined in January with drops both among groups of Democrats/Democratic-leaning independents and Republicans/Republican-leaning independents, according to January survey data from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Confidence that the CDC is providing the public with trustworthy information about the means of preventing and treating COVID-19 fell from 77% only two months ago, in November 2021, to 72% in January 2022. In addition, the survey found for the first time a significant drop in confidence in Dr. Anthony Fauci, who as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has been the target of withering attacks in conservative media outlets throughout the nearly two-year pandemic. Confidence in Fauci dropped to 65% in January 2022, a statistically meaningful drop over the nine months since April 2021, when it was 71%. "Overall confidence remains high but has eroded for both Dr. Fauci and the CDC, with the CDC decline more recent and that of Dr. Fauci more gradual," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC). "This is deeply concerning, because voices that speak for the best available science need to be trusted and heard as we navigate the pandemic." Confidence in Dr. Anthony Fauci, by reliance on different media sources -- very conservative, conservative, social media, mainstream broadcast and newspaper. From Annenberg Public Policy Center ASK survey conducted Jan. 11-17, 2022, among 1,656 U.S. adults. Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center The January survey The January data are from the fifth wave of the Annenberg Science Knowledge (ASK) survey, a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults empaneled by the Annenberg Public Policy Center in April 2021 to track attitudes and behavior in the pandemic. APPC first began tracking beliefs about the novel coronavirus and vaccination with cross-sectional surveys in March 2020. The current survey was conducted January 11-17, 2022, among a national probability sample of 1,656 U.S. adults. The data were weighted to represent the target U.S. adult population. The margin of error for the total sample is 3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. The panel survey, conducted for APPC by independent research firm SSRS is a follow-up to surveys in November 2021, September 2021, June 2021 and April 2021 with the same group of respondents. Confidence in the CDC by party and party "leaners" in five waves of the Annenberg Public Policy Center ASK survey from April 2021 to January 2022. See the Appendix linked in the news release for details on the first four waves. Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center Trust in health care authorities The survey found that an individual's primary health care provider continues to be the most trusted source of information about the means of preventing and treating COVID-19. Primary health care provider: 82% are confident their primary health care provider is providing trustworthy information about COVID-19, statistically unchanged since April 2021. However, the small percentage of those who say they are not confident in their health care provider increased to 12% from 8% in November, a significant change; Food and Drug Administration: 74% are confident the FDA is providing trustworthy information on COVID-19, unchanged over the past nine months; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: As noted above, 72% are confident the CDC is providing trustworthy information on COVID-19, down from 77% in November, and 28% are not confident in the CDC, up from 23% in November; Dr. Anthony Fauci: As noted above, 65% are confident Fauci is providing trustworthy advice on COVID-19, down from 71% in April 2021, and 35% say they are not confident in Fauci, up from 29% in April 2021. Democrats, Republicans, and 'leaners' The changes in confidence can be seen in breakdowns by self-identified party affiliations when including respondents who "lean" toward one party or the other. The party leaners are respondents who said they considered themselves independent or neither Republican nor Democrat, but answered a follow-up question by indicating that they thought of themselves as either "closer to the Democratic party" or "closer to the Republican party." FDA: Support for the FDA has been consistently high at about 90% throughout the survey period for Democrats and Democratic leaners. But among Republicans and Republican leaners, support dropped significantly from 63% in November 2021, where it had been for most of the time since April, to 54% in January 2022. CDC: Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents, a drop in confidence in the CDC occurred over the nine-month survey period. Confidence among this group, which has also been very high, fell from 94% in April 2021 to 89% in January, a significant change. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning respondents, confidence in the CDC dropped significantly from 62% in November to 50% in January 2022. Fauci: Support for Fauci has been extremely high among self-identified Democrats and those who lean Democratic. That support eroded gradually, from 92% in April 2021 to 88% in January 2022, a significant change. Among self-identified Republicans and those who lean Republican, confidence in Fauci was much lower to start47% in April 2021and dropped significantly to 36% in January 2022. Confidence in Dr. Anthony Fauci by party and party "leaners" in five waves of the Annenberg Public Policy Center ASK survey from April 2021 to January 2022. See the Appendix linked in the news release for background on the different waves. Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center Media use and confidence in health authorities As past waves of the survey have found, people who are heavier users of conservative and very conservative media have significantly less confidence in Fauci, the CDC, and the FDA, both when compared with the overall sample and with heavier users of other types of media. Fauci has been the target of attacks in conservative media outlets for many months, and as noted in a November survey release, on one night in November, a Fox News viewer would have seen Fauci likened to the Nazi doctor Josef Mengele and the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The CDC likewise has been the focus of attacks in conservative media over its vaccination and masking guidance and most recently, in January it was hit by accusations in conservative media that it "lied" about the extent of COVID-19 casualties, based in part on a deceptively edited video clip of CDC director Rochelle Walensky. The survey found that among heavier users of: Very conservative sources such as Newsmax, One America News (OAN), Gateway Pundit, Parler, or Telegram: 46% have confidence in Fauci, 54% in the CDC, 60% in the FDA, and 78% in their primary health care provider; Conservative media such as Fox News, Mark Levin, or Breitbart: 39% have confidence in Fauci, 52% in the CDC, 60% in the FDA, and 88% in their primary health care provider; Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube: 71% have confidence in Fauci, 80% in the CDC, 78% in the FDA, and 87% in their primary health care provider; Mainstream broadcast/print media such as CBS News, NBC News, ABC News, the Associated Press, or the news pages of The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times: 85% have confidence in Fauci, 89% in the CDC, 90% in the FDA, and 95% in their primary health care providers. Confidence in the FDA by party and party "leaners" in five waves of the Annenberg Public Policy Center ASK survey from April 2021 to January 2022. See the Appendix linked in the news release for background on the different waves. Credit: Annenberg Public Policy Center The January survey did not find significant changes since the November survey in these data. Explore further Heavy users of conservative media more willing to take ivermectin for COVID-19 More information: See this See this Appendix for additional information. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A machine-learning expert and a psychology researcher/clinician may seem an unlikely duo. But MIT's Rosalind Picard and Massachusetts General Hospital's Paola Pedrelli are united by the belief that artificial intelligence may be able to help make mental health care more accessible to patients. In her 15 years as a clinician and researcher in psychology, Pedrelli says "it's been very, very clear that there are a number of barriers for patients with mental health disorders to accessing and receiving adequate care." Those barriers may include figuring out when and where to seek help, finding a nearby provider who is taking patients, and obtaining financial resources and transportation to attend appointments. Pedrelli is an assistant professor in psychology at the Harvard Medical School and the associate director of the Depression Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). For more than five years, she has been collaborating with Picard, an MIT professor of media arts and sciences and a principal investigator at MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health (Jameel Clinic) on a project to develop machine-learning algorithms to help diagnose and monitor symptom changes among patients with major depressive disorder. Machine learning is a type of AI technology where, when the machine is given lots of data and examples of good behavior (i.e., what output to produce when it sees a particular input), it can get quite good at autonomously performing a task. It can also help identify patterns that are meaningful, which humans may not have been able to find as quickly without the machine's help. Using wearable devices and smartphones of study participants, Picard and Pedrelli can gather detailed data on participants' skin conductance and temperature, heart rate, activity levels, socialization, personal assessment of depression, sleep patterns, and more. Their goal is to develop machine learning algorithms that can intake this tremendous amount of data, and make it meaningfulidentifying when an individual may be struggling and what might be helpful to them. They hope that their algorithms will eventually equip physicians and patients with useful information about individual disease trajectory and effective treatment. "We're trying to build sophisticated models that have the ability to not only learn what's common across people, but to learn categories of what's changing in an individual's life," Picard says. "We want to provide those individuals who want it with the opportunity to have access to information that is evidence-based and personalized, and makes a difference for their health." Machine learning and mental health Picard joined the MIT Media Lab in 1991. Three years later, she published a book, "Affective Computing," which spurred the development of a field with that name. Affective computing is now a robust area of research concerned with developing technologies that can measure, sense, and model data related to people's emotions. While early research focused on determining if machine learning could use data to identify a participant's current emotion, Picard and Pedrelli's current work at MIT's Jameel Clinic goes several steps further. They want to know if machine learning can estimate disorder trajectory, identify changes in an individual's behavior, and provide data that informs personalized medical care. Picard and Szymon Fedor, a research scientist in Picard's affective computing lab, began collaborating with Pedrelli in 2016. After running a small pilot study, they are now in the fourth year of their National Institutes of Health-funded, five-year study. "Improving the Accuracy of Personalized Machine Learning to Monitor Depression" To conduct the study, the researchers recruited MGH participants with major depression disorder who have recently changed their treatment. So far, 48 participants have enrolled in the study. For 22 hours per day, every day for 12 weeks, participants wear Empatica E4 wristbands. These wearable wristbands, designed by one of the companies Picard founded, can pick up information on biometric data, like electrodermal (skin) activity. Participants also download apps on their phone which collect data on texts and phone calls, location, and app usage, and also prompt them to complete a biweekly depression survey. Every week, patients check in with a clinician who evaluates their depressive symptoms. "We put all of that data we collected from the wearable and smartphone into our machine-learning algorithm, and we try to see how well the machine learning predicts the labels given by the doctors," Picard says. "Right now, we are quite good at predicting those labels." Empowering users While developing effective machine-learning algorithms is one challenge researchers face, designing a tool that will empower and uplift its users is another. Picard says, "The question we're really focusing on now is, once you have the machine-learning algorithms, how is that going to help people?" Picard and her team are thinking critically about how the machine-learning algorithms may present their findings to users: through a new device, a smartphone app, or even a method of notifying a predetermined doctor or family member of how best to support the user. For example, imagine a technology that records that a person has recently been sleeping less, staying inside their home more, and has a faster-than-usual heart rate. These changes may be so subtle that the individual and their loved ones have not yet noticed them. Machine-learning algorithms may be able to make sense of these data, mapping them onto the individual's past experiences and the experiences of other users. The technology may then be able to encourage the individual to engage in certain behaviors that have improved their well-being in the past, or to reach out to their physician. If implemented incorrectly, it's possible that this type of technology could have adverse effects. If an app alerts someone that they're headed toward a deep depression, that could be discouraging information that leads to further negative emotions. Pedrelli and Picard are involving real users in the design process to create a tool that's helpful, not harmful. "What could be effective is a tool that could tell an individual "The reason you're feeling down might be the data related to your sleep has changed, and the data relate to your social activity, and you haven't had any time with your friends, your physical activity has been cut down. The recommendation is that you find a way to increase those things,'" Picard says. The team is also prioritizing data privacy and informed consent. Artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithms can make connections and identify patterns in large datasets that humans aren't as good at noticing, Picard says. "I think there's a real compelling case to be made for technology helping people be smarter about people." Explore further Scientists could discover physical laws faster using new machine learning technique This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching. Myocardial glucose uptake results. A: representative [18F]FDG PET/CT vertical long axis images showing Ki of the heart after secretin and placebo infusions (n = 1). Short axis images are shown in Supplemental Fig. S1. (see https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16912807). B: the effect of secretin infusion on myocardial glucose uptake compared with placebo (n = 15). Data were analyzed by Students paired t test. C: whole body carbohydrate oxidation (CHO) correlates with myocardial glucose uptake (MGU) after secretin administration (n = 15). Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation. A line has been drawn on the data to indicate a significant association whereas dotted curves represent confidence interval. CT, computed tomography; [18F]FDG, [18F]2-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose. Credit: DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00260.2021 The gastrointestinal hormone secretinoften associated with its role in the pancreasincreases and improves both heart and kidney function, according to a new study. Researchers write that their findings make secretin "an interesting drug candidate for future studies in heart and kidney failure." The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. It was chosen as an APSselect article for January. Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's needs. Kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease, is when kidney function has degraded to the point that the patient requires dialysis or a transplant. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly 6.2 million adults in the U.S. are living with heart failure and nearly 786,000 are being treated for kidney failure. As the researchers note, "renal failure exacerbates heart failure and vice versa." The gastrointestinal hormone secretin is best known for its role stimulating pancreatic secretion, which initiates the digestion of nutrients. However, interest has been growing in its potential effects on the heart. Receptors for secretin are present in various locations throughout the body, including both the heart and kidney. A research team at the University of Turku, Finland, conducted a blinded crossover study in 15 healthy men. Each participant was scanned under fasting conditions via positron emission tomography and computed tomography on two separate occasions. One scan was conducted while administering intravenous secretin and the other intravenous saline, as a control. Credit: American Physiological Society The participants were also injected with glucose labeled with a radioisotope that allowed researchers to monitor how the glucose moved through the body. At different points throughout the interventions, they also took estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR), a common measure of kidney function. The researchers found that the heart muscle had significantly higher glucose uptake with the secretin intervention compared to the control, an indicator of increased heart function. They also found that during the secretin intervention, participants' kidneys filtered out more of the labeled glucose than during the saline intervention. Reinforcing this sign of increased kidney function, eGFR peak paralleled secretin peak. "Based on the present findings, we believe that larger studies are warranted to investigate whether secretin may have a place in the future treatment of heart failure," the team concluded. "Novel effects of the gastrointestinal hormone secretin on cardiac metabolism and renal function" is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. Explore further Secretin hormone induces satiation by activating brown fat More information: Sanna Laurila et al, Novel effects of the gastrointestinal hormone secretin on cardiac metabolism and renal function, American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism (2021). Sanna Laurila et al, Novel effects of the gastrointestinal hormone secretin on cardiac metabolism and renal function,(2021). DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00260.2021 Bonnielin Swenor, Ph.D., M.P.H. (left) and Jennifer Deal, Ph.D., M.H.S. Credit: Johns Hopkins On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order on advancing racial equity and support for people in underserved communities, including identifying gaps in data needed to achieve that goal. Now, one year into President Biden's term, Johns Hopkins experts have authored a commentary in the Jan. 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine on how people with disabilities remain left out of most initiatives to increase the diversity of research study populations. In the commentary, Bonnielin Swenor, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of the Johns Hopkins University Disability Health Research Center, calls for the National Institutes of Health to add disability as a necessary demographic for inclusion in their funded research, alongside sex and race. More than a quarter of U.S. adults identify as having a disabilitywhich includes people with sensory, physical or cognitive disabilities, mental illness, or other conditions that impact daily life. Americans with disabilities are more likely to have unmet health care needs and to have incomes below the federal poverty level than those without. This population is projected to increase due to the COVID-19 pandemic as growing numbers of people are experiencing debilitating symptoms of the disease long-term. For research to be applicable to all segments of the population, Swenor and her co-author, Jennifer Deal, Ph.D., M.H.S., assistant professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, say that guidelines for including people in specific studies should avoid ruling out people with disabilities. They say this practice is often unnecessary, and there are many technologies and methods to ensure the disability community is included in research studies. "Data is necessary to develop evidence-based policy and clinical decisions. The exclusion of people with disabilities from research perpetuates inequities within this community," says Swenor. More information: Bonnielin Swenor et al, Disability Inclusion as a Key Component of Research Study Diversity, New England Journal of Medicine (2022). Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine Bonnielin Swenor et al, Disability Inclusion as a Key Component of Research Study Diversity,(2022). DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2115475 Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are studying the impact of genetic ancestry on childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common type of pediatric cancer. The team found that ancestry itself is an independent factor contributing to differences in treatment outcomes. The scientists assembled an international cohort to determine how genetic ancestry affects leukemia biology and outcomes for modern therapy. The findings were published today in JAMA Oncology. Racial disparities exist in both the incidence and treatment outcomes for childhood ALL, and there is limited data on the genetic basis for such disparities. This is further exacerbated by the lack of genomic research in ALL populations from Africa, Latin America and Asia, even though these populations make up the bulk of pediatric cancer cases globally. To address this, the researchers created a diverse cohort of 2,428 children and adolescents with ALL treated on front-line clinical trials. The group was drawn from North America, Southeast Asia and Latin America and included individuals of European, African, Native American, East Asian and South Asian descent. The researchers used a genomic technique called RNA-sequencing to comprehensively characterize ALL molecular subtype and genetic ancestry of each child. The results were analyzed for their associations with clinical features and treatment outcomes. "As a field, we really need to put diversity front and center in our research going forward," said corresponding author Jun J. Yang, Ph.D., St. Jude Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Oncology. "We need to stop assuming we can develop therapies focusing on white children and then they can just be extrapolated to others. The world is becoming increasingly diverse, and so are children with cancer. As we look to the next generation of therapies for ALL, it's going to be essential we consider the diversity of this cancer on a global scale." Genetic findings The work underscores the importance of biology-driven treatment individualization, which may play a future role in helping to eliminate disparities in ALL outcomes. The researchers found that of 21 known ALL subtypes, eight were associated with ancestry. East Asian ancestry was positively associated with subtypes with a good prognosis such as DUX4 rearrangements and negatively associated with those with a poor prognosis including BCR-ABL1-like ALL and T-ALL. On the contrary, Native American ancestry was linked to CRLF2 rearrangements, which mark particularly aggressive ALL cases. Children with African ancestry showed the highest incidence of T-ALL cases, seven-fold higher than those of Native American descent (e.g., certain Hispanic groups). African and Native American ancestries were both associated with lower event-free survival and overall survival than other groups. "In terms of ALL biology, there are actually a lot of differences across ancestries which have an impact on survival and treatment outcomes," said first author Shawn Lee, M.D., St. Jude Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. "With this information we can help individualize treatment according to biology and even consider risk stratification according to ancestry to assist in planning biology-driven treatment protocols." A more complete picture of ALL genetics The majority of the research which led to the current treatments for ALL was conducted in the United States and Europe. Thus, clinical and genomic data on children of diverse ancestral descent is limited. This study complements prior research from the Yang laboratory that discovered how genetic variation in NUTD15 explains the excessive risk for thiopurine-related toxicity in Asian children with ALL. These NUDT15 variants are rarely found in children with European ancestry, highlighting how important findings can be missed if studies do not include diversity in genetic ancestry. The research also underscores the need for greater granularity in how genetic ancestry is considered. For example, Asian ancestry includes South Asians, East Asians and Southeast Asians, which are genetically distinct populations, with notable differences in ALL tumor biology and treatment outcomes. "Appropriate research that is inclusive of children from all backgrounds and global regions is important to help us better understand the diversity in patients diagnosed with ALL and other cancers," said Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, M.D., St. Jude Global director. "We recognize and value the need for more international cohorts that are inclusive of children from all global regions." Explore further Genetic variants linked to heart health in African American childhood cancer survivors More information: Shawn H. R. Lee et al, Association of Genetic Ancestry With the Molecular Subtypes and Prognosis of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, JAMA Oncology (2022). Journal information: JAMA Oncology Shawn H. R. Lee et al, Association of Genetic Ancestry With the Molecular Subtypes and Prognosis of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia,(2022). DOI: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.6826 Digitized drawing from Hengs work with grade school students at Paxton Keeley and Mill Creek elementary schools. The m7G hat allows HIV to access a cells global translation pathways need for mRNA translation. When those are shut down, HIV can then take on the TMG hat, gaining access to emergency translation pathways and allowing it to continue viral replication. Credit: Xiao Heng / University of Missouri Researchers at the University of Missouri and the University of Minnesota have discovered how HIV evades one of the body's best defensesand their collaborative work could offer hope for future treatments that stop the spread of HIV in the body. Messenger RNA (mRNA) from HIV is known to utilize a host cell's system in order to create its own viral proteins. In response, the infected cell shuts down the infiltrated pathway. But despite these roadblocks, HIV is still able to replicate itself and spread. Researchers and scientists have long struggled to determine how HIV accomplishes such a seemingly impossible trick. Xiao Heng, associate professor of biochemistry at MU, was among the collaborators who discovered that after global mRNA translation pathways (tools that allow a cell to replicate) are shut down, HIV can impersonate the stress response of the host. This disguise helps it gain access to emergency translation pathwaysessentially offering forged credentials. These forged credentials allow HIV into "restricted" areas of the cell so that it can continue producing its own viral proteins. "When the host cell recognizes HIV, it will stop dividing and just maintain survival," Heng said. "In response, HIV learns from the host and uses the way cells react when they are stressed." After infection, HIV attacks white blood cells within the immune system. These cells will stay infected for the rest of a patient's life. If untreated, HIV can develop into AIDS. "AIDS has been around for almost four decades, and early on we were always talking about new antiviral therapeuticsbut we still have 38 million people living with AIDS," Heng said. "If we're able to identify and stop or medically disrupt this process, we might be able to regulate HIV going forward." To help illustrate their findings, Heng brought the research to a group of third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students in Columbia, Missouri. After discussing her work and answering questions, she asked students to draw what they imagined the process looked like inside a cell. Their creativity offered Heng another way to describe these complex functions. "The virus needs to use the host's own factory to replicate," she said. "But cells recognize it as an intruder and shut down the factory. Then HIV has to find a way to produce its own necessary protein. So, HIV is able to disguise itself using a different 'hat' that allows it access to use the host emergency pathways. This permits it to make its own proteins, package itself and infect other cells." Heng is hopeful their discovery can be used to develop new, more effective treatments for HIV, including one day finding a cure. Explore further Targeting Nsp1 protein could be a pathway for COVID-19 therapy More information: Gatikrushna Singh et al, HIV-1 hypermethylated guanosine cap licenses specialized translation unaffected by mTOR, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2021). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Gatikrushna Singh et al, HIV-1 hypermethylated guanosine cap licenses specialized translation unaffected by mTOR,(2021). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2105153118 Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Care home residents infected with the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 are half as likely to be admitted to hospital compared to residents infected with the delta variant, suggest preliminary findings from the Vivaldi study led by UCL researchers. The study, funded by the UK Department of Health and Social Care and published on the preprint site medRxiv, looked at the proportion of SARS-CoV-2 cases leading to hospital admission among elderly care home residents in England, comparing data before the arrival of omicron with cases occurring after. It found that care home residentswith a median age of 85who were infected on or after 13 December, when the first omicron case was detected in this group, were 50 percent less likely to be hospitalized than residents infected in the previous months (between 8 September and 12 December) when delta was dominant. In addition, the researchers looked at a subset of cases identified as delta or omicron via genomic sequencing or through an absence of the "S gene," a marker of omicron detected in some PCR testing labs. They found a similar decreased risk of hospitalization for omicron cases, with seven hospital admissions among 407 residents with omicron versus 12 admissions among 138 residents with delta. The researchers said the lower risk may be partly explained by the protective effect of booster vaccinations, but that further research was needed to assess how important this factor was. Lead author Dr. Maria Krutikov (UCL Institute of Health Informatics) said: "Care homes saw a major increase in infections in December as omicron quickly became the dominant strain in the UK. While omicron has been linked to less severe disease in the general population, it was unclear if this remained true for elderly and frail care home residentsthose most at risk of becoming seriously ill. "Our study is positive news, suggesting that omicron is less likely to cause severe disease requiring hospitalization among frail older people." Senior author Professor Laura Shallcross (UCL Institute of Health Informatics), leader of the Vivaldi study tracking COVID-19 infections in care homes, said: "As infections rose in care homes, it was a big worry whether this might translate into more hospital admissions and more deaths. "However, our research supports anecdotal evidence that omicron is making fewer care home residents seriously ill. Some of this may be due to the protective effect of booster jabs and we are looking at this further in a separate study. Of course, everyone should be encouraged to get their booster vaccination to reduce their risk." The researchers looked at 1,639 new SARS-CoV-2 cases among care home residents between 8 September and 7 January, identified from half a million PCR and lateral flow tests of residents and staff carried out in 333 long-term care facilities in England. Out of these, 79 residents were admitted to hospital in the 14 days after their positive test result. Forty-three of these admissions occurred among 398 residents infected in the pre-omicron period, while 36 occurred among 1,241 residents infected in the omicron-dominant period. The researchers noted that none of the care home residents admitted to hospital had evidence of previous infection with SARS-CoV-2. Fewer people in the omicron-dominant group died following infection, but the researchers said a longer time following infections was needed before they could estimate risk of death. The new research is part of the ongoing Vivaldi study, launched in June 2020, to investigate SARS-CoV-2 infections in care homes and inform strategies to protect residents. The Vivaldi study also looks at further questions about the impact of COVID-19 on care homes, such as the rates and duration of immunity among care home residents and the effectiveness of vaccination. Vivaldi is funded by the UK Health Security Agency. Explore further More than a third of care home residents caught COVID-19 in early waves of pandemic More information: Maria Krutikov et al, Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in residents of Long-Term Care (2022). Maria Krutikov et al, Outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection in residents of Long-Term Care (2022). DOI: 10.1101/2022.01.21.22269605 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. This Nov. 27, 2021, photo provided by Tracey Ferguson shows her son D.J. Ferguson initially being treated at Milford, Mass. Regional Medical Center. Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston is defending itself after Ferguson's family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients' chances of survival. Credit: Tracey Ferguson via AP A Boston hospital is defending itself after a man's family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients' chances of survival. The family of D.J. Ferguson said in a crowdfunding appeal this week that officials at Brigham and Women's Hospital told the 31-year-old father of two that he was ineligible for the procedure because he hasn't been vaccinated against the coronavirus. "We are literally in a corner right now. This is extremely time sensitive," the family said in its fundraising appeal, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars. "This is not just a political issue. People need to have a choice!" D.J.'s mother, Tracey Ferguson, insists that her son isn't against vaccinations, noting he's had other immunizations in the past. But the trained nurse said Wednesday that he's been diagnosed with atrial fibrillationan irregular and often rapid heart rhythmand that he has concerns about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. "D.J. is an informed patient," Tracey Ferguson said in a brief interview at her home in Mendon, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Boston. "He wants to be assured by his doctors that his condition would not be worse or fatal with this COVID vaccine." Brigham and Women's Hospital declined to comment on D.J. Ferguson's case, citing patient privacy laws. But it pointed to a response that it posted on its website in which it said the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several immunizations required by most U.S. transplant programs, including a flu shot and hepatitis B vaccines. This undated photo provided by Tracey Ferguson shows her son D.J. Ferguson. A Boston hospital is defending itself after Ferguson's family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients' chances of survival. Credit: Tracey Ferguson via AP The hospital said research has shown that transplant recipients are at higher risk than non-transplant patients of dying from COVID-19, and that its policies are in line with the recommendations of the American Society of Transplantation and other health organizations. Patients also must meet other health and lifestyle criteria to receive donated organs, and it's unknown if D.J. Ferguson did or would have met them. Brigham & Womens Hospital also stressed that no patient is placed on an organ waitlist without meeting those criteria, and rejected the notion that a transplant candidate could be considered "first on the list" for an organa claim Ferguson's family made in its fundraising post. "There are currently more than 100,000 candidates on waitlists for organ transplantation and a shortage of available organsaround half of people on waiting lists will not receive an organ within five years," the hospital said. Hospitals in other states have faced similar criticism for denying transplants to patients who weren't vaccinated against COVID-19. In Colorado last year, a woman suffering from late-stage kidney disease said she was denied a transplant by her hospital because she was unvaccinated. Leilani Lutali, a born-again Christian, said she opposed immunization because of the role that fetal cell lines play in some vaccines' development. Tracey Ferguson, mother of D.J. Ferguson, speaks with an Associated Press reporter Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, during an interview at her home, in Mendon, Mass. A Boston hospital is defending itself after Ferguson's family claimed D.J. was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients' chances of survival. Credit: AP Photo/Steven Senne There is a scarcity of donor organs, so transplant centers only place patients on the waiting list whom they deem the most likely to survive with a new organ. "A donor heart is a precious and scarce gift which must be cared for well," said Dr. Howard Eisen, medical director for the advanced heart failure program at Penn State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania. "Our goal is to preserve patient survival and good outcomes post-transplant." The United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit that manages the country's organ transplant system, doesn't track how many patients refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine have been denied transplants, said Anne Paschke, an organization spokesperson. She said patients who are denied organ transplants still have the right to go elsewhere, though individual hospitals ultimately decide which patients to add to the national waitlist. According to the online fundraiser, D.J. Ferguson was hospitalized in late November for a heart ailment that caused his lungs to fill with blood and fluid. He was then transferred to Brigham and Women's, where doctors inserted an emergency heart pump that the family says is only meant to be a temporary stopgap. "It's devastating," Tracey Ferguson said. "No one ever wants to see their child go through something like this." Explore further Heart transplant successful in young man who survived severe COVID-19 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain India's capital announced the end of a weekend curfew and eased other stringent coronavirus restrictions on Thursday, with government data suggesting the country's recent Omicron variant outbreak had slowed. Health authorities are still recording more than a quarter million cases across the country each day, but daily deaths have stayed a tiny fraction of those seen last year. Local officials in New Delhi decided to reopen restaurants, allow markets to operate at full capacity and lift an all-weekend curfew imposed at the start of January that kept nearly all residents confined to their homes. "In view of the decline in positive cases, it was decided to gradually ease restrictions while ensuring adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour," Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal said. India recorded more than 285,000 new cases overnightdown substantially from the figures seen a week earlierand just 573 deaths. "In the last five to seven days there is an early indication of COVID cases plateauing... but we need to observe and take precautions," health ministry official Lav Agarwal told a Thursday press conference. An overnight curfew will remain in effect for all the capital's residents except essential workers. The country was battered by a devastating COVID outbreak last year that saw 200,000 people killed in a matter of weeks, overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums. Since then India has administered more than 1.6 billion vaccine doses and expanded its inoculation drive to teenagers, while giving booster shots to vulnerable people and frontline workers. Its current COVID wave comes just weeks before various sub-national elections including for Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and home to 220 million people. Election authorities have restricted public campaign rallies, normally teeming with huge crowds, over fears they could spread the virus. Explore further Delhi imposes weekend curfew as COVID cases surge 2022 AFP Scientists conduct an updated analysis to clarify if alcohol drinkers may be at higher risk of developing epilepsy and unprovoked seizures. Credit: Pusan National University Epilepsy, a common neurological disorder associated with stigma, psychiatric comorbidities, and rising healthcare costs, affects approximately 50 million people globally. A common risk factor associated with the development of epilepsy and seizures is alcohol consumption. Studies have focused on how alcohol consumption leads to provoked seizures, commonly occurring due to alcohol withdrawal, or heavy alcohol intoxication. However, very few of these focus on the link between alcohol consumption and unprovoked seizures. One such study was a meta-analysis conducted in 2010, which analyzed six case-control studies and found that alcohol users were more prone to developing unprovoked seizures. Interestingly, data from recent cohort studies contradict these findings, implying that there is no association between alcohol intake and epilepsy. Now, using more accurate diagnostic methods and recent data, a team of scientists led by Professor Kyoung Nam Woo and including Professor Yun Hak Kim from Pusan National University, South Korea, conducted an updated meta-analysis to conclusively clarify the relationship between alcohol consumption and unprovoked seizures and epilepsy. For this meta-analysis, which was made available online in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal on January 11, 2022, the team included a total of eight studies, comprising five case-control studies and three cohort studies. Further, they conducted a cubic spline analysis on data extracted from these studies, to assess the dose-response relationship between alcohol intake and epilepsy. The findings suggested that overall, alcohol drinkers were at a significantly higher risk of developing epilepsy, as compared to non-drinkers. A significant positive dose-response relationship was found upon analysis of case-control studies, implying that the risk of epilepsy increases with an increase in alcohol intake. These findings are consistent with previous meta-analyses. An important finding was that cohort studies did not show a positive association between alcohol intake and epilepsy. In fact, 2 out of 3 cohort studies suggested that alcohol intake reduces the risk of epilepsy. "Further large cohort studies of the general population are required to assert a definite causal relationship between alcohol consumption and epilepsy and to identify a potential threshold," Prof. Kim suggests. Moreover, since cohort studies include more subjects, and are less prone to biases, they comparatively provide more accurate relationships between exposure and development of a disorder. "An assessment of the risk of alcohol consumption in various clinical situations, such as types of CNS insult and the time relation of alcohol consumption with seizures, will be important for primary prevention. To increase the applicability to the general population, future studies should be conducted in which the potential confounders such as age, sex, and smoking have been adjusted," says Prof. Woo, highlighting the long-term implications of this work. Once clarity is achieved, assessment of the risk of alcohol consumption in different clinical situations will be an effective step for the prevention of epilepsy in the general population. Explore further Total alcohol intake not linked to ventricular arrhythmia risk More information: Kyoung Nam Woo et al, Alcohol consumption on unprovoked seizure and epilepsy: An updated meta-analysis, Drug and Alcohol Dependence (2022). Journal information: Drug and Alcohol Dependence Kyoung Nam Woo et al, Alcohol consumption on unprovoked seizure and epilepsy: An updated meta-analysis,(2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109305 Provided by Pusan National University State Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, lead negotiator, holds a tube containing a cigarette and a rolled hemp cigarette to illustrate to lawmakers what specific portions of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Equivalency Units would look like during his presentation of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act in the Senate Chamber at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. The body passed the act. Credit: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis Mississippi lawmakers are sending their governor a bill that would create a medical marijuana program for people with serious medical conditions. If it becomes law, as anticipated, Mississippi would join the majority of states that let people use cannabis for medical reasons. The House and Senate on Wednesday both passed the final version of the measure, Senate Bill 2095. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves could sign the bill, veto it or let it become law without his signature. He has not said what he will do, but legislators passed it by a wide enough margin to override a veto. The bill says patients could buy up to to 3.5 grams of cannabis per day, up to six days a week. That is about 3 ounces per month. The bill also sets taxes on production and sale of cannabis, and it specifies that plants must be grown indoors under controlled conditions. Reeves told WLOX-TV on Wednesday that he will have lawyers review the bill before he decides whether to sign it. "We worked hard to reduce the overall amount of marijuana in the bill, and to the Legislature's credit, they made a lot of progress there," Reeves said. A majority of Mississippi voters approved a medical marijuana initiative in November 2020, and it would have allowed people to buy up to 5 ounces a month. The state Supreme Court invalidated it six months later by ruling that the state's initiative process was outdated and the measure was not properly on the ballot. A senator holds a bag of hemp product, used by Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, lead negotiator, to illustrate to lawmakers what specific portions of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Equivalency Units would look like, during his presentation of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act in the Senate Chamber at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. The body passed the act. Credit: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis Since shortly after the court ruling, legislators have been working to create a program that would allow people with conditions such as cancer, AIDS or sickle cell disease to buy marijuana in state-licensed dispensaries. The Senate and House had passed slightly different versions of a bill this month, with bipartisan support. The two chambers subsequently agreed on one version to send to the governor. The final version included some zoning provisions that cities wanted. The National Conference of State Legislatures says 36 states and four territories allow the medical use of cannabis. Explore further US House approves bill to widen marijuana research 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The contagious Omicron variant is straining Florida hospitals. Last week, the state averaged nearly 41,300 infections a day. The vaccinated are less likely to suffer serious illness, but can still get infected. So what's the best way to keep Omicron away? Adopting better masking practices, medical and public health experts say, will help curb the spread of the coronavirus. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines have changed over the course of the pandemic, the best strategy to protect against COVID-19 remains wearing a quality face mask and getting vaccinated. In its latest recommendation, the CDC says people should wear the most protective masks available to them, that fit well and that they will wear consistently. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health-approved N95 masks offer the best protection on the market, experts say (look for the NIOSH label on the masks.) "It's still true that any mask is better than no mask, yet there is huge variability in the effectiveness of different kinds of masks," said Linsey Marr, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech who studies airborne transmission of infectious diseases, in a statement. "While a simple cloth mask might provide 20 percent protection, a high-performance mask can achieve 90 percent protection or better." Some researchers who have been studying COVID-19s transmission since it first spread in 2020 have been calling for widespread use of respirator masks, such as N95 and KN95 masks, for over a year. "This is something we've been trying to get government and policy makers to understand since the very beginning," said Kristen Coleman, an assistant research professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. "An N95 mask, no matter what variant it is, is always going to give you more protection," she said. Limited supply in the summer months of 2020 meant even health care and front-line workers were unable to secure a steady supply of sturdy, high-performance masks. Now manufacturers are beginning to meet demand, making high-quality masks easier to find. The Biden administration plans to distribute 400 million N95 masks from the Strategic National Stockpile to pharmacies and health centers to give out for free. In the U.S., N95 masks are the gold standard but "the most important thing is that it fits well," said University of South Florida immunologist Michael Teng. In order to protect yourself and others from infection, the mask must cover both your nose and mouth and fit your face well. Experts also caution that you buy masks from reputable sources and check that the N95 respirators you buy are NIOSH-approved and have an approval number that starts with TC on the packaging. The CDC has additional guidelines for spotting counterfeit masks. Here's what you need to know about masks: The CDC's Best Mask The N95, named for its 95 percent filtration efficacy, is the CDC's top mask choice. The respirator mask uses microscopic fibers to catch particles and an electrostatic charge to filter them out. Authentic N95s have a strap that goes around the head and can be used more than once. Remember, it must fit snugly to be effective. They can be worn up to five times. Next Best Mask The KN95 and KF94 masks are also respirator masks but adhere to international standards, not CDC standards. The U.S. regulates N95 masks while KN95s are regulated by the Chinese government and KF94s by the South Korean government. All three share 95 percent filtration efficacy. But be warned: The CDC says that from 2020 to 2021, 60 percent of KN95 masks did not meet their own nation's standards. They must also fit well to work. Double-mask Those who only have access to cloth and surgical masks can combine them to make a better mask. Wear the surgical mask against your face, keeping the colorful side on the outside because it keeps liquids out. Then wear a cloth mask over it to tighten the seal and fit and to add a layer that could improve protection. But they should consider upgrading as soon as possible. Still decent Cloth masks made of "multiple layers of tightly woven, breathable fabric" are still recommended. But while the CDC says they offer "more protection" they do not offer the best protection. They must have a nose wire, fit properly and be clean. If you wear a gaiter, it should have two layers or be worn while folded into two layers. Stop wearing The CDC recommends no longer wearing single-layer cloth masks made of thin fabric. Single-layer gaiters are out. Masks with valves or vents are also out. You should avoid masks made of loosely knitted or woven fabric, or that are made of plastic or leather and hard to breathe through. Face shields and goggles are no substitute for masks, but can be worn with them. Scarves and ski masks don't work, either. Remember: Masks that do not fit properly over your mouth and nose do not work. Beware of knockoffs Cheap, ineffective replicas of N95s, KN95s and KF94s have flooded the market since the pandemic began, especially online marketplaces like Amazon. Beware of strange or inconsistent prices. When buying online, look at user reviews; whether the company can be contacted; whether it lists other products for sale; whether it presents itself professionally or utilizes typos, bad grammar and bad graphics; whether the seller has a professional email address, or uses a free email server. The CDC offers advice for spotting knockoff masks. Who should wear masks Everyone age 2 and up who is not vaccinated, or has not had all their vaccine shots, should wear it in indoor public spaces. There is generally no need to wear masks outdoors, but it should be considered among crowds in areas with high transmission rates. Fully vaccinated people with weak or compromised immune systems, or those who live with someone who has a weak immune system or is at risk of severe illness. Anyone who is around or caring for someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. The fully vaccinated should consider wearing masks in areas of high transmission to prevent spreading the virus to others, and to protect themselves. Remember, wearing a mask doesn't just protect the wearer, but those around them. Masks work best when everyone is wearing one. Explore further Why is it better to wear an N95 than a cloth mask right now? 2022 Tampa Bay Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. A male nurse places a blanket over a COVID-19 patient at the intensive care unit of the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Bruna Prado There has been a renewed surge of COVID-19 in Brazil with the spread of the omicron variant and, as elsewhere in the world, it is largely a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Brazil confirmed an average 162,000 cases in the week through Jan. 26, up from a 20-month low of some 3,000 in late December, according to Our World in Data, an online research site. Deaths have climbed to an average 370 per day, five times higher than early this month, but down sharply from last year. "We see that the people who being hospitalized are those who either weren't vaccinated or didn't finish the three doses, who have comorbidities," Dr. Rafaela Ribeiro told The Associated Press inside the intensive-care unit of her hospital in Marica, in Rio de Janeiro's metropolitan region. "This time the medical team is more prepared. In the beginning, we didn't really know how to deal with it. It was chaos." While cities like Rio moved quickly to vaccinate their populations98% of adults have had two shots or the single Jannsen shotother areas of the country are lagging. States in the northern region, home to the vast Amazon rainforest, are among those with the nation's lowest vaccination rates, according to the confederation of state health secretariats. In Amazonas state, the number of new infections last week surged to the most since the pandemic's start in 2020, and more than double the level registered last year when its health system collapsed. While hospitalizations for severe respiratory distress and deaths have ticked upwards in recent weeks, both remain far below levels seen one year ago. Health workers move a COVID-19 patient to a ward of Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Wednesday, January 26, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Bruna Prado Following a delay in rollout of its vaccination campaign, Brazil has since caught up with many countries and surpassed others. According to Our World in Data, 70% of Brazilians have received both shots, versus 63% in the U.S. Only 40 million people in a country of 214 million have received booster shots, according to government data. Over the weekend, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga was in Amazonas' capital, Manaus, to promote the vaccination effort. And on Wednesday night, back in capital Brasilia, he said Brazil's hospitals are stronger than last year, when the COVID-19 death toll surpassed 4,000 per day, and again stressed the need for vaccines. "It's fundamental that we increase coverage of the second dose. There are still states where that coverage isn't so broad as in bigger (more populous) states," Queiroga told reporters, adding that he encourages children and adolescents to receive their shots. A medical worker treats a COVID-19 patient at the intensive care unit at the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Bruna Prado But Brazil's government has delivered mixed messages about vaccines. President Jair Bolsonaro is an outspoken skeptic who refuses to be vaccinated himself, opposed immunization of children and has warned of potential side effects. Tens of millions of doses have been administered to children around the world and serious side effects have been rare, plus risks are lower than that of serious disease from COVID-19. The health ministry included children aged 5 to 11 in its vaccination plan on Jan. 6. Yet a technical note from the ministry on Jan. 20 contained a table claiming vaccines hadn't been demonstrated to be either safe or effective in treating COVID-19and that anti-malarial hydroxycholorquine had. Broad testing has long since shown it isn't effective against COVID-19. The ministry retracted the technical note following outcry from health experts, and issued a new one without the table. A nurse treats COVID-19 patient Joao Claudio Ribeiro, 70, at the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Bruna Prado A girl hugs her stuffed toy as she gets a shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a community health center, in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. Brasilia started the COVID-19 vaccination of children between ages 5 and 11. Credit: AP Photo/Eraldo Peres A medical worker holds the hand of a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit of the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Bruna Prado Health workers stand in a COVID-19 intensive care unit at the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Bruna Prado People wait in line for free, rapid COVID-19 tests at a community medical center in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. Brasilia has registered an increase in the variant omicron. Credit: AP Photo/Eraldo Peres A health worker treats a COVID-19 patient at the intensive care unit of the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Bruna Prado An installation by Brazilian artist Siron Franco titled "renascimento" or Rebirth, composed of 365 suspended mannequins as a tribute to COVID-19 victims and health professionals, is displayed at the Casa das Rosas Cultural Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, Jan. 14, 2022. Credit: AP Photo/Andre Penner A health worker applies a shot of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a community health center in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Jan. 16, 2022. Brasilia started the COVID-19 vaccination of children between ages 5 and 11. Credit: AP Photo/Eraldo Peres Although this wave of COVID-19 isn't causing the same level of severe illness or death, concern about the jump in cases has led local leaders to cancel or postpone upcoming Carnival festivities, including the world-famous parade in Rio de Janeiro that was pushed to April. The increase of hospitalizations also led the health ministry this week to maintain funding for additional COVID-19 intensive care beds for another month, the ministry said in a statement. Of those hospitalized in Rio de Janeiro state, 88% haven't completed their vaccination program, according to the press office of the state's health secretariat. Hospitals' infirmaries are facing greatest demand at the moment, and no longer their intensive-care units as occurred last year, according to Alberto Chebabo, the vice-president of the Brazilian society of infectious disease specialists. "The majority of the severe cases are among the elderly, especially the elderly who haven't completed a vaccination program," Chebabo said in a video call. "The chance of hospitalization for someone elderly with incomplete vaccination is 17 times greater than for elderly people with two doses or three doses." Explore further Brazil starts vaccinating children after weeks of delay 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The Clalit Research Institute, in collaboration with researchers from Harvard University and Tel-Aviv University, has analyzed one of the world's largest integrated health record databases to examine the indirect protection provided to unvaccinated children through parental vaccination with the BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccine. Between June 2021 and October 2021, a wave of infections dominated by the Delta variant swept through Israel. During this period, the authors studied 181,307 unvaccinated children from 76,621 distinct households, and compared parents vaccinated with a third (booster) dose to parents who received only two doses at least five months prior. The study estimated that a single boosted parent decreased the risk of infection by 20.8% (95% confidence interval: 11.4%-29.1%), while two boosted parents decreased the risk for infection by 58.1% (95% confidence interval: 53.1%-62.6%). The authors also conducted a similar study during an earlier wave from December 2020 through March 2021, in which the Alpha variant was dominant. During this period, the authors studied 400,733 unvaccinated subjects (children and adolescents) from 155,305 distinct households. They compared unvaccinated parents to parents receiving two doses of the vaccine and found the indirect protection of parental vaccination on children to be even stronger than above. Looking at specific subgroups, the authors found the indirect effects of parental vaccination to be fairly consistent across households of different sizes, and across different age groups of children, including the youngest age groups of 0-2 and 3-6 years old that are today still ineligible for vaccination. The study further explores the mechanism of this effect, showing that not only is a vaccinated parent less likely to experience a documented infection, they are also less likely to transmit the infection to other household members if infected. In summary, the results of this study show that parental vaccination confers substantial protection to children residing in the same household. These results reinforce the importance of increasing vaccine uptake among the vaccine-eligible population to curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and protect those who cannot be vaccinated. The research was conducted by Dr. Samah Hayek, Dr. Galit Shaham, Yatir Ben-Shlomo, Dr. Eldad Kepten, Dr. Noa Dagan, Prof. Ran Balicer and Dr. Noam Barda from the Clalit Research Institute; Professor Marc Lipsitch of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Prof. Ben Reis of Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; and Dr. Daniel Nevo from Tel-Aviv University. Dr. Samah Hayek, senior researcher at Clalit Research Institute, said, "Vaccination not only provides direct protection, it also provides indirect protection to unvaccinated individuals living with the vaccinated individuals in the same household. This study highlights the indirect protection provided by vaccinated parents to their unvaccinated children, irrespective of household size or the child's age, for both the Alpha and the Delta variants." Dr. Noam Barda, head of Epidemiology and Research at Clalit Research Institute and Lecturer at Ben-Gurion University, said, "While the age range for vaccination continually expands, many children and adolescents remain unvaccinated for different reasons. The current study shows that parental vaccination confers substantial protection for children living in the same household, emphasizing that vaccination not only protects vaccinated individuals, but also their loved ones." Prof. Ran Balicer, Director of the Clalit Research Institute and Chief Innovation Officer of Clalit, said, "This study of Clalit data suggests vaccinated and boosted parents provide impactful protection from COVID-19 to their unvaccinated children. By quantifying the indirect protection provided from vaccinated parents to unvaccinated children, several mechanisms of protection emerge, including lower transmission from vaccinated parents with a breakthrough infection to their unvaccinated children, as compared with unvaccinated parents." Prof. Marc Lipsitch, Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics and Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said, "This is yet another example of the value of rich and complete data of the type maintained by Clalit to answer important scientific and public health questions. Knowing that vaccination protects not only them but their household should encourage any parent who is uncertain to get vaccinated and, when appropriate, boosted." Prof. Ben Reis, Director of the Predictive Medicine Group at the Boston Children's Hospital Computational Health Informatics Program and Harvard Medical School, said, "Parents have a profound duty to protect their children from harm. Especially in families where children are too young to be vaccinated, this study provides stark evidence of the importance of parents being vaccinatedprotecting not only themselves, but their children as well." According to Dr. Daniel Nevo, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Statistics and Operations Research at Tel Aviv University, "The results from this study exemplify how articulating causal questions and answering them using the right methods with rich data lead to valuable answers. We are now one step closer to understanding the impact of vaccines at scale." Explore further COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in adolescents More information: Samah Hayek et al, Indirect protection of children from SARS-CoV-2 infection through parental vaccination, Science (2022). Journal information: Science Samah Hayek et al, Indirect protection of children from SARS-CoV-2 infection through parental vaccination,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abm3087 Provided by Clalit Research Institute The Blood Proteoform Atlas (BPA) compiles ~56,000 proteoforms identified from 21 human cells types and plasma. Credit: Please credit Kelleher and Levitsky labs at Northwestern University Northwestern University scientist have discovered families of proteins in the body that could potentially predict which patients may reject a new organ transplant, helping inform decisions about care. The advancement marks the beginning of a new era for more precise study of proteins in specific cells. Scientists tend to look at shifting patterns of proteins as if through goggles underwater, taking in just a fraction of available information about their unique structures. But in a new study to be published January 27 in the journal Science, scientists took a magnifying glass to these same structures and created a clarified map of protein families. They then held the map up in front of liver transplant recipients and found new indicators in immune cell proteins that changed with rejection. The result, the Blood Proteoform Atlas (BPA), outlines more than 56,000 exact protein molecules (called proteoforms) as they appear in 21 different cell typesalmost 10 times more of these structures than appeared in similar previous studies. Scratching the surface of potential "We're working to create the protein equivalent of the Human Genome Project," said Neil Kelleher, a leading expert in proteomics and co-corresponding author of the paper. "The BPA is a microcosm of that, including a specific-use case." Kelleher is the Walter and Mary Glass Professor of Molecular Biosciences and professor of chemistry in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a professor of medicine in Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP) and faculty director of Northwestern Proteomics, a center of excellence within CLP that develops novel platforms for drug discovery and diagnostics. Each human gene has at least 15 to 20 unique forms of processed proteins (proteoforms). And with 20,300 individual genes in the human body, there are millions of proteoforms created by genetic variation, modification or splicing. Kelleher said with a complete roadmap of each gene's family of proteinsthe goal of a major science initiative known as the Human Proteoform Project discoveries about disease, aging and new therapeutics will accelerate. The Kelleher lab uses state-of-the-art mass spectrometry and data analysis to identify proteofoms in cells and blood efficiently, keeping proteoforms intact in a form of "top-down" analysis rather than cutting them up into tiny pieces as with the industry standard. "We're starting to see the complexity," he said. "In this paper, we demonstrate patient-, cell type- and proteoform-specific measurements, which allows us to get to better biomarkers." A blood test for liver transplant rejection Having team members across disciplines allows the project to conceptualize a move from lab bench to bedside. As Kelleher probes the scientific basis for phenomena in the cell, co-corresponding author and Northwestern Medicine transplant hepatologist Josh Levitsky works with him to understand how these could be applied to a specific system. Levitsky, professor of medicine, surgery and medical education at Feinberg, originally connected with Kelleher through his leadership in the biomarkers space, in which measurable signs in the blood are used to predict health metrics in patients facing disordersand in this instance, liver transplant rejection. "It was really important for Neil that there was a biologically relevant example to contextualize how these proteoform panels can identify diseases non-invasively as markers," Levitsky said. "And there's also a need in my field to have mechanistic biomarkers that are more relevant to their immune biological pathways. This could be the start of a new era in cell-specific markers." Physicians must suppress the immune system with drug therapy and monitor liver transplant recipients for signs of rejection, often only responding after an episode has begun. Guesswork throughout this process could be eliminated with specific knowledge about what's happening at the most granular level. With the BPA as a reference map, the team took blood samples from participants in one of Levitsky's biomarker collection studies. They examined which proteoforms seemed to activate in response to the transplant and identified those that changed compared to patients without rejection. Next, the Levitsky and Kelleher team developed a panel of 24 proteoforms from the initial study and looked at them in transplant recipient samples from across the country. They found the same proteoforms lit up as in the first trial. Moving the field forward "The promise here is to be able to use this panel moving forward to be able to identify patients who have no signs of rejection versus those who have very early evidence of rejection," Levitsky said. "If we can pick up on this several weeks before rejection actually happens, we might be able to modify immunosuppression." Levitsky continues to examine how proteoforms change in transplant recipients over time to develop additional biomarkers that may inform how he treats patients down the line. Kelleher said as the number of cell types in the atlas grows, so too will potential ways to use it. In addition to broadening understandings of human biology, the BPA could have similar applications across immune disorders. The study, "The Blood Proteoform Atlas: A reference map of proteoforms in human hematopoietic cells," was conducted across six institutions with 26 scientists. Rafael D. Melani, a research assistant professor in the Kelleher Group, was the first author of the paper, along with Vincent R. Gerbasi, also from Northwestern, and Lissa C. Anderson from Florida State University. Explore further Human proteoform project to map proteins in human body More information: Rafael D. Melani et al, The Blood Proteoform Atlas: A reference map of proteoforms in human hematopoietic cells, Science (2022). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaz5284 Journal information: Science Rafael D. Melani et al, The Blood Proteoform Atlas: A reference map of proteoforms in human hematopoietic cells,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz5284 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Wave after wave of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is taking a heavy toll on our collective mental health, causing depression and anxiety. "Everyone's going through it: the amount of fear and anxiety, the fragility of life, people wondering about their own well-being and what happens if they get sick and how quickly things can change on a dime," said Suzette Bremault-Phillips, associate professor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. "There's a sense of vulnerability." No one can predict the future, but there is one thing you can do to better prepare yourself for whatever the next stage of the pandemic might look like: develop your resilience. Bremault-Phillips knows just how important resilience is for maintaining mental health and overall well-being. She works with military members, veterans, first responders, their families and others to help them cope with their unique challenges and traumas. You don't have to completely revamp your routine to make a positive change, she noted. "These things seem so smallgoing for a walk, getting out in the sunshine, expressing gratitude, lending a helping handand yet what it does is it actually changes our biochemistry and our thinking processes. It gives us a break and enables us to look at things in a different way." Bremault-Phillips shares seven simple tips to build up your resilience and improve your mental health and well-being. Evaluate your environmentand make a few tweaks If you dread sitting down at your remote workstation in a gloomy, windowless corner of your home every day, it's time to evaluate your environment to see what can be changed. Bremault-Phillips suggests finding ways to make your surroundings more uplifting: place a few plants near your workspace, let your pet settle in as your co-worker for the day, or play some of your favorite music. Another key component in your environment is the amount of light you're getting on a regular basis. Switch up your office configuration so you're facing a window. Take a midday break to walk outside in the sunshine. Or invest in a "SAD lamp," which simulates sunlight to alleviate seasonal affective disorder. Take care of your physical health Your physical health is just as important as your mental health when it comes to developing your resilience, according to Bremault-Phillips. Simple things like going for a walk or doing an at-home workout, getting enough sleep every night and choosing healthy foods are critical for your resilience. "We know exercise works. We know sleep is imperative. We know eating properly makes a difference," said Bremault-Phillips. "If we don't take care of those little things, if one building block flips, all of a sudden the rest of the tower starts to collapse. It's the same thing with our well-being and our health." Get out in nature Spending time outdoors helps our well-being in a number of ways, giving us a dose of sunlight, some exercise and a bit of a mental break. If you can't bring yourself to head out into a cold winter day, Bremault-Phillips offers an alternative. In winter months, she places a treadmill in front of a screen showing a nature scene. "We know that being out in nature can be really helpful, so when we're housebound or not able to go outside because of the weather, to be able to exercise while we're doing something enjoyable, running around a lake virtually, those things are really important." Look for the silver linings If you've picked up the habit of doomscrolling, memorizing all the numbers and statistics and details about the latest wave of COVID-19, it can seem like your Twitter feed or conversations are a black cloud with no relief in sight. Take a moment to reframe the situation and see whether you can bring a different mindset to it, to find a hint of sunshine peeking through. "Also be aware. Make informed decisions and respond to different situations rather than just reacting to them," said Bremault-Phillips. "Be a little bit flexible in your thinking, not thinking the worst all the time, but choosing to see what might be good in a situation, however unfortunate it may be. Take time for reflection and meaning-making, and engage in things that align with your values and give you a sense of purpose." Reach out to others "One really important part of resilience is that it isn't just about the individual. It's really about the collective," said Bremault-Phillips. Over the course of the pandemic, social circles have contracted and feelings of loneliness have plagued many people, from children to older adults. Take advantage of all the digital tools that are accessible and find a way to reach out to others, whether that involves going for a walk "with" a friend, scheduling a Zoom game night with extended family or hopping on the phone for a quick chat. "We're not built to be alone. There needs to be an intentionality about connection." Reconnect with your playful side Whether you're a devoted gamer or someone who hasn't touched a console since you were a child, consider exploring some of the many games available. "Video games and virtual reality can be really connecting," said Bremault-Phillips. "Engaging in parallel or collaborative games is also good, be that video games, a virtual puzzle, Scrabble, whatever someone may be able to do." As director of the U of A-led Heroes in Mind, Advocacy and Research Consortium (HiMARC), she helps deliver immersive virtual reality therapy to military members and veterans as well as front-line health workers and others who have experienced trauma as a result of the pandemic. Take advantage of ready-made resources At this point in the pandemic, you're likely well versed in Zoom and all the video chatting platforms available, but take time to explore a few other offerings that may be able to help you develop resilience. Bremault-Phillips, who is also a member of the Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, suggests checking out the Text4Hope app, developed at the U of A, for a daily check-in delivered straight to your phone. The Mental Health Commission of Canada's Continuum Self Check or the Road to Mental Readiness app, used within the Canadian military, are helpful tools. There are also apps to help you develop the habit of mindfulness, to learn to meditate, to guide you through workout routines and more. That said, Bremault-Phillips cautions that the apps can help but can only do so much. Engaging with and taking care of friends, families and communities is vital. "The rest is really about who each of us is and how we choose to connectthe things we can do to take care of one another in bumpy, rough times." It's also important to reach out for support, she said, noting that Wellness Together Canada provides high-quality resources to improve the health and wellness of all Canadians, and mental health and addiction services are a phone call or text away. "We can all get through this together!" (HealthDay)Finding the right medication for rheumatoid arthritis isn't easy, and a newer pill against the disease carries higher risks of heart attack, stroke and cancer than older RA drugs, a new clinical trial confirms. The study was mandated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after earlier safety signals about the drug, called tofacitinib (Xeljanz). In response to the findings, published Jan. 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the FDA has changed the labeling of the medication, as well as two others in the same drug class, known as JAK inhibitors. The drugs are now required to carry warnings about the increased risks. The FDA is also advising doctors to prescribe JAK inhibitors only after a patient has tried and failed at least one TNF inhibitoran older class of RA medication. Experts said the study provides important information, but patients need to talk to their doctor about what it means for them. People already on JAK inhibitors may feel the benefits outweigh any risks, they added. The trial involved nearly 4,400 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients age 50 and older who had at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke, such as high blood pressure or diabetes. All had failed to get adequate relief from a standard RA drug, methotrexate. They were randomly assigned to start either tofacitinib or a TNF inhibitor. Over the next four years, tofacitinib patients were one-third more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke than those on a TNF blocker. Their risk of developing cancer, meanwhile, was 48% higher: Just over 4% of tofacitinib patients developed cancer, versus 3% of TNF inhibitor patients. RA is caused by a misguided immune system attack on the body's own joint tissue, leading to pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints. Over time, that systemic inflammation can feed problems in other areas of the body, including the heart, lungs, skin and eyes. There are numerous RA medications that can slow the progression of joint damage by targeting parts of the immune response. TNF inhibitors are among them, and include drugs like etanercept (Enbrel) and adalimumab (Humira). JAK inhibitorstofacitinib, baricitinib (Olumiant) and upadacitinib (Rinvoq)are relatively newer RA therapies. Unlike TNF inhibitors, which are injected or infused, they are taken orally. Because all of those medications put the brakes on a portion of the immune system, they can make people more vulnerable to infections. And TNF inhibitors are linked to slightly increased risks of certain cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer. But in the new study, tofacitinib carried a higher cancer risk than TNF inhibitors did. It's not clear why, said lead researcher Dr. Steven Ytterberg, who was a rheumatologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., at the time of the trial. But, he noted, JAK inhibitors take aim at a different part of the immune system than TNF blockers dowhich might make the difference. Then there was the extra cardiovascular risk: 3.4% of tofacitinib patients had a heart attack or stroke, or died of cardiovascular causes, compared with 2.5% of TNF inhibitor users. Ytterberg said that might not reflect harm from the JAK inhibitor: Other research has linked TNF blockers to decreased cardiovascular risks, possibly because they subdue inflammation. "One question is whether both types of drug reduce cardiovascular risk, but TNF inhibitors are better at it," Ytterberg said. The FDA now says RA patients should try anti-TNF drugs first. But what about people already taking a JAK inhibitor? There are many factors to consider in deciding whether to continue, said Dr. S. Louis Bridges Jr., physician-in-chief and chair of medicine at the Hospital for Special Surgery, in New York City. For RA patients, Bridges said, finding a medication that works can be a process of trial-and-errorand many of those on a JAK inhibitor may have already tried a TNF inhibitor. So if their current medication is effective for them, those benefits have to be weighed against any risks. And that takes a discussion with your doctor, Bridges said. "We need to look at the individual, and his or her personal risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cancer," he said. Patients' personal preferencesincluding wanting an oral medication over injections or infusionsare also important, Bridges said. Ytterberg agreed that those discussions are key. "If a patient is on a JAK inhibitor and doing well, that's where the dilemma comes in," he said. "Ultimately," Ytterberg said, "it comes down to the patient's perception of risk. If I'm the patient, am I comfortable staying on this drug?" The trial was funded by Xeljanz maker Pfizer Inc. Explore further FDA: Pulmonary embolism risk up with tofacitinib 10 mg for RA Copyright 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved. Chinese, Tongan FMs hold phone call on emergency aids after volcanic eruptions Xinhua) 08:14, January 27, 2022 Residents clear ashes and rubbles from a road in Nuku'alofa, capital of Tonga. (Photo by Marian Kupu/Xinhua) As a good friend and partner of Tonga, China is willing to stand firmly with the Tongan people at this difficult moment, Wang said, adding that the emergency supplies purchased by China in Fiji will arrive in Tonga Thursday, and more Chinese assistance is on the way. BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday held a phone conversation with his counterpart of the Kingdom of Tonga, Fekitamoeloa Katoa 'Utoikamanu, over the recent volcanic eruptions. Wang said that since the volcano erupted in Tonga on Jan. 15, the Chinese government has paid close attention to it and the Chinese people have sympathized with the Tongan people. Chinese President Xi Jinping immediately sent a message of sympathy to King of Tonga, and China promptly delivered aids to Tonga, becoming one of the first countries in the world to provide assistance for the South Pacific island country, Wang said. A vessel carrying the emergency aid from China to Tonga is to set off at a port in Suva's Walu Bay, Fiji, Jan. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing) As a good friend and partner of Tonga, China is willing to stand firmly with the Tongan people at this difficult moment, he said, adding that the emergency supplies purchased by China in Fiji will arrive in Tonga Thursday, and more Chinese assistance is on the way. China has allocated disaster relief supplies and equipment to the country according to the needs of Tonga, such as drinking water, food, generators, water pumps, first aid kits, prefab houses and tractors, Wang said. Some of the relief supplies will be delivered by Chinese military aircraft Thursday morning, while the rest will be shipped by Chinese warships, he said, noting that the two sides should make a smooth handover and deliver the aids to most-needed places in Tonga in time. Wang said that the Chinese government is very concerned about Chinese citizens and institutions in Tonga, and hopes and believes that the Tongan government will guarantee their safety. It is believed that under the leadership of the King and government of Tonga, the country will surely overcome this natural disaster as soon as possible, he said. A vessel carrying the emergency aid from China to Tonga sets off at a port in Suva's Walu Bay, Fiji, Jan. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing) Noting that the international community has extended a helping hand to Tonga, Wang said that China stands ready to work with all willing countries to give full play to each other's respective strengths and foster international synergy to help Tonga rebuild its home. For her part, 'Utoikamanu said that China responded at once and was one of the first countries in the world to provide emergency and disaster relief supplies for Tonga after the volcano erupted 11 days ago. She expressed heartfelt thanks to China for its assistance on behalf of the Tongan government and people. The Tongan side will closely coordinate with China on the delivery, storage and distribution of relief supplies to ensure that they reach those most in need as quickly as possible, 'Utoikamanu said. China is the largest developing country in the world as well as one of Tonga's largest development partners, the minister said, expressing her gratitude to China for its strong support in the country's post-disaster reconstruction. Tonga highly values its friendship and cooperation with China, and will continue to work with China to push for new progress in bilateral ties, she said, wishing all the best for the Chinese New Year. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) January is poised to be Marylands most deadly month of the coronavirus pandemic, according to state data, even as the number of new infections reported daily trends downward. State health officials track fatality data in two ways: when deaths are reported and when they actually occurred. By both measures, Maryland has surpassed previous peaks. Advertisement Health officials already have added more COVID-19 deaths to the state tally this month than in any previous month since the pandemic began in March 2020 with 1,604 fatalities attributed to the disease, passing a previous record set last May of 1,364. These are deaths that couldve happened in January or earlier but are newly confirmed to have been due to COVID-19. Meanwhile, at least 1,487 COVID-19 fatalities have occurred in January, according to the department, easily eclipsing its previous record of 1,392 deaths in a month, set in December 2020. In all, at least 13,175 Marylanders have died of COVID-19. Advertisement Gov. Larry Hogan and other officials statewide warned that the death toll could be high over the next several weeks even as the number of new cases reported each day declines. Thats because deaths tend to lag infections by as much as a month, according to researchers and public health experts. Total Maryland COVID-19 cases and deaths by race/ethnicity We do anticipate the number of deaths to continue to rise in the short term before peaking, and then also beginning to decline, along with all the rest of the metrics, Hogan said recently. At a state Board of Public Works meeting Wednesday, Hogan said the vast majority of deaths caused by the virus continue to be among people who are not vaccinated. The heavy case loads, hospitalizations and deaths have followed the rise of the new omicron variant, which the World Health Organization identified as a variant of concern just after Thanksgiving. Though researchers believe omicron to cause less severe illness than previous strains, it is far more contagious, infecting more than 362,000 Marylanders since December, according to state data. [ As Marylands omicron wave peaks, western and eastern parts of state look on with hope ] In Maryland, we had an extraordinarily large peak in cases many more omicron cases than any previous wave. So, thats going to be reflected in the death count several weeks later, said Dr. Eric Toner, an emergency medicine physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. We have to keep in mind that the number of cases we had here in Maryland was quite high. Marylands 14-day average case rate has fallen from a peak of more than 12,500 earlier this month to about 4,300, according to the latest figures. The number of people hospitalized in the state also has decreased to 1,811, down from a peak of nearly 3,500. The states case rate is now among the lowest in the country, Hogans office said Wednesday, with the testing positivity rate dropping 58% and the case rate down 67%. The Republican governor said the state is doing everything [it] can to get everyone inoculated against the virus, which he called the best defense against new variants. Day by day: Maryland COVID-19 cases, deaths, testing volume and positivity rate But, so long as thousands of people continue to test positive each day, the number of people getting hospitalized for the virus in Maryland will continue to be high. Advertisement The states emergency departments have been crushed by high volumes of patients seeking treatment, not just for COVID-19, but also for the flu and other respiratory viruses. Several acute-care hospitals have shifted to crisis-mode standards of care in recent weeks, allowing them to keep up with demand by temporarily suspending certain documentation requirements, redeploying staffs and postponing some surgical procedures. [ READ MORE: So you have COVID. Heres advice on what to do next. ] Omicrons rampage in Maryland will soon be replicated across the country, public health experts say. In the U.S., more than 18 million people have been infected in the last 28 days, according to the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard, and there have been close to 49,000 deaths in the same period. There have been more than 72 million cases reported since March 2020 and more than 872,000 deaths in the U.S. With 264 deaths per 100,000 people, the U.S. death rate trails only Brazils, and is about tied with Argentina, according to the Hopkins dashboard. There were nearly 2,300 U.S. deaths reported Friday. The numbers, while high, still trail previous U.S. peaks. The country hit an all-time daily high in deaths in January 2021, with 4,442. It has topped 55,500 deaths this month, well below its record high of 96,654 last January. COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days per 1,000 residents by Maryland jurisdiction Dr. Greg Schrank, an epidemiologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore and a professor in the universitys medical school, said last winters surge and the current surge arent easily compared, however. The previous high marks for cases and deaths were fueled by a different variant, and vaccinations were not yet widespread. While studies suggest that omicron generally causes less severe disease one recent study found a 50% reduction in hospitalizations Schrank said that doesnt mean hospitals will have light loads. Advertisement Its still a deadly and dangerous virus and were seeing it play out with the daily death rate, he said. Most of those with severe disease are unvaccinated, or not boosted, he said, and are older or have underlying health conditions. But not everyone hospitalized was particularly vulnerable. Schrank noted that some of the older patients were pretty robust and not sick before they came with COVID pneumonia. And even with a drop in cases and hospitalizations, the lag in time between illness onset to severe disease may mean deaths wont begin to drop for the next couple of weeks to a month from now. Researchers and modelers believe that urban areas in the North and Northeast will have more sustained declines before the rest of the country. Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore now lead the rest of the state in the 14-day average case rate per 1,000, a situation that could pose more problems due to less widespread vaccination there. In the Baltimore area, Dr. John Chessare, president and CEO of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, said the Towson hospitals workload has notably improved, thanks to the lessening case rates and the efforts and due diligence of area residents who have heeded state officials warnings about stress and strain. Advertisement It is now clear to everyone that things are starting to get better, Chessare said in recorded remarks, adding that state testing centers have helped divert some patients from utilizing emergency departments for nonemergent needs. Of the 57 patients currently hospitalized for COVID-19 at GBMC, 10 are in the intensive care unit, two of who have been vaccinated, Chessare said. The situation is similar across the MedStar Health network of 10 hospitals, where about three-quarters of the patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are not immunized, said Dr. Terry Fairbanks, the systems chief quality and safety officer and an emergency department physician. Fairbanks said booster doses have proven critical to keeping people out of hospitals. About a fifth of the critically ill and dying patients at MedStar hospitals are not boosted, he said, making it increasingly obvious that the definition of fully vaccinated is changing. Breaking News Alerts As it happens When big news breaks in our area, be the first to know. > The public doesnt understand the critical importance of being boosted, he said. They feel good about being vaccinated and they kind of stopped there. Without a booster they are not fully protected from getting COVID, transmitting COVID or becoming seriously ill. We know what works best is getting vaccinated and boosted and masking and being around only people who are masked and distancing, he continued. Its absolutely important. I know people are tired of it. Advertisement A number of patients at MedStar hospitals have come to get treated for the health care problems they put off earlier in the pandemic, Fairbanks added. But COVID-19, he said, remains the dominant problem, straining health care providers and services. When we look at graphs, they can be misleading. Our hospitals are still full, Fairbanks said. Were not seeing a decrease in ICU patients and were setting records with deaths of COVID patients. I think there is a misconception about omicron when people say its less severe. Its so much more contagious, there are more cases and so overall its more deadly. Hopkins Toner said its possible the death rate has peaked already in Maryland, though it might take a bit longer to say for sure. But people should not confuse declines in deaths with the end of the pandemic, he said. We were surprised by delta and omicron, so we should keep our guard up, Toner said. Even though case counts are coming way down, were still at a level where its high as weve ever been before. Baltimore Sun content editor Steve Earley contributed to this article. Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In a 38-year-old man who manifested mild symptoms of COVID-19 for 20 days, the novel coronavirus continued to be detected and to undergo mutations for 232 days. If he had not been given continuous medical care, maintained social distancing and worn a mask, he could have spread the virus throughout these seven months. The atypical case of infection by SARS-CoV-2 was part of a study involving 38 Brazilian patients followed on a weekly basis between April and November 2020 by researchers affiliated with the Pasteur-USP Scientific Platform, a partnership between France's Pasteur Institute, the University of Sao Paulo (USP) and Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) in Brazil. The patients were followed until they tested negative twice or three times consecutively by RT-qPCR. The study was supported by FAPESP. An article reporting its findings is published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine. It serves as an alert regarding the risk of limiting quarantine for COVID-19 patients to seven, ten or even 14 days after they test positive, as initially prescribed by protocols to combat the disease. It also reinforces the significance of vaccination, social distancing, and mask wearing. "Of the 38 cases we tracked, two men and a woman were atypical in the sense that the virus was continuously detected in their bodies for more than 70 days. Based on this result, we can say that about 8% of people infected by SARS-CoV-2 may be able to transmit the virus for more than two months, without necessarily manifesting any symptoms during the final stage of the infection," said Marielton dos Passos Cunha, first author of the article. The study was conducted while he was a postdoctoral intern at the Pasteur-USP Scientific Platform. "We wanted to know if a period of 14 days was really long enough for the virus to stop being detectable. We concluded that it wasn't. It can take a month for a patient to test negative, and in some cases included in our study the patients remained positive for 71 to 232 days," said Paola Minoprio, one of the coordinators of the Platform and principal investigator for the study. This is not the first evidence that the virus can remain active for longer than expected even in patients with mild symptoms. In early 2021, researchers at the University of Sao Paulo's Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT-USP) in Brazil analyzed 29 samples of nasopharyngeal secretion from patients who tested positive for COVID-19. The material was collected at a public primary health center on the tenth day after the onset of symptoms, and inoculated into laboratory-grown cells. In 25% of the cases, the viruses present in the samples were capable of infecting the cells and replicating in vitro. In theory, therefore, other people could be infected if they came into contact with droplets of saliva expelled by 25% of these patients at the time the material was collected. The risk appears to be even greater for people with compromised immune systems. In a paper published in June 2021, researchers at the same university's Medical School (FM-USP) described a case of infection that lasted at least 218 days. The patient was about 40 years old and had undergone aggressive treatment for cancer before contracting COVID-19. An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in early December 2020 reported the case of an immunocompromised 45-year-old man with an autoimmune blood disorder in whom the virus continued to replicate for 143 days. And an article published in Cell in late December outlined a case study of a female leukemia patient in whom the virus continued to replicate for at least 70 days, although she had no symptoms of COVID-19. Even so, this week the Brazilian Ministry of Health reduced the recommended period of self-isolation from ten to seven days for patients with mild or moderate symptoms, and to five days for people without symptoms if they test negative. At end-2021, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cut its recommendation from ten to five days in the case of asymptomatic patients provided they continue to wear a mask and test negative for COVID-19. Intrahost mutations In the study led by Minoprio, the difference between women and men in terms of the duration of viral activity was not significant (averaging 22 days and 33 days respectively). As for the three atypical cases, the virus remained detectable for 71 days in the woman and 81 days in one of the two men. None of them had comorbidities and all had mild symptoms of COVID-19. The other atypical man continued to test positive for coronavirus for 232 days (April-November 2020), after which he tested negative three times by RT-qPCR. He has had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, since 2018 but has no detectable viral load thanks to antiretroviral therapy. "The fact that he's seropositive for HIV doesn't mean he's more susceptible to other infections, as he has undergone the therapy since he was diagnosed. His capacity to respond to an infection by another agent is comparable to that of any other individual, and indeed he did respond to coronavirus when infected. He isn't immunosuppressed [like cancer patients, people with autoimmune diseases or transplantees, for example]," Minoprio said. According to the researchers, his HIV-positive status does not explain the long duration of his coronavirus infection. Many patients infected concurrently by HIV and SARS-CoV-2 would have to be compared with an appropriate control group in order to see if any genetic or immune traits in the host could be associated with such prolonged viral shedding. The patient underwent weekly tests that detected the persistence of the infection, and samples of the virus were regularly sequenced to show that it was not a case of reinfection and that the virus not only continued to replicate but was also mutating. The strategies used by the virus to escape the immune system during the infection were mapped, showing that viral load fell when there were more neutralizing antibodies, and that the virus was able to circumvent the body's defenses to build the load up again. The cycle repeated, forcing the production of more antibodies until viral load was again reduced. "It's important to observe patients like this one because we can learn more about how the virus mutates and which mutations can give rise to variants of concern," Cunha said. The patient in the study was infected by lineage B.1.1.28, which entered Brazil at the start of 2020. The researchers did not detect mutations in the virus isolated from the patient that could justify classifying it as more transmissible or more resistant to the immune system. The Pasteur-USP Scientific Platform continues to investigate these and other cases. The 38 patients analyzed in the study led by Minoprio are part of a bank of blood and nasopharyngeal secretion samples collected from 721 people who manifested symptoms associated with this coronavirus. "Fresh data will come from these samples, and we might be able to produce more palpable explanations for these atypical cases," Cunha said. "These cases are further evidence that mask wearing and social distancing are the best ways to control the pandemic. If 14 days after testing positive a person isn't tested again, they may still be shedding active viruses and be able to infect others, contributing to community transmission," Minoprio said. "It's crucial to keep track of infected people so we can find out more about mutations, novel variants, and the transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2." Explore further When am I contagious if infected with omicron? More information: Marielton dos Passos Cunha et al, Atypical Prolonged Viral Shedding With Intra-Host SARS-CoV-2 Evolution in a Mildly Affected Symptomatic Patient, Frontiers in Medicine (2021). Marielton dos Passos Cunha et al, Atypical Prolonged Viral Shedding With Intra-Host SARS-CoV-2 Evolution in a Mildly Affected Symptomatic Patient,(2021). DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2021.760170 Maria Cassia Mendes-Correa et al, SARS-CoV-2 shedding, infectivity and evolution in an immunocompromised adult patient, (2021). DOI: 10.1101/2021.06.11.21257717 Bina Choi et al, Persistence and Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in an Immunocompromised Host, New England Journal of Medicine (2020). DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2031364 Victoria A. Avanzato et al, Case Study: Prolonged Infectious SARS-CoV-2 Shedding from an Asymptomatic Immunocompromised Individual with Cancer, Cell (2020). DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.049 Journal information: New England Journal of Medicine , Cell Researchers at Boston University (BU) developed a real-time method for projecting COVID-19 quarantine needs in congregate housing settings ten days in advance. Credit: Marcus Loke on Unsplash It's difficult to plan ahead when SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is so unpredictable. But, there is now a straightforward method for predicting one of the resources needed to slow the spread of COVID-19 in communities. Researchers at Boston University (BU) developed a real-time method for projecting COVID-19 quarantine needs in congregate housing settings ten day in advance. Eric Kolaczyk, Director of the Hariri Institute and Professor of Mathematics & Statistics, Laura White, Professor of Biostatistics at the BU School of Public Health, and Wenrui Li, a former doctoral student in Mathematics & Statistics, joined forces to create a simple statistical model that incorporates readily available data, including daily case counts and contact tracing details, and is informed by sensible experiences and judgements on human behavior. The team's findings were published recently in The American Journal of Public Health (AJPH). As was the case for universities across the world, the initial surge of COVID-19 cases that shut down Massachusetts led to some concerns around bringing students back to the BU campus. So during the summer of 2020, BU leadership supporting the COVID-19 response tasked faculty experts with determining the efficacy of testing, contact tracing, and quarantine measures to bring students back safely in the fall. "There was a lot of collaboration across different departments and parts of the university, as well as university leadership that was collecting and storing the data," said White, "This is a really great hallmark of BU's response to COVID in that we made, what has proven to be, a very effective response." The researchers assumed there were super-spreader events, like parties, on or near the holiday weekends noted in the figure. Their ten day projections of on-campus quarantine counts closely matched the real trends on the BU campus. Credit: Boston University Some of the initial predictions for quarantine and isolation, however, were wrong. Fortunately, BU set aside hundreds more beds than were needed. "We found ourselves in uncharted waters in determining the number of quarantine and isolation beds," said Peter Smokowski, VP of Auxiliary Services, "However, the modeling that Eric's team completed was very helpful in establishing a benchmark number." The researchers' original model was intended to provide guidance for bringing students back to campus safely, rather than specific estimates on the number of beds needed. Modeling experts Kolaczyk, White, and Li continued working together in the fall to develop a more accurate model for predicting quarantine needs. The team's new model incorporates data on daily positive case counts for students and information from contact tracing on how student populations off and on campus interact. The model also accounts for dates when COVID-19 might spread more quickly, like long weekends or holidays. The methods that the team used to create their model are effective, and quite simple. "The software is only five lines of code," said Kolaczyk, "Yet it is based on a very principled method, based on standard notions of the arrivals of infected individuals and local transmission." Li remains pleasantly surprised by the simplicity and effectiveness of the model. "Our model is simple, but it works well," said Li. A different SARS-CoV-2 variant or new disease could spring up in the future, and determining how to allocate resources like quarantine housing could make a big difference in how quickly it spreads through congregate settings. The researchers' model can be applied to similar settings where people in close quarters interact with groups outside. Correctional facilities, nursing homes, or military housing locations could use this model to predict quarantine needs and allocate housing resources appropriately. "The driver for us in transitioning this from a BU project to a publication is the realization of how ubiquitous the need for quarantine space optimization is across the world," said Kolaczyk, "Our model can be used as a predictive tool to allocate resources from a relatively milder baselinerather than being reactive." More information: Wenrui Li et al, Projecting Quarantine Utilization During a Pandemic, American Journal of Public Health (2022). Journal information: American Journal of Public Health Wenrui Li et al, Projecting Quarantine Utilization During a Pandemic,(2022). DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306573 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Cumulative social disadvantage, as denoted by higher social determinants of health (SDOH) burden, is associated with a higher likelihood of obesity independent of clinical and demographic factors, according to a new study in Obesity. The population-based study is the first to examine this hypothesized association in a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. "In general, contemporary care models for cardiovascular disease do not provide opportunities to holistically assess patients' social burden. In turn, this compromises quality of care and worsens health inequities," said Khurram Nasir, MD, MPH, MSc, Division of Cardiovascular Prevention and Wellness, Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center in Texas. Nasir is the corresponding author of the study. Nasir added "our findings call on healthcare providers and policymakers to develop novel care delivery models that allow for greater assessment of SDOH to inform patient care, and prioritize socially vulnerable populations in cardiovascular prevention programs for greatest population health benefits. Strong political will and partnerships between health systems and community stakeholders are needed to identify and address unfavorable SDOH, and alleviate the burden of obesity in underserved communities." Researchers explain that limited empirical data have suggested correlations between individual SDOH such as education, income, neighborhood and food environment, and obesity. However, the SDOH-obesity link has not been examined from an upstream, cumulative social disadvantage standpoint. Data from nearly 165,000 adults aged 18 or older were used from the 20132017 National Health Interview Survey, a cross-sectional household interview questionnaire conducted annually by the National Center for Health Statistics under the auspices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overweight was defined as 25 with less than a body mass index (BMI) of 30 while obesity was defined as a BMI of greater than or equal to 30. Obesity was further categorized into three classes (obesity class 1 and 2, 30 kg/m2 BMI greater than 40) and obesity class 3 (BMI equal to or a greater than 40) to further examine the association of SDOH and different levels of obesity. To operationalize the SDOH framework, researchers adapted a model by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Individual SDOH were grouped into six domains, including economic stability; neighborhood, physical environment and social cohesion; community and social context; food; education and health care system. A total of 38 SDOH were aggregated to create a cumulative SDOH score, which was divided into four quartiles to denote levels of SDOH burden. Prevalence of overweight and obesity were studied across SDOH quartiles in the total population and by age, sex and race/ethnicity. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to analyze the association between SDOH quartiles and overweight/obesity, adjusting for relevant covariates. Results showed that there was a graded increase in obesity prevalence with increasing SDOH burden. At nearly each quartile, overweight and obesity rates were higher for middle aged and non-Hispanic Black adults compared to their White counterparts, additional differences were observed by sex. In fully adjusted models, quartile four of SDOH was associated with 15%, 50% and 70% higher relative prevalence of overweight, obesity class 1 and 2, and obesity class 3, respectively, relative to quartile 1 of SDOH. The study's authors note that future studies need to assess the SDOH-obesity link with longitudinal study designs. New research also needs to build platforms for data crosstalk to enable cross-referencing self-reported and medically-ascertained data. Future study should also include modeling cumulative impact of multiple SDOH considering additional methodological approaches such as machine-learning algorithms. "It is crucial for us to address the social determinants of health if we want to begin to address the complex multi-factorial disease that is obesity. With poor SDOH, we see a greater risk for overweight and obesity. Therefore, this study supports our need to address equity and access to SDOH to improve overweight and obesity in the United States and around the world," said Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, MBA, FTOS, an obesity medicine physician scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. She is the TOS councilor for advocacy, public affairs and regulatory. Stanford was not associated with the research. The study, titled "Social Determinants of Health and Obesity: Findings from a National Study of United States Adults," will be published in the February 2022 print issue. Explore further Social determinants of health provide better understanding of brain vulnerability to delirium More information: "Social Determinants of Health and Obesity: Findings from a National Study of United States Adults," Obesity, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.23336 Journal information: Obesity "Social Determinants of Health and Obesity: Findings from a National Study of United States Adults," Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Dr. Quinton Fivelman Ph.D., the Chief Scientific Officer at London Medical Laboratory, is warning that thyroid problems may be escalating rapidly in the UK population and it is likely that there is a direct link between SARS-CoV-2 and abnormal thyroid function. While the average global incidence of thyroid problems in the population is only around 3%, Dr. Fivelman says London Medical Laboratory's latest research indicates that, here in the UK, about 1 in 20 of us has some kind of thyroid disorder, which may be temporary or permanent. He says two factors may be at play in the growth of thyroid problemsthe COVID-19 pandemic and an aging population. Explains Dr. Fivelman: "There is growing evidence that thyroid problems are increasing in the community, and particularly among older people and those patients with COVID symptoms severe enough to be admitted to hospital. There is a concern now that these two factors combined may see these numbers climb even higher in the future. In addition, thyroid problems are more common in women than men. A woman is about five to eight times more likely to be diagnosed with a thyroid condition than a man. "A recent study revealed almost 15% of hospital patients with COVID-19, who had no previously diagnosed thyroid disorders, went on to develop abnormal thyroid function. A study from the US, also released recently and confirmed by our results, has found that almost 25% of over-65-year olds are now showing some kind of thyroid problem. "In the last two years, around 41% of us delayed or avoided medical care such as regular GP check-ups, and we believe there is little doubt that illnesses such as thyroid problems have gone unrecognized as a result. "A recent study in Nature, which has been mirrored by the results of London Medical Laboratory's own blood "MOT" tests, reveal one in four people over 65 showed signs of thyroid problems. Concerningly, many of the cases picked up in the study were previously untreated thyroid dysfunctions. Most of these patients had underactive thyroids, while a very small minority suffered from overactive thyroids. "That's concerning enough but, in the last year, evidence has been building that there is also a link between COVID-19 and abnormal thyroid functions in patients of all ages. And people ill with COVID-19 have a worse prognosis if they develop thyroid problems. "Thyroid diseases can lead to severe health problems and need to be treated quickly. If undiagnosed, underactive thyroids (hypothyroidism) can lead to slow heart rate, hearing loss, anemia and, in the most severe cases, Myxedema Coma. "Overactive thyroids (hyperthyroidism), if not controlled, can lead to eye problems, pregnancy problems, irregular or abnormally fast heart rate, weakened bones, heart failure and what the medical profession terms a "thyroid storm," which can lead to confusion and loss of consciousness. "How do people know if they might be developing thyroid problems? The symptoms of an abnormally functioning thyroid can be easy to miss, which is why they may be on the rise without regular GP check-ups. "The symptoms of an underactive thyroid (not enough thyroxine being produced for the body's needs) are: Tiredness Feeling cold Weight gain Constipation Poor concentration Depression "The symptoms of an overactive thyroid (too much thyroxine being produced for the body's needs) are: Weight loss Heat intolerance Anxiety Sore and gritty eyes Thyroid eye disease (or Graves' ophthalmopathy), leading to red, swollen or pulled back eyelids or bulging eyes "While the explanation for the increase in undiagnosed positive tests for thyroid problems around the world is partially down to missed doctor's appointments, one new study has shown almost 15% of patients admitted to Queen Mary Hospital with COVID-19 had new onset thyroid dysfunction. "Of particular concern is the fact that the more severe the impact of COVID-19 seemed to be on the patient, the worse their COVID-19 outcome became. The thyroid controls the production of free triiodothyronine (fT3) in our bodies. 6% of COVID-19 patients in the study developed abnormally low levels of fT3. Those patients with decreasing fT3 went on to develop severe COVID, leading to the conclusion that people with low fT3caused by the virus' impact on the thyroidhad more adverse COVID-19-related outcomes. "The study also concluded that COVID-19 exacerbated the symptoms of people with pre-existing thyroid disease. "With this in mind, what can people do to avoid the risk of catching COVID at the same time as developing a thyroid problem? As well as keeping up to date with COVID vaccinations, obvious measures include checking for the symptoms we have listed above and taking a general blood test. "Our latest research shows health testing, such as blood tests, fell by 80% last year in primary care. These should form part of everyone's annual health "MOT." London Medical Laboratory's own Well Man and Well Woman Premier Plus tests measure around 40 individual readings, ranging from thyroid stimulating hormones to vitamins, iron and calcium, full blood count and oestradiol. "Postal kits that measure people's blood sugar to detect thyroid function, diabetes, and even cholesterol are also readily available, as they require less blood and can be done in the comfort of people's homes. "From these results, patients can learn whether they are at risk of illnesses such as thyroid problems. Given the increased likelihood of poorer outcomes for COVID-19 patients with untreated thyroid problems this test can be an effective early warning. "The new generation blood tests are highly accurate, and quick and simple to carry out at one of the many drop-in clinics that offer this test. They take around five minutes, with results usually emailed the next day. For full details, women should see: www.londonmedicallaboratory.co premier-plus-profile and men: www.londonmedicallaboratory.co premier-plus-profile Explore further Consumer Health: Understanding thyroid cancer risk Provided by London Medical Laboratory THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 is changing medicine in yet another way: A new study finds that patients with COVID-related lung damage now account for nearly one in 10 lung transplants in the United States. The researchers analyzed data on more than 3,000 lung transplants nationwide between Aug. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. They found that 7% of them were performed to treat severe, irreversible lung damage caused by COVID-19. The average age of the 214 COVID lung transplant patients was 52, and the rate of three-month survival was nearly 96%. The findings showed that 140 patients had COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome, and 74 patients had COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis. "Acute respiratory distress syndrome involves an acute inflammation of the lungs, resulting in decreased ability for the lungs to oxygenate and ventilate," said study co-author Dr. Amy Roach. She's a general surgery resident and research fellow at Smidt Heart Institute of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "In some patients this progresses to COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis, which causes scarring in the lung and is generally irreversible," Roach said in a medical center news release. More than half of the 214 patients required ventilators or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) before their transplant, according to the study. The results were published Jan. 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Study co-author Dr. Joanna Chikwe said, "Our experience treating COVID-19 has shown us that ECMO can be used in carefully selected patients, either as a bridge to lung transplantation, or to allow a patient's own lungs to heal." Chikwe is chair of the heart institute's department of cardiac surgery. "Most of these COVID-19 patients would have been considered too ill to transplant a few years ago, and the surprising finding of our research was how well they did after lung transplantation," she added. ECMO involves pumping a patient's blood from the body and through an artificial lung before being returned to the body. Between July 2020 and June 30, 2021, Cedars-Sinai provided more than 30,000 hours of ECMO care to patients. Of those, 21,000 hours were for patients with severe lung disease due to COVID-19. More information For more on how COVID-19 affects the lungs, visit the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. SOURCE: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, news release, Jan. 26, 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 the TownNews Content Exchange. THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It's frightening to see your child have a fever-related (febrile) seizure, but researchers are learning more about who's more susceptible. An international study has identified seven new genes associated with febrile seizures, or febrile convulsions, in young children. Febrile seizures are defined as seizures in children younger than age 5 who have a fever above 101.3 F (38.5 C). They affect up to 5% of children, making them the most common form of abnormal brain activity in childhood. While the seizures typically occur only once or a few times, about 7% of children with febrile seizures later develop epilepsy. The study results "are important in our attempt to explain why some children experience febrile convulsions, while others do not. Some children are particularly susceptible to fever and we have now shown that this susceptibility is associated with the genes that the children are born with," study co-author Julie Werenberg Dreier said in a news release from Aarhus University, Denmark. She's a senior researcher there. The study found that children with more febrile seizure-related genes are younger at the time of their first seizure, and more likely to be hospitalized with febrile convulsions than children with fewer of these genes. "This suggests that the overall risk of suffering febrile convulsions is determined by several different genes, each of which carries a small risk, but when these genes appear together in the same child, this will result in a higher risk of febrile convulsions," said researcher Jakob Christensen, a clinical associate professor at Aarhus University. The researchers also found a link between febrile convulsions and epilepsy. "We found that some of the genes associated with febrile convulsions are also associated with epilepsy, and this may explain why children with febrile convulsions have an increased risk of epilepsy later in life. Understanding the genetic similarities and differences between febrile convulsions and epilepsy is a fascinating research area which we are planning to investigate in future studies" Christensen said. In the study, researchers from the iPSYCH and Statens Serum Institut in Denmark analyzed DNA variants in more than 7,600 children from Denmark and Australia who'd had one or more febrile seizures and nearly 84,000 children with no history of febrile seizures. These genes play a role in mechanisms that influence how children react to fever and how brain cells work, according to the study authors. The findings were published recently in the journal Brain. Unlike previous research, this study didn't find an association between genes associated with mental disorders and genes connected with an increased risk of febrile seizures. More information There's more on febrile seizures at the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. SOURCE: Aarhus University, news release, Jan. 24, 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 the TownNews Content Exchange. Advocates expressed concern this week that some Afghan refugees have said they are not receiving adequate health care and other assistance as they seek to build new lives in the Baltimore area. Weve been deeply alarmed by the stories that we have learned, said Zainab Chaudry, who directs the Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights and advocacy group. Advertisement Surrounded by about two dozen refugees in the parking lot of a hotel near BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport where they are living, Chaudry and other advocates said at a news conference Wednesday that some of the newcomers report difficulties getting care when they fall ill or are pregnant and reaching the case workers who are handling their resettlement. Others say there have been delays in getting documents that would allow them to work, or that they have been moved to housing in neighborhoods that they feel are dangerous, Chaudry said. Advertisement The refugees are among the tens of thousands who fled Afghanistan last summer as the U.S. pulled out from the country amid the Taliban takeover. They go through what is generally a lengthy process in which they are vetted and screened overseas and again in the U.S., where they live on military bases before they are sent to communities for resettlement. Maryland always has been among the top destinations for refugees because of its proximity to Washington and, in the case of people from Afghanistan, the government agencies that they may have assisted over the course of the 20-year war. Many of the refugees arrive with Special Immigrant Visas granted because of that assistance, which put them in danger from the Taliban. In August, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Maryland was ready and willing to take in those who, at risk to themselves, helped the U.S. during the war. We have a moral obligation to help them, he said then, inviting those in need to contact the Maryland Office of Refugees and Asylees. On Wednesday, state officials said the refugees CAIR is referring to are not yet officially placed in Maryland. They are being resettled by the International Rescue Committee, which is responsible for them during the initial resettlement period, according to a statement from the Maryland Department of Human Services, with state services available after that if the federal government officially places them in Maryland. The state of Maryland supports refugee integration efforts after the federal government has effectively provided reception and placement services, the statement said. The IRC, among the humanitarian agencies that resettle refugees in partnership with the United Nations and the federal government, said in a statement Thursday that it has doubled the size of its staff in order to meet the needs of the unprecedented amount of refugees resettling in the area. Advertisement Our teams are operating under rapid timelines and constrained resources, the agency said. Where we face challenges, we always want to learn from them. Our highest priority is the well-being of our clients and we strive to serve them with the best services possible. A spokesperson for the State Department, whose Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration funds resettlement agencies helping refugees in the Afghan placement program, also stressed the difficulty of handling so many new arrivals while dealing with staffing and housing shortages. The spokesperson said the agency takes any concerns about the resettlement process seriously, and will follow up with the resettlement agencies they work with when they arise. Zainab Chaudry, center, of CAIR Maryland held a news conference Wednesday at a Baltimore-area hotel to point out a lack of support for some Afghan evacuees. (Kenneth K. Lam/The Baltimore Sun) Under a program called Operation Allies Welcome, about 74,000 Afghans have come to the United States, the State Department said in December. Resettlement agencies, sometimes partnering with churches and other volunteer groups, ultimately work to find them apartments, English lessons, job training, schools for their children and other forms of assistance. According to Maryland officials, as of earlier this month, about 1,300 Afghan people have been resettled in the state as part of Operation Allies Welcome. Since 2010, they said, about 10,000 SIV-holders have resettled in Maryland. Chaudry acknowledged the difficulties faced by government and resettlement agencies trying to accommodate such a large number of refugees. Advertisement We understand the challenges that resettlement agencies are facing, with the rapid influx of families who have been coming under unique circumstances especially amidst a global pandemic, she said. CAIR said about 40 families have been temporarily housed in the hotel since October. Chaudry said CAIR and others have offered help that has not been accepted. If these agencies cannot provide the services and support to these families, they need to be able to outsource to other advocacy organizations who can step in, she said. One refugee who has been living at the hotel said he was told by a son still in Afghanistan that Taliban representatives had come to his house looking for him because he had helped the Americans. He said that while the refugees are grateful for the assistance theyve received, they still need things like lessons in English and driving and help in getting family members here from Afghanistan. Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. > American people, they are very kind, he said. Advertisement Chaudry said another refugee, a woman, said she had been ill and bedridden but was not checked on by a caseworker during that time. Jenna Whitney, who lives in Anne Arundel County, said she heard from a friend that there were refugees from Afghanistan in the area who were in distress because they were living in a hotel for months and not able to get assistance with health care or more permanent housing. She said she knew of groups elsewhere that seemed to be able to get refugees into housing much more quickly, and decided to see if she could help by bringing food, clothes and other supplies. Its more a social outreach, said Whitney, noting that food was being brought in regularly to the refugees living in the hotel. Chaudry said the refugees have been overwhelmed by the generosity theyve received, and it was heartbreaking that theyve had difficulties getting everything they need. Many of these families have been deeply traumatized, she said. They really just want to provide a safe environment for their children, for each other, for one another. Baltimore Sun reporter Lilly Price contributed to this article. THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It sounds like the stuff sci-fi films are made of, but the successful regrowth of lost limbs in frogs could point the way to helping human amputees, researchers say. Some creatures -- including salamanders, starfish, crabs and lizards -- can fully regenerate at least some lost limbs. But like humans, adult frogs don't have that ability. However, a team of scientists regrew lost legs in adult African clawed frogs through the use of a five-drug cocktail. The cocktail was in a wearable silicone cap that was placed over the stump for 24 hours. That brief use of what the researchers call a BioDome triggered an 18-month period of regrowth that restored an almost functional leg, according to the study. Its exciting to see that the drugs we selected were helping to create an almost complete limb, said study co-author Nirosha Murugan, a research affiliate in the Tufts University Allen Discovery Center in Boston. The fact that it required only a brief exposure to the drugs to set in motion a months-long regeneration process suggests that frogs and perhaps other animals may have dormant regenerative capabilities that can be triggered into action," Murugan added in a school news release. The results were published Jan. 26 in the journal Science Advances. The regrown limbs moved and responded to stimuli such as a touch, and the frogs were able to make use of the limbs for swimming, moving much like a normal frog. Each of the five drugs had a different purpose, including reducing inflammation, inhibiting the production of collagen which would lead to scarring, and encouraging the new growth of nerve fibers, blood vessels and muscle, the researchers explained. Mammals and other regenerating animals will usually have their injuries exposed to air or making contact with the ground, and they can take days to weeks to close up with scar tissue, said study co-author David Kaplan, a professor of engineering at Tufts. Using the BioDome cap in the first 24 hours helps mimic an amniotic-like environment which, along with the right drugs, allows the rebuilding process to proceed without the interference of scar tissue," Kaplan explained. The next step is to assess how this treatment applies to mammals, the researchers said, as animal research doesn't always pan out in humans. More information There's more on limb loss at the U.S. National Library of Medicine. SOURCE: Tufts University, news release, Jan. 26, 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 the TownNews Content Exchange. As of January 2022, Montanans got the green light on recreational marijuana sales for adults 21 and older. But what does that mean for the cannabis consumer? Whether youre a seasoned wake-and-baker, or just curious to step into a dispensary for a smell without the inhale, theres some legal details youll want to learn before partaking in potential short-term memory loss. How to buy? There are hundreds of dispensaries, or marijuana retailers, across the state. However, recreational sales remain prohibited in counties where voters opposed Initiative 190. It remains illegal to sell marijuana in Montana without a specialized license. Plan to bring cash and be asked for photo ID, as dispensaries face federal restrictions on banking. Also, sales are limited to 9 a.m.-8 p.m., so be sure to get the goodies early if youre a midnight toker. What to buy? Many folks are most familiar with marijuana consumption in its combustible plant form. The typical "bud," or flower, is whats commonly found in joints, pipes, and at the bottom of sandwich baggies everywhere. But there are many ways to imbibe, and each dispensary will offer its own variety of flower strains and other consumables. Products such as edibles, oil, capsules and tinctures can be consumed without smoking. Extracts like hash, wax, dabs and more are concentrated from the psychoactive THC that remains when plant matter is removed. Everything sold is produced and tested (and taxed) in Montana. How to carry? Its legal to buy it, its legal to own it, but its not always legal to carry it. For starters, each purchase is limited to one ounce of plant product, or equivalent in concentrates or edibles. Shoppers can mix-and-match, but everything must leave the store in a child-proof "exit bag" (often reusable). There are further technicalities when it comes to transporting marijuana products. While in a motor vehicle, cannabis products must be in either unopened packaging, a locked glove box or other storage compartment, a trunk or luggage compartment, or essentially outside the cars passenger area. Also, its against federal law to simultaneously possess a firearm and marijuana products. Where to consume? Although marijuana consumption has been legal in Montana since January 2021, there are restrictions on where everybody can get stoned. Public places, such as parks and sidewalks, are off-limits. This is especially notable on federal land or waters, such as any spot in our bountiful national parks system. Similar to alcohol, its illegal to operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of marijuana. A DUI can apply to marijuana intoxication, and officers may use probable cause to detain the driver for a blood test. As the technicalities surrounding marijuana legalization continue to evolve, your local law enforcement agency remains the best source for information. Growing your own? Yes, Montanans can now grow their own fields of green as long as that field is not visible to the public, and contains no more than two mature marijuana plants and two seedlings. The cultivation must also be in a private residence and for private use. This article is not intended as legal advice. For the full text of Montanas cannabis laws, see HB0701 at https://bit.ly/MT-law-text. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Bonner bank robbery suspect has been arrested after allegedly fleeing with a large amount of cash. Brian L. Batt, 36, is charged with one felony count of robbery. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. The report of the robbery at the Trail West Bank came in around 1:07 p.m. on Monday. An employee reported the suspect, later identified as Batt, entered the bank and presented a note demanding he be given money or else he would blow up the bank and kill the employees, according to Missoula County charging documents. The teller handed over about $7,000 in cash, including a stack of traceable bills. Batt fled the scene. When Missoula County Sheriff's deputies arrived, they observed fresh tracks in the snow outside the bank and followed them to an apartment complex nearby. When deputies arrived at the apartment that the tracks led to, a woman answered and said there was no one else home, but said her boyfriend, Batt, lived there, too. She stated he was at work in Seeley Lake. Deputies procured a search warrant for the apartment, and found evidence consistent with the alleged crime, including a handwritten bank note demanding money consistent with the description provided by the bank employee. Later, Batt called 911 asking to speak with the investigating detective. He said he had not robbed the bank and "wanted to clear things up." The detective agreed to meet Batt at the Clearwater Junction, and he was taken into custody without incident. At the time of his arrest, Batt was wearing clothing consistent with the description of what the suspect was wearing at the time of the robbery. Batt made his initial appearance Wednesday afternoon in Missoula County Justice Court. State prosecution asked for a $50,000 bond, and the public defender's office requested he be released on his own recognizance. Missoula Justice of the Peace Alex Beal set bail at $100,000. His arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 7 at 9 a.m. in Missoula County District Court. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 2 Sad 0 Angry 4 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. CAMBRIDGE, Md. (AP) Maryland State Police are investigating after two men were found apparently slain in Dorchester County, officials said. The men were found inside a building in the 800 block of Park Lane in Cambridge and pronounced dead by emergency medical service personnel, state police said in a news release. Officers with the Cambridge police department responded initially, but the state police homicide unit was asked to respond to take the lead in the investigation. Advertisement Investigators spent the night searching the scene for evidence and interviewing witnesses in the area, police said. Their bodies will be taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for autopsy. The mens names have not been released. Missoula may ask for help again from the National Guard to shore up staffing levels at local medical centers. The city council's Public Health and Safety committee met virtually Wednesday morning to hear a report from Missoula City-County Health Officer D'Shane Barnett, which was dire. COVID cases have skyrocketed in Missoula over recent weeks, once again putting tremendous pressure on health care services. "One of our main goals is to try and preserve hospital capacity ... we hit the hospitalization levels of the delta spike much sooner in omicron than we thought we would," Barnett said. This has led to staffing issues at hospitals, with doctors and administrators volunteering for custodial and food service duties, Barnett said. County Emergency Management director Adriane Beck clarified that while a request has not formally been filed with the state, there have been conversations with Providence St. Pat's to determine if National Guard staffing is needed. Missoula has sought support from the military several times during the pandemic, finally getting some late last year. Missoula then requested an extension for those units, which was accepted. Such requests go through the county's Department of Emergency Management. Barnett reported that the Health Department will soon likely no longer have capacity to notify individuals of positive tests. Federal Emergency Management no longer funds contact tracing and surveillance. Notification will be prioritized for those in higher-risk categories, including congregate living or care, long-term care facilities and schools. "There is a capacity issue and we're not going to be able to contact every single person who tests positive when we're seeing a positive caseload of 200 to 300 per day," Barnett said. "It's looking like we're moving to a point in this pandemic where we're not even going to be able to contact everyone who tests positive." Guidance had come down from the state to move away from universal case investigation, Barnett said. Missoula and the country as a whole are also seeing a significant shortage of blood. On Jan. 11, the Red Cross which supplies around 40% of the blood used in the U.S. said in a release that it is facing its worst shortage in over a decade. The organization noted it had experienced a 10% decrease in the number of people donating blood since the beginning of the pandemic. "I had a meeting with St. Pat's yesterday and they are actually having to prioritize and ration the blood storage they have available," Barnett said. "We want as many people possible to (realize) that now is the time to give blood." Missoula County has 2,849 active cases. An additional 770 cases were added on Monday, though Barnett said that was due to a backlog at the state level. There have been recent changes in how cases are reported by the state. There are 49 people hospitalized due to COVID in Missoula County, 29 of them residents. Barnett also reported several new COVID testing centers have opened or are in the works. On Wednesday, one began operation at the University of Montana for students and staff. Another is planned for the Election Center building, though details on that are still being worked out. Jordan Hansen covers news and local government for the Missoulian. Shout at him on Twitter @jordyhansen or send him an email at Jordan.Hansen@Missoulian.com You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 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. A new restaurant featuring the flavors of Thailand is set to open up in the recently developed Kent Plaza in central Missoula. Rice will have its grand opening on Monday, Jan. 31, according to owners Sorawit Tum Meejinda and Puyada Pam Mongkolpla, who are business partners on the project. Were excited, Meejinda said. It took longer than we thought and costs were doubled, with construction and equipment and time and everything. But now were ready. Like many restaurateurs who have opened during the pandemic, theyve been beset by supply chain and staffing challenges. For example, it took months longer than expected to get the rooftop air-conditioning units installed. But the new spot, at 1200 W. Kent Ave. Unit 102, is finally ready to go. Meejinda, who goes by his nickname Tum to everyone, is an owner of the Rice restaurant in Belgrade. He recently got married and moved to Missoula, and he decided the food scene here could use an addition. It seems like we dont have much options for Asian food here, he said. So I just decided to bring the business here, too. And we just started looking and then we found this perfect spot. Its a fairly small space, but its got big windows and plenty of parking with the Trempers Plaza shopping center next door. Theres a lot of offices here and we also face a lot of traffic, Meejinda said. Meejinda went to a prestigious four-year culinary school in Thailand, he said, and then got an internship at a resort in Big Sky. I fell in love with Montana, he recalled. However, he got a job offer to be the personal chef of a Thai investor in Australia. He moved there and worked for a short time, but then his boss moved to Taiwan. He didnt want to go to Taiwan, so instead moved back to Thailand to finish school. Then, he ended up back in the U.S. to work as a chef at the first Rice restaurant in the Bozeman area. There are now four of those, and the Missoula location will be the fifth, although they arent a franchise or a chain. Theyre all family owned, he said. He was offered the opportunity to be a partner in the Belgrade location, and now hes turning his focus to Missoula. Hell be the chef here along with another chef from Thailand who he knows from culinary school. The menu features over 50 items, from appetizers to lunch specials to dinner entrees. Meejinda said he especially recommends the pad kra prao, which is a dish that comes with a choice of chicken, beef, pork, tofu or shrimp along with spicy pan-fried bell peppers, carrots, onions and basil. He also recommends the gaeng panaeng curry, which is made with lime leaves. Theyll offer classics like pad Thai and chicken satay along with interesting dishes like spaghetti khee mao talay, a noodle dish, and po tak, a spicy and sour mushroom and seafood soup. They also have desserts like fried bananas, mango sticky rice, black rice pudding and coconut ice cream. Meejinda said they can make almost every dish as either vegan or gluten-free, although it might change the flavor. He cautioned that many people might not understand that their spiciness scale of 1-5 might be a lot hotter than people would find at a typical Chinese restaurant. We use very spicy chiles, he said. So even if someone orders a 1, they might find it pretty spicy. If someone orders more than a 1 or a 2, I usually ask them if theyve had our dishes before. They can try a 1 or 2 first and see if thats enough. They plan to offer a bar menu for the Odd Pitch brewery next door, and theyll be available for delivery through DoorDash. Theyll be open for lunch and dinner, and Meejinda said if they can hire enough people theyll eventually be open seven days a week. Co-owner Puyada Pam Mongkolpla said shes learned that its impossible to please everyone in the restaurant business, but she thinks Missoulians will find something they like at Rice. We want to make everybody happy and want everybody to like our service, she said. Sometimes its not possible for 100% of customers, but we always try our best. Either way, shes glad to be in the homestretch. Its been a long journey for this project, she said. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 18 Funny 0 Wow 2 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. Marijuana is now legal to purchase for recreational use in Montana for those aged 21 years or older with a valid photo ID. Legalization was met with celebration by some, along with many questions about how to go about using cannabis legally. Anyone can now go into a cannabis dispensary and buy up to an ounce of marijuana flower, or the equivalent in concentrates or edibles. That equivalence comes out to 800 milligrams of edibles or eight grams of concentrate. Concentrate includes vape pens as well as cannabis wax. Cannabis wax is sold in small containers and often used on a heated platform where the concentrate is then added and inhaled. There are also limits on the amount of THC the most common psychoactive compound found on the plant that can be in recreational marijuana products. Flower cannot contain more than 35% THC, while a package of edibles cannot have more 100 mg of THC. A single serving of an edible cannot have more than 10 mg of THC. Those limits are exclusive to recreational users. Cannabis products sold for medical use can contain more THC. Driving while under the influence of marijuana is still illegal, as is consuming it in a public space. Possession of more than one ounce but less than two ounces could face a $500 fine, while consuming marijuana in a public area has the potential for a $50 fine. The Montana Department of Justice is estimating there will be an increase by 77% of DUI cases, according to a fiscal note attached to the marijuana bill that was passed. Those looking to consume marijuana can drive with it in their car, but it needs to be unopened, in its original packaging and stowed away. All purchases must be bought in a child-safe container. The state is considering roadside saliva tests for potential DUIs, according to a report by the Independent Record in Helena. Those looking to buy recreational marijuana should know that most dispensaries do not accept debit cards. In fact, nearly all exclusively accept cash. This is due to the fact that marijuana is still criminalized at the federal level. Banks cannot work financially with the cannabis industry the same way they would other businesses. Many dispensaries offer on-site ATM machines as a workaround. A number of customers looking to buy on the first weekend of recreational marijuana seemed to be surprised it is, mostly, a cash-only business. Recreational marijuana is also taxed by the state at a flat 20% rate, with Missoula County adding an additional local-options sales tax of 3%. According to House Bill 701, which legalized recreational marijuana, dispensaries cannot open before 9 a.m. or be open past 8 p.m. Missoula County will retain 50% of the local option tax, while the city of Missoula will get 45%. The remaining 5% will go to the Montana Department of Revenue. There is a 4% tax on medical sales of cannabis products. The industry is regulated and marijuana products sold in state are tested for bacteria, mold and heavy metals, as well as for potency and what compounds are in them, at a state-approved facility. Recreational marijuana is also not available in all counties in the state. In counties where the majority of voters opposed the weed initiative, adult-use sales will remain prohibited. There is still a path for removing prohibition via a county vote on whether or not marijuana businesses can operate in that jurisdiction. Marijuana also cannot be consumed in national parks, including Yellowstone and Glacier, as well as any other federal land. It is also illegal to cross state lines with marijuana in a person's possession or fly with cannabis products. Montana residents are allowed to grow and possess two mature marijuana plants, as well as two seedlings, in their own home. The plants cannot be publicly visible. Jordan Hansen covers news and local government for the Missoulian. Shout at him on Twitter @jordyhansen or send him an email at Jordan.Hansen@Missoulian.com You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. 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. Maggie Hirschauer will present "The Magnificent Vultures of Africa." Vultures deserve our gratitude. They curtail the spread of disease through rapidly ridding the environment of decaying carcasses. Their demise may have catastrophic results for humans and the environment. Of the nine vulture species on the African continent, seven have declined by 80% in recent years. Conservation of these long-lived and often wide-ranging species is complicated as they face numerous threats that vary by species and location. VulPro is a nonprofit organization in South Africa dedicated to saving Africas vultures. The VulPro vulture center, which currently houses over 250 non-releasable birds, is leading the way with captive breeding for reintroductions, rehabilitation, research and education. This presentation will highlight the issues African vultures face today, VulPros work to advocate for these misunderstood creatures, and some insights learned after working with VulPro over several years. LOUISVILLE, Ky. As districts across Kentucky announced Wednesday night they would be closed Thursday because of expected snow, Jefferson County did not. Soon after thousands of kids made their way to school Thursday morning, though, JCPS announced it would dismiss early. Snow started falling soon after, coating roads by the time middle and high schools released at 11 a.m. Fifteen school buses had minor crashes, and it took hours to get everyone home. Why did JCPS wait to call off? "We wanted to see the latest, updated forecast and where the line of snow and predicted snowfall amounts were before making a final decision," district spokesman Mark Hebert said Thursday morning. More: What to know about Kentucky's snowstorm, road conditions and Kentucky school closings Students were also able to eat since they had gone to school, Hebert added. About two-thirds of JCPS students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, a common indicator of poverty. JCPS called off school for Friday around 7:30 p.m. Thursday night. School districts get five hours each year to use for weather-related delays and early dismissals, so JCPS will get credit for a full day Thursday and won't need to make it up. JCPS has four more days than what is required under state law baked into its school calendar. Friday's cancellation would use one of those days, leaving JCPS with three extra days for traditional snow days and 10 nontraditional instruction days to close schools but have remote lessons. Reach Olivia Krauth at okrauth@courierjournal.com and on Twitter at @oliviakrauth. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky snowstorm: JCPS called off school Friday, waited Thursday Oklahoma City mayoral candidate Carol Hefner, in Tuesday's mayoral debate, made remarks about Islam that sparked an outcry from the local Muslim community. Hefner, 60, has a history of making racist and Islamophobic social media posts. Near the end of the debate in response to a question about posts where she called Islam an "evil culture" and compared President Barack Obama to Hitler Hefner described her Lebanese family's oppression from those practicing Islam before ending on a note of contempt for the religion. "It is a very negative culture, and it does things that are oppressive, and I don't agree with that," Hefner said. "It's just like slavery, I don't agree with it. It's insipid, it should be eradicated from our culture, from our world. Unfortunately, it's been here since the beginning of time, I don't know how I personally am going to get rid of it, but I would like to have those conversations." Q&A: 7 questions with OKC mayoral candidate Carol Hefner Hefner did not respond to The Oklahoman's phone calls, but when asked via text if she meant that Islam should be eradicated, she said: "Hate and oppression of all kinds is insipid and should be eradicated from our world." In response to a question, Hefner clarified that she meant "insidious" rather than "insipid" in her original text. When asked to clarify, Hefner said it was "inaccurate" to take her words as meaning any culture should be eradicated. She did not specify Islam in her text messages. "All cultures make up our world," she said. "I believe in freedom of religion. Love (and) peace between all religions as well." Mayoral candidate Carol Hefner speaks during Tuesday's debate. Folks in the Islamic community were quick to express their disappointment with Hefner's remarks. "Muslims in Oklahoma are no strangers to attacks on our faith," said Adam Soltani, executive director of Oklahoma's Council on American-Islamic Relations, in a statement Wednesday. "It pains Oklahoma Muslims deeply to hear these words in the largest city in our state and a place that Muslims call home." Story continues Muslim community responds with requests to meet While answering the debate question about her social media posts, Hefner said she "might revisit" the comments she had made on social media and "have meaningful conversations with people across the city about" them. She then went on to describe the oppression her Lebanese family experienced before immigrating to America. Her grandfathers, she said, wore cross tattoos on their hands and were denied food, clothing and housing because of their Christian status. Imad Enchassi, senior imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, speaks during an interfaith prayer service. Imad Enchassi, senior imam of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City, told The Oklahoman in a statement that after hearing Hefner's remarks he reached out to her for a meeting. Enchassi is a survivor of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon, in which the Lebanese Forces, a Christian-based political party, killed hundreds of civilians. The exact number of victims is unknown. "I can tell you that horrific incidents in history can be used to either bring people together or separate them," Enchassi said. "I can tell you about Jesus and Mary's names that were invoked by the perpetrators as they massacred 1,800 of my friends and family. But I would rather tell you about the people who invoked the names of the real Jesus and Mary I know who fed me, clothed me and gave me sugar candy. "I can tell you about the cross that was drawn with the victims' blood at my refugee camp, drawn by the massacre's perpetrators. But I would rather tell you the story of the Red Cross that rescued me and cried with me as we together buried 1,800 victims in a massive grave." More: OKC mayor candidates -- except for Mayor David Holt -- square off in only debate Soltani agrees that Hefner would benefit by meeting the OKC Muslim community face-to-face and said CAIR-OK plans to reach out to her. "We believe very much in the power of communicating and building bridges regardless of differing views, therefore if Carol would be willing to meet with us we would gladly host her and treat her with the utmost respect and compassion," Soltani told The Oklahoman via email. When asked if she planned to meet with those in the Muslim community, whether she was elected mayor or not, Hefner told The Oklahoman via text, "Conversations will come." Support for Muslims from others in the religious community The Muslim community is not the only group decrying Hefner's comments. Rabbi Vered Harris, spiritual leader of Temple B'nai Israel, told The Oklahoman via text that Hefner's remarks were "very disappointing." "The local Muslim community has my respect and support," Harris said. More: Four candidates to run for Oklahoma City mayor The Rev. Shannon Fleck, head of the Oklahoma Conference of Churches, said while Oklahoma politicians have made a habit of "demonizing" Islam, Hefner's comments still came as a shock. "Even though it happens with regularity, it's always a surprising event," Fleck said. "Just to have to revisit the hatefulness that people have for one another is really hard." Despite the hateful comments the Muslim community receives, Fleck said they are a welcoming, open community that upholds the idea of grace for others. Religion editor Carla Hinton contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC's Carol Hefner addresses criticism of Islam in mayoral debate Two men have been arrested in Manchester as part of the investigation into the Texas synagogue attack by British hostage-taker Malik Faisal Akram (Andy Jacobsohn/AFP via Getty Images) Two more men have been arrested in Manchester as part of the investigation into the Texas synagogue attack by British hostage-taker Malik Faisal Akram. Akram, 44, who was originally from Blackburn in Lancashire, was shot dead when the FBI stormed Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville on 15 January following a 10-hour stand-off. Greater Manchester Police on Wednesday confirmed two men had been arrested in Manchester as part of the ongoing investigation. The force said in a statement: Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West are continuing with their investigation following the events in Texas. They are working closely with and are supporting US law enforcement. As part of the local investigation, two men have been arrested this morning in Manchester. They remain in custody for questioning. We continue to work closely with colleagues from other forces. Communities defeat terrorism and the help and support we get from the public is a vital part of that. Akram held four people hostage during the incident, but they were later released unharmed. Malik Faisal Akram, 44, originally from Blackburn, Lancashire, took four people hostage during a 10-hour siege at a Texas synagogue (OurCalling, LLC via AP) Audio footage appeared to show a tense final conversation between Akram and his younger brother Gulbar, in which the armed 44-year-old was urged to surrender by his sibling. The recording, obtained by the Jewish Chronicle from a security source, features Gulbar pleading with his brother to stop. He said: Why are you doing that, man? What you doing that for, you know? Whats wrong with you? Akrams replies during the call, made to his family in Blackburn as the siege was going on, include his request to die a martyr, as well as some expletive-laden and rambling attempts to justify his actions. Experts believe the recording to be genuine. It reveals the efforts made by Akrams family to get him to surrender. Akram was investigated by MI5 in 2020 but deemed not to be a credible threat to national security at the time, official sources told PA news agency. Additional reporting by Press Association This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or Trevor Lifeline for LGBTQ Youth at 1-866-488-7386. WORCESTER A Worcester Polytechnic Institute student was found dead in their off-campus apartment over the weekend, the school confirmed Tuesday morning. The manner of death is still under investigation, according to a WPI spokesperson. The school previously reported six student deaths since July, some by suicide. Two weeks ago, WPI confirmed the death of a senior while on winter break at his home in New Hampshire. In November, students, faculty and staff gathered in response to the national mental health crisis after the death of four WPI students. "We have experienced tremendous loss this academic year, and we are actively working to help our community," WPI said in a statement. "We are focusing on providing resources to those most directly impacted, and we continue to expand the ways in which we support our students, families, faculty, and staff." This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: WPI student found dead in off-campus apartment in Worcester MA A girl said Wednesday that a man who raped her in Butte when she was 15 left her distraught with fear, anger, confusion and guilt and he belonged behind bars as long as possible. For months on end I felt emotionally isolated more than I ever have, the girl, now 17, told District Judge Robert Whelan. The only time I felt safe is if I was with an adult family member. Please keep him in jail or prison or wherever hes going for as long as possible. Shortly after the girl and her mother spoke, Whelan sentenced 43-year-old Paul Anthony Weitzel to eight years in the Montana State Prison and another 12 years suspended for sexual intercourse without consent. The proceedings were done over Zoom because of COVID, with the girl and her mother speaking remotely from one location while Weitzel appeared from the Butte jail. He spoke briefly while sitting at a plastic table, his hands cuffed in front of him, and apologized. I raped her, I upended her life, I ruined her childhood, he said. I just want to tell her Im sorry. According to charging documents, Weitzel knew the 15-year-old daughter of a Dillon woman and according to the girl, they would Snapchat with each other but it was never anything weird. The girl said Weitzel was in Dillon one night and Weitzel kissed her. She told him that was not OK but four days later, on Dec. 14, 2019, the mother let Weitzel take her daughter to Helena and Butte to go shopping. The girl said at Weitzels apartment in Butte, he kissed her again and about 20 minutes later, started undressing her. She did not attempt to stop him but when he began having sex with her, she pushed him away and left the room. Prosecutors say her account was the same during a forensic interview and Weitzel later pleaded guilty to the rape charge, admitting he knowingly had sex with a 15-year-old girl. Anyone under age 16 in Montana cannot legally consent to sex. The girls mother said the family genuinely cared for Weitzel and let him into their home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but looking back, it was clear he had groomed her daughter. He picked her up, bought her a phone knowing she was not allowed to have one, gave her alcohol and told me he thought he was doing good for her, the mother said. He in my opinion is a great con-artist, she told the judge. My hope is he can stay in prison long enough for my daughters to get through college and not be looking over their shoulders for Paul to show up. Robin Ammons, Weitzels attorney, said he took responsibility for the crime and if he could change the past, he would. But he had no previous criminal history, she said, had suffered a head injury while serving in the military, and was one of the few who consistently worked jobs inside the Butte jail during his incarceration. She said she did not object to the 20-year sentence but hoped Whelan would suspend more than 12 years of it. Weitzel also said he would like to change and be a better person. Prosecutor Samm Cox asked that the eight years in prison stand. The time would allow Weitzel to complete sex-offender treatment programs and prove himself as a person. Its not just words that matter here, Cox said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 10 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. Prosecutors say a Butte man had been stalking his ex-wife before he barged into her residence in November, pepper-sprayed her and a man inside and shot at the man with a pistol before fleeing. Scott Deion Cook, 55, pleaded not guilty to three felony charges Thursday, including attempted deliberate homicide, aggravated burglary and stalking, as well as four misdemeanor counts of partner-family member assault and violating protective orders. The attempted homicide charge carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of death, life in prison or 100 years. He could be sentenced up to 45 years if convicted of the burglary and stalking charges. Cook appeared for Thursday's arraignment via video from the Butte jail, where he remains with bond set at $250,000. District Court Judge Kurt Krueger set the next hearing for March 24. Police previously released a few details of what they believe happened on the night of Nov. 24 but said the case was still under investigation. Prosecutors provided far more details in recently filed charging documents. They say the ex-wife, a man and a juvenile male were inside a residence when Cook forced his way in, pepper-sprayed the woman and man, threw the woman down and began punching the man. The juvenile male says he jumped on Cook to stop him but Cook began assaulting the woman and was on top of her when he fired a pistol toward the man. He then left and fled in his vehicle, prosecutors said. Police discovered a 9mm bullet casing in the living room and found a bullet hole just to the left of the front door. Police went to Cook's residence and arrested him when he arrived. The woman says she had taken out a restraining order against Cook. He had been stalking her, she said, at times standing in the doorway of an area casino when she was inside and harassing her from fake email accounts. She also found a "Tracki" tracking device under the hood of her car. Police got a subpoena for the device and information from the company showed that Cook had paid for it and had it activated, prosecutors said. After his arrest, Cook told police he had domestic issues with his ex-wife and just snapped that night and could not take it. He admitted going inside the residence with a gun but said he only used pepper spray. He also said he drove around after the incident and threw the gun onto the roof of a house. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 5 Sad 7 Angry 15 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. Thomas A. Perrera, who went from selling newspapers on street corners to cofounding York Roads Peppermill restaurant, died of esophageal cancer Jan. 11 at Stella Maris Hospice. He was 91 and lived in Mays Chapel in Timonium. He loved greeting people and made his guests feel like he was there for them, said his daughter Darlene Jones. Advertisement Born Thomas Attilio Perrera in Baltimore, he was the son of Italian immigrants, Michael Perrera, a mechanic, and his wife Frances, a seamstress who worked in tailoring shops. He grew up on Exeter Street and attended St. Vincent School until the seventh grade. He did tailoring, sold newspapers on Lombard Street and worked the Berman produce stall at the old Belair Market. Advertisement He met his future wife, Rosemarie Munafo, when they were 11 years old and parochial school students. They married Jan. 13, 1951 at St. Katherine of Siena Catholic Church. He later worked with members of her family at their restaurant, the Gay White Way on North Gay Street near the War Memorial. He always loved food, preparing it and having family gatherings. These instincts took him to the restaurant trade, said his daughter. He also wanted to leave downtown Baltimore. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 24 Lois H. Feinblatt was a pioneering sex therapist who practiced with the Johns Hopkins Sex and Gender Clinic for more than three decades and was a also a philanthropist. (handout) Mr. Perrera and his business partner, Emmanuel Manny DiPaola, bought Leonardos on York Road in Timonium. He changed its name to Diavolos but soon found the concept was not working when a Steak & Ale opened nearby and drew business away. People then liked having their Italian food in Little Italy, not Timonium, his daughter said. He had good instincts and he and Manny enlarged the place and named it the Turf Inn with a surf and turf menu near the Timonium Race Track. He also bought property around it, his daughter said. It was a success and today its known as Hightopps. He did not give up on Italian fare. He and a business partner, Glenn Charlow, began GT Pizza on York Road at Seminary Avenue. It was the same concept as Dominos. You called and they would deliver, said his daughter. He helped set it up and created the sauce. He later sold the business to a family member. Advertisement Mr. Perrera leased what had been an unsuccessful restaurant space at Heaver Plaza on York Road where numerous businesses came and went Masons Heritage House, Knotts Landing, TJs Greenery and Gibsons. He changed the name to The Peppermill and never looked back. His daughter, Theresa McGinn, had been to California and visited a restaurant where servers came to the table with large peppermills. She thought it would be a cute name for the restaurant. The place was so successful that patrons often helped themselves to the namesake wooden pepper grinders. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 61 Ron Galella, the celebrity photographer whose pursuit of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis resulted in a restraining order against him after he stalked her for years, died at age 91 on April 30, 2022, at his home in Montville, N.J., of congestive heart failure. (Carlo Allegri/AP) Mr. Perrera created a partnership with his son-in-law, David Jones, and a nephew, Rick Ziegel. They opened the restaurant in October 1982. Mr. Perrera stayed close to the front door and welcomed his clientele. Tom kept his eye on what people wanted and I knew that Maryland people are die-hards for shad roe, oysters and crab, said Mr. Ziegel. Tom loved prime rib and its been on the menu ever since. Seafood wholesalers tell us we are their largest restaurant account for shad roe. Advertisement He also said that Mr. Perrera was a welcoming host. He knew people, had a funny personality, liked jokes and remembered names. If he didnt quite get their names right he would try and people appreciated the recognition. Tom was the inspiration for the restaurant. He learned the business the hard way and thats what makes the best staying power, Mr. Jones said. We serve old Maryland fare. How many restaurants can tout that liver and onions as a consistent top seller? Mrs. Jones said her father insisted at meetings with his partners to hold the line on prices and always offer a good drink. Mr. Perrera avoided food trends. Side dishes of stewed tomatoes and applesauce remained on his menu after they disappeared at other places. [ Philip A. Rhoads, a career Baltimore County Public Schools educator and former deputy superintendent, dies ] Mr. Perrera supervised the bar although he never made his customers drinks. Advertisement He might buy drinks for his friends and non-friends, people he had just met, said his daughter. He created a policy of giving a generous pour. He personally favored Crown Royal on the rocks. He often spent an early evening at the bar with a friend, Ed Julio, and they also met on Saturdays. Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. > At family dinners at home prepared by his wife he quipped, The sauce is boss or Dinner was a winner. And perhaps, Wear red when you coming so your attire will match the sauce. He retired in 2000. He followed the Maryland thoroughbred racing circuit. He was a close friend of the late Pimlico general manager Chick Lang who was a dining companion. He once had an interest in a thoroughbred named after Murdock Road in Rodgers Forge. Advertisement He was an Appian Society member and helped run crab feasts and oyster roasts. A funeral service will be held at noon Jan. 29 at the Ruck Towson Funeral Home Chapel, 1050 York Road. Survivors include his wife of 71 years, who was a former Turf Inn host; three daughters, Darlene Jones of Cockeysville, Theresa McGinn of Timonium and Lisa Corbin of Fresno, California; a sister, Theresa Michaels of Perry Hall; six grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. . Laurence Hubbard, who has served 19 years as president and chief executive officer of Montana State Fund, recently announced his retirement. His last day is tentatively July 28, depending on whether a replacement has been found, a Montana State Fund spokesman said. The Montana State Fund board of directors has launched a nationwide search with the goal of filling the position by mid-2022. Montana State Fund is the state's largest workers' compensation insurance company, protecting nearly 25,000 businesses, organizations and workers. It has nearly 300 employees. Hubbard joined Montana State Fund in 1989 as an attorney in the legal department before becoming vice president of operations and then president and CEO. He was chosen in 2003 from among 65 applicants. Mr. Hubbards commitment and dedication to our organization has been invaluable, Board Chairman Richard Miltenberger said in a news release. He has done a remarkable job building Montana State Fund into a financially and culturally strong entity that will serve Montanans for generations to come. While we will miss his passion, intellect and leadership, we wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement, he said. Hubbards salary, according to the states transparency website, is $209 an hour, or $434,720 a year. Officials said Hubbards leadership has helped steer the organization into a financially strong, service-centric company that focuses on care for employers and their injured workers. Mr. Hubbard has been a tireless leader at Montana State Fund and a champion for the Montana business community, Todd OHair, president and chief executive officer of the Montana Chamber of Commerce, said in an email. He retires from Montana State Fund with confidence that he leaves the organization better than when he arrived. In May, Montana State Fund announced policyholders will receive a portion of a $20 million dividend with the average payment around $900. It also announced a 10% average rate reduction. MSF has issued more than $326 million in dividends since 1999, with the bulk coming after 2015. Policyholders saw dividends of $20 million in 2020, $30 million in 2019 and $40 million in both 2018 and 2017, according to a company fact sheet. Montana State Fund does not receive money from the state's General Fund, but is supported by revenue from insurance premiums and investments, according to a 2018 financial compliance report by the state Legislative Audit Division. It operates as a nonprofit, independent, public corporation and functions as an insurance carrier in a competitive marketplace and is governed by a seven-member board. It is under the regulatory authority of the state. Hubbard has served as president of the American Association of State Compensation Funds and on the board of directors of the National Council on Compensation Insurance. He has also served on the board of governors of Leadership Montana and is now chair of the Montana Chamber Foundation. Montana State Funds success has been, without question, accomplished by extraordinary teamwork," Hubbard said in a news release. "The hard work of our focused and dedicated employees and professional staff, a supportive and trusting board of directors, and policymakers who had the foresight to create an independent insurance organization made certain that our goals have become reality. I am most proud of the culture of customer service, teamwork and transparency that I have been able to foster as MSFs president/CEO. Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Oregon Court of Appeals for a second time has upheld a ruling by the state civil rights division that found that an Oregon bakery illegally discriminated against a same-sex couple by refusing to sell them a wedding cake in 2013. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports, however, the court on Wednesday also found the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries did not exhibit religious neutrality in issuing an $135,000 fine to Sweet Cakes by Melissa for illegal discrimination and returned the case to the civil rights division to reassess its fine. The case began nine years ago, when Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer filed a complaint against Sweet Cakes by Melissa owners Melissa and Aaron Klein, saying the bakery refused to bake them a wedding cake. The Bureau of Labor and Industries found in their investigation that the bakery had violated the couple's civil rights. The Kleins appealed that decision, contending that baking a cake for a same-sex wedding went against their Christian beliefs. The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the civil right division's ruling in 2015, but the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the ruling four years later. It directed the state appellate court to review its decision in the context of the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in a similar case in Colorado. In the Colorado case, the Supreme Court ruled on narrow grounds in favor of a baker who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple, finding that a Colorado Civil Rights commissioner was openly hostile to religion in violation of the First Amendment's requirement for governmental religious neutrality. In its ruling Wednesday, the Oregon Court of Appeals found the state civil rights division issued the fine to Sweet Cakes by Melissa partly based on a statement Aaron Klein made to Rachel Bowman-Cryer's mother, in which he quoted a Biblical verse. The court found the statement had been incorrectly relayed to the couple and could have led to bias in the fine amount. An attorney who represented the Kleins did not respond to a message from Oregon Public Broadcasting requesting comment. The media outlet reported that the couple has moved their bakery to Montana. The Montana Secretary of State website shows the business is registered in Ronan. "The court was right five years ago and is still right today," attorney Jennifer Pizer, who represented the Bowman-Cryers, said in a statement. "The Kleins' faith does not give them a pass to ignore Oregon's Public Accommodation Law." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 After the legalization of recreational marijuana in Montana, law enforcement has had to make changes to the way it trains K9s. It has also had to retire some working K9s, even after those dogs have been trained off searching for weed. What we cant have is K9s indicating on vehicles, lockers, whatever it is theyre sniffing, on a product thats legal to be in possession of, said Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer. Thats why we dont have K9s that hit on nicotine or alcohol. K9s alerting to the scent of a drug gives law enforcement probable cause to request a search warrant on a vehicle or property. When considering whether to grant a search warrant, a judge can use the K9s alert to grant the search warrant. So while dogs are still alerting to illegal drugs like methamphetamine, dogs being trained for law enforcement use in Gallatin County in recent years havent been trained on marijuana at all. And dogs that have are being phased out of service. The Gallatin County Sheriffs Office has two K9s that work with handlers to detect drugs and to help deputies do things like clear an unsecured building or track down someone who has fled a crime scene. The younger of those dogs, Brux, was never trained to detect marijuana, which became legal to possess in Montana in 2021. Legal recreational sales began this year. But the other dog, a Belgian Malinois named Miles, was trained to detect marijuana. Miles has been trained off marijuana and hasnt alerted to it in years but the slim chance that he could alert for a legal substance is too much of a chance for law enforcement to take. Things need to be 100%, beyond a reasonable doubt, Springer said. Our other K9 has been in service for about a year and, knowing that this was likely coming down the pipe, we did not train him in marijuana detection. Miles has mostly retired from drug detection, though he can still sniff for drugs in places where marijuana is still not allowed, like the Gallatin County Detention Center. Temporarily, until another dog is ready to go, hell keep working with me, said Doug Lieurance, the K9 deputy who works with Miles. Hes a dog whos been trained also to track people who run from us, to search buildings for people who are hiding that may have broken in hes also trained to locate articles or evidence. Until his replacement K9 is fully trained and ready to go, Miles will still be available to do tracking and searching with the sheriffs office. After that, hell retire and be adopted by Lieurance, who he has lived with since arriving in Bozeman. The handler will have the first option of retiring to their home and basically becoming a pet, because obviously theres that connection between the handler and the dog. Theyve worked together probably most of the dogs life, Lieurance said. Miles will get to come home and be a pet. Miles is 7 years old and Lieurance who has been a K9 handler since 2011 said he could probably work for a few more years if not for the new changes in the law. In my opinion I think hes got probably 2 or 3 good working years, if they would allow him to continue doing the drug stuff, Lieurance said. But at least hes on the downhill side, the later side, of his working career. The dog that will replace Miles is being paid for with a $14,000 grant from the Montana Attorney Generals office. Throughout the state, 23 agencies including the Bozeman Police Department have received a combined $300,000 in funding for new law enforcement dogs. In a press release announcing the funding, Attorney General Austin Knudson said the funding was being made available to help law enforcement find dangerous drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine. And while the dogs will undoubtedly do that, in Gallatin County, that funding is mainly being used to replace dogs that were trained to smell marijuana. The Bozeman Police Department also received more than $12,000 from the Attorney Generals office and will use it to buy and train Stretch, the departments newest dog who was not trained to detect marijuana. Stretch replaced Roman, the departments older K9 who was trained to detect marijuana. Roman had some medical problems and was fully retired after Stretch started with the police department in 2021. Ivan, the departments 3-year-old dog, was never trained to alert to marijuana. Like the sheriffs office, all of the dogs at the police department are dual-purpose dogs, trained on drug detection and tracking and retrieval. Weve had some ironic timing that the other dog, he (ended up) having to be retired early, said Bozeman Police Chief Jim Veltkamp. It was proper timing for us to acquire another dog and have it trained without the marijuana component, so the timing worked out good for us. While the price tags for these dogs is undoubtedly high exponentially more expensive than adopting a dog from a shelter like Heart of the Valley that price tag comes with a huge amount of training. Theres a lot of hours (of training) and capabilities these dogs have, said Officer Derek Dyk, a K9 handler with Bozeman Police Department who works with Ivan. I would actually be willing to say thats actually on the cheap end, as far as service dogs go. Trainers like Dyk do regular training with their K9s and keep a log of what training theyve been doing. We have to certify every year through American Society of K9 Trainers and go through double blind tests, Dyk said. The K9 unit is held to pretty strict standards as far as the amount of training. Between the police department and sheriffs office, there are four law enforcement K9 units in Gallatin County. Theres not always a K9 unit on shift, but if theres need for one when one isnt available, the departments work together with each other and other nearby law enforcement, Veltkamp said. All our K9 handlers in the area work together very well and all of them also handle regular patrol duties, he said. We have a very good relationship with other law enforcement in the area. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 In what will be one of the most monumental endeavors of Joe Biden's presidency, the retirement of Stephen Breyer sets the stage for an immense You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Joe Guerrero, center, receives a ceremonial check for the chambers Cloaks & Tiaras Business Person of the Year Gala from TanHoldings executive Alex Sablan, second left, Wednesday in the TanHoldings conference room in Garapan. Also in the photo are, from left, chamber secretary Marcia Calvo, TSL Foundation administrative officer Rina Robles, and chamber coordinator Franco Santos. Guam is sending a variety of medical equipment and supplies to Palau, which is experiencing its very first Covid-19 surge. Testing supplies are seen at a Public Health facility where drive-thru testing is performed on people who have been determined to have Covid-19 symptoms on May 26, 2020 in Barrigada. A Maryland board approved a new contractor Wednesday to complete the long-delayed Purple Line for an additional $1.46 billion an almost 75% cost increase to revive the stalled light-rail project. Under the new contract, full construction will resume in the spring. That will require revving up work along roads that were left hastily patched and rail bridges that ended in midair after the original construction team quit in fall 2020. Advertisement State officials say the 16-mile line will begin carrying passengers between Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in fall 2026, more than four years behind schedule. The Purple Line was previously estimated to cost $1.97 billion to build and was initially scheduled to begin carrying passengers in March. The new $3.43 billion construction contract includes about $1.1 billion of work that the state already has paid for. The Purple Lines public-private partnership, as well as its near-implosion after the original construction contractor walked off amid cost disputes with the state, has drawn national attention as one of the first U.S. transit projects to rely on private financing. Advertisement Comptroller Peter Franchot, a Democrat and one of three members of the Board of Public Works, called the size of the new contract mind-boggling but worth it to complete an essential and very important transit line. This project is significant, Franchot, a candidate for governor, said before the unanimous approval. Obviously we need to get it done, and we owe it to Marylanders to get it done as quickly as possible. The board composed of Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, Franchot and Treasurer Dereck E. Davis, a Democrat also approved an additional $3.444 billion for a longer-term financial agreement with the private consortium managing the project over four decades. That amount includes the higher construction and financing costs. However, the broader agreement will grow from its original $5.6 billion to $9.3 billion a total of $3.7 billion because it also includes a $250 million legal settlement the state previously paid to the consortium after its original contractor quit. The financial agreement is between the state and the private consortium, known as Purple Line Transit Partners and led by infrastructure investor Meridiam. The new construction contract is between the consortium and a team led by the U.S. subsidiaries of Spanish construction firms Dragados and OHL. State officials told the board that the new construction team, a joint venture known as Maryland Transit Solutions, had the stronger technical proposal and lower price of the two bidders. The Dragados-led team will replace the original team led by Texas-based Fluor. Maryland officials said the concessionaire will cover the additional construction costs by contributing more of its own equity and taking on more debt. The state will then repay those costs over 30 years after the line opens part of regular payments to the concessionaire as it operates and maintains the line long-term. Because of the higher construction and financing costs, the states payments are expected to grow from an average of $154 million per year to an average of $240 million annually. Maryland transit officials have committed federal funding and fare revenue from all state transit systems, including MARC commuter rail, to pay off the private debt and equity. Funding for those systems will then be backfilled with other state fees and tax revenue, officials have said. Advertisement The board also approved $15 million for a state consultant to oversee the constructions technical details and another $15.4 million for five contracts to complete work the state began managing after the previous contractor left. That includes moving utility lines and building storm water drainage systems. That work will be done outside the new construction contract and was not included in the $3.4 billion, state officials said. The higher construction costs will not affect the price of Purple Line fares, which havent been set but will be similar to other Washington-area transit systems, such as Metro, said Maryland Transit Administrator Holly Arnold. State officials attributed much of the cost increase to changes in the projects risk profile and the pandemics effects on insurance rates, labor shortages and the supply chain. The state will assume more financial risk under the new contract, including for any unknown defects in work done by the original construction team and any additional pandemic-related problems. Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. > The Purple Line will run single-vehicle trains along local roads, mostly in their own lanes, and a recreational trail between Bethesda and Silver Spring. The line is designed to provide faster, more reliable suburb-to-suburb mass transit service than buses, without passengers having to ride Metro into and out of downtown Washington. The Purple Line will connect with MARC commuter rail, Amtrak and four Metro stations Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park-University of Maryland and New Carrollton but will be operated separately by the concessionaire. Officials also are eyeing the lines 21 stations to attract and focus economic development in auto-dependent inner suburbs while providing better access to jobs from communities between Metro stations. The Purple Lines construction started in mid-2017, about a year behind schedule, after a surprise ruling in a federal lawsuit filed by project opponents on environmental grounds. The original contractor said more delays followed because of changes in design requirements and the state falling behind in providing right of way and necessary environmental permits. The state rejected those claims, saying the problems were the contractors responsibility. Advertisement Matthew Pollack, the Maryland Transit Administrations executive director on the Purple Line project, told the board Wednesday the court case had a snowballing effect on subsequent delays. Hogan blamed what he called a frivolous lawsuit and complimented state transit leaders for overcoming incredible obstacles to keep construction moving. It was primarily people opposed to this project that have us in this situation were in today, Hogan said. The new public-private partnership agreement covers the lines operations through April 2056. Kilili: Plan now to file for Earned Income Tax Credit; more help from ARPA 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. On Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, Mount Carmel School held the annual Catholic Schools Week Proclamation Ceremony with Gov. Ralph DLG Torres and members of the MCS community. Editor Zaldy Dandan is the recipient of the Best Editorial Writer Award of the Society of Professional Journalists, and the CNMI Humanities Award for Outstanding Contributions to Journalism. His four books are available on amazon.com Eskom has provided its outlook for load-shedding over the next seven months, revealing a worst-case scenario with 90 days of load-shedding. The state-owned power utility showed the forecast during its latest State of the System briefing, in which the utility provided an update on its operational performance in recent months. The power utilitys CEO, Andre de Ruyter, said that Eskoms power plant performance surpassed that of the previous quarter and the same period in 2020. However, he emphasised that much still needed to be done for the utility to achieve operational sustainability and ensure energy security for South Africa. Therefore, the risk of load-shedding still existed, and he encouraged South Africans to use electricity sparingly. Eskom last implemented load-shedding on 19 November 2021, more than two months ago. However, the utility has benefited from decreased demand as major power-intensive industries shut down for the holiday period. De Ruyter said an important component of Eskoms reliability maintenance programme was the refurbishment of Koeberg nuclear power station units. Koeberg Unit 2 was recently taken offline to replace its steam generators, which is expected to take several months. The refurbishment of Koeberg Unit 1 will follow that. The unavailability of these units will cause greater reliance on Eskoms coal-fired power station fleet. Fortunately, South Africans are unlikely to hear the oft-repeated line that load-shedding was required because of wet coal, despite heavy rainfall over the last few weeks. Eskom said its rain readiness plans continued to be effective against high and early summer rainfalls. Coal stock levels remain healthy with an average of 46 stock days. Including Medupi Power Station, which has excess coal, this rises to an average 80 days worth of stock, Eskom stated. No power station is below Eskom prescribed levels or Grid Code requirements, it added. It also said a strong focus on coal quality was paying dividends, with coal consumption per unit of electricity produced showing a steady improvement. In addition, good progress was being made in reducing the rand per ton cost of coal. Despite the improvements in coal generation, Eskom anticipates it will still need to rely heavily on emergency generation in the form of open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs). The graph below shows Eskoms capacity outlook for the next 18 months, showing how its normal available capacity will not be able to meet peak residual demand with the use of OCGTs. According to Eskoms outlook for the next seven months, load-shedding days could range between 0 and 90 days. Eskom has an optimistic scenario that assumes 12,000MW of unavailable capacity during the summer months and 11,000MW during the winter months. In this case, Eskom does not anticipate any load-shedding will be required until the end of August 2022. However, it will have to spend R1.3 billion on diesel for its OCGTs. Under a more moderate outlook that assumes another 1,000MW of unplanned capacity for each season, Eskom only expects seven days of Stage 1 load-shedding will be required. For this forecast, it expects to spend R3.5 billion to run OCGTs. In its worst-case scenario, Eskom plans for 14,000MW of unplanned unavailability during the summer months and 13,000MW during the winter months. That would require a total of 90 days of Stage 2 load-shedding if Eskom spent R7.5 billion on diesel for OCGTs. However, the utility said this amount of spending would be unfeasible, and it would likely have to resort to higher levels of load-shedding under this scenario. The table below summarises Eskoms load-shedding outlook until 31 August 2022. A $14 billion (R216 billion) Pentagon software upgrade for F-35 jets is being installed on planes that are already deployed even though its immature, deficient and insufficiently tested, according to a new assessment by the militarys testing office. Aircraft operators identified deficiencies in weapons, fusion, communications and navigation, cybersecurity and targeting processes that required software modification and additional time and resources, which caused delays, according to the 13-page assessment in the testing offices annual report, which will soon be released. Built by Lockheed Martin Corp., the F-35 is a flying computer, with more than 8 million lines of computer code, and software needed to increase its capabilities has been marred by problems since deliveries of the upgrades began in 2020. The Defense Departments F-35 program office has implemented process improvements to address software development issues, according to the assessment. The F-35 section of the annual report, which has circulated inside the Pentagon for comment, is a combination of unclassified and controlled, unclassified information. Laura Seal, spokeswoman for the Defense Departments F-35 program office, said in a statement that the office delivers software on a warfighter-relevant timeline and our warfighters decide to take the software based on their review of the benefits of incorporating this software into their fleets. She said feedback is used to improve the way we deliver software. But the assessment under new Defense Department testing director Nickolas Guertin found that the program office does not adhere to the published best practices and has consistently failed to deliver the capabilities contained in their master schedule. The program has not sufficiently funded teams to adequately test, analyze data or perform comprehensive check-up analysis to assure that unintentional deficiencies are not embedded in the software prior to delivery, the testing office added in the assessment. As a result, the current process has resulted in frequent discoveries of critical warfighting deficiencies after fielding to the combat units. Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed has delivered more than 750 of a potential 3,300 jets to the U.S. and partners. They are in operation in nine nations, including South Korea, the U.K. and Israel. The Block 4 software upgrade has a new processor to increase the computing power and memory of the F-35. The upgrade also is intended to allow the fighters to carry new AIM-9X Block II air-to-air missiles, all-weather Small Diameter Bomb II munitions, radar-killing AARGM-ER missiles, several allied-produced bombs and the B-61 nuclear bomb. Its not worked out that way so far. Although designed to introduce new capabilities or fix deficiencies, the process has often introduced stability problems and/or adversely affected other functions, with operational testing, training and active-duty military units discovering deficiencies, according to the report. Cybersecurity, Readiness Among the testing offices other major findings: Cybersecurity: Although some problems related to cybersecurity have been resolved, testing last year continued to show unresolved vulnerabilities. Readiness: Aircraft availability rates a key measure of readiness averaged 61% in the 12 months ending Oct. 1. But after reaching a peak of 70% in January 2021, the rate deteriorated to 53% in September. The U.S. military had 454 F-35s as of Oct. 1, with 214 considered combat aircraft, and 210 for training. The sharp reduction in availability since June 2021 has been predominately driven by spare parts not being available when needed and limited component-level depot repair capacity, the testing office said. In May 2021, on average, 15% of the fleet was down awaiting spare parts and in September that percentage rose to 25%. Engines: A significant shortage of fully functional engines from the Pratt & Whitney unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp. has contributed to reduced aircraft availability. That shortage, mostly for the Air Force version of the F-35, has been exacerbated by the lack of depot repair capacity. During the week ending June 14, 2021, 38 jets across the fleet were down awaiting a functional engine at some point. By the week ending Sept. 27, the number increased to 52 aircraft. The shortages have affected both training and operational units. Now read: City of Joburg computers wrecked by criminals trying to stop digitisation South Africas TV White Spaces (TVWS) project has been proven to be commercially viable, and the Wireless Access Providers Association (WAPA) is looking to move to scale projects in the future. This is according to Paul Colmer, a WAPA Executive Management Committee member and head of the TVWS project. Colmer also told MyBroadband that the first commercial TV white space trial in South Africa is nearing completion, and WAPA will be publishing the white paper and funding on its website in the near future. He signed the $1 million (R15.3 million) agreement with the United States Trade and Development Agency to trial the technology in August 2019. The project is set to deliver faster and broader broadband connectivity in the rural regions of South Africa. The rollout of expensive broadband technologies like fibre, LTE, and 5G is difficult to justify in areas that are rife with poverty, and a large proportion of the countrys population resides in these areas. According to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), there is a need for solutions that can provide widespread connectivity at a relatively low cost in low-income and isolated areas. CSIR principal researchers Albert Lysko and Luzango Mfupe, TVWS is one of the technologies that could help overcome this challenge. The TVWS project is expected to benefit from South Africas migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television, as more network capacity is freed up in the 470-694MHz spectrum range. However, Colmer explained that since TVWS is very new in South Africa, channel availability wasnt a significant issue. TVWS are the gaps within the lower frequency spectrum range between the 470-694MHz (excluding 606-614MHz) on which analogue TV broadcasts are currently transmitted. These gaps can be observed in the white noise or static between analogue channels on a TV. With the right equipment, the gaps can be used for data transfers, much like the spectrum used for mobile and Wi-Fi connectivity in the 1GHz band and above. The CSIR developed a geolocation spectrum database (GLSD) for the project, and with it, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) can manage the allocation of spectrum to TVWS service providers without interfering with TV broadcasting. CSIR testing revealed that TVWS offers wide coverage and good propagation penetrating well through objects like vegetation and walls. The CSIRs tests showed that while using the spectrum, a download speed of 54Mbps could be reached over a 4km distance with a direct line of sight. Speeds reached 87Mbps as testing moved closer to the antenna while maintaining a direct line of sight and dropped to 42Mbps at a distance of 717m with a restricted line of sight. Typically, TVWS bands allowed for data transfer speeds between 20Mbps and 50Mbps. According to the CSIR, TVWS is best suited for population densities of between 18 and 100 people and could be used in combination with satellite and 1GHz+ wireless technologies like Wi-Fi in more-populated areas. The TVWS project has been delayed over the years, with WAPA previously warning that further delays could result in a loss of funding. We know of multi-million dollar investment plans that expected commercial TVWS to be completed by May 2020. The delay may cause the investment to go elsewhere, WAPA chair Tim Genders told MyBroadband. At the time, Genders urged industry regulator Icasa to get the legislation in place for commercial TVWS as soon as possible. Chef Mourad Lahlou, founder of the Michelin-starred Mourad and Aziza in San Francisco, will bring the flavors of Morocco to Oxbow Public Market when he opens Moro Napa this summer. Lhalou described his plans for Moro Napa as "a gathering place to enjoy Moroccan street food reminiscent of the Medina in Marrakesh" and said live fire, spices and fresh local ingredients will be the focus of the menu. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. Special offer: Subscribe for $5.99 per mo Moro Napa will transport our guests to a food stall in the middle of Jemaa el-Fnaa where guests grab a stool and delve into authentic Moroccan grub and vibe, said Lahlou. I am thrilled to be partnering with my dear friend and Napa Valley native Jorge Velazquez, who will be heading the kitchen and work closely with me. This is going to be fun. I truly cant wait! A pioneer of modern Moroccan cuisine, Lhalhou immigrated to the United States when he was 17 years old. Missing his countrys cuisine, he taught himself how to recreate versions of his favorite Moroccan dishes with local ingredients using his own inventive techniques. Most of the lessons he learned about food came from his mother, who cooked traditional Moroccan recipes, and grandfather, who took him to the markets. As the chef and founder of both Aziza and Mourad, he has been recognized as one of the most dynamic and creative chefs in the country. Shortly after winning the Food Networks Iron Chef America in 2009, he released his debut cookbook "Mourad: New Moroccan," which Bon Appetit deemed one the best cookbooks of the year. Steve Carlin, founder and managing partner of Oxbow Public Market said, Oxbow Public Market continues to evolve and add exciting new options to our market mix. Moro Napa is an example of that evolution, and our diversification. We couldnt be happier for the Napa community that Chef Mourad has decided to join the market. A confidential source working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration made a recorded call in August 2013 to a Bowie-based attorney about trying to straighten out business documents. Federal authorities were zeroing on a drug trafficking organization that was moving money through the informants business. Not on the phone. You know Im your attorney. Were not gonna have this conversation on the phone, said the attorney, Edward Leyden, according to a transcript of the call contained in a search warrant. Advertisement Just try to find Ken, and we can discuss it, the governments source said. Ken referred to attorney Kenneth Ravenell, who along with Leyden represented marijuana kingpin and nightclub impresario Richard Byrd, authorities wrote in the warrant. Within the next year, the DEA and IRS raided both Ravenell and Leydens law offices. Advertisement Seven years later, a jury convicted Ravenell of money laundering and the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission is seeking to suspend his law license. Leyden wasnt charged and remains a lawyer in good standing. The long-running investigation allowed federal authorities to take a rare and close look at the work of attorneys, which usually is considered privileged and not subject to scrutiny. Many local attorneys were rankled by the federal governments approach. Investigative tactics such as raiding law firms, listening in on meetings and scrutinizing law firm financials are not typical and require approval from the Justice Department in Washington. Leyden, the tax attorney whose office was raided, was recorded on multiple occasions before the raid, the court documents show. He referred questions to his attorney, who did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Before Ravenell, another attorney was convicted as part of the federal investigation of Byrd. Houston-based James Bowie II was charged with Byrd in 2014. He received two years in prison after admitting that, among other things, he helped Byrd launder $180,000 by creating bank accounts in his and his sisters names. Federal agents also questioned Greenbelt-based defense attorney Michael E. Lawlor, who was Byrds attorney when he pleaded guilty in 2017, according to an internal DEA document that was part of a trove of investigative records unsealed on the first day of Ravenells trial. The DEA interviewed Lawlor in 2019 after agents learned he had provided sensitive discovery materials from Byrds case to Ravenell and his attorney at the time, Joshua Treem. Attorneys in the case were prohibited from sharing such documents with anyone but their client. Lawlor stated that he f----- up by turning the discovery over to Treem and that he knew it was improper, DEA agents wrote in a summary of the interview. Lawlor explained that he thought he was doing them a professional courtesy. Advertisement But prosecutors did not charge Lawlor, who declined to comment, and he continues to defend clients in federal court. Ravenells former law firm, Murphy Falcon and Murphy, also attracted scrutiny. Prosecutors introduced ledgers from the firm at Ravenells trial that showed money from Byrd moving through various accounts. But prosecutors made no allegations of wrongdoing by its other members and noted in their rebuttal closing arguments that the case made no claims of impropriety against the prominent Baltimore firm. At the trial, prosecutors introduced little direct evidence beyond the word of the drug dealers, and jurors seemed to doubt Ravenell was as closely involved in the drug organization as Byrd claimed: They acquitted him of conspiracy charges in the indictment involving racketeering and drugs. Local attorneys and law professors who watched the case argued that when it came to Treem, Ravenells attorney, prosecutors should have used their discretion to also not charge him. Treem was charged in 2020 with obstruction of justice, for going to meet with Byrd as part of his representation of Ravenell. Byrd had called Treem, saying he had information that would help clear Ravenell, so Treem brought a list of statements absolving Ravenell of wrongdoing and wanted Byrd to sign it. Unbeknown to Treem, Byrd had agreed to record their meetings for the government. Treems attorneys called the recordings a shocking intrusion into the work of defense attorneys, but the judge overseeing the case allowed the evidence to stand. Advertisement In the recordings, Byrd initially says Ravenell is innocent. The next day, Byrd says Ravenell knew about the criminal enterprise from A to Z but he is willing to testify to the contrary. Treem told Byrd he wouldnt allow him to lie on the stand. And Treem refused to destroy evidence, as suggested by Byrd. But months later he wrote a letter to a judge, saying that Byrd was trying to extort Ravenell. In that letter, prosecutors say, Treem falsely stated Byrd had absolved Ravenell. On the witness stand, Treem said that statement was true, and that he had no obligation to report Byrds reversal if it would hurt Ravenell, his client. University of Baltimore law professor Amy Dillard said it appeared federal prosecutors targeted Treem. There are lot of places to put time and attention, and putting time and attention there often smacks of it being personal, whether it is or isnt, Dillard said. For example, has every person whos been involved in any sort of insider trading been investigated with this kind of zeal? I think that frustrates people. She also questioned whether prosecutors look at the conduct of fellow prosecutors accused of misconduct or other violations in the same way they appear willing to look at that of defense attorneys. What happens in cases where the court has found prosecutorial misconduct does anyone file a bar complaint? Are charges brought against those prosecutors? Of course not, Dillard said. It feels like a gentlemens code in the world of lawyering where you dont criticize prosecutors in that way. Advertisement Other legal experts disagreed. The U.S. attorneys office lined up several who were prepared to support their case. One was Norman L. Smith, who represents attorneys before the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission and has served as a specially appointed prosecutor. In a summary of his expected testimony, he said what Treem did was highly unusual and violated several rules of professional conduct. While neither Ravenell nor his lawyer Treem had any obligation or duty to provide information to the government or to the court, once Treem chose to speak, by submitting a voluntary letter to the Court, [one of the rules of conduct] commands that he must not lie, the summary of Smiths testimony reads. Ultimately, the judge overseeing the case said he would not allow expert testimony from either side. All of the lawyers scrutinized in the investigation could face investigations by the Attorney Grievance Commission, experts said. That body does not discuss investigations until it has brought a case for the Maryland Court of Appeals to consider. While unusual, Ravenells case is not the first of its kind brought by federal prosecutors in Maryland. Their office won a conviction in 2017 against Philadelphia-based attorney Michael Farrell for aiding a Baltimore-based drug trafficking organization. Farrell was accused of writing checks and disbursing cash from drug proceeds to pay for legal representation of grand jury witnesses and individuals under investigation in connection with the activities of a Baltimore drug organization, including payments to two Baltimore-area attorneys, prosecutors said. Records show one of those attorneys was Joseph Murtha, who had been told by his client about Farrells conduct and notified the U.S. attorneys office. Advertisement My client ended up wearing a wire, going to Philadelphia, and Mr. Farrell gave him $10,000 and talked about what he wanted him to do to obstruct justice, Murtha said. Afternoon Update Weekdays Updating you on the day's biggest news before the evening commute. > Murtha said he was surprised that federal investigators wanted to investigate another attorney, but he said they were already on Farrells trail and that Farrells conduct was clearly wrong. When youre in a position where you cross the line by trying to influence statements to make false statements or engage in obstruction of justice, its not acceptable, and it not only interferes with the system of justice, but it also has an adverse effect on the very desperate defendants who are almost willing to do anything, Murtha said. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers came to Farrells aid in his appeal, arguing that prosecutors were wrong to say the jury could convict Farrell of receiving drug money on the theory of willful blindness, or knowing the money was likely drug proceeds but looking the other way. Its a claim Ravenells attorneys could make in appealing his conviction, according to Rebecca LeGrand, who was counsel for one of Ravenells co-defendants. Criminal defendants are constitutionally entitled to loyalty from their attorneys, and thus cannot be subjected to open suspicion from, and constant investigation by, the very individuals who are supposed to zealously represent their interests in a conflict-free manner, the defense lawyers association wrote in an amicus brief in Farrells case. Advertisement The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument, saying there was ample evidence Farrell knew the funds came from drug proceeds. Baltimore Sun reporter Tim Prudente contributed to this article. Coronavirus cases in Napa Countys largest public school system reached a new high last week and hundreds more positive tests were reported in the county on Thursday, although signs were emerging that California may be turning the corner its largest COVID-19 surge so far. For the week of Jan. 17, the Napa Valley Unified School District reported 590 COVID-19 infections, more than double its figure of 281 the week before, according to data posted on the district website. That total includes 570 students who tested positive 3.43% of its total enrollment of 16,603 in Napa and American Canyon along with 20 employees, 1.19% of its staff. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. Special offer: Subscribe for $5.99 per mo The jump mirrors similar increases in COVID-19 spread in other school systems around the state since the emergence in the closing weeks of 2021 of Omicron, a more contagious COVID-19 variant that has driven case counts past the peaks caused by the Delta form of the virus last summer. The reopening of schools from the Christmas and New Years break has been marked in some cities by teacher and substitute shortages, temporary returns to remote instruction, and sickouts by Oakland teachers to protest allegedly unsafe classroom conditions. Speaking last week before the NVUSD's board's passage of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for staff to take effect March 31, Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti reported an "all hands on deck approach" to staffing as the district averages more than 75 worker absences a day. Meanwhile, Napa Countys Health and Human Services agency confirmed 313 more infections in its latest online update Thursday afternoon, compared to 460 on Wednesday. The countys case count appears to track to exceed 1,000 for a third consecutive week when the county releases its latest seven-day total on Friday. The number of people hospitalized in Napa County due to COVID-19 increased by one on Thursday to 27, and 10% of local intensive-care beds were available. Despite the surge of recent weeks, California showed signs it is turning the corner on the omicron wave, with infection rates falling and hospitalizations well short of the overwhelming deluge officials feared a few weeks ago. More than 15,000 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus, a huge figure but well short of last January's peak of about 22,000 and half of what officials had feared. Positivity rates are down 15% from earlier this month and the state's projection model shows the number of hospitalizations falling by half, to less than 7,700, in another month. This Omicron spread like wildfire and now its dropping very rapidly. And thats exactly what we expect, Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, an epidemiologist at the University of Southern California, said Tuesday. Its like when a wildfire burns up all the fuel. Theres no more fuel to burn and the wildfire goes out. Intensive care cases take longer to develop, so the peak of about 3,000 ICU patients isn't expected for another week. That number then is projected to fall quickly, possibly below 1,000 by the end of February. The death rate will keep growing, with over 5,000 people projected to succumb in the next three weeks, before it too falls. Napa County looks at a future with COVID-19 Napa County health officials are talking about how to live with COVID-19 for the long run. The Omicron variant spreads even more easily than other coronavirus strains, and also more easily infects those who have been vaccinated or were infected by previous variants. However, early studies show Omicron is less likely to cause severe illness than the Delta variant, and vaccination and a booster still offer strong protection against serious illness, hospitalization, and death. Despite the prospect of the Omicron waves eventual waning, Napa Countys public health officer is predicting a long-term challenge from COVID-19 as the virus continues to mutate and evolve. Speaking to the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Dr. Karen Relucio called a COVID-free future unlikely in the near future and emphasized using a multi-tiered tool box of protection including mask-wearing, social distancing, testing and vaccination. As of Monday, Napa County reported an overall COVID-19 vaccination rate of 74.1%, including 79% of residents at least 5 years old who are eligible for inoculation. Fifty-four percent of eligible residents also have received booster doses. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com 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. The city of Napa has chosen four artists as finalists for a roundabout public art project, which, when completed, will be located near the citys Highway 29-adjacent triad of roundabouts west of downtown Napa that opened in late 2019 and early 2020. The four finalists, approved unanimously by the citys Public Art Steering Committee at a Tuesday meeting, are Ilan Averbuch, Ana Teresa Fernandez, Clare Rojas, and Pae White. Next, the finalists will propose conceptual designs, which will be reviewed by a selection panel, and will need to be approved by the steering committee and the Napa City Council. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. Special offer: Subscribe for $5.99 per mo The finished art piece is planned for a section of pavement at the intersection of California Boulevard and First Street (not in the center of a roundabout). The final piece will likely be installed late this year or early 2023, according to city recreation manager Katrina Gregory. Gregory said at the commission meeting the city set aside a budget of roughly $350,000 for the public art project, with a proposed artist fee of $300,000. The roundabouts were identified as a priority area for public art back in 2018 because its a major gateway in and out of the city, Gregory said. To push the art project forward, the city began working with Artsource Consulting on outreach to artists in July 2021, Gregory added. We wanted to work with an outside consultant to help us really elevate this project and do more robust outreach to national artists, Gregory said. Kerri Hurtado, the curator for Artsource, said a selection panel of five art professionals was organized to select the finalists for the roundabout project. The panel includes Judy Chang, a member of the citys public art steering committee, as well as Bay Area art professionals Abby Chen, Rhea Fontaine, Betti-Sue Hertz, and prominent Napa artist Gordon Huether. The panel selected the four finalists from 204 applications, Hurtado said. The panel will make a final recommendation to the commission and the Napa City Council on the conceptual design proposals submitted by the four finalists. Hurtado said Artsource worked closely with the city to develop criteria for selecting the finalists and goals for the final artwork. What we were really looking at was to enhance Napas image as a world-class art destination, Hurtado said. So we really wanted to cast the net out to find artists that have some recognition in the greater art world. We would like the piece to be iconic and a true gateway piece, obviously site-specific and original, inviting and aesthetically appealing, and, most importantly, really viewable and impactful as a drive-by experience, as this is not a pedestrian site. Hurtado also gave a brief overview of each finalist. Averbuch is a New York-based artist, primarily a sculptor who works with themes of civilization and its many versions of history and natural science, Hurtado said. Averbuch works with durable and sustainable materials like recycled stone, wood, steel, glass, and copper, she added. I would like to create a project large enough to be enjoyed simultaneously by pedestrians and motorists, Hurtado read from Averbuchs letter of interest. The work will be symbolic and explore themes of navigation and the citys natural and industrial history. I envision a work that is unmistakably site-specific, borrowing from the natural industrial and cultural history of Napa. Fernandez, Hurtado said, is a Mexican artist based in San Francisco, who primarily works in painting, sculpture, and land art. Hurtado added Fernandez is interested in highlighting expressions of ingenuity by Latinx communities, privately or in the public, that improve the vernacular of service as essential workers and human beings in the labor force. For the roundabout project, Hurtado said, Fernandez wants to engage with the city with ideas of intersections, connections, and inclusions. I grew up daydreaming of vibrant and engaging sculptures that would be gender fluid and more about energy than about isolated individuals, Hurtado read from Fernandez letter of interest. I would use the space to illuminate the cross-generational and cross-cultural spectrum the city provides to both its residents as well as the international tourism at all times of the year. Rojas is another California artist, based in Bolinas, Hurtado said. Much of Rojas work is influenced by childhood visits to her Peruvian artist grandmother, who would tell her very folkloric stories of superpowers that were innate in the natural world, according to Hurtado. Much of her work involves narrative, Hurtado added and addresses the relationship between humans and nature. The selection panel liked the way Rojas interacts with storytelling, Hurtado said, and thought she could really tell a story about Napa and be site-specific. White, also a California-based artist, focuses on an exploration of things that were neglected or forgotten ephemera of everyday life, Hurtado said. Whites also very interested in transitional sites, such as airports, busses, and ports. Because the viewer is so focused on a specific goal of getting from point A to point B, I like the idea of being able to introduce an unexpected moment of surprise and delight to an otherwise very specific trajectory, Hurtado said, reading from Whites letter of interest. Each of the finalists will be paid $2,500 for their conceptual designs, according to Gregory. In other news, the Public Art Steering Committee was also scheduled to discuss adding public art to the medians along Soscol Avenue. To fund the project, Gregory said, the city was proposing that budget allocated for public art for the citys downtown Second Street parking garage be reallocated to the Soscol project. The reason for that, she added, is the parking garage is several decades old and the citys public works department is starting to evaluate its useful life. I think it could still be a great location for maybe temporary art, Gregory said. But to make a significant contribution with the public art fund not knowing the life of that parking garage, maybe that wouldnt be the most fiscally prudent thing to do. The committee took no action, however, because committee member Jennifer Abram disconnected from the virtual meeting. That meant only two committee members remained, so the committee lost its quorum. The meeting ended after the remainder of the committee waited for about 15 minutes for Abram to come back, which didnt happen You can reach Edward Booth at (707) 256-2213. 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 would-be creators of a charter school vetoed by the Napa school board will get a new hearing, in a new venue. The Napa County Office of Education board will hold a public hearing Tuesday afternoon to gather public opinion on the Mayacamas Charter Middle School, a project rejected by the Napa Valley Unified School Districts board last month. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. Special offer: Subscribe for $5.99 per mo NCOE staff members are slated to publish a report Feb. 28 on the charter school plans merits, and the agencys board will meet March 15 to approve or deny the petition, according to a presentation the office shared during a board meeting last week. NCOEs study of the Mayacamas petition will give its backers a second chance to win a five-year charter for their proposed academy, which they introduced in September and have promoted as a smaller-attendance alternative with closer teacher oversight to nurture preteens ill-suited for NVUSDs larger grade 6-8 campuses. If approved, the academy would open in August 2022 and lease the former building of St. John the Baptist Catholic School at 983 Napa St. in downtown Napa, with the goal of ramping up enrollment from 180 to 336 over its first four years. Approval from the county education office would let Mayacamas bypass the NVUSD trustees who on Dec. 9 unanimously voted down the plan and declared it financially unstable, poorly planned and a likely drain on resources for existing middle schools at a time of shrinking enrollment. Less than two weeks after the veto, Mayacamas sponsor, the nonprofit Napa Foundation for Options in Education, appealed the decision to NCOE, which provides academic and business services for public school systems across Napa County. California law allows groups turned down by a local school district for a charter school to petition a county education office instead, and denials by a county office can in turn be appealed to the California Board of Education. Proponents of Mayacamas Charter Middle School file appeal with Office of Education, allege district analyses are flawed After NVUSD unanimously vetoed a petition to open the Mayacamas Charter Middle School earlier this month, those in support of the school have filed an appeal regarding the decision. Mayacamas supporters efforts to win NCOEs favor, however, nearly hit a snag because of a dispute over whether applicants would first have to bring their plan back to the same school district that already had spurned them. NVUSD leaders sought to remand the review back to its own board, saying that changes made to the petition including the addition of more than 100 extra signatures of support from parents made the application different from the one that trustees had already reviewed and refused. The state education code requires such petitions to be reconsidered by a local school district and not by an outside body if changes leave them new or different from the documents originally reviewed, Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti said in a Dec. 29 letter to the NCOE board. Mayacamas lead petitioners Jolene Yee and Lauren Daley attacked the move as a strong-arm maneuver by a hostile school district, arguing their demand to rehear the application was meant only to delay the project further. The District opposed the charter for political motivations having nothing to do with the merits of the petition, and did not hesitate to publicly disparage and disregard its own constituents in its process to deny the charter, Mayacamas lead petitioners Jolene Yee and Lauren Daley wrote to NCOE on Jan. 12. This abusive, illegitimate effort to remand away from County Board jurisdiction is just more of the same bullying, and should be rejected. Napa school board rejects proposed Mayacamas Charter Middle School NVUSD's seven trustees all voted against the petition, which would have created a self-governing middle school in time for the 2022-23 year. NVUSD trustees who vetoed Mayacamas in December firmly criticized the plan, with Eve Ryser calling its education model an elite private school experience on the taxpayer dime. David Gracia described the schools financial forecast as a fairytale budget with no basis in reality, and predicted the school would run out of money before the middle of its second year. NCOEs seven-member board originally announced it would discuss not only the Mayacamas petition but also the Napa school districts demand to rehear it. However, Mayacamas backers agreed to remove some pages of their petition in order to prevent a remand and allow NCOE to begin studying the plan immediately. (The education offices discussion of Mayacamas, scheduled for Jan. 14, was suspended and completed four days later after technical problems with the online videoconference on the original date.) When NCOE trustees continued their online meeting on Jan. 18, school parents and their allies share the same passionate defenses of the Mayacamas school they had brought to the school board during the fall including the need to preserve a small-school experience for families uninterested in either a larger student body or a dual-language immersion school. I truly hope that you will not remand the petition back to NVUSD tonight, and I hope the focus can shift back to where it should have been all along, on what is best for the kids, Maureen Theunissen, who has two children in the Napa district, told NCOE trustees. We all know that one size does not fit all in education, and Mayacamas will offer great options for all of our countys children. New Napa middle school planned for St. Johns downtown school building These Napans hope to open a new charter middle school at the old St. John's elementary campus downtown. Afterward, NCOE trustees last week did little to tip-off their views about the Mayacamas schools merits, instead giving the floor to legal counsel advising them on the appeal process. Jennifer Nix of Santa Rosa-based School & College Legal Services of California advised the county office to evaluate the school plan with its own staff and its own judgment, and not to pass judgment on the Napa school districts rejection of the charter. Agency staff are to study the strength of the future schools academic program, along with its governance, employee qualifications and admissions policy, among other factors. A veto of the Mayacamas charter by NCOE trustees would leave the schools sponsor with one more appeal, before the state Board of Education. To approve the charter, the state board must find that a local school district or county education office abused its discretion in denying the application. Mayacamas would become the Napa school district's second active self-governing charter school, joining Stone Bridge, which teaches kindergarten to eighth grade and offers a low-technology Waldorf curriculum. The school, which previously operated in Carneros, is in its first year in the Coombsville area of east Napa, occupying the former campus of Mt. George Elementary after that school's 2020 closure for low enrollment. River Middle School in north Napa, which operated as a charter until its 2019 absorption by NVUSD, will close this June and be replaced by Unidos Middle School, an English-Spanish language immersion academy. You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.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. Four days after Celine started working as a nursing assistant in the COVID-19 unit at a Placerville nursing home, she tested positive for the virus. She was fatigued, weak and had a dry cough but she kept working. She said she has worked 13 days in the last two weeks, frequently taking care of more than a dozen patients at a time or working a double shift when asked. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help. Subscribe today! Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Napa Valley Register. Special offer: Subscribe for $5.99 per mo "I'd have to sit down at least 10 minutes because I just get tired, and I'm still tired honestly," said Celine, who asked not to be fully identified because she fears losing her job. Severe worker shortages worsened by the omicron surge have forced some of California's long-term care facilities to rely on COVID-positive staff for patient care. According to state data, 11,500 long-term care center workers are currently infected with COVID even though 93 percent are fully vaccinated. Although only 8 percent of the workforce is infected today, it's 48 times more than at the beginning of December, when omicron appeared. The California Department of Public Health earlier this month quietly issued controversial emergency guidelines allowing infected health care employees with no symptoms to continue working. And at facilities with the most severe staffing shortages, symptomatic staff are allowed to work with COVID patients. Since the emergence of omicron, Celine said she's worked more overtime and cared for more patients than usual at the Pines at Placerville Healthcare Center. "There really wasn't a lot of staff at the beginning to work the COVID unit, so that's why I continue to work," she said. "It's really hard to get staff in the building because a lot of people are afraid. If (workers) did not feel well enough, they didn't force anybody to work." So many workers are sick that the company installed a portable potty in the parking lot for them to use away from the nursing home's residents, she said. Water pumped in for handwashing freezes at night and some colleagues go home or to a nearby McDonalds to use the restroom, she said. The Pines at Placerville did not respond to multiple requests for comment. At another facility in Mountain View, a certified nursing assistant said she was asked to return to work five days after contracting COVID-19. State and federal health guidelines have okayed five-day quarantines or shorter at facilities with critical staffing shortages, but her lingering cough and body aches convinced her to say no. Now, three weeks later, she is back at work, surrounded by colleagues who tell her they are COVID-19-positive, she said. Health workers who test positive for COVID-19 are required to wear N95 masks, but the infection is still sweeping through staff and residents at the Grant Cuesta Sub-Acute and Rehabilitation Center in Mountain View. "It's been like one coworker after another, after another, everyone getting sick," said the certified nursing assistant, who asked to remain unidentified to protect her job. Nine residents also have the virus, and the facility has set up an isolation ward. "No matter how much you protect yourself, we're still eating in the same dining room. You know, we're still sharing the same restroom. So what's the whole point?" she said. "It's almost like they don't care about us getting sick." Grant Cuesta did not respond to multiple requests for comment. California's 1,200 residential care and skilled nursing facilities, home to more than 400,000 people, have been the epicenter of COVID-19 outbreaks since the beginning of the pandemic. Their residents and workers accounted for nearly 70 percent of outbreaks among all health care settings in the state last year. While vaccination and testing requirements have helped bring those numbers down, the omicron surge is now hampering facilities' ability to prevent infection from spreading through their often elderly and vulnerable residents. "For me, I think this wave was a shocker only because it swept through boosted and vaccinated people," said Christina Lockyer-White, a certified nursing assistant at Kingston Healthcare Center in Bakersfield. Staff members there are required to wear full protective equipment including face shields, gowns, gloves and N95 masks throughout the facility, but several have tested positive regardless, Lockyer-White said. "We didn't think we'd be in this position, and here we are," Lockyer-White said. "It's like reliving a nightmare." 'Help wanted': Long-term shortage of workers Workplace shortages have plagued nursing homes, memory care and assisted living centers for years, driven by an aging population, stagnant wages and dwindling training programs. "I've been a nurse in long-term care for over 25 years, and there's never been a time where we haven't had a 'help wanted' sign out in some form," said Claire Enright, workforce specialist at the California Association of Health Facilities, which represents skilled nursing facilities. "Five to six years ago, there were over 600 training programs for (certified nursing assistants) in the state. We're down to around 300," Enright said. Skilled nursing facilities provide 24-hour medical care for sick residents who require constant monitoring or rehabilitation. Other long-term care facilities, such as assisted living, memory care and some retirement homes, are for residents who need help with some daily activities. Most long-term care facilities struggle to hire enough staff like certified nursing assistants and registered nurses, and the pandemic has brought these chronic issues to a breaking point. Nationwide nursing homes and assisted living facilities have lost approximately 259,000 workers since 2019, more than any other health care sector, according to the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living. State officials do not track data on workforce losses in long-term health care, Enright said, but nursing homes are operating at lower capacity than usual, in part because there isn't enough staff to open more beds. Before the pandemic, most nursing homes operated at about 88 percent capacity. Now that's down to 70 to 75 percent. Enright said the association has heard of some long-term care facilities relying on COVID-19-positive employees during this surge, but she said there's no way of telling how many of the 11,500 sick workers are caring for patients. Families worry more about staff shortages than sick workers Omicron has been a nightmare for families of residents, too. Two weeks ago, Miriam Raftery's 91-year-old mother Mary contracted COVID-19 in her La Mesa memory care facility. She's in an isolation room by herself, and Raftery said she isn't allowed to visit. "It is scary. They say dry cough, but who knows. At 91, she's very frail. It's frightening," Raftery said. What frightens Raftery even more, however, is Mary being left alone in isolation. During last winter's surge, most long-term care facilities implemented strict lockdown measures. "When she was in that first place, she would just cry. They'd let me have window visits. She couldn't really hear me very well, but she would just cry and plead with me to take her home. She didn't understand what was happening," Raftery said. Now, with Mary in the isolation room, Raftery is concerned she will get depressed again or fall if left unattended. Raftery said Mary has dementia and is a high-fall risk she forgets that she can't walk unassisted. Without constant supervision of her mother in the isolation room, Raftery was so concerned about her falling that she hired a private caregiver to sit with her for eight hours a day. "I felt like I had no choice," Raftery said. "It's costing me $5,500 to do this for her, but given her history of serious falls and winding up in hospital multiple times from falling out of bed at these other places, you know, when she was left unattended during the day." Raftery said Mary already has experienced the consequences of understaffed facilities. She's been in four homes in the San Diego area since February, moving each time Raftery discovered possible signs of neglect. When Raftery questioned the places about why no one was monitoring her mother, she said she was told there wasn't enough staff. "The facilities she's been in, they were all losing people because certain people didn't want to get vaccinated or they were just fed up," Raftery said. Families and advocates say staffing shortages caused by the omicron wave are a Catch-22: Sick workers risk spreading the disease to elderly and vulnerable residents but understaffing leads to neglect and inadequate care. "I get why (the state health department) has opened the doors to asymptomatic workers, but it's still highly transmissible, whether we're asymptomatic or not, whether we're vaccinated or not, right? So it's a scary proposition," said Maitely Weismann, co-founder of the Essential Caregivers Coalition. Weismann's 79-year-old mother Celia lives in an assisted living facility in the Los Angeles area. There was an outbreak in her facility last year that her mother narrowly avoided during an unrelated hospital stay. Now she's worried Celia will catch COVID this time around. Even though her mother is vaccinated and boosted, Weismann said she hears about people with similar conditions and disabilities dying from COVID-19. The state health department has come under fire for insufficient oversight of nursing homes where families allege residents died of COVID-19 after sick staff were forced to work. But for some, having reliable, COVID-positive staff available to care for their relatives is better than no one at all. "Personally, if someone's positive and comes in, I'm OK with that because I would rather my mom have the care that she needs than have her be neglected," said San Diego resident Angela Trivonovich. "I've seen the results of neglect and not a lot of care in a nursing home. I would rather her not get severe diaper rash. I'd rather her not get a bed sore." At the nursing home where her 84-year old mother Rae lives, patients' families were notified that 22 workers have tested positive in two weeks, Trivonovich said. "If people feel good and they come in positive, I don't know if that's going to spread it any more than it does already. And I think the residents need all the care they can get," she said. "They're desperate." CalMatters reporter Alejandro Lazo contributed to this report. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. YEREVAN. Hraparak daily of Armenia writes: The ruling [majority] "Civil Contract" [(CC)] Faction of the National Assembly has decided to combine the pleasant with the usefulto hold an extended away session. They have launched a three-day gathering on January 28-30. The CC MPs are leaving for Dilijan where they will discussin one of the guest housestheir upcoming things to do, behavior, public manifestations of [their] contacts with the opposition, etc. We were told that this gathering was supposed to take place back in mid-January, but it was postponed for some reasons. In particular, [PM Nikol] Pashinyan was supposed to attend, too, but the gathering was postponed due to information leakage. It is noteworthy that yesterday Pashinyan announced being infected with the coronavirus and self-isolating. Does this mean that he will not attend the upcoming gathering? "It's not clear yet," said our CC source. But Pashinyan is [self-]isolated with the coronavirus. "If he wishes, he will attend with a [face] mask," said our source. The circumstance of this session is noteworthy also in that the authorities will avoidunder the name of an extended sessionattending the Army Day events. YEREVAN. Zhoghovurd of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes: There are new developments in the criminal case initiated after the statements of the former Chief of the RA General Staff [of the Armed Forces], Movses Hakobyan. As it is known, on May 4, 2021, the former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Movses Hakobyan, was charged along the lines of a criminal case being investigated by the National Security Service. The colonel general is accused under Article 306 of the Criminal Code: publicizing state secret. On June 29 [last year], the case was sent to courtwith an indictment. And, according to Zhoghovurd dailys information, although the [respective] court hearings are held behind closed doors, there is an interesting circumstance. In particular, a commission has been set up now at the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the members of which are summonedin turnsto court. The reason for such a step is that they want to find out from those officials to what extent Hakobyan's statements contain state secret. Let us note: during the November 19 press conference, the colonel general had claimed that instead of complementing the [Armenian] army with reservists, they [i.e., the authorities] sent volunteers to the frontline, the wrong military equipment was bought, and at the same time he had accused the new authorities of changing the plans for the enhancement of armaments and military equipment, increasing the operative circle, and reducing the [number of] real fighters. YEREVAN. Deputy Prime Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan on Wednesday received Lila Pieters Yahia, Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia, the deputy PM's office informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. Matevosyan expressed readiness to cooperate closely in the context of the implementation of ambitious programs aimed at promoting democracy, security, peace, and stability. Also, the deputy premier lauded the assistance and efforts of the UN Office aimed at combating COVID-19 in Armenia, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and resolving the humanitarian issues caused by the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict. Yahia, for her part, noted that despite the challenges of 2020, Armenia continues to move forward, and the UN is ready to assistwithin the framework of its mandatethe development agenda of the Armenian government. The parties discussed matters of mutual interest, and agreed to make their cooperation more effective in E-government and a number of other domains. YEREVAN. The Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, Armen Simonyan, received a delegation led by Francois-Henri Cloarec, head of the Economic Department at the Embassy of France in Armenia and Georgia. The parties discussed the prospects for current railway projects and respective cooperation, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. The deputy minister inquired about the domains, interests, and prospects of the French side views in deepening the cooperation. Cloarec responded that the French Development Agency could provide assistance in the railway projects, and the French government could provide support for the implementation of these projects. Also, the French side assured that it is important for them to implement projects in Armenia, and railway projects are part of their priorities. Several other matters of mutual interest in railway transport were also discussed during the talk. The Tel Aviv Labor Court issued an order Thursday morning banning teachers from going on strike to protest new rules that exempt schoolchildren from quarantine, TASS reports citing The Times of Israel. According to the publication, the emergency court order was issued after the government filed a request for a planned strike from January 27, organized by the head of the Israeli teachers' union, Yaffa Ben David, against the lifting of quarantine for students in the education system from Thursday. The newspaper notes that schools on Thursday in Israel will work according to the new scheme, except for Jerusalem and several areas in the north of the country, where classes are canceled due to snowfall. Starting Jan. 27 in Israel, all schoolchildren "must perform two home antigen tests a week on Sundays and Wednesdays before entering an educational institution," after which the result "needs to be reported on the portal of the Ministry of Education," the Ministry of Health noted on Thursday morning. A student with a negative test result goes to school as usual. A student with a positive result does not go to an educational institution, but does a laboratory test for an antigen. If the test result is negative, he returns to study, in case of a positive result - five days of quarantine, the exit from which is possible with a negative result of two home tests that will be done on the fourth and fifth days, the press service of the Israeli Ministry of Health explained. An Annapolis man who police said was hired as a gunman and killed Leslie Saunders in March 2020 pleaded guilty on Wednesday to first-degree murder, according to the Anne Arundel County States Attorneys Office. Michael Gibson, 23, entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder and using a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence in the death of 50-year-old Saunders, Anne Arundel County States Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said. Advertisement Gibson was paid $3,200 by Thomas Smith, 31, to kill Saunders following a verbal argument between Saunders and Smiths mother, according to a news release. Gibson will be sentenced April 26. Smith pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in December and will be sentenced March 31. Just before 6:30 p.m. March 15, 2020, Annapolis police officers responded to a call of shots fired in the area of Bens Drive in Annapolis. When they arrived, they found an unresponsive man on the ground suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, police said. The victim, later identified as Saunders, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death was homicide by gunshot. Advertisement Detectives reviewed video surveillance from the area, which captured portions of the shooting. Police said the video from closed-circuit television cameras at multiple housing complexes and private security footage showed the shooter, who was recognized by detectives as Gibson. Daily Top Stories Daily Get the day's top news, sports, opinion, features and local events. > During the investigation, detectives said they learned an associate of Gibson contacted him and said he would pay him to murder Saunders, who was the longtime boyfriend of Smiths mother, according to the states attorneys office. Police said they discovered Smiths mother and Saunders had a verbal argument that day and she was taken to a hospital by ambulance due to a medical concern shortly afterward. Video surveillance showed Gibson meeting up with Smith in the 1100 block of Madison St. A short time later, Smith drove Gibson to the area of Marcs Court in Annapolis, where Saunders was walking about a block away, police said. Surveillance video shows Gibson approaching Saunders, who had walked between two apartment buildings, according to the states attorneys office. Gibson then shot Saunders and fled the neighborhood with Smith, who was waiting nearby in a truck, police said. Annapolis police arrested Gibson on April 3, 2020; Smith was arrested on June 11, 2020. The investigation ultimately revealed that Smith paid $2,000 to Gibson before Gibson killed Saunders and then an additional $1,200 in cash afterward, according to the states attorneys office. Gibson had pleaded guilty in 2019 to illegally possessing a firearm, an offense that disqualified him from legally having a gun in the future. Its shocking that a verbal argument prompted Thomas Smith to hire Gibson to kill Mr. Saunders and that Gibson was willing to commit such a heinous crime for money. Not only was this murder cold and calculated, but it now leaves three mens lives and their familys lives devastated, Leitess said in a statement. An attorney for Gibson declined to comment on the plea, and an attorney for Smith could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Canada is extending the mission to train Ukrainian troops for three years and intends to scale it up, said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Thus, another 60 representatives of the Canadian Armed Forces will go to Ukraine, which will replenish the contingent of 200 military personnel. In addition, Ottawa will supply Kyiv with non-lethal weapons as part of a 340 million Canadian dollar (about EUR 239 million) aid, as well as share intelligence and provide support in the fight against cyber attacks, Deutsche Welle reports. Canadian Minister of National Defense Anita Anand will visit Latvia and Ukraine in the coming days. According to her, Canada has already trained over 30,000 Ukrainian troops. A day earlier, the Canadian authorities decided to temporarily take home the family members of employees of their embassy in Kiev. The decision was made in light of the growing presence of Russian forces near Ukraine. Since the beginning of the summer of 2021, Russia has deployed about 100 thousand military personnel to the annexed Crimea and to the border with Ukraine, explaining that it is conducting military exercises. Western leaders fear that Moscow is preparing for war, but the Kremlin has denied plans for such an operation. The January series of talks between Russia and the United States, NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe did not bring any results. The West is calling on Moscow to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border and is threatening unprecedented sanctions. Russia, in turn, accuses Western countries of arming Ukraine and conducting maneuvers near the borders of the Russian Federation. Lawyers for British Prince Andrew said that their client is ready to be considered by a jury in the United States filed against him in a rape lawsuit. The corresponding statement is contained in court documents published by the British media, TASS reports. Prince Andrew hereby requests that all points of the filed statement of claim be considered by a jury, the statement sent to the judge by representatives of the son of Queen Elizabeth II said. Earlier, Virginia Giufre, an American woman, filed a request for consideration of her claim by a jury, who accuses the prince of having sexual intercourse with her several times against her will in 2001 when she was 17 years old. To determine the format, a request from only one side is enough, and several experts have already told the British media that the prince's position in this case is a formality. The defense statement also denied, point by point, all the charges against the prince. In a number of cases, it is indicated that he does not have all the information to confirm or refute the validity of some of the statements in the Jufra lawsuit. This, in particular, concerns the question of the authenticity of the photograph in which she is depicted with the Queen's son. It follows from the document that the prince's lawyers still intend to insist that the claim cannot be considered by an American court on a number of formal grounds. The reception dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Armenian Armed Forces has been postponed because high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Defense have contracted the coronavirus, the ministry told Armenian News-NEWS.am. "It has been postponed as the pandemic situation in the country has sharply worsened, there are people in the army leadership and among the invitees who have contracted the coronavirus," the ministry informed. The aforesaid reception was to be held at a Yerevan hotel. Armenian News-NEWS.am had reported Wednesday that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also had tested positive for COVID-19. To note, he as well as a number of other officials and MPs had attended the recent wedding of Defense Minister Suren Papikyan. By the way, some invitees had rescinded the invitation to the Armenia army 30th anniversary reception. Bulgaria to seek exemption from EU proposed Russian oil embargo Biden says he is ready for additional sanctions against Russia Switzerland braces for serious power shortage Uruguay freezes ambassador appointment to Ankara after Cavusoglu's gesture Czech Republic to seek exemption from proposed EU embargo on Russian oil imports Charles Michel on the likelihood of Moldova's EU membership Resistance Movement actions to resume tomorrow early morning Elon Musk is invited to UK Parliament for buying Twitter Disobedience march reaches France Square, rally starts US crude oil shipments to Europe hit highest level in April NEWS.am digest: Large-scale protests being held in Armenia to demand PMs resignation Armenia Defense Minister meets with Georgian PM UK bans imposes sanctions on 63 individuals and organizations in Russia EU plan to completely ban Russian crude oil threatens Hungary's energy security EU interested in expanding energy cooperation with Azerbaijan Germany: Gradual EU ban on Russian oil imports could lead to 'supply disruptions' Opposition demonstration reaches government residences Aliyev insists so-called Zangezur corridor 'is already a reality' Slovakia seeks exemption from EU oil embargo for three years Defense Ministers of Armenia and Georgia sign cooperation program for 2022 Romanian President approves entry of Stryker Brigade and US fighter squadron into country Dollar goes up, euro also rises in Armenia EU studying possibility of providing military assistance to Moldova Public demand for Nikol Pashinyan's resignation Opposition supporters move toward Armenian parliament building EU envoys can not agree on Russian oil Armenia Security Council chief briefs Georgia PM on Karabakh conflict settlement process Armenia deputy police chief says law enforcement has right detain MPs Large-scale opposition rally starts in central Yerevan Many teenagers in New Zealand are illiterate AFP: EU proposes to impose sanctions on Patriarch Kirill Arestovich says Israel could supply Ukraine with weapons Azerbaijan used in Karabakh war Parliament speaker threatens Armenian opposition, clergy Armenia opposition MP: Ex-President Serzh Sargsyan will not hold office in new government Beijing closes over 60 subway stations due to COVID-19 outbreak Bayramov, Roquefeuil discuss Azerbaijan-Armenia relations normalization process Armenia FM meets with US National Democratic Institute president Armenia ruling force MP: Opposition will not achieve its goal Armenia 2nd president Robert Kocharyans son blocking road with citizens in Yerevan Oklahoma bans almost all abortions Number of children in Japan falls to record low Karabakh President meets with of Free Homeland-UCA parliamentary faction members Armenian judge waves Artsakh flag at Ironman Triathlon (PHOTOS) There is still lot to do in 'October 27' case, says Armenia Prosecutor General Ambassador Wiktorin to finance minister: EU ready to continue providing assistance to Armenia government Armenia Prosecutor General admits there are difficulties in investigation of 'March 1' criminal case Copper price is stable 3 COVID-19 new cases confirmed in Armenia American Armenian youth hold protest rally outside Armenia embassy in Washington Japan protests against North Korean missile Gold is getting cheaper U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialogue issues joint statement Newspaper: Armenia Patrol Guard Service head to be summoned to Investigative Committee to give explanation Armenia parliament regular sittings continue Newspaper: Armenia opposition members falling into National Security Service trap by opening links Civil disobedience protests resume in Yerevan Earthquake shakes Armenia-Georgia border zone Microsoft urges to abandon Internet Explorer Mark Milley: Potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing EU: Poland fines in rule of law dispute now top $170 million Putin and Lukashenko discuss ongoing situation Greece and Bulgaria say new LNG terminal will help reduce dependence on Russia German vice chancellor calls for rapid construction of LNG terminals Rally of Resistance Movement takes place in France Square Robert Kocharyan takes part in opposition march Mario Draghi calls on EU to abandon requirement of unanimity in making foreign policy decisions Finland and Sweden not yet decided whether to join NATO Croatian president uses veto power to block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO 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 Turkish Foreign Ministry on meeting of special envoys in Vienna Opposition rally in central Yerevan starts with Sirusho's performance Italy to face serious issues in winter if Russian gas supplies are cut off now Johnson announces new military aid to Ukraine in amount of 300 million euros 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 Minorities and refugees in Turkey continued to suffer from rights violations, hate speech, and attacks throughout last year, according to the 2021 report of the Stockholm Center for Freedomwhich is an advocacy organization. As per this report, Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey faced destruction in the year past. Accordingly, an Armenian church dating to 1603 in the western province of Kutahya that was on the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourisms preservation list was demolished in January after it was acquired by a private party. As per this report, in March an old Armenian cemetery was destroyed during construction in Ankaras Ulus district as part of gentrification project, and human remains were found at the site. Also, an old Armenian cemetery in Turkeys eastern province of Van was destroyed by bulldozers in August and bones were scattered across the field, sparking outrage among the Armenian community and opposition politicians. In addition, an Armenian Protestant church in Diyarbakr province was leased to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for a period of 10 years to serve as a public library. Furthermore, the Surp Yerrortutyun (Holy Trinity) Armenian church in central Turkeys Aksehir district will serve as the Worlds Masters of Humor Art House as part of a project to found a humor village in the hometown of famous 13th century Turkish satirist Nasreddin Hoca. And, separately, a far-right independent member of the Turkish Parliament threatened Turkish-Armenian lawmaker Garo Paylan with facing the same fate as his ancestors amid debates over the recognition of the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide by the US administration. Its been almost two years that I am in Armenia, and it is my impression that we should raise the level of our awareness about each other. Iranian Ambassador to Armenia Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri stated this in an interview with Armenpress. He added that Armenian-Iranian relations can be improved in all domains because there are no big obstacles for doing so. Among a number of issues, the Ambassador attaches importance to the intensification of contacts between Armenian and Iranian business communities, as well as the completion of the renovation projects of interstate roads. The Persian Gulf-Black Sea International Transport Corridor Projectthe North-South motorway in Armenia being part of itinitiated by Tehran can greatly contribute to the development of transport connection. We are speaking about a situation when the huge population of the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf basin is acquiring a convenient route for transporting shipments to the Black Sea and Europe, and as a rule, all countries located at the entire length of this route will mostly benefit from it, the Iranian Ambassador said. According to Ambassador Zohouri, one of the most influential and important sections of this project is a section of the Tranche 4 of North-South, which will connect Kajaran and Sisian towns of Armenia through a number of bridges and tunnels. The main transit route viewed by Iran is the Norduz-Syunik-Yerevan road. Iran welcomes the negotiations process between Armenia and Azerbaijan on unblocking transport and economic connectionsand which is carried out in adherence to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries. The Iranian Ambassador said that if the Nakhchivan roads were to be opened, Iran and Armenia would get a shorter railway connection via the Julfa-Nakhchivan route. At the same time, the Iranian diplomat underscored that the newly proposed alternatives cannot be a reason for ignoring the importance of the road through Syunik Province of Armenia and the North-South project. YEREVAN. At 6pm on Tuesday, the Police of Armenia received a report that there was a dead body in Lake Yerevan, the police informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. The police officers and rescuers who were dispatched to the scene found the dead body of a manin his 40sin the lake, and took it out. This mans identity has been determined: Arsen Ghazaryan, 48, who was declared missing by Yerevan police since November 25, 2021. The circumstances behind this incident are being ascertained. An investigation is underway. This week we are in a period of progressive increased. Minister of health Anahit Avanesyan stated this at Thursdays regular Cabinet meeting of the governmentand referring to the coronavirus situation in Armenia. She added, however, that only 5-6% of those in the country who have contracted this disease needs to be hospitalized, which is the only good news in all this, and this because of the considerable number of people in Armenia who have already been vaccinated against COVID-19. "We have the plan to expand the [hospital] beds [capacity], at the moment we have not fully implemented it yet, currently six medical centers [in Armenia] are engaged in the treatment of coronavirus," the health minister said. In addition, Avanesyan noted that the vaccinations are also actively continuing in the country. "[A total of] 45.3% of our citizens received the first dose, 37% got the second dose, and an increase in the number of vaccinations is observed," she added. Avanesyan said that Armenia has a sufficient stock of these vaccines, it has all types of these vaccines, and the Pfizer vaccine will soon be in the country. In Armenia, mainly people aged 35 to 60 are vaccinated against the coronavirus, the vaccination of 65+ citizens is 18-19%, which is worrying because they are at the higher risk group. Anahit Avanesyan informed also that the number of COVID-19 vaccinations in Armenia is growing among those under 18 years old. Police arrested two people in Arizona on Wednesday in connection to the 2017 killing of an Annapolis woman, the Anne Arundel Police Department said Thursday. With the aid of the Pima County Sheriffs Department, officers arrested Christina Gail Harnish, 45, and William Eugene Rice Jr., 46, who police say are responsible for the murder of Megan Tilman, a 43-year-old woman. Rice had been previously identified as Tilmans boyfriend. Advertisement Over the past two years, investigators have traveled the country following up on leads and interviewing witnesses and people of interest after remains displaying apparent trauma, later identified as Tilmans, were discovered along a shoreline around 1:30 p.m. Oct. 18, 2017, in the area of Holly and Chesapeake drives in Shady Side. A family member reported Tilman missing on Nov. 1, 2017, after she had not been heard from since Sept. 26, 2017, police said. Arrest warrants were obtained for Harnish and Rice on Jan. 19 of this year, police said. Each has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first- and second-degree murder, as well as assault and other charges, said Lt. Jackie Davis, an Anne Arundel police spokesperson. Advertisement Rice, whose first name has been listed as Williams in police charging documents, is being held on $1 million bond in the Pima County Adult Detention Center. Harnish is likely an alias for Crystal Stallings, a former roommate of Tilman and Rice, said Deputy James Allerton, a spokesperson for Pima County Sheriffs Department. Stallings also goes by the first name Christina. Rice and Harnish have been persons of interest in Tilmans killing since at least 2020, according to Arizona news reports. Harnish is being held there on a $500,000 bond, according to the detention centers website. From left, William Rice Jr., Megan Tilman and Crystal Stallings. Tilman disappeared in September 2017, and her remains were found a few weeks later. Rice, who was previously identified as Tilman's boyfriend, was arrested Wednesday in Arizona in connection to Tilman's death. Another suspect, Christina Gail Harnish, was also arrested. Both are awaiting extradition back to Maryland. (Courtesy photo ) The pair are awaiting extradition back to Maryland following their arrest on Wednesday. The outcome of this investigation would not have been possible if not for the tenacity of the Anne Arundel County Homicide Unit, the guidance from the Anne Arundel County States Attorneys Office, assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the cooperation and assistance of the Pima County Sherriffs Department, the department wrote in a news release. In February 2019, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the human remains found along the shoreline in Shady Side displayed apparent trauma and determined they were from a homicide. Police obtained DNA samples from Tilmans family, and the departments Crime Laboratory Forensic Services Section compared samples with the remains and confirmed them as Tilmans. Jennifer Parks, Tilmans cousin, said at the time her cousin was developmentally disabled. Jim Tilman, her father, said his daughter had been misled by others in the past. Advertisement Daily Top Stories Daily Get the day's top news, sports, opinion, features and local events. > Megan Tilman reportedly can be easily manipulated and has been described as having borderline intellectual functioning, Annapolis police wrote in a 2018 release. Tilman had become estranged from her family in the months preceding her disappearance, Annapolis police said in 2018, a year after her disappearance. She had been living in a town house on Rockwell Court in Annapolis with her mother, Gloria Owens, then 62, her boyfriend Rice, then 43, and Stallings, then 41, police said at the time. Owens had moved out before Tilmans disappearance, police said in 2018, and an eviction process was completed Nov. 1, 2017 Rice and Stallings moved out of state. Tilman left behind a daughter who was 7 years old in 2018, police said. Though she didnt live with her daughter, Tilman maintained close contact with her, police said. Jim Tilman said in 2018 that Megan Tilman also had an older daughter who was expecting a child. Rice told police at the time Tilman had left with a new boyfriend. Police said they found Tilmans 1998 Jeep Cherokee abandoned in a shopping center in Prince Georges County about two weeks after she was reported missing. Advertisement The department is continuing to seek information about the homicide and urge anyone with information to call the Anne Arundel County Homicide Unit at 410-222-4731. Individuals wishing to remain anonymous should call the Anne Arundel County police tip line at 410-222-4700 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866-7LOCKUP. Armenia has made progress in the development of democracy, according to a report submitted to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). In this report, the Monitoring Committee welcomes the fact that Armenia has made marked progress in its democratic development since the change of political leadership in 2018 and has successfully emerged from the serious political crisis triggered by the outcome in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which was overcome by parliamentary elections in June 2021. the report says. The committee assesses progress made and remaining challenges, including with regard to electoral reform, the balance of institutional power, the political environment, judicial reform, and the media environment, and makes a number of specific recommendations. The Committee will continue to closely follow developments regarding the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia, including in the context of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Armenia. In general, the Assembly welcomes the fact that Armenia has successfully emerged from a serious political crisis provoked by the outcome in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The crisis was resolved with early elections in June 2021, which were democratically organized despite a highly polarized environment, the report notes. The Assembly also welcomes the implementation of reforms, the launch of new projects after the change of political leadership in 2018, and the degree of cooperation between Armenia and the Council of Europe, including at the level of the parliamentary delegation, the report says. "The Assembly also welcomes the pursuit of reforms, the launch of new projects since the change of political leadership in 2018 and the degree to which Armenia has co-operated with the Council of Europe, including at the level of its parliamentary delegation. In particular, it welcomes the signing of the Protocol amending the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Processing of Personal Data (STCE n 223) in October 2019, the the ratification of the Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201, Lanzarote Convention) in May 2020 and the adoption of the new Criminal Code and the new Code of Criminal Procedure in 2021, both of which are much more in line with European standards than the previous codes," the authors of the reports add. House of Representatives members call for at least $50m in US aid to Armenia in fiscal year 2022 With regard to President Bidens waiver of Section 907, the report stated Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of top news as of 27.01.22: The COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country has sharply worsened. High officials of the defense ministry, including the PM, have tested positive for COVID-19 after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan as well as a number of other officials and MPs had attended the recent wedding of Defense Minister Suren Papikyan. Even a reception dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Armenian Armed Forces has been postponed. Meanwhile, on Saturday a meeting was held with the participation of Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Artsakh president Arayik Harutyunyan. However, Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan tested negative for coronavirus. Now, the PM has self-isolated in the prescribed manner, and his respective illness is asymptomatic. Pashinyan will carry out his duties remotely during this self-isolation period. 2,556 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Armenia, bringing the total number to 358,218. A national guard soldier in Ukraine opened fire on Thursday at a missile and rocket factory in the eastern part of the country, killing five people, the police said. The gunman fled the scene, leading to a sprawling manhunt that lasted for hours before a suspect was taken into custody. The police identified the man as Artemiy Ryabchuk and said he was born in 2001. Artemiy Ryabchuk has already been detained. Minorities and refugees in Turkey continued to suffer from rights violations, hate speech, and attacks throughout last year, according to the 2021 report of the Stockholm Center for Freedomwhich is an advocacy organization. As per this report, Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey faced destruction in the year past. And, separately, a far-right independent member of the Turkish Parliament threatened Turkish-Armenian lawmaker Garo Paylan with facing the same fate as his ancestors amid debates over the recognition of the mass killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as genocide by the US administration. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has invited his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to Turkey, said Erdogan and reflecting on the aggravation of the situation over Ukraine. "There are schemes defined by NATO. I hope that Russia will not resort to an armed attack and occupation of Ukraine. We can host the leaders of the two countries and pave the way for peace. We have invited Mr. Putin to our country. A response is awaited. We would like to take certain steps to hold a bilateral meeting," the Turkish president said. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg lost touch with reality a long time ago and his statements are hard to take seriously, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Wednesday. His remarks came while commenting on the alliance secretary general's words about a possible military build-up on the eastern side of the Alliance. The North Atlantic Alliance said Monday that NATO countries were putting forces on alert and sending additional ships and fighter jets for deployment in Eastern Europe, strengthening deterrence and defense for allies as Russia continues to build up its military power in and around Ukraine. Turkey is ready to host the meeting of the Russian Federation and Ukraine in the Minsk format, Ankara is ready to provide support, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. As for the negotiations in the Minsk format, we said that if we receive a request about whether we can host, we will gladly accept. Due to the fact that some parties have problems with Belarus. All sides of the format, when they decide, are ready to accept and provide any support. There will be no problems, Cavusoglu said at a press conference. Earlier, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the Turkish side plans to organize negotiations on the Minsk agreements in Istanbul with the participation of "the same players as before: Russia, Ukraine, representatives from Donbass and the OSCE," RIA Novosti reports. The European Union has allocated 657 million euros for the construction of a 2,000 megawatt submarine power cable that will connect the power systems of Israel, Cyprus and Greece, said Minister of Energy of Cyprus Natasa Pilides, AP reported. According to her, the funding is the largest investment ever made by Cyprus and also the lion's share of the total allocated this year by the Europe Connectivity Fund, which finances infrastructure projects, to one project. The money will enable the crews to begin construction of a cable segment that will connect Cyprus to Crete, at a total cost estimated at around 1.6 billion euros. It is expected that negotiations on the transfer of funds will be completed this summer. Pilides said that in addition to the geopolitical weight of the project, it will ensure the energy security of Cyprus, increase competitiveness in the energy supply sector and help the island nation more easily transition to a green economy. With the completion of the cable, more investment in renewable energy is expected to improve the energy mix of Greece, Cyprus and Israel. Pilides noted that the study shows that the cable, combined with energy storage, could increase Cyprus' use of renewable energy by more than 50% by 2030. Last October, Pilides and her Greek and Israeli counterparts signed an agreement to speed up the technical work on the cable, dubbed the Eurasia Interconnector. The first phase of the cable is expected to be completed by 2025. The switch to an electric cable line appears to have supplanted plans for a potential pipeline link between the three countries to transport gas from existing and potential fields off the coast of Cyprus and Egypt to Europe via Greece. Support for the so-called Eastern Mediterranean gas pipeline project has waned amid questions about its feasibility as well as its adverse environmental impacts. Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis said last week that the pipeline's feasibility studies were still ongoing, but other alternatives were open to bringing gas to markets. One of the most likely options is to transport the Cypriot gas to Egyptian refineries, where it will be liquefied for export by sea. The Dutch government is trying to develop a contingency plan to protect critical energy resources in case escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine cause shortages, Reuters reported. The Netherlands, which is heavily dependent on gas for heating, electricity and industrial production, gets roughly 15% of its gas from Russia and the rest from Norway, industry sources said. The gas supply plan was first developed in 2019, after a country that exported gas for decades became a net importer. Now the details are being reviewed as Europe fears that the escalation around Ukraine could lead to disruptions in gas supplies. Government officials told the Dutch parliament last week that stocks would be sufficient for winter use, but not for long-term shortages. For several weeks we have been meeting with industry associations to discuss the extent to which we can minimize the social impact if they have to cut gas use, said Tim van Dijk, an economics ministry spokesman. The escalation of violence in Ukraine will have a major impact on the European market and the Netherlands,he said. The top 60 companies can cut energy consumption amid the crisis, he said, but they also need clarity on how they will be financially compensated if there are any business losses. Plans for 2019 include first asking the public to reduce consumption, for example by turning off heating, while companies will be encouraged to switch to other sources of energy. If the crisis is acute, industrial users may be required to completely stop using gas. Nearly 40% of Dutch energy is generated from gas. In 2020, 45% went to power generation, 28% to heating buildings and homes, and 21% to industry. In marshy fields and mountain slopes, in hard-to-reach areas, in overgrown with bushes, littered with mines and unexploded ordnance, dozens of men and women have been searching for and raising the remains of fallen soldiers for more than a year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) writes about the consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. About 300 people are still missing as a result of the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020. Since the ceasefire agreement was signed in November 2020, the remains of more than 1,700 people have been found and the process of identifying them and returning them to their families has begun. The International Committee of the Red Cross, together with Russian peacekeepers, has conducted about 360 searches for human remains, supporting local rescue teams in their work. "Nothing can bring their loved ones back but giving these hundreds of families a chance to know what happened is incredibly important. Conditions are always extremely dangerous because the terrain is littered with mines and unexploded ordnances, and on top of that, in winter visibility drops to almost zero," said Christopher Poole, who leads ICRC's regional specialists in landmines, explosive remnants of war, stockpiles and small arms. "In order to retrieve these remains, recovery teams must face mortal danger. It is not just about treating the dead with dignity, but also doing it safely. Our teams support local specialists as they do this," Poole said. Restoration work is often put on hold for a variety of reasons, including winter conditions. These operations are part of the ICRC's longstanding work as a neutral intermediary in the region since 1992. The ICRC's forensic experts also assist mortuaries in the region by providing cold storage, equipment and advice to groups undertaking the difficult task of identification. "Retrieving human remains, identifying the victims and returning them to their families is complex and takes time. There is always a lot of pressure on forensic practitioners from authorities and families to work as quickly as possible, but there is no margin for error," said Jane Taylor, ICRC's regional forensics manager for Europe and Central Asia. In addition to the hundreds of people missing in the November 2020 escalation, more than 4,500 people went missing as a result of the 1990s conflict. "People going missing and families not knowing what happened to them is one of the most agonizing and often overlooked scars left by conflict. Thousands of families across Europe today are living with this pain. Besides those affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, there are hundreds of people missing in Ukraine after almost eight years of conflict, for example, and more than 10,000 people missing in the Balkans," said Martin Schuepp, ICRC's regional director for Europe and Central Asia. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu did not rule out that the Armenian Prime Minister might visit Antalya. Cavusoglu recalled that Ankara had previously sent an invitation to participate in the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya to Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and the country's special representative for the normalization of relations with Turkey Ruben Rubinyan. The day before it became known about a possible visit to Antalya and the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Cavusoglu said, Anadolu reports. The Turkish minister also touched upon the issue of normalizing relations between Turkey and Armenia, saying that the next steps in this direction will be determined by the special representatives of the two countries. According to him, Turkey stands for dialogue with all countries, including Armenia. Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Turkey is scheduled for the period after the Winter Olympics in Beijing, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu at a joint press conference with his colleague from the Central African Republic Sylvie Baipo-Temon in Ankara. The Turkish leader recalled Turkey's positive relations with Ukraine and Russia, expressing readiness for mediation in the name of maintaining stability in the region. According to him, Ankara is aware that such crises cannot be resolved by one or two meetings. "The main thing in this issue is the continuation of the negotiation process," Cavusoglu said. Russia continues to work closely with its partners to implement the trilateral statement by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russiaand which envisions also the establishment of a bilateral commission on delimitation and further demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, with Moscow's advisory support. This was announced by Alexey Zaitsev, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department. "We are confident that the formation of the commission and the start of the [Armenian-Azerbaijani border] delimitation process will contribute to the prevention of border incidents and, in general, will have an important contribution to the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Baku. We plan to establish profile connections. The media will be properly informed about the results," Zaitsev added. CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas called on the Tajik and Kyrgyz sides for an immediate ceasefire on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. In telephone talks with Tajik Security Council Secretary Nasrullo Mahmudzoda and Kyrgyz Security Council Secretary Marat Imankulov, the CSTO secretary-general called for an immediate ceasefire between the sides on the border. "The renewed clashes on the border, which resulted in injuries, cause serious concern. The armed confrontation on the Tajik-Kyrgyz border must be immediately stopped. The conflict must be resolved exclusively at the negotiating table by peaceful means. For this, the CSTO is ready to provide Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan with the necessary assistance in resolving conflict. I am sure that the leadership of both CSTO member states will find mutually acceptable ways to resolve this complex border issue," Zas said. The meetings allowed us to follow up on the substantive discussions that the two leaders held with President Charles Michel in Brussels in December, as well as on their meeting with President Emmanuel Macron following the Eastern Partnership Summit. This is what EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar stated in the response to the request of NEWS.am, summarizing the results of EU delegations last visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan. On January 20-21, 2022 Toivo Klaar visited both Baku and Yerevan together with Adviser to the French President Isabelle Dumont, as well as Magdalena Grono, Adviser to President of the European Council Charles Michel and Brice Roquefeuil, Ambassador for the Eastern Partnership in the French Foreign Ministry. Klaar stressed that the format of this visit was quite unique and allowed for substantive discussions between their delegation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, among others. The aim was to deepen our engagement on a variety of topics and to identify options for further EU engagement with the sides, including on such issues as de-escalation of tensions and ways to avoid further clashes on the ground, border delimitation, addressing humanitarian issues, including the release of detainees, the fate of missing persons and demining efforts, and the importance of restoring communications infrastructure between Armenia and Azerbaijan, while fully respecting the sovereignty of all countries. On all these issues, President Michel has been closely involved for some time already and several agreements have already been reached, including the established - and well-appreciated - direct communication link between the Ministers of Defence of both countries and the EU-facilitated handover of 10 Armenian detainees from Baku to Yerevan on December 19, 2021. In addition, we continued our discussions with the leaderships about President Michels offers for additional support for demining efforts, including by providing expert advice, as well as for EU political and practical support to reduce tensions on the border and for delimitation and demarcation discussions. On all these issues, I can say that we have had positive talks in both Baku and Yerevan. We will be continuing our strong engagement with our partners Armenia and Azerbaijan in all these areas, Klaar informed. Emory chemist Rong Ma received a $150,000 Michelson Prize for her proposal to harness the mechanical processes of cells as a new approach in the long-running quest to develop cancer vaccines. Ma, who received her PhD from Emory in 2021, is a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Khalid Salaita, Emory professor of chemistry. The Michelson Prizes: Next Generation Grants are annual awards to support young investigators who are using disruptive concepts and inventive processes to significantly advance human immunology and vaccine and immunotherapy discovery research for major global diseases, according to the Michelson Medical Research Foundation and the Human Vaccine Project, the organizations administering the awards. Ma was one of three scientists selected through a rigorous global competition to receive a 2021 Michelson Prize. We need disruptive thinkers and doers who dare to change the trajectory of the world for the better, says Gary Michelson, founder and co-chair of the Michelson Medical Research Foundation. Yet promising young researchers too often lack the opportunities, resources and freedom to explore their bold ideas. The pandemic has created additional roadblocks for many of them. With the Michelson Prizes, we aim to provide early-career investigators a vital boost for their forward-thinking approaches. Rong Ma is a spectacular, highly motivated scientist, Salaita says. Sometimes I will tell her that a goal she sets it too lofty or difficult to pull off, but she will look back at me and say, I want to do really big, difficult things. To find specific antigens on cancer cells for cancer vaccine development is extremely challenging, partly because of the ambiguity in predicting what antigens the bodys immune cells can recognize, Ma says. Many researchers are focused on using genetic sequencing techniques to find genetic mutations and predict tumor-specific antigens to achieve this goal. Mas proposal, however, is to use the mechanical forces transmitted by immune cells to antigens as a marker to identify and evaluate whether an antigen can trigger a potent immune response. If the method works in a mouse-model system, Ma explains, the long-range vision would be to isolate the immune cells that are mechanically active when recognizing cancer-specific antigens. The identified antigens and isolated immune cells could then be used to train the body to defend against cancer cells. A love of complex systems As an undergraduate in her native China, Ma majored in environmental sciences. The interdisciplinary nature of environmental sciences taught her to think about complex problems from different perspectives and to integrate knowledge across specialties. During a masters program in environmental science and technology at City University in Hong Kong, Ma came across cancer research and decided to shift her focus to medicinal chemistry. I love working on complex systems, Ma says, but I realized that I had a better chance of making a valuable contribution by focusing on a smaller-scale complex system, like the immune cells. She was especially intrigued by research published in 2016 by the lab of Khalid Salaita, which specializes in the mechanical forces of cellular processes. The Emory researchers found that T cells, the security guards of the immune system, use a kind of mechanical handshake to test whether a cell they encounter is a friend or a foe. The lab had developed special tools to make this discovery DNA-based tension sensors that light up, or fluoresce, in response to a miniscule mechanical force of a piconewton about one million-millionth the weight of an apple. Ma came to Emory for her PhD in chemistry, so that she could work in the Salaita lab and help advance this technology. At that point, it was a relatively new perspective to investigate the mechanical forces of cells and begin to understand these processes, Ma says. It opened up a whole new world of research for me. Harnessing molecular forces The Salaita lab has continued to develop the tension sensors and further observe and characterize the mechanical forces of T cells. Weve advanced our understanding to the point where we can start exploring how to harness the molecular forces in cells for mechanically triggered therapeutics, Ma says. T cells continuously patrol through the body in search of foreign invaders. They have molecules known as T-cell receptors (TCR) that can recognize specific antigenic peptides on the surface of a pathogenic or cancerous cell. When a T cell detects an antigen-presenting cell (APC), its TCR connects to a ligand on the APC. If the T cell determines the ligand is foreign, it becomes activated and starts a signaling chain to recruit other cells to come and help mount an immune response. The human body contains millions of different T cells and they specialize in recognizing specific antigenic peptides and binding with them. A current approach for research into cancer vaccines is to painstakingly try to identify which peptides are antigenic and which T cells are activated by them. Studying the binding process in a laboratory solution, however, turns out not to be the most reliable method for pairing a cancer peptide with the T cell that it triggers. Thats because, in the body, cells are moving and sliding past each others surfaces. A TCR needs to grab on to a cancer peptide and give a strong handshake in order for it to stick. It turns out that testing the binding in solution is not the same as binding in more dynamic, real-world conditions, Salaita explains. Rong Ma has figured out a way to measure the duration of the binding handshake tug at the interface of the cell and a glass slide presenting these antigens. We believe this method may be further developed into a much better way to determine which particular cancer peptides are going to trigger a response in which particular T cell, and even which T cell receptor is doing the tugging. Testing the method In experiments, Ma will try to establish a proof-of-concept of this method. If it proves effective, then it may be possible to amplify those cancer-specific T cells and T cell receptors in a laboratory to help cancer immunotherapy development. The challenge of pairing the bodys millions of different T cell receptors with the billions of different antigens that may exist remains daunting. Some of the preliminary data we have gathered looks promising, and the Michelson Award will help us get the remaining data we need to test our method. Ma says. A cancer vaccine is the ultimate vision. We still have a long way to go to achieve that, but we hope that our method may provide another step forward. This years Michelson Prize winners will receive their rewards in a virtual ceremony on March 10. It is inspiring to see their passion for innovation and their courage to think out of the box, says Wayne Koff, CEO and president of the Human Vaccines Project. I look forward to their future breakthrough discoveries and how their research can contribute to the Human Vaccines Projects mission of developing the first AI model of human immunity. In August 2021, the University of Miami joined a voluntary initiative, with Florida Power and Light, to increase the use of solar energy throughout all of its campuses. Today, students from the Environment and Conservation Organization (ECO Agency) and Green U continue to partner with University leaders, and the community, to ensure the support and expansion of sustainability efforts. In November 2021, the ECO Agency unveiled its most recent projecta hand-painted mural on the Coral Gables Campus in the Storm Surge room at the Hurricane Food Courtshowcasing the benefits and progress of solar energy. We love having the ability to collaborate with students from the ECO Agency. Our combined efforts help the University to move more rapidly toward our sustainability goals. The mural provides a platform to celebrate and engage with the community on the importance of solar energy, said Jessica Brumley, vice president for the Division of Facilities Operations and Planning. According to Gustavo Tovar, chair of Student Governments ECO Agency, the idea of the mural developed because of the need to communicate information in an effortless manner. We wanted the ability to highlight the projects that have been funded and have fun with the design and colors, he shared. The mural, which was designed by Chris Rogers of Yazi Design studio in Coral Gables, is intended to be a work in progress. As new solar projects are completed at the University the mural is updated with details to help others visualize the impact of the work. The intent of the mural is to educate the community about solar energy and how it can be used to improve our sustainability efforts, said Teddy LHoutellier, sustainability manager. The unique layout allows for new content to be added in the future. When new solar systems are installed on campus, and changes occur at the institutional level, we will make updates to the design. In addition to promoting sustainability literacy, the mural details the impact of the solar energy panels that were installed in 2016 on the roof of the Hurricane Food Court and will showcase upcoming projects. Our goal is to advocate for the use of renewable energy and to continue to work with the University to increase the number of solar panels on campus, said Tovar. We would hope to partner with other campuses and departments to continue a solar domino effect.. Read more about Green U and sustainability efforts at the University of Miami. The U Creates continues a series focused on highlighting members of the University of Miamis creative community. In this Spotlight feature, meet Carlos Enrique Prado, a senior lecturer at the University of Miami who teaches ceramic courses and the study of the human figure in clay. 1. Tell us about yourself. I consider myself a visual artist and an educator, putting the same level of commitment, responsibility, and pleasure into both careers. I am originally from Havana, Cuba, a place where I received my education and developed a career as a professional artist and art educator. Sometime after moving to South Florida, I began teaching ceramics at the University of Miami, where I currently hold the position of senior lecturer of art. 2. What sparks your creativity? Despite the years that I have been involved in the production of works of art, it is still an enigma that ignites my creativity. However, most of the time, the initial spark for many of my works comes from the study of visual arts and art history itself. In a way, my works are rhetorical conversations with works of art that have been made before. In my vision, art helps us see our world. So, we need art to be able to see the world as we need language to be able to think. Thus, taking into account the inevitability of the dialogue between a contemporary artwork with its predecessors, I found inspiration in that symbiotic relationship. 3. What inspired you to become an artist? Rising Above the Horizon. Medley Town Hall Monument 2020 Stainless steel, paint, concrete, rebars, marble tiles 13' x 10' x 8' Location: Medley Town Hall, 7777 NW 72nd Ave, Medley, FL 33166 Commissioned by: Town of Medley and Art in Public Places, Miami-Dade County From a young age, my parents exposed me to art in many ways, which inspired me to pursue an artistic career. Among my first memories are visits to museums and art galleries; art books at home; and discussions about art, not only visual arts but cinema, theater, and dance. My parents have degrees in art history and my father also developed a career as a film director, which gave me the opportunity to grow connected to the art world. Also, at an early age, I discovered certain natural abilities to work with some visual art techniques, especially sculpture, which gave me the opportunity to be accepted into art schools. Later, I also recognized the responsibility of the art and the artists with society, for which I firmly confirmed my initial vocation. 4. What is one thing you hope your students learn in your courses and take to their future careers? The love of art. However, I am not referring to the love for some beautiful objects in museums or galleries but to art as a tool to think and understand reality in a different way than, say, science. In connection with this, I attempt to help my students understand some of the principles of the visual arts as a language, techniques related to ceramics and sculpture, and connection to art history. I try to apply this approach not only to students who are pursuing an artistic career but also to those who are not. Especially, for those who will be professionals in areas not directly related to art, the knowledge acquired in my classes gives them a tool to face future problems from a different perspective. 5. What accomplishments are you most proud of in your career? A Man and a Horse. Ronald Reagan Equestrian Monument 2018 Bronze, concrete, rebars, steel 12' x 30' x 19' Location: Tropical Park, 7900 SW 40th St, Miami, FL 33155 Commissioned by: Art in Public Places program, Miami-Dade County I really appreciate the way Miami has embraced me because I have been able to develop several public artworks, in particular two major commissioned sculptures in South Florida. The sculptures include the President Reagan equestrian monument, commissioned by Miami-Dade County for Tropical Park, and the recently finished large-scale public sculpture located in the Town Hall Plaza in the town of Medley. I am also very grateful and humbled for the opportunity to teach at the University of Miami and to be part of the wonderful faculty community in the Department of Art and Art History. Most people understand that trees are a critical natural resource, locking away carbon and releasing oxygen as they grow. But few understand what happens to the carbon after trees die. Zanne Amy Zanne, who joined the University of Miami this fall as the new Aresty Endowed Chair in Tropical Ecology, is trying to answer that question. We are interested in how trees break down and what happens to the carbon they release in that process, said Zanne, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology. And since wood is one of the largest biological stores of carbon, we also want to know how that carbon travels up into the atmosphere as it decays, as well as whether this release slows down or speeds up with global change. Its a complex topic that not many scientists explore, but Zannes keen ability to collaborate with researchers across the world helped fuel her interest. She is currently wrapping up a multiyear global study to help determine whether dead wood typically decomposes faster from microbes, such as fungithe most common route globallyor whether termites are playing a greater role in breaking down dead trees. Lately, termites may be tipping the scales. As temperatures rise with climate change, the habitat of termites, which were once limited to the tropics, is likely expanding, Zanne said. Globally, fungi are more important for decay, but they need water to decay wood. So, with global warming, I expect the role of termites will increase quite a bit, said Zanne, who is also a 2021 Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. And since we know that many termites release carbon gases as both methane and carbon dioxide, this has implications for speeding up or slowing down global change. She is paying close attention to tropical areas where wet and dry regions border each other. This may help her lab to understand if different gases emanate from dead trees depending on their environment. For example, trees that decompose with the help of termites may release more methane. Both living and dead wood look like they may be unrecognized sources of methane, Zanne said. And since methane is a 30-fold worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, these altered carbon pathways may interact with rates of global change. To conduct her research, Zanne spends time scrutinizing dead trees in places like Far North Queensland, Australia, near the Great Barrier Reef, where humid rainforests neighbor dry savannahs. She also does research in central Brazil, where some of the largest termites in the world build mounds the size of a house. The chance to live in the tropics attracted her to Miami, where Zanne wants to explore how sea level rise may be affecting tree death and carbon release. She is also working on building a new field site in Brazil and hopes to teach courses there. But Zanne didnt always know she wanted to study trees. Growing up in New Hampshire, she enjoyed hiking, but planned to become a geneticist. But on a study abroad program in Kenya, she realized that she preferred working outdoors. Graduate student Abbey Yatsko and former postdoctoral candidate Habacuc Flores-Moreno use a portable infrared gas analyzer to examine the greenhouse gases coming from a piece of decaying wood in Queensland, Australia. Photo courtesy of Amy Zanne. In graduate school, she studied why trees were successful in certain habitats in Uganda. Later, with collaborators, she created whats known as the timetree, an evolutionary map showing the relationships between land plants around the world. Its a reference that many ecologists and evolutionary biologists use today, including biology assistant professor Michelle Afkhami, who studies interactions between fungi and living plants. The two ecologists met at a workshop where they created a database about the useful traits of fungi. Today, that resource helps researchers understand how different species decompose, but it could also be useful to farmers or conservationists who want to learn how fungus and plant species cooperate. Amy is great at bringing together researchers to answer questions that can add meaningful progress to science and help generate conclusions beyond the scope of what we can do as individual scientists, Afkhami said. Zannes research also explores the role of wood density in trees. This can shed light on a trees growth rate, whether it is susceptible to drought, and how much carbon it contains. Ken Feeley, an associate professor of biology and the Smathers Chair of Tropical Tree Ecology, studies the composition and structure of forests, as well as how they are responding to global change. Feeley has used a database Zanne created about global wood densities to bolster his work. Wood density is made up of carbon, so when we are trying to put together models or questions about the role of plants and forests in the global carbon cycle, knowing wood density is absolutely crucial, said Feeley. Amys work is helping to characterize the complete carbon cycle of forests, so we can understand how they play into the global carbon budget, he added. When a tree dies, all of the carbon it accumulated over its lifetime will be emitted, and it will contribute to greenhouse gases. But we need to know what factors determine the type of gases and rates of emission. LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) (NYSE: PM) today announced that it has been included in the 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) for the second year running, when the threshold for inclusionbased on both disclosure and data performancehas grown. This is in recognition of the significant progress PMI has made in increasing gender equality globally. Currently, 39.2% of management positions are held by women, an increase of more than 10% since 2014 and still growing. Silke Muenster, Chief Diversity Officer at PMI, noted: I am delighted that PMI has made the GEI for the second year running, particularly given that the threshold for inclusion within this index has grown since last year. While we still have a long way to go, I am very proud of the progress we have made to date, and I am confident about achieving more in the future. The business case for gender equality is clear: Companies in which woman hold more management roles, generate higher cash flow returns on investment according to research by Credit Suisse 1. As part of PMIs commitment to gender parity, a global company-wide target was set to improve gender balance to at least 40% female representation in management by the end of 2022 and measuring and reporting progress against it. Other achievements and initiatives to further gender equality by PMI have included: Becoming the first EQUAL-SALARY globally certified company (March 2019), confirming equal pay for equal work for women and men everywhere PMI operates (90+ countries). Addressing gender bias in talent assessmentsincluding in recruitment, performance management, and opportunities for promotion. Introduction of global inclusive parental leave guidelines (2020). Celebrating top female talent as role models and offering formal and informal opportunities for women to build valuable connections for support, learning, and mentoring. Launching a women in leadership program to support females in leadership positions. The GEI is a modified market capitalization-weighted index that aims to track the performance of public companies committed to transparency in gender-data reporting. It measures gender equality across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand. We are proud to recognize PMI and the other 417 companies included in the 2022 GEI for their commitment to transparency and setting a new standard in gender-related data reporting, said Peter T. Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg and founding chairman of the U.S. 30% Club. Even though the threshold for inclusion in the GEI has risen, the member list continues to grow. This is a testament that more companies are working to improve upon their gender-related metrics, fostering more opportunity for diverse talent to succeed in their organizations. All companies included in this years index scored at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect disclosure and the achievement or adoption of best-in-class statistics and policies. Philip Morris International: Delivering a Smoke-Free Future Philip Morris International (PMI) is leading a transformation in the tobacco industry to create a smoke-free future and ultimately replace cigarettes with smoke-free products to the benefit of adults who would otherwise continue to smoke, society, the company, its shareholders and other stakeholders. PMI is a leading international tobacco company engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, as well as smoke-free products, associated electronic devices and accessories, and other nicotine-containing products in markets outside the U.S. In addition, versions of PMI's IQOS Platform 1 device and consumables have received marketing authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the premarket tobacco product application (PMTA) pathway; the FDA has also authorized the marketing of a version of IQOS and its consumables as a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP), finding that an exposure modification order for these products is appropriate to promote the public health. PMI is building a future on a new category of smoke-free products that, while not risk-free, are a much better choice than continuing to smoke. Through multidisciplinary capabilities in product development, state-of-the-art facilities and scientific substantiation, PMI aims to ensure that its smoke-free products meet adult consumer preferences and rigorous regulatory requirements. PMI's smoke-free product portfolio includes heat-not-burn products, nicotine-containing vapor products and oral nicotine products. As of September 30, 2021, PMI's smoke-free products are available for sale in 70 markets in key cities or nationwide, and PMI estimates that approximately 14.9 million adults around the world have already switched to IQOS and stopped smoking. For more information, please visit www.pmi.com and www.pmiscience.com. Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements This press release contains projections of future results and other forward-looking statements. Achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions. In the event that risks or uncertainties materialize, or underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements. Pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, PMI is identifying important factors that, individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results and outcomes to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements made by PMI. PMI's business risks include: excise tax increases and discriminatory tax structures; increasing marketing and regulatory restrictions that could reduce our competitiveness, eliminate our ability to communicate with adult consumers, or ban certain of our products in certain markets or countries; health concerns relating to the use of tobacco and other nicotine-containing products and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke; litigation related to tobacco use and intellectual property; intense competition; the effects of global and individual country economic, regulatory and political developments, natural disasters and conflicts; changes in adult smoker behavior; lost revenues as a result of counterfeiting, contraband and cross-border purchases; governmental investigations; unfavorable currency exchange rates and currency devaluations, and limitations on the ability to repatriate funds; adverse changes in applicable corporate tax laws; adverse changes in the cost, availability, and quality of tobacco and other agricultural products and raw materials, as well as components and materials for our electronic devices; and the integrity of its information systems and effectiveness of its data privacy policies. PMI's future profitability may also be adversely affected should it be unsuccessful in its attempts to produce and commercialize reduced-risk products or if regulation or taxation do not differentiate between such products and cigarettes; if it is unable to successfully introduce new products, promote brand equity, enter new markets or improve its margins through increased prices and productivity gains; if it is unable to expand its brand portfolio internally or through acquisitions and the development of strategic business relationships; or if it is unable to attract and retain the best global talent, including attracting women or diverse candidates. Future results are also subject to the lower predictability of our reduced-risk product category's performance. PMI is further subject to other risks detailed from time to time in its publicly filed documents, including the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. PMI cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not a complete discussion of all potential risks and uncertainties. PMI does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that it may make from time to time, except in the normal course of its public disclosure obligations. About the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) Companies submitted a social survey created by Bloomberg, in collaboration with subject matter experts globally. Those included on this years index scored at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect disclosure and the achievement or adoption of best-in-class statistics and policies. Both the survey and the GEI are voluntary and have no associated costs. Bloomberg collected this data for reference purposes only. The index is not ranked. While all public companies are encouraged to disclose supplemental gender data for their companys investment profile on the Bloomberg Terminal, those that have a market capitalization of USD 1 billion are eligible for inclusion in the index. For more information on the GEI and how to submit information for next years index visit: https://www.bloomberg.com/gei. Bloomberg clients can access the GEI at { BGEI Index DES }. For more information on Bloombergs sustainable finance solutions, including the GEI, please visit: https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/sustainable-finance/. Bloomberg Media Contact: GEIComms@bloomberg.net About Bloomberg For more information on Bloombergs sustainable finance solutions, including the GEI, please visit: https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/sustainable-finance/. Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision- makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people, and ideas. The companys strengthdelivering data, news, and analytics through innovative technology, quickly and accuratelyis the core of Bloomberg Professional Services. For more information, visit www.bloomberg.com or request a demo. ### 1 Richard Kersley, Eugene Klerk, Anais Boussie, Bahar Sezer Longworth, Joelle Anamootoo Natzkoff, and Darshana Ramji, The CS Gender 3000 in 2019: The Changing Face of Companies (Credit Suisse Research Institute, October 10, 2019): p. 22-23. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126005463/en/ CONTACT: Philip Morris International David Fraser T. +41 (0)58 242 4500 E. david.fraser@pmi.com A taste of sweetness of Spring Festival Xinhua) 08:17, January 27, 2022 Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd L) makes ciba, a kind of food made of sticky rice, with villagers while visiting Shenshan Village in Jinggangshan, east China's Jiangxi Province, Feb. 2, 2016. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- As Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, draws near, life is made sweeter thanks to blessings, family reunions, and, of course, festive dishes. Around this time of year, residents of Shenshan Village in Jiangxi Province, east China, busy themselves with making "ciba." This festive snack is made by pounding cooked glutinous rice into a paste. The resultant sweet and round treat symbolizes family gatherings and good luck for a new year. In 2016, the ciba team were joined by an unexpected helper -- President Xi Jinping, who visited Jiangxi ahead of the Spring Festival. At that time, Shenshan villagers were still struggling to make ends meet, and poverty cast a long shadow over their lives. Xi joined villagers in making ciba and quipped that it is good for health by pounding the glutinous paste. Xi assured the villagers that "not a single family or an individual living in poverty is to be left behind on the path to poverty alleviation." Chinese President Xi Jinping visits residents' homes in Qianmen area in central Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 1, 2019. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) Thanks to the development of poverty alleviation industries and rural tourism, Shenshan Village bid farewell to poverty in early 2017. The average annual income of villagers per capita grew 9 folds in five years to reach 28,000 yuan (about 4,430 U.S. dollars) in 2020. The changes in Shenshan epitomize what has happened across the country. It was announced earlier in 2021 that China had scored a "complete victory" in its fight against absolute poverty, with the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line all lifted out of poverty over the previous eight years. "Now my dream of becoming well-off has come true, and life is sweeter, just like ciba," said Peng Xiaying, a villager in Shenshan. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI/PNN): It is incredible to learn about all those brands and businesses that believe in delivering "uniqueness" to the people they serve. All these brands stand apart from the rest for focusing on quality products, delivery, and service, which is why some of them have gone ahead in creating a special place for themselves even amidst saturation and competition. Doing exactly that as a one-of-a-kind e-commerce brand selling a variety of products, particularly the best water purifier and LED TVs, is "JustJaldi." This emerging brand has been making a lot of noise for its diverse products and delivering on great quality and service. JustJaldi water purifier is a star product at the brand with amazing product quality, 5-years warranty, and affordably priced at 4,999/- INR. The team at JustJaldi delivers excellently by installing the product in their client's home within the same day of order. Also, their LED TVs have superior quality make and design priced at inexpensive rates. JustJaldi is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India, and was started in 2018. In just a few short years, it has grown how by multiplying its product portfolio, which now also includes jewellery, home decor, other electronics, and even grocery. In these short years, they have already installed over 1 million water purifiers. They are also known for offering exciting new discounts and offers every month. This year in 2022, JustJaldi is launching new models of water purifiers. The brand has thrived on giving fast, secure, and quality service at affordable rates, which has what made it a rising name in the world of e-commerce, giving a head-to-head competition to many others in the market. Making it huge in the e-commerce space so fast has garnered JustJaldi quite a few headlines, attracting the attention of many. To know more, visit its website, www.justjaldi.com This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN) Atlanta (Georgia) [US], January 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): SRAM & MRAM Group along with its Walletz4U brand partner Healthtech International Inc. began the 2022 edition of International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) with an overwhelming response. The summit is being held at Atlanta, GA, USA from January 25-27, 2022. The group will be showcasing the Walletz4U range of PPE including disposable gloves and COVID-19 test kits. The summit will be aiding to the industry that was severely affected due to COVID-19. The group has also tied up with Healthtech International, Inc. as their Valued Partner and Exclusive Distributor for the USA Market. Besides being part of the summit, the group will also be cementing its foothold in the USA market. SRAM & MRAM will be investing USD 126 million in the USA market. The group will be investing in setting up the glove production facility in the region. Currently, the group is on the lookout for the landmass to set up their facility in the country. For the USA operations, Chaittnya Aggarwal, Managing Director SRAM & MRAM Group will be leading the group in investment and operations front whereas, Jose Padiyal, Director, SRAM & MRAM Group will be playing a pivotal role in the land acquisition and infrastructure setup. The 2022 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) is being held from January 25- 27 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. IPPE is a critical part of the poultry, animal food and meat industry's continuing development, offering timely and important educational information and an efficient way for producers and processors to find the solutions they need to continue operations. It is the only annual exposition of its kind showcasing the latest advances and technologies for the global animal food and protein industries. The Walletz4u along with Healthtech team will be focusing on how it can help animal food, meat, and poultry industry leaders from all over the world by offering them the best personal safety solutions for the current workplace challenges. Apparently, the poultry industry has seen a series of changes in recent years due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The summit will offer the industry and the industry leaders the latest from the technology front. Speaking on the participation, John B. Parella, Senior Vice President - Healthtech International, Inc. quoted, "We are extremely happy to represent SRAM & MRAM and the Walletz4U brand. The group has done a commendable job when it comes to the quality and efficacy of its products. And being part of the IPPE summit, it offers a unique platform for exchanging ideas and solutions for the safe and efficient continuation of business through these difficult and challenging times." The summit is expected to witness approximately 1,200 exhibitors and 32,000 animal food, meat, and poultry industry leaders from all over the world. Speaking from the summit, Hitanshu Heera, Senior Director - SRAM & MRAM Group (The Brand Owner of Walletz4u) quoted, "We are delighted to be associated with IPPE 2022. We are hopeful of churning a modest business from the event. The summit will help us in reaching out to a wider audience by bringing our personal protection and occupational safety-related products to the market." The 2022 IPPE will be a collaboration of three trade shows - the International Feed Expo, International Poultry Expo and International Meat Expo - representing the entire chain of protein production and processing. The event is sponsored by U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, the American Feed Industry Association and the North American Meat Institute. The IPPE show will further help the industry leaders in incorporating the best practices and continue to improve their businesses with more efficient and affordable solutions. The IPPE show will take place under the watchful eye of the Georgia Department of Public Health and epidemiological expert organizations. The safety measures established for an event of such a scale will be monitored constantly, in addition to continuously monitoring CDC guidelines. The International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) is a collaboration of three shows - International Feed Expo, International Meat Expo and the International Poultry Expo - representing the entire chain of protein production and processing. The event is sponsored by the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA), North American Meat Institute (NAMI) and US Poultry & Egg Association (USPOULTRY). For more information about IPPE, kindly visit: www.ippexpo.org. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) Dubai [UAE], January 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): SRAM & MRAM Group, a global leader in the Nitrile Glove market, begins The Arab Health Tradeshow 2022 with an overwhelming response. The summit is being held in the UAE from January 24-27, 2022. The group is showcasing "Walletz4u" at the summit. The group is featuring an array of offerings and is present at booth H8.H13. The summit is expected to witness around 4.000 exhibiting companies and 56.000 healthcare and trade professionals, from 170 countries. This year's theme is "United by business, forging ahead", with new technologies and the latest innovations. Arab Health Tradeshow is synonymous as a leading healthcare exhibition in the region. The show brings together influencers under one roof from all the leading spheres; aiding in learning and improving knowledge and skills through the summit. Walletz4u, the flagship brand by SRAM & MRAM Group will be showcasing its portfolio during the summit. The brand is recognised globally for its high-quality latex, vinyl, nitrile, and rubber disposable gloves. Each glove is backed with the seal of approval and with the commitment to bringing the products that one can trust to help keep you safe, healthy, and comfortable. Walletz4u is the world's largest gloves OEM, one of the largest glove manufacturers and resellers in the ASEAN and the global markets. The group is expanding rapidly; the group will be starting their US operations shortly, will be stalling a manufacturing unit of gloves in The United States of America. Speaking on the participation, Anamika Chhawal, Head of Strategic Alliances at SRAM & MRAM Group, India division, operating out of Mumbai said, "With our vision of uncompromising commitment to quality standards, people and environment, SRAM & MRAM Group is committed to delivering in the healthcare sector by building strong networking. With this, we have been bringing in world-class health gear with global standards. With the participation in the summit, this will open new avenues in the Indian as well as Global market." Speaking from the summit, Raghav Ram Kapur, Business Development Director, SRAM & MRAM Group quoted, "The Arab Health Tradeshow is a great platform, it brings the best of worlds under one roof resulting in exchanging of ideas through and the latest offerings, the best technology, products, and services. We are anticipating a good footfall and a reasonable business from the event." The summit will be showcasing the tech and innovations under the following categories: Medical equipment and devices Disposables and consumer goods Imaging and diagnostics Orthopaedics & physiotherapy Healthcare & general services IT systems & solutions Healthcare infrastructure & assets Wellness & prevention Rashika Wijekoon, Business Development Manager, SRAM & MRAM Group, quoted, "It is a delight representing the group for such an event, and it certainly brings numerous opportunities to engage with the stakeholders. We are hopeful to tap onto a sizeable business prospects through the platform." Arab Health Tradeshow is the largest healthcare exhibition and congress in the MENA region. The event is an annual event that features global healthcare professionals and features a range of scientific lectures, industry briefings, product demonstrations and networking opportunities. With technology and innovation taking center stage, Arab Health, the leading medical equipment exhibition in the Middle East, it will be representing an exceeding range of healthcare products and services showcased by more than 3,500 exhibitors from across the world, this January at The Dubai World Trade Centre. Arab Health 2022 will bring together more than 56,000 healthcare professionals eager to learn, network and trade, and will feature a wide range of CME accredited conferences. For more information, kindly visit; www.arabhealthonline.com/en/Home.html. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI/PNN): Gujarat Port and Logistics Company Limited (GPLCL), being SUP floated by Gujarat Maritime Board and GSFC has accepted the proposal proposed by BSE listed (542753) Seacoast Shipping Services Limited (SSSL) for developing coastal movement of containers and Bulk cargo from minor ports to major ports via sea route through bogies. The above project will be the first move towards Sagar Mala Scheme by the Government of India Ministry of Shipping to reduce land traffic which to be beneficial to the environment and will be highly cost-effective Exim trade and will play a major role in the economy. The above project will have a high revenue income, which will increase the turnover above 200 Cr. additionally to the current business and will be in a position to deploy 100 employees. Moreover, SSSL has proposed Joint Venture to GPLCL for long term association which is under the procedure for implementing as per the policy of the Government. Seacoast is amongst the top three freight forwarders handling Agri export commodities exports in containers from Mundra port. It offers complete logistics solutions under one roof and also offers International Ship Operations of Modern Dry Bulk Vessels. Every year it carries around 5.0 million mt of bulk /and unitised cargo across the oceans. As a specialist in spot business, SeaCoast focuses fully on dry bulk logistics and Container Freight Forwarding along with Inland Road Logistics. The company offers TOTAL MULTIMODAL LOGISTICS through seam-less services from the transportation of cargo to export. It offers a one-stop solution for the oceanic transport of dry bulk cargoes worldwide. With a worldwide shortage of Containers, Sea Coast would get higher realisation whereby it would be benefitted substantially. The main role is ensuring the safe and efficient Marine transportation of commodities. Ship Chartering Charter Vessel on Time or Period for movement of cargo Worldwide, Coastal Trade, Freight Forwarding End-to-End Service Provider for Container movement, Warehousing and Transportation of FMCG product. Providing end-to-end service in FMCG products, for example, Liquid, Salt, Ceramic etc., within India, Mining and Transportation. This story is provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/PNN) Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): iLEAD Films' 'Before You Die...', the directorial venture of Suvendu Raj Ghosh is all set to release its trailer. The film is now slated to release on February 18, 2022. The film will introduce Puneeth Raj Sharma and Kavya Kashyap as lead actors. Zarina Wahab, Mukesh Rishi, Pradip Chopra, Mushtaq Khan, Arha Mahajan, Badshah Moitra, Rita Dutta, Lovekansh Garg are amongst the other cast. With the launch of the trailer, they will also launch a unique book cafe located in the central business district of Kolkata - Shakespeare Sarani (formerly known as Theatre Road) and it is called Before You Die Cafe. It will be inaugurated by Mr. Soumen Mitra, retired IPS, and currently Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and Director Training. The book cafe is located right next to Bhartiya Bhasha Parishad that promotes various languages, mainly our national language Hindi. This cafe will not just serve coffees and savories but also have like-minded people from different fields carrying out creative discussions, intellectual activities, book and trailer launches. The cafe is surrounded by a beautiful public park where people come for their morning and evening walks and there is a Girls' College too which runs post graduate programs including program on Hindi literature. Looks like we have amazing stories coming our way from this attractive proposed cafe that has an amazing stock of books from all over! Along with the trailer launch, Pradip Chopra will also introduce his book called '131 Things to Do Before You Die...'. It is compiled by him and his colleague Asha Singhvi. Writer Producer Pradip Chopra says, "Before You Die...will be the first film to launch its trailer at the cafe. I have had a special bonding with this film from the time I penned down but never thought it would turn to be this grand even before its release." The film has already been recognized in film festivals like LIFFT India Awards 2022 and recently a Special Film Mention at the 9th Noida International Film Festival-22. Director Suvendu Raj Ghosh says, "I am glad to have such amazing and intellectual people believing in us and our film. The journey so far has been a beautiful ride with Mr. Pradip Chopra and the cast of the film. I am now looking forward to the audience reaction." Trailer Link - www.youtube.com/watch?v=98CNfAcopxs. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) Taking to her Instagram handle, Mouni shared a beautiful picture in which she can be seen hugging and sharing smiles with her husband-to-be. The actor looks stunning, dressed in a hot pink suit. In the caption, she wrote, "Everything #HariOm." Fans, friends and fellow industry members flooded the post with congratulatory messages. Actor Mandira Bedi, who is also attending the wedding festivities, wrote, "God bless you Mon and Suraj. Love you both so much." "Finallyyyyyyyy," actor Jia Mustafa added. Mouni and Suraj, who never officially confirmed dating each other in the past, will tie the knot on January 27 in Goa. (ANI) After dating each other for four years, actors Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song are heading to the altar. As per People Magazine, 'The Suite Life of Zack & Cody' actor was recently photographed sporting a diamond ring on her left hand in Beverly Hills, California. Culkin and Song met on the set of 'Changeland' in Thailand and were first romantically linked when they were spotted out in July 2017 grabbing dinner at Craig's, an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. The next month, Song posted a group photo to Instagram in which she posed alongside Culkin. The couple welcomed their first child, son Dakota, in April of last year. They named their son after Culkin's late sister Dakota. "We're overjoyed," Culkin and Song said in a brief statement about the arrival of their first child. Song and Culkin keep their relationship private on social media, although the 'Dollface' actor shared a special Instagram message to her beau in August 2020 on his 40th birthday. "Happy 40th birthday to this magical being," she wrote in the caption. "I could sit here and write endlessly about how wonderful, kind, loving, genuine, loyal, honest, brilliant and hilarious you are, and how grateful I am that I get to share and do this life thing with you." "But firstly, that would take me an eternity and secondly, you won't even see this because you don't ever use instagram. Hahaha," she added. "My unicorn that I never thought could exist, I am luckiest person in the world because I am loved by you." In 2018, Culkin spoke about his intentions of building a family with Song during an appearance on 'The Joe Rogan Experience' podcast, saying that he wanted to "make some babies." "This one's a good one, so I'm probably going to put some babies in her in a little bit," he said, laughing. "I mean, we've definitely been practising." The 'Home Alone' actor continued, saying he and Song have "a good life." "I have a pretty little family -- a pretty girl, a pretty dog, a pretty cat and all that stuff. We're gonna move," he said at the time. "We're doing the house thing and all that kind of stuff." The marriage will be the first for Song, while Culkin was previously married to Rachel Miner, from 1998 to 2002. (ANI) Shweta had visited Bhopal for a press conference about her upcoming web series that also stars Rohit Roy, Digangana Suryavanshi, and Sourabh Raaj Jain in lead roles. As per a clip obtained from the event, where the star cast was seen seated on a dais, Shweta made a statement, "Mere bra ki size bhagwan le rahe hai." (God is taking the measurements for my bra) As per viral reports, the show for which the press conference was held is a fashion-related web series. 'Mahabharata' fame Saurabh Jain who played the role of Lord Krishna in the mythological show, will be playing the role of a 'bra fitter' in the upcoming series. Reports suggest Shweta jokingly made the statement in reference to Saurabh, during the press conference. Netizens started slamming the 41-year-old actor, as soon as the video of Shweta's controversial remark went viral on the internet. "What will you say this? What are these people proud of? Media has named these people as celebrities. Kya action nhi hona chahiye ...#ShwetaTiwari," a Twitter user wrote. Another tweet read, "Now family frustration on stage. Cheap publicity. Sell body , Give controversial comments gets click ! Shame... #ShwetaTiwari." "request to BHOPAL police kindly file the FIR against Sweta Tiwari for shameful comments @ChouhanShivraj #ShwetaTiwari @rohitroy500," read another tweet. State home minister Narottam Mishra took cognizance of the matter and instructed commissioner of Police, Bhopal to submit a detailed report in this regard. "Actress ShwetaTiwari ka Bhopal me diya gaya bayaan nindaniye hai. Bhopal Police commissioner Makrand Devaskar ko 24 ghante me tathyo or sandarbh ki jaan kar report dene ka nirdesh diya hai, jiske adhar par nirnaye liya jaega," he tweeted. (ANI) More than a month after the release of the film 'West Side Story', stars are finally sharing their thoughts on the sexual assault allegations against their co-star Ansel Elgort, who denied the claims in 2020. 'West Side Story' key actors Rachel Zegler, Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose recently shared their thoughts with The Hollywood Reporter on the sexual assault allegations against the lead actor Elgort. Speaking with the outlet on Wednesday, the stars of Steven Spielberg's beloved musical adaptation weighed in on the claims against their fellow co-star, who plays the leading role of Tony in the film, with Moreno stating that she would not make "judgements" on the accusations, which Elgort has previously denied. "I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter. It's not for me to make those judgments," Moreno told the outlet. DeBose added, "Nobody really knows what's going on in anyone's head. Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down." And Zegler, who worked closely with Elgort as his love interest Maria in the film, explained that "a lot has gone on in the world" in the time since they originally all shot the film together. "We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then. A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. There's been a lot of awakening," she said. The 20-year-old actor added, "You just hope that the people involved are OK, that they are asked in a respectful manner and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves." For the unversed, in June 2020, a Twitter user named Gabby alleged in a now-deleted tweet that Elgort "sexually assaulted me when I was 17," after she allegedly DMed the actor online. Elgort denied the allegations in a since-deleted post on Instagram that month, writing, "I cannot claim to understand Gabby's feelings but her depiction of events is simply not what happened," as per E! News. "I have never and would never assault anyone. What is true is that in New York in 2014, when I was 20, Gabby and I had a brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship," he added in his statement at that time. Elgort largely avoided attending public events following the controversy. In September 2021, he attended the Daily Front Row's 8th annual Fashion Media Awards with his parents. In November, the actor took to the red carpet for the New York City premiere of West Side Story alongside his longtime girlfriend Violetta Komyshan, marking their first public appearance together since January 2020, as per E! News. (ANI) Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday hit out at former chief minister Siddaramaiah and said that the Congress leader is insecure as he thinks that KPCC President DK Shivakumar has taken over his position. Addressing a press conference, he said, "The tussle between these two will force many in Congress to desert their party in the coming days. There is no question of anyone from BJP going there." Taking a dig at DK Shivakumar who claimed that many in BJP are set to join Congress, he said that his earlier statement and the present statement are contradictory. "First he(DKS) had claimed that many BJP MLAs are in contact with him and they are about to join him. Now he is claiming that they would join Congress when the elections approach. It means his earlier statement was a lie," Bommai said. "There is no reply for the question as to who are the MLAs who are set to desert BJP. There is an internal tussle within Congress," he added. Taking on the Congress party further, Bommai said that the party will become irrelevant after the assembly elections in the five states. "Congress is non-existent in Uttar Pradesh assembly election. It is losing power in Punjab. It is nowhere in a position to win in Goa. So Congress will become irrelevant after the assembly election in 5 states. Its effect would be felt on State Congress too," he said. (ANI) About a week after Edmund White turned 82, we spoke on the phone. There was too much to ask. Advertisement To be honest, its a little hard to know where to begin with Edmund White. Soon after he left Evanston, not long after college, he became at editor at Saturday Review; soon after that, he cowrote The Joy of Gay Sex. At the time of the Stonewall uprising in 1969 (which he witnessed), he was a staff writer for Time-Life Books. He was friends with Toni Morrison, James Merrill, Robert Mapplethorpe, Foucault; he was frenemies with Susan Sontag. He cofounded the Gay Mens Health Crisis in 1982, then learned a few years later that he was HIV-positive. Today hes often described as the godfather of queer lit. Despite all of that, not to sound reductive and puerile, but when I think of Edmund White I think about sex. Which is partly intentional on his part. A few years ago, he wrote in the New Yorker that he always associated reading and writing with sex, and that even as a young writer he knew sex had already become my great theme, in all its many forms. Advertisement He wrote of taking the L from Evanston to Rush Street and often visiting a bookstore owned by a pockmarked, sombre Texan. White was attracted to him. He said he was looking for an older lover. I felt at home among the books, he wrote, and turned on. Edmund White poses at Edinburgh Book Festival in 2007 in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Marco Secchi / Getty Images) For several decades, White would return again and again to sex, in memoirs thinly disguised as novels (A Boys Own Story), and in memoirs full of novelistic incident (City Boy). His plots, he has said, are almost always much closer to scrapbooks. Indeed, his prose reads like an ongoing diary, even when, as in his new novel, A Previous Life, that plot is inventive, even meta; it tells the story of an Sicilian aristocrat and his wife who confess to past lovers one of whom is the author Edmund White. He spoke from his apartment in New York City. The following is a shorter version of a longer conversation, edited for length and clarity. Q: I dont know much about your Chicago years. A: When I was seven, my parents got divorced. We had lived in Cincinnati until (White and his mother) moved to Evanston and I went to Miller School. I belonged to the Eisenhower Club at the YMCA. My mother was a psychologist and worked for the state and we moved for a year to Rockford, which I hated. So we went back to Evanston. My mother lived most of her life in Chicago, near Water Tower. My sister lives in Oak Park. Q: Do you think of yourself as a Midwesterner? A: No, more like a Europeanized American. I lived in Paris 17 years, in Rome a year. I can speak French as well as I speak English. I spent summers in Istanbul and Greece. But I do have certain Midwestern values. I think of myself as a public-library intellectual. Q: You are often compared with Proust. Advertisement A: Yes, I went to Cranbrook in Michigan, which then was a boys school and for my senior thesis, I wrote about Proust. So hes definitely been on my mind for a long time, particularly what he called the Albertine Strategy to make all the boys into girls. I havent done that with this new book, but then there have been quite a few bisexuals. "A Previous Life" by Edmund White. (Bloomsbury ) Q: Youre so associated with writing about sex, its funny in this new book when theres a mention of the annual Bad Sex in Fiction award, which is a real award. A: I think I will receive it. That (award) is in England, where they hate sex. Q: Have your readers become more conservative? A: Yeah, but everyone has. Certainly gay people have. Theyre all married with children. A lot of my friends pretend to be faithful to their husbands but then theyre online a lot, cruising. So I dont know. It used to be that gay life was like a French bedroom farce. You would catch your mate having sex with the butler. Now people hide affairs online. But also, (the fear of) AIDS had a major impact, of course. Ive been (HIV) positive since 1985, and they will have to bring in Dr. Kevorkian to kill me. I keep going on and on. Q: When you write about yourself sexually, youre often not very complimentary. Advertisement A: Yes, I believe in truth telling, and as in the book, I did have an Italian lover who brutally dropped me after a three-year affair and who was very possessive, and I went through a terrible period Im still going through it of feeling totally rejected. I write in the book, You dont play with the heart of an 80-year-old. I have tried to see myself through his eyes. He sought me because of my writing, and it was this formal Professor White kind of thing for a while, but that went to being sexual very quickly. He lived in Europe but then moved to America to be with me, and then realized that I was too old. Q: Do you write about sex often because you would like it seem more ordinary? A: I think its always underrepresented in fiction. Q: As a kid in Chicago, did you linger over sex scenes in novels? A: Well, I was already very active sexually. I must have had sex with several hundred men by the time I was 16. Q: Several hundred? Advertisement A: Yeah, I would go to the Howard Street station and pick up men. I was jailbait, so no one would want to see me twice. They were afraid of getting caught. I would have sex with men in their station wagons, which would be full of their childrens toys. I was the seducer. A friend of mine said hed never seen someone as voracious in their appetites. Q: When you started writing novels, what kind of audience did you have in mind? A: The thing is, Gore Vidal, James Baldwin their books were directed to straight readers. What happened after Stonewall, with this group of writers I belonged to, called the Violet Quill, we were all directing our books toward gay readers. Instead of writing apologies for gay lives, instead of writing about this seemingly exotic life for straight readers, we did not explain, say, Fire Island. That was a big change. But then, you could be attacked for writing about gay lives in a non-ideal way. There was a Stalinist edge to gay criticism in the 1970s where you would be attacked for not having positive role models. I was living in a particular historical moment. Gays had been persecuted. In Chicago I would go to a lesbian bar on the Near North Side called The Volleyball. They had a dusty sign on the wall that said Hobo Party Tonight. No one remembers this, but women could be arrested as transvestites if they wore more than three items of male clothing! But Hobo Party, that suggested this was a costume party! Therefore legal. Q: Youre kind of a vanguard now, but how will you be read in 50 years? A: I have a dim view of this. I was just in Key West at a literary seminar and on stage, I said: Dont you think homosexuality sounds very old fashioned now? That maybe in 50 years everyone will be a bisexual? Everyone seemed quite alarmed by that. Or titillated. cborrelli@chicagotribune.com Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday spoke to him over the phone and congratulated him for the award. Speaker of the Assembly Gian Chand Gupta also extended best wishes reaching this residence. "It is a matter of pride for Haryana. Om Prakash Gandhi devoted his entire life to social service and the service of girls and their education," Gupta said. Gandhi expressed gratitude to the government for recognising his work and said that this was possible with the help of numerous people. "This has been made possible with the help of thousands of people. I will continue to work for the education of girls. I have not done colossal work, the government has recognised it, I thank them for it," he said. Om prakash Gandhi established Gurjar Kanya Vidya Mandir at Deodhar in Yamunanagar. In this school, girls from almost several states are getting education. (ANI) A minor was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped in Rajasthan's Dungarpur by the boys of her own school, said Dy SP Rakesh Kumar Sharma on Wednesday. The survivor is currently under treatment in the hospital. However, the accused have not been arrested yet. Speaking to ANI, Sharma said, "The incident of gang rape was registered on Tuesday in the Bichhiwara police station area. The incident is said to have happened on Monday when a minor of standard 9th was kidnapped by two boys of her own school. They took her to the forest and one of the boys raped her." "The survivor is admitted to the hospital and is under treatment. We have recorded the statement of the survivor and her family members. Her medical test has been conducted. As soon as she is discharged from the hospital, the place of the incident will be investigated," he added. The Dy SP informed that the location of the accused is known, however, they will be arrested only after further probe. "The search for the accused boys is underway. Accused names and locations identified but they'll be arrested only after further probe. Their location is known but they have not been detained so far," he said. (ANI) Terming the committee formed by the Union Railway Ministry to look into the concerns raised by the aspirants of alleged irregularities in Railway Recruitment Board's NTPC stage 1 exam results as a "hoax", student union AISA and other youth organizations have called for "Bihar bandh" on Friday and refused to bog down despite the formation of the committee. AISA General Secretary and MLA Sandeep Saurav along with others in a press statement said that the committee formed by the ministry is a "conspiracy" to postpone the matter till the elections in Uttar Pradesh. "There is no doubt on the questions being raised by the candidates. This massive movement of student youth, who are facing extreme unemployment, has arisen at a time when there is an election in UP. Under the pressure of this, this proposal of the Government and Railways has come and a conspiracy is being hatched to postpone the matter till the elections," they said. Earlier, all Chairpersons of RRBs were directed to receive the grievances of candidates through their existing channels, compile these grievances and send the same to the committee. Candidates are given three weeks time up to February 16, to submit their concerns and the committee after examining these concerns will submit their recommendations by March 4. Meanwhile, in view of the students' agitation regarding alleged irregularities in the Railway Recruitment Board exam, the Railway Ministry has decided to suspend both the Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) and Level 1 tests scheduled to be held on February 15 and February 23, stated the Railway Ministry. According to a spokesperson, the Railway Ministry has constituted a committee that will listen to the views of the candidates who cleared or failed and following that the committee will submit its report to the Ministry of Railways. Only after that, the Railway Ministry would take a decision regarding the exam. The job aspirants blocked the New Delhi-Kolkata main railway tracks and some others protested in Bihar's Arrah and Sharif Railway station. The protesters also allegedly set a train on fire in Arrah. (ANI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be on a day-long visit to Punjab on Thursday during which he will visit religious places along with 117 candidates in an apparent show of strength ahead of Assembly elections that are due next month. During his day-long visit, Rahul Gandhi would pay obeisance at around 9 am at Sri Harmandir Sahib along with 117 candidates in Amritsar. Thereafter, the Congress leader will pay obeisance at Durgiana Mandir at around 10 am and at around 11 am at Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal along with all his 117 candidates. At around 12 noon, Gandhi will travel to Jalandhar by road where he would address the virtual rally "Navi Soch Nava Punjab" at around 3 pm at White Diamond, Mithapur, Jalandhar. Congress state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu tweeted and shared his entire schedule of the day and said that the workers of the party look forward to welcoming him in the state. "Our Visionary leader Rahul Gandhi Ji is visiting Punjab on 27th January. Every Congress worker looks forward to welcoming him in Punjab," Sidhu tweeted on Tuesday. Notably, this is the first visit of Rahul Gandhi since the imposition of a ban on physical rallies by the Election Commission of India at the start of the month. Punjab will go to the assembly polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for "protocol violation" as she did not receive the Governor during his arrival at the Republic Day function and said that the conduct of TMC chief goes against the culture of the state. Sharing a video of the arrival of Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar at the function, Adhikari tweeted, "Outrageous protocol violation by CM @MamataOfficial. She did not receive Hon'ble Governor at Republic Day function. But he showed grace by walking upto her and greeting her on this special National day. Her conduct left much to be desired and goes against the propriety and culture of WB." The video shared by the BJP leader shows the Governor arriving at the function and being received by the officials. However, the Chief Minister could not be seen greeting him. As the Governor proceeded, he was seen walking up to Mamata to extend the greetings. "The office of the Chief Minister has been disgraced like never before. This video reveals the disregard of the protocol by @MamataOfficial. An unprecedented act of impropriety. Is it because Hon'ble Governor @jdhankhar1 is asking tough questions?" Adhikari further said in his tweet. Notably, Adhikari was not invited by the state government for the Republic Day celebrations that were held at Red Road in the capital city of Kolkata. In the list of the invitees released by the state government, Adhikari's name was dropped for the event. This happened for the first time that the Leader of Opposition was not invited to the Republic Day programme in the state. (ANI) As part of an initiative called 'Shaheedon Ko Shat Shat Naman' launched by the National Cadet Corps (NCC) on 73rd Republic Day of India, a Shaurya Smriti (plaque) was handed over to the families of Naik Narayana and Rifleman Nandan in Bageshwar district of Uttarakhand. The plaque was signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was handed over to the families of gallantry awardees in their villages and hometowns. Lt Col Ravinder Bhandari of 81 Uttarakhand Batallion on NCC in Bageshwar handed over plaques to families of Naik Narayana and Rifleman Nandan on behalf of the nation. "On 26th January, a nationwide flagship programme of NCC 'Shaheedon Ko Shat Shat Naman' was launched to honour the supreme sacrifices of the fallen heroes in defending the Nation. Next of Kin (NOK) of approximately 5,000 fallen heroes will be presented with the Plaque of Gratitude by NCC cadets all over the country," reads the official statement. "The programme will continue till August 15. During the period, the NCC cadets, accompanied by NCC Officers/Permanent Instructor of State Directorates, will felicitate the NOKs of all 26,466 fallen heroes whose names were etched at the National War Memorial," it added. India celebrated its 73rd Republic Day on Wednesday. (ANI) As part of campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to attend various events in Mathura and Gautam Buddh Nagar later in the day on Thursday that comprises house to house contact campaign and effective voter communication. As per the schedule announced through his Twitter handle on Wednesday, the Home Minister's day-long public engagement will start with his prayer at Vrindavan's Bake Bihari Temple at 11.30 am. Subsequently, the Home Minister will be attending effective voter communication at 12.45 pm in Mathura, a sacred city in Uttar Pradesh where Lord Krishna is said to have been born. Later, Shah will engage in house to house contact campaign in Gautam Buddha Nagar's Dadri area at 3.15 pm. The Home Minister's day-long engagement will end with his involvement in effective voter communication scheduled at 4.15 pm in Greater Noida. The Home Minister's public engagements are significant as Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases starting on February 10. The second phase of Uttar Pradesh elections will be on February 14, the third phase on February 20, fourth phase on February 23, 5th phase on February 27, 6th phase on March 3 and 7th and the last phase will be conducted on March 7. The counting of votes for 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, 117 in Punjab, 70 in Uttarakhand 60 in Manipur and 40 in Goa will be done on March 10. (ANI) "Today, I will be in Modinagar, Ghaziabad for campaigning and voter interaction in view of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections," Singh said in a tweet in Hindi. Elections for 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10. The polling in the state will be held on February 10, 14, 20, 23, 27, and March 3 and 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) By Rajnish Singh New Delhi, January 27 (ANI) As the country on Wednesday was engaged in celebrating 73rd Republic Day, India's Border Security Force (BSF) inducted a fleet of three new Floating Border Out-Post (FBOP) vessels aimed at protecting the country's maritime borders. "On Republic Day Parade 2022, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) delivered the 2nd lot of 03 Floating Border Out-Post (FBOP) vessels out of 09 FBOPs for BSF to enable protect our maritime borders, adding a boost to border guarding," the BSF said. A senior BSF officer told ANI that FBOP vessels play a crucial role while protecting maritime borders as they help in demarking borders on waters. The officer said that these vessels will act as a floating base for the flotilla of fast patrol boats and will supply petrol, drinking water, provisions to the smaller boats and will be deployed on India's eastern and western borders. The three indigenously build FBOP vessels will act as the strategic base stations at India's border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. These vessels are important for the nation with regards to its safety and will also help in boosting the business through the country's coastal and inland waterways. Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) delivered the three FBOP vessels to the BSF, which will provide land and riverine security along 3,323 km of India-Pakistan and 4,096 km of India-Bangladesh international borders. A batch of three similar vessels was delivered to the BSF earlier last year and the next batch of three vessels will be delivered soon. With the induction of the second batch of FBOP vessels, the total number of such vessels in the BSF fleet has now reached 12. The three FBOP's, with a length of 46 meters, are part of a series of nine vessels being built for the Water Wing of the Border Security Force. These vessels are designed in-house by CSL and classed by the Indian Register of Shipping. Each FBOP is designed with storage arrangements for four fast patrol boats, which can be launched and hoisted using its davit system. (ANI) "An unfortunate incident of sexual assault of a woman due to personal enmity happened in Shahdara District," said R Sathiyasundaram, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara. "Police has nabbed four accused and probe is on. All possible help and counselling are being provided to the victim," DCP added. As per the police, after the alleged gang rape of the woman, her hair was cut, her face was blackened and she was paraded in the streets wearing a garland of slippers. According to the victim's sister, a boy living in the neighbourhood who claimed to be in love with the woman committed suicide in November last year. "His family blames my sister for their son's death," she said. Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI) There are two big takeaways in "Someone, Somewhere," director Cedric Klapisch's return to Paris after satisfying detours to New York ("Chinese Puzzle") and eastern France ("Back to Burgundy"). The first, which makes for the better movie, is you can't love someone until you've learned to love yourself. The second, which drags the movie down, is that our hyper-connected era has, paradoxically, kept us from establishing meaningful relationships. Both lessons need to be learned by Melanie (Ana Girardot) and Remy (Francois Civil), lonely thirtysomething neighbors who'd be perfect for each other if only they could overcome their individual hangups, stop substituting computer screens for real connections and actually meet. At this point, no one can argue that Facebook and Tinder are acceptable alternatives to engaging with the world around you. Had Klapisch advanced the idea 10 years ago, it would have been downright prescient. In 2019, however, his slams on life in the swipe-right era, even if gently delivered, give the movie a tired and dated feel. Still, a film from Klapisch is never without its upside, and his singular knack for examining with sensitivity and detail the relationship highs and lows of the 40-and-under crowd remains undiminished. The film is currently doing okay business in France. Should it earn a stateside release following its recent North American premiere at the COLCOA French Film Festival in Los Angeles, youthful audiences may recognize a bit of themselves but wont be particularly moved. Advertisement "Someone, Somewhere" ("Deux Moi" back home in France) essentially ends where a romantic comedy begins with Klapisch more interested in prepping his two main characters emotionally for their fateful encounter. Events smartly unfold in the more down-market arrondissements of Paris where neighbors Melanie and Remy, who've never met, live in urban isolation, two gnats struggling with low-boil depression in a metropolis too enormous and chaotic to concern itself with their petty problems. He works in a gigantic Amazon-style warehouse. She stares at molecules at a cancer research center. He can't sleep. She sleeps too much. These opposites, who are destined to attract each other, personify the rhyming French phrase that sums up the monotonous daily grind of the average Parisian: "metro, boulot, dodo" ("subway, work, sleep"). Ana Girardot stars in the French romance "Someone Somewhere," streaming Friday via Distrib Films US and the Music Box Theatre. (Distrib Films US / HANDOUT) After suffering a panic attack on the metro, Remy starts seeing a psychotherapist, which his mother thinks is reserved for crazy people, while Melanie, coincidentally, seeks out her own shrink. His therapist (Francois Berleand, terrific) is a slightly shambling, ready for retirement, social services psychoanalyst operating in a sparse office. Hers (Camille Cottin, also terrific) dispenses wisdom in what looks like the toniest drawing room on Avenue Montaigne. Advertisement Using therapy to reveal character is an overused device, but it provides much needed info on Melanie and Remy in a film whose notions of technology dependency and urban malaise aren't new or insightful anymore. And seeing Melanie and her two friends lounge around using their phones to order food and troll for guys comes off as a scolding from the 58-year-old director, who co-wrote the script with Santiago Amigorena. In response to his argument that online relationships are superficial, Klapisch throws in the character of Mansour (Simon Abkarian, glowing with energy), the smiling, helpful, flesh-and-blood owner of a local specialty market who gives bespoke advice to his customers. All this becomes increasing beside the point as we learn that what's keeping Melanie and Remy apart isn't technology (initially, Remy isn't even on Facebook) or the emptiness of their urban existence. The problem is their inability to move beyond their debilitating family issues. But getting Melanie and Remy to their simultaneous breakthroughs strafes melodrama and reveals story architecture in a fashion one might expect in a Hollywood romantic comedy but not from Klapisch. Civil and Girardot played brother and sister in "Back to Burgundy" and both are fine here with Civil squeezing maximum mileage out of his perpetually confused look and Cocker Spaniel charm (also deployed in France earlier this year in "Mon Inconnu") while Girardot's open face and natural, almost hesitant beauty draw us in. Their inevitable meeting is teased in tantalizing increments: first her cigarette smoke wafts toward his balcony, later he hears her singing, later still they walk down the same street, all the while never noticing each other. Klapisch is a director with an open heart whose deceptively simple films often reward a second viewing to reveal additional layers. Someone, Somewhere maintains many of his storytelling and stylistic trademarks but its characters cannot take on a life of their own when they feel specifically crafted to make a well-worn point. As a result, a director so gifted in dramatizing the vicissitudes of emotional connections has given us a film that itself feels a little disconnected. 2.5 stars No MPAA rating. Running time: 1:50. In French with English subtitles. For Someone Somewhere rentals (three days, $10) starting Friday April 24, please click here. Or go to musicboxtheatre.com. The film is being made available thorugh Distrib Films US and the Music Box Theatre. Shah is set to attend various events in Mathura and Gautam Buddh Nagar today that comprises door to door visit as part of campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The Home Minister would also be attending effective voter communication in Mathura and Greater Noida. The Home Minister's public engagements are significant as elections on 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases starting from February 10. The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be held on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3 and the seventh and the last phase will be conducted on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Punjab government not to take any coercive action against Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Bikram Singh Majithia till January 31 after he approached the top court for anticipatory bail. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana asked the Punjab government not to take any coercive steps till Monday, the day when it will hear Majithia's anticipatory bail plea. "Tell your government not to do anything till Monday, we will hear it on Monday. List the matter on Monday," the bench told senior advocate P Chidambaram, appearing for the Punjab government. The Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 24 had dismissed Majithia's anticipatory bail plea. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for Majithia mentioned the matter before the apex case for early hearing of the plea saying "this is a case of political vendetta and he is called to the police station. This is all due to the election fever." As Rohatgi said it is an election fever, the CJI quipped "it's an election virus". The High Court had granted three-day protection from arrest to Majithia for approaching the top court to challenge its order in which the anticipatory bail plea of the former minister was dismissed. Majithia, who is facing an FIR by Punjab Police in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) case, was earlier granted interim bail by the High Court on a condition of cooperating in the investigation. Majithia was apprehending arrest after a case under the provisions of the NDPS Act was registered at Mohali on December 20, last year. The petition filed through Karanjawala law firm, stated that "the present case is blatantly political in nature and has been registered with the malafide objective to target the petitioner who is the mainstream leader of the opposition party, one month prior to the polls in the State." "The current dispensation i.e. the Congress-led government has left no stone unturned to misuse its powers and position for wreaking vengeance against its political opponents and the Petitioner is one such target. The gross abuse of the process of law and the vindicative nature of the FIR. No. 0002, dated December 20, 2021 is evident from the fact that the FIR has been registered in 2021 in respect of allegations/incidents of 2014. Thus there is a gross and unexplained delay," the plea in the apex court stated. It said the FIR has been deliberately registered at a time just prior to the elections with the oblique motive to remove the Majithia, who is the prime face of the opposition party, to gain political mileage. The filing of nominations has started in the State of Punjab from January 25, 2022, and would continue till February 1, 2022, said the plea, adding that the purity of the electoral process is at stake. In the High Court, Majithia alleged that the sole intention to register the FIR against him is to take him in custody and torture him. Majithia had contended that the FIR was registered against him keeping an eye on the upcoming elections and his fundamental rights are at stake. Punjab government, before the High Court, had opposed his bail plea contending that Majithia has not extended full cooperation during the investigation. (ANI) A 20-year-old was gang-raped, tonsured, garlanded with slippers and paraded with a blackened face in the Kasturba Nagar area in the national capital, Delhi Commission for Women Swati Maliwal alleged on Thursday. Maliwal in a tweet stated that she was issuing a notice to the Delhi Police in connection with the gruesome crime and has demanded quick action to arrest the criminals and provision of security to the family of the survivor. "In Kasturba Nagar, a 20-year-old girl was gang-raped by illegal liquor sellers, made her bald, wore a garland of slippers and turned her face black in the entire area. I am issuing notice to Delhi Police. All criminal men and women should be arrested and the victim and her family should be given security," the DCW chief tweeted. Meanwhile, Delhi Police on Wednesday said it had arrested four people for allegedly gang-raping a woman in the Vivek Vihar area of Shahdara district in the national capital. "An unfortunate incident of sexual assault of a woman due to personal enmity happened in Shahdara District," said R Sathiyasundaram, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara. "Police has nabbed four accused and probe is on. All possible help and counselling are being provided to the victim," DCP added. As per the police, after the alleged gang rape of the woman, her hair was cut off, her face was blackened and she was paraded in the streets wearing a garland of slippers. According to the survivor's sister, a boy living in the neighbourhood who claimed to be in love with the woman committed suicide in November last year. "His family blames my sister for their son's death," she said. Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI) West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday called upon state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to furnish information with regards to July 26 Pegasus notification. The Governor also sought information relating to Pandemic Purchase Enquiry, Bengal Global Business Summit, Bengal Aerotropolis Project, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA), MAA Canteen and State Finance Commission. Taking to Twitter, Dhankar rejected Banerjee's stance on refusing to provide him files on matters beyond his jurisdiction. "Guv Dhankhar has rejected stance @MamataOfficial "There can be no question of office of Hon'ble Governor seeking access to documents & files on a subject matter which is entirely within the domain of state executive & in respect of which Governor has no authority or jurisdiction"," Dhankhar further conveyed that it is the "constitutional duty" of the chief minister to furnish the information sought by the Governor. He warned that any such information screened from him will be considered "constitutional transgression" that shall not be overlooked. Notably, Mamata Banerjee had refused to provide documents regarding the Pegasus issue to Dhankar stating that the matter is already sub-judice with the Supreme court and doing so will amount to interference with a matter already under the jurisdiction of the top court. (ANI) Hours after expelled Congress leader Kishore Upadhyay joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that he is sad to witness the former's downfall. Speaking to ANI, Rawat said, "I am sad. I am hurt to see such a downfall of him." Notably, former Uttarakhand Congress Chief Kishore Upadhyay joined the BJP today in Dehradun after he was expelled by Congress on Wednesday for "anti-party activities". Speaking on the change in the constituency from where he will contest Uttarakhand elections, Rawat said, "It is our duty to consider the party's command supreme. I have carried out my duty." Rawat will contest the assembly polls from Lalkuwa, instead of Ramnagar. The Congress on Wednesday released its third list of candidates in which the party has changed the seat of Harish Singh Rawat and four other leaders. The change has been done after the crisis within the party due to infighting among the leaders, as one of the working presidents of Uttarakhand Congress Ranjeet Rawat was uncomfortable with the candidature of Harish Rawat from Ramnagar Assembly Constituency. Notably, Congress has given the ticket to the daughter of Harish Rawat, Anupama Rawat from Hardwar Rural constituency defying its own policy of 'one seat, one family'. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand is slated to go to the Assembly polls on February 14 and the counting of the votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) The Delhi High Court's Division Bench on Thursday reduced the cost from 20 lakh to Rs 2 lakh on the actor- environmentalist Juhi Chawla and also expunged observations made by a Single Judge during the dismissal of a lawsuit filed against setting up of 5G wireless networks in the country. The Division Bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singhi also noted that the actress Juhi Chawla voluntarily accepted to be a part of the Delhi State Legal Service Authority (DSLSA) campaign related to women and children programmes. Actress Juhi Chawla herself appeared in the hearing and said "I will be very happy to assist in any matter of public interest. I thank you for your interest in reducing the costs imposed on me. I would like to mention that I moved the suit for relief to my immediate family as well as all citizens in the entire country. I have been studying the effects of harmful radiation since 2010. Aspects related to my background and actions were totally ignored. It is a serious matter but it has been sidelined. I'm thankful that you acknowledged that the matter is serious, Juhi Chawla stated. Secretary Kanwal Jeet Arora, Delhi Legal Services informed the high court that Juhi Chawla's performance in 'Gulab Gang' and 'Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke' was great and she can be a brand ambassador for campaigns for women and children designed by DSLSA. Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid appeared for Chawla also said, "She would be very happy to help the Legal Services Authority." In the appeal, Juhi Chawla and the other two appellants stated that the single bench order dismissing the suit is bad in law as a suit can only be dismissed once it has been allowed to be registered as a suit by the Court. The actor further stated that the single bench imposed costs on her even after plaint had not been permitted by him to make sure into a 'suit', and acting without jurisdiction, contrary to the law. The appellant also challenged the single judge's finding that the motion was preferred only to gain publicity, whose motive was inferred by the learned single judge merely from the fact that Plaintiff had circulated the video-conferencing link of the High Court on her social media accounts which had resulted in the repeated disruption of the Court proceedings held on June 4, 2021. Single Bench of Justice JR Midha had dismissed the lawsuit filed by actress-environmentalist Juhi Chawla and two other petitioners against the setting up of 5G wireless networks in the country. The bench of Justice JR Midha while passing the judgement had said that Plaintiffs (Juhi Chawla and the other two petitioners) abused the process of law and imposed costs of Rs 20 lakh on plaintiffs. The court in its order said, "It appears that the suit was for publicity. Plaintiff Juhi Chawla circulated the link of the hearing on social media which created the disruption thrice. Delhi Police shall identify the persons and take action against those who created disruption." According to the petition, the plaintiffs sought direction from the "arrayed defendants" to certify that 5G technology is safe for humans and every type of living organism and to produce their studies regarding RF radiation in support. The spokesperson further said that if not already conducted, efficient research should also be conducted without the participation of private interests. (ANI) Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Joint General Secretary Surendra Jain on Thursday hit out at former Vice President Hamid Ansari saying his statement that there is an atmosphere of Intolerance and insecurity for Muslims in the country is extremely "unfortunate" and "condemnable". Speaking to ANI Surendra Jain said, "The statement of former Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari, that Muslim society is insecure due to Hindu nationalism, is extremely unfortunate and condemnable. Despite being a dignitary like the Vice President of India in the past, he has tried to provoke the Muslim society of India." "I want to ask him that is there a Muslim majority country where Muslims are living in peace? Are Shias, Ahmadiya Muslims living in peace in Pakistan? What is the situation inside Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq? Do they have a model where Muslim society is able to live in peace? " the VHP leader asked. He further said, "They should not forget that Muslims are living peacefully in India, doing prayers and programs as it is Hindu majority society. Where the Muslim society is in majority, the whole world is aware of the condition of the people of that society." "They should not try to provoke Muslim society by harming the Hindu society," Surendra Jain further said. Former Vice President Hamid Ansari, while addressing the Indian American Muslim Council program, had reportedly said, "Hindu nationalism is a matter of concern. People are being divided into religious lines in the country. Controversy is being created among the people regarding nationality." Ansari further said, "Especially people of a particular religion are being instigated. Intolerance is being fueled and an atmosphere of insecurity is being created in the country." (ANI) A Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation met the Election Commission (EC) in Delhi regarding the upcoming Goa assembly polls. "On January 21 a team from EC raided the TMC party office in Goa at around 11 pm and vandalised hoardings and flexes while the office staff was kept on hold. Our meeting with the Election Commission was regarding that incident. We spoke for 25 minutes", claimed TMC leader and MP Saugata Roy. "We told the EC that despite being aware of the new TMC office in Goa, vandalisation on their part was not right", alleged Roy. He claimed that earlier there has been an instance of throwing ink on Mamata Banerjee's photo. "Goa TMC in charge Sourabh Chakraborty was forced to get out of the car and searched", he claimed. Roy said, "We don't want EC to attack us in this way". He claimed that EC had raided the party office based on somebody's complaint. "We don't know who made the complaint." "There is a rule in Goa that you have to take prior approval before putting up a hoarding in the state. We sought their approval and they gave us 90 per cent permission to put up banners", said the MP. "We have told them that we will inform in case of further problem in Goa and asked them to stop midnight raids." According to Saugata Roy, the EC has assured the party of a fair and free election in Goa. "The Election Commission has assured that there will be free and fair elections and has also ensured that whenever any such complaint comes about other parties they will remain vigilant (as they were in our case)", said TMC MP Santanu Sen after meeting the EC in Delhi. (ANI) He was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the party's state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Following his visit to Golden Temple, Rahul Gandhi will pay obeisance at Durgiana Mandir and Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal along with all the 117 candidates in an apparent show of strength ahead of Assembly elections that are due next month. The Wayanad MP will then travel to Jalandhar by road where he would address the virtual rally "Navi Soch Nava Punjab" at White Diamond, Mithapur, Jalandhar. Notably, this is the maiden visit of Rahul Gandhi since the imposition of ban on physical rallies by the Election Commission of India at the start of the month. Punjab will go to the Assembly polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) Around one hundred Afghanistan Army officers stranded in India after falling of the Government in Kabul, staged protests outside Afghanistan Embassy in New Delhi on Thursday. Protesters include officers from the Army, Special Forces and intelligence services. They demanded the intervention of the embassy in their rehabilitation in other countries as going back to Afghanistan is no more option for them. Lieutenant Hamid, who came to India last year for training at National Defence Academy said that there is no clarity over the future of more than 200 Afghanistan Army officers staying in India. "Afghan Army officers have come to India for training or medical treatment. After the fall of Government in Afghanistan, financial assistance to injured or ill officers undergoing treatment at various hospitals has been stopped in between, " he said. He added that few officers have to sell their mobile phones to pay rent and arrange food. Their families in Afghanistan are also suffering due to the uncertainty looming over their future. Another officer Major Mohammed said that they request United Nations to intervene and save them from getting killed if they were forced to go back to Afghanistan. "We can't go back. Taliban has all of their details including biometric details. We have tried to contact Afghanistan Embassy several times but every time they give us the next date but never resolve the issue," he said. Protesters claimed that due to lack of money, fifteen people are forced to live in two small rooms in South Delhi. Another officer who wished not to be identified said that he has not seen his children for the last year. "I don't know if I will ever meet my family again. My family is suffering because of me. No one is listening to us. United States, UN and another world forum should listen to grievances of people like us, who have no future," he added. On August 15, the Afghanistan government collapsed after the Taliban took over Kabul. (ANI) In Season 2 of The Cosby Show, theres an episode titled Happy Anniversary wherein the entire Huxtable family gathers in front of their living room staircase to perform a lip-synced version of the slinky rhythm and blues classic Night Time is the Right Time. Its an exuberant moment, created to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Dr. Huxtables parents, and it is full of love and style and joy. And its funny. In his new four-part docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby (premiering Sunday on Showtime), director W. Kamau Bell shows this clip to a number of people he interviews, including Danielle Morgan, who is an assistant professor at Santa Clara University. Like so many others who appear in the docuseries, a range of emotions wash over her face as she watches. Advertisement One of the main things I think about when I see that clip is just, there are a million reasons we dont want what we know to be true about Bill Cosby to be true, and I think that clip highlights so many of them, she says. Its just such a bright and warm scene and I think many of us dont want to lose the way that those kinds of scenes make us feel, and what they meant for us watching at the time. But the reality is the reality. Advertisement The four-part docuseries from W. Kamau Bell We Need to Talk About Cosby focuses on Bill Cosbys descent from Americas Dad to alleged sexual predator. (Mario Casilli/mptvimages/Showtime) This is a thoughtful and often overwhelming deep dive a four-part series almost has to be overwhelming if it intends to be serious-minded, and this project absolutely is. Bell is urging us all, but also importantly himself, to grapple with these conflicted emotions that come up when considering Cosbys legacy and influence as a performer alongside the numerous allegations of sexual assault that have been made against him. Is there something we can learn from all of this? Bell wondered in a recent interview with the Huffington Post. Not a gossipy conversation about Bill Cosby. We dont need to gossip about Bill Cosby. The title could be, Do You Want to Talk about Bill Cosby? Because I know a lot of people do not want to talk about Bill Cosby on all sides of this issue. Among those who declined to appear on camera are any members of The Cosby Shows principal cast, although there are a handful of actors who had small roles and crew members who describe what they saw and experienced on set. Bell, who is a comedian and host of CNNs United Shades of America, also interviews other comedians as well as academics. The series primarily centers Black voices, as it should; there are strong conversations here about what it means to let go of someone who was a beacon of Black positivity (mostly, excepting his notorious pound cake speech, which is also discussed here) and excellence. The series also features a number of women, Black and white, who have made allegations against Cosby. They tell their stories here and they are devastating. Marc Lamont Hill, a professor at Temple University, is among those who share their thoughts in "We Need To Talk About Cosby." (Showtime) The series offers a good deal of what I found to be useful analysis of the early portions of Cosbys career. Why, were left to wonder, did Cosby feel so free to build an entire bit around drugging women with Spanish fly material he was still trotting out decades after it first appeared on his 1969 comedy album titled, ironically, Its True! Its True! Maybe the joke is innocent, maybe not, says Todd Boyd, professor at the University of Southern California, but if you listen to that Spanish fly joke, the (expletive) tells on himself. Heres UNC at Chapel Hill professor Tressie McMillan Cottoms assessment: There was this narrative that had always been there in the undercurrent of his comedy about drugging women that we had all mutually agreed to never talk about and never connect the dots. Cosbys career as an actor first took off when he starred in I Spy (which ran from 1965-1968) and it was during this period that Cosby successfully pushed back against the practice of using of white stunt performers (in dark makeup) for Black characters on the show, namely him. That he used his burgeoning clout to open the door for Black stunt performers is meaningful. Full stop. The thing about good acts, though whether motivated by cynicism or sincerity is that they dont cancel out the bad acts. By the 80s, Cosby had molded his persona to become Americas Dad. Not Black Americas Dad, he was being called Americas Dad, says Jelani Cobb, who is a contributing writer to The New Yorker magazine and a professor at Columbia University. And I dont think its overstating it, he adds, Cosby really almost single-handedly expands the vista of what people think Black people can be in American society. Advertisement So theres that. Theres also this: The veneer that Cosby represented was always about progress, says Kierna Mayo, former editor-in-chief of Ebony magazine. Folks who were thinking about what could be next and what could be possible, he stepped in that gap. But the truth of the matter is that the machine that creates Hollywood, the machine that even allows a Cosby to come forth, is one thats rife with misogyny. Thats what came through strongest for me here: The power dynamics. Not just the power dynamics that exist in Hollywood at large, but the power dynamics that exist one-on-one, person-to-person, between a famous and beloved celebrity and a young person dazzled by fame or looking for help with their career. Those power dynamics never exist in a vacuum. All it requires is enough of the right people averting their eyes to keep the status quo firmly in place. Kierna Mayo in "We Need To Talk About Cosby." (Showtime) Nina Metz is a Tribune critic Advertisement What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. Sign up for our Eat. Watch. Do. newsletter here. With this, the active caseload of the state has gone up to 1,09,493 at present. A total of 21,09,080 people have been recovered from the coronavirus infection in Andhra Pradesh so far while 14,579 succumbed to the disease. Meanwhile, India logged 2,86,384 new COVID-19 cases and 573 deaths in the last 24 hours, stated the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. With this, the country's active caseload mounted to 22,02,472, which is 5.46 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases reported so far. With 3,06,357 recoveries reported in the last 24 hours, the cumulative recoveries reached 3,76,77,328. The recovery rate is currently at 93.33 per cent. However, with the addition of new fatalities, the COVID death toll in the country climbed to 4,91,700. (ANI) "The cadres of two militant outfits namely TLA and UGPO formally surrendered and laid down arms before the Chief Minister of Assam at a ceremonial function held at International Auditorium, Srimanta Sankardev Kalashetra in Guwahati," Assam Police Headquarters said. According to the police, as many as 277 various types of arms, grenades and 720 rounds of ammunition were deposited by both the outfits before the authority. Financial assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh was distributed to the former members of RNLF, UPRF, NLFB, NSLA and ADF for their rehabilitation, the police informed. "277 various types of arms, grenades and 720 rounds of ammunition were deposited by both organisations before authority. A financial grant of Rs 1.5 lakh each was distributed to the former members of RNLF, UPRF, NLFB, NSLA and ADF for their rehabilitation," Assam Police said. (ANI) Exuding confidence in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging victorious in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the country and Uttar Pradesh are safe only under BJP rule. Addressing a public meeting, Shah drew a comparison between the work done by the BJP government and that of the previous regimes. Slamming Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav, Shah said, "If governance is in the hands of BJP, then development will happen and if it is in the hands of Akhilesh Yadav, then goons and mafia will rule. Why does Akhilesh Yadav feel bad when goons and bahubalis are booked? Goons and mafias used to rule Uttar Pradesh under the SP government...be it Azam Khan or Mukhtar Ansari. There are so many cases against Azam Khan that the sections of CrPC fell short. Akhilesh Yadav, who could not even provide electricity during his rule, is talking about giving free electricity today." The Union Home Minister said the BJP government has done the work of providing free electricity connections to 1.41 crore poor families of Uttar Pradesh. "Be it the Ram Janmabhoomi temple or the restoration work of Kashi Vishwanath Dham and Vindhyavasini Corridor, would it have been possible if Narendra Modi had not become the Prime Minister? The goal of the BJP is to make Mathura-Vrindavan a modern pilgrimage centre without tampering with the sanctity and spiritual verve. BJP has revamped the pilgrimage centres of Sanatan culture without worrying about the vote bank," Shah added He said the BJP government has worked towards augmenting the divinity and grandeur of the 10 km area of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi in the last five years. Earlier today, Shah held a door-to-door campaign in Mathura as a part of BJP's political outreach programme in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Assembly polls. He also offered prayers at Banke Bihari Temple in Vrindavan city of Mathura today. Shah's public engagements are significant as elections on 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases starting from February 10. The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be held on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3 and the seventh and the last phase will be conducted on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) After the farmers' issue, Congress is now going to raise the rights of Army personnel in the upcoming state Assembly polls. On January 28, Congress leaders including Randeep Singh Surjewala, Devendra Yadav, and Mohan Prakash will hold a press conference to raise the issue of the rights of army personnel in Dehradun. While DK Shivkumar will hold a press conference in Goa, Harish Rawat will hold a similar event in Haldwani and Sachin Pilot in Chandigarh. Captain Davar will hold a conference at Almora. Further, former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will hold a press conference in Lucknow and Deependra Hooda in Meerut. In Varanasi, Congress leaders Vijender Singh and Supriya Srinet will hold similar press conferences. Pranav Jha, secretary in charge of communication, Congress told ANI that the strategy of the party is to raise the army issue in the elections. Congress is also launching a booklet - "Vote in the name of bravery - injury to the interests of the army". Jha said that the BJP government is sacrificing the bravery of the Indian Army for its political interest. He said that 1,22,555 posts are vacant in the Army. "In the name of 'One Rank, One Pension', the BJP government is cheating 30 lakh ex-servicemen. The Centre imposed a tax on the 'disability pension' of soldiers. In the Seventh Pay Commission, the BJP government, in addition to turning its back on the army, discriminated against the civilian employees, hurting the rehabilitation and employment of ex-servicemen and weakening the military power. Issues like these will also be raised prominently," Jha said. (ANI) Chhattisgarh government on Thursday decided to give financial assistance of Rs 20,000 each to the first two daughters of labour families for their education, employment, and marriage under "Noni Sashaktikaran Sahayata Yojana". Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has made the announcement in this regard on the occasion of Republic Day. To apply for this scheme, the applicant labour must be a permanent resident of Chhattisgarh and registered with the Chhattisgarh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board, as per an official statement issued by the State government. Meanwhile, under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the State government has taken several concrete steps to encourage women empowerment including protecting the rights of women of the state, providing them better educational and health facilities, and undertaking initiatives to make them self-reliant. The government is constantly working to connect women with government schemes and make them self-reliant. Taking a step ahead, the state government has decided to launch "Noni Sashaktikaran Sahayata Yojana" under which financial assistance of Rs 20,000 each will be provided to the first two adult and unmarried daughters of the eligible beneficiary labour, the statement read. According to the statement, the incentive amount will be transferred lump sum to the bank accounts of the daughters of the eligible beneficiary. It is mandatory to have a bank account and mobile number of the applicant. This amount can also be used for the education of daughters, employment, skill upgradation, self-employment, and their marriage. Besides, one or both the parents of the girl child should be validly registered with the labour board at least one year ago. In this scheme, the dependent daughter, for whom the application has been made, should not be a registered beneficiary of any other department or BOC board. Under this scheme, the Labor Inspector in the District Labor Office, after verification of the application by the Sub-Inspector of Labor, will be able to submit the application to the Assistant Labor Commissioner, Labor Officer, or Assistant Labor Officers as per rules. Thereafter, the state government will provide assistance of Rs 20,000 each to the eligible beneficiaries. It is noteworthy that the beneficiaries registered in Chhattisgarh Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board will get the benefit of this scheme. The application process for the implementation of this scheme will be started soon, it added. (ANI) Punjab Congress leader Jagmohan Singh Kang on Thursday said that he had requested Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to give him the election ticket from Kharar constituency, but instead Channi gave it to his close aide. "I asked Channi for a ticket from Kharar seat to contest Punjab Assembly elections, but he opposed me and misled the high command. He has given the ticket from Kharar to his close aide," Jagmohan Singh Kang told ANI. The senior Congress leader also alleged that Channi has given this ticket to Vijay Sharma Tinku from Ropar. Tinku is the owner of a liquor shop and has criminal cases registered against him, Kang said. "I am sure that he (Channi) will charge crores of rupees for giving this ticket to the candidate," he added. "However, I will fight against Channi as an independent candidate. I have been voted to power three times and have serving the Congress party for more than 40 years," he added. Kang challenged Channi and said, "I will request people here that they have voted me three times. Channi deceived me. I will visit door to door and request people not to vote for Channi." Jagmohan Singh Kang requested the party's chief Sonia Gandhi to allot election tickets from the Assembly constituency of Kharar-52 to his son Yadavindra S Kang. He said, "CM Channi is opposing us out of professional jealousy." He warned of taking a drastic step. Punjab will go to the polls on February 20 and the counting of the votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) After Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and party chief Navjot Singh Sidhu urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to announce the Chief Ministerial face for the Punjab Assembly elections on Thursday, he said that decision will be taken by the party workers. Addressing a virtual rally in Jalandhar, Rahul Gandhi said, "We have had a talk in the car that who will lead Punjab going forward. Media people call this the CM candidate. Both Channiji and Sidhuji told me that this is the most crucial question in front of Punjab that who will lead the Congress." He further said that both Channi and Sidhu assured him that whoever be the CM face for Punjab, the other person will support him. "See, two people can't lead. Only one will lead. Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and State Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu assured me that whoever becomes the CM face, the other person will support him. I was listening to them. I was happy. We will ask Congress workers to decide Punjab Chief Ministerial candidate," Rahul Gandhi said. Amid apparent tension between Channi and Sidhu, they put up a show of camaraderie as Channi hugged Sidhu and said there is no fight between them. "People say there is a fight between us. Announce the Chief Minister face for Punjab polls and we will stand united, Rahul Gandhi Ji," Charanjit Singh Channi said as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present at the gathering. Amid speculations of apparent tension between Channi and Sidhu, the Punjab Chief Minister hugged him and said that there is no fight between us. "There is no fight between us. Announce Chief Minister face for Punjab polls, we will stand united," said Channi during a gathering where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present. Congress leader, who is on a day-long visit to Punjab for campaigning for the upcoming assembly polls, visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Thursday. The Congress leader was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the party's state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. They also ate 'langar' at Golden Temple. Meanwhile, five MPs and leaders of the Congress party were absent from Rahul Gandhi's rally in Punjab's Amritsar ahead of State Assembly elections that are scheduled to take place on February 20. These five MPs were Manish Tewari, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Jasbir Singh Gill, Preneet Kaur, and Mohammad Sadiq. "We had no problem in going. We came to know that the event was for the 117 candidates. Neither the PCC president nor the CM invited us; not even the general secretary in charge. If we had been invited, we would have definitely gone," Jasbir Singh Gill, Congress MP from Punjab told ANI. Further, a group of people, wearing black ribbons also staged a demonstration during Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal in Amritsar. Notably, this is the first visit of Rahul Gandhi since the imposition of a ban on physical rallies by the Election Commission of India at the start of the month.Punjab will go to the assembly polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Bureau had summoned Parambir Singh on January 11 and 18 and asked him to record his statement in the alleged corruption case. A case of extortion was registered on July 23 against Sachin Waze, former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, and others at Goregaon Police Station, and the investigation was handed over to the Mumbai Crime Branch. It was the second case of extortion in which Param Bir Singh has been named. The Enforcement Directorate had earlier summoned the former Mumbai Police Commissioner to record a statement in connection with the Rs 100 crore money laundering case against ex-Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. (ANI) Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by saying that he failed in fulfilling promises made to the people of Punjab five years ago. While interacting with the media persons in Amritsar, Kejriwal said, "Rahul Gandhi Ji was too late to arrive in Punjab. He cannot show his face to the people because he failed in fulfilling the promises he made to the people of Punjab five years ago." Further slamming the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress, he said that both are political elephants who have crushed people. "People are tired of Congress and SAD. Why will people vote for Majithia or Sidhu? Both are political elephants who have crushed people. Our candidate from Amritsar East is a common woman who will be available for people always," said Kejriwal. AAP convenor further said that they have looted Punjab in the last 60 years. "When a person walks on the path of truth, people end up abusing him. Channi Sahab, Badal Sahab and Sidhu Sahab, all abuse me but they won't say anything to each other. They have looted Punjab in the last 60 years," he added. Punjab will go to the polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won 77 seats in the 117-member House, whereas Shiromani Akali Dal could win only 18 seats. On the other hand, AAP had emerged as the second-largest party with 20 seats. (ANI) 95 per cent of the eligible population has been given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, said the Union Health Ministry on Thursday. Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, congratulated the nation for the remarkable achievement. In a tweet, he said, "India has achieved the record of administering the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to more than 95 per cent of its eligible population. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the hard work of health workers and public participation, the country is continuously moving forward in this campaign." Meanwhile, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccination in the country exceeded 164.35 crore doses on Thursday, said the Union Health Ministry. More than 49 lakh vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm on Thursday. "India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 164.35 Crore (1,64,35,41,869) today. More than 49 lakh (49,69,805) Vaccine Doses have been administered till 7 pm today," said a release from the ministry. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late tonight. Till 7 pm on Thursday, out of total 49,69,805 doses administered, 14,83,417 people have received their first dose of the vaccine, including 5,43,227 vaccination doses administered to children aged between 15-18 years. 28,94,739 people received their second dose of vaccine on Thursday. Additionally, a total of 5,91,649 precaution doses of vaccination were administered to health care workers, frontline workers and senior citizens above 60. To date, out of total 1,64,35,41,869 vaccination doses administered, 93,50,29,541 people have received their first dose of the vaccine, including 4,42,81,254 children aged 15-18 who received their first doses as well. A total of 69,82,07,481 people have received their second dose of the vaccine. Additionally, the total number of precaution doses of the vaccine administered in the country has gone up to 1,03,04,847. (ANI) BRUSSELS Holocaust survivors and politicians warned about the resurgence of antisemitism and Holocaust denial as the world remembered Nazi atrocities and commemorated the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on Thursday. I have lived in New York for 75 years, but I still remember well the terrible time of horror and hatred, survivor Inge Auerbacher, 87, told the German parliament. Unfortunately, this cancer has reawakened and hatred of Jews is commonplace again in many countries in the world, including Germany. Advertisement German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mickey Levy, Speaker of the Knesset, Barbel Bas, President of the Bundestag, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Bodo Ramelow, Prime Minister of Thuringia and President of the Bundesrat, from left, stand in front of the Reichstag building after the memorial hour for the "Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism" at the lettering "#weremember" (We remember) in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. (Kay Nietfeld/AP) Commemorations took place amid a rise of antisemitism that gained traction during lockdowns as the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated hatred online. This sickness must be healed as quickly as possible, Auerbacher said. Advertisement German parliament speaker Baerbel Bas noted that the coronavirus pandemic has acted like an accelerant to already burgeoning antisemitism. Antisemitism is here it isnt just on the extreme fringe, not just among the eternally incorrigible and a few antisemitic trolls on the net, she said. It is a problem of our society all of society. The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in November 2005 establishing the annual commemoration, and chose Jan. 27 the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. Due to the pandemic, many International Holocaust Remembrance Day events were being held online this year again. A small ceremony, however, was to take place at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where World War II Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland. The memorial site was closed earlier in the pandemic but reopened in June. In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. Some 1.5 million were children. Our country bears a special responsibility the genocide against the European Jews is a German crime, Bas told a special parliamentary session in Berlin attended by the countrys leaders. But at the same time it is a past that is everyones business -- not just Germans, not just Jews. Israels parliamentary speaker, Mickey Levy, broke down in tears at Germanys Bundestag while reciting the Jewish mourners prayer from a prayer book that belonged to a German Jewish boy who celebrated his bar mitzvah on the eve of Kristallnacht. Levy said that Israel and Germany experienced an exceptional journey on the way to reconciliation and establishing relations and brave friendship between us. Advertisement Auerbacher recalled being nearly hit by a stone thrown by Nazi thugs during the anti-Jewish pogrom of November 1938. In August 1942, she and other Jews were transported to the Theresienstadt camp-ghetto. I was 7 years old and the youngest of about 1,100 people, of whom my parents, I and a very few others survived, she said. Gathered at the European Parliament, EU lawmakers listened to 100-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlanders ordeal. She was arrested in 1944 while on the run and brought to Theresienstadt, in what is now the Czech Republic. A year before, her mother and brother were deported to Auschwitz, where they were both killed. Friedlander and her husband immigrated to the U.S. in 1946 and she returned to Berlin in 2010. She has since been traveling around Germany to tell the story of her life and promote remembrance. We must be vigilant and not look the other way as we did then, she said. Hatred, racism and antisemitism must not be the last word in history. Charles Michel, the head of the EU Council bringing together leaders of the 27 EU member countries, insisted on the importance of commemorating the Shoah as the number of survivors diminishes every year. Advertisement With each passing year, the Shoah inches towards becoming a historical event, Michel said. More and more distant, more and more abstract. Especially in the eyes of the younger generations of Europeans. This is why, paradoxically, the more the years go by, the more important the commemoration becomes. The more essential. To tackle Holocaust denial, UNESCO and the World Jewish Congress launched a partnership Thursday with the online platform TikTok popular with youngsters. They say it will allow users to be oriented toward verified information when searching for terms related to the Shoah. According to the U.N., 17% of content related to the Holocaust on TikTok either denied or distorted the Holocaust. All online platforms must take responsibility for the spread of hate speech by promoting reliable sources of information, said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. In Italy, members of the Jewish community and lawmakers gathered in Romes Ghetto to lay a wreath on the site where more than 1,000 people were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz on Oct. 16, 1943. Among the participants in the commemoration was the Italian senator-for-life, Liliana Segre, a 91-year-old survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp who has made educating younger generations about the Holocaust her lifes work. Lello DellAriccia, a member of Romes Jewish community, said Jan. 27 is a symbol of the Holocaust as the symbol of the liberation, but fundamentally it is symbolic for all those who died in the concentration camps. And the Memory Day is the day that has to commemorate, remember and make us think about what happened. Advertisement In Albania, Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka honored the millions of victims but also took pride at his countrys role in sheltering Jews, earning a place among the Righteous Among Nations. Albania boasts that during world War II it was the only country where no Jews were killed or handed over to the Nazis and their numbers increased from 600 before the war to more than 2,000 by its end. Albanians protected Jewish residents, and helped other Jews who fled from Germany, Austria and other countries by either smuggling them abroad or hiding them. ___ Geir Moulson in Berlin, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem and Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed. Veteran Congress leader Karan Singh has expressed distress at "unseemly controversy" within the party over the Padma award to party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and said such national awards "should not become a subject of inter-party controversy, far less of intra-party ones". Karan Singh's remarks are being seen as a dig at party leader Jairam Ramesh who had suggested that Azad should refuse the award on the lines of former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. Karan Singh said if "one of our colleagues is honoured," he should be greeted with warm appreciation rather than "snide remarks". Jairam Ramesh's remarks reflected an apparent divide within Congress on the issue. The party did not make any comment officially on Azad being bestowed the honour. The government had announced Padma awards ahead of the 73rd Republic Day and Ghulam Nabi Azad is among the Padma Bhushan awardees. Azad is a member of G-23 which had written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for sweeping reforms in the party. "I am distressed at the unseemly controversy over the well-deserved Padma Award to my good friend Ghulam Nabi Azad. These National Awards should not become a subject of inter-party controversy, far less of intra-party ones. I have known Ghulam Nabi for half a century since he first started his political career as an active participant in my second election campaign for the Lok Sabha in 1971 from the Udhampur constituency, to which he belongs," Karan Singh said. "Since then I have seen him rise through sheer dint of hard work, dedication and administrative ability to becoming a Cabinet Minister, both with Shri PV Narasimha Rao and Dr Manmohan Singh. As Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha for seven years, he played a positive and constructive role in our parliamentary system," he added. Karan Singh said that Ghulam Nabi Azad earlier became the first Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir from the Jammu region and his short stint "is still remembered positively in both regions". After Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee refused Padma Bhushan, Jairam Ramesh, who is the party's chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, had tweeted that it is the right thing to do. "Right thing to do. He wants to be Azad not Ghulam," he had said. Party leader and former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar had slammed Jairam Ramesh for his remarks. "Congress Rajya Sabha Whip's criticism of Ghulam Nabi Azad for receiving the Padma award is nothing less than a shameful innuendo intended to rob both the Award and its recipient of the deserved dignity. Such a mindset does not do justice to the dignitarian ethos of the Congress," Kumar had said. (ANI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said that wherever he has gone in western Uttar Pradesh and Braj area of state after declaration of elections, people's faith in BJP is clearly visible. Shah held a door-to-door campaign in Tughalpur village of Greater Noida in Dadri constituency which will go the polls in the first phase. "Whereever I have gone in western Uttar Pradesh and Braj area of state after declaration of elections, people's full faith in BJP is clearly visible," he said. Geeta Sagar, who is from the Dalit community, was among those who welcomed the senior BJP leader. She told ANI there is a lot enthusiasm in the area regarding visit of Amit Shah. "Since I came to know that the Home Minister of the country is coming to the house of a small worker, I became very excited. There is a lot of enthusiasm in the area regarding his visit," she said. Dadri assembly constituency is represented by BJP MLA Tejpal Nagar and the party has again given him the ticket. Jewar and Noida seats in Gautam Buddha Nagar were also won by BJP. BJP workers said that the visit of Amit Shah is expected to have an impact on all constituencies of Gautam Buddha Nagar besides the adjoining assembly constituencies of Ghaziabad. The elections to 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly will be conducted in seven phases starting from February 10.The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (ANI). (ANI) A new study has found that male sparrows deliberately shuffle and mix their song repertoire possibly as a way to keep it interesting for their female audience. The study has been published in the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society B Journal'. The research, from the lab of Stephen Nowicki, Duke University professor of biology and member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, and colleagues at the University of Miami, showed that singing males keep track of the order of their songs and how often each one is sung for up to 30 minutes so they can curate both their current playlist and the next one. Song sparrows are a common songbird throughout North America, but only males sing. They use their song to defend their turf and court mates. When wooing, song sparrows belt up to 12 different two-second songs, a repertoire that can take nearly 30 minutes to get through, since they repeat the same song several times before going on to the next track. In addition to varying the number of repeats, males also shuffle the order of their tunes each time they sing their discography. However, a big unknown had been whether males change up their song order and repeats by accident or by design. To get some data on whether or not the birds intentionally shuffle and mix their tunes, Nowicki's long-time collaborator William Searcy, the Maytag Professor of Ornithology in Biology at the University of Miami, loaded up the recording gear, trekked out to the backwoods of northwest Pennsylvania, set up mics pointed to the trees and patiently waited for five hours a day. Nowicki said that fieldwork like this isn't for everyone, "I would never use the word boring, because it's relaxing if you like being out in the field and it's a nice day and you've got your parabolic microphone and you're pointing it at a song sparrow for hours. Some people would find that boring. I and certainly Bill would find that meditatively relaxing. The only thing that happens is sometimes your arm gets tired." After recording the full suite of songs from more than 30 birds, the team pored over visual spectrographs of the trills and analyzed how often each song was sung and in what order. The first clue that males keep tabs on their tweets to avoid repetition was that much like a Spotify playlist, males generally sing through their full repertoire before repeating a song. The researchers also found that the more a sparrow sang a given song, the longer he took to get back to that song, possibly to build up hype and novelty once that song was played again. For example, if a male sang Song A 10 times in a row, he'd sing even more renditions of his other songs before returning to Song A again. Alternatively, if Song A was only warbled three times during a set, then a male song sparrow might recite a shorter rendition of the rest of his repertoire in order to return to the still novel and underplayed Song A. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that song sparrows possess an extremely rare talent with an equally uncommon name: "long-distance dependencies." It meant that what a male song sparrow sings in the moment depended on what he sang as much as 30 minutes ago. That's a 360 times larger memory capacity than the previous record holder, the canary, who can only juggle about five seconds worth of song information in this way. While impressive, the implications from this work for humans are less clear. It does suggest that the order of words in human language, which is similarly impacted by long-distance dependencies may not be as unique as once thought. It remains to be seen whether better shuffling ability gives males an advantage at finding love. Perhaps females maintain interest in a mate who mixes it up more, and are less likely to sneak off with another male. As with daytime talk shows, paternity tests are a good proxy for monogamy in birds, so counting how many chicks are sired by a female's nest mate versus another bird in the neighborhood may be a future project for Nowicki's team. For now, Nowicki emphasizes it's just speculation whether these shuffling song sparrows give Spotify a run for their money to keep a female's interest, but does highlight our similar approach at the gym. "You've got your playlist for running and the reason you've got that is because running is kind of boring. You know that these 10 songs are going to keep you motivated, but if you are going to run for 20 songs long, why not shuffle it so the next time you don't hear the same songs in the same order?" he said. Support for the research came from the Office of the Provost, Duke University, and the Robert E. Maytag Professor Research Fund of the University of Miami. (ANI) With Afghanistan "hanging by a thread" six months after the Taliban takeover, the world cannot abandon the country now - for the sake of its people and overall global security, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday. "At this moment, we need the global community - and this Council - to put their hands on the wheel of progress, provide resources, and prevent Afghanistan from spiralling any further," Guterres said in his briefing to the UN Security Council on Afghanistan. Guterres also outlined action for the de facto rulers of the country, the Taliban, calling on the fundamentalists to expand opportunity and security for Afghans, uphold human rights, and demonstrate real commitment to be part of the international community, the UN said in a statement. The Secretary-General said Afghanistan has long been unfairly used as a platform for political agendas, geopolitical advantage, ideological dominance, brutal conflicts and terrorism. "As a matter of moral responsibility - and regional and global security and prosperity - we cannot abandon the people of Afghanistan," he said, adding Afghans need peace, hope, and help, and they need it now. The country's economy is collapsing amid another brutal winter, and daily life has become "a frozen hell". Over half of all citizens are facing extreme levels of hunger, and some families have been forced to sell their babies so they can buy food, said the statement. Meanwhile, sanctions and mistrust by the global banking system have frozen nearly USD 9 billion in central bank assets, and vital systems are starved of much-needed funds. As the economy spirals downward, human rights are also losing ground. The UN chief highlighted the situation of women and girls, who are once again shut out of offices and classrooms. He also appealed for the release of women activists who were arrested or abducted recently. Guterres reminded the Council that earlier this month, the UN launched a more than USD 4.4 billion appeal for Afghanistan to keep the food, education and economic systems from collapsing. He urged countries to suspend rules and conditions that constrict both the Afghan economy and lifesaving humanitarian operations. The Secretary-General underscored the need to "jump-start" the Afghan economy through increased liquidity, including by freeing-up frozen currency reserves and through cash injections. The UN chief also urged the Taliban to demonstrate real commitment to be part of the international community. "The window for trust-building is open. But this trust must be earned," he said. Afghanistan has been a fertile breeding ground for terrorist groups for far too long, and the UN chief underscored the critical need to promote security and fight terrorism. "If we do not act and help Afghans weather this storm, the region and the world will pay a heavy price," he said, urging the de facto authorities to work together with the global community to suppress the terrorism threat. (ANI) The UN top envoy in Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons on Wednesday urged the Taliban to demonstrate commitment to a "pathway" towards future engagement with the international community. Talking about the pathway that the Taliban should take, Lyons, said, "By 'pathway' I mean a series of clear, mutually understood commitments, with human rights at the forefront, which would result in Afghanistan rejoining the community of nations by securing domestic legitimacy that aligns with Afghanistan's modern history and the aspirations of its population, its multi-ethnic character, and its traditional Islamic identity," In the briefing to the UN Security Council on Afghanistan, Lyons reported that the de facto authorities have taken some steps to function more effectively as a government, including agreeing on a budget fully financed by their own revenues. Although senior Taliban officials have met with ethnic minority representatives, greater inclusion in governing structures is yet to be seen, the UN said in a statement. Lyons also expressed concerns over Afghan girls not attending school in Afghanistan. "No Afghan should live in fear of a knock at their door in the night and no family should be left to wonder about whereabouts and fate of their loved ones," she said. Lyons further stated, to demonstrate commitment to governing based on trust, and not fear, the Taliban must first initiate a wider dialogue towards national reconciliation, she said, a process that must be entirely initiated and shaped by Afghans. The de facto authorities must also deliver on their commitment to girls' education, she continued, welcoming recent statements that girls of all ages will be educated nationwide. The promise to contain terrorist groups must also be followed with more meaningful actions, though Lyons suggested "a certain amount of realism" will be required here. "Given the common interest in addressing this threat, if sufficient trust can be established this could be an area for potential cooperation between the international community and the de facto authorities," she said, adding "a new conversation, a new dialogue on this is warranted." (ANI) The United States has delivered a written response to Moscow amid growing tension between Russia and Ukraine border, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday (local time). Blinken said Ambassador Sullivan delivered our written response in Moscow. US response to Russia "sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it," the US Department of State said in a statement. "The document we've delivered includes concerns of the United States and our allies and partners about Russia's actions that undermine security, a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that Russia has raised, and our own proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground," Blinken said. He added, "We make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend - including Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances." "We address other areas where we see the potential for progress, including arms control related to missiles in Europe, our interest in a follow-on agreement to the New START treaty that covers all nuclear weapons, and ways to increase transparency and stability," Blinken said. He further stated, "We're open to dialogue, we prefer diplomacy, and we're prepared to move forward where there is the possibility of communication and cooperation if Russia de-escalates its aggression toward Ukraine, stop the inflammatory rhetoric, and approaches discussions about the future of security in Europe in a spirit of reciprocity." Our responses were fully coordinated with Ukraine and our European allies and partners, with whom we've been consulting continuously for weeks. We sought their input and incorporated it into the final version delivered to Moscow, Blinken said. He also reiterated the United States's principle. He said, "it is for NATO, not the United States unilaterally, to discuss the "Open Door" policy. These are decisions that NATO makes as an Alliance, not the United States unilaterally. But from our perspective, I can't be more clear: NATO's door is open, remains open, and that is our commitment." The State Department has also issued an updated Travel Advisory due to the potential for security conditions to deteriorate rapidly and without warning if Russia invades or commits other destabilizing actions inside Ukraine. Our message now for any Americans in Ukraine is to strongly consider leaving using commercial or other privately available transportation options. These options remain readily available. And the embassy may extend loans to those who can't afford the cost of a commercial ticket. While the State Department will always seek to provide consular services wherever possible, Russian military action would severely impact our ability to perform that work. And if Russia invades, civilians - including Americans still in Ukraine - could be caught in a conflict zone between combatant forces. The U.S. Government may not be in a position to aid individuals in these circumstances. This has long been the case in conflict zones around the world. (ANI) Addressing media on Wednesday, the Pakistan Peoples Party leader said that when his party members used to raise voices against corruption, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf used to start quarrelling, reported The News International. The leader said that now global bodies have confirmed that corruption had increased in the country. Kaira said Prime Minister had been using the slogan of combating corruption but in the reality, he did nothing to eradicate corrupt practices prevalent in the country. The PPP leader also said that according to the global body there was no governance and rule of law in the country, The News International reported further. Kaira, who was earlier with former General Musharraf, used to say that he had evidence against opposition leaders, but did nothing. The PPP leader said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had launched allegedly false slogans against corruption. He said accountability advisor Shahzad Akbar was ousted owing to frustration. Kaira said the country was surrounded by a severe economic crisis. Meanwhile, corruption has increased in Pakistan, which ranked 140 out of 180 countries, losing 16 spots over the last year, on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021 by Transparency International, reported The News International. The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption on a scale of zero (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). (ANI) The virtual event will see the participation of Presidents of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The summit is symbolic of the importance attached by the leaders of both sides to a comprehensive and enduring India-Central Asia partnership. Apart from regional security and the Afghanistan issue, the key focus will be trade and connectivity, development partnership, culture, and people-to-people ties. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an earlier statement said this will be the first engagement of its kind between India and the Central Asian countries at the level of leaders. "The first India-Central Asia Summit is a reflection of India's growing engagement with the Central Asian countries, which are a part of India's "Extended Neighbourhood," the MEA said. Prime Minister Modi paid a historic visit to all Central Asian countries in 2015. Subsequently, there have been high-level exchanges at bilateral and multilateral forums. The inception of the India-Central Asia Dialogue at the Foreign Ministers' level, the 3rd meeting of which was held in New Delhi from December 18-20, 2021, has provided an impetus to India-Central Asia relations. The participation of the Secretaries of National Security Councils of Central Asian countries in the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan held in New Delhi on November 10, 2021, outlined a common regional approach towards Afghanistan. (ANI) On India's 73rd Republic Day, Foreign Minister of Madagascar Patrick Rajoelina attended a reception hosted by Indian Ambassador in Antananarivo Abhay Kumar. The Madagascar Foreign Minister was the Chief Guest of the event held on Wednesday where Ambassador Abhay Kumar unfurled the Indian National Flag. The event was also attended by the Indian community in Madagascar. At the event, Madagascar Foreign Minister reaffirmed strong India-Malagasy bilateral relations and thanked New Delhi for extending help to Madagascar during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We congratulate India on its 73rd Republic Day and appreciate the strong India Malagasy bilateral relations. I also thank India for extending help to Madagascar," RajoliFM said on Wednesday. Stating that India has been a loyal friend and leading partner of Madagascar, Rajoelina said: "In the face of the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight against food insecurity, India has supported Madagascar through numerous donations of basic necessities as well as technical and logistical support, I reiterate on behalf of the Malagasy Government my sincere thanks and hope that such cooperation will continue to develop positively between the two countries." He added that several areas of cooperation have been identified, notably in the IT sector, agriculture and rural development, and the trade and industrial sector," he said, hoping that this year 2022 will mark the consolidation of this cooperation for the two countries. The President of the Senate of Madagascar also attended the reception besides the Ambassadors and the Heads of International Organisations in Madagascar. Speaking at the reception hosted at the Embassy's Residence, Ambassador Kumar expressed condolences on the loss of precious Malagasy lives due to devastating floods in Antananarivo last week. He further said, "India and Madagascar have cordial and friendly bilateral relations since the time of Madagascar's Independence in 1960. India and Madagascar have several ongoing cooperation programs ranging across humanitarian assistance, education, health and capacity building which have been beneficial to Malagasy people." The celebrations also saw cultural performances by members of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) alumni in Madagascar. Congratulating India on the occasion, Madagascar's Foreign Minister sent a congratulatory tweet, "My warmest congratulations to the people and Government of #India on the 73rd Republic Day. On this occasion, I wish India and her people continued peace, progress and prosperity." External Affairs Minister o Dr S Jaishankar thanked his counterpart on Twitter and said, "Appreciate your kind greetings FM @prajoelina. Our cooperation is embedded in India's Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR) Mission policy." (ANI) India is celebrating its 73rd Republic Day on Wednesday. The celebrations this year are special as Indian Republic Day falls in the 75th year of Independence, being celebrated as 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' across the country. (ANI) Ottawa [Canada], January 27 (ANI/Sputnik): Canada will deploy up to 400 personnel in total to assist the Ukrainian military and 60 of them will be deploying in the next several days, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said during a news conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "Today, we are pleased to announce the extension and expansion of Operation Unifier. With approximately $340 million we will increase the capacity of our training mission in Ukraine, deploying up to 400 members of the Canadian armed forces with up to 60 of those members being deployed in the coming days," Anand said on Wednesday. The Canadian soldiers are providing training in such areas as tactics, improvised explosive device disposal, sniping, reconnaissance and medicine, Anand added. Trudeau explained Canada is extending the operation for another three years and doubling the number of its soldiers in Ukraine from 200 to 400. The operation is focused in the western part of Ukraine where risks to troops are lowest and they can concentrate on the training and support mission, Trudeau said. The safety of Canadian personnel remains paramount and in the event of a Russian invasion the government will ensure that members of the military remain safe, Trudeau also said. The decision on exactly how many troops to send not exceeding the 400 personnel cap will be determined by the situation on the ground, Trudeau added. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has said her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba had relayed to her the request for Canada to extend Operation Unifier. (ANI/Sputnik) With just over a third of Chicago Public Schools students fully vaccinated against COVID-19, a member of the Chicago Board of Education said Wednesday she doesnt see a world in which we start school next year without a vaccine mandate. Advertisement If you look around, the places where theyve been able to get high vaccination rates have been in places where at least for some period of time there was a vaccine mandate, board member Elizabeth Todd-Breland said. We need to keep talking about this. I know (Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health) in the fall said not this year. I dont know if omicron made her reconsider. I dont know where things are. I know were dependent on the state for this, but we cant just keep hoping and wishing. Advertisement The discussion arose during Wednesdays monthly board meeting after CPS chief health officer, Dr. Kenneth Fox, noted the challenge in persuading parents who are hesitant about the vaccine. Around 116,000 of the 330,000 students enrolled in CPS are fully vaccinated, while about 148,000 students have received at least one dose, according to the district. CEO Pedro Martinez on Wednesday noted an increase in vaccinations of 5- to 11-year-olds, but said looking at the vaccination data for students 12 and older is like watching paint dry. About 53% of CPS students 12 and older are fully vaccinated, according to CPS, while about a third of students 5 to 11 years old have received at least one dose. Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez speaks Jan. 26, 2022, during a Chicago Board of Education meeting in which COVID-19, union matters and various related issues were discussed. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune) I think weve got to keep talking about it, Martinez said about a student vaccine mandate. He expressed disappointment the issue had not been taken up at the federal level. Ezike said in November that she thought it was premature to think about requiring the vaccine mandate for schoolchildren and that the state would probably would want (the vaccine) to have the standard authorization as opposed to emergency use authorization. But, she added, thats not probably for forever. That probably could change much further down the line. CPS initially had a staff vaccine mandate, but the district later relaxed the rules so unvaccinated staff members would be allowed to work if they got tested weekly for COVID-19. Around 91% of the CPS staff is fully vaccinated, according to the district. Some universities have implemented student vaccine mandates. Cristo Rey Jesuit High School requires its students to be fully vaccinated. A representative for the private Pilsen school said nine students withdrew because of the directive, but there has been little impact from coronavirus this school year. Chicago Board of Education member Elizabeth Todd-Breland, left, holds her daughter's hand while she receives a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination from Dr. Raj Mahajan at Michele Clark High School in November. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune) At CPS, about 15,000 students this week have been isolating because they tested positive for the virus or quarantining because they came in contact with an infected person and are not fully vaccinated. Advertisement Six CPS elementary schools have decided to temporarily transition to remote learning since the district and the Chicago Teachers Union reached agreement earlier this month on COVID-19 metrics that could shutter school buildings. That agreement was ratified by the school board Wednesday. The newly negotiated agreement allows schools that meet specific negotiated metrics to vote on whether they will suspend in-person learning at their school and elect to shift the entire school to remote learning for five days if they believe this is necessary to protect people from COVID-19, said Fox, who is retiring from the district. Since the return from the work stoppage, 11 schools have met the threshold. They met the metric, but only six elected to suspend in-person learning wisely, I might add. Tribunes Dan Petrella contributed. tswartz@tribpub.com Sindhi Foundation, a Washington-based organization has announced that it begin a "Long Walk" in May this year to raise awareness on several human rights concerns of religious and ethnic minorities in Pakistan. In 19 days, the organisation plans to cover 424 kilometers from Toronto to Ottawa. The Walk will start on May 28 and end in Ottawa on June 15. Canadian Sindhi Association (CANSA), World Sindhi Congress (WSC), Baloch American Congress (BAC), International Saraiki Congress will fully support Sindhi Foundation's Long Walk in Canada. "Pakistan openly supports Taliban, extremists, and China to suppress people of Pakistan," said Sufi Laghari, Executive Director, Sindhi Foundation. He reached out to different human rights organizations for support of his upcoming 'long walk'. President of Canadian Sindhi Association Dileep Ratnani said, "CANSA recognizes the rights of indigenous people of Sindh. CANSA strongly believes & recognizes the Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms, which Canadians believe are necessary for a free and democratic society." Canadian Sindhi Association supports Sindhi Foundation's long walk for the legitimate rights of indigenous Sindhi people, legal protection of human rights, and strongly condemns the forced conversion of religious minorities in Sindh, Pakistan. Dr. Rubina Shaikh said, "WSC Supports the Sindhi Foundation's Long Walk in Canada as they work to raise awareness about human rights, climate change, and environmental justice in Sindh. As the persecution of Sindhis by the Pakistani state increases, we must work together for a better future for all. WSC wishes everyone joining the Long Walk the best with their mission." Dr. Tara Chand, President of the Baloch American Congress said he fully supports the Sindhi Foundation's efforts to raise awareness for issues of Sindh internationally. Baloch has always considered Sindh as their mother who has nurtured them throughout centuries. If Sindh suffers so does Balochistan and Vice versa. I wish Sindhi Foundation success in their efforts." Ubaid Khawaja, President of International Saraiki Congress said, "This is a great walk for a great cause. Be part of the walk to save the world and fight against human rights violations." "We have confidence in Canada and I am sure a democratic country and champion for minorities' rights will support us against Pakistan and China coalition," said Sufi Laghari. (ANI) An international cross-party network of legislators across the European Union, the United Kingdom, India, Australia and Canada have called on their governments to block investors from bankrolling firms perpetrating forced labour abuses in China's Xinjiang province. This comes after reports emerged that HSBC has held shares in a subsidiary of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which was hit by US Treasury Department sanctions in 2020. The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) said the 35 legislators, representing over 10 countries, urged their governments to draw up a blacklist of entities identified as perpetrating atrocities in the Uyghur Region, with firms barred from investing in blacklisted entities. The calls were made in a series of separate letters, attached, coordinated by the IPAC and sent last week. Prominent signatories include Reinhard Butikofer MEP, chair of the European Parliament's China delegation; Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, former leader of the UK Conservative party; Australia Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching and Indian BJD MP Sujeet Kumar. The letters were addressed to the legislators' respective finance ministers, including European Commissioner Mairead McGuinness and UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak. The calls come after it was revealed that HSBC had purchased GBP 2.2 million of shares in Xinjiang Tianye, a plastics manufacturer owned by the XPCC, IPAC said in a press release. "The XPCC, a Chinese state-operated paramilitary conglomerate, facilitates the Xinjiang's coercive labour transfer programmes and operates many of the region's so-called 'vocational training' centres - where experts believe at least one million Uyghurs have been detained and subjected to abuses including, forced labour, torture and sexual abuse," the IPAC release said. HSBC has previously come under fire from members of IPAC for its role in freezing the assets of former Hong Kong opposition legislator Ted Hui in December 2020. The events led to HSBC being called before the UK Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, where it was accused of abetting the Hong Kong government's crackdown on the city's pro-democracy movement. Reinhard Butikofer, German Green MEP and Co-Chair of IPAC said: "We cannot ignore the role that big banks play in financing the abuses taking place in Xinjiang. If they are knowingly investing in firms perpetrating forced labour and other human rights abuses, then it is right that they should be held to account." "We are calling on the Commission to urgently bring forward measures to not only prevent goods made with forced labour from entering our markets, but also to prevent our banks from investing in them." Siobhain McDonagh, UK Labour MP and member of the Treasury Select Committee said: "HSBC's investments in Xinjiang Tianye demonstrate the deep ties between international finance and the Uyghur Region. It is completely unacceptable that banks like HSBC, which are headquartered and registered in the UK, should invest in groups perpetrating industrial scale human rights abuses against the Uyghurs." McDonagh added that the UK government must act to stop British firms from bankrolling modern slavery in the Uyghur Region and elsewhere. (ANI) Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Afghanistan have faced grave threats to their safety and lives under the Taliban, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a newly released report. A 43-page report, based on 60 interviews with LGBT Afghans, revealed how Taliban members attacked or threatened them because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Many reported abuse from family members, neighbours, and romantic partners who now support the Taliban or believed they had to act against LGBT people close to them to ensure their own safety, the HRW and OutRight Action International said in its report. Some fled their homes from attacks by Taliban members or supporters pursuing them. Others watched lives they had carefully built over the years disappear overnight and found themselves at risk of being targeted at any time because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. "We spoke with LGBT Afghans who have survived gang rape, mob attacks, or have been hunted by their own family members who joined the Taliban, and they have no hope that state institutions will protect them," said J. Lester Feder, senior fellow for emergency research at OutRight Action International. "For those LGBT people who want to flee the country, there are few good options; most of Afghanistan's neighbours also criminalize same-sex relations. It is difficult to overstate how devastating - and terrifying - the return of Taliban rule has been for LGBT Afghans." The HRW said most interviewees were in Afghanistan, while others had fled to nearby countries. In addition to worrying about these countries' laws against same-sex relations, interviewees outside Afghanistan lacked proper immigration status, so were at risk of being summarily deported. The New York-based group said Afghanistan was a dangerous place for LGBT people well before the Taliban retook full control of the country on August 15, 2021. LGBT people interviewed had experienced many abuses because of their sexual orientation or gender identity prior to the Taliban's return to power, including sexual violence, child and forced marriage, physical violence from their families and others, expulsion from schools, blackmail, and being outed. According to the report, the situation dramatically worsened when the Taliban regained control of the country. The Taliban reaffirmed the previous government's criminalization of same-sex relations, and some of its leaders vowed to take a hard line against the rights of LGBT people. A Taliban spokesperson told Reuters in October, "LGBT... That's against our Sharia [Islamic] law." Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at HRW, said the Taliban have explicitly pledged not to respect LGBT Afghans rights. "It's critically important for concerned governments to urgently put pressure on the Taliban to respect the rights of LGBT people, ensure that assistance they provide Afghanistan reaches LGBT people, and recognize that LGBT Afghans seeking asylum face a special risk of persecution in Afghanistan and neighbouring countries." (ANI) Myanmar's economy will be severely tested by the ongoing impacts of the military coup and the surge in COVID-19 cases in 2021, the World Bank said in its latest report. The World Bank's Myanmar Economic Monitor, released earlier this week, projects growth of 1 per cent in the year to September 2022. This comes following an expected 18 per cent contraction of the economy in the year September 2021. While reflecting recent signs of stabilization in some areas, the projection remains consistent with a critically weak economy, around 30 per cent smaller than it might have been in the absence of COVID-19 and the February 2021 coup. The World Bank said in a press statement that the near-term outlook will depend on the evolution of the pandemic and the effects of conflict, together with the degree to which foreign exchange and financial sector constraints persist, as well as disruptions to other key services including electricity, logistics and digital connectivity. "The situation and outlook for most people in Myanmar continues to be extremely worrying," said World Bank Country Director for Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR Mariam Sherman. "Recent trends of escalating conflict are concerning - firstly from a humanitarian perspective but also from the implications for economic activity. Moreover, with a low vaccination rate and inadequate health services, Myanmar is highly vulnerable to the Omicron variant of COVID-19." The Washington-based financial institute said economic activity continues to be affected by substantial weaknesses in both supply and demand. Firms continue to report sharp reductions in sales and profits, cashflow shortages, and a lack of adequate access to banking and internet services. Results from the latest World Bank firms' survey indicate that around half of all companies experienced disruptions in the supply of inputs and raw materials in October, largely because of increases in costs amid logistics constraints and a sharp depreciation of the kyat. According to the statement, ongoing economic pressures are having a substantial effect on vulnerability and food security, particularly for the poor, whose savings have been drained as a result of recent shocks. Over the longer term, events since February 2021 are expected to limit Myanmar's growth potential, the World Bank said. "Most indicators suggest that private investment has fallen markedly, and previously viable projects are becoming unviable as demand remains weak, the cost of imports has risen, and kyat-denominated revenues are worth less in foreign currency terms," said World Bank Senior Economist for Myanmar Kim Edwards. (ANI) The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) on Thursday said that 23 million people in Afghanistan are facing acute hunger and called for the removal of economic bottlenecks that prevent the circulation of money into and within Afghanistan. The NRC report said that the economic measures imposed on Afghanistan are preventing aid agencies from moving funds into and within the country, blocking emergency relief, reported Tolo News. According to the report, it is impossible for the humanitarian organizations to help millions of in-need people with humanitarian assistance unless the US Department of Treasury and other donor agencies take actions towards enabling the banks to facilitate humanitarian financial transfers and support Afghanistan's central bank to resume its core functions. "The unresolved liquidity crisis is a key driver in what is becoming the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world. We recently called for USD 4.4 billion for starving Afghans - the biggest call of its kind in the history of humanitarian work. But unless the US Treasury and other Western financial authorities enable us to transfer the aid money, we will be forced to work with our hands tied, unable to get that money to the communities that desperately need it," warned Jan Egeland, NRC's Secretary-General, reported Tolo News. The report further stated that while the licences issued by the US Department of Treasury and the exemption of sanctions by the UN on humanitarian assistance are good steps for supporting the people of Afghanistan but are not enough. "Millions of Afghans will suffer unimaginable consequences unless the Afghan central bank is provided with sufficient support to resume its key functions, including the purchase and circulation of banknotes, with appropriate safeguards in place. Unless this happens, we will struggle to respond to this crisis and the country's economy will continue to skydive," said Egeland. NRC has urged the US and European governments to support banks in allowing transfer of money into Afghanistan and also the aid agencies to withdraw those funds once reached in Afghanistan, reported Tolo News. NRC's report comes amid the UN and some other international humanitarian agencies have also warned of a humanitarian crisis in the country. The UN also on Wednesday said it has launched its One-UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF) to assist the people of Afghanistan in 2022 through sustaining essential services and preserving essential community systems. "This UN system-wide strategy will help ensure that Afghans can meet their basic human needs; acting on this now is more important than ever to avoid that an even wider proportion of the population requires lifesaving humanitarian assistance. It's especially important now as millions are suffering from the harsh winter months, and we thank the international community for stepping up their vital support to the Afghan population," said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Dr Ramiz Alakbarov. The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since the Taliban took control of Kabul. A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban have plunged the country, already suffering from high poverty levels, into a full-blown economic crisis. (ANI) The Taliban on Wednesday prevented the Afghan media federation from holding a press conference over concerns about the status of media in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media conference was supposed to be held on Wednesday in Kabul and the press briefing was to be given by 11 representatives of various media organizations, reported Tolo News. "It was planned that today the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media would hold a conference. National and international media outlets were going to cover it, however, unfortunately, due to the verbal order of the officials of the Islamic Emirate, the conference was cancelled," said Ali Asghar Akbarzada, Head of the Afghanistan National Journalists' Union. Members of the federation said that the Islamic Emirate instructed them not to hold the conference until they receive permission, reported Tolo News. "We call on the Islamic Emirate to finalize their decision in the future. They should make the decision as soon as possible and give us a permit so we can hold our conference based on it," Akbarzada said. Based on statistics, over 43 per cent of media activities have been halted and over 60 per cent of media employees have become jobless since the Islamic Emirate swept into power in Afghanistan in mid-August. (ANI) The demonstration was staged against excessive Chinese interference in Nepal's internal affairs, encroachment of Nepali territory at various places along the northern border, according to Khabarhub. Earlier, demonstrators marched from Mahendra Chowk to Bhatta Chowk in Biratnagar amid anti-China slogans against Chinese expansion and undue interference in the top political circle of the country. The protestors also burned the picture of Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to Khabarhub. Binay Yadav, coordinator of Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan, said that the activists were compelled to take to the streets as the Chinese intelligence agency Ministry of State Security (MSS) was intensifying its influence in the country. Further, he decried China's unofficial blockade at border points, the northern neighbour not allowing Nepali medical students, whose future hangs in the balance, to return, as reported by Khabarhub. (ANI) Kabul [Afghanistan], January 27 (ANI) The UN mission and a number of organizations supporting a free and fair media have slammed the Taliban for banning a press conference by the Afghan Media Federation on Wednesday calling it a restriction on the freedom of expression. The organizations have also asked the Taliban to not impede activities by the federation, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) commented on the incident and said, "Banning a press conference is a restriction on freedom of expression. The Taliban are being asked to support dialogues between Afghans and not to restrict those who have different views," reported the news agency. The Free Speech Hub (FSH), an organisation supporting freedom of speech, also alleged that before the press conference could be held, some security forces "threatened and pressured" members of the federation to cancel the event, reported the news agency. Additionally, the FSH organization urged the international community, the European Union's representative in Kabul and UNAMA to use diplomatic channels to prevent "people's voice being stifled". Notably, The Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media conference was supposed to be held on Wednesday in Kabul and the press briefing was to be given by 11 representatives of various media organizations, reported Tolo News. "It was planned that today the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media would hold a conference. National and international media outlets were going to cover it; however, unfortunately, due to the verbal order of the officials of the Islamic Emirate, the conference was cancelled," said Ali Asghar Akbarzada, Head of the Afghanistan National Journalists' Union. Members of the federation said that the Islamic Emirate instructed them not to hold the conference until they receive permission, reported Tolo News. "We call on the Islamic Emirate to finalize their decision in the future. They should make the decision as soon as possible and give us a permit so we can hold our conference based on it," Akbarzada said. Based on statistics, over 43 per cent of media activities have been halted and over 60 per cent of media employees have become jobless since the Islamic Emirate swept to power in Afghanistan in mid-August. (ANI) The United Nations team in Afghanistan has launched a new strategic planning document to coordinate the multi-lateral institutions' teamwork. The UN team's work is to reduce the suffering of the people of Afghanistan by saving lives, sustaining essential services, such as health and education, and preserving essential community systems, according to Ariana News. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov said that the one-UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF) aims to help Afghans meet their basic needs. "This UN system-wide strategy will help ensure that Afghans can meet their basic human needs; acting on this now is more important than ever to avoid that an even wider proportion of the population requires life-saving humanitarian assistance," he said. "Transitional engagement framework for Afghanistan is an important strategy as it allows the UN to provide essential life-saving humanitarian work and "provide and support basic human needs in Afghanistan, "he added. Further, the framework enables the UN to work with 158 partners to provide the required support and vital assistance to maintain education and health services, to support community-based infrastructure and livelihoods and for the UN to expand assistance to the agricultural sector. In addition, it will enable the organization to "support all the people of Afghanistan with a specific focus on the needs of women and girls." On the other hand, the UN requires however an additional USD 3.6 billion in immediate funding to sustain essential social services such as health and education; support community systems through maintenance of basic infrastructure; and maintain critical capacities for service delivery and promotion of livelihoods and social cohesion, with specific emphasis on socio-economic needs of women and girls, as analysed by Ariana News. According to the UN, staying and delivering at the grassroots level across Afghanistan, the UN and partners will continue to engage in the sustained effort to meet humanitarian and basic human needs of Afghans, in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2615 adopted in December of 2021, as reported by Ariana News. (ANI) French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian, during a virtual event titled "The French Presidency EU-India Partnership in the Indo-Pacific" said that the tensions in Ukraine will not prevent them from pursuing the will to assert an Indo-Pacific strategy in which EU is presided by France and India will have a determining role to play. He further added that France is a nation of the Indo-Pacific and the presence of security is being emphasized by the emergence of a coordinated maritime presence of the European Union. Furthermore, he wished coordinated maritime presence to allow for greater stability of the whole of the region and better security. Additionally, security and defence, connectivity and digital and global challenges are the agendas of the Indo-Pacific ministerial meet in Paris on 22nd February, said the French Foreign Minister. Touching upon Quad, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "So far, we haven't really discussed as Quad engaging with other countries. I honestly do not know what the views of the other three are. Quad is relatively new. We need to spend much more time developing its own agenda." Notably, Jaishankar also spoke on Africa and India's commitment to Africa during the event. "Africa is very important for us. Modi govt has opened 18 new embassies in the region. We have ramped up our development commitment to Africa. There is a lot of work to be done there," Jaishankar said. Earlier this month, France assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union. The country will continue to hold the rotating presidency for the next six months. This period could prove to be important for New Delhi which shares a close strategic partnership with Paris. (ANI) A 24-year-old man who was shot by police during a gunbattle on Lower Wacker Drive has been charged with attempted murder of a police officer while his two companions are also facing charges after the Wednesday night attack, police said. Shot was Edgardo Perez, who was charged with attempted murder, unlawful use of a weapon and criminal trespassing to a vehicle during the incident, which happened about 8:45 p.m. in the 200 block of East Lower Wacker Drive as officers were trying to stop a car they were in, police said. Advertisement As officers approached the car, which had been stolen in a carjacking, gunfire was exchanged between police and occupants of the car, police said. With Perez was Jesse Sanchez, 21, who was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, possession of controlled substance and criminal trespassing to a vehicle while Noel Centeno, 20, was charged with receiving, possessing, or selling a stolen vehicle. Centeno was also wanted on a warrant , police said. Advertisement While Sanchez and Centeno were taken into custody, Perez was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, initially in critical condition, police and Chicago Fire Deputy District Chief Curtis Hudson told the Tribune. Two guns were confiscated at the scene. Chicago police block off the intersection in the 200 block of East Lower Wacker Drive while investigating a shooting on Jan. 26, 2022. A man was in critical condition Wednesday night after police and people in the car the man was in exchanged gunfire, authorities said. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) Two police officers, a 34-year-old who was in good condition and a 30-year-old in fair condition, were taken to Rush University Medical Center and Northwestern Hospital, respectively, Hudson said. The officers did not suffer gunshot wounds, he said. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability responded to the scene and was investigating. The officers involved will be placed on administrative duties for 30 days. Perez, of the 6400 block of North Leavitt Street; Sanchez, of the 1600 block of West Lunt Avenue; and Centeno, of the 4000 block of North Moody Avenue, were due in court on Friday. scasanova@chicagotribune.com rsobol@chicagotribune.com In his speech during the event, he mentioned that the Central Asian Countries and India are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral and diplomatic relations. He said, "Over these years, owing to the mutual efforts, our countries have built friendly relations, established strategic partnership and developed cooperation in political, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres." "The Kyrgyz republic supports the initiative of the Indian side to hold the India-Central Asia summit at the level of heads of states.", Japarov said. Kyrgyz President took this event as an opportunity for open exchange of views and prospects of Interregional cooperation. (ANI) A news article at weibo.com, China's own social media, has wrongly portrayed the five-year-long 'Sino-Gorkha war' about the trade dispute as an invasion of the Chinese Qing dynasty into the Kathmandu valley in 1792. It is a well-known fact that Nepal has never been under invasion by any foreign countries. But, the social media post has wrongly mentioned the war between two countries and accused the then King of Nepal of immediately submitting before the Qing Dynasty. A report by pardafas.com said, "It did not even mention which Nepali King did so, because the war was led by a warrior prince Bahadur Shah while there was Rana Bahadur Shah on the throne". The claims in Chinese social media have also wrongly portrayed the Sino-Gorkha war also called the 'Campaign of Gorkha' by the Chinese sides. The war, in fact, was initiated by the Nepali side against the Tibetan unscrupulous rulers who foul-played and did not use quality coins in the trade done between the two countries. However, Tibet was occupied by the Qing dynasty in China and Nepal had to fight the oppressive Qing. Regarding this fact, the social media in the Chinese language reads, "Taking advantage of the victory (over Tibet), they (Qing) crossed the Himalayas and approached the city of Yangbu, the capital of Gurkha (now Kathmandu). The desperate Gurkha king expressed his willingness to submit to the Qing Dynasty and pay tribute every five years." The investigative portal said, "This classic example of fake news which was first shared by a person called Jiangnan Ziyunying is being circulated on various other platforms. This is not verified by the people in social media because no Nepali Kings have submitted themselves to the Chinese dynasty nor they have come down to the valley in a bid to invade the Kathmandu valley. However, it is true that in 1792, there was a treaty signed between two countries where Nepali agreed not to interfere in Tibetian affairs and the Chinese side allowed easy and free access to Tibet for trade". In the good faith of the treaty, Nepal and China had then paid tribute to each other presenting valuable gifts to each other. But, this fact has been twisted, saying the artefact in the picture was gifted by the Nepali as a sign of accepting the rule of the Qing dynasty in Nepal. Pardafas could not verify facts about the statue of Sakyamuni in lacquered sandalwood which was supposedly handed over to Emperor Qianlong by the Nepali King. (ANI) After the eruption of an underwater volcano in Tonga, the Japanese government is working to provide aid to the South Pacific nation, aimed at countering Beijing's growing influence in the region. China is increasing its influence by providing infrastructure assistance to nations in the South Pacific region. Japan intends to counter Beijing's efforts with the aim of realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to Japan News. Further, Japan announced an emergency aid package of more than USD 1 million on January 19, the day after receiving a request from Tonga. Earlier, a decision was made to dispatch a Self-Defense Forces plane on the morning of January 20 and it left Japan that evening. Also, the Tongan prime minister, foreign minister and other government officials were at the airport to welcome the arrival of the plane, with a banner expressing their gratitude to Japan. On Monday, a transport ship carrying more relief supplies left the Maritime Self-Defense Force's base in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture. Sixty high-pressure washers to remove volcanic ash and 50 wheeled carts are scheduled to arrive around the middle of next month. On the other hand, Japan Self Defence Force aircraft will be based at an air force facility in Australia. The Japanese and Australian governments are rushing to provide assistance to Tonga partly because of China's presence in the region. Earlier, Tonga established diplomatic relations with China after severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1998. According to the World Bank and other organizations, Tonga's external debt in 2020 was USD 194.3 million with China accounting for about 60 per cent of the total. China is advancing its maritime expansion through economic cooperation to create a huge economic zone under its Belt and Road Initiative, as reported by Japan News. Beijing is involved in the construction of port facilities in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, which also has a high percentage of foreign debt owed to China. The Japanese government has increased its vigilance because of fears China may use the port and other facilities for military purposes in the future, according to Japan News. (ANI) The Uzbekistan President welcomed India's initiative in hosting the summit. The President also highlighted that India-Uzbekistan relations are based on mutual respect and friendship. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev also highlighted the need for India to have a closer strategic partnership with Uzbekistan in his virtual address. "We acknowledge India's growing international stature and its economic influence," he said. "Uzbekistan will be happy to have a closer strategic partnership with India," he added. The Uzbekistan President highlighted India's close cultural relationship with the Central Asia republic and mentioned the significance of Samarkhand and Agra in binding the ties further. "India-Uzbekistan ties are rooted in closer cultural relations," he said. "We would like to have a practical interaction in the present Indo-Central Forum," he added. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the first Indo-Central Asian and highlighted that Central Asia is central to India's integrated and stable neighbourhood. (ANI) New Delhi on Thursday discussed the evolving situation in Afghanistan and its impact on security in the region at the first India-Central Asia Summit held virtually. Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West), Reenat Sandhu, in a special briefing on the summit said, "The evolving situation in Afghanistan and its impact on the security and stability of the region were discussed in detail at India-Central Asia Summit meeting. The leaders reiterated strong support for a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan." Afghanistan has been in turmoil since the Taliban took control of the nation in mid-August, 2021. The participation of the Secretaries of National Security Councils of Central Asian countries in the regional security dialogue on Afghanistan in New Delhi in November last year underlined India's common regional approach to Afghanistan. The leaders underscored the importance of regular dialogue between the Security Councils of their countries amid common cocktail of terrorism, extremism and radicalisation in the region. They expressed satisfaction at regular meetings and Security dialogues held between their Security Councils, in particular, during 2021. They welcomed the outcomes of the 'Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan' held on 10 November 2021, read the MEA statement. At the same time, the participating leaders reiterated their pledge to maintain unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of war-torn Afghanistan. They also discussed the current humanitarian situation and decided to continue to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. The leaders reaffirmed the importance of UNSC Resolution 2593 (2021) which unequivocally demands that Afghan territory not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist acts and called for concerted action against all terrorist groups, including those sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), read the statement. They also agreed to continue close consultations on the situation in Afghanistan. In this context, they decided to establish a Joint Working Group on Afghanistan at the Senior Officials Level. They noted that there is a broad 'regional consensus' on the issues related to Afghanistan, which includes the formation of a truly representative and inclusive government, combating terrorism and drug trafficking, the central role of the UN, providing immediate humanitarian assistance for the people of Afghanistan and preserving the rights of women, children and other national ethnic groups and minorities, added the statement. In this regard, the leaders noted the initiative of Uzbekistan to hold a High-Level International Conference on Afghanistan under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in July 2022 in Tashkent. The maiden India-Central Asia Summit was held virutually with the participation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Presidents of 5 Central Asian countries today. At the initiative of PM Modi, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the President of Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the first India-Central Asia Summit today in virtual format. The timing of the meeting is of particular significance as India and Central Asia countries are celebrating the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations with the 5 Central Asian countries this year. "The first meeting of the India-Central Asia Summit held today is a culmination of our sustained diplomatic engagement with all Central Asian countries in recent years," said Sandhu. "It may be recalled that after PM Modi's historic visit to all Central Asian countries in 2015, there has been a strong momentum in our relations with the Central Asian countries, both bilaterally and at the multilateral level," added Sandhu. There have been regular high-level exchanges since then with all the Central Asian countries. The inception of the India-Central Asia dialogue at the Foreign Minister's level in 2019, the third meeting of which was held in New Delhi from 18-20th December 2021 underlined the high importance that India attaches to strengthening cooperation with Central Asia. The Central Asian countries are part of India's extended neighbourhood and with which it enjoys deep historical, cultural and civilizational links. "The first meeting of India-Central Asia Summit held today is a culmination of our sustained diplomatic engagement with the Central Asian countries in recent years. The programme of today's summit included opening remarks by all the leaders followed by their statements on the main theme of the summit which was taking India-Central Asia's relation to 'new heights", said Sandhu. Secretary (West) also said that joint- counter-terrorism exercises will be held between India and interesting Central Asian countries. "Joint counter-terrorism exercises will be held between India and interested Central Asian countries. India will host a 100-member youth delegation from Central Asian countries every year to promote greater understanding," said MEA Secretary Sandhu. She also informed that India and Central Asia will be commissioning a dictionary of common words. "India, Central Asia to commission a dictionary of common words used in India and Central Asia countries and showcase a Buddhist exhibition in Central Asia," said Sandhu. PM Modi gave the closing remarks, all-together the virtual summit lasted for around 1 and half hours. "In the traditional spirit of friendship and mutual understanding PM Modi and the leaders of Central Asian countries reviewed the progress made in India-Central Asia relations during the past three decades since the establishment of diplomatic ties and discussed building partnerships to "great heights" in coming years by enhancing cooperation across several areas," said Sandhu. The leaders also had a candid exchange of views on regional, international issues of interest, especially the current regional security situation. PM Modi underlined the importance of setting an ambitious agenda for our partnership, taking into account the changing global realities and aspirations of the youth. "In this context, he suggested preparing a roadmap for the next 30 years, focussing on connectivity and cooperation in an integrated manner," added Sandhu. An important outcome of the meeting was the agreement among the leaders of India and Central Asian countries to hold summit-level meetings every two years. The next summit will be accordingly held in 2024. "One of the key proposals made by PM Modi was to institutionalize framework for India-Central Asia cooperation at a regional level and to include annual-ministerial meetings of the Foreign Minister's, Trade Minister's, Cultural Minister's and Secretaries of Securities to strengthen cooperation in the areas of political and development partnerships, trade and connectivity, culture and tourism and security," said Sandhu. (ANI) China's declaration of itself as a developing country in the latest World Trade Organization's (WTO) trade policy review has drawn sharp criticism from across the world as it will enable China to get benefits from WTO, reported a Canada-based think-tank International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS). The main criticism is that China is not taking responsibility for implementing environmental policies and climate change policies, despite having some of the world's worst polluted cities. China is also delaying implementation of trading standards required by WTO Agreements and Chinese market players have unfair advantages, reported the think-tank. The country is drawing flak as it is one of the strong economies in the world and yet it has declared itself as a developing country. All the WTO members are mandated to undergo this policy review at regular intervals. A member country of the WTO with 'developing' status gets certain rights and benefits in the form of special provisions in WTO Agreements, relating to Technical assistance, safeguarding trading interests and relaxed timelines for implementation of agreements. Notably, WTO does not have any definitions for 'developed' and 'developing' countries and it is up to the countries to declare themselves as 'developed' or 'developing'. However, such a declaration can be challenged by other member countries. The criticism comes at a time when China has the world's largest number of billionaires. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen are three of the world's ten largest stock exchanges. As of 2020, China is the largest receiver of foreign direct investment (FDI). It is also the second-largest creditor, after Japan. Moreover, it is well-known that China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of goods. In 2019, China reported 206 unicorns; private companies which are worth at least $1 billion. It beat the USA, which hosts 203 unicorns, reported the think-tank. Beijing also surpassed San Francisco to become the world's unicorn capital with 82 unicorns. Amid all this, China, an emerging global superpower is still categorizing itself as a developing nation and the world is criticizing the country for not taking any responsibility and simply looking out to avail WTO benefits. (ANI) Noting the growing interdependence of countries in an inter-connected world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of five Central Asian countries on Thursday called for transparent and non-discriminatory international response to global health challenges including pandemics and agreed that mutual recognition of COVID vaccination certificates will facilitate easier travel of citizens of their countries. The Delhi Declaration adopted at the first India-Central Asia Summit said the leaders emphasized that the post-pandemic world requires diversified global supply chains that are based on trust, resilience and reliability. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the virtual summit which was attended by Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The summit coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Central Asian countries. PM Modi outlined his principle of "Support of All, Development for All, Trust of All, Efforts of All" for regional development, peace and prosperity. The Leaders agreed that global development should be human-centric to ensure that no one is left behind. In this context, the leaders supported a more collaborative and inclusive global progress and development. The Central Asian leaders welcomed India's proposal to host a 100-member youth delegation from the Central Asian countries every year to promote greater mutual understanding. The leaders called for "climate justice" by the implementation of the Paris Agreement including the principle of equity, common but differentiated responsibilities, the criticality of adequate finance and technology flows, judicious use of resources and the need for sustainable lifestyles. "Noting the growing interdependence of countries in an inter-connected world, the leaders called for a timely, transparent, effective and non-discriminatory international response to global health challenges including pandemics, for ensuring an equitable and affordable access to medicines and critical health supplies," the declaration said. They took note of the approach - 'One Earth One Health' presented by PM Modi. "They emphasized that the post-pandemic world requires diversified global supply chains that are based on trust, resilience and reliability," the statement said. The Central Asian countries invited the Indian film industry to explore and use the picturesque countryside locations in their countries for film shootings. The leaders expressed solidarity with those who have been negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and called for collective efforts in the fight against the pandemic. They stressed the importance of extensive vaccination, vaccine supply, transfer of technology, development of local production capacities, promotion of supply chains for medical products, and ensuring price transparency. "The sides expressed mutual gratitude to each other for timely assistance during the pandemic and agreed that early mutual recognition of COVID vaccination certificates will facilitate easier travel of citizens of their countries," the declaration said. They welcomed the outcomes of the 26th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-26). Given the linkage of water and climate, the leaders took note of the initiative of the President of Tajikistan to proclaim 2025 as the International Year for Glaciers and setting a date for World Glaciers Day. They welcomed the respective contributions aimed at securing environmental sustainability through global comprehensive efforts. The Central Asian leaders took note of the Indian initiative of "One Sun One World One Grid" that aims at fostering inter-connected solar energy infrastructure at global scale. The Indian side highlighted the role of the 'International Solar Alliance (ISA)' initiative in the collective, rapid and massive deployment of solar energy for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement. The Indian side also underlined the role of the "Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)" in promoting disaster resilient infrastructure for reducing economic losses and improving the well-being of communities in the face of calamities. India looked forward to Central Asian countries joining the ISA and CDRI. The leaders took note of the initiative of Turkmenistan to develop a UN Strategy focused on measures to develop low-carbon energy, as well as to create, under the auspices of the UN, an international "Roadmap" for the development of hydrogen as one of the priority areas in the energy sector. They emphasized harnessing the tourism potential that exists in their countries and underlined the need for increasing tourist arrivals, including for pilgrimage as well as historical and cultural tourism, creating tourism trails across the region, encouraging investment in tourism infrastructure and organizing regular tourism conferences and seminars. The leaders emphasized deepening of cooperation in the education sector including the need to develop direct contacts between higher educational institutions of India and Central Asian countries. The Central Asian leaders acknowledged the interest of Indian educational institutions to set up campuses in their countries. In this regard, the setting up of campuses by Sharda, Amity and Sambhram Universities in Uzbekistan was specifically highlighted by the President of Uzbekistan. PM Modi conveyed his gratitude to Central Asian Leaders for ensuring the welfare of Indian students in their countries. The leaders expressed their interest to deepen cooperation in the health-care sector. "The leading hospital chains of India are invited to consider opening branches of their multi-specialty hospitals and diagnostic clinics in Central Asian countries," the declaration said. (ANI) The contributors' list presented to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has become suspicious as several contributors, named in the list, raised questions about the use of a charity for political purposes. The PTI presented a list of individual donors to the ECP scrutiny committee who contributed USD 0.46 million to the party funds, according to News International Meanwhile, the ECP, on a petition moved by Akbar S Babar, a former member of PTI, is hearing the party's foreign funding case. Besides providing details of the party's bank accounts and foreign companies, the PTI had also submitted a list of 1,414 names to the ECP's scrutiny committee who donated USD 467,320 to the party in 2013. Some of those who claimed they contributed to the Shaukat Khanum Hospital were astonished to learn that their charity money had been diverted for political purposes. Earlier, in 2017, the PTI launched a membership campaign in the US and sent membership cards to party workers residing in the US. It was a paid membership campaign and the party's US chapter sent congratulatory messages along with payment receipts to the party members, according to News International. However, several individuals claim they donated for the political campaign of the PTI. The ECP, on a petition moved by Akbar S Babar, a former member of PTI, is hearing the party's foreign funding case. Besides providing details of the party's bank accounts and foreign companies, the PTI had also submitted a list of 1,414 names to the ECP's scrutiny committee who donated USD 467,320 to the party in 2013, as reported by News International. (ANI) According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the "fire raid" by terrorists occurred on the night of January 25-26, Dawn reported. "During intense exchange of fire, one terrorist was killed and several injured. While repulsing terrorists' fire raid, 10 soldiers embraced martyrdom," the statement said. The statement further stated that three terrorists had been apprehended in the follow-up clearance operation, which it said was still in progress to hunt down the perpetrators of the incident. "The armed forces are determined to eliminate terrorists from our soil no matter what the cost," Dawn quoted the ISPR statement. Earlier this month, a Pakistan Army soldier was killed after terrorists attacked a military post in Bannu's Janikhel. On January 5, two soldiers were killed and as many terrorists killed in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) conducted by security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dawn reported. It further reported that last month, four soldiers of the Pakistan Army were killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists during an IBO in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal district. (ANI) It was reported that a second phone conversation between the director of the Kyrgyz Border Service, Ularbek Sharsheev, and the commander of the Tajik border troops, Rajabali Rahmonali, had taken place at 22:18 (16:18 GMT) at the initiative of the Tajik side, the parties discussed ceasefire. Sharsheev said that the Tajik side that does not cease fire, moreover, continues to pull heavy military equipment and personnel to the border. As of 23:00 (17:00 GMT), Tajik military personnel continue to periodically fire at the positions of Kyrgyz military personnel, the Kyrgyz Border Service said. The Tajik side has asked for a ceasefire on the border, but it continues shelling, the Kyrgyz Border Service told Sputnik. "The Tajik side requested a ceasefire. However, as of 22:30 (16:30 GMT), Tajik military personnel continue to periodically fire at the positions of internal troops, clashes continue in the areas of Eki-Tash, Kum-Bazar, Chir-Dobo," it said. A meeting of the governors of the Batken Region of Kyrgyzstan and the Sughd Region of Tajikistan is also expected, it added. (ANI/Sputnik) Relatives of Laquan McDonald held a news conference Thursday morning, during which they demanded federal charges be filed against former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot and killed 17-year-old McDonald in 2014. Due to good behavior rules, Van Dyke is expected to be released Feb. 3 after serving three years behind bars. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Advertisement Tracie Hunter, Laquan McDonalds grandmother, called Van Dykes time in prison a slap on the wrist. I just want justice, the right justice, Hunter said. Im not going to rest or be satisfied until this man does his rightful time. Advertisement U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, left, comforts Tanisha Hunter, Laquan McDonald's aunt, alongside state Rep. Kam Buckner as Hunter shares photos of her nephew after speaking Jan. 27, 2022, at St. Sabina Church to demand federal charges against former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) Congresswoman and Democratic Party Chair Robin Kelly said the video that captured Van Dyke shooting McDonald 16 times shook her to her core. The same charges against (Van Dyke) are the same charges of the man who killed George Floyd, Kelly said. He got 22 years still not enough but 22 years compared to six years? Theres something terribly wrong with that, that is not justice. Its an unfortunate reality that we have been so programmed and so used to getting nothing, that getting anything sometimes feels like a win, said Black Caucus Chair Kam Buckner. Tanisha Hunter, Laquan McDonald's aunt, shares photos of her nephew while speaking Jan. 27, 2022, at St. Sabina Church. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) The Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church on the South Side, where the news conference was held, said he wants people to rise up all across Chicago. This is not a Black issue, Pfleger said. Everyone who believes in justice should be shouting and screaming that Jason Van Dyke should not be getting out of jail. "US President Joe Biden is looking forward to welcome German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House on February 7. Chancellor Scholz' visit provides an opportunity to affirm the deep and enduring ties between the United States and Germany," Psaki said in a statement. According to the statement, the leaders will discuss their shared commitment to both ongoing diplomacy and joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine. They will also discuss the importance of continued close cooperation on a range of common challenges, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the threat of climate change, and promoting economic prosperity and international security based on our shared democratic values, the statement added. Olaf Scholz was appointed as Germany's new Chancellor last year in December, bringing an end to Angela Merkel's 16 years of leadership. (ANI) The trial of 31-year-old British-Pakistani man Muhammad Gohir Khan, charged for conspiring to kill Netherlands-based blogger and activist, Ahmad Waqass Goraya, came to a closure on Wednesday at the Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court as both sides concluded their arguments. The jury will now deliberate on the evidence produced and return with a majority verdict. The prosecution maintained that Khan was hired by persons who appeared to be based in Pakistan to carry out the "intended killing" of Goraya. The financial rewards for his actions were believed to be significant, with a payment of 100,000 on offer. At the time, the prosecution claimed, the defendant was in significant debt, with no clear means of paying his creditors. According to Dawn, the jury heard the defence counsel make a final statement in which the prosecution's allegations against defendant Khan were rebuffed. Counsel Maloney said the defendant never intended to kill blogger Goraya as his intention was to get money out of the Pakistan-based middleman Muzamil who sought to contract him for the hit, as payback for financial damages that were incurred to the defendant some years ago, Dawn reported. It further reported that lending strength to his claim, the defence counsel said Khan never deleted messages from his devices and that though he was persistent about travelling to Rotterdam where the target lived, he was also "persistently reckless about arrest". Maloney said there are "real problems with the theory about the knife". The prosecution a day earlier in its closing statement said the 10.99- euro knife was allegedly purchased by his client as a murder weapon, and that he paid cash for it and kept a receipt to get it reimbursed by the middleman. The prosecution had alleged that Khan had picked that specific knife, and not a cheaper one, to use it in the murder so that he could conceal the murder weapon, the Pakistani publication reported. The defence side, however, argued that his was a paring knife and "not a chopping or carving knife". The counsel said: "That is not a knife we think would be right for that purpose [to murder]," Dawn reported. According to the Pakistani publication, Maloney elaborated that if his client wanted to buy a knife to kill someone, he would have paid 2 euros more and bought a 12.99-euro knife, next to the one he actually had purchased. He then challenged the prosecution's argument that Khan paid for the knife in cash and didn't want to be found, by saying that he made other cash payments and even kept the receipt for the knife with him. "If the purpose of cash was to conceal the purchase of a knife, why in heaven's name would he bring the receipt back with him to St Pancras?" he argued. The lawyer said the distinctive red car his client hired with his own documents also demonstrated he did not intend to kill blogger Goraya. "You think he would kill him in broad daylight?" he beseeched members of the jury, Dawn reported. Maloney said Khan sat in that distinctive car registered in his name for hours, which would surely have outed him as he used it to go to shops and inquire about Goraya from people. The defence counsel said the reality was that Khan persisted in his attempts to extract money as he "never thought he wouldn't get it". Though Muzamil said he would not pay more than the money, the defendant did not accept it and kept trying to get out a few thousand pounds. "If he was going to go ahead with the murder and get 80,000, why would he try so hard to get a few thousand?" At previous hearings, the jury was told how Muzamil allegedly contacted Khan in 2021 with an offer to pay pound 80,000 for the job, while telling him about his own commission of Pound 20,000. Pakistani blogger Ahmad Waqass Goraya fled his homeland after he was threatened, kidnapped, and tortured by authorities. According to the blogger, the arrest of the British-Pakistani man was linked to an incident that took place on February 12, 2021. Meanwhile, Pakistan's deafening silence on the disclosers made in the UK Court in the case of Khan has raised serious questions on the country's stand on human rights and free speech. (ANI) Brett Silverman gives his dog Scout a rub behind the ears after a successful trick at DogWalk in July. A pair of Abilene animal advocacy groups praised changes created by the Safe Outdoor Dogs Act, which includes provisions for shelter, water and humane restraints. Paul Washburn with Rescue the Animals said the law should "make a huge difference," especially in its requirements about proper shelter for dogs. The shelter requirements include protections from temperature extremes, a source of drinkable water and that dogs have sufficient space to stand, turn around and lie down. More: New statewide dog act promotes tethering but bans use of chains Enforcement needed Just how effective the law is depends on how cities interpret and enforce it, Washburn said. "I am afraid that it will not be a high priority, and that they will not be aggressive in issuing citations," he said. "It will make no impact unless people receive citations and are fined. Even if the fine is reduced to a small amount, this is all that will make an impression." Washburn said he believes the city of Abilene should be more aggressive in writing violations based on vaccinations, tethering, abuse and neglect. "Obviously, some time should be allowed for people to become familiar with the new law and how it works," he said. "I am afraid there will be many people believing that no animal can be tethered, resulting in a lot of complaints that are not violations." 'Step forward' All Kind Animal Initiative's website. Andrea Robison of All Kind Animal Initiative said her group believes the act is a "step forward in the right direction" for animals in Texas. "We are hoping that the law helps bring about some much-needed education about how to better care for our pets," she said, adding that All Kind also stands ready to help people who need help adjusting to the new law. "If people need help providing better shelter for their outdoor pets or accessing better fitting collars or harnesses, we can provide those resources," Robison said. Story continues Those interested in bringing their pets inside during colder temperatures but need assistance accessing crates or learning how to crate-train their pets can also receive help, she said. The organization may be contacted through its website, allkindabilene.org, Robison said. "Overall, we hope that this law is just the beginning for Texas in making the statement that how we care for our animals matters," she said. Brian Bethel covers city and county government and general news for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com. This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Advocacy groups: New dog safety law important but enforcement vital By Rami Ayyub (Reuters) - The Michigan teenager charged with first-degree murder in the deadliest U.S. school shooting of 2021 will assert an insanity defense, his lawyers wrote in a court notice filed Thursday. Prosecutors say they intend to rebut the defense by Ethan Crumbley, a 15-year-old sophomore at a high school in Oxford, Michigan, who is charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 30 shooting spree that killed four students. Crumbley is being held without bond in an adult jail in Oakland County, although isolated from other inmates. Six other students and a teacher were also wounded in the shooting. Crumbley's lawyers, Paulette Michel Loftin and Amy Hopp, notified an Oakland County court that he "intends to assert the defense of insanity at the time of the alleged defense." Prosecuting attorney Karen D. McDonald wrote in a separate court notice: "Please take notice that if Defendant should successfully assert the defense of insanity, the prosecution gives notice of intent to rebut this claimed defense." Also charged in the killings are his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who prosecutors say gave him a semi-automatic handgun as an early Christmas present and then ignored signs that he was planning a shooting at the school. The parents, who have pleaded not guilty, are being held in the same county jail as their son in lieu of $500,000 bail each on charges of involuntary manslaughter. In a new lawsuit filed Thursday in Oakland County, the parents of one of the students killed joined with others whose children had witnessed the shooting in alleging negligence by school officials and Crumbley's parents. Crumbley "exhibited some concerning, strange and bizarre behavior which should have alerted his parents, as well as other people who had extensive contact with him, that he was suffering from significant psychiatric problems," the lawsuit says. A representative for the school, Oxford High School, and a lawyer for Crumbley's parents were not immediately reachable for comment. (Reporting by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Alistair Bell) Advocates expressed concern this week that some Afghan refugees have said they are not receiving adequate health care and other assistance as they seek to build new lives in the Baltimore area. Weve been deeply alarmed by the stories that we have learned, said Zainab Chaudry, who directs the Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a civil rights and advocacy group. Surrounded by about two dozen refugees in the parking lot of a hotel near BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport where they are living, Chaudry and other advocates said at a news conference Wednesday that some of the newcomers report difficulties getting care when they fall ill or are pregnant and reaching the case workers who are handling their resettlement. Others say there have been delays in getting documents that would allow them to work, or that they have been moved to housing in neighborhoods that they feel are dangerous, Chaudry said. The refugees are among the tens of thousands who fled Afghanistan last summer as the U.S. pulled out from the country amid the Taliban takeover. They go through what is generally a lengthy process in which they are vetted and screened overseas and again in the U.S., where they live on military bases before they are sent to communities for resettlement. Maryland always has been among the top destinations for refugees because of its proximity to Washington and, in the case of people from Afghanistan, the government agencies that they may have assisted over the course of the 20-year war. Many of the refugees arrive with Special Immigrant Visas granted because of that assistance, which put them in danger from the Taliban. In August, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Maryland was ready and willing to take in those who, at risk to themselves, helped the U.S. during the war. We have a moral obligation to help them, he said then, inviting those in need to contact the Maryland Office of Refugees and Asylees. On Wednesday, state officials said the refugees CAIR is referring to are not yet officially placed in Maryland. Story continues They are being resettled by the International Rescue Committee, which is responsible for them during the initial resettlement period, according to a statement from the Maryland Department of Human Services, with state services available after that if the federal government officially places them in Maryland. The state of Maryland supports refugee integration efforts after the federal government has effectively provided reception and placement services, the statement said. The IRC, among the humanitarian agencies that resettle refugees in partnership with the United Nations and the federal government, did not respond to requests for comment. The State Departments Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, which funds resettlement agencies helping refugees in the Afghan placement program, did not respond to an email Thursday seeking comment. Under a program called Operation Allies Welcome, about 74,000 Afghans have come to the United States, the State Department said in December. Resettlement agencies, sometimes partnering with churches and other volunteer groups, ultimately work to find them apartments, English lessons, job training, schools for their children and other forms of assistance. According to Maryland officials, as of earlier this month, about 1,300 Afghan people have been resettled in the state as part of Operation Allies Welcome. Since 2010, they said, about 10,000 SIV-holders have resettled in Maryland. Chaudry acknowledged the difficulties faced by government and resettlement agencies trying to accommodate such a large number of refugees. We understand the challenges that resettlement agencies are facing, with the rapid influx of families who have been coming under unique circumstances especially amidst a global pandemic, she said. CAIR said about 40 families have been temporarily housed in the hotel since October. Chaudry said CAIR and others have offered help that has not been accepted. If these agencies cannot provide the services and support to these families, they need to be able to outsource to other advocacy organizations who can step in, she said. One refugee who has been living at the hotel said he was told by a son still in Afghanistan that Taliban representatives had come to his house looking for him because he had helped the Americans. He said that while the refugees are grateful for the assistance theyve received, they still need things like lessons in English and driving and help in getting family members here from Afghanistan. American people, they are very kind, he said. Chaudry said another refugee, a woman, said she had been ill and bedridden but was not checked on by a caseworker during that time. Jenna Whitney, who lives in Anne Arundel County, said she heard from a friend that there were refugees from Afghanistan in the area who were in distress because they were living in a hotel for months and not able to get assistance with health care or more permanent housing. She said she knew of groups elsewhere that seemed to be able to get refugees into housing much more quickly, and decided to see if she could help by bringing food, clothes and other supplies. Its more a social outreach, said Whitney, noting that food was being brought in regularly to the refugees living in the hotel. Chaudry said the refugees have been overwhelmed by the generosity theyve received, and it was heartbreaking that theyve had difficulties getting everything they need. Many of these families have been deeply traumatized, she said. They really just want to provide a safe environment for their children, for each other, for one another. Baltimore Sun reporter Lilly Price contributed to this article. McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport entrance. The Jackson-Madison County Airport Authority has voted to make a recommendation for a new airline to service McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport, and in the process, possibly add a direct flight to Chicago from Jackson. A special called meeting of the board lasted well over three hours as two airlines pitched their essential air service proposals in person vying for recommendation to the Department of Transportation. Five airlines originally submitted their proposals to become the airline at McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport, which were narrowed to Air Choice One, and Southern Airways Express. After hearing proposals and receiving answers to questions from both commuter airlines, the board voted to recommend Southern Airways Express as their selection with a two-year contract. Southern Airways Express has 35 aircraft with over 220 daily departures across the country, said Steve Smith, executive director of the Jackson-Madison County Airport Authority in a press release. Their on-time performance is No. 1 in the nation at 94.1%, and their controllable completion rate was over 99%. Those are two areas we expect an airline to deliver when flying out of McKellar-Sipes, and those facts resonated with the board, as well as the option for a King Air 200 aircraft. Stan Little is the chairman and CEP of Southern Airways Express. Hes a University of Tennessee graduate who has work experience with the Tennessee state legislature and lived in West Tennessee for 25 years after founding a business in Humboldt. Jackson/McKellar-Sipes will be a success under Southern Airways Express! Little said in a statement. You can rest assured that no city in the system will receive a higher priority from my airline. Fords upcoming Blue Oval City project in neighboring Haywood County also played a factor in the decision, as Southern Airways Express is offering flights to and from Chicago, home to many of the nations largest companies. Flights to and from Atlanta would continue as well under this proposal. Story continues AIRLINES: 5 airlines trying to become essential service for McKellar-Sipes BOUTIQUE AIR: Boutique Air no longer welcome at McKellar-Sipes Airport The official recommendation as well as letters from the Airport Authority, Jackson Mayor Scott Conger, Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris and The Jackson Chamber will be sent to the Department of Transportation where the final decision will be made. The need for the new contract occurred when the airport authority requested current airline Boutique Air withdraw from the Jackson market and McKellar-Sipes on Nov. 29 after a pattern of canceled and late flights hit a peak the preceding week during the Thanksgiving holiday. This came less than six months after Boutique Air took over the services in the airport. We can be confident in saying the new airline will be operational and ready for area travelers by May 1, Smith said. Until then, the Department of Transportation will require Boutique Air to provide services as required by their contract. This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: New airline recommended for McKellar-Sipes; direct flight to Chicago possible Jan. 27JUNEAU The Alaska Legislature has been gridlocked for years on some of the state's basic issues, but on the issue of their pay, lawmakers are moving quickly and with consensus. In a 20-0 vote Wednesday, the Alaska Senate unanimously rejected a plan to cut legislative pay by reducing the amount that legislators can collect in daily expense payments. The plan, proposed by an independent commission, will be automatically enacted unless the Legislature passes and the governor signs a bill opposing it. That bill must be enacted within 60 days, which contributed to extraordinarily rapid movement in the Senate. The disapproval bill was proposed Tuesday and passed less than 24 hours later. The bill now goes to the Alaska House of Representatives, which could vote as early as Thursday morning. Alaska lawmakers currently receive $50,400 per year in salary and may collect an additional $307 per day for living expenses during the legislative session. From 2015 through 2021, the average legislator earned $85,400 per year in salary and expenses, and those years featured a lower daily reimbursement rate. Citing public concerns that expense payments gave legislators a financial incentive to work longer than needed, the Alaska State Officers Compensation Commission voted 3-1 this month to cut lawmakers' compensation to $100 per day. To partially compensate for the reduction, the commission agreed to raise legislators' base salaries, but the change still results in a pay cut. In a 121-day legislative session, a legislator's gross pay would fall from $85,853 to $76,100, assuming expense payments are collected every day. Salaries are taxable and expense payments are not, so take-home pay drops even more. In speeches before the vote and interviews afterward, senators said the pay plan was unrealistic and failed to account for the cost of maintaining a household in Juneau and one in a legislator's home district. Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, said the pay plan was "punitive" rather than a real attempt to address the issues surrounding expense payments. Story continues Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, D-Anchorage, offered similar comments, saying the pay proposal appeared to be the result of one salary commission's unhappiness with the Legislature. If that member was serious, he'd run for office himself, Begich said. "I'm tired of people who want to serve the public being demonized by people who don't give a crap, and that maybe is what it comes down to," he said. Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, suggested that the pay cut could be an incentive for corruption, with poorer legislators more vulnerable to bribes, while Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, said the new compensation system would create an imbalance of power between the governor's office and legislators if the governor calls multiple special sessions that force lawmakers to work in Juneau. Micciche said he wants a pay system that would allow a 27-year-old with three children to serve in the Legislature. Right now, he said, things may be tilted toward the independently wealthy. "That's a gap we're not discussing," he said. Amazon logo Amazon is shutting down a third-party seller program it operated after Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) filed a lawsuit in which he said his investigation found the program violated antitrust laws. Amazon operated its "Sold by Amazon" program from 2018 to 2020. Ferguson said in his lawsuit that the program allowed Amazon to agree on prices with third-party sellers instead of competing with them, which he characterized as illegal price-fixing. As part of the agreement, Amazon will stop its "Sold by Amazon" program nationwide as well as pay the Washington attorney general's office $2.25 million, which will go towards antitrust enforcement. The invite-only program involved hundreds of sellers that Amazon had previously competed with for sales. Ferguson noted that third-party sales account for more than half of Amazon's sales. "Consumers lose when corporate giants like Amazon fix prices to increase their profits," Ferguson said in a statement on Wednesday. "Today's action promotes product innovation and consumer choice, and makes the market more competitive for sellers in Washington state and across the country." The "Sold by Amazon" program guaranteed third-party sellers a minimum payment in exchange for the seller agreeing to stop competing with Amazon. If sales exceeded the agreed upon minimum, then Amazon and the seller would split the profit. However, according to Ferguson, some sellers experienced market declines when prices increased and Amazon customers opted to buy cheaper versions of the product, often from Amazon's own product line. The program also limited sellers' ability to lower their own prices, as it set the price floor as the first price that the products were sold at when the seller joined "Sold by Amazon." Amazon told The Seattle Times it suspended the program in 2020 for reasons unrelated to Ferguson's investigation and believes the program was legal and beneficial. Story continues "This was a small program to provide another tool to help sellers offer lower prices, much like similar programs common among other retailers, that has since been discontinued," an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement provided to The Hill. "While we strongly believe the program was legal, we're glad to have this matter resolved." This is not the first time that Amazon has faced allegations of violating antitrust laws. In May of last year, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine (D) filed a lawsuit similarly accusing the company of entering into anti-competitive agreements. In November, Racine expanded his lawsuit to allege that Amazon imposed a minimum profit guarantee on wholesalers who sell on its platform, with the attorney general accusing the company of working to "rig the system, leading to higher prices for consumers and less competition among online marketplaces." Italy's antitrust regulator fined the tech giant $1.3 billion last month, saying Amazon had pressured sellers to use its in-house delivery fulfillment service, thereby hurting competitors. --Updated at 1:17 p.m. Actor Jussie Smollett leaves the Cook County Jail on March 16, 2022, after he was ordered to be released pending appeal of his conviction and 150-day sentence. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune) Jussie Smolletts final act in Chicago may be coming soon. A judge on Thursday set an in-person sentencing hearing for March 10 for the former Empire actor, who was convicted by a jury in December of faking a hate crime attack on himself. Advertisement During the brief virtual hearing, Criminal Courts Judge James Linn ordered both sides to submit a list of witnesses expected to testify at sentencing by March 3. He also gave Smolletts attorneys until Feb. 25 to file any post-trial motions. A jury found Smollett guilty on Dec. 10 on five out of six counts of disorderly conduct, a Class 4 felony, alleging he falsely reported to police that he was a victim of a hate crime attack in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2019. Advertisement The verdict capped off eight days of a closely watched trial, during which prosecutors successfully argued Smollett orchestrated a phony assault on himself with the help of two brothers who, at his request, yelled slurs and tried to wrap a noose around his neck. Despite the media frenzy surrounding the case, Smollett stands convicted of one of the lowest-level felonies Illinois has on the books, and the likelihood of him seeing prison time is probably low. Class 4 felonies carry penalties of one to three years in prison, but also probation or conditional discharge, which is similar to probation but with less strict conditions. Linn also could impose a fine as well as order restitution, a monetary amount either agreed upon by the prosecution and defense, or determined at the sentencing hearing. Though prison seems unlikely in the Smollett case, there are a few wild cards that make predictions uncertain. While the underlying felonies are minor, the case is undeniably high-profile a national embarrassment for the city of Chicago that allegedly cost taxpayers more than $130,000 in police overtime. And special prosecutor Dan Webb told reporters after the trial that he would probably point out during a sentencing hearing that Smollett took the stand in his own defense and lied for hours and hours and hours. I think this will probably be a point that Ill make at sentencing, that not only did Mr. Smollett lie to the police and wreak havoc in this city for weeks on end for no reason whatsoever, but then he compounded the problem by lying under oath to a jury, which I dont think should happen, Webb said. Advertisement jmeisner@chicagotribune.com Andy Parker, the father of a journalist who was killed during a live TV report in 2015, is running for Congress in south-central Virginia. Parker is a Democrat running in Virginia's 5th district against Republican freshman Congressman Bob Good, who he called the "Marjorie Taylor Greene of Virginia." "This district is not being represented the way it should be," Parker told CBS News before his launch. "Since Alison was killed, I've always tried to honor her life through action. Given the atmosphere we face right now, this is the time to jump in and make a difference." Parker's daughter Alison was a TV reporter at CBS Roanoke affiliate WDBJ-TV who was shot and killed, alongside cameraman Adam Ward, by an ex-coworker in 2015. Parker, a former member of the Henry County Board of Supervisors, has been an advocate for gun rights reform since his daughter's killing. But after failing to get Facebook and other social media to take down video of his daughter's killing, he has been vocal about reforming Section 230, a law that protects social media companies from lawsuits over content on their platforms. Andy Parker and his daughter, Alison. / Credit: Courtsey of Andy Parker He said he has reached his limit as a private citizen to push for social media reform, and saw an opportunity to "champion this as a member of Congress." Parker previously testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the issue, and notes attempts that push reforms in the right direction, but said "it doesn't go far enough." "It's tough for anybody, for one out of four hundred plus members to do anything. But I think I've got a better chance at pushing that issue," he said, adding that it's an issue that has bipartisan support in Congress. He added that Good has helped the spread of misinformation allowed on social media.,Since being elected to Congress in 2020, Good has established himself as a hard-line House Republican. He voted against the electoral certification on January 6 and bipartisan infrastructure bill, and has spread misinformation about mask and vaccine mandates. Story continues Good launched his reelection campaign on January 3, and held a fundraiser on the one-year anniversary of the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol that featured state Senator Amanda Chase, a former Republican gubernatorial candidate who has been called "Trump in heels." In a statement, Good says he's done "what I said I would do when first running for Congress in 2020, and have been on the front line fighting for our nation's founding principles and against the Democrats' radical leftist agenda." He added that he's introduced bills against the "unconstitutional mandates, open borders, runaway federal spending and efforts to indoctrinate our kids at school against the will of parents." "When he's not wasting time to try and overturn lawful elections and opposing repairs for roads and bridges, he busies himself pushing dangerous vaccine conspiracy theories and divisive and extreme politics," Parker said, adding that Good's rhetoric and votes in Congress was "one giant" reason to do this. In 2020, Good upset incumbent Republican Denver Riggleman in a controversial "drive-thru" convention. In November 2020, Good won by 5 points over Democrat Cameron Webb. Virginia's 5th district had minor changes during the redistricting process, but still leans towards Republicans by about 8 points. Good is facing a challenge from the right from veteran Dan Moy, as well as two other Democratic opponents: lawyer Jack Lewis Jr. Combs and small-business owner Joshua Thorneburg. Both Combs and Thorneburg have cash on hand balances of over $150,000, while Good has $313,734 cash on hand according to the last Federal Election Commission report. Parker, and other Democrats running in Republican-leaning seats like Virginia's 5th, are facing a political environment that favors Republicans. A CBS News poll earlier this month showed a 56% disapproval rating for President Biden. A total of 29 House Democrats have decided to retire or run for another office. A self-described "Reagan Republican" who voted Republican until 2008, Parker describes himself as a Democrat that'd work in a bipartisan manner with any "reasonable Republicans" and can build on Webb's single digit loss. "I just feel there's a lot of buyer's remorse out there," he added. His campaign team includes a former media consultant for former President Obama's presidential campaigns and a campaign manager for Democrat John Kerry's unsuccessful 2004 presidential bid. Chris Hurst, the boyfriend of Parker's late daughter and former Virginia state representative, is also helping run the campaign. For Parker, Hurst's involvement is another way his daughter's death is connected to his campaign. He said he is "absolutely prepared" for her killing to be brought up on the campaign, either by him or opponents. "Nothing that they can do or say compares to losing your child, to losing your hopes and dreams," he said. "There's no candidate that I'm aware of running for Congress that has a running mate. Well, I do. And she's going to be with me every step of the way." What Justice Breyers retirement means for the Supreme Court Remembering Kobe Bryant two years after his death San Jose passes first-of-its-kind gun control measure BAYSIDE, QUEENS This March, Baysiders can celebrate St. Patrick's Day during its designated month for the first time in two years. The Bayside St. Patrick's Day Parade will march down Bell Boulevard, from 35th Avenue to 42nd Avenue, starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, organizers announced this week. "We could all use a great day out after everything weve all gone through in the last two years," parade organizers wrote, alluding to the annual event's COVID-related disruptions. Amid the pandemic, the parade was cancelled two years in a row, though the community celebrated a somewhat unconventional Halfway to Saint Patrick's Day Parade last September. This year's parade will be the first held in March since 2019, though it still doesn't exactly coincide with the holiday. St. Patrick's Day is March, 17, 2022, meaning the Bayside event will commemorate the holiday the weekend after it happened. Organizers did not respond to Patch's inquiry as to how the date was chosen, but did say on Facebook that it was a community decision. "After speaking to members of the community and receiving lots of feedback, the committee decided to keep the parade on the Saturday," organizers wrote. The weekend before the parade a celebratory dinner, with dancing, will be held at the Irish American Society of Nassau, Suffolk & Queens in Long Island. At $70 per-person, the dinner includes an open bar, buffet dinner, and live music, and helps to defray the cost of the parade. Organizers, however, noted that the parade is still an "expensive undertaking" and urged locals to make donations. For more information about the Bayside Saint Patrick's Day Parade follow the event online or contact baysideirish@aol.com for details about marching or sponsorship. This article originally appeared on the Bayside-Douglaston Patch The Kittery Water District is in the process of alerting customers to changes in its new charter that was signed into law last month by Maine Governor Janet Mills. Kittery Water District users concerned about the future of the district's drinking water and land have called for the quasi-municipal district to place its 2,500 acres of watershed in a conservation easement. A special meeting of the water district was held Wednesday night in response to a petition which claimed that the district could be consolidated with other public water utilities that use chloramines to disinfect water. The Kittery Water District has affirmed it would not use chloramines nor merge with other water companies. Founded in 1907, the Kittery Water District is free of municipal oversight but is headquartered in Kittery. Its customers are in Kittery, Kittery Point, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and in portions of Eliot and York. The petition caused a stir by indicating the Kittery Water District could be bought by Maine Water Company and its parent group, which the petitioner claimed would cause district user rates to triple. The Kittery Water District is governed by five trustees and a superintendent, all of whom were present for the virtual meeting to field questions and concerns from nearly 100 attendees. John Perry, president of the districts board of trustees, stated the discussion surrounding the worry of chloramines being used to treat district water is beating a dead horse. Understand, we have no intentions on the board of (trustees) of the Kittery Water District to use chloramines as our primary treatment, he said. Its like a broken record. In June 2019, the districts then-board of trustees publicly announced the district would not utilize chloramine treatment at that point or in the future. The disinfectant is approved for treatment of drinking water up to certain levels by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Kittery Water District treats its water with chlorine. The meeting Wednesday included a point-by-point refutation of claims made by the petition. Petition makes claims Drafted by district customer Evalyn Sorrentino last month, the petition received 28 signatures, surpassing the 10 required by Kittery Water District bylaws for a special meeting to be held. Her petition specifically stated the Kittery Water District needs to discuss withdrawing from the Southern Maine Regional Water Council, a seven-member public water utility group which serves a combined 350,000 state residents across 25 municipalities. Story continues Sorrentino wrote that the councils purpose is to commingle water of various regions who use chloramines and therefore would imply the KWD would also do the same. Maine Water Company, a fellow Southern Maine Regional Water Council member, is owned by Delaware-based SJW (San Jose Water) Group, which operates four subsidiary water companies in California, Connecticut, Maine and Texas. When SJW Group formed in 1985, it was a California corporation, though its name changed in 2016. One of the influencing members of (the Southern Maine Regional Water Council), SJW, is a major corporation whose mission is to purchase and consolidate small water utilities of Maine, and develop wetlands (owned) by small water utilities under their portfolio of subsidiaries owned, the petition says. SJW has been aggressive in efforts to meet their portfolio goals. The KWD offices should not adopt a billing system that dovetails directly into the systems of SJW, the owner of The Maine Water Co., who is handling Saco water, it continues. Our rates will triple if we are purchased by SJW. This should be a decision made by the KWD users. Maine Water Company leader denies petition's claims Rick Knowlton, president of Maine Water Company, was on hand to refute points of the petition. He shared that Maine Water Company systems in Saco and Biddeford since the 1930s have used a blend of chlorine and ammonia to disinfect its water but assured that the company does not wish to purchase the Kittery Water District. Neither Maine Water Company, nor our parent company, San Jose Water Group, have any goal or ambition whatsoever to acquire the Kittery Water District, to develop its watershed land, or to be involved in the business affairs of the Kittery Water District in any way, he said. Knowlton said the petition suggests that Maine Water Company is affiliated with the Kittery Water District in a manner of influence and control, whereas in reality it is just a fellow dues paying" Southern Maine Regional Water Council member. Prior to the districts special meeting, Knowlton wrote a letter to the board of trustees responding to the "false and misleading statements" in the petition regarding the Maine Water Company. Sorrentino correctly noted in her petition that the Kittery Water District removed a message of commitment to not use chloramines in its water treatment from its website, which alarmed some water users and caused them to feel the district may be reconsidering that pledge. District board of trustee Robert Gray confirmed it was taken off the website but only so language can be updated and soon placed back on the website with the same commitment. Meeting attendee Cameron Wake was the first to call for the districts expansive watershed land to be placed in a conservation easement in perpetuity. Conservation easement deeds are flexible documents which allow tailoring to each property and its situation. The land would remain owned and managed by the district, the purpose being to prevent development, he said. Many signaled support for the proposal, including Sorrentino. I would think that anyone who truly loves this land and truly loves the Kittery Water District and its 2,500 acres that youd want to preserve this for our children and our grandchildren and our future generations, she said. Wake also questioned each trustee if they would guarantee that they would never vote to sell Kittery Water District lands and infrastructure to a private entity. All five Perry, Gray, Julia OConnell, James Golter and Julie Pelkey stated they wouldnt ever vote to do so. I would never be in favor of selling off any of our watershed, Gray said. I dont know where the idea came from that people thought that we were going to sell it for development. Pelkey commented, As far as I am concerned, selling off any of our property, the watershed property, is nowhere near on my radar, either. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kittery Water District shuts down worries of chloramines, land sale BEAVER A woman from Beaver is now serving a 10-20 year prison sentence after pleading guilty to statutory rape charges from 2021. Janine Young, 38, was officially sentenced this week in Beaver County Court on charges she had sex with an underage boy. Young will be identified by the state as a sex offender. Young must serve a minimum of 10 years for her guilty charges and will be classified as a sexual offender for life. In February 2021, state police said they were informed Young had sex "multiple times" with a teenage boy in November 2020. When she was arrested, Young was charged with 15 counts each of statutory sexual assault and indecent assault, as well two counts of involuntary sexual deviate intercourse and one count each of corruption of a minor and unlawful contact with a minor. But as part of a plea bargain, Young recently pleaded guilty to three cases of statutory sexual assault and one case of involuntary sexual deviate intercourse. In exchange, the other charges were dropped. County District Attorney David Lozier confirmed that the prosecution sought a sentence of at least 10 to 20 years for Young, which is a longer sentence than other cases for first-time offenders. This agreement was also made to protect the victim in the case, whose family wished to keep his identity private and not require him to testify. Young must now spend 10 years in prison as a part of her sentence, after which she will undergo an annual review by the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole to determine if she is eligible for release. Regardless of the time of her release, Young will remain under supervision from state officers for a minimum of 23 years and be classified as a sex offender for life. Garret Roberts is the local Public Priority reporter for The Beaver County Times. He can be contacted at groberts1@gannett.com and can be followed on Twitter at @ReportedRoberts. This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver County Woman facing minimum of 10 years in prison for statutory rape Jan. 27Dona Re' Shute and Lorraine Charvet didn't realize their family needed closure until they got the call. It was from the Navy, who called Charvet this past May two weeks before Memorial Day. The Navy told her that the remains of their brother, U.S. Naval Reserve Cmdr. Paul Charvet, would finally return home after more than 50 years across the Pacific. A graduate of Gonzaga University, Paul Charvet flew a single-seat A-1H Skyraider in the Vietnam War. Taking part in a three-plane flight supporting a naval gunfire mission on March 21, 1967, the 26-year-old's plane was apparently shot down northeast of Hon Me Island near Thanh Hoa Province, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Shute said the mission took place on the last day of his third and final tour, as he planned to retire and return home. Instead, he was declared missing in action for more than a decade until December 1977, when the military updated his status to "Presumed Killed in Action," according to federal records. "We had a funeral service for him in Grandview, Washington, where we grew up, and that was that," Shute said. "That was our closure, as much as we could have and figured we'd ever have." Shute and Charvet said the Navy kept in touch with the family in the years that followed. Radio Hanoi reported the day after Paul Charvet's mission that an American aircraft was shot down the day before. His plane was the only U.S. aircraft lost in that area that March 21, federal records show. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam on Sept. 24, 2020, turned over presumed human remains and material evidence to the United States, along with additional evidence that October. The remains were sent to a laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for identification, which was finalized in May 2021. The recovery of Charvet's remains was recognized by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in September during a POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony. At that time, Austin said the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency had accounted for 135 missing soldiers last year to date, including one from the Vietnam War. Story continues "In a sense, that's what we still seek: Answers to simple questions," Austin said. "Where are they? And when can they come home?" Charvet's family gathered Wednesday in Anchorage, Alaska, for a Navy ceremony commemorating the return of his remains. His mother, Blanche Charvet, 101, lives in Anchorage with Lorraine and a granddaughter. His father, Ray Charvet, flew coastal air patrols during World War II. "I think mom understood that Paul was coming home," Lorraine Charvet said. "I think she said something like, 'that's good. That's wonderful news.' " Shute said the family plans to have him eventually buried in Mabton, Washington, alongside his father. "We really didn't think that we needed any more closure, but this really does close it out in a beautiful way. A peaceful way," Shute said. "It's certainly given me a lot of comfort." Locally, Gonzaga University placed a wreath Wednesday at a commemorative plaque at what's known as "The Freedom Tree" outside of the Crosby Center. The tree was dedicated in 1975 out of an idea that originated from members of Paul Charvet's Class of 1962, according to the university. The tree was inscribed with a plaque in commemoration of Charvet and all prisoners of war, as well as those missing in action. Charvet, an English major who played on the varsity baseball team, married another Gonzaga alumna, Christina Johnson. For Kara Hertz, executive director of Gonzaga's alumni relations, getting the call from Charvet's family that his remains were coming home was also "one I won't forget." "Hearing the reflections and looking at his pictures in the yearbook, you can just picture him as a student on our campus," Hertz said. "He was clearly very talented, and went on to offer these talents in generous service to our country. "He became a hero, paying the ultimate sacrifice," she continued. "What a remarkable man." A Russian fighter prepares to take off from an airfield in Russia and fly to Belarus to attend a joint military drills. The Belarusian Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that Russian armed forces in Belarus would leave once their military exercises are completed. "At the end of the inspection, military units and sub-units of the Russian Federation's Armed Forces will leave the territory of the Republic of Belarus," the Belarusian ministry said, Reuters reported. The military drills are expected to run from Feb. 10 to Feb. 20, and Russia sent troops and equipment into Belarus earlier this month, including a paratrooper unit and a dozen Su-35 fighter jets. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said earlier this month that the two countries would participate in the military exercises to "thwart and repel a foreign aggression," The Associated Press reported. The military drills in Belarus, which is situated directly north of Ukraine, have added to the existing tens of thousands of Russian troops already amassed near the Ukrainian border. The international community remains concerned that Russia is readying itself to invade the former Soviet Union nation, though Russia denies such intent. The latest shipment of U.S. military equipment arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday, including grenade launchers and Javelin anti-tank missiles. The shipments are a part of a Biden administration-approved $200 million lethal aid package. Earlier this week, the State Department ordered family members of federal workers from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to exit the country immediately in addition to authorizing the voluntary departure of U.S. direct-hire employees. The embassy has urged Americans in Ukraine several times to consider leaving the country amid escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. "The security situation in Ukraine continues to be unpredictable due to the increased threat of Russian military action and can deteriorate with little notice. The U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens in Ukraine to consider departing now using commercial or other privately available transportation options," the embassy said in its latest message on Wednesday. Commuters standing on an elevated platform at Pulaski Road meet the cold as icy Arctic air sent Chicago area temperatures down to 1 below zero in January 1982. (Carl Hugare / Chicago Tribune) Snow-prah Winfrey, Bill-izzard Murray or Salt Capone could be coming to a snowbound Chicago street near you next winter. The citys Department of Streets and Sanitation confirmed Wednesday that it will hold a contest later this year for the public to name some vehicles in its fleet of almost 300 baby-blue Snow Fighting Trucks. Advertisement Mimi Simon, the departments director of public affairs, wrote in an email to the Tribune that details of the competition are still being fleshed out. A snowplow clears South Michigan Avenue during a winter storm on Jan. 31, 2021, in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) The Department of Streets and Sanitation (DSS) together with the Department of Assets, Information and Services (AIS) are currently discussing a naming contest for a small subset of snow plows for next years snow season, she said. Advertisement Simon says submissions could be taken as soon as this summer. [ Chicagos 10 largest snowfalls since 1886 and how the Tribune covered them ] In Chicago, a pool of 675 motor-truck drivers can be dispatched during a major snowfall. For snow, its really all-hands-on-deck for the men and women of Streets and Sanitation, drivers as well as other staff, Simon said. Each can be traced during these events with the Department of Streets and Sanitations Plow Tracker. [ Chicagos winter overnight parking ban is in effect. Heres how to avoid getting ticketed or towed. ] Other states have used naming contests to raise awareness for winter driving safety and to recognize employees who pilot snowplows. Michigans Department of Transportation whittled down a list of more than 15,000 submissions this month to select the names for its fleet of 330 snowplows, according to the Detroit Free Press. Flake Michigan, The Big LePlowski and Mr. Salty Pants are just a few of the names that made the cut. Also this month, Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission placed the eight names of its Name-A-Snowplow contest winners directly on its vehicles, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. The monikers are mostly puns on Star Wars characters and 90s hip-hop acts and songs, including Snowbi-wan Kenobi, Darth Blader, Sir Plows-A-Lot and Ah, Push It ... Push It Real Good! The Minnesota Department of Transportation has offered a Name A Snowplow contest the past two years. Yet, somehow, Mary Tyler More Snow, Aint Snow Stopping Us Now and Raspberry Brrr-et didnt receive enough votes to move on to the finals. Advertisement Students in Vermont chose names for the states Agency of Transportation last fall, and North Dakotas Department of Transportation felt peer pressure from its neighbor to the east Minnesota to sponsor its first Name-A-Plow contest in December. Bill Cosby arrives for his sentencing hearing at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018, in Norristown Pa. Matt Rourke/AP Bill Cosby has responded to W. Kamau Bell's documentary "We Need to Talk About Cosby." In a statement, a Cosby spokesperson described Bell as a "PR hack." "Mr. Cosby has spent more than 50 years standing with the excluded," the statement read. Bill Cosby has released a statement in response to Showtime's upcoming docuseries "We Need to Talk About Cosby," which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival last weekend. Over the course of four hour-long episodes, the docuseries which was directed by the comedian and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell examines Cosby's legacy as a groundbreaking entertainer alongside the sexual-assault allegations that have been made against the comedian and actor by more than 60 women. In a statement published in Rolling Stone, Andrew Wyatt, a representative for Cosby, said "Mr. Cosby vehemently denies all allegations waged against him" before directly addressing Bell's documentary. "Let's talk about Bill Cosby," the official statement read. "Mr. Cosby has spent more than 50 years standing with the excluded; made it possible for some to be included; standing with the disenfranchised; and standing with those women and men who were denied respectful work because of race and gender within the expanses of the entertainment industries." The statement continued to describe Bell as a "PR hack" a pejorative term to describe someone who produces work just for publicity and said the recent docuseries highlighted how Cosby "continues to be the target of numerous media that have, for too many years, distorted and omitted truths." "Despite media's repetitive reports of allegations against Mr. Cosby, none have ever been proven in any court of law," the statement read. "We Need to Talk About Cosby" was directed by W. Kamau Bell. Sundance Institue. Wyatt's statement later made direct reference to Bill Cosby's release from prison in 2021. Cosby was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault in 2018 and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Cosby's sentence, however, was overturned last year after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Cosby shouldn't have been charged due to a deal made by a former prosecutor. Story continues "Mr. Cosby knows the realities of prosecutorial violations; and that those violations are threats to the integrity of our nation's criminal justice systems. That is a subject matter for a professional documentary," the statement read. In "We Need to Talk About Cosby" which airs on Showtime this Sunday Bell uses archive footage as well as interviews with comedians, journalists, lawyers, and several of Cosby's sexual assault accusers to examine the comedian and actor's legacy. In a first-look review of the docuseries, Insider criticized the central thesis of Bell's documentary. "As the last episode in the series draws to a close, Bell reveals his true preoccupation. 'Can you separate the art from the artist?' he ponders in his concluding statements," the review reads. "At this moment, the documentary changes. It is no longer an examination of Cosby's legacy but an exercise in endurance. Bell is interested in how bad a set of allegations has to be before fans turn away. This may have been a good starting point for a discussion on the social media app Clubhouse, but it is not a sufficient starting point for a 240-minute Showtime documentary." Read the original article on Insider FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) A Virginia Senate committee on Thursday killed legislation that would have required parental consent for students to check out sexually explicit books from school libraries. Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, introduced the bill after parents across the state complained about library books that included graphic depictions of sex acts. It was one of several school-related issues that animated Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's victory in November. The legislation initially required school systems to give parents a say in the review of materials before they were made available in school libraries. But DeSteph significantly reworked his bill ahead of Thursday's committee meeting. The revised proposal that was quashed would have simply required written permission from a parent before a student could check out a book with explicit content. Were not trying to ban books. Were trying not trying to burn books, DeSteph said. The bill's defeat could be an early indication of how Youngkin's proposed education reforms will fare in the Senate, which is narrowly controlled by Democrats. Democrats have a 21-19 advantage in the full Senate, and a 9-6 advantage in the Education and Health Committee. One moderate Democrat on the committee, Lynwood Lewis, sided with Republicans. But another moderate Democrat who sometimes sides with the GOP on education matters, Chap Petersen, voted to kill the bill, and it lost on an 8-7 vote. I dont think we should be involved in micromanaging school libraries. Petersen said. The problem is that youre going to sweep up books that you dont intend to sweep up. Petersen cited books like The Kite Runner, which has sexually explicit passages but is generally recognized as a classic work of literature. Supporters of the legislation have pointed to books including Gender Queer, a graphic novel by Maia Kobabe, which contains explicit illustrations of oral sex and masturbation. The book has been the focus of ire from multiple Republican governors. Virginia school districts have responded in varied ways to complaints about the book: Fairfax County, for example, temporarily pulled the book but restored it after conducting a review. Loudoun County Public Schools chose to pull the book. Sen. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, said Democrats are failing to heed the message voters sent last year. This last election showed us parents want to have more control over what's happening in schools, he said. Republican Sen. Travis Hutson of Palm Coast wants to bring the focus of the states soil and water conservation districts back to agriculture, which would bring them back in line with their original intent when they were created by the Florida Legislature in 1937. But opponents of his bill (SB 1078), including current supervisors of those conservation districts, want him to realize that the districts and the state of Florida have radically changed since those Dust Bowl days and preserve the diversity of those boards. Hutson is pushing an amended measure that originally would have abolished them altogether but now creates a plan to reconfigure them into single-member districts and only let farmers and ranchers run for those seats. Previous coverage: The latest GOP legislative clampdown: Restricting eligibility for soil & water conservation districts Some opponents see it as a developer-backed bill to push out environmentalists and progressive activists. Even though the districts have no taxing authority or regulatory enforcement power, district supervisors can use them as a platform for their causes. It had its first committee hearing earlier this week, where it was cleared 5-1, with Tallahassee Democratic state Sen. Loranne Ausley the lone 'no' vote. My soil and water conservation district folks probably do not fall under that definition, Ausley said during a hearing on the bill before the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee Monday. However, they are providing great service with urban people helping with gardening and other things. I want to make sure we are not limiting the ability of people to serve. Likewise, Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, said she represents an extremely urban area and was curious how these districts will be able to find people to serve if they cannot locate agricultural workers or representatives in those single-member districts. I appreciate the reason you want to bring this forward is you wanted more agriculture members, Stewart said before voting in favor of the amended bill. But rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater, go a little bit calmer. Story continues Representation: Shelby Green appointed to Leon soil and water panel. She's the first Black woman to serve in the role Opinion: Why abolishing Soil and Water Districts is the wrong move | Opinion Stewart said Hutson should look at large districts full of people who dont fit the narrow definition of an agricultural person: I know there are urban areas where it is going to be difficult to find members within this category. We are all different, and they don't all have the same structure, either. Hutson said he would work with Ethics and Elections Committee staff and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on clarifying the language about who can serve in the districts. The bill still has two other committees before it reaches a full floor vote of the Senate. Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine, is sponsoring a lawsuit measure fought by cities and counties. I would like to see a way we might include the urban areas, Stewart said. We dont want to exclude anyone either. Critics say conservation would be lost Betty Jo Tompkins, executive director of the district in Hillsborough County, said conservation is everybodys business. We are not the Soil and Water Agricultural District. We are the Soil and Water Conservation District, Tompkins said. Our activities are massive. We are the third-largest conservation district in the state of Florida. One of their biggest projects last year was planting 20,000 trees despite the COVID pandemic raging around them. "If you pass this bill, a person with a Ph.D. in agronomy who worked for the University of Florida for 30 years in soil nutrition couldnt be on one of these boards, Tompkins said. Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando Roy Davis, the previous chair, had over 70 years in the horticulture business but wouldnt qualify because he is not actively farming right now, Tompkins said. But he is one of the most intelligent people in Florida. Hutsons bill could also shut the doors on minority representation, which in turn would limit diversity, she said. If you stop letting the public compete for these positions youre going to narrow it to the agricultural community, which has very few minority members, she said. We have minority representation and we are very proud of that. Shelby Green, the first Black woman supervisor to serve on the Leon County district, said she wouldnt be able to serve on the board under Hutsons proposal because she has no background in agriculture. But her background in chemical engineering and computer science has helped draw more people to the district to learn about conservation, she said. Leon County Soil and Water Conservation District 5 Representative Shelby Green As the population is growing, less people are interested in agriculture and conservation, and they dont receive information in the traditional sense, she said. Her solution was to create a Twitter bot that posts air quality information online every day. This tech change has allowed more people to engage with our board, she said. When thinking about this bill, think about other people who don't have a background in agriculture but have the perspective to help people care more about the environment, Green added. People in tech should be allowed to serve on this board. Robert Stenstream, who served on the Marion County district for 17 years, has a background in metal fabrication and almost everything else other than farming. Almost everything that came before the board didn't require you to have a degree in farming or know how to plant a seed, Stenstream said. Many things that the board considers are not even related to farming. Jeffrey Schweers is a capital bureau reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida. Contact Schweers at jschweers@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers. Subscribe today using the link at the top of the page and never miss a story. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida soil, water districts still in crosshairs of legislation this year Former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison, right, and his attorney Stew Mathews listen to Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith during a pre-trial conference on Friday, where Judge Smith moved Hankison's trial to Feb. 1, 2022. April 23, 2021 LOUISVILLE, Ky. Former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison's effort to keep the public and news media from watching juror questioning in his criminal case has been denied. Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith has ordered that individual jury questioning will remain open, but no one watching proceedings can take photos or videos inside the courtroom. Smith said the "extensive media coverage this case has generated" has necessitated this "narrowly tailored limitation." "Jurors will individually take the witness stand and submit to questioning by counsel, a process that is inherently intimidating to a lay person," she wrote in the Thursday order. "The court finds that jurors will be likely to be less intimidated by this process, and therefore more likely to be candid in their responses, if they know there is no possibility that the general public and the media present at the proceeding have the ability to broadcast or otherwise record their testimony." Hankison faces three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, a class D felony, for the shooting at unfolded at Breonna Taylor's apartment just before 1 a.m. on March 13, 2020. Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith gestures while talking to defense attorney Stew Mathews during a pre-trial conference on Friday. Judge Smith moved the trial to Feb. 1, 2022, because of a Kentucky Supreme Court directive giving priority to trials of people being held in jail. April 23, 2021 However, the charges aren't for endangering Taylor but rather three of her neighbors in an adjacent unit pierced by some of his 10 rounds. The ex-detective has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection will begin Friday, when around 250 potential jurors will be summoned and given a questionnaire. Some of those jurors will then be instructed to return Feb. 1, for individual questioning, with general jury selection set to begin Feb. 22 and a trial to follow. Stew Mathews, Hankison's defense attorney, filed a motion last Friday seeking to ban the news media and public from seeing the individual questioning of jurors, known as individual voir dire. The Attorney General's Office, which is acting as the special prosecutor in this case, opposed the effort, as did The Courier Journal, the Associated Press and WDRB Media. Story continues Smith's order followed a hearing on the matter Wednesday morning. Mathews said his goal was "not to start a war with the media." "Rather, my goal is to do everything in my power to ensure that to ensure that Brett Hankison can be tried by a jury that's fair, that's impartial and that's unbiased," he said. "And I think this motion, perhaps, will give you a tool to see, or to ensure, that that happens." Assistant Attorney General Barbara Whaley talks to Circuit Judge Ann Bailey Smith during a pre-trial conference for former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison Friday, where Judge Smith moved the trial to Feb. 1, 2022, because of a Kentucky Supreme Court directive giving priority to trials of people being held in jail. Mathews reminded Smith he had filed a motion for a change of venue last year for similar reasons: "the massive, prejudicial, inflammatory publicity of the incident itself and then the events that occurred thereafter" in Louisville. "I would wager there are very few citizens of Jefferson County that is, prospective jurors who have not heard about the case, have not discussed it and not formed an opinion or expressed an opinion or stated an opinion somewhere along the line," he said. "All that concerns me greatly and deeply with respect to our potential to pick an impartial jury." Barbara Maines Whaley, a prosecutor from the Attorney General's Office, argued Smith has options that stop short of completely closing individual voir dire, such as prohibiting live-streaming, providing audio-only access outside the courtroom or providing news outlets with a DVD of the entire proceeding after the fact. Michael Abate, the First Amendment attorney representing The Courier Journal, AP and WDRB, said the U.S. Supreme Court is clear that the "baseline rule is that questioning of individual jurors must be done in public with the court controlling the process." Mathews said he is also concerned potential jurors would not be as open in their answers as attorneys would like with journalists present, and that they may fear their identities will be leaked. Smith said she shared Mathews' concerns about a "chilling effect on the candor of jurors," especially as they are questioned individually with reporters watching. "It will be my job to try to ease any concerns that they have and make them feel as comfortable as possible in this already uncomfortable setting so that they will give us the responses to the questions that we're asking of them," she said. Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman and emergency room technician, was fatally shot by LMPD officers as they attempted to execute a search warrant looking for drugs and cash at her apartment around 12:40 a.m. Taylor's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, fired one shot from his legally owned handgun when after officers used a battering ram to force open the apartment's front door. Walker's shot struck Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly in the thigh, severing his femoral artery. In turn, Mattingly fired six rounds, detective Myles Cosgrove fired 16 and Hankison fired 10. Taylor was struck six times by Cosgrove and Mattingly, with the FBI concluding Cosgrove fired the fatal shot. Walker has maintained he did not know it was officers on the other side of the door, but officers insist they announced their presence. Walker was initially charged for the shooting, but the criminal case against him has since been permanently dismissed. Hankison was fired for his role in the shooting June 2020. Then-interim Chief Robert Schroeder accused Hankison of "blindly" firing 10 rounds into Taylor's apartment, calling his actions "a shock to the conscience." Attorney General Daniel Cameron said Hankison's bullets did not strike Taylor. The other two officers, who did shoot Taylor, are not facing state criminal charges, as Cameron's team concluded they were defending themselves. Cosgrove, too, was fired from LMPD in 2020 for the shooting. Mattingly retired last year. Reach Tessa Duvall at tduvall@courier-journal.com and 502-582-4059. Twitter: @TessaDuvall. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Breonna Taylor: Judge rules media can watch Hankison jury selection BrewDog's DogTap Columbus, 96 Gender Road in Canal Winchester. Brewdog chief executive and co-founder James Watt has been accused of inappropriate behavior and abuse of power in the workplace by employees. The allegations are coming out of a documentary by BBC Scotland, where the brewery was founded. According to the news organization, over a dozen current and former employees of the company have made accusations against Watt, including employees from BrewDog's Central Ohio locations. Lawyers for Watt have said the allegations are false and he denies having behaved inappropriately. Last year, 300 former and current BrewDog employees signed an open letter accusing the BrewDog chief of leading over a "toxic" workplace culture. Watt at the time responded to the letter with an apology, and a subsequent response from former employees foreshadowed the current accusations. "Many of the things that ground us down at BrewDog will never be proved, because they happened in person, and thus we felt we had to remain vague citing specific examples could expose people to repercussions," read the second open letter, published by Punks with a Purpose, a group formed in 2020 to call out the company and its silence during allegations of more widespread sexism and misogyny. "It's not our intention to share more stories at this moment, but make no mistake we hear these people, we believe and support them, and if the right circumstances arise, we will help amplify their voices too." The documentary now sheds light on additional claims, including that female employees of the BrewDog DogTap, the brewery's flagship taproom and facility in Canal Winchester, would intentionally dress down as to not draw attention from Watt, and that Watt had been witnessed by staff kissing an intoxicated customer on the roof of BrewDog's Franklinton bar. Other accusations included that Watt had been witnessed flirting with a staff member before taking her to the roof at BrewDog's Canal Winchester headquarters, and regularly took intoxicated women customers on private, late-night tours of the DogTap brewery, making employees feel uncomfortable. Story continues Watt's lawyer told the BBC that he does not just take female customers on private tours, but "both women and men, friends and customers," and that people who accompany him are not intoxicated. The lawyer said the claim, made last year, was investigated by BrewDog USA's human resources and was not substantiated. As for claims Watt gave unwanted attention to female staff members, the lawyer pointed to an investigation by Worthington-based human resources outsourcing firm Centric HC, which concluded there was "no substance" to the claims. BrewDog USA's press relations team provided a statement to The Columbus Dispatch, similarly noting the claims are "not accurate" but that Watt has expressed "considerable regret" if his behavior has made staff feel uncomfortable. "To those former crew members for whom BrewDog failed to meet their expectations, we are sorry," read the statement, attributed to BrewDog chairman Allan Leighton. "To those who felt strongly enough about their experience to participate in the programme, we urge them to get in touch with our HR Team or use our independent ethics hotline so we can listen and act. Their feedback is hugely valuable." The report by BBC Scotland came just five days after a different BBC investigation, which found BrewDog had sent multiple shipments of beer to the US with ingredients not approved by federal law in 2016 and 2017. Those claims were made by Scottish staff and one U.S.-based importer. On Jan. 19, Watt published a post on LinkedIn, entitled "My Biggest Mistakes As BrewDog CEO," where he admitted to making "some mistakes with the paperwork" on some of the company's first beer shipments to the U.S., but that the company self-reported the issue to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), though he does not say when. Officials with the TTB told BBC that a three-year statute of limitations prevented any action from being taken against BrewDog. In a provided statement from BrewDog USA, the company again noted the issue was self-reported and that it is committed to "world-class compliance." "We are confident in our ongoing compliance practices and can confirm these instances were one-offs as BrewDog entered the US market over 5 years ago," the statement read. "Further, we have confirmed that all ingredients in the 2016 and 2017 Elvis Juice and Jet Black Heart recipes are approved in the US for consumption and were at all times safe for consumption and legal." tmoorman@dispatch.com @TaijuanNichole This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: BrewDog co-founder James Watt accused of inappropriate behavior Back in 2020, California governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that will ban the sales of new gasoline and diesel vehicles in the state by 2035. While California already represents half the EV market in the US, the state's officials know that they have to offer help and incentives to accelerate EV adoption and reach an all-electric future. They need to take steps so that removing gas vehicles from the market wouldn't hurt consumers. California committed $3.9 billion for its EV-related initiatives last year, and Newsom recently proposed the addition of $6.1 billion to the state's zero-emission vehicle package to bring the total to $10 billion. Now, the governor has detailed what he plans to do with the money. First off, Newsom is hoping to make EVs more accessible by putting aside $256 million for low-income consumer EV purchases and spending $900 million on deploying affordable charging options to low-income neighborhoods. Another $935 million will also be spent to add 1,000 zero-emission short-haul trucks and 1,700 electric buses to the state's fleet. $1.5 billion will be used to electrify school buses, while $1.1 billion will be used to buy trucks, buses, off-road equipment and fueling infrastructure. California will spend $400 million on the electrification of ports and $419 million to support projects that increase access to zero-emission transportation in low-income communities, as well. Alvaro Sanchez, Vice President of Policy at The Greenlining Institute non-profit org, said in a statement: "To achieve California's climate goals we must focus on the needs of the most polluted and underserved neighborhoods. Governor Newsoms ZEV investment proposal recognizes this reality. We're excited to work with the Governor and the Legislature to prove to the rest of the country that we can not only advance our climate agenda but also advance equity." You can read more information about the proposal on the governor's website. Cambridge firefighter Jeff Hickenbottom checks one of the radios that will be replaced with new MARCS (Multi-Agency Radio Communication Systems)-capable radios after the department received a 2022 MARCS grant totaling $27,150 to replace the outdated radios in all fire department vehicles. The Cambridge Fire Department and four area volunteer fire departments have been awarded more than $38,600 in 2022 MARCS grants appropriated by the Ohio General Assembly and Gov. Mike DeWine. A Body-Worn Camera grant was also awarded to the Byesville Police Department. The Cambridge Fire Department will receive $27,150 to replace the existing radios in eight vehicles with MARCS (Multi-Agency Radio Communication Systems) capable radios. "Several years ago the county as a whole applied for a MARCS grant and you had the option of choosing hand-held radios or new radios for your vehicles. We chose the hand-held radios," said Cambridge Chief Jeff Deeks. "Unbeknownst to us, the state came along a few years later and said the radios we have in the vehicles are obsolete. They cannot accept the new upgrades, so we had to apply for a new grant to replace them with MARCS capable radios." Deeks said he expects the grant to pay for nearly all of the cost to purchase and install the MARCS radios in the department's vehicles. "With inflation since we received the quote for the radios, I expect the grant will pay about 98% of the cost and we definitely needed it," said Deeks. "Now when upgrades come along, our radios in the vehicles will be able to accept them." Other fire departments benefiting from the MARCS grant include Cumberland, $6,240; Quaker City, $1,440; and Pleasant City, $1,200 in Guernsey County, and Belle Valley, $2,610, in Noble County. "You have user fees every year with the MARCS system and necessary equipment, so fire departments, especially the volunteer departments, can benefit from the grants," said Deeks. "The grants given out by the state have been well worth it. All you have to do is apply and keep your fingers crossed." The Cumberland fire department will use $3,480 of its award to purchase new MARCS equipment and $2,760 for associated service fees while the Quaker City and Pleasant City departments will pay service fees with their grants. Story continues The Belle Valley department will also purchase equipment with its grant award. Statewide, $3.5 million in 2022 MARCS grants was awarded to 212 fire departments in 57 of Ohio's 88 counties with nearly $3.4 million being used to purchase equipment while the remaining funds, $104,400, will go to service fees. The MARCS radio system allows first responders to communicate with each other and other agencies and departments responding to an incident. Byesville Police Department Byesville Police Chief Daulton Dolan said the Body-Worn Camera grant will allow him to buy four new body cameras. "We will be able to purchase cameras that we can use now to replace older cameras that went down and use in the future," said Dolan. The chief said he previously solicited a private donation to replace some of the police department's broken cameras prior to learning of the grant award on Tuesday. The state awarded $4.7 million in Body-Worn Camera grants 109 local law enforcement agencies for expenses associated with launching or maintaining body-worn camera programs. This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Cambridge FD, other departments receive funds for MARCS radios In this article: He's having the best season of his career, better than his Norris Trophy-winning season of a not-so-distant past. Roman Josi also is breaking Nashville Predators franchise records left and right. So what gives? Why won't he be in Vegas with Juuse Saros for All-Star weekend? Predators beat reporter Paul Skrbina and Tennessean columnist Gentry Estes discuss this and more on the latest edition of Catfish Corner. More: How do the Nashville Predators grade halfway through the season? More: Here's the truth about John Hynes and the Nashville Predators Subscribe to Catfish Corner: A Predators Podcast Spreaker | iTunes |Google Play Music Reach Paul Skrbina at pskrbina@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @PaulSkrbina. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Predators podcast: Roman Josi not going to All-Star weekend What are related parties calculating amid massive military buildup regarding Ukraine? Xinhua) 08:18, January 27, 2022 -- The tensions grew last week, as the United States sent two batches of military assistance to Ukraine as part of a military package worth 200 million U.S. dollars. Another batch of U.S. defensive aid arrived in Kiev on Tuesday. -- Some Ukrainian experts believed such panic of a possible conflict is artificially fomented. Igor Petrenko, an analyst at the International Center for Advanced Study, said the United States and Russia seem to be raising stakes ahead of possible dialogue between the two sides in the future. -- Amid mounting tensions regarding Ukraine, Russian and U.S. officials held talks on Jan. 10 and Jan. 21 in Geneva. Russian representatives and NATO officials also held negotiations on Jan. 12 in Brussels. However, the talks have all ended without major breakthrough as expected, as related sides reportedly failed to find common ground on some issues, including NATO's non-expansion, a key demand from Moscow. KIEV, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Relations between Ukraine and Russia have deteriorated recently, with both sides allegedly massing large numbers of military personnel and equipment in their border areas. Meanwhile, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are stepping up military activities in Eastern Europe amid tensions regarding Ukraine, despite Russia's warning that strengthened NATO presence near its borders are a "national security threat." Attempts to defuse the tensions have come up with scarcely any results, as the latest talks between related sides have achieved no major breakthroughs. And yet experts believe diplomatic options remain. RISING TENSIONS Since November, Kiev and some western countries have accused Russia of assembling heavy troops near the Ukrainian border with a possible intention of "invasion." Denying any intention to attack any country, Russia said it has the right to mobilize troops within its borders to defend its territory, as NATO's increasing military activities near Russia's borders constitute a threat to Russia's border security. The tensions grew last week, as the United States sent two batches of military assistance to Ukraine as part of a military package worth 200 million U.S. dollars. Another batch of U.S. defensive aid arrived in Kiev on Tuesday. Last week, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also received anti-tank defensive weapons from Britain, while Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania pledged military support for Ukraine. On Monday, NATO said in a statement that Denmark, Spain, France and the Netherlands are sending or planning to send ships, planes or troops to NATO's deployments in Eastern Europe, adding that already present on the ground are Britain, Canada and Germany. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday the Russian military cannot ignore NATO's increase in military activities as tensions regarding Ukraine have flared up. In addition to the NATO maneuvers, Ukrainian authorities are massing forces on the line of contact with the two self-proclaimed republics in Donbass, Peskov noted. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (R) and Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna attend a joint press point at NATO Headquarters before the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong) The current escalation of tensions was caused by the United States and its NATO allies, who have launched a propaganda campaign full of lies against Russia, he said. In another development, the United States and Britain on Monday began withdrawing some staff and dependents from their embassies in Ukraine, stoking fears that a conflict is looming. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it considered the U.S. decision "premature and a manifestation of excessive caution." Ukrainian political analyst Igor Chalenko said the two Western countries have no ample grounds for the move, which is unequivocally regarded in the world as a deterioration in the security situation in the host country. "Considering that there have been no fundamental changes on the Ukrainian borders over the past year (the concentration of Russian troops has even somewhat decreased), today there is no reason to fully support the corresponding step by Washington and London," said Chalenko. The United States and Britain are possibly withdrawing diplomats' families from Kiev in a move to prove the expediency of weapons supplies to Ukraine, he said. "It can be assumed that such a step with the evacuation is also aimed at leveling the opponents of providing new batches of weapons within these countries." POSSIBLE CONFLICT? Speaking at a press conference after an urgent meeting held on Monday by Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), Oleksiy Danilov, NSDC's secretary, urged Ukrainians to remain calm, stressing that a full-scale conflict is off the table at the moment. "We don't see any grounds for allegations of an offensive against our country today. It would be impossible to pull this out, even physically," he said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told local TV channel ICTV that intelligence data showed the Russian military has not created a single strike group. Following the NSDC meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian authorities together with partners are working toward full de-escalation and progress along the path of a peaceful settlement. "Everything is under control, there is no reason for panic," he said. The U.S. Department of Defense announced Monday that some 8,500 U.S. troops have been put on heightened alert for a possible deployment due to escalating tensions on the Russia-Ukraine border, with no decision on formal deployments. When asked about this possibility, Peskov said Tuesday these claims will not affect the current negotiations on Moscow's security guarantees. Russia "needs to get the written response from the United States and NATO" to the recent security proposals, he said, hoping that this would happen this week. However, the White House and U.S. media outlets seemed not to be on the same page with some Ukrainian and Russian officials. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned embassy staff that Russia could soon attack Ukraine during his recent visit to Kiev. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meet to discuss the security situation around Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine, Jan. 19, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Office/Handout via Xinhua) "This is an extremely dangerous situation. We're now at a stage where Russia could at any point launch an attack on Ukraine," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters last week. On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters that what is in Putin's mind remains vague, and that "it all comes down to his decision." Some Ukrainian experts believed such panic of a possible conflict is artificially fomented. Igor Petrenko, an analyst at the International Center for Advanced Study, said the United States and Russia seem to be raising stakes ahead of possible dialogue between the two sides in the future. "Of course, they will reach some agreements. The higher the degree of the talks now about the reality of a war that could escalate into a global conflict, the less negative consequences will be if an agreement is reached," he said. "There is a big game going on between the U.S. and Russia, and Ukraine is just a tool in it," said Ukrainian military expert Oleg Zhdanov. DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS Amid mounting tensions regarding Ukraine, Russian and U.S. officials held talks on Jan. 10 and Jan. 21 in Geneva. Russian representatives and NATO officials also held negotiations on Jan. 12 in Brussels. Alexander Lukashevich, Russia's permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), speaks to reporters in Vienna, Austria, Jan. 13, 2022. (Photo by Georges Schneider/Xinhua) However, the talks have all ended without major breakthrough as expected, as related sides reportedly failed to find common ground on some issues, including NATO's non-expansion, a key demand from Moscow. On Wednesday, political envoys from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France will meet in Paris for separate talks aimed at resolving the crisis. Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's envoy to the talks, said the meeting will discuss the 2015 Minsk Agreements and steps to end the military conflict in eastern Ukraine. Also this week, the U.S. side is expected to provide a promised written response to Russia's proposals on security guarantees, which were discussed during the Friday meeting between Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Last month, Kremlin issued a set of demands to the United States and NATO, including a promise that the military bloc would not expand further eastward, according to U.S. media reports. Moscow also wants NATO to promise that Ukraine will never be added as a member, that no alliance weapons will be deployed near Russian borders, and that it pulls back its forces from Central and Eastern Europe. Many Ukrainian experts believed NATO is unlikely to make concessions on the non-expansion issue, and the only way out is to persuade Kiev to reconsider its intentions to join NATO. "If Ukraine itself decides to abandon its plans to join NATO, adopting neutral status and decentralization with broad rights for the regions, then the conflict will be settled automatically," said Chalenko. "The West and the Russian Federation will only have to breathe a sigh of relief and seal this status quo with their guarantees," he added. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) A man who had been convicted of murder was tearful and joyful Tuesday as he was released from custody, years after his identical twin confessed to the crime, his attorney said. Kevin Dugar was released from Cook County Jail after a motion for bond was granted. He will live in a residential transitional facility as a condition of his release, and is generally not allowed to leave the facility for 90 days, according to Cook County Circuit Court document. Advertisement Dugars attorney, Ron Safer, said he hopes Dugars case will not be retried. This case is in a very different situation than it was 20 years ago, Safer said. Everybody knows much more about it. Advertisement Dugar was convicted of a 2003 gang-related murder on Chicagos North Side, near Sheridan Road and Argyle Street. A decade later, his brother, Karl Smith, confessed to the murder. I have to get it off my chest before it kills me, Smith wrote in a 2013 letter to his imprisoned brother, as he confessed to the crime. So Ill just come clean and pray you can forgive me. A judge found the confession completely unreliable in 2018, so Dugar remained incarcerated. The judge cited the fact that Smith was already serving a 99-year prison sentence for his involvement in a 2008 home invasion and armed robbery that left a 6-year-old boy shot in the head. However, Dugars conviction was later reversed by the Court of Appeals, which found it likely that a jury hearing all of the evidence would reach a different conclusion than the one that convicted him, according to a document from Dugars attorney. The Cook County states attorneys office has not indicated that its inclined to drop the case, Safer said. The office did not immediately respond to request for comment Wednesday. Dugar was joyful, emotional and pretty overwhelmed after he was released Tuesday and was able to hug his family, Safer said. Masking in Iowa schools continues to be this week as school officials weigh how to handle a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit's decision. In May, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a ban on mask mandates that included school districts. A group of parents of students with disabilities and the ACLU of Iowa sued in September because they believed the law violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act by not providing equal access to education for students with disabilities. A district court judge issued an injunction last year which allowed school officials to put mask mandates in place. Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education appealed the decision. The question over masks in schools came to the forefront again Tuesday when a three-judge panel ruled school districts can continue to have mask requirements in place to protect students with disabilities. The decision also directed the district court judge to narrow the original ruling to school districts named in the lawsuit. Copies of posters encouraging mask wearing, shown on Monday, Aug. 9, 2021, are being made to hang in Des Moines Public School buildings when the new school year begins. From November: Federal court will decide the fate of mask mandates in Iowa schools Here is what schools are doing following Tuesday's court decision. Iowa school districts that are keeping their mask mandate Des Moines Public Schools, one of 10 districts named in the lawsuit, plans to continue its mask mandate, according to a district news release. This is due to the portion of the ruling where the judges asked that the original "injunction blocking Iowas anti-mask law be narrowed to those 'schools and districts' attended by the children of parents who sued to stop the states mask ban," the release states. Ending the district's mandate while cases of the COVID-19 omicron variant are so high could also lead to student or staff illness, and disruption to student learning and services, the district said. Even before the injunction last year, Des Moines schools' officials launched a wearing is caring campaign to encourage students and staff to mask up. Story continues Iowa City Community School District, also named in the suit, has left its mandate in place. These Iowa school districts are dropping mask mandates Wednesday morning, Burlington School District suspended its mask mandate that has been in place since September. Marshalltown Community School District announced it was dropping its requirement Wednesday evening. Ames, Urbandale, Cedar Rapids and West Des Moines school districts dropped their mandates Tuesday. The decisions come even as state officials said they would honor the current injunction that allows school districts across the state to put them in place. Additionally, the ACLU believes before the lawsuit is settled, more schools will be required to have mask mandates. More: Burlington School District suspends mask mandate following federal court ruling Other suburban Des Moines school districts who dropped their mask mandates prior to Tuesday's ruling include Ankeny. That school district dropped its mandate after a contentious school board election. Additionally, Southeast Polk Community School District's mask mandate for elementary students ended at the end of December, West Burlington ended its mandate Oct. 7 and Johnston schools ended its mandate Nov. 29. Indianola, Norwalk, Carlisle, Bondurant-Farrar and Waukee school districts did not have mask mandates in place during the 2021-22 school year. Samantha Hernandez covers education for the Register. Reach her at (515) 851-0982 or svhernandez@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @svhernandez or Facebook at facebook.com/svhernandezreporter. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa mask mandates in schools around Des Moines after court ruling We may receive commission from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change. This body cream works well on very dry skin and can even help psoriasis. (Photo: Amazon) If dry skin has been plaguing you all winter and nothing seems to be quenching it, it might be time for a more intense solution. Fortunately, Cetaphil, a big name in the skin care world and a dermatologist favorite, has just the solution its Moisturizing Body Cream made for very dry skin. It's garnered more than 18,500 five-star reviews, with some shoppers saying it's even powerful enough to help with their psoriasis. The best part? It's on sale at Amazon for just $14 (was $17). If you have Amazon Prime, youll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.) It's clinically proven to help repair your skin's moisture barrier, reducing flaky patches. (Photo: Amazon) $14 $17 at Amazon In the winter, there are so many factors that can wreak havoc on our skin. 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(Photo: Amazon) The formula is so powerful that some reviewers have even been touting this Cetaphil Body Cream as a good over-the-counter solution for psoriasis. According to Dr. Joshua Zeichner, Associate Professor of Dermatology at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, psoriasis is best described as an "inflammation in the skin leading to scaly, thick plaques that typically occur on the elbows and knees," though that inflammation can occur anywhere on the body. While more severe cases of psoriasis may require medical attention, Dr. Zeichner says that over-the-counter solutions can help with some mild cases. When looking for skin care ingredients, be sure to look for "calming, hydrating and exfoliating" treatments, he tells Yahoo Life. For some shoppers, the combined vitamins and oils, plus the hypoallergenic formula of this cream has helped reduce the intense dry patches caused by their psoriasis. "I use this for my face and body. It works for both. 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Check these out: TV deals: Headphones and earbud deals: Smartphone and tablet deals: Video game deals: Vacuum deals: Fashion deals: Kitchen deals: Beauty deals: Bedding deals: Health and Wellness Sports & Outdoors Read More from Yahoo Life: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Want daily pop culture news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Entertainment & Life's newsletter. The Daily Beast ReutersTroops sent into Ukraine to back up Russian forces say they had no choice but to leave because Russian military was in shambles and they deceived us at every step.Soldiers from the breakaway state of South Ossetiaspeaking to South Ossetian leader Anatoly Bibilov at a meeting publicized by the independent news outlet MediaZonarattled off a list of complaints about faulty equipment, lack of leadership and intel, and brainless tactics.South Ossetia, which relies heavily on military and f NEW YORK (AP) The NBA has announced Charlotte Hornets forward PJ Washington and Toronto Raptors forward Justin Champagnie have been fined $15,000 apiece for their roles in an on-court altercation on Tuesday. On the play before the confrontation, Washington knocked Champagnie to the floor with a hip check. On the next possession, Champagnie shoved Washington in the back, initiating the altercation. Washington escalated the matter by shoving Champagnie. Both were ejected with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter of Torontos 125-113 home victory. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports BEIJING (Reuters) - China's foreign ministry said that the European Union should not allow Lithuania to hijack their relations, after the trading bloc launched a case against Beijing over what it called discriminatory trading practices versus the Baltic state. The China-Lithuania issue is political, not economic, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular briefing in Beijing. A row between China and Lithuania erupted after the Baltic state allowed the opening of the Taiwanese Representation office in Vilnius. (Reporting by Yew Lun Tian, writing by Gabriel Crossley; Editing by Himani Sarkar) The universities and colleges providing students with the most opportunities for long-term economic success are Hispanic-serving Institutions in California, New York and Texas, according to an analysis published Thursday. Third Way, a center-left public policy think tank, assessed the degree of economic mobility higher education institutions provide to low- and moderate-income students. Experts have usually used the price-to-earnings premium metric, or PEP, to understand how well colleges are serving low-income students. PEP measures the time it takes students to recoup the costs of attending college based off the earnings boost they get by attending the institution. But this metric alone doesn't account for the overall share or number of low- and moderate-income students a school serves, meaning that highly selective or elite universities which admit only a handful of low-income students each year can appear to perform better than they actually do when it comes to incentivizing broader economic mobility across the nation, Michael Itzkowitz, a higher education senior fellow at the Third Way, argues in the analysis. "Instead of prioritizing reputation and selectivity, we propose a new rating system known as the Economic Mobility Index (EMI) that attempts to answer the question: 'If the primary purpose of postsecondary education is supposed to be to catalyze an increase in economic mobility, which schools are succeeding in that goal?'" Itzkowitz writes. The top 10 schools with the highest PEP scores for low-income students, including Stanford and Duke, as well as other private and highly selective universities, enrolled only 15,168 Pell Grant recipients in one year. These are low- and moderate-income students who received a federal grant to cover a portion of tuition costs. But the top 10 schools with the most economic mobility, based on the EMI metric, enrolled over six times as many Pell Grant recipients (95,619) in a year. Story continues Based on the EMI metric, six state schools in California, two public colleges in New York, and two public universities in Texas are doing a better job of promoting economic mobility and a path to the middle class. All of these schools also happen to be Hispanic-serving Institutions, or HSIs, meaning that at least a quarter of their student population is Hispanic. According to the analysis, these institutions have "generous state funding that allows public four-year colleges in these states to be some of the most affordable options," and consequently have "large shares of low-income students enrolled in higher education." A combination of these factors helped these public colleges and universities provide more opportunities for students who need it compared to other higher education institutions, the analysis found. Students who graduate from these colleges and universities are also more likely to recoup their educational costs in two years or less, according to the analysis. Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Typing on a keyboard In the 1979 Frances Ford Coppola film "Apocalypse Now," Marlon Brando played Col. Walter Kurtz, a strange and complex character who had a particular line that sticks out to me. "I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering across the edge of a straight razor and surviving." The line has many interpretations for many people. To me, it stressed the fragility of life, and survival. I didn't see a snail the other day, but I did see a "stink bug" at a store, walking across the carpet in a display area. It brought back that movie scene to me. I don't know the lifespan of one of these insects, but it is probably pretty short, as most are. But, given the high traffic area, I thought I would give him a leg up, so to speak, or maybe six? I was able to coax him onto a piece of paper and took him to an area in the back that seemed to be quieter, with less foot traffic. More in opinion: Indiana lawmakers are too busy debating narrow causes to address real problems I have always been a big animal lover with a long list of pets, and I also try to help feed the birds and give to animal rescue groups when I can. However, when I was a boy, I had my moments of immaturity and stupidity with nature. Like when I was about 12 and got a BB gun of the Red Ryder type. My friend and I got the notion to shoot at birds that were coming to our feeder. We wound up breaking the glass in the feeders. When my dad got home, he showed his disapproval in more ways than one! Many years later, a similar incident happened with my son, and I also found out that my dad had been guilty of this precocious tomfoolery as well. It seems kids sometimes simply aren't quite fully wired in those formative years. I guess the secret, as they say, is to get wise before you get old? A life in the animal world has sanctity just like humans'. And though not human, it is to be preserved and revered just the same. I respect insects, and even snakes, as long as biting, stinging or spreading disease is not imminent. Story continues I like to target shoot occasionally, but do not hunt. I have friends who are hunters, but I don't judge them. However, I do object to hunts for gray wolves and other animals that have recently been on the endangered species list. It seems we finally get their numbers back up and then decide to thin them out again. The recent slaughter of koala bears in Australia was particularly disheartening, considering it could have been avoided with proper planning by developers. Join the conversation: How to submit a letter to the editor or guest column to The Herald-Times Nature can certainly be cruel at times, but we humans don't have to be. That's because animals act mostly on instinct, and we have the ability to reason. I encourage you to do what you can for the animal world in your own way. Adopt a pet, especially an older one that can be less popular than a puppy. Donate your time, goods or money to animal shelters, rescue groups or other animal causes. Don't ever abandon or give up on a pet just because they are older and can't hunt or do service anymore. Help a turtle across the road in the direction it was going. Or, maybe even help an insect get across a showroom floor. It may not make a world of difference, but it can make a world of difference to them. Lance Fox is retired from the Monroe County Community School Corp., where he was a teacher for 36 years, and has also worked as an entertainer. This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Column: Do what you can to help animals survive, thrive LAFAYETTE, Ind. Wednesday marked the deadline for Indiana Sen. Mark Messmer, the chairman of the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee, to decide if hed hear pro-climate legislation. Students from Confront the Climate Crisis, which was founded in West Lafayette and now includes high school students from other Indiana cities, watched in anticipation. Messmer, R-Jasper, declined. Members of the group had trekked to the Statehouse earlier this month in hopes of persuading lawmakers to address climate change in legislation. Were the ones who will grow up and inherit the state and deal with the future they are leaving for us, Rahul Durai, a sophomore at West Lafayette Jr./Sr. High School, told the IndyStar. Messmer, who chairs the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee, told the IndyStar before the deadline he would not hear the Senate legislation. Indiana Sen. Ron Alting (R, Lafayette) encourages student Claire Curran to keep fighting for her beliefs after she and other student members of the "Confront the Climate Crisis" group spoke on legislative advocacy day, Jan. 18, 2022, at the Indiana Statehouse. In the wake of his decision, students from Confront the Climate Crisis expressed their disappointment. Despite so many Hoosiers across Indiana coming together around this important issue, our legislation was denied a hearing by the Chairman of the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee, Senator Mark Messmer," according to their statement. "Representing the youth voice of Indiana, we realize that the climate crisis puts Indianas future well-being in jeopardy, and we rely on those in power to hear our concerns and enact change. "Therefore, we must hold our state officials accountable. Senator Messmers inaction against this statewide threat sends a message to all Hoosiers, particularly the youth: your voices are not being heard by our state government." Students in bipartisan group "Confront the Climate Crisis," Rahul Durai, left, and Siya Goel, right, speak to fellow students and legislators on legislative advocacy day, Jan. 18, 2022, at the Indiana Statehouse. Over the past year, Confront the Climate Crisis has worked with Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, to author Senate Bill 255, and Rep. Carey Hamilton, D-Indianapolis, to House Bill 1287, which both aimed to create a bipartisan task force comprised of experts to help guide Indiana policymaker in addressing climate change. Story continues Rahul Durai, a sophomore at West Lafayette Jr./Sr. high school, speaks during the Confront the Climate Crisis rally on the John T. Myers Pedestrian Bridge, Friday, Sept. 24, 2021 in Lafayette. Alting also authored Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, which asks the Indiana General Assembly to acknowledge climate change as a serious problem for Indiana and to recognizes climate change and sustainable economic development has the potential to create high-skilled jobs, combat "brain drain," decrease consumer energy costs, and enhance workforce development for Indiana while simultaneously mitigating climate change. In an article by the IndyStar, Messmer said he felt the task force bill was redundant because the issue could be addressed through, for example, the 21st Century Energy Policy Task Force. It's not a given, though, the committee would entertain the topic. The group, in the release, also highlighted the large amount of support that their task force bill had gained throughout the state. Over the past several months, we have garnered an outpouring of nonpartisan and widespread support for Senate Concurrent Resolution 3 and Senate Bill 255 from grassroots organizations, public officials, and everyday Hoosiers from across Indiana, in every region of the state. "This support includes a coalition of 80 organizations and public officials from across Indiana that has endorsed this legislation. It also includes a coalition of organizations in State Senate District 48, Senator Messmers constituency, who publicly called on Senator Messmer to hold a hearing for this legislation, stated the press release. But despite their loss at the Indiana Statehouse, the students thanked the policymakers who helped them through this journey and to those who supported their cause: Nonetheless, we are so grateful for the brave leadership and dedication of the state legislators who have helped us and supported SCR 3 and SB 255: Senator Ron Alting (R-22), Senator Mike Bohacek (R-8), Senator Sue Glick (R-13), Senator Vaneta Becker (R-50), Senator Fady Qaddoura (D-30), Senator J.D. Ford (D-29), Senator Shelli Yoder (D-40), Representative Carey Hamilton (D-87), Representative Chris Campbell (D-26), Representative Donna Schaibley (R-24), and Representative Mike Aylesworth (R-11). We are also extremely overtaken and thankful for the support across Indiana that has risen over the past several months to strengthen our cause. Although this is not the result we had hoped for, our vision for the future of Indiana persists. We are proud of the great strides that we have accomplished throughout this process, and we know that the fight for climate and environmental justice for Hoosiers is not over. The empowered youth of Confront the Climate Crisis will continue environmental advocacy throughout the rest of the 2022 Legislative Session and well into the future. Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter at 1NoePadilla. This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette's Confront the Climate Crisis disappointed that bill dies Twitter/WSM4 Nine police officers in Tennessee opened fire on a 37-year-old man on Thursday afternoon after a confrontation on an interstate highway in Nashville. The man, who police said had been sitting on a guardrail on the busy roadway, died. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified the victim late Thursday as Landon Eastep. Samantha McGill-Barge, Easteps sister-in-law, told The Daily Beast she was baffled that he was on the highway Thursday. I wasnt aware there was anything wrong, she said. She added that Easteps widow was in contact with a lawyer but had no plans to take legal action. The two had dated for nearly four years and been married just shy of a year, McGill-Barge said. He loved my sister and my kids very much and, to my knowledge, was a good guy. Its a very unfortunate situation. Im in shock. I was at home with my kids when I found out, she said. McGill-Barge wrote in a fundraiser for Eastep and his wife that he had been murdered by several officers. This man had only a box cutter and had already shown it to officers before they killed him in cold blood, she said. He was shot for no good reason at all and he did not deserve to die. He has left behind his wife, and she has no means to financially care for herself during grieving, bury Landon, or even provide any services for her husband. Nashville court records indicate Eastep had an outstanding charge of domestic assault with bodily injury from November. His next court date was scheduled for April. In a video filmed by a bystander and posted to Twitter by news outlet WSMV, Eastep can be seen standing still in the right lane of the highway as almost a dozen Tennessee Highway Patrolmen and Nashville Police look on, guns drawn. The entire highway is blocked on both sides. Eastep raises his arms towards police, and the video pauses. Multiple gunshots can then be heard. BREAKING: TBI is investigating a deadly officer-involved shooting on I-65 in Crieve Hall this afternoon. See the latest information on the investigation. https://t.co/BN83p7EzNN pic.twitter.com/eO8YAMShYV WSMV News4 Nashville (@WSMV) January 27, 2022 In a press briefing, Nashville Metro Police spokesman Don Aaron said a Tennessee Highway Patrol officer was traveling along the interstate on Thursday afternoon when he noticed Eastep sitting on the guardrail. Story continues When the trooper stopped and spoke to Eastep, trying to get him off the highway, the man pulled out a box cutter, Aaron said. An off-duty Mt. Juliet police officer, who was traveling home with his family, saw what was happening and stopped. The two tried to deescalate the situation for the better part of half an hour, according to Aaron. The man was holding a box cutter in his left hand. His right hand was in his pocket, Aaron said. But as police officers arrived and continued speaking to Eastep, he suddenly pulled an unidentified shiny, silver cylindrical object out of his right pocket, Aaron said. Nine officers then shot Eastep, according to Aaron, who added that police have not yet determined what the object was but that it was not a firearm. No Tasers were used before the gunfire, though at least one officer had one on standby, he added. Once the shiny cylindrical object was seen, the officers fired. Not knowing what that was, the officers were firing in defense of themselves, not knowing what potential threat could have been in that right hand as it quickly emerged out of his pocket, said Aaron. Eastep was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead. Through the conversation, the trooper believed it would be OK. It was the pushing away from the trooper and producing the box cutter that escalated it up to a greater law enforcement response, he said. Traffic on both sides of the highway was backed up for miles following the confrontation, according to The Tennessean. 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. Cardinal Blase Cupich presides over a special Mass in May 2018 at St. Bernadette Church in Evergreen Park, celebrating the milestone anniversaries in the religious lives of about 50 nuns and priests. The Chicago Archdiocese announced this week St. Berndette will merge with Queen of Martys Parish, also in Evergreen Park. (Frank Vaisvilas / Daily Southtown) Two Catholic parishes in Evergreen Park will be united this summer, with use of one campus to be discontinued after two years, and parishes in Alsip and Crestwood are to merge while retaining both church buildings. Those were Renew My Church decisions handed down this week by the Chicago Archdiocese. Advertisement The Evergreen grouping is made up of Queen of Martyrs Parish and School, St. Bernadette Parish, and Most Holy Redeemer Parish and School. Most Holy Redeemer will remain untouched, while Queen of Martyrs and St. Bernadette are to unite as one parish, with one pastor and one pastoral team starting July 1. Queen of Martyrs building will remain as the sole parish church, while St. Bernadette is to be phased out over the course of two years. The archdiocese is already considering the sale of at least a portion of the St. Bernadette property to the adjacent OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center. Advertisement St. Bernadette parishioners came together to watch as the decision was announced. The Rev. Benedykt Pazdan from St. Bernadette, who was named pastor of the unified parish, issued a statement saying he is humbled and honored and prays that the two faith families can come together to build a strong community of Catholics. The decision to close St. Bernadette church within the next two years is very hard to face, not only for me as the pastor, especially since it has been my first pastorate, but for the parishioners of St. Bernadette, many of whom have called this parish their spiritual home for a number of years, he wrote. Pazdan said St. Bernadette has served the community for 75 years. The Rev. Jason Malave, liaison to Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, told a gathering for the virtual announcement there was spirited discussion about scenarios that could result in two parishes or all three in the grouping united as one. Through the discernment process, there was recognition that continuing three parishes would not be sustainable into the future, Malave said. A funeral for Chicago police Officer Bernard Domagala was held Sept. 11, 2017 at Queen of Martyrs Church in Evergreen Park. Domagala was gravely injured on the job 29 years ago. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) Malave said the Renew My Church Commission has given the new parish up to two years to transition the full schedule of Masses to Queen of Martyrs to allow a significant transition time, while recognizing the united parishs human and financial resources will be most effectively stewarded by focusing all activity on one campus, not on two, over the next couple of years. The archdiocese is to provide guidance to the parish community for possibilities regarding a new, permanent name for the united parish. Until then, the united parish is to be called Queen of Martyrs and St. Bernadette Parish. Queen of Martyrs School will be the parish school and retain its name, according to the archdiocese. Principal M. Jacob Doc Mathius said he was not surprised by the decision. Advertisement It just seemed the most likely, most logical unification. It was clear that the archdiocese was determined to unify parishes, Mathius said. Our heart breaks for our friends and colleagues over at St. Bernadette. Theyre losing their church. From an operations standpoint, Mathius said he is not expecting any immediate changes. As St. Bernadettes school closed years ago, those students have already been relocated, making the biggest change for the school that Pazdan will be the pastor of the unified parish. In the short term, its really not going to affect how we conduct our business here in school, Mathius said. In the long term, really the only thing that would remain to be seen is fathers impact on the school itself his presence in and around the building. Malave said selling the St. Bernadette school property to the hospital has been in the works for a long time. Weve been in conversation with the hospital, even before OSF took over Little Company of Mary, the prior administration, probably coming on three years now, Pazdan said. They saw an opportunity to expand and utilize the empty lot. I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to help one another. Pazdan said that a deal has not yet been signed, but any proceeds from the sale would be used for the future ministry of the parish. Malave said the archdiocese had not yet decided what would happen to the rest of the property. Advertisement Well know more in the next couple years as St. Bernadette makes its transition, Malave said. The Rev. Martin Marren, pastor at Queen of Martyrs Church in Evergreen Park, blesses animals on the parish grounds Oct. 2, 2020, in celebration of the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals and the environment, which is marked Oct. 4 each year. (Karen Callaway/Chicago Catholic) The Rev. Martin Marren, pastor of Queen of Martyrs, said he is not sure what his next assignment will be, but he thinks the archdiocese made the right decision. There is a sense of hope that the united parish communities of Queen of Martyrs and St. Bernadette will be stronger disciples of Christ and be able to perhaps pursue greater evangelization, Marren said. Its difficult, and theres some grieving with some of the people at St. Bernadette, but hopefully they can make even a stronger parish together. The Rev. James Hyland, pastor at Holy Redeemer, said he knew the grouping would see some sort of combining. I really feel bad that were having to go through this whole process, Hyland said. It does speak to me of the larger goal of Renew My Church that we do need to renew our faith, we need to start living it out more, we need to try to spread our faith to others and evangelize. Hyland, a priest of 41 years, said the next phase of Renew My Church is going to be a shift for a vast majority of priests who were trained to keep parishes running more so than evangelization. Doing that is going to take cooperation with neighboring parishes, he said. Advertisement Even though were not changing structurally at Holy Redeemer doesnt mean changes dont have to take place, Hyland said. There is going to be a change in mission, a change in direction. Alsip and Crestwood The archdiocese announced Wednesday Incarnation Parish in Crestwood and St. Terrence Parish in Alsip are to unite starting July 1, with one pastor and one pastoral team but two worship sites. Both church buildings will continue to host regular Masses. The interim name of the united parish will be Incarnation and St. Terrence Parish, with the communities to examine possibilities for new names. Bishop Andrew Peter Wypych said the combined name also is a possibility as the permanent moniker. Each church building will retain its individual name. Incarnation Pastor the Rev. Arek Falana was named pastor of the unified parish. I am confident that with Gods help and with the help of all the people from Incarnation and St. Terrence, we will continue to be spiritually strong and faithful to God, Falana said during a virtual gathering when the decision was announced. Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday > The Rev. Tomy Abraham, pastor of St. Terrence, said he expects to find out where he will be reassigned by the end of April. He told those gathered that he knows Falana and is excited for the people of the unified parish. Advertisement He is a very faithful, devout and committed priest, Abraham said. He is very fit to serve and unite two parishes. I have no doubt he is going to be for the best of both parishes. Malave said the grouping team found one parish would be more cohesive for evangelism efforts in the area while also addressing the declining number of pastors available. Leaving two worship sites allows for continued physical presence in both communities and gives the pastoral team flexibility, he said. St. Alexander Parish and School in Palos Heights, also part of this grouping, will continue in its current structure. But its pastor, the Rev. Martin Michniewicz, said it will join the evangelization efforts with the unified parish. Once things are worked out there, well all be working together, Michniewicz said. Were all a community. Were one large archdiocese, and this is our corner. Were going to work together and make this southwest area hopping again. The churches will be filled, and were going to make disciples of Christ. On Monday, the archdiocese announced changes in its 294 South Corridor grouping, reducing six Southland churches to two in the Homewood-Flossmoor area. Five more discernment decisions were expected late this week, including a decision on the Oak Forest-Midlothian-Posen grouping, which is St. Christopher, St. Damian and St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr parishes. That announcement is to be made during a web meeting at 6:30 p.m. Friday. Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. PROVIDENCE, RI It's looking more and more like Rhode Island is past the worst of the latest COVID-19 surge. For the second week in a row, the state saw major improvements in weekly case numbers and hospitalizations. According to the latest data from the Rhode Island Department of Health, new hospital admissions fell from 574 to 395 over the last week, a drop that no doubt helped the state's seriously stressed health care facilities. Case numbers also saw a steep decline, dropping by more than 1,000 from 3,264 cases per 100,000 to 1,851 per 100,000 people. While these numbers are certainly heading in the right direction, they remain more than double those seen ahead of the surge in early December. While the weekly percent positivity rate remains in the double digits, that indicator was also headed in the right direction over the past week. From last week to this week, the weekly percent positivity rate fell from 18.5 percent to 15.6 percent. Gov. Dan McKee and state health officials are scheduled to hold a COVID-19 news conference Thursday at 2 p.m., to update the public on the latest pandemic measures in the state. This article originally appeared on the Newport Patch Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call A top Democratic senator says Republicans will struggle to obstruct Biden's expected Supreme Court pick to replace Justice Breyer. "I think it's going to be awfully difficult for the Republicans, after setting that precedent, to stretch things out," Leahy told CNN. An unnamed Senate Democratic aide previously told The Washington Post that the GOP may try to delay the confirmation process. Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont, said on Thursday that Republicans will be hard-pressed to find a way to stifle President Joe Biden's expected Supreme Court pick given the GOP's own record in confirming President Donald Trump's final nominee Justice Amy Coney Barrett. "Mitch McConnell has declared these things have to be done very quickly, as we saw during the last nominee," Leahy, the longest-serving senator, told CNN. "I think it's going to be awfully difficult for the Republicans, after setting that precedent, to stretch things out." Justice Stephen Breyer is expected to soon announce that he will retire at the end of the court's current term, opening up a seat for Biden. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday that the chamber will move with "all deliberate speed" once a nominee is named. DC Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is viewed as the presumptive favorite, but others like California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and South Carolina federal judge J. Michelle Childs are also in the running. The White House has confirmed Biden will follow his campaign promise and name a Black woman to replace Breyer. Sen. Dick Durbin, the chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee, the panel that oversees Supreme Court nominations, told reporters that "it's little early to predict a timetable" for Biden's nomination. As chairman, Durbin would be the one to formally schedule the hearing. "We're in the process," Durbin told reporters on Thursday, per CNN's Manu Raju, about what White House chief of staff Ron Klain told him when asked if the president had a name already. Story continues Leahy, who is also a former chairman of the Judiciary Committee, is correct in pointing out that McConnell and Republicans worked quickly to confirm Barrett. There were only 27 days from the announcement of Barrett's nomination to her confirmation, one of the quickest timelines in recent memory. The shortest confirmation on record remains Justice John Paul Stevens who was confirmed in just 19 days in 1975, a nod to an era when Supreme Court confirmations didn't spawn the heady political battles that often follow nowadays. Sen. Susan Collins, who has previously supported some of Biden's possible selections, said on Wednesday after the news broke of Breyer's possible retirement that she would like to see a slower confirmation than what Barrett received. Collins opposed Barrett's nomination saying at the time that the winner of the 2020 presidential election should have had the right to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat. "As you know, I felt that the timetable for the last nominee was too compressed. This time there is no need for any rush. We can take our time. Have hearings, go through the process, which is a very important one. It is a lifetime appointment, after all," Collins told reporters in Maine. McConnell and Senate Republicans ended the Senate filibuster for Supreme Court nominees to confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch, meaning that a new justice could be confirmed on a strictly party-line vote. A 50-50 Senate, which currently exists, has never dealt with a Supreme Court nomination before. "As to his replacement: If all Democrats hang together which I expect they will they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support," Sen. Lindsey Graham, a former Judiciary Committee Chairman himself, said in a statement on Wednesday. "Elections have consequences, and that is most evident when it comes to fulfilling vacancies on the Supreme Court." Some have speculated that even without the filibuster, Republicans could still try to gum up the works. An unnamed Senate aide told The Washington Post that the GOP could try to force delays in committee hearings or meetings. McConnell, for his part, led the GOP's unprecedented decision to hold a Supreme Court vacancy for months, refusing to allow Judge Merrick Garland, then-President Barack Obama's nominee, to even receive a confirmation hearing. Read the original article on Business Insider Many of Leon Countys thistles are in the rosette stage of development. They will grow through the coldest days of winter and aggressively sprout up in springs warmer days. The botanical pause of winter is monotonous in its consistency. Each day, with very few exceptions, is just like the one before it, with plants in suspended animation. February brings the first inkling of the burst of activity coming to Leon County which will soon arrive with vigorous growth and riotous color. One herald for the landscapes eruption is the awakening of thistles, native weeds entwined with many cultures reaching into antiquity. History and the thistle Throughout history thistles were used in folk medicine. Roman naturalist, philosopher and military commander Pliny the Elder believed thistles, with their thorny mane, to be a cure for baldness. Other early herbalists considered it a treatment for the plague, vertigo and headaches. The most likely verifiable and legitimate use for thistle in the distant past was as an early warning system. Over a thousand years ago an invading Viking force was attempting a surprise attack on Scotsmen, when one of the barefoot Norsemen stepped on a thistle. The shrill reaction to the sole-piercing spines alerted the Scots who were able to successfully fend off the invaders, at least from this encounter. The appreciative Scots incorporated the thistle in their national crest, where it remains to this day. Florida thistles While the lush green leaves appear as an enticing target for livestock and wildlife which seek any new foraging opportunity during the fresh food dearth of winter, they are not appealing after the first nibble. Unfortunately, at least for the herbivores, thistles are covered with sharp, stiff spines which would make consumption and digestion excruciating. There are at least nine different species of thistle in Florida which include tall thistle, Lecontes thistle, swamp thistle, Nuttalls thistle, purple or yellow thistle, bull thistle, and Virginia thistle. They are distinguished by their flowers color and the general shape of the plant, but several are rare to encounter. Story continues All Florida thistles are biennials, except for Lecontes thistle which is a perennial. Biennial plants are those growing from seed in the first year and which produce seeds the second year. Stages of life There are three distinct life stages pertaining to all native thistles. During the first year, the plant will grow as a rosette, a taproot with a cluster of leaves on or near the soil surface. The rosette growth stage occurs primarily during the winter months in panhandle Florida. During the second year, a stalk with a bloom bud will elongate from the rosette, which is referred to as bolting. Bolting frequently begins in late January and goes through July, depending on the species and environmental conditions. Identified as the Purple Thistle or Horrid Thistle (cirsium horridulum), this native shown here at the end of its flowering season in April will soon be distributing seed for next years bloom Once the biennial plant flowers, it can produce up to 4,000 seeds per plant. The tiny seeds are dispersed by wind with the aid of thistledown, a soft feathery material easily transported on the breeze. As the seeds are scattered, the biennial thistles are dying. Spring awakening In early spring thistles aggressively emerging while many other plant species are dormant. Only a relatively few local plants react positively to the unforgiving cold nights by getting a botanical jumpstart on their competition. The head start gives the thistles a major advantage for colonizing new ground and pushing out competitor plants when the warmer season arrives. The Cirsium species, as thistles are botanically known, also serves as a host for countless local pollinators, but also to horticultural pests and as a botanical disease reservoir. Whether viewed as good, bad or just painful, the thistles awakening has begun. The reprieve from landscape repetition is ending in the weeks and months to come. To learn more about this beautiful spring biennial in Tallahassee, Fort Braden and Leon County, contact the nearest UF/IFAS County Extension Office. To read more stories by Les Harrison visit: Outdoorauthor.com and follow me on Facebook. Les Harrison Les Harrison is a UF/IFAS Wakulla County Extension Agent Emeritus. Never miss a story: Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Despite chill of winter, thistles begin slow awakening On Oct. 29, 2018, Indonesian carrier Lion Airs Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff. Nineteen weeks later, Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, headed to Kenya, also crashed, leaving a deep gouge in a field near the Addis Abba Bole Airport. All told, 346 passengers and crew were killed. Both planes were new Boeing 737-Maxes. Downfall: The Case Against Boeing which premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival is the riveting, often rending tale of those crashes and the jet that links them. With the eloquent testimony of family members; aviation industry experts; former Boeing engineers and quality control employees, plus a squadron of commercial airline pilots including, arguably the nations most trusted, Chesley Sully Sullenberger director Rory Kennedy not only builds a case against Boeing but offers an object lesson in the tragic consequences of corporate greed and hubris. More from Variety When Boeing unveiled the retooled 737 Max, it promised airlines that the tweaks would not be dramatic enough to require expensive pilot simulation training. The airlines bit and bought an unprecedented number of jets. Both the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration trusted Boeing. Downfall methodically shows why that confidence was misplaced. The documentary begins with an intentionally lulling prologue. Images of gleaming airports and the diverse and vast number of people who make their way through them on any given day are set to assuaging music. The montage serves as a reminder that airline passengers board flights and head toward family, work, vacations and back with a sense of security in the flying machine that convey them. (Yes, these scenes were shot before the onboard COVID-19 contretemps so regularly reported.) Story continues Shortly after the black box recorders were recovered for flight 302, questions about the planes design, already raised after the Lion Air crash, became impossible to ignore except for Boeings higher ups, including then CEO Dennis Muilenburg. Initially, the company tried to put the responsibility for the tragedies on the pilots for not knowing how to handle the dramatic malfunction of the planes pitch stabilizing system. But the pilots Kennedy interviews offer a damning rebuff to that claim. Many of them are appalled at the chaos the MCAS (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System) plunged the flight deck into once it erroneously kicked in during the planes ascents. In defense of the pilots and co-pilots, Sullenberger says, they were fighting for their lives, in the fight of their lives. Among the many credible interviewees Kennedy calls on is former Wall Street Journal aviation and aerospace reporter Andy Pasztor. Indeed, the films most cautionary notes have to do with a company beginning to put profit before safety to satisfy Wall Street analysts. After the 1996 merger of Boeing with McDonnell Douglas, the company moved its headquarters to Chicago from Seattle, seemingly to put some distance between quality-minded engineers and the executives running the company. Downfall makes a chastising case that over the ensuing decades, an engineering-led company increasingly became a share-price-led corporation. Decisions that led to the 737 Max crises were exacerbated by market competition with the Airbus 330 in the 2000s. Engineer Cynthia Cole is among the former Boeing employees who speak with pride about the Seattle-based manufacturer. Hers and other employees add a different layer of loss to this saga. If it aint Boeing, I aint going, was a saying. Written with compassion and technical clarity by Mark Bailey and Keven McAlester, Downfall doesnt shy away from images of debris fields. Yet it never exploits grief or terror even as it shows animated simulations of the flights final minutes. Michael Stumos 24-year-old daughter Samya was on the Ethiopian Airlines flight, and he appears here as one of the most vocal of the family representatives. A powerful scene comes as Stumo and other family members hold poster-size images of their loved ones during a hearing chaired by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Or.) of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. CEO Muilenburg ever so briefly glances at the gathered families. In a show of bipartisan outrage, Sen. Ted Cruz aims a blistering barrage of questions at the exec. Muilenburg received a golden parachute of $60 million when he was fired in December 2019. Early in the film, Garima Sethi, widow of Lion Air pilot Captain Bhavye Suneja, speaks in impressively measured tones about Boeings lack of accountability and its disregard for the flight crews and the families. I wouldnt say its racist, she starts. But we are right to wonder what Boeings fate would have been had a U.S. airlines 737-Max crashed on U.S. soil? 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. Gov. Tom Wolf defended his veto of a proposed congressional redistricting map for Pennsylvania, saying Thursday during a visit to Erie that the process should be "separate and apart from our partisan bickering." Wolf traveled to Erie on Thursday to discuss a $5 million state grant for the Experience Children's Museum, a day after he vetoed the proposed map sent to him by Republican lawmakers. "The rules of redistricting have elided to the point where basically it has become an exercise in incumbent preservation," Wolf said. "I don't agree with that." More: Pa. primary 2022: What delayed redistricting maps could mean for the May primary Gov. Tom Wolf and Ainslie Brosig are shown Thursday at the Experience Children's Museum in Erie. Brosig is the museum's executive director. Wolf was in Erie to discuss a $5 million grant for a museum expansion. Pennsylvania redraws its congressional map every 10 years. This time, the state must downsize from 18 U.S. congressional districts to 17 due to population changes. The state's General Assembly and Wolf were unable to agree on a redistricting map in 2018. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had thrown out the previous one because its partisan gerrymandering violated the state's constitution, and the court adopted one drawn by a Stanford professor. Now the state courts will likely choose the new one as well. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court was scheduled to hold hearings on the matter this week and could issue a ruling by Sunday. More: How the proposed Pennsylvania state House map scores in every required measurement But close observers of the redistricting process predict the matter will end up being appealed to the state Supreme Court. Asked if he thought the process was broken, Wolf said redistricting needs to be less political. "I would like redistricting to be one of those things that we say, 'This is separate and apart from our partisan bickering,'" Wolf said. "If you want to disagree, by all means. And we ought to have a system that invites that sort of thing." Wolf said the redistricting process could end up delaying Pennsylvania's primary, which is scheduled for May 17. Story continues "Since I vetoed it, it's out of our hands now," Wolf said. "It would be great (if the primary date remained May 17) but I don't know where we will be." During Gov. Wolf's visit to Erie Thursday, he discussed his Wednesday veto of a state Senate-approved Congressional redistricting map. He said decisions about creating a fair map should be "separate and apart from our partisan bickering." Erie children's museum to break ground in March Wolf visited Erie to highlight a $5 million grant to the Experience Children's Museum from the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The downtown Erie museum will use the money as part of a $15.2 million expansion and renovation that includes a two-story, 19,000-square-foot addition that will be built in a vacant lot next to the museum at 420 French St. The project, which was originally announced in late 2019, is also being funded through other grants and private donations. They include a $3 million grant from the Erie Community Foundation, a $1 million donation from Erie Insurance, and more than $2 million in private donations. Groundbreaking is scheduled for late March. Once completed, the museum will cover 26,750 square feet of space. It currently is about 14,000 square feet. Mayor Joe Schember, at left, and Gov. Tom Wolf tour the Experience Children's Museum in Erie. The museum will feature new exhibits, including: A Lake Life climbing structure that features a nautical theme. Erie Eats, a cafe that will feature various nationalities found in Erie. A smART studio where children can paint on windows and try spin art. "My Erie," an expanded version of the museum's "my town" exhibit that will include a farm, service station and childrens market. An expanded water play exhibit that includes a water table that focuses on what happens in Lake Erie. "Our families and children will have the children's museum they deserve," said Ainslie Brosig, the museum's executive director. Spotlight PA contributed to this story. Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNBruce. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Gov. Tom Wolf defends Pennsylvania redistricting veto during trip to Erie Remarks by H.E. Wang Yi State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Peoples Republic of China At the Manila Forum for China-Philippines Relations 17 January 2022 Your ExcellencyGloria Macapagal Arroyo, Your Excellency Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin, Ministers, Friends, Good afternoon!It is my great pleasure to join you again at theManila Forum for China-Philippines Relations. A year ago, HerExcellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and I announced together thelaunch of the Forum in Manila. I am very glad to see it growing rapidlyduring the past year and its role in promoting the mutual trust andcooperation between our two peoples. I would like to salute YourExcellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and people from all sectors in bothcountries who have worked so hard for China-Philippines friendship. China and the Philippines are neighbors facing each other across thesea and partners through thick and thin. Not long ago, when thePhilippines was hit by a super typhoon, President Xi Jinping promptlyexpressedhis sympathies and support, and the Chinese government wasamong the first to provide emergency assistance. The Philippine peopleare strong and resilient. We believe that under the leadership of PresidentDuterte and the Philippine government, people in the affected areas willrebuild their home at an early date. To support their reconstruction, Iwould like to announce that the Chinese government has decided toprovide another 100 million RMB yuan of grant to the Philippines. Friends, China's friendly interactions with the Philippines date back to over amillennium ago. China brings to the Philippines not colonization or war, but cooperation and friendship. The story about the King of Sulu's visit toChina was a historical epitome of our friendship. While in office, President Arroyo made many solid efforts to enhance China-Philippinesfriendship. After taking office, President Duterte made the strategicdecision to improve relations with China, and rainbows appeared inChina-Philippines relations after the rainstorms. Facts have proved thatthe decision fully conforms with the fundamental interests of thePhilippines and its people, the common interests of China and thePhilippines, and the trend toward peace and development in the region. Iam confident that people with insight from our two countries will keep tothis right direction and write more splendid chapters of China-Philippinesfriendship. Looking ahead, China will continue to pursue a policy to foster anamicable, secure and prosperous neighborhood, and stay committed to theprinciple of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness in itsneighborhood diplomacy. We will promote greater solidarity andcooperation with the Philippines. China will join hands with the Philippines to prevail over thepandemic.China has provided the Philippines with over 57 million dosesof COVID vaccines. We will continue to help meet the Philippines'needfor vaccines, and work with you on developing effective medicines andbuilding up public health capacity to eventually defeat the virus. China will join hands with the Philippines to speed updevelopment and rejuvenation.The Belt and Road Initiative and the"Build, Build, Build"Strategy are now seamlessly coordinated. Irrigation, dam and telecommunications projects are moving ahead at a faster pace, and many follow-up cooperation programs such as railways and bridgesare in the pipeline. China has also supported the Philippines in importantundertakings such as the building of drug rehabilitation centers, post-conflict reconstruction in Marawi, and bridge projects in Manila. Asthe largest trading partner and export market of the Philippines, Chinawill keep its doors open to more Philippine agricultural products andmake more investment in the country, with a view to contributing to yourefforts in accelerating industrialization and modernization andcapacity-building for self-generated development. China will join hands with the Philippines to properly handle theSouth China Sea issue. We each have our respective claims andpositions. Before an agreement can be reached, it is important that we putthe issue in a proper place and prevent it from affecting or even takinghostage the overall bilateral relationship. Stressing only one side's claimsand imposing one's own will on the other is not a proper way forneighbors to treat each other, and it also goes against the Orientalphilosophy of how people should get along with each other. China willabsolutely not use its strength to bully smaller countries, and we neverbelieve in the winner-takes-all approach. We hope to work with thePhilippines to find ways to properly manage and resolve the issue in thespirit of goodwill and pragmatism. We need to come up with the resolveas soon as possible to advance joint development without prejudice toeither side's rights and claims, so that we can turn the South China Seaissue from a challenge into an opportunity and a positive factor conduciveto the development of the Philippines and the friendship between our twopeoples. China will join hands with the Philippines to maintain peace andstability in the region.East Asia, the shared home for China and thePhilippines, is the region with the greatest development potential in theworld. This has not come by easily, and should be doubly cherished. However, some forces outside the region are trying to frustrate this goodmomentum with repeated provocations. As two important members of theregion, China and the Philippines should stay committed to anindependent foreign policy, uphold the ASEAN-centered regionalcooperationarchitecture, deepen the China-ASEAN comprehensivestrategic partnership, and contribute to the stability and prosperity of theregion. Friends, The year 2022 is important for both China and the Philippines. Chinawill soon enter the "Winter Olympics Time", and the Communist Party ofChina will hold its 20th National Congress later in the year. ThePhilippines also has important domestic political agenda this year. Standing at a new historical starting point, let us always bear in mind thewellbeing of our two peoples, commit to steering our friendly relations inthe right direction, follow the course charted by our top leaders, removedisturbances, deepen cooperation, and jointly usher in an even betterfuture for China-Philippines relations. Thank you. By Jarrett Renshaw and Nichola Groom WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House is considering extending Trump-era tariffs on solar power imports, but with a handful of tweaks to make it easier for domestic installers to access supplies, according to two sources familiar with the administration's thinking. The plan represents an attempt by U.S. President Joe Biden's administration to find common ground between two important political constituencies: union labor, which supports import restrictions to protect domestic jobs, and clean energy developers keen to access overseas supplies that are cheaper than U.S.-made goods. Former President Donald Trump had imposed a four-year tariff regime on solar imports in 2018, starting at 30% and declining to 15% in the final year, in a bid to create U.S. solar manufacturing jobs. They had been set to expire on Feb. 6, but several domestic solar manufacturers last year sought the extension arguing their products were still unable to compete with overseas-made goods, mainly from China, that dominate the U.S. market. The White House is now considering extending the tariffs on solar panels and cells. But its plan would double the amount of cells that can be imported before the levies kick in to 5 gigawatts per year from 2.5, the sources said. The United States typically imports far less than 5 GW per year of cells. The plan would also exclude, bifacial solar panels, which can generate electricity on both sides and are used in utility-scale projects, the sources said. It would likely be extended by four years, in line with a reccomendation from the Internatioal Trade Commission. The Trump administration in 2019 had sought to temper its solar levies by excluding bifacial panels but then reversed course a year later to include them again. That triggered litigation by the solar manufacturing industry that resulted in their exclusion again in November of last year. The White House declined to comment. Administration officials who asked not to be named told Reuters that no decision had been made yet, but that trade protections were likely. Story continues The U.S. government used it authority under section 201 of the 1974 trade act to impose the tariffs. "The Administration is clear that regardless of the 201 decision, it will maintain strong trade remedies on solar and other products imported from China," the source said George Hershman, chief executive of SOLV Energy, the nations largest utility-scale solar installer, urged the Biden Administration on Thursday to end the tariffs. The Section 201 solar tariffs have cost American workers thousands of jobs at a time when we cant afford to slow down Americas clean energy transformation," he said. (Editing by Richard ValdmanisEditing by Alexandra Hudson and Bill Berkrot) Exeter Chiefs are rebranding (Simon Galloway/PA) (PA Wire) Exeter are to rebrand themselves in line with the Celtic Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe after deciding to abandon the controversial Native American theme that has provoked fierce criticism. The new identity, including a change to their logo, will take effect from July and while the Chiefs nickname is being retained, the club said it will be now be aligned with a poignant and significant nod to the past. The Celtic Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe encompassed an area covering Devon, Cornwall and parts of Somerset for centuries before the Roman occupation from 43AD. A large section of supporters campaigned for change in the belief that the current imagery disrespects indigenous people in North America, prompting a review process that has now been concluded. Chiefs fans have repeatedly been asked by opposition clubs not to wear the symbolic headdress to their grounds, while the National Congress of American Indians wrote to chairman Tony Rowe last year to say that the current branding harms native people through the offensive stereotypes it promotes. We are excited to welcome in the next era of rugby within Exeter. Exeter has and always will be the most important term in our overall identity, Rowe said. The term Chiefs, however, is equally entrenched in our make-up, going back to over a century ago when teams in this region would regularly call their first teams that of the Chiefs. We are Exeter, we are the Chiefs! As a rugby club we have been willing to listen, we have consulted far and wide, and now we are ready to invoke change. This is a new direction for our great club, but equally its an exciting vision that Ive no doubt will propel us onwards and upwards over time. Our new imagery will bring to life the pride our supporters have to support their club, unifying us all under one brand that underlines all of our core traditions. Exeter, the 2020 Gallagher Premiership and Heineken Champions Cup double winners, first officially became known as the Chiefs in 1999 but have had links with the nickname for decades. Story continues Their mascot Big Chief was retired last year as opposition to the branding intensified. In addition to their new association with the Celtic Iron Age Dumnonii Tribe, Exeter are also drawing from the history of the Celtic Kingdom of Dumnonia, which was established around AD 410 and lasted almost five centuries. The change in identity comes in the wake of the Exeter board undertaking a full and informative review process over the past two years, a club statement read. In launching the new imagery, detailed submissions, together with extensive historical research from leading professionals, have been undertaken to ensure the club have a brand that not only recognises our traditions but, more importantly, identifies with our supporters and the region itself. TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's China Airlines Ltd said on Thursday its board had approved the purchase of four more Boeing Co 777F freighters, adding to an earlier order for six of the same model as it steps up capacity to support the island's booming exports. The jets would begin deliveries from 2023, it added in a statement. Three of the six previously ordered aircraft have already arrived. China Airlines, Taiwan's largest carrier and the world's fifth largest air freight operator, also operates 18 747 freighters. Tech powerhouse Taiwan, a major semiconductor manufacturer, has benefited from demand for tablets, laptops and other gadgets during the work-and-study-from-home trend during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taiwan's exports rose 29.4% in 2021 to a record high. Boeing this week said it aims to increase its 777/777X production to three aircraft per month in 2022 from two previously, fuelled by orders for 777 freighters amid booming air cargo demand. It reiterated plans to deliver the first 777X in late 2023. China Airlines also operates 10 passenger 777-300 jets in its long-haul fleet. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast.) The notice from the federal government took Lee Dossett, a doctor in Lexington, Kentucky, by surprise. "Congratulations!" it began. After a couple of years of denials for a student loan forgiveness program designed for public servants, Dossett, who has worked in the nonprofit sector for 10 years, was told last week that not only was his application re-evaluated, but that the Department of Education had determined he should have his outstanding medical school loans erased altogether about $75,000 worth. "I was completely shocked because I had honestly given up on getting it," Dossett said. Image: Lee Dossett. (Courtesy of Lee Dossett) But a record number of student borrowers are reaping the same benefit after the Biden administration in October began relaxing stringent rules around Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which launched in 2007 to help teachers, health care workers, military members and other public servants earn debt relief on their federal loans. As of last week, more than 70,000 borrowers qualified for debt forgiveness, amounting to about $5 billion in relief, the Department of Education said. Before the overhaul, just 16,000 borrowers of about 1.3 million enrolled applicants had their loans' remaining balances expunged through the program, according to federal data. Cody Hounanian, the executive director of the Student Debt Crisis Center, a nonprofit organization that advocates for student borrowers, said the sudden notices of discharged debts are a blessing for many applicants who dutifully made the required 120 monthly payments or were on course to and yet were denied because they were inadvertently enrolled in the wrong payment plan or had the wrong type of loan or due to another technicality. "It's very emotional," Hounanian said of the wave of financial assistance. "It's changing their lives for the better." Student borrowers who have benefited in recent days are sharing their shock on social media. Story continues But the latest reversal is also a "double-edged sword" for many borrowers, Hounanian said. Those hoping to qualify will have until Oct. 31 to submit an application form under a limited-time waiver. Potentially 550,000 borrowers stand to benefit, the federal government said. In addition, student borrowers who may previously have been disqualified because they had a loan through Federal Family Education Loans, a program that ended in 2010, are now eligible. The catch is they will have to make sure such loans are consolidated into a new, federal direct loan. Complicating the process as well is that last year, two major student loan companies Navient and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, often referred to as FedLoan announced they were ending their contracts to service loans with the federal government. Some 16 million student borrowers were being transferred to new servicers, a monumental undertaking that student advocates worry could present a raft of bureaucratic problems and only make applying for the already-troubled Public Service Loan Forgiveness that much more arduous. "Unfortunately, there are some folks who with this news that debt relief is attainable may find the process confusing," Hounanian said. But the federal government said it is trying to simplify the steps, with about 22,000 borrowers initially having their debts automatically canceled. In December, President Joe Biden also announced the federal government would extend its moratorium on all federal student loan payments through May amid the pandemic and rising consumer costs. The White House still faces pressure to cancel student debt and help a broader swath of borrowers more than 44 million Americans who owe about $1.7 trillion in student loans. A town hall was scheduled Thursday among advocacy groups like the Student Debt Crisis Center and Democratic lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, to call for the elimination of student debt. At the very least, those advocates say, the loosening of rules around a program like Public Service Loan Forgiveness should be permanent. A 2019 Government Accountability Office report found that the Education Department under the previous secretary, Betsy DeVos, had rejected a staggering 99 percent of applications as part of a temporary expansion of the program in 2018. Jane Saunders, who received her doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008 and taught English for a decade, didn't know about federal student loan forgiveness until a friend recommended she consolidate her loans in 2011. But a few years passed before she realized her mistake: Her loans were being handled by a servicer that didn't qualify her for the program. She then switched servicers, but at one point, after years of making payments, she was told some of them didn't count, and the ever-tightening rules of the program were frustrating. "It seemed like they were building the plane while we were on it," Saunders said. But her fortunes reversed in December, she said, after she reapplied for relief after the Biden administration altered some of the program's requirements. She learned her outstanding debt $106,000 was wiped clear, and she also received credit for a few months in which she paid more than she needed to. "I couldn't breathe when I saw the zero balance," Saunders said. "You know how your life is supposed to flash by you as you're dying? It was kind of like that only now I could see a potentially different life in front of me. One where I could buy a car or maybe take a summer off for once." The stress of her student loan obligation while working as a teacher, getting her doctoral degree and also making house payments and meeting other financial burdens felt crushing as she tried to sock away for retirement. She said she remains cautious. "Even trying to put more in now that the loans are gone is going to mean I work until 70 likely," said Saunders, 56. "And it's not gonna be a luxurious retirement even at that age." But despite all of the agitation, Saunders said she doesnt regret getting her degree. Neither does Dossett, who after seeing his medical school loans forgiven, shared his amazement in a tweet that went viral. During the pandemic, Dossett has been helping to care for Covid-infected hospitalized patients, and the burnout coupled with anxieties over his student debt have been taxing. But now, he said, he sees a way forward for not only himself but others who may want to pursue medicine, particularly people who are uncertain about medical school because of the initial debt they can incur. "With forgiveness in sight, doctors would be more willing to go into lower-paying specialties, such as primary care and pediatrics," he said. "The more of these doctors there are, the better for society and the health of the nation." Firefighters from Dover and New Philadelphia work at scene of a single-vehicle rollover crash in the 4800 block of state Route 800 on Tuesday in Dover Township. The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported that the driver of a southbound sport utility vehicle crossed the center of the road, drove off the pavement and crashed the SUV onto its roof near the Tuscarawas River. The driver was taken to a hospital. The vehicle is shown at top left-center of the frame. The driver was alone in the vehicle. The male driver in a single-vehicle rollover crash in the 4800 block of state Route 800 is pulled up an embankment on Tuesday in Dover Township. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the driver of a southbound sport utility vehicle crossed the center of the road, drove off the pavement and crashed the SUV onto its the roof near the Tuscarawas River. The driver was taken to a hospital. Personnel from Dover, New Philadelphia and the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Department responded. Firefighters from Dover and New Philadelphia work at the scene of a single-vehicle rollover crash in the 4800 block of state Route 800 on Tuesday in Dover Township. The Ohio State Highway Patrol reported that the driver of a southbound sport utility vehicle crossed the center of the road, drove off the pavement and crashed the SUV onto its roof near the Tuscarawas River. The driver was taken to a hospital. He was alone in the vehicle. DOVER A male driver was taken to a hospital after driving a sport utility vehicle off state Route 800 early Tuesday afternoon. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said the driver was southbound in the 4800 block when he crossed the center of the road, drove off the pavement and crashed the SUV onto its roof near the Tuscarawas River. Firefighters from Dover and New Philadelphia removed the driver from the vehicle. He was the only occupant. The Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Department also responded to the accident. This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Rollover crash near Tuscarawas River sends man to hospital The first chartered flight in months evacuating Americans from Afghanistan has left Kabul airport for Qatar, according to a government official, a congressional official and two people with knowledge of the matter. The passengers on the Qatar Airways charter include more than 30 Americans, one of the two people with knowledge of the matter said. The chartered flight, run by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs and paid for by the U.S. State Department, is the first to leave Kabul since November. The government official confirmed that the flight to Doha, Qatar, is carrying Americans but did not provide numbers. The Taliban halted all flights of Afghan evacuees in a dispute about how the Kabul airport is run and who is allowed on the evacuation flights, a congressional source, two refugee advocates and a source familiar with the matter told NBC News in December. At the time, a State Department official involved in relocation efforts confirmed that flights had stopped: We are hopeful that flights will resume shortly, though as usual, winter weather conditions and airport operations remain additional factors to be aware of. The Taliban began demanding several seats on the flights for Taliban fighters and sympathizers to leave the country, so they can work in other countries and send desperately needed money back to Afghanistan, according to a congressional official and the source familiar with the matter. The countrys economy is in tatters, and millions of Afghans are short of food. Before the Taliban suspended flights, about one or two chartered flights a week were heading to Qatar, refugee groups and U.S. officials said. When the Qatari government declined to continue providing seats, the Taliban stopped the flights. TALLAHASSEE With four of Floridas 12 state universities seeking new leaders and another schools president soon to retire, lawmakers are speeding ahead with a proposed public-records exemption that would shield personal information about applicants to become college and university presidents. The Senate Rules Committee approved a bill (SB 520), sponsored by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, that would keep confidential names and other information that could identify applicants, though information about finalists would be disclosed at the tail end of searches. With the 12-5 vote, the measure is now ready for consideration by the full Senate. If passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, it would go into effect immediately. Brandes has argued that the bill is geared toward attracting the broadest pool of applicants to the top jobs at colleges and universities. While we have some great presidents of universities, its my contention that the way to get even better applicants is to ensure that their information is all private, and their current employer is not unnecessarily notified of their search, without (the candidate) initiating that, Brandes said. The Senate bill also would provide a public-meetings exemption for searches, unless meetings are held for the purposes of establishing qualifications for the job or establishing any compensation framework for a candidate. Also, the open-meetings exemption would not apply after groups of finalists have been established. Similar measures have been pursued, unsuccessfully, by the Legislature in previous years. During the 2021 session, the Senate fell one vote short of the 26 votes needed to reach a legally required two-thirds threshold for passing public-records exemptions. But this session, the proposal comes as the University of North Florida and the University of South Florida are being led by interim presidents and are in the process of seeking new leaders. Story continues Also this month, University of Florida President Kent Fuchs announced he will step down at the end of 2022 to work as a professor in the schools department of electrical and computer engineering. Most recently, Florida International University President Mark Rosenberg abruptly announced his resignation last Friday. Rosenberg, who initially cited personal and family health reasons for stepping down, acknowledged later that his exit came after he caused discomfort for a valued colleague. University trustees quickly appointed FIU Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Jessell as interim president. Florida Gulf Coast University President Mike Martin, who told reporters that he plans to retire on Dec. 31, endorsed the bill during Thursdays committee meeting. I believe this is a critical time for presidents in Florida and nationally. Very soon there will be five openings among the 12 presidents, all at the same time. And this is at the same time that major universities, Michigan, Wisconsin, Colorado, Auburn, South Carolina, Kentucky State I could run down a whole list, theyre looking for presidents, Martin told the panel. The market is very difficult. Martin echoed Brandes arguments that the current system of selecting college and university leaders dissuades potential applicants from applying. It sends two messages. One is, Im looking for a job. And the second is, if you dont make the finals, I must not be very good. Those are not good messages, wherever you are in your career, Martin said. But some Democrats on the panel and university faculty members expressed concern that obscuring candidates identities would leave presidential searches open to potential corruption. Sen. Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, questioned whether high-ranking insiders involved in search processes could be stopped from putting their thumb on the scale if the measure becomes law. Andrew Gothard, president of the United Faculty of Florida and a professor of English at Florida Atlantic University, slammed the proposed legislation as a recipe for corruption. Why does an applicant, a mysterious, unnamed applicant, have more of a right to privacy than the public has a right to an open and honest and transparent hiring process? Gothard said. Several members of the state university systems Board of Governors spoke in favor of the legislation during a meeting Wednesday and rebuked criticisms that the proposal could lead to double-dealing. To assert that its streamlining corruption or authoritarianism is ridiculous. Its false, its not fair. I think our faculty leadership are better than that, board member Alan Levine said. This board has not taken a position on that legislation. But as a member of this board, I take exception to the suggestion that the effort to improve our process is intended to provide corruption. With the Senate bill poised to go to the Senate floor, it includes a key difference with the House version (HB 703). Brandes told reporters he will not budge on his position. The House measure would provide at least a 14-day period in which finalists information would be made public before selections are made, while the Senate would provide a 21-day window. Im pretty firm on 21 days. I have no desire to go backwards in transparency as far as the 21-day period goes, Brandes said. And I have no doubt that if we pass the bill through the Senate with the required amount of votes, that were not going to bring the bill back up if it goes over there (to the House) first. This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida higher-ed presidential search exemption gains momentum The 53rd edition of Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), under the slogan of "Egypt's Identity - Culture & the Question of the Future," opened Wednesday with the strict implementation of COVID-19 precautionary measures. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated the CIBF, which is held at Egypt International Exhibitions Center in New Cairo from Jan. 26 to Feb. 7, with the participation of 1,067 publishers from 51 countries, said the cabinet in a statement. Greece will be the guest of honor of the CIBF, the statement added. "Holding the CIBF is a positive message that reflects Egypt's keenness to restore the momentum of local and international events that have been impacted by COVID-19," Madbouly said, noting that it is a necessity to deal with the pandemic and overcome its negative repercussions. "The CIBF is a festival of Egyptian culture," said Culture Minister Inas Abdel-Dayem, adding that this edition will witness the launch of a digital-book project that will focus on screening Egypt's old heritage. A former Bluffton firefighter who previously flipped his car on its side and was arrested on a driving under the influence charge pleaded guilty to a less serious charge last week, according to court records and police. Andrew Eldridge Jr., 23, of Bluffton pleaded guilty to reckless driving and was fined $440 on Jan. 18 in Hardeeville municipal court, records show. The Hardeeville Police Department charged him with first offense DUI on Jan. 15, 2021, after he hit a fence and several parked cars early in the morning at the Palisades at New River apartment complex. Lt. Jonah Jenkins with Hardeeville Police said at the time that Eldridges blood-alcohol content was above 0.06, but his court-listed charge said he was charged with DUI for having a BAC above 0.16. At the time of his arrest, Eldridge was suspended from the Bluffton Fire Township District, Capt. Randy Hunter with the department said. On Wednesday, Hunter said he no longer works for the department but that he could not elaborate further. Eldridge did not respond to a Facebook message sent Wednesday afternoon. A reporter left a message for his lawyer, Sam Bauer of Bauer & Metro P.C. on Hilton Head Island. Reckless driving means six points off Eldridges license, but it comes with none of the severe penalties of a first-offense DUI, which can include a suspended license, special insurance rider, and hike in premiums. Reached last week, Jenkins said Eldridge was required to take alcohol education classes as part of the plea. Hardeeville Municipal Judge Nancy Gutierrez administered the plea, court documents said. Reckless driving is a lesser charge that drivers often plead guilty to in the Lowcountry because prosecutors have a difficult time proving DUI cases. Only about one in three first-offense DUI cases result in a DUI conviction in Beaufort County, according to a March 2020 report in The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette on low conviction rates. South Carolinas DUI law is byzantine, and DUI lawyers are able to exploit its loopholes, leading to low conviction rates, according to 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone, who is quoted in the article. Story continues Police officers prosecute these low-level DUI cases, which can lead to difficulties as police officers without law degrees tangle with defense lawyers. The Solicitors Office does not typically handle low-level DUI cases, but the Beaufort County Council asked it to help in December 2019. Solicitors Office prosecutors now assist in cases in unincorporated Beaufort County, according to spokesperson Jeff Kidd. They dont assist in these cases in local municipalities nor in Jasper County, which is where Eldridges guilty plea took place. Beaufort Countys conviction rates lag behind other S.C. counties, according to the March 2020 report. When we publish mugshots The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette publishes police booking photos, or mugshots, in the following instances: In situations where a public figure or someone in a position of public trust is arrested In cases where there is an immediate and widespread threat to public safety In cases where the arrested person is accused of a crime reporters have evidence to believe involved numerous, unknown victims Reporters will avoid using mugshots as lead images for online articles in order to limit their circulation on social media, except in cases where the public is served by the immediate identification of the accused. Reporters and editors may use discretion in situations that dont meet the criteria outlined in this policy but still present a compelling reason to publish a mugshot. Actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted of faking a homophobic and racist attack on himself, will be sentenced on March 10, a judge said Thursday. Cook County Judge James Linn held the virtual hearing via Zoom from Chicago, while Smollett appeared from New York. In December, a jury found the former Empire star guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct, which is a Class 4 felony and punishable by up to three years in prison. He was acquitted on a sixth count. In January 2019, Smollett told Chicago police that he had been attacked by two brothers, who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. He also claimed that his alleged attackers put a rope around his neck, though there were no witnesses or video to back his story. The openly gay actor was later accused of paying the men to stage the fake attack on him. During the trial, in December 2021, the two brothers testified that the actor paid them $3,500 for the fake attack, and also told them to yell lines such as MAGA country, an apparent reference to former President Donald Trumps Make America Great Again slogan. Smollett has maintained his innocence, telling the court that there was no hoax on my part. He also called brothers Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo liars. PARIS (AP) Theres still room for diplomacy in the Ukrainian crisis. At least thats the conviction of French President Emmanuel Macron, who continues to push for dialogue with Russia despite signs pointing to a potential war. His stance reflects Frances post-World War II tradition of carving its own geopolitical path, refusing to line up blindly behind the U.S. Its also part of Macrons domestic political strategy amid campaigning for Aprils presidential election, where nationalists are setting the agenda and a war in Ukraine could prove an unwelcome distraction. Macron is preparing to talk Friday with Vladimir Putin, and Macrons presidential palace hosted marathon talks Wednesday between Russian and Ukrainian advisers, the first such face-to-face negotiations since Russia has massed troops near Ukraine in recent weeks. Wednesdays talks among Russian, Ukrainian, French and German advisers appeared to buy all sides more time, as they agreed to meet again in two weeks. But Frances diplomacy-focused strategy complicates efforts by the U.S. and NATO to show a tough, united front against Russia. And experts question whether it will be enough to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Macrons call with Putin on Friday morning has two goals, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said: to continue dialogue and to push Russia to clarify its position and the aim of (military) maneuvering. Moscow has denied it is planning an assault, but it has moved an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine in recent weeks and is holding military drills at multiple locations in Russia. That has led the United States and its NATO allies to prepare for the worst. Macron is at the heart of efforts towards de-escalation and will also speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the coming days, Attal said. French expert on geopolitics Dominique Moisi told The Associated Press that Macron has tried since in power to reset the relation between France and Russia, and to do it based on a mix of being open and being firm... This is very laudable, but did it work? Will it work this time? Thats the challenge. Story continues European diplomacy has helped cool tensions in the past. Wednesdays talks took place in the so-called Normandy format, which helped to ease hostilities in 2015, a year after Putin ordered the annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and the Russia-backed insurgency began in eastern Ukraine. Soon after his election in 2017, Macron invited Putin to a meeting in the sumptuous Palace of Versailles, letting him be very impressed by the grandeur of France, according to the Russians presidents own words. Macron also invited Putin to his summer residence at the Fort de Bregancon, on the French Riviera, in a rare honor meant to give a boost to peace talks with Ukraine during summer 2019. Macron has shown extreme confidence in his ability to seduce, to charm world leaders and start with them a dialogue, Moisi said. It hasnt always worked. His unlikely bond with Donald Trump early in their presidencies quickly soured. And despite similar world views, relations between Macron and President Joe Biden were deeply damaged by a secret U.S.-Australia-U.K. submarine deal last year that squeezed France out of the market and undermined the 250-year-old alliance between the U.S. and France. Macron said it was a good thing that the U.S. and Russia have resumed talks in recent weeks, but noted he did not see any concrete results. Its because a discussion with Russia is always difficult, he added, citing his own efforts to establish a personal relationship with Putin. The French position has two question marks, Moisi said: Will Macron have such power of seduction toward Putin? and Can France rally support from a large number of European countries? Countries that used to be under Soviet influence are particularly worried about Russias intentions in Ukraine and want a tougher line. Last June, Macron and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to press EU leaders to hold a summit with Putin. The plan was rejected, notably by the Baltic countries and Poland, amid concerns about meeting with the Russian leader at a time when Europes relations with Moscow were so poor. But Macron has made in recent days a fresh push for such a high-level meeting. He insisted that it wouldnt disturb ongoing negotiation efforts from the U.S. and NATO. Each of these channels must be exploited until the end to get Russia back into a process of de-escalation, to get guarantees, and allow us to build a new (European) security and stability order, he said this week. He also pressed last week for a new EU security plan to ease tensions with Russia. Some EU partners expressed concerns that this would make things even more complex, and undermine cooperation with the U.S. The French presidency stressed that Paris is working in close coordination with Washington and EU partners to be ready for a joint response if there were to be a Russian offensive in Ukraine. In such a case, there will be retaliation and the cost (for Russia) will be very high, Macron reaffirmed this week. France also expressed its willingness to station troops in Romania as part of a NATO force. France's defense minister is on a visit Thursday to Romania, which has a border with Ukraine, for talks on deepening defense ties, including in armaments cooperation. Nothing that concerns European security can be discussed or decided without the full involvement of Europeans, French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told EU lawmakers this week. We are at the table. We are not simply on the menu. ____ Lorne Cook in Brussels, Belgium contributed. AnanR2107 / iStock.com The White House announced earlier this month that it would send millions of free N95 masks to pharmacies across the country. So how can you use the offer to your economic advantage, and what locations offer the best chance to pick yours up? See: How Much Do Masks Really Cost? From Cloth to KN95, Heres a Price Breakdown Explore: Avoid Buying These 25 Grocery Items That Are Now More Expensive Our Administration is making 400 million N95 masks from the Strategic National Stockpile available for free to Americans. N95 masks will be available for the public to pick up at tens of thousands of local pharmacies and health centers, the White House said in a tweet on Jan. 19. This will mark the largest deployment of personal protective equipment in U.S. history, a White House official told CBS. According to CBS, CVS Pharmacy said it will have the free N95 masks at stores in the coming weeks as shipments from the government arrive. Our work to distribute high-quality masks as part of this program is an extension of our commitment to providing equitable access to the tools necessary to combat COVID-19, including testing, vaccines and authorized therapies, a spokesperson told CBS. Walgreens told CBS that it expects some of its stores to begin offering the N95s this Friday (Jan. 28), and that the masks will be offered as long as supplies last, while customers will be limited to three masks each, according to CBS. Related: Unfair, Deceptive Price Gouging for COVID Tests Persists, FTC Called on to Intervene Kroger expects its stores with pharmacies to receive an allotment of the N95 masks later this week, CBS added. In addition, on Jan. 24, the White House announced a new hotline to order free COVID-19 tests, as a supplement to the website rolled out earlier this month. The hotline went live Jan. 21, and households can call 800-232-0233 to request up to four free tests. It will complement the federally run COVIDtests.gov website and is meant to provide better access to testing for communities that have had higher coronavirus infection rates than the rest of the country, NBC reported. Story continues In December, the White House had announced it would purchase a half-billion at-home rapid tests this winter to be distributed for free to Americans who want them, with the initial delivery starting this month. Weve just seen the disproportionate impact on certain communities, Dr. Cameron Webb, who advises President Joe Bidens COVID response team on equity, told NBC. The harder-hit communities have borne the brunt and most difficult aspects of this pandemic. Taxes 2022: Are Face Masks and Hand Sanitizer Deductible? Examine: COVID-19 Omicron Variant Will Likely Lead to Reinstatement of California Paid Sick Leave The phone line will offer services in English, Spanish and 150 other languages. Orders can be placed from 8 a.m. to midnight seven days a week, NBC reported. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: When Will Free N95 Masks Be Available at Major Pharmacies Across the US? The 400 million nonsurgical N95 masks promised by President Joe Biden have started to arrive in Phoenix pharmacies, but many are still on the way. The Arizona Republic contacted dozens of Phoenix pharmacies on Tuesday to figure out what pharmacies had received their shipment. You can now find some of the free N95 masks at Fry's and select Walgreens. Some pharmacies didnt have any information on when their first supplies would arrive, but Banner Family Pharmacy and Phoenix Pharmacy have confirmed they are on the way. Here is a list of stores and pharmacies in metro Phoenix where you can find the government issued N95 masks. Where to find free N95 face masks in Arizona: Fry's Food Stores announced Tuesday that Arizona customers can access a free N95 mask at any store while supplies last. Customers should look for the branded display or ask an associate for assistance Every customer is allowed up to three masks Walgreens stores have free N95 masks at two participating locations in Phoenix while supplies last, according to the Walgreens website. Masks have been sent to the first wave of stores and will continue rollout to additional stores in coming weeks. 4111 N. 24th St. 1825 W. Bethany Home Rd. CVS stores in Phoenix don't know when masks are coming, but you can call your local CVS pharmacy to see when they are set to arrive. , A spokesperson for the Arizona Alliance for Community Health Centers, a pact of health providers and organizations operating across Arizona, said that several of their community health centers have also placed orders for masks, but did not confirm which organizations will receive them. The promised masks come at a time of unprecedented spread of COVID-19 through the Omicron variant. The order for more masks by the Biden administration followed closely after the administration opened up covidtests.gov, a new website where people can request free, federally supplied at-home coronavirus tests. The N95 masks will be sourced from the Strategic National Stockpile and are a direct response by the Biden administration to address medical supply shortages that have persisted since early 2020. Story continues Federal sources havent established a hard limit for how many free masks people can take, but they have indicated supplies will be limited and are first come, first served. Reach breaking news intern Brock Blasdell at Bblasdell@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @BrockBlasdell. Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Free N95 masks in Arizona: Pharmacies begin to receive first shipments PUL-E-ALAM, Afghanistan (AP) A flickering flame of paper, rags and random twigs is the only heat Gulnaz has to keep her 18-month-old son warm, barely visible beneath his icy blanket as she begs on a bitterly cold highway on the road to Kabul. The 70-kilometer (45-mile) stretch of highway is flanked by snow-swept hills. Occasionally a driver slows his car and shoves an Afghani note into the 28-year-old woman's bare, dirt-caked hand. She sits for hours on the highway median, positioned just beyond a bump in the road that slows traffic. Her 16-year-old sister, Khalida, sits nearby. Both are hidden behind encompassing blue burqas. By the end of the day, Gulnaz, who gave just the one name, says they might make 300 Afghanis ($2.85). But most days it is less. The Taliban's sweep to power in Afghanistan in August drove billions of dollars in international assistance out of the country and sent an already dirt-poor nation, ravaged by war, drought and floods, spiraling toward a humanitarian catastrophe. But in recent weeks it is the bitter winter cold that is devastating the most vulnerable and has international aid organizations scrambling to save millions from starving or freezing because they have neither food nor fuel. For the poorest the only heat or means of cooking is with the coal or wood they can scrounge from the snowy streets or that they receive from aid groups. The extent of the problem now in Afghanistan for people is dire, said Shelley Thakral, spokeswoman for the World Food Program in Afghanistan. "Were calling this a race against time. We need to get to families in very difficult, hard to reach areas. Its winter, its cold, the snow." The cost of the humanitarian effort is staggering. Thakral said the WFP alone will need $2.6 billion this year. Break that number down. Thats $220 million a month, thats 30 cents per person per day, and thats what were asking for. . . . We need the money because we need to reach people as quickly as we can," she said. Story continues Earlier this month the United Nations launched its largest single country appeal for more than $5 billion to help a devastated Afghanistan. It's estimated that roughly 90% of Afghanistan's 38 million people are dependent on aid and the U.N. says nearly 3 million are displaced in their own country, driven from their homes by drought, war and famine. In 2020 alone, 700,000 Afghans became displaced, many living in desperate conditions on the outskirts of cities, in parks and open spaces, wherever they could erect a makeshift shelter. Gulnaz migrated to central Logar province from the northern province of Kunduz, where her husband had been a shoemaker. But his work dried up with war and the coming of the Taliban and we have come here," she said as she sat with her sister on the side of the highway linking Logar's capital, Pul-e-Alam, with Kabul. "We have no heat at home and every day whether it is raining or snowing we come and sit here," she said. In Pul-e-Alam, where temperatures in January and February can drop to lows of minus-16 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit), thousands of men and women line up in the bitter cold to collect a World Food Program ration of flour, oil, salt and lentils. The WFP surveyed the city for the neediest, giving each a voucher to collect their rations, but word spread quickly through the snow- and mud-covered streets that food was being distributed and soon scores of men and women pushed and pleaded for rations. Fights broke out among some in the crowd and security forces tried to cordon those without vouchers off to one side. Each day for a week this month the WFP distributed rations to as many as 500 families a day, said Hussain Andisha, who manages the distribution. Most people in Logar province are desperate, he said. As he spoke, four women in burqas slipped past the men at the gate taking vouchers. None had a ration card, but they pleaded for food. One woman, who gave her name only as Sadarat, said her husband was a drug addict a devastating problem that has mushroomed in the past two decades, with as many as 1 million people, or 2.6% of Afghanistan's population, counted as addicts, according to the U.N. Afghanistan produces over 4,000 tons annually of opium the raw material used to make heroin. I don't know where he is. I have no food for my children. Please I need something, she said. Like hundreds of thousands of Afghans, poverty and conflict drove Sadarat and her five children from their rural home in Logar province's Charkh district to the capital, 38 kilometers (24 miles) away. Shouting from behind Sadarat, another women, Riza Gul, said she has 10 children and a husband who earns less than $1 a day as a laborer on the days he can find work. What can we do? Where can we go? she pleaded. Andisha said the January distribution would provide staples to 2,250 families in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of roughly 23,000 people. Already the WFP has surveyed the seven districts of Logar province and begun distribution in four. Roads are deep in snow and passage for the hundreds of trucks transporting the food is slow going and can be treacherous. Andisha said the need is desperate and gets worse with each passing day. Even from the first day we arrived here, the situation has worsened. People have no jobs," he said, adding that women who were working before the Taliban took power now cannot work in government departments. "It is certain the situation will worsen, he said. The Taliban administration in Logar has not interfered in the WFP aid work, Andisha added, and has provided security at distribution sites. Thakral, the WFP spokeswoman, said donor contributions go directly to the people, even as aid organizations and the international community struggle to address one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters without dealing directly with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. People come first and thats important to remember in this humanitarian crisis," she said. "We work independently from the de facto government so the assurance there is that any donation received will be given directly to the people. ______ Follow Gannon on twitter/@kathy gannon A Bradenton man and previously documented member of the street gang Sur 13 will spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2019 fatal shooting of 24-year-old Joshua Gonzelez. Catalino Reyes who has a face tattoo of 187, the penal code for murder in California was found guilty in November of first-degree felony murder for killing Gonzelez. Although the life sentence in this case was mandatory, it is also the appropriate sentence as this defendant was only out of prison a short time when he entered the victims home, committed an armed robbery, and senselessly murdered the victim, Assistant State Attorney Rebecca Freel said. A young teenage girl and an infant were luckily not harmed during this dangerous and deadly crime. Reyes, 27, was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday afternoon by Circuit Judge Lon Arend. Florida abolished its parole system in 1983, so a life sentence does not come with any possibility of being released. At the time of the murder, it had been about seven months since Reyes was released from a Florida prison for a 2013 conviction for possession of ammunition by a person less than 24 years old previously found delinquent. Gonzelez was found dead on Feb. 11, 2019, when Bradenton police were called to his home in the 2200 block of Seventh Avenue East in the Manatee Mobile Home Park. Reyes and two other men, wearing masks and dressed in black, broke into the victims home. There was an exchange of gunfire in which Reyes was shot in the face, that left a trail of his blood when he ran from the scene. As police began to investigate the bloody scene in the mobile home, Reyes was dropped off at Blake Medical Center to be treated for his injuries. Bradenton Police never identified the other two suspects involved. Jan. 27State lawmakers voted to dedicate $225 million in federal emergency relief funding to Pennsylvania hospitals and health care providers that are struggling to maintain staffing as COVID-19 balloons patient volumes and many direct care workers leave their jobs or fall ill themselves. The measure passed unanimously through the Senate on Tuesday and the House on Wednesday. Gov. Tom Wolf signed the bill Wednesday night Lawmakers championed it as a rare but effective example of nonpartisanship in the General Assembly, one that hasn't so obviously surfaced in the redistricting processes and other pressing issues. "As health care facilities like Evangelical Community Hospital continue to navigate the financial impact COVID-19 has had on operations, relief and assistance is greatly appreciated," said James Stopper, senior vice president/chief financial officer, Evangelical Community Hospital. "At this point in time, we've not received word that the proposed relief funds will reach Evangelical Community Hospital, and if they do, there is no way to know how much may be received. "Regardless if funds are received, Evangelical will continue to carefully navigate the current financial challenges with a goal of serving the health care needs of the community long into the future." Tom Kurtz, president of the Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center at Windber in Somerset County, called the relief funding "a Godsend." The small, independent rural hospital is already $1.5 million over budget this fiscal year in staff salaries. Kurtz attributes that to a rising need for temporary staffing and agency nurses on contract. He estimated about 60% of the hospital's nursing staff is currently agency nurses. "I notice (the relief package) is geared toward smaller, rural hospitals. They're the ones most injured going through this," said Kurtz, a leader in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model Program. Story continues The bulk of the funding, $210 million, is intended for employees who work in direct patient care, environmental services and clinical care. The remaining $15 million is bound for the state's existing student loan relief program for nurses. Wolf said Wednesday that an estimated 8,000 applicants sought a portion of the $5 million previously allocated to the program. Additional relief is anticipated as both Wolf and state Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, alluded to an estimated $25 million being considered for emergency medical staff. "This is a major, bipartisan investment in supporting the health care workers who have done so much for our commonwealth over the past two years," Wolf said in a statement announcing he had signed the bill. "This funding will provide needed relief to our hospitals and health care workers. "My administration convened a working group including all four caucuses in the General Assembly three weeks ago to take action on this issue. House Bill 253 is the result of those conversations, and I am proud of what we have accomplished in just a few weeks. It's proof of what democracy can achieve when we work together to make a difference in the lives of Pennsylvanians." Facilities receiving funds include behavioral health providers, critical access hospitals and hospitals with a high load of patients using medical assistance. Bed counts will be used to determine facility payouts. Funds are expected to be disbursed within 30 days. The money is designed to be paid out to workers like nurses and respiratory therapists through retention and recruitment bonuses. Executive-level personnel, administrative support staff and physicians are ineligible. Veterans' Affairs hospitals and state-owned psychiatric hospitals also are ineligible. "You got it to my desk quickly, I'll sign it quickly and this is going to turn it around," Wolf said of staffing shortages during a Capitol press event with Democrat and Republican lawmakers and administration officials. According to the American Hospital Association, nearly 1,400 hospitals across the country indicated last week that staff shortages were at a critical level. On Wednesday, the latest update from the Department of Health & Human Services shows 40 Pennsylvania hospitals indicating the same. "Staffing shortages are almost a pandemic in itself," House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre/Mifflin, said at a separate press event in the Capitol Rotunda with Republican leaders from the House and Senate. The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) welcomed the relief funding. In a recent membership survey, HAP found there was a 45.5% vacancy rate for nursing support professionals, a 40% rate for clinical nurse specialists and 27% rate for registered nurses. "After two years on the front lines, health care professionals are exhausted. Many are leaving their jobs due to burnout. There was an industry-wide health care staffing shortage before the pandemic, which has now become a crisis that threatens to affect patient care," HAP President and CEO Andy Carter said. CAIRO (AP) A leading environmental group warned Thursday of a potential major oil leak or explosion on an aging oil tanker moored off of Yemen's Red Sea coast. The neglected vessel is loaded with more than a million barrels of crude oil. Greenpeace released a report listing the environmental, humanitarian and economic impacts of a potential oil spill from the FSO Safer on conflict-riddled Yemen and the Red Sea region in general. The event could be one of the biggest oil spill disasters in history and would cause widespread severe environmental damage and exacerbate the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the country, the group said in its report. The rusting, neglected Japanese-built tanker has been moored in its location 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) away from Yemens western Red Sea port of Ras Issa since the 1980s, when it was sold to the Yemeni government. Prior to the escalation of Yemen's conflict in 2015, the vessel was used to store and export oil from fields in eastern Marib province. Related video: Yemen rebels lose key battleground area after missile attack on UAE The 42-page Greenpeace report argues that an oil spill or explosion on the tanker would lead to the closure of desalination plants in Yemen, which will eventually disrupt the supply of drinking water to nearly 10 million people. The entire Red Sea regions drinking water supply could be contaminated by oil in just three weeks following a spill, said Greenpeace. A major spill would also lead to the closure of Yemen's western ports, including Hodeida and Salif, through which 68% of aid is brought into the Arab world's poorest country, the report said. Up to 8.4 million people relying on food aid supplies would be affected, said the Amsterdam-based advocacy group. An oil leak would also cause the closure of fisheries, the rise of air pollution levels in the region and the disruption of shipping traffic through Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Suez Canal, said the report. Story continues Internal documents obtained by The Associated Press in 2020 show that seawater has entered the tanker's engine compartment, causing damage to pipes and increasing the risk of sinking. Rust has covered parts of the tanker and the inert gas that prevents the tanks from gathering flammable gases has leaked out. Experts say maintenance is no longer possible because the damage to the ship is irreversible, according to the AP report. The question is no longer whether the catastrophe will happen. The question is when it will happen, Greenpeace MENA Campaigns Manager Ahmed El Droubi told reporters in a virtual news conference Thursday. Ras Issa is controlled by the country's Houthi rebels. Since 2015, the Houthis have been at war with the internationally recognized government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition and the United States. Last month, a Yemeni official with the U.N.-recognized government said there was an oil leak from the tanker. Undersecretary of Hodeida province Waleed al-Qudaimi blamed the situation on the U.N. Security Council and called on countries bordering the Red Sea to act urgently. The U.N. has constantly warned of the catastrophic impact of a potential leak from the aging and neglected tanker. However, none of its diplomatic efforts to resolve the matter has materialized. Last year, the U.N. accused the rebels of using the tanker as a bargaining chip to advance their political agenda in Yemen. The technology and expertise to transfer the oil to other tankers exist, but despite months of negotiations we are still at a stalemate, said Paul Horsman, project leader of Greenpeace's Safer response team. It is really time to put aside the politics and agree on a contingency plan. Horsman told reporters that his group is calling for the deployment of a containment boom around the tanker as a first line of defense. Booms are interconnected floating barriers that are usually spread across the water to stop a major oil spill. The boom is not a solution but it could potentially buy us time in case there is a spill, said Horsman. The only solution is to move the oil safely from Safer to another tanker. Chris Johnson, a U.N. senior policy advisor who was present during the release of the Greenpeace report, said the U.N. is already working on bringing a boom from Djibouti to Hodeida port. She added that the U.N. is pursuing with diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement between the Houthis, the Saudi-led-coalition and the Yemeni government to resolve the matter. Meanwhile, the U.N. is trying to locate a suitable vessel to which the oil could be transferred, Johnson told reporters. 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 Harris on Thursday met one-on-one with the newly inaugurated president of Honduras, where the two discussed additional U.S. COVID-19 vaccine donations and root causes of migration. Harris attended the inauguration of Honduran President Xiomara Castro and held a bilateral meeting afterward with Castro, her first meeting with a foreign leader. "They discussed deepening our cooperation across a broad range of issues, including addressing the root causes of migration, combatting corruption, and expanding economic opportunity," the vice president's office said in a readout of the meeting. During the meeting, Harris told Castro the U.S. would donate "several hundred thousand" COVID-19 vaccine doses in the next two months in addition to the more than 3 million doses the Biden administration has already sent to Honduras. In a bid to help Honduran schools remain open, Harris said the Biden administration would provide more than 500,000 pediatric syringes and $1.35 million in funding for refurbishment of educational and health facilities. The administration will also give $500,000 in funding to support the Honduran government's communications campaign and to boost vaccination deployment, the vice president's office said. The two leaders also discussed root causes of migration, which is something Harris has been tasked with addressing since last spring. She previously visited Guatemala and Mexico as part of that effort, urging migrants at the time not to come to the United States. During Thursday's meeting, Harris "emphasized that combating corruption and impunity remains at the center of our commitment to address the root causes of migration." The two discussed how boosting the Honduran economy could help incentivize remaining in the country rather than migrating to the United States. The two women also discussed concerns about gender-based violence in Honduras, which has plagued the country for many years. Harris was scheduled to return to Washington, D.C., late Thursday. Castro, a democratic socialist, won the country's November election to become the first woman to serve as Honduras's president. She had pledged to introduce a new welfare payment for poor households and senior citizens, to tax the rich and allow the central bank to lend the treasury in emergencies. Award-winning Chinese filmmaker Lu Chuan has been selected to direct the Official Film of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (BOCOG) announced on Tuesday. With Beijing serving as the first city to host both the Summer and Winter editions of the Olympic Games, Lu said his motivation is to showcase to the world the host cities Beijing and Zhangjiakou and today's China. "As a Chinese, I am honored to participate in such a grand event," Lu told the press. Lu added he hopes to record Beijing 2022's most inspiring, exciting and stunning moments, as well as all the athletes, behind-the-scenes players, competition organizers and volunteers. "Their stories of humanity, the spark in human nature can be recorded. The most precious, historical videos can be passed down to future generations, including us. They are not only precious historical resources to China but also to the world. So we hope we can record them all." The director noted that as he and his team learned more about the preparation work for Beijing 2022, they grew ever more impressed and encouraged by the significant efforts made by China's government and its citizens amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, while the film will certainly focus on the athletes, it will also examine stories through two other lenses: namely, how Beijing has created competition venues and how the athletes will return to those venues following the novel coronavirus outbreak. The film will record how China faced challenges, withstood pressure and ultimately succeeded in preparing for the Winter Olympics while also ensuring residents benefited from the local development in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lu said: "We can see the Winter Olympic Games are like the most dazzling tip of an iceberg, lit by the sun and against the blue sky. But there is actually a huge system under the sea level, including our country's efforts to ensure the competition and dedication of countless athletes." Lu is one of the most acclaimed directors in China, known for his award-winning films such as "Kekexili: Mountain Patrol," "City of Life and Death" and the Disneynature wildlife documentary, "Born in China. Likewise, he has more than 40 awards to his name, including from prestigious international festivals such as Sundance and the San Sebastian Film Festival, among others. Now, he'll join the list of accomplished international film directors who have contributed to a rich legacy of more than 100 years of Olympic Films. These cinematographic experiences aim to convey a positive message about sportsmanship and the Olympic spirit among nations, while also captivating fans of cinema, world history and sport for generations to come. Since the early 20th century, films have been created for every edition of the Olympic Games. Throughout the decades, international auteurs including Milos Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch and Carlos Saura have been inspired by the Olympic Movement to push the boundaries of the Olympic documentary. The Olympic Film Collection now comprises more than 50 feature-length films that offer a cinematic window onto defining moments in the history of the modern Games. The associate director of the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage, Yasmin Meichtry, said: "We are delighted that Lu Chuan was chosen to produce the Official Film of the Beijing Games. His filmmaking is known for taking on historical and social matters with an authentic Chinese voice. As a renowned storyteller and talented portrayer, his film will convey compelling and meaningful messages to encourage and forge better understanding between different cultures and promote the Olympic values of excellence, respect and friendship." An expert advisory board, headed by renowned Chinese artist Zhang Heping, will guide the production of Lu's official film. Zhang Heping is known for several films and TV series, and was previously the chairman of the Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles, as well as Beijing People's Art Theatre. Esteemed film director Zhang Yimou will serve as the chief executive producer of the film, alongside his role as the chief director of the Beijing 2022 opening and closing ceremonies. "The official film can really become a work full of beauty and romance, with cultural and artistic value," Zhang Yimou said. "The stories, with their own impact and turning points will appear during the documentation process, but it is very hard to capture the fleeting moments that will never repeat. Amid the pandemic, to finish such a film with a global perspective is a great challenge. And according to my knowledge, the creative team of the film adopted a flexible shooting method, faced the challenges head-on and made a lot of preparation work." The official film has been in production since 2020, with a fair amount of filming and interviews being shot during the pre-Games period, and Lu's team will continue their filming and wrap up within the first half of 2022. The film will be released sometime this year. Demonstrators hold up signs as they take part in an anti-Asian American hate march and rally at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, March 27, 2021. Photo by Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images San Francisco reported a 567% increase in hate incidents against Asians and Pacific Islanders in 2021. City officials discussed the preliminary police data at a Tuesday press conference. The report comes amid an ongoing national surge in anti-Asian hate incidents, fueled in part by the pandemic. San Francisco city officials on Tuesday vowed to increase safety measures for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders after revealing preliminary police data that showed a whopping 567% increase in hate crimes committed against the AAPI community in 2021 from the previous year. The initial data from 2021, which is still considered preliminary until the California Department of Justice makes an official determination on hate-crime statistics across the state, shows 60 victims reported hate incidents last year. That number is up from nine in 2020 and just eight in 2019. At a Tuesday press conference, San Francisco Chief of Police Bill Scott said one man is believed to be responsible for half of the 2021 hate incidents. Officials did not identify the man but said he was arrested in August and potentially faces additional hate-crime charges. Law enforcement arrested a 36-year-old man accused of vandalizing Asian-owned businesses in August. But even accounting for 31 crimes the man is accused of, the annual data would still represent a 200% increase in AAPI hate incidents, which have included targeted robberies and assaults, The San Francisco Standard reported. "That is significant, that is concerning, and that is alarming," Scott said during the news conference in Chinatown, according to the outlet. The city's mayor, London Breed, also expressed anger toward the ongoing violence, particularly that which has targeted seniors. A surge of hate incidents directed toward the elderly in the city's Chinatown district sparked city officials to take several protective steps over the last year, including implementing a program that offers seniors a walking buddy, as well as enforcing extra neighborhood patrols. Story continues Breed said more efforts are still needed, especially given many people's hesitance to report hate crimes, which suggests the actual number of incidents is likely much higher. Police chief Scott said law enforcement would have an increased presence at upcoming public celebrations for the Lunar New Year beginning next week. "If anybody thinks that San Francisco is an easy place to come in and terrorize our Asian communities, you are sadly mistaken and you will be held accountable," Scott said, according to The Washington Post. The report comes amid a national spike in hate incidents targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Experts have said the surge is in part, fueled by racist rhetoric surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, including comments made by former President Donald Trump referring to the virus as a racist nickname and blaming China for the pandemic. From March 2020 through September 2021, the Stop AAPI Hate coalition tracked more than 10,000 hate incidents across the country. Read the original article on Insider TAIPEI (Reuters) -Honduras is grateful for Taiwan's support and hopes to maintain their relationship, President-elect Xiomara Castro said on Wednesday after meeting Taiwan's vice president, in a reassuring message to Taipei which has fretted about losing an ally. Honduras is one of only 14 countries with formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan. Castro floated the idea of ditching Taipei for Beijing in her election campaign. China has ramped up pressure to reduce Taiwan's international footprint, saying the democratically governed island is Chinese territory with no right to state-to-state ties. In comments to Taiwanese media after meeting Vice President William Lai, who is in Honduras for the presidential inauguration, Castro thanked Taiwan. "The people of Honduras are always grateful to the people of Taiwan for their support that they have always given us," she said, in a video clip carried by Taiwan's official Central News Agency. "We have worked together hand in hand for many years and hope to maintain this relationship." Lai had been due to hold formal talks with Castro and deliver materials to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was cancelled, the Central News Agency said, adding they met later for about seven minutes. Lai posted a picture on Twitter of him meeting Castro and wrote in English: "Honoured to attend the transfer of power ceremony tomorrow, and help strengthen the friendship between our democratic countries". Taiwan's foreign ministry said Castro had merely adjusted the time of their meeting owing to the fact she was still dealing with a domestic political crisis. Castro assumes office embroiled https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rival-honduran-lawmakers-back-different-congressional-heads-dispute-with-next-2022-01-23 in a dispute with dissidents in her own party. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is also going to Castro's inauguration, potentially giving Lai a chance to meet her, though U.S. officials have suggested to Reuters that there would not be a formal meeting. Story continues In the run-up to the November election, a visiting U.S. delegation to Honduras made clear it wanted the Central American country to maintain its Taiwan relations. The United States has worried about growing Chinese influence in its back yard. China last month re-established relations with Nicaragua, a neighbour of Honduras, and has openly said it is aiming to reduce the number of Taiwan's diplomatic allies to zero. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Gerry Doyle) A Howell woman will spend at least four months in jail after embezzling more than $100,000 from insurance clients. Alicia Holbrook-Bloink, 44, used her insurance company, Holbrook Insurance Agency, LLC, located in Iosco Township near Howell, to embezzle $375,744, Assistant Attorney General Special Agent Ashley Schwartz testified in a 2020 hearing. Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Michael Hatty Thursday sentenced Holbrook-Bloink to three years probation, with the first year to be served in the Livingston County Jail as part of the plea agreement. She will serve the first four months immediately, with the remaining jail time scheduled at a later date, Hatty said after the hearing. "There is a serious litany of folks who were damaged by your business," Hatty told Holbrook-Bloink. "These folks relied on you, they paid you money. I dont know where all this money went." As part of the sentence agreement, she is also required to close her insurance company, forfeit any insurance licenses she holds and pay restitution. A hearing to determine the restitution amount is scheduled for June. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Holbrook-Bloink pleaded no contest on Dec. 21, 2021, to two counts each of conducting a criminal enterprise, embezzling over $100,000 and failure to file a tax return. "I am truly sorry for what has occurred," Holbrook-Bloink said prior to sentencing. "I wish more than anything I could turn back time and somehow change the circumstances." The Attorney General's office agreed to dismiss two counts each of embezzlement over $100,000 and failure to file tax documents. Prosecutors also dismissed four counts of identity theft and one count of embezzlement of $20,000 as part of the plea agreement. Bill McCririe, Holbrook-Bloink's attorney, said she pleaded no contest due to potential civil liability and lack of memory of the crimes. A no contest plea is not a formal admission of guilt but is treated as such for sentencing purposes. Story continues Holbrook-Bloink was in a coma for several months because of an unspecified medical issue and has "no recollection" of the events of the case, McCririe told Hatty in December 2021. Forged financial agreements Between 2015 and 2019, court documents state, Holbrook-Bloink used her insurance company, Holbrook Insurance Group, LLC, to defraud her insurance clients and embezzle their money. The AG's office, which became involved because the case involved multiple jurisdictions, said Holbrook-Bloink took clients' money and then forged financial agreements with an insurance underwriter, which would ensure the client had the policy issued while Holbrook-Bloink used their money. So while it looked like the clients had insurance, they didn't. Among the clients that lost money was the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing, Pipefitting and Sprinkler Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada. Holbrook-Bloink embezzled about $300,000 from the organization and placed the union in a difficult situation with employee benefits, a union official said. "It's been very frustrating, very stressful," Brian Walter, the organization's comptroller said Thursday. "Thank God we did have good legal representation on our end. It could have been, in my opinion, avoidable. Its not been a pleasant experience" Frequently the finance contracts were not paid and the insurance was canceled, often without the clients knowing, Schwartz testified in 2020. Schwartz said Holbrook-Bloink eventually stopped forging financial agreements and "would just steal the clients' money" without attempting to do a finance agreement or issue an insurance policy. Contact Kayla Daugherty at 517-552-2848 or kdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KayDaugherty92. This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Woman gets jail for embezzling through insurance company INDIAN RIVER COUNTY Listening to parents, helping students find their future after high school and continuing to handle the COVID-19 pandemic in schools are some key issues School Board candidates want to address in the coming months. Four candidates, including two incumbents, have filed for the three nonpartisan School Board seats up for election Aug. 23. School Board members are elected to four-year terms and are paid $37,705 per year. Former school district administrator Bruce Green is the sole candidate so far for the District 1 seat, currently held by Mara Schiff. In District 2, LaDonna Corbin has filed to challenge incumbent Jacqueline Rosario, who is seeking reelection to her second term. Incumbent Teri Barenborg, also seeking her second term, so far is the only candidate the District 4 seat. "I have a passion for kids," said Green, 51, a lifelong resident who comes from a family of teachers. He left the district in 2018 as assistant superintendent of human resources and technology to care for his father, who died in 2020. Green is general manager of Premier Landscape Solutions. "I want to be able to give back and serve the community," said Green. The biggest issue facing the district is the recruiting and retention of employees and teachers, he said. The district needs to create an environment that makes people want to stay, he said. COVID in schools: How Treasure Coast schools have fared this year with COVID-19 Speech rules: So you want to address the Indian River School County Board? New rules may be coming The mother of six children, including three currently in the school district, Corbin said she wants to help improve the school district and students. Corbin is a Treasure Coast Community Health Center health and wellness coordinator, working with Dodgertown Elementary Community Partnership School. Corbin, who was born and raised in Indian River County, said she noticed a change in the community when she returned to Gifford in 2016. Story continues "They left Gifford behind. Everything around us grew and advanced," said Corbin, 48. She and her husband, Patrick, initiated the Black Vendors Day market to get more people to come to Gifford. The district has lost its parent engagement, especially with the strain the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on parents, she said. The district needs to make a greater effort to meet with parents to find out their needs and help them, she said. The COVID-19 pandemic, along with concerns over mask mandates and student quarantines, have taken center stage for much of Rosario's and Barenborg's terms. "It's something we still deal with on a daily basis," Barenborg said. Superintendent David Moore implemented a policy for when students quarantine and wear masks, she said, and for when the data changes. "We are making strides," said Rosario, 51. But the district still faces the challenge of getting students caught up in areas, such as math, where they fell behind during remote learning, she said. The district made the best decision regarding masks with the data available, Green said. While he said he is "not a big fan" of requiring students to wear masks all day, "there comes a point when that decision may have to be made based on data." Colleen Wixon is the Indian River County government watchdog reporter for TCPalm.com. Contact her at Colleen.Wixon@TCPalm.com or 772-978-2235. This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Indian River County School Board nonpartisan seats campaigning begins Good morning Denver! It's me again, Brad K. Evans, your host of the Denver Daily. Thursday's weather: Colder with snow, 1-2". High: 28 Low: 17. Here are the top stories in Denver today: State lawmakers are hoping to crack down on professional shoplifters. Organized retail crime syndicates have found a modern-day pawnshop with online platforms. State lawmakers say the Amazon's of the world are making it too easy for them. (CBS4) After nearly two decades, the Irish Snug has closed its doors. The pandemic claims another long time operator, as supply costs continue to rise and staffing continues to fall, small businesses are struggling to say open. (303) Airbnb blocked a bunch of house parties in Denver in 2021. According to Airbnb, their 2021 data indicates that the anti-party block system blocked or redirected more than 2,500 people in Denver from booking a listing for an entire home. (FOX31) This arcade designed by local artists takes you back to your childhood. The Understudy ARTcade gives visitors the chance to win art prizes and play one-of-a-kind games like immersive pinball and NFT claw machines. (Denverite) Free KN95 masks now available at Denver recreation centers. City officials announced that households will have access to five free KN95 masks per month and will be available which at recreation centers across the city. (7News) From our sponsor: Hey Denver, are you looking to buy a house, refinance or just explore your options? Check out the new Patch Mortgage Center for all your home financing needs! Today in Denver: From my notebook: The Denver Art Museum is proud to present the first exhibition to fully explore the career of Mexican artist and fashion designer Carla Fernandez , founder of the eponymous fashion brand in May 2022. (DAM) New ordinance goes into effect: The new Skip The Stuff ordinance is in effect! Single-use utensils, straws, napkins and condiment packets will now only be available upon request. (Denver) Denver Center for the Performing Arts receives 135 submissions: DCPA's annual High School and Middle School Playwriting Competition. After careful review by a panel of artistic, literary and education professionals, check out who made the finals. (DCPA) Story continues Loving the Denver 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 denverdaily@yahoo.com Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Thursday. I'll be in your inbox Friday morning with another update! Brad K. Evans This article originally appeared on the Denver Patch Jackson High School lacrosse player Ava Peterson is joined by her family and Polar Bears coaches John Kroah and Mike Peterson as she signs her letter of intent with the University of Pittsburgh. Jackson High School lacrosse player Ava Peterson has signed a national letter of intent to continue her career at the University of Pittsburgh. A senior defender, Peterson will join a Panthers program that kicks off its inaugural season in the Atlantic Coast Conference this year. This article originally appeared on The Repository: Jackson High School lacrosse player Ava Peterson signs with Pittsburgh Reopening schools is a start, but every student in America should have access to mental health professionals after two years of grappling with the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said Thursday. Cardona said it's incumbent on school districts to use American Rescue Plan funding to hire mental health staff. One of President Joe Biden's campaign promises was to double the number of school counselors, social workers and mental health professionals in schools. But Cardona's speech was light on details of how schools are to ramp up mental health support and personnel amid the national staffing crisis. American Rescue Plan funding, critics suggested, isn't enough. "Our school leaders continue to burn the candle at both ends," said Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, in a statement responding to Cardona's address. "Without immediate action to address their staffing shortages and concerns about teacher and student wellness and well-being, it will be extremely challenging to make sure these proposals actually provide the real support our communities need and deserve." Cardona's vision also includes a push for increased participation in extracurricular activities, access to intensive tutoring and student loan reform. The department has forgiven about $15 billion in student loan debt since Biden took office. The federal government has paused payments on federal student loans since the start of the pandemic. Theyre expected to resume in May. Chris Quintana and Alia Wong Also in the news: Even as the more contagious but less virulent omicron variant recedes across much of the U.S., it's leaving a notable imprint: The 18.4 million infections tallied in the country so far in January represent one-fourth of the 73.2 million during the entire pandemic. Current and former staffers described a "toxic atmosphere'' at the World Health Organization in the Western Pacific and accused its director, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, of racist, unethical and abusive behavior, the Associated Press reported. Story continues Washington, D.C., has extended its indoor mask mandate for public settings by a month, now set to expire Feb. 28. The European Medicines Agency recommended that Pfizers coronavirus antiviral drug Paxlovid be authorized for use in the 27-nation European Union, the first time the agency has endorsed a pill for treating COVID-19. People who had slight changes in their menstrual cycle after getting the COVID-19 vaccine only experienced those changes for a brief time, as a new study "reassures" there is little risk in fertile individuals getting inoculated. Today's numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 73 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 878,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Global totals: More than 365 million cases and over 5.6 million deaths. More than 211 million Americans 63.6% are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What we're reading: Many people with disabilities have yet to return to airports as they try to protect themselves from a coronavirus infection that could either feel like a rough bout of flu or take their lives. Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY's free Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group. Florida school district won't excuse students over COVID concerns The school district in Orange County, Florida, said its 209,000 students will no longer be allowed to get an excused absence for failing to attend school out of concern about increased coronavirus infections. The district, with more than 200 schools in the Orlando area, said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the policy goes into effect Monday. "The number of cases has continued to decline, and we continue to require face masks for adults and strongly encourage them for students,'' the announcement said. "It is also an additional strain on our teachers as they continue to manage assignments for large numbers of absent students.'' The Orange County Public Schools website reports 19,548 infections on campuses since Aug. 2, more than 15,000 of them among students. The district encourages parents to keep their kids at home if they have symptoms of illness, and offers home schooling as an option for those who don't want their children to attend classes in person out of caution about COVID. Sarah Palin, infected with virus for second time, still out dining in NYC Sarah Palin has been exposed to the coronavirus enough times to get infected twice. Now she's exposing others to the virus. The former Republican vice presidential candidate was seen dining in a Manhattan restaurant Wednesday, two days after her trial in a lawsuit against the New York Times was postponed because she tested positive for a second time. CDC guidelines call for people to isolate themselves for at least five days after the onset of symptoms or a positive test. Palin, who has publicly said she wont get the COVID-19 shot, also flouted New York City rules Saturday when she dined indoors at the same eatery, Elio's, despite not being vaccinated. The restaurant said it made a mistake in not checking Palin's vaccination status. On Wednesday, she ate at a heated outdoors section that did not require patrons to be vaccinated. Less than half of Americans think booster shots are essential, poll shows Only 59% of Americans think its essential they be vaccinated against the coronavirus to feel safe at public activities, according to a new poll. And although boosters provide significantly better protection than a two-shot treatment of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, just 47% of Americans think its essential they get boosted. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also underscores what authorities call alarmingly low COVID-19 vaccination rates in U.S. children ages 5 to 11. Just 37% of parents consider it essential that their children are vaccinated. In Minneapolis, 36-year-old public health researcher Colin Planalp faults health authorities for not making the importance of vaccinating kids more clear to the public. Planalp said he got his 6-year-old son vaccinated as soon as he could. Kids can get really sick from COVID, he says. World travelers beware: Booster shot may soon be required A growing number of global destinations are putting a cap on how long travelers can get by with a one- or two-dose vaccination series. Without the booster, vacationers could find themselves facing additional entry requirements, unable to access certain venues or denied entry entirely. Starting Tuesday, U.S. travelers to Spain who had the last dose of their initial one- or two-dose vaccination series 270 days or more before entry will need to show proof of receiving a booster vaccination. Health experts are expecting such requirements to become more widespread as countries crack down on the spread of COVID-19. "We know that being boosted gives you much better protection, both against illness and serious illness. So it's not surprising," said David Weber, a professor of medicine, pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "I think this will be an ongoing trend for countries that want to limit transmission." Bailey Schulz Moderna booster shot focuses on omicron Moderna announced Wednesday that its first participant had been dosed with the company's booster shot that is specifically targeting the omicron variant. The news comes a day after Pfizer and BioNTech announced plans of their own. Booster shots of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have proved 90% effective at preventing omicron-related hospitalizations, according to data from the CDC. Moderna's study will include two cohorts: participants who previously received both doses of the Moderna vaccine, with the second dose being at least six months ago, and participants who have received the two initial doses as well as a Moderna booster at least three months ago. Jewish advocacy groups condemn mandate comparisons to Holocaust Thursday marks the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany's Auschwitz concentration camp. Days prior to International Holocaust Remembrance Day, intended to honor the 6 million Jews and other victims of the Holocaust, anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it was easier to live in Hitlers Germany than todays world with COVID-19 mandates. Even in Hitlers Germany, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland. You could hide in an attic like Anne Frank did, he said at a Washington, D.C., anti-vaccine rally Sunday. Today, the mechanisms are being put in place that will make it so none of us can run. And none of us can hide. Jewish advocacy and Holocaust awareness organizations jumped to condemn Kennedys words, for which he later apologized. The Auschwitz Memorial called his comparisons a sad symptom of moral & intellectual decay. Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said his comments are deeply inaccurate, deeply offensive and deeply troubling. Those who carelessly invoke Anne Frank, the star badge, and the Nuremberg Trials exploit history and the consequences of hate, the U.S. Holocaust Museum wrote. Kennedys comparisons of COVID-19 mandates to Nazi Germany are only one of many made by prominent people, including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and FOX commentator Tucker Carlson, over the last two years. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Reopening schools not enough; mental health help needed: COVID news. Paris Hilton in New York City on January 24, 2022. Raymond Hall/Getty Images Paris Hilton appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" on Monday. When she first stepped onstage, she wore two different heels: one sparkly and one shiny. She later changed, seemingly during a commercial break, so that both of her heels matched. Paris Hilton looked stunning when she visited a late-night talk show this week but she also had a minor wardrobe malfunction. In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Jimmy Fallon pointed out that Hilton wore two different heels while being interviewed for his show on Monday. The video shows Fallon welcoming Hilton to the "Tonight Show" stage before zooming in on her shoes, while Capone's "Oh No" plays in the background. One of Hilton's shoes was see-through and covered in sparkles, while the other was made from a shiny, tan material. That said, both were pointed pumps with tall heels, so it's easy to understand how she might have mixed them up. Paris Hilton wore one sparkling heel, and one shiny shoe. NBC/Getty Images Other photos taken during Hilton's appearance show her wearing two of the same shoes the see-through pair. She seemingly changed shoes for a second part of the interview that featured her mom Kathy Hilton. She later switched one of her heels so that her shoes matched. NBC/Getty Images She then wore the tan pair while out in SoHo later that same day. While walking around New York, she wore her tan heels. Raymond Hall/Getty Images Read the original article on Insider China cut about 1.1 trillion yuan (about 173.9 billion U.S. dollars) of taxes and fees in 2021 amid the country's efforts to bolster economic growth and strengthen market vitality, the top tax authority said on Wednesday. Last year, the country rolled out a slew of preferential policies on deducting and deferring taxes and fees to shore up the industrial economy and support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, Wang Daoshu, deputy head of the State Taxation Administration, told a press conference. A total of 216.2 billion yuan of tax payments were deferred for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing sector last year, Wang said. He added that enterprises in the coal, power and heating industries saw 27.1 billion yuan in tax cuts, rebates and deferrals. China's tax income, excluding export tax rebates, stood at 15.46 trillion yuan and achieved the government's annual target, Wang noted. Tax income accounted for 15.1 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2021, edging down 0.1 percentage points and 3 percentage points from that of 2020 and 2015, respectively, indicating that tax burdens on market entities were further eased, Wang said. In 2021, China has given full play to the role of taxation in making cross-cycle and counter-cycle adjustments while focusing on sustaining smaller businesses, technological innovation and the real economy, said Cai Zili, an official with the administration. Thanks to the implementation of preferential measures, China's small and micro firms saw tax cuts increase by 295.1 billion yuan last year, and their taxes per 100 yuan of sales revenue dipped by 12.4 percent year on year, official data showed. "Market vitality has been further boosted," Wang said, citing that the country saw 13.26 million firms that were newly set up in 2021 and have engaged in tax-related activities, up 15.9 percent year on year. Meanwhile, enterprises have gained improved innovation impetus due to declining spending on research and development, Cai said. Research and development expenditure by the country's key tax source firms in the manufacturing sector increased by 22.6 percent from a year ago. Tax payment services have been further facilitated in the country, as 90 percent of tax payment services and 99 percent of tax filing services are accessible online, according to the administration. The country will introduce more measures on tax and fee cuts this year while giving priority to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, individual businesses and the manufacturing industry, Cai added. China's fiscal revenue rose 10.7 percent year on year to hit 20.25 trillion yuan in 2021, nearly doubling from the 2012 figure of 11.73 trillion yuan, official data showed. Stronger measures will be taken to cut fees and taxes to support market entities this year with a combination of fiscal incentives, said Xu Hongcai, vice minister of finance. The measures will be more precise and sustainable to meet the needs of market entities, he said. AMMAN, Jordan (AP) The Jordanian military said Thursday that troops have killed 27 suspected smugglers attempting to enter the country from neighboring Syria. The report on the army's website said that it had thwarted several suspected attempts to smuggle drugs into Jordan from Syria, and that large quantities of narcotics were seized in separate interventions that also left several people wounded. The military said that it was continuing to apply the newly established rules of engagement and will strike with an iron fist and deal with force and firmness with any infiltration or smuggling attempts to protect the borders. Earlier this month the military said an army officer was killed in a shootout with smugglers along the long porous border it shares with Syria. Jordan is home to more than 650,000 Syrian refugees who fled the civil war that has raged there for more than a decade. In September, Syrian and Jordanian officials discussed border security after Syrian government forces captured rebel-held areas along the Jordanian frontier. A month later, Jordans King Abdullah II spoke with Syrian President Bashar Assad for the first time in a decade after the two countries reopened a key border crossing. An illegal drug industry has flourished in Syria after 10 years of civil war. In recent years, the Arab Mediterranean country has emerged as a hot spot for making and selling captagon, an illegal amphetamine. Both Syria and neighboring Lebanon have become gateways for the drug to the Middle East, and particularly the Gulf. The U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime said in a 2014 report that the amphetamine market is on the rise in the Middle East, with busts mostly in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria accounting for more than 55 percent of amphetamines seized worldwide. (Reuters) - A federal judge in South Dakota temporarily blocked on Wednesday a new rule by the state's health department that makes access to a medication abortion more difficult. Planned Parenthood sought the injunction against the South Dakota measure, which was first part of an executive order issued last September by Governor Kristi Noem, a Republican. Judge Karen Schreier wrote in her ruling that Planned Parenthood had shown that South Dakota had created a "substantial obstacle" in the path of women seeking medication abortions. Noem's executive order mandated that the two drugs used in mediation abortions both be administered by a medical provider. Typically, a woman would receive the first medication at a provider's office, and be handed the second drug at the same time, with instructions to take it 24 to 72 hours later. Because Planned Parenthood's office in Sioux Falls is the only one that provides abortions in the state, and because many women travel long distances to reach its office, forcing them to make repeat visits could put an undue burden on many women, the judge wrote in her restraining order. The legal battle over abortion in the United States has grown increasingly tense in recent months. In December, the Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, heard arguments in Mississippi's bid to revive its 15-week ban on abortions. Conservative justices indicated then that they are open to either gutting or overturning entirely Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that established a woman's right to terminate her pregnancy before the fetus is viable. A decision is due by the end of June. In December, the federal government permanently eased some restrictions on medication used in abortions for up to 10 weeks of pregnancy, allowing the drug to be sent by mail rather than requiring it to be dispensed in person. However, 19 states have laws that supersede the FDA decision by barring telehealth consultations or mailing of abortion pills. (Reporting by Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas; Editing by Robert Birsel) The founder of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers must remain in custody pending his trial on charges in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, a federal judge in Texas ruled Wednesday. Elmer Stewart Rhodes, charged with seditious conspiracy and other counts, poses a danger if released, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Priest Johnson wrote in a 17-page ruling. Johnson wrote that evidence showed Rhodes planned and organized an effort to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and that his authoritative role in the conspiracy, access to substantial weaponry, and ability to finance any future insurrection, combined with his continued advocacy for violence against the federal government, gives rise to a credible threat." The ruling also says Rhodes could easily flee, and that the Oath Keepers that he leads has members across the nation. Rhodes, 56, of Granbury, Texas, has been detained since his arrest Jan. 13. Prosecutors say Rhodes spearheaded a conspiracy in which he recruited people to go to Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, including plans for an armed quick reaction force in Virginia. They also allege he oversaw two military-style stacks, or formations, that joined other pro-Trump rioters to force their way inside the Capitol. Attorneys for Rhodes did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night. One of the attorneys, James Lee Bright, said they plan to file an appeal in Washington, D.C., Thursday, according to The Associated Press. His attorneys have said that any member of the group that entered the Capitol did so on their own and not at the direction of Rhodes, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth has reported. Rhodes is not accused of going into the Capitol. Attorney Phillip Linder has said the federal government sees Rhodes as the poster boy for this movement and I think theyre trying to shut him down. Ten other people were also charged earlier this month with seditious conspiracy, some of whom had previously been charged in the attack on Jan. 6, 2021. Hundreds of people have been arrested and charged with taking part in the riot last year, which occurred when supporters of then-President Donald Trump attacked the Capitol after Joe Biden won the November election. On Valentine's Day, five survivors of sexual abuse will step out of the shadows and onto a virtual stage to tell their stories of pain, courage and hope. Were calling them Hometown Heroes, says Shauna Galloway-Williams, CEO of Julie Valentine Center in Greenville. Julie Valentine Center works year-round to provide free, confidential services to victims of child abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. But one afternoon in February is special. For the past 12 years, as many as 1,000 partners, professionals, donors, staff and friends have gathered to shine a light on the issues, to hear inspirational stories of survival, and to support the Julie Valentine Center financially and celebrate its work. Julie Valentine Center's Development Director Robin Longino, left, and CEO Shauna Galloway-Williams hope to raise $300,000 with their annual program, which will be held virtually Feb. 14. Last week, due to the continuing surge of COVID-19 cases in the community, Galloway-Williams and Development Director Robin Longino made the wrenching decision to host the event virtually instead of holding an in-person luncheon. We believe it is the most responsible decision to make and in the best interest of our community, says Longino, who has been with Julie Valentine Center for more than nine years and whose expansive duties include managing fundraising activities and special events. But Galloway-Williams promises that the virtual experience will be no less special than previous in-person luncheons. Read More: Once a hobby, Brendan Carpenter built a new career one heirloom and kitchen at a time This years event shows how far we've come. We talk about the journey of hope and healing. The journey shows survivors they don't have to be ashamed and afraid to stand up together and share their stories, she explains. They know that they're not alone. They know there's power in sharing their stories and voices. The events five speakers formed a bond during a writing workshop funded with a grant to JVC from Greenville Women Giving. The speakers worked with a creative writing instructor and published a book of their stories. Story continues In contrast, during the JVCs second luncheon in 2012, survivors stories were shared in silhouette from behind a curtain. The survivors didn't show their faces. They didn't give their names. That was 10 years ago. Fast-forward to this year, and we have five speakers who are ready to take the stage in front of a thousand or more guests and share their stories in person, Galloway-Williams says. Longino says their courage is inspiring. The five keynote speakers this year fight every day to overcome unthinkable, traumatic experiences. Its amazing and such an honor to see victims put in the hard work to go from surviving to thriving. They are the reason we keep showing up. Not all abuse survivors choose to tell their stories outside the walls of the Julie Valentine Center or pursue legal action. We empower survivors to make those choices themselves, unless it's a child. Child reports have to be made. We empower clients to make decisions about their treatment. They've lost control in the situations that they've been dealt. We want to give them as much control back as possible, Galloway-Williams explains. Julie Valentine Center has evolved, and Galloway-Williams has overseen many changes. She began her career with the state Department of Mental Health as a child-and-adolescent therapist. Many of my clients were children and adults who were survivors of childhood sexual abuse and sexual assault. I had no idea at that time how to treat them, she says. So I had to become a specialist in that area. Eighteen years ago, she moved to what was then the Greenville Rape and Child Abuse Center. In 2009, she became executive director. When I first took on this role, we were facing significant financial issues. Now we have financial reserves, and we're able to make strategic decisions. Were not operating in a crisis mode 24/7, which is how we started, she says. We've been able to accomplish a lot. The luncheon netted $10,000 for JVC in its first year; the luncheon in 2020 (the last one held in-person), raised $210,000, according to Longino. A lot of that has to do with professionalizing our work. We have a development team. We have strong board support and leadership. Rebranding ourselves I think that was one of the best decisions that we've ever made, Galloway-Williams says. In 2011, the Greenville Rape and Child Abuse Center was renamed in honor of an infant whose body was found in Greenville County on Feb. 13, 1990. Detectives named the newborn Julie Valentine. The previous name alone was a deterrent. It was scary for those seeking services and also for the community and for donors, she says. Times have changed, but Galloway-Williams says society has a long way to go before people truly understand sexual abuse. Also: Habitat For Humanity's Fabia Rodrigues finds a home in Greenville, helps provide for others I view every opportunity to talk about the Julie Valentine Center as an educational opportunity. I'm shocked that people still hold on to some of the myths this doesn't happen in our community ... there's no way this could happen in our family ... this person is such a good person ... there's no way they could do this, she explains. Due to the continuing surge of COVID-19 cases, Julie Valentine Day will be held virtually this year. Most of the time, children and adults are abused by someone they know, they love, and they trust. Most times that person is also loved and trusted in the community. People still struggle with believing victims when they come forward, particularly if the alleged offender is well-known and well-respected in the community. The purpose of Julie Valentine Day is to raise funds to continue educating the community and to continue providing counseling services and advocacy for victims. The goal is to raise $300,000. People ask us all the time, How do you do this work? How do you continue, day in and day out, to live and breathe sexual assault and child abuse? Galloway-Williams says. It's because we see this side of it. The services we provide coupled with their resilience and determination ultimately have allowed these five survivors to be brave and bold enough to stand in front of all of these people and tell their stories. We see that there is hope, and there is healing. Sexual abuse and child abuse are ugly, she acknowledges. Yet I see the beauty every day ... beauty in people reclaiming their lives, reclaiming their strength. It's just amazing to see. This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville SC Julie Valentine Center supports victims of abuse Richard Corcoran, Florida Education Commissioner and former Speaker of the Florida House, responds to questions asked by the Florida State Presidential Search Committee on Saturday, May 15, 2021. For at least the third year in a row a bill exempting university presidential searches from Floridas Sunshine Law is winding its way through the state legislature. A perennial favorite of proponents of governmental opacity and unaccountability like Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, this bill imperils the ability of not only the public to know who might become their boss and leader of their university, but also curtails the amount of information the Board of Trustees might otherwise learn about the candidates. HB 520 and SB 703, titled the Public Records and Public Meetings bills, very specifically exempt university presidential searches from the public record. If these bills became law, university presidential candidates under consideration could remain shielded from public scrutiny until the decision is effectively final. This is bad for students, bad for faculty, bad for universities, and bad for Florida. Last year the same bill was at issue while Florida State University conducted its own presidential search. In real time we saw exactly why this bill could be so harmful to universities across the state. The current State Commissioner of Education, Richard Corcoran, inserted himself as a candidate for the position. Prima facie, this is a conflict of interest, as the Board of Governors render final verdict on the decision of whom to appoint as a university president. To put it more baldly, the body which Corcoran was a member of was to decide if he received this new job. Incredibly, it is worse than just a simple matter of poor ethics: if the Board of Governors had gone through with elevating Corcoran to university president, this would have imperiled FSUs accreditation and, as a result of that, its federal funding as well. At the outset, Corcoran seemed the odds-on favorite for the position, and it was only after significant outcry from faculty, students, and parents that he was eliminated from consideration in the final round. Story continues No one can say if it was only because this process was public that Corcoran did not become president of FSU, thus jeopardizing our federal funding and accreditation. But the Board of Governors did not exclude him outright early in the process, even with such a disqualifying conflict of interest. This only happened after the community came out and lobbied against him. If a bill that shielded this process from Floridas sunshine had been law, this could never have happened. The community would not have known Corcoran was in the running and would not have been able to notice the conflict of interest. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the accreditation body to which FSU belongs, would not have had time to issue their warning about the potential loss of FSUs accreditation were Corcoran appointed president of FSU. The Sunshine Law saved FSU as an institution, no exaggeration. University of Florida President Kent Fuchs speaks during UF Day at the Capitol Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020. Now these bills return once more, and several of our other state schools including University of Florida, University of South Florida, and Florida International University, are in the same position FSU was a year ago. Luckily their process is occurring in the sunshine, but if these bills pass, it could be the last time. All of these universities could be at risk of losing their accreditation, having nepotism or cronyism determine their presidents, or worse. There is no good reason to shield this process from the publics eye, as these people are vying to become president of a public institution. Ultimately, Floridians have felt for decades that government and the public sector works better when that work occurs in public. That is why we have the Sunshine Law. There is no good reason for exempting university presidential searches from this law, and a whole host of bad ones. Given that universities receive billions of dollars of taxpayer funds, it is only appropriate that the person disbursing those funds is hired in public. To not do so only invites corruption and cronyism into the highest echelons of our laudable state universities. Vincenza Antonetta Berardo Vincenza Antonetta Berardo is a sixth year PhD candidate in Philosophy at Florida State University, as well as the Chief Negotiator and Bargaining Chair of Graduate Assistants United. JOIN THE CONVERSATION Send letters to the editor (up to 200 words) or Your Turn columns (about 500 words) to letters@tallahassee.com. Please include your address for verification purposes only, and if you send a Your Turn, also include a photo and 1-2 line bio of yourself. You can also submit anonymous Zing!s at Tallahassee.com/Zing. Submissions are published on a space-available basis. All submissions may be edited for content, clarity and length, and may also be published by any part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Keeping university presidential searches out of the sunshine is still a bad idea | Opinion Jan. 27Police, fire and ambulance crews were dispatched after a shooting victim called 911 from the area of the Masonic Center in West Reading, just two blocks from the Reading Hospital emergency department entrance. The man called reported shortly after 9 p.m. that he had been shot, according to initial dispatches. Crews arrived at the center, 400 S. Seventh Ave., to learn that the victim might have gotten to an entrance of the nearby Reading Hospital. A short time later, crews reported that hospital security was escorting the victim to the emergency department. It was unclear where the shooting happened. However, West Reading police this morning referred a Reading Eagle reporter to Wyomissing police, who are investigating the shooting. Troopers with Kentucky State Police in Estill County arrested a suspect accused of sexual assaulting a minor on Tuesday, according to the Madison County Sheriffs Office. Burl Hollon, of Waco, was charged with two counts of rape, two counts of sodomy and two counts of sexual abuse. He is being lodged at the Madison County Detention Center. No other details have been released about Hollons case. The sheriffs office conducted the investigation while KSP made the arrest. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) South Koreas top infectious disease expert defended the move to expand the use of rapid testing despite accuracy concerns, as the country broke its daily coronavirus record for the third straight day. The 14,518 confirmed new cases Thursday were 1,500 more than Wednesday and about double the cases reported on Monday, illustrating a tidal wave of infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant. The surge, which could continue for weeks, has left health authorities scrambling to reshape the countrys pandemic response, such as treating a larger number of mild cases at home and shortening quarantine periods. Officials are also pushing ahead with a more controversial plan to rewire the testing regime that had been centered around gold standard PCR tests and expand the use of rapid antigen kits that will be made available at public health offices, testing stations and pharmacies. According to the new policy that will be enforced nationwide in February, PCR tests will now be mostly saved for people in their 60s and older or those with pre-existing conditions. Most people will be asked to try a rapid test kit first and request PCR only when those tests are positive. Some doctors groups have opposed the plan, saying that rapid tests arent sensitive enough to reliably detect infections. They say officials should instead take steps to expand the capacities for PCR tests, which are more accurate but require huge numbers of professionals administrating nasal and throat swabs and high-tech machines analyzing samples. Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, acknowledged the shortcomings of rapid tests, but said it was inevitable for the country to save its PCR capacities for high-risk groups. She admitted that transmissions could worsen if those who test false negative continued to venture out in public. She pleaded for people to continue wearing masks and exercising precaution after negative tests and try another test kit if they experience symptoms. Story continues Based on the characteristics of omicron, we may reach the limits of our testing capacity if infections dramatically increase. We need to pick and choose where to use that limited capacity, which would be for people 60 years or older or high-risk groups vulnerable to infections, Jeong said during a briefing. Omicron has become the dominant variant globally and more easily infects those who have been vaccinated or had COVID-19 previously. But vaccination and booster shots still provide strong protection from serious illness, hospitalization and death. More than 85% of South Koreas more than 51 million people have been fully vaccinated and more than half the population have received booster shots. Still, there are concerns that a sudden explosion in infections could overwhelm hospitals and cause disruption at workplaces and essential services by constantly placing huge numbers of people under quarantine. Jaehun Jung, a professor of preventive medicine at the Gachon University College of Medicine in Incheon, said South Koreas omicron surge will likely continue for five to eight weeks, and that the country could see daily cases of over 100,000. Krystal Daniels The Krystal Daniels trial has been pushed back another month so the recent death of a witness can be investigated and so the district attorney can quarantine. During online meetings Tuesday, Dickson County Circuit Court Judge David Wolfe said the trial needed to be delayed but he didnt extend the start date much longer. I dont want to create an issue for Mrs. Daniels and her defense. Neither do I want to extraordinarily delay this trial, Wolfe said. In recent weeks, a Humphreys County man who testified in the Joseph Daniels trial was found dead. The witness, Daniel McCormick, said he saw someone who looked like a teenager wearing a T-shirt with a skeleton on it the night of Joe Clyde Daniels disappearance near the Daniels residence. Krystal Daniels attorney, Mike Flanagan, said he was concerned about the investigation and wanted to hear findings. District Attorney Ray Crouch said during the Zoom meeting that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe into the death was nearly complete and the autopsy would be finished by March. Crouch also said he had recently tested positive for COVID-19 and was in the quarantine stage with Krystal Daniels trial originally scheduled to start next week. Wolfe set her trial date for March 16. Krystals husband Joseph Daniels was found guilty of murdering their son, Joe Clyde, in his trial last year. Krystal Daniels is charged with aggravated child abuse; conspiracy to commit aggravated child abuse or neglect; filing a false report; and tampering with evidence or fabricating evidence in relation to Joe Clyde's disappearance. During the same hearing, Joseph Daniels attorney, Jake Lockert, said he was waiting on the investigation results as part of his motion seeking a new trial for Daniels. I dont know that (the investigation is) going to have a great deal of relevance but certainly you are entitled to look into it however you want, Wolfe said. The hearing for a new trial for Joseph Daniels was set for March. Related: Nashville DA Glenn Funk tests positive for COVID-19, delaying court hearing This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Krystal Daniels trial delayed for investigation, quarantine NASA officials and invited guests on Thursday gathered at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for spaceflight, an annual gathering held at centers across the country. NASAs Day of Remembrance observed annually on the last Thursday of January serves as an opportunity for the agency and family members to honor those who gave their lives in pursuit of space exploration. More: Virgin Galactic pilot Mike Alsbury to be added to Space Mirror Memorial at Kennedy Space Center The day is observed because three separate tragedies occurred decades apart but all in the same calendar week: Apollo 1 test capsule fire in 1967, the space shuttle Challenger explosion just after takeoff in 1986, and shuttle Columbia's failure during re-entry in 2003. Columbia broke apart during its re-entry sequence just sixteen minutes before landing in Florida, killing all seven crew members aboard. The following year, officials decided to mark the last Thursday of January to honor all three and all others who made the ultimate sacrifice. Due to the threat of inclement weather, the ceremony was held inside The Center for Space Education at the Visitor Complex. Afterward, attendees were led in procession to the Space Mirror Memorial at the Visitor complex for a ceremonial wreath-laying commemorating those lost. In attendance were family members of the fallen astronauts as well as speakers Kelvin Manning, Deputy Director of NASA Kennedy Space Center, and Thad Altman, President of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. "Each year we come together, not only to remember the lives and the legacy of the men and the women who made the ultimate sacrifice in the quest to expand science further for the sake of humanity, but to recommit ourselves to ensuring the safety of those who continue to keep the dream of human spaceflight alive," Manning said. A common theme present during the ceremony was the agency's initiative to return humanity to the Moon, and then on to Mars and further with the Artemis Program. Story continues "As we rise to the challenges of today's new era in spaceflight, return to the Moon, sending humans deeper into space than ever before, we salute the pioneers who have gone before us and we stand fully committed to the safety of those who pick up the torch and continue for the benefit of humanity," Manning said. The day marked the 55th anniversary of the Apollo 1 test capsule fire at Kennedy Space Center an on-the-pad, pre-launch test that resulted in a fire breaking out in the capsule that ultimately killed NASA astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. An honored speaker at the event was Lowell Grissom, brother of Gus. "Apollo 1 has taught us we can never really fail as long as we persist in our efforts. The greatest lesson we can learn from Grissom, White, and Chaffee is that failure is impossible for those who refuse to abandon their goals. Ultimately, the most fitting tribute to the crew of Apollo 1 is for us to continue doing that for which they gave their lives," he said. Guests at the Visitor Complex were encouraged to pay their respects at the Space Mirror Memorial later in the day following the ceremony. They were also encouraged to visit the "Forever Remembered" memorial located inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit to remember those lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger and Columbia tragedies and the Apollo 1 Ad Astra Per Aspera tribute at the Saturn V Center. Many other NASA centers including Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, held virtual or closed to the media events for limited guests due to constraints of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. All names on the Space Mirror Memorial: Theodore Freeman Charles Bassett Elliott See Clifton Williams Virgil "Gus" Grissom Edward White Roger Chaffee Michael Adams Robert Lawrence Francis Scobee Michael Smith Judith Resnik Ellison Onizuka Ronald McNair Gregory Jarvis Christa McAuliffe Manley "Sonny" Carter Rick Husband William McCool Laurel Clark Michael Anderson Kalpana Chawla David Brown Ilan Ramon This article originally appeared on Florida Today: At KSC, NASA's Day of Remembrance honors the fallen Edith Namukose sits on a stool behind her electric popcorn-making machine, selling the snack to fellow villagers. She said that every day on average, 100 people buy popcorn from her, providing her with enough income to take care of her children as a single mother. A resident of Bulati about 150 km away from Uganda's capital Kampala, Namukose operates at the local trading center. She said that if it were not for the recent connection of her village to the national electricity grid, she would not have been able to run such a business. "Our village is about 20 km away from Isimba Hydroelectric Power Station, which was recently constructed by a Chinese company. We are now connected to the national electricity grid because the Isimba power plant increased the amount of electricity produced in our country," said Namukose. Similarly, Hassan Mujasi recently established the first ever maize grinding mill at Mawoto Village, because electricity from Isimba was extended to his area. "I employ over 20 workers. I buy maize from my village and all the neighboring villages. That shows how important electricity from the Isimba Hydroelectric Power Station is to our country," said Mujasi. Chinese investment According to Uganda's Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa, with the recent addition of electricity from the Isimba Hydroelectric Power Station to the national grid, Uganda now has power supplies to distribute to many more towns and villages in the country which were not previously connected. She said in an interview that another power plant at Karuma Falls on the Nile is under construction by a Chinese company and will be launched around April 2022. By the end of 2021, 90 percent of the work at the Karuma power plant had been completed. "Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially launched the Isimba Hydroelectric Power Station in 2019, and in April 2022, the Karuma Power Plant is to be launched. Both were constructed by Chinese companies with funds from a Chinese bank," said Nankabirwa. Due to a shortage of electricity about 15 years ago, Uganda has been wooing private-sector energy investors and using loans from China and other sources to help boost power production to meet fast-growing demand. Uganda is one of six countries that signed a 2010 Cooperative Framework Agreement outlining principles, rights and obligations for cooperative management and development of the Nile Basin water resources. In his speech at the Isimba Hydroelectric Power Station launch ceremony in 2021, President Museveni said, "I thank the Chinese Government for friendship, support and the loan that was extended to Uganda for the construction of the dam and new bridge." According to Uganda's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, the project, which cost $570 million, received debt financing from the Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank) of China. The China International Water and Electric Corp. (CWE) was given the nod for the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project. Signed between CWE and the ministry on September 6, 2013, the contract included the construction of the Isimba power plant and the Isimba-Bujagali 132 kv interconnection line. The annual generation of Isimba Hydroelectric Power Station is projected to be 1,039 gwh with an installed capacity of 183.2 mw. CWE engaged another Chinese company, Geotech Solutions, to carry out site supplementary geological investigation, drilling and rock grouting work. Jiang Jiqing, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in Kampala, told Uganda's The Independent newspaper that while investments in the dams were to generate electricity to the population,"we are also extremely excited that the lives of the local people living close to those dams have been elevated and their social-economic wellbeing improved." She added that the emerging developments mean that the China-Uganda collaboration is having a positive impact on the people in both countries. New power plant in 2022 The Isimba plant, now the largest power project in the country, though, will be surpassed by the Karuma Hydroelectric Power Station in Kiryandongo District in 2022. "The Karuma power station is being constructed by a Chinese company called Synohydro Corp. When it starts operating fully, it will be Uganda's largest power project," said James Okello, an engineer in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Okello said that in addition to the construction of the Karuma power station and a double circuit transmission line, the project also includes the construction of a 33 kw power line to several districts in the country. According to the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, the funds to construct the dam were provided by the EXIM Bank of China. Located at Karuma Falls, its installed capacity is 600 mw. The construction cost is $1.7 billion. "It employed more than 2,000 workers, mostly local people and about 200 Chinese, which we appreciate as leaders," said Muzamiru Odyek, a local council chairman in one of the villages surrounding the Karuma Falls. Nelly Auma, wife of one of the local workers at the Karuma Hydroelectric Power Station plant, said she was happy with employment provided by the Chinese construction company. "They employed many local people including my husband. They pay them salaries on time," she said. Auma said many locals living near the power plant have started up small businesses, especially selling food and other items needed by those who work there. In addition to those two big dams, Uganda has received application for licensing from another Chinese company to build a hydroelectric power plant on the Nile. According to Julius Wandera, Spokesperson of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA), the $1.4-billion plant, if constructed, will expand the country's power generation by 40 percent. "The Chinese company called PowerChina International Group Ltd. applied to develop the Ayago Hydroelectric Power Station, located on a section of the Nile between lakes Kyoga and Albert. It got a license on application," said Wandera. According to the ERA, if Ayago is successfully constructed and launched, it will have a capacity of 840 mw, which means that it would be the country's largest power plant, surpassing the expected output of Karuma. The project could potentially ramp up Uganda's generation capacity by 40 percent to about 2,800 mw, according to calculations from data available from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Electricity self-reliant "The Chinese companies have helped us gain self-reliance on electricity. But as the population grows and more factories are being built, there is a possibility that we'll need more electricity. I believe that more Chinese companies will come to Uganda and construct more power plants," said Leonard Kavuma, manager of an electricity wiring company in Kampala. He noted that the demand for power is growing at about 10 percent a year, demanding the development of renewable energy sources, including hydropower. ERA Chief Executive Officer Zaria Tibalwa Waako said they have issued more than 44 operational generation licenses especially for small power plants in rural areas. "The majority of the licenses are in remote areas, with companies operating small hydro plants on islands, mine sites, hospitals, and sugarcane factories," said Waako. Minister Nankabirwa said Uganda has plans to boost the country's electricity supply over the next 20 years. "In order for Uganda to achieve the desired socio-economic transformation, we want to increase access to the national grid from 26 percent to 80 percent," she said. The older white man who went on a Bumble date with Lauren Smith-Fields the night before the Black 23-year-old died has been fully cooperating with police and is not the main focus of the investigation into her mysterious death, according to his attorney. Matthew LaFountain, 37, was the last person to see Ms Smith-Fields alive before she was found dead in her apartment in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on the morning of 12 December. Police said it was him who called 911 to report that he had found her not breathing and with blood coming out of her right nostril. Mr LaFountain has remained silent ever since, while Ms Smith-Fields family have demanded answers and questioned the police departments refusal to ever even consider him a person of interest. Six weeks on from her death, the medical examiner finally revealed on Monday that her cause of death was an overdose of a cocktail of drugs including fentanyl, prescription medications and alcohol. The following day Bridgeport Police said they were opening a criminal investigation into her death. Ms Smith-Fields family said the 23-year-old did not use drugs and have questioned how the lethal combination got in her system. Mr LaFountain is not charged with any crime and has not been named a person of interest in her death. His attorney Peter Karayiannis told News12 that Mr LaFountain had nothing to do with Ms Smith-Fields death and has cooperated fully with authorities from the start. I think its the media that has made him the main focus of this investigation, he said. He did fully cooperate and hes not the main focus of the investigation. Mr Karayiannis said he hopes the new criminal probe will get answers as to what happened to the 23-year-old Stamford High School graduate and said the 37-year-old will continue to help authorities. We will continue to cooperate with authorities to help definitively determine what happened to Lauren on that evening, he said. The DEA is involved now and they will help local authorities investigate the matter and help get to the bottom of what happened to Lauren. Story continues Mr Karayiannis said Mr LaFountain wanted to express our sincerest condolences to Lauren Smith-Fields family for this tragedy that took place. And we want her family to find some peace after this heartbreak and loss, he said. Lauren Smith-Fields died after going on a date with an older white man she met on Bumble (Smith-Fields family/GoFundme) When reached for comment by The Independent, Mr Karayiannis pointed to his statements to News12 and said he had no further comments on the case. We have no further comments at this time, he said. Darnell Crosland, the attorney for Ms Smith-Fields family, pushed back on the statement, telling The Independent his condolences brought no comfort to her family. He questioned why the 37-year-old had not come forward to voluntarily offer DNA samples and why he had been acting evasive since her death, by changing his name on social media. The family feels that if this gentleman was the last person with their daughter before she died he should have already called my office or had his lawyer call my office and express that he really wants to help us figure out what happened here, he said. Also he should voluntarily give a DNA swab so we can compare it to the condom and other items of value in the house such as the alcohol bottles. Mr Crosland said Mr LaFountains story that he told police doesnt add up with the evidence inside the apartment where she died. He said in the police report that he slept with his clothes on and that they didnt have sex, he said. Take a look in the bathroom and you see a condom still had semen on it, it wasnt dried up ... it doesnt add up. Mr Crosland said, as the last person to see Ms Smith-Fields alive, Mr LaFountain should have been treated as a person of interest from the start. Police were called to Ms Smith-Fields apartment around 6.45am on 12 December by Mr LaFountain who said he had met her three days earlier on Bumble and had gone on a date with her the night before her death. The man told investigators he came to her apartment that night and that they were drinking a bottle of tequila together, according to a police report. He said she went to the bathroom to vomit at one point, before they continued to drink, eat food and watch a movie, the report says. The man told investigators she received a text at one point and briefly went outside, saying she was meeting her brother. When she returned, she went into the bathroom for around 15 minutes, the man told investigators. He said she fell asleep on the couch and he carried her to her bed, lying down and going to sleep next to her, the report says. The next morning, he said he woke to find Ms Smith-Fields wasnt breathing and that she had blood coming from her right nostril, according to the report. He called 911 and officers arrived on the scene to find the 23-year-old lying on her back, on the floor and that she did not appear to be breathing. She was pronounced dead at the scene and responding medics said she had been dead for at least an hour. The medical examiner released her cause of death on Monday as acute intoxication from fentanyl combined with prescription medications promethazine and hydroxyzine and alcohol. Her manner of death was ruled an accident. Bridgeport Police announced the following day that its narcotics and vice division was opening a criminal investigation with the help of the US Drug Enforcement Administration to determine the factors that lead to her untimely death. Lauren Smith-Fields family said she didnt use drugs (Supplied) Mr Crosland said that the launch of the probe is an emblem of sunshine to Ms Smith-Fieldss family after being left in the dark since her death however, he said they fear they may have lost valuable evidence due to the six-week lag in the investigation. The release of the autopsy and launch of the criminal probe came only after her family threatened to sue city and police officials over their alleged mishandling of the investigation into her death. Mr Crosland announced on what would have been Ms Smith-Fieldss 24th birthday on Sunday that they were filing a lawsuit for violating their civil rights and failing to properly investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death. In a notice of claim, filed by Mr Crosland and naming Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim and Acting Police Chief Rebeca Garcia among others, the family alleges that the Bridgeport Police Department failed to adequately collect physical evidence from the 23-year-olds home as part of the probe, including a sedative pill, a used condom, the bloodstained bedsheet and alcohol bottles. Officers also refused to consider Mr LaFountain as a person of interest and have been racially insensitive to Ms Smith-Fieldss family, the notice said. They also allegedly failed to notify her family members of her death, leaving them to learn of her death when they showed up at her apartment concerned for her safety and saw a note on the door. One investigator allegedly described Ms Smith-Fieldss date to the family as like a nice guy. Mr Crosland told The Independent that if the races of Black 23-year-old Ms Smith-Fields and white 37-year-old Mr LaFountain were reversed, the investigation would have gone down a very different route. The suspect was a white man and they say he seems like a nice guy so off you go. The victim was a Black female and they dragged her out of her apartment and sent her to the medical examiners office and locked the door. He added: It wouldnt be the case if this was a white 23-year-old girl who died in her home with a Black almost 40-year-old male. That just wouldnt happen in America in that scenario. Jan. 27A state agency is close to narrowing a competition among developers to turn land around Aloha Stadium into a mixed-use community including around 3, 000 homes, but state lawmakers are being asked to consider reserving the area for a tremendous amount of affordable housing instead. A few different bills introduced at the Legislature this year call for building 20, 000 to 75, 000 homes on some or all of 73 acres around a new planned stadium on 25 acres in Halawa to address Hawaii's short supply of affordable housing. Meanwhile, the state Department of Accounting and General Services is expected by Monday to select a short list of preferred developers to submit detailed plans to lease and redevelop the state-owned land around the stadium into a community with retail, restaurant, entertainment, hotel, office, residential and other uses. DAGS recently discounted the notion of concentrating affordable housing around a new stadium, which the agency intends to produce under a separate pending competitive bidding process. "We have to be responsible and think about what makes sense for this area, " Chris Kinimaka, public works administrator for DAGS, said during a presentation last week to the Hawaii Society of Business Professionals. "We don't consider building this concentration of tall towers a benefit to the community, " she said. DAGS produced a rendering showing 53 towers surrounding the stadium to show what 20, 000 homes might look like on 73 acres. By comparison, the 60-acre Ward Village area in Kakaako is slated for about 4, 300 homes in 16 towers, each rising up to 400 feet. City transit-oriented development zoning for land around the stadium, which is adjacent to a city rail station, limits building heights to mainly between 90 feet and 150 feet with a small area up to 250 feet. DAGS suggested that producing 20, 000 homes on the 73-acre site could be done with five 250-foot towers and 48 towers rising about 200 feet. Story continues Kinimaka also estimated that it would cost $6 billion to build 20, 000 homes, based on a conservative price of $300 per square foot if each home had 1, 000 square feet of living space. Sen. Glenn Wakai, a proponent of the DAGS redevelopment plan, said during the presentation to the business group that affordable housing is a pressing need but that concentrating so many homes around the stadium isn't realistic. Wakai said leasing the land around the stadium to a developer could produce upward of $40 million for the state, which could be used to build affordable housing near other stations along the city's planned 20-mile rail line from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. "To me that is where our strategy should be on addressing affordable housing, " he said. "Not just dumping 20-, 40-, 100, 000 units onto this property and looking at this 90 acres as a solution for Hawaii's (affordable-housing ) woes." At the low end of this range, Senate Bill 2505 suggests that 20, 000 homes be developed on 40 acres surrounding the stadium, equivalent to 500 homes per acre, and that at least 100, 000 homes be developed near Aloha Stadium. Of all these homes, 80 % would have to be affordable to households earning no more than 80 % of the median income in Honolulu. SB 2505 was introduced by Sens. Stanley Chang, Karl Rhoads and Clarence Nishihara. Chang said too many Hawaii residents are struggling with the cost of living, including high-priced housing, to pass up an opportunity to produce a lot of affordable housing on such a big piece of state land in urban Honolulu. "I haven't met anyone in Hawaii who believes the highest and best use of the stadium property is a strip mall, a hotel, an office building and luxury housing, " he said. "I think it's imperative to use state lands near rail infrastructure to house the people of Hawaii." Another bill would require that 75, 000 affordable rental homes be built on at least 73 acres surrounding the stadium. This measure, Senate Bill 2574, was introduced by Chang and Sens. Kurt Fevella, Jarrett Keohokalole, Rosalyn Baker and Gil Riviere. Wakai also is listed as a sponsor, but he said he mistakenly signed on to the bill. In the House, 10 lawmakers introduced House Bill 2018, which says 20, 000 affordable homes can be built on the 73-acre site, and directs the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp., a state agency, to develop a plan to do that roughly before the end of next year. Introduction of the three bills follows a public appeal made in October by three former Hawaii governorsNeil Abercrombie, Ben Caye tano and John Waiheefor the state to scrap building a new stadium in Halawa and use the entire 98-acre property for predominantly residential development focused on workforce housing. Given that a majority of lawmakers previously endorsed private redevelopment of land around the stadium in conjunction with building a new stadium partly financed by the state, it's questionable whether any of the three new bills can pass or derail the DAGS-led project known as the New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District. Last year, a bill similar to SB 2505 calling for 20, 000 affordable homes on 40 acres around the stadium and at least 100, 000 affordable homes on or close to the property was introduced. This measureSenate Bill 737 introduced by Chang, Rhoads and Sens. Bennette Misalucha and Maile Shimabukurodid not receive a hearing. SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) A teenager charged with killing four students at a Michigan high school will pursue an insanity defense, his lawyers said in a notice filed Thursday as he, his parents and school officials faced a new lawsuit over the attack at Oxford High School. The notice, listed in a summary of case filings, should lead to mental health exams of 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley, who is charged as an adult with murder and other crimes for the shooting, which also wounded six other students and a teacher. Experts will consider whether the teen understood the wrongfulness of his conduct on the day of the shooting. The lawsuit, meanwhile, was announced on behalf of the parents of Tate Myre, who was slain Nov. 30, and other students who witnessed the shootings. It alleges negligence by school officials and Crumbley's parents over the attack. We're sad and heartbroken our lives forever changed, William Myre said at a news conference. Our family will never be the same. We're not doing good. All we do is walk around the house and think about Tate. We think about him every day. We sit in his room. We listen to his playlist off Spotify. Were not doing good, but were going to find a way to get through it together." The lawsuit, which seeks at least $25,000, names Oxford High School's dean of students, two counselors and three teachers as defendants. Crumbley and his parents also are named as defendants. The Associated Press sent an email Thursday morning seeking comment from the school district. The suspect's parents are accused of intentional, reckless and negligent conduct that led to the mass shooting. The Oxford High School staff and teachers are accused of gross negligence that led to the shooting by not removing the shooter from the school building earlier. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Oakland County Circuit Court on behalf of Tate Myre's parents, William and Sheri. Also named as plaintiffs are Chad and Meghan Gregory, whose son, Keegan, was hiding in a school bathroom with Justin Shilling when Shilling was fatally shot. Story continues The lawsuit also was filed on behalf of Lauren Aliano, whose daughters, Sophia Kempen and Grace Kempen, were hiding in classrooms during the shooting. Ethan Crumbley is being held in the Oakland County Jail. The notice filed Thursday by his attorneys will lead to exams by the state Center for Forensic Psychiatry and experts retained by the defense and the prosecutors office. Judge Kwame Rowe could also order an exam by another expert. This is absolutely appropriate to do. I doubt anyone is surprised by it, said Margaret Raben, a Detroit-area defense attorney not involved in the case. All of this is going to take time. The forensic center is jammed, jammed, jammed with work. After the reports are in, it will be up to the judge to decide if an insanity defense can go forward, Raben said. Under Michigan law, if someone is found not guilty by reason of insanity, they dont walk free. They must be referred to a state psychiatric center for custody and further evaluation. Someone who is found guilty but mentally ill still would be sentenced to prison but with recommendations that they get treatment. The AP left a voicemail Thursday afternoon seeking comment from Ethan Crumbleys attorney, Paulette Michel Loftin, about the insanity defense notice. The prosecutor's office said a request for an evaluation of Ethan Crumbley's criminal responsibility from his attorney was expected and standard procedure. School officials became concerned about Ethan Crumbley a day before the shooting, when a teacher saw him searching for ammunition on his phone. Jennifer Crumbley was contacted and subsequently told her son in a text message: Lol. Im not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught, according to Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald. The day of the shooting, a teacher found a note on Ethans desk and took a photo. It was a drawing of a gun pointing at the words, The thoughts wont stop. Help me, McDonald said in December. The drawing also featured a person who appeared to have been shot twice and is bleeding. My life is useless and The world is dead," were written. The gun used in the shooting was bought days before by James Crumbley and their son had full access to it, according to authorities. McDonald has said that James and Jennifer Crumbley committed egregious acts, from buying a gun on Black Friday and making it available to Ethan Crumbley to resisting his removal from school when they were summoned a few hours before the shooting. James and Jennifer Crumbley, later were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Detroit-area attorney Ven Johnson, who is representing parents in the lawsuit filed Thursday, said Ethan Crumbley knew what he was doing and clearly he was disturbed, but his parents did nothing. Chad Gregory recounted during Thursday's news conference what his son witnessed during the shooting. Keegan Gregory was texting his family from a bathroom stall where he and Shilling were hiding. He was in that bathroom for five minutes, Chad Gregory said. He was in there with a shooter who had just killed, wounded, injured. Justin gave him a plan that if we get a chance, we will run." He called them out one-by-one and Justin happened to be the first, said Chad Gregory, adding that after Shilling was shot, Keegan was able to flee the bathroom. Two months later, Keegan remains traumatized, Meghan Gregory said. He's nowhere near going back to class, let alone functioning like a normal 15-year-old child, she said. We have to check doors. We have to check under beds. The school, in Oakland County, is about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Detroit. It reopened Monday with its interior renovated since the shooting. In December, Jeffrey and Brandi Franz filed a pair of lawsuits in federal court and county circuit court seeking $100 million each against the district. Their 17-year-old daughter, Riley, was shot in the neck. Her 14-year-old sister, Bella, a ninth grader, was next to her at the time she was shot. Their lawsuit says school officials and high school staff didn't do enough to prevent the shooting and protect students. ___ Williams reported from West Bloomfield, Michigan. Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report. ___ The story has been updated to correct the spelling of the Myre familys last name on some instances. More water is flowing to Fort Myers, as Lee County makes a deal sell 1.5 million gallons per day to help residents have experienced a major reduction in water pressure Lee County officials have agreed to come to the aid of Fort Myers residents who have become increasingly inpatient with low water pressure in their homes. A tentative agreement means the county will sell the city as much as 1.5 million gallons of water per day through a 46-year-old connection at Ortiz Avenue and State Road 82. Water was expected to begin flowing from the Lee Utilities system to parts of the city water pipe network once approval is in hand from state agencies. Several residents told their tales at a council meeting last week, some emotional in describing how the Southwest Florida retirement home they bought after decades of saving was nearly unlivable because of the lack of water. Fort Myers will get a monthly bill for $3.84 per 1,000 gallons of water, the county's standard bulk water rate. If the full allocation of 1.5 millon gallons is used, the city's water bill from the county will come to nearly $173,000 per month. More: Low water pressure plagues Fort Myers; new facilities and a county hookup may help From September 2021: After boil water notice lifted for much of Fort Myers, council member apologizes for city's response County Manager Roger Desjarlais signed a contract with the city that will require ratification by county commissioners at its meeting Tuesday. Fort Myers City Council made the formal request for help with the water crisis on the recommendation of City Manager Marty Lawing. Mayor Kevin Anderson said Lawing went to work on the problem as complaints started coming in from residents, some of whom reported being unable to draw sufficient water for a shower or cooking. "As soon as we started receiving the complaints, (Lawing) started working on it; of course it took a while to realize the extent of it, there's no easy solution," Anderson said Thursday. Construction crew works to improve water service in January 2019. Lee County schools also agreed to help the city water crisis, and will allow the city to install wells on school district property at the Pottorf Elementary and Dunbar Middle schools. Story continues The city/county water connection has been upgraded several times since it was installed in 1977. Some prep work is required before the water can begin to flow. Fort Myers and Lee County have water purification systems that use different chemicals to treat the water. Those processes that are not compatible. The city has agreed to make sure that its water will be separated from the county system and will scour the connection between the two systems so that the different chemicals do not mix. Ongoing issue: Fort Myers has a water pollution problem; state environmental agency promises penalties, protections Areas such as the Reflection Isles and Paseo communities between Six Mile Cypress Parkway and Interstate 75 will use the county water. Much of the dramatic drop in water pressure has been reported in and near Ward 6, in the southeast area of the city, which has experienced explosive growth through development of new residential communities over the past year. "As of right now it looks like that's the main area that's affected," Anderson said. But work to increase water pressure in areas added to the water system in recent years may highlight potential problems with an aging pipe network. "Obviously, in older parts of the city some of the piping has not been upgraded, the pipes get smaller and smaller with the build-up, "We've got 65-67% of our utility lines that have been upgraded, it's a lengthy, expensive process." This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers water crisis: Lee County comes to the rescue Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Win McNamee/Getty Images The White House recently bashed DeSantis over school reopenings and COVID-19 treatments. DeSantis shot back, saying the press secretary "lies through her teeth every single day." He has been criticizing the FDA for cutting off monoclonal antibodies. MIAMI Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hit back at Jen Psaki on Wednesday, accusing the White House press secretary of "lying through her teeth every single day" after she chided Florida for being slow to apply for COVID-19 education funds. "The White House press secretary stands in front of that podium and lies through her teeth every single day, and usually about the state of Florida," DeSantis said at a news conference at Miami Dade College. DeSantis specifically called out Psaki for saying Florida hadn't done enough to distribute money to help keep schools open during the latest COVID-19 wave. "Are you kidding me? I remember them criticizing me when we did this almost two years ago," DeSantis said of Democrats who slammed his decision to open schools in the fall of 2020. "We were the only big state to have every school open for in person, and we did that way before Biden was even president. We didn't need the Biden stimulus money for that." Florida was one of the only states to push schools to reopen in person during the coronavirus pandemic while others held only virtual classes, leading to frustrations among teacher's unions, elected officials, and families. The topic has become a lightning-rod issue ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, with Republicans seeing fewer COVID-19 restrictions as a winning message for bringing people to the polls. Many Democrats facing reelection have come around to fewer restrictions, too, and the Biden administration has said schools should stay open despite the latest COVID-19 wave. DeSantis is up for reelection in 2022 and is seen as a front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 should former President Donald Trump choose not to make another bid for the White House. Story continues The governor often spars with the Biden administration over federal COVID-19 restrictions. DeSantis' latest comments were part of a news conference aimed at criticizing the Food and Drug Administration's move to limit the use of monoclonal antibody treatment sites. The drugs, made by Eli Lilly and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, are proteins that copy the immune system's response to fighting off viruses. Initially effective, the FDA said the treatments aren't working against the Omicron variant that has permeated the US and caused Florida's infection and hospitalization rates to spike. Eli Lilly also has said "it is not medically appropriate, at this time" to use the treatment for people with mild or moderate cases of the virus. DeSantis has conducted numerous events promoting the antibodies while, lately, downplaying the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. (DeSantis, like all US governors, is himself vaccinated.) On Tuesday, Psaki slammed the governor for pushing back on the FDA's decision to recommend states not use monoclonal antibodies that haven't been shown to be effective against Omicron. After the recommendation, the US Department of Health and Human Services stopped drug shipments to states. "Well, let's just take a step back here just to realize how crazy this is," Psaki told reporters during a Tuesday briefing. "These treatments the ones that they are fighting over, that the governor's fighting over do not work against Omicron, and they have side effects. That is what the scientists are saying." The FDA's statement, issued Monday, said the treatments were "highly unlikely to be active" against Omicron and only recommends them "when the patient is likely to have been infected with or exposed to a variant that is susceptible to these treatments." The Omicron variant is estimated to account for more than 99% of US cases of COVID-19, the statement said. DeSantis raised Psaki's remarks at his news conference Wednesday and argued that doctors don't always know what coronavirus variant patients are infected with. He said it was "not true" and "just a lie" that the drugs had serious side effects, though the FDA has said side effects can be "potentially serious" such as by causing a rash or allergic reaction. "This is a big mistake what they have done," DeSantis said. "Obviously they have got a lot of other problems, let's just be honest. This has not been a great show over the last year." Read the original article on Business Insider ELIZABETH - A Lindenwold man faces drug and weapons charges after an incident that began when he ran out of gas on the New Jersey Turnpike here, authorities say. A State Police trooper encountered Yazeed Shareef as the 24-year-old was walking along the shoulder of the northbound highway in Union County around 10:35 p.m. on Jan. 13, according to an account released Thursday. The trooper stopped to assist Shareef, but arrested him after determining he allegedly possessed a loaded gun, the account said. A Lindenwold man faces charges after he ran out of gas on the New Jersey Turnpike while allegedly carrying a loaded gun. Troopers seized a second gun, as well as two high-capacity magazines, hollow-point ammunition and brass knuckles from Shareef's vehicle, which was about a half-mile from the scene of the motorist's arrest. The vehicle also held an unspecified amount of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, state police alleged. Three Philadelphia men in the vehicle also were charged with drug and weapons offenses, the account said. The charges are only allegations. No one has been convicted in the case. Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Support local journalism with a subscription. This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: A State Police trooper stopped to assist motorist, then arrested him By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - London remains the top global financial centre, according to a study from its own financial district, but is outgunned by New York and Singapore in access to talent, while Paris is adding competition from the European Union. The study from the City of London Corporation selected seven centres that feature in other research on financial hubs, such as Z/Yen, which consistently puts New York in the top spot and London second. The study, which added Paris this year, looked at five areas like digital skills, regulation and talent. While London remains top overall from last year, New York is only slightly behind and closing the gap, followed by Singapore, Frankfurt, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo. (Graphic on, City of London Graphic: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/lgvdwxmndpo/City%20of%20London%20Competitiveness%20Graphic.PNG) New York remains by far the biggest financial centre, while London lags Singapore in resilient business infrastructure, access to talent and skills, and a friendly regulatory and legal environment. "UK policymakers need to guarantee that its businesses continue to enjoy unrivalled access to the best of global talent," the study said. "Withdrawal from the EU, the end of freedom of movement and the introduction of a new immigration system have damaged perceptions of the UK as an attractive business environment for international talent in recent years." Total tax for UK-based financial services firms, in particular banks, is also relatively high, it said. The finance ministry is reviewing https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/britain-review-surcharge-bank-profits-2021-03-03 some of the taxes. Britain's finance ministry has proposed that the Bank of England has a formal remit to "facilitate" London's competitiveness. A year since Britain left the EU's orbit, leaving the financial sector largely cut off from the bloc, there are no signs of a "Brexit dividend" in looser regulation, though listing rules have been eased to help London catch up with New York in IPOs. (Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Bernadette Baum) The Los Angeles City Council inched closer to fully banning oil and gas drilling within city limits after lawmakers voted on Wednesday to draft an ordinance prohibiting new gas and oil extraction. City council members also approved hiring an expert to study existing wells to potentially decommission them, City News Service reported. The city hailed the Wednesday vote as a step toward a cleaner future and, as one council member put it, "a model for the nation and the world.'' "This is a momentous step forward for Los Angeles, and a clear message we are sending to Big Oil,'' said Councilman Mitch O'Farrell, the chair of the City Council's Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice and River committee, in a statement to City News Service. The city council follows in the steps of Los Angeles County, which voted in September to phase out oil and gas drilling and potentially shutter more than 1,600 sites within county limits, the Associated Press reported. The state has also been taking steps to pivot away from oil and gas drilling and better protect residents from the health effects caused by fracking. In April, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) released a plan to end the issuance of new permits for hydraulic fracking by 2024, part of California's phasing out of oil extraction by 2045. And in October, Newsom unveiled a proposal to create a 3,200-foot buffer zone between wells and community sites, including schools and homes. Within the city of Los Angeles there are 26 oil and gas fields and 5,274 oil and gas wells, with "facilities in nearly every section of the 503 square miles of the city,'' a council member claimed in a September letter, according to City News Service. With Wednesday's vote behind it, Los Angeles city will now draft another ordinance that would detail a plan to ban future oil and gas drilling. At least one opponent of the move voiced concerns with phasing out oil and gas drilling. The California Independent Petroleum Association said thousands of jobs would be lost and it would cost the city billions of dollars, according to a letter obtained by City News Service. Story continues StandLA, an environmental organization leading the effort to ban oil and gas extraction in the city, thanked city council members after the Wednesday vote and for "heeding the calls of frontline communities to get Big Oil out of our neighborhoods and putting us on the road to a clean energy future." Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti also tweeted his support as did California congressional Rep. Nanette Barragan (D), whose district is centered in south Los Angeles. Barragan wrote a letter to the council citing studies linking higher asthma rates and respiratory illnesses for communities living near oil and gas wells. "In the city of Los Angeles, nearly one in three residents - mostly people of color - live within one mile of an oil and gas well," she wrote. "This is a reality my constituents in south Los Angeles and the Los Angeles harbor region live with everyday, where urban oil drilling takes place within hundreds of feet of where people live." --Updated at 12:55 p.m. Jan. 26AUGUSTA, Maine A bill that would have allowed Maine farmworkers to organize was defeated Wednesday after progressives in the House of Representative failed to win the supermajority needed to override a veto from Gov. Janet Mills. The Democratic governor's veto, which came earlier this month after she held onto the measure passed by lawmakers last year, added to a long list of progressive priorities that have been sunk by Mills on subjects ranging from labor to criminal justice. The bill from Rep. Thom Harnett, D-Gardiner, would have allowed workers at farms with more than five employees to collectively bargain. It was aimed at closing a loophole in state and federal labor laws. Maine's minimum wage and overtime laws do not include farmworkers. The fight over the bill showed the sway of agricultural entities in the state, which argued the bill would put financial burdens on farmers already struggling from long-standing challenges and the pandemic. Mills specifically noted the challenges facing the dairy industry in Maine in her veto message after a major supplier announced plans to wind down contracts with farms here. It put her at odds with labor unions and Attorney General Aaron Frey, who struck a more worker-focused tone in his testimony before a legislative committee last year. The bill faced a 67-66 vote in favor of the veto override on Wednesday, which nonetheless fell far short of the two-thirds majority needed in both chambers to override the veto. It was tighter than the initial 73-58 vote in the House last year. Opposition was led by Republicans, who argued farm workers now have better working conditions than when a federal investigation was launched into a Maine egg farm's working conditions. They also argued workers are valued by their employers and could damage farmer livelihoods if employees chose to go on strike during the growing season "Maine farmers just aren't doing the things that this bill initially was trying to fix," said Rep. MaryAnne Kinney, R-Knox, a farmer. Harnett characterized the bill as giving fundamental rights to workers who are the backbone of the state's food economy. "Why is it that the people who do the most sacred work in our nation are the most oppressed and the most exploited under our system of law?" said Harnett, a former assistant attorney general who was a migrant worker labor lawyer in New York during the 1980s. Massive snowstorms that began to hit parts of Central and East China on Wednesday are forecast to continue through Saturday, threatening to freeze roads and cause weather-related natural disasters, the National Meteorological Center said. The amount of precipitation in Hubei and Anhui provinces is forecast to set records for late January, the China Meteorological Administration's Weather China website said. The National Meteorological Center said the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan, Jiangsu, Hunan and Guizhou will also experience snowstorms or freezing rain through Saturday due to a convergence of cold and warm air streams. On Wednesday, traffic police in Xi'an, Shaanxi's provincial capital, suspended several sections of highways due to snow and fog, local media reported. In Hubei, the provincial meteorological disaster emergency headquarters lifted its response level for snowstorms from four, the lowest level, to three as its weather service said up to 25 millimeters of snow was predicted for some places from Wednesday to Thursday. Wang Weiyue, an analyst at Weather China, said it will be the heaviest rain and snow seen in China so far this year, with lots of precipitation lasting for a long time. "A sufficient supply of water vapor in the central and eastern provinces coupled with the continuous influence of cold air from the north will cause widespread rain and snow," he said. But Weather China said the intensity and scope of the rain, snow and freezing weather in China will be weaker than in 2016 and 2008, when snowy and freezing weather disrupted traffic and electricity supplies in a wide area. The National Meteorological Center said that for the Spring Festival holiday from Jan 31 to Feb 6, residents of eastern and southern areas can expect humid and cold weather. For example, southern provinces, including Guangdong and Hainan, will see temperatures drop to 7 C, while in Hunan, Hubei and Jiangsu they will drop to zero. Weather China warned people in Anhui and Hubei of secondary disasters caused by heavy snow in mountain areas and the collapse of vegetable greenhouses. Freezing rain in Hunan and Guizhou may cause ice on electricity transmission lines, which authorities should clear promptly to prevent damage to the equipment, the website said. The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields has started what will turn into a dramatic reorganization of its permanent collection, shaking up what visitors have seen for more than 15 years in some cases. But the first test reinstallation highlights topics that are already deeply familiar to every person: intimacy and beauty standards, power and identity, death and remembrance. "Embodied: Human Figures in Art" will grab plenty of eyes from its prime spot in a second-floor gallery that was previously devoted to works that took visitors on a winding path through the Pont-Aven School, Neo-Impressionism and Pointillism. Now, the space has fewer walls with more light that illuminates 50 to 60 pieces spanning 4,000 years and four continents. A recently-redesigned corridor at Newfields, in a second floor display they call "global thematic display," on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. The area mixes art from different parts of the world, and from different eras into thematic areas. The reinstallation, which opened Dec. 22, is a departure from how the museum, like its peers, has traditionally organized its permanent collection. Moving forward, geographic regions, stylistic movements and time periods alone won't determine placement of artworks. Instead, "Embodied" is the beginning of a test phase for a new vision that the institution is calling "global thematic display," which is patterned on groupings according to themes that the broader public will recognize. 'Uncharted territory': Newfields will shake up nearly every gallery in the museum "We really want our visitors and our guests to be able to take away things with them that will really resonate with them," said Shelley Selim, curator of design and decorative arts. "Things like art movements, dates, specific artists, art historians those type of things, they just don't stick in your head as easily, so we really wanted to find points of connection. And we can often do that by grouping these somewhat disparate things together." "You remember how it makes you feel," said Anna Stein, associate curator of works on paper. Finding human connections Story continues "Embodied" was born from the minds of curators and visitor feedback. The curators said the initial idea was called "strike a pose," which focused on how figures have been posed formally in art. But interpretation planner Maggie Ordon said online surveys and email responses showed that the idea didn't resonate. "That's really exciting when you find out you're in the wrong direction because it gives you an opportunity to pivot and try something new," Ordon said. So the team shifted to focus the reinstallation on why and how artists depict the human body, using the lenses of power, beauty, identity, gender and remembrance. Museum staff talks about a new section at Newfields, a second floor display they call "global thematic display," on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. The area mixes art from different parts of the world, and from different eras into thematic areas. "We were really just looking at our collection and kind of letting our collection speak to us and see what came out of that," Selim said. For example, female beauty standards, and especially art that displays women's figures, spoke loudly. Several works in "Embodied" juxtapose beauty ideals at different times and in different cultures. Utagawa Kuniyoshi's mid-19th-century portrait of poet Fukuda Chiyo-jo shows a narrow face, fair skin and a decorative hairstyle all attractive hallmarks in Japan at the time. Across the room, reclining nudes are arranged along a wall, including a 1990 male nude made of glass by Richard Jolley and an 1892 oil by Frank Duveneck of a woman stretched across what appears to be a divan. "Reclining nude portraits are almost always of women," nearby text on a wall reads. "How might this pose have shaped and perpetuated gender norms? How could the interpretation of a reclining nude shift when the subject is male or non-binary?" Giving visitors points to remember The reinstallation balances questions that encourage visitors to chart their own paths with contextual information that uses traditional didactics. Every so often, a floor-to-ceiling graphic on the wall digs into the specifics of an artwork. "When we are breaking down images, we really identified (them) with an image on the panel, so it provides a little bit more help for (people) to see what we're talking about," Ordon said. Such is the case for the 20th century Sande Society Helmet Mask, a sleek and shining wood piece created by a Gola artist in Sierra Leone or Liberia. A side panel zooms in on the hairstyle, forehead, eyes, skin and mouth and what they mean to women who are initiated into the Sande society. "I'm less likely to remember, 'OK, this piece was created in this year by this person and they were aligned with this art historical movement,' and I might be more likely to remember, 'Oh, this sowei mask or helmet all of these beauty standards are represented in it, and one of them is a small mouth because the women within the secret society were meant to be very discreet and secretive," Selim said. An opening for complex discussions The large wall graphics also offer a foray into breaking down complex and challenging topics. One is devoted to the history behind a plaque that depicts a warrior by an Edo artist of the Royal Brass-casting Guild in the Benin Kingdom, which was in present-day Nigeria. British forces stole a great deal of art, including the museum's plaque, during an 1897 raid of Benin City. It's the first time the work has been displayed at Newfields with this context, Selim said, and the display notes that the museum is in the process of finding the proper owner. "That was an important goal of this exhibition was obviously to be more transparent about not only the history behind the objects in our collection and how complicated and fraught that is but also to be transparent about what we're trying to do to make up for that," she said. The Expulsion of Colin Kaepernick and John Brown by American artist Roberto Lugo, at Newfields, in a second floor display they call "global thematic display," on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. The area mixes art from different parts of the world, and from different eras into thematic areas. In another room is a 2017 porcelain vase by Roberto Lugo called "The Expulsion of Colin Kaepernick and John Brown." Painting portraits on vases was popular in the 19th century in Europe and the U.S. and allowed the wealthy to honor famous men and those in the aristocracy. Lugo took this idea and flipped it to discuss themes of racial justice by choosing leaders in the movement throughout history. Images of Lugo's different kinds of graffiti tags that nod to his brother, wife and his own signature show viewers another layer of his work. Questions at the end invite visitors to fill out provided index cards: "What ideas or experiences do you think this artwork explores?" "It gives people room to just react to objects or bring their own personal experiences," Stein said. "We've also noticed that some guests are engaging with other guests. So there will be a response card, and then somebody might post a response right next to it with an arrow, talking to the other guest," Ordon said. Feedback is especially key during the the test phase for the reinstallations, which will last through 2023. After that, the museum plans to have reinstallations cycle in perpetuity. "We really approached it like an experiment," Selim said. "It obviously looks very nice and very finished, but we're hoping to learn from it and help it inform future installations and also maybe change things that are in this gallery, too, based on some of the evaluations that we do." Looking for things to do? Our newsletter has the best concerts, art, shows and more and the stories behind them Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or d.bongiovanni@indystar.com. Follow her on Facebook , Instagram or Twitter: @domenicareports. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Newfields in Indianapolis opens first test gallery reinstallation A Canadian man was sentenced to three years in prison after he was accused of trafficking stolen identities of U.S. citizens on the darknet, federal prosecutors say. Slava Dmitriev, 29, who was listed under eight alias names in court documents, bought and sold stolen identities, including social security numbers, names, birthdates and other information on the darknet marketplace known as AlphaBay from May 2016 to July 2017, prosecutors say. Dmitriev sold the information for roughly $100,000, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Georgia. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 30, 2021, to a charge of fraud and related activity in connection with access devices, according to court records. McClatchy News reached out to Dmitrievs team of attorneys and did not receive an immediate response. Authorities first arrested Dmitriev while he was in Greece in September 2020, and officials executed a search warrant on his residence where they found a computer with emails regarding the buying and selling of identity information, according to the release. He was extradited back to the United States in January 2021. According to federal officials, Dmitriev purchased and sold 1,764 items, with the vast majority being stolen identities and identity information. Additionally, Dmitriev was found to be collaborating with the Dark Overlord, (TDO) a cyber-extortionist group, and was involved in the following incidents, prosecutors say: On June 16, 2016, Dmitriev sent TDO access credentials for a New York dentist that Dmitriev had purchased on a criminal marketplace. The dentist was subsequently breached and extorted by TDO. On July 11, 2016, Dmitriev received a spreadsheet from TDO containing approximately 200,000 stolen identities. On May 24, 2017, Dmitriev sold information stolen by TDO that contained the identity of a victim living in La Quinta, California. At least five of Dmitrievs victims lived in Northern Georgia, the district he pleaded guilty in, according to the release. Story continues This defendant profited off buying and selling peoples stolen identities, including victims in this district, U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said in the release. As a result of the diligence of federal agents coupled with valuable cooperation of Greek law enforcement, Dmitriev was arrested, extradited, and is now sentenced to federal prison. Dmitriev was sentenced to three years in prison, which will be followed by three years of supervised release, the release stated. Former Chick-fil-A directors sentenced in scheme to swindle nearly $500,000, feds say Womans body found floating next to Virginia Beach yacht club, police say Passenger assaults attendant, jumps out of plane in CA, feds say. Hes going to prison Couple facing felony for using fake COVID vaccine cards at Buffalo Bills game, DA says A man is facing felony charges after allegedly holding a State University College at Brockport student against her will in her dorm room on Tuesday morning. Jaylyn Foster was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a weapon on school grounds and third-degree robbery, all felonies, according to university officials. He was also charged with second-degree unlawful imprisonment and second-degree menacing, both misdemeanors. According to a news release from the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, Foster, who is not a Brockport student, is accused of holding the woman against her will inside her dorm room, menacing her with a firearm, strangling her and covering her face with a pillow. University spokesman David Mihalyov said that University Police officers were summoned to the dorm to investigate after another resident heard noise coming from the student's dorm room and alerted a resident assistant. He said that the student had invited Foster to her room. Officers, he said, asked Foster if he had a weapon and he directed him to his gun. The weapon was confiscated without any further incident, Mihalyov said. The student was evaluated by first responders at the scene, but was not taken to an area hospital for treatment, he said. Foster was arraigned in Brockport Village Court and was remanded to the Monroe County Jail. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Jaylyn Foster facing gun charges after incident in SUNY Brockport dorm Photographer Dianne Rozaks photos are sometimes mistaken for paintings because of the unique editing technique she created using components of three software programs. Here, she stands with her photo, Bur Oak Bling, at R Coffee Corner in Port Clinton. The shop sells several of Rozaks photos. MARBLEHEAD Customers walking into some of the areas most popular businesses will have the opportunity to view and purchase the photographic art of Dianne Rozak. Rozak, a longtime Johnsons Island resident and Danbury Township trustee, has been capturing the beauty around her with her camera for decades, but in the last 10 years, she has focused more deeply on showcasing the nautical, natural and historical features of lake life. Positive response to her work encouraged Rozak to offer prints of her photos for sale, and today Rozaks photos of lighthouses, birds and tall ships are sold at four local locations: R Coffee Corner in Port Clinton, Orchard Farm Stand on Catawba Island and Canoe Club Wine Bar and the Keepers House Museum at the Marblehead Lighthouse in Marblehead. Rozak was first recognized for her work when she won a photography contest hosted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer 40 years ago. Light on the lake: Port Clinton Lighthouse keeps growing stronger, preserving historic local icon Dianne Rozaks photo, Christmas Eve at the Marblehead Lighthouse, is her biggest seller. The photo was taken during a heavy snow on Christmas Eve, 2002. I won $100. It was a vacation photo, she said But what Im doing here today, Ive been doing for about 10 years. Unique technique she calls 'Digital Water Blend' Rozaks photos are sometimes mistaken for paintings because of her unique editing style that incorporates watercolor elements into digital photos. She created this unique technique, which she calls Digital Water Blend, by combining components of three different software programs. I spend a half-hour to hours on one print to get it perfect, she said. Rozaks best-selling photo is Christmas Eve at the Marblehead Lighthouse, an image she took on Christmas Eve 2002. She captured the light surrounded by snowflakes so big she didnt think anyone would believe they were real. It was a day Ill never forget. It started snowing and snowing and snowing, and I told my (late) husband were going for a ride, she said. He drove me to the lighthouse, and I took the photo with my window rolled down. Story continues March for Life: Port Clinton event crowded, horns blowing, hands waving Rozaks belief that customers would assume the snowflakes were edited additions prevented her from offering it for sale for 10 years, but when she did, it became a customer favorite. She has to keep a stock of framed prints of Christmas Eve at the Marblehead Lighthouse because they sell so quickly. Rozak isnt the only one making money off the lighthouse image. Thanks to Rozaks generosity, the image has been reproduced as postcards and prints that raised thousands of dollars for local organizations like the Humane Society of Ottawa County. Honing digital skills with the help of a friend Turning photos into art came easily to Rozak, a lifelong artist who works with a variety of mediums, including oils, acrylics, charcoal and clay. But learning to shoot a digital camera on manual settings is a different type of skill, and she credits her friend, Brad Dolch, for teaching her. Dolch is an avid nature photographer who invested countless hours into helping Rozak become a professional photographer. Rozak, a former naturalist, has a particular affection for birds, and she and Dolch often go birding together across Northwest Ohio with their cameras in tow. A bit fishy:Big crowd of anglers take advantage of colder temperatures for ice fishing My dear friend Brad walked me through my camera. I always go with his recommendations, Rozak said. I wouldnt be shooting like I do without Brad. If it hadnt been for him guiding me through the art of photography, I wouldnt be where I am today. Chasing birds As a birder, Rozak said she feels blessed to live in Ottawa County, which attracts thousands of people from around the world during the spring migration. Living by the lake gives her many opportunities to capture a variety of birds with her camera, and she sells prints of bird photos from her Watercolor in Flight series at Orchard Farm Stand. Each 8-by-8 framed print is individually signed and numbered. One of her eagle photos was chosen to illustrate the front cover of the Ottawa County, Ohio 2020 Annual Report. The time Im not working, Im chasing birds, she said. Ill never run out of birds. Rozak will share her knowledge of birds with the public during The Biggest Week in American Birding. Rozak will lead a Warbler Walk at Meadowbrook Marsh in Danbury Township at 11 a.m. May 14. For more information, contact Rozak at 419-340-9359. Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at sheritrusty4@gmail.com. This article originally appeared on Port Clinton News Herald: Dianne Rozak uses tech to create unique style of photography The Maury County Republican Party rides in the MuleFest Parade in Columbia, Tenn., on Saturday, May 29, 2021. The Maury County Republican Party will hold a convention, or caucus, on Saturday to elect prime candidates to appear on the ballot for multiple offices in the County General Election Aug. 4 and Columbia City Election Nov. 8. In November, the MCRP held a Veterans Day dinner that set the tone for election season, and the message was clear only bona fide Republicans need apply for open seats in key county offices, including candidates for school board, county commission, county and city mayor and constable. After a controversial vote last year by the Tennessee state legislature, school board elections can now be partisan, a move the county party welcomes despite some disagreement by school leaders. Debbie Matthews speaks against a possible property tax increase during a county commission meeting inside the Tom Primm Commission Meeting Room in Columbia, Tenn., on Monday, July 19, 2021. A measure to secure bona fide candidates is to hold a county Republican convention, or the next best thing to a closed primary, party leaders say. "Democrats have frequently voted for the least conservative Republican candidate in the past during Republican primaries," Debbie Matthews, MCRP vice chairman. "This is our way of preserving our ideals. Conservatives are battling Democrat ideals. We are getting Republican-light candidates, instead of true Republican candidates." Matthews also plans to run for city of Columbia mayor, challenging Mayor Chaz Molder. The party will administer the convention, or election, on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the historic Memorial Building, 308 W 7th St. in Columbia, in which only bona fide Republicans will be eligible to vote for the Republican nominees. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks at a joint meeting held by the Columbia Kiwanis Club and the Columbia Rotary Club inside the Memorial Building in Columbia, Tenn., on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. A bona fide Republican is defined as any individual who has voted in at least three of the four most recent statewide Republican primary elections. The Republican candidate selected will appear on the ballot for each open county and city offices in the upcoming elections. The party deadline for a candidate's intent to run in the caucus was in December. Saturday's convention will determine the Republican frontrunner in the August and November elections. Story continues Matthews said the party ultimately wants Republican candidates who support fiscal conservatism, state's rights, the state legislature's authority to determine laws instead of executive orders, and a prolife stance, to name a few. We have a list of impressive candidates from lawyers to engineers to educators," Matthews said. Some current incumbents in offices ranging from school board to the county commission do not appear on the ballot for the caucus on Saturday. More: Maury County Republican Party to hold caucus in 2022 General Election Maury Republican Convention 2022 Republicans wishing to run for an office in the County General Election are as follows: Candidates for Maury County Commission District 1 1. McKelvey, Brian, incumbent 2. Morrow, Don, incumbent 3. Runyon, Adam 4. Strahan, Jerry 5. Thomas, Bernard District 2 1. Harris, Craig 2. Hollinsworth, Patti 3. Previti, Eric, incumbent District 4 1. Green, Connie 2. Martin, Darryl District 5 1. Fuqua, Vincent 2. Nutt, Brandon District 6 1. Grodi, Kathey 2. Hestla, Cindy 3. Shaffer, Ashley District 7 1. Downey, Tom 2. Miller, Aaron District 8 1. Cruz, David 2. Howard, Gabe 3. Jeter, Ray 4.Luciani, Leslie District 9 1. Bridenbaugh, Jerry 2. Haney, Michelle 3. Markham, Kevin District 10 1. Martin, Adam 2. Stooksbury, Mark District 11 1. Brothers, Chad Candidates for Maury County School Board District 1 Shull, Kristen District 3 Anderson, Anson District 5 Nut, Laura District 7 Buonomo, Debbie District 9 McGee, Steve Noble, Mark District 11 Carter, Jackson County Mayor Ogles, Andrew City of Columbia Mayor Matthews, Debbie Candidates for Constable District 1 Holt, Tim District 8 Stickel, Roland This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Maury Republicans to vote Saturday on top candidates for county, city elections Affordable housing. Smart growth. Community inclusion. Transparency. These concepts govern the rhetoric many Louisville politicians, officials and developers espouse about development in the city. After all, Louisville is experiencing a major affordable housing shortage, gentrification is rampant and rising cost of living remains a huge barrier for Louisville families. These are big problems and Mayor Greg Fischer knows so. That said, you would expect Mayor Fischer would use the influence he has over certain development projects to ensure they help mitigate problems concerning housing, health and poverty. Paristown Preservation Trust: Louisville picks a developer (again) to renovate long-closed Urban Government Center Unfortunately, when it came to the redevelopment of the former Urban Government Center, Mayor Fischer made a questionable choice in awarding the contract to the Paristown Preservation Trust. The awarding of that contract writes another chapter in the citys complacency with the housing shortage, gentrification and virtually ignoring community feedback. When I say city, I do not criticize the diligent employees at Metro who want to see their city step in the right direction. They did create a criterion for scoring proposals to redevelop the site. However, Mayor Fischer awarded the contract to the project that scored 62 out of 110 points. Thats a 56% on a test, or to students like me, a failing grade. Mayor Fischer did not ask for a revised plan that scores higher, just as a teacher would have me make up my test. He accepted the proposal as is, and construction will begin as soon as the PPT gets its tax increment financing (TIF) district. The PPT was not the first firm to win the contract. Another proposal by the Underhill Group scored 84.5 points. The project would see the construction of affordable student and senior housing. As a college student, I can say that many of us could have used those affordable housing rates. The plan specifically addressed the ills of gentrification and even mentioned how redlining policies have affected the city. There was to be a grocery store, green space and the project planned to reuse buildings on site. The community was thrilled with this proposal. Story continues So why didnt Mayor Fischer award this project? Simply put, the Underhill Group requested $15 million from the citys chest of hundreds of millions of dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act. But the weird thing is that Mayor Fischer refused to give the Underhill Group $15 million, but committed to creating a TIF district to reimburse the PPT up to $15 million in new taxes generated. The Underhill Group was already building a lot of affordable housing, so why couldnt Mayor Fischer work out a similar deal for the better proposal? In case you were wondering what the plan from the PPT is, while it does have some positives, the PPT mostly sells a dream. The proposal makes tacky references to Paris and puts an emphasis on artfully creating place. It makes references to places to eat and places to shop, but it is clear with the businesses planning to lease the new spaces that low-income families will not be able to afford what they provide. Adding salt to the wounds, the PPT will build 125 hotel rooms (instead of housing), solidifying this developments place as a quasi-tourist attraction. This plan does not seem to care much for crafting Louisville, only recreating Paris (and creating profit for investors). It is clear why this plan scored very lowly in the community benefits section of Louisville Forwards criterion. Opintion: Paristown, Germantown residents got a lump of coal for Christmas. Gentrification The awarding of the contract to the PPT is another example of a Louisville Mayor virtually ignoring the community when it comes to major projects despite claiming the community played a part in decisions. The city ignored a sensible call by the community to turn the UGC into an urban forest to combat the urban heat island effect, which Metro itself has found to be one of the worst in the US. In another case, sensible arguments from the community against One Park were ignored. It wont be long until one of the citys tallest buildings sticks out next to Cherokee Park like a sore thumb, and the roads become even more packed. Over a decade ago, the city and state ignored calls to reopen Louisvilles waterfront, which would have made downtown much more people-friendly and a place small businesses could thrive. The governments chose to, instead, demolish part of a historic district for a bridge Louisvillians try their best to avoid. The Louisville urge to drive 10 extra minutes going to Indiana by taking the Second Street Bridge because you refuse to pay a toll Ashanti Scott (@AshantiScottKY) December 17, 2021 The city needs to do better. For a site the city itself owns, there are no excuses. Mayor Fischer has shown that, even when Metro has so much influence over development plans, the plan that is counter-productive to Metros own goals wins. Louisville Forward did not devise a selection criterion and spend hours conducting forums for no reason. Mayor Fischer and his successor, whoever that will be, should respect their governments processes and place value in community feedback. Colby Edwards is a student at the University of Louisville. He studies political science and urban studies. Interested in submitting an op-ed or guest column? Read tips here: How to submit a guest opinion column or op-ed to The Courier Journal This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Fischer ignored community needs for Urban Government Center | Opinion MARION Maintaining and improving infrastructure is always a priority for municipalities and that is the case for the City of Marion. Mayor Scott Schertzer provided a thumbnail sketch of upcoming infrastructure projects the city has scheduled for 2022 during the state of the city address on Monday evening. "We are going to see a lot of (infrastructure projects) this year, so let me apologize to the citizens of Marion in advance because it's always an inconvenience when your street is torn up because of a new sewer project, when we do a complete street, or when we resurface the streets," Schertzer said. "But, generally speaking, when we're done the residents are very happy with the outcome of these infrastructure projects. "We have four sewer projects planned this year. Generally, that's one more than we normally have," he added. "But we look forward to the federal infrastructure program and making application and doing more sewer projects over the course of the next two to three to four years, and instituting our long-term control plan which guides us on how to do those sewer projects approved by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency." More: 'Its important that we do look forward,' Mayor Scott Schertzer on 2022 in Marion City According to the city engineering department's annual report, sewer improvement projects on the schedule for 2022 and 2023 include South Main Street (estimated cost $1,270,000), Boone Avenue (estimated cost $1,034,000), Benton Place (estimated cost $815,000), East George Street (estimated cost $1,600,000), Barnhart Street (estimated cost $2,012,000), and Neil Avenue (estimated cost $550,000). Work on South Main, Boone, and Benton is expected to begin this winter with the East George project set for later in the year. Each of those projects will be funded by a combination of grant money and zero-percent interest loans. Improvements to the storm and sanitary sewers and roadways in each area will be conducted. Story continues Significant road projects are also on the docket for Marion in 2022, Schertzer said. "Downtown overpasses should see the most comprehensive overhaul that they have seen since they were built in the mid to late 1960s," Schertzer noted. "Street resurfacing with the city's portion and the Ohio Department of Transportation could see nearly $3 million of city streets resurfaced this year." A combination of state and federal funding will be used to pay for the rehabilitation of the Prospect Street and State Street overpasses. The total estimated cost of the project is $6 million. According to the city engineering department's annual report, work on both overpasses will include concrete pavement and bridge railing replacement, concrete pier repairs, pavement markings, and traffic signal upgrades. This project is scheduled to be completed during the spring or summer of 2022. Resurfacing of portions of Ohio 4 northbound in Marion is also planned for this year. Work scheduled to be done includes pavement repairs, pedestrian curb ramp installation, and pavement markings. This project is scheduled to be completed during the summer or fall of 2022. The estimated $1,600,000 project will be paid for with state and federal funding. "The wastewater treatment plant will wrap up, hopefully, knock on wood, a multi-million dollar improvement (project), doubling the capacity at our wastewater treatment plant, which will also help with some of the problems that we have in the city," Schertzer said. According to the annual report submitted by the city's water pollution control department, when completed, the improvements will allow the plant to be able "to increase treated effluent flow to 42 million gallons per day and a chemically enhanced effluent of 9 million gallons per day. This is increasing the plant treatment by about 14 million gallons per day. The other addition is that of a 5 million gallon equalization basin that will hold flow during storm events." The project has experienced some delays, but it's expected to be completed by the end of January. To see the complete 2021 annual report for the City of Marion, go to the city's website marionohio.us. This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Mayor: Infrastructure takes center stage for Marion in 2022 After two years of being disrupted by the pandemic, South by Southwest Conference & Festivals is making a full in-person return March 11-20 to celebrate the convergence of tech, film, business and social justice. The Austin, Texas-based festival brings together creatives and industry leaders to participate in a variety of events including conference sessions, keynote speakers, film festival screenings, music festival showcases, comedy festival events and competitions. Here are three innovators making an impact in Memphis, who will be featured at SXSW this year. Memphis indie rock band Blvck Hippie will appear at South by Southwest 2022, a festival and conference celebrating leaders in music, art, film entrepreneurship, social justice and innovation. D-I-Y "sad boy indie" rock band Blvck Hippie will bring its post-punk sound to the SXSW Music Festival. The band is led by vocalist and lead guitarist Josh Shaw, and he will be joined onstage by Casey Rittinger on drums, Celest Farmer on guitar and Tyrell Williams on bass. Blvck Hippie released its debut LP, "If You Feel Alone At Parties," in September and has just concluded a national tour. Shaw's musical influences include Kid Cudi, Kanye West and The Strokes artists whose fearless innovation and vulnerable lyrics are thoroughly present in Blvck Hippie's music. He also attributes Memphis as a place that has helped shape his work ethic as a groundbreaking indie artist. "I feel like it's kind of making me like a gritty urban artist," Shaw said. "Memphis, I feel like, is always the underdog. I feel as an artist, it's made me work twice as hard and kind of pushed me more because l have to put Memphis on the map in some capacity, and I feel like we get overlooked a lot." Set times for the music festival have not been announced yet. MEMPHIS MUSIC IN 2021: Tragedy and triumph: A look back at the year in Memphis music MEMPHIS CONCERTS IN 2022: From the reunion of New Edition to Kraftwerk, here are 14 shows to look forward to Kayla Gore Kayla Gore leads participates in a PRIDE rally that started in Overton Park on Sunday, June 14, 2020 in Memphis, Tenn. The demonstration was part of the ongoing protests in the city following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day. In 2016 Kayla Gore founded My Sistah's House, a trans-led nonprofit organization that provides healthcare advocacy, equitable housing, career resources and community space-holding to predominately transgender women of color in Memphis. She is also the Southern Regional Organizer for Transgender Law Center, the largest national trans-led organization advocating, protecting and advancing the rights of transgender and gender nonconforming people across the country. She currently serves as chair of the Tennessee Transgender Task Force with Tennessee Department of Health. Story continues At SXSW, she will speak on a panel titled LGBTQ+ Sex Education for Brands, a discussion about the ways in which brands can make respectful, intentional and informed decisions when it comes to marketing to the LGBTQ+ communities. The panel will be 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. March 16. MEMPHIS IN MAY 2022: Foo Fighters, Three 6 Mafia among acts set to play Beale Street Music Festival INDIE MEMPHIS FILM FESTIVAL: Here are the 2021 award winners Don Lifted Lawrence Matthews, under the moniker Don Lifted, incorporates hip hop, alternative rock and electronic music to create an ambient and introspective inquiry into love and self-determination on his latest album, "325i." The album was released in October under Oxford, Mississippi-based label, Fat Possum Records. While his music has received attention from national music publications, Matthews also won the "Best Hometowner Music Video" at the Indie Memphis Film Festival for his song Brain Fluid, directed by Nubia Yasin and Josh Cannon, showcasing his talent and vision as a multi-disciplinary artist. Matthews is also the gallery director of TONE, an art gallery and nonprofit dedicated to providing platforms for Black creatives in Memphis. In an Instagram post announcing that he would be performing at the festival, Matthews said he was so excited, he "almost did donuts on Winchester when I got the email." Set times for the music festival have not been announced yet. In-person and virtual passes to the festival can be found at www.sxsw.com/attend/. Astrid Kayembe covers South Memphis, Whitehaven and Westwood. She can be reached at astrid.kayembe@commercialappeal.com, (901) 304-7929 or on Twitter @astridkayembe_. This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: SXSW 2022: Three Memphis innovators part of South by Southwest Xing Huina: Thanks for Mr. Guo's introduction. Now we start taking questions. Please state the news outlet you work for before raising questions. CCTV: What achievements did the MOFCOM make in promoting economic and trade cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2021? What is the MOFCOM's work plan this year? Thank you. Guo Tingting: Thank you for your questions. I'll brief you on them. Given the profound changes and the pandemic conditions not seen in a century, China continues to uphold the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and aims for high-standard, people-centered, and sustainable growth. We have worked with relevant parties to promote the high-quality BRI development through joint efforts. Remarkable achievements have been made, with participating countries enjoying common development and mutual benefit. The joint construction of the Belt and Road has developed into a well-received global public product and a platform for international cooperation. In 2021, the MOFCOM implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, stepped up efforts to promote the economic and trade cooperation under the BRI, and made new contributions to the high-quality BRI development. First, Unimpeded trade saw new progress. In 2021, total trade of goods between China and countries along the Belt and Road reached 11.6 trillion yuan, marking a new record in eight years. It registered a year-on-year increase of 23.6% and accounted for 29.7% of China's total foreign trade. Cross-border e-commerce and other new business forms developed rapidly. A lot of overseas warehouses were built and put into use. The first overseas smart logistics platform (https://ols.zjmade.cn:18084/consumer/home) was launched to match supply and demand on overseas warehouses. The number of China-Europe freight train trips surged by 22% year on year to 15,000, and a total of 1.46 million twenty-foot equivalent units of goods were handled, up 29% year on year. The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor witnessed rapid progress. China and Singapore signed a cooperation plan, and jointly held the 2021 CCI-ILSTC International Cooperation Forum. Second, new progress was made in investment cooperation. Direct investment to countries along the Belt and Road grew 7.9% year on year to 138.45 billion yuan in 2021, accounting for 14.8% of total outbound investment. Companies from countries along the Belt and Road have been optimistic about development opportunities in China. As such, their direct investment reached $11.25 billion (around 74.28 billion yuan), surpassing the threshold of $10 billion for the first time. Steady progress has been made in the construction of BRI projects. The accomplished turnover of contracted projects in countries along the Belt and Road totaled 578.57 billion yuan, accounting for 57.9% of the country's total. The assistance programs in poverty alleviation, healthcare, education, sports, and other areas related to people's livelihood proved to be effective, and the construction of the China-aided future headquarters of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention went smoothly. Third, mechanisms and platforms were well improved. We established with relevant countries eight unimpeded trade working groups and investment and economic cooperation working groups. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Senegal on e-commerce cooperation, and signed MoUs with Hungary and Russia to enhance cooperation in green development and digital economy. The cooperation mechanisms, thereby, have been improved and more channels have been established to ensure better communication. Moreover, we held successfully a series of exhibitions last year, including the China International Import Expo (CIIE), the China Import and Export Fair (also known as the Canton Fair), the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), the China-ASEAN Expo, and the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, which have promoted economic and trade cooperation with relevant countries. In November 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered an important speech at the third symposium on the Belt and Road Initiative, charting the course and providing the fundamental guiding principles for promoting the BRI through joint efforts in the new era. In 2022, the MOFCOM will implement the spirit of the important speech made by General Secretary Xi Jinping and take the economic and trade cooperation under the BRI as the priority. We will continue to reinforce the fundamentals of the cooperation and steadily expand new cooperation areas. We will ramp up efforts to build the iconic BRI projects and strengthen risk prevention and control so as to promote the high-quality development of the BRI throughout joint efforts and better serve the building of the new development paradigm. Thank you. MINNEAPOLIS Gov. Tim Walz Thursday announced that the state of Minnesota will distribute 2.1 million KN95 masks to local public health agencies, schools, and community groups to ensure Minnesotans have access to high-quality masks during the latest COVID-19 wave. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its face-covering guidance earlier this month to state that properly fitted N95 and KN95 masks offer the most protection against COVID-19. According to Walz's office, about 650,000 KN95 masks will go to local public health agencies for residents. Meanwhile, schools will receive 550,000 masks to distribute to staff and students. Minnesota Department of Health Covid-19 Community Coordinators, child care centers, clinics serving Medicaid enrollees, and tribal nations will also recieve shipments, officials said. Walz's mask distribution strategy is on top of a similar effort from the Biden Administration, which has begun sending masks to pharmacies and community health centers for Americans to pick up for free. Masks from the federal program can be found at Hy-Vee, CVS Health, Walgreens, and Walmart stores. This article originally appeared on the Southwest Minneapolis Patch Mississippis students are in trouble. At a lightning-fast pace, local officials and lawmakers have churned out a wave of measures to restrict education about racism and civil rights in public schools. The Mississippi Department of Education is considering cutting key civil rights figures from state standards. Meanwhile, the Senate just passed SB 2113 which undermines the truthful teaching of our history. The policymakers leading this movement claim that these efforts are necessary to stop critical race theory an academic concept that is not taught anywhere in Mississippis public schools and has been falsely demonized for political gain. But the reality is this is all an attempt to distort and erase history. If their desired outcome became the law of the land, our schoolchildren would pay the ultimate price. And the legacies of civil rights leaders from Mississippi and beyond would be erased. Of all the issues plaguing Mississippis schools from insufficient funding to COVID-19 none of them are related to Critical Race Theory. Mississippi State Superintendent of Education Dr. Carey Wright plainly rejected mass hysteria stating, We are not teaching critical race theory in our social studies standards. Period. The end. Whats happening now is nothing more than a naked power grab aimed at turning classrooms, a sacred place of learning, into a political battlefield. Lawmakers and education officials are crafting convenient narratives absent of facts and historical underpinning. By restricting what can be taught and determining which historical figures can be discussed, the Legislature and Board of Education are turning education into propaganda. Mississippis youngest and brightest, who are up next in leading the Magnolia State to greatness, will be hurt the most. Study after study shows that learning about racism and diversity makes students better public citizens. Students learn to comprehend different perspectives, develop empathy, and build the skills to collaborate effectively all tools that are necessary for the modern-day workforce. Story continues Whats particularly dispiriting about this push is that we were once leaders in civil rights education. Mississippi was the first state in the nation to create a K-12 curriculum focused on teaching civil rights in classrooms by passing The Civil Rights Education Act. Mississippi should be leading the fight in teaching history to its fullest not following other states down the path of dismembering academic freedom. Weve already seen the positive effects that teaching a complete account of history with all its bumps and bruises has on Mississippis students. For example, students in McComb created a website McComb Legacies. On this site were oral history accounts that documented living history. It also served as a rallying piece for the entire community and a chance to recognize the unsung heroes of the McComb Civil Rights Movement. In Philadelphia (Mississippi), a monument was created in 2009, three years after The Civil Rights Education Act was passed, to commemorate James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Mickey Schwerner, three civil rights activists killed while registering black voters in 1964. While painful, this honest recognition of our history allows our great state to reckon with its past. It also serves as a spotlight to honor those who have always fought for a better and brighter Mississippi for all. Mississippi progresses when relationships are repaired, restored and renewed. If we want to move Mississippi forward, we have to reckon with past sins and teach all of history, not just the parts we like. This reckoning must occur in various spaces, especially in Mississippis public school classrooms. Mississippians collectively must beat back against those who would drag our state kicking and screaming back to its infamous past. We must let politicians know that attempts to undermine education are invalid, and we will not let them get in between teachers and their students. We wont let them erase the truth no matter how hard they try. Weve created a website to protect academic freedom and encourage the honest teaching of history in our classrooms: teachhistory.ms. Join us in the fight to teach the truth in Mississippi. Vangela M. Wade is president and CEO of the Mississippi Center for Justice, a nonprofit, public interest law firm committed to advancing racial and economic justice. This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi lawmakers' attempt to ban critical race theory is wrong EAST LANSING (AP) The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation donated $25 million to Michigan State University to expand public health in Flint, it was announced on Wednesday. The grant will bolster MSUs public health program in Flint, adding 18 tenure-track faculty members, along with other support, MSU President Samuel Stanley Jr. said at a news conference. Officials at the event said focus areas for research will include mental health, addiction and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, among other public health topics. The announcement came as Flint still heals from a water crisis that started in 2014 when the citys water supply was switched to the Flint River without properly treating the pipes to avoid lead contamination. In the last decade, even before the water crisis, Mott had given MSU $12 million to expand and relocate its public health program from East Lansing to Flint, in addition to granting $7.7 million to renovate the former The Flint Journal building to be the new home of the program. Shortly after the ribbon was cut on the building, the need for public health research became even more important, Mott Foundation President and CEO Ridgway White said at the news conference. Research began in 2014 and it was in 2015 that Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha discovered the link between childrens elevated blood lead levels in Flint and the change in the citys water source. The predominately Black city has also hosted MSUs Dr. Debra Furr-Holden whos done research toward curbing the racial disparity in COVID-19 cases and deaths in the state. Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley added that programs like the one MSU operates in Flint help lift the quality of life for everyone in the state. We talk about health care disparities, especially in communities of color or low to moderate income areas he said. We need programs like this, partnerships like this, to make sure that we can deliver a better quality of life. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Mott Foundation gives Michigan State $25M to expand Flint-based public health research Stephanie Ruhle John Lamparski/Getty Images for Advertising Week New York MSNBC has officially selected a new 11 p.m. host after Brian Williams' departure from the network. MSNBC President Rashida Jones confirmed in an internal memo on Thursday that Stephanie Ruhle will be the new host of The 11th Hour, the show formerly anchored by Williams, per Mediaite. Ruhle currently anchors Stephanie Ruhle Reports at 9 a.m. ET, and has been with MSNBC since 2016. "Stephanie has been a staple of our dayside anchor team and a trusted voice on topics at the intersection of politics, finance and international business," Jones said. "In addition to bringing her decades-long experience to The 11th Hour, Stephanie will continue to appear across all platforms as NBC News senior business analyst." Ruhle previously worked at Bloomberg News prior to joining MSNBC. News that she would replace Williams on The 11th Hour was first reported by Axios. Williams announced in November he would leave MSNBC after nearly 30 years with NBC News. "This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another," Williams said at the time. "There are many things I want to do, and I'll pop up again somewhere." He had moved to MSNBC from the NBC Nightly News after controversy over his false statements regarding his experiences covering the Iraq War. Williams hasn't announced what he might do next, but CNN reported earlier this week that he turned down an offer to anchor the CBS Evening News. In other programming news, Jones announced that Morning Joe, MSNBC's morning program hosted by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, will be expanded to four hours, giving it the time currently occupied by Ruhle. You may also like Florida's Ron DeSantis is very upset the FDA canceled 2 antibody cocktails that don't work against Omicron The threat of Ukrainian resistance is the likeliest spur to Russian compromise Senate candidate J.D. Vance defends caustic jokes because 'our country's kind of a joke' New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a federal judge Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Donald Trump that aims to end her yearslong investigation of his company, saying the attempt to thwart the probe comes only after the former president was subpoenaed. In papers filed in federal court in Syracuse, lawyers for the attorney general's office questioned the timing of Trump's lawsuit, more than two years into a civil tax fraud investigation focused on the Trump Organization. "The timing of this lawsuit against the Attorney General coming only as OAG is nearing a conclusion of its Investigation, is contemplating the filing of an enforcement action, and has sought Mr. Trumps sworn testimony belies any notion that there is any objective behind this suit other than distraction and delay," the court filing said. It noted that while Trump and his company have challenged some of the attorney general's legal demands in state court in New York City, [a]t no point, despite having ample opportunity to do so ... did the Trump Organization or Mr. Trump ever challenge the underlying legal basis for the Investigation or OAGs statutory authority to conduct the Investigation. Until now only after Mr. Trump was served with a subpoena. Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump also received subpoenas. Trump's lawsuit claimed that James' civil probe into his company's business practices was politically motivated and that he is the victim of "viewpoint discrimination." The lawsuit, which noted several instances in which James publicly said she planned to go after Trump in court, seeks a court order blocking her from "being involved in any manner in any civil or criminal actions against" Trump and his company. James disputed the accusation that the probe was politically motivated, saying in Wednesday's court filing that her office has "uncovered substantial evidence establishing numerous misrepresentations in Mr. Trumps financial statements provided to banks, insurers, and the Internal Revenue Service." Story continues She urged the federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that the Syracuse filing "smacks of forum shopping" an attempt to find a friendlier legal venue. James added that Trump's company is in Manhattan, about 240 miles from Syracuse. In a statement Wednesday, James said, "We will not be deterred by frivolous lawsuits and will continue to follow the facts of this case because no one is above the law. Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, said in a statement to NBC News: "Once again, Letitia James fails to address her egregious and unethical conduct in her weak response to our complaint." After James' office revealed some of the evidence it had collected in a state court filing last week, the Trump Organization said in a statement that she has "no case." "Her allegations are baseless and will be vigorously defended," the company said. Walker Hayes performs on the final day of the Gulf Coast Jam Sunday. The festival finished its run at Frank Brown Park with six acts performing Sunday, June 6, 2021. Nashville, a 10-year town? Not so fast, says Walker Hayes. Hayes, a 42-year-old Alabama native, moved to Nashville nearly two decades ago, slinging song ideas up and down Music Row for years as he juggled a growing family with shifts at Costco and a recovery from alcohol addiction. His career as a country singer included plenty of false starts, premature anointments and rock bottom lows that might've caused an artist without Hayes' unfiltered desire to raise a white flag in defeat. But Hayes held tight to his songwriting dream. And after a chance run-in with ace hitmaker Shane McAnally at a Smoothie King in Green Hills (no, you really can't make this up) and a viral song about the luxury of chain dining, he arrived as a can't-miss country-pop hitmaker. Now Hayes rides the wave of his unescapable crossover hit "Fancy Like" you know, the "fancy like Applebee's on a date night" tune that took last summer by storm into a Grammy nomination, headlining show at Ryman Auditorium and new album, "Country Stuff The Album." ACM Awards: 2022 ACM Awards Walker Hayes gets up close and personal with 'Fancy Like' and 'AA' "This adventure, especially [last] year, I've been real emotional just driving around Nashville, 'cause I swear there's a heartbreak around every corner," Hayes told The Tennessean. "Then there's these little rays of sunshine that're like, 'That's not an accident.'" Fancy like ... stolen Internet Hayes moved to Nashville in 2005 with then-newlywed wife Laney Beville Hayes, a decision the couple made shortly after he played his first gig an impromptu handful of covers inside a bar in Mobile, Alabama, Hayes' hometown. The move meant punting on a career in real estate, and confronting in-laws about his proposed plan to chase country music stardom after a lone gig at a Gulf Coast watering hole. "I was drenched in sweat down my back," Hayes said about sharing his dream with Beville Hayes' father before the move. "It's one thing to chase a dream on your own or with someone you love, but when you have to present this dream knowing there's nothing sensible about it whatsoever, but you're gonna do it nonetheless? I had no reply. Story continues "I think Laney's parents even said, 'Do you sing and play in front of people?' My answer was, 'Not yet.'" Regardless, the couple drove up I-65 and rented a one-room apartment on Hayes Street near Vanderbilt University. Rent? $600 a month. Walker Hayes and his wife Laney Beville Hayes pose together during the CMT Red Carpet event at Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. Hayes landed a day job and began working on his music career between shifts. They didn't have Internet at home, so the couple often snuck into campus buildings to check emails. "The first Monday we were here, I went to the Bluebird," Hayes said. "I was gonna play the same songs I played in that bar. Of course that's silly because in the Bluebird, you don't play cover songs. My name was in the hat but [Laney and I] left before it got to my name because I didn't have any songs." He added, "I wrote my first country songs, and, dude, they were terrible. I went back to the Bluebird the next Monday and I played 'em." More music news: Kenny Chesney sells music catalog to Hipgnosis Song Management Climbing the charts: 17-year-old Nashville musician Gayle sings 'abcdefu' on Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight Show' Fancy like ... Costco Hayes' time in songwriting circles ebbed and flowed in the years that followed his arrival. He bounced around labels losing one contract during a corporate restructuring, he said, and another because of "a whole lot of arrogance going on" from the singer, he added. The songs Hayes released behind a label stalled at country radio and around 2014, he found himself without a recording contract, playing regular gigs at Puckett's in Franklin. His family would box up food after shows to help cut back on the grocery bill at home, Hayes said; he often took family trips in a pre-owned Honda with a doughnut tire and not enough seatbelts for everyone. At the time, Hayes worked at Costco, starting shifts in the produce section at 4 a.m. He would clock out around 11 a.m. before spending the rest of his day working on songs. The job lasted a little over a year. "There were mornings at Costco," Hayes said, "I would be furious at myself. I'd be like, 'None of this makes sense.' I'd be writing on a napkin about it. I'd be like, 'You're just an idiot. Just get another dream, bro.' You're on the mat and [this dream is] straddling you. "It's just left-right, one after another. And you're just laying on the ground in blood, smiling at it." But he hated the idea of quitting. "If it ever crept in my mind that it wasn't gonna work," Hayes said, "I despised that thought so much that I just wrote another song and I played it somewhere. There were days when Laney would drop me off on Broadway and I sat there and played songs for people getting out of the Preds games." Enter: A trip to Smoothie King that changed Hayes' life. Inside the shop, Hayes bumped into Shane McAnally, an A-list producer-songwriter who took him seriously when the singer wanted to drop off a song with the Music Row hitmaker. "Walker walked up to me in Smoothie King seven years ago and asked me to listen to one song," McAnally told The Tennessean last year. "I'm glad I did. It wasn't 'Fancy Like,' but we got there." And one song turned into a song a week, Hayes said. McAnally initially pitched Hayes for a publishing deal, but it didn't stick. A new wave of hearing "no" pushed Hayes to a breaking point, where he said one night he smashed a ukulele to pieces in frustration. Walker Hayes performs onstage during the 2021 iHeartCountry Festival Presented By Capital One at The Frank Erwin Center on October 30, 2021 in Austin, Texas. "I was so emotionally drained and tired," Hayes said. "I beat this ukulele to shreds." Still, McAnally continued pitching Hayes to artists he produced. After about 10 months of little movement, Hayes said, McAnally called him and said he wanted to pivot from pitching songs to other artists and instead suggested making a Walker Hayes album. He soon inked a deal with Monument Records, a Sony Music Nashville imprint McAnally revived in 2017. A few family tears and a new ukulele followed. "When he signed me, they gave me a ukulele and on the back of it, they wrote, 'God bless the broken ukulele that led us back to you,'" Hayes said. Fancy like ... viral success Signing a deal didn't mean overnight success for Hayes; his 2017 Monument debut "Boom" gave listeners a taste of the genre-blurring country-pop he'd later corner in earnest on its follow-up "Country Stuff," but with the exception of top 10 hit "You Broke Up With Me" radio balked, again. Then came "Fancy Like." Last summer, Hayes a father of six kids who lives in a nondescript subdivision in Thompson's Station uploaded a video to TikTok of him and and a daughter dancing to the R&B-infused country-pop song that pays homage to finding joy in life's not-so-rich things. It took off like wildfire on TikTok before spreading to streaming services and radio, eventually climbing to No. 1 on multiple country charts and cracking the top three on Billboard's all-genre Hot 100. Applebee's jumped on board, quickly reinstating the name-dropped Oreo cookie shake to its menu. Pop star Kesha joined Hayes for a remix and, last November, the RIAA certified the song double-platinum. Watching the song take off from TikTok to iTunes and streaming felt a little like seeing numbers circle on a slot machine, said Monument general manager Katie McCartney. "All around town, people were telling us that we're lucky," McCartney said. "The truth is, we've been preparing for it for five years. Walker has been preparing for it for 25 years. And sometimes luck is when preparation meets opportunity, and that's what happened here. if you believe in the magic, it will show up. And, boy, has it." Walker Hayes performs during the CMT Artist of the Year award ceremony at Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021. With "Fancy Like," Hayes mixed a goofy, contagious hook that frames a slice of middle class living sought after by countless artists in mainstream country, often to criticism of those questioning how genuine the message may be. But for Hayes, "Fancy Like" works in part because he lived those nights; it wasn't long ago that Applebee's was a treat for him and the family. They still stop at the 'Bee's in Athens, Alabama, when Hayes road trips to see his relatives, he said. "'Fancy Like' for me was saying an upgrade was Applebee's," Hayes said. "There's no steak I wanna spend $50 on. I just would rather have a freakin' quarter-pounder from McDonald's and call it a night." He added, "If we get dessert? That's crazy." Fancy like ... a new album Now, Hayes doubles down on the sounds and success of "Fancy Like" with a new full-length album, "Country Stuff The Album." Released last week, "Country Stuff" continues his streak of cutting genre-agnostic songs that pull from real-life experiences, like finding sobriety a month before McAnally called to produce him ("AA," his new single) or rekindling a relationship with God ("Craig," featuring Christian staple MercyMe). The album opens with "Drinking Songs," where Hayes said he wrote a story about the days before getting sober. He sings, "So give me that bourbon and Bocephus/ I can't help me so help me Jesus ... thank God for drinking and drinking songs." "It is exactly who I was before I quit drinking," Hayes said. "I know this bottle doesn't love me but I can't push it away like I do everybody else. It's a powerful song." "Country Stuff" digs into a few love songs, namely "Delorean," which Hayes co-wrote for his wife, a near-lifelong sweetheart. The song throws back to high school days of Bath & Body Works and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Hayes said. Walker Hayes and wife enjoy an Oreo Cookie Shake that was brought back by Applebee's. He sings, "Aint no telling whats gon take me back to our/ Loves origin, just like that Delorean." Hayes said, "It's a little nod to 'Back To The Future.' It's talking about all the stuff that takes me back in time." And he'll headline Nashville's historic Ryman this April, a far cry from walking out of the Bluebird on his first Monday in town. It may have taken Hayes more than 10 years to get there, but the wait and work eventually paid off. "The Lord's just doing something with me that nobody could've ever orchestrated or dreamed up," Hayes said. "None of this was even conceived in anyone's wildest dreams." This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: 'Fancy Like' star Walker Hayes rides the waves of crossover viral hit Planned Parenthood, 6418 Commerce Park Drive, Fort Myers, Florida A group protesting abortion blocked entrance to the Planned Parenthood center in Fort Myers on Thursday morning leading to the arrest of several members. A Planned Parenthood official said about 35 to 50 protesters chased organization workers, drove a truck across the Commerce Park Drive property, yelled insults and epithets and, at one point, blockaded the entrance. "The safety of our patients and staff is always our top priority, our health center staff followed protocol and kept everyone safe," a Planned Parenthood statement said. "We are thankful for law enforcements quick response, to our knowledge nine arrests have been made so far." From 2020: Protesters outside Planned Parenthood in Fort Myers 'We comes here as friends': Pro-life supporters saddened by attempted arson to Planned Parenthood Opinion: Florida Interfaith Coalition: Access to affordable reproductive health care is a social and moral good for everyone Stephanie Fraim, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, was at the center Thursday morning shortly after the incident occurred. "It was pretty nasty and well-coordinated," Fraim said of the protesters. "This is clearly an escalation for the staff who work here now." Fraim said there was no physical assault reported but investigators were checking video of the incident. "We've had a lot of protesters out here and, as I and the staff believe, we're thrilled to live in a country where we can all raise our voices and share our concerns publicly and we have the right to free speech. (We) respect that and we always have respected that but we also have the rule of law here and invading our property and blockading our building is against the law." She said violence directed at staff and patients at the Planned Parenthood center is unacceptable. "We provide important health care for patients who come to us," she said. "Nobody knows why patients walk in our door and the kind of vitriolic judgement that was spewing from the mouths of the people on the street was unkind, unloving and not something the patients needed at this moment in their lives." Story continues Protesters lined the sidewalks in front of the center speaking through microphones and waving religious-themed banners in video taken at the scene. Fraim said there was a bus with Michigan plates which had carried the protesting group to the Planned Parenthood center. The Lee County Sheriff's Office arrest website showed several Lee County Jail bookings in a row between 1 and 1:30 p.m. Thursday for trespassing arrests involving five adults, three men and two women, from Tennessee, Michigan, Colorado, Arkansas and Texas. Four juveniles were reportedly also arrested, but, because of their ages, were not listed on the arrest website. An arrest report from the Sheriff's Office later confirmed three of the arrested as Chester Gallagher, Katelyn Milan Sims, and Kenneth Tyler Scott. Two others arrested and booked in the same time frame and on the same charges were identified as Calvin Zastrow of Michigan and Eva Zastrow of Arkansas. Gallagher and the Zastrows were named in an August 2020 article in Ms. Magazine about a protest at the Northland Family Planning Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan. The two were part of video streamed live on Facebook from the center showing similar activities as at the Fort Myers Planned Parenthood center. Gallagher and the Zastrows were later arrested at the Michigan protest in 2020. Planned Parenthood said the Fort Myers health center remains open. Connect with breaking news reporter Michael Braun: MichaelBraunNP (Facebook), @MichaelBraunNP (Twitter) or mbraun@news-press.com. This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Fort Myers anti-abortion protestors arrested at Planned Parenthood The Rev. Dean Mathewson has been accused of sexually abusing a minor in the 1990s at St. Francis de Sales in Newark. A Newark priest has been put on leave after he was accused of sexual abuse of a minor, which was alleged to have happened in the 1990s. The Rev. Dean A. Mathewson, 77, was placed on leave by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus on Monday. Catholic Secrecy: A Dispatch investigation into priest sexual abuse in Columbus, Ohio Mathewson is accused of sexually abusing a minor while he was serving at St. Francis de Sales in Newark in the early 1990s. The diocese said it got the report of this abuse on Jan. 19, according to The Catholic Times, a publication of the diocese, and that the report had already been given to Newark police. The Newark police said they are investigating the case and that the survivor was between 12 to 14 years of age at the time of the alleged abuse. Police also said the diocese has been cooperative. Mathewson, who could not be reached for comment, was notified of the allegations against him on Monday and placed on leave as the diocese investigates whether the allegation is credible or not. 'I'm going to change these laws': Priest sex abuse survivor seeks legal reform in Ohio If the diocese review board determines the allegation is credible, his name will be added to a list of 52 other clergymen who have served in the diocese and been "credibly accused" of priest sexual abuse of a minor in the eyes of the diocese. The list, first with 34 clergy named, came out in March 2019 on the heels of the Pennsylvania grand jury report that revealed more than 1,000 victims of alleged abuse by more than 300 priests over 70 years. The report's release spurred public pressure for dioceses across the country to release such lists telling people which priests were believed to have been abusive to children in their areas. The Diocesan Board of Review for the Protection of Children, formed in 2003, determines the credibility of accusations using eight factors and will be convened soon, according to the Catholic Times story. Story continues 'There's no escape': Memories of being raped by Catholic priest haunt Columbus man "If an allegation is determined to be credible, the Diocese of Columbus will execute the necessary judicial and administrative processes," the Times story reads. "A determination of credibility is never to be considered proof of guilt." The diocese is working to notify people in the diocese and offer more information to parishioners. Mathewson had a varied list of assignments in Greater Columbus since he began serving in 1973. Share your story: Submit an anonymous news tip on priest sexual abuse He first taught at St. Francis de Sales High School on Columbus' Northeast Side and was an assistant priest at St. Matthias Church on Columbus' Northeast Side from 1973 to 1977. Then, Mathewson worked at Bishop Flaget High School in Chillicothe and St. Mary Church in Chillicothe from 1977 to 1981. For 10 years, from 1981 to 1991, he served at St. Joseph Parish in LaRue and taught part time at Marion Catholic High School. Then, from 1991 to 2003, he was at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Newark. From 2003 to 2006, he was an associate pastor at St. Brendan the Navigator Church in Hilliard and since 2006 he has been the diocesan coordinator for priest hospital chaplains, with part-time work as the Catholic chaplain at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) will talk to victims confidentially. The group can be reached via SNAPNetwork.org, or locally at 614-653-1502 or SNAPCentralOhio@gmail.com. Anyone who might have experienced sexual abuse by those associated with the Catholic church is encouraged by the Diocese of Columbus to contact law enforcement for this case it is detective Steven Vanoy at the Newark Police Department at 740-670-7928 and the diocesan Victims' Assistance Coordinator at 866-448-0217 or email helpisavailable@columbuscatholic.org. Find more coverage of clergy sex abuse in central Ohio here. Newark Advocate reporter Michaela Sumner contributed to this report. dking@dispatch.com @DanaeKing This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Newark priest accused of abuse of a minor in 1990s No charges will be filed after an incident at a Richland 2 school board meeting earlier this week, the Richland County Sheriffs Department announced Thursday. After a verbal altercation at the Tuesday school board meeting, Superintendent Baron Davis confronted a member of the public who had exchanged words with Davis wife. The person who had exchanged words with Davis wife, Gary Ginn, accused the superintendent of charging at him to the point that Davis had to be restrained by security. Richland 2 has denied Davis charged at him, and witness accounts of the incident vary. Two police reports were filed following the incident. The first was from a deputy who removed a member of the public from the meeting, and the second was filed by Ginn. Deputies collected statements from witnesses, and after presenting evidence to the Fifth Circuit Solicitors Office, prosecutors declined to file charges, according to the release from Richland County Sheriffs Department. From left: Tobey Maguire in "Spider-Man 2," Andrew Garfield in "The Amazing Spider-Man," and Tom Holland in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Columbia Pictures; Columbia Pictures; Sony Pictures "Spider-Man: No Way Home" director Jon Watts spoke about his experience with Tom Holland and the cast. Watts said he did a script read-through that included Holland, Tobey Maguire, and Andrew Garfield. He described the moment to Variety as "a Spider-Man therapy session." "Spider-Man: No Way Home" director Jon Watts said that he experienced a moment on set with cast members Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Zendaya, and Jacob Batalon that felt like a "therapy session." "We sat on folding chairs in a circle and went through the script together," Watts, who directed all three of Holland's standalone "Spider-Man" films, told Variety in a new interview. "I had talked to everyone separately, but to have everyone together to talk about the story, how the pieces fit together and what Spider-Man meant to them that was exciting for me." He added: "We had the only three actors to ever play Spider-Man in a film, and each had been through so much, on and off screen. It was like a Spider-Man therapy session." "No Way Home," which hit theaters on December 17, is the culmination of three generations of "Spider-Man" films. Maguire first suited up as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's 2002 film "Spider-Man," costarring Kristen Dunst as Mary Jane Watson and Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. The success of the Marvel film resulted in two sequels that were released in 2004 and 2007. Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in "Spider-Man." Columbia Pictures When the franchise was rebooted in 2012, Garfield took over the role in Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" alongside Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curtis Connors/The Lizard. A sequel was released two years later, with Jamie Foxx and Dane DeHaan portraying the villains Max Dillon/Electro and Harry Osborn/Green Goblin, respectively. "TASM 2" paved the way for a third movie involving the supervillain group known as the Sinister Six, but plans for a sequel were scrapped. Story continues Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in "The Amazing Spider-Man 2." Columbia Pictures Holland then made his debut as the web-slinger in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2016's "Captain America: Civil War." "No Way Home," which marked his sixth appearance in the MCU, centers on Peter trying to do damage control after his superhero identity is revealed at the end of 2019's "Spider-Man: Far From Home." He enlists the help of fellow New York-based Avenger Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to make the world forget that he's Spider-Man. But the spell cast by Doctor Strange goes wrong and villains from the multiverse appear in his world: Dafoe's Green Goblin, Foxx's Electro, Rhys Ifans' Lizard, Alfred Molina's Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock, and Thomas Hayden Church's Flint Marko/Sandman. Maguire and Garfield's versions of the character enter the film by way of portals opened by Peter's friend Ned (Batalon), using Doctor Strange's Sling Ring. After the untimely death of a beloved character, Ned and MJ (Zendaya) introduce Holland's Peter to Maguire and Garfield's characters. They console the young superhero and the Spider-Men work together to develop cures for the villains before sending them back to their universes. Read the original article on Insider You are here: China Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday afternoon held a symposium in Beijing with representatives of foreign experts working in China before the Spring Festival or the Chinese Lunar New Year. Li extended Lunar New Year greetings to the foreign experts and thanked them for their contributions to China's reform, opening-up, and modernization. Experts from countries including Britain and South Africa shared their advice and suggestions. Li said China made significant achievements in social and economic development in the past year despite severe internal and external challenges and risks. The country has prioritized employment in its macro policy and revitalized market entities through tax and fee cuts, said Li. "We have implemented policies in proper intensity, leaving policy space for this year to address challenges." In the face of new downward economic pressure, Li stressed that the country would strengthen cross-cyclical adjustments to keep the country's economy running within an appropriate range. China will strengthen targeted adjustments, take timely and effective measures to cope with challenges, stabilize market expectations, and boost market confidence, he said. The premier added that China will take bolder measures to alleviate difficulties faced by enterprises, including implementing tax and fee cuts, lowering financing costs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and expanding effective demands. Stressing that opening-up is a fundamental state policy in China, Li said China would continue pushing forward high-level opening-up and provide more convenience for foreign experts to work and live in China. The United States condemned repeated missile launches from North Korea following its latest weapons test this week, its sixth such launch within the past month, Reuters reports. A State Department spokesperson voiced opposition to the tests, saying that North Korea is violating United Nations Security Council resolutions. North Korea most recently fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles Thursday. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff detected the launch from the east coast of North Korea, and the missiles traveled for 190 km. The news follows a similar test on Tuesday, when North Korea fired another two missiles off its east coast. If confirmed, Thursday's missile test would be the nation's sixth this month, following the launch of a tactical guided missile, two "hypersonic missiles" and a railway-borne missile system. North Korea reiterated earlier this month that it deems the United States a threat to its sovereignty and that it will strengthen its defense in response, including considering the continuation of "all temporally-suspended activities." North Korea has not tested long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles or nuclear weapons since 2017. But after talks with the U.S. died out under former President Trump, the nation began short-range missile testing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month referred to the tests as "profoundly destabilizing," but it's unclear what actions the U.S. may take to resume talks with Pyongyang. The Biden administration has put notably less focus on U.S.-North Korea relations than Trump, who placed his relationship with the North Korean leader near the top of his foreign policy agenda. Sirens is a strip club at 6190 Cleveland Ave. in north Columbus. The owner of Sirens, a gentlemans nightclub in Northland, said he is working to reopen the venue as soon as possible. Closed for at least two years because of COVID-19, Sirens is nearing the end of a remodeling effort that included the main showroom, bar, kitchen and smoking patio, owner Michael Sharrack said. Unfortunately, with COVID, its been unfortunate with contractors and supplies, Sharrack said. Its been really difficult. Sirens made headlines in 2018 when adult-movie actress Stormy Daniels was arrested by Columbus police for illegally touching patrons. Two Columbus police officers ultimately were fired for improperly arresting Daniels and depriving her of her rights, according to published reports. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, settled with the city of Columbus for $450,000. Sharrack said the club had been open for more than 20 years before the pandemic closure. His company, Shoreland Properties LLC, purchased the 7,200-square-foot property for $2.3 million in 2008, according the Franklin County auditors website. Sharrack said Sirens is different from its competitors by offering upscale food steaks, lobster, burgers and pasta and casual fare cooked by a qualified chef. He said he hopes the COVID-19 threat is starting to ease and that people could resume their everyday lives. Its nice to see it get back to normal with everything thats going on with COVID, people stuck at home, Sharrak said. Its nice to get back to normalcy. Anthony Celebrezze, deputy director of the Columbus Department of Building and Zoning Services, said Sirens is set to reopen once a final inspection is done with the property to make sure the work lined up with what was stated in the building permit. gseman@thisweeknews.com @ThisWeekGary This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Northland: Sirens about to sound call on reopening date Oscar nominations voting began Thursday morning, the same day that the Producers Guild, the Directors Guild, the Writers Guild and American Cinema Editors announced their nominees. Judging from these groups' slates, it would appear that reflecting the tastes of moviegoers particularly from the PGA, a body that has recognized box office hits in the past is pretty low on the priority list this awards season. Two movies showed up on all four lists the sci-fi spectacle "Dune" and the soaring, San Fernando Valley-set "Licorice Pizza" although others, like "The Power of the Dog" and "Belfast," might have done so as well, had they been eligible for Writers Guild consideration. Half the Producers Guild's 10 nominees came from streamers, including three Netflix movies "Don't Look Up," "The Power of the Dog" and "Tick, Tick... Boom!" along with the Apple TV+ coming-of-age story "CODA" and Amazon Studios' showbiz drama "Being the Ricardos." Two other nominees, "Dune" (the sole movie on the list that grossed $100 million at the box office) and "King Richard," were films that launched simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max. Only "Belfast," "Licorice Pizza" and "West Side Story" were pure theatrical releases, an indication that, in the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, voters are staying home and gravitating toward films that pop up on their subscription platforms. Although the Producers Guild has a history of recognizing blockbusters like the James Bond movie "Skyfall," Rian Johnson's entertaining mystery "Knives Out," the taut horror film "A Quiet Place" and Patty Jenkins' dazzling "Wonder Woman," its voters this year ignored big productions, including "House of Gucci," "No Time to Die" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Last year, the PGA even nominated a comedy, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm," a rare acknowledgment that humor can exist in the awards season bubble. Story continues "Spider-Man" producers have been arguing for the last month that the movie belongs in the best picture conversation, with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige likening it to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the culmination of a beloved franchise. This was pretty much the same argument he made a couple years ago for Avengers: Endgame, a case awards voters summarily rejected. With the PGA leaving "Spider-Man" off its list, its prospects at the Oscars look iffy at best, although you'd think members of the motion picture academy might at least consider including the one movie that has indisputably connected with filmgoers this past year. (The domestic box office for "Spider-Man: No Way Home" currently stands at nearly $725 million.) The Directors Guild nominees Paul Thomas Anderson ("Licorice Pizza"), Kenneth Branagh ("Belfast"), Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog"), Steven Spielberg ("West Side Story") and Denis Villeneuve ("Dune") cement their films as the leading best picture contenders in a year in which a front-runner has yet to emerge. The DGA's inclusion of Spielberg came as a welcome sign for the film, which had been underperforming a bit with the crafts guilds and had been overlooked earlier in the day by the American Cinema Editors. Spielberg's nomination marks the sixth consecutive decade he has earned love from the DGA, going back to his first nod for 1975's "Jaws." The film academy's directors branch has grown significantly in recent years, with a large percentage of its new members coming from around the world. This infusion has likely been a factor in recent Oscar nominations for international filmmakers, including Danish director Thomas Vinterberg ("Another Round"), Poland's Pawe Pawlikowski ("Cold War") and Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos ("The Favourite"), none of whom found favor with the DGA. As the DGA and Oscar director nomination slates seldom exactly match, it's possible that academy voters might look globally and recognize, say, Ryusuke Hamaguchi for "Drive My Car" or perhaps past Oscar winner Pedro Almodovar ("Parallel Mothers"). The Writers Guild nominations arrived, as always, with an asterisk, as many of the leading contenders original screenplays "Belfast" and "Parallel Mothers" and adapted entries "The Lost Daughter," "The Power of the Dog" and "Drive My Car" are ineligible, either because their writers don't belong to the guild or the productions did not meet signatory requirements. For original screenplay, the nominees included name-brand filmmakers Aaron Sorkin ("Being the Ricardos"), Adam McKay ("Don't Look Up"), Anderson ("Licorice Pizza") and Wes Anderson ("The French Dispatch"), along with newcomer Zach Baylin ("King Richard"). It's possible that lineup remains intact for the Oscars, though Branagh's "Belfast" script probably figures to muscle its way in. Nominees for adapted screenplay were Sian Heder's "CODA," Jon Spaihts, Villeneuve and Eric Roth for their degree-of-difficulty work on "Dune," Guillermo del Toro and Kim Morgan for "Nightmare Alley," Steven Levenson for "Tick, Tick ... Boom!" and Tony Kushner's update of "West Side Story." The film academy's writers branch figures to sub in Campion's adaptation of Thomas Savage's "The Power of the Dog" and Maggie Gyllenhaal's raw, suspenseful reworking of the Elena Ferrante novel "The Lost Daughter." I'd also hope that Hamaguchi's delicate, daring expansion of the Haruki Murakami short story Drive My Car would find a place. Next up: Oscar nominations, which arrive Feb. 8, with the ceremony following several weeks later on March 27. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Morning, neighbors! Sean Peek here with your Friday copy of the Mobile Daily. First, today's weather: Mainly cloudy and cooler. High: 50 Low: 28. Here are the top three stories today in Mobile: On Thursday, a woman was brutally attacked in broad daylight outside of the Mobile County Metro Jail. The unidentified woman was a nurse who works at the jail and was heading to her car during her lunch break. A homeless man then surprised her and started hitting her. The woman is okay, just shaken up. (FOX10 News) A recent string of thefts has left an expensive mess. Mobile police recently arrested Sheldon Barker for breaking into establishments looking for copper. Barker targeted several churches and businesses, tampering with their AC units to get the copper wiring inside. (FOX10 News) The nonprofit organization One Meal Mobile has seen an uptick in the needs of homeless people recently due to the effects of COVID-19. The organization is always available to help the community with anything they need, including food and clothing. With the recent spike in attention, the organization is now assisting over 2000 people a month. (WKRG News 5) From our sponsor: Tackling a big to-do list around the house to start the new year? Our partners at Thumbtack, the home services app, have made hiring trusted local pros for pretty much any job extremely easy and intuitive. In minutes, you can find a painter, plumber, roofer or someone to help with small jobs such as trash hauling or appliance repair. And Thumbtack's rating system can give you confidence that you're hiring a quality pro you can count on. Click here to get started. Today in Mobile: Project Homeless Connect At The Grounds (8:00 AM) 2022 AEA Postsecondary Conference At Mobile County Education Association (3:00 PM) The Oak Ridge Boys At Saenger Theatre Mobile (7:30 PM) From my notebook: The Mobile County Personnel Board is accepting applications for the Open Competitive position of Recreation Program Supervisor for the City of Mobile. For more information, follow this link. (Facebook) There is still time to register for the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event that will be hosted by the City of Mobile on January 29 at James Seals Jr. Park. (Facebook) Calling all Mobile writers! Students in schools with an active PTA are eligible for the Alabama PTA Diversity Writing Contest 2022. Cash prizes are available! The deadline is March 15. To learn more and to download an entry form. (Facebook) Story continues More from our sponsors thanks for supporting local news! Featured businesses: Events: Comedian Killer Beaz LIVE (January 29) Add your event Loving the Mobile 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 Now you're in the loop and ready to start this Friday off right! See you tomorrow for another 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 Mobile Patch A federal magistrate judge has rejected a bid for pretrial release by the founder of a right-wing militia group facing the rare charge of seditious conspiracy for allegedly orchestrating an attack on the Capitol during the certification of the presidential election results last January. The ruling Wednesday means Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, 56, will remain in custody as his lawyers appeal to a federal judge in Washington overseeing the case against Rhodes and 10 other members of his group. After a hearing on Monday in Plano, Texas, wherean FBI agent testified about the results of the investigation into Rhodes and his associates, U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Priest Johnson concluded that the disbarred Yale Law School graduate and Army veteran posed too great a threat to be allowed to go free pending his trial. The evidence shows Defendant orchestrated a large-scale attack on the federal government with the purpose of intimidating, by violence, federal officials and disrupting official governmental proceedings incident to the transfer of power in the Executive Branch following a national election, Johnson wrote inher 17-page decision. In an important acknowledgement of Rhodes significance to another investigation the Jan. 6 select committees probe of the attack on the Capitol Johnson emphasized that Rhodes would be permitted to testify to the congressional panel under a previously issued subpoena. Rhodes has indicated he was scheduled to testify in February. Prosecutors say Rhodes was the mastermind of a plot to violently prevent the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, developing plans to halt the certification of the election that included amassing a weapons arsenal just outside of Washington. That quick reaction force was allegedly housed at a Comfort Inn in Arlington, Va., but was never deployed to the Capitol. Meanwhile, nearly two dozen Oath Keepers breached the Capitol alongside the pro-Trump mob that overwhelmed police, with some exchanging messages that they were seeking out Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Story continues Rhodes and 10 of the other Oath Keepers face the seditious conspiracy charge, while several other Oath Keepers are charged with an obstruction conspiracy. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta said at a hearing on Tuesday that he planned to hold a jury trial in April for the latter group of Oath Keepers. The judge is planning other trials for batches of Oath Keepers affiliates in July and September. At Mondays detention hearing, Rhodes attorney Phillip Linder also noted that while his client was outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he never entered it unlike most of the others facing criminal charges over those events. Rhodes defense also argued that his references to revolution and civil war in encrypted chats after the 2020 election were merely rhetoric and that his purchases of tens of thousands of dollars worth of weapons were lawful and constitutionally protected. However, Johnson rejected those arguments, finding that Rhodes statements, his accumulation of weapons and his direction to set up one or more caches of weapons in Virginia during the Jan. 6 events indicated that he planned violence. It is the totality of the evidence showing Defendants leadership and strategic involvement in and advocacy for armed and violent actions against the federal government, combined with Defendants preparedness and ready access to weapons sufficient to carry out such violent activities, that presents a significant risk of harm to others, she wrote. The judge said that Americans are free to express disagreement with election results and to sharply criticize the government, but that Rhodes behavior went well beyond that. Here, the Court is not faced with a peaceable assembly and petitioning, as Defendants extraordinary actions and the ripple effects that followed are outside the bounds of protected activities, she wrote. Johnson said she also had doubts that Rhodes would abide by release conditions and appear at future court hearings. She noted that while he has no criminal record and graduated from Yale Law, he admitted that he has not filed a federal tax return since 2007, even though he is surely aware of the tax laws. Linder and another Texas attorney representing Rhodes, James Lee Bright, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Johnsons decision. However, they previously vowed to appeal if their client were ordered detained pending trial. The magistrate judge also acknowledged on Wednesday that after a nearly two-hour detention hearing for Rhodes on Monday morning with several journalists in attendance, she convened another court session by telephone in the afternoon after being contacted by Rhodes estranged wife, Tasha Adams. Ms. Adams testified that throughout their marriage, Defendant would often brandish firearms in the family home to control her behavior and that Defendant would physically abuse his children under the guise of participating in martial arts practice, Johnson wrote. Ms. Adams described one such instance where Defendant choked the couples daughter; the couples adult son intervened to forcibly remove Defendants grip. The defendants estranged wife also testified that he installed elaborate escape tunnels in the couples backyard, hid unregistered cars in the woods, and purchased hundreds of dollars of razor wire, which Defendant intended to install around the perimeter of the property, concealed from view, in case the feds ever came to his door, the magistrate judge added. Its unclear what role the estranged wifes testimony played in Johnsons decision. While most of the ruling is devoted to Rhodes activities in the context of the Oath Keepers group, the judge also found some evidence of a propensity towards violence in Defendants personal relationships. Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the far-right militia group known as the Oath Keepers, will be jailed pending trial in Washington, D.C., a Texas magistrate judge ruled Wednesday. Rhodes is charged with multiple crimes stemming from his alleged planning and participation in the January 6 attack of the U.S. Capitol, including a count of seditious conspiracy, the most serious charge. He will likely be transferred from a Texas jail to Washington, D.C., where he will join a handful of his co-defendants in pretrial detention. Prosecutors successfully argued in a Monday detention hearing that the leader of the militia group had to be detained because of the possibility that he could flee, was a danger to the community, and the risk he may pose to his co-defendants and other members of the Oath Keepers who have been charged for the January 6 Capitol attack. So far, about 20 members or affiliates of the Oath Keepers have been charged with a crime stemming from the Capitol attack, many are accused of conspiracy or the more serious seditious conspiracy. Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, is seen February 28, 2021, in Fort Worth, Texas. / Credit: Aaron C. Davis/The Washington Post via Getty Images "The evidence shows Defendant orchestrated a large-scale attack on the federal government with the purpose of intimidating, by violence, federal officials and disrupting official governmental proceedings incident to the transfer of power in the Executive Branch following a national election," Magistrate Judge Kimberly Priest Johnson wrote in her opinion on Wednesday. Rhodes' attorney Phillip Linder said Wednesday night that he would file an appeal on Thursday to Rhodes' detention. Rhodes and nine of his co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges that they planned for and participated in the January 6 Capitol attack. In all, 11 Oath Keepers have been charged with seditious conspiracy. In court documents filed ahead of Monday's hearing, the government detailed allegations made earlier this month against Rhodes in an indictment brought against him. "Rhodes stood at the center of the seditious conspiracy orchestrating plans to use force, recruiting and financing co-conspirators, purchasing weaponry and tactical gear, inciting support and action, and endeavoring to conceal his and other co-conspirators' crimes," the filing alleges. Story continues Rhodes, the government alleges, recruited other members of the Oath Keepers "to join him in traveling to Washington, D.C., for operations aimed at stopping the transfer of power," namely by halting Congress' counting of Electoral College votes to certify the victory of Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Highlighting what they say was the defendant's coordination of armed "quick reaction force" (QRF) outside the city, prosecutors say individuals associated with Rhodes and the Oath Keepers, many of whom face charges of conspiracy themselves, stood at the ready outside of Washington, D.C. "The QRF teams guarded an arsenal of firearms and related equipment and were prepared to speed those weapons into the hands of co-conspirators on the ground in Washington when directed by Rhodes or other conspiracy leaders," court documents allege. As for his actions following the Capitol attack, the government argued, "Rhodes and co-conspirators then fled from the Washington area when they learned the FBI had begun arresting individuals involved in the attack. In the weeks that followed, Rhodes and his coconspirators continued to make plans to stop the presidential power transfer, amass additional weaponry and tactical gear, and prepare themselves to deploy their arms, if necessary, to stop the inauguration of a new president." Prosecutors also argued for Rhodes' detention because of his access to firearms. "In the days leading up to January 6," their filing asserted, "Rhodes himself purchased firearms related equipment to contribute to the operation. On January 1 and 2, while still in Texas, where Rhodes was residing at the time, he spent approximately $5,000 on firearms and related equipment, including a shotgun, scope, magazines, sights, optics, a bipod, a mount, a case of ammunition, and gun-cleaning supplies." The Texas magistrate ultimately ruled Wednesday, "Defendant's authoritative role in the conspiracy, access to substantial weaponry, and ability to finance any future insurrection, combined with his continued advocacy for violence against the federal government, gives rise to a credible threat that Defendant's release might endanger others by fostering the planning and execution of additional violent events." In the court's ruling, the judge revealed Rhodes' ex-wife, Tasha Adams, contacted the court after Monday's detention hearing and she reportedly "testified she filed for divorce in 2018 due to Defendant's violent tendencies." "Ms. Adams testified that she fears for her safety and the safety of her six children should Defendant be released," the order explains, adding Rhodes "would physically abuse his children under the guise of participating in 'martial arts practice'." Adams said she never filed police reports about the alleged abuse. Adams also apparently told the Court her ex-husband built what the court order described as "escape tunnels" and installed other protections in their backyard "in case the feds ever came to his door." When asked by CBS News about Adams' allegations, Rhodes' attorney James Lee Bright called them "highly suspect," adding that while such allegations are owed "full due respect," Adams did not provide substantiating evidence upon cross examination. The Justice Department has so far charged 11 alleged members of the Oath Keepers with seditious conspiracy, the most serious charge that has been brought against accused participants in the January 6 Capitol attack. If convicted, each charge of seditious conspiracy carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, although federal judges have wide latitude to impose sentences. Jake Fink of KTVT CBS-11 News in Texas contributed reporting. National Guard filling in for teachers in New Mexico amid state's COVID surge Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire from Supreme Court, paving way for Biden's first appointment Eye Opener: Who President Biden could pick to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on Supreme Court Jim Urquhart/Reuters Promises that the Oath Keepers founder made to show up at events in person might have to wait. Stewart Rhodes, 56, was ordered detained until his trial, according to a court order released on Wednesday. The militia leader was captured two weeks ago and charged for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The Court questions Defendants willingness to obey any Court-imposed conditions of supervised release Defendants actions exhibit an extreme defiance to federal authority that raise doubt as to Defendants ability and willingness to comply with conditions of release. the order reads. According to the court order, Rhodes left Virginia soon after the Capitol riot expressly to evade arrest, deleted evidence of his participation in the violent uprising, and told others to do the same. The court said that, without a permanent address, Rhodes was transient and may easily flee federal authorities and avoid apprehension. Allegations of violence made by his estranged wife further inclined the court to order his detainment. Oath Keepers Boss Finally Nabbed Over Seditious Jan. 6 Plot, Feds Say The court also said Rhodes authoritative role in the conspiracy, access to substantial weaponry, and ability to finance any future insurrection along with this continued advocacy for violence against the federal government made him an ongoing threat and worked against his pretrial release. Rhodes, an Army veteran and a graduate of Yale Law School who was disbarred in 2007, is charged with seditious conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, conspiracy to prevent an officer from discharging duties and to obstruct an official proceeding, and tampering with proceedings. He faces decades in prison if convicted. The Justice Department alleges that he entered Capitol grounds as part of a longstanding plot to disrupt the democratic transfer of power, beginning his seditious machinations in Nov. 2020. Of the more than 700 people indicted in connection with the attempted insurrection, Rhodes and 10 other members of the Oath Keepers are the first to be charged with seditious conspiracy. Story continues [W]e must do now what the people of Serbia did when Milosevic stole their election. Refuse to accept it and march en-mass on the nations Capitol, he allegedly wrote in an Oath Keepers group chat. Rhodes attorney Jonathan Moseley has previously denied the allegations against Rhodes. Prosecutors know that none of the Oath Keepers ever planned or conspired to attack the Capitol, disrupt the Joint Session of Congress, or anything they claim. I have got the documents, Moseley said. In an effort to provide an address where the court could feasibly reach him, Rhodes said he was in a relationship with one Kellye SoRelle and living with her in Granbury, Texas. The court order said attempts were made to contact her but failed. SoRelle, however, agreed to no such arrangement. In a text to BuzzFeed News on Wednesday night, she denied that she was dating Rhodes, saying, I think Stewart just wanted to have a place to stay. Rhodes estranged wife likewise got involved in the detention proceedings. According to the court filing, Tasha Adams, who lives in Montana and who now has custody of her six kids with Rhodes, volunteered the information that he had dug escape tunnels in their backyard in Kalispell, Montana, stashed unregistered cars in nearby woods, and encircled their property with hundreds of dollars of razor wire in case the feds ever came to his door. Adams also said her husband would often entice their children into martial arts practice as a pretext to hit them, though he would always claim the contact was accidental. Once, she said, Rhodes choked their daughter and didnt stop until their adult son forced the two apart. She said she was afraid what would happen to the children if Rhodes were released. Adams, who said the violence increased beginning in 2016, filed for divorce in 2018. Members of the Oath Keepersadorned in tactical gear like helmets, hard-knuckle gloves, and goggles, according to the filingwere an integral part of the pro-Donald Trump crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 of 2021. The Justice Department alleges they did so on Rhodes orders. He volunteered to pay for guns, hotel rooms, and communications devices for Oath Keepers who participated in the Jan. 6 riot, and spent more than $40,000 on the firearms, ammunition, and other accessories, the Justice Department said. 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. BGR Scientists have published a new study revealing the largest marsquakes ever recorded. Like Earth, Mars can experience massive seismic events which can cause the surface of the Red Planet to shift. These events are known as marsquakes. ETH Zurich, a public research university in Switzerland, says marsquakes occur when the soil on Mars is subjected The post Largest Marsquakes ever recorded could teach us more about Martian core appeared first on BGR. By Alistair Smout and Elizabeth Piper LONDON (Reuters) -After an uncomfortable but relatively brief return to coronavirus restrictions triggered by the Omicron variant, England is going back to "Plan A" - learning to live with a disease that is probably here to stay. The bet is that booster jabs, antiviral pills and Omicron's lower severity will enable the government to manage outbreaks of a virus that cannot be shut out. Other countries equally keen to unshackle business and personal freedom will be watching. Work-from-home guidance ended last week, and measures such as mask mandates and COVID passes, also introduced in England last month, lapsed on Thursday, returning the rules to where they were last July. The UK Health Security Agency is preparing to switch focus to supporting vulnerable individuals rather than imposing national rules, according to a draft policy seen by Reuters. "As we evolve to move to living with COVID, UKHSA's COVID-19 response will move from a whole nation approach to a targeted response, focused on protecting the vulnerable," read the paper, titled "UKHSA COVID-19 Vision - DRAFT". "We will ensure that our future response is more streamlined, flexible, and convenient for citizens and delivers value for money." British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has presided over a death toll of 150,000 that ranks seventh in the world, was forced in December to introduce the "Plan B" restrictions, angering some of his own lawmakers. He now has a strong political imperative to scrap them. As police investigate gatherings at his offices during COVID lockdowns, in apparent violation of laws he had himself imposed, he faces the biggest crisis of his career, while many of his members of parliament are determined that he must return life to near-normal. BECOMING ENDEMIC Conservative lawmaker Andrew Bridgen told Reuters that further COVID-19 restrictions were "unlikely, unnecessary and politically impossible". Story continues Johnson himself told lawmakers last week: "As COVID becomes endemic, we will need to replace legal requirements with advice and guidance." He also said he would let the law that obliges people with COVID-19 to self-isolate lapse in March, and even look to bring that date forward. Much of his confidence stems from the nature of Omicron, which drove infections to record levels in December without increasing hospitalisations and deaths to the same extent. Graham Medley, chair of the government's COVID modelling group, told Reuters that when Plan B was introduced, the severity of Omicron and the impact of boosters had been unclear. In the event, even at the peak, with social restrictions stopping short of a full lockdown, daily deaths stayed below 300 on a 7-day average, compared to more than 1,000 a day in the third national lockdown a year earlier. Medley said growing immunity - with 83% of over-11s having had two doses of vaccine, and 63% a booster - meant each future wave should be less challenging, though there might be hiccups: "Whilst I expect next January to be better than this one, and the following January to be better than next January, I wouldn't be surprised if some point we have to go backwards." There is also a potential new resource, in the shape of antiviral drugs - aimed at preventing high-risk individuals who catch the virus becoming seriously ill, but not yet rolled out widely. "Things have changed so much over the last six or seven months," said Harkishan Mistry, 58, who was included in the "Panoramic" trial of Merck's molnupiravir after catching the virus. "We've got a clear path going forward. I'm optimistic now," Mistry said on a video call from Bradford, where he was self-isolating. His view was echoed by health minister Sajid Javid, who said: "Our vaccines, testing and antivirals ensure we have some of the strongest defences in Europe and are allowing us to cautiously return to Plan A, restoring more freedoms to this country." NOT THERE YET? But evolutionary virologist Aris Katzourakis of Oxford University warned that diseases such as malaria and polio may be endemic, but are not harmless. "A disease can be endemic and both widespread and deadly," he wrote in the science journal Nature. "It frustrates me when policymakers invoke the word 'endemic' as an excuse to do little or nothing." A relentless focus on managing COVID, rather than preventing infections, also has unwanted side-effects. Because National Health Service resources have been diverted towards vaccination boosters, thousands of other appointments have been postponed, adding to a vast backlog of elective care in the state-run system. At the same time, high infection rates among staff and patients continue to weigh heavily on hospitals. "It's about living safely with COVID. It's not just about living with COVID," said Matthew Ashton, Director of Public Health at Liverpool City Council. "We all desperately want the pandemic to end," he added. "Minimising disruption is part of that solution. I definitely feel like we're on the journey towards living safely with COVID - but I don't think we're there yet." Nick Thomas, a family doctor in Witney, central England, supporting the Panoramic trial, said local practices were also feeling the strain, despite the success of vaccines and the prospect of effective antivirals. "We have to manage all of those (other conditions) as well as an Omicron wave right now. And so that balance is really important - and the more tools we have, the better." (Reporting by Alistair Smout and Elizabeth Piper in London; additional reporting by Clara-Laeila Laudette in Madrid; Editing by Kevin Liffey) Jessica Siregar laughs with phlebotomist/medical assistant Samantha Cubano after being rapid tested for COVID-19 Monday. Siregar was among a long line of people waiting at Telescope Health's drive-thru testing site in Neptune Beach. Jessica Siregar's income as a Ponte Vedra Beach-based travel advisor dried up when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020 and the world shut down. Since the world reopened, she has resumed her work and traveled to four countries and six U.S. cities. To do so, she has taken every precaution available. She received the Moderna vaccine and booster shot, wears a mask and gets tested regularly. So far she has not contracted the virus. Being vaccinated, she said, "is better for the world as a whole and the easiest way to travel without additional hoops." "I get tested before I travel, even if the [destination] country doesn't require it, for peace of mind and health of other travelers and colleagues I may be meeting," she said. As Florida case numbers are trending down, Siregar waited in line 30 minutes Monday at Telescope Health's drive-thru testing site in Neptune Beach. Her latest test was negative. Waiting in line: Jacksonville will put $2.5 million into more high-demand COVID-19 testing Neptune Beach: COVID-19 testing site again reaches capacity shortly after opening "It is better for the world as a whole and the easiest way to travel without additional hoops," she said. "This pandemic has uprooted my life. I believe it is important for us to be kind and respect each other's health," she said. "At this point, COVID is not going away. It seems it is not as dangerous as it once was but spreads much faster which is causing chaos in my industry and for travelers alike. "Don't we all deserve a vacation from this virus?" Omicron is dominant COVID-19 variant Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Florida cases is once again declining after a surge. Statewide there were 289,204 new cases from Jan. 14 to Jan. 20, down from the apparent peak of 430,095 new cases the week of Jan. 7, according to the Florida Department of Health. Since the week of Nov. 19 when 9,641 new cases were reported, the numbers had been increasing weekly as the highly contagious omicron variant of the virus spread. At least 99 percent of patients hospitalized during that time likely had the omicron variant, Jacksonville hospital officials said. Story continues Omicron did not generate as many hospitalizations or deaths as the typically more serious delta variant did last summer. But vigilance with vaccinations leading the way is still necessary because other variants may be on the horizon, hospital officials said. Pandemic slowing? COVID cases fall as Florida ranks 37 (from No. 11) on list where coronavirus spreads fastest Mayo Clinic expert:Unvaccinated people are 'playing Russian roulette' with COVID-19 "Vaccines provide the greatest protection if the full series is completed and a booster is received as timely as possible. We continue to see that people who are unvaccinated seem to have a greater risk of hospitalizations and death," Dr. Estrellita Redmon, Ascension Florida and Gulf Coast chief clinical officer, said. Ascension Florida includes Ascension St. Vincent's three area hospitals. Patrons line up to receive COVID-19 rapid tests at Telescope Health in Neptune Beach. "While its tough to predict when, or if, new COVID-19 variants will head our way, we should be as prepared as possible for the pandemic to continue, while also doing everything possible to put an end to it," she said. "That means getting vaccinated It means masking up, especially indoors around strangers. It means continuing to be vigilant and mitigating risk wherever possible. " About 65 percent of the eligible Florida population age 5 and up is fully vaccinated, compared to almost 64 percent nationwide. About 63 percent of Duval Countys eligible population is fully vaccinated, according to Redmon. Dr. Shalika Katugaha, Baptist Health medical director of infectious diseases, said the omicron surge was expected to drop rapidly by February. But no one knows for sure what will happen afterward. Duval schools: Omicron hits classrooms hard with surging cases, staff shortages "The data from Baptist Health and the Florida Department of Health reflect that Jacksonville is near or past its peak," she said. "The highly contagious omicron is running its course. While it is the hope that new cases stay low in early February, hospitals will continue to feel the impact of this wave through the entire month." Meanwhile, "it is possible for another impactful COVID-19 strain to emerge," Katugaha said. "With every infection comes a new opportunity for the virus to mutate, which is why vaccination is so important." She said the decreased severity associated with omicron infections is a reflection of increased vaccination rates throughout the country and in Florida. Fewer hospitalizations in winter surge Baptist Health's five hospitals reported 265 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, down from 286 the day before but still higher than the 214 reported Jan. 18. The latest total included 20 pediatric patients at Wolfson Children's Hospital, five fewer than the day before; 20 of the adults and one of the children were in intensive care, according to the health system. At the peak point of the summer surge, on Aug. 11, Baptist hospitals had 569 patients. Most of those patients had the delta variant. Hospital mandates: Most Baptist Health, Ascension St. Vincent's staff comply with COVID-19 vaccine mandate Vaccine required: Mayo Clinic fired about 700 unvaccinated staff. None came from Jacksonville yet AG ends fight: State drops appeal against requiring health workers to be vaccinated About 73 percent of the Baptist patients eligible for the vaccine were not fully vaccinated and 95 percent had not received a booster shot. Ascension St. Vincent's three area hospitals reported 161 patients with the virus Monday, compared to 159 a week ago. Thirty of them are in intensive care, according to Ascension, and 87 percent are unvaccinated. UF Health Jacksonville's two local hospitals had 159 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, four more than the day before and three more than the 156 total a week ago. Of the latest total, 37 patients were in intensive care, according to UF Health Jacksonville. Mayo Clinic, Memorial Hospital Jacksonville and Orange Park Medical Center have not released daily patient counts. How to treat patients Meanwhile, the treatment landscape fluctuates. Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed monoclonal antibody therapy, but Florida sites, including two in Jacksonville, closed last week. The closures come after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revoked its authorizations for two monoclonal antibody treatments made by Regeneron and Eli Lilly, saying they are "highly unlikely" to be effective against omicron. The Regeneron treatment was being used at the local sites. Mayo Clinic is using another monoclonal treatment for its COVID-19 patients, sotrovimab, which works against omicron, according to Dr. Leigh Speicher, director of the Covid-19 Virtual Clinic and Covid Infusion Center at the Jacksonville hospital. But the state is limiting distribution, she said. Monoclonal therapy sites closed: FDA says treatment ineffective against dominant strain of COVID-19 Also in short supply is the antiviral treatment remdesivir for some mild-to-moderate patients. Whether existing treatments will be effective against future variants, only time and research will tell, Speicher said. "We are all doing our own analysis," she said. But Speicher said she was excited about the prospects of a drug that is newly FDA-authorized for the prevention of COVID-19 prior to exposure. Evushield is designed for people who are "high risk and immunocompromised," she said. Mayo is using the drug for its patients who have the virus and it will be available for other high-risk patients in the community "at some point," she said. A medical worker passes out consent forms for COVID-19 rapid tests at Telescope Health in Neptune Beach. Vaccinations crucial to control pandemic But Speicher said the best medicine for COVID-19 is prevention. She urged everyone who can get the vaccine to do so. Katugaha, citing information from The Lancet medical journal, said about 40 percent of the U.S. population and more than half of the worlds population will be infected by omicron by the end of March 2022. Tripling the pace of booster shots could reduce COVID-19 deaths by nearly 30 percent and hospitalizations by more than 35 percent between now and the end of April, she said, citing information from The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that promotes a high-quality health care system in the United States. "The goal of vaccination is to achieve 'control' within our new normal: to have COVID-19 present at a level that it does not disrupt society," Katugaha said. "The hope is that COVID-19 will be, in most cases, a common and preventable disease with mild symptoms that we have learned to live with." Council members test positive: Vaccinated City Councilman Michael Boylan quarantines at home after catching COVID-19 Duval County COVID-19 vaccine tracker: 59% of people fully vaccinated Redmon said the medical community has "done an exceptional job delivering care despite the many challenges. "We are more prepared now than we were in March of 2020, and for that I am thankful," she said. On Jan. 11 the city of Jacksonville approved another $2.5 million for city sites offering COVID-19 testing, such as the popular Neptune Beach location that had regularly hit capacity and turned people away within hours of opening. The new funding allowed Telescope Health, which runs the Beach site, to expand capacity, according to sales and marketing staffer Erin Harris. "We are trying to put as many people through as we can," she said. Despite the waiting lines, most customers have been patient. They get rapid test results within two to four hours. Results from the PCR test take longer, 48 to 72 hours. Have a COVID-19 story to tell? Contact Beth Reese Cravey at bcravey@jacksonville.com or (904) 359-4109. COVID-19 TESTING AND VACCINATIONS To search testing locations across Florida, go to floridahealthcovid19.gov/testing-sites. The city of Jacksonville website also provides a list of testing sites at jaxready.com/SpecialPages/virus/COVID-19-Testing-Information. Availability is subject to change. To search vaccine locations, go to vaccines.gov or floridahealthcovid19.gov/vaccines/vaccine-locator. This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: COVID-19: Omicron variant declining in Jacksonville and Florida Tanzania receives more donation of COVID-19 vaccines from China Xinhua) 08:57, January 27, 2022 Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian (R) touches elbows with Tanzanian Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu during a handover ceremony of COVID-19 vaccines at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Jan. 26, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua) DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) --The donation was handed over to the Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ummy Mwalimu, by the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Chen Mingjian, at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. "We very much thank China for the timely donation that will help us to accelerate Tanzania's vaccination campaign against the pandemic," Mwalimu said shortly after she had received the vaccines. She said the 800,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses will be used to fully vaccinate 400,000 people, adding that the first batch of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses which were donated by China in Nov. 2021 had been used to fully vaccinate 250,000 people. For her part, Chen said China has delivered the first batch of 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine donation to Tanzania on November 1, 2021 and another 1 million doses of China-donated Sinovac vaccines will be delivered soon. "We sincerely hope the Chinese vaccines can play an effective role in assisting the Tanzanian government to control the spread of the virus and protect the lives and health of Tanzanian people," said Chen. The Chinese envoy said as virus was still raging in the world, strong confidence and cooperation were needed to defeat the pandemic. Chen said that "we need to strengthen international cooperation, fully leverage vaccines as a powerful weapon, ensure their equitable distribution, quicken vaccination and close the immunization gap, so as to build multiple lines of defense against the virus and speed up efforts to build a global community of health for all." As the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly around the world, China is willing to make continuous contribution to Africa's fight against the pandemic, Chen said. Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian (L) and Tanzanian Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu attend a handover ceremony of COVID-19 vaccines at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Jan. 26, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua) (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) Boris Johnson can blow out the candles on his premiership. The U.K. press is consumed with the revelation that the British Prime Minister held a birthday party for himself during the height of government-imposed coronavirus restrictions. The controversy has left Boris Johnson fighting for his job. Worse still, the party was just one of more than a dozen parties Johnson and other Downing Street officials held while banning ordinary citizens from such gatherings. The latest YouGov poll shows 73% of Brits think Johnson is doing a poor job as PM. His unpopularity is taking down the Conservative Party, too. Support for the Tories has dropped to 10 points behind the Labour Party. Now some MPs are planning on submitting letters of no confidence that could trigger his fall from power. The "Partygate scandal" has been increasing in scope by the day. In December 2021, photos of Johnson's many parties first leaked out. Then on Jan. 11, it was reported that invites were sent to over 100 people during Britain's first national lockdown. Johnson even held an illegal party on the night before Prince Philip's funeral while Queen Elizabeth was mourning alone. Johnson decided to end all social distancing rules to distract from the controversy. So let the peasants eat cake, too! Johnson thinks he can't be a hypocrite if he lets everyone have parties and throw away their masks. But he can't put the wine back into the bottles he emptied throughout 2020 and 2021. Nor can he find an excuse for all the lies he uncorked. The tired representatives of the PM's office keep issuing all manner of laughable denials. For example, Johnson said a May 2020 gathering with wine and cheese was just a "work meeting." His office also said that a mass gathering held on Johnson's birthday, where he was presented with a birthday cake, wasn't a "birthday party." Whatever it was, it was against the rules Johnson imposed on the whole country. Only two people were allowed to meet together indoors at the time and there was no exception for birthday parties. How will the coronavirus spread if everyone in the U.K. indulges in Johnson's careless behavior? We shall see. On Jan. 20, the British administration announced proudly that it was dropping the "Plan B" measures, meaning that masks are no longer required anywhere, the vaccine pass has ended, and workers are encouraged to return to the office. The reasoning, Johnson said, is that the Omicron outbreak "has peaked." Indeed, the numbers show new cases have dropped from an average of 180,000 a day the first week of January to just over 90,000 this week. "This is a moment that we can all be proud of," U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said. Considering the actual number of cases, the situation does not look like rainbows and unicorns. Ninety thousand cases a day in the U.K. translates to 1,200 per million per week and is twice as high as the rate of cases the U.K. faced in November when many of the rules Johnson scrapped were in place. Likely, cases will never return to the pre-Omicron levels. Cases are rising everywhere. On Jan. 9, there were 4 million cases discovered across the globe. Before December 2021, there had never been more than 1 million new cases recorded in a day. Omicron, fortunately, is triggering cases with less severe symptoms than previous outbreaks, and vaccinations protect most people. But Omicron can still wreak havoc due to its unchecked spread and vast numbers. Many countries around the world, seeing this reality, are plotting their next stages of pandemic policy. But, of course, nowhere can remain locked down forever. It may be nearly impossible to crush Omicron, but that doesn't mean reasonable social distancing rules won't lessen the impact of the virus. There are gradients of nuance in between lockdown (for everyone but Johnson) and no rules. Wearing a mask to school, for example, doesn't interfere with one's freedom to learn, nor their freedom to drink and party, for that matter. But Johnson has such an aversion to masks that he even refused to wear one when visiting a hospital in November. Britain is getting rid of all rules, even obvious, un-burdensome rules, at a time of continuing high numbers of COVID-19 transmission. It's absurd. They aren't yet winning the fight against coronavirus and they haven't yet even staged the comeback. Javid said Brits should be proud. Getting rid of mask mandates "is a reminder of what this country can accomplish when we all work together." Imagine what they could have accomplished if their Prime Minister was working with them. Mitchell Blatt is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/MitchellBlatt.htm Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. If you would like to contribute, please contact us at opinion@china.org.cn. During the year and a half that I taught high school virtually, I underwent a transformation. The chance to work more flexibly and efficiently, along with the absence of interactions with any negativity-oozing humans, left me with energy I hadnt felt during a school year ever. I was less burnt-out, more present, and able to read, write and create outside of the classroom. My students also shifted into more flexible patterns that allowed them more time for hobbies, for work, or for helping out their families. In the fourteen years Ive been teaching in and around Detroit, I have always pushed against the grain, but the pandemic has thoroughly de-systematized me, along with my students. We are struggling to fit back into this antiquated system designed to push out uniformly educated workers ready to punch proverbial clocks. Returning to school has felt like Im standing in front of hurricane winds pummeling me daily. I am seeing with a fresh lens a sharper lens. I am invested in doing my job well, and to do this job well, my heart and mind must be open and present with a lot of pain right now. More: Detroit Public Schools students struggle with virtual attendance More: Group asks federal court to stop MI school districts from canceling in-person school The events of the past couple of years have made me more conscious than ever of how systems of oppression like white supremacy and the patriarchy show up in schooling and harm students. Its in the lack of representation when the teaching staff is nearly all white and the administration is exclusively male. Its in the complaints at staff meetings about school of choice; its in the focus on control, the desire to ban hoodies and the demand for unearned respect; its in the quickness to involve police with Black teenagers and in scoffing at the name and pronoun changes of transgender youth. I try to engage staff in self-reflection on where we could do better as a school, only to be met with resistant eye-rolls and denial. I wonder if theyve been living in the same country as I have? Story continues Many of my students also became more awake, more conscious, during the pandemic. They are witnessing the system with clearer eyes as well, and listening to their teachers with new ears. They are, at times, appalled as they should be. Sometimes they have the language to pinpoint what bothered them. But many students just feel it and dont have the language. This is the most dangerous for their spirits. It bubbles under the surface and comes out in unrelated angry bursts, heightened defensiveness of their bodies, or fights with other students. Other students push it down beneath a haze of marijuana smoke, or by avoiding the classroom as much as possible, wandering the hallways and hanging out in bathrooms. More: Michigan schools, flights, businesses grapple with latest COVID-19 surge More: Detroit school district delays return, to require COVID testing for in-person learning More than ever, I am convinced that care for their mental and emotional health must come first. I no longer believe we need to push ourselves to the breaking point to prove we are worthy. I am aware of the trauma my students experienced in the last two years and that they continue to experience at school, and want first and foremost to affirm their wholeness in a system that often doesnt. With my own daughter, Ive been more likely this year to keep her home from school when she isnt feeling the best, rather than pushing her to go as long as she isnt puking. Ive been more compassionate about the need for a mental health day here and there. I am more clear now that she has a right to advocate for herself with teachers, rather than always deferring to their authority. Her wholeness, her well-being, her freedom and her voice are more important to me than her obedience or her grades. Like me, my students believe in prioritizing their well-being and the well-being of their families above school more than ever before. They know it is an option now. Often, they and their families are making decisions that run against the idea that we must perform above all else. My first instinct, and the instinct of many of my colleagues, runs counter to this. But I am aware now that this is a belief system, and I realize that this isnt necessarily the only or the right way to be. The system is fighting back. It is trying to take new beings and shove them into old spaces. Like trying to get a toddler into last year's clothes, its not working. There is rebellion at every corner, as there should be. Something is deeply wrong in a system where teachers and students alike feel dread, and desperately hang on for the next break. Education lacks excitement because we are not educating for freedom of mind and spirit. Those of us trying to do that must fight daily against a structure built on control and obedience. Todays students will not be educated under these circumstances. Students do not learn when they are in protection mode focused on the hard work of maintaining their dignity. Instead of learning, they will simply survive the system for the next several years until they get their diploma. The shut-down and the subsequent virtual experiments have prompted me to envision new possibilities for public education. Much of the current data shows that virtual learning as practiced last year (students mandated to sit in front of the computer all day) wasnt great for the academics or the mental health of the kids. Still, student anxiety was at a crescendo before COVID-19, and going backwards doesnt seem like the answer. I envision a system that allows for some balance between in-person learning and asynchronous virtual work time. We often resist change, but our future calls for something new. We are called to create a system that, rather than warehousing youth and enforcing conformity, affirms and cares about the wholeness of students and teachers, that allows for varied lives and learning styles, and that focuses on educating for freedom and innovation. If we dont take this moment in time to create real systemic change in the public system, we will lose more and more students to private educational enterprises that offer more options and allow students to learn with their autonomy, freedom, and dignity intact. I, for one, feel that my days in this system are numbered. For how long can I stand in the path of this hurricane and not run? Tara Lingeman has been an English teacher in metro Detroit for 14 years. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Opinion: Why our return to the schoolhouse is so painful ORRVILLE City police are searching for a suspicious man in a red coat who they say tried to lure two children out a window of their home. Investigators say the man made contact with the children through a window of their West Chestnut Street residence Wednesday night. The children were playing inside when the man opened a window to the room and urged one to climb out of the window, according to the Orrville Police Department. Incident in Orrville: Three men in custody after police use armored vehicle in 9 1/2-hour Wooster standoff At around 7:45 p.m., the children ran out of the room and alerted their mother. According to OPD, they told her that a man made physical and verbal contact with them through the window. Police believe it was an isolated incident. They said there is no known connection between the man and the family, Orrville police find footprints in the snow, open window Police were called to the home at approximately 8:15 p.m. and found an open window and footprints in the snow that led north. Officers followed the tracks before they lost the trail, according to the Police Department. After canvassing the neighborhood, officers found a residence with a security camera that had footage of a man at the time of the incident. The children said the man was wearing a red coat. "Residents should remain vigilant and report any behavior they deem suspicious to police immediately," said Matt Birbeck, the city's chief of police. "It is a good idea to keep doors and windows locked." Police are asking residents and businesses with exterior security cameras to check their footage for anything suspicious between 7:30 and 8:15 p.m. Wednesday night. Residents with security cameras can join the Orrville Security Camera Registry, which helps officers quickly identify homes with valuable footage in the area of an incident, Birbeck said. "Officers are able to check the database and quickly contact the homeowner to check the video footage for us instead of having to go door to door inquiring about whether or not a residence has security cameras," he explained. Story continues Anyone with information is asked to call OPD at 330-684-5025 or submit an anonymous tip via TIP411. More information about the city's camera registry is available at OrrvillePD.com. Reach Bryce by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com On Twitter: @Bryce_Buyakie This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Orrville police search for man who tried to lure children out a window By Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) - The head of the Paris hospitals system has set off a fierce debate by questioning whether people who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should continue to have their treatment covered by public health insurance. Under France's universal healthcare system, all COVID-19 patients who end up in intensive care are fully covered for their treatment, which costs about 3,000 euros ($3,340) per day and typically lasts a week to 10 days. "When free and efficient drugs are available, should people be able to renounce it without consequences ... while we struggle to take care of other patients?" Paris AP-HP hospitals system chief Martin Hirsch said on French television on Wednesday. Hirsch said he raised the issue because health costs are exploding and that the irresponsible behaviour of some should not jeopardise the availability of the system for everyone else. Several French health professionals rejected his proposal, far-right politicians called for Hirsch to be fired, and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo - who chairs the AP-HP board and who is the socialist candidate in the April presidential elections - said she disagreed with his proposal. A hashtag calling for Hirsch's dismissal was trending on Twitter in France. Health Minister Olivier Veran has not commented on Hirsch's call but Olga Givernet, a lawmaker for President Emmanuel Macron's LREM party, said on BFM TV on Thursday that "the issue as raised by the medical community could not be ignored". A mid-January IFOP poll showed that 51% of French people considered it was justified that non-vaccinated people who wind up in intensive care should pay part or all of their hospital bill. Conservative Les Republicains lawmaker Sebastien Huyghe - whose bill to make the unvaccinated pay some of their medical costs was rejected by parliament - said the idea was not to reject the non-vaccinated from intensive care wards, but to make them pay a minimum contribution toward the cost of their care. Story continues The proposal would be similar to Singapore, a city-state with one of the world's highest COVID-19 inoculation rates in the world, where people who decline vaccines must pay for their medical treatment. The median bill size for COVID-19 patients that require intensive care is about S$25,000 ($18,483), according to Singapore's health ministry. ($1 = 0.8973 euros) ($1 = 1.3526 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Geert De Clercq, additional reporting by Chen Lin in Singapore; Editing by Bill Berkrot) Gov. Tom Wolfs address to Pennsylvanias General Assembly on Feb. 8 will mark the official opening of negotiations on the commonwealths 2022-23 fiscal year budget. Regrettably, this annual budget has shortchanged the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for many years. With a rosy revenue picture for the upcoming fiscal year, the governor and the General Assembly should adopt a budget that fully funds the DEP. The best measure of the DEPs strength over time is its number of filled positions, i.e., the number of people paid to come to work each day. In 2003, the DEP had 3,311 filled positions. This past December it was down to 2,323 filled positions. Thats about a 30% reduction in staff over the last 18 years. This percent staff reduction is about double that of all commonwealth agencies over the same period. Reduced staffing has compromised the departments ability to regulate oil and gas development, monitor and reduce air and water pollution and protect the Chesapeake Bay. Rep. Greg Vitali Pennsylvania has the money to fully fund DEP. According to the commonwealths Independent Fiscal Office, Pennsylvanias General Fund revenue surplus for fiscal year 2021-22 is projected to be over $1.6 billion the second largest in a decade. Oil and Gas Program The DEPs Oil and Gas Program has oversight over the almost 80,000 Pennsylvania oil and gas wells now in production. In 2015, this program had 226 filled positions. In December it was down to about 181. Last year the DEPs Oil and Gas Program conducted the fewest number of inspections of oil and gas operations since 2015. The Oil and Gas Program has responsibility for plugging the estimated 200,000 orphaned or abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania. These wells can leak methane (a powerful greenhouse gas) and contaminate ground and surface water. Due to limited resources, DEP plugged only about 10 wells last year. DEP is expecting $25 million this year from the Federal INVEST program which could fund the plugging of an additional 500 orphaned or abandoned oil and gas wells. DEP needs more personnel to put out contracts for the plugging of these wells and to oversee the work performed. Story continues Air Quality Program In 2005, the DEPs Air Quality Program had 349 filled positions. In December, it was down to 236 a reduction of over 32%. A 2018 DEP Air Program report requesting additional staffing indicated that fewer Department staff to conduct inspections, respond to complaints, and pursue enforcement actions will result in less oversight of regulated industry [and] reduced protection of the environment and public health. In November 2020 and again in December 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a Finding of Failure to DEPs Air Quality Program for not submitting a required plan to reduce VOC emissions from oil and gas operations. The commonwealth now faces federal sanctions. Clean Water Program In 2007 the DEPs Clean Water Program had 778 filed positions. In December it was down to 647 about a 17% reduction in staff. This January DEP released a draft report showing one-third of Pennsylvanias streams 27,886 miles have impaired water quality making them unsafe for aquatic life, recreation, fish consumption or water supply. Thats a 2,418 increase in impaired stream miles since its 2020 report. Erik Skiuseth, a retired railroad worker, tests mine discharge as it runs from a reclaimed field on private property in the Moshannon Creek watershed on August 31, 2020. The red color of the water occurs when acidic water brings out the metal, in this case iron, in the water. Chesapeake Bay About half of the land area of Pennsylvania drains into the Chesapeake Bay. Pennsylvanias poor progress in reducing its agricultural runoff threatens the health and recovery of the bay. In 2019 Pennsylvanias Phase 3 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan identified a $324 million annual funding gap between what is needed to implement its pollution reduction plan versus what is available. According to a 2021 report by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Pennsylvania remains far off track in meeting its pollution reduction obligations. The commonwealths annual budget has shortchanged the DEP for years. Negotiations between the governor and legislature on this years budget are just beginning. Now is the time to influence the process. Concerned citizens should tell Gov. Wolf and their state representatives and senators that the DEP needs more funding. State Rep. Greg Vitali, D-166, represents portions of Delaware and Montgomery counties. He is the Democratic chairman of the House Environmental Resource and Energy Committee. E-mail: gvitali@pahouse.net. This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Pennsylvania must fully fund environmental protection in 2022-23 budget PHILADELPHIA (AP) A Philadelphia man freed after 37 years in prison in a case tainted by perjured testimony accused the city of outrageous police misconduct in a lawsuit filed Thursday, the same day his 1984 murder case was dismissed. Willie Stokes left prison earlier this month, after a federal judge found prosecutors never disclosed that they had charged his chief accuser with perjury after the trial. The witness has said he was offered sex and drugs at police headquarters to frame Stokes in an unsolved 1980 dice-game slaying. Im not bitter. Im just excited to move forward, Stokes, 60, told The Associated Press after the brief morning court hearing, when prosecutors announced they would not seek to retry the case. More than 100 people have been exonerated in recent years in Pennsylvania, according to Marissa Boyers Bluestine of the University of Pennsylvania law school, the former executive director of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. None served more prison time than Stokes. The trial witness who identified him as the killer at a preliminary hearing recanted at the murder trial, in what he later called a fit of conscience. Stokes was nonetheless convicted. Prosecutors then charged the witness, Franklin Lee, with perjury over his pretrial testimony, and Lee went to prison for it. Stokes never knew that until 2015. I didn't believe it, Stokes said in a telephone interview. I didnt believe that they would let something like that happen that they knew, and they didnt tell me. Stokes said his only child, a daughter who was 2 when he went to prison, died about 20 years ago. He was not allowed to attend her funeral. He now lives with his mother. She (has) got a beautiful three-story house, so Im not in the way, Stokes said Thursday, the joy in his voice evident. Criminal lawyer Michael Diamondstein, who handled his successful federal court appeal, called the actions of police and prosecutors in the case outrageous. Story continues They used perjured evidence to convict him and then charged the perjurer, and never told him. And then Willie was warehoused for 38 years, Diamondstein said In his view, the official misconduct stemmed from "institutional racism, or pure bias. The cases needed to be closed. The inner city minority were interchangeable, as long as you had someone in the defendants chair, he said. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner has championed about two dozen exoneration cases. A supervisor in his office, Matthew Stiegler, said Thursday the office agreed with the federal judge who found that Stokes' constitutional rights were egregiously violated. Both detectives who allegedly offered Lee a sex-for-lies deal to help them close the homicide case are now deceased. The lawsuit names their estates as defendants. I fell weak and went along with the offer, Lee told the federal judge in November, recalling his false testimony at the May 1984 preliminary hearing. Two surviving prosecutors named in the suit, now in private practice, did not immediately return messages seeking comment Thursday. At least one has given a statement saying he doesnt remember the case, according to court files. Both the Philadelphia police department and the city declined to comment on the case, citing the pending lawsuit. ___ Follow Maryclaire Dale on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Maryclairedale Police A 20-year-old man was charged with murder after a crash that killed a 63-year-old man near 37th and Grand avenues in Phoenix on Wednesday morning, officials said. Richard Anderson was traveling east on Grand Avenue in a sedan when two officers spotted him driving "at an extremely high rate of speed" from a private driveway, court documents stated. Officers checked Anderson's speed on radar, which showed he was driving approximately 145 miles per hour both times they checked, arrest documents stated. He crashed into an SUV in the intersection at around 11 a.m., Phoenix Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Andy Williams said. The impact of the collision caused the sedan to roll over and crash into a pole before the vehicle came to rest on the street, arrest documents stated. The driver of the SUV, later identified as 63-year-old Dion Kelly, was pronounced dead at the scene. Both vehicles had an adult female passenger, and both women had non-life-threatening injuries, Williams said. Anderson did not have serious injuries. Williams said he was processed for DUI "based on observations and information investigators learned during the incident," but that the blood test results would "take some time to come back." In an interview with police, Anderson admitted he had been driving around 130 miles per hour at the time of the collision. He also told police that he had been smoking a vape pen that contained THC a couple of hours before the collision occurred. According to Anderson, the reason why he was driving his vehicle at such a high speed was to check the mechanical work that had been completed on his vehicle the morning before the collision. The vape pen was located on his person after police completed a search. A urine test completed later indicated that Anderson had THC in his urine, arrest documents stated. He was booked into a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of one count of murder in the second degree and two counts of endangerment, Williams said. Story continues A preliminary hearing has been set for Feb. 4. His bond was set at $300,000. Reach the reporter at bfrank@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8529. Follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank. Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral today. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 20-year-old arrested in Phoenix crash that killed Dion Kelly Jan. 27HAVERHILL Police said they charged a man who has a violent criminal history with various firearms offenses after he allegedly fired a gun near his Pentucket Street apartment. Police said they searched his apartment and found a stolen gun. The man did not have a license to possess a gun or ammunition, police said. Earl O'Neal, 42, of 12 Pentucket St., was charged with discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building; carrying a loaded firearm without a license; improper storage of a firearm; possession of ammunition without a license, and receiving stolen property (a gun). Police said O'Neal, a Boston native, has an extensive and violent criminal history that includes assault and battery, threats, firearm offenses, home invasion, kidnapping and armed robbery. Police said that in 2007 O'Neal was found guilty of possession of a firearm out of Dorchester District Court and was also found guilty of possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number that same year, also out of Dorchester District Court. O'Neal was arraigned on the new firearms charges Tuesday, Jan. 18, in Haverhill District Court, where Judge Cesar Archilla set cash bail at $25,000. O'Neal's girlfriend, Vimbai Bush, 48, of Dorchester, was charged with possession of a large capacity feeding device and possession of ammunition without an FID card. Archilla set bail on Bush at $10,000 cash and scheduled probable cause hearings (via Zoom) for Feb. 18 for both O'Neal and Bush. According to a police report, at 12:07 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, police were dispatched to 11 Pentucket St. for shots fired. Several neighbors told police they heard three gunshots that originated at the intersection of Pentucket and Vine streets. A witness saw two people run inside 12 Pentucket St., the report said. Officers proceeded to that address and overheard arguing inside the home. Other officers arrived on the scene with guns drawn. O'Neal opened his front door and was immediately pat frisked. Bush was with him and was also frisked. Story continues Police said they handcuffed O'Neal for safety as there had been an incident involving Bush and O'Neal the day before, during which O'Neal behaved aggressively, police said. As it was cold outside, Bush and O'Neal asked to retrieve warm clothing from inside their apartment. Police said that after O'Neal retrieved a sweatshirt from his closet, he tossed it onto a couch. Police said they searched the sweatshirt and found a single 9mm round beneath it. Both O'Neal and Bush were arrested for illegal possession of ammunition. Police said they searched Bush and in her left front pocket they found a 17-round Smith and Wesson magazine loaded with 10, 9mm rounds. With a search warrant in hand, police searched O'Neal's apartment and found a black Smith & Wesson handgun, with no magazine attached, under a bed. Police determined the gun had been reported stolen on Oct. 7, 2021, in Nashua, New Hampshire, During booking at the police station, police found two oval pills marked 1174 in O'Neal's pocket. O'Neal told police it was penicillin but could not provide them with a prescription. Jan. 27A man found shot and killed early Wednesday was a Lyft driver apparently lured by four teenagers to rob him. "A guy just out trying to earn a living ... just a horrible situation," Lt. Jason Hall of the Dayton Police Department said of the 35-year-old shooting victim, whose identity has not been released yet. After a standoff, four juveniles, all between 15 and 16, were taken into custody. They face charges of aggravated robbery and aggravated murder, Hall said. All four teens were known to Dayton police, Hall said. "We believe we have all the individuals responsible for the crimes in custody," he said. Another rideshare operator contacted police after she was robbed at gunpoint by teenagers, Hall said during a Wednesday afternoon media briefing outside the Public Safety Building. Officers were called to the 800 block of St. Agnes Avenue to respond to the driver who was robbed of her cellphone, wallet and car. Other officers worked to find her car. Also about that time, officers responded to a homicide call involving the Lyft driver found inside his vehicle. He had been shot, then crashed into another vehicle and was found dead of his injuries. The incident initially was reported around 2 a.m. as a crash in the 1000 block of Ferguson Avenue by the vehicle's OnStar, according to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch Center records. As officers communicated, they determined the two events were connected, Hall said. Officers found a vehicle around 3 a.m. in the 300 block of Anna Street that was taken during an aggravated robbery, said Dayton police Maj. Christopher Malson. As officers investigated, they determined the possible suspects were inside a house in the same block. "As officers approached initially, three individuals came out and were taken into custody," Malson said. "Three others stayed inside the house, which initiated a SWAT callout." When SWAT and a hostage negotiation team responded, crews used a "noisemaker" to get the other three people to come outside, Malson said. They were taken into custody without incident. Story continues The three people who initiated the SWAT response were juveniles, he said. Investigators recovered a weapon that Hall said was consistent with what was used in the deadly shooting. Officers are investigating whether reports of similar activity in recent days could be related, Hall said. Prosecutors and the court system would need to determine whether the four juveniles should be bound over to face the charges in adult court, he said. Lyft issued a statement Wednesday evening regarding the death of one of its drivers: "Safety is fundamental to Lyft, and the actions that led to the events of this morning are reprehensible. Our hearts are with the driver's loved ones during this incredibly difficult time, as well as with an additional driver who was impacted by this behavior. We've reached out to law enforcement to offer our assistance with their investigation, and we'll continue our efforts to combat this senseless violence and help keep drivers safe." Flash The Tibet autonomous region received more than 41 million tourists last year, and tourism revenues exceeded 44 billion yuan ($7 billion), according to an announcement at an annual meeting of the regional people's congress recently. Tibet has been a popular destination for domestic and overseas tourists for decades due to its rich heritage, natural appeal and unique traditional cultures. In recent years, the region has been making a major effort to upgrade the quality of services for tourists. Cultural products and incentives have been introduced to benefit both visitors and business operators. The region received more than 150 million tourists during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period. The boom brought in nearly 213 billion yuan, more than double the amount during the previous Five-Year Plan (2011-15) period, according to Xinhua News Agency. Wang Songping, the head of the region's Department of Tourism Development, was recently quoted by local media as saying that tourism offers a window into the region's unique features. "Tourism sectors should focus on Tibet's unique folk culture and natural resources, particularly in rural areas, and allow more rural residents to benefit from tourism," he said. With its beautiful lakes, snowcapped mountains, forests and a wide variety of cultural activities, Nyingchi city is a major attraction. According to its tourism development bureau, Nyingchi invested more than 110 million yuan on infrastructure in its major tourism spots last year. Official data from the bureau shows that it is home to some 700 guesthouses owned by rural residents, that received 4 million visits last year. Last year, 27,000 rural residents found job opportunities in tourism, an increase of 4 percent year-on-year. Around 1.38 million tourist visits were made to operators in rural Nyingchi, generating over 178 million yuan in revenues. Jan. 27The Portland Rent Board put off a decision Wednesday night on a complaint from tenants of the Trelawny Building about what they say are unfair rent increases imposed by their landlord, Geoffrey Rice. The rent board deliberated and listened to public testimony in a virtual meeting that lasted more than five hours before voting to revisit the issue at a special meeting on Feb. 9. Representatives of the Trelawny Tenants Union said tax rate rental adjustments amounting to 10 percent in some cases the notices were issued in November and December 2021 were unfairly allocated and that some tenants were threatened with eviction if they failed to pay their new monthly rates. The same increase was applied to all apartments in the building at 655 Congress St. regardless of size, tenants said. The tenants union also asked the rent board to fine Rice more than $103,000 for alleged violations of the ordinance. "If there is no penalty for such behavior, it will continue," said Matt Walker, a tenant of the Trelawny Building. "We want the city to stand up for its citizens and the renters." Rent board Chairman Austin Sims said the appeal was the first of its kind to come before the board since it was formed in November 2020. Members of the board met in executive session for more than an hour before determining that they had jurisdiction over the matter. "This is not a topic we have previously heard. It's our first time," Sims said. Attorney Paul Bulger spoke on behalf of Rice at Wednesday's hearing. Bulger said the rent increases were necessary as the result of property tax increases implemented by the city following its revaluation. Inflation also contributed. Bulger said the rent increase notices given to tenants in 2021 were simply a heads-up, a courtesy that a rent increase adjustment was likely inevitable to cover the costs of rising taxes and inflation. In at least eight cases, funds were returned and monthly rental rates were reset, Bulger said. Story continues "Mr. Rice is not responsible for a person's loss of work, the impact COVID has had, or a tax increase. Those are real world concerns," Bulger said. Bulger admitted that any increase in rent was hard to accept, but he also said none of the increases violated the Rent Control Ordinance. The board met in executive session a second time late Wednesday to discuss whether a member should recuse himself from any action the rent board might take on the tenants appeal. Christopher Moore, a tenant representative on the rent board, said he had commented on social media about a story in the Portland Press Herald about the tenants union. After the executive session, he said he could remain impartial and board members agreed to let him continue to participate in the hearing. Several Trelawny Building tenants testified at Wednesday's hearing. Izzy Ostrowski said she received a notice of a rent increase on Nov. 23, 2021. "It was incredibly destabilizing for me, especially with the lack of housing options and the high cost of living all amid a global pandemic," Ostrowksi told the rent board. "It left me feeling panicked and worried about getting evicted," said another tenant, Amanda Bizzaro, a college student. Chase Syme said he has lived at the Trelawny Building for six years. He received a handwritten note, making him aware that his rent was about to increase. "People shouldn't have to live in constant fear of housing insecurity," Syme said. Former Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling also spoke at Wednesday's hearing about the rent hikes. Strimling is facing eviction from his Trelawny Building apartment. Strimling, who advocated for more tenant protection during his time as mayor, says the eviction is in retaliation for his role in organizing the tenants union to address concerns that Rice's rent increases violated a new city ordinance. Portland's Rent Control Ordinance was approved by voters as a referendum question at the Nov. 6, 2020, election, which led to creation of the rent board. The board is comprised of seven members: three tenants, two landlords and two homeowners. The Rent Control Ordinance established the Jan. 1, 2021, base rent of most rental units in Portland to the rent charged in June 2020 and caps the amount by which landlords may increase that rent annually, according to a description of the ordinance posted on the city's website. The ordinance provides various protections to tenants, including notice of rent increases. The rent board has the authority to conduct hearings in response to tenant complaints, mediate disputes between tenants and landlords, and consider landlords' requests for rent increases. The board's enforcement agent is the city's Housing Safety Office. A Providence man was arrested Wednesday in the fatal shooting outside a Pawtucket cigar bar early Monday morning, the Pawtucket police said. The suspect, Trequan Baker, 29, of Cambridge Street in Providence, was apprehended with the help of the Rhode Island State Violent Fugitive Task Force, the Pawtucket police said in a press release. Baker faces first-degree murder and other charges in the fatal shooting of Qudus Kafo and non-fatal shooting of Bruno Vaz outside the Fab City Cigar Lounge, 1438 Newport Ave., according to the police. Officers went to the lounge at 12:48 a.m. and found the two men outside with gunshot wounds, the police said Monday. Both men were taken to Rhode Island Hospital, where Kafo was later pronounced dead, the police said. The Pawtucket police arrested a Providence man Wednesday in the fatal shooting Monday morning outside the Fab City Cigar Lounge in Pawtucket. Previously: Police identify man killed in shooting at Pawtucket cigar lounge The shooting "appears to have stemmed from an earlier altercation" inside the lounge, the police said Monday. In investigating the crime, the police were able to identify a suspect vehicle with the help of a Cranston police camera system, the Pawtucket police said. Baker is scheduled for arraignment Thursday in District Court, Providence, on charges of first-degree murder, discharging a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence-resulting in death, discharging a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence-resulting in bodily injury and carrying a pistol or revolver without a license, the police said. What they said: Pawtucket police reports detail allegations by women against Nick Alahverdian jperry@providencejournal.com (401) 277-7614 On Twitter: @jgregoryperry Be the first to know. Sign up for our breaking news alerts This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence man charged in fatal shooting outside Pawtucket cigar bar Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero/The Daily Beast/Getty Russias sudden escalation around Ukraine has taken some by surprise, but the logic behind it may be deceptively simple: This winter could be Russias last chance to attack Ukraine. Russian military forces are amassed to Ukraines east, north, and south, and Ukraines leadership is making preparations for war. The Biden administration believes that an invasion is imminent, evacuating the U.S. embassy and readying forces to be deployed. The greatest logistical barrier to Russias advance is mud, and that may be frozen over before long. If President Vladimir Putin acts he will be inviting a cavalcade of sanctions and even military resistance from the West. But he may never have a better opportunity. The European Union is in the midst of an energy crisis, making it more dependent than ever on Russian energy exports. Ukraine is becoming more costly to invade by the day, as it builds up its defensive capabilities, and will only continue to do so with time. There are also divisions within NATO on how best to deal with the Russia-Ukraine conflict now. The more Russia delays, the more leverage it stands to lose. An Aging Vladimir Putin Hopes War Can Make a Sagging Empire Rise Again Europe is currently suffering an energy crisis, with gas prices doubling in December. The continent has experienced high prices since the end of last summer, and uncertainty over both Nord Stream 2 and Russias actions in Ukraine has made price hikes in the energy markets even worse. About a third of Germanys natural gas comes from Russian pipelines, with other European nations also reliant on their eastern neighbor. Though Russia has continually insisted that it is not using its oil and natural gas as a weapon against Europe, we should naturally remain skeptical of this kind of messaging. It is worth asking why Europe is experiencing high energy prices, especially after periods of unprecedented low energy prices. The answer is relatively straightforward: the coronavirus pandemic suppressed demand for energy consumption. Energy producers reduced their supply in order to meet reduced demand. Several European countries enacted green energy mandates and began closing coal-powered plants. Though France has leaned heavily into nuclear power, this has not been the case for other major European powers, like Germany. When energy demand bounced back and alternative sources of energy were not yet ready to fill in the gap, the price of energy skyrocketed. Old coal factories needed to be reopened, and natural gas imports rose in importance to ensure that Europe is able to keep homes warm this winter. Story continues Russia is thus in a position of unprecedented influence over Europes energy markets, but that will only last for a short window. Green energy will eventually get off the ground. Solar is performing well in the continent, and the wind drought cannot last forever. Other energy producers have increased production, including the United States, to meet higher energy demand. Europe is also conscious of just how helpless it is in its dependence on Russian energy, and is no doubt pursuing further strategies to ensure this period of vulnerability never happens again. What all this means is that Russias leverage over the continent is peaking now. If Russia invades Ukraine tomorrow, Europe cannot afford to put too much pressure on Russia without risking its own energy security. However, if Russia were to wait a few years, Europe would be in a much better position to support harsh punitive measures against Moscow. Every effort is being expended to ensure that Ukraine is able to defend itself from a Russian invasion. Ukrainian air defenses have been established as a deterrent to Russian aggression. The U.S. and NATO are providing arms sales to Ukraine. Ukraine itself is preparing its citizens for sustained national resistance and guerrilla war, and has made the first step to instituting a draft for Ukrainian women. The country is also increasing its capabilities using drone weapons, and has expressed a desire to receive more training from the U.S. In the long run, Ukraine will develop defenses so hardy that the cost of a Russian invasion would be particularly steep for Moscow. Not only will they lose considerable military equipment and manpower during the initial invasion, irregular resistance could well make the Russians bleed in their attempt to hold the country. While Ukraine is not in a position to win an armed conflict with Russia alone, with every passing day its ability to inflict greater losses on Russias forces increases. There is an argument that Putins aggression is making NATO more powerful. When Kori Schake argued in The Atlantic last month that Russias actions were strengthening Ukraine and uniting NATO, I found her remarks incredibly persuasive. But looking back, I have since become increasingly concerned. Though the Baltic countries and Poland are strongly in favor of supporting Ukraine, Germany has been more reticent about how to deal with Russia. France has signaled a desire for the European Union to pursue its own talks with the Kremlin, which caused some consternation among NATOs Eastern European members. This division appears to get worse with Italys prime minister doubtful that NATO can even deter Russia in Ukraine. It is unclear that NATO is truly united on Russias actions in Ukraine. The United States is thus in an awkward position of stressing unity, while not necessarily being able to guarantee it on matters of substance. Neo-Nazi Russian Attack Unit Hints Its Going Back Into Ukraine Undercover While Europe has been clear that it opposes aggressive Russian actions in Ukraine, what that means seems to differ from country to country. The United States, for instance, has promised punishing sanctions against Russia. Recently, sanctions have been placed on pro-Russian agents. There are no shortages of alternative options, including the so-called nuclear option of cutting Russia off from the banking system, for potentially ruinous sanctions against Russia, but it is uncertain if and how they will be acted upon. Indeed, Germany seems to have taken the most powerful among themexcluding Russian access to SWIFToff the table. It is therefore uncertain exactly what will happen should the Russians invade. Regardless of what happens, in order for U.S. action against Russia to be truly effective, it must have the support of the European Union. Thus far, it is possible that the U.S. is far out ahead on these issues, with several European partners lagging behind. As Europe becomes more energy secure, its reluctant member states may be more willing to take escalatory action against Russia and risk losing access to its energy markets. Likewise, as Ukraine increases its ability to defend itself, European countries may be more willing to endorse and support its defensive capabilities. As such, division in NATO should prove to be transient. As Schake noted in her Atlantic piece, Democratic societies are slow to align but durable once committed. Our unity and commitment will end Russias Ukrainian ambitions. Therefore, if Russia wishes to act on Ukraine, it will feel pressure to do so immediately or risk losing its chance forever. 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. Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Nate Hobbs has reportedly resolved one case involving a car and bad decisions, but still faces a day in court for the other. Hobbs pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of reckless driving after an arrest earlier this month on suspicion of a DUI, according to the Associated Press. He reportedly received a $685 fine and 20 hours of community service when the judge accepted his plea. Hobbs, an NFL rookie, was arrested early Jan. 3 after police reportedly found him asleep behind the wheel in a parking lot exit ramp of the Cromwell Hotel, located in the heart of the Las Vegas strip. Per the AP, prosecutors said Hobbs blood-alcohol level was tested at 0.07%, just under the DUI legal limit in Nevada of 0.08%. While the circumstances were completely different, news of Hobbs arrest was enough to create consternation over lessons learned from one of the Raiders' other DUI cases this season, the deadly one of former wide receiver Henry Ruggs III. Despite not being under the legal limit, Hobbs will still reportedly submit to an alcohol treatment program provided by the National Football League and the NFL Players Association. He will face 30 days in jail if he violates the terms of his plea. Nate Hobbs has seen plenty of action in his first NFL season with the Raiders. (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images) Barring such a violation, Hobbs is now clear as far as his alleged DUI, but is still facing a separate reckless driving charge after he was pulled over for allegedly driving 110 mph on a Las Vegas freeway while making several unsafe lane changes. Hobbs is reportedly due in court on April 16 for that charge. In his first NFL season, Hobbs recorded 74 total tackles and had one interception for the Raiders, who selected him in the fifth round (167th overall) in the 2021 NFL draft. Despite his legal situation, he still played in the Raiders wild-card loss to the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this month. Randolph Electric Membership Corporation and the Kenan Fellows Program for Teacher Leadership at NC State University are partnering to offer a one-year immersive fellowship to a teacher within the company's service area. The year-long multidisciplinary program pairs electric cooperatives with chosen middle school and high school educators to be mentored on Science, Technology, and Math education through real-life experience at Randolph EMC. The program is to build relevant relationships between real-life STEM professions and education. "In education, there are not enough conversations happening both in and outside of education," Mark Townley, NCSU's assistant director of programs and 2012 Fellow himself said. "Industries are always looking for opportunities to get connected with the school system and so that's what we do." Fellows are chosen through a competitive application process and interview. Once selected to be part of the 2022-23 cohort, fellows spend three weeks on-site in a summer internship to make pertinent connections between their classrooms and professional STEM practices. Over the course of the fellowship, educators develop a deeper understanding of local industries and workforce needs during additional training after the three-week internship. Fellows also receive a $5,000 stipend. The selected fellow for Randolph EMC will tour the Catawba nuclear plant, a microgrid, a solar community, and several warehouses to see how Randolph EMC functions as a rural electric cooperative. Randolph EMC worker in the field The goal of the partnership is to create professional and educational opportunities that build meaningful relationships between residents, professionals, and students in North Carolina. The knowledge gained from the fellowship allows educators to prepare Randolph County students for the future through electrifying lessons. A curriculum will be created and tailored with information from the fellow, such as how electricity is produced and increased awareness of the various career pathways in the energy field. Story continues "Improved opportunities and understanding of what pathways and workforce skills are really desired through the school system to have kids find success in job opportunities after high school," Townley said. Finding jobs within the Randolph community is a need for young adults first entering the workforce. "We're asking [students] to get serious early on and to dedicate themselves," Randolph EMC Communications and Public Affairs Manager Nicole Arnold said. "That level of seriousness helps them open up to a future career. We would love to help them think about those things." Randolph EMC hopes the program will provide students an opportunity to learn about future jobs within Randolph County, instead of leaving to find work in larger cities. But the Kenan Fellows also provides an especially exciting opportunity for rural communities like Randolph County. "The best part of the electric cooperatives is they really help us to get into these rural communities because some rural communities don't have major industry partners that can help fund fellowships," Townley said. Arnold said joining the partnership was the next logical step to expand their mission to encourage education in the Randolph community. "This was an opportunity for us to put a bigger investment toward local education, and specifically toward educators," Arnold said. "This is a wonderful opportunity for an electric cooperative to be a sincere corporate citizen in our community." The collaborative program works with 26 electric cooperatives across North Carolina each year and has been run successfully out of NCSU since 2000. While Randolph EMC has used professional development programs for teachers in the Randolph community for over 30 years, this is the first time partnering with the Kenan Fellows program. Randolph EMC is accepting Kenan Fellow applications until Feb. 4, 2022. Fellows will be announced in May during National Teacher Appreciation Week. Destiniee Jaram is an Economic Development & Data Enterprise Reporter. She is always looking for tips relevant to the Randolph County community. Contact Destiniee at DJaram@gannett.com, follow her on Twitter @DestinieeJaram, or leave her a message at 336-626-6106. This article originally appeared on The Courier-Tribune: Randolph EMC educate STEM teachers to give students a better future Raymond James Financial, Inc. (RJF) came out with quarterly earnings of $2.12 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.77 per share. This compares to earnings of $1.49 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 19.77%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post earnings of $1.75 per share when it actually produced earnings of $2.06, delivering a surprise of 17.71%. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates four times. Raymond James Financial, Inc. , which belongs to the Zacks Financial - Investment Bank industry, posted revenues of $2.78 billion for the quarter ended December 2021, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.12%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $2.22 billion. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates four times over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. Raymond James Financial, Inc. Shares have lost about 3.6% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's decline of -8.6%. What's Next for Raymond James Financial, Inc. While Raymond James Financial, Inc. Has outperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Story continues Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for Raymond James Financial, Inc. Favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $1.70 on $2.71 billion in revenues for the coming quarter and $7 on $10.95 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Financial - Investment Bank is currently in the top 4% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Piper Sandler Companies (PIPR), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended December 2021. The results are expected to be released on February 10. This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $5.05 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +21.1%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Piper Sandler Companies' revenues are expected to be $475.1 million, up 17.1% from the year-ago quarter. 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 Raymond James Financial, Inc. (RJF) : Free Stock Analysis Report Piper Sandler Companies (PIPR) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research TOKYO (AP) The French-Japanese auto alliance of Renault and Nissan plans to invest 23 billion euros ($26 billion) in electric vehicle technology over the next five years, the companies said Thursday. The alliance, which also includes smaller Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp., will share research, auto parts and technology to bring down costs and produce 35 new electric vehicle models by 2030, aiming at markets around the world. The vehicles will use one of five common platforms, the main parts on which vehicles are built. Nissan Motor Co. will lead in developing a next-generation battery for the electric vehicles, while Renault will lead in developing electronics and software to connect millions of vehicles and provide digital services and features. Today we are lifting the hoods of the alliance together, Jean-Dominique Senard, the alliances chairman, said in an online presentation. Automakers around the world are trying to save costs and forge alliances. Recent COVID-related supply problems that are crimping production and growing concerns about climate change have made such coordination more urgent than ever. Tesla has emerged as a powerful and extremely profitable competitor. Other newcomers are entering the market. Sony Corp., which makes the PlayStation video game machine, recently showed a prototype of an electric car. Japans top automaker Toyota Motor Corp. also has announced an aggressive EV plan. Sharing components, production facilities and research will benefit the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, said Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida. More than anything, we also benefit from the shared experience and expertise of our people, said Uchida. Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan, while Nissan owns 15% of Renault. Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, owns 34% of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi. The French government owns 15% of Renault. The alliance is the brainchild of Carlos Ghosn, sent in by Renault in 1999 to turn around a near-bankrupt Nissan. Ghosn made it one of the most successful auto groups in the world. But he was arrested in Japan in 2018 on financial misconduct charges. Story continues He jumped bail and fled to Lebanon in late 2019. Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan. Ghosn says he is innocent. Ghosn's arrest and related developments strained the alliance, and Senard referred to a crisis, without going into details. He blamed a lack of trust, which he said was getting fixed. This period belongs to the past, Senard said. ___ Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama The Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance has announced plans to spend $25.8 billion (23 billion) with the aim of having 35 EVs by 2030. As part of that, the group will develop five new platforms shared across brands with 80 percent common usage as part of a "smart differentiation" strategy. Nissan teased one of the first cars based on one those platforms, an all-electric compact that will be sold in Europe to replace the automaker's popular Micra. The Alliance is focusing on pure EVs and "intelligent & connected mobility." It aims to increase commonality between vehicles with a "smart differentiation" system that allows pooling for platforms, production plants, powertrains and vehicle segments. "For example, the common platform for the C and D segment will carry five models from three brands of the Alliance (Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail, Mitsubishi Outlander, Renault Austral and an upcoming seven-seater SUV)," Renault Group said in the press release. To that end, it unveiled five separate platforms, including the affordable CMF-AEV that's the base for Renault's budget Dacia Spring model, the mini vehicle KEI-EV platform for ultra-compact EVs and the LCV for commercial vehicles like the Renault Kangoo and Nissan Town Star. Another is CMF-EV, currently used by the Alliance for crossovers like the Nissan Ariya and Renault Megane E-Tech. Finally, the CMF-BEV platform will be used for compact EVs but reduce costs by 33 percent and consumption by 10 percent compared to the current Renault Zoe. It'll be the base for 250,000 vehicles per year under the Renault, Nissan and Alpine brands, including the Renault R5 and Nissan's upcoming EV to replace the Micra. Nissan teased that vehicle in a separate press release, showing it off in a shadowy photo and brief video (above). While it has no name, price or launch date, it'll be built at the Renault ElectriCity center in Northern France. "This all-new model will be designed by Nissan and engineered and manufactured by Renault using our new common platform, maximizing the use of our Alliance assets while maintaining its Nissan-ness," said Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta. "This is a great example of the Alliance"s 'smart differentiation" approach." Story continues Renault Group said it would use a common battery strategy as well, aiming for 220 GWh of production capacity by 2030. It plans to reduce battery costs by 50 percent in 2026 and 65 percent by 2028. It's aiming to develop all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) by 2028, with Nissan in charge of that project "based on its deep expertise and unique experience as a pioneer in battery technology." The Alliance also said it aimed to have 25 million vehicles connected to its cloud system by 2026 that would allow for Tesla-like OTA (over the air) updates. "The Alliance will also be the first global, mass-market OEM to introduce the Google ecosystem in its cars," Renault Group said. The news follows Renault's announcement that it would electrify two thirds of its cars by 2025, with about 90 percent EVs in its lineup by 2030. Renault and Nissan ruled out a closer partnership last year, with Renault saying the companies "don't need a merger to be efficient." With the new platforms and cooperation announcement, it appears that the common platforms with "smart differentiation" will be key to that. Update January 28, 2022 10:06 AM ET: The article originally stated that Ashwani Gupta is the Alliance's CEO, but he's the COO. The article has been updated with the correct information. The Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance has announced plans to spend $25.8 billion (23 billion) with the aim of having 35 EVs by 2030. As part of that, the group will develop five new platforms shared across brands with 80 percent common usage as part of a "smart differentiation" strategy. Nissan teased one of the first cars based on one those platforms, an all-electric compact that will be sold in Europe to replace the automaker's popular Micra. The Alliance is focusing on pure EVs and "intelligent & connected mobility." It aims to increase commonality between vehicles with a "smart differentiation" system that allows pooling for platforms, production plants, powertrains and vehicle segments. "For example, the common platform for the C and D segment will carry five models from three brands of the Alliance (Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail, Mitsubishi Outlander, Renault Austral and an upcoming seven-seater SUV)," Renault Group said in the press release. To that end, it unveiled five separate platforms, including the affordable CMF-AEV that's the base for Renault's budget Dacia Spring model, the mini vehicle KEI-EV platform for ultra-compact EVs and the LCV for commercial vehicles like the Renault Kangoo and Nissan Town Star. Another is CMF-EV, currently used by the Alliance for crossovers like the Nissan Ariya and Renault Megane E-Tech. Finally, the CMF-BEV platform will be used for compact EVs but reduce costs by 33 percent and consumption by 10 percent compared to the current Renault Zoe. It'll be the base for 250,000 vehicles per year under the Renault, Nissan and Alpine brands, including the Renault R5 and Nissan's upcoming EV to replace the Micra. Nissan teased that vehicle in a separate press release, showing it off in a shadowy photo and brief video (above). While it has no name, price or launch date, it'll be built at the Renault ElectriCity center in Northern France. "This all-new model will be designed by Nissan and engineered and manufactured by Renault using our new common platform, maximizing the use of our Alliance assets while maintaining its Nissan-ness," said Nissan CEO Ashwani Gupta. "This is a great example of the Alliance"s 'smart differentiation" approach." Story continues Renault Group said it would use a common battery strategy as well, aiming for 220 GWh of production capacity by 2030. It plans to reduce battery costs by 50 percent in 2026 and 65 percent by 2028. It's aiming to develop all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) by 2028, with Nissan in charge of that project "based on its deep expertise and unique experience as a pioneer in battery technology." The Alliance also said it aimed to have 25 million vehicles connected to its cloud system by 2026 that would allow for Tesla-like OTA (over the air) updates. "The Alliance will also be the first global, mass-market OEM to introduce the Google ecosystem in its cars," Renault Group said. The news follows Renault's announcement that it would electrify two thirds of its cars by 2025, with about 90 percent EVs in its lineup by 2030. Renault and Nissan ruled out a closer partnership last year, with Renault saying the companies "don't need a merger to be efficient." With the new platforms and cooperation announcement, it appears that the common platforms with "smart differentiation" will be key to that. Editor's note: This article originally appeared on Engadget. chee gin tan / iStock.com Private equity powerhouse Blackstone recently poured $6 billion dollars into one of the biggest bets on suburbia in recent history. In July of 2021, Blackstone purchased Americas largest rent-to-buy (RTB) company, Home Partners, which owns 17,000 houses across the country. The rent-to-buy model has been around for years, but with Main Street now putting real money into the rent-to-purchase space, it could shift the consumer real estate market and change the path to homeownership for average Americans. See: Should You Keep Your Money in the Bank or Invest In Real Estate? Find: Real Estate Investing Guru Mindy Jensen Says To Avoid These Types of Properties The model is simple enough. Companies gobble up thousands of homes and put them on the market as rent-to-buy meaning you enter the home as a renter, but with the option to buy the property outright from the owner or owning company at a future date. Rent-to-Buy Works for Investors and Would-Be Homeowners With skyrocketing demand for homes and waning inventory, the rent-to-buy model became very popular during the pandemic. President of digital real estate platform Home Qualified, Ralph DiBugnara, told GOBankingRates in a note he believes that investment banks are betting on the rent-to-own model because of the increased focus on single-family home rentals, as well as the expressed strategy to make a higher rate of return on related investments. The return on investment typically favors the investor. In these kinds of arrangements, a portion of the renters monthly rent goes towards a down payment on the home. The price at which the home could be sold to the renter is agreed upon beforehand and the percentage of your rent that goes towards the actual down payment is agreed upon in the contract. It is important to note that the monthly rent a renter pays in some of these types of arrangements is higher than the actual market value (meaning what a normal renter would pay to simply rent the home). Story continues Discover: Buying a House Is Crazy Right Now Consider Renting in These 10 Cities To Save Money The percentage of rent that goes toward a down payment in such an arrangement depends on the specifics laid out in any attached contract. To reiterate, the monthly amount paid by the renter is higher than fair market value, as the extra money goes toward an eventual down payment. This arrangement can be a benefit to a would-be homeowner who wants to slowly save for a home while actually living in it, but it comes with risk. Rocket Mortgage says the biggest disadvantage of rent-to-own homes is that you will forfeit any money you paid in rent to the homeowner should you choose to not buy the home after all. Home Partners offers programs with a little more flexibility, where there are fixed rental rate and purchase options for a period of time. Through their Choice Lease program, there are no financial penalties or non-refundable deposits for residents who choose not to purchase the home. Their model is more of the standard lease model, and through Choice Lease, offers 10% lower rent than market rates. You need to apply and meet certain income eligibilities for the Choice Lease program. Their standard lease model provides rents at market value. If the cost of the rent-to-own option is not based around a higher-than-market rate on rent or end financing of a home, then it should be considered as an option to buy real estate, DiBugnara adds. He also recommends taking a look at home-buying grants or city and state programs that help first-time homebuyers first. Real Estate Inventory Still Presents Problems for the Housing Market The past two years have shown that affordability has not necessarily been the problem for home buyers, but rather inventory. Said housing shortage has been largely caused by a population exodus from city centers to suburbia during the pandemic. Suburban homes were selling faster than buyers had a chance to even mull over their decisions, and well above asking price. The housing market of 2021 will likely go down in history as one of the most frenzied real estate markets ever. Crystal Sunbury, senior real estate analyst with audit, tax, and consulting company RSM, detailed to GOBankingRates that the median price for a home increased 13.9% from November 2020 to November 2021 to $353,000 with homes selling in 18 days on average. Related: Avoid These Apartment Red Flags for First-Time Renters The preferences of an aging millennial population have also shifted market preferences, and Wall Street is taking notice. Paraag Sarva, CEO of renter-focused financial services company Rhino, says Millennials and Gen Zers do not see traditional homeownership as a realistic or responsible financial decision anymore and that there are other ways to accumulate wealth that were unavailable to their parents, such as hitting the stock market via accessible mobile apps and investing in alternative currencies. Alongside the surging price of home purchases, the price of rent also rose this year, Sarva notes. With the cost of rent dramatically increasing over the past year or so, we can expect to see the real estate market continue to follow a trend of renting-to-buy, he concluded. The supply of single-family homes dwindled during the pandemic, but that does not mean demand for them has waned. Single-family home rentals have become more popular than ever post-COVID. Many more people want either more space for work or school from home. Some are also living like nomads with the benefits their new virtual jobs provide them, DiBugnara adds. This continued need for single-family homes suggests that the rent-to-buy market has the potential to stick around and to expand. If Blackstones recent $6 billion bet is any indication, other investment firms may soon follow suit. Learn: Will the Housing Market Finally Crash in 2022? Explore: What Do Expert Predictions for the 2022 Housing Market Really Mean for Buyers? For the average consumer, this circumstance could mean finding alternative ways of landing their dream home in the next couple of years. While the home you might have wanted last year could have gotten snatched up in less than a month, with a rent-to-buy option you might be able to find what you are looking for more easily. For qualified buyers, such a scenario could potentially offer more options perhaps even an opportunity to try the home on for size before making a solid commitment. If rents remain elevated or continue to increase, then the difference between rent paid on a regular home versus the added equity payment in a rent-to-buy arrangement might be modest enough to make rent-to-buy an attractive value proposition. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Is Rent-To-Buy the Next Hot Market? Wall Street Thinks So Flash The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) fired two short-range projectiles into its eastern waters, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Thursday. The JCS said in a statement that the South Korean military detected two projectiles, presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles, which were launched northeastward into the East Sea from areas in the DPRK's east coastal city of Hamhung at about 8:00 a.m. (2300 GMT Wednesday) and 8:05 a.m. local time (2305 GMT Wednesday). The projectiles traveled some 190 km at an altitude of around 20 km. The intelligence authorities of South Korea and the United States were analyzing further details on the projectiles, the JCS said. The JCS noted that the South Korean military was monitoring the relevant situation and maintaining readiness posture to prepare for the possible additional launch. South Korea's presidential National Security Council (NSC) held an emergency meeting, expressing its regrets over the DPRK's recent missile tests. The NSC members said a series of missile tests by the DPRK were against the demand from South Korea and the international community for peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region. The members urged Pyongyang to rapidly respond to the international society's expectations to resolve issues through dialogue, stressing that security situations on the peninsula should not be worsened further. The DPRK said it conducted four missile tests in January, including a hypersonic missile on Jan. 5 and Jan. 11 each, two railway-borne short-range ballistic missiles on Jan. 14, and two tactical guided missiles on Jan. 17. The South Korean military said the DPRK launched two unidentified missiles, believed to be cruise missiles, into the East Sea on Jan. 25. It will be Edmonton for Evander, indeed. According to multiple insider reports, controversial forward Evander Kane is expected to sign a one-year pro-rated contract for the remainder of the season with the Edmonton Oilers. The deal is worth $750k. It includes a signing bonus worth $625k and equates to a $2.1 million salary hit, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman is reporting. Evander Kane has reportedly reached a deal with the Oilers. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) Kane is reportedly on his way to Edmonton to officially broker the deal. The agreement hinged on an NHL investigation into the incident that led to Kane's contract being ripped up by the San Jose Sharks. The divorce was prompted by allegations of Kane breaking COVID-19 protocol when travelling across the border last month. But the league concluded this probe on Thursday, stating that there was insufficient evidence Kane "knowingly made misrepresentations regarding his COVID-19 status or test results" when crossing the border. The NHLPA filed a grievance on behalf of Kane following his contract termination, stating that the Sharks "did not have sufficient grounds" to do so. The forward had previously been suspended 21 games and subsequently demoted to the American Hockey League for submitting a fake vaccination card at the outset of the season. While there are certain morality issues associated with bringing Kane into the fold after other alleged incidents and other issues mounting, the 30-year-old forward should help a team desperate for scoring beyond Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Kane scored at beyond a 30-goal pace in parts of the last four seasons with the Sharks, totalling 87 goals and 166 points in those 212 games. Related: It will take a special type of desperation, or arrogance, to sign Evander Kane For a desperate Oilers team clinging to the pack in the Western Conference chase, that's what has been ultimately deemed most important. More from Yahoo Sports WASHINGTON Steven Pifer has a vivid recollection of his conversation with Russias deputy foreign minister after the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Pointing to his head, the Russian official said he understood that Ukraine was now an independent country. Pointing to his heart, the official said it would take awhile to get used to that reality. Pifer, who was ambassador to Ukraine from 1998 to 2000, sees echoes of that sentiment in Russian President Vladimir Putins threats against Ukraine, with one big difference. I dont think Vladimir Putin has ever reconciled himself to that, Pifer said of the loss of Ukraine, which has sought to align itself with the West since declaring independence from the Soviet Union. With U.S. officials warning that a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent,Putins designs on Russia's neighbor goes beyond nostalgia. It's also about bolstering Putin's standing on the world stage and inside Russia. It's about testing the United States and dividing Europe. It's about protecting Russia's sphere of influence and staving off perceived security threats. Putin's next move is fraught with risk for himself and for the rest of the world. The brinkmanship is probably the most sensitive and dangerous crisis we've gone through in Europe since the end of the Cold War," said Russian expert George Beebe, director of studies at the Center for the National Interest. Heres a look at the dynamics motivating Putin, a former KGB officer who has jailed his opponents and cemented his grip on the Kremlin. Putin 'won't stop' with Ukraine: Why Americans should care about Russia's aggression against its neighbor A woman in Ukrainian national dress welcomes Russian President Vladimir Putin with bread and salt in Zaporizhye airport, some 568 kilometers (352 miles) west of Ukraine's capital Kiev, on Oct. 6, 2002. Russia's present demands are based on Putin's purported long sense of grievance and his rejection of Ukraine and Belarus as truly separate, sovereign countries but rather as part of a Russian linguistic and Orthodox motherland. Boosting Putin's world stature President Joe Biden has surmised that Putin seeks to regain the stature Russia lost after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He is trying to find his place in the world between China and the West, Biden said during a Jan. 19 news conference, his most extensive remarks about the standoff. Story continues As the United States increasingly focuses on China as its top rival, Putin is eager to show Russia is still one of the worlds biggest players, experts say. The core driver of much of this, the background to this crisis, is that he wants the West to treat Russia as if it were the Soviet Union, that is to say, a great power to be respected and to be feared, said Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia. Alexandra Vacroux, executive director of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, said that Russians do not feel theyve been taken seriously since the end of the Cold War and that "enough is enough. They have everybodys attention now, she said. I think they're not necessarily interested in owning Ukraine, but they are interested in being taken seriously as kind of the big power on the European continent. Seth Jones, director of the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, sees the moves on Ukraine as an extension of Russias power plays in recent years that have included seizing Crimea, establishing a large footprint in Syria and building a naval base in Sudan. There has definitely been an expansion of Russian power and influence in a range of countries, he said. They don't have the economic might of the Chinese or certainly the U.S., but they're back as a major power. Opinion: U.S. can still stop the horror of Putin's war in Ukraine. But time is running out. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, arrive to meet at the 'Villa la Grange', on June 16, 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. Keeping spheres of influence Russia has always seen the ring of countries around it, which used to be part of the Soviet Union, as a buffer zone between Russia and countries that might invade, Vacroux said. Russia has a history of being invaded and feeling encircled by enemies, she said. And so one of the arguments (for Russias actions) is that Putin is basically reestablishing a kind of buffer between Russia and its enemies. Putin is not trying to reconstitute the Soviet Union, according to George Breslauer, a veteran Russian scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. But he is asserting that independent states in Russias neighborhood cannot be turned against Moscow because that poses an unacceptable security threat. He also wants those buffer countries to be friendly to Russia and Russian businesses interests and to defer to Moscow on major geopolitical decisions, said Pifer, a William Perry fellow at Stanford University. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia lost essentially almost all of its sphere of influence, Jones said. The Baltic states became members of NATO, as did members of the Warsaw Pact collective defense treaty. Russia has long complained that NATO and the U.S. promised at the end of the Cold War that their security alliance would not extend beyond the borders of the former East Germany, Vacroux said. So I think Putin sees this as one of the last things that he hasn't fixed about the 1990s, which is pushing NATO back from Russia's border, she said. Russias demands include blocking Ukraine from joining NATO. Putin also wants to keep NATO missiles from being in striking distance and stop the alliance from deploying forces in former Soviet bloc countries that joined NATO after 1997. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Putins top goal is not putting the Soviet Union back together but destroying NATO and the transatlantic alliance. I think thats really important to understand as we decide how to react to his threatened invasion, Murphy said. Because if NATO splits up over our response to the threatened invasion, that is a big win for Putin. What is NATO? Military alliance in spotlight as Russia tries to forbid Ukraine membership People rallying in patriotic support of Ukraine hold a 500 meter long ribbon in the colors of the Ukrainian flag outside St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery on Unity Day on January 22, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Boosting Putin's domestic popularity Russias unstable economy means Putin must look elsewhere to remain popular at home, according to M. Steven Fish, an expert on authoritarianism at the University of California, Berkley. Fish notes that Putins stock was highest after he annexed Crimea and took over parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. Thomas Pickering, who was ambassador to Russia from 1993 to 1996, called Putins domestic political calculations a significant factor in his recent actions. Much of what he has propounded, either in red lines or charges against the U.S. and the West, is something which can appeal to the nationalism that has always been present in Russia, Pickering said. While he goes up and down in public popularity, a certain amount of this activity, on his part, is orchestrated, I think, at critical times for him to reinforce it. Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022. Taking advantage of a 'weakened' US Putin may also be trying to take advantage of Bidens domestic troubles. I think the Russians also have sensed, whether rightly or wrongly, that the U.S. is weak right now after the withdrawal from Afghanistan (and) political polarization in the U.S.," Jones said. I think from Putin's perspective, this is about as good a time as any to make a move in Ukraine. Fiona Hill, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia, said Putin is trying to give the U.S. a taste of the same bitter medicine Russia had to swallow in the 1990s when it was in a weakened position at home and in retreat abroad. All Moscows moves are directed against Washington, Hill wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. Murphy, however, rejects the idea that Putins timing is connected to a calculation that the Biden administration will have difficulty responding. Former President Donald Trump, Murphy said, was always bending knee to Putin. If Putin was making his decision on when to invade Ukraine based upon the most likely time for a weak response from the U.S. government, Murphy said, he would have invaded during the Trump administration. What are Joe Biden's options in Ukraine?: That all depends on Putin's next move. Members of Ukraine's volunteer military units train in a city park in Kyiv on Jan. 22, 2022. Putin sees Ukraine as part of Russia Now to the nostalgia factor. In Russian, Ukraine is called Malorossiya or small Russia. The history and culture of Russia and Ukraine are thoroughly intertwined, according to Pifer. This actually goes back 1,000 years, he said. Putin elaborated on his often-repeated assertion that Russians and Ukrainians are one people in a lengthy essay the Kremlin posted in Russian, Ukrainian and English in July. I said that Russians and Ukrainians were one people a single whole, Putin wrote. These words were not driven by some short-term considerations or prompted by the current political context. It is what I have said on numerous occasions and what I firmly believe. The fact that Putin made the essay compulsory reading for the Russian military, including the soldiers lining up on Ukraines border, means its pretty serious, said Jones, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It is designed, in part, not just to influence external audiences, Jones said, but also internal ones that may fight and die in Ukraine for the Russian cause. Ukraine has been moving further and further away from Russia over the past eight years much to Putins consternation, according to Murphy. And everything short of a full-scale invasion that Putin has tried, in order to win back Ukraine to the Russian orbit, hasn't worked, the senator said. Visual explainer: How US and its allies could respond to Russian invasion of Ukraine People rallying in patriotic support of Ukraine hold a 500 meter long ribbon in the colors of the Ukrainian flag on Unity Day on January 22, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Risky strategy Putins moves come with huge risks. If he sends 100,000 troops into Ukraine, they will need extremely long supply lines that will be hard to support, Vacroux said. It's possible that ... it's not a quick operation and then theyre bogged down in Ukraine, and thats just going to be a huge mess, she said. It's especially messy if Ukraine gets more than supportive words and defensive weapons from NATO, and from the United States, which is all they've gotten so far. Biden has threatened severe sanctions intended to seriously damage Russias economy should Putin attack. And the U.S. president said he was considering personal sanctions targeting the Russian leader's own pocketbook as well. On a scale of 1 to 10, in terms of sanctions on Russia, I think we're at about a 3 now, Pifer said. So they could ratchet it up. And some Russian parents have expressed concerns on social media about their sons being sent to fight, and possibly die, in Ukraine, said Rose Gottemoeller, former deputy secretary general of NATO who is now at Stanford University. In Ukraine, by contrast, one recent poll showed a third of the country saying they would be willing to take up arms if Russia invaded. So even though Russia has much greater military might, they could take heavier casualties than anticipated. I can see Putin's ideal scenario, but I can also see that it goes badly for him, Pifer said. And Putin's fears about NATO encroachment could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Any invasion of Ukraine would be met with a buildup of NATO forces along the Russian border, Jones said. The Pentagon has announced the deployment of several thousand U.S. troops to Germany, Poland and Romania amid the crisis. On the other hand, if NATO's response isnt forceful and if China helps Russia get around sanctions, Putin may be able to annex at least a large portion of Ukraine. That, Jones said, would send a very clear message to any country in Eastern Europe or Central Asia that this is what happens if you even think about joining NATO. What to know: US responds to Russia's demands and doesn't yield on Ukraine and NATO How US and its allies could respond to Russian invasion of Ukraine Maureen Groppe has covered Washington for nearly three decades and is now a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. Follow her on Twitter @mgroppe. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why Putin is threatening Ukraine and what Russia aims to gain Representatives from Russia and Ukraine will meet for another round of talks in two weeks after leaders huddled on Wednesday amid increased tensions in the region. Kremlin envoy Dmitry Kozak told reporters in Paris that the two sides will participate in more discussions in two weeks in Berlin, according to Bloomberg. The announcement came after advisers to the presidents of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France met for eight hours. Kozak said the discussions were "not easy," according to Bloomberg. Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's presidential chief of staff, however, said there was a "small step forward" on Wednesday, the outlet reported. He said the individuals taking part in the talks conveyed a "desire to work on agreement" regarding the Donbas region. Representatives from the four countries reportedly reiterated their devotion to the 2015 Minsk peace agreement, which tamed hostilities in the Donbas region. Individuals who took part in the talks also said they are behind unrestricted compliance with the cease-fire. News of another round of talks being scheduled comes as concerns are rising among the U.S. and its allies that Russia is preparing an incursion against Kyiv. Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border, though Moscow has said it is not planning such an effort. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned of a "swift" and "severe" response from the U.S. and European allies if a "single additional Russian force" crosses into Ukraine. Russia has pointed to a number of demands as justification for its massive troop presence, one of which is that NATO bars Ukraine from joining the alliance. Blinken announced on Wednesday that the U.S. delivered a written response to Russia in regard to its security demands. He did not, however, detail the letter. In the meantime, the U.S. said it is putting forces on "heightened alert," and NATO put troops on standby. Additionally, the U.S. has ordered family members of government employees at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv to depart the country and is allowing nonessential staffers to leave. Athens-Clarke police detectives are working to identify the person who burglarized two cellphone businesses Wednesday and stole about $26,000 worth of phones. The burglaries of Cell Phone Guy on Oconee Street and Boost Mobile on Hawthorne Avenue occurred about 35 minutes apart, according to police reports. The businesses are about four miles from each other. Police spokesman Geoff Gilland said Thursday that detectives believe the crimes were committed by the same suspect, who may also have committed similar crimes in Gwinnett County. Police were alerted to the burglaries when a burglar alarm activated about 3:47 a.m. at Cell Phone Guy after the front glass door was shattered. An officer arrived to find the store already looted, but later while on scene with the store manager, he learned another cellphone store had been burglarized in similar fashion on Hawthorne Avenue, according to police. The officer was given a partial list of stolen merchandise at Cell Phone Guy that amounted to 35 phones valued at about $11,120. More: Athens man loses $45,000 to con artist using Bitcoin as a trap Officers who arrived at Boost Mobile found a similar situation with the front door shattered along with a door to a back room forced open. After the manager arrived, he estimated that $15,000 worth of phones was taken, but he didnt have an exact amount. Surveillance video showed a man enter the business wearing a ski mask, hoodie and gloves and use a crowbar to open a cabinet that contained many of the phones, according to the report. Police believe the same suspect may be involved in similar crimes in Gwinnett County and are working with law enforcement agencies there, Gilland said. Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Erik Hogan at (762) 400-7306 or erik.hogan@accgov.com This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Burglar steals $26,000 worth of cellphones from 2 stores in Athens Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. Steve Nesius/Reuters Sarah Palin dined inside Elio's on Saturday and tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. NYC requires vaccination proof for indoor dining, but Palin, who is unvaccinated, wasn't asked for it. The restaurant told Insider she returned on Wednesday to apologize and they seated her outdoors. Sarah Palin returned to a New York City restaurant two days after testing positive for COVID-19, Mediaite and the New York Post reported. It was the same restaurant she dined inside at on Saturday, two days before her positive COVID-19 test on Monday. That visit by Palin, who is unvaccinated, was in violation of New York City's requirement that all guests who dine indoors show proof of vaccination before entering a restaurant. Mediaite published photos showing the former Alaska governor dining outdoors at Elio's on Manhattan's Upper East Side Wednesday. It was not clear whether Palin was still infectious on Wednesday. Insider was unable to contact Elio's before opening hours. Colleen Croft, one of the restaurant's owners, told Insider on Thursday that Palin had come back to the restaurant to apologize for the attention it was getting. Croft said the restaurant had made a "mistake" by not checking Palin's vaccination status on Saturday but that it had complied with the city's rules by seating Palin outside on Wednesday. Proof of vaccination is needed for indoor dining only, and Croft said businesses were not asked to check whether diners had tested positive for COVID-19. She said the restaurant was "doing our best." Luca Guaitolini, Elio's manager, told Mediaite in a statement issued via a spokesperson Wednesday that Palin had come back to apologize. "Tonight Sarah Palin returned to the restaurant to apologize for the fracas around her previous visit," the statement said. "In accordance with the vaccine mandate and to protect our staff, we seated her outdoors," it added. "We are a restaurant open to the public, and we treat all civilians the same." Story continues Guaitolini also told The New York Times that the restaurant had made a "mistake" in not checking Palin's vaccination status when he confirmed her Saturday visit. He said she dined inside with an unnamed longtime guest. "She probably just walked in and strolled over. We are trying to get to the bottom of this," Guaitolini said. A spokesperson for New York City told The Times on Tuesday that Elio's would not be investigated for not checking Palin's vaccination status on Saturday. He told The Times that many of the city agencies that enforce vaccination rules issued violations only in cases where an inspector personally witnessed one. Read the original article on Business Insider Surprise! Country music superstar Kacey Musgraves delivered an impromptu performance at a popular gay bar in Philadelphia on Monday. The Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter was in town for a Jan. 26 performance at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philadephia, as part of the 2022 Star-Crossed: Unveiled Tour. On Jan. 24, however, the Justified singer decided to treat a few lucky fans with an intimate rendition of the Fleetwood Mac classic Dreams at Tavern on Camac, a long-running gay bar in Philadelphia known for its piano singalongs and dance parties. According to Tavern on Camac day manager Vincent Paradise, the singer walked over to the bar with a small group of friends, after having dinner at a nearby restaurant. They were only here for only here for about 15 minutes, Paradise told The Philadelphia Inquirer. It was really a quiet night, too, so she wasnt bombarded by a lot of guests or anything. She just came in, sang the song, hung out for a little while and then they left. The Stevie Nicks-written mega-hit, from Fleetwood Macs 11th studio album Rumours, reached the top of the U.S. charts in June 1977 after it was released. In late 2020, it experienced a widespread resurgence in popularity, thanks to a viral TikTok video. Carla (42) and her husband Robert Holmes (54) started driving long-haul as a trucking team last year. Courtesy of Carla Holmes Trucking couple Carla and Robert Holmes take turns driving an 18-wheeler across the country. As long-haul team drivers, their joint income is around $125,000 per year. See photos documenting the duo's three-day truck drive from Arizona to California. Carla wakes up at 5:30 a.m. She feeds their new puppy Arrow and gets ready for a 12-step recovery meeting. Courtesy of Carla Holmes At 8:30 a.m. she receives their driving route: Goodyear, Arizona to Little Rock, Arkansas, to Earth City, Missouri to Vernon, California, and then back. Over the next week, they will drive 4,300 miles. Courtesy of Carla Holmes After running some errands and buying coffee, Robert and Carla clean and stock the truck for the trip at 11 a.m. Courtesy of Carla Holmes For the rest of the afternoon, Carla and Robert shower, eat lunch, and get ready to hit the road. At 2:40 p.m. Carla logs into her "Keep Truckin" account and starts driving while Robert sleeps in the cab. A truck's "sleeper cab" is a compartment located behind the front seats with a small bed inside. Courtesy of Carla Holmes At 5:45 p.m., Carla stops in Tolleson, AZ at Blue Beacon Truck Wash. The cleaning service wraps up around 7:30 p.m. and costs a total of $71. Courtesy of Carla Holmes At 7:48 p.m. Carla arrives at the first pickup location in Arizona. At 11:50 pm, Carla and Robert switch shifts. The trailer isn't ready until shortly after midnight. Courtesy of Carla Holmes At 12:10 a.m. the truck is connected to the trailer and the couple heads off to Little Rock, Arkansas. At half-past midnight, Carla goes to bed in the truck sleeper. Courtesy of Carla Holmes Robert drives through the night. Carla wakes up at 7:30 a.m. for their 30-minute break. They both use the restroom, get coffee and food, and check their messages. Courtesy of Carla Holmes At 8:05 a.m. Robert begins driving again down Interstate 10. They stop briefly to let Arrow use the bathroom at 8:45 a.m. Courtesy of Carla Holmes At 11:15 am Robert stops for fuel. They buy a new Garmin GPS navigator because their old one broke a few hours earlier. It costs $432.99 ($265.06 was paid with Pilot Points and $167.93 was paid out of pocket). Story continues Courtesy of Carla Holmes Around noon, they walk Arrow. Carla switches shifts with Robert. Courtesy of Carla Holmes 1:30 pm: Pit stop at Harley Davidson for some souvenirs. Courtesy of Carla Holmes 4:00 pm: They stop at a rest area and let Arrow outside. Courtesy of Carla Holmes 8:00 pm: Carla takes a 30-minute break from driving on an off-ramp while she feeds and walks Arrow. Courtesy of Carla Holmes At midnight, they arrive at UPS Arkansas where they drop the trailer and switch drivers. By 1:30 am they're hooked up to a new trailer and headed to Earth City, Missouri. Courtesy of Carla Holmes Seven hours later, they arrive in Missouri at 8:30 a.m. They drop the second trailer off and hook up to the next one. Carla uses the women's restroom in UPS and brushes her teeth. Courtesy of Carla Holmes At 8:43 a.m. they stop for fuel and take a 30-minute break to eat. Then they're off to the last stop in California! Courtesy of Carla Holmes Read the original article on Business Insider BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday that all parties involved in the Ukraine issue should remain calm and refrain from actions that stir tension and hype up the crisis, as he held talks with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Russia has demanded that NATO pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar its neighbour Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining. Washington and its NATO allies reject that position, but say they are ready to discuss topics such as arms control and confidence-building measures. One country's security cannot be at the expense of the security of other countries, and regional security cannot be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs, Wang told Blinken by telephone. (Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Dean Kukan (46) collides with Calgary Flames center Dillon Dube (29) and center Mikael Backlund (11) during the second period of the NHL hockey game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. It happened again. The final score wasnt as bad as it was in Florida, but the Blue Jackets doors were blown off again Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena in another lackluster showing thats become a disturbing trend. The Calgary Flames did the honors, scorching the Jackets to the tune of a 6-0 score and mind-numbing 62-23 margin in shots a new franchise record by three shots for the visitors from Alberta. No, I dont think its a complete talent disparity, said Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen, who has watched his team defeat some of the NHLs best teams and also get destroyed by other top teams. Youve got to push yourself into these games. We talked a lot about, this morning, that you had to be ready to compete tonight. Thats a big hockey team that plays hard. We showed (our guys) a lot of video, of what theyre good at, and we didnt respond. And thats on me. Ive got to make sure that were better than that, no question, getting into that game, and we did not get into it nearly as hard or heavy as we needed to. Calgary did from the start. The Flames (20-12-6) never let up, similar to the way the Florida Panthers played in a 9-2 shellacking of the Blue Jackets almost two weeks earlier in Sunrise, Florida. Mikael Backlund scored the games first goal 4:21 into after puck drop, beating Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins with a slap shot under the glove that lit the fuse on another Columbus blowout. Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals and Johnny Gaudreau dished out three assists to lead the way for Calgary, which got a 23-save shutout from goalie Jacob Markstrom. The Flames' other goals were scored by Elias Lindholm, Erik Gudbranson and Andrew Mangiapane whose deflection in the second period made it 2-0 and withstood a video review to see if it was touched with a high stick. That goal and Tkachuks first, which made it 3-0 with 5.2 seconds left in the second period, were crushing goals for Merzlikins, whose 56 saves set a new career-high and franchise record. Story continues Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Oliver Bjorkstrand (28) gets tangled up with Calgary Flames defenseman Nikita Zadorov (16) during the second period of the NHL hockey game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. As if that wasnt bad enough, the Blue Jackets (18-21-1) now host the New York Rangers on Thursday in the back-to-back finale, looking to bounce back against the Metropolitan Divisions top team. They'll also have to do it without Alexandre Texier, who didnt finish the game because of a hand injury. "This one, obviously, was probably one of our worst games and we dont have much time to think about it, defenseman Zach Werenski said. Im going to think about it (Wednesday night) and probably watch some video of my own shifts and things I didnt do good, and wake up (Thursday), forget about it and get ready for the Rangers. And as a group, we have to forget about (this), worry about the Rangers (on Thursday) and just come with some more energy. Blue Jackets might lose Alexandre Texier for extended time Coaches will often defer to their training staffs when asked about injuries after games or say theyre not sure how bad an injury is at that point. Thats typically a sign that an injury might have some good news coming after re-evaluation the next day. Conversely, its never good news for the injured player when theyre compelled to say a player might miss some time. Thats where the Blue Jackets are with Texier, who sustained an apparent hand or finger injury in the first period. After getting treatment on the bench, Texier left the game and didnt return. Larsens update following the game wasnt encouraging about a quick return to action. Hes getting looked at with the doctor here, Larsen said. It looks like hes going to be out a little bit here. The Blue Jackets did not release anything after the game, but that assessment makes it sound like they could be without Texier for weeks instead of days. Thats a tough one to absorb too. Texier is third on the team in goals (11) and hes sixth in scoring with 20 points. The French forward has also become one of the Jackets top penalty-killers, often creating havoc by pressuring the puck in all three zones while shorthanded. Interesting scouting list for Columbus Blue Jackets and Calgary Flames Almost every NHL game has at least one or two scouts watching from the press box, so merely seeing scouts in attendance doesnt usually mean too much. Wednesdays list in Columbus was a little different because of the Blue Jackets interest in Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun, as reported twice by Sportsnet in less than a week. Among those on the credential list were Coyotes scout Mike Guentzel, Nashville Predators scout Stan Drulia and Seattle Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill. Nov 20, 2021; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun (6) against the Detroit Red Wings at Gila River Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Guentzels presence was most notable. Sportsnet reports by insiders Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman both listed the Blue Jackets among teams chasing after Chychrun, a 23-year old defenseman who led all NHL defenseman with 18 goals last season. Marek initially said the Jackets were one of six teams pursuing the available blue-liner and Friedman followed up Monday by saying Columbus is one of four teams topping the list of suitors. A report by The Hockey Writers Mark Scheig also confirmed that Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and assistant GM Josh Flynn attended the Coyotes 4-1 victory last week in New Jersey. Botterills name was surprising to see because hes the Krakens assistant GM. He shows up on the Jackets credentials list occasionally, so it wasnt too out-of-the-ordinary. The Kraken also have a game Sunday against the New York Rangers, who were represented at the game by GM Chris Drury, coach Gerard Gallant and two assistants. Gallant coached the Blue Jackets from 2003 to 2006, still enjoys visiting Columbus and had his hat into the ring during the Jackets coaching search last summer. Nashvilles Drulia was notable because the Predators are a playoff contender thats done playing the Blue Jackets and Rangers this season, so he had no reason to get a scouting report for upcoming games. Nashville also doesnt play Calgary until late April. Zach Werenski focuses inward after latest embarrassing loss Just as he did following the humiliating loss to the Panthers, Zach Werenski met with reporters following the game via teleconference. Rather than burying just the team, the first-year alternate captain began his comments trying to shoulder the blame for the latest fiasco. A complete no-show like this was clearly the fault of the team over one star defensemans poor performance, but Werenski showing accountability for what happened shouldnt be overlooked. Thats the kind of stuff members of team leadership groups are expected to exhibit, especially as important as Werenski. Its just frustrating, you know, and it starts with me, I think, Werenski said. I can be a better player for this team, especially on nights like this (and) the Florida game. its almost easy to play well when the teams playing well. This is one of the toughest times, where our teams not playing great, and I think in a game like that, I have to look at that and be a guy that can spark the team a little bit. For me, personally, Im just kind of frustrated with how I played. Obviously, it wasnt good. Werenski finished with a minus-4 plus/minus rating and was on the ice for two of the Flames three goals in the third. That included Tkachuks second goal, which he scored off a feed from Gaudreau following a move to get around Werenski in the slot. From the beginning of the game, we didnt really create much, didnt have much jump, and thats why Im so frustrated in myself, because those are moments where I can jump up in the play and make a big play or be better defensively, Werenski said. I got beat a couple times tonight that ended up in goals and it just hurts our team. Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Brad Larsen watches during the second period of the NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Blue Jackets deluged with goals Neither Werenski nor Larsen used the Q word to describe what happened. They didnt say the Jackets quit or gave up, but each insinuated that it was reminiscent to what happened Jan. 15 against the Panthers and Jan. 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, who overcame a 4-0 deficit midway through the second period to win 7-4 on seven straight goals. This time, it was Backlunds quick goal that let the air out of the Jackets bench. Weve been scored on early quite a bit lately and I think that, for whatever reason, kind of deflates our bench, Werenski said. We still have 50 minutes of hockey left to try and get back in it and were already deflated. I said this earlier, when Carolina came back and beat us 7-4 (in) that game at home ... no matter what the score is, weve got to play our game. We cant stop playing. And thats what weve done lately. Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) watches the puck fly over his head during the first period of the NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Since Thanksgiving, the Blue Jackets have allowed six goals three times, seven goals twice, nine goals once and five goals on three occasions for a total of 56 goals allowed in those nine games. Thats an average of 6.2 per game and, not surprisingly, theyve gone 0-9-0 in those contests. The Jackets were outscored in those games 56-19 and thats not counting four games in the stretch when Columbus allowed four goals. Werenski said a big problem is having players slow up once they fall behind. Florida, we stopped playing, and tonight, for the most part, I thought we stopped playing, Werenski said. Thats where it gets frustrating, and myself included in all this, by the way. I think continuing to play, even when were down three, four, five goals, is something we have to get better at. Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) reacts to giving up a goal to Calgary Flames left wing Andrew Mangiapane during the second period of the NHL hockey game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins was sharp despite allowing six goals It might look strange after a 6-0 loss, but the Blue Jackets best player was their goalie and it wasnt even a close race. Merzlikins was besieged with shots from start to finish and held the Jackets within 1-0 until Mangiapanes deflected goal with 4:46 left in the second period gave the dominant Flames a bigger cushion. Prior to that tally, Merzlikins made a bunch of high-difficulty saves and spearheaded the Jackets impressive penalty kill early in the second while down two skaters for a 1:16 span. During that kill, he made two nifty glove saves, kicked away another puck with his right pad off a one-timer and deflected yet another slap shot from between the circles into the safety netting. Merzlikins also stopped at least one breakaway in the second and got little help the entire game. At the end of the day, we lost, so you dont really want to focus on stuff to that extent, forward Max Domi said of Merzlikins night. But Elvis was good and wed have liked to help him a lot more, because theres only so much a goalie can do. bhedger@dispatch.com @BrianHedger Get more Columbus Blue Jackets news by listening to our podcasts This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets scorched by Calgary Flames on home ice By Rajesh Kumar Singh CHICAGO (Reuters) -Southwest Airlines Co on Thursday reported its first quarterly profit in two years, but warned of a loss in the current quarter through March as the Omicron coronavirus variant depresses revenue and drives up costs. The Texas-based carrier expects to be profitable for the remaining three quarters of 2022 and for the full year. While leisure travel tends to cool off in January and February in a normal year, Southwest said the Omicron variant has led to further weakness in bookings and more ticket cancellations. It expects a $330 million hit to revenue in the first two months of this quarter due to the drop in demand for leisure and business travel. Southwest's shares were down 2% at $42.83 in afternoon trade. Incoming chief executive Bob Jordan said the carrier was "optimistic" about bookings and revenue trends for March, when it expects to return to profitability. "With COVID-19 cases trending downward, the worst appears to be behind us," said Jordan, who is due to become the company's sixth CEO next month. The comments were consistent with those from other U.S. carriers. New York-based JetBlue, which on Thursday reported a loss for the quarter through December, expects a sequential month-on-month improvement in travel demand after the Omicron-induced setback, resulting in a profitable second quarter and a "very strong" summer for the company. Alaska Air anticipates profitable growth in 2022 as its capacity is projected to reach pre-pandemic levels by this summer. The Seattle-based company, which faced operational disruption due to COVID-19, reported a profit for the fourth quarter. OPERATIONAL DISRUPTIONS, HIGHER COSTS An increase in COVID-19 infections among employees and winter storms have led to mass flight cancellations. Southwest has canceled more than 5,600 flights, thus far, this month, which is estimated to cost it $50 million in revenue. The company said about 5,000 employees, roughly 10% of its workforce, had contracted the virus in the first three weeks of January. Story continues To mitigate the staffing issues, it is offering pay incentives for operational employees through early February. It has also further cut its capacity for the first half of the year. The company said its operation and staffing now have stabilized. All the incentives, however, are estimated to inflate its costs by $150 million in the current quarter. Southwest has plans to add at least 8,000 employees to its workforce this year. But a tight labor market is driving up its wage costs. For example, it has raised starting hourly pay to $17 per hour from $15, which is estimated to cost the company $20 million-$25 million this year. "The labor market continues to be a challenge," Chief Financial Officer Tammy Romo told investors on an earnings call. Higher labor and airport costs along with lower capacity are estimated to increase its overall costs by as much as 24% in the current quarter compared with the same period in 2019. The company, however, expects cost pressure to peak in the current quarter. Strong holiday travel demand before the Omicron outbreak helped Southwest report an adjusted profit of 14 cents per share for the quarter through December, its first quarterly profit without U.S. government aid since 2019. (Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; editing by Jason Neely, Elaine Hardcastle and Nick Zieminski) Flash Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday held a phone conversation with his counterpart of the Kingdom of Tonga, Fekitamoeloa Katoa 'Utoikamanu, over the recent volcanic eruptions. Wang said that since the volcano erupted in Tonga on Jan. 15, the Chinese government has paid close attention to it and the Chinese people have sympathized with the Tongan people. Chinese President Xi Jinping immediately sent a message of sympathy to King of Tonga, and China promptly delivered aids to Tonga, becoming one of the first countries in the world to provide assistance for the South Pacific island country, Wang said. As a good friend and partner of Tonga, China is willing to stand firmly with the Tongan people at this difficult moment, he said, adding that the emergency supplies purchased by China in Fiji will arrive in Tonga Thursday, and more Chinese assistance is on the way. China has allocated disaster relief supplies and equipment to the country according to the needs of Tonga, such as drinking water, food, generators, water pumps, first aid kits, prefab houses and tractors, Wang said. Some of the relief supplies will be delivered by Chinese military aircraft Thursday morning, while the rest will be shipped by Chinese warships, he said, noting that the two sides should make a smooth handover and deliver the aids to most-needed places in Tonga in time. Wang said that the Chinese government is very concerned about Chinese citizens and institutions in Tonga, and hopes and believes that the Tongan government will guarantee their safety. It is believed that under the leadership of the King and government of Tonga, the country will surely overcome this natural disaster as soon as possible, he said. Noting that the international community has extended a helping hand to Tonga, Wang said that China stands ready to work with all willing countries to give full play to each other's respective strengths and foster international synergy to help Tonga rebuild its home. For her part, 'Utoikamanu said that China responded at once and was one of the first countries in the world to provide emergency and disaster relief supplies for Tonga after the volcano erupted 11 days ago. She expressed heartfelt thanks to China for its assistance on behalf of the Tongan government and people. The Tongan side will closely coordinate with China on the delivery, storage and distribution of relief supplies to ensure that they reach those most in need as quickly as possible, 'Utoikamanu said. China is the largest developing country in the world as well as one of Tonga's largest development partners, the minister said, expressing her gratitude to China for its strong support in the country's post-disaster reconstruction. Tonga highly values its friendship and cooperation with China, and will continue to work with China to push for new progress in bilateral ties, she said, wishing all the best for the Chinese New Year. A dog on a chain barks in an open yard behind a south Abilene home Thursday. The Safe Outdoor Dogs Act has gone into effect statewide, and the director of Abilene's Animal Services department said it carries with it a bit of a stronger bite in terms of protecting outdoor animals from neglect. "We already had some of those requirements," Animal Services director Justin Lelesch said of the new law, which went into effect last week. "So It's not going to have as much of an impact as some of the other communities that didn't have any of this. But what it does is it does give (us) a little bit more teeth for enforcement." But the department also wants to make sure to use its role to educate and aid dog owners with coming into compliance, he said. "It's going to be a case-by-case basis," Lelesch said. "Obviously, the best interest of the dog is always going to be at the forefront." More: Abilene animal advocacy groups: New dog safety law important but enforcement vital Unchained The law does not prevent owners from tethering dogs humanely. But it strikes completely the use of chains because of their capacity to cause pain and injury. A cable tie-out or trolley system is allowed, according to a summary by the Texas Humane Legislation Network, as long as these devices are correctly attached to a collar or harness designed to restrain a dog. A dog chain. Those options are lightweight, strong and flexible, and are easily found in stores and from online retailers, the advocacy group's website says, costing $15-$30. The law also outlines measures to protect dogs from extreme temperatures, inclement weather and standing water, defining "adequate shelter" requirements. It also requires access to drinkable water and strikes a 24-hour waiting period, allowing animal services and law enforcement to take immediate action, Violations are a Class C misdemeanor, rising to Class B for repeated offenses. There are some exceptions, such as when camping or using other public recreational areas, herding livestock, hunting or participating in field trials or animals in an open-air truck bed while their owners complete a temporary task. Story continues Firm foundation Justin Lelesch, animal services director Lelesch said the law was a good step, adding the city's existing ordinances are "not too far off" from the new requirements. "We already required shelter that consisted of three sides, a roof and a floor to keep the animal out of weather," he said. "We already required that (a) tether be at least five times the length of the animal's body, or 10 feet, whichever was longer. We already required the tether to have swivel ends so that the dog doesn't tangle (it) up on itself." The greatest impact is the removal of chains, Lelesch said, which means that some previously in compliance now won't be. "They will have to change to a different material, such as a cable tether," he said. A look at numbers During the previous week, animal services had 21 calls to check an animal's welfare, Lelesch said. Of those, six were related to tethers, while nine were for concerns about proper food, water and shelter. Most often, circumstances are fine, he said, when checked. "Maybe (the reporting party) saw the dog at one side of the yard and there was actually a shelter on the other side," Lelesch said. "Stuff like that happens." But it doesn't hurt to have someone go make certain "everything is up-to-date," he said, especially at times when weather extremes may be present. Help available soon ]Lelesch said the law may affect lower-income communities in Abilene "pretty heavily." For that reason, "we are working to purchase materials to try and help those citizens," he said. A grant from Best Friends Animal Society, received at the end of last year, has among its goals creating a community engagement program, he said. "We can go out into those communities, and we are heat mapping our calls to know which areas are the most in need," he said. Many dog owners want to do the right thing for their animals but don't have the means or know-how to fix issues, he said. "So, I have a bunch of materials that are coming in, including 15-foot cable tethers that we ordered to try and help some of these people," Lelesch said. The shelter also has purchased collars, leashes, toys, puzzle feeders and other items. It also plans to offer spay and neuter vouchers, all paid for through the grant, that will be free to the community, he said. "We're going to try and bridge that gap and help people get the materials that they need to be able to assist with these issues," he said, saying there will be a focus on relief efforts and building relationships. Among the hoped-for effects? Trying to make sure "we're not just viewed as the dog catcher anymore," he said. "We are here as a resource center." Discernment needed As far as enforcement, no two situations are going to be the same, Lelesch said, and the new law doesn't mean "we're just going to immediately go and issue tickets." "We still have to have some grace and an understanding that everyone is coming from a different background, a different set of situations that they're dealing with in their lives," he said. Currently, that includes COVID-19 "and the financial burdens that everyone is facing," Lelesch said. "We have to have grace, to be able to give these people a chance to try and fix those things," he said. If they refuse? "Then that's a different conversation," he said. "But if they are actively trying to improve on their situation and they're working with us to try and provide better care for their animals? What more can you ask for?" For now, aid will be available on a case-by-case basis, as animal services attempts to determine how widespread issues may be, he said. "From an animal services perspective, it's always better to leave the animal in the community if they have a loving and caring home and just educate those people on what the standard needs to be," he said. Brian Bethel covers city and county government and general news for the Abilene Reporter-News. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to ReporterNews.com. This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: New statewide dog act promotes tethering but bans use of chains NEW JERSEY Three cases of the new omicron subvariant have so far been detected in New Jersey, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said Thursday afternoon. The subvariant of omicron is known as BA.2, also dubbed "stealth omicron" because its particular genetic traits make it somewhat harder to detect, and evidence suggested it will spread even more quickly than its infamous parent. So far, cases of BA.2 have been found in almost half of the U.S. states. The Department of Health would not say where in New Jersey the three cases were found or give any further information. This new subvariant is not considered a variant of concern, according to the World Health Organization. In countries such as Denmark, where it quickly became the dominant variant, health officials have not seen an increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations or deaths. Omicron and delta are the two variants circulating the most in New Jersey at the moment, according to the state's COVID dashboard, which breaks it down by variants. Get great local news. Sign up for Patch: https://patch.com/subscribe Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com This article originally appeared on the Woodbridge Patch Jan. 27Tennessee's special committee investigating immigrant and refugee issues is recommending the state legislature pass measures to create more oversight and regulation of programs serving unaccompanied migrant children. The recommendations include requiring agencies to report all third-party contracts related to residential child care, a census of children at a facility upon request, an annual census of children housed by an organization, as well as the required reporting of where a child is moved after leaving a temporary shelter, such as being transferred to another shelter or being placed with a sponsor. The state's special committee, formed in May, voted 8-1 Thursday to approve the recommendations, which were then sent to Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and Speaker Cameron Sexton. Over the eight months the committee held hearings, state lawmakers repeatedly met with roadblocks as federal policy largely dictates immigration in the United States and such federal agencies do not make public the movements of children in custody. State lawmakers regularly criticized the lack of transparency from the federal government. "The federal government's recent actions demonstrate a clear absence of transparency regarding arrival, housing and travel in Tennessee," the committee's report said. The state formed the special committee in May after WRCB broke the news that unaccompanied children were being flown into Chattanooga, sometimes at night, and housed in a shelter in Highland Park before being placed with sponsors. The state had approved a license for the facility in May 2020, and children began arriving in November 2020. The Tennessee Department of Children's Services suspended the residential child care license for the organization operating the facility, the Baptiste Group, in July after accusations of child abuse. Three individuals have since been arrested in connection to the facility, and a case of whether to fully revoke the Baptiste Group's child care license is before an administrative law judge. Story continues The state committee recommended the state revoke the residential child care license of an agency when "multiple facility employees are charged with criminal behavior in connection to their job responsibilities." Redemption to the Nations church, which leased the property to the Baptiste Group, has sued the organization for three months of unpaid rent. The Baptiste Group disputes the claim, arguing the church stopped accepting payments. In May, Republican Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee presented the "Migrant Resettlement Transparency Act," a proposal that would require the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to consult governors and local leaders about any proposed relocation or movement of people in the country illegally no less than three days before the transportation occurs. The state's special committee recommends the legislature support Hagerty and Blackburn's bill, as well as pass a resolution asking the federal government to seek local approval before moving unaccompanied children through the state. Rep. Bruce Griffey, R-Paris, was the lone dissenting vote on adopting the committee's recommendations. Griffey's office did not respond to a request for comment from the Times Free Press on Thursday. However, during the committee meeting Thursday, Griffey proposed adding recommendations to the report to require the state to vet all sponsors and temporarily suspend the license of all residential child care agencies serving unaccompanied minors. Griffey suggested such agencies could be placing children with sex traffickers since the state does not have oversight on the federal vetting process in finding sponsors for children. The state licensing agency the Tennessee Department of Children's Services is not legally responsible for children housed in state-licensed agencies run by federal contractors. Sammi Maifair, an attorney for Department of Children's Services, told the committee Griffey's proposals would require a lot of agency resources and suspending the license of residential programs would require the state to find shelter for children in the program, which presents another burden. As the Baptiste Group is without a license, the only other such agency operating in Tennessee as of Thursday is Bethany Christian Services. In November, a state representative accused the child care organization of "trafficking" children. Representatives from the Department of Children's Services told the committee the recommendations presented would require new licensing requirements from the state agency but the fiscal impact of such changes would not be known until potential legislation is crafted. Contact Wyatt Massey at wmassey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @news4mass. On a recent lunchtime at The Distillery Restaurant in the Finger Lakes, diners looked on with surprise and interest as the restaurant's newest staff member delivered their meals. Some even took videos with their phones. "28, your order has arrived," the server announced at table 28. "Enjoy your meal." Meet Lily, the unofficial nickname that the rest of the staff has given to the robot who has been on the job for a month now; its permanent name will be decided in a contest on social media. "I think it's adorable," said Patricia Stewart as a server transferred the dishes from the robot's tray to the table. Renee Pradia, her dining companion, also thought it was a good idea, noting that it could carry heavy trays and alleviate accidents in which dishes are dropped. The staff at this restaurant in Victor, Ontario County, loads the robot with plates of food and uses a touch screen (which also serves as the robot's face) to input the table number. A GPS guides it to a table although it does get lost every now and then. If a person or an object is blocking its path, it will recognize the obstruction, stop, make a face and politely ask, "please let me pass." The robot has its own personality, said Randy Slifer, vice president of operations for The Distillery Restaurant Franchising Corp. It can tell guests about specials and sing songs like "Happy Birthday." It also helps bus tables, transporting dishes back to the kitchen. While robots are new to the Rochester area, they have been rolling out across the country over the past several years. Lelulos in Cape Coral, Florida, and the Haus of Pizza in Palm Desert, California, are among the other restaurants who use robots to deliver food to tables. In Tempe, Arizona, Venezias Pizzeria uses a robot to deliver pizzas to addresses within a short distance from the restaurant. Robots have also been used to make coffee, smoothies, bread and sushi. Story continues The Distillery's robot was made by Richtech Robotics, which is based in Austin, Texas. The Distillery said it purchased the robot but did not disclose the price; similar models are reported as being in the price range of $20,000 to $30,000. More: Who serves Rochester's best chicken wings? The results of our poll for 9 categories Some food and drink establishments say the robots have been a way of dealing with worker shortages, which have been a struggle in the industry for most of the past year. While some workers have returned since early 2021, there were 140,788 fewer hospitality workers in New York state in November than in February 2020, a nearly 21% drop, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Staffing issues were a factor when the Distillery first started seriously considering the robot six or seven months ago, but the restaurant is now fully staffed, Slifer said. Instead, the robot enables servers to spend more time in the dining room. The robot can carry up to 80 pounds, reducing the physical nature of servers' jobs. "I think it's hysterical," was the first reaction from Mary Loverdi, who used her phone to record the robot delivering the meal to her table. "We're in the future now," she said. This story includes reporting from James B. Cutchin, Randy Kambic, Katherine Fitzgerald and Marco della Cava. Tracy Schuhmacher is food and drink reporter and a storytelling coach for the USA Today Network's Storytellers Project. Email her at TracyS@Gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram as @RahChaChow, or sign up for her weekly newsletter. This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Robot with a personality serves guests at this New York restaurant TLcom Capital, the Africa-focused venture capital firm known to have made bets on Andela and Twiga, is raising $150 million for its second fund targeted at making early- and late-stage investments. The firm has reached the first close of $70 million, according to a statement shared with TechCrunch. Its almost the equivalent of what TLcom Capital raised in the TIDE Africa Fund, its first fund that achieved its first close in 2017 and final close in February 2020. In an interview, managing partner Maurizio Caio told TechCrunch that the second fund is expected to reach a second close later this year. When closed, it will represent the largest fundraising yet for the two-decade-old firm, which has $350 million AUM across Africa and Europe with offices in Lagos, Nairobi and London. It will also position the investor to become one of the largest independent VC firms fully dedicated to the continent. In early 2020, TechCrunch reported TLcom Capitals $71 million TIDE Africa Fund and how the firm planned to invest in 12 African startups from seed to Series B stages. However, the firm managed to invest in 11 startups. They include Andela, Ajua, Autochek, Ilara Health, Kobo360, Okra, Pula, Shara, Terragon Group, Twiga and uLesson. Typically, VCs take five years to deploy capital and then another five years to make follow-on rounds and ultimately exit their portfolio companies via acquisition or IPO. But in TLcom Capitals case, it took three and a half years to deploy its capital, from late 2017 to mid-2021. The exact reason why we stopped investing is that we were trying to understand how much capital we needed to support these companies going forward in full-on rounds, said Caio. So, we decided that we didnt want to invest in another company, just because we wanted to reach a dozen companies without having enough capital for follow-on rounds. TLcoms average investment per startup is around $6 million; however, it didnt invest precisely that number in a fresh or follow-on round in any of its portfolio companies. Its first African check was in Andela ($40 million Series C), way before its first fund closed in 2020, and is the latest stage at which TLcom invested; Twigas $20 million Series B in 2019 is another. Story continues TLcom Capital invested in seed and Series A stages for the other nine investments. The firm has had to invest earlier in some cases, something unconventional for large funds in Africa. For instance, it invested in Okra and Shara when they had nothing more than prototypes and led Autocheks pre-seed round. According to Caio, this stresses TLcoms breadth in being the go-to investor for high-growth companies thinking of raising their first institutional check. TLcoms participation in leading smaller rounds indicates the growing intensity at which investors battle for deals these days. From local investors such as LoftyInc and Ventures Platform, which have sizable funds to invest super early, to global investors like Tiger Global and Target Global making inroads from pre-seed to Series C, competition within Africas venture capital market is heating up. That said, TLcom--whose team includes Caio, senior partner Omobola Johnson, partners Ido Sum and Andreata Muforo-- says it wants to add an extra 20 early-stage startups to its portfolio. Ticket sizes in these companies will range from $500,000 to $15 million. The firm will most likely tailor its fund structure like its first: part of the capital for early-stage startups, while the rest will be for new or follow-on rounds of companies at growth and late stage. Its first check from the second fund was a lead investment in SeamlessHR. All 12 of TLcoms current portfolio companies are based in Nigeria or Kenya. With its new fund, TLcom will expand its focus to Egypt while making more investments across East and West Africa, the firm said. As with most pan-African funds, TLcom has few local LPs: FBN Quest and Sango Capital. And while the rest are foreign--AfricaGrow (a joint venture between Allianz and DEG Impact), Bertelsmann, King Philanthropies, CDC Group, IFC, Proparco and Swedfund--Caio believes the local LPs doubling down on the fund is a noteworthy sign despite the disparity in LP origins. In this first set of investors, we have two African LPs that are coming back with more capital than the previous time. But theres still work to be done to attract more African investors. Then again, the important thing is that the capital market is learning that Africa venture capital is an attractive space. And the fact that more private investors realize that, without having any institutional constraint to devote resources to Africa, is very encouraging, he said. TLcoms focus still lies mainly in traditional sectors like fintech, mobility, agriculture, healthcare, education and e-commerce. However, Caio told TechCrunch that the firm is willing to invest in startups venturing into web3, crypto and DeFi, newer industries with many upsides where African startups are on the same playing field with other regions. Over the years, TLcom-backed companies have collectively increased their revenues threefold since receiving money from the firm. Global investors such as Owl Ventures, SoftBank and Index Ventures have also led follow-on rounds in the firms portfolio companies. TLcom said that these companies have seen their valuations increase an average of 5x. African startups raised more than $4 billion in 2021, doubling from when TLcom closed its first fund. Reflecting on this increased activity, Caio urges founders to take advantage of the new influx of capital coming into the continent and achieve massive scale. The big picture is that we are still very early in African VC despite raising almost $5 billion. This is the message to the entrepreneurs: Think big, dont try to second-guess, focus on the magnitude of the opportunity, because if its compelling, you will find capital to support it, he said. Dont worry about dilution; worry about how much money you need to build a very large company in a large market. Lets take advantage collectively of more capital coming into the space. Tyson Fury mocked Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn (Tyson Fury / Twitter) Tyson Fury has mocked Anthony Joshua for refusing to step aside in boxings enormous row between heavyweights during a typically outlandish Instagram video rant. The world heavyweight champion is due to face mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte at some point in spring, but a deal has yet to be struck and purse bids scheduled to take place on Monday evening were postponed for a fourth time until Friday as the WBC tries to allow the two fighters camps to come to an agreement. Whyte became Furys mandatory as Joshua faces an obligatory re-match with Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk, who defeated the Londoner at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in September. Fury and his team want Joshua to accept a financial offer to step aside from the second Usyk fight so that the Gypsy King can face The Cat instead. Fury mocked Joshua and promoter Eddie Hearn for what he perceives as their poor business acumen, Had to do this video. Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua have to be the worst damn businessmen in history! Today they lost $90m, goddamn sons of b****es, crazy! Fury subsequently turned his attention to Whyte, telling him: Time to step up and take your beating, The origin of the $90m figure Fury references is unclear, though the offer for his and Usyks potential fight is believed to come from the Middle East, where bouts are especially lucrative. Earlier this week, Hearn confirmed that an offer had been made for Joshua to bow out from the Usyk re-match, and said the ultimate decision lies with the fighter. There has been an offer, he told the DAZN Boxing Show. There have been several discussions with myself. I cant rule it out, its not my job. AJ is the boss. Hes very smart about the plan. He wont want to do it. Anthony has never ducked anyone, he wont want to let one person think hes ducking that challenge. Sometimes you have to think with your head; there is a smart play here somewhere, but Anthony is not about the money. In the meantime, Fury has been calling out each of Joshua, Whyte, and Oleksandr Usyk and says he does not care which of the three he fights next. Joshua is a coward, Usyks a p**** and Dillian Whyte dont want to fight, so if you can prove me wrong, get to f***ing fighting, he bellowed in a separate social media outburst earlier this week. Youre all cowards, youre all bum dossers, either fight or do one you pack of wet lettuces. In planning for global vaccine distribution, the Trump administration created a secret list prioritizing friends like Israel and Taiwan over low- and moderate-income countries, according to interviews with five current and former officials who described the document to POLITICO. The list, detailed here for the first time, shows that U.S. officials initially planned to apportion the life-saving shots based on political preferences rather than serving the neediest first, which global health advocates have advocated for over the past two years. Trump administration officials attached the list as an annex to a longer document that laid out the administrations international approach to combating Covid-19. After the 2020 election, officials passed both documents on to the Biden administration, including to officials on the National Security Council, according to two of the officials who spoke to POLITICO. Trump national security and top health officials organized the list over the course of several months in the summer and fall of 2020 before the vaccine was authorized for use. They split it into several sections, including U.S. strategic allies, countries that helped develop the vaccine, countries with relationships with Gavi, the global vaccine alliance, and all other countries not included in the previous three groups. The strategic allies included Israel, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea and some European nations. We thought that the categories themselves made sense at the time, said Paul Mango, the former deputy chief of staff for policy at the Department of Health and Human Services. The underserved countries were third on the list. Mango was not directly involved in the formulation of the list but was in charge of briefing White House officials on its contents. The list also included an assessment of every countrys ability to absorb and distribute doses and to what degree they were experiencing outbreaks key factors officials used in determining where to send doses and how many to donate, according to three former officials directly involved in the decision-making process. Many of the top countries on the list have strong health care systems and the necessary infrastructure to deliver doses to millions of people, those officials said. Many also have the financial resources to purchase their own shots. Story continues We identified categories and we put weights to them and then subject matter experts from each [agency] came in and informed those categories, one former Trump official said, adding that officials from the State Department, the Pentagon, USAID and the Department of Homeland Security participated. From there, we had a panel of experts score each country based on the evidence provided. As a result of favoring its strategic allies in the dose donation distribution plan, the administration deprioritized vulnerable countries with weak health systems that did not have the finances to procure their own vaccine countries where officials have struggled throughout the pandemic to contain the spread of Covid-19. Yet it is those countries that many public health experts have said are most important to inoculate as a way of preventing new variants from emerging. The annex did include a section that detailed how the administration would facilitate the shipment of hundreds of millions of U.S. doses to COVAX, the worlds Covid-19 vaccine facility, for distribution to poorer countries across the world. But that plan was not as firm or immediate as the plan to deliver donations bilaterally and directly to U.S. allies across the globe, the officials said. Asked whether there were any concerns about the risk of putting wealthy, strategic allies at the top of the list, another former official directly involved in formulating the annex said: Not really. The official went on to say that Trump officials believed that many of the countries listed in the ally section of the document would have problems procuring shots on the open market. Israel, whose then-prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had a close relationship with Trump, was among the first nations to secure enough vaccine doses to inoculate its population and has been a global leader in the vaccination effort. The Trump plan never went into play because the administration changed hands before the vaccine came fully online. In a statement to POLITICO, a Biden official said the administration does not use the previous administrations policy or the cited list to make vaccine sharing decisions. A year into Joe Bidens presidency, its still unclear exactly how the administration makes decisions about when and where to send doses. Despite calls for clarity from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the Biden administration has revealed little about its decision-making process. A Biden official said allocations are determined based upon well-defined and articulated principals: no strings attached, free, as well as a countrys vaccination coverage and access to vaccines. Two officials, one of the former officials and two current officials, said the annex and the strategic planning document were handed over to the office of Beth Cameron, the senior director for Global Health Security and Biodefense, in the winter of 2021. The fact that the document exists within the National Security Council raises questions about the degree to which the White House is involved in making decisions about where to send doses. White House officials have previously told POLITICO that the National Security Council merely acts as an interagency coordinator. Other top health and diplomatic officials have said the White House is in charge of making decisions on donations. If you were to ask me, is there a formula? The answer's no, one of the current Biden officials involved in international distribution conversations told POLITICO in answering a question about whether the administration uses a specific algorithm or dataset in making decisions about donations. The Biden official said the administration has allocated doses using its own unique policy which included input from State, the National Security Council, public health experts and the White House Covid-19 Response Team. Officials from both the Trump and Biden administrations have refrained from sharing the document widely across agencies. Officials who spoke to POLITICO described the annex differently, some saying it is classified while others claim it is marked only as sensitive. All agreed the document was purposefully held within a small circle of officials over fears of a leak and that it would anger countries across the world and create diplomatic headaches for the administration. The entire discussion around how U.S. officials make decisions about helping the rest of the world fight Covid-19 remains opaque. Any insight into that planning including the release of the annex could potentially help the world understand why many countries still dont have significant access to the vaccine. The need for transparency is incredibly important and I've been in numerous meetings now where I've asked for that transparency, said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) who is helping an effort in Congress to convince the administration to allocate more resources to low- and middle-income countries. I am now concerned that the lack of transparency is related to the confusion that might exist even within administration as to its strategy for how to address the mounting needs around the world. Or it might be related to not wanting to shed light on the deficit between the need and what's been allocated or pledged. The creation of the annex came at a time when the Trump administration was gearing up for the vaccines authorization by the Food and Drug Administration. Top officials, including then-President Donald Trump, hinted publicly that the administration was planning for an end-of-the-year distribution campaign. As the president focused on his re-election campaign and getting the shots to the American public as quickly as possible, officials inside the global office of the Department of Health and Human Services began strategizing ways to prepare for international distribution. There was a meeting where [then-HHS Secretary Alex] Azar said My guess is everyone in the world is going to be wanting the vaccine. We need to have a plan, Mango said. Over the next several months, the National Security Council convened meetings with regional directors and officials from various agencies, including HHS, State, the Pentagon and USAID to prioritize countries into a comprehensive list. USAID played a lead role in helping determine each countrys capacity whether they had enough health care workers to distribute the shots and if they had the infrastructure to store vaccine doses in freezers. Another former official involved in the process said National Security Council directors submitted requests for doses to go to countries in their portfolios. We had to essentially go in there and make our case, the former official said. Officials on the task force spent weeks discussing how many doses to send to the international community via health advocacy groups for distribution. At the time, before COVAX was formally established, the U.S. was considering sending 80 percent of the U.S. doses to Gavi, according to the longer strategy document the annex was attached to that POLITICO obtained. The document was first mentioned in a Vanity Fair article in April 2021. That proposed percentage is considerably more than the Biden administration gave to COVAX in 2021. We just felt there was no other way to do it, one of the former officials who spoke to POLITICO said. We knew if we did it all through bilateral donations we were going to have too many indemnification problems. Global health advocates, including those at COVAX, have said they are still working with countries across the world to work through indemnification clauses in contracts with vaccine makers that have prevented countries from obtaining doses quickly. The strategic planning document and the annex made its way through the National Security Council to the presidents desk, the officials said. But following the Jan. 6, 2021, certification of Bidens victory, the officials said, the documents were put aside. Several weeks later, they were transferred to the Biden administration. Since the new administration stepped into office, officials in HHS and the National Security Council have amended the longer strategy document on international distribution. But the annex is still being held closely by Biden officials. Flash Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday held a phone conversation over China-U.S. relations and the current situation in Ukraine. The top priority for China and the United States at present is to truly implement the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden during their video meeting in November last year, said Wang. During the video meeting, Wang recalled, Xi summarized the experience and lessons of China-U.S. exchanges over past more than half a century, and put forward three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, charting the course for the healthy development of China-U.S. relations. Biden responded positively by then, and said that the United States neither seeks a "new Cold War" with China, nor pursues a change in China's system, the revitalization of its alliances is not anti-China, and the country does not support "Taiwan independence," and has no intention to have conflict and confrontation with China, sending a positive signal which is different from the previous U.S. administration, said the Chinese foreign minister. However, Wang said, what the world has seen is that there has been no substantive change in the tone of the U.S. policy towards China and Biden's pledges have not been fully delivered. The U.S. side is still making erroneous words and deeds related to China, which have dealt a new blow to bilateral relations, Wang added. Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the "Shanghai Communique," Wang said that China and the United States having no intention of changing each other is the precondition of the normalization of bilateral relations, and should be the guarantee of peaceful coexistence between the two countries in the future. Competition between major countries is not the theme of a post-pandemic world that will encounter new situations and challenges, nor will it address the problems facing the United States and countries worldwide, Wang said. China and the United States, as the world's two largest economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, should bear in mind the fundamental interests of the people of both countries, follow the trend of global development, and well implement the important consensus reached between the two heads of state, he said. Wang said the two countries must have a good grasp of the general direction of bilateral ties, take concrete actions to fulfill commitments, expand the positive aspects of bilateral cooperation, and manage differences constructively. Pressure will only make the Chinese people more united, and confrontation will not stop China from becoming stronger, he stressed. At present, the top priority for the U.S. side is to stop interfering in the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playing with fire by playing the "Taiwan card," and stop forming all kinds of small cliques aimed at working against and containing China, he said. For his part, Blinken said it is important for the two sides to maintain regular communication, stressing the position that U.S. President Joe Biden elaborated in the virtual meeting between the two heads of state has not changed. The United States and China have shared interests as well as differences, Blinken said, noting the United States is ready to manage differences responsibly. The U.S. stance on the one-China policy remains unchanged, he said, and the United States will cheer for its athletes who participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics and wish the Chinese people a happy Chinese New Year. Blinken then stated the U.S. position on issues including the issue of Ukraine. The Chinese foreign minister said to address the tensions in Ukraine, it is necessary to return to the 2015 Minsk Agreements approved by the Security Council, which is a fundamental political document recognized by all parties and should be implemented in earnest. China will support any effort that conforms to the direction and spirit of the agreements, he said, adding China calls on all parties to remain calm and refrain from inflaming tensions or hyping up the crisis. Wang stressed that the security of one country should not be at the expense of the security of others, and regional security should not be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs. In the 21st century, all parties should completely abandon the Cold War mentality and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations, he said, adding Russia's legitimate security concerns should be taken seriously and addressed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is warning Russia that an invasion of Ukraine would "not be a wise act" as tensions continue to boil between Moscow and Kyiv. "I hope that Russia will not make an armed attack or occupy Ukraine. Such a step will not be a wise act for Russia or the region," Erdogan told broadcaster NTV during an interview on Wednesday, according to Reuters. "There is a need for dialogue that will listen to Russia and eliminate their reasonable security concerns," he added. During the interview, Erdogan said he invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to travel to Turkey to take part in a diplomatic session with Ukraine to find a path to peace, according to Reuters. The Turkish president said he is expecting to hear back from Moscow in regards to his offer. Such an offer for mediation was first suggested in November, according to the news wire. Erdogan said comprehensive conversations are needed to discuss some security concerns Russia has aired and to detail why some of the demands Moscow has laid out are not reasonable, Reuters reported. Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops near the Ukrainian border, stoking fear among the U.S. and its allies that Moscow may be planning an incursion against Ukraine. Russia has denied having such plans and has laid out a series of demands to justify the military buildup, one of which is a vow not to admit Ukraine to NATO. The U.S., however, rejected Moscow's demands and has vowed to inflict severe consequences if Russia invades Ukraine. Erdogan told NTV that Turkey, which is a member of NATO, is "ready to do whatever is necessary," and he said he relayed that message to Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "I think both countries are aware of the sincerity and good intent of Turkey," he added, according to Reuters. Turkey has a good relationship with Russia and Ukraine but is against Moscow's policies in Syria and Libya and opposes Russia's annexation of Crimea, Reuters noted. Turkey has worked with Russia for defense and energy purposes, but Ankara reportedly irked Moscow when it sold sophisticated drones to Ukraine. Story continues Erdogan said the situation between Russia and Ukraine should be worked out by "avoiding the use of force." "We hope the NATO initiative will be successful on this," he added. Erdogan said he will meet with Zelensky in Ukraine early next month to talk about the situation, and that he will meet with or call Putin soon, according to Reuters. Erdogan's attempt to reconcile rising tensions in the region comes after he called for an end to the "worrying escalation" at the border between Russia and Ukraine in April. He said Turkey was ready to supply "any support necessary" if the situation between the two countries did not abate. By Gabriel Crossley, David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday called on China to use its influence with Russia to urge a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-sees-some-room-dialogue-after-us-security-response-2022-01-27, but policy experts doubted Beijing would back Washington in the standoff. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Beijing said it wanted all sides to remain calm and "refrain from doing things that agitate tensions and hype up the crisis." Blinken stressed that tensions should be reduced and warned of the security and economic risks from any Russian aggression, the State Department said. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said U.S. messages to Beijing had been very clear. "We are calling on Beijing to use its influence with Moscow to urge diplomacy, because if there is a conflict in the Ukraine it is not going to be good for China either," Nuland said at a regular State Department news conference. "There will be a significant impact on the global economy. There will be a significant impact in the energy sphere." China's U.N. ambassador Zhang Jun said a "time-honored Olympic Truce" for the Beijing Winter Games that begin on Feb. 4 would start from Jan. 28. "Let's take this opportunity to promote peace, solidarity, cooperation, and other common values shared by all humanity, to make our world a better place," Zhang tweeted. Russia has been building up its forces on Ukraine's borders for months and has demanded NATO pull troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the U.S.-led military alliance. NATO allies reject this but say they are ready to discuss arms control and confidence-building measures. Daniel Russel, the senior U.S. diplomat for Asia under former President Barack Obama, said that while China could not be happy about the possibility of an invasion of Ukraine on the eve of the Olympics, "Wang Yi chose to defend Russia's 'legitimate security concerns' rather than offer any support to Blinken." Story continues Bonnie Glaser of the German Marshall Fund of the United States said Beijing could act as a spoiler to any attempts by the United States and its allies to impose costs on Russia. "It is unlikely that the U.S. can get China on board over Ukraine. Beijing won't endorse use of force, but it is sympathetic with Russian views of NATO. And this is not just about the Olympics," Glaser said. If the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia, "China is likely to take steps to mitigate their impact," she said. NATO EXPANSION Wang, apparently referring to NATO's expansion in eastern Europe, told Blinken that one country's security could not be at the expense of others and regional security could not be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs, his ministry said. The United States has urged Ukraine and Russia to return to a set of pacts to end a separatist war by Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine. But steps set out in the so-called Minsk II agreement remain unimplemented, with Russia's insistence that it is not a party to the conflict and therefore not bound by its terms being a major blockage. Rand Corporation analyst Derek Grossman said China's version of the call with Blinken said Wang had highlighted Minsk, even though Russia had never abided by it. "I don't see much room for U.S.-China cooperation here, unfortunately ... The U.S. would have to close the door to future NATO expansion for China to get on board, and Secretary Blinken has already stated that this is a non-starter." 'MISTAKES' Wang said the new Minsk agreement was "a fundamental political document recognized by all parties and should be effectively implemented." China will support efforts made in line with the "direction and spirit of the agreement," he said. China strengthened ties with Russia as tension between Beijing and Washington has mounted over issues from trade to human rights, Taiwan and China's extensive maritime claims. Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit China next week for the Winter Olympics. Russian troops invaded Georgia in August 2008 while Putin was in China taking in the opening ceremonies of Beijing's Summer Olympics. The crisis took some Western countries by surprise. Wang underscored the cool state of Beijing's ties with Washington, saying that the United States "continues to make mistakes in its words and deeds on China, causing new shocks to the relationship". "The top priority at the moment is that the U.S. should stop interfering with the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playing with fire on the Taiwan issue, and stop creating various anti-China cliques," he said. The United States, Canada, Australia and Britain have said they will not send any state officials to the Games because of China's human rights record. China denies rights abuses and had rejected what it calls the politicization of sport. (Reporting by Ryan Woo and Gabriel Crossley in Beijing, Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru, David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina in Washington and Michelle Nichols in New York; Editing by Robert Birsel, William Maclean and Grant McCool) By Leah Douglas (Reuters) - Insurance payments to U.S. farmers for crops lost to droughts and flooding have risen more than threefold over the past 25 years, according to an analysis of federal data by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released on Thursday. The report reinforces concerns that insuring the nations crops will get more expensive for insurance companies, farmers and taxpayers as climate change drives more erratic weather events that disrupt agriculture. The federal government pays about 60% of the nations crop insurance premiums through taxpayer subsidies, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and those premiums tend to rise as insurance payouts grow. Insurance payments to farmers due to drought rose more than 400% between 1995 and 2020 to $1.65 billion, while payments due to excess moisture like floods - rose nearly 300% to $2.61 billion, according to the nonprofit environmental group, which examined publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Reuters reviewed the data, which showed a steady upward trend in insurance payouts over the period. During the period analyzed by EWG, the number of insured acres grew just 84.5%, according to the data from the departments Risk Management Agency, which administers the federal crop insurance program. As extreme weather has become more frequent, the climate crisis has already increased insurance payments and premium subsidies. These costs are expected to go up even more, as climate change causes even more unpredictable weather conditions," EWG said in the report. The report did not detail average increases in premiums since 1995. The cost of insuring crops, however, could increase between 3.5% and 22% by 2080 due to climate change, even if farmers adapted what and where they plant, according to a 2019 USDA report. The most commonly insured crops include corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton. The federal crop insurance program requires farmers to meet minimal conservation standards, like not planting on land highly vulnerable to erosion. But Anne Weir Schechinger, the Midwest director of EWG, said those standards should be tougher. The program needs to be reformed so it encourages farmers to be resilient to extreme weather events that we know are ahead, she said. (Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis) By Trevor Hunnicutt and Gustavo Palencia TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -Xiomara Castro was sworn in as Honduras' first woman president on Thursday in front of a cheering crowd including U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who pledged U.S. government support to stem migration and fight corruption. Castro's inauguration ends the eight-year rule of Juan Orlando Hernandez, a one-time U.S. ally who has been accused in U.S. courts https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-honduras/honduran-president-target-of-u-s-investigation-court-filings-show-idUSKBN2A8291 of corruption and links to drug traffickers. Even as Hernandez left office a U.S. congresswoman called for him to be indicted, and for requests to be made for his extradition. Castro, flanked by her husband, former President Manuel Zelaya, was sworn in at a packed soccer stadium where supporters applauded her vows to fix the country's massive debt burden. "The economic catastrophe that I'm inheriting is unparalleled in the history of our country," a somber Castro said in her inaugural address. Her government also faces tests over a sharply divided Congress, and relations with China due to Honduras maintaining diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Harris, who was loudly applauded when introduced during the inauguration, congratulated Castro over her "democratic election." In a meeting shortly after the ceremony, Harris promised to collaborate on migration issues, economic development and fighting impunity, and said she welcomed Castro's plans to request United Nations help to establish an anti-corruption commission. Harris has been tasked with addressing the "root causes" of migration in Central America's impoverished Northern Triangle of countries, but her trip comes as U.S. President Joe Biden's popularity at home has waned and his immigration strategy https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-children-insight-idCAKBN2C21FH has stalled https://www.reuters.com/world/us/bidens-immigration-goals-fade-after-setbacks-us-mexico-border-2022-01-20. Story continues "We do very much want and intend to do what we can to support this new president," said one administration official. Castro tweeted that she appreciated Harris' visit and the Biden administration's willingness to support the Honduran government. Harris also pledged to send Honduras several hundred thousand more COVID-19 vaccine doses along with 500,000 syringes and $1.3 million for health and educational facilities. The two did not discuss China, she told reporters. U.S. officials want to work with Castro both to curb illegal immigration from Central America and shore up international support for Taiwan as part of its efforts to stem China's influence. Honduras is one of the few countries maintaining diplomatic ties with Taipei instead of Beijing, and Castro during her campaign backtracked on comments that she might switch allegiance to China as president. Taiwanese Vice President William Lai attended the inauguration in a bid https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-vice-president-leaves-shore-up-shaky-alliance-with-honduras-2022-01-25 to bolster ties with Castro's government. Harris said the two spoke https://www.reuters.com/world/us-taiwanese-vice-presidents-speak-rare-encounter-honduras-2022-01-28 over their common interest in Central America. Luis Leon, director of the Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy in Central America, said Harris' arrival was a boost for Castro in the dispute over control of Congress and in addressing Honduras' weak economy. "MAELSTROM OF LOOTING" Castro said it was "practically impossible" to make current debt payments without a restructuring, after debt jumped sevenfold under her two conservative predecessors. The country's total debt stands at about $15.5 billion, or nearly 60% of gross domestic product, an economic problem Castro frequently highlighted ahead of her landslide win in November. "My government will not continue the maelstrom of looting that has condemned generations of young people to pay the debt they incurred behind their back," she added. She vowed to immediately give more than 1 million poor Hondurans free electricity, with bigger consumers subsidizing the cost. Castro, who describes herself as a democratic socialist, has vowed to tackle corruption, poverty and violence, chronic problems that have fueled U.S.-bound migrants. But her legislative program has been jeopardized https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/honduras-next-president-blasts-party-betrayal-congress-2022-01-21 by renegade politicians from her leftist Libre party who allied with the opposition National Party to vote for one of its members to head Congress, breaking a pact with a key electoral ally. Castro also takes office at a time of controversy for her predecessor Hernandez, who had served a maximum two consecutive terms as president and had been a longstanding U.S. ally in immigration and anti-narcotics operations. U.S. Congresswoman Norma Torres has called for Hernandez's indictment on drug charges, and for U.S. officials to request his extradition. But Hernandez may be shielded from extradition for up to four years, as he was sworn in https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/hours-out-office-honduras-ex-president-gains-immunity-through-regional-post-2022-01-28 as a member of the Central American parliament shortly after Castro's inauguration. He has repeatedly denied accusations of corruption and links to drug traffickers. Hernandez's brother last year was sentenced by a U.S. judge to life in prison plus 30 years for drug trafficking. (Additional reporting by Nandita Bose, Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon, Editing by Alistair Bell, Daniel Flynn, Jonathan Oatis, Richard Chang & Simon Cameron-Moore) By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote Feb. 2 on nominees to head the auto safety agency and to open seats on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) among other positions, according to a notice seen by Reuters. The panel is set to consider more than a dozen nominations including Steven Cliff to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which has not had a Senate-confirmed leader since January 2017. Cliff, a former California Air Resources Board official, has been serving as deputy NHTSA administrator and overseeing several agency investigations into Tesla. The committee is also set to vote on Gigi Sohn for the FCC. If she were confirmed by the Senate, it would give Democrats control of the FCC, which is currently split 2-2. The notice said the nominees to be voted on could change. Sohn, a former senior aide to Tom Wheeler who served as FCC chairman under former President Barack Obama, said last year that it would take at least a year for the commission to reinstate landmark neutrality rules repealed in 2017 under then-President Donald Trump. She told senators she does not favor government regulation of broadband rates. The committee is to consider Alvaro Bedoya to serve on the FTC, according to the notice. In December, the panel deadlocked 14-14 on Bedoya's nomination. After the full Senate failed to take up the nomination before the end of the year, Biden renominated Bedoya, a law professor and privacy advocate, earlier this month. Bedoya, founding director of Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology, is also a former chief counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy, technology and the law. The agency enforces antitrust law and pursues allegations of deceptive advertising, including scams. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Kim Coghill and Shailesh Kuber) Chicago wont be without a member of the Missouri Valley Conference after all. The University of Illinois Chicago announced Wednesday that it will join the nations second-oldest Division I conference on July 1 the same day Loyola is leaving the Valley for the Atlantic 10. The Flames athletic teams have competed since 1994 in the Horizon League (called the Midwestern Collegiate Conference before 2001). Joining the Missouri Valley Conference is an honor for the Flames, UIC Chancellor Michael Amiridis said in a statement. The Valley is a conference that is not only rich in tradition with a storied history of success, but it aligns UIC with other like-minded institutions that share in our vision for the future of higher education and athletics. UIC is one of three schools the MVC added Wednesday, along with Belmont and Murray State from the Ohio Valley Conference, to bring the membership to 12 schools for the 2022-23 academic year. The other Valley members are Bradley, Illinois State, Southern Illinois, Drake, Evansville, Indiana State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa and Valparaiso. Athletic director Michael Lipitz called UICs move to the Valley the most significant single event in our history since announcing the transition to NCAA Division I 40 years ago. Lipitz also said the Flames will try to continue scheduling non-conference competitions against their former Horizon League rivals. Founded in 1907, the Valley is predated by only the Big Ten (1896) among Division I conferences. DETROIT Central Michigan University mistakenly told 58 prospective students that they had won a full scholarship that includes room and board. University officials apologized for the error Wednesday night, and offered the equivalent of a full-tuition scholarship to each of the 58 prospective students affected. "We deeply regret the disappointment and frustration caused by the test message error in the student portal," CMU spokesman Aaron Mills said in a statement. "To make it right, we will be reaching out to each of the 58 students who saw the congratulatory message regarding the Centralis Scholarship and offering ... the equivalent of a full-tuition scholarship." The error occurred over the weekend while employees were testing out new messaging technology and accidentally posted a message about the Centralis Scholar Award to certain students' portals. FILE - The Central Michigan University campus is shown Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005, in Mount Pleasant, Mich. "CMU sincerely regrets this mistake and understands the disappointment and anger these students and their families must be feeling," Mills said. "The message appeared to indicate the student had received the Centralis Scholarship, when in fact they had not. CMUs executive director of admissions personally contacted the families of students who were identified as being in the portal during testing on Sunday to apologize for this miscommunication." The Centralis Scholar Awards are the school's most prestigious merit scholarships, according to the website, and are awarded to high school seniors. It includes admission to the honors program, full tuition, room and board for four years and a $5,000 study away award. Eligible students must have a high school grade-point average of at least 3.7. More: University of Michigan reaches $490M settlement in sexual abuse case involving former football doctor Watch: Oregon State University implodes part of football stadium CMU, located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, estimates its yearly tuition to be $12,750 for U.S. residents. Story continues Parker Christensen, a 17-year-old senior at Newaygo High School, was one of the recipients of the accidental message, he told Central Michigan Life, CMU's student newspaper. He was so excited to have won the full ride that he told his friends and family, and his mother posted about it on social media. The joy he felt quickly dissipated when he learned it was a mistake, he told Central Michigan Life. "Colleges are supposed to make your dreams come true not destroy them or make you second guess if they are achievable," Christensen said. Follow Emma Stein on Twitter: @_emmastein. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan school offers students full tuition after scholarship error NEW CASTLE Celebrating a successful learning program and ease of access for parents taking their children to the emergency room, one local hospital shared its good news on Wednesday as it entered the new year. UPMC Jameson held its annual public meeting on Tuesday, highlighting some of the successes the hospital has achieved in its nursing school and a new partnership with Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh. As the hospital system continues the fight against COVID-19, officials were happy to share these wins and how their programs are benefitting the local community. UPMC Jameson Hospital in New Castle "We are dedicated to continuing to advance and deliver a full spectrum of care across our whole region," said Dr. Beth Piccione, interim president of UPMC Jameson and UPMC Horizon. "As a result of our regional approach, we've elevated the services that we can provide locally. Our incredible teams are delivering clinical excellence with caring kindness and compassion, with every single interaction." Children's Hospital to begin telemedicine services at UPMC Jameson, concierge service for specialists appointments During the meeting, UPMC Jameson announced it would be partnering with Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh to provide care closer to home for children in the emergency room. The new partnership will create a direct line between the emergency rooms, with doctors at Children's Hospital providing telemedicine and consulting. Creating this ease of access will directly benefit parents who may struggle to get to Pittsburgh from their homes in Lawrence County. UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh had recognized that for their particular hospital, parents were feeling that they had to take their kids to Pittsburgh no matter what the ailment, even for colds or sore throats," Piccione said. "They didn't want to go and take their children to an adult emergency room because they aren't equipped to deal with children." Story continues Young patients' parents will also be able to utilize concierge services while visiting UPMC Jameson, which will allow doctors to schedule appointments with pediatric specialists when they are needed. The service can help parents who aren't familiar with specialists and quickly schedule appointments. This consultation service with Children's Hospital will not cause any additional costs for patients visiting the emergency room. Jameson School of Nursing continues to offer opportunities for students As the hospital adds a new program for children in the emergency room, it is also celebrating the success of the UPMC Jameson School of Nursing and its students' entry into the workforce at a vital time. The school, which allows students to enroll in Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) and several other nursing certifications and degree programs, currently has 177 students enrolled and learning within the UPMC system. By the end of 2022, 72 of those students will have graduated and will help fill vital roles in the hospitals. "It offered our students the advantage of taking their courses simultaneously with their nursing courses," Piccione said. "Instead of having to have all those prerequisites and advancements, they were able to take them within the program. That was very attractive to a lot of our students as well." Bill King of Neshannock gets a Pfizer vaccine from Katherine McKenzie of Mercer, a UPMC Jameson nursing student. The UPMC Jameson School of Nursing also expanded across the hospital system in August, with a new class of 100 students starting the program in UPMC Hamot in Erie. Helping the underserved community, it allows nearby residents to work while learning and pursuing degrees in nursing at a highly reduced cost. "We have collaborated with the Hemet Health Foundation and Gannon University, but many of the students will attend with little to no debt," said David Gibbons, president of UPMC Hamot. "A lot of the students are employees at Hamot, who are advancing their career. So, it's really it's a great win-win for the Jamison School of Nursing certainly for the Erie Community." UPMC system continuing the battle against COVID-19 As COVID-19 continues to spread across the country, UPMC facilities are still seeing large amounts of patients filling hospital beds due to the virus. According to Piccione, the UPMC system of hospitals had 867 patients in their care with the coronavirus and 520 patients who were recovering, but still required hospitalization, on Wednesday afternoon. Across the system, 138 of these patients were in the intensive care unit and 94 were on ventilators to assist with breathing. "We've seen a continuous onslaught of COVID patients, it attacks the young, it attacks the old and frail," Piccione said. "We've seen over the last two years every permutation, so it still continues to be a significant public health crisis." One of the main causes of these surges of patients is the low rate of vaccinations across communities in Lawrence and Mercer counties. While vaccinated patients are able to recover quicker from their COVID-19 diagnosis, unvaccinated patients are seeing longer recovery times and experiencing more deadly symptoms. UPMC Jameson pharmacist Ronald Barnes of Sharpsville holds up a vial of the Pfizer vaccine before he puts it in needles for patients at the clinic. Patients to the emergency room are also seeing the effects of the coronavirus and the increased workload it has on the hospital staff, with wait times becoming increasingly longer. While staff have prioritized the patients most in need of treatment, they are encouraging vaccinations to reduce the number of people in hospital beds and help save lives across the hospital system. "We're continuing to mask in our hospital and offices to protect our patients and to protect each other," Piccione said. "This is still a very big problem. And hopefully, we'll be able to afford that not being the case in coming months, but for Lawrence and Mercer County it is the No. 1 medical problem for our populations." Garret Roberts is the local Public Priority reporter for The Beaver County Times. He can be contacted at groberts1@gannett.com and can be followed on Twitter at @ReportedRoberts. This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: UPMC Jameson to bring Children's Hospital telehealth to emergency room The United States has donated more than 400m vaccine doses to 112 countries, marking a major milestone in the White Houses goal of donating 1.2bn vaccine doses under Joe Bidens direction. Related: US to begin distributing 400m free N95 masks to pharmacies and health centers In a press briefing on Wednesday, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients, said the donation is four times larger than that of any other country. Zients also revealed that the country hit another major milestone this week, with 70% of eligible seniors in the US having now received their booster shot. Half of all eligible adults in the country are now boosted. This is significant progress, as the doctors and data have made crystal clear. Vaccinations and boosters provide the best protection, Zients said. The daily averages of cases and hospital admissions have fallen over the past week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The current seven-day average of Covid-19 cases is approximately 692,400 cases a day, a 6% decrease from the previous week, while the seven-day average of hospital admissions is about 19,800 a day, an 8% decrease. However, the figure for seven-day average daily deaths is about 2,200 a day, an increase of 21%. These data demonstrate that Covid-19 disease severity appears to be lower with the Omicron variant than with prior variants, saidDr Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC. Although its encouraging that Omicron appears to be causing less severe disease, it is important to remember that we are still facing a high overall burden of disease. Milder does not mean mild, the director added. Now is the time to do what we know works: wear a mask, get vaccinated and get boosted. Speaking at the press briefing, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, said that scientists have been working on developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine, in order to induce broad and durable protection against coronaviruses that are known, and some that are even at this point, unknown. Story continues Nevertheless, those vaccines would take years to develop, he said. I dont want anyone to think that pan-coronavirus vaccines are literally around the corner in a month or two. Zients also told reporters that approximately 85% of the Covid-19 antiviral pills that the US has purchased has been directly distributed to states. This has been done the same way we distribute vaccines for them to then put the pills in the most important places within their states, at local hospitals and health systems and other caregivers, Zients said. The remaining 15% will be distributed directly to community health centers around the country, he added. Earlier this month, Biden announced that the US would purchase 20m of Pfizers Covid-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid, doubling its previous order of 10m. In data released by Pfizer last December, the pill was estimated to have reduced the risk of hospitalization or death due to Covid by 89% in high-risk adults. A rare veto by Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri regarding language in an ordinance related to adding firefighters will be on the agenda of a special Utica Common Council meeting Friday. In a statement Wednesday, Palmieri said the ordinance to increase the complement of firefighters by eight positions, upon approval of a federal Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grant, had legal deficiencies identified by the citys corporation counsel. The mayor said he fully supported the intent of the ordinance, however. The special meeting was first called by Common Council President Michael Galime, citing concerns over the language of pending approval, instead of upon approval, of the SAFER grant. Utica City Hall A memo from Charles Brown, Utica assistant corporation counsel, said the council should instead adopt a resolution in support of the grant to help with the success of the grant application. The council could then adopt an ordinance increasing the maximum number of firefighters in the citys employ. Public safety: Utica Common Council votes to approve citizen-led police advisory board Legislation: Common Council OKs property tax relief for Utica seniors and residents with disabilities Brown also included a sample ordinance that would amend the complement of firefighters now, but not take effect unless the grant is received. The sample ordinance addressed potential issues with the original legislation, such as making the increase conditional on receiving a SAFER grant for the current year and allowing a contingency should the grant not fund a different number of positions than eight. It also would not be certified for publication by the city clerk until the SAFER grant was received. The meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. in the Common Council chambers at Utica City Hall. Steve Howe is the city reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email him at showe@gannett.com. This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Utica Common Council will hold special meeting after mayor's veto Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases brought on by Omicron, the Vermont National Guard will increase staff support to hospitals struggling to meet the demand, according to a National Guard press release. The Vermont Department of Health asked the Vermont National Guard to shift support from vaccine clinics to "wrap-around" services because Vermont leads the nation in vaccination rate among all eligible groups age 5 and older. As the pandemic continues to evolve, so does the Vermont National Guard's support efforts, from distributing meals to providing test kits and personal protective items to medical facilities and schools across the state since the pandemic began. A member of the Vermont National Guard arranges follow-up vaccination appointments at the DoubleTree by Hilton in South Burlington on March 4, 2021. The Vermont Department of Health specifically requested the vaccination team work directly with immigrants and communities of color, Col. Justin Davis, director of plans and operations for the Vermont National Guard said. "At this point leaders from the immigrant and BIPOC communities coordinate with State leadership to specifically request our Vermont National Guard team and as a result, Vermont has a strong vaccination rate among our BIPOC communities, Davis said. The specific number of Vermont National Guard personnel and medical facilities where they will work remains under review. Currently, the Vermont National Guard has about 120 members supporting the COVID-19 response, approximately 55 of whom currently contribute to the vaccination team, according to the Vermont National Guard. Less than 20 have already begun work providing wrap-around services in the region, but that number and the facilities supported is expected to increase. The Vermont National Guard expects to continue vaccination clinics in addition to hospital support, warehouse operations, test kit assembly and voluntary contact mapping until no longer needed by the state. Summer Sorg is a reporter for the Burlington Free Press. Contact her at ssorg@freepressmedia.com. This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: VT COVID surge: National Guard to support hospital staffing Vice President Kamala Harris led a U.S. delegation to Honduras on Thursday for the inauguration of Xiomara Castro, the first woman to win the presidency, who the U.S. is banking on to help stem corruption and get to the root causes of migration. Early in his administration, President Joe Biden tasked Harris to address the root causes of migration from Central America. The U.S. has strongly backed Castro and sees her as a potential ally in a region where there are few. The presidents of Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, and Honduras' outgoing president, have presented challenges to the U.S. Image: (Erin Schaff / AFP - Getty Images pool) During the swearing in ceremony at a packed soccer stadium, the crowd cheered when Harris was introduced. She congratulated Castro over her democratic election. "The presidency of the Republic has never been filled by a woman in Honduras," Castro said during her inaugural speech. "We are breaking barriers, we are breaking traditions." Following the ceremony, Harris and Castro held a bilateral meeting. As president, it was Castro's first meeting with a foreign leader. Harris said that combating corruption and impunity are the focus of the U.S. in order to get to the root causes of migration. Harris welcomed Castros plans to request the assistance of the United Nations to establish an international anti-corruption commission. They also talked about collaboration on stimulating economic growth and the creation of jobs. Harris said the U.S. will send Honduras several hundred thousand more COVID-19 vaccine doses in the next two month as well as 500,000 pediatric syringes, and $1.35 million to refurbish educational and health facilities. The Biden administrations relationship with Castro is a welcome change for Washington, in a region where democracy is more at risk than at any point since Central Americas transition to democracy in the 1990s, said Paul Angelo, a Latin America Studies fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, who is currently in Guatemala conducting research on migration. Story continues The corruption and lack of democracy in the region, Angelo said, has forced the administration to focus on partnerships with civil society and the private sector rather than governments. Castros presidency should give Washington cause for cautious optimism in this regard, but the magnitude of challenges confronting Honduras including high poverty and unemployment, devastation by natural disasters, endemic violence and corruption," Angelo said, "will require substantial, targeted and sustainable investments to rebuild the country, professionalize its institutions and curb northward migration. But Castro, a leftist, is already facing domestic political challenges. Honduras is in the midst of a legislative crisis with a dispute over who will lead the newly elected Congress. Rival candidates have declared themselves head of Congress, challenging Castros ability to pass legislation. Dissident lawmakers from Castros Libre party are backing their own candidate rather than supporting Castros choice. This will affect Castros ability to tackle corruption, as well as the high rates of unemployment and violence, as she has vowed to do. These are chronic problems, not only in Honduras but in the region, and they have helped fueled illegal immigration to the U.S. This was Castros third run for the presidency. She was first lady when her husband, Manuel Zelaya, was in office. His presidency ended in 2009 with a military coup. Castros inauguration brings to an end the eight-year tenure of Juan Orlando Hernandez, who has been accused by federal prosecutors in New York of having links to drug traffickers. Hernandez denies the accusations. Follow NBC Latino on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Amy Harris/Invision/AP/Shutterstock When Rosalind Brewer was appointed CEO of Walgreens Boots Alliance in 2021, she became the only Black woman at the helm of an S&P 500 company and only the third Black woman to ever achieve this milestone. She was also the first woman and first Black person to be CEO of Sams Club, and subsequently served as Starbucks COO from 2017 to 2021. Clearly, Brewer is no stranger to breaking barriers. Related: 4 Essential Tips for Moms Re-Entering the Workforce Read: 3 Money Moves Every Woman Must Make, According To Rachel Cruze During the 2021 Forbes Power Womens Summit, Brewer reflected on how she found her voice as a leader, how she ended up on a path to the C-suite and how she balances her career with motherhood. On Finding Her Voice Brewer has risen to the highest ranks of corporate America, but she admits she wasnt a natural-born leader and that it took her a while to find her voice. I was that quiet, shy person in the back of the room, she said. It took a couple of people to pay attention to me who could see my wheels turning but my mouth not moving, and to call me out in a meeting, and say, Roz, what do you think?. Just those very few words were like, Oh, somebodys watching, somebody cares.' When she first started speaking up in meetings, Brewer refects that she said a bunch of dumb stuff because I was caught by surprise or wasnt really ready. Just talking, just opening my mouth, that was hard. But she learned from her missteps. I think the stumbling made me better, she said. Find Out: What To Expect (Financially) When Youre Expecting On Landing Executive Roles at Some of the Biggest American Companies Brewer has served as an executive at Kimberly-Clark, Sams Club, Starbucks and now Walgreens, but she said she didnt initially set out on this path. I did not say, Ive got my eyes on this prize, Im going to throw in the hat until I get this CEO title. I actually began to pursue something different than that, she said. Theres a way I wanted to feel about the work I was doing and what I was delivering. Story continues Brewer said her top focus has always been on how to better serve her community. Thats why she took a demotion to join Walmart in 2006 as vice president after serving as group president of Kimberly-Clark. You dont join Walmart after being a group president and become the vice president. If I was trying to be CEO, I would have stayed on that track. But I took several layers down to become a vice president because I wanted to learn something different, Brewer said. Brewer said she wanted to join Walmart because its the largest employer of African-American employees in the United States. I thought, If I could get in there and I make one decision about pay practices, that affects a ton of people. I started to get on that kind of pursuit more so than the mission of my title, she said. And then it just so happened that the two merged. Breaking the Glass Ceiling: How To Land a Leadership Position On Thriving as a Working Mother For a while, Brewer tried to separate home life and work life, and would be mortified if she showed up to work with spilled milk on her shirt. It was only when she gave up on trying to find such stark separation that she was able to thrive in both worlds. Im like, I got milk on my shirt, but what the heck. Ive got to go to work and Ive got to get back to daycare and pick the kids up. Thats just our reality, she said. I think the change for me was when I got comfortable with the messiness of my life, Brewer continued. After a while, I didnt know how to keep it separate anymore. It just got to be so much. They merged together and at that point, my confidence grew to just be like, Hey this is whats happening with me and my life, and it just began to open conversations. Brewer said she felt so much better once she began to bring my whole self to work. Work wasnt stressful anymore because the lines were blurred I was just one Roz, she said. I wasnt that one person at home and a different person at work. Then I began to like work a lot better, and I liked home a lot better. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer Talks Finding Her Voice, Breaking Barriers and Thriving as a Working Mom A former Republican candidate for City Council president and a former city school teacher have filed a lawsuit against Baltimore City and its public school system for what they describe as a sweeping failure to provide an adequate public education, wasting public funds and defrauding taxpayers in the process. Jovani and Shawnda Patterson, who live in Baltimores Mount Holly neighborhood, filed the suit Wednesday in Baltimore City Circuit Court alleging that city residents received no benefit from a school system that completely fails to perform its most important function of educating children. The couple say they have one child, who is not named in the suit, enrolled in the city school system. The complaint points to poor student performance in city schools and describes a pattern of enrollment and grading scan in recent years. And it accuses the school system of making false entries in public records, racketeering, mail fraud, theft and embezzlement. Simply put, the School System is failing to teach its students basic skills each year, then giving up and advancing them without equipping them with the knowledge needed to succeed at the next grade level, the complaint states. City schools representative Gwendolyn Chambers said system officials will review the complaint and respond appropriately once it is received. City spokesman James Bentley responded to the lawsuit in an email Thursday: The Mayor and his administration care deeply about education in Baltimore City. They have made it a priority to ensure that all students can succeed both inside the classroom and beyond. As to this lawsuit, we will review it and respond, in court, properly. The couple is represented by Scott Marder of the Baltimore-based Thomas & Libowitz law firm. Plaintiff Jovani Patterson recently ran for Baltimore City Council president on the Republican ticket during the 2020 election, losing to Democrat Nick Mosby. Shawnda Patterson is a former Baltimore City teacher. Story continues Lawsuits to reform education systems typically appear in federal courts because they hinge on a students constitutional right to education. The Pattersons have notably filed the lawsuit in a local court and do not reference any personal experiences with the school system in their complaint. Federal complaints concerning public education, Marder said, have failed to bring about necessary change, which is why the couple is bringing the case as taxpayers. At a news conference Thursday, the plaintiffs and their attorney stood outside of the school systems North Avenue headquarters and described how decades of city leadership have failed to bring about change. We, the taxpayers, are funding our own demise when were seeing a failing school system that is essentially, systematically pumping out unprepared citizens, Jovani Patterson said. The lawsuit contends that the school systems abysmal performance may lead to a greater probability of crime, which would also likely increase the burden on taxpayers. The complaint refers extensively to local media coverage from The Sun and other outlets of the Augusta Fells Savage Institute of Visual Arts, where a former principal and three other principals were found to have inflated enrollment, fabricated courses and improperly approved students for graduation. The city school system launched an investigation into the scheme after officials found grading irregularities and attendance issues during the summer of 2019. The systems investigative report later noted an ongoing review by the Maryland Office of Inspector General for Education. Investigator Richard Henry declined Thursday to comment on ongoing investigations, but said that his office is looking at all schools in Baltimore City. This article will be updated. The West Des Moines Water Works Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward in negotiations to join Central Iowa Water Works. The meeting was the city's seventh public input session held by the five-member board over the last two months. The vote means the board will now move forward in negotiating a 28E agreement that would allow the city to enter into a joint exercise of government powers with other utilities. Members of Des Moines Water Works' board of trustees voted unanimously to approve a similar resolution on Dec. 21. The Urbandale Water Utility unanimously approved a similar course of action on Jan. 12. West Des Moines' board plans to hold additional public meetings during the negotiation process, which board Chair Scott Brennan said he expects to last at least six months. Several city residents attended Wednesday's meeting both in-person and virtually. West Des Moines resident Jeff Madison said he's concerned that joint utility will raise his water bill. Members of West Des Moines Water Works' Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to move forward in creating a framework for regionalization with Des Moines and Urbandale. "I'm not ready for my bill to jump up," Madison said. "I just think we need to look into it a little bit more maybe go ahead, but I think we need to have a lot more information on it." Trustees acknowledged that rates will go up, but said regionalizing is a cheaper option than the other alternative of building a west regional plant with Waukee and Van Meter. Members of the board's planning committee have previously said that joining the regionalized utility would save consumers up to 30% over the next four decades compared to building a plant. More for subscribers: Central Iowa water utility plan gains momentum as West Des Moines looks to join long-envisioned regional group Regionalizing would also allow West Des Moines to have input in the decisions of Central Iowa Water Works, which it currently does not have with Des Moines Water Works, from which it purchases about 30% of the city's annual water supply. Story continues West Des Moines Water Works General Manager Christina Murphy said she knows the city will need more water in 8-10 years, and the agreement would allow the board to have a say in how rates are set. Resident Rita Luther said she's appreciated how the utility has run up until now, though, and expressed concern over potential operational changes caused by joining a regional utility. "I know your intentions are good but, frankly, I just don't trust it to be good enough," she said. Pending the decisions of at least nine other cities and two rural water systems and subsequent agreement negotiations, the regional utility could be operational by next year. In the board's public input sessions, Brennan said he's heard 11 people for regionalization and eight against. Before voting to move forward with Central Iowa Water Works negotiations, he stressed the vote was "only the first step" in creating a framework for regionalization. "Water is an increasingly scarce resource, and we need to do everything we can now to ensure access to safe and affordable water in West Des Moines," Brennan said. Sarah LeBlanc covers the western suburbs for the Register. Reach her at 515-284-8161 or sleblanc@registermedia.com. Follower her on Twitter at @sarahkayleblanc. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: West Des Moines votes to negotiate Central Iowa Water Works agreement Gov. Gretchen Whitmer put forward her case for reelection in her fourth State of the State address Wednesday, saying the state has made great strides under her leadership, despite a global pandemic and a host of other unexpected challenges. She cited Tuesday's announcement of $7 billion in GM investments in electric vehicle manufacturing in Michigan which was attracted in part by $824 million in state incentives, but is expected to create or retain 5,000 jobs as evidence Michigan's economy is evolving toward a secured future. "While 2021 wasnt as miraculous as any of us wanted, we have made progress," Whitmer said. "Were stronger in large part thanks to science and lifesaving vaccines. We have come a long way, and I am encouraged about the path ahead." In this frame capture from the video feed, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivers her 2022 State of the State address by live video from Detroit Diesel in Redford Township on Jan. 26, 2022. Whitmer delivered the election-year speech from Detroit Diesel Corp. in Redford Township, a subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG that is retooling to adapt to an electric vehicle future. Only a few staff members were in attendance, according to her press secretary, Bobby Leddy. Normally, the speech is delivered in the House chamber in front of huge crowd of lawmakers, dignitaries and invited guests. Whitmer said she chose to deliver the speech remotely, for the second straight year, to ensure safety amid near-record numbers of COVID-19 cases. Whitmer, a Democrat, pledged continued major funding for Michigan schools and promised the state will do all it can to get all children safely back into classrooms as quickly as possible. "Remote learning is not as fulfilling or conducive to a childs growth. In-person learning is critical to social development and mental health," she said. She said she would introduce a School Aid Budget for 2023 that "will mark the biggest state education funding increase in more than 20 yearswithout raising taxes." She noted her last budget closed the funding gap between school districts by equalizing the state per-pupil foundation grant and investing $8,700 in each student, in all districts. Story continues During the 25-minute speech, Whitmer also pledged to: Return Michigan retirement taxes to what they were before 2012, when then-Gov. Rick Snyder and the GOP-controlled Legislature eliminated certain tax exemptions for public and private pension income. The restored exemptions would mean about an extra $1,000 on average for 500,000 Michiganders, once fully phased in for the 2025 tax year, officials said. "When I was in the Legislature, I fought the retirement tax because it was wrong," said Whitmer, a former Senate minority leader. "Lets make it right." More than triple the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income earners, to 20% of the federal tax credit, up from 6%. That move, too, would restore Michigan law to what it was prior to 2012, when both personal income taxes received a major shake-up under Snyder. The change, which would require approval of the Legislature, would mean about an extra $350 on average in the state portion of the EITC for the more than 730,000 families who qualify, the administration said. Under Snyder, "taxes on working families went up to pay for a tax giveaway for big corporations they didnt need," Whitmer said. "Thats not right." Support legislation that would cap the cost of insulin which Whitmer said costs some diabetics $3,600 a year at $50 per month. Too many Michiganders are forced to forgo insulin or ration itputting their lives at risk," she said. Introduce a $2,500 electric vehicle rebate for families, with $2,000 for the car and $500 for in-home charging equipment. That would be on top of a $7,500 federal electric vehicle credit. "If we get this done, we can lower the cost of electric vehicles by nearly $10,000," Whitmer said. "We can make it easier for Michiganders to go electric." Enhance access to mental health care by expanding the Michigan Loan Repayment Program for mental health professionals. The state has about $5.8 billion in anticipated surplus state revenues that it can spend now and about $15 billion in still-unspent federal stimulus and infrastructure funds that it can spend over the next several years, officials determined at a recent revenue estimating conference. The vast majority is "one-time" money, best suited for one-time expenditures such as capital projects, but Budget Director Christopher Harkins said the state has an extra $600 million or more a year from economic growth that could be used to fund new programs or reduce taxes. More: State of Michigan has more than $20B in extra revenue to spend: How it breaks down More: Shirkey says Whitmer still leading through fear, touts false claims on 'natural immunity' Until 2012, public pensions were exempt from income tax while private pensions were exempt up to $41,200 for single filers and $90,240 for joint filers. Snyder said it was a fairness issue to treat all pension income equally, since some retirees have large public pensions and other have small private ones. The exception is Social Security income, which is not taxed. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, said Wednesday that treating taxpayers fairly with respect to pension income remains a priority and there would be little interest in returning Michigan to the pension tax policies of 2011. "However, if what she's proposing would affect all pensioners and all citizens, then I think it would be something that we'd be very, very interested to look at," Shirkey said. He said he expects the administration and Senate Republicans may find common ground on changes to the Earned Income Tax Credit, and he hopes Whitmer will "entertain some notions and some ideas regarding income tax." The comments came hours after the Senate Finance Committee approved a plan to reduce the state's income tax rate, a proposal that would cost the state $2 billion. Shirkey would not commit to the full Senate voting on the measure, but said lawmakers must be cognizant of not implementing cuts that were financially unsustainable. About a dozen Republican candidates say they want to take on Whitmer in the November election. The GOP candidate is to be selected in an August primary. They've attacked her on her handling of the pandemic, saying 2020 business shutdowns needlessly hurt the economy while school closures hurt parents and students. They say she has not fulfilled her signature 2018 pledge to "fix the damn roads." "Gretchen Whitmer made countless promises to voters on the campaign trail in 2018, but after three years in office, Michigan is left with nothing but broken roads and broken promises," said Chris Gustafson, a spokesman for the Republican Governors Association. Whitmer disputed that in her speech. "The pandemic slowed us down a bit, but since I took office, Michigan has repaired, rebuilt, or rehabilitated over 13,000 lane miles of road and over 900 bridges in every region of our state," she said. Whitmer at the start of her speech recognized the 30,000 Michiganders who have died from COVID-19 and touted the efficacy of vaccines, but did not provide any new plans to more effectively end the pandemic in Michigan. She said that since taking office in 2019, she has also contended with a "polar vortex ... national recession, multiple 500-year flooding events, (and) a kidnapping and murder plot." Among the accomplishments she cited: More than $420 million in aid to businesses hurt by the pandemic, expanded access to child care, and criminal justice reforms that have included the ability for some Michiganders to expunge their criminal records and resume life with a clean slate. Still, polls have shown Whitmer slightly under water on her job approval ratings and facing close contests in potential Republican matchups. Just as many Republicans were outraged by her aggressive actions to restrict business and other activities early in the pandemic, significant numbers of Democrats have been unhappy with her refusal to extend mask mandates and other pandemic measures over the last several months. Whitmer reiterated a pledge to veto any legislation that seeks to restriction access to abortion, as national expectations grow that the U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Robert McCann, head of the K-12 Alliance, an organization representing school superintendents in Genesee, Macomb, Oakland, St. Clair and Wayne counties, thanked Whitmer for her commitment to in-person learning. "We know students learn best when they are in the classroom and, thankfully today, nearly every Michigan school has their students learning in-person and receiving the best academic, social and emotional services possible," McCann said. Whitmer's comments on in-person learning were something of a departure. In 2020, she teamed up with GOP legislative leaders to pass bills that empowered local leaders to make decisions on whether classes should be virtual or in person. But in recent months, especially after federal health officials said it was generally safe for students to return to school buildings if precautions are followed, critics have blasted the Whitmer administration for not forcing districts to nix remote learning. Monique Stanton, president of the Michigan League for Public Policy advocacy organization, said the governor's proposed expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit would provide welcome relief to a broad array of Michiganders. "The Michigan EITC is a win-win investment that resonates in all counties and political districts, benefits rural and urban residents, and supports families while getting spent at our small businesses and in our local communities," Stanton said in a statement Tuesday. "We are grateful to the governor and Senator Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City) for making this a priority, and we hope the Legislature will do the same. Jim Holcomb, president and CEO of the Michigan Chamber, said the state's largest business group appreciates Whitmer's focus on reinvigorating the economy and growing jobs. "We urge the governor to work collaboratively across the aisle with legislative leaders and lawmakers to find the bipartisan, pragmatic solutions our members and businesses need and count on," Holcomb said. House Speaker Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell, was blunt in his criticism of Whitmer's address. He said she focused on "other people's accomplishments" and highlighted plans already proposed or in the works by the Legislature. Were happy to have her support, and we will definitely take her up on her offer to work together. But I think we were all hoping for a little more from this speech," Wentworth said in a statement. "The responsibility to lead on the states most pressing issues government ethics, healthcare reform, economic development and others will once again lie with the Legislature in 2022. House Tax Policy Committee Chairman Matt Hall, R-Emmett Township, came out against the proposed rebate for electric vehicles, suggesting it was unnecessary given recent massive demand. Inflation, workforce shortages and supply chain disruptions have hit the pocketbooks of many people extremely hard and are forcing them into tough financial decisions. Sensible tax reductions can alleviate this while getting more money into our state and local economies," Hall said. But Ford, Stellantis and some business groups applauded the EV tax credit. The plan "will help more Michiganders get behind the wheel of EVs, combat climate change, and ensure our home state continues to drive the world into the zero-emissions transportation future," said Steven Croley, Ford's chief policy officer and general counsel. Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter. Become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer says Michigan has made great strides despite pandemic Jonathan Pryce (left) and Les Dennis will both appear in Whodunnit (Unrehearsed)' (Getty) Jonathan Pryce and Les Dennis are set to star in a new play with a twist they havent rehearsed it or seen the script. The actors, who join previously announced names such as Emma Thompson, Gillian Anderson and Ian McKellen, will each appear in one night of Whodunnit (Unrehearsed), a murder mystery written by aaJez Bond and Mark Cameron playing at Park Theatre in Finsbury Park. Every show will feature a different famous actor in the role of the detective, with the actors hearing the lines for the first time while on stage through an earpiece. Also taking part in Whodunnit, which runs from 9 February to 12 March, will be Caroline Quentin, Sharon Small and Eddie Nestor. Other previously announced actors include Sanjeev Bhaskar, Simon Callow and Joanna Lumley. Discussing his appearance in the show earlier this week, McKellen described it as a crazy idea he hoped would be crazy fun. I suppose many of the audience will come along wanting to see an actor fall flat on their face and they may very well be rewarded, he said. After each show, that nights star will take part in a 20-minute Q&A talking through the process of appearing in Whodunnit. Welcome back to the Coronavirus Watch newsletter. Its digital producer Ray Padilla giving you the latest on the COVID-19 pandemic in West Tennessee. Last week, Tennessee Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey reported a plateau in coronavirus infections, saying the virus was flattening and even declining in essentially all metropolitan areas. This week, the state of Tennessee reported the omicron variant is still spreading but appears to be gradually losing momentum. In Memphis and Nashville, COVID-19 infections fell sharply within the last week and state leaders project the omicron wave will burn out there first. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top coronavirus official to the Biden administration, said he was as confident as you can be that most states will have peaked by mid-February. In a base case scenario, Fauci said, infections will drop to the point that they dont disrupt society. While the drop in infections will hopefully come soon, Tennessee Department of Health said it must follow federal instructions requiring it to ensure nursing homes comply with the Biden administrations vaccine mandate recently upheld by the Supreme Court. However, the health department is not holding itself to the same standard as it hasnt required its department members to get a vaccine by the deadline. One official said department employees were instructed "not to worry" about complying with the mandate, and another official said health care workers received no instructions about the mandate at all, our Brett Kelman reports in his story for subscribers. The Biden administration's vaccine mandate applies to health care workers at hospitals, nursing homes or any other facility that participates in the Medicare or Medicaid programs. The Department of Health runs a statewide network of primary-care clinics and other health providers that participate in TennCare, the states Medicaid program. Vaccination information COVID-19 vaccines are now widely available to all Tennesseans 5 years old and up. No appointments are necessary. Walk-in options are available at all health departments, and you can also make an appointment if you prefer. Story continues The Food and Drug Administration has authorized vaccine booster shots for people 12 years old and up. For all vaccine information, eligibility, and to find vaccine sites in your area, visit the Tennessee Department of Health website. Coronavirus by the numbers Shelby County (as of Thursday): 15,623: Active cases 2,885: Total deaths 551,610: Fully vaccinated Madison County (as of Jan. 22): 3,693: Active cases 374: Total deaths 91,35: Fully vaccinated (as of Wednesday) Tennessee (as of Jan. 22): 206,176: Active cases 22,151: Total deaths 2,226,662: Fully vaccinated (as of Wednesday) Note: Tennessee Department of Health no longer publishes virus statistics daily. This has been Ray Padilla with your weekly update on COVID-19 news in West Tennessee. You can reach me by email at raymond.padilla@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter at @Ray_Padilla_. This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Coronavirus Watch: Memphis, Nashville see COVID-19 cases decline A factory worker at Amys Kitchen who previously spoke out about working conditions has filed a formal complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health on behalf of all workers at the companys Santa Rosa plant. The Santa Rosa plant was the subject of an NBC News report about what workers described as an unforgiving environment that pushed them past the point of injury. The complaint to Cal/OSHA was filed on Jan. 20 by Cecilia Luna Ojeda, who previously spoke to NBC News along with one former and three current workers. Amys Kitchen is one of the countrys top producers of vegetarian canned and frozen food, with about $600 million in sales in 2020, and has a reputation as a socially responsible company. In March, Amys Kitchen received certification as a B Corp, a designation given by a nonprofit network that recognizes what it describes as workplaces that promote positive social change. The complaint alleged that workers are not able to use the restroom or access clean drinking water in the course of their fast-paced shifts because of pressure to maintain line speeds. The complaint also described locked fire exits, worn-out floor mats and a lack of proper training for tasks like heavy lifting and operating heavy machinery. The complaint said workers experience hostility when they bring up safety concerns. In an interview with NBC News, Amys Kitchen Chief People Officer Mike Resch disputed much of the complaint, including the detail that fire exits are locked or blocked. Theyre not locked, period, full stop, Resch said. If ever a fire exit is blocked, that is remedied immediately. We encourage our employees to raise safety issues, Resch added. We at Amys want to be and have a safety culture, where safety is built in to the way we work and think. And we like to inspire our people to raise issues before incidents happen, so that we can address and mitigate or eliminate the risk. Cal/OSHA confirmed that it received the complaint Jan. 20. The agency has three working days to open an inspection for allegations of serious violations or 14 days for nonserious violations, but it did not indicate yet if or when an inspection would occur. The filing asked Cal/OSHA not to reveal the identity of the worker, but Ojeda has since given permission to the media to use her name. Story continues The complaint was written for Ojeda by Tony Delorio, an official with the Teamsters union Local 665, which is trying to organize the Santa Rosa plant. Amys Kitchen previously told NBC News it does not want workers to unionize because it prefers to have a direct relationship with workers. The complaint Ojeda filed, which asked regulators to take immediate action, also described unsafe speeds on the production line and workers who were not properly accommodated after they were injured. Ojeda and the other workers had described similar circumstances when they previously spoke with NBC News. Amy's Kitchen (David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images) Amys Kitchen responded by saying the recordable injury rate at its Santa Rosa plant is two times better than the industry average for food manufacturing. The workers who spoke with NBC News said previously that their injuries were downplayed by their supervisors and shared medical documents that detailed work-related injuries. The complaint went into detail about how high quotas and other logistics at the factory create what Ojeda alleged is an unsafe working environment. It said that workers are not given the opportunity to take breaks or change tasks to prevent repetitive motion injuries; that workers do not have access to clean drinking water during their shifts; and that workers are shamed or asked to provide a doctors note if they request a break from the line to use the restroom. If an employee has a need on a given day to use the restroom, or get some water or things like that, we take care of our people and would allow them to do that, Resch said. Where I think this might be getting into context is, if an employee repeatedly throughout their shift, while theyre on the line, or constantly, for each day, lets say, needs to leave the line in order to use the restroom, not during breaks, and its kind of what we would describe as more regular that is viewed as an accommodation that wed want to make sure that we understood, he said. Were very reasonable in the approach to try to discern between someone who has that need, which we want to support, on an irregular basis, in which case it wouldnt require that, versus an employee who has a need to visit the restroom more regularly outside of breaks, he said. The complaint also described assembly line tables that are not the right height for workers and floor mats that are worn out. It said workers without proper training are required to do heavy lifting and power on and off the machines and that when machines break down, workers are required to manually carry trays of food to different areas of the plant. We will inspect and visually look at the floor mats, Resch said. Obviously, if employees have a concern and then raise them to us, were going to get right on that. Resch also said Amys Kitchen has a robust training program for heavy lifting, operating machinery and other tasks. Workers said line speeds at Amys Kitchen had increased over the years without an increase in pay or attention to how the faster speed could cause injuries. Ojeda said in a previous interview that each assembly line was tasked with making about 25,000 plates of food during an 8 -hour shift. At full staffing levels, workers in the burrito line in the production department are expected to roll 10-12 burritos per minute (and 50 burritos per line), the complaint said, adding that staffing issues have intensified quotas. Plate assembly lines are currently understaffed, requiring workers to rush to fill a plate of food; the standard currently is to assemble 66 plates per minute, but sometimes it can reach as high as 72 plates per minute, the complaint said. Operations At An Amy's Kitchen As Covid-19 Eliminates Consumer Brands That Americans Love (David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images) Amys Kitchen has declined NBC News request for specifics of how many plates workers prepare per shift. Resch said the number varies and that staffing shortages would lower the production goals. We set our line speeds and our case goals with safety in mind and the number of people that we have available, he said. Amys Kitchen previously said the company had been affected by the labor availability challenges being felt nationwide. In past interviews with other media outlets, the company had also said it had increased production to meet unprecedented demand for shelf-stable food during the pandemic. The same meal may have numerous different case goals depending upon many factors, so I cant summarize it in a specific number for the entire plant, Resch added. When workers get injured on the job, the complaint said they are not given proper accommodation. The complaint shared the story of one worker who asked for a chair following a recommendation from her doctor who subsequently was ignored and shamed. The story appears to match an account that a worker previously gave to NBC News about being denied a chair that her doctor requested. I cant talk about individual cases, especially disability accommodations, Resch said. What I will say is that, whenever theres a request for an accommodation made and that would include a request for a chair, as an example we partner very closely with the employee and work very hard to support the employee and come up with an accommodation that works for the employee. After the previous NBC News article was published, Amys Kitchen released a statement saying, This report does not reflect who we are as a company and the values we uphold. Founders Andy and Rachel Berliner signed off on a letter that went out to workers last week that had a similar message. At the end of the letter, which was obtained by NBC News, the Berliners said they will have new information to share in the coming days. The letter also told workers to direct any outside people who communicate with them to their managers. The company did not respond to questions about the letter. In 2019, Cal/OSHA opened three separate inspections into the Santa Rosa plant in response to accidents over the course of that year, according to a review of OSHA records. Regulators found seven serious violations as defined by OSHA and issued $89,100 in penalties. Amys Kitchen contested the citations, the records show. Amys Kitchen was also cited in 2018 by OSHA at its plants in Oregon and in Idaho following separate complaints at each location. The company paid $23,135 as part of an informal settlement over the Idaho violations and was fined $6,000 for the Oregon violations. We value our relationship with OSHA and look forward to connecting with OSHA about this complaint, Resch said. The hazards described in Ojedas complaint are preventable if Amys Kitchen takes necessary precautions, the complaint said. We firmly believe workers are at risk of serious harm if no action is taken. New York governor Kathy Hochul said on Wednesday that she will absolutely stand behind her support for bail reform, potentially thwarting New York City mayor Eric Adamss plans to combat gun violence. I will absolutely stand behind the fundamental premise on why we needed bail reform in the first place, Hochul said during a press conference about an anti-gun violence team where the mayor appeared virtually. Hochul expressed support for the basis of the controversial legislation passed in 2019 that eliminated cash bail for defendants accused of misdemeanor and non-violent felony crimes. Some of the bail-reform changes were rolled back one year later in response to an outcry from law enforcement and the public. It was just a terrible law that was passed, Nassau County Republican Committee chairman Joseph Cairo Jr. previously told National Review of the bail-reform law. It gives criminals the ability to commit a crime today, get arrested, be brought into court later today and be free again tonight and go out and commit another burglary this has actually happened. On Monday, Adams said lawmakers must allow judges to take dangerousness into account when setting bail or deciding to jail someone pending trial. Hochul said there are opportunities to have these conversations with the mayor, as well as with the legislature as the session unfolds, on any reforms that are recommended. She went on to accuse judges, Republicans, and moderate Democrats who support changes to the law of playing politics, the New York Post reported. The governor cited the case of Kalief Browder, a 22-year-old who died by suicide after spending three years on Rikers Island awaiting trial on charges that were ultimately dropped, as a reason for why bail reform is necessary. Others, who are trying to politicize this, and the other party dont seem to acknowledge why there was a need for change, she said. You had two individuals accused of identical criminal offenses, even stealing a backpack. And one person goes to Rikers for three years because they couldnt post bail; another person whose parents have money or theyre living in the suburbs . . . can head back after posting bail to their jobs to school in a different life. Story continues She continued: If reforms are needed based on data that is still being gathered, Im willing to have those conversations, so I dont feel just because people, for political reasons, want me to give an answer, thats not how I operate, she said. I dont cave to pressure. I do whats right based on all the facts that come before me. Hochuls comments come after two NYPD officers were killed in an ambush shooting in Harlem last week. That shooting led the official in charge of court operations for New York State and six Republican members of Congress from New York to agree with Adamss call to alter the 2019 bail-reform laws to give judges more control over setting bail for defendants judges find present a public-safety risk. However, New York State Senate majority leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and state assembly speaker Carl Heastie have both opposed Adamss request for state lawmakers to reform the controversial laws. Since Hochul succeeded disgraced ex-governor Andrew Cuomo in August, roughly 740 people have been shot in New York City, NYPD data show. More from National Review A Waynesboro man facing three drug charges after his arrest in August was denied bond on Jan. 25 in Nelson Circuit Court. Tyler Scott Ruppel, 31, is accused of possession with intent to distribute a Schedule II narcotic, possession of greater than 100 grams of Schedule II methamphetamine with intent to distribute and simultaneous possession of a firearm while in possession of a Schedule II drug, according to a press release from the Virginia State Police. David Travis Lowery, of Waynesboro, and Stephen Edward Lackey, of Staunton, were both taken into custody with Ruppel and are facing related drug charges, according to Virginia State Police. Nelson County Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Will Flory presented Judge Michael Doucette with testimony from the Nelson County Sheriffs Office. Flory said that on Aug. 1 a large quantity of methamphetamine was expected to be moved outside Ashleys Market convenience store in Afton. Two vehicles met at Ashleys Market, one containing Ruppel and Lowery. When police arrived, they found a loaded Glock handgun, which had been stolen in Richmond, under Ruppels left leg, Flory said. Police also found a bag containing 66 grams of methamphetamine in the drivers side console and a knotted bag of heroin in the vehicle, Flory said. According to their statement, during the course of their investigation Virginia State Police seized approximately 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated value of $66,800; 23 grams of psilocybin mushrooms with an estimated value of $1,380; 100 grams of marijuana with an estimated street value of $2,000 and 3.5 grams of heroin with an estimated street value of $875. When interviewed, Ruppel told police that he always carries a firearm and that Lowery had picked him up to get methamphetamine, Flory said. Ruppel told police he and Lowery had picked him up for the same purpose before. At the time of his arrest, Ruppel was living on and off with his father, who was present at the bond hearing. Ruppels sister, Kristen Thomas, testified on his behalf. She said that he would return to live with his father if given bond and is intending to apply to a local eatery. Thomas also said she had been proactive and commuted from her Manassas residence for all of her brothers hearings. Ruppels defense, Charlottesville attorney Michael J. Hallahan, told the court that Ruppel is not a convicted felon and said evidence presented did not show that his client was involved in the drug deal. The evidence does not show that Ruppel knew what was in the console, Hallahan said. Flory told Doucette that Ruppel was an admitted heroin and methamphetamine user and raised concerns about his potential drug use if released. Addressing Hallahans suggestion that Ruppel was just in the car during the transaction, Flory said the evidence indicated that Ruppel was present for protection in case something went wrong with the deal. In denying bond, Doucette cited a strong presumption that Ruppel was in the car for protection and said he is a danger to himself and others. Ruppels arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 18. 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. Brook Hill Farms new covered riding arena is enormous. The solid steel pavilion covers a 100-foot-by-145-foot space of tilled earth and stands 20 feet tall to shield riders from inclement weather and heat. Bedford County nonprofit Brook Hill Farm has been fundraising for two years to build the $338,654 pavilion, and construction began in October. French drains must be installed and grading is in progress, but otherwise the arena is complete. Executive Director and Brook Hill Farm co-founder Jo Anne Miller still is impressed: I walk out here, and Im like, Wow. The new structure may be striking but the backdrop is even grander: 60 acres of hilled pasture in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. When not at work in Brook Hill programs, the farms 40 horses spend the day grazing together like a wild herd, which Miller explains is an ideal situation for a horses mental and physical health. What were trying to do is let horses be horses the way nature intended and we find that if we allow the horses to live in a herd and not in a stall and be out, that they work better with the people when we ask them to participate with us. The horses playing and roaming freely in Brook Hill Farms pasture are themselves not typical. The farm is a certified horse sanctuary that treats and houses lame, injured, abused and neglected horses. Brook Hill Farm serves as the Bedford County horse shelter and partners with local animal control. Rehabilitated horses have permanent homes at the sanctuary but can be matched with new owners upon recovery. The farm has placed 522 horses in new homes since its founding in 2001. Brook Hill Farms stables are empty during the day except for students and staff clearing horse manure and brushing their horses. Miller compares a typical horses enclosure for most of the day to imprisonment in a jail cell. Weve made it convenient for us so we put them in this little box. So itd be like putting you in a jail cell or closet and saying, Yeah, amuse yourself for 24 hours. Maybe Ill come today and ride you, maybe I wont. Millers strategy is informed by her research at Randolph College, where she teaches equine science. She also is a registered riding instructor and equine specialist in mental health and learning. Miller first brought in local at-risk youth because she needed help with the horses. She soon discovered how much the horses were helping the kids. The horse mirrors what you do. So if you have a troubled teen and the teen is angry, the horse has nothing to do with them. So the kids have to learn to adjust their nonverbal body language in order to work with the horses, Miller said. Miller explained horses are uniquely perceptive to human emotion because they must instinctively assess whether a stranger poses a threat. Thats what they think about when we come close to them. So they basically have to be very leery of our body language. Miller hired tutors when she found the youth on her farm often werent participating in school and were failing to graduate. One of Brook Hills programs, United Neigh, accepts at-risk youth from Lynchburg and the surrounding counties who are disadvantaged, abused or have learning or physical disabilities. Each participant is paired with a rescue horse that they learn to ride and whose care they are responsible for. Participants are tutored by college interns, volunteers and staff to help them master subjects they struggle with. Another program, Gaits 4 change, serves younger youth in transition or social services programs. Helping horses, helping people Miller feels the tagline embodies her farms mission, that educational and therapeutic programs work in tandem with horse rehabilitation. I find that the abused horses and abused children really can relate, she said. A lot of their nonverbal body language is similar. So, you know, that really helps them heal, and it gives them a purpose. I mean, most of my kids are therapy resistant, which means they dont do well in a typical therapy session. They dont want to sit and talk to a counselor. Theyve been there done that. But yeah, they want to work with horses so they have to change in order to do that, to change their behavior. In the tack room, saddles and bridles hang neatly on hooks. Every participant in Brook Hills equine assisted learning programs has their own cubby. Miller said the organization in this room and throughout the facility provides stability and comfort to participants with developmental or intellectual disabilities who thrive in an ordered, predictable atmosphere. The organization and routine also is comforting to youth who have no such order and stability in their home lives. Jordan Altman said she must love Brook Hill Farm because shes never left. Altman is a program graduate who returned to work at the farm while she takes college classes online. Brook Hill Farm has been able to maintain and adapt its services during the pandemic. These days, students who struggle in an ordinary classroom environment or who have health conditions that make in-person school unsafe can study in the facilities classroom. Licensed Counselor Jane Burks helps students with their online classes in the morning and they work with horses in the afternoon. The farm also offers programs for community seniors and individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities. Programs pair theses participants with horses that have been rigorously trained for adaptive riding. Brook Hill Farm relies on donations from individuals, businesses and foundations and is supported by Central Health for its mental health programming. More than 1,000 volunteers assisted on the farm last year. Miller calls the youth her kids and speaks of her programs graduates with visible pride. She pointed to a loft bed near the entrance to the facilitys offices and said she keeps spare toiletries and clothes in case runaway youth need to spend the night. The bed, much like Brook Hills classroom, pastures and riding arena, always is open to someone in need. 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 Lynchburg man who a prosecutor said assaulted a city resident in his home and was shot doing so was denied a bond request Wednesday. Alan Douglas Mould, 27, faces a felony count of statutory burglary and a misdemeanor count of assault and battery. He was arrested following the Nov. 25, 2020, incident. Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Michael Pflieger said in a hearing Wednesday in Lynchburg Circuit Court that Mould and co-defendant James Franklin, of Roanoke, took part in a home invasion where a young couple with children lived on the 100 block of Wooldridge Circle that night. After midnight, a resident of the home answered a knock on the door by Mould and Franklin, who said their car was broken down and asked for assistance with jumper cables, Pflieger said. The homeowner declined and Mould physically attacked him, the prosecutor said. The resident had a gun and fired three shots, wounding the two intruders, Pflieger said. Lynchburg police arrived and took them into custody, he said. A Lynchburg Police Department news release issued at the time said officers responded at about 1:40 a.m. to a report of a burglary in progress. Both Mould and Franklin were seriously injured in the incident, Pflieger said. The victim also was injured and had surgery in connection with the incident, according to Pflieger. Pflieger said Mould was on bond for another felony charge, a separate February 2020 malicious wounding and assault case in Lynchburg, when the home invasion occurred. He said the commonwealth opposes granting bail for Mould, citing the serious, violent nature of the charges. Judge Frederick Watson denied bond for Mould, who appeared via video at the hearing, as he awaits trial. Mould is set for a Feb. 1 trial in Lynchburg Circuit Court on the malicious wounding and assault charge stemming from the February 2020 incident and is scheduled for trial on the November 2020 incident April 25, according to court records. Meanwhile, Franklin pleaded guilty last July to one count each of statutory burglary and assault and battery and was given a 6-year active sentence, court records show. 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. Lynchburg Mayor MaryJane Dolan sent a letter this week reprimanding Ward IV City Councilman Chris Faraldi following Fridays Lynchburg City School Board meeting. The mayors letter, which Faraldi since has posted on his website, chides him for his unprovoked interruption and use of vulgar language during the board meeting, in which the board voted to continue its mask mandate for students despite a recent executive order from Gov. Glenn Youngkin giving parents control over childrens mask-wearing. In the decision to uphold the mask mandate, several school board members cited a recent Virginia law which requires schools to follow the mitigation recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the maximum extent possible. They argued Youngkins executive order shouldnt supersede the law, which does not expire until Aug. 1. The letter from Dolan, dated Sunday, said Faraldis actions could at best be described as highly inappropriate, and reflects poorly on you, on City Council, and on our City. The incident can be seen on the school boards recorded video of the special meeting on its YouTube page. While the school board was entertaining a motion to vote on the mask mandate at the end of the meeting, Faraldi can be heard in the background saying bye while School Board Chairman James Coleman waited for a motion. Faraldi then opened the doors to the boardroom and could be heard saying, Yall are screwed, before leaving. The councilman told The News & Advance on Wednesday the period of delay between the call for a motion and the motion being made was part of what caused him to say what he did. Following Colemans call for a motion, there was a brief period of silence as the board waited for someone to make the motion to vote. After all of the justification from school board members that this policy was the right way to go, that weve got to it, it makes so much sense, this is where I fall on it, and so on nobody was ready at the time to put their name behind it, Faraldi said. And I and others had a reaction to it, and the reaction was that it was comical. After putting your words behind something, put your actions behind it. School Board District 1 Representative Susan Morrison made the first motion as Faraldi exited the room Friday night. School boards have had a lot of contentious meetings over the last year and a half, Morrison told The News & Advance. But we have, for the most part, have been able to remain civil and respectful. And thats the way this board acts, and our community has been very supportive of that even when we disagree. It took me back, Morrison said about Faraldis comments. Because that was very disrespectful, it was a comment heard by members of our community, by our students who were sitting in the audience. In my opinion, as a single board member, speaking for myself, that is unexpected and uncalled-for behavior. Jen Staton, an LCS parent who was in attendance at the meeting, said Faraldi disrupted the meeting before the vote had been held and said she was shocked he couldnt hold it together until after the meeting. I really, really have a problem with, especially a council member, but anybody trying to disrupt our political process, she said. I guess I can excuse an emotional outburst, but I cant excuse disrupting our processes and how we do business as a city and our community norms. And it just felt crazy to be in a place for a city councilman, of all people, to be willing to disrupt those norms and those procedures. She added she thinks, at the bare minimum, he needs to issue an apology to the school board. Dolans letter to Faraldi said she has been answering questions from citizens as to how an elected official would behave in such a manner. I sincerely hope that going forward you will approach your work and our community with the dignity and respect both deserve, the letter closes by saying. Dolan told The News & Advance on Wednesday, The purpose of my letter was not a commentary on the school boards position, or his position, or any parents position. The purpose of my letter was to tell him to calm it down in terms of how he is showing lack of respect to people when he is communicating. I just felt like it was totally uncalled for and I got a number of calls from people in the community, and emails from people who were pretty upset and felt that I needed to respond. It seems like he is making it look like I was making some sort of commentary on the event itself, but I really wasnt. It was strictly on his behavior, his language and how he reacted and showed disrespect to school board members, minors in that room, attendees, and people watching at home. Faraldi sent a response letter to Dolans on Monday, explaining he was provoked by the LCS Boards unwillingness to solidify the very policy just preached to those in attendance. His letter also can be seen on his website. My response was born out of a representative anger and frustration of those citizens who have contacted me as their representative calling for their ability, as parents, to rightly govern the upbringing, care, and education of their child, the letter reads. The councilman also said in the letter, in response to the mayors call for an apology, if any apology is owed on my behalf it is that my emotions were impacted too much by overreaching action[s] of the [LCS] Board. I do not, however, apologize for the message I communicated, a message you have yet to accurately characterize. Faraldi told The News & Advance on Wednesday, The comments were directed toward the school board. They were directed there because, and if you wanted to know the word choice for screwed, its to signify the lack of awareness as to where the community is on this issue. And its going to cause them more political harm and potentially different school board appointees in the long run. Furthermore, youre going to see greater dissatisfaction from a growing majority of parents not wanting to send their children to Lynchburg City Schools. I dont think thats the message we should be sending, he said. In regard to the decision to keep the mask mandate, Faraldi took to his Facebook page to give comment. To say I am disappointed by Lynchburg City School Boards decision to reject Executive Order 2 and succumb to fear by solidifying their mask mandate, is a profound statement, Faraldi wrote, referring to the governors executive order on masks. Faraldi also wrote, As Council appoints School Board Members, we are responsible for their actions. For me, this action communicates a perspective and philosophy I do not believe appointed leaders should subscribe to. In short, unless properly reconsidered and rightly amended, no school board member who supported the continuation of this mask policy tonight will have my support in reappointment. Staff writer Rachael Smith contributed. 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. Police made a grisly discovery in the summer of 2019 after being called to a Chesterfield County construction site by workers who found what appeared to be human remains. Arriving officers observed the charred remains of a small woman who had been stuffed inside a suitcase and set ablaze. Because she had been so badly burned, it took several more months for the state medical examiners office to positively identify the victim: Helena M. Swigert, 24. After many months of investigation, Chesterfield police unraveled the mystery of Swigerts Aug. 26, 2019, death and arrested two gang members: Shykeem Shoot Em Delaney, 33, and Phaheem Peterson, 28. Detectives determined that Swigert was stuffed into the suitcase and set on fire after she overdosed on heroin provided by the two men. Addicted to heroin, Swigert was used by the Denver Lane Bloods as a prostitute to earn money for the gang that engaged in sex trafficking and drug distribution in the Richmond area. On Wednesday, Peterson, the second of the two defendants, pleaded no contest in Chesterfield Circuit Court to charges of racketeering, gang participation, enticement into a bawdy house, conspiracy to conceal a dead body and concealment of a body in the 2019 sex trafficking death of Swigert. Swigert was still alive when she was set on fire, but unconscious from the heroin overdose, and would not have survived medical intervention, a medical examiner determined. Circuit Judge Jayne Pemberton followed the terms of a plea agreement and sentenced Peterson, a local associate of the Denver Lane Bloods who lived in Henrico County, to a total of 50 years in prison with 42 years suspended, giving him 7 years to serve. Peterson had been charged with eight other offenses, including murder, abduction and arson, but prosecutors withdrew those counts Wednesday because of insufficient evidence. Henrico Assistant Commonwealths Attorney Susan Parrish, who was appointed special prosecutor in the case, noted the prosecution had only one witness who was willing to testify about what happened to the victim the day she died, and she had a supervisory role in the trafficking operation. Others are fully aware of what happened to [the victim], but throughout this investigation, they have evaded us and refused to cooperate, Parrish said. The prosecutor said detectives went to great lengths to secure their cooperation, but people who were more than happy to profit from Helena and feed her addiction care even less about her now. Parrish said from a legal standpoint, the testimony of one witness is sufficient for a jury to return a guilty verdict. However, the prosecution had nothing else no cellphone location data, no text messages, no toll records, no DNA, no other witnesses to corroborate the testimony of the one witness willing to testify. We felt it important to gain convictions to hold [the defendants] responsible, but recognized the hurdles of proceeding with a case that relied on the testimony of one witness, she said. In February 2020, Peterson was sentenced in Henrico County Circuit Court to serve five years in prison after pleading no contest to three sex trafficking charges stemming from offenses in 2019. The time he received Wednesday in Chesterfield will be served consecutively to the punishment he received in Henrico. Delaney, Peterstons accomplice in the Chesterfield case, pleaded no contest on Jan. 6 to the same five charges and was sentenced pursuant to a plea agreement to 50 years in prison with 40 suspended. Delaney, who lived in New York, was a ranking member of the Denver Lane Bloods. Peterson took directions from Delaney, authorities said. According to the prosecutions summary of evidence, Swigert had been staying in hotels in Chesterfield, Henrico and Richmond and worked on behalf of the gang, along with several other women. Detectives were able to ascertain that on Aug. 26, 2019, Delaney, Peterson, Swigert and a fourth person, Maya Hubbard, acquired some heroin and checked into the Red Roof Inn on Commerce Road in Richmond, about a mile from the Chesterfield line. All four entered the room, and Delaney and Peterson provided the heroin to Swigert. The defendants told Swigert that she had a play, or customer, and would be receiving money for sexual services. Swigert stayed in the room while the others left and sat in a car in the parking lot. When Swigert didnt answer the door for her date, Hubbard entered the room and found Swigert unconscious and not breathing. Delaney attempted to wake Swigert by smacking her but didnt get a response. Had the case gone to trial, Hubbard the prosecutions only witness would have testified that she told the defendants they should call the police, but Delaney and Peterson indicated they couldnt because Delaney was on the run. Hubbard also would have testified that Delaney and Peterson emptied a suitcase that Hubbard had provided, and placed Swigert inside. They got into Delaneys car and drove to Hubbards house with the suitcase containing Swigerts body to retrieve a can of gasoline, and then to a construction site in the Kingsland Glen neighborhood of Chesterfield. Their goal was to dispose of what they believed to be her corpse, Parrish told the court. They put the suitcase in the vacant lot, doused it with gasoline and set it on fire. Due to the carboxyhemoglobin levels in Swigerts blood taken during her autopsy, the medical examiner determined that she was still alive when she was set on fire, and died as a result of the fire. However, the medical examiner would have testified that due to the levels of illegal substances in Swigerts body, she would have died of a drug overdose. The day after she died, police responded to the construction site after being summoned by workers about the body. On the suitcase that contained Swigerts remains, detectives found an airline tag with Hubbards name. The entirety of the Commonwealths case rested on Ms. Hubbard, Defense attorney Craig Cooley told the court. Ms. Hubbard was identified ... as being a manager of the young ladies involved in the prostitution, much of the evidence came from her home [and] was tracked back to her. The gasoline came from her home as well. Japanese police sources say a 19-year-old college student has admitted to using a smartphone to cheat on a recent standardized university entrance exam. The student, who lives in Osaka Prefecture, turned herself in at a police station in Kagawa Prefecture, western Japan, on Thursday. She said she saw news about the case and, after consulting her mother, decided to contact the police. She said she took images of exam questions on her phone that she'd hidden in her sleeve and sent them online. She said she did so by herself. She took the exam at a test site in Osaka. She explained that she took the test in hope of entering another university. Police sources say she told investigators that she acted without deliberation because she had failed to achieve good results. The sources say she appears remorseful. Media reports said someone apparently took the images of world history exam questions and sent them online during the test on January 15, the first day of the two-day nationwide exam. Tokyo police have found that at least two University of Tokyo students who received the images sent back answers to the sender. The students told the police they were unaware that the questions were part of the ongoing exam. They also explained that someone asked for the answers via an online site for people looking for private tutors. Jeans arent just the great unifier. Theyre a garment designed to tell others about you. Cheap versions? Expensive versions? They say something about us as a culture and where we are and where weve been, says Anna Lee Strachan, the producer of Riveted: The History of Jeans. Originally viewed as workwear, denim pants morphed over time and became a symbol of protest. According to Tanisha Ford, author of Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style and the Global Politics of Soul, jeans were worn at protest marches to symbolize struggle. At the march on Washington, people were dressed in their Sunday best and here were these two sisters -- the Ladner sisters -- who were dressed in denim overalls. From the early civil rights movement to the hip-hop explosion, jeans served as a symbol of racial protests within the Black community, she says. They also helped certain generations wage their own battles against schools with dress codes. At my boarding school, they said we couldnt wear denim jeans, so we wore colored jeans. That was a way around that now-outdated dress code. In the 1990s, hip-hop culture embraced denim -- baggy denim -- as an expression of freedom. It became a way to be bold and brave and brazen in a world where we were once enslaved, Ford says. In the new PBS special, Strachan traces denims route from workwear to high fashion. Designer jeans, Ford says, became a marker of success or participation in the American dream. Weve arrived to a degree where we have the income to buy these jeans. Outrageous prices were set by companies as a way to say what they consider their brand to be worth, says Emma McClendon, a fashion historian. Tom Ford, for example, produced jeans that were priced at $2,800. The press just couldnt fathom this price tag. But what shocked everybody even more was that the jeans sold out. People want that, people are excited about that and people keep purchasing the garment at these levels. Today, stretch fibers have given jeans the ability to feel and look good. Stretch gets this really bad rap, McClendon says. But the reality is its really hard to get a good fit with ready-to-wear sized clothing. Stretch changed that. If you look at fiber tags across all types of pants, all types of shirts, a huge percentage of clothing now has stretch in it and I dont see that changing any time soon. What will vary are the wear patterns and cuts. The difference between cheap and expensive jeans are the cuts designers offer. Theres a lot of different types of denim out there and the fiber and dyes theyre using and how they finish them, McClendon adds. But another thing that goes into the price tag is where they make them. What are the conditions of not just the place that farms the cotton or weaves the fabric but the finishing washhouses that create all those distress marks that we love so much? Rips, for example, could be hand-done. You will have that fade in the same place across the product line. To maintain denims integrity, some denimheads dont wash them, McClendon says. Every time you wash it and put it in the tumble dryer, it is taking off a uniform amount of the dye. But if you wear it for a really long time and then put it into the washing machine, youre going to start to see uneven spaces where the dye has rubbed off just from how you wear it. If you dont wash your jeans, they will build up a friction from your body and become more personalized. To keep them from smelling, those denimheads put them in the freezer. Thats how youre supposed to get rid of the odor. When Ford got her masters degree in 2005, Black women were keen to buy Seven for All Mankind and Citizens of Humanity jeans because they were symbols of luxury. Things that have a particular monetary value or luxury value mean something extra special to African-Americans because of the way we have been barred from high fashion, she says. We have had to experience red-lining -- not having access to home loans. That history -- from its days in the fields to its time on runways -- cant be claimed by any other fabric. Why? No one knows. Whats really fascinating about jeans is how much they say about us, us as a culture and kind of where we are and where weve been, Strachan says. Thats something really interesting about denim that other garments dont necessarily do. Riveted: The History of Jeans, an American Experience documentary, airs Feb. 7 on PBS. PLATTSMOUTH, Nebraska A Council Bluffs woman is in custody after leading Nebraska authorities on a chase that ended when the suspects vehicle ran out of gas. Gail Tierney is currently in the Cass County Jail in Nebraska after allegedly leading authorities on the high-speed chase along U.S. Highway 75 on Wednesday afternoon. An Omaha-area man, Desi Leroy Chamberlain, who was a passenger in the Tierney vehicle, is also in jail facing charges of his own. According to Cass County Sheriff William Brueggemann, at around 5:35 p.m. one of his deputies located a vehicle with fictitious plates traveling west on Main Street near 10th Street in Plattsmouth. The deputy attempted a traffic stop when the vehicle allegedly fled westbound at a high rate of speed with the deputy in pursuit, the sheriff said. The vehicle turned north on Highway 75 near First Ave. A second deputy, who was in the area, assisted with the pursuit, which traveled north toward Sarpy County, the sheriff said. The Nebraska State Patrol was called and attempted to spike the tires near U.S. Highway 34 and Highway 75, but was unsuccessful. The vehicle ran out of gas at Highway 75 and Fairview Road, Brueggemann said. The state patrol and the deputies then took Tierney, 47, and Chamberlain, 40, into custody. Tierney had two prior counts of flight to avoid arrest and was revoked from driving in Nebraska, Brueggemann said. She was booked on felony flight charges among other traffic offenses, the sheriff said. The vehicle was unregistered and had fake plates on it when stopped, Brueggemann said. Chamberlain had an active Cass County warrant and was found to be in possession of meth, baggies, a scale and other drug paraphernalia and was booked on several felony drug charges, the sheriff said. As of Thursday after, a bond was not set for Tierney, while a bond of $16,500 was set for Chamberlain. When the Masonic Manor now Elmwood Tower opened in 1964, it was believed to be the citys tallest building (arguable). On one of the highest spots in the city. WASHINGTON Longtime liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring, numerous sources said Wednesday, giving President Joe Biden his first high court opening, which he has pledged to fill with the historic naming of the courts first Black woman. Breyer, 83, has been a pragmatic force on a court that has grown increasingly conservative, trying to forge majorities with more moderate justices right and left of center. His retirement will give Biden the chance to name and win confirmation of a replacement before next falls election when Republicans could retake the Senate and block future nominees. Democrats are planning a swift confirmation, perhaps even before Breyer officially steps down, which is not expected before summer. He has been a justice since 1994, appointed by President Bill Clinton. Along with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he opted not to step down the last time the Democrats controlled the White House and the Senate during Barack Obamas presidency. Ginsburg died in September 2020, and then-President Donald Trump filled the vacancy with a conservative justice, Amy Coney Barrett. Breyers departure wont change the 6-3 conservative advantage on the court because his replacement will almost certainly be confirmed by a Senate where Democrats have the slimmest majority. It will make conservative Justice Clarence Thomas the oldest member of the court. Thomas turns 74 in June. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed. A White House decision on a nominee could take several weeks, Biden aides and allies said. Republicans who changed the Senate rules during the Trump era to allow simple majority confirmation of Supreme Court nominees appeared resigned to the outcome. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement: If all Democrats hang together which I expect they will they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support. Liberal interest groups expressed relief. They have been clamoring for Breyers retirement, concerned about confirmation troubles if Republicans retake the Senate. Justice Breyers retirement is coming not a moment too soon, but now we must make sure our party remains united in support of confirming his successor, Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon said. Americans for Democratic Action Iowa, Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, Iowa Citizen Action Network, New Frontier Action Fund, One Iowa, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa, and Progress Iowa issued a joint statement on the matter: We want to send a heartfelt thank you to Justice Stephen Breyer for his more than two decades as a fair-minded constitutionalist on the high court. We call on President Biden to continue his track record of making diverse judicial nominations, and move swiftly to appoint a nominee who will follow the law and reflect the diversity of the country they serve. And we call on Senator (Chuck) Grassley, as ranking member of the judiciary committee, as well as Senator (Joni) Ernst with her role in the Senate, to remain open minded as the process unfolds, and not play political games with this appointment to the highest court. Iowas congressional delegation did not immediately issue statements on the vacancy. A Grassley twitter account sent out a fundraising link after the news broke. Among the names being circulated as potential nominees are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, prominent civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill and U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs, whom Biden has nominated to be an appeals court judge. Childs is a favorite of Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who made a crucial endorsement of Biden just before South Carolinas presidential primary in 2020. Bidens pledge to name the first Black woman to the Supreme Court was made during the 2020 presidential campaign. Since he took office a little more than a year ago, he has been focused on increasing racial, ethnic and experiential diversity in the lower federal courts. He has doubled the number of Black women who serve on appellate courts just below the Supreme Court, with three more nominees pending. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, We know that when Americas boardrooms, legislatures and even the Supreme Court start to resemble America, we all benefit. Nomination of a Black woman could also help Biden politically with some of the Democratic Partys most important Election Day supporters. He has been criticized by black leaders and groups for failing so far to persuade the Senate to pass legislation shoring up voting rights that are being restricted in a number of Republican-led states. Change comes slowly to the Supreme Court. Of the 115 justices in U.S. history, there have been just five women, beginning with Sandra Day OConnor in 1981. One of the five, Justice Sonia Sotomayor is a Latina. Thomas and the late Thurgood Marshall are the only two Black men who have served on the court. The president wouldnt address reports of Breyers retirement on Wednesday. Every justice should have an opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own, Biden said. Let him make whatever statement hes going to make and Ill be happy to talk about it later. Often overshadowed by his fellow liberal Ginsburg, Breyer authored two major opinions in support of abortion rights on a court closely divided over the issue, and he laid out his growing discomfort with the death penalty in a series of dissenting opinions in recent years. Breyers views on displaying the Ten Commandments on government property illustrate his search for a middle ground. He was the only member of the court in the majority in both cases in 2005 that barred displays in two Kentucky courthouses but allowed one to remain on the grounds of the state Capitol in Austin, Texas. In more than 27 years on the court, Breyer has been an active and cheerful questioner during arguments, a frequent public speaker and quick with a joke, often at his own expense. He made a good natured appearance on a humorous National Public Radio program in 2007, failing to answer obscure questions about pop stars. He is known for his elaborate, at times far-fetched, hypothetical questions to lawyers during arguments and he sometimes has had the air of an absent-minded professor. He taught antitrust law at Harvard earlier in his professional career. He also spent time working for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy when the Massachusetts Democrat was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That experience, Breyer said, made him a firm believer in compromise. Still, he could write fierce dissents, as he did in the Bush v. Gore case that effectively decided the 2000 election in favor of Republican George W. Bush. Breyer unsuccessfully urged his colleagues to return the case to the Florida courts so they could create a constitutionally proper contest to decide the winner. At the end of a trying term in June 2007 in which he found himself on the losing end of roughly two dozen 5-4 rulings, his frustrations bubbled over as he summarized his dissent from a decision that invalidated public school integration plans. It is not often that so few have so quickly changed so much, Breyer said in a packed courtroom. His time working in the Senate led to his appointment by President Jimmy Carter as a federal appeals court judge in Boston, and he served there for 14 years. His 87-9 high-court confirmation was the last with fewer than 10 dissenting Senate votes. Breyers opinions were notable because they never contained footnotes. He was warned off such a writing device by Arthur Goldberg, the justice for whom Breyer clerked as a young lawyer. It is an important point to make if you believe, as I do, that the major function of an opinion is to explain to the audience of readers why it is that the court has reached that decision, Breyer once said. Its not to prove that youre right. You cant prove that youre right; there is no such proof. Born in San Francisco, Breyer became an Eagle Scout as a teenager and began a stellar academic career at Stanford, graduating with highest honors. He attended Oxford, where he received first-class honors in philosophy, politics and economics. Breyer then attended Harvard Law School, where he worked on the Law Review and graduated with highest honors. He worked in the Justice Departments antitrust division before splitting time as a Harvard law professor and a lawyer for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Breyer and his wife, Joanna, a psychologist and daughter of the late British Conservative leader John Blakenham, have three children daughters Chloe and Nell and a son, Michael and six grandchildren. Associated Press writer Colleen Long contributed. Sherman reported from Bradenton Beach, Florida. Nonpareil Managing Editor Mike Brownlee also contributed. In support of Jacobsen I write in support of Reps. Jon Jacobsen and Mark Cisneros bill for Medical Privacy and Freedom. It appears that Dr. Alan Fisher did not ask to read a copy of the bill before submitting his critique of it to this paper. His accusations against Mr. Jacobsens efforts are nothing more than a straw-man attack against his character. From the start, the COVID virus has had a 99.9% survivability rate. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky recently stated that more than 75% of those who died with COVID who had been vaccinated had at least four co-morbidities. The Medical Privacy and Freedom bill is needed due to the authoritarian overreach taken by so many during these last two years by those claiming to follow the science yet they deny the efficacy of early treatment and natural immunity. The objectives of the Medical Privacy and Freedom bill include protecting an individuals personal health information from inquiry, particularly an individuals medical treatment status including vaccination status, and prevents any individual (i.e. employer) from maintaining a record of an individuals vaccination status with the exception of medical records necessary for the care and treatment of an individual. Additionally, the bill protects individuals from being discriminated against by refusing, withholding from, or denying any local or state services, goods, facilities, advantages, privileges, access, transportation or freedom of movement, licensing, educational opportunities, health care access based on the individuals medical treatment status including vaccination status. The current Medical Dictatorship we live under does fly in the face of the Nuremburg Code in that we are denied informed consent regarding the vaccines people are being coerced to have injected into their bodies. Interestingly, the FDA took only 108 days to approve Pfizers experimental vaccination; however, requests 55 years to release the safety data. There is no informed consent in that. There are over three million reported adverse reactions to the injections referenced on the World Health Organizations website. These are not traditional vaccinations. They are abortion-tainted, experimental gene therapies. The mask-up, lock-down, get the shot, booster-booster-booster, there is no treatment but come to the hospital and get put on a ventilator and die narrative is crumbling. The truth cannot be hidden forever. As for our family, and everyone we know, we solidly support the Jacobsen-Cisneros bill. Jim Koch Council Bluffs Surprise medical bills are a plague Have you received a surprise medical bill after receiving care at a hospital or emergency room? If so, its not surprising. More than half of U.S. consumers have reported receiving an unexpectedly large medical bill. Thanks to Rep. Cindy Axnes work in Congress, a new law went into effect on Jan. 1. The No Surprises Act protects both insured and uninsured people from the surprise medical bills that can arise from a hospital visit. The law prevents patients from receiving a surprise medical bill from an out-of-network health provider after receiving emergency care in an emergency room, receiving any care at an in-network health care provider, or being transported by an air ambulance to receive care. Even if you are uninsured, there are still protections in place to stop surprise medical billing. In most cases, these new rules make sure you can get a good faith estimate of how much your care will cost before you receive it. If your final charges are at least $400 higher than your good faith estimate an individual can file a dispute claim within 120 days of the date on your bill. No one should lose their home or face financial hardship because of surprise medical billing. Thankfully, Rep Axne understands this and we can count on her to stand up for Iowans in Congress and pass common-sense bills to help us all. Amy Stickrod Glenwood COVID-19 hits child care industry COVID-19 has hit Iowas child care industry very hard. Centers have closed. Infected providers stopped working. Workforce shortages and increase safety precautions have made child care a difficult, sometimes impossible, job. That leaves working parents stranded without the essential support child care provides. How is the 2022 Iowa Legislature addressing the problem? House Study Bill 511 calls for making child care less safe by increasing the child-to-adult ratio, far higher than national experts recommend. This reckless approach wont fix the problem. Instead, it will increase group size and the spread of infection (not a good idea during a pandemic), increase the chance a child could be in danger, and provides less one-on-one time for nurturing and stimulation at a time when a childs brain is at peak development. Last week the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine published an exhaustive set of recommendations to address center closing, assist the workforce, modify subsidy and reimbursement, improve system coordination. Iowa DHS is even doing some of these things. But nowhere do they recommend changing health and safety standards. Please urge your State Representative NOT to support this ill-advised legislation. Instead, encourage increased financial and technical support for child care. Thomas Rendon Des Moines Miller-Meeks selective memory Iowas Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks are busy trying to convince us it is not Republicans, but Democrats trying to steal elections and power grab, citing the Democratic opponents challenge to Rep. Miller-Meeks 2020 win. I have a few questions. When election returns were tallied in 2020 and candidate Miller-Meeks finished ahead by only six votes (about 1/100th of 1%), Miller-Meeks soon learned there was credible evidence that 22 Iowans legally cast ballots had not been counted 18 of which were cast for her opponent, Democrat Rita Hart. Hart, who had requested that recount, also showed some counties had not properly done their recounts and this also benefited Miller-Meeks. Poll worker human error shouldnt decide Iowas elections, should it? When Iowa law provided a chance for Hart to try and resolve the matter in Iowa courts within an unrealistic start-to-finish deadline, Republicans cried foul when Hart instead took the evidence and filed for review in the U.S. House of Representatives as allowed by, egads, the U.S Constitution. Now that its clear the timeframe for filing a challenge in Iowa is creating such a hurdle, why hasnt the Republican-held Iowa Legislature changed the law to extend the deadline for challenging the results of non-presidential federal elections, as other states have done? When it became clear an election-changing margin of voters were being disenfranchised through no fault of their own, why didnt candidate Miller-Meeks herself request a review and judgement in Iowa courts? Or join in her opponents request for Congressional review? Surely the mounting evidence that indicated the Democratic opponent actually received the most votes would not have kept candidate Miller-Meeks from championing Iowa voters. Or did it? Lauren Holst Cedar Falls Ernst and the troops Wednesday, I received another tiresome e-mail communication from Sen. Ernst. The content is always so predictable. First, she slams whatever the president and the Democrats are trying to accomplish. Then, she brags about all the ways shes supporting and improving the military and the lives of our service women and men. We all know that her claims of support for veterans and for those currently serving in our military are just a self-serving sham. Ernst undermined her credibility way back in 2018 when Trump disparaged American soldiers who died in WWII as losers and suckers, and she remained silent. When Trump repeatedly ad nauseam denigrated the selfless combat service of Sen. McCain, she remained silent. When Lieutenant Colonel Vindman told the truth that Trump had attempted to extort a political favor from President Zelensky by threatening to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in congressionally appropriated military aide to Ukraine, she remained silent. Then, she voted to find Trump not guilty of this unequivocally impeachable offense. Shes no friend of the men and women in uniform, nor of the memory of those who died in service to our country. Ernst has only one allegiance and that is to remaining in her cushy Senate seat by whatever means she can devise. Lets stop pretending otherwise. Steven Pokorny Urbandale In defense of Jacobsen I am writing to clarify misconceptions posed by a retired physician who was critical of Rep. Jon Jacobsens fight against mandates, which I fully support, in the state of Iowa. I have personally taken care of over 2,000 critically ill COVID patients during the first 18 months of the pandemic; and now my clinic James Clinic is approaching 4,000 outpatients treated, with no deaths. First, no one needs to end up in an ICU. COVID is a treatable condition when proper treatment is prescribed by doctors who understand the disease process. Every other condition we treat in hospitals is focused on early treatment (time is muscle for heart attacks, time is brain for strokes, and time is critical for sepsis) so how can anyone defend NIHs go home and come back when you cant breathe treatment approach? Second, ivermectin has been approved by the FDA for decades. Its safety and efficacy have not been questioned until it threatened profits of big pharma. Since its an approved generic, no one stands to profit from its use in COVID. It is one part of a highly effective protocol. It would never go thru the process of FDA approval for COVID because its already available and being used. Third, there isnt a doctor making policy decisions at the national level that has treated a single COVID patient Perhaps we should be asking doctors who have been successful what the protocol should be, instead of bureaucrat physicians pushing medications whose only success is in the big pharma profit column. Mandates are not health care. They are unethical, unscientific, immoral, illegal and un-American. Please support representatives, such as Jon Jacobson, who are standing up to defend our liberties and usher in a common-sense approach to this pandemic. Dr. Molly James Chariton We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. 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 Moroccos leadership in the fight against climate change and the promotion of renewable energies was hailed on Wednesday by the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Peter Taalas. the Secretary General of the WMO notably highlighted, during a meeting with the Arab Group in Geneva, the launch by the Kingdom of the largest projects in the world in the production of solar, wind and hydroelectric energy. When discussing the issue of water stress, Taalas particularly praised Moroccos contributions within the framework of the Coalition on Water and Climate and the Kingdoms active role in this area. This meeting, which is part of the program of activities of the Moroccan presidency of the Arab Group, was enhanced by the participation of the Secretary of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Abdellah Mokssit, and permanent representatives of the Arab States. It was devoted to briefing the Group on the activities carried out by WMO in the Arab region in terms of disaster risk reduction in this critical period of the Covid-19 pandemic and to take stock of the partnership with the Arab meteorological centers. The two guests, MM. Taalas and Mokssit, also shared their views on the outcomes of COP26 and their outlook for COP 27 and 28. During this meeting chaired by the ambassador representing Morocco to the United Nations Office and international organizations in Geneva, Omar Zniber, the debate focused on the challenges related to the problem of climate change in the world in general, and in the Arab region, in particular. The UN Special Advisor on Libya, Stephanie Williams, spoke on Wednesday about ways to reintegrate people affiliated with armed factions into state institutions. She said this during her meeting with the head of the Military Committee 410, Mahmoud Bin Yaza, at the naval base Abu Sitta in Tripoli. I followed closely the work of the Committee as well as its plans to reintegrate the armed factions into state institutions and the private sector. For its part, the Committee stressed that Libya is ready to take under its wing those concerned in the framework of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration program. Except that this requires stability and non-interference from abroad. The two sides also discussed ways in which the UN can support the work of the Disarmament Committee, namely the exchange of experiences with other countries, she said. The 410 Committee is affiliated with the Libyan Chief of Staff and works primarily to support the Libyan army to repel the aggression launched by retired Major General Khalifa Haftar in April 2019. Last October, the Libyan government launched a national project to rehabilitate and reintegrate youth affiliated with armed factions who wish to join state institutions. The oil-rich country has suffered for years from armed conflict. With the support of Arab and Western countries, mercenaries and foreign fighters, warlord Khalifa Haftars militia fought against the former internationally recognized government of national accord. Posted by North Africa Post North Africa Post's news desk is composed of journalists and editors, who are constantly working to provide new and accurate stories to NAP readers. The Tunisian government has been mounting pressure on local financial institutions to fund the 2022 national budget as the country struggles to land foreign loans to close the projects $2.8 billion budget deficit. The move is revealed by Ahmed El Karm, member of the executive board of Tunisia-based independent think-tank Institut Arabe des Chefs dEntreprises [Arab Institute of Business Executive], Business News reports. There is a lot of pressure on the managers of financial institutions to finance the state, El Karm said in a Facebook post. The Tunisian government last month adopted a 2022 national budget of about TD47.166 billion (around $16.4 billion) including a $2.8-billion deficit. The state contribution to the budget is TD38.6 billion. The North African country is facing economic stress due to the pandemic that has affected the economy. The state has turned to foreign friendly countries to help fund the budget but only Algeria heeded the call with $300 million in form of loan. Saudi Arabia has also agreed to back the budget with reportedly $500 million but provided that Tunisia meets the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a restructuring plan. The North African country has been reluctant to sign up for a credit line from the Washington-based institution, but there have been talks between the two sides and an agreement is expected by the end of the Q1 this year. The Moroccan government Council decided this Thursday to extend the state of health emergency, that was expected to expire at the end of this January, until February 28, 2022 to preserve the progress achieved in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and reduce the risks of contamination by the new variants, namely the fast-spreading Omicron. The decision was announced by the Govt. spokesperson Mustapha Baitas at a press briefing held in Rabat following the Government council meeting. Morocco has been under a state of health emergency since March 2020. Within the frame of its precautionary measures against covid-19, Morocco closed its borders on November 29 and incoming passengers flights and ferries were thus suspended till years end. The travel ban was however extended to January 31, 2022, but at his press briefing, the government spokesman did not announce when the ban would be lifted. Some Moroccan public health specialists and officials think that Moroccos borders should be reopened under specific circumstances. To date, the Moroccan Health Ministry has confirmed 1,114,527 COVID-19 cases. The number includes 1,042,268 recoveries and 15,237 deaths. As of January 26, approximately 23,061,890 people took the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Around 24,647,179 people took the first dose of the vaccine, while the number of people having received booster shots amounted to 4,269,522. The health ministry continues to urge citizens to take the vaccine, emphasizing that it is the only way to strengthen immunity against COVID-19 and its variants. This advice was amplified following the outbreak of the Omicron variant, which is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Morocco. Moroccos health professionals and experts consider the booster shot as a necessary means to counter COVID variants. An unplanned pregnancy as a college student and subsequent decisions led to a change of heart for Natalie Gifford from pro-choice to pro-life. Last week, Gifford and several students from St. Patrick High School traveled to Washington, D.C., for the March for Life Jan. 21 to protest abortion. Two of Giffords daughters were part of that group. Gifford met her future husband, Danny, while they were both attending the University of Wyoming. We were not married and facing an unplanned pregnancy, Gifford said. (Danny) was very adamantly pro-life. He grew up Catholic and it just wasnt even an option for us to do anything about an unplanned pregnancy. The couple decided to do the next right thing. Knowing that it would be hard, we got married, had a baby, finished college, Gifford said. Having a baby while youre in college is not always ideal, but we did it. At the time of the pregnancy, Gifford said, she was on the fence about abortion. Even though she believed abortion was wrong, she also believed there was a choice. The world tells us we have a choice as long as its legal, I guess, its no big deal, Gifford said. I wasnt Catholic, I didnt grow up Catholic, I didnt have the strong moral values my husband clearly had, so I just followed along with what he felt was the right thing to do. Over time, Gifford moved toward joining her husband as a Catholic, but she still had doubts about taking a pro-life position. Over eight years, she took the steps to join the Catholic Church, and at that time they had their marriage blessed. Yet, she still struggled with pro-choice vs. pro-life. I felt like women should be offered the choice and felt like we dont really need to take a stand against that, Gifford said. So I was wrestling with this whole idea of being pro-life because I knew the Catholic Church really supported the pro-life movement. Then came the night she came to realize she needed to take a stance. She was five months pregnant and had read some material about "partial birth abortions," a late-term abortion method. I had no idea that partial birth abortion was a thing, Gifford said. I didnt know that was legal and that was supporting abortion. She came to the understanding that if she was going to be pro-choice, that meant support of partial birth abortion as well. You either have to support all of it or none of it, Gifford said. So I decided at that moment that I was going to be adamantly pro-life and support being pro-life from conception. After making that decision, she said, she found peace for herself. I felt like I finally had the clarity to know where I wanted to stand, like I wasnt on the fence anymore, Gifford said. I felt like I either had to be all in or all out, but I needed a reason to be all in for it. Since that time she has supported the pro-life movement, and her girls, Madison and Braelyn, have joined her in being active in it. The Giffords also have two sons, Cooper and Hadley. My girls started a pro-life group at St. Pats, Gifford said. The group has about 25 members. Last weekend eight of those students, along with chaperones including Gifford, took the long trip to Washington for the March for Life. Gifford said it is also significant that the Supreme Court is currently contemplating whether to overturn Roe v. Wade. I think it would be excellent to overturn Roe v. Wade, Gifford said. The governor (Pete Ricketts) spoke to us by phone (while the group was in Washington) and said Nebraska already has legislation ready if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Gifford said if that were to happen, it would open opportunities to support womens resource centers and crisis pregnancy centers across the state. Thats going to be needed now more than ever, Gifford said. These resource centers wont necessarily get the (funding) that they need in order to provide for (services). A challenge, Gifford said, is to match the walk with the talk when it comes to being pro-life. Its one thing to stand up for pro-life, but its another thing to put it into action, Gifford said. I think that will be the time where were going to have to put it into action and practice what we preach. 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. So what did you do these past couple of years if COVID-19 told you to stay close to home? If you were Ruby Coleman, you were writing. The North Platte historian and genealogist got her first published copies Tuesday of her most ambitious project yet: a two-volume, 971-page roundup of Lincoln Countys early settlers who took advantage of the 1862 Homestead Act. Homesteading in Lincoln County, Nebraska, 1874-1899 is available online for $16.95 per volume through Amazon.com. The online giant also published Colemans 2020 book, The Wild Years: 1868-1951, on North Plattes early lawlessness and Little Chicago period of the early to mid-1900s. Fort Cody Trading Post in North Platte plans to offer her two-volume homesteading work starting sometime in February, Coleman said. And theres more to come: She has nearly finished a book on African Americans in early western Nebraska in collaboration with sister-in-law Cheri Coleman Hopkins of Alliance. I told my grandson a few months ago that Wild Years was my last hurrah, said Coleman, 78. He said, Ha, ha, ha. And he was right. After three brief scene-setting chapters, the bulk of Homesteading in Lincoln County features Colemans research on 1,412 people who proved up and received federal patents on Lincoln County homestead claims between 1874 and 1899. It took her 13 months, often working eight to 12 hours a day, to pore through online sources and compile her information, Coleman said. She gave special credit to Lois Block, Lincoln Countys register of deeds, who faithfully looked up and emailed her information so Coleman could minimize her outdoor exposure during the pandemic. A lot of them I could find on my own, but she helped me immensely with land records, she said. Volume I starts 12 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, first used by Daniel Freeman on New Years Day 1863 to claim 160 acres near present-day Beatrice. Homestead National Monument of America includes Freemans claim. Coleman said Homesteading in Lincoln County starts when it does because homestead claims couldnt be filed in an area until its federal land surveys were completed. Until then, the people out here were squatters unless they bought their land from the federal government or the railroad, she said. Surveys of Nebraskas western boundary didnt start until 1869, five years before Colemans list starts. That matches the time claimants were given to live on, farm and develop claims as the Homestead Act prescribed. Homestead patents granted in the county dropped off sharply after 1899, Coleman said. But the law itself remained in effect until 1986, two years before Kenneth Deardorff proved up on the last-ever homestead claim in Alaska. Lincoln County was one of 37 western Nebraska counties included in the 1904 Kinkaid Act, allowing claims of up to 640 acres where smaller farms werent practical. Most Kinkaiders settled in the Sandhills and Panhandle, Coleman said, though some of her entries tell of Lincoln County homesteaders who later filed Kinkaid Act claims elsewhere. Homesteaders in Colemans two volumes are listed alphabetically by the year in which they proved up. Besides telling who they were and where they filed, entries include information on where they came from and what happened to them. Among the stories Coleman rediscovered was the apparent revenge of John J. Berger, an 1890s homesteader who had been constantly in little fracases and hated Lincoln County and North Platte because of it. On Jan. 19, 1895, Berger decided to visit North Plattes downtown and demonstrate the product of animals he raised on his spread: skunks. He began by scattering skunk perfumery broad cast in the Fair Store, The Telegraph reported that Jan. 26 127 years ago Wednesday. Berger moved on, leaving a fragrance behind him that permeated nearly the entire business portion of the city. He would be sentenced to 30 days in jail after a March trial. Berger later moved to Colorado and then farther west. He had some profitable occupation before he died, Coleman said. She also rediscovered Jennie Morgan and her son, Albert, apparently Lincoln Countys only Black homesteaders in the 1874-99 period. Jennie patented her claim about five miles north of Wellfleet on Aug. 14, 1893. Albert, living 1 miles north of his mother, proved up on July 25, 1898. He later moved to McPherson County and married there. Homesteads could be found throughout Lincoln County, Coleman said, but farmers and ranchers use of the 1862 law ensured settlement throughout the sprawling county. In the valley of the Platte River and its forks, the Union Pacific had free rein to sell roughly half the land through federal grants of alternate sections for building its part of the first transcontinental railroad. Coleman said the Wallace and Wellfleet areas saw some of Lincoln Countys heaviest homestead activity. The Burlington and Missouri Railroad highline didnt penetrate the countys southwest portion until the 1880s. The Homestead Act (influence) phased out more or less as the 19th century turned to the 20th, she said. But what would this county have been without the Homestead Act and the homesteaders? More by Todd von Kampen 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. Visitors to Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium can now put a name to the newest member of the zoos elephant herd. The female African elephant calf has been named Eugenia, which means noble or well-born, the zoo announced Monday in a press release. Eugenia was named by the Grewcock family, who won the naming rights at the zoos fundraiser, Zoofari. The family has always had a great love of elephants, Berniece Grewcock said. The fact that these elephants were saved from drought-stricken Swaziland makes their story especially remarkable, she said. Being able to select the name of the first elephant born at the zoo is very special to us. Grewcocks husband, William Grewcock, was a member of the Omaha Zoological Society and Omaha Zoo Foundation boards until his death in 2018. The family has supported multiple zoo projects over the last 40 years, according to the press release, including the Berniece and Bill Grewcock Elephant Habitat, the Berniece Grewcock Butterfly and Insect Pavilion and the Bill and Berniece Grewcock Center for Conservation and Research. Eugenia was born Jan. 7 and is the first elephant born at the zoo in its 125-year history. She is nursing and growing and currently weighs 183 pounds. The Elephant Herd Room, where Eugenia lives with the herd, is currently closed to the public so animal care staff have time to observe the herd. There are seven elephants in the herd, including Eugenia. She wont be the youngest for long. Another member of the herd is expected to give birth this winter. Photo: Steve Helber/AP/Shutterstock Once rumored to be a moderate, Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin has revealed his true sympathies. The Republican wasted little time after taking office this month: He swiftly banned the teaching of critical race theory in schools, even though the subject wasnt being taught in Virginia classrooms. Yet that wasnt enough. Hes also set up an email tip line that allows parents to report inherently divisive practices in schools, including any attempts to enforce mask mandates and, of course, the teaching of what he terms CRT. Were asking for folks to send us reports and observations that they have that will help us be aware of things like privilege bingo, be aware of their child being denied their rights that parents have in Virginia. And were going to make sure we catalogue it all, he said on a right-wing radio show. Youngkins snitch line might not work as well as hed hoped. A few celebrities and Twitter personalities have already urged fans and followers to flood the email address with bogus complaints. This is mildly humorous what else did Youngkin think would happen? but it doesnt entirely negate the harm posed by the idea behind the tip line. Youngkin has deputized his most rabid followers against the states teachers, a group he seems eager to sacrifice to the mob. Not only must teachers contend with the tip line, the governor is also trying to deprive them of a means of protection against COVID in public schools. Parents can report them for so many sins. The tip line in Virginia follows closely on other, conservative-led efforts to ban the alleged teaching of CRT and to remove certain books from school curriculums and libraries over various examples of wrongthink. The right is not new to book banning or to censorship writ large. The Christian right, for example, has long agitated against books with LGBT or feminist themes in libraries and classrooms. As Ryan Cooper recently observed in The Week, right-wing parents have been trying to ban books for decades, and almost no classic is safe. Parents challenged The Grapes of Wrath in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1991 because it invoked God and Jesus in a vain and profane manner, Cooper noted. The rights censorious impulses are undiminished by time. In Tennessee, the McMinn County school board just voted to remove Maus Art Spiegelmans acclaimed graphic novel of the Holocaust from an eighth-grade curriculum over its depictions of violence, nudity, and profanity. Despite the rights uncompromising grip on censorship, its the left, often, that bears the public blame for cancel culture. Not only is that the preferred narrative of the right itself, which portrays even modest attempts at social accountability or the rectification of historical wrongs, such as systematic racism, as threats to its liberties, but public commentary can often blur necessary distinctions between the right and the left. In the New York Times, opinion writer John McWhorter recently conceded that some illiberalism does emanate from the right. Making sense of things requires synthesis, identifying what explains a lot rather than perceiving a buzzing chaos of people suddenly crazed, which is an implausible and even effort-light approach to things, he claimed, before adding, In that vein, our problem today is illiberalism on both sides. The habits of college students are closely scrutinized for any sign of hostility to the right, which would prove they lack a commitment to free speech. Sometimes these excesses are real enough: At Middlebury College, a student protest over the presence of eugenicist author Charles Murray escalated until a scuffle injured a professor. Nevertheless, when the long history of right-wing book banning is considered alongside recent attempts to root out the accurate teaching of American history, it becomes clear that the left is no match for the right. A few examples of liberal censorship, or language policing, do not make the left an illiberal force to match the right because Republicans in office are doing the bidding of conservative activists. Democratic governors have launched no snitch lines; there is no left-wing analog to the rights war on so-called critical race theory in schools. The rights obsession with education, whether its the teaching of intelligent design or sex ed or racism, stems from its fear that it will lose the hearts and minds of the youth to the left. Because it is reactionary, it tends to be the aggressor, attacking perceived threats with precision. The left, meanwhile, occupies a more defensive position. In the case of critical race theory, for example, the rights objection stands in for the more general instruction of history. A school administrator in Southlake, Texas, told teachers last October that a new law, intended for controversial subjects in school, required them to make sure that if you have a book on the Holocaust, that you have one that has an opposing, that has other perspectives. In Virginia, critical race theory isnt under threat, but rather basic pedagogy itself. A teacher who dares plan lessons on the history of racism in America could be reported to the governor by a parent. Those who fear cancel culture are correct to do so, but they should be able to identify their real enemies. As represented by politicians like Glenn Youngkin, the right is hostile to the academic freedom of teachers and students alike; its purpose is to narrow the world until nothing that threatens it may endure. That bodes ill for the future of public education, maybe even democracy itself. Illiberalism is a real threat. It just isnt coming from the left. Not everyone is immune to anti-vaxx propaganda. Photo: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images On Monday, at least 2,181 Americans died from COVID-19. Over the past week, average daily COVID deaths in the United States have risen to 2,369 the highest death rate the country has seen in nearly a year. Given the lag time between spiking cases and fatalities, its likely the deadliest days of the Omicron wave still lie ahead. This is a catastrophe. Each individual COVID death sends ripples of woe through families and communities. Each condemns the bereaved to an infinity of sinking-stomach feelings that crop up without warning at the smallest invitation: when they drive past a restaurant their brother used to love or walk into a living room to find their wifes chair empty. And yet, today, the tragedy inherent in any COVID wave is compounded by the present ones singular preventability. COVID-19 vaccines have been available to all American adults for nine months now. And although the initial two-dose vaccine regimen offers little protection against symptomatic infection from Omicron, it is still roughly 70 percent effective against hospitalization and provides even higher levels of protection against death. Recent data from Utah show that unvaccinated people in that state were more than 16 times more likely to die of COVID between mid-December and mid-January than the vaccinated were. Studies from the United Kingdom and Spain have yielded similar results. The maddening truth of the present crisis is that the vast majority of COVID deaths in the U.S. today were easily preventable. In most of these cases, averting the loss of life merely required persuading individuals to secure a vaccine that was available at their local pharmacy or health clinic. Yet America has found this task exceptionally difficult. According to the New York Times, only 63 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated (a status that, for now, does not require a booster shot, which provides greater protection against infection, hospitalization, and death). In Canada, that figure is 79 percent. In the U.K., it is 72 percent. In France which has a robust anti-vaccine movement of its own 76 percent of the population is vaccinated. Booster uptake in the U.S. has been even more abysmal; while 55 percent of Britons have received three shots, and 46 percent of the French have done the same, the share of boosted Americans is just 25 percent. These disparities cannot be fully explained by Americas age structure. It is true that the U.S. is among the youngest of developed countries and that old people are more likely to get vaccinated than young people in virtually all nations. But Australia has an even lower median age than the U.S. and nevertheless boasts a fully vaccinated rate of nearly 80 percent. Why then has the U.S. proved so exceptional in its resistance to vaccination? It is plausible that our nations aberrantly weak labor protections and exclusionary health-care system have contributed to the problem. As Julia Raifman and Aaron Sojourner have highlighted, low-income Americans are less likely to be vaccinated than higher-income Americans and the unvaccinated poor are more open to receiving a shot than the unvaccinated rich. Photo: @JuliaRaifman/Twitter, @aaronsojourner/Twitter Given that higher-income workers in the U.S. generally enjoy paid-leave benefits while lower-income workers are often both bereft of such benefits and more vulnerable to layoffs, its reasonable to suspect that, in an America where the government guaranteed all workers paid leave, vaccine uptake would be somewhat higher. Similarly, to the extent that poor Americans lower vaccination rate reflects their greater disconnection from or distrust in medical authorities, a universal health-care system might have lessened vaccine hesitancy. Data from Pew Research shows that exclusion from the health-care system correlates with vaccine hesitancy. As of August 2021, 75 percent of Americans with health insurance were vaccinated, compared with just 57 percent among the uninsured. In any case, robust labor rights and national health insurance are worthy policy objectives on the merits. And the Biden administration should certainly mobilize all available resources toward overcoming the remaining barriers to vaccine accessibility, whether rooted in income, job security, transit, language, or any other dimension of social marginalization. Yet accessibility issues dont seem to be the primary cause of undervaccination in the U.S. In the latest version of the Census Bureau survey cited by Raifman and Sojourner, only 1.7 percent of the unvaccinated said the reason they had not secured a shot was that its hard for me to get a COVID-19 vaccine. A similarly tiny fraction cited concerns about cost. Most expressed some variety of distrust in the vaccines safety. Photo: Census.gov This is consistent with most other polling on the issue. Last July, an Axios-Ipsos survey found that 63 percent of the unvaccinated would not be at all likely to get the vaccine, even if they were provided with paid time off to do so. Photo: Axios In a CNBC/Change Research poll from September, meanwhile, 84 percent of the unvaccinated said their decision to opt out of immunization would not change even if the vaccines had no side effects. The bulk of vaccine resistance appears to be rooted in ideology. Specifically, the resistance seems to derive from an ideological distrust in the medical Establishment in general and vaccines in particular. This low-trust ideological inclination is not exclusive to the American right; as noted above, its plausible that this orientation is more prevalent among those excluded from the health-insurance system. Further, it seems likely that the American medical Establishments long history of abusing and failing Black Americans informs the relatively high prevalence of vaccine hesitancy in some Black communities. But a good deal of vaccine resistance appears to be rooted in partisanship. In Pew Researchs polling from last August, the partisan gap in vaccine uptake was even larger than the gaps between the old and young, or the highly educated and less educated. Photo: PEW Research Center The most unnerving discrepancy in that chart is probably the one between Republicans and Democrats in the 50-to-64-year-old range. Some combination of self-interest and insulation from social media has kept the vaccination rate among senior Republicans at a relatively robust 80 percent. But Americans over 50 are also at serious risk from COVID-19, and partisanship appears to be dissuading many such Americans from protecting themselves. Meanwhile, as Charles Gaba has documented, there is now a tight correlation between a U.S. countys COVID death rate and its level of support for Donald Trump in 2020. This was especially true during last years Delta wave. Photo: ACASignups But its already true of the Omicron wave as well, despite cases being more concentrated in blue parts of the country thus far. Photo: ACASignups Some progressives are reluctant to emphasize this dimension of the COVID crisis and not without reason. It is good ethical practice to focus on problems one has some power to address. Progressive voters have the power to hector the Biden administration into improving its Omicron response, as the White House demonstrated when it expanded access to free at-home tests in response to public outcry. By contrast, blue Americans have few tools for influencing GOP lawmakers rhetoric about vaccines or Tucker Carlsons editorial judgment. Furthermore, for too many Democrats, the fact that much vaccine resistance is rooted in partisanship is taken as an argument for callous indifference to the fate of the unvaccinated. This is wrong for many reasons. Political attitudes are largely heritable; they derive, in most (though not all) cases, from the communities and circumstances we are helplessly born into. People who voted for Trump and watch Fox News are as human as anyone else. No one deserves to die alone from a preventable illness. This is one reason its worth being clear-eyed about the causes of the winters unfolding calamity. The individuals who have cynically abetted anti-vaxx ideology on the right those who have secured shots for themselves and their loved ones while nevertheless disseminating conspiratorial lies about vaccines for fun and profit deserve national opprobrium. It is possible the conservative media has been reflecting its core audiences vaccine skepticism more than it has been creating that doubt. After all, Trump himself has repeatedly endorsed the vaccines, and this has failed to move a large minority of his supporters. If Fox News refused to air anti-vaxx commentary, its plausible that it would lose market share to Newsmax or some other right-wing network willing to endanger the lives of its viewers. Nevertheless, it is still a choice to privilege ones ratings above public health. Even if consumer demand drives the conservative medias hostility to vaccination, that hostility can still poison the minds of the previously unconverted. Last year, a working paper from researchers at the Swiss university ETH Zurich drew a causal connection between Fox News viewership and vaccine skepticism. To control for other variables, the scholars exploited random divergences in the channel number assigned to Fox News in different markets (the lower a networks channel number, the more people tend to watch it). They found that even when controlling for partisan affiliation, ideology, and a regions public-health policies, more exposure to Fox News was associated with more resistance to vaccination. Progressives should continue to pressure the Biden administration to correct the (many) deficiencies in its Omicron response, and everyone should push back on attempts to dehumanize Americans on the basis of their partisan affiliation or vaccine status. But we should acknowledge that thousands of Americans are going to die in the coming weeks because of the pathologies of their preferred political party and the perfidy of their trusted news sources. The cynics who are knowingly leading their followers into harms way are complicit in an atrocity. And that fact should be known by everyone. 3 p.m. Check into a World of Interiorslevel hotel We stayed in Mexico City for a night before going to San Miguel, but you can fly to Queretaro Intercontinental Airport or Leon-Bajio International Airport, which are each about an hour away. We got in our rental car (we always find a rental spot in town instead of the airport which, while convenient, is also filled with surcharges) and drove three hours to San Miguel from Mexico City. We arrived in the early afternoon and checked in at Meson Hidalgo (from $225), a manor house designed by Laura Kirar. We rarely stay in big hotels and would always rather go for a smaller place thats more intimate. Hidalgo is just minutes away from the citys main square and Jardin Allende (where the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel church can be seen), but it was so quiet. There are just three rooms, and we chose the Chana, which was grand with high ceilings and a fireplace; it felt like a page from World of Interiors. 4 p.m. Caffeinate, then head straight to the spa We parked a few minutes away from the hotel and just walked everywhere the entire time. Our first stop after relaxing for a bit was La Cabra Illuminada (Hidalgo 13, Zona Centro) for a coffee, as we were in need of a pick-me-up and it was literally right next to where we were staying. The neutral, minimalistic interior made the experience feel almost ritualistic. Then we went to the spa at Dos Casas (Quebrada 101, Centro). There were bigger hotels and spas, but something about the way they described the experiences here got me, so I booked it online before we arrived. Im a skin-care addict, but neither of us are really fancy spa people I usually just want someone to beat the shit out of me. But the week leading up to our trip was hard and chaotic, so I knew this would be good to get on our itinerary. What appealed to me about this spa was that its approach felt very holistic. Our treatment started with a 15-minute meditation, which was so good for both of us, then you do a cleanse and then a steam, an intense head-to-toe scrub, then we washed off and got a massage. It was incredible. 7 p.m. Eat a fancy shrimp tostadas dinner They were completely booked at this restaurant Ocre (Hidalgo 5, Zona Centro) on the main strip, but I wiggled us in for a table. The outdoor seating area was so nice; it had built-in banquettes and a more relaxed feel. Food was plated very intentionally, and it was a very good meal. We had shrimp tostadas with jicama, big pieces of tuna tartare drowned in salsa matcha, and steak with charred spring onion. It was perfect for our first night there to have a really nice dinner and then keep things more easy and casual the rest of the time. 10 p.m. Make a pit stop for churros I grew up with a mother who would occasionally surprise me with churros, which was the greatest thing. When I see a line for them, and everybody is speaking Spanish, I will be getting in that line immediately and waiting, which is what happened at this place. The churros at Cafe y Churreria San Agustin (San Francisco 21, Zona Centro) were wonderful. We had them with condensed milk and a chocolate sauce heavy on the cardamom and cinnamon. RICHMOND, Va., January 27, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces it advised AST LLC (AST), a portfolio company of Tailwind Capital (Tailwind), on its sale to Recognize Partners (Recognize). AST is an award-winning full-service cloud services solution provider, serving clients in the public and commercial sectors for more than two decades. Anthony Basmajian of the Harris Williams Business Services Group and Priyanka Naithani of the firms Technology Group advised on the transaction. AST is an award-winning full-service enterprise systems integrator, serving clients in the public and commercial sectors for more than two decades. Clients look to AST for leadership and assistance in systems integration, business process redesign, project management, systems administration, and training. From on-premise applications to modern cloud technology, ASTs services encompass all aspects of enterprise resource planning, business intelligence, enterprise performance management, customer experience, and middleware. AST also offers flexible managed services, supporting the needs of over 200 public sector and commercial customers around the globe. Tailwind is a leading private equity firm focused on services investments within select end markets. Tailwind partners with experienced management teams and entrepreneurs to transform businesses through organic growth initiatives, acquisitions, and operational and strategic investments. Since inception, Tailwind has invested in 50 portfolio companies and over 150 add-on acquisitions. Recognize is a technology investment platform focused on the technology services industry. The firm provides operational expertise, industry insights and strategic capital to innovative companies in this sector. Recognize is led by industry veterans Frank DSouza, Charles Phillips, David Wasserman and Raj Mehta. Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). Story continues The Harris Williams Business Services Group has experience advising companies that provide a range of commercial, industrial and professional services. For more information on the firms Business Services Group and other recent transactions, visit the Business Services Groups section of the Harris Williams website. The Harris Williams Technology Group advises leading private and public companies, founders, and private equity, growth equity and venture capital firms on mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising transactions worldwide. The Technology Group has deep domain expertise in software and technology-enabled services and dedicated focus areas across a variety of vertical software applications and end markets. For more information on the Technology Group and its recent transactions, visit the Technology Groups section of the Harris Williams website. Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams & Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams & Co. Ltd and Harris Williams & Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127006088/en/ Contacts For media inquiries, please contact Julia Moore at media@harriswilliams.com. Auburn alumnus Jonathan Harrison survived the latest elimination round of Gordon Ramseys cooking show Next Level Chef, and will have another chance to compete for the title in the next episode. On the fifth episode of the cooking competition show that aired Wednesday night, the three teams were challenged to create a next level burger. Harrison chose to cook a spicy classic American burger brisket, but had what he called a rough day in the kitchen. With only 30 minutes to complete his dish, his meat turned out both raw and burnt at the same time. Harrisons team mentor Richard Blais chose him to go into the elimination round, which gave him one last chance to create a dish that could keep him in the competition. In the elimination round Harrison went head-to-head with home cook chef Devonnie from Ramseys team, and they were tasked with cooking an Ahi tuna burger with slaw and a side of onions. The chef with the best dish would survive to the next round and the other would be sent home. The nerves got to Harrison and he accidentally cut his finger with a knife while preparing his dish. Time was stopped while the medic took care of his injury and gave him a glove for his injured hand. Once he was able to continue, both chefs completed their dish and sent them to be judged by Blais and Ramsey. After the blind tasting, both judges chose Harrisons tuna burger with avocado and red cabbage as the dish that would survive the elimination round. Harrison will move on to episode six with the 11 remaining chefs, which will air on Sunday, Jan. 30, at 9 p.m. CT on FOX. The show was filmed in Las Vegas in September and started with 15 chefs competing for the $250,000 first-place prize. Contestants have been split up into three teams vying for the individual title of Next Level Chef, and one chef is eliminated each round. The individual who wins best dish keeps all their team members safe from elimination for that round. Each team has a mentor of either Gordon Ramsey, Nyesha Arrington or Richard Blais, who won Top Chef in 2011. The premise is that each team gets sent to cook on one of the three floors. The top floor has the best kitchen appliances and the chefs get the first pick of ingredients, while the team sent to the basement level gets the leftover ingredients and lesser grade appliances to work with. When the time runs out, chefs put their dish up to be judged by Ramsey, Arrington and Blais. Staff Writer Brad Hundt came to the Observer-Reporter in 1998 after stints at newspapers in Georgia and Michigan. He serves as editorial page editor, and has covered the arts and entertainment and worked as a municipal beat reporter. Wish the best for Gigi and Khai. Reply Thread Link Gigi has seemed kind of absent from family stuff lately. The Hadids pretty much completely changed how they use socials since this came to light but I do wonder if there is more to it. I dont think Yolanda has been seen at all since news broke and zayn tweeted? I know shes basically complete left social media Reply Thread Link Thats the smart call, the amount of people trying to make excuses for what he did was disgusting but not surprising Reply Parent Thread Link she was papped last tuesday leaving an apartment with her bf, khai and gigi Edited at 2022-01-27 03:10 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Ah missed that but thats gotta be one of the only times shes been papped since the TMZ article. Im sure his fans are being predictably horrible if she was papped with Khai Reply Parent Thread Link who's her bf? Reply Parent Thread Link I only know Anwar posts anti-vaccine stuff and Bella gets papped. Gigi stays quiet but she was like that before, I think? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link he doesn't deserve that after that disgusting behavior. all children need parents who respect and value women. Reply Thread Link I hope part of their co-parenting is him going to therapy, he needs to be able to coexist with his childs mother AND grandmother Reply Thread Link He needs to release another good album like Mind of Mine and go on tour!! He's so fucking hot.He needs to release another good album like Mind of Mine and go on tour!! Reply Thread Link tf is the matter with you? seriously. Reply Parent Thread Link Youre sick in the head. Reply Parent Thread Link He needs to go to anger management is what he needs. Reply Parent Thread Link Probably. But, he's still hot and talented. And it's a good thing that Gigi isn't having to put up with him anymore. Reply Parent Thread Link Calm your dick Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I just hope whatever works is whats best for the baby Reply Thread Link i hope he figures his shit out Reply Thread Link I feel so nauseous looking at Zayn stans start to turn on Gigi and her family. They have literally created a narrative in their heads that the Hadid family is mistreating Zayn and that he is somehow the victim. Yes, Yolanda sucks but Zayn is the worst. And I cant believe theyre turning on Gigi of all people :-/ She and Khai literally have it the worst. Reply Thread Link Celebrating "weeks" of being amicable is rather sad. Way to brag about what should be basic common decency out of this guy. Reply Thread Link I hope that he is getting/gets help and is able to be a good father for Khai. Im sure Id have a VERY hard time getting along with someone who assaulted my mother though. Reply Thread Link I really really hope she doesnt get back with him. And people need to stop assuming because two parents are seen together with their child means that theyre in a relationship. Zayn is an abusive POS. A few weeks or months being amicable doesnt excuse his past behavior. Reply Thread Link A few weeks of playing nice? I know that I am just like possibly irresponsibly speculating right now but uh... I really hope that this isn't some love bombing at the start of another abusive cycle. IDK. I just don't trust abusers!! I find it hard to believe that Zayn has suddenly turned over a new leaf. Reply Thread Link i don't think it's right to assume that he's been abusive to gigi just because of an altercation with her mother Reply Parent Thread Link zayn needs to be getting along with some damn anger management therapy. trash. Reply Thread Link Didn't pay attention before now to what they named their kid. There's a name that can't be said 2x Reply Thread Link Isn't it pronounced like K-eye or like the first half of Kyle? Reply Parent Thread Link The kh sound is pronounced as a hard H, almost like a spanish j sound. Khai has an arabic origin, short for Khaira, that means the best woman. Edited at 2022-01-28 02:17 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link that painting is sort of terrifying Reply Thread Link maybe its cus some of the characters faces are really out of place (especially marie antoinette and amy march) Reply Parent Thread Link my top 5 marie antoinette interview with the vampire bring it on fargo eternal sunshine of the spotless mind Reply Thread Link bless, she deserves. also i wouldn't call her unlucky - she's been in several really iconic movies with really iconic roles and has been acting for like over 30 years. she just hasn't gotten proper dues for it and is underrated Reply Thread Link She's so underrated, but she's still super successful. Bring It On is forever a gem. Reply Thread Link It seems like she may be unlucky again this year? Ariana Debose has a ton of momentum. My five fav: Eternal Sunshine Melancholia Bring it On Drop Dead Gorgeous Fargo Reply Thread Link Ive been debating getting a breast lift and I feel so conflicted. (Not sure I can afford it anyway, but just in theory.) On one hand, contributing to shitty beauty standards; on the other hand, Im an individual living in society with fucked up beauty standards and I can do what I want with my own body. Reply Thread Link Also: Feels that her career isn't based on beauty anyway. Girl, I like you, but your character in Spider-Man was more about how your breasts looked in wet clothing than any actual character development. (Not her fault at all. But she was certainly cast because she was pretty.) Shes still talented. And I respect her choices. But being pretty helped her success. Edited at 2022-01-27 11:13 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I think she probably has a warped sense of her looks because Hollywood is Hollywood. She spoke about a producer driving her to get her teeth fixed without consulting her, and GoFugYourself used to call her Dr. Sunken Tits because it's an anagram of her name & loved to say she had "saggy tits" (as did people here: https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/3835438.html ). Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm super late to this post, but I ended up getting an abdominoplasty a few months ago. I had a lot of excess skin in my stomach area, and I was super insecure about it. It was at least partially done as an actual quality of life thing, since I was getting rashes and having a hard time fitting into clothes properly, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't also partially because I just wanted a flat stomach for the first time in my life and to be a little step closer to fitting into beauty standards. I have a very supportive partner who assured me on multiple occasions that he was wildly attracted to me and wanted to make very certain that I was not doing it for his benefit solely because he loved me as I was. I never felt pressure from him at all. That said, it was definitely a good move for me. I am so much more confident in my body, and I cried the first time I put a pair of boyshort underwear on, since I've never been able to wear them before due to all the extra skin. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link 1) Drop Dead Gorgeous 2) Bring it On 3) Dick I still havent watched Fargo, bc Im a monster Reply Thread Link that's obviously the correct ranking for 1 & 2, I don't know how Vulture got it so wrong Reply Parent Thread Link once you do, you'll get it. she's the best part of an already STACKED cast Reply Parent Thread Link She was in so many of the movies I was obsessed with when I was a kid/teen: Jumanji, Small Soldiers, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Dick, Strike/All I Wanna Do, Bring it On, the Virgin Suicides, Get Over It, Spider-Man, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind... She's really had such a fantastic career. Reply Thread Link She was in eternal sunshine ? Reply Parent Thread Link She was! I'm not sure if you've seen it so I don't want to say much, but if you have she was the receptionist at Lacuna, and she was in a relationship with Mark Ruffalo's character. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Same!! I didnt realize I was a Kiki stan in my preteen years until now Reply Parent Thread Link I would not place Marie Antoinette at #1. Kirsten is most likely not gonna win BSA, but Im glad shes at least might get a nom. I always around ESOTSM mind is when she shouldve gunning for more Oscar-baity stuff. But I do think in the following years after she had gone to rehab for depression and other things, so health first. But Im glad shes getting recognition now! :D! Ive always liked how diverse her filmography is! Shes has a mix of comedy, drama, big-budget etcetc Reply Thread Link Can't wait for her next big budget comedy. There has to be one soon! Reply Parent Thread Link I would like and hope for it but I feel like she wants to do the drama or more serious films for now. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Little Women - Bring It On - The Virgin Suicides - Drop Dead Gorgeous - Sing To Her, Paolo! Honestly I still haven't worked my way to watching Interview With The Vampire Reply Thread Link Shes really creepy good in Interview with a Vampire. She was a good child actress. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah there are a few actors that were devastating as children that still act and aren't as big of a part of the 'machine'. I'm glad she's kept some of her public image though, she really has maintained an amazing career. Reply Parent Thread Link I've never seen it either bc I don't want to sit through a movie with Tom Cruise AND Brad Pitt but there was a clip of her in the movie shared on here the other day and honestly I was blown away. she outshone them both which is even more impressive with how young she was. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link A Gawker piece has called Kirsten one of the "unluckiest" actresses in Hollywood, since things seemed to never aligned perfectly for her to get the acclaim that she deserved. But that may change with her performance as Rose in 'The Power of The Dog'. ok yeah she didn't rise to the heights of natalie portman or anne hathaway but calling kirsten one of the "unluckiest" actresses in hollywood is so fucking dumb. that label is more apt for someone like thora birch but kirsten was a global movie star/it girl in the 2000s: part of a huge franchise (spiderman), star of box office hits (bring it on), awards recognition (cannes for melancholia, globes for vampire), beloved by acclaimed directors (michel gondry, lvt, sc), embraced by the fashion world (vogue covers, bulgari campaigns). like there are struggling actors who would kill for a fraction of the career she's had Edited at 2022-01-27 11:24 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link Celebrity culture is so weird. The scale never ever makes sense. Reply Parent Thread Link I agree that quote about her being unlucky is total bullshit. Like you describe in your comment, she has done so much in her career and it sounds like she has a good perspective on things. No one should feel sorry for Dunst. There is a lot to celebrate from her wonderful career thus far and a lot look forward to with her new work. Honestly, that Gawker quote is indicative of a very capitalist way at looking at artists that i see a lot in US based media. We cant just appreciate an actor or a movie for what they are/it is. There has to always be a competitive, award counting, or monetized element. Reply Parent Thread Link IA! I searched for the article and they mention the Cannes press conference with LVT and Elizabethtown being Oscar-buzzy before premiering as examples of things that got in the way of her getting recognition and, like, I can think on way unluckier things that have happen to other actors lol They even go as far as saying that her career seems a little cursed which was bogus to me. Underrated would just be a more fitting word/definition. Reply Parent Thread Link She was also in an episode of Star Trek TNG where she played a telepathic alien. Reply Thread Link That is such a heartbreaking episode. Reply Parent Thread Link This is when we find out Troi had an older sister who drowned and that's why Lwxana calls her "little one" all the time. Reply Parent Thread Link The media is so weird. A repertoire of iconic performances. She's worked with so many great people. And she's still going, pulling out new career bests as she gets older She's the goal Reply Thread Link she's the moment Reply Parent Thread Link i love her. she has the sort of career i'm sure a lot of A list actresses envy, she's consistently worked on interesting projects, given great performances, and other than when she was dating jake g/after her 20s were over i think she's relatively been able to keep her private life private. i also don't remember her ever being seen as "over exposed" or the public getting sick of her in the way that has led other actresses to sort of take a step back, like anne hathaway and jlaw or even emma stone to a lesser extent. that might also be because her ~peak~ was before the advent really of social media. my fave performance is the virigin suicides but i loved marie antoniette, bring it on ofc, interview with a vampire which was freaky af, jumanji. it's crazy how long she's been working. does anyone know if she had crazy stage parents? Edited at 2022-01-27 11:30 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link Edited at 2022-01-27 11:33 pm (UTC) also jake is trash but these pictures were iconic lol Reply Parent Thread Link she made that salad look so good lmao Reply Parent Thread Link does anyone know if she had crazy stage parents? I am not certain, but I think yes? Kirsten has said that her mom always protected her and made sure she got a normal life, but she has also talked about how being the family provider so young was kinda fucked up and created some resentment towards her mom before Reply Parent Thread Link Pic story: lifelong commitment of father and son to railway business Xinhua) 09:00, January 27, 2022 Combo photo shows Li Taihong (L) and Li Ke (R) getting onto trains in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong talks with his son and grandson in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong talks with his family members in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong works at the driving cabin of a train in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong uses signal flags to direct the train in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022 Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong prepares for a train to depart in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Combo photo shows Li Taihong (top) and Li Ke (R, bottom) working at the driving cabin of trains in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Combo photo shows Li Ke (L, photo on the left) and Li Taihong (R, photo on the right) preparing for trains to depart in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Ke uses signal flags to direct the train in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Ke (R) works at the driving cabin of a train in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong checks the train before departure in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Ke checks the connection of train carriages in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) The city of Los Angeles voted to ban oil drilling in what many see as a historic decision. The L.A. Times wrote that the city council voted unanimously to suspend oil drilling in Californias biggest city, which has also been the city with the highest concentration of urban oil wells, per Grist. Oil production was once one of the biggest industries in southern California, fueling the growth of Los Angeles in the first half of the 20th century. Although things have changed significantly since then, L.A. wells are still producing, with the total number of producing and idle wells in the city at more than 1,000. As expected, the vote has been welcomed by environmental activists and criticized by the oil industry. Shutting down domestic energy production not only puts Californians out of work and reduces taxes that pay for vital services, but it makes us more dependent on imported foreign oil from Saudi Arabia and Iraq that is tankered into L.A.s crowded port, said the chief executive of the California Independent Petroleum Association, Rock Zierman. California is indeed one of the biggest oil importers in the United States, with most of its oil coming from Ecuador, a fact which became the focus of a recent investigation by NBC News that found California is importing a lot of oil pumped from the Amazon in a national park previously protected but recently opened for oil drilling by the government in a bid to boost revenues. While it is importing oil from the Amazon, California is the state with perhaps the most ambitious decarbonization targets and has been the most active in trying to achieve them. The state is closing its nuclear power plants and doubling down on wind and solar to reduce its emissions footprint. Banning oil drilling is a logical step in this process and indeed, Governor Newsom last year set his sights on fracking, tasking the Department of Conservations Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division to initiate regulatory action to end the issuance of new fracking permits by January 2024. By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Goldman Sachs has pushed its forecast for Iran ramping up production back to the second quarter of 2023, showing a lack of confidence in the talks If a deal is reached, the prospect of Iran bringing new supply onto the market will weigh heavily on oil prices The Iran nuclear talks have entered a critical stage, with Secretary Blinken claiming that there are only a few weeks left to reach an agreement As talks on reviving the so-called Iranian nuclear deal enter a critical stage with the window of opportunity for a comprehensive agreement closing, oil markets are on edge once again about how the outcome of the ongoing negotiations would impact supply and demand balances later this year and early next year. The Biden Administration launched in April 2021 indirect talks with Iran, via the partners in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), about a possible return of the United States and Iran to the deal. Talks have been struggling since the start. They were suspended for months until a new Iranian president and administration took office and were relaunched at the end of last year, with little progress made so far. At the start of the talks in April, oil analysts first expected a legitimate return of Iranian oil to the market at some point in late 2021. As the negotiations dragged on and were suspended during the summer, the market pushed back the timeline for a return of Iranian barrels to 2022. This year, many analysts again pushed back that timeline to early 2023 if talks result in an agreement, considering that there would likely be a gap of six to nine monthsand possibly morebefore Iran starts to export oil without U.S. sanctions. Whether a deal could be reached in the coming weeks and months would influence estimates of oil market balances because Iran could raise its oil exports by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) within the first year of no-sanction exports. A full return to the deal and the removal of American sanctions would push oil prices lower as the surplus on the market would rise, upending current estimates. The longer the nuclear talks drag on, the longer it would take Iran to start ramping up its oil exports in case of an agreement. However, there could be very little time left to reach a deal. U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken warned earlier this month that the window of opportunity for a deal is closing. We have, I think, a few weeks left to see if we can get back to mutual compliance, Secretary Blinken told NPR in an interview on January 13. This negotiation is urgent, and progress has not been fast enough. We continue to work in close partnership with our allies, but the negotiations are reaching a dangerous impasse, British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss told the UK Parliament on Tuesday. Iran must now choose whether it wants to conclude a deal or be responsible for the collapse of the JCPOA. If the JCPOA collapses, all options are on the table, Truss added. Earlier this week, Iran suggested that it may consider direct talks with the United States. If during the negotiation process we get to a point that reaching a good agreement with solid guarantees requires a level of talks with the US, we will not ignore that in our work schedule, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, quoted by AFP. U.S. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday: We do believe that it would be more productive to engage directly with Iran when it comes to JCPOA, when it comes to other issues. Still, progress is not being made, and the Western countries in the JCPOA and the United States are concerned that dragging on talks further would allow Iran to advance its nuclear-weapon activities. If the ongoing talks in Vienna collapse, it would likely be very bullish for oil prices as it would not only tighten expected market balances for 2023 and 2024, but it could also additionally increase the tension in the Middle East with a renewed U.S.-Iran standoff. So much has changed since 2015, Helima Croft, Global Head of Commodity Strategy at RBC Capital Markets, told Bloomberg. Iran is now a nuclear-threshold state. Would they be willing to relinquish that status? Its not guaranteed, Croft added, commenting on the possibility that talks could collapse. The oil market will continue to keep a close eye on the talks, which seem like the wild card for prices later this year and next. Last week, Goldman Sachs said it was pushing its Iran ramp-up forecast to the second quarter of 2023 due to lack of progress in the negotiations, as it joined other Wall Street banks in predicting $100 oil as soon as this year. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The worlds largest sovereign wealth fund, Norways $1.3-trillion wealth fund, enjoyed last year its second-best return in history, earning the equivalent of $176 billion, driven by technology and financials, while energy stocks globally made the strongest return last year. The Government Pension Fund Global, as the so-called oil fund is officially known, said on Thursday that it returned 14.5 percent, equivalent to $176 billion (1.58 trillion Norwegian crowns) last year. This was the second-best return ever for the worlds biggest sovereign wealth fund, after a record return in 2019. The fundcreated three decades ago to safeguard and manage Norways oil wealth for future generationsreturned 20.8 percent on its equity investments, thanks to rallying equity markets last year. The good results are mainly due to very strong developments in the equity market throughout the year. There was good return in all sectors, but the investments in technology and financials performed particularly well. The investments in technology returned an impressive 30.2 percent, Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management which manages the fund, said in a statement. The funds investments in tech giants such as Microsoft, Alphabet, and Apple, contributed the most to absolute return numbers, while Tesla was also among the top ten individual contributions to absolute return, the funds presentation showed. While Norways fund enjoyed very good returns last year, Norway itself generated record-high petroleum revenues, thanks to rising commodity prices, growing global demand, and high production from 94 offshore fields, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said earlier this month. Going forward, Norway will continue to develop its oil and gas industry under the new minority government led by Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Stoere. Norway will continue to grant permits for oil and gas exploration on the Norwegian shelf and will keep the current system of oil auctions, the government says. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The United States will make sure the Nord Stream 2 project does not move forward if Russia invades Ukraine, a spokesperson for the State Department told media. "I want to be very clear: if Russia invades Ukraine one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," Ned Price told NPR. "I'm not going to get into the specifics. We will work with Germany to ensure it does not move forward." "Gas is not currently flowing through Nord Stream 2, and that's important because it means that Nord Stream 2 right now is not operational," Price also said. "It is leverage for us. It is leverage for Germany. It is leverage for the trans-Atlantic community because gas is not flowing." However, gas may begin flowing before too long, after Gazprom said on Thursday that it had set up a subsidiary in Germany as required under German legislation for the pipeline to get the final green light from the government. Named Gas for Europe GmbH, the subsidiary will be headquartered in the city of Schwerin and will own and operate the part of the pipeline that passes German territory as well as related infrastructure, Reuters reported. Germany's energy and transport regulator said that the certification process for Nord Strem 2 will resume when the parent company transfers all the main assets and human resources to the new subsidiary. According to Uniper, one of the investors in the Nord Stream 2 project, gas should be flowing by the start of the next heating season later this year. Nord Stream 2 has become one of the most controversial energy projects in Europe not just for political reasons, with some European governments arguing that it would deepen the continent's dependence on Russian gas, but for environmental reasons as well, as the EU tries to move beyond fossil fuels. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: As an example of how trade disputes often have little to do with trade, the announcement this week that the US and UK would sit down for talks to resolve the Trump era trade dispute over steel and aluminum tariffs serves as a case in point. Back in March 2018, when the former US president first imposed section 232 import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imported from nearly everywhere, the UK belonged to the EU. While the application appeared heavy-handed, strong arguments for action existed. Capacity utilization among the US steel industry had dropped to record lows and the industry as a whole had struggled to make a decent return since the financial crisis. But late last year, the EU successfully negotiated the removal of the tariffs in return for a quota agreement with the US. UK and Europe no more The UK, however, exited the EU on January 1, 2021, and so could not avail itself of that agreement. In fact, to make matters worse, clauses in the US-EU agreement make trade between the UK and EU harder because the US-EU agreement states steel originating in the UK will still attract the tariffs even if worked on and exported by EU companies. This has the effect of making its use in components destined for the USA uneconomic for EU manufacturers. Where does the UK rank? Naturally, US steel producers remain opposed to any deal. And, likewise for Japan, with whom the US has opened discussions in parallel, arguably the industry has cause for anxiety. Japan ranked 5th in 2020 among suppliers to the US steel market at just under $1bn according to Statista.com. However, the UK doesnt even feature in the top ten. Nor does it qualify as either a country that does not support free and fair trade or one that has lax environmental legislation. Both of these arguments do not support relaxing imports from countries like China. What the UK does have involves an unresolved thorny problem with the EU specifically, Northern Ireland, and its trade agreement with Eire, a member of the EU. Possibly because the current President claims distant Irish ancestry, or possibly as a sop to the EU, the current Biden administration has exacerbated tensions in the province over the resolution of the border issues. In addition, the administration has used issues like the steel and aluminum 232 tariffs as a lever that it perceives gives it influence over the EU-UK negotiations. In the meantime, countervailing action by the UK penalizes US exports of various products, some like whisky producers have seen volumes fall, others like Harley Davidson have seen profits vanish. Too many jobs remain on the line and company futures are at stake for politicians to play games with trade. The UKs application for equivalent treatment to its European neighbors should address whether any additional UK tons pose a serious threat to US producers. Its hard to see how it does with the EU industry ten times larger given free reign, but thats the measure. By AG Metal Miner More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: 2021 was a dismal year for the UK automotive industry, as output fell 6.7 percent to less than 860,000 units the lowest since 1956. Figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported that production went down 34 percent on pre-pandemic levels, especially as a result of the pandemic and supply chain issues such as the semiconductor shortage. The biggest single cause of this is semiconductors, as the average car takes between 1,500 and 3,000 chips. That was the most impactful issue said SMMTs chief executive Mike Hawes. It did mask other component shortages, with some units still arising from shortages related to Covid and its impact on logistics. The closure of Hondas Swindon factory in July also contributed to the bleak year, bringing down numbers by a quarter. According to Hawes, despite the situation, increasing investments in the industry and the ongoing electrification process are brightening this years outlook, with forecasts expecting production to go back to one million units in 2022. Probably the highest since 2013, investment levels reached 4.9bn in 2021 and focused on the EV transition, including the West Midlands battery gigafactory. One in 12 cars made in Britain last year was pure electric and that is about 72 percent up, while hybrid and plug-ins took a record share accounting for about 17.9 percent of [all manufactured vehicles, he added. Investment also derived from automotive giants such as Ford, Aston Martin, and Nissan, which recently put 1bn into the UKs electric car expansion. While semiconductor issues are expected to ease by the second half of this year, the rising energy and living costs have the potential to become the industrys main issue, said Hawes. Energy is the most immediate and pressing one, because you can see whats coming down the line in terms of price increases, Hawes said. Significant input costs and energy will potentially go up 50, 60, 70 percent and that will have a bearing. Commenting on the SMMT data, KPMGs head of automotive Richard Peberdy argued that demand will not slow down, despite the circumstances. In normal times, an increasing cost of living would threaten consumer demand, but given the demand for both new and used vehicles is still outpacing supply, consumer appetite remains relatively strong, he said. By CityAM More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The White House is dealing with logistical challenges in its efforts to secure alternative natural gas supply to Europe if Russian supply is interrupted in case Russia invades Ukraine, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday. The U.S. Administration is in talks with energy companies and major gas-producing countries globally about the potential for a large supply of natural gas to Europe in case Russian deliveries are interrupted. Norway and Qatar, major gas producers and exporters, are among the countries with which the U.S. has been holding discussions about higher supply to European customers, U.S. officials with knowledge of the talks told CNN earlier this week. Russia, which supplies over one-third of the natural gas that Europe consumes, could weaponize gas deliveries if the West imposes sanctions on Moscow over a possible invasion of Ukraine, European allies of the United States fear. In addition, in the event of military action and subsequent energy sanctions against Russia, Europe will be hit the first and the most, including in its gas supply from Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, analysts say. On Tuesday, Press Secretary Psaki said that the United States had been working to identify additional volumes of non-Russian natural gas from North Africa and the Middle East, Asia, and the United States. Were in discussion with major natural gas producers around the globe to understand their capacity and willingness to temporarily surge natural gas output and to allocate these volumes to European buyers, Psaki added. And were also engaging with major buyers and suppliers of LNG to ensure flexibility in existing contracts and storage is managed and enables diversion to Europe, she said, adding that as of Tuesday, there were no announcements on behalf of gas producers to make. On Wednesday, Psaki acknowledged that no question there are logistical challenges, especially moving natural gas. We know that. Thats part of our discussion with a lot of these companies and countries. But again, these conversations are ongoing and we dont intend to fail on them, Psaki said. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Today a cocktail, tomorrow a cheese plate. A cheesemaker in Estonia has found an unusual use for the juniper berries leftover from gin production. They are putting them in cheese. It was a gin distillery, Liviko, one of the largest alcohol producers in the Baltic region, who approached Andres Cheese Farm with the idea. The cheesemaker found that the floral and bitter notes of juniper berries perfectly complemented their gouda-style cheese. Hanna Kaur, Liviko beverage architect, told Gin Magazine that with Crafters Juniper cheese, we take the reuse of production residue in the food industry to a whole new level. I hope that we can inspire other manufacturers to create new flavor experiences in a similar manner. This isnt the first time Liviko has sought to repurpose a byproduct of their gin. In 2019 they launched an award-winning mildly sweet effervescent soft drink, Re-Crafted Crafters Junibeer, which also uses juniper berries from gin-making. Liviko set out both to inspire zero-waste production and to create new utility for the juniper berries remnants of gin distillation. With the cheese, theyve now created a second way to keep waste out of landfills while originating brand-new flavors. State officials have announced plans to free up more beds in hospitals and to provide free, at-home COVID-19 test kits for Nebraska residents. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts mentioned both programs last week in testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis. Nebraska hospital officials have said that one of the challenges they face is a lack of places where they can send patients who are well enough to be discharged but not well enough to go home. Under the so-called hospital decompression program, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services will open 78 to 98 skilled nursing beds at three locations in Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island. The first patients will be accepted at the Lincoln facility Feb. 1. That facility, situated in the Seagren House Building at 3355 Orwell St., will offer 16 to 36 beds and be operated by Mission Health Communities. Facilities in Omaha and Grand Island, which would offer 32 and 30 beds, respectively, will begin accepting patients 10 to 14 days after contracts are finalized. The locations will be announced after contract finalization. Jeremy Nordquist, president of the Nebraska Hospital Association, thanked Ricketts and the state health department for their efforts in helping to free beds in the states hospitals. We appreciate their partnership and efforts, he said in a statement. This is a critical issue for our hospitals and health care heroes as we continue to be challenged by the impacts of COVID-19. The states hospitals have been under strain for months, facing increased demand for care, a high number of COVID-19 patients from the collision of the delta and omicron waves and staffing shortages exacerbated recently by cases among health care workers and their family members. On Tuesday, 745 Nebraskans were hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest figure since early December 2020. Omaha metro area hospitals reached a pandemic high of 452 COVID-19 patients on Monday. Testing availability in the state, too, has been strained as cases of COVID-19 have reached record levels. To bolster the availability of at-home tests, the state health department is finalizing a contract with eMed, a health care solutions company, to provide 200,000 at-home COVID-19 test kits for Nebraska residents. The agency will have the option to buy more tests if needed. The state health department will work with local health departments to place kits for pickup at locations throughout the state. The at-home tests are expected to be available beginning the first week of February. A website listing locations where tests will be available is under development and will be available in the coming days, according to state officials. Once they pick up a test, Nebraskans can perform the tests on their own or receive help through a video call. The department is using multiple previously awarded grant funding streams from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to cover testing costs, officials said. The department used a Nebraska agency to help secure staffing for the skilled nursing beds. Many are traveling nurses looking to spend time in Nebraska. The health department has secured short-term funding for the project. Ultimately, officials said, the intent is that those costs would be covered by federal pandemic relief dollars, as laid out in Ricketts recommendations in Legislative Bill 1014. The Nebraska Public Health Laboratory also is working to connect with private testing facilities to help process tests during periods of high demand. The lab is a partnership of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Nebraska Medicine and the state health department. 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. Ugandan police officers participate in a parade to mark the 36th anniversary of the Liberation Day at Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 26, 2022. Uganda on Wednesday marked the 36th anniversary of the Liberation Day, when the ruling National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M) took over power after a five-year guerrilla war. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) Members of Uganda People's Defence Force participate in a parade to mark the 36th anniversary of the Liberation Day at Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala, Uganda, on Jan. 26, 2022. Uganda on Wednesday marked the 36th anniversary of the Liberation Day, when the ruling National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M) took over power after a five-year guerrilla war. (Photo by Nicholas Kajoba/Xinhua) After years of discussion and research, Omaha appears on track to build a streetcar. The project was one of two massive developments announced by Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert on Wednesday. Stothert, alongside Mutual of Omaha CEO James Blackledge, presented plans for a streetcar system that correspond with a new, skyline-changing Mutual of Omaha headquarters to be built downtown. While the two proposals are not technically linked, Blackledge said the citys commitment to a modern streetcar line was critical to the Fortune 500 companys decision to locate in the heart of downtown. Blackledges support of a streetcar was a significant factor for Stothert in choosing Mutual out of multiple developers interested in building on the soon-to-be-cleared downtown block where the W. Dale Clark Library sits. There were probably a good half-dozen developers who expressed interest in the library site, and none of them could do it without a streetcar, Stothert said. This is so vitally important as we continue to develop downtown that we are able to move people in and out and around the core. The streetcar will operate along a 3-mile route using 5.5 track miles. The line travels along Farnam and Harney Streets from 10th Street to 42nd Street and along 10th Street between Harney and Cass Streets. Two major developments in the works will bookend the rail system: the $400 million riverfront parks and science museum to the east and the University of Nebraska Medical Centers $2.6 billion Project NExT facility to the west. Proposals to build a streetcar system date back a quarter century to the administration of then-Mayor Hal Daub. But those proposals were derailed by the lack of a plan to pay the massive cost of building the system. Stothert said its the new private developments along the route that will be the key to paying for both the systems construction and ongoing operating costs. Everywhere streetcars have been built, they have attracted private development that tends to exceed expectations, Stothert said. Omaha expects extraordinary development along the streetcar line, she said. The city would use tax-increment financing, or TIF, to capture a portion of the enhanced property tax dollars generated by redevelopment to pay the startup costs for the streetcar system. Typically under TIF, a developer takes out a loan to help cover eligible redevelopment expenses. The loan is then repaid by the increased property taxes generated from the redevelopment. While the cost of building and launching the streetcar system is estimated at $225 million, Stothert said federal guidelines call for a 35% contingency in case of unexpected costs, so the city would need to raise $306 million. But she said that should be more than covered by an estimated $354 million generated via TIF. Those dollars would come from a special TIF district spanning the entire streetcar route, as well as three blocks north and south of the route. The TIF dollars would come from three different streams within the special district: New developments in the streetcar district would contribute 25% of their TIF proceeds. That element alone is projected to generate $218 million. Using authority it has under state law, the city also plans to extend the timeline of already existing TIF projects along the route from the current 15 years to 20 years. Those five additional years of payments would generate $50 million. Stothert noted that school districts will get 2% more per year of the increased TIF revenue during that five-year period. The third part will come from existing properties that see increased valuations within the TIF district, raising $86 million. Stothert said the city will issue special revenue bonds and private placement bonds to pay for the systems construction. The buyers of those bonds will be repaid using TIF funds. The buyers of the bonds assume any risks with their investment, leaving little or no risk for taxpayers, she said. The funding plan was conceived of by a committee of the Greater Omaha Chamber focused on enhancing Omahas urban core. Stothert said the city had the plan vetted by a finance team at First National Bank and the citys bond counsel. She said both affirmed that it can be funded without any kind of tax increase. If, as expected, there are additional TIF funds left after the bonds are paid off, she said those dollars could be put to other good uses, including developing affordable housing, the cost of converting one-way downtown streets to two-way and improved pedestrian access. Then theres the estimated $6.4 million cost of operating the system annually. Stothert said that would be covered by parking revenues related to the new developments, including new parking garages planned along the streetcar route. Given the lack of risk to taxpayers, Stothert said she is comfortable moving forward without first seeking voter approval. She previously said a streetcar proposal would need voter approval in order to earn her support. I understood the value of a streetcar, but nobody has told me how to pay for it and how to operate and maintain it without a tax increase, she said. The urban core committee has presented a funding plan to me that works. Stothert said the streetcar system would be run as a city enterprise, the physical components of which will be owned by the city. The system will be operated by a new city authority whose representatives would be appointed by the city, Metro Transit and the chamber. Since the city owns the system, Stothert said it makes sense for the city to operate it, with Metro Transit as a partner. She said Metro Transit officials have signed on to that plan. The streetcar will be free to ride and capable of holding 150 to 225 passengers per vehicle. It will run on electricity. Additional streetcar routes to the north and south are planned in the future. As designed, the streetcar will connect at 13 separate stops intersecting with 12 Metro bus routes. All the elements of the plan are just proposals at this point, all subject to City Council approval, Stothert said. The first elements of the plan could go to the council by March. Omaha City Council President Pete Festersen said Wednesday that he looks forward to reviewing the details. City Council members are supportive of increasing public transit options throughout the city. I look forward to reviewing the details and the financing of the streetcar as one of those options, and agree it would stimulate additional economic development along its route, Festersen said. The last time Omaha had a streetcar system was in the 1950s. The Omaha-Council Bluffs streetcar era began in 1868. By 1890, the metropolitan area had 90 miles of tracks more than any city except Boston. By 1955, Omahas last streetcar of that era rolled to a stop when the city junked its streetcars in favor of buses, which had been winning over passengers for years. If the mayors timeline moves as planned, the new streetcar system will be completed in 2026. World-Herald staff writer Henry Cordes contributed to this report. Omaha World-Herald: Afternoon Update The latest headlines sent at 4:45 p.m. daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. MADISON, Wis. (AP) An Omaha-based voting machine company told the Republican-hired attorney leading an investigation into the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin that it will not comply with subpoenas issued seeking a broad array of information. Attorneys for Election Systems & Software told former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman in a letter dated Jan. 21 that it would not comply, calling the subpoenas issued last month a quintessential fishing expedition. The letter was obtained Thursday by The Associated Press after it was first reported on by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Gableman has subpoenaed the mayors of Wisconsins five largest cities, the states top elections official, an immigrant rights group, ES&S and Dominion Voting Systems as part of his ongoing probe ordered after President Joe Biden narrowly defeated Donald Trump in the battleground state. Subpoenas to the elections commission, Voces de la Frontera and mayors of Green Bay and Madison are being fought in court. ES&S made clear it will not comply, telling Gableman in the letter that the company is under no obligation to respond to any of the subpoenas. The letter was signed by attorneys Michael Cox, Daniel Fischer and Michael Maistelman. Cox and Fischer are based in Omaha, the headquarters of ES&S. Maistelman, who is in Milwaukee, declined to elaborate Thursday on the correspondence. The letter speaks for itself, Maistelman said. The ES&S voting machines are used by more than 1,800 municipalities across Wisconsin, including the two largest cities of Milwaukee and Madison, according to data provided by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. In part, the attorneys said the subpoenas were not properly served and that Gableman cant compel ES&S to turn over records that would take weeks or months to produce and are in Nebraska, not Wisconsin. Additionally, they said Gableman cant force someone from the company to sit for a closed-door interview. Gablemans ability to question mayors and the states elections administrator in private is also being challenged in the other lawsuits. A judge earlier this month did not block the subpoenas to the elections administrator but also put off a ruling on whether they are valid. Republicans are trying to have the case dismissed. The ES&S letter calls the subpoenas quintessential fishing expeditions casting their nets as wide as possible in the hopes that something which might actually be sought is caught within the net but amidst the thousands upon thousands of other documents and pages that have no relevancy to the matter. The attorneys said the request appeared to be for every communication the company had over a two-year period related to elections in Wisconsin, including proprietary information about software code for voting machines. Gableman did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Bidens victory by just under 21,000 votes over Trump has withstood multiple recounts, lawsuits and reviews. Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos hired Gableman to investigate at a cost of $676,000 in taxpayer money. The private company is majority owned by McCarthy Capital, an Omaha investment firm. The World-Herald was a part owner of Election Systems until 2011. Mutual of Omaha CEO James Blackledge once told First National Bank of Omaha President Clark Lauritzen not to worry. As Mutual made plans for a possible new headquarters, Blackledge didnt expect the company to build anything taller than Omahas tallest building, the banks downtown tower. Now Blackledge is not so sure. I may need to retract that, Blackledge said with a laugh. It will be close. No matter how high the new headquarters rises, Mutual of Omaha is set to reshape both the Omaha skyline and the citys urban core with Wednesdays announcement that it will build a new high-rise headquarters downtown. An architects concept rendering depicts a glassy 40-plus-story building rising above the block currently occupied by the downtown library at 14th and Douglas Streets. And depending on what Mutual ultimately determines its space needs to be for its 4,000-employee Omaha workforce, the new skyscraper could end up supplanting the 45-story First National Bank Tower as Omahas tallest building. The Mutual tower would also sit along the route of a new 3-mile city streetcar line that would run from the University of Nebraska Medical Center to Omahas riverfront. Mayor Jean Stothert revealed plans for the new midtown streetcar system in conjunction with Mutuals tower part of a blockbuster city development announcement Wednesday. While a number of rounds of city approvals are ahead over the next year, the announced plans carry the potential to visually and economically transform the landscape of both downtown and midtown Omaha. The new Mutual tower will be the first significant addition to downtown Omahas skyline in almost a generation. It also could be the largest single infusion of workers into Omahas downtown core. And at a time businesses across the nation are crying out for skilled workers, Mutual and the city said the new developments will attract young professionals, talent and other new businesses into Omahas urban core. It about knocked me off my feet, Stothert said of the first time she saw an image of Mutuals new building. We knew that site was prime real estate, and we knew whatever was going to go there had to be something really great. Because in the future when you see the skyline or picture of Omaha, this is what youre going to see. Plans call for construction to begin on both the Mutual headquarters and streetcar by next year, with both projects open and functioning by 2026. While the two proposals are not technically linked, Blackledge said the citys commitment to a modern streetcar line was critical to the decision of the Fortune 500 company to locate in the heart of downtown. Not only does Mutual value having its new headquarters on the line, he said, the streetcar system brings enhanced financial value to its current campus, which also will sit along the streetcar line and will be redeveloped after Mutual moves downtown. The streetcar will help assure the midtown area remains viable without Mutuals workforce, he said, and it helps make possible the downtown skyscraper that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build. Stothert agreed the two plans work in tandem. James has made it very clear that they would not be able to build this tower ... if the streetcar wasnt part of the plan, she said. Thats why this is so important to announce these together. Mutual in its earliest days after its 1909 founding was located downtown, but it moved west to its current campus at 33rd and Dodge beginning in 1940. Now the company the chamber rates as Omahas sixth-largest employer is set to make a downtown return. Mutuals new headquarters will arguably be the first major addition to the downtown Omaha skyline since Union Pacific announced its lower-profile headquarters building in 2001, which opened in 2004. First Nationals tower was announced in 1998 and opened in 2002. Former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub noted that its often been said a city cant claim big-city status unless it has three tall buildings. With First National, the 30-story Woodmen Tower, which was built in the 1960s, and now Mutual, Omaha will have that, he said. We are going to have a third tall building in the heart of our city, he said. Its symbolic, but more than that, its wonderful and positive. While Mutual will be building on the site of the downtown library, which is expected to be relocated nearby, Blackledge said Mutual is not the impetus for that move. The citys discussions about tearing down the W. Dale Clark Library and redeveloping the site preceded his companys interest, he said. Stothert and Blackledge both say it was only in the past four months that the library site emerged as a possible new home for Mutual. Mutual for years has been studying its facilities needs and a potential new headquarters. Mutual was approached a year ago by developer Jason Lanoha, who proposed Mutual build its new headquarters downtown. The developers focus, though, was putting the tower on the long-vacant block it owned at 14th and Dodge, where Union Pacific had its former headquarters. Lanoha also suggested that Mutual ask the city if it would be willing to reroute its developing streetcar system to include the new headquarters site along its path. So Mutual approached the city in September with just such a plan. At the time, the city was in the process of relocating the downtown library and considering a half-dozen potential developments for the site, Stothert said. Rather than mess with the streetcar route, the city instead offered up the library site to Mutual. Stothert credits the city economic development team of Troy Anderson and Kevin Andersen with hatching the idea, which she endorsed. We just felt like Mutual had a plan, it was viable and they were ready, she said. And I love that they have Omaha in their name. In the end, the city will execute a land swap with Lanoha, with the city in exchange gaining ownership of the old Union Pacific site for future development. The city plans to move the downtown library to a new branch at 14th and Jones and to clear the current site for Mutuals redevelopment by the end of the year. The library plan continues to draw heat from some circles, including some fiery comments Tuesday during a hearing before the City Council. Dawaune Lamont Hayes, an Omaha resident who spoke against the library move during the council meeting, said the news of Mutuals planned project has gone forward with a lack of transparency and failure to consult with the community. This is about more than buildings, Lamont said. This is about public trust. After the Mutual announcement, Laura Marlane, executive director of the Omaha Public Library, called the opportunity to establish a new branch downtown that better meets the citys needs amazing. People really are focusing on a lot of negatives, and I think that we need to look forward, she said. Stothert made it clear during Wednesdays press conference that under no circumstances did she see the old library not making way for Mutuals development. A facilities study years ago found it inefficient and in need of replacement. We will be moving the Dale Clark Library, she said. Even with Wednesdays announcement, much planning remains before Mutuals move. Blackledge said the exact number of floors in Mutuals new building wont be known until a consultant completes a study of the companys space needs in a post-pandemic world, when its believed many workers will continue to work remotely or in hybrid ways. But given the size of Mutuals current campus and Omaha workforce, Blackledge said, he believes the new building will be on the scale of the First National Bank Tower, or even taller. Nearly all 4,000 of Mutuals Omaha employees will be based downtown, though Blackledge said he thought with flexible schedules perhaps only two-thirds would be in the office on any given day. In square footage, the new building will be much smaller than Mutuals current campus, but in the end will be right-sized for company workforce needs, Blackledge said. The proposed buildings lower levels include garage parking for about 2,500 vehicles. Blackledge said the new tower represents the chance to create an inspiring workplace for Mutuals workers while contributing to making downtown Omaha vital. He said hes excited that the new building will face Omahas new downtown and riverfront park redevelopment. We are inspired by the energy in downtown Omaha, he said, and recognize the importance of a vibrant urban core for the citys future. As to whether Mutuals new building would end up taller than First Nationals tower, he said it might be appropriate if they ended up the same size and shared the distinction of the citys tallest. For their part, First National officials welcomed Wednesdays announcement. As a longtime proponent of downtown development, the bank is excited that Mutual will now be a neighbor, said First National spokesman Kevin Langin. We think its a great and welcome addition to the Omaha skyline, he said. World-Herald staff writer Jessica Wade contributed to this report. Omaha World-Herald: Afternoon Update The latest headlines sent at 4:45 p.m. daily. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. LINCOLN School districts large and small lined up this week behind a plan aimed at delivering $728 million worth of property tax relief by boosting state support of public schools. But Nebraskas largest district, the Omaha Public Schools, joined leading agricultural groups in questioning the plan during two public hearings over two days in two separate committees. They raised particular concerns about how it would be paid for over time. The plan represents a major revamp of the states school aid formula. It was developed over several months by State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, the Education Committee chairwoman, working with Columbus Public Schools Superintendent Troy Loeffelholz and the districts finance director, Chip Kay. Walz introduced the school funding pieces of the plan in Legislative Bill 890. Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha introduced the tax-related pieces in LB 891. OPS Superintendent Cheryl Logan testified against both bills, saying the plan they put in place would make the district more reliant on state support and thus more vulnerable to ups and downs in the states financial standing and to changes in the Legislatures political priorities. Why would any school district rely on the promises of the State Legislature? she asked, pointing to the history of changes in the school aid formula. Agricultural groups, meanwhile, argued that the plan would not provide equal benefits to taxpayers across the state and would provide larger increases in school aid to districts that already get the bulk of state support. Testifying Wednesday before the Revenue Committee, Monty Stoddard from Harrisburg said many land owners would receive less tax relief under the new plan than under the current LB 1107 tax credit program, which provides income tax credits to property owners to offset a portion of the school property taxes paid. The state has allocated $548 million for the tax credits this year, which are expected to offset about 25% of school property taxes. The new plan would repurpose that allocation to help pay for increased school aid, while earmarking a half-cent of sales tax revenue to cover the rest. Calculations done by state education officials show that the new plan would increase state support for all but a few school districts, which in turn would provide property tax savings. But the level of savings would vary widely, with some exceeding the 25% level and others falling well short of that mark. In the metro area, OPS would see its state aid increase by $111 million when the plan is fully implemented. That would drive down the districts general fund property tax levy 43%, going from the current $1.043 per $100 of taxable value down to $.5999. Springfield Platteview Community Schools would see its aid increase by $2.1 million, three times what it would be under current law. But its levy would drop by just 15%, going from $.6466 down to $.5443. Under the plan, all school districts would receive a certain amount of money for each student, called education stabilization base aid. If the plan had been in place this year, total base aid would have been $352 million, and per-student payments would have been almost $1,100. The second part of the plan would boost the share of income tax revenue going to school districts, to 20% of income taxes paid by district residents, up from 2.23% now. For the current year, that would mean a $403 million shift from state coffers to school districts. The plan also would allow more schools to qualify for state equalization aid, which is intended to fill in the gap between what schools need to educate students and the amount of money they receive from property taxes and other sources. Currently, 87 of the states 244 school districts qualify for equalization aid. Under the new plan, 148 districts would have qualified this year. Representatives from large, medium and small school districts, plus officials from the states main education groups, all testified in support of the plan, even as they acknowledged some remaining issues. Adams Central Superintendent Shawn Scott described the plan as overall net positive, saying he liked that it would establish a dedicated fund for schools and would provide state support for every student. Liz Standish, associate superintendent for the Lincoln Public Schools, endorsed the plan, even though she noted it has some elements that LPS would not normally support. She said it would reduce the districts reliance on property taxes if fully implemented and fully funded. Norfolk Superintendent Jami Jo Thompson said the plan would help erase lines between small and large, urban and rural schools and would bring Norfolks levy down closer to that of its neighboring districts. (The plan) results in winners, period. There are no losers, she said. 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. TEHRAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Ground Force held on Thursday the final stage of a seven-day combined security war game in the eastern province of South Khorasan, IRIB state TV reported. Held in an area of 500 kilometers in a public district of the border village of Shahrakht, Zirkuh County, the exercise was aimed at increasing the military and defense preparedness of the IRGC Ground Force units in the face of potential threats and Takfiri groups, and training the new generation of the soldiers, according to IRIB. During the drill, combined operations to counter possible terrorist threats were carried out by the IRGC's drones, aviation, armored vehicles, artillery, branch insignia, infantry, commando and electronic warfare units. The latest military tactics as well as special ammunition and armaments were used in the exercise, which was conducted in environments closely simulated based on real-life potentially threatening situations. Improving coordination among different systems and assessing their overlap were the main objectives pursued by the commanders and forces taking part in the drill. Among the outstanding features of the war game were the forces' high morale and advanced capabilities during the operations as well as people's enthusiastic reception of the maneuver. Iran's Armed Forces hold routine military exercises throughout the year. The country's officials have repeatedly underscored that the Islamic Republic will not hesitate to build up its defense capabilities, emphasizing such abilities are entirely meant for the purpose of defense and will be never subject to negotiations. On Jan. 13, the IRGC Ground Force held the largest ever combined military exercise in the country's southeast. The drill was held by the Quds Base of the IRGC Ground Force in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan. It was already clear that public officials who were part of a months-long dive into Nebraska criminal justice data werent all on board with every resulting idea for policy reform. But a public hearing on a bill informed by that process Wednesday further showcased those divides. Legislative Bill 920, introduced by State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, contains a range of efforts aimed at spending state money more wisely and reducing prison overcrowding and recidivism. Lathrop chairs the Judiciary Committee and co-chaired the working group that produced the ideas. That process was facilitated by the nonprofit Crime and Justice Institute. A recent World-Herald analysis of national corrections data shows Nebraska has now surpassed Alabama as the state with the nations most overcrowded prison system. Past legislative efforts have done little to alleviate that pressure. Lathrop has long referred to this moment as a crossroads for the states criminal justice system, where it can decide to build its way out or enact reforms. On Wednesday, he referenced a chart with prison population projections and what prison capacity would be if the Legislature approves a new 1,500-bed prison to replace the state penitentiary in Lincoln, as requested by Gov. Pete Ricketts and corrections director Scott Frakes. The chart showed that, even with that new prison, the system would still be overcrowded come 2030. Specifically, the gap between the average daily population and operational capacity (125% of the capacity for which its designed) would be 1,326 beds. The state asked for CJIs help because those whove been paying attention know that we cannot build our way out of this problem, Lathrop said. This is not a left wing exercise, he said. This isnt people, feel sorry for the people in prison. This is about what direction the state is going to take with respect to corrections. Data from the process showed that, while the prison population has increased over the last decade, admissions to prison decreased a consequence of enacting mandatory minimum sentences and increasing sentence lengths, Lathrop said. The groups final report included 17 policy ideas that all its members agreed on and four they didnt. Lathrops bill includes all of the legislative ideas, regardless of consensus, that fall under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee. Ricketts, another of the working groups co-chairs, said earlier this week he doesnt support any of the four non-consensus recommendations, saying they arent right for Nebraska. It was clear from testimony and senators questions that most opposition stems from a few proposed sentencing and penalty changes. Other efforts including expanding problem-solving courts, improving reentry practices for people released from prisons and expanding access to behavioral health services appeared to have broad support. Opposition mostly came from prosecutors and law enforcement, while public defenders, groups such as the ACLU of Nebraska and service providers testified in favor of the bill. In addition to testimony at the hearing, there were 56 comments submitted in support of the bill, two in opposition and one neutral. Aaron Hanson with the Omaha Police Officers Association argued that the prison system is underbuilt and that there hasnt been enough investment in rehabilitation. The metric should be safer communities, not necessarily less people in prison, he said. A few topics in the bill that attracted opposition: a change to penalties for drug possession, changes that discourage the use of mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent felonies, and other changes aimed at reducing the number of inmates who jam out or complete their full sentence without being paroled. The bill would make drug possession charges (for most drugs) a misdemeanor when a person has less than half a gram, rather than a felony. The aim would be to distinguish people who have drugs for personal use and reserve costly prison beds for dealers. Lancaster Public Defender Joe Nigro was among those who advocated for that change, saying even residue in a pipe can be charged as a felony today. About half of the drug possession cases in his office would become misdemeanors with the change, he said. This change would reduce our prison population, he said. The bigger issue is: Why should we treat a health problem as a felony? But Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln questioned why the bill doesnt distinguish between drugs like fentanyl and other drugs, and was concerned that it might discourage people from getting help through drug courts. State Patrol Superintendent Col. John Bolduc said prison is typically the last resort for drug possession offenses. One of our judges has told me, Well, if you take these and make them all misdemeanors, youre going to destroy our drug court, Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said. Kleine and others also raised concerns with proposed changes to mandatory minimum sentences. In one change, the bill would limit when a habitual criminal enhancement can be applied. That can currently apply when someone has been convicted twice of any felony, and it requires a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. A Lincoln Journal Star analysis found last year that habitual criminal convictions are sought inconsistently across the state and convicted defendants are disproportionately Black. Prosecutors often threaten to add that enhancement to compel a plea, Nigro said, and it often works even if a person might have a good defense. The bill would limit it so that the two prior convictions would have to be a sex offense or violent offense, Lathrop said. Other proposed changes include eliminating mandatory minimums for drug offenses that currently have them, limiting the minimum sentence for certain sex crimes to no more than 70% of the maximum sentence (it would not change the maximum possible sentence) and limiting minimums for other crimes to no more than 50% of the maximum. Under state law, Lathrop said, the time between a persons minimum and maximum sentence is whats available for parole. So, this would create that space. The working group also found that flat sentences limit inmates incentives to participate in programming while theyre in prison, he said. I dont disagree that there needs to be a separation between the bottom number and the top, as you said, to have some incentive for parole, Kleine said. But he wasnt happy with the 50% and 70% numbers. Meanwhile, Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, who supports the bill, said he wished those numbers were lower. Certainly there are people that belong in prison, and Im not advocating here for some abdication of our role for public safety, Riley said. But weve tried all of this tough on crime stuff, and here we are. Its time to look at the facts as they are. 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. Nebraska Congressman Jeff Fortenberrys trial will have to wait. Californias federal courts have suspended jury trials through the end of February because of a surge in COVID-19 cases. Fortenberrys trial had been scheduled to begin Feb. 15. Now the question is: Whenever the trial happens, where will it occur? John Littrell, one of Fortenberrys attorneys, renewed a motion this week to move the case from California to Nebraska. He argued that time is of the essence that Nebraskas trial calendar is less busy than Californias. He also argued that the case should be heard in Nebraska because the allegations involve actions in Nebraska and Washington, D.C. not in California. And he argued that Nebraska would be better suited to accommodate witnesses who might testify at trial. The case against Fortenberry was filed in California in part because thats where an investigation was first launched into illegal political contributions from a Nigerian-born billionaire. Fortenberry, who has represented eastern Nebraskas 1st District since 2005, is charged with three felonies two counts of making false statements to federal agents and one count of seeking to conceal the source of $30,000 in conduit political contributions from a 2016 California fundraiser. The funds originated with Gilbert Chagoury, a Paris-based Nigerian, who purportedly directed the donations to Fortenberry because of a shared interest in protecting Christians from persecution in the Middle East. It is illegal for foreigners to donate to U.S. political campaigns. One of the charges grew out of a July 2019 interview in Washington, D.C., in which prosecutor Mack Jenkins, an assistant U.S. attorney based in Los Angeles, asked some of the questions posed to Fortenberry. Prosecutors allege that Fortenberry lied during that interview, and an earlier interview at his Lincoln home, about the origin of the $30,000. They claim that Fortenberry had been informed that the money probably came from Chagoury during a 2018 phone call from the organizer of the California fundraiser, who, by then, was cooperating with the FBI. Fortenberry and his lawyers, meanwhile, have maintained that the congressman was set up by the FBI and that he couldnt recall details of the 2018 call. They argue that any charges of false statements should be dropped because his statements were not material to the broader investigation into the illegal contributions. Fortenberry, they say, didnt know the donations were illegal. Fortenberry earlier tried to dismiss the case over the fact that it was filed in California and not Nebraska or Washington, D.C. U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. rejected that attempt. In his motion to move the case, Littrell wrote that most of the governments civilian witnesses reside outside of California, and five of Fortenberrys tentative witnesses (including himself) live in Nebraska.California has always been an impractical forum for this case, Littrell wrote. None of the alleged offense conduct occurred in California. Congressman Fortenberry lives in Nebraska and works in Washington, D.C. Fortenberrys defense team also cited the potential political implications of a delay in the trial and in its hopes to clear the Republican congressmans name. In addition to the personal hardship that this unfounded accusation has caused Congressman Fortenberry, it is also affecting the election for Nebraskas First Congressional District, Littrell wrote. The indictment in this case has changed the dynamic of the race. Congressman Fortenberry now faces challengers from both the left and the right. State Sen. Mike Flood, a Republican from Norfolk, recently announced his intention to run against Fortenberry, with Flood receiving endorsements from current Gov. Pete Ricketts and former Gov. Dave Heineman. State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks is running as a Democrat, as is Jazari Kual of Lincoln. Though not cited by his attorneys, political and judicial observers say theres another reason for Fortenberrys request to move the case to Nebraska: his hopes to find more sympathetic potential jurors in Nebraska vs. California. Federal prosecutors oppose moving the case. If tradition is any indication, judges are loath to move cases away from their base of operations. Not only does Judge Blumenfeld work in Los Angeles, the U.S. attorneys prosecuting the case do, too. 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. In the West, they say that whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting. Maybe Pete Ricketts and Jared Polis, unlikely drinking partners that they may be, could sit down with a bottle of rye and hash things out to avoid a modern range war. Well gladly buy Polis quinoa bowl and Ricketts burger. It certainly would be less expensive, faster and more likely to produce results than the path Ricketts says he wants to pursue to ensure that Nebraska gets the water to which its entitled under the 1923 South Platte River Compact. The compact sets certain flow levels into Nebraska during growing season and outside that season, too, if it builds a canal. The whiskey axiom, often attributed to Mark Twain, conjures visions of dusty cowboys squaring off along a fence line on the range. Ricketts announcement Jan. 10 that he wants to build a canal and reservoir system along the South Platte to ensure Colorados compliance with the compact fits that Old West imagery. He called Polis shortly before firing his quick-draw shot across the border. But water fights actually happen in board rooms and courts, where attorneys argue over complex laws and often-conflicting rights that trace back generations. Many years, many lawsuits, environmental reviews and untold millions of dollars separate Ricketts announcement from a functioning canal. The abandoned Perkins County Canal of the 1890s is a grassed-over dent on the high plains of eastern Colorado. We have no modern engineering study or current estimate of land-acquisition costs, which Ricketts acknowledged could require Nebraska to exercise eminent domain in both states, adding a second layer to the legal donnybrook. The governor wants to lock up $100 million of the states COVID relief money under the American Rescue Plan Act and allocate $400 million from Nebraskas reserves, which are flush at the moment. The $500 million estimate, the Governors Office says, is informed by a 1982 Bureau of Reclamation study, when the idea of the project was revived and then abandoned again. Its important to note, the governors spokesman said by email, that this study was done 40 years ago and the location referenced is in no way indicative of where the project will be as we move forward. Were with legislative Appropriations Committee Chair John Stinner, who doubts the cost estimate. $500 million for that seems like a small sum, if youre going to get involved in it, Stinner told Nebraska Public Media. My suspicion is its a small sum. He also said, Theyre talking about eminent domain. Im going to have to ask a lot of questions relative to that. It would prompt more than questions in Colorado. Battles between the state governments aside which are interesting because the U.S. Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in disputes between states lawsuits from landowners and neighbors in both states could add years and millions in expense to Ricketts idea. Colorado is deadly serious about water management and about meeting the terms of its agreements. On its Western Slope, it must fulfill the Colorado River Compact with Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. If you fly over Lake Mead going into Las Vegas, its easy to see how the water level has dropped near the point at which upstream water rights could be curtailed. Ricketts team cites nearly 300 projects proposed in the South Platte Basin and Colorados long-term goals that they say could eventually cut the river flow by 90%. Colorado leaders say Nebraska misunderstands that projects on the list arent guaranteed funding and many havent begun any permitting process. These ideas should not be taken as formally approved projects that will be implemented, and all are subject to major conversations, including with Nebraska, Polis said. Joe Frank, general manager of the Lower South Platte Water Conservancy District in Colorado, adds that Colorados own water law would prevent that development upstream to impact our flows here, let alone the state line, by 90%. Ricketts is absolutely right in saying that Nebraskas way of life depends on access to our states abundant water resources. Thats true for Colorado, too, where preserving its increasingly scarce water and complying with its compacts is top of mind at all times. Nebraska Natural Resources Director Tom Riley told The World-Heralds Sara Gentzler, We have a good relationship with the Colorado state engineer. And well keep that dialogue open. Lets build on that. Lets break out the shot glasses and calm things down. Lets find uses for that $100 million of ARPA money, which must be spent by Fiscal 2026, that can help Nebraska communities and households much sooner than this canal plan could come to fruition. BLOOMINGTON Spring planting is starting earlier this year for farmers. Farmers arent physically planting seeds earlier the weather chooses when to do that but theyre getting head starts on preparing for the 2022 season as kinks in the global supply chain, due to COVID-19-related shutdowns at factories around the world, has reached their industry. David Mool checked his planter and other farming equipment for any malfunctions at the end of last years spring planting to ensure it will work properly for 2022. In other years, the Gridley Township corn and soybean farmer would typically start inspecting his equipment around February. The same goes for Darren Davis, who farms about 1,200 acres of corn and soybean fields in McLean. He plans to pull his planter out this month rather than wait until the last minute. The low availability of machinery parts isnt the only thing theyre worried about in 2022, either. Davis said the prices for inputs, such as fertilizer and seed, has skyrocketed heading into this years planting season. Anhydrous ammonia is a crucial ingredient for corn to grow properly. The chemical, which is about 80% nitrogen, is typically applied on corn fields at the end of the previous years harvest. A small amount is applied again when corn begins to grow in May or June. Davis said that for last years season, he paid about $500 per ton for nitrogen. This past December, he purchased his nitrogen at roughly $1,500 per ton for the 2022 season. A University of Illinois and Ohio State University report published in October said the average price of anhydrous ammonia soared to $1,100 per ton, increasing $278 per ton in two weeks. That was the largest ever two-week price increase for nitrogen fertilizer, the report said. Looking at going into this year, the profit margin looks pretty tight, Davis said. Thats the biggest concern (price increases), I think, and the availability of parts and equipment, but you just hope for the best. You dont know youre going to have a problem until you have a problem. Mool said farmers were faced with the same issue last year, but to a lesser scale. This year, it was kind of eye-opening to us, he said. We went through most of our spring planting equipment late last spring, early summer when we were finished with it and did our preventative maintenance, did our replacements of certain things if they were available, Mool said. Despite preparing a season ahead of time and feeling like his equipment, seed, fertilizer and fields are in good shape for planting this year, Mool still has a tad of concern in the back of his mind. His planter uses some precision planting technology, which uses a computer to accurately place seed, as well as fertilizer, at consistent depths, spacing and amounts. The precision planting platform is a lot of electric drives or computer-driven parts, and thats a little concerning because you dont want to necessarily rely on replacements or backups or spares being on shelves because theyre just not readily available right now, Mool said. By March 1 or shortly thereafter, Mool would like to have serviced his tractor, taken care of any other glaring or major issues, and be ready to roll. Soybean planting is expected to begin after the first week of April, while corn planting may come a week later. Corn is just one of those things well plant when the ground is ready, when the temperatures are ready, when everything seems right, Mool said. We wont rush it. Its a costly endeavor to put a crop in the ground and we want to do it one time and do it as well as possible. Outside of the supply chain issues causing headaches, Mool and Davis feel that things are shaping up well for this planting season, as they come off a year of positive yields. Davis also has more room for improvement in 2022. While he still made a profit last year, a portion of his soybean field was killed from the upwards of 10 inches of rain that dumped on McLean County in three days. Theres not a whole lot we can do on that, Davis said, adding that his farm had never experienced such rainfall. It was a pretty not normal event last summer. Mool, whose farm is north of the Mackinaw River and Lake Bloomington, didnt experience any flooding last year. He described his fields as fairly dry. Im optimistic that if we do get into an earlier spring or a wet spring here, were ready to accept it or take it, Mool said. Were in good shape as far as the ground goes. Contact Kade Heather at 309-820-3256. Follow him on Twitter: @kadeheather 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. BLOOMINGTON Mahmood, Khalid, Abdul and their military unit were confronted with an ultimatum last August while trekking through a rough pass of the Sate Kandow Mountains on their way to a collapsing Kabul. The three men, who met as children growing up in nearby villages in southeast Afghanistan, and their military unit of the Khost Protection Force, or KPF, were on a mission to retake Kabul from the Taliban. But at Sate Kandow, they ran into Taliban members who ordered their military unit to either surrender their weapons and equipment or to go back home. Members of the KPF, which is an Afghan army that has fought alongside U.S. Special Operation Forces and other government agencies against the Taliban, told the Taliban members that if they would not let them pass peacefully, they would return home to reorganize and come back to the mountainous area to fight them. Mahmood, Khalid, and Abdul names they used as an alias in fear of identification by the Taliban were allowed to pass with their KPF unit, and they eventually made it to Kabuls Hamid Karzai International Airport in east-central Afghanistan. After the 13th of August, when the Taliban took over (southeast Afghanistan), we had to leave and go to Kabul, Abdul said in a recent interview with The Pantagraph through Zahid, a Pashto and English interpreter. They lost everything, Zahid added. They lost their family members. They lost their land, their houses and everything. And until the end, they were fighting against them (Taliban). Around the same time, Ilene Henderson, a 21-year U.S. Army veteran who lives in Decatur, received a frantic phone call Aug. 13 from Zahid, her former interpreter from when she served in Afghanistan. He told her that the Taliban was encroaching on cities and taking over the country. The next day, she got another frantic call from another interpreter. He called me frantic because it was looking like Kabul was going to fall and the government officials were starting to flee the country, but he had no means to get him, his wife and five children out of the country, Henderson said. Thus started a roughly two weeks of basically no sleep, for Henderson, as she joined several online working groups made up of military veterans who were in contact with friends and colleagues in Kabul and surrounding areas helping to coordinate ways to get people into Kabuls airport and onto evacuating flights. Her mother, Inge Henderson, and aunt, Sue Montgomery, saw what she was doing and decided to step in to help. They created the Afghan Welcome Home Project of Central Illinois to support refugees at Fort McCoy, an Army base in Wisconsin, where about 12,000 refugees were staying at the time Henderson picked up Mahmood, Khalid and Abdul mid-January. Now, some 7,000 miles away from home, the three men have moved into their own apartments in Normal. They have jobs lined up at a medical technology manufacturer in Bloomington, as they have completed all their work authorization paperwork. Mahmood, 32, Khalid, 39, and Abdul, 33, had made it to one of the final evacuation flights at Kabuls airport. But prior to boarding the airplane, they had to figure out what to do with their weapons and other equipment. One night I heard big explosions near the airport, said Zahid, the interpreter, who currently lives in Afghanistan. Those were the equipment and stuff that they could not carry to the United States or during evacuation. They destroyed everything, even their weapons, their ammunition and all the stuff that could not be carried out of Afghanistan; they destroyed it over there in Kabul. Two of the men took flights to the United Arab Emirates, where they flew from to Germany. The other caught a flight straight to Germany. They then landed at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin with nothing but one duffle bag and the clothes they were wearing, Henderson said. The Afghan Welcome Home Project of Central Illinois now has about 100 volunteers and facilitators who are helping to find housing and employment, and providing monetary donations, household items and food. We are kind of lost Mahmood, Khalid and Abdul, members of the southern Afghanistan Pashtun tribe, have been granted a two-year humanitarian parole in the U.S., but their hope is to be granted green cards and continue to work until they can afford to bring their families to the U.S. Mahmood has two daughters, while Abdul has three sons, and Khalid has nine children six daughters and three sons. For now, their uncles and cousins are lending money to their families in Afghanistan, Khalid said. They wanted to bring their families with them, but the circumstances at the airport became too dangerous. We are really worried about our families, first of all because of the Taliban, because we know that they are looking for revenge, Abdul said, noting that the KPF is not as soft of a target as the national police or other agencies. They (Taliban) do not have any rules, Abdul continued. They dont respect human rights, they dont respect womens rights, they dont respect the rights for children, rights for education. He added that they also are worried about their families because the economy is deteriorating in Afghanistan while food prices are skyrocketing. He said no one in their families currently has a job. They hope to work in Bloomington to earn enough money to support their families; however, navigating through those goals in a foreign country has proven to be difficult. Right now, we are kind of lost, Abdul said. We dont know the language, we are not related and we do not have any kind of spatial skillsWe are kind of lost, but right now what we can do is find any kind of job to get money out of it. They are able to communicate with family through voice messages, as media and internet connections have worsened in Afghanistan. Media broadcasts have been censored, as well. Whatever we know about Afghanistan is coming from our families and they say the situation is getting worse and worse day by day, Abdul said through the interpreter. We (Afghanistan) have lost what we have earned in the last 20 years. It means that Afghanistan is not going the right way and we dont see a good future for Afghanistan if it goes the way it is going right now. Abdul said that they would like to see the U.S. government help Afghans get to safety. He said the U.S. and other countries should not recognize the Taliban as a government, especially if they continue to not obey the freedom of speech, womens and childrens rights, and education rights. We cannot go back to Afghanistan, Abdul said. Going back means that we would be killed, so we request the government of the United States to grant us green cards. 7 other Afghan refugees now in Central Illinois Henderson said seven other Afghan evacuees have arrived in Decatur where they will temporarily stay until a permanent residence is finalized in Bloomington. She said the Afghan Welcome Home Project needs the most help with finding housing and employment opportunities. Henderson also said that Mahmood, Khalid and Abdul are in desperate need of a dental cleaning and exam. They received some medical care during their five months at Fort McCoy, but they did not have any dental care, she said. Were just looking for a dentist that might be willing to maybe donate their time and services for a cleaning and exam, and then we would definitely be willing to raise funds in order to pay for any additional work they would need, Henderson said. The three men, as with the additional seven people, are still in need of many household items and groceries, as well as assistance with communication and transportation. Henderson, who has a deeper connection with Afghans who have fled their country because she fought alongside them, said the Afghan Welcome Home Project plans to help refugees until they become self-sufficient in their new communities, rather than have them try to go through the resettlement process. All theyre guaranteed here is two years, Henderson said. Theres no guarantee that they will be granted a green card or anything. They have to continue slogging through the immigration process, which is kind of insulting after all theyve been through and all that they have sacrificed not only for Afghanistan but for the United States. They were there fighting against the Taliban, fighting against Al-Qaeda both of which were right alongside U.S. troops and yet now theyre just kind of thrown to the side and forgotten about. A sign-up list has been created for the seven refugees who recently arrived in Decatur. Anyone interested in helping the Afghan Welcome Home Project of Central Illinois or wanting to donate items should contact Ilene Henderson at 404-234-6513 or Montgomery at 217-864-4487. People also can visit their Facebook page or contact the project at afghanwhp@gmail.com. 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. Recently the Union of Concerned Scientists analyzed atmospheric carbon dioxide to predict 2036-2065 heatwaves. By then Bloomington-Normal will have 50 days per year of heat index scores above 105F, seven days exceeding 120F, and two days with scores exceeding 126F to 137F. Killer heat is coming our way. Thats why the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) lists heatwaves as the No. 1 hazard in Illinois. For the roughly 5,000 B-N residents who lack home air conditioning or the 25,000 residents who are energy insecure and cannot afford air conditioning, this is bad news. Access to air conditioning will eventually become a matter of life and death. Strangely, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency doesnt list heatwaves as a hazard; neither does McLean Countys EMA. Is that why McLean County is drafting a Natural Hazard Plan that, according to Brendon Denison (Nov. 10, 2021), has a major emphasis on sewer upgrades? We need better sewers but under FEMA, criterion-based natural hazard planning? Do sewer backups kill people? Extreme heat does; its the USs No. 1 natural hazards killer. Or, does the plan intend to valorize property over people? McLean County is hosting a zoomed forum on the draft plan Wednesday, February 9, from 3-5 p.m. Please show up and insist on priority 1 status for heatwaves. A plan with climate science chops will feature six public cooling centers (open 9 to 9, seven days during declared heatwaves) and at least six splash pads so kids can play safely outside during high heat. Most importantly, we need to revamp heatstroke treatment. Our present approach will overwhelm both paramedics and emergency rooms resulting in unnecessary deaths. We need something better than what we now have. Dangerous heat lies ahead. Lets plan well, prepare better, and get ready to deal. William Rau, Bloomington Love 2 Funny 3 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 100 years ago Jan. 27, 1922: Overall, William Pollock is doing well these days. Overall is the key word here. Pollock, a former resident of Saybrook, has been elected president of the worlds biggest maker of overalls in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The firm has just acquired two new plants. 75 years ago Jan. 27, 1947: In an obvious spoof, the Gridley Community Club announced a womanless wedding to raise money for the Salem Childrens School. Clarence Dowell will become the bride of Bud Hoobler. Local businessmen will be the bridesmaids, flower girls and guests. 50 years ago Jan. 27, 1972: Dr. Alice Ebel will retire from the ISU faculty at the end of the school year. She has been a teacher and administrator since the 1930s, with two years off for service in the Navy Reserve in World War II. She was also the first woman elected to the McLean County Board. 25 years ago Jan. 27, 1997: The new tenant at 410 E. Monroe lit a candle and set it on the toilet tank. The candle set a plastic radio on fire. Then the fire caused the toilet tank to burst. That doused some of the fire. The old tenant was nearby, and put out the fire in the wall. He was the only one hurt. Compiled by Jack Keefe; jkeefe@coldwellhomes.com. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkenspoke about Ukraine on a telephone call late on Wednesday. "We call on all parties to stay calm and refrain from doing things that agitate tensions and hype up the crisis," Wang told Blinken, China's foreign ministry said in a statement. Russia, which has been building up its forces on Ukraine's borders for months, has demanded NATO pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the alliance. The United States and its NATO allies reject that position but say they are ready to discuss other topics such as arms control and confidence-building measures. "Secretary Blinken ... conveyed that de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward," Blinken was quoted as saying to Wang in a statement issued by the U.S. state department. Global security and the economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine figured in the talks, the department said. Wang, apparently referring to Russia's objections to NATO's expansion in eastern Europe, told Blinken that one country's security could not be at the expense of the security of others and regional security could not be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs, his ministry said. The United States has warned Russia not to invade Ukraine and urged both countries to return to a set of pacts known as Minsk I and Minsk II signed in 2014 and 2015, respectively, to end a separatist war by Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine. But a series of military and political steps set out by the later Minsk II agreement remain unimplemented, with Russia's insistence that it is not a party to the conflict and therefore is not bound by its terms being a major blockage. "To resolve the Ukrainian issue, we still need to return to the new Minsk Agreement - the starting point," said Wang. "The new Minsk agreement, which was approved by the Security Council, is a fundamental political document recognised by all parties and should be effectively implemented. As long as efforts are made in line with the direction and spirit of the agreement, China will support them." Source: France 24 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 Yemaachi Biotechnology, Africas Cancer Research Company has introduced the Sheba HPV Test, an effective home sampling kit to test for high-risk Human Papillomavirus (HPV) which is responsible for 99% of cervical cancer cases. The Sheba HPV Test is an innovative product that identifies women who are at high risk for cervical cancer, which is currently the second most prevalent cancer in Ghanaian women, killing approximately 2000 every year. However, when detected early, cervical cancer is highly successfully treatable. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that women 26 years and above should get screened for high-risk HPV at least once every 5 years. Current barriers to regular HPV screening include reluctance to undergo a pelvic exam, long wait times at health facilities, and lack of awareness. The first of its kind in Ghana, the Sheba HPV Test enables women to collect their own samples conveniently at home, and drop them off at a conveniently located collection point for HPV testing at Yemaachis advanced molecular diagnostic laboratory in Abelemkpe, Accra. Detailed results are returned via email within 72 hours of drop-off. Speaking on the launch of Sheba HPV Test, CEO of Yemaachi Biotech, Dr. Yaw Bediako said: Yemaachi Biotech seeks to lower the economic burden of cancer through innovative solutions specially developed for the African market. The Sheba HPV test is the beginning of this process. Yemaachi Biotechnology is a cancer research company that uses cutting edge immunogenomics, bioinformatics and artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of cancer detection and cure strategies, ultimately with the goal of lowering the economic effects of cancer in Africa. In his concluding remarks, Dr. Yaw Bediako said: Cervical cancer does not need to be a death sentence. If detected early cervical cancer is one of the most treatable cancers. Know your risk. Take the Sheba test and take control of your health. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Parliament on Wednesday constituted a four-member Adhoc Committee to select an auditor to audit and report on the accounts of the Office of the Auditor General of Ghana. This follows a motion moved by Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and seconded by the Minority Leader, Mr Haruna Iddrisu in accordance with article 187 (15) of the Constitution. The committee, which is chaired by Mr James Klutse Avedze, Deputy Minority Leader includes; Dr Festus Awuah Kwofie, MP for Upper Denkyira East, Dr Stephen Amoah, MP for Nhyiaeso and Sampson Tangombu Chiragia, MP for Navrongo Central. Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu also explained that Mr Klutse Avedze was selected as the chairman of the committee because he was the most senior member and also a member of the leadership of the House. He added that Mr Klutse Avedze was also a long-standing member of the House as well as the Chairman of the Public Account Committee. Mr Haruna Iddrisu in his comment stated that the decision to set up the committee was arrived at after a careful consideration and consultation with the leadership of Parliament. He said the committee was constituted for the purpose of auditing the Auditor General in accordance with Article 187(15) of the Constitution which allows the House to exercise such mandate. It would be like a Police Policing the Policeman he added. 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 Former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, has expressed disgust over recent comments by the former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, that Ghanaians should not embrace the e-levy policy of the Akufo-Addo government. Former President John Dramani Mahama charged the National Democratic Congress(NDC) to stay opposed to the controversial e-levy and other nuisance taxes by the government. The NDC remains opposed to the imposition of the numerous fresh taxes on Ghanaians at a time when Government is living large and unwilling or unable to trim expenditure, cut waste and check corruption, he said in a Facebook post. He continued that ''these burdensome taxes will erode business capital, especially at a time when Government has crowded out the private sector's access to credit by its voracious appetite for borrowing''. ''The Ghanaian economy has been collapsed by President Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia. The debt crisis, for which there are very few tangible projects to show for, and worsening economic hardship of Ghanaians amply demonstrate the negative impact of a collapsed economy'', he added. Speaking on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'' Wednesday morning, Kwamena Duncan didn't take it kindly with Mr. Mahama as he (Kwamena Duncan) reminded Ghanaians of his bad leadership. The former Minister alluded to some of Mahama's alleged corrupt practices like SADA, Airbus scandal among others, hence wondered how Mr. Mahama would have the guts to criticize President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. ''In 2017 when we assumed office, as many as over 17 nuisance taxes were all scrapped off. 2017, go back and check but we're talking about Mahama who is today saying they are opposed to the e-levy. See, let me tell you; their prayer is that this country must come crashing because, right from the beginning of the year, Ato Forson said prices of commodities and items are going to skyrocket. ''You remember, in 2017, he gave the same prophecy that we were going to go back to the 83 days that there will be famine; all kinds of things. See, when they are out of office, they do not wish anything good for this country...but God is not human, so, in 2017, there was bumper harvest all over the place'', he exclaimed. To him, all Mr. Mahama and his National Democratic Congress (NDC) seek to do with their opposition to the e-levy is to ruin the nation. ''It is not for them to see a certain good progress for this country, so they will continue to be opposed to the e-levy...but good sense will prevail'', he stated. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video As Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin presides over Parliament as Speaker and with his leadership characterized by violence where the Members of Parliament are seen engaging in fisticuffs over the controversial electronic transaction levy, a former Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan, has sought to give him some nuggets of wisdom. Last year, the Parliamentarians took matters into their own hands and boxed one another in the House causing the e-levy final voting to be adjourned to the month of January this year. Parliament resumed sitting on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 and the dressing of the Speaker attracted the eyes of many Ghanaians. The Speaker appeared in the chamber arrayed in African regalia looking like a Chief. Speaking on Peace FM's 'Kokrokoo', Kwamena Duncan found the Speaker to be unserious about his position in Parliament. To him, the Speaker is joking with Parliament, so cautioned him to act like a Speaker. "Alban Bagbin Rt. Hon., after being elected, very initially; he showed very wonderful signs. He's going to be a firm Speaker, a Speaker that will not be non-partisan but will not be neutral either just like Adjetey. But I have observed him for awhile now, he's trivializing the Parliament. "It does not portray a good image, a good picture of the Legislature at all but having said that, he himself (Rt. Hon. Alban Bagbin), Mr. Speaker, you are talking too much . . . In the left, he's speaking. In the right, he's speaking. Everywhere! My goodness!! So, Alban Bagbin is not helping the situation," he stated. He asked Rt. Hon. Bagbin to reduce what he believes are his unnecessary talks, stressing, "Mr. Speaker, less talk. Focus on the Speakership, what will grow the Legislature and don't show that space which will make people either tag you here or there''. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said in other jurisdictions when disasters of the magnitude of Appiatse occur, authoritoies do not hurriedly set up a fundraising committee as has been done in the case of Ghana. Instead, Mr Ablakwa said first, they establish an independent, impartial and credible enquiry to conduct thorough investigations. The enquiry, he said, will then lead the state to identify the facts (particularly as in this case there are such varying contradictory accounts); the investigations will also determine if the companies involved have questions to answer; the conduct of policy makers, examine possible regulatory lapses on the part of the Minerals Commission, and the role of the security agencies would all come up for intense scrutiny by the enquiry panel. He noted that It is absolutely possible that when the independent enquiry is completed, there would be no need to raise funds from the general public or use scarce taxpayer resources to assist victims and for reconstructing Appiatse because the entities found out to be responsible would be made to bear the full cost of compensation and rehabilitation/resettlement. In a facebook ppost, Mr Ablakwa noted that contrary to what pertains in other jurisdictions here we are being served with an incestuous gobbledygook of the Minerals Commission asked to investigate itself as the security agencies are also requested to look into their own conduct. We love to complicate what is rather straightforward. How long are we going to continue to burden the already stressed Ghanaian taxpayer while we allow the mighty and corporate giants who flout our laws to maximize personal profit get away with their blood-draping loot? he quizzed. According to the lawmaker, the other cardinal advantage of a comprehensive, independent, impartial and credible enquiry is the opportunity it affords to critically appraise the entire spectrum of importing, transporting, transacting and utilization of Ammonium nitrate and other explosive chemicals with the view to improving our collective safety. He cautioned that the state should not take lightly the threat of terrorism not only around us but in close proximity. Mr Ablakwa indicated in his post that The explosive in issue is the most patronized by terrorists all over the world and its been so for many years from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the 1998 East Africa US Embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, 2003 Turkish bombings, all the way to the recent numerous violent extremist onslaughts carried out by Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Algeria, Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso and other places. He added that With the extent of international coverage the Appiatse explosion attracted and continues to attract, we must all be deeply worried that if we dont compel our government to act appropriately, the international terrorist ring may just see a soft target in Ghana on how to have easy access to or intercept in transit the dreaded ammonium nitrate God forbid, in the mean time, lets stop the pathetic window dressing and act right in our strategic national interest. This cannot be the time to shield, duck or cover up the death and injuries of so many must not be in vain. Mr Ablakwas statement comes after the government through the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 launched an Appiatse Support Fund to raise funds to, among others, reconstruct the community. The Appiatse Community, near Bogoso in the Western Region was razed by an explosion that occurred when a truck carrying explosives for mining exploded at the community on Thursday, 20th January 2022. Thirteen people have been confirmed dead while many others suffered were injured. Source: classfmonline.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 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. Legal practitioner, Inibehe Effiong has taken to social media to educate Nigerians on the process of marriage dissolution. In his post, Effiong stressed that contrary to what ''Nollywood'' has portrayed over the years, there is no place in law where a couple can just sign divorce papers and end their marriage. He stressed that the dissolution of a marriage must undergo trial in a High court and that many factors including oral testimony of both parties must be admitted by the court before dissolution can be effected. He pointed out that no judge in Nigeria will make an order dissolving a statutory marriage without listening to oral testimony. He added that there have been cases where both spouses wanted divorce but the court refused to dissolve the marriage because there was no sufficient evidence to support the petition. His post reads'' Dear Nigerians, There is no place in law for spouses to just "sign divorce papers" and end their marriage, and walk away. It is a legal fiction popularized by Nollywood. Every divorce case MUST go through trial process. Oral evidence must be given before a marriage is dissolved. Divorce cannot be granted by consent of parties. This is based on public policy and the need to uphold the sanctity of marriage. However, ancillary reliefs like custody of children and settlement of properties can be settled out of court and resolved by consent of parties. A client in one of the divorce cases in our firm pleaded with me this morning to make the other party to the petition to "sign the divorce papers" in order not to waste time. Nollywood is largely to blame for this idea of a husband and wife signing divorce papers to end marriage. Although there are procedural and substantive steps that a counsel in a divorce case can take to accelerate the hearing and determination of a divorce petition, "signing of divorce papers" is not one of them. The timeline for determining divorce cases is based on several factors. For example, if the petition is contested by the respondent, it will elongate the proceedings. The grounds of the petition is also determinative of the speed of the proceedings. Petitions founded on Adultery will likely take a longer time than one predicated on Living Apart. I should stress that in every petition, the law requires the petitioner to specifically state that the petitioner and the respondent have not colluded or connived to bring the petition. An affidavit must accompany the petition to verify that the content of the petition is true. Simply put, even where the parties (husband and wife) are no longer interested in the marriage and desire to go their separate ways, a petition MUST be filed in the High Court, and oral evidence must be adduced to prove the ground(s) of the petition before dissolution. No judge in Nigeria will make an Order Nisi dissolving a statutory marriage without listening to oral testimony. There have been cases where both spouses wanted divorce but the court refused to dissolve the marriage because there was no sufficient evidence to support the petition. I have said enough, I hope this clarification is useful and will guide people properly.'' Dear Nigerians, there's no place in law for spouses to just "sign divorce papers" and end their marriage, and walk away. It is a legal fiction popularized by Nollywood. Every divorce case MUST go through trial process. Oral evidence must be given before a marriage is dissolved. Inibehe Effiong (@InibeheEffiong) January 27, 2022 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 TROPOS measurement containers during DACAPO-PESO in Punta Arenas, Chile. The combination of lidar (left) and radar (right) over 36 months was the longest measurement of this kind to date for the investigation of clouds south of the tropics. Credit: Patric Seifert, TROPOS Clouds in the southern hemisphere reflect more sunlight than those in the northern hemisphere. The reason is a more frequent occurrence of liquid water droplets, which results from an interplay between updrafts and a cleaner environment. In a study published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, a team of researchers led by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) found a stronger influence of updrafts than expected. The new results were made possible by long-term measurements in Leipzig (Germany), Limassol (Cyprus) and Punta Arenas (Chile). Covering three years, the measurements in Punta Arenas are the longest dataset on cloud properties obtained with ground-based lidar and radar in the Southern Ocean. From 2018 to 2021, an international team from University of Magallanes (UMAG), TROPOS and University of Leipzig had conducted extensive observations of aerosols, clouds, wind and precipitation in the very south of Chile as part of the DACAPO-PESO field experiment. The researchers used two datasets from the northern hemisphere locations of Leipzig and Cyprus to put their findings into global context. Data from the CyCARE field campaign on Cyprus were collected in the years 2016 to 2018 in collaboration with researchers from the Cyprus University of Technology and the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence in Limassol. The main objective of the measurements in the pristine environment at the southern tip of South America was to study the atmosphere and to learn more about the interactions between aerosols and clouds in a region where there is hardly any long-term data available so far. To address the lack of observations, TROPOS brought the two containers of the LACROS mobile atmospheric observatory together with instrumentation of the University of Leipzig to Punta Arenas. There, the observations were conducted together with UMAG's Laboratory for Atmospheric Research. The instrumentation of LACROS consists of multiple lidars, radars, radiometers, sun photometers and others. These measurements were supplemented by aerosol filter samples from Cerro Mirador, a 600 m high hill close by. The smoke from the Australian wildfires in the atmosphere over Punta Arenas in January 2020. A high aerosol load was recorded over Punta Arenas for several days. The sky remained purple-orange during dawn and dusk, produced by the illuminated stratospheric plumes. Credit: Cristofer Jimenez, TROPOS Originally, the measurements were planned for one year as a contribution to the "Year of Polar Prediction in the Southern Hemisphere" (YOPP-SH). But due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions, the measurements were extended by two years and only finished at the end of 2021. "Scientifically, this delay was of great benefit," says Kevin Ohneiser, Ph.D. student at TROPOS. Because the huge "Black Summer" wildfires of 2019/20 occurred in Australia during this period. Their smoke was transported more than 10,000 kilometers across the Pacific to South America and could be observed there up to heights of 25 km with the laser-based investigations until the measurements were completed at the end of 2021. Since the air in southern Chile is usually very clean, this type of air pollution was immediately noticeable and underlines the global influence of the large forest fires on climate. "With DACAPO-PESO, we have filled a gap in measurements that has long existed for the southern hemisphere. The freely available data can now help to improve current climate models," explains Dr. Boris Barja from UMAG, who played a decisive role on-site in ensuring that the instruments could be in continuous operation despite the COVID-19-related travel restrictions. With more than 10 follow-up projects, 20 conference papers and 10 research publications to date, the project has been very successful scientifically. Further publications are close to finalization. Teresa Vogl, Phd student from University of Leipzig, for instance, is currently working on a method to characterize precipitation formation with a machine learning-based cloud radar algorithm. January 2020: Dense plumes of smoke from the Australian forest fires drifted through the otherwise very clean atmosphere over Punta Arenas. Seen here in the lidar measurements as a green-yellow layer at an altitude of 20 to 25km. Credit: Cristofer Jimenez, TROPOS The recently achieved main purpose of the project was however to investigate the differences of thin cloud layers over Leipzig, Limassol and Punta Arenas. Due to a high percentage of oceans covering the Earth in the southern hemisphere, the atmosphere in this region is cleaner, i.e. contains fewer aerosol particles. This difference is especially strong in the free tropospherethe air masses at higher altitudes, unaffected from local pollution sources. "Fewer particles mean fewer ice nuclei in the atmosphere. But it is precisely these that are needed to cause cloud droplets to freeze into ice crystals at temperatures between 0 and -40 degrees Celsius. Therefore, clouds ice up much less in the mid-latitudes of the southern hemisphere and contain more liquid water at the same temperatures. This means that they influence the incident sunlight and also the thermal radiation emitted from the Earth's surface differently than in the north. This is one explanation why global climate models are still not able to represent the radiation balance of the southern hemisphere with sufficient accuracy," summarizes Dr. Patric Seifert from TROPOS. In the temperature range between -24 and -8 degrees Celsius, the lack of ice nuclei caused the clouds over Punta Arenas to form ice on average 10 to 40 percent less often than the clouds over Leipzig. The ice mass produced by the liquid water clouds is also reduced by at least a factor of 2. However, contrary to previous studies, differences in atmospheric pollution are not the only cause of the observed contrasts, especially at even lower temperatures. The investigations in southern Chile showed that the clouds are often influenced by so-called gravity waves. The strong westerly wind from the Pacific collides with the Andes mountains, is displaced upwards and creates these gravity waves. "By measuring the up- and downward winds within the clouds, we were able to detect clouds that had been influenced by these waves and filter them out of the overall statistics. This allowed us to show that these gravity waves, and not the lack of ice nuclei, are mainly responsible for the excess of cloud droplets at temperatures below -25 degrees Celsius," explains Dr. Martin Radenz from TROPOS, who recently obtained the Phd degree for his work on this subject. " However, it is currently unclear whether this phenomenon only influences clouds in southern Chile. How important are gravity waves for the formation of clouds and precipitation in other regions of the Southern Ocean? How often do gravity waves occur over the open ocean, which covers most of the Earth's surface between 30 and 70 degrees south and is currently only observed by satellites? Further measurements of air motion in clouds are needed to further constrain the role of ice nuclei in the apparent excess of liquid water in clouds. In the near future, we plan to work with our partners to investigate these questions at other locations in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Antarctica and New Zealand, and ideally also from aboard research vessels. Because from space those observations are not possible at the moment." The two LACROS containers will be back at TROPOS in Leipzig at the end of January and will then be prepared for their next deployment. Within the framework of ACTRIS-D, the German contribution to the European research infrastructure for aerosols, clouds and trace gases, three new instruments will then be integrated. With a new sun photometer, microwave radiometer and 94 Ghz cloud radar, LACROS will go to the Swiss Alps in November to investigate artificially generated ice clouds. Explore further Turbulence creates ice in clouds More information: Martin Radenz et al, Hemispheric contrasts in ice formation in stratiform mixed-phase clouds: disentangling the role of aerosol and dynamics with ground-based remote sensing, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (2021). Journal information: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Martin Radenz et al, Hemispheric contrasts in ice formation in stratiform mixed-phase clouds: disentangling the role of aerosol and dynamics with ground-based remote sensing,(2021). DOI: 10.5194/acp-21-17969-2021 Provided by Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research Fig. 1. Linear and nonlinear transport in graphene superlattices. Credit: Alexey I. Berdyugin et al, arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2106/2106.12609.pdf Researchers at the University of Manchester have succeeded in observing the so-called Schwinger effect, an elusive process that normally occurs only in cosmic events. By applying high currents through specially designed graphene-based devices, the teambased at the National Graphene Institutesucceeded in producing particle-antiparticle pairs from a vacuum. A vacuum is assumed to be completely empty space, without any matter or elementary particles. However, it was predicted by Nobel laureate Julian Schwinger 70 years ago that intense electric or magnetic fields can break down the vacuum and spontaneously create elementary particles. This requires truly cosmic-strength fields such as those around magnetars or created transitorily during high-energy collisions of charged nuclei. It has been a long-standing goal of particle physics to probe these theoretical predictions experimentally and some are currently planned for high-energy colliders around the world. Now the research teamled by another Nobel laureate, Prof Sir Andre Geim in collaboration with colleagues from UK, Spain, US and Japanhas used graphene to mimic the Schwinger production of electron and positron pairs. In January 2022 issue of Science, they report specially designed devices such as narrow constrictions and superlattices made from graphene, which allowed the researchers to achieve exceptionally strong electric fields in a simple, table-top setup. Spontaneous production of electron and hole pairs was clearly observed (holes are a solid-state analog of positrons) and the process' details agreed well with theoretical predictions. The scientists also observed another unusual high-energy process that so far has no analogies in particle physics and astrophysics. They filled their simulated vacuum with electrons and accelerated them to the maximum velocity allowed by graphene's vacuum, which is 1/300 of the speed of light. At this point, something seemingly impossible happened: electrons seemed to become superluminous, providing an electric current higher than allowed by general rules of quantum condensed matter physics. The origin of this effect was explained as spontaneous generation of additional charge carriers (holes). Theoretical description of this process provided by the research team is rather different from the Schwinger one for the empty space. "People usually study the electronic properties using tiny electric fields that allows easier analysis and theoretical description. We decided to push the strength of electric fields as much as possible using different experimental tricks not to burn our devices," said the paper's first author Dr. Alexey Berduygin. Co-lead author Dr. Na Xin added: "We just wondered what could happen at this extreme. To our surprise, it was the Schwinger effect rather than smoke coming out of our set-up." Dr. Roshan Krishna Kumar, another leading contributor, said: "When we first saw the spectacular characteristics of our superlattice devices, we thought, wow, it could be some sort of new superconductivity. Although the response closely resembles that routinely observed in superconductors, we soon found that the puzzling behavior was not superconductivity but rather something in the domain of astrophysics and particle physics. It is curious to see such parallels between distant disciplines." The research is also important for the development of future electronic devices based on two-dimensional quantum materials and establishes limits on wiring made from graphene that was already known for its remarkable ability to sustain ultra-high electric currents. Explore further Magnetic surprise revealed in 'magic-angle' graphene More information: Alexey I. Berdyugin et al, Out-of-equilibrium criticalities in graphene superlattices, Science (2022). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abi8627 Journal information: Science Alexey I. Berdyugin et al, Out-of-equilibrium criticalities in graphene superlattices,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abi8627 A new analysis found that in crowded forests, trees were less tolerant of fire damage, and were more susceptible to post-fire bark beetle attack. In more open forests, though, trees could tolerate higher levels of fire damage, even when fire burned during extreme drought. Credit: Infographic by Lael Gilbert, Utah State University For many, an ideal forest is one that looks the same as it did before European colonizers arrived. As today's forests are hit with disturbances like fire, drought, and insect invasions, restoration efforts often attempt to nudge the landscape back to this 'natural' state. But historical conditions are becoming increasingly hard to achieve in a changing world, according to new research. Managers need to consider new strategies for building resilient forests, according to Tucker Furniss and Jim Lutz, from Utah State University's Department of Wildland Resources in the S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources. In the age of large-scale fires, forest-wide beetle invasions, and frequent drought, maintaining 'ideal' historical conditions is becoming increasingly unrealistic, the researchers say. Disturbances are coming at forests more frequently, and the changing climate makes things unpredictable. Recreating historical conditions has been a key strategy for restoration efforts, but today's novel conditions require different strategies. Specifically, the research shows that lower crowding for trees can increase chances of survival after fire. Results from two long-term studies (covering 23 years and more than 50,000 individual trees) show that chances for long-term tree survival increased when trees had more space, by reducing competition and helping trees recover from fire more quickly. Over the years, the team performed tens of thousands of post-mortems on dead trees in the Sierra Nevada mountains to identify the cause of demise. They analyzed data and found that in crowded forests, trees were less tolerant of fire damage, and were more susceptible to post-fire bark beetle attack. In more open forests, though, trees could tolerate higher levels of fire damage, even when fire burned during extreme drought. Drought usually increases a forest's susceptibility to both fire and bark beetle infestations, but this work shows that lower forest density can actually reduce the risk of both. Alleviating the stress that occurs when close neighbors compete for limited water resources lets trees use sap to fend off beetle attacks, and it helps them heal after fire. A new analysis found that in crowded forests, trees were less tolerant of fire damage, and were more susceptible to post-fire bark beetle attack. In more open forests, though, trees could tolerate higher levels of fire damage, even when fire burned during extreme drought. Credit: Tucker Furniss Results from this research shed light on forest restoration strategies that could be used when historical reference conditions are not a viable option, a critical step in the effort to help forests adapt to a changing world, the authors say. "Using historical conditions as an ideal example of a healthy forest may not be practical moving forward," Furniss said. Forests from the pre-settlement era had their own problems after all, he said. And even if those ecosystems were successful at overcoming the disturbances of their time, those evolutionary strategies don't necessarily translate to resilience today, in a world defined by climate change. More information: Tucker J. Furniss et al, Crowding, climate, and the case for social distancing among trees, Ecological Applications (2021). Journal information: Ecological Applications Tucker J. Furniss et al, Crowding, climate, and the case for social distancing among trees,(2021). DOI: 10.1002/eap.2507 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain In an article in the Science, researchers at Uppsala University show how a DNA-binding protein can search the entire genome for its target sequence without getting held up on the way. The result contradicts our current understanding of gene regulationthe genetic code affects how often the proteins bind, but not for how long. Over an organism's lifetime, its genome changes very little. What does change, constantly, are which proteins the cell produces in response to damage, changes in the environment, or stages in the reproductive cycle. The protein production is regulated by DNA-binding proteins that have evolved the ability to turn different genes on or off. Because the environment can change quickly, rapid adaptation is key. The DNA-binding proteins must find the correct DNA code among millions of base pairs, and do so fast. When DNA-binding proteins search the genetic code for their target sequence, they slide along the DNA helix to speed up the process. When they finally find the right spot, they stay there; the interaction with the "correct" sequence prevents them from sliding along. This mechanism has been widely accepted to describe the search process. It is an appealing hypothesis, yes, but it presents an annoying problemthe DNA code is full of "almost correct" sequences. If the time a protein resides on a particular DNA motif was determined by the sequence, the searching proteins would constantly linger on sequences that resembled their target. "If the textbook explanation was correct, the DNA-binding proteins would get stuck all the time off target. Gene regulation would be very ineffective, but we know from previous studies that this is not the case. Our favorite protein, LacI, finds its target sequence among 4.6 million base pairs in a matter of minutes", says Emil Marklund, one of the researchers behind the discovery. In an attempt to resolve this paradox, the researchers allowed the DNA-binding protein LacI to slide back and forth on thousands of different DNA sequences mounted on a microchip. A fluorescent molecule was attached to the LacI protein and made it possible to measure how fast LacI adhered to the different sequences and how quickly it was released. The result was striking. Contradicting previous assumptions, the DNA sequence had little effect on how long LacI remained bound to the DNA. However, it was much more likely that the sliding LacI was held up briefly when the sequence was similar to the target sequence. In other words, DNA-binding proteins often leave also the sequence they are intended to regulate, but at the target site, they all but always make a very short journey before finding their way back again. On the macroscopic time scale, this looks like a stable interaction. "Our result, that DNA-binding proteins bind often rather than protractedly, explains how LacI can slide on the DNA sequence in search of its target without getting held up unnecessarily. LacI regulates the uptake of lactose in bacteria, but is of course just an example. The hundreds of different transcription factors that regulate our own genes likely act according to a similar principle," says Johan Elf, Professor at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Uppsala University and the national research infrastructure SciLifeLab. More information: Emil Marklund et al, Sequence specificity in DNA binding is mainly governed by association, Science (2022). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7427 Journal information: Science Emil Marklund et al, Sequence specificity in DNA binding is mainly governed by association,(2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abg7427 RABAT, Jan.27 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan government on Thursday has extended the state of health emergency throughout the country until Feb. 28, in an attempt to curb the COVID-19 pandemic. The government's spokesperson Mustapha Baitas announced the decision following the cabinet's online meeting, adding that no decision yet was taken about the reopening of the country's borders. The suspension of international passenger flights and the closure of Morocco's borders came into force on Nov. 29, 2021, to curb the spread of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron. Meanwhile, Morocco's Health Ministry reported on Thursday 5,560 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total infections in the country to 1,120,087. The North African country launched a nationwide vaccination campaign on Jan. 28, 2021, after the arrival of the first shipment of China's Sinopharm vaccines. Extract from the Chronicle of Gervase of Canterbury where the medieval monk describes the ball lightning phenomenon. This is the earliest known description of ball lightning in England to have been found. Credit: The Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. Reference: Cambridge, Trinity College, MS R.4.11, p.324. Researchers have discovered what appears to be the earliest known account of a rare weather phenomenon called ball lightning in England. Ball lightning, usually associated with thunderstorms, is unexplained and has been described as a bright spherical object on average 25 centimeters, but sometimes up to several meters, in diameter. Working together, physicist Emeritus Professor Brian Tanner and historian Professor Giles Gasper, of Durham University, UK, made the connection to a ball lightning event while exploring a medieval text written some 750 years ago. The account, by the 12th century Benedictine monk Gervase of Christ Church Cathedral Priory, Canterbury, pre-dates the previous earliest known description of ball lightning recorded in England by nearly 450 years. The findings are published in the Royal Meteorological Society's journal, Weather. In his Chronicle, composed around 1200, Gervase stated that "a marvelous sign descended near London" on 7 June 1195. He went on to describe a dense and dark cloud, emitting a white substance which grew into a spherical shape under the cloud, from which a fiery globe fell towards the river. The Durham researchers compared the text in Gervase's Chronicle with historical and modern reports of ball lightning. Professor Brian Tanner, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Physics, Durham University, said: "Ball lightning is a rare weather event that is still not understood today. Cumulonimbus clouds over Chandler, Arizona, USA, in 2018, showing the inverted pyramid with the dark cloud beneath. Credit: Mircea Goia "Gervase's description of a white substance coming out of the dark cloud, falling as a spinning fiery sphere and then having some horizontal motion is very similar to historic and contemporary descriptions of ball lightning. "If Gervase is describing ball lightning, as we believe, then this would be the earliest account of this happening in England that has so far been discovered." Prior to this account, the earliest report of ball lightning from England is during a great thunderstorm in Widecombe, Devon on 21 October 1638. Medieval writings rarely survive in the author's original version and Gervase's Chronicle and other works now exist in only three manuscripts (one in the British Library, and two at the University of Cambridge). The Latin text was edited by Bishop William Stubbs in 1879 and there is no translation into English. Professor Giles Gasper, in the Department of History, Durham University, said: "The main focus of Gervase's writings was Christ Church Cathedral Priory in Canterbury, its disputes with neighboring houses and an Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as chronicling the actions of the king and his nobles. But he was also interested in natural phenomena, from celestial events and signs in the sky to floods, famine, and earthquakes." The researchers looked at Gervase's credibility as a writer and a witness, having previously examined his records of eclipses and a description of the splitting of the image of the crescent moon. Professor Gasper added: "Given that Gervase appears to be a reliable reporter, we believe that his description of the fiery globe on the Thames on 7 June 1195 was the first fully convincing account of ball lightning anywhere." More information: A Marvellous Sign and a Fiery Globe: A Medieval English Report of Ball Lightning, Giles EM Gasper and Brian K Tanner, Weather, 2022, A Marvellous Sign and a Fiery Globe: A Medieval English Report of Ball Lightning, Giles EM Gasper and Brian K Tanner,, 2022, DOI: 10.1002/wea.4144 This photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows a burrowing owl in a habitat at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 2014. Credit: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP Settling into a new home can be tough for anyone. So scientists have come up with some tricks to make transplanted burrowing owls feel like they are not alone in their new digs, playing owl sounds and scattering fake poop. The owls' grassland homes are often prime real estate, and they've been losing ground to development in fast-growing regions like Silicon Valley and Southern California. Biologists have tried moving the owls to protected grasslands but the challenge has been getting the owls to accept their new homes. Just dropping off the owls in prime habitat wasn't enough, prior attempts showed. In a pilot program, scientists took pains to create the impression that owls already lived there so they'd stick around. And it worked. "They like to be in a neighborhood, to live near other owls," said Colleen Wisinski, a conservation biologist at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, which launched the experiment with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The scientists played recordings of owl calls before and after the new arrivals were released at four locations in Southern California. Wisinski used a syringe to squirt around fake owl poopin reality, white paint. Their results were published Thursday in the journal Animal Conservation. This photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows a western burrowing owl standing outside its artificial burrow at the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve in San Diego County in 2014. Credit: Michael Stevens/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP Burrowing owls are the rare extroverts of the raptor world. These long-legged owls with slightly cross expressions actually love company. They nest in underground burrows with many owls nearby. Such colonies provide protection from predators, such as coyotes or hawks, that may try to snack on the robin-sized, yellow-eyed birds. When one owl sounds an alarm, the others fly away. Federal law prohibits the killing of the birds but their habitat is not protected. Typically, they are flushed from their burrows before properties are built. "If after eviction there's nowhere for these guys to go, it's basically a death sentence," said Lynne Trulio, an ecologist at San Jose State University who has studied burrowing owls for three decades. She was not part of the study. The population of western burrowing owlsthe subspecies that lives in Californiahas declined by one-third since 1965. It is considered a "species of special concern" in the state. This photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows an acclimation aviary built to protect translocated western burrowing owls at the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve in San Diego County in 2020. Credit: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP In this photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Colleen Wisinski, wildlife biologist for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, places a burrowing owl into an artificial burrow inside the acclimation aviary at the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve in San Diego County in 2020. Credit: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP In this photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a burrowing owl is held after a health check by San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance staff in the Otay Mesa area of San Diego County in 2015. Credit: Tammy Spratt/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP In this photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a western burrowing owl stands outside its artificial burrow at the Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve in San Diego County in 2020. Credit: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP This photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows a burrowing owl in a habitat at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 2018. Credit: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP This photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows a burrowing owl in a habitat at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 2006. Credit: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP This photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows burrowing owls in a habitat at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 2006. Credit: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP In this photo provided by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a burrowing owl stands on a rock in the Ramona Grasslands Preserve in California in 2021. Credit: Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP For their experiment, the scientists transplanted 47 burrowing owls during 2017-2018. Twenty were outfitted with GPS devices to track their movements, and the scientists also returned to the sites to check on them. Most successfully settled into their new homes and established breeding colonies. At the primary site, Rancho Jamul Ecological Reserve in southwestern San Diego County, there were about 50 owl chicks in 2020. The researchers also monitored owls that were left on their own to find new homes. Those owls didn't fare as well. "These scientists are leading the pack in advancing our understanding of how to relocate burrowing owls," said David H. Johnson, director of the Global Owl Project, who was not involved in the paper. Explore further Phoenix Zoo flying high over 3-week-old baby pygmy owls 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Visualisation of coupled dark and bright light pulses (blue and red respectively) in a microresonator, which has a diameter of 235 micrometer. Credit: Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light For the first time, scientists were able to create ultrashort dark and bright light pulses that are linked together in tiny glass rings called microresonators. Each of the flashes consist of many different, precisely defined colors: a frequency comb. The combination of the pulses increases the color range of the emitted light from the microresonators. This new light source helps to make more precise sensors to trace for example lowest quantities of explosives at an airport or for distance sensors in autonomous cars to detect obstacles on a street. It sounds like magic: Laser light of only one color produce a rainbow of many different colors. Scientists are able to produce this strange effect in microresonators, small disks made of glass. If they send a pulsed laser beam into these structures, ultrashort packets of light waves are running in its interior in circles. And start to send out light of different, evenly spaced frequencies like the teeth of a comb. The invention of the optical frequency comb was awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2005. Now, researcher from the Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) in Erlangen and the Imperial College London were able to produce for the first time an even stranger effect: By directing two Laser beams of slightly different infrared light at the outer rim of the microresonator they got two wave packets, called solitons: one bright and one dark, which run in circles. A dark pulse means having a constant light signal that goes dark for a very short time. Both dark and bright light pulses only last for 1/1013th of a second. Several Microresonators, which are produced on silicon wafers. Credit: Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light Microresonators can be easily manufactured in large quantities Both were coupled and trapped together inside the resonators. This pair produced a frequency comb in the infrared spectrum with two peaks of hundreds of precisely defined frequencies. "Therefore, we can use more frequencies to transport information through a glass fiber", explains Pascal Del'Haye, head of the independent research group Microphotonics at the MPL, one possible application of the effect in telecommunication. He and his colleagues have recently published their results in Physical Review Letters. The broadened frequency combs can also be used in spectroscopy, another application for microresonators that can be produced in high numbers with similar techniques like computer chips. They can then be integrated into sensors which are searching for explosives at an airport or measuring air quality. Tiny microresonator based frequency comb sources for satellite-based measurements are currently also investigated in a collaboration between Airbus and the Max Planck Institute. Another application might be in Lidar systems. They are for example the eyes in autonomous cars and help them to detect pedestrians on the street. Explore further Using a microscopic ring to produce pulsed light More information: Shuangyou Zhang et al, Dark-Bright Soliton Bound States in a Microresonator, Physical Review Letters (2022). Journal information: Physical Review Letters Shuangyou Zhang et al, Dark-Bright Soliton Bound States in a Microresonator,(2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.033901 Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Being a Black female might involve navigating two extremes: too little attention when you're older, and too much of the wrong kind of attention when you're young. UC Riverside psychology researcher Aerika Loyd affirms that point while examining the effects of racial microaggressions on Black adolescent girls and Black women. Microaggressions are subtle forms of racial discrimination, compared to explicit forms such as racial slurs. For a teenager, it can be a teacher assuming a Black girl cheated on her homework or being followed by employees while shopping for clothes. Among Black women, microaggressions involve being excluded from work projects. Or being considered too aggressive. "Racial microaggressions are often more subtle and seemingly innocuous, but still cumulatively impactful because they can happen more frequently; in some cases, daily," Loyd said. "Typically, these experiences stem from other people's conscious or unconscious acceptance and internalization of racial and gender stereotypes." Loyd writes of the phenomenon that it's "hypervisibility of Black girls and invisibility of Black women." "There is a growing body of evidence that points to the psychological and physical demands it takes to navigate hypervisibility and invisibility," Loyd said, referring to Forbes and Good Morning America coverage of the phenomenon. Among Black adolescents, discrimination has been shown to increase risk for poor mental health, academic problems, and substance use. But Loyd said little is known about the long-term impacts of microaggressions. In her recent paper published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence, Loyd and her research team looked at how Black girls and women may offset the healthincluding mental healthimpacts of microaggressions. The study included 199 Black adolescent girls and 199 Black women, who over a year participated in three surveys. The questions first addressed whether racial microaggressions had occurred by asking questions such as whether someone had avoided walking near them on the street. The researchers found two-thirds of respondents had experienced at least one microaggression during the study period. They then looked at how the study participants handled discriminatory experiences due to race. Did they use positive thinking, i.e., "Everything will be alright"? Did they restructure the episode, such as by telling themselves "It really doesn't matter"? Or did they distract themselves, such as by focusing on something else? Next, the study gauged the degree to which the Black females feel connected to their racial identity, and what behaviors they exhibit. The study found that microaggressions toward Black adolescents were in the form of assumptions of criminalitybeing followed by a clerk, or being avoided. But the study also found this form of microaggression didn't lead to greater internalizing of symptoms in girls, unless girls resorted to distractionrerouting their attention to a different subjectas a coping mechanism. When distraction was employed, internalized symptoms such as depression and anxiety increased significantly. "Some research suggests distraction is beneficial in the short-term and might give people a cooling off period, but our research suggests some long-term consequences," Loyd said. Another result: Assumptions of criminality toward girls also led to significant increases in externalized symptomsor, demonstrated behaviors. The study found that microaggressions toward Black women included poor service in stores, or unfriendly behavior at work. Those microaggressions, along with assumptions of criminality, significantly impacted mental health, the study found. None of the interactionsdistraction, restructuring, positive thinking, or racial identity, had much influence on those mental health impacts. The finding most helpful in the immediate term: Coping with racial discrimination through positive thinking is associated with fewer externalized symptoms in girls over time and fewer mental health symptoms in women. "This finding speaks to the benefits of hope and resilience for mental health in Black girls and women," Loyd said. "Despite enduring disproportionate hardship, being able to create and maintain joy is an incredible protective factor." Looking beyond the study, Loyd said the research can inform preventative interventions for Black girls and women. For example, she said therapists can better consider how these racial experiences contribute to mental health symptoms in clients and attempt to employ healthy coping. "Optimism and hope can be developed through reflection or affirmation activities," she said. Loyd also said greater appreciation for the effects of microaggressions can help influence policy. As an example, she alluded to the CROWN Act (SB-188) in California, which prohibits discrimination based on hairstyles. The recently published research paper is titled "Investigating Longitudinal Associations Between Racial Microaggressions, Coping, Racial/Ethnic Identity, and Mental Health in Black Girls and Women." Explore further The negative impacts of microaggressions on Indigenous and other racialized people More information: Aerika Brittian Loyd et al, Investigating Longitudinal Associations Between Racial Microaggressions, Coping, Racial/Ethnic Identity, and Mental Health in Black Girls and Women, Journal of Research on Adolescence (2021). Journal information: Journal of Research on Adolescence Aerika Brittian Loyd et al, Investigating Longitudinal Associations Between Racial Microaggressions, Coping, Racial/Ethnic Identity, and Mental Health in Black Girls and Women,(2021). DOI: 10.1111/jora.12710 Credit: ESA/NASA-M.Maurer Astronauts aboard the International Space Station farewelled over 2000 kg of scientific experiments and hardware on Sunday 23 January as a cargo Dragon spacecraft began its return to Earth. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer captured the resupply vehicle in all its glory as it departed the orbital outpost at 15:40 GMT/16:40 CET. It splashed down approximately 29 hours later off the coast of Florida, U.S.. The SpaceX spacecraft arrived at the Space Station just before Christmas, bringing new experiments alongside Christmas treats. It returned with a bellyful of science, including several European experiments that were quickly transported to NASA's Space Station Processing Facility at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, and other items that flew with ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet during his Alpha mission. Among the experiments were an investigation into the effect of microgravity on resting muscle tone known as Myotones, cell cultures for the Cytoskeleton experiment that looks at how human cells behave in weightlessness, and a new device called Thermo-Mini for continually monitoring core body temperature that you might have seen Matthias sporting on Station. It also transported cargo relating to Microage, which uses synthetic muscle cells to study muscle degradation aboard the International Space Station, the Blob educational experiment that saw students replicate space research in the classroom using a naturally occurring slime mold, and equipment for the Multiscale Boiling experiment Rubi. The next resupply vehicle to fly to the Station is a Northrop Grumman Cygnus, expected to be launched no earlier than 19 February 2022. In the meantime, the astronauts of Expedition 66 continue their busy schedule of science and operations in orbit. See Matthias Maurer's Cosmic Kiss mission page for the latest news. Explore further Image: Cosmic kit Credit: shutterstock A trip into central Australia involves packing your 4WD to the brim with survival gear, water and food. Yet fish have managed to persist in that parched landscape for thousands of yearshow do they do it? We at the Flinders Molecular Ecology Lab went about finding out. Our recent research examined rainbowfish in Australia, to discover how they hold onto life in isolated pockets of water in the desert. Pockets of water in the desert can only hold small fish populations. A small population means a small gene poolwhich can lead to inbreeding and poor health, as we sometimes see in endangered species. But we found even small populations can adapt to the harsh environments of water holes and small creeks. Life finds a wayeven in one of the most extreme and unpredictable environments on Earth. Prospering in central Australia Native desert rainbowfish (Melanotaenia splendida tatei) live in the deserts of central Australia. They grow to about 9cm and are usually silver and iridescent, with a yellow and green checkered pattern on the fins. Desert rainbowfish live in slow-flowing and still habitats. Credit: Gunther Schmida Desert rainbowfish populations live in slow-flowing and still habitats, including impermanent rivers, waterholes, lakes, flowing bores and stock dams. Their populations fluctuate during boom-bust cycles. During rare flooding events in the desert, rainbowfish breed in large numbers and spread along temporary streams and floodwaters. Our findings Our research sought to determine how rainbowfish populations persist in desert regions of central Australia, and whether their genomes show evidence of adaptation to the local harsh conditions. We collected 344 desert rainbowfish from 18 rivers and waterholes from across the vast and arid Lake Eyre Basin, and from semi-arid regions of the Murray-Darling Basin. We then compared the variation in the genomes of these fish with data from satellite images about the presence of surface water in central Australia. We found that natural selection in rainbowfish is stronger in regions of the desert that have drier conditions. Fish from the very arid western region of central Australia adapt differently to dry conditions than those from the semi-arid eastern region. We also found these gene variations are carried by the fish as they disperse during the floods. The fish that were pre-adapted to very harsh conditions retreated with the floodwaters to wait out the often extended drought periods in small, isolated waterholes. This suggests genes adapted to the most arid conditions may help small populations to persist in harsh environments. These adaptations might also help the species persist in future climates, which are expected to become drier and with more extreme events. Genes adapted to the most arid conditions may help small populations persist in harsh environments. Credit: Chris Brauer The most intriguing adaptive difference involved a mutation in a gene coding which leads to some fish producing a slightly different guanine nucleotide-binding protein. Fish use these proteins for taste and smell, to detect salinity and water flow, and to control light sensitivity for vision. Rainbowfish in Central Australia may survive the harsh conditions because of this difference in the protein and other adaptations. This would improve their ability to sense the environment and how it varies across seasons. The variation can be compared to the recent Omicron COVID-19 variant. Research has found mutations in the spike protein in some variants may aid its spread among humans. Looking ahead Our research found the genetic variation can be maintained in small rainbowfish populations to allow the species to survive in the desert. The findings suggest that the population size of desert rainbowfish, at least during very dry periods of the year, is less than that commonly thought necessary in nature for species conservation and for adaptation to future climate changes. This turns on its head traditional thinking that small populations are evolutionary dead ends. As climate change worsens, our findings highlight the importance of conserving natural river flows to enable freshwater species to respond and adapt. Explore further Which species will win and lose in a warmer climate? It depends where they evolved This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Credit: CC0 Public Domain In these pandemic-affected times, concern about COVID-19 can make it hard to know when to take part in "normal," prepandemic activities. That may be especially true this winter, with the Omicron virus variant spreading and its severity still being studied. But even at times during the pandemic when cases have been falling, there is often uncertainty about which activities are most ready for resumption. To some extent, people may form judgments about this based on social cues. If a lot of your neighbors start going to restaurants again, does it make you more likely to avoid restaurants, knowing they might be more crowded? Or might it signal that dining out is becoming safer? A field experiment of citizens in the city of Zhengzhou, China, conducted by an MIT research team in the spring of 2020, shows that people tend to have the latter reaction. When study respondents were informed that their neighbors were going out to restaurants, the proportion of participants also doing so increased by 12 percentage points, or 37 percent. The primary factor inducing this change appears to be evolving risk preferences: Perhaps paradoxically, people considered the activity to be safer knowing their neighbors were partaking in it. Given improving conditions, knowing what other people in a social network are doing could thus be a useful signal. At any rate, the study suggests that many people do have the tendency to increase activity, not decrease it, when informed that others are themselves increasing activity. "When we implemented our experiment, [Zhengzhou] had zero COVID cases," says MIT Professor Siqi Zheng, part of the research team and co-author a new paper detailing the study's results. "The city government had loosened the lockdown measures and dining out services were allowed to reopen. However, most people were reluctant to resume economic activities, perhaps because they were not sure whether it was really safe or not." Zheng adds, "We felt that in [some] uncertain times, such information might be particularly valuable: If others think it's safe to go out, then maybe I should feel safe. To be sure, we were also prepared for the opposite reaction, that people would hunker down and try to avoid crowds." Instead, "The intervention motivated individuals to resume patronizing restaurants," says Juan Palacios, a postdoc at the Center for Real Estate and the Sustainable Urbanization Lab (SUL), and another co-author of the paper. "When individuals learned that their neighbors were planning to go out, they followed suit." As such, the researchers regard the experiment as a possible low-cost intervention governments could pursue, to help ramp up consumer activity when merited by improving conditions during the pandemic. The paper, "Encouraging the resumption of economic activity after COVID-19: Evidence from a large scale filed experiment in China," was published online today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. To conduct the study, the researchers worked with 622 participants from Zhengzhou for several weeks in the spring of 2020, soon after China's initial COVID-19 lockdown was lifted. All participants were asked to state their belief, on a weekly basis, about the percentage of their neighbors who were planning to go to restaurants that weekend. They also downloaded an app, designed for the study, that tracked their whereabouts using GPS data. One half of the group received an additional piece of information: The actual percentage of their neighbors who were planning to dine out on any given weekend, the kind of fact social scientists call a "descriptive norm." This percentage was derived from a separate survey conducted in the same location. By comparing the weekend activities of the two groups, the researchers found people in the group that learned the real percentage of neighbors dining out would, in turn, go to restaurants considerably more often. "We use a descriptive norm experimental design, a well-established method in psychology," Rand says. "Given that the nudge is relatively simple to implement and practically free, we think it might come in handy for others trying to promote reopening." In another facet of the study, the researchers were also able to determine that the decision-making of participants was heavily based around risk perceptions. The scholars conducted the same experiment to see if participants would also be more willing to go to public parksbut found the intervention made virtually no difference in behavior, in that case, because people already regarded public park visits as a safe activity. Other scholars say the findings are a useful contribution to the growing literature on public behavior and risk perception during the shifting cycles of the COVID-19 pandemic. "This work is both timely and important, especially because the Omicron variant is creating additional uncertainty and hesitation amongst the public worldwide," says Noah Goldstein, a professor of management and organizations at the University of California Los Angeles' Anderson School of Management. If vaccines and other measures can ultimately bring an end to the pandemic, governments and businesses may seek solutions to encourage people to resume activity that is vital to people's livelihoods and to the economy in general, he says. "The researchers' messaging intervention provides such a solution, one that is both inexpensive and very scalable." As the researchers acknowledge in the paper, the study was "run in just one setting at a very particular moment in time," so caution "needs to be taken when generalizing our results to other cultures and time periods." It is also possible that the varying availability of vaccines, which first reached the public several months after the spring of 2020, may alter risk perceptions as well. "We do recognize that it won't always work as well as it did for us," Yoeli says. "It's probably best to try it in settings where people are really unsure about the safe course of action." Still, he adds, "The simplicity and generic aspect of this intervention allows policymakers to use our design and implement it in their communities, across the world." Explore further Neighborhoods play important role in older adults' pandemic experience More information: Juan Palacios et al, Encouraging the resumption of economic activity after COVID-19: Evidence from a large scale-field experiment in China, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Juan Palacios et al, Encouraging the resumption of economic activity after COVID-19: Evidence from a large scale-field experiment in China,(2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2100719119 This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching. The spin dynamics as a function of temperature in CCRO. With cooling, a local spin (magnet of Cu) is screened by surrounding electrons, which starts to take place in the range of 500 to 1000K. Credit: Atsushi Hariki, Osaka Prefecture University As temperature decreases, so does the electrical resistance of metalsmost of the time. In metal with magnetic impurities, electrical resistance can increase as the temperature drops due to a strange phenomenon called the Kondo effect. Caused by quantum interactions between the magnetic impurities and conduction electrons in the metal, the Kondo effect has appeared largely limited to compounds consisting of rare earth elements. Now, however, an international research group has demonstrated that the Kondo effect can take place in a transition metal oxide CaCu 3 Ru 4 O 12 (CCRO). The team, led by Atsushi Hariki, assistant professor in Osaka Prefecture University, Department of Physics and Electronics, says their study settles previous dissenting assertions on CCRO, and brings the Kondo field of physics into the research area of transition metal oxides, such as magnetism, heavy fermion and superconductivity. The team published their results on January 26, 2022 in Physical Review X. Ten years ago, an experimental study indicated that Kondo-like properties were present in CCRO, which consists of one atom of calcium (Ca), three of copper (Cu), four of ruthenium (Ru) and twelve of oxygen (O). But the required fingerprints of the Kondo effect were not found in follow-up experiments, so many in the field resisted calling CCRO a Kondo material. "We proved that the Kondo physics is present in a transition metal oxide with perovskite crystal structure,CCROby resolving the conflicting discussions so far," said Atsushi Hariki, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Electronics, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka Prefecture University. The Kondo effect is characterized by a screening of a localized spin (magnet) by surrounding electrons in metals, as depicted in the illustration. The temperature at which this screening starts to take place is called the Kondo temperature. According to Hariki, previous studies that concluded CCRO did not exhibit Kondo effect were conducted at moderate temperatures too low for the makeup of the compound. They challenged the estimation of Kondo temperature in CCRO. "The key point of our study is the fact that the Kondo temperature in CCRO is so high, at least 500K," Hariki said. This means that one must go far beyond the boiling point of water (373K) to observe the Kondo effect. "Experimentally, this temperature was inaccessible, but the computational simulation is doable at such a high temperature." To reach this goal, the research group built a model simulating CCRO by determining the energies of electrons inside the material using X-ray photoemission spectroscopy technique which can pluck electrons moving around the constituent elements by the Einstein's photoelectric effect. The X-ray photoemission spectroscopy measurements were conducted by an international experimental team led by Daisuke Takegami and Liu Hao Tjeng at Max Plank Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids. "The computer simulation reveals a crossover from a nonmagnetic to a local moment, the fingerprint of the Kondo effect," Hariki said. "We found the dynamics of copper 3D spinsa motion of the spins in doing the scattering of the conducting electronsexhibit the Kondo behavior in the range of 500 to 1000K. As such, CCRO must be classified as a Kondo system with a high Kondo temperature." "Our study brings investigations on Kondo and Kondo-related phenomena to transition-metal oxides," Hariki said. In particular, the material class studied here provides a new platform for integrating competing quantum phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems. Explore further Three-channel Kondo effect discovered in cubic holmium compound Provided by Osaka Prefecture University The patterns of the ocellated lizard are predictable by a mathematical model. Credit: UNIGE / Michel Milinkovitch The shape-shifting clouds of starling birds, the organization of neural networks or the structure of an anthill: nature is full of complex systems whose behaviors can be modeled using mathematical tools. The same is true for the labyrinthine patterns formed by the green or black scales of the ocellated lizard. A multidisciplinary team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) explains, thanks to a very simple mathematical equation, the complexity of the system that generates these patterns. This discovery contributes to a better understanding of the evolution of skin color patterns: the process allows for many different locations of green and black scales but always leads to an optimal pattern for the animal survival. These results are published in the journal Physical Review Letters. A complex system is composed of several elements (sometimes only two) whose local interactions lead to global properties that are difficult to predict. The result of a complex system will not be the sum of these elements taken separately since the interactions between them will generate an unexpected behavior of the whole. The group of Michel Milinkovitch, Professor at the Department of Genetics and Evolution, and Stanislav Smirnov, Professor at the Section of Mathematics of the Faculty of Science of the UNIGE, have been interested in the complexity of the distribution of colored scales on the skin of ocellated lizards. Labyrinths of scales The individual scales of the ocellated lizard (Timon lepidus) change color (from green to black, and vice versa) over the course of the animal's life, gradually forming a complex labyrinthine pattern as it reaches adulthood. The UNIGE researchers have previously shown that the labyrinths emerge on the skin surface because the network of scales constitutes a so-called 'cellular automaton'. "This is a computing system invented in 1948 by the mathematician John von Neumann in which each element changes its state according to the states of the neighboring elements," explains Stanislav Smirnov. In the case of the ocellated lizard, the scales change stategreen or blackdepending on the colors of their neighbors according to a precise mathematical rule. Milinkovitch had demonstrated that this cellular automaton mechanism emerges from the superposition of, on one hand, the geometry of the skin (thick within scales and much thinner between scales) and, on the other hand, the interactions among the pigmentary cells of the skin. The road to simplicity Szabolcs Zakany, a theoretical physicist in Michel Milinkovitch's laboratory, teamed up with the two professors to determine whether this change in the color of the scales could obey an even simpler mathematical law. The researchers thus turned to the Lenz-Ising model developed in the 1920's to describe the behavior of magnetic particles that possess spontaneous magnetization. The particles can be in two different states (+1 or -1) and interact only with their first neighbors. "The elegance of the Lenz-Ising model is that it describes these dynamics using a single equation with only two parameters: the energy of the aligned or misaligned neighbors, and the energy of an external magnetic field that tends to push all particles toward the +1 or -1 state," explains Szabolcs Zakany. A maximum disorder for a better survival The three UNIGE scientists determined that this model can accurately describe the phenomenon of scale color change in the ocellated lizard. More precisely, they adapted the Lenz-Ising model, usually organized on a square lattice, to the hexagonal lattice of skin scales. At a given average energy, the Lenz-Ising model favors the formation of all state configurations of magnetic particles corresponding to this same energy. In the case of the ocellated lizard, the process of color change favors the formation of all distributions of green and black scales that each time result in a labyrinthine pattern (and not in lines, spots, circles, or single-colored areas...). "These labyrinthine patterns, which provides ocellated lizards with an optimal camouflage, have been selected in the course of evolution. These patterns are generated by a complex system, that yet can be simplified as a single equation, where what matters is not the precise location of the green and black scales, but the general appearance of the final patterns", enthuses Michel Milinkovitch. Each animal will have a different precise location of its green and black scales, but all of these alternative patterns will have a similar appearance (i.e., a very similar 'energy' in the Lenz-Ising model) giving these different animals equivalent chances of survival. Explore further How to color a lizard: From biology to mathematics More information: Szabolcs Zakany et al, Lizard Skin Patterns and the Ising Model, Physical Review Letters (2022). Journal information: Physical Review Letters Szabolcs Zakany et al, Lizard Skin Patterns and the Ising Model,(2022). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.048102 Figure 1. Reduced baboon group cohesion in urban compared to natural space. (a) Frequency density plot for mean inter-baboon distances (natural log scale); (b) frequency density plot for number of baboons observed within 150 m of each other; (c) frequency density plot for baboon group convex hull perimeter (natural log scale). In (ac), data are shown for baboons in natural (green) and urban (gray) space. Panels (d) and (e) show satellite images of baboons in a suburb of Cape Town, and in the natural space surrounding this suburb, respectively. Baboon locations (identified by colored dots) are overlaid, and white circles of 150 m diameter (as shown in (b)) illustrate differences in group cohesion at these example moments. Credit: DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2141 In a unique study, researchers from Swansea University (UK) and the University of Cape Town in South Africa have used GPS collars to study the collective behavior of a troop of baboons living on the outskirts of the City of Cape Town. The GPS collars recorded the position of the baboons at every second and the researchers found that in natural space the baboons showed typical patterns of collective behavior. By contrast, in urban areas, where there are increased risks such as traffic but increased potential for calorie-rich human food rewards, the baboons moved more quickly, broke up into sub-groups, and didn't coordinate their movements with each other. Despite not coordinating their movements as they would in natural spaces, the researchers found that leaderfollower roles in the baboon troop were similar in natural and urban space, with high-ranking adult males having most influence on the movement of group members. Anna Bracken from Swansea University, lead author of the study, which is published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, said: "We expected dominant baboons to have less influence on others' movements in urban space because the troop social dynamics break down. But we were surprised that the males continued to play an important role." Scientists are only just beginning to understand the collective behavior of wild social groups because of the challenges involved in observing lots of individuals at the same time. Scientists know even less about whether collective behavior changes in built-up environments like cities. This is an important gap in knowledge given the increasing levels of spatial overlap between wildlife and humans worldwide. The surprising finding in this study is also positive news for the City of Cape Town's Urban Baboon Programme, which aims to reduce negative interactions between humans and baboons. "The baboon rangers are tasked with keeping baboons out of the city, and by focussing on adult males, they indirectly deter most of the group from urban space, because these males tend to be followed," said Professor Justin O'Riain of the University of Cape Town, co-author of the study. The finding that the baboons show flexible group cohesion and coordination, but robust leaderfollower roles when moving in the city, highlights both flexibility and robustness in collective behavior. The scientists are now using their dataset to look more closely at the baboons' decisions to move in and out of natural and urban space. Dr. Andrew King, senior author of the study, explained: "When you observe animals in real time you try and record everything in your notebook or computer, but only capture a small amount of what is happening. These GPS data provide us with a sort of time machine. We can go back to specific events and zoom in on what the baboons are doing." Explore further Tracking collars uncover the secrets of baboons' raiding tactics More information: Anna M. Bracken et al, Flexible group cohesion and coordination, but robust leaderfollower roles, in a wild social primate using urban space, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2022). Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Anna M. Bracken et al, Flexible group cohesion and coordination, but robust leaderfollower roles, in a wild social primate using urban space,(2022). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2141 CAPE TOWN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Western Cape Province on Thursday said over 10 million South African rands (about 660,000 U.S. dollars) have been spent on 14 major wildfires and dozens of smaller fires in the province during this summer, occurring on the fire season. The most prominent fire affected 5,372 hectares of land and most of the major wildfires happened last week throughout the province, provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell said in a statement. Twenty-four aerial units, ranging from spotter planes to large helicopters, provided support to extinguish the fires, he said, adding that aerial resources, although expensive, often prevent small fires from growing into runaway wildfires which could ultimately result in serious damage to property and loss of life. He urged the public to remain vigilant and responsible with open fires as hot summer weather is expected over the next few months. Unlike other South African provinces which mainly receive rainfall in summer, Western Cape, with a Mediterranean climate, has dry summers and wet winters. The statement came after the province's Cape Winelands District Municipality, next to the legislative capital Cape Town, brought two major mountain fires under control, which "stretched resources to their limits," according to municipal spokesperson Jo-Anne Otto. She said two ground teams will stay on the line for the next 12 hours to continue mopping up operations. The municipal fire services responded to 75 fires from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25, including seven notable for either their potential for damage to livelihood, property and large fire line, according to her. Cape Winelands Chief Fire Officer Wayne Josias reminded the public that everyone has responsibility to prevent fires and the area is "entering the hottest part of our summer months." While there have been many wildfires in the summer, provincial president of the South African National Civic Organization Bongikhaya Qhama believed that local communities especially the poor are mainly affected by shack fires, instead of wildfires. He welcomed efforts of the local government to reduce fire damages, but also called on faster response to fires in township and rural areas where poor people live. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Snowbirdsthe hundreds of thousands of Canadian retirees who travel south for the winterfaced numerous hurdles due to travel restrictions imposed during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study of media reporting has found. Simon Fraser University geography professor Valorie Crooks and health sciences professor Jeremy Snyder examined the plight of snowbirds as portrayed in the media during the pandemic's critical first year. Their research is published this month in the journal The Canadian Geographer. "Unlike vacationers who've had to divert plans during various stages of the pandemic, snowbirds see themselves differently, with relocating being a critical part of their lifestyle and often tied to health considerations," says Crooks, who holds a Canada research chair in health service geographies, and has for years studied those flocking to snowbird communities in regions like Florida and Arizona. The researchers' analysis of 187 Canadian newspaper articles identified key themes or factors attributed to snowbirds as the pandemic advanced: Consumers who contribute to local communities: A focus on the importance of snowbirds to business, local economies and their destinations' tourism sectors, including gains for specific Canadian businesses, such as winterized recreational vehicle (RV) parks selling out of spaces, and issues related to snowbirds and travel insurance. Travelers searching for stability: The impact of enduring lockdowns and closures and the desire to live with restrictions in a warmer climate over the winter. Some media accounts framed snowbirds as entitled/privileged people who sometimes make risky decisions to achieve stability and comfort, for example the ability to get vaccinated sooner in the U.S. than if they had stayed in Canada. Facing new uncertainties: Uncertainty related to travel for snowbirds as international retirement 'migrants' was a dominant media focus. While they faced issues returning home from abroad following U.S. land border closures to non-essential travelers, there was also great uncertainty over whether snowbirds could return to their seasonal residences in 2021, while ongoing pandemic measures continue to impact snowbird travel. The researchers note that fewer stories dealt with snowbird health or as travelers, their ability to transmit or spread the virus. They suggest further research could involve interviews with snowbirds to see if their experiences are reflected in the media, as well as how home communities and social networks play a role in helping them cope with restrictions and other pandemic changes that impact them. Explore further Air travelers to Canada to isolate at hotels starting Feb 22 More information: Jessica Tate et al, Altering consumer practices, facing uncertainties, and seeking stability: Canadian news media framings of international retirement migrants during the COVID19 pandemic, The Canadian Geographer / Le Geographe canadien (2022). Jessica Tate et al, Altering consumer practices, facing uncertainties, and seeking stability: Canadian news media framings of international retirement migrants during the COVID19 pandemic,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/cag.12739 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A new survey by Wiley suggests concerns about academic integrity in online courses have eased significantly among college instructors since 2020, when the transition to remote instruction was still ramping up. Only 27 percent of college instructors who responded to the September 2021 survey said they felt students were significantly more likely to cheat in an online course than in an in-person course, down from 62 percent who said the same in 2020. The percentage of instructors who were neutral on this issue rose to 20 percent compared to 5 percent in 2020. "Many college instructors worried about problems with academic integrity when courses shifted to online instruction early in the pandemic," said Jason Jordan, Wiley Senior Vice President of Digital Education. "Our findings, however, suggest those concerns were greatly allayed as instructors gained more experience with remote coursework." While instructors still express some concern about academic integrity in online courses, the findings suggest that those fears were not realized in actual experience. The percentage of instructors who said they actually caught students cheating was only slightly higher among those teaching online and hybrid courses than those teaching in-person classes. Measures used to maintain academic integrity One reason for the increased confidence may be the steps taken by instructors to promote academic integrity across learning modalities. Instructors indicated they used a variety of measures to help prevent academic misconduct in online coursework and tests, including using more open-ended questions, creating question pools, giving more project-based assignments, assigning more essays, and raising awareness about cheating and its negative consequences. Wiley builds solutions to discourage cheating into its digital educational products and services, including question pools (so that not all students receive the same questions), value randomization (where numeric values in questions change), answer shuffling (where answers to test questions appear in different orders), generic question titles, timed assignments, password-protected assignments, and assignment availability restrictions. The company has also worked to help instructors understand how to encourage a culture of integrity and personal responsibility, offering a variety of programing on academic integrity including a virtual Summer Camp, a Higher Education Cheating Hackathon, a series of on-demand webinars for instructors and a robust library of videos and resources. College students' attitudes don't match behavior Wiley also surveyed college students in the study. While the majority of student respondents believe it is easier to cheat online than in person, that does not mean they actually are cheating. The majority (52 percent) said they are no more or less likely to cheat in an online course, while only 28 percent said they are more likely to cheat online. Students are split on whether they find it easier to cheat now compared to before the pandemic. Half (51 percent) said it is easier to cheat now, but 35 percent said it's the same, and 14 percent said it's harder to cheat now. Among the factors that the majority of students say make them less likely to cheat are: if they are likely to get caught, if proctoring software is used, if getting caught would lower their grade, and if the instructor talks about the consequences of getting caught cheating at the beginning of the course. Methodology Wiley surveyed 2,868 college instructors and 682 students in the US and Canada for the study. More than 60 percent of the instructors in the sample teach STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) courses, while more than 30 percent teach business-related courses. Explore further Motivation is a key factor in whether students cheat Map of World Sequencing Data. Credit: Serratus Project A former UBC post-doctoral research fellow led an international research team in re-analyzing all public RNA sequencing data to uncover almost ten times more RNA viruses than were previously known, including several new species of coronaviruses in some unexpected places. This planetary-scale database of RNA viruses can help pave the way to rapidly identify virus spillover into humans, as well as those viruses that affect livestock, crops, and endangered species. Dr. Artem Babaian (he/him) is behind the Serratus Project collaboration. It published the stunning results of the research in the journal Nature this week. Working with the Cloud Innovation Centre, a public/private collaboration between UBC and Amazon Web Services, the Serratus Project was able to build a "ridiculously powerful" supercomputer on AWS equivalent in power to 22,500 CPUs, said Babaian. The supercomputer read through 20 million gigabytes of publicly available gene sequence data from 5.7 million biological samples around the world, searching for a specific gene that indicated the presence of an RNA virus. The samples have been collected and freely shared within the world research community over 13 years and include everything from ice-core samples to animal dung. Researchers with the Serratus Project found 132,000 RNA viruses (where just 15,000 were known previously) and nine new species of coronaviruses. Babaian estimates that without the CIC and the AWS Cloud, it would take a traditional supercomputer well over a year and hundreds of thousands of dollars to perform the 2,000 years of CPU time necessary for this analysis. Serratus accomplished it in 11 days for $24,000. "We're entering a new era of understanding the genetic and spatial diversity of viruses in nature, and how a wide variety of animals interface with these viruses. The hope is we're not caught off guard if something like SARS-CoV-2the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 emerges again. These viruses can be recognized more easily and their natural reservoirs can be found faster. The real goal is these infections are recognized so early that they never become pandemics," said Babaian, who holds a Ph.D. in medical genetics from UBC and is now a Banting Fellow at the University of Cambridge. "If a patient presents with a fever of unknown origin, once that blood is sequenced, you can now connect that unknown virus in the human to a way bigger database of existing viruses. If a patient, for example, presents with a viral infection of unknown origin in St. Louis, you can now search through the database in about two minutes, and connect that virus to, say, a camel in sub-Saharan Africa sampled in 2012." Babaian, 32, had been conducting genetic research into cancer with BC Cancer when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he switched gears. The work, which the understated Babaian says started as a "fun side project," began March 3, 2020, when he and his climbing partner friend, UBC engineering student Jeff Taylor, sketched out the idea "on the back of a napkin," said Babaian. "I should have kept that napkin," he noted. Babaian approached UBC's Cloud Innovation Centre for help shortly after. Serratus, named after Serratus Mountain in the Tantalus Range in British Columbia, which he and Taylor viewed during a climb in 2020, was born. Babaian recalled he was sitting on his wife's nursing chair when the first results started to flash up on his laptop, indicating that Serratus was not only working, but producing data almost incomprehensibly fast. "It was probably the most exciting scientific period of my life," he said. "There are two types of fun. Type 1 is smiling and fun. Type 2 is when you're miserable while doing it but the memory shines, like rock climbing. In many ways Serratus is Type 2 fun. You just kind of have to believe it's going to work out." Babaian said he would not have been able to do this work without the support of the UBC Cloud Innovation Centre. "The Cloud Innovation Centre was really there unlocking the doors for us," he said. "We had an idea and they brought in experts from their networks to make it come to life. Now the global community can benefit from all this previously untapped research." "Artem approached us with an innovative vision. The power of the Cloud Innovation Centre is that we pair our in-house innovation and technology teams from UBC with those from Amazon Web Services," said Marianne Schroeder, director of the UBC Cloud Innovation Centre. "It was our great privilege to support the realization of this vision; helping to find a technology solution for complex problems is what we do." The Centre, which launched right before the pandemic in January 2020, supports challenges that focus on community health and wellbeing. To date, the team has published more than 20 projects including reference architecture and deployment guides all available open source. "While the public cloud as we know it has been around for 15 years, the last few years of innovation at Amazon Web Services have really made genomics research possible in a new way," said Coral Kennett, who heads up the Centre for Amazon Web Services. "We were able to give Artem access to compute power for pennies a query. We highly encourage the research community to submit their projects and ideas to the Cloud Innovation Centre so that more innovation comes to light benefitting the community." Explore further Researchers use artificial intelligence to guide the search for the next SARS-like virus More information: Robert C. Edgar et al, Petabase-scale sequence alignment catalyses viral discovery, Nature (2022). Journal information: Nature Robert C. Edgar et al, Petabase-scale sequence alignment catalyses viral discovery,(2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04332-2 A black bear pictured near Fort McMurray in Alberta. Credit: Cole Burton /UBC Faculty of Forestry A new University of British Columbia study offers new evidence that protected areas are effective at conserving wildlife. Researchers at UBC's faculty of forestry analyzed data from a global data set drawing from 8,671 camera trap stations spanning four continents. They found more mammal diversity in survey areas where habitat had a protected designationcompared to forests and other wilderness areas that lacked that designation. This was true even when these protected areas experienced human disturbances such as recreational use and logging. "This is not shocking news in itself, but it is exciting evidence of the critical role that parks and nature reserves play in wildlife conservation," says Dr. Cole Burton, the study's senior author and a conservation biologist who researches mammal populations and human-wildlife coexistence. "As international discussions continue on new global targets for expanding protected areas, it's important to be able to measure the benefits of the protections that do currently exist." This is the largest number of wildlife cameras ever analyzed in a single study, notes first author Cheng Chen, a forestry Ph.D. student who relied on two international wildlife camera databases for his analysis. "By drawing on such a wide dataset, we were able to synthesize 91 camera trap surveys from 23 countries to come up with a global picture of the effect of protected areas on mammal diversity," said Chen. The study analyzed for the presence of a wide range of mammal species, from caribou in Canada to leopard cat in China. Protected areas are the final strongholds of many endangered mammals, notes Burton, adding that mammals are a particularly challenging group to protect because they require large areas for habitat, and so tend to come into conflict with people. "If we want to keep larger mammals around, along with the critical roles they play in ecosystems, we need to continue focusing on the growth of the protected area network," said Burton. "In fact, under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the world is currently discussing new targets for how much of the earth's surface should be covered by parks. We need to have better information to inform these policy discussions. Hopefully this study helps fill the gaps in our knowledge." An international team of collaborators contributed to the research, published this week in Conservation Letters. Explore further Protected areas can 'double' imperiled species populations More information: Cheng Chen et al, Global camera trap synthesis highlights the importance of protected areas in maintaining mammal diversity, Conservation Letters (2022). Journal information: Conservation Letters Cheng Chen et al, Global camera trap synthesis highlights the importance of protected areas in maintaining mammal diversity,(2022). DOI: 10.1111/conl.12865 Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain As pressure mounts on the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, members of his party are considering their options. Should they topple him or keep him? Those who want him out fear that the public will not forgive the string of alleged social events held in Downing Street while the rest of the country lived under strict COVID lockdowns. Their anger may cost the Conservatives dearly at the next election. Those who are hesitating do so because Johnson had been such an electoral success story before this scandal. We at the UCL Constitution Unit are conducting a major study of public attitudes to democracy in the UK that sheds new light on what matters most to voters. Our latest findings from a large-scale survey of the UK population conducted last summer suggest Conservative MPs are right to be concerned about the fallout of "partygate." Integrity is extremely important to voters. It is in fact valued above all other traits in a politician. When we asked about a range of characteristics that politicians should have, "being honest" came top. This was followed by "owning up when they make mistakes." "Getting things done" and "being inspiring" were far behind. Johnson has a trademark tacticseen repeatedly at Prime Minister's Questionsof batting away critics by saying he is focused on delivering the people's priorities. When asked about any potentially questionable behavior or incidents, he insists that members of the public care more about "getting Brexit done" than it does about anything else. However, our findings suggest otherwise. When we asked respondents to "imagine that a future prime minister has to choose between acting honestly and delivering the policy that most people want," 71% chose honesty and only 16% delivery. When we asked whether respondents agreed more that "healthy democracy requires that politicians always act within the rules" or that "healthy democracy means getting things done, even if that sometimes requires politicians to break the rules," 75% chose the former and just 6% the latter. It is worth repeating that these findings come from the summerbefore the Owen Paterson affair and "partygate." They are not knee-jerk reactions to short-term headlines. The vast majority of voters expect politicians to act honestly and follow the rules. Limiting power at the very top Another less obvious but equally important pattern emerged from our findings. Voters do not want power to be unduly concentrated in the hands of the prime minister and their government. Many favor at least somewhat greater powers for parliament45% think MPs should decide what the House of Commons debates, against 30% who think the prime minister or government should do so. Even more clearly, and perhaps surprisingly, most want judges to constrain ministers too. We asked respondents to "imagine there is a dispute over whether the government has the legal authority to decide a particular matter on its own or whether it needs parliament's approval," and to consider how the dispute should be settled. Most (51%) said it should be settled by judges and only 27% chose government ministers or politicians in parliament. We also asked about whether judges should play a role in resolving whether a new law violates rights. Depending on the rights that we asked about, between 65% and 77% of respondents said that the courts should have their current powers under the Human Rights Act or even be given stronger powers to strike down laws directly. A large majority also said that civil servants should be "neutral and permanent government employees" rather than "appointed by the government of the day." And most respondents thought that someone who had previously said the BBC should be neutral in its reporting could be a suitable candidate for BBC chair, but that someone who had said the BBC should be less critical of government could not. The reason for these answers appears clear: most people don't trust politicians, and they trust the politicians closest to power least. They therefore welcome limits on what those in power can do. Our study is investigating public attitudes to democracy not only through surveys, but also through a citizens' assembly, which shows whether people think the same or differently once they have thought and learnt about the issues in depth. We will publish full results of the Citizens' Assembly on Democracy in the UK in the spring. But initial findings fit the survey responses closely. Assembly members said "we feel dissatisfied with how democracy is working in the UK today because there is a lack of honesty and integrity in politics." By large majorities, they favored greater powers for parliament and the courts vis-a-vis the executive. However the current ructions in the Conservative Party pan out in the coming weeks, those in power should be clear: people in the UK expect their leaders to act with integrityand they expect a system of checks and balances on executive power to be maintained. A leader who violates these principles harms him or herself and damages confidence in democracy. Explore further WeChat denies Australia PM's account was hacked This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Figure 1. Maternal 72 h body temperature (T b ) rhythms across two diurnal (orange lines) and two nocturnal (blue lines) vervet monkey births. Asterisks denote time of birth. Black lines denote the average non-birthing female time-matched 72 h T b , and grey lines denote ambient air temperature. Top-left birth was photographed and video recorded (electronic supplementary material, Video). Credit: DOI: 10.1152/ajpendo.00260.2021 As part of a long-term study of wild vervet monkeys using state of the art bio-logging technology, research led by Nottingham Trent University has for the first time recorded the birth temperatures of wild primates. The research tests traditional ideas of why monkeys who are active during the day have evolved to give birth at night. Nocturnal birth has long been seen as a strategy for predator avoidance or as a means for mothers to recover from birth and bond with the infant without interference by other monkeys or troop movements. Over the course of seven years, 17 births which took place during an inactive night-time phase were analyzed. Two daytime births were also witnessed and examined. Birthing females were seen to experience lower night-time core body temperatures than non-birthing females and reached those temperatures earlier in the night. Birthing females also experienced lower temperatures during birth than they did during the night seven days prior. For the two daytime births, researchers identified a drop in maternal body temperature before giving birth, immediately followed by a swift rise. Dr. Richard McFarland, senior lecturer in Psychology at NTU's School of Social Sciences, has spent almost ten years studying the thermoregulation of primates in South Africa, including the impact of climate on their behavior. He said: "Our findings suggest that there may be important thermal consequences linked to the timing of primate birth. "We observed that a mother's body temperature lowers at birth to create a cooler thermal environment that serves to protect the fetus from injury during hypoxic birth conditions. Immediately after birth is also a critical period for the infant, where the new-born can be at risk of hypothermia if they are born on a cold night, or at risk of hyperthermia if they are born during the heat of the day. The mother's own physiology, and behavior toward the infant, is essential during this period. "Giving birth at night maximizes the thermal efficiency of the birth process, making it easier for the mother to lower her body temperature at birth, in conditions that tend to be cooler. It would be physiologically more challenging to give birth during the heat of the day, when the mother's body temperature is naturally higher. "In addition, during the night the mother doesn't need to implement evaporative cooling to lower her temperature and can instead rely on less costly dry heat loss. At a time when maternal resources are at a premium, any means by which resources can be conserved, and physiological processes made less costly, are likely to improve the welfare of both mother and infant." Vervet monkeys are also known consume the placenta after birth, which has previously been argued to replenish nutritional losses from pregnancy, reduce pain and prevent the placenta from attracting predators. The researchers now suggest that it may also provide the energy needed to recover temperature post-birth. The findings of the study have wide-reaching implications both for the understanding of primate reproduction and human birth patterns and health risks. Dr. McFarland added: "It seems reasonable to suggest that the timing of birth will be particularly important for smaller, more thermally-vulnerable species, where birth should be more synchronized to the most thermally advantageous time. This may explain why apes are less committed to night-time birth than monkeys. "Humans, like monkeys, tend to give birth more frequently at night, but not as routinely as other non-human primates. Greater flexibility in the timing of human births is likely a consequence of our reliance on medical intervention, including the typically cool artificial environments of birth places and a greater reliance on hospital births and medical intervention. Nonetheless, the risk of neonatal hypothermia, in particular, remains a significant cause of infant morbidity and mortality, especially in developing countries and during winter months." The paper The thermal consequences of primate birth hour and its evolutionary implications has been published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. Explore further Low birth weight among IVF children not linked to infertility treatments More information: Richard McFarland et al, The thermal consequences of primate birth hour and its evolutionary implications, Biology Letters (2022). Journal information: Biology Letters Richard McFarland et al, The thermal consequences of primate birth hour and its evolutionary implications,(2022). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0574 This photo provided by Kyle Hippchen shows him, right, with Chris Sembroski near launch complex 39A in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 21, 2021. Hippchen says Sembroski is the one person "who lives and breathes" space stuff like he does. Credit: Courtesy Kyle Hippchen via AP He told his family and a few friends. He dropped hints to a couple of colleagues. So hardly anyone knew that the airline pilot could haveshould havebeen on board when SpaceX launched its first tourists into orbit last year. Meet Kyle Hippchen, the real winner of a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes, who gave his seat to his college roommate. Though Hippchen's secret is finally out, that doesn't make it any easier knowing he missed his chance to orbit Earth because he exceeded the weight limit. He still hasn't watched the Netflix series on the three-day flight purchased by a tech entrepreneur for himself and three guests last September. "It hurts too much," he said. "I'm insanely disappointed. But it is what it is." Hippchen, 43, a Florida-based captain for Delta's regional carrier Endeavor Air, recently shared his story with The Associated Press during his first visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Center since his lost rocket ride. He opened up about his out-of-the-blue, dream-come-true windfall, the letdown when he realized he topped SpaceX's weight restrictions of 250 pounds (113 kilograms) and his offer to the one person he knew would treasure the flight as much as himself. Four months later, he figures probably fewer than 50 people know he was the actual winner. Kyle Hippchen, a Florida-based airline captain, poses for a photo in front of a SpaceX Dragon capsule at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Hippchen, the real winner of a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes, gave his seat on a SpaceX flight to his college roommate. Though his secret is finally out, that doesn't make it any easier knowing he missed his chance to orbit Earth because he exceeded the weight limit. Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux "It was their show, and I didn't want to be distracting too much from what they were doing," said Hippchen, who watched the launch from a VIP balcony. His seat went to Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer in Everett, Washington. The pair roomed together starting in the late 1990s while attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. They'd pile into cars with other student space geeks and make the hourlong drive south for NASA's shuttles launches. They also belonged to a space advocacy group, going to Washington to push commercial space travel. Despite living on opposite coasts, Hippchen and Sembroski continued to swap space news and champion the cause. Neither could resist when Shift4 Payments founder and CEO Jared Isaacman raffled off a seat on the flight he purchased from SpaceX's Elon Musk. The beneficiary was St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Hippchen snapped up $600 worth of entries. Sembroski, about to start a new job at Lockheed Martin, shelled out $50. With 72,000 entries in the random drawing last February, neither figured he'd win and didn't bother telling the other. This selfie photo provided by Chris Sembroski shows him, right, with Kyle Hippchen on April 21, 2021. Hippchen says Sembroski is the one person "who lives and breathes" space stuff like he does. Credit: Chris Sembroski via AP By early March, Hippchen started receiving vague emails seeking details about himself. That's when he read the contest's small print: The winner had to be under 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds (2 meters and 113 kilograms). Hippchen was 5-foot-10 and 330 pounds (1.8 meters and 150 kilograms). He told organizers he was pulling out, figuring he was only one of many finalists. In the flurry of emails and calls that followed, Hippchen was stunned to learn he'd won. With a September launch planned, the timeline was tight. Still new at flying people, SpaceX needed to start measuring its first private passengers for their custom-fitted flight suits and capsule seats. As an aerospace engineer and pilot, Hippchen knew the weight limit was a safety issue involving the seats, and could not be exceeded. "I was trying to figure how I could drop 80 pounds in six months, which, I mean, it's possible, but it's not the most healthy thing in the world to do," Hippchen said. Kyle Hippchen, a Florida-based airline captain who was the winner of a SpaceX sweepstakes, poses for a photo at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Hippchen and Chris Sembroski roomed together in the late 1990s while attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. They'd pile into cars with other student space geeks and make the hourlong drive south for NASA's shuttles launches. They also belonged to a space advocacy group, marching to Washington to push commercial space travel. Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux Isaacman, the spaceflight's sponsor, allowed Hippchen to pick a stand-in. "Kyle's willingness to gift his seat to Chris was an incredible act of generosity," he said in an email this week. Isaacman introduced his passengers at the end of March: a St. Jude physician assistant who beat cancer there as a child; a community college educator who was Shift4 Payments' winning business client; and Sembroski. Hippchen joined them in April to watch SpaceX launch astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, the company's last crew flight before their own. In gratitude, Sembroski offered to take personal items into space for Hippchen. He gathered his high school and college rings, airline captain epaulets, a great-uncle's World War I Purple Heart and odds and ends from his best friends from high school, warning, "Don't ask any details." In this photo made available by SpaceX, from left, Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux sit in the Dragon capsule at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Sunday, Sept. 12, 2021, during a dress rehearsal for the upcoming launch. Sembroski offered to take personal items into space for the original winner, Kyle Hippchen. Hippchen gathered his high school and college rings, airline captain epaulettes, a great-uncle's Purple Heart, and odds and ends from his best friends from high school, warning, "Don't ask any details." Credit: SpaceX via AP Kyle Hippchen, a Florida-based airline captain, poses for a photo at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Hippchen, the real winner of a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes, gave his seat on a SpaceX flight to his college roommate. Though his secret is finally out, that doesn't make it any easier knowing he missed his chance to orbit Earth because he exceeded the weight limit. Credit: AP Photo/John Raoux By launch day on Sept. 15, word had gotten around. As friends and families gathered for the liftoff, Hippchen said the conversation went like this: "My name's Kyle. Are you The Kyle? Yeah, I'm The Kyle." Before climbing into SpaceX's Dragon capsule, Sembroski followed tradition and used the phone atop the launch tower to make his one allotted call. He called Hippchen and thanked him one more time. "I'm forever grateful," Sembroski said. And while Hippchen didn't get to see Earth from orbit, he did get to experience about 10 minutes of weightlessness. During Sembroski's flight, he joined friends and family of the crew on a special zero-gravity plane. "It was a blast." Explore further Two space fans get seats on billionaire's private flight 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. FORT EDWARD Fort Edward Police Chief Justin Derway and police Sgt. Dean Watkins turned over their guns and badges at an emergency meeting of the Village Board on Monday night. Fort Edward Mayor Matt Traver said during a phone call on Wednesday that the board put the pair on administrative leave. The mayor said that once the board is able to speak more on the situation, then more information will be made available to the public. We really cant discuss administrative personnel issues at this time, Traver said. He said that even though the chief and sergeant are on leave, there are still village officers on duty. According to the village website, there are 11 total officers in the department, seven of which are part-time officers plus two crossing guards. There are two full-time officers aside from Derway and Watkins, according to the website. We will still be patrolling and those guys will certainly still be doing their job, Traver said of the remaining officers in the department. Traver stated that the village has corresponded with the Washington County Sheriffs Office about the situation. He said sheriffs officers will help out however they can. Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy said he had received an email from Travers office requesting assistance with patrol coverage. This will include answering law enforcement calls within the village due to the staffing issues as a result of the departments situation. Were right down the road, we can help answer calls for service within the village and make sure that people that need help receive help, Murphy said. He stated that the Sheriffs Office is not conducting an investigation into the Fort Edward Police Department. Traver said that state police have also been notified of the situation. If theres anything above and beyond us and the sheriffs department, theyll be available as well, he said. Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said he has been made aware of the situation, but he has no other information about anything else surrounding the leave for Derway and Watkins. Thats all that we know at this point. Thats a decision that the board had to make. Why? I dont know, Jordan said during a phone call on Wednesday morning. Traver said he is unsure of how long the situation involving Derway and Watkins will take to resolve. Its really up in the air right now, he said. We really dont know. Jay Mullen is a reporter for The Post-Star covering the city of Glens Falls, Warren County and crime and courts. You can reach him at (518) 742-3224 or jmullen@poststar.com. Love 7 Funny 32 Wow 20 Sad 4 Angry 8 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. GREENWICH A structure fire at a two-story brick home displaced a man and his dog on Tuesday night. The Middle Falls Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call for a structure fire at state Route 29 in Greenwich at 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Fire Chief Jerry Squires said that the fire was put out within an hour of the department and the supporting mutual aid companies arriving. Firefighters remained at the site for several hours more as Washington County investigators examined the scene. The investigation is ongoing and the cause of the fire is currently unknown. Squires said that a single man lived there with his dog. They were not in the residence at the time of the fire. According to Squires, the Greenwich Fire Department, Cossayuna Volunteer Fire Department, Schuyler Hose Company, Easton Volunteer Fire Company, Victory Mills Fire Department and Argyle Fire Department provided mutual aid on scene. Easton-Greenwich Rescue Squad, Cambridge Valley Rescue Squad and Argyle Emergency Squad also assisted. Neither the man nor his dog were injured, but Squires said that a member from one of the fire companies providing mutual aid was transported to Saratoga Hospital for injuries that were not life-threatening. Squires said that the brick portion of the building was hardly touched by the fire, but a wooden addition on the rear of the residence was ruined. The whole back of the house, kind of like a center two-story back addition that was put onthat was pretty much totally destroyed, he said. The Northeastern New York Chapter of the American Red Cross provided immediate emergency aid to the man after the fire. According to a news release, representatives were able to provide health services and financial assistance for things such as shelter, clothing and food. Jay Mullen is a reporter for The Post-Star covering the city of Glens Falls, Warren County and crime and courts. You can reach him at (518) 742-3224 or jmullen@poststar.com. 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. NUR-SULTAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The upper house of Kazakhstan's parliament on Thursday decided to cancel Nursultan Nazarbayev's lifetime chairmanship in the country's Security Council and the Assembly of People, the country's Kazinform news agency reported. The lower house made the same decision last week. Deputies of the upper chamber also proposed cancelling the requirement to consult with Nazarbayev on key foreign and domestic policies, according to the report. If the proposal is approved by the lower house, the amendment will be submitted to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to sign into effect, according to the news outlet. GLENS FALLS Michelle Rice, a former Post-Star advertising director, has been named president and director of local sales and marketing for The Post-Star. Lee Enterprises, owner of The Post-Star, made the announcement Wednesday afternoon. Rice will return on Feb. 7 to The Post-Star, where she was advertising director from 2010 to 2014. She is currently vice president of advertising and marketing for The Press in Atlantic City, New Jersey, a role she has held since 2014. Rice replaces Ben Rogers, who is now president of Lees Rapid City Journal in South Dakota. Im excited to be rejoining the great Post-Star team and contributing to the continued success of the company, Rice said. Im looking forward to reconnecting with the Glens Falls community, and as first-time grandparents to an 8-month-old grandson, my husband and I are beyond excited to be closer to family. Rice began her career in 1992 with The Leader in Corning, New York. During her 10 years at The Leader, she held various roles including advertising sales representative, classified sales manager and retail advertising manager. In a related announcement, Kim Kamowski has been named to the newly formed position as president of the Community Northeast SBU (strategic business unit) within Lee Enterprises Community Media Group, according to Cathy Hughes, president of the Community Media Group. Kamowski, a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, is currently president and director of local sales and marketing at The Sentinel in Carlisle. As Community Northeast SBU president, she will work with leadership at Lees Glens Falls and Auburn operations, in addition to Carlisle. She was named president in Carlisle in 2018 after having served as interim publisher since November 2017. I could not be more excited and pleased to name these two experienced sales leaders to their new positions in the Community Media Group and Lee Enterprises, Hughes said in a statement. Their talents fit perfectly with our commitment to digital transformation, including matching customers needs to our multitude of marketing services. Both have proven records of success in community-sized markets and are accomplished at leading sales teams. Lee Enterprises has daily newspapers, digital products and nearly 350 weekly and specialty publications serving 77 markets in 26 states. Democratic congressional candidates this week criticized U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, for voting against two veterans bills that had bipartisan support, including from six of eight House Republicans from New York. Stefanik and Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-Clinton, were the only two New York House Republicans who voted against the bills. Stefanik on Jan. 20 voted against HR 4673, legislation to automatically enroll veterans in the Veterans Health Care System when the Department of Defense notifies the Department of Veterans Affairs of their eligibility. The legislation passed by a vote of 265-163, with 221 Democrats and 44 Republicans voting in favor, according to the Library of Congress government information website. Ezra Watson, one of four candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Stefanik in November, said automatic enrollment is essential to getting veterans who may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or mental illness enrolled in VA health care. Some of them need to be automatically enrolled because many dont have a support system, he said. Alex DeGrasse, senior adviser to Stefanik, said that automatic enrollment takes away the opportunity for veterans to make a choice whether to be enrolled. It could also diminish the VAs ability to prioritize veterans with the highest needs, he said. Stefanik was not available to comment directly for this report. On Jan. 12, Stefanik voted against HR 1836, legislation to expand GI Bill eligibility for educational benefits to reservists and National Guard members. The legislation would change criteria to count every day a reservist or guard member is paid and in uniform toward eligibility. The legislation passed by a vote of 287-138, with 219 Democrats and 68 Republicans voting in favor. The legislation was pushed through without the proper due diligence, DeGrasse said. There were no legislative hearings on this bill, or the opportunity to hear from outside stakeholders such as veteran service organizations, he said. Although not direct testimony, the National Legislative Service of the VFW did include the legislation in its list of priority bills for the session. Matt Castelli, another of the four candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Stefanik in November, criticized Stefanik in a news release and in a Twitter post on Tuesday for voting against the two bills. By voting against these bills, Elise Stefanik has failed the veterans, service members and military family members of the North Country, said Castelli, a former CIA counterterrorism official from Wilton. In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Castelli said that both bills were sensible solutions that had support from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veterans organizations. DeGrasse said Stefanik has a strong record on veterans issues. Since she took office, Congresswoman Stefanik has delivered millions of dollars in VA benefits for constituents. In addition, she has delivered numerous bipartisan results including fixing and improving access and quality of VA care and benefits, he said. These (two) bills had clear problems that were not addressed. Watson, another Democratic candidate, had raised veterans issues in a recent telephone interview with The Post-Star. In a subsequent telephone interview on Tuesday, Watson, a technician from Wilton, said Stefaniks votes seemed to contradict her frequent claims to be a champion for veterans. I am kind of surprised, but not really surprised, he said, calling both bills no-brainers. The other candidates are Bridie Farrell, a political activist and former competitive skater from North River, and Matt Putorti, a lawyer from Whitehall. Stefanik has, in fact, been vocal about veterans issues. She has introduced or been an original co-sponsor this session of several veterans issues bills, including legislation to permanently extend a health care transportation program for veterans in very rural areas, permanently extend a housing assistance program for very poor veterans families, and establish a VA program to use veterans to train service dogs and place the dogs with veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder of depression, according to the Library of Congress government information system. She co-sponsored legislation to establish counseling centers for veterans enrolling in college. Head Start award In other 21st Congressional District news, Stefanik on Wednesday was one of five House members who received the National Head Start Association PROMISE award. PROMISE is an acronym for Protecting Our Most Important Students Early. The award recognizes her consistent support of Head Start, including her co-sponsorship of early childhood nutrition legislation and her support for Head Start funding in the 2022 federal budget. I believe that early childhood education is essential, Stefanik said in a virtual awards ceremony, streamed live on Facebook. Giving our children a strong start in life is what makes the difference in the next generation. Stefanik said annual federal Head Start funding has increased by more than $1.5 billion since she took office in 2015. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 3 A 30-mile section of train track leading into the Adirondacks is up for auction. The track and its easement running from North Creek to Tahawus are the primary asset of the Saratoga & North Creek Railway, which ceased operation in early 2018 and removed its equipment from the site. The S&NC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2020 and Chapter 11 liquidation in September 2021. William A. Brandt Jr. of DSI Consulting is the Chapter 11 trustee. He said Monday that he has received inquiries from potential bidders interested in using the line to resume freight service to the titanium mine that the line was built to serve. The trackage may appear to be in rough shape, but it is still usable, he said. Railroads everywhere require continual maintenance and that has not been done in a while, Brandt said. We actually can run cars across the entire line, albeit at reduced speed. One reason for its durability is that it was commissioned by the federal government, which needed ready access to the titanium at Tahawus to support production needs during World War II. It has a 125-pound rail, which is heavy for such an application, Brandt said. They way over-engineered it, he added. Theres two more segments totaling about 60 miles between North Creek and Saratoga Springs, one owned by Warren County, one owned by the town of Corinth. A train would have to travel the entire length to get freight to the interconnection with the Canadian Pacific and the rest of the continent. Because the railway is designated a common carrier, the two other track owners cant refuse operations on the rails, Brandt said, but negotiations may not be necessary. Brandt said hes heard reports that one or both municipalities might want to sell their trackage, and hes heard directly from potential bidders that theyd try to make such a purchase. I believe that the southern two segments will quickly thereafter be engaged in discussions, he said. None of this would preclude the return of tourist trains, which have operated on various parts of the line with various operators. The potential freight operations at this point would be limited to loading hopper cars at Tahawus by day and hauling them out at night, and possibly serving Barton Garnet Mine in the same manner, Brandt said. Such a purchase would, however, preclude the tracks being torn up and the right of way replaced by a mix-use recreation trail, which is an option Brandt doesnt support. I have spent a lot of time with the local officials, he said. Their line to me is, the forest has an abundant amount of hiking trails. Theres no crying need for yet one more. There is, he said, a crying need for more good jobs in the region such as the ones that a working railroad would support, as well as a national security interest in keeping the mines along the route viable. The Bankruptcy Court on Jan. 13 approved an amended bankruptcy plan that includes a requirement that the buyer preserve future operation of rail service along the 29.71-mile stretch north of North Creek. Bidding is open through midnight Feb. 23 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Colorado. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 1 PLEASANTVILLE Police have charged three men with aggravated assault, and the city has ordered Centerfolds Cabaret to close after Irving Mayren-Guzman was found dead in the marshes near the Delilah Road strip club. Jamaul Timberlake, 30, of Atlantic City; John Hands, 24, and Garnell Hands, 29, both of Pleasantville, were taken into custody Wednesday evening. They are being held at the Atlantic County jail. All three suspects were charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy, police said Thursday in a news release. Family and community members whod been rallying every day since Tuesday for Mayren-Guzman, who had been missing since the early morning hours of Sunday, were prepared to rally again outside the club Thursday until one of the organizers heard the city had ordered the club closed while authorities investigated. We were prepared to be right in front of the building, peacefully trespassing for justice. We were ready to be arrested, said Cristian Moreno-Rodriguez, a family friend and organizer. Moreno-Rodriguez said Pleasantville City Council President Ricky Cistrunk called him just before noon to tell him of the citys actions. Hundreds attend march for Irving Mayren-Guzman outside Pleasantville strip club PLEASANTVILLE At least 200 people gathered Wednesday morning in front of Centerfolds Cabar Family, friends and members of the community are angry that the 21-and-over club allowed in Mayren-Guzman, who at 19 was underage. The state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control is investigating, according to Moreno-Rodriguez, who cited his conversation with Cistrunk. Attempts to reach Centerfolds representatives this week have been unsuccessful. Eulojeo Mayren, Mayren-Guzmans father, said, I want to know what happened to my son, and who is responsible for it. Mayren insisted Wednesday morning that someone from the strip club knew what happened to his son. Mayren-Guzmans death remains under investigation, and police are awaiting the results of an autopsy. Mayor Judy Ward asked that the public be patient and allow the police to do their jobs, in a statement to The Press Wednesday. Mayren-Guzmans parents, Sarita Guzman and Mayren, were thankful for everyones support during their darkest hours. I want to thank everyone for being supportive for Irving, me and my family, Guzman told a crowd of about 75 people in front of Centerfolds Thursday afternoon. I only want people to stay united, and keep supporting me and my family. My siblings are some of the most kind and amazing people you would have the pleasure of meeting. Irving is no exception, said Edy Alvarez, Mayren-Guzmans brother. And Irving was the best of all of us, Alvarez said. Hes cute, smart, funny, charismatic, brave, bubbly, all of the above and below. Mayren-Guzman was last seen leaving the strip club early Sunday morning. During a rally Wednesday at City Hall, a man who identified himself as one of the friends with Mayren-Guzman that evening said on a video posting that he had gone to the club with the victim and another friend, but he couldnt get in because he didnt have identification. Mayren-Guzman went in with one friend, the man said, but never came back out, the friend told the interviewer who posted the video on YouTube under the channel LaluFilmz. The video had more than 16,000 views Thursday afternoon, and Capt. Stacey Schlachter of the Pleasantville Police Department said police had viewed the video but had no further comment. In the interview, the friend said Mayren-Guzman was inside the strip club and was going to get a lap dance before leaving. Mayren-Guzman waited inside the club for his friend to get finished his lapdance but then went missing. His friends, unable to get answers from the clubs employees, searched for him outside but couldnt find him. The two-day search for Mayren-Guzman included dogs, drones, a helicopter grid search and a foot search by members of the Hamilton Township Police Department, Atlantic City Police Department, Atlantic City Fire Department, Atlantic County Sheriffs Office, State Police and Atlantic County Office of Emergency Management. Relatives, friends and community members also conducted their own foot search. Mayren-Guzmans body was discovered about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in a marshy area along Delilah Road. Funeral arrangements for Mayren-Guzman are pending. The family is still waiting for results from an autopsy, and is considering an independent autopsy. An online fundraising page established to help with funeral arrangements has raised more than $35,000. Contact Selena Vazquez: 609-272-7225 svazquez@pressofac.com 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. Located on Jeffers Landing Road in the Scullville section of the township is the original home of the Jeffers family. Through the years the Jeffers name has been spelled differently Jeffers, Jeffries, or Jeffreys. John Jeffers I (1735-1810) owned a large amount of land along the Patcong Creek and Great Egg Harbor River. In 1819, John Jeffers II (1789-1834) was appointed as Wharf Master for the present Jeffers Landing, in the Scullville section of the township. In early days, this landing was an active commercial port and was named for the John Jeffers family. The next generation John Jeffers III grew up to become a captain of a ship called Twenty One Friends, a three-masted schooner built in Mays Landing in 1848 and financed by 21 Philadelphia Quakers (hence the name). It was carrying a full load of lumber from Georgia to Philadelphia when it was rammed hard by another ship and abandoned by captain and crew. The empty ghost ship drifted throughout the Atlantic Ocean for two years before finally resting along the shores of Ireland, a testament to fine craftsmanship of the boat builders from Mays Landing. Through the years, Jeffers Landing became a popular bathing and boating spot. In the early 1900s, the area that was known as Jeffers, was changed to Scullville, honoring the Scull family, however the area where the Patcong Creek meets the Great Egg Harbor River is still called Jeffers Landing. GEHT Historical Society Museum is located at 6647 West Jersey Ave. in Egg Harbor Township. Open Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m., weather permitting, or by appointment. For information, visit GEHTHSmuseum@aol.com or the Facebook page. Donations and memberships are welcomed! LOWER TOWNSHIP Naval Air Station Wildwood (NASW) Aviation Museum will receive funding in 2022 through the Cooperative Marketing Grant Program of the New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism. NASW Aviation Museums 2022 marketing campaign will support the Division of Travel and Tourisms work promoting New Jersey as a premier travel destination. The museum will partner with several organizations, including the Cape May County Department of Tourism, to attract visitors from out of state and let them know that there is more to the Jersey Cape than its beautiful beaches and famous boardwalks. Visitors will be encouraged to explore some of the areas best kept secrets, such as the Aviation Museum. The museum is open all year and is the perfect rainy-day destination for the entire family. NASW Aviation Museum operates out of historic Hangar #1 at the Cape May Airport. Hangar #1 is an all-wooden structure that was built in 1943 by the United States Navy, serving as an important aviation training facility during World War II. NASW Aviation Museum has transformed the historic hangar into a popular heritage tourism destination by capitalizing on the sites proximity to the nationally renowned beaches, attractions, and activities available in Cape May County. The museums educational and family-friendly exhibits and programs, and exciting events like the annual AirFest, bring visitors to Cape May County from across the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond. According to the Cape May County Department of Tourism, nearly half of the visitors to the area are cultural tourists and the NASW Aviation Museum has proven to be a significant part of the regions appeal. NASW is ranked as the #1 historic site in Cape May County on TripAdvisor. The museum recently received the 2021 Travelers Choice award from TripAdvisor. The award is given to accommodations, attractions, and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of places on TripAdvisor. The NASW Aviation Museum is located inside historic Hangar #1 at the Cape May Airport. The site was formerly Naval Air Station Wildwood, which served as a World War II dive-bomber training center. The museum is dedicated to the 42 airmen who perished while training at Naval Air Station Wildwood between 1943 and 1945. The museum is currently open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit usnasw.org or call 609-886-8787. WILDWOOD CREST The Borough of Wildwood Crest Public Works Department is in need of volunteers to assist the physically disabled and senior citizen residents of the borough with snow removal. Volunteers ages 16 and older are needed. School-age volunteers can use this program as a way to accumulate community service hours. Volunteers will be dispatched after snowfall ends and when accumulation is at least two inches or more. Volunteers will assist in removing snow from sidewalks and car access areas. All volunteers will be required to complete a short training session. Safety gear, equipment and salt will be provided by the Department of Public Works. Those wishing to volunteer can download an application from the Public Works page of the borough website at wildwoodcrest.org. In order to receive assistance with snow removal, recipients must be a resident of the Borough of Wildwood Crest and have a physical disability or be a senior citizen without access to help from friends or family. In addition, the home must be owner occupied and must serve as the owners primary residence. Residents wishing to receive assistance with snow removal are required to fill out an application, which is available on the Public Works page of the borough website at wildwoodcrest.org. All applications for volunteers will be reviewed to determine eligibility. For more information, contact Sarah Steiner at the Department of Public Works at 609-522-7446 or email ssteiner@wildwoodcrest.org. GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP Friends and family gathered a day early at Seashore Housing to surprise Lorraine Glasser on the occasion of her 100th birthday. The celebration featured proclamations, a cake, ice cream and balloons for Lorraine. Lorraine was born on Jan. 22, 1922 in Philadelphia. An only child, she soon found life to be a great adventure. She spent much of her early childhood backstage, raised by her single mother, an actress. My mom was exceptional, ahead of her time, and accepting of all races and cultures, she said. She knew everyone, and introduced me to Jack Dempsey, who taught me how to box. Tragically, her mother died when Lorraine was just 11 years old. The two friends entrusted with Lorraines care took the money and ran. It was lucky that I was tall for my age, said Lorraine, I lived on my own in our house, went to high school, and made do. I had some help from my best friend and her family. They used to cook for me and she would often sleep over. A good student, Lorraine earned scholarships in both math and art. She chose to study photography at the Moore College of Art. In doing so, she transcended gender role barriers; at the time, women were not professional photographers but she would make a career out of it. She found her future husband, Paul, when he agreed to be her date at her best friends wedding. I told him, If you marry me, youll live like nobody else, said Lorraine. She kept her word, staying by his side for 56 years as they traveled the world to London, Paris, Rome and more. They raised three children in their northeast Philadelphia home: Margo, Shelah and Barry. To them, Lorraine passed along her love for learning, art and travel. Margo became an arbitrator and Shelah a scientist. Barry is a doctor who speaks fluent Spanish and German, and has lived abroad, pursuing his own adventures. Lorraine moved into Seashore Housing 10 years ago, after Paul passed away. Her apartment is filled with memories, from souvenirs from her travels to paintings, drawings and sculptures that she has done. Ive had so many lives in my 100 years, said Lorraine. Its incredible to look back on it all. Now she spends her time catching up with her children, her four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. She also volunteers each week, making calls to people in the community who are homebound. I was asked if I need a call like that, and I told them that Im fine but that Id like to make those calls. As for this latest milestone of reaching 100, Lorraine says that people dont realize shes as old as she is. I am a health fiend. I still exercise. I walk all the time. I keep busy. She offers the following advice for those who want to live their best lives. Be comfortable in what you choose, but dont be afraid to try something new. After all, life is a great adventure. Events Thursday, Jan. 27 TRIVIA GAME DAY VIRTUAL EVENT: 4 to 5 p.m.; presented by The Lynn Kramer Village by the Shore at Jewish Family Service. 609-287-8872 or JFSVillageByTheShore.org. Friday, Jan. 28 FAIRNESS IN TAXES MEETING: 7 to 9 p.m.; Fairness In Taxes Annual Meeting & Board Elections; Ocean City Library, 17th Street and Haven Avenue, Ocean City. 609-814-0056 or FairnessInTaxes.com. Saturday, Jan. 29 WEEKLY SATURDAY OPEN GAMING: 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays; join friends to play mah-jongg, scrabble, canasta or pinochle; masks required; Longport Public Library, 2305 Atlantic Ave., Longport. 609-487-7403 or LongportPublicLibrary.org. Sunday, Jan. 30 WATERCOLOR CLASS: 3 to 5 p.m.; watercolor class by Stephanie Segal Miller; bring supplies or use those provided for $5; includes free parking in Wave Garage; The Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University, 2200 Fairmount Ave., Atlantic City; $30. 609-318-4676 or Stephanie-Segal-Miller-Art.square.site. Wednesday, Feb. 2 TIL DEATH DO US PART EXHIBIT: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Til Death Do Us Part: Victorian Mourning Customs in America exhibit examines 19th century mourning customs that are still practiced by many today; Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society, 108 S. Seventh St., Vineland. 856-691-1111 or DiscoverVinelandHistory.org. WEEKLY WEDNESDAY OPEN GAMING: 10 a.m. to noon Wednesdays; open gaming; masks required; Public Library, 2305 Atlantic Ave., Longport. 609-487-7403 or LongportPublicLibrary.org. Thursday, Feb. 3 TOWNSHIP OF HAMILTON GREEN TEAM MEETING: 7 to 8:30 p.m. first Thursdays; join the Township of Hamilton Green Team to see how you can make a difference; Municipal Building, 6101 13th St., Mays Landing. TownshipOfHamilton.com. For kids Tuesday, Feb. 1 VALENTINES DAY TAKE & MAKE CRAFT: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Feb. 14; for ages 12 and younger; pick up a Valentines Day Take and Make Craft in the Childrens Department; Public Library, 1058 E. Landis Ave., Vineland. 856-794-4244 or VinelandLibrary.org/Childrens. Wednesday, Feb. 2 STORYTIME: 10 to 10:30 a.m.; for kids ages 5 and younger with their caregiver; Vineland Public Library, 1058 E. Landis Ave., Vineland. 856-794-4244 or VinelandLbrary.org. VIRTUAL TEEN CLUB AND GAMES: 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.; teens ages 13 to 18 are invited to join Vineland Public Library staff for a Teen Club Meeting, followed by games; virtual event. 856-794-4244 or VinelandLibrary.org/Young_Adults. Groups Thursday, Jan. 27 FAMILY MEETING SUPPORT GROUP: 10 a.m. to noon second and fourth Thursdays; support group for family members of individuals who live with a mental health concern. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. ICI OF SOUTH JERSEY RESUMES MEETINGS: 6 to 8:30 p.m. fourth Thursdays through June 2022; creates an awareness and appreciation of Italian culture; St. Frances Cabrini Church, Room C, 114 Atlantic Ave., Ocean City; $4 donation non-members. 609-602-9017. Monday, Jan. 31 LONGPORT NEEDLERS: 10 a.m. to noon Mondays; bring your needle/crochet craft project and join us for a time of crafting and socializing; Longport Public Library, 2305 Atlantic Ave., Longport. 609-487-7403 or LongportPublicLibrary.org. Tuesday, Feb. 1 ARCHERY CLUB: 7 to 8 p.m. first Tuesdays; meeting in Egg Harbor Township; all types of bows and expertise welcome. 609-601-2663. Wednesday, Feb. 2 TOO MUCH STUFF? MEETINGS: 1 to 2 p.m. first and third Wednesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; online or call-in support for those with clutter challenges, collecting behaviors, or hoarding tendency. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. Thursday, Feb. 3 TWP. OF HAMILTON GREEN TEAM MEETING: 7 to 8:30 p.m. first Thursdays; join the Township of Hamilton Green Team; Municipal Building, 6101 13th St., Mays Landing. lmccardell@townshipofhamilton.com. Health, fitness Thursday, Jan. 27 RISING MINDS ONLINE MEETING: 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays; offered by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; peer-led meeting for individuals age 18 to 30; participants discuss mental health, share experiences, develop tools for self-care and connect to others. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. Friday, Jan. 28 NICOTINE ANONYMOUS: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Fridays; fellowship of men and women helping each other to live free of nicotine; 351 Cincinnati Ave., Egg Harbor City; free. 609-602-5701, 609-965-4847 or 609-226-4193. Sunday, Jan. 30 MEDITATION ONLINE GROUP: 7:15 to 8 p.m. Sundays; offered by The Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; staff offer a guided calming meditation or breathing exercise; to receive a link by email and join the group online, email btrendler@mhanj.org. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. Monday, Jan. 31 GOT STRESS? ONLINE GROUP: 4 to 5:30 p.m. Mondays; online group meets to discuss daily wellness, coping strategies and tools to relieve stress and reduce anxiety; offered by The Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; free. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. Tuesday, Feb. 1 BODY IMAGE & BALANCE MEETINGS: 7 to 8 p.m. first and third Tuesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; call-in and online group for those living with or recovering from disordered eating. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. Wednesday, Feb. 2 BOOMERS CONNECTION & WELLNESS HOUR: 7 to 8 p.m. first and third Wednesdays; boomers meet virtually or by call-in for a social connection and wellness group; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. DEALING WITH DEPRESSION SUPPORT GROUP: 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; online support group for those living with depression. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY ONLINE WELLNESS GROUP: noon to 1 p.m. Wednesdays; hosted by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; wellness group exploring themes of faith, hope, sense of purpose, and fulfilment. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. MIND AND BODY VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: 11 a.m. to noon Wednesdays; workshop is provided to individuals who live with a disability; participants discuss topics such as adapting, goal setting, refocusing and more; offered by the Mental Health Association in Atlantic County. 609-652-3800, ext. 308 or MHAAC.info. Thursday, Feb. 3 ONLINE MENS WELLNESS GROUP: 6 to 7 p.m. first and third Thursdays; offered by The Mental Health Association in Atlantic County; via Zoom or by call-in; topics vary, but may include family/relationships, substance use and coping strategies during COVID; to receive a link, email jangelini@mhanj.org. 609-652-3800 or MHAAC.info. Monday, Feb. 7 NAMI ATLANTIC CAPE MAY CONNECTION MEETING: 7 to 8:30 p.m. first Mondays; NAMI Connection is a recovery support group for adults living with mental health issues; peer run group offers attendees a safe, confidential place to share and understand their experiences living with mental health issues; held via Zoom; free. 609-741-5125 or NAMIACM.org. Wednesday, Feb. 9 SIBLING MEETING: 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. second Wednesdays; meeting for siblings of adults with serious and persistent mental health concerns; support, education, coping strategies, resources and more; hosted by the Mental Health Association in New Jersey. 973-571-4100. or MHAAC.info. Music Thursday, Jan. 27 VIRTUAL JAM SERIES: 7 p.m. Thursdays; hosted by Absecon Cultural Arts Alliance streaming live via Facebook; features local musicians. AbseconArts.com. Tuesday, Feb. 1 HARP CONCERT: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.; with Lucia Marone; Public Library, 2305 Atlantic Ave., Longport. 609-487-7403 or LongportPublicLibrary.org. Religion Thursday, Feb. 3 CHRISTIANITY EXPLORED COURSE: Thursdays, Feb. 3 through March 17; 7-week course that explores the Christian faith, Who Jesus is, why He came and had to die; for anyone who would like to learn more about Christianity, you dont need to know anything about the Bible; free dinner included with each session; Greentree Church, 125 Schoolhouse Road, Egg Harbor Township. 609-927-3838 or Greentree.org/CE. MILLVILLE Police camera footage released Thursday shows the moments before an officer fatally shot a city man holding what police have described as a machete outside a home earlier this month. The state Attorney Generals Office released the footage, along with radio transmissions and 911 audio, from the incident Jan. 4. Police were called to a house on Burns Street about 9:30 p.m. and encountered 33-year-old Daniel Ackley, who was holding the machete. Investigators were to meet with Ackleys family to review the recordings Thursday, the Attorney Generals Office said. In the video, Ackley can be seen on the homes rear porch, spreading his arms outward with the machete in his hand. The first officer to encounter Ackley can be heard on the video commanding Ackley to drop the machete, but Ackley did not comply. Report identifies Millville man fatally shot by police MILLVILLE Authorities have identified the person fatally shot by police last week as a 33- Ackley can be seen approaching the officers with the weapon while shouting at them. The officers are then seen brandishing their guns as they back away from Ackley. The encounter continues from the snow-covered driveway onto the street, where the officers continue pleading with Ackley to drop the weapon. After the encounter continues down the road, one of the officers, Timothy Rehmann, shoots Ackley, who can be seen falling to the ground with his hands raised before being instructed to lie down on the ground. The officers did not appear to use other service weapons, such as a stun gun, to subdue Ackley. Additional officers arrive on scene to treat Ackley. Investigators previously said Ackley had been transported from the scene to Cooper University Medical Center in Camden, where he was later pronounced dead. The fatal shooting remains under investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, the Attorney Generals Office said Thursday. Buena Vista Township park renamed for late Mayor Chuck Chiarello BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP After Chuck Chiarello died in 2019, the Township Committee knew it wa The recordings were released through an Open Public Records Act request and under policies established by the Attorney Generals Office in 2019 that are designed to promote the fair, impartial and transparent investigation of fatal police encounters. Ackley was a U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq, according to his obituary. He grew up in Cumberland County and graduated from Millville High School. He enjoyed the outdoors, especially hiking, playing video games, military history, and volunteering at the Port Norris Baptist Church of which he was a lifetime member, his obituary read. 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. COLOMBO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka is looking to keep some public places out of bounds for people who haven't received the COVID-19 vaccine booster, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said here Thursday. Rambukwella told Xinhua that many people were yet to take their booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and a person should have received three doses of the vaccine to be considered "fully vaccinated." Rambukwella said some of the places that may become inaccessible for those who refuse the booster doses are cinemas, musical shows, tourist sites and malls. According to official figures from the health ministry, an estimated 5 million people, among its 21.9-million population, have received their booster doses. The ministry is administering the Pfizer vaccine as the third dose and has urged people to come forward and receive their shots as the vaccines are to expire in July. Sri Lanka has recorded a total of 606,162 positive cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020 and has recorded 15,346 deaths from the virus. A Florida woman accused, and later cleared, of murdering her mother has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the State Police, the Cape May County Prosecutors Office and many more. Josephine Scheid was arrested at her home in Bradenton, Florida, in November 2019 and brought back to New Jersey to face charges of murder and other offenses. Scheid maintains there was never any crime, certainly not a murder. Her mother, Gabrielle Michaelis, was on hospice at the time, with terminal cancer, she said. Scheid said she came to Cape May County to help with her mothers care. Her mother was on prescribed painkillers, and Scheid said she did not have long to live. In a phone interview Wednesday, Scheid said she was no longer administering her mothers medicines when she died Oct. 31, 2018. There was no immediate response to an email and phone message left with the Cape May County Prosecutors Office on Wednesday requesting comment. An automatic response email indicated that Prosecutor Jeffrey Sutherland was out of the office. A State Police spokesperson said there would be no comment on pending litigation, forwarding questions to the Attorney Generals Office. Leland Moore, a spokesperson for the Attorney Generals Office, said there would be no comment on the matter. Scheid told a story of family intrigue and accusations that resulted in the most serious charges possible. Murder charges dropped against Florida woman accused of killing her mother in 2018 in Dennis Township CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE A Florida woman accused of intentionally poisoning her mother to gain It still dumbfounds me that this actually happened, Scheid said. Ive lost everything. The murder charges were eventually dropped. In a plea deal, Scheid admitted to stealing a family Bible and lying about it. She now says she only did so because she wanted to fight for custody of her two children. Accepting the plea agreement meant she was no longer accused of murder and would be able to see her children, and begin to work to regain custody. With any charges pending against her, Josephine could not begin the process to have her children returned to her, the lawsuit reads. I wanted to be able to see my kids, she said. Her children are in their fathers custody. She suggested their father worked with her brother and other family members to convince prosecutors she was responsible for her mothers death. Scheids attorney, Theresa Grabowksi, filed the 63-count suit in federal court this month. It names more than 40 defendants, including Cape May County, Gloucester County, the Gloucester County coroner, the state of New Jersey, several family members and an additional 150 John Does, typically used when a plaintiff does not know the name of a defendant. The suit asks for attorneys fees and punitive damages. But Scheid said she is not interested in money. Florida woman accused of 2018 murder of mother in Belleplain to be released from jail pretrial CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE A Florida woman accused of killing her mother two years ago to get a I want to make sure this can never happen to anyone else, she said. It was just over a year after her mother died that Scheid was arrested. State Police and officers with the Prosecutors Office arrested her Nov. 8, 2019, with the help of the Sarasota County Sheriffs Office. Details of the case released at the time by Sutherland and Col. Patrick Callahan of the State Police indicate the State Police received information that the death was suspicious in December 2018, about a month after Michaelis died. She was 59 when she died, living in the Belleplain section of Dennis Township. Her obituary describes her as a devout Catholic and math professor. In announcing the charges, officials cited intoxication from hydromorphine, alprazolam and lorazepam as the cause of death. Hydromorphine is a painkiller, while the other two are prescribed for anxiety. According to Scheid, her mother had been receiving the drugs intravenously but had asked to switch to taking them orally. In the weeks leading up to her death, Scheid said, her mother could no longer eat because of the cancers advancement. Florida woman indicted in 2018 murder of mother in Belleplain CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE A Florida woman accused of killing her mother to get $90,000 in inher In the suit, and in the interview Wednesday, Scheid said her family members and her mothers husband had accused her of overmedicating Michaelis. At that point, she said, she turned over the responsibility of administering the medication to others in the family. In the suit, she levels accusations against her brother and sister-in-law, her mothers husband, her own husband and others. Scheid spent months in Cape May County jail. The lawsuit also alleges mistreatment before her release in September 2020. She says she was strip searched in the presence of other inmates after being near a fight between other inmates. She also alleges she was denied medical attention. On Oct. 15, 2021, she pleaded guilty to stealing the Bible and received a years probation. She said as the executrix of her mothers estate, she was in her legal rights to remove the Bible from her mothers safe deposit box. I did exactly what the law said I was supposed to do, she said. The Bible is written in Flemish and is hundreds of years old, she said. Her grandmother brought it from Europe when fleeing the Nazis, the lawsuit states. 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. NEWARK Community groups in New Jersey and California are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, seeking to force trash incinerators across the country many of them in predominantly minority communities to emit less pollution into the air. One of the incinerators covered by those standards has on occasion emitted pink or purple mist into the air over Newark. The groups are asking a court to order the agency to update its standards for large incinerators, saying the EPA was supposed to do so at least 10 years ago. The Ironbound Community Corporation in Newark; the Commerce, California-based East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice; and the national Sierra Club are plaintiffs in two separate lawsuits seeking the same goal: a court order directing the EPA to act now to limit the amount of pollutants these incinerators can be allowed to emit. Eighty percent of these large incinerators are in environmental justice communities, said Jonathan Smith, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice in New York. EPA finally updating its emissions standards is compelled by its stated commitment to environmental justice. Weve found a consistent pattern of these facilities, many of them old, being sited in environmental justice communities, said Ana Baptista, an environmental justice expert at The New School in New York and an Ironbound board member. These lawsuits are important to address that. First-ever New Jersey data say PFAS in drinking water exceeded safe levels at water systems serving more than half a million people So-called forever chemicals exceeded maximum levels in 74 separate water systems that provid Environmental justice refers to a movement to ensure that minority communities that already are disproportionately burdened with sources of pollution are not subjected to additional ones, as well as to try to lessen existing sources. The lawsuits were filed Jan. 13 in federal district court in Washington and on Dec. 21 in a Washington appeals court. The EPA declined comment, citing the pending litigation. The lawsuits allege violations of the Clean Air Act. Amendments to the law in 1990 obligate the EPA to set performance standards for large incinerators that burn 250 or more tons of trash a day, and then to update those standards every five years, according to one of the lawsuits. The most recent deadline for an update was in 2011, but the EPA has failed to act, the lawsuit alleges. East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice is active in eastern and southeastern Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. In addition to community programs, it opposes incinerators and says it played an integral role in advocacy that led to an incinerator in Commerce, California, closing in 2018. Pleasantville waste transfer station town hall postponed to Feb. 2. A town hall for the transfer station planned off West Washington Avenue has been postponed t The Ironbound Community Corporation is a large social service provider in a section of Newark that takes its name from the railroad tracks that border it on three sides. Earlier this month, it helped postpone a sewage utilitys plan to build a backup power plant in an area that already suffers from pollution and poor air quality. Baptista grew up in that neighborhood, describing it as frequently smelly and heavily industrialized. As she was driving to her parents house in 2020, she noticed something different emanating from the smokestack of the Newark incinerator. I saw bright pink smoke coming out of it, she said. At first I was like, Is this some kind of breast cancer awareness thing they were doing, some kind of sick joke? The tainted smoke turned out to be the result of the plant mistakenly burning materials that contained iodine from a Newark chemical company, according to Covanta, the company that operates the facility. In a report to New Jersey environmental regulators, the company said several instances of pinkish or purple mist were due to material containing iodine between 2018 and 2020, adding it has stopped accepting such material. Four New Jersey trash incinerators are covered by the EPA standards in Newark, Camden, Rahway and Westville, Smith said. Similar incinerators in California include ones in Long Beach and Crows Landing near Modesto. Pleasantville trash transfer station drives debate across Atlantic County The debris-waste transfer station planned for a lot in Pleasantville has driven disputes and The companies that operate the incinerators say they all comply with current federal environmental standards. One of the lawsuits notes 2007 litigation in which it says the EPA agreed to review its incinerator standards, and a 2008 court order sending the matter back to EPA for a second look. Over 13 years have passed since the courts remand with no action from EPA to review or update its standards, the lawsuit read. So-called forever chemicals exceeded maximum levels in 74 separate water systems that provide drinking water to more than half a million people across New Jersey, according to an Inquirer analysis of new data released by the state. About 6% of the states 9.2 million residents are drinking water from systems contaminated by compounds known as PFAS, which have been found harmful to human health and stay in the body for many years. New Jersey was the first state to set strict standards for types of PFAS, well below federal guidelines. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection released data Tuesday from the first full year of testing. Overall, 34 community-based systems and 40 noncommunity systems exceeded the states maximum contaminant level for at least one of three chemical compounds within the family of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. A non-community water system serves at least 25 people and can be anything from a school to a yachting club to a car dealership. That equates to the drinking water of about 524,000 customers in community systems, and 14,000 in non-community systems. The state released data for those substances PFOA, PFOS and PNAS. They have been linked to health issues such as cancer, infertility and decreased antibody response following vaccination. Murphy warns NJ residents of hazardous winter weather More dangerous winter weather is set to hit New Jersey, and state officials are again cautio PFOA was the most common that appeared in excessive amounts in water systems. Water systems must notify customers if state maximum levels which are stricter than federal guidance for any of the compounds are found, and have one year to return to safer levels, either by treating the water or finding an additional source. Of the 10 communities with the most customers affected, all were in North Jersey with the exception of Willingboro, Burlington County. The Municipal Utility Authority in Willingboro alerted customers in December of the issue. The authority, which also serves neighboring Westampton Township and has 35,000 customers, informed residents that higher-than-allowable levels of PFOS had been found in one of six wells the system pulls from. Officials said the well was immediately shut down and the water is safe to drink. Diallyo Diggs, executive director of the Willingboro MUA, said Tuesday the authority is installing a new $5 million system to filter out the compounds, which have been widely used for decades in metal plating and finishing as well as in firefighting foams, stain-resistant coatings for upholstery and carpets, water-resistant outdoor clothing and grease-proof food packaging. Major sources of contamination in drinking water include discharges from industrial facilities and proximity to places where firefighting foam was routinely used, such as military bases. Diggs said the process has been difficult for his small staff of five and the MUAs customers, some of whom panicked after the initial announcement. Diggs said he personally was fielding up to 50 calls a day. But he said his true frustration has been not knowing the source of the contaminant. This is something that were very interested in trying to find out, Diggs said. The MUA has asked the state Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Geological Association for help discovering the source. But it can be expensive, Diggs said, noting the cost already being borne for the filtration system, expected to be complete in 2023. Ultimately, costs will be borne by customers if other sources of money, such as the state and federal government, are not found for both tracking and treatment. DEP Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said he shares the frustration and that going after polluting companies is a priority. He estimates water systems need collectively between $500 million and $1 billion to address the issue. New Jersey is set to get about $1 billion over the next five years for water infrastructure under a bipartisan bill signed into law by President Joe Biden in December. The state is setting meetings with water officials to determine need, and how much of that money would go toward PFAS remediation is unclear. Utilities have other needs such as upgrading stormwater systems and sewage treatment plants. The folks that put this material into the chain of commerce are responsible, LaTourette said. He said officials plan to chase potential polluters through the states Spill Act, which prohibits the release of contaminants into the environment and made those who do liable for cleanup. LaTourette said that while residents might be alarmed at the data, New Jersey was the first state to set aggressive standards well below EPA-suggested levels. New Jersey allows no more than 13 parts per trillion for PFOS and PFNA, and 14 for PFOA. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has guidance set at 70 for both and has not formally adopted maximum levels. Pennsylvania is in the process of setting its own standards. Mount Laurel swears in its first Black mayor MOUNT LAUREL Mount Laurel kicked off the new year with the historic swearing in of the tow Our standards for drinking water in many respects are higher than most other places in the country, LaTourette said. Willingboro, for example, detected 15 parts per trillion based on a running annual average for PFOA. Though Diggs said the water is safe, the MUA wont technically be listed as back in compliance until the well is fixed. Also in Burlington County, the New Lisbon Developmental Center and Dredge Harbor Yacht Club in Delran, both non-community water systems, exceeded levels for at least one contaminant. New Lisbon is back in compliance. In Camden County, the Bellmawr and Gloucester City water departments were found in excess of the regulation, though both are back in compliance. And in Gloucester County, National Park and Woodbury water departments exceeded levels, as did Xylem Dewatering Inc., a non-community system. Xylem is back in compliance. Kati Angarone, the DEPs associate commissioner for science and policy, said the state began its aggressive stance years ago after a nationwide sampling showed New Jersey had a higher occurrence of some of the compounds than other states. Of particular concern to parents might be the schools that showed up in the list, though none is in South Jersey. Infants and children consume more water for their body weight than older people do, so their exposure may be higher, and they might be more sensitive to the effects of PFAS. Meteorologist It's great to forecast for you in N.J., where I was born and raised. I earned my degree from Rutgers and have been at The Press since Fall 2017. I'm honored to be a 10 time N.J. Press Association award winner and a South Jersey "Top 40 Under 40". TOKYO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday that he was aware of reports from South Korea about projectile launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) earlier in the day. Kishida told a press briefing that the Japanese government will continue to gather information about the situation. The Japanese premier noted it was the DPRK's sixth launch this year, which he described as being extremely regrettable. According to Kishida, there have been no immediate reports about damage to ships or aircraft following the latest launches. South Korea's military said on Thursday morning that the DPRK fired two projectiles, believed to be short-range ballistic missiles, into its eastern waters. The projectiles landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), so there is no immediate impact on Japan's national security, a Japanese government official was quoted as telling public broadcaster NHK. Billy, the runaway bison who became an unlikely social media star in suburban Cary this fall, is being lured home with the help of molasses-sweetened feed, according to one of her co-owners. Scott Comstock of Milk & Honey Farmstead in Wauconda said that the bison, dubbed Billy by some of her fans, has been staying close to the farm in a forest preserve, and he has been able to see her daily, sometimes from as close as 10 feet away. Using food, he is encouraging the wily 950-pound bovine to walk in and out of an enclosure he built for her capture. The plan is to make Billy comfortable with the enclosure, so that when Comstock does close the gate behind her, she doesnt try to break out. Im hoping within the next week or so, we can get her contained and get her home, Comstock said. Billy escaped when she and her sister were delivered to Milk & Honey Farmstead on Sept. 18, and she was soon seen galloping along a local road. Citizens posted photos and videos of her on Facebook, along with jokes and statements of support. A local artist painted her portrait, and the Island Lake police posted video of an officers encounter with our beloved Island Lake bison who has proved as elusive as Sasquatch. As the owners search for their bison proceeded through farms and forest preserves, with the McHenry County Conservation District at one point even deploying a drone, Billys legend grew. Fans marvel at her feats she appears to have crossed the Fox River as well as her outlaw spirit, her love of freedom and her penchant for surprise appearances in parks and yards. But by December, Billy appeared to be living closer to home, and Comstock said that shes now spending her time in and around a forest preserve bordering Milk & Honey. Theres times she walks right up to me shes 10 feet away, he said. The neighbors like her and put food out for her. She makes the rounds. The young bison is in very good shape, he said, and she has probably gained about 100 pounds since her escape. Her sister, meanwhile, is bonding well with a herd of cows even licking the calves and showing them where to get water. Both Billy and her sister were purchased for breeding purposes. Bison are difficult to confine if theyre opposed to the plan, so Comstock has been working on getting Billy accustomed to the enclosure he built for her capture. Her motivation for food is going to be her downfall, he said. The bisons tracks indicate that she has walked up to the back of the farm and visited with her sister. Billy has also become friendly with a donkey at a local horse farm, Comstock said. The donkey heehaws for Billy at the top of its lungs, and the bison grunts back. When Billy gets home, Comstock intends to hold a naming contest for her. In the meantime, the bison-baiting continues. Ive got to do it delicately, said Comstock. Shes not like a cow or a domestic animal. Its kind of fun matching wits with a bison, and trying to get her home. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Easter Bunny was representing the prosecution in several hundred Polk County criminal cases.At least thats what Iowa Courts Online, the court systems official, statewide web-based repository of court records, indicated for most of April.On April 4, the online docket sheets for hundreds of Polk County cases primarily misdemeanors and drunken-driving cases were revised to indicate the prosecution of those cases had been transferred from one particular assistant county attorney, Kailey Gray, to another prosecutor in the county attorneys office by the name of Easter Santa Bunny.And thats where the cases remained as of Thursday morning.Bret Lucas, an assistant county attorney, said Thursday the situation stemmed from a recent realignment of cases within the county attorneys office. Gray took over a colleagues cases, and Iowa Courts Online accurately reflects the transfer of those cases. But Grays old cases, he said, were transferred to the Easter Bunny until all of the work on the digital case transfer could be completed.We had contacted the Judicial Branch and they worked with their information technology department to facilitate the mass transfer of cases, Lucas said. Apparently, the Judicial Branch and the IT department decided to put that placeholder in there because, obviously, no one else would have that name. So they were all aware of that, and it sounds like they must still be in the middle of that transfer process.Stacy Curtis, a supervisor for the criminal division of the Polk County Clerk of Courts Office, said the references to the Easter Bunny should not be visible to the public either through a name search or in the docket sheets for the individual cases. She said the office took extra steps to make sure members of the public didnt see any reference to the Easter Bunny and only clerks, lawyers, judges and others with higher security clearance could see it. It appears that the opposite may have occurred, as the Easter Bunny references could be seen by members of the public who werent even logged into the site.This has been a nightmare for me, Curtis said. We moved everything from Kaylie to the Easter Bunny, and those should have all been cleaned up so you wouldnt be able to see that.Many of the cases that were publicly assigned to the Easter Bunny are open, active cases, but hundreds of others are dormant, though not technically closed because of probationary sentences that have yet to be completed or fines that have yet to be paid.The only practical effect of the Easter Bunny designation is that some defendants may see that information online and not know who to contact at the county attorneys office about their case.After being contacted by the Iowa Capital Dispatch on Thursday, court officials were working to erase from the website any mention of the Easter Bunny, and by late afternoon it appeared they had succeeded.Santa bailed out by RudolphThe Easter Bunny cases are not the only criminal matters listed on the court systems official website to have featured nonexistent lawyers or defendants. In what appear to be training exercises for clerical staff, fictitious test cases are sometimes created and then posted to the public website but never removed.For example, a December 1997 case shows Santa Claus being convicted of felony burglary and kidnapping, with a charge of assault on a peace officer dismissed by the court. The court records indicate a sentence of 999 years in prison was imposed.As part of that same test case, the court imposed a no-contact order prohibiting Santa from having any contact with Mickey Mouse. Santas bail listed as one million bucks in a possible punning reference to Santas reindeer is stated to have been posted by Rudolph.In 2014, Santa Claus was charged with second-degree robbery in Scott County, according to the Iowa Courts Online site. Although theres no record of a conviction in that case, Claus right to carry a gun was revoked.The court systems website also shows that in 2014, Mickey Mouse filed a small claims case against Donald Duck in Marion County.For more information, visit iowacapitaldispatch.com. MOUNT VERNON An emergency housing facility at the center of a court case that led to the states Department of Children and Family Services director being held in contempt of court was the subject of 161 service calls to the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department in 2021. The 12-bed facility is the Southern Thirty Adolescent Center near Mount Vernon. It is run by Lutheran Children and Family Services, and has a $1.9 million contract to house children in DCFS custody aged 11 to 17. The facility is designed as a temporary shelter, offering children access to educational, mental health and other appropriate services for up to 30 days. But DCFS spokesman Bill McCaffrey said the average stay there is 107 days. Its the same facility where DCFS placed a 13-year-old boy, identified only as C.R.M. in court documents, in emergency custody for months despite a judges order to move him to a more appropriate setting. Earlier this month Cook County Judge Patrick T. Murphy cited DCFS Director Marc Smith for contempt for failing to relocate the boy to a therapeutic foster home. C.R.M. remained in STAC for nearly five months. Before arriving there on Aug. 14, the teen, who has severe mental disabilities, was originally placed in another temporary shelter in Chicago where he slept in a utility closet. In the five months C.R.M. was at STAC, there were at least 26 calls made to the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department. Call logs from the Sheriffs Department from Dec. 14, 2020, to Dec. 14, 2021, showed calls from STAC for fights, criminal damage to property, unspecified juvenile incidents and alarms. But the vast majority of calls, 97, involved runaways. The sheriff's office uses significant resources responding to multiple calls for service each week at this facility, Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard said. STAC follows a DCFS rule that requires a report to be made if a youth leaves campus, according to an email from Sara LoCoco, a LCFS spokesperson. On some days there are multiple calls reporting runaways. Last year, there were two calls reporting runaways on Sept. 27, and three on June 30 and July 8. There were eight such calls during the first week of April. STAC was originally designed to serve the southern 30 counties in Illinois. At some point, LoCoco said that direction changed, but she did not elaborate. STAC is located in a rural area of Jefferson County five miles from Mount Vernon. The facility is surrounded by trees and a few residential homes. There is no public transportation nearby. Its closest neighbor is a business that rents heavy equipment. Children from Cook County, like C.R.M., placed at STAC are nearly a five-hour drive away from home. Illinois does not utilize locked residential facilities, and in spite of the best efforts to provide care for children living in these facilities, some youth choose to try to return home to their families and familiar living situations, McCaffrey, the DCFS spokesman, said in an email. In these cases, DCFS works with local law enforcement to help return the children to a safe space where they can get the care and services needed. McCaffrey said there are 50 emergency placement beds throughout the state, including eight new beds added recently in Cook County. The Jan. 8 contempt charge pertaining to C.R.M. and a 9-year-old girl who was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital despite being eligible for release was purged on Jan. 13 and the $1,000-a-day fine vacated upon the two childrens placement in appropriate housing. But another contempt charged was filed that day regarding a 17-year-old boy held in a psychiatric hospital since Sept. 10. Those children are examples of 356 who were placed in inappropriate settings for an average of 55 days, according to the Cook County Public Guardians Office. There were so many children that Murphy, the presiding judge over the child protection division, created a separate docket for children housed in psychiatric wards or emergency placements, like STAC. Emails obtained by Capitol News Illinois show the level of difficulty faced by facilities like STAC and how DCFS officials responded to them. In a July 9, 2021, email, Diana Murphy, who works for DCFS, wrote Rod Remolina, who works in the DCFS Advocacy Office, about ongoing property damage. Remolina had been contacted by Sen. Terri Bryant, R-Murphysboro, after her office received complaints. Yes, there have been concerns at this facility, Diana Murphy wrote. The building undergoes ongoing repairs due to youth destroying the property. At this time, they are on a corrective action plan to repair their doors which have been destroyed by our youth. The email outlined staffing issues and high turnover rates. This results in inexperienced and untrained staff supervising high-risk youth in a temporary 30-day place, she wrote. Which brings us to the second issue, that most youth stay at STAC over 30 days. STAC is not equipped or designed to keep youth long term, yet, many times it has been utilized as a long-term placement. Susan Feltman, executive director at STAC, wrote DCFS to request more funding for six youth care workers at about $15-per-hour, a second maintenance worker and a recreational specialist. She asked for an additional $647,625 for the year. It is being submitted for review and we request a response no later than March 26, 2021, Feltman wrote. If we do not receive a response by 03/26/21 or if the proposal is denied, we will begin the process of moving toward closure of Southern Thirty Adolescent Center. DCFS gave the facility an increase, and STAC stayed open. The Department of Children and Family Services works with all of its partners and residential providers to provide a safe living space for children who are in its care, McCaffrey said. In the case of this facility, DCFS provided additional funding to enable the facility to hire more staff and expand therapeutic services for youth in care. Hearings scheduled The recent contempt charges as well as other high-profile incidents including a child found frozen to death in a Chicago alley after two abuse allegations were reported, and the murder of an investigator during a welfare call have led lawmakers to schedule legislative hearings into DCFS and its $1 billion budget. Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Chicago, who chairs the House Human Services Appropriations Committee, called a virtual public hearing into the fiscal and operational shortcomings at DCFS. It is scheduled for noon Friday. The current concerns with the DCFS have made it necessary to call a hearing so we can better understand the needs of the children and form holistic, long-term solutions. These problems have been going on for years and our focus is on the children and workers, so I request everyone in the hearing to conduct themselves in a serious, bipartisan fashion without losing focus, Lilly said. The Senates Health Committee has also scheduled a virtual hearing on DCFS matters, at 3 p.m. Monday. Republicans had called for hearings into DCFS on Jan. 13 amid a swirl of headlines surrounding the agency. DCFS investigator Deidre Silas was buried last week. Silas was sent alone to a house in Thayer on Jan. 4 to check the welfare of six children. She was found by Sangamon County Sheriffs deputies, bludgeoned and stabbed to death. Benjamin Reed, who lived at the house, is facing murder charges for her death. Four days later, the body of 6-year-old Damari Perry was found partially burned in an alley in Gary, Indiana. The North Chicago boy was reported missing by his mother on Jan. 5. Damari was taken into the states care after his birth in 2015, but two years later he was returned along with his siblings to his mothers care. There were two more abuse allegations that followed, but they were both unfounded. Damari remained with his mother until late December when prosecutors said he was thrown in a cold shower as punishment. When the 6-year-old was found, he was naked and partially wrapped in plastic. An autopsy revealed hypothermia was the cause of death. Jannie Perry, the childs mother, and two siblings have been charged in connection with his death. House GOP Leader Jim Durkin, of Western Springs, sent a letter to Lilly urging her to hold hearings into the department. The children of Illinois need a functioning DCFS to ensure their safety. As committee chair, it is your duty and obligation to schedule a hearing so the General Assembly can get to the bottom of the critical question of what is happening at DCFS. The Republican members are prepared to meet immediately, Durkin wrote. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Davenport resident and community volunteer Michele Darland recently announced her intention to run for Scott County recorder, challenging 19-year incumbent Rita Vargas. Vargas, a Democrat, was first elected to the office in 2002 and intends to seek reelection in November. Darland shared her intentions to run for the office during last week's Scott County Republican Party "Pints and Politics" event and plans to officially announce her candidacy Friday at The Current Iowa hotel in downtown Davenport. "The recorders office processes and maintains all of the life events for the people of Scott County," Darland said in a statement. "We owe it to them to have these records processed efficiently and in a timely fashion. Marriage licenses, birth and death certificates, the purchase of a home its all so important, and I promise to do everything in my power to be a positive asset and to lead by example in the recorders office." The recorder's office issues marriage licenses, registers births and deaths, issues certificates on vital records and processes passport applications. The office is also responsible for recording and maintaining official records related to real estate titles and also issues hunting and fishing licenses and registers and titles recreational vehicles, such as boats, ATVs and snowmobiles. Darland said she was asked by Scott County Republicans to run for the seat and said, "It's time for a change." Darland, though, could not articulate specific changes she would make to the Recorder's Office. "I think sometimes it goes down to term limits, almost," Darland said. "Sixteen years (it's actually 19) that's a lot of time in one office. ... It's just time for a change." Asked what change she would bring, Darland replied, "I think it would be unifying the team (in the recorder's office). I think it would be putting in the time." Darland, who began her career in broadcast television in Cedar Rapids and spent several years in advertising, currently works as the development director for Gilda's Club Quad Cities. She has volunteered and served on several local nonprofit boards, including The Child Abuse Council, Ballet Quad Cities, Quad City Arts, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Scott County American Cancer Society and the Junior League of the Quad Cities, to name a few. "I come from a marketing, event planning, fundraising background and networking background," Darland said. "In other words, I built great teams to produce great products. ... I think those skill sets of bringing a great team together and play off people's strengths I could take to the recorder's office." Vargas said she was seeking a sixth term in order to continue facilitating the digital conversion of important records and noted her office had added online access and e-submission of land record filings during her tenure. "A lot has happened in the last 19 years that Ive been here, but I think weve been able to provide the services that our customers now want," Vargas said. Her salary is listed at $92,768 and she supervises a 10-member staff that includes a deputy, office administrator, clerks and records and licensing specialists. Love 1 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. Biden's Shot Mandates Continue to Crumble in Court NEWS PROVIDED BY Liberty Counsel Jan. 27, 2022 WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /Christian Newswire/ -- On September 9, 2021, Joe Biden signed an executive order attempting to illegally force COVID shots on more Americans, including federal employees, all private employers with 100 or more employees, health care workers, educators and even children. The courts recognize the constitutional protections against these lawless mandates and are striking them down one by one. For example, here's the various courts' recent actions: 11-30-21 - Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove (KY) grants preliminary injunction against mandate for federal contractors in KY, OH, TN. 12-7-21 - Judge Stan Baker (GA) grants nationwide injunction against mandate for federal contractors in GA, AL, ID, KS, SC, UT, WV. 12-15-21 Judge Dee Drell grants preliminary injunction regarding contracts and grants with the states of IN, LA, MS. 12-20-21 - Judge David Noce (MO) grants preliminary injunction against mandate for federal contractors in AK, AR, IA, MO, MT, NE, NH, ND, SD, WY. 12-22-21 - Judge Steven Merryday (FL) grants preliminary injunction against mandate for federal contractors in FL. 12-31-21 - Judge James Wesley Hendrix (TX) issues preliminary injunction against Head Start shot mandate in TX. 1-1-22 - Judge Terry A. Doughty (LA) grants preliminary injunction against Head Start mandate in AL, AK, AZ, AR, FL, GA, LA, IN, IA, KS, KY, MS, MO, MT, NE, ND, OH, OK, SC, SD, TN, UT, WV, WY. 1-13-22 The U.S. Supreme Court (6-3) issues a stay against OSHA mandates. OSHA has now repealed the mandate. 1-21-22 - Judge Jeffrey Brown (TX) grants preliminary injunction against mandate for federal workers nationwide. Liberty Counsel has filed class action lawsuits in Illinois, Maine and New York on behalf of health care workers who have been unlawfully denied religious accommodation and fired from their jobs. The Maine case is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court and Liberty Counsel is asking the High Court to take the case for a full review of the merits. Liberty Counsel recently filed a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction in Navy SEAL 1 v. Biden asking Judge Steven Merryday to block the mandates for plaintiffs from all five branches of the military, federal employees, and federal civilian contractors who have been unlawfully mandated to get the COVID shots or face discharge from the military or termination from employment. Liberty Counsel also filed an Amended Complaint adding (1) additional military and federal employee plaintiffs, (2) expanded legal arguments against the mandate for federal civilian contractors, (3) expanded legal arguments against the mandate for federal employees, and (4) the new data submitted by the military branches on January 7, 2022, which substantiates the argument that the military under the Department of Defense (DOD) is not giving any religious exemptions. As a result of this lawsuit, federal Judge Steven Merryday ordered each branch of the military to file a detailed report every 14 days beginning January 7, 2022, regarding the total number of religious exemption requests; the aggregate number of denials, denials where belief found sincere, appeals pending, denials where appeal time has passed and number of successful appeals; the total number of medical exemptions; other exemptions granted and the number of disciplinary proceedings and actions taken after denial in an appeal. The order also stated that the federal executive orders regarding federal employees and civilian contractors expressly require religious exemption. The filings reveal that the military continue to deny religious exemptions. While the Supreme Court upheld Biden's shot mandate for health care businesses that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds, the Court also noted the law provides that employees are entitled to medical and religious exemptions. Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, "The shot mandates of Joe Biden and his administration are being blocked by the federal courts. Biden has no authority to issue unlawful shot mandates requiring people to inject their bodies with the COVID shots. It's a matter of time before even more courts rule against this administration's agenda to force people to choose between their livelihood and religious beliefs and injecting an experimental drug into their bodies. These mandates are causing irreparable harm, and, thankfully, they are quickly crumbling in the courts." Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost. SOURCE Liberty Counsel CONTACT: Mat Staver, 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org Related Links lc.org/ SPRINGFIELD The Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether public officials who are under investigation or charged with crimes may use their campaign funds to pay for their legal defense. The court heard oral arguments last week in a case involving a former Chicago city alderman, Daniel Solis, then chairman of the City Councils Zoning Committee, who was being investigated by the FBI for allegedly taking campaign donations from developers in exchange for official action. Solis did not run for re-election in 2019 and was succeeded by Byron Sigcho-Lopez, who filed a complaint over the matter with the Illinois State Board of Elections. On May 21, 2019, the day after Sigcho-Lopez was sworn into office, the 25th Ward Regular Democratic Organization, which Solis chaired, used $220,000 to pay the law firm Foley & Lardner, LLP, for defending him. The purpose of the payment was first reported by local media. Solis was not prosecuted in the case. Instead, he entered a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department in exchange for agreeing to wear a wire and aid in the investigation of another Chicago city alderman, Ed Burke, who is the husband of Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke. Anne Burke has recused herself from the case, as has Justice Mary Jane Theis. Neither gave an official reason for their recusal. That leaves only five justices left to decide the case, but the Illinois Constitution still requires four justices to agree on a decision. ISBE dismissed the complaint, saying the Illinois Campaign Disclosure Act prohibits the use of campaign funds to satisfy personal debts, but it specifically permits the use of campaign funds to defray the customary and reasonable expenses of an officeholder in connection with the performance of governmental and public service functions. The question before the court is whether the cost of a criminal defense lawyer is a personal expense or an expense directly related to Solis governmental or public service functions. Are we at that point in Illinois where we're going to say that that's an ordinary expense of holding public office? Justice Michael Burke asked during oral arguments. Michael Burke is not related to Anne or Ed Burke. The Illinois statute itself does not define the difference between personal and official expenses. But Adolfo Mondragon, the attorney for Sigcho-Lopez, argued that criminal defense costs cannot be considered part of an elected officials governmental functions. The purpose of the campaign Disclosure Act of the Illinois election code is to deter and mitigate public corruption, he said. Consequently, any interpretation of the Campaign Disclosure Act that allows for the use of campaign funds to pay for public office holders criminal defense against investigations or charges of public corruption, the very evil the law was designed to combat, is antithetical to the legislative intent. But Michael Dorf, attorney for the 25th Ward committee, argued that public corruption investigations are, by definition, directly tied to an officeholders official duties, so attorney fees should be considered an allowable use. The expenditure was not for strictly personal use and would not have occurred if Alderman Solis we're not a public official, he said. Most political campaigns routinely incur legal expenses, and payments to attorneys frequently appear on campaign finance statements without any specific explanation of the type of legal work being performed. Modregon conceded that it was through only news reports that the public learned of the purpose of the 25th Ward committees payment to Foley & Lardner, but he said that assertion was uncontested at the administrative hearing before the State Board of Elections. Dorf, meanwhile, argued that if lawmakers want to ban the use of campaign funds to pay for criminal defense attorneys, they could write that into the statute, and he noted there are two bills pending in the General Assembly to do just that. One of those is House Bill 2929, by Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, who called on Democrats to consider the bill in light of the Supreme Court case. "This shouldn't be a matter of ambiguity in Illinois state law, she said in a news release Tuesday. Regardless of how the court eventually interprets current campaign law, this shouldn't remain a statutory loophole. Letting this continue sends the wrong message: that literally, corrupt and unethical public officials who abused their office don't have to pay for their misdeeds, they can just continue to abuse their office to troll for campaign funds and keep the insider game going. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CHICAGO Jussie Smollett, who was convicted last month for lying to police about a racist, homophobic attack that authorities said he staged, will return to court for sentencing March 10, a judge said Thursday. Cook County Judge James Linn set the sentencing date in Chicago for the former "Empire" actor, who told the judge he was in New York, during a hearing on Zoom. Smollett was found guilty by a jury Dec. 9 of five felony counts of disorderly conduct under a subsection of the law that prohibits making false reports to police. He was acquitted on a sixth count. Smollett, who is Black and gay, maintained throughout the nearly three-year legal battle that he was attacked in downtown Chicago in January 2019 by people who yelled racist and anti-gay slurs and put a noose around his neck. He denied during the trial that he staged the attack. While the charges carry a possible sentence of three years in prison, legal experts have said Smollett is unlikely to get prison time for the low-level felonies, and is more likely to be sentenced to probation and ordered to perform community service. Meanwhile, lawsuits that were on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case may now move forward. They include a lawsuit the city of Chicago filed against Smollett to recoup over $130,000 it spent investigating what police initially believed was a terrible hate crime. During Smollett's trial, two brothers testified that Smollett paid them $3,500 for the hoax and gave them lines to yell, including about "MAGA country," an apparent reference to then-President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. The report made headlines around the world and prompted a massive manhunt in Chicago, with roughly two dozen police joining the investigation. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 EAST ST. LOUIS A former Alorton police officer, who had pleaded guilty in federal court to collecting approximately $60,000 in fraudulent pay by lying about the time he was on duty, was sentenced in a U. S. district court on Wednesday. Ricky Perry, who also was previously employed by the East St. Louis Police Department, was ordered to serve five months in a federal prison and another five months of supervised release. He admitted in the U.S. District Court for Southern Illinois last September to falsifying time cards between May 2018 and April of 2021. In April, FBI agents served a federal search warrant at Alorton City Hall and removed boxes of personal records. According to court records, agents compared Perry's time cards with GPS records on the patrol cars he used after clocking in for duty. They identified approximately 4,000 hours of conflicting time where Perry traveled outside the Alorton jurisdiction, usually to go to his East St. Louis home. Embezzling money from a unit of government that receives federal funds may carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Before being consolidated into the new Cahokia Heights, the Village of Alorton received federal funding, including more than $82,000 in Coronavirus Relief Funds. Perry was hired as a patrol officer in Alorton in August of 2017. Following Perry's arraignment, Steven Weinhoeft, U.S. Attorney for Southern Illinois, called the former village "a high crime area that is served by very dedicated police officers." He said Perry violated a public trust, but that his crime should not detract from the confidence in and the important work of police officers as a whole. The investigation was conducted by the Southern Illinois Public Corruption Task Force which is made up of FBI and Illinois State Police agents. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. At least 200 Missouri residents cross the Mississippi River each day to work in Illinois government facilities where they can make a significantly larger paycheck for doing almost exactly the same job. As Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson urges the Legislature to boost the historically low pay for Missouri government workers, interviews with Illinois prison workers, child welfare investigators and others suggest it still wont be enough to make the Show-Me State competitive with the Land of Lincoln. Among those who have found higher pay in Illinois is Scott Lankford, who started his career at the Missouri Department of Social Services as a case manager. In an interview with the Post-Dispatch, Lankford, 43, said he was making about $35,000 per year in his position when he applied for a job as a clerical worker at the Illinois Department of Human Services. Even though he took a step down in position, the clerical job still paid more than what he was making in Missouri. I was coming over for more pay and for less work than I was doing, Lankford said. It was like a cakewalk compared to the other work I was doing as a manager. In addition, he said he can count on regular salary increases in Illinois based on the union contract. I know thats a big problem (in Missouri), Lankford said. I know here Im going to get a pay increase. Lankford, who has since moved to Collinsville with his husband, also has seen an increase in the number of Missourians working in state government in Illinois. It has constantly grown through the years, Lankford said. We started off with eight of us and its grown to 16 to 20. Top Missouri officials are well aware of the pay disparity. In 2016, former Gov. Jay Nixon released a study that found the base salary for nearly 38,000 state employees was the lowest in the nation and more than 10% below what is considered competitive in the job market. That same study found the average state worker in Missouri earns $39,682, compared to Illinois, where the average salary of $65,343 was third highest in the nation behind Iowa and California at the time. Robert Knodell, the acting director of the Missouri Department of Social Services, attributed the higher pay rates in Illinois to the states strong labor union representation of government workers. Knodell, who was Parsons deputy chief of staff before taking over the sprawling agency, oversees more than 6,500 workers who make an average of $39,235 annually. We believe this pay plan will make us more competitive, Knodell told the Post-Dispatch in an interview earlier this month. Unlike Missouri, unions like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have a powerful presence in the operation of government in Illinois. In 2019, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, signed off on an agreement with AFSCME Council 31 that gave 40,000 state employees 11.5% raises over four years. It was the first new pact with the union since 2015, when former Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, was in power. Like Rauner, Parson has allowed all union contracts to expire and has not reopened talks while legal actions brought by Missouri public sector unions work their way through the court system. Parsons call for the 5.5% pay bump remains under discussion in the Republican-controlled House, where some members are balking, saying the Legislature should provide tax relief to residents before boosting the pay of the people who provide essential government services. Meantime, workers continue to cross the river to take advantage of the higher pay. Hursel King, 42, was a correctional officer in Missouri until 2011 when he was hired for a similar post at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois. King, who is treasurer of AFSCME Local 1175, left a job in Missouri making about $26,000 annually to take the same position in Illinois making about $45,000. Hes now earning in the mid-70,000 dollar range, overseeing a shift of 10-15 officers. The pay, he said, makes it a deciding factor in continuing to drive the 45 miles between southern Illinois and his home in Ste. Genevieve. When asked why there is such a disparity between the two states, King said, Obviously the union makes a big difference. King is not alone in making the commute. There are a few I worked with in Bonne Terre and Farmington who have come over to Menard, King said. Larry Brown, 69, spent more than 22 years driving from Perryville to the Menard Correctional Center across the river in Chester. Brown, who is president of the AFSCME Council 31 retirees association, served as a supply supervisor for the prison commissary, ordering items for inmates to purchase, ranging from snacks to shoes. He was hired at the prison at the same time he was getting married to a Missouri woman. Rather than move to Illinois, he chose to make the 15-mile commute to Chester. At one point, Brown said his sister, who was a parole agent in Missouri, urged him to apply for a job in Missouri. She brought an application for me for Missouri for a supply supervisor, which would be a big promotion for me in Illinois. She said fill it out, I think I can help you get this job. Brown said he wrote his name and address on the application before turning it over to look at the salary. I turned it over and just ripped it up. I said, Sis, to get a promotion in Missouri Ive got to take a $12,000 pay cut. I said I cant do that. Kurt Erickson 573-556-6181 @KurtEricksonPD on Twitter kerickson@post-dispatch.com Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 WASHINGTON U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., is poised to be at the center of the upcoming selection process to pick retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's replacement. Durbin, the Senate majority whip, is chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In a statement, Durbin said he looks "forward to moving the presidents nominee expeditiously through the committee. Breyer, who was nominated to the high court by President Bill Clinton, on Monday announced he was stepping down. His replacement is President Joe Biden's first nomination to the Supreme Court. With this Supreme Court vacancy, President Biden has the opportunity to nominate someone who will bring diversity, experience, and an evenhanded approach to the administration of justice," Biden said. Said U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.: Thank you for your service and your good work for the American people, Justice Breyer. I look forward to reviewing the qualifications of President Bidens nominee and know that with Sen. Durbin as Senate Judiciary Committee Chair, whoever the Senate confirms will help advance equal justice for all. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Four opponents of a 11,600-head cattle feedlot in northeast Iowa have filed an Iowa Senate ethics complaint against Sen. Dan Zumbach, saying Zumbach used his position to pressure state employees to approve the feedlot owned by his son-in-law. The complaint alleges Zumbach, a Ryan Republican who chairs the Senate Agriculture Committee, met with Iowa Department of Natural Resources officials at least twice about the feedlot between 2017 and 2020, despite neither the feedlot nor the owners being in his district. The complaint was filed Wednesday by Steve Veysey of Ames; Wally Taylor of Marion, Larry Stone of Elkader and Jess Mazour of Des Moines, all members of the Committee to Save Bloody Run Creek. According to the complaint, Zumbach weighed in with the DNR before critical decisions about the project. These included: The DNRs 2017 decision to allow an earthen manure storage basin to be classified as an industrial wastewater treatment lagoon. Earthen basins are not allowed in the porous, karst terrain of northeast Iowa. When the DNR was considering in 2017 issuance of a federal stormwater permit for construction at the site near Monona. Feedlot owners got the permit after two face-to-face meetings including Zumbach and DNR staff, the complaint states. The DNR legal staff argued in 2018 stormwater permit violations at the feedlot should be handled the Iowa Attorney Generals Office, which may pursue higher penalties. The state Environmental Protection Commission in July 2018 failed to take a vote, leaving the matter with the DNR. The DNRs 2020 decision to approve a nutrient management plan for the feedlot. Zumbach acknowledged to The Gazette last spring he had a phone conversation with DNR Director Kayla Lyon on Oct. 2, 2020, about Supreme Beef, owned by Mike Walz, Dean Walz and Jared Walz. Jared Walz is the husband of Zumbachs daughter, Chelsea, and father of Zumbachs grandchildren. Since I sit on the Natural Resources Committee, Im in communication with the DNR, and I simply asked Kayla to get the right folks in contact with Supreme Beef so they could continue working through the permitting process, Zumbach said. I dont know the players at all, he said. Thats not part of my concern or my responsibility. I simply asked the director if she could help this constituent get to the right folks. The Walzes do not live in Zumbachs District 48, which includes Delaware County and portions of Linn, Buchanan and Jones counties, nor is the Supreme Beef site near Monona in Zumbachs district. Zumbach said earlier this year that was irrelevant. When anyone from the state of Iowa calls you, we represent all of Iowa when were down here (Des Moines), not just our districts, he said. The complaint says Zumbach broke the Senate Code of Ethics, which says members should strive to avoid both unethical and illegal conduct and the appearance of unethical and illegal conduct. Further, the code says: Whenever a senator appears before a governmental agency or board, the senator shall carefully avoid all conduct which might in any way lead members of the general public to conclude that the senator is using the senators official position to further the senators professional success or personal financial interest. The complaint does not allege Zumbach had any financial stake in the feedlot. The group is asking the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate, including interviewing DNR and legislative staff, and, if a violation is found, to sanction Zumbach. The committee is chaired by two Republicans, Sen. Carrie Koelker of Dyersville and Sen. Jim Carlin of Sioux City. Zumbach has 10 days after receiving the complaint to respond if he wants to do so. Zumbach did not immediately respond to The Gazettes request for comment Wednesday. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 DES MOINES Iowa Department of Public Safety Director Stephan Bayens makes it clear hes not a cop. But, as the son of a police officer, Ive walked in their kids shoes, he told the House Justice Systems Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday while requesting funds for a department wellness coordinator. Based on his fathers experience and what he sees among the departments personnel, sucking it up is a common way of dealing with trauma. We cant continue that way, he told the committee. Were burning out. Based on his own experience responding to the April 2021 fatal shooting of Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Jim Smith in Grundy County, there are certain radio transmissions I still hear and certain sights I still see, Bayens said. Public Safety has seen a significant increase in the use of its critical incident stress management and peer support programs, Bayens said in his annual appearance before the budgetary committee. Requests for critical stress management debriefings tripled in 2021 to 54. Public Safety personnel logged about 690 peer support contacts totaling 1,408 hours. Three or four people share the duties for those programs in addition to their regular duties, Bayens said. Demand, however, has reached the point a full-time wellness coordinator is needed to meet the needs of his department and its law enforcement partners across the state, he said. A full-time coordinator would manage employee wellness programs, broaden services to family members and oversee the departments therapy dog program. He estimated the all-in cost, including salary and benefits, to be $191,000. The governor has recommended a general fund allocation of nearly $120.8 million for the Department of Public Safety. Wellness, Baynes said, also plays a role in recruiting new employees, which has become a challenge. Research shows that Gen Z and millennials, who make up nearly half the U.S. workforce, want to work for employers that care about their well-being, he said. Thats the age group the department must recruit to offset the 50 percent of Iowa State Patrol troopers who are retiring in the next five to six years, he said. The patrol, which is 20 troopers short of its allocation of 399, just graduated a class of 24 from its academy and has a new class of 19 recruits starting training. Bayens noted the patrol has had interest from as many as 1,300 people for past academies. The most recent academy drew interest from 300. The benefit of a full-time wellness coordinator goes beyond officers personal well-being, Bayens said. There's also a lot of research to suggest that when your officers are well, they tend not to engage in misconduct, they don't have unlawful use of force issues, he said. So your civil liability tends to drop as well because they've been able to deal with that trauma and respond to it appropriately. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Regina Bakley has worked as the Pennington County 4-H youth program advisor for three years, but shes been participating in 4-H ever since she was 8 years old. Her older sister helped to nudge her in that direction. I did a little bit of everything, said Bakley, who grew up in Brookings County. She worked with goats, cattle, swine, chickens and other animals. The swine were her favorite. I feel like pigs have their own personality, she said. Now, Bakley is coordinating the Black Hills Stock Show Youth Day, slated for Feb. 5 at The Monument Center & Barnett Arena. Events include a Beef Cook-Off scheduled to be held at Central High School a Hippology Contest, Horse Quiz Bowl, a Livestockology activity and Livestock Judging. Its always been an event thats open to 4-H kids and FFA kids, so long as they fall into the age categories, Bakley said. They all compete on the same playing field and for the same awards. Bakley noted that the competitions are open to all children who fall within the proper age range. The Black Hills Stock Show will also feature a Youth Goat and Sheep Show on Feb. 4 and Feb. 5. The Stock Show will supply a visible forum for both 4-H and FFA members to interact with the public. In addition to the Youth Day on Feb. 5, there will also be an FFA Day this Monday at the Black Hills Stock Show, allowing members to share some of the work they've been doing for a long time, often out of the public spotlight. Amara Roland, president of the Rapid City Chapter of the South Dakota FFA, explained some of the activities she and other FFA members will be doing during the Black Hills Stock Show. Well be serving as volunteers at the Ag Adventure (Zone) through the state FFA, said Roland, a senior at Stevens High School. Well be running games, answering questions, providing assistance for anybody that needs it. She said theyll also be helping out during the FFA Day, on Monday, by assisting students as they explore different educational pathways. The Rapid City Chapter of the South Dakota FFA is affiliated with the Rapid City Area School District. Rolands area of focus is environmental science, something she teaches people about as she interacts with them. Or, as she describes her approach, Its guiding them in a kind, friendly way. Both Roland and Maddie Fairchild, the reporter for the Rapid City FFA chapter, said the public activity has helped them to grow more confident. I enjoy it, said Fairchild, a sophomore at Central High School. This past two weeks I have gotten so many new contacts in my phone ... Its just helped me get more involved in the community. Its something I wouldnt have thought of for myself as an eighth-grader or a freshman because I was so shy. Fairchild chairs a community service committee for the Rapid City Chapter of the South Dakota FFA, which harbors about 40 to 50 members. A big part of FFA is community service, said Chad Tussing, agriculture science teacher and FFA advisor at Stevens and Central high schools. He said the organization has worked with Youth & Family Services, for instance, and he noted that members recently folded shirts for the Tough Enough to Wear Pink drive in support of the Monument Health Cancer Care Institute. Tussing is one of several advisors for the Rapid City FFA. The others are Genetie Hendrix, who teaches at Stevens High School, and Lisa Steinken, who teaches at Central High School. Tussing worked for the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks for about 20 years before coming to the high schools to teach and advise. Teaching people about the outdoors was my career, he said, something hes continued with natural resource and wildlife classes at both schools. He said hes worked with FFA students in his previous career, as well. Tussing described the FFA and 4-H organizations as parallel in some ways, in that they share multiple members and goals. Bakley said enrollment in the Pennington County 4-H Youth Program has been growing, with membership up to 450 children. She said Pennington County had the highest enrollment in the state last year. We do get a lot of new kids coming through who have no experience in 4-H and who dont have a parent experienced in 4-H, she said. When Bakley and other 4-H leaders work with new students and families, they sometimes connect them with mentoring families. We try to find, specifically when showing livestock, a family thats done it for years to mentor a new family, she said. Were always available to answer questions, but we do try to find somebody thats done it in the last couple of years just to make sure they get all their questions answered. Bakley said students are encouraged to join community clubs that give them a chance to experience a multitude of 4-H activities, from photography to baking. One of the biggest things is the confidence we teach them, she said. Because of our motto, Learn by Doing, were giving them the information they need, and the skills they need, for them to go out and do it themselves. In the coming days, members of both the Pennington County 4H organization and the Rapid City Chapter of the South Dakota FFA will have a chance to let the public in on some of their work. People with questions about the Black Hills Stock Show Youth Day can call Bakley at 605-394-2188. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. 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. Snocross delayed until March Due to unseasonably dry conditions and warm temperatures hampering the ability to make snow, the 2022 Deadwood Snocross event scheduled for this weekend has been postponed to March 4-5, organizers announced. According to a news release, Snocross snowmaking crews have been on-site with equipment to make snow this past week but forecast temperatures and snowfall amounts were not conducive to have enough snow to build the track. Event organizers said tickets purchased for the original dates will be valid for the March 4-5 dates. Those unable to attend the new dates can request a refund by calling 1-800-344-8826 or emailing tix@blackhillsvacations.com. More information on the Snocross Tour can be found at www.snocross.com. New museum exhibit debuts The Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center in Belle Fourche will open a temporary exhibit entitled, Turn on the Light! with a through-the-day reception of refreshments on Saturday. The exhibit is about lighting from candles to arc lights, incandescent bulbs to neon lights, LEDs to traffic lights and more. There will be artifacts, storyboards, photos, a touchscreen quiz, a young peoples activity table, books to read and a take-home workbook. The exhibit will be in place until May 10. For more information about the exhibit and other exhibits and programs at the Tri-State Museum and Visitor Center, call 605-723-1200. Gordon named to Senate program Sturgis Brown High School senior Matea Gordon is one of two South Dakota students named as a delegate for the 60th annual United States Senate Youth program, which will be held virtually March 6-9. In addition to the four-day program, the Hearst Foundations provide each student delegate with a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship with encouragement to continue coursework in government, history, and public affairs. Gordon serves as class president and is a member of the National Honor Society, the journalism club and Youth Leadership Team. She is the Sturgis FFA vice president and has represented South Dakota at Girls Nation. Journal staff You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Marty Two Bulls Jr. of Rapid City is one of 63 artists nationwide who has been chosen for the 2022 United States Artists class of Fellows. The honor comes with a $50,000 prize for each recipient. Im still in disbelief, Two Bulls said. Im really honored and looking forward to using this fellowship to continue my education and strengthen my tribal community as much as I can. United States Artists is a Chicago-based arts funding organization that announced its 2002 class of Fellows on Wednesday. Since 2006, the organization has awarded more than $36 million to artists nationwide. The 2022 USA Fellows come from 23 states and Puerto Rico and though they are in varying stages of their careers, they share a similar bold vision. Social practice, education, and pedagogy are particularly important to this years group, appearing across almost every discipline architecture and design, craft, dance, film, media, music, theater and performance, visual art, writing, and traditional arts. This years USA Fellows are the largest group to date. The funds awarded are designed to lift up artists and celebrate their essential roles in communities, and the money is unrestricted so artists can use it for whatever they choose. Two Bulls was awarded a fellowship in the category of traditional arts, which he believes will surprise many who think of traditional Native art in terms of ledger art or quillwork or beadwork. Two Bulls works in mediums as diverse as sculpture, drawing and graphic design and says his work represents the evolution that has been part of Native American art. One thing about my ancestors is they adapted to new media, said Two Bulls, who is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Its always been this continuation of art and culture. I really feel a part of that in my work. I work with clay and I work with computers and drones and all kinds of things. Those are just tools. Its the evolution of art in my community. Two Bulls comes from a family of artists. His father, Marty Two Bulls Sr., is an accomplished artist and cartoonist. Two Bulls grew up in his fathers studio where he learned fundamentals of multiple art forms -- sculpture, illustration and graphic design. My dad was my first art teacher. I grew up learning how to draw and sculpt and make stuff from him, Two Bulls said. Two Bulls studied printmaking and ceramics at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, where he earned a bachelors in fine arts in 2011. After graduation, he spent several years in Santa Fe, where he worked in art galleries with contemporary artists from around the world. In 2017, he was offered a full-time faculty position with Oglala Lakota College to teach art, and he discovered a second career that he loves. Two Bulls has since created a graphic arts program at OLC and is mentoring students who are continuing the evolution of Native American art. I never really planned on teaching but I sort of fell into it and Ive really taken to it, said Two Bulls, who teaches traditional drawing and painting along with digital new media skills. I really love working with young artists from my tribal community and helping share my knowledge of different art mediums, he said. Im giving them the tools they need to have to find their voices. Its important to help the next generation amplify their experiences and their voices. Its cool to see what theyre into, what they want to do and what they want to make. Its been powerful artistic growth for me. Its been transformative for me, Two Bulls said. To continue his teaching career, Two Bulls needs to continue his own education. The United States Artists fellowship will help Two Bulls finish his masters degree in fine art from Bard College in New York. He hopes to complete his degree in 2023. Two Bulls is continuing his career as an artist, as well, and he will be showing some new sculptures and mixed media pieces in a show at the Hudgens Center for Art & Learning in Duluth, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta. His art includes more contemporary imagery than people tend to expect from Native American art, he said. For me, a lot of it has to do with representation. A lot of times (Native American) art gets marketed in a way that we dont always have a lot of control over. The way the outside world perceives us tends to be kind of narrow, Two Bulls said. Its important that we represent ourselves, whatever that looks like. Thats what I do in my work. Im interested in contemporary representation. Two Bulls work can be seen at his website, martytwobullsjr.com/, and on Instagram @mtwobullsjr. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Pic story of rural video blogger in SW China's Sichuan Xinhua) 09:05, January 27, 2022 Wu Qiuyue peels winter bamboo shoots at a yard in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue looks for winter bamboo shoots at a bamboo forest in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue dries radish at a yard in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue slices cured meat when shooting short videos in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue learns about the feedback of customers in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Aerial photo taken on Jan. 18, 2022 shows a view of Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue's younger brother shoots a video of her grinding tofu at a yard in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue looks for winter bamboo shoots at a bamboo forest in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue and her family shoot a short video about their daily life in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue watches the video shot by her younger brother in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue (2nd L) packs dried radish with workers in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) A Financial Aid Hands-On Session at Western Dakota Technical College, designed for people seeking financial help for college, is slated to run from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 15, according to a news release from the college. WDT is located at 800 Mickelson Drive. The event is free and open to everyone not only those planning to attend WDT. Registration is not necessary. Financial Aid representatives will help participants complete the 2022-2023 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. The FAFSA is a free government form applicants fill out to find out what Federal financial aid they are eligible for such as grants, student loans, and work-study (part-time employment) to help pay for college. Those planning to apply for the FAFSA should bring their 2020 tax returns and 2020 W2 information for parents and students, if dependents. There are several reasons to apply for financial aid, according to WDT: You must apply to receive Federal student loans (not just the free money); Many scholarships require the FAFSA to be completed; You are not committing to borrow student loans by completing the FAFSA. Admissions staff will also be available at the Feb. 15 event. Scholarship Office staff will be present to assist with WDT Foundation Scholarships, the Build Dakota Scholarship, and third-party scholarship applications. For more information, email Financial Aid at Finaid@wdt.edu or call 605-718-2988. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 PIERRE | South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has scaled back plans to expand campsites at Custer State Park after her initial proposal hit resistance in the Republican-controlled Legislature. The Republican governor's office shared new plans on Wednesday with lawmakers that would halve the number of campsites from the more than 176 that were proposed, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported. It would also cut the proposal to $5 million after an initial $10 million ask, as well as relocates the proposed campground away from the Wildlife Loop Road. Republican lawmakers had soured on the plan after privately owned campgrounds in the area spoke out against it and conservation groups raised concerns about how wildlife would be affected. This proposed site does not affect elk migration, read a handout from Noem's administration given to lawmakers Wednesday. The proposal has been assigned to the House Agriculture and Natural Resources committee, but its hearing has not been scheduled. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 10 Pennington County property owners should expect to see their 2021 property assessment notices in March. Equalization Director Shannon Rittberger said in a press release that the local real estate market increased substantially over the past year and there will be large increases. "The goal is to provide advance notice on what to expect on property assessment notices and to educate the public on how a large increase in property values impacts property taxes," he said. The median sale price for Pennington County homes increased from $242,000 in 2020 to $270,000 in 2021. North Rapid, central Rapid and duplex/triplex markets have shown increases between 10% and 15%. Home prices in the area typically fall under the $200,000 mark. West Sheridan Lake/state Highway 16, southeast Rapid City, and Nemo/state Highway 44 are showing increases between 8% and 19% where they typically have the higher price range. Box Elder experienced an 11% increase. According to the Housing Price Indicator, South Dakota had a 15-20% increase in housing prices. Rapid City was ranked as 14th in the top 20 Hottest Real Estate Markets by the National Association of Realtors in November 2021. Rittberger said that the county typically sees a 2% to 3% increase over a year, so the past year was a large increase. He said the office is still crunching the numbers of the total assessed property value for the county. Property assessments are completed by Nov. 1 of the year prior by the county's Equalization Office. Property taxes are due the following year based on the assessment, but are not listed on the assessment. Property tax notices are typically sent by the end of the year or by January of the new year. Property owners can appeal assessments each year for each property. Those within city limits must appeal the assessment by March 17 while those not in city limits have until April 5. Rittberger said changes in the real estate market do not determine the amount of taxes collected. Property owners should have received tax notices in January. These are based on last year's property assessments. County Auditor Cindy Mohler previously told the Journal that the county anticipates collecting $51,287,545 in property taxes from the county mill levy, which includes the county consolidated levy and levies for unorganized road, fire administration and library funds. A mill is $1 for each $1,000 of assessed valuation. The county's consolidated levy includes the general fund, county fairgrounds, accumulated building fund and snow emergency. It totals 4.688, or about $4.69 for every $1,000. The assessed value of Pennington County property announced in 2021 was $12.4 billion. County officials also announced Tuesday that the public should be aware of a new tax scam circulating in the area. Fake collection letters are being sent from "Tax Assessment Securities, Seizure Unit B" and marked "Time Sensitive Tax Information Enclosed." Officials said people should not call the number or respond to the letter. Property owners can find their tax amount at www.pennco.org/treasurer or by calling the Treasurer's Office at 605-394-2163. Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. 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. The South Dakota Department of Health reported 14 additional COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, increasing January's total to 137 and the overall death toll to 2,623 since the pandemic began. The deaths included eight women and six men with two in their 50s, six in their 60s and six over 70. Five deaths were reported in Minnehaha County and there were two in both Pennington and Fall River counties. Deaths were also reported in Lawrence, Oglala-Lakota, Clay, Edmunds and Hughes counties. The state reported 1,508 new infections Wednesday leading to a decrease in active cases to 35,554 621 less than Tuesday. Of the 1,508 new infections reported Tuesday, 321 were in children under 19. Only 38 new infections were reported Tuesday night by the Rapid City Area Schools leading to a significant decrease in the number of active COVID-19 cases in schools across the district. According to Tuesday evening's RCAS update, there are 177 students out with COVID-19 72 fewer than Monday and almost half of Friday's number and 31 staff members two fewer than Monday. In addition to the active infections, there are 180 students and two staff members required to quarantine. That is more than 100 fewer, as well. The biggest case count is still at Rapid City Central High School where there are 26 active cases a decrease of 10 from Monday and less than half of Friday's number. Rapid City Stevens is next with 22 active cases a decrease of 13 from Monday and less than half of Friday's count. Only six other schools have at least 10 active infections West Middle (16), Canyon Lake Elementary (13), Rapid Valley Elementary (12), Pinedale Elementary (12), Wilson Elementary (11), and East Middle (10). Only West Middle school had more cases Tuesday than Monday. There were 178 people over 70 who tested positive for Wednesday's report. There are 396 people in South Dakota hospitals with COVID-19 - a decrease of 27 from Tuesday's report. There are 76 patients in intensive care units. The Black Hills region has 77 patients in hospitals and 13 in ICU. Pennington County led the state in new cases for the second straight day with 262 new infections. Active cases here also increased by 51 to 5,888. Minnehaha County still has the most active cases in the state. With 221 new cases Wednesday, active infections there decreased by 391 to 8,832. There were 64 new infections in Meade County and 56 in Lawrence County. Fall River County added 32 new cases and there were 26 in Custer County. Butte County recorded 21 positive tests and there were 14 in Oglala-Lakota County. Codington County recorded 75 new infections and there were 71 in Brown County. Lincoln County recorded 58 positive tests and there were 53 in Brookings County. Clay County reported 46 new cases and there were 37 in Davison County. There were 31 positive tests in Beadle County, 29 in Hughes County, 26 in Union County, and 23 in Charles Mix County. After 44 years of producing world class professional rodeo at the Black Hills Stock Show, Sutton Rodeos Rodeo Rapid City might seem hard-pressed to match or exceed a history of excellence that has earned the event the Large Indoor Rodeo of the Year award on four occasions, the most recent in 2021. Steve Sutton, son of Jim Sutton, Pro Rodeo Hall of Famer and the creator of Rodeo Rapid City (formerly known as the Black Hills Stock Show Rodeo) thinks this years Xtreme Bull Tour performance on Fridays opening night will begin the 45th annual event with a bang, and be in line with the its time-honored tradition. Weve been hosting an Xtreme Bulls Tour event here for about three years now, and Fred Boettcher, the PRCA Xtreme Bulls Director, called me when entries closed and said it might be the best lineup hes ever seen out of 40 contestants in one building, Sutton said. That first night we have Stetson Wright coming, the all-around champion, and also Sage Kimsey, the six-time world champion bull rider, so it should be special. Everybody likes to go to bull riding. Its a fan favorite. In addition to 22-year-old Stetson Wright, the current PRCA saddle bronc champion and 2020 bull riding world champion, and Kimsey, the defending and six-time world champion, the bull riding field will include a number of South Dakotans, including Corey Maier (Timber Lake), Jeff Bertus (Avon), Chance Schott (McLaughlin) and Jett Petterson (Parade). Awaiting the talented field, a rank pen of bulls courtesy of Sutton Rodeo, Burch Rodeo, Muddy Creek Pro Rodeo, Big Stone Rodeo and New Frontier Rodeo. South Dakotas state sport, saddle bronc riding, takes center stage at the Monuments Summit Arena starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday as a bevy of NFR veterans including a large contingent of South Dakota standouts compete for a $10,000 cash purse in an Xtreme Broncs Tour event. The Xtreme Broncs Tour has really grown, Sutton said. We started them here in Rapid about seven or eight years ago and at that time there were three of four events over the whole year, and now there are probably closer to 40 of them around the country. Not surprisingly for a state that has more world champion saddle bronc gold buckles (20) than any other state, a sizable contingent of South Dakota bronc riders will join 13 National Finals Rodeo bronc riders on Saturday night. South Dakotans in the 40-man field include Jade and Jace Blackwell (Rapid City), Shorty Garrett (Eagle Butte), Ty Manke (Rapid City), Taygen Schuelke (Newell), Cash Wilson (Wall), Cole Elshere and Kash Deal (Faith), Dylan Schofield and Jacob Kammerer (Philip), Chuck Schmidt (Keldron), Brady Hill (Onida), Jake Foster (Meadow), Lane Stirling (Buffalo) and Tate Thybo (Belle Fourche). An event which continues to grow in popularity concludes the first weekend of Rodeo Rapid City action as 120 of South Dakotas top high school rodeo cowboys and cowgirls from around the state compete in the 20X High School Showcase at 1 p.m. Sunday. The kids all set the 20X as a goal. They used to set a goal to go to state or nationals, and now there are a lot of them who have a goal to get to the 20X in Rapid City in the winter time, Sutton said. And with kids allowed to compete in only one event, we get 120-plus kids every year who get to come into a winter building with a bigger atmosphere, and that kind of gets them ready for the next stage in the rodeo business. Sutton Rodeos annual winter rodeo extravaganza in Rapid City will break new ground in another manner as well. This years 45th edition will be making an initial appearance in The Monuments Summit Arena. The buzz is all over the United States. The cowboys are talking in Texas and California and the contestants are really looking forward to the new building. With that, we have roughly 750 contestants entered in the (PRCA) rodeos and the Xtremes this year, Sutton said. Forty-five years ago we put dirt in the Barnett Arena and now this year we filled the Summit up with dirt, too. The building manager made the comment the other day that we have now put a little layer of dust in the building, a sure sign that the Rapid City rodeo is here. That it is. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Hamilton woman with seven driving under the influence convictions was arrested Tuesday for allegedly driving drunk. Sandra Kay Brown, 64, appeared Wednesday in Ravalli County Justice Court on the felony DUI charge. A sheriffs deputy responded to a report of a drunk driver in Hamilton at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the charging affidavit. The person who reported the driver said Brown had been at his house, was drunk and had gotten into her vehicle to drive away. The deputy located the vehicle parked on Hamiltons Main Street. The deputy saw Brown exit the vehicle and begin stumbling toward a second vehicle that was parked behind her, the affidavit said. The deputy made contact with the woman. He noted that her eyes were glassy and red and that she smelled of alcohol. Brown stumbled on the sidewalk and was so intoxicated that she was unable to perform any of the field sobriety test, the affidavit said. A preliminary breath sample at the scene resulted in a .198 breath alcohol content. A second breath sample at the county detention center was .174. In Montana, a driver is considered impaired with a blood alcohol content of .08. Brown has DUI convictions in Montana in 1986, 1990, 1999, 2000 and 2013. She has one in Alaska in 1993 and another in Indiana in 2008. Ravalli County Justice Jim Bailey set bond at $10,000. Felony drug possession In other Justice Court news, Kevin Michael Jakub, 37, of Hamilton was charged with felony possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to distribute. The charging affidavit said Jakub was arrested after a U.S. Postal Inspector notified the Ravalli County sheriffs office of a suspicious package at the Hamilton post office. While law enforcement was at the post office, Jakub called to inquire about the status of his package. After obtaining a search warrant, the postal inspector found the package contained about a quarter-pound of a crystalline substance that field tested positive as methamphetamine, the affidavit said. Jakub arrived at the post office about 5:15 p.m. on Tuesday and accepted delivery of the package. He was arrested at the post office with the package in his possession. Bailey set bond at $100,000. Love 0 Funny 1 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. The founder and former CEO of Richmond-based insurance brokerage company The Hilb Group has been named as an executive overseeing mergers and acquisitions for another Virginia-based insurance firm that is expanding through acquisitions. Choice Financial Group, a Virginia Beach-based company, said Wednesday that Robert J. Bob Hilb will lead its merger and acquisition activity while continuing to serve in his existing roles of senior adviser and board member for the company. Hilb previously co-founded Richmond-based The Hilb Group in 2009. The company went on to acquire about 50 independent insurance brokerages around the country before Hilb left the company in 2017. The company has continued to make acquisitions since his departure, now owning more than 120 agencies. Bob Hilb subsequently founded Hilb and Partners, a consulting firm that assists private equity firms, insurance brokers and insurance technology firms in identifying, vetting and closing add-on acquisitions. One of his early clients was Richard Braun, the president and founder of Choice Financial, an insurance firm that much like The Hilb Group has been pursuing growth through acquisitions of small, independent insurance brokerages around the country. We started scaling in 2018 through acquisitions, said Braun, adding that the company has done 14 deals since 2018, including several in the Richmond region. Early in 2021, I connected with Bob [Hilb] and we started working together on a consulting basis, and Bob was a huge help to me during some of the transactions, Braun said. In November, Northlane Capital Partners, a Bethesda, Md.-based private equity firm, made an investment in Choice Financial to help it continue its growth strategy. Hilb said he joined Choice Financial because he admired Brauns approach to building the business, making acquisitions and finding a strategic investor. When this started coming together, I was advising Richard as I had been as a consultant, Hilb said. He had a great process. He went out to nine different potential partners. He got six offers. Hilb and Braun said they expect to see continued consolidation in the insurance brokerage industry. There are roughly 36,000 independent brokerages, many of which have founders who are approaching retirement and looking for ways to maximize value from their businesses, Hilb said. Braun said the company has not set a particular goal for the number of brokerages it wants to acquire. Our principal focus is making sure we have a good strategic fit, he said. We are looking for entrepreneurial principals who really want to join an organization and take it to the next level. The Hilb Group was founded by Hilb along with his father, Robert H. Hilb, the founder and former chairman and CEO of Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs, a Henrico County-based company that grew from its founding in 1982 to become the nations sixth-largest insurance brokerage with 140 U.S. offices. Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs was sold in late 2008 to Willis Group Holdings Ltd. in a deal valued at $2.1 billion. In 2015, Boston-based private equity firm Abry Partners bought a majority stake in The Hilb Group. Two years later, in September 2017, Bob Hilb departed the company to pursue other interests. The bill passed unanimously, and Courtney White rose from her bench in the upstairs Senate gallery to hug her uncle, Eric Oakes. Then the bills sponsor, Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, ascended the staircase from the Senate floor and embraced them both. The Senate approved a bill known as Adams Law 38-0 on Wednesday afternoon, signaling a need for hazing prevention training at Virginia colleges. It comes in the wake of the death of Adam Oakes, a 19-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman who died last year. This is huge, said White, Adams cousin. Its like the first positive thing since his death thats happened where we feel we can truly make a positive change. Oakes died of alcohol poisoning following a Delta Chi big brother party in February. He was 19. Authorities charged 11 members of Delta Chi with misdemeanor charges of hazing and giving alcohol to a minor. One has pleaded guilty. Since Adam Oakes death, his family has worked to prevent another tragedy. They met with Boysko throughout the past year to craft a bill that would change how fraternities and sororities confront hazing. The bill requires colleges provide a hazing prevention curriculum and have advisers train students in person. Students need more than a webinar through which they can mindlessly click, White said. Oakes family has offered to help create and facilitate hazing prevention materials that colleges can use. White has researched hazing for a dissertation she is writing for a doctorate in education at Marymount University. We hope to be a part of the solution, Eric Oakes said. When students think of hazing, they often consider physical requirements, like being made to run, White said. But being told to drink or share embarrassing memories can be hazing, too. With this bill, students who report instances of hazing will be given immunity. The bill requires colleges, both public and private, to publish their student organizations violations of the code of conduct online. Some colleges, including Cornell University, already do this. It also requires colleges to report information about their student organizations to the Piazza Center for Fraternity Sorority Research and Reform at Pennsylvania State University, which compares the performance of universities and organization headquarters across the country. Virginia will be the first state to require its colleges participate, White said. White and Eric Oakes hope Wednesday was the first of several milestones. Boysko has filed a separate bill that would make hazing a felony if it results in bodily injury or death. That bill hasnt received a hearing yet. Currently, hazing is a misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year in prison. Im optimistic, though, Boysko said. This is a really serious problem. There are also two bills in the House of Delegates identical to the Senate bills. Several colleges have expressed their support for Adams Law, and no senator has voted against it though some have abstained or declined to vote. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, who voted for the bill, hesitated in a subcommittee hearing, saying young adults should be given the opportunity to make decisions for themselves. College students need help making the right decisions, White said, which is why advisers are there in the first place. Is some kids mistake worth my cousins life? she asked. Oakes didnt choose the size of the bottle, and he didnt purchase it. Oakes and his big brother, Andrew White, had to finish a 40-shot handle of Jack Daniels together, a prosecutor has said. Kids arent choosing to drink 40 shots of Jack Daniels in a single sitting, White added. Boysko made two amendments to the bill after it was presented. The original version required an adviser to be on the premises for all organization activity, and it would have forbidden chapters from choosing former members as advisers. Colleges felt those requirements werent feasible. The Oakes family hopes to reform fraternities and sororities beyond the scope of Adams Law. They want to end big brother ceremonies, in which new members meet their big brother in the fraternity. These ceremonies are among the deadliest in the entire fraternity process, White said. Why does big brother night or big sister night have to happen? White said. Fraternities should stop the practice of family drinks, in which one older brother passes down an alcoholic drink to a younger brother. And older students need to stop pressuring pledges to drink or complete tasks for more senior members. The entire pledging system needs to go, Eric Oakes said. Some college students have called for an end to the Greek system. But Eric Oakes would like to see fraternities return to their original mission of leadership, brotherhood and camaraderie. Not beer-soaked parties. In light of major fire incidents occurring in such cities as New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, city Fire Chief Melvin Carter and staff this week discussed how the department is working to increase fire safety awareness in Richmond. The reason we thought that this briefing was both important and timely is because of what has occurred in Richmond in terms of fire safety and the loss of life in 2021, Carter said. But not only here in the City of Richmond ... but the loss of life thats occurring nationally. Carter alluded to several incidents that captured public attention, like what happened in New York on Jan. 9 when 17 people were killed in an apartment fire in a Bronx high-rise. Investigators told The Associated Press that a malfunctioning electric space heater started the blaze in the 19-story building. On Tuesday, three Baltimore firefighters were killed while responding to a house fire. The Baltimore City Fire Department tweeted that four firefighters were trapped inside a vacant, three-story row home after debris collapsed. One firefighter was pronounced dead at the scene; two were pronounced dead at the hospital; and another was injured. In Richmond last year, there were nine fatal fire incidents and a total of 12 fatalities, according to the Richmond Fire Department. Carter says the department wants to be proactive in reducing fatal fires in the future by engaging with and educating the community. We and I mean we because its the fire department, your fire department, as well as the citizens of Richmond and our visitors are working together to ensure that we reduce the incidents of fire and definitely the loss of life to our citizens and our visitors, Carter said. The department expanded its effort in canvassing homes and delivering free smoke detectors for residents. Carter says the department canvassed 45,000 homes and installed more than 750 smoke alarms in 2021. The department intends to double its efforts again in 2022 with another round of canvassing in February focusing on multifamily homes. As residents use their space heaters and electric blankets in the coming months, the Richmond Fire Department asks individuals to reduce the risk of winter fires, be wary of potential fire hazards in their homes and contact the Fire Prevention Office at (804) 646-6640 or the smoke alarm request line at (804) 646-1526. A Republican state senator says the office of Gov. Glenn Youngkin notified him that the new governor will sign a bill to end campaign donations from regulated electric monopoly Dominion Energy should the legislation reach his desk. I can confirm that it was relayed to me by the governors office that he will sign those bills that Chap and I have and he supports them, said Sen. Richard Stuart, R-King George, regarding legislation he and Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, are carrying. Stuarts bill would bar contributions to candidates by any public utility. Asked if he had been notified that the governor would sign his bill if it clears the assembly, Petersen said, Thats the buzz Im hearing. Petersen last week called on Youngkin to support the bipartisan effort to scale down the political influence of Virginias largest electric utility, which for years has been a top donor to state lawmakers who have then written utility-friendly laws that led to hundreds of millions of dollars in excess profits for the company, paid for by customers. Del. Lee Ware, R-Powhatan, is carrying legislation in the House. Youngkin, through a spokesperson, declined to comment on Wednesday. But Petersen and Ware told The Associated Press that Youngkins office told them he supported their bills. Dominion spokesman Rayhan Daudani has said of the bills: Campaign finance laws should apply to all equally. Dominion declined to make CEO Bob Blue or another executive available for an interview Wednesday. Dominion Energy had close allies in Democratic former Govs. Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam. But Stuart said more lawmakers are scrutinizing Dominion following the utilitys $250,000 in contributions to a secretive federal political action committee last fall that funded attacks on Youngkin designed to make conservative voters in rural areas believe he wasnt supportive of the Second Amendment. The ads were meant to undercut Youngkin with his Republican base by painting him as weak on the Second Amendment. In addition to money from Dominions company PAC, the federal PAC that attacked Youngkin received personal donations from Blue; Ed Baine, the utilitys president; Carlos Brown, its general counsel; and Bill Murray, its head lobbyist. Stuart said a growing number of lawmakers want to curb Dominions influence, especially given the surreptitious activity. There were certainly four high executives which gave to that PAC. Blue said last year that the company didnt properly vet the federal PACs activities before donating. Said Stuart: I think people question, you know, did you really not know what you were doing? House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, said his Republican caucus hadnt yet discussed the legislation as a group. House Majority Leader Terry Kilgore, R-Scott one of Dominion Energys closest legislative allies declined to comment on his position on the bill. The move to scale back Dominion campaign contributions gained steam after a Democratic activist, Josh Stanfield, started a pledge in 2017 asking candidates and elected officials not to take money from the utility or another regulated utility, Appalachian Power Co. A group called Clean Virginia in 2018 began providing campaign money to candidates who wouldnt accept those utility donations. That group is bankrolled by hedge fund manager Michael Bills. Dominion Energy successfully engineered major pieces of utility legislation through the General Assembly in 2015 and 2018. Even as a growing number of Democrats distanced themselves from the utility, Dominion still helped rewrite a major law in 2020 during Democratic control of the General Assembly, the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which transitions the state away from fossil fuel electricity generation to help the environment. The Richmond Times-Dispatch and ProPublica reported in 2020 on how Dominion Energy utilized its lobbying influence to make major gains for its bottom line in the legislation, and although lawmakers had initially said it would lower electricity costs, state regulators said the final product will increase customer bills. Theres nothing more expensive than allowing Dominion to control all decisions around the green economy, said Ron Cerniglia, director of strategic alliances at NRG Energy, which operates across the country and supplies renewable electricity in Virginia. But while the opposition to Dominions influence has been bipartisan, Virginias legislators have resisted any efforts to limit the money lawmakers can receive and theres bipartisan opposition to the bills as well. Asked what he thought about the chances Youngkin would get to sign a bill, Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax, simply said, It isnt going to get to him. Andy Parker says he will have a running mate in his race for the Democratic nomination in the 5th Congressional District his daughter, Alison, a television journalist slain in 2015 during an on-camera interview in the heart of the district he wants to represent. Parker announced on Thursday that he will challenge Rep. Bob Good, R-5th, a first-term conservative closely allied with former President Donald Trump, in a newly drawn district sprawling over parts of 23 localities, most of them heavily Republican. The new district includes northern Hanover County. Shell be with me every step of the way, he said of his 24-year-old daughter. Its not the first political crusade that Parker, 68, has undertaken since Alison, a reporter at WDBJ in Roanoke, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were shot to death by a disgruntled former station employee during a televised interview at Smith Mountain Lake on Aug. 26, 2015. He has pushed for gun-control measures and published a book, For Alison: The Murder of a Young Journalist and a Fathers Fight for Gun Safety. The book, co-written with Ben Williams, features a foreword by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who was governor when a gunman killed 32 students and teachers, and then himself, at Virginia Tech in 2007. Parker also has conducted a high-profile battle against Facebook for allowing the video of his daughters murder to continue circulating on social media. Ive taken on the [National Rifle Association], he said. Ive taken on Big Tech. I enjoy a challenge. His new challenge will be defeating an incumbent Republican in a district that voted for Trump by more than 11 percentage points in the presidential race with Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. The district covers parts of three cities and 20 counties, including Goochland, Powhatan, Louisa, Amelia and Nottoway. Good faces a challenger for the Republican nomination: Dan Moy, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and an adjunct professor at the University of Virginias Batten School of Public Policy. Four Democrats also have declared their candidacy for the 5th District nomination: Shadi Ayyas, Lewis Combs, Warren McLellan and Josh Throneburg. Parker lives in Henry County, just outside the new district. Congressional candidates do not have to live within the district they represent, and he notes that Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th, actually lives just inside of the newly drawn 6th District, represented by fellow Republican Ben Cline. I dont actually live in the district, but Im 10 miles away from it, he said. Ive lived here for 25 years. Parker is counting on voter dissatisfaction with Good, whom he said has taken extreme positions on the COVID-19 pandemic and alleged voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, allying with a far-right voting bloc led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican. Hes really not paying attention to the things that matter to the people in the 5th District, Parker said. Hes got his own extremist agenda, and it needs to go. Good was first elected in 2020, after defeating Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-5th, in a nominating convention. Parker, a retired executive recruiter, says he wants to foster opportunities in the district, including those offered by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1 trillion federal funding package that Good and Virginias three other Republican congressmen voted against. The package includes money to build highways and replace bridges, expand passenger rail and transit, and extend high-speed internet networks to rural areas that dont have access to broadband now. Parker said that the district also would benefit from U.S. investment in domestic manufacture of semiconductor chips, a priority for Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who co-sponsored a bill that passed the Senate and stalled in the House. A shortage of the chips, produced almost exclusively in Asia, is stifling the U.S. auto industrys production of cars and trucks that require them to run. Theyre built, he said. They just dont have the chips. If elected, Parker promised to work across the aisle to get stuff done and restore decency thats sorely lacking, civility thats sorely lacking. He also is running for Congress to challenge Facebook and other social media companies that he says operate recklessly and without accountability. Its a danger to our democracy, he said. It is an issue that resonates with people on both sides of the partisan spectrum. For Parker, the fight with social media companies is personal because he said the video of his daughters slaying is still out there. Theyre profiting from my daughters murder, and I cant tolerate that, he said. Parker says he is proud of the work he has done on what he calls common-sense gun legislation that the General Assembly passed and Gov. Ralph Northam signed in 2020, but he considers himself an advocate for the Second Amendment right to bear arms. I grew up in Texas. I was a hunter, he said. I believe in the right to bear arms, to protect your family, go hunting. Im not a gun grabber. Parker insists that he can win the 5th District race, despite the partisan odds against him. Two years ago, Democrat Cameron Webb lost to Good by more than 20,000 votes and 5 percentage points. No matter the odds, he says hes confident that Alison would approve. Im doing everything I think she would want me to be doing, Parker said, and I think this is it. Two more potential candidates have decided to forgo a race for Congress in the new 7th District, further clearing the Democratic field for Rep. Abigail Spanberger. Babur Lateef, chairman of the Prince William County School Board, and Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Prince William, announced on Thursday that they will not run in the new district, which includes Fredericksburg, part of Prince William and all or part of nine other counties. No other Democrats have declared their candidacy for the seat. My responsibility as Prince William County School Board Chairman, particularly during this pandemic, continues to be critical, Lateef said in a statement. Katie Baker, a spokeswoman for Guzman, confirmed in a text message that Guzman will not run. Tonya James, chair of the Prince William Democratic Committee, said the party is absolutely unified behind Spanberger. Lateef noted that state Supreme Courts experts initial proposed boundaries for the new 7th District included all of Prince William and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, and included his familys home, while the finalized map does not. The new district also does not include Spanbergers home in western Henrico County, but the former CIA case officer has said she will run for a third term in the new district, which extends from Caroline County north to Dale City in eastern Prince William, and west to Greene and Madison counties. Members of the U.S. House are not required to live in the districts they represent. Among the districts GOP candidates, Derrick Anderson won an endorsement from a former rival in the crowded field. The former Green Beret also reported his first campaign fundraising totals $290,000 from 5,000 donors since he jumped into the race in mid-October, just after the last quarterly deadline for disclosing campaign contributions. Anderson, 37, a Spotsylvania County native and resident, received the endorsement of John Castorani, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran who dropped out of the race for the GOP nomination this month, and his wife, Krissy, a veteran of U.S. Air Force Special Operations and the Joint Special Operations Command. Castorani, 30, of Orange County, said Thursday that they support Anderson as a fellow Special Operations combat veteran raised in the heart of the newly drawn district. Anderson, who served six tours of duty for the U.S. Army in Iraq, Afghanistan and other war zones, welcomed the endorsement from fellow patriots, warriors and Special Operations combat veterans and stressed the need to elect more veterans to Congress. Anderson, who calls himself a true political outsider, called his first campaign fundraising report evidence of broad support in the new district. The quarterly filing deadline for campaign fundraising is Monday, which could better determine the strength of candidates seeking the Republican nomination in the 7th District. The GOP field also includes state Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, a former U.S. Army infantry captain with Ranger and Airborne qualifications; Prince William Supervisor Yesli Vega, a former police officer and sheriffs deputy; Gina Ciarcia, a Prince William educator; Gary Adkins, an Air Force veteran in Stafford County; and potentially Del. John McGuire, R-Goochland. A Senate bill that would require the individual votes of the Virginia Parole Board be made public cleared its first hurdle this week, and its Republican sponsor believes it has a good chance to become law this session after he introduced identical legislation in 2020 and 2021. It was killed by the House Courts of Justice Committee, then controlled by Democrats. My hope is that well get strong bipartisan support in the Senate and, once the House of Delegates has the opportunity to consider the bill, I also expect there will be strong bipartisan support for making parole board votes public, said Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County. Senate Bill 5 would make the votes of parole board members to grant or not grant parole to state inmates a public record under provisions of Virginias Freedom of Information Act. Currently, the individual board votes are kept secret. The Virginia Coalition for Open Government and the Virginia Press Association favor transparency and are supporting Suetterleins bill. Identical versions of the bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support with votes of 29-10 and 33-6 in 2020 and 2021, respectively but were ultimately killed after being referred to the House Courts of Justice Committee. In party-line votes, the committee tabled the legislation and referred it to the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council in 2020, and left it in committee without further discussion in 2021. Suetterlein first introduced the bill in 2020 as a measure to require greater transparency of parole board decisions in the wake of a Virginia government watchdog report that said the board violated the law and its own policies in releasing Vincent Martin, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing a Richmond police officer in 1979. The board came under intense scrutiny after other controversial decisions followed, and at least nine of the panels actions involving individual inmates were investigated by the Office of the State Inspector General. Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, told members of the assemblys General Laws and Technology Committee on Wednesday that the proposed legislation is neither a partisan issue nor a scandal issue. Its just a basic fact that the parole board is a public body, and like all other public bodies, they should routinely make their vote counts publicly accessible, she said. Currently, the parole board is generally not subject to FOIA at all, Rhyne said. The public has no rights under FOIA to ask for and receive records generally [from the parole board]. Theres nothing prohibiting the parole board from doing that, but theyre not required to. In remarks to the committee, Suetterlein said his bill would bring the parole board in line with just about every other public body in Virginia in terms of the transparency of its actions. When we pass a law, everyone knows how we voted on it, and we know the governor who signed it into law, Suetterlein said. If someone is accused of violating that law, everyone gets to know who made the arrest. If they are prosecuted in our courts, everyone gets to know the prosecutor and the judge who oversaw the case. And if it goes to appeal, everyone gets to know the name of the appellate judge that upheld the decision. And if it goes to the parole board, and the parole board decides to grant parole, this is the first time in the entire process where its not clear whos making the decision. In August 2020, after Suetterleins bill was introduced for the first time, then-Parole Board Chair Tonya Chapman said in an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the parole board had not taken a position on the legislation. However, the concern is whether it opens up the propensity for people to try and intimidate board members ... for instance, like we know where you live, Chapman said. Whether its individuals that are upset about releasing someone, or individuals that are upset because you didnt release them. She said that after the Inspector Generals report was released about the Vincent Martin case, we received threats so that would be a concern as far as [making public] individual votes. In a fiscal impact statement the Virginia Department of Planning and Budget filed about the bills potential costs, the staff said the parole board believes it may need to hire up to two full-time staff positions to compile and prepare information for public dissemination or for specific FOIA requests if the bill becomes law. The board estimated that the annual salary for one such position, including benefits, would be about $66,555 annually. But Rhyne took issue with that assessment. Theres no requirement [in the bill] that the votes be proactively disclosed, or that any database be compiled, or anything like that, she told the committee. Its just simply that they need to make [the information] available upon request. Theres simply no reason why it would take two full-time employees as the fiscal impact statement suggests just to respond to requests for vote tallies on a particular case. The General Laws committee voted 14-1, with Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, casting the only dissenting vote, to move the bill forward. It will now be considered by the House Finance and Appropriations Committee. In the wake of the snow, wind and cold will be the story on Saturday. Sunshine will return by Saturday afternoon, but temperatures will have a hard time recovering to the freezing mark on the heels of strong Arctic winds from the northwest. The core of the Arctic air parks over central Virginia on Saturday night, cutting off the winds, but allowing temperatures to fall to near 10 degrees. A very weak system races by on Sunday, bringing only clouds. It also signals a slow warming trend for the first part of next week. Temperatures will warm a little bit each afternoon from Sunday through Wednesday, with no precipitation until the next large storm system approaches Thursday into Friday. Ahead of that storm will be a large surge of warm air from the southwest, so next weeks storm looks exclusively like rain. And there are signs for some heavy rain with that system before it clears Virginia later on Friday. This sets up next weekend (Feb 5-6) to be dry and seasonably cold with highs in the 30s to 40s and lows returning to the 20s. Richmond Climate Check While January has been colder than December, the temperatures have actually been close to their climatological normals. So far this month, the average temperature in Richmond is less than one degree below normal. By comparison, December 2021 averaged 7 degrees above normal in Richmond. *** Forecast for Richmond Friday night: Occasional light snow, about an inch or so of accumulation by dawn. Becoming windy after midnight. Low 24. Saturday: Windy and very cold. Scattered morning snow showers, but no additional accumulation in the morning. Turning sunny for the afternoon. High around 30. Wind chills in the teens to lower 20s for most of the day. Wind northwest at 15-25 mph with higher gusts. Saturday night: Clear and very cold, winds dying down a few hours after sunset. Lows ranging from 14 in central Richmond to near 10 in suburban locations. Sunday: Sun and clouds. Cold and dry. High 35. Monday: Sun and clouds. Not as cold. High 44. Tuesday: Sunny. High 48. Wednesday: Sun and clouds, warmer. High 56. Thursday: Mostly cloudy with afternoon rain likely. High near 60. Friday: Breezy and colder with clouds breaking for sun. High 48. PULASKI William Tyler Griffith told the sheriffs deputy who arrived at his Pulaski County home on Nov. 24 that he had just shot his mother then repeated the confession to another investigator a few hours later, the officers testified Wednesday. At a preliminary hearing that ran nearly three hours in Pulaski County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, Judge Lee Chitwood certified a second-degree murder charge against Griffith to a grand jury that will meet in April. The grand jury will decide if Griffith should be tried in the countys circuit court. The judges ruling came after Assistant Commonwealths Attorneys James Crandall and Nicole Cumberland presented evidence about the death of Deborah Reed Griffith just after midnight on Nov. 24. Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Amy Tharpe testified that Deborah Griffith was shot nine times, and that eight of the wounds could have been lethal by themselves. Adam Griffith testified that he shared a residence in the 5400 block of Shepherd Drive in Dublin with his mother and brother, and that they often had arguments triggered by his brothers drinking. They had argued on the night of Nov. 23, Adam Griffith said. He said that early on Nov. 24, he was awakened by gunshots, ran out of the house and called 911. Deputy Andres Mareno testified that he arrived at the scene and both Griffith brothers ran toward him. William Griffith said that he had shot his mother and that his recruiter was coming to pick him up, Moreno said. William Griffith then turned to his brother and said, Sorry I had to shoot mom. I couldnt deal with her anymore, Mareno testified. Later at the sheriffs office, William Griffith was questioned by Sgt. David Cressell. In a video played in court, Cressell read Griffith his Miranda rights and Griffith said that he is willing to talk with the officer although he was confused about the date and thought Thanksgiving had already happened, when it was actually still a day away. In the video, Griffith said that he habitually drank a fifth of liquor per day and told Cressell that he was suffering delirium tremors while being questioned. Of the events that had just occurred, Griffith said, The rangers called and said they wanted me to join and were going to come pick me up. But police had come and demolished his house, Griffith added. They tricked me into shooting a body double of my mother, Griffith said on the recording. Now Im in hot water, he added. Griffith said that he argued with his mother partly because she imposed a 9 p.m. curfew and Im 28. His voice sometimes rising into falsetto to mimic her, Griffith said that his mother had entered his room that night and that he shot her maybe 12 times. A photo entered into evidence showed a half dozen or so rifles and pistols that investigators found in William Griffiths room. Found on his bed was a handgun equipped with a flashlight on its barrel and an extended magazine. Griffith said in the interrogation video that he had thrown the gun onto the bed after shooting his mother. Defense attorney Arlene Montgomery of the public defenders office in Pulaski said that investigators had not been thorough because they did not handcuff Adam Griffith or search his room or the rest of the house for weapons. Montgomery argued that investigators were taking William Griffith at his word when he spoke of shooting his mother, but apparently not when he talked about rangers and body doubles. The lack of investigation into those topics should lead to a dismissal of the murder charge, she said. Chitwood quickly sent the charge on to the grand jury. Deborah Griffith, 58, was a Pulaski County school system employee for 17 years. She worked in the pre-K program and most recently was an administrative assistant in the office at Dublin Elementary School. Members of Roanokes NAACP Branch spoke out Wednesday in support of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which failed to pass a United States Senate vote last week. The federal legislation, which was combined with the Freedom to Vote Act, would have significantly expanded voting access and restored key parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that have been weakened by Supreme Court rulings. Roanoke NAACP Branch president Brenda Hale said that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 also did not pass its first time through Congress, so people must keep fighting for the right to vote. We will never tire of pursuing voting rights, Hale said. States have picked up the mantle from the 60s and created all types of hindrance, directed at African Americans, to impede them from voting. She said even in the Roanoke Valley, there are efforts to make voting inaccessible to people of color. Hale cited Roanoke Countys decision to relocate its elections office to Vinton. The office is not located on a bus line and is more than half a mile from the nearest major roadway, making it difficult for people of color to access the services, Hale said. Together, the two bills would have made Election Day a federal holiday, allowed for online same-day voter registration, a minimum of 15 days of early voting, and no-excuse mail voting. The bills would have restored voting rights to formerly incarcerated felons and required states to accept a wide range of non-photographic identification for voting. The John Lewis Act, named for the Civil Rights Movement activist and long-time Georgia congressman who died in 2020, would have specifically reinstated the preclearance requirement from the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The provision in the original act required states with histories of discrimination to seek approval from the federal government before changing election policies. The Supreme Court struck down that provision in 2013. All of this is a push to suppress the African American vote, Roanoke Mayor Sherman Lea told Wednesdays gathering at the Dumas Center. We cant be discouraged. They can knock us down, but were not going to stay down. The John Lewis Act created a new formula that would apply only to states who had multiple voting rights violations in the past 25 years. Both pieces of legislation were unanimously blocked by Republicans in the Senate on Jan. 19. Members of the NAACP Roanoke Branchs youth council shared their frustrations that the legislation did not pass. Christion Bryant, youth council president, said he and other young people in the chapter will be focused on spreading education about voting, so that when people turn 18 they will be ready to register and vote. Jayveon Tucker, second vice president, said he believes it is the job of legislators to protect everyones right to vote. To me, this was the government giving us the middle finger, he said. People dont understand how critical it is to vote. It is not just a vote. It is a vote for a future, it is a vote for your descendants. 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. Last we left the saga of Christian and Shannon Waszak, the Augusta County couples bank account at BBT/Truist was drained of more than $55,000 by a clever scammer who on Jan. 3 posed as a Truist customer service representative to gain access. The bank promptly restored the couples lost funds via cashiers check. But the check bounced when the couple deposited it into another bank. Then BBT/Truist told the Waszaks it was investigating. Meanwhile, Christian, 38 and Shannon, 43, consulted a real estate agent about selling their home. They felt they needed its equity to keep Christians paintless dent repair business in Staunton going. He started that just last fall. And they consulted a consumer attorney in Fairfax, Kristi C. Kelly, just in case. Shes a pistol. That brings us up to Jan. 16, the day this newspaper published a column about the Waszaks plight. That morning, Christian sold the couples tractor on Craigslist so the couple would have some spending money. But It turns out the Waszaks didnt need an attorney. Or a real estate agent. Theyre not selling the house. This past Friday, BBT/Truist refunded all their money for a second time. At least so far, the latter check hasnt bounced. The bank isnt saying much. We always take potential fraud concerns raised by our clients very seriously, and work diligently to research and resolve these matters, said Cynthia Montgomery, a spokeswoman for Truist. She added: We cant comment on this specific case due to privacy concerns. Thats more or less a canned statement, based on my long experience advocating on behalf of Truists many aggrieved clients. Ive heard from customers in California, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. Most of them I havent even written about. The series of unhappy events that led to the Waszaks being swindled began Jan. 3, with a middle-of-the-night text message, ostensibly from Truist, to Shannon Waszaks smartphone. It appeared to question a $400 transaction on Amazon Marketplace, and asked Shannon to reply with the number 1 if the purchase was legitimate, or a 2 if it was not. She replied 2 and went back to sleep. The next morning, she called their BBT/Truist branch, where a rep assured her there were no signs their accounts had been compromised. Near the end of that call, the spammer called Shannons phone, while spoofing (or electronically forging) the originating number to make it appear as if it was from Truist customer service. Shannon dropped the call from the bank branch, and took the call from the customer service rep. She was on the phone with him for more than an hour. During that call, Christian phoned the bank branch and told a clerk Shannon was talking to Truist customer service and gave them the number of the caller with whom Shannon was on the line. The clerk confirmed to Christian that the number on Shannons phone was the Truist customer service line. Meanwhile, at the instructions of the scammer, Shannon read to him texted codes that Truist bank was sending to her phone. Those actually were from Truist. They occurred as the scammer attempted to change the passwords on the Waszaks accounts. With those authentication codes, he was able to do it. Then he moved the $55,000 out in three wire transactions that took fewer than 30 minutes. Minutes after their money was gone, the Truist branch called the Waszaks and confirmed there was a problem with their accounts. The next day, the Truist branch wrote the couple a cashiers check to make up for the losses. The Waszaks took that to Summit Bank and deposited it. Then a BBT/Truist official called the Wasaks and demanded they return the money. When the Waszaks declined, Truist stopped payment on the check. After the couple contacted yours truly, I reached out to Montgomery. Shes assisted a number of aggrieved BBT and SunTrust customers whove contacted me after their accounts were suddenly frozen and/or closed. (Those two banks have merged to form Truist.) On Jan. 18 two days after the article about the Waszaks appeared a man who identified himself as a Truist customer advocate called Shannon. He gave her a special number she or Christian could call, if they needed to reach Truist. The couple called their Truist branch immediately to confirm that call was actually from Truist and not another scammer. It was legitimate, a branch rep assured them. (But thats also what the branch told the couple on Jan. 3, in the middle of the scam, as Christian called the branch trying to avoid being scammed.) This past Friday, they got another call, this time from the Truist branch manager in Staunton. He informed them another Truist official, John Rankin, was trying to reach them. The Waszaks called Rankin, who told them, We have good news. Were going to refund the money, Shannon told me. Truist later gave Christian two cashiers checks. One represented the scammed money; the other was for another account the Waszaks had at the branch. They thought theyd already closed it. There remain many questions outstanding. Was Truist able to claw back all the money drained in those three wire transactions from the couples account? Or did the money it refunded the Waszaks come from the banks funds? Thats unclear. Shannon said it appears, from documentation she and Christian received, that the bank was able to successfully reverse at least one of the wire transfers for roughly $3,000. But shes seen no paperwork suggesting the other wire transfers were reversed. Montgomery declined to reveal what Trusts investigation found or any other details about it. Neither I nor the Waszaks know definitively whether the Jan. 16 article had anything to do with the couple getting their money back. Its possible the bank would have decided they were due a refund without the negative publicity about the scam and the bounced cashiers check Truist/BBT issued. Its also possible the article prompted the banks action. Shining a bit of sunlight on these matters often seems to lead to quick and satisfactory resolutions. The Waszaks, meanwhile, are waiting for the most recent Truist cashiers checks to clear. As you can probably understand, they no longer take those instruments for granted. Shortly after Christian deposited them at Summit Bank, Summit sent them a notice of hold. It stated, We have confidential information this check may not be paid, Shannon said. But she sounded confident that this time around, Truist would make good. Thank you for everything, Shannon said. Contact metro columnist Dan Casey at 981-3423 or dan.casey@roanoke.com . Follow him on Twitter@dancaseysblog . 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. RICHMOND Patrick Countys lone hospital, shuttered for years, could soon be studied for reopening, according to a bill that received unanimous support from a committee of lawmakers Thursday. Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick, is patron of HB 1305, which gained full support of the 22-member Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions during its meeting Thursday morning. In September of 2017, my home county of Patrick lost its only hospital, Williams said. We continue to live day after day without a vital emergency services center in our community. The former Pioneer Community Hospital was a 25-bed critical access hospital in Stuart. Its operators filed for bankruptcy in 2016, and the hospital closed after a buyout deal fell apart. Our nearest emergency room is now over 30 minutes from town, over in Martinsville, Williams said. Or across the North Carolina line, in Mount Airy. HB 1305 calls for the Patrick County Board of Supervisors to contract a feasibility study that would examine reopening the 10-acre hospital facility at 18688 Jeb Stuart Hwy, valued at $4.5 million, according to county documents. If the study determines the hospital is not able to reopen, alternative locations could be explored. In July 2021, Ballad Heath reopened the 10-bed Lee County Community Hospital that was closed since 2013, after legislation similarly spurred a feasibility study. Before the bill faces a vote in the full House of Delegates, it must pass through the committee on appropriations, for monetary considerations. In serious medical emergencies, minutes matter, Williams said. The need for timely emergency healthcare, especially for our stroke and heart attack victims, is crucial to the wellbeing of any community. 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. RICHMOND The bill passed unanimously, and Courtney White rose from her bench in the upstairs Senate gallery to hug her uncle, Eric Oakes. Then the bills sponsor, Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, ascended the staircase from the Senate floor and embraced them both. The Senate approved a bill known as Adams Law 38-0 on Wednesday afternoon, signaling a need for hazing prevention training at Virginia colleges. It comes in the wake of the death of Adam Oakes, a 19-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman who died last year. This is huge, said White, Adams cousin. Its like the first positive thing since his death thats happened where we feel we can truly make a positive change. Oakes died of alcohol poisoning following a Delta Chi big brother party in February. He was 19. Authorities charged 11 members of Delta Chi with misdemeanor charges of hazing and giving alcohol to a minor. One has pleaded guilty. Since Adam Oakes death, his family has worked to prevent another tragedy. They met with Boysko throughout the past year to craft a bill that would change how fraternities and sororities confront hazing. The bill requires colleges provide a hazing prevention curriculum and have advisers train students in person. Students need more than a webinar through which they can mindlessly click, White said. Oakes family has offered to help create and facilitate hazing prevention materials that colleges can use. White has researched hazing for a dissertation she is writing for a doctorate in education at Marymount University. We hope to be a part of the solution, Eric Oakes said. When students think of hazing, they often consider physical requirements, like being made to run, White said. But being told to drink or share embarrassing memories can be hazing, too. With this bill, students who report instances of hazing will be given immunity. The bill requires colleges, both public and private, to publish their student organizations violations of the code of conduct online. Some colleges, including Cornell University, already do this. It also requires colleges to report information about their student organizations to the Piazza Center for Fraternity Sorority Research and Reform at Pennsylvania State University, which compares the performance of universities and organization headquarters across the country. Virginia will be the first state to require its colleges participate, White said. White and Eric Oakes hope Wednesday was the first of several milestones. Boysko has filed a separate bill that would make hazing a felony if it results in bodily injury or death. That bill hasnt received a hearing yet. Currently, hazing is a misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year in prison. Im optimistic, though, Boysko said. This is a really serious problem. There are also two bills in the House of Delegates identical to the Senate bills. Several colleges have expressed their support for Adams Law, and no senator has voted against it though some have abstained or declined to vote. Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax City, who voted for the bill, hesitated in a subcommittee hearing, saying young adults should be given the opportunity to make decisions for themselves. College students need help making the right decisions, White said, which is why advisers are there in the first place. Is some kids mistake worth my cousins life? she asked. Oakes didnt choose the size of the bottle, and he didnt purchase it. Oakes and his big brother, Andrew White, had to finish a 40-shot handle of Jack Daniels together, a prosecutor has said. Kids arent choosing to drink 40 shots of Jack Daniels in a single sitting, White added. Boysko made two amendments to the bill after it was presented. The original version required an adviser to be on the premises for all organization activity, and it would have forbidden chapters from choosing former members as advisers. Colleges felt those requirements werent feasible. The Oakes family hope to reform fraternities and sororities beyond the scope of Adams Law. They want to end big brother ceremonies, in which new members meet their big brother in the fraternity. These ceremonies are among the deadliest in the entire fraternity process, White said. Why does big brother night or big sister night have to happen? White said. Fraternities should stop the practice of family drinks, in which one older brother passes down an alcoholic drink to a younger brother. And older students need to stop pressuring pledges to drink or complete tasks for more senior members. The entire pledging system needs to go, Eric Oakes said. Some college students have called for an end to the Greek system. But Eric Oakes would like to see fraternities return to their original mission of leadership, brotherhood and camaraderie. Not beer-soaked parties. RICHMOND Andy Parker says he will have a running mate in his race for the Democratic nomination in the 5th Congressional District his daughter, Alison, a WDBJ (Channel 7) journalist slain in 2015 during an on-camera interview in the heart of the district he wants to represent. Parker announced on Thursday that he will challenge Rep. Bob Good, R-5th, a first-term conservative closely allied with former President Donald Trump, in a newly drawn district sprawling over parts of 23 localities, most of them heavily Republican. The new district includes northern Hanover County. Shell be with me every step of the way, he said of his 24-year-old daughter. Its not the first political crusade that Parker, 68, has undertaken since Alison, a reporter at WDBJ in Roanoke, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, were shot to death by a disgruntled former station employee during a televised interview at Smith Mountain Lake on Aug. 26, 2015. He has pushed for gun-control measures and published a book, For Alison: The Murder of a Young Journalist and a Fathers Fight for Gun Safety. The book, co-written with Ben Williams, features a foreword by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., who was governor when a gunman killed 32 students and teachers, and then himself, at Virginia Tech in 2007. Parker also has conducted a high-profile battle against Facebook for allowing the video of his daughters murder to continue circulating on social media. Ive taken on the [National Rifle Association], he said. Ive taken on Big Tech. I enjoy a challenge. His new challenge will be defeating an incumbent Republican in a district that voted for Trump by more than 11 percentage points in the presidential race with Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. The district covers parts of three cities and 20 counties, including Goochland, Powhatan, Louisa, Amelia and Nottoway. Good faces a challenger for the Republican nomination: Dan Moy, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and an adjunct professor at the University of Virginias Batten School of Public Policy. Four Democrats also have declared their candidacy for the 5th District nomination: Shadi Ayyas, Lewis Combs, Warren McLellan and Josh Throneburg. Parker lives in Henry County, just outside the new district. Congressional candidates do not have to live within the district they represent, and he notes that Rep. Morgan Griffith, R-9th, actually lives just inside of the newly drawn 6th District, represented by fellow Republican Ben Cline. I dont actually live in the district, but Im 10 miles away from it, he said. Ive lived here for 25 years. Parker is counting on voter dissatisfaction with Good, whom he said has taken extreme positions on the COVID-19 pandemic and alleged voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, allying with a far-right voting bloc led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican. Hes really not paying attention to the things that mater to the people in the 5th District, Parker said. Hes got his own extremist agenda and it needs to go. Good was first elected in 2020, after defeating Rep. Denver Riggleman, R-5th in a nominating convention. Parker, a retired executive recruiter, says he wants to foster opportunities in the district, including those offered by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1 trillion federal funding package that Good and Virginias three other Republican congressmen voted against. The package includes money to build highways and replace bridges, expand passenger rail and transit, and extend high-speed internet networks to rural areas that dont have access to broadband now. Parker said that the district also would benefit from U.S. investment in domestic manufacture of semiconductor chips, a priority for Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who co-sponsored a bill that passed the Senate and stalled in the House. A shortage of the chips, produced almost exclusively in Asia, is stifling the U.S. auto industrys production of cars and trucks that require them to run. Theyre built, he said. They just dont have the chips. If elected, Parker promised to work across the aisle to get stuff done and restore decency thats sorely lacking, civility thats sorely lacking. He also is running for Congress to challenge Facebook and other social media companies that he says operate recklessly and without accountability. Its a danger to our democracy, he said. It is an issue that resonates with people on both sides of the partisan spectrum. For Parker, the fight with social media companies is personal because he said the video of his daughters slaying is still out there. Theyre profiting from my daughters murder and I cant tolerate that, he said. Parker says he is proud of the work he has done on what he calls common-sense gun legislation that the General Assembly passed and Gov. Ralph Northam signed in 2020, but he considers himself an advocate for the Second Amendment right to bear arms. I grew up in Texas. I was a hunter, he said. I believe in the right to bear arms, to protect your family, go hunting. Im not a gun grabber. Parker insists that he can win the 5th District race, despite the partisan odds against him. Two years ago, Democrat Cameron Webb lost to Good by more than 20,000 votes and 5 percentage points. No matter the odds, he says hes confident that Alison would approve. Im doing everything I think she would want me to be doing, Parker said, and I think this is it. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Twenty years ago you called geoengineering "deeply controversial." How has the controversy changed since then? Back then it was something that a pretty small group of people who thought about climate knew about and mostly agreed they wouldn't talk about. And that was it. Now it's much more widely discussed. I think the taboo is reduced, for sure. It's certainly still controversial, but my sense is that there has been a real shift. An increasing number of people who are in climate science or in public policy around climate or in environmental groups now agree that this is something we should talk about, even if many think it should never be implemented. There's even growing agreement that research should happen. It feels really different. Advertisement Why was there a taboo against talking about geoengineering, and do you think was it valid? I think it's well-intentioned; people are right to worry that talking about geoengineering might reduce the effort to cut emissions. I don't think this concern about moral hazard is a valid reason not to do research. There were people who argued that we shouldn't allow the AIDS triple-drug cocktail to be distributed in Africa because it would be misused, creating resistance. Others argued against implementation of airbags, because people would drive faster. There is a long history of arguing against all sorts of potentially risk-reducing technologies because of the potential for risk compensation the possibility that people will change behavior by taking on more risks. I think it's an ethically confused argument. For me, the most serious concern is some entities like big fossil-fuel companies that have a political interest in blocking emissions cuts will attempt to exploit the potential of geoengineering as an argument against emissions cuts. This concern has likely been the primary reason that some big civil-society groups want to block or contain discussion of this stuff so it doesn't enter more widely into the climate debate. For me the concern is entirely justified, but I think the right answer is to confront it head-on rather than avoiding debate. I don't want a world where decisions are made by elites talking behind closed doors. " " Solar geoengineering would involve injecting reflective aerosols from high-altitude planes into the layer of the upper atmosphere known as the stratosphere, which stretches between 10 to 50 kilometers (6 to 31 miles) above Earths surface. The idea is that the aerosol particles would reflect a small amount of sunlight away from the planet, reducing the amount of heat trapped by greenhouse gases and mitigating some of the effects of climate change. SCoPEx/Knowable Magazine Has the amount of geoengineering research increased in the past two decades? Dramatically, even in the last couple of years. When I wrote that Annual Reviews paper in 2000, there was virtually zero organized research. There were a few researchers occasionally getting interested and putting in like 1 percent of their time. Now there are little research programs almost everywhere you care to mention. There's a Chinese program that's pretty serious; there's an Australian one that's better funded than anything in the United States; there are several in Europe. What has been the biggest surprise over the past 20 years in how solar geoengineering might work? The big surprise has been recent results, including two studies I was involved in, showing that the effects of a global solar geoengineering program wouldn't be as geographically unequal as was feared. What matters for real public policy is who is made worse off. For one paper published last year in Nature Climate Change, we used a very high-resolution computer model, and we compared, over all the land surface, two worlds: one world where we have two times preindustrial levels of carbon dioxide and the other world where we have enough solar geoengineering to reduce the temperature change by half. For each of the 33 geographical study regions designated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we tried to look at whether solar geoengineering would move a particular climate variable back toward preindustrial levels, which we call "moderated," or move it further away from preindustrial, which we call "exacerbated." We focused on some of the most important climate variables: change in extreme temperature, change in average temperature, change in water availability and change in extreme precipitation. And what we found seems almost too good to be true: There wasnt a single variable in a single region that was exacerbated. That was a surprise. In a paper published in March in Environmental Research Letters, we did the same analysis with another model, and we found that with solar geoengineering, everything is moderated in all regions except four. But all four of those are dry regions that get wetter. So my guess is many residents of those regions would actually prefer that outcome because in general people are more worried about getting drier than wetter. Now, what the model shows may or may not be true in the real world. But if there is a single reason to really look at these technologies and evaluate them in experiments, its results like this that show you can reduce almost all or many of the major perturbations of climate without making any region significantly worse. Thats quite a thing. How would your planned real-world experiment, known as the Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment (SCoPEx), work? SCoPEx is a stratospheric balloon experiment to put aerosols in the stratosphere and measure their interaction over the first hours and the first kilometer or so after release in a plume. It involves a high-altitude balloon that will lift a gondola carrying a package of scientific instruments to an altitude of 20 kilometers. It will release a very small amount of materials such as ice, calcium carbonate (essentially powdered limestone) or sulfuric acid droplets known as sulfates. The gondola will be fitted with propellers that were originally made for airboats so that it can fly through the plume of released materials to take measurements. The amount of released material will be on the order of 1 kilogram, which is far too small to have any direct health or environmental impact once released. The goal is not to change climate or even to see if you can reflect any sunlight. The goal is simply to improve our models of the way aerosols form in the stratosphere, especially in plumes, which is very relevant for understanding how solar geoengineering would work. We hope to launch the experiment soon. But when and where that will happen depends on balloon availability and recommendations from an advisory committee. " " The planned Stratospheric Controlled Perturbation Experiment will send a balloon carrying scientific instruments in a gondola into the stratosphere. The instruments will release a small amount of material likely ice or mineral dust to form a kilometer-long plume of aerosol particles (left). Modified airboat propellers will allow the gondola to maneuver above the plume (middle) and lower instruments into the plume to take repeated measurements of how the particles spread through the stratosphere (right). ADAPTED FROM J.A. DYKEMA ET AL/PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A 2014 We know there are health risks related to sulfuric acid pollution in the lower atmosphere. Are there potential health risks from injecting sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere? Anything we put in the stratosphere will end up coming down to the surface, and that's one of the risks we must consider. A full-scale solar geoengineering program might involve injecting around 1.5 million tons of sulfur and sulfuric acid into the stratosphere per year. This could be done using a fleet of aircraft; roughly 100 aircraft would need to continuously fly payloads up to about 20 kilometers (12 miles) altitude. You would not be wrong to think this sounds crazy. We know that sulfuric acid pollution in the lower atmosphere kills many people every year, so putting sulfuric acid into the stratosphere is obviously a risk. But it's important to understand how much 1.5 million tons a year really is. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, in the Philippines, poured about 8 million tons of sulfur in one year into the stratosphere. It cooled the climate and had implications for all sorts of systems. Current global emissions of sulfur are about 50 million tons a year into the lower atmosphere, and that kills several million people every year from fine particulate air pollution. So the relative risk from solar geoengineering is fairly small, and it has to be weighed against the risk of not doing solar geoengineering. How quickly could a full-scale solar geoengineering program get off the ground? It could happen very fast, but all the ways it happens very fast are bad cases, basically where one country just jumps on it very quickly. It's obvious that what would be best is for countries not to just start doing it but to articulate clear plans and build in checks and balances and so on. If there were much wider research over the next half-decade to decade which is possible because attitudes really are changing then it's plausible that some coalition of countries could begin to inch toward real implementation with serious, visible plans that can be critiqued by the scientific community starting by the end of this decade. I don't expect it will happen that fast, but I think it's possible. How does geoengineering fit in with other efforts to combat climate change such as reducing fossil-fuel emissions and removing carbon from the air? The first, and by far the most important, thing we do about climate change is decarbonizing the economy, which breaks the link between economic activity and carbon emissions. There's nothing I can say about solar geoengineering that changes the fact that we have to reduce emissions. If we do not do that, we're done. Then carbon removal, which involves capturing and storing carbon that has already been emitted, could break the link between emissions and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Large-scale carbon removal really makes sense when emissions are clearly heading toward zero, and we're getting toward the harder chunk of the economy to mitigate. And then solar geoengineering is a thing that might partially and imperfectly weaken, but not break, the link between the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and climate changes changes in sea level, changes in extreme events, changes in temperature, etc. So if you look at the curve of overall greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, you can think of emissions cuts as flattening the curve. Carbon removal takes you down the other side of the curve. And then solar geoengineering can cut off the top of the curve, which would reduce the risk of the carbon dioxide that is in the air already. Some people think we should use it only as a get-out-of-jail card in an emergency. Some people think we should use it to quickly try to get back to a preindustrial climate. I'm arguing we use solar geoengineering to cut the top off the curve by gradually starting it and gradually ending it. " " David Keith envisions using multiple approaches to combat climate change. The red line shows how the impacts of climate change would worsen with a business-as-usual scenario of unabated burning of fossil fuels and other greenhouse gas emissions. Aggressively cutting emissions bends that curve, and removing carbon from the atmosphere offers further cuts, but there are still consequences from the already high levels of carbon dioxide. In this scenario, solar geoengineering would lessen the impact from existing atmospheric carbon dioxide, effectively carving the top off the curve. David Keith/Knowable Magazine Do you feel optimistic about the chances that solar geoengineering will happen and can make a difference in the climate crisis? I'm not all that optimistic right now because we seem to be so much further away from an international environment that's going to allow sensible policy. And that's not just in the U.S. It's a whole bunch of European countries with more populist regimes. It's Brazil. It's the more authoritarian India and China. It's a more nationalistic world, right? It's a little hard to see a global, coordinated effort in the near term. But I hope those things will change. This story originally appeared in Knowable Magazine and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalistic collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. (CNN) -- The Biden administration is withdrawing its Covid-19 vaccination and testing regulation aimed at large businesses, following the Supreme Court's decision to block the rule earlier this month. The US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday it will be withdrawing the vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard for businesses with 100 or more employees, according to a statement on the agency's website. "Although OSHA is withdrawing the vaccination and testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard, the agency is not withdrawing the ETS as a proposed rule. The agency is prioritizing its resources to focus on finalizing a permanent COVID-19 Healthcare Standard," the statement read. The withdrawal of the emergency temporary standard "does not affect the ETS's continuing status as a proposed rule," a US Department of Labor spokesperson told CNN in a statement. "OSHA is evaluating the record and the evolving course of the pandemic. OSHA has made no determinations at this time about when or if it will finalize a Vaccination and Testing rule. The agency intends to work expeditiously to issue a final standard that will protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 hazards," the spokesperson added. The decision comes less than two weeks after the Supreme Court blocked the rule, dealing a major blow to President Joe Biden's attempts to use the power of the federal government to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. OSHA's regulation required businesses with 100 or more employees to ensure their workers are fully vaccinated or undergo regular testing and wear face coverings at work. "After evaluating the Court's decision, OSHA is withdrawing the Vaccination and Testing ETS as an enforceable emergency temporary standard," OSHA wrote in a document set to be published in the Federal Register. "OSHA strongly encourages vaccination of workers against the continuing dangers posed by COVID-19 in the workplace," the agency also noted in its statement Tuesday. The withdrawal will be effective Wednesday, according to OSHA's statement. The President has emphasized the necessity of getting vaccinated against the virus for months and eventually decided to use the mandate on large employers as his main vehicle for convincing hesitant Americans to get their shots. In freezing a lower court opinion that allowed the regulation to go into effect nationwide, the Supreme Court majority sent a clear message that OSHA, charged with protecting workplace safety, had overstepped its authority. In contrast, the justices said that a separate agency could issue a rule to protect the health and safety of Medicare and Medicaid patients. The rule would have affected some 80 million individuals. There would have been exceptions for those with religious objections. The court allowed the vaccine policy rolled out in November by the US Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to take effect. It sought to require the Covid-19 vaccine for certain health care workers at hospitals, nursing homes and other facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. This story has been updated with additional reporting. The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. JOHNSONVILLE, S.C. Black vultures may have cost Teddy Bishop around $500. Bishop, who owns 118 head of cattle on a ranch off S.C. 341 between Johnsonville and Lake City, reported that he had discovered a dead young calf with eyes punched out, the telltale sign of a black vulture swarm. Black vultures swarm a young calf Calves are not afraid of vultures during their first three weeks of life and then attack its eyes or tongue in order to send the animal into shock and ultimately kill it so they can eat it. Or black vultures can injure the calf so severely that it has to be put down. Bishop said the young calf could have been worth up to $500 if it had grown to full size. Lee Van Vlake, the livestock agent for northeastern South Carolina at the Clemson Extension office, said he didnt want to use the word widespread to describe how black vultures were affecting the Pee Dee but added that there had been other instances. We have had several reports from different farmers from different locations of black vulture damage, Van Vlake said Wednesday afternoon. He said the loss of a calf would easily be $500 to a person raising them. The United States Department of Agriculture offers a black vulture damage management program but Bishop and other cattle ranchers cannot legally kill the black vultures to protect their calves, which are one of the states top 10 commodities. In 1918, the United States enacted the Migratory Birds Treaty Act, making it illegal to kill, take or possess a black vulture under penalty of a $15,000 fine and jail time of up to six months. The South Carolina Farm Bureau estimates that cattle produce $133 million of economic activity in the Palmetto State each year. You got to go through U.S. Fish and Wildlife or you can call the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, Van Vlake said. They have been helpful. There have been occasions where I think in other parts of the state where I think theyve come out and tried to help the farmer from an alleviation standpoint. But from the farmers perspective, theres not really anything they can do other than try to go through Fish and Wildlife and try to get a permit, which historically that has taken weeks. The Republican members of South Carolinas congressional delegation are looking to change that, though. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott and Reps. Tom Rice, Nancy Mace, Joe Wilson, Jeff Duncan and William Timmons signed onto a letter from Rep. Ralph Norman asking the Department of Fish and Wildlife to authorize a depredation order that allows black vultures to be killed under certain circumstances. Livestock producers in this great state are facing a frustrating issue of predatory vultures, and government should not stand in the way of them protecting their livestock and ultimately, their livelihood, Norman said in a media advisory provided by the Farm Bureau. I trust USFWS [Fish and Wildlife] will do the right thing and grant a depredation order for this situation in South Carolina. The well-being of our livestock is top priority for cattle farmers and they were left without a tenable solution to dealing with vultures, said Harry Ott, president of the South Carolina Farm Bureau Federation. We appreciate the support of these legislators in hearing the need and supporting this order that will be an important tool in a long-term solution to help protect cattle and calves. Van Vlake added that if the Fish and Wildlife Department approved the request, it would help in several aspects. 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. COLUMBIA, S.C. Unless there's a successful legal challenge, two Florence County precincts will be moving into the Seventh Congressional District. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill Tuesday afternoon that establishes the shape of the seven districts representing the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill moves Olanta and McAllister Mill from the Sixth District, currently represented by Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, into the Seventh District, currently represented by Republican Tom Rice. Parts of two other precincts, the portion of Hannah below U.S. 378 and a small rectangular part of Prospect, will also move into the Seventh District. The Sixth District adds the southeastern fourth of the precinct of Scranton. In total, this would mean that all of Darlington, Marion, Dillon, Marlboro and 56 and three-fourths of Florence County's 63 precincts would join Horry, Georgetown and Chesterfield in the Seventh District. The remaining six and a quarter Florence County precincts, Lake City Wards 1-4, Leo, High Hill and the southeastern fourth of Scranton, would be in the Sixth District. The changes to the congressional districts will be implemented for the Nov. 8 general election. There has already been a lawsuit filed by the NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union over the state's redistricting plan delays. That suit was amended when the South Carolina General Assembly approved and McMaster signed the bill for the General Assembly's new districts. 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. Two Texas brothers were arrested Sunday for allegedly beating their stepfather to death because they believed he was sexually abusing an underage family member, Pharr police said. Alejandro and Christian Trevino, along with their friend Juan Eduardo Melendez, all 18, were charged in connection with the death of 42-year-old Gabriel Quintanilla. Police said they found Quintanilla's body, which was badly beaten, in a McAllen field on Jan. 20. Pharr Police Chief Juan Gonzalez, speaking at a press conference posted on YouTube, said an underage girl related to Alejandro and Christian Trevino made an outcry earlier that day that Quintanilla had touched her inappropriately at an RV park. Gonzalez said the brothers became enraged when they learned about the accusations of sexual abuse and confronted their stepfather at their home. "A physical fight ensued between the three, and the victim, Quintanilla, left the location on foot," Gonzalez said. Police believe that Christian Trevino chased Quintanilla to a nearby apartment complex, where a second assault occurred involving the three suspects, the chief said. Melendez is accused of driving Alejandro Trevino to the second assault in a red Dodge Charger. Police said the three suspects then left Quintanilla, changed vehicles to a white Ford F-150 and drove back, where they found Quintanilla walking alone and injured. The three then assaulted Quintanilla a third time, using brass knuckles and causing severe head trauma. Police believe Quintanilla was placed in the bed of the truck and dropped in a field near the intersection of McColl and Walen roads. Police believe Quintanilla was alive at that time. Christian Trevino and Melendez, who are accused of delivering the fatal blows, were charged with capital murder, aggravated assault and engaging in organized criminal activity. Alejandro Trevino was charged with aggravated assault and engaging in organized criminal activity. Gonzalez said this case is complex with "a lot of moving parts," including multiple scenes and jurisdictions. He did not provide details on how investigators developed their theory of the case. *** (c)2022 the San Antonio Express-News Visit the San Antonio Express-News at www.mysanantonio.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Notable criminal justice reform discussion in draft 2020 Democratic Party Platform | Main | "Visualizing the racial disparities in mass incarceration" The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) which is a favorite new organization in part because they asked me to take a close look at the 1994 Crime Bill's sentencing provisions and because they recently produced a great report urging criminal justice reforms announced via this press release yesterday that they are launching an important and impressive new commission. Here are the details: The Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) today launched a national commission to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on the criminal justice system, develop strategies to limit outbreaks, and produce a priority agenda of systemic policy changes to better balance public health and public safety. Led by former U.S. Attorneys General Alberto Gonzales and Loretta Lynch, the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice will: Evaluate the pandemics impact on the four major sectors of the justice system (law enforcement, courts, corrections, and community programs); Identify the most effective ways to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and the impact of future pandemics on the proper functioning of the justice system, and on the people who work in and are served by it; and Establish a priority agenda of policies and practices that should change, or remain changed, based on what the pandemic and response have revealed about the systems fairness and effectiveness, particularly for communities of color. Given the serious health and safety risks created by the novel coronavirus, the Commission intends to work quickly, producing multiple interim reports before issuing final recommendations by the end of 2020. The Commission also welcomes and will seek input from a wide variety of outside experts and stakeholders. To submit written testimony, please visit the Commissions website here [and here]. Opportunities to give oral testimony will be provided at later date. Our response to the pandemic will shape society and the justice system for generations. Its critical that we learn from this crisis and make the right choices as we move ahead,said Commission Co-Chair Gonzales, who served as Attorney General under President George W. Bush. I look forward to working with Gen. Lynch and my other Commission colleagues to develop solutions that can make a difference immediately and well into the future. Our nations criminal justice system has not been exempt from the devastating impact of COVID-19, with longstanding issues and concerns rising to the fore, said Commission Co-Chair Lynch, who served as Attorney General under President Barack Obama. Now, more than ever, we need solutions anchored in facts, science, sound judgment, and trusted experience, and the widely respected members of this Commission are ideally qualified to produce them. The Commissions 14 members represent a diverse range of perspectives and experience. Commissioners include current and former justice system leaders, elected officials, advocates, a leading incarceration researcher, a directly impacted individual, and a top public health specialist.... At its opening meeting today, the Commission was presented with the first in a series of reports presenting new research on COVID-19 and criminal justice. The study by Richard Rosenfeld and Ernesto Lopez of the University of Missouri-St. Louis [available here], examined crime trends from 27 cities leading up to the pandemic and through June. It found that: Property and drug crime rates fell significantly, coinciding with stay-at-home mandates and business closings. Residential burglary dropped by 20% between February and June 2020. Larceny and drug offenses decreased by 17% and 57%, respectively, between March and June 2020. These declines reflect quarantines (residential burglary), business closings (larceny), and reduced police and street activity (drug offenses). One exception to the drop in property crime was commercial burglary, which spiked by 200% for a single week beginning in late May. The spike is likely associated with the property damage and looting at the start of nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd. Rates of violent crime showed little change early in the pandemic but began to increase significantly in late May. Homicides (37%) and aggravated assaults (35%) rose significantly in late May and June. The increases could be tied to diminished police legitimacy in the wake of protests after Floyds killing. Robbery rose significantly by 27% between March and June 2020. Domestic violence also rose, but the increase was not significantly greater than in previous years. In addition, the finding was based on data from only 13 of the cities studied, and thus requires further examination. The impacts of COVID-19 on the criminal justice system require rapid but rigorous analysis by a set of seasoned leaders and community stakeholders who understand the significance of this moment for the future well-being of our nation,said Commission Director Thomas Abt, a CCJ senior fellow who served as Deputy Director of Public Safety for New York State and as chief of staff to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs.Its essential that we provide justice system leaders wrestling with COVID-19s impacts with a roadmap based on evidence, data, and the wisdom of top experts. No organization is better positioned than CCJ to lead this vital effort. Spotlighting new research detailing increased post-release deaths for those placed in solitary confinement | Main | Will some (most? all?) federal prisoners transferred to home confinement be returned to prison after the pandemic ends? The title of this post is the title of this notable new report authored by a bunch of experts at Johns Hopkins. Here is the report's introduction: Since its recognition as a pandemic in early 2020, novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has touched nearly every corner of US society. However, some populations and environments have been affected far more severely than others. Vulnerable populations especially those subject to structural racism, discrimination due to disability, and financial insecurity tend also to be particularly susceptible to the economic consequences of and severe disease and death from COVID-19. In addition, the institutions, industries, and systems that are fundamentally important to our lives and our democracy have, in some cases, become places where severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spreads readily if allowed to gain a foothold. In these places, it can be difficult to prevent the introduction of the virus or control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 once it is introduced. The US criminal justice system is highly susceptible to the spread of COVID-19 because of the structure of carceral facilities, which propagates the spread of respiratory infections, and the comorbidities of many incarcerated individuals. The criminal justice system in the United States is not unique in its vulnerability to COVID-19; other systems and industries like nursing homes and long-term care facilities, manufacturing and meat processing facilities, and dormitories are similarly affected. However, many factors converge in the criminal justice system that make viral transmission both more possible and, in some cases, more dangerous than in many other environments. This report, from scholars at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is intended to summarize the current state and future projections of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, detail the impact that the pandemic has already had on the US criminal justice system, and provide evidence-based recommendations on how to reduce COVID-19 risks to people in the system. This document was requested by the National Commission on COVID-19 and the Criminal Justice System to inform their discussion and deliberation on this topic. Some notable recent commentary on modern carceral stories | Main | CCJ releases "Pandemic, Social Unrest, and Crime in U.S. Cities: Year-End 2021 Update" January 27, 2022 Oklahoma completes first execution of 2022 As reported in this AP piece, "Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for the brutal slayings of two hotel workers during a robbery in 2001." Here is more about the first execution completed in the United States in 2022: Donald Grant, 46, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was declared dead at 10:16 a.m. It was the first execution in the U.S. in 2022 and the third in Oklahoma since the state resumed lethal injections in October following a nearly seven-year hiatus.... Shirl Pilcher, the sister of one of Grant's victims, Brenda McElyea, said her family felt that justice had been served. Although Donald Grant's execution does not bring Brenda back, it allows us all to finally move forward knowing justice was served," Pilcher said after witnessing his execution. Grant had asked a federal judge to temporarily halt his execution, arguing that he should be reinstated as a plaintiff in a separate lawsuit challenging Oklahomas three-drug lethal injection protocol as presenting a risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering. But both a federal judge and a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver previously denied that request. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Grants request on Wednesday. Several Oklahoma death row inmates with pending execution dates have sought to delay their executions after John Grant convulsed on the gurney and vomited after receiving the first dose of midazolam, a sedative, during his October execution. John Grant's execution was the state's first since problems with the state's lethal injection protocols in 2014 and 2015 led to a de facto moratorium. Richard Glossip was just hours away from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realized they received the wrong lethal drug. It was later learned the same wrong drug had been used to execute an inmate in January 2015. The drug mix-ups followed a botched execution in April 2014 in which inmate Clayton Lockett struggled on a gurney before dying 43 minutes into his lethal injection and after the states prisons chief ordered executioners to stop. During a clemency hearing in November, Donald Grant admitted killing Brenda McElyea and Felicia Suzette Smith so that there would be no witnesses to his robbery of the Del City hotel. Court records show both women were shot and stabbed, and Smith was also bludgeoned. Prosecutors say both women also begged him to spare their lives before he killed them. During November's hearing, he expressed deep, sincere remorse and apologized for the killings, but the states Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 against recommending clemency.... Two of Donald Grant's attorneys, Susan Otto and Emma Rolls from the federal public defender's office, argued that he was mentally ill and had suffered brain damage that made him a candidate for mercy. They also discussed Grants childhood growing up in a New York City housing project during the crack epidemic of the 1980s, a time when he was frequently beaten and members of his family experienced alcoholism, drug addiction and mental illness. But the board also heard from members of McElyea's family, who tearfully urged them to reject clemency for him. January 27, 2022 at 12:54 PM | Permalink Comments Justice served. Posted by: Federalist | Jan 27, 2022 1:09:37 PM "During a clemency hearing in November, Donald Grant admitted killing Brenda McElyea and Felicia Suzette Smith so that there would be no witnesses to his robbery of the Del City hotel. Court records show both women were shot and stabbed, and Smith was also bludgeoned. Prosecutors say both women also begged him to spare their lives before he killed them." Then if Grant experienced pain during his execution, that's just too bad. Federalist is spot-on. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jan 27, 2022 1:56:08 PM Bill Otis: As you requested, on the 17th I made a lengthy reply to your query about my wrongful conviction, in the "No Justice, No Pleas" thread. Please confirm that you've read it and plan to give a full response there. Thanks. I apologize for the off-topic message in this thread, but I have no other way to get your attention. Posted by: Keith Lynch | Jan 27, 2022 5:41:15 PM Keith Lynch -- I have read it but do not plan a full response, or much of any response beyond this note. Your reply did not include the crucial thing one would need, to wit, a transcript of exactly what the judge said to you and what you said to the judge when you pleaded guilty. You also said that you signed court papers related toy your guilty plea without reading them, which, in a matter of such great importance, I find implausible. Overall, you provide a self-serving and almost entirely undocumented rendition of events 45 years ago which you concede you do not fully recall. You also seemed to suggest, but were hazy about it, that you kind of went along with the alleged police suggestion that you dreamed about committing the burglary. You acknowledge that the police gave you Miranda warnings, but very oddly you never asked for the questioning to cease or for a lawyer, even after the cops, according to your account, started to be tricky and manipulative in their treatment of you. I just find that hard to believe, and in no event would I try to reach a judgment hearing just one side of the story and without any of the relevant documentation. You also initially said that the Virginia higher courts accepted your innocence when you sought review, and denied your appeals only because you were out of time. You then took that back and admitted that the courts did not say anything about your (claim of) innocence. Can you see why that creates some doubts? Lastly, while some of what you say suggests to me that you're playing it straight (and some suggests otherwise), in no event do I OWE you a response, or any further involvement with your story. Your apparent contrary belief is incorrect. I don't know you, I'm not your lawyer, and I had no role in your difficulties, such as they may have been so long ago. As for the future, I wish you the best. Posted by: Bill Otis | Jan 27, 2022 6:13:33 PM > Your reply did not include the crucial thing one would need, > to wit, a transcript of exactly what the judge said to you > and what you said to the judge when you pleaded guilty. I was never provided with any such transcript. Today, I believe that most likely the only record was stenographic, that to get a transcript I would have had to pay money I didn't have, and that the stenographic record was probably destroyed decades ago. I could be mistaken, which is why I suggested you, who know much more about such things than I do, could try to find the record if it still exists. Maybe it's on PACER, I don't know. I certainly hope than in today's era of inexpensive disk space, that every court hearing is recorded in audio and video and preserved for the lifetime of everyone present. > You also said that you signed court papers related toy your > guilty plea without reading them, which, in a matter of such > great importance, I find implausible. You find it implausible that a young white person who had always lived in the suburbs and never been in trouble, and whose parents had never been in trouble, and whose only previous contact with police was being groomed by Officer Friendly in elementary school along with all my classmates, trusted the authorities? > Overall, you provide a self-serving and almost entirely > undocumented rendition of events 45 years ago which you concede > you do not fully recall. I recall the most important facts: That I was completely innocent, and that I trusted and cooperated fully with the authorities including my court-appointed lawyer, and that as a result I was falsely convicted of a felony. I also recall that I said that it was 44 years ago, not 45. Did you misremember what I said, or are you testing me? > You also seemed to suggest, but were hazy about it, that you > kind of went along with the alleged police suggestion that you > dreamed about committing the burglary. No, I did not. I didn't have those bad dreams until after my interrogation, and I never mentioned them to anyone until years later. The police never suggested anything about my dreams. > You acknowledge that the police gave you Miranda warnings, but > very oddly you never asked for the questioning to cease or > for a lawyer, even after the cops, according to your account, > started to be tricky and manipulative in their treatment of you. I didn't realize they were being tricky and manipulative until after the interrogation was over. I believed they were working in good faith, and that cops never lie. One rogue cop might lie until he was caught and fired, but certainly not several of them together. Not until much later did I realize that I had been mis-educated and they are in fact profoundly dishonest. If I'm ever called for jury duty, I would completely disregard all police testimony. Since you obviously don't trust them either, how did you work as a prosecutor? Aren't prosecutors, like all lawyers, forbidden from calling someone they don't trust as their witness? > I just find that hard to believe, and in no event would I try > to reach a judgment hearing just one side of the story and > without any of the relevant documentation. If I were as dishonest as you apparently think I am, wouldn't I provide fake documentation? These days, thanks to the Internet, it's easy to get examples of what such documentation looks like. To confirm that it was real, you'd have to check with courts, PACER, or other official sources. So why not simply do that in the first place? Arlington Courthouse, where most such records would presumably be, is within easy walking distance of your workplace. > You also initially said that the Virginia higher courts accepted > your innocence when you sought review, and denied your appeals > only because you were out of time. You then took that back and > admitted that the courts did not say anything about your (claim > of) innocence. Can you see why that creates some doubts? My exact wording was, "The Virginia courts did not dispute my proof, but said it was irrelevant due to being untimely, so my conviction stands." I stand by that. It's easy to confirm the existence of Virginia's infamous 21-day rule. It's true that I don't know for certain whether the lawyer Reisler hired attempted to appeal my case and was shot down by a court due to that rule, or whether he never filed in the first place because he knew that that would happen. What difference does it make? > Lastly, while some of what you say suggests to me that you're > playing it straight (and some suggests otherwise), in no event do > I OWE you a response, or any further involvement with your story. I never said otherwise. You were the one who asked for details on my case. I provided them. It would, however, be courteous, given that you have insinuated that I'm dishonest or at least mistaken, and implied that you're curious enough to read my responses and (presumably) check court records to see if I'm making it all up, to, after reading those records, post a public apology, or at least a confirmation that I am indeed telling the truth. > Your apparent contrary belief is incorrect. I don't know you, > I'm not your lawyer, I never asked you for any legal advice or services. > and I had no role in your difficulties, such as they may have > been so long ago. As for the future, I wish you the best. You had a role in the profoundly dysfunctional criminal justice system. Assuming you're a moral person, I'd think you'd want to know just how broken it is, if you don't already. Especially if, as Wikipedia claims, you're still teaching law. Changing the subject from my case to cases with defective plea-bargain allocutions in general, I refer you to the case of my friend Theodore William Wells, federal prisoner number 12561-050. He was coerced into pleading guilty to kidnapping, and was sentenced to ten years. I've seen a transcript of his allocution, and confirmed that it left out the element of preventing the alleged victim from leaving. Nobody ever claimed that she wasn't free to leave at any time. She arrived at Wells's home by Greyhound bus (crossing a state line), and the next day from Wells's house phoned friends to come and pick her up, which they did, using directions that Wells provided to them. Those facts are all undisputed. I'm sure you can easily find a copy of that defective allocution yourself. Given that you're interested in the legitimacy of plea bargains, please do so. Posted by: Keith Lynch | Jan 29, 2022 4:36:24 PM Post a comment The reported retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has provided President Joe Biden with his first opportunity to pick a member of the nations highest court. During his campaign, Biden promised to nominate a Black woman, and common sense and political history provide additional guidance about the type of people presidents usually select. But the media industrial complex needs fodder for opinion columns, regular people need stuff to talk about, and few Americans know enough about likely nominees (including D.C. Court of Appeals Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson or California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger) to satiate our collective desire for takes. Expect a frenzy of speculation to rival a vice presidential pick. When your neighbor or some Democratic pundit trying to go viral floats one of these names, you can feel safe ignoring it: Here is a list of people Joe Biden almost certainly wont name to the Supreme Court, and one person that he probably wont. Former President Barack Obama or former first lady Michelle Obama Both Obamas are lawyers not technically a requirement to serve on the Supreme Court, but a realistic one in the modern era and Barack Obama even served as a professor of constitutional law. Unfortunately, he is not a Black woman. Michelle Obama, of course, is a Black woman. But shes also a Black woman who, by all accounts, has tolerated rather than actively encouraged her husbands runs for electoral office and has tried to keep her political activity to a minimum despite her popularity. And with Supreme Court justices serving lifetime appointments, presidents of both parties have been skewing younger and younger with the nominations to the court. Michelle Obama is 58 seven years older than Brown-Jackson and 13 years older than Kruger. Not since the nomination of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993 has a president picked a justice so old. Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Clinton is not a Black woman. Shes also 74 years old, and remains one of the nations least popular political figures. Nominating Clinton would set GOP grassroots fundraising already strong ahead of the 2022 midterms absolutely aflame, and would likely motivate Republicans far more than Democrats. Story continues Attorney General Merrick Garland First of all, Garland is not a Black woman. And while his role as the stately sacrificial lamb to GOP partisanship in 2016 has made him a popular float for any pundit looking for a symbolic move to unite the country, Obama nominated Garland, a relative moderate, in 2016 in a bid to garner support from a GOP-controlled Senate. This time around, Biden will not necessarily need to win over GOP senators. While Democratic Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.) have made their willingness to buck the party line more than clear over the first year of Bidens presidency, both have also voted for every single one of Bidens judicial nominees so far. (Manchin, in particular, has given deference to presidents of both parties on judicial nominations.) At least one likely nominee, Jackson, has already won over some GOP senators, picking up votes from Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) when she was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2021. In addition, Garland is already doing a critical job and overseeing the governments prosecutions of Jan. 6 rioters, a process Biden will be reluctant to disrupt. Sens. Collins, Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) or John Kennedy (R-La.) We are now entering the portion of the program for pundits whose columns double as spec scripts for a reboot of The West Wing. Collins, Toomey and Kennedy are all Republican senators who represent states where a Democratic governor would have the power to select their replacement. In theory, moving one of them to the court could give Democrats the final vote they need to pass huge chunks of Bidens social and economic agenda. Lets state the obvious once again: None of these three people are Black women. And of the three, only Kennedy is a lawyer. Moreover, handing a Supreme Court seat to a Republican for a decade or more would not be worth the tradeoff to pass Bidens Build Back Better plan. (Democrats would still not be able to pass voting rights legislation, since both Manchin and Sinema oppose the legislation.) The Kentucky state legislature last year passed a law stripping the states Democratic governor of his ability to appoint replacement senators. This deprives us of what would have been the nuclear take: calling on Biden to appoint Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to the Supreme Court. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) or Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) Romney and Cheney are, at this point, the leaders of the Never Trump faction of Republican politics. This will, once again, make them popular suggestions for pundits who think the goal of a Supreme Court nomination should be to unite the country. (This take involves ignoring Cheney and Romneys widespread unpopularity among rank-and-file Republicans.) Also, neither is a Black woman. The Rock, Joe Rogan, Oprah Winfrey, Matthew McConaughey or any other celebrity Celebrities make some sense as political candidates: Since theyre already famous, they have an easy time hopping over the name identification barriers that snuff out many campaigns before they begin. They can usually quickly overcome one of the biggest barriers to winning office. But winning confirmation to the Supreme Court isnt about name identification polling indicates only three of the justices are known by more than half of Americans. Brandeis University professor Anita Hill There would be poetic vengeance to Biden nominating Hill, the law professor who accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearings three decades ago. The Senate voted to confirm the conservative Thomas anyway, and it is now widely accepted in Democratic circles that the Senate and Biden in particular mistreated Hill and mishandled her allegations. As a law professor and a Black woman, Hill meets the qualifications more than most of the other candidates floated here. But shes 65 years old. And while Biden called her to apologize for her treatment before launching his presidential bid, relations between the two remain frosty at best. Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams Abrams, as one of the most prominent Black women in Democratic politics, is also likely to be a subject of speculation. She is young enough, at 48 years old. While she is a lawyer, she has checked off different career boxes than most recent Supreme Court nominees, who have tended to work as law professors, lawyers in the Justice Department or White House, and as judges. More importantly, however, Abrams has made it clear over the years that her goal is to become governor of Georgia. After narrowly losing in 2018, she passed on runs for Senate and potential jobs in Bidens cabinet to prepare for another run in 2022. Still, a member of the Abrams family could get the job: Abrams sister, Leslie Abrams Gardner, is a federal district judge in Georgia and is considered a potential sleeper pick for the nomination. Vice President Kamala Harris This pick will be almost impossible for Aaron Sorkin-imitating pundits to ignore. Not only do they get to suggest a seemingly unlikely Supreme Court justice, they also get to suggest someone equally implausible to replace her as vice president. Even more tempting for an idea-starved op-ed writer, Harris background as a prosecutor and California attorney general would make her a plausible candidate for a Supreme Court seat even if she had never won election to the Senate or the vice presidency. Adding to the speculation, there exists a coterie of Democratic operatives and strategists who are convinced that Biden needs to find a way to remove Harris as his successor, believing she could not win the presidency herself. (This is despite the fact that Harris approval ratings have closely tracked with Bidens not-great approval ratings throughout his time in office.) However, Harris aged 57 would be the oldest nominee to the high court since Ginsburg. Furthermore, nominating her would set up a series of high-stakes, politically risky maneuvers. Depending on the timing of her resignation, Democrats would be without her tie-breaking vote in the Senate for a crucial length of time. Biden would then need to find a replacement vice president acceptable to the entire party, then navigate that person through a Congress-wide confirmation vote. Still, if Harris actually wanted the job, she might be able to get it. But all signs suggest she doesnt: The White House signaled on Wednesday afternoon that the Supreme Court nominee would be someone currently serving as a judge. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related... Plastic bag and shopping trolley. (PHOTO: Getty Images) SINGAPORE The National Environment Agency (NEA) on Thursday (27 January) invited the public to share their views on a proposal for supermarkets to impose a minimum 5 to 10 cents charge for each plastic bag taken at check-out counters. NEA is proposing for the mandatory plastic bag charge at supermarkets to take effect by the first half of 2023. Under the charging model, supermarket operators would stipulate a minimum charge per bag, with the charge proportional to the number of disposable carrier bags taken. The charge would only apply to purchases made at supermarket outlets and not online grocery purchases. This is to strike a balance between nudging shoppers to reduce the number of disposable carrier bags they take and minimising the cost impact on shoppers who make large purchases and lower-income households, NEA said on the proposal. The aim is to promote the use of reusable bags and help reduce the amount of disposable carrier bags taken in Singapore. A bag charge in Singapore will contribute towards the objective in the Singapore Green Plan 2030 to reduce the amount of waste to landfill per capita per day by 20 per cent by 2026 and 30 per cent by 2030. In 2019 and 2020, households and trade premises in Singapore threw away about 200,000 tonnes of disposables each year, with disposable bags making up about two-thirds of this. When developing the policy proposal for the plastic bag charge at supermarkets, NEA consulted over 1,000 stakeholders and studied the experiences of other countries. Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to commute Leonard Peltiers prison sentence and let the Native American rights activist finally go home. I commend your administrations commitment to righting past wrongs in our criminal justice system. In continuing that work as you consider recommendations for individuals to receive clemency, I write to urge you to grant a commutation of Leonard Peltiers sentence, Schatz wrote to Biden in a new letter obtained by HuffPost. Mr. Peltier meets appropriate criteria for commutation: (1) his old age and critical illness, (2) the amount of time he has already served, and (3) the unavailability of other remedies, the Democratic senator said. Mr. Peltier should be granted a commutation of his sentence. Heres a copy of Schatzs letter: A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schatzs letter. Its been 45 years since the FBI and U.S. Attorneys Office put Peltier in prison without any evidence that he committed a crime. He is now 77 and has serious health problems, including diabetes and an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Last week, Peltier told HuffPostthat his prison facilitys prolonged COVID-19 lockdowns and failure to provide inmates with booster shots has left him and likely others unbearably isolated and preparing for death. Im in hell, he said in a statement, and there is no way to deal with it but to take it as long as you can. Peltier is serving out two life sentences for the 1975 murders of two FBI agents during a shootout on a Native American reservation something he has long said he didnt do, even when it meant he could have been paroled if hed said he did. His trial was riddled with misconduct, and even the U.S. attorney who helped put Peltier in prison so long ago is now pleading with Biden to grant him clemency because, he says, federal officials never had evidence that he committed a crime. Story continues Leonard Peltier, now 77 and ailing, meets the criteria for having his prison sentence commuted, said Senate Indian Affairs Committee chair Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). (Photo: Associated Press) His imprisonment has drawn protests from an astounding mix of international human rights leaders, including Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela and Coretta Scott King. Elected tribal leaders and the National Congress of American Indians have passed resolutions urging clemency. Biden is likely Peltiers last chance at going home before he dies in prison. Schatz is the second U.S. senator calling for Peltiers release from prison. In November, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the former longtime chair of the Judiciary Committee and the longest-serving member of the Senate, didnt hesitate at all when HuffPost asked if its time to release Peltier. Do you know who Peltier is? Yes. The Native American activist whos been in prison? For decades? Yes. Is it time for him to be released? Yes. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. Related... Downtown Omaha would see a stunning new high rise corporate headquarters and the long-discussed midtown streetcar line would become a reality with no projected tax increase under a blockbuster development plan announced by Mutual of Omaha and Mayor Jean Stothert. Mutual of Omaha will reshape the downtown skyline with its planned skyscraper headquarters that could become the citys tallest. An architects concept rendering depicts a glassy 40-plus story building rising above the block currently occupied by the downtown library at 14th and Douglas Streets. The tower would sit along the route of a three-mile city streetcar line that would run from the University of Nebraska Medical Center to Omahas riverfront. The mayor said rides on the streetcar will be free. Stothert said vetted projections show the $225 million cost of building the streetcar system would be completely paid for by using tax-increment financing, harnessing the new property tax dollars generated by new developments along the line. Those new developments would include not only the new Mutual headquarters but the sizable redevelopment of Mutuals current midtown campus once the company vacates it to move its 4,000-employee Omaha workforce downtown. Its the right time for Omaha to support a streetcar, Stothert said. Mutual of Omahas plan to build a new downtown headquarters is the first example of what is possible, and why now is the time. The momentum we have to change our urban core forever is undeniable. Indeed, while a number of rounds of city approvals are ahead over the next year, the plans jointly announced Wednesday by Stothert and Mutual of Omaha CEO James Blackledge carry the potential to visually and economically transform the landscape of both downtown and midtown Omaha. The new Mutual tower will be the first significant addition to downtown Omahas skyline in almost a generation. There also may never have been a bigger single infusion of workers into Omahas downtown core. And at a time businesses across the nation are crying out for skilled workers, Mutual and the city said the new developments will attract young professionals, talent and other new businesses into Omahas urban core. It about knocked me off my feet, Stothert said of the first time she saw an image of Mutuals new building. We knew that site was prime real estate, and we knew whatever was going to go there had to be something really great. Because in the future when you see the skyline or picture of Omaha, this is what you're going to see. Plans call for construction to begin on both projects by next year, with both open and functioning by 2026. While the two proposals are not technically linked, Blackledge said the citys commitment to a modern streetcar line was critical to the decision of the Fortune 500 company to locate in the heart of downtown. Not only does Mutual value having its new headquarters on the line, he said, the streetcar system brings enhanced financial value to the redevelopment of its current campus. Not only does that assure the midtown area will be viable without Mutuals workforce, he said, it helps make possible the downtown skyscraper that will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to build. Stothert agreed the two plans work in tandem. James has made it very clear that they would not be able to build this tower . . . if the streetcar wasn't part of the plan, she said. That's why this is so important to announce these together. Proposals to build an Omaha streetcar system date back a quarter century to the administration of then-Mayor Hal Daub. But the lack of a plan to pay the massive cost of building the system has kept the idea from ever getting on track. Stothert on Wednesday unveiled a streetcar financing and route plan that was developed in recent years by a Greater Omaha Chamber working group dedicated to enhancing Omahas urban core. The streetcar system will primarily run east and west along Farnam and Harney Street and will be bookended by two major developments that are in the works: the $400 million riverfront parks and science museum to the east; and UNMCs $2.6 billion Project NExT medical facility to the west. But Stothert said its the new private developments in between that will be the key to paying for both the systems construction and ongoing operating costs. Everywhere streetcars have been built, they have attracted private development along the route that tends to exceed expectations, Stothert said. The city expects extraordinary development along the streetcar line, she said. The city will then use tax-increment financing, or TIF, to capture a portion of the enhanced property tax dollars generated by the new developments to pay the startup costs for the streetcar system. Under TIF, the extra tax money from such projects is diverted to underwrite the redevelopment efforts, rather than boosting the property tax revenue that supports schools and other local governments. While the estimated cost of building and launching the streetcar system is estimated at $225 million, Stothert said federal guidelines call for a 35% contingency in case of unexpected costs, so the city would need to raise $306 million. But she said that should be more than covered by an estimated $354 million in generated TIF dollars. Those dollars come from three pots. New developments on three blocks either side of the streetcar would contribute 25% of their TIF proceeds. That element alone is projected to generate $218 million. Under authority it has under state law, the city also plans to extend the timeline of already existing TIF projects along the route from the current 15 years to 20 years. Those five additional years of payments would generate $50 million. The third part will come from existing properties that see increased valuations within a special TIF district that will be established by the city, raising $86 million. Stothert said the city will issue special revenue bonds and private placement bonds to pay for the systems construction. The buyers of those bonds will be paid back over time by the TIF taxes paid each year by property owners. The buyers of the bonds assume any risks with their investment, leaving little or no risk for taxpayers, she said. Stothert said the city had the chamber groups finance plan vetted both by a finance team at First National Bank of Omaha and the citys bond counsel. She said both affirmed that it can be funded without any kind of tax increase. If as expected there are additional TIF funds left after payments to bondholders, she said those dollars could be put to other good uses, including developing affordable housing, the cost of converting one-way downtown streets to two-way and improved pedestrian access. Then theres the estimated $6.4 million cost of operating the system annually. Stothert said that would be covered by parking revenues related to the new developments, including new parking garages planned along the streetcar route. Given the lack of risk to taxpayers with the vetted plan, Stothert said she is comfortable going forward without first seeking some kind of voter approval an element she has previously said a streetcar plan would need to have to earn her support. I understood the value of a streetcar, but nobody has told me how to pay for it and how to operate and maintain it without a tax increase, she said. The urban core committee has presented a funding plan to me that works. Stothert said the streetcar system would be run as a city enterprise, overseen by a new city authority whose representatives would be appointed by the city, Metro Transit and the chamber. Since the city owns the system, Stothert said it makes sense for the city to operate it, with Metro as a partner. She said Metro officials have signed on to that plan. All the elements of the plans are just proposals at this point, subject to City Council approval, Stothert said. The first elements of the plan could go to the council by March. I truly believe that this is the right thing for all of Omaha and truly the right thing for downtown right now, Stothert said. And it's going to be of great benefit to the city now and far, far into the future. One of the key developments along the streetcar route will be the new Mutual tower. Mutual's new headquarters will arguably be the first major addition to the downtown Omaha skyline since Union Pacific announced its headquarters building in 2001, which opened in 2004. First National Tower, which at 45 stories is the citys tallest building, was announced in 1998 and opened in 2002. While the current library site has been discussed previously as a possible redevelopment site, it was only within the last four months that Mutual emerged as a potential occupant for that block, Stothert and Blackledge said. Mutual for years has been studying its facilities needs and a potential new headquarters. Mutual was approached a year ago by developer Jason Lanoha, who proposed Mutual build its new headquarters downtown. The developers focus, though, was putting the tower on the long-vacant block at 14th and Dodge where Union Pacific had its former headquarters. Lanoha also suggested that Mutual ask the city if it would be willing to reroute its developing streetcar system to include the new headquarters site along its path. So Mutual approached the city in September with just such a plan. At the time, the city was in the process of relocating the downtown library and considering a half dozen potential developments for the site. Rather than mess with the streetcar route, the city instead offered up the library site to Mutual. Stothert credits the city economic development team of Troy Anderson and Kevin Andersen with hatching the idea, which she endorsed. We just felt like Mutual had a plan, it was viable and they were ready, she said. And I love that they have Omaha in their name. The rendering of the new headquarters released Wednesday shows a glass tower more than 40 stories tall. That makes it similar in size to the First National Tower. Blackledge said the exact number of floors wont be known until Mutual completes an ongoing study of its space needs in a post-pandemic world, when its believed many workers will continue to work remotely or in hybrid ways. But given the size of Mutuals current campus and Omaha workforce, he said, he believes the new building will be on the scale of the First National Tower or taller. Just what takes shape in the redevelopment of Mutuals current midtown campus will be up to the developer, though Mutual officials say they foresee the possibility of housing, corporate offices and retail, either in existing buildings or new ones. In addition to its campus, Mutual developed the neighboring Midtown Crossing complex and owns land between Turner Park and Interstate 480 that is primed for development. Blackledge said the tower is the chance to create an inspiring workplace for Mutuals workers while contributing to making downtown Omaha vital. He said hes excited that the new building will face Omahas new downtown and riverfront park redevelopment. We are inspired by the energy in downtown Omaha, he said, and recognize the importance of a vibrant urban core for the citys future. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 HAWARDEN, Iowa -- You aren't likely to hear Hawarden's breakfast crowd complaining about there being too many cooks in the kitchen. Since a fire destroyed downtown fixture Central Cafe last month, local residents missed owner Jen McVay's breakfasts and lunches. But just hours after the fire, McVay had an offer to resume cooking and serving food at Rooster's Midwest restaurant a block down the street. After taking some time away to settle insurance claims and ponder her future plans, McVay returned to the kitchen last week. It may be a different location and she may be sharing the space, but her regulars are once again streaming in to enjoy breakfast and conversation over coffee. "They're back again," McVay said. "They come in the kitchen and say hi and tell me they're happy we're back." Hawarden residents must have thought that prospect looked grim when waking up the day after Christmas and learning that McVay's building, which had housed a cafe for decades at 815 Central Ave., had burned down after catching fire sometime around 2 a.m. As the morning wore on, Rooster's opened to serve coffee to the firefighters and emergency personnel who had responded to the blaze. McVay sat at a table with Annie Krug, who along with husband, Todd, owns Rooster's and happens to be an aunt of McVay's husband, Chad. "I made a joke to her, can I just work for you?" said McVay, recalling their conversation. The joke quickly led to more a serious discussion. "We were just kind of joking around and she didn't know what to do and I told her to get up and start cooking," Annie Krug said. "It was a joke at first, and we started talking more and I said you could come in here, it's not going to affect my hours." By the end of the day, it was more or less decided: while McVay got her feet back under her, she'd move down the street to 704 Central Ave. and run her cafe out of Krug's kitchen. There's now another cook in Krug's kitchen, and the arrangement couldn't work any better. McVay previously offered breakfast and lunch, closing at 2 p.m. Rooster's served dinner only from 5 p.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. McVay has altered her offerings, serving only breakfast from 5 a.m. to noon Monday through Saturday. She's done cooking and cleaning up by the time Krug is getting ready for the dinner crowd. "It's really perfect timing. She still has time to get ready," McVay said. "It's not really a competition. It's more like two restaurants teamed up to serve the community." And that's the key here: they're doing it more out of a feeling of obligation to the community than for their own personal interests. Every small town's main street business is important, and they can't afford to lose one, Krug said. "This is the place everybody goes for breakfast. There is no other place to go," Krug said. "It's hard keeping businesses open on main street in a little town as it is," said Krug, who said she would have made the same offer even if McVay's husband wasn't a relative. McVay, who owned Central Cafe for two and a half years, was unable to salvage anything from her building, which collapsed into the basement during the fire. The fire's cause has not been determined, and cleanup has been delayed while state regulators check for asbestos, but McVay plans to rebuild. It's been a stressful time, but Krug's offer to get back in the kitchen has helped put a smile back on her face, especially when her regulars once again pack the dining area. "I don't want to stay at home and do nothing. I want to get moving," McVay said. "When we reopened, I'm not thinking about the fire anymore, I'm thinking about the future." A future in which she's once again the only cook in her kitchen. 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. ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- A Granville, Iowa, woman must serve 30 days in jail and probation for injuring her 11-month-old son. Christina Fivecoate Champion, 21, pleaded guilty Jan. 8 in Sioux County District Court to amended counts of child endangerment, substantial risk causing bodily injury, a Class D felony, and child endangerment, substantial risk, an aggravated misdemeanor. As part of a plea agreement, the charges were amended from two counts of child endangerment causing serious injury, both Class C felonies. Following terms of the plea agreement, District Judge Steven Andreasen sentenced Fivecoate Champion to a year in jail and suspended all but 30 days of the sentence on the misdemeanor charge. Andreasen ordered a deferred judgment on the felony charge and placed Fivecoate Champion on two years' probation. She must obtain mental health and substance abuse evaluations, successfully complete parenting classes and pay a $1,025 civil penalty. Authorities were contacted in September after Fivecoate Champion brought her son to the hospital for a dislocated elbow she told medical staff occurred when the child caught his arm between crib rails when falling in his crib. Medical staff determined the injury was not consistent with an accident, and an exam also revealed several fractures in the child's arm. Doctors determined the child's injuries indicated an ongoing pattern of abuse and were inflicted, not accidental. After the child was treated and discharged, the Iowa Department of Human Services placed him into foster care. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 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. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Sioux City man charged with entering the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection has waived a preliminary hearing in his case and will remain on pretrial release. U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey on Thursday reviewed the conditions of release for Kenneth Rader, reminding him that he is prohibited from possessing any controlled substances. Harvey scheduled a status hearing for April 5 in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. Rader, 53, is charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, disorderly conduct in a capitol building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building. He appeared at the brief hearing, which took place in Washington, D.C., via a Zoom video conference with his attorney, federal public defender Brad Hansen. Rader also must clear up a Dakota County, Nebraska arrest warrant, in which he is wanted for failing to appear in court for a Jan. 19 sentencing hearing on a criminal mischief charge stemming from a Sept. 13 incident in which he drove across a soybean field near Jackson and caused less than $500 in crop losses. The FBI arrested Rader Jan. 20 in Sioux City in connection on his federal charges. He was released from custody later that day. Rader is charged with illegally entering the Capitol during the insurrection, in which hundreds of supporters of former president Donald Trump were protesting the results of the November 2020 election in which Joe Biden had defeated Trump. The mob gathered outside the Capitol before hundreds of protesters broke into the building in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the electoral college results declaring Biden the winner. According to court documents, security footage shows Rader, dressed in a blue "Trump 2020" hoodie, entering the Capitol through the Senate wing door that had already been broken by protesters. Once inside, Rader stood near a broken window, spoke with several unidentified men and then exited, spending about three minutes inside the Capitol. Just two days after the insurrection, a family member tipped the FBI to Rader's alleged participation in the event, telling agents that Rader had shared videos of himself on the Capitol grounds and inside the building. A complaint filed Jan. 11 said the FBI confirmed Rader's presence in Washington through cellphone records and video footage of him inside the Capitol. In an interview with FBI agents, two of Rader's relatives identified him as the person shown in screen shots of the video footage and in a photo taken outside the Capitol. According to court documents, Rader told FBI agents during a September interview that he had attended the Jan. 6 rally but never entered the Capitol. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 2 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. SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux Falls man previously convicted of a sex offense in Woodbury County was sentenced Wednesday to more than 15 years in federal prison for possession of child pornography. Ricardo Castillo Jr., 64, pleaded guilty in August in U.S. District Court in Sioux City to one count of receipt of child pornography. He was sentenced to 183 months in prison and must pay $9,000 in restitution to victims. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Sioux City police investigated Castillo, who admitted that he used his work computer to receive and possess child pornography from July 2017 through January 2019. A forensic examination of his computer and hard drive revealed at least 4,000 images of child pornography, which Castillo attempted to delete when confronted by law enforcement. Castillo was convicted of lascivious acts with a child in 1991 in Woodbury 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. SIOUX CITY -- Paul Gausman, who has led the Sioux City school district for the last 13 years, has emerged as one of four finalists for the superintendent's job in the Lincoln, Nebraska Public Schools. Gausman, Iowa's second-highest-compensated public school executive, is seeking the position as he faces increased scrutiny by a school board led since last fall by Dan Greenwell, a longtime critic of his administration. A Fremont, Nebraska native, Gausman has ties to Lincoln, where he graduated from the University of Nebraska with a bachelor's in music education and played drums in the Cornhuskers marching band. "It is an honor to be a finalist for the position of superintendent of the Lincoln Public Schools," Gausman said in a statement Wednesday. "Nebraska is my home state. The opportunity to consider returning to my Nebraska roots, to serve education in a community where I spent much of my early professional career and continue serving students in a large Midwestern district were opportunities I felt I could not ignore. "I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished in the Sioux City Community School District, and I know we can achieve even more together. Yet, I am also compelled to consider additional and equally viable paths for my professional future. Whether in Sioux City or Lincoln, I remain committed to ensuring that all students receive a remarkable and lasting education." Gausman was previously a finalist for the superintendent job at Omaha Public Schools in March 2017. But he and the other remaining finalist both removed themselves two days before one was to be picked to head the 51,000-student district. In a joint statement at the time, Gausman and Khalid Mumin, then-superintendent of Reading School District in Pennsylvania, said they felt neither gained support from the Omaha board of education. The Lincoln board of education named its four finalists at Tuesday night's board meeting, which marked another step in its process to find a replacement for the most-recent superintendent, Steve Joel, 67, who announced in September that he will retire after the end of the school year after more than 11 years at LPS. The other three candidates to make it as far as Gausman are: * Jami Jo Thompson, superintendent of Norfolk Public Schools. * Antwan Wilson, an assistant professor of education at Nebraska Wesleyan University and chief executive officer of Schoolwise Educational Consulting. * Peter Licata, a regional superintendent of the Palm Beach County school district in Boca Raton, Florida. Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, the Illinois-based superintendent consulting firm heading up the district's search, presented the shortlist of candidates to board members Tuesday. The slate is based off recommendations from the search firm, but board members ultimately had the final say on who made the cut. "It's a great slate," board president Connie Duncan told the Lincoln Journal Star. "We're very impressed with all of them. They all bring great characteristics to the community." The board will interview the four finalists on Feb. 1 and Feb. 4 and each candidate will meet with students, staff, parents and community members. The public also is invited to hear from each candidate at public town halls Feb. 1 and Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m. at LPS district office, which will also be livestreamed. There will be no public comment at the meetings, but an online survey will be available. The board expects to name a new superintendent at its Feb. 22 meeting. Gausman served as the superintendent of the West Central School District in Hartford, S.D. prior to being named in 2008 as superintendent of the Sioux City district, the third-largest in the state with about 15,000 students and over 2,000 employees. Earlier in this career, he also was coordinator of middle school education and coordinator of fine and performing arts for the Sioux Falls School District. He also served as director of bands at Millard West High School in Omaha and marching percussion instructor for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Gausman, who earned his master's in administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and doctorate in educational leadership from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, as named one of three finalists for the National Superintendent of the Year from the National Association of School Superintendents in 2018 and was the 2014 Iowa Superintendent of the Year as recognized by the School Administrators of Iowa. In December, Gausman was selected to lead the Urban Superintendents Association of America, a group of more than 150 public school superintendents who serve mid-size urban districts in the United States and Canada. As the Sioux City superintendent, Gausman has been lauded for his leadership as the district replaced its aging middle and elementary schools and improved benchmarks such as literacy rates and test scores. In recent years, he has clashed with Greenwell and some other board members over the budget, administrative salaries and some other issues. Counting insurance benefits, a travel stipend, retirement fund contributions and dues for professional organizations, Gausman's annual compensation totals $351,999. In fiscal 2021, that was the second most for a public school superintendent in Iowa, behind only the $408,133 for Tom Aharton, superintendent of the Des Moines district, the state's largest, according to a Journal analysis of public data. Finalists to be LPS' next superintendent Name: Paul Gausman Current position: Superintendent, Sioux City Community School District Location: Sioux City, Iowa Name: Peter Licata Current position: South regional superintendent, Palm Beach County School District Location: Boca Raton, Florida Name: Jami Jo Thompson Current position: Superintendent, Norfolk Public Schools Location: Norfolk Name: Antwan Wilson Current position: Assistant professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University and CEO of Schoolwise Educational Consulting Location: Lincoln Lincoln Public Schools began accepting applications for superintendent in November, followed by public forums, an online survey and meetings with various focus groups -- such as students, teachers and parents -- to gauge community feedback. That input then was summarized in a 22-page leadership profile report -- essentially a road map for finding the ideal candidate -- presented to the board at its Jan. 11 meeting. Wilson, a Lincoln native, is a graduate of Lincoln High and previously served as the superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District in California. In 2017, he became the chancellor of the 48,000-student school system in Washington, D.C., but was forced to resign after a little more than a year amid controversy over the district's competitive school lottery process. The controversy came after it was learned that Wilson's daughter was improperly transferred to one of the district's top-achieving public schools over other students on a wait list, violating a policy he put in place. Wilson later said he'd told an official about the transfer months before his resignation, which the official denied. Thompson, another candidate with Nebraska ties, previously worked for Beatrice Public Schools as a special education teacher, staff development coordinator and director of student programs before becoming the Norfolk superintendent in 2013. She earned her bachelor's in special education and master's and doctorate in administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Licata is the lone finalist selected from outside the Midwest. The native of South Florida served as superintendent of the Palm Beach County school district's South Region, which serves 65,000 students. He was previously a teacher, principal, curriculum director and assistant superintendent in Florida. Contact the writer at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @zach_hammack Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Like many, 38-year-old father and seafood butcher Ryan Wilson has come to believe COVID-19 is probably never fully going away. Itll become endemic and well be stuck with it forever, he says. Its frustrating, but what can you do about it? Many Americans agree that they're going to be stuck with it forever or, at the least, for a long time. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that few just 15% say theyll consider the pandemic over only when COVID-19 is largely eliminated. By contrast, 83% say theyll feel the pandemic is over when its largely a mild illness. Three large new studies from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlight the importance of getting a booster shot to provide the best protection against the Omicron coronavirus variant. This is the first real-life data to examine the effect of boosters against Omicron, which now accounts for more than 99% of coronavirus cases in the United States. The studies, released Friday, raise the question of whether people with just two vaccine doses should still be considered fully vaccinated. A "stealthier" version of the omicron variant that has been spotted in the United States and dozens of other countries is being closely monitored by health officials and scientists. The variant, called BA.2, has genetic traits that make it somewhat more difficult to detect, and some experts fear it may also be more contagious than that original omicron variant, CBS News reported. Nearly 15,000 genetic sequences of BA.2 have been uploaded since November by nearly 50 countries to a global platform for sharing coronavirus data, including 96 sequences from the United States. BA.2 appears to be more common in Asia and Europe and accounted for 45 percent of all COVID-19 cases in Denmark in mid-January compared with 20 percent two weeks earlier. A federal judge has dismissed two of four claims in a lawsuit filed by an Iowa man against Sarpy County, alleging that his constitutional rights were violated after he was shot in the eye by a pepper ball while observing a May 2020 Omaha protest after George Floyd was killed. U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher dismissed the 14th Amendment and negligence claims while upholding the First Amendment claim. Sarpy County did not seek to dismiss a claim related to the Fourth Amendment. Adam Keup filed the federal lawsuit against Sarpy County, Sheriff Jeff Davis and four deputies in August after he initially filed a tort claim against the county. The lawsuit claims that the deputies were not trained to use pepper ball guns and acted unreasonably by exacting excessive force. Keups right eye is barely functional because of a blind spot and a torn sclera, which causes additional problems such as double vision. He also has said he has suffered emotional pain and works with a therapist to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident. Keup is seeking an unspecified amount of money to pay for his medical care and cover compensatory and punitive damages and attorneys fees. Similarly, in Lincoln, a federal judge also allowed a civil rights lawsuit filed by Elise Poole to proceed against the Lincoln Police Department and the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office. Poole was struck in the face by a projectile during a May 31, 2020, protest. Magistrate Judge Cheryl Zwart dismissed two claims, but paved the way for three more filed by Poole to continue in U.S. District Court. Keup and his partner had gone to the first night of Omahas protests at 72nd and Dodge streets on May 29, 2020, about 11:30 p.m. His partner, Grady Brodigan, had wanted to take photos of the lingering demonstration, and Keup stood on a sidewalk on Cass Street near 72nd, about 100 feet from law enforcement and peaceful protesters. Keup said that, as his partner took photographs, four Sarpy County sheriffs deputies wearing riot gear walked through the Walgreens parking lot toward him. One deputy raised a pepper ball gun and fired hitting him in the right eye and in the shoulder. Keup fell to the ground and deputies grabbed him and flushed his eye with water without his consent, according to the lawsuit, causing more pain. Attorneys for Sarpy County argued that because Keup was standing idly when he was hit, he was not involved in any expressive conduct that the First Amendment would protect. Judge Buescher disagreed, saying that prior case law has demonstrated a constitutional right to record and observe police activity in public. (T)he ability to watch and assist in taking photographs of a protest is activity protected by the First Amendment, Buescher wrote in his 15-page order. When Keup was observing the protest and assisting his partner in photographing the event, he was engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment. But Buescher rejected the 14th Amendment claim because of redundancy with the First and Fourth Amendment claims and dismissed the negligence claim, agreeing with Sarpy County that the government is entitled to sovereign immunity. Sovereign immunity bars Keups claim of negligence against Sarpy County and Sheriff Davis in his official capacity, the judge wrote. Davis personal attorney, Jeff Kirkpatrick, said he was pleased with the judges order because it simplifies the lawsuit and got rid of some unnecessary claims. It does simplify things going forward for discovery and trying to resolve the matter, Kirkpatrick said. Robert Keith, an attorney representing the county, declined to comment because of the pending litigation. Keups attorney, Brian Fahey, said in a statement that he and Keup were content with the judges order. We are very pleased the court recognized Adams First Amendment right to observe police and protest activity at the moment he was shot without warning, Fahey wrote. We will continue demanding accountability for Adams disabling injury as his case progresses. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 It was already clear that public officials who were part of a months-long dive into Nebraska criminal justice data weren't all on board with every resulting idea for policy reform. But a public hearing on a bill informed by that process Wednesday further showcased those divides. Legislative Bill 920, introduced by State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, contains a range of efforts aimed at spending state money more wisely and reducing prison overcrowding and recidivism. Lathrop chairs the Judiciary Committee and co-chaired the working group that produced the ideas. That process was facilitated by the nonprofit Crime and Justice Institute. A recent World-Herald analysis of national corrections data shows Nebraska has now surpassed Alabama to become the state with the nations most overcrowded prison system. Past legislative efforts have done little to alleviate that pressure. Lathrop has long referred to this moment as a crossroads for the state's criminal justice system, where it can decide to "build its way out" or enact reforms. On Wednesday, he referenced a chart with prison population projections and what prison capacity would be if the Legislature approves a new 1,500-bed prison to replace the state penitentiary in Lincoln, as requested by Gov. Pete Ricketts and corrections director Scott Frakes. The chart showed that, even with that new prison, the system would still be overcrowded come 2030. Specifically, the gap between the average daily population and operational capacity (125% of the capacity for which it's designed) would be 1,326 beds. The state asked for CJI's help because those who've been paying attention know that "we cannot build our way out of this problem," Lathrop said. "This is not a left wing exercise," he said. "This isn't 'people, feel sorry for the people in prison.' This is about what direction the state is going to take with respect to corrections." Data from the process showed that, while the prison population has increased over the last decade, admissions to prison decreased a consequence of enacting mandatory minimum sentences and growing sentence lengths, Lathrop said. The group's final report included 17 policy ideas that all its members agreed on and four they didn't. Lathrop's bill includes all of the legislative ideas, regardless of consensus, that fall under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee. Ricketts, another of the working groups co-chairs, said earlier this week he doesnt support any of the four non-consensus recommendations, saying they arent right for Nebraska. It was clear from testimony and senators' questions that most opposition stems from a few proposed sentencing and penalty changes. Other efforts including expanding problem-solving courts, improving reentry practices for people released from prisons and expanding access to behavioral health services appeared to have broad support. Opposition mostly came from prosecutors and law enforcement, while public defenders, groups such as the ACLU of Nebraska and service providers testified in favor of the bill. In addition to testimony at the hearing, there were 56 comments submitted in support of the bill, two in opposition and one neutral. Aaron Hanson with the Omaha Police Officers Association argued that that the prison system is underbuilt and that there hasnt been enough investment in rehabilitation. "The metric should be safer communities, not necessarily less people in prison, he said. A few topics in the bill that attracted opposition: a change to penalties for drug possession, changes that discourage the use of mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent felonies, and other changes aimed at reducing the number of inmates who "jam out" or complete their full sentence without being paroled. The bill would make most drug possession charges a misdemeanor, rather than a felony, when a person has less than half a gram. The aim would be to distinguish people who have drugs for personal use and reserve costly prison beds for dealers. Lancaster Public Defender Joe Nigro was among those who advocated for that change, saying even residue in a pipe can be charged as a felony today. About half of the drug possession cases in his office would become misdemeanors with the change, he said. This change would reduce our prison population, he said. The bigger issue is: Why should we treat a health problem as a felony? But Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln questioned why the bill doesnt distinguish between drugs like fentanyl and other drugs, and was concerned that it might discourage people from getting help through drug courts. State Patrol Superintendent Colonel John Bolduc said prison is typically the "last resort" for drug possession offenses. One of our judges has told me, 'Well, if you take these and make them all demeanors, you're going to destroy our drug court," Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said. Kleine and others also raised concerns with proposed changes to mandatory minimum sentences. In one change, the bill would limit when a "habitual criminal enhancement" can be applied. That can currently apply when someone has been convicted twice of any felony, and it requires a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. A Lincoln Journal-Star analysis found last year that habitual criminal convictions are sought inconsistently across the state and convicted defendants are disproportionately Black. Prosecutors often threaten to add that enhancement to compel a plea, Nigro said, and it often works even if a person might have a good defense. The bill would limit it so that the two prior convictions would have to be a sex offense or violent offense, Lathrop said. Other proposed changes include eliminating mandatory minimums for drug offenses that currently have them, limiting the minimum sentence for certain sex crimes to no more than 70% of the maximum sentence (it would not change the maximum possible sentence) and limiting minimums for other crimes to no more than 50% of the maximum. Under state law, Lathrop said, the time between a person's minimum and maximum sentence is what's available for parole. So, this would create that space. The working group also found that flat sentences limit inmates' incentives to participate in programming while they're in prison, he said. I don't disagree that there needs to be a separation between the bottom number and the top, as you said, to have some incentive for parole," Kleine said. But he wasn't happy with the 50% and 70% numbers. Meanwhile, Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, who supports the bill, said he wished those numbers were lower. Certainly there are people that belong in prison, and I'm not advocating here for some abdication of our role for public safety," Riley said. "But we've tried all of this tough on crime stuff, and here we are. Its time to look at the facts as they are. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The states top election official said his office fielded no reports of voter fraud as Nebraskans cast a record-breaking number of votes in the November 2020 election. Secretary of State Bob Evnen said at the time that roughly 45% of the 936,000 votes were cast through the mail as Nebraskans took advantage of expanded opportunities during the coronavirus pandemic. While conservative politicians in deep-red Nebraska have said publicly they believe the states elections are secure, several lawmakers have proposed measures to tighten elections in the Cornhusker State. On Wednesday, Sen. Mike Groene said his bill (LB785) shortening the window Nebraskans can vote by mail in a general election from 35 days to 22 days the same time allowed for special elections would leave voters with plenty of time to cast their vote. The North Platte senators bill would also restrict voters from submitting more than two other voters ballots to their county election office. Its currently legal for Nebraska voters to collect and deliver others' ballots a practice often referred to as ballot harvesting. I want to shorten the harvest season, Groene told the committee, and shared a rumor that nonprofit advocacy groups often dropped off large numbers of ballots at election sites on the last day of early voting. Lancaster County Election Commissioner Dave Shively, asked to respond to Groenes comments by Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings, said he hadnt noticed anything unusual in the states second-largest county. Shively said the returns of early ballots often follow the same pattern, with an initial spike days after ballots go out, following by a trickle that increases again in the days leading up to Election Day. We always see a spike in the last couple days, Shively said. Thats pretty traditional. Early voting in Lancaster County has increased in popularity in every presidential election since it became widely available in 1999, when Nebraska became a no-excuse state. In the 2000 general election, there were about 5,000 request for absentee ballots; that number rose to 90,000 in 2020, driven in large part by the pandemic, Shively said. Groenes bill was backed by several individuals who said they believed mail-in ballots should be outlawed altogether, many repeating debunked claims the practice was full of fraud. Other groups, including Civic Nebraska, the ARC of Nebraska, the AARP, ACLU of Nebraska and the League of Women Voters of Nebraska said tightening the window for early voting would disenfranchise individuals with disabilities, older voters and others who may not be able to go to the polls to vote. Edison McDonald, executive director of the ARC of Nebraska, credited the state with making election sites more accessible, but said the mail-in voting option remains important to many Nebraskans with disabilities. And Westin Miller, director of public policy at Civic Nebraska, said that while the states ballot return system could be improved, providing postage-paid envelopes and ballot tracking would create a more secure system. Another bill (LB858) from Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood would prohibit state and county election officials from apply for or receiving grants or donations to help pay for election costs. Clements said the Center for Technology and Civic Life, which received a $350 million donation from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, had funneled money into areas that tended to vote for Democratic candidates, saying those areas saw boosts to turnout in 2020. Lancaster County was the only county in the state that received funding from the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, receiving $405,000 that was put toward purchasing non-central election equipment and paying for early voting costs, Shively said. Deputy Secretary of State Wayne Bena, who testified in support of the bill, said the grant from the Center for Technology and Civic Life did not affect the election outcome in Lancaster County. Clements said allowing private groups to fund elections was bad optics at best and a dangerous trend at worst, and said the states elections should be entirely taxpayer supported. Danielle Conrad of ACLU of Nebraska said bills like LB858 perpetuate the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, and continue to cast doubt on the integrity of the election process and the people behind it, however. The committee also deliberated a measure (LB843) introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon on behalf of Evnen that codifies several practices allowed during the pandemic. The omnibus bill provides a mechanism to withdraw ballot initiatives, clarifies the process for voters who use a signature stamp or mark their ballots, and allow counties to recruit poll workers from a neighboring county with vote-by-mail to work on Election Day. Weve found great success during the pandemic being able to use poll workers from counties that do their elections by mail to go into a neighboring county to help, Bena told the committee. It also allows for the National Guard to help out on Election Day if necessary, either by operating the polls or moving equipment to and from the precincts, at the Secretary of States discretion. LB843 also prohibits electioneering within 200 feet of a drop box as well as public opinion polling or interviewing within 20 feet of a drop box. Senators voiced concern about one provision of the bill that allows election commissioners or county clerks to remove voters from a list of early voting registration lists if they miss two consecutive elections. Bena said maintaining those lists can be costly to some counties, but said the state elections officer was open to several amendments proposed by Civic Nebraska, including limiting striking voters from the rolls during an election year. The committee did not take any action on Wednesday. Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 DES MOINES -- Calling it simple, sustainable and largely in line with Gov. Kim Reynolds plan, Iowa House Republicans unveiled their plan Thursday for state income tax reductions, the third proposal now circulating in the Iowa Capitol. The House Republican plan would gradually reduce the state tax on Iowa workers income until all workers income was taxed at 4 percent. That is what Republican governor also proposed earlier this month, as is the House proposal to eliminate the state tax on retirement income. Where House Republicans go their own way is on business taxes. Their proposal does not include a reduction of Iowas corporate tax rate. Reynolds and Senate Republicans tied a corporate tax rate reduction to their plans. The House Republican plan, according to a staff analysis, is estimated to provide $1.7 billion in tax relief and thus a reduction in state revenue once fully implemented. The plan includes transferring $829 million over six years from the states taxpayer trust fund to help offset that reduction in revenue. The House plans price tag is close to the estimated $1.6 billion cost of Reynolds plan, but less than the estimated $2 billion cost of Senate Republicans proposal. Iowas current state budget is just more than $8 billion. Ive been clear that we want to have something thats simple as part of our tax plan, thats sustainable as part of our tax plan, and something that works without having to raise any taxes, Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, told reporters Thursday. I think that bill that we introduced (Thursday) achieves all of those goals. Jennifer Konfrst, leader of the minority House Democrats from Windsor Heights, said Democrats plan to introduce their own tax proposal, which they say will focus on reductions targeted to middle-class workers. Democrats have criticized Republicans flat tax ideas as disproportionately benefiting higher wage earners. Democrats believe we need a fair tax system that rewards work, provides real relief to middle class families, and puts more money in the pockets of working families, Konfrst said in a statement. The latest GOP tax scheme will leave too many Iowans behind. We dont need more tax giveaways to the special interests, corporations, and millionaires. Zach Wahls, leader of the minority Senate Democrats from Coralville, said during a news conference Thursday that an analysis shows that the Senate Republican plan will raise taxes on some Iowans and will not help solve the states worker shortage. At the end of the day I think it just shows a clear contrast between Democrats and Republicans, Wahls said. The Republican plan will benefit corporations and the wealthiest Iowans. Democrats are focused on supporting hard work, rewarding work and not wealth, and putting more money in the pockets of hardworking Iowa families. Republicans, who have full control of the state lawmaking process with majorities in the House and Senate and a Republican governor, now have three different tax proposals on the table. Leaders will have to negotiate those proposals into one tax plan. Republican leaders in both the Senate and House have said they expect to move quickly on the legislative process for their respective plans, likely starting each next week. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Gov. Pete Ricketts proposal for spending $1.04 billion in federal pandemic relief funding would send money to a broad range of initiatives. And, in a hearing that lasted nearly eight hours Tuesday, groups that would benefit from his ideas praised the plan. It was the causes that wouldnt get funding or at least enough of it that fueled some objections, including the state's public schools and areas of Omaha with large populations of Black and Latino residents. Ricketts spending plan for money from the American Rescue Plan Act includes items in five categories: public health response; response to negative economic impacts; premium pay for essential workers; water, sewer and broadband infrastructure; and administrative costs. Funds would go toward workforce housing, assistance for meat processors, expanding the law enforcement training center in Grand Island, grants for shovel ready projects, expanding health care facilities, replacing old ambulances in rural areas and more. One by one, the Appropriations Committee ticked through mostly positive testimony on the list of spending items. A proposal that attracted some opposition would send money to low-income families affected by learning loss. The pilot program would allow families to put that money toward private school or toward resources like tutoring and digital-learning subscriptions. Jeremy Ekeler, associate director of education policy for the Nebraska Catholic Conference, testified in favor of the proposal. The education recovery accounts will, in a targeted and efficient fashion, get assistance into the hands of low-income families whose children have been hit hardest during this pandemic, he said. The funds would be available to students in public, non-public and home school, he said, and the pilot program would collect data to gauge its impact on students. Nebraskas 110 Catholic schools have lost almost 1,500 students since the COVID-19 pandemic began, he said, and theyd like to retain them. The money wouldnt go to a school, it would go to a parent. But Ekeler rejected the idea that it would essentially be a voucher program, saying it goes into an account for a family to use on a wide menu of options. Tanya Santos, a parochial school administrator in Omaha, also advocated for the program. But several testifiers from the public school side of education felt differently. Tim Royers with the Nebraska State Education Association and others expressed concerns about the funding actually delivering support for students. The question that we need to ask ourselves today is this: How are we making sure that students are receiving additional support services on top of their regular schooling? said Royers, a former Nebraska teacher of the year. State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard asked Royers if he thought a child could be better off in a private school than a public school, and Royers acknowledged that could be the case. Ill tell you right now, public schools are not the answer for every child, Erdman said. But Royers and other testifiers urged the committee to instead send funding toward school psychologists and speech language pathologists, third parties that provide support via school programming, after-school programming, child care, summer school, retention measures for teachers and school counselors, incentive pay for mental and behavioral health professionals, school-based health clinics, tuition credits for teachers and more. Instead of supporting the programs we know our students need most, we're busy trying to figure out how to divert funds into private school tuition dollars," said public school teacher Jared Wagenknecht. A bill (LB1240) from Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston also includes the controversial pilot program. It and some other spending items in the governors proposal will get their own, separate public hearings. That includes Ricketts' proposal to invoke a 1923 compact to build a canal that diverts water from the South Platte River in Colorado and connects to a reservoir system in Nebraska, as well as proposals from the Statewide Tourism and Recreational Water Access and Resource Sustainability (STAR WARS) special committee that include a 4,000-acre lake between Omaha and Lincoln. This isn't the first time the concept of school choice has caused ripples this session. A bill aimed at using state tax breaks to help more low-income students attend private and parochial schools died this session after falling five votes short of ending a filibuster. The same proposal died last year, too. Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon has re-introduced the proposal, in LB1237. Another source of objections: Throughout Thursday's hearing, multiple testifiers said that the governors plan didnt send enough money to North and South Omaha. "This once in a lifetime infusion of federal funding should offer this lifeline to South Omaha and North Omaha," said Marcos Mora, the secretary of the Latino Economic Development Council in South Omaha. Lawmakers who represent those areas have introduced bills with ideas that would target federal funding for those communities, and those bills will also get their own hearings. A few testifiers spoke to the governor's spending plan as a whole, including Laurel Sariscsany with the OpenSky Policy Institute and James Goddard with Nebraska Appleseed. While they supported some items, both raised objections. Among other issues, Sariscsany pointed out that projects such as the canal could be wrapped up in litigation, and that some of the water projects may be better funded by the federal infrastructure bill or other sources. Goddard said there needs to be a balance between spending on causes like infrastructure and funding that supports struggling people. "Overall, this bill does not strike that balance," he said. "It skews heavily towards buildings and waterways ... it doesn't do enough to help people facing serious difficulty." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 It will be a cold day in Sioux City, with temperatures in the 30s. The forecast calls for it to be a cold 36 degrees. Expect a drastic drop in temperatures though, with a low reaching 6 degrees. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast. Thursday's winds could be brisk, with winds reaching 16 miles per hour, coming from the North. This report is created automatically with weather data provided by TownNews.com. Stay in the know. Visit siouxcityjournal.com for local news and weather. Falling every year on Jan. 20, National Take a Walk Outdoors Day encourages Americans to go on a hike, jaunt or stroll in the sunshine. But what happens the warmth of the sun does nothing to counteract frigid chilly wind gusts of more than 20 mph nor a midday temp that wouldn't budge beyond the single digits? Hmm, holding National Take a Walk Day Outdoors Day in January doesn't seem like the best way to draw a crowd. However, Woodbury County Conservation Board naturalist Kari Sandage was willing to tough it out. "We had a few people signed up for today's nature hike but canceled due to the weather," she said, inside a conference room at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center, 4500 Sioux River Road. "I'm willing to take a brisk walk on a January morning if you are." The Weekender is always up for a challenge and, apparently, so was Sandage. A Nature Center naturalist for nearly two years, Sandage grew up in Atlantic, Iowa. After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Central College, in Pella, Iowa, she was accepted into the Peace Corps Master's International Program at Antioch University, in Keene, New Hampshire. It was during grad school that Sandage worked as a Peace Corps volunteer, teaching environmental science to kids in Nicaragua. That experience probably helped her to secure positions as a park ranger in Alaska as well as in Alabama once she graduated. Huh, Sandage worked in both Alaska and Alabama? Guess returning to her home state of Iowa represents the perfect middle ground between the last frontier of Alaska and Alabama's relentless heat and humidity, right? "To be honest, I like the heat more than I do the cold weather," she admitted. Indeed, Sandage is looking forward to a trip to Italy later this year. Plus, her dream job would be something in a tropical climate. Even better, she'd like to relocate to a Spanish-speaking country. Fluent in Spanish, Sandage spends her personal time, reading books that have been translated into Spanish. "If you're not exposed to a language on a regular basis, you lose your understanding of the language," she explained. "Reading Spanish language books helps me out a lot." (Perhaps, Sandage has researched ways not to freeze to death while hiking?) "It's common sense, actually," she said. "Make sure to dress warmly, covering all exposed skin with hats and gloves if possible." Plus Sandage suggested dressing in layers, which can be removed if you get too warm. "It is just a matter of getting your heart rate up," she said. "Getting your blood pumping again." Having said that, an outing on Take a Walk Outdoors Day isn't strictly beneficial for your physical health. It can also be psychological fulfilling. "Many people suffer from the 'winter blues' or any form of seasonal affective disorder," Sandage said. "Being out and about in nature can really raise your mood." She said the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center saw a steady increase in attendance at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. "It is very easy to be socially distant on a hiking trail," Sandage said. "On the other hand, walking is something you can also do with kids, friends or anyone you'd like to spend time with." Which is nice since you never know who you'll meet at the Nature Center, whether it is a turkey, a deer or a condor or two. "People enjoy the Nature Center for the experience," Sandage said. "You get to see wildlife but the Nature Center is so close to the city." Who knows? Sandage may even bring her boyfriend and their cat on an outdoor saunter some day. "I wouldn't mind bringing my boyfriend here," she said with a sigh. "But our cat is big, mean and a bit crazy. The cat can stay at home." 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. Care and Feeding is Slates parenting advice column. In addition to our traditional advice, every Thursday we feature an assortment of teachers from across the country answering your education questions. Have a question for our teachers? Email askateacher@slate.com or post it in the Slate Parenting Facebook group. My 4-year-old son is currently in what could be his last year of preschool. While one option for him for the fall is to attend kindergarten, our county also offers a special pre-K program for disadvantaged and special needs students to help them be better equipped socially and academically when they do begin kindergarten. My son, who is autistic, recently qualified for this special pre-K program, which is 4 full school days. Advertisement I have always imagined him doing a program like the pre-K program because he lacks social skills with other children and has many sensory issues. However, his teachers are recommending kindergarten as the next step because he is doing so well academically. He has always been interested in numbers, letters, and shapes, and his teachers report that he is well ahead of his peers and often bored. For example, my son has started to read on his own, but they dont do formal instruction in reading until kindergarten. If he were to do the pre-K program, he would have another year of phonics review. His teachers also report that he does great in small group, but he has trouble during free play. The pre-K program has lots of free play while kindergarten is more structured. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement While kindergarten sounds great in many ways, he already struggles socially and doesnt have friends, and Im worried about the long-term impact of him being one of the younger kids and being socially immature. However, Im also worried about him not being challenged, getting bored, and in the long-term not learning the skills he needs later when school does become challenging. Please help! Move Ahead or Stay Back? Dear MAoSB, The good news here is that you have two very good options. It doesnt sound, to me, like one choice is better than the other. If he goes to the preschool program, he will have additional time to build social skills and emotionally mature. If he goes to kindergarten, he can access academic enrichment that it sounds like he would enjoy. You really cant go wrong. Advertisement Ive said in this column before that I am against holding kids back from kindergarten in 99 percent of cases. For the most part, if a child is old enough and mature enough for a day of kindergartenwhich, to be clear, is designed to be developmentally appropriate for most, if not all, 5-year-oldstheres no good reason to keep them in preschool. Preschools often see behaviors from their oldest kids that kindergartens dont see the following year because kids get bored. You dont want your son learning to act out because he has recited the alphabet dozens of times already. Advertisement Meanwhile, schools are absolutely prepared to address social skills. Many schools have friendship group or other programs to teach students the skills they need to have positive relationships with peers. Especially as the pandemic is prolonged, students are beginning to come in with a lack of social skills due to lack of exposure. But even prior to the pandemic, school policy is typically to assume kindergarteners have no prior experience making friends. We teach kids what to do because we want them to learn those so-called soft skills in addition to academics. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Because your son already has a diagnosis, and qualifies for a special program, I have to assume he would qualify for an IEP or 504 plan as well. Under one of these plans, you could have the school provide him with social-emotional counseling to develop social skills. A goal would be established for addressing those social skills, and you would receive reports from the school about his progress toward that goal. You would likely even have some input into the goal. In an IEPwhich is more standardized than a 504there is even a section specifically dedicated to parent concerns. Ultimately, as I said, there is no bad choice. I think either program option is probably fine. My bias leans a bit toward sending him to school, and school can probably provide a lot of similar supports to the special program. But if you and your partner really, truly feel like hes not ready, send him to the special program. He will likely do well there too. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Ms. Sarnell (early childhood special education teacher, New York) Slate needs your support right now. Sign up for Slate Plus to keep reading the advice you crave every week. I have spent my entire career (12 years) teaching at one school. My students are wonderful, but I dont agree with the direction the school is taking. Our administration recently banned multiple books from our classrooms, and I am beyond ready to move on. When do I need to inform admin that I will not be coming back? Theyre about to send out their yearly email survey exploring our interest in returning, but they will not formally offer us next years contract until late May. Right now, I am looking for other positions (hopefully remote) that I can balance with finishing my doctorate. Obviously, Ill need strong references from this school to get a new position, and I hope to have another job lined up by May. I am great at my job, and normally, I would not be worried about a referencebut because of the massive teacher turnover during the pandemic, admin has been acting like resignations are a personal betrayal, rather than a career decision. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement How should I approach the timing of this transition? Ready to Hang My Hat Dear Ready, My school district has a deadline for resignations. Failing to meet it can sometimes mean the administration wont release a teacher from their contract, which can get very messy, so you definitely dont want to find yourself in that boat. Since youre actively looking for a new job right now and hoping to have it lined up by the end of the semester, I think you should indicate on the survey that you are not returning. When they ask you why, you can answer honestly: you are looking for a remote position that will allow you to finish your doctorate. You dont have to be forthcoming about your disagreement with their recent policy decisions as that might jeopardize your recommendation. While the administration will be disappointed with your decision, I doubt they would stymie your efforts. Advertisement Im sorry to see another good teacher leave the profession, but I understand completely and wish you the best of luck on what comes next! Ms. Holbrook (high school teacher, Texas) My 4-year-old son turns 5 in June. After several preschool fails, he is thriving in a half-day Montessori program. He is both gifted and ADHD, has big sensory needs, and struggles with transitions. I think hes doing well in Montessori because the learning is tactile and he is able to be so self-directed. While he is making great progress there, he definitely comes home needing a lot of one-on-one adult time. He spends this time playing highly imaginative games, building with Legos or learning about his interests (currently the Inca and the Maya). He also has been having meltdowns more frequently, because I think he is tired from school. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im struggling with what to do about kindergarten next year. I could keep him in his private school, but it would be expensive, a bit of a drive, and most of his friends will be in preschool for another year. Ive found another private Montessori close to our new house that is half-day he could attend, but then there would be another transition for first grade as even if he stayed at that school, it only goes through kindergarten. I could also enroll him in the local highly rated public school which has a half-day kindergarten, but Im concerned a more traditional classroom would not be a good fit for him. At minimum I think its highly likely he would need an IEP to help with transitions. What is a public school going to do when he screams and clings to me and refuses to enter the classroom? How will they manage his ADHD when touching everything is not part of learning, and he cant get up and transition to a new work whenever he wants to? I wish I could just wait and see how hes doing in the spring but for some local schools the registration is due very soon. Advertisement Advertisement For what its worth he is very vocal about only wanting to do Montessori school. He hated the play-based preschool we tried. He was bored silly and never connected with the other kids. He also refused to participate in many of the activities such as music and movement and circle time. At his current school he has made some great friends and his teachers tell me he is cooperative and helpful in the classroom. Should I keep him where he is another year? Keep him in Montessori for half day? Give the public school a chance? Advertisement Montessori or Bust? Dear MoB, My instinct is to give the public school a chance. In all likelihood, it sounds like he will end up in public school by second grade, and having an IEP coming into kindergarten gives the school time to establish a relationship with him before academics become a larger focal point of IEPs. Of course, we do work on academics in kindergarten, but its more common to see behavioral goals in the earlier grades, especially in an integrated program (which sounds like it would be the plan). Transitioning in kindergarten also means he can make that transition during a year where theres a large focus on school-ready behaviors (how to walk in a line, how to rotate between learning centers) for him to ease into regular school as opposed to the Montessori model. The half-day aspect is helpful tooit will tax him less and make things smoother, as well as give him lots of time for exploratory learning outside the classroom! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement As for what schools will do if he has a hard time leaving your sidehe will not be the only one. Teachers are outside for the purpose of greeting kids, especially on the first day of school, and we are prepared to help kids with that separation anxiety. In the absolute worst-case scenario Ive seen, we can designate an adult to greet an anxious child every day to help them separate from their parent. In my experience, there are ways to ease that stress: Give it time, as he may take a month or more to acclimate. Remember that crying on the way in doesnt usually mean crying once theyre in the classroom. You can use a special object (photo of mom or stuffed animal or whatever) to help ease the transition. And finally remember that the bus is actually easier than drop-off, if bussing is an option for you. Advertisement Advertisement If he gets up during class? Kids who are wanderers in preschool often arent in kindergarten because the activities are more challenging and thus more engaging. And I can assure you your son wont be the first child the kindergarten teachers have had that want to get up when theyre done with an activity (and he wont be the last). Statistically, hes not even likely to be the only child with ADHD in the class. Teachers know how to engage kids so they stay in their seats, and they know how to gently nudge them back into their seats if they do get up. Kindergarten is very different from play-based preschool. Activities are more structured, but also often more interesting. Your son, who has only known success in Montessori school, may not understand that difference. My suggestion would be to try to the school, and let the IEP team do their best to support him so he can build a relationship with the school, rather than prolonging it another year or two. Advertisement Ms. Sarnell (early childhood special education teacher, New York) Do you have any advice or strategies for how to deal with my ninth grade daughter and her homework habits? I suspect she has ADDwere currently waiting on the results. Last semester was her first semester in high school, and the transition was very rocky. She got quite behind in chemistry (about three whole units) and had an F. She had to work very hard over about 2 weeks to try to catch up. She got up to a B in her coursework, but with her bad performance on an end of course test, she ended up getting a C in the class. Shes very smart and in honors classes, so I know she can do the work academically. I want to make sure she doesnt get so behind again, so Ive been checking in with her more frequently since the start of this semester. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Im noticing a trend, though, that Im not sure how to address. All of her work is on her Chromebook, and when I check in with her, shes working on it, but she isnt getting done until 11:30 at night! I start bugging her about it around 6. She cant have been working on it for 5 whole hours! Are there any strategies that I can use to make sure she isnt wasting time watching YouTube on the Chromebook? Make her sit at the table until she can show me the completed work? Make a time limit, and if she isnt done by then take away her computer? Im at my wits end trying to make sure she has the support she needs while still making sure she gets her work done. Advertisement Wits End Dear Wits End, I think youre right that your daughter is using doing homework as an excuse to have alone/personal time and is in fact texting with friends and watching YouTube. (At least I hope she is and that she doesnt truly have five hours of homework. If she really does, thats a separate problem.) Mixing downtime and homework isnt a crimeif she can make the grade. Advertisement But, if she cant make the grade, if the near failure with chemistry isnt an isolated incident, then youre right that she needs to alter her study habits. While your proposed solutions are sound (yes there are ways to put restrictions on what she can access with her Chromebook; sitting her at the kitchen table will probably make her finish faster, though it might make you both miserable too), the problem with them is that theyre your solutions. I could recommend the 20-5 ratio, where a student works for twenty focused minutes, then takes five minutes to do whatever they want. But that would be my solution. If we want real change, your daughter needs to buy into a solution that is hers. Advertisement Advertisement Take her out for some ice cream and have an honest conversation about what she perceives the problem to be. Listen to her. Ask her what she would do differently to solve it. If she feels heard and gets to be a part of the solution, shell have buy-in to that strategy, her strategy, which makes it more likely to succeed (as opposed to her sabotaging your ideas because she doesnt want your solutions to work). If you couch this conversation under the guise of, Im not going to be nagging you anymore, then theres built-in incentive for her to come up with her own plan. It probably wont be what you would do and it might not work at first. But those are the lessons that come with maturity and at least shell have learned what not to do. Failure is the most valuable of experiences, far more valuable than the experience of fighting with your parent. And the sweetest thing about her failing will be the conversation that comes with it. You know because of the ice cream. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Mr. Vona (high school teacher, Florida) More Advice From Slate My fifth grade daughter brought up a concern about gym class, and Im debating how to handle it. Her teacher has worked for the district for over 30 years and has won state teaching awards. Hes got some old-school vibes, but he is engaging and the kids love him. The trouble is, he often segments the class by gender. Alternate by boy-girl or Boys line up on the green line, girls on blue. One of my daughters classmates recently came out as non-binary. What should I do? Justice Stephen Breyer had not even formally announced his retirement before Republicans and conservative legal operatives began their racist crusade against his as-yet-to-be-named successor. During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden promised to nominate a Black woman to the first seat that came open. Biden has many extraordinary candidates on his short list. But for reasons that should surprise nobody whos been paying attention to recent history, these early commenters do not appear to see these candidates impeccable credentials and extraordinary accomplishments. Instead, they have opted to prejudge any Black woman, and indeed all Black women nominees, as inherently inferior and underqualified. Advertisement Conservative criticsnot content with a 63 supermajority achieved by holding one seat open for almost a year, then filling another in a matter of weeksarent willing to graciously take their win while Biden confirms a new justice, which in no way affects the balance on the court. They arent even willing to wait for a name. And in a neat bit of gaslighting, they also claim that Biden and his defenders are the real racists. And in the event that you believe this is just a little confirmation-game bluster, consider that they are laying the groundwork to single out whoever this next justice will be as unqualified and inferior for decades to come. Think were imagining things? Just ask Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest Newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. 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. Some background that is too often left out of these discussions: Women of color were locked out of the judiciary for most of American history. The first Black woman to serve on a federal court, Constance Baker Motley, was not appointed until 1966. Motley had a sterling track record of accomplishments: She argued before the Supreme Court on 10 occasions and won nine times, assisted Thurgood Marshall in litigating Brown v. Board of Education, and tried myriad cases in lower courts, including several in New York.* But as Harvard law professor and legal historian Tomiko Brown-Nagin has recently documented, the American Bar Association hesitated to approve Motley. Why? The white men who ran the ABA doubted whether she was sufficiently qualified. They ultimately gave her a lukewarm rating of qualified rather than well qualified, even though she was one of the most successful and experienced litigators of her eraan advocate so committed that she risked her life to defend her Black clients in the Jim Crow South. Advertisement Advertisement Reading Brown-Nagins fantastic new biography of Motley today can induce a queasy sense of deja vu. Her nomination was indisputably part of President Lyndon Johnsons nascent effort to diversify the judiciary; she was chosen both because she was a Black woman and because she was a brilliant lawyer. (Attempts to bring genuine diversity to the federal courts did not truly take off until President Jimmy Carters quiet revolution.) Johnson, for all his flaws, understood that women, racial minorities, and especially women of color faced debilitating bigotry at every level that kept them out of the upper tiers of the legal profession. To remedy centuries of discrimination, he thus made a concerted effort to increase their representation on the bench. And then, as now, critics insisted that Johnson chose Motley solely on the basis of her identity rather than her professional accomplishments. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In truth, presidents had long nominated judgesand Supreme Court justices in particularon the basis of demographics. President Dwight Eisenhower nominated Justice William Brennan because he was Catholic, and the White House believed he needed to shore up support among Catholics. The GOPs revered President Ronald Reagan campaigned on naming the first woman to the Supreme Court; he followed through with Justice Sandra OConnor, who was openly selected because of her sex. (By todays standards, OConnora judge on Arizonas intermediate court of appealswas underqualified.) Reagan picked Justice Antonin Scalia because he was Italian American. As White House counsel Peter Wallison later recalled, Reagan wanted a justice of Italian extraction, explaining, We dont have an Italian American on the court, so we ought to have one. Advertisement All of these nominations took place before the conservative legal movement coalesced around a pernicious myth: Any time a Democratic president chooses a non-white-man for the Supreme Court, that nominee is inherently suspecta presumptive unqualified beneficiary of affirmative action until proven otherwise. This toxic ideology emerged when President Barack Obama put forward Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2009. Ilya Shapiro, a conservative lawyer and commentator who will soon teach at Georgetown University Law Center, smeared her as a blatant affirmative action pick. In a notorious CNN article published at the time of her nomination, he wrote that Sotomayor would not have even been on the short list if she were not Hispanic. She is not one of the leading lights of the federal judiciary. Obama never said he wanted a Latina for the spot, but Shapiro nevertheless deduced that she was selected on the basis of her race and gender. He could not believe Obama would nominate a Latina due to her accomplishments alone. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The smear did not end with her confirmation. For the entire time she has been on the bench, Sotomayorwho graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princetonhas been derided as a dim bulb affirmative action pick. Conservative commentators accuse her of stupidity and ignorance for making uncontroversial points that could only upset a bad faith pedant. She exists in a space that has no equivalent for a white man on the Supreme Court. She must earn the respect of conservative commentators every single day on the job. Whats especially noxious about this myth of affirmative action picks is that it is inevitably suspended each time a Republican enters office. President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed that he nominated Justice Amy Coney Barrett because she was a woman and a mother of young children. Her rollout announcement was deliberately modeled on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburgs, and conservatives raced to co-opt RBGs feminist legacy and affix it to Barrett. But that wasnt tawdry pandering. Suddenly it was principled commitment to diversity. Conservatives cheered the choice to play identity politics just as Reagan had done with OConnor. As National Review editor Ramesh Ponnuru wrote, The main reason I favor Barrett is the obvious one: Shes a woman. Ponnuru echoed the conservative legal movements hope that a woman would overturn Roe v. Wade. Identity politics at its finest. Wise Latinas need not apply. Advertisement Advertisement It should be no surprise that once Trump left office, the rights suspicion of all non-white-male nominees reemerged with full force. In since-deleted tweets, Shapiro preemptively declared that Bidens nominee, whoever she is, will not be qualified. He asserted that the president would pick a lesser black woman on account of latest intersectionality hierarchy, adding that she will always have an asterisk attached. After critics (including one of us) pointed out the racism inherent in these presumptions, Shapiros allies leapt to his defense. It is the left that is racist, they whined, for taking the skin color of a nominee into account. Advertisement Shapiros sentiments are already saturating the conversation. Nikki Haley, Trumps United Nations ambassador, tweeted: Would be nice if Pres Biden chose a Supreme Court nominee who was best qualified without a race/gender litmus test. Tucker Carlson was quick to lament, Its possible we have all marinated for so long in the casual racism of affirmative action that it seems normal now to reduce human beings to their race. The New York Times credulously repeated right-wing warnings that Biden is nominating a strikingly disproportionate number of Black women (in a judiciary where vanishingly few served until 2021). Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement It is extraordinary that the real injury here is to the white men who will go unrepresented on a Supreme Court that has had an approximately 95 percent white male composition throughout history. It is extraordinary that no one thinks of this enduring overrepresentation of white men as the ultimate expression of identity politics. It is yet more extraordinary that even before she has a name, Bidens nominee will be tarnished as lesser and for raising urgent quality concernslies that will be invoked against her from the right for decades to come. It didnt have to be this way. Imagine a gracious acceptance by the conservative legal movement of a historic nominee that could have been. Imagine if the temptation to dip into race-baiting, white supremacy, and fake grievance had been avoided in a country already roiled by racism and racial violence. Imagine if the well-documented and widely understood benefits of having a diverse judiciary that looks like America could be acknowledged and celebrated across partisan lines. But the larger doctrinal project here includes eradicating affirmative action (as Shapiro acknowledged), equal suffrage, and decades of progress toward racial equality. That project requires the continued insistence that the only victims left in America are white conservative men. The howling and insults youre hearing about underqualified women of color and the feigned offense that Biden prioritizes diverse experience dont just serve to diminish and degrade the eventual nominee, although that is surely part of the allure. They also serve to reinforce a conservative legal fantasy that holds that willful blindness to centuries of discrimination is the only true kind of equality. I first met David in November 2021, while volunteering as an attorney for asylum seekers detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Aurora, Colorado. David, which is a pseudonym for reasons that will become clear, has a story similar to many asylum seekers in this country. Its a story that speaks to the brokenness of how we assess asylum claims. Like many people held in Aurora, David was anxiously waiting for the critical first step in his asylum claim, the credible fear interview. During this high-stakes interview, a government asylum officer decides whether an applicant demonstrates a credible fear of returning home. If the officer agrees, the applicant can formally request asylum before an immigration judge. If not, theyll face immediate deportation. The credible fear interview is one part of a larger system called expedited removal, whichjust as it soundsis designed to remove migrants from our country as quickly as possible. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement David left his wife and family in Haiti after several of his neighbors brutally beat him with a wrench, threatened to kill his wife and mother, slaughtered and strung up his livestock, and burned his barn to the ground. First, David fled to South America, where he lived until Covid-19 devastated the local economy and he was physically attacked for taking local jobs. Then, again fearing for his life, David fled South America to seek asylum in the United States, where he was put in an ICE detention center. When I spoke with him, he was clearly traumatized by what he had experienced in Haiti, his journey without his family through South America, and the conditions of his detention in the U.S. Advertisement When the time came for his credible fear interview, the same fears that led David to flee Haiti hindered his ability to tell his story. He was worried the government interpreter would disclose his accusations to his persecutors back home, who would retaliate against his family. Having been through trauma, he was anxious to answer confusing questions about humiliating and painful events. For part of his interview, the government interpreter didnt even speak his language, Haitian Creole. David didnt objecthe was afraid that raising any issues might hurt his chances. Advertisement Despite these barriers, David managed to detail numerous examples of being beaten and his life and his familys lives being threatened. Frustratingly, even though the officer believed Davids account, he concluded it was not sufficiently serious to establish a credible fear. Advertisement Advertisement While the government has built in a review process, it too is flawed. In Davids case, I knew the asylum officer had made multiple legal and procedural errors during the interview. Working with Jocelyn Dyer at the Immigration Justice Campaign and our partners at the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network, we prepared a Request for Reconsideration detailing those errors and offering additional witness statements describing the dangers that David and his family continue to face. Unfortunately, the Asylum Office denied the request almost immediately and without explanation. Given the impossibly quick turnaround time, it was clear that any review of this life-or-death situation was nonexistent or superficial at best. Advertisement Advertisement Despite the high stakes of the credible fear interview, its usually held behind closed doors with no attorney present. In many cases only the asylum officer and the applicant are in the room, and the only record of the interview will be whatever notes are taken by the asylum officer. This is perhaps unsurprising, given that the credible fear interview is part of a system thats fundamentally set up to deport people as rapidly as possible. To build a fair asylum process, we need to start by rethinking the entire expedited removal framework. Our asylum system should prioritize giving asylum seekers a fair shot to make their case. Instead, we start with the goal of a quick deportation. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Our laws and values require us to offer asylum seekers a meaningful chance at protection. In Davids case, as with many asylum seekers, this commitment was broken. It was hard for me to tell David that he was out of legal options to stay in the U.S. Even speaking through a translator, I could hear the panic in his voice as he told me that people would be waiting at the airport to kill him. He said he had spent all his money coming to the U.S., that his wife and mother had fled Haiti themselves, and that he did not know where or how to live in a deteriorating country where violence and instability are growing every day. Since being deported, David texts me details of his life. He shared that he went into hiding, sending me graphic videos of family members who have been attacked. He sounds like he is still trying to convince someoneanyonethat his fear is credible and undeniable. Like many asylum seekers, David came to the U.S. trusting that wed offer him a fair shot at protection. Instead, he left worse than before he came. Though the facts behind the story have been known for more than nine months, many are now obsessed with what the presidential electors committed to Donald Trump did in December 2020, in seven key states. Their acts, many insist, were fraudulent, or forgeries. They establish, as Democratic California Rep. Pete Aguilar put it, a dangerous precedent. But the dangerous precedent from that election is not what many of these electors did. The dangerous precedent is the potential it reveals. The Trump electors in those seven states were acting on the basis of a well-known precedent, in the face of an even better-known feature of our Constitution. The 2020 election was not close. But under our law, any candidate challenging the results of a presidential election must take steps very much like what these electors did. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Subscribe to the Slatest Newsletter A daily email update of the stories you need to read right now. 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. Though the Constitution gives the states the power to set the manner by which its electors are appointed, it gives Congress the power to say when those electors must vote. In close elections, that deadline can create an obvious problem. If the election is still contested in a state at the time the electors are to vote, which slate of electors should vote? Congress deadline is not a mere suggestion. In 1856, when a snowstorm blocked Wisconsin electors from voting on the day Congress had set, Congress debated for two days whether their votes could be counted. It didnt matter in 1856. It could well matter in the future. Which is why the practice has evolved in a contested election of having both slates of electors cast their ballots on the day Congress chooses. In Hawaii in 1960, Richard Nixon had seemingly won in a very close vote. Hawaiis acting governor so certified. A recount then determined that John F. Kennedy had in fact won. That recount was not completed until after the Electoral College had voted. Yet some smart lawyer advised the Hawaii Democratic Party to have their electors vote on the day set by Congress too. They did. Their ballots, certified by the governor, were then flown on a private plane, arriving in D.C. on the morning of Jan. 6, 1961. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement What the Trump electors did in 2020 was, in every case, close to this, though in critical cases, something much worse. Two states were quite clear about the contingency of their votes New Mexico and Pennsylvania. But five states prepared documents that made it seem like Trump had in fact prevailed in their state. Those claims were obviously false. Filing false claims with the government can be a crime. So yes, what those electors did should be criticized, and perhaps prosecuted. They should have done as their fellow electors in New Mexico and Pennsylvania had done and certified a slate of votes contingent upon their candidate being declared the winner in their state. That certification, then, would have to waiteither for some state authority to declare its candidate the winner or for Congress to determine that that slate actually represents the candidate whose votes should be counted. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement This practice is a critically important precedent for Congress not to criticize but to endorse. Because if electors cant do this, theres an obvious way in which an election can be flipped. The leading challenger to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, former-Sen. David Perdue, says Kemp was insufficiently supportive of Donald Trump in 2020. That suggests that Perdue believes that Kemp should have certified the election for Donald Trump in 2020, despite the fact that Trump had plainly lost. Advertisement Advertisement If that had happened, what would the Biden electors have done? Obviously, the Biden camp would have challenged the governors act in court. Possibly, the courts would have corrected it. But while that process was working its way through the courts, under the Hawaii precedent, the Biden electors from Georgia, in this hypothetical, should plainly have met on Dec. 14, cast their ballots for Biden, and then sent those certificates to the archivist. In that event, nothing about the second slate of electors would have been forged or fraudulent. Under such a circumstance, they should have announced their contingency, but offered Congress valid electoral votes that Congress might then count. Advertisement Advertisement What would have happened then is hard to know. Under the ruling of the Senate parliamentarian, the only slates of electors the vice president was to present to Congress were those properly certified under the Electoral Count Act. The Biden electors, in this hypothetical, would not have been so certified, because their certificates would not have been signed by the governor. No doubt the parliamentarians ruling in such a case could be challenged. That challenge might have prevailed. But the possibility for double electorsunder the Hawaii precedentwould at least have meant that the real electors would be in Washington on the morning of Jan. 6, and nothing in the Constitution would have blocked Congress from counting them. Advertisement Advertisement All this points to yet another gap in how the Electoral Count Act now functions. It is plainly possible for the process of certifying a proper winner to fail in the states. The text of the ECA seems to acknowledge as much. The provision covering the counting of electoral votes directs the vice president to lay before the joint sessions all the certificates and papers purporting to be certificates. That rule, if followed, would give Congress one final chance to judge whether the process in the states should be credited or not. That 147 members of Congress in the past election voted to challenge the results is good reason to be skeptical of Congress having such power. But Congress is not the only institution to fear. If the process in the states goes rogue, then there must be a path for alternative slates to at least be considered. Maybe the solution is that not just any alternative be considered potentially legitimate, so as to exclude wholly baseless slates (like Trumps). The law could, for instance, distinguish between fantasy slates and slates with at least some substantial judicial determination behind them. Advertisement But giving the governor a power to determine whether an alternative is even seen risks a threat that is now plainly patent. We have never seen a Congress vote to discard a valid slate of presidential electors. But we now see a leading candidate for governor in a critical swing state suggest that he, in fact, would. Any system creates risk. But in our system to elect the president, that risk is not whether alternative slates of electors exist. It is whether the right slate will be counted. The risk that it wont should be diffused among many, not held by a few. It should remain in Congress as a whole, not concentrated in decisions of governors. That is not the rule of the ECA, as interpreted, nowwhich is one more reason immediate reforms are critical. Which would you choose: far faster mobile broadband speeds and new services on your 5G-enabled smartphone or a greater risk that your next flight crashes on landing? This should be a false choice in tech-savvy America. Yet, according to the airlines and the Federal Aviation Administration, it is an unresolved risk. Over the past few weeks, airline and FAA warnings about potential flight cancellations have spun up alarming headlines about the risk that the faster 5G mobile networks that Verizon and AT&T began activating last week will interfere with aircraft landing systems. United, Southwest, and other airlines threatened that if the two biggest mobile carriers turned their high-power transmitters on anywhere near airport runways, they would have to cancel hundreds of flights. Chaos would result, they said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement None of this was necessary. The primary problem has been a steady breakdown in coordination and cooperation between the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates business use of increasingly crowded public airwaves, and the other federal agencies that rely on wireless frequencies or regulate a multitude of industries, like the airlines. A quick (I promise) technical lesson: The airwaves, also called the spectrum, are the range of electromagnetic frequencies useful for transmitting and receiving radio signals. The spectrum is divided into blocks, or bands, of frequencies. To avoid interference, these bands are first allocated for a certain use (broadcast TV, aircraft altimeters) and then licensed either by the FCC for commercial use or by the Department of Commerce to federal agencies for government use (such as military radar and GPS). The FCC and the Department of Commerces National Telecommunications and Information Administration are expected to coordinate commercial and federal licenses and use. Advertisement Advertisement In a 2021 government auction, mobile carriers purchased C-band frequencies of the public airwaves for a record $81 billion. These bands lie close to the frequencies that aircraft altimeters use to measure the distance to the ground during landings. That technology, the FAA maintains, is especially critical for safe landings when the weather or other factors limit visibility. The airlines and FAA claim that 5G transmitters close to airports and operating at full power can cause some altimeters to malfunction. Advertisement For its part, the mobile industry argues these fears are overblown and that this same spectrum is already in use for 5G in 40 countries without incident. It also emphasizes that unlike most neighboring services on the airwaves, there is a very wide (200 megahertz) guard band of frequencies used by satellites between the two services. When the FCC reallocated spectrum lower in the band for 5G mobile use, it explicitly determined there should be no adverse impact on altimeters. The mobile carriers have also argued that if older aircraft are using antiquated altimeters that are overly vulnerable to transmissions in neighboring frequency bands, its not their fault; the airlines have been on notice since 2019 that the FCC, like most of the world, was reallocating C-band for high-power mobile broadband. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Late last week, the Biden White House scrambled to intervene, pushing the two industriesand the two warring federal regulatory agenciesinto at least a temporary compromise: The mobile carriers agreed, among other mitigations, to larger buffer zones around airports where the new, faster 5G airwaves will not be used or will transmit at reduced power levels. Both sides agreed to continue working on a more permanent solution. Advertisement Advertisement Part of the problem is that neither the FAA nor the FCC required the airlines or the mobile companies to conduct real-world tests in advance to determine if and how 5G networks would actually disrupt altimeters and aircraft safety. But even if there were clear data, its likely that, like every other incumbent spectrum user, the airlines and FAA would adopt a parochial perspective and fight the slightest risk or cost imposed as the FCC unlocks new spectrum capacity for 5G, next generation Wi-Fi, and other new wireless technologies. Advertisement Advertisement The larger problem highlighted by the altimeter fiasco is the lack of an adequate national spectrum policy. Just as the world goes wirelessand the airwaves get more and more crowdedthe coordination between the FCC and other federal agencies has broken down over the past five years. Unlike the Obama administration, which coordinated spectrum policy from the White House, the Trump administration had an ad hoc spectrum policy that failed to articulate a coherent set of national priorities that would supersede the natural NIMBY reflex of spectrum incumbents. The FAA fiasco is just the latest in a series of standoffs over the past four years between the FCC and federal agencies defending the spectrum status quo. FCC proceedings to reallocate spectrum and assign frequencies to new uses take yearsyet in too many cases, affected federal agencies do not actively engage in FCC rule-makings or contribute engineering data, but instead wait until after a final decision to raise alarms about potential calamity. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Auto safety signaling: On Tuesday the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard oral arguments in a challenge to an FCC decision brought by state and industry auto safety associations. The auto interests claim that Congress gave the U.S. Department of Transportation, and not the FCC, final say over how large a block of airwaves must be reserved for future vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems. The FCC set aside a large band for auto safety in 1999, but it has sat empty and idling ever since. In 2020, over the objections of thenTransportation Secretary Elaine Chou, the FCC unanimously voted to reallocate a portion of the band to enable faster new Wi-Fi technology. Tellingly, in an unusual move, the D.C. Circuit asked the Justice Department to address the significance of the fact that DOJ is representing the FCC and not the Department of Transportation. Thats a question the Biden White House could answer best by forcefully telling the DOT to back off and acknowledge that the FCCs bipartisan decision is in the overall best interests of consumers and the economy. Advertisement GPS: After a decade of debate, in 2020 the FCC gave Ligado, a mobile satellite company, the flexibility to repurpose a portion of the spectrum it has long licensed for 5G mobile and fixed broadband services. The rule-making had dragged on because of complaints from GPS usersincluding John Deere and other politically powerful sellers of equipment that relies on GPSthat the new, more intensive use could interfere with GPS that had assumed neighboring satellite bands would remain quiet at ground level indefinitely. After years of wrangling, private sector GPS users finally dropped opposition after Ligado agreed to give up a significant slice of its valuable spectrum (23 megahertz) as a guard band and to reduce transmit power levels by more than 99 percent of authorized levels. But after the FCCs unanimous final order, the Pentagon stormed Capitol Hill demanding that the FCC reverse itself because important military GPS would need to be upgraded. While the FCC has stood its groundand Ligado is preparing for commercial deploymentsuncertainty remains, and it will be costly. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Weather monitoring: Meteorologists use sensors on satellites to monitor various frequencies to collect data that help to predict weather patterns. One of those bands (at 23.8 gigahertz) is near a band the FCC auctioned in 2019. Although the FCCs rule-making began in 2014, as with the FAAs concerns about altimeters, it wasnt until 2019 that the chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration sounded the alarm, telling Congress that 5G mobile signals in the adjacent 24 GHz bands would endanger as much as 77 percent of the weather data collected by agency satellites. ThenFCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the mobile industry countered that NOAAs objections were based on a fake weather sensor that was never deployed. Nevertheless, under congressional pressure, the FCC is likely to adopt additional protections for weather forecasting in line with international standards adopted subsequent to the FCCs auction. Advertisement So what is to be done? First, the Biden White House needs to send a clear message that the Commerce Departments National Telecommunications and Information Administration is in charge of coordinating federal agency spectrum policy, just as Congress intended. Second, the NTIA and FCC need to collaborate on an updated national spectrum policy and coordination process. President Barack Obama put the U.S. far ahead of the rest of the world by embracing the recommendations of the Presidents Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in 2012 that federal and private sector spectrum sharing must become the new normal given the tsunami of wireless data and new technologies coming online in the years ahead. Unfortunately, while the FCC has pushed that approach forward, the executive branch has fallen back into paranoid parochialism. Advertisement Advertisement Third, the NTIA and any affected federal agencies need to participate actively in FCC rule-makings from beginning to end. They need to put up or shut up concerning interference concernsand submit technical studies and data, just as private industry does. Advertisement Fourth, the NTIA and the Department of Defenseby far the largest federal spectrum userneed to follow through rapidly on proposals to create an automated database to more efficiently coordinate spectrum sharing among agencies and with the private sector. Finally, the White House needs to be what FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr recently called the adult in the room. Disputes that cannot be resolved through FCC and Commerce Department negotiation should be escalated for mediation. Whereas both the FCC and NTIA are to a significant degree captured by their role as advocates for the private sector and federal spectrum users, respectively, the right combination of officials in the White House should be in the best position to discern the overall national interest. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. After years of ridicule and harsh press coverage, Amazon has finally disbanded its Twitter army. Part of a perplexing guerrilla PR campaign, the Amazon FC Ambassadors were a group of Twitter accounts belonging to employees who were paid to respond to posts criticizing the company. The Financial Times reports that Amazon pulled the plug on the project late last year and wiped all traces of its existence from Twitter because senior executives were disappointed by its reach. More than a dozen Amazon FC Ambassador first appeared on Twitter in 2018 in the wake of media investigations finding that fulfillment center employees were being overworked to the point of having to urinate in bottles in order to achieve productivity targets. At the same time, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders had been highlighting the income disparity between then-CEO Jeff Bezos and the median Amazon employee. In the first weeks of the program, the FC Ambassadors spent much of their time replying to critical tweets and claiming that they had adequate bathroom breaks and generous pay and benefits. For instance, an ambassador named Carlotta wrote, Did you know that Amazon pays warehouse workers 30% more than other retailers? I feel proud to work for Amazon - theyve taken good care of me. Much better than some of my previous employers. Their posts parroted the same talking points, down to the phrasing and particular statistics. The ambassadors also went to great lengths to prove to skeptics that they were real people, not bots, by posting their job titles, the locations of their warehouses, and selfies. They urged critics to take fulfillment-center tours, which Amazon had set up to counteract negative press about working conditions. Spoof accounts impersonating Amazon FC Ambassadors also emerged to make fun of the program and skewer the companys treatment of its workers. Twitter ended up banning a number of them. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement After the initial wave of press reports and Amazon critics needling them on Twitter, the FC Ambassadors plodded along in spreading positive testimonies about workplace conditions and getting into squabbles with random users. The focus of their activity appeared to take a turn in 2019 amid a campaign to unionize Amazons New York City retail workers. Although the ambassadors had always been Amazons biggest cheerleaders, they typically tried to mask their corporate propaganda as neutral fact checks based on their own experiences working at the companys warehouses up to that point. When it came to the prospect of labor organizing, though, the accounts became more clearly opinionated, with ambassadors arguing that unions breed laziness and cronyism. They repeated common anti-union talking points about how employees who wanted to exercise their collective bargaining rights should just work elsewhere, and about how there was no need for such organizing because the benefits and pay were so great already. None of them advocated for a union. Amazon claimed that it had not asked the ambassadors to speak out against unions; doing so would likely have violated labor laws. Advertisement Advertisement Over the years, more and more has been revealed about the inner workings of the FC Ambassador program. Employees could become ambassadors by applying to the program or being selected by a manager for having a good sense of humor. Newer employees were often chosen, because managers saw them as more enthusiastic. Ambassadors would spend a portion of their work day posting on Twitter instead of doing their regular jobs like picking or packaging. Those who were part of the program would complete months-long rotations of Twitter posting before giving their handles to the next ambassador to commandeer. Other employees told the press that ambassadors received gift cards and extra breaks and days off, though Amazon has denied providing such perks. The Intercept obtained internal documents in 2021 containing more information about the program, including directives that higher-ups were giving to ambassadors. The company advised ambassadors to reply to speculation and false assertions in a politebut blunt manner, and to ground their messaging in their personal experiences in the workplace. Amazon also apparently forbade ambassadors from responding to calls to unionize and answering inquiries from the media. (FC Ambassadors have directly answered a number of my questions that I sent on Twitter over the years, so its unclear how this policy was enforced.) Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Amazon has long struggled to modulate its tactics and tone on social media. The corporate social media accounts will often awkwardly shift from posting mundane promotions of the company to belligerently attacking its critics. In the final days of the union election at the fulfillment center in Bessemer, Alabama, Amazons PR team used official Twitter accounts to pick fights. The @amazonnews account in particular accused Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan of spreading misinformation, and Vice reporter Lauren Kaori Gurley of being a self-interested critic. The account tangled with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, insinuating that her antitrust platform was a veiled attempt to to break up an American company so that they cant criticize her anymore. Dave Clark, Amazons CEO of worldwide consumer, also tweeted that his company was more progressive than Sen. Sanders. It later came out that Bezos himself had personally pushed executives to more aggressively defend the company. And unlike the FC Ambassadors, the c-suite ambassadors are still tweeting. This story was originally published by Undark and has been republished here with permission. On Jan. 1, the long-running public debate about labeling genetically modified foods entered a new phase. A U.S. federal rule went into effect mandating that food companies disclose whether their products contain a detectable amount of recombinant DNAgenetic material from multiple sources combined through lab techniques to confer desired traits. The new policy requires that those foods be labeled as bioengineered, or carry a QR code and phone number that customers can use to find that information. Since the law requiring the rule change was passed in 2016, it has sparked a predictable backlash. Groups like the nonprofit Center for Food Safety and a coalition of advocates known as Citizens for GMO Labeling have pushed against the regulation, arguing it doesnt do enough to protect consumers. In a 2020 complaint filed in a California district court, CFS and co-plaintiffs maintained that, instead of bioengineered, the rule should have required labels to use the more widely recognizable terms genetically engineered or genetically modified. The groups also oppose many of the rules numerous exemptions, including for foods that are made with genetically engineered crops but dont have detectable levels of recombinant DNA in the final productsfoods like sugar, high fructose corn syrup, and meat and milk from cows raised on genetically modified feed. The critics argue that these and other provisions, including the option to use a QR code instead of a more readily accessible on-label disclosure, violate the publics right to know how their food is produced. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But as a writer and activist whos been following the controversy over genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, for the better part of a decade, Ive come to see the debate over food labels as a red herring. Now more than ever, its clear that the struggle for food justice involves issues far too big and complex to fit on any label. Thats because it was arguably never the recombinant DNA technology that most naysayers were really mad at. (After all, the science is clear that GMO foods are not inherently more harmful than their non-GMO counterparts.) Rather, the GMO debate, ever since it first heated up in the early 2010s, was a pervasive and nebulous proxy for everything food-related that people worry about. Genetic engineering became a symbol of large agribusiness and its perceived seedy practices, the stark power imbalances in the food system, and the harm the food system has long caused the planet and its most vulnerable inhabitants. Many of the crops antagonized by GMO opponentslike the tens of millions of acres of field corn grown in America that go largely to the livestock feed used to fuel the environmentally and ethically dubious meat industry, the ethanol that powers cars on ever-expanding highways, and the nutrient-sparse foods on convenience store shelvesare indeed problematic, but not by virtue of their recombinant DNA. Instead of contending with the complexity inherent in building a more equitable and sustainable food system, opponents of questionable agricultural practices took an ideological stance against genetic engineering itselfand championed labels as a solution. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement For some people, the act of avoiding GMOs seemed to offer a soothing sense of having fulfilled some vague health need or social responsibility. The Non-GMO Project, a nonprofit that lends its imprimatur to products it deems to be free of genetic modification, began catering to this sensibility in 2007. Thousands of products in the U.S. and Canada now bear its label. Advertisement Advertisement But labelswhether they read GMO, non-GMO, bioengineered, or otherwisecan only carry so much information. They havent been able to convey much about the working conditions on the farms and in the facilities where the food was made, or the subsidies pocketed by the producers, or the chemicals and intellectual property employed along the supply chain, or the size of the companies involved. They dont even indicate where on the natural-to-unnatural spectrum a food product falls. For instance, wheat that is widely used to make breads and pastas has been subjected to mutation breedingthe intentional exposure of seeds or plants to radiation or chemicals to induce random changes in the genome, in the hopes that some of those changes will confer desirable traits. Per strict definitions, this wheat isnt considered genetically engineered (and can carry a Non-GMO Project label), despite having artificially altered DNA. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement These days, movements to revolutionize the food system are up against something much larger than labels. These movements are grappling with the racism, sexism, classism, and ableism thats built into the industrys very fabricfrom the ivory towers where food and agricultural research happens, to the American farmlands controlled primarily by white landowners, to the inequities in economic and physical access to nutritional and culturally relevant meals. They are dismantling injustice in the food system, along with larger systemic injustices that impact everything to do with wellbeing. They are on fire, and they are busy frying big fish. Whether or not the new food labeling law survives the legal challenge, one thing is clear: As much as we might want to boil down the morality of our food choices into a label, making responsible decisions about what we eat isnt that simple. I would like a label that tells me if any racism was involved in the making of my food or whether any humans were harmed in the making of my food. But, for a slew of reasons, thats not going to happen. Do people have a right to know how their food was produced, even if it didnt materially affect the end product? Sure, to an extent. Increased transparency from the makers of our food has historically been a good thing. Must it all be printed on a label? Impossible. Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. See the list of films made at Bojnice Castle in the past eight decades. Because of its romantic appearance, Bojnice Castle has hosted many film crews over the years. (Source: Radovan Stoklasa for TASR) Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Jan Frantisek Palfy, the last aristocratic owner of Bojnice Castle and who died in 1908 in Vienna, would have been happy to see how his property has prospered. In 1951, decades after his death and a 1950 fire, one of Slovakias most visited castles was turned into a museum, as Palfy wished in his will; but it has since grown into a popular filming location as well. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Thanks to its romantic appearance, park, and a nearby zoo, the castle has hosted many Czech and Slovak film crews working on fairy-tales and other productions in the past eight decades. Read also: Read also: Bojnice Castle exhibit featured in a US film starring George Clooney Read more In the last two years, there has been an interest in filming on the castle premises by several world-famous production companies, said museum worker Diana Kmetova Miskovicova from the Bojnice Museum, which is housed in the castle. Unfortunately, their intentions have so far been thwarted by Covid, she added. Safari and Italian fantasy films The first productions set in the castle dates to 1943 when two short Slovak documentaries, Bojnice and Bojnice Castle, were made by the Institute of School and National Education Films (Skolfilm) and the news monthly Luc (Ray). Then it took nearly two decades for the first fairy-tale movie to be filmed at the castle. In 1959, a Czechoslovak film crew moved to the impeccable castle premises to make Pan a hvezdar (The Nobleman and the Astronomer), one of many classics in Czechoslovak cinema. video //www.youtube.com/embed/8-DB2ywJY6M The first TV miniseries filmed at the castle was Vivat Benovsky, the museum worker said. The 1973 historical series full of adventures, set in the 18th century, recounts the story of Slovak traveller Moric Benovsky, who became the King of Madagascar. The well-known family miniseries Safari, which Slovaks in their forties grew up watching, takes place in the zoo adjacent to the castle. Some may still believe animal scenes were filmed at Bojnice Zoo. A crew chiefly shot scenes involving people at the zoo, however. The vast majority of animal shots in the series were made at other zoos, in Dvur Kralove and in Lesna [both in the Czech Republic], the zoo explained on its website. Most films made at Bojnice Castle have been produced by Czechs and Slovaks, but the Italian director Lamberto Bava decided to film Fantaghiro 2 at the historical site in 1992. Bava came back to Bojnice three years later to shoot the fantasy film Alisea and the Dream Prince. video //www.youtube.com/embed/cusSXsST8KQ The last fairy-tale filmed at the castle was O liecivej vode [Healing Waters], Kmetova Miskovicova said. The Czech-Slovak television film, in which the world of humans and the world of water have co-existed side by side for years, was filmed here in 2020. Strong nineties The museum worker also cited that Slovak actor Jozef Doczy appeared in the highest number of productions made at Bojnice Castle, six in total, including Safari and Vivat Benovsky. Slovak actor Frantisek Dibarbora starred in four films set in the castle. The directors who repeatedly returned to film at the castle were Radim Cvrcek [She Fell from the Clouds, Safari] and Lamberto Bava, the museum worker added. Bojnice Castle experienced the most fruitful period in the nineties when seven productions, including Bavas two films, were shot at the location. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled In their two years living with the coronavirus, people in Slovakia have got used to many previously unfamiliar things wearing masks and respirators, scanning daily data on the development of the pandemic, social distancing and quarantining, and observing the ever-changing rules intended to combat the spread of the disease. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Along with such novelties, which have long since become the new normal during these pandemic years, many people have also had to face serious health complications, the loss of loved ones, isolation and reduced social contact, and financial worries including loss of income. The uncertain situation has affected many perhaps most people, and Slovak psychologists and psychiatrists agree that there has been a significant increase in patients seeking help from mental health specialists. There are more clients than I have ever seen in my 25-year practice, Tibor Hrozan, a clinical psychologist who offers psychotherapy in Bratislava, told The Slovak Spectator. He explained that not only have waiting times at his practice been prolonged, but he has also had to refuse clients, having run out of free appointments. One-on-one therapy at a minimum frequency of one meeting per week means there is a limit to the number of clients he can see, he explained. His colleagues shared similar experiences. Despite the fact that more people than ever in Slovakia have decided to seek professional help, they point out that it is still not easily available to everyone because of long waiting times or the costs involved. From office to online Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad warns of intensive activities of Russia in various areas across Europe. Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled The situation in Ukraine is tense, but there might still be a diplomatic solution, said Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok (SaS nominee) during the January 26 session of the Security Council. The aim of the meeting was to assess the situation on the eastern border of Ukraine comprehensively and discuss the potential consequences for Slovakia. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement I expect that given the situation, the Security Council will meet more frequently, Korcok said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Apart from the council members, the Speaker of Parliament Boris Kollar (Sme Rodina), chair of the parliamentary defence and security committee Juraj Krupa (OLaNO), and the representatives of intelligence agencies were present at the session. As Korcok said that they are expecting a scenario where a potential war conflict in Ukraine would result in an influx of migrants. Activities of Russian armed forces intensive Korcok went on to say that there is still room to solve the situation in Ukraine in a diplomatic manner, which is what Slovakia and NATO are attempting. These efforts make sense, he said, as quoted by TASR. Were doing nothing other than protecting Slovakia. Ukraine situation extremely serious, gov't prepares for crisis but hopes for diplomatic solution Read more Defence Minister Jaroslav Nad (OLaNO) said the members of the Security Council and constitutional officials were informed about what is happening outside the Ukrainian border. The activities of the Russian armed forces are intensive, also in areas you wouldnt expect, he said, referring to countries in the Mediterranean area, the UK, Ireland and Norway. Caputova and Heger respond The security situation in our region is worsening, commented President Zuzana Caputova, citing the situation at the Ukraine-Russia border, and the talks between NATO and Russia. I feel very bad that despite our openness and continuing diplomatic efforts, which I consider the only good way of finding solution to the current situation, the January talks with Russia did not result in mitigating tensions; but more the opposite, she wrote on Facebook on January 25. If the aggression against Ukraine is tolerated, we could be next Read more She considers dialogue with Russia necessary, as we share one security space where everybody, big and small states alike, wants to live in safety. She supported the steps both NATO and the EU have adopted so far, including an offer to continue in the dialogue with Russia and supporting Ukraine, as well as strengthening Ukraines ability to defend itself. However, we need to strengthen our own Slovak readiness in the event the situation east of our border continues deteriorating and Russia attacks Ukraine again, she said, adding that nobody wishes for this to happen, but it would be irresponsible not to prepare for such a possibility. PM Eduard Heger (OLaNO) has stressed on several occasions that the threat towards Ukraine is a threat towards Slovakia as well, since the two are immediate neighbours. It is necessary to de-escalate the tension and return to negotiations, he added. War in Ukraine would change Slovakia, too Read more On behalf of Slovakia, I can reiterate our unchanged attitude: we support sovereignty, territorial integrity and, of course, the independence of Ukraine, Heger said, as quoted by TASR, noting that Slovak diplomacy supports dialogue with Russia. Its necessary to prevent any conflict. The prime minister went on to say that it is necessary to secure the protection and safety of people in Slovakia, particularly after receiving information that Russia is strengthening its presence, along with technology that can reach Slovak territory, as reported by TASR. Russian threat behind proposals Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled NATO is considering the deployment of troops in Slovakia in reaction to threats from Russia, Foreign Affairs Minister Ivan Korcok (SaS nominee) confirmed on January 27. But he emphasised that no decision has been made yet on the possible move. Korcok was reacting to questions following a report on British Sky News television about NATO discussions on sending units of 1,000 troops each to Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement "This is not a demand from the Slovak side, it is part of regular defence planning in response to developments," the minister said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Minister may lack backing at home https://sputniknews.com/20220126/dprk-reportedly-fires-unidentified-projectile-into-sea-of-japan-1092541403.html DPRK Reportedly Fires Two Presumed Ballistic Missiles into Sea of Japan DPRK Reportedly Fires Two Presumed Ballistic Missiles into Sea of Japan South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff reported detecting a weapons launch off the North Korean coast on Thursday morning, which would be the socialist state's... 26.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-26T23:13+0000 2022-01-26T23:13+0000 2022-01-27T00:24+0000 sea of japan dprk missile tests /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0a/15/1090102520_0:0:3071:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_55b9b8d34d77f344d713e4847967b1af.jpg The South Korean military leadership notified reporters of the launch of two unidentified projectile via text message, according to Yonhap News Agency. Later, they said the projectiles were presumed to be ballistic missiles.The projectile fell outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, Kyodo reported, citing a government source.The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has stepped up its missile tests in 2022, firing off a variety of weapons in the past few weeks, including a hypersonic glide vehicle, a rail-launched ballistic missile, and tactical guided missiles.The DPRK has been at war with South Korea and the US since 1950, since a permanent peace treaty never formally concluded the Korean War, only a ceasefire that stopped the fighting in 1953 remains in effect. As a consequence, the US has maintained a 28,500-strong garrison in South Korea, which Pyongyang has said is an obstacle to peace and poses a threat to the DPRK.According to Pyongyang, its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons systems are necessary in order to guarantee its security in the absence of a permanent peace treaty and US withdrawal from the Korean peninsula. It has strongly objected to military drills between the US and South Korea, which rehearse joint operations against the DPRK. Upcoming drills scheduled for March are expected to be postponed until April due to presidential elections in South Korea on March 9.Talks on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula made progress in 2018 and 2019 before collapsing, as Pyongyang refused to take further action against its programs without some kind of sanctions relief from the US, and Washington refused to remove any economic sanctions against the DPRK without first seeing "verifiable" and irreversible denuclearization on the DPRK's part. Relations have considerably soured since, and new sanctions from Washington followed recent missile tests by the DPRK, which it said violated UN resolutions. sea of japan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Morgan Artyukhina https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/17/1082703728_0:0:800:800_100x100_80_0_0_0b6ce8daa7411284d60c8a0b6d84186d.jpg Morgan Artyukhina https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/17/1082703728_0:0:800:800_100x100_80_0_0_0b6ce8daa7411284d60c8a0b6d84186d.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 Morgan Artyukhina https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/17/1082703728_0:0:800:800_100x100_80_0_0_0b6ce8daa7411284d60c8a0b6d84186d.jpg sea of japan, dprk, missile tests https://sputniknews.com/20220126/normandy-format-advisers-agree-truce-in-donbas-must-be-observed-unconditionally-1092540401.html Normandy Format Advisers Agree Truce in Donbas Must Be Observed Unconditionally Normandy Format Advisers Agree Truce in Donbas Must Be Observed Unconditionally PARIS (Sputnik) - Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak said on Wednesday that during the meeting of Normandy format political advisers in Paris, the... 26.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-26T22:06+0000 2022-01-26T22:06+0000 2022-01-26T22:06+0000 dmitry kozak russia ukraine lugansk peoples republic normandy format donetsk people's republic ukraine crisis donbas conflict /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/1a/1092540609_0:14:3058:1734_1920x0_80_0_0_5765300e264a30a7aa0a531589adb18c.jpg "In general, the first, perhaps, rather frank conversation to take inventory of all the problems that are associated with the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the settlement of the conflict," Kozak said at a press conference following the meeting.In addition, Kozak said that the political advisers did not discuss the organization of a summit of the heads of state at the meeting in Paris.He noted that at the last meeting of advisers to the Normandy Four leaders, which was held in September via video link, "these contradictions were revealed."Parties Failed to Agree on Proposals from Donetsk, LuhanskWritten proposals from the unrecognized Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR) remain without any response from Kiev, it was not possible to agree on this issue, and the negotiators asked for a two-week pause, according to the Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff.He added that the political advisers of the Normandy format countries agreed to hold another meeting in two weeks in Berlin.At the same time, Ukraine has not shared its own vision of the future political conditions for resolving the conflict, Kozak noted."The colleagues agreed that it is still necessary to take a break, think and go out to discuss and resolve all these contradictions that exist today, and, unfortunately, there are many of them. We hope that the results of this agreement will be materialized in specific decisions in two weeks. We will bring our positions closer in order to come out with a common position, with some recommendations to the Minsk negotiation process, so that Ukraine, Donbas, the OSCE have specific recommendations on resolving the conflict," Kozak told reporters.Overall, Kozak underscored that there is almost zero progress in the negotiations in the Normandy format so far, there is nothing to brag about, and Russia hopes for more constructive negotiations in Berlin.The negotiations, which began at about noon (11:00 GMT), lasted almost 8 and a half hours.The Russian delegation at the talks was headed by Kozak, the French one - by the diplomatic adviser to the President of France Emmanuel Bonn, the German one - by the foreign policy adviser to the German Chancellor Jens Plotner, and the Ukrainian one - by the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak. In early January, Bonn and Plotner visited Moscow, where they met with Kozak, after which French and German officials went to Kiev and negotiated with Yermak. The last time the Normandy Format advisors met was in September last year via video link. The consultations at that time also ended with no results. The so-called "Normandy Format" of negotiations on Ukraine has existed since June 2014. Then, during the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Allied landing in Normandy, the leaders of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France discussed the settlement of the conflict in Donbas for the first time. The previous summit was held in Paris on December 9, 2019. Recently, the parties at various levels have been discussing the prospects for interaction in this format.In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, which declared independence after the coup d'etat in Kiev in February 2014. According to the latest UN data, the estimated total number of victims associated with the conflict stands at about 13,000.However, despite the ceasefire agreements, skirmishes continue, with the DPR reporting shelling of residential areas by Ukrainian heavy artillery on numerous occasions. Moscow has repeatedly stated that Kiev is not complying with the Minsk agreements and is dragging out negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict. 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 dmitry kozak, russia, ukraine, lugansk peoples republic, normandy format, donetsk people's republic, ukraine crisis, donbas conflict https://sputniknews.com/20220127/after-breyers-retirement-announcement-biden-expected-to-nominate-first-black-woman-to-supreme-court-1092564081.html After Breyers Retirement Announcement Biden Expected To Nominate First Black Woman To Supreme Court After Breyers Retirement Announcement Biden Expected To Nominate First Black Woman To Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has announced plans for his retirement, prompting President Biden to make good on one of his key campaign promises: nominating the first... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T21:31+0000 2022-01-27T21:31+0000 2022-01-27T21:31+0000 joe biden u.s. supreme court us /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/07/01/1083285915_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_872bd27a8e4fc0a8e18bf2681975de75.jpg Democrats have been lobbying for the most senior member of the U.S. Supreme Courts liberal wing to step down while they still hold a majority in the Senate. President Biden has repeatedly vowed to fill his seat with the first Black female justice. And with that, media outlets have begun theorizing who the president will pick.The top candidate is heavily rumored to be Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was tapped by President Biden for the federal judiciary and is considered to be a frontrunner for the Supreme Court. Jackson is 51 years-old and was Bidens first nominee to the U.S. appellate courts, filling a seat which was left vacant by Attorney General Merrick Garland last summer.Serving on what is considered to be the countrys second most powerful court, as well as a stepping stone to the Supreme Court, Jackson previously clerked for potential predecessor Justice Breyer from 1999 to 2000. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School, and before her confirmation to the District of Columbia Circuit, worked as a U.S. district judge in D.C. and Vice Chair of the Sentencing Commission.Former Congressman and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced Jackson to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2012. Our politics may differ, but my praise for Kentanjis intellect, for her character, for her integrity, is unequivocal. She is an amazing person, he said of her. Ryan and Jackson are related by marriage.The runner-up in the prediction list for potential picks is California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger. Kruger, 45, has been on Californias highest court since 2014, first nominated to the court by former Governor Jerry Brown. She clerked for former Justice John Paul Stevens and is a Yale Law graduate.Judge J. Michelle Childs is another possibility. Childs, 55, served on the U.S. district court in South Carolina since 2010, before being formally nominated to the D.C. Circuit by President Biden earlier this month. Childs graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law, and if nominated, would be one of only two on the Supreme Court who did not attend Harvard or Yale for their education. The other is Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who is a graduate of Notre Dame Law School.Childs has been shown open support by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), a Democrat who is currently the highest-ranking Black individual in Congress. He reportedly will be pushing President Biden to choose Childs as a nominee for the Supreme Court.Finally, we have Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, who worked from 2010 to 2020 as a staff attorney in the Federal Defender Program for the Northern District of Illinois, representing more than four hundred destitute clients accused of federal crimes.Jackson-Akiwumi was confirmed to the Seventh Circuit in June, and like Jackson, had support from three Republicans. With that confirmation, she became the first judge in the Seventh Circuit with a background as a public defender. She is a Yale Law graduate.Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer was first nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1994, and has worked to uphold womens rights, as well as preserving the Affordable Care Act. But with a conservative majority on the Supreme Court, Democrats and lawmakers have been pleading with the 83 year-old to step down while Democrats still hold the Senate majority.They dont want a repeat of history: the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg declined to step down during President Obamas term, and her death then left a vacant seat which was filled by President Donald Trumps nomination of the conservative jurist Amy Coney Barrett. The nomination under President Trump has lead to bizarre and unconstitutional laws regarding abortion rights to pass in certain U.S. states like Texas and Mississippi, leading to a challenge against Roe v. Wade.If one of these women is nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court, it would be a groundbreaking moment in U.S. history. Black women are not only underrepresented on the Supreme Court but on the federal bench, as well. When Biden first took office, only five of 300 sitting federal appellate judges were Black women. Biden has since doubled that number."The president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court, and certainly stands by that," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday. us Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.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 Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg joe biden, u.s. supreme court, us https://sputniknews.com/20220127/at-least-five-killed-several-injured-in-shooting-by-national-guard-troop-in-dnipro-ukraine-1092546386.html At Least Five Killed, Several Injured in Shooting by National Guard Trooper in Dnipro, Ukraine At Least Five Killed, Several Injured in Shooting by National Guard Trooper in Dnipro, Ukraine The shooting incident occurred on the territory of a factory in the Ukrainian City of Dnipro, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday. 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T06:16+0000 2022-01-27T06:16+0000 2022-01-27T08:53+0000 ukraine /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/103602/96/1036029645_0:0:3049:1716_1920x0_80_0_0_bde9291e06c9214d432847110c67fe22.jpg The Ukrainian national Guard soldier who shot five people in the city of Dnipro has been detained, confirmed the country's Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky."Five people died, including a woman, and five others are wounded at the moment. Doctors are fighting for their lives. Secondly, Artem Ryabchuk has just been detained by police officers in the city of Dnipropetrovsk region. He will bear the strictest responsibility under the law", Monastyrsky said on Facebook.Five people were killed on the scene of the incident by the shooter, the countrys Interior Ministry had stated earlier in the day. The armed suspect had fled the scene of the crime.Four of those shot dead were members of the military, while one was a civilian woman, added the ministry.The territory of the plant where the incident occurred has been cordoned off, with an internal investigation launched in the military unit, the press service of the National Guard reported on Thursday. The suspect in the shooting - part of the guard unit at the plant - had been serving in the National Guard since the autumn of last year and had been generally characterized positively, press officer of the National Guard, Ruslan Muzychuk, said on Thursday. Appointment of servicemen to the military guard is a procedure that constantly entails conversations with a psychologist, Muzychuk was quoted as saying.He added that those wounded in the incident had sustained limb injuries. The motives for the crime are still unknown.A police operation had been launched in the city, with personnel of the national police and National Guard units put on high alert. A criminal case has been opened into the deadly shooting incident. ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko 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 Svetlana Ekimenko ukraine https://sputniknews.com/20220127/biden-gets-his-bluff-called-admits-the-us-will-not-deploy-troops-in-ukraine-1092533887.html Biden Gets His Bluff Called, Admits the US Will Not Deploy Troops in Ukraine Biden Gets His Bluff Called, Admits the US Will Not Deploy Troops in Ukraine On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Austin Pelli talk about a four-way meeting to be held in Paris between France, Germany, Russia and... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T08:53+0000 2022-01-27T08:53+0000 2022-01-27T08:53+0000 ukraine us burkina faso scotus fault lines radio /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/1a/1092533829_53:0:1297:700_1920x0_80_0_0_797e744e238b687b64475ce390a50471.png Biden Gets His Bluff Called, Admits the U.S. Will Not Deploy Troops in Ukraine On this episode of Fault Lines, hosts Jamarl Thomas and Austin Pelli talk about a four-way meeting to be held in Paris between France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine, debated affirmative action as the issue reaches the Supreme Court, and discussed the coup in Burkina Faso and protesters' demands. Guests:Peter Oliver - Correspondent for RT | Normandy Four Meetings Open Dialogue Between Russia and UkraineScottie Nell Hughes - Anchor for RT America | Affirmative Action, Class Issue or Race Issue?Abayomi Azikiwe - Editor, Pan-African News Wire | Protestors Turn to Russia After Coup in Burkina FasoIn the first hour, Peter Oliver joined the show to talk about the Normandy-format meetings between France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine being held in Paris today. We also talked about the animosity between the UK and Germany as London stokes their allies to take a more aggressive stance on Russia.In the second hour, Fault Lines was joined by Scottie Nell Hughes for a debate on affirmative action, including if diversity for the sake of diversity is truly valuable, if race is the primary factor, and more. We also talked about what hope Biden has for the midterms, and predictions about the 2024 GOP ticket.In the third hour, Abayomi Azikiwe joined the conversation to talk about the coup that took place in Burkina Faso and how it could raise tensions in Europe as protestors rebuke Frances neo-colonial rule and call for Russian troops to intervene.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com ukraine us burkina faso Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Jamarl Thomas https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/12/1082114086_0:0:373:374_100x100_80_0_0_c7506df4524fd8cdd4e40ad19918cd78.png Jamarl Thomas https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/12/1082114086_0:0:373:374_100x100_80_0_0_c7506df4524fd8cdd4e40ad19918cd78.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 Jamarl Thomas https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/12/1082114086_0:0:373:374_100x100_80_0_0_c7506df4524fd8cdd4e40ad19918cd78.png ukraine, us, burkina faso, scotus, fault lines, , radio https://sputniknews.com/20220127/california-struggles-to-cope-with-increasing-train-robberies-reminiscent-of-frontier-era-1092543794.html California Struggles to Cope With Increasing Train Robberies, Reminiscent of Frontier Era California Struggles to Cope With Increasing Train Robberies, Reminiscent of Frontier Era Train robberies have been the stuff of American lore since the Wild West and the dawn of the railroad. It seemed that the image of menacing bandits galloping... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T04:49+0000 2022-01-27T04:49+0000 2022-01-27T04:49+0000 robbery society us train california armed robber /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/1b/1092544277_0:0:3001:1688_1920x0_80_0_0_0a5cbffa12e9bb229c91d6422cacdb00.jpg Recently, images of thousands of plastic wrappers, cardboard boxes, and packaging strewn on train tracks in Los Angeles have dominated social media in the US.Thieves are robbing train carriages like they once did on horseback in the days of the Wild West, but it has been spurred on by a number of modern realities, such as the rise of e-commerce and Southern California's role as a major supply chain centre. The problem has sparked a national debate and highlighted a rift between rail operators, government officials, and police over how to curb the robberies. According to the Wall Street Journal, the fact that trains transporting e-commerce packages are being looted in broad daylight, as a rail cars stand parked or slowly make their way to an intermodal hub in the city, is well known, but addressing the problem is tough when all parties involved are playing the blame game.According to local media reports, a Union Pacific train carrying approximately 17 cars derailed in the middle of the month in the area where the robberies have been occurring. Luckily, the crew was unharmed, but the exact cause is reportedly being investigated. Thefts along train tracks in Los Angeles County have increased by 160 percent since December 2020, according to Union Pacific, cited in the Los Angeles Times report. The railroad reportedly did not provide particular information on what was stolen or how much was lost, but it did say that the spike in crime cost it at least $5 million last year. Officials reportedly say a supply chain bottleneck and the existence of homeless encampments along rail lines have contributed to the thefts. Sometimes, street gangs are reportedly involved in plundering cargo trains moving towards the transportation hubs.To tackle the thefts, Union Pacific is said to be deploying more drones, increasing security, and enlisting the Los Angeles Police Department, California Highway Patrol, and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. But, according to Los Angeles Police Capt. German Hurtado, quoted in the LA Times report, Union Pacific is partly responsible for not deploying sufficient security.The Golden State's Rich History of Train RobberiesHowever, it seems that the Golden State is not currently able to cope with the problem, which has plagued it since the last years of the Civil War and the heyday of the Old West.The first train heist in California appears to have occurred in 1881, according to a separate LA Times report. A crew of train wreckers, reportedly led by a man who had failed miserably as a gold miner, opted to intercept other men's gold at a less labour-intensive stage of the process.Throughout the hectic years of the Old West, Union Pacific, founded in 1862, has witnessed its fair share of well-known heists. Butch Cassidy and his gang were immortalised on the silver screen for robbing the Union Pacific Overland Flyer No. 1 in Wyoming in 1899. The group brought the train to a halt and detonated a bomb in its safe. A posse was dispatched to track down the bandits.In the last decades of the 19th century, the Central Valley was hit by a rash of train robberies, according to the report. These were major robberies, complete with gunfire, bullet-riddled bodies, and explosives to clear a path to the loot, which wasn't always as plentiful as the robbers had anticipated. By the early twentieth century, railway robbery in the Frontier states was well on its way to becoming a film genre. A 12-minute film dubbed "The Great Railway Robbery," a precursor to all the other train robbery films, capitalised on the headlines. It ended with the villain facing the camera and firing his gun at the audience.Interestingly, the legendary Dalton gang also operated in the state. One of their California train heists ended in their humiliation. A trio of masked Daltons on horseback halted a Southern Pacific train in February 1891 at a settlement now known as Earlimart. They shot the engineer, and one brother fired into the air to keep people at bay while the others tried to compel the cash car's guard to unlock the door. Instead, the guard began shooting through a peephole until the Daltons gave up and rode away empty-handed.Many of the train robbers mentioned in the report, based on the news stories of the era, had personal motives for raiding the trains of various railroad companies then operating in the state. Both the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific had major influence on the politics and economy of the region during that time, and sometimes even allegedly took land from farmers by force for rail line construction.The golden era of train robbery ended with the irresistible technological advances of the early 20th century, when companies stopped sending physical money overland and turned to banks. The robbers quickly had to switch to raiding bank offices and looting rich railway passengers, instead of trying to steal or blow up safes. The widespread use of well-armed federal marshals and private detectives, often from the infamous Pinkerton National Detective Agency, who collected bounties from the railroad companies for rooting out lawlessness, also helped to defeat this type of crime. Recently, the problem that has been revived due to the development of trade and modern technology, which still relies heavily on railroads, and the politicisation of lethal violence against non-violent criminals in the wake of the George Floyd killing has ushered in a new wave of theft and robbery, leading to what some are calling a major crisis.According to the Wall Street Journal report mentioned above, California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a $225 million grant over the next few years to combat retail and other theft, but overcoming this challenge will require a major effort. 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 robbery, society, us, train, california, armed robber https://sputniknews.com/20220127/canadas-prime-minister-trudeau-self-isolates-after-being-exposed-to-covid-19-1092560540.html Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau Self-Isolates After Being Exposed to COVID-19 Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau Self-Isolates After Being Exposed to COVID-19 WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was informed on Wednesday that he had been exposed to the COVID-19 infection. 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T17:03+0000 2022-01-27T17:03+0000 2022-01-27T17:01+0000 justin trudeau covid-19 /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/08/17/1083694496_0:178:3007:1869_1920x0_80_0_0_20043f75c9c2b5c3011d76b83ae0132e.jpg Last night, I learned that I have been exposed to COVID-19, Trudeau said via Twitter.However, the Prime Minister added that the result of his rapid test was negative.Trudeau said going forward he would follow health safety rules and would quarantine for the recommended period of five days. The prime minister also urged residents to stay safe and get vaccinated.I feel fine and will be working from home, Trudeau said.Trudeau said his wife tested positive for coronavirus in March 2020 and felt fine at the time. 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 justin trudeau, covid-19 https://sputniknews.com/20220127/childhood-stars-macaulay-culkin-and-brenda-song-are-engaged-1092543262.html Childhood Stars Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song Are Allegedly Engaged Childhood Stars Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song Are Allegedly Engaged Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song are engaged almost a year after Song gave birth to their son, Dakota. Macaulay Culkin, known to 90s kids for his movie Home... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T01:20+0000 2022-01-27T01:20+0000 2022-01-27T01:44+0000 hollywood entertainment macaulay culkin /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/107103/31/1071033190_0:301:3178:2089_1920x0_80_0_0_2b88b0e4b21a347e2b9ddc3057eb6a22.jpg Rumors started flying about an engagement between the two former child stars, when Song was spotted sporting a diamond ring while running errands in Beverly Hills on Monday. A source confirmed to People that the two are engaged.The couple first met in Thailand while shooting their film Changeland, and in July of 2017 they were reportedly spotted enjoying a dinner date at the restaurant Craigs, located in Los Angeles.Their son Dakota was born in April of 2021, weighing 6 pounds, and 14 ounces which they shared with Esquire, saying, Were overjoyed.Song and Culkin named their son Dakota in honor of his late sister who died in a car accident in 2008. She was only 29.Culkins most recent work was as character Mickey, in the TV series American Horror Story. Brenda Song will appear in the 2022 reboot of the TV series The Proud Family, which will be streamed on Disney Plus. hollywood Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.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 Mary Manley https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/0b/1092187887_0:0:2048:2049_100x100_80_0_0_0c2cc4c84f89aff034cc55bb01fb6697.jpg hollywood, entertainment, macaulay culkin https://sputniknews.com/20220127/chinas-scientists-warn-of-potential-high-fatality-transmission-rate-of-coronavirus-neocov--1092550863.html China's Scientists Warn of Potential High Fatality, Transmission Rate of Coronavirus NeoCoV China's Scientists Warn of Potential High Fatality, Transmission Rate of Coronavirus NeoCoV The NeoCoV virus discovered in South Africa and currently actively discussed in media reports is not new and has been around for some time. The virus is... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T10:37+0000 2022-01-27T10:37+0000 2022-01-27T10:37+0000 bat wuhan covid-19 middle east respiratory syndrome (mers) /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/06/04/1083073303_0:177:3015:1873_1920x0_80_0_0_b15e27e9a163d0049e8db8388e86cd34.jpg Chinese scientists have warned of the potential threat of high fatality and transmission rate linked with a strain of coronavirus discovered in South Africa. The NeoCoV virus, related to the Middle East respiratory syndrome MERS-CoV, linked with outbreaks in countries of the Middle East in 2012 and 2015, is not new. It is also similar in many ways to SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19 in humans. NeoCoV was found in a population of bats in South Africa and to date has spread exclusively among these animals. Yet the new study, not yet peer-reviewed and released in preprint on the bioRxiv website, unexpectedly discovered that NeoCoV and its close relative, PDF-2180-CoV, can use some types of bat Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and human ACE2 for entry. Just one mutation is enough for the virus to be able to infiltrate human cells, claim scientists from the Wuhan University and Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Based on their findings, the potential danger linked to the new coronavirus is that it binds to the ACE2 receptor in a different way than the COVID-19 pathogen does. Therefore, neither antibodies nor protein molecules that are formed in those who have been ill with the respiratory disease or/and vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 will successfully protect against it. Thus, NeoCoV carries with it the potentially combined high mortality rate of MERS-CoV (where one in three infected people die on average) and the high transmission rate of the current SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, wrote the Chinese researchers. Experts from the Vector Russian State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology issued a statement on Thursday after being briefed about NeoCov, in response to the publication."Experts from the Vector research centre are aware of the data that Chinese researchers obtained regarding the NeoCov coronavirus. At this time, its not about the emergence of a new coronavirus capable of actively spreading among humans." They added that the Chinese team had outlined potential risks requiring further study. The COVID-19 pandemic engulfing the world originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. There is no definitive proof as to how the pandemic emerged. Currently, there exist two versions on the issue. The first suggests that COVID-19 was transmitted to humans from bats through an intermediate animal. The second explains the outbreak by a leak from a laboratory. In spring 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its full report on the coronavirus origin, stating that the lab leak theory was unlikely. On 29 October 2021, US intelligence released a declassified report on its investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, which found that the virus had not been developed as a biological weapon. America's top intelligence agencies remained "divided on the most likely origin." However, the report also accused Beijing of allegedly hindering the global investigation and resisting sharing information. In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry slammed the US so-called unclassified summary of assessment on COVID-19 origins as a political and false one, with no scientific basis or credibility. https://sputniknews.com/20220112/us-senators-introduce-bill-to-sanction-china-officials-obstructing-covid-19-origins-probe-1092192088.html wuhan Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko 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 Svetlana Ekimenko bat, wuhan, covid-19, middle east respiratory syndrome (mers) https://sputniknews.com/20220127/dnc-hack-hillarys-skeletons--fbis-secrets-three-possible-directions-of-durhams-probe-1092561141.html DNC 'Hack,' Hillary's Skeletons & FBI's Secrets: Three Possible Directions of Durham's Probe DNC 'Hack,' Hillary's Skeletons & FBI's Secrets: Three Possible Directions of Durham's Probe On 25 January, Special Counsel John Durham gave an update on the case of Michael Sussmann, a lawyer from a firm linked to the Hillary Clinton campaign. The... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T18:01+0000 2022-01-27T18:01+0000 2022-01-27T18:01+0000 donald trump world us opinion hillary clinton the clinton foundation carter page trump russia christopher steele fbi /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/106770/72/1067707255_0:130:3151:1902_1920x0_80_0_0_df8396de2cc706f74e4da38e9a626334.jpg In September 2021, former Perkins Coie partner Michael Sussmann was charged with lying to then-FBI General Counsel James Baker and concealing the fact that he had conducted research into Trump-Russia ties on behalf of the Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign. The new court document says that the DoJ maintains "an active, ongoing criminal investigation" into Sussmanns conduct. The former Perkins Coie lawyer previously pleaded not guilty. Durham has been looking into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe since April 2019.Did Perkins Coie Fabricate "Russian Hacking" of DNC?Durham's probe has triggered a lively debate among American investigative reporters, lawyers, and bloggers. Commenting on the latest court file, Techno Fog, a nom de plume for an American lawyer, writer and blogger, suggested that Sussmann's case could be bigger than just providing a false statement to the FBI.The blogger does not rule out that Durham could be also focused on the claim of Russian hacking, given that it was Sussmann who requested CrowdStrike's help in investigating the alleged DNC hack in 2016. Earlier, Politico revealed In late April 2016, after the DNC noticed some suspicious cyber activities, it reached out to Perkins Coie lawyer Michael Sussmann, who called Shawn Henry, the president of cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, to secure his company's help. Subsequently, CrowdStrike blamed the "breach" on supposed "Russian hackers."In September 2021, The New York Times noted that "some of the questions that Mr. Durhams team has been asking in recent months suggest he has been pursuing a theory that the Clinton campaign used Perkins Coie to submit dubious information to the FBI about Russia and Mr. Trump in an effort to gin up investigative activity to hurt his 2016 campaign."Indeed, the official "Russian hack" story has a lot of gaps. Firstly, CrowdStrike President Shawn Henry admitted under oath in 2017 that the company does not have "concrete evidence" that the alleged "Russian hackers" exfiltrated any data from the servers. Secondly, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), a group of former US intelligence officers, concluded that the alleged "hack" was nothing but an inside job.'Hillary Had a Motive to Ruin Trump'Special Counsel Durham could also be digging deeper into Hillary Clinton's motivation for peddling or, potentially, cooking the Trump-Russia story up, according to Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel, who has been conducting a private investigation into the Clinton Foundation's alleged fraud for several years.Hillary Clinton has quite a few skeletons in her closet, including the mishandling of classified government emails, allegedly implementing "pay-to-play" schemes during her secretary of state tenure, and the Clinton charities' supposed financial machinations, according to Ortel.The New York Times broke in September 2020 that Durham had widened his inquiry scope and also sought information about the FBI's Clinton Foundation investigation. Ortel does not rule out that the Durham team has found "compelling evidence" as to why Hillary Clinton and her Democratic allies were and are so fearful of an empowered Trump administration.Furthermore, in October 2021, Clinton Foundation whistleblowers Lawrence W. Doyle and John F. Moynihan revealed that they had been interviewed by Durham. Earlier, in December 2018, Doyle and Moynihan testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, alleging that the Clinton Foundation owes the US government between $400 million and $2.5 billion in taxes.Was FBI's Crossfire Hurricane Op Well Predicated?Durham's latest court document reveals that the FBIs Inspection Division is investigating FBI personnel's performance amid the bureau's Crossfire Hurricane probe into alleged Trump-Russia collusion. The special counsel has requested information from the division overlapping with his investigation.The special counsel appears to be interested in disclosing how the FBI's Russiagate probe was launched and on what particular basis, writes investigative journalist Aaron Mate in his op-ed for RealClearInvestigations.In 2019, Durham expressed his dissent with regard to Inspector General Michael Horowitz's conclusion that the FBI's Operation Crossfire Hurricane into alleged Trump-Russia collusion was well predicated. Durham announced that his office had "advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the reports conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened." He explained that, unlike Horowitz, his "investigation is not limited to developing information from within component parts of the Justice Department" and has instead obtained "information from other persons and entities, both in the US and outside of the US."According to the official narrative, the FBI kicked off Crossfire Hurricane of Trump's alleged ties to Russia after receiving a "tip" from Alexander Downer, the Australian diplomat. In 2016, Downer talked to Trump campaign volunteer George Papadopoulos at a London bar. Papadopoulos allegedly told him about Russia's "hacking operation" against the DNC and reportedly had "advance knowledge of the Russian plan to use that information to hurt Clintons campaign," as ex-FBI agent Peter Strzok recalled in his memoir. However, according to Mate, the FBI Electronic Communication (EC) files say nothing of the kind.The investigative journalist also cites the FBI's overreliance on the uncorroborated Steele dossier and the bureau's long efforts to conceal this. On top of this, the bureau made 17 "factual misstatements and omissions" to the FISA court while seeking surveillance warrants on Trump aide Carter Page, according to the IG Horowitz report."Given how hard the FBI and Democratic Party allies have fought to shield this conduct from scrutiny, Durham's probe could become a major political flashpoint as his probe reaches its final months and hones in on its final targets," Mate concludes. https://sputniknews.com/20200324/nothing-burger-how-crowdstrikes-meteoric-rise-was-triggered-by-fake-russia-hacked-dnc-story-1078691063.html https://sputniknews.com/20211005/durhams-probe-hillary-clinton-sowed-dragons-teeth-by-peddling-trump-russia-hoax-analyst-says-1089679576.html https://sputniknews.com/20211221/new-docs-clinton-2016-campaign-investigated-in-durham-probe-into-trump-russia-inquiry-1091696326.html https://sputniknews.com/20211110/steele-dossier-isnt-russian-disinformation-but-a-clinton-campaign-product-journo-says-1090632787.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Ekaterina Blinova Ekaterina Blinova 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 Ekaterina Blinova donald trump, world, us, opinion, hillary clinton, the clinton foundation, carter page, trump russia, christopher steele, fbi, fisa, steele dossier, john durham https://sputniknews.com/20220127/germanys-spd-says-europe-cannot-remain-peaceful-for-long-without-russia-1092556655.html Germanys SPD Says Europe Cannot Remain Peaceful for Long Without Russia Germanys SPD Says Europe Cannot Remain Peaceful for Long Without Russia BERLIN (Sputnik) Lasting peace in Europe is impossible without Russia, but any Russian aggression will require retaliatory measures, Lars Klingbeil, a... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T13:17+0000 2022-01-27T13:17+0000 2022-01-27T13:16+0000 russia germany nato /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/106196/44/1061964486_0:73:1350:832_1920x0_80_0_0_bec90cc3c060d8b588ae5af6ab3d0ed9.jpg "Long-term peace in Europe is impossible without Russia, and possible only with Russia," he told the German parliament, calling for "clarity and consequences" on Europe's part in the event Russia "crosses the border politically or geographically."He stressed, however, that potential measures exclude arms supplies to Ukraine.Russia has repeatedly dismissed claims put forward by the West and Ukraine that its troop buildup near the border with Ukraine was in preparation to attack the neighboring country. Moscow pointed to NATO's military activity near Russian borders and offered a set of proposals on mutual security guarantees in Europe to the United States and NATO. The latter provided a private written response to Moscow's proposals on Wednesday. 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 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 russia, germany, nato https://sputniknews.com/20220127/how-legal-are-israeli-police-spying-methods-1092544651.html How Legal Are Israeli Police Spying Methods? How Legal Are Israeli Police Spying Methods? According to Israeli legislation, the police is allowed to listen in to conversations of citizens to investigate or prevent serious crimes. There are some in... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T05:19+0000 2022-01-27T05:19+0000 2022-01-27T05:19+0000 israel police pegasus /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/1b/1092545775_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_4722f8507a585fd5fe9484558ca22ad3.jpg Emotions are still brewing in Israel, a week after the Calcalist news website revealed that the country's police were using NSO's Pegasus spyware system to hack the phones of Israeli citizens.According to that report, the police have been snooping into the phones of private citizens for years, and many of the people who have been targeted were law-abiding civilians. They included mayors, leaders of political protests and former government employees.How Legal is That?Many in Israel have accused the police of resorting to illicit practices, but Adv. Amir Cahane, a researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, says nothing here is black-and-white.Israeli experts suspect that it was highly unlikely that the police would fork out a pretty penny on a programme if their sole aim was to record conversations, especially as the market is flooded with cheaper options.This is why some believe Pegasus was probably used to extract the entire information from the phones of the people under surveillance and the catch is that they used a hole in the Israeli law that allowed them to do so.Israel's Wiretap Law stipulates that listening to conversations or communications is allowed under certain conditions. But it doesn't include any clauses that ban hacking into a person's phone to extract all of its content, and this is something that's regarded as problematic.Another hole in the system is the judiciary involvement. The law obliges the police to submit an official request to a district or a magistrate court for a warrant, and only once it is granted, the authorities are allowed to listen in to conversations.In reality, however, the current oversight is highly ineffective; judges very often lack the necessary knowledge to understand what software and equipment is needed for a certain mission. And this leads to a situation where they rubber stamp almost every police request that's submitted to them.Crime and Punishment?Will the Israeli police be held accountable for their actions? Israel's public has already been punishing it with its distrust, with only 55 percent believing in the system and 19 percent having little faith in it.As for the police's punishment by the law, Cahane doubts it will happen unless "they discover particular cases of officers", who could be held accountable. But what he does believe in is that this scandal may lead to an overhaul in the entire system that has been begging for a change for years.Things might now start changing. Following the revelation of the scandal, Omer Bar Lev, Israel's Minister of Public Security, has said he would be looking into the current Israeli law to see what changes have to be made for it to fit the 21st century.He also stressed that the body he represents will come up with a new set of rules if needed, after they agree on them with the Ministry of Justice."In the US, after the scandal of Edward Snowden revelations, there have been some reforms. So there is a change it will happen here too. Right now, it is too early to tell," says Cahane. Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Elizabeth Blade Elizabeth Blade 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 Elizabeth Blade israel, police, pegasus We are called upon to preserve the memory, to ensure its commemoration for the eternity of humankind. But alongside the memory, we are also called upon to shape a vision from it, he said. We are called upon to preserve hope, and to plan a future together a future based on shared values and dreams. We must connect and empower our young people the generation of grandchildren and great-grandchildren; the third and fourth generations and the generations to come, and guide them to join together forces and minds, to advance a future filled with inspiration; a future based on the values of democracy, freedom and tolerance, which are shared by Israel and Germany. https://sputniknews.com/20220127/retired-us-general-urges-nato-to-keep-ukraine-out-for-the-sake-of-peace-with-russia-1092556232.html Retired US General Urges NATO to Keep Ukraine Out for the Sake of Peace With Russia Retired US General Urges NATO to Keep Ukraine Out for the Sake of Peace With Russia Russia-NATO relations have hit a low unseen since the Cold War over the Western alliances eastward creep, and plans to incorporate Ukraine into the bloc. Last... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T13:01+0000 2022-01-27T13:01+0000 2022-01-27T13:17+0000 russia ukraine united states nato /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/102495/57/1024955796_0:121:3838:2280_1920x0_80_0_0_ed451168e32b5d438d258ab36d6b8354.jpg Ukraines membership in NATO would not serve the critical security interests of the North Atlantic Alliance, and the Eastern European nation should be endowed with Austria-style neutrality in order to avoid accidentally igniting World War III, retired US Army Lt. Gen. Dell Dailey has recommended.In a piece for paleo-conservative news magazine The National Interest, Dailey and contributor James P. Farwell warned that time is growing short to avoid a conflagration, and recommended a US strategy of equilibrium, rather than the traditional policy containment, toward Russia.Russia, the retired general suggested, no longer has Soviet-style expansionist ambitions, with nationalism and fears of Western-backed colour revolutions said to drive the Kremlins security concerns.Accordingly, Dailey recommended, first and foremost, keeping the post-Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia out of the Western alliance.Ukraine could accept a status similar to Austrias. Austria is a democracy that does business with all sides and maintains its independence. Such status wont harm the West, and would remove the threat that [Vladimir] Putin most complains about. Ukraine needs to be a part of that negotiation, he added.Russia, for its part, should come to terms with Ukraines efforts to build a successful democracy, according to Dailey, and both Moscow and the West should work toward some sort of mutual agreement to stop meddling in one anothers internal affairs, and also reach an arrangement on missile deployments.The former general also calls on Russia to make a formal commitment not to use the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline as political leverage to influence European politics, and to crack down on criminal cyberhacking against the West, whether by the Russian state, proxies or transnational criminal groups operating in the country.The former officer also calls on Russia and the West to search for common ground that recognises the existential threat posed by Chinas ambition to establish global military and economic supremacy by 2049, claiming that Chinas achieving [of] that ambition would pose an existential threat to both sides.Publicly, Russia has rejected efforts by Western powers to try to build a wall in its relations with the Peoples Republic, with Russian officials recently characterising ties with Russias Asian neighbour as the best in their history amid growing tensions with the US.Neutral Ukraine Idea Not NewThe idea of a neutral Ukraine situated between Russia and NATO and cooperating with both proposed by Dailey is not new, and served as the de facto foreign policy of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s. Kuchmas multivector strategy, designed to balance eastern and western interests, saw support from Russian presidents Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin. This balance was upset in 2005 with the victory of the Orange Revolution, a Western-backed soft coup in Kiev which brought to power pro-NATO and pro-EU president Viktor Yushchenko.Yushchenko lost the 2010 presidential elections, garnering just 5.45 percent of the vote, and was replaced by Viktor Yanukovych, a centrist often described by Western officials as pro-Russian, but who like Kuchma sought to keep Ukraine out of any alliance whether it be NATO or the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation. Yanukovych was overthrown in a second colour revolution in 2014 after trying to back out of signing an EU association agreement in favour of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union.US officials have made no secret of their efforts to pull Ukraine westward, with Obama-era under-secretary of state Victoria Nuland bragging openly in 2014 about how the United States spent $5 billion to promote democracy in Ukraine since 1991.The 2014 coup sparked the current crisis in relations between Russia and the West, with Crimea breaking off from Ukraine and rejoining Russia, and a civil war breaking out in the Donbass after local residents refused to recognise the new authorities in Kiev. In recent months, The US and its NATO allies have accused Russia of engaging in a military buildup on Ukraines borders, ostensibly to carry out an invasion of the country. Moscow has vocally dismissed these claims and accused the West of pumping up war fears to justify the Western blocs militarisation of Eastern Europe.In December, Russia offered the US and NATO a pair of comprehensive security proposals aimed at ending the crisis recommending that both sides significantly reduce troop, missile, aircraft and warship deployments and operations in areas where they may be perceived as a threat to the other side. Russia also asked the US and its allies to scrap plans to incorporate Ukraine or any other post-Soviet republic into the bloc, and requested that NATO limit the deployment of troops and military equipment in countries which joined the alliance since the end of the Cold War.On Wednesday, the United States and NATO provided Russia with formal written responses to its security proposals. In a press briefing, Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated that Russia was told in no uncertain terms that Ukraine would remain free to choose its own alliances. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lamented that the US did not respond positively to the central proposals in Russias security guarantee concept NATOs eastward expansion and the deployment of offensive strike systems. https://sputniknews.com/20220126/us-allies-reportedly-mull-sending-thousands-more-troops-to-natos-eastern-flank-1092532889.html https://sputniknews.com/20220127/lavrov-us-did-not-respond-to-main-question---on-non-expansion-of-nato-1092553489.html ukraine Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Ilya Tsukanov Ilya Tsukanov 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 Ilya Tsukanov russia, ukraine, united states, nato Tajikistan Continues to Pull Military, Equipment to Border - Kyrgyz Border Service Tajikistan continues to pull the military and heavy equipment to the Kyrgyz border, the Kyrgyz Border Service told Sputnik on Thursday. It was reported that at the initiative of the Tajik side, a second phone conversation between the director of the Kyrgyz Border Service, Ularbek Sharsheev, and the commander of the Tajik border troops, Rajabali Rahmonali, took place at 16:18 GMT, the parties discussed ceasefire. Sharsheev said that the Tajik side that does not cease fire, moreover, continues to pull heavy military equipment and personnel to the border. As of 23:00 (17:00 GMT), Tajik military personnel continue to periodically fire at the positions of Kyrgyz military personnel, the Kyrgyz Border Service said. The Tajik side has asked for a ceasefire on the border, but it continues shelling, the Kyrgyz Border Service told Sputnik. "The Tajik side requested a ceasefire. However, as of 22:30 (16:30 GMT), Tajik military personnel continue to periodically fire at the positions of internal troops, clashes continue in the areas of Eki-Tash, Kum-Bazar, Chir-Dobo," it said. A meeting of the governors of the Batken Region of Kyrgyzstan and the Sughd Region of Tajikistan is also expected, it added. https://sputniknews.com/20220127/stakes-are-massive-piers-morgan-weighs-in-on-prince-andrews-case-1092549701.html 'Stakes Are Massive': Piers Morgan Weighs in on Prince Andrew's Case 'Stakes Are Massive': Piers Morgan Weighs in on Prince Andrew's Case Prince Andrew demanded a jury trial in Virginia Giuffres sexual abuse civil lawsuit against him, according to court papers filed on Wednesday. While admitting... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T09:12+0000 2022-01-27T09:12+0000 2022-01-27T09:12+0000 ghislaine maxwell prince andrew jeffrey epstein piers morgan uk /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/03/1082530567_0:160:3073:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_4a27f8324f568a7ef29e2ab9575932b7.jpg Piers Morgan has weighed in on Prince Andrews sex abuse civil lawsuit saga in light of the announcement that the royal has demanded a jury trial in the case. Underscoring that the stakes are massive, the former Good Morning Britain host went on Twitter to suggest that the Duke of York could not possibly settle this case now after such a vehement denial of any wrongdoing and demand for a full trial. The embattled royal formally denied that the late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein had trafficked girls to him, in court papers filed on Wednesday by his lawyers as part of answer and affirmative defences to his sex abuse accuser Virginia Giuffres civil complaint. Referring to the likelihood that Prince Andrew might attempt to settle with Giuffre, who claims she was trafficked out by Epstein and his "madam" Ghislaine Maxwell to engage in sexual relations with Prince Andrew when she was 17, and a minor by US law, on three occasions, Morgan stated:Prince Andrew hereby demands a trial by jury on all causes of action asserted in the complaint, stated the 11-page document filed by the royals attorneys on Wednesday as of ongoing legal proceedings in Manhattan federal court. The royal, forced to step down from public duties in November 2019 due to his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, "admits that he met Epstein in or around 1999" in the papers, but vehemently denied any wrongdoing.According to the royals defence, there were a number of reasons why they believed the case against Prince Andrew should be thrown out. They cited the fact that Giuffre was a permanent resident of Australia, too much time having passed after the alleged misconduct, and her own wrongful conduct" - an allegation that she had acted unethically related to the accusations. The defence reiterated their claim that Giuffres 2009 settlement with Epstein shielded the royal from litigation. Earlier this month, Prince Andrews team failed to get the case dismissed using the settlement deal, with Judge Lewis Kaplan ruling on 12 January that the case could proceed. https://sputniknews.com/20220127/prince-andrew-demands-trial-by-jury-in-sex-abuse-case-denies-epstein-trafficked-girls-to-him-1092544925.html Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Svetlana Ekimenko Svetlana Ekimenko 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 Svetlana Ekimenko ghislaine maxwell, prince andrew, jeffrey epstein, piers morgan, uk https://sputniknews.com/20220127/tplf-announces-new-offensive-in-ethiopias-afar-state-forcing-wfp-aid-convoy-to-turn-back-1092542675.html TPLF Announces New Offensive in Ethiopias Afar State, Forcing WFP Aid Convoy to Turn Back TPLF Announces New Offensive in Ethiopias Afar State, Forcing WFP Aid Convoy to Turn Back A month after withdrawing to Ethiopias northern Tigray state, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) has launched a new offensive into neighboring Afar... 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T01:00+0000 2022-01-27T01:00+0000 2022-01-27T01:00+0000 ethiopia africa offensive state of emergency tplf (tigray people's liberation front) /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0c/14/1091679067_0:338:2940:1992_1920x0_80_0_0_b5d3638834690faacb358de139cab3c9.jpg The TPLFs External Affairs Office said on Tuesday it had launched a new attack into Afar, claiming Afar President Awol Arba, under the tutelage of the Eritrean government, has launched raids into eastern Tigray using special forces responsible for the systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid delivery to the people of Tigray.The statement added that the TPLF does not have a plan to remain in Afar for long, nor does it wish to see the conflict deteriorate further.According to the local information portal Afar Watch, the TPLFs entered Afar in the northern Killbet Rasu Zone or Zone 2, through the towns of Abala and Magale, which sit on the border of Tigray and Afar.Abala was recently subjected to TPLF artillery attacks two weeks ago that forced citizens to flee, and the TPLF staged attacks on other areas in Amhara along the Tigray border as well. The rebel group, which before 2018 ruled all of Ethiopia, launched a dramatic offensive last year into Afar and Amhara states, advancing on the capital of Addis Ababa before being repulsed in December. On December 23, the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared an end to combat operations as the TPLF was pushed back into Tigray state.A national dialogue was intended to follow, and peace overtures were made to TPLF leaders, who instead appealed to the United Nations to enforce a peace to the groups advantage without recognizing the legitimacy of Abiys government - a key tenet for peace with Addis Ababa. Abiy has refused negotiations with the TPLF, which was designated a terrorist group by Ethiopian lawmakers last year.As a result of the renewed offensive by the TPLF, United Nations World Food Program trucks carrying some 800 tons of food were forced to turn back halfway to the Tigray capital of Mekelle, the agency said on Tuesday.However, the International Committee of the Red Cross landed its first planeload of supplies in Mekelle on September on Wednesday, carrying essential medicine missing in the region for months due to the conflict. The TPLF has claimed since November 4, 2020, the day it launched its attack on Ethiopian military forces, that Addis was orchestrating a famine in the region, arousing fury in the West after being uncritically repeated by western media outlets.Abiys government admits there is a massive humanitarian crisis in the region, but says it is of the TPLFs creation, noting that the group has seized hundreds of WFP food trucks and has used food aid as a coercive tool to encourage Tigrayan youths to enlist in the military. In a report published in early November, the UN Human Rights Office and Ethiopian Human Rights Commission documented human rights abuses by all sides in the conflict, but found no evidence of a genocide. ethiopia africa Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Morgan Artyukhina https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/17/1082703728_0:0:800:800_100x100_80_0_0_0b6ce8daa7411284d60c8a0b6d84186d.jpg Morgan Artyukhina https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/17/1082703728_0:0:800:800_100x100_80_0_0_0b6ce8daa7411284d60c8a0b6d84186d.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 Morgan Artyukhina https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/17/1082703728_0:0:800:800_100x100_80_0_0_0b6ce8daa7411284d60c8a0b6d84186d.jpg ethiopia, africa, offensive, state of emergency, tplf (tigray people's liberation front) https://sputniknews.com/20220127/us-actively-asking-russia-for-cooperation-in-cybersecurity-unlike-other-areas-medvedev-says-1092544473.html US Actively Asking Russia for Cooperation in Cybersecurity, Unlike Other Areas, Medvedev Says US Actively Asking Russia for Cooperation in Cybersecurity, Unlike Other Areas, Medvedev Says US Actively Asking Russia for Cooperation in Cybersecurity, Unlike Other Areas, Medvedev Says 2022-01-27T03:58+0000 2022-01-27T03:58+0000 2022-01-27T04:03+0000 russia dmitry medvedev cybersecurity nato /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/04/17/1082704058_0:108:3107:1856_1920x0_80_0_0_9ca25bd7db86204ee37f57f9564b108c.jpg Medvedev noted that the US is at least actively asking for cooperation on this issue, sharing certain information, "unlike many other areas," because there is "no other way."He noted that the detention of REvil hackers is a positive example of Russian-US cooperation in the fight against cybercrime. According to him, Moscow and Washington managed to establish cooperation between the two countries' security council staffs.At the same time, the Security Council deputy chairman pointed out that the US has still provided no response to Russian requests concerning cyberattacks on the central election commission during the 2021 general election.Apart from that, Medvedev spoke about the recent Russia-NATO dialogue, saying that "no one is seeking war," and everything must be done so as to avoid confrontation between Russia and the alliance.Nevertheless, he stressed that the US refusal to provide security guarantees to Russia complicates the situation and the only way to avoid war is to reach an agreement that would reaffirm the indivisibility of security.The document on security guarantees for Russia should be mandatory, he said.Medvedev also noted that even if Ukraine does not join NATO, weapons will be deployed on its territory and warned that Moscows request not to move NATO forces to Russias borders is still being not fulfilled, and the red lines are very close. https://sputniknews.com/20220127/gop-rep-budd-asks-blinken-to-clarify-plan-on-us-citizens-evacuation-from-ukraine-in-case-of-war-1092539638.html 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 russia, dmitry medvedev, cybersecurity, nato https://sputniknews.com/20220127/us-coast-guard-to-end-search-with-5-dead-34-missing-in-florida-boat-capsize-1092564880.html US Coast Guard to End Search With 5 Dead, 34 Missing in Florida Boat Capsize US Coast Guard to End Search With 5 Dead, 34 Missing in Florida Boat Capsize US Coast Guard to End Search With 5 Dead, 34 Missing in Florida Boat Capsize 2022-01-27T22:04+0000 2022-01-27T22:04+0000 2022-01-27T22:06+0000 us us coast guard florida capsized vessel /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/1b/1092564854_0:122:3071:1849_1920x0_80_0_0_56759c0950bd2e619d3d418dd11a61e8.jpg Burdian, captain of the coast guard's Miami sector, said in making the decision she balanced unseen weather conditions, the number of people who went into the water, and the confidence they have. She said the victims in this case have been in the water since Saturday evening.Burdian said that if the Coast Guard receives additional information that helps the operation, the search could resume. She also said the Coast Guard will continue to keep a robust on-water presence with its partners.The search party recovered one body earlier in the week and the lone survivor spotted on the hull of the capsized vessel was rescued by a passing Good Samaritan who took him ashore where he was given medical attention, Burdian said. The survivor told authorities that 40 people left Bimini in the Bahamas on Saturday night and said the vessel they were in capsized during rough weather. None of them wore a safety jacket.Anthony Salisbury, special-agent-in-charge with the US Department of Homeland Security also spoke at Thursdays press briefing. He said the tragedy stems from a suspected human smuggling operation gone awry and asked the public and family members to call in to a DHS tip line so that investigators can identify, arrest and prosecute the people who facilitated or profited from the venture. 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, us coast guard, florida, capsized vessel https://sputniknews.com/20220127/us-rejects-russias-security-demands-us-public-prefers-diplomacy-in-eastern-europe-1092542886.html US Rejects Russia's Security Demands; US Public Prefers Diplomacy in Eastern Europe US Rejects Russia's Security Demands; US Public Prefers Diplomacy in Eastern Europe The US State Department has announced that it is rejecting Russia's itemized list of security demands. 27.01.2022, Sputnik International 2022-01-27T08:57+0000 2022-01-27T08:57+0000 2022-01-27T08:57+0000 ethiopia sudan russia ukraine yemen saad hariri the critical hour radio /html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e6/01/1b/1092542854_38:0:1282:700_1920x0_80_0_0_0a5f7189c8c5b879bf68b22442670008.png US Rejects Russia's Security Demands; US Public Prefers Diplomacy in Eastern Europe The US State Department has announced that it is rejecting Russia's itemized list of security demands. Andrew Korybko, Moscow-based American journalist and analyst, joins us to discuss the NATO border crisis. The US State Department has announced that it is rejecting Russia's itemized list of security demands. Also, President Biden has announced that he will not send troops to Ukraine.KJ Noh, activist, writer, and teacher, joins us to discuss China. An F35C has crashed in the South China sea. Also, we discuss the Russia China strategic alliance.Dr. Aisha Jumaan, founder and president of the Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, joins us to discuss Yemen. UN officials are warning of a record-shattering death toll for civilians in Yemen. Also, OXFAM is urging the UN security council to inject new urgency into the Yemen peace talks.Dan Kovalik, writer, author, and lawyer, joins us to discuss the Global South. President Biden has referred to Latin America as America's "front yard" in a continuance of Monroe doctrine imperialism. Also, Venezuela is challenging the impartiality of the UN.Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Israel has been holding talks with Russia regarding backing off missile and bombing attacks on Syria. Also, Lebanese politician Saad Hariri is leaving the political scene.Gerald Horne, professor of history at the University of Houston, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss Africa. There are reports that the Ethiopian government is open to diplomatic talks with Western-backed Tigray forces. Also, we discuss the coup in Sudan.Margaret Kimberly, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents," joins us to discuss President Biden's support in Black America. As President Biden's poll numbers sink among Black Americans. Margaret Kimberley argues that his record suggests that he was never their ally.Dee Knight, DSA International Committee's Anti-War Subcommittee member and author of My Whirlwind Lives: Navigating Decades of Storms, soon to be published by Guernica World Editions, joins us to discuss Ukraine. Dee Knight joins us to discuss his article about the conflict. He provides a historical view of the conflict and argues that the US is to blame for the desperate economic and military situation in the war-torn nation. Also, we discuss recent polls that show most Americans have little taste for war over Ukraine.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com ethiopia sudan russia ukraine yemen Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rosiya Segodnya 252 60 2022 Garland Nixon https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125302_0:0:239:239_100x100_80_0_0_d5d43c970b0740f228597fbcdb4ffd66.jpg Garland Nixon https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125302_0:0:239:239_100x100_80_0_0_d5d43c970b0740f228597fbcdb4ffd66.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 Garland Nixon https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/02/13/1082125302_0:0:239:239_100x100_80_0_0_d5d43c970b0740f228597fbcdb4ffd66.jpg ethiopia, sudan, russia, ukraine, yemen, saad hariri, the critical hour, , radio China-Laos Railway injects new momentum into regional development 09:11, January 27, 2022 By Ye Chuanzeng ( People's Daily Recently, the railway container terminal at Wangjiaying West station, Kunming, southwest Chinas Yunnan province, has become super busy. A bullet train of the China-Laos Railway arrives at Kunming Railway Station, southwest Chinas Yunnan province. (Photo from the official page of China Railway on social media platform Weibo) Gigantic crane arms are hoisting fully loaded containers onto freight trains, and numerous commodities are being shipped to Vientiane from the terminal along the newly opened China-Laos Railway, including vegetables, flowers, daily necessities, and mechanical and electrical products. The China-Laos Railway, bringing closer Kunming and Vientiane, has expanded new space for social and economic development of China and Laos. The China-Laos Railway is a flagship project of China-Laos mutually beneficial cooperation. Since it was opened, both cargo and passenger services have been on a huge demand, which indicates that the project, facilitating the production and lives of the people along the route and boosting local economic development, is creating new opportunities. As a signature project of the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road, the China-Laos Railway, upon completion, is enhancing the bond between the Chinese people and the Lao people with enhanced infrastructure. It has put an end to the history when Yunnans Puer and Xishuangbanna were not connected to rail service, and brought a modern railway to the people in Laos, making trips much easier for the people along the route. In the past month and more, an average of 23.5 pairs of passenger trains were put into operation on a daily basis, with the single-day highest reaching 31.5. A total of 700,000 passengers took the rail service during this period of time, and around 75,000 of them were outside China. During the New Year holiday, a new pair of bullet trains running between Vientiane and Boten were put into operation to meet the transportation demand of the Lao people. Offering safe and convenient services, the China-Laos Railway is favored by both Chinese and foreign passengers. It is enhancing peoples welfare and contributing to regional prosperity. An attendant on a train of the China-Laos Railway serves a cup of water for a passenger. (Photo from the official page of the China Railway Kunming Group on social media platform Weibo) The China-Laos Railway has built an economic corridor connecting the Chinese market and Southeast Asia and South Asia, shaping a new pattern of opening-up with Kunming as the center, which docks with the new western land-sea corridor in the east, the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor in the west, ASEAN countries in the south and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle in the north. As of Jan. 17, Kunming customs had inspected and green-lighted 153 international trains running on the China-Laos Railway, which carried 59,500 metric tons of cargos with a total value of nearly 1.07 billion yuan ($169 million). The railway has forged a transportation network that covers nine Chinese provinces, as well as 10 countries joining the Belt and Road Initiative. It means that to some extent, the China-Laos Railway is gradually driving regional connectivity. Jinhua, east Chinas Zhejiang province sees the departure of its first cargo train of the China-Laos Railway in the new year, Jan. 16, 2022. (Peoples Daily Online/ Hu Xiaofei) Today, it takes as short as only 26 hours for cargo trains to arrive in Vientiane from Kunming. The low-cost and efficient transportation is injecting new impetus into regional development. As the starting point of the China-Laos Railway, Yunnan province has been taking advantages of its regional features to grasp opportunities. It has accelerated the development of the warehousing, logistics, cold-chain transport and green food manufacturing industries, further optimized the industrial structure along the rail route and strengthened industrial support, so as to integrate itself deeper into the cross-border industrial chain, supply chain and value chain facing the Southeast Asian and South Asian market and to build a new engine for high-quality opening-up and development. It is believed that, with the official implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the China-Laos Railway will become an even bigger catalyzer for regional economy and better serve the construction of the Belt and Road. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) The Funk let Jula Magician do the heavy lifting on the front end, then blew by him in the Lightning Lane to capture his second straight in Wednesdays feature at Hollywood Casino at The Meadows, an $11,000 conditioned trot. Although Jula Magician traversed three-quarters in a moderate 1:29, he was no match late for The Funk, who responded to Hunter Myers urging and triumphed in 1:58, 1-3/4 lengths better than Jula Magician. Whiskey Lindy earned show. Dana Kahrig trains The Funk, a five-year-old Andover Hall-JJs Message gelding, for Kahrig Stable. Aaron Merriman collected four wins on the 10-race program. Live racing at The Meadows continues Thursday when the 10-race program features a pair of carryovers: $10,816.44 in the Jackpot Pick 5 (race four), $1,757.29 in the final-race Super Hi-5. First post is 12:45 p.m. (MSOA) Vincent van Gogh lived only 37 years (30 March 1853 29 July 1890), yet his work has had an indisputable influence on artists in the 20th and 21st centuries, perhaps to a greater extent than any previous painter in the West. And his life, while not the origin of the suffering artist living in a garret story, codified that fiction into a powerful narrative that haunts any parent whose child says: I want to go to art school. Van Gogh was born into a family of Dutch Reformed ministers, theological students, art dealers, and artists. This family background makes Vincent like so many young men in Europe from antiquity up to that time. As the oldest surviving child of his parents, it was expected that he would continue in the familys business. Van Gogh tried his hand at each of these professions. It wasnt until 1881 that he turned his attention to artist, creating nearly 900 paintings and thousands of drawings in his remaining nine years, the most famous of which he produced from 1888, including The Yellow House (1888), Bedroom in Arles (1888), The Night Cafe (1888), The Starry Night (1889), and Wheatfield with Crows (1890). These late paintings have all the trademarks of a Van Goghbrilliant primary colors and evident brushstrokes in repeating patterns that seem to vibrate on the canvas. While color was paramount in his painting, a linear texture was the focus in his drawing in which he creates new techniques for suggesting different qualities of light and the great variety of dark in shadows. Van Gogh was not all about invention. One of his earliest works depicts the London home in which he rented a room in 1873 when he worked for the English branch of the famous French art dealer, Goupil & Cie. This pencil and chalk drawing suggests the artist was tentative in his handling of the medium and conventional in developing a composition. The young Vincent was clearly studying the popular prints of quaint townscapes that Goupil offered. He was not drawn to the modern, industrial city that attracted his contemporaries, including Whistler and Monet, both of whom were in London in the 1870s developing artistic movements that altered the course of Western painting. The roughly two years Van Gogh spent in London were important for his growing knowledge of European art history, but it would take more than a decade for modernity to influence Van Goghs art. In 1875 Van Gogh was transferred from Goupils London office to their Paris galleries where the focus was on selling contemporary work. Within a year he was dismissed for criticizing his employers commercialization of art. Van Gogh lacked the talent for marketing to the growing middle class, Goupils primary audience. Directed by his own increasing Christian piety, Vincent next followed another family tradition, religious studies. In spite of personal spiritual fervor as well as the support of his extended family, he was not successful at the prestigious University of Amsterdam. In 1879 he offered his services as a missionary in the coal mining region of Belgium. Alas, he did not triumph here, either. After giving his lodgings to a homeless person and taking on a life of poverty, as he felt his faith demanded, he was dismissed. Vincent remained among the impoverished coal miners and their families, writing to his brother Theo about their lives and describing their faces and personalities as if he was sketching the outlines of a novel. He also begins to draw and paint with greater earnestness. The Potato Eaters, dated to April 1885, demonstrates his sensitivity to these people and their surroundings. Vincent had earlier written to Theo: The workers there are emaciated and pale owing to fever, [they] look exhausted and haggard, weather-beaten and prematurely old, the women generally sallow and withered. Van Goghs outlook changes dramatically in November 1885 when he moves to Antwerp. His attention is drawn to paintings by Rubens, whose work lifts Vincent from the desperation of the coal miners to Baroque visions of an earthly paradise. When he arrives in Paris in March 1886, Vincent reconnects with contemporary art and sets out to change the course of modern painting. Vincent Van Goghs background, education, and ideas about art point to an artist embedded in traditions he understood, relished, and eventually resisted. In so many ways, he offers a vision for us today of forging something new out of the old. Marjorie Och is Professor of Art History at the University of Mary Washington. She will speak on Van Gogh as part of UMWs Crawley Great Lives Series on Thursday, Jan. 27, at 7:30 p.m. The talk will be live-streamed and can be accessed through the program website: umw.edu/greatlives. The Nebraska Press Association (NPA) has launched a new public website to provide greater public access and notification to the workings of all government entities and courts in Nebraska. The website www.nepublicnotices.com is a cooperative effort of all Nebraska newspapers and is managed through the NPA. The free-access website was initiated in June 2021. Currently there are over 90,000 notices on the site and more are posted each day. The notices are fully searchable by keyword, type of notice, by date, by publication, by county ,or by city or village. After public notices appear in print in newspapers as required by state statutes, they are then uploaded by newspapers to the website within 24 to 48 hours of publication. The executive director of the Nebraska Press Association, Dennis DeRossett, said the newspapers across Nebraska funded development of the site, as well as all costs involved with hosting and maintaining it; there is no additional cost to any government entity or court for notices to appear on this website. This is a true public service to the people of Nebraska, provided by community newspapers across the state, he said. Amy Johnson, owner and publisher of the Springview Herald and current board president of NPA, said, This project has come together extremely well because Nebraskas newspapers are committed to the belief that public notices are an essential part of the foundation of a democracy. Through public notices, units of government at all levels notify taxpayers when, where and how they conduct the publics business. Nebraskans get their local news and information from printed newspapers and digital platforms and this new statewide public notice website enables a larger audience to have access to this important information. DeRossett said the goal is to have 100% of all public notices in Nebraska to be on the website after first appearing in print, which establishes the legal basis for statutory publishing requirements. Through the cooperation of all newspapers across the state, and using advances in technology, we are confident we can achieve this self-imposed benchmark by June 2022 the first anniversary date of the site, he said. To back up its commitment to provide for expanded accessibility of public notices, the NPA board of directors recently amended its bylaws that makes compliance with uploading to the website a condition of membership. Johnson added, The aggregation of all public notices from the units of government and courts in all 93 Nebraska counties did not exist before now. Most people may only be affected by or concerned with notices from their local community but having access to all notices statewide is a valuable resource in many ways. As an example, she said, bid notices will now get wider exposure which could result in more bidders for projects and possibly more competitive pricing. She added, whether its a notice of a meeting or public hearing, or an ordinance that changes zoning requirements, or a request for bids, these involve use of taxpayer dollars. Public notices are the key in providing that information from the unit of government back to the taxpayers. DeRossett said that state statutes spell out publication requirements for public notices to appear in newspapers, as well as rates newspapers can charge. Public notices are not just advertising they are an integral part of a legal process of notification and accountability by units of government, and the courts, to the taxpayers, he said. Im proud of the commitment Nebraska newspapers have made to ensure public notices are available to all citizens of Nebraska. The Nebraska Press Association is the oldest trade association in Nebraska; it will celebrate its 150th anniversary year in 2023. When Timothy Kramer graduated from Bayard High School, he wanted to become a police officer. He joined the Army as a military policeman, ascending the ranks until he became a staff sergeant. He served with the 58th Military Police Company in the 25th Infantry Division. He was deployed to Iraq twice. Then, on Aug. 6, 2006, the vehicle he was riding in ran over an improvised explosive device. Kramer suffered a traumatic brain injury. The injuries led to him having a stroke, suffering seizures and headaches, and losing the use of his left hand and foot. He underwent several months of rehabilitation and physical therapy but still needs to use a wheelchair. Kramers home in Bayard isnt well-suited for someone in a wheelchair. Someone needs to open doors for him and lift his wheelchair over the threshold. He cant tuck his younger daughters into bed at night because the wheelchair is too wide to fit into their rooms. That will all change later this year. The Kramers will receive a new, more accessible house courtesy of Homes For Our Troops (HFOT), a Massachusetts-based charity founded in 2004. Our mission is to build and donate specially-adapted custom homes to disabled veterans ... to enable them to rebuild their lives, executive director Bill Ivey said. The majority of the veterans HFOT helps are blind, paralyzed or have missing limbs. The charity works with Veterans Affairs and medical facilities to find veterans in need, though many are recommended by their fellow service members. This Saturday, HFOT will officially complete its 326th house. Staff are currently working on an additional 71 projects, including the new Kramer residence, and more than 100 veterans are in the process of applying. The other thing we do that might be different is we stay in contact with our veterans for life, Ivey said. Employees help veterans and their spouses with whatever they need help with, from getting into the workforce to starting nonprofits. ...Whatever our veterans want to do, were there to support them. The charity has one department with five full-time staff whose sole goal is to follow up with the veterans they build houses for. Kramers case was a more personal one for Ivey. In 2006, Ivey served as the commander of the task force Kramer was assigned to. The staff sergeant had been part of Iveys security detail. Ivey left the company less than a month before Kramer was wounded in action. The two were reunited at a veterans conference in Massachusetts in 2019. When he rolled in in his wheelchair, I was looking at him and I thought, that guy looks familiar, Ivey said. It was one of those moments when you turn to each other and you say, hey, were you with...? Kramer and his family had been flown out to the conference by HFOT to learn more about their future home. Its kind of crazy how 15 years later we run into each other and hes running this organization, Kramer said. Each house is built with more than 40 adaptations for accessibility. For wheelchair-bound veterans, these include wider hallways and doorways, hard surface flooring, poll-down shelves and a roll-in shower. The sinks, countertops and stovetops all have space for wheelchair users, as well. Theres a lot of things you dont really think about unless youre in a wheelchair until you go, oh heck, I cant reach that, Ivey said. These include the windows, which are lower to the ground and open left-to-right. The exterior doors can also be opened automatically from a key fob, and the thresholds are significantly lower so veterans can roll in and out at their leisure. Families pick out everything from the paint color to the faucet design to the style of cabinets. The veterans do not have to pay a mortgage, but they do need to pay taxes. To help with this, HFOT provides them with pro bono financial planners for three years. Homes have either been started or completed in 45 of the 50 states. Kramers will be the first in Nebraska. The veterans get to choose where they want their new house to be built. Those from colder climates often choose to have their new homes built somewhere warmer, Ivey said. Not Kramer, though. This is home, the staff sergeant said. Nebraska is home. Bayard, Minatare, the Panhandle is where I was born and raised. The Valley runs through my blood, I wouldnt leave it just because its cold. The greatest part of America (is) right here. Having family in the area also helped cement his decision. The new Kramer home will be located a few miles south of Lake Minatare. HFOT crews have already started moving dirt, but construction has not yet begun in earnest. Ivey will join the Kramers for a community kickoff at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5, at The Rock Church in Scottsbluff. Ivey will introduce Kramer to the community, and people can ask him and other HFOT staff questions about the program. The kickoff is the first of three special events which occur during construction. The second is a volunteer day for landscaping, and the last will be a key ceremony when the family officially moves in. Ivey said the home should be ready by August. Kramer said his family was extremely excited for the events and to experience their new home. Its life-changing. When I went into the service, I never expected to go to war. I never expected to serve outside the continental U.S. except the bases I served at. When you go to war and you lose things, and this organization helps, its a blessing ... I cant say thank you enough. Ivey said the charity spends 90 cents of every $1 donated on their mission, so little money goes toward advertising. Those interested in learning more about HFOT can visit www.hfotusa.org. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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 home and personal property of a 65-year-old LaGrange, Wyoming, man was destroyed in a fire Thursday, Jan. 20. Carl Yuill, 64, is now staying with his mother, Alice Yuill, in LaGrange as he gets back on his feet from the fire. The smell of smoke swirled through Yuills house as the flickering of flames weaved up through the floorboard in his home around 8:20 a.m. The fire took Yuills home, located south of LaGrange on Road 55, as well as a mobile home beside his house, three sheds and an ATV side-by-side. LaGrange Fire Chief Tracy Pragnell said that three departments responded to the fire and remained on the scene for eight hours battling the fire. I had smelled smoke in the house, so I went down into the basement underneath my mobile home, and I saw the fire in the floorboard and used a fire extinguisher and couldnt get it out, Yuill told Pragnell as firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze. The cause of the fire was the wood stove in the basement, Pragnell said. There was a wood stove chimney venting issue that started the fire, he said. As the fire began to consume the house, Yuill was unable to call for help since his phones battery was dead and his fire radio was inside his house. My house was on fire and I couldnt even get in to get my fire radio, Yuill told Pragnell after firefighters responded when people called in the smoke rising into the sky. Pragnell requested mutual aid from the Hot Springs and Albin fire departments as they battled the blaze until 5:30 p.m. Everything he had was in that house, Pragnell said. Everything there is just a total loss for him. As Yuill watch his home burn to the ground, he made it out with his wallet, his check book, a brief case in his pick-up and the clothes on his back. While managing the hot embers for several hours, Pragnell recalled standing beside his friend full of emotions. When I stood out there the other day with him and I want him to lean on me for support because it was hard to see that happen to him even talking about it right now just wells up emotions you feel so bad for him, Pragnell said. Knowing him for all of those years made it hard to see that happen to him. Its tough to see it happen to anybody, but when its somebody youre close with, its tough. While Pragnell has no estimates on how much the losses total, he said just the ATV is $12,000 and the fire departments pager and radio cost about $7,000. Yuill has served on the LaGrange fire department for 33 years, going onto the reserve side in 2017. He also worked for the town of LaGrange for 25 years. In a reserve role, Yuill can respond to emergencies if needed as a resource. Throughout his career, Yuill has responded to several emergencies, including his mother, Alices house fire on Dec. 25, 2017. We as a department and as a community decided we would get together and do everything we could to help him financially to try to get something figured out, Pragnell said. The LaGrange community has organized a benefit dinner Friday, Jan. 28 at the Frontier School of the Bible dining hall, located at 125 5th Ave. in LaGrange, Wyo. A roast beef dinner with a salad bar will be served from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. All proceeds from the dinner will go to Yuill. Since the fire, Pragnell said Yuill has remained humble. He is just a very humble gentleman, he said. His faith in the Lord is something else. A lot of people going through that situation would be screaming and hollering, but hes still praising God through all of these situations. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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 Panhandle broke a record last week since the start of the COVID-19 declared pandemic, setting a new all-time high for weekly confirmed cases. Panhandle Public Health Director Kim Engel reported the number of confirmed cases hit 1,237 last week, the highest since the start of the pandemic. On the weekly confirmed cases, last week was our all-time high since the beginning of the pandemic with 1,237 cases, she said. That may still continue to grow because sometimes we get cases reported that actually happened during that week. If you compare that to what seemed impossible to surpass last fall, our all-time high week was 1,078. That all-time high week was Nov. 8, 2020. Its too early to tell if were at our peak and coming back down or if well continue to grow, Engel said. We hope that were on our way back down, but time will tell. Another change this week was the age group with the most confirmed cases, shifting from the 10 to 19-year-old group to the 20- to 29-year-old group. Last week, the 10- to 19-year-olds had 161 reported cases, which dropped to 103 cases this week. Oppositely, the 20- to 20-year-olds increased to 116 confirmed cases. The Panhandles case rate per 100,000 for the past 14 days saw an increase from 1,618 to 2,032. That influx in cases is not isolated to the Nebraska Panhandle as several districts are reporting increases in numbers. Lancaster County tops that list with 3,245 cases per 100,000 over the past 14 days. Panhandle public health officials also discussed testing availability coming to the area. After announcing free at-home COVID-19 testing would soon be widely available during the Jan. 19 COVID-19 Unified Command briefing, Panhandle public health officials shared details about another opportunity. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) announced an initiative to help Nebraskans with the fight against COVID-19. The department is partnering with health care solutions company eMed to provide 200,000 at-home COVID-19 testing kits, according to a news release. Those kits will be distributed to local health departments, which will then distribute them to residents. Tabi Prochazka, PPHD environmental health and electronic media coordinator said to watch for an announcement about those locations soon. Once you pick up those tests, individuals can perform the test on their own or be helped through a video call, Prochazka said. If you do it through the video call, you will receive a certified lab report that can be used for travel, medical procedures, and other documentation records. This is going to be a great asset in our communities and really an easy testing option to increase testing as we move forward. Prochazka anticipates the tests will be out in the next 7 to 10 business days. The public can also order tests through the federal government at COVIDtests.gov or by calling 1-800-232-0233. As the state continues to handle a surge in COVID-19 cases, Engel said these at-home options are key to slowing transmission. The idea is to have these tests on-hand so if you or your child wakes up with a minor symptom you can quickly test to make a decision about how to proceed with your day in a safe way, she said. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form 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. LINCOLN The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds ranchers and livestock producers they may be eligible for financial assistance through the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) for 2021 grazing losses due to a qualifying drought or fire. The deadline to apply for 2021 LFP assistance is Jan. 31, 2022. Severe to extreme drought conditions in Nebraska have resulted in significant economic hardships for our agricultural producers, and livestock producers are no exception, John Berge, state executive director for the Farm Service Agency in Nebraska said. If you suffered 2021 grazing losses, you should contact FSA as soon as possible and file your LFP application for payment. 2021 LFP information may be used to deliver upcoming disaster assistance. For the 2021 program year, 16 counties in Nebraska have met drought severity levels that trigger LFP eligibility. Those 16 counties include: Banner, Box Butte, Boyd, Cedar, Chase, Dakota, Dixon, Dundy, Hayes, Hitchcock, Holt, Keya Paha, Knox, Morrill, Scotts Bluff and Sioux. More than $473.1 million has been paid, to date, to eligible livestock producers in 26 states and territories for 2021 LFP. For LFP, qualifying drought triggers are determined using the U.S. Drought Monitor. Visit the FSA LFP webpage for a list of eligible counties and grazing crops. LFP provides payments to eligible livestock producers and contract growers who also produce forage crops for grazing and suffered losses due to a qualifying drought or fire during the normal grazing period for the county. Eligible livestock include alpacas, beef cattle, buffalo/bison, beefalo, dairy cattle, deer, elk, emus, equine, goats, llamas, reindeer or sheep that have been or would have been grazing the eligible grazing land or pastureland during the normal grazing period. To expedite the application process, producers are encouraged to gather and submit records documenting 2021 losses. Supporting documents may include information related to grazing leases, contract grower agreements, and more. LFP is part of a broader suite of disaster assistance available through USDA. The Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP), which also has a Jan. 31, 2022, deadline, provides eligible producers with compensation for certain feed losses not covered by LFP as well as assistance with transporting water to livestock and feed transportation expenses. Additional disaster assistance information can be found on farmers.gov, including the Farmers.gov Drought Webpage, Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool, Disaster-at-a-Glance fact sheet, and Farm Loan Discovery Tool. For FSA and Natural Resources Conservation Service programs, including LFP and ELAP, producers should contact their local USDA Service Center. Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email, and other digital tools. Due to the pandemic, some USDA Service Centers are open to limited visitors. For assistance with a crop insurance claim, producers and landowners should contact their crop insurance agent. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form A bronze statue of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna was placed Wednesday at the crash site in Calabasas, California, where the Bryants and seven others were killed. Wednesday marked two years since the helicopter crash, which was determined by federal investigators as having been caused by pilot disorientation due to foggy conditions. Keep scrolling for a gallery of photos of the statue The statue, created by sculptor Dan Medina, shows Kobe Bryant in his Lakers uniform with his arm around Gianna, who is also wearing a basketball uniform with a basketball in her hand. The base of the statue has the names of all nine crash victims inscribed on a plaque. Medina told CNN affiliate KABC the statue would remain at the site temporarily. CNN has reached out to Medina for additional comment. A lawsuit related to the crash is set to go to trial soon as lawyers for Vanessa Bryant -- Kobe's wife and Gianna's mother -- allege photos of the area following the crash, including images of those who died, were shared widely amongst police and fire employees. The trial is to begin on February 22. CNN's Stella Chan contributed to this report. The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form A statewide strategy to battle rampant use and distribution of methamphetamine in Nebraska will aim to create a network of collaborative policing and education efforts accessible in every corner of the state. The new campaign, announced at a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Kearney, will bring together federal and statewide law enforcement agencies to serve as a resource for local police departments and sheriff's offices as Nebraska's major criminal justice power brokers come together in an attempt to solve the state's meth problem, which has persisted for more than 20 years. The livestreamed press conference, which featured Attorney General Doug Peterson alongside representatives from the FBI, DEA, Nebraska State Patrol and U.S. Attorney's office, marked the beginning of the campaign, titled "It's a matter of Life or Meth." Addressing reporters at the Kearney Police Department headquarters, Peterson compared the campaign to a previous effort to prevent opioid use and overdoses, pointing to campaign as "not only a law enforcement effort, but it's also a public awareness effort." "Much like in the opioid approach that we took four years ago in the coalition that we created there, it's a three-prong approach of both prevention, treatment and law enforcement," Peterson said. Nearly every official who spoke at the news conference including Peterson, Acting U.S. Attorney Jan Sharp and Special Agent Justin King of the DEA described meth as "the No. 1 drug" problem facing the state, casting the increasing distribution of the substance as the primary in Nebraska's battle against drug use. The officials conceded that meth has been the state's most prevalent drug for the last two decades, but recent trends in the amount of meth being seized in Nebraska have ushered the drug to the top of law enforcement's priority list. "We hear a lot today about fentanyl and opioids and what they're doing," said King, who has worked for the DEA for close to 20 years. "But it's important that we don't lose sight of the fact that methamphetamine continues to be our No. 1 drug threat." He said the amount of meth seized had surged close to 300% in the last five years, with agencies combining to seize 768 pounds in 2021. The distribution of meth has evolved over the last two decades, the officials said, making meth more accessible at a lower cost in Nebraska today than it was in 2005. Sharp, who has served as the acting U.S. Attorney since last February, said meth was initially largely distributed by biker gangs in the late 1980s before moving on to locally operated drug labs. Now, the officials said, nearly all the meth circulating in Nebraska is manufactured in other parts of the country or world, often linked to Mexican cartels. And the product, once only prevalent in metro areas, is now being used and seized indiscriminately in the state, found in Nebraska's biggest cities, smallest towns and within the state's Native reservations, Sharp said. As the state rolls out its collaborative response, Eugene Kowel, a special agent in the FBI's Omaha Field Office, said the campaign's primary focus is "to reduce the supply of meth coming into the state of Nebraska." Kowel said state, local, tribal and federal partners will work together to track, apprehend and bring criminal charges against Nebraska's most prolific drug traffickers. He said law enforcement will also work to identify the source of each trafficker's supply and hold meth manufactures accountable, too. "Like all our our partners, we will not stand idly by as we watch meth degrade our communities and our neighborhoods here in Nebraska," he said. The officials drew a line between meth users and meth distributors, acknowledging that the prosecution of people who are addicted to meth is and has been an ineffective pathway to solving the state's meth problem. Instead, the new campaign will aim to create a link between every law enforcement agency in Nebraska, providing a network of shared information that might link local meth users to more regional distributors, while enhancing education and treatment effort, the officials said. "Frankly, you can't arrest your way out of this problem," Peterson said. The statewide collaborative will mirror the work of metro-area narcotics tasks forces, which Sharp called "the lifeblood" of the fight against meth thus far. In Lincoln, meth was the prevalent drug when Ryan Dale joined the city's police force nearly two decades ago. Now the captain overseeing the Lincoln-Lancaster Narcotics Task Force a group of investigators from LPD, the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office and Nebraska State Patrol Dale has watched the local distribution of the substance evolve over the last 20 years, and its pervasiveness soar over the last five. In all of 2017, the task force seized about 5.7 pounds of methamphetamine. In 2021, that figure ballooned to 94.5 pounds more than 16 times the meth seized just four years prior. But in the same time frame, felony arrests made by the task force for all drug-related crimes, not just for the distribution of meth increased only gradually. The task force made 369 felony arrests in 2017, 404 in 2018 and 408 in 2019. In 2020, Dale's task force made 319 such arrests a five-year low for the group of investigators he said coincided with a decrease in the local supply of meth. It seemed to be a turning point, progress made in the local fight against the substance. But in 2021, the number rose again, though only moderately over the five-year average. The task force made 435 felony arrests 66 more than in 2017 while seizing 88.9 more pounds of meth in 2021 then they did four years prior. It's impossible to "illustrate how the supply of meth has gone up," Dale told the Journal Star. Dale said the task force has altered tactics over the last half-decade, holding off on initial arrests of local distributors, instead monitoring the sellers in an effort to track down regional distributors. In that way, the task force has been successful, arresting more dealers on felony charges and seizing more drugs than every before. But the challenge posed to the local task force by the recent flood of methamphetamine isn't a lack of information, but a lack of resources, Dale said. "If we had staffing to have double the size of a narcotics task force, these numbers would go up way more," he said. "Because we've kind of reached our threshold of efficiency. And you can only do so much with there's not enough hours in the day to deal with every drug dealer that there is." It's not clear how the local task force stands to benefit from the new statewide campaign. Peterson acknowledged that the metro-are task forces, like the ones in Lincoln and Omaha, would largely be the model for what the state is trying to accomplish elsewhere. "Frankly, those groups are pretty well developed," the attorney general said. "As I see the lay of the land, I thought we we were looking very strong in Omaha and Lincoln. ... I think it's working very well in the metro area." While it's true that arrests and meth seizures have increased in Lincoln under the direction of the task force, those outcomes haven't changed the prevalence of the drug itself nor has it affected the number of overdoses, which hit a seven-year high in 2021. Dale said the best effect of the campaign may be an increase in meth users seeking treatment, a development that would both improve the quality of a user's own life while helping curb the local demand of the drug. And he said an increase in local narcotics investigators would help, too. But even as statewide and federal officials unveiled a new plan, Dale's outlook on meth use in Nebraska remained grim on Wednesday. "I honestly think it will continue to be the prevalent drug for my entire career," he said. "I don't see it changing anytime soon. "You have to keep perspective and be willing to appreciate small wins, because it's probably a war that's never gonna end." Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The Wyoming Department of Corrections has apologized after Dale Wayne Eaton was not transported to a sentencing hearing in Natrona County on Friday. A statement from department director Dan Shannon said on Wednesday that there will be an internal investigation "to determine if fault lies with the department or other state or county agencies." "I would like to express my deepest apologies to the family of (victim) Lisa Kimmell," Shannon said. "I cannot imagine the feelings of betrayal the family must feel added to the trauma and victimization they have had to deal with surrounding inmate Eaton." Eaton was convicted in 2004 for the murder, rape and kidnapping of Kimmell while she was driving through Wyoming on her way to Billings. For years, he was the only person on death row in Wyoming. Court records show a transportation order for Eaton was entered in November, indicating he needed to be brought to the Casper court on Fridau. Kimmell's family traveled to Casper for the hearing on Friday, which was already postponed from November, only to find Eaton was not present. They planned on giving a victim impact statement to the court, but will have to wait until the new hearing date in March to do so. "It is inexcusable that something as important as this has occurred," Shannon said. "We will release an update on our investigation, and if it determines a failure on the part of the department we will take swift and decisive action." The hearing, mostly a formality, will determine the remainder of Eaton's sentence now that he has been ruled unfit for the death penalty. Eaton, 76, is already serving a life sentence, plus a few decades, and so will spend the rest of his life behind bars either way. He is currently incarcerated at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington. Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form A former Casper police officer gouged a mans eye during a fight that stemmed from a protest over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, authorities allege in a court document released Tuesday. Jesse Jones, who was with the Casper Police Department for five years before resigning in the midst of an investigation, now faces a single misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment. He pleaded not guilty to the charge during his initial court appearance Tuesday. The mans injuries required him to be flown to a Denver hospital. An affidavit filed in Natrona County Circuit Court states that while off-duty, Jones was picketing outside of Seton House on Oct. 1 when the alleged victim, the husband of the organizations director, approached him. While the alleged victim told police Jones threw the first punch, Jones and three other witnesses said that the other man was the aggressor. The investigation concluded that the alleged victim instigated the fight, but that Jones gouged the mans eye after he stopped posing a threat to Jones. The alleged victim told investigators, according to court filings, that Jones also pulled a handgun on him during the fight, and stuck his finger in (his) eye, prompting him to be flown to a hospital in Denver to treat his injuries. Jones said that he told the alleged victim to stop, and backed away from him on H Street until Jones pulled out a gun, according to the affidavit. As a crowd began to gather, court filings state that the alleged victim and Jones ended up fighting on the ground. One witness reportedly said Jones had overcome the alleged victim during the fight and was punching his face into the ground. Jones told investigators that he then took his finger, hooked it into the mans eye socket and yanked his eye out of its socket. He then said, according to the affidavit, that he backed away. A video taken on Jones phone obtained by investigators shows the alleged victim talking about Jones pulling out his gun while coming towards him as Jones backs away, the court document states. The alleged victim said, according to court filings, that he was not charging Jones but just trying to reach his truck. The protest, which appeared to consist only of Jones with a sign, was reported to police before multiple calls reported a fight outside of Seton House that afternoon, the affidavit states. The director told police she had previously received threatening emails from Jones. Seton House, which runs a self-sufficiency program and provides housing for single parents who are homeless, implemented a vaccine mandate in September, requiring families staying in their units to be vaccinated by Nov. 1 and mandating masks for anyone in their offices. Jones was placed on administrative leave while the incident was investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Following an internal investigation, Casper Police Department officials said they found his actions were not in line with (their) Code of Conduct and began the process to terminate him. Jones reportedly resigned before the process was complete, and told a judge Tuesday that he is not currently employed. Citing a conflict of interest, the Natrona County District Attorneys office turned over the decision to prosecute to Josh Stensaas, a deputy county and prosecuting attorney in Johnson County. Stensaas declined to comment on the case Tuesday. Submit Your News We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form This is a big year for the Legislature as we decide how to appropriate the $1.04 billion in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) distributed to Nebraska. My office has fielded a significant amount of questions about how this process will play out this session and who will receive those federal dollars. Id like to lay out the process for the public and those interested in receiving ARPA dollars. The Final Rule for ARPA was released on January 6 of this year which lays out what sort of projects qualify under the rules. Id like to highlight what sort of projects generally qualify below. Supporting the public health response (COVID-19 prevention and mitigation, medical services, behavioral health care, and preventing and responding to violence) Responding to a negative economic impact (assistance to households, assistance to small businesses of less than 500 employees, assistance to nonprofits, aid to impacted industries such as travel, tourism, hospitality, or similarly impacted industries, and public sector capacity) Investment in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure (generally clean drinking water projects and storm or sewer runoff) Premium pay for essential workers A major first step in determining how these federal dollars will be distributed was completed this week with hearings on the Governors proposal being heard in the Appropriations Committee. The Committee processed all the items in his proposal last week and heard from some of his cabinet members this week during the hearing on major items included in his proposal. One of the most significant items included the Perkins County Canal at $100 million in ARPA dollars, along with $400 million from the Cash Reserve Fund. The proposed project would secure water flowing into the South Platte River from Colorado, made possible by the South Platte River Compact of 1923. The Appropriations Committee heard from the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources on how this project fits with relevant federal laws under the Environmental Protection Agency to qualify for ARPA. A couple of other items were presented by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy on $25 million for wastewater and drainage system updates at the State Fair Grounds in Grand Island and $60 million for drinking water projects across the state. The State Fair Grounds project came into focus in 2019 after heavy rain overwhelmed the current drainage system, causing significant flooding. The drinking water projects will be used to modernize outdated water systems, including the replacement of lead lines and filtering nitrates. The Committee also heard from the Department of Economic Development on many of its ARPA-related proposals. One of the most anticipated items is the $100 million in Shovel-Ready projects, following the passage of a bill last year by Senator Mike McDonnell. Other proposals discussed includes $60 million for site and building development for industrial uses and $75 million for workforce housing grants to attract and retain talent in Nebraska. The Committee also heard from the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice on a proposed $47.7 million expansion of its facility to acquire new land and ramp up its ability to train additional law enforcement. The Crime Commission laid out the needs of the State to address an increase in violence due to the pandemic and how ARPA funds could be used to address this need. While these projects only touch the surface of the various proposals under the Governors ARPA recommendations, there are many more requests for funds from various bills introduced this year, in addition to other requests before the Committee. The Appropriations Committee has had 85 ARPA-related bills referenced to it, in addition to a number of other bills referred to other committees. In all, I expect there to be about $4 billion in ARPA-related requests this year. The Committee has a monumental task before it to whittle that number down to $1.04 billion in a short session, all while ensuring that everything that advances from committee onto the floor of the Legislature is ARPA-compliant. I am confident in the ability of my fellow committee members and am grateful to all who have brought their requests to the Committee. As always, I remain open to your feedback on how I may address the issues that mean most to you. Please do not hesitate to contact my office with any questions you may have. Thank you to those who have taken the time to express their views on various issues. My contact information is: Senator John P. Stinner, District 48 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2802; email: jstinner@leg.ne.gov. The driver suspected of hitting a 2-year-old with his car Jan. 13 in Longview has been released from jail and not charged with a crime. Felony vehicular assault charges will not be filed against Lawrence Sanderson, 65, of Longview at this time, according to a Jan. 19 notice from the Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorneys Office to Cowlitz County Superior Court. Sanderson was released on a $10,000 bond Jan. 14, court records say. Washington State Patrol troopers arrested Sanderson Jan. 13 after the child was hit and a voluntary breath sample from Sanderson had an alcohol concentration 0.02 points higher than the legal limit to drive, a police report said. Sanderson told police he had been driving westbound on Ocean Beach Highway, just before 48th Avenue near Marys Bar and Grill, when the child stepped into the roadway and was hit by Sandersons 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. Sanderson told police he had two beers at Lexis Pizza Pub in Kelso before the accident, the police report says. The pub is located about 15 minutes away. After the accident, the child was in serious condition at PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center, police said. A PeaceHealth spokesperson said the child was transferred to OHSU Doernbecher Childrens Hospital in Portland, but officials there would not release an updated condition. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 3 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. The Washington State Patrol has released a new sketch to identify a woman who was killed in a semi truck crash outside Kalama in 1991. The unknown woman, named Helen Doe by the State Patrol, was a passenger in a tractor trailer when she and the driver were killed in a crash and ensuing fire. Police believe the truck began its trip in Missouri and passed through Colorado, Wyoming and Idaho in the days before the crash. State Patrol Sergeant Darren Wright said it was uncommon to have a deceased person go this long without being identified and they were hoping to bring closure to Doe's family after more than 30 years. State Patrol said the woman was Native American and the detectives worked with the group Lost and Missing in Indian Country to create the new forensic drawing. According to police, Helen Doe was between 5'1" and 5'4" with a slender build, high cheekbones and a dark complexion. Doe had severe scoliosis and a gap between her lower middle teeth. Anyone who might know the identity of the unknown woman is asked to email Detective Stacey Moate at Stacy.Moate@wsp.wa.gov or call the detective at 425-401-7745. The State Patrol has DNA and dental records available that could help confirm any leads they receive. 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. Local governments and federal agencies are signing off on an agreement to collaboratively work on the future of Spirit Lake, the Cowlitz River and other waterways still affected by the aftermath of the Mount St. Helens eruption. The Spirit Lake-Toutle/Cowlitz River System Collaborative is an agreement among 20 groups to regularly meet and discuss the different approaches to handling the issues facing the titular water systems. The collaborative largely will serve an advisory role on major proposed projects and help coordinate plans among the various groups. A declaration of cooperation has been making its way through the various local agencies for official approval this month. The Port of Longview commissioners voted to sign the agreement during their meeting Wednesday morning. The proposal is on the agenda for the Longview City Councils Thursday night meeting. This is a huge issue for us, so I look forward to moving along with this and having some more movement and attention of the appropriate authorities, Port Commissioner Allan Erickson said during the meeting Wednesday. Collaboration came from 2017 report Creating a collaborative response was the major recommendation that came out of a 2017 report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. That report, commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service, said plans for handling flood and sediment risks that remained from the 1980 eruption would best be served by having public, clear discussions among the relevant agencies. The report called for a multi-jurisdictional effort that can plan, program, create incentives, and seek funding to implement management solutions focused on the entire Spirit Lake and Toutle River system. The agencies included in the collaborative include the city governments in Longview, Kelso and Castle Rock; the Cowlitz Indian Tribe; the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board; state agencies including the Washington Department of Ecology; and federal agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. No one entity is fully in command of the collaboration and the direction it goes. The Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments is the closest to being a leader at the table. The agency will serve as the administrative coordinator under the new declaration and Executive Director Bill Fashing will serve as the main point of contact for the group. Our communities have confidence the Corps is doing what they need to be doing, Fashing said. We need to help provide reminders of whats going on and challenges that were seeing in the local communities. Meeting to find common ground The collaborative has been holding monthly meetings since April to prepare for the official declaration. Those meetings are organized by the Ruckleshaus Center, a joint facility between Washington State University and the University of Washington that promotes public policy collaborations. Jon Major, scientist-in-charge for the Cascades Volcano Observatory, has been part of the meetings on behalf of the U.S. Geological Survey. Major said his agencys involvement mainly would be providing research and answering scientific questions about the aftermath of the eruption. We come at this problem from lots of different viewpoints and thats what the collaborative is trying to allow, to have us talk through and figure out what the viewpoints are and see where the common ground is, Major said. The new agreement comes with some cost for the agencies signing on. Port of Longview commissioners were told Wednesday the collaborative would cost them $5,000 a year for the next three years. The port is planning to look for state and federal grants that could help cover that cost. Fashing said the collaboration would meet less than once a month once the agreement is in place, depending on whether there are pressing concerns and important new updates to share. Based on the eruption, we will always have sediment in the rivers that we need to figure out how to deal with, Fashing said. 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. Cowlitz County residents who need a COVID-19 test, or who want one on-hand for when it's needed, can pick up free at-home test kits at a Cowlitz Family Health Center clinic next week. The organization is handing out the kits and KN95 masks to staff, patients and community members at specific times and locations throughout the week. The distribution is limited to two kits, or four tests, per person because of high demand, said Jim Coffee, chief executive officer. "They go really quick," he said. Coffee suggested residents with multiple people living in a household try to pick up the tests together to get the total available amount of two per person. People can check the organization's Facebook page or website for the distribution schedule and are asked not to call the clinics about it to keep the lines open for patients. The schedule for next week is attached to this story. Family Health Center COVID-19 test distribution Monday: 9-11 a.m. at 1057 12th Ave., Longview clinic. Tuesday: 2-3 p.m. at 1251 Lewis River Road, Suite D, Woodland clinic. Wednesday: 3-5 p.m. at 1057 12th Ave., Longview clinic. Thursday: 3-5 p.m. at 784 14th Ave., Longview clinic. Friday: 2-3 p.m. at 300 Oak St., Kelso clinic. The organization asks people not to call the clinics about the distribution. The Family Health Center received the tests through a federal program providing them to community health centers and rural health clinics. Coffee said the organization will continue to hand out the tests as long as the supply is available. The organization initially received 1,800 test kits at each clinic, but the federal program changed to allow orders through one clinic that can be distributed at multiple sites, Coffee said. The Family Health Center ordered 13,000 kits this week that hopefully will be delivered next week, he said. "Our supply right now is pretty good but that can change overnight," Coffee said. Residents also can order free at-home tests from the federal government to be delivered to their door. Every household can order one supply of four tests, regardless of the number of residents, at www.covidtests.gov. People without internet access or who need help can call 1-800-232-0233. Washington state launched its free at-home test delivery program late last week but soon ran out of tests. The state will restock as it receives more supply, according to the Department of Health. Residents should check the department's social media pages for updates or visit www.sayyescovidhometest.org. At-home tests are available at several retailers and pharmacies, and most insurers will directly cover or pay back the cost of up to eight tests per month for each person on the plan. Local clinics and pharmacies offer molecular and antigen testing, but appointments may be limited. As of Thursday, Pacific Urgent Care was out of COVID-19 tests and will update its voicemail recording when this changes, according to the clinic. People who test positive with at-home tests can report them by calling the Washington State COVID Hotline at 1-800-525-0127. Anyone who tests positive should isolate at home for at least five full days and wear a mask around others for an additional five days, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. 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. MIT researchers created a technique that can automatically describe the roles of individual neurons in a neural network with natural language. In this figure, the technique was able to identify the top boundary of horizontal objects in photographs, which are highlighted in white. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT Neural networks are sometimes called black boxes because, despite the fact that they can outperform humans on certain tasks, even the researchers who design them often don't understand how or why they work so well. But if a neural network is used outside the lab, perhaps to classify medical images that could help diagnose heart conditions, knowing how the model works helps researchers predict how it will behave in practice. MIT researchers have now developed a method that sheds some light on the inner workings of black box neural networks. Modeled off the human brain, neural networks are arranged into layers of interconnected nodes, or "neurons," that process data. The new system can automatically produce descriptions of those individual neurons, generated in English or another natural language. For instance, in a neural network trained to recognize animals in images, their method might describe a certain neuron as detecting ears of foxes. Their scalable technique is able to generate more accurate and specific descriptions for individual neurons than other methods. In a new paper, the team shows that this method can be used to audit a neural network to determine what it has learned, or even edit a network by identifying and then switching off unhelpful or incorrect neurons. "We wanted to create a method where a machine-learning practitioner can give this system their model and it will tell them everything it knows about that model, from the perspective of the model's neurons, in language. This helps you answer the basic question, 'Is there something my model knows about that I would not have expected it to know?'" says Evan Hernandez, a graduate student in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and lead author of the paper. Automatically generated descriptions Most existing techniques that help machine-learning practitioners understand how a model works either describe the entire neural network or require researchers to identify concepts they think individual neurons could be focusing on. The system Hernandez and his collaborators developed, dubbed MILAN (mutual-information guided linguistic annotation of neurons), improves upon these methods because it does not require a list of concepts in advance and can automatically generate natural language descriptions of all the neurons in a network. This is especially important because one neural network can contain hundreds of thousands of individual neurons. MILAN produces descriptions of neurons in neural networks trained for computer vision tasks like object recognition and image synthesis. To describe a given neuron, the system first inspects that neuron's behavior on thousands of images to find the set of image regions in which the neuron is most active. Next, it selects a natural language description for each neuron to maximize a quantity called pointwise mutual information between the image regions and descriptions. This encourages descriptions that capture each neuron's distinctive role within the larger network. "In a neural network that is trained to classify images, there are going to be tons of different neurons that detect dogs. But there are lots of different types of dogs and lots of different parts of dogs. So even though 'dog' might be an accurate description of a lot of these neurons, it is not very informative. We want descriptions that are very specific to what that neuron is doing. This isn't just dogs; this is the left side of ears on German shepherds," says Hernandez. The team compared MILAN to other models and found that it generated richer and more accurate descriptions, but the researchers were more interested in seeing how it could assist in answering specific questions about computer vision models. Analyzing, auditing, and editing neural networks First, they used MILAN to analyze which neurons are most important in a neural network. They generated descriptions for every neuron and sorted them based on the words in the descriptions. They slowly removed neurons from the network to see how its accuracy changed, and found that neurons that had two very different words in their descriptions (vases and fossils, for instance) were less important to the network. They also used MILAN to audit models to see if they learned something unexpected. The researchers took image classification models that were trained on datasets in which human faces were blurred out, ran MILAN, and counted how many neurons were nonetheless sensitive to human faces. "Blurring the faces in this way does reduce the number of neurons that are sensitive to faces, but far from eliminates them. As a matter of fact, we hypothesize that some of these face neurons are very sensitive to specific demographic groups, which is quite surprising. These models have never seen a human face before, and yet all kinds of facial processing happens inside them," Hernandez says. In a third experiment, the team used MILAN to edit a neural network by finding and removing neurons that were detecting bad correlations in the data, which led to a 5 percent increase in the network's accuracy on inputs exhibiting the problematic correlation. While the researchers were impressed by how well MILAN performed in these three applications, the model sometimes gives descriptions that are still too vague, or it will make an incorrect guess when it doesn't know the concept it is supposed to identify. They are planning to address these limitations in future work. They also want to continue enhancing the richness of the descriptions MILAN is able to generate. They hope to apply MILAN to other types of neural networks and use it to describe what groups of neurons do, since neurons work together to produce an output. "This is an approach to interpretability that starts from the bottom up. The goal is to generate open-ended, compositional descriptions of function with natural language. We want to tap into the expressive power of human language to generate descriptions that are a lot more natural and rich for what neurons do. Being able to generalize this approach to different types of models is what I am most excited about," says Schwettmann. "The ultimate test of any technique for explainable AI is whether it can help researchers and users make better decisions about when and how to deploy AI systems," says Andreas. "We're still a long way off from being able to do that in a general way. But I'm optimistic that MILANand the use of language as an explanatory tool more broadlywill be a useful part of the toolbox." The research was published on arXiv. Explore further Artificial networks learn to smell like the brain More information: Evan Hernandez et al, Natural Language Descriptions of Deep Visual Features, arXiv:2201.11114 [cs.CV], Journal information: arXiv Evan Hernandez et al, Natural Language Descriptions of Deep Visual Features, arXiv:2201.11114 [cs.CV], arxiv.org/abs/2201.11114 This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching. Credit: CC0 Public Domain One of the largest producers of carbon emissions is air travel, yet many view flying as a necessary enabler of tourism and international business. One promising way for consumers to take responsibility for their carbon emissions are voluntary carbon offsets (VCOs), which offer air travelers the opportunity to make a small donation to neutralize their carbon footprint. Yet there are conflicting recommendations as to how to encourage consumers to opt into these green initiatives. Researchers from Copenhagen Business School designed three online experiments to test strategies for increasing consumer participation, which contribute to the aviation carbon offset literature and offer useful new insights for airline companies. In this study the researchers argue that VCOs have the potential to balance the practical need for air travel with the larger considerations of sustainability, yet current VCO programs are not effective. "Despite their potential, few existing studies have explained how to present VCOs so they can effectively appeal to the sensibilities of individual travelers with different travel requirements. More broadly, more participation in VCOs may also increase collective awareness and creates market pressure on institutions to decide to behave responsibly," says Associate Professor Qiqi Jiang, Department of Digitalization, Copenhagen Business School. The main findings The evidence from the research shows that travelers booking flights in the near future are more likely to opt-in to VCOs when they are presented with concrete messages that emphasize specific actions. In contrast, the research found that travelers flying in the distant future are more likely to opt-in to VCOs when they are presented with abstract messages that emphasize general initiatives. "We also found choice is useful, especially for those travelers flying in the near future and receiving concrete messages," adds Qiqi Jiang. Specifically, the study suggests that airlines should adjust the presentation of VCO programs according to the temporal distance to the flight during booking and provide travelers opportunities to select their preferred way to neutralize their carbon footprint. The study has been published in the Journal of Travel Research. Promoting sustainable behaviors "At present, most airlines present only one project that individuals can support with their VCO contribution. Our findings highlight specific conditions (consumers booking flights in the near future) in which multiple options can help encourage consumers to opt in," says co-author Associate Professor Rob Gleasure, Department of Digitalization, Copenhagen Business School. The researchers point to the fact that current research on VCO mainly focuses on how personal attributes affect intention to opt into VCO. For example, a certain socioeconomic status or psychological factors were found to significantly influence individual willingness to opt into VCO. Besides, some studies discussed which remedies, e.g., reforestation, renewable energy or helping local communities, can best promote VCO opt-in for specific groups of users. Despite the importance of these findings, the researchers argue they offer limited practical value for practitioners in aviation, as much of the insights require extensive personal data. "Our proposed strategies only require the airlines to know the date of the flight being booked and provide the options to offset carbon footprint," adds Rob Gleasure. Creating actionable solutions The findings afford actionable solutions for both airline companies and policymakers. "For airline companies, they can adopt our suggestions on the dynamic presentation of VCO messages to increase the likelihood of VCO opt-in. Consequently, the airline companies can raise more money from VCOs to fight against the climate challenge and boost social responsibility. Growing adoption of VCOs may also highlight the practice and motivate policymakers to enforce additional regulation on corporate VCO projects and expenditures," adds Qiqi Jiang. In addition to the practical focus of the research, the researchers highlight that much of what persuades consumers to opt into sustainable behaviors is not the projects themselves but the manner in which they are presented. "We also reconcile some contradictory advice by showing why appealing to principles is useful in some circumstances and not in others, why providing details is useful in some circumstances and not in others, and why providing options is useful in some circumstances and not in others. This helps to accommodate a range of green causes and users with different values and interests," Qiqi Jiang concludes. Explore further Air France-KLM adds biofuel surcharge to plane tickets More information: Yi Liu et al, Hitting Net-Zero Without Stopping Flying: Increasing Air Travelers' Likelihood to Opt-in to Voluntary Carbon Offsetting, Journal of Travel Research (2021). Yi Liu et al, Hitting Net-Zero Without Stopping Flying: Increasing Air Travelers' Likelihood to Opt-in to Voluntary Carbon Offsetting,(2021). DOI: 10.1177/00472875211057607 Provided by Copenhagen Business School 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. Brandon Hurtado said he had a joke to share before leading a workshop on how to grow business through social media at the seventh annual Texas Barbecue Town Hall on Monday. Hurtado then pulled up a slide on a screen with two words: Brisket prices. The owner of Arlingtons Hurtado Barbecue garnered a few soft laughs from a crowd of approximately 60 people attending the daylong meeting inside Texas A&Ms AgriLife Center, but high meat prices continue to pose a serious ongoing issue for pit masters and restaurant owners. Across the board from beef to pork and poultry, meat prices continue to be high nationwide. David Anderson, a professor and AgriLife Extension economist in A&Ms Department of Agricultural Economics, shared some of the contributing factors of this continued issue during an economic update of the livestock and meat industries at the town hall meeting. Theyre focused on running their restaurant business, Anderson said of the town hall attendees. Theyre buying meat from the packers, these different cuts that they need, so they dont have a lot of time to see, to look at what are the underlying conditions that are affecting those meat prices to them. Theyre buying at this wholesale level, but theres a whole bunch of things happening on farms and ranches and cattle numbers and chicken numbers and hogs that are really directly affecting what theyre paying for meat. I think a better handle of whats going on at that fundamental level, I think it helps them better plan for the future. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases a biannual inventory report on Monday, Anderson said he expects cattle numbers to decrease for a third straight year, with the number of beef cows dropping 2% as of this month. These numbers provide a measuring stick for economists to make projections in the cattle industry for the next six months. A number of charts and graphs were included in Andersons presentation with data from the USDAs National Agricultural Statistics Service showing annual trends of various cattle prices and production. Anderson shared how high meat prices are due to a number of issues, including higher feed costs, widespread sustained drought in the western U.S., and continued labor shortages in the meat-packing industry. High meat prices are also the result of declining production, but booming demand, Anderson explained in his presentation. He shared a graph showing how fewer steers were slaughtered in the second half of 2021, but he added more heifers were going through. This meant fewer calves were being born. Anderson said theres a chance for lower prices in the short term, but said for lower prices to return to normal, demand would have to take a big decline, which isnt good for the producer. Considering the trends in the livestock and meat industries, one question Anderson said he has for 2022 is how do consumers adjust to what they buy due to higher prices? Usually, a high price is a signal to do something. Its a signal to produce more of it, whatever that is, but its also a signal to buyers to buy less, Anderson said. How consumers react to higher prices, I think, is an important story for this year. People will continue to eat beef, but theyre going to eat a less-expensive cut. But they can also switch between different cuts. ... People will switch between different meats to get a better deal. What that means is if I quit buying one cut and I go buy another one that also changes those relative prices. Jeff Savell, a professor at Texas A&M and leader of the meat science section in the Department of Animal Science, said the Texas Barbecue Town Hall began seven years ago when members of the barbecue business had concerns over the price of brisket. Savell said its helpful for people across the state in the industry who handle all major proteins to gather and understand trends on local, statewide and national levels. Were still in that process of brisket prices, and all protein prices, being extremely high, Savell said. You think about it from the barbecue business, the protein part of their business is the driving force. So, the price of their product has a large impact on their profitability and their availability these days, too. Chad Wootan, owner of Coopers Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que in College Station, was one of several local attendees at the town hall and said one of the things that jumped out at him was Andersons mention of high corn prices. He said its invaluable having fellow barbecue restaurant owners gather to hear from a professional in agricultural economics share how trends are affecting businesses and that the latest trends are causing the perfect storm of high prices. Its just an everyday thing that we look at and deal with and we have to watch, Wootan said. Prices affect everything from paper goods to the tin foil that we use to the seasoning that we use. Everything has increased. Its not just the meat. Its a lot for restaurant owners to deal with and particularly barbecue since its so meat-focused. Everything is a challenge these days. Beef isnt the only meat group affected, as pork and poultry prices also have increased. Pork production has been difficult to expand because of higher feed prices, building costs and losses from disease, which have cut into productivity, Anderson said. He said fertility problems limited poultry productivity in 2021, but added those will likely decline this year. Since chickens can be ready for slaughter in less than 50 days, Anderson said its easier for poultry to expand in a shorter amount of time in comparison to cattle, which takes 18 to 20 months for offspring to mature and be ready for market. While Anderson said its hard to determine how long high meat prices will last, he added that finding ways to relieve economic bottlenecks remains a top question. Theres some pretty good reasons why were seeing higher costs in the economy and its because of those bottlenecks, Anderson said. Then it becomes how do we get those solved? Markets should work that out, but it doesnt happen instantaneously. 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. Molefi Kete Asante, a Temple University professor and a leading figure in the field of African American studies, said Martin Luther King Jr. was at the peak of Americas social and cultural history as a moral leader. Asante, the keynote speaker at Texas A&M Universitys 15th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast on Wednesday morning, said the civil rights movement that King began changed America by making it become a more critical society that has moved toward the human rights movement. We would not have had the Black power movement, we would not have had the Black arts movement, we wouldnt have even had the student movement that started in Berkeley, Asante said. I think that the civil rights movement set the tone that there was something that needed to be discussed and needed to be dealt with in American society. The 79-year-old Asante is the chair of the Department of Africology and African American Studies at Temple in Philadelphia and has authored 96 books. Born as one of 16 siblings in Valdosta, Georgia, Asante went on to earn a Ph.D. from UCLA, and became a full-time professor at the State University of New York at age 26. He is the founder and current editor of Journal of Black Studies, first director of UCLA Center for Afro American Studies, international organizer for Afrocentricity International, president of the Molefi Kete Asante Institute for Afrocentric Studies and serves on the Thabo Mbeki African Leadership Council at UNISA. The breakfast, organized by Texas A&M and the Memorial Student Center Carter G. Woodson Black Awareness Committee, was limited to 200 in-person guests to allow for increased social distancing. Simulcast online, the event was moderated by Lt. Col. Stephen G. Ruth, Texas A&M Class of 1992. Timothy Scott, Texas A&Ms interim provost and executive vice president, said in the opening remarks that many things come to mind when he thinks about King, but the one word or value that stood out was unity. People of every race and creed are united through the core values of respect, excellence, leadership, loyalty and selfless service at Texas A&M, Scott said. Our values therefore are similar to Dr. King. As we remember and celebrate him, it should motivate us to continue to come together in unity and to value our differences, Scott said. Let us remember this powerful and gifted man, to be thankful for the many contributions he made, and to living a life that makes a difference and positively impacts the world around us. Asante ascribed the main problem in society as not the differences pointed out by the civil rights movement, but the ranking of those differences. Homo sapiens began where? The continent of Africa. All seven billion people in the world today are Africans, Asante said. There were tall people, short people, light complexioned people, dark complexioned people, people with blue eyes and blonde hair. So did they recognize differences? Yes. But whats the difference? They did not rank differences. As American society continues to move forward, Asante said he feels it is moving more toward what he calls the recognition of humanity and the first system of virtues set by man in the beginning called the values of Maat. Maat, the moral ideal that Africans had which were based on truth, justice, righteousness, order, balance, harmony and reciprocity. Those are what Dr. King was seeking, Asante said. Toward the end of the event, a Texas A&M student asked Asantes advice for student and future leaders who are navigating a social shift of values focused on equity, unity and the acceptance of ideas that have received national backlash. Leadership in this society is going to be about diversity. Youre going to have to have a diverse group of people that youre going to have to lead, Asante said. You have to learn something about the people you lead. The world is much more diverse than we can sometimes see from our own home. You have to have people who are open to new ideas and to advance more ideas. As America moves toward that diversity, Asante said he sees the country no longer focusing on just black and white. I cant wait till we have a society that is truly multiracial, multicultural and people are loving each other because they all believe in similar values. Thats where we go, he said. 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 $1 million Police and Fire Personnel Stabilization Fund to aid in police and fire department recruitment was approved Tuesday by the Grand Island City Council. The funds are drawn from cash reserves in the citys general fund. Wed only use these funds for personnel costs and only in difficult economic times, as defined by council, Finance Director Patrick Brown said Tuesday. Council members Chuck Haase and Bethany Guzinski voted against the fund with Justin Scott and Mike Paulick absent. The purpose of the fund is to avoid reduction of force and/or freezing public safety positions in difficult economic conditions, Brown said. Also, by setting aside funds, the city shows it is committed to the continued funding of public safety personnel. The fund would be replenished from police and fire vacancy savings, but only after the general funds cash reserve requirements have been met, Brown said. In 2018, the city eliminated a community service officer and two police officer positions for budget reductions. In 2017, International Association of Fire Fighters union agreed to a two-year wage freeze instead of reduction in workforce. Such actions resulted in unintended consequences, Brown said. It created doubt and anxiety among current police and fire staff members regarding their future with the city and they started looking for other opportunities, prospective employees who look toward job stability turned away. This has created vacancies for us, stress for our current staff and made hiring problematic, Brown said. Mayor Roger Steele explained that he had called for creating the fund. Its to stop a repeat of what we did in the past. Frankly, that dinged our reputation, he said. In 2018, I was on the council then, and we were faced with having to cut positions to balance the budget. Its to stop us from repeating that, because when we do things like that, it does hurt us with police and fire recruiting. Guzinski questioned how the fund would foster stability when it is just moving funds from one bucket to another. Brown explained that the general fund pays police and fire department salaries. Our general fund right now is quite sizeable. At the end of the year, we were at 52% of cash reserves. Thats how much money were carrying. Per our fiscal policies, we only want 20% to 30%, he said. Anything above that is excess. Grand Island Police Department is currently down eight positions and one of the biggest issues were facing is attracting good police applicants, GIPD Chief Robert Falldorf said. Within the 36 years Ive been here, theres been times where weve had up to 100 applicants in one hiring session, and now we are happy to get even 20 applicants, he said, and you may have 75% of them show up, and they have to pass the rigorous testing we put them through. GIPD is also in competition with other Nebraska police agencies for applicants, added Falldorf. Hopefully it will give future applicants peace of mind when they look at Grand Island and know the city is in favor of backing them if they make the decision to move here, he said. GIFD Chief Corey Schmidt also spoke Tuesday in favor of the fund. Were for it. During my 25 years Ive seen examples where this fund would have been very useful, he said. With past actions such as pay and hiring freezes and staff reductions, the effects last much longer than the budget cycle, Schmidt said. For our employees, these types of actions hurt morale, cause stress and create a theyre out to get us mentality, he said. We have to ask ourselves, what message are we sending firefighter and paramedic candidates. Council member Mitch Nickerson applauded creating the emergency fund. There are times where you have to make tough decisions, and I was part of that, because theres only so much money, and the alternative is you let people go or have to raise taxes, or do both to meet the needs, he said. This would have been a great tool to have in place during those tough years. He added, Now is the time to do this. 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 new North Platte-based cattle processing plant hopes to break ground this fall. Sustainable Beef LLC co-organizer and rural rancher Trey Wasserburger spoke Tuesday at Grand Island Noon Rotary about the new companys prospects. The facility will be one-quarter the size of Grand Islands JBS plant and will harvest 1,500 head of cattle daily, mostly from the feed yards of the LLCs founders. We hope to break ground here in the first quarter, he said. Weve had a lot of support from all levels, federal, state and county, and were really close. We feel like our capital race is almost complete. David Briggs, Sustainable Beefs chief executive officer, met Tuesday with Gov. Pete Ricketts about the project, Wasserburger reported. In his 2022-23 budget recommendation, Ricketts proposes $15 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for the new plant to support Nebraskas meat processing infrastructure. This will benefit the states ability to secure meat producers ability to sell livestock and keep quality meat on the shelves for all Nebraskans. Further state funding is being pursued, Wasserburger said. Theres also a bill going in front of the Legislature for maybe a little more to cover escalating prices, he said. This type of enterprise is unique in Nebraska, Wasserburger said. This is really the first of its kind to be locally and producer-owned. There is a grassroots fight for that. Consumers want that. So were going to go with that, he said. The effort, underway for several years, is really seven local western and central Nebraska families that came together to try to fix something that has plagued our families for years, Wasserburger said. At any given time, our families might have only one customer to get our cattle to, and at the end of the day, sometimes they have zero, and thats happened a lot, he said. For too many years, meat-packer ownership has been in the control of very few hands. The new operation aims to provide producers and consumers with additional choices in the supply of beef products in Nebraska. I watched my father-in-law struggle and I dont want to do that, and I dont want my kids to do that either, Wasserburger said. Sustainable does not refer to environmental impact, but to the economic sustainability it will offer the companys families. Wasserburger did not detail what practices they have planned to ensure this sustainability for their cattle feeders compared to a large corporation. Were not saying were trying to interpret and form what sustainability is, we already are. Weve been doing this for 100 years, he said. Sustainability is my familys been doing this for 100 years and I want to do it for 100 more. The plant will be built at an 80-acre, disused wastewater lagoon site acquired from the city of North Platte for $170,000. A key concern for the project is labor, Wasserburger said. Median wage is Lincoln County is only about $28,000, he said. Our starting wage is going to be about $50,000, plus benefits, and there will be 75 upper-management jobs that pay over $75,000. Rising construction costs have been a problem, Wasserburger said. The projects cost has increased from $225 million to $325 million in a year. Luckily we locked in our concrete because it could have been $400 million, he said. Wasserburger said he was honored to speak at a place that has embraced its packing plant. Sustainable Beefs plans have not been completely welcomed in North Platte, he said. Ive fought this fight in the community for 16 to 18 months. For every person that gives me a hug or shakes my hand, I have the opposite, too, and most of them are uneducated, he said. Ive spent most of my time this last year and a half educating the masses because theyre not blessed to have such economic impact and diversity like you guys do. 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 substitute teacher shortage is hitting Grand Island education arena on yet another front. The Grand Island Education Association, the collective bargaining unit for Grand Island Public Schools teachers, alleges the district is shorting some of its members pay under a misclassification. We discovered that many of the long-term subs, who the district had classified as long-term subs, were actually filling a full-time equivalency position, explained Michelle Carter, GIEA president and a fifth-grade teacher at Dodge Elementary. Per Nebraska state law, an employee who is hired to fill an open position is not considered a substitute. A press release from Nebraska State Education Association states: The petition points out that those misclassified employees are part of the GIEA bargaining unit and should be paid under GIEAs agreement with the district. The district, however, is paying them as substitutes. According to the GIPS website, the highest pay a substitute teacher can make per day is $200. Additionally, the website specifies, there are incentives for substitutes who work a high percentage of available days per pay period and/or work 125 days or more. Still, that falls short of certified staff pay, Carter said in the NSEA release. They could be making $250 to $300 a day if they had a contract. A full days pay for a teacher who has been here at least five years is over $300. As a result, GIEA filed a petition with the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations against Grand Island Public Schools Jan. 21, alleging a violation of the Industrial Relations Act. In a statement to the Grand Island Independent, GIPS said: GIPS is confident that we are operating in good standing with the terms of our existing agreement. Watch the Grand Island Independent and theindependent.com for additional coverage. Jessica Votipka is the education reporter at the Grand Island Independent. She can be reached at 308-381-5420. 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. YORK Jordan Holbrook, 22, of Lincoln has been sentenced to probation in a case involving the possession of methamphetamine. Holbrook was arrested when a deputy with the York County Sheriffs Department stopped Holbrook for speeding on Interstate 80. The deputys canine alerted to the presence of narcotics and a search of the vehicle resulted in deputies finding two bags containing methamphetamine which weighed 1.4 grams, as well as a glass pipe with methamphetamine residue. Prior to sentencing this week, Judge James Stecker asked the sheriffs department to provide chemical testing for Holbrook. You tested positive for amphetamine and THC, Judge Stecker told Holbrook. When did you last use? Holbrook said he thought it had been two days. Are you under the influence now? Judge Stecker asked, with Holbrook saying he was not. Deputy York County Attorney Joe Selde said there were concerns because Holbrook is a high risk to offend and he is still unemployed. The court does not understand why you are still unemployed, Judge Stecker said to Holbrook. Your excuses are hollow. You show no motivation. This was possession of a controlled substance and you are still using. And I question whether you can complete probation. But you do have a limited record and I will place you on probation due to the quantity involved. Holbrook was sentenced to a term of three years of traditional probation to include 28 days in the York County Jail to begin immediately. He was also sentenced to a term of 84 days in jail to be served in the future, which can be waived if he is found to be in compliance with the terms of his probation. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. A third man involved in the 2016 shooting of a Carbondale police officer has been located and arrested in Colorado. Xavier Lewis, 30, of Colorado, was arrested on Jan. 11 by the U.S. Marshals Colorado Violent Offender Task Force after allegedly leading Carbondale officers Trey Harris and Corey Brinkley on a car chase in 2016 that ended with a bullet in Harris eye, police said. Lewis is the third person to be charged in the incident. Alex Karcher and Xavier McCray have already pleaded guilty to charges, authorities said. Lewis was arrested on a warrant that includes charges for one count each of aggravated discharge of a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver cannabis (more than 5,000 grams) and cannabis trafficking. He is currently incarcerated in the Bent County Jail in Colorado awaiting extradition to Illinois, police said. From the beginning The original incident happened at 11:38 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2016, while Carbondale police officers were on patrol in the 700 block of North Robert A. Stalls Street, according to a 2016 news release. Officers determined they heard gunshots, police said. On route to the source of the gunshots, officers observed a tan, four-door vehicle driving away from the area at a high rate of speed. They attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle and a pursuit was initiated, police said. The pursuit continued north on North Marion Street and then east into the 2440 block of Dillinger Road. During the pursuit, at least one individual fired several shots, striking a police vehicle and one of the officers, ending the pursuit, police said. Harris was struck in the eye by one of the shots. He was taken to the Memorial Hospital of Carbondale where he was treated for the gunshot wound. He was in serious condition and was transported to a St. Louis area hospital, police said. He was released from the hospital later but had to undergo further medical treatment. Prior to Harris hospital release, the suspect vehicle was located abandoned and destroyed by fire on Dewmaine Road in Williamson County. During the late hours of Sept. 7, 2016 and the early hours of Sept. 8, 2016, the three suspects were originally arrested for conspiracy to commit capital murder in Saline County, Kansas, according to a 2016 news release. The suspects were identified as Karcher, McCray and Lewis. They were booked at the Saline County, Kansas Jail, but eventually were released due to miscommunication among agencies, authorities said. Eventually, Karcher and McCray were re-arrested, while Lewis remained at large until this month. Kansas arresting departments included the I-135/I-70 Drug Task Force, Saline County Sheriffs Office, Salina Police Department, McPherson Police Department, Saline County Attorneys Office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Court for two Karcher was the first of the three arrested to face trial. A Jackson County grand jury returned a superseding indictment on Aug. 9, 2018, charging Karcher, of Salina, Kansas, with one count of aggravated battery and six counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm, all of which are Class X felonies, a 2018 news release said. Karchers final charges also included one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute more than 5,000 grams of cannabis. Karcher had originally been indicted with four others for conspiracy to possess with the intent to deliver more than 5,000 grams of a substance containing cannabis in Jackson and Williamson counties, according to the news release. On Nov. 13, 2018, Karcher pled guilty to one count each of conspiracy to possess with intent to deliver more than 5,000 grams of a substance containing cannabis, aggravated battery of a police officer and aggravated discharge of a firearm, according to a news release. All other charges were dismissed following the defendants plea. Karcher was sentenced to serve 27.5 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections followed by a three-year period of mandatory supervised release. He was also sentenced to serve 30 months of conditional discharge following his release from prison. Karcher admitted that he, along with others, conspired to possess with the intent to deliver more than 5,000 grams of a substance containing cannabis in Jackson and Williamson Counties from December 2014 through August 2016, according to the release. Karcher further admitted that on or about July 31, 2016, he and other co-conspirators came to Carbondale to collect on a debt from a previous cannabis deal where shots were fired leading to the police pursuit. Manley, of Wichita, Kansas was sentenced to nine years in the Illinois Department of Corrections on Oct. 28, 2019, according to a 2019 press release. The same day Manley entered a negotiated plea of guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to deliver more than 5,000 grams of a substance of containing cannabis between November 2014 and August 2016. As part of his plea, Manley agreed to cooperate in the ongoing prosecution of the case, the Jackson States Attorneys Office said. He also confirmed all of the statements made by Karcher. Manley was not one of the individuals in the car which was pursued by the Carbondale police officers and did not shoot a firearm during the incident or prior to the chase, the release said. The investigation and prosecution was conducted by the Illinois State Police, the Jackson County Sheriffs Office, the Carbondale Police Department, the Metro-East Forensic Science Lab, the Southern Illinois Enforcement Group, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Salina Kansas Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service and many others. Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the City of Carbondale Police Department at (618) 549-2121. You may also call the Carbondale/SIU Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (618) 549-COPS (2677) or the Murphysboro/Jackson County anonymous tip line at (618) 687-COPS (2677). 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. Jon Conyers and Mike DePalma are trying to combat loneliness and a lack of support by creating a community of single fathers in Southern Illinois to support one another. On Jan. 13, Conyers reached out to the Facebook group titled "WTF? Carbondale," with an idea. Any single fathers in this group? If so... Fellas let's start a fund that we all pour into each week and at the end of that week we pull a name and bless whatever single father name pulled, Conyers said. I see a lot of this for single (mothers) and have tried to join but found them strictly for single parenting women. Single (fathers) also go through the same struggles having to do it all like work, cook, clean, nurture, etc and sometimes we need help as well but because we're men not expected to ask for help. Let's change that scenario and start being a brotherhood that assists each other whether it's financially or just with positive vibes. One day later, DePalma created the Facebook group, DADs in SO.IL (Dads Assisting Dads in Southern Illinois), to help with the mission. Conyers has two children and DePalma has one. Conyers said the idea came to him when he was thinking about how men often dont know where to go to for parenting resources. I tried to join a couple of female, ladies groups, and they let it be known that it was strictly for single mothers. And I thought us men definitely need something like that, Conyers said. Conyers said the stereotype is that men arent supposed to ask for help, and whatever they are going through, they have to tough it out on their own. And it's not that easy. I literally have two kids, I've been a single father for nine years. I've worked over 50 hours a week, and sometimes those 50 hours a week is not enough, you know, especially if there's an absent parent that has no dealing in a child's life, as in my kid's case, you know, it's literally just me, me and my kids, Conyers said. So that was my thing, when you don't have family support. You know, my mom, she passed away, my father passed away, my sister passed away. So it's like, you know, I got cousins, but you know, I don't like going to ask cousins and stuff like that for help. DePalma said the biggest challenge he faced was feeling alone in fatherhood. He said the pandemic is further isolating fathers and he hopes this group will be a way to bring a community together. I do believe we believe we live in a highly patriarchal society, I get that. But as far as parenting, I don't feel like dads are really empowered to be strong parents, you just leave that to mom. And in our society, we have a lot of split families, and mixed families, or just single moms and single dads. We've got to get dads to really feel like they got this, DePalma said. DePalma said his hope for the group is that it allows dads in the area to feel supported. 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. Southern Illinois University Carbondale and Stillman College yesterday (Jan. 26) signed a memorandum of understanding to help students from the historically Black liberal arts college enroll and earn a degree from the SIU School of Law, with the aim of diversifying the legal profession. We are committed to being an anti-racist and inclusive law school, School of Law Dean Camille Davidson said. The only way to have real access to justice is to train attorneys from various backgrounds. Students from underrepresented populations are often not exposed to the study of law, and many who are interested are not prepared for the application and admissions process. Building partnerships with HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions, like Stillman, will help SIU School of Law become more diverse. Under the agreement, SIU and Stillman College, a 761-student institution in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, will engage in collaborative academic activities with the SIU School of Law that promote a path for Stillman College students to enroll in the law school and earn their law degree. The MOU also includes other options for students considering how they can continue their education after earning their bachelors degrees. Davidson noted that about two-thirds of minority applicants who apply to the law school are not accepted primarily due to low Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores. In October 2021, there were 246 students in the law school, of which 17, or 7%, were Black. We are honored to be included as the first HBCU to partner with the Southern Illinois University School of Law to better prepare our pre-law students for professional legal studies, Stillman College President Cynthia Warrick said. This program will allow selected students to participate in a summer pre-law program to expose them to the rigor and policies of law school admissions. We are also looking to advance similar programs in pre-health professions for students in Stillmans Biomedical Academy with SIU. Collaborative efforts like this will ensure Stillman students are competitive for entry and success in law school and other professional programs. We are grateful to SIU for creating this opportunity. Summer program also planned A summer program will bring 15 college students from around the country to SIUs campus, May 25-29, to explore legal careers, understand the law school application process and begin to prepare for the LSAT while honing skills necessary for law school, such as understanding how to read and analyze a case, Davidson said. We will answer Why law school? We want to provide these students with the resources to be successful in applying to and graduating from law school, Davidson said. Like SIU, Stillman is located in a rural area and many of the students are first-generation college students. Editors Note: Taylor Vidmar is a student in the Public Affairs Reporting program at University of Illinois Springfield. She is a reporting intern at the Capitol for Lee Enterprises. Illinois has, for decades, laid out a nutrient reduction strategy aimed at reducing the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients that run off into its waterways. The nutrient loss reduction effort is outlined in the regular Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy Implementation Biennial Report, which showed this year that Illinois is far from living up to its goals, especially when it comes to runoff from agricultural fields. As a short-term goal, the state aimed to reduce nitrates and nitrogen by 15 percent and phosphorus by 25 percent by 2025, but the latest update showed that nutrient loss increased by 13 percent and phosphorus losses increased by 35 percent, compared with a baseline period from 1980 to 1996. Experts say a mixture of state policy shortfalls and the challenging nature of adopting new farming practices are contributing factors to Illinois inability to meet nutrient reduction goals. Some of the key agricultural practices to combat nutrient loss and help reach a longer-term goal of a 45 percent reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution are conservation tillage, testing the soil before applying phosphorus fertilizer, using the maximum return on nitrogen rate for nitrogen fertilizer, putting grass buffers on waterways, and using cover crops. Through cover planting in the fall, farmers can plant certain crops, like cereal rye, clover, and radishes, to protect from erosion, improve soil quality and reduce fertilizer runoff. These plants hold soil and scavenge surplus fertilizer during the early rainy months before cash crops emerge. Illinois farmers planted 1.4 million acres of cover crops in 2019, according to the report. This marked a 135 percent increase from 2011. But the report also showed that number should be 21 million acres in order to meet the EPAs nutrient loss reduction goals. Cover crops cost about $30 to $50 an acre to plant. Some require special equipment to plant and require planning and testing to be successful. A state program, called Fall Cover Crops for Spring Savings, offers a $5-per-acre discount on crop insurance, but demand for the program is far outpacing the availability even as its funding was doubled this year. But besides the costs, it will take a major cultural shift for more farmers to adopt cover planting, said Cliff Schuette, district sales manager in southern Illinois for Stine Seed Company. Some farmers fear that the soil alone wont provide enough nutrients to sustain cash crops like corn and soybeans, Schuette said. It can also be daunting to embrace new strategies when it seems like the old ones are working. In reality, he said, increased fertilizer use can facilitate soil loss. Most farmers lose anywhere from two to five tons of soil per acre each year, which is about the thickness of a dime. According to Schuette, this change might not be noticeable at first but can have lasting impacts on soil quality over time. Schuette works one-on-one with his customers to help them select the best cover crops. Basically, what I'm trying to do is mimic the prairie before we got here, he said. But fertilizer use is still necessary for many farmers, said Jeff Kirwan, who farms about 2,500 acres south of the Quad City area. Planting cover crops can also help fertilizers work more efficiently. I look at it as kind of a symbiotic relationship, Kirwan said. The cover crops provide us cover on the ground all the time. We're sequestering nutrients. We're holding nutrients so that when we do apply things, they don't immediately leave the farm. Other farmers like Kirwan are looking to maximize the effects of fertilizer application while still preventing nutrient loss and fertilizer runoff. Josh Sullivan, a farmer from Morrisonville, said 2021 was the first year he used a banding approach to fertilizer application instead of the more common broadcast method. Banding fertilizer is a more time-consuming method of spreading fertilizer all around the crops, so its actually in the soil as opposed to just on top of it. Broadcasting, the other more widespread method of distributing fertilizer, can lead to soil erosion and runoff, he said. In addition to preventing soil loss, there can be multiple other benefits for farmers planting more cover crops. Less fertilizer use means less pollution in the environment, and it also means money saved for farmers using costly fertilizers. Some farmers still might not see enough incentive to rethink their planting strategies. Inclement weatherlike this years rains, which caused many farmers to push back their harvestscan make it difficult for farmers to successfully grow cover crops, Kirwan said. Another obstacle farmers face is the amount of planning cover planting requires. Schuette recommends planning over a year in advance based on what cash crops will be planted in the future. Increasing government-funded incentives tied to crop insurance, Schuette said, could help encourage more farmers to increase their cover crop acreage despite these challenges. Thats something that lawmakers are trying to accomplish this year through Senate Bill 3471, the latest measure aimed at increasing resources for nutrient reduction efforts and extending the state programs that make up the bulk of the nutrient reduction effort. That includes increasing funding from $14 million to more than $25 million for conservation efforts by 2027. Though this isnt an issue that hits the front page, it is an important one and one that we should make sure we make a priority, Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat who sponsors the measure, said of the program. Still, for many, the biggest challenge to overcome is their own mindsets. This has to change, and change is hard, Schuette said. But change is going to have to happen, otherwise, I feel that mandates will be coming down the road. Catie Gregg, Agricultural Program Specialist for Prairie Rivers Network, agreed that participation in voluntary incentive programs, like the cover crop program, may not be enough to meet the goals in the NLRS. If we continue to not see improvements, or things are getting worse, as seen in the 2021 NLRS report, we will need to look at a broader range of strategies that may include both voluntary programs and requiring certain best management practices, Gregg said. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 SPRINGFIELD Its just been 10 weeks since state Rep. Dan Brady announced his candidacy for Illinois secretary of state. But in Republican politics, that may as well have been a lifetime ago. In the interim, reports surfaced that billionaire Ken Griffin and other large Republican donors planned to bankroll a slate of Republican candidates recruited by ex-operatives of former Gov. Bruce Rauner for statewide office. Those candidates have been rolled out over the past few weeks, the latest being Aurora Mayor Richard Irvins candidacy for governor. The first slate candidate to be announced was former U.S. Attorney John Milhiser for secretary of state. This despite Bradys declared candidacy and long record as a reliable member of House Minority Leader Jim Durkins leadership team in the Illinois House. Brady, in a sense, was snubbed. Despite this, the Bloomington Republican told Lee Enterprises in an interview Tuesday that he remains committed to the race, believing his resume to be more in line with the responsibilities of the office. So I'm an individual that has gravitated to this office," Brady said. "I'm not somebody who needed to be recruited to this office. Brady, who has served in the Illinois House since 2001, has long pointed out the parallels between the issues he's championed in the legislature and what the secretary of state's office deals with. Brady is also familiar with organ donation, other topic under the secretary of state's purview, from his time as McLean County coroner. As far as being in primaries, I've been in primaries (where) I've had to run against individuals with the same last name as me, he continued. So tough primaries aren't new to me. And facing Milhiser will be tough. Though relatively unknown, Milhiser will have vast financial resources to draw from assuming Griffin and other donors follow through on their commitments. That will help him build name recognition with Illinois voters. And as a general rule of thumb, former U.S. attorneys make attractive political candidates as they've already undergone extensive vetting during the confirmation process in the U.S. Senate. Not to mention they tend to have experience dealing with the media given their high-profile positions. Milhiser, nominated by former President Donald Trump, was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. It may prove difficult to drum up significant opposition research on him. However, Brady has distinct advantages that should not be overlooked. Chief among them, he has support from most of his colleagues. More than 40 state lawmakers and U.S. Reps. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro; Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville; and Darin LaHood, R-Peoria, have endorsed his campaign. It's a reflection of the approach he has taken to the race. Even before officially jumping in, Brady spent much of last year traveling the state on a listening tour. He said this enabled me to build relationships with Republicans across the state. It's this investment of time in party activists and elected officials Brady hopes will pay off even if outspent by Milhiser. Another factor to consider: will largely downstate Republican primary voters reject candidates "pushed" on them by wealthy donors mostly from the Chicago area? "My travels have indicated to me that the electorate very much believes in the process of having a voice, having a process in an election (where) the people make the decision, not someone else behind closed doors or somewhere else," Brady said. "If that's what we've come to in Republican politics that only those who have the most money are the ones that get to win, that's certainly not the idea that Abraham Lincoln had or our forefathers of the political process," he continued. Still, Brady acknowledged the need to raise money. According to the latest campaign finance filings, Brady raised just over $100,000 during the last fundraising quarter, spent just over $39,000 and finished with $250,718 in the bank. It's nothing to sneeze at, but far from what will be needed to win a competitive primary. Just for comparison, Irvin, who received $1.2 million in donations following his entry into the governor's race, has just gone up air with television ads, spending at least $250,000 for one week just in the Chicago market alone. Milhiser has yet to report any campaign contributions. But, if Irvin is an indicator, that can change quickly. Brady likely won't be on television soon, saying he's focused for now on gathering petition signatures to get on the ballot. "I think the people's voice is really what's important that doesn't get drowned out by anybody's pledge of money or promise of money," Brady said. "There's been a lot of promises made over different campaigns. All I know is I can promise the people nobody's going to work any harder for their vote than Dan Brady." Fundraising notes Former state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias continues to blow away the competition in fundraising for the secretary of state's race. Giannoulias raised $658,276 last quarter, bringing his total on hand to just over $4 million. Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia was a distant second, raising $331,994, brining her total on hand to $882,774. Chicago Ald. David Moore raised just $11,120. He spent $15,842 last quarter, making his cash on hand $8,377. Some other highlights: Gov. J.B. Pritzker donated $90 million to his campaign earlier this month. Similar to 2018, Pritzker is self-funding. State Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, reported raising $499,258 and has $707,273 on hand. Venture capitalist Jesse Sullivan raised $293,665 and has $9.1 million on hand. Businessman Gary Rabine raised $580,626 and has $525,752 on hand. Former state Sen. Paul Schimpf raised $61,836 and has $80,895 on hand. Attorney General Kwame Raoul, a Democrat, raised $301,447 and has $995,171 on hand. Republican challenger Steve Kim has yet to raise funds. Treasurer Mike Frerichs, a Democrat, raised $155,825 and has $1.8 million on hand. State Rep. Tom Demmer, R-Dixon, raised $84,450 and has $532,291 on hand. Comptroller Susana Mendoza, a Democrat, raised $146,785 and has $603,054 on hand. Republican challenger Shannon Teresi has yet to raise funds. Lawmakers expected to return next week State lawmakers are expected to return to Springfield next week, nearly one month since their last in-person meeting and just in time for Pritzker's Feb. 2 budget/state of the state address. The reason for their absence? Officially, House Speaker Chris Welch and Senate President Don Harmon cited the record surge in COVID-19 cases. It helps that most of the early work in a session is done in committee and both chambers have rules allowing those to be virtual. Unofficially, it's petition circulation season. Lawmakers have been busy in their districts collecting signatures needed to get on the June 28 primary ballot political work that was delayed due to the primary date being pushed back three months. Not that we needed another reminder that it's an election year. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Nutrient loss is one of the most serious pollution threats faced in the U.S., causing a Rhode Island-sized dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, poisoning local lakes and streams and causing serious health problems for people and domesticated animals. This year, Illinois lawmakers are considering how to best direct state resources to help reduce nutrient runoff, particularly in the agriculture sector and suburban sewage runoff. One goal is to incentivize farmers to adopt nutrient runoff reduction strategies through government incentives and other policy changes. Its an effort to better fulfill a runoff reduction strategy that began in 1995 but hasnt led to the results lawmakers had hoped for. Illinois is one of 11 states in the Mississippi River basin that have pledged to develop strategies to reduce the nutrient loads leaving their borders. Illinois aimed to reduce nitrates and nitrogen by 15 percent and phosphorus by 25 percent by 2025, but the latest update showed that nutrient loss increased by 13 percent and phosphorus losses increased by 35 percent, compared with a baseline period from 1980 to 1996, according to the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy Implementation Biennial Report. The state is making headway on its goal to reduce nutrient discharge from wastewater treatment facilities. From 2019 to 2020, funding tripled for investment in water treatment, resulting in more than $200 million in investment for improvements at wastewater plants. Clear guidance was in place to help wastewater operators understand what improvements needed to be made and how to get funding to make them, according to the report. Agriculture has not seen the same reductions. Increased and more intense rains fueled by climate change complicated those nutrient loss efforts, experts say. While developing agricultural strategies to address nutrient loss, they are complicated by geography and financial considerations for the 72,000 farmers who farm 27 million acres across the state. Farm conservation is, by far, the most effective way to combat nutrient loss, but it can be costly for individual farmers to implement, said Michael Woods, division manager of the Division of Natural Resources for the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Some of the key agricultural practices to combat nutrient loss and help reach the goal of a 45 percent reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus pollution are conservation tillage, testing the soil before applying phosphorus fertilizer, using the maximum return on nitrogen rate for nitrogen fertilizer, putting grass buffers on waterways, and using cover crops. A state program offers a $5-per-acre discount on crop insurance, but demand for the program is far outpacing the availability even as its funding was doubled this year. In 2019, the first year of the Fall Cover for Spring Savings, the program covered 50,000 acres. It took 12 days for the applications to be filled. IDOA estimated 70 percent of the applicants were new to planting cover crops. In 2022, the acreage limit was doubled to 100,000 acres. It took less than 12 hours to fill the first-come, first-served program. It shattered records, Woods said. This program is in high demand because it is not cheap to employ conservation methods. This program offsets some of those costs. Legislative efforts State Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, is the sponsor of a measure that has thus far stalled in the General Assembly that would have extended state runoff reduction efforts. Though this isnt an issue that hits the front page, it is an important one and one that we should make sure we make a priority, he said. Villivalam filed Senate Bill 3471 earlier this month that would extend a program run through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Partners for Conservation Fund, through 2032 and allow it to receive private funds. It would also allow for fund transfers from other state funds to conservation efforts and give the Illinois Department of Revenue better grant-making guidance. It also increases funding for runoff reduction efforts. We have made progress on this in appropriations, Villivalam said. We will continue to work to make funding available and to make sure that funding is used appropriately to combat this problem, as well as seeing what other gaps exist. The funding will rise over the next 10 years from $10 million to more than $25 million in 2027, extending through 2032. The bill asks for agricultural management on state-owned and leased lands to support nutrient loss reduction efforts. It also directs much of the current allocation to the Illinois EPA toward implementation of the Illinois Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy and infrastructure projects for nutrient capture. In 1995, the Illinois Legislature passed Conservation 2000, a comprehensive, six-year, $100 million initiative designed to promote ecosystem-based management of privately held land in a public-private partnership and create partnerships between the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Natural Resources. It became Partners for Conservation in 2008, but it was scheduled to expire in 2021 as legislation to extend it failed to pass. The latest legislative effort will extend that program and provide additional guidance on setting goals and targets to advance conservation efforts, expand the eligible uses of the Partners for Conservation Fund, including funding for the Fall Covers for Spring Savings Program, and enhance reporting to the Legislature on progress through the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy. The bill will not only help align state programs with the NLRS, but it creates a framework that will help agency staff direct state and federal conservation dollars toward nutrient loss programs. It creates partnerships that would measure data, track success and devise strategies that would allow for easier application to get those federal dollars, said Max Webster, Midwest policy manager for American Farmland Trust. It would also stabilize state funding for the programs allowing for matching federal money, Webster said. Villivalam filed the bill Jan. 19, and it had not received a committee assignment as of Wednesday. Other obstacles Participation in voluntary incentive programs, like the cover crop program, might not be enough to meet the goals in the NLRS, said Catie Gregg, agricultural program specialist for Prairie Rivers Network. If we continue to not see improvements, or things are getting worse, as seen in the 2021 NLRS report, we will need to look at a broader range of strategies that may include both voluntary programs and requiring certain best management practices, Gregg said. Conservation tillage, maximum return rate for nitrogen, and testing the soil for phosphorus before applying fertilizer should be part of those strategies, Gregg said. For Illinois to meet those nutrient loss reduction goals, agriculture programs should be scaled up, Gregg said. New agriculture programs are at the scale of millions of dollars, whereas wastewater treatment facilities have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in reducing nutrient pollution in their plants, often funded by the state revolving fund. It is not surprising that we are seeing nutrient pollution reductions in wastewater, but not from agriculture, Gregg said. We will need that same level of funding if we are to see reductions in runoff at the same scale from agriculture. Farmers want to protect their land and environment, but they have to consider the bottom line when starting a new regimen on their farms, such as planting cover crops or installing buffers, said Lauren Lurkins, director of natural and environmental resources for Illinois Farm Bureau. Financial incentives can offer inducement to try conservation measures. Each year, every farmer will have to look at their own situation to decide. This year, everything is higher; seeds, fertilizer, everything. They may decide that the program alone isnt enough to justify the additional costs, Lurkins said. Rep. Charlie Meier, R-Okawville, who farms 1,600 acres in Washington County, echoed that sentiment. Ten years ago, when cash crop prices were high and fertilizer prices were reasonable, Meier said, it made sense to try to maximize yield. This year, the fertilizer prices are high and supplies are harder to source, making it a good time to push conservation efforts. But Meier points to inadequate state agriculture budgets and a lack of commitment to address the nutrient loss problem. The soil diversity across the state also means that incentive programs must allow for flexibility so the farmer can be successful and continue to use conservation methods after the incentive period ends. Farmers compete. You look at your neighbors fields and you want to do as well or better than they are, Meier said. Farmers dont want mandates. Farms across the state are different. What works for a farmer in Champaign County may not work in Monroe County. Farmers want flexibility to do what works for them. Meier participated in the federal Conservation Stewardship Program on his farm money that came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service. He created buffers along the waterways to absorb nutrients, targeted areas for fertilizing with testing and GPS, planted cover crops in the fall where he will plant cash crops in the spring and milkweed for pollinators in less productive areas. But the federal program guidelines can be complicated and the paperwork and documentation can be daunting, especially for farmers who also work off of the farm, according to Rob Myers, director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture at the University of Missouri. And Meier said successful implementation of any cover crop program requires farmers to be continuously learning about technology and employing what works for their farm, being adaptable and embracing change. Some Illinois farmers are making changes, not only to reduce runoff but to lower their costs and improve their soil quality and improve their yields and the quality of the yields while reducing their use of fertilizers. Mark Litteken operates a hog and cattle farm on 120 acres in Clinton County. He also grows corn and soybeans. Litteken started planting cover crops in 2010. Litteken chose not to use the state or federal programs so he could be more flexible in his choice of cover crops and how he used them. He grazes his cattle on the grass, clover and radishes he grows. This isnt really new. This is stuff my grandfather used to do, Litteken said. There is science behind it, but you also have to know your goals and your ground. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 David Cortez Marshall Jr., 30, of Orangeburg, has pleaded guilty today to defrauding the Orangeburg County School District of over $550,000. Any time an employee uses a position of trust to steal from their employer, it is inexcusable and wrong. Here, Marshalls crime was particularly reprehensible because he stole money, provided by South Carolina taxpayers, from a school district during a pandemic that has already created unprecedented challenges in public education, U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis said. I appreciate the work of the FBI in bringing this defendant to justice. This office will continue to prosecute those who try to use the pandemic, or any other circumstance, to enrich themselves at the expense of hard-working taxpayers and critical institutions. Throughout the pandemic, individuals like Marshall have created schemes and exploited programs designed to aid the public, said Federal Bureau of Investigation Columbia Special Agent in Charge Susan Ferensic. Unfortunately, Marshall misused his position to commit fraud against a school district and line his own pockets. Im thankful for the extensive work that was put into investigating this case. Let this serve as a reminder that we will not tolerate this criminal activity, and we will hold those involved accountable. Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that Marshall, a former media communications specialist employed by the Orangeburg County School District, created a scheme to defraud the district while purchasing remote learning cameras for school classrooms. Through the use of shell companies, fabricated documents, forged signatures and a false identity, Marshall steered the districts purchasing contracts to companies he created and controlled, purchased the cameras, then sold them to the school at a substantial markup. Marshall also received funds from the school district for the cameras that he never paid to the seller. Through his scheme to defraud, Marshall received more than $550,000 in illegal proceeds. His scheme was eventually discovered by other school district employees, who confronted Marshall and reported the matter to the FBI for further investigation. Marshall faces a maximum penalty of twenty years in federal prison for wire fraud, in addition to restitution, a fine of up to $250,000, and three years of supervision to follow the term of imprisonment. U.S. District Judge Mary G. Lewis accepted the guilty plea and will sentence Marshall after receiving and reviewing a sentencing report prepared by the United States Probation Office. This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Brook Andrews. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 6 Sad 3 Angry 10 Orangeburg County Sheriffs Office Five males were taken into custody after shots were fired at a home on Wednesday, according to the sheriffs office. These individuals shot at a house in Cope multiple times without a single hit, Orangeburg County Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said. They then led us on a vehicle pursuit that topped 100 mph, he said. Frankey Tyler Jr., 19, of Cope, has been charged with discharging a firearm into the Lincoln Lane dwelling. Two 13-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old are also charged with discharging a firearm into a dwelling, the sheriffs office said. Orangeburg County Special Operations unit received a call shortly after 9 a.m. that a Department of Natural Resources investigator was following a burgundy Mercury driving erratically at speeds over 100 mph, according to a sheriff's office incident report. The vehicle was occupied by several individuals wearing ski masks, according to the report. Orangeburg County deputies and Special Operations joined the pursuit as the vehicle turned onto Wesley Grove Road from Cordova Road, according to the incident report. The vehicle continued through residential properties before pulling into a yard on Cannon Bridge Road. The occupants fled on foot, the report states. The sheriffs office says all the occupants were apprehended. Inv. Dujuan Council is leading the ongoing investigation. In other reports: A Santee man reported someone stole his 2016 white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck with black bed cover from his Planters Trace Road residence Tuesday night. The vehicle is valued at $20,000. Several items were stolen Wednesday night from a St. Matthews Road building next to the Orangeburg Area Mental Health Center. The items stolen included two tankless hot water heaters, a generator, a collection of power tools, two tool boxes, a shotgun, three rifles, six pellet guns and a pistol. The items were valued at $4,200. Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Several cell phones were stolen Sunday night from William J. Clark Middle School on Bennett Street, according to a police incident report. School officials said the theft was discovered Monday morning when a parent came to the school to pick up her son's confiscated cell phone. A school official opened the file cabinet where the phones were kept and noticed all the confiscated cell phones were gone. Two school employees also reported someone rummaged through their offices and went through a desk drawers and refrigerator. An iPhone charger, a couple of ginger ales and waters were missing. Two teens are suspects in the incident. In a separate incident, a Spring Street woman reported someone broke into her house earlier this week and stole several pieces of jewelry. The woman noticed the jewelry was missing Tuesday. It includes a men's gold wedding band with diamonds; two pairs of gold earrings; and two gold rings and two gold bands. The jewelry is valued at $3,500. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 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. South Carolina State Universitys overall accreditation has been affirmed for another 10 years. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges recently announced that its trustees reaffirmed the universitys accreditation in December. I congratulate our faculty and staff who steadfastly work to ensure that S.C. State continues to offer topnotch education to the families of South Carolina, SCSU Interim President Alexander Conyers said. This university shines because the people here believe in and fulfill our mission to improve the lives of our students. Although S.C. State may be smaller than other public universities in South Carolina, we apply our resources for maximum effectiveness and deliver beyond expectations, he said. S.C. State has been accredited since 1941 and has received reaffirmation each of the successive 10-year periods. SACS-COC accredits S.C. State to award bachelors, masters, educational specialist and doctoral degrees. The fact that the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges renewed our accreditation for another 10 years clearly indicates that we are on the right path at S.C. State, Conyers said. Our students and their families can take comfort and pride in knowing that we have met all the standards necessary to achieve this critical milestone, he said. SACS-COC is the regional accrediting body for higher education institutions in the South, setting standards in academics, finances and other indicators of an institutions standing. The SACSCOC accreditation process is a three-year undertaking that involves every aspect of the university, said Dr. Frederick Evans, S.C. State acting provost and vice president for academic affairs. I am grateful to the faculty, staff and stakeholders for the hard work that they did to make this possible and to Dr. Learie Luke and Ms. Valerie Goodwin, who gathered all the evidence needed to demonstrate compliance, Evans said. S.C. State will be required to submit a summary of its quality enhancement plan to SACS-COC by Feb. 15, as well as a monitoring report regarding student outcomes by Sept. 8. SACS-COC also requires all institutions to submit an interim report five years before their next reaffirmation review. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 South Carolina State University will commemorate the 54th anniversary of the Orangeburg Massacre by dedicating a new monument featuring busts of three young men killed following a 1968 civil rights demonstration near campus. The Orangeburg Massacre is often overlooked in the story of African Americans who struggled to make the world better during the civil rights movement, S.C. State Interim President Alexander Conyers said. All of us benefit today from the courage and sacrifices of the people who made their voices heard that day in 1968. We at S.C. State have a sacred duty to further the message as our nation still works toward social justice for all Americans 54 years later, Conyers said. This years commemoration is especially important, as we are permanently enshrining the faces of Henry Smith, Samuel Hammond and Delano Middleton on our campus in honor of their ultimate sacrifices. On the night of Feb. 8, 1968, three students were killed and 28 others were injured when S.C. Highway Patrol troopers opened fire on a crowd of protesters following three nights of escalating racial tension over efforts to desegregate the All-Star Triangle Bowl. South Carolina State College students Henry Smith and Samuel Hammond, along with Wilkinson High School student Delano Middleton, were killed. The event has come to be known as the Orangeburg Massacre. S.C. States commemoration will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8. The ceremony will begin at Martin Luther King, Jr. Auditorium and later move to the monument. The keynote speaker will be retired Voorhees College President Dr. Cleveland Sellers Jr. Sellers, a protester who was wounded, was the only person ever convicted of a crime in connection with the Orangeburg Massacre. He was pardoned by Gov. Carroll Campbell in 1993. The Feb. 8 ceremony also will bring the eighth-annual awarding of the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Social Justice Award. The recipients are the South Carolina State College Class of 1971 and Gloria Pyles, Title III director at S.C. State. The university recently expanded the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Legacy Plaza, a memorial site on the campus, to include a new monument enshrined with bronze likenesses of the three men. Sculpted by internationally known artist Dr. Tolupe Filani, chair of visual and performing arts at S.C. State, the bronze busts will be mounted for the Feb. 8 dedication. The semicircular monument was designed by architect Bob Probst and built by AOS Specialties Contractors. The project was funded by S.C. States Title III Program. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 COLUMBIA South Carolina Sen. Tom Davis walked up to the well of the Senate about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday to finally get the medical marijuana debate to which he has dedicated more than seven years of his legislative career. The Senate unanimously agreed to debate the bill by the Republican from Beaufort until it gets a vote one way or the other. And Davis, carrying his thick binder up to the podium, collectively asked the 44 senators who fill the chamber the same thing he has said in one-on-one discussions since he started vowing to get this vote in 2015 to patients who said they need marijuana to dull debilitating pain or other medical problems. "If youve got other ideas, if you've got ways to make this bill better, Im up for that," Davis said. Davis' bill has been carefully crafted during that time. He said it would be one of the most conservative medical marijuana bills in the country. People using medical marijuana could not smoke it, having instead to use use oils, salves, patches or vaporizers. Doctors would have to meet patients in person, checking for any history of substance abuse and creating a written treatment plan. Patients could get only two-week supplies at one time. The proposal specifies the illnesses that could be treated, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, sickle cell anemia and autism. The marijuana could be obtained only through special dispensaries run by a state-licensed pharmacist, physician assistant or clinical practice nurse. Davis is adamant that the goal of this bill is not to open the door to legalizing recreational marijuana. "I dont apologize for that. This is something new. I think it is important we proceed cautiously," Davis said. But there is plenty of opposition from law enforcement, religious groups and fellow Republicans. As the Senate gaveled into session Wednesday and Davis organized his thoughts at his desk, there was a news conference outside the Statehouse where a lawmaker and a group representing conservatives spoke as law enforcement officers stood behind them. Palmetto Family Council President Dave Wilson wondered why the state Senate prioritized the marijuana debate over other issues like cutting taxes or protecting religious liberty. Republican Sen. Greg Hembree said Davis' bill helps the big business of marijuana more than patients. This is not medical marijuana. This is marijuana, said Hembree, a former prosecutor from Little River. This is a way to dispense marijuana to a vast majority of people. And let me make one other point very clear: It is not about medicine. It is not about medical treatment. It is about money. It is about a lot of money. It's not the first time Davis has taken the Senate well on the issue. In 2016, during the five minutes senators can speak about personal issues each day, he walked up to the same podium for weeks with a blown up photo in hand to tell the story of a different person who suffered and wanted medical marijuana. The beginning of the debate showed it won't be quick and the outcome is uncertain. Sen. Sandy Senn of Charleston, from one of the least conservative districts held by a Republican, said she was still reading the bill but at the moment she felt like passing it would open a door the state could never close and make marijuana widely available. I can go to the doctor and say my knee hurts. My knee has been hurting for six years. I have chronic pain, Senn said. These doctors are going to be basically prescribing marijuana for everything because they can prescribe opioids for anything. Davis replied there are specific criteria doctors have to follow. And he kept talking for more than three hours. South Carolinians don't want to be like California or Colorado, Davis said. They want to take a baby step here." Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Send us your news, photos, and videos and let us know what's going on! Submit Here 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 ket thuc thang 4 voi muc giam 8,4%, tro thanh thang giam sau nhat trong vong 2 nam. Hang loat co phieu chiet khau gia cuc sau tuy gay thiet hai rat lon cho nhieu nha au tu, nhung cung se tao co hoi cho cac nha au tu khac. A federal judge on Tuesday blocked unionized BNSF Railway workers from striking over a new time-off policy. The decision, a setback for the unions, came as a relief to Wyomings coal industry. BNSF announced on Jan. 10 that it would replace its current attendance guidelines with a point-based program. After negotiations stalled, two unions representing BNSF employees the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers threatened to strike. The unions planned to begin striking on Feb. 1, when the new attendance policy will go into effect. In a joint statement published Monday, the unions said the time off proposal is worse than bad faith; it is insulting. The existing policy gives employees seven days off five weekdays and two weekend days per month. Under the new rule, employees will earn points for being available for service for 14 consecutive days, and lose points for taking time off. Dropping below zero points will trigger disciplinary action. According to BNSF, the stricter attendance policy is needed to ensure crew availability and meet the growing need for consistent, reliable train service. Its workers disagree. The railroads continue to demand extreme changes to our members current benefits and attempt to unilaterally impose work rule changes that would further erode our members already-taxed standard of living, the unions said in Mondays statement. Last week, BNSF sued in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to stop the unions, which represent roughly 17,000 of its employees, from striking in response to the policy change. Its Jan. 17 filing argues that the new policy will help employees know when exactly they might exceed the (attendance) threshold, and thus possibly be subject to progressive discipline. BNSF also claimed that a work stoppage would be catastrophic for the company and the coal producers it services a concern echoed by Wyomings coal industry. Without trains, industry said, coal cant leave the state. The unions, however, challenged BNSFs draconian point system in an 18-page objection filed Monday. Compared with the existing time off policy, they argued, the new plan is outrageous, shocks the conscience and in no way can be considered to allow maintenance of reasonable lay off privileges. U.S. District Judge Mark T. Pittman sided with BNSF on Wednesday evening, issuing a temporary restraining order that prohibits the unions from striking, or otherwise impeding railway operations, in response to the new attendance policy. Pittman emphasized in his order that his job was not to rule on the merits of the policy, and that Wednesdays order was not a ruling on the severity of the union dispute. Rather, he wrote, his decision indicated only that the new policy had decent odds of surviving legal challenges. If the strike was not blocked, Pittman concluded, BNSF would suffer substantial, immediate, and irreparable harm, while the unions would not. On Wednesday afternoon, shortly before the order came out, Gov. Mark Gordon voiced concern about the strike furthering supply chain disruption and negatively impacting Wyomings coal industry, according to Michael Pearlman, Gordons communications director. Powder River Basin coal has maintained its record spot price since mid-November, boosting state revenues, and making this a particularly troubling time for a railway strike, Pearlman said. Pittman agreed. A strike, he wrote, would exacerbate our current supply-chain crisis harming the public at large, not just BNSF. BNSF praised the decision in a statement emailed to the Star-Tribune. Our program is designed to provide ample time for obligations outside of work, including planned vacations, personal leave days and unplanned absences while ensuring that we have sufficient employees available to work, the statement read. We continue to take employee feedback on the program and that feedback is being reviewed. The company expressed confidence that employees would be able to adapt to the new rules. Both unions said in separate statements Wednesday evening that they will continue to challenge the new policy and Pittmans order, but will comply with the restraining order in the meantime. Were going to be exhausted were already exhausted, a BNSF railroad engineer in Wyoming, who was granted anonymity to avoid the possibility of retaliation, told the Star-Tribune. I cant work that many hours in a row and be able to perform efficiently, and be able to stay awake on the rail. He believes the policy change reflects a lack of understanding of rail workers needs. When are we supposed to see our families? he said. When are we supposed to enjoy a little bit of the fruits of our labor? Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 2 Angry 2 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. Join Edith Salas of Salas Properties & host Jenn Barlow as they visit the Coronado Shores community. The towers have amazing views including the world famous Hotel del Coronado, downtown San Diego, San Diego Bay, the City of Coronado, Point Loma, and the Pacific Ocean. More than 300 cases of COVID-19 were found this week in Wyoming prisons, the most in one week since the beginning of the pandemic. An update from the Wyoming Department of Corrections on Thursday reported a total of 322 cases between staff and residents at Wyomings five prisons. Around a quarter of those, 76 cases, reportedly came from employees. Combined with last weeks numbers, around 15% of people incarcerated in Wyoming now have coronavirus. Department spokesperson Paul Martin said that while the departments tests are not sequenced for variants, officials assume the surge is being driven by omicron. Martin said Thursday that he did not know of any reported hospitalizations related to the outbreak. The Wyoming State Penitentiary reported the most cases this week, with 34 staff members and 130 inmates there testing positive. With 22 prisoners testing positive last week, more than one in four of the prisons roughly 600-person population has contracted the virus in the last two weeks. Roughly one in five of the Rawlins facilitys 213 employees has also tested positive in that time. In Riverton, 84 cases were reported at the Wyoming Honor Farm seven of those from staff. That means that one in every three people incarcerated there has tested positive for COVID between this week and last, when 13 residents were found with the virus. The Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution, the states most populous prison according to the most recent count, reported 38 cases this week, 23 from staff. The Wyoming Womens Center reported 20 cases, six from staff, and the conservation camp in Newcastle reported 16 cases, also with six from staff members. This surge is second only to COVIDs peak in Wyoming prisons during a three-week period in October 2021, when 417 people incarcerated in the state reported testing positive for COVID. At the time, that constituted roughly one in five people behind bars in the state. If past outbreaks are any indicator, Martin said the prisons can expect to see high case numbers again next week, though likely not quite as high as this wees round of testing. The omicron variants high rate of transmission will likely add to the spread. Operations at all five facilities are now modified in response to the outbreaks, Martin said, with the most severe restrictions at the honor farm and state penitentiary. Residents and staff have switched from cloth to surgical masks. Transfers into or between facilities have been shut down, as has most visitation while large numbers are in isolation. According to CDC guidelines, prison residents must complete a 10-day isolation before returning to their typical routines. Prison staff must also complete the same isolation period, while other DOC staff working outside the facilities are free to come back after five days without symptoms. The department does not retest those whove tested positive for 90 days. The pause on transfers has led to a backlog of people in county jails, Martin said, with more than 100 people waiting to be taken to prison after sentencing as of the most recent count. Earlier this month, WDOC Director Dan Shannon reported that 60% of people incarcerated in Wyoming by the end of 2021 had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and that 26% had received a booster dose. Those numbers are constantly in flux, Shannon said, because of people entering and leaving the system. Staff vaccination rates have consistently trailed that of the incarcerated populations, largely following the rates of Wyomings general population. To date, the department has confirmed that eight people incarcerated in Wyoming have died from COVID-19. Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst. 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. Gov. Mark Gordons Reimagining and Innovating the Delivery of Education advisory group seeks input from Wyoming residents as it drafts a report that could shape education in the state. The survey is open until mid-February, and participants can access it here. Gordon announced the creation of the RIDE group in May 2021. Its mission is to determine what state residents from former students to parents and business owners want from K-12 education. The Wyoming State Board of Education embarked on a similar project in 2020. The board has been gathering the wisdom and perspectives of all of the education stakeholders in determining what an ideal K-12 system should produce in terms of a Wyoming graduate, according to a past statement from SBE Chairman Ryan Fuhrman, and released a 2021 report titled Profile of a Graduate. That report was shared with RIDE. The survey seeks input on how to create the ideal education system for the future of the state, according to the release issued by the governors office. Were really hoping to gather perspectives that dont come before the legislature all the time, said John Masters, chair of RIDE. Most of the legislators hear from their own constituents, but when they get down to Cheyenne, they hear mostly from lobbyists. The group doesnt want people to use its survey as an opportunity to attack individuals or curriculum, Masters added. Those topics are certainly worthy of discussion, but theyre not going to be part of our work, Masters said. Were trying to take a very high-altitude look at it, we cant really get too far down into the details. Matters like curriculum are the purview of the Wyoming State Board of Education. For example, they can discuss topics like individualized learning plans or the training process for teachers. In the first few days of the surveys release, more than 1,500 responses poured in, according to Masters. Hed like to see 10,000 in total. The advisory group plans to hold a handful of meetings across the state this summer to further solicit feedback. The findings from the meetings, in conjunction with the survey results, will culminate in a report with recommendations that the Legislature could consider in 2023. Aside from Masters, who served as deputy superintendent of public instruction, other board members include: Evan Simpson, representative for Lincoln County and retired consulting engineer R.J. Kost, senator for Big Horn and Park Counties and retired math teacher Craig Dougherty, former superintendent of Sheridan County School District No. 2 David Northrup, former chairman of the House Education Committee and Park County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees. Currently a member of Willwood Light and Power board Fred von Ahrens, vice president of manufacturing for Genesis Alkali Brian Worthen, CEO of Visionary Broadband Nicole Novotny Wonka, executive assistant and office manager to Richard Wonka, of Cetera Advisor Networks LLC in Buffalo Thea True Wells, former middle and high school science teacher, who was involved with Dual Language Immersion in Natrona County School District #1 and expansion of pre-K services WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A federal judge ruled Thursday that Gov. Mark Gordon is free to select a state schools superintendent. The governor is expected to do so before Thursday night. Gordon was temporarily barred from appointing a superintendent after a lawsuit was brought alleging that the process for nominating superintendent candidates was unconstitutional because it did not comply with the "one man-one vote" principle that is present in both the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions. In a ruling, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl wrote that the plaintiffs could not "demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits because the case law does not support their position. Additionally, Plaintiffs have failed to establish irreparable injury." The ruling is the most recent development in the lawsuit filed by former Wyoming Speaker of the House Tom Lubnau and 15 others against Gordon, the Wyoming Republican Party, the partys chairman and the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee over the state superintendent selection process. As required by state statute, the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee gathered on Saturday to vote on three candidates to fill the superintendent vacancy. The central committee is made up of three Republicans from each of Wyoming's 23 counties. Because each county, regardless of population, has three votes in the matter, the plaintiffs argued that the process violates the one man-one vote principle. More specifically, the number of votes each county gets in the process is not proportional to its population, meaning Laramie County, population 99,500, has the same number of votes as Niobrara County, population 2,400, even though its roughly 41 times the size. That, according to the plaintiffs, is unconstitutional. The defendants' lawyers countered by arguing, among other things, that even under the plaintiffs' selection approach, the outcome of the selection process was unlikely to change, given that the three nominees won by overwhelming margins in the central committee's vote. Ultimately, Skavdahl ruled against the plaintiffs. "Plaintiffs argue they have a likelihood of success on the merits but ignore Supreme Court precedent relevant to their case," the judge wrote in his decision. Now, Pat Crank, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, has a decision to make: Dismiss the lawsuit or go on with it despite the fact that Gordon will fill the vacancy in the meantime. He plans to talk to the plaintiffs in the coming days before deciding. Crank said he thinks the future is bright'' because a federal judge acknowledged the issues that arise when all counties get the same number of votes in these matters. But theres also a route outside of the courts. if this is to be fixed, the citizens need to petition their legislature and the legislature needs to take action to solve this election integrity problem, Crank said. Gordon has the decision between former state lawmaker Marti Halverson, Thomas Kelly the current chair of the Political and Military Science Department at American Military University and Brian Schroeder, a recent Wyoming resident with experience in school administration, K-12 teaching and as a youth counseling. These three candidates beat out a number of others who posses doctorates in the education field and extensive experience in the Wyoming Department of Education or the Wyoming public schooling system. The attorney general told the governor's office that it has until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday to decide on one of the three candidates, but a spokesman for the governor said he doesn't expect the decision to come that late. For the time being, Kari Eakins will serve as the interim superintendent. I am willing to serve in the interim capacity for the time needed, Eakins said. Everyone at the Wyoming Department of Education is committed to continuing to serve students and support schools during this transition. We know that this is a temporary situation and will continue to implement the law as required by state education agencies. This saga kicked off when former superintendent, Jillian Balow, resigned her post earlier this month to take the same role in Virginia. Balow's term was set to end in January 2023, so Gordon's choice will serve until then at the minimum. That said, the chosen candidate can run for reelection this year. Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 3 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. Wyoming reported 2,039 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a new single-day record for the state, Department of Health figures show. The new high easily eclipsed the states previous record, set Jan. 21, when the state reported 1,875 cases. Before that, the previous record was set on Jan. 19. The surge is the result of the omicron variant, a more contagious strain of the virus that health officials say is now responsible for nearly all of Wyomings new COVID infections. The variant was first identified here in mid-December in a handful of University of Wyoming students. But it quickly supplanted the delta variant, which up until recently had been the major strain circulating through the state. Omicron has shown to produce major increases in cases. But in places where the variant arrived earlier, those spikes have tended to be relatively short-lived, with both a dramatic rise and fall. The trajectory in Wyoming has been going in only one direction so far. In mid-December, the seven-day average for new cases was hovering in the 60s. Its now well over 1,000. Hospitalizations have risen as well, though not as dramatically as cases. That in itself is not a surprise. The omicron strain has been shown to produce less severe symptoms, especially for those who are vaccinated and boosted against the virus. On Jan. 1, Wyomings hospitals were treating 60 COVID patients, according to numbers kept by the Wyoming Department of Transportation. On Wednesday, they were treating 155. For context, during Wyomings last surge in the fall, COVID hospitalizations topped out at roughly 250. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 2 Sad 1 Angry 3 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. SMALL business owners in three Caribbean countries will get the opportunity to showcase how their enterprises are transforming their communities, and themselves, due to support from the social enterprise, Nudge Caribbean. The opportunity comes tomorrow, at an event called Nudge Now, which is being organised by Nudge Caribbean, which was founded by Anya Ayoung-Chee, design strategist and social entrepreneur, and Julie Avey, Massy Groups senior vice president of People and Culture. A Barrackpore woman returned to her house in the early hours of last Saturday and found an i And so it has come to pass. One week after the island-wide blackout of February 16, we told you in this space that, from among the best authority available, there would be, there could be no one to blame for what happened. We told you that the determination had already been made as to what happened, how and why, and that nobody could have been held responsible for that. It was a warning against the natural national tendency to go for blood. Loud had been the shouts of sabotage, the result of worker discontentment, and a clamour for heads to roll. Volunteer Joe Koch of Ellington donates his time at the Midwest Food Bank's new Manchester warehouse. He is also a member of the food bank's advisory board. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) Manchester Leading a tour of Midwest Food Banks Manchester warehouse Wednesday, Jan Young stopped at a giant cardboard box that was bowed from the weight of soup cans, sweet peas and other nonperishables. This is a gold mine! the food banks executive director said. Advertisement The regional distributor of donated food has launched operations after moving last year into the former Mustangs Unlimited location at West Middle Turnpike and Adams Street. The New England hub is the latest addition to the global organizations facilities in several states, Kenya and Haiti. Executive director Jan Young goes through the donated food which is mostly distributed to Connecticut pantries and soup kitchens. The eventual goal, she said, is to distribute $30 million worth of food each year throughout New England. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) Food comes into Manchester by the truckload and is distributed to soup kitchens, pantries and other charitable outfits, mostly in Connecticut, Young said. The eventual goal, she said, is to distribute $30 million worth of food each year throughout New England. Advertisement The coronavirus pandemic spotlighted food insecurity in Connecticut as thousands of people lined up for Foodshares distribution at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, where the organization gave out more than 6 million meals in 10 months. One in nine people in Hartford and Tolland counties are food insecure, meaning they lack consistent access to adequate nourishment, according to Foodshare. Across the nation in 2020, according to Midwest Food Banks latest annual report, 50.4 million households were food insecure and one in five Americans turned to pantries or other charitable outfits for donated food. Young stressed that Midwest Food Bank collaborates with Foodshare and and other distributors and is not in competition. Midwest gets most of its donations from big companies such as Kelloggs, which may have made too much of one product, or have a particular product that did not sell well or food approaching a sell by date that is still safe for consumption. Midwest Food Bank has opened a new 55,000 square foot facility in Manchester. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) The 55,000-square-foot Manchester facility is split into a 19,000-square-foot community room, where volunteers box items for pantries, and the warehouse, where floor-to-ceiling steel racks hold pallets of food, beverages, cleaning supplies and other items. One pallet, for example, held 18 cases of Frosted Flakes. Another held 960 pounds of microwaveable rice, and another was stacked with 22 cases of Pringles potato crisps. News @3 Daily Catch up on the days top headlines sent directly to your inbox weekdays at 3 p.m > With an annual budget of $1.2 million and only three paid staffers, Young said the operation depends on volunteers. The Manchester operations commercially licensed tractor-trailer drivers and certified forklift operators are volunteers, as are the people who sort and pack items for distribution to agencies such as Manchester Area Conference of Churches and Charities. Volunteers Joe Koch, left, and Brent Carland sort food inside the warehouse. The food bank has only three paid employees and is run mostly by volunteers. (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) Joe Koch of Ellington, a member of Midwest Food Bank New Englands advisory board, volunteers daily. Koch, 67, said he retired recently as vice president of marketing for Country Pure Foods, so he knows the food industry. He and Young said the Manchester warehouse has started taking perishable items, which are stored in three 40-foot long refrigerated containers. The warehouse also has boxes of donated cleaning supplies and other non-food items, even socks. Advertisement Renovations estimated to cost $500,000 are ongoing. Young said plans are to install offices, a conference room and a warming kitchen that will be open to businesses, churches and other organizations. The open door policy is meant to make the food bank an integral part of the community, Young said. Midwest Food Banks stated mission is to share the love of Christ by alleviating hunger and malnutrition locally and throughout the world and providing disaster relief; all without discrimination. Total revenue in 2020 was about $420 million, and about $383 million worth of food was distributed, according to the annual report. Besides food pantries, the organization also distributes disaster relief and runs special programs focused on feeding children. Jesse Leavenworth can be reached at jleavenworth@courant.com PHOENIX Calling it a matter of free expression, a House panel voted Wednesday to give residents of homeowner associations and condos the right to fly flags supporting first responders. But dont even think about hoisting a gay pride flag or any other flag that could be considered a matter of personal beliefs. That right would not be guaranteed under HB 2010. The measure approved by the Committee on Government and Elections expands on existing statutes about how far homeowner associations can go in restricting what can occur within their communities. Current law bars restrictions against the U.S. and state flags. Also permitted are flags of any branch of the military, the white-on-black flag for POW and MIA, and the flag of any Arizona Indian nation. And in 2011 the Republican-controlled Legislature added the Gadsden flag. Thats the black-on-yellow flag with a picture of a rattlesnake and the logo Dont Tread on Me. Backers said it recognizes that this was one of the earliest flags used by colonists in the rebellion against the British. That came over the objection of others who pointed out it had become the symbol of the tea-party movement, which opposed excessive taxation and government intervention in the private sector but supported stronger immigration controls. Any expression of support for these first responders who put their life on the line every day, for all of us, we should have the right to, in fact, honor them in any way we want, Dennis Legere representing the Arizona Homeowner Coalition, told lawmakers in support of HB 2010. But Legere, who said about 3.5 million Arizonans live in communities with HOAs and the restrictions they impose, said that, as far as he is concerned, the proposal by Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, may not go far enough. Fundamentally, my position on all of these issues is that any flag is an expression of free speech, he said. And HOAs and condominiums should not ever have the right to restrict or infringe on your fundamental right to free speech. Legere said the only time restrictions would be appropriate is if a banner contained profanity, promoted discrimination or is offensive. In fact, he he told lawmakers, he had never heard of a problem specifically related to a resident being denied the right to fly the flag of first responders. Kavanaghs measure is restricted to honoring law enforcement, fire departments and paramedics. And he said it is crafted in a way to keep the flags from being political, even to the point of restricting the words that can be on the banners, the symbols allowed and even the colors used. But House Minority Leader Reginald Bolding, D-Laveen, said he doesnt see it as neutral as Kavanagh claims. The way that this language is currently crafted, some of these flags could be seen as political, he said, what with current controversies like the role of police and funding. I would hate to see the politics of some of these flags being used to particular offend people of certain communities. And Bolding said if lawmakers are going to go down this path, theres no reason to limit the scope of what views are permissible. I do think that its important to allow folks to have the freedom of expression to be able to show their support for whatever issue it is that they care about, whether its first responders or whether its a pride flag or whether its any other flag, he said. I do think theres some language that can make this bill more amenable. The measure now requires approval of the full House. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. PHOENIX Google will have to go to court to defend against charges that it secretly invades the privacy of Arizona consumers. In a ruling made public this week, a Maricopa County judge rejected claims by the internet giant that its admitted practices of tracking and collecting information on users is legal. Superior Court Judge Timothy Thomason said Attorney General Mark Brnovich presented enough information to show the likelihood that the companys conduct violates the Arizona Consumer Protection Act. Thomasons conclusions do not guarantee the state will win its case. But it essentially clears the way for Brnovich and the outside attorneys his office has hired to take the case to a jury. The Arizona case is separate from lawsuits that various states filed earlier this week alleging deceptive location tracking practices. Those are based on more general claims of privacy. By contrast, Brnovich is specifically depending on Arizonas consumer protection laws. And the judge said there is sufficient evidence at this point to suggest that Googles actions appear to violate them. There was no immediate response from Google. Central to the lawsuit is the contention the company not only collects and stores location data but deliberately makes it difficult for those who use Android phones that operate on the Google-created operating system to know what information is being sent. Brnovich also argues that the company does not make it simple for people to turn off tracking and hides the fact that even if customers turn off location history, that data is still transmitted. More than Android-powered phones are at issue. Google also collects, stores and uses location data whenever people interact with Google apps and services. Brnovich contends consumers are not told they cannot prevent the collection of location information, even if they disable certain settings. Googles business practice is to sell that information to advertisers to target users in specific locations. That information generated $135 billion for Google in 2019, including hundreds of millions of dollars from ads presented to millions of users in the state of Arizona, Brnovich said when he filed suit in 2020, Despite acknowledging many of the practices, attorneys for Google said none of them violate Arizona consumer protection laws. Those laws makes it illegal to engage in deceptive and unfair practices in connection with the sale or advertisement of any merchandise. Google attorneys said that any fraud that may have occurred and they are not conceding any did was not part of the process of consumers obtaining Google products but only occurred later, after the sale was made, when they set up accounts or used an app. In fact, they said users are not even required to set up an account, meaning there is no connection between the sale and the alleged deception. There is some appeal to Googles argument, Thomason wrote. He said the consumer fraud act is intended primarily to address situations where people are misled while buying or leasing merchandise. Statements or omissions that occur after the sale or lease arguably have no impact on the consumers purchasing decision, the judge said. But Thomason said there is enough in the states argument to suggests Google actions fall within whats prohibited by the law. Google devices, like Pixel and Nexus phones, come pre-loaded with functions, including sensors and settings within them, which Google then uses to track consumers locations. The state argues that during the bargaining process, when people were buying the devices, they werent told about the tracking. The state claims that Google acted deceptively in not explaining to consumers how tracking functions worked, leading consumers to incorrectly believe that they could control when they could be tracked, the judge said. Even those who do not buy Google phones are affected when people use Google services, like Google Maps, where people get a service, such as directions, in exchange for giving the company their personal location data. Whats wrong with this, the state says, is that customers are misled into believing the company will only collect data in certain ways and, potentially more significant, that users have control over what information is collected. Google said none of that violates Arizona law because it provides the apps free of charge. Thomason, however, said there are two flaws to that argument. The first, he said, is nothing in the Consumer Fraud Act requires that there be a payment in order for the law to apply. Also, the state claims the services really arent free. They were sold to users, despite ostensibly being free, because there was an exchange of consideration in the form of data collection from users, Thomason said. Providing location data, in exchange for use of apps or other services, can certainly be considered valuable consideration under the act. And what consumers are providing has economic worth, the judge said. Location information is clearly valuable to Googles business model, as Google uses the information to make targeted ad placements, for which advertisers pay a premium, Thomason wrote in his 21-page ruling. He specifically rejected the companys efforts to compare its apps and services to free newspapers and TV and radio stations that provide services to consumers without cost. Free newspapers and broadcast radio are financed through untargeted advertising, he said. Newspapers and broadcast radio do not condition their services on receiving something back from the consumers. In contrast, Google allegedly takes user location information in exchange for the use of its apps and services and uses that same information to direct advertising targeted toward specific consumers. In a separate ruling, Thomason rebuffed a bid by Google to have him and not a jury hear the case. The judge noted that the Legislature approved a measure just last year requiring a jury trial in any civil action brought by the state alleging an illegal practice. Google argued that provision was slipped into another bill at the last minute and that Brnovichs office orchestrated the approval to avoid bench trials in this and similar cases, and that he made false statements to legislators passing off the provision as a mere clarification of existing law. The judge dismissed those arguments, saying they are legally irrelevant here. There is no legal basis for the court refusing to apply a statute because it was allegedly passed in an unfair or dishonest manner, he said. Nor, he said, can judges be dragged into debates about whether there were misstatements about a bill. Indeed, it is highly likely that misstatements are regularly made about proposed laws in Washington and a state capitols across the country, Thomason wrote. The court is in no position to look behind duly passed statutes and make sure they were passed in a fair manner and that no misstatements were made to legislators by proponents of the bill. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. As Pima County approaches its two-year COVID-19 anniversary, nearly 70% of eligible residents here ages 5 and older have been vaccinated with either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson shot. "That's an amazing figure" and "a sign of some really good progress," Dr. Francisco Garcia, the county's chief medical officer, said Thursday. About 40% of the eligible population here has received a booster, he said. "That's not enough, but given when they first became available, it's a positive story to tell," he said. Positivity rate remains high Even with those vaccination rates, however, it's still a struggle to manage the virus in a way that enables hospitals, schools and communities to function more normally. County numbers show the positivity rate for coronavirus tests here hit 28% the week of Jan. 16 and, as of Thursday, appear to be dipping, to 25%. That's still far from what's considered workable, which is 3%, Garcia said. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's seven-day rolling average for Pima County was a 33% positivity rate.) "Right in the middle of summer, we were in the 3% range and that's the last time we were that low," Garcia said. "That's where we should be, that's where we should live, in that range." Part of the reason so many people are testing positive is due to the current variant, omicron, which is highly transmissible. The other reason is that the number of people remaining unvaccinated is still too high, and that's allowing new variants to take hold, Garcia said. The latest one? A new version of omicron that's spreading in Asia and Europe. "What can we do to be prepared? What we can do is be as vaccinated as possible," he said. "A new variant doesn't take hold in a community unless you have a susceptible population." Currently, Garcia said, about two-thirds of the people here needing hospitalization or an emergency room visit for the virus are unvaccinated and the one-third who are fully vaccinated but hospitalized are mostly elderly residents or those with compromised immune systems. The antiviral medications and other therapeutic tools for those who get sick are being made available by the federal government only in "dribs and drabs," he said, and no one should be counting on those medications being available right now if they get sick. "And that's why vaccination still has to be our go-to," he said. The second anniversary of COVID-19 arriving in Arizona comes at a time when the state's known death toll from the virus is nearly 26,000. Arizona's first coronavirus case was recorded on Jan. 26, 2020. Pima County had its first case recorded on March 4, 2020. School tests are needed The county Health Department is still trying to keep up supplies for school testing, particularly tests students who have tested positive can do at home to see when they can return, but supplies are limited. A week ago the federal government announced it would be shipping out rapid tests people can do at home, and those are the same tests the county needs for several of its testing environments, including schools, Garcia said. "There is a lot of demand for those tests and the federal government has sequestered a lot of those supplies," he said, adding that school districts are the county's priority. "Do we have more demand than we have tests today? Absolutely." Garcia said two of the county's large school districts, Sunnyside and Tucson Unified, should soon receive testing kits directly from federal suppliers. Hospitals are in precarious spot Additionally, he said the omicron's impact on hospitals "continues to be very, very devastating." "If we have reached a high water mark in terms of the number of cases, we have not reached a high water mark as far as the number of hospitalizations," he said, explaining that a person who gets infected today could become an intensive care admission a week or two after the infection begins. Garcia said when he speaks with hospital CEOs or chief medical officers, he's hearing that the county's hospital employees are "stressed, stretched, fatigued." In recent weeks, there are times when there's only enough remaining staffers to attend to one or two more ICU beds. "I think that to a certain extent, as a population, we've become deaf to some of these things," he said. "We've been doing this for two years now." What he fears is needing many more ICU beds but not having the staffing capability. "God forbid a school bus gets hit or some mass casualty event happens," Garcia said, adding that those patients would need to be "transported out of the county and, perhaps, out of state." Testing site closed Friday The drive-thru COVID-19 testing site at Pima Community College West Campus, 2202 W. Anklam Road, will be closed Friday, Jan. 28, because of high winds forecast by the National Weather Service. The testing vendor, eTrueNorth, will notify people and reschedule appointments. See pima.gov/covid19testing for locations, hours of all county testing options. Photos: Drive-through COVID testing site opens on Tucson's west side FEMA Drive-through COVID-19 testing FEMA Drive-through COVID-19 testing FEMA Drive-through COVID-19 testing FEMA Drive-through COVID-19 testing FEMA Drive-through COVID-19 testing FEMA Drive-through COVID-19 testing FEMA Drive-through COVID-19 testing FEMA Drive-through COVID-19 testing Contact reporter Patty Machelor at 806-7754 or pmachelor@tucson.com 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. Hartford, Connecticut, 12/21/2021 - Sharee Cousins, a CNA and consultant with sema4, tests Chris LeMay of West Hartford, CT at a Covid testing site on the corner of Albany Avenue and Woodland Street in Hartford, run by sema4 of Stamford, CT. Demand for testing has skyrocketed since the increase in cases of the Omicron variant. Stan Godlewski/Special to the Courant (Stan Godlewski / Special to the Courant) A newly-identified sub-variant of omicron, BA.2, was first reported in Connecticut earlier this week. Slightly different from the BA.1 lineage of omicron that has driven the most recent surge of COVID-19 cases in Connecticut, BA.2 is still somewhat unknown to scientists. Heres what we know about it so far and what experts say about how concerned we should be: Advertisement When did BA.2 appear in Connecticut? On Tuesday, Nathan Grubaugh, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health who runs a lab tracking the spread of COVID-19 variants in Connecticut, announced on Twitter that his lab had detected the first case of BA.2 in the state. The sub-variant was detected in a sample collected from Fairfield County on Jan. 8. How concerned should we be about BA.2? Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccine scientist at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, said that at this point, he is not overly concerned about BA.2, which has already appeared in the Houston region where he lives. Advertisement I tend to not get too exercised about variants until they really start to accelerate we watch them all, but its hard to know whether this one is going to be game-changing or not, he said during a press call organized by Hartford HealthCare on Thursday. Some variants such as beta or lambda circulate around but never catch on, unlike variants such as delta and omicron, Hotez said. Well just have to watch this closely, but right now Im more alarmed about what might be brewing out there in lower-middle-income countries than this BA.2 one specifically, he said. How does BA.2 differ from the original omicron variant? As a sub-variant of omicron, BA.2 is structurally quite similar to omicron, said Dr. David Banach, an epidemiologist at UConn Health. On Twitter, Grubaugh noted that while BA.1 (the original lineage of omicron) and BA.2 share number of mutations, BA.2 brings a slew of its own unique mutations as well. In fact, he said, the two lineages are almost as divergent as the delta and alpha variants of COVID-19. BA.1 is the lineage of Omicron that caused the recent wave of infections in CT. While BA.2 is still technically Omicron, and BA.2 shares 32 mutations with BA.1, BA.2 also has 28 unique mutations. For perspective, BA.1 and BA.2 are almost as divergent as Delta and Alpha. (2/9) Nathan Grubaugh (@NathanGrubaugh) January 25, 2022 How well can BA.2 be detected? While BA.1 and BA.2 are fairly similar, Banach said, BA.2 lacks a specific characteristic that made BA.1 easier to distinguish from other COVID-19 variants, such as delta and alpha. It may be harder to distinguish between cases of BA.1 and BA.2, but that doesnt mean that cases of BA.2 arent detectable. Breaking News As it happens Get the latest updates on Coronavirus and other breaking news events happening across Connecticut > Its getting this term stealth variant, and theres confusion because people think that means that it cant be detected using our current PCRs, but thats not the case, he said. It can be detected. The sub-variant has already been detected abroad including in India, Denmark and Britain and has given rise to a smattering of cases in the United States. BA.2 appears the most widespread in Denmark, a country with a robust genome-sequencing infrastructure. Advertisement Are we headed for another surge of COVID-19? Medical experts say its too soon to know for certain how quickly BA.2 could spread in the United States but that the sub-variant may not be as deadly or disruptive as BA.1. We havent seen data so far to expect this is going to be associated with more infectiousness or more severe illness or less response to vaccine-induced immunity, but I think its still too early to make definitive conclusions, Banach said. On Twitter, Grubaugh noted that the sub-variant became the dominant lineage of COVID-19 in Denmark within a month, and said he anticipates that it will eventually become the dominant lineage in the United States. But BA.2 may not drive a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, he said, noting that there is a lot of recent population immunity from the BA.1 wave, and hopefully not as many susceptible people to infect. Courant staff writer Alex Putterman contributed to this report. Eliza Fawcett can be reached at elfawcett@courant.com. PHOENIX A Republican state lawmaker is proposing that the Arizona Legislature currently controlled by Republicans have the right to reject election results. HB 2596 simply reflects his belief that the state constitution gives lawmakers ultimate oversight of elections, Rep. John Fillmore of Apache Junction told Capitol Media Services on Wednesday. And what that means, Fillmore said, is that lawmakers should be able to set aside election results if they believe there was fraud or other irregularities. But the provision on expanding the power the Legislature is only part of Fillmores 35-page rewrite of state election laws. He also wants to: Require that ballots for all future elections be counted by hand; Mandate that votes be cast only on election day; Repeal laws allowing anyone to get an early ballot. To do so under his measure, the voter needs a specific reason, like being outside the stat=e or unable to get to the polls because they are in a hospital or nursing home. And it would prohibit the practice used in many counties of setting up Election Day voting centers where anyone can cast a ballot, restricting people to voting only in their home precinct. We need to get back to 1958-style voting, Fillmore said separately during a hearing on election issues on Wednesday. But Fillmore said after the hearing that he was not suggesting returning all election laws to the way they were before things like the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discriminatory practices like literacy tests. House Minority Leader Reginald Bolding, D-Laveen, said he will not challenge that assertion. He said, though, that comments like that become dog whistles designed to appeal to certain groups. And, if nothing else, Bolding said Arizonans need to pay attention to the kinds of things that are in HB 2596 and other changes to voting laws being pushed by Republicans at the Capitol under the claim that the 2020 election was somehow stolen. I think you have a far right wing of legislators and lawmakers who are trying to get noticed by Donald Trump, he said. Theyre trying to be part of his inner circle, Bolding continued. And theyre going to introduce the most outrageous bills they can possibly think of. Fillmore, however, said he remains convinced that something was amiss with the 2020 returns. But he said his proposal is not about Trump. This is not a President Biden thing, Fillmore said. This is not the other redheaded guy thing. And Fillmore said this is not part of the big lie conspiracy. I believe that in 2020 we had some serious concerns that were never really responded, he said. Nor is Fillmore convinced by multiple reports showing there were no major instances of election fraud, here or elsewhere. I dont care what the press says, he said. Everybodys lying to me. The biggest change in HB 2596 would require the Legislature to call itself into special session to review the ballot tabulating process for both the primary and general elections. After that review it says lawmakers shall accept or reject the election results. Its just oversight, Fillmore told Capitol Media Services. But he said that a rejection would not mean that lawmakers could then decide who won, whether in presidential, statewide or even their own races. Instead, Fillmore said, rejection would allow any qualified elector meaning anyone who is registered to vote to file a lawsuit asking the court to order a new election. What is not spelled out in the legislation is whether lawmakers would have to reject all the election results or could simply decide that only the outcome of some of the races was suspect. What also is unsaid is whether those currently in office would remain in their positions pending court action and, if ordered, a new vote. And if a judge refuses to issue such an order? Then were just going to have to shut up and deal with it, Fillmore said. He brushed aside questions about the fact that nothing in his bill requires that lawmakers must find fraud in order to reject the results. Let me ask you a question, with all due respect, he responded. Do you think we come down here just to create havoc? One of the other big changes in HB 2596 is scrapping the use of machines to tally the ballots and instead of having every ballot and every race counted by hand within 24 hours at the precinct where they are cast. This comes despite some safeguards built into election laws. Most notably, there is a requirement in every election for the ballots from a random sample of precincts to be pulled out and counted by hand and compared with the machine tally. If the numbers are within a margin of error, the results are confirmed; if not, then ever-larger samples are reviewed. Officials in Maricopa County, where there were the arguments by some Republicans of irregularities, said the required hand count of the 2020 general election showed the machine count was accurate. In fact, a separate court-ordered inspection of more than 1,600 Arizona ballots cast in the general election found just nine with errors in the race for president, not enough to declare Donald Trump the winner here, even if that error rate ran through all similar ballots. Fillmore, for his part, said he doesnt care that election officials, in general, say that machine counts are more accurate. Ill tell you what I know in my heart, he said. I know that if you were the election officer and you held that election in your precinct and those are the people that are going to be counting I trust you. And in an apparent effort to make the hand-count chore manageable, his legislation says that no precinct can have more than 1,500 registered voters. By contrast, Maricopa County election officials say they now try to keep the current 748 precincts to no more than 5,000 voters. Using the 1,500 figure would require at least 1,700 precincts more if they could not all be equally divided for the 2.58 million voters, meaning more election workers and poll watchers. Fillmore said, though, he has separate legislation to require the two major parties to provide people who would be observers at the polling places and watch the hand count. Other provisions in Fillmores legislation include: Forbidding county supervisors from changing a polling place unless voters are notified by mail at least two years in advance; Mandating that whenever possible the use of public schools and government offices as polling places, with a requirement for school and public officials to allow their sites to be used; Spelling out that ballots have to include a hologram and identifiable sequence marking or another way that ensures voters have a uniquely marked or numbered ballot. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Working as team breeds success Re: the Jan. 23 article Tucson wants to leave RTA? Good riddance. I write this letter not as a transportation expert and not to critique the RTA objectives, but as a businessman who has learned through 60 years of architectural experience since 1961 that the success of any enterprise or project depends upon the cooperation and support of all elements of the community which might be involved: civic, public and private, thus becoming the project team. Steve Christys comments are counterproductive and childish. The city of Tucson is a major component of our region with which Christy may disagree, but without which RTA decisions will be hollow. I can guarantee that if Christy does his job and invests the time, he will discover city officials willing to find solutions and participate in the team process. Robert Swaim East side Ive heard this story before Re: the Jan. 16 article Funding Tucsons transportation future. Reading Mayor Romeros op-ed regarding the RTA reminded me of growing up and working in the Seattle-King County area watching the region struggle with regional issues, especially the pollution of Lake Washington. Cities and sewer districts were discharging effluent directly into the lake, making it unsafe to swim. Leaders responded with a Federation of Governments (called Metro) made up of cities, sewer districts and the county to clean up the lake. New treatment plants were built and the lake was soon swimmable again. After this success, Metro assumed additional responsibilities and the Metro Council grew to 42 members who gradually began raising equity issues and creating dissension. In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that governing boards where members did not represent equal populations violated the one person, one vote requirement of the U.S. Constitution. Metro did not comply, was dissolved and its responsibilities were assumed by King County. Metro was a success whose time had passed. I wonder if the RTA is on the same path. Michael Mulcahy Northeast side Stellers column on First Avenue Re: the Jan. 12 article Politics over First Avenue plan could be bad sign. Someone once said that those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I put Tim Steller in that category. His recent column on changing the design of the First Avenue project shows that he has either forgotten, or never knew, why the Regional Transportation Authority was created. Taxpayers used to vote to fund road projects and the politicians used to ignore them and build what they wanted. The RTA was created so that the projects people voted on were built to match what they voted on. The First Avenue project can be changed, but, as Farhad Moghimi stated, it must first undergo a very extensive process before that happens. Steve Kozachik wanted to change the Broadway project without the process and Steller wants to change the First Avenue project the same way. No changes should ever take place in any RTA project unless it goes through a process, so the taxpayers get what they voted for. Jeff Britt East side The towns are the real bullies Re: the Sept. 27 article Marana mayor calls Tucson threat to leave regional transportation group playing bully I beg to differ with Marana Mayor Ed Honea. The city of Tucson isnt the bully in the room when discussing the Regional Transportation Authority. The small jurisdictions like Marana, Sahuarita and Oro Valley are the bullies with their oversized power on the PAG Regional Council and the RTA Board. The small jurisdictions have seven of the nine votes, representing less than 15% of the Pima County population. That leaves 85% of the population with just two votes. The State of Arizona recommends that voting systems be apportioned on an equitable geographic population basis. Arlie Adkins, an associate professor of urban planning at the University of Arizona, pointed out in his presentation to the Regional Council that the lack of proportional representation leads to the disenfranchisement of urban residents and people of color. Theres been a recession, pandemic and an insurrection, so the status quo no longer works. All Tucson Mayor Regina Romero is asking for is fair and equitable representation, but Of course those that are winning in an inequitable system dont want to change that system. Ruth Reiman Midtown City elections not fair either Re: the Sept. 23 article City officials hold firm on threat to leave RTA. I read today that Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik doesnt think the voting structure of the RTA is fair, that its not representative. So I guess he does understand the concept of taxation without representation. Yet he apparently has no problem with the voting structure of the city of Tucson. Each ward submits candidates to represent their wards, but the final vote is citywide, not ward-wide. The result is taxation without representation. A little hypocritical, I think. Susan Berger East side RTA veto power cuts both ways Re: the June 17 article Openness and compromise required for next RTA plan. In his opinion piece on the RTA, Board of Supervisors member Rex Scott complains that proportional representation would give Tucson with its 52% of the population veto power over any proposals, but apparently he is perfectly happy with the current arrangement which in fact gives representatives of less than 30% of the population that same veto power he claims to be so concerned about. Despite his claims, there is a real problem here and I fully understand Tucsons concerns about continuing on the current terms. Wesley Green Green Valley Citys hypocrisy shines through How sad that the Tucson mayor and City Council threaten to drop out of the Regional Transportation Authority because Tucson is underrepresented on the RTA. Yet these same politicians want to sock higher water rates to unincorporated Pima County residents who have zero representation on the Tucson Water system. Do these hypocrites even see the irony, or are they just shameless? Maybe both organizations need to properly represent all of their constituents. Charles Broder Foothills Remember why we have an RTA Tucson City Councilman Steve Kozachik, Mayor Regina Romero, and now Bob Cook have all taken their shots at the RTA, whining about the process the authority uses for large construction projects. Have we all forgotten why the RTA was created? What used to happen was a construction project was planned, had hearings, and was voted on. After that, the politicians did what they wanted and ignored what was voted on. Voters could not trust the government to do what was voted on, so the RTA came into being. Kozachik wanted a whole lane removed from the Broadway project. Thats not a small change. If someone really wants to make a major change in a project that has already been approved, let them put it back in front of the voters that are paying for it to see if they agree. Everyone needs to wake up and see that all the complaining is an effort to go back to the old ways where the voters are ignored. Dont let it happen, Tucson. Jeff Britt East side Major changes needed in RTA People talk about bikeways, pedestrian-friendly streets and public transit. Those things are not possible outside the urban core. Regional Transportation Association is funding sprawl and feeding exurbia. The urban voters are getting nothing in return in 10 years. Grant Road started 30 years late and maybe theyre still working on it. Currently, no discernible movement of earth. Bus service stinks, and folks wont ride it. I will not support RTA again without major changes. The status quo is not helping. Stop funding sprawl or stop funding regional transportation. John Yoakum Downtown End the RTA boondoggle I see that the snake (and other) oil salesmen are starting to beat the drums for the heat island medicine show otherwise known as the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA). While a coordinated, regional and thoughtful approach is important, the RTA boondoggle is none of these. We need fixed roads, not fatter, hotter ones, but as the pothole slalom increasingly becomes local sport, the RTA just wants to sling new asphalt, providing nothing for the maintenance work that needs to be done. Throughout the country, forward-thinking communities have found a host of better ways to move people and goods. Apparently unaware of an increasingly heated Southwest, the RTA is stuck in old solutions that other communities know create problems. The RTA brands Pima County as an outdated, mediocre place. Were better than that. In an increasingly competitive economic environment, Pima County needs a different brand. Mark Homan Midtown Tucson roads are overbuilt Re: the May 17 letter RTA plan should address emissions. I enthusiastically agree with the letter writer complaining about more proposed asphalt for Tucson. Tucsons roads are already so overbuilt and excessively wide that bike lanes, sidewalks and more landscaping could be added to the already existing roadbed with no need for widening. Simply narrow the overly wide lanes and reduce the excessive number of lanes. Tucsons roads are built like freeways, which encourages speeding and dangerous driving. No wonder pedestrians are regularly killed here. To cross an intersection is almost a mile hike to cross the two-lane left-turn lane, the six travel lanes, the middle lane and the dedicated right-turn lane, which lanes are all excessively wide. Pavement increases the heat-island effect and destroys the desert. It is time for more environmentally aware thinking and to stop making Tucson look like a freeway-centered industrial site. Christine Schwamberger West side More asphalt wont help city How can the city of Tucson continue to sponsor Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) road-widening projects? Were asked to accept the destruction of businesses and homes and the heat-mass effect of more asphalt in exchange for upgraded intersections, more accessible sidewalks and wider bike lanes. Well, guess what: all those improvements can be made and to many more miles of existing roadways for the cost, if we ditch the 1960s mindset that prioritizes even more space for cars. Six lanes on First Avenue? What problem does that solve? Im sick of hearing that these projects must be completed because they were in the plan voters approved in 2006. That was before the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warned we must limit global warming to 2C. Before Tucson had reached 2.5C warming since 1970. We know how to create livable cities, this is not the way. RTA is a doomsday machine that must be stopped. Suzanne Schafer Downtown RTA plan should tackle emissions Transportation is the No. 1 contributor of greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That is why it is especially curious that the Pima Association of Governments fails to address the climate crisis, even indirectly, in its Regional Transportation Authority five-year Transportation Improvement Plan. This plan should include analysis and prioritization of climate change mitigation and adaption rather than just the mandated air quality review. The carbon emissions associated with particular projects should weigh heavily in which projects are funded and which are not. It should not be about building to maximize growth. Those projects with the most significant emissions should be modified or scrapped. We simply cannot afford business as usual. The climate crisis is costing us every day relative to our health and welfare and certainly the future of our communities. It is time for a plan that reflects that reality. Sandy Bahr Downtown Regionalism fine for small towns Thank you, Sahuarita Mayor Tom Murphy, for your perspective on how a regional viewpoint best serves Pima County residents. It seems that the mayors from the small jurisdictions play the regional card whenever they want something that they dont have the resources to pay for themselves. I recently learned that Sahuarita has several new housing developments either being built or under consideration. Sahuarita doesnt have impact fees for developers, so Sahuarita has to find funding to provide roadways to and from these new housing developments. Therefore, to fund these new roads or the widening of existing roads Sahuarita is asking for regional transportation dollars through the next RTA plan. So I ask myself, why as a Tucson resident would I support a sales tax to pay for local roads in Sahuarita so the residents can live comfortably in a car-dependent community? The answer is I wouldnt. Ruth Reiman Midtown Tucsonans input should be greater Re: the July 18 article Stars endorsements in Wards 3 and 6. Even thought the Star didnt endorse Kevin Dahl, it gave enough information for me to see that Kevin Dahl is the Ward 3 candidate for whom I should vote. The Star rightly states that Kevin is a fighter for our environment, but implies that because Mayor Romero is also a fighter for mitigating climate change, that Kevins vote and ideas are not really needed. I happen to want my elected representative to be a leader for making Tucson a more livable place. The Star piece then states that Kevin supports the RTA being changed to give more power to the citizens who live in Tucson. I also support that idea. The inner neighborhoods have been neglected for too long. So Im voting for Kevin because he is a committed environmentalist, and he will use that knowledge to fight for the RTA to give more power to the residents of Tucson and Ward 3. David Rubin Midtown Sara Brown, Opinion Coordinator at the Arizona Daily Star Newsroom working with editorial, features, business and metro. sbbrown@tucson.com, 520-807-8466. Twitter: @sbrownarizona. Facebook: sbrownarizona. Local leaders meet Thursday to discuss future of RTA The Regional Transportation Authority board is meeting Thursday to discuss the future of the RTA. It is the last meeting before the city of Tucson's Feb. 1 deadline to decide whether to withdraw from the RTA. The possibility of the city's withdrawal has been the subject of numerous letters to the editor over the past year. Below is a sampling of those letters. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. In what will be one of the most monumental endeavors of Joe Biden's presidency, the retirement of Stephen Breyer sets the stage for an immensely important decision by the President. Breyer's seat may be the only one that Biden fills on the Supreme Court, and it may not be one he fills at all -- if Republicans retake the Senate before the President's choice for a replacement is confirmed. On the campaign trail, Biden vowed to put a Black woman on the high court, which would be an historic first. A short list of potential nominees had been circulating Washington well before Breyer's retirement plans became public, and officials in the White House Counsel's office built files on various candidates in anticipation of a potential vacancy. Now, those efforts will ramp up significantly and the President will likely hold one on one meetings before announcing his pick. The White House is stacked with officials deeply familiar with the confirmation process, starting with Biden himself -- who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee -- as well as White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who has experience both at the White House counsel's office and working for the Senate Judiciary Committee. With Democrats holding the narrowest of majorities in the upper chamber, Biden will have to choose someone who can safely get 50 votes in the Senate (Vice President Kamala Harris could provide the tie-breaking vote if the Senate is split on the nomination). In addition to the vote count, Biden also has to keep an eye on the calendar. Senate Republicans are likely to retake the chamber in this year's midterms and have already signaled they would block a Biden nominee to the Supreme Court. It typically takes two to three months for a President to see his nominee confirmed by the Senate once he or she is named. The most recent justice, however, was confirmed in just a month and a half, as Senate Republicans rushed to get Justice Amy Coney Barrett approved before the 2020 election. Given the disappointments that have been recently dealt to the progressives under the Biden administration -- between the congressional demise of the President's Build Back Better proposal and his failure to find a way forward on voting rights legislation -- Biden's choice for the Supreme Court gives him the opportunity to reinvigorate the democratic base. If she is confirmed, Biden will secure a much-needed victory for his administration. Here are potential nominees who have been on observers' short list. DC Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Biden has already elevated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson once, appointing her last year to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which is considered the second-most powerful federal court in the country. Previously, the 51-year-old judge served on the federal district court in DC. Because of that appellate appointment, she's already been through a vetting process that included an interview with the President himself. Fittingly, she clerked for Breyer and holds degrees from Harvard and Harvard Law School. She also served as an assistant federal public defender, making her a prime example of the Biden's White House focus on appointing judges with backgrounds that are outside the typical prosecutor and Big Law box. As a judge, Jackson has ruled on high profile cases including the Don McGahn congressional subpoena lawsuit (where, as a district court, she ordered the former Trump White House counsel to comply with the House's subpoena). As an appellate judge, she signed on to the recent opinion ordering the disclosure of Trump White House documents being sought by the House January 6 committee. The Supreme Court declined Trump's request that it reverse the decision in an order this month allowing the documents to be released. California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger Kruger, now 45, was the youngest person to be appointed to the California Supreme Court when then-Gov. Jerry Brown nominated her in 2014. Kruger is intimately familiar with the Supreme Court having worked as a clerk for the late Justice John Paul Stevens and served as acting deputy solicitor general in the Obama administration. While in the Solicitor General's office, she argued 12 cases in front of the Supreme Court representing the government. At the Justice Department, she also earned the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service, the department's highest award for employee performance, in 2013 and 2014. At the California Supreme Court, she has authored notable opinions on the 4th Amendment -- holding that law enforcement could not search a woman's purse without a warrant after she declined to provide a driver's license -- and upholding a California law that requires law enforcement to collect DNA samples as well as fingerprints from all persons arrested for or convicted of felony offenses. Though she is said to be well-liked among the alumni of the Solicitor General's office, she has not yet received the thorough vetting that other potential nominees have gone through. South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs Childs, a judge on South Carolina's federal court, is said to have a major booster in House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a Biden ally who helped deliver South Carolina for the eventual nominee in the 2020 Democratic primary. Just last month, Biden nominated Childs to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the nomination remains pending. A graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, Childs does not have the Ivy League pedigree shared by eight of the nine justices. Her cheerleaders have touted her public-school education and other elements of her background as an advantage for Democrats, according to a 2021 New York Times report, and as a way to fight back against claims that the party has become too elitist in its makeup. In addition to a decade spent in private practice, the 55-year-old served as a state court trial judge on the South Carolina Circuit, as the deputy director of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and as a commissioner on the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. Other names that have been floated Sherrilyn Ifill, a civil rights attorney who recently announced plans to step down from her role as President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Anita Earls, a 61-year-old North Carolina Supreme Court associate justice whose age would likely hamper serious consideration from Democrats looking to seat a younger nominee on the high court. District Judge Wilhelmina "Mimi" Wright, a judge on Minnesota's federal district court whose consideration would likely please Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who sits on the Judiciary Committee. Circuit Judge Eunice Lee, a former New York public defender whom Biden nominated to the Second Circuit on the recommendation of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Circuit Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, an alumna of Chicago's public defender's office whose appointment by Biden to the Seventh Circuit was cheered by Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin of Illinois. This story has been updated with additional reporting. The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. CNN's Paul LeBlanc and Jake Tapper contributed to this report. Tulsas road to success in the next decade must be paved, in part, by economic diversification. That was among the messages conveyed Wednesday by Hillcrest President and CEO Kevin Gross, who was inaugurated as 2022 board chair of the Tulsa Regional Chamber. Before at crowd of at least 900, he succeeded Rose Washington-Jones at the chambers annual meeting held this year at the Cox Business Convention Center. Since its inception 16 years ago, Tulsas Future (a chamber-led partnership) has supported the creation of more than 72,000 jobs and more than $4.2 billion in capital investment, Gross said. In the years ahead, Tulsas Future must continue to support our regions core economic sectors of advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defense, energy and transportation and logistics. We must optimize our support for these enterprises. But as we move forward into 2022 and beyond, we will also focus significant effort on three sectors with the potential to become linchpin contributors to our regional economy by 2030. Among those is automotive technology. With nearly every major automaker rolling out electric vehicle lines, (global consultant) Deloitte forecasts a compound annual growth rate of 29% percent during the next decade, with electric vehicle sales expected to grow from 2.5 million in 2020 to 31.1 million by 2030. Automotive technology presents a new opportunity for regions like ours to build an automotive corridor. A regional automotive corridor would include not only original equipment manufacturer assembly plants but also parts suppliers and battery technology sites. And we are not starting from zero. Automotive technology companies already in our region include Canoo, The Traton Group/Navistar, and Francis Energy. Another priority, Gross said, is making space for regional headquarters and technology offices. We are home to two Fortune 500 company headquarters ONEOK and Williams and to QuikTrip, one of the largest privately-owned company headquarters, he said. Though our region already boasts a number of headquartered companies, we have more than 1.2 million square feet of available class A office space, with new projects like the WPX and Santa Fe buildings coming soon. Our lease rates are also substantially lower than competing cities such as Austin and Dallas, making us a strong contender for companies in search of new or expanded headquarters or tech facilities. The region also needs to pursue advanced aerial mobility, an emerging industry that aims to develop and operate new air vehicles potentially capable of safe, reliable and low-noise vertical flight, he said. Deloitte estimates that by 2035, advanced aerial mobility could create 280,000 jobs and generate $30 billion in worker wages and benefits, Gross said. Building upon our regions longstanding deep ties to the aerospace and aviation industries, projected growth in advanced aerial mobility represents an excellent opportunity to more fully activate and leverage regional talent, he said. We need look no further than local companies such as TAT Technologies and imco, Spirit AeroSystems, Omni Air, Flight Safety, L3 and American Airlines for inspiration. As important as strengthening economic diversification, Gross said, will be expanding tourism and building a diverse, equitable and inclusive community. Speaking to the latter, he said that according to the 2021 Inclusive Workplace Index conducted by Mosaic, the Tulsa Regional Chambers coalition of companies and nonprofit partners committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, 69% of participating organizations have programs in place to develop a pipeline of diverse leaders. Also, 85% sponsor training or offer access to programs that focus on embracing differences and overcoming bias. Further, of those taking the 2021 index, 83% engage employees in community DEI work by encouraging volunteerism with diverse populations. These statistics represent real progress year-over-year and certainly century-over-century, Gross said. But if we are truly to be the community of the future the community my three grandchildren will choose to call home we must not take our foot off the gas. We must continue to develop and expand programs that foster inclusivity in every possible form. Featured video: Subscribe to Daily Headlines Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. 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. Correction: This story contained an incorrect age for the defendant. The story has been corrected. A man who police and federal prosecutors say made an explosive device out of fireworks, fishhooks, rivets and other materials was charged Wednesday in the federal Northern District of Oklahoma, U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson announced. Zane Paul Bennett, 20, of Broken Arrow was federally charged by criminal complaint with unlawful manufacture of a destructive device that was found Monday in a car his girlfriend was driving in east Broken Arrow. Bennetts girlfriend, Mariah Davis, was arrested that day on a petty larceny complaint on an allegation that she stole nearly $300 worth of Legos from a nearby Walmart, a spokesperson for the Broken Arrow Police Department said. She reportedly told officers she is a member of the Muscogee tribe, so, if charged, she would be tried in Muscogee Nation court. About 3:45 p.m. Monday, a Broken Arrow police officer conducted a traffic stop on Davis vehicle on Kenosha (71st) Street in Broken Arrow near the Creek Turnpike after learning that she was was a suspect in the shoplifting of Lego sets priced at $289.94, police said. When the officer stopped Davis, he saw the Legos in the backseat, along with the explosive device. The bomb was described by officers as four red Boom Sticks with green fuses tied together. There was one bottle rocket in the middle the green fuses were tied to. Davis said the device was Bennetts, and she called him. He arrived at the scene on foot, and after Davis was detained on the shoplifting complaint, he asked if he could take possession of the vehicle. But Bennett himself was arrested, Broken Arrow police said. He acknowledged after being arrested that he had manufactured the bomb, police reported. Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives interviewed the couple, and Bennett reportedly said he made the bomb in a nearby motel, where the couple was staying. At the scene, the Tulsa Police Department Bomb Squad X-rayed the destructive device, which revealed several large fish hooks, screws, and rivets inside the device, as well as a large quantity of small fireworks packed together, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office ATF agents and Broken Arrow police officers searched the couples motel room and found more fireworks and a metal rivet similar to the ones found in the bomb, according to the news release. The case will now go before a grand jury, which could indict Bennett. Bennett was booked into the Tulsa County jail Wednesday evening and is being held without bond. 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. Gov. Ned Lamont and state Department of Public Health officials delivered a stack of at-home COVID-19 tests and masks to a bakery in New Britain on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. (Eliza Fawcett) Connecticuts COVID-19 metrics continued to decline on Wednesday, as the states hospitalizations and weekly test positivity rate fell to their lowest points in more than three weeks. Infection rate is down a little bit, 10.9%, Gov. Ned Lamont said Wednesday morning at a Puerto Rican bakery in New Britain. More importantly, hospitalizations are down another hundred. So I really think were bending the curve. Advertisement At the bakery and a nearby restaurant, Lamont and Department of Public Health staffers delivered stacks of rapid COVID-19 tests and face masks to employees, so that they could distribute them to customers. Dave Reyes, the director of state and local outreach for DPH, said that the department has been partnering with houses of worship and local establishments across the state to put rapid tests directly in residents hands. Advertisement Not everybody drives up to a testing center, Lamont said. We have to bring the masks, we have to bring the tests, to where people are. Cases and positivity rate Connecticut on Tuesday reported 2,795 new COVID-19 cases out of 25,568 tests, for a daily positivity rate of 10.93%. The states seven-day positivity rate now stands at 12.24%, the lowest it has been since Dec. 28. Still, all eight Connecticut counties along with nearly the rest of the country are recording high levels of COVID-19 transmission as defined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With this level of transmission, the CDC advises people to wear a mask in public indoor settings. Hospitalizations As of Wednesday, Connecticut had 1,346 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, a decrease of 100 since Tuesday and the lowest the metric has been since early January. Right now were seeing decline in community level of transmission, and our hospitalizations also seem to be declining statewide, including here at UConn, Dr. David Banach, an epidemiologist at UConn Health said Wednesday. Thats encouraging. Hospital officials say some patients hospitalized with COVID-19 were admitted for non-coronavirus reasons before testing positive upon arrival but that a majority have significant COVID-19 symptoms. According to the state, 53.7% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated. Hospital officials say the rate is significantly higher when considering only patients with severe symptoms. Deaths Breaking News As it happens Get the latest updates on Coronavirus and other breaking news events happening across Connecticut > Connecticut reports COVID-19 deaths on Thursdays. Last week, the state reported 241 deaths, bringing its total during the pandemic to 9,683. Advertisement COVID-19 deaths which typically tend to lag other metrics by several weeks have continued to increase in recent weeks even as cases and hospitalizations have slowed. Unvaccinated people in Connecticut have been about 14 times as likely to die from COVID-19 in recent weeks as those who are vaccinated, according to state numbers. The United States has now recorded 874,002 COVID-19 deaths, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University. Vaccinations As of Tuesday, 92.1% of all Connecticut residents and 95% of those 12 and older had received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, while 76.3% of all residents and 84.7% of those 12 and older were fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Additionally, about 49.9% of fully vaccinated Connecticut residents 18 or older have received a booster dose. The CDC warns that booster shots are sometimes misclassified as first doses, likely inflating the reported number of first-dose coverage and understating the true number of people who have received boosters. Eliza Fawcett can be reached at elfawcett@courant.com. McALESTER Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for the brutal slayings of two hotel workers during a robbery in 2001. Donald Grant, 46, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was declared dead at 10:16 a.m. It was the first execution in the U.S. in 2022 and the third in Oklahoma since the state resumed lethal injections in October following a nearly seven-year hiatus. Grant had asked a federal judge to temporarily halt his execution, arguing that he should be reinstated as a plaintiff in a separate lawsuit challenging Oklahomas three-drug lethal injection protocol as presenting a risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering. But both a federal judge and a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver previously denied that request. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Grants request on Wednesday. Several Oklahoma death row inmates with pending execution dates have sought to delay their executions after John Grant convulsed on the gurney and vomited after receiving the first dose of midazolam, a sedative, during his October execution. John Grant's execution was the state's first since problems with the state's lethal injection in 2014 and 2015 led to a de facto moratorium. Richard Glossip was just hours away from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realized they received the wrong lethal drug. It was later learned the same wrong drug had been used to execute an inmate in January 2015. The drug mix-ups followed a botched execution in April 2014 in which inmate Clayton Lockett struggled on a gurney before dying 43 minutes into his lethal injection and after the states prisons chief ordered executioners to stop. During a clemency hearing in November, Donald Grant admitted killing Brenda McElyea and Felicia Suzette Smith so that there would be no witnesses to his robbery of the Del City hotel. Court records show both women were shot and stabbed, and Smith was also bludgeoned. Prosecutors say both women also begged him to spare their lives before he killed them. During November's hearing, he expressed deep, sincere remorse and apologized for the killings, but the states Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 against recommending clemency. I can't change that," he said of the crime while speaking to the board. If I could, I would, but I can't change that." Two of Donald Grant's attorneys, Susan Otto and Emma Rolls from the federal public defender's office, argued that he was mentally ill and had suffered brain damage that made him a candidate for mercy. They also discussed Grants childhood growing up in a New York City housing project during the crack epidemic of the 1980s, a time when he was frequently beaten and members of his family experienced alcoholism, drug addiction and mental illness. But the board also heard from members of McElyea's family, who tearfully urged them to reject clemency for him. McElyeas sister, Shirl Filcher, recalled the pain she experienced when she had to tell their father that McElyea had been killed. I had to call my dad and tell him his daughter, his baby girl, was dead, Filcher said. I had never seen him cry, but that night I heard him weep and it broke my heart. Authorities in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam are urging functional departments to verify an incident in which a group of third-grade students from a local elementary school got their butts bruised by alleged corporal punishment for not doing their homework. A Facebook post reporting the case, attached with an image of three children with many bruises on their buttocks, provoked a public outcry on Thursday. D., who uploaded the post, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper later the same day that her younger brother and a number of his classmates, who are third-grade students at Ngu Doan Elementary School in Hai Phongs Kien Thuy District, had concealed the bruises on their butts from their families for several days. It was not until the families found out about the childrens bruises that they recalled their 24-year-old homeroom teacher Vu Thi H. and other friends, who were chosen as the class leaders, using a wooden ruler to hit each of them 70 times for not doing their homework. After D.s family complained to the schools management board about the incident, H. came to D.s house to apologize in person. Contrary to the bruised childrens account, H. denied hitting the students, saying that they were beaten by classmates. All the children said that besides their classmates, H. used a ruler to beat them, so the teachers denial simply infuriated us, D. said. I put the matter on social media to demand the competent authorities take serious action." Le Cong Thiep, chief of the education division of Kien Thuy District, said that his unit is coordinating with other agencies to verify the case after receiving Ngu Doan Elementary Schools report about it. The schools management board affirmed that H. did not use a ruler himself to hit the students in question. But its possible that this teacher ordered the class members to beat them with a wooden ruler, Thiep added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Atar Sandler arrived in Singapore in 2019, seizing the opportunity to live in a buzzing global city that is also a convenient base to jet off to more exotic locales nearby. But after two years of mask-wearing, socialising in small groups and travel restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Israeli human resources professional packed her bags for New York with her husband and children this month. "It's been like this for so long. And it doesn't feel like anything's going to change here," said Sandler. "Life is very, very easy here. (But) is it worth it to live such a convenient life without being able to see family, friends, without being able to travel?" Israeli expatriate Atar Sandler, 35, packs up with her husband and children in their apartment in central Singapore for relocation to New York, after living in the Southeast Asian city-state for more than two years, January 8, 2022. Photo: Reuters Risk-averse Singapore is trying to balance its approach to living with COVID-19 - aiming to protect people in the densely populated island from the disease while reopening its economy and borders to maintain its reputation as a hub for capital and talent. Companies and expatriate professionals have long been drawn to the business-friendly country, one of the safest places in the world with a high quality of living, political stability, a skilled workforce, ease of travel and low taxes. But COVID-19 has prompted soul-searching among many relatively affluent expats in Singapore, where foreigners workers make up a fifth of the 5.5 million population. Some compare its strict COVID-19 rules with more freedom back home or bemoan the inability to travel freely to visit family, while others joined the "great resignation" wave seen around the world. For Sandler, it was "devastating" that giving birth to her daughter in the middle of the outbreak meant her family did not meet her second child for a year. Israeli expatriate Atar Sandler, 35, packs up with her husband and children in their apartment in central Singapore for relocation to New York, after living in the Southeast Asian city-state for more than two years, January 8, 2022. Photo: Reuters Israeli expatriate Atar Sandler, 35, packs up with her husband and children in their apartment in central Singapore for relocation to New York, after living in the Southeast Asian city-state for more than two years, January 8, 2022. Photo: Reuters Singapore has continued to attract new investment and foreign talent during the pandemic, but a drop in foreigners sent its population down by the most since 1950 - 4.1% lower year-on-year as of June 2021. That is mostly due to fewer numbers of lower-wage workers, typically employed in construction and marine services. But even the number of employment passholders, or professionals earning at least S$4,500 ($3,350) monthly, fell nearly 14% from 193,700 in December 2019 to 166,900 in June 2021. Expatriate life is, by nature, transient and many left because companies cut costs and jobs. As foreign workers departed, border restrictions meant businesses were unable to bring in replacements from overseas easily. But for Filipina Nessa Santos, who worked in the city-state for a decade, and her British husband, the pandemic was the push they needed to move from Singapore, a tiny urban island with no hinterland, to the English countryside with their children. "Even though our jobs were good, it was also very stressful and very demanding," said Santos. "We didn't want that kind of lifestyle anymore." And Chris Anderson, who moved to Singapore in 2019 from Hong Kong, has returned home to the United States to join a tech start-up. He was perturbed by rules last year that restricted foreigners from returning to the city-state despite being residents. "You leave the country, you're not a priority to get back in... that's always at the back of your mind," Anderson said. Israeli expatriate Atar Sandler, 35, and her husband speak to their children at the balcony of their apartment in central Singapore, overlooking the skyline of the Southeast Asian financial hub January 8, 2022. Photo: Reuters Trickle from Hong Kong Still, Singapore has been making it easier for travellers to enter and is looking more attractive to expatriates living in rival financial centre Hong Kong, which has far stiffer rules due to its zero-COVID strategy. There has been a "trickle" of movement from Hong Kong into Singapore, said Lee Quane, regional director at relocation firm ECA International. He expects expatriate outflows from Singapore to outpace inflows through 2022, citing tighter foreign worker policies and wariness over potential curbs due to virus variants. The net decline in the non-resident workforce slowed in 2021, with a small net gain in November, the manpower ministry said in a written response to parliamentary questions last week. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the government, which has stressed the importance of staying open, expects "to hold the course" of calibrated easing in border restrictions. "The government works hard to ensure that businesses and individuals continue to choose Singapore because of our openness, rule of law, and consistency in policies," it said. Companies continue to bring in key talent and receive approvals for work passes, according to Hsien-Hsien Lei, the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore. "Sure, things aren't perfect. But, Singapore, from a relative point of view is a great place to live and do business," said Lei. ($1 = 1.3433 Singapore dollars) Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has visited a memorial in northern Quang Ninh Province to pay respect to martyrs who lost their lives during the 1979 northern border war ahead of the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. PM Chinh laid a wreath and offered incense at the Po Hen memorial zone in Mong Cai City, Quang Ninh Province on Wednesday, the Vietnam Government Portal reported. The premier was accompanied by Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The, Deputy Minister of National Defense Le Huy Vinh, Secretary of the Quang Ninh Party Committee Nguyen Xuan Ky, Commander of the Vietnam Border Guard Le Duc Thai, and Vice-President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Ngo Sach Thuc. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh lays a wreath at the Po Hen memorial zone in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, January 26, 2022. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal The memorial zone was established to commemorate border guard soldiers in Quang Ninh Province who fought to the last breath on February 17, 1979 to protect the countrys border and sovereignty. At the venue, the prime minister also delivered Tet wishes and gifts to ethnic minority people in Quang Duc Commune, Hai Ha District and Hai Son Commune, Mong Cai City. He encouraged these residents to continue following the guidelines, policies, and laws of the Party and state, complying with pandemic control measures, and contributing to building a border of peace, friendship, and development. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his delegation pay respect to martyrs at the Po Hen memorial zone in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, January 26, 2022. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal The leader requested local authorities to ensure a safe and joyful Tet holiday for residents as well as border guard officers. Earlier the same day, PM Chinh and his delegation had handed Tet gifts to functional forces at Mong Cai International Border Gate and factory workers at Deo Nai Coal Company in Quang Ninh Province. The Lunar New Year falls on February 1 this year. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh extends Tet wishes to ethnic minority people in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, January 26, 2022. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh greets officers at Mong Cai International Border Gate in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, January 26, 2022. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal Tet gifts are handed to officers at Mong Cai International Border Gate in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, January 26, 2022. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh greets workers at Deo Nai Coal Company in Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam, January 26, 2022. Photo: Vietnam Government Portal Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnams health ministry reported 15,727 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, alongside 21,002 recoveries and 126 virus-related fatalities. The newest cases, including 55 imported and 15,672 domestic transmissions, were found in all 63 provinces and cities, the Ministry of Health said, adding that 10,627 caught the coronavirus in the community. Hanoi reported 2,907 of the latest local cases, Da Nang 873, Bac Ninh Province 794, Thanh Hoa Province 727, Hai Phong City 719, Quang Nam Province 527, Nam Dinh Province 469, Hoa Binh Province 414, Hung Yen Province 372, Quang Ninh Province 275, Lam Dong Province 235, Thua Thien-Hue Province 220, Ho Chi Minh City 168, Lang Son Province 167, Ninh Binh Province 115, Lao Cai Province 100, Binh Duong Province 92, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 57, Bac Kan Province 34, and Can Tho City 26. Vietnam had logged 15,885 locally-transmitted infections on Wednesday. The country has confirmed 2,196,351 community transmissions in all its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave erupted on April 27, 2021. Over 1.94 million of them have recovered from COVID-19. Ho Chi Minh has suffered the most with 513,259 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 292,532, Hanoi with 120,377, Dong Nai Province with 99,811, Tay Ninh Province with 87,706, Ca Mau Province 55,502, Dong Thap Province with 47,225, Can Tho City with 44,276, Long An Province with 41,516, An Giang Province with 35,449, Tien Giang Province with 35,279, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 30,638, Binh Thuan Province with 29,115, and Da Nang with 28,997. Vietnam detected only 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves. The health ministry declared 21,002 patients recovered on Thursday, raising the national count to 1,945,611. The toll has surged to 37,291 deaths after the ministry logged 126 mortalities on the same day, including 31 in Hanoi, 11 in Vinh Long Province, 11 in Ho Chi Minh City, six in Soc Trang Province, six in Dong Thap Province, and the remainder in 23 other provinces and cities. Vietnam has registered 2,203,208 patients in total, including 166 imported and community-based Omicron infections, since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the country in early 2020. The Omicron cases consist of 92 in Ho Chi Minh City, 27 in Quang Nam Province, 14 in Hanoi, 11 in Khanh Hoa Province, eight in Da Nang, four in Kien Giang Province, two in Thanh Hoa Province, two in Quang Ninh Province, one in Hai Duong Province, one in Hai Phong City, one in Long An Province, one in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, one in Binh Duong Province, and one in Lam Dong Province. Healthcare workers have administered above 179.5 million vaccine doses, including 930,725 shots on Wednesday, since vaccination was rolled out nationwide on March 8, 2021. More than 78.9 million of the countrys 98 million people have received at least one dose while upwards of 73.9 million have been injected twice. The number of third doses including additional primary shots for immunocompromised people, boosters, and third jabs of Cubas Abdala vaccine has neared 26.7 million. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City kicked off its traditional Tet celebration on Wednesday with flower decorations and iconic backgrounds, in the hope of kindling familiar moments and a cozy atmosphere for both patients and medical workers during the holiday. The floral arrangements were designed to stretch along major pedestrian zones at the hospital, bringing a cheerful vibe to every corner of the campus. Medical workers from 76 departments at the hospital were in a collective effort to create colorful flower streets, varied cultural decorations and a joyful atmosphere, aiming to help patients relieve their pain and handle homesickness. The floral ornaments show peaceful villages and iconic kitchen corners where Vietnamese make traditional Tet cakes and prepare family union meals, reminding visitors of the tranquil scenery and warm air of Tet in Vietnams countryside. Medical workers have a great time taking a wefie at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre Every single decoration implies separate cultural values, but all together glowing with happiness and wishing the best of luck for the sightseers. During this special occasion, 170 gifts were given to poor patients who are under treatment at the hospital. I have never seen flower streets in my hometown, that is why I got so excited about these decorations, said Dong Ha, a patient caregiver hailing from the Mekong Delta region. I took photos and asked for calligraphy letters, wishing my family good health and peace. Vietnamese will formally celebrate the Tet, or Lunar New Year, festival on Februrary 1. The occasion is meant for family gatherings over good foods and good luck wishes. Floral decorations are an important part while adults typically give 'lucky money' in red envelopes to children to wish them health and outstanding academic results. The fest tends to last at least a week. A woman poses for a photo at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre An elderly patient poses in a traditional red 'ao dai' at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre A calligraphy artist is seen handing lucky wishes to medical workers at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre Nguyen Van Nen (second right), secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, and director of Cho Ray Hospital Nguyen Tri Thuc (first right), watch a calligraphy work. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre Young ladies take a wefie in their 'ao dai' at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre Patients caregivers line up for their calligraphy letters at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre Dong Ha (left) and Kim Thu receive calligraphy letters meaning 'Peace and Health' from calligraphy artists at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre Patients caregivers take photos of the traditional Tet-themed background, glowing with blooming apricot blossoms at Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Quang Dinh / Tuoi Tre. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Former Chase and Weekend Sunrise host Andrew OKeefe has been charged after allegedly grabbing a womans throat. ABC reports OKeefe, 50, was arrested about 4.30am this morning after police were notified about the alleged incident, which took place on Tuesday afternoon. He was taken to Day Street Police Station and has now been charged with six offences, intentionally choking a person without consent (two counts), common assault (three counts), and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. NSW Police said he met with a 38-year-old woman at his Kent Street apartment in Sydney when an altercation broke out. A verbal argument ensued between the pair, before the man allegedly assaulted the woman grabbing her by the throat, pushing her to the ground and punching her, a police statement read. The man allegedly assaulted the woman a second time punching and kicking her before she left the unit. OKeefe has been refused bail and is due to appear at Central Local Court tomorrow. OKeefe, who has previously acknowledged bipolar and struggles with drugs & alcohol, as also been an ambassador for the White Ribbon Foundation. Sevens contract with OKeefe expired at the end of 2020 and was not renewed. This story updates. 1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732 Lifeline: 13 11 14 China vigorously promotes womens role in digital economy 09:14, January 27, 2022 By Du Yifei ( People's Daily Liang Qianjuan, a woman who returned from the cities to her hometown Shitan village, Huixian county, Longnan city, northwest Chinas Gansu province to start her own business, opened an online store on an e-commerce platform. A livestreaming host livestreams farmers picking gold emperor chrysanthemum in Wenchong village, Shucheng county, Luan city, east Chinas Anhui province, Nov. 3, 2021. (Peoples Daily Online/ Chen Li) By providing products that suit the market demand, she has turned ordinary local agricultural products into Internet-famous commodities and attracted an increasing number of consumers to her online store. As the supplies of special agricultural products in Shitan village fell short of demand, she started to sell farm produce from neighboring villages and even farmers across the city, according to Liang. Today, she sells more than 50,000 kilograms of agricultural products a year on average for villagers living in the surrounding areas and helps increase the income of more than 300 households. Wu Yunping, representative of women in Chaijia village, Jilin city, northeast Chinas Jilin province, has run training courses on straw plaiting to help women in the village increase their income. To further promote the traditional craft and straw-plaited products through the Internet, she took part in a training session jointly organized by the Jilin municipal womens federation and the Jilin municipal commerce bureau, in which she acquired knowledge and skills about livestreaming promotion, including online store operation, product description, as well as skills for hosting livestreaming shows. Now there are up to 500 people watching us make straw-plaited products via livestreaming, Wu said happily. In Zhijin county, Bijie city, southwest Chinas Guizhou province, local embroiderers have seized opportunities generated by the booming livestreaming e-commerce market and managed to make products featuring Miao embroidery and batik, national-level intangible cultural heritage of the Miao ethnic group, into fashionable consumer goods that enjoy great popularity online. I learned livestreaming from scratch and Im now able to introduce embroidery and batik vividly to consumers online. Once I sold 200,000 yuan ($31,640) worth of products in a show, said Yang Xuexue, a local embroiderer. A livestreaming host in Congjiang county, southwest Chinas Guizhou province, promotes Miao embroidery products online, Dec. 10, 2021. (Peoples Daily Online/ Luo Jinglai) After receiving comprehensive training in livestreaming skills, she opened an account on a livestreaming platform and quickly emerged as a well-known embroiderer online. The fast-growing digital economy characterized by innovation, high penetration rate in various industries, and wide coverage has become a new growth point for the Chinese economy. Women, a driving force that should not be neglected in the development of digital economy, are playing indispensable roles in the field. Data suggested that 55 percent of the entrepreneurs in Internet-based businesses in China are women. Digital economy has generated new opportunities to boost employment and entrepreneurship for women, narrow the gap in womens development between rural and urban areas, and improve the quality of womens employment and entrepreneurship. As the Internet has enabled people living in remote regions of China to sell their high-quality local products to various parts of the country, livestreaming e-commerce, online marketing and other skills have become an important approach to re-employment of women in remote, rural, and impoverished areas. While women embrace more opportunities in the era of digital economy, they also need more support in pursuing further development. Since 2015, the All-China Womens Federation (ACWF) has rolled out guidelines and work plans to promote womens development and protect their rights. At the same time, the ACWF has arranged special funds and worked together with government bodies including the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs as well as e-commerce platforms to carry out training sessions on e-commerce and livestreaming skills for women. Womens federations at all levels have also organized livestreaming contests across the country, which have helped drive the growth of a good number of successful female e-commerce operators, promote a lot of special agricultural products, and cultivate a considerable number of capable female livestreamers. Livestreaming hosts sell local specialties online at an e-commerce base in Wudu district, Longnan city, northwest Chinas Gansu province, Nov. 11, 2021. (Peoples Daily Online/ Li Xuchun) In addition, they have also cultivated a number of brands to facilitate employment and entrepreneurship for women, which have helped more than 500,000 women increase their income by riding the waves of new economy and new forms of business. More jobs and entrepreneurship projects suitable for women should be created to promote womens employment in the future, said Du Rui, member of the Secretariat of the ACWF, adding that efforts should be made to provide matchmaking services to facilitate recruitment and employment for enterprises and women working in digital economy. China should provide more support for women in such aspects as inclusive finance and training in entrepreneurial skills, offer guidance to rural women on the development of new industries and new business forms, and help more women secure employment or start their own businesses in digital economy, Du pointed out. Meanwhile, the country needs to constantly improve relevant systems to better protect the rights and interests of female workers in digital economy and provide guarantee and support for fuller, fairer, and higher-quality employment and entrepreneurship for women in digital economy, according to Du. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) Elizabeth Horton Sheff (right) exits the State Office Building in Hartford with Keith Norton of the state's Department of Education after a press conference on an agreement that would create spaces at magnet and suburban schools for all Hartford students who want them and bring an end to the Sheff v. O'Neill case. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) A Hartford Superior Court judge granted preliminary approval Thursday to a sweeping agreement that would create spaces at magnet and suburban schools for all Hartford students who want them and bring an end to the Sheff v. ONeill case. Advertisement The agreement, which still requires legislative approval and a final sign-off by the court, is expected to end more than 30 years of court involvement as Connecticut officials worked to correct the racial segregation and education inequality laid bare in the Sheff v. ONeill case. Connecticut State Department of Education Commissioner Charlene M. Russell-Tucker holds a settlement brief for the Sheff v. O'Neill case during a press conference today. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) This settlement gives us a roadmap and a commitment, to which the state is fully committed going forward to make even more historic investments in the future of the children of Hartford, and the surrounding region, Attorney General William Tong said at the hearing. Advertisement Under the terms of the agreement, the state would add as many as 783 Open Choice seats, which allow city students to attend magnet schools and those in surrounding districts, by the 2023-24 school year depending on demand from Hartford students. Seats would continue to increase from 2020-21 levels in subsequent years: 1,863 more by 2025-26, and 2,737 more by 2028-29. The state expects to meet the demand for Choice seats among Hartford students by 2028-29, according to the agreement. State officials would continue to assess demand every three years, beginning in 2031-32, and would add seats as necessary. Nearly 900 Hartford students wanted to attend suburban schools last year but couldnt because there werent enough seats, according to plaintiffs attorney Martha Stone of the Center for Childrens Advocacy. Though the agreement would end ongoing court involvement, the state will enter a 10-year injunction requiring compliance with the outlined terms. Stone said this provision keeps open the possibility of returning to court, should the state fall short on its agreement to meet 100% of demand or other provisions. Backed by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (left), Elizabeth Horton Sheff speaks with reporters after preliminary approval was granted by a Hartford Superior Court to an agreement that would create spaces at magnet and suburban schools for all Hartford students who want them and bring an end to the Sheff v. O'Neill case. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) If the state is in compliance with the injunction after 10 years, the injunction will expire. Outside parties would have to bring an entirely new lawsuit should the state fail to meet demand after the injunction expires. The state plans to meet the traditionally high demand for Choice seats by increasing funding to Choice magnet schools, with annual commitments set to reach $32 million by the 2032 fiscal year. Advertisement Under the agreement, the state will further increase the financial incentives for suburban schools to accept more Hartford students through the Open Choice program. The state also plans to create new magnet programs, or expand existing ones. In addition to expanding Pre-K programs and adding a magnet at the Dwight-Bellizzi Dual Language Academy, the state plans to partner heavily with Goodwin University to create new quality opportunities for Hartford students. Goodwin will create a new magnet high school focused on advanced manufacturing at its East Hartford campus, and will host a new early literacy choice program for preschoolers in a recently renovated building in Rocky Hill. Renovations of new magnet schools are expected to cost $48.7 million. The agreement also provides more than $14 million to improve extracurricular and athletic programs, which magnet schools sometimes lack, in an effort to attract a more diverse student body to Choice schools. Gov. Ned Lamont said he wants these magnet schools to be the best schools in the world these kids have an opportunity to take advantage of. Advertisement This is an opportunity for Connecticut to get it right, for Hartford to get it right, and to set an example around the rest of the state and the rest of the country, Lamont said at a press conference Thursday. Tong presented the settlement in Hartford Superior Court Thursday afternoon, joined by Stone, plaintiffs attorney, and Elizabeth Horton Sheff, whose son, Milo, was among the original plaintiffs. In 1989, the Sheff v. ONeill case, brought by a group of Hartford parents on behalf of their school-aged children, alleged Hartford students were being denied an equal education due to racial and economic segregation. Milo Sheff, who was 10 when the case began, celebrated his 43rd birthday on Thursday. At the court hearing, Elizabeth shared that Milo is now a father and grandfather to two more Milos. Superior Court Judge Marshall Berger granted preliminary approval, adding that the agreement exemplifies what our system can produce. Berger quoted from the court opinion in the 1996 Sheff vs. ONeill case, settled in the Connecticut Supreme Court. Advertisement The agreement and the willingness of our citizenry to cooperate ... is exactly what Chief Justice [Ellen Ash] Peters hoped for when she said ... We are confident that with energy and goodwill, appropriate remedies can be found and implemented in time to make a difference, before another generation of children suffers the consequences of a segregated public school education, Berger said. In court and at a subsequent press conference, Elizabeth Horton Sheff likened the agreement to bringing her son to school on the first day of classes, trusting a child to a school system that is going to nurture and teach and encourage my child. Im giving you my baby. Please take care of my baby, Sheff told the court. Elizabeth Sheff, encourages her son Milo, 10, before the start of a press conference announcing the filing of Sheff v. O'Neill in this 1989 file photo. The boy is one of the plaintiffs in the case. At right is University of Connecticut law professor John C. Brittain, one of 10 lawyers who argued the case in Superior Court. (Hartford Courant photo by Michael McAndrews) (Michael McAndrews / Courant File Photo) Unlike in other parts of the nation, the end of court oversight is not going to mean a rollback of all the gains we have made in these 30 years, Sheff said later. Five Things You Need To Know Daily We're providing the latest coronavirus coverage in Connecticut each weekday morning. > The Sheff case has been through several rulings, but no previous agreement has resulted in a state plan to meet 100% of demand for Choice seats for Hartford students. An initial 1995 ruling found the state hadnt created educational inequity, and thus was not responsible for correcting it. An appeal to the state Supreme Court in 1996 overturned the ruling and found the state has an obligation to ensure students constitutional right to an equal education and that districting by town impaired that. Advertisement The court directed the legislature and executive branch to implement remedial measures. Since then, the parties in the case have entered into a series of agreements, which have established dozens of Hartford-area magnet schools and the Open Choice program, which allows Hartford students to attend suburban schools. The most recent settlement came in 2020, a two-year agreement that pledged to add hundreds more magnet school seats and improved the school choice lottery. The agreement resulted in about 300 new seats, according to Tongs office. That agreement gave plaintiffs and the state until June 2022 to develop a long-term plan to guarantee access to equal and quality education for all Hartford students. Editors note: This story has been updated to reflect that the 2020 agreement aimed to create up to 700 new seats, 350 for Hartford students. Seamus McAvoy may be reached at smcavoy@courant.com Tyler, TX (75702) Today Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 87F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. By Heidi Gauder About this series In the 1880 census, African Americans in Montgomery County, Ohio, numbered 1,310 or less than 2%. The enumeration files for that census included Moses C. Moore, a single male, 30, born in Kentucky, living on East Second Street in Dayton and working as a laborer. His race was noted as mulatto. Although this census entry is fairly unremarkable, it provides a first glimpse of Moores life in Dayton. In time, Moore proved to be an astute businessman and a generous resource for Daytons African American community. In one Dayton history, Moore is described as the wealthiest black man in Dayton before 1900. Even though that assertion is difficult to prove, it seems likely that the wealth he accumulated far exceeded that of many Daytonians at that time. Wealthiest or not, he was a remarkable man. Moore died in 1927. None of his children survived him; his first wife died; and his second wife remarried within a few years of Moores death. His story is told here through newspaper accounts, public documents and maps. Largely absent from this story, however, are the words of Moore himself. Although this void presented challenges to piecing his life together, his presence in multiple sources provides a sense of his busy life. You can read the other installments on the Roesch Library blog: Beginning at the end: The obituary Moores obituary gives some details of his early years. He was born in Paris, Kentucky. Further research adds to that detail: Moore was born around 1851 in Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky. The 1860 census enumeration for Bourbon County includes a William Moore, age 45, living with Harriett Moore, age 26, and Moses Moore. Although this census lists Moses Moores age as 18, this author believes that this listing is the correct family entry and that his age was an enumerators error. William Billy Moores occupation was blacksmith, and he reported a personal estate value of $100. All of the household members were born in Kentucky, and their race was listed as mulatto. The mere identification of the family by name in the census indicates that they were free persons of color. Prior to emancipation in 1863, enslaved people Kentucky was a slave state were not identified by name, much less occupation. As free people of color, the Moore family was unusual for that time and place. In 1860, Bourbon County had a population of 14,860; of this number, 7067 people were enumerated as colored, which included the category mulatto, and of this population, 6767 people were listed as slaves (46% of the total county population), leaving the remaining 300 people 2% as free persons of color. Clues lead to a dead end and a detour Moores obituary next notes that he left Paris for Wilberforce High School in Xenia when he was 20, which would have been around 1871, staying only one year before heading to Dayton for employment. It is unclear how he learned of Wilberforce, although an 1871 school catalog lists several students from Paris, Kentucky, over the years 1859 to 1870. However, no documentation has yet confirmed his attendance, and other events seem to point to the case that he never went at all. A Feb. 5, 1872, Cincinnati Enquirer article points to a different trajectory in the 1870s, at least for a while. On that day, the newspaper reported that Zack Godman, who bore a bad character, and was under indictment for several grave offenses, was shot and killed by Moore. According to another account, the two had a previous quarrel, and Godman had threatened Moores life. Moore, for his part, was alleged to have kept an illicit gaming and liquor house, where his friends would meet to drink whisky and play cards, especially upon the Sabbath. The Paris True Kentuckian newspaper confirmed that Godman had been indicted for horse stealing and that Moore ran a gambling and drinking saloon and that he was set to go to trial for shooting Godman. Nothing more appears in the newspapers regarding the trials outcome, but court documents indicate that he was found guilty of murder and remanded to the Kentucky Penitentiary in November 1872. Although the sentence was 10 years, he was living in Dayton by 1880, so it is not clear how long he was in the penitentiary. Starting small: Lumber, cigars and a saloon Following his move to Dayton, he worked as a laborer in the lumber trade until he had saved $100, per his obituary. This type of work would not have been unusual for an African American man at this time. Historian Margaret Peters found that the top five jobs for African Americans in Dayton, as listed in the 1870 census, included private servants, laborers, public servants, washer women and hostlers people who cared for the horses of visiting people. This description fit Moore and his roommates well; in the 1880 census, Moore was listed as a laborer, while one roommate, Maudie Garrett, was a washer woman; the other roommate, Charlie Smith, worked at a restaurant. Before the end of the decade, however, Moores situation changed dramatically. Once again, his obituary picks up his next circumstances: When he left the lumber trade the late Adam Schantz, sr., gave him a start in business for himself with a cigar stand, which was located on S. Market st. Nothing exists to explain how Moore connected with Schantz, who was a well-known Dayton entrepreneur who was involved in Dayton breweries and owned many properties; perhaps it was their mutual interests in real estate and racing horses. In any case, Schantz and his son knew Moore well enough through the years to be sureties on his legal documents. Moore noted his business beginnings with a cigar stand, but during the 1880s, he was also engaged in other business ventures. For several years he was listed in the city directory at 127 E. Second St., where he ran a saloon in the same block as the Dayton Herald newspaper building at 100 E. Second St. This location seemed to offer a convenient vantage for the newspaper, as it reported on multiple fights at his location, which the newspaper described as a notorious dive. In 1885, he married Martha Hurst at her parents house in Xenia, where the wedding was hailed as a brilliant social event. New ventures: Restaurants, racehorses After his marriage, Moore was listed in the city directory at a new address, 14 E. Market St. Market Street once ran east-west from Main Street to Jefferson Street, between Third Street on its north and Fourth Street on its south; the space is now occupied by the RTA hub. In the past, however, a covered market ran down the middle of Market Street, and at the Main Street end was the Dayton Police headquarters. The entire block functioned as a retail and hospitality space, as Sanborn fire insurance maps indicate shops surrounding the market, including The Club, the saloon and restaurant run by Moore. It was also in the 1880s that he began racing horses. An 1888 article lists the placements of Moores horse, Ferlistor. This hobby continued for the rest of Moores life. A 1901 newspaper article hints at his success as an owner: In one week last year Branch won ten races for Mose Moore and is said to have earned for Moore in that time in purses and bets about $25,000. Even his obituary mentioned some of his horses, including Marion Gloosbey, Gypsy George, Who Knows Me, Uncle Velo, and Delco-Light. By the 1890s, Moore was running two saloons the one on Market Street in downtown Dayton and a roadhouse at Germantown Street and Lakeview Avenue, which no longer intersect at that location; on present maps, the site is at Germantown Street and James H. McGee Boulevard. The roadhouse brought particular trouble to Moore; in 1893, he was indicted for violating the mile-and-a-half liquor law, which prohibited the sale of liquor within a mile and a half of the Soldiers Home, known today as the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center. On Sept. 2, 1898, the Dayton Herald announced that the police chief, Thomas J. Farrell, had been served with charges of permitting gambling in various saloons, including Moores roadhouse. The next day, Moore, described as a prominent politician and the keeper of a resort, was arrested for running a game of chance; he was taken to police headquarters along with five slot machines. Moore had sporting interests throughout this decade as well. In addition to racing horses, he was the financial backer for a Dayton middleweight wrestler named Jake Snyder, whom newspapers called the middle-weight champion wrestler of America. Newspaper coverage indicates the popularity of the sport in Dayton. One article recounts Snyders match with Frank Gehle, who was forced to end the match so that he could catch the last train of the night back to Piqua. Heidi Gauder is a professor in the University Libraries and coordinator of research and instruction. In locating records and information about Moses Moore and his family, she received assistance from Suzanne Dungan, Paris-Bourbon County (Kentucky) Public Library; Shawna Woodard, Special Collections, Dayton Metro Library; and Amy Czubak, Montgomery County (Ohio) Records Center and Archives. View the sources used in this series. King saw parallels between the anti-colonial movement in Africa and the civil rights struggle in the U.S. History professor Julius Amin shares a reflection. During an official visit to Washington DC in 1962, Cameroons founding President Ahmadou Ahidjo informed President John F. Kennedy of his displeasure over anti-black racism in the US. Ahidjo met and praised the leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the oldest African American civil rights organisation, for its willingness to unite with Africa in a world-wide movement to fight against the evils of racial discrimination, injustice, racial prejudices, and hatred. Bernice A. King, daughter of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, at a recent press conference preview the King Holiday observance in Atlanta, Georgia. EPA-EFE/Erik S. Lesser He later wrote that: Each time a black man [and woman] is humiliated anywhere in the world, all Negroes the world over are hurt. President Ahidjo called for a united front between Africans and African-Americans to confront anti-black racism. He was not the first postcolonial African leader to make such a request. Ghanas founding President Kwame Nkrumahs Pan-Africanism was a message about black upliftment and unity, and his close ally, Sekou Toure of Guinea, advocated similar objectives. Those calls for a crusade against anti-black racism were deeply rooted in the best of African nationalism. On the other side of the Atlantic, calls for collaboration to end racism were also taking place. A leading proponent of that message was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He and many in his generation rejected the negative proscriptions of Africa, and called for Africans and African Americans to join forces in the anti-racism crusade. They spoke fondly of their roots in Africa: we are descendants of the Africansour heritage is Africa. We should never seek to break the ties, nor should the Africans. Africans and African-Americans must rekindle the spirit of collaboration and cooperation which existed among black nationalists over half a century ago to counter the rising tide of anti-black racism in the US. It was a relationship which came with mutual political, economic, and cultural benefits. I am a scholar of modern African history with particular emphasis on Africa-US relations and have published extensively in the field. My latest publication, on Cameroon-US relations, among other things, addresses the importance of the collaboration between Africans and African Americans to uplift Black people. Kings eyeopening visit to Ghana Kings knowledge of Africa evolved slowly, and was initially peppered with the usual beliefs of African backwardness. But a trip to Ghana was transformative. In 1957, President Kwame Nkrumah invited him to his countrys independence ceremony. King honoured the invitation. During the ceremony King started weeping crying for joy when the British flag was replaced with the Ghanaian flag. He spoke endlessly about the endurance, determination, and courage of the African people. The anti-colonial struggle in Ghana mirrored what was taking place all over Africa. Later, King noted that Ghanas independence "will have worldwide implication and repercussions not only for Asia and Africa, but also for America." This gave African Americans new insights about the anti-colonial struggle. Increasingly, King saw parallels between the anti-colonial movement in Africa and the civil rights struggle in the US. In his sermon, The Birth of a new nation, he stated that the Ghana example reinforced his belief that an "oppressor never voluntarily gives freedom to the oppressed." He added that nonviolence was an effective tactic against oppression. European colonialism of Africa and segregation in America were both "systems of evil, he wrote, and summoned all to work to defeat them. African nationalism meets US civil rights movement While racial segregation remained entrenched in America, the tide of independence was changing quickly in Africa. In 1960, 17 African nations gained independence. They took their anti-racism message to the United Nations, where they chastised the US for its failure to stop anti-black racism. EPA-EFE/ Craig Lassig African representatives in the US were often victims of American racism. Given the Cold War, US Secretary of State Dean Rusk stated that one of Americas major Cold War problems was the continuous anti-black racism in the country. After Nigeria, King increasingly spoke of a sense of urgency. In his article, The Time for Freedom has Come, he praised the independence movement in Africa while blasting the slow pace of change in the US. He referred to the independence movement in Africa as the "greatest single international influence on American Negro students." African nationalists such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tom Mboya, Hastings Banda were popular heroes on most Negro college campuses, King stated. He urged African governments to do more to support the civil rights struggle of their brothers [and sisters] in the US. In addition, newspapers in several African nations used the treatment of African Americans to question the role of America as the leader of the free world. Ebb and flow King and his contemporaries took seriously the partnership with Africa. African American leaders, activists, and scholars alike turned to Africa for inspiration. For example, WEB Du Bois, whose credentials included being co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Pan-African movement, relocated to Ghana. Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Ture), who introduced the Black Power concept in the civil rights movement settled in Guinea. Many others immigrated to Africa. Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou was transformed by the African experience. She wrote: For it is Africa that struts around in our rounded calves, wiggles around in our protruding butts, and crackles in our wide and frank laugh. The 1960s and 1970s were decades of remarkable collaboration and cooperation between Africans and African-Americans. American political leaders took note of the collaboration between Africans and African-Americans. President John F. Kennedy, the first American president to treat Africa with respect, created a more informed US foreign policy towards African nations in part to woo the support of African-Americans in elections. Kennedys policy was later abandoned by his successors some of whom reverted to referring to Africans as cannibals and genetically inferior. Those new policies coincided with a deep level of ignorance about Africans by African-Americans and vice-versa. And little effort was made by each side to bridge the gap. African Americans increasingly saw Africans through a stereotypical lens invented by the western society to justify colonialism and slavery. In turn, Africans accepted uncritically Americas mainstream societys labels of African Americans. The type of relations and advocacy forged by Kings generation had evaporated. Looking ahead But the tide may be changing. There was renewed interest following the release of the movie Black Panther which showed blacks as capable, determined, and possessed civilisation. Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the African Union publicly condemned America for its continuous racism against blacks. The spokesperson Ebba Kalondo issued a strong condemnation of "the continuing discriminatory practices against Black citizens of the United States of America." Kalondo demanded a full investigation of the killing. This new position may rekindle the spirit of cooperation and collaboration which characterised the King era. A major part of ending anti-black racism in the US is to learn about the role Africa played in shaping the idea of the west and Africas contributions to global civilizations. That knowledge will implode centuries-old myths of Africas backwardness and incapability. It is up to African Americans to champion that conversation in university classrooms and many other public spaces. Finally, what King said about Africa as full of rich opportunities, inviting African Americans to lend their technical assistance to a rising continent remains as true today as it was when he said it nearly 60 years ago. The failure to do so has increasingly ceded the ground to other actors who continue to exploit the continent. Julius A. Amin is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Dayton. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Mali's military regime has taken an "irresponsible" decision by expelling Danish special forces sent to help fight jihadist insurgents, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday. Denmark said the country would withdraw its newly deployed contingent of 90 troops from Mali after repeated demands by the Sahel country's military junta. "This junta is illegitimate and it is taking irresponsible actions [...] It bears all the responsibility for the withdrawal of the Danish forces and is isolating itself even more from its international partners," Le Drian told reporters in Paris. The junta, which came to power in a coup in August 2020, first asked Denmark to withdraw its troops on Monday, following a deployment it said had been undertaken without consent. The next day, Kofod told reporters that Danish forces were in Mali "on a clear basis" following an invitation and that his government was seeking to clarify the issue. Mali's junta late Wednesday responded by repeating its demand while calling Kofod's comments "inappropriate". 'Not welcome' "The coup generals sent out a public statement reiterating that Denmark is not welcome in Mali," Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said, referring to a repeated demand from the Malian leadership. "Of course we do not accept that. That is why we have also decided... to bring our forces home," Kofod told a press conference after a meeting in parliament. "We are there at the invitation of Mali. The coup generals, in a dirty political game, have withdrawn that invitation. Unfortunately, it is a game we see because they do not want a quick way back to democracy," Kofod added. A contingent of around 90 Danish soldiers arrived in Mali to join European special forces supporting the country's anti-jihadist operations earlier this month. Story continues Denmark has previously sent troops to participate in military interventions in Mali, some with the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force and others with the French-led Operation Barkhane. The new contingent was joining Task Force Takuba -- a 900-troop French-led unit launched in March 2020. Takuba brings together special forces from European nations to advise Malian troops and assist them in combat. (with wires) FILE PHOTO: A North Korea flag flutters next to concertina wire at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur By Josh Smith SEOUL (Reuters) -Nuclear-armed North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday, drawing condemnation from the United States for what would be the sixth round of missile tests https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-appears-have-fired-cruise-missiles-report-2022-01-25 this month. The series of tests is among the most missiles ever launched by North Korea in a month, analysts said, as it begins 2022 with a dizzying display of new and operational weapons. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected the launch of what it presumed were two ballistic missiles at about 8 a.m. (2300 GMT) from near Hamhung, on the east coast of North Korea. They travelled for about 190 km to an altitude of 20 km, JCS added. North Korea said this month it would bolster its defences against the United States and consider resuming "all temporally-suspended activities", an apparent reference to a self-imposed moratorium on tests of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. The launch came after North Korea fired two cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday, adding to the tension over its tests. Earlier in the month, North Korea tested tactical guided missiles, two "hypersonic missiles" capable of high speed and manoeuvring after lift-off, and a railway-borne missile system. "The (Kim Jong Un) regime is developing an impressive diversity of offensive weapons despite limited resources and serious economic challenges," said Leif-Eric Easley, an international affairs professor at Ewha University in Seoul. Certain tests aim to develop new capabilities, especially for evading missile defences, while other launches are intended to demonstrate the readiness and versatility of missile forces that North Korea has already deployed, he said. "Some observers have suggested that the Kim regimes frequent launches are a cry for attention, but Pyongyang is running hard in what it perceives as an arms race https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/nkorea-fired-unidentified-projectile-yonhap-citing-skorea-military-2021-09-15 with Seoul," Easley said. Story continues In a speech to the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Han Tae Song, accused the United States of staging hundreds of "joint war drills" while shipping high-tech offensive military equipment into South Korea and nuclear strategic weapons into the region. "(This) is seriously threatening the security of our state," Han said. 'REMARKABLE' A U.S. State Department spokesperson condemned the launches as a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and a threat to North Korea's neighbours and the international community. The United States remains committed to a diplomatic approach and calls on North Korea to engage in dialogue, the spokesperson said. As with other recent tests, the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command said that the launch was destabilising but did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. territory or personnel, or to its allies. South Korean and U.S. nuclear envoys had a phone call during which they shared "deep concerns" over the latest test and agreed to continue cooperation to prevent further escalation, Seoul's foreign ministry said. North Korea's recent "remarkable development" in nuclear and missile technology could not be overlooked, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a briefing. South Korea's National Security Council convened an emergency meeting, at which it said the launches were "very regrettable" and went against calls for peace and stability in the region, the presidential Blue House said in a statement. At a media briefing in Bejing, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China urged all parties to "speak and act with caution, stick to the right direction of dialogue and consultation, and jointly promote the political resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue." U.S. President Joe Biden's administration sanctioned several North Korean and Russian individuals and entities this month on accusations they were helping North Korea's weapons programmes, but China and Russia delayed a U.S. bid to impose U.N. sanctions on five North Koreans. On Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan and Korea Mark Lambert said that Washington had "no reservations" about talking with North Korea and was willing to meet anywhere and talk about anything. "We have to have a serious discussion about the denuclearisation of North Korea, and if North Korea is willing to do that, all sorts of promising things can happen," he said during an online seminar hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. North Korea has defended its missile tests as a sovereign right of self-defence and said U.S. sanctions proved that even as the United States proposes talks, it maintained a "hostile" policy. "The recent test-firing of new types of weapons was part of activities for carrying out a medium- and long-term plan for development of national science," the North Korean U.N. envoy Han said in a speech on Tuesday. "It does not pose any threat or damage to the security of neighbouring countries and the region." North Korea has not launched long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or tested nuclear weapons since 2017 but began testing a slew of shorter-range missiles after denuclearisation talks stalled following a failed summit with the United States in 2019. (Reporting by Josh Smith; Additional reporting by Chang-Ran Kim and Satoshi Sugiyama in Tokyo, Stephanie Ulmer-Nebehay in Geneva, Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles and Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; Editing by Chris Reese, Richard Pullin, Michael Perry, Gerry Doyle & Simon Cameron-Moore) One of two men arrested in Manchester as part of the investigation into the Texas synagogue siege has been released. The other man held on Tuesday by officers probing Malik Faisal Akrams attack remains in custody, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said. Akram, 44, originally from Blackburn in Lancashire, was shot dead when the FBI entered the place of worship in Colleyville on January 15 following a 10-hour stand-off. Four hostages were unharmed. A GMP spokesman, who said the arrests were part of the local investigation, added: Communities defeat terrorism, and the help and support we get from the public is a vital part of that. We urge everyone to remain vigilant, and if you do see anything suspicious then please report it, in confidence, to police via the anti-terrorist hotline or gov.uk/ACT. It wont ruin lives but it may well save them. FBI director Christopher Wray called the stand-off an anti-Semitic incident, while US President Joe Biden said it was an act of terror. The FBI said Akram was not known to US intelligence services, with the agency conducting rigorous analysis of Akrams associates, his online presence, and his devices. Akram flew to New York on December 29 before later travelling to Texas and entering the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue. Akram, who is understood to have had a criminal record, was investigated by the UKs security service MI5 in 2020 but deemed not to be a credible threat to national security, official sources confirmed to the PA news agency. It is not yet clear how he was able to travel to the US despite his criminal past. The FBI said it is working hard to learn more about how Akram acquired the firearm he possessed. Feyzullah Karaarslan Wins the 2022 WSOPC Rozvadov 1,700 Main Event (204,053) January 27 2022 Christian Zetzsche In fewer than six and a half hours on the final day, the 2022 World Series of Poker International Circuit crowned a champion in the 1,700 Main Event at King's Resort, Rozvadov. Out of a field of 808 entries, Turkey's Feyzullah Karaarslan prevailed in heads-up against Aleksandar Tomovic to claim the biggest slice of the 1,189,780 prize pool and his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. For his efforts, Karaarslan walked away with a cash prize of 204,053 while Tomovic had to settle for a 127,017 payday. In addition, both players received entry to the 2022 WSOP Europe 10,350 Main Event as part of a year-long promotion in Europe's biggest poker arena. In fact, the top 12 finishers in the tournament all received the ticket and will be back at King's Resort in late 2022 for the pinnacle European poker event of the year. Local player Roman Chochola finished in third place while three Italians, including 2021 WSOPE bracelet winner Simone Andrian, made the final table. Andrian came into the day as one of the shortest stacks and fell shy of another victory at the venue, bowing out in 8th place. 2022 WSOPC Rozvadov 1,700 Main Event Final Table Results Place Winner Country Prize (in EUR) 1 Feyzullah Karaarslan Turkey 204,053* 2 Aleksandar Tomovic Serbia 127,017 3 Roman Chochola Czech Republic 90,894 4 Ronnie Lemmens Netherlands 70,328 5 Claudio Di Giacomo Italy 55,410 6 Do Tran Germany 43,369 7 Sharon Sade Israel 32,074 8 Simone Andrian Italy 22,058 9 Michael Ugucctoni Italy 17,369 *The top 12 finishers also received a 2022 WSOPE Main Event ticket worth 10,350 2022 WSOPC Rozvadov 1,700 Main Event Final Table Recap The final hand of the Main Event Dutchman Ronnie Lemmens entered the day as the chip leader ahead of Karaarslan and Tomovic. He was one of the most active finalists despite complaining to the rail that he had "no hands to play with" and proceeded to live and die by the sword. Ultimately, he was eliminated by Chochola in fourth place for a six-figure prize. While Lemmens retained the top spot during the early stages, the two Italian short stacks, Michael Ugucctoni and Andrian, were never able to get things going to become the first two casualties. Once Sharon Sade was eliminated in seventh place, the ladder-up of Do Tran ended in a flip. His ace-king flopped best but Chochola hit running cards to make a flush. Veteran player Claudio Di Giacomo was handcuffed in the middle of the pack and succumbed in fifth place to miss out on a repeat victory for Italy in this WSOP International Circuit stop. Chochola took over the lead in three-handed play but went from hero to zero in half an hour. While heads-up play was very deep at the start, the gloves went off right away between the most aggressive and the most experienced contender among the final nine. Ultimately, the duel lasted all but 15 minutes and it was Karaarslan who prevailed in an aggressive four-bet pot. His ace-ten suited would go on to make a flush for the victory, after Tomovic flopped top pair. With nearly 27% of adults in Connecticut reporting symptoms of anxiety or depression during the pandemic, the Senate Republican minority identified mental health Wednesday as legislative a priority in 2022. Holding little more than one third of the seats in the Senate, the GOP is hardly in a position to drive the agenda, but a Democratic co-chair of the Public Health Committee welcomed the Republican push. Advertisement An 11-page paper issued by the Republicans was less of a legislative proposal and more of an overview of a widely acknowledged problem and outline of possible approaches to legislation yet to be drafted. They offered four broad bullet points: Advertisement Increase access to mental health care Support the mental health workforce Address the youth mental health crisis; includes a social media impact study Improve screening and support for maternal mental health Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, had no estimate of the spending increase that would be required to address the needs. The non-partisan Office of Financial Analysis cannot estimate cost without fully drafted legislation. State Sen. Kevin Kelly takes questions during a Capitol press conference today held by Connecticut Senate Republicans on more transparency and oversight of federal dollars. Photograph by Mark Mirko | mmirko@courant.com (Mark Mirko/The Hartford Courant) What were going to be doing is putting together the bills, putting them through OFA, get those fiscal notes, and well see what the cost is, Kelly said. Coming exactly two weeks before the start of the 2022 legislative session and release of Gov. Ned Lamonts proposed adjustments to the second year of the biennial budget, the news conference served politics as well as policy. Im the leader of the Republican caucus, Kelly said. I think the Republican Party has good ideas. I think were putting forward alternatives to what the majority is doing. I think were demonstrating a better way today on mental health. The GOP was asserting a measure of ownership on the issue in an election year while acknowledging that addressing mental health rarely has been a partisan issue in the General Assembly, and Republicans will need friends for passage. State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, the co-chairman of the Public Health Committee, said he saw nothing groundbreaking in the GOP outline. There really wasnt anything on their list that isnt an idea already before our committee, the childrens committee or the insurance committee, Steinberg said. Steinberg said that was not a criticism. The GOP-supported push is constructive and only can be helpful, he said. Advertisement State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, the ranking Republican on the Public Health Committee, said she and Steinberg already have talked about some of the GOP ideas. Somers said the needs are many and immediate. We had a mental health crisis here in the state of Connecticut before COVID reared its ugly head, Somers said. We have a disjointed, disconnected system of care. Theres no continuum of care. People search for days to try to find help. The issues are financial but also turn on staffing shortages that require more than money. The non-profit providers that are a central element of outpatient mental health care are suffering from low Medicaid reimbursement rates that make their salaries uncompetitive, costing them staff, said Michael Patota, the president and chief executive officer of the The Child & Family Guidance Center in Bridgeport. Asked if staffing shortages or resources were his biggest challenge, Patota said, Many of our staff are leaving to go to higher-paid positions. So in my mind, theyre inseparable. Advertisement The state has hundreds of vacant positions that are funded but go unfilled for an absence of qualified applicants. Somers said one partial solution would be to allow HUSKY, the state Medicaid program for children, to reimbursement treatment by social workers who have masters degrees but who have not yet qualified as licensed clinical social workers, Some private insurers will reimburse for care by masters-degree staff, so long as they are under the supervision of a licensed clinician, Somers said. Antonia Edwards, who has complained of being unable to find care for a troubled granddaughter who killed her grandson nearly two years ago, said the state must act. My grandson died on my watch because there was no services available or due to the racial disparities and implicit biases, said Edwards, who is Black. We were discriminated against from getting services. A total of 13 University of North Georgia (UNG) students and alumni moved one step closer to their goal of taking part in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program as they earned recognition as Fulbright semifinalists for the 2022-23 academic year. Finalists will be announced later this semester. Eight are semifinalists to be English teaching assistants, four for master's degree programs, and one for a research award. UNG had 22 students and alumni apply for the Fulbright. "We are thrilled to see not only a wide range of students, majors and campuses represented, but also the full complement of Fulbright awards represented," Dr. Anastasia Lin, assistant vice president of research and director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships (NCS) office, said. UNG's 2022 semifinalists are Anna Caitlyn "AC" Anderson, Madison Bunch, Rebecca Corley, Juleah Edwards, Zdenka Janderova, Charlotte Kloster, Ketsia Malala, Ashlynn Nash, Kirsten Pickelsimer, Roderick Selman, Daniel Shearer, Colin Tredway, and Brianna Welch. More details are available in a full listing. Tredway was an alternate a year ago, and Nash and Selman are semifinalists for the second year in a row. Bunch, a senior from Senoia, Georgia, pursuing a degree in biology, is aiming to earn a Fulbright research award to study in Poland. "This would open so many more doors for me because I'm trying to go to graduate school for microbiology," Bunch said. "It would help me learn different techniques and increase my ability to communicate about research." McLennan Community College recently honored local community leaders Greta and the late Murray Watson Jr. with the opening of the Greta and Murray Watson Jr. Arbor on the MCC campus. The Greta and Murray Watson Jr. Arbor project was conceived and funded through the Brazos Higher Education Service Corporation, the student loan financing company founded by Murray Watson Jr. in 1975. Among other gifts, the company and the Watson family have funded more than $579,000 in endowed scholarships at the MCC Foundation to support the McLennan Presidential Scholars program. To honor its founders lifelong support of higher education, the corporation and the Watson family wished to create an outdoor space where students, faculty and staff at the college could gather. No college funds were expended for this campus enhancement. Murray Watson Jr. was a lawyer, rancher, politician and philanthropist who had a passion for serving others. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives at age 24, shortly after graduating from Baylor Law School. He represented Central Texas in the Texas House until 1963 when he was elected to the Texas Senate, where he served until 1973. As senator, Watson carried many important pieces of legislation, but he was especially proud of helping create what is now TSTC, and he was a strong advocate for establishing MCC in 1965. Watson died in 2018, and his wife Greta continues to lead the familys Mart-based operations, including a cattle company and Watson Feed Store. Their daughter, Missy Larson, also serves on the MCC Foundation board of directors. We are so grateful to our friends at Brazos Higher Education Service Corporation and the Watson family for their generous donations to our campus and student scholarships, said MCC President Johnette McKown. This space will provide an area where our students are able to relax, study and find tranquility in their busy schedules. This is the perfect tribute to the Watson family that cares so deeply about students and their success. To learn more, visit www.mclennan.edu/foundation or contact Executive Director Kim Patterson at 254-299-8606 or kpatterson@mclennan.edu. Its not often when a personal hero honors your work, but that happened to Dr. Katrina Macht, who moved to Waco with her husband, Timothy, in November. Katrina recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Dr. Jane Goodalls Roots & Shoots global organization. If that wasnt enough, Katrina also was appointed to the strategic planning committee for Roots & Shoots Global, one of only two Americans on the committee. Famed environmentalist and primatologist/anthropologist Jane Goodall has been a hero of Katrinas since she was 12 years old and saw a National Geographic magazine with Goodall on the cover. Katrina became involved with Roots & Shoots in 1993. I was teaching in a school district in New Jersey, but I also was serving on a U.N. committee dealing with youth and the environment, Katrina said. I got a call one day that Jane would be in Connecticut and wanted to meet some kids. I was asked to bring my class. Jane gave us all her address in England, and my students starting writing her. She would always write back. In those letters, she told us about Roots & Shoots. Roots & Shoots was founded by Dr. Jane in 1991, with the goal of bringing together youth from preschool to university age to work on environmental, conservation and humanitarian issues. Starting with 12 Tanzanian high school students who wanted to solve problems in their community, Roots & Shoots can now be found in more than 50 countries around the world. When Katrina changed schools to Hillside Intermediate in Bridgewater, New Jersey, she started a Roots & Shoots Club that wove its ideals into the fabric of the schools curriculum. Dr. Jane visited Hillside in 2004 to designate it the first free-standing Roots & Shoots school in the U.S. Through her leadership, Katrina launched an wildlife refuge that turned a barren 8-acre field at the school into a reforested area; started Habitat Partners, an urban-suburban partnership between Newark and Bridgewater students; and Students Raising Students that allowed her students to fund scholarships in Kenya and Tanzania (she even used the Waco ISD Education Foundation Celebrity Chef as a model for a fundraising event, although students were the celebrity chefs at Hillside.) Katrina even wrote her doctoral dissertation on how that early volunteer work with Roots & Shoots impacted her former students when they became adults. Katrina sent Dr. Jane a copy of her dissertation on a whim and was floored when Dr. Jane made reference to Katrinas research findings during a Zoom meeting. There are so many beautiful memories of Roots & Shoots over the years, and it is really hard to select just one, she said. But I think the one that provided the most impact for me personally and our program at the school came from my visits to Tanzania during 2004 and 2005. I was hosted by the Jane Goodall Institute, and I was able to visit Roots & Shoots schools and students in Africa and see their amazing projects and how they were making a difference in their community in similar ways we were in New Jersey. Because of those visits, I was privileged enough to lead a third trip to Africa with families of my students, and that was profound. That visit served as the catalyst for Students Raising Students that has continued even after Katrinas retirement. In her opinion, that program would never have evolved without those trips to Africa. Katrina retired from teaching during the height of the pandemic, so her retirement party was virtual. Dr. Jane sent a short video congratulating her. Katrina also took part in a planning committee meeting for the 30th anniversary celebration of Roots & Shoots Global and judged entries that would receive awards. In mid-fall, R&S Global notified Katrina that Dr. Jane herself had selected her to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. My involvement with Roots & Shoots affected me at a deep and personal level. It was a part of everything I did for the last 25 years, she said. I hope it will continue to be a part of my life in retirement. Roots & Shoots gives me energy. It gives me joy. It gives me hope. Mardi Gras Ball Celebrate the holidays by attending a special party on Feb. 19. No, I havent confused February with December. My niece, who hails from New Orleans, informed us that the holidays refers to the glorious time of Mardi Gras. The Advocacy Center for Crime Victims and Children agrees, and will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Mardi Gras Ball. The fun will begin at 7 p.m. at The Base at the Extraco Events Center. Those who give at the $5,000 level or above will enjoy a VIP cocktail party at 6 p.m. Presented by Ascension Providence, the fundraising event will feature dinner and a late-night breakfast catered by Eddie Dean, a celebration cake by Simply Delicious Bakery and music by Manhattan Reception of the world-famous Jordan Kahn Orchestra. Also look for an open bar, audible and silent auctions, mystery bags and wine pull and even the crowning of a Mardi Gras king and queen. We are so excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary, said Alison Sorley, development director for the Advocacy Center. The Mardi Gras Ball has grown every year, which shows the community support, the compassion and understanding people have for our mission to help victims of all crimes, not just sexual assault or crimes against children. Serving six counties, the Advocacy Center for Crime Victims and Children began in 1976 as the Waco Rape Crisis Center. It has grown into an umbrella agency with three programs, the Childrens Advocacy Center (CAC), the Victims Center and Prevention and Education. In the last year, the center conducted 566 forensic interviews to children 17 and under that have made an outcry of abuse, if abuse is suspected, or if the child has witnessed a crime; and has performed 159 forensic medical examinations by a sexual assault forensic examiner. The center also has emphasized its education and prevention programs, and not only has held in-person events but also various virtual resources, including a podcast, social media and videos. Just looking at the accvc_prevention account on Instagram demonstrates the creativity of the Advocacy Center staff. The many reels talk about consent, communication, reevaluating relationships and much more, while the links to TikToks provide information about attributes in unhealthy relationships. We hope to prevent crime with our education programs, Alison said. We are reaching out to younger people through Instagram and TikTok to teach them about such topics as safe boundaries, social media pressures and more. We want to use social media to our advantage. Individual tickets to the gala cost $250 with a table for 10 for $2,500. For sponsorships contact Alison at 254-752-9330, ext. 127, or by cell at 254-230-6037. For more information, visit www.advocacycntr.org. Hearts in the Arts Gala The McLennan Community College Foundations Hearts in the Arts Theatre Gala will celebrate its 20th year on Feb. 24 at the MCC Ball Performing Arts Center. The gala features the McLennan Theatre performance of Little Shop of Horrors, written by Howard Ashman and featuring music by Alan Menken. Sprouting from the musical minds behind The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, Broadways sensational science fiction fantasy gobbles its way onto the McLennan stage. Little Shop of Horrors opened off Broadway in 1982 before moving to the Orpheum Theatre in New York, where it enjoyed a five-year run. Best known for the 1986 film adaptation featuring Rick Moranis and Steve Martin, Little Shop follows hapless floral assistant Seymour Krebs in his quest to find love and to escape his bleak existence on Skid Row. All his aspirations appear doomed for failure until one day, an extraterrestrial plant mysteriously appears in his shop, giving Seymour much more than he bargained for. The McLennan production will be directed by faculty choreographer Joe Taylor and will feature several elaborate puppets to portray the plant Audrey in her various stages of growth and unbridled appetite. According to MCC Foundation Executive Director Kim Patterson, the show presents a fun and whimsical return to a familiar event for area theater lovers. The pandemic began shortly after we held our Chicago Gala in 2020, and everything changed for live performances and higher education, she said. While our Clue: The Musical Gala in 2021 was successful even when scaled back, we are delighted to return to the experience of in-person dining and the musical production. There is just something magical about being together for live theater. We are also so honored to have Virginia and Don Lewis serving as our honorary Hearts in the Arts chairs this year. The evening begins with a 6 p.m. cocktail and heavy hors doeuvres reception in the Ball Performing Arts Center lobby and Fountain Plaza, followed by the musical performance at 7:30 p.m. Dessert will be served at intermission. Patron tickets cost $100 and include drinks, dining, and the theater performance. Tables for eight cost $800 and include preferred dinner seating. Due to space limitations and continued attention to social distancing, event attendance will be capped at 200, Kim said. Hearts in the Arts is an affinity group of the MCC Foundation that supports the arts at McLennan. All proceeds from the event benefit McLennan scholarships and special projects benefitting visual and performing arts students and faculty. Gala reservations are due by Feb. 17. For more information, visit www.mclennan.edu/foundation/hearts. To make reservations, contact the MCC Foundation at 254-299-8604 or reservations@mclennan.edu. Symphony of the City (Note: This event is now canceled because of the omicron variant.) Are you looking for a great Valentines Day gift for a music lover or a party lover? You can score both when you attend Symphony of the City on Feb. 12. The progressive cocktail party, hosted by the Waco Symphony Council, will begin at 5:30 p.m. and run until 9:30 p.m. During those hours, guests will visit three spectacular homes in the Wooded Acres/Inverness area. After parking at Central Christian Church, party-goers will be whisked by luxury bus to the homes to nibble on heavy hors doeuvres and desserts by Wacos Bestyett Catering and listen to some wonderful music. There also will be a wine pull and an art silent auction. No parking will be available at the featured homes. Proceeds from Symphony of the City benefit the Waco Symphony Council. Since 1962, the WSC has been supporting and assisting the Waco Symphony Orchestra. Symphony of the City is the major fundraiser of the council, said Stephanie Cooney, council president. This year, having a successful Symphony of the City is even more important, since we were unable to hold it last year due to the pandemic. One of the councils main areas of emphasis involves youth and education programs. The WSC sponsors the Symphony Belle Program for sophomore and junior girls and the Symphony Brass Program for junior boys. Participants enjoy leadership and service training, as well as seminars in music appreciation and concert and dining etiquette. Belles and Brass will be presented at the March Waco Symphony Orchestra concert. Through the Waco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the childrens concerts, which reach more than 6,000 area children, opportunities are provided to expose young people to classical music. Each year all of the area fourth- and fifth-graders come to Waco Hall to hear a wonderful informative concert that introduces young students to symphony music, Stephanie said. Last year, due to the pandemic, we were unable to hold these concerts. Instead, we had a wonderful video made with the help of our Maestro Stephen Heyde, and narrations by Ann Harder. This video explained all the different types of instruments and how they work in a symphony together. This video was distributed to the local school music teachers so that the fourth- and fifth-graders could still be introduced to symphony music. That video series was voted as a recognized project by the Texas Association for Symphony Orchestras (TASO). The Waco guild will present the project in April at the TASO annual conference. Two years ago, Symphony of the City was a recognized project by TASO. Tickets to Symphony of the City cost $225 per person. Tickets are available at wacosymphonycouncil.com or by calling 254-754-0851. Freedom Ball One of the last big social events Alan and I attended in 2020 was the Freedom Ball, which honors military personnel, veterans and Gold Star families in the area. As many of you know, Alan is a former U.S. Navy pilot who flew in Desert Storm. It was a special evening. The Freedom Ball is back for 2022 and will be held at 6 p.m. Feb. 26 in the Chisholm Room at the Waco Convention Center. Sponsored by the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, the event will feature dinner, an open bar, a great band, silent and live auctions and more. Holding a Freedom Ball is the brainchild of Jim and Lynnette Allmon, owners of Blackhawk Modifications. The couple brought on well-known community volunteer Valerie Robinson to serve as this years honorary chair. I am thrilled and honored, Valerie said. I am so proud to have been raised in a military family. My father, my brother and my first husband, now deceased, all served our country proudly and with honor. Veterans, whether they are U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, are so important to our society. They give up a part of their lives to protect and serve our country and our freedom. This event is so special. Its a fun way to honor and give back to those who have given so much. Like other military balls, the gala will contain many ceremonial elements, including the Fallen Soldiers Table, which includes an inverted wine glass to represent the fact that the fallen comrade will not be able to participate in the happy toasts at this event. Members of Baylors ROTC will help with the ceremony and present the colors. Aaron Konzelman, who appeared on the 2021 season of The Voice, will sing the national anthem. Gold Star spouses, who lost their loved ones during military service, will be special guests for the evening while all active-duty personnel, veterans, wounded warriors and Gold Star spouses are presented with medals. Shilo Harris will deliver a message and help with the live auction. Shilo was severely injured in 2007 when his armored vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device. The explosion killed three of his comrades while he suffered third-degree burns and lost his ears, the tip of his nose and three fingers. The crushing explosion fractured his left collarbone and C-7 vertebrae. He was in a medically induced coma for 48 days. Shilos recovery has involved more than 75 surgeries, which required his family to spend up to six hours a day on wound care. In 2010, he medically retired from the U.S. Army. Proceeds from the Freedom Ball provide scholarships to high school and college students pursuing careers in aviation and engineering related to aviation. Tickets cost $160 a person and $75 for veterans and active-duty military. People and businesses also are encouraged to donate tickets for veterans and those on active duty. For more information, visit wacochamber.com/freedom-ball/. Julie Campbell Carlson has written for Waco Today since 1997. Shes always looking for interesting tidbits for her column. She can be reached at Julie_Carlson@mygrande.net My siblings and I have a long-standing joke about my mom. We teased her relentlessly about cooking boiled chicken and beets for us as a special winter meal. We all hated it. When Gary returned from college after his first semester, Mom made boiled chicken and beets. When Caryl came home from an awful experience at winter church camp, Mom made boiled chicken and beets. I dont remember her making it for me as a coming-home meal, but I jumped on the bandwagon. Our pastor even (lovingly) mentioned boiled chicken and beets in Moms memorial service. Beef stew and chicken tetrazzini were other winter staples, but for some reason, chili wasnt on our list of regular meals, even though it was officially the State of Texas dish. Occasionally, we had canned Wolf Brand Chili though. And every time we did, Daddy would repeat the old TV ad featuring Pop Myres: Neighbor, how long has it been since youve had a big, thick, steaming bowl of Wolf Brand Chili? (pause) Well, thats too long! County Line Magazine offers this brief history of Wolf Brand Chili: In 1895, 16-year-old Lyman T. Davis appeared on the streets of Corsicana, Texas, and began selling his ranch chili from the back of a wagon in front of the Blue Front Saloon. Although no one knew it at the time, Davis was beginning an odyssey that would lead to the foundation of a company destined to become a Texas and Southwest legend. By the early 1920s, the chilis reputation had spread, and Davis began canning it. His pet wolf, Kaiser Bill, was selected to grace the label, and thats how Wolf Brand Chili got its name. Whether canned or homemade, chili IS a Texas staple. In fact, the Texas Legislature convinced Gov. Dolph Briscoe to sign House Concurrent Resolution No. 18 into law on May 11, 1977, confirming chilis honored status in our state. The resolution begins, WHEREAS, One cannot be a true son or daughter of this state without having his taste buds tingle at the thought of the treat that is real, honest-to-goodness, unadulterated Texas chili. And ends with, RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the State of Texas, the Senate Concurring, that the 65th Legislature, in recognition of the fact that the only real bowl of red is that prepared by Texans, hereby proclaims chili as the State Dish of Texas. I consulted a very dear attorney friend about calling this resolution law. Strictly off the record, this attorney confirmed that I could. I apologize for not naming my source, but the relationship is more valuable to me than my legal credibility. So, I shall take literary license and, henceforth, call it law. The law does not stipulate that the chili must be beef, and I sometimes prefer other proteins; so, the first recipe below uses ground turkey. Make no mistake about it, though, the turkey chili is legally and historically all Texas. The second chili recipe from Tom Perini proclaimed Texas Chili. Both of the following recipes are best served with my moms buttermilk cornbread, but Ive added a recipe for cornmeal dumplings to be plopped into either chili for a little twist to the piquant delicacy as described in Texas law. Turkey Chili 6 servings 1 lb. ground raw turkey breast 3 c water 1 onion, diced 1 bell pepper, diced 2 T chili powder (I like Ancho) 1 T Knorr Granulated Chicken Tomato Bouillon 1 t cumin 1 t garlic powder t salt t black pepper 2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes 1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilis, or more to taste 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste 1 (10 oz.) package frozen whole kernel corn 1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans (optional, especially since some folks debate the legitimacy of beans in real Texas chili) 3 c kale or spinach, thinly sliced Coat a Dutch oven or large stockpot with cooking spray. Cook turkey meat over medium heat until browned, breaking up pieces with a wooden spoon. Drain. Add water, chopped onion, bell pepper, chili powder, bouillon, salt, black pepper, diced tomatoes, diced green chilis, tomato paste, cumin and garlic powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Add beans and chopped kale or spinach and cook additional 10 minutes before serving. Tom Perini is the owner of Perini Ranch Steak House in Buffalo Gap, Texas. I have modified his recipe to suit our family preferences but have not strayed from the law set forth by our Legislature. Texas Chili Modified from Tom Perinis recipe in Texas Cowboy Cooking 6-8 servings 2 lbs. ground beef large onion, chopped 1 cloves garlic, minced t ground oregano t ground cumin 1 T Knorr Granulated Chicken Tomato Bouillon 1 T (heaping) chili powder 1 (16 oz.) can stewed tomatoes, crushed 3 T tomato paste 1 can mild diced tomatoes and green chilis 1 c water Combination of 3 mixed bell peppers (red, green, yellow) Salt to taste 1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped finely Place chili meat, onion, and garlic in a large cast iron skillet. Brown meat. Add all ingredients except jalapeno and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about an hour. As the fat cooks out, skim off. Add salt and jalapeno to taste. Cornmeal Dumplings c flour c stone-ground cornmeal 2 t baking powder t salt 2 T butter, cut into small pieces and chilled (Hint: freeze butter beforehand and grate with a cheese grater. This makes cutting in easier.) 2 T minced cilantro c milk 1 egg Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter and stir in cilantro. Whisk together milk and egg and stir into dry ingredients until just moistened. Drop batter by tablespoons full (A cookie scoop makes easy work of this.) into hot chili. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Cover and cook an additional 10-15 minutes or until dumplings are cooked through. For years while Mom lived with us, I would walk into her part of the house and ask how to make her cornbread. She knew the recipe by heart and would get annoyed with me for not writing it down. Im glad that I finally did before her death. What would life be without it! Jo Anns Buttermilk Cornbread c flour c cornmeal 1 t baking powder t baking soda 1 T sugar t salt 1 c buttermilk 1 whole egg 3 T vegetable oil plus more for skillet Preheat oven and 10-inch cast iron skillet simultaneously to 425 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients. In a separate small bowl or 2-cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together buttermilk, egg and 3 T vegetable oil. Stir together ingredients until just mixed, making sure to incorporate the dry mixture in the bottom of the bowl. When oven reaches temperature, carefully take remove the skillet (Wear TWO oven mittens, please!), add 2-3 T vegetable oil, ensuring that the bottom of the pan is completely coated. Pour cornmeal in cornmeal mixture and spread it around. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven. Using a large flat spatula, flip the whole cornbread over in the skillet. (Im not sure if this is an absolutely necessary step, but its what my mother always did. Some things dont need to be questioned.) Its just hard to beat a delicious bowl of red during the cold months of the year. And no one ever called boiled chicken and beets the state dish of anywhere. Happy cooking and eating! Karyn Miller Brooks passion for food, cooking and bringing people together spurred her decision to open Gourmet Gallery, a locally owned cooking school. After graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in journalism, she studied culinary arts at Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and Orange Coast College. Karyn married Joe Brooks in December 2016, and he shares her passion for food and cooking. She has one daughter, Molly, and two stepchildren, James and Becky. Most of El Conquistadors longstanding customers are generally aware of the story behind their favorite restaurant, but few may know various tidbits of the eaterys lengthy history. It began when former Mexican Army captain Teodulo Ted Gonzalez Sr. and wife Maria started Teds Midway Cafe in 1969 just off Estates Drive before moving next to Ritchies Western Wear on West Waco Drive. On Dec. 1, 1979, the restaurant moved to its current spot at 4508 W. Waco Drive when fellow restaurateur Nick Klaras offered his friend a larger facility and more parking. Along the way, the Gonzalezes found time and capital to open two more El Cons, one in Bellmead (November 85) and the other in Hillsboro (March 88) with help from their 10 children. After the passing of Ted and Maria, their children Carmen Gonzalez-Mays, Rosie Gonzalez Martinez and Willie Gonzalez operate the main El Con. David Gonzalez runs the Bellmead spot with the help of assistant manager Robin Fegette. Dooley Gonzalez and Johnny Gonzalez oversee the Hillsboro branch. Currently, Richard Gonzalez lives in Dallas while Veronica Gonzalez Rivera is in New York. Sandi Rains worked with El Conquistador for more than 30 years before retiring as manager at the Bellmead location. Ted Jr. and Jose Gonzalez have both retired. Recently, Jose has returned to help out at the West Waco Drive restaurant. Dad made sure he instilled in all of us dedication to family first, Carmen explains. I started working for him at El Con around 14 or 15 and found we all had to work our way up, doing whatever needed to be done. I helped waiting on and busing tables, being hostess and washing dishes. Sister Rosie agrees and shares more about those family responsibilities they learned early on. I remember Dad stacking Coke boxes so that we could put dishes into the washing machine and by the cash register so that we could help check out customers despite only being teenagers, she says. We all learned to count at an early age and were told to count the change directly into the customers hands. Not many establishments do that today. And not many eateries boast the quality ingredients or personal touch offered at El Con as Carmens daughter Mari notes. Its the Gonzalez family unit that makes customers feel like part of our family, she says. We dont just say hi. We greet them by name, give them a hug, ask how theyre doing and build a connection to keep them coming back. We dont just ask how their food was either. We really listen to what they say and honestly adjust products and services accordingly, and our food stands out because its homemade family recipes, not like franchise restaurants. Loaded Menu A scan of the scrumptious menu reveals El Con favorites three beef or chicken flautas with sauce, beans and guacamole salad; three beef or chicken chimichangas with sauce, rice and beans; breaded chile relleno (beef or cheese), sauce, rice and beans; and the Dona Maria with two cheese enchiladas smothered in chile con carne with a beef or chicken fajita, pico de gallo, rice and beans. Beef lovers will enjoy the Carne Guisada (Spanish beef tips) with tomatoes, onions and bell peppers, rice and beans. And for chicken lovers, the Pollo Zesto grilled breast with ranchera sauce, rice, beans and guacamole salad is a treat. Other fire-grilled meats include Carne Asada, a charbroiled beef skirt steak with beans, tostada and guacamole; the Tacos al Carbon, three beef or chicken fajita flour tortillas with frijoles a la charra, pico de gallo and guacamole salad; and the Teds Special: a charbroiled 10-ounce rib eye topped with ranchera sauce with beans, tostada and guacamole. Sizzling beef and/or chicken fajitas with all the fixings come in sizes for one or two people. Add shrimp for an extra charge. Fajita strips are topped with Monterey jack cheese and ranchera sauce with rice and beans. The following lunch specials are served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday with a $1 charge after 2: the Noon Day cheese enchilada with chile con carne, rice and beans; Student Special, which adds a bean chalupa; Burrito Special with chile con carne, rice and beans; Taco Rico Special with beef, chile con queso, lettuce, tomato, rice and beans; Meat Taco Special with beef, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, rice and beans; and the Chicken Enchilada Special with sour cream and Monterey jack cheese, rice and beans. Other Options Southern specialties include breaded catfish, French fries and salad and a chicken-fried steak with gravy, fries and salad. Appetizers, sopas and salads range in size from frijoles a la charra to a full load of fajita Super Nachos. Platos Americanos include chicken-fried steak or fried catfish, jumbo breaded shrimp, a club sandwich with fries or a hamburger with fries. All of those meals can be topped off by apple, cherry or pecan pie (add ice cream for a little extra), cheesecake, flan or sopapilla. Diners can also enjoy daiquiris, margaritas and draft, house wines, and bottled and imported beers at the bar while watching four TVs and listening to mariachi music. Ah, but dont stop there. Take a long look at the four U.S. Army Airborne yarn weavings on the wall in honor of Ted Sr.s service in the 101st along with son Jose in the 82nd and Joses son Grant in the 173rd. Popular Guy Lastly, be sure to request a song from longtime waiter Mario Marin (IF he doesnt bring your order), who has been at the restaurant for 42 years. A self-taught guitarist with his brothers, Marins specialties include the usual birthday and anniversary ditties and fan favorite El Rancho Grande, which all helped draw customers for drive-up service during the pandemic via Facebook videos. The Gonzalezes are good people, like family to me, he says, even when I dumped a cart full of dirty dishes and bar mugs all over when I first started. I couldnt do anything but watch them crash, breaking more than a dozen. I felt bad for a half-hour, but the boss said, Dont worry about it. Ted once said hed never let me leave, and his daughters still say the same thing because I have too big a fan club. My regulars take care of me every Christmas, sending me cards, cash and Baylor and Dallas Cowboys shirts, so I guess Ill never leave. Great food and more awaits diners at the El Conquistador restaurants. Just remember, at the West Waco Drive location, Mario is waiting with your special song. El Conquistador 4508 W. Waco Drive, Waco Mon-Fri, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5 to 10 p.m. Sat, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. 254-772-4596 901 N. Loop 350, Bellmead Mon-Sat, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. 254-799-6655 I-35 and Old Brandon Road, Hillsboro Mon-Sat, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. 254-582-9864 The company that handles tunnel toll operations for South Hampton Roads selected a new CEO. Anna Bonet was promoted to lead Elizabeth River Crossings after outgoing CEO David Sullivan announced his retirement plans earlier this month, according to a Wednesday announcement. Advertisement I remain committed to continuing efforts that serve our local communities well and building on already constructive and mutually beneficial relationships with VDOT and local elected and appointed officials, Bonet said. Bonet joined the company in September as deputy CEO. During her time in that position, she helped implement a $3.2 million expansion of the companys toll relief program, which will save some residents as much as $650 annually. Prior to that, she held various roles at Abertis, the majority owner of Elizabeth River Crossings. Advertisement Sullivan had announced his retirement plans on Jan. 18 after a 50-year career and almost five years with Elizabeth River Crossings. The company operates the Downtown and Midtown tunnels and the Martin Luther King Freeway extension. Born and raised in Spain, Bonet speaks English, Spanish, French and Italian. She lives in Virginia Beach with her husband and three children. Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, trevor.metcalfe@pilotonline.com FICTION Everything is Jake By Jethro K. Lieberman Meet T. R. Softly, the private detective the Feds call in when a mafia kingpin suddenly recants his confession, upending a federal plea deal. Softlys investigation will turn up a secret agency, a conspiring president and machinations beyond plausibility. Enjoy the twists and turns of this satirical thriller. Why recommended: Lieberman is just fun to read. There is humor and wit to his prose that will cause readers to crack a smile even as they race through the pages to follow this rollercoaster of a plot. Recommended by: Sarah, Central Library Nigel and the Moon By Antwan Eady Nigel is a boy with big dreams for his future. When he looks at the night sky he talks to the moon about all his dreams and aspirations; unfortunately, talking to his classmates is much harder. Why recommended: This is a beautifully illustrated inspirational story about a boy with huge dreams feeling comfortable in the world around him. Recommended by: Alysha, East Waco Library Where the Drowned Girls Go By Seanan McGuire When Eleanor West decided to open her school, her Home for Wayward Children, she knew there would be children she couldnt save; when Cora decides she needs a different direction, a different fate, Miss West agrees to transfer her to the other school, where things are run very differently. She will soon discover that not all doors are welcoming. Why recommended: The Wayward Children series is for grownups who liked Narnia, but had questions about how the Pevensie children coped with coming back to the real world. Eleanor Wests Home for Wayward Children is for traumatized children who have visited fantastic realms and then were thrust back into this world. Recommended by: Amy N., South Waco Library Sparks Like Stars By Nadia Hashimi Sitara Zamani grew up a privileged member of Afghanistans upper class, until the day in 1978 that communists assassinated the president and her entire family. She was the only survivor, smuggled out by a sympathetic palace guard, adopted by an American diplomat. One day, the guard who saved her life reappears, forcing her to remember what really happened that night. Why recommended: Its a slow-moving novel, with deeply reflective moments, carefully drawn characters, and a deeply sad narrative. For anyone who has ever wondered what really plunged Afghanistan into decades of civil war and strife, this novel will reveal history in a dramatic way. Recommended by: Gillian, West Waco Library Child of Light By Terry Brooks Auris has spent the last several years, all that she can remember, in a sinister prison. When she and a small group of other teens attempt to escape, things go desperately wrong and Auris is flung into a strange journey of discovery. She is rescued by a Fae stranger who helps her find her own magical strengths. Why recommended: Terry Brooks is a master at fantasy storytelling. This first book in a new series is an enticing mystery, a puzzle box of a story, with a unique setting. It has hints of dystopia, fantasy and futurism rolled into myth and adventure. If you loved Shannara or Landover, this will please you. Its a great transitional novel from YA to adult fantasy. Recommended by: Gillian, West Waco Library NONFICTION Some Things I Still Cant Tell You By Misha Collins Some Things I Still Cant Tell You is a book filled with raw emotions in poetry form. Why recommended: Misha Collins has just shared with us something very beautiful and filled with various emotions. Even if you are not a fan of poetry, you should give this book a try. It doesnt read like poetry, it reads like a diary. Recommended by: Alysha, East Waco Library Good Girls Dont Make History By Elizabeth Kiehner Kiehner offers a visual guide to womens suffrage as told in the form of a graphic novel. Explore the lives of Alice Paul, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells and Susan B. Anthony as they fight for the right to vote. Why recommended: With bold illustrations and fascinating insights to the women who fought for our right to vote, this nonfiction graphic novel will transport readers into one of the most important times in womens history. From England to America, readers will see for themselves the important women who helped us stand up for our rights. Recommended by: Kimber, South Waco Library From Warsaw with Love: Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance By John Pomfret In 1990, six U.S. officers were trapped in Iraq with information that could spell disaster for Operation Desert Storm. Racing against time and discovery, the CIA turned to the unlikeliest of allies, Poland, for aid in rescuing their assets. This is the story of that mission, and how it united former foes and began a relationship that continues to the present day. Why recommended: This true story of espionage will keep you riveted. Pomfrets narrative is especially enlightening in its analysis of the current state of the relationship between the United States and Poland. Recommended by: Sarah, Central Library This is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life By Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods In 2017, Ear Hustle launched as a podcast, telling the stories of inmates of San Quentin State Prison. Nominated for both Pulitzer and Peabody prizes, the podcast gives outsiders a humanizing view of inmates and the realities they face in our criminal justice system. This book tells the story of the podcast. Why recommended: Whether you are an avid fan of the podcast or just learning of it for the first time, this book, with its mixture of transcripts and narrative, is hard to put down, and the stories you encounter in its pages will stick with you long after you close the book. Recommended by: Sarah, Central Library This Must Be the Place By Rachael Ray More than 125 recipes straight from Rachael Rays home kitchen, plus stories on loss, gratitude and special memories. Rachael and her husband spent the early months of the pandemic in her own kitchen, using an iPhone as a camera, broadcasting to TV as she cooked and chatted. Many of those stories and experiences are shared here. Why recommended: This is a warm, friendly cookbook. The photography is gorgeous, the chapters are filled with little sidebars and notes, as well as Rachaels familiar, delicious recipes. This is a cookbook to savor, to reread and to cook from. Any home cook looking to find new family favorites, or to try a new twist on a recipe will find something here. Recommended by: Gillian, West Waco Library Staff members at the branches of the Waco-McLennan County Public Library System share their reading recommendations here each month. SCHUYLER Do you live in the country? How often do you have your well water tested? Have you ever had your well water tested? The United States Environmental Protection Agency set the legal limit for nitrate levels in drinking water at 10 parts per million. Anything above 10 parts per million can cause serious health problems. On Tuesday, Feb. 1, the Lower Platte North NRD will be hosting a Nitrate Workshop at the Oak Ballroom in Schuyler. Producers and others are encouraged to attend to learn more about the nitrate issues concerning Nebraska. Rural residents can bring in a sample of their domestic well water to be tested during the event! Dr. Jesse Bell and Meghan Langel from the University of Nebraska Medical Center will discuss health effects linked to environmental issues such as elevated Nitrate levels in drinking water. Dan Snow from the Nebraska Water Center will discuss the vadose zone sampling results taken from the Schuyler-Richland and Bellwood Nitrate Management Areas. The vadose zone is the area below the land surface and above the groundwater table. The main purpose of this study in the LPNNRD area is to evaluate the amount of Nitrate that is in the vadose zone. This information can help determine the type of best management practices and the locations. Students from the Shell Creek Watershed testing group will present their results and data from their recent water testing. With the recent addition of Columbus Lakeview students conducting the water testing, along with Newman Grove students and Schuyler students, there is now water being sampled and tested from the headwaters of Shell Creek near Newman Grove and downstream just before it reaches the Platte River near Schuyler. A soil health and cover crop discussion will also transpire at the event, led by Joe Luck, Associate Director from the University of Nebraska-Lincolns Eastern Nebraska Research, Extension and Education Center. Luck will show some innovative practices on applying cover crops and nitrogen fertilizer. Staff from the Lower Platte NRDs Water Resources Department and UNL-Extension will also be available during the discussions. Lunch will be provided to attendees. Producers will receive credit for Nitrogen Certification during the event. If you have any questions about the event, contact Daryl Andersen, LPNNRD water resources manager, at dandersen@lpnnrd.org or call the NRD office at 402-443-4675. ASHLAND The kindergarten students eagerly donned their cow hats and lined up for a picture. Holding pictures of Queenie, the dairy cow they adopted, along with ears of corn and soybean stalks, they smiled as they posed with the teacher who is showing them first-hand the impact agriculture has on their lives. Diane Starns has been incorporating agriculture into her kindergarten curriculum at Ashland-Greenwood Elementary School for several years through the Agriculture in the Classroom program. Her work has been recognized by the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation, which manages the program in the state. Earlier this month she was named the 2022 Nebraska Agriculture in the Classroom Teacher of the Year. The award recognizes teachers for integrating agriculture in the classroom and emphasizing the importance of agriculture to their students. Thirteen years ago Starns joined a pen pal program through the Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation that paired her class with a farming family from Clearwater, located in northeast Nebraska. The farm wife wrote regular letters and sent photographs explaining in simple terms how a farm works. Through the letters, they learned about planting crops, when calves are born, the machinery used on a farm and the products that are made from the crops grown in Nebraska. The farmers also sent gifts to the class, including ears of popcorn that Starns prepared in the microwave for her students. Another time, the gifts were snacks made from soybeans. The kids were always excited when we got a letter and especially when we got a box, said Starns. A few years later, Starns implemented more Farm Bureau Foundation programs in her classroom, including their Farming in a Glove lesson plans. Every spring, she gives her students a clear plastic glove that acts as their farm. The students carefully place damp cotton balls and corn or soybean seeds in each finger of the glove. They hang the gloves in a window and watch them carefully for two weeks as they sprout. Starns enthusiasm for incorporating agriculture in her classroom continued to grow over the years. Through a summer program she acquired a microscope that connects to a computer to show the students enlarged pictures of leaves. Her classroom has a grow light that they use to grow flowers and grass. One of the most recent lessons Starns has brought into her classroom is the Midwest Dairys Adopt a Dairy Cow program. Using live video chats, photos, activity sheets and other learning activities, the students are learning about the dairy industry as they follow the life of Queenie the dairy cow. The program began with her birth in September at a dairy farm in Beaver Crossing. One of the activities included making cow hats out of construction paper. The students love to wear the hats as they hear updates about their cow. The kids are just all excited about all of those things, said Starns. Starns also invites agriculture education specialists into her classroom to provide enhanced learning experiences for the students. The Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation provides grade-specific lessons for students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, these lessons were presented via video platforms last year. This year, they have resumed in-person visits. The hands-on lessons grab the attention of her kindergarten students. The lessons are very engaging for kids, Starns said. It is necessary to incorporate these lessons in the classroom in a rural school district like Ashland-Greenwood, where agriculture is everywhere. We have farm ground all around us, said Starns. Starns has roots in agriculture as well. Her husbands family operates a farm in the Ashland area. While he is not a full time farmer, Joel Starns helps out during planting and harvest, working for his family and other area farmers. Its in his blood, she said. The fact that a small kernel of corn can grow into a tall, sturdy plant has always been fascinating to Starns. She happily shares that enthusiasm with her students. To see the change from a seed sprouting into a plant is awesome, she said. Agriculture can be used as a learning tool for many subjects. It can be tied into so many different things, Starns said. For example, the Farming in a Glove project incorporates science methods as the students draw the changes they see in the seeds, as well as language arts while they formulate questions and collect data. The pen pal program also applies reading and writing principles. Starns she has seen the excitement for agriculture in her students and their families linger beyond the classroom. She recalls after sending home the Farming in a Glove project one year, two sets of parents planted the seeds in pots. They sent her photos of the sprouts to show their progress as they became full-fledged plants. The parents continued the learning and I was thrilled with that, Starns said. Being honored as Teacher of the Year was a complete surprise to Starns. She had considered applying for the award, but got busy and missed the Dec. 6 deadline. Fortunately, someone else had the same idea and nominated her anonymously. According to Ashland-Greenwood Elementary Principal Teresa Bray, the award is a fitting tribute to Starns, who has taught kindergarten at AGES for 24 years. Ms. Starns is very deserving of this award. She has implemented many engaging lessons and activities in her kindergarten classroom as a result of being involved with the Nebraska Agriculture in the Classroom program. The students love these hands-on activities, said Bray. As winner of the Teacher of the Year award, Starns will receive a dozen books about agriculture and additional literature guides, a $250 cash prize to use in her classroom and a trip to the National Agriculture in the Classroom Conference in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in June, where she and the other state winners will be recognized. While the awards ceremony will be exciting, Starns is really looking forward to talking with other teachers about using agricultural concepts in the classroom and discovering new projects and lessons for her students. So much of it matches what we already do, so its basically an extension of the many great things we do in the classroom, she said. Suzi Nelson is the managing editor of The Ashland Gazette. Reach her via email at suzi.nelson@ashland-gazette.com. WAVERLY Waverly residents with homes in need of a facelift but who lack the money to carry out a large-scale project will now be able to apply for up to $24,999 in funding through a grant from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. In total, Waverly was awarded $547,000, and at least 18 homeowners in Waverly will be eligible to receive money from the grant. Waverly City Administrator Stephanie Fisher said Lancaster County already has an Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program underway, which is available to people in all of the countys municipalities outside of Lincoln. She said Waverly citizens had a strong response to the program. So thats why we decided to go ahead and apply for (a grant) that was just for Waverly residents, rather than competing with other communities in Lancaster County, Fisher said. The Southeast Nebraska Development District (SENDD) helps to set up the local housing rehabilitation program, and its goal is for the rehabilitated homes to meet housing quality standards set by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. Ryan Bauman, SENDDs housing coordinator, said the kinds of projects funded by the Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation programs often involve exteriors of homes: roofing, siding, windows and foundations. Thats where a lot of people kind of typically get into the big-dollar stuff that they need help with, Bauman said. And once the project is done, the impact can be a boon for community beautification, too. Its kind of a win-win-win deal, Bauman said. Similar programs already exist in Wahoo, Ashland, Milford and other southeast Nebraska cities, and Bauman said hes seen the programs help relieve slum and blight. And so its beneficial for the homeowners, its beneficial for the community as a whole, Bauman said. And then it really is meant to be a helpful thing for homeowners, especially because its at no cost to them. To be selected to receive the funds, applicants have to meet certain criteria. Their household income must be below 80 percent of Lancaster Countys median income, and it must be determined that the home will be able to meet housing standards using less than the allotted $24,999. If an applicant is selected, they must live in the home for at least five years after the projects completion. But Bauman said he encourages people to apply, whether they think they will qualify or not. Even if they dont qualify, or if we have more applicants than we do funds to get all the projects done, that does really help justify getting another program started, Bauman said. More information on the Owner-Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program coming to Waverly is available at sendd.org/affordable-housing. Sam Crisler is a reporter for The Waverly News. Reach him via email at sam.crisler@wahoonewspaper.com. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to send a clear message to pharmacies on a conference call this week: Stop turning away immune-compromised people when they come seeking fourth doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Although fourth doses are not currently recommended for the vast majority of Americans, the CDC has urged millions of people with compromised immune systems to get them. But many immune-compromised people tell CNN that pharmacies and hospitals have refused to give them fourth doses, leaving those most vulnerable to the virus without the protection the CDC wants them to have. "A lot of pharmacies are just not understanding. They hear 'fourth shot,' and it just freaks them out," said Elizabeth Nunn, who is immune-compromised and was turned away for a fourth shot by three pharmacies near her home north of New York City. It's unclear what the disconnect has been between the CDC and vaccine providers. The agency announced months ago -- in October -- that immune-compromised people should get fourth shots. That news was widely covered in the media, and the federal agency posted its guidance on shots for immune-compromised people on a page for doctors and a page for the public. In addition, the CDC has mentioned its fourth shot protocol for the immune-compromised on weekly conference calls with pharmacy groups since October, according to Kristen Nordlund, a CDC spokesperson. The CDC estimates there are around 7 million immune-compromised Americans, including those with diseases like advanced HIV as well as those who take immune-suppressing drugs, such as organ transplant recipients and some people with cancer. Studies show that many of these patients did not have a full antibody response to two or even three doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Last fall, when the agency announced that the immune-compromised should get fourth shots, a fierce debate was going on in the US about whether the general population should receive third shots. "That was really taking all the energy out of the room," said Michael Fraser, CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. "Fourth doses for the immune-compromised were kind of footnotes." Fraser added that he's "not excusing it," but the immune-compromised "just got lost in the shuffle." "Honestly, I don't think there's any mischief going on," Fraser added. "It's just that getting this all to align has been hard." Fraser and an official at a pharmacy association added that the CDC's fourth shot guidance is difficult to decipher. "Confusion and information overload combined to create the perfect storm," said Allie Jo Shipman, director of state policy for the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. She added that last fall, pharmacy leaders were also busy following news about changes in monoclonal antibody treatments and antiviral pills to fight Covid-19. But the head of an advocacy group for people who are immune-compromised says more could have been done to avoid this "pharmacy snafu." Janet Handal said the CDC could have written clearer guidance and used the time since October to communicate more effectively with pharmacies and state health departments. "CDC needs to assess all their communication vehicles with an eye to communicating life-saving information quickly and broadly," said Handal, president of the Transplant Recipients and Immunocompromised Patient Advocacy Group. Turned away by three pharmacies Sunday, January 16, was supposed to be an auspicious day for Nunn, the immune-compromised woman in New York. Nunn was more than five months past her third shot, which made her eligible for her fourth shot by the CDC guidance. Nunn's immune system has been weakened by Cellcept, a powerful drug she takes to treat lupus. For two years, she has lived in lockdown mode in her home in Peekskill, New York, an hour north of New York City. Nunn arrived at the CVS in Peekskill on January 16 after making an appointment online. "When we arrived at CVS, the person at the pharmacy told me that 'corporate says no,' and they were kind of nasty about it," she said. She said she explained that the CDC had recommended fourth shots for people with compromised immune systems, but it didn't help. She asked to speak with the pharmacist directly. "We waited and waited. I can't stand for long periods of time, and so after about 20 minutes, we had to leave," she said. Her next stop was the pharmacy at an Acme Market in nearby Mohegan Lake. "When I told the pharmacist what happened at CVS, he said, 'that's ridiculous. Of course we'll do it for you,'" she remembers. "But then he said he'd have to call his manager, and the manager said no." Nunn says she then called to make an appointment at Save Mor Drugs, a locally owned pharmacy in nearby Croton-on-Hudson. "I told the [pharmacist] the whole story, and he said, 'that's terrible. Of course we'll give it to you,' " she remembers. But then, after speaking with his manager, the pharmacist said he couldn't give the shot because the pharmacy would " 'get in trouble,' " Nunn remembers. "They're paying people to get vaccinated, and they're begging people to get boosted, and they won't give me this shot," Nunn said, referring to various programs nationwide that have offered financial incentives for getting vaccinated. To make matters worse, Nunn's rheumatologist had directed her to go off Cellcept the day before the shot to increase the chances that the vaccine would be effective. Stopping the drug for even a day had made her tired and achy, and it turned out she had done it for nothing. Plus, Nunn still lives in lockdown mode because an encounter with the virus could kill her. By going to the pharmacies, she had twice gone out in public -- and it ended up being for nothing. In an email to CNN, CVS spokesperson Matt Blanchette said, "We are following CDC guidance and administering 4th doses of COVID-19 vaccine to patients who meet all eligibility requirements," and "as soon as fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccine were approved for immunocompromised patients, we communicated the eligibility guidelines to our pharmacy teams and updated our appointment scheduling system. We are continuing to educate and reinforce the guidance on fourth doses and following up with our pharmacies to address any confusion about eligibility." Dana Ward, a spokeswoman for Acme, the second pharmacy where Nunn was turned away, said in an email to CNN that "we are looking further into this but can confirm that our pharmacies have followed CDC guidance and starting 1/7, are administering 4th doses to immunocompromised patients who received their 3rd COVID vaccine more than 5 months ago." At Save Mor, the third place where Nunn was turned down, pharmacy technician Liam Schneider told CNN that "we can't be freely giving out free fourth doses to people who have already received a third dose." When CNN said the CDC has recommended fourth doses for people like Nunn, Schneider reflected on what he had told Nunn and said, "we probably gave her misinformation." Then he added that his pharmacy requires proof that someone is immune-compromised, such as a note from a doctor or medical records. The CDC does not suggest requiring documentation that someone is immune-compromised in order to get a fourth dose. 'I came home and I sobbed' On August 13, the CDC gave permission for immune-compromised people to get third doses. Because the fourth dose comes five months later, patients started to visit pharmacies about two weeks ago. Teri Dary, who takes an immunosuppressant to treat a neurological condition, said she was turned down at a Walgreens in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Walgreens spokesperson Alex Brown said in a statement to CNN, "Patient safety and wellbeing is our top priority. As vaccination guidelines continue to evolve, we make every effort to continuously update our pharmacy teams with the latest clinical guidelines and information." Angie Rush, a kidney transplant recipient, says she was turned down at a Kroger pharmacy in Royal Oak, Michigan. A statement from Kroger spokesperson Kristal Howard says, "We continue to follow the CDC's recommended COVID-19 vaccination guidelines, providing up to four doses for eligible patients. Our healthcare providers have been trained to support this policy." Immune-compromised people say hospitals have also turned them away for fourth shots. Glenn Menard, a liver transplant recipient, says he was turned down last week at UCLA Health for a fourth shot, and Rush, the woman who says she was turned away at Kroger, said Henry Ford Health System in Detroit called last week to cancel her appointment for a fourth shot. Both were five months past their third shot, and both said the hospitals told them they had to wait until they were six months out. Originally, when the CDC recommended fourth shots for the immune-compromised, it said to wait six months, but in early January -- weeks before Menard and Rush showed up for their fourth shots -- the CDC shortened that interval to five months. Rush, 46, said she felt defeated after getting turned away at two places. She was hoping that maybe four shots would give her enough protection that she could finally visit her daughter, who lives out of state. "I came home and I sobbed, quite frankly," she said. "I haven't seen my daughter in two years." A spokesperson for Henry Ford sent CNN a statement that says, "throughout the pandemic we have adhered to the CDC's guidance on administering vaccines to all of our patient populations including our transplant and immunocompromised patients. We continue to follow those recommendations. Earlier this month when the CDC revised the timeline for giving immunocompromised individuals a fourth dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, we promptly updated our policy to reflect these changes." In a statement, UCLA spokesperson Phil Hampton wrote that "UCLA Health follows all updated guidance from the FDA and CDC on vaccine schedules and timing, including administration of supplemental and booster doses to immunocompromised patients." 'We haven't been given guidance on this' Several of the pharmacies that denied fourth shots told CNN that they look to their state health departments for guidance, and they'd heard nothing from them about fourth shots for immune-compromised people. Crystal Boatenreiter, a liver transplant recipient, says she was denied a fourth shot at Springfield Drug Store in Springfield, Louisiana. David Cassanova, the pharmacist there, told CNN that he's been watching his state website and hasn't seen anything about fourth shots for immune-compromised people. "People on the front lines are not familiar with fourth doses being available yet," he said. "We haven't been given guidance on this." On its website, the Louisiana Department of Health states that people who are immune-compromised should receive a third vaccine dose 28 days after their second dose. The department makes no mention of a fourth shot. When asked about fourth shots for people who are immunocompromised, Michelle McCalope, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Health, said that "we have encouraged everyone to complete their primary series and get the booster shot when eligible. According to CDC and LDH guidance, this group would now be eligible for their booster shot." A review last week by CNN found that several state health departments fail to mention on their websites that the CDC recommends four shots for immune-compromised people. "A person should not receive more than three mRNA doses," according to guidance on a New York state government website labeled "For Immunocompromised New Yorkers." After CNN reached out to the New York Department of Health, that sentence was deleted, and information was added advising fourth doses. The Department of Health did send guidance on November 21 to pharmacies and other health care providers saying that moderately to severely immune-compromised adults "may receive a total of four COVID-19 vaccine doses." That line appears twice in a 16-page document that deals with a variety of vaccine issues for the entire population. "As always, this guidance was communicated to all New York State licensed healthcare providers, as well as directly shared with all COVID-19 vaccine providers and administrators," Samantha Fuld, a New York State Department of Health spokesperson, wrote to CNN. States do sometimes have outdated information on their websites, said Fraser, the CEO of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials. "My guess is, lots of stuff on those sites are out of date if you were to take a look," he said, adding that information "changes all the time, and states aren't always the best at updating their websites." Rosa Baier, an associate professor at the Brown University School of Public Health whose immune-compromised mother was initially turned down for a fourth dose, added that the language on the CDC's website is not always straightforward. The two CDC pages with vaccination guidance for the immune-compromised don't actually mention fourth shots or doses, instead using language such as "COVID-19 primary series vaccination" and "additional primary dose." "You have to read between the lines to see that they're referring to shots one, two, three and four," she said. "You have to read it a few times to interpret it." Baier said that such language is "confusing," and on January 7, she wrote a letter to the CDC requesting "clear communication of fourth-dose eligibility to vaccine providers," "I wish they had laid it out in 'shots number one, two, three, four" terminology, because that's how people think about it and that's how the shots are referred to on the vaccine card," Baier told CNN. "Vaccine providers should know that immunocompromised people with three doses on their vaccine cards are eligible for a fourth." Nordlund, the CDC spokesperson, said the agency used language that it hoped would clarify that only immune-compromised people should get fourth doses, not anyone else. She added that the agency has heard from immune-compromised people and their families, and "we're going to work harder at it to make sure those people are protected." Success for some immune-compromised patients Of the six immune-compromised patients contacted by CNN last week, all but one of them eventually managed to get a fourth shot. Several got them at CVS. The day after CNN reached out to the retail chain, several patients reported that pharmacists told them that "corporate" had reached out to tell them them to give fourth doses to immune-compromised patients. Menard, the liver transplant patient in California, was one of them. Menard's wife, a former journalist, led the effort to get her husband his shots. She said although she's pleased her husband was eventually successful, she's frustrated that it wasn't a smoother process for her and so many other families. "It's not good for people running around trying to go to five different pharmacies, because it's not safe," Jill Gottesman said. She remembers last week, showing pharmacists pages from the CDC's website, only to have them tell her they wouldn't give the shot. "It would be nice if they believed us," she said. "We're not trying to pull one over on you. We just need the shot." The-CNN-Wire & 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved. A former Casper police officer gouged a mans eye during a fight that stemmed from a protest over a COVID-19 vaccine mandate, authorities allege in a court document released Tuesday. Jesse Jones, who was with the Casper Police Department for five years before resigning in the midst of an investigation, now faces a single misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment. He pleaded not guilty to the charge during his initial court appearance Tuesday. The mans injuries required him to be flown to a Denver hospital. An affidavit filed in Natrona County Circuit Court states that while off-duty, Jones was picketing outside of Seton House on Oct. 1 when the alleged victim, the husband of the organizations director, approached him. While the alleged victim told police Jones threw the first punch, Jones and three other witnesses said that the other man was the aggressor. The investigation concluded that the alleged victim instigated the fight, but that Jones gouged the mans eye after he stopped posing a threat to Jones. The alleged victim told investigators, according to court filings, that Jones also pulled a handgun on him during the fight, and stuck his finger in (his) eye, prompting him to be flown to a hospital in Denver to treat his injuries. Jones said that he told the alleged victim to stop, and backed away from him on H Street until Jones pulled out a gun, according to the affidavit. As a crowd began to gather, court filings state that the alleged victim and Jones ended up fighting on the ground. One witness reportedly said Jones had overcome the alleged victim during the fight and was punching his face into the ground. Jones told investigators that he then took his finger, hooked it into the mans eye socket and yanked his eye out of its socket. He then said, according to the affidavit, that he backed away. A video taken on Jones phone obtained by investigators shows the alleged victim talking about Jones pulling out his gun while coming towards him as Jones backs away, the court document states. The alleged victim said, according to court filings, that he was not charging Jones but just trying to reach his truck. The protest, which appeared to consist only of Jones with a sign, was reported to police before multiple calls reported a fight outside of Seton House that afternoon, the affidavit states. The director told police she had previously received threatening emails from Jones. Seton House, which runs a self-sufficiency program and provides housing for single parents who are homeless, implemented a vaccine mandate in September, requiring families staying in their units to be vaccinated by Nov. 1 and mandating masks for anyone in their offices. Jones was placed on administrative leave while the incident was investigated by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Following an internal investigation, Casper Police Department officials said they found his actions were not in line with (their) Code of Conduct and began the process to terminate him. Jones reportedly resigned before the process was complete, and told a judge Tuesday that he is not currently employed. Citing a conflict of interest, the Natrona County District Attorneys office turned over the decision to prosecute to Josh Stensaas, a deputy county and prosecuting attorney in Johnson County. Stensaas declined to comment on the case Tuesday. The Royal Air Force Museums Avro Shackleton AEW.2, WR960, recently had to move from its long term home at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, England. It will eventually go on display at the Avro Heritage Museum in Woodford, Cheshire. Interestingly, this facility sits upon the grounds of the old A.V. Roe & Company factory from which WR960 first flew back on February 5th, 1954. Unfortunately, the Avro Heritage Museum does not presently have a display building big enough to house the fully-assembled Shackleton at present, so she will go into storage disassembled for the time being, but thankfully indoors. The reason for this somewhat precipitous move is that the Science and Industry Museum decided last year to close its Air & Space Hall which had housed the beautifully preserved, former Airborne Early Warning (AEW) patrol plane since 1983. Also displaced by this reluctant decision were numerous other historic airframes and artifacts which have had to find new homes as well. The reason behind the Air & Space Halls closure was simply one of economics, as the building, despite its magnificence, is approaching its sesquicentennial and in dire need of major repairs the budget for which the non-profit museum could not justify. As a result, they have vacated their lease of this magnificent building, erected back in 1878 to serve as the Lower Campfield Market Hall, and returned the structure to its owners, the Manchester City Council. GJD Services Ltd., which specialize in moving complex objects, and large aircraft in particular, were involved in the airframes disassembly and transport to Woodford; they appear to have performed this task admirably, as the images below should attest. The Avro Shackleton traces its roots all the way back to the Avro Manchester, forerunner to the magnificent Lancaster bomber of WWII fame. It emerged as a maritime patrol and antisubmarine bomber during the early days of the Cold War and could also assist search and rescue missions. Much like its American contemporary, the Lockheed Neptune, the aircraft could fly for extreme durations of up to 24 hours. While most Shackletons flew into retirement during the 1960s and early 70s, a dozen examples were set aside for conversion into AEW platforms. This was a stop-gap measure, introduced in 1971, which cobbled together the AN/APS-20 search radar radars (from retired Royal Navy Fairey Gannet AEW.3s) with redundant Shackleton MR.2 airframes to provide Britain with Airborne Early Warning coverage while the more modern and sophisticated ultimately too sophisticated Hawker-Siddeley Nimrod AEW progressed from promising prototype into production. The latter program proved to be a nightmare, dragging on into the late 1980s with no solutions in sight; the Shackleton AEW.2 soldiered on admirably until 1991 when the RAF finally axed the Nimrod AEWs and bought Boeing E-3D Sentrys instead. WR960 underwent its conversion from MR.2 into an AEW.2 during 1971/1972, with No.8 Squadron taking her on strength at RAF Kinloss on June 7th, 1972. She retired from military service at RAF Cosford on November 22nd, 1982 and arrived for display at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester on January 27th, 1983 coincidentally, exactly 39 years ago today! Hopefully the aircraft will have an appropriate building to display her fully at Woodford before too long; this important airframe, the only one of its variant preserved indoors, must have a secure future. WATERLOO Winning out over a competing proposal, American Airlines will continue to offer flights between Waterloo and Chicago through 2024 twice-daily six days a week and once on Saturday. American Airlines operating as its regional airline affiliate, American Eagle will provide 13 weekly roundtrip flights between Waterloo Regional Airport and Chicago OHare. The agreement, announced Tuesday, was reached between the airline and the U.S. Department of Transportations Office of Aviation Analysis, and was welcome news to airport Director Keith Kaspari. Thankfully, the DOT stepped up and provided that continuation of service, Kaspari told the airport commission during its monthly meeting Wednesday. The new flight schedule will begin May 1, according to Kaspari. Currently, the airline provides twice-daily flights seven days a week. Kaspari is hopeful AA might provide an improved schedule of early morning and early afternoon departures from Waterloo as it had done previously instead of two afternoon departures as it has now. That was a critical morning departure that everybody seemed to like, Kaspari said, noting it allowed people more connection options in Chicago. Waterloo is part of the federally subsidized Essential Air Service program, which ensures service continues to smaller metro airports. American has been the airports only commercial carrier since April 2012, when it replaced Delta Airlines. Per the agreement, AA will receive just shy of $4 million per year from the DOT to service Waterloo for the next two years. This time, American Airlines proposal of 13 weekly flights to Chicago was joined by a proposal from Air Choice One, an EAS-exclusive airline that proposed 24 weekly flights to Minneapolis/St. Paul instead. In a letter to the DOT in December, Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart said the city preferred to stick with AA, noting Air Choice Ones smaller planes, increased fares, less connectivity in Minneapolis compared with Chicago and its lack of agreements with other carriers, the latter of which would require passengers to recheck bags and reclear TSA screening in Minneapolis. Iowas two U.S. senators, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, as well as 1st District U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, also requested the DOT agree to AAs contract, and applauded the decision when it was announced. We are thrilled the DOT has approved our request to continue roundtrip air service from the Waterloo Regional Airport, Grassley and Hinson said in a joint statement. Whether conducting business or going on vacation, these flights will continue to provide Iowans with convenient travel options connecting folks to OHare, a bustling nerve center for airline travel and bringing more economic activity to Waterloo. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A prayer cap. Prayer beads. Advertisement A sponge. Cardboard. Advertisement For the average person, these items are easy to come by. That wasnt always the case for Moath al-Alwi, a Yemeni citizen and prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. He had been captured near the Afghanistan border in December 2001, a few months after 9/11, and arrested but never charged with a crime. He was suspected of working for al-Qaida. While imprisoned, al-Alwi and other detainees sang, and some taught themselves how to draw, paint and build furniture. Al-Alwi used prayer caps, cardboard and acrylic paint to create intricate miniature ships; some of the materials were traded among prisoners, said Cullen Strawn, Old Dominion Universitys executive director for the arts. The work of al-Alwi and five others is part of Art from Guantanamo Bay, a show at the universitys Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries on view through May 7. The show includes 101 pieces from al-Alwi and Ahmed Rabbani, who are current detainees, as well as former ones. Work from Mansoor Adayfi is also on display. He was detained for 14 years and released in 2016. He wrote a 2021 memoir Dont Forget Us Here about his experience, including torture. Adayfi participated in the universitys October literary festival and Strawn was able to talk to him about art and life after his release. In January 2018, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the prison camp open indefinitely. Three years later, President Joe Biden said closing the prison camp was his goal. Jan. 11 was the 20th anniversary of the opening of the facility. Some of the artwork was released to the detainees attorneys, but not before the pieces were combed for hidden messages. Cleared items were marked with an Approved by US Forces stamp. Advertisement In a sense, the stamp ruins the art, Strawn said, but its also part of the story. Some works have multiple stamps of approval on it, so if its a two-dimensional work, like a painting or a drawing, they might stamp it on the back and the ink might bleed through to the front. Strawn said materials were more accessible at one point around 2012 in Camp VI, the maximum-security detention facility at Guantanamo. He called it a golden era because detainees could congregate, get a few more materials for their work, eat better food and have calls with their families back home. Good cardboard and other materials became their currency, he said. Moath might sell a chair or a shelf that he made to someone for a certain amount of cardboard. Also on display are handwritten copies of Yemen Milk & Honey Farms Limited: A Self-Sustained And Self-Sufficient Project, a business plan created by five Yemeni detainees. The copies are inside the universitys MagicBox, an interactive display with a touchscreen that visitors can use to read it. Saifullah Shasha Paracha, a Pakistani businessman and detainee, taught fellow prisoners English and business and encouraged them to write the report. The detainees are not allowed to return to Yemen so they havent been able to start the project, Strawn said. Music from the detainees countries, including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan and Tajikistan, also plays throughout the galleries. Advertisement Music adds sensory depth to the exhibition and offers a window into detainees aesthetics and humanity, Strawn said. Strawn wanted to bring the show to ODU after finding out about the artwork a few years ago. They were on display at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He reached out to art crime professor Erin Thompson in 2017, visited, and asked if they could work together and expand it into a traveling exhibition. He also worked with attorney Beth Jacob, who represents al-Alwi. Al-Alwi and four other men were approved for release by a government review panel this month. The New York Times reported that their release will likely take some time because the Biden administration has to find nations willing to take them. Mansoor Adayfi, Untitled (Figure), 2016, Watercolor and marker on paper, 11 x 8 inches. (Courtesy of Old Dominion University) Strawn thought the show would be a good fit for Old Dominion because it has multiple colleges, departments and programs. In addition, part of the galleries mission is to show contemporary art, including self-taught artists. He said art creates a rich discussion around these topics. Art from Guantanamo Bay offers a glimpse into the fears and hopes of the detainees as they waited to rejoin the outside world, Strawn said. Muhammad Ansi painted a piece in 2016 that was inspired by the sea. Originally from Yemen, he was detained for nearly 15 years before being released in January 2017. Ansi learned to paint and draw while at Guantanamo. His painting, Hands Holding Flowers through Bars, speaks to endurance, physical and mental crises, and hope, Strawn said. Advertisement Muhammad Ansi, Untitled (Hands Holding Flowers through Bars), 2016, Pigment on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches. (Courtesy of Old Dominion University) The men were held near the sea but their cages were covered by tarps, Strawn said. The tarps were removed for safety reasons in 2016 as Hurricane Matthew threatened Cuba. The detainees finally saw the ocean. Art became a way for the men to temporarily forget the torture and incarceration, and discover ways to express themselves creatively. Al-Alwi used soap as glue. Hed make chairs, tables and bookshelves and adhered them to the wall, Strawn said. He believes viewers will be impressed by the artwork, particularly al-Alwis ships. When you walk up to them, theyre just so magnificent, Strawn said. When you think of the materials that they had access to in order to make that, its very evident how inventive he is. Moath Al Alwi, Untitled (GIANT), 2017, Mixed media (cardboard, rope, fabric, plastic, and acrylic paint), 27 x 32 x 7 inches. (Courtesy of Old Dominion University) A design for one of his ships was inspired by an eagle he saw flying as he looked out of a window. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > That became such an important symbol of freedom to him, Strawn said. In a lot of Muslim, Islamic cultures or societies, one is not really supposed to represent a living being, which is why you dont see depictions of Allah like you see depictions of Jesus. This eagle was so important to him as a symbol of freedom that he negotiated that with himself and included the wings. That personal negotiation of religion is very interesting. Advertisement Saleen Martin, 757-446-2027, saleen.martin@pilotonline.com ___ If you go When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday through May 7; reception at 6 p.m. Jan. 27 Where: Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, 4509 Monarch Way, Norfolk Cost: Free Details: tinyurl.com/GordonArtGalleries, artfromguantanamo.com, gordongalleries@odu.edu or 757-683-6271 WATERLOO The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the sentence of a Plainfield man who was convicted of having sex with a teenage girl and then traveled to Minnesota for another teen. Goodsell committed the same type of offense against a different child less than two months after the Iowa court deferred judgment. Under these circumstances, the court did not abuse its discretion, the Court of Appeals wrote in a decision released Thursday. According to court records, Jaymes Donalde Goodsell had originally been granted a deferred judgment meaning he had a chance to expunge the charge from his record and probation in 2017 on a third-degree sexual abuse charge for impregnating a 14-year-old in Waterloo when he was 19. A month after the sentence was handed down, Goodsell went to live with a different 14-year-old girl in Minnesota, violating the terms of probation by leaving Iowa. Shortly after that, Minnesota authorities arrested Goodsell on charges of kidnapping and soliciting a child to engage in sexual conduct. He was in a Minnesota prison until February 2021, when he was returned to Iowa. Assessments that followed found Goodsell to be at high risk to re-offend, and an Iowa judge cancelled the deferred judgment and sentenced him to up to 10 years in prison to be followed with lifetime parole, according to court records. The judge also declined to count Goodsells Minnesota prison time for his Iowa prison sentence. Goodsell, now 24, appealed the Iowa sentence, and the three-judge panel of the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the punishment in a ruling handed down Thursday. 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. WATERLOO After years of work on student learning as a deputy superintendent in another eastern Iowa urban district, Amy Kortemeyer is ready to take the lead for Waterloo Community Schools. Its a passion of mine, as well as most educators, to improve student outcomes, Kortemeyer, who has been with Iowa City Community Schools since 2015, said in a phone interview. She believes the efforts underway in the two districts to accomplish that are deeply aligned. The 50-year-old is one of four superintendent finalists who will be visiting the district Thursday for a day of interviews. She earned a masters degree in elementary reading/language arts from the University of Northern Iowa and a bachelors degree from the University of Iowa. I certainly think a lot of the work that we have going on in Iowa City is also germane to Waterloo, Kortemeyer said, noting that some of that involves diversity, equity and inclusion. She noted her district is seeing pretty disparate results with student outcomes that educators are working to address. She started as director of elementary schools with the Iowa City district. Six months later, in January 2016, Kortemeyer moved into her current position, which then had the title of assistant superintendent. The title changed to deputy superintendent of educational services in the past year, and she is one of two people with a deputy superintendent title. In the position, she oversees student enrollment, mentors first- and second-year principals, and supervises all teaching and learning in the district. She also helped create a fully accredited online learning program for the district. Kortemeyer and her husband have two adult children. She grew up in the Linn County community of Lisbon. She started her career in 1993 as a fourth-grade teacher for the Aldine Independent School District in the Houston, Texas, area. She returned to Iowa in 1995 to work as a sixth-grade teacher in the Benton Community Schools. From 1997 to 2008, she worked in the Cedar Rapids Community Schools. She was an elementary teacher for five years and then, starting in 2002, served as an elementary school principal. She moved to Linn-Mar Community Schools for seven years as the elementary director of teaching and learning. During her last year, Kortemeyer worked in the position part-time and served as the part-time superintendent of the adjacent Springville Community Schools before being hired by Iowa City Schools. Certainly, the Waterloo School District offers a rich tradition of excellence, she said, expressing hope for the opportunity to contribute her skills and knowledge to the system. Im really excited and honored and humbled to get interviewed this Thursday. 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. NO-NAME PLATES: A Senate panel greenlighted proposal to remove county names from Iowa license plates, sending Senate Study Bill 3045 to the full Transportation Committee. The bill, which originated with the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association, would allow the Iowa Department of Transportation to issue plates without a county name. Iowa is one of six states that puts county names on plates. With electronic titling and treasurers in contiguous counties being able to issues plates, removing the county names seems to be the next logical step, Sen. Waylon Brown, R-Osage, said. A survey of sheriffs and deputies found that 77% supported keeping county names on license plates, but their lobbyist said it is a lower priority than requiring plates on the front and back of vehicles. The DOT estimates removing county names could save $242,000 over a 10-year cycle. Universal plates also would allow the DOT to send plates where needed when there are supply chain issues. Lobbyists also suggested that license plates, as they now exist, may be replaced by more technologically advanced forms of identification. If the county name is necessary for law enforcement or other purposes, then they should be added to all of the 62 specialty plates the DOT issues, Sen. Mike Klimesh, R-Spillville, said. HOUSING PERMITS: Housing permit numbers in Iowa showed gains in the most recent report from the Legislative Services Agency based on Census Bureau data, but they remain well below peaks before the 2007-08 recession. The 12-month total of Iowa single-family housing permits peaked in January 2006 at 12,962 units. During 2020 and the pandemic economic downturn, single-family units totals averaged 9,004. The latest 12-month single-family annual unit total through December 2021 is 10,198. When multifamily housing is included, the most recent 12-month total is 14,278, down nearly 16% from January 2006. However, the annual total of housing permits was nearly 14 percent higher in December 2021 compared to December 2020. EDUCATION GRANTS: Thirty-eight Iowa employers and partner organizations were awarded $1.4 million in grants to help Iowans achieve postsecondary training and education. Among the recipients was B & D Services Inc. in Independence, which received $49,050. B & D Services will increase its skilled workforce of direct support professionals in the field of health and human services and expand its Building Bridges Training Program that provides stackable certifications for new employees as well as upskilling existing employees. The program offers training and certifications through multiple training providers. Combined, the Employer Innovation Fund awards will boost workforce talent by helping 3,542 Iowans earn noncredit and for-credit credentials that will enable them to obtain or maintain high-demand jobs, Gov. Kim Reynolds said. The grants can be used to cover the cost of training and education supplies, as well as to provide services addressing other barriers that some Iowans face when trying to obtain skilled training. Awards ranged from $1,000 to $50,000. Recipients are listed on the futurereadyiowa.gov website. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: Legislation to prohibit government from treating religious conduct more restrictively than secular conduct of comparable risk moved forward Thursday in a House Judiciary subcommittee. Proponents said House Study Bill 593 was not in response to any action by Iowa government toward houses of worship and religious activities. Rather they were motivated by examples of church gatherings being restricted or prohibited during the coronavirus pandemic while restaurants, casinos and retail businesses remained open. There was a consensus of support for equal treatment of houses of worship with similarly situated businesses. However, some speakers warned the bill went too far in that it would allow people to decide for themselves which laws they did not have to follow because a law conflicts with their religious beliefs. This bill is bad for everyone, but it significantly harms Iowans who disproportionately experience discrimination, Laura Hessburg of the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence said in written comments. The negative impact extends well beyond Iowas anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ residents. Lance Kinzer of the First Amendment Partnership said the bill would reduce litigation and conflict. Although the U.S. Supreme Court issued rulings clarifying state restrictions on religious gatherings during the pandemic, many churches had to go to court when the standard should have been clear to begin with, Kinzer said. All the bill does, he said, is assure that Iowans with religious freedom issues get the same treatment as citizens in most other states. EXECUTIVE ORDERS: A proposal to prohibit state and local government from enforcing a presidential executive order if the Iowa attorney general determined it was unconstitutional won support in a House State Government subcommittee Thursday. Under House File 2012, the Legislative Council made up of lawmakers could refer an executive order to the attorney general and governor for review. The attorney general would be required to determine if the order is constitutional and whether Iowa should seek an exemption or a ruling on its constitutionality. If it restricts an Iowans rights, it could not be enforced. Rather than the governor and attorney general determining and orders constitutionality, Rep. Mary Wolfe, D-Clinton, said it should be left for a court to rule. Rep. Jon Jacobsen, R-Council Bluffs, said awaiting a Supreme Court decision could be time-consuming and costly. INMATE DIES: Kenneth Louis Howell Jr., 59, died due to complications related to COVID-19 and other preexisting medical conditions Jan. 23 at the Clarinda Regional Health Center, the Iowa Department of Corrections announced. An autopsy will be completed by the State Medical Examiner. Howell began serving a 35-year maximum sentence for prohibited acts manufacture, delivery, possession out of Lee County on Oct. 16, 2018. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 CEDAR RAPIDS As she pushes for a more forceful response to Russian aggression toward Ukraine, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, draws on a personal perspective. This hits me very hard, said Ernst, who as a college student lived on collective farm while on an agricultural exchange in Ukraine in 1989. The one thing that we took away from there was not just the differences in our agriculture, but the fact that Ukraine at that time wanted to be an independent, free nation, she said Tuesday in Cedar Rapids. So yes, I have strong feelings about this, she said about threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade his independent neighbor. It is extremely disheartening to see his actions and the buildup as he prepares for a potential invasion." Ernst has been calling on the Biden administration to impose tougher sanctions on Russia now as a deterrent to an invasion. Russia has amassed weapons and more than 100,000 troops on Ukraines eastern border. Put those sanctions in place. We can ratchet them up even higher if he does invade, she said. We need to start pushing back now and letting President Putin know that we do mean that we are actually going to follow through on what we're saying we're going to do. We need to prevent an invasion. Once an invasion happens, lives are lost and (Putin) gains territory, Ernst said, adding that Russia has not moved out of Georgia and Crimea after invading those former Soviet states. Ernst, an Army combat veteran, is not calling for U.S. military involvement beyond providing lethal weapons to help Ukraine defend itself. Congress has allowed for $450 million of aid to Ukraine. Diplomacy always must be the first answer. When diplomacy fails, that's when all of those actions will be considered, she said. But I think it's imperative we start putting the sanctions in place now to try to prevent that. Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has criticized President Joe Biden for a doctrine of appeasement toward Putin. Its not just the fate of Ukraine and Ukrainians at stake, according to Ernst. Russia invading Ukraine matters to Americans not only for the safety and security of our partners in Europe, she told CNN. When we have a stable Europe, when we have democracy around the globe, it makes our country safer. This matters. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Dont be alarmed if your social media feeds explode with scary-sounding weather terms like bomb cyclone, bombogenesis or bombing out for a potentially strong winter storm in the forecast for the U.S. Northeast this weekend. Those are actual terms used by meteorologists when storm systems rapidly intensify as cold air collides with warm air. And the coastal storm thats expected to form in the southeastern United States this Friday, potentially bringing heavy snow and fierce winds to East Coast states, might become strong enough to qualify as a bomb cyclone, according to forecasters from AccuWeather and the National Weather Service. It actually does look likely that it will be a bomb cyclone, Paul Fitzsimmons, a meteorologist at the National Weather Services forecast office in New Jersey, said Wednesday morning. The confidence is pretty high that this storm is going to develop and is going to be significant and is likely to become a bomb cyclone. Bombogenesis and bomb cyclones This is how the National Weather Service describes bombogenesis and bomb cyclones: Bombogenesis, a popular term used by meteorologists, occurs when a mid-latitude cyclone rapidly intensifies, dropping at least 24 millibars over 24 hours. A millibar measures atmospheric pressure. This can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass, such as air over warm ocean waters. The formation of this rapidly strengthening weather system is a process called bombogenesis, which creates what is known as a bomb cyclone. Although a bomb cyclone can occur in the spring or autumn, it is more common during the winter season, when noreasters tend to develop along the Atlantic coast and quickly intensify into a major snowstorm or a blizzard. Bomb cyclones rarely form in the summer, according to the National Weather Service, which notes this weather term is not used for hurricanes and other storm systems that originate in the tropics. When hurricanes strengthen when their central pressure drops and their wind speeds get stronger the process is typically known as rapid intensification. What is cyclogenesis? Another weather term that often pops up on social media is cyclogenesis, which is defined as the formation or intensification of a cyclone or low-pressure storm system. Cyclogenesis is a more general term than bombogenesis because it does not require a specific threshold of a storms pressure dropping over a certain time frame. In short, bombogenesis is a specific type of cyclogenesis, and it has to meet the threshold of having its atmospheric pressure drop 24 millibars in 24 hours. As one weather website explains it, Bombogenesis is cyclogenesis taken to the extreme. What is the origin of these strange-sounding words? The term bombogenesis comes from the merging of two words: bomb and cyclogenesis, AccuWeather explains. All storms are cyclones, and genesis means the creation or beginning. In this case, bomb refers to explosive development. Altogether the term means explosive storm strengthening. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Weather Alert ...MORE WINDY DAYS ON THE WAY, WITH COLDER TEMPERATURES AND RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS FOR MOTHER'S DAY WEEKEND... --Thursday and Friday-- * A pair of systems brushing through the region will bring gusty winds both days, with Friday looking to have the strongest peak winds. Anticipate wind gusts of 35-45 mph Thursday, and 35-55 mph Friday, locally stronger in wind prone locations. Winds will bring travel difficulties both in the air and on the ground. Travel restrictions for high profile vehicles are possible. Check with CalTrans/NDOT for the current road information. * Area of blowing dust are possible both afternoons downwind of the Carson Sink, possibly affecting portions of I-80, US 50, and Highway 95. In addition, backcountry and ski recreation could be impacted along with choppy conditions on area lakes. * A few light showers with minimal liquid totals are possible in far northern Nevada and northeast California. --Mother's Day Weekend into Early Next Week-- * It will remain breezy throughout the weekend, with a secondary max in wind speeds on Sunday due to a strong cold front. This front will usher in a much colder air mass and high temperatures on Mother's Day will be 15-20 degrees below normal. * There will be rain and snow showers with the front, but again, liquid amounts will be minimal. There are solid chances for snow levels to fall to all valley floors by Sunday evening, which may catch many off guard, though it is hard to get snow to stick to roadways in lower elevation valleys this late in the spring. * Well below normal temperatures and chances for light showers will continue into Monday and Tuesday next week. While still some uncertainty due to winds and cloud cover, it's possible we could have frost and freeze concerns Sunday and Monday nights. NEW ORLEANS The debut work of Seattle author Nathan Harris has earned him the 2021 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Harris' The Sweetness of Water chronicles the unlikely bond forged between two freed men and a Georgia farmer set as the Civil War nears its end. The three form an alliance that ultimately alters each of their lives. Advertisement Harris, 29, said hes always been fascinated with historical fiction surrounding the Civil War, including books like Cold Mountain and Gone With the Wind. I had never read a story, personally, that was set immediately after slaves were freed, Harris said in an interview with The Associated Press. So I started to read some oral histories that discussed that time when the gate was opened and people had to decide whether to stay or go. I couldn't imagine what that would be like, so I put that to paper and began to explore. Advertisement The Baton Rouge Area Foundation presents the award, in its 15th year, annually to an emerging African American fiction writer to honor Gaines, whose stories gave voice to African Americans in rural areas. The winner also receives $15,000. Harris said he was thrilled to learn his work had earned such high praise. You go into writing books and never expect much, Harris said. You hope to have this sort of flow or trajectory upwards but never expect it. To get an honor like this is so surreal. It's all so surreal to see my name next to that of Ernest Gaines. Gaines work, he said, continues to move readers around the world. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > His mission was to promote literacy and a love of literature, and I do not take it lightly that I now have an opportunity to further that mission. I follow in Mr. Gaines' footsteps and the footsteps of previous winners of this award, and that is the greatest distinction of all, Harris said. Originally from Ashland, Oregon, Harris graduated in 2020 with a fine arts masters degree from the Michener Center at the University of Texas. He has won the University of Oregons Kidd Prize and was a finalist for the Tennessee Williams Fiction Prize. Oprah Winfrey also selected his book for her global reading club, helping it break into the New York Times bestsellers list for two weeks in July. Harris said he's been writing his whole life. I was one of those elementary kids who wasn't good at math or science or sports, though I tried, he said. But I could always keep people interested in my stories. I kept at it through high school and college and here we are. I think I was put here to share stories with people and I'm glad it worked out. I really didn't have much of a Plan B." Advertisement A national panel of judges selected Harris' work out of 36 entries, a record number of eligible submissions, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation said. Previous winners include Everywhere You Dont Belong by Gabriel Bump, Lot by Bryan Washington, A Lucky Man by Jamel Brinkley, Birds of Opulence by Crystal Wilkinson, Welcome to Braggsville by T. Geronimo Johnson, The Cutting Season by Attica Locke, We Are Only Taking What We Need by Stephanie Powell Watts and How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu. Gaines was a native of Oscar in Pointe Coupee Parish, which was the setting for many of his novels. He died in 2019 at the age of 86. His critically acclaimed novel, The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, was adapted into a television movie that won nine Emmy awards. His 1993 novel, A Lesson Before Dying, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Living in a tourist mecca certainly comes with its share of gripes; then again, millions of visitors to the city each year means we have ample places to stay. You know what this means: ample hotel bars. Of course, you'll basically have them all to your local selves right now since tourism is, uh, a bit quiet lately. All the better to enjoy an after-work happy hour or a clandestine rendezvous, whether its kitschy or luxury you seek. Not on this list are a few bars also well worth checking out. Hotel Zelos' Dirty Habit, a rooftop hideaway where you might catch the occasional outdoor flick; Marriott Marquis' View Lounge, great for the you-know-what; and the sumptuous lobby lounges of the St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton, where we'd happily enjoy a glass of bubbly any day of the week. Salud! Charmaine's at Proper Hotel SF: High Design + Rooftop Views (Courtesy of @sanfranciscoproper) What's not to love about the Kelly Wearstlerdesigned San Francisco Proper Hotel? In transitional Mid-Market, the refurbished architectural gem is a bright spota haven for eclectic art, vintage and modern furnishings, and a pair of terrific haunts for food and drink. While the lobby restaurant Villon is great for date night, as bars go, Charmaine's is tops. The rooftop cocktail lounge is plushly kitted out with upholstered armchairs and love seats from which to order thoughtful tipples, such as the Mister Bigglesworth (George Dickel bourbon, El Silencio mezcal, apple mole, angostura and orange bitters) and Proper's take on the Pimm's Cup, served long with Hendricks gin, blackberry, cucumber, citrus, ginger beer, and absinthe. Peckish? There are small snacks and plenty of options to compose a full dinnerthink pork belly skewers, grilled chicken meatballs, cheeses, salads, and fish tacos. But the real selling point here are the fire pits on the terrace with downtown city views. Get there early to claim your seat. / / Proper Hotel, 1100 Market St. (Mid-Market), properhotel.com Redwood Room at the Clift: Art Deco Luxury (Courtesy of @redwoodroom) In a metropolis consumed by trendsnot to mention the ever-closing doors of the city's longstanding landmarksold favorites are something to celebrate. The Clift Hotel's Redwood Room, which unveiled a refresh in 2020, has special occasion written all over it. To say there's history here would be an understatement: The cocktail lounge takes its name from the 800-year-old redwood tree that panels its walls, columns, and back of the Art Decostyle bar. An ambient glow comes courtesy of Deco pendant lighting and there is even original art by the painter Gustav Klimt. New geometric carpeting picks up the Deco theme, and the menu features twists on the classics. Toast to longevity with the Redwood Room martini (Botanist gin, dry vermouth, and blue cheese olives). For a limited time in February 2022, the Redwood Room is teaming with The Macallan to offer whisky lovers a special package: a complimentary overnight stay in a junior suite, plus of a bottle of bubbles and a chocolate pairing, with two pours from the Masters Decanter Series at the bar. (Call 415.929.2372 or email redwoodroom@sonesta to reserve.) // Clift Hotel, 495 Geary St. (TenderNob), redwoodroomsf.com Chambers Eat + Drink at the Phoenix Hotel: Party Vibes by the Pool (Courtesy of Chambers) Poolside drinking and dining is not a thing in San Francisco. Unless you're checking into the Tenderloin rock and roll landmark Phoenix Hotel, or just stopping by for the vibe. At last reopening for regular post-Covid service on January 27th, Chambers is an ideal destination for outdoor imbibing. Can you say brunch by the pool? (Don't worry, they have heaters.) Our favorite meal of the week comes with everything from challah French toast to shakshuka plus, of course, cocktails whose somewhat remedial names (#4 Mezcal Drink and #7 Slushie du Jour) belie the sophistication of the concoctions. Speaking of sophisticated, the moody interiorpunctuation by a bright "Be Amazing" signis well-suited for dinner and date night. // Phoenix Hotel, 601 Eddy St. (Tenderloin), chambers-sf.com Marianne's at Hotel Zetta: A Little Bit Rock and Roll (Courtesy of @mariannes_sf) A pair of hot pink doors on Jessie Street alongside SoMa's Hotel Zetta are the giveaway to Marianne's, the once-private now reservations-only backroom lounge inspired by the rock-and-roll glamour of '60s icon Marianne Faithfull. Accessible during dinner hours through British-style It restaurant The Cavalier, Marianne's was designed by team Ken Fulk to encourage laid-back imbibing and overindulgence. When it's not reserved for the posh private parties of San Francisco's society and tech elite, the bar takes ressies for 60 to 90 minutes for couples and small groups. Caviar service and light nibbles come courtesy of The Cavalier. Reservations for two to eight guests are available via Tock. // Hotel Zetta, 360 Jessie (SoMa), mariannessf.com Gibson at Hotel Bijou: Cocktail Carts + Gilded Glamour (Courtesy of @sashastories) Art Deco styling, a sultry ceiling mural, tufted leather booths, and warm golden light add a touch of glamour to Hotel Bijou's Gibson, which is in fact an unpretentious environment to clink glasses of exceptional cocktails paired with New American cuisine cooked by live fire in the open kitchen. Dim sumstyle cocktail carts are on the move to provide tableside service of drinks garnished with locally foraged and house-pickled things. We like the innovative clear bloody mary (tomato water, oak-aged vodka, shochu, shoyu, fish sauce, and shichimi togarashi)a 2019 Big Drink pick. Pair your aperitif with a starter of white sturgeon caviar. Reservations are available via OpenTable. // 111 Mason St. (Tenderloin), gibsonsf.com Photographs by Bob Stefko En espanol At age 50, Jeff Lawler had never been married, despite meeting plenty of people through his Chicago restaurant, Geja's Cafe. The romantic fondue spot didn't work its magic for Lawler, now 59, until his future wife, Darla, now 55, walked in the door in 2012 These days the couple hopes the restaurant's romantic atmosphere will do the trick for others. Darla Lawler: Nancy, a good friend in Columbus, Ohio, had worked at Jeffs fondue restaurant in Chicago, and she was always telling me what a special place it was. Jeff Lawler: Its a European sort of wine cellar, with amber lighting. Were considered one of the most romantic restaurants in Chicago. Darla: When my teenage daughter and I traveled to Chicago in 2012, Nancy called Jeff and made us a reservation at the restaurant. Throughout our dinner, Jeff would come by and check on us and chat. At the end of the evening, he gave me a big hug and said, Heres a hug for Nancy. But I pretended the hug was for me. Jeff: I was 50 years old, and Id never been married, but I believed it would happen. The founder of the restaurant, John Davis, didnt marry until he was 55. Darla: Nothing happened right away, because we were both in relationships. But a year later, we were both free, and Nancy found out Id been intrigued by Jeff. She called him and got the ball rolling. Jeff and I started texting and talking and emailing, and eventually, he asked me if he could take me out to lunch. I thought he meant in Chicago but no, he flew to Columbus. The meal lasted five hours. I barely got him back to the airport in time for his flight home. Jeff: Im a romantic guy. And I knew Darla was a special lady. When both of her daughters were accepted into colleges in Chicago in 2015, I asked them to move here as a family. Darla: So, I sold my house and we moved that June. He made me wait for the proposal, though. Jeff: I kept telling her I wasnt ready. Part of it was that she had a ring of her fathers that she wanted to use for the stones in her engagement ring. I secretly removed the diamonds and replaced them with cubic zirconia while I had a ring designed. That December we planned a family dinner at the restaurant on a night it was closed. In my 22 years there, I had personally orchestrated over 500 couples getting engaged, but when it came to my own proposal, I didnt realize how anxious I would be. Darla: I was, like, What is going on with you? Youre sweating. Hes, like, Im fine. Im fine. Jeff: Then I went to one knee. Darla: Of course I said yes. Jeff: They say youll know when you know, and thats how it was for me. Maybe it seems like there were some delays, but for me it was perfect timing. As told to Bridgette Redman The Senate Judiciary committee voted 8-7 to pass by indefinitely on Senate Bill 563. The move essentially killed the legislation, which had been a major part of Attorney General Jason Miyares campaign. (Steve Helber/AP) A Virginia Senate committee on Wednesday rejected legislation that would have allowed new Attorney General Jason Miyares to seize control of certain criminal cases from local prosecutors. The Senate Judiciary committee voted 8-7 to pass by indefinitely on Senate Bill 563. The move essentially killed the legislation, which had been a major part of Miyares campaign. A similar bill remains pending in the House of Delegates. Advertisement Among those who spoke out against the legislation was Norfolks new Commonwealths Attorney, Ramin Fatehi, who spoke on behalf of several progressive prosecutors throughout the state, including Portsmouth Commonwealths Attorney Stephanie Morales. Fatehi, a Democrat, called the proposed bill a power grab by Miyares and a vendetta that is being prosecuted through legislation. The committees vote largely followed party lines, with Sen. Chap Peterson of Fairfax being the only Democrat to vote with Republicans to keep the legislation alive. Advertisement Despite the bills defeat in the senate, the Republican attorney general issued a statement late Wednesday expressing optimism that a House version of the legislation would move forward. Im thrilled that my bill for concurrent jurisdiction on child rape cases received bipartisan support among members of the General Assembly and Commonwealths Attorneys, the statement said. We are hopeful that the house bill will move forward and we hope that additional senators will take note of the overwhelming law enforcement support and join us as well. [ Jason Miyares Virginias new sheriff has had a busy first week. Hes not done. ] The bill was introduced to the committee by Republican Sen. Ryan McDougle, of Hanover, and was greatly scaled back from the initial version proposed. The original bill, filed on Jan. 12, would have given the attorney general authority to take over prosecution of a variety of violent criminal cases, including murders, rapes, robberies and malicious woundings at the request of a police chief or sheriff. A substitute bill brought forward Wednesday only asked to expand the attorney generals authority to cases involving sexual assaults in which the victim was a child, and would have allowed it without a request from law enforcement. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Wednesday that the changes were made after the Virginia Association of Commonwealths Attorneys voiced strong opposition to the bill, with 91% of its members voting at an emergency meeting to oppose it. Amanda Howie, a spokeswoman for the group, declined to confirm the vote total because she said the associations meetings are private. Virginia Chief Deputy Attorney General and former Wise County Commonwealths Attorney Chuck Slemp told the committee the legislation would allow the Attorney Generals Office to create super prosecutors solely focused on child sex assault cases. They would step in when local commonwealths attorneys cant or wont prosecute the cases properly, or when a local office asks for their help, he said. Leaders of the Virginia Police Benevolent Association and Virginia State Police Association spoke in favor of the legislation. But representatives of both the Virginia Association of Commonwealths Attorneys and the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers asked the committee to reject it. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > Andre Hakes, president of the defense lawyers group, said it was a rarity for prosecutors and defense lawyers to agree on legislation. Hakes said she believed local prosecutors are the ones best equipped to handle the cases. Advertisement A few of the committee members questioned why the legislation was needed. This is about a single case in Fairfax County that got a lot of attention, Fatehi told the committee. The case involved a 53-year-old man who was convicted of molesting a young relative over a 5-year period. Prosecutors offered the man a plea deal that capped his sentence at just a little more than 17 years, which was at the high end of sentencing guidelines. Miyares has repeatedly said he believed the offer was too lenient and unfair to the victim. Fatehi, who was elected in November, told the committee the legislation was unnecessary and that Miyares should allow local prosecutors to do the job they were elected to do. Please leave us to answer to our voters, Fatehi said. We do not need this help. If we do, we know how to ask for it. Jane Harper, 757-222-5097, jane.harper@pilotonline.com High-Grade Gold Intersected at West Island (Cue JV) Perth, Jan 27, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Musgrave Minerals Ltd ( ASX:MGV ) ( FRA:6MU ) ( OTCMKTS:MGVMF ) is pleased to report further assay results (Table 1a*) from the current aircore and diamond drilling programs on the Cue Joint Venture with Evolution Mining Ltd ("Evolution") over Lake Austin in Western Australia's Murchison district. The aircore results continue to extend the large regolith gold mineralisation at the West Island Prospect where diamond drilling is returning high-grade basement gold mineralisation.The West Island zone is part of a broader regional 7km-long anomalous gold corridor within the joint venture (Figure 1*). The mineralisation at West Island is hosted within a differentiated dolerite intrusive sill, similar to that hosting the high-grade Great Fingall and Golden Crown deposits 25km to the north at Cue.The Great Fingall and Golden Crown deposits host a combined 4.4Mt @ 14.1g/t Au for 2.0Moz gold (Total Indicated and Inferred Resources and past production) (see Westgold Resources Ltd ( ASX:WGX ) ASX announcement 10 June 2020, "Investor Presentation June 2020 - ASX Release", page 15).Musgrave Managing Director Rob Waugh said: "The gold system at the Cue JV with Evolution continues to deliver strong results with diamond drilling confirming the potential for multiple high-grade basement gold lodes within the dolerite sill at West Island. Evolution increasing the exploration budget in H2 2022 and electing to act as Earn-in Manager from 1 January 2022 is a positive move and an indication of the upside potential of the joint venture ground."Evolution has elected to act as the Earn-in Manager from 1st January 2022. This will free-up MGV personnel to accelerate activities on Musgrave's 100% tenure.Evolution initially committed to a A$5M exploration budget to fund further drilling at Cue in FY22 and have now increased the JV budget for H2. The intent is to accelerate exploration and to delineate the scale of the gold system at West Island, to test additional gold-in-regolith aircore anomalies and define new diamond drilling targets through aircore drilling. This revised and accelerated budget adds an additional A$3-6M for a revised minimum total budget of A$8M for FY22.Lake Austin Diamond Drilling Program ResultsResults of diamond drilling continue to identify multiple, new northwest trending lodes oblique to the favourable dolerite host unit at West Island. Drilling will progress through the March quarter 2022 to delineate the potential scale of mineralisation at West Island whilst beginning to focus on the economic potential of previously identified gold bearing structures.Significant diamond core intercepts from the December 2021 quarter include:o 4.26m @ 41.5g/t Au from 160.74m (21MODD025) including:o 0.41m @ 400.2g/t Au from 160.74mo 6.0m @ 2.7g/t Au from 125m (21MODD033)Diamond drilling has recommenced and results are currently pending for a further five diamond holes.The results above confirm the geological model developed at West Island whereby mineralisation is hosted in multiple narrow lodes of limited strike extent constrained by the favourable dolerite host unit. The interval in 21MODD025 is encouraging because it indicates the potential for high grade mineralisation to exist within individual lodes (Figure 3*). Hole 21MODD033 was drilled 200m north of 21MODD025 and is interpreted to have intersected a separate structure.The intersections are associated with extensive gold in regolith mineralisation which aircore drilling has shown to extend for at least 1.6km of strike length at West Island. The West Island zone is part of a broader regional 7km-long anomalous gold corridor within the joint venture tenements (Figure 1*). The diamond drilling to date at West Island has only tested a small area of basement and the mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth. Diamond drilling at West Island is continuing.All new diamond drill hole collars with assay results above 1g/t are presented in Tables 1a and 1b*.Lake Austin Aircore Drilling Program ResultsUnder the Musgrave - Evolution Joint Venture (Figure 1), a third phase of regional aircore drilling has now been completed on Lake Austin. Highlights from the recent phase of aircore drilling are summarised below and in Figure 2. The results continue to delineate the favourable dolerite host sill along strike which is important for hosting the better grades at West Island. Results from a further 72 aircore holes are pending.New significant aircore results include:o 34m @ 0.64 g/t Au from 124m (21MOAC032)o 10m @ 1.43 g/t Au from 78m (21MOAC069)o 12m @ 0.93 g/t Au from 78m (21MOAC068) and;o 17m @ 0.49 g/t Au from 100m to EOHAll new aircore drill hole collars with assay results above 100ppb Au are presented in Tables 2a and 2b*.Musgrave - Evolution Cue Joint VentureIn October 2019, Musgrave entered an Earn-In and Joint Venture Exploration Agreement with Evolution Mining Limited over a large area of Lake Austin and surrounds on the Cue Project in the Murchison District of Western Australia.The Evolution JV lies to the north of and excludes all the current resources at Cue (including the Lena and Break of Day deposits), the new White Heat and Big Sky discoveries, and the Mainland option area.Evolution can earn a 75% interest in the JV Area by sole funding A$18M on exploration over a five-year term. Evolution has currently spent approximately A$9M on the joint venture with a further A$3-6M planned for H2, FY22. Evolution is now the operator of the JV and is managing the ongoing drilling programs.Ongoing Exploration - Cue Joint Venture- Diamond drilling to test the basement beneath regolith gold mineralisation on Lake Austin is continuing.- Assay results for five diamond drill holes at West Island are pending.- Assay results for 72 aircore drill holes on the JV area are pending.*To view tables and figures, please visit:About Musgrave Minerals Ltd Musgrave Minerals Ltd (ASX:MGV) is an active Australian gold and base metals explorer. The Cue Project in the Murchison region of Western Australia is an advanced gold and copper project. Musgrave has had significant exploration success at Cue with the ongoing focus on increasing the gold and copper resources through discovery and extensional drilling to underpin studies that will demonstrate a viable path to development in the near term. Musgrave also holds a large exploration tenement package in the Ni-Cu-Co prospective Musgrave Province in South Australia. Providence Stage Two RC Drill Program Commences Perth, Jan 27, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Monger Gold Limited ( ASX:MMG ) is delighted to announce that the Stage Two Reverse Circulation (RC) drill program of 28 holes for 3,000m has commenced at the Providence Prospect, Mt Monger North Project. The program will test depth and strike extensions of gold intercepts found in the Stage One RC drill program (MMG announcement on 09 November 2021 "Drilling Uncovers Significant High-grade Gold at Providence").Company geologist reviews of the project have concluded that historical shallow drill holes did not intersect the high-grade gold mineralisation due to a geological plunge component to mineralisation and secondly because of leaching and removal of gold in saprolite. Additionally, two historic diamond drill holes in the northeast appear to have failed to intersect the very high-grade gold mineralisation discovered by MMG, because of a northwest-strike fault. MMG analysis of historical geological mapping data found the fault offsets porphyry within a SW linear fault, which is parallel to and may be a continuation of, the rock type found in the porphyry lode at Providence. Due to the linear nature and length of the porphyry (~400m) contained within a structure on the opposite side of the fault (NE), the gold mineralisation at Providence has the potential to have better continuity than has been found when quartz vein gold mineralisation is hosted purely in the Wombola dolerite.A long section of the planned drill holes with predicted drill pierce points into the projected plane of the high-grade porphyry vein is illustrated in figure 1*.MMG has successfully procured an RC drill contractor and staff to complete this drill program under the current challenging business conditions of staff shortages and disruption to supply lines in the mining industry.Commenting on the commencement of the drilling campaign, Monger Gold's Chairman Mr Peretz Schapiro said, "The excellent results from our previous drilling campaign demonstrated the prospectivity of the Providence Prospect and confirmed our position that this is a key project area for the Company. Previous explorers overlooked the potential for deeper narrow vein high-grade gold mineralization in the fresh rock, which is the primary focus of our exploration. We are very much looking forward to this next phase of drilling as we look to increase the potential strike and add depth to this high-grade gold system. Subject to results, we anticipate that following this campaign we will be able to release a Maiden Mineral Resource.*To view figures, please visit:About Monger Gold Ltd With an enterprise value AUD $1m and AUD $5m in funding, Monger Gold Limited's (ASX:MMG) intention is to generate value for shareholders by directing funds raised by the Offer into targeted and systematic exploration of our Projects, resulting in the definition of one or more JORC compliant gold and nickel resources. OzAurum 2022 Exploration Plans Perth, Jan 27, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Following a successful year of drilling in 2021, OzAurum Resources Ltd ( ASX:OZM ) has defined a number of new and exciting targets at both the Mulgabbie North and Patricia Gold Projects to be further explored, including 15,000 metres (m) of drilling planned for the next six months.Highlights- 15,000m of drilling planned at Mulgabbie North and Patricia over the next six months with commencement of drilling planned for late February.- Planned drilling program consists of 3,000m diamond drilling, 7,500m Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling and 5000m Aircore (AC) drilling- Diamond drilling at Mulgabbie North aimed to improve understanding gold mineralisation controls, as well as, targeting cross fault positions which is a key aspect of high-grade gold mineralisation in the area.- RC drilling at Mulgabbie North aims to test new high-grade supergene gold targets between the Alicia and Ben Prospects, coinciding with the magnetic destruction zone.- AC drilling planned to test 2km of strike to the south of Mulgabbie North along the Relief Shear.- Gravity and drone magnetic surveys conducted at Mulgabbie North have identified new targets for further drilling.- Further RC and Diamond drilling planned at the Patricia Gold Project, will target high-grade gold mineralisation aimed at understanding the structural complexity of the project.- The Mulgabbie North Gold Project, situated on the Keith Kilkenny fault zone with the favourable host rocks being felsic-intermediate volcaniclastics and intrusive porphyries, is shaping up as an exciting gold discovery story adjacent the Northern Star Carosue Dam Gold Mine.High Priority Targets for RC and Diamond Drilling at Mulgabbie North and Patricia Gold ProjectsOzAurum's large-scale drilling program, including the current AC gold drill results have clearly defined significant zones of gold mineralisation along and adjacent to the Relief Shear within the Keith Kilkenny fault zone. Of particular interest, is the area immediately along strike to the south of the Ben Prospect where a number of AC holes have intersected significant supergene gold mineralisation, including MNOAC 536 which intersected 17m @ 0.80 g/t Au (from 56m) including 4m @ 1.68 g/t Au and 1m @ 1.52 g/t Au from 72m to EOH that will be targeted with planned RC drilling.A number of these exciting new targets that have been identified for future RC drilling coincide with an extensive zone of magnetic destruction and the co-incident, strong and steep gravity gradient that extends the length of the Mulgabbie North Project. Interpretation of the recently completed detailed drone magnetic survey, and close spaced gravity survey at Mulgabbie North, is ongoing.Initial observations and the early interpretation of RC drill results at the Patricia Gold Project indicates that it is a structurally complex project, potentially with late stage faulting that is offsetting lithologies and potential gold mineralisation. Further RC and Diamond drilling planned at Patricia will target high-grade gold mineralisation associated OzAurum recent RC drilling that includes PTORC 024 (5m @ 37.11 g/t Au), PTORC 022 (5m @ 11.74 g/t Au) and extensions at depth with drilling aimed at understanding the structural complexity of this project.OzAurum's Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Pumphrey, said:"The Company is excited to announce the 2022 exploration plans for the Mulgabbie North and Patricia Gold Projects. Successful drilling last year, which led to the discovery of a new widespread zone of gold mineralisation within the Mulgabbie North project- extending over 4.2 km, provides us with even greater confidence in the large-scale potential of the Project. In particular, we are excited by the potential of this area where the host rocks are intermediate-felsic volcaniclastic units - very similar to the Northern Star Carosue Dam Karari and Whirling Dervish Gold Mines."Extensive supergene gold mineralisation situated within the magnetic destruction zone on the very steep gravity gradient makes for exciting new targets to be tested with future RC and diamond drilling."Lastly, this area is under transported cover that has prevented previous effective exploration and now represents a significant exploration opportunity for the Company."*To view figures, please visit:About OzAurum Resources Limited OzAurum Resources Ltd (ASX:OZM) is a Western Australian gold explorer with two advanced gold projects located 130 km north east of Kalgoorlie. The Company's main objective is to make a significant gold discovery that can be brought to production. Quarterly Activities Report Sydney, Jan 27, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Genex Power Limited ( ASX:GNX ) is pleased to provide the following update on the Company's activities and performance for the quarter ending 31 December 2021 (Q2 FY22 or the Period), a period during which the Company made significant progress on its first large-scale battery storage project with the signing of two key agreements with Tesla Motors Australia Pty Ltd (Tesla) for the Bouldercombe Battery Project (BBP).HIGHLIGHTS- Supply Agreement with Tesla signed for the supply of a 50MW/100MWh battery for the BBP (refer ASX Announcement dated 1st October 2021);- Signing of an Autobidder Offtake Agreement with Tesla to operate the BBP utilising Tesla's proprietary real-time trading and control platform, Autobidder. As a key part of the agreement, Tesla will provide a minimum level of contracted revenues to support project financing while also providing exposure for Genex to merchant revenue upside from significant pricing events (refer ASX Announcement dated 9th December 2021);- Approval of Generator Performance Standards and signing of a Bi-directional Service Provider Connection and Access Agreement with Powerlink Queensland for the BBP (refer ASX Announcements dated 7th and 23rd December 2021);- Construction at the Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project (K2-Hydro) continued during the Period. Key work during the quarter included turbine model tests, completion of the Oaks Rush Accommodation Village and preparation works for the commencement of underground works;- During the Period, the Kidston Solar Project (KS1) generated 31,419MWh of renewable energy and the Jemalong Solar Project (JSP) generated 34,856MWh of renewable energy, delivering a combined revenue of $5.8M for the Period;- Genex finished the Period in a strong cash position, with cash at bank of $36.6M as at 31 December 2021; and- Mr Michael Addison retired from the board (refer ASX Announcement dated 18th October 2021), while Mr Simon Kidston will transition from the position of Executive Director to Non-Executive Director in CY2022 (refer ASX Announcement dated 15th November 2021).Commenting on the Q2 FY22 performance, Genex CEO, James Harding said:"During the quarter, Genex signed two significant agreements with Tesla to progress the Bouldercombe Battery Project, and concluded its connection arrangements through the signing of a Connection and Access Agreement with Powerlink. The Bouldercombe Battery Project is set to be one of the first standalone large-scale Battery Energy Storage Systems in Queensland. The unique integration of Tesla's Megapack battery technology and a revenue sharing arrangement utilising Autobidder will reduce the complexity of the project. Importantly, the structure of the Agreement provides a minimum level of contracted revenues to support project funding, while allowing Genex to retain significant merchant upside.Works continued at the 250MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro project in accordance with the construction schedule, with a number of significant milestones achieved during the Period including completion of the accommodation village, model testing of the turbines, and the commencement of the Main Access Tunnel works. We will continue to work closely with our team of project partners, notably John Holland, McConnell Dowell and Andritz to deliver the project and provide a large-scale energy storage facility for the National Electricity Market.Our two solar farms, Kidston Solar 1 and Jemalong, are continuing to perform well despite poor weather conditions owing to a La Nina summer. We are particularly pleased with the strong merchant electricity and LGC prices which have contributed to group revenue during the Period.We continue to progress our portfolio of renewable energy and storage development projects and I look forward to updating the market in the coming period on the progress of our Bouldercombe Battery Project and Kidston Wind project.Genex remains focussed on delivering a diverse portfolio of renewable energy and storage projects in the Australian market, positioning ourselves as Australia's leading listed renewable energy company.Finally, I would like to thank Michael Addison for his outstanding contributions to Genex as a cofounder in 2014, as well as in his roles as Executive Chairman, Managing Director, and more recently as a Non-Executive Director. I wish Michael well in his retirement. I would also like to thank cofounder Simon Kidston for his tireless efforts as Executive Director over recent years. His commitment to the Company has been invaluable and l look forward to continuing to benefit from Simon's experience as he transitions to a Non-Executive Director."*To view the full Quarterly Report, please visit:About Genex Power Ltd Genex Power Limited (ASX:GNX) is focused on developing a portfolio of renewable energy generation and storage projects across Australia. The Company's flagship Kidston Clean Energy Hub, located in north Queensland, will integrate large-scale solar generation with pumped storage hydro. The Kidston Clean Energy Hub is comprised of the operating 50MW stage 1 Solar Project (KS1) and the 250MW Kidston Pumped Storage Hydro Project (K2-Hydro) with potential for further multi-stage wind and solar projects. The 50MW Jemalong Solar Project (JSP) is located in NSW and provides geographical diversification to the Genex Power Limited portfolio. JSP was energised in early December 2020 and commissioning is now underway. Genex is further developing its energy storage portfolio via the early stage development of a 50MW/75MWh standalone battery energy storage system at Bouldercombe in Queensland. With over 400MW of renewable energy and storage projects in development, Genex is well placed as Australia's leading renewable energy and storage company. LiSER Technology Launched Sydney, Jan 27, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Magnis Energy Technologies Limited ( ASX:MNS ) ( FRA:U1P ) ( OTCMKTS:MNSEF ) is very pleased to announce that Lithium-ion technology partner Charge CCCV (C4V) has launched its exciting LiSER Technology. Magnis has a 9.65% shareholding in C4V.LiSER TechnologyLiSER technology encompasses an in-house patented battery cell design that allows OEMs to bypass modules and build the pack directly. This platform includes designs that include long and slim cells with super-fast charge and discharge capabilities without losing the energy density benefits. LiSER also allows OEMs to achieve maximum cell to pack translation of performance.The industry first "tab-less" advanced prismatic cell design that has an in-situ cooling loop to facilitate efficient temperature operations ranging from -40degC to 90degC, assisting in extra fast charging. The tethered edges of the module come with a solid structural design that enable mechanical stability. The design's high modularity allows to cater to stringent market requirements (kWh or MWh) without any bias for power or energy needs.LiSER AdvantagesLiSER's Cobalt and Nickel free lithium-ion battery cell technology provides an energy density of 190Wh/Kg (at the pack level), which would make it one of the market leading technologies today.LiSER simplifies the module structure and using C4V's BMLMP technology the inherent oxygen deficient BMLMP not only augments battery safety but also delivers a voltage that is at least 20% higher than the LFP formulations currently widely being used in the market.While Nickel-rich NCA or NMC chemistries emit Nickel oxide fumes, when burning with LiSER the toxic gaseous build-up is non-carcinogenic. LiSER uses elements that are environmental-friendly, sourced with a robust local supply-chain and enable a significantly lower carbon footprint.To view the C4V press release, please visit:About Magnis Energy Technologies Limited Magnis Energy Technologies Limited (ASX:MNS) (OTCMKTS:MNSEF) (FRA:U1P) is involved in and has strategic investments in several aspects of the electrification supply chain including manufacturing of green credentialed lithium-ion battery cells, leading edge battery technology and high quality, high performance anode materials. The company's vision is to enable, support and accelerate the green energy transition critical for the adoption of Electric Mobility and Renewable Energy Storage. December Quarterly Report Perth, Jan 27, 2022 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Eagle Mountain Mining ( ASX:EM2 ) ( OTCMKTS:EGMMF ) is pleased to provide shareholders and investors with an exploration and operations overview to accompany the Appendix 5B for the quarter ending 31 December 2021.Eagle Mountain's Chief Executive Officer, Tim Mason, commented:"It has been a very successful quarter with the discovery of further high-grade copper mineralisation plus the confirmation of multiple indicators of large prospective systems at Golden Eagle.We are working to expand the existing Resource and results received during the quarter continued to deliver a combination of both high-grade and thick mineralised zones. These results will be included in the JORC Mineral Resource Estimate update which is on track to be completed in Q1 2022. This upgrade will see the inclusion of 54 new holes outside the existing Resource plus 5 new holes designed to increase confidence and allow resources in the 'Measured' category to be defined.At Golden Eagle, we received the assays from the first two holes which confirmed multiple strong indicators of large mineralised systems. While we await assays for a further 10 holes, we are planning an Induced Polarization geophysical survey to identify further potential targets in this area.The wait time for assay results is increasing which has been quite frustrating, so we now have results pending for 48 holes. We continue to drill with three rigs operating full time. Our goal remains to increase the size and confidence of the existing Resource and also explore other prospective targets, which could result in a 'step change' to the project.EXPLORATION ACTIVITIESOracle Ridge Copper Mine ProjectEagle Mountain aims to become a lower cost producer of low-emission copper at the Oracle Ridge Copper Project ("Oracle Ridge", "Project"). To achieve this goal, the Company continues to undertake various exploration activities at and around the mine with the aim of growing the existing high-grade mineral resource base.Oracle Ridge has significant infrastructure in place, including approximately 18 kilometres of underground development, access roads, tailings facility (since closed), underground electrical and water services.Following ongoing positive exploration results in previous quarters, the Company continued its drilling program aiming to:- Expand the existing JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE);- Update the existing MRE including the upgrade of a portion of the resource currently classified as 'Indicated' to the 'Measured' category;- Bring unclassified material to the "Inferred" category;- Drill test high-priority targets within a few kilometres of the existing mine; and- Increase the geological understanding of the near-mine area to assist vectoring towards prospective targets.As part of this program, the following key exploration activities were undertaken at Oracle Ridge during the quarter:- Resource expansion drilling at the Talon;- Resource upgrade drilling with the aim of defining a maiden resource in the 'Measured' category - the highest level of confidence defined by the JORC Code; and- Earthworks to provide access to additional drill pads.A total of 13,680 metres were drilled during the period, which is the most drilling at the Project in any quarter since drilling commenced in September 2020.Mineral Resource ExpansionThe JORC Mineral Resource Estimate expansion drilling occurred throughout the quarter focusing on the western Talon area on a feature named the 'Wave'. The Talon is defined by a strong magnetic anomaly and is considered a highly prospective target to define further mineralisation beyond the existing MRE. The magnetic anomaly is interpreted as being caused by abundant magnetite, a strongly magnetic mineral that is often associated with high-grade copper mineralisation at Oracle Ridge.The Wave has favourable conditions for substantial mineralisation and is interpreted to be over 500 metres long in a north-south direction and is also open to the east. Limited historical drilling was completed along its extent. Selected assays received during the period along the Wave, which are all outside the existing MRE, include:- 22.5m at 2.84% Cu, 27.46g/t Ag and 0.48g/t Au; within- 69.5m at 1.60% Cu, 15.37g/t Ag and 0.30g/t Au (WT-21-40)- 12.0m at 1.85% Cu, 12.73g/t Ag and 0.21g/t Au; within- 29.0m at 1.62% Cu, 12.44g/t Ag and 0.23g/t Au (WT-21-39)- 5.8m at 2.72% Cu, 29.59g/t Ag and 0.72 g/t Au; within- 16.6m at 1.87% Cu, 18.53g/t Ag and 0.51g/t Au (WT-21-33)- 2.6m at 1.35% Cu, 5.12g/t Ag and 0.08g/t Au (WT-21-34)- 1.1m at 2.51% Cu, 19.80 g/t Ag and 0.19g/t Au (WT-21-35)- 2.1m at 1.51% Cu, 17.55g/t Ag and 0.07g/t Au (WT-21-36)The Wave is in contact with the prospective Martin and Abrigo Formations which creates favourable conditions for substantial mineralisation to occur. The Martin and Abrigo formations are units within the limestones and are evident at other major copper deposits in Arizona. The results received during the quarter are encouraging and continue to support our findings that substantial thicknesses of mineralisation could occur more broadly in the Talon area. Drilling over the coming months will continue to focus in this area.The Wave is interpreted to connect high-grade intercepts to the historic Leatherwood Mine where the mineralisation outcrops at the surface at the southern end of the mine area (refer Figure 4*).Golden EagleGolden Eagle is an area centred approximately two kilometres to the east of the Oracle Ridge mine portals and abutting the OREX target to the north (Figure 5*).During the quarter, assay results confirmed the presence of two separate alteration systems, both vastly different to the copper skarn mineralisation at Oracle Ridge. These systems are:- A vein-hosted polymetallic system, characterised by pyrite and silica alteration with localised veins containing lead, zinc and copper sulphides. The intensity of alteration and veining appears to increase to the west and at depth.- A gold-rich system, confirmed by assay results, displaying abundant hematite (iron oxide) alteration associated with geological structures (e.g. breccias).Both systems have a strike extent exceeding 500 metres and remain open at depth and to the west. It is expected that future assay results will assist in defining exploration vectors towards the most endowed parts of these alteration systems. Importantly, the polymetallic vein alteration could be interpreted as the distal expression of a potential porphyry also linked to the skarn-hosted copper-silver-gold mineralisation at the mine (refer ASX announcement 28 October 2021).Full assay results were received during the quarter for two of the 13 holes drilled at Golden Eagle. The gold-rich system contained significant gold values, reported using a 0.5g/t gold cut-off, (refer ASX announcement 28 October 2021) including:- 1.6m at 0.91g/t Au and 0.02% Cu from 200.4m (GE-21-01)- 21.2m at 1.88g/t Au and 0.11% Cu from 236.8m (GE-21-03), includingo 8.0m at 3.80g/t Au and 0.20% Cu, ando 7.2m at 1.26g/t Au and 0.09% CuAssay results, together with additional geological interpretation and a new geophysical survey, will assist vectoring toward more prospective zones at Golden Eagle. Further drilling at Golden Eagle will be planned once all drilling data has been compiled and interpreted and the results of the planned IP survey received.JORC Mineral Resource Estimate UpdateDuring the quarter the Company announced that it would release its first update to the initial JORC Mineral Resource Estimate. SRK Consulting Australia (SRK) have been engaged to assist with the Resource update. SRK is familiar with the project having worked on the initial MRE in late 2020. This update is planned for completion in Q1 2022.The maiden 2020 JORC MRE was based on a dataset comprised of 531 drillholes. The updated Resource will include a further 54 extensional holes plus 5 infill holes. Due to the larger step-outs of the drilling, it is expected that there will be a relatively larger increase in the 'Inferred' mineralisation compared to 'Indicated' or 'Measured' categories. The Company will continue to update its Mineral Resources periodically and a further Resource update will be conducted later in this calendar year as significant of amounts of assays are still pending and drilling continues.To view the full quarterly report, please visit:About Eagle Mountain Mining Limited Eagle Mountain Mining Limited (ASX:EM2) (OTCMKTS:EGMMF), is a copper-gold explorer focused on the strategic exploration and development of the Oracle Ridge Copper Mine and the highly prospective greenfield (Silver Mountain) project, both located in Arizona, USA. Arizona is at the heart of America's mining industry and home to some of the world's largest copper discoveries such as Bagdad, Miami and Resolution, one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world. PHOENIX As some expressed cautious optimism that Arizonas surge of COVID-19 will soon peak, public health experts, overworked health care workers and former Arizona State University students reflected Wednesday on the anniversary of the states first coronavirus case. It was the start of what has now been a grueling two-year ordeal. Its just a staggering effect, something that has now become the leading cause of death here in Arizona easily outpacing both heart disease and cancer, Dr. Joshua LaBaer, executive director of Arizona State Universitys Biodesign Institute, said during a virtual news briefing. The state Department of Health Services on Wednesday reported 275 additional COVID-19-related deaths. Its the highest daily count of deaths seen during the pandemic, LaBaer said. Dr. Michael White, chief clinical officer of Phoenix-based Valleywise Health, remembers wondering how health care systems and hospitals would prepare for someone with the virus coming in. Today, like other hospitals, Valleywise is consumed with trying to juggle a high volume of patients for the highly transmissible omicron variant or other issues. Meanwhile, other surgeries get postponed and health care workers are emotionally taxed. Weve seen people that have left health care that need a break from being able to do this work because it is hard work, White told reporters. As of Tuesday, statewide hospitalizations due to COVID-19 dipped slightly to 3,511. Valleywise is treating 70 patients for COVID-19 with 10 of them in the ICU the most in this wave. But its not far off from the highest theyve ever seen 88 in January 2021 according to White. But he is hopeful that their hospitalizations will crest by the end of this week or early next week. LaBaer concurred that things could peak by the beginning of February. Data indicates Arizonas seven-day average of new cases has started decreasing the past two days. It was Jan. 26, 2020, when Arizonas first coronavirus case surfaced, bringing the nationwide total to five. The infected person lived in in Maricopa County, had ties to ASU and had a history of travel to Wuhan, China, state health officials said at the time. Like U.S. health officials, ASU administrators tried to squelch panic and reassured students they were safe from the virus. Still, many decried having to be on campus. Within two days, nearly 20,000 signed an online petition to cancel classes. It wasnt until mid-March 2020 that ASU transitioned to remote learning. Students were given a choice of learning environment during the following semester and through spring 2021. It was last fall that the school fully returned to in-person. ASU also banned students, faculty and staff who travel on behalf of the university from going to China. Meanwhile, students of Asian descent almost immediately faced being shunned. Aretha Deng, a junior then, still remembers sitting down a day after the news broke at a communal table where several students had their stuff spread out. I sat down and within like a minute or so they gathered their stuff and they left, said Deng, who graduated in May and now lives in Modesto, California. That same week her friend was in an elevator when a man going to the same floor proceeded to ask my friend whos also Chinese American Are you Chinese? My friend said yes and the guy got off at (another) floor. Mezquite Nguyen, who went by Tevinh at the time and is non-binary, was a senior and president of the ASU Asian/Asian Pacific American Students Coalition. They remember writing a news release to call out people using quote-unquote public health rhetoric and just fears of coronavirus to justify xenophobic and racist sentiments. There have been more than 10,000 anti-Asian hate incidents nationwide in the last two years, according to the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center. Its very weird to look back, said Nguyen, who now lives in Austin, Texas. At that time, a lot of people were doubting the severity of the racism and xenophobia. While the pandemic lingers, some like LaBaer are trying to highlight the positive. Unlike two years ago, there were no vaccines. Just imagine where we would be if an omicron variant struck us and we did not have some degree of vaccination that could protect us against severe illness, LaBaer said. I think the outcomes would be even more devastating. State health officials on Wednesday reported 18,299 new confirmed cases. That brings Arizonas total number of cases during the pandemic to nearly 1.8 million. The death toll is now at 25,899. Our positive things were never covered, Andrew Wheeler said of his time running the EPA under former President Donald Trump. Wheeler was nominated by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to serve as Virginia's secretary of natural and historic resources. (Steve Helber/AP) Richmond During a Tuesday state Senate committee hearing, Andrew Wheeler made his case for why he should be confirmed as Virginias next secretary of natural and historic resources. The governor believes that with my unique background of having run the EPA and working in a senior leadership position in the U.S. Senate, that I know how to access federal funding and assistance to make a difference for this state, Wheeler said. I have been a strong proponent for the (Chesapeake) Bay, and I can get the job done. Advertisement Gov. Glenn Youngkin drew sharp criticism from Democrats and environmentalists earlier this month when he tapped Wheeler, an attorney and former coal lobbyist, to serve in his cabinet. Wheeler led the Environmental Protection Agency for two years under President Donald Trump and created controversy by rolling back numerous environmental regulations. But Wheeler told the Senate Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee he was portrayed unfairly by the media. Advertisement Our positive things were never covered, he said. Under his leadership, Wheeler said the EPA cleaned up 82 superfund sites, phased out animal testing for EPA regulations and established the first national mandate requiring the testing of drinking water at schools and daycare centers. When asked by legislators, Wheeler affirmed that he believed in climate change, and said he would uphold the Virginia Clean Economy Act. Among other provisions, the VCEA sets a target for Dominion Energy to construct or buy at least 5,200 megawatts of energy through offshore wind by 2034. I understand the governor said if he had been governor (at the time), he would not have signed it, but we have not had any conversations about what changes he would seek or the administration would seek, Wheeler said. But it is the law of the state, and as the law of the state, I will implement it. The vote to confirm Wheeler, as well as the governors other cabinet nominations, will take place later in the session. He may have the support of at least one Democrat. Ill be clear, what Ive heard today, particularly on things that are important to me, all sound good, said Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Richmond. More than 150 former EPA employees signed a letter earlier this month urging Virginia legislators to oppose Wheelers confirmation. The document, shared with The Associated Press, stated Wheeler pushed science aside while leading the agency, and strategically weakened its ability to protect the environment and public health. Advertisement Many local environmental groups also released statements objecting to Wheelers confirmation, including Sierra Club Virginia Chapter and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters. To block Wheelers confirmation, every Senate Democrat would need to vote against it. Skip Stiles, executive director of Wetlands Watch, hopes they will. Wetlands Watch is a Norfolk-based nonprofit that works to protect Virginias wetlands through advocacy and activism. In 2020 and 2021, the policies and laws that were put in place in Richmond were pretty impressive, he said. We have clean energy goals for the state now, we have money coming in to localities to deal with flooding and weve been creating incentives to do off shore wind. But Stiles fears that progress could be halted or reversed should Wheeler take the helm. Among Stiles top concerns: That Wheeler will work work against policies that incentivize clean energy, and scare off investors from an ongoing wind farm project being built off the shores of Virginia Beach. Advertisement If we have wind turbines going offshore we can incubate this new sector of the economy, Stiles said, explaining it will bring high-end jobs to Hampton Roads. ... But If you show instability, then the investors, especially the foreign investors, maybe theyll say Well, we should just go to another state that has a little more stability. The wind farm, once fully built, is expected to create 1,100 jobs, according to Dominion Energys website. Michael Allen, a climate scientist and associate professor at Old Dominion University, agreed that mitigating the effects of climate change should be a top priority for Hampton Roads. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > The region is among the most vulnerable in the nation in terms of sea level rise, he said. Flooding is something that we all experience from Williamsburg to Sandbridge, he said. Water doesnt know if you are blue or red. I think businesses are beginning to recognize that this isnt a partisan issue. Hampton Roads also experienced a nearly two-fold increase in hot days since 1950, he said, which puts residents lives at risk. Advertisement Our summer season has grown in length, which sounds great, you might think of sitting on the beach and drinking a pina colada, but in reality its deadly, he said. More people die of heat waves than any other natural disaster. Given all the concerns surrounding Wheeler, Allen said he believes it would be short-sighted and irresponsible for legislators to confirm his appointment. I think Virginians really need to be paying attention to what is going on in the statehouse. Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com HOUSTON A 51-year-old man who had been on the run after being accused of fatally shooting a Houston-area deputy during a traffic stop this past weekend has been arrested in Mexico, authorities announced Wednesday. Oscar Rosales was taken into custody by Mexican law enforcement early Wednesday morning, Houston police said on Twitter. Rosales was found in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, located across the U.S.-Mexico border from Del Rio, Texas, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. A reward of $60,000 had been offered for information leading to his arrest. Rosales was turned over to U.S. authorities around noon on Wednesday and held in a county jail until he was turned over to Houston police, said Joe Martinez, the sheriff in Val Verde County, where Del Rio is located. Martinez said Rosales was being flown back to Houston. Harris County Precinct 5 Cpl. Charles Galloway, 47, was shot and killed around 12:45 a.m. on Sunday after pulling over a Toyota Avalon. Authorities allege Rosales got out of his vehicle, fired multiple shots at Galloway with some type of assault rifle and then got back in his car and drove away. Galloway was still in his patrol car when Rosales allegedly fired his weapon at the vehicles windshield, according to court records. Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap said Galloway had no time to respond or defend himself. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at a news conference earlier this week that authorities had video evidence of Rosales shooting Galloway. Prosecutors have filed a charge of capital murder against Rosales. Authorities said that Rosales common law wife, Reina Marquez, 40, and her brother, Henri Marquez, 42, have each been charged with tampering with evidence in connection with the case. Both are accused of tampering with Rosales car in an attempt to cover up his involvement in Galloways shooting death, according to Finner and court records. Eddie Cortes, Reina Marquezs court-appointed attorney, declined to comment to The Associated Press, saying he was still trying to gather information on the case against his client. Court records dont list an attorney for Henri Marquez. Galloway had been with the constables office for about 12 and a half years, Heap said. The deputy mentored and trained numerous younger officers, who Heap said were broken up over the death. Galloway is survived by a daughter and a sister, Heap said. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70 Shaandiin Tome has had a film screened at the Sundance Film Festival. That was in 2018. The Albuquerque-based filmmaker is back at Sundance this year as the festival goes virtual. She helped get the short film, Long Line of Ladies off the ground with Rayka Zehtabchi. Tome is the co-director. Long Line of Ladies follows a girl (Ahtyirahm Ahty Allen) and her community as they prepare for her Ihuk flower dance, a girls coming-of-age ceremony celebrating her entry into womanhood. The documentary short explores open and supportive conversations about menstruation through the story of a northern California tribe. The Ihuk ceremony is a tradition practiced amongst Karuk women in their ancestral territory along the Klamath and Salmon River of northern California. The Ihuk flower dance was revived in 1996 by a dedicated group of Karuk ceremonial families after not practicing for over 80 years. As an indigenous storyteller and filmmaker, it was important that the community felt a sense of ownership and was an active partner in the process versus having a team of outsiders tell their story, Tome says. That meant building trust between the crew and the Allen family. And respecting the sanctity of the protagonists (Ahty) Ihuk. Tome says the documentary takes a significant step forward to normalize period conversations by highlighting a culture that celebrates and uplifts its young women when they come of age. Tome says imagine if all cultures rallied around their young women to feel proud and empowered at this critical juncture in their development. Its been a long journey and Im excited to finally celebrate the film, Tome says. I guess this year feels a little different in multiple ways. Ive never premiered a film online and without an audience, it feels lonely. Sundance is doing a great job to create community. Production on the film began at the beginning of 2021. Rayka and I started out with Zoom calls, she says. It was a lot of fun. We wanted to talk about the issue while having the utmost respect for the family. It wasnt difficult to inform a story around them. One of the biggest obstacles aside from the pandemic was getting on the same page. Im Dine and Rayka is not Indigenous, Tome says. When it pertained to Indigenous subjects, as long as Ive been in film, its been about representation. Ive been on a lonely journey until this point. There were ideas that I had in my mind. I wanted to let the family shine. I wanted their ideas at the table. A lot of it was listening and taking time and really trying to hear them out. Filmmaking has been at the forefront of Tomes life since she was small. When I was a kid, my brothers and I would film stuff with my moms VHS camera, she says. I would say the love kicked off then. Tome graduated from Cibola High School and then began studying film through the Interdisciplinary Film & Digital Media program at the University of New Mexico. Yet it wasnt until she was accepted into Sundance Institutes Full Circle Fellowship that she found her footing. It created a platform and space for me, she says. That was really helpful for the trajectory Im on. I want to be a voice in telling Indigenous stories. I really hope there are chances for Indigenous youth and families to watch it. I also hope that non-Indigenous people will watch the film and respect the traditions. By watching films like this, thats how we learn. SEND ME YOUR TIPS: If you know of a movie filming in the state, or are curious about one, email film@ABQjournal.com. Follow me on Twitter @agomezART. SANTA FE Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has authorized legislators to take up a proposal designed to protect election workers by making it a crime to threaten employees working for county clerks or the secretary of state. The proposal, Senate Bill 144, is sponsored by Sen. Katy Duhigg, an Albuquerque Democrat and former city clerk. Election officials at all levels, from the secretary of state down to your local polling official, have been harassed, threatened, and generally discouraged from being part of our democratic process since 2020, Duhigg said. Its very important that our democracy continue to thrive, and it can only do that if we have a continued influx of professionals and citizen volunteers who come to these important jobs to conduct elections in a fair and nonpartisan manner. Officials in New Mexico have reported racist mail, being followed and other threats. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver left home for weeks in 2020 after her personal information was published on a website called Enemies of the People, with targets over officials photos. In even years, it requires the governors approval for lawmakers to take up bills on certain topics. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Former Torrance County Sheriff Heath White can again wear a judges robe, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The states highest court lifted its 2019 suspension of White as a magistrate judge and ordered the Torrance County Magistrate Court to pay him more than two years back pay. The ruling marks a turn of fortunes for White, 43, who was accused in 2019 by the New Mexico Attorney Generals Office of using thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds to buy personal items. Whites attorney, Sam Bregman, said White is eager to resume work as a magistrate judge in Moriarty. He plans on showing up for work first thing tomorrow morning, Bregman said Wednesday. Hes obviously very happy to be able to get back to work in the office that he was elected to and do the peoples business. White ended two terms as sheriff in December 2018 and later won election as a Torrance County magistrate judge. The AGs office charged White in June 2019 with 11 felony crimes, including fraud and embezzlement, after New Mexico State Police investigators served a search warrant at Whites home, and found guns and other items prosecutors said were county property. The criminal charges prompted the New Mexico Judicial Standards Commission to ask the state Supreme Court to suspend White without pay as a magistrate judge. The high court approved the request in May 2019. White won a major victory in October 2019 when a district court judge tossed the criminal charges, finding no probable cause to charge the former sheriff. Former 2nd Judicial District Judge Charles Brown called the case a rush to judgment and criticized State Police for using misrepresentations to obtain a search warrant of Whites home. In his written order, Brown said that vital facts were omitted creating a misleading impression of criminal activity. White argued that he stored items on his property while sheriff because the county lacked storage space. Witnesses testified that other employees stored county property for the same reason. Jerri Mares, spokeswoman for the Attorney Generals Office, issued a brief written response Wednesday. We remain very concerned that taxpayer funds were used to purchase auto parts that were located on Heath Whites personal vehicle, and judges should apply the highest standards of accountability, Mares said. The New Mexico Court of Appeals in July upheld Browns decision to dismiss the charges. Bregman said judges at all levels made sound decisions throughout the process. Judge White and his family have taken a lot of hits because of these charges these false allegations that were made against him, Bregman said. State Police took premature actions and they didnt get the whole story, he said. We were fortunate to be able to explain the whole story in front of the district court. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Cases, deaths and hospitalizations were each up Wednesday from the day before as New Mexico continued to report high volumes of COVID-19 cases amid a surge of the highly infectious omicron variant. The state reported 4,119 new COVID cases and 40 deaths Wednesday. COVID hospitalizations stood at 709, up from 639 on Monday. That marks an 11% increase in two days. The states positivity rate for COVID tests in the last week is at 29.9%. The deaths reported Wednesday included 25 recent deaths and 15 deaths that were more than 30 days old. Two men from McKinley County in their 30s who didnt have preexisting conditions were among the dead. The statewide toll is at 6,357 since the start of the pandemic. Bernalillo County residents accounted for 1,164 of new cases and 10 of the deaths. State Department of Health officials have said in the last year about 89% of those who died of COVID were unvaccinated. But breakthrough cases do happen, including to a U.S. representative from the Albuquerque area. Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, prompting her to reschedule a tour of her district on Thursday to highlight various projects funded with the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Julia Friedmann, a spokeswoman for Stansbury, said the Democratic representative will quarantine at home for five days and follow CDC guidelines. Stansbury was fully vaccinated and had gotten a booster shot, she wrote on Twitter. I am little worse for wear this morning, but on the mend, Stansbury said in a Twitter thread Wednesday, in which she encouraged people to get the vaccine and booster shots and to wear proper masks and socially distance. Last week I had to travel to DC for votes, and though I was extremely careful, omicron is highly transmissible and exposure can happen in countless ways, she wrote. Ajole Guzman (APD) Arianna Hawkins (APD) Elijah Tafoya (APD) Domminick Mullen (APD) Christian Benson (MDC) Prev 1 of 5 Next Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Detectives charged three men and two women this week in the drug robbery that left Ryan Saavedra Jr. dead last April at a West Side park. Christian Benson, 22, Ajole Guzman, 19, and the alleged shooter Domminick Mullen, 21, are each charged with an open count of murder, attempted robbery and conspiracy in the April 21 death of 19-year-old Saavedra Jr. Elijah Tafoya, 19, and his girlfriend Arianna Hawkins, 19, are charged with attempted robbery and conspiracy in the case. Hawkins was arrested Wednesday and Benson was already in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in a separate case. Arrest warrants have been issued for Mullen, Guzman and Tafoya. Ryan Saavedra Sr., Saavedras father, said the family has felt a wash of emotions: relieved, sad, broken. Court records show Benson sold fentanyl to an undercover officer a week before Saavedras death, during an operation targeting social media drug sales in response to rising 2021 homicides. He wasnt charged or arrested in that bust until early May. Ryan Saavedra Sr., Saavedras father, said the family has felt a wash of emotions: relieved, sad, broken. Saavedra said that, 10 months ago, his son went out with his girlfriend, told his dad that he loved him and would see him the next morning. He said, within an hour, they received a call that he was gone. Just a few days after Ryan had passed, if you asked, What did you do today? I would tell you, I went to go pick out a casket for my son,' he said, growing emotional. One of the most precious things in my life was taken from me, he said. Ill never be the same. Saavedra said victim liaison Terry Huertaz, Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina and Deputy Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock were invaluable during the investigation. He said the group helped the family stay patient and understand the process. I feel its been swift and theyre really doing an outstanding job, Saavedra said. I respect these people with all my heart. According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court: Police responded around 12:45 a.m. to Presbyterian Hospital on Central after Saavedras girlfriend brought him in with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead and police traced the shooting to Westgate Heights Park, southeast of 98th and Sage. Police found several bullet casings in the parking lot and Saavedras girlfriend told them they met some people at the park, where Saavedra was pepper-sprayed, then shot. Detectives looked through Saavedras phone and found messages from someone asking to buy fentanyl. The messages led police to Tafoya, who told them he, Hawkins, Benson, Guzman and Kash were all addicted to fentanyl, but had no money. Tafoya said they decided to find someone on social media selling the drug and rob them. He said they first posed as a dealer and robbed a man of $20, taunting him with a photo of Mullen holding a gun with the message come get it back in blood. Tafoya told police they then set up a deal to rob someone of 100 fentanyl pills at the park. He said Kash opened fire on the car when the dealer drove away during the robbery and then pointed a gun at Tafoyas head when he got mad at him for shooting someone. Police spoke with Benson at the MDC and he identified Kash as Mullen in a photo lineup. Benson said he was unsure why Mullen opened fire on the car, and that Mullen was the instigator to rob people and the only one armed with a gun. Police said the gun used in the homicide was found later in the year. The Fort Sill Apache Tribe applauds Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujans efforts in reintroducing legislation to designate portions of the Gila and San Francisco rivers and their tributaries as Wild and Scenic. This legislation, if passed, will protect an irreplaceable natural resource for future generations of New Mexicans. The Fort Sill Apache Tribe is the successor to the Chiricahua Apache made up of a combination of the Gila, Mogollon, Mimbres, Copper Mine, and Warm Spring Apaches who once held the aboriginal and Indian title to over 14 million acres of land that included much of southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona until the forced removal of the entire tribe as prisoners of war in 1886. Much of the Gila and San Francisco rivers, along with the Gila National Forest and Wilderness, are located within the Fort Sill Apache Tribes original 14-million-acre settlement area. A section of the Gila River, which is of great spiritual importance to our Apache people, runs through the former reservation boundaries of the Gila Reserve, a reservation set aside for the Fort Sill Apache Tribe predecessors in New Mexico in 1961. The waters of the Gila River flow from the slopes of our sacred mountains and are the location of traditional ceremonies we still practice today. The artifacts found in places like Mogollan Box one of the river segments included in the legislation can never be replaced. The clock is ticking to preserve these sacred sites. The lands surrounding the Gila and San Francisco rivers provide a historical road map to our ancestors who lived on these lands, hunting and harvesting throughout the region to provide food for their families. The evidence of our ancestors way of life is etched into stone, in the petroglyphs and pictographs that can be seen even today. These are more than historical and archaeological resources, they are a reminder of who we are and how far we have come. Many of us still participate in the traditional uses of the land and rivers that have been passed down for centuries. We continue to visit these rivers and their watersheds to connect to our past. The Gila and San Franciscos flows sustain important southwest riparian forest, which provides a sanctuary to some of the highest concentrations of non-coastal breeding birds in America and native fish populations, including the threatened Gila trout. Two years ago, I sent a letter to Sen. Heinrich and then-Sen. Tom Udall expressing the Fort Sill Apaches support of a Wild and Scenic designation for nearly 450 miles of the Gila and San Francisco Rivers and their tributaries. The letter underscored my belief it is our responsibility to protect these cultural, natural and historical resources for future generations, just as our ancestors cared for these lands and rivers before us. As the tribe completes our repatriation back to New Mexico, I hope we will be able to stand with others to protect the beauty and biodiversity of the Gila and San Francisco rivers. Passing federal legislation to establish a Wild and Scenic designation for these waters is the first step we must take before that can happen. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE For at least a few hours Wednesday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham traded budget spreadsheets and political headaches for paintbrushes and picture books. After urging state employees and National Guard members to volunteer at schools amid New Mexicos latest surge of COVID-19 cases, the Democratic governor got a substitute teaching license and spent the afternoon teaching a class of kindergarten students at Salazar Elementary School in Santa Fe. She told reporters the experience was one of the best days of her career, but said it also gave her insights into what teachers deal with on a daily basis. I loved every second of it, but it is tough, Lujan Grisham said, adding that she tried to follow a lesson plan provided by the regular teacher, but ended up spending less time on math and more on an arts project than planned. We really do have a crisis in the classroom, the governor added, citing large class sizes and other factors. If we dont do more to alleviate the pressures in the classroom, with or without a pandemic, were shortchanging our students. Dozens of schools across New Mexico have moved to remote instruction, at least temporarily, since winter break and districts have reported demand for about 900 substitute teachers. With that backdrop, Lujan Grisham announced last week the voluntary staffing program known officially as the Supporting Teachers and Families Initiative that waives licensing fees for substitute teaching. She also said she decided to participate herself, saying, I believe you lead by example and citing her past experience going undercover to investigate conditions at a senior living facility while she was secretary of the states aging department. In all, a Lujan Grisham spokeswoman said the state had received 108 applications and issued 64 substitute teaching licenses as of Wednesday. Of that number, 50 are National Guard members. The Governors Office also said the fill-ins would be deployed to 21 school districts around New Mexico this week. But not all New Mexicans were thrilled by the governors substitute teaching stint, with state Republicans blasting it as a publicity stunt. The lack of teachers is a blatant result of the governor and Democratic-led Legislature refusing to address our education crisis head on, state GOP Executive Director Kim Skaggs said in a statement. The governor has jeopardized our childrens future by allowing this teacher shortage to happen and not taking the appropriate actions to fix our education problems. She was super busy New Mexico schools have been hit hard by the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19 in recent weeks. High infection rates among students, teachers and other school staffers have prompted roughly 60 school districts and charter schools around the state to temporarily return to remote learning since winter break. While Santa Fe and other districts recently returned to in-person learning, all schools in Springer, Mora, Pecos, Mountainair and Clovis were closed for at least some school days this week, according to Public Education Department data. Jule Skoglund, principal at Salazar Elementary, said having non-licensed teachers in the schools classrooms is not ideal, but described the availability of willing professionals to step in as substitute teachers as a welcome development. There have been days when we have three or four teachers out and, on those days, its been impossible to get a substitute, said Skoglund, who added shes helped to fill in on such occasions. She said teachers and administrators at the Santa Fe school were excited to have Lujan Grisham on campus Wednesday, but described it as a regular school day for the most part. She was super busy and the kids were really engaged, said Skoglund, who said she spoke with Lujan Grisham after children were dismissed at the end of the school day, but forgot her sons advice to take a selfie with the governor. Teresa Casados, the governors chief operating officer, spent the morning teaching the kindergarten class, while the governor took over in the afternoon, a spokeswoman said. Easier than a Cabinet meeting During her afternoon as a kindergarten teacher, Lujan Grisham said she drilled a classroom of about 16 students, many of whom are bilingual, on math, syllables and reading or at least tried to. I could barely read an entire page without half the class wanting to talk about what it meant, said Lujan Grisham, whose late sister, Kimberly, attended Salazar Elementary School for part of her childhood. The governor joked the experience was easier than managing a Cabinet meeting or dealing with legislators, but turned serious when discussing New Mexicos public school system that has for years been ranked among the nations lowest in terms of educational outcomes. Im clearer than ever before that experienced substitute teachers and volunteers are critical to the success of the public school system, she said. New Mexico was dealing with a teacher shortage even before the recent spike in COVID-19 infections, as educator retirements jumped by 40% last year. Some schools have struggled to find replacements, and the Lujan Grisham administration and a leading legislative committee have proposed 7% salary increases for teachers for the budget year that starts in July in hopes of attracting new teachers and retaining those still working. The governor also referred Wednesday to a legislative proposal to allow retired teachers to more easily return to work. Looking ahead, Lujan Grisham will have her hands full with a 30-day legislative session that began last week, but said shes ready for additional substitute teaching assignments should the need arise. I hope that Im able to take what I learned and what I struggled with, and apply it to the next class Im assigned to, she said. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal A plan to have someone rappel down Alvarado Square while painting a 38-foot-wide copy of the Bernalillo County seal then installing new color-changing lights to showcase the work remains up in the air. The Bernalillo County Commission this week delayed a decision on the seal and millions of dollars in other changes to the countys new Downtown Albuquerque headquarters after one commissioner questioned whether they are needed or prudent. Along with the giant seal, the proposed work includes replacing windows, creating three new exam rooms for the on-site medical clinic for employees, finishing work spaces on the buildings seventh floor and adding more security cameras and features. It would cost a total of $4.7 million and be in addition to the $68 million the county already spent readying the building it moved into last summer. Money for the proposed work would come from multiple sources, but mostly from general obligation bonds and the general fund. During a public meeting Tuesday, Commissioner Charlene Pyskoty voiced concern about the constant (Alvarado Square) change orders asking for millions of dollars and that the county keeps giving the jobs to the projects original contractor, HB Construction, rather than putting them out to bid. She suggested the county finally wrap the Alvarado Square design-build contract, reflecting on a conversation she had with the county attorney when the project was starting a few years ago. I asked When does it end? When do we know were done? And I remember (he) said something like, It ends when you say it ends,' Pyskoty said Tuesday. My feeling is maybe, for me, it ends tonight. But the commission took no final action on the $4.7 million proposal Tuesday, instead voting to defer a vote until a later meeting. The discussion comes just five months after the county moved into Alvarado Square, consolidating about 800 government employees and a number of functions that were previously scattered across multiple sites. Located at 415 Silver SW, Alvarado Square previously housed Public Service Company of New Mexico. The county bought the building in 2017 for $2.7 million with the expectation that remodeling and needed updates would run about $33 million. The total project bill including some unexpected COVID-19-related expenses had doubled by the time the building opened to the public last August. But county staff have described the move as a major success. The building is living up to the original project goals, employees are thriving and doing business with the County has never been easier, staff wrote in documents outlining the proposed new work. Pyskoty, however, challenged the necessity of several of the proposed new elements, including the seal and lighting on the side of the building. It would cost over $331,000 and involve bringing in a painter from Las Vegas, Nevada. County management wants to integrate our new flagship facility seamlessly into the colorful skyline of downtown Albuquerque, according to the staff report, though Pyskoty said that a large logo should not be a county priority. People know thats our building; we have signage, she said. I just dont think thats necessary at this time. She also cast doubt on the need to expand the on-site health clinic since it is currently averaging just 12 patients a week. County staff, meanwhile, noted in their memo that the clinic should see traffic increase in July when it begins also serving county employees dependents. Pyskoty also questioned the proposals most expensive element replacing windows on the second through eighth stories and the existing storefront vestibules on the first and second floors. Jared Divett, the countys fleet and facilities director, said the windows are approaching the end of their life. Installing new windows will reduce the countys energy expenses, he said, and aid an active county grant request for ballistic window coating. The county is seeking the grant after vandals in October shot at the building, shattering some of its windows and causing glass to rain down inside the atrium-style building. The film would minimize that sort of incident in the future, Divett told the commission. Divett also addressed Pyskotys concerns about consistently using HB Construction for ongoing Alvarado Square updates, saying the county does not want other contractors doing anything that might compromise the warranty on HBs initial work. We dont want to void any of these warranties, he said. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Detectives have charged a group of young men they say showed up at a party in a West Side apartment around Halloween, attempted to rob one man of his shoes and then shot his brother in the face. The brother was injured, but survived. Thomas Acee, 18, was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Wednesday. He is charged with shooting at a dwelling with great bodily injury and attempted armed robbery. Marcus Rowe, also 18, has been in jail since mid-November on other charges and was charged in the shooting on Tuesday. Isaiah Flores who the victim reportedly identified as the shooter has not been booked into jail. The fourth member of the group, Johnny Lopez, is a juvenile so an Albuquerque Police Department spokeswoman said she cannot provide information about him. Rebecca Atkins, the APD spokeswoman, said the group is also linked to another shooting at a party around the same time on Fountain NW where four people were shot in the legs and gunfire struck several homes and vehicles in the neighborhood. No one has been charged in that incident. On Nov. 1, detectives were called to the University of New Mexico Hospital to interview Martin Trujillo, who had been shot in the face during a party at an apartment on Montano and Coors NW. According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Trujillos brother told detectives they were at the party when four or six men walked in and one of them walked up to him and said he wanted his shoes. He said the man pointed an AR-style rifle at him and then everyone pushed the group out and then the shooting happened. He said he did not see who was actually shooting but the man with the rifle was called Flo. Trujillo identified 25-year-old Flores as Flo. Detectives interviewed Flores, Acee and Lopez and reviewed posts on Instagram and determined the three men and Rowe participated in the shooting. They determined Acee and Lopez tried to take Padillas shoes, according to the complaint. When the detective asked Acee if it is a normal thing for people to be at a party with an AK-47, he said Acee replied This is Albuquerque. The complaint notes that the same caliber casings as the gun Flores was reportedly using were found at a shooting at a house on Fountain, near McMahon and Unser NW, that had happened a day or so earlier. Acee is the son of FBI Special Agent Bryan Acee, who has worked and testified in many high-profile cases. When asked about the connection, and whether the FBI has assisted APD in investigating the group, spokesman Frank Fisher said the agency does not confirm the identities of its employees to ensure their safety. Generally speaking, the FBI would cooperate with other law enforcement agencies in any case involving our personnel or their families, Fisher wrote in an email. We have no further comment at this time. Atkins said the shooting at the apartment complex party was investigated by APD and detectives have communicated with (the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office) about related investigations without involvement from the FBI. Acee had been picked up a couple of days after the shootings on a warrant out of California for being a minor in possession of a firearm. Authorities in San Diego declined to extradite him. Rowe, Acee and a 17-year-old whose name has not been released were identified as suspects in the Oct. 11 shooting the caused more than $500,000 worth of damage to the Bernalillo County headquarters at Alvarado Square, although, only Rowe and 20-year-old Noah Tapia have been charged in connection with that case. Rowe and another man have also been charged in the near-deadly beating of a homeless man he suspected of breaking into a car. That man lost the ability to hear out of one ear, had to have his jaw wired shut, and was sent out of state to be treated for a brain injury, according to a criminal complaint. His mother told detectives his carotid artery had been damaged, putting him in danger of having lasting side effects, including blindness or a stroke. A makeshift memorial stands outside the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Oct. 29, 2018, in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at the synagogue. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File) (Matt Rourke/AP) Israel Zoberman, rabbi (DPMG) Commemorating the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we are painfully aware that the worlds leading American democracy is under threat with the unfathomable events of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, the alarming rise of antisemitism at home and abroad, along with disconcerting phobias and hate of the Other. The Jewish community is squeezed between the far right and the far left, opposing political forces that share an antisemitic streak. The utterly unsettling 83-minute attack on Shabbat morning, Oct. 27, 2018, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, resulting in the death of 11 worshiping Jews, has been described as the worst antisemitic crime committed on American soil. The name Tree of Life connotes the holy Torah whose lessons, including the Ten Commandments, aim to preserve the divine gift of precious human life, proclaiming that freedom and responsibility are inseparable twins. Advertisement A 2020 book, Bound in the Bond of Life: Pittsburgh Writers Reflect on the Tree of Life Tragedy (University of Pittsburgh Press), offers the traditional Jewish response, asserting lifes primacy facing death and loss. The moving volume of insightful reflections by a wide array of Pittsburgh writers connects to their own lives experiences. It is a thoughtful and fitting account honoring the memory of the slain who are rightfully placed in the context of the long historical chain of Jewish martyrdom, culminating in the Holocaust and beyond, with the appellation of Kedoshei Pittsburgh (Pittsburghs Martyrs). Advertisement The books co-editor Beth Kissileff is married to one of the attacks survivors, Rabbi Jonathan Perlman of New Light Congregation. Kissileff, who has taught at the universities of Pittsburgh and Minnesota, raises, Can one heal after gun violence? Can any of us feel safe again? Did antisemitism really not ever go away? The above interrelated issues are complex and beclouded by sectarian politics. Yet, we are not free from tackling them while advocating for remedies helping to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Co-editor Eric Lidji is director of Pittsburghs Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives at the Sen. John Heinz History Center. He oversees preserving the massacres documentation. In due time, with persistence, I can know just the tiniest bit more so that others can someday make meaning from it all. Daywatch Weekdays Start your morning with today's local news > However, what meaning can be derived from such a calamitous occurrence? Recording aids sacred remembrance and provides a therapeutic dimension. David M. Shribman who wrote the books forward is the former executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette. His team won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for covering the carnage. His then-newspaper printed in Hebrew the four letters of the memorial Kaddish prayer. Dor Hadash congregation was inspired to conduct a Refugee Shabbat, for the gunmans ire was at the refugees and immigrants assisted by HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), who sought entry into the United States. Just as the Holocaust survivors once warned my generation, those of us who saw what happened at Tree of Life must tell those who come next. The challenge is to retain the bond of remembrance and the attacks lessons over times natural and forced forgetfulness. Dr. Laura Zittrain Eisenberg teaches modern Middle East history at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a third-generation family member at Tree of Life. Eisenberg shares the constructive response, organizing blood drives community service activities at libraries, food pantries, and service organizations under the slogan Remember. Repair. Together. Can this spirit of both altruism and practicality, turning pain into promise, be sustained over time? The life-changing Pittsburgh pogrom reflects Jewish vulnerability in Golden America. Advertisement Only Tree of Life remains in the building to be redesigned by famed architect Daniel Libeskind, son of Holocaust survivors, who designed the World Trade Center Memorial site following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The remodeled building will memorialize the Pittsburgh tragedy and serve as the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. Rabbi Dr. Israel Zoberman is founder of Temple Lev Tikvah in Virginia Beach. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury is supporting a union of University of New Mexico graduate student workers in its demand that the university initiate collective bargaining talks with the organization. Stansbury tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and was forced to abandon plans to appear at a graduate workers union news conference Wednesday on the campus grounds east of the Student Union Building. But, in a statement read by a spokesperson at the conference, the New Mexico Democrat wrote, Im proud to stand in solidarity with UNM graduate workers in their work to build a brighter future for the entire UNM community, and I look forward to a fair bargaining process that recognizes the vital contributions of graduate workers to teaching and research at New Mexicos flagship university. UNM graduate employees are graduate students who work as teaching assistants and research assistants. They teach classes, grade papers, maintain office hours, answer students questions and/or help professors with research projects. Members of the fledgling union say graduate workers routinely work more hours than they are paid to work and are paid an average of about $14,500 a year, which works out to less than a livable wage. On Dec. 9, 2020, the graduate workers filed for union recognition with the state Public Employees Labor Relations Board. That recognition was eventually granted. In November, however, UNM filed notice in 2nd Judicial District Court that it intends to appeal the PELRBs ruling. We have not received a final ruling from the (PELRB) board, and given the broad definitions found in the boards rulings to date, we want to make sure there is sufficient clarity in the law as we proceed, said James Holloway, UNM provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. We have a duty to our students and the university to be certain that our concerns are addressed. About 60 people gathered in the gray chill of Wednesday for the noon news conference, chanting What do we want? A contract. When do we want it? Now. Graduate worker Ramona Malczynski, a bargaining committee representative for the union, said the organizations demand for negotiations is bigger than the graduate workers community. This is about the future of our university and the future of our state, she said. How UNM treats its employees reflects on alumni, students and all New Mexico residents. Stansburys statement noted that she is herself a former graduate worker. I know firsthand the hard work and dedication that graduate workers bring to our universities, Stansbury wrote. Attorney Israel Chavez, a UNM alumnus, was among other community representatives who spoke during the news conference. Chavez said he was encouraged by the tenacity of UNMs graduate workers in fighting for better working conditions, but he is not proud of his alma maters resistance to the bargaining process. Union busting is wrong, he said. UNM must now stop wasting resources fighting workers rights, do the right thing and bargain in good faith to improve the future of higher education in New Mexico. SANTA FE A renewed attempt to limit the emergency powers of New Mexicos governor stalled Wednesday in a House committee. The proposal, House Joint Resolution 3, will remain in the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee after a tie 4-4 vote on a motion to advance it. Under New Mexicos current law, public health orders expire automatically after 30 days if theyre not ended sooner but can be renewed by the governor an unlimited number of times. Since declaring the COVID-19 pandemic a public health emergency in March 2020, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishams administration has extended the emergency order more than 30 times and issued multiple related health orders. The proposed constitutional change sponsored by Reps. Greg Nibert, R-Roswell, and Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, would give the Legislature the authority to end a governors emergency order after 90 days. If endorsed by legislators, the proposal would also have to be approved by statewide voters in November in order to take effect. Backers of the proposal say the change is necessary to give lawmakers a greater role during declared emergencies. But Lujan Grisham said last year such a change would make it harder for a governor to respond quickly to emergency situations, such as the pandemic that has killed more than 6,300 New Mexicans. She also said she would veto any bill on the subject. After Wednesdays vote, Nibert said he was disappointed by the opposition to the bill from Democratic lawmakers. It is the legislative branch that is the voice of the people, and their voices should be heard, Nibert said. Democrats stung by a series of election year failures to deliver legislative wins for their most loyal voters hope they will be buoyed by the prospect of President Joe Biden naming the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court. Justice Stephen Breyers pending retirement, confirmed by numerous sources Wednesday, could not have come at a better time for a Democratic Party reeling from the collapse of Bidens legislative agenda, including a push to overhaul election laws that voting rights advocates said was critical to protecting democracy. Democrats are trying to regroup with an eye on maintaining a tenuous grip on Congress after Novembers midterm elections, and picking Breyers replacement offers a chance to pause from those bruising battles. Democrats hope that with Biden fulfilling a campaign pledge to appoint the first Black woman as a justice, they can energize a dejected base, particularly Black voters whose support will be crucial in the fall campaign. This is a huge opportunity for us, said Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, a national organization that encourages women of color to vote. It turns out that appointing a Black woman (to the Supreme Court) at this moment could help to make up for the policy and political losses that weve seen recently. Its a win, Allison said. Among the names being circulated as potential nominees are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, prominent civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill and U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs in South Carolina, whom Biden has nominated to be an appeals court judge. Childs is a favorite of Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who made a crucial endorsement of Biden just before South Carolinas presidential primary in 2020. The exact timing of Breyers retirement remains unclear, but Senate Democrats who control the confirmation process plan to begin the proceedings as soon as possible. Despite that energetic push, there are risks for Biden and his party that could jeopardize any apparent political advantages born of an election-year Supreme Court vacancy. Replacing Breyer will not ultimately change the courts 6-3 conservative majority, which has stymied Biden on major priorities including his vaccine and testing mandate for large businesses. And if every Senate Republican unites to oppose the nominee, the president would need to secure support from every Democrat in the chamber. That could potentially revive recent fights in which moderate Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema bucked the party and defeated its priorities. Manchin made clear he would scrutinize the pick. I take my Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on a nominee to the Supreme Court very seriously, he said in a statement. I look forward to meeting with and evaluating the qualifications of President Bidens nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy. Republicans were quick to signal that they would cast the nominee as too far to the left no matter the nominee. The Democrats know they will lose the Senate majority in 2022, said Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who leads the Senate GOPs campaign arm. I predict that (Senate Democratic leader) Chuck Schumer and whoever is running the White House will force all Democrats to obey and walk the plank in support of a radical liberal with extremist views. For years, the potential of shifting the court has animated Republican voters, many of whom are motivated by the goal of eroding abortion rights. But as the court has swung to the right, it has become a priority for Democratic voters, too. In the 2020 presidential campaign, supporters of Biden and then-President Donald Trump were about as likely to say Supreme Court nominations were the single most important factor in their vote, with roughly 2 in 10 saying so, according to AP VoteCast. But Bidens voters outpaced Trumps in saying it was an important factor, even if not the top, 62% vs. 50%. Heading into the 2022 election, the court was most expected to play a role in the fight for the Senate majority, where Democrats have the slimmest possible edge now. Vulnerable Democratic incumbents from New Hampshire to Nevada seized on the upcoming confirmation debate, highlighting abortion rights in particular. In December, the courts conservative majority signaled openness to dramatic restrictions on abortion and may even overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade precedent. A decision is expected by the summer. The next justice must understand how their decisions impact the Nevadans I fight for every day, and that is especially true when it comes to womens reproductive rights, said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who faces a challenging reelection test in a state where voters largely support abortion rights. Its much the same dynamic in New Hampshire for Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan. Justice Breyer has built an impressive legacy on the Supreme Court, including key votes to uphold a womans right to choose her own destiny and ensure that the Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land, Hassan said. When the time comes, I will review President Bidens next Supreme Court nominee as part of the Senates confirmation process. And while the politics may initially benefit Democrats, Republicans wasted no time in seizing on the looming Supreme Court vacancy to raise campaign cash. Soon after news of Breyers pending retirement was released, the Republican National Committee blasted out a fundraising email announcing the creation of an Official Defend the Court Fund. Make NO mistake Biden will pick a nominee that is pro-abortion, anti-gun and anti-religious liberty, the GOP warned. Still, there was a palpable sense of relief and optimism among Democrats, including those who have grown frustrated with the slow pace of change under Biden. Its not a silver bullet, but my God, this is a big deal, man, said Young Democrats of America President Quentin Wathum-Ocama, who has been critical of the Biden presidency. This is huge for so many reasons. Its going to get people excited. Democrats need all the help they can get. JB Poersch, who leads a super PAC aligned with Senate Democrats, said the nomination fight may help motivate Democratic voters especially if Republicans try to interfere with the nomination process but there are no guarantees. We have no room for error, he said. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has the air of an absent-minded professor, once joking in court that his wife put directions in his pocket to keep him from getting lost. He concocts outlandish hypothetical questions to try to get answers to difficult questions, often to the frustration of lawyers with limited time to make their arguments. But if Breyer cultivates such an image, it does not mask a razor-sharp intellect, a sunny disposition or a relentlessly pragmatic approach to the law that often finds him searching for a middle ground or grasping for an outcome he can live with on an increasingly conservative court. Breyer, 83, plans to retire, multiple sources told The Associated Press, but almost certainly not before the court finishes its work in early summer. By then, the court will have rendered its verdict on abortion rights, including possibly overturning the nationwide right to an abortion the court first announced in Roe v. Wade in 1973 and has reaffirmed ever since, including in several opinions Breyer wrote. His most important opinion came at the end of the courts term in June 2016. Breyer was in the majority to strike down Texas regulations of abortion clinics because they provided few, if any, health benefits for women, while making it harder to obtain an abortion. Although Breyers votes usually put him to the left of center on an increasingly conservative court, he frequently saw the gray in situations that colleagues to his right and left preferred to describe as black or white. This was never more clear than on June 27, 2005. In two cases involving displays of the Ten Commandments on public property, Breyer was alone among his colleagues in finding a 6-foot (1.8-meter) granite monument outside the Texas Capitol acceptable and framed copies in two Kentucky courthouses in violation of the Constitution. In Fourth Amendment cases and law enforcement cases, Breyer would sometimes switch places with Justice Antonin Scalia and join the other conservatives while Scalia, who died in February 2016, voted with the courts liberals. That was the breakdown in 2013, when Breyer was in the majority to uphold a Maryland law that allowed police to seize DNA without a warrant from people who have been arrested for serious crimes. Authorities could then submit that sample to a federal database to see if a suspect was wanted for unrelated crimes. His willingness to side with authority when some of his liberal colleagues did not was part of his makeup. An Eagle Scout, Breyer was a believer in government and in working together to solve problems. He liked to point out that as an aide to Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, he worked daily with his counterpart on the staff of Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. The consistent message from their bosses, Breyer said, was to work things out. That same attitude didnt always carry over to the high court, especially after the retirement of Justice Sandra Day OConnor. The first woman on the Supreme Court was a former state lawmaker who was practiced in the art of political compromise. Breyer made no secret that he missed OConnor, whose seat was taken by the more conservative Justice Samuel Alito. In June 2007, at the end of the Alitos first full term as a justice, Breyer issued a long, impassioned dissent from a decision that invalidated public school integration plans. It is not often that so few have so quickly changed so much, Breyer said of a five-justice conservative majority, noting that his dissenting opinion was more than twice as long as any he had written in 13 years on the court. It was a rare public display of pessimism for Breyer, who worried that he would be increasingly in dissent in a new era under the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts. Two months later, Breyer was whistling a happier, though still realistic, tune. The setbacks in cases involving abortion, pay discrimination against women and education underscored his faith in the rule of law. When I look at it objectively, I think how I wish Id won, but I also think, not a bad system, Breyer said at the American Bar Association meeting in his native San Francisco. Im not going to be in the majority all the time. How I wish I were, but thats the system. Thats called the rule of law. The rule of law was central to his argument that the public should not look at the court as politicians in robes, which he continues to speak out about even as opinion polls find increasing support for the view that the courts work is political. Breyers most pointed dissents occurred in ideologically split decisions and accused the majority of risking the courts nonpolitical reputation. In the Bush v. Gore case, when the court ruled on the outcome of the 2000 presidential election, Breyer wrote that the decision runs the risk of undermining the publics confidence in the court itself we do risk a self-inflicted wound. Choosing a president is of fundamental national importance. But that importance is political, not legal. In 2015, Breyer concluded after 21 years on the court that it was highly likely that the death penalty was unconstitutional. His dissent drew only one other vote, that of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The justice straddled two eras of the court, the William Rehnquist years and the Roberts era. He sometimes seemed overshadowed by others in the courts liberal wing, perhaps because he had less seniority than Justices John Paul Stevens and Ginsburg. Like Ginsburg, Breyer is Jewish. When Elena Kagan joined the court in 2010, those three Jewish justices served on the court with six Catholics and, for the first time in U.S. history, no Protestants. Breyer speaks about his Judaism and many other topics in frequent public speeches, both in the United States and internationally. He speaks French well enough to deliver addresses in the language, including for his induction in 2013 as a foreign member of the Frances Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques, one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The courts press office would occasionally distribute texts of Breyers remarks in French, at the justices urging. ___ Sherman reported from Bradenton Beach, Florida. BEIJING From the deadly crushing of Beijings 1989 pro-democracy protests to the suppression of Hong Kongs opposition four decades later, Chinas Communist Party has demonstrated a determination and ability to stay in power that is seemingly impervious to Western criticism and sanctions. As Beijing prepares to hold the Winter Olympics opening next week, Chinas president and party leader Xi Jinping appears firmly in control. The party has made political stability paramount and says that has been the foundation for the economic growth that has bettered lives and put the nation on a path to becoming a regional if not global power. While many have benefitted economically, the price has been paid by those who wanted more freedom, from ethnic groups in the far western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang to the largely student-led protesters in Hong Kong in 2019. The party leadership was divided when an earlier generation of student protesters took control for weeks of the symbolically important grounds of Beijings Tiananmen Square in 1989. The hardline leaders won and the protesters were crushed rather than accommodated, a fateful decision that has guided the partys approach to this day. The world came up with the assumption that with economic engagement with China, China would thrive, which would give birth to a powerful middle class, which would give birth then to a civil society which would give birth then to a democracy that would make China a responsible stakeholder in the world arena, said Wuer Kaixi, who as a university student helped lead the 1989 protests and now lives in exile in Taiwan. That assumption, he added, proved naive and wrong. Beijings hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics manifested hope that reforms might be on the way, bringing greater space for free speech, independent labor unions and protection of the cultural and religious identities of ethnic groups. Tibetan groups staged protests in China and abroad, disrupting the torch relay. Nearly 15 years later, on the eve of the Winter Games, the reality is far different. Tibet remains firmly under Communist Party control, and the government launched a fierce crackdown against the Turkic Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang in 2017 and enacted new laws and loyalty requirements to drive out opposition in Hong Kong in response to massive protests that turned violent in 2019. Under Xi, who came to power in 2012, the party has clamped down on dissident voices and anyone who challenges its version of events, from a #MeToo movement that flourished briefly to citizen journalists who exposed the crisis and chaos in Wuhan in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Xi is now expected to be appointed to a third five-year term as the ruling partys general secretary this fall, cementing his position as Chinas strongest leader since Mao Zedong. With no term limits on the position, Xi could remain leader indefinitely, with no clearly defined rules on succession. Xi approaches the party meeting bolstered by a strong economy, the ending of separatist violence in Xinjiang and the passage of a sweeping national security law and electoral changes in Hong Kong that have eviscerated the political opposition in the territory. Xi Jinping wants to become a leader like Mao, said Joseph Cheng, a political scientist and veteran Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who now lives in Australia. Mao Zedong founded Chinas communist state in 1949 and led the country for more than two decades. Having maintained relative prosperity and rock-hard political control, Xi and the party face little pressure and see no need to make concessions, Cheng said. There are no checks and balances domestically and internationally. As a result, there is an increasingly authoritarian regime, he said. The suppression of the Tiananmen protests marked the end of a period of limited political liberalization in the 1980s. The chaos and violence of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution and the decline of the Soviet Union had already impressed on the ruling party that political stability should be maintained at whatever cost. The crackdown carried out with tanks and assault troops was seen as the only way to ensure continued Communist Party rule and what Xi has since termed the realization of the Chinese dream of restoring the countrys position in the world. The events of 1989 remain a taboo topic in China to this day. Future years saw advocates for free expression and civil rights continue to push the boundaries. Beijing responded to some appeals by releasing pro-democracy activists into foreign exile. At the same time, the party opened new avenues for education and employment, loosened restrictions on the private sector and welcomed foreign investment. A new generation of young Chinese grew up with heightened expectations and little knowledge of the political turmoil of past years. Despite their misgivings about the crackdown, Chinas booming economy was too much of a draw to ignore, and Western democracies swiftly re-engaged with the regime in the 1990s and 2000s. More recently, the U.S. has turned against China, viewing what is now the worlds second largest economy as a growing competitor as well as an opportunity. Chinas policies in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and on human rights in general, have brought travel and financial sanctions from the U.S. and others on the officials and companies involved. Beijing has responded with dismissals and disdain. A diplomatic boycott of the Olympics announced by Washington, the U.K. and others was greeted with contempt by Beijing for what it called a meaningless gesture that would change nothing. China has sought to redefine human rights as improvements in the quality of life, and cites economic growth and poverty reduction as the real determinants. It has written off campaigns by foreign politicians, trade groups and companies to boycott cotton goods and other products from Xinjiang over allegations of forced labor. China calls such claims the lie of the century, although some experts say the bad publicity may have prompted it to shut down its prison-like system of internment camps. But activists calls to move the Olympics out of China have gone unheeded. A diplomatic boycott wont stop the athletes from competing. Sophie Richardson, the China director for Human Rights Watch, said the International Olympic Committee lost all credibility on promoting human rights after choosing Beijing for the Winter Games. Kaixi, the former Tiananmen protester and an ethnic Uyghur, said China could not have succeeded in its defiance without the acquiescence of the international community. China can only get away with all this because the world is giving in, he said. ___ Associated Press journalist Johnson Lai in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report. MOSCOW The White House says President Joe Biden warned Ukraines president Thursday that there is a distinct possibility Russia could take military action against Ukraine in February. The Kremlin likewise sounded a grim note, saying it saw little ground for optimism in resolving the crisis after the U.S. this week again rejected Russias main demands. Russian officials said dialogue was still possible to end the crisis, but Biden again offered a stark warning amid growing concerns that Russian President Vladimir Putin will give the go-ahead for a further invasion of Ukrainian territory in the not-so-distant future. The White House said Bidens comments to Ukraines Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call amplified concerns that administration officials have been making for some time. President Biden said that there is a distinct possibility that the Russians could invade Ukraine in February, White House National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said. He has said this publicly and we have been warning about this for months. Tensions have soared in recent weeks, as the United States and its NATO allies expressed concern that a buildup of about 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine signaled that Moscow planned to invade its ex-Soviet neighbor. Russia denies having any such designs and has laid out a series of demands it says will improve security in Europe. But as expected, the U.S. and the Western alliance firmly rejected any concessions on Moscows main points Wednesday, refusing to permanently ban Ukraine from joining NATO and saying allied deployments of troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe are nonnegotiable. The U.S. did outline areas in which some of Russias concerns might be addressed, possibly offering a path to de-escalation. But, as it has done repeatedly for the past several weeks, Washington also warned Moscow of devastating sanctions if it invades Ukraine. In addition to penalties targeting Russian people and key economic sectors, several senior U.S. officials said Thursday with certainty that Germany would not allow a newly constructed gas pipeline to begin operations in the event of an incursion. All eyes are now on Putin, who will decide how Russia will respond amid fears that Europe could again be plunged into war. In the meantime, Biden spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Zelenskyy on Thursday to reiterate American and allied support, including recent deliveries of U.S. military aid. Biden warned Zelenskyy that the U.S. believed there was a high degree of likelihood that Russia could invade when the ground freezes and Russian forces could attack Ukrainian territory from north of Kyiv, according to two people familiar with the conversation who were not authorized to comment publicly. Military experts have said Russia may be waiting for optimal ground conditions to move heavy equipment into Kyiv as part of any invasion. Eight years ago, Russia invaded Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in late February. Zelenskyy tweeted that he and Biden also discussed the possibility of additional financial support for Ukraine. The White House said Biden told Zelenskyy he was exploring additional macroeconomic support to help Ukraines economy as it comes under pressure as a result of Russias military buildup. Meanwhile, the United States announced that the U.N. Security Council will hold an open meeting Monday on what U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russias threatening behavior. She said the deployment of more than 100,000 troops along Ukraines border and other destabilizing acts pose a clear threat to international peace and security and the U.N. Charter. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters earlier that the response from the U.S. and a similar one from NATO left little ground for optimism. But he added that there always are prospects for continuing a dialogue, its in the interests of both us and the Americans. White House press secretary Jen Psaki was circumspect when asked whether the Biden administration saw a sliver of hope in that the Russians said they would keep communications open even as they said that they lacked optimism.. We dont know if the Russians are playing games on diplomacy. We hope not, Psaki said. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the U.S. response contained some elements that could lead to the start of a serious talk on secondary issues, but emphasized that the document contains no positive response on the main issue. Those are Moscows demands that NATO not expand and that the alliance refrain from deploying weapons that might threaten Russia. Lavrov said top officials will submit proposals to Putin. Peskov said the Russian reaction would come soon. The evasive official comments reflect the fact that it is Putin who will single-handedly determine Russias next moves. He has warned of unspecified military-technical measures if the West refuses to heed the demands. Peskov added that Putin and Biden will decide whether they need to have another conversation following two calls last month. Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv had seen the U.S. response before it was delivered to Russia and had no objections. He tweeted it was important that the U.S. remains in close contact with Ukraine before and after all contacts with Russia. On a visit to Denmark, Kuleba emphasized his countrys need to strengthen its defenses. This crisis is a moment of truth, and this is why we speak about weapons, he said. This is why we speak about economic sanctions. This is why we speak about the consolidated position of all of us, so that President Putin sees that there are no weak links in our defensive chain. Germanys Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said during a parliamentary debate on Ukraine that her government is closely coordinating its policy with allies, considering a range of options that could include the new Nord Stream 2 Russian gas pipeline to Germany. While the diplomacy sputters on, so too do maneuvers that have escalated tensions. Russia has launched a series of military drills involving motorized infantry and artillery units in southwestern Russia, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, dozens of warships in the Black Sea and the Arctic, and Russian fighter jets and paratroopers in Belarus. NATO said it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region, and the U.S. ordered 8,500 troops on higher alert for potential deployment to Europe. As war fears mounted, thousands of Ukrainians expressed their resolve to stand up to the Russian pressure under the hashtag #UkrainiansWillResist on Twitter and Facebook. No one will force Ukrainians to accept the Kremlin ultimatum, wrote Andrii Levus, who initiated the campaign. Ukraines Interior Ministry has organized training on acting in emergency situations, with an emphasis on dealing with explosives. Beyond concerns about a possible Russian offensive in Ukraine, there also has been speculation that Moscows response could include military deployments to the Western Hemisphere. While a senior Russian diplomat recently refused to rule out such deployments to Cuba and Venezuela, a top Putin associate expressed skepticism Thursday at that prospect. Cuba and Venezuela are aiming to come out of isolation and restore normal relations with the U.S. to a certain extent, so there cant be any talk about setting up a base there as happened during the Soviet times, Dmitry Medvedev, a deputy head of Russias Security Council, told Russian media. While he charged that the West is using Ukraine as a way to contain Russia, he somberly acknowledged that a Russia-NATO conflict would be the most dramatic and simply catastrophic scenario, and I hope it will never happen. While concerns about a possible Russian attack linger, a separatist conflict simmers in Ukraine. Following the 2014 ouster of a Kremlin-friendly president in Kyiv, Moscow annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and backed an insurgency in the countrys eastern industrial heartland. Fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed rebels has killed over 14,000 people, and efforts to reach a settlement have stalled. Since the conflict began, Russia has been accused of sending troops and weapons to the separatists, something it has denied. On Thursday, Peskov wouldnt comment on a proposal from the Kremlins main political party, United Russia, which suggested that Moscow respond to the delivery of Western weapons to Ukraine by sending arms to the rebels. He added that Putin is aware of the proposal but had no immediate reaction. ___ Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Matthew Lee in Washington, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed. WARSAW, Poland Survivors recalled their agony to a world they fear is forgetting, Israels parliamentary speaker wept in the German parliament and politicians warned of a resurgence of antisemitism on Thursdays International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The day falls on the anniversary of the liberation by Soviet troops of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the most notorious of the death camps where Nazi Germany carried out its Final Solution seeking to murder the Jewish people of Europe. At the memorial site in Poland, which was subjected to a brutal German occupation during World War II, a small number of survivors gathered in an auditorium. Attendance at the yearly event was sharply curtailed amid Europes coronavirus surge. Others joined online. Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people at Auschwitz, most of them Jews, but also Poles, Roma and others. Halina Birenbaum, a 92-year-old Polish-born poet who lives in Israel, recalled her suffering remotely. She was 10 when the Germans invaded and occupied Poland in September 1939, and was 13 when she was taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau after being led out of the gas chamber of the Majdanek camp thanks to a malfunction. I saw masses of the powerful but arrogant army of Nazi Germany as they marched cruelly, victoriously, into the devastated and burning streets of Warsaw, she recalled. The countless experiences of infinite suffering on the brink of death are already a distant, unimaginable story for new generations, she said. Commemorations everywhere took place amid a rise of antisemitism that gained traction during lockdowns as the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated hatred online. German parliament speaker Baerbel Bas said the pandemic has acted like an accelerant to already burgeoning antisemitism. Antisemitism is here it isnt just on the extreme fringe, not just among the eternally incorrigible and a few antisemitic trolls on the net, she said. It is a problem of our society all of society. In recent days alone, a 12-year-old Jewish boy in Italy was attacked and subjected to antisemitic slurs while two men were punched in London. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the London attack is a terrible reminder, on Holocaust Memorial Day, that such prejudice is not consigned to history, but remains a very real problem in society. Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher, 87, told the German parliament she still remembers the terrible time of horror and hatred. Unfortunately, this cancer has reawakened and hatred of Jews is commonplace again in many countries in the world, including Germany, she said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a virtual U.N. Holocaust remembrance ceremony Thursday that he has made tackling the roots of intolerance an urgent priority. Antisemitism, virulent anti-Muslim bigotry, persecution of Christians, racism, and anti-refugee hatred are becoming normalized in a coarsening public discourse often amplified in online echo chambers of hate, he said. The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2005 establishing International Holocaust Remembrance Day as an annual commemoration. About 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators. Some 1.5 million were children. Our country bears a special responsibility the genocide against the European Jews is a German crime, Bas said in the German parliament, the Bundestag. Israels parliamentary speaker, Mickey Levy, broke down in tears in the Bundestag while reciting the Jewish mourners prayer from a prayer book that belonged to a German Jewish boy who celebrated his bar mitzvah on the eve of Kristallnacht, an outburst of anti-Jewish violence in 1938. Levy said that Israel and Germany experienced an exceptional journey on the way to reconciliation and establishing relations and brave friendship between us. In Rome, Pope Francis met Holocaust survivor Edith Bruck, a Hungarian-born writer and poet who survived Nazi death camps and settled in Italy. Both emphasized the inestimable value of transmitting the memory of the past to the young, even in its most painful aspects, to not repeat the same tragedies. the Vatican said. In Austria, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid paid an emotional visit to the Mauthausen concentration camp, where his grandfather, Bela Lampel, was murdered in 1945. Grandpa Bela, a quiet man whose family nickname was Bela the Wise, sent me here today to say on his behalf, that the Jews have not surrendered, Lapid said. The Nazis thought they were the future, and that Jews would be something you only find in a museum. Instead, the Jewish state is the future, and Mauthausen is a museum. Rest in peace, grandfather, you won, he said. He was joined by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. The two men hugged each other during the memorial service. I apologize, on behalf of the republic of Austria, for the crimes committed here. I apologize that your grandfather was murdered here, Nehammer said. Gathered at the European Parliament, EU lawmakers listened to 100-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlanders ordeal. She was arrested in 1944 and brought to Theresienstadt, now part of the Czech Republic. A year before, her mother and brother were deported to Auschwitz and killed. We must be vigilant and not look the other way as we did then, she said. Hatred, racism and antisemitism must not be the last word in history. Charles Michel, the head of the EU Council bringing together leaders of the 27 EU member countries, said that with each passing year, the Holocaust inches towards becoming a historical event. More and more distant, more and more abstract, Michel said. Especially in the eyes of the younger generations of Europeans. This is why, paradoxically, the more the years go by, the more important the commemoration becomes. To tackle Holocaust denial, UNESCO and the World Jewish Congress launched a partnership Thursday with the online platform TikTok popular with youngsters. They say it will allow users to be oriented toward verified information when searching for terms related to the Shoah. According to the U.N., 17% of content related to the Holocaust on TikTok either denied or distorted the Holocaust. In Italy, members of the Jewish community and lawmakers gathered in Romes Ghetto to lay a wreath where more than 1,000 people were rounded up and deported to Auschwitz on Oct. 16, 1943. In Albania, Foreign Minister Olta Xhacka honored Holocaust victims while expressing pride in his countrys role in sheltering Jews. ___ Petrequin reported from Brussels. Geir Moulson in Berlin, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Ilan Ben Zion and Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Sylvia Hui in London and Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed to this report. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho police said officers attempted to use nonlethal force before shooting and killing a knife-wielding man who was threatening a family member during a domestic violence incident late Wednesday. Rio Rancho Police Department Capt. Joel Holt identified 42-year-old John Paul Romero as the person fatally shot. He said two family members were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries sustained before police arrived. Holt identified the officers involved as Cpl. A. Tortorici, and officers A. Benavidez and J. Gurule. Holt did not provide the officers first names, but online Rio Rancho salary records suggest that the three are Cpl. Anthony Tortorici and officers Anthony Benavidez and Justin Gurule. Holt said the three have been placed on mandatory administrative leave with pay. Officer Dusty Francisco, a New Mexico State Police spokesman, said the agency is investigating the incident. The New Mexico State Police acts solely as factfinders in its cases and does not determine whether the actions of an officer were justified in these types of matters, he said. That decision rests with the district attorneys office. Rio Rancho police responded to the domestic dispute at a home in the 4600 block of Platinum Drive NE around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Francisco said Romeros mother told a dispatcher that Romero was armed with a knife and harming family members. Holt said officers found Romero inside the home actively threatening a family member while armed with two knives. Our officers attempted less lethal means to stop the male subject from his continued threat; this includes the use of a Taser device, Holt said in a news release. At some point during the encounter, Francisco said, two RRPD officers discharged their department-issued firearms, striking Romero. Romero was pronounced dead at the scene, while Romeros mother and another family member were taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. We recognize that this is a tragic incident for the family involved, our officers, and everybody in our greater community, Holt said. Our mission, as always, is to secure the health, safety and welfare of our many communities. Eleven New Mexico organizations will receive a total of $1.2 million in American Rescue Plan grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. One of the organizations is gallupARTS, which will get $50,000. It also will receive an additional $43,000 American Rescue Plan (ARP) grant from the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF). $93,000 in ARP grant funding ensures gallupARTS will not only survive, but thrive this year, despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, said gallupARTS Executive Director Rose Eason. In turn, gallupARTS will be translating this funding into critical support for local artists and the regional creative economy as we continue to forge the path to recovery together. In total, the NEA will award grants totaling $57,750,000 to 567 arts organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Washington, DC. The New Mexico organizations will receive grants from $50,000 to $150,000. American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association, National Institute of Flamenco, Working Classroom in Albuquerque, along with Pueblo of Pojoaque and Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts in Santa Fe each received a $150,000 grant. Our nations arts sector has been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Endowment for the Arts American Rescue Plan funding will help arts organizations, such as gallupARTS, rebuild and reopen, said Maria Rosario Jackson, chair of the NEA. The arts are crucial in helping Americas communities heal, unite, and inspire, as well as essential to our nations economic recovery. For its part, gallupARTS plans to use its grant funding to cover its staffing and facilities costs in 2022, and also to fund two new artist-led, social justice-focused and community-building initiatives in the coming months. The American Rescue Plan was signed into law in March 2021 when the NEA was provided $135 million for the arts sector. The third installment provides more than $57.7 million for arts organizations. WENN/FayesVision Celebrity The former 'Everybody Loves Raymond' star and his now-wife, who first met back in 2008 at Vose Galleries in Boston, exchange wedding vows in Montecito, California. Jan 27, 2022 AceShowbiz - Brad Garrett is a married man. The former "Everybody Loves Raymond" star revealed that he has tied the knot with his fiancee IsaBeall Quella after postponing their wedding four times. "I married the love of my life," the 61-year-old gushed in a statement to PEOPLE, before quipping, "Her, not so much." The actor exchanged vows with his longtime love back on November 11, 2021 in Montecito, California. Brad, who first met IsaBeall back in 2008 at Vose Galleries in Boston, wore a black suit by Di Stefano for the big day. His bride, on the other hand, looked stunning in a white gown designed by Reem Acra. The nuptials arrived after the pair were forced to halt their wedding four separate times. They pushed back the date twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic, once due to wildfires and once due to mudslide. The newly-married couple now lives in Malibu with their two dogs, Ivy and Chester. Throughout his years-long romance with IsaBeall, Brad has never shied away to show his love for her. When celebrating her birthday last January, he took to Instagram to pay a loving tribute to his now-wife. He began his caption, "To My Beautiful IsaBeall on your Hatchday. You are truly the most incredible human I've ever met." "As not to embarrass you because I know your humility I'll just say Thank You. For everything. You're the love of my life even though you're free to date," the stand-up comedian added. "Wish I had a time machine. And a new head. More and forever as the authorities allow." In March that year, Brad honored IsaBeall and his daughter Hope Violet on International Women's Day. "To my daughter, Hope and my wife, IsaBeall: You are celebrated EVERY DAY. Thank you for making me better; inspiring me and teaching me the power of love," he raved. "Your kindness, compassion and grace makes this world a beautiful place. With love and endless admiration," the father of two further noted. He also added hashtags, "#internstionalwomensday #daughters #wives #women #strength #respect #powerfulwomen." Brad was previously married to Jill Diven from 1999 to 2007. In addition to 22-year-old daughter Hope, the former couple shares a 23-year-old son named Maxwell Bradley. Irene Sarro, a second-year chemical engineering student form Piza, Italy looks at a campus map near the Student Union Building on Jan. 25, 2022. Texas Tech's huge campus can be very hard to navigate, especially for international students who are experiencing Texas for the first time. WENN/Nicky Nelson/FayesVision Celebrity The former star of 'The Suite Life on Deck' is photographed wearing a massive diamond ring on her left hand during a casual stroll in Beverly Hills, California. Jan 27, 2022 AceShowbiz - Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song may have taken their relationship to the next level. The "Home Alone" star and the "Dollface" actress seemingly have gotten engaged as she was spotted wearing a diamond ring on that finger. A source confirmed to PEOPLE on Wednesday, January 26 that the couple is engaged less than a year after welcoming their first child, a baby boy named Dakota Song Culkin. Backing the speculation, the 33-year-old actress was photographed sporting a massive sparkling band on her left hand while out and about in Beverly Hills, California on Monday. During the casual stroll, Brenda could be seen donning a black midi dress which she paired with a red outer. To complete her look, the actress wore matching Gucci slip-on shoes, mini sling bag as well as face mask. She also added a pair of glasses. A separate source also told Us Weekly that Macaulay got down on one knee to ask Brenda to marry him after four years together. The insider went on to say, "They are and always have been very in love with each other." Macaulay and the Disney Channel alum were first romantically linked in 2017 after they met on the set of their movie, "Changeland". At the time, the couple was caught enjoying dinner together at Craig's, an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. Since then, the pair kept their relationship low-key. Then in February 2020, Macaulay said that he wanted to start a family with Brenda. "We practice a lot," the former child star told Esquire at that time. "We're figuring it out, making the timing work. Because nothing turns you on more than when your lady comes into the room and says, 'Honey, I'm ovulating.' " A little over a year after expressing his desire to have a baby, Macaulay and "The Suite Life on Deck" alum announced that they welcomed baby Dakota in early March 2021. The little boy weighed 6 pounds and 14 ounces at the time of his birth. Of his son's name, the 41-year-old actor revealed that he picked Dakota as his baby boy's moniker in honor of his late sister. She passed away at the age of 29 after stepping in front of a moving vehicle outside a west Los Angeles bar in 2008. 20th Century Fox Celebrity Back in June 2020, a Twitter user named Gabby wrote in a now-deleted tweet that the 'Baby Driver' actor 'sexually assaulted me when I was 17,' though he vehemently denied. Jan 27, 2022 AceShowbiz - The stars of "West Side Story" finally addressed the sexual assault allegations leveled at their co-star Ansel Elgort. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Rachel Zegler, Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose shared their thoughts on the allegations. Moreno stated that she refused to make "judgements" on the accusations, which Elgort has previously denied. "I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter," she explained. "It's not for me to make those judgments." DeBose appeared to echo the sentiment. "Nobody really knows what's going on in anyone's head. Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down," the actress, who recently made her hosting debut on "Saturday Night Live", said. As for Zegler, who played the love interest of Elgort's character in Steven Spielberg's beloved musical adaptation, noted that "a lot has gone on in the world" in the time since they originally all shot the film together. "We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then," she divulged. "A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. There's been a lot of awakening." She continued, "You just hope that the people involved are OK, that they are asked in a respectful manner and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves." Back in June 2020, a Twitter user named Gabby wrote in a now-deleted tweet that the "Baby Driver" actor "sexually assaulted me when I was 17." Elgort vehemently denied the claims. "I have never and would never assault anyone," he said in a statement. "What is true is that in New York in 2014, when I was 20, Gabby and I had a brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship." WENN/Facebook Celebrity Breaking his silence on Hudson Madsen's tragic passing, the 'Kill Bill' actor reveals his 26-year-old son's last text message to him was 'I love you dad.' Jan 27, 2022 AceShowbiz - Michael Madsen is struggling to come to terms with his son Hudson Madsen's sudden passing. Two days after news broke that his son was found dead in suspected suicide, the actor admitted he didn't see it coming. The father of six broke his silence on the family tragedy on Wednesday, January 26 in a statement via his representative. In the statement to HollywoodLife.com, the 64-year-old first said, "I want to thank everyone for their prayers and their kind messages. Our family appreciates that." "We are all incredibly overwhelmed with grief and sadness and shock as my son, whom I just spoke with a few days ago said he was happy," Michael revealed his last interaction with his now-late son. He added, "My last text from him was 'I love you dad.' " During their last exchange, Michael said he "didn't see any signs of depression." Finding it "so tragic and sad" that his son's now gone, the "Kill Bill" star opened up, "I'm just trying to make sense of everything and understand what happened." On Monday, it was reported that Hudson, who is the godson of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, was found dead with an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. The Department of the Medical Examiner in Honolulu confirmed that Hudson died on Sunday, January 23. "We are heartbroken and overwhelmed with grief and pain at the loss of Hudson," the Madsen family said in a statement. "His memory and light will be remembered by all who knew and loved him. We ask for privacy and respect during this difficult time. Thank you." Hudson is Michael's third son overall and his first from his marriage to DeAnna Madsen. The "Reservoir Dogs" star also shares sons Calvin, 25, and Luke, 16, with "The Price of Air" actress. Michael is also a father to son Christian, 31, and Max, 27, whom he shares with his ex-wife Jeannine Bisignano. He also has a daughter named Jessica. Instagram Celebrity The former star of '19 Kids and Counting' had to land his Piper PA-30 aircraft, which contained two other passengers, in a field in Waverly, Tennessee that caused 'substantial' damage to the plane. Jan 27, 2022 AceShowbiz - John-David Duggar reportedly experienced a frightening aviation accident in Waverly, Tennessee. The former "19 Kids and Counting" star was unveiled to have crashed a plane with two passengers after alleged machine failure. The Humphreys County Sheriff's Department confirmed to PEOPLE on Wednesday, January 26 that the accident took place around 7 P.M. on October 29, 2021. According to the authorities, the crash involved "a family from Arkansas." The 911 dispatcher for the area said that John-David was piloting the aircraft, a Piper PA-30, and was the one who called in the crash. The 32-year-old star told the 911 dispatcher that his plane suffered a "double engine failure" and he had to land it down on a field as a result. Per a preliminary accident report from the National Transportation Safety Board, there were two other unknown passengers on board. The report said there were no injuries from the crash, but the damage to the aircraft was "substantial." The NTSB's investigation into the incident remains open. The plane was registered to Medic Choppers, LLC, per the outlet. It belonged to Medic Corps, a non-profit organization that deploys aircraft to provide emergency medical care during mass-casualty disasters. The organization has aimed to provide "significant emergency medical care during times of catastrophic disaster" since Super Typhoon Yolanda impacted the Philippines in 2013. John-David currently serves as the director of business for the organization. On its website, it's stated that he previously worked as a Fireman and Emergency Medical Responder with the Fire Department. John-David has long been interested in flying. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the former star of "Counting On" got his commercial pilot license in November of last year and his flight instructor certification about six months prior. His wife, Abbie Burnett, is also a pilot. She earned her student pilot license in August 2020 according to FAA records. The airplane crash happened one month before John-David's brother Josh Duggar was found guilty of one count of receipt of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. As for now, the disgraced reality star is currently trying to get an acquittal and new trial. Zee Zest launches a first-of-its-kind show Safari India, an adventurous, entertaining and thrilling journey across some of Indias prominent National Parks with actor Rannvijay Singha. With an aim to explore and experience Indias rich biodiversity, the people behind the parks, and the urgency of preserving the magnificent wildlife, Safari India explores seven of Indias legendary National Parks via an eight - part tentpole series. It is said that animals are more than ever a test of our character, of mankind's capacity for empathy and for decent, honorable conduct and faithful stewardship. Thus, with the ongoing Human-Wildlife Conflict in several parts of the globe, its important for us humans to treat these animals with kindness, now more than ever before. For these animals are the bridge between humanity and the beauty of all that is natural. Driven with the same purpose, Safari India is geared up to take you on an adventure through the countrys breathtaking wildlife ecosystem. Venturing along with host Rannvijay, to track the life that resides at the heart of the wilderness, trekking through the dense tropical jungles of the land, to crossing perilous rivers, Safari India explores the unexplored side of the wild. The seven National Parks captured through Safari Indias lens are the popular Jim Corbett National Park in Nainital, Kaziranga National Park in Assam, Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh, Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, Gir National Park in Gujarat, Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa and Dubare Elephant Camp in Karnataka. Each jungle, with its own wildlife diversity that breathes life into nature, and that echoes the roar of its own emotion, taking you through an exciting and thrilling experience. Every day is a new adventure and a fascinating learning experience. And traversing through these National Parks, host Rannvijay will be seen interacting with several forest rangers and park keepers, learning about their different wildlife preservation methods, surprisingly high usage of modern tech, rehabilitation centers, animal laws, and more across these preservation parks. But as viewers it would be imperative to understand the crucial role of preserving natures lifeline as Rannvijay uncovers the same when he visits The Centre for Bear Rehabilitation and Conservation (CBRC) which is the first specialised rehabilitation centre for Asiatic black bears in India aimed at rehabilitating displaced cubs back into the wild which otherwise face major threats with persecution and habitat destruction. Actor Rannvijay Singha, who is always driven by adventure, is the perfect fit to host the show with his impeccable mindset and skills. An adrenaline junkie, he loves taking up challenges and learning about new things. Sharing his experience from Safari India, Host Rannvijay Singha says, Safari India was the most adventurous and thrilling experience Ive had this year. It was a series of astonishing and larger-than-life experiences. I interacted with several forest rangers and learned about their efforts towards preserving our wildlife. Ive had some exceptional learning experiences and it was only because of the show that I realized what a rich wildlife ecosystem our country has. I feel extremely honored to be a part of the show and hope that with Zee Zest, we are able to yet again UNLIMIT experiences for the viewers. On the launch of the new show, Amit Nair, Business Head, Zee Zest said, In our quest to enhance our viewer experience and keeping in mind the UnLimit promise we are very excited to partner with Rannvijay on this unique show. While most wildlife shows are voice over driven, here we have tried to place the audience in the thick of the action, giving them the vicarious pleasure to explore the wild through the show and possibly inspire them to undertake their own journeys of adventure. Our country is blessed with some of the most amazing forests and wildlife and we should all actively participate in conserving and protecting them. Safari India premieres on 31st January 2022 on Zee Zest SD and HD, along with ZeeZest.com. Those are the governments own figures. No one pretends that things will ever level off or improve. The numbers are real, yet there is no alarm from officials. They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, were looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years. It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, youd also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic. A couple of years ago I came in contact with an economist who knew all about what autism will be costing us. Toby Rogers, PhD studied the official reports from NIH. Heres how he summed things up. Theres one glaring truth that cant be ignored: With ever-increasing autism numbers and greater percentages of students with special needs, we will see rising costs to society, and it turns out that in the U.K. and Ireland, those costs are disastrous. Ive been collecting those percentages too, and theyre chilling: Staten Island: 24 percent of students are SPED, Ireland: 25 percent, Rumford, ME: more than 25 percent; Hamilton, Ontario: 26 percent, Clark County, KY: 30 percent, Scotland: 32 percent. It just gets monotonous after a while. None of these numbers matter at all. I dont know why reporters even mention them. Theres never any follow-up questions or real concern. Those are only a few. Ive got lots more, but it really doesnt matter. Autism will never be a real problem and neither will the percentage of kids who are considered special ed. Of course thats nothing. Over the last few years Ive seen one in 39 in North Carolina, one in 26 in California, one in 22 in Northern Ireland, and one in 14 in Toms River, NJ. The latest U.S. autism rate is one in 44, up from one in 54 the year before. By Anne Dachel Ive been looking at stories about special education for five years now for Loss of Brain Trust and things show no sign of quietly settling down. Every once in a while some story will mention the percentage of kids who have special needs or else cite the current autism rate. Ive faithfully written about all these numbers. Where is leading medical official focused on autism who makes regular appearances on the news? Where is the expert with all the answers? Why isnt anyone asking questions? The truth is those in charge are too scared to even acknowledge autism as the nightmare it clearly is. While theres next to nothing in the American media concerning autism and disabled students, its a whole different situation in the U.K. Autism/special ed is already costing local councils massive amounts, and the national government has had to pour billions into the English education system. Stories are non-stop in Britain and Ireland where schools are also flooded with costly disabled students. Stories about special ed in the U.K. are evolving. Ive literally seen hundreds of them talking about increasing demandsomething weve come to expect. Yup, that demand is always increasing. But now theres a new term Ive come across: overspend. These are stories about local councils in deficit spending when it comes to special education costs, especially high needs costs. This past week I found a truly dismal article from Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of England, and its all about those catastrophic costs Toby Rogers warned about. Here are some choice lines: The north of the county's high needs budget has a deficit 2.3m [$3.1M]. many of our special schools and mainstream units are running at, or over, capacity There is an ongoing increase in the number of Education, Care and Health Plans (EHCPs) having to deal with a 2.1m [$2.8M] hole in the special education budget inherited from Northamptonshire County Council - plus an overspend of 300,000 [$402K] and rising in this financial year. "Our special schools are running at a very high level of capacity," he said. "Many actually are over capacity as tribunals are requiring them to take over their published number to admit (PAN). "In recent years there has been considerable growth in pupils identified as having SEND and in those requiring an EHCP, pupils requiring alternative provision and pupils requiring specialist provision. This shows no signs of abating. "As a result, many local authorities have found that the high needs block has been insufficient to fully meet identified needs. "Currently, there is year-on year growth in these areas and with this unstainable demand on the HNB." "We're having to use high-cost out-of-county special school placements because our special schools are full and that's causing expenditure. There's ongoing growth in the number of EHCPs across the system "Any further work that we do to allocate funds will increase that overspend which will then be rolled into next year," he said. This year's NNC budget for out-of-county placement top-ups was 7.2m [$9.8M], but projections show the actual cost may be as high as 9.3m [$12.6M] - a 2.1m [$2.8M] difference. "We are always going to need to use out-of-county specialist placements because we simply can't meet the needs of every child locally. "However, our special schools are full the high needs funding panel meant that 'water behind the dam was building up.' She added that 'needs were piling up.' Amid rising numbers of children who needed EHCPs, the committee heard there had been 'deep concerns' around high needs funding, which was introduced in 2017. The education sector told the committee that the funding levels were 'unsustainable' and had not kept pace with increasing demand. "Unless we can address the issues about SEND funding, the whole system will implode at some point. Of course whoever wrote this doesnt ask the obvious: Why are the special schools in Northamptonshire full to bursting? Here are some other stories I found over the past week. Norfolk: Currently half of disabled kids wait over 5 months for a special ed plan for school. (But hey, it used to be 92 percent of kids waited over 5 months.) Hartlepool: Theres been significantly increased funding for high needs block amounting to a $2M boost from the national government. A member of the council said, Its welcome Its pleasing Its only a short term solution, however. Danielle Swainston, council assistant director for joint commissioning, said: We know that the pressures in terms of special educational needs and disabilities continues to be a challenge. Even though we have had an increase in funding we do know that we have got pressures that continue to be seen across this budget. Although the funding has seen increases for the past three years, the childrens services committee previously had to submit requests to the Secretary of State to transfer funding from other school budgets to balance the high needs costs. Northern Ireland: Almost half of education funding increase goes to SPED, $25M out of $54M. Suffolk: The county council pays $43K to parents for failing to provide SPED help. 570 parents lobbied for change. "These complaints are but the tip of an enormous iceberg of injustice. Only a few parents have the resources to push their complaints this far." It called for "drastic action" to be taken. The county council said the higher level of pay-outs reflected the greater demand for SEND places and increased number of complaints.... Scarborough: Strong demand for SPED places. Ireland: Education report shows SPED numbers have risen substantially in recent years. the number of pupils with special educational needs in mainstream primary have risen substantially in recent years, from 4,836 in 2016 to 7,510 in 2020, while the number of special needs assistants (SNAs) has increased from 12,634 in 2016 to 17,713 in 2020... Cork, Ireland: $3M will be used to convert a primary school into a special school. The principal is very happy and tells us there is clearly great demand. Also from Cork: There is a desperate situation for many parents of special needs children who dont have a school place. Were told, In the whole issue of special education, the lack of places is quite stark. The most important figure provided by the NCSE is that 193 primary schools have ASD provision for students and only 70 are available at post-primary level, Mr OSullivan said. There is nearly a 3:1 ratio of ASD provision in primary schools compared to secondary schools. I can guarantee that well be seeing many more reports about these county councils going into the red (AKA overspends) because of the increasing demand due to high needs students. Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism. CENTER, N.D. With their 24th production sale just two weeks away, the Brown family at Browns Angus Ranch will be highlighting some sons and daughters of well-known and proven bulls and females including SAV America. The sale is set for Sunday, Feb. 13, at 2 p.m. (CT), at the ranch, located three miles west of Center. There will be a lunch served at noon. Were excited about the bulls and females in this years sale. I feel these are some of the best weve ever offered, said Justin Brown. Justin, his dad, Paul, and brother, Kelan, are offering the first set of sons (and two daughters) out of SAV America 8018, the bull that sold for $1.5 million and that had the heaviest 205-day weight ever produced at Schaff Angus Valley. With SAV America, it was a good opportunity to capitalize on a once-in-a-lifetime bull and that is why we used him to produce these powerful sons and daughters, Justin said. Of the first sons of SAV America, Justin said they are offering two embryo-transfer flush brothers that are probably the best two. They are the most complete, stout, thick and have the most performance. Another son from America in the sale is deep and thick with lots of volume. Hes a good bull, as well, and they all have a decent look to them. In addition, the Browns are offering the second set of SAV Downpour 8794 sons. We sold the first set of his sons last year, and outside of our high-selling bull, the Downpour sons were our highest-selling sire group, he said. They were really well accepted by the commercial cattlemen. They are thick, deep-bodied bulls, with lots of volume and sound structure, as well as good-footed. They can travel. The Downpour sons were sold to cattlemen in several states last year, including Missouri, South Dakota, Montana and North Dakota. The SAV Downpour females that are getting ready to calve here on the ranch look like they are going to be super-good cows. They are deep-bodied, easy-fleshing, good-footed with nice udders and they have a good maternal look to them, he said. We are excited to see those daughters come into production, as well. SAV Downpour is deceased, so there is not a lot of his semen available, Justin pointed out. These sons of Downpour are kind of rare because there are not a lot of opportunities to produce more sons with the bull being gone, he said. In addition to these power bulls, the Browns are offering some calving-ease bulls that work well for heifers. We will have some SAV Rainfall sons in the sale that have been popular for the last couple of years, Justin said. These calving-ease bulls are bullet-proof, good-structured, easy-fleshing, good-footed and are more moderate-framed. They are always in that 68-78-pound birth weight range, which is perfect for a calving-ease bull. In addition, the Browns are offering a full-flush brother to Brown Double Decker 0004, their highest-selling bull last year. The bull has made a few friends already. I have had some people stop in, and say, I like that bull hes made right. A lot of guys like him for his style and clean look, but you can just tell he is going to be thick, deep-bodied, and strong-footed, he said. In addition to the power bulls and calving-ease bulls, the Browns are offering some females for the sale. There is going to be a real highlight offering of females, including two daughters of SAV America. One is a Black Cap May she would be a maternal sister to our top selling bull and female in our 2021 sale, from the donor cow, SAV Blackcap May 7888, Justin said. The other highlight America female is out of SAV Abigale 5646, a maternal sister to SAV Eliminator 9105, which sold for $95,000 to two Canadian breeders in 2010. That will be an interesting female, he said. The Browns Angus website has been refreshed and revamped it is eye-appealing and user-friendly, Justin said. Folks can view the bulls and females in the sale on the website at http://www.brownsangusranch.com. We just had it redone, and it is really nice full of information on all our bulls and females in the sale. There are photos of some of the bulls and females in the sale, links to their pedigree, and anyone who wants a sale catalog can request one on the website, he said. They have also been featuring individual bulls and females in the sale on their Facebook page, as well. For those who cant come on sale day to the ranch, the Browns sale will be live on DV Auction that day. They can bid from the comfort of their home if they like. I would recommend that if they plan to use the DV auction site that they call me ahead of time so I can assist them and steer them to the right bull that they need and want, Justin said. I love talking to people, and I enjoy helping customers find a bull that fits their cow herd. The Browns took videos of the bulls at the end of the month. As soon as they are edited, they will be up on the website, with a link to DV Auction. They will have all the bulls ultrasounded and theyll get adjusted yearling weights on all the bulls in the sale. That information will be on a supplemental sheet available sale day. Well also post the yearling weights and ultrasound data on the website a few days prior to the sale, he said. The Browns have transformed the heated barn into a sale barn, complete with an auctioneers block.DV Auction sets up cameras the morning of the sale. Were setting up tables and chairs rather than bleachers as they are more comfortable and guys can take notes as the sale goes on, Justin said. Our free lunch will run from noon until the sale starts, so we invite everyone to come early and enjoy some good food and look over the bulls. After the sale, the Browns will have an after-party with refreshments and folks are invited to stay later. In addition, the Browns have finished calving all their ET-recip cows due in January. The last calf out of the recipient cows arrived this morning (Jan. 15), and they are all nice healthy calves, he said. The weather has been warmer, in the 30s, and they have been bedding down all the bulls and baby calves. There are calf shelters for the new calves to hunker down in some straw. Justin said he and his dad run their bull calves together in the summer, while Kelan runs his bull calves separately. The drought affected some of the calves weaning weights. With the drought, we had one pasture without the best grass or water, so some of their weaning weights were a little down, he said. Justin is glad to see the snow this winter and he hopes it stays around. We need to get some runoff this year to refresh the stock ponds and creeks, he said. For more information on the sale, call Justin at (701) 207-0054, or at home at (701) 794-8771; Paul at (701) 207-0698; or Kelan at (701) 207-0311. Farm & Ranch Guide Weekly Update Get the latest agriculture news delivered to your inbox from Farm & Ranch Guide. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Chinese Consulate General in New York unveils online opera program for Lunar New Year Xinhua) 09:48, January 27, 2022 NEW YORK, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Consulate General in New York on Tuesday launched a Chinese opera program at its official WeChat account to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. Chinese opera excerpts and relevant documentaries will be rolled out from Jan. 25 to Feb. 5. The public would be able to have a taste of Peking Opera, Shaoxing Opera, Sichuan Opera, Huangmei Opera, Cantonese Opera and Kunqu Opera, according to Chen Chunmei, cultural counselor at the Chinese Consulate General in New York. The first part of the program readied on Tuesday includes an excerpt of Peking Opera "Prosperity Brought by the Dragon and the Phoenix" and a mini documentary on Peking Opera trainee Nadim Diab who started learning the opera from scratch. Another mini documentary on practitioners of rolling light, face-changing and fire-breathing in Sichuan Opera is scheduled to have its premiere on Friday as part of the program. Excerpts of The Butterfly Lovers, The Peony Pavilion, The Fairy Couple and The Legend of Lady White Snake would be presented later together with multiple documentaries. The Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important holiday for Chinese around the world. Celebrations for the Lunar New Year usually last for weeks and the start of the Year of the Tiger falls on Feb. 1. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) Guntur: A fresh political controversy erupted on Wednesday when a group of people stormed into Jinnah Tower at Andhra's Guntur district on the occasion of 73rd Republic Day to unfurl the tricolour after which they were detained. The BJP has been demanding to rename the tower after the name of former president Abdul Kalam, however, MLC Appi Reddy accused the BJP of instigating people by "raking communal issues" and asked the party why it did not rename the tower when it was in power during 1999 to 2004 and from 2014 to 2019. "BJP is trying to instigate the people by raking communal issues. BJP over the past two weeks has been making contentious statements of razing down the monument," he said in a statement. "While there is hue and cry over change of name of the tower and razing it down, the BJP leaders should not forget that they were in alliance with the TDP from 1999 to 2004 and again from 2014 to 2019, during which time they formed the government. The BJP leader P. Manikyala Rao held the endowment portfolio back then. Why didn't he change the name if BJP were so keen on it?" Reddy asked. Earlier, a fence was raised around the tower and police security was beefed for the citizens' safety. "In the pretext of the Republic Day the miscreants had stormed towards the Jinnah tower, with their intentions not known. Hence, with people's safety as the at most priority, they had to be detained," the MLC further said. Minister in the YSRCP government, Vellampalli Srinivas Rao tweeted, "The parties in power who ruled the state between 2014-19, did not remember that there was a Jinnah Tower in Guntur. 75 years after independence, the BJP is now trying to create a controversy over the 100-year-old tower in Guntur, Could this get any worse?" However, National Secretary, BJP, Sunil Deodhar hit out at Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy over the detention of the group and asked if Guntur of Andhra Pradesh is part of the Republic of India or not. "Mr @ysjagan, entire Nation wants to Know from you whether Jinnah Circle in Guntur of Andhra Pradesh is part of Republic of India or not?" he tweeted. "CM @ysjagan mind that we are not in Pakistan. Shame on AP Govt. Which prevented Hindu Vahini activist to unfurl National Flag on #RepublicDay , we will not leave the fight of renaming Jinnah Tower in #Guntur as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Tower," he said in another tweet. Because of the huge demand, steamship lines have put all their emphasis and all of their available space on the inbound side, and theyre not always paying attention to the export side. Features featured Robotics program gets kids excited about vital work force skills Special Photo: DCSS Students take part in a recent sanctioned regional robotics competition for elementary school students across southwest Georgia at Monroe Comprehensive High School. Special Photo: DCSS Southwest Georgia elementary-level students built and programmed Lego bots themselves and put together a presentation to solve a real-world problem based on the robot game theme. Special Photo: DCSS Southwest Georgia elementary-level students built and programmed Lego bots themselves for a recent competition at Monroe High School. Special Photo: DCSS Local elementary students did well in a recent regional robotics competition, qualifying for regional competition. ALBANY Dr. Michelle Bergozza hovers among the large, table-top robotics courses, eagerly watching groups of elementary students prepare for their chance to navigate a robot around the miniature obstacles. Recently, Bergozza got to enjoy the fruits of her considerable labor, organizing, preparing and executing a sanctioned regional robotics competition for elementary school students across southwest Georgia at Monroe Comprehensive High School. The Dougherty County School Systems Elementary Science content coordinator has been working with FIRST Lego League, one of the nations largest educational robotics organizations, to get elementary students the supplies and support they need to compete, arrange training, and myriad other duties related to the districts blossoming robotics programs. Its really exciting to see, Bergozza said. Just a few years ago, elementary robotics wasnt a thing in the district. Now we have students at each of our schools not only learning about robotics, but also being exposed to all of the other facets of FIRST robotics and competitions. Those other facets Bergozza is referencing include life skills such as teamwork and what FIRST refers to as coopertition, where students and teams learn to assist each other while maintaining a competitive spirit. In addition to building and programming the Lego bots themselves, students also must put together a presentation to solve a real-world problem based on the robot game theme. Theres a lot more going on here than just pure robotics, Dougherty County School System Superintendent Kenneth Dyer said. The STEM component is important and a critical part of this program, but we also want students to walk away with some of the life skills that will aid them as they prepare for the next level at either a college or technical school or entering the work force. The DCSS robotics program has expanded exponentially over the past few years. In 2014, the district had only two robotics teams across the entire slate of 24 schools. Today, all three high schools, all four middle schools and each of the 14 elementary schools have competitive robotics teams. For Dyer, its more than just about the competition, its an important part of his overall vision for how to improve generational outcomes and prosperity for southwest Georgia. If we can manage to get kids excited about science, engineering, coding and computer science at a young age, the data shows that they are more likely to develop the skills employers in the modern work force are looking for; so, were laying the foundation upon which students can build a prosperous future, the superintendent said. We see this as a significant investment in developing a talent pool of highly-skilled employees that will ultimately lift up the entire region. Its a strategy that the district is investing considerable amounts of time and funds into, and it appears to be working. Prior to the pandemic, Albany regularly played host to high school robotics teams from around the state through annual FIRST Robotics competitions. While thats been curtailed since the onset of COVID-19, the robotics programs continue to compete and find success. The Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy, for instance, had robotics teams that won several awards, including the overall top prize at a July 2021 competition in Dahlonega. In 2019, the 4C Robotics team traveled to Houston, Texas, after being invited to compete in FIRSTs International Robotics Championship. Back at the elementary robotics competition, Lake Park Elementary took home the overall championship, with teams from Sherwood Acres Elementary, Morningside Elementary, Turner Elementary and Alice Coachman Elementary each winning awards. They advanced to the super regionals in Columbus. Lake Park Principal Trina Bush said that the schools robotics program is truly a team sport. Enthusiasm and team spirit are at the core of the success of the Lake Park Robotics Team, she said. They absolutely love robotics, and they love when their teammates succeed. Not only do they encourage each other, but they also encourage other teams during competition. I am extremely proud of our robotics team. At Alice Coachman, a school with a budding robotics program, Principal Anita Mathis beams about the success her students have found. Were extremely proud of our students and teachers who have really taken this robotics program to new levels, Mathis said. Having exposure to these kinds of opportunities at an early age aligns with our core mission here at Alice Coachman, and I see this program growing in the future. In addition to its robotics program, the district is exploring new partnerships with industry leaders and educational technology companies that will further advance STEM opportunities for students. Those partnerships will likely be unveiled later this year. The accident took place when the car rammed into a tractor transporting Subabul logs (DC) Nellore: In a ghastly road accident, a father and his elder son were killed on the spot while returning from Chennai Airport. The family was returning after giving a send-off to another son going to USA during the early hours of Thursday at Renangivaram in J Panguluru mandal of Prakasam district. The accident took place when the car rammed into a tractor transporting Subabul logs near Renangivaram village while the family was returning home from Chennai. The deceased have been identified as Soda Venkat Rao and his son Prasanna and they are residents of Pandaripuram Water Tank area in Chilakaluripeta town of Guntur district. Wife of Venkata Rao, Kalavathi and the driver of the car sustained serious injuries in the mishap. According to police, Venkat Rao and his wife Kalavathi are running a General Store at Chilakaluripeta. They have two sons, Prasanna and Bhaskar. Prasanna has been working as a software professional and the family planned to send Bhaskar to pursue higher education in USA. The family left for Chennai on Wednesday night and dropped Bhakar at the Airport to board the flight to the US during the early hours of Thursday. Kalavathi and the driver have been rushed to the hospital for treatment. 2018 has been a fantastic year for comics and it is a great time to start reading. New readers have new places to jump in and its the easiest Images Sorry, there are no recent results for popular images. Courtesy of JTA; Photo credit: Aftonbladet. Swedish police are seen at the scene where a Jewish woman was stabbed in Sweden, May 14, 2019. Courtesy of JNS; Photo credit: JNS. Yalla kosher restaurant in Teaneck, N.J., has been the target of anti-Israel reviews. The anniversary of President Lincoln's address to the Young Men's Lyceum is January 27. It's fascinating to see that his words still ring true today. Lincoln tells us that as a nation, we become less sensitive to the reasons for our nation's birth and the Founding Principles that undergird it as we get farther in time from the events that spawned them and that therein lies the true risk to the Republic. The truth in this is manifest as we've seen our nation's founding principles slowly and steadily eroded over the past 245 years. As a result, we now have weakened states' rights, with a Legislative Branch that seems to believe that its purpose is to expand the size of government and a vast and grossly overbearing Executive Branch that has birthed an intractable administrative state that is not accountable to the American citizen. Listening to the voices of the Digressive Left (I can't call them "Progressive," as they seem to be anything but that), it is easy to conclude that they no longer believe in the founding principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and its first ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights. Believe them when they tell us from the White House; local, state, and federal legislatures; the media; and popular culture that they don't believe in freedom of religion, speech, the right to bear arms, the right to privacy, or equal protection, among many others that our Founders felt were our rights because we are humans created in the image of God. They may not say those things as directly, but their words and actions make their intentions self-evident. It's important to understand that not just one election or even two elections in which the Democrats are not in power is sufficient to return the nation to one that embraces the founding principles. As we look to the 2022 midterm elections and the subsequent 2024 presidential election, Republicans see an opportunity to stop the Digressive left's push toward tyranny and socialism. While there is hope that Republicans can take back control of the House of Representatives and make gains in the Senate establishing their majority with the eventual election of a Republican president in 2024, Republicans at the national, state, and local levels need to be prepared to act upon such an eventuality. The types of changes that are needed at the national level must start in 2022. Even if the Republicans gain control of the House and Senate with clear majorities, President Biden will still effectively use his veto power for anything that runs counter to the Digressive left's agenda. Republicans need to spend their time getting ready for when a Republican president returns to the White House. Republican leadership needs to begin documenting and generating support among the people for a whole series of laws and initiatives that describe changes that must occur if we are to return the government to performing its true functions through the consent of the governed. Where to start? I really liked Nikki Haley's latest book and the policy ideas and perspectives espoused there. However, there are some fundamentals beyond the policy topics covered in Governor Haley's book that I want to address. These are all hard to accomplish because many of them go to the heart of powers and authorities both parties have used when having majorities. What follows is an abbreviated list that is not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive in explanation, but you should get the idea. The federal government has grown far too large and too intrusive in our daily lives and is unaccountable to the people. Among other things, the Legislative Branch needs to re-establish its budgetary authority, crafting clear laws that limit the president's use of executive orders to allocate and spend money. Further, the Legislative Branch needs to reassert its authority as the source of laws and temper the Executive Branch's ability to regulate with the power of law. To further address the intractability of the unaccountable Executive Branch, laws need to be established to allow for the removal of federal employees. Every organization that employs people must have the ability to remove employees who behave in a manner contrary to that organization's core beliefs, policies, and goals. Presently, it is nearly impossible to fire a federal employee as President Trump discovered. Further, federal employees should be evaluated on their ability to execute their duties in a non-partisan fashion committing principally to upholding the Constitution and the principles upon which it was founded. Deficit spending must be curtailed or stopped, and decisions must be made about limiting the size of government. This requires laws that place restrictions on spending and penalties to lawmakers that imperil the nation's ability to conduct its business. Servicing the interest on our debt will consume more and more of the budget soon, and if we don't start taking some actions now, future Americans will be forced to respond to an economic calamity with far fewer options. Entitlement reform must be tackled now and needs to be supported by a communication campaign of epic proportions. The Citizens United decision opened the floodgates to nearly unlimited dark-money spending by Democrats, who seem to always have far more money for their initiatives than Republicans. While the Supreme Court's logic in promoting free speech is understandable, the reality is that the amount of money going to campaigns is staggering. One only needs to look at how George Soros's money has upended the justice system in American cities by electing district attorneys whose views and policies are antithetical to societal norms and the law. The last ten years since Citizens United have shown that spending on elections is neither transparent nor immune to corruption, and reform is needed here. Further, the ability of large companies with near infinite dollars to influence elections needs to end. The recent expenditure of $400 million by Mark Zuckerberg to enhance the fairness of elections seems to have had a decidedly lopsided effect, which was its intention all along. Restricting the ability to pay for local election officials needs to be a priority. You may agree with all, some, or none of this list. But what cannot be denied is that the Republicans need a plan, and it needs to be coordinated at the national, state, and local levels. We cannot afford to be disorganized as we approach what we all hope is the beginning of the limitation of tyrannical federal power being pushed by the Digressive left and its allies in the Democrat party, the media, Big Tech, and academia. We have precious little time to start the process and need to be prepared with a communication blitz to counter the hysterical wailing and dissembling not only from the Digressive left, but also from Democrats who long ago abandoned the principles of our Republic. Lincoln warned us 184 years ago of what would come and asked us to commit to the founding principles as a "political religion." His prescience should astound us all. Robert LaBella is a retired corporate executive of the small business he founded serving the DoD and Intelligence Community and is passionate about America's founding principles. You can find him on GETTR. Image via Max Pixel. Presbyterian Church USA's (PCUSA's) Stated Clerk Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson II proclaimed on Martin Luther King Day, "The continued occupation in Palestine/Israel is 21st-century slavery and should be abolished immediately I would also hope that the Jewish community in the United States would influence the call to join the US government in ending the immoral enslavement." Slavery and human trafficking are felonies in Israel just as they are in the United States, and Nelson's false implication that Israel or American Jews condone slavery in any way, shape, or form makes PCUSA a leading member of the Hamas-American Bund. This is by no means an implication that PCUSA supports, whether through word or deed, terroristic violence by Hamas. My understanding is that PCUSA condemns all violence. Its blatantly reckless, unfair, and unfounded accusations against Israel make it nonetheless a dupe, stooge, and useful idiot for terrorists who shoot up Israeli schools (Ma'alot), murder Israeli athletes (Munich), blow up Israeli Seders and pizza shops, bash in the heads of Jewish children with rifle butts, cut up Jewish families with knives, fire rockets at Israeli cities, impose apartheid-like conditions on Arab women and Christians, use Arabs as human shields, and abuse LGBT people. PCUSA is therefore an enabler for terrorists in roughly the same manner that equally useful idiots were enablers for Hitler during the 1930s. The Simon Wiesenthal Center has condemned the PCUSA's behavior. Steve Gutow, the president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, described PCUSA's guide on Zionism as "worthy of a hate group, not a prominent American church." PCUSA Equivocates on Israel's Right to Exist "Presbyterians and Palestine" asserts that, "President Harry Truman, in part to curry favor with Jewish Americans prior to an upcoming election, would in May recognize the nascent State of Israel." This is not consistent with Truman's side of the story, and Truman was known for his honesty and character. The PCUSA page continues, "Greenslade responded to the reporter: 'The hasty action of the President in recognizing the State of Israel while the whole question was before the United Nations is deeply resented and difficult to explain.'" The web page also uses anti-Semitic phrases like "Jewish aggression" and "Israeli depredations." The article also comes across as blaming Israelis, as opposed to the governments that started the 1948 war, for the Nakba (catastrophe) which PCUSA claims relates only to the displacement of Palestinians but many construe as the establishment of Israel inside its 1948 borders. PCUSA's flirtation with denial of Israel's right to exist through (1) the implication that Harry Truman recognized Israel to "curry favor with Jewish Americans," which incorporates the anti-Semitic "divided loyalty" slur in the bargain, (2) denunciation of Truman's action as "hasty," and (3) use of the word "nakba" reinforces its role as little better than a propaganda organ for Hamas and related terrorist organizations. PCUSA: Where Women's and LGBT Rights are Slogans PCUSA also claims to be socially progressive, and it does support LGBT rights in the United States and allows women to be ministers. This support for women and LGBT people ends, however, where "Palestine" begins. It is safe to hold a gay pride march in Tel Aviv, and women can be anything in Israel including Prime Minister. Haaretz reports, on the other hand, "At risk of harassment, torture or worse from Hamas or members of their own families, queer Gazans often hide away in fear." The Guardian reports, "A Hamas-run Islamic court in the Gaza Strip has ruled that women require the permission of a male guardian to travel" You cannot say credibly from one side of your mouth that you are for women's and LGBT rights when the other side of your mouth shills for entities that treat women as second-class citizens and LGBT people even worse. PCUSA Met with Hezballah Terrorists PCUSA's role as a dupe, stooge, and useful idiot for vicious terrorists is not limited to Hamas. Even the left-leaning Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) found the meeting of PCUSA elder Ronald Stone and others with Hezballah terrorists too extreme to tolerate. "During this meeting, Elder Ronald Stone of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary praised Hezbollah for its 'expression of goodwill towards the American people' and 'initiative for dialogue and mutual understanding.'" And what is Hezballah's "goodwill towards the American people"? This makes PCUSA a useful idiot for the world's hostes humani generis, an enabler for pure unadulterated evil, and part of the Hezballah-American Bund in the bargain. Elder Stone went on to say that relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders." When you are a stooge and useful idiot for terrorists, you will find them very easy to get along with until you are no longer useful to them. Presbyterians Should Leave PCUSA Most of us learn at a very early age to respect other people's religious beliefs. When what you call your religion, however, crosses the line to incitement of hatred of other religions, whether it's the Westboro Baptist Church's position that God hates almost everybody but the WBC, or PCUSA spewing anti-Semitic canards and enabling entities that murder Jews, you forfeit that protection and respect. Others can and will rightfully denounce what you call your "religion" as a front for agendas that are abominations to the values of every single religion on this planet. I am not talking about Presbyterianism; I am talking about what PCUSA calls Presbyterianism, just as I do not denounce Christianity when I condemn the appalling behavior that WBC calls Christianity. The latter behavior is in fact antithetical to Christianity; if you die and find yourself with Fred Phelps, you went to the wrong place. Denunciation of the depraved violent ideology that Hamas calls Islam is similarly not a condemnation of Islam, nor is condemnation of what Jewish Voice for Peace does under color of Judaism anti-Semitic. I regard PCUSA as it is currently governed as nothing more than an enabler for terrorists, abusers of women, abusers of LGBT people, and abusers of Jews, Christians, and peaceful Muslims. I perceive PCUSA's current governance as no more representative of Presbyterianism than Charles Coughlin was of Catholicism. Dr. Nelson called for Jews to join him in attacking the reputation of Israel; I urge in return that Presbyterians leave Nelson's organization in favor of other Presbyterian organizations, and many have already done so. Civis Americanus is the pen name of a contributor who remembers the lessons of history, and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way. He or she is remaining anonymous due to the likely prospect of being subjected to "cancel culture" for exposing the Big Lie behind Black Lives Matter. Image: Presbyterian Church USA In the aftermath of the humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, America faces the looming possibility of fighting two major wars at opposite ends of the Eurasian continent simultaneously: one against Russia over Ukraine and another against China over Taiwan. Given our current disarray, the United States is in no position to fight a two-front war. Accordingly, it is our best policy to avoid conflict in both regions. The United States has no vital interests to defend In Ukraine. Should the Russians seize it, they will merely occupy a region that has been Russian since the days of Catherine the Great. In doing so, they will most likely become bogged down in a guerrilla resistance movement not unlike what they faced in Afghanistan throughout the 1980s. Russia will have its hands full, and NATO will remain intact and fully on guard. On the other hand, should China invade Taiwan and the United States fails to come to the island's defense, nations throughout the Far East will most likely conclude that they can no longer rely on the United States for their defense against a rising China. Japan and South Korea will have to choose between accommodating Chinese demands and building nuclear arsenals of their own to defend themselves. Other nations on China's periphery will likely have to back away from their association with the United States and make their peace with the new order in Asia. In short, the U.S. has much to lose. Over seventy years ago, the United States faced a similar possibility of a two-front war against Russia and China. At the time, General Omar Bradley argued that invading China would involve the United States in "the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy." It was good advice then, and it is good advice today. The prime difference between then and now is that the Eurasian balance of power between Russia and China has shifted in favor of the latter, and that makes all the difference. Whenever faced with the necessity of making a choice between two hostile powers, it is wise to side with the weaker against the more dangerous. In 1951, the primary adversary the nation faced was the Soviet Union, and the critical theater of potential military operations was Europe, not Asia. Accordingly, the administration believed it foolish to get bogged down in a "land war in Asia," when all the nation's military resources would be necessary to deal with a possible land war in Europe. Only Joseph Stalin, it was thought, would benefit from a Sino-American war. Today, the situation is reversed. Despite its large nuclear arsenal, Russia is a weak and declining power striving to recover a small measure of its former glory, while China is a rising power challenging American hegemony in the Far East and the Pacific region. The primary threat to the American position in the world comes from China in Asia, not from Russia in Europe. Becoming involved in a major land war with Russia over Ukraine, when the United States might be called upon to defend Taiwan against a Chinese invasion, would be the wrong war, at the wrong time, with the wrong enemy. Now the United States faces a dilemma of its own making. If, as currently looks possible, Russia invades Ukraine, triggered by its possible admission to NATO, an administration that can ill afford any more foreign policy disasters will have to decide how to respond. Amid collapsing poll numbers, domestic pressure from both the left and the right to look tough in confrontation with a despot whom the president has characterized as a "killer" may prove irresistible, leading the administration to commit American troops to a war they cannot win without risking dangerous and unpredictable escalation. The only beneficiary of such a conflict would be the China of Xi Jinping. Americans have little reason to feel confident of a cheap and easy victory. Not only are the American armed forces currently led by woke generals more concerned about "white rage" in the ranks than winning wars, but, unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, Russia has nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the United States is at present extremely vulnerable to Russian cyber-warfare techniques and even to a possible EMP attack. Russia is not Iraq, and victory will not be easy. There is no reason for the United States to court war with Russia over the fate of Ukraine. To paraphrase Bismarck, Ukraine is not worth the bones of a single American infantryman. If, in the event of a Russian invasion, the administration believes that it must respond, and that economic "sanctions," which rarely work, are not enough, it should confine itself to actions short of war. These might include military aid to a Ukrainian resistance such as the CIA dispatched to the Afghan Mujahadin in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of 1979. Then the Russians may become bogged down in yet another Afghan-style war while Americans remain free to focus on their primary rival: China. Meanwhile, the United States faces the looming possibility of a naval and air war with China in the waters around Taiwan. It would be best to avoid war entirely, but should war break out in the Far East, at least it would not be a land war involving hundreds of thousands of American troops. Rather, it would be a primarily air and naval conflict playing into American strength rather than weakness. Still, given the vulnerability of American aircraft carriers to Chinese missiles, it could be a costly conflict. War between the United States and Russia over Ukraine would be a catastrophic diversion from the nation's ability to focus upon the primary threat it faces in the Far East. Given the gravity of the threat posed by China, not only to the international position of the United States, but to its neighbors as well, it should be clear that peacefully containing its ambitions should be the highest diplomatic priority of any American administration. To this end, George F. Kennan's Cold War strategy of "containment," which served the United States and the cause of freedom well, while avoiding a disastrous war, for almost fifty years, points the way forward for America's Asian policy during the next half-century. Great powers such as the United States may have unlimited objectives in world affairs, but even they have limited means. Accordingly, they must choose where to best employ their resources. This is a particularly salient issue given the nation's current domestic divisions and the disarray of the American military establishment. A gathering Chinese threat should be of much greater concern to American leaders than the irredentist objectives of a nation with an economy the size of Brazil's. American diplomacy during the foreseeable future should focus on organizing an Asian version of NATO, including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, and (if possible) Russia. To this list could be added Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. All these countries are threatened by an expansionist China. But the United States needs to take the lead just as it did in the organization of NATO almost three quarters of a century ago. Then it was Russia that needed to be contained. Now it is China. Image via Max Pixel. Bengaluru: The Karnataka government plans to crack down on Bangladeshi immigrants who work in the State, with Home Minister Araga Jnanendra flagging concerns that they pose a danger to the country's internal security. The Minister said a survey is underway by police to track down such illegal immigrants. He said police have information about their presence in parts of the State, especially in coffee plantations in Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru districts working as labourers. "Special efforts and preparations are on to track them and apprehend them," Jnanendra told PTI in an interview on Thursday. He alleged that Bangladeshi immigrants manage to get ration cards, voter ID cards and Aadhaar cards in Assam and West Bengal after they sneak into India. It's a big racket and there is a need to crack down on this network. "It poses a danger to our country's security", the Minister said. Jnanendra also said cyber crime cases have been going up sharply in recent times in the State, adding, police are in touch with bank managements to address the issue. The Karnataka government has inked an MoU with its Gujarat counterpart on training state personnel to tackle cyber crimes. "We are sending 60 police personnel working in our cyber cell to Gujarat for training", the Minister said. On drug menace, Jnanendra said Karnataka police is in touch Central agencies, and coordination with neighbouring States to curb such activities is being strengthened. Referring to the "anti-conversion bill" which was cleared by the Legislative Assembly but is yet to be passed in the Council, where the ruling BJP lacks majority, the Minister said the government intends to promulgate an ordinance. But at the same the government is also mulling to get it passed in the upper House in the coming Budget session. "We have increased our numbers (in the Council) after the recent elections. There may be one or two differences (short by one or two members). But we will manage. There are members in other parties who want this to become law", he said. The Minister also said that the government has proposed to revise the prison manual. There are acres of unutilised land within premises of jails, and the government has proposed to promote agriculture and industrial activities there which would generate income and give work opportunities for inmates who otherwise sit idle. The government is also giving a major thrust to "beat policing" system in the State to promote greater involvement of constables. According to him, Naxal activities have down substantially in the State. There are a few naxals operating in areas bordering Kerala, but there is a feeling among naxals that "Karnataka is not safe" for their activities. On completion of six months in office of the Basavaraj Bommai government this week, Jnanendra praised the leadership of the Chief Minister saying he has given good administration, and freedom for Ministers to work. Online reports citing an anonymous Beijing diplomat have speculated that Chinese president Xi Jinping, during a recent phone call, may have asked Russian president Vladimir Putin not to invade Ukraine during the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. A Russian attack incursion would steal Xi's thunder and take the spotlight off of his glorious nation's peerless hosting ability, thereby depriving him of the opportunity to showcase the superiority of the Chinese Communist Party. If Putin were to sack Ukraine during the Olympics, it would create a highly negative backdrop for the Olympic Games. In other words, it would be a bummer for Xi. China's Foreign Ministry highlighted the importance Beijing attaches to the issue at a recent news briefing. It stated that countries should observe a traditional U.N. Olympic truce resolution "from seven days before the start of the Olympic Games until seven days after the end of the Paralympic Games," according to a spokesman. That would span the time from January 28 to March 20. Unfortunately for an eager Putin, mid-late March is precisely the time when eastern Ukraine's frozen landscape usually begins to turn to cloying mud, making a rapid Russian incursion much more difficult. I can clearly hear the conversation between the two dictators presidents. Xi: "Vlad, promise me you won't invade the Ukraine during our Winter Olympics!" Putin: "I will if you promise not to attack Taiwan while we are invading Ukraine." Xi: "Agreed, if you don't annex Estonia while we are absorbing Mongolia." Putin: "What?! I was going to ask you not to take Nepal while we were absorbing Mongolia!" Xi: "Vlad, let's relax and have a couple of baijius. We can work this out." Putin: "Nyet, nyet...but make it a couple of vodkas, and you've got a deal." Image via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Is Joe Biden trying to top the vile, cruel record of blue-state governors such as New York's Andrew Cuomo, who seeded COVID patients into the nursing homes? It sure looks like it, given his strange, sudden, and absolute shutdown of monoclonal antibody treatments on patients who are being successfully treated with the therapy in Florida. For vulnerable, sick people waiting in line for it, including those right up to the date of scheduled treatment, tough luck go to the back of the line, and see if you can find some other treatment, and hope your COVID does not progress to the morgue. That's what Joe Biden is offering Florida, a red state that voted against him in 2020, that maybe, just maybe, he'd like to punish a little, not just for not voting for him, but to erase its record of success on COVID. He seems to be out to punish Florida by ensuring that Florida's COVID death count ascends to those of his favored blue states. Whatever Joe's motive here, there are no honorable answers as we explore this. According to Fox News: The Florida Department of Health announced that it is closing all monoclonal antibody treatment sites in the state after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rescinded emergency-use authorizations for two particular treatments for COVID-19. The FDA announced on Monday that it is no longer permitting the use of bamlanivimab and etesevimab (used together) as well as the combination of casirivimab and imdevimab known as REGEN-COV, or Regeneron. "Unfortunately, as a result of this abrupt decision made by the federal government, all monoclonal antibody state sites will be closed until further notice," the Florida Department of Health said in a statement. Gov. Ron DeSantis has spoken out about this outrage, which stinks to high heaven: "Without a shred of clinical data to support this action, Biden has forced trained medical professionals to choose between treating their patients or breaking the law," DeSantis said in a statement. "This indefensible edict takes treatment out of the hands of medical professionals and will cost some Americans their lives. There are real-world implications to Biden's medical authoritarianism Americans' access to treatments is now subject to the whims of a failing president." No clinical data. A sudden yanking, with zero time for patients to make alternate treatment arrangements. A bizarre claim that the treatments don't work, despite Florida's record of success. A death sentence to many. What's the White House response to this ugly picture? Take a look at the grotesque Baghdad Bobstyle responses from White House spokesweasel Jen Psaki to DeSantis's arguments: Psaki responding to a question from AP's Josh Boak about Florida using monoclonal anti-bodies even though "they don't work against omicron": "Let's take a step back just to realize how crazy this is...The ones...[DeSantis] is fighting over do not work...& they have side-effects." pic.twitter.com/WWbLGootJW Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 25, 2022 The treatments don't work? No clinical data? But they do work. Just look at Florida's results. The line that springs to mind is Galileo's: "Eppur se muove." It gets worse: Psaki Attacks DeSantis as 'Crazy' After FDA Halts Monoclonal Antibodies: 'We Know What Works Vaccines and Boosters' https://t.co/XnnvGhL5NF dung le phuoc (@dunglephuoc1) January 26, 2022 In other words, "you'd better put some ice on that," as Bill Clinton used to say. DeSantis has pointed out that most patients Florida is treating already have been vaccinated. To offer vaccines as a solution then is beyond insulting to patients, to medical personnel, to DeSantis, and to anyone with a grip on reality. The vaxxed are the ones coming down with COVID. Her solution to them is "more vaxxes," which is the same as saying "go die for me and don't be a problem." She later claimed that the White House sent other treatments, which in other reports was the Merck pill, which is unsafe for pregnant women, not to be used unless other treatments can't be used, and apparently no one wants because of its weak record of effectiveness against COVID, which is another insult. Suffice it to say, no normal leader or medical professional would pull a treatment from patients waiting in line or in the midst of treatments, particularly if that's the treatment they want. That's inhuman. That's vile. And as DeSantis points out, some people are going to die. Should that happen, and when that happens, you can bet that the survivors are going to remember this. The Biden administration may think it's getting rid of old-people voters, but there will be survivors who remember the last-minute denial of the treatment and aren't going to like it. What's more, who comes down with COVID the most? The obese, the diabetics, those with co-morbidities, and that pool disproportionately includes black and Latino people. That should be an impressive selling point as Democrats seek to win back Florida. But it offends everyone. The treatment was working. To claim it wasn't is a lie. The alternatives don't; to claim they do is another lie. And to tell sick vaccinated COVID patients who still have caught the disease that they need to get vaccinated is beyond insulting. They already know that the vaccines don't work, so to take away a treatment that does, and dismissively tell them to get vaxxed, is something bordering evil. What are these treatments? According to the Florida Department of Health: Monoclonal antibody therapy can prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death in high-risk patients who have contracted or been exposed to COVID-19. These treatments are widely available in Florida. Treatment is free and vaccination status does not matter. If you are 12 years and older and are at high risk for severe illness due to COVID-19, you are eligible for this treatment. In clinical trials, monoclonal antibody treatment showed a 70 percent reduction in hospitalization and death. For high-risk patients who have been exposed to someone with COVID19, Regeneron can give you temporary immunity to decrease your odds of catching the infection by over 80 percent. Monoclonal antibody treatments can be prescribed by health care providers to individuals 12 years of age and older who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and who have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and are at high risk for severe illness and hospitalization. The site notes that under Florida law, anyone who has COVID and wants this treatment can get it. Nobody needs to go through heavy medical authorizations, apparently because the treatment can be done pre-emptively, before a vulnerable patient even gets sick, just as the ivermectin treatment regimen can be administered. In both cases, it's harmless. It's available for free, but insurance is billed if patients have insurance. The treatments need to be done either pre-emptively or in the early stages of COVID, same as the ivermectin regimen. It's been very, very successful in keeping Florida's COVID cases down. quite unlike the blue states with their mask, lockdown, and vaccine obsessions. Blue states' COVID death rates, unlike Florida's, are through the roof. The White House claim that the Merck pill is better is total nonsense. Merck is a big Democrat donor and, as such, expects to be paid in kind for its cash to keep Democrats in power. And that brings up the possibility of special interests being at work pulling the puppet strings of the Biden administration. Joe, after all, as Peter Schweizer's new book indicates, is purchaseable. Could Big Pharma have been involved in this pulling of treatment in Florida some rival pharmaceutical company to AstraZeneca which makes this monoclonal treatment? Big Pharma has the highest number by far of "revolving door" officials moving back and forth between government and lobbying posts, with Open Secrets profiling 945 of them. All of them donate to Democrats, but it's interesting that Pfizer, the most powerful of the lobbying influencers, has a "thing" for its rival AstraZeneca. Here's a recent headline that ran showing the extent of the rancor: Pfizer set to oust AstraZeneca as top supplier of COVID-19 shots to poor nations They definitely want to be Numbah One. They've got sharp elbows and seek to get rid of their rivals. There had been negative stories about AstraZeneca's vaccine not working properly early in the vaccine game, before anyone recognized that none of the vaxxes works all that well. There also were negative reports about Pfizer vax rival Johnson & Johnson's shot, as well as word getting out about J&J's link to fetal stem cell research. It's unknown if Pfizer planted those stories, but one thing we do know is that the company is famous for underhanded tactics. Two that spring to mind are Pfizer's refusal to release news of the success of its vaccine until after the 2020 election in order to deny any campaign advantage to President Trump over Joe Biden. Two is that it concealed the extent of its involvement with fetal stem cell research, claiming that it was just distant, and it turns out it wasn't. There also were stories about "breakthrough" cases coming from J&J vaccines alone, when my sources at Stanford Medical Center told me that the breakthrough cases were coming from all three vax-makers, including Pfizer. That never got into the news until very late as well. Manipulation? Seems possible. This is clearly the worst of the worst of the moments of Bidendom, and there are many bad moments. The lies, political spite, and dismissively bad solutions are sure to alienate voters who need these treatments. DeSantis is showing the right fighting spirit and should consider stepping up alternative treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine regimes if possible, and suing the hell out of Biden & Co. in the courts. The inhuman Bidenite meddling and lying here absolutely shock the conscience. Image: Twitter screen shot. The truth is that the Second American Civil War is...almost over. Unlike the first one, the Democrats appear to be a near lock to win. Leftists, through a combination of brilliant projectionist strategy and callously evil use of their political opponents' naivete, decency, and tolerance, have transformed America's institutions. They have weaponized them and used them against their less aggressive fellow citizens. In the process, they have transformed Americans, their beliefs and expectations, too. Much like the Chinese Communist Party, they own nearly all the levers of influence and power, exercising an iron grip on the education establishment, the mass media, Big Tech, Wall Street, corporate boardrooms, the health care industry, and Hollywood and now the CIA, FBI, Defense Department, and ironically named Department of Justice (DOJ). This in addition to effectively controlling all three branches of the U.S. government. They are using this power to obliterate the democratic representative republic our Founders built, even as they loudly and incessantly claim they are trying to "save our democracy." They are attempting a final push now, one in which they intend to grant the District of Columbia (meaning themselves) two senators, eliminate the filibuster (meaning the ability of the minority party to have any say in governance), pack the Supreme Court (meaning they are chagrinned that this is the one body that they don't fully control at present), and nationalize elections by banning the requirement of identification in every state (meaning they can steal every election going forward...in perpetuity). Always the busy bees (and bodies), they also are continually replacing American citizens with illegal aliens flooding across the southern border, which they leave wide open for this very purpose. Then they grant these illegal invaders favors that American citizens do not receive. Leftists take no chances; never rest; and will do literally anything to achieve, retain, and enhance their power. They are proactive, are always on offense, and build redundancies into their plans. Therefore, as mentioned, they leave our southern border open. Then they promise illegals free health care, educationand the right to vote. And just to be safe, they demand that no ID be necessary to vote. And that mail-in voting be allowed everywhere all the time. On top of all of this, they slander anyone who opposes these policies by labeling them racists, xenophobes, and bigots. They claim that those who oppose these "commonsense" polices are guilty of "voter suppression," even though the entire point of their policies is to suppress, dilute, and cancel the votes of the actual American citizens they detest in the red states and rural areas. They have accomplished all this in part through the timidity of the old-guard Republican establishment and the aforementioned naivete of the people they supposedly "serve." Dare to speak up at a school board meeting? You might well be called a "domestic terrorist" and be hauled away. You don't have any right to have input as to what your child is taught, even though you pay for the school, its administrators, and all the teachers' salaries. (Say, that sounds like "taxation without representation," doesn't it? Where have I heard that phrase before?) Yell out at a town hall meeting? They will frame you as a tragic and dangerous example of "right-wing hatred and violence." Stroll through the Capitol building ("The People's House"!) during a "mostly peaceful" protest? Be prepared to be thrown into endless solitary confinement, even if not charged with anything at all. Our rulers become ever more authoritarian, using fear and technology to confine us, track us, mask us, and vaccinate us against our will. Soon, digital currency may give government even greater surveillance capabilities and control over every aspect of our lives. So what is one supposed to do? Leftists now own the military, much of the means of production, and nearly every vehicle for publicly expressing oneself. Is there any way out? In one of history's saddest and most catastrophic ironies, the United States has been laid low by a virus that originated in China, has officially refused to admit that fact, and then has essentially become China...without its Great Wall. Our Founders knew what they faced. They knew what they couldn't tolerate...no matter what. They didn't care what those who ruled over them said or did; they were not going to allow themselves to be treated as chattel. Therefore, they issued a Declaration of Independence, the last sentence of which stated: "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." Far fewer of us today believe in divine providence. Yet that may be the only thing that can save us now. But while we are beseeching the almighty, we might also want to make the same pledge our Founders did. Because retaining our sacred honor while being persecuted by hollow, hypocritical, soulless tyrants is better than surrendering. No matter what. Don't believe we are in a civil war, let alone one which we as classical liberals and patriots are close to losing? Let's look at the casualties. Due to Democrats' policies and refusal to prosecute the perpetrators, large tracts of many of our cities, particularly in the North, have been looted and burned, and countless thousands have been slain on our streets over the past few years. Because of the endless lockdowns, social distancing, and general paranoia surrounding the endless plandemic, countless thousands have died of loneliness, heartbreak, suicide, and substance abuse. Thousands more have lived in pain and misery due to the lack of optional surgeries. Still more have died because they have put off preventative health care or been denied critically needed surgeries and transplants. Hundreds of thousands have experienced adverse reactions to the mandatory vaccines, with possibly thousands dying. With the conclusion of the first American Civil War, we were truer to our founding principles, and millions more were free. Today? We are irrefutably less true to our founding principles. And all of us are less free. Image via Max Pixel. Most of the media clearly knew about the payments to Hunter Biden by China, Russia, and Ukraine before the 2020 election as they campaigned for Joe. Yet when a well researched story by the New York Post came out about Hunter's laptop and corruption, most of the media buried, by falsely blaming it on Russian disinformation. They couldn't take the risk that the public would learn the truth. The same media that willingly interfered in the election knew that many states violated their election laws in 2020 yet still proclaim the election was the cleanest ever. Now there is a new book showing massive connections of influential people to China and clear corruption of the Bidens, and most of the media are willfully hiding the truth from the public. Think of the wall-to-wall coverage a book would get if its author were seeking to destroy Trump with anonymous sources instead of well researched facts. Peter Schweizer's 'Red-Handed' Exposes Communist China's Silicon Valley Sympathizers The New York Post recently published an exclusive excerpt of Peter Schweizer's new book Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win, which outlines how American elites including the Silicon Valley Masters of the Universe purposefully aid the communist regime of China. In his excerpt for the New York Post, Schweizer, who is a Breitbart News senior contributor, the president of the nonpartisan Government Accountability Institute (GAI), and the best-selling author of Clinton Cash and Profiles in Corruption, focuses on how money-grabbing Big Tech firms have placed the privacy of their users and U.S. national security at risk in an attempt to appease China. Biden Family Planned to Share Office Space with Company Employing 'F**king Spy Chief of China' Hunter Biden planned to share his family's office space in Washington, DC, with a Chinese intelligence-linked firm that employed a man Hunter described as "the f**king spy chief of China," according to Peter Schweizer's new bombshell book Red-Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win. According to the book, Hunter Biden planned in 2017 to set up an office in Washington that would house his businesses, his father's Biden Foundation, and a representative of a Chinese global energy company he had cultivated close ties to, CEFC China Energy. Hunter Biden and his family were also involved in CEFC's plans to invest in U.S. infrastructure through two entities Hudson West IV and SinoHawk. In fact, Biden made it clear to Tony Bobulinski, a financial planner he brought in to help with the infrastructure efforts, that his family was integral to the effort. After Hunter was unhappy with the payment package he was going to receive from the venture an $850,000 salary and 20 percent equity stake, as well as 10 percent of the equity for "the Big Guy [Joe Biden]" he wrote to Bobulinski that Ye and his company are "both coming to be MY partner and to be partners with the Biden." Hunter would then seek to fuse his family and CEFC further with the shared office in Washington. "In 2017, he made plans to house his businesses, the Biden Foundation, one of his father's offices, and CEFC together in an office space in Washington," Schweizer writes, adding: In an email for signage, Hunter said he had "new office mates: Joe Biden Jill Biden Jim Biden Gongwen Dong (Chairman Ye CEFC emissary)," and that, "I would like the office sign to reflect the following The Biden Foundation Hudson West (CEFC U.S.) The lease will remain under my company's name Rosemont Seneca." The Clinton Foundation took massive kickbacks, and Russia got American uranium. Hillary and the DNC paid over $10 million for the fictional Russian dossier. Yet most of the media, the corrupt Justice Department, and other Democrats campaigned for Hillary while seeking to destroy Trump with the false Russian collusion story. NY Times: Hillary Clinton Approved Russian Uranium Deal After $2 Million Donation to Clinton Foundation Report suggests former secretary of state signed off on Russia purchasing Canadian uranium company after the company donated millions to the Clinton's non-profit The New York Times is suggesting Hillary Clinton took actions as secretary of state because of financial donations that were made to the Clinton Foundation by Russians pushing for a Canadian uranium company. The Times reported in an explosive piece that Canadian records show the chairman of Russian-owned Uranium One gave over $2 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation, which the Clintons' didn't disclose. At the same time, Russia pushed for control of a Canadian Uranium company. A Kremlin-connected bank promoting stock in the company also reportedly paid Bill Clinton $500,000 for a speech in Moscow. Eventually, the Russian-Canadian uranium deal was approved. The Clinton Foundation and the Clintons got huge payments from people for access while Hillary was in a powerful position and running for president. That is pure corruption, but no one cared as they campaigned for her. That anyone would think Hillary would be a good candidate in 2024 shows how nuts some people are. Many who met with Clinton as secretary of state donated to foundation At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs, according to a review of State Department calendars released so far to The Associated Press. Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. At least 40 donated more than $100,000 each, and 20 gave more than $1 million. To understand that the payments were kickbacks, and not because of expertise or generosity, all you need to see is that the payments dried up after Hillary no longer had anything to sell. Clinton Foundation donations plummet 75% Donations to the Clinton Foundation plummeted to $16 million last year, down nearly 75% from the organization's peak when former secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was running for president, records reviewed by Axios show. There is new information showing the efforts Fauci and others made to prevent anyone looking at the Wuhan lab as the source of the virus. Why would anyone do that if he had nothing to hide? The only network that appears interested in covering the story is Fox. Most of the media still treat every piece of garbage that Fauci spews out as gospel, no matter how much misinformation he has spread the last two years. Why don't most journalists and other Democrats care, considering how many people have died from the virus? Fresh questions on what Fauci, government knew about COVID origin According to the timeline of events laid out by Baier, Fauci was told on January 27, 2020 that his NIAID had been indirectly funding the Wuhan lab through EcoHealth a US-based scientific non-profit that had been working with novel coronaviruses. Andersen added that the situation needed to be looked at more closely, at which point Fauci organized an all hands on deck conference call with colleagues where he was told that risky experiments with the novel coronavirus may not have gone through proper biosafety review and oversight. The corrupt Obama Justice Department, EPA, and CFPB shook down corporations and gave massive kickbacks to political supporters, but few cared. They still pretend Obama was pure as the driven snow. Revival of DOJ 'slush-fund' settlements raises important questions about the nonprofit organization revolving door How Jeff Sessions is stopping the EPA's slush fund Trump budget chief shuts down consumer 'protection' bureau 'slush fund' Obama gave the tyrants a huge kickback in the form of letting drug-running terrorists be above the law when he dictatorially ordered the supposedly independent Justice Department to stop the years-long investigation. A global threat emerges: How Hezbollah turned to trafficking cocaine and laundering money through used cars to finance its expansion. Most of the media and other Democrats clearly never cared about the pure corruption or how many died from drug overdoses and terrorism because of this massive gift. There are massive crime and corruption at the border, along with many deaths, yet most of the media don't actively report, and most Democrats clearly don't care. One Democrat has been especially outspoken and critical about the open border and suddenly the corrupt Justice Department cares about corruption. FBI raid portends political and legal challenges for U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar Most journalists, the corrupt Justice Department, and other Democrats are so busy spreading lies about voter integrity laws, while seeking an unconstitutional takeover of elections, that they don't have time to focus on criminal activity and corruption. Several incidents have focused national attention on perceived police misconduct. Often the media quickly stir up a controversy with articles based on limited facts and speculation. The public forms opinions based on incomplete, inaccurate reports, and then comes down on one side or the other. For example, in my small hometown of Elizabeth City, N.C., deputies shot and killed Andrew Brown, Jr. while serving warrants. Early press reports focused on the deputies wearing body armor and carrying military-style rifles, like a scene out of a crime drama on TV. For a brief period, the incident was national news. The Reverend Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy for Andrew Brown, and Attorney Ben Crump, who also represents George Floyd's family, is representing the family in a lawsuit. It was 8:30 A.M. on April 21, 2021 when seven deputies from the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Department arrived in the back of a pickup truck at Brown's residence. They had hoped to surprise him, but Brown was already sitting in his car. The police vehicle blocked the driveway, so he attempted to flee by driving across the lawn. Three of the deputies opened fire with their rifles, hitting Brown five times, including a fatal wound to the back of his head. Early media reports provided a paucity of facts, but locals quickly formed opinions, pro or con, of the shooting. Soon there were protest rallies downtown and marches blocking traffic. An attorney for the Brown family called it an execution. He contended that Andrew Brown posed no threat to the deputies because he was just trying to get away. The lawyer ominously characterized the deputies as using "assault weapons" to shoot him in the back. One focus of the protests was the slow release of body cam video because in N.C., a judge has to review the videos before authorizing their release. This legal procedure is in place because public release of videos could poison the jury pool if criminal charges were eventually lodged. Even now, only some body cam footage has been released to the public, although Brown's attorney and family viewed the videos privately. Over the following weeks, details began to be reported. Brown was only 42 years old, but he had a long criminal record including a felony conviction for drug-dealing when he was 20. His rap sheet included a dozen felony convictions, and he had spent a total of over 72 months in prison. Early reporting referred to only a "warrant," leading people to believe they were serving search warrants. But two of the warrants were arrest warrants from another county. They even had video of him selling cocaine and methamphetamine to an informant. The D.A. argued that the deputies were threatened because some of them were in front of the vehicle. The car even brushed some of the deputies. The large number of armed deputies was necessary because in the past, Brown had been charged with resisting arrest ten times. No charges have been filed against the deputies, but there is an ongoing federal civil case. The protests have mostly settled down, although occasionally there is a small rally or march. The shooting made a brief splash on national news, but the media lost interest as details came out. Some national articles reported relevant events, such as when the autopsy was made public and when video from the body cams was released. But Brown made an unsympathetic subject, and the deputies were cleared of any wrongdoing, so there was no feeding frenzy by the press. When violent events appear in the news, wait until the facts come out before forming an opinion. And remember that the media have a vested interest in fanning the flames of controversy in order to get clicks or views in order to sell advertising. Image: Pixabay. Like our brothers and sisters in the other Blue State Gulags, we New Yorkers have been to hell and back these past couple of years under the reign of King COVID. Unless you have been here, those of you who are fortunate enough to live in a Free State have no idea what we've been going through. We have seen our fundamental liberties and civil rights, which we used to take for granted as part of our American heritage, taken from us by a cabal of the most evil scientists, bureaucrats, and politicians ever assembled in America. We have mask mandates, "vax" mandates, and everything in between that have been placed on our schools and workplaces, all without the benefit of the Legislature's imprimatur. Our power-hungry, unelected governor, who replaced Cuomo, the scourge of elder care facilities, tells us that, just like her five-year-old daughter who had a meltdown because she had to wear sneakers to kindergarten, we will get used to it! For Pure Bloods like me, New York City is pretty much off-limits these days. We are not allowed to eat in restaurants; go to concerts, shows, or museums; or pretty much do anything indoors because we haven't been jabbed. Not only that, but who wants to take a chance on getting mugged or murdered by one of the thousands of criminals who now roam the streets courtesy of the Demo-Marxist politicians who implemented all kinds of "reforms" to enable these thugs? So the obvious question, one that I am asked all the time, is this: why do I and people like me stay here? Why don't we pull up stakes and move to Florida as so many of my friends and relatives have done? Certainly, life would be so much better and easier in every way, especially when it comes to the cost of living. Can it be that we are all just masochistic gluttons for punishment? My answer is this: I have lived my whole life within 50 miles of New York City, where my parents, husband, children, grandchildren, and I were born. We worked hard and built our dream house in the beautiful northern suburbs, where we raised our kids and now our grandchildren. There's a beautiful lake and state park nearby that are as magnificent as any tourist attraction in the East. We have strong roots in this community, including many relatives and friends who feel, as we do, that New York is worth fighting for. In short, why should we be the ones who have to have to move? Image: Gardiner, a small town in New York State, by Daniel Case. CC BY-SA 3.0. As bad as things are, we have reasons to hope that all is not lost, not by a long shot. Outside the Downstate, Demo-Commie region, a tremendous resistance movement has grown in the upstate counties that voted for President Trump and other GOP candidates. Like my neighbors, these New Yorkers are hardworking, civic-minded, family-oriented taxpayers who basically just wanted to be left alone to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Most people send their kids to public schools, which they considered pretty good until recently, when they found out about the CRT indoctrination and vile pornography that have infested even the best of them in our high-taxed communities. On top of that, there came the abusive mask mandates for children, along with the constant testing and quarantines for healthy, not-at-risk students. We had a powder keg that was ready to blow, and that's exactly what happened. If the internet alone was responsible for the worldwide Scamdemic, it has been equally responsible for the backlash. I have been involved with local politics for over 35 years, and I have never seen so many people get involved who were formerly apathetic screen addicts. As much as we all detest Fakebook and other social media, they have proved to be invaluable in organizing meetings and rallies around the state. I see a general consensus that New Yorkers are fed up with all of it and are more than willing to defend their families and their property from further incursions by the communists who rule this state. We are trying to do it through the ballot box and the courthouse, but we are also throwing sand into the machinery by refusing to comply. Quite simply, we are not giving up our most valuable and beloved properties to move to Florida, no matter what Democrats want. I am not going anywhere, and neither are the millions of others who have committed our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to our homes, our state, and our country. We are ready to use our constitutional rights to push back the Democrats' incursions on all those things. Irene Heron is a pseudonym. When it comes to Russian foreign and domestic policy, geography is nearly everything. It does not make a difference who is in power. It could be the tsar, Stalin, Khrushchev, or Putin. Given its position on the globe, there are outcomes Russia needs. Russia will always need a warm water port on the west. Although rich in minerals, Russia needs access to mineral imports because its cold climate impedes mining and transportation. Russia needs to feed itself. Its harsh and long winters have an impact on its harvests, and unlike Japan, it does not have an export economy to compensate. Ukraine has been the breadbasket of Russia. Moreover, its moderate climate makes for easier access to its mineral wealth, which Russia needs. Two major Russian pipelines supplying oil and gas to Europe run through Ukraine. But most of all, Russia needs strategic security. Russia lost an estimated 27 million people in World War II. Russia has strategic depth, but the vast open plains on its borders seem to be an invitation to those who would attack it. Napoleon, the Russo-Polish Border War, and two world wars are seared in the Russian experience. Russia's strategic concerns are seen in its unilateral redrawing the borders of Eastern Europe after World War II. That should have been an indelible statement to America and its European allies. When the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO rushed to include members of the old Warsaw Pact, like Poland, which bordered the former Soviet Union, into NATO. If Russia needed to heighten its strategic anxieties, this policy certainly achieved that. Imagine if the Soviet Union had incorporated Mexico and Guatemala in the Warsaw Pact, and you have an idea of what the Russians are experiencing. Now Russia is seeing Ukraine forging bonds with the West to the point of wanting to join NATO. No Russian leader could permit that. NATO in Ukraine is as provocative as the Warsaw Pact in Canada. NATO in its hubris, and its refusal to acknowledge Russia's strategic concerns, has provoked the current situation. American pundits are talking about the right of nation-states in the postWorld War II environment to forge their own destiny. Where might we find that agreement? War, if it does occur, will be unpredictable. Germany understands that and understands further that no matter who wins a war in Europe, Germany will probably be the big loser. The potential for armies to fight across German soil is always in the offing. Germany's refusal to permit arms transfers across its territory is not an act of betrayal, but an act of preservation and sanity. Sending more American troops to Europe is an act of provocation that would not stop Russia from storming into the Fulda Gap. Nation-states are not proponents of moral virtues or moral policies. Nation-states have interests. What interests do we have in Ukraine? It is clear what Russia's interests are in Ukraine. In the end, the Biden administration needs to stop provoking the Russian bear. Let there be a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian problem that recognizes Russia's strategic needs. Abraham H. Miller is an emeritus professor of political science, University of Cincinnati, and a distinguished fellow with the Haym Salomon Center. Image: Metal Chris. The Democrats are just getting sillier by the minute. Where are the serious people in the party? I can't see too many of them. The latest is talking about "threats to democracy" and Miami talk radio. This is from Alex Perez: The painful reality for the Latinx set is that Hispanics are, as Ruy Teixeira recently wrote, "a patriotic, upwardly mobile, working-class group with quite practical and down to earth concerns." Which means they have more in common with working-class Americans of all races than they do with Democratic Party elites. Anti-Americanism, violent riots, and pathological obsessions with racial and gender categorization cut no ice with them. Well written, Alex. The left is attacking Miami talk radio for having strong opinions against the leftist rhetoric. This is true, and anyone who grew up in a Cuban home, as I did, knows that our parents' generation hated communism and told us how rotten it was every time we got together for dinner. They lived it. They remember how socialism destroyed their island and its way of life. They lived through the rewriting of history in government schools. Miami talk radio is not a threat to democracy even if the screaming and intensity can burn your car speaker. Miami talk radio is pro-democracy because everyone from the grandparents still around to the younger generation who have never visited Cuba knows how the left will eventually destroy dissent by calling every form of it a "threat to democracy." PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk). Image: Public domain. North Andover, MA (01845) Today Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 47F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 47F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%. According to South Korean media reports, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is expected to travel to Europe during the Lunar New Year holidays (Feb 1) to potentially review opportunities for new mergers and acquisitions (M&A). As per The Korea Times, the system semiconductors business could be on top of the vice chairmans list of objectives. However, this is contingent on Lees visit to Europe. A Samsung spokesperson said theres currently no schedule for the vice chairmans travel plans for the Lunar New Year. With Samsungs cash holdings surpassing 100 trillion won ($82 billion), there has been speculation about the companys next major ventures. Among the companies in Samsungs crosshairs include Dutch company NXP, Infineon Technologies based in Germany, and the semiconductors manufacturer based in Switzerland, STMicroelectronics. Advertisement Adding more weight to these reports is the fact that Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee left for Europe shortly after the conclusion of CES earlier this month. There will be good (M&A) results soon, Vice Chairman Han said on the first day of CES. Samsung is also pursuing Dutch company ASML, which specializes in EUV lithography systems Semiconductor companies are quite attractive right now considering the market situation. So it seems like Samsung may finally strike a deal to consolidate its position in the tech industry. The company has already stated its ambitions of becoming a leader in the semiconductor business by the end of the decade. As SamMobile points out, the Korean manufacturer hasnt announced an acquisition or merger since 2016. So the time may be just right for Samsung to make some big moves in this sector. Theres some context to this as well. Advertisement In October 2020, Lee traveled to Eindhoven (The Netherlands) to the headquarters of ASML, a company specializing in photolithography systems. ASML also produces EUV (extreme ultraviolet) lithography systems necessary for the production of next-gen semiconductors. This naturally sparked reports about Samsungs grand ambitions for the future. In other news, we came across Samsungs quarterly report for Q4 2021 earlier today, with the company reporting record-breaking figures. The manufacturer generated 76.57 trillion won (around $63.6 billion) in consolidated revenue, beating the previous record of 73.98 trillion won set in Q3 2021. 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. To cancel you may contact Customer Service @ 256-235-9253 or email JPAYNE@ANNISTONSTAR.COM *NEW SUBSCRIBERS ONLY join with a NEW ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION is just $59.99 for the first year. Existing customers do not qualify for the specials! AMEX is not accepted through this site. After the first year, well automatically renew your subscription to continue your access at the regular price of $69.99 per year. Please note *Your Subscription will Automatically Renew unless you contact Customer Service To Cancel* Coast Guard crew members work on a Cutter at the Coast Guard Sector Miami base on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, in Miami. The U.S. Coast Guard continues search and rescue operations for survivors after a boat believed to be involved in a human smuggling operation capsized off the Florida coast. U.S. Coast Guard Section Miami Commander Captain Jo-Ann F Burdian said during a press conference held at the base that at least one person is dead, and dozens more are missing. Anniston, AL (36206) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 86F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. ROME - The River Tiber that flows through Rome is the world's cleanest river, at least for 56km of its 406km length, central Apennine river basin authorities said Thursday. "The Tiber is a clean river: if we only took the 56km stretch from Castel Giubileo (on the outskirts of Rome) to the mouths at Ostia and Fiumicino, the Tiber would be the cleanest river in the world, thanks to the purification activity done by ACEA over the last 15 years," they said. "Giant steps forward have been taken from this standpoint." Central Appenine District Basin Authority Secretary General Erasmo D'Angelis described the Tiber as "a safer, cleaner river, to be lived". The Tiber is Italy's third longest river behind the Po and the Adige, and the longest in central Italy ahead of the Arno. Here are some of the key dates in the decades-long campaign for justice by the families of civilians killed by soldiers on Bloody Sunday in January 1972. January 30 1972 The Parachute Regiment opens fire on a crowd taking part in a civil rights march in Derry. Thirteen people are killed and 15 others injured. April 1972 An inquiry led by Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery supports the soldiers version of events, that they were returning fire. Bereaved families dismiss the report as a whitewash. February 1992 First meeting of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign. Lord Chief Justice Lord Widgery looks through his report on Bloody Sunday in his room at the Old Bailey (PA) January 1994 The campaign writes to prime minister John Major seeking a full independent inquiry. February 1994 Mr Major refuses because there has already been a public inquiry by Lord Widgery. January 1997 A 40,000-signature petition calling for a new inquiry is delivered by the campaign to 10 Downing Street. January 1998 Prime minister Tony Blair announces a new inquiry, with Lord Saville of Newdigate appointed to chair the probe. Lord Saville of Newdigate was appointed chairman of the second Bloody Sunday Inquiry in January 1998 (PA) November 2000-September 2002 The Saville Inquiry hears oral evidence. August 2001 Soldiers announce they will seek a judicial review of the decision of the inquiry that military witnesses must give their evidence in Derry. December 2001 The Court of Appeal rules that the soldiers can give evidence in London. September 2002-October 2003 The inquiry is held in Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. October 2003-November 2004 The inquiry moves back to Derry. People watch Prime Minister David Camerons apology on a giant screen outside the Guild Hall in Derry (Niall Carson/PA) June 2010 Lord Saville delivers his findings that there was no justification for shooting any of those killed or wounded. Prime minister David Cameron issues a public apology. saying the killings were unjustified and unjustifiable. July 2012 The Police Service of Northern Ireland formally launches a murder investigation into the events of Bloody Sunday. September-October 2018 The first Ministry of Defence compensation settlement in relation to Bloody Sunday victims is awarded. March 2019 The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announces that one former soldier, known as Soldier F, will be prosecuted for the murders of James Wray and William McKinney and the attempted murders of Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joe Mahon and Patrick ODonnell. Sixteen other former soldiers and two suspected ex-members of the Official IRA, all of whom were also investigated as part of the major police murder probe, will not face prosecution. Motorcyclists take part in a Rolling Thunder ride protest in London to support Soldier F (Sophie Hogan/PA) April 2019 Protests in support of Soldier F take place across the UK. September 2019 The case against Soldier F is heard in court for the first time at a sitting of Derry Magistrates Court. The veteran was not present in court for the short hearing. April 2021 The families of five of those killed announce that they will legally challenge the decision of the PPS not to prosecute five veterans. The families of Jackie Duddy, Michael Kelly, John Young, Michael McDaid and William McKinney are granted permission by the High Court to challenge decisions not to prosecute several other former members of the Parachute Regiment. Bloody Sunday families react after prosecutors decide to discontinue the prosecution of Soldier F (Liam McBurney/PA) July 2021 The PPS announces it is discontinuing the prosecution of Soldier F for the murders of James Wray and William McKinney amid concerns that the case could collapse in light of a separate court ruling on the admissibility of evidence which caused the collapse of another Troubles murder trial involving two military veterans. The McKinney family signal their intent to challenge the PPS decision on Solider F in the courts. September 2021 The various legal challenges against the PPS are heard together before three senior judges. Decisions not to prosecute five soldiers are challenged. Judgment is reserved and has yet to be delivered. The president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn will feature in a programme of events to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. A series of events will take place over the weekend in Londonderry to mark the anniversary of the date when 13 civil rights protesters were shot dead by British soldiers on January 30 1972, in the city. Another man shot by paratroopers on the day died four months later. While many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday, his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour. President Higgins will deliver a recorded message to the Bloody Sunday families on Sunday. The presidents message will be shown publicly during the commemorative event Beyond the Silence, which will take place before a limited audience in Guildhall Square. His message will be broadcast on a large screen and the occasion will be livestreamed to an online audience. The event will be hosted by actor Adrian Dunbar and will feature tributes to the victims, as well as music and public performances. Tony Doherty, chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, has asked people to come out in support of the Bloody Sunday families on Sunday (Liam McBurney/PA) Guildhall Square will fall then silent on Sunday at the precise time when 50 years earlier paratroopers opened fire on civil rights marchers in the Bogside. Earlier on Sunday, relatives of those who were shot and injured will take part in a walk of remembrance which will set out from Creggan Shops and make its way to the Bloody Sunday Monument in Rossville Street for the annual memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony at 11am. Irish premier Mr Martin will lay a wreath and is also expected to meet privately with the families of those killed. Bloody Sunday Trust chairperson Tony Doherty said: This Sunday is January 30. It will be exactly 50 years to the day and the date since Bloody Sunday. The families will be gathering at the Creggan shops at 9:15am and we are going to walk to the Bloody Sunday monument for 11am. We would like all the people of the city and beyond to join us, regardless of your political persuasion, regardless of your beliefs, religious, political or otherwise and stand in solidarity with us on Sunday morning. Jeremy Corbyn will deliver the Bloody Sunday Memorial Lecture on Saturday in Derry (Kirsty OConnor/PA) The 2022 Bloody Sunday Memorial Lecture will be delivered at Derrys Guildhall on Saturday by Mr Corbyn, a long time supporter of the Bloody Sunday families. The MP for Islington North in London will give his lecture at the same location where most of the hearings in the Bloody Sunday Inquiry took place. The inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville, replaced the verdict of the Widgery Tribunal which had largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame. Lord Savilles inquiry found that none of the casualties were posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting. It said no warning was given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire and that none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers. Saville found there was some firing by republican paramilitaries but that on balance the Army fired first. Former prime minister David Cameron told the House of Commons in 2010 that the killings were unjustified and unjustifiable. The gambling regulator has handed online casino firm Genesis Global a 3.8 million fine due to money laundering and social responsibility failures. The Gambling Commission suspended the companys licence for three months last year but lifted it after improvements by the firm. However, it concluded on Thursday that the business which runs 14 websites including genesiscasino.com, casinoplanet.com and casinocruise.com will face a 3.8 million penalty. It also warned Genesis it must undergo further extensive auditing to keep its gambling licence. Helen Venn, executive director of the commission, said: All gambling businesses should pay very close attention to this case. The commission will use all tools at its disposal to ensure consumer safety and that extends to stopping a business from actually operating. Failing to follow rules aimed at keeping gambling safe and crime-free will never be a viable business option for gambling businesses in Britain. The Gambling Commission said Genesiss social responsibility failures included the business not producing any meaningful response to a customer who spent 245,000 in three months despite the business finding out after three days that it was an NHS nurse earning 30,000 a year. The regulator also highlighted that Genesis did not produce a responsible reaction to a customer who lost 197,000 over six months. On the day the customer closed her account, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family, she was allowed to open another account with the business and deposit 200, the commission said. Genesis was also found to have committed a number of money-laundering failures, including allowing a customer to deposit more than 1.3 million and lose 600,000 before carrying out sufficient checks on source of funds. 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. Boris Johnson is coming under increasing pressure to explain his role in the evacuation of animals from Afghanistan amid reports he did influence their removal from Kabul despite his denials. No 10 has repeatedly said Mr Johnson had no involvement in pushing for help for the charity Nowzad, after accusations that officials time was taken up supporting the charity rather than people who could have been brought to the UK. Leaked emails surfaced on Wednesday in which Foreign Office officials suggest the Prime Minister authorised their rescue, despite Mr Johnson previously saying it was complete nonsense that he had intervened. Prime Minister Boris Johnson rides in the back seat of a Government car (Victoria Jones/PA) And Sky News reported that Conservative MP Trudy Harrison, who was then parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Mr Johnson, had contacted a private charter company to try to secure a plane to help with the Nowzad evacuation, and a source at the company told the broadcaster it was implicit that she was acting with the PMs backing. Ms Harrison previously wrote to former Royal Marine Paul Pen Farthing, who ran the Nowzad shelter, to inform him the evacuation would go ahead. She told Sky News on Wednesday that she had contacted companies, and had told staff she was a PPS to Mr Johnson, but that she was acting as a constituency MP and Mr Johnson was not involved in plans around the evacuation. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, in his second comment on the situation in a matter of hours, said the Nowzad evacuation was nothing to do with the Prime Minister. Documents released by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee overnight showed how Sir Philip Barton the Foreign Offices permanent-under secretary said he was not aware of support for the decision to evacuate Nowzad either in No 10 or from the Prime Minister. He said that beyond speculation in the public domain he did not know of any reason civil servants would attribute the decision to the PM. Jake Berry defended the PM (Danny Lawson/PA) Conservative MP Jake Berry told the BBCs Newsnight programme that junior staff may have played up No 10s involvement. He said that junior officials in Government departments or officials in Government departments often would put across the views of Downing Street or No 10 without in truth knowing whether its correct. Earlier, the Defence Secretary told broadcasters: The claims that have been made and emails from the Foreign Office, who were not responsible for the actual evacuation operation, I dont know where they come from but they certainly dont show the reality, which was: I was in charge, the Prime Minister never asked me, it was nonsense. No 10 also issued a statement, coming shortly after the Prime Ministers official spokesman held a briefing with reporters, stressing that Mr Johnson had played no role in the UK armed forces rescue mission, Operation Pitting, or the evacuation of animals from the Taliban-captured territory. Mr Farthing launched a high-profile campaign to get his staff and animals out of Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, using a plane funded through donations. The UK Government sponsored clearance for the charter flight, leading to allegations that animals had been prioritised over people in the exit effort. Pen Farthing was the founder of animal rescue charity Nowzad (Nowzad/PA) The re-emergence of the row comes after a whistleblower leaked email exchanges to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, with MPs making them public on Wednesday. The evidence shows an official in the private office of Lord Goldsmith a joint Foreign Office and environment minister told colleagues working on the evacuation on August 25 that the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated, in reference to the charity Nowzad. Lord Goldsmith tweeted: I did not authorise and do not support anything that would have put animals lives ahead of peoples. My position, which I made clear publicly, was that the UK should prioritise evacuating people. I never discussed the Nowzad charity or their efforts to evacuate animals with the PM. The email was handed to the committee by Raphael Marshall, who worked for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) at the time, and has claimed the animals were evacuated following a direct instruction from the Prime Minister. Dominic Dyer, who led the political lobbying campaign from the UK for Nowzad to be offered support, said Mr Johnsons refusal to acknowledge his role in the evacuation had tarnished the campaign. Mr Dyer said the published emails vindicated what he had previously set out, and argued the Prime Minister could be very proud of giving support to this as a humanitarian rescue mission. He told the PA news agency: Im not certain why he didnt feel he could explain his involvement in August at the end of this operation. It has tarnished what has been a very important operation that had huge public support. He told Sky News: I know Trudy Harrison, the PPS to the Prime Minister that was helping us on the campaign team, reached out to the CEO of Virgin Atlantic, and we were just looking at different options that were available to us. Trudy Harrison (Stefan Rousseau/PA) Opposition parties said the email disclosure to MPs indicated the Prime Minister has been caught out lying and accused him of making the wrong calls. A teenager has been arrested after two Jewish men were attacked in north London while locking up their shop. Police were called at 9.50pm on Wednesday to the scene in Cadoxton Avenue, Haringey, after receiving reports that two men had been assaulted. They were taken to a north London hospital to be treated. One man suffered bruising and a fractured bone in his hand while the second also suffered bruising and has an eye injury, the Shomrim neighbourhood watch team said. The group aided the victims and police after the incident, which took place the day before Holocaust Memorial Day. An 18-year-old man was arrested in Fairview Road on suspicion of actual bodily harm. He remains in custody. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said the incident is being treated as a hate crime. Home Secretary Priti Patel described the incident as a absolutely despicable attack. She tweeted: An absolutely despicable attack. This, on the eve of #HolocaustMemorialDay, is a sickening reminder of why we must never allow antisemitism to take root. We wont tolerate abuse towards our Jewish community. Thank you to the officers who responded swiftly to make an arrest. Chief Superintendent Simon Crick, who leads policing in Enfield and Haringey, said: On this most important day, this is an awful reminder that hate crime still exists. I know that Haringey residents will be upset by such a horrible attack and we wont stand for anyone in our community being targeted or hurt. If you assault someone, you can expect us to do everything we can to investigate and find you. Ive been in touch with members of the local Jewish community, and Im providing additional patrols throughout the day to reassure the community. Please do speak to them if you have any concerns. Id like to thank the members of the public who called us and asked us to come to the aid of these two gentlemen and grateful for their help, which meant we could locate a suspect. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will meet Stormont leaders later amid intensifying DUP attempts to stymie the operation of Brexits contentious Northern Ireland Protocol. Ms Truss, who is leading UK negotiations with the EU over the protocol, and Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis will meet DUP First Minister Paul Givan and Sinn Fein deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill at Stormont House in Belfast. The encounter comes after DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson warned he could not guarantee Mr Givan would still be in position next week. Sir Jeffrey has repeatedly threatened to withdraw ministers from the powersharing Executive a move that could collapse devolution if major changes to the Irish Sea border trading arrangements are not secured. Deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill and First Minister Paul Givan will meet with Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (Liam McBurney/PA) The DUP leader has insisted his party cannot tolerate trade barriers with the rest of the UK that, he claims, are costing the Northern Ireland economy millions of pounds every day. Critics claim the DUP is electioneering ahead of Mays scheduled Assembly ballot amid recent poor opinion poll ratings. Ms Truss has said a deal can be done with the EU on the protocol to reduce the number of checks required on goods entering the region. Thursday may also bring developments on another DUP attempt to frustrate the workings of the protocol. Earlier this week, DUP Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots formally asked the Stormont Executive for permission to continue carrying out Brexit port checks, in a move that could see him ultimately attempt to halt them. He claims recent court rulings related to the functioning of the devolved institutions at Stormont mean he must gain the approval of the wider Executive for the checks required under the protocol. Officials in his department are currently carrying out the contentious checks and inspections on goods arriving from Great Britain. He has asked the Executive for retrospective approval for carrying out checks from the date the protocol came into effect in January 2021 and ongoing permission to continue doing them. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has demanded major changes to the Irish Sea border trading arrangements (Liam McBurney/PA) If the matter had been brought to a vote at the Executive, the DUP could have used its veto to block the continuation of the checks. However, Sinn Fein has used its own veto to stop the issue getting on the agenda of Thursdays meeting. That could see Mr Poots take unilateral action to halt the checks. He has already signalled he would make that move in the absence of Executive sign-off, contending that he would not have the legal authority to continue them. It is understood that in the paper Mr Poots circulated to Executive colleagues this week, he said that if approval is not forthcoming by January 27, he would have to reconsider whether he has the legal authority to continue the checks. Sinn Fein has challenged Mr Pootss legal interpretation of the issue. Under Stormont rules, issues deemed significant and controversial should be dealt with by the powersharing Executive as a whole. Issues that cut across the responsibilities of multiple departments should also be brought to the Executive under the terms of the ministerial code. However, Sinn Fein insists the Executive took a decision on the issue in 2020, when it says ministers agreed Mr Poots would take on the legal responsibility to implement the checks. DUP Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots could take unilateral action to halt the checks (Brian Lawless/PA) Ms ONeill has said any unilateral move by Mr Poots to halt the checks would be unlawful and civil servants in his department would not be able to comply with such an order. The stand-off has the potential to put Department of Agriculture civil servants in a very awkward position, with different Stormont ministers offering contrasting views on whether officials are able to follow any direction from Mr Poots to halt checks. If checks were to stop, it would put the UK Government at odds with its international obligations under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. In such circumstances, the Government could use its authority to direct that the checks resume. However, that could place it in an uncomfortable position politically, given Ms Truss is currently involved in intensive negotiations with Brussels in a bid to significantly reduce the number of checks required under the protocol. Meghan McCain is detailing her rough battle with COVID-19. The former co-host of The View, who is the daughter of the late Arizona senator John McCain, penned a column for The Daily Mail in which she shared that she and her husband, The Federalist publisher Ben Domenech, tested positive for COVID earlier this year. Meghan McCain described her battle with COVID-19 in a new column and says she worries about how America will recover from the virus. (Photo: Lou Rocco/ABC via Getty Images) Though McCain and Domenech are both fully vaccinated, she said that they got very sick. While Domenech waited outside for a PCR test, McCain was too unwell to make the trek, and confirmed her positive test result thanks to her sister-in-law dropping off a rapid test for her. I am still now, a few weeks out from testing positive, waking up feeling the aftereffects of a cold in my throat, getting fatigued easily, and unable to taste food or smell anything normally. I have been lighting candles all over the house waiting for this to change, McCain wrote of her experience with the virus. I do not want to sound like a baby, or ungrateful because I am well aware of how much worse things could have been, but COVID was much rougher than I anticipated given that we are fully-vaccinated. What I experienced wasn't mild, it wasn't easy, and I am still fearful of the unknown long-term side effects that I may experience. The Bad Republican author also slammed President Biden over the lack of easy access to rapid at-home testing, as well as readily available treatments. It was just last month that McCain was questioning whether booster shots, mask mandates and vaccine mandates were necessary in another column for The Daily Mail. As of today, the Omicron variant is known to have killed one person globally, even though that number is tragically sure to rise. But for some college students in New York to go back to school they must receive the booster something that was originally only recommended for the elderly and immunocompromised, she wrote in an article published on Dec. 15, 2021. So where exactly does this leave us? It appears there is a segment of the population that is entirely comfortable being masked forever, having our children as young as 2-years-old exist in a world where they are educated and socialized only if they have a mask on their face, and requiring that we get a booster shot I can assume every six months for the rest of our lives. It is unclear whether McCain and her husband received a third shot of the vaccine, which was recommended as the Omicron variant has significantly impacted the effectiveness of the current vaccines, particularly when it comes to preventing infection. The CDC defines "fully vaccinated" as either having received two-doses of the MRNA vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. While McCain has been outspoken about mandates, she enthusiastically received her initial series of the vaccines in 2021. In March of 2021, she said on The View, Im happy to get a vaccine live on the show. I do trust science. I trust doctors, and quite frankly I would let them put an iPod nano between my shoulder blades if it means I can get drunk at Caesars Palace again. Michael Madsen, the Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs star, is speaking out about his son Hudson's death by suicide. "I am in shock as my son, whom I just spoke with a few days ago, said he was happy," Michael, 64, told the Los Angeles Times. "My last text from him was: 'I love you dad.'" "Kill Bill" actor Michael Madsen and his son Hudson Madsen in 2011. (Photo: David Becker/WireImage) The actor said he "didn't see any signs of depression. Its so tragic and sad. I'm just trying to make sense of everything and understand what happened." Madsen said Hudson, 26, was a U.S. Army sergeant and recently completed his first tour, which took him to Afghanistan. He was stationed in Oahu, Hawaii, residing there since 2019 with his wife, Carlie. The actor said his son's marriage was "going strong." Beyond that, he had typical life challenges that people have with finances, but he wanted a family. He was looking towards his future, so [it's] mind-blowing. I just can't grasp what happened." Madsen said he asked for a full investigation by the military. He alleged to the outlet that "officers and rank and file were shaming" Hudson for needing therapy, claiming it led his son to stop getting help for mental health issues. Hudson died of a gunshot wound, a spokesperson for the Honolulu Medical Examiner said, with the manner of death listed as suicide. A full autopsy report is expected to be completed in about four months. The medical examiner does not release death dates, but Hudson's death was confirmed by the family on Tuesday. "We are heartbroken and overwhelmed with grief and pain at the loss of Hudson," they said in a statement to Metro following the news. "His memory and light will be remembered by all who knew and loved him. We ask for privacy and respect during this difficult time." Hudson the godson of director Quentin Tarantino was the oldest of Michael's three children with wife DeAnna Madsen. The couple also shares sons Calvin and Luke. Michael is also the father of two older sons, Christian and Max, with ex-wife Jeannine Bisignano. If you or someone you know are experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. Paris Hilton has been to a lot of parties in her time, but one celebration stands out among the rest. Puffys 50th birthday, the entrepreneur and TV personality, 40, answered without any hesitation when Ellen DeGeneres asked her about the best party shed ever been to. It was so sick. Epic. The milestone birthday bash of Sean Diddy Combs, aka Puffy, definitely seemed like a larger-than-life affair, with guests including Beyonce, Kim Kardashian West, Leonardo DiCaprio, Pharrell, Cardi B and many more. Sean Combs 50th Birthday Bash Presented By Ciroc Vodka (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Sean Combs) Hilton attended the party in a stunning, beaded gold dress, accompanied by her now-husband, Carter Reum. Sean P. Diddy Combs' Surprise 35th Birthday Party (Johnny Nunez / WireImage) The reality star and DJ answered a slew of rapid-fire questions on The Ellen DeGeneres Show as part of a game called Paris Blanking Hilton. Asked about her first celebrity crush, she revealed she once had eyes for Luke Perry when he played Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210. She clarified to DeGeneres that she never dated Perry in real life, though, because she was, like, 12. Hilton continued to display her deadpan humor as she talked about the strangest product she was ever asked to endorse. Canned beans, she said. When I was in Mexico, some food company offered that to me, and I was like it didnt fit the brand. Hilton also opened up about strategies she has used to avoid the paparazzi over the years, including disguising herself with wigs. Sometimes I would send my friend out in a blond wig with big sunglasses and, like, a tracksuit and theyd run in the car, and then Id go out a back way in a brown wig, she said. She added that she has hundreds of wigs, and for her disguises, she sticks to natural looks. I wont wear, like, a pink one or something because thats too obvious, she said. Id wear, like, black or red. Hilton has been giving fans an intimate look at her life in her new series on Peacock, Paris in Love, which follows her preparations for her wedding to Reum. (Peacock is part of TODAYs parent company, NBCUniversal.) She and Reum tied the knot in November 2021 after announcing their engagement earlier that year. Former Defence Forces soldier Lisa Smith married a member of al Qaida and stayed in a bombed-out house where militia and rebels held meetings when she was in Syria, her trial has heard. The Co Louth woman, 39, has pleaded not guilty to charges of membership of the illegal organisation, the so-called Islamic State, and of providing funds to benefit the group. Giving evidence on Thursday, Tanya Joya told the Special Criminal Court that she and her then-husband John Georgealis had met the accused through his Islamic Facebook group We Hear, We Obey. Ms Joya, originally from London, was born a Muslim and said she had become radicalised after the September 11 terror attacks in 2001. She met Mr Georgealis, a US man who converted to Islam, online and the pair subsequently married, and travelled to numerous Muslim countries. They met Smith in Turkey in 2013, but crossed the border into Syria when they were unable to find housing due to an influx of refugees into the country. Ms Joya told the court that Ms Smith was excited to be in Syria, and that she had told her she was planning to die there and become a martyr. She told the court she was initially happy to meet Smith because she seemed nice and was able to help her with her four children. But she said that shortly after Smith arrived in Turkey it got a bit ugly. She said: She wanted to go to Syria. All Muslims felt an obligation to help the rebels, because they were being oppressed. They were brainwashed into thinking if you became a martyr you get to go to paradise. Who wouldnt want that? Ms Joya said they had respected Smith because she had training in the army, and she wanted to hep the rebels. She added: Lisa Marie wanted to go to Syria. She was determined, it was her goal. I was opposed to it because I was afraid. I didnt want to go into a warzone with my kids. The court heard that while Ms Joya was fearful about the war, her husband and Smith would crack jokes about how close we were to Syria. She said the trip wasnt planned, but because they were unable to get housing in Turkey they had taken an overnight bus into Syria. John promised it was only for a couple of weeks. We stayed in a building that was bombed out, it was owned by a Syrian general, she said. Ms Joya said the house had no electricity, the windows had been smashed, there were bullet holes in the walls and that it was very dirty. She added: It was where the militia, the rebels had meetings. People entering the country would stay there. She said they had stayed there for one week, before they went to stay with a really fanatical Syrian warman at another location. Lisa Smith, accused of terrorism offences, arrives at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin. (Niall Carson/PA) It was here that Smith met a Tunisian man named Ahmed, a member of al Qaida, who she wanted to marry. Ms Joya told the court that she had advised Smith to marry for her own protection. However, she said she was opposed to her marrying Ahmed because they did not know each other or speak the same language. I didnt like it that Lisa Marie wanted to marry Ahmed. I thought it was batsh*t crazy she said. She said of Smith that everyone loved her, while Ahmed was handsome and charming. Asked why she thought Smith wanted to marry him, Ms Joya replied: Because he was hot, thats why. And he was a fighter. She didnt know him, but he had a cute smile and he was very shy, she added. Ms Joya told the court the pair got married in Syria, but that she had refused to attend. She knew I thought it was ridiculous. She didnt care. To her I wasnt a good Muslim, and I wasnt. I didnt want to be a Muslim, she said. Ms Joya told the court that around this time she got her hands on a burner mobile phone, called her husbands mother and told her to report him to the FBI. She made plans to leave Syria and Smith asked her if she planned to tell the authorities about her. I said yes, I had to, Ms Joya told the court. She just shrugged. She didnt argue with me. She knew I was going to do what I had to do. She said Smith had blocked her on Facebook after that conversation. She said the accused stayed in Syria when she made her journey back to the UK, and then to the US. She (Smith) was not going to leave. It was never her intention to leave. I didnt care. It was like, good riddance. I just wanted to look after my kids, she said. Ms Joya told told the court she believed Smith had been indoctrinated. She was told what to think. She obeyed because she believed in God she added. The case received widespread attention in 2019 when it emerged that Smith, a former Air Corps soldier who had worked on the Government jet, had been detained in Syria over alleged links to IS. Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter. She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam. Former member of the Defence Forces Lisa Smith arriving at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin where she is facing terror-related charges (Niall Carson/PA) Smith is charged under Section Six of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 which makes it an offence to join a foreign unlawful organisation. It is alleged that between October 28 2015 and December 1 2019 at a location outside the State, she was a member of a terrorist group styling itself as the Islamic State. She has also been accused of financing terrorism by sending 800 euro (670) in assistance by Western Union money transfer to a named individual in 2015. The trial will resume at 10.30am on Friday. Emporia, KS (66801) Today Rain. High 56F. Winds E at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thundershowers overnight following a period of rain early. Low 53F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near an inch. Irish fishermen have been a given a guarantee by Russias ambassador to Ireland that their fishing grounds will not be affected by navy exercises. Representatives of the Irish fishing industry met with the Russian ambassador amid an ongoing row over planned military exercises off the Irish coast. Speaking after talks with Yury Filatov at the embassy in Dublin, Brendan Byrne, chief executive of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association, said it was a very beneficial meeting. The Russian artillery drills at the start of February will take place in international waters but within Irish-controlled airspace and the countrys exclusive economic zone. Brendan Byrne of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association, left, and Patrick Murphy of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation (Brian Lawless/PA) The Department of Transport has also issued a marine notice that the Russian navy is set to carry out manoeuvres off the south-west coast of Ireland from next Thursday. Mr Byrne said he was very surprised by the wealth of knowledge of the ambassador about Irish fishing matters. He said an agreement was reached that there will be a buffer zone between Russian vessels and fishing trawlers when military exercises are under way. We have now come to an accommodation where there is a pathway for coexistence for the naval exercises and for our fishing fleet, Mr Byrne added. The operation has to go back to Moscow. There was a great undertaking of the pressures the Irish fishing industry is under. There is an appreciation of the value of this fishing ground to the overall fishing industry. On January 27 representatives of the @ISWFPO have visited the Embassy of #Russia in Ireland. During the conversation parties discussed in a constructive and positive way the issues pertaining to the upcoming naval drills of the Russian #Navy off the coast of Ireland. pic.twitter.com/z6Qg2rmIWt Russia in Ireland (@Rus_Emb_Ireland) January 27, 2022 There was in-depth discussion in relation to the scale of the military exercises, and we have given an undertaking that we wouldnt discuss those further. It has been a very good day for the Irish fishing industry. We explored our options there was a map at the meeting. The options are clear and they are going back to Moscow. There is an acknowledgement that there is a valuable fishing ground there. Its open on February 1 and there is a tradition that Irish fishing industry would fish those grounds. I was very impressed by the wealth of knowledge of the ambassador and the complexity of the situation. When you compare that to the lack of engagement of our own Government, a lot of questions needed to be asked. (Mr Filatov) was very frank as the regard of the scale of activity. Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, said fishing trawlers will make the decision on whether they fish in the area next week. Brendan Byrne and Mr Murphy with a Fisheries Management Chart outside the Russian Embassy in Dublin (Brian Lawless/PA) We will carry back the information today and the positivity we negotiated, Mr Murphy added. We gave an understanding that the information is sensitive and we are not going to escalate or undermine the good work that was done. Well be communicating with our vessels and Im very happy we had this meeting and grateful the ambassador has given us details that allays our fears. He has given us a very guaranteed assurance that he will take this back to Moscow and explain in clear detail the importance of this area to our fishermen. He has given us assurances that common sense will prevail and that some of the rhetoric is not correct. We are not here to challenge the Russian nation, all we are here to do is ensure our boats get to fish in their traditional fishing ground and do so in a safe and fair manner. Mr Byrne added: Therell be a clear understanding of whos going to be where, so that both parties know theres going to be a buffer zone. This is the significant part. Theres an absolute guarantee that our traditional fishing grounds will not will not be impacted by the Russian naval exercises. Amy Schneider's historic "Jeopardy!" reign is officially over. Schneider's 40-game winning streak, which began Nov. 17, came to an end Wednesday when she lost to Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, in a competitive game. She remains insecond for all-time consecutive wins, only behind Ken Jennings, whose 74-game record has held since 2004. MORE: 'Jeopardy!' champ Amy Schneider on trans representation, next Tournament of Champions During her run, Schneider amassed $1,382,800 in prize winnings, making her the winningest woman in "Jeopardy!" history and fourth in all-time winnings during regular-season play. She is behind only Matt Amodio ($1,518,601), James Holzhauer ($2,462,216) and Jennings ($2,520,700) in that regard. Speaking out Thursday morning after her "Jeopardy!" loss, Schneider told "Good Morning America" it was "hard to be that sad when I've done so much better than I expected" and she "could never be disappointed in winning that many games." Schneider also said she felt her time was "coming to an end" and she "couldn't quite explain it." Part of it, she said, was feeling that the milestone of surpassing Jennings in wins "still felt unfathomably far away" after overtaking Amodio. "It just sort of seemed like I had done all I could do," she said. In the end, Schneider told "GMA" she wanted to send a message to her fans -- and one to the trans community, too. "If you've got a goal and you're kind of beating your head against the wall with it trying to achieve it and it doesn't feel like you're getting anywhere, I think it's definitely worth persisting," she said. "Again, specifically to trans people out there, anything you wanted to do before you can still keep chasing those same dreams." The "Final Jeopardy!" which proved to be Schneider's downfall was from the "Countries of the World" category. The clue read: "The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an 'H,' it's also one of the 10 most populous." The answer: "What is Bangladesh?" "It's really been an honor," Schneider said in a press release. "To know that I'm one of the most successful people at a game I've loved since I was a kid and to know that Im a part of its history now, I just don't know how to process it." PHOTO: Amy Schneider on the set of 'Jeopardy!' for the episode dated Jan. 26, 2022. (Jeopardy Productions, Inc.) Beyond setting records, Schneider -- an engineering manager from Oakland, California -- has left a lasting impact on "Jeopardy!" as the show's most successful trans champion thus far. Schneider recently told "Good Morning America" that her favorite part of her "Jeopardy!" experience was "being on TV, you know, as my true self, expressing myself and representing the entire community of trans people." MORE: 'Jeopardy!' champ Amy Schneider says she's 'fine' after being robbed During her time on the beloved quiz show, Schneider has used her platform to discuss the importance of trans visibility and representation. She wore a trans flag pin on the Thanksgiving episode to send a message to the LGBTQ+ community during the holidays and deflected anti-trans bullying directed at her on social media in a single tweet. Schneider will return to compete in the next Tournament of Champions, set to take place this fall. "It's going to be really challenging; a lot of strong players there, but it should be a lot of fun," Schneider told "GMA" on returning to face fellow "Jeopardy!" champions. Amy Schneider speaks out after historic 'Jeopardy!' run ends after 40 wins originally appeared on goodmorningamerica.com Ansel Elgort attends the "West Side Story" premiere in New York in late 2021. (Charles Sykes / Invision/Associated Press) Despite the passage of time and the splashy release of Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" remake, a 2020 sexual assault allegation still lingers around star Ansel Elgort. It's an allegation his female co-stars were just called upon to address. Nine months after filming on the musical wrapped, in June 2020, a woman tweeted that the actor had assaulted her in 2014 (when she was 17 and he was 20). Elgort asserted at the time that he had "never and would never assault anyone." The pandemic news cycle progressed, the musical's release was pushed back and Elgort managed to avoid addressing it again in his limited promotion of the buzzy film late last year. The 27-year-old attended the New York premiere in November, participated in group interviews and appeared on "The Late Late Show" to plug the movie, all the while avoiding the topic. But his benign interview with James Corden didn't deter the critics who posted in the video's YouTube comments section, calling out the actor for carrying on as if the allegation didn't exist. Meanwhile, promotion of "West Side Story" and its actors has continued in the months after its disappointing theatrical release as it vies for Academy Awards and other critical awards-season consideration. Thus, in a Wednesday feature for the Hollywood Reporter, Elgort's co-stars Rachel Zegler, Rita Moreno and Ariana DeBose addressed the allegation and as the publication noted were circumspect with their answers and lapped praise on the actor. (Elgort didn't partake in the sit-down, and THR said Spielberg declined to comment.) "Nobody really knows whats going on in anyones head," said DeBose, 31. "Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down." Added veteran actor Moreno, 90: "I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter. It's not for me to make those judgments." Ariana DeBose, left, Steven Spielberg and Rachel Zegler attend the New York premiere of "West Side Story" at the Rose Theater at Lincoln Center on Nov. 29, 2021. (Charles Sykes / Invision/Associated Press) Zegler, 20, who plays Elgort's love interest in the musical revival, echoed those sentiments and addressed the scandal even more broadly. "We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then," she told THR. "A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. Theres been a lot of awakening. You just hope that the people involved are OK, that they are asked in a respectful manner and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves." A woman named Gabby who said she was a fan of the "Baby Driver" and "The Fault in Our Stars" actor posted her allegation on Twitter on June 19, 2020, according to Variety. She alleged that Elgort sexually assaulted her after they connected over Snapchat. Gabby said in the now-deleted post that she "was just a kid" and it was her first time having sex. She alleged that she was "sobbing in pain" and instead of stopping, Elgort allegedly said, "We need to break you in." A day after she tweeted her story, Elgort posted a denial on Instagram, Variety reported. He said that he did have a brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship with the woman. He then ghosted her, which he said was "an immature and cruel thing to do to someone." He added that "her description of events is simply not what happened" and said "I have never and would never assault anyone." His post has since been deleted as well. Representatives for Elgort did not immediately respond Thursday to The Times' request for comment. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. A Western New York couple is accused of using fake COVID-19 vaccine cards to attend the Buffalo Bills' playoff win over the New England Patriots. Michael Naab, 34 and Amber Naab, 37 of West Seneca are charged with one count each of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree. The Erie County District Attorney's Office filed the felony charges in Orchard Park Town Court on Wednesday, Buffalo's WKBW reports. District Attorney John J. Flynn told reporters that the Bills learned of the couple's alleged plan via their social media posts, which were flagged by an anonymous tipster. According to Flynn, they posted about using forged cards to attend previous Bills games. Law enforcement officials questioned them during the third quarter of the Jan. 15 game. COVID-19 vaccine cards (REUTERS/Brian Snyder) Fans 12 and older are required to be fully vaccinated to attend Buffalo Bills home games in compliance with a statewide mandate. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law in December making the forgery of COVID-19 vaccine cards a crime. Use of forged vaccine cards is also a violation of federal law. The Bills' web page explaining the team's vaccine policy issues a bold, all-caps warning against using forged vaccine cards: "PLEASE NOTE THAT FORGERY OF A VACCINATION CARD IS A FELONY AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW." According to the Erie County district attorney's office, this is the first time they've prosecuted the new law since Hochul signed it. "These two defendants are accused of using a fake vaccine card to intentionally violate the rules at the stadium, potentially putting the health of other fans at risk," Flynn said, per per WKBW. "As I have stated before, if you present a fake vaccine card, you will be prosecuted." The charge carries a maximum of seven years in prison. Flynn said that he doesn't intend to pursue a prison sentence if the Naabs are convicted, WIVB reports. The Bills have not publicly addressed the incident, and WIVB reports that the Naabs declined requests for comment through their lawyer. This Nov. 27, 2021, photo provided by Tracey Ferguson shows her son D.J. Ferguson initially being treated at Milford, Mass. Regional Medical Center. Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston is defending itself after Ferguson's family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients' chances of survival. (Tracey Ferguson via AP) MENDON, Mass. (AP) A Boston hospital is defending itself after a man's family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients chances of survival. The family of D.J. Ferguson said in a crowdfunding appeal this week that officials at Brigham and Womens Hospital told the 31-year-old father of two that he was ineligible for the procedure because he hasnt been vaccinated against the coronavirus. We are literally in a corner right now. This is extremely time sensitive, the family said in its fundraising appeal, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars. This is not just a political issue. People need to have a choice! D.J.'s mother, Tracey Ferguson, insists that her son isn't against vaccinations, noting he's had other immunizations in the past. But the trained nurse said Wednesday that hes been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation an irregular and often rapid heart rhythm and that he has concerns about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. D.J. is an informed patient, Tracey Ferguson said in a brief interview at her home in Mendon, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Boston. He wants to be assured by his doctors that his condition would not be worse or fatal with this COVID vaccine. Brigham and Womens Hospital declined to comment on D.J. Fergusons case, citing patient privacy laws. But it pointed to a response that it posted on its website in which it said the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several immunizations required by most U.S. transplant programs, including a flu shot and hepatitis B vaccines. The hospital said research has shown that transplant recipients are at higher risk than non-transplant patients of dying from COVID-19, and that its policies are in line with the recommendations of the American Society of Transplantation and other health organizations. Patients also must meet other health and lifestyle criteria to receive donated organs, and it's unknown if D.J. Ferguson did or would have met them. Brigham & Womens Hospital also stressed that no patient is placed on an organ waitlist without meeting those criteria, and rejected the notion that a transplant candidate could be considered first on the list for an organ a claim Ferguson's family made in its fundraising post. There are currently more than 100,000 candidates on waitlists for organ transplantation and a shortage of available organs around half of people on waiting lists will not receive an organ within five years, the hospital said. Hospitals in other states have faced similar criticism for denying transplants to patients who weren't vaccinated against COVID-19. In Colorado last year, a woman suffering from late-stage kidney disease said she was denied a transplant by her hospital because she was unvaccinated. Leilani Lutali, a born-again Christian, said she opposed immunization because of the role that fetal cell lines play in some vaccines' development. There is a scarcity of donor organs, so transplant centers only place patients on the waiting list whom they deem the most likely to survive with a new organ. A donor heart is a precious and scarce gift which must be cared for well, said Dr. Howard Eisen, medical director for the advanced heart failure program at Penn State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Our goal is to preserve patient survival and good outcomes post-transplant. The United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit that manages the countrys organ transplant system, doesnt track how many patients refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine have been denied transplants, said Anne Paschke, an organization spokesperson. She said patients who are denied organ transplants still have the right to go elsewhere, though individual hospitals ultimately decide which patients to add to the national waitlist. According to the online fundraiser, D.J. Ferguson was hospitalized in late November for a heart ailment that caused his lungs to fill with blood and fluid. He was then transferred to Brigham and Womens, where doctors inserted an emergency heart pump that the family says is only meant to be a temporary stopgap. Its devastating, Tracey Ferguson said. No one ever wants to see their child go through something like this. ___ Marcelo reported from Stoneham, Massachusetts. RIDGELAND, Miss. (AP) The director of a Mississippi library system says a mayor is withholding $110,000 from his citys library because LGBTQ books are on the shelves. Tonja Johnson, executive director of the Madison County Library System, told news outlets that Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee received citizen complaints about a handful of books that depicted members of the LGBTQ community. Funding for this year was being withheld until we removed what he called homosexual material from the library, Johnson told WAPT-TV. His reasoning that he gave was that, as a Christian, he could not support that, and that he would not release funding until we remove the material. The move is part of a larger trend of conservatives across the country trying to limit the type of books that children are exposed to. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the Holocaust was recently banned by a Tennessee school district, while the Republican governors in South Carolina and Texas have called on superintendents to perform a systemic review of inappropriate materials in their states schools. In a statement to news outlets, McGee didnt expressly confirm that he wasnt providing the funding over LGBTQ literature but said he believes some of the books are inappropriate for children. There is a minimum, sexual connotations are not appropriate for children when they enter the library, the mayor said. The Ridgeland Board of Aldermen approved the city budget in the fall, and Alderman Ken Heard told WAPT that the mayor doesnt have the authority to unilaterally deny funds to the library. Johnson said the library board will request a public hearing before the Board of Aldermen to seek clarification and receive the funds, according to the television station. A meeting was held at Ridgelands library Tuesday night to discuss the ultimatum. Jason McCarty, executive director of LGBTQ advocacy group MS Capital City Pride, was in attendance and said he believes libraries should be safe spaces where people can learn about new things. I think when we start putting our personal opinions into situations, thats when we can go wrong, McCarty told WLBT-TV. Violent protesters, loyal to then-President Donald Trump, storm the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021. (AP) A man who identified himself as a believer in the QAnon conspiracy theory was sentenced on Wednesday to three years and eight months in prison for assaulting police officers at the Capitol during last year's riot. Nicholas Languerand called himself a patriot, but the judge who sentenced him said the rioters who invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, don't deserve that description. The patriots were the police officers who were defending the Capitol building and our democratic values, U.S. District Judge John Bates said before handing down one of the longest prison sentences for a Capitol rioter so far. Languerand, 26, also told the judge that he was a QAnon follower. The conspiracy theory centers on the baseless belief that former President Donald Trump was waging a secret fight against a Satan-worshipping, child-sacrificing cabal of deepstate foes, prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites. Another core belief of QAnon adherents is that Trump would orchestrate mass arrests, military tribunals and executions of his enemies. QAnon has been linked to a string of violent crimes. The FBI has warned law enforcement that conspiracy theory-driven extremists have become a domestic terrorism threat. It was never meant to be something violent, said Languerand, who pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge in November. Bragged about his actions on social media Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of four years and three months in prison for Languerand, who moved from Vermont to South Carolina to live with his grandparents after the riot. Languerand repeatedly assaulted police at the Capitol, throwing wood and an audio speaker at officers, and later bragged about his actions on social media, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Juman. The defendant was not caught up in the violence. He sought it out, Juman said. Federal authorities explicitly have linked more than 30 riot defendants to QAnon, according to an Associated Press review of court records. The true number of rioters influenced by the conspiracy theory is likely much higher, as QAnon has been embraced and promoted by influential Trump supporters. Things did not go how I expected them to go," Languerand said. "There were people that had told me that things were going to happen in a certain way, and then they didn't happen. At that point, I began to realize that some of these people may have not been telling me the truth. After losing his job in the fall of 2020, Languerand was living in Vermont in a trailer with no vehicle or television. He began spending all of his time consuming information on the internet about QAnon and the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, according to his lawyer. Languerand's grandfather, Chares Killian, told the judge that his grandson's difficult childhood and alienation from society led to his fascination with QAnon. I knew QAnon was pretty far out there, but I didn't heartily try to dissuade him from listening to their arguments because he was getting involved in citizenry, said his grandfather, Charles Killian. Fourth rioter to be sentenced for assaulting police Bates noted that Languerand continued to praise QAnon in a recent letter to the court and has partially blamed his violent conduct on being misled by others. The judge said that left him questioning the sincerity of Languerand's remorse and whether he is a risk to reoffend. More than 730 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the riot. Over 200 of them have pleaded guilty, mostly to misdemeanors with a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment. Languerand is the fourth rioter to be sentenced for assaulting police. The other three defendants received prison sentences ranging from 41 months to 63 months. Federal sentencing guidelines in Languerand's case called for a sentence ranging from 46 to 57 months. The judge wasn't bound by the guidelines. Languerand has been jailed since his arrest last April in Little River, South Carolina, a coastal town near the North Carolina state line. Defense attorney William Welch III asked the judge to sentence Languerand to one year and one day in prison with credit for the nine months he already has served in custody. Welch said Languerand didn't plan on engaging in violence that day. He believed that he was part of something revolutionary, the lawyer said. (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Mitt Romney, a leading Republican critic of former President Donald Trump, will help raise money for Representative Liz Cheney, who is fighting for political survival after voting to impeach Trump and contesting his false stolen-election claims. Romney is the featured guest at a March 14 fundraiser for Cheney at the home of Bobbie Kilberg, a well-connected Virginia Republican who lined up against Trump during his 2016 bid for the White House, according to an invitation seen by Reuters. In addition to Romney, the list of attendees is comprised of an array of establishment Republican figures and Trump critics, including former congresswoman Barbara Comstock, former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, lobbyist Charlie Black, and former Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney's father. The event comes as Cheney gears up for a tough primary battle for Wyoming's only congressional district in August against a lawyer, Harriet Hageman, endorsed by Trump. The race, which will almost certainly determine the general election winner in the deeply conservative state, is widely seen as a proxy for the former president's grip over the Republican Party. Cheney has been the target of Trump's ire and sidelined by most Republicans after voting in January to impeach Trump on a charge that he incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, and helping lead an ongoing congressional committee investigating the attack. Last year Republicans voted to remove Cheney from her leadership position in the U.S. House of Representatives. Cheney is not in financial trouble, having ended September with more than $3.6 million in the bank. But she faces a challenge for survival in Wyoming, where the activist base of her own party has moved against her. Over the weekend, Cheney won only six votes in a straw poll conducted by the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee, with Hageman securing 59. Billionaire Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. were scheduled to co-host a pair of fundraisers for Hageman on Wednesday, Politico reported last month. Hageman had roughly $245,000 in the bank as of September. (Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; editing by Jonathan Oatis) KYIV (Reuters) -Ukrainian police on Thursday detained a National Guard soldier who shot security guards at a military factory for unknown reasons, killing five people and injuring five others, the interior minister said in a Facebook post. A police statement said the incident took place in the early hours of Thursday at the Pivdenmash missile factory in the central city of Dnipro during the issuance of weapons to guards. Four servicemen and one civilian woman were killed by the soldier, who was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy named the soldier as Artem Ryabchuk and said he would "bear the strictest responsibility provided by law". Monastyrskiy said a special commission would be set up to investigate all circumstances that could have led to the crime. Deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko said the inquiry would focus on the shooter's motive. "First of all, the question of whether the serviceman faced psychological pressure in (his) team will be studied," Gerashchenko said. Investigators would also look into how the soldier passed a medical examination that qualified him to access weapons. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Kim Coghill and Mark Heinrich) Billboards along the highways in Ukraine some showing a furious, bare-chested man with a baseball bat chasing a bear have gone up across the country as Russian troops continue massing along its borders. They serve as recruiting tools, encouraging civilians to receive military training and join the volunteer Territorial Defense Forces to guard their hometowns from Russian President Vladimir Putins army and thousands of Ukrainians, including women, are signing up. In fact, a survey released this week by the Ukraine Future Institute found that 56 percent of those polled were likely to or would definitely join the Territorial Defense Forces if Russia invades. Thats no surprise: Civilian resistance has been part of Ukraines heritage. In November 2004, after international monitors warned that the presidential election appeared rigged, Ukrainians protested en masse during what was dubbed the Orange Revolution, demanding and getting a revote. Members of the Kyiv Territorial Defense Unit take part in a training on Jan. 15. (Pete Kiehart) Eight years ago, when then-President Viktor Yanukovych tried to pull his pro-Western countrymen out of negotiations to join the European Union and push them back into the arms of Russia, Ukrainians rose up in the so-called Euromaidan revolution, ultimately sending him packing. Now that same resolve is officially part of the governments defense strategy, one that hopes to draw at least 11,000 volunteers to bolster the 250,000 active Ukrainian troops in the countrys standing army. Last summer, in response to the appearance of tens of thousands of Russian troops on his borders that started in April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a new law called On the Fundamentals of National Resistance. It calls upon all Ukrainians, whether in the armed forces or not, to protect their country, their territory and their families. It also made the volunteer Territorial Defense Forces a separate branch of the military, one designed to back up the Ukrainian military, to guard critical infrastructure and to maintain order in cities and towns during times of war. The bulk of the forces are training in Ukraines largest cities Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, Dnipro and Kharkiv but they are being organized countrywide and are viewed as a crucial piece of the national defense strategy. Given the escalating hybrid aggression of the Russian Federation [and the] aggravation of the situation around our borders, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, told reporters in capital Kyiv last month, this law is one of the major safeguards, a mechanism for implementing the concept of comprehensive defense of our state. That call to protect the homeland struck a chord with Yehor Soboliev, one of the organizers of the 2014 Euromaidan uprising, who went on to serve as a parliamentarian known for pushing through anticorruption legislation. Now a software engineer, he has been meeting every Saturday for the past seven months on the outskirts of Kyiv with 200 other unpaid volunteers, some in their 20s but the majority of middle age. Mariana, 52, a marketing researcher who for the past two years has been a volunteer in the Kyiv Territorial Defense Unit. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) We all have jobs, most of us have families, Soboliev told Yahoo News. We are peaceful regular citizens, who, because of their geography, he said, are compelled to spend eight hours each weekend preparing to halt another Russian invasion. He hopes that the civilian defense force and the Ukrainian proclivity to rise up will help deter Russia from rolling in, but if they decide to attack, he wants to be more prepared than just simply a software engineer with four kids, a cat and a beautiful wife. Every three months, the civilian units train in special military zones using army machine guns and rifles, but for the typical weekend sessions, during which the volunteers partake in maneuvers such as ambushes and counterattacks, the army does not provide weaponry. Some reservists use wood cutouts of guns, while more and more volunteers, said Soboliev, are buying their own firearms, a process that requires the permission of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Impressed by the weapons his fellow volunteers were bringing to training, he purchased his own semiautomatic rifle. Members of the Kyiv Territorial Defense Unit take part in a training at an asphalt plant on the outskirts of Kyiv. (Pete Kiehart) Brig. Gen. Yuriy Halushkin, commander of the Territorial Defense Forces, told Ukraines national news agency Ukrinform last week that the country's military has weapons for its volunteers, which will be stored near their neighborhoods and released when needed. There are such plans, said Soboliev, but right now they are only plans. Supplying arms to volunteers, he said, will be absolutely necessary. Marta Yuzkiv, a clinical researcher and mother of three, serves in the same unit as Soboliev, one of 10 in Kyiv. History and Russias oppression of her country have everything to do with why she is training, she told Yahoo News. During our entire history in the Ukraine-Russian relationships, weve been forced into the position of having to protect our right as an independent nation to follow our unique way. For some reason this is not accepted by Russia, which is even trying to deny the existence of Ukrainians as a nation, she said, referring to Putins recent push to paint Russians and Ukrainians as one Slavic people united by history and language. Marta Yuzkiv trains with the Kyiv Territorial Defense Unit. (Pete Kiehart) Over the past century, Ukrainians have fought for independence and freedom from Russia, Yuzkiv said, ticking off wars and uprisings that go back to 1918, when Ukraine tried to fight off the Russian forces that ultimately roped them into the USSR in 1922. Ukraines struggle, she said, is about trying to preserve our culture, language, faith and history. This is not even about land this is more about an ideology to remain democratic. Soboliev concurs. The story of Ukraine is a story of rebellions, revolutions and resistance and a continuous fight for democracy, he said. Other Ukrainians are taking a different route and signing up for weekend medical seminars on how to treat the wounded on the battlefield or to administer emergency procedures. Yuzkiv also partakes in those. I would prefer to spend weekends differently, she said, but we do not have any other choice than to be prepared. I do not want my family to live under [Russian] occupation, and I do not want to move from Ukraine. I want to protect my life, home, country. I also want my kids to be free for their future. Even though she has little spare time these days, she said it makes her feel better than simply fretting about a possible war. When you are doing something, you decrease the pressure, she said. Civilian participants in the Kyiv Territorial Defense Unit. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images) But as many Ukrainians rapidly prepare for the worst, they may have a little breathing room. On Wednesday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in Kyiv that he didnt think the invasion was as imminent, as the U.S. has been warning over the past week. The number of Russian troops amassed along the border of Ukraine and in occupied territories is large, it poses a threat a direct threat to Ukraine, said Kuleba. However, he added, currently this number is insufficient for a full-scale offensive along the entire Ukrainian border. They also lack some important military indicators and systems to conduct such a large full-scale offensive. But if and when Putin gives the order to roll in, Yuzkiv has a message for him. We do not [welcome] your soldiers here on our land, and we will be ready to protect our families and our land, and our right to build a democratic country not a police state, like Russia. An air tanker drops retardant on the Colorado fire burning near Big Sur on Saturday. (Karl Mondon / Bay Area News Group) A wind-driven wildfire that burned right up to the iconic Bixby Creek Bridge on the Big Sur coast last week is now 70% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Colorado fire has burned 700 acres since it first ignited Friday evening in Monterey County near Palo Colorado Canyon and the Big Sur coast, officials said. About 500 people were forced to flee their homes as strong offshore winds whipped through the area. Gusts reached up to 35 mph and spread the blaze that Cal Fire investigators says was started by hot embers from a runaway pile burning operation, where trees and brush were gathered in a pile and intentionally set on fire. The agency did not specify who started the pile burn, because the investigation is ongoing. "The wind got behind the escaped pile burn and blew those embers on to some nearby vegetation," Cal Fire spokesperson Cecile Juliette said. Previously, the fire was estimated to have burned 1,500 acres, but more accurate mapping cut that figure down to 700 acres by Monday. Evacuation orders were lifted and Highway 1 reopened at noon on Wednesday, officials said. The rare January brush fire erupted after an unusually wet October and December drenched the area with record rainfalls, according to the National Weather Service. But January has been exceptionally dry in Big Sur. Offshore winds are forecast to pick up again Thursday night and continue through Friday morning. The humidity level is expected to drop as a result. "The winds will not be nearly as strong as they were when the fire started last Friday," said meteorologist Ryan Walbrun, of the National Weather Service's Monterey office. Winds in the area are expected to reach around 15 mph and there is no rain forecast for at least the next week, Walbrun said. Firefighters estimated they would have the fire fully contained by Wednesday and said they would continue to mop up hotspots before the winds arrive. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Holocaust survivors have gathered in central London to light candles and remember the victims of genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day. A group of nearly 30 survivors and their families stood on the steps of Piccadilly Circus holding flickering candles to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, as well as the millions from other groups killed under Nazi persecution. The day is also used to remember the millions killed in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. The group looked up at the landmark junctions giant billboard, where portraits of them and fellow survivors were displayed. A film was also screened showing people, including political and religious leaders, lighting candles to mark the day. One of the photographs, taken by the Duchess of Cambridge, showed survivor Steven Frank. Born in the Netherlands, Mr Frank was one of only 93 children who survived the Theresienstadt ghetto camp out of the 15,000 children who were sent there. Holocaust survivors, including Steven Frank (front, centre), held candles in Piccadilly Circus to mark Holocaust Memorial Day (Sophie Wingate/PA) His father, an eminent lawyer, was active in the Dutch resistance when the country was under Nazi occupation. Mr Frank, now in his late 80s, told the PA news agency: And then one day he went to the office to go to work, and hed been betrayed, and he was taken away. So he ended up in prison, where we know he was tortured, badly beaten, from where he was taken to Westerbork, and from Westerbork to Auschwitz, where he was murdered in the gas chambers on January 21 1943. So very, very close to Holocaust Memorial Day, which is so very, very special for me. The Duchess of Cambridge has taken portraits of Holocaust survivors Steven Frank BEM and Yvonne Bernstein to mark #HolocaustMemorialDay. The images depict the connection between a survivor and younger generations of their family, who will carry the legacy of their grandparents. pic.twitter.com/KgnTmmOdzk The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 27, 2020 The portrait of Mr Frank showed him with a tin pot, in tribute to his mother who, while working in Theresienstadt, collected crumbs that she made into a paste to feed to her children. Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, wiped tears from her eyes as she spoke of the events significance. She said: Holocaust Memorial Day is such an important day for everybody in the country to come together and were doing so at a time when the world can feel quite fragile and we can quit feel quite vulnerable to division and hostility. We only saw yesterday an antisemitic attack with two people being assaulted. And that can leave people feeling particularly vulnerable, so to be able to come into the heart of London, into Piccadilly Circus and see photographs of Holocaust survivors in enormous displays, and to be able to celebrate the lives they have rebuilt in Britain just feels a very profound moment. Holocaust Memorial Day takes place each year on January 27, which marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the largest Nazi death camp, in 1945. The London Eye lit up in purple for Holocaust Memorial Day (Ian West/PA) National landmarks lit up in purple, including the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, the Natural History Museum and Cardiff Castle. Households across the UK joined the commemorations by lighting a candle in their window at 8pm. A candle was also burning in the window of the Prime Ministers residence 10 Downing Street. Laura Marks, chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, spoke of the meaning of this years theme, One Day. She said: One day is Holocaust Memorial Day, one day Bergen-Belsen was liberated. One day each of our survivors got out or their parents were taken away. One day in the future maybe we wont need Holocaust Memorial Day because well have learned to tolerate each other, well have learned to respect difference, to celebrate difference. She added: Theres obviously a huge sadness but its also a hope and that light in the darkness, and I choose to focus on that and think about how together with the candles we can actually change the world were living in and really light the darkness. During a special ceremony in Westminster to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle urged people to call out intolerance and work together to build a happier future. Ms Marks, Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, shadow minister David Lammy and Rabbi Debbie Young-Somers were among those taking part in the ceremony. Sir Lindsay said in his opening address: The Holocaust threatened the very fabric of civilisation, and genocide must be still resisted every day. Our world often feels vulnerable, and we cannot be complacent. Here in the UK, as elsewhere, prejudice and the language of hatred must be challenged by us all. Closing the ceremony, he added: I hope it has given us all pause for thought to consider how we might call out, counter messages of hate, intolerance, and instead work together to create a better, safer, and a happier future. Speaking to the PA news agency after the event, the Commons Speaker said: This event was absolutely important to me. Holocaust (Memorial) Day, and remembering, bringing the House together, whether its staff (that) work for the House, whether its MPs, peers, journalists, we all came as one. And that was so important. We stood shoulder to shoulder. We are calling out hatred, racism, intolerance, because we believe that we shouldnt forget six million lives that were persecuted, taken away by the Nazis, right through to Darfur. Fort Hood, TX (76544) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Online Access for Print Subscribers. Do you have a print subscription with the Argus-Press? If yes, then click here to enjoy complimentary access to our Online Content! YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. There is no final decision yet about the participation of Armenias Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Vice Speaker of Parliament Ruben Rubinyan, who is Armenias special envoy for the dialogue process with Turkey, to the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, Chairman of the Armenian parliamentary standing committee on foreign affairs Eduard Aghajanyan said at a briefing today. When asked to comment on the statement of Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu that Ararat Mirzoyan and Ruben Rubinayn will attend the Antalya Diplomacy Forum in March this year, Mr Aghajanyan said: As of this moment there is no final decision about the participation. Earlier Turkish FM Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Armenia is also invited to take part in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, scheduled on March 11-13, 2022. The forum is attended by foreign ministers. During a recent press conference, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said there is high probability that Armenia will accept the invitation to attend that Forum, but he added that everything depends on the situation of that moment. One now has to see the move to instal the statue of Subhas Chandra Bose in the vacant canopy on Rajpath as another act of misappropriation Soon after Narendra Modi became Indias Prime Minister, construction began on building a colossal statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Indias first home minister and deputy prime minister, on an inland island called Sadhu Bet facing the Narmada Dam. It cost about Rs 3,000 crores and stands 182 meters (597 feet) tall. This Chinese-made bronze statue is among the tallest in the world. This statue has become a place of political tourism like the Indira Gandhi Memorial in New Delhi. But beyond tourist commerce there is another reason driving this project. It is to give the RSS, and the wider Sangh Parivar, a genealogy that it doesnt have. One now has to see the move to instal the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in the vacant canopy on Rajpath as just another act of misappropriation. There can be no doubt that Netaji was a great hero of his times. But in the pantheon of the heroes of the freedom movement he is not the primus inter pares, the first among equals. That place must undoubtedly belong to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who became the unchallenged leader of the nationalist movement. Now the question, if Bose, why not Bhagat Singh or Chandrashekhar Azad, or for that matter even V.D. Savarkar, whose contributions to our nationalist history cannot be considered any less? But Bose suits the recent nationalists because of his perceived rivalry with Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhis opposition to him and his militaristic tendencies. So, he will adorn Rajpath in his Nazi-style tunic, breeches and jackboots, all accouterments that will appeal to their mentality. Manufactured genealogy is recurring feature of our history. Pre-Islamic invaders from Central Asia like the Hepthalites (White Huns) and Ahir Gatae from the region extending from Bactria to present day Xinjiang conquered a good part of northern India and established kingdoms. The greatest of these invaders was Kanishka, whose realm stretched from Turfan in the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang to Pataliputra on the Gangetic Plain. Kanishka was of Turushka or Turkestani origin. These new rulers, some of whom were Buddhists, were quickly absorbed into Hindu society and were made Agnikula Rajputs (family of the fire god), others got more extravagant genealogies deriving from the sun and moon, hence the Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi Rajputs. In this manner, the integrity of the Brahminical Varna system was preserved. This concoction of genealogies is a continuing pattern of all those who usurp power by stirring up sectarian and communal passions, like the Nazis. Nazi theologists gave the Germans an elaborate genealogy of descent from the Aryans, with blond, blue-eyed and Nordic looks. But like unschooled genealogists, they got the Aryan swastika wrong, which is just the mirror opposite in the Nazi depiction. The ultra-nationalist RSS is still in search of a genealogy that will connect it to the nationalist movement that won India its freedom. The truth is that the contemporary writings and speeches of RSS leaders have a very different story to tell. These leaders showed little enthusiasm for the anti-British struggle. Though the founder of the RSS, B.R. Hedgewar, had an early association with the Congress and other nationalist movements like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azads Hindustan Republican Association, he left it all behind to found the RSS. He also stopped his followers from the nationalist path. In fact, a later sarsanghchalak, B.R. Deoras, wrote approvingly of how Dr Hedgewar saved him and others from the path of Bhagat Singh and his comrades. With the death of Dr Hedgewar in 1940, the RSS lost all interest in freedom. Its new leader, M.S. Golwalkar, drew inspiration from Adolf Hitlers ideology of race purity. Paradoxically, Golwalkar also admired the Jews for maintaining their religion, culture and language. Golwalkars focus was on religion, racial purity and exclusion. Freedom was to be left to lesser mortals like Gandhiji and his Congress. He wanted the RSS to be involved only in routine work. In the words of Golwalkar: There is another reason for the need of always remaining involved in routine work. There is some unrest in the mind due to the situation developing in the country from time to time. There was such unrest in 1942. This was the time when the Muslim League was asserting itself. Golwalkar wanted the fight against the Muslim League to be above that with the British. Golwalkars point was crystal clear. Dharam (religion) came before Dharma (duty). The BJP leadership is now very keen to project the RSS as a component of the freedom struggle. The BJP finds it embarrassing that the RSS -- to which the top leadership as well as the overwhelming majority of the cadre of the BJP belong -- was not a part of the freedom movement. They cant get away from the historical fact that the freedom struggle led by Gandhiji was the anvil upon which our nationhood has been forged. The RSS lacks the courage and honesty to categorically state that it did not participate in the freedom struggle because its ideology prevented it from doing so. There is the well-known concocted story of how the RSS tried to lionise Atal Behari Vajpayees role in the 1942 movement. This ended up in a huge fiasco when it was discovered that Vajpayee had actually made a confessional statement disassociating himself from the event at his hometown Bateshwar. In this confession, he wrote: Ten or twelve persons were in the Forest Office. I was at a distance of 100 yards. I did not render any assistance in demolishing the government building. Thereafter, we went to our respective homes. Clearly, this was leading nowhere. Hence, the RSS is trying to attach themselves to the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, to get a leg into the nationalist movement. They forget that it was Sardar Patel who had banned the RSS after learning that its workers were distributing sweets to celebrate Gandhijis assassination. Both Lal Krishna Advani and Narendra Modi have tried to create an apparent fissure between Nehru and Patel. They seem to be confused between dissent and dissidence. Dissent is a genuine difference of opinion, and there were many between Nehru and Patel, as should be between two independent-minded individuals. Dissidence is a result of competing ambitions. This is just part of their effort to latch onto the Congress story. Now the RSS is trying to also make Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose its own. In this modern version of the RSS history, it tries to give itself an indirect lineage deriving from Sardar Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose. Iranian-Canadian journalist and activist Maziar Bahari authored the book. Jailed for reporting on the 2009 protests following the election of Ahmadinejad, Bahari undertook the Anne Frank project by teaming up with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Another major figure is Abdol-Hossein Sardari, the Iranian consul in Paris who helped Jews. Jerusalem (AsiaNews) Iranian-Canadian journalist and activist Maziar Bahari published a Persian translation of the graphic novel dedicated to Anne Frank to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is celebrated today, 27 January, to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. I grew up in Iran in the 1960s, to a politically conscious family. I left and wasnt indoctrinated, he told Haaretz. At the same time, he is well aware of the challenges of trying to educate the citizens of the Islamic Republic about the genocide of Jews by Nazi Germany in World War II. Jailed in 2009 for reporting the protests that followed the election of ultra-right-wing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, his experience became the basis for Jon Stewart's 2014 film Rosewater. Having decided to undertake work on remembrance and raising awareness, he had the idea of translating one of the foremost books about the Holocaust into his native language, a project made possible by teaming up with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The outcome was todays release of the authorised graphic novel in Persian about Anne Frank, as part of the Sardari Project, which aims to make Holocaust education accessible to young Iranians in Iran and the diaspora. For Bahari, part of the problem is that most Iranians in the diaspora, even if they know basic English, have a hard time grasping complex issues like the Holocaust. So, they have to resort to their own language: Urdu, Bengali, Arabic Persian, where the content is rife with antisemitism. New York University historian Arash Azizi was a consultant on the project. He notes that whilst the school curriculum for 12th graders in Iran covers World War II, including the Nazi regime, Hitler and the allied victory, there is not a single word about Jews or the Holocaust. When we launched the project, we were surprised to learn that Iranians wanted to know more details, to learn about the different phases from the rise of the Nazis to the concentration camps to postwar Europe. So, we created a series of articles, a Holocaust encyclopedia, webinars, and create videos for social media, Bahari explained. Being exposed to this content strengthens a skill of critical thinking, which hopefully will help everyday Iranians come out of that shell of misinformation and suppression the Iranian government built for a very long time. An important figure for such remembrance is Abdol-Hossein Sardari. Known as the Schindler of Iran, he served as Iranian consul in Paris during the German occupation of France during which he saved about 2,000 Iranian Jews who were in the country at that time. He wrote to the Germans that the Persian king, Cyrus the Great, freed the Jews of Babylon in 538 BCE, allowing them to return home. Later, fascinated by Moses as a prophet, some Iranians gave birth to the Djuguten, who had nothing to do with the Jewish race. That is why Iranian Jews were Aryan. After getting a letter from Adolf Eichmann that dismissed his claim as one of the usual Jewish deceptions, Sardari managed to hand out a thousand passports and saved as many people from the Holocaust. When Khomeini came to power in the 1979 revolution, he lost his pension and assets in Iran. He died impoverished in London in 1981 where he had moved after retirement. K. V. Rabiya, a Muslim woman, is one of this years recipients of the Padma Shri, an honour conferred on Republic Day. Despite polio and many other health issues, she set up an adult literacy association working in various villages. For her, education serves its purpose only if you impart the same to others and empower them. New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies) K. V. Rabiya, an Indian Muslim woman is one of this years recipients of the Padma Shri, one of Indias highest civilian awards, officially conferred on the countrys Republic Day. In her life she had to deal with polio, cancer and a broken back but this hasn't stopped her work to improve literacy among the poor in rural Kerala. Born in 1966 in a village near Tirurangadi, Malappuram district, Rabiya found herself in a wheelchair at the age of 14 due to polio. Nevertheless, she launched a campaign for adult literacy in her village in June 1990; her grandmother was one of her pupils. In a few years, that experience led to the creation of Chalanam (movement), which Rabiya chairs. The association runs six schools for disabled children, and has undertaken a number of initiatives to empower women, develop programmes and build facilities in poorest areas. Rabiya did not stop even when, in 2000, at the age of 34, she found herself fighting cancer. She underwent chemotherapy giving hope to other patients. Once healed, she performed the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Makkah, in 2002. In 2004 she faced another major test, when she broke her back, further reducing her ability to move. Despite being bedridden, she wrote her autobiography, Swapnangalkku Chirakukalundu (Dreams have wings), published in 2009. God is great, she said when she was told that she had been awarded the Padma Shri. The country has recognised my work and honoured me. Getting knowledge is foremost and imparting this to others is equally important, she added. I feel education serves its purpose only if you impart the same to others and empower them. by Emanuele Scimia Beijing officially supports Russian security demands. However, Beijing needs a stable Europe for its own economy. Kiev is a Chinese partner in the Belt and Road Initiative. A Russian-Ukrainian conflict would test the strategic partnership between the Chinese giant and the Kremlin. Rome (AsiaNews) - A Russian invasion of Ukraine is a crisis that China would gladly do without. The Chinese government has asked the United States to respect Russia's demands for security along the eastern European border. Yet fundamentally, Beijing would prefer not to have to take any sides in a far off conflict that it is not directly involved in. A competing Chinese attack on Taiwan in order to occupy the US on two fronts, as some observers insinuate, can also be ruled out. If possible Russian and Chinese coups are seen as a test for the U.S and its allies in Europe, a Russian-Ukrainian confrontation would also test the "quasi-alliance" between Beijing and Moscow. China and Russia have recently intensified political, economic and military cooperation to counterbalance pressure from the US and its allies. In a new sign of rapprochement, the two sides reached an agreement in principle on 25 January to coordinate their respective Asia policies. However, China did not recognise the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, like the Kremlin's support for the Russian-speaking separatist republics of Ukraine's Donbass. It would be contradictory for the Chinese leadership to support actions of territorial "piracy", even if by a strategic partner. Beijing has as a pillar of its national security the fight against separatism and independence, whether in Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong or Inner Mongolia. Ukraine is also a Chinese partner in the Belt and Road Initiative, the global infrastructure plan launched in 2013 by Xi Jinping to increase his country's commercial (and therefore geopolitical) centrality. China needs to find an alternative route to the northern one of the "new Silk Roads", which passes through Russia, Belarus and the Baltic States. The political clash between the EU and Minsk makes this route unattractive at the moment, as does the ongoing dispute between Beijing and Lithuania over Taiwan. In this regard, a direct train connecting China and Ukraine via Mongolia and Russia has been running since June. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would like to turn his country into a "bridge" for investment and trade between the Chinese giant and Europe. However, the Ukrainian route can only become important for the Belt and Road if Kiev improves its infrastructure, for which the Chinese have invested billion a year between 2019 and 2021. Behind official criticism of NATO and declarations of understanding for Russian security demands, the Chinese actually want stability for their business, and certainly not a Europe inflamed and upset by Moscow's incursions into Ukraine. This calculation outweighs even the hypothetical benefits of having Washington engaged in Europe and forced to lighten its military presence in East Asia. Beijing will continue to call for a diplomatic solution to the crisis, even though it seems unlikely to want to make direct attempts to "cool off" Vladimir Putin's tempers. Excluding military (and perhaps political) support, with a Russian invasion of Ukraine China will have to decide whether to cover Moscow's back at least economically. As Chris Miller of the Foreign Policy Research Institute notes, in the event of harsh Western sanctions on the Russians, Beijing will be forced to take a stand, given its economic ties with Russia. If China adheres to Western sanctions fearing repercussions for its economy, Miller notes, it will prove to be dependent on the US economic and financial system and an unreliable partner for Russia. In the event of Chinese economic support for the Russians, on the other hand, there could be a widening of the confrontation, with the United States ready to indirectly sanction Chinese entities that help the Russians. There is speculation that Putin will not move before the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics (20 February): to do otherwise would be unwelcome by Xi Jinping. This is history repeating itself: at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summer Olympics, on 8 August 2008, war broke out between Russia and Georgia. This is yet another attempt by the army to suppress civil resistance by limiting the use of individual private networks. Clashes continue, but China has called for a halt to border operations during the Olympics. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has condemned the latest bombings, but only because he wants Myanmar to participate in the upcoming Asean summits. Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) - Anyone using a VPN, an individual private network that guarantees a secure and untraceable connection to the Internet, will be imprisoned under a draft law. The bill drawn up in recent days by the State Administrative Council - the name given to the Burmese junta - aims to crack down on the anti-coup resistance that has been opposing the military for almost a year now. Since the February 1, 2021 coup, the army has reduced (if not completely prevented) access to social media; last month the internet fee was doubled. According to The Irrawaddy, the draft law, which is expected to come into force tomorrow and also ban the exchange of cryptocurrencies, would give the Tatmadaw (the Burmese army) the ability to access user data, restrict internet provision and intercept and imprison critics of the regime. A former deputy of the National League for Democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi's party, said that "incriminating those who use a VPN would be tantamount to imprisoning the whole country". In the meantime, the People's Defence Forces, the armed wing of the government of national unity in exile, and ethnic militias opposed to the coup clashed with the army on a daily basis. Since 7th January, the Tatmadaw has been bombing Kayah State, particularly the cities of Loikaw and Demoso, generating a new wave of displaced people, which the most optimistic estimates put at 60,000. Last week, army troops razed an entire village in the central region of Magway to the ground. According to local residents, soldiers entered the town of Sann-myo and started shooting at people. They then set fire to at least a hundred houses. Radio Free Asia (Rfa) published satellite photos of the village after the attack on 18 January and compared them with images taken two years earlier, showing that the central part of the town had been completely destroyed, while a few charred houses remained standing at the edge of the fields surrounding the village. In the north, on the other hand, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the political wing of the Kachin Liberation Army, issued a statement declaring that the fighting had been suspended at Beijing's request. The Kachin borders China, which does not want disturbances along the border during the Winter Olympics and Lunar New Year celebrations. China's peace envoy to Myanmar has contacted the ethnic militias fighting on the border and asked them to hold off on clashes, although fighting has not been particularly intense in the northern regions since the beginning of the year. After visiting Myanmar on 7 and 8 January, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen called on Burmese General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the military junta, urging him to uphold the agreements signed with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Cambodia holds the rotating presidency. Hun Sen, the first head of state to fly to Myanmar after the coup, would like to invite the general to the organisation's next summit, but has met with opposition from all the other members. According to joint statements issued yesterday, Naypyidaw and Phnom Penh will commit to implementing the five-point treaty signed in April last year by Myanmar to reduce violence and resume a democratic path. However, international observers doubt that Min Aung Hlaing intends to keep his promises to Asean: it is much more likely that the political crisis will continue and result in further bloodshed. "Hun Sen wanted to restore his reputation after being criticised for his recent trip to Myanmar, which was seen as a waste of time," analyst Em Sovannara told Rfa. PHEV MPGe Stellantis is making sure its pride and joy Jeep brand continues to make strides along the road towards sustainability. Their Grand Cherokee 4xe breaks new ground with 4xe electrification technology. It allegedly offers eager customers the greenest Grand Cherokee yet with no compromises towards capability. And now we know how much it will cost and when manufacturing will (finally) kick-off.Production has been slated at the new Detroit Assembly Complex Mack plant, and the first units will reach nationwide dealerships this coming spring. It has been quite a long and arduous wait since we first caught the sunshine glimpse of the electrified version back in July of 2021. As for the starting MSRPs, there is some good news. Jeep has decided the base Grand Cherokee 4xe should arrive below the $60k mark. It kicks off at $57,700 and still does not go above the threshold even when adding the $1,795 destination charge (all prices exclude it). Next up on the plug-in hybrid electrified ladder is Trailhawk 4xe at $62,485. And an Overland 4xe will go for at least $65,760, while the Summit 4xe reaches $69,820. There is also a singular package, dubbed Summit Reserve 4xe. It goes for the absolute high of $74,300.No worries, though, even the unnamed base trim comes with a standard Quadra-Trac II 4x4 system. Meanwhile, thepowertrain offers 25 miles (40 km) of electric range, as well as a rating of 56. Jeep also promises an all-new architecture, two legendary Jeep 4x4 systems, world-class interior, the most advanced, high-tech safety and security features in its class and segment-leading advanced technologies.As for the facts and figures, we have a few more highlights. The PHEV powertrain churns out a combined total of 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft (637 Nm) of twisting torque. And that should be more than enough for a maximum towing capability of up to 6,000 lb. (2,720 kg). Which is great for sustainable adventurers, right? kW Recently spied testing on public roads with lots of camouflage for good measure, the Grand Wagoneer L is expected to launch for the 2023 model year. Based on the carparazzis photos and the regular-wheelbase variant, pixel wizard SRK Design used Photoshop to preview the new behemoth.Additional cargo room and third-row legroom will help the Grand Wagoneer L compete on equal footing with the V6-only Lincoln and the V8- or diesel-engined Cadillac. Speaking of powertrain options, the Wagoneer twins feature a mild-hybrid HEMI with 5.7 liters of displacement and the 6.4-liter HEMI gas guzzler that Jeep dubs 392 in the Wrangler Rubicon 392.Both are connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission marketed under the TorqueFlite moniker, although Stellantis makes this cog swapper under license from ZF Friedrichshafen. Arguably the most versatile automatic of the modern era, the 8HP dates back to the BMW F01/F02.This year, the German transmission specialist will introduce the fourth-generation 8HP with loads of electrification options. The most powerful of the lot incorporates an electric motor with a continuous output of 80(107 horsepower) and a maximum output of 160 kW (215 horsepower). Maximum torque is rated at 450 Nm, which translates to 332 pound-feet.It remains to be seen if the fourth-gen 8HP will be available in the Wagoneer. On the other hand, we do know that Stellantis is readying a turbocharged straight-six engine for the Wagoneer: the 3.0-liter Tornado Other nameplates that will receive the force-fed sixer include the Jeep Wrangler, Gladiator pickup, Grand Cherokee, and Ram 1500 half-ton workhorse. If we're lucky, Stellantis will offer more details on the 3.0-liter powerplant by the end of 2022 for the 2023 model year. On a scale of one to legitimately bonkers, the Ducati Desmosedici RR breaks the scale. Editor's note: This article was not sponsored or supported by a third-party. click to load Disqus comments for this story This enables Disqus, Inc. to process some of your data. An air carrier successfully landed a Boeing 737 MAX 8 in Antarctica for the first time. The aircraft arrived yesterday at the Troll Research Station located about 146 miles (235 km) from the coast, in the eastern part of Princess Martha Coast, in Queen Maud Land. The passengers were members of the Norwegian Polar Institute, heading back to their base since the Troll Research Station is run by the Institute.Smartwings Boeing 737 MAX departed from Oslo, Norway, had a stopover in the capital of Chad, then arrived in Antarctica after a six-hour flight. This challenging flight required the experience of three seasoned captains and many months of preparations. The runway that had to be conquered is built on a glacier at an impressive altitude of 4,000 feet (1,232 meters). Its over 9,800-foot-long (3,000 meters), used for both takeoff and landing.In addition to special training for the flight crew, this type of landing also requires very specific measurements for safety reasons. Prior to the Boeing 737 getting there, the ice thickness was measured, and the weather was monitored for five days. Smartwings technical department in Prague also kept an eye on the aircrafts technical condition throughout the entire flight via an automated data link. Plus, the companys air traffic control monitored the weather and the airstrip, keeping in touch with the crew at all times.Since its the only landing option in the area , the Troll Airfield is prepared with all the required equipment, customized approach charts, and firefighting services.Last year, an Airbus A340 operated by Hi Fly was the first Airbus aircraft to accomplish this difficult landing.Smartwings Boeing 737 MAX 8 is 129.5-foot-long (39.5 meters), boasting a maximum speed of Mach 0,82 and a range of 4,000 miles (6,584 km). One of the most important sections concerns the AirTag, the companys own GPS tracker that was originally designed to help customers track their belongings, like wallets and car keys.However, the AirTag ended up being used for all kinds of nefarious intents, including stalking and stealing cars . Criminals are therefore using Apples GPS tracker to monitor their victims by hiding the device in spots where it can barely be noticed, such as behind the license plate of a car.While the AirTag does issue warnings that someone might be tracking you, not everybody knows what these notifications mean and how exactly they work.And this is why Apple has come up with this guide, trying to offer additional information that would hopefully help the fight against AirTag stalkers and car thieves.If you see this message on your device, an AirTag or other Find My accessory that has been separated from the person who registered it is traveling with you, and the owner might be able to see its location. Its possible that the AirTag might be attached to an item you are borrowing, Apple says about the warnings that could show up out of nowhere on an iPhone or an Android device running a dedicated GPS tracking detector app.The iPhone maker emphasizes that users who feel at risk can always contact the police and ask for help, as law enforcement can reach out to the company and find out who might be tracking them. The only thing it needs is the AirTag serial number or the device itself, as this should help Apple determine the owner and the person who configured it prior to the tracking. An Italian entrepreneur who lives in Frankfurt is planning to bring not only the brand back to life but also the V16T. Antonio Mandelli imports luxury Italian cars to Germany. He would have told a group of enthusiasts that the prototype for the new Cizeta is already running and even showed them the image above.To create the second-generation V16T, Mandelli would have asked Gandini for endorsement before officially announcing the project. That implies that the famous designer did not participate in the project this time. Considering what Gandini said about the new Lamborghini Countach, asking for his blessing is a wise move, even if he would probably argue that the new Cizeta should be an entirely new car.Mandelli has other plans. According to Carsales.com.au, he wants to use a revised version of the original V16 that powered the original car, which shows some reverence and nostalgia involved in the process. With four turbochargers, the mill used to deliver 540 hp, enough to make it accelerate from 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) in around 4.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 328 kph (204 mph).A quad-turbo 6-liter V16 engine with modern technology and materials would easily beat 1,000 hp. Another improvement to the original car is that it does not have a tubular frame. Instead, the new Cizeta V16T will use a carbon-fiber structure.After our colleagues at Carsales.com.au broke the news, we will try to contact Mandelli and Gandini to learn more about the new plans for Cizeta. If everything goes as planned, the V16T may be only the first step for this brand to have the success it did not enjoy when Claudio Zampolli created it. RTHK: Ukraine welcomes February talks with Russia Ukraine on Thursday welcomed Russia's plans to continue talks in early February as "good news" and a sign that Moscow was intent on finding a diplomatic solution to the current crisis. Global concerns are growing over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, as tens of thousands of Russian troops have been stationed at the border in recent weeks. Senior Russian and Ukrainian officials met on Wednesday in Paris with representatives of France and Germany. "The good news is that advisors agreed to meet in Berlin in two weeks, which means that at least for the next two weeks, Russia is likely to remain on a diplomatic track," Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in Copenhagen after talks with his Danish counterpart. He noted that while there were "no big changes" after Wednesday's meeting, "the agreement to continue discussions is good". Nonetheless, he called for the West to strengthen its military and defence cooperation with Kyiv. "While I am a big fan of soft power, I'm afraid that this is really the time for hard power to be used". "A strong Ukraine is the best deterrence measure in itself". He also commended the US administration for "consulting with us before they speak with the Russians". But he recalled that Kyiv "will not allow anyone, even our friends, to impose any concessions on us" and insisted it was up to Russia to make concessions. Meanwhile, Denmark on Thursday announced an aid package of 550 million kroner (US$83 million) for Ukraine between 2022 and 2026. "Every country can do something if it has political will. And when it doesn't, it finds excuses to do nothing", Kuleba said in a thinly-veiled swipe at Germany, which has refused to provide weapons to Ukraine. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2022-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. China, Netherlands pledge to enhance cooperation Xinhua) 10:09, January 27, 2022 Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday that China stands ready to work with the Netherlands to enhance political mutual trust, advance practical cooperation, strengthen bonds between the people, and push for new progress in their relations. Li made the remarks during a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte via video link. Li once again congratulated Rutte on his reelection as Dutch prime minister. Noting that the Netherlands is an important cooperative partner of China in Europe, Li said China attaches great importance to developing relations with the Netherlands. China is ready to take the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to work with the Netherlands to bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples, Li said. Pointing out that both China and the Netherlands are committed to multilateralism and free trade, Li said China firmly upholds its opening-up policy and is committed to creating a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment for all Chinese and foreign enterprises registered in China. Li said China supports the establishment of a China-Netherlands business council as a new platform for business exchanges and cooperation between enterprises of the two countries. He said China is willing to deepen cooperation with the Netherlands in the fields of climate change, science and technology, modern agriculture and other areas. "We welcome more high-quality Dutch agricultural products to enter the Chinese market," he added. Li stressed that China and the EU share broad common interests. The two sides should adhere to dialogue and cooperation, respect each other, treat each other as equals, properly handle disputes and differences, and work for the sound and steady development of China-EU relations. Li expressed hope that the Netherlands, as an important member of the EU, will play a constructive role in promoting China-EU relations and cooperation. For his part, Rutte said that the Netherlands and China have carried out constructive cooperation in various fields and there has been sound momentum in the development of bilateral ties. The Dutch side hopes to deepen exchanges and cooperation in areas including culture, economy, trade, agriculture and the circular economy, said Rutte, adding that the country believes that China will host a successful Winter Olympic Games. The EU and China need to step up dialogue and cooperation, properly handle differences and jointly respond to global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, Rutte said. The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Bin) Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte via video link in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Ding Lin) (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) The facility itself is operated jointly by Mazda and Toyota it's called Mazda Toyota Manufacturing (MTM) - and began operations back in September of last year, targeting a total of 300,000 vehicles annually. Up to 150,000 units are expected to be manufactured each year for both Toyota and Mazda.This is an exciting day for both MTM team members and MNAO employees to celebrate the first CX-50 to roll off the Discovery Line at MTM, said Toyota, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) president and CEO, Jeff Guyton.The production of the CX-50 here signifies the importance of the North American market to Mazda and our commitment to investing in the U.S.All 2023 CX-50 models will come standard with the latest I-Activ All-Wheel Drive technology, as well as Mazda Intelligent Drive Select, or Mi-Drive. At launch, the CX-50 will be available with either a Skyactiv-G 2.5-liter naturally aspirated engine or the Skyactiv-G 2.5 Turbo, mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox rest assured that electrified powertrains are coming (in the following years), including a traditional hybrid model.As for the interior, Mazda considers it to be well-crafted, featuring a driver-focused layout. It also offers Mazdas first-ever panoramic moonroof and a cargo area designed to help support and enable outdoor activities. Meanwhile, the high strength roof rails and reinforced B-pillars and door jambs help when it comes to securing equipment on the roof of the new crossover.The 2023 Mazda CX-50 will be available this spring, with various pre-production trim and accessories shown in the press release expected to be made available later this year. Were curious to see how well it will be received in comparison to the well-established CX-5 and CX-9 For starters, the body-on-frame sport utility vehicle based on the T6.2 platform of the all-new Ranger is rocking boxy widebody fenders that accommodate a set of gargantuan tires. Nokian Hakkapeliitta 44-inch rubber boots come to mind, weighing in at 70 kilograms (154 pounds) per corner. The Hakkapeliitta features a supported center rib and enforced shoulder blocks, an 18-mm tread depth, and no fewer than 172 stud holes.These massive tires, which measure 475/70 by 17 inches, can handle up to 2.4 bars (34.8 pounds per square inch). The Finnish tire manufacturer and Iceland-based Arctic Trucks collaborate since eons ago, and as far as Ford products are concerned, they did modify an F-150 with 44s two years ago.I really like the color scheme Ford has with their new Raptor offerings, writes the Photoshop expert. So I carried it over here, although inverted.Pictured with a 44-inch spare tire out back and a winch up front, the Arctic Trucks-inspired Bronco rendering would be complete with a set of beefy portal axles instead of the bone-stock independent front suspension and Dana 44 AdvanTEK M220 solid axle out back. The Mercedes-Benz Unimog , Hummer H1, and the AM General HMMWV all feature portal-type axles.The pros of portal axles are ground clearance, gearing, and strength. But nevertheless, there are many cons to speak of, starting with the relatively high price. Lubrication is another issue, the complex hub assemblies may overheat at speed, you need robust axle control elements, and most importantly, more moving parts equals more things that may fail. SUV The Granger 3600LX is the in-game replica of the eleventh generation Chevrolet Suburban . There are very few differences between the two cars, but if youre looking for these, check out the headlights, the grille, and the side trims, which are taken from other cars.But this weeks GTA Online update is not just about the four-doors. Rockstar announced that players who finish The Contract expansion by completing the Finale mission will receive 2x GTA$ and RP, plus the Low Santos Fitter Cap as a commemorative souvenir. The cap will be delivered to eligible players by February 10.Bike fans will be happy to know that this weeks update brings important bonuses for biker-related activities. For example, Motorcycle Club Presidents can earn 2x GTA$ and RP on MC Club Work, as well as Weed and Document Forgery Sell Missions through February 2. On top of that, players who win any Bike Race throughout the next week will earn 3x GTA$ and RP.This weeks free item is the Nagasaki White Hoodie. The clothing item will be awarded to players who enlist their services this week as an Associate or Bodyguard to the executives of Los Santos or join up as a Motorcycle Club Prospect.LS Car Meet members who place in the Top 3 in the LS Car Meet Series for three days in a row will be awarded the Karin Previon. There will be a lot of action available at the Test Track, too, as players can now give the trio of the Pfister Growler, Dinka Jester RR, and Annis Euros a preliminary spin.Last but not least, this weeks top prize at the Lucky Wheel is the Progen T20, a hybrid hypercar that screams SPEED! More specifically, the navigation app can no longer run in the picture-in-picture mode on Android devices, and users posting here on Googles forums claim the whole thing started taking place after updating devices to Android 12 The PiP mode comes in handy to users because it allows them to run an app in a smaller window while also interacting with another app in a separate window. The PiP mode is great for apps like Google Maps and YouTube, though on the other hand, its obviously supported by many other solutions out there.Someone on Googles forums claims Android 12 actually breaks down the PiP mode for more apps than just Google Maps, as the feature appears to be missing for both Netflix and YouTube as well.The typical workarounds that the impacted users have turned to dont seem to make any difference. These generic fixes include restarting the phone, clearing the cache, and even removing Google Maps Given the problem is happening at the OS level, theres not much you can do, other than going back to the previous version of Android. Of course, this isnt exactly the most convenient solution, and its not something that the Average Joe can do easily anyway.At this point, Google is yet to acknowledge the problem, so nobody knows for sure how many people are affected and when we should expect a fix.Unfortunately, without a known workaround, users have no other option than to just wait for Google to release a fix. In case youre wondering, the January update shipped a few weeks ago doesnt bring any improvement on this front, so fingers crossed for the February release to include a patch.The next update should receive the go-ahead in just a few days. SUV EV Let us assume that everyone even across the Americas has heard at least of the Duster moniker, if not the Dacia brand itself. The no-frills compacthas two generations under its belt and more than a decade worth of demonstrating its value. Both as a sensible buy, as well as a cool little off-roader.Now, in between adventures and the worlds first mud wash , it is only logical to assume that Dacia is diligently thinking about the development of a new generation. One that should arrive sometime next year or at the latest in 2024. And then traditionally morph into Renault Duster (Orochs included) and Nissan Terrano counterparts.For example, in Russia , the French parent has taken the Duster nameplate for itself. So, logically, local virtual artist Nikita Chuicko, better known as kelsonik on social media, has decided to mash up a new generation Duster using various digital DNA. And gives it a Renault logo, of course. Not just because its the right unofficial OEM thing to do, but also to make both Dacia and Nissan a little envious.After all, his latest digital creation takes the best of three worlds. Presumably, the next-generation Duster will continue to have certain Nissan 4x4 traits, while the artist also mashed two very recent Dacia and Renault projects. One would be the Romanian companys Bigster concept given the front bumper treatment and the adapted side elements.The other is the stylishly sustainable Renault Megane E-Tech Electric. Given the affordable nature of the Duster series, its not hard to imagine that a battery-electric powertrain swap was not really considered. Alas, obvious front and rear lights inspiration should suffice. Hopefully, when the third-generation Duster does come out, there will be one area where the Frenchwould be copied: the interior! EV SUV Although it is easy to multiply low numbers, Bloomberg states that the ramp-up has been well received by the market. It was seen as a good sign that the automotive startup is dealing with the components shortage despite being such a young company. After all, it may have just started delivering its cars, but it has very ambitious plans.Apart from the Normal plant in Illinois, Rivian announced on December 16, 2021, that it would build a new factory close to Atlanta, Georgia. When this factory codenamed Project Tera is finished by 2024, it will produce 400,000 vehicles per year. The company should make a new vehicle there, leaving the R1T and the R1S for its factory in Illinois.It is not clear yet which newRivian will produce there, but the company has a wide variety of trademarked names to choose from: R3T, R3S, R4T, R4S, R5T, R5S, R2A, R2C, R2R, R1A, R1V, and R2X. We have no idea what A, C, R, V, and X stand for. T is for truck and S, forAccording to Bloomberg , Rivian has a separate assembly line for its Amazon delivery vans in Normal. The companys goal is to deliver 10,000 units this year. To meet the 100,000-unit goal by the end of the decade, production would have to be at 12,500 units per year. Again, the supply chain crisis may prevent Rivian from achieving that goal in 2022. Expect that for 2023 or as soon as possible. Rivian is yet to disclose where it plans to build its European factory. The UK, Germany, and the Netherlands are trying to attract the company as you read this. It is not clear yet how big this plant will be nor which products it plans to manufacture. We just know that the startup has enough money to make that happen as soon as negotiations end. His newest home is a prime example of that. Its not technically new in the sense that hes just acquired it, but rather because he only moved in it recently, after more than 15 years from when he bought the land on which it sits. Described as a space age gas station by local farmers, the property is located on top of a hill in Ipsden, Oxfordshire, and is just the kind of house youd expect a true petrolhead to own.Its controversial, too. British tabloid the Daily Mail says that Atkinson only moved into the house recently, even though it was completed in 2017 the same year it won a Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Regional Award. It took the star more than a decade to get approval and to finalize construction on the designs by American architect Richard Meier, one of the last working modernists.The issue boiled down to the modernist aspect of the house, which is in stark contrast to the country manors or houses in the quaint village. The fact that it replaced a 1930s construction known as Handsmooth House, which Atkinson had buldozered in ordered to build his dream house , also contributed with the locals ill-will toward the project.The estate now comprises two separate buildings, the main house and a self-contained guest house. The three-story house offers 837 square meters (9,009 square feet) of living space, while the guest house is 141 square meters (1,518 square feet). Exact details on either building have not been made public, since this is private property and a privately-funded construction, but Meier did talk to Dezeen about it in 2019, when he described it as a piece of livable art.Our primary site goal is always to create a strong sense of place, by enhancing or transforming the existing site in a unique and provocative way, he explained, partly addressing controversy that the mansion stuck out from the local landscape like a sore thumb. The site is open landscape and the way the house is organized and situated would be like many English manor houses. So the siting and the context is related to the English manor houses of the past.In reality, there is nothing evocative of the past in this all-white, futuristic, concrete-and-glass construction. The Mail claims Atkinson spent some $6.7 million to build and furnish it, in addition to the $3.3 million he paid for the land in 2006. For this money, he got an airy, visually striking home that would fit right in in the Mediterranean landscape with its vast open spaces, bright-lit rooms, and neutral-colored finishes.The same tab notes that the estate comes with a secret, probably underground garage, which should come as a surprise only to those who dont know anything of Atkinsons passion for cars . Unlike most celebrities, Atkinson doesnt like garage queens , but he still has to have a place to store at least some of the entries in his reported $13.4 million collection.Said collection included, at various points in time, a 1986 Aston Martin V8 Zagato, a 1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, a 2014 Bentley Birkin Mulsanne edition, a very rare McLaren F1 he crashed twice before selling it for $10 million through a private dealership, a 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint, a BMW 328, a 1989 Lancia Delta HF Integrale, and a Lancia Thema 8.32.Famously, Atkinson once said hed never owned a Porsche, because somehow the typical Porsche people and I wish them no ill are not, I feel, my kind of people. Just in case you needed something else to get your curiosity about his collection at peak levels.Back to the topic of the mansion, Meier said that the main house was organized according to function : utilities and a gym down below, with the living and socializing areas located on the ground floor. The upper floors are for the five bedrooms with ensuites. The property also comes with an outdoor pool and its own small patch of wooded land. The main house and the guest lodgings are connected by a bridge that arches over the property.Photos in the gallery will offer an approximation of how striking this particular English country manor must be. The global rocket game is gearing up to become more and more interesting. Not only is the UK planning to launch its first rocket in half a century, but Russia is also aiming for a leading position, with its future rocket Amur, which will not only be reusable, but also powered by methane. 6 photos EV Full Self-Driving Elon Musk was a lot less bullish than he used to be on an average earnings call, and the most important thing we learned is that Tesla is freezing everything for now . Forget the Roadster, forget the Cybertruck, and, sadly, forget the affordable compactwe were hoping for. Tesla seems content with the state of affairs right now, expecting to sell a lot more of the already expensive Model Y and pretty much nothing else.Musk blamed the chip shortage for this bleak perspective, but in fact, he wanted to say that Tesla got the taste of the money and a $25,000 car is no longer appealing. The vehicle market is already at a record high and Tesla raised its vehicles prices several times. The Model Y starts now at $60,990 and Tesla is still struggling to fulfill the high demand. Why go for a cheaper vehicle when it already has all the market it can address and then some?Were not currently working on the $25,000 car, Musk said while answering a question regarding a lower-priced Tesla for mainstream consumers. At some point, we will. We have enough on our plate right now. Too much on our plate, frankly.This essentially means there will never be a $25,000 Tesla , just like there was never a $35,000 Tesla Model 3. Elon Musk is famous for his overpromise, underdeliver approach. Ruling out completely the $25,000 car means its dead for good. And hes right on one thing, too: the market is heading in a direction where we will most likely not see a $25,000 vehicle of any kind soon.Elon Musk emphasized during the earnings call that Tesla will continue to focus on the products that are the most profitable. These are the Model Y, thesuite, and, possibly, the Tesla Semi. Tesla will be flooding the market this year with Model Y crossovers coming out of four Gigafactories Fremont, Austin, Shanghai, and Berlin. So, you see, there are few incentives for a cheaper and, no doubt, less profitable car. At only nine, Mompha Junior, on his full name Muhammed Awal Mustapha, is said to be the worlds youngest billionaire. The pre-teen already has had a mansion in his name since he was only six. Since then, he added some supercars and travels the world in a private jet . The kid already has 25k followers on his Instagram account, @momphajnr.One picture on his Instagram shows him in the passengers seat of a Rolls-Royce Wraith . The photo is from almost three years ago, in April 2018, with the caption: Happy Birthday To me +1Since then, he posed with other supercars, like a cream Bentley Flying Spur, which he revealed on social media. That was actually his first car, a present received from his father. One thing is for sure, this is the exception, and not everyones first car was a Bentley.Another post shows him wearing designer clothes in front of a Lamborghini Aventador. We also get to see a yellow Ferrari F8 Tributo in one of his photos.It might have to do with the fact that his father is also a celebrity of sorts. Internet famous, Ismailia Mustapha, known as @Mompha on social media, has 1.1 million followers and doesnt shy away from flaunting a very lavish lifestyle. Mompha Jr has a net worth of approximately $1,204,000 at todays exchange rate (N500 million Nigerian dollars). We're not exactly sure why the Internet is calling him the worlds youngest billionaire, because his net worth doesnt make him a one. But that is still richer than the majority of nine-year-olds.The CEO of a Lagos Bureau De Change bought Mompha Jr his first mansion for his sixth birthday in 2019. He reportedly wrote at the time: Owning your own home is one of the best feelings ever. It cant be described in words, it cant be quantified in money. Of course it can be quantified in money, thats how you pay for it.But, with all the luxury, Mompha Jr's father is currently facing criminal charges of laundering more than 10million. In mid-January, a court heard claims Mompha hid his wealth in luxury watches and other "movable assets. I guess we'll have to see how Mompha Jr. handles his "billionaire" business from now on. 4MATIC Rapper Tyga has a big love for extravagant cars, and his collection shows just that. The California rapper has an estimated net worth of $5 million, and his garage hosts exclusive and expensive models. There you can find a Rolls-Royce Cullinan Black Badge, a Bugatti Veyron, a Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600, a custom Lamborghini Aventador S, and a couple of Ferraris.One of those two Ferraris is a Ferrari LaFerrari in Rosso Corsa (Racing Red), which comes with an estimated price of around $1.4 million, and the Italian manufacturer has only built 499 pieces. The official page of Ferrari Beverly Hills announced he bought one of the models in October 2019, alongside a picture of the rapper in front of the hybrid supercar. The other Ferrari he owns is an 812 Superfast.But Tygas most recent Instagram post shows him posing with a beautiful black Ferrari LaFerrari Aperta , which is the open-top version for the already limited Ferrari model. The Maranello-based manufacturer only created 210 models, and the exclusive ride comes with a cost of approximately $2.1 million before options.Both are hybrids, powered by the company's 6.3-liter V12 engine, which, alongside an electric motor with the HY-KERS system, delivers 950 horsepower (963 ps), and 516 lb-ft (700 Nm) of torque. With these figures, LaFerrari isnt just beautiful, but also very fast, reaching 62 mph (100 kph) from a standstill in only 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 218 mph (351 kph).Considering all weve covered here, theres no proof Tyga actually owns the vehicle. But, its not completely out of the question to believe he might have purchased it in the meantime, and hes flaunting it only now on social media. Although it feels highly unlikely he'd own two extremely limited LaFerraris. However, given his expensive fleet of cars, the LaFerrari Aperta would fit right in. Either way, it makes the perfect background for his cool photo shoot. When a customization enterprise becomes an intercontinental phenomenon, you can be one hundred percent sure theyre not messing around. Over a decade has passed since Hugo Eccles and Adam Kay joined forces to co-found Untitled Motorcycles a reputed firm whose fame stretches from Europe to North America.Hugo goes about his daily business in San Francisco, while Adam is in charge of the companys London-based operations. The bike were featuring today hails from the latter, and it all started with a mildly damaged 2015 MY Triumph Thruxton 900. Kays moto wizards were approached by a client named Victor Douce, who wished to see his two-wheeled companion transformed into a nifty cafe racer with retro flair.Upon arrival at their garage, the donor had broken foot pegs and a nasty dent on its gas tank, so fixing these aspects was the first step of UMs makeover. Next, the guys proceeded to work their magic at the front end, where they installed a CNC-machined triple clamp with built-in Motogadget instrumentation.We also find an LED headlamp and a fresh pair of clip-on handlebars, sporting aftermarket bar-end mirrors, a quick-action throttle and stealthy switches. Adam and his crew decided to retain the Thruxton s stock pipework, but they've wrapped it in a seamless layer of ceramic coating from head to toe.At the rear end, youll be greeted by high-grade Maxton shock absorbers, which grasp a loop-style subframe with integrated LED lighting. The whole shebang is topped with a two-up leather saddle and a removable tail unit thats been painstakingly hand-crafted by Kay himself.For the finishing touches, the original wheels were replaced with 17-inch Kineo substitutes, whose rims are enveloped in ZR-rated Michelin tires. Finally, the Untitled pros dubbed this Thruxton-based showstopper White Deuce , and their overhaul was concluded with a revised wiring harness and a blacked-out color scheme. BERLIN, GERMANY - A Tesla electric car charges at a Tesla charging station on October 05, 2021 in Berlin, Germany. Germany is seeing a strong rise in sales of electric cars, due in part to government-sponsored financial incentives. (Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images) There is just no stopping Tesla right now. Not even supply chain issues can derail Elon Musk's company as Tesla more than tripled its earnings from year-ago results. Tesla recorded adjusted earnings worth $2.9 billion in the final quarter of 2021, a massive jump from the $903 million the company earned during the same period a year earlier. Tesla easily topped Wall Street's expectations for the quarter, with analysts surveyed by Refinitiv earlier forecasting earnings amounting to $2.6 billion. Tesla's fourth-quarter revenue of $17.7 billion was 65 percent higher than its 2020 numbers. The results took Tesla's total revenue in 2021 to $53.8 billion and its full-year earnings to $7.6 billion. Musk made the announcement during Wednesday's conference call with investors. He told investors six months ago that he would not participate in calls anymore unless there was something important he needed to announce. After missing the previous call three months ago, Musk made an immediate return with the Tesla CEO sharing some important news to his company's investors. Tesla to delay launch of new vehicles Musk announced that Tesla would be putting plans for new vehicles on hold due to the company's supply chain issues. Musk said that it would not make any sense to introduce new vehicle models to the market as Tesla will still be parts-constrained. Many expected Tesla to launch new vehicles this year, including the much-awaited Roadster model and the Cybertruck pickup. That wasn't to be the case at all, with Musk telling investors that bringing a new product to market in 2022 would have required a lot of attention and resources. He explained that the chip shortage would remain an issue for Tesla this year, posing multiple supply chain challenges. The auto industry had difficulty dealing with the semiconductor shortage last year, with most carmakers temporarily shutting their factories to limit production. Related Article: Ohio Agrees to $3.5 Million Settlement With Volkswagen Over Automaker's Diesel Emissions Cheating A breakthrough year for Tesla as demand for EVs soar in 2021 Tesla managed to overcome this problem, increasing its sales and output in the face of those global supply chain issues. Tesla's sales last year came to 936,000 vehicles, nearly doubling its 2020 sales of 500,000 units. Musk said Tesla grew its volumes by nearly 90 percent last year, making 2021 a breakthrough year for the Texas-based company. Tesla took full advantage of the growing demand for electric vehicles among consumers. Global EV sales increased to 4.5 million in 2021, according to car research firm LMC. That is a huge jump compared to the 2.1 million electric vehicles sold in 2020. Musk expects Tesla to continue increasing its sales in 2022, with growth expected to be comfortably above 50 percent next year. Tesla has factories in California, China, and Texas and is currently building one in Berlin, Germany. That will help the company expand its production even further as it tries to meet the overwhelming demand for electric vehicles. READ MORE ON AWN: Tesla Cybertruck Leak Shows Elon Musk's Alpha Prototype Featuring Removable Wheel Covers, No Door Handles 1964 Porsche 904 GTS Once Owned by Robert Redford Goes up for Auction: How Much Will It Cost? Copyright 2020 by Mountain Times Publications. Digital or printed dissemination of this content without prior written consent is a violation of federal law and may be subject to legal action. Asian American and Pacific Islander groups, led by Tongan Americans, wrote to President Biden Wednesday to urge his administration to ramp up aid assistance to Tonga and follow through on climate action to address root causes. The big picture: The call came as British and Australian navy ships arrived in Tonga to deliver aid without making contact with anyone on the coronavirus-free Pacific Island nation that's been devastated by the deadly Jan. 15 volcanic eruption and tsunami. State of play: The U.S. Agency for International Development said in a statement Tuesday that the United States would provide $2.5 million in humanitarian assistance" to Tonga through the agency, in addition to an initial $100,000 already announced. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement Wednesday that the U.S. was "assisting the relief effort with the deployment of USS Sampson" to Tongan waters, operating in support of the Australian Defense Force. What they're saying: The letter to Biden notes the disaster has left at least three people dead and caused widespread destruction of homes, businesses, farms and fisheries, and essential necessities including food, water and personal protective equipment will be needed in the coming months. Some Tongan Americans are still waiting to hear from loved ones in the island nation, which was largely cut off after an undersea cable was damaged in the disaster, with communications not yet fully restored. They also noted Tonga is "extremely vulnerable to climate change," with rising sea levels and land erosion already occurring, and called on Biden to "make the climate crisis a top priority this year." Read the groups' letter in full, via DocumentCloud: Go deeper: Satellite images reveal Tonga eruption damage Jesse Vad reports for SJV Water, a nonprofit, independent online news publication dedicated to covering water issues in the San Joaquin Valley. Lois Henry, SJV Waters CEO and editor, can be reached at lois.henry@sjvwater.org. The website is sjvwater.org. 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. The regional infusion center for Southeast Texas has received a new federal notice, which will force the center to further restrict the patients who may receive the potentially-lifesaving COVID antibody therapy. Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick on Tuesday announced that two of three monoclonal antibody therapies available at the center Regeneron and Bam/Ete. are no longer authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA said the therapies dont work against the omicron variant. However, they could be reauthorized should the drugs prove to be effective against the variant. Sotrovimab, the only antibody therapy that has proven successful in fighting omicron, is now the only monoclonal antibody therapy available to the Southeast Texas Regional Infusion Center, Branick said in a news release about the change. However, the states supply of the therapy has been rationed, leaving the anticipated weekly allocation to Southeast Texas down to only enough antibodies for the treatment of approximately 80 to 180 patients. Related: Beaumont reports first confirmed Omicron case, infusion supplies remain limited That number represents only about 10% of the order of 1,200 infusions of Sotrovimab that the county requested at the beginning of 2022, according to a previous article in The Enterprise. Because of these significant supply chain issues, the Regional Infusion Center will likely be able to remain open through this weekend, at which time a decision will be made about hours and days of operation based upon then available medications, the release said. Effective immediately, much more strenuous screening will be initiated to ensure that the individuals most at risk of developing serious disease processes receive the infusion. We advise all individuals who test positive for COVID to visit a health care provider for information on COVID treatment options. The release did not say what would be included in the screening process. As the county confirmed its first omicron case shortly after the new year, regional infusion therapy supplies dropped despite a rise in hospitalizations. Due to the low supply, the county previously limited who could receive infusions in the region. Patients considered "high risk," or those more likely to see the most severe impacts from COVID-19, were being prioritized. We just have to deal with what we have, said one of the regions foremost public health experts, Dr. Praphul Joshi, regarding the supply issue in Jefferson County. Related: Jefferson Co. to limit COVID infusions The infusions typically expedite recovery time for COVID-positive patients and help them avoid a trip to the hospital. However, the exact number of cases and hospitalizations prevented by local infusion therapy has not yet been determined, said Joshi. It doesnt affect too much as far as the way the disease spreads, Joshi said. The infusions will significantly help us in minimizing the burden in hospitalizations. If people dont get severe infections or just recover at home, that will prevent them from going to the hospitals. The number of COVID-positive hospitalizations in the area has remained relatively stable, and demand for hospital beds is expected to decrease following the spike in cases and hospitalizations seen around and possibly in connection with the late 2021 holiday season. Related: Alarm bells ring as COVID uptick arrives early Severe infections also have been much lower than last years delta variant-related surge, he said. The majority of the omicron cases have been milder to moderate, so those really requiring hospitalizations are not too many given the large number of cases we have seen, Joshi said. Hospitalizations are still high in comparison to where they should be or where officials want them to be, but at this point, health experts are looking at a potential downward trend and not expecting to see a surge in cases and hospitalizations, even with some events like Valentines Day up ahead. We have seen numbers go significantly lower in the last week or two, Joshi said. Our current number is almost double what it was during the delta surge. However, it is going down. If we expect the same trajectory, we anticipate in the next three to four weeks our numbers should go further down. Were just hoping there are no other variants out there and nothing else happens, he added. Port Arthur Public Health Director Judith Smith has observed quite a few individuals, during a 90-day follow up appointment following the infusion therapy, report they had a significant improvement in symptoms immediately after having an infusion. I do believe the infusion pretty much helped when it first started to keep people from actually going into the hospital as much and to keep down our COVID-related deaths, Smith said. However, I do know with omicron, because it is so much easier and transmissible, we know a lot of people just started using the infusion center again. Beaumont Public Health Director Kenneth Coleman also noted that the infusion center has been doing what it was designed to do keep people out of the hospital. If it gets to the point where the infusion center has to close due to limitations with the availability of treatment, he said the region could see hospitalizations go up again. Hopefully, we can keep it open, Coleman said. The state is seeking permission from the federal government to allow it to purchase approved monoclonals directly from the manufacturers, the release said. The request is still pending. While there are a few other monoclonals or pills which have proven effective, according to the FDA, none of these have been made available to our Regional Infusion Center or local pharmacies for administration, the release said. We are advised that local pharmacies should start receiving the Pfizer and Merck pills within a week or so, the release continued. A physician's prescription will be required to get the Merck and Pfizer pills. On Tuesday, the city of Beaumont reported 138 new confirmed cases in northern Jefferson County and one death an 86-year-old woman with underlying health conditions. According to the seven-day metrics provided by the Centers for Disease Control, Jefferson County still has a high level of community transmission. The CDC advises wearing a mask in public, indoor settings. meagan.ellsworth@beaumontenterprise.com twitter.com/megzmagpie A long-serving Southeast Texas police officer, whose death has been confirmed as COVID-related, will be honored with a procession today. The Vidor Police Department on Tuesday morning announced with deep sorrow the passing of Officer Chris Berry while awaiting the results of a medical examiner into the cause of the death that was being investigated by the Orange County Sheriffs Office.. Breyer to step down from Supreme Court WASHINGTON (AP)Longtime liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring, numerous sources said Wednesday, giving President Joe Biden his first high court opening, which he has pledged to fill with the historic naming of the courts first Black woman. Breyer, 83, has been a pragmatic force on a court that has grown increasingly conservative, trying to forge majorities with more moderate justices right and left of center. His retirement will give Biden the chance to name and win confirmation of a replacement before next falls election when Republicans could retake the Senate and block future nominees. Democrats are planning a swift confirmation, perhaps even before Breyer officially steps down, which is not expected before summer. He has been a justice since 1994, appointed by President Bill Clinton. Along with the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he opted not to step down the last time the Democrats controlled the White House and the Senate during Barack Obamas presidency. Ginsburg died in September 2020, and then-President Donald Trump filled the vacancy with a conservative justice, Amy Coney Barrett. Breyers departure wont change the 6-3 conservative advantage on the court because his replacement will almost certainly be confirmed by a Senate where Democrats have the slimmest majority. It will make conservative Justice Clarence Thomas the oldest member of the court. Thomas turns 74 in June. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed. A White House decision on a nominee could take several weeks, Biden aides and allies said. Republicans who changed the Senate rules during the Trump era to allow simple majority confirmation of Supreme Court nominees appeared resigned to the outcome. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican who previously chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement: If all Democrats hang togetherwhich I expect they willthey have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support. Liberal interest groups expressed relief. They have been clamoring for Breyers retirement, concerned about confirmation troubles if Republicans retake the Senate. Justice Breyers retirement is coming not a moment too soon, but now we must make sure our party remains united in support of confirming his successor, Demand Justice Executive Director Brian Fallon said. Among the names being circulated as potential nominees are California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, prominent civil rights lawyer Sherrilyn Ifill and U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs, whom Biden has nominated to be an appeals court judge. Childs is a favorite of Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., who made a crucial endorsement of Biden just before South Carolinas presidential primary in 2020. Bidens pledge to name the first Black woman to the Supreme Court was made during the 2020 presidential campaign. Since he took office a little more than a year ago, he has been focused on increasing racial, ethnic and experiential diversity in the lower federal courts. He has doubled the number of Black women who serve on appellate courts just below the Supreme Court, with three more nominees pending. Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, We know that when Americas boardrooms, legislatures and even the Supreme Court start to resemble America, we all benefit. Nomination of a Black woman could also help Biden politically with some of the Democratic Partys most important Election Day supporters. He has been criticized by black leaders and groups for failing so far to persuade the Senate to pass legislation shoring up voting rights that are being restricted in a number of Republican-led states. Change comes slowly to the Supreme Court. Of the 115 justices in U.S. history, there have been just five women, beginning with Sandra Day OConnor in 1981. One of the five, Justice Sonia Sotomayor is a Latina. Thomas and the late Thurgood Marshall are the only two Black men who have served on the court. The president wouldnt address reports of Breyers retirement on Wednesday. Every justice should have an opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own, Biden said. Let him make whatever statement hes going to make and Ill be happy to talk about it later. Often overshadowed by his fellow liberal Ginsburg, Breyer authored two major opinions in support of abortion rights on a court closely divided over the issue, and he laid out his growing discomfort with the death penalty in a series of dissenting opinions in recent years. Breyers views on displaying the Ten Commandments on government property illustrate his search for a middle ground. He was the only member of the court in the majority in both cases in 2005 that barred displays in two Kentucky courthouses but allowed one to remain on the grounds of the state Capitol in Austin, Texas. In more than 27 years on the court, Breyer has been an active and cheerful questioner during arguments, a frequent public speaker and quick with a joke, often at his own expense. He made a good natured appearance on a humorous National Public Radio program in 2007, failing to answer obscure questions about pop stars. According to the most recent US government census, there were over half a million applications for registering new businesses in the US in the last quarter of 2021. This shows great signs of a good trajectory towards a healing economy. Clearly, Americans are ready to take their entrepreneurial ideas to the next level. But what does it take to make it a success? Great brand building starts with having a unique business name. Brainstorming a Unique Business Name What's in a name? Well, everything! Some of the biggest brands are recognized globally because they're catchy. Shorter, easy-to-pronounce names are always best, and the more creative they are, the more memorable they will be for your potential customer. Overall, the main thing to remember is that your business name needs to be relevant to the product and/or experience that you want your clients to have. Some techniques you can use to get your creative juices flowing include off-the-cuff brainstorming where you write down the first 5 names you think of off the top of your head, then choose the best one and check if it's available. Visualization also helps a lot; if you imagine yourself as a customer in your shop, what words would you use to describe the products on the shelves or the atmosphere in the store? Word associations, freewriting, personal experiences, rhymes, acronyms, and synonyms all help with the brand name discovery process. A mind map can also be super helpful. However, not everyone is as creative, and luckily there are resources that can help with the process. One such online resource is the TRUiC Business Name Generator is an advanced AI tool that uses the latest technology. This website can actually create a new business name, brand, or company name for you. Using the TRUiC Brand Name Generator To start generating business names in three easy steps: Visit the TRUiC site and simply input at least 2 of your favorite keywords that describe the products, business ideas, and/or ethos of your new brand. Select the industry and add a location. Adding locations is best practice if your new business will be targeting customers in your area, but you can leave it blank if you are going national. TRUiC will generate hundreds of relevant, pertinent, and creative results for you to look through and pick your favorite! The great thing about using a name generator is that you can see the availability of your preferred names immediately, and ones like TRUiC focus on your privacy so that all your searches are for your eyes only and are never publicly recorded. Registering your business in the US Now that the brand name generator has helped you pick a great business name and has verified its availability, you will need to register your new business. There are a couple of steps you will need to get through before you're A-away: First, make sure you want your legal business entity to be the same name as the actual brand, and that it is available in your state. If they are going to be under separate names, you will need to file a DBA, which means 'doing business as.' Secondly, verify the originality of your business name by doing a US Federal Trademark Search and a domain name availability search. If there are no complications with your chosen brand and business name, you will then be ready to register. Each state in the US has its own set of rules and regulations for every type of business - be it an LLC, a corporation, an S corporation, a sole proprietorship, or a general partnership. There are many helpful resources on the web for this task, and it is recommended that you read up on all of the above before you register. After registration, you are ready to start your entrepreneurial journey. To successfully launch your brand, follow a sound business plan. To really make a difference in the up-and-coming entrepreneurial boom in the US economy, you can hire a professional to help you with marketing and brand building, or find online resources like the TRUiC site to help you with every step of the way. Women line up at a polling station in Gaibandha, a district in northern Bangladesh, to cast votes, Jan. 5, 2022. A bill passed by Bangladeshs parliament on Thursday institutionalizes election-management practices that favor the incumbent government, setting the stage for the Awami League to remain in power through the next election, opposition parties and critics say. It formalizes procedures used by current and past governments that empower the countrys president almost always someone who resigns from the ruling party to take office to appoint members of the election commission. The commission then manages all aspects of elections, including setting dates and announcing results. In the past, the sitting president directly appointed commission members. Under the new law, he or she chooses them from a pool of candidates identified by a search committee. Before the bill passed by a voice vote, MPs from BNP, the Jatiya Party, the Workers Party of Bangladesh and Gono Forum asked Law Minister Anisul Huq to seek comments from stake-holders including political parties and civil society groups before moving ahead with the legislation. The Chief Election Commissioner and the Election Commissioners Appointment Bill 2022 had been formulated in the spirit of Article 118 of the Constitution, Huq said, sending it to the parliament speaker for a vote. The bill will become law once signed by Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid or after seven days if he does not sign it. Once passed, a six-member search committee would nominate 10 people age 50 or older who have at least 20 years experience in government and non-government sectors. The president will then name the chief election commissioner and not more than four election commissioners from the nominees. Opposition MPs questioned the legality of the bill, noting that the constitution stipulates the president shall appoint the prime minister and the chief justice only. One lawmaker questioned whether the commission would be independent because Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would be able to sign off on the members. The election commission would, in fact, be formed in accordance with the desire of the prime minister as the search committee will submit 10 names to the president and the president will send it to the prime minister while she will choose five names from among them, Jatiya Party lawmaker Shameem Haider Patwary told fellow MPs. Another opposition lawmaker questioned the process of presenting the bill. Making the law without discussion with the stakeholders was nothing but eyewash. The law will create a path to form the search committee and later the election commission in a non-transparent way, said Rumeen Farhana, a BNP lawmaker. Huq played down the concerns. Enacting of the law will not bypass Article 48 of the Constitution as the law has not imposed any obligation on the president to discuss with others his nominations for the search committee, he said. Differing views Two former election commissioners offered differing views about the commission. The law is better than nothing. Though there are many controversies, the government did it after 50 years of independence, M. Sakhawat Hossain told BenarNews. It was expected that the government would include a provision in the law to make the names picked by the search committee public, but it did not happen. Its a very positive move, M. Shah Newaz told BenarNews about the law. It was very important to ensure a legal framework for the election commission formation. Election commissions have been formed every five years to oversee all polls including parliamentary elections and local government elections. The term of the most recent commission ends on Feb. 14. The Awami League has won the last three general elections. The next one is to be held in December 2023 or January 2024. Filipino billionaire Manny Villar (left), and then-President Elect Rodrigo Duterte look at documents during a news conference in Davao City, May 16, 2016. Filipino billionaire Manny Villar, an ally of President Rodrigo Duterte, is taking over frequencies of TV channels that were operated by the countrys largest broadcaster before the government shut them down in 2020. Critics said the move entrenched the influence of politically powerful families in the Philippines, but the government said it was legal. The countrys telecommunication regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, has granted Villars Advanced Media Broadcasting System (AMBS) provisional authority to operate the digital TV frequency (Channel 16) of ABS-CBN. It also allowed AMBS to temporarily use ABS-CBNs analog frequency, Channel 2, for simulcast purposes until 2023. The temporary assignment was granted to ensure service to both analog and digital TV signal users as the country transitions to full digital TV, the NTC said in a statement late Tuesday. The NTC said the transfer was approved by the Department of Information Communication and Technology as well as the justice department, noting AMBS was the first applicant for a permit to install, operate and maintain a digital TV channel in Metro Manila. AMBS lodged its application on Oct. 5, 2006, when the company was not owned by Villar his Planet Cable firm took control in 2021. A former senator, Villar ran a losing campaign for president in 2010. His wife, Cynthia, is a sitting senator and his daughter, Camille, is a member of the House of Representatives who was among 70 who voted to shut down ABS-CBN. His son Mark was a member of Dutertes cabinet before resigning to run for Senate in the May 9 General Election. Filipino journalists and activists rally in front of the ABS-CBN headquarters in Metro Manila to mark the first anniversary of losing its franchise license, July 10, 2021. [Basilio Sepe/BenarNews] Crony payback An opposition lawmaker and journalists on Wednesday criticized the move, calling it a form of transactional politics while noting Villar donated to Dutertes 2016 presidential campaign. Just like what his idol, the dictator Marcos did during his time, this last two-minute crony payback further exposes the lie of the Duterte administration that it is against oligarchy. The truth is, President Duterte has his own favored oligarchs, House Deputy Minority Leader Carlos Zarate said in a statement Wednesday. While this move clearly benefits the Dutertes and the Villars, as well as their allies like the Marcoses, this is detrimental to the Filipino people. We must be very wary and vigilant in guarding against more midnight schemes and deals of the Duterte administration, he said. On Wednesday, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said the government did not go through the traditional public selection process in re-assigning the channels, adding regulatory powers could have been used to favor Dutertes allies. We are concerned at the concentration of power in a corporate media landscape already dominated by conglomerates and political clans, the NUJP said in a statement. This has dire implications on the peoples right to relevant information, especially during times of crises. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, the acting presidential spokesman, defended Malacanang palace and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Nograles said Villars company received no special treatment. Wed like to tell the public that when NTC went to the DOJ, it was purely asking a legal question. There was no mention of any names any private company or any private entity, Nograles said in a television interview. When the DOJ gave its legal opinion, it was just purely answering a legal question, he said. ABS-CBN had been one of the most dogged media entities in following Dutertes rise as well as his war against illegal drugs after he took office in 2016. Police have killed about 8,000 suspected drug addicts and dealers, according to government figures a number rights activists and survivors said could be as high as 30,000. In 2020, Duterte allies and others in the House voted against renewing its license, a move protested by rights and media groups. Following the closure of its free-to-air channels that led to layoffs of hundreds of workers, ABS-CBN was forced to migrate its operations online and over cable. Dennis Jay Santos in Davao, Philippines, contributed to this report. An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant joint strike fighter is prepared for launch aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). China on Thursday denied that it has any interest in recovering the wreckage of the crashed U.S. F-35C fighter-jet that may contain sensitive technological information. We have no interest in their aircraft, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters, adding that Beijing urged the country concerned to do things that are conducive to regional peace and stability, rather than flex muscles in the region. The U.S. Navy earlier said that it was working to recover the F-35C Lightning II fighter-jet, a $100-million, state-of-the-art stealth aircraft, which crashed in the South China Sea on Monday. The single-engine fighter skidded over the side while attempting to land on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during a training session and tumbled into the sea. The pilot safely ejected and was recovered by a U.S. military helicopter. Seven servicemen were injured in the accident that happened during a joint operation conducted by the USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln strike groups in the South China Sea. All the injured are in a stable condition. The U.S. Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft. A former U.S. Navy officer told RFA it could take anything from three weeks to four months to locate and haul the plane from the depths of the ocean. China is likely to be watching closely. They are interested but the announcement suggests they will not attempt to recover it if the U.S. chooses to do so, said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the U.S. Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center in Hawaii. They dont want to risk a confrontation or increase the already extensive Sino-U.S. frictions. An F-35C Lightning II from the Rough Raiders of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125 prepares to launch from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). [Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy] Challenging task However, they will monitor the U.S. recovery and if they can do it surreptitiously, they will examine it with a submersible to gather what information they can, said Schuster, who is also a former U.S. Navy captain. It is my belief that they have about 30-60 percent of what they need to know about the F-35 from their cyber-espionage efforts. A good thorough survey would add to that, he said. Some Chinese analysts believe that theres another dimension to the crash. While China, and any other country, would certainly be interested in a closer look at the F-35 there is another issue that must be considered. That question is whether the plane was lost in Chinas territorial waters, asked Andy Mok, a well-known, Beijing-based commentator. If so, the U.S. will be in an awkward position as China would be entirely within its rights to not return it, said Mok. China insists that it holds historical rights to most of the South China Sea, and draws straight baselines around four groups of islands there to claim expansive territorial seas that are deemed illegal by international law. Schuster said the recovery process could be protracted. I would think 20-60 days, depending on weather, currents, underwater conditions and PRC (Chinas) activity. Under ideal conditions, you are looking at 10-20 days from finding to lifting. Strong and unpredictable underwater currents, bad weather and other challenges or work interruptions add to the time. Worse case, 90-120 days, if the monsoon hits, he told RFA. The U.S. has demonstrated the capability to recover aircraft from 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) and the South China Seas deepest point is 16,000-feet (4,876-meters) deep. So, the challenge is to find it, then send the equipment to lift it off the bottom and bring it to the surface, Schuster explained. China will be watching in any case, to learn what they can; about the plane perhaps but definitely about how to recover a 70,000-pound (35-ton) aircraft from several thousand feet. From Beijing, the views are more dismissive. This incident is only the latest in a string of mishaps that only raise more questions about U.S. military readiness, said Mok, the security analyst. The 7th Fleet spokeswoman Cmdr. Hayley Sims told the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes on Wednesday that the U.S. Navy is currently investigating the F-35C crash together with four other serious Class A mishaps involving aircraft assigned to the USS Carl Vinson carrier that occurred between Nov. 22 and Dec. 31. A Class A mishap is an incident either involving loss of life or permanent disability, or the complete loss of an aircraft or property damage of $2.5 million or more, according to the U.S. Navy. All five incidents remain under investigation, said Sims. The J-20 Mighty Dragon is a 5th generation fighter in line to be equipped with a directed energy weapon in response to rumors that the US and Indian military are racing to make their own. Adding up the rumored engine upgrade, it has more performance over its older one. Adopting such a weapon may have advantages over traditional cannons arming fighter jets. Laser-based technology for J-20 Mighty Dragon upgrades Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) are laser-based weaponry that includes microwaves or particle energy lasers that will do various degrees of damage to a target, reported the Eurasian Times. Focusing a finely tuned electromagnetic ray which has various effects on the hardware, facilities, vehicles that are a target by the DEW. It's not as destructive now, but research is being done to have something like a Star Wars death ray someday. Compared to a projective that kills or injures, even unwanted collateral damage happens. Energy weapons can be non-lethal as they can be deployed invisibly, an advantage. One of the main uses will be an anti-drone attack as many armies develop their High-Energy Laser Weapon System (HELWS). A laser will take a shorter time to shoot than a projectile, and fast-moving targets are well suited for the HELWS. In 2019, Turkish forces knocked out a Libyan UAV using a laser weapon, cited Defense News. Directed Energy Weapon All the news about having lasers as primary weapons for multiple engagements of various types, bear out the J-20 Mighty Dragon will require a directed energy weapon it in anytime soon. But, how to get it mounted should be studied first. Read Also: Beijing Alleges J-20 Killed 17 Planes as Propaganda to Scare Indian Air Force Lasers are energy beams capable of damaging an object with heat energy, but powering the pulses is one more thing to devise. Current technology could not produce the power needed to fire in a large plane or fighter. According to the Space Review, Russia has developed the Peresvet laser that has been rumored to fire high-energy beams that could strike low-earth orbit aircraft. Even blind the sensors of geosynchronous orbit satellites, the power supply is ground-based but needs lots of power for the pulse. Some fighter jets like the Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-35 has extra electrical power that creates a laser pulse that overloads the IIR heat seeker sensor of an air-to-air or surface-to-air missile. The laser only spoofs the sensor, not like a real laser. This capability could be used on the J-20. But, blinding one missile is not enough because air to air means more than one missile will be used on the saw plane. A radar seeker would still seek out the target despite a heat sensor being disabled. The development of the sixth-generation plane will feature DEWS as part of its equipment since it will be fighting drones and other targets. These include all sorts of new aircraft from the US, Europe, and India that are planned after the F-22 and the F-35. Until the Mighty Dragon does get its direct energy weapon and is operational, that is left to be seen. Others say China is willing to bet on new technologies to overcome its adversaries. So far, the Chinese have been able to do things unexpectedly, which is something to look out for. Related article: Is the J-20 'Mighty Dragon' Stealth Fighter Ready To Face The West As An Operational Fighter? @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Greg Sukiennik has worked at all three Vermont News & Media newspapers and was their managing editor from 2017-19. He previously worked for ESPN.com, for the AP in Boston, and at The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, Mass. According to speculations, Justice Stephen Breyer would retire, allowing Biden the opportunity to choose his replacement, and President Biden's commitment to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court has received additional attention. Almost as soon as news of Breyer's retirement broke on Wednesday, Democrats urged Biden to choose a candidate who would honor his campaign promise to the people. Biden vows to nominate a Black woman Biden pledged to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court of the United States on the campaign trail. He also stated that he had developed a list of Black women who may be considered for the position. According to the book "Lucky," House Minority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), a close ally of Biden and one of the most powerful Black members in Congress, had asked Biden to bring up the notion of nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court during the February discussion. In an interview with Bloomberg TV last September, Clyburn said he felt it was important to bring up the issue with Biden and remind him that this is a simmering issue in the African American community, that Black women believe they have the same right to sit on the Supreme Court as any other woman, and that none had been considered until that point, according to The Hill. Besides having four women on the bench, it would be the first time an African-American woman has served as a Supreme Court justice. On every level of the court, black women are underrepresented as judges, and only a few of those women will have the history, age, and credentials to be a nominee. As a result, Biden's shortlist becomes even shorter, and at the moment, two people stand out: Ketanji Brown Jackson and Leondra Kruger. The fact that the White House is aware that she can enlist the help of Republicans is a plus for Jackson. Three Republicans, Senators Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski, voted in her favor when the Senate approved her to fill a seat on a District of Columbia appellate court in June. Before publishing, Newsweek reached out to Graham, Collins, and Murkowski to see whether they would endorse Jackson for the opening of the Supreme Court. Read Also: US Puts 8,500 Troops on Heightened Alert, Possibly for Deployment in Eastern Europe Amid Russia-Ukraine Tension Possible Supreme Court nominees Because of the high stakes, their support isn't assured at a confirmation hearing. Kruger might have as much or more Republican support than Jackson, according to Deepak Gupta, the head of the legal firm Gupta Wessler and a Harvard professor. Kruger worked as an assistant to President Barack Obama's attorney general before joining the California Supreme Court. She knows the interaction between attorneys and the court since she has argued before the Supreme Court. However, because she was not the Attorney General and the buck stops there, it may be tough to criticize her opinions, Newsweek via MSN reported. Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Washington, DC, appeals court judge; Leondra Kruger, a Supreme Court justice in California; Michelle Childs, a South Carolina district court judge; Leslie Abrams Gardner, a Georgia district judge; civil rights attorney Sherrilyn Ifill; and even Vice President Kamala Harris have all been mentioned as possible candidates. The most probable candidate is 51-year-old Michael Jackson. She has served as a judge on the District of Columbia's US Court of Appeals. In 2013, she served as a judge on the US District Court for the District of Columbia, where she had previously served as a judge. She also worked for Breyer as a clerk and was a former public defender. A number of Supreme Court justices have used the DC Circuit as a springboard for their careers. The late Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia, as well as John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, and Brett Kavanaugh, all served on the DC Circuit. Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), and Lisa Murkowski (AK) voted with Democrats to confirm Jackson to her present position in a 53-44 vote (Alaska). In 2013, the Senate unanimously confirmed Jackson to her old position on the US District Court. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) may be in the audience for Jackson's Senate confirmation hearing if Biden nominates her. After all, the judge's spouse, Patrick Johnson, is the twin brother of Ryan's brother-in-law William Jackson, and the two are related, as per HuffPost. Related Article: Joe Biden Reportedly Offers Interviews To Defend Embattled Chief of Staff Ron Klain @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. An assessment or critique of a service, product, or creative endeavor such as art, literature or a performance. THEATER REVIEW REVIEW: 'Come From Away' moves with 'galvanizing energy and force that never lets go' Singer Sherri James Buxton and pianist Bob Shepherd are gearing up for a musical afternoon at Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum. The "Love Me or Leave Me" cabaret, 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 13, will be followed by a Victorian tea service. Business writer Tony Dobrowolski's main focus is on business reporting. He came to The Eagle in 1992 after previously working for newspapers in Connecticut and Montreal. He can be reached at tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6224. 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. Adams and state police vehicles are stationed outside Berkshire Arts & Technology Charter Public School on Thursday after an unknown threat prompted the school to shelter in place. The leader of Pine Cobble School said the community is "devastated" by the news that a former teacher, Peter Hirzel, is being charged with repeated aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 16 his former student. Reporter Greta Jochem, a Report for America Corps member, joined the Eagle in 2021. Previously, she was a reporter at the Daily Hampshire Gazette. She is also a member of the investigations team. Massachusetts has long prided itself on its high educational standards a pride that is often but not always justified. In the case of critically important preschool education, the Bay State could learn a few lessons from Alabama, as counterintuitive as that might sound. In a recent Boston Globe story, the pre-K failings of Massachusetts were cast in sharp relief by the successes of Alabama over the past decade. Most notably, Alabamas public pre-K program is free to all students. In Massachusetts, where public preschool programs are scarce and seats hard to find, the cost for one year of private preschool is just under $15,000, the second highest in the nation. This is unaffordable for low-income families and many middle-class families, putting their children at a disadvantage to those of wealthier parents entering kindergarten. The southern states generally have not been standard-bearers in American education. But in preschool education, Alabama meets all 10 benchmark standards, primarily involving class size and the educational level of teachers, established by the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. Massachusetts meets five. Educational experts attest that good pre-K programs lead to better graduation rates in high school and college, less criminal activity and better salaries. Alabama education officials say their program has reduced absenteeism and led to better grades at least through middle school. To a large extent, educational improvement is determined by money invested. The Globe reports that Alabama, a state with a 38 percent lower median income than Massachusetts, spends $6,000 per pre-K student, an investment that has climbed steadily in recent years. While Massachusetts has increased education funding in many areas, it has unaccountably reduced spending from $8,100 per student in pre-K in 2002 to just $2,200 per student as of 2020, according to The Globe. Massachusetts parents with 4-year-olds are in a terrible bind. Those who cant afford the high cost of private prekindergarten might still make too much money to qualify for subsidies to public pre-K programs. This dovetails with the vexing problem of child care costs and availability, the subject of a recent Eagle editorial. Working-class parents bearing the crushing weight of a public preschool program might be unable to afford child care for their other children, forcing them to leave jobs to stay home and take care of them, increasing their current financial hardship while reducing their long-term economic security. In response to a question from The Globe, a spokesperson for Massachusetts early education commissioner, Samantha Aigner-Treworgy, pointed out that prekindergarten grants are available through the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative. Grants, however, dont reach every community and every student. Alabamas pre-K program is designed to do both. Massachusetts pre-K program needs a shot in the arm and that entails money. President Joe Bidens Build Back Better plan includes pre-K funding, but the plan is dead in the stagnant waters of the U.S. Senate. It is up to Massachusetts and its communities. Alabamas resurgent pre-K program began its ascent 10 years ago with the creation of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance. It was a collaborative effort among pro-education lawmakers and a business community that realized a strong educational system provides a prepared workforce. In exchange for increased state funding, communities had to agree to contribute 25 percent of the overall cost. Some tuition is charged to families that exceed a certain income level. A year ago, the Massachusetts Business Coalition for Early Childhood Education was created to study the states pre-K program and offer improvements. A report is due in March from a legislative commission on early childhood education. Solutions will have to be ambitious and they will have to include overdue funding increases to compensate for 20 years of cuts. Investing in preschool pays dividends in the long run. Going forward, Massachusetts should look to Alabamas pre-K program as a model. South Carolina may become the first state in the United States to make it illegal to ask about a person's vaccination status after Republican lawmakers proposed the idea, arguing that it was private medical information for every individual. The author of the bill said that the legislation was needed in the region because many unvaccinated individuals were suffering real-world consequences. In an interview, the bill's sponsor, Rep. Mike Burns, said that many people in South Carolina were losing their jobs because they were required to report to their employer that they were unvaccinated. Asking About Vaccination Status The lawmaker added that there were residents who were having their insurance rates placed in a different category because of their vaccination status. He noted that some people were being charged up to an additional $100 per week compared to residents who were vaccinated. He called the situation "absolutely insane." Burns introduced the legislation, which was named H. 4848, on Jan. 20, which would make it a criminal offense for any employer, business, nonprofit, or public entity to ask about a person's COVID-19 vaccination status. The lawmaker said the state should make it off-limits to ask about vaccination status, similar to how it was asking women about their pregnancy status, Fox News reported. The legislation would make it a misdemeanor to ask a person about their vaccination status and fine them no more than $14,000, or imprison them for no longer than one year, or both. Other lawmakers supported Burns with his proposal, including Rep. Patrick Haddon, Rep. Steven Wayne Long, Rep. William "Bill" Chumley, Rep. Sandy McGarry, and Rep. Victor "Vic" Dabney. Read Also: Trump's Lawyer John Eastman Refused To Answer Jan. 6 Committee's Questions; Federal Judge Orders Him To Respond To Another Subpoena Long argued that the legislation was about protecting the people from being forced or coerced into getting a vaccine for purposes of employment, admission to schools, or government services. The lawmaker added that it was more about personal privacy for his constituents. Illegal Act The Spartanburg representative said that many people were calling him every week, requesting the legislature to take some kind of action to protect the rights of the people in the region. They wanted the state to protect their privacy and keep them from being forced or coerced into getting vaccinated that they did not want, Counton2 reported. In a statement, Burns compared the questions about vaccination status to questions regarding a woman's pregnancy. He said that he was not allowed to question a female if she planned to get pregnant or if she was infected with STDs or HIV. He criticized the fact that, on the other hand, it was completely fine to terminate a person's livelihood because they didn't get the "emergency-us-only vaccine." The situation comes after the Supreme Court has recently banned United States President Joe Biden's vaccine-or-test federal mandate on large businesses with more than 100 employees. On the other hand, the new legislation would block South Carolina employers from voluntarily implementing vaccine requirements. Burns acknowledged that his proposal had little chance of becoming law since only about 5% of "all the bills" that are filed by officials become law. However, he said that he still wanted to take action to help the people of the state, Q13Fox reported. Related Article: Pelosi Announces Plans For Reelection as Democrats Face Midterms With Double-Digit Deficit in Poll @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Lesson 2 - Be Prepared to Love Your Spouse More Than Your Parents When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days (1 Samuel 18:28-29). Even after they married, Saul tried to kill David. In one instance Saul tried to kill David and Michal warned David and helped him escape from Saul. Saul sent men to Davids house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, Davids wife, warned him, If you dont run for your life tonight, tomorrow youll be killed. So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats hair at the head (1 Samuel 19:11-13). Michal must have been in a very uncomfortable position, stuck between her husband and her father. However, she made the right decision because she chose her husband. This is such a critical lesson we can learn from Michal. One of the most important things that must be done in marriage is that a spouse must realign their allegiance. What I simply mean by this is not that you neglect or stop loving your father or mother, but your hierarchy of importance changes. This is critical to any marriage if it is going to be successful. This is what God intended in marriage when you go all the way back to Genesis. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). If you are a parent, it is critical that you encourage your child to love their spouse and make that their first allegiance. Marriages that dont operate in this fashion are highly likely to fail. As a child, you must also recognize that once married, your first obligation is to your spouse and not your parents. This is a difficult switch for many people to make, but it is a necessary switch. It takes some getting used to and there will be moments where either you or the parent will want it to be as it was before you got married. While parents still can play an important role, the role must change and can no longer be the primary relationship in your life. Photo credit: Getty Images/Hiraman In a civil action initiated by a woman who has accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, Prince Andrew's lawyers have written to a US court requesting a jury trial. At the residences of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, Virginia Giuffre, 38, claims that Prince Andrew sexually abused her when she was a teenager. All of the allegations leveled against the Duke of York have been repeatedly refuted. Giuffre had already requested a jury trial, according to a US lawyer, who dismissed it as a "PR move." Prince Andrew's request was "meaningless," according to Lisa Bloom, who represents several of Maxwell's and Epstein's victims because Giuffre had a constitutional right to a jury trial if she requested for one. Prince Andrew's legal team urges jury trial His legal team provided various reasons why they feel the lawsuit should be dropped in court filings submitted on Wednesday. The issue of consent was one of the issues they requested the court to address. Prince Andrew "admits that he met Epstein in or around 1999," according to the 11-page letter, but he denies that he was involved in any kind of abuse with the late financier. It also refutes Guiffre's allegation that Maxwell was a close friend of Prince Andrew's, according to BBC News. The prince has denied the allegations, which have ruined his image and prompted him to resign as king, yet he has not been charged legally. Andrew was stripped of his honorary military titles and philanthropic positions after Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed his petition to dismiss Giuffre's complaint earlier this month, making a civil trial in New York more likely. After a night out dancing in March 2001, Giuffre, now 38, claims Andrew sexually raped her at the London house of socialite and Epstein acquaintance Ghislaine Maxwell. Last year, she filed a lawsuit against the prince, claiming that Epstein and Maxwell had smuggled her to him for undisclosed reasons. Last month, Maxwell was found guilty of sex trafficking. In mid-January, Andrew and Giuffre's lawyers announced the first witnesses they want to question in the litigation. In a brief, Prince Andrew's lawyers stated that they were seeking evidence from Judith Lightfoot, Giuffre's psychologist in Australia, where she was born and raised. The prince's legal team intended to question Lightfoot about what was spoken during her counseling sessions with Giuffre, according to lawyer Melissa Lerner. Lerner said in an official "letter of request" sent to Kaplan that would force testimony in Australia that the prince's attorneys contend that Giuffre "may suffer from false memories" and want to ask Lightfoot about the assertion of false recollections. Judge Kaplan was told in a separate document that Giuffre's attorneys intended to examine two witnesses located in the United Kingdom, including Shukri Walker, who claimed to have seen Andrew with a young girl in a London nightclub around the time of the alleged assault, as per NDTV. Read Also: Retired Pope Benedict XVI Clarifies 42-Year-Old Case of Pedophile Priest: He Was There! Duke of York denies having a relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell Prince Andrew acknowledges being a close acquaintance of convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell but denies being a close buddy of pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. During the period 1994 to 2004, British socialite Maxwell, 60, was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking as well as other crimes for recruiting and grooming underage females for the late billionaire and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to abuse. When US District Judge Alison Nathan sentenced Maxwell in New York, she faced a maximum term of 65 years in prison. According to the court documents, the Duke requests a jury trial on all of the asserted causes of action in the lawsuit. The action will now continue into discovery mode, with both sides requiring expert witnesses to be listed by May 13th. Both parties have the option of objecting to whom the other wants to call the next day. Before the 15th of July, all discoveries, including depositions taken under oath by witnesses, must be delivered to the court. A trial is expected to begin sometime in September, if not before the end of the year, according to Judge Lewis Kaplan, Mirror reported. Related Article: Prince Andrew To Protect Assets Against Sex Abuse Case After Reports Reveal Duke Snapped Partying with Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. OLYMPIA - Washington Health Benefit Exchange has released its initial 2022 open enrollment data. A record 240,000 Washingtonians signed up for 2022 coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder (www.wahealthplanfinder.org) the states online health insurance marketplace. This represents an increase of more than 6% over 2021. In addition, 73% of 2022 customers now receive some form of monthly savings on their health plan, up from 61% in 2021. The increase was driven by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which provided additional federal tax credits. As a result, 42% of Washington Healthplanfinder customers now pay less than $100 per month for their 2022 coverage and 46,000 pay less than $10 per month. This years open enrollment period ran from Nov. 1, 2021, to Jan. 15, 2022. An unprecedented number of Washingtonians came to Washington Healthplanfinder during this years open enrollment looking for coverage, and nearly 60,000 new customers gained coverage since ARPA was implemented in May, said Exchange CEO Pam MacEwan. Increased savings also led to more interest in our states new Cascade Care plans. In their second year, Cascade Care plans, which offer lower deductibles, on average, and standard benefits and cost-sharing across carriers, proved more popular than ever. 80,000 customers signed up for a Cascade Care plan during this years open enrollment, up from 35,000 in 2021. This included 8,500 people who chose a Cascade Select plan, the states public option, a more than 300% increase over 2021. Cascade Care plans were introduced exclusively on Washington Healthplanfinder in 2021 following state legislation passed in 2019. Over the past year, the Exchange has implemented several initiatives aimed at decreasing customers monthly health care coverage costs. This includes implementation of a new state premium assistance program for employees of licensed child care facilities. The Exchange partnered with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families and Yakima Neighborhood Health Services (an Exchange-certified Navigator organization) to reach out to these employees across the state. As a result, more than 2,000 employees of child care facilities have been newly connected with free or low-cost health care coverage through Washington Healthplanfinder. During this years open enrollment, the Exchange also embarked on a statewide Adventure Tour to reach customers in their communities. The tour made 10 stops in Washington cities where Exchange staff and certified assisters answered over 300 questions from community members about their health care coverage options. The experts discussed Lipiodols effect on disease management across India and beyond, and its use and future application in the country Guerbet, headquartered in France, hosted its first India virtual media roundtable, titled Guerbet in India and 100 Years & Beyond of Lipiodol. Lipiodol is internationally recognized as one of the foremost ethiodized oil that has transformed lives and contributed to huge advances in the treatment of major diseases and debilitating conditions. In India, the drug has been used in fighting liver cancer and disease for decades and continues to make contributions to the management of various diseases. Lipiodol is a pale yellow/amber-coloured, oil-based, radiopaque contrast agent consisting of iodine that is organically combined with ethyl esters of fatty acids of poppy seed oil. In 2019, the company received an approval for a new indication for Lipiodol Ultra Fluid in India for chemoembolization (cTACE) of tumors in adults with known intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is the most common primary liver cancer and is the 4th leading cause of annual cancer death worldwide. Lipiodol Ultra Fluid is used for cTACE, a minimally invasive procedure which consists of mixing Lipiodol Ultra Fluid with an anticancer drug. Addressing the cost-related concern of this treatment, Dr Vimal Someshwar, Head of Department, Intervention & Diagnostic Radiology, at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and Medical Research Institute stated that it is considered to be a cost-effective treatment in India. In addition, Ghosh TP, General Manager, Guerbet, India outlined Guerbets business in India which set up the inauguration of Guerbet Indias Head Office in Mumbai in October 2021. Macao to stage parades for celebration of Chinese New Year Xinhua) 10:18, January 27, 2022 MACAO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will stage parades next month to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the tourism office of the SAR government said on Wednesday. The event, to be held on the 3rd day (Feb. 3) and the 12th day (Feb. 12) of the Lunar New Year, will involve 14 floats and 22 mainland and local performance teams. In celebration of the Year of the Tiger, the parade will revolve around a story of the Tiger General's victory over a winged epidemic beast. A multimedia dance drama under the same theme will be also presented. The office said a range of pandemic prevention measures will be adopted for the event, requiring audiences to present their valid Macao health code in green color, scan the venue code, undergo temperature checks and maintain social distance, in addition to wearing masks throughout the time on site. All performers and staffers who participate in this event are required to have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine or taken a nucleic acid test for COVID-19. Having gradually developed into one of Macao's signature festive events, the parade was canceled in last year's Chinese New Year amid epidemic concerns. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) Joe Biden, almost less than stellar understanding of foreign policy, took a nosedive when US-Turkey relations would be affected by rejecting an arms sale. In contrast to Ukraine, which is getting arms and is not an official ally, Turkey has had dealings with the US, which benefitted Washington. But, the president's treatment over an ally who has assisted in brokering peace with hostile forces will tell on Biden's already discredited foreign policy, which has not worked. US negotiates sale with Turkey Denying to sell to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan a total of 40 F-16 jets due to the advisors would not pan outright as it might come back to bite back at Washington, reported the Express UK. Two US representatives, Gus Bilirakis and Frank Pallone, asked the president to deny the request of Ankara to update the Fighting Falcons into the updated variant. They allege that Erdogan has been using its military forces to cause problems in the Eastern, Med, Middle East, and other places like Northern Africa South Caucasus, noted the World News. Ankara allegedly uses US weaponry to assist Turkey and Turkish-backed forces in conducting war crimes. They imply that the new jets will be used for these purposes in this part of the world. Both representatives are saying the Erdogan government is undemocratic and occurrence of human rights in Turkey. They are also opposed to Ankara's request because of its obliviousness to the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), added to the case of human rights. An already tense international scene that has only slid to worse should make Joe Biden regret his treatment of US-Turkey relations. Read Also: Turkey Changes to Turkiye Due to the English Connotation of How the Word is Perceived Internationally Why Turkey is important to NATO NATO cannot do without Ankara due to its geopolitical position as the gateway to the East and West that is realized as important by Brussels and even the Kremlin. But American politicians like Mr. Biden are one-dimensional and cannot see the big picture. Strategically Turkey is a choke point located in the Black Sea where Russian naval vessels would risk passing a NATO-controlled coast; that makes Erdogan vital to the west. The short-sightedness of the White House is that the Turkish government does not entirely put a stock on the US. Ankara is more than willing to deal with anyone who can offer a defense deal; even if the US denies the sale, others are willing to sell. When the sale of Russian S-400 missile and air defense batteries was reported, the US had a fit. President Erdogan bought the alleged stealth killer mobile surface-to-air missile system for $2.5 billion. Americans said the SAM system would be a danger to NATO and its F-35 stealth fighter, which is threatened by it. The US and NATO warned Ankara, who went ahead with purchasing four missile batteries during July 2019. Seven days later, Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 program despite the money it plunked in. President Donald Trump used the Under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (August 2017), where Ankara was penalized, cites CNBC. Joe Biden just speared US-Turkey relations by denying the F-16 sale, also endangered the position of Washington if Erdogan refused any request. Related Article: Turkey Sour Over Biden's Accusing Ankara of Armenian Genocide @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Police arrested the teenager suspected to be involved in the shooting death of a former correction officer in a Snapchat-fueled hostage-scheme murder that occured in February of last year. The mother of the victim blasted the teenage girl for taking "everything away from [them]" after killing her son. Authorities identified the female suspect as 18-year-old Anna Bella Dukes who was taken into custody on Monday for her alleged involvement in the murder. Snapchat-Fueled Kidnap-Scheme Murder The victim was identified to be former correction officer Elias Otero who was killed in Albuquerque in February 2021. The mother of the victim, Alicia Otero, said that the teen and other people involved in the horrendous crime should be imprisoned. She said that she believed Dukes should pay for the crime that she committed and that she and others should be given life sentences. She questioned how someone could commit such a horrifying crime. Alicia, who has been fighting for tougher laws in the New Mexico area in the United States in the wake of her son's death, said she would be "devastated" if the teenage girl ended up being released on bail under the state's reform laws. "We've had bail reform in New Mexico and it's been a failure. They are just letting them out," said the mother of the victim, the New York Post reported. Read Also: Georgia Police Arrest Suspect Involved in Gunfight That Killed a 6-Month-Old Baby It was reported that Otero, the victim, was shot to death last year while trying to defend his brother, whom police at the time said was kidnapped. Authorities have accused Dukes of luring the kidnap victim through social media, specifically Snapchat. Investigators said that Otero's younger brother picked up a girl that he met online in a red Lexus on Feb. 11, 2021. However, it turned out the incident was a setup that Dukes orchestrated with 17-year-old Adrian Avila and two other suspects. Fatal Shooting In a statement released by police, they said that the suspects dragged the kidnap victim from his red Lexus and demanded cash, jewelry, and a gun from him. Officials added that they entered the Lexus and another vehicle, holding the victim at gunpoint, and drove to the victim's residence. The suspects allegedly had the victim call his brother and have him bring the money and a gun outside and threatened to kill the kidnapped victim, MSN reported. Police charged the 18-year-old suspect with murder, kidnapping, two counts of armed robbery, tampering with evidence, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. In response to the threats, Otero said he would shoot the individuals as he walked outside. However, Dukes' boyfriend, Avila, shot Otero immediately, killing him. Last month, Avila turned himself in and was given the same charges as Dukes for the murder of Otero. Alicia said that she and her family were wishing every day for justice for their beloved and wanted the perpetrators to pay for what they did. "Knowing they finally turned themselves in just, it feels good that it's not gonna go unsolved," said Alicia, Complex reported. Police said that they believe the incident was not the first time that the suspects engaged in such crimes and accused them of utilizing similar tactics in a carjacking prior to the murder. Related Article: Michigan Teenager Arrested for Felony Murder, Armed Robbery After Returning to Crime Scene Amid Investigation @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. New US lethal aid for Ukraine, courtesy of US taxpayers and their weapons industry beneficiaries. (U.S. Embassy in Ukraine) The US-Russia standoff over Ukraine has sparked bellicose threats and fears of Europes biggest ground war in decades. There are ample reasons to question the prospects of a Russian invasion, and US allies including France, Germany's now-ousted navy chief, and even Kiev itself appear to share the skepticism. Another potential scenario is that Russia draws on the Cuban Missile Crisis and positions offensive weapons within the borders of Latin American allies. Whatever the outcome, the crisis has underscored the perils of a second Cold War between the world's top nuclear powers. If the path forward is unpredictable, what got us here is easy to trace. The row over Ukraine is the outgrowth of an aggressive US posture toward Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago, driven by hegemonic policymakers and war profiteers in Washington. Understanding that background is key to resolving the current impasse, if the Biden administration can bring itself to alter a dangerous course. US principles vs. power constraints Russia's central demands binding guarantees to halt the eastward expansion of NATO, particularly in Ukraine, and to prevent offensive weapons from being stationed near its borders have been publicly dismissed by the U.S government as non-starters. In rejecting Russian concerns, the Biden administration claims that it is upholding "governing principles of international peace and security." These principles, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken says, "reject the right of one country to change the borders of another by force; to dictate to another the policies it pursues or the choices it makes, including with whom to associate; or to exert a sphere of influence that would subjugate sovereign neighbors to its will." The US government's real-world commitment to these principles is non-existent. For decades, the US has provided critical diplomatic and military cover for Israel's de-facto annexations, which have expanded its borders to three different strips of occupied territory (the West Bank, Gaza, and Syria's Golan Heights). The US is by far the world leader in dictating policies to other countries, be it who their leaders should be; how little to pay minimum-wage workers; or how to share energy supplies. The Biden administration continues to subjugate sovereign countries to its will, whether its neighbors like blockade-targeted Cuba; coup-targeted Venezuela; sanctions-targeted Nicaragua; or far-away countries like US military-occupied and sanctions-targeted Syria. Biden just recently embraced the longstanding Monroe Doctrine of a US sphere of influence by declaring Latin America to be the United States' "front yard." When not making sanctimonious public pronouncements, US officials are quietly able to acknowledge the real principles that guide their actions. According to the Washington Post, one US official specializing in Russia "believes the Russians are still interested in a real dialogue. Russias real aim, this official says, is to see whether Washington is willing to discuss any sort of commitment that constrains U.S. power." The official added: "The Russians are waiting to see what were going to offer, and theyre going to take it back and decide is this serious. Is this something we [the Russians] can sell as a major victory for security, or is it just, from their point of view, another attempt to fob us off and not give us anything?" If their public statements and actions are any guide, the Biden administration is so far opting for the latter. Rather than focus on diplomacy, the United States' reliable British client has been trotted out, Iraq WMD dossier-style (or Steele dossier-style, or Syria dirty war-style), to lodge the explosive allegation that Russia is plotting to install a new leader in Ukraine via a coup. While declaring that the obedient Brits were Muscular for shouldering the war-mongering allegation, the New York Times quietly acknowledged that they also "provided no evidence to back up" their claims. After warning of a "false flag" operation by Russia in Ukraine, the US pulled off a stunt of its own by recalling its embassy personnel out of stated concern for their safety. Unlike the dutiful British, other US allies failed to get the memo, including the EU, which declined to follow suit and even took a pointed swipe at attempts to "dramatize" the situation. Aaron Mate @aaronjmate Maybe the Biden admin's embassy withdrawal stunt is the Ukraine false flag that US intel warned us about? AFP News Agency @AFP #BREAKING The EU is not following the US in withdrawing its diplomats' families from Ukraine, top European diplomat Josep Borrell says, adding there is no need to "dramatise" the situation while talks with Russia continue https://t.co/Br2VXdEKlD #BREAKING The EU is not following the US in withdrawing its diplomats' families from Ukraine, top European diplomat Josep Borrell says, adding there is no need to "dramatise" the situation while talks with Russia continue https://t.co/Br2VXdEKlD When US officials and allied media voices permit themselves to drop Wag the Dog theatrics and entertain the possibility of constraining US power, the Ukraine crisis no longer appears so dangerously intractable. In the New York Times, veteran national security correspondent David E. Sanger allows that it is "possible" that Putin's "bottom line in this conflict is straightforward": obtain a pledge to "stop Ukraine from joining NATO" as well as one that the US and NATO "will never place offensive weapons that threaten Russias security in Ukrainian territory." On these issues, "there is trading space," Sanger concedes. Given that "Ukraine is so corrupt, and its grasp of democracy is so tenuous no one expects it to be accepted for NATO membership in the next decade or two." Accordingly, Russia could be offered "some kind of assurance that, for a decade, or maybe a quarter-century, NATO membership for Kyiv was off the table." In Sanger's view, the real and "complex" issue is not Ukraine's NATO status, but "how the United States and NATO operate" there specifically, by flooding the country with weapons. Since 2014, Sanger writes, the US and NATO allies have provided "Ukraine with what the West calls defensive arms, including the capability to take out Russian tanks and aircraft", a "flow that has sped up in recent weeks." Russia for reasons apparently foreign to Sanger believes that these "weapons are more offensive than defensive" and "that Washingtons real goal is to put nuclear weapons in Ukraine." An agreement to address these concerns, an unidentified US official concedes, would be "'the easiest part of this,' as long as Russia is willing to pull back its intermediate-range weapons as well." Unmentioned by Sanger is that Russia has repeatedly signaled such a willingness, including just last month: Russia's proposed draft treaty with NATO -- issued with the stated aim of resolving the Ukraine standoff -- proposes that all sides "not deploy land-based intermediate- and short-range missiles" in any area that allows them "to reach the territory of the other Parties." Also unmentioned is that such deployments were previously banned under the INF Treaty, the Cold War-era pact that the Trump administration abandoned in August 2019, to the resounding silence of Democratic lawmakers and allied media outlets more invested in pretending that Trump was a Russian puppet than in addressing his actual Russia policies. In a bid to preserve some of the INF Treaty's safeguards, Putin immediately offered a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles in Europe a proposal swiftly rejected by both Trump and NATO. (Trump's response was again duly ignored by Russiagate-crazed media outlets and politicians, for the obvious narrative inconvenience.) Much like its refusal so far to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal another critical security pact torn up by Trump -- the Biden administration has thus placed itself in a dangerous geopolitical standoff rather than embrace diplomacy around proposals that US officials either deem as reality anyway (Ukraine not joining NATO) or that they were once party to (the Trump-sabotaged INF treaty). NATO expansion, from the Cold War to a Ukraine coup If the Biden administration is now willing to accept "real dialogue" over an outcome that "constrains US power" on the Ukraine-Russia border, it will have to eschew guiding US principles since the end of the Cold War. When he agreed to the reunification of Germany, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was "assured in 1990 that the [NATO] alliance would not expand," Jack Matlock, Reagan and Bush I's ambassador to the Soviet Union, recently noted. But upon entering office, Bill Clinton broke that pledge and began an expansion spree that has pushed NATO to Russia's borders. In 2008 against the reported advice of advisers including Fiona Hill President George W. Bush backed a NATO declaration calling for Ukraine and Georgia's eventual ascension. The constant expansion of NATO has led to what the scholar Richard Sakwa calls a "fateful geographical paradox": NATO, Sakwa says, now "exists to manage the risks created by its existence." Sakwas maxim undoubtedly applies to Ukraine, where the threat of Russia's neighbor joining a hostile military alliance sparked a war in 2014 that continues today. The standard narrative of the origins of the current Ukraine crisis, as the New York Times recently claimed, is that Ukrainians revolted in street protests that ousted "pro-Russian leader" Viktor Yanukovych, "prompting [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to order the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and instigate a separatist war in eastern Ukraine." In reality, the US backed a coup that overthrew Ukraine's elected government and sabotaged opportunities to avoid further conflict. The immediate background came in the fall of 2013, when the US and its allies pressured Yanukovych to sign a European Union association agreement that would have curtailed its ties to Russia. Contrary to how he is now portrayed, Yanukovych was not "pro-Russian", to the point where he even "cajoled and bullied anyone who pushed for Ukraine to have closer ties to Russia," Reuters reported at the time. To sign the EU deal, Ukraine would have to accept the harsh austerity demands of the IMF, which had publicly criticized Ukraine's "large pension and wage increases," and "generous energy subsidies." The agreement also contained a provision calling on Ukraine to adhere to the EU's "military and security" policies, "which meant in effect, without mentioning the alliance, NATO," as the late scholar Stephen F. Cohen argued. The EU proposal, the New York Times observed in November 2013, was the centerpiece of its "most important foreign policy initiative": an attempt to "draw in former Soviet republics and lock them on a trajectory of changes based on Western political and economic sensibilities." In the words of Carl Gershman, the then-head of the CIA-tied National Endowment for Democracy, "Ukraine is the biggest prize." In Gershman's fantasy, Ukraine's entry into the Western orbit would redound to Russia as well. "Ukraines choice to join Europe will accelerate the demise of the ideology of Russian imperialism that Putin represents," he wrote. " Putin may find himself on the losing end not just in the near abroad but within Russia itself." Although it would have been a boon for DC neoconservatives, accepting the EU's insistence on increasing the retirement age and freezing pensions and wages would have meant political suicide for Yanukovych. Putin capitalized by offering a more generous package of $15 billion in aid and gas subsidies, a deal that contained "no immediate quid pro quo for Russia," the New York Times noted. To lure Yanukovych, Russia even dropped a proposal, opposed by Ukraines Maidan protesters, that Ukraine join a Russian-led customs union. Putin's Ukraine offer, the Times added, was one of "several foreign policy moves that have served to re-establish Russia as a counterweight to Western dominance of world affairs." In the eyes of the Western domineers, the prospect of a Russian "counterweight" was an intolerable act. The US responded by ramping up support for the Maidan protests in Kiev and helping to sabotage an agreement with Yanukovych to hold new elections. Any pretense that the US was acting as an honest broker was obliterated in early February 2014 when Russia released a recording of an intercepted a phone call between then-senior Obama official Victoria Nuland and the US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. The US diplomats not only selected who would be Ukraine's next Prime Minister -- Arseniy Yatsenyuk but decided to exclude their EU allies from the process. "Yats is the guy," Nuland declared, before adding: "Fuck the EU." A major tipping point in the conflict came two weeks later, on February 20th, when nearly 50 Madain protesters were massacred by snipers. The Ukrainian opposition immediately accused government forces, sparking a series of events that led to Yanukovych's flight from the country two days later. Exhaustive research by the University of Ottawa's Ivan Katchanovski argues that the massacre was in fact "perpetrated principally by members of the Maidan opposition, specifically its far-right elements." Faced with the possibility of losing Russia's most important naval base at Sevastopol to a US-backed coup regime, Putin responded by seizing the Ukrainian territory of Crimea. Russia also provided military support to Ukrainians in the country's Donbas region hostile to the new coup government, sparking an ongoing war between the opposing sides. In Washington, the annexation of Crimea is widely seen as an expansionist act of aggression; even, according to Hillary Clinton, akin to "what Hitler did back in the 30s." In Crimea, Russia had the support of the majority of the population, if polls are to be believed. The same for the Russian population, across the political spectrum. "For [Russian] politicians, not vocally supporting, let alone questioning, the annexation of Crimea is practically akin to political suicide even for liberals," a European Union think tank observed in 2014. Even "Anti-Putin nationalists are enthusiastic backers of Putins territorial grab." (For over 200 years Crimea had been a territory of Russia, until Nikita Khrushchev assigned it to Ukraine, then a part of the Soviet Union.) A negotiated solution to the Donbas war has been in place since the signing of the Minsk II accords in 2015, as Anatol Lieven of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft has repeatedly stressed. The prospect of NATO expansion appears to be the pacts main obstacle to implementation. Minsk II calls for granting autonomy to the Donbas region in return for its demilitarization. But Ukraine has "[refused] to guarantee permanent full autonomy for the Donbas", Lieven writes, out of fear "that permanent autonomy for the Donbas would prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and the European Union, as the region could use its constitutional position within Ukraine to block membership." In Lieven's view, this could change with one critical shift: "If the United States drops the hopeless goal of NATO membership for Ukraine, it will be in a position to pressure the Ukrainian government and parliament to agree to a 'Minsk III' by the credible threat of a withdrawal of US aid and political support." War in Ukraine, profit in Washington As a result of the US drive for yet another NATO-aligned military outpost on Russia's borders, Ukraine has been decimated. The war in the Donbas has left nearly 14,000 dead. Ukraine's "conflict with Russia," Denys Kiryukhin of the Wilson Center observes, is one of the major factors that "accounts for the mass outmigration of Ukrainians since 2014." The Donbas war has encouraged a rise in far-right militancy inside Ukraine, including the notorious neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which has directly cooperated with the US military. The United States' European allies are also feeling the impact of Washington's entanglement with Russia over Ukraine. The current standoff is threatening Russia's energy exports, which account for about one-third of the European Union's gas and crude oil use. "It's going to be an incredibly hard sell in any European country, to say that you have a 10 times higher energy bill and we feel as though our supply is not plentiful enough, because of Ukraine," Kristine Berzina of the German Marshall Fund's Alliance for Securing Democracy, a US and NATO-funded think tank, told Axios. The picture is much rosier for those living through the war from Washington. "Youve got a lot of people who see profit in this conflict and thats the arms industry," retired Army colonel Douglas Macgregor, a senior Pentagon advisor under Trump, told me in a recent interview. "And the defense industrial complex sees this as an opportunity to spend a great deal of money on a whole range of armaments that they otherwise might not be able to sell." The arms industry has made no secret of its enthusiasm for the opportunities of NATO expansionism and the post-Maidan Ukraine market. US arms manufacturers "stand to gain billions of dollars in sales of weapons, communication systems and other military equipment if the Senate approves NATO expansion," the New York Times reported in March 1998. Accordingly, these arms manufacturers have made "enormous investments in lobbyists and campaign contributions to promote their cause in Washington." At the time, the "chief vehicle" for their cause was a group called the U.S. Committee to Expand NATO. The group's president, Bruce L. Jackson, carried out double duty: by day, the Times observed the previous year, "he is director of strategic planning for Lockheed Martin Corporation, the world's biggest weapons maker." As Andrew Cockburn of Harper's noted in 2015, Jackson's committee was firmly bipartisan, ranging "ideologically from Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle to Greg Craig, director of Bill Clintons impeachment defense and later Barack Obamas White House counsel." (Craig later became embroiled in a Ukraine corruption scandal, though he was acquitted on all charges.) Explaining his committee's staying power in Washington, Jackson told Cockburn: "Fuck Russia is a proud and long tradition in U.S. foreign policy. It doesnt go away overnight." Nor do the profits that result. Reporting in July 2017 that military stocks had reached "all-time highs," CNBC noted that "NATO concerns about Russia are seen as a positive for the defense industry." So is the ongoing war in Ukraine, where the US has shipped $2.7 billion in weapons since 2014, along with 200,000 pounds of fresh "lethal aid" in recent weeks and more promised via new spending bills. US government officials across the spectrum routinely laud these weapons shipments as "critically needed, congressionally approved military aid" to a "very fragile country fighting Russian aggression" (Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal, speaking on Democracy Now! in 2019). Putting aside the guiding imperial and profit-driven motives, the main impact of pouring US military hardware into the Donbas conflict is to prolong it. Writing in Foreign Policy, two analysts with the Pentagon-tied think tank Rand Corporation, Samuel Charap and Scott Boston, argue that "The Wests Weapons Wont Make Any Difference to Ukraine." The "military balance between Russia and Ukraine is so lopsided in Moscows favor," they write, that more new weapons from Washington "would be largely irrelevant in determining the outcome of a conflict." The authors also dispel another widely accepted bipartisan myth, that the US has been helping Ukraine resist "Russian aggression." In reality, Russian-backed militants in the east "are mainly armed with small arms and light weapons, along with some artillery and Soviet-era armor." Although Russsia has armed and trained its Donbas allies, "Ukraine has mainly not been fighting Russias armed forces" there. Instead, "the vast majority of rebel forces consist of localsnot soldiers of the regular Russian military." The Russian military has "never used more than a tiny fraction of its capabilities against the Ukrainians," with major military components, such as Russia's air force, "[not] involved in the fighting at all." The authors also remind their US audience of another overlooked reality: the costs of a full-blown war in Ukraine "will be disproportionately borne by Ukrainians." Should an insurgency develop, as the Biden administration is mulling, the conflict will reach a stage where "thousandsor, more likely, tens of thousandsof Ukrainians will have died." Those promoting such an outcome have made clear that they value NATO expansion and the attendant arms industry windfall over the lives of Ukrainians, Russians, and any others placed in the crossfire. The Biden administration can avoid ending many more lives if it can interrupt hegemony and war profiteering for a different set of principles. Vladimir Putin has new weapons to be used if NATO decides to attack Russia from the Ukraine border as tensions rise. These war toys are new to the Russian arsenal, from paratrooper dogs and autonomous AK-47s on the battlefield. Fears of an invasion by Moscow have been disproven by experts and even Kyiv, which have scaled back its claims of invasion due to insufficient troops. Russia's high tech arsenal Fears of a Russian invasion are fueled by the development of high-tech next-generation weapons that are part of Putin's lethal arsenal, armaments like robotic tanks, super-fast Mach 5+ missiles, and even special forces. Highly trained paratroops have been relocated close to the border, starting fears of a military coup to take over Kyiv, according to Express UK. Lancet drones with an X-wing called 'Flying Kalashnikovs' are used to attack UAV drones over the battlefield. One concept is autonomous flying mines that double as kamikaze attackers roam overhead, serving as recon planes. An airborne minefield of the kamikaze weapons would be programmed to loiter above a battlefield, and attack surveillance crafts, cited the Mirror UK. Drones might be seen engaged in dogfights as a first in modern combat, with the British and the US are not happy that their ships will be targets for suicide drones. Sighted moving to the Bryansk region, which borders both Ukraine and Belarus are specialist troops with equipment moving on the rails to the contested area, noted the Daily Mail. Almost 130,000 are already at the border sent by Vladimir Putin to locations in the north and east of countries that used to be part of the USSR which NATO is watching fearfully. Read Also: Russian 'Top Secret Army' Found in a Tablet With Information About Putin's Alleged Shadow Group UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Kremlin that guerillas would be fighting their forces with NATO jets. Even saying the US leader is thinking of sending troops to the tense border. But, it does not scare Mr. Putin, who can send KGB operatives to use unconventional weapons to fight indirectly to get a distinct advantage. Russian scientists claim to have created robot tank According to Russian scientists, Moscow has the first tanks that operate on their own complete with sensors, missiles, machine guns with flame throwers to take out enemies hiding on a trench. These assault Uran-9 strike robots were tested in Syria, said defense officials, and working as operational weapons.Working as a group or a single unit, these robots can be commanded via remote control or use its AI. One of these armored units is the BMPT-72 'Terminator' that could survive a nuclear attack and the T-14 super tank. Other units could deploy soldiers and para-dogs on special parachute harnesses. Exercises were done with soldier dogs with body armor jumping with Russian National Guard special forces. A Sprut-SDM1 (18-tons) could fire from three miles at sea, with a light tank that can land in land or water. Development of the S-70 Okhotnik or Hunter, a stealth-type UAV that is deadly to enemy forces, and a self-firing rifle seen at an arms exhibition. President Vladimir Putin's hybrid war against NATO is still deadly as these arms show what the Russians are capable of. Related Article: Putin Touts New Robotic Tank and More Weapons in the Zapad-2021 Wargames, NATO Countries Concerned @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Media Doesnt Want You to Know This Trucker convoys in Canada, massive protests through the streets of Europe, and large rallies in Washington D.C. The widespread anti-vaccine protests erupting across the entire world make up the largest protest movement in human history, dwarfing Black Lives Matter & the so-called Womans March by tens of millions. There are 50,000 truckers and 1.4M Canadians heading to parliament in Ottawa, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Trudeau. The trucker convoy is so large, there has yet to be a single set of footage capable of capturing it in its entirety. Below is the closest thing we could find. Drone view of the freedom trucker convoy in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The convoy is making its way to Ottawa to protest mandates and restrictions in the country.#FreedomConvoy2022 @BezirganMocha pic.twitter.com/LfDsmEi6A8 Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) January 26, 2022 2022122: 2022-01-22: Trucker Convoy drone footage in Downtown Vancouver truckers anti-vaccine mandate protest pic.twitter.com/8vtH11tZMJ PureLotusHeart (@PureLotusHeart1) January 23, 2022 Canadians set off fireworks last night as the truck convoy passed in protest against vaccine mandates and COVID restrictions. At over 70km long, Canadas convoy shatters the prior world record for longest truck convoy ever recorded.pic.twitter.com/ujPYScL2Cw Michael P Senger (@MichaelPSenger) January 26, 2022 We published a similar article just over one month ago, detailing the widespread nature of the protests, spanning every continent and hitting every major city. Today, the protests have grown considerably, as lockdowns and vaccine requirements continue. The police officers of the world are all that is standing in-between the people and government mandates that have destroyed the world economy, shuttering small businesses, and leaving untold millions out of work. The media, which has attempted to frame the anti-vaccine protests as fringe continue to blacklist any coverage of the widespread nature of these protests. They have lied about the number of infected, the number of the dead, and now they are lying about the number of those willing to take a stand against what can only be described as global government tyrrany. Below we will detail the expansive protests, with attendees in the tens of millions. Over 100,000 people have gathered to march in a massive protest against vaccine mandates and COVID tyranny today in Brussels, Belgium.pic.twitter.com/hn5TOqeUdw Michael P Senger (@MichaelPSenger) January 23, 2022 Incredible footage of the 100,000-strong protest against vaccine passes and COVID tyranny today in Brussels, Belgium.pic.twitter.com/MklOWy2oea Michael P Senger (@MichaelPSenger) January 23, 2022 Protests of unprecedented scale have been taking place throughout the week in cities across Germany against vaccine mandates and COVID tyranny. This is Munich tonight.pic.twitter.com/3J58kgoYxX Michael P Senger (@MichaelPSenger) January 26, 2022 Drone footage of the Paris protest against covid tyranny pic.twitter.com/DEX5ddU47D Pj Waldron (@waldron_pj) January 22, 2022 Tel Aviv gathers tonight to protest for an end to COVID mandates. pic.twitter.com/PkDuSvTIJG Aaron Ginn (@aginnt) January 23, 2022 MASSIVE freedom protest in Norway today. Thousands took to the streets to protest in Oslo. The march was so long I couldn't get it all on video. "Yes to freedom, no to covid passports" I'm reporting on the scene. pic.twitter.com/Tn56N6cVHD PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) January 22, 2022 Frances months-long protest movement against Macrons reign of vaccine passes and COVID tyranny shows no sign of slowing down. Montpellier today.pic.twitter.com/vMGK9M2iTX Michael P Senger (@MichaelPSenger) January 22, 2022 A huge protest today in Finland to call for an end to COVID emergency powers. pic.twitter.com/lLn277g442 Aaron Ginn (@aginnt) January 22, 2022 Huge protest in Toronto today. More and more people are growing tired of Covid mandates. pic.twitter.com/XEAzrHYlak Lincoln Jay (@lincolnmjay) January 22, 2022 Breaking: Thousands protest covid-mandates in Barcelona, Spain. pic.twitter.com/KDIcev8ptr Alfred States (@Alfred_StatesX) January 18, 2022 Large protest in London against the COVID-19 restrictions in the country. pic.twitter.com/AXcGBp4w4F Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) January 22, 2022 MASSIVE PROTEST AGAINST COVID TYRANNY IN DC TODAY pic.twitter.com/uixTz5v9IY WooPapa17 (@WooPaPa17) January 23, 2022 More than 60 different protests all across the Netherlands tonight against COVID mandates. pic.twitter.com/j2Es2w6aWK Aaron Ginn (@aginnt) January 19, 2022 Swedes take over Stockholm to protest the dystopian COVID pass system being implemented as a precursor to a CCP-style social credit system. Sweden is one of the most progressive counties in Europe. This isnt a right wing issue. Its a freedom issue. pic.twitter.com/eEllVbspx6 Prodigal Son (@ThePr0diga1S0n) January 23, 2022 In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche Alex Jones did a segment about the gay frogs again on his Austin, Texas-based InfoWars show in 2015, which I had by then listened to for half of a decade, and for which I had no regrets. He was alluding to what he had claimed for years is the homosexualization of life on Earth via chemical castration by the shadowy powers that be. In 2015, he reported the corporate state was putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin frogs gay in between bouts of orgasmic sweaty rage that climaxed in slamming his fists on his InfoWars studio desk. What hair he had left on his large head would puff up like a disturbed bird nest after each fist-fall and gently fall back into place. Hitlers did the same thing when he got into the groove. Alex explained further: the chemical to blame was Atrazine, a common herbicide that leeches into the water supply and then, presumably, into frogs which then become sexually dysfunctional. The males, once exposed, begin to exhibit hermaphroditic behaviors. The internet supplied a bunch of remixes to mock what, in the first impression, understandably seems like outlandish claims. (Alex Jones remixes are supremely entertaining.) The first time I heard Alex talk about it in 2013 or so, I never diligently looked into the data behind the gay frogs thing, and I rarely brought it up in casual conversation, then or now. But neither did I dismiss it out of hand. Stranger things have proved true I am forever Nick Carraway, mild-mannered-descendent-of-Midwestern farmers-turned-Great-Gatsby-narrator, bearing witness to the wonders of the human condition with an open mind. Im inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me. -Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby The corporate media had a predictable heyday mocking Jones for his admittedly flamboyant characterization of what Atrizine does to reproductive function. They pearl-clutched like only hen-pecking CNN anchors can, breathlessly accusing him of promoting homophobia, transphobia, etc. The gay frogs thing routinely tops the list of lazy Alex-Jones-conspiracy-theory-roundup-type articles when hacks have deadlines and need some fresh slop for their bovine readers. In the canon of weaponized talking points, only his Sandy Hook false flag claims take the cake (because those open him up for vindictive lawsuits). But the pesticides turning the frogs gay claim is oddly specific one that warranted, in my estimation, a second glance. Out of curiosity, I looked into the issue myself. I discovered this little ditty titled Atrazine induces complete feminization and chemical castration in male African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis), published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (noted conspiracy-theory mongers?), which the National Institutes of Health (also noted conspiracy-theory mongers?) republished online: Atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide contaminant of ground, surface, and drinking water. Atrazine is also a potent endocrine disruptor that is active at low, ecologically relevant concentrations. Previous studies showed that atrazine adversely affects amphibian larval development. The present study demonstrates the reproductive consequences of atrazine exposure in adult amphibians. Atrazine-exposed males were both demasculinized (chemically castrated) and completely feminized as adults. Ten percent of the exposed genetic males developed into functional females that copulated with unexposed males and produced viable eggs . Atrazine-exposed males suffered from depressed testosterone, decreased breeding gland size, demasculinized/feminized laryngeal development, suppressed mating behavior, reduced spermatogenesis, and decreased fertility. Which begs the question: when the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America publishes scientific evidence of pesticide-induced hormone disruption, are they also promulgating homophobic conspiracy theories? Or another question: if I could google some shit and discover this fact in about two minutes, why is the corporate media, with all its resources, unable to uncover the same facts? I had often wondered what special talent makes for a successful network TV anchor, or a Washington Post columnist, in a world full of more deserving, honest, piercing talent. Somewhere along the way, the answer became manifest: Corporate media figures and politicians arent necessarily just dumb (although Wolf Blitzer surely is that too), theyre dumb on purpose. They advance their careers on account of their utilitarian, manageable minds being just dumb enough to never have an original thought yet just smart enough to read credibly off of the teleprompter and instinctively toe the line. Thats their special talent. Company men posing as inquiring minds and thought leaders. Theyre institutionalized. Brooks aint no bug. Hes just just institutionalized The mans been in here fifty years, Heywood. Fifty years! This is all he knows. In here, hes an important man. Hes an educated man. Outside, hes nothin! Just a used up con with arthritis in both hands These walls are funny. First you hate em, then you get used to em. Enough time passes, you get so you depend on them. Thats institutionalized. -Red, Shawshank Redemption That September 2017 InfoWars broadcast was the straw that broke the camels back. It permanently obliterated whatever semblance of confidence in the authorities had remained. My default assumption, from then until forever, was that whatever the corporate media claimed was a damnable lie until proven otherwise. Distrust and verify, to play on the old Cold War Warhorse Ronald Reagans turn of phrase. The veneer of respectability in which the bastards cloak themselves had forever slipped away. Emperor, no clothes, etc. Knowledge is provisional and we are yet to approach even the first moment of civilized understanding. The way it is to be done is by trusting yourself, trusting your intuition. -Terence McKenna Reject authority; trust yourself. Ben Bartee is a Bangkok-based American journalist with opposable thumbs. Follow his stuff via his blog, Armageddon Prose, Substack, Patreon, Gab, and Twitter. The coup was announced on state television Monday by a young officer who said the military had suspended the constitution and dissolved the government. Beside him sat a camouflage-clad man whom he introduced as Burkina Fasos new leader: Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the commander of one of the countrys three military regions. Damiba is a highly trained soldier, thanks in no small part to the U.S. military, which has a long record of training soldiers in Africa who go on to stage coups. Damiba, it turns out, participated in at least a half-dozen U.S. training exercises, according to U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM. In 2010 and 2020, he participated in an annual special operations training program known as the Flintlock exercise. In 2013, Damiba was accepted into an Africa Contingency Operations Training and Assistance course, which is a State Department-funded peacekeeping training program. In 2013 and 2014, Damiba attended the U.S.-sponsored Military Intelligence Basic Officer Course-Africa. And in 2018 and 2019, he participated in engagements with a U.S. Defense Department Civil Military Support Element in Burkina Faso. Damiba is just the latest in a carousel of coup leaders in West Africa trained by the U.S. military as the U.S. has pumped in more than $1 billion in security assistance to promote stability in the region. Since 2008, U.S.-trained officers have attempted at least nine coups (and succeeded in at least eight) across five West African countries, including Burkina Faso (three times), Guinea, Mali (three times), Mauritania, and the Gambia. Since the 2000s, the United States has regularly deployed small teams of commandos to advise, assist, and accompany local forces, even into battle; provided weapons, equipment, and aircraft; offered many forms of training, including Flintlock, which is conducted by Special Operations Command Africa and focused on enhancing the counterterrorism capabilities of nations in West Africa, including Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. When the U.S. prioritizes tactical training, we overlook longer-term goals that could create more stable governments, said Lauren Woods, director of the Security Assistance Monitor, which is a program of the nonprofit Center for International Policy. We need more transparency and public debate on the foreign military training that we provide. And we need to do a much better job thinking about the long-term risks including coups and abuses by forces we train. AFRICOM emphasizes that its security cooperation and capacity-building activities foster the development of professional militaries, which are disciplined and committed to the well-being of their citizens. U.S. military training regularly includes modules on the law of armed conflict, subjugation to civilian control, and respect for human rights, AFRICOM spokesperson Kelly Cahalan told The Intercept. Military seizures of power are inconsistent with U.S. military training and education. But coups detat by U.S.-trained officers have become an increasingly common occurrence in Burkina Faso and elsewhere in the region. Since 2008, U.S.-trained officers have attempted at least nine coups (and succeeded in at least eight) across five West African countries. Last summer, for example, American Green Berets arrived in Guinea to train a special forces unit led by Col. Mamady Doumbouya, a charismatic young officer who had also served in the French Foreign Legion. In September, members of Doumbouyas unit took time out from their ongoing instruction in small unit tactics, tactical combat casualty care, and the law of armed conflict to storm the presidential palace and depose the countrys 83-year-old president, Alpha Conde. Doumbouya soon declared himself Guineas new leader and the U.S. ended the training. In 2020, Col. Assimi Goita, who worked with U.S. Special Operations forces for years, participating in Flintlock training exercises and attending a Joint Special Operations University seminar at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, headed the junta that overthrew Malis government. The act of mutiny in Mali is strongly condemned and inconsistent with U.S. military training and education, Marine Corps Lt. Col. Anton T. Semelroth, a Pentagon spokesperson, said at the time. After staging the coup, Goita stepped down and took the job of vice president in a transitional government tasked with returning Mali to civilian rule. But nine months later, he seized power again in his second coup. Goita wasnt even the first U.S.-trained Malian officer to overthrow the countrys government. In 2011, when a U.S.-backed uprising in Libya toppled autocrat Muammar Gaddafi, Tuareg fighters in his service looted the regimes weapons caches, traveled to their native Mali and began to take over the northern part of that country. Angered by the ineffective response of his government, Amadou Sanogo an officer who learned English in Texas, received intelligence training in Arizona, and underwent Army infantry-officer basic training in Georgia took matters into his own hands and overthrew his countrys democratically elected government. America is a great country with a fantastic army, he said after the 2012 coup. I tried to put all the things I learned there into practice here. In 2014, another U.S.-trained officer, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida, seized power in Burkina Faso amid popular protests. Two years earlier, when he was a major, Zida attended a counterterrorism training course at MacDill Air Force Base that was sponsored by Joint Special Operations University and attended a military intelligence course in Botswana that was financed by the U.S. government. The next year, another coup in Burkina Faso installed Gen. Gilbert Diendere. Diendere had not only taken part in a U.S.-led Flintlock counterterrorism exercise, but he also served as a literal advertisement for it, appearing in an AFRICOM photo addressing Burkinabe soldiers before their deployment to Mali in support of the 2010 Flintlock exercise. On Sunday, 39 Chinese military planes flew into Taiwan's air-defense identification zone. Fighter jets and special-mission aircraft are often used by China in its near-daily flights into the ADIZ, which Taiwan monitors but is not its airspace. According to statistics collected by Taiwan's Ministry of Defense, the January 23 sortie was the first since December 10 and the sixth since October 4 to contain an H-6 bomber. China sends second-largest incursion of jets in Taiwan Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines are among the first island chains that China has bombed, demonstrating how the Chinese military has increased in strength and capabilities in recent years. When US Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown took over as commander of Pacific Air Forces in July 2018, his staff emphasized the progress of China's bomber fleet during the previous five years in an early briefing. In the mid-2010s, the emphasis on long-range bomber flights began to develop. President Xi Jinping of China backed the air force's strategic operations concept in April 2014, and a year later, for the first time, an H-6K flew over the Bashi Channel between the Philippines and Taiwan. Bombers passed into the Miyako Strait between Japanese islands north of Taiwan a few months later. The number of flights has only grown. The air force was ordered to resume flying near Taiwan, which has major military stations on its east coast, in late 2016. After taking over as the chief of China's air force, he stated in 2017 that the service's strategic purpose necessitated it being able to "project power and conduct attacks over vast distances" and that "open seas exercises would become a regular element of training." Insider reported. Following 48 hours of heavy Chinese warplane activities involving more than 50 aircraft, a US Navy aircraft appeared to circle near Taiwan early on Tuesday. Read Also: NATO Sends Fighter Jets, Ships to Eastern Europe After US Alerts 8,500 Troops on Possible Russian Invasion of Ukraine China's naval, military power in Taiwan grow One of the Navy's P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol planes was picked up by plane spotters patrolling the skies over the democratic island, which China claims as part of its territory, when it departed an air base in Okinawa, Japan, before heading south to the Bashi Channel. According to a flight pattern published by the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Peking University think tank tracking American military movements around China, the aircraft turned northeast and headed through the Taiwan Strait, the narrow body of water separating Taiwan and China, as per Newsweek. The amount of PLA flights, according to Su Tzu-Yun, a research fellow at Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research, is simply one area of worry for Taiwan and its allies. In the future years, he warned China's new and more powerful WS10 engine in stealth fighter fighters, as well as its developing nuclear weapons and naval capacity. By combining forces, he believes the PLA will evolve from a "green water navy" that must stay close to ports and coastlines to an ocean-going "blue water navy" that can sail hundreds of nautical miles from shore, potentially posing an international danger. Taiwan, which was originally dubbed an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" by US General Douglas McArthur due to its strategic location between continental Asia and the Pacific Ocean, has received increased attention as a result of China's expanding naval and military dominance. To keep China out of the Pacific, it is also a key component of the US "first island chain" military plan, which includes sections of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Japan's southern Ryukyu Islands, according to VOA News. Related Article: Beijing Accuses US, Japan of Baseless Smearing After Biden-Kishida Meeting; US Sends Two Aircraft Carriers to South China Sea To 'Counter Malign Influence' @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. 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. Help Our Community Please help local businesses by taking an online survey to help us navigate through these unprecedented times. None of the responses will be shared or used for any other purpose except to better serve our community. The survey is at: www.pulsepoll.com $1,000 is being awarded. Everyone completing the survey will be able to enter a contest to Win as our way of saying, "Thank You" for your time. Thank You! Take The Survey The Canada Border Services Agency is warning of scammers pretending to be from the government agency to steal money and personal information. Advertisement Advertise With Us The Canada Border Services Agency is warning of scammers pretending to be from the government agency to steal money and personal information. The scam could come through email, web, text messages and phone calls, according to the CBSA. "The methods and messages used by the scammers are varied and ever-changing, but always designed to demand money and lure the public into providing personal information," the agency said in a press release. The calls could show phone numbers and employee names that falsely appear to be from the CBSA, but are spoofed. Specifically, people should look out for fake websites and mobile apps posing as ArriveCan or the Electronic Travel Authorization and asking for money, according to the press release. ArriveCan is free and is the official federal government platform to provide information before arriving in Canada. An application for the Electronic Travel Authorization can only be made through the Government of Canadas website and costs $7. Emails could contain the CBSA logo, email addresses, employee names and titles to mislead the public. The border services agency will never ask for a social insurance number or credit card number by phone or email, according to a press release. "If an individual receives a telephone call or an email asking for this information, or requesting payments from the CBSA, it is a scam. If this happens, please ignore, hang up, dont answer the text or email and report the incident to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre." The CBSA issued a similar warning in October. Scammers have also spoofed the phone number of the Brandon Police Service in an almost identical scam. On Jan. 10, scammers stole $900 and a social insurance number from a Brandonite by pretending to be from Service Canada. The scammers also pretended from the police service in subsequent calls to them. dmay@brandonsun.com Twitter: @DrewMay_ Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is upset because people are enraged by his statements regarding Black voters. The Senate minority leader couldn't tolerate the concept that he'd be able to categorize African-American votes differently at first. Senator slams "outrageous mischaracterization" of his comment During the Rev. Martin Luther King's March in Washington in 1963, McConnell also mentioned that he was a civil rights activist. He also claimed to have been present when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and helped organize a civil rights march at Kentucky's state capitol. It's ironic because he's not doing anything similar right now. McConnell went on to explain that he has had African-American speechwriters, schedulers, and office managers throughout the years and that he supports Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron becoming the first Black person in that position, as per Yahoo. On Friday, McConnell, who has been a vocal opponent of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a significant piece of election legislation that failed to pass in the House of Representatives, reaffirmed that there will be no more unsuccessful efforts to enact it. Historically, however, Black voter turnout has trailed below that of white voters, especially in the 2020 presidential election. Following legislation passed by some states since the 2020 election that allowed people to vote in unprecedented short-term increments during the pandemic's turbulent first year, many Black voters, as well as members of King's family and other prominent people and organizations, have warned that ballot access could be severely limited. Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, as well as McConnell and other GOP senators, voted to block Senate Democrats from modifying the filibuster rules that would have allowed them to approve the measure with a simple majority of 51 votes instead of 60, according to USA Today. Read Also: Donald Trump Says Russia-Ukraine Tensions Wouldn't Have Happened If He's POTUS McConnell praises the Biden administration Amid all of this, McConnell said on Tuesday that he was "encouraged" by indications from President Joe Biden's office that he was prepared for the action ahead of any Russian intervention in Ukraine. According to the Pentagon, 8,500 troops would be placed on high alert in the region, and that number is expected to grow. Biden has been accused of being weak in his foreign policy by McConnell, who has repeatedly demanded a more robust reaction. He claimed he had been in touch with the White House over Ukraine on Tuesday. After Russia invaded Ukraine, McConnell accused Biden of delaying to intervene after 100,000 Russian troops remained near the country's northern, eastern, and southern borders. The vice president also stated that he would consider placing direct penalties on Russian President Vladimir Putin. McConnell's tone contrasted with a week ago when the clamor of war became louder. Then he slammed Biden's performance in the news conference, in which he was heavily chastised for suggesting that a limited invasion would only draw a small international response. Moscow claims that it is not preparing for an attack. In recent weeks, however, Russia has held military maneuvers and pushed soldiers closer to the Ukrainian border. He also went into great detail about how the United States is preparing to send troops to support NATO forces if necessary, with 8,500 troops currently on "heightened alert." Mail Online reported. Related Article: Voting Rights Bill Fails in Senate After a Day of Debate; Why Failure Is a Setback for Democrats? @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Sioux Valley Dakota Nation is seeking federal funding to support its ongoing research into the former Brandon Indian Residential School site. Advertisement Advertise With Us TIM SMITH/THE BRANDON SUN (FILE) Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Chief Jennifer Bone. Sioux Valley Dakota Nation is seeking federal funding to support its ongoing research into the former Brandon Indian Residential School site. The funding application from Sioux Valley comes after an agreement was signed between the federal government and Dakota Tipi First Nation to guide potential unmarked gravesite investigations into five former residential school sites, including Sandy Bay, Portage la Prairie, Assiniboia, Brandon, and Fort Alexander (Sagkeeng). The agreement will create a survivor-led steering committee to search each of the sites, but also to research various places, including church and Hudson Bay Co. records, St. Boniface Archives and the Winnipeg-based National Centre of Truth and Reconciliation, to determine how many students attended the schools. The partnership between the federal government and Dakota Tipi First Nation will not directly impact Sioux Valley Dakota Nation research into the former Brandon residential school site that has been taking place since 2012, according to Sioux Valley Chief Jennifer Bone. "Moving forward, we will just need to communicate with each other between Dakota Tipi and Sioux Valley Dakota Nation and any other stakeholders to ensure we all have the same vision for our projects and not to duplicate each others efforts," Bone said. Sioux Valley is in the process of completing a funding application and is working with the federal government to clarify the logistics of the application, she added. The deadline for the application is Feb. 15. The current funding for the Sioux Valley project is provided by the SSHRC Partnership Development Grant allocated through post-secondary institutions. Sioux Valleys research into the former Brandon residential school has been ongoing since 2012 and to date has never received federal or provincial funding specific to the project. "Im glad that we have this opportunity to actually receive funding to do the work and well be working alongside to ensure that all the work that has to be done around this sensitive issue is being completed." The current available federal funding also has the potential to encourage collaboration between other nations and Indigenous organizations to help them move forward with residential school research, she said. The federal funding would aid in the search for unmarked graves. Since its inception, the priority of the project has been identifying the remains of the 104 potential graves at the site. Bone said about 78 are only known based on the current historical record. A challenging and key part of work is researching archives and records to learn the identities of the buried children a task that is not always easy as records can be sparse or missing, Bone said. "There are families and the people out there that dont know where their loved ones are buried, or the location. "Its about education and awareness and the general public knowing about the residential schools and what took place." The ongoing investigation at the former Brandon residential school not only affects Sioux Valley, she noted, but several First Nations, because Indigenous children were sent to the site "from all directions." When it comes to residential school research and funding communication, Bone said, it will be critical to ensure everyone is on the same page and shares a vision for each site. This communication needs to include survivors because they have living memories of the institutions and can provide insights into the experience. "Some of the stories that the elders share they may not be in the archives, they may not be documented," Bone said. "I think that its important that that plays an important part of any project moving forward." This scope of the project has remained constant, Bone said, although it has been amplified, and awareness has grown since the acknowledgment of unmarked graves in Kamloops, B.C., in May 2021. Simon Fraser University PhD candidate Katherine Nichols has been working with Sioux Valley to uncover information on the former Brandon residential school for nearly 10 years. The nation recently had a chapter published in the book "Royally Wronged" by The Royal Society of Canada and Indigenous Peoples, providing an overview of the history of residential schools and explaining why investigations into the facilities traumatic legacy are needed. Survivors, community and family members have always known about the damaging and traumatic impact of residential schools in Canada, Nichols said, but it was not until the archeology uncovered unmarked graves that Western perspectives started taking the impact of the schools seriously. "The conversation has really changed. Indian residential schools and unmarked graves are just on the public radar in a way that they werent before," Nichols said. "Even though weve been asking for support for multiple years to address some of these serious gaps and gaps in legislation and policy that have allowed these residential school cemeteries to go unprotected, thats left the potential unmarked graves in limbo, and its just also really permitted the missing Indigenous children to remain anonymous. Those are still things that we need to actively work towards." A key part of addressing these challenges is supporting Indigenous communities in building the capacity to conduct and lead investigations, like the project being undertaken by Sioux Valley. Sioux Valley has developed a positive working relationship with the United Church of Canada archives, specifically the Conference of Manitoba Northwest Ontario and All Natives Circles in Winnipeg in the last decade, Nichols said. They also recently began developing a working relationship with the Hudson Bay Company Archives at the Archives of Manitoba. However, some archives are difficult to come by. "Its hard to access these historical documents even for legitimate reasons, so members of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation and I have been trying for years to find and access these records," Nichols said. "They really are difficult to locate; they are incomplete and they are still really highly restricted." Doors are slowly opening, but some challenges remain in place. "Talking through the challenges and also designing a plan that is culturally appropriate [is important]. These investigations, there is flexibility in them, but there needs to be a lot of support for that initial planning stage," Nichols said. "There is progress being made." with files from the Winnipeg Free press ckemp@brandonsun.com Twitter: @The_ChelseaKemp A family of four Indian nationals was only in Canada for a week before their bodies were found frozen in Manitoba near the Canada-U. S. border, RCMP said Thursday as new details emerged about the deaths believed to be linked to a human smuggling operation. Advertisement Advertise With Us Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel (left to right), son Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, wife Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, and daughter Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel are shown in a handout photo. Officials in Ottawa say they have confirmed the identities of four Indian nationals whose bodies were found frozen in Manitoba near the Canada-U.S. border last week. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Amritbhai Vakil **MANDATORY CREDIT** A family of four Indian nationals was only in Canada for a week before their bodies were found frozen in Manitoba near the Canada-U. S. border, RCMP said Thursday as new details emerged about the deaths believed to be linked to a human smuggling operation. The High Commission of India in Ottawa and RCMP released the identities of the four who died. They were Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, a 39-year-old man; Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, a 37-year-old woman; and their children Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, an 11-year-old girl; and Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, a three-year-old boy. Investigators believe the family was attempting to cross into the United States by foot around Jan. 19 during severe winter weather and died from exposure. Police provided some details into the family's journey from Gujarat, a state in western India. The family arrived in Toronto on Jan. 12 and that was their first point of entry, said RCMP Chief Supt. Rob Hill. Hill said the family made its way to Manitoba but he couldn't confirm the date of arrival. Police believe the Patels were dropped off near the border near Emerson. "This is an extended period of time for a family who is unfamiliar with Canada to be travelling across the country. A part of the investigation is determining whether this travel was facilitated in some way by an individual or individuals," Hill said. RCMP are asking anyone with information related to the family's time in Canada to come forward. That could include people who may have interacted with the Patels at restaurants, gas stations or hotels. "Think about what they went through and step forward," said Hill. Police originally said one of the victims was a male teen. RCMP, apologizing for the error, said the frozen bodies and the family's clothing made identification difficult. Mounties continue to work with authorities at the national and international level. They said no one was in custody on the Canadian side. The family was from Dingucha, a village in Gujarat, said Amritbhai Vakil, a relative. Vakil, who lives in the U.S., described the village as quiet with almost every home having a family living in the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia or Canada. Vakil said family in India were aware the Patels had travelled to Canada, but lost touch with them days after they landed. The father came from a well-to-do middle-class family, he said. Patel helped his father farm and worked in a school and as a salesman, Vakil said. "I don't know what they wanted to do in the U.S." The High Commission of India said in a release that the family's immediate relatives had been informed. RCMP found the bodies after U.S. border patrol agents advised police that they had picked up a group of Indian nationals on the U.S. side. Two people were found in a van in the U.S. with a man who now faces human smuggling charges. A group of five were picked up by border patrol officers a short distance away. Steve Shand of Deltona, Fla., faces counts of transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens. He was released from custody on Monday. Court documents state one of the individuals told officers his group had been walking for 11 hours through the bitter cold. The man said he had paid a large amount of money to get a fake student visa in Canada and was expecting a ride to a relative's home in Chicago after he crossed, the documents say. The U.S. Border Patrol said the seven people who did cross have been released while they are being processed for deportation. The High Commission of India said there are ongoing conversations with Canada about issues related to migration and the welfare of citizens residing in either country. "On longer-term issues that this tragedy has brought into focus, (there's) the need to ensure that migration and mobility are made safe and legal and that such tragedies do not recur." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2022. With files from Kelly Malone in Winnipeg ___ This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. At Friday mornings Board of Visitors (BoV) meeting, JMU leadership announced recognition with a new national university status, heard from President Jonathan Alger in his Presidential report including on mental health in the community following a string of localized tragedies and covered updates in the Virginia General Assembly legislative session and on COVID-19. Want to praise someone or get something off your chest? Darts and Pats is the place to do it. Major retailers Kogan and Premier Investments have revealed Australians are still keen to do their shopping online, but both companies have warned that pandemic-inspired supply chain struggles are continuing to seriously disrupt operations. In a trading update on Thursday morning, online-only seller Kogan revealed a steep fall in its earnings for the first half of fiscal 2022 after a swathe of higher marketing costs, supply chain delays, and millions in executive compensation weakened the business bottom line. Ruslan Kogans online group is winning extra customers but grappling with supply chain disruptions which are affecting all players in the retail sector. Credit: Gross profit at the business fell 4.4 per cent to $112.4 million as the company was forced to spend more on advertising and faced higher costs shipping and stocking items as COVID-induced supply chain disruptions wore on the business. Retailers across the globe have wrestled with unprecedented levels of supply chain disruption during the pandemic, which has caused the repeated closure of numerous major ports, sharply increased consumer demand, and led to shortages in key items such as microchips. Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size After making history at last Novembers ARIA Awards with an acclaimed debut album so ambitiously crafted that even Barack Obama gave it an international co-sign, youd forgive a local indie artist a few celebratory indulgences. An extended jaunt in LA, for example. A slick rental by the beach, perhaps. Genesis Owusu, however, is back in his childhood home in Canberra. His mother Doris, a high school history and English teacher, and his father Elliot, a retired probation officer, are right down the hall. His desk is littered with mixing equipment, a portrait of George Condos ballerina, as featured on the cover of Kanye Wests My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, on the wall behind him. Im just chilling, man, the 23-year-old says over Zoom. Just trying to learn new things, trying to live my life. Musician and multi-ARIA winner Genesis Owusu. Credit:Wolter Peeters. Hes been teaching himself how to DJ and learning some languages, French and Twi, his native Ghanaian tongue. Obviously, I lost that when I came over here so young and it was all about English, he explains. Im just after some new experiences, and through that Ill have more to talk about in the music. Last year was a game-changer for the musician, real name Kofi Owusu-Ansah. Smiling With No Teeth, his intensely personal yet charmingly playful concept album, released on indie label Ourness, might be one of the most complete artistic statements ever produced in Australian music. That it earned international acclaim was perhaps inevitable (in the streaming age, even Canberra isnt a barrier to global discovery); that it earned album of the year recognition from the ARIAs, an institution thats long overlooked local hip-hop excellence, was a historic triumph. Unmasking Kofi Owusu-Ansah, better known as ARIA winner Genesis Owusu. Credit:Wolter Peeters. It was nuts, and it makes me recompute what I thought I knew about the industry, says Owusu-Ansah. He feels timing played a part in the albums reception, that after the #BlackLivesMatter cohesion of June 2020, when even local record labels posted their black Instagram squares and reinforced their commitment to black voices, the local music industry was forced to take notice of the diverse artists, mainly hip-hop and R&B DIY-ers, it had traditionally sidelined. Advertisement I never thought an album like this would get validation from the places it has, and I think two, three, maybe even a year ago, I wouldve been right, he says. But things are changing so rapidly around so many facets of society, that the music industry isnt immune to that. Which is a crazy thing, cause obviously I could never have predicted that. Its all the way the universe is moving, I guess, and Im just here for the ride. In December, former US president Barack Obama included the single Gold Chains on his annual playlist of his favourite songs of the year. Just weeks ago, Owusu-Ansah and his Smiling With No Teeth backing band (Kirin J. Callinan, Michael Di Francesco, Julian Sudek and Andrew Klippel) performed on Stephen Colberts US late night talk show. Its a bit surreal, and it feels more surreal just because of the times were in where Im not there physically, he says (due to Omicron, the Colbert performance was recorded remotely from Sydney). Like, its very hard to gauge that all this crazy stuff is happening when Im just watching it from my room, on my phone, you know? Its a bit Black Mirror-esque. According to data from his Spotify for Artists app (a sort of Moneyball for musicians), the US is now his biggest market, says Owusu-Ansah. Even before Obamas nod and Colberts TV spot, he noticed a spike in US fans after influential YouTube music critic Anthony Fantano (of The Needle Drop) bigged up his album last March. Its been interesting. I definitely get a lot more notifications now, he jokes. I have definitely acknowledged a lot more eyes on me and, I dont know, I guess a lot more mainstream validation. That must explain the unlikely escape to his childhood bedroom in Canberra, I posit. After several years of steady grinding, a homey retreat from the worlds sudden ravenous glare must be comforting? Advertisement Sure, something like that, he laughs, a polite retort to a journalists ready-made narrative. I can feel the subtext: Come on, lets not make this so predictable. Genesis Owusu with his four ARIA Awards. Credit:Brendon Thorne/Getty Images A distaste for convention is central to both Owusu-Ansahs creative success and personal identity. Born in Ghana, his family migrated to Australia when he was two years old and settled in Tuggeranong in Canberra, where Owusu-Ansahs aunt was already raising a family. I think [Canberra] was the only place we knew people. My dads sister already lived here; she had a family of six packed into their house, then we came in with no money and so it was, like, 10 people living in five bedrooms. My parents were on their grind, Owusu-Ansah recalls. My dad started stacking shelves at Woolies, my mum became a house cleaner and eventually we got our own apartment. I guess our story started from there. I was raised in Canberra and I learned to love it. Growing up, the immigrant community in Tuggeranong beyond his family was non-existent. Owusu-Ansah says being the only black kid at St Francis of Assisi Primary School in Calwell, alongside his older brother Kojo, shaped his personality. That was the first time I felt like an outsider, and it didnt feel like there was anyone else like me, he says. In a negative aspect initially, but by living through that I learned how to flip it into a positive, and Ive carried that mentality throughout my whole life. Which is why my music is the way it is; it never wouldve been like this if Id grown up in probably any place besides Canberra, you know? Advertisement Genesis Owusu as a young child. Credit:Instagram Owusu-Ansahs brother Kojo is the hip-hop artist Citizen Kay, whose Demokracy EP and feature album With the People earned ARIA nominations for best urban album in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Owusu-Ansah says he leaned into his outsider identity after seeing Kojos experience at school. The way I looked at it when I was younger was I had two choices: assimilate and try my best to fit in, or do the exact opposite. Like, theres no right or wrong answer to that question of which route to take, but my brother is five years older than me, I saw him choosing the assimilation route and I knew that wasnt the way for me. Ive grown into that whole outsider label, as a means of just being myself... But growing up you have to figure out who you are. Genesis Owusu In his ARIA speech, Owusu-Ansah described getting side-eyed growing up, for the way he dressed and the things he did. It was, he suggests, a way of owning the attention his skin attracted: if youre looking at me anyway, then Ill decide what youre looking at. At this point in life Ive grown into that whole outsider label, as a means of just being myself to the fullest extent. But growing up you have to figure out who you are, so it started as a contrarian type of thing, like, because you think I should do this Im going to do the opposite, he explains. Its not even intrinsically who I am, but thats just what it was. I would purposely dress in ways that I knew would shock people. But because I was a fan of, like, Kanye and Pharrell at the time, I was seeing, like, first they hate, then they emulate, he laughs. So I had that mindset of trying to start something new, do something cool, start a new movement. Advertisement The contrarian streak also, initially, extended to music. Because Kojo had already taken over the household study to make beats and record rhymes, Owusu-Ansah turned the other way. It was like, Im the younger brother, everyone expects me to make music too, so Im not going to. That was my thing. But obviously, we were living in the same house so it was inescapable. He was getting his friends into our house to record, so eventually he got me. It was the best thing that couldve happened. I resisted it for so long but this is all thanks to him, thats for sure. The genesis of Genesis was his brothers doing, too. Back when they were in primary school, Kojos friends started badgering him about his little brothers name. Kofi, hed tell them, pronouncing it like coffee, but they wouldnt believe him. He came up with the name Genesis to get them off his back, and it stuck, Owusu-Ansah explains. Young Kofi (right) with his brother Kojo and mother Doris. Alongside its manic genre digressions, Smiling With No Teeths intricate use of a black dog motif to explore depression, racism and righteous self-worth signals a writers mind. Owusu-Ansah says hes always been writing: short stories in primary school transitioned to poetry as a teenager. After graduating from St Mary MacKillop College in 2016 and just as his music was attracting Triple J buzz (he was among five finalists in the stations Unearthed High in 2015), he even studied journalism at uni (I already knew I wanted to do music, but my parents wanted me to have a backup, he explains). You know when youre growing up and everyones like, what do you want to be when youre older? I was going to be an author, he laughs. I feel like in my school, in my group of friends, I was the only one who wrote, read and listened to poetry. No one else did! I feel like in my school...I was the only one who wrote, read and listened to poetry, Genesis Owusu says. Credit:Wolter Peeters. Advertisement The White House said on Wednesday that when the COVID-19 vaccine is authorized, it would most likely be three doses for children under the age of four and that millions of Pfizer antiviral tablets will be made accessible in the following months. At a news briefing, White House top medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said two clinical studies of the Pfizer vaccine are beginning on children ages 6 months to 2 years old, and ages 2 to 4, although the older group hasn't yet satisfied guidelines. Children to get 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccine Until then, despite allegations that the drug has been difficult to locate in recent weeks, White House officials agreed to issue millions more Pfizer antiviral tablets by June. The vow to enhance pill availability and to continue developing vaccinations for the young age range come amid a seven-day daily average of 692,400 COVID-19 cases and roughly 2,200 fatalities each day in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A potentially more infectious new Omicron sub-variant has been discovered in at least 40 nations, including roughly 100 cases in the United States, according to health experts throughout the world, according to the New York Post. Vaccinating young children against COVID-19 will take time, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday. Even while the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) head said he expected children under the age of five to receive three doses of immunizations, he couldn't give a date for when the federal government would authorize the use of those vaccines in an emergency. The FDA is being "scrupulous" in making sure "that when these vaccinations become accessible for children at those ages that we can be convinced that they will be safe and efficacious," according to Fauci, indicating that the system is working. For months, Pfizer and BioNTech have been studying a vaccine that protects young children, but Fauci said Wednesday that the original results from trial participants aged 2 to 4 didn't meet experts' expectations although doses for children aged 6 months to 2 "worked effectively." In October, the FDA issued an emergency use permission for COVID-19 vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11, but parents of children younger than that have been held in limbo ever since. Fauci said on Wednesday that he wasn't aware of the FDA's continuing approval procedure or that he wasn't privy to the data, according to Virginia Mercury. Read Also: South Carolina Lawmakers Suggest $14,000 Fine For Asking About Vaccination Status Fauci hits back to his critics Meanwhile, Fauci retaliated against "purely political" assaults on himself and his colleagues in the field of public health for their attempts to keep COVID-19 under control. In an interview that aired on Wednesday, the nation's top infectious disease doctor spoke with Dr. Marc Siegel, the host of SiriusXM radio's Doctor Radio Reports, saying that critics are using the pandemic and people's dissatisfaction with preventative measures to make political points, even if it costs lives. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Republican, has frequently stated that Fauci is lying about the epidemic and that he sought to "knock down" certain experts who disagreed with him during a Senate hearing on January 11. Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Health's infectious disease program who also serves as President Joe Biden's main medical adviser, has been the target of criticism from Paul and other conservatives for how the epidemic is being handled, New York Daily News via MSN reported. Related Article: Pfizer Human Trials for Omicron-Specific COVID-19 Vaccine Begins: Full Details @YouTube @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, Aboriginal activist and film star, has died aged 85. The Arrernte and Anmatjerre woman was born in 1937 at remote Utopia station in the Northern Territory where she lived until the age of nine. Rosalie Kunoth-Monks was the Northern Territory Australian of the Year in 2015. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen She has been remembered as someone who played an active social and political role advocating for Aboriginal people. In 1955, Kunoth-Monks played the lead role in classic Australian film Jedda. They tinted the glass to prevent us to see people outside. We peel it off, they put it back, but now they give up, he says. While most days are monotonous and painfully long, Hussein has found a routine to keep his mind from wandering to a dark place: I take sleeping pills and sleep during the day, so time goes faster. The government tinted the windows, but the refugees would remove it. Hussein in his room. He watches films, but even those have become hard to relate to. The hotel gym burnt down in December 2021. Occasionally, Hussein gets out of his room to use the only common area he has access to a kitchenette with a microwave and kettle but no eating area. Hussein seldom sees the other refugees. The thought of socialising is depressing because there is nothing to talk about. The celebrity guest Earlier this month, Husseins routine was thrown by Djokovics detention at the hotel, which took place while a series of court cases sorted out whether he could play in the Australian Open. For 10 days, international and local media, boisterous Djokovic supporters, anti-vaxxers and refugee advocates descended on the streets outside the hotel. Inside, the sudden activity below was a shock. I was just feeling sad that one persons life who is only detained for a few days was more valuable than all of us that have been detained for almost 10 years, Hussein says. Novak Djokovic supporters light candles and sing in Serbian outside the Park Hotel in Melbourne. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola The only good thing about it is the attention he brought with him. He can have somewhere to go back to and they will welcome him with open arms. If we go back, we will be welcomed by bullets. Somalia has been in civil war since 1991, when the regime of President Siad Barre fell. From 1992, many Somalis sought asylum in Australia. Melbourne is home to the largest Somali population in the country, with about 7000 Somalis living here. Hussein says the uncertainty of his situation is made more confusing and frustrating because of what he sees as a random immigration system. At the start of 2021, Kurdish-Iranian refugee, Mostafa Azimitabar and 51 other refugees were freed from the Park Hotel and given bridging visas to live in what the government calls community detention. Hussein does not know why some were chosen and others not. Refugees watch the action on the street during Djokovics detention. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui They just came with a paper list of the names and they said you, you and you will get freedom. The cases of the men were similar to Husseins. Like him, they had sought asylum by boat and been told they would never be allowed to resettle in Australia. Even some of ... the guys who were released were not recognised as refugees, he said. Responding to questions from The Age, a Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said it did not comment on individual cases and its border protection policies remain steadfast. Referring to people such as Hussein as transitory persons, the spokesperson said in a statement they could return to a regional processing centre or seek settlement in a third country such as the United States. Some could be allowed into the Australian community under community detention, if the minister decided it was in the public interest. What is in the public interest is a matter for the Minister to determine, the statement said. Similar broad discretionary powers were used by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to cancel Djokovics visa on the grounds he was a threat to public safety and social cohesion. The God powers Husseins case has not so far found ministerial favour. Many of his Somali compatriots went to the United States or were released into the community. Some even chose to go back to Somalia. It is an option that, despite the danger, Hussein has considered. If I could go back I would, he says. But I will die. Husseins lawyer, Noeline Balasanthiran Harendran, from Sydney West Legal and Migration, has been working on his case since 2020. She and another lawyer, Daniel Taylor, have helped more than 100 medevac refugees who came by boat. Some moved into the community; some resettled in the US. Immigration Minister Alex Hawke. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The process for Hussein to get to the United States has proved slow. It was apparently taken away when then-president Donald Trump imposed a travel ban on people from eight Muslim countries, including Somalia. But the law has since been revoked, and he has applied again. Those who return to their countries are pushed to go, not because they want to, she says. As for community detention, she says its unclear why the minister allows certain refugees out and detains others when, on the face of it, their cases are quite similar. It is very inconsistent it is entirely in the hands of the minister to decide whether Ismail gets a visa. It is just like God, she says. Hussein requested to be sent back to Manus Island but was refused. He also applied through a Canadian charity for settlement in that country. His final interview is in a month. It is the only hope I have left, he said. Nothing to tell United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, Felipe Gonzalez Morales, told ABC Radio earlier this month: According to international law and standards, immigration detention should be a measure for last resort not a regular one as it has been the case in Australia for many years. Hussein has spent so long in detention he is worried about what life will look like if it ends, about the effects of what hes seen and endured on Manus Island and in Melbourne. And because of the hopelessness of his situation, he hasnt spoken to family back home in Somalia in years. Hussein no longer talks to his family because he has nothing to tell them. In 2021, another Somali asylum seeker, Abdirahman Ahmed Mohammed, died of a heart condition a year after being released in the community. Loading Hussein is scared that he could end up in a similar situation. He was brought to Australia under medevac laws suffering from type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, depression and anxiety all developed while in immigration detention. Prime Minister Scott Morrison is in Far North Queensland today spruiking his $1 billion funding announcement for the Great Barrier Reef. This morning he spoke on Cairns radio station 4CA about the measures, but also touched on tourism. The radio host pressed him on when international borders would reopen to allow visitors back to the region, which relies heavily on tourism. "It's difficult getting people travelling at the moment. The operators up here would also know that even some of the domestic business has been hard to get because of the borders and all of the other COVID issues and people being cautious about moving around," Mr Morrison said. Loading "We will see it turn around and we're looking forward to a stronger year this year." Mr Morrison said he couldn't give a specific date when tourists could come and go freely but said it should be "well before Easter", which is in mid-April. "The relaxation of the [international] quarantine arrangements in Queensland will mean more people coming into Queensland directly," he said. "And with that in place, then international visitors being able to return becomes very possible. So I don't think it's too far away, to be honest, John. But we've just got to get some medical advice further on that - [there's] a bit more work to do with the states to make sure we're comfortable about it. And then I'd like to see us get there soon, certainly before Easter, well before Easter." The Perrottet government has increased pressure on the Commonwealth to help rescue the NSW economy, citing the importance of unity as the state teams with Victoria to develop its new JobSaver-style economic support package. Just days away from handing down a business support package amid the Omicron outbreak, the NSW Premier warned the health of Australias two largest state economies will have far-reaching consequences as the country emerges from the pandemic. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet with Prime Minister Scott Morrison last year. Credit:Edwina Pickles Dominic Perrottet said he was working closely with his Victorian counterparts to develop a response to the economic downturn brought on by the latest COVID-19 outbreak. As NSW and Victoria goes, so goes the nation. Were facing similar challenges and sharing our solutions, Mr Perrottet told the Herald. A cloud hangs over the work and oversight of two of Queenslands public sector watchdogs amid calls for a probe into alleged interference in the office of lobbying regulator Nikola Stepanov. LNP Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has declared Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has no other choice but to order an inquiry into the Public Service Commissions actions during an investigation by the regulator into potential unlawful lobbying. Unlike the CCC or Integrity Commission, which have oversight from a parliamentary committee, the Public Service Commission is ultimately responsible to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. Credit:Dan Peled / Getty Images Dr Stepanov, the states Integrity Commissioner, had raised complaints with the Crime and Corruption Commission last year about the seizure of mobile phones and laptops, and altering of security permissions to her office by the PSC, which has budgetary authority over her agency. This week, New Corp reported that Dr Stepanov had been seeking approval from the PSC for forensic examination of a laptop and also raised it with the department of Ms Palaszczuk, to whom the PSC reports before it was taken and wiped without her knowledge or consent. As soon as back-to-school plans were announced, the anger came. I will not be subjecting my children to twice-weekly rapid antigen tests (RATs) and no one is going to make me, was a common parental response. Then came the sceptics: Its all about money; selling RATs is a racket. And the panic: We wont even know if people are doing their RATs at home or reporting them honestly. Back-to-school COVID-safety measures, including twice weekly RATs, offer an opportunity for childen to develop altruistic behaviour. Credit:Bloomberg A pandemic needs people to be altruistic. We need people to behave in ways that protect themselves and others. For teachers and parents, this return-to-school period is a fantastic opportunity to role-model altruism. For children, its an opportune time to learn this essential behaviour. The RATs you do and the mask you wear are for you but they also protect others who may have an underlying condition, a pregnancy, a sick mother, or a fragile job with no sick pay. Selflessness will help decrease COVID-19 transmission and, at a time when many Australians are struggling with their mental health, fostering altruism is one way to improve our psychological wellbeing. Research shows that altruism can be taught. The cognitive mechanism underlying altruism is perspective taking and the emotional mechanism underlying it is empathy. The skills needed for altruism related to COVID-19 are an extension of what is already taught in schools, namely bullying prevention programs and social-emotional learning programs. Fostering altruism also builds happy and empowered children. The 39 deaths in Victoria meant 169 people died with coronavirus in the state in the past week. Official records mark the 59 deaths recorded on September 4, 2020, as the highest daily figure in Victoria of the pandemic, however the department noted that 53 of those were aged care residents whose deaths were reported belatedly. The crowd permitted at the Australian Open finals in Melbourne this weekend has been lifted to 80 per cent of usual ticketed capacity after the state government approved a request from Tennis Australia Victorian Sport Minister Martin Pakula announced the change in a tweet on Friday afternoon. Mr Pakula announced a lift in spectator capacity at the tennis tournament from 50 per cent to 65 per cent on Wednesday. Victorians aged 16 and 17 will be able to get their third shot three months after receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, under changes announced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration on Friday morning, The decision follows similar changes in the US, the UK and Israel. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the boosters would become available as soon as the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) gave the tick of approval, which was expected to happen early next week. We are hoping to get advice from them early next week, the Health Minister said. And if that is a yes, we will make it available immediately. There are very large numbers of doses that are out with GPs and pharmacies, as well as Commonwealth and state clinics. So [this decision means] more protection for more people. Victorian health Minister Martin Foley said the state government would provide booster shots to 16 and 17-year-olds as soon as ATAGI approved the third dose. The important message is: vaccinations work, vaccinations keep us safe and keep the pressure off our health system, Mr Foley said. ATAGI is also weighing up whether Australians should be required to have a third dose of a COVID-19 jab to be considered fully vaccinated. State and territory leaders made no change to the definition of the third dose presently considered a booster shot when they met on Thursday afternoon, despite Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews foreshadowing before their meeting that changes to national vaccination policy could be imminent. This is not a two-dose thing, two doses and a bonus. It really is international evidence, our own experience, the views of experts, the Premier said earlier on Thursday. Hopefully, the confirmation of both [ATAGI] and national cabinet today will mean that everyone knows and understands that this is a three-dose project, and its only with those three doses that you can hope to be properly protected against serious illness. ATAGI is expected to finalise its position on the issue before the next meeting in a fortnight. Loading There are currently 101,605 active COVID-19 cases in Victoria. Of the new infections reported by health authorities on Friday, 5345 came from PCR tests, while 7410 were self-reported from rapid antigen tests. A total of 988 Victorians infected with coronavirus are being cared for in hospital, including 114 in intensive care and 40 on a ventilator. Victorian state-run clinics administered more than 23,252 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, taking the percentage of triple-vaccinated Victorians to more than 35 per cent. More than 121,700 children aged between five and 11 have now received a paediatric dose of the vaccine, the equivalent of 36.7 per cent of those in that age bracket. As of Thursday, there were still 81,000 child vaccination appointments in the coming month available at state-run clinics, including 12,426 slots before students return to school on Monday. The government has opened four vaccination hubs to walk-up appointments in a bid to speed up the paediatric vaccination program. An additional 15 pop-up clinics will also be set up at primary schools across the state at the weekend. Mr Foley said more than 2 million rapid antigen tests had been delivered to state, Catholic and independent schools ahead of the start of the school year next week, with another 4 million on their way by Monday. How those schools get those out to their communities and their families are matters that those communities are best placed to deal with, he said. Loading I am a very firm believer that will empower those school communities, those families to take the steps in partnership with their schools, in partnership with the health system to ensure that in the likelihood that there is some level of outbreak at schools that they can respond quickly. Mr Foley said authorities expected cases to surge after school resumed but were well positioned to deal with the uptick. Experts are also keeping a close eye on an emerging sub-variant of the Omicron variant, known as BA.2, that appears more transmissible than the original strain and could delay the end of current outbreaks in Australia. Most of the World Health Organisations information to date about the Omicron is based on the standard BA.1 strain, but the agency said the BA.2 sub-variant was increasing in many countries. Clinical epidemiologist Nancy Baxter, head of the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne, told the Today show on Thursday that BA.2 was a cousin of Omicron and appeared to be more contagious. We are particularly seeing it in Denmark. We dont know if its going to be a problem yet. But it looks like, if people can believe it, it looks like it be more contagious than Omicron, she said. So if it gets here, it may extend our waves. So our wave may take longer to get out of. But we dont know enough yet, so stay tuned. With Lisa Visentin, Paul Sakkal and Michael Fowler The statistics also back repeated warnings by the state government that three doses of the coronavirus vaccine are the best protection against serious illness and death. Unvaccinated Victorians account for less than six per cent of the population, yet they represent almost 23 per cent of patients admitted to hospital and 35 per cent of those in intensive care. In contrast, people who have had three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine make up only 6 per cent of cases in hospital and intensive care, despite accounting for a third of adults in the community. Health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday: Put simply 6 per cent of the public are unvaccinated but make up a third of cases in ICU. A third of the public have their booster dose, but make up 6 per cent of cases in ICU. This data clearly shows that a COVID-19 case is far more likely to be admitted to hospital or ICU if they are unvaccinated and far less likely to be admitted if they have received three doses of the vaccine. A third dose also offered some protection against infection, with boosted Victorians accounting for just 7 per cent of the total number of confirmed cases reported over the past week, authorities said. Children no longer need to book for jab Victorias state-run vaccination clinics are now accepting walk-up appointments for children rather than insisting on their jab being booked. The change is designed to speed up the rollout of the states paediatric immunisation program before school starts next week. When paediatric vaccines became possible in Victoria on January 10, most five to 11-year-olds were only able to get the jab by booking in advance. Loading But that changed with Thursdays announcement, which means walk-ups will be accepted at Dandenong Plaza, Caroline Springs, Sunshine Hospital and Campbellfields Ford complex. To date, more than a third of Victorian children aged five to 11 have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, with a further 81,000 children booked to get a dose in the next 30 days, and 12,400 bookings available at state-run clinics before school starts. We are keen to see that number [of those vaccinated] go up as high and as fast as we can, Victorian COVID response deputy secretary Naomi Bromley said. She said the governments aim was to have 90 per cent of the states five to 12-year-olds vaccinated by the end of next month. The unvaccinated continue to make up the bulk of hospital admissions in Victoria. Credit:Getty Images To help achieve that goal, 15 pop-up clinics will be set up in primary schools across the state at the weekend, with another 15 clinics to come on-line the following weekend. They will be available to any child who needs a vaccination, not just students of the school where a clinic is set up. Primary schools running pop-up clinics this weekend will be: Kennington, Moe Albert St, Roxburgh Homestead, Lilydale, Glen Waverley, Cranbourne West, Fountain Gate, Lyndale Greens, Belle Vue Park, Glengala, Cairnlea Park, Movelle, St Albans East, South Melbourne and Wyndham Vale. The state government has received more than 240 applications from doctors and pharmacies eager to deliver paediatric doses in schools. The selected health providers will deliver the jabs on site at almost 160 government and low-fee non-government schools. More positive cases coming from rapid tests than PCRs Thursdays COVID-19 update showed there were 119,153 active COVID-19 infections in Victoria. Of the new infections reported on Thursday, 6130 came from PCR tests, while 7625 were self-reported from rapid antigen tests. About 60 per cent of the people who self-reported took the tests on Wednesday, while about 24 per cent took the tests on Tuesday. A total of 1057 Victorians infected with coronavirus are being cared for in hospital, including 117 in intensive care and 40 on a ventilator. The 15 people who died with COVID-19 in the state were aged in their 50s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 100s. Loading After recording more COVID-19 cases than Victoria for the first time in two years on Wednesday (Victoria 13,507, Queensland 13,551), Queenslands case numbers fell to 11,600 new infections on Thursday. Wednesdays numbers were particularly sombre for Victoria, with 35 deaths reported; one of the largest daily death tolls since the pandemic began. Health authorities said 53 per cent of coronavirus-related deaths reported since July involved unvaccinated Victorians. The remaining 47 per cent were partially or fully immunised Victorians. The threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasing, with more than 125,000 Russian troops gathering on the border. Even as both sides agree to uphold a 2014 ceasefire agreement, tensions are spiralling and troops at the border appear to be readying for war. The increased military buildup has NATO allies fearful of a ground invasion, with several countries sending troops and equipment to Ukraine to support the country. Russia said earlier on Friday AEDT it was clear the United States was not willing to address its main security concerns in their standoff over Ukraine, but kept the door open for further dialogue. The United States and NATO submitted a written response on Thursday AEDT to demands Russia has made for a redrawing of post-Cold War security arrangements in Europe since it massed troops near Ukraine, prompting Western fears of an invasion. US President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office of the White House in September 2021. Credit:AP Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow needed time to review the response and would not rush to conclusions, but that US and NATO statements describing Russias main demands as unacceptable did not leave much room for optimism. Based on what our (U.S. and NATO) colleagues said yesterday, its absolutely clear that on the main categories outlined in those draft documents ... we cannot say that our thoughts have been taken into account or that a willingness has been shown to take our concerns into account, he said. But we wont rush with our assessments. The nuanced Kremlin reaction made clear that Russia was not rejecting the US and NATO responses out of hand or closing the door to diplomacy. The Russian foreign ministry said the best way to reduce tensions was for NATO to withdraw forces from eastern Europe, but also sought to quash fears of an invasion. We have already repeatedly stated that our country does not intend to attack anyone. We consider even the thought of a war between our people to be unacceptable, said Alexei Zaitsev, a ministry spokesman. Sovereign dollar bonds issued by Ukraine soared on Thursday, enjoying their best day in almost two years, while Russian debt also gained after the Kremlins response. But, in a sign of lingering international concern, oil hit seven-year highs above $US90 a barrel, then eased later. Russia is the worlds second-largest oil producer and the crisis over Ukraine has fanned fears that energy supplies to Europe will be disrupted. Loading A Ukrainian presidential adviser told Reuters that Kyiv wants to borrow some $US5 billion from international organisations and in bilateral aid as borderline hysteria over the threat of a Russian attack was limiting its access to capital markets. Diplomatic window Russias security demands, presented in December, include an end to further NATO enlargement, barring Ukraine from ever joining and pulling back the alliances forces and weaponry from eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War. The US and NATO responses were not made public, but both had already rejected those demands while expressing willingness to engage on issues such as arms control, confidence-building measures and limits on the size and scope of military exercises. Loading Turkey, a NATO member that has good ties with both Kyiv and Moscow, said it was important to keep talking. All problems cannot be solved with a document, one or two meetings, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Ankara. China told the United States it wants all sides involved in Ukraine to remain calm. We call on all parties to stay calm and refrain from doing things that agitate tensions and hype up the crisis, Chinas Foreign Ministry quoted Foreign Minister Wang Yi as telling US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a telephone call. On Friday, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen expressed empathy for Ukraines situation, drawing parallels with the threats the island faced from China. In comments to a meeting of Taiwans National Security Council, Tsai said the Ukraine situation needed close attention. Taiwan has faced military threats and intimidation from China for a long time. Therefore, we empathise with Ukraines situation, and we also support the efforts of all parties to maintain regional security, her office cited her as saying at the meeting. Western countries have warned of economic sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine, building on measures imposed since 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea and Russian-backed separatists began fighting the Kyiv governments forces in eastern Ukraine. Loading Ukrainian, Russian, German and French diplomats discussed the conflict in eastern Ukraine in Paris on Wednesday and agreed more talks should be held in Berlin in two weeks. Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the agreement on more talks meant Russia was likely to remain on a diplomatic track for at least two weeks. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there was hope of starting serious dialogue with the United States, but only on secondary questions, not on fundamental ones. Nuclear crisis In comments published on his ministrys website, he said President Vladimir Putin would decide Russias next move. People walk past Saint Sophia Cathedral at Sophia Square in Kyiv, Ukraine. Credit:Getty Putin, who has not spoken publicly on the crisis for weeks, has warned of an unspecified military-technical response - something defence analysts say could relate to missile deployments - if Russias demands are ignored. TASS news agency quoted a senior Russian foreign ministry official, Vladimir Ermakov, as saying a nuclear missile crisis between Moscow and Washington was unavoidable without measures to ensure restraint and predictability. He said Moscow believed Washington was preparing to deploy short and intermediate range missiles to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. A couple enjoy warm weather on a bridge with St. Basils Cathedral, right, and an almost empty Red Square after sunset in Moscow, Russia. Credit:AP Biden has said he will not send US or allied troops to fight Russia in Ukraine but NATO has said it is putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets. Four F-16 fighter jets flew to Lithuania from Denmark on Thursday, and six US F-15 jets landed in nearby Estonia on Wednesday as NATO reinforced its eastern flank. Separately, a national guard soldier in Ukraine opened fire on Thursday (AEDT) at a missile and rocket factory in the eastern part of the country, killing five people, police said. There was no immediate sign that it was related to the military buildup in the region. AP, Reuters Matt Gaetz allegedly took a part in a sex trafficking scheme and had sex with a minor. Joel Greenberg claims in his confession letter as he also paid to have sexual relations with an individual that was later found to be underage. Recently, a cooperating witness confirmed the details of the call where Greenberg gave Gaetz the bad news, claiming that he was in Greenberg's office when the call occurred. The witness was identified as "Big Joe" Ellicott, who was Greenberg's longtime best friend and an employee at the Seminole County tax office. Sex Trafficking Crime Ellicott recently pleaded guilty to fraud and drug charges as part of a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors. While the witness has so far avoided being charged with sex trafficking of a minor, a case that Greenberg pleaded guilty to last May, he said he was present for the call between the two that took place on Sept. 4, 2017. The two sources said that the call was short and Gaetz was the one who ended the conversation. While they did not know whether or not Ellicott had discussed the call with investigators, his account would likely be of critical interest in the case, The Daily Beast reported. Investigators from the Justice Department said they have come to a cooperation agreement with the witness who claimed that he saw Gaetz attend parties that involved "a whole lot" of sex and drug use. The claims are another set of potentially damning statements amid the investigations into the congressman. Read Also: Joe Biden Faces Possible Supreme Court Pick as Justice Stephen Breyer Retires; President Is Urged To Nominate First Black Woman Joe Zwick, Ellicott's attorney, said that his client attended events or heard conversations involving the congressman that could be of use to investigators. He added that the events were "basically like what you'd expect at a college frat party." He also said that the events included sex and drugs. However, he declined to say whether Ellicott personally saw Gaetz conducting such behavior. Drugs and Sex Zwick said that his client observed a lot of behavior that, if seen by anyone, would not think was the kind of behavior befitting a United States congressman. In a statement, Gaetz's office said that after nearly a year of false rumors, there was no evidence that implicated Gaetz in any wrongdoing, The Washington Post reported. The situation comes as Ellicott is also set to plead guilty to the distribution of a controlled substance. He allegedly sold Adderall to other people for at least two years including one unnamed person who paid a total of $5,000 for the substance, based on court documents. There was one instance revealed after a payment that was made over Venmo where the buyer said that he paid Ellicott for the drugs but wrote in the memo line "2-hour full body massage." The writing was done to conceal the nature of the transaction between the two parties, prosecutors said. In a previous report, a private text exchange between Ellicott and Greenberg over the encrypted messaging app Signal, the witness allegedly told Greenberg in August of 2020 that a mutual friend was worried she could get implicated in the investigation into the sex ring involving a minor, ABC News reported. Related Article: Teen Arrested Over Shooting Death of Former Correction Officer in Snapchat-Fueled Hostage-Scheme Murder @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A national guard soldier in Ukraine opened fire on Thursday at a missile and rocket factory in the eastern part of the country, killing five people, police said. While details of the shooting were scarce and there was no immediate sign that it was related to the military buildup in the region, it underscored the dangers of the moment as fears of a Russian attack on Ukraine grow by the day. The gunman fled the scene, leading to a sprawling manhunt that lasted for hours before a suspect was taken into custody, according to police. The police identified the man as Artemiy Ryabchuk and said he was born in 2001, but released few other details about him. Even as the investigation proceeded, the episode was caught in the murkiness of a broader geopolitical struggle between the West and Russia, in which the Kremlin is trying to reduce the Western presence in a region that it considers within its sphere of influence. US officials have warned that Russia could employ disinformation, paramilitary attacks and sabotage. Sentinel Fund Manager Australia, part of American real estate investment firm Sentinel Real Estate, has strengthened its construction and development capabilities with two new appointments. Joining Sentinels team in Melbourne is Anthony Cuzzupi as project director, and in Perth, Owen Altham as development manager. In his new role, Cuzzupi will manage the development of Sentinels projects in the eastern states from inception through approval, construction, and delivery. Prior to joining Sentinel, Cuzzupi managed his own property consultancy practice and was project director for SHL and senior development manager for Urban Regeneration at Lendlease. Cuzzupi also previously worked with major property organisations such as Stockland, Frasers Property, and CBRE. As development manager, Altham will play a key role in the development of Sentinels upcoming BTR tower in Scarborough as well as the delivery of Phases II and III of Sentinels flagship Australian build-to-rent project, Element 27, in Subiaco, WA. Prior to joining Sentinel, Altham served as senior project manager at the Astina Group and project manager at APP Corporation. Cuzzupi and Althams development management expertise are incredibly valuable to the strength of our Australian pipeline, said Keith Lucas, managing director of Sentinel Fund Manager Australia. Their robust experience and knowledge of their local markets are bolstering our teams ability to deliver premium build-to-rent projects across Australia as demand for the emerging model continues to flourish. Even as it clocks a staggering 656 per cent growth in sales for the third quarter of financial year 2021-22, Vadodara-based electric player Wardwizard Innovations and Mobility Ltd is on an expansion spree. On the back of a sales mark of 10,005 units in Q3 of FY22, the emerging EV player has already expanded its annual production capacity from 100,000 to over 200,000 units in a single shift with the new automatic assembly line at its Vadodara manufacturing plant. Now, Wardwizard is also adding more models and products to its kitty. As part of the Rs 500 crore MoU, the company recently announced acquisition of a four million sq ft land to develop one of the country's first ever electric vehicle ancillary clusters in Vadodara, which will include lithium ion battery manufacturing, among other things. "We are offering land to technology vendors who will be offered free land, free infrastructure, electricity and other resources such as skilled manpower as well. These tie-ups will be converted into joint ventures and whatever is produced, majority will be consumed by Wardwizard's Joy Bikes and we may even look at original equipment manufacturing (OEM) for other bike labels," said Yatin Gupte, Chairman & Managing Director, Wardwizard Innovations & Mobility Ltd. Wardwizard has already seen EV technology and component makers from Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Japan and Korea evince interest in setting up units in the upcoming ancillary cluster. "The target for commissioning the ancillary unit is 18-20 months at an investment of Rs 1200 crore including land cost, technology and infrastructure, among other things," said Gupte while adding that the investment figure includes Rs 500 crore committed in its MoU with Government of Gujarat. Further, come February 2022 and the company will be launching three new variants of high speed electric two-wheelers including a cargo model meant for delivery chains. Apart from a carrier with a bucket for holding deliveries, the cargo electric high speed will also boast fleet management software for delivery companies to monitor their fleet. Unlike the current 11 low speed electric models that have a maximum speed of 25 kilometers per hour (kmph) with a range of 65 km on a single charge, the new high speed models can do 55-60 kmph with 100 km range. Continuing with its expansion plans, the company is expecting approvals for its three-wheeler electric passenger vehicle by March 2022, with production likely to begin by April 2022. While its current plant, which manufactures electric two-wheelers, has an annual capacity of 275,000 units, the new ancillary cluster will house an additional unit for manufacturing electric three-wheeler and future products. For instance, Wardwizard has also begun research and development (R&D) work on a potential electric four-wheeler product, though the company did not provide any timeline for the same. Observing an uptick in demand for electric two wheelers across the country largely driven by low speed models, the company has achieved a sales mark of 10,005 units in this quarter, registering a growth of more than 656 per cent compared to the Q3 of FY 2020-21, where the sales stood at 1324 units. Meanwhile, the company has already sold more than 17,000 units of electric scooters and motorcycles in the first three quarters of this financial year (April- December 2021), logging a growth of 570 per cent as compared to the April-December 2020 period of previous financial year. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor The management control of national carrier is set to be handed over to a subsidiary of . According to highly placed sources, the Chairman of N. Chandrasekaran is in national capital to meet key Central government officials before the formal handing over ceremony. Notably, the process would entail constitution of a new Board with Tata nominees. Earlier this week, in a communication to the airlines employees, a senior official wrote: "The disinvestment of Air India is now decided to be on January 27, 2022. "The closing balance sheet as on January 20 has to be provided today, i.e., January 24, so that it can be reviewed by Tatas and any changes can be effected on Wednesday." The communication, which was reviewed by IANS, was sent to the employees by Director of Finance, Vinod Hejmadi. The communication further read: "The next three days will be hectic for our department and I request all of you to give your best in these last three-four days before we get divested. We may have to work till late in the night to complete the task given to us." Last month, the Competition Commission of India approved the acquisition of Air India, Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of . The acquisition envisaged 100 per cent equity share capital of Air India and Air India Express, and 50 per cent for that of Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace. The airline, along with AIXL, is primarily engaged in the business of providing domestic and international scheduled air passenger transport service, along with air cargo transport service. Air India SATS Airport Services is engaged in the business of providing ground handling services at Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram airports, and cargo handling services at Bengaluru airport. Tata Sons' subsidiary Talace had emerged as the highest bidder for the national carrier under the divestment process. It had quoted an enterprise value of Rs 18,000 crore for 100 per cent equity shareholding of the Centre in Air India along with that of Air India Express and AISATS. On its part, the Centre had stipulated a reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) on Thursday announced that its subsidiary Airtel Africa has been included in the FTSE 100 Index, which includes the top 100 on the London Stock exchange, with effect from January 31, 2022. Airtel Africa was listed on the London in June 2019. The company had a market capitalisation of over USD 7.5 billion as per closing price on January 26, with an enterprise value of USD 10.7 billion, said in a statement. "This is a significant milestone for Airtel Africa, which becomes part of the FTSE 100 in just two and a half years of listing on the London joining the most valuable . Airtel Africa is a strong player in the African continent, which has emerged as the next growth frontier globally," Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said. Airtel entered Africa in 2010 and the business has demonstrated consistent growth in its customer base, revenues, profits, margins, and cash generation, as well as strengthening its balance sheet through reduced leverage. Airtel Africa has over 122 million customers across the 14 African markets in which it operates. "Delighted that after long years and hard efforts of the team Airtel, the Africa operations have had a stellar turnaround. A lot of credit goes to the changed leadership under Raghu Mandava, an Airtel veteran who along with his team spent 5 years in reshaping the strategy in Africa," Mittal said. He said that the company will continue to invest aggressively and execute a growth strategy under the new MD and CEO Segun Ogunsanya to deliver on the significant market potential afforded by Africa and strengthen Airtel's position as one the biggest global brands out of India. For the half-year ended September 30, 2021, Airtel Africa's revenue grew by 25.2 per cent to USD 2.27 billion with double-digit growth across all regions. During the period, its net profit doubled to USD 335 million, while its leverage reduced to 1.5 times from 2.2 times on a year-on-year basis. (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.) will boom under the wings of the new owners and the airline will pave the way for a thriving and robust civil aviation sector in India, Aviation Minister said after the carrier was handed over to on Thursday. "It is indeed noteworthy that the disinvestment process of @airindiain has been brought to a successful conclusion in a time-bound manner," Scindia said on Twitter. This proves the central government's ability, and the resolve to carry out disinvestment effectively in non-strategic sectors in the future, he noted. "Best wishes to the new owners. I am confident that the airline will bloom under their wings, and pave the way for a thriving and robust civil aviation industry in India," he mentioned. The Indian government handed over to the Tata Group on Thursday, approximately 69 years after it was taken from the conglomerate. The handover took place at the airline's headquarters here. Chairman N Chandrasekaran, Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal and Chairman and Managing Director Vikram Dev Dutt were among those who were present at the handover. After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited -- a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company -- for Rs 18,000 crore. Air India was started by the Tata Group in 1932 but after the country got independence, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru nationalised it in 1953. (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.) Curefoods, Indias fastest growing cloud company which houses brands like EatFit, CakeZone, and Aligarh House, today announced its with Maverix,a foodtech player. Following the merger, Curefoods will become the second-largest cloud player in India in terms of footprint with the largest manufacturing capability in the fresh food space. The will also take Curefoods' market presence to 125 kitchens across 12 cities catering to over 10 cuisines. Mumbai-based Maverix operates over 50 outlets across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Curefoods will also get brand from Maverix such as the Great Indian Khichdi one of Indias largest khichdi brands, Canteen Central a multi-cuisine quick snack brand and Home Plate an affordable home food offering. Ankit Nagori, founder at Curefoods said: At Curefoods we are on an ambitious path to build the strongest food brands in the market with a digital-first strategy. Maverix is one such company with significant experience and market know-how and has also created stellar food brands that are recognized and loved in key markets. Together, we now have the largest manufacturing capability in the fresh food space. We are confident that our combined growth and stronger-than-ever platform will numerously benefit our consumers on their quest for the best food options in India. This is a significant step for Curefoods in continuation of its mission to build a powerhouse of food brands in India that will cater to varying consumer demands across geographies, said the company in a statement. Maverixs already existing infrastructure, supply chain, and proven track record of building strong food brands will enable Curefoods to make greater strides with its multi-brand multi- business model. Shripad Nadkarni, Founder Director at Maverix said: This game-changing merger comes at a time when the Indian cloud kitchen ecosystem is thriving and presents numerous opportunities for growth and scale. We believe that Curefoods digital brand creation expertise, tech prowess, and strong market penetration along with our supply chain expertise, efficient kitchen operations and experience in creating top food brands make for the right synergy. Prayank Swaroop, Partner, Accel Partners said: Accel partnered with Maverix in their seed round and we have seen Shripad and Shree build an amazing franchise around delectable food over the past few years. By joining hands with the Curefoods platform today, Maverix has taken the next step in its journey towards becoming a food brand that is loved by millions of Indians. Curefoods recently announced its acquisition of 5 food brands in January 2022 namely Junos Pizza, Cupcake Noggins, Iceberg, Nomad Pizzas, and White Kitchens. It also recently closed a funding round raising $62 million from Iron Pillar, Chiratae Ventures, Sixteenth Street, Accel Partners, and Binny Bansal. US-based EvGateway, a turnkey electric vehicle infrastructure solutions provider, on Thursday said it would offer its EV management solutions to India. The company would help advance EV adoption with easy-to-use solutions for drivers and charger-owners, said a statement from EvGateway. "Our global experience of integration of various technologies like telematics to our SaaS (software as a service) platform enables us to provide effective solutions to clients of all sizes and adapt to ever-changing scenario," said the president of the company. "A significant portion of the product was developed in our development centre in India and we continue to enhance the products. We offer 24x7 support to the product from Hyderabad," said the company head (India) Uday Chagari. "It is indeed a moment of pride that we are bringing our product to India," he added. By combining the charger management features with the ability to integrate with e-vehicles, EvGateway would bring the most efficient and innovative EV solutions, the statement added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Italian Royals were dissolved way back in the Second World are petitioning the courts to return the jewels worth 250million they lost after their exile. The former royals want possession of crown jewels, including precious tiaras, necklaces, and earrings, including brooches stored inside a sealed vault in the Bank of Italy, Rome. A total of 6,000 diamonds with pearls is part of the House of Savoy collections that were forfeited when King Umberto II ran to Portugal. Collaboration with fascists The reign of Benito Mussolini, the fascist leader, and dictator where the royal family helped. Italians punished them for supporting oppression but later took flight when Germans came in 1944, reported the Daily Mail. From then on, the collection has been held by the Bank of Italy, in possession of the fortune of the ex-royals.n According to the ex-royal family of Italy, who now wants them to be returned after losing them 78 years ago. Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, 49, spoke to the Telegraph, saying that the Italian government should allow his family to get the jewels back. He clarified the worth is secondary to them. It's the historical and sentimental value it has had for them all these years. Furthermore, he added that Italy is the only country that possesses the property of the ex-royal family. Both Russia and Yugoslavia returned the private possessions to their royal, cited Yahoo Finance. The collection of the Italian royals has been locked away inside a chest for the past 79 years from the public gave. Compared to the Tower of London, which the public can visit. Read Also: Prince Charles Tests Positive for Coronavirus, Was He Exposed to Other Royal Families? One remark is to have the jewels restored to the royal family, said a source. The negotiations A source said that meeting the Savoy's lawyer and several representatives from the Bank of England scheduled last Tuesday did not pan out too much. The bank clarified that it wouldn't be a fast negotiation. It was given possession of the Jewels and later waited for how the Italian government would decide. Savoy family lawyer Sergio Orlandi spoke to the Italian media and stated that his clients would have their family jewels back. Prince Filiberto was asked if the collection would be placed in a museum. He said it would be one step after another. They need the bank to give the crown jewels back; next would be the heirs to decide what will be done next. Working prince The prince is famous in Italy and currently resides in Milan.One of his pursuits is the Prince of Venice, which is a successful catering business, he has celebrity status. He has a rumored affair with Kate Moss that lasted six months and even hiked on the dance floor on a dance program. Another business is Pasta Prince, managing a food truck in Los Angeles, USA.nHouse of Savoy was once proud until WW2 when the male members were exiled after Italy voted no the royals. King Umberto II never returned to Italy after going to Portugal; he died at 78 in Geneva from cancer. Other members went back to Italy soon after. Italian royals led by the prince are trying to regain their legacy lost in shame during WW2. Talks about getting their crown jewels are still underway. Related Article: Prince Harry and Prince William Enstranged? Rift Commence as Younger Brother Leaves Royal Family @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. US e-commerce giant has again written to independent directors of (FRL), including Gagan Singh, Ravindra Dhariwal, and Jacob Mathew, alleging that now it is clear that their actions are only for the benefit of the Promoters and others involved in the transaction (Impugned Transaction) with the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani ( Limited) group (MDA Group). It is not for the benefit of FRLs shareholders, creditors, vendors and employees, alleged Amazons letter to FRLs independent directors (dated January 27) which Business Standard has reviewed. We are surprised at the stance taken in Your Letter (FRL). We had hoped that you would seriously consider the offer that has been set out in our letter dated January 22, 2022, which is in the best interests of all stakeholders of FRL, including its creditors, vendors and employees. The independent directors of Kishore Biyani-led Limited (FRL) have accepted the transaction with billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led energy-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance and turned down the proposal of for investment in FRL.The independent directors wrote to on Tuesday saying that they have accepted the transaction with Reliance as it addressed the needs of funds to pay off public sector bank lenders and suppliers of goods. It had said Reliance's offer helps FRL to meet almost all FRLs liabilities and in the process helps protect the investment of small shareholders and jobs of over 25,000 employees, Regrettably, it is evident that you had issued the letter dated January 21, 2022, with a pre-determined mind with no intention whatsoever of seriously considering any offer of assistance from us, said Amazons letter. Amazon has also sent the letter to Kishore Biyani, Rakesh Biyani, Rahul Garg, who are the directors of Limited. It has also sent the letter to Ajay Tyagi, chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Ashok Gupta, chairman, Competition Commission of India (CCI), Sanjay Kumar Mishra, director, Enforcement Directorate and Anand Baiwar, executive director, investigations department, SEBI. The letter has also been sent to to top executives at Union Bank of India, Bank of India, State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, UCO Bank, and Indian Bank. Amazon said it finds it inconceivable that FRLs Independent Directors are refusing to confirm in principle that FRL would not pursue the Impugned Transaction pending consideration of any offer of financial assistance from Samara Capital (Samara), supported by Amazon. It said this demonstrates lack of bona fides and also detracts from your status as independent directors. It is unfortunate that you are acting at the behest of the Promoters and others who have sought to breach Amazons rights under the agreements and to circumvent binding injunctions issued by the Arbitral Tribunal and Indian Courts (Binding Injunctions). According to sources, as early as June 2020, Amazon-supported private equity firm Samara Capital had signed a non-binding term sheet with FRL that entailed a Rs 7,000 crore investment. This was two months before Kishore Biyani-led Future Group announced its Rs 24,713 crore (or $3.4 billion) merger deal with Mukesh Ambani-led (RIL) at the end of August 2020. Amazon said in FRLs letter dated January 21, 2022, the firm asked Amazon to confirm, within 24 hours, i.e., by January 22, 2022, that Amazon would support a transaction between FRL and Samara, without offering any due diligence to Samara. It stated that FRL needed immediate financial assistance of Rs 3,500 crore to repay Banks. By the letter dated January 22, 2022, Amazon confirmed to FRL that Samara had reiterated its willingness and interest in taking forward the term sheet dated June 30, 2020, signed amongst Samara, FRL and the Promoters (Samara Term Sheet). The transactions proposed in the Samara Term Sheet contemplated an acquisition of FRLs retail assets for a consideration of Rs 7,000 crores. Amazon said this would take care of FRLs immediate funding requirement of Rs 3,500 crore; and included an equity infusion and would have been a direct antidote to FRLs indebtedness. To take forward the Samara Term Sheet, Amazon had also requested FRL to share all existing due diligence report(s) prepared by or on behalf of FRL. It had also requested to complete data provided to MDA for due diligence, with Samara by January 23, 2022. Yet, you have summarily rejected our assistance, said Amazons letter. This demonstrates your mala fide actions, which are entirely contrary to the role and functions of independent directors under Indian law. It is unfortunate that you continue to reject Amazons offer of assistance and facilitation of the transaction with Samara which, if implemented at the outset, would have ensured infusion of funds as early as September 2020. Amazon said it is curious that FRL now seeks to challenge the very Samara Term Sheet which was signed not only by the Promoters but also by FRL (through Mr. Rakesh Biyani, Managing Director) after months of negotiations and discussions with Samara, which were supported by Amazon. Amazon alleged that FRL intentionally disregards the fact that FRLs Managing Director, Rakesh Biyani, reached out to Abhijeet Muzumdar (head of Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund and Corporate Development at Amazon) to seek a no-objection for concluding the Samara Term Sheet. It said this no-objection was sought on June 24, 2020, and communicated to Mr. Biyani shortly thereafter, pursuant to which the Samara Term Sheet was executed on June 30, 2020. The Samara Term Sheet was executed by Samara and has not been withdrawn till date. In any event, Amazon told FRL that any transaction with Samara and supported by Amazon would be compliant with Indian law as any investment will be made through an Indian owned and controlled company. It reiterated that the structure of the transaction with Samara (as well as the structure of the transaction in which Amazon invested in FCPL--Future Coupons Pvt Ltd ) is similar to the Impugned Transaction involving the constituents of the MDA Group, being Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) and Reliance Retail and Lifestyle Fashions Limited (RRVL WOS). Amazon said RRVL has received significant sums from foreign investors, which are proposed to fund the acquisition of FRLs retail, wholesale and logistics assets. Amazon said FRLs stated reason for rejecting Amazons request of taking forward the Samara Term Sheet is that the transactions contemplated therein would not discharge FRLs total liabilities of Rs 12,027.31 crore which are allegedly owed to Banks and vendors. This reason does not appear to make any commercial sense, said Amazon. The Samara Term Sheet provides for two transactions (comprising an asset sale as well as an equity infusion) for an aggregate purchase consideration of Rs 7,000 crore. The purchase consideration was based on Rakesh Biyanis request for Rs 7,000 crore, as communicated to Amazon through the presentation titled Putting FRL Back on Track dated May 17, 2020, and again on June 24, 2020. Thus, Amazon said the Samara Term Sheet, which was based on the request made by Rakesh Biyani, the Managing Director of FRL, was executed to address FRLs financial concerns and also ensure that FRL would continue to survive and service its debts. You are well aware that the Impugned Transaction is a Scheme of Arrangement (Scheme) for 19 of the Future Group (including 6 listed companies), and is entirely different from the Samara Term Sheet, as signed by Mr. Rakesh Biyani for the Promoters and FRL. Therefore, your assertion that Samara is trying to buy out retail assets of FRL on the cheap is unfounded and baseless, said Amazon. In addition, Amazon said if FRL immediately unwinds the transactions relating to advances and security deposits which aggregate to Rs 4,303 crore and are lying unadjusted for the last 2 years, it would be able to take care of any short-term funding requirement as well as have liquidity to service its debts immediately without any external dependency. The details of these transactions are set out in Amazons letter dated November 24, 2020. Yet, you choose to summarily dismiss the suggestion, once again at the behest of the Promoters, and in clear disregard of your duties as independent directors of a public listed company, said Amazon. Once again, in the interest of creditors, shareholders, employees and other stakeholders of FRL, we request you to consider unwinding these transactions immediately which are solely under your control and pay off the debts. Amazon told FRL that if it take this decision in the interest of all stakeholders and work with Samara on the Samara Term Sheet, FRL would have access to funds aggregating to approximately Rs. 11,303 crores which would be more than sufficient to take care of all stakeholders and enable FRL to continue as a company. Amazon said it appears FRL has been erroneously advised on the legality of the Impugned Transaction and FRLs ability to sell its small format stores. It said that the Impugned Transaction is wholly illegal and all approvals including the approval of the Competition Commission of India and Securities and Exchange Board of India obtained in violation of the directions passed by the emergency arbitrator in the EA Order. This is an order of an Indian Court under Section 17(2) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (A&C Act), constitute a nullity and are void ab initio. Thus, these approvals cannot be acted upon in any manner. Amazon reiterated that any proposal given by FRL, either through the one-time resolution plan or otherwise, to alienate/transfer/encumber/dispose of its retail assets is in direct violation of Amazons rights under the agreements as well as the Binding Injunctions. Any attempt by any person, including FRL, Promoters or Banks, to circumvent such Binding Injunctions would invite appropriate consequences under law. We once again call upon you to consider our offer of assistance and provide access to FRLs records for conducting the due diligence exercise as expeditiously as possible, said Amazon. We call upon you once again to share any such report(s) by tomorrow, i.e., January 28, 2022, for Samara to commence the due diligence exercise at the earliest. Amazon said it sincerely hopes that, for once, FRL will cease to act as for the benefit of the Promoters and others involved in the Impugned Transaction. It hopes FRL would engage with Samara and Amazon in the best interests of FRL and its creditors, vendors and employees. We remain available to facilitate discussions between Samara and the independent directors of FRL to take forward the engagement, said Amazon. Queries to Amazon and Future Group remained unanswered until the time of publication. Debt-ridden Future Group has announced that it will sell its 25 per cent equity in India Insurance Company Limited (FGIICL) to its JV partner Generali for a cash consideration of Rs 1,252.96 crore as part of its asset monetisation plans to pair debts. Besides, Generali has also acquired an option to buy out the Limited's (FEL) remaining interest in FGIICL, which operates in the general insurance business, said a late-night regulatory filing by the Future Group firm. FGIICL is a joint venture between and Generali Participations Netherlands NV (Generali). "FEL has agreed to sell a 25 per cent stake in its General Insurance Joint Venture, FGIICL, to its Joint Venture partner Generali for a cash consideration of Rs 1,252.96 crore, plus an additional consideration that is linked to the date of the closing of the transaction," the regulatory filing by the Future Group firm said. As part of the deal, Generali has also acquired an option to buy out FEL's remaining interest in FGIICL, "directly or through a nominee", at an agreed valuation, subject to applicable regulatory approvals, FEL said. "The transaction is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other customary conditions," it added. According to the company, it had received offers from various potential buyers for its remaining 24.91 per cent interest in FGIICL. Moreover, FEL is also exploring the option to sell its 33.3 per cent stake in its life insurance JV-- India Life Insurance Company Limited (FGILICL) --as it progresses on its plans to monetise its investment in its insurance joint ventures with Generali. "It is also exploring options for the sale of its 33.3 per cent interest in the life insurance JV and expects to complete the exit of its holding in the insurance joint ventures in a time-bound manner to meet its commitment under the One Time Restructuring (OTR) Plan implemented under a August 6, 2020 circular issued by the Reserve Bank of India in relation to the Resolution Framework for COVID-19 related stress," it said. Generali had earlier this month received approval from the Competition Commission of India to purchase 16 per cent stake held by Industrial Investment Trust Limited in FGILICL. It has also agreed to invest up to Rs 330 crore in tranches in FGILICL to fund its growth plans, it said. "Pursuant to these transactions, Generali will acquire a majority stake and control in both insurance joint ventures," the Future Group said. FEL develops, owns and leases the retail infrastructure for Future Group, which owns and operates retail chains such as Big Bazaar, Easyday and Heritage, among others. Like other Future Group firms, FEL had also entered into the OTR scheme for Covid-hit with a consortium of banks and lenders. As part of that, it has to repay the loan through asset monetisation. In August 2020, the Kishore Biyani-led Future Group had announced a Rs 24,713 crore deal for the sale of its retail and wholesale business, and the logistics and warehousing business to Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. As part of the deal, Limited is the transferee company to Reliance Retail. Future Group's 19 operating in retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing assets would be consolidated into one entityFEL--and then transferred to Reliance. However, global e-commerce major Amazon is contesting the deal through its 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Private Limited (FCPL), which is a shareholder in Future Retail Limited. The matter is presently in dispute before the Supreme Court and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). Reliance Retail Ventures has, for the second time, extended the timeline for completing its Rs 24,713 crore deal with Future Group to March 31 as it still awaits regulatory and judicial clearances. Growth School, the community-led live learning platform, has raised a $5 million seed round, led by India and Owl Ventures. Over 80 angel investors also participated in the round, including entrepreneurs like Kunal Shah, Nikhil Kamath, Ritesh Agarwal, Tanmay Bhat as well as some international angels like Austen Allred (founder Lamda school), Shaan Puri, Eric Siu. Growth School plans to use the funds to expand its team and build a robust tech platform. The startup plans to venture into newer markets and as part of that foray, also explore metaverse for education. Vaibhav Sisinty, founder of GrowthSchool said, I spent the last two years training over 100k people in growth marketing, and that's when I realized most of the candidates wanted real-life skills that they can use to produce immediate results in their careers. When someone is actively seeking a job, they do not have the luxury of doing a long-term program that spans over months. Growth School fills the gap between industry requirements and the existing academic curriculum through its community-led cohort programmes. The programmes are curated to teach skills that are relevant on the job in a short period of time so students are employable immediately. Kriti Bansal, Owl Ventures said, We believe that GrowthSchool has the potential to fundamentally shift how learners upskill and prepare for their personal and professional lives today. By teaching highly-relevant topics in short bursts from the leading experts on those topics, GrowthSchool is building the go-to global platform for upskilling. Growth School was founded in 2020, as a bootstrapped company with a lean six-member team. Till date, close to 2,00,000 users have accessed Growth Schools programmes, even as the platform was in stealth mode for the most period a testament to the fast-growing user demand for the programs. The platform offers a wide range of programmes such as UI, UX, performance marketing, how to become a freelancer, how to build and sell your NFT, how to Invest in crypto, how to start a D2C business, etc. As part of its next stage of evolution, Growth School aims to expand the range of programs it offers as well as expand its reach beyond India, as most of the programmes offered have an universal appeal and relevanc The on Thursday regained ownership of Air India, 69 years after the airline was nationalised. The salt-to-software conglomerate promised to turn the loss-making carrier into a world-class airline. The handover has come as a culmination of the governments attempt to transfer the ownership of the loss-making airline to a private owner. The airline never made profit since its merger with Indian Airlines in 2007-08 and reported a loss of Rs 7,017 crore in FY21. The acquisition gives Tatas 100 per cent ownership in Air India, its low-cost subsidiary Express and 50 per cent stake in ground handling firm AISATS. Following the takeover, chairman indicated that there will be changes in functioning of the company. My first flight was with in December 1986 and I will never forget how special it felt to be on-board, or the exhilaration as we soared into the sky. Such memories are wonderful, but now is the time to look ahead. I write this letter on behalf of the Tata group, to welcome you to our family. I have learned that to preserve what is best about the past, requires constant change. It is by evolving, adapting and embracing the future that we best honour a glorious history, Chandrasekaran said in his first message to employees. Tata Sons Chairman calls on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of Air India handover, in New Delhi on Thursday | Photo: PMO India While no official announcement was made about composition of the new board, it is learnt that the airlines current directors in charge of core operations- finance, commercial, operations and human resources--will continue. From the Tata side, Nipun Aggarwal, senior vice president at Tata Sons; Saurabh Agrawal, CFO at Tata Sons; Suprakash Mukhopadhyay, group corporate secretary at Tata Sons; and Eruch Noshir Kapadia, former CFO at Tata Sons are part of the restructured board. Vikram Dev Dutt, who was named Air India Chairman and Managing Director a few days ago, resigned on Thursday. So did two government nominees. People who advised the Tatas on the deal said that the group was keen on Air India for a long time. There was an emotional connection here. This was an opportunity to secure significant market share The financial sweetener allowed them to take over the airline with the right kind of debt, said Vikram Utamsingh - MD and Country Manager, Alvarez & Marsal, a professional services firm. Beside the emotional factor, the Tatas also had a significant business logic to acquire Air India. With Air India and Air India Express, the group now has four airlines and around 23 per cent market share, becoming the second largest operator in the domestic sector behind IndiGo. It is the largest player on international routes and the only Indian carrier on long haul routes like Europe and USA. Sources said that the plans to operate both in full service and low cost segments. While Air India Express and Air Asia India will be combined to make a low cost airline, Air India is likely to be merged with Vistara going ahead. The Tata group had every understanding about the requirements of this investment and what the returns can be. In a large M&A acquisition, the serious buyer will have a deep investment thesis running through. So, it was not surprising they went all the way, said Nandini Chopra, head of corporate finance, Alvarez & Marsal. There is a potential to improve cash flow by a billion dollars per year if the planned strategy of the Tatas to improve revenue and cost can be implemented, said people aware of the development. While the initial plan of the conglomerate is to work towards enhancing the soft side of the existing product, the Tata group has also identified other areas which have to be improved to turn around the company. Beside passenger experience like food and customer interaction at touch points, the focus will be to improve commercial operations like revenue management, ancillary revenue and cargo operations. Simultaneously, there is an urgency to look at human resources by imbibing a culture of a private corporation where there is an incentive to perform better. Air India currently doesn't have the required technology or employee training to do route analysis, pricing and booking curves. Currently its a very manual process at Air India which impacts commercial performance as airline pricing is dynamic in nature. They will have to augment the team and software in that area, the person said. According to data provided in Parliament, in FY20 Air India had 11 international routes that met variable costs and 10 that did not. On the domestic network, there were 101 routes which did not meet even variable costs, while only nine met the total cost. Another area that the Tatas have identified is to improve the revenue from cargo operations. The cargo network is likely to be realigned so that the planes fly to the right location and make it easier for customers to book and track the consignment. Amidst the pandemic, which have impacted the global supply chain, airlines have earned more revenue from cargo as compared to other years. Airlines like SpiceJet and IndiGo now have a separate line of management looking purely at air cargo which has allowed them to gain market share from foreign airlines. Tatas will have to do a fairly extensive restructuring. Its done better by an efficient private hand than the government. The taxpayer was losing more than Rs 20 crore per day, said DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey. The on Thursday agreed to hear on January 31 the plea of Ltd (FRL) seeking a direction to lending financial institutions (FIs) from taking any action over non-payment of its debt obligations. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the FRL, and agreed to hear the plea and asked him to serve the copy of the petition on 27 banks and US e-commerce major, Amazon. This petition is not related to that transaction (FRL-Reliance Retail). Here the banks are going to sell my small shops. The problem is that they cannot sell as there is an injunction. Actually, Amazon is not concerned with this case. In any case, we will serve 27 banks in this matter, Rohatgi told the bench which also comprised justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli. Amazon has been opposing the sale of FRL's and had got an award in its favour restraining the Future group from going ahead with the Rs 24,731 crore merger deal of Ltd (FRL) with Reliance Retail. Future Retail's assets include more than 1200 Big Bazar stores across the country. Earlier, the apex court on January 11 had reserved verdict on a batch of pleas filed by Future group firms against a Delhi High Court order declining stay on an arbitration tribunal decision refusing to interfere with the Emergency Award (EA) of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government on Thursday officially handed over to the Tata Group. chairman N Chandrasekaran said the group is very happy to have back in its fold. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told reporters that has been handed over to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company, which is the successful bidder. "Now, the new owners (of the airline) are Talace," Pandey noted. "Totally delighted that the takeover process of Air India is complete. We are very happy to have Air India back in the Tata Group. We look forward to working with everyone in creating a world class airline," Chandrasekaran told reporters in New Delhi. "I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India to our Group, and look forward to working together," Chandrasekaran said in a statement. Tata Group also said it philosophically agrees with "the Prime Minister's vision for the aviation sector, of making it affordable and ensuring it contributes to boosting 'Ease of Living' for citizens". The Group also acknowledged Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to reforms and faith in India's entrepreneurship spirit, which made the "historic transition" possible. Chandrasekaran called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday ahead of the official handover of Air India to the Tata Group. #FlyAI: A brand new chapter unfolds for Air India as part of the Tata Group. Two iconic names come together to embark on a voyage of excellence. Looking forward to soaring high propelled by our rich legacy & a shared mission to serve our Nation. Welcome Aboard. @TataCompanies pic.twitter.com/iCVh5ewI7q Air India (@airindiain) January 27, 2022 Later, Chandrasekaran also visited the Air India headquarters. "Shri N Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of called on PM @narendramodi," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted, along with a photograph of the meeting. After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company, for Rs 18,000 crore. Tatas beat the Rs 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore set by the government for the sale of its 100 per cent stake in the loss-making carrier. Air India was started by the Tata Group in 1932. However, after the country got independence, the airline was nationalised in 1953 by the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. "It is indeed noteworthy that the disinvestment process of Air India has been brought to a successful conclusion in a time-bound manner. This proves the govts ability, and the resolve to carry out disinvestment effectively in non-strategic sectors in the future. "Best wishes to the new owners. I am confident that the airline will bloom under their wings, and pave the way for a thriving & robust civil aviation industry in India," tweeted Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. "The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100% shares of Air India to Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control. A new Board, led by the Strategic Partner, takes charge of Air India," tweeted Secretary, DIPAM. The successful conclusion of the deal, Indias first major privatisation in nearly two decades, is a big victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has vowed to steer the state away from running businesses as his administration tries to plug a budget deficit. The move also marks a homecoming for Air India, which was originally launched in 1932 by Tata Groups former Chairman J.R.D. Tata as the nations first carrier, flying mail between Karachi, then a part of undivided British-ruled India, and Bombay. Tata Group takes over management and control of Air India, starting today pic.twitter.com/qKMNPlwmNk ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 Reviving Air India -- whose market share more than halved to less than 10% last year -- will be a daunting task for the biggest conglomerate in India, which already runs two other unprofitable carriers. While Air Indias regional arm, Alliance Air, is not a part of the deal, the group is also gaining control of low-cost, short-haul international carrier Air India Express and an equal stake in a ground handling company with SATS Ltd. The group was selected as the winning bidder in an auction in October, in which it bid Rs 18,000 crore as an enterprise value for Air India, including taking on Rs 15,300 crore of the airlines debt. Air India also comes with a highly unionized workforce with a history of disrupting schedules for demands, and an aging and mixed fleet of more than 150 aircraft, potentially complicating a revival. has yet to spell out its plans for Air India, which loses Rs 20 crore every day. Potential options include merging the flag carrier with one of its other airlines -- Vistara venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd. and AirAsia India Ltd. with AirAsia Bhd. -- or keeping it independent. The terms of the deal prevent the new owner from firing any employee for at least a year. The competition for Tatas airline business will also intensify with bankrupt Jet Airways India Ltd. preparing to fly again, and billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwalas newly formed carrier, Akasa, gearing up to start operations. The government has failed twice in the past to sell the airline. More than two decades ago, Singapore Airlines Ltd. gave up a joint bid with Tata for a stake in Air India, citing political opposition as one of the reasons. IndiGo, Indias biggest airline, dropped out of the running in 2018, saying it didnt have the means to buy the carrier in its entirety and make it profitable. Nearly seven decades after it lost control, Tatas on Thursday regained ownership of and promised to turn the loss-making carrier into a world-class airline. N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, which in October last year beat a consortium led by rival SpiceJet promoter to win the bid for the national carrier, first called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi before heading to the office where the takeover formalities were completed. A new board of directors met shortly thereafter, formalising the management takeover. Tata Group Founder JRD Tata had originally launched the airline in 1932 as the nation's first carrier, flying mail between Karachi in then-undivided, British-ruled India and Bombay. It was nationalised in 1953. The finance ministry in a statement said the strategic disinvestment transaction has been completed on Thursday with the government receiving a consideration of Rs 2,700 crore from Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of . The government has retained debt of Rs 15,300 crore in Air India and Air India Express Ltd (AIXL) while 100 per cent shares of Air India, AIXL and the national carrier's 50 per cent shareholding in AISATS have been transferred to Talace. In a tweet, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said the strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India has concluded successfully with transfer of 100 per cent shares of Air India to Talace along with management control. "A new board, led by the strategic partner, takes charge of Air India," Pandey said after completion of the handover process at the airline headquarters here. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said Air India will bloom under the wings of the new owners and the airline will pave the way for a thriving and robust civil aviation sector in India. In October last year, Tatas won the bid for Air India through a competitive bidding for Rs 18,000 crore, including the cash component of Rs 2,700 crore. "We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline," Chairman N Chandrasekaran said in a statement. "I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India to our Group, and look forward to working together," he said. In a statement, the group said Chandrasekaran was joined by Chairman Emeritus of Ratan Tata in acknowledging and thanking "the Government of India and its various departments for the successful completion of this important transaction". #FlyAI: A brand new chapter unfolds for Air India as part of the Tata Group. Two iconic names come together to embark on a voyage of excellence. Looking forward to soaring high propelled by our rich legacy & a shared mission to serve our Nation. Welcome Aboard. @TataCompanies pic.twitter.com/iCVh5ewI7q Air India (@airindiain) January 27, 2022 Announcing that it has taken over the management and control of the airline, starting Thursday, the group acknowledged Modi's "commitment to reforms and faith in India's entrepreneurship spirit, which made this historic transition possible". "Our Prime Minister has in action demonstrated what his commitment to 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance' means. We philosophically agree with the Prime Minister's vision for the aviation sector, of making it affordable and ensuring it contributes to boosting 'Ease of Living' for citizens," the statement said. Separately, a consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) has agreed to provide loans to Tata Group for the smooth operations of loss-making Air India. When the Tata Group won the bid to acquire Air India in October last year, Ratan Tata had tweeted an old photograph of the company's former chairman JRD Tata getting down from an Air India aircraft, stating, "Welcome Back, Air India". "The Tata Group winning the bid for Air India is great . While admittedly it will take considerable effort to rebuild Air India, it will hopefully provide a very strong market opportunity to the Tata Group's presence in the aviation industry," he had said. Tatas, Ratan Tata had said, will have the opportunity of regaining the image and reputation it enjoyed in earlier years. While many airlines have come and gone from the Indian skies since the time when the first move was made to privatise Air India to date, the salt-to-software conglomerate has never let the love affair with aviation, more so with Air India that its former Chairman Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (JRD) had, to go off the radar. It is said that Tata group executives used to complain in private that JRD -- the pioneer of the Indian aviation industry -- spent more time worrying about Air India than the Tata Group when he was heading both the entities. Nevertheless, they also knew heading Air India as Chairman was never just a job but was a labour of love for him. From the first airmail service flight from Karachi to Bombay in October 1932 with JRD steering a Puss Moth aircraft to wresting control of Air India 89 years later, the conglomerate has had a roller coaster ride in the Indian civil aviation history. Tata Airlines going public in 1946 as a 'joint stock company' named Air India and the maiden flight on June 8, 1948 of Air-India International -- the first public-private enterprise of independent India -- with its iconic mascot Maharaja to Europe, remain the breakout landmarks in the skies of the group. It is said that JRD was surprised when the group's proposal made in October 1947 to float Air-India International with the government holding 49 per cent, Tatas 25 per cent and the rest by public was accepted "within weeks", at a time when it took at least two years "not to make a decision". However, the flights have not been without headwinds. In 1953, when the then government of Jawaharlal Nehru nationalised Air India, JRD fought vehemently against it. After the nationalisation of Air India, the group's link with civil aviation was through JRD who served as the state carrier's Chairman for 25 years. Yet, the group kept the fire of re-entering the aviation sector burning. In the 90s, when India's civil aviation sector was opened up to private players, the group's attempt to float a domestic airline in partnership with Singapore Airlines ended in disappointment with the government rejecting the proposal. In 1994, the Tata group under Ratan Tata's stewardship, had set up a joint venture with Singapore Airlines to start a domestic airline in India but it didn't take off as the then regulations did not permit foreign carriers to hold stake in domestic airlines. Also, in 2000, the two partners teamed up to purchase stakes in Air India without success. Still, the group never gave up on its hopes to fly again. In 2012, when India removed foreign investment restrictions, it came together yet again with Singapore Airlines to form a joint venture -- TATA SIA Airlines Ltd, which was incorporated on November 5, 2013. The joint venture started services under Vistara brand from January 2015. A year before Vistara took off, Tatas through a joint venture with Malaysia's AirAsia set up AirAsia India, which started flying in June 2014. While the homecoming of sorts of Air India will be a joyous moment for the 153-year-old conglomerate, it remains to be seen how would it map the future of its airlines business, considering the fact that the aviation industry crippled by the pandemic is yet to recover from the deadly blows. (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.) Takeover complete, happy to have back, says Tata Sons chairman The government on Thursday officially handed over to the Tata Group. Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said the group is very happy to have back in its fold. Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey told reporters that Air India has been handed over to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company, which is the successful bidder. "Now, the new owners (of the airline) are Talace," Pandey noted. Read more Q3 net rises 115.8% on steady growth in NII, dip in provisions Canara Banks net profit rose by 115.8 per cent year on year at Rs 1,502 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021 (Q3FY22) on steady growth in Net Interest Income (NII) and dip in provisions. The net profit was Rs 696 crore in Q3FY21 and Rs 1,333 crore in the second quarter ended September 2021 (Q2FY22). Read more Regular market approval granted for Covishield, Covaxin for use in adults India's drug regulator has granted regular market approval for COVID-19 vaccines Covishield and Covaxin for use in the adult population subject to certain conditions, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday. The minister also said that the government's vaccination drive will continue as it is to provide first and second doses for all and a precautionary dose for senior citizens. Read more BoAt-owner Imagine Marketing files papers for Rs 2,000-crore IPO Imagine Marketing, owner of consumer electronics brand BoAt, has filed a preliminary prospectus with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise Rs 2,000 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). The public issue consists of a fresh issue of equity shares, aggregating up to Rs 900 crore and an offer for sale aggregating up to Rs 1,100 crore, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). Read more TVS Motor Company, the flagship firm of the $8.5-billion TVS Group, has acquired a 75 per cent stake in Swiss e-Mobility Group (SEMG) for $100 million (about Rs 752 crore). This is the companys second in Switzerland in the e-mobility space during the current financial year, after buying 80 per cent in EGO Movement for $17.9 million in September 2021. SEMG has almost 20 per cent market share in that country. We will acquire the remaining 25 per cent in the company soon. This will help us in expanding our e-mobility presence in remaining countries of Europe and in India, said Sudarshan Venu, Joint Managing Director, . The company is planning to launch SEMG brands Cilo, Simpel, Allegro, and Zenith in India by the end of 2022. SEMG is a leading provider of e-mobility solutions within the DACH region, operating the largest pure-play e-bike retail chain M-way in Switzerland with close to $100 million in revenue. SEMG has two online platforms and 31 physical stores. TVS Motor has always been committed to sustainability and has been investing in electric vehicles (EVs) for over 10 years. The increasing global focus on the environment and personal well-being is rapidly accelerating demand for newer mobility solutions, and TVS Motor is investing to drive this change, said Venu Srinivasan, Chairman, . The has been made in an all-cash deal through TVS Motors Singapore Subsidiary, TVS Motor (Singapore). TVS Motor is committed to being at the forefront of e-personal mobility globally. SEMG complements our acquisitions of Norton Motorcycles and EGO Movement and strengthens our commitment to environmental sustainability. We offer our customers a compelling portfolio of technologically advanced and environmentally friendly products, said Ralf Speth, Chairman-designate of . TVS had announced the of Norton Motorcycles in Europe for Rs 153 crore in April 2020. This acquisition furthers TVS Motors commitment towards e-personal mobility products. We are strengthening our presence in the rapidly growing e-bikes segment. SEMG has strong omnichannel distribution and aspirational brands, Venu added. The company said the e-bicycle market holds significant growth potential, driven by increased ease of usage, regulatory support, and its overall perception as a sustainable form of transport. In October, the board of TVS had cleared a proposal to set up a subsidiary for the EV business. TVS is also looking to invest Rs 1,000 crore in EV expansion. It is also gearing up to expand its manufacturing capacity to 10,000 EVs per month by the end of this year. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued a warning letter to for violating current good manufacturing practice norms at its Telangana-based plant. In a letter to company's Managing Director Narayanan Govindarajan, the US health regulator noted that its inspectors during an inspection between August 2-12, 2021, found significant deviations from standard manufacturing practices for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) at the company's Doultabad-based plant. The significant violations included failure to evaluate the potential effect that changes may have on the quality of intermediates and API, the stated. The US health regulator said the Hyderabad-based drug firm failed to fully evaluate whether increasing acceptable starting material would impact the quality of the API. The also pointed at failure of the company's quality unit to ensure that critical deviations are investigated and resolved. "Your firm does not fully investigate discrepancies...Although you conducted an investigation, it was not adequate as your investigation failed to consider all potential equipment sources," it stated. The sought a comprehensive, independent assessment of the company's overall system for investigating deviations, discrepancies, complaints, out-of-specification (OOS) results, and failures. Provide a detailed action plan to remediate this system, it noted. "In a previous regulatory meeting held July 29, 2019, FDA cited similar CGMP deviations. You proposed specific remediation for these deviations in your response. Repeated failures demonstrate that executive management oversight and control over the manufacture of drugs is inadequate," the USFDA stated. The health regulator also suggested the company to engage a qualified consultant to assist the drug firm in meeting current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) requirements. "Based upon the nature of the deviations we identified at your firm and because you failed to correct repeat deviations, we strongly recommend engaging a consultant qualified to evaluate your operations to assist your firm in meeting CGMP requirements," it said. The USFDA asked the firm to correct the deviations promptly. "FDA may withhold approval of new applications or supplements listing your firm as a drug manufacturer until any deviations are completely addressed and we confirm your compliance with CGMP. We may re-inspect to verify that you have completed corrective actions to any deviations," it noted. The company's failure to correct these violations may result in FDA continuing to refuse admission of articles manufactured at the plant into the US, it stated. The FDA issued the letter on January 12, 2022 and has given the company 15 days to respond. (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 York Attorney General Letitia James recently stressed that Donald Trump's lawsuit could not derail them from investigating the fraudulent deeds of the Trump Organization. According to reports, James filed a motion on Wednesday urging the court to throw out Trump's lawsuit, which was filed last month. The ex-POTUS is trying to stop the investigation into his business dealings, calling them a frivolous attempt to circumvent the law. Letitia James calls Donald Trump's lawsuit baseless, meritless But James fired back by saying Trump's lawsuit is baseless and meritless. She also pointed out that the investigations into the Trump Organization started three years ago, and everyone cooperated with them. It was only after Trump was subpoenaed that he decided to file a lawsuit against James. "We filed a motion to dismiss Donald Trump's baseless efforts to stop our ongoing lawful investigation into his and the Trump Organization's financial dealings. We will not be deterred by frivolous lawsuits and will continue to follow the facts because no one is above the law," James wrote via the Huffington Post. Letitia James subpoenaed Ivanka, Eric Trump James and Trump have been going back and forth over the investigation in recent weeks. The ex-POTUS became even more riled up after learning that James also subpoenaed his children, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump. Last week, Trump slammed James for targeting his children. He also accused the district attorney of harassing, intimidating, and retaliating against him solely for her political gain. Read Also: Mary Trump Explains Why Donald Trump Jr. Texted Mark Meadows, Not Donald Trump To Stop the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot However, James denied Trump's allegations, and she also remained undeterred. Last week, she confirmed that they found significant evidence that the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations on multiple properties for their economic benefits. James fights back against Donald Trump's allegations In the new filing, James also fought back against Trump's claims that she violated his First Amendment right to free speech with her investigation and that this amounts to harassment. James' lawyer said that Trump's complaint does not specifically identify which of the ex-president's viewpoints have been targeted or are in danger of being suppressed, according to Yahoo! News. According to the BBC, James is investigating six of Trump's properties in New York and Scotland, as well as the Trump brand. In 2012, Trump's property in Westchester County was valued at $291 million. But an appraisal in 2016 valued the property for only $56 million. Trump's three-story penthouse in New York's Trump Tower was valued based on a size of 30,000 sq ft., but it's only 10,996 sq ft. James' filing also states that at least two false statements were made to the IRS regarding the value of two properties so that they could get a tax break. However, Trump continues to deny any wrongdoing. And he also continues to protect his two children, who are part of the Trump Organization. But his niece, Mary Trump, is convinced that it's only a matter of time before Trump implicates his children if it means that he can protect himself from the lawsuit. Related Article: New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James Claims Donald Trump's Children Donny, Ivanka Are Involved in Company's Fraudulent, Misleading Asset Valuations @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Venture Catalyst announced the launch of Beams Fund, a focused fund with a fund target size of $100 million and a greenshoe option. With the backing of banks, NBFCs, fintechs, several influential founders, family offices & UHNIs from Indian and global investors, the founding team is already in advanced stages of its first close and is even making a few investments. Beams proposes to invest $8-10 million in growth stages, Series B & C rounds of Fintech led by high-quality founders. It plans to build a concentrated portfolio of a dozen Fintech in a market currently valued at $75 billion and is likely to touch $200 billion-plus by 2025. Beams is co-founded by Fintech veteran Sagar Agarvwal and Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anuj Golecha, Anil Jain, Gaurav Jain. Naveen Surya, Chairman of the Fintech Convergence Council and Founder of ItzCash (now EbixInc), has been roped in as the Fintech Expert Partner (non-executive) as part of the core founding team. Emphasizing the opportunities in the Fintech sector, Sagar Agarvwal, Co-founder & Partner, Beams, said, "Fintech is consuming an increasingly larger slice of the software pie. We are in fintech 3.0 right now in India, with the first wave of lending and payments having received a significant amount of capital and now the capital is moving across segments. Seasoned professionals & high-quality founders are moving out from larger firms to target newer categories to solve the long tail financial services demand in India." With a founder-first approach, Beams has a focused strategy of offering founders with capital and ecosystem support to build large successful fintech companies. It would provide a network of local and international Banks, Insurance companies, NBFCs, Fintechs, Mentors & Advisors to not only access capital at affordable rates but also to expedite the go-to-market strategy of its portfolio companies in India & abroad. In addition, Beams would also provide access to VCATs 250+ portfolio companies & 195+ corporates for partnerships through Incubate Hub. Beams Fintech Fund assumes significant importance as the Indian fintech market is growing fast with 2300+ Fintech startups currently operational, of which 24 are Unicorns and 15 are Soonicorns. Besides, the market is ripe for IPOs. At least five financial services & fintech firms, including Paytm, PolicyBazaar, FinoPayments Bank, AGS Transact, Star Health Insurance recently IPOed. "We estimate that the maximum number of Unicorns in India will be from the Fintech space over the next decade," Agarvwal stated. On the need for a fintech fund, Anuj Golecha, Co-founder & Partner, Beams, said "Fintech opportunity is huge in India as it is the only tech segment in India that has created over $75 billion in value and $8 billion in M&As. Our returns in BharatPe are a testament to the opportunity in the Fintech space in India. We have given 90x return to investors from BharatPe exit which turned Unicorn last year and are creating more Unicorns in this space. We have one of the best Fintech investing teams in India with an excellent track record." Bharatpe is the fastest Fintech Unicorn in India. Apoorva Sharma, Co-Founder & Investment Committee Member, Beams, added, "We are a strong thesis-driven team of investors & COVID has further strengthened our thesis in the Fintech space. We expect nearly $200 bn of new value creation by existing and new Fintechs in India over the next 5-7 years. Beams will primarily focus on segments such as Embedded finance, Enterprise SAAS Products, Neo banks and Platforms catering to MSMEs." "The need for capital, knowledge, and support required for Fintech's at growth stages is much different than at an early stage. Beams is well-positioned as the only 100% Fintech-focused growth-stage fund. Beams is an opportunity to back high-quality founders solving key problems for enterprises and consumers in the financial services space," said Navin Surya, Fintech Expert Partner, Beams. Navin built India's first digital wallet ItzCash and later sold it to US-based EbixInc for $130 mn. India is the third-largest Fintech market globally after the US and China in terms of the number of startups & capital invested & the number of Unicorns. In 2021, 18 companies turned Unicorns in the Fintech space out of 43 total Unicorns in India - BharatPe, Digit, Cred, Meesho, Groww, Five Star Finance, Zeta, Chargebee. As jute mills continue to down shutters in owing to unavailability of raw materials at the price fixed by the government, the Jute Commissioner came under fire at a meeting chaired by state Labour Minister Becharam manna in presence of representatives of trade unions and mills on Thursday, sources said. The state government blamed the Jute Commissioner for not doing enough to resolve the crisis in the mills that has caused a job loss for 60,000 workers. Irrespective of party line, almost all trade unions and the government blamed the Jute Commissioner for the situation," a source who was present at the meeting said. The state government would write to the Centre on the issue, the source said. Calls to Jute Commissioner Moloy Chakraborty for his comments went unanswered. On Thursday, Reliance Jute Mill and Calcutta Jute Mill announced suspension of work for unavailability of raw jute at the government rate of Rs 6500 per quintal while the prevailing market price is Rs 7300 per quintal. Eluru Jute Mills said its two units in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh had suspended production due to the same reason. The Jute Commissioner has imposed a price cap of Rs 6500 per quintal on raw jute and a stock limit of a maximum of 45 days. Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) said the quantity of raw jute confiscated in raids till now is a mere 803 tonne which is good for production for only six hours by all the mills. According to INTTUC leader Ganesh Sarkar, the Jute Commissioner said it will ask Jute Corporation of India (JCI) to be more proactive to ensure raw jute supply to the mills. Had JCI been proactive in early procurement when the crop was harvested, it would have been fruitful, the trade union leader claimed. The IJMA has initiated legal steps against the government for a resolution to the raw jute crisis which leads to financial losses for the millers and supply commitment failure. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) chief minister on Thursday met Union Nirmala Sitharaman and requested her to provide special central assistance to the state. He urged the for providing special central assistance for capital expenditure to Himachal. The chief minister also requested Sitharaman for providing special central assistance for Mandi airport. The gave him a patient hearing and assured to look into the matter. Earlier, the chief minister also met Union Power Minister R K Singh, and discussed about various issues related to the power sector of the state. These include installation of Smart Meters, pump storage, Energy Policy and Hydro Projects in Himachal, an official statement said. Thakur also discussed with him about highlights of the Swarn Jayanti Urja Niti launched by the state and requested for a detailed interaction with states producing hydro-power to hasten up the process of delayed projects. Appreciating Thakur's suggestions, the Power Minister assured him to provide all possible support to the state. (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.) on Thursday recorded 3,944 new COVID-19 cases taking the tally to 7,51,099, while the death toll rose to 4,081 with three more fatalities. on Wednesday reported 3,801 new COVID-19 cases. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the highest number of fresh cases with 1,372, followed by 288 in Medchal Malkajgiri and 259 in Ranga Reddy districts, a state government bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM today. A total of 2,444 people recovered from the infection today, taking the cumulative number of recoveries till date to 7,07,498. Active cases stood at 39,520, the bulletin said. A total of 97,549 samples were examined today and the total number examined till date was 3,17,76,018. The samples tested per million population were 8,53,735. The case fatality and recovery rates were at 0.54 per cent and 94.20 per cent, respectively. (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.) Electronic goods exports rose by 49 per cent to USD 11 billion during April-December 2021 as against USD 7.4 billion in the same period of the previous year, the commerce ministry said on Thursday. Top five destinations were the US, UAE, China, Netherlands and Germany, it added. Mobile phones constituted a major chunk of electronic goods shipments. Other sectors which recorded healthy growth included IT hardware (laptops, tablets), consumer (TV and audio), industrial electronics, auto electronics, components, LED lighting and telecom equipment. In 2020-21, the exports stood at USD 11.11 billion. "The sector is set to break all-time record highs, far exceeding the previous high USD 11.7 billion recorded in 2019-20," the ministry added. Steps taken by the government which are expected to increase the domestic manufacturing and exports include the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI), Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), and Modified Manufacturing Clusters. The Ministry of and Information Technology recently released the second volume of a five-year roadmap and vision document for the sector. The document lays the roadmap to transform India into a USD 300 billion electronics manufacturing powerhouse over the next five years, from the current USD 75 billion. Electronic goods exports are expected to increase from the projected USD 15 billion in 2021-22 to USD 120 billion by 2026, it 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.) reported 12,911 new cases on Thursday, down from 14,781 a day ago, taking the overall tally to 11,20,660, while 22 more patients succumbed to the infection in the state, the health department said. In the last 24 hours, 23,197 persons, almost double the fresh infections, recovered from COVID-19, taking the tally of recoveries to 9,92,431, said the department in a release. Gujarat's recovery rate now stands at 88.56 per cent. The release said 22 patients succumbed to COVID-19 during the day, pushing up the death toll to 10,345. On Wednesday, the state had recorded 21 deaths linked to the infection. Ahmedabad city recorded the highest number of new infections - 4,405 - followed by 1,871 in Vadodara city, 1,008 in Rajkot city and 708 in Surat city, the department said. As per the latest data available on the state's COVID-19 dashboard, nearly 1.30 lakh tests are being conducted everyday in Gujarat, whose positivity rate now stands at 10.90 per cent. The rate indicates the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested. At present, has 1,17,884 active cases, of which 304 patients are on ventilators, the release said. As many as 9.71 crore doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered to the eligible population so far in Gujarat, of which 2.13 lakh shots were given during the day, the department said. Seven new cases of COVID-19 and 39 recoveries were registered in the adjoining Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu in the last 24 hours, said an official release. Of the total 11,263 persons found positive for coronavirus in the Union Territory so far, 135 are under treatment, four have died, while 11,124 have recovered, said the release. COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 11,20,660 new cases 12,911, deaths 10,345 discharged 9,92,431 active cases 1,17,884 and people tested so far - figures not released. (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.) Central Asia is central to India's vision of an integrated and stable extended neighbourhood, Prime Minister said on Thursday as he hosted the first India-Central Asia Summit in a virtual format. In his initial remarks at the Summit, Modi said, "We all are concerned about the Afghan situation and this makes cooperation between India and Central Asia all the more important for regional stability and security." The virtual summit saw the participation of five presidents -- Kazakhstan's Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan's Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan's Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyz Republic. The prime minister called for defining an ambitious vision for cooperation between India and Central Asia in the coming years. Mutual cooperation between India and Central Asia is essential for regional security and prosperity, Modi said. This is the first engagement of its kind between India and the Central Asian countries at the level of leaders. The first India-Central Asia Summit, the MEA had said, is a reflection of the country's growing engagement with the Central Asian countries, which are a part of India's "extended neighbourhood". The second goal of today's meeting is to give an effective structure to our cooperation, which will pave the way for the establishment of a platform for regular interaction among all stakeholders: PM Modi at the first meeting of the India-Central Asia Summit (2/3) pic.twitter.com/YxldZOAJEr ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 Modi had paid a visit to all Central Asian countries in 2015. Subsequently, there have been exchanges at high levels at bilateral and multilateral forums. (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 Indian government asked for data on 2,200 user accounts in the January-June 2021 period and the micro-blogging platform complied with just 2 per cent of the requests. There were also nearly 5,000 legal demands to remove accounts from India in the reporting period, the company's latest transparency report has revealed. Global government preservation requests decreased by 4 per cent, while accounts specified increased by 24 per cent during this reporting period. The US (57 per cent) and India (25 per cent) together accounted for 82 per cent of all global preservation requests. Since started bringing out its transparency report in 2012, India has requested information on 11,667 user accounts, which is 10 per cent of the global information requests. The US submitted the most government information requests, accounting for 24 per cent of the global volume, and 27 per cent of the global accounts specified. The second highest volume of requests originated from India, comprising 18 per cent of global information requests and 30 per cent of the global accounts specified. Twitter said that it partially disclosed or did not disclose information in response to 64 per cent of global government information requests, a decrease of 9 per cent during this reporting period. Japan, Brazil, and the US were the top three requesting countries when it comes to non-government requests, with all three accounting for 89 per cent of all requests and 87 per cent of the total accounts specified for this period. In terms of legal demands from governments, in the six-month period, Twitter received 43,387 legal demands to remove content, specifying 196,878 accounts. "This is the largest number of accounts ever subject to removal requests in a reporting period since releasing our first transparency report in 2012," the company said late on Wednesday. In the January-June period, Twitter required account holders to remove 4.7 million tweets that violated its rules. Of the Tweets removed, 68 per cent received fewer than 100 impressions prior to removal, with an additional 24 per cent receiving between 100 and 1,000 impressions. In these six months, Twitter permanently suspended 453,754 unique accounts for violations of its child sexual exploitation (CSE) policy. In the first half of 2021, Twitter suspended 44,974 unique accounts for promotion of terrorism and violent organisations. According to Article 4(d) of India's Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, Twitter is required to publish a monthly report regarding its handling of complaints from users in India, including action taken on them, as well as the number of URLs that Twitter has taken action as a result of proactive monitoring efforts. --IANS na/skp/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government plans to crack down on Bangladeshi immigrants who work in the State, with Home Minister Araga Jnanendra flagging concerns that they pose a danger to the country's internal security. The Minister said a survey is underway by police to track down such illegal immigrants. He said police have information about their presence in parts of the State, especially in coffee plantations in Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru districts working as labourers. "Special efforts and preparations are on to track them and apprehend them," Jnanendra told PTI in an interview on Thursday. He alleged that Bangladeshi immigrants manage to get ration cards, voter ID cards and Aadhaar cards in Assam and West Bengal after they sneak into India. It's a big racket and there is a need to crack down on this network. "It poses a danger to our country's security", the Minister said. Jnanendra also said cyber crime cases have been going up sharply in recent times in the State, adding, police are in touch with bank managements to address the issue. The government has inked an MoU with its Gujarat counterpart on training state personnel to tackle cyber crimes. "We are sending 60 police personnel working in our cyber cell to Gujarat for training", the Minister said. On drug menace, Jnanendra said police is in touch Central agencies, and coordination with neighbouring States to curb such activities is being strengthened. Referring to the "anti-conversion bill" which was cleared by the Legislative Assembly but is yet to be passed in the Council, where the ruling BJP lacks majority, the Minister said the government intends to promulgate an ordinance. But at the same the government is also mulling to get it passed in the upper House in the coming Budget session. "We have increased our numbers (in the Council) after the recent elections. There may be one or two differences (short by one or two members). But we will manage. There are members in other parties who want this to become law", he said. The Minister also said that the government has proposed to revise the prison manual. There are acres of unutilised land within premises of jails, and the government has proposed to promote agriculture and industrial activities there which would generate income and give work opportunities for inmates who otherwise sit idle. The government is also giving a major thrust to "beat policing" system in the State to promote greater involvement of constables. According to him, Naxal activities have down substantially in the State. There are a few naxals operating in areas bordering Kerala, but there is a feeling among naxals that "Karnataka is not safe" for their activities. On completion of six months in office of the Basavaraj Bommai government this week, Jnanendra praised the leadership of the Chief Minister saying he has given good administration, and freedom for Ministers to work. (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 former New Jersey political consultant named Sean Caddle just pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit a murder-for-hire plot almost nine years ago. According to reports, Caddle was working for New Jersey state Sen. Ray Lesniak during his 2013 and 2017 campaigns when he plotted a murder-for-hire scheme targeting Michael Galdieri. Sean Caddle's murder for hire plot revealed Caddle sought the help of Bomani Africa and George Bratsenis to kill Galdieri at his apartment in exchange for thousands of dollars. Africa and Bratsenis accepted the job, and they were responsible for killing Galdieri via stabbing, and they also set his apartment on fire. A day after Galdieri's murder, Caddle met with the first co-conspirator in a parking lot in Elizabeth. While there, he gave the co-conspirator thousands of dollars as payment. The first co-conspirator then shared the money with the second co-conspirator, according to NBC News. Following his death, authorities revealed that Galdieri sustained multiple stab wounds. They also said that the murderers started a fire to try and cover up the victim's murder. On Wednesday, Africa also pleaded guilty to killing Galdieri. He is currently being held at a Rhode Island federal detention center after pleading guilty to an armed bank robbery in Connecticut in 2014. Caddle, on the other hand, is out on a $1 million unsecured bond. He is also awaiting his sentencing. Read Also: Haiti's Ti Makak Gang Shoots, Burns 2 Journalists Alive in Port-au-Prince; Third Journalist Escapes Savage Attack Sean Caddle's former boss speaks out Following his confession, Caddle's former boss released a statement expressing his shock over what he had just heard about his ex-employee. "The most bizarre thing I've ever experienced in my entire life. He led a double life. While he was running campaigns for me - a lot of them very successful - he was arranging a murder," Lesniak said via the New York Post. US Attorney Philip R. Sellinger also released a statement saying that what Caddle did was a callous and violent crime. He also said that there's no more serious crime than taking another person's life. "The defendant has admitted arranging and paying for murder by two other people. His admission of guilt means he will now pay for his crime," Sellinger said via People. Caddle faces a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. His sentencing is scheduled for June 7. New Jersey woman freed after seven years in prison Galdieri's murder is not an isolated case in New Jersey. Last month, a New Jersey mom Michelle Lodzinski's murder conviction was vacated by the Supreme Court due to a lack of substantial evidence. Lodzinski was charged with the murder of his son 23 years after he first vanished. Her then 5-year-old son, Timothy, went missing at a carnival, and his remains were found a year later. Her attorney, Gerald Krovatin, said that they are thrilled with the Supreme Court's decision and believe that they got it right. Krovatin also said that his client didn't expect to be free after being in prison for seven years. So, when she found out she just broke down and cried. The woman was released from prison ahead of the New Year, according to CNN. Related Article: Maryland Teen Charged as an Adult, Held Without Bond Following Attempted Second-Degree Murder of His Schoolmate @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The on Thursday cleared multiple proposals for transfer of plots of land for projects under the Phase-4 of the Metro, officials said. Prior to giving nod to these proposals, the BJP-led House witnessed ruckus as members of opposition AAP held placards and protested, alleging encroachment of some land by senior BJP leader Adesh Gupta. The ruling party in the North Municipal Corporation has denied the accusation. "AAP members protested over the issue due to which the mayor soon adjourned the House. It reconvened after about half an hour but the opposition members continued to protest. Meanwhile, various proposals in the agenda of the meeting today were passed by the House," a senior official said. Among the proposals cleared was transfer of plots of land in different parts of the city for carrying out projects under Phase-4 of the DMRC. These proposals include allotment and transfer of eight land pockets between Madhuban Chowk and Prashant Vihar, at Mongolpuri and Peeragarhi to the DMRC for construction of structures on Janakpuri to Majlis Park corridor of Phase-4 project of the Metro, the officials said. Another proposal was for transfer of a parcel of land at Pul Bangash for construction of a structure on R K Ashram to Majlis Park corridor of the Phase-4 network. The work on Phase-4 had begun in December 2019 with a groundbreaking ceremony but it was hit after the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020 in Delhi. Under approved segment of Phase-4, 61.679-km of new metro lines shall be constructed across three corridors comprising 45 metro stations. These new sections shall provide interconnectivity among the already operational lines of the . According to the government, the Mukundpur-Maujpur, R K Ashram-Janakpuri West and Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridors were approved by the Cabinet. (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.) Senior Congress leader said on Thursday the Narendra Modi government's decision to confer on was a political one and not based on merit. He said the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister should not accept the award if he thinks that it harms the interest of the Congress party. "Narendra Modi took a political decision," Moily told PTI here. "They have taken a decision politically; not weighing on any merit or otherwise. Now, it's for him (Azad) to take a decision (on whether to accept or decline the award). The former Union Minister, who was among the Congress group of 23 leaders who wrote to the party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking internal reforms, said Azad should think whether it's in the interest of the party or not before accepting it. Noting that Azad is a senior member of the Congress who had also served as Union Minister, the former Karnataka Chief Minister said he has to weigh the pros and cons on whether accepting the award will harm the interest of the party. (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 new institutionalised summit-level dialogue between and the five Central Asian Republics (CARs) Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan was flagged off at a virtual meeting between Prime Minister and the Presidents of the CARs, the first-ever, at which deepening connectivity, trade and economic ties were discussed, including a joint working group (JWG) on Chabahar Port. The India-CAR summit came days after a similar summit held between Chinese Premier Xi Jinping and the CARs. Afghanistan and the extended neighbourhood featured prominently in the discussions, and a JWG of officials will be instituted on Afghanistan. However a spokesman from the foreign office said the issue of Ukraine (which is Kazakhstans neighbour) and a possible imminent launch of military forces by Russia in Ukraine was not discussed at the meeting. A spokesman said regional rather than bilateral issues were addressed and the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan- (TAPI) pipeline, as well as the approach to the Chabahar Port, was flagged. The pipeline aims to bring 33 billion cubic metres of gas from Turkmenistan to India, but has stayed stalled. As TAPI will pass through Afghanistan, buy-in by the Taliban government is crucial. On January 16, at a meeting in Turkmenistan, the Taliban government and Turkmenistan announced the project will recommence in Afghanistan in March 2022. The Pakistan leg of the pipeline also represents a challenge. But the joint statement issued after the summit meeting noted that the President of Turkmenistan stressed on the importance of the TAPI gas pipeline project, suggesting it was Turkmenistan that will do the heavy diplomatic lifting on the project. The Indian spokesman said discussions between the consortium partners were on. The International North-South Transport Corridor and the Ashgabat Agreement on International Transport and Transit Corridor has been stymied because of Pakistans refusal to extend overland connectivity to . India, Iran, and Uzbekistan have in the past discussed the joint use of the Chabahar Port in Iran. Thursdays joint statement, significantly announcing a JWG on Chabahar Port initiated by India, was welcomed by the CARs to address issues of free movements of goods and services between India and Central Asian countries. The joint statement said all agreed connectivity initiatives should be based on the principles of transparency, broad participation, local priorities, financial sustainability, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. There was extended discussion on the situation in Afghanistan and the joint statement agreed to provide humanitarian aid to the people of that country. A JWG on Afghanistan at senior official-level will be set up. The statement noted there is a broad regional consensus on the issues related to Afghanistan. Comparisons will inevitably be made between the summit hosted by China and the one hosted by India, days apart. Unlike India which sought a regional approach, the summit between CARs and China was more bilateral in nature. Chinese media reported that Tajik President Emomali Rahmon spoke of the need to expand security cooperation in the light of threats from Afghanistan. Turkmenistan's Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow suggested increasing natural gas supplies to China by building another pipeline. Uzbekistans Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kyrgyzstan's Sadyr Japarov called for construction of a long-mooted China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad. President Xi promised to open Chinas domestic market to more Central Asian goods and agricultural products, local reports said. Trade relations between CARs and China and India cannot be compared as there is a wide gulf: the Chinese state-run Peoples Daily says trade turnover between China and the Central Asian region is likely to touch $70 billion by 2030. In the last 20 years, the figure has grown twenty-five-fold in the last 20 years, from $1.5 billion to $38.6 billion in 2020. With India, trade amounts to $2 billion. In 2021, India announced a $1 billion line of credit for infrastructure development projects in Central Asian countries, and grants for community development projects for socioeconomic development. The on Thursday directed Bharatiya Janata Party's Maharashtra MLA Nitesh Rane, the son of Union Minister Narayan Rane, to surrender before the trial court and seek regular bail in connection with an attempt to murder case lodged against him in Sindhudurg district last month and also granted him ten days protection from arrest. Hearing the special leave petition filed by Rane challenging the Bombay Bombay High Court's order refusing pre-arrest bail to him, a bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice A.S. Bopanna disposed of the plea accordingly. Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Luthra appeared for Rane and Senior Advocate Dr A.M. Singhvi appeared on behalf of the Maharashtra government. Two days ago, in the last hearing, Rohatgi had mentioned the matter for urgent hearing before the bench, submitting that the matter is a result of political rivalry. Rane has challenged the January 17 order of the Bombay High Court, declining to entertain his plea seeking anticipatory bail, before the top court. The matter is connected with a road rage incident, which occurred in December last year. The complainant alleged that his motorcycle was hit by a car without a number plate and claimed he heard one of the occupants say "should inform Gotya Sawant and Nitesh Rane". The Maharashtra Police had given an oral assurance before the high court that Rane would not be arrested till Monday. However, Nitish claimed the case was registered to stop him from participating in the Sindhudurg District Co-operative Bank elections. --IANS jw/skp/ (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.) With cases on the decline, the government on Thursday withdrew restrictions such as night curfew and Sunday lockdown while permitting schools to reopen on February 1 for classes 1 to 12. Schools, except nursery and kindergarten, and colleges will reopen on February 1 and resume the direct classes. Following a spate of infections, the government had ordered schools to close while permitting classes for higher secondary students till Pongal (mid-January). Later, all the higher secondary schools were asked to remain shut till this month-end. Reviewing the pandemic situation with health officials and senior bureaucrats on Thursday, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that there will be no night curfew from January 28, Further, there would not be a complete lockdown this Sunday (January 30), as it is being withdrawn. Restaurants, cinema theatres, clubs, amusement parks, bakeries, lodges, gyms, garment and jewellery shops, spas and salons are allowed to function with 50 per cent occupancy. The restriction on the number of persons (up to 100) for marriage and (50) for funerals will however continue. All colleges and universities, other than those that are temporarily functioning as COVID Care Centres, would resume classes on February 1, strictly complying with the government guidelines on COVID safety. About 28,515 positive cases were added to the registry today taking the tally to 32,52,751 till date, while recoveries stood at 28,620. The restriction on social, cultural and political gathering will continue. The polls to the urban civic bodies will be held on February 19 with stringent enforcement of the SoPs issued by the State Election Commission, a release from the government 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.) Early indications of Covid cases plateauing have been reported in some places but the trend needs to be observed, the Union government said on Thursday whilst noting that 400 districts have logged over 10 per cent positivity rate in the week ending January 26. Stressing the need to continue with precautions to curb the surge in infections, it noted that Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan were recording a high number of Covid cases and positivity. Simultaneously, a decline in Covid cases and positivity rate have been observed in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Haryana and West Bengal, the government stated. Addressing a press conference here, Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary in the Health Ministry, said, "Early indication of a plateau in cases are being reported in certain geographies. The trend needs to be observed and required precautions need to be continued." "Top 10 states in terms of active cases contribute to more than 77 per cent of the total active cases in the country. Over 90 per cent of these active cases are under home isolation, indicating mild to moderate clinical severity," Agarwal said. At the press conference, a comparison of the key indices during the second and third surge of Covid infections in India was presented. It showed that on May 7 last year, at the peak of the second wave, 4,14,188 new cases and 3,679 deaths were reported. As many as 17,40,446 tests were carried out on that day and the proportion of fully vaccinated people was approximately 3 per cent. On January 21 this year, 3,47,254 new cases and 435 deaths were reported. A total of 19,35,912 tests were reportedly carried out on the day and the proportion of fully vaccinated people was approximately 75 per cent. A clear trend in terms of fewer cases needing oxygen-supported beds or ICU beds is observed, Agarwal said. "The number of active cases and corresponding deaths are much lower during the present surge vis-a-vis the earlier surges," he said highlighting vaccination is providing support in terms of fewer cases, fewer hospitalizations and less severity of the cases being reported in the country. Warning against any lax in observing Covid-appropriate behaviour, Agarwal said 400 districts reported over 10 per cent weekly Covid positivity while in 141 districts it was between five to 10 per cent in the week ending January 26. About the prevalence of the Omicron variant of in India, he said, 1,292 cases of the latest variant of concern were found on genome sequencing in December which rose to 9,672 in January. Agarwal said 11 states have over 50,000 active Covid cases, which include Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala with over 3 lakh active infections. About the vaccine coverage, the press conference was informed that 95 per cent of India's adults have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 74 per cent are fully vaccinated. Also, 97.03 lakh healthcare, frontline workers and comorbid people aged 60 and above have been given the precaution dose of Covid vaccine while 59 per cent of adolescents in the 15-18 year age group have received the first dose. To a question over media reports that there are discussions if the third dose is needed for all, Agarwal said there has been no such discussion. "Whenever a science and evidence-based discussion takes place we will share the factual information with you. Whichever vaccine has been launched in India was based on evidence submitted to the relevant technical group and there should be no doubt about it," he said. On reports that despite the Centre's guidelines, Molnupiravir is still being prescribed by some doctors in private practice, Agarwal said it is very important that protocols are implemented at the ground level. "We have a task force and a joint monitoring group comprising technical experts. According to them, details of medicines that must be prescribed have been provided, webinars being held to disseminate clinical management protocols and we request everyone to follow those," he said. Asked if the third wave of Covid infections has already peaked, Agarwal said though certain geographies in the country have noted plateauing of cases to an extent and the infection spread rate has also reduced in some areas, there are also areas where infection spread and the number of cases are rising. The overall picture is yet to emerge, the official said. Agarwal also said there is clear evidence that infection spread and hospitalisation are high among the unvaccinated and they have severe symptoms. Asked if the whole of the national capital has been vaccinated then who are the ones dying, he replied, "Delhi is an area where people from other states, including those left out from vaccination, visit. Anyone who is eligible must get vaccinated. (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.) Finance Minister P.T.R. Thiagarajan, MPs Kanimozhi and Su Venkatesan, and several political parties and social organisations of have come out strongly against the Reserve Bank of India staff accusing them of "disrespecting" Tamil state song during Republic Day celebrations. The political leaders have flayed the attitude of the staff for not standing up when Tamil Thai Vazhthu (Tamil state song) was played on the Republic Day. The staff, however, was unfazed and said that the Madras High Court had, in an order, said that standing up while playing the Tamil state song was not mandatory. Video of some staff members defending their action in not standing when Tamil Thai Vazhthu was played has gone viral on social media invoking strong reactions from political leaders. Taking to Twitter, Thiagarajan said: "The video is distressing, we will look into it and eliminate all confusion." Member of Parliament Kanimozhi, tweeting a state Government order mandating everyone to stand up while the state song was played, said: "How come those who cannot read and write a state government order serve as officials." She asked, "Are these officers superior to government". Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Madurai Su Venkatesan tweeted: "Is the Chennai not in Tamil Nadu? The G.O Dated December 17, 2021, is applicable to all offices in the state. Take immediate action against those who showed disrespect while Tamizh Thaai vaazthu was played in Reserve Bank of India's Republic Day celebrations." Thamizhaga Vazhvuirmai Katchi founder T. Velmurugan said that he would organise a demonstration in front of the RBI office in Chennai on Thursday. Actor-turned-politician and president of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) Kamal Haasan also strongly came out against the disrespect shown to Tamizh Thaai Vaazthu. He said that appropriate action is to be taken against those who have erred so that this was not repeated in future. --IANS aal/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.) Joined by former vice-president Hamid Ansari, four US lawmakers, including a senator, expressed concerns on Wednesday over the current situation in India. The Indian government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) deny these allegations. "As the Indian government continues to target the practices of minority faiths, it creates an atmosphere where discrimination and violence can take root. In recent years, we have seen an uptick in online hate speeches and acts of hate, including vandalised mosques, torched churches, and communal violence," Senator Ed Markey said. Democratic Senator Markey, who has a history of taking anti-India stands, including opposing the India-US civil nuclear deal during the Manmohan Singh regime, was speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Indian American Muslim Council. Participating in the virtual panel discussion from India, former vice president Ansari expressed his concern over the rising trend of Hindu nationalism. "In recent years, we have experienced the emergence of trends and practices that dispute the well-established principle of civic nationalism and interpose a new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism.... It wants to distinguish citizens on the basis of their faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness, and promote disquiet and insecurity," he alleged. The three other Congressmen who spoke during the panel discussion -- Jim McGovern, Andy Levin and Jamie Raskin -- have traditionally taken anti-India stands irrespective of the governments in power in New Delhi. "There have been a lot of problems with the issue of religious authoritarianism and discrimination taking place in India," Raskin said. "So we want to make sure that India stays on the path of respecting religious liberty, freedom, pluralism, toleration and dissent for everybody," he added. "Regrettably, today, the world's largest democracy is seeing backsliding, under attack and religious nationalism. Since 2014, India has fallen from 27 to 53 on the Democracy Index. And Freedom House has downgraded India from free to partly free," Levin said. McGovern, co-chair of the powerful Tom Lantos Commission of the US House of Representatives, listed several warning signs that showed India's "alarming backsliding" on human rights, according to a media release issued by the Indian American Muslim Council. (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.) People who have both been vaccinated and had Covid-19 are less likely to report fatigue and other health problems seen post Covid, than unvaccinated people, according to a study based in Israel. The study, not yet peer reviewed, showed that vaccinated people were no more likely to report symptoms than people who have never caught SARS-CoV-2, Nature reported. The findings showed that fully vaccinated participants who also had Covid-19 were 54 per cent less likely to report headaches, 64 per cent less likely to report fatigue, and 68 per cent less likely to report muscle pain than were their unvaccinated counterparts. "Here is another reason to get vaccinated, if you needed one," co-author Michael Edelstein, an epidemiologist at Bar-Ilan University in Safed, Israel was quoted as saying. People with the debilitating condition called long Covid continue to experience symptoms -- such as fatigue, shortness of breath and even trouble concentrating -- weeks, months or years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some estimate that up to 30 per cent of infected people, including many who were never hospitalised, have persistent symptoms. Vaccination reduces long Covid's incidence by preventing people from getting infected in the first place. In theory, the shots could also protect against the condition by minimising the length of time the virus has free rein in the body during breakthrough infections. In the study, the team between July and November 2021, asked more than 3,000 people whether they were experiencing the most common symptoms of long Covid. All had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 between March 2020 and the study period. The researchers compared the prevalence of each symptom to self-reported vaccination status. According to Edelstein, his team's study is the most "comprehensive and precise" to date on vaccination and long Covid. He added that the results echo those of other research, including a UK-based study from last September that found that vaccination halved the risk of long Covid, the report said. --IANS rvt/vd (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 was allegedly abducted, gang-raped and paraded by her attackers on the streets of east Delhi's Kasturba Nagar with her hair chopped, face blackened and a shoe garland around her neck, said on Thursday. Of the 11 accused, nine people, including seven women from one family, have been nabbed. The incident, which once again highlights the vulnerability of women in the capital and is described by as provoked by personal enmity, took place on Wednesday afternoon, a few metres from a booth that was closed since it was Republic Day. Several videos purportedly of the being paraded did the rounds of social media. Of the 11 people allegedly involved, seven are women and four men, including juveniles. While the seven women have been arrested, police are trying to ascertain the age of the two others picked up, officials said. The 20-year-old woman, who was rescued by police and is being counselled, was at her husband''s home in Anand Vihar when the accused who lived near her mother''s place in Kasturba Nagar abducted her, police said. Preliminary investigations indicate the and a boy belonging to the family of the accused were friends. "The boy committed suicide in November last year and his family is now blaming the victim. They have alleged it was because of her that he took the extreme step. To extract revenge from her, they allegedly abducted her. They wanted to teach her a lesson," a senior police official said. Those accused in police custody said during their interrogation they perpetrated the sexual assault and the subsequent public humiliation to defame the survivor, officials disclosed. The other two accused have also been identified but are absconding. Twelve sections of the Indian Penal Code, including that of abduction and gang- have been added to the case, and the survivor's family provided police security, police said. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, East MP Gautam Gambhir and DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal were among those who condemned the brutal assault and the subsequent public humiliation and asked for strong action. Terming it really shameful, Kejriwal said in a Hindi post on Twitter, "How did the criminals get so much courage? I request the Union Home minister and the LG to direct police to take strict action and pay attention to the law and order situation. Delhiites won't tolerate such heinous crimes and criminals at any cost." The Commission for Women said it has sent a notice to Delhi Police seeking strict action against the accused after the videos of the woman being paraded were circulated on social media platforms. "A 20-year-old woman was gang-raped by illegal liquor sellers who shaved her head, garlanded her with slippers and blackened her face. I am issuing a notice to Delhi Police," DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said in a Twitter post in Hindi. Maliwal met the survivor who informed her that she was abducted from her home and gang-raped by the men involved in the illicit trade of liquor and drugs. While she was being sexually assaulted, the women were present and instigating the men, the survivor alleged. "She was brutally gang-raped by criminals and has terrible bruises all over her body and is in deep trauma. All culprits including the women who instigated the gang- must be arrested. Further, the survivor and her family need to be given protection. Delhi Police must also take steps to crack down the sale of illegal liquor and drugs in the Capital, Maliwal said on Twitter after meeting the survivor. Gambhir said the accused involved in the barbaric assault will not be spared and he had spoken to the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) R. Sathiyasundaram. " Some arrests have been made & more will follow. I assure that these animals (men & women) will not be spared. Every kind of support will be provided to the survivor," he tweeted. Giving details, police officials said they received a call at 1:18 pm on Wednesday about the incident. The woman was taken from Anand Vihar to Kasturba Nagar. In her complaint to the police, the woman alleged she was abducted by her acquaintances who live near her mother's place. They took her to their house where they allegedly assaulted her. Besides, they chopped her hair and forcefully made her wear a garland of slippers. They then humiliated her in public by parading her, an official said. "Teams were rushed to the spot after we found out that a group of people were parading a woman on the streets and also beating her up We rescued the woman and took her to the police station where she is being counselled," he said. In one of the purported videos of the incident, the woman can be seen being paraded by a group of people, including women who are abusing her. People can also be heard whistling in the background. In another video, she can be seen being thrashed with a belt by a man while another woman is beating her with a stick. And in a third, women are shaving off her hair while also abusing her. All the allegations levelled by both the parties are being verified and investigation is underway in the matter, said DCP Sathiyasundaram. Neighbours at Kasturba Nagar refused to share any details and said they were inside their homes or were out for work when the incident happened. "We were inside our homes when the incident took place. It''s only when we heard noises, we like others saw the woman was being paraded. That''s it. We then went inside our homes," said one neighbour on condition of anonymity. Another said locals in the area are scared of the accused and their family who are allegedly involved in selling illicit liquor. "No one will say anything against them because everyone is scared," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Experts say Xi's speech on China-Central Asia ties injects impetus for shared future Xinhua) 10:34, January 27, 2022 BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech, delivered at a virtual summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and five Central Asian countries, has charted course and injected impetus for an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future, experts have said. "No matter how the international landscape may evolve or how developed China may grow, China will always remain a good neighbor, a good partner, a good friend, and a good brother that Central Asian countries can trust and count on," Xi made the remarks in his address on Tuesday. Timur Shaimergenov, deputy director of the Library of the First President of Republic of Kazakhstan, fully agreed with Xi's words, saying that Kazakhstan and China have seen great vigor in their mutual support and cooperation. Noting that the two countries have been keeping close coordination within multilateral mechanisms, such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Measures in Asia, Shaimergenov said the two sides have also supported each other's major cooperation initiatives, jointly practiced multilateralism, and played important and constructive roles in ensuring regional security. Sayfullo Safarov, chairman of the National Association of Political Scientists of Tajikistan, said that the successful hosting of the virtual summit has witnessed the solid friendship between China and Central Asian nations, and further elevated bilateral cooperation to a new level. Central Asian countries share many common interests with China, and the Tajik people hold a strong bond with the Chinese, Safarov said, adding that the Tajikistan-China relationship enjoys a solid foundation, the all-round cooperation has been deepened, and the two countries have conducted extensive and effective cooperation in various fields. With close-knit relations and high-level political mutual trust, China and the five Central Asian countries are seeing increasingly frequent economic and trade cooperation, as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges, said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies. During the summit, Ruan continued, the five Central Asian countries' heads of state said that they are eagerly looking forward to attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics next week, which has shown solidarity and mutual trust between China and the countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Kyrgyz Foreign Minister and former SCO Secretary General Muratbek Imanaliev said that over the past 30 years, Central Asian countries and China have deepened relations as good neighbors and friends, while cooperation in various fields has also yielded fruitful results. Noting that China does not interfere in other countries' internal affairs, Imanaliev said that China has actively provided help for developing countries, which is welcomed by Central Asian countries. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson is embroiled in another controversy just days after an investigation was launched into his alleged "Partygate" scandal. According to reports, Johnson previously said that he was not involved in the evacuation of animals from a British charity in Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban forces took over. But two leaked emails released by whistleblower Raphael Marshall proved otherwise. Two leaked emails mentioned Boris Johnson's name One of the emails was sent on Aug. 25, stating that Johnson authorized the evacuation of staff and animals from Nowzad, the charity run by former British Royal Marines Commander Pen Farthing. Later that day, another email was sent saying that it was Johnson's decision to evacuate the staff at Nowzad. However, there was no mention of the animals that were rescued. Farthing also confirmed that the staff and their families were rescued from Afghanistan together with 94 dogs and 68 cats. But the organization said that they didn't have any knowledge regarding who could and who couldn't be rescued at the time. Downing Street also released a statement after the emails were released and said that Johnson did not authorize the evacuation of the staff and animals. John Healey accused Boris Johnson of lying But opposition leader John Healey blasted Johnson by saying that he lied to the British people again. "Once again, the PM has been caught out lying. He should never have given priority to flying animals out of Afghanistan while Afghans who worked for our forces were left behind. We need to know why the PM overruled the Defense Secretary with this decision," he said via CNN. Read Also: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson Resists Another Lockdown Despite Daily COVID-19 Cases Reaching 200,000 At the time, UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace previously said that people should be prioritized in times of crisis. But he later said that those that are most at risk should be evacuated first in times of crisis. Boris Johnson's 'Partygate' scandal revisited Besides the evacuation debacle in Afghanistan, Johnson is also being investigated amid his "Partygate" scandal. The British prime minister was accused of hosting and attending parties while the United Kingdom was on lockdown last year. Conservative lawmakers urged Johnson to resign from his post following the shock revelation. However, the prime minister refused to do so, saying that he had no idea that the event he attended was a party because it was a work-related gathering, according to NPR. France 24 also released a timeline of Johnson's "Partygate" scandal to give the public a better understanding of what really happened. Their report revealed that Johnson's senior aide, Martin Reynolds, invited the staff to have socially distanced drinks at Downing Street, and 40 staff members accepted his invitation. On June 19, 30 staff members attended Johnson's 56th birthday at Downing Street. Months later, former adviser, Dominic Cummings was fired after revealing that a party was held on Nov. 13 at Johnson's apartment. England was on its second lockdown at the time. Several other gatherings also took place on Nov. 27, Dec. 14, Dec. 15, Dec. 17, Dec. 18, and April 21. Related Article: British PM Boris Johnson Accused of Bullying, Blackmailing Government Officials Amid 'Partygate' Scandal @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Bharat users are on par with India users when it comes to participating in online financial activities. In terms of choice of payment mode, Bharat users are adept at using for online transactions and have a lead over India users in terms of net-banking and debit cards transactions online, said a report by . The report Bharat-The Neo India in association with Group M further added that among Bharat users, 56% use and 49% use mobile wallets multiple times a week. Breaking away from traditional means, Bharat users are investing in stocks, mutual funds, e-gold and even cryptocurrency. The report defines Bharat users as those who prefer Indic languages and India users as one who prefer English. The finding further stated that 29% of Bharat users post content daily at least once as compared to 22% of India users. Bharat chooses to stay updated via social media as 39% of Bharat uses it as their primary source of consumption. Like India, the majority of Bharat users prefer streaming free videos over watching TV. Daily, 50% of Bharat users stream free video online and about 47% watch TV. Social media also emerged as one of the primary influences for making buying decisions for Bharat users. Bharat is increasingly shopping online with 46% buying gadgets online in 2021, followed by other categories like travel bookings, food, clothing and accessories, beauty and skincare are also popular. Ajit Varghese, Chief Commercial Officer of ShareChat, said, It is interesting to note that the Language first users are at par with English language first users when it comes to digital presence, use of online transaction methods, and shopping habits. Bharat users also outrank when it comes to consuming news, food and beverages, health and fitness, and travel related categories online. Observing similar trends on our platforms. The findings in the report are based on a primary survey by YouGov, conducted among 3,432 social media users across 17 Indian states and with inputs from Kantar on Indic language urban active internet users. From the media planning aspect, Bharat is unique in many ways. This is mostly because all the cities that make Bharat are Indic language-heavy, fragmented and display their own sets of consumer behaviour traits. This diversity in our country brings in its own challenges and opportunities. Brands and media planners looking to reach target audiences across the country should focus on a customized approach for this segment, said Prasanth Kumar, CEO GroupM South Asia. BOX: Bharat v/s India - Other key findings: 27% of Bharat users already using paid video streaming services daily 37% of Bharat users are listening to music, 36% are shopping, and 24% are ordering food online In certain categories, Bharat users in specific regions drive higher engagement o South: Gaming (39%), Food & Drinks (32%) and Travel (22%) o West: Travel (22%) o North: Health and Fitness (29%) In terms of voice search, Bharat users are leading with 26%, as compared to 15% of Indian users. 21% of Bharat posts content 4-5 times a week compared to 17% of India One in five from Bharat invests in cryptocurrency Leaders of five central Asian countries on Thursday welcomed India's proposal to establish a joint working group to boost connectivity to the region through the Chabahar port in Iran. During the India-Central Summit hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, the leaders emphasised that connectivity projects could be a force multiplier for and economic cooperation and contacts between countries and people. The leaders also stressed on making concerted efforts to boost and investment in sectors such as medicine, healthcare, education, information technology, business process outsourcing, infrastructure, agriculture and agri-processing, energy, space industry, textiles, leather and footwear industry, gems and jewellery. between and the central Asian countries is just about two billion dollars, which the leaders said was far below the true potential. The five leaders also supported India's proposal to include Chabahar port in Iran and Turkmenistan's proposal to include the Turkmenbashi port within the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that seeks to link the Indian Ocean to the Caspian Sea via the Persian Gulf and onwards into Russia and northern Europe. The leaders agreed that connectivity initiatives should be based on the principles of transparency, broad participation, local priorities, financial sustainability and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. has extended a one billion dollar Line of Credit in 2020 for infrastructure development projects and has offered to provide more training slots and scholarships including customised training programmes to meet the requirements of Central Asian countries. The leaders paid special attention to the need to establish cooperation between specialised national institutions, including in the fields of finance, renewable energy, information, digital and other advanced technologies. "In this context, they welcomed the proposal for establishment of an 'IT/ITES Task Force' between the IT organizations, IT parks and IT companies of and the Central Asian countries to work towards greater digitalisation and E-Governance in their countries, as well as business process outsourcing (BPO) by sharing of best practices, knowledge," the Delhi Declaration adopted at the Summit said. The sides encouraged the India-Central Business Council (ICABC) to accelerate efforts to promote business linkages, facilitate greater understanding of business regulations and incentivise mutual investments. They leaders also took note of the proposal to create an India-Central Investment Club under ICABC to promote investment opportunities in each other's countries. Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev attended the first India-Central Asia Summit in virtual format. (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 and New & Renewable R K Singh has indicated that people may be free to set up standalone storage systems (ESS) as the government plans de-licensing that under the policy for ESS. According to a statement issued by the ministry, Singh interacted with renewable developers, industry and various government representatives to discuss the elements of the draft policy on the energy storage system to promote the creation of storage systems on a large scale across the country. The policy aims at the creation of the technology-agnostic storage system across the value chain of the electricity sector generation, transmission and distribution levels. In the meeting held on January 25 with representatives of the industry, Singh galvanised the industry representatives and called for their active participation in establishing storage systems and associated manufacturing industries domestically within the country. The minister also took a subsequent meeting on Thursday with principal secretaries and CMDs of renewable energy-rich states Punjab, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The states welcomed the policy initiative taken by the government for the promotion of storage systems in the country. They also highlighted the efforts being taken on their side to promote pumped storage projects and battery energy storage systems, the ministry said. During this meeting, Singh stressed the need to establish storage systems on a wide scale in the country. He added that the energy storage system (ESS) will be an integral part of the system under the Electricity Act and that setting up of standalone ESS may be made a delicensed activity. Energy storage systems will benefit generating companies, distribution companies of the states, grid operators and other players in the electricity value chain. They will facilitate peak shifting, peak shaving, ramp-up/ramp down, and frequency control in the system and enhance the utilisation of the transmission system. ESS is considered essential for a smooth energy transition from coal-based to renewable sources and to a cleaner environment. Highlighting the elements of the proposed policy, Singh stated that storage will henceforth be part of the renewable purchase obligation (RPO). Singh also stated that the curtailment of renewable energy will be penalised under the provisions of the Act. According to the proposed policy, the ESS developer will be granted the inter-state transmission system connectivity under the general network access (GNA) allowing it to sell/ purchase power from any part of the country. Quantum of ESS included with round-the-clock (RTC) renewable energy will be counted as RPO for storage. Renewable energy certificates (RECs) may be issued to ESS. Discoms/ obligated entities can set up their own storage or procure storage capacity or lease storage space from public or private ESS developers. Any sale of electricity from storage or sale/ lease of storage space may be through open competitive bidding or power exchange or through tariff fixed under Sector 62 of the Electricity Act. The policy proposes that transmission cost for RE will be waived both at the time of charging the storage as well as at the time of selling the stored RE. The participants gave their suggestions, it stated. The participants were requested to submit any further suggestions within 15 days. India prepares for the energy transition from fossil fuel to non-fossil fuel-based energy systems and aims to achieve the reduction in GHG/CO2 emission by one billion tonnes by 2030. For this, India will install a total of 500 gigawatts (GW) of non-fossil fuel capacity. Energy storage systems are going to play a larger role in facilitating the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources. In the recent COP26 summit at Glasgow, India has upped its target of electricity from non-fossil fuel-based sources to 500 GW by 2030. About 50 per cent of the total energy consumed by 2030 is expected to come from renewable sources. The country is also aiming to have net zero emissions by 2070. Nearly 450 gigawatts (GW) out of 500 GW will come from renewable energy sources. Energy storage systems help in maximising the utilisation of renewable energy. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) has become the 26th state to issue Right of Way (RoW) rules for easing telecom infrastructure rollout in the state, in line with the guidelines issued by the Centre in November 2016, as per telecom industry bodies. Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala and the union territory of Daman and Diu are yet to align their rules with the guidelines issued by the Centre to facilitate expeditious rollout of telecom networks. Telecom industry body COAI on Thursday appreciated the notification of the Telecom Infrastructure Policy 2022 and said the bye-laws are applicable to all city areas, municipal councils, town municipal councils, town panchayats, etc and include telecom towers and OFC (aerial and underground). "We thank the State Government of for notification of Tamil Nadu Telecom Infrastructure Policy, 2022 for the installation of mobile towers and deployment of OFC across the state. This will facilitate the speedy roll-out of telecom infrastructure," COAI Director General S P Kochhar said in a statement. As per the policy, the state government has fixed a one-time fee of Rs 10,000 per application to meet administrative expenses for the installation of telecom tower deployment. Telecom companies will be charged Rs 1,000 per kilometre for rolling out optical fibre cable (OFC), be it underground or overground. Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) Director General TR Dua said, "...With the continuous support of DoT, today Tamilnadu has adopted the RoW policy. Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala and Daman and Diu are the remaining ones which are yet to adopt the RoW November 2016 policy." The policy encourages the deployment of towers, OFC, cell on wheel, micro sites, small cell, in-building solution etc that are essential to improve the digital connectivity across urban municipal corporations and other areas of Tamil Nadu. The policy also supports the regularisation of the existing telecom infrastructure that will contribute towards the growth of the state. (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 school department is contemplating reopening schools for classes X to XII from February as board exams are scheduled for May. School Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, in a virtual meeting with school principals, teachers, and bureaucrats on Tuesday, discussed the possibility to reopen schools for classes X to XII in February. The state school department has already announced board exams in the month of May and two revision tests to be held in January and March for students attending the board exam in May. However, with the schools closed due to pandemic, the revision tests stand cancelled. Recently, Poyyamozhi had announced that the state government would conduct the board examinations for classes 10th, 11th, and 12th in May, and with only less time remaining for the board examination, the school education department wants to reopen classes. However, sources in the school education department told IANS that the Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme for students of classes 1 to 8 is receiving a good response from students, parents, and teachers and that it was bridging the learning gap for students from Classes 1 to 8. The minister told IANS: "We have already recommended the reopening of school for students of classes X to XII as the board examinations for these classes commences in May 2022. Teachers have also recommended that classes are reopened so that students get to cover the portions properly before the board examination is on." The state is expecting an announcement on the reopening of school for classes X to XII during the next round of relaxations the state is expected to bring out in the days to come. --IANS aal/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.) Union Home Minister on Thursday attacked SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, saying "goonda raj" will return to Uttar Pradesh if his party comes to power in the Assembly polls. Addressing "influential voters" during a door-to-door campaign, he also accused the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BSP of promoting dynastic politics and casteism. Shah paid obeisance at the Banke Bihari temple before starting his door-to-door campaign for the state Assembly polls. Attacking the previous SP government, he asked, "Wasn't there a goonda raj? Didn't the bahubalis (strongmen) trouble people? Weren't the sisters and daughters humiliated?" "Azam Khan was arrested and CrPC sections fell short under which cases were lodged against him," he said referring to a Samajwadi Party leader. He mocked of his criticism of law and order, says he has not right to complain about it. "Chullu bhar pani mein doob maro," he mocked in Hindi. "Akhilesh Babu you question law and order, you should drown in chullu handful of water. You have no right to speak on it," he said targeting the Samajwadi Party leader. If comes to power, the "goonda raj" (rule of goons) will prevail, he claimed attacking the opposition party. But if the BJP returns to power, it will bolster development, he said. The union minister stressed that his party has run the government in a transparent manner and even political adversaries cannot accuse them of corruption. "Before the BJP, the state has seen SP and BSP governments, which worked for specific castes. None of them drew the plan of all-round development of the state. It was done by the governments led by (PM) Narendra Modi and (CM) Yogi Adityanath," he said. "The BJP is not the party of a particular caste but the entire society," he claimed, adding that in the 2017 Assembly polls, people have rejected casteism and dynastic politics. The previous SP and BSP government promoted casteism and dynastic politics while corruption was rampant, Shah said. "But in the past seven years of the Modi government and Yogi Adityanath rule, even Rahul Baba cannot level the charge of corruption," he said referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. "Akhilesh Babu stacks of notes are coming out from the houses of your supporters but there is no charge of corruption against the BJP," he said, apparently referring to the seizure of cash and jewellery from two perfume traders in Kanpur and Kannauj. He also took a swipe at the SP's promise of free power, saying why wasn't it done earlier. He claimed his party worked for places of worship without caring for vote bank, citing the construction of Ayodhya's Ram Temple and the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi. Earlier accompanied by party leaders, the minister distributed pamphlets in Satua village near Govardhan Road and got his photographs clicked with local workers. Amidst showering of petals by women, he was seen garlanding a beaming child in a woman's lap. (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.) leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a day-long visit to Punjab for campaigning of the upcoming assembly polls, visited the in Amritsar on Thursday. The leader was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the party's state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Following his visit to Golden Temple, will pay obeisance at Durgiana Mandir and Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal along with all the 117 candidates in an apparent show of strength ahead of that are due next month. Gandhi will then travel to Jalandhar by road where he would address the virtual rally "Navi Soch Nava Punjab" at White Diamond, Mithapur, Jalandhar. Notably, this is the first visit of since the imposition of a ban on physical rallies by the Election Commission of India at the start of the month. Punjab will go to the assembly polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 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.) The upcoming assembly polls in are not to decide an MLA, a minister or a chief minister, the are to decide the future course of the state for the next 20 years, Union Home Minister said on Thursday. Addressing a 'Prabhaavi Matdaata Samwad' (Effective Voter Dialogue) in Greater Noida, the senior BJP leader lashed out at the previous state governments helmed by the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party over a host of issues, including law and order. Shah said the state had witnessed mafia rule and open extortion during the previous governments but stressed that the situation has changed over the last five years under the Yogi Adityanath government. "The upcoming polls are not to decide an MLA, or a minister or a chief minister. The are to decide the future course for the next 20 years of Uttar Pradesh," he told a gathering that involved Gautam Buddh Nagar voters, including local farmers, traders, professionals and teachers. "When we look back at the past 20 years, there were governments of Bua-Bhatija. There was mafia rule and to such an extent that nobody was ready make investment in the state. There was an era of open extortion," Shah claimed, referring to BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav. Talking further about the previous non-BJP governments, he alleged that under their regime, there would be no legal action against mafia elements if they belonged to a particular community but Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath "fixed" the law and order situation in the state. "Today, Azam Khan is in jail, Ateeq Ahmed is in jail, Mukhtar Ansar is also in jail. There are so many cases registered against them that even a notebook would run out of pages," he said, adding there would have been no action against them in the past. Shah was in Greater Noida to seek support for the BJP's Dadri candidate Tejpal Nagar with a door-to-door campaign in the constituency that goes to vote on 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.) Denmark decided to end most of its restrictions on managing the COVID-19 outbreak as it pushes to go back to a pre-pandemic lifestyle. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that there would be policy changes starting February 1. Denmark would only require wearing protective masks inside hospitals, healthcare facilities, and homes for the aged. "We say goodbye to the restrictions and welcome the life we knew before," As of Feb. 1, Denmark will be open," Frederiksen announced, per ABC News. The European country's recent daily COVID-19 cases average were around 46,000, with only 40 people in hospital intensive care units, as reported by Health Minister Magnus Heunicke. He added that the authorities continue their "strong epidemic surveillance" to determine the proper response. Despite the lifting of constraints, Frederiksen warned that a surge in infections could still be possible, prompting a fourth vaccination shot. "It may seem strange that we want to remove restrictions given the high infection rates," "But fewer people become seriously ill, "Frederiksen said. When the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, Denmark was among the first countries in Europe to suspend schools and office operations, per Newsweek. Read Also: Europe's Plan To View the Virus Like a Flu or Measles as New COVID-19 Strategy Remains at Odds in Other Countries UK Prepares to Treat COVID-19 as Endemic Following an uneasy but brief return to coronavirus limitations prompted by the highly transmissible Omicron strain, England is returning to "Plan A," which is learning to live with a disease that is almost certainly here to stay. The government sees that booster shots and antiviral medications can manage the outbreaks due to Omicron's lower severity, though the virus cannot be eliminated. Last week, the work-from-home scheme ended while mask mandates and COVID-19 passes implemented the previous month will end this week as the country returns to restrictions implemented last July. According to Reuters, the UK Health Security Agency gears up to a "targeted "and "flexible" response to providing support to vulnerable people instead of imposing nationwide restrictions. In December, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was compelled to implement the "Plan B" restriction, which angered some of the members of the parliament. But now, he exhibits a strong political will to get rid of the policy. "As COVID becomes endemic, we will need to replace legislative obligations with advice and assistance," Johnson told the members of parliament last week, adding that he would let the policy on COVID-19 self-isolation expire in March, or even at an earlier period. Too Early to Relax Restrictions However, evolutionary virologist Aris Katzourakis of Oxford University advised leaders to be careful in easing out restrictions as there are endemic diseases that remain contagious and deadly. "It frustrates me when policymakers invoke the word 'endemic' as an excuse to do little or nothing," he said. For Matthew Ashton, Director of Public Health at Liverpool City Council, there is still lots of work to do before treating COVID-19 as endemic. He suggested bringing down "disruptions" in the health system first as high infection rates among staff and patients continue to overwhelm hospitals. "It's about living safely with COVID. It's not just about living with COVID," he said. "I definitely feel like we're on the journey towards living safely with COVID - but I don't think we're there yet." Related Article: Free N95 Masks Coming Soon in Groceries, Heath Centers; Here's How To Get Them @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Congress leader on Thursday said the party will go into the Punjab Assembly polls with a CM face and the decision on it will be taken soon after consulting party workers. Addressing a virtual rally in Jalandhar, Gandhi said Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state party president Navjot Singh Sidhu have assured him that whoever is chosen as the CM face, the other will support him. Over the past several weeks, both Channi and Sidhu have indicated, directly or indirectly, keenness to be declared as the party's CM face. Differences in the party continued to simmer even after the ouster of Amarinder Singh as the CM and Channi's elevation to the post. Earlier in the day, in a show of unity, led party candidates to the Amritsar's Golden Temple, where they offered prayers and sat for a langar. Rahul at the rally said both Channi and Sidhu told him that the biggest question in Punjab is who will lead the Congress in the state. "Media people call it the chief ministerial candidate," he said. "Normally, we do not do this, but if the Congress party, our workers and Punjab want this, then we will take a decision on the CM face for you, Gandhi said. The demand for declaring chief ministerial face will be met at the earliest, he said. "We will take this decision after consulting our workers. And the person will take Punjab ahead and others will work as a team," he said. "Both Sidhu and Channi gave me an assurance that two people cannot lead and only one can lead. Both told me whoever leads, the other will put all his energy behind him," said Gandhi. Earlier in his address, Sidhu said people want clarity who will implement the agenda and roadmap of the party, to which Channi later said he was never after any post and anyone whose name is announced, he will wholeheartedly back him. "I say this with folded hands. We are Punjabis, we want state's welfare. We don't want that (AAP leader) Kejriwal come here and say there is a feud in their house and he will then tell people to give him a chance, which will cause harm to Punjab. We don't want this damage," Channi said. Channi also called Sidhu and state minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu as his elder brothers as he thanked for making him the CM. "I don't want any post. Make anyone CM, Channi will accept it wholeheartedly and campaign. This is Punjab's requirement," he said. Later addressing the rally, Gandhi said the question is about Punjab's future, not just about the elections. "For us, Punjab is a symbol. For us, it is not a state alone, it is an ideology. Punjab is brotherhood," he continued. "There is a system how to work, which you call Punjabiyat, respect for all religions, respect for women, elders, this is your ideology and ours too," Gandhi said addressing the rally. "So, you have to make the choice," Gandhi told people. "Ours is not only a political party. There are many political parties in the country. But ours is not only a party but an ideology, one which defeated the British and built the nation. And in this ideology, we are all one," Gandhi said. Rahul said he told Channi and Sidhu that the party should have a dedicated manifesto for women. "Two-three promises, not 15-20 promises so that lives of our mothers and sisters could change," he said. Gandhi arrived in Jalandhar from Amritsar. His arrival was delayed as he reached Amritsar three hours behind schedule owing to bad weather. After paying obeisance at the Golden Temple, he offered prayers at the Durgiana temple, Ram Tirath Sthal and the historic Jallianwala Bagh. There is no fight between us. Announce chief minister face for Punjab polls, we (Punjab Congress) will stand united: Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi said during a gathering where Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present pic.twitter.com/c3tkX5S408 ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 has once again become the top-selling smartphone brand in top market China, along with the rest of the world. That's according to findings from two separate research reports, which come just before the tech giant is set to release its earnings for the most recent quarter. A report by Counterpoint Research, published Wednesday, said (AAPL) reached its "highest ever" market share in China in the three months to December. This is the first time in six years that the iPhone maker has hit the top spot in the country. Apple's market share in China reached 23% in the last quarter of 2021, compared with 16% the same period the previous year. This surge came as total smartphone sales in China fell 9% year-on-year, according to Counterpoint. overtook the Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo, which slipped 6%, researchers said. The "unprecedented" performance in China has helped Apple reclaim its position as the global market leader, according to a separate report published last week by Canalys, which did not break out its own measure of China sales data. The research firm says that the US behemoth beat out Samsung (SSNLF) during the crucial holiday season, with each company's worldwide share at 22% and 20%, respectively. "Apple is back at the top of the smartphone market after three quarters, driven by a stellar performance from the iPhone 13," Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia wrote in the report. "Apple saw unprecedented iPhone performance in mainland China, with aggressive pricing for its flagship devices keeping the value proposition strong." The end of the year is typically a good time for the California-based giant, as it coincides with new device releases from the company's annual flagship September event. But Apple enjoyed a meteoric rise last quarter, as it quickly "rose to first place in China right after the iPhone 13 was released," according to Counterpoint Research analyst Mengmeng Zhang.Agencies Chinese authorities are considering a proposal to dismantle Evergrande Group by selling the bulk of its assets, according to people familiar with the matter. The restructuring proposal, submitted to Beijing by officials in Evergrandes home province of Guangdong, calls for the developer to sell most assets except for its separately listed property management and electric vehicle units, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. A group led by Cinda Asset Management, a state-owned bad debt manager and major Evergrande creditor, would take over any unsold property assets, the people said. If approved by senior officials in Beijing, the plan would mark the biggest step yet by Xi Jinpings government to prevent a disorderly collapse of the worlds most indebted developer from roiling Chinas financial markets and before a closely watched Communist Party leadership transition later this year. Proceeds from the asset sales would be used to repay creditors, although it remains unclear to what degree banks and bondholders would be forced to accept haircuts on their claims. Senior Chinese regulators have repeatedly said in public remarks that debt risks at Evergrande and other distressed property companies should be dealt with in a market-oriented way. Evergrandes property management and electric vehicle ventures, with a combined market value of almost $9 billion, would initially be kept intact under the proposal but could be sold at a later date, the people said. A custodian account would be set up for these assets to offer some protection to offshore investors, one of the people said. President and new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss Russian aggression toward during a meeting next month in Washington, the White House announced Thursday. The one-on-one meeting will be Scholz's first Oval Office sit-down since he took over leadership of his country in December. Tensions have soared in recent weeks as the and its NATO partners express growing concern that a buildup of about 100,000 Russian troops near means that Moscow plans to invade its neighbor. Russia denies such intentions. Germany's refusal to join the U.S. and other NATO members in providing weapons to has annoyed some allies and raised questions about Berlin's resolve in standing up to Russia. The White House announced the visit a day after the U.S. told Russia in writing that it is rejecting its main demands for resolving the long-simmering crisis over Ukraine. The Kremlin said Thursday the U.S. rejection left little ground for optimism. Biden and Scholz will also discuss cooperation on the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and economic and security issues, the White House said. Scholz became Germany's ninth post-World War II chancellor in December, opening a new era for the European Union's most populous nation and largest economy following the 16-year tenure of Angela Merkel. (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.) Liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire, lawmakers said on Wednesday, giving President the opportunity to fulfill a campaign promise to appoint the first Black woman to the nation's top judicial body. The retirement of Breyer, who is 83 and has served on the court since 1994, gives Biden a first chance to shape the court, whose 6-3 conservative majority has shown an increasing assertiveness on issues including abortion and gun rights. Biden's Republican predecessor Donald Trump was able to appoint three justices during his four years in office. Biden's fellow Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate, which under the U.S. Constitution confirms Supreme Court nominees. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Biden's nominee to replace Breyer will receive a "prompt hearing" and will be considered and confirmed with "all deliberate speed." The Democrats have reason for speed. Republicans are seeking to regain control of the Senate in the Nov. 8 congressional elections. The chamber's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, has made clear he would block any Biden nominations to the court if his party regains the majority. A Biden appointee to replace Breyer, who is set to step down after the court's current term that runs through June, would not change its ideological balance, but would enable him to refresh its liberal wing with a much younger jurist who could serve for decades in the lifetime post. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Biden will honor his presidential election campaign pledge to nominate a Black woman to fill any Supreme Court vacancy. Neither the White House nor the Supreme Court confirmed Breyer's retirement plans. Breyer and Biden are scheduled to make a public appearance on Thursday where the justice is set to formally announce his retirement, a CNN reporter wrote in a tweet, citing a source familiar with the matter. Democrats aim to confirm Biden's pick for the vacancy in a time frame similar to the one-month process that McConnell and the Republicans used in 2020 to confirm Trump's third appointee, Amy Coney Barrett, according to a source familiar with planning. The Senate's filibuster rule that requires 60 of the 100 members to agree to advance most legislation does not apply to judicial nominations, meaning Democrats could confirm a Biden pick with just their 50 members and Vice President Kamala Harris' tie-breaking vote. Two centrist Democrats who have blocked some Biden legislative priorities, Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, have so far supported most of his judicial nominees. Breyer, the Supreme Court's oldest member, was appointed to his lifetime post by Democratic President Bill Clinton. He authored important rulings upholding abortion rights and healthcare access, helped advance LGBT rights and questioned the constitutionality of the death penalty. He often found himself in dissent on a court that has moved ever rightward. POTENTIAL NOMINEES Potential Biden nominees include Ketanji Brown Jackson, a former Breyer law clerk who was confirmed by the Senate last June to serve on an influential U.S. appellate court, and Leondra Kruger, who serves on the California Supreme Court. Only conservative Justice Clarence Thomas has served longer than Breyer among the current justices, joining in 1991. Thomas is one of two Black men to have served on the high court, alongside Thurgood Marshall who served from 1967 to 1991. Trump's three appointees all are young enough to serve for decades. The Senate, then under Republican control, confirmed Barrett in 2020 after the death of liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. After Biden defeated Trump in the 2020 election, some liberal activists urged Breyer to step aside while Democrats control the Senate, concerned that if he did not do so Republicans could block confirmation of his successor or a future Republican president could name his replacement and tilt the court even further to the right. The court is due to rule by the end of June in cases giving its conservative majority a chance to curtail abortion rights and widen gun rights. The justices this week took up a case to be decided in their next term that could doom university policies considering race as a factor in student admissions and cripple affirmative action policies despised by the American right. Breyer last year authored a ruling rejecting a Republican bid to invalidate Obamacare, preserving the landmark healthcare law formally called the Affordable Care Act for the third time since its 2010 enactment. He authored two important abortion rulings in 2016 and 2020 that struck down restrictions on clinics in Texas and Louisiana. He also was in the majority in the landmark ruling in 2015 that legalized gay marriage. Breyer has become a persistent critic of the death penalty and wrote that it was "highly likely" that capital punishment violates the Constitution's Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. said on Thursday that a missile crisis between Moscow and Washington was unavoidable without measures to ensure restraint and predictability, the TASS news agency reported. Vladimir Ermakov, a senior Russian foreign ministry official, said Moscow thought the was preparing to deploy short and intermediate range missiles to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the report said. The US rejection of Russia's main demands to resolve the crisis over leaves little ground for optimism, the Kremlin spokesman said Thursday, while adding that dialogue was still possible. Tensions have soared in recent weeks, as the and its NATO allies expressed fear that a buildup of about 100,000 Russian troops near signaled Moscow planned to invade its ex-Soviet neighbour. denies having any such designs and has laid out a series of demands it says will improve security in Europe. But as expected, the US and the Western alliance firmly rejected any concessions on Moscow's main points Wednesday, refusing to permanently ban from joining NATO and saying allied deployments of troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe are nonnegotiable. The US did outline areas in which some of Russia's concerns might be addressed, possibly offering a path to de-escalation. There is no change, there will be no change, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, repeating the warning that any Russian incursion into Ukraine would be met with massive consequences and severe economic costs. All eyes are now on how will respond amid fears that Europe could again be plunged into war. That decision that rests squarely with President Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the response from the US and a similar one from NATO leaves little ground for optimism. At the same time, he added that there always are prospects for continuing a dialogue, it's in the interests of both us and the Americans. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that the US response contains some elements that could lead to the start of a serious talk on secondary issues" but emphasised that the document contains no positive response on the main issue, the Russian demands for the non-expansion of NATO and the non-deployment of weapons that may threaten Russia. Lavrov said that top officials will now submit their proposals to Putin, who has the American response, and Peskov said the Russian reaction would come soon. The evasive official comments reflect the fact that it's Putin who single-handedly determines Russia's next moves. The Russian leader has warned that he would order unspecified military-technical measures if the West refuses to heed the Russian security demands. Peskov added that Putin and US President Joe Biden will decide whether they need to have another conversation following two calls last month. While the diplomacy sputters on, so, too, do maneuvers on both sides that have escalated tensions. Russia has launched a series of military drills: Motorized infantry and artillery units in southwestern Russia practiced firing live ammunition, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea performed bombing runs, dozens of warships sailed for training exercises in the Black Sea and the Arctic, and Russian fighter jets and paratroopers arrived in Belarus for joint war games. Meanwhile, NATO said it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region, and the US ordered 8,500 troops on higher alert for potential deployment to Europe. China calls for calm from US China has told the it wants to see all sides involved in Ukraine remain calm and avoid increasing tension while the United States stressed de-escalation and warned of the security and economic risks from Russian aggression. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about Ukraine on a telephone call. "We call on all parties to stay calm and refrain from doing things that agitate tensions and hype up the crisis," Wang told Blinken, China's foreign ministry said in a statement. "Secretary Blinken ... conveyed that de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward," Blinken was quoted as saying to Wang in a statement issued by the US state department. Global security and the economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine figured in the talks, the department said. (Reuters) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The European Union could cope with a short term halt to all Russian gas imports but doing so would have "profound economic consequences" and require emergency measures to curb demand, according to analysis by the think tank Bruegel. Escalating tensions between the West and Russia over have raised concerns about Russian gas flows to Europe, prompting the European Commission and the United States to investigate alternative supplies. In an analysis due to be published on Thursday, Bruegel said that if Russia cut off all gas, the EU would need to both hike imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and impose emergency measures to cut demand -- such as factory closures -- to avoid severe shortages. Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at Bruegel, said such a scenario would have "profound consequences for the ." "Such a war-scenario would imply difficult and costly decisions for Europe to orderly manage the situation," he said. Soaring gas prices in recent months amid lower-than-expected supplies, Russian supply have already hiked Europeans' household bills, and forced some gas-reliant industries to curb production. Russia supplies around 40% of EU gas use, but reliance varies between countries. Central and eastern European states with pipelines designed to import gas from the east, rather than Western Europe, could still suffer shortages if Moscow cut supply, said Bruegel, which provides research to EU ministers and institutions including the EU Parliament. The analysis said spare infrastructure capacity could add 17 TWh of weekly imports from Norway, North Africa and LNG - nearly replacing levels Europe received from Russia in recent weeks. However, those countries may not be able to boost deliveries, and measures to curb demand would also be needed. In a scenario with very cold weather plus no Russian gas from February, EU gas storage could be emptied by end-March, Bruegel said. Were Russian gas supplies to be cut off into next winter and beyond, the analysis said the EU would find it harder to manage. Europe would need to curb gas use further, with options including higher coal-fuelled power production -- resulting in more CO2 emissions -- or Germany delaying nuclear plant closures, a politically sensitive decision. A jump in LNG demand could also see prices soar, hitting the EU and poorer countries bidding to buy LNG. European regasification terminals and unused pipeline capacity could technically cover the 1,700 TWh of gas Europe receives from Russia, based on 2021 data. In practice, Bruegel said that capacity may not materialise, given limited global liquefaction capacity and suppliers' existing contracts to send LNG cargoes to Asia. (Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Jonathan Oatis) (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 black diamond weighing a staggering 555.55 carats is going up for auction at Sotheby's and living up to its name "The Enigma." Bidding opens on Feb. 3 at 6 a.m. PST (1400 GMT) and closes on Feb. 9, Sotheby's said, adding will be accepted for payment of the diamond. Sotheby's said it is the largest faceted Fancy Black Diamond known to ever appear at auction and was listed as the largest cut diamond in the world in the 2006 Guinness Book of World Records. Also known as a carbonado diamond, it is possible the black diamond came from outer space. Carbonados of this structure have only been found in Brazil and the Central African Republic, and scientists have long theorized about their origins. "They are shrouded in mystery as to the origin or formation because there's not that many of them found on Earth," geologist Aaron Celestian, the curator of mineral sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, told Reuters on Wednesday. Celestian said most carbonados are about 2.6 to 3.2 billion years old. As Earth itself dates back to 4.65 billion years ago, carbonados were formed when Earth's plates were still moving and the oxygenation of the atmosphere was taking place, he said. "We think that they could have formed super deep within the Earth's interior, far deeper than what we know already of . There's hypotheses that suggest that they formed at impact sites where a large asteroid hit Earth," Celestian said. "There's also interstellar hypotheses that suggest that they grew in space and then later fell on the surface of Earth." The Enigma has not been exhibited before and is expected to sell for between $4 million and $7 million. Its owner has had it for two decades, but little is known about its history before that. Celestian believes research into the diamond would tell us a lot about deep-Earth mineralogy or the evolution of our solar system. The diamond, which was exhibited in Dubai last week, was shown in Beverly Hills this week before heading back to London for the auction. (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 government denied Thursday that embattled Prime Minister had prioritised pets over people in the chaotic evacuation out of Afghanistan as Kabul fell to the Taliban. The issue involving a British animal charity fuelled questions about Johnson's truthfulness as he awaits an internal inquiry into lockdown-breaching parties that could determine his fate as leader. After launching its own investigation, London's Metropolitan Police force was said to be poring over the "partygate" findings by a senior civil servant, holding up the report's release. Foreign ministry emails from August, newly released by a parliamentary committee, showed diplomats referring to a decision taken by Johnson to evacuate the staff and animals of the Nowzad animal charity. Johnson at the time denied insisting on preferential treatment for the charity, which sheltered dogs and cats in Afghanistan and was run by a media-savvy former soldier, Paul "Pen" Farthing. "Equivalent charity Nowzad, run by an ex-Royal Marine, has received a lot of publicity and the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated," one email said, referring to other charities wanting the same treatment. U.S. Secretary of State spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister about on Wednesday, highlighting global security and the economic risks that could stem from further Russian aggression, the State Department said. "Secretary Blinken ... conveyed that de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward," department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. Global security and the economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against figured in the talks, the department added. The United States earlier on Wednesday set out a diplomatic path to address sweeping Russian demands in eastern Europe, as Moscow held security talks with Western countries and intensified its military build-up near with new drills. Russia has demanded NATO pull back troops and weapons from eastern Europe and bar Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the alliance. The United States and its NATO allies reject that but say they are ready to discuss other topics such as arms control and confidence-building measures. (Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel) (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.) Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently weighed in on the gang violence that plagues the Little Village area. In her statement following the drive-by shooting of 8-year-old girl Melissa Ortega, Lightfoot said that she has spoken to the mothers in the community. They told her that they are scared to get out of their homes and that they are afraid of their lives because gangs have taken over the community. This past weekend, Ortega and her mom, Araceli Leanos, walked around Little Village when two people, including a male juvenile, fired shots at their target victim. According to reports, the 16-year-old juvenile was the one that fired a shot at purported gang members, but he ended up shooting a 29-year-old man and Ortega. Chicago Police Superintendent Brown releases statement Following the incident, Chicago Police Superintendent David O. Brown released a statement saying that he contacted Ortega's mom and told her that the suspects had already been found. "Melissa was a precious little girl and it is unacceptable that she is the latest Chicagoan to fall victim to senseless, senseless gang violence. As a city, we mourn. We mourn her loss because no Chicago child should know violence, and no parent should have to endure something like this," Brown said via NBC Chicago. According to Brown, since Ortega's death was due to gang-related violence in the neighborhood, they will deploy more police resources and specialized units to patrol the area. These efforts will remain in place until further notice. Lightfoot added that she, Brown, and Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx would work together to end gang violence holistically. Read Also: Powerful Haiti Gang '400 Mawozo' Believed to be Behind the Kidnapping of 16 Americans, 1 Canadian Missionaries After Visiting an Orphanage in Croix des Bouquets Suspects face multiple charges in 8-year-old girl's murder According to Fox News, the juvenile suspect was charged with one count of murder, one count of attempted murder, two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in an occupied vehicle, and one count of unlawful use of a weapon. Xavier Guzman, the car driver, was charged with murder, attempted murder, and unlawful use of a weapon. Guzman and the juvenile's target is reportedly a known gang member who has been arrested 13 times and convicted of two felonies. He was shot twice in the back but survived. Melissa Ortega's mom mourns daughter's death In her statement, Leanos said that she forgives the juvenile because he's also a victim of the system. The grieving also revealed that her entire family had just moved to the United States six months ago, thinking that they would have a brighter future in the country. Leanos also said that she and Ortega were going to the bank on Saturday afternoon when the tragedy happened. The 8-year-old asked her mother if they could get a hamburger for lunch. Moments later, she was shot and killed. Ortega was rushed to Stroger Hospital, where she later died, according to WTTW. An online fundraiser has also been set up to help pay for the 8-year-old girl's funeral expenses. As of press writing, the family already received $72,000 in donations. Related Article: Iraqi PM Mustafa al-Kadhimi Survives Assassination Attempt of Armed Drone Targeting His Residence in Baghdad @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The is "ready either way" in handling the escalating crisis, US Secretary of State told Moscow on Wednesday as the Biden administration's top envoy delivered a letter to the Russian government in this regard. "All told, it sets out a serious diplomatic path forward, should Russia choose it," Blinken told reporters at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department soon after US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivered the documents to the Russian government in Moscow. "The document we have delivered includes concerns of the and our allies and partners about Russia's actions that undermine security, a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that Russia has raised, and our own proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground," he said. "We make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend -- including Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and the right of States to choose their own security arrangements and alliances. We have addressed the possibility of reciprocal transparency measures regarding force posture in Ukraine, as well as measures to increase confidence regarding military exercises and manoeuvres in Europe," Blinken added. The United States, he said, is open to dialogue. "We prefer diplomacy and we are prepared to move forward where there is the possibility of communication and cooperation if Russia de-escalates its aggression toward Ukraine, stops the inflammatory rhetoric and approaches discussions about the future of security in Europe in a spirit of reciprocity," Blinken said. America's responses are fully coordinated with and its European allies and partners, with whom it has been consulting continuously for weeks, he added. "We sought their input and incorporated it into the final version delivered to Moscow," he said. Later, Blinken briefed Congressional leaders on this. America's actions over the past week have sharpened the choice facing Russia now, he said. "We have laid out a diplomatic path. We have lined up steep consequences should Russia choose further aggression. We have stepped forward with more support for Ukraine's security and economy. And we and our allies and partners are united across the board," the US secretary of state said. "Now we will continue to press forward and prepare. It remains up to Russia to decide how to respond. We are ready either way," he added. Shortly after Blinken spoke, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels that the alliance had sent a separate reply to Russia with an offer to improve communications, examine ways to avoid military incidents or accidents, and discuss arms control. But, like Blinken, he rejected any attempt to halt membership. "We cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which the security of our alliance, and security in Europe and North America rest," Stoltenberg said. "This is about respecting nations and their right to choose their own path." "Russia should refrain from coercive force posturing, aggressive rhetoric and malign activities directed against allies and other nations. Russia should also withdraw its forces from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova where they are deployed without these countries' consent," he said. While flatly refusing to consider any changes to NATO's open-door policy, its relationship with non-ally Ukraine, or allied troop and military deployments in Eastern Europe, Blinken said the US is open to other ideas to ease Russia's stated concerns. The US proposals, echoed in the NATO document, include the potential for negotiations over offensive missile placements and military exercises in Eastern Europe as well as broad arms control agreements as long as Russia withdraws its troops from the Ukrainian border and agrees to halt inflammatory rhetoric designed to deepen divisions and discord among the allies and within itself. Moscow has demanded guarantees that NATO will never admit Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations as members and that the alliance will roll back troop deployments in former Soviet bloc nations. Some of these, like the membership pledge, are nonstarters for the US and its allies, creating a seemingly intractable stalemate that many fear can only end in a war. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied it has plans to attack Ukraine, but the US and NATO are worried about Russia massing its troops near Ukraine and conducting a series of sweeping military manoeuvres. As part of the drills, motorised infantry and artillery units in southwestern Russia practised firing live ammunition, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea performed bombing runs, dozens of warships sailed for training exercises in the Black Sea and the Arctic, and Russian fighter jets and paratroopers arrived in Belarus for joint war games. (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.) Shares of slipped another 11 per cent to Rs 2,501 on Thursdays intra-day trade, plunging 29 per cent in the last two straight trading sessions after the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) barred 14 entities for in its scrip. The stock of Kolkata-based hosiery maker quoted lower for the sixth straight day, and has tanked 35 per cent during the period. Those barred included Udit Todi, companys executive director and son of the MD. Sebis initial findings revealed that Todi passed price sensitive information pertaining to financial results of the company, the Business Standard reported. CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT On order, said that the company understands that this is an Ex Parte Interim Order which is passed pending investigation and the observations are prima facie. The company believes that there has been no violation and any infractions committed by the company in any manner. The company has initiated the process of seeking required clarification and explanation from the concerned person, said in media statement. The company further said it takes all compliances issues seriously and have already started the process to examine and review the Code of Conduct for prevention of and the terms of employment as advised by in the order. The company also remains committed to assist and extend its support to in the matter, it added. At 10:12 am; Lux Industries erased most of its losses and was down 2 per cent at Rs 2,760.45 on the BSE. The stock hit an intra-day high of Rs 2,777. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 1.5 per cent at 56,987. Despite of the past six days decline, the stock has rallied 70 per cent in the past one year, as compared to 20 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The key benchmark indices are likely to start trade on a disappointing note as the US Federal reaffirmed its stance to tightening the money supply from March onwards, but starting with rate hikes and ending bond purchases. As of 08:20 AM, the SGX Nifty February futures quoted at 16,950, indicating a likely gap-down of more than 200 points on the Nifty 50 benchmark. Meanwhile, here are the top for trade on Thursday. Earnings Watch: AIA Engineering, Arvind, Aurion Pro, BHEL, Birlasoft, Canara Bank, CG Power, Chalet Hotels, CoForge, Colgate Palmolive, Dalmia Bharat, Filatex India, Fino Payments Bank, GHCL, GMDC, HSIL, Kei Industries, Laurus Labs, LIC Housing Finance, MayMyIndia, McDowell Holdings, Mold Tek Packaging, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, PNB, Punjab Chemicals, Rane Brake Lining, RBL Bank, Route Mobile, Subros, Transport Corporation of India (TCI), Vaibhav Global, Wabco India and Wockhardt are some of the companies to announce December quarter results today. TCS, Infosys: The two leading Indian IT firms have pushed IBM to fourth spot from second in terms of global brand value. TCS is now the second most valued brand in the services sector globally, behind Accenture; while Infosys emerged as the fastest growing IT services brand following 52 per cent growth since last year, earning it the third spot. READ MORE Axis Bank: The Standard and Poor's (S&P) revised its outlook on from "stable" to "positive", citing improved asset quality of the privately owned lender. The rating agency affirmed 'BB+' long-term and 'B' short-term issuer credit ratings on the bank under revised criteria. READ MORE The company reported a solid 168 per cent YoY jump in Q3 net profit at Rs 371.45 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021 as against Rs 138.60 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Total income also soared 129.9 per cent YoY to Rs 2,021.29 crore. The companys board further recommended a bonus issue in 2:3 ratio; i.e. two free shares for every three shares held by the shareholders as per the record date. Macrotech Developers: Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO of the company said, he saw a "minor" impact on housing demand in the first two weeks of January this year due to surge in COVID cases and remains confident of meeting the Rs 9,000-crore sales bookings target for this fiscal. He added that the company had increased prices by an average 4-5 per cent so far this fiscal. READ MORE JSW Steel: The steel producer has earmarked Rs 10,000 crore to decarbonise including by shifting to solar power for energy and using more scrap, according to Seshagiri Rao, joint managing director at the Mumbai-based mill. Its also in talks with the GAIL India for the supply of natural gas to its biggest mill, he added. READ MORE Cipla: The drug major reported a 2.6 per cent YoY decline in its consolidated profit at Rs 729 crore for the third quarter ended on December 31, 2021. Total revenue, however, rose by 6 per cent YoY to Rs 5,479 crore. Torrent Pharmaceuticals: The companys Q3 consolidated net profit declined by 16 per cent YoY to Rs 249 crore for the quarter ended December 2021 on account of muted performance in the US market. Total revenue, however, was up 5.7 per cent YoY from Rs 1,995 crore to Rs 2,108 crore. United Spirits: The liquor maker reported a 26.62 per cent YoY increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 291.1 crore for Q3FY22. Total revenue grew 7.6 per cent YoY to Rs 8,854.5 crore. Pidilite Industries: The company reported a 19.5 per cent YoY decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 359.24 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021. Revenue, however, grew 24 per cent YoY to Rs 2,850.72 crore. Federal Bank: The private sector lenders net profit rose 29 per cent YoY to Rs 522 crore in the third quarter ended December 2021 on sharp reduction in provisions and marginal improvement in net interest margin. Net interest income (NII) was up 7 per cent YoY at Rs 1,539 crore. Pfizer: Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said, had started a clinical trial to test a new version of their vaccine specifically designed to target the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which has eluded some of the protection provided by the original two-dose vaccine regimen. The issue received bids for 7.05 crore shares as against 12.25 crore shares on offer. The initial public offer (IPO) of Adani Wilmar received bids for 7,05,41,510 shares as against 12,25,46,150 shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 17:00 IST on Thursday (27 January 2022). The issue was subscribed 58%. The issue opened for bidding on 27 January 2022 and it will close on 31 January 2022. The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 218-230. An investor can bid for a minimum of 65 equity shares and in multiples thereof. The IPO comprises of fresh issue of equity shares worth up to Rs 3600 crore. The objectives for the fresh issue are capital expenditure of Rs 1900 crore, repayment or prepayment of outstanding borrowings for Rs 1058.9 crore, funding strategic acquisitions and investments for Rs 450 crore and general corporate purposes. Ahead of the IPO, Adani Wilmar on Tuesday, 25 January 2022, finalized allocation of 4,08,65,217 equity shares to anchor investors at an allocation price of Rs 230 per share, aggregating to Rs 939.89 crore. Adani Wilmar is among a few large FMCG food companies in India to offer most of the essential kitchen commodities for Indian consumers, including edible oil, wheat flour, rice, pulses, and sugar. The company's products are offered under a diverse range of brands across a broad price spectrum and cater to different customer groups. Essential commodities, such as edible oils, wheat flour, rice, pulses and sugar, account for approximately 66% of the spend on essential kitchen commodities in India. The company has 22 plants are strategically located across 10 states in India, comprising 10 crushing units and 19 refineries with an aggregate designed capacity of 8,525 MT per day and 16,285 MT per day, respectively, as of September 30, 2021. Out of the 19 refineries, ten are port-based to facilitate use of imported crude edible oil and reduce transportation costs, while the remaining are typically located in the hinterland in proximity to raw material production bases to reduce storage costs. The company's refinery in Mundra is the one of the largest single location refineries in India with a designed capacity of 5,000 MT per day. In addition to the 22 plants it owns, it also used 36 leased tolling units as of September 30, 2021, which provided with additional manufacturing capacities. The company intends to further expand its distribution network with an omni-channel approach. It aims to expand its online reach in India from current 25 cities to 100 cities in the next few years. It also aims to have more than 40 Fortune Mart stores opened across India in the next few years. Adani Wilmar reported a net profit of Rs 357.13 crore on sales of Rs 24,874.52 crore in six month ended September 2021. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Deccan Gold Mines announced that Australian Indian Resources (AIR) has entered into a management consultancy agreement with Avelum Partners, Kyrgyzstan (Avelum). This consultancy agreement is for a period of one year with a provision for renewing it annually. It may be noted that Avelum is operating an open pit gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. AIR will be the management consultant for this gold project. Its role would involve advising on expansion of mine/ gold production and enhance processing plant capacity. The company is in the process of acquiring a significant stake in GMSI through a composite scheme of arrangement which inter alia involves taking over AIR as a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals gained 1.35% to Rs 1,751.90 after the pharmaceutical company announced that it will acquire brands for the India market from Sanzyme Private Limited for Rs 628 crore. Sanzyme Private Limited (Sanzyme), is a leading player in the probiotics and reproductive health segment in the country. The company is engaged in the manufacture, distribution and marketing of specialty probiotics formulations, infertility management products and nutraceuticals products. It operates in the gastroenterology, nephrology, urology and gynaecology therapy areas. As per IQVIA MAT Dec 2021 data, the revenue for the combined brands was Rs 160 crore. The acquisition will mark J B Chemicals' entry into probiotics, therapeutic nutraceuticals and reproductive health market with multiple set of brands. The transaction is valued at Rs 628 crore and is expected to be completed in the next two weeks subject to customary closing formalities. J B Chemicals said it will be amongst the top five probiotics players in the country, in a segment which is growing at around 12%-14%. The category creates synergies with its strong prescriber base in gastroenterology and nephrology segments. The acquired brands have a pan-India presence and wide distribution reach of 300,000 chemists and 100,000 prescribers. Following the acquisition, J B Chemicals said that the products will derive significant visibility by leveraging its distribution network across the country. Nikhil Chopra, CEO & whole-time director of J.B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals said, We are glad to announce our first acquisition which expands our presence into new Therapeutic areas and also increases the addressable opportunity in the India Pharma market. This is in line with our stated objective of building big brands through category leaders. Sanzyme has been a pioneer in the probiotics segment and we wish to build further on this legacy. He further said, This acquisition also reinforces our strategic intent to evaluate opportunities to supplement our growth ambition in India. Overall, our objective is to deploy capital judiciously to enhance value for all stakeholders. J.B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals is one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in India and a leading player in the hypertension segment. Besides its strong India presence, which accounts for majority of its revenue, its other two home markets are Russia and South Africa. On a consolidated basis, the company reported a 32.4% rise in net profit to Rs 97.89 crore on a 33.7% increase in net sales to Rs 593 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY22. Meanwhile, the benchmark Nifty 50 index was down 289 points or 1.67% at 16,988.75. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For manufacturing hydrogen electrolysers in India Larsen & Toubro announced that it has entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HydrogenPro AS, a Norway-based leading Electrolyser technology and manufacturing company for partnership to tap the emerging Green Hydrogen market. Under this agreement, L&T and HydrogenPro will jointly work towards setting up of a joint venture in India for Gigawatt-scale manufacturing of Alkaline Water Electrolysers based on HydrogenPro technology for Indian market and other select geographies. The proposed joint venture in India is in line with L&T's strategic vision to be present across the green energy value chain and HydrogenPro's strategy of establishing a global manufacturing footprint to maintain cost leadership and ensure local presence. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To promot research in emerging 5G space and design low-cost low-frequency 5G network for rural connectivity Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) is partnering with IIT Madras, one of India's leading research institutes for collaborative research in the field of 5G. Through this collaboration, LTI and IIT Madras aim to innovate in the emerging 5G space and enable 5G frameworks validation, low frequency RF deployments and use case testing with 5G test bed. As part of this partnership, LTI and IIT Madras will promote research towards development of low-cost, low frequency 5G network setup for better connectivity in rural India. The key objective of this effort is to create a 5G base station and single-box solution to enable rural connectivity. LTI will work closely with IIT Madras to design these low-cost base stations and network for rural connectivity. LTI will also provide expertise for research capabilities and offer relevant infrastructure support for this initiative. This project is part of LTI's 1step CSR program and reflects its commitment towards promoting research and innovation (SDG 9 - Industry, innovation, and Infrastructure). Through its support for development of an indigenous 5G network, this partnership is also aligned with the Government of India's 'Make-in-India' initiative. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Tonga on Thursday, just weeks after the island nation encountered a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported. The USGS said the strong earthquake struck 7:40 pm local time, about 219 km (136.1 miles)west-northwest of Pangai, Tonga. The earthquake was at a depth of 14.5 km, per US News. The area was hard-hit in the Hunga-Tonga eruption, with several of the islands seeing all their buildings swept away in the subsequent tsunami. According to initial reports, no damage was recorded from the strong earthquake. However, communication facilities in the region are still being repaired since an underwater fiber optic cable was severely damaged by the underwater eruption, which sent the majority of Tonga offline. The National Weather Service nearby American Samoa issued no tsunami warning, indicating minimal damage, per Daily Mail. Tonga is still struggling from the devastation brought by the Hunga-Tonga volcano's catastrophic eruption on January 14, which generated tsunami waves that destroyed hundreds of structures in the Pacific Island nation. Read Also: 23 Personnel on Australian Ship Carrying Aid Bound For Tonga Tested Positive For COVID-19; Outbreak Feared in Virus-free Country U.S. Gives More Aid to Tonga Meanwhile, humanitarian assistance from nations and humanitarian organizations has begun to arrive in Tonga. The United States has announced that it would donate more funds to help in the recovery efforts. In a statement issued on Wednesday, per Al Jazeera, the US noted that it would donate an additional $2.5 million in humanitarian aid to Tonga, on top of the initial pledge of $100,000. The fund will be sourced through US Agency for International Development (USAID). US State Department spokesman Ned Price announced in a statement that in addition to the financial aid, the USS Sampson will be deployed to Tongan waters to help with the relief effort "in support of the Australian Defence Force." Keeping Tonga COVID-19 Free Navy ships of New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom have started delivering relief goods and equipment to Tonga. The supplies were delivered without physical contact among personnel to keep Tonga free from the COVID-19 virus. Since the pandemic's start, Tonga has reported just a single case of COVID-19. It is one of the few countries in the world that has not recorded an outbreak. According to Our World in Data, almost 61% of Tongans are fully vaccinated. The HMS Spey, a British ship, came with 30,000 liters (7,900 gallons) of bottled water, medical supplies for more than 300 first-aid kits, and essential sanitary goods, according to the British government. It claimed that none of its sailors disembarked and that the goods were instead transported ashore by crane. The enormous eruption of the underwater Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano affected roughly 84,000 people; three individuals were killed, hundreds of dwellings were destroyed, and the tsunami-damaged water sources, based on reports. According to NASA, the force of the eruption, seen from space, was five to 10 megatons of TNT or more than 500 times that of the nuclear bomb the US had dropped on Hiroshima in Japan in World War II. The United Nations identified that Tonga's top humanitarian needs are safe drinking water, food, non-food items, and the restoration of communication facilities, particularly international calls and internet access. Related Article: Initial Humanitarian Flights Finally Arrive In Tsunami-Hit Tonga; Some Families Relieved As Communication Improves @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Macrotech Developers' (Lodha group) consolidated net profit jumped 23.6% to Rs 286.38 crore on a 36% jump in net sales to Rs 2,059.44 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. Macrotech Developers recorded a total pre-sales of Rs 4,518 crore where India pre-sales stood at Rs 2,608 crore, rising 40% Y-o-Y (year-on-year) and UK pre-sales was at GBP 191 million (or Rs 1,910 crore) in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. Collections jumped 44% at Rs 2,127 crore in Q3 FY22 from Q3 FY21. Adjusted EBITDA stood at Rs 698 crore, rising 55% Y-o-Y in Q3 FY22. Strong Adjusted EBITDA margin was at 34% while PAT margin stood at 13% during the quarter. Commenting on the Q3 FY22 performance, Abhishek Lodha, the managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Macrotech Developers, said, "Housing market has seen a remarkable turnaround in last 12 months. The fact that this strong performance comes on the back of an equally strong base of the previous quarter as well as the same quarter in FY21 showcases that the recovery in housing market has taken root and the multi-year up-cycle in housing market is well underway. We are witnessing strong demand across our portfolio and at all price points." "On the supply side, consolidation is accelerating at a great pace creating a goldilocks situation for strong brands like us. The accelerating consolidation in the market has presented to us several lucrative opportunities to add new projects across MMR & Pune through the capital light JDA route. To capture these opportunities, the company successfully completed its maiden QIP offering and raised equity of Rs 4,000 crore from marquee global and Indian institutional investors. During the quarter, the company signed on 6 more JDAs for 4.8 million square feet with Rs 10,000 crore GDV. Since our IPO (April 21), we have now added 11 JDA project totaling for 8.8 million square feet with GDV potential of Rs 14,600 crore, which gives us significant visibility of future growth. We are focused on this capital light growth model - delivering scale with a prudent balance sheet. Strong operating performance and robust free cash flow will enable us to continue our de-leveraging journey." "Our UK business continues to perform ahead of expectations and we are pleased that the $225 million bond will be pre-paid in the near future from the sales at our One Grosvenor Square development, well ahead of the bond maturity. While COVID-19 has affected India in January, it is heartening to note that the wave seems to be subsiding and global experts are envisaging that COVID-19, while endemic, is likely to become far less disruptive. If this plays out, we expect housing demand to further strengthen during the course of the next 12 months on the back of strength in the Indian economy and supportive government policies for housing," he added. During the quarter, the net debt for the India business came down to Rs 9,896 crore, achieving the full year guidance for FY22. The company also was able to bring down interest costs. The average cost of debt has come down to 11.1% in December 2021 from 12.3% in March 2021 and is expected to continue to follow the downward trajectory. During the quarter, the company received a significant endorsement to its ESG practices. Meanwhile, the board has considered and approved the scheme of merger by absorption of Roselabs Finance (RFL), National Standard (India) (NSIL) and Sanathnagar Enterprises (SEL) (RFL, NSIL and SEL together 'Transferor Companies') with Macrotech Developers (Transferee Company) and their respective shareholders. Macrotech Developers (MDL) held 74.25%, 72.70% and 73.94% of these 3 listed entities respectively. As a part of its focus on ESG, MDL has been working on simplifying its corporate structure in order to improve transparency for all its stakeholders. Towards this end, MDL has proposed merger of nine unlisted wholly owned subsidiaries in December 2021 and has now proposed merger of three listed subsidiaries. The market capitalization of National Standard (India) (NSIL) was at Rs 100 crore prior to COVID-19. It has run up to Rs 20,000 crore now with infrequent trading. The book value of NSIL currently stands at Rs 225 crore. Furthermore, the total new equity proposed to be issued by MDL will be 0.1% of its overall equity base. Hence, these mergers will have no material impact on MDL's shareholders. As part of the process, the mergers will proceed only after approval of the majority of the minority shareholders of these three companies which are proposed to be merged. Shares of Macrotech Developers declined 3.04% to Rs 1,244.50 on BSE. Lodha Group is among the largest real estate developer in India that delivers with scale since 1980s. Core business of Lodha Group is residential real estate development with a focus on affordable and mid-income housing. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) To provide wellness solutions to corporates Mahindra Insurance Brokers (MIBL), a subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services (Mahindra Finance), today announced its partnership with Tata 1mg. The partnership is designed to provide corporate India with a holistic and complete wellness solution, offering customised health solutions for the wellbeing of corporate employees and their families. Through this partnership, Mahindra Insurance Brokers and Tata 1mg will design programs around health and wellness, and customise packages for corporates, their employees as well as their families, addressing their unique health needs. A few of the benefits include 24X7 tele-doctor access, 1-1 counselling support, home sample collection, discounts on pharmacy, health check-ups, medical devices, personal care, supplements, and other facilities. The partnership will also extend to Tata 1mg's mobile app facility providing users access to a curated list of programs and offers from the comfort of their homes. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Skipper fell 1.75% to Rs 72.80 after the company's consolidated net profit dropped 36% to Rs 7.33 crore on a 12.9% decline in net sales to Rs 400.50 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. On a standalone basis, the net profit dropped 26.1% to Rs 8.45 crore on a 12.9% decline in net sales to Rs 400.50 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. EBITDA grew 7.70% to Rs 475.10 crore in Q3 FY22 as compared to Rs 441.10 crore in Q3 FY21. EBITDA margin improved 11.9% in Q3 FY22 as against 9.6% in Q3 FY21. During Q3 FY22, Skipper recieved an order inflow of Rs 423 crore for engineering products supplies from several SEB's and for various export supplies. The closing order book as on 31 December 2021 was valued at Rs 2216 crore, which constitutes of 42% exports and 58% domestics orders. The company has a bidding pipeline of 38,000 million international and 15,000 million domestic, expecting a substantial rise in the volume of international orders in the current fiscal. The management expects the international business to grow exports to 50% of engineering revenue in current year (FY22) and 75% in next two years. Commenting on the result, Sharan Bansal, the director of Skipper, has said that, "At Skipper, we are enthused with our new order wins worth Rs 423 crore from our Engineering division, taking our year to date total order inflow to Rs 1377 crore, a growth of 279 % over the same period last year. Our closing order book stood at Rs 2,216 crore, which constitutes 58% domestic & 42% exports giving us confidence to deliver good growth in the coming quarters. These new orders will help us to further consolidate our position in the industry." "Our success in this quarter is largely due to our breakthrough with 3-4 utilities in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and West African Market, which were earlier dominated by Chinese manufacturers. Raw material price volatility and global logistics bottle-necks for exports continue to be a challenge - however, we are taking adequate steps to mitigate these. The coming days are showing signs of rebound in the T&D sector in the domestic sector and continued newer geographical opportunities for us in the international space also, the upcoming 5G network rollouts will provide ample business opportunities for our products in the telecom sector." "Our experience and excellence in various arenas, from plant operations & maintenance to resource management, coupled with our locational advantage have helped us to perform consistently. As a forward looking company we are focusing on various excellence initiatives to enhance safety, reliability, predictability, and profitability for all our business verticals. I am delighted to announce that Skipper Limited has been Great Place to Work-Certified! It's a testimony of our efforts in building a High-Trust, High-Performance CultureTM in our organization. Our journey towards a robust corporate governance framework and practicing a growth culture is integral to our pursuit of long-term value creation for all stakeholders," he added. Skipper has three business segments, viz. engineering, polymer and infrastructure. The engineering segment is into manufacturing of transmission tower, telecom towers, poles, distribution poles, angles, fasteners and railway structures. The polymer segment manufactures various kinds of UPVC pipes, CPVC pipes, SWR pipes. In the EPC segment, the company executes projects related to power transmission. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) TVS Motor Company today announced the successful acquisition of a 75% stake in the Swiss E-Mobility Group (SEMG). The acquisition reaffirms TVS Motor Company's commitment to expansion in Europe through a portfolio of premium and technology leading brands, including Norton Motorcycles and EGO Movement, which were recently acquired. SEMG is a market-leading provider of e-mobility solutions within the DACH region, operating the largest pure-play e-bike retail chain M-way in Switzerland with close to USD 100M in revenue. The company has a prestigious Swiss mobility brands portfolio, including Cilo, Simpel, Allegro, and Zenith - Bikes. By combining its extensive physical network and e-commerce platform with two online platforms and 31 physical stores, SEMG is able to deliver a seamless and world-class customer experience. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) QUOTE OF THE DAY The UK and India are tied by deep bonds that span through the generations and across some of the greatest modern-day challenges we have faced. That is why I want to send my best wishes on behalf of the United Kingdom to the people of India, and to all the British Indians in the UK, on India's Republic Day. The International Monetary Fund in its latest World Economic Outlook update has revised its forecast downwards for the global economy. It now expects the global growth to moderate to 4.4 per cent in 2022, which is half a percentage point lower than the October 2021 estimate. In this context ournotes that the challenge for Indian policymakers is to strengthen the recovery at a time when the global economy is slowing. The Union Budget next week will be the first policy test in this regard. Read here Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Breaking its silence on the decision of Andhra Pradesh's government to name one of the proposed new districts after TDP founder and former chief minister N. T. Rama Rao, (TDP) on Thursday said that it welcomes the move to honour its founder. In its first official reaction to the decision of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government to carve out a new district out of Krishna and name it after NTR, TDP dismissed the allegation of ruling party that TDP was opposed to the decision. During a virtual meeting of strategy committee chaired by TDP national president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the party wondered why they would oppose the naming of a new district as NTR district. The TDP leaders said they welcome any move to honour the late leader no matter who makes it. They, however, felt that NTR was not leader of just one region and hence they had been demanding Bharat Ratna for him. The TDP leaders recalled that though then chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy dropped NTR from the name of Hyderabad Airport, they did not oppose the decision to name Kadapa district after him. They claimed that TDP never adopted double standards. The opposition party leaders said people would not believe government's so-called love for NTR as the same party is involved in destroying statues of NTR and it stopped worked on a memorial for NTR in Amaravati. They said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy even changed the name of NTR canteens. The state government on Wednesday decided to create 13 new districts, taking the total number of districts to 26. The new districts will come into being from Ugadi, the Telugu New Year. As per the notification issued by the government, NTR district will be carved out of present Krishna district with Vijayawada as the district headquarters. Legendary actor NTR had had created a record by coming to power in then undivided within nine months after floating TDP in 1982 on the plank of Telugu self-respect. The mass leader was chief minister till 1989. He had led TDP back to power with a landslide victory in 1995. NTR died at the age of 72 on January 18, 1996, a few months after party leader and son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu led a revolt to throw him out of power. The TDP and its leader had come under attack for its silence on the government's decision. Several leaders have questioned the silence of Chandrababu Naidu and other top leaders of TDP and said this raised questions about their love for the late leader. Among NTR's children, only his daughter Daggubati Purandeswari, a leader of BJP, has welcomed the move of Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government. Purandeswari, also a former union minister, hailed the decision. "As the daughter of great leder NTR, I welcome the decision to name the district where he was born after him. In fact this had been the wish of every person in the district. The wish is getting fulfilled now," she said. NTR's son, TDP legislator and popular actor N. Balakrishna, on Thursday demanded that Hindupur should be the headquarters of proposed Sri Satya Sai district. He, however, was tight-lipped on the decision to create NTR district. The TDP MLA from Hindupur said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy should fulfill his poll promise to make every parliamentary constituency a district. Balakrishna said Hindupur has seen all-round development and has all the advantages to be the district headquarters. The government has announced that Sri Satya Sai district will be carved out of Anantapur with Puttaparthy as its headquarters. The new district is named after spiritual leader Satya Sai Baba. Some TDP leaders in Krishna district welcomed the decision of YSRCP government to name a new district after NTR. They, however, demanded that Machilipatnam parliamentary constituency should be named as NTR Krishna district as Nimmakuru village where he was born falls under this constituency. During his 'padyatra' before 2019 elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised that Krishna district will be renamed as NTR district. In an unusual development, some YSRCP workers on Thursday washed NTR's statue and Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's portrait with milk to hail the government's decision. Holding YSRCP flags, the ruling party functionaries did 'pala abhishekham' of NTR's statue and the chief minister's photograph in Vijayawada. --IANS ms/pgh (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 consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) has agreed to provide loans to Tata Sons for the smooth operations of loss-making . Tata Sons, which won the bid to acquire the national carrier along with Express and 50 per cent stake in AISATS in October last year, is expected to formally takeover the airline on Thursday. Sources said the SBI-led consortium has agreed to grant both term loans and working capital loans depending on the airline's requirements. All large lenders, including Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, and Union Bank of India, are part of the consortium, they added. Talace Private Limited -- a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company Tata Sons -- on October 8, 2021, won the bid to acquire debt-ridden . A unit of the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate had offered Rs 18,000 crore as part of its winning bid -- Rs 15,300 crore for Air India's existing debt and Rs 2,700 crore to be paid as cash to the government. On October 11, 2021, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was issued to the Tata Group confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 per cent stake in the airline. On October 25, the Centre signed the share purchase agreement for the deal. The term loans to Talace will help in retiring the high cost borrowings of Air India, the sources said. The deal with the government does not include land and buildings. As per the agreement, Tata group will retain all the employees of Air India at least for a year. With the acquisition, Tata Group will have access to a fleet of 117 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft, and 24 narrow-body aircraft of Air India Express. Besides, it will get control of 4,400 domestic and 1,800 international landing, and parking slots at domestic airports. Tata Group had surpassed the Rs 15,100 crore-offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore set by the government for the sale of its 100 per cent stake in the loss-making carrier. While this will be the Centre's first privatisation since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tatas' stable as it holds a majority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd. As of August 31, Air India had a total debt of Rs 61,562 crore. Around 75 per cent of this debt or Rs 46,262 crore will be transferred to a special purpose vehicle AIAHL before handing over the loss-making airline to Tata Group. Air India started suffering losses every year since its merger with Indian Airlines in 2007-08. A Turnaround Plan (TAP) and a Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) were approved for Air India by the previous UPA regime in 2012. However, the TAP did not work out as expected and Air India continued to reel under losses. Over the last decade, more than Rs 1.10 lakh crore has been infused by way of cash support and loan guarantees into Air India to keep it afloat. (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.) Google on Thursday announced the launch of an India-first feature on where users can access their current location to find the 'plus codes' address for their home. Plus codes are free, open-sourced, digital addresses that provide accurate addresses for locations, including for places that don't have accurate formal addresses. Instead of street and locality names, plus codes are based on latitude and longitude and are displayed as a short sequence of numbers and letters, providing accuracy right up to the doorstep and ease the discovery of and navigation to businesses. Since its launch in 2018, plus codes have been adopted at scale by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India and governments. "In addition to community-led efforts, we are also committed to empowering users to directly use 'plus code' addresses for their daily needs. "We piloted this feature in India a month ago, and are thrilled to share that over three lakh users in India have already found their home's address using plus codes," Product Manager Amanda Bishop said. Bishop added that the company is actively looking for opportunities to partner with e-commerce, logistics and delivery companies to scale up the experience to more people across the world. When saving a 'Home' location on Google Maps, users in India will see a new 'Use your current location' that uses their phone's location to generate a plus code (if the location precision meets minimum thresholds) that they can then use as their Home address. There is also a new section at the top of the 'Saved' tab to make it easier to retrieve, copy and share these home addresses. Currently, the feature is available on Android only with iOS to follow soon, the statement 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.) New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI/ATK): Product customisation is in trend these days. Companies are working hard and innovatively towards making their products as per the customer's needs. This 'customisation becomes their selling USP. Similar thing is happening in chocolate industry. Making chocolates has become a very serious business affair these days. Companies with small capital have started making chocolates which are of high quality and their flavour and components are suitable for customer of different needs. These small companies have actually created a big challenge to bigger and established chocolate making brands. Beetee's melt chocolates is one such company which is involved in making bean to bar chocolates with a lip-smacking taste. The chocolates are completely vegan, gluten-free, soy free and refined sugar free. These chocolates are free from any artificial additives. So if anyone is vegan or lactose intolerant or having any type of allergy can switch to Beetee's melt chocolates without having a second thought. Now, the people who have certain type of restrictions can enjoy the taste of a real chocolate without any damage done to their health. The concept of bean to bar chocolate is making a healthy chocolate without the addition of preservatives and artificial flavours. Under this concept only a few ingredients are allowed to be used like cacao butter, cacao and sugar. Bean to bar is the purest form of making a chocolate. Beetee's melt bar has adopted the concept of making bean to bar chocolates and they make all their chocolates right from the scratch, which includes procuring the cacao beans and then the doing the controlled process of roasting, cracking, winnowing, grinding, tempering and moulding and the final packing. Each process of manufacturing is carried in house under a strong supervision to make the finest chocolates. Usually, all chocolate making companies use many ingredients in chocolate making like cacao solids, emulsifiers, artificial flavours and sweeteners, artificial fillers, cacao solids and preservatives. As mentioned above Beetee's melt chocolates use only cacao beans, cacao butter and unrefined palm sugar. They don't use preservatives or emulsifiers in making their chocolates. Beetee's melt chocolates are not made in larger batches and all the raw material are hand picked by them. They are producing the best chocolates as they are better for your health and are more authentic. They do not separate cacao butter during the manufacturing and hence the goodness of cacao butter is present in the chocolate. The chocolate will simply melt away in your mouth. Beetee's melt chocolates are all vegan and completely natural in their recipes. Currently, Beetee's are making 72% dark chocolate, 54% coconut milk chocolate and 48% milk chocolate. They are getting wonderful response for their chocolates from their customers and therefore, they are planning to launch new flavours in the upcoming months. Beetee's melt chocolates are now becoming the desired choice for the chocolate lovers. Beetee's melt chocolates work along with their suppliers to ensure proper quality of their raw materials. Their manufacturing establishment is certified by ISO 22000:2018 and GMP certification. By taking these important certifications Beetee's have ensured that their manufacturing process is standardised and their chocolates are best in quality. Beetee's melt chocolates is the only company in whole Asia who makes Bean to Bar chocolates and have both the process standardization certificates. Beetee's product portfolio includes chocolates like Peanut butter, Chocolate peanut butter, Almond butter, Chocolate almond butter, Hazelnut butter and Pistachio butter. All these nuts are free from artificial flavours, fillers and hydrogenated oils. Beetee's have now started doing tie-ups with the vendors who follow the ethical manufacturing practices just like them, make the best products and help in the growth of the community as a whole. They are importing the single origin cacao beans from the UTZ certified farms who follows all the practices as mentioned above. Beetee's melt chocolates can be purchased can be ordered on their website. Their packing too is very unique. The chocolate bars are packed in insulated packaging to make sure that the chocolates doesn't melt before getting delivered, they are packed with reusable ice packs. These days people are becoming more and more aware about health and they look forward for the products which can take care of their cravings and do not have any bad effect on their health, specially in chocolates where the calorie count shoots up like anything. Beetee's bean to bar chocolate is a healthy chocolate which will take care of the calorie count and is good for the heart simultaneously. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK) DISCLAIMER (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists are now monitoring a new mutation of the omicron variant of COVID-19 amid the rising cases of recorded infections across the globe. The World Health Organization (WHO) monitors the new subvariant of omicron known as BA.2, per ABC News. Though it is said that it is not a "variant of concern" as there is no current evidence that suggests that it worsen the transmission of COVID-19, the severity of the disease, or it can affect the efficacy of vaccines and public health measures. BA.2 cases are increasing worldwide, with at least 40 nations reporting cases to a worldwide variant tracking database. The subvariant has spread quickly in Denmark and the United Kingdom, with BA.2 accounting for nearly half of recent cases in Denmark, as per Newsmax. Read Also: US Struggles To Contain Food Crisis Amid Omicron Variant's Labor Shortage Effect Omicron Subvariant Infections Rise in the US The subvariant of omicron had been reported in several U.S. states. Washington State confirmed two infections on Monday. California has confirmed 11 cases. Since November, over 8,000 BA.2 cases have been identified. However, experts have not yet clearly pointed out the origins of the subvariant of omicron. While over 8,000 BA.2 cases have been identified since November 2021, it is unclear where BA.2 originated. Even though the first sequences were reported from the Philippines, cases have been found worldwide, from Europe to South Asia. With the rising cases, health care groups, including the WHO, seek the help of governments and scientists in understanding better BA.2 separately from omicron. Dr. George Han, Deputy Health Officer and Infectious Disease and Response Branch Director in San Jose, California, said the new subvariant "probably behaves just like the BA-1 omicron lineage." But due to the small number of cases recorded so far, "it's probably too early to tell." The concerns over the BA.2 subvariant emerge as COVID-19 infections, and hospital admissions continue to fall in the United States, per ABC 7. BA.2 Dominant In Denmark But the BA.2 has become dominant in Denmark since the second week of January. Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said that it appears more contagious than the BA.1 sub-lineage in a briefing with the media. "There is no evidence that the BA.2 variant causes more disease, but it must be more contagious," Heunicke said. According to preliminary estimations, BA.2 could be 1.5 times more contagious than BA.1, according to Statens Serum Institut (SSI), Denmark's leading infectious disease authority. However, the institute's preliminary investigation found no difference in the probability of hospitalization comparing BA.2 and BA.1. "There is some indication that it is more contagious, especially for the unvaccinated, but that it can also infect people who have been vaccinated to a greater extent, "Tyra Grove Krause, technical director of the SSI, told the members of the press. BA.2 cases were also detected in Britain, Sweden, and Norway, but only to a minor extent compared to Denmark. The UK Health Security Agency has designated BA.2 a variant under investigation. Related Article: Study Identifies Certain Antibodies That can Stop Omicron Infection, Affect the Notorious Spike Proteins @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Under the Companies Act, 2013, firms earning profits are required to contribute at least two per cent of their three-year annual average net profit towards (CSR) activities. The CSR provisions came into effect from April 1, 2014. Every company with a net worth of at least Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more, or a minimum net profit of Rs 5 crore during the immediately preceding financial year has to spend at least 2% of the average net profits, made during the three immediately preceding financial years, on CSR activities. But before we evaluate the CIIs recent recommendation, let us delve into how corporations have fared so far when it comes to . Contributions towards CSR plunged sharply by 64% to Rs 8,828 crore in 2020-21 from Rs 24,689 crore the year before, making it the lowest in seven years. 80% of this went to the top 10 beneficiary states. In FY21, as many as 1,619 companies spent on 8,000 CSR projects. In the previous year however, 22,531 companies showed CSR spends. 94% of the total expenditure during the year was done by 1,599 non-Public Sector companies. Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries spent Rs 922 crore, topping the charts. Tata Groups flagship company Tata Consultancy Services was the second highest spender at Rs 674 crore while Wipro was third, with Rs 246 crore. Overall, Tata Group companies collectively spent nearly 1,000 crore on CSR in the year. However, 353 of the 1,619 companies in FY21 spent less than the mandated amount while 178 companies showed zero spends. Listed companies typically account for 60-70 of the total . However, the government doesnt disclose the collective amount that eligible companies are prescribed to spend each year. Last August, CRISIL Foundation estimated that India Incs CSR expenditure in FY21 would come in at around Rs 22,000 crore. But the actual spending was less than half of this. Bhaskar Chatterjee, widely acclaimed as the father of (CSR) in India, tells us why plunged in FY21 and what he expects going forward. Since the CSR spending was mandated in 2014 for certain companies, the cumulative spending has crossed Rs 1.09 trillion. There has been a secular trend in how CSR expenditure has grown since 2014, from just over Rs 10,000 crore in 2014-15 to a high of almost Rs 24,700 crore in 2019-20. Given the trend, pandemic years can be seen as an aberration. Dominated by listed companies, the expenditure will certainly see a growth after normalising, although inefficiencies may persist. Experts meanwhile believe that a stringent implementation could make CSR equivalent to a tax, as it is essentially based on the concept of benevolence. The CII on Monday asked the government to consider increasing the corporate social responsibility (CSR) levy by one percentage point, from the existing 2%, for one year. The industry body said that the money should be utilized to give boosters shots. But is Indias private sector loosening its purse strings for social causes? In the financial year 2021, the CSR contribution dipped drastically by 64% year-on-year to Rs 8,828 crore. While it may be called an aberration due to the pandemic, are all the companies meeting their CSR commitment? Pandemic spared none. Be it the corporates and ultra-high net worth individuals or those at the bottom of the wealth pyramid. A recent survey conducted by a Mumbai-based think-tank claimed that the annual income of the poorest 20% of Indian households dropped by 53% in 2020-21 from their levels in 2015-16. Income of that section was constantly on the rise since 1995. In contrast, the annual household income of the richest 20% grew by 39% during the same period. Let's delve into the reasons behind it, and explores what the government can do to alleviate poverty and boost demand. With barely a few days left for the Finance Minister to present the Union Budget for fiscal 2022-23, market experts hope that the government will take steps to keep the economic growth momentum without springing a negative surprise. Business Standards Puneet Wadhwa caught up with Vaibhav Sanghavi, Co-CEO, Avendus Capital Public Markets Alternate Strategies on what the street expects from the budget proposals and his views on how the US Fed policy is likely to impact emerging markets, including India The government takes its cut from the profit you earned in the markets in form of taxes. But did you know that the government also charges tax on tax. They are called cess and surcharge. In the last budget, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had introduced a new cess on fuel, liquor and some other goods to improve agriculture infrastructure. All these and more in this episode of the podcast. As the Budget season comes around, were again hearing a lot about Indias inequality problem. However, this year, something has changed. For one, the numbers are staggering. They reflect how the Covid-19 pandemic has upended years of progress India had made in addressing this systemic problem. In the latest round of the ICE 360 Survey 2022, conducted by the People Research on Indias Consumer Economy, it was found that the annual income of the poorest 20% of Indian households -- which was constantly rising since 1995-- plunged 53% in the pandemic year 2020-21 from their levels in 2015-16. In the same five-year period, the richest 20% saw their annual household income grow 39%. Indias K-shaped economic recovery is deepening the societal fault lines of income and expenditure. Automakers are beefing up their SUV portfolio but sales of two-wheelers are at their lowest in nine years. Attrition in Indian IT companies has meant a good placement season in colleges even amid the pandemic, but low-skilled labour is losing out on earnings because of the return of lockdowns and curfews in the big cities. Only the rich can work-from-home, is a common refrain of those on the lower-end of the income spectrum. Indias report, titled Inequality Kills, said the richest 98 Indians own the same wealth as the bottom 552 million people. In 2021, when India witnessed the devastating second wave of Covid-19, the country also added 40 new billionaires to take the countrys tally to 142. The report points out some reasons explaining how the governments policies amid the pandemic exacerbated wealth inequality in India. Reduction in the corporate tax rate in 2019-20 from 30% to 22% led to a loss of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. During FY21, GST revenue, income tax and corporate tax collections declined. The government failed to meet its disinvestment target of Rs 2.1 lakh crore. And the Centre compensated this reduction in tax revenue through an increase in excise duties on petrol and diesel. The Centre earned nearly Rs 8.02 lakh crore from taxes on petrol and diesel during the last three fiscal years, of which more than INR 3.71 lakh crore was collected in FY21 alone. This led to an increase in the prices of essential commodities such as food grains and vegetables, which disproportionately affected the lower-middle class and the poor. A 1% wealth tax on 98 richest billionaire families can finance the Ayushman Bharat scheme for more than SEVEN years OR the Department of School Education and Literacy of the Government of India for one year reads the report Inequality Kills, India Supplement 2022, by India To address this rise in inequality, experts have suggested reintroducing the wealth tax, which was abolished in 2016, or a one-time tax on the wealthy for Covid-19 economic recovery. A Business Standard editorial says low-skilled job creation, which can create for a low-skilled workforce, is the need of the hour. Given the governments minimal fiscal leg-room, institutions such as the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and the development finance institution must be tapped for this purpose. We spoke to Santosh Kumar Mehrotra, Professor of Economics, at, Jawaharlal Nehru University, to understand how India can address its inequality problem. He says, the government needs to take firm steps to increase jobs. A rise in non-farm jobs will see an increase in real wages. And without an increase in the labour force participation rate, the government cannot address the problem of poverty. Remember the socialists argument favouring more taxes on the rich to fund welfare programmes for the poor. Well, one way the government achieves this objective is through surcharges. Simply put, surcharge is tax on tax. It is levied on the income generated but on the tax payable for that income. Let us understand through an example. Say you have an income of Rs 100, on which you have to pay Rs 30 as tax. So the surcharge will be 10% on the 30 rupees tax that you have to pay, i.e. Rs 3. In India, a surcharge of 10% is levied if an individuals net income is more than Rs. 50 lakhs and a surcharge of 15% is levied if the individuals income is more than Rs 1 crore. In case of companies, it is levied at different rates for domestic and foreign companies. Now, let us find out what the is. Unlike surcharge, there is no threshold for the health and education . Every individual liable to pay income tax has to also pay the health and education at the rate of 4% on the tax including surcharge. A cess is collected by the government for the development of a particular service or sector. So, as the name suggests, the health and education cess cannot be used for any other means. This cess was introduced in 2018 by then minister Arun Jaitley, who replaced the earlier secondary and higher education cess of 3%. There are a slew of cesses for various purposes. Education cess was proposed to fund the free primary education and midday meal. Health cess was imposed to meet the health requirements of below-poverty-line families. We all have heard the debates surrounding the high cess on fuel. Then the clean energy cess, which was introduced in 2010. Krishi Kalyan cess was introduced in 2016 to provide additional support to farmers for agricultural activities. While the Swachh Bharat cess was introduced in 2014. Last year, the Uttar Pradesh government had introduced Corona cess on liquor. After this, the prices of liquor were increased by Rs 10-40 per bottle. In a recent interaction with Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Tamil Nadus minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan suggested merging all the cesses and surcharges into basic rate of taxes. His complaint was that the states were not getting their due shares in tax revenues. Watch video The 2nd APEC Women Connect Her Power Entrepreneurship Competition organized by the APEC Business Advisory Council, APEC Women Connect, and DHgate, and co-organized by APEC Cross-Border E-Commerce Training (CBET) announced three top women entrepreneurs and awarded hundreds of others. Launched in September of 2021, the competition attracted 756 female entrepreneurs from across the globe, a majority from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. The event created approximately 60 million site visits and impressions, and generated 136 personal story submissions. Besides the Top 10 finalists, 444 contestants won cash awards totaling more than US$100,000, funded by DHgate. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005515/en/ Winners of the competition (Graphic: Business Wire) The global competition creates an intimate community for forward-thinking female entrepreneurs to share their innovative and visionary voices and ideas on success. The competition helps empower women by setting an example of female professionalism and ways to be successful. A one-month challenge was held for boosting product sales with a focus on social channels. An online public vote was taken and a comprehensive review was carried out on product/service, story-telling, future plans, and social value by a panel of expert judges. Three female entrepreneurs stood out, demonstrating their capabilities and entrepreneurship to leverage digital e-commerce as a tool to combat prejudice, capture a sense of self-persistence and pursue continuous challenges. The top 10 winners will receive a significant amount of bonuses from the competition to help achieve their business dreams. The top winner was Miram Febechukwu of Nigeria, who quit her job as a surgeon because of the inequity she faced in the workplace and leveraged the power of e-commerce to start her own business. She has made a real difference in the e-commerce world. Her story is entitled, Shattering the Glass Ceiling with My Digital Weapon. The runner-up prize went to Sally Leung from Hong Kong, who gained her confidence in the cross-border trade area and then started her own business to demonstrate to the world that success knows no gender. Her story is entitled, Say No to Constraints, Believe in Yourself and Break the Gender Bias. Third-place went to Nikkei Brooks from the U.S, who leveraged DHgate Affiliate marketing to chase her entrepreneurial dream. Her story is entitled, Starting a Business from Scratch is Easier Than You Think. The best newcomer award went to Scarlett Xu, a Chinese graduate of a top university in the U.S. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she built her own e-commerce business in the U.S. Her story is entitled, My First Entrepreneurial Journey during the Pandemic. More entrepreneurial success stories can be found on the competitions official website. https://dhgate.glueup.cn/event/33855/#the-winners Diane Wang, Founder, Chairperson and CEO of DHgate said, DHgate is honored to support the competition. Female entrepreneurs are a huge untapped potential of the world economy. Her Power competition is a successful case to show how the digital economy can help lower the barriers for women to start a business, narrow down the gaps and reinvest their profit into the society. One of the highlights of the competition was that all contestants were required to meet the one-month challenge to promote products and increase sales through social media. With great support from DHgate, they were able to use Affiliate Marketing for product selection, get insights and suggestions on how to build up their businesses from scratch, further improve their business models and carry out innovation. They also enjoyed a variety of incentives during their startup phase, such as commissions, bonuses, and cash awards. The contestants recommended products to their connections and followers across mainstream social networks, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and personal blogs. They shared product links, and played key roles in the completion of transactions. In total, 444 contestants successfully completed the challenge, with almost 30,000 orders concluded. The U.S., the U.K., and Canada were the top three countries where contestants achieved most sales. Belts, scarves, and glasses were the three best-selling categories. The 2nd APEC Women Connect Her Power Entrepreneurship Competition is a key initiative for APAC Women Connect, which works as a platform to unlock new thinking for businesswomen, inspire them by leveraging the digital tools, and give them a chance to show their presence and visibility in the world of business. This years participants truly showed the world Her Power in their entrepreneurial journey to inspire more women to launch careers in the field. About the Competition Womens rise and female entrepreneurship can contribute significantly to social prosperity, foster gender equality, reduce poverty, and promote economic inclusion. The Women Connect Her Power Entrepreneurship Competition is a global campaign aimed at encouraging women to utilize digital tools in reshaping the international trade industry. Furthermore, the campaign hopes to motivate more women to realize their entrepreneurial dreams through digital platforms and to unleash their potential in achieving inclusive growth. For more details regarding the competition, please visit here. About DHgate Founded in 2004, DHgate has become the leading B2B cross-border e-commerce marketplace in China. Through our global operations and offices, including in the USA and UK, we reach millions of people with trusted products and services. As of December 31, 2020, DHgate served more than 36 million registered buyers from 223 countries and regions by connecting them to over 2.3 million suppliers in China and other countries, with over 25 million live listings on the platform annually. For more information, please visit dhgate.com and follow @DHgate.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005515/en/ Westmount Realty Capital, a privately held, Dallas-based commercial real estate company announced today that it is partnering with a fund managed by the Real Estate Group of Ares Management Corporation, a leading global alternative investment manager, to recapitalize a 51-asset industrial portfolio totaling 6.1 million square feet located in established industrial submarkets of Chicago and Milwaukee. Westmount and Ares acquired the institutional-quality portfolio of logistics, bulk distribution, and last-mile industrial properties from a Partners Group Westmount joint venture. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126005816/en/ Westmount Realty Capital and Ares Management Corporation recapitalized and acquired an institutional-quality portfolio of logistics, bulk distribution, and last-mile industrial properties totaling 6.1 million square feet located in established industrial submarkets of Chicago and Milwaukee. Pictured is one of the industrial properties that is a part of the 51-asset industrial portfolio. (Photo: Business Wire) The portfolio consists of primarily infill, multi-tenant light industrial properties that provide enduring functionality and long-term leasing optionality. The majority of the portfolio is located in the Chicago MSA, and the largest cluster of assets is proximate to OHare International Airport. The portfolio is currently 98.8% leased to a roster of 123 national and regional tenants with an attractive lease rollover profile. The top 10 tenants in the portfolio account for 42.5% of the total leased area with no single tenant accounting for more than 9.9% of the portfolio. This is a monumental day for us, and it speaks to Westmounts tenacious approach to asset management and value-add investment strategy, said Cliff Booth, Westmounts founder and chairman. Westmount has been active in the industrial market for more than 35 years, and that knowledge helped us gather this collection of institutional-quality industrial properties. We are pleased to recapitalize and reinvest in this portfolio and look forward to working with our new partner Ares as we continue to drive further value across this portfolio. Driven by a highly connected rail and highway system, Chicago is an international trade hub for the Midwest, as well as a critical market for distribution networks. Its highway system serves 9.5 million residents, and 30% of all U.S. freight originates or passes through Chicago. The city also continues to rank as a top 5 market for net absorption of industrial space nationally. The attributes of the properties within the portfolio size, design and location are difficult and expensive for industrial developers to replicate, further driving increased occupancies and rent growth trajectory, said Brant Brown, Westmounts president and COO. The combination of strong tenant demand, coupled with limited new supply of infill industrial product, is expected continue to drive rent growth throughout the portfolio in the coming years. Michael Caprile with CBRE and Josh McArtor with Eastdil handled the transaction on behalf of the seller. About Westmount Realty Capital Westmount Realty Capital, LLC is a time-tested, privately held, Dallas-based commercial real estate company that has achieved exceptional performance, with a core team in place, for more than 35 years. Westmount is seen as an innovator and leading-edge company in the industry and is a relationship-driven trusted operating partner of numerous U.S. and foreign institutional and private capital sources. The company is active within the U.S., specializing in value add and opportunistic investments, and has navigated successfully through multiple market cycles. For additional information, contact www.westmountrc.com. About Ares Management Corporation Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to provide flexible capital to support businesses and create value for our stakeholders and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles. As of September 30, 2021, Ares Management Corporation's global platform had approximately $282 billion of assets under management, with approximately 2,000 employees operating across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com. About Partners Group Partners Group is a leading global private markets firm. Since 1996, the firm has invested over USD 150 billion in private equity, private real estate, private debt and private infrastructure on behalf of its clients globally. Partners Group seeks to generate strong returns through capitalizing on thematic growth trends and transforming attractive businesses and assets into market leaders. The firm is a committed, responsible investor and aims to create sustainable returns with lasting, positive impact for all its stakeholders. With over USD 119 billion in assets under management as of 30 June 2021, Partners Group provides an innovative range of bespoke client solutions to institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and private individuals globally. The firm employs more than 1,500 diverse professionals across 20 offices worldwide and has regional headquarters in Baar-Zug, Switzerland; Denver, USA; and Singapore. It has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 2006 (symbol: PGHN). For more information, please visit www.partnersgroup.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126005816/en/ Partner with us for Press release distribution and get best in class service, guaranteed postings on tier 1 media and maximum reach Thousands of TracFone users are encountering issues with their phone numbers. Malicious actors transferred the accounts to different carriers without the users' consent. Straight Talk and Total Wireless subscribers are also affected by this data breach. Fortunately, TracFone seems aware of the issue. According to The Wall Street Journal, approximately 6,000 TracFone subscribers filed complaints about their hacked accounts. Many of them saw their lines transferred to T-Mobile's Metro PCS service. Verizon Data Breach: Numbers Transferred to Metro PCS T-Mobile spokesperson Tara Darrow told The Verge that their company had nothing to do with the attack. She pointed out there was no fraud or data breach of any kind in their systems. Darrow also explained that T-Mobile "do not ever possess or house the account number or PIN data that TracFone requires to validate an account and is necessary to conduct a port out of a TracFone customer, so this cannot occur from our side of the porting exercise." She added that T-Mobile was cooperating with TracFone to investigate the ongoing issue. Read Also: New Apple AirTag 'Personal Safety User Guide' Keeps You Safe From Stalkers: 3 Tips To Prevent Unwanted Location Tracking Verizon Tracfone Login Problems TracFone officially revealed the issue in a public notice. They said, "we were recently made aware of bad actors gaining access to a limited number of customer accounts and, in some cases, fraudulently transferring, or porting out, mobile telephone numbers to other carriers." Tracfone emphasized that malicious actors might have gained access to subscribers' information like name, address, PIN code, account number, and email address. As such, subscribers are advised to look out for fraud or scams that exploit this kind of information. The Verge interviewed one of the victims of this data breach. Steven Simms of Atlanta said he was subscribed to Total Wireless for about three years. But sometime on December 21, he discovered that this phone number was already ported to Metro PCS without his permission. The sudden change caused severe damage to his lifestyle. As a small business owner, he lost money because his clients could no longer contact him. Simms also said the issue was hard to resolve. When he asked for help from customer service, they said they had already requested Metro PCS to return his number. It took 12 days to complete the process. How to Stay Safe From Data Breach: Tracfone Plans and Account Security Tracfone said they are taking action to uncover the fraudulent activity. On top of this, they reportedly "made enhancements to improve the security of (your) mobile account." According to Tracfone, there will be a new system that sends a message alert whenever a request to transfer a number is made. The system will text a unique code that will be essential for completing an account transfer. Note that this message will also include a number to contact the service. If the user did not request the transfer, they are advised to use this number to contact Tracfone immediately. Hopefully, these countermeasures will help keep future subscribers safe. Related Article: Is McDonald's Accepting Dogecoin for Payment? Fast Food Chain's Joke Causes Grimace Coin Increase Actors Lee Min-ho, right, and Kim Min-ha in a scene from Apple TV+ series "Pachinko"/ Courtesy of Apple TV+ By Kwak Yeon-soo The much-anticipated Apple TV+ series "Pachinko" will be unveiled on March 25, the streaming giant said Thursday. Adapted from Min Jin Lee's best-selling novel of the same title, "Pachinko" chronicles the lives and dreams of four generations of a Korean immigrant family in Japan. It follows a story spanning decades of Sunja's life, who is abandoned by her partner Hansu and is left with an unplanned pregnancy that could bring shame upon her family. She marries a young pastor, whom she then moves to Japan with. The Oscar-winning actress Youn Yuh-jung portrays the older Sunja while rookie actress Kim Min-ha plays the teenage Sunja. "The Heirs" and "The King: Eternal Monarch" star Lee Min-ho will take on the role of Hansu, a merchant who embarks on an illicit romance with Sunja. The series was filmed in Korea and Canada. The eight-episode series will be told in three languages Korean, Japanese and English and will debut with the first three episodes followed by new weekly installments each Friday until April 29. Actress Youn Yuh-jung in a scene from Apple TV+ series "Pachinko"/ Courtesy of Apple TV+ In what seems to be a regular occurrence at this point, Mazda has announced a product stoppage anew at their Japanese factories this May. In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, a Russian tanks roll during a military exercising at a training ground in Rostov region, Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP) UNC Institute of Marine Sciences marine biologist Dr. Hans Paerl, left, and one of his students test a water sample in 2017 taken as part of the FerryMon water quality monitoring program. (UNC-IMS photo) Glen, NH (03838) Today Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low 42F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low 42F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. From left, actors Lee Jun-young, Ma Dong-seok and Roh Jeong-eui / Korea Times file By Kwak Yeon-soo "The Wilderness" (working title), which is known to be the sequel to the dystopian blockbuster "Concrete Utopia," is shaping up to have a star-studded cast. Actors Lee Jun-young and Roh Jeong-eui have joined the cast which includes Ma Dong-seok, also known by his English name Don Lee. The roles have not yet been confirmed but production is expected to begin in the first half of this year. "The Wilderness" is a post-apocalyptic dystopian film that follows the lives of a few survivors who are left in an abandoned land after a massive earthquake. Heo Myeong-haeng, the martial arts director of "The Good, The Bad, The Weird" and "New World," will make his directorial debut with the film. The upcoming film takes place in the same cinematic universe as "Concrete Utopia," which revolves around a few survivors who gather in an apartment complex after a massive earthquake demolishes Seoul. Fronted by actors Lee Byung-hun and Park Seo-jun, "Concrete Utopia" wrapped up filming last August and is currently in the post-production stage. Um Tae-hwa, who was behind "Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned," directed the film. The production company is reportedly preparing to submit the film to the Cannes film festival. Climax Studio, known for producing Netflix series "D.P" and "Hellbound," has been experimenting with a "one source, multi-use" concept by working on a film adaptation of the tvN series "The Cursed." Likewise, it will be making a TV series adaptation of "Concrete Utopia." Tentatively titled "Concrete Market," it keeps the shared universe and depicts a world that has been devastated after a massive earthquake, where an apartment that has not collapsed turns into a barter market. The drama, featuring actors Lee Jae-in and Hong Kyung, started filming last November. Ma debuted as an actor in 2004 with the film "Dance with the Wind" and rose to stardom for his supporting roles in the 2012 thriller "The Neighbors" and "Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time." He has some 60 films under his belt, including several box-office hits such as "Train to Busan" (2016) and "Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds" (2017). He has three films, "Apgujeong Report," "Holy Night: Demon Hunters" and "The Roundup," set for release this year. Lee debuted as a member of the now-disbanded K-pop boy band U-Kiss in 2014 and made his way into acting with the comedy series, "Avengers Social Club" (2017). He has starred in various series, including "D.P." on Netflix. Roh, who debuted with the 2011 drama "Bachelor's Vegetable Store," recently starred in the SBS's drama "Our Beloved Summer." 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. Photo: The Canadian Press The Senate of Canada building and Senate Chamber in Ottawa. CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick When the Reform Party was being established in the late 1980s, the concept of a Triple-E Senate of Canada (equal, elected and effective) was regarded as a laudable goal. Western Canadians frequently voiced displeasure at the way in which the upper house was assembled. At the time, the Senate had 104 members. Two Atlantic provinces with a low overall population New Brunswick and Nova Scotia each had 10 seats. This compared poorly with the representation from each one of the four western provinces: six seats each. The notion of prime ministers appointing political operatives, friends and backers to the upper house was also a point of contention before the 1992 Charlottetown accord referendum. There was no official process in place to allow Canadians an opportunity to have a say in who their senators would be. When Research Co. and Glacier Media asked British Columbians about the upper house last month, the results outlined an extremely low level of awareness of its composition and their representatives, little consensus on what to do to move forward and a desire for direct participation in choosing the people who will be responsible for providing a sober second thought to the legislation passed by the House of Commons. We asked British Columbians about the number of seats that the province is allocated in Canadas Senate. Only 3% provided the correct answer (six seats). In a follow-up question that urged residents of the province to name at least one of the current senators, the results improved slightly, with 4% of British Columbians identifying at least one member of the upper house who represents the province. Retirements are one of the reasons for the confusion. One respondent mentioned Richard Neufeld, who was appointed to the Senate in January 2009 and reached the mandatory age of retirement in November 2019. Six respondents assumed that Nancy Greene Raine was still a senator, but she stepped down in May 2018. Two others wrote the name of Pat Carney, who has not been a member of the upper house since January 2008. The British Columbians who got it right were more likely to volunteer the name of Larry Campbell as a current member of the Senate (18 mentions) than Bev Busson (six mentions), Yonah Martin (four mentions), Yuen Pau Woo (three mentions) and Mobina Jaffer (two mentions). It is clear that senators, who do not have to worry about campaigning, are not engaging with constituents as much as the members of the House of Commons. Even as British Columbians know little about the number and identities of their senators, the opinions on just what to do with the legislative body vary widely. Almost a third of British Columbians (32%) would reform the Senate to allow Canadians to elect their senators a view that is more popular with residents aged 55 and over (34%). The concept of a complete abolition of Canadas Senate which in the estimation of most scholars would require a constitutional amendment is backed by 16% of British Columbians and climbs to 22% among men. The status quo that has existed since Justin Trudeau became prime minister in 2015 having a selection committee that would appoint non-partisan senators is only pleasing to 13% of British Columbians. Fewer than one in 10 (7%) would go back to the previous process, where the prime minister appointed senators at his or her leisure. Almost a third (32%) are not sure about what course of action they would prefer. In spite of the commotion that a re-imagination of Canadas Senate presents, British Columbians would not avoid an opportunity to go to the ballot box and select the person who would take over from Neufeld. In our survey, 58% of the provinces residents agree with holding a non-binding election, similar to the ones that have taken place in Alberta, to choose nominees to the Senate. Support for this idea is highest among men (61%), British Columbians aged 18 to 34 (65%) and residents of northern B.C. (69%). It is important to note that only 11% of the provinces residents disagree with casting a ballot for a nominee to the Senate, while just over three in 10 (31%) are not sure. A significant proportion of British Columbians do not care about the present of the Senate and have no opinion about its future. The constant calls for change in the upper house that dominated the airwaves in the late 1980s and early 1990s have disappeared. At this point, the activities of senators are not making British Columbians angry enough to care. Mario Canseco is president of Research Co. Results are based on an online study conducted from December 21 to December 23, 2021, among 800 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error, which measures sample variability, is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet. Photo: Canam Bridges Golden RCMP is applauding the work of one of their own on Bell Let's Talk day. This week, a Golden RCMP officer helped save a man in crisis on the Trans Canada Highway near the Kicking Horse Rest area. Mounties received a report of a man who appeared lost walking eastbound on Highway 1 earlier this week. Officers began searching for the man and he was located seated on the railing of the Kicking Horse Bridge. When he was approached, the man threatened to jump. The officer immediately kept his distance but began to engage the man in order to de-escalate the situation. The officer continued to approach with caution but when the man swung his leg over the railing the officer was close enough to grab him by the jacket. When the jacket buttons popped off and the man began to slip the officer managed to grab him under the arms and pull him to safety. The man in crisis continued to struggle until a passerby stopped to help the officer until another officer arrived to help. The man in crisis was apprehended under the Mental Health Act and transported to hospital for assessment. We would like to recognize the actions of our officer and the motorist that stopped to assist our officer but we also want people to know that if you are in crisis, that there are resources available to assist you, including the police. If you need help, please call us, states Cpl. Mike Wilson of the Golden RCMP. Photo: The Canadian Press North Korea on Thursday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Koreas military said. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons, which were likely short-range, were launched from an eastern coastal area, but it didn't immediately say how far they flew. North Korea has upped its testing activity recently in an apparent effort to pressure the Biden administration amid long-stalled nuclear talks. The renewed pressure comes as the pandemic further shakes the Norths economy, which was already battered by crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program and decades of mismanagement by its own government. The North last week issued a veiled threat to resume the testing of nuclear explosives and long-range missiles targeting the American homeland, which leader Kim Jong Un suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with the United States. Kims high-stakes summitry with former President Donald Trump derailed in 2019 due to disagreements over sanctions relief and denuclearization. Some experts say North Korea could dramatically escalate weapons demonstrations after the Winter Olympics, which begin Feb. 4 in China, the Norths main ally and economic lifeline. They say Pyongyangs leadership likely feels it could use a dramatic provocation to move the needle with the Biden administration, which has been preoccupied with bigger adversaries including China and Russia. The Biden administration has offered open-ended talks but showed no willingness to ease sanctions unless Kim takes real steps to abandon the nuclear weapons and missiles he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. The North has been ramping up its testing activity since last fall, demonstrating various missiles and delivery systems apparently designed to overwhelm missile defense systems in the region. Experts say Kim is trying to apply more pressure on rivals Washington and Seoul to accept it as a nuclear power in hopes of winning relief from economic sanctions and convert the diplomacy with Washington into mutual arms-reduction negotiations. Thursdays launch came two days after South Koreas military detected the North flight-testing two suspected cruise missile at an unspecified inland area. North Korea opened 2022 with a pair of test-firings of a purported hypersonic missile, which Kim described as an asset that would remarkably bolster his nuclear war deterrent. The North also this month test-fired two different types of short-range ballistic missiles it has developed since 2019 that are designed to be maneuverable and fly at low altitudes, which experts say potentially improve their chances of evading and defeating missile defense systems. Photo: The Canadian Press The Peace tower is seen through rushes in Ottawa, Oct. 18. 2021. An intelligence expert says the Canadian government's decision not to conduct a formal national security review on the takeover of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese state-owned company was a "mistake." THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld An intelligence expert said the federal government's decision not to conduct a formal national security review on the takeover of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese state-owned company was a "mistake." The government misjudged the takeover's significance to Canada's economic and national security both in the present and future, said Wesley Wark, a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in international affairs and intelligence gathering. "The kinds of explanations that have been offered by the government to date I find wholly unsatisfactory and very narrowly focused," he told a House of Commons committee Wednesday. Wark delivered his remarks at the first of two Commons committee meetings to explore the takeover of Neo Lithium Corp. by China's Zijin Mining Group Ltd. and whether a formal national security review should have occurred. Liberal MP Andy Fillmore, parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, told the committee last week that the Industry Department reviewed the proposed takeover last fall. The department concluded that Neo Lithium is "really not a Canadian company," Fillmore said, describing it as an Argentine company with directors in the United Kingdom and only three Canadian employees "on paper." Wark noted that the government had the option to extend the review by an additional 45 days, which it did not take. "To be honest, I'm dumbfounded by the fact that the government was so confident about its conclusions within that 45-day period from the original announcement of the acquisition in October through to early December that it felt it didn't even have to do any more," said Wark. He said he believes the postelection political transition period had an impact on the attention the case should have been given. While the decision "cannot be undone," it offers important lessons for similar reviews in the future, such as considering economic strategy in the review, and performing these reviews more often, Wark said. He also said in fairness to officials involved, reviews of investments like these are resource-intensive and highly complex. Photo: Kansas City Police Black people are far more likely to be subjected to use of force by police in Kansas City, Missouri, according to police data obtained by the Kansas City Star. The Star reported Wednesday that more than 57% of use of force incidents from 2019 to July 2021 were against Black people, who make up just 28% of Kansas City's population. Records obtained by the Star after lengthy discussions with police contained more than 600 entries reflecting police use of force, and more than 330 of those were against Black people. Use of force can involve police using bullets, bean bag rounds, police dogs, Tasers, pepper spray and their own bodies. The newspaper reported the numbers are likely higher than reported because some confrontations, including a deadly 2019 police shooting, were unaccounted for. Police Capt. Leslie Foreman said use of force is based on the actions of another person, not on the race of that person, and that Kansas City officers were focused on relationship building in the community. Nearly 75% of the incidents resulting in use of force occurred during a call for service while about 25% were self-initiated activity, said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the department. That says to me that officers are overwhelmingly more often called to the situations that lead to resistance by a subject against them and an associated response than they are seeking out enforcement situations that lead to a response to resistance, he said. Civil rights organizations last year called for a Department of Justice investigation into how Kansas City officers treat communities of color. In November, a white detective was convicted in the shooting death of a Black man. Days after the verdict, it was announced that Chief Rick Smith would leave the department this spring. Mayor Quinton Lucas said he and other members of the Board of Police Commissioners should examine the disparity in use of force incidents. Data like this suggests perhaps that we certainly have more evaluation to do, Lucas, who is Black, said. Ken Novak, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said the fact that Black people are over-represented in use of force incidents doesn't necessarily reflect racism. What I think we can say is that is indicative of the perhaps more confrontational nature of police-public encounters with people of color," Novak said. "People of color experience policing differently than majorities ... that speaks to maybe an unequal protection. The data found 170 encounters requiring hospitalization, though it was not always a direct result of use of force. Of those, 60% of people hospitalized were Black. Officers cited many reasons for using force. In some cases, the person had a weapon or went for an officers gun. Others kicked or punched the officer. But in several instances, someone who refused to move was met with pepper spray, bean bag rounds or stunned with a Taser. In numerous other instances, the reason listed was non-compliant or other. The data also cited 41 incidents of police using a maneuver called the Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint. Police say it's safer than a chokehold, but critics including activists who called for banning all neck restraints after George Floyd's death in Minneapolis in 2020 say it can become as deadly as a chokehold if done incorrectly. Photo: Wikimedia Commons European Union lawmakers will observe a minute's silence Thursday and welcome a centenarian Holocaust survivor as the world remembers Nazi atrocities and commemorates the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Margot Friedlander will address the EU Parliament as part of the commemorations of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution in November 2005 establishing the annual commemoration, and chose Jan. 27 the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many International Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations Thursday will be held online this year again. A small ceremony, however, will take place at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where Second World War Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland. The memorial site was closed earlier in the pandemic but reopened in June. In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. Some 1.5 million were children. The 100-year-old Friedlander was arrested in 1944 while on the run and brought to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. A year before, her mother and brother were deported to Auschwitz, where they were both killed. Friedlander and her husband immigrated to the U.S. in 1946 and returned to Berlin in 2010. She has since been travelling around Germany to tell the story of her life and promote remembrance. Charles Michel, the head of the EU Council bringing together leaders of the 27 EU member countries, insisted on the importance of commemorating the Shoah as the number of survivors diminishes every year. "With each passing year, the Shoah inches towards becoming a historical event,'' Michel said. "More and more distant, more and more abstract. Especially in the eyes of the younger generations of Europeans. This is why, paradoxically, the more the years go by, the more important the commemoration becomes. The more essential.'' Photo: Caterpillar Caterpillar's ultra-class truck models use electric drive. Teck Resources Limited has struck a deal with Caterpillar Inc. to buy up to 30 of Caterpillars zero-emissions large haul trucks for its mining operations. The plan to electrify its fleet of mine haul trucks is part of the company's target of reducing the carbon intensity of its operations by 33% by 2030 and becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. Teck is already one of the worlds lowest carbon intensity producers of copper, zinc and steelmaking coal, and now we are taking further action to develop and implement the technology needed to reduce the carbon footprint of our operations and support global efforts to combat climate change, Teck CEO Don Lindsay said in a press release. Decarbonizing our haul truck fleet is a critical step forward on our road to carbon neutrality and we are pleased to collaborate with Caterpillar to advance this work. Teck plans to begin phasing in electric haul trucks starting in 2027, and plans to start in B.C. with its Elk Valley metallurgical coal mines. "The operations are already powered by a 95% clean electricity grid, making it an ideal location to introduce one of Canadas first zero-emissions large haul truck fleets, with options for trolley-assist technology," Teck said in its news release. Photo: The Canadian Press FILE - Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations, April 28, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Joe Biden has already narrowed the field for his first U.S. Supreme Court pick. One potential nominee is Jackson, 51. She attended Harvard as an undergraduate and for law school. Obama nominated her to be a federal trial court judge, and Biden elevated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early in her career, she was also a law clerk for Breyer. (Tom Williams/Pool via AP, File) Justice Stephen Breyer is making it official, telling President Joe Biden in a letter that he will step down from the court later this year. The Supreme Court released Breyer's retirement letter Thursday, ahead of the 83-year-old justice's appearance with the president at the White House. Biden will have the first Supreme Court pick of his presidency, and he has pledged to put the first Black woman on the nation's highest court. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. APs earlier story follows below. WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden is eyeing at least three judges for an expected vacancy on the Supreme Court as he prepares to quickly deliver on his campaign pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the nations highest court, according to aides and allies. Biden and Justice Stephen Breyer are expected to hold an event at the White House Thursday to formally announce Breyer's plans to retire, according to a person briefed on the planning who was not authorized to publicly discuss it in advance. Early discussions about a successor are focusing on U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, according to four people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss White House deliberations. Jackson and Kruger have long been seen as possible nominees. Since Biden took office in January 2021, he has focused on nominating a diverse group of judges to the federal bench, installing five Black women on federal appeals courts, with three more nominations pending before the Senate. Other possible candidates for the high court could come from among that group, Biden aides and allies said, especially since almost all of the recent Supreme Court nominees have been federal appeals judges. He has a strong pool to select a candidate from, in addition to other sources. This is an historic opportunity to appoint someone with a strong record on civil and human rights, said Derrick Johnson, the NAACP's president. By the end of his first year, Biden had won confirmation of 40 judges, the most since President Ronald Reagan. Of those, 80% are women and 53% are people of color, according to the White House. Jackson, 51, was nominated by President Barack Obama to be a district court judge. Biden elevated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early in her career, she was also a law clerk for Breyer. Childs, a federal judge in South Carolina, has been nominated but not yet confirmed to serve on the same circuit court. Her name has surfaced partly because she is a favorite among some high-profile lawmakers, including Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. Kruger, a graduate of Harvard and Yales law school, was previously a Supreme Court clerk and has argued a dozen cases before the justices as a lawyer for the federal government. Breyer, 83, will retire at the end of the summer, according to two sources who confirmed the news to The Associated Press on Wednesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to preempt Breyers formal announcement. But the Senate can confirm a successor before there is a formal vacancy, so the White House was getting to work and it was expected to take at least a few weeks before a nomination was formalized. Biden said Wednesday he wasn't going to get ahead of Breyer's announcement. Every justice should have an opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own," Biden said. "Let him make whatever statement hes going to make and Ill be happy to talk about it later. When Biden was running for the White House, he said that if he had the chance to nominate someone to the court, he would make history by choosing a Black woman. And he's reiterated that pledge since. As president, Id be honored, honored to appoint the first African American woman. Because it should look like the country. Its long past time, Biden said in February 2020 shortly before South Carolinas presidential primary. Adding a Black woman to the court would mean a series of firsts four female justices and two Black justices serving at the same time on the nine-member court. Justice Clarence Thomas is the courts only Black justice and just the second ever, after Thurgood Marshall. And Biden would have the chance to show Black voters increasingly frustrated with a president they helped to elect that he is serious about their concerns, particularly after he has been unable to push through voting rights legislation. At the same time, Breyers replacement by another liberal justice would not change the ideological makeup of the court. Conservatives outnumber liberals by 6-3, and Donald Trump's three nominees made an already conservative court even more conservative. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed. But Republicans in particular remain upset about Justice Brett Kavanaugh's contentious 2018 hearing. Still, Democrats have the 50 votes plus a tiebreaker in Vice President Kamala Harris that they need to confirm a nominee. Republicans who changed the Senate rules during the Trump-era to allow simple majority confirmation of Supreme Court nominees appeared resigned to the outcome. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an influential Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement, If all Democrats hang together which I expect they will they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support." Nonetheless, Democrats have also been unable to get all their members on board for Biden's social and environmental spending agenda or to move forward with a voting rights bill. As a senator, Biden served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, overseeing six Supreme Court confirmation hearings from 1987 to 1995, including Breyers. And one person who will be central to Bidens process is chief of staff Ron Klain, a former Supreme Court law clerk and chief counsel to that committee. Two other Black women whom Biden appointed to federal appeals courts are also seen as contenders: Holly Thomas, a longtime civil rights lawyer he named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, a former public defender he named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Biden could also choose someone from outside the judiciary, though that seems less likely. One contender would be the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Sherrilyn Ifill, 59. She has headed the fund since 2013 and has announced she is stepping down in the spring. The Supreme Court has had three women on it for more than a decade, since 2010, when Obama named Justice Elena Kagan to the court to replace the retiring John Paul Stevens. Kagan joined Obamas other nominee, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the courts first Latina justice, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When Ginsburg died in September 2020, Trump announced his choice of Amy Coney Barrett eight days later. Korea Exchange (KRX) CEO Sohn Byung-doo, fifth from left, and LG Energy Solution (LGES) CEO Kwon Young-soo, fourth from right, applaud along with LGES key officials and related brokerage industry leaders at the lobby of KRX's Seoul office building on Yeouido, marking the KOSPI debut of LGES stocks on Thursday morning. Yonhap By Anna J. Park LG Energy Solution (LGES) made its debut on the country's main benchmark KOSPI on Thursday, becoming the second-largest market cap company listed on the KOSPI, following only Samsung Electronics. However, it then plunged from the initial price. The global secondary battery manufacturer's stock started off trading at the initial price of 597,000 won ($496) at the beginning of Thursday's trading session, which is nearly double the stock's IPO subscription price of 300,000 won. However, the much-anticipated stock failed to increase further from its starting price; rather, the stock price fell by 15.41 percent from its starting price, closing at 505,000 won. Since kicking off at 597,000 won at 9 a.m., the price slipped to Thursday's lowest level of 464,000 won at 10:54 a.m., and then rose again to the day's highest price of 543,000 won at 2:33 p.m. But the stock price has continued to fall since then, closing at 505,000 won. The firm's market cap now stands at around 120 trillion won, taking the second spot on the KOSPI in terms of market cap size. In turn, SK hynix was pushed down to third place, with its long-held second-place market cap ranking being snatched away by the battery company. The preferred stock of Samsung Electronics, Naver and Samsung Biologics followed on the list, filling in the fourth to sixth positions. With the IPO, LGES has raised capital of more than 10 trillion won, which will be spent on expanding global production facilities as well as on R&D investment. "Since the company set foot in the secondary battery market in 1992 as the frontrunner in the industry in Korea, it is finally bearing fruit through its IPO, after 30 years of efforts," LGES CEO Kwon said during an IPO ceremony held at the lobby of KRX's Seoul Building in Yeouido, Seoul, Thursday morning. "The company will consider it a new starting point for another 100 years moving forward," he highlighted. The company's IPO set various all-time high records in Korea's stock market history. The subscription competition rate among institutional investors posted a 2,023:1, which is highest ever. The subscription deposit of 114 trillion won for retail investors' stock allotments was also a record high in the country's IPO history. Photo: The Canadian Press Boats are seen anchored in the waters off Sidney Spit in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve east of Sidney, B.C., on Saturday August 5, 2017. Students and crew were safely rescued after an engine fire occurred on a passenger vessel that regularly serves as the local marine school bus for the southern Gulf Islands. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck Students and crew aboard a marine school bus have been safely rescued after an engine fire on the vessel used to ferry children to school in B.C.'s southern Gulf Islands. A spokesman with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria says crew members on board the vessel were able to put out the fire Thursday morning. The vessel had been taking students and staff from surrounding Gulf Islands to the high school on Salt Spring Island. The rescue centre spokesman says there were 33 people on board, and all passengers except one crew member were safely transferred to another vessel. The vessel has since been towed to Sidney nearby for repairs. The rescue co-ordination centre says several vessels in the area responded to the incident, including a fast-response rescue boat launched by the BC Ferries Coastal Renaissance vessel, but that was called off before it reached the scene. Photo: The Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks following a cabinet retreat, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022 in Ottawa. The debate around sending weapons to Ukraine is being panned as a "red herring" by experts who say Canada can better support the country in other ways.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld The debate around sending weapons to Ukraine was being panned as a red herring on Thursday, as several experts suggested Canada can better support the eastern European country in its standoff with Russia in other ways. The comments came one day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced this week a package of support for Ukraine. That includes expanding Canadas efforts to train the Ukrainian military, bolstering its cyber defences, as well as financial assistance. The prime minister also said Canada would be sending metal detectors, thermal binoculars, rangefinders, armour plates and other non-lethal military equipment. Not on the list, at least not yet: weapons. Trudeau repeatedly declined to explain the decision on Wednesday, and members of Canadas influential Ukrainian community were still scratching their heads on Thursday. We have not received any feedback from the government on the decision, said Ihor Michalchyshyn, executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which has been one of the loudest voices calling for the provision of Canadian arms to Ukraine. All of our NATO allies are doing this. The situation has changed rapidly in the last week and days, hour by hour. So it's very difficult to understand why Canada will not join the United Kingdom, United States and other (NATO allies). Yet while foreign policy experts were divided over why the Liberal government decided not to send arms to Kyiv, several shared the view that a planeload of Canadian guns was unlikely to make much of a difference to whether Russia attacks. University of Ottawa professor Roland Paris, who served as Trudeau's first foreign policy adviser, said the debate in Canada around whether to provide weapons has become bigger than the actual benefit that would be gained. The delivery of lethal arms is not going to change the overwhelming preponderance of Russian forces in the region, or change the fact Russia has the capacity to sweep across Ukraine if it's determined to do so, he said. The whole debate about lethal arms for the Ukrainian government is maybe the least important of the various tools that are available to increase the costs of a Russian invasion. Paris instead pointed to the threat of economic sanctions as a more effective deterrence measure, and said what would really send a message would be if NATO including Canada strengthened its military presence in eastern Europe. Canada currently has about 540 soldiers in Latvia leading a NATO battlegroup designed to defend against a Russian attack in the Baltics. It also has 200 military trainers in Ukraine, with Trudeau promising on Wednesday that another 60 will be added. Carleton University professor Fen Hampson also questioned the idea of Canada providing arms to Ukraine, noting the Ukrainian military uses different equipment than its Canadian counterpart, which is struggling to buy new equipment for itself. This may be a bit of a red herring, he said, adding Canadas support to Ukraines cyber defences is much more important. Cyber warfare really has become kind of the first line of attack where Ukraine can use some help. Trudeau did leave the door open to revisiting the decision in the future, but Wednesdays announcement continued Ottawas pattern of refusing to arm Ukraine starting with Stephen Harpers Conservative government in 2014. Harper at that time indicated his reluctance to provide weapons to Ukraine stemmed more from wanting to work in collaboration with the U.S., which at the time was not sending arms to the country. The official Opposition Conservatives have criticized the governments decision not to send weapons to Ukraine. Canada isnt the only NATO member not sending arms; Germany has also said it will not provide weapons, which has reportedly triggered annoyance and consternation in Kyiv and Washington. Apart from the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (PFJU) hundreds of Electricity, Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA) workers held protests across the country over the killing of journalist Hasnain Shah and demanded that the authorities immediately arrest and punish his murderers. They also urged the government to provide journalists with security, The News International reported. Hasnain Shah, a crime reporter on a private TV channel, was shot dead outside Lahore Press Club. According to a statement issued by the CPNE, Shah was shot by unidentified assailants on a motorcycle while sitting in his car outside the Lahore Press Club, according to Express Tribune Highlighting the failing "law-and-order situation" in the country, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the killing of the Lahore journalist. "HRCP condemns the assassination of Capital TV journalist Hasnain Shah, who was killed in broad daylight on Davis Road in Lahore earlier today. This is yet another testament to the failing law-and-order situation and the increased vulnerability of journalists," the HRCP has said in a statement. PFJU President Shehzada Zulfiqar condemned the incident, saying that the provincial government has failed to maintain law and order in the city. The journalist union demanded the authorities arrest the suspects at the earliest. The Lahore Economic Journalist Association also condemned the killing and said that the lives of journalists are not safe and the administration has failed to protect them. Lahore Press Club President Azam Chaudhry said a journalist's murder in front of the press club in broad daylight is a moment of reflection for the government. He added that the incident would not go unnoticed and the authorities will be held responsible if culprits are not apprehended soon. According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), three journalists were killed in Pakistan in 2021. It said that 45 journalists were killed worldwide in the same year. The toll included nine in Afghanistan, the highest number suffered by a single country. (ANI) Also Read: Imran Khan led PTI has made country hotbed of corruption, says Kaira How CDC and its partners help the millions struggling with LF For years, CDC has worked (and continues to work) with partners to eliminate new LF infections, including by supporting mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns in Haiti and American Samoa. However, in addition to these prevention activities, CDC also develops tools and guidance, generates data, and administers trainings to help people who already have LF. Trainings, like this one in Kerala, India, help health professionals learn strategies for taking care of symptoms of lymphedema, a consequence of lymphatic filariasis (LF), and share experiences caring for people with LF in their countries. Here, training participants from Indonesia and Somalia apply the lymphedema management strategies learned from experts at T.D. Medical College. Credit: Suma Krishnasastry/Filariasis Research Center, India Supporting and bolstering systems of healthcare for those with LFknown as morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP)is an essential hallmark of CDCs LF program. Since the beginning of CDCs LF program, we have realized that we can prevent future generations from suffering the consequence of this disease without losing sight of those who already suffer from its debilitating impacts, says Caitlin Worrell, a DPDM epidemiologist. With such a large, global focus on prevention, those who already have diseases can sometimes be forgotten. Its definitely a big challenge to ensure everyone is cared for. For years, Worrell and her team worked with USAID, WHO, and others on a WHO-led effort to develop new evidence-based tools for strategies to improve the lives of those who suffer from lymphedema and hydrocele. This updated guidance, published in 2021Lymphatic filariasis: managing morbidity and preventing disability: an aide-memoire for national programme managersexternal icongives countries with endemic LF a toolkit for carrying out MMDP programs that will impact the lives of those who suffer long-term consequences of LF. Some of the strategieswearing shoes that fit well or hygiene regimens for cleaning affected areassound straightforward, but they are challenging in practice. Other strategies, like management of acute attacks, require trainings and targeted public health communications. The key is making sure healthcare workers and infected individuals know about these strategies. Ultimately, our goal is to provide the tools directly to persons affected by lymphedema so they can be empowered to take charge of their health, explains Worrell. It requires a lifetime commitment. For the past several years, CDC has worked with partners from the Government T.D. Medical College Hospital in Kerala, India; WHO; and other partners to develop and deliver five-day MMDP trainings for clinicians and countries NTDs program staff. These trainings were based on the preferred practices for managing lymphedema outlined in the updated guidance and, as of January 2022, have been administered in three WHO regions to representatives from more than 25 countries. Didier Bakajika, a medical officer for onchocerciasis and LF from WHOs Expanded Special Project for Elimination of NTDs, says that since the launch of MMDP trainings in the WHO Africa region, the number of countries reporting lymphedema and hydrocele has grown from 14 in 2017 to 26 in 2020. A lot still need to be done in the region, he says. Helping to close the health inequity gap The benefits of successful MMDP programs are multi-layered. At the individual level, MMDP programs reduce the number and severity of acute attacks, help the persons limb to be healthier, and help people feel better and be more active. At the community level, MMDP programs have been shown to actually increase participation in preventative MDA campaigns because of heightened awareness in the community of the threat posed by LF.4 MMDP programs are also cost effective to set up and run: an analysis in India found that per-person economic savings are 130 times the per-person cost to implement the program.5 The essential package of care when practiced regularly, will definitely reduce the chance of acute attacks which reduces suffering also, says Professor Suma Krishnasastry, director of the Filariasis Research Unit at Government T.D. Medical College Hospital. The patients general condition improves, they will be able to go for work and earn a better living, and the quality of life improves. The patients with this new gained knowledge form self-help groups in their community. This has shown to help reduce stigma to a great extent. People with filarial lymphedema and hydrocele not only feel socially stigmatized but suffer economically, notes Emily Toubali, the LF Technical Advisor in USAIDs NTD Division. Bringing care and treatment to those who have morbidity associated with LF means that the most marginalized are being reached by the health system with a set of interventions that directly improve their quality of life. Many of the people we encounter feel trapped in a cycle of poverty and disability, explains Worrell. We have a commitment to these people. We have a commitment to health equity. Several years ago, Mia participated in an MMDP program offered by Malis Ministry of Health with funding from the Izumi Foundationexternal icon and technical expertise from CDC and CDC Foundationexternal icon. There, she learned some essential lymphedema management practices such as daily leg-washing, exercises, and other specific lymphedema management techniques. Since going through the training, her acute episodes have dwindled and the pain in her legs has become manageable. Shes proud of how shes able to care for her own health again and says that since she no longer feels burdened by these attacks, she is able to focus on her children again. Read more about how DPDM addresses the threat of parasitic diseases and other NTDs like LF in our Strategic Priorities 20212025pdf icon. Oil back to US$80 while Indonesian export ban supports coal petcoke steady in low December trading ICR Newsroom By 27 January 2022 By Frank O. Brannvoll, Brannvoll ApS, Denmark The euro was stable between US$1.12-1.14 despite the US Federal Reserve focussing on higher yields in 2022. A range of US$1.12-1.16 can be expected in the next few months, still looking towards US$1.18 later in the year. The Turkish lira collapsed to TRY18.40, before new strict curbs forced it back to TRY10.50. Still under pressure from negative real interest, the lira has softened to TRY13.80. Table 1: Prices at a glance Crude oil (US$/bbl) 81.75 Coal API2 1Q22 (US$) 132.00 API2 Cal 2023 (US$) 97.00 API4 1Q22 (US$) 141.50 API4 Cal 2023 (US$) 96.00 Petcoke USGC 4.5% 40 HGI FOB (US$) 142.00 USGC 4.5% 40 HGI CFR ARA (US$) 168.00 USGC 6.5% 40 HGI FOB (US$) 121.00 USGC 6.5% 40 HGI CFR ARA (US$) 147.00 Coal and gas The oil market was supported by COVID-19s latest variant, Omicron, not causing extensive lockdowns, and political turmoil in Kazakhstan that is threatening its oil exports. However, the Kazakh authorities have been supported by Russian intervention and the risk premium for oil could fade. The gas market is rising as Russia is delivering only contractual amounts. This is a political powerplay on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project to be approved in Germany. OPEC+ kept the steady course on lifting only 0.4mbpd at its January meeting. In terms of the next meeting on 2 February, there are also low expectations for further increase. Meanwhile, the situation at the Ukrainian border is still adding a risk premium to oil. The Brent oil price rose eight per cent to US$81.75, returning to an uptrend. Resistance is at US$82.50 and US$86, with support increased to US$80 and US$76 the long-term support at US$67. Brannvoll ApS sees a US$60-100 range with an average of US$75 in 2022. Coal Coal dominated with news from Indonesia and China. Chinas domestic production increased sharply and the Chinese domestic price fell to CNY700 (US$96), down from CNY1180 in November. Further Chinese curbs to reduce pollution during the Olympic Games also put pressure on prices. In Indonesia a sharp decrease in production has led to the countrys government banning exports in January, removing almost 40Mtpm from the Pacific market, which sent Australian and South African coal upwards. Europe is still increasing its coal demand due to the downtime of French nuclear reactors in addition to coal remaining the cheapest power fuel despite CO 2 prices at 85. The API2 front-quarter (1Q22) contract rose two per cent to US$132. Support is at US$120 and US$110 with resistance at US$150 and US$175. The API2 new front-year Cal23 contract started at US$97, 15 per cent lower than Cal22 ended. Support is at US$90 and US$87 while resistance is found at US$102 and US$110. The expected range is between US$90-105. The API4 front-quarter (1Q22) rose 11 per cent to US$141, with support still at US$125 and US$110. Resistance is at US$150 and US$160. The API4 new front-year Cal23 contract started 17 per cent lower than Cal22 at US$96, with support at US$92 and US$85. Resistance is at US$102 and US$120. The expected range is between US$90-105. Petcoke Petcoke trading was very thin with limited deals at the end of the year as big spreads between buyers and sellers were seen. Refiners in India were active in the export market as domestic demand is still low. They are increasingly offering lower prices to see the petcoke flow. However, the increase in coal prices as well as lower freight prices did support FOB pricing. The overall drivers are still gas and coal prices. In the case of Turkey, the value of the lira will also have an effect. However, one loading terminal in Houston, USA, is down and has the potential to disrupt shipping for some time although only with limited effect. The discounts on FOB are positive and are expected with this high energy complex to attract buyers back to petcoke. However, falling Chinese coal prices keep buyers reluctant as the impact from the Indonesian export ban may come to a halt by the end of January. The USGC FOB 6.5 per cent sulphur (S) contract fell three per cent to US$121 with the discount to API4 up from 21 to 31 per cent. A range between US$115-130 is now forecast. The ARA contract price fell eight per cent to US$147 and the discount increased to 11 per cent still in the expensive zone. The USGC FOB 4.5 per cent S contract rose two per cent to US$142 with a 11 per cent discount. A range of US$125-150 can be expected. The ARA rate of US$168 is lower due to a fall in the freight rate but remains at a premium of two per cent to API2. The spread between 4.5 and 6.5 per cent S petcoke further widened above the normal US$4-6 to US$21 and is expected to stay in the range of US$10-25 as demand for the medium is less able to substitute. Published under China, Saudi Arabia agree to enhance military relations Xinhua) 10:44, January 27, 2022 BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe on Wednesday held talks via video link with Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman. Both sides agreed that the two militaries should improve practical cooperation and further enhance bilateral relations. China and Saudi Arabia have been deepening their political mutual trust and expanding cooperation in various fields, and the two are good friends and partners that trust each other, share mutual benefits, and develop together, Wei said. He suggested that the two militaries should maintain strategic communication and strengthen solidarity in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Khalid bin Salman said the comprehensive strategic partnership between Saudi Arabia and China has been developing steadily, and that the military cooperation between the two countries has yielded substantial results. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull speaks during an online press conference at the KDB headquarters in Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of KDB By Yi Whan-woo Korea Development Bank (KDB) Chairman Lee Dong-gull criticized the European Union, Thursday, over its disapproval of Hyundai Heavy Industries' (HHI) proposed acquisition of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), calling the EU decision "extremely selfish and only prioritizing the interests of its member countries." He said the state-run KDB, the main creditor of DSME, will look for various alternatives, including privatization, to normalize the financially troubled shipbuilder, saying "We're open from Plan B to Plan D." However, he brushed aside the possibility of injecting fresh capital into the company, saying it would give a bad impression to other countries if debt-ridden enterprises in Korea are seen as relying on state support for survival. He noted such an impression can result in more disapprovals of mergers and acquisitions between other Korean enterprises requiring consent from other nations for anti-monopoly purposes. "I find the EU's decision concerning the planned HHI-DSME merger regretful," Lee said during an online press conference, pointing out that other involved parties including China and Singapore gave their approval for the plan. After postponing its decision multiple times, the European Commission on Jan. 13 concluded it is against the mega deal because it would result in reduced competition worldwide for construction of large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The long-awaited decision discouraged HHI's acquisition deal announced in 2019. The nation's largest shipbuilder accordingly is geared toward filing a lawsuit against the European Commission. The KDB chairman said although it is up to HHI whether to take legal action, he finds a lawsuit "necessary" because it is critical to make sure that "the Republic of Korea is not easily pushed around by the EU without convincing reasons in terms of their business projects." Concerning the normalization of DSME, Lee said its privatization is necessary for the prosperity of the nation's shipbuilding industry but any further details should be confirmed after "faithfully going through management consulting and other relevant measures." Regarding the planned acquisition of SsangYong Motor by the much-smaller Edison Motors, Lee said the state-run lender will make a decision on the latter's soon-to-be-submitted rehabilitation plan. KDB is the main creditor of debt-ridden SsangYong Motor, which signed an acquisition deal with Edison Motors, Jan. 10, under the bankruptcy court's approval. The takeover deal will be finalized if Edison Motors pays out the remaining acquisition fee of 274.3 billion won ($229.3 billion) and gains approval from more than two-thirds of SsangYong creditors. Whether Edison Motor can finance the money successfully still remains in question. Other topics brought up by Lee included KDB's 2022 plan on enhancing financial support for companies' carbon-neutrality policies. Buena Vista, CO (81211) Today Overcast with rain showers at times. High around 50F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 29F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. 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 Danville City leaders get ready to breathe new life into the old mill village; Danville leaders ready to weigh proposal to provide real estate tax help to elderly and disabled; Danville native taking his place in Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. A woman on Martin Luther Kind Boulevard told police she had heard yelling and someone beating on the doors in the apartment complex for what seemed like an hour. Police asked if she had seen who was doing this and she said she did not, that she was nervous since she was unsure if the person doing this lived in the apartments or not. Police spoke with another resident and she informed them that her neighbor was beating on her door and yelling at her through the walls. She said she doesn't know why she would be doing this, but it started the day before. After speaking with her, police then spoke with the neighbor she accused. That neighbor said she was not doing those things and told police that it was the woman who accused her who was doing it. The neighbor said she never beat on her door, but she was yelling at her through the door to come outside and she was just really angry. She also said she has no idea why her accuser would be doing these things. Police told both women to leave each other alone and not to contact one another. Police also said that if this were to occur again, they should call the police so they could try and help them resolve it. * * * A disorder was reported on South Beech Street. Police met with a woman who said that she and her ex-boyfriend were verbally arguing. The ex had left prior to police arrival. There were no signs of distress and no visual, physical harm on the woman. * * * Police received a call about a gray Lexus parked in the new residents spot outside of the 5 Points Apartments. The car alarm had been malfunctioning since the previous day and posed a significant public disturbance. The site courtesy officer was made aware, but couldn't locate an owner who resided there. With authorization from the shift supervisor, police utilized a lockout kit and disabled the car alarm by disconnecting the battery. No damage was done to the vehicle. The vehicle was parked in spots owned by 5 Points Apartments. No further calls were received regarding this nuisance car alarm. * * * . An employee of EPB reported a vandalism at 1300 Bennett Ave. The employee told police that an alarm went off notifying the EPB dispatch that a line had been damaged at this location. The employee said that nothing was stolen, but as a result of the cut wires, the box as well as the wires would need to be replaced. The employee estimated the damages to be roughly $1,500 to fix. There is no suspect information. * * * A woman flagged down police in the 1600 block of East 23rd St around 3 a.m. She told officers that she was trying to lock her car, but could not get the door to close. Officers had to take a lever holding the door open off so she could secure it. * * * A disorder was reported on Jackson Street. A woman told police she was attempting to help her son move out of her sister's house. During this time an argument had arisen among the numerous people there. Officers separated the individuals involved and remained on scene until the woman and her son finished moving their possessions out of the house. The woman and her son left the scene without further incident. * * * An anonymous caller told police that two people were having an argument on East 44th Street. Police spoke to a woman and identified her. She said that she was in a verbal argument with an unknown man, but he had left the scene. She would not provide any more information, and insisted that there was not a physical altercation. Police did not observe any marks or bruises on the woman, and did not have any other reason to believe that an altercation took place. The woman said various times that she was fine and that the man had left. * * * A woman called police around 11 a.m. and said that her vehicle was stolen from Sing It or Wing It on Market Street the night before. Police asked if her keys were in the vehicle and she said there was possibly a spare in the Jeep. When asked if she had left the doors unlocked, she said that there was a possibility that they were. Police asked if she had any information about the vehicle such as a tag number or VIN that she could give, and she said all she could find at the moment was an insurance policy number. She said that once she got home she would be able to give police that information. When asked how long it would be before she got home, she said it would be around an hour. Police asked her to call back as soon as she got home to give that information, so that they could work on this further and she stated that she would. Police later attempted to call her twice, the last time at 9:30 p.m., and their calls were sent to voicemail. Until police can gather more information, they cannot continue with a report. The woman does have the case number for this incident when she calls back. * * * A woman on Trailhead Drive told police that someone got into her vehicle. She said she is not sure how they got inside as there was no sign of forced entry. The woman said there was a withdrawal on her account for $1,800, but she is not sure which branch the person went to for the withdrawal. The woman said she will find out and update the report. * * * A woman told police that someone stole her iPhone 11 while she was at Walmart, 490 Greenway View Dr. She said she did not have a serial number for the phone. * * * An officer observed a homeless male sitting on the sidewalk in front of the Workout Anytime Fitness, 5922 Hixson Pike. The man had several alcohol containers on the ground beside him. Police identified the man and ran him for warrants and wants. The man did have warrants out of Florida, but Florida was unwilling to extradite. The man was told to throw his trash away and move along. * * * A woman told police that between 8:30-10 a.m. someone stole her blue iPhone 11 from the second floor of the Marriott, 1100 Carter St. She said she was serving customers on the second floor and may have accidentally dropped the phone. She said that the cell phone's GPS coordinates were showing somewhere in the vicinity of 14th Street Court and Main Street (College Hill Courts). There is no suspect information. The woman was told to call back should a more accurate location show up via GPS. The approximate value of the phone is $1,000. The woman later called police and said that four transactions were taken from her (Sun Trust) Cash App using the stolen iPhone, totaling $175. All four Cash App transactions were sent to a woman who happens to be a "house cleaning" employee of the Marriott. The woman showed police the transactions and how they were sent to the other hotel employee. The woman said the other employee was also working on the day and time the theft occurred and she was also seen on the second floor. She said the other employee is an acquaintance at work, but she does not know her well, nor has she ever sent any money to her. A picture of the Cash App transaction was given to police. Police spoke to the general manager, who confirmed the other employee is in fact an employee of the Marriott and was also working the same day the theft occurred. The manager was able to provide police with a current address for her, which is located in the same vicinity where the GPS coordinates were showing the stolen iPhone location. The woman whose iPhone was stolen said there may be some additional fraudulent transactions from her PayPal account which is pending at this time due to her not having immediate access. She said she plans to meet with police to provide additional information. At the start of each year we reflect on where we are as a University, and how we can help to solve grand challenges facing the people of Tennessee, our country, and our world and how we can come together, focus our efforts, and be willing to learn from one another, to truly Be One UT. But coming together is a challenge in our current culture, where deep-seeded division can be the norm; where vitriol and outrage are often encouraged, and listening and engaging with those who differ from us is considered a sign of weakness. It can be difficult to be open to listening, communicating and even compromising with those that have a different point of view to actually get things done. We need to both model and instruct behavior that is open, civil and respectful so that we can find solutions to tomorrows challenges. Our universities are not immune from this. Our leaders at UT, myself included, are committed to coming together to model a better way. After all, civility is one of Tennessees great legacies. The late U.S. Senator Howard Baker said it best, If we cannot be civil to one another, and if we stop dealing with those with whom we disagree we would soon stop functioning altogether. We live in a vast country and a dynamic state that reflects a wide range of people, interests and ideas. Difference should not mean division, it actually makes us stronger. Our strength comes from our diversity. It is something to be celebrated not something that divides us. As president of the University of Tennessee System, our goal is to bring people together to find solutions for real world issues. Unity does not come from an echo chamber of thought, rather a collection of varying viewpoints contemplated to achieve a better understanding of one another so that we may move forward, together. We believe in diversityof people, thought, opinion and intellectual pursuit. We do not shelter those who do not want to hear and discuss differing points of view. But we also recognize there is an important difference between honoring diversity and promoting one particular ideology over another. There is no singular answer to the challenges we face as a society. As such, the university should never require students or faculty to adopt a specific ideology to be successful on any of our campuses. This is not the role of a university nor is it an effective strategy to prepare our students for the interconnected world they will face upon graduation. Our great university system was created to serve all of the people of Tennessee. We are accountable to our students and their parents, to the state and nation, and to the taxpayers. We must take a leadership role in creating a more civil, open and respectful societyand we will. Randy Boyd President, The University of Tennessee System Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III on Thursday marked a key milestone in the $26 billion opioid agreement with the nations three major pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen and Johnson & Johnson over the companies role in creating and fueling the nationwide opioid crisis. Following the 52 states and territories signing on to the agreement since July, thousands of local governments have joined during the subdivision sign-on period. In Tennessee, more than 150 local governments have joined the settlements, including every county and all cities with populations of 25,000 or more. General Slatery said, Today we have every reason to be encouraged: we have impressive participation, nationally and locally, to get this settlement across the finish line. There are really too many people to thank, but a point I want to emphasize is the way my AG colleagues from very different political positions put those differences aside and worked really hard to tackle a problem common to all states, territories, and localities. Another key factor was how the Governors team, the leadership and legislative sponsors in the General Assembly, and the local governments acted quickly to put a structure in place to effectively use the settlement funds." Every Tennessee family has felt the devastating impacts of the opioid crisis, and thanks to a united effort from state and local partners, significant relief is on the way, said Governor Bill Lee. Im grateful for Attorney General Slaterys strong leadership in securing these resources that will help thousands of Tennesseans recover and spread hope in our communities. Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Marie Williams, LCSW said, We are incredibly grateful for the hard work Attorney General Herbert Slatery and his team have put in on this monumental task to make sure that Tennesseans will be able to access effective, quality treatment services in response to the addiction issues caused by the opioid crisis. The partnership behind this settlement with support from our Governor, our General Assembly, our department, and our resilient and talented substance use disorder treatment providers across the state is going to build a brighter day for Tennesseans who are addicted to opioids. We know that treatment works, and we stand ready to help these men, women, moms, fathers, sons, and daughters return to fruitful, productive, healthy lives in communities across our state." The attorneys general of North Carolina, Tennessee, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas led negotiations for the agreements. Their statement can be read here. Revitalist Lifestyle and Wellness Ltd. invites the community of Chattanooga to the grand opening of its psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) clinic. At 11:30 AM on Thursday, February 10, Revitalist of Chattanooga invites the public to join them for an opportunity to meet providers and tour the "relaxing and spa-like" facility of the clinic for its Grand Opening. Officials said, "With an assortment of treatment rooms, the clinic will allow Revitalists expert providers to bring a whole new avenue of innovative treatment options to the Chattanooga area." Cara Fisk will serve as Revitalist Chattanooga's Lead CRNA. Ms. Fisk brings more than 26 years of healthcare experience to the team, ranging from over 13 years as a critical care RN. along with over 11 years as an anesthesia provider in various settings, from outpatient surgery centers to high-risk OB. Officials said, "With a BSN with honors from the University of Virginia, an MSN in anesthesia from UTHSC, and a DNAP from Virginia Commonwealth University, Cara is expertly equipped to provide these innovative new treatments in the Chattanooga area. "In a national survey conducted in 2020, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics found that Tennessee ranks highest in the country for depression. The results of this study showed that adults in Tennessee are more likely to report 'feeling down, depressed or hopeless' compared to their peers in other states." Kathryn Walker, CEO, commented, "This clinic in Chattanooga is an important next step in Revitalist's plan to bring better mental health to Tennessee. People are struggling with treatment-resistant conditions, and we believe our innovative options can offer them a new source of hope and relief. "Patients can expect to see Revitalist's host of breakthrough and cutting edge treatments, including ketamine infusion, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, vitamin therapy, intensive outpatient programs, counseling and more. "Revitalist's providers pride themselves on an unflinching commitment to patient safety and care during the treatment process. In fact, only licensed certified healthcare personnel provide patient care at any Revitalist clinic. In a recent patient experience survey conducted by Revitalist, patients were asked to rate their overall level of care by the Revitalist team. All of the respondents rated their level of care as five stars out of five, leading to a 100 percent five-star rating across the board." Georgia state health officials reported on Thursday there have been 93 additional deaths due to the coronavirus. The current total is 27,375. There are 17,145 new cases reported on Thursday, as that total reaches 1,808,462 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Hospitalizations with the virus are at 102,228, which is an increase of 646 since Wednesday. Here are the numbers by county: Catoosa County: 11,429 cases, up 167; 106 deaths, up 1 Chattooga County: 4,887 cases, up 13; 101 deaths Dade County: 2,342 cases, up 25; 23 deaths Walker County: 12,429 cases, up 152; 152 deaths Whitfield County: 25,891 cases, up 207; 340 deaths Netflix is dominating the world of Korean dramas. Having success with other zombie/apocalyptic K-dramas like Kingdom and Sweet Home, All of Us Are Dead promises a different take on the subject. A local high school becomes ground zero for a zombie plague. The students are forced to try and survive and go against their closest friends. The director of All of Us Are Dead asks audiences to do one key thing to get the most enjoyable experience from the drama. All of Us Are Dead main character K-drama poster | via Netflix All of Us Are Dead stars rising actors as high school students trying to stay alive Based on a digital comic on WEBTOON, as high school students leave their homes for another day at school, they did not expect it to become chaos. The ordinary town of Hyosan gets a rude awakening when the school becomes the starting point of a viral infection. Hundreds of students clamored in one place, leading to the grizzliest battle to survive against friends turned monsters. The outbreak turns the town into a warzone. All of Us Are Deads main cast includes fresh new faces still making a mark in the acting industry. Each actors K-drama character has their own stories. House of Hummingbird star Park Ji-hoo plays the role of On-jo. She confesses her feelings to her crush Su-hyeok, played by Park Solomon. Actor Lee Yoo-mi rose to fame as Ji-yeong in Netflixs Squid Game. For All of Us Are Dead, the actor plays a snotty and stuck-up rich girl named Na-yeon. The cast also includes Vikis School 2021 actor Cho Yi-hyun. The director and staff of All of Us Are Dead also hired young actors and dancers to play students turned zombies. All of Us Are Dead director gives a tip on how to correctly watch the K-drama RELATED: Netflix Unleashes Plethora of Upcoming K-Dramas for 2022 Like A Model Family In a behind-the-scenes video of the making of All of Us Are Dead, director Lee Jae-kyoo explains key aspects of the K-drama that help bring it to life. No zombie drama would be complete without the ravenous monsters looking for a victim. The director explains the young actors learned zombie choreography to get the movements and atmosphere right. The director has one audience request when watching All of Us Are Dead. He explains that the K-drama focuses on a variety of detailed sounds dealing with zombies. So turn the volume up and watch it louder than usual. Then youll enjoy it more. Dim the lights in the room and dim the screen for a fun experience. Watch many times, and youll see things youve missed at first. So I dare say the more you watch it, the more fun and fresh experiences youll have, said director Lee. Just as the cast and crew had a memorable and intense experience filming the K-drama, the director promises fans worldwide will feel the same when watching All of Us Are Dead. What time will All of Us Are Dead air and how many episodes? RELATED: Pachinko: Youn Yuh-jung and South Koreas Biggest Names Star in Apple TV+s K-Drama Based on the Acclaimed Novel Fans and critics believe All of Us Are Dead could be the next big K-drama for Netflix. The K-dramas cast is popular among die-hard fans and will likely gain global recognition after its premiere. What time can K-drama and new fans watch All of Us Are Dead on Netflix? The coming-of-age zombie K-drama will air on Netflix on Jan.28. According to Inverse, All of Us Are Dead will be available to global fans at 12 a.m. PT and 3 a.m. EST. On Friday morning, K-drama fans get to binge-watch 12 episodes of students banding together to survive while also dealing with internal dilemmas and betrayals. Photographer Rami Hyun has photographed over 2,000 veterans from 13 countries as part of "Project Soldier." Courtesy of Rami Hyun By Lee Gyu-lee Photographer Rami Hyun / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul "Their time is running out," said photographer Rami Hyun, who runs "Project Soldier," which has been documenting the veterans who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War often referred to as the "forgotten war," as it is overshadowed by World War II and the Vietnam War. The coronavirus pandemic has put many people, if not most, in restricted positions, putting barriers on daily life and overseas travel. However, such disheartening obstacles did not stop Hyun from traveling and carrying out his mission to share the stories of local and overseas Korean War veterans, so that they will not be forgotten. "Most of those veterans are in their 80s and 90s And (as time passes by) not many will still be alive, so I'm doing my best to document as many veterans as possible," the photographer, whose real name is Hyun Hyo-jae, said in an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's office in Seoul, Tuesday. "The only thing they want is to be remembered that they fought on our land. They've spent their lives as forgotten soldiers. So they are more than happy that someone is trying to give them recognition and to help keep a record of them." A photo of Korean War veterans in the U.S. taken in Greenville, South Carolina / Courtesy of Rami Hyun The 43-year-old photographer opened his own studio in 2010 after graduating from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and coming back to Korea. Three years later, he came across a sergeant major while working to make a promotional video for a military unit here. The major's wish to go on a family trip for the first time after retiring from his three decades of service struck his interest. "He said he is not ashamed of the 28 years he served in the military, but he got emotional when saying that he does regret not being there for his family because of his duty," he said. "I was shocked that a family trip could be someone's wish And I started to feel ashamed. These soldiers are great people. So I started to look for ways to express my gratitude to them." A group of soldiers from the 5th Army Division in Korea / Courtesy of Rami Hyun Hence, he initiated "Project Soldier" in a way to pay respect as well as to keep a record of those who sacrificed themselves to serve their country. He started the first part of the project, "I Am a Soldier," in 2013, taking portraits of active-duty soldiers in uniform. Despite Hyun's goodwill to help soldiers see their own greatness through the photos he took and gave them free of charge, the project received skeptical views with some people criticizing him for trying to benefit financially or win fame using the soldiers. However, the response from the soldiers, some of whom sent him letters asking to take part in the project, fueled him through the project and led to its subsequent series: "We are Soldiers" and "We are Soldiers' Family." Then in 2016, it was by complete chance that he ran into a Korean War veteran from the United States who was visiting the exhibition of the project. "I just simply asked him if he was a veteran. And in that short sentence in which he introduced himself, I felt a strong emotional impact: a sense of pride," Hyun said, adding that it was nothing like what he saw in the soldiers he had met previously. "I got curious how they came to take such a strong pride in battling in a foreign country. I wondered how their look was so different than that of Koreans and wanted to ask." Photographer Rami Hyun speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's office in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul Out of pure curiosity, he decided to take a trip to England in 2017, simply to meet a foreign war veteran at his house and take his photo. "I was just going to take his portrait and leave in 30 minutes, but I ended up staying for four hours. For him, it wasn't about being photographed, but was about a young man from the country that he fought for but that forgot about him coming all the way over to thank him and listen to his story," Hyun said. What was meant to be a one-time trip ended up leading to another, and developed into the fourth iteration of the project, "Searching for Korean War Veteran," to cover the war veterans around the world, including the ones here. British Korean War veterans at the National Railway Museum York in the U.K. / Courtesy of Rami Hyun Since then, Hyun has taken pictures of over 2,000 veterans from 13 countries. He has been traveling to different cities in the U.S and England including two trips to the U.S. since the pandemic broke out to take photos and deliver the framed pictures to the veterans out of his own pocket or with fundraised money. When director Hedy Lee, who runs a video production agency in New York, got on board the project in 2019, the two also started sharing videos of their work and interviews of the veterans. "Many veterans think of themselves as cowards because they survived the war. This is both an art project and a recordkeeping one, because the portraits capture them as veterans, not as someone's father, husband or co-worker," he said. "The pictures capture their souls. So when I deliver the framed pictures to them, they see themselves in the pictures and realize that they are not cowards but real heroes." Korean War veterans in Korea pose at Goseong Unification Observatory Tower in Gangwon Province, Oct. 1, 2021. Courtesy of Rami Hyun The photographer said that seeing the veterans through the portraits of them now has a bigger impact on younger generations than looking at old war photos by letting them grasp the emotional side of the Korean War. "The older generation gets emotional even by just looking at war photos from that time. But for the younger people, it doesn't feel relevant," he said. "But if they see the portraits of the veterans at later ages, toward the end of their lives, they can feel the veterans' emotions and value, which has a completely different weight." Although Hyun continued on the meaningful mission for years against the odds, negative views, and even accusations that the project had political intentions, he faced a crisis when he severely injured his back during a visit to the U.S. in 2020. "I had to stay in bed for three months. And even when my back was getting better, I almost gave up everything, because I was out of money, my back was injured, and the equipment for the photo shoot was worn out," he said. Portraits of Korean War veterans from the U.S. / Courtesy of Rami Hyun Just when he was about to stop, he got a call from tvN's talk show, "You Quiz on the Block," hosted by popular comedian Yoo Jae-suk. The episode that featured Hyun's story created a buzz, garnering more interest in his project from the public. "(Before the show,) only specific people took interest in the project. But since then, more diverse people came to be familiar with it," he said. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there were about 1.1 million Korean War veterans alive in the U.S. as of 2020. The U.S. deployed 6.8 million service members to the war. The number of surviving veterans is expected to decline sharply to 100,000 by 2030. Hyun emphasized that time is of the essence for Korean War veterans, adding that he has set a timeline to put his full focus into capturing the veterans until 2023. "The year 2020 marked the 70th year since the start of the Korean War, but we couldn't do anything because of COVID-19. (The veterans) missed the chance to get their spotlight as a part of history. So we now only have 2023, which is the 70th anniversary of the war ending in an armistice," he said. "After that, not many people will remember them even if people do, the veterans might not still be alive." Colonel William Bill Weber, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War / Courtesy of Rami Hyun When asked what keeps him going, he simply answered, "It's fun." "The satisfaction the veterans show for my photos is enormously greater than the amount of work I put in. And that's my motivation. I want my work to survive for a long time, and this recordkeeping will last forever even after the veterans' or my death," he expressed. "There are not many records left of Korean War history, and not many people know about it, like what happened during that time. I want to fill in that lost history. And I need to do it while they are still alive." He also noted that he wants the record to share the different lives of the soldiers at the time. "Indeed, it was the battlefield and the war was horrible. But even within that, people had joy, sadness, and love," he said. "The devastating side is not the only thing we should keep records of, but we also should remember that there were lives and hopes. Because those hopes kept alive made us who we are today." Hyun and Lee plan to travel to countries like Thailand, the Philippines and Australia, starting in March, to continue with the project. A family photo of a Korean soldier in the 5th Army Division / Courtesy of Rami Hyun Michelle Duggar is causing a stir on the internet. The famed mother of 19 children has spent decades creating an image of modesty that has been largely tied to her skirts only style of dress. The Duggar family matriarch appears to have forgotten her more modest frocks in Arkansas as she spends some time out west with her daughter, Jinger Vuolo. Some photos from her recent California adventures might show Michelle rocking pants. Duggar family followers cant help but wonder if any of the adult Duggars still adhere to the familys strict dress code. Michelle Duggar has been spotted out and about in pants Duggar family matriarch, Michelle Duggar, might have been spotted wearing a pair of pants. At least, Duggar family followers think so. According to the U.S. Sun, Michelle, 55, was spotted taking a walk and running errands with several of her kids in California. While it appears shes wearing a skirt over a pair of yoga pants in some photos, other shots indicate that she may have shed the skirt somewhere along the way. Michelle Duggar and Jim Bob Duggar | Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire Jana Duggar, James Duggar, and Jason Duggar are all on the trip, too. However, Michelles husband, Jim Bob Duggar, doesnt seem to be along for the ride. Presumably, the father of 19 is back in Arkansas with the familys youngest children. Which Duggar ladies no longer stick to the skirts-only rule? Whether Michelle is changing up her style remains to be seen. However, we know that several other Duggar ladies have thrown out the family dress code upon marriage. Jinger Vuolo was the first Duggar family member to toss the skirts in favor of pants. Jinger was spotted in jeans and leggings shortly after marrying Jeremy Vuolo in 2016. Jill Dillard, who married Derick Dillard in 2014, was the next to break the rule. In recent years, Jill has been spotted in workout gear, shorts, and jeans fairly regularly. Jessa Duggar, Jinger Duggar, Jill Duggar, and Jana Duggar visit Extra | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra Jessa Seewald has appeared in pants occasionally, as well. She was a later adopter of the new style trend. For the first several years of her marriage, the mother of four followed the Duggar family dress code. It has only been in the last year and a half that shes been spotted in sweatpants and occasionally in jeans. Joy-Anna Forsyth also stuck to the skirts in public rule until recently. Joy has been spotted in sweatpants and snow pants in recent months when appropriate. She has yet to show up on Instagram in a pair of jeans, though. Jana, the familys eldest daughter, has added pants to her wardrobe, too. Jana, the familys oldest unmarried daughter, was first spotted in pants in August 2021. First, she was seen wearing jeans during an outing to a Dodgers game. Later, she shared a photo of herself on Instagram wearing black dress pants while visiting Las Vegas. Just how often Jana opts for pants over skirts remains unknown. Are any of the Duggar girls still following the rule? Jana Duggar and Michelle Duggar held onto the modesty rule the longest. Now that both maybe have been spotted in pants, family followers are left to wonder if any of the Duggar ladies are keeping up with the familys famous dress code. None of the familys biological daughters are sticking to the rule, but a few in-laws are. Anna Duggar and Josh Duggar | Kris Connor/Getty Images Anna Duggar, the wife of troubled Josh Duggar, has spent all the years of her marriage in skirts and dresses. While Anna is likely free to break the rule now that her husband will be spending the next several years behind bars, fans are unlikely to find out if she is. Anna has stayed out of the public eye since the December 9 guilty verdict. Joseph Duggars wife, Kendra Caldwell, also seems to adhere to the Duggar familys dress code, as does Jedidiah Duggars wife, Katey Nakatsu. It is unclear if that is a preference Joseph and Jedidiah have for their brides or if theyve decided to stick to skirts and dresses for their own reasons. Both Katey and Kendra were raised in ultra-conservative Christian households. RELATED: Josh Duggar Reportedly Receiving Daily Video Calls From Wife, Anna Duggar Ozark has delivered a lot of shocking moments over the years, but arguably nothing tops what happened at the end of Ozark Season 4 Part 1. Set immediately after Helen Pierces murder, this season sees the Byrdes forging a greater partnership with Omar Navarro. That, of course, comes with numerous challenges, including his nephew Javi Elizonndros attempts to gain control of the business and rival Darlene Snells foray back into the drug trade. It all leads up to a shocking conclusion, but that wasnt the initial plan. [Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ozark Season 4 Part 1]. Ozark | Netflix Ozark killed off Wyatt Langmore in the first half of its latest season At the beginning of Ozark Season 4, Marty and Wendy Byrde returned from Mexico with a message for Darlene: cease operations or face quick and brutal force from the cartel. True to character, Darlene simply laughed it off and went on as planned. Things started moving so quickly that the threat became somewhat of an afterthought, but then it became a reality in Ozark Season 4 Episode 7. Newly married, Darlene and Wyatt returned home to find Javi in their living room. Darlene attempted to explain and apologize for going against the cartel, but Javi shot and killed her before she could finish. Sorry, whoever you are, he said to Wyatt before shooting and killing him too. RELATED: Ozark Season 4 Theory Predicts Death for Everyone but 1 Character Showrunner Chris Mundy on Wyatts fate in Ozark In an interview with TVLine, showrunner Chris Mundy opened up about the decision to kill off Wyatt. It was so hard, he said of killing the character. That was something that evolved. It wasnt the original plan. There arent very many sweet or pure souls on our show. And he is one. Also, I just love [his actor] Charlie Tahan. Obviously, you separate the actor from the role, but [my instinct] is to want to protect Wyatt. So [killing him off] was really hard. Mundy explained there was a fair amount of debate about it in the writers room. But we knew we were writing toward an end, he continued, so for us it was like, You know what? Even though its a really hard decision, weve got to do the thing that pushes Ruth to [her] most raw.' It was the only thing that could lay her bare, he added. So we had to. If it was Season 2, we wouldnt have done it. I would not have wanted to be without Wyatt for that long. But knowing we were coming to the end and what it could do to the dynamic for the final seven episodes I knew it was the right decision. They're going to go out with a bang. Ozark will be back with an expanded 14-episode final season. pic.twitter.com/otIoUeTXyH Netflix (@netflix) June 30, 2020 How Wyatts death impacts the next episodes After finding their bodies, Ruth declared revenge against Javi and set out to find him, despite the Byrdes protests. Mundy said Ozark Season 4 Part 2 will pick up right away, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the first couple of episodes will see Ruth and the Byrdes at odds over what to do with Javi. While no release date has been announced, the expectation is that the remaining episodes will air later in 2022. RELATED: The Ozark Season 4 Teaser Actually Contains a Huge Spoiler Apple TV+ continues its venture into Korean dramas starring some of South Koreas biggest and well-recognized actors. Pachinko K-drama is based on Min Jin-lees multigenerational novel of the same name. An emotional, detailed, and profound story of love, immigration, and four families is at the center of its storyline. Fans get a first look at award-winning actor Youn Yuh-jung and the main cast in their leading roles. Here is everything to know about the K-drama. Actors Kim Min-ha and Lee Min-ho in Pachinko | via Apple TV+ Pachinko crosses borders and takes place in three different countries in three languages Mins highly acclaimed novel chronicles the stories of its main characters emotional journey through forbidden love, evolving economic climate, and immigration. The storyline will focus on four distinct South Korean families. According to Deadline, Epic in scope, intimate in tone, the story begins with a forbidden love and crescendos into a sweeping saga that journeys between Korea, Japan, and America to tell the unforgettable story of war and peace, love and loss, triumph and reckoning. As Panchinko takes place in three countries, the K-drama storyline will be told in English, Korean and Japanese. Fans need to prepare for a heartfelt and powerful drama. According to Soompi, executive producer Soo Hugh explains, This is a story and tribute to my ancestors. It is also a story that is dedicated to all the pioneers that exist in our family history. It is an honor to materialize this project with dedicated and talented actors and staff. The first official stills introduce its main cast in their character roles and what can be expected from the drama. Academy Award winner Youn Yuh-jung and The Heirs actor Lee Min-ho star in Pachinko Here's your first look at #Pachinko, based on the New York Times best-selling novel. Starring Yuh-Jung Youn, Lee Minho, Jin Ha, and Minha Kim. Streaming March 25. https://t.co/YIImGpNcex pic.twitter.com/AWsvKJ7lHB Apple TV+ (@AppleTVPlus) January 26, 2022 RELATED: Dr. Brain: Apple TV+s First Sci-Fi K-Drama Starring Parasite Actor Lee Sun-kyun Pachinko is estimated to be a grand success based on its main cast alone. K-drama fans will instantly recognize Lee Min-ho, who plays the leading role of Koh Hansu. Lee is recognized for one of the industrys top teen romance K-dramas The Heirs. He also starred in the fantasy drama The King: Eternal Monarch. In Pachinko, he stars alongside actor Kim Min-ha. The still images provide the first look at Kims character Sunja and upbringing. Fans also get a glimpse at the emotional love story Sunja and Hansu will have in the drama. The image shows Hansu gazing affectionately at Sunja while holding her close as she sheds a tear. Actor Youn Yu-jung became the first South Korean to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Minari. She joins Kim and Lee as an older version of Sunja. The first look at the actor in Pachinko shows her character wearing a matching light green turtleneck and sweater. The rest of Pachinkos K-drama cast includes Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Inji Jeong, Kaho Minami, Steve Sanghyun Noh, Anna Sawai, Junwoo Han, Eun Chae-jung, Jimmi Simpson and Yu-na Jeon. When will Apple TV+ premiere the Pachinko K-drama? RELATED: Dr. Brain: Where Youve Seen the K-Dramas Main Cast Before and Their Most Recognized Work Fans can expect to watch Pachinko in Spring 2022. Apple TV+ will premiere the first three episodes on March 25. The air schedule will then debut weekly episodes every Friday through April 29. The short-season K-drama is only eight episodes. Despite the Pachinkos run as a K-drama will be short, fans can expect a jam-packed storyline that will leave an impression just as Mins novel did on fans. Will the Pachinko K-drama be the next big hit for South Korea as K-content has soared to popularity like Squid Game? Professor Dr. Robert Franke, Evonik, receives the Otto Roelen Medal 2022. This prize will be awarded by DECHEMA and the German Catalysis Society in recognition of developments in the field of catalytic carbonylation, in particular hydroformylation, from its theoretical basis to its industrial implementation. The award ceremony will take place on March 17th, 2022 during the Annual Meeting of German Catalysis Scientists in Weimar / Germany Robert Franke is adjunct professor at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany and also responsible for the hydroformylation research at Evonik Performance Materials GmbH in Marl. His main research activities focus on homogeneous catalysis, process intensification, and modeling of catalytic processes. The transfer of basic research work on modern molecular catalysts to industrial applications are true highlights of his research work. With the variant of SILP (Supported Ionic Liquid Phase) / SLP (Supported Liquid Phase) technology that he co-developed, homogeneous catalysts can be attached to solid materials such as silica or aluminum oxide using high-boiling liquids and used in an integrated membrane reactor. This enables hydroformylation processes that combine the advantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts and additionally include a novel product separation. With the help of innovative reaction control and new highly active catalysts, complex multi-step processes can be reduced to a single reaction step in carbonylations. This has been achieved, for example, with adipates, the base materials used to produce pharmaceutical ingredients, perfumes, and lubricants. In future, costs and energy can be saved, and the emission of nitrogen oxides as by-products of the reaction can be prevented. Robert Franke studied chemistry at the Ruhr-University Bochum with a focus on industrial & theoretical chemistry. He completed his doctorate in theoretical chemistry at the Ruhr University Bochum. In 1998, he joined the process engineering department of the former Huls AG in Germany, a predecessor company of Evonik Performance Materials GmbH. Currently, he is Director Innovation Management Hydroformylation and responsible for oxo research at Evonik. Parallel to his successful career in industry, he completed his habilitation in 2002 and was associated at the University of Bochum, where he was appointed adjunct professor in 2011. Robert Franke is project coordinator of the European Commission Horizon 2020 program funded project "MACBETH" (Membranes And Catalysts Beyond Economic and Technological Hurdles). The Otto Roelen Medal has been awarded by DECHEMA every two years since 1997. It is endowed with 5,000 euros. In a large-scale fundraising campaign, popular YouTubers like Mister Beast and Mark Rober are currently trying to rid the oceans of almost 14,000 tonnes of plastic waste. That's about 0.15 per cent of the amount that ends up in the oceans every year. But it's not just our waters that are full of plastic. A new study shows that the spread of nanoplastic through the air is a more widespread problem than previously thought. In a new study, Empa researcher Dominik Brunner, together with colleagues from Utrecht University and the Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geophysics, is investigating how much plastic is trickling down on us from the atmosphere. According to the study, some nanoplastics travel over 2000 kilometers through the air. According to the figures from the measurements about 43 trillion miniature plastic particles land in Switzerland every year. Researchers still disagree on the exact number. But according to estimates from the study, it could be as much as 3,000 tonnes of nanoplastics that cover Switzerland every year, from the remote Alps to the urban lowlands. These estimates are very high compared to other studies, and more research is needed to verify these numbers. The study is uncharted scientific territory because the spread of nanoplastics through the air is still largely unexplored. The result of Brunner's research is the most accurate record of air pollution by nanoplastics ever made. To count the plastic particles, Brunner and his colleagues have developed a chemical method that determines the contamination of the samples with a mass spectrometer. Extreme conditions The scientists studied a small area at an altitude of 3106 meters at the top of the mountain "Hoher Sonnenblick" in the "Hohe Tauern" National Park in Austria. An observatory of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics has been located here since 1886. The observatory is run by meteorologist and Arctic researcher Elke Ludewig. Since research began here in the late 19th century, the observatory has only been non-operational on four days. The research station also served as a base for the study on the spread of nanoplastics in remote areas. Every day, and in all weather conditions, scientists removed a part of the top layer of snow around a marker at 8 AM and carefully stored it. Contamination of the samples by nanoplastics in the air or on the scientists' clothes was a particular challenge. In the laboratory, the researchers sometimes had to remain motionless when a colleague handled an open sample. The origin of the tiny particles was traced with the help of European wind and weather data. The researchers could show that the greatest emission of nanoplastics into the atmosphere occurs in densely populated, urban areas. About 30% of the nanoplastic particles measured on the mountain top originate from a radius of 200 kilometers, mainly from cities. However, plastics from the world's oceans apparently also get into the air via the spray of the waves. Around 10% of the particles measured in the study were blown onto the mountain by wind and weather over 2000 kilometers some of them from the Atlantic. Nanoparticles in the bloodstream It is estimated that more than 8300 million tonnes of plastic have been produced worldwide to date, about 60% of which is now waste. This waste erodes through weathering effects and mechanical abrasion from macro- to micro- and nanoparticles. But discarded plastic is far from the only source. Everyday use of plastic products such as packaging and clothing releases nanoplastics. Particles in this size range are so light that their movement in the air can best be compared to gases. Besides plastics, there are all kinds of other tiny particles. From Sahara sand to brake pads, the world is buzzing through the air as abrasion. It is as yet unclear whether this kind of air pollution poses a potential health threat to humans. Nanoparticles, unlike microparticles, do not just end up in the stomach. They are sucked deep into the lungs through respiration, where their size may allow them to cross the cell-blood barrier and enter the human bloodstream. Whether this is harmful or even dangerous, however, remains to be researched. Specialty chemicals company LANXESS is expanding its production capacity for the active ingredient Preventol CMK at the Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany, site by around 50 percent due to strong demand for disinfectants. LANXESS is expanding its production capacity for the active ingredient Preventol CMK (chlorocresol) at the Krefeld-Uerdingen, Germany, site by around 50 percent in response to the continuing strong demand for disinfectants and industrial preservation. The specialty chemicals company has invested a single-digit million euro amount for the expansion, which will be completed still in the first quarter of 2022. LANXESS markets Preventol CMK as a registered active ingredient for disinfection and preservation and also uses it in its own formulations marketed under the known Preventol and Virkon brands. A rapidly growing area of application is disinfectants in the animal and human sectors. Demand for these products has risen significantly in recent years due to the African swine fever, the avian influenza and the Corona pandemic, among other things. With the additional capacities, we remain a reliable partner for our customers and can continue to meet the increased demand for Preventol CMK in the disinfection industry, said Matthias Arnold, head of the Actives & Disinfection business line at LANXESS Material Protection Products business unit. For disinfectants, we expect sustained high demand even after the Corona pandemic due to an increased hygiene awareness. In agricultural businesses, disinfectants based on Preventol CMK help contain the spread of diseases and contribute to the reduction of antibiotics in animal husbandry. The topic of biosecurity is also gaining in importance worldwide due to increasing population and meat consumption, leading to a sustained increase in demand for disinfectants. In the field of human health, disinfectants based on Preventol CMK can be used in hospitals, for example, but also in the household application segment. LANXESS is the worlds largest producer of chlorocresol and provides regulatory support for the active ingredient in all major biocide markets, such as in Europe under the Biocidal Products Regulation BPR or in the USA with the Environmental Protection Agency EPA. Increasing requirements in industrial preservation LANXESS also expects strong market growth in the field of industrial preservation. The CMK-based Preventol products from LANXESS have a very broad and balanced spectrum of activity against molds, bacteria and yeasts - even in highly microbiologically contaminated media. This makes them interesting for numerous applications - especially in leather preservation and construction. Our Preventol CMK-based products meet the stringent regulatory requirements worldwide. The expansion will enable us to satisfy the strong demand for these products also in the future, said Oliver Kretschik, head of the Biocides business line at the Material Protection Products business unit. In the construction industry, CMK-based Preventol products can replace products containing formaldehyde. In the leather industry, they meet both high technical requirements and rising industry standards in terms of sustainability and toxicity. An American flag waves in front of the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 2, 2020. Public Universitys Rules Now Prohibit Offensive Facial Expressions A friend had sent me this link with a short comment: Weve lost our minds! Apparently, administrators at the University of Montana Western had published a policy in which students could be disciplined, or even suspended for making certain facial expressions. The article includes this chilling thought: When George Orwell famously wrote about a dystopian future where your every thought is monitored, he shouldnt have set it in Great Britain. It would have been much more accurate had he instead written about American college campuses. I let out a resigned sigh as I prepared to forward the article to like-minded friends who are equally concerned that we may be coddling the upcoming generation. Just as I was about to hit send, I felt the clear conviction of the Holy Spirit. Whats the other side of this story? Some context may be helpful. In addition to being a professor of communication at a Christian university in southern California, I serve as the co-director of the Winsome Conviction Project which seeks to reintroduce civility, compassion, and understanding to our disagreements. It was the understanding part that I was most leaving out. Proverbs states the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines (18:17). If the administrators at Montana Western were allowed to respond to the article I was about to pass along, what would they say? The answer was one click away. The civility standards on the Montana Western website begins with a quote: Civility is not a sign of weakness. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us. The quoteby John Fitzgerald Kennedysurprised me and made me open to reading more. The document listed a set of expectations of which students, faculty, and staff were to maintain when engaging those of a different point of view. Expectations included trust (talk to, not about, others), listen (employ active listening by giving undivided attention to speakers), understand (view conflicts as learning opportunities), and responsibility (be accountable and take ownership of all your communication). While I was impressed by the list, I kept an eye out for the alarming prohibition against facial expressions. It came under the expectation of trust: When discussions become heated and passionate, they should never become mean, nasty or vindictive in spoken or printed or emailed words, facial expressions, or gestures. The document ended by informing readers that anyone who ignored or purposefully went against these standards could be disciplinedincluding possible suspension. I was surprised by what I had just read. To be honest, I found myself resonating with this call to civility. The article and the university standards have stayed with me for weeks, and illustrates a key attitude that drives the Winsome Conviction Project. Be a Chimp, not a Rhino Rhinoceroses are notoriously short sightedit is said they cant tell the difference between a tree and a human from 50 feet away. And that explains their aggressive behavior. If they dont recognize it, they instinctively lower their head and ram it, harming the object, and potentially the rhino. Its hard on both the trees and the humans. Chimps are different. When chimps see something they dont recognize, they go investigate. They pick it up, prod it, and play with it. If they decide its not for them, they set it down and pick up something else. If someone shares an opinion you dont understand, be curious, investigate, and ask questions. Dont ram them. When I first read that students could be suspended for making facial expressions I was in full rhino mode. My form of electronic ramming would be to pass along the original article with my own snarky comment. Being a chimp and reading Montana Westerns civility statement in their own words helped me understand the context of their overall stance, including certain facial expressions. Seek to Charitably Understand Their Most Controversial Point When disagreeing with others, there often surfaces one issue or point that seems absurd to you. Its here we need to be the most chimp-like. Try to understand how this point might make sense. Whether you agree or not with taking a stand on negative facial expressions, in what context might it make sense? Imagine teaching a public speaking class where students are allowed to select their own topics. One student picks a topic she knows is controversial. After her speech, she tells you how discouraging it was that one student in the back made dismissive, or rude facial expressions during her speech. From then on, you pay attention to him. And, shes right. If he doesnt agree he rolls his eyes, turns his body away from the speaker, and even mutters comments under his breath. Would you address this student? And, what if they refused to stop givingvia non-verbalsnegative feedback? Might you eventually ask them to leave the class? If so, youve basically paraphrased the trust expectation articulated by Montana Western. Be Curious to All Parties After reading Montana Westerns civility standards I was tempted to take a rhino approach to thein my estimationharsh description of the standards that opened this chapter. Yet, didnt that author also deserve my curiosity? What fueled his strong description of a set of standards that seem fairly reasonable? Which of his concerns resonated with me? For example, who gets to determine what constitutes an offensive or negative facial expression? Might some be overly singled out due to racial prejudice? I regularly have students of color tell me that their non-verbals are often seen as aggressive, or angry by others. Being inquisitive is not merely reserved for those with whom we agree. When presented with an idea that seems absurd, the first step is to resist reacting, but respond with curiosity and questions. As we are reminded by the ancients, To answer before listeningthat is folly and shame (Prov. 18:13). In the age of the rhino, its sometimes prudent to be a chimp. Subscribe to email digests from the Better Samaritan. Tim Muehlhoff a professor of communication at Biola University in La Mirada, CA and co-director of the Winsome Conviction Project designed to reintroduce civility into our private and public disagreements. Tim is also an author whose latest books are Winsome Conviction: Disagreeing without Dividing the Church and Eyes to See: Finding Gods Common Grace in Unsettled Times. This piece was adapted from Russell Moores newsletter. Subscribe here. Over the past week, countless friends texted me a Vanity Fair profile of former Liberty University chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr., featuring an extended interview with the man who went from being a kingmaker in the 2016 presidential election to resigning after a series of scandals. What most people highlighted was not the salacious recounting of the stories but one particular quote from Falwell: Because of my last name, people think Im a religious person. But Im not. My goal was to make them realize Im not my dad. For some, this shows the problem: hypocrisy. If only it were. When I say that Jerry Falwell Jr. is no hypocrite, I mean it in only one sense. Obviously, Falwell was hypocritical in, among other things, allegedly engaging in behavior that, for even the smallest of the offenses, would have led to fines or expulsions for his students. In that sense, the scandal is similar to the revelations that British prime minister Boris Johnson attended Downing Street cocktail parties while the public was forbidden by law to gather due to COVID-19 public health measures. And, of course, beyond that is the much more fundamental matter: How can the chancellor of one of the worlds largest Christian universities justify his behavior by saying hes not religious? Thats precisely the point, though. Hypocrisy is an ongoing and always-present danger in the church. Jesus warned us to beware of hypocrisycharging the religious leaders of his day with maintaining piety out of pretense. For Jesus, the congruence between the inner and the outerthe heart and the mouth, the motivations and the behavior, the public and the privateis a crucial matter of integrity before God. The warnings were needed, Jesus told us, because hypocrisy is, by definition, crafty and hidden. Wolves look like lambs, which is why they are able to ravage the flock. For such hypocrisy, Jesus used the metaphor of yeast (Luke 12:1)a metaphor he also used for the kingdom of God (13:2021). In other words, both hypocrisy and the kingdom work powerfully but invisibly, under the surface of perception. Only in the very long term are such hidden realities brought to light (12:2). Hypocrisy typically leaves people vulnerable to deception and predation precisely because it is so carefully hidden. I often find churches or ministries unable to discover horrific things done in their ministries because they assume that evildoers in the church give off a creepy vibe or have a supervillains sinister laugh. The most dangerous hypocrites, though, are those who are actually skilled at hypocrisyat pretense, at hiding, at mirroring the look of true fidelity. Yet Jerry Falwell Jr. told us repeatedly how he saw the world. When confronted with the immorality and scandals of his preferred presidential candidate, Falwell didnt seek to measure the moral deficiencies against what he saw as the greater good as much as he ridiculed the premise of the question. To him, Trump was moral because he had created jobs and made payroll. Unlike some other Trump evangelical supporterswith whom I disagreed but whose positions were reasonable and understandableFalwell didnt try to measure the business leaders intemperate and crass attacks on people with some other objective, like judicial nominations, for instance. Instead he often mimicked such attacks, right along with the cartoonish and bullying tone of them. Falwell Jr. frequently spoke not in terms of the gospel or the way of Christ, even parenthetically, but in terms of decidedly Machiavellian political aims and objectives. When individuals questioned the cost to Christian witness of merging evangelicalism with populist demagoguery, he often dismissed them as though they were morally preening puritans, out of touch with the real world. Article continues below When his own scandals started to proliferate, Falwell did not defend himself as a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. He didnt even (as do so many scandal-ridden Christian leaders) present himself as a repentant David in the middle of Psalm 51. Falwell said that he was a lawyer, not a preacheras though the commands to integrity, obedience, repentance, and mercy were ordination vows, not the call of Jesus on every one of his disciples and, even before that, written by God on the consciences of every human being. In many ways, Jerry Falwell Jr. did not hide from us who he was. He told us, over and over again. If the problem were his hypocrisy, we could blame him. We could absolve ourselves of responsibility. After all, how could we know? We knew enough to know that something was wrong here. When some of the details of the final days of the Falwell Jr. era were revealed, lots of people said, How could he be this stupid and self-destructive? But I dont think many said, How could this happen? He was such a godly man. That is a crisis of accountability, yes. If we cannot see the problems even when a leader is telling us (at least the roots of) them outright, how can we expect to keep watch for leaders who actually are skilled at mimicking discipleship and sanctification? But this is also a crisis of love. As evangelical Christians, it is a scandal that we didnt hold Jerry Falwell Jr. accountable for all the vulnerable people who suffered because of his decisions. And yet its more than that: Its a tragedy that we did not love Jerry Falwell Jr. enough. My reaction to some Christian scandalsthe Ravi Zacharias revelations, for instanceis a kind of simmering anger at the leader. In the case of the Vanity Fair profile, though, I fail to see how anyone can read it and not come away with at least some compassion for Falwell. When asked whether he was seeking to self-destruct, he said, Its almost like I didnt have a choice. And then he disclosed, repeatedly, how he identified with the wilder side of his familythe atheists and bootleggersrather than with what he seems to consider the puritanical piety of his mother. In this, he does not appear to be a prodigal son, rebelling against his father, as much as a son who loved his father and who counts him as being on his side. He and his father understood each other, he said. They shared an irreverent sense of humor and a knack for institution building. While Falwell Sr. was building a Religious Right empire, the younger Falwells description of his role is telling: Id be the kid in the back of the auditorium selling my dads books and records to people while he preached. I would have all this money stuffed into every pocket. That was my life. Indeed it was. And, later, when the university his father built was in financial trouble, Falwell Jr. was tapped to help lead them out of it. In the article, he discloses how his father affirmed and admired his business savvy. And he was successful at that. As chancellor, Falwell Jr. built Libertys enrollment, campus, and financial reserves into a powerhouse. Even to the end while someone else was preaching, he was right there, selling. In some ways, the Jerry Falwell Jr. story is emblematic of the state of American cultural Christianity. If, as the old saying goes, hypocrisy is the homage that vice pays to virtue, then the older form of American cultural Christianity was genuine hypocrisy. Article continues below Some people belonged to churches so they would be seen as good people. Even if they never believed, they sang the hymns and prayed the prayers and played on the church softball teams. The adulterer would pontificate on family values, and the embezzler would teach Sunday school classes on the Ten Commandments. In time, as always happens, politicians sought to make this kind of religion a political forcea moral majoritythat could de-emphasize the less popular aspects of Christianity (Trinity, incarnation, blood atonement, carrying a cross) and emphasize the more marketable aspects (fighting for the soul of America, reclaiming the culture, saving Western civilization). Now, though, cultural Christianity seems to have evolved to the state where many people dont even have to pretend to belong to churches. They just need to know how to post Facebook memes about Christian values right along with profane slogans about the president of the United States. And behind all of that, are real peoplecreated in the image of God, destined for an eternity of glory or damnation. The consequences arent just societal or even just theological. They are strikingly and tragically personal. Is it possible that Jerry Falwell Jr. could never see himself as anything but someone who had to succeed, who was trapped into leading a family business bound up in a religion he didnt really embrace? I dont know. I do know that when a man tells us he was in such a desperate, self-destructive place for so long, we owe it to himand to ourselvesto ask, Were we so deceived that we couldnt help him? Or did we turn our attention away as long as he was succeeding? If the latter, the problem isnt Jerry Falwell Jr.s hypocrisy. The problem is us. Russell Moore leads the Public Theology Project at Christianity Today. [ This article is also available in and . ] Court overturns $135K fine for Christian bakery that refused lesbian wedding cake but upholds ruling An Oregon appeals court told a state agency Wednesday to reconsider its order for a Christian couple to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding on grounds that the states actions did not reflect ... neutrality toward religion. However, the panel upheld its earlier ruling that their bakery violated state law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Aaron and Melissa Klein, who owned Sweetcakes by Melissa in Gresham, have engaged in years of litigation over an Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries order punishing them for refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. In a decision Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon maintained that the Kleins unlawfully discriminated by refusing to make a cake for the wedding of Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer in 2013. However, the panel reversed the order requiring the couple to pay $135,000 in damages. Circuit Judge Erin Lagesen, the author of the panel opinion, concluded that we adhere to our prior decision upholding BOLIs determinations that Aaron unlawfully discriminated against the Bowman-Cryers based on sexual orientation. We reach a different conclusion with respect to our prior affirmance of BOLIs noneconomic damages award, ruled Lagesen. BOLIs handling of the damages portion of the case does not reflect the neutrality toward religion required by the Free Exercise Clause. We therefore set aside the damages portion of the order and remand for further proceedings related to remedy. Stephanie Taub, senior counsel for the First Liberty Institute, a legal nonprofit representing the Kleins, said in a statement that she believes Oregon is trying to have its cake and eat it, too. The Court admits the state agency that acted as both prosecutor and judge in this case was biased against the Kleins faith. Yet, despite this anti-Christian bias that infected the whole case, the court is sending the case back to the very same agency for a do-over, stated Taub. Todays opinion should have been the end of this ten year long saga. Its time for the state of Oregons hostility toward Aaron and Melissa to end. In the refusal to bake the cake for the wedding ceremony, Aaron Klein cited his religious beliefs and a verse from Leviticus. The Bowman-Cryers filed a complaint with BOLI, which ruled that the Kleins had violated Oregons accommodations statute barring discrimination based on sexual orientation. As a result of the BOLI ruling against them, the Kleins were fined $135,000 in damages and closed the bakery. The Kleins appealed the BOLI order to the Oregon Court of Appeals in 2016. After the Oregon court upheld the order, they appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018. In June 2019, the Supreme Court issued an order vacating the ruling against the Kleins and sent the case back to the state court of appeals. The nations high court cited its 2018 decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. In Masterpiece, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that Colorado Civil Rights Commission showed an unconstitutional anti-religious animus toward Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop when it punished him for refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding. To describe a mans faith as one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use is to disparage his religion in at least two distinct ways: by describing it as despicable, and also by characterizing it as merely rhetorical something insubstantial and even insincere, wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority. This sentiment is inappropriate for a Commission charged with the solemn responsibility of fair and neutral enforcement of Colorados anti-discrimination law a law that protects discrimination on the basis of religion as well as sexual orientation. People stand in line to receive a COVID-19 test at a testing center near Seoul Station, Thursday. Yonhap By Lee Hyo-jin Korea is grappling with its worst COVID-19 crisis yet, driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant that is sweeping the country. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 14,518 new infections for Wednesday, breaking the all-time high of 13,012 set the previous day. The figure has doubled in a week. The public health authorities predict that the daily caseload will go as high as 30,000 by next week, while some medical experts believe that the spread of the variant may push the tally to 200,000 by March. Experts pointed out that the government should overhaul its COVID-19 response measures, as Omicron will be extremely difficult to control with the existing tactics that have been designed for earlier variants. "Antiviral treatments are one of the best scientifically proven ways to prevent Omicron patients from falling into critical condition," Choi Jae-wook, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University, said. "But so far, the government has been failing to use the pills effectively." As of Jan. 20, only 109 people have been prescribed Paxlovid, Pfizer's oral COVID-19 pills, although sufficient doses for 21,000 people were shipped to Korea on Jan. 14. The figure of 109 people is far behind the government's expectation that the pills would be given to more than 1,000 people daily. This handout file photo provided on Nov. 16, 2021, by Pfizer shows the making of its COVID-19 antiviral pills, Paxlovid, in Germany. AFP-Yonhap Choi explained that the low prescription rate is attributable to age limits and a complicated prescription process. Under the current measures, the pills can be prescribed only to patients aged 60 and over, or immunocompromised patients. "The public health authorities should ease the age limit and open the use of the pills up to more people, as well as let doctors decide whether to administer the drugs, depending on a patient's overall health condition," he said. Chon Eun-mi, a respiratory disease specialist at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, said, "So far, the Omicron variant appears to cause mild symptoms in young people, but elderly patients are still at risk. If used with the right strategy, the antiviral pills will be able to decrease the fatality rate among elderly patients drastically." In the wake of the Omicron surge, the government plans to expand the proportion of patients undergoing home treatment to 90 percent by the end of this month, reserving hospitalization only for high-risk groups. While this scenario may be a viable solution to prevent shortages of hospital beds, Choi warned that patients under home care should be offered face-to-face consultations with doctors. "Currently, medical workers conduct monitoring of patients at home only through phone calls. The government should utilize more outpatient clinics and local hospitals so that physicians can actually examine the patients in person." Ma Sang-hyuk, the former vice president of the Korean Vaccine Society, said, "The authorities must establish specific guidelines and provide necessary protective equipment to local clinics so that they can receive COVID-19 patients without risk of virus transmission at their hospitals." 'Aggressive' testing A box of COVID-19 at-home antigen testing kits is empty at a drug store in Jongno District, Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap Pro-life, pro-abortion groups react to Breyer's retirement: 'The stakes have never been higher' Activists on both sides of the abortion debate have reacted to news that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of the courts term, warning that the stakes have never been higher. First appointed to the nations high court in 1994 by President Bill Clinton, the 83-year-old is the oldest justice on the bench and the longest-serving of the courts three liberals. News of his impending retirement, reported by NBC News Wednesday, comes as Democrats have a narrow 50-50 majority in the U.S. Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of Democrats. The forthcoming vacancy gives President Joe Biden his first opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice since taking office last year. Additionally, the news of Breyers decision to retire is breaking as the Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling in the major abortion case Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization before the end of its current term. With abortion being a hot-button issue that frequently finds itself in front of the court, Breyer had authored recent Supreme Court opinions that struck down pro-life laws in Louisiana and Texas. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the grassroots pro-life lobbying organization Susan B. Anthony List, lamented that Biden has promised to only appoint justices who support abortion on demand through birth. She vowed to vigorously oppose the presidents nominee if he follows through on the promise. The news of this vacancy comes as we await the Courts ruling in Dobbs this summer followed by the pivotal midterm elections, Dannenfelser added. The stakes have never been higher in the fight to secure legal protections for unborn children and return the issue back to the people to decide through their elected representatives, not unelected judges. Alexis McGill Johnson, the president of the countrys largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood, tweeted her gratitude for Justice Breyers service to our nation. His retirement comes when access to abortion is under attack like never before, she said. We call on President Biden to nominate a candidate who will be a bold force and protect our health and rights. We at @PPFA thank Justice Breyer for his service to our nation. His retirement comes when access to abortion is under attack like never before. We call on President Biden to nominate a candidate who will be a bold force and protect our health and rights. https://t.co/ywICYpUl8p Alexis McGill Johnson (@alexismcgill) January 26, 2022 Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham and leader of the evangelical humanitarian organization Samaritans Purse, urged his followers to pray for the next nominee. We need someone who fears God and who supports and protects the U.S. Constitution, the pro-life evangelist stated in a Facebook post. The pro-choice advocacy group NARAL tweeted that the Breyer retirement is a chance to shape the Court for decades to come. Were looking forward to having another reproductive freedom champion on the Supreme Court, the organization asserted. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is expected to retire at the end of this term. Were looking forward to having another reproductive freedom champion on the Supreme Court. This is a chance to shape the Court for decades to come. NARAL (@NARAL) January 27, 2022 Its time for a Black woman Supreme Court Justice, NARAL declared. Were ready to meet this moment and ensure a reproductive freedom champion ends up on the bench. NARALs comments reflect Bidens pledge during the 2020 presidential campaign to nominate an African American woman to the Supreme Court. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki indicated that the president stood by his promise at a White House press briefing Wednesday. Unlike former President Donald Trump, Biden has not publicly released a list of jurists he would choose from when making a Supreme Court appointment. The anticipated replacement of Breyer with another liberal justice appointed by a Democratic president will not change the balance of the court, which consists of three justices appointed by Democrats and six justices appointed by Republicans. Supreme Court confirmation votes have become increasingly partisan over the years. Eighty-seven senators voted to confirm Breyer to the Supreme Court in 1994, compared to nine who voted against his confirmation. Breyers confirmation vote reflects that a majority of Senate Republicans supported his nomination. Nearly two decades later, only a handful of Senate Republicans supported both of Democratic President Barack Obamas appointments to the Supreme Court. Nine Senate Republicans supported Obamas nomination of Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2009, while only five Republicans voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to the bench in 2010. Just two of the Senate Republicans who voted for both of Obamas nominees, Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, remain in office. The votes to confirm all three of President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominees were even more partisan. Just three Democrats supported Neil Gorsuchs confirmation in 2017. That number declined to one by Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the court in 2018. No Senate Democrat voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the bench in 2020. Bidens Supreme Court nominee would need to secure the support of all 50 Senate Democrats, which is not a guarantee. In the two most recent Supreme Court nominations, one member of the presidents party voted with most or all members of the opposing party to oppose the nomination. In an evenly divided Senate, one Senate Democrat joining with all Senate Republicans in voting against confirmation would be enough to sink the nomination. Whoever Biden nominates to fill Breyers seat will first undergo confirmation hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. The full Senate will weigh in if the nominee makes it out of the committee. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin announced his intention to move the Presidents nominee through expeditiously through the Committee. US complicity and complacency endangers Christians worldwide Early every year, Open Doors presents its updated World Watch List: "The top 50 countries where it's most difficult to follow Jesus." The 2022 list was introduced at a press conference on January 19, hosted by David Curry, Open Doors CEO. This year Curry's presentation included exceptionally worrisome information about new dangers globally and deadly shifts in the free world's responses. We should be prayerfully troubled by what we've learned. Tony Perkins hosted David Curry on "Washington Watch" to discuss the new report. He began by pointing out that the 2022 Open Doors list includes one large and alarming shake-up "like nothing that's been seen in recent years." Curry explained, "For twenty years North Korea has been at the top of the World Watch List because there you have a communist system led by a dictator. They control all the means that make life possible your economy, your food, the borders, the police, neighborhood watches. It's an old-school Soviet communist system but enforced with all the modern tools available. But now, all of a sudden and for the first time we have a new player on the scene at the top of our list: Afghanistan." Afghanistan is now officially the world's #1 worst persecutor of Christians. It remained in second place for many years, although many Christians were unaware of its offenses due to the largely silent and invisible Christians there, comprised of converts from Islam. But now, since the United States' abrupt withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has made a concerted effort to track down underground Christian leaders and to uncover the country's secret network of Christians. Curry explained, "Some Christians have fled. We all know that story and are thankful for those who have helped make that happen. But some Christians choose to remain, bravely staying to bring salt and light to their community. They're being tracked. And we believe that every Christian who's still in Afghanistan and there are thousands of them are either in hiding or on the run. That's what has raised Afghanistan to #1 on the World Watch List." Afghanistan certainly provides a clear example of a country in which flawed U.S. foreign policy directly stifles religious freedom and ignites the persecution of Christians. Curry went on to say, "This is what happens when the free world allows countries like Afghanistan to fall into chaos. If you look at the top of the World Watch list, you'll see Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Eritrea. These are all largely failed states, which are totally in chaos, and they are the launching grounds of terrorism around the world. Our Open Doors study focuses on religious freedom, particularly for Christians, but that issue has implications for everybody else as well." In recent years, FRC has written a great deal about the escalation of violence against Christians in another distressed location Nigeria and in the adjoining Sahel region of West Africa. David Curry provided his perspective. "There's a clash of civilizations going on there, and its epicenter in the north of Nigeria, where there are 13 Sharia law states. This is looking very familiar to us like ISIS when they took over Iraq and Syria. You have Boko Haram, which is ISIS-related. You have Fulani extremists. Both are targeting Christians. You'll sometimes hear people say, 'Well, the Fulani herdsmen, they're just ancient farmers.' This is not the case. They have an ideology. They're targeting Christians in villages and towns; they're burning these down, they're kidnaping women and children. In fact, a thousand Christian children in Nigeria were kidnapped last year by Boko Haram or the Fulani. "This is a major issue, and it's now bleeding over into a massive regional disaster that is going to continue to grow unless Nigeria and these central governments quickly get ahold and try to find a way to protect churches and Christian villages which are being attacked. Why doesn't the Nigerian government step up and protect these victims with their military and police? It's a question that demands answers." FRC has actively and adamantly opposed the Biden administration's unexplained and reckless removal of Nigeria from the State Department's listing as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) less than a year after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially designated it. "And now," Perkins points out, "since that removal, Nigeria's unconstrained violence has the potential to spill over well beyond Nigeria. And since Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa what effect could this eventually have on the African continent?" Meanwhile, another country that has been increasingly dangerous to its religious minorities is, of course, China. Although it does not appear among the top 10 World Watch List persecutors, as the U.S. proudly invests in China and applauds its Olympics, the regime's present course of oppression and intrusion is of serious concern to all people of faith including Uighurs, Falun Gong, and Buddhists. David Curry explains, "China is number 17 on our list [of persecutors of Christians], and that's not because their threat is to be diminished. The outward violence is not the same as you might see in Nigeria, but they have the world's most sophisticated system of persecution. I describe it as a high-tech noose. And it has been slowly choking people of faith since President Xi consolidated his power. They shrink the churches. They force them to break up into small groups, then they force them to go online, then they monitor them online. Then they shut down their online experiences. Xi uses hi-tech surveillance. Every year they continue to add new layers to it, and it's just choking and choking and choking ... " To sum up, last year, 5,898 Christians were killed for their faith. 5,110 churches and other Christian buildings were attacked. 3,829 Christians were abducted. 6,175 believers were detained without trial, arrested, sentenced, or imprisoned. And over 360 million Christians lived in places where they experienced high levels of persecution and discrimination. As for those of us who live in safety, let's never forget to pray for our endangered brothers and sisters around the world. And let's also continue to demand action from our U.S. government, which bears mounting responsibility for their suffering. Originally published at the Family Research Council. This week in Christian history: Missionary who was confidant to FDR, Gandhi dies; 2K killed in battle Throughout the extensive history of the Church, there have been numerous events of lasting significance. Each week brings anniversaries of impressive milestones, unforgettable tragedies, amazing triumphs, memorable births, notable deaths and everything in between. Some of the events drawn from over 2,000 years of history might be familiar, while other happenings might be previously unknown by most people. This week Jan. 23 to Jan. 29 marks the anniversary of the birth of a prominent Welsh Methodist preacher, the death of a renowned American missionary and a significant battle in Europe that likely inspired the creation of the hymn We Gather Together. 1 2 3 4 Next Lecrae loses tour date after tweeting that hes done with 'institutional, corporatized' Christianity Reach Records founder Lecrae revealed that he and his team lost one of their tour dates this spring after sharing an honest tweet about deconstructing from politicized and corporatized modern church culture. Once upon a time I thought I was done with Christianity. But the reality was I was just done with the institutional, corporatized, gentrified, politicized, culturally exclusive version of it, the popular emcee tweeted on Tuesday. The following day, Lecrae re-shared his tweet and wrote: Just lost a show because of this tweet. Point proven. The Grammy award-winning artist added: Vulnerability gets people kicked out of exclusive tribes. Jesus welcomes the outcast and seeks to bring healing. Just lost a show because of this tweet. Point proven. ??????????? pic.twitter.com/5c2nkqCw8a Lecrae (@lecrae) January 19, 2022 In recent years, some notable Christian figures have claimed they are deconstructing from Christianity altogether after experiencing doubts about their faith. Lecrae admits that he also had to do some soul searching after feeling so abused by fellow Christians in 2017. That season almost made him walk away from his Christian faith. However, the rapper sought out on a journey to reconstruct his faith. Now his relationship with Christ is stronger than ever. What inspired the tweet was that a few people that I know this year, whove been professing Christians for years, have decided they no longer claim Christianity, Lecrae told The Christian Post, speaking of his recent once upon a time tweet. I just thought to myself, Man, I know that feeling. But sometimes we throw the baby out with the bathwater, and I wanted to just encourage people that, Hey, I know where youre [at], what youre feeling. But sometimes the problem is not with the faith; its with the distortions of the faith, he continued. The Texas native is gearing up for the We Are Unashamed Tour coming nationwide this spring. It was actually a tour date that was canceled following his comments on Christianity, Lecrae revealed. Not only did it affect me, it affected all the artists on the tour, he told CP. Despite losing some support, the entertainer said many others have been reaching out wishing to rebook the date. When responding to why he thought a Christian venue would back out on him following his tweet, Lecrae said he believes it was because they have the wrong idea about him. He did not disclose the venue that canceled his tour date. I think people have a lot of assumptions about me, some of the things that theyve seen, really its been rumors, he described. Theres been so many rumors about me that people look at everything that I post like a confirmation of a rumor. Lecrae received much criticism when he was a featured performer at a December 2020 event in Atlanta called Get Out the Early Vote Rally & Concert, co-hosted by pro-choice Democrat Raphael Warnock during a contentious U.S. Senate election runoff. Warnock was elected Georgias first black U.S. senator the following month. Lecrae said the performance at the event is still having an effect to this day, he maintained. Whether that is that Im supporting candidates that they dont like, which Ive never publicly supported any candidate, but whatever it may be, they look at anything I post as a confirmation of a rumor theyve heard versus getting clarification from me, he noted. To those that have specifically booked him for an event, Lecrae insisted, you can definitely reach out to me for clarification. Despite the lost booking, Lecrae has amassed 30,000 likes between the two tweets. The message has received support from athletes and celebrities alike. Lecrae recently teamed up with his labelmate 1K Phew to release a new album titled, No Church in a While. Although he is done with the institution of cultural Christianity, Lecrae assured that he still believes in the Church. It definitely doesnt mean we dont believe in church, we just acknowledging the conversations that have been happening, that people arent going [to church], he declared. Whether thats because of the pandemic, whether they no longer want to go to that building or gathering, we wanted to talk about it and talk about some of the reasons why people feel that way, some of the reasons why we felt that way, and just have an honest dialogue in music. 1K Phew and the label head want to definitely reach people who dont go to church, who dont understand or cant relate. This is reaching into the community, Lecrae said. Theres lots of people who dont go for multiple reasons, and we just want to be a voice for those individuals. Along with the We Are Unashamed Tour announcement, Lecrae and his crew released a three-song EP of the same name. The performer said it is three songs that represent what we are about at Reach Records: 116 [rap group] is Romans 1:16, Were unashamed of the Gospel, the power of God for salvation. Conservatives react to Supreme Court response to Christian bakers, gay wedding case On Monday, the United States Supreme Court issued an order vacating a lower court ruling against a Christian couple who were punished for refusing to make a gay wedding cake. Aaron and Melissa Klein, a Christian couple from Oregon who lost their bakery and were ordered to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to make the same-sex wedding cake in 2013, will again argue their case before the Court of Appeals of Oregon. The high court cited Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, in which the justices ruled 7-2 that Colorado displayed an unconstitutional anti-religious animus toward Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop when it punished him for refusing to make a cake celebrating a gay wedding. News of the Monday order on behalf of the Klein family garnered various reactions from conservatives and conservative Christian groups. Here are four responses to the order. 1 2 3 4 5 Next Mel Gibson, Mark Wahlberg team up for new faith-based film, Father Stu' The religious drama Father Stu based on actual events brings Hollywood stars Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson together on the big screen. The Sony Pictures film, written and directed by Rosalind Ross, will hit theaters on Good Friday (April 15) with a powerful faith-based message. This film also marks Ross directorial debut. Father Stu tells the story of boxer-turned-priest Father Stuart Long and his inspiring journey from self-destruction to redemption, the film's synopsis says. Wahlberg, who is also a producer on the film, plays the lead character, supported by Academy Award-winner Gibson. Other actors featured in the movie include Jacki Weaver and Teresa Ruiz. Father Stus journey from troublemaker to clergyman was inspiring to many, including me, Wahlberg said in a statement shared with The Christian Post. Rosey has done an incredible job capturing the essence of who he was and how he affected the people he met. I hope that with this film, we keep his spirit alive and continue his good works. The faith-based film is loosely based on a true story that Wahlberg had been "developing for a number of years. The Boston native was able to find a gap in his schedule in 2021 to move forward with making the film. Joining Wahlberg as a producer is his producing partner and manager, Stephen Levinson, along with Jordan Foss. Miky Lee and Colleen Camp are named as executive producers. Ross, who's also an actress, has been romantically linked to Mel Gibson, with whom she shares a child. Gibson is also working on The Passion of the Christ sequel and was selected to write and direct Wild Bunch and Lethal Weapon 5 for Warner Bros. In a previous interview with The Christian Post in New York City, Wahlberg opened up about his faith. At the time, the Spencer Confidential actor explained how important it is for him to spend time with God. Wahlberg revealed that he'd rather go to church on a Saturday night than see a Broadway show and said he likes to start and end each day by reflecting on his faith. "That's what it's all about. You know, for me, it's just the way I love to start my day, finish my day," Wahlberg told CP, explaining why he decided to go to church instead of buying tickets to a see musical when he was in New York City. "I've been very blessed and very fortunate. And it's because of the focus that I put on my faith and on my family that has allowed me to accomplish so many things. Also, with the failure and disappointment and loss, life is not easy," he emphasized. Supreme Court vacates ruling against Christian bakers punished for not making gay wedding cake The United States Supreme Court vacated a ruling against a Christian couple forced to pay $135,000 for refusing to make a gay wedding cake. In an order released Monday morning, the high court vacated an earlier ruling against Aaron and Melissa Klein, a Christian couple from Oregon who lost their bakery and were ordered to pay $135,000 in damages for refusing to make a cake for a same-sex wedding in 2013. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the Court of Appeals of Oregon for further consideration due to the 2018 decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. In Masterpiece, the court ruled 7-2 that Colorado had shown an unconstitutional anti-religious animus toward Jack Phillips of Masterpiece Cakeshop when it punished him for refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding. To describe a man's faith as 'one of the most despicable pieces of rhetoric that people can use' is to disparage his religion in at least two distinct ways: by describing it as despicable, and also by characterizing it as merely rhetoricalsomething insubstantial and even insincere, wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority in Masterpiece. This sentiment is inappropriate for a Commission charged with the solemn responsibility of fair and neutral enforcement of Colorado's anti-discrimination lawa law that protects discrimination on the basis of religion as well as sexual orientation. Last October, the Klein family filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, arguing that they were wrongly punished by the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries for refusing for religious reasons to bake a cake for the wedding of Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer. The Bureau fined the Kleins $135,000 for refusing to make the cake, forcing them to close their bakery Sweetcakes by Melissa. The Oregon Court of Appeals upheld the BOLI order while the Oregon Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal. "The Kleins seek an exemption based on their sincere religious opposition to same-sex marriage; but those with sincere religious objections to marriage between people of different races, ethnicities, or faiths could just as readily demand the same exemption," argued Judge Chris Garrett for the Oregon Court of Appeals in 2017. "The Kleins do not offer a principled basis for limiting their requested exemption in the manner that they propose, except to argue that there are 'decent and honorable' reasons, grounded in religious faith, for opposing same-sex marriage." Kelly Shackelford, CEO of First Liberty Institute, a national legal group aiding the Kleins in the case, said in a statement last October that the case involved freedom of speech. Freedom of speech has always included the freedom not to speak the government's message, stated Shackelford at the time. This case can clarify whether speech is truly free if it is government mandated. TD Jakes eldest daughter Cora says shes ending marriage to husband of 10 years, rapper SkiiVentura Just over a decade after wedding her husband, rapper Richard Brandon Coleman, who goes by the stage name SkiiVentura, Cora Jakes Coleman, the eldest daughter of megachurch Pastor T.D. Jakes, has announced that she is ending her marriage. It is with a heavy heart that I announce that my husband and I have decided to divorce, she began in a statement on Instagram this week. This is a very private and personal matter and I kindly ask for your prayers as I prioritize myself, and most importantly, my childrens well-being at this time. God bless. The couple, who got married on June 4, 2011, in a private ceremony at her parents' home, share two adopted children, Amauri, 13, and Jason, 7, as Jakes struggles with infertility. Jakes, who is also a pastor, received her ministerial license from the Potters House School of Ministry, according to her ministrys website. She also directs the childrens ministry at The Potters House of Dallas. On her sixth wedding anniversary in 2017, Jakes revealed that before she met her husband, she struggled with unhealthy relationships. "God help me to stop giving my body to men that only value my body, but not my mind or spirit. Help me to stop falling for my will and not submitting to yours. I just want to be loved, really loved," she wrote in a statement on social media. "I'm tired of being hurt over and over again. God, I want love unconditionally. God I'm tired of people betraying me and taking advantage of me." She said she asked God in 2009 to send her a protector that would help her find peace and she ended up marrying Brandon Coleman in 2011. "Please send me someone to protect me. Help me to submit to you God so that I can be found spirit first by the man who is called by you to love me," she said. "God cause my spirit to feel peace when I meet him, Amen." She further added: "This was my prayer for my husband wherever he was October 2009, and after diligently seeking God and stepping away from my flesh to get connected to my spirit suddenly God brought me the most amazing man I have ever known. He was not perfect, but he was amazing." Richard Coleman told the Dallas Observer in 2019 that he battled kidney failure in 2018 as he tried to bolster his music career. Because I am a believer, there are a lot of things that I experience on a daily basis and in my spirituality that I navigate, and I like to create from the most natural place," Coleman told the publication. "If Im heavily inspired by my spirituality in the moment, then I own that. I take that on and create from that place. ... When you hear my music, you hear me navigating with God. My music is literally my conversations with God. Supreme Court declines request to speed up Texas abortion law challenge The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected abortion providers request to accelerate the ongoing challenge to Texas' heartbeat abortion ban by ordering a federal appeals court to return the case to a federal judge. The case will now go to the Texas Supreme Court. The court offered no explanation for its Thursday action, days after a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit sent the challenge to the Texas Supreme Court, CBS News reported. The Texas Heartbeat Act, which took effect last September, bans most abortions after a baby's heartbeat can be detected. It also allows private citizens to take civil action against anyone who performs and induces an abortion or knowingly engages in conduct that aids or abets the performance or inducement of an abortion, including paying for or reimbursing the costs of abortion through insurance or otherwise. In the Supreme Court's decision, which will likely allow the abortion law to remain in effect for months before a ruling is handed down, three progressive justices dissented. Writing her dissent to the majority's decision, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, Today, for the fourth time, this Court declines to protect pregnant Texans from egregious violations of their constitutional rights. She added, This case is a disaster for the rule of law and a grave disservice to women in Texas, who have a right to control their own bodies. I will not stand by silently as a State continues to nullify this constitutional guarantee. In the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit last Monday, Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones, a Reagan appointee, authored the majority opinion stating that the federal courts are bound by an authoritative determination of state law by the states highest court. Here, there is a possibility that federal courts could declare S.B. 8 constitutionally infirm even though our conclusions might be based entirely on a faulty understanding of Texas law, continued Jones. To avert creating needless friction with a coequal sovereign in our federal system, this court reasonably seeks the Texas Supreme Courts final word on the matter. Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, a pro-abortion advocacy organization, said in a statement at the time that the panel had defied a Supreme Court ruling and delayed a reckoning on S.B. 8. As a result, Texans will continue to have to travel hundreds of miles to access abortion care, and those without means to do so will be forced to continue their pregnancies, said Northup. There is now no end in sight for this injustice that has been allowed to go on for almost five months. However, the pro-life group Texas Right to Life, which supports the law, celebrated last Mondays panel decision, calling the decision great news. This is great news for Texas because such action is more likely to ensure a just and favorable ruling, compared to that which could be expected from a pro-abortion federal district judge, to whom the abortion industry asked to send the case, stated the group. Beyond this, sending the lawsuit to the Supreme Court of Texas is appropriate because the only defendants left in the case are state agencies. Most exciting of all is that the Texas Heartbeat Act has withstood another court decision and is continuing to save an estimated 100 preborn lives every day. Burkina Faso's ruling party headquarters torched as 1.5 million displaced by jihadi violence Violence broke out in Burkina Fasos national capital, Ouagadougou, Sunday, as the headquarters of President Rock Kabores political party was burned and looted by protesters upset with his administrations inability to thwart extremist violence that has run rampant in recent years. Amid protests over insecurity in the country, soldiers staged revolts at barracks to demand that top military leaders be fired due to the failure to stop violence committed by extremists affiliated with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State that has led to the displacement of over 1.5 million people in recent years in the former French colony, according to France 24, Reuters and AFP. Additionally, reports suggest that gunshots rang out at military bases. A government spokesperson denied that there was an army takeover. Information on social media would have people believe there was an army takeover, Spokesperson Alkassoum Maiga said in a statement. The government, while acknowledging that there was gunfire in some barracks, denies this information and calls on the public to remain calm. Security forces are also said to have fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters demonstrating against the governments failure to stop the terrorists. Protesting soldiers called for adequate resources for the battle." They want top generals replaced in addition to improved care for wounded soldiers and better support for the families of fallen troops. Hundreds of people walked through Ouagadougous downtown area, calling for President Kabore to resign, according to The Associated Press. The protests came as nearly 12,000 people were displaced in the West African nation in just two weeks in December, according to the United Nations. The jihadists are hitting [the country], people are dying, others are fleeing their homes, protester Amidou Tiemtore said, according to the newswire. We want Roch and his government to resign because their handling of the country is not good. We will never support them. Although Burkina Faso was once known as a relatively peaceful country, it has suffered an exponential rise in terror attacks committed by radical groups since 2016. The increase in terror in the Sahel region has coincided with a rise in Islamic State fighters fleeing from the Middle East into Africa. The rise of extremism has caused international concern, with the U.N. vowing in 2020 to step up its response after displacement in Burkina Faso rose 1,200% in 2019. The U.S. State Department created a special envoy position to maximize U.S. diplomatic efforts to address the terror threats in the region, which have also impacted countries like Cameroon, Mali and Niger. Burkina Fasos national security agency appears to be preparing to negotiate with the jihadis, just as the government negotiated secret ceasefire talks with them around the 2020 presidential elections, which had subsided fighting for a few months, AP reports. In its Persecution Trends 2022 report, Release International said, The situation facing Christians in Burkina Faso is now similar to Nigeria, where terror groups like Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have killed thousands and displaced millions. In 2021, jihadis targeted Christians in the north of Burkina Faso, forcing churches to close and meet in secret, the report pointed out. The attacks ranged from bombings, killings, kidnappings and school burnings to assaults on religious leaders and places of worship. Pressure in the region is likely to continue in 2022, particularly following the drawdown of French troops in the area, Release International warned. Last May, suspected jihadists ambushed a baptism ceremony and killed 15 Christians in northern Burkina Fasos Oudalan province near the Mali border. In June, 160 civilians, including children, were killed and 40 others wounded in a violent raid on a village in the Yagha province, marking the countrys deadliest attack in years. Extremists in the northeastern region that borders Niger reportedly assaulted and shot civilians, burned down homes and a market. In October 2020, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released a report highlighting rising attacks against houses of worship and religious leaders in Burkina Faso. USCIRF noted that Burkina Faso has found itself at the epicenter of several global crises, which have contributed to the devolution of religious freedom conditions in the country. Attacks on both Muslim and Christian houses of worship and religious leaders have spiked as jihadist and other militia groups expand their area of influence throughout the country, USCIRF states. The government is struggling to rein in the violence, and poor performance and misconduct by government-affiliated forces are exacerbating the situation. Burkina Faso witnessed decades of military coups after its 1960 independence. Blaise Compaore remained president for 27 years from 1987 until widespread civil unrest toppled his regime in 2014. After about a year of transitional government, Kabore won the election in 2015. In recent years, Burkina Faso has found itself at the epicenter of several interrelated and rapidly evolving crises that are engulfing much of West Africa, the USCIRF report states. These compounded security and humanitarian crises are testing the limits of Burkinabe religious tolerance and intercultural harmony as conflicts over land, jobs and scarce resources have begun to erode social cohesion and overwhelm existing mechanisms for conflict resolution. After visiting Burkina Faso last year, Barbara Manzi, U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator, wrote that donors and development partners should know there is hope, despite all the terrible things that are happening. I think we have a collective responsibility to make sure that this hope does not fade away, Manazi stated. We need to be ready for some setbacks. Its likely to happen, considering the situation, but this should not discourage us from continuing to focus on the people, trying to bring them to the forefront of discussions, supporting the State in what theyre doing, and ensuring that all levels of the traditional community systems are involved. Burkina Faso is ranked as the 32nd-worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution on Open Doors USAs 2022 World Watch List. Jihadist violence has been rapidly increasing in recent years, and extremists have exploited the governments weakness during the COVID-19 crisis to gain control of the countrys infrastructure, the watchdog group that monitors persecution in over 60 countries reports. This has led to hundreds of church closureswhile many Christians are among those whove fled their homes because of extremist attacks. North Korea fires two suspected ballistic missiles By Kang Seung-woo U.S. President Joe Biden nominated a former sanctions enforcer to be his first ambassador to South Korea, but it is too early to predict if the United States will return to a hardline stance against North Korea, according to diplomatic observers. Philip Goldberg / Courtesy of U.S. Department of State According to diplomatic sources, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Philip Goldberg has been tapped to head the U.S. Embassy in Seoul and the South Korean government is now said to be in the process of granting an agrement, which refers to a state approval of accepting a member of a diplomatic mission from a foreign country. Since the last U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Harry Harris, resigned and left the country on Jan. 20, 2021, the post has remained unfilled, with U.S. Charge d'Affaires to Korea Christopher Del Corso currently serving as acting ambassador. News of Goldberg's nomination have fueled speculation in South Korea that the U.S. government will adopt a hardline policy toward Pyongyang, which has refused to return to the negotiating table and continued instead to test-fire ballistic missiles in a show of force. Such speculation is based on his past career as the coordinator for the implementation of United Nations (U.N.) sanctions on North Korea under the Barack Obama administration. "I think the Biden administration has nominated a big shot among Career Ambassadors, the State Department's highest diplomatic rank, given his past overseas assignments, but given that his one-year tenure from 2009 to 2010 as coordinator for implementation of U.N. sanctions on North Korea, I think it is hasty to jump to conclusions that the U.S. will increase sanctions pressure on the North," said Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University. A crowd of onlookers gathered around a glowing Ford marquee as a presenter began her showcase. "The Ford Lightning has super powers only an electric truck has," the emcee said, standing aside the engine-less frunk of the Detroit manufacturer's most powerful production F-150 to date. "With its 131 kilowatt battery, the Lightning can power the average house for up to three days." The Lightning was just one of the new electric vehicles drawing crowds and stealing thunder from its gas-powered siblings on the first day of the 2022 Houston Auto Show. All across the red and gray carpeted floor at the NRG Center on Wednesday car enthusiasts took turns stepping in and out of the latest EV offerings from large domestic and foreign manufacturers, eager to wrap their heads around the technology driving the next wave of plug-in personal transportation. Dan Carson / Chron.com Particularly popular EV models included the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Volkswagen ID.4 and Kia EV6crossovers festooned with floating cupholders, wide touchscreens and USB-C fast-charging ports. Auto reps speaking of "immediately available" torque provided by lithium battery-powered electric engines drew wide eyes and exclamations from crowds. A stone's throw from Volkswagen's glowing electric centerpieces, new model Aston Martin Vantages and DBX coupes sat all but forgotten, roped off and unapproachable. Dan Carson / Chron.com Elsewhere, more accessible luxuries lured in foot traffic, including a '22 Chevy Suburban Premier clothed in chocolate-brown Metallic Auburn and swathes of chrome. The newest edition of Chevy's iconic American family-hauler features 10-inch touchscreens, mobile WiFi hot spots and enough seating capacity for a minor military incursion. Several groups were able to climb simultaneously about the spacious cabin of the Suburban, which clocks in with a well-fed curb weight between 5,600 and 6,000 pounds fully equipped and a staggering listed price of $82,585. Dan Carson / Chron.com Ballooning prices were the adjoining factor for the most popular electric and gas-powered cars on the floor. The vast majority of entry-level trims for all-electric offerings at the show hovered around $40,000 and rose steeply from there. Dan Carson / Chron.com Conspicuously missing were the electric thoroughbreds and new upstarts. Tesla, making its headquarters in Austin soon, as well as niche manufacturers Rivian and Lucid, were not represented at Houston's auto show, which continues to be dominated by big box manufacturers now looking to stake their flags in the emerging EV space. Dan Carson / Chron.com The price of admission for consumers entering the electric carnival remains lofty. The most basic Ford Lightning trim starts at $39,974, and features a limited estimated range of 230 miles, seemingly geared toward rental fleet usage. The next trim level beginning to approach a daily driver is the "XLT," which kicks off at $52,974 and includes options like keyless entry and a 2.4 kilowatt ProPower Onboard system for powering electric tools. A Platinum trim Lightning like the one displayed front and center in the Ford section arrives north of $90,000, offering 536 horsepower and an "extended" range of 280 miles. Dan Carson / Chron.com An older man standing at the Lightning display lamented the cost of the house-powering truck he was eager to own. I'd get one, he said after enjoying the showcase, but they're just so expensive right now. The price of everything is going up, the rep apologized. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate For all the talk of eliminating fossil fuels and turning to carbon-free energy sources, oil and natural gas are still vital to the world. What we do matters, Ryder Booth, vice president, Mid-Continent Business Unit with Chevron North America, said. Addressing the Midland Chamber of Commerces annual State of Oil and Gas luncheon at the Horseshoe on Wednesday, Booth continued, What we do is important. What we do raises the quality of life in the rest of the world. What we do addresses problems (like) the environment. To illustrate, Booth recounted his experience during an assignment working in a village in Bangladesh. Chevron and some other non-government organizations funded a medical clinic for the village to provide basic medical care and after a couple of years, Booth said a noticeable improvement in villagers life expectancy was observed. Energy enabled that quality of life, he said. In his experience working in nations like Bangladesh and Indonesia, Booth said he realized that in those citizens, the desire to improve the quality of life and have a higher quality of life than when they started is unbelievably strong. Noting that in India there are 19 vehicles per 1,000 people and four cars per 1,000 people in Bangladesh, he said those citizens want their own vehicles, they want transportation security and to be able to choose when to come and go or to travel for education or better jobs or simply to see family members. That huge spirit that wants to improve their quality of life for themselves and their families is an unstoppable force driving energy demand, he said. That growth in demand, combined with population growth forecast to be up to 10 billion globally by 2040 will continue to be met by oil and gas, he told the audience. And that is where the Permian Basin comes in and why the crude and natural gas that comes from the region will be vital not only regionally, statewide and nationally but globally, Booth said. He cited a forecast from Wood Mackenzie that sees Permian Basin production rising from 4 million barrels of oil equivalent currently to 7 million barrels a day by 2030. The consulting firm also forecasts that Permian Basin production will jump from 20 percent of all US production currently to 60 percent by 2030. Meeting that forecast will require significant investment and increase in activity, Booth said. And for all that upbeat forecast, he said the industry still faces headwinds, among them concerns about the industrys impact on the environment, the need to continue driving all emissions lower, water usage and induced seismicity. Addressing those issues will require operators working with each other as well as service companies and local, state and federal regulators, he said. Induced seismicity has been an issue in other geological areas, he pointed out, and theyve been resolved every time theyve come up by working together. That teamwork also must be applied to ensure regulatory policies are enacted that actually achieve their goals rather than have unintended consequences. He cited as an example of an unintended consequence limiting access to Permian Basin reserves. The Permian Basin, he said, is a low-carbon basin and limiting access to those reserves means they will have to be replaced by higher-carbon barrels from elsewhere. Permian Basin crude is sent through pipelines primarily to Gulf Coast refineries or to Gulf Coast ports for export to Europe and Asia or refined into products that are sent to Europe and Asia, he said. The Permian Basin powers the rest of the world forward, Booth said. A man was sentenced to two years in federal prison last week for attempting to export at least $150,000 worth of wild succulents that he poached from native habitats in Northern California state parks, the United States Justice Department said. On Oct. 11, 2018, Byungsu Kim, 46, and co-defendants Youngin Back, 47, and Bong Jun Kim, 46, traveled by car from Los Angeles International Airport to Crescent City, Calif., with plans to harvest wild plants and smuggle them to South Korea, the department said in a statement Jan. 20. Throughout October 2018, they pulled plants from the ground at DeMartin State Beach in Klamath, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park in Crescent City and Russian Gulch State Park in Mendocino County, the department said. The Dudleya plants a type of succulent with a pretty rose shape that grows along coastal cliffs were then brought to a nursery operated by Kim in Vista, a town near San Diego. Because growing Dudleyas in nurseries takes years, smugglers are known to harvest wild, living plants from the ground in Northern California and export them overseas where they are sold on the black market. Byungsu Kim scheduled an inspection with a county agriculture official at the Vista nursery and "falsely told her the government-issued certificate necessary for the plants exportation should list 1,397 Dudleya plants for export to South Korea and that the 'place of origin' of the plants was San Diego County," the department said. The thieves then transported the plants to a commercial exporter in Compton to smuggle their haul to South Korea, but the effort was stopped by local law enforcement who obtained a search warrant and found 3,715 poached Dudleya plants in boxes that were labeled rush and live plants, the department said. The department said the history of internet searches on Kim's phone including an indication that he read a press release on the arrest and convictions of three other Dudleya poachers showed that he knew taking the plants was illegal. All three defendants were arrested. California officials confiscated Byungsu Kim's South Korea passport after his arrest, but he later obtained a new passport in January 2019 "by falsely claiming to the South Korean Consulate in Los Angeles that he had lost his passport," the department said. Byungsu Kim and Back reportedly fled to Mexico on foot in May 2019 through the Tijuana-San Ysidro border crossing after learning of pending federal charges against them. With his fraudulent passport, Kim flew with Back from Mexico to China, and ultimately to South Korea, the department said. Kim surfaced in South Africa in October 2019, where he was arrested for illegally collecting plants from protected areas for export to South Korea. After pleading guilty to the criminal charges in South Africa and spending a year in custody, he was extradited to the United States in October 2020, where he has been in federal custody since. Kim was sentenced Jan. 20 by U.S. District Judge George H. Wu. He was ordered to pay $3,985 to the state of California to cover the cost of replanting the stolen Dudleyas after his arrest, the department said. He pleaded guilty in September 2021 to one count of attempting to illegally export plants. Bong Jun Kim pleaded guilty in July 2019 for the same crime and served four months in federal custody. Back remains a fugitive, the department said. [Byungsu Kims] willful criminal conduct in October 2019 was not an isolated event: he had carried out the same scheme repeatedly in California, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum, the department said. [Kim] had traveled to the United States more than 50 times since 2009. Customs records show that he was travelling for succulent-related purposes and often with tens of thousands of dollars in cash (sometimes declared, sometime not) and fake phytosanitary certificates. Dear Academy members: Today, Jan. 27, is a big day! You can begin to choose your nominees for the 2021 Academy Awards! And, if you cant decide who to select, here are some suggestions for your ballot. Best Picture This year, with ten films to be nominated, consider the range of strong movies that emerged during such an uncertain time. Meaningful stories about families should top your list, including Jane Campions The Power of the Dog, an illuminating study of intense relationships set against the breathtaking West; Belfast, Kenneth Branaghs facts-of-life tale about a family in 1960s Northern Ireland; and CODA, the look at a family nearing a turning point that was a smash at last years Sundance Film Festival. Dont forget how good it felt to experience Maggie Gylenhaals moving study of a mothers regret, The Lost Daughter, as well as the inspiring tale of the family behind the Williams sisters, King Richard. Think back to the New York Film Festival where Joel Coen captivated opening night with the power of Shakespeares The Tragedy of Macbeth and how you were singing and dancing in the aisles after seeing Steven Spielbergs remake of the musical West Side Story. To round out the top ten, remember Adam McKays outrageous Dont Look Up, and Paul Thomas Andersons delightful Licorice Pizza and Denis Villeneuve's powerful rendition of Dune. Best Actor You can make this race a showdown between Benedict Cumberbatch moving as a man trapped by denial in The Power of the Dog and Will Smith riveting as a father determined to create a better life in King Richard. Add the strong work from Denzel Washington in The Tragedy of Macbeth and another thrilling turn from Andrew Garfield in Tick, Tick, Boom. For the fifth slot, take a close look at how Peter Dinklage breathes new life into the familiar story of Cyrano. Best Actress Olivia Colman, who won an Oscar for The Favourite and was nominated last year for The Father," continues her on-screen reign with her powerful interpretation of a mothers disappointments in The Lost Daughter. Joining her should be two recreations of the famous Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer as well as Penelope Cruz in Parallel Mothers. For the fifth slot, look again at the subtlety of Nicole Kidmans recreation of Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos. Best Supporting Actor Dont forget Kodi Smit-McPhee, who soars in this category as a young medical student searching for answers in The Power of the Dog. As you complete your ballot, think of Troy Kotsurs caring father in CODA, Richard Jenkins gripped father in The Humans, and Ciaran Hinds wise grandfather in Belfast. For the fifth slot, remember the nuance in how J.K. Simmons portrayed William Frawley in Being the Ricardos. Best Supporting Actress Again, think The Power of the Dog, and Kirsten Dunsts stunning portrayal of a woman searching for inner peace on the frontier. At the same time, remember two other memorable mothers, Ann Dowds portrayal of maternal pain in Mass and Aunjanue Ellis release of maternal hope in King Richard. And dont forget how Ruth Negga broke our hearts in Passing and Ariana DeBose gave us joy in West Side Story. Best Director While you can choose ten nominees for picture, you can only nominate five directors, which means five films may have directed themselves. In this category, please include directors of the strongest picture contenders Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog, Kenneth Branagh for Belfast, Denis Villeneuve for Dune, Paul Thomas Anderson for Licorice Pizza and for the final slot, think about Maggie Gyllenhaal for her stunning directorial debut with The Lost Daughter. So, Academy members, be sure to vote on time! We look forward to hearing your nominations on Feb. 8 and watching the Oscar presentation on March 27. Courtesy photo The 9th annual Buckner Shining Hope Luncheon will feature a conversation with Barbara Pierce Bush, co-founder and board chair of Global Health Corps and daughter of former President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush. Buckner Shining Hope Luncheon will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 1 at the Midland Country Club. The fundraiser will benefit Buckner Midland and its Permian Basin programs, Buckner Family Pathways and Buckner Foster Care and Adoption, according to a press release. Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of main opposition People Power Party, speaks during a press conference about his politics reform pledges, held at the party headquarters on Seoul's Yeouido, Thursday. Joint Press Corps Lee pledges to fix development gap in provincial cities By Jung Da-min Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP), vowed on Thursday to relocate the presidential office, pledging that he would reshuffle it to make it a smaller but more effective team to handle state affairs. Meanwhile, his rival, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), visited the southwestern city of Gwangju, a stronghold of the ruling bloc, to appeal to the hearts and minds of voters there. Among his other pledges, Lee promised the balanced development of the local provinces, addressing the gap in development between Seoul and other cities across the nation. "If I get elected, the current organization of Cheong Wa Dae will disappear. Instead, a new concept of the presidential office with a whole new organization and decision-making process will be introduced," Yoon said during a press conference to unveil his campaign pledges on political reform, held at the party's headquarters in Seoul. Yoon said that the presidential office will be relocated to the government complex building near Gwanghwamun Square and that the current "Cheong Wa Dae will be returned to citizens." "It could be used as a history museum or a public park. The decision of how it might be used will be made based on consensus between the public and experts and would require discussions on how to use the symbolic site," he said. Yoon spoke out against what he referred to as the "imperial presidency," vowing to be an interactive president who actively engages with citizens. "To be an interactive president, I think we need to purge the bad practices of the imperial presidency. The president should be subject to the rule of law and should do his or her own job," he said, adding that with its current strong presidency, the nation is doomed to fail in containing crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. He also vowed to create a small but effective team with a group of selectively chosen people. Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling liberal Democratic Party of Korea, speaks during a press conference about his pledges for Gwangju and other South Jeolla Province regions, held at Gwangju Airport, Thursday. Yonhap Ruling Democratic Party of Korea presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, right, and his rival Yoon Suk-yeol of the main opposition People Power Party attend a roundtable meeting held in Seoul, Dec. 28. Korea Times file The presidential candidates of the ruling and main opposition parties are running neck and neck with support ratings of around 35 percent each, the latest surveys showed Thursday. Lee Jae-myung of the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is in a dead heat with Yoon Suk-yeol of the conservative People Power Party (PPP) at 35 percent to 34 percent, according to a poll of 1,000 adults conducted Monday to Wednesday by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research. The gap between Lee and Yoon was within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Both Lee and Yoon gained 1 percentage point from a week earlier. Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the minor opposition People's Party, lost 2 percentage points to post 10 percent. Sim Sang-jeung of the minor progressive Justice Party lost 1 percentage point to post 2 percent. A separate survey conducted by Embrain Public on 1,001 adults, Monday and Tuesday, found Yoon leading overall with 35.9 percent support against Lee's 33.5 percent. The difference was also within the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Yoon was up 6.6 percentage points from the previous survey conducted Dec. 26 and 27, while Lee was down 1.5 points. Ahn climbed 5 percentage points to 12 percent, while Sim's support stood at 3.2 percent. (Yonhap) By Lee Jong-eun A year into his presidency, the U.S. Biden administration has yet to catch a break facing one global challenge after another. With the start of 2022, the United States confronts the escalation of military tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Demanding NATO's agreement to ban Ukraine's NATO membership and limit NATO's deployment in Eastern Europe, Russia has recently massed its troops on the Russia-Ukraine border. In the hope of defusing the situation, the U.S. has been engaged in a series of negotiations with Russia, with Biden warning the latter would pay "a heavy price" if it invades Ukraine. In East Asia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), North Korea's official name, has also stepped up its pressure on the Biden administration. Since the start of the year, North Korea has conducted four short-range ballistic missile tests, including two hypersonic missile launches. On Jan. 20, the DPRK leader Kim Jung-un reportedly instructed his officials to "examine the issue of restarting all temporarily suspended activities," referring to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and nuclear tests that the regime has placed a moratorium on since the spring of 2018. Should DPRK resume the tests, there is a possibility that the regime could cross the "red line" long warned by the U.S., testing MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle) ICBMs that could simultaneously target multiple U.S. cities. While condemning North Korea's latest provocations, the Biden administration faces strategic constraints in response. While the attention is on potential military confrontation with Russia, how much commitment could the U.S. make in also confronting DPRK? Would the U.S. risk two-front military confrontations? Since the Cold War, a two-front war has been a prospect U.S. national strategists have always dreaded. In 2018, the U.S. National Security strategy replaced the two-war strategy with a focus on preparing for one major war, most likely with China. This signifies that the security situation is different from 2017 when U.S. President Trump could threaten "fire and fury" against "little rocket man" Kim. Even if the DPRK crosses over the U.S. red line on ICBM tests, the Biden Administration will be confronted with a dilemma in deciding the bigger security threat: Russia's military operation or DPRK's nuclear tests. Whichever answer the Biden administration picks, the U.S. response could risk dividing the U.S. alliance between European and East Asian allies. By threatening to place the U.S. in a strategic dilemma, the DPRK regime is, intentionally or unintentionally, using the strategic opportunity presented by the Russia-U.S. conflict over Ukraine. In signaling the prospect of resuming the ICBM and nuclear tests, potentially in spring, DPRK presents an ultimatum to the Biden administration on whether to negotiate with the former or ignore the challenge and risk a two-front security crisis in Europe and Northeast Asia. After a year of diplomatic stand-off, North Korea is challenging the U.S. for a response. How might the U.S. respond to DPRK's challenge? From the DPRK's perspective, the best scenario would be if the Biden administration negotiates with the former to mitigate the regional security tensions. The Biden administration might consider temporally placating North Korea to focus on containing the more pressing threat from Russia. After a year of rejecting the previous Trump administration's top-down approach, the Biden administration might be compelled to agree to high-level negotiations, even resumption of letter exchanges between the heads of state. Yielding from its stance of starting diplomatic talks without pre-conditions, the U.S. might concede to several of DPRK's demands, such as a moratorium on U.S.-ROK military exercises or even marginal sanction relief. Another possible outcome would be that the Biden administration chose to be "strategically indifferent" toward DPRK's ultimatum. U.S. policymakers have concerns concessions to DPRK would project a political image of weakness for the Biden administration, domestically and internationally. In response to the DPRK's threat, the Biden administration might dare the latter to carry out its provocations, engaging in a game of bluffing. Even under such an outcome, if the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues into the spring, the DPRK still has a window of opportunity; the U.S. would be constrained in its retaliatory actions against the former's provocations. During the Vietnam War, U.S. administrations were restrained in their responses toward DPRK provocations, such as the capturing of the USS Pueblo and the shooting down of a U.S. EC-121 aircraft. This year, the DPRK could use the window to continue its missile and nuclear tests and further cement its de facto nuclear power status. With the expansion of new technology and arsenal, the DPRK's bargaining leverage will increase at future arms control talks. Using the present Russia-Ukraine conflict as an opportune timeframe to risk ICBM and nuclear tests, while US retaliatory capacity is constrained, the regime could potentially achieve a state of "irreversible nuclearization." The DPRK regime should, however, maintain a strategic caution and consider the period after the window closes. What will happen after the U.S. manages to contain the Russia-Ukraine conflict? Will the US return to confront North Korea for taking advantage of the former's strategic distractions? The DPRK might also consider the lesson from Japan's overreach during the Pacific War. In the early period of its military expansion, the Japanese Empire avoided rigorous deterrence from the U.S., which was more focused on Europe's conflict. However, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor provoked the U.S. to engage in a two-front war, which the latter would have been reluctant to fight in a different circumstance. In planning its strategic challenge against the U.S., the DPRK should first calculate how long the U.S. could be tied down by Russia; second, avoid an overreach that would enrage the "bald eagle" to engage in a two-front war in both Asia and Europe. Lee Jong-eun (jl4375a@student.american.edu) is a Ph.D. candidate and is also an adjunct faculty at the American University School of International Service. Prior to this, he has served as a South Korean Airforce intelligence officer. His research specialty includes U.S. foreign policy, South Korean politics and foreign policy, alliance management and East Asian regional security. By Donald Kirk One odd question hangs over U.S. relations with Korea, both South and North, in this pivotal election year in which South Koreans decide a few weeks from now on their next president. That is, who is directing American policy and how is Washington navigating between conflicting views in the South and rising threats from the North?What's strange is that the U.S. for more than a year has had no ambassador to South Korea. Now it's reported that Philip Goldberg, a Latin American expert who's been ambassador to Colombia and Bolivia and worked on U.N. sanctions on North Korea more than 10 years ago, is the ambassador-designate.What's taken so long to advance his name and when is he coming to Seoul? Are President Joe Biden and his team so consumed by Ukraine that they have not had time to ask, 'What are we going to do about conveying our confused thoughts to outgoing President Moon Jae-in, barred as he is by Korea's Democracy Constitution from running for a second five-year term?' And how worried should we be about whoever's next in the Blue House, the left-leaning Lee Jae-myung or the hawkish conservative Yoon Suk-yeol?Even with Goldberg designated as ambassador, getting him to Korea won't be easy. Ted Cruz, the obstructionist right-wing senator from Texas, has been blocking the approval of dozens of ambassadorial appointments while calling on Biden to act decisively against Russia's dream of shipping natural gas through a new pipeline to Germany. As long as Cruz stands fast, the appointments don't get out of the Senate foreign relations committee and onto the floor of the Senate, where far more often than not, they're approved by overwhelming bipartisan vote.Just because Cruz is gumming up the process, however, is no excuse for Biden not to have someone ready to take off for Seoul. OK, you don't really need an ambassador to fulfill most embassy functions. The charge d'affaires, an experienced diplomat with years of experience, can pretty well take charge day by day. The problem, however, is that real diplomacy, day to day, isn't always routine when you consider the difficulties between the U.S. and South Korea.Right now, Washington and Seoul disagree on how to deal with North Korea. No, the Americans are too diplomatic to denounce this end-of-war declaration that Moon is demanding as nonsense. Instead, they say how close their historic relationship is, the unshakeable, unbreakable bond between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea. At every opportunity they echo Moon's calls for dialog with the North. And then they say what neither President Moon nor candidate Lee wants to hear, that North Korea has to get rid of its nukes before any deal is possible.Nor is anyone saying the rift between the U.S. and Republic of Korea on how much to concede by way of appeasing North Korea is one reason for Biden to have been slow to name an ambassador. You won't hear anyone officially making that point, on or off the record, but the unspoken word lurking in Seoul is that Biden would have moved faster if Washington and Seoul were on the same page.Yet another suspicion is that the Americans were waiting to see the outcome of the presidential election. It would be easy to conclude that Washington supports Yoon since he's calling for rebuilding great ties with the U.S. and, unlike Moon and Lee, demanding North Korea give up its nukes as a prerequisite to anything. Lee has shown how simpatico he is with North Korea by calling on Yoon to retract that statement, and North Korea is saying Yoon should retract his whole candidacy that is, not run at all. Wouldn't it be great, some Americans and Koreans are saying, if Yoon were to restore the U.S.-ROK alliance to the good old days?This view has a few flaws. One is that Yoon's election might precipitate a North-South Korean showdown, replete with mounting threats and unpredictable incidents. Another is that Yoon, if elected, might backtrack and adopt a softer stance just to head off a potential crisis. For that matter, Lee, if elected, might not want to undermine or ruin the alliance with the U.S. by making concessions to the North without guarantees of anything substantive in return.No one can be sure what's really going to happen between North and South Korea until, well, until it happens. That uncertainty is another reason for Washington to pursue a policy of watchful waiting, awaiting the outcome of the election. Goldberg, assuming he's finally approved as ambassador, should be arriving in time to see which way the winds are blowing from both Seoul and Pyongyang with a new man in the Blue House.Donald Kirk ( www.donaldkirk.com ) writes from Seoul as well as Washington. Three Houston cops are in stable condition after being shot Thursday afternoon in Third Ward, police said in a tweet. Officers were pursuing the driver of a gray Dodge Charger before gunfire erupted near McGowen and Hutchins streets just east of Texas Highway 288 around 3:15 p.m. Paramedics transported one of the injured officers to a nearby hospital. The other two were taken to the hospital by fellow officers. The suspected gunman got out of the Charger and stole a nearby Mercedes before fleeing again. OnScene.TV Exclusive footage obtained by ABC13 shows the driver crashing near the intersection and opening fire at officers after the pursuit. At least one patrol car was riddled with bullet holes, according to footage of the scene taken by OnScene.TV. The Dodge Charger also had several bullet holes. Doug Griffith, president of the Houston cops union, said the man police were pursuing allegedly opened fire into his girlfriend's house, according to reporters with the Houston Chronicle. Chron and the Houston Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently of one another. OnScene.TV Police followed the suspect in the Mercedes to a home in the 1800 block of Lockwood Drive, where he was still holed up for hours. He eventually surrendered, according to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner. Finner had strong words for Houston leaders during a press conference outside Memorial Hermann Hospital. "I want everybody, all our leaders, no more excuses," Finner said. "Take an active role, be intentional. Do everything you can do to fight gun violence in our city." Mayor Sylvester Turner released this statement: Three Houston Police Officers were shot in the line of duty today, and I am relieved to hear their injuries are non-life-threatening. My thoughts and prayers go out to them, and I will be at the hospital soon to check on their recovery, thank them for their service and speak to their families. I ask everyone to pray for the officers who were shot and for every law enforcement officer working on the streets of Houston. We live in dangerous times, and it will take all of us working together to make our city safe. Several other Houston leaders expressed sympathy for the officers on social media. This is the third act of violence against Houston-area cops in recent weeks. Around 12:45 a.m. Sunday, a driver gunned down Harris County Precinct 5 Constable's Office Corporal Charles Galloway in the 9100 block of Beechnut as the lawman attempted a traffic stop. Galloway had yet to get out of his patrol SUV before shots rang out. The shooter, who police identified as 51-year-old Oscar Rosales, escaped to Mexico but was later captured. Around the same time Monday morning, a driver hit and killed Harris County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Ramon Gutierrez as he was escorting an oversized load along the East Sam Houston Parkway near Tidwell Road. Gutierrez had positioned his police motorcycle to block an exit ramp as he, while on foot, directed traffic. Investigators allege 40-year-old driver Lavillia Spry was intoxicated when she drove around the motorcycle and hit Gutierrez before fleeing. Hidalgo County Court Record An online petition is calling for the release of the two South Texas brothers and their friend who were arrested for allegedly beating their stepfather to death after he was accused of sexually abusing their 9-year-old sister. The Change.org petition addresses Gov. Greg Abbott and has received more than 130,000 signatures as of Thursday morning. The petition addresses the case of which Alejandro Trevino, 18, and Christian Trevino, 17, who along with family friend Juan Eduardo Melendez, 18, are accused of beating 42-year-old Gabriel Quintanilla and leaving him to die in an open field in McAllen. He was found on January 20 at 3 p.m. by the McAllen Police Department, who then notified Pharr police of the incident and turned over the investigation to them. Among the hundred-odd culture wars real and imagined currently being waged across Texas and the greater nation, the subject of school lunch tables had yet to enter the political frayuntil Sunday, when a Texas woman running for state representative took aim at alleged cafeteria arrangements at Round Rock Independent School District. The incident began like so many other: on social media, in the replies of a quote tweet involving a misleading viral video. On January 21, the conservative Twitter account @libsoftiktok repurposed a video of a woman at a Michigan school board meeting making since-debunked allegations about litter boxes being installed at local schools for students that "identify as cats." These claims have been denied and denounced as patently false by local officials, but the Libs of TikTok video lives on, having garnered more than 5,000 total retweets and more than 750,000 views as of this writing. One of those who shared the footage was Michael Quinn Sullivan, publisher of the conservative publication Texas Scorecard, who quote-tweeted the video with the note "This is public education." Down in the responses to Sullivan's tweet was a message from Michelle Evans, a Texas GOP hopeful running for election in House District 136 outside Austin. Evans replied to Sullivan's tweet with a message alleging officials at Round Rock ISD had converted school lunch tables to be used by "furries"in this case, students who identify as animals, however other definitions can be found on Urban Dictionary. "Cafeteria tables are being lowered in certain @RoundRockISD middle and high schools to allow 'furries' to more easily eat without utensils or their hands (ie [sic], like a dog eats from a bowl)," Evans tweeted on January 23. Evans' tweet has garnered a fair share of criticism since its posting, and a Round Rock ISD official flatly denied the claim when contacted via email Tuesday. "This is not happening on Round Rock ISD campuses," wrote Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, Round Rock ISD Chief of Public Affairs. "In fact, I'm not aware that any of our cafeteria tables even have the ability to be 'lowered.'" When reached Tuesday, Evans offered no comment but stated via email, "I am more than happy to put students and parents in touch with you directly" and later "I provided your contact info to parents and students." As of this writing, no Round Rock ISD parent, student or faculty member has reached out to confirm Evans' claims. A post by a member on the private Facebook group Mom's for Liberty, who Evans tagged in a similar post on that platform according to Twitter user @CognitaVagabond, seemed to defend the candidate. Round Rock's Walsh Middle School, the poster wrote, "has a low table to accommodate those who eat without their hands. Those who choose to identify as a furry at Walsh also hiss loudly at each other in the commons," and added that students were wearing leashes at nearby Round Rock High School. Twitter user @CognitaVagabond replied to Evans in a followup post, saying that "If this 'furry' delusion turns out to be nothing but a vicious rumor about @roundrockisd students w/ disabilities receiving appropriate accommodations under their IEP, it will not go well for you or your political career." Evans is the mother of an autistic child and a longtime advocate against vaccines. She was once part of the Thinking Moms Revolution, a parents group for those seeking "cutting edge of treatment approaches to an array of chronic and developmental disabilities," which granted her an audience with Senator Ted Cruz in 2015. Back then, Evans admitted to not having "any experience in government or politics," adding that neither she nor her partner on the trip to D.C. "aspires to do anything with our lives beyond caring for our children, protecting them in every reasonable way we can, and preventing further damage." On her campaign site, Evans describes herself as a "fitness trainer, small business owner, wife of a Marine veteran, and mother of three." Her platform planks include reforming public school curriculums to "end standardized testing" and the removes "books with pornographic content" and "assignments that promote a particular political or ideological viewpoint." Other policy points include the abolition of property taxes and vaccine mandates, and strengthening the Texas power grid by cutting funding for clean energies. WASHINGTON - Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, will retire at the end of the Supreme Court's term, clearing the way for President Joe Biden to make his first nomination to the nation's highest judicial body. As a candidate, Biden said that if given the opportunity, he would nominate an African American woman - who, if confirmed, would become the first Black female Supreme Court justice. Speculation on whom Biden might choose began quickly after news reports emerged of Breyer's planned retirement. Here's a quick guide to three of the top contenders. - - - Ketanji Brown Jackson Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, serves as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. She was born in Washington, the daughter of two graduates of historically Black colleges and universities who instilled in her a sense that she could do or be anything she set her mind to, she recalled in a speech in March. In June, Biden nominated Jackson to fill Merrick Garland's seat on the D.C. Circuit after Garland was confirmed as attorney general. This fueled speculation that she was on the president's shortlist for potential justices because the D.C. court is considered the second-most powerful in the country and because high court nominees are traditionally chosen from the federal appeals bench. Jackson has clerked for Breyer and for two other federal judges. She attended Harvard University as an undergraduate and a law student, serving as an editor for the Harvard Law Review. And her experience as a public defender has endeared her to the more liberal base of the Democratic Party. - - - Leondra Kruger Leondra Kruger, 45, is a California Supreme Court justice. At the U.S. Department of Justice, she served as deputy solicitor general, the federal government's second-ranking representative in arguments at the Supreme Court, before becoming one of the youngest people ever nominated to the high court in California, taking her seat in 2015. During her tenure in the Office of the Solicitor General, Kruger argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court, according to her court biography. She has previously rebuffed offers from the White House to take a job in the administration. Kruger is from California and attended Harvard as an undergraduate, followed by Yale University as a law student, serving as editor in chief of the Yale Law Journal. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and for a judge on the U.S. Appeals Court in Washington, D.C. - - - J. Michelle Childs J. Michelle Childs, 55, has served on the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina for over a decade. Biden unexpectedly nominated her last month to serve on the high-profile D.C. Circuit, surprising Washington-area lawyers who had anticipated a pick with local ties. Childs served in state government on the Workers' Compensation Commission and was deputy director of South Carolina's Department of Labor. She was born in Detroit and moved to South Carolina as a teen and has said she was the first Black female partner in a major law firm in the state. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from state schools in Florida and South Carolina. A favorite of one of Biden's most influential congressional allies, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., Childs faces a confirmation hearing next week for her nomination to the D.C. Appeals Court. Clyburn and Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., have said in interviews that Childs would meet Biden's frequently stated goal of bringing more diverse backgrounds to the Supreme Court - not just because she is a Black woman, but also because she did not attend an Ivy League law school. "Joe Biden has talked about the kind of experiences he'd bring into the presidency," Clyburn said. "He was brought up in Scranton, in Delaware, educated in the public schools. That's who Michelle Childs is." - - - The Washington Post's Robert Barnes and John Wagner contributed to this report. Texas' highest criminal court is facing intense pressure from fellow Republican elected officials to revisit a recent ruling that gutted the attorney general's ability to unilaterally prosecute election cases. In recent days, the state's top GOP leaders including Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have weighed in on the matter and sided with those imploring the Court of Criminal Appeals to reconsider the decision. The all-GOP court issued an 8-1 opinion last month that struck down the attorney general's power to go after election cases without the permission of local prosecutors, saying it violates the separation-of-powers clause in the Texas Constitution. Attorney General Ken Paxton has been vocal in his criticism of the decision and has filed a motion for rehearing. And in recent interviews with conservative media, he has called on supporters to pressure the court to reverse the ruling. "Call them out by name," Paxton said in an interview on the show of Mike Lindell, the My Pillow CEO and prominent Donald Trump supporter. "I mean, you can look them up. There's eight of them that voted the wrong way. Call them, send mail, send email." Comments like those from Paxton were cited in a Wednesday story by the Austin American-Statesman that raised ethical issues about the pressure campaign. The newspaper said such comments put "Paxton in an ethical gray area, if not in outright violation of the state's rules of conduct for lawyers." The Court of Criminal Appeals has yet to address the GOP pleas for reconsideration and it may never do so. Randall Kelso, a professor at South Texas College of Law, said courts like the Court of Criminal Appeals tend to be reluctant to reverse to their decisions unless at least one of three conditions are met: There is a change in the facts at the core of the case, the ruling proves to be "unworkable in practice" or judges are persuaded that the decision was "substantially wrong." Kelso said he did not see how the first two conditions apply to the current situation, and as for proving that the ruling was "substantially wrong," he added, there is usually a "pretty high burden." "Just because the various Texas lawmakers are petitioning, I wouldn't predict they'd just cave to them and say, 'We've gotta change our minds,'" Kelso said. "It'd be unusual to do it unless" any of those conditions are met. The controversy comes at a time when Texas Republicans are doing all they can to show they are committed to securing elections, even as there continues to be no evidence of widespread malfeasance. And it comes after legislators passed a hard-fought bill last year to tighten voting rules in Texas that expands the attorney general's purview over elections. Abbott's office pointed to that law Tuesday as it indicated support for reinstating the authority that the court stripped. "Texas highest law enforcement officer has constitutional authority to enforce that election-integrity law," Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said in a statement. "The Court of Criminal Appeals needs to uphold Texas law and the Attorney Generals responsibility to defend it." Earlier Tuesday, Patrick and 14 state senators filed an amicus brief supporting the push to convince the court to reconsider the ruling. "If the court's decision stands, certain rogue county and district attorneys will be allowed to turn a blind eye to election fraud, and they will have the final say on whether election fraud is prosecuted at all," Patrick said in a statement. "To me, this is completely unacceptable." Dozens of other Republican state lawmakers, candidates and activists have weighed in, telling the court to grant the motion for rehearing. They even include one of Paxton's challengers in the March primary, U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert of Tyler. At the same time, the little-known judges on the court are receiving a deluge of calls and emails. Houston conservative activist Steve Hotze has used his group, Conservative Republicans of Texas, to send out a robocall urging people to call the judges, telling them that if the ruling stands, "Democrats will steal the elections in November and turn Texas blue." The group sent out 228,000 calls statewide, according to a spokesperson for Hotze, Jared Woodfill. The robocall was first reported by the Houston Chronicle. The court's general counsel told the newspaper that one email was referred to the Texas Department of Public Safety, which is responsible for probing threats against state employees. The general counsel, Sian Schilhab, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The court is made up of a presiding judge and eight other judges who all serve six-year terms and appear on the ballot in staggered election years. Three of them are up for reelection in the March primary, and one of those three, Scott Walker, faces a challenger in Clint Morgan, a Harris County prosecutor. Morgan's endorsers include Hotze's Conservative Republicans of Texas. Paxton is facing his own hotly contested primary, which includes Gohmert, Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman. During a recent campaign stop in Round Rock, Bush criticized Paxton over the ruling from the Court of Criminal Appeals, saying Texas needs an attorney general who can "confront county DAs that aren't doing their jobs." "We've sadly seen Ken Paxton's last remaining authority in criminal law, which is voter fraud ... was stripped," Bush said, adding that the decision was "not by liberal activist judges" but by an all-Republican court. "[Paxton's office] has run amok because of the lack of accountability at the top of the chain of command." The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. To address alleged voter registration card shortages ahead of the March 1 primaries, the Texas Democratic Party announced Thursday plans to print and send out 500,000 of the forms across the state. Only four days remain until the Jan. 31 deadline for signing up to cast a ballot. Last week, the Texas Secretary of State office announced it would be printing out limited quantities of voter registration forms due to alleged supply chain issues driving up the cost of paper. In a series of tweets Thursday, Texas Democrats called slammed the state for "refusing to do their jobs and help Texans register to vote." The party also pointed to applications for mail ballots that have been rejected due to new requirements under Senate Bill 1, which it called a "voter suppression bill." Hundreds of mail-in ballot applications have been rejected in some of the state's largest counties for not complying with new ID requirements state Republicans enacted last year. "Last week, Texas proved to be ground zero for voter suppression yet again, as the State of Texas announced they'll only be printing only a very limited number of voter registration applications," read a statement on Texas Democrats website. "But the Texas Democratic Party is committed to registering hundreds of thousands of voters in 2022, regardless of who or what stands in our way." Texas Democrats is also calling for donations to its "Let the People Register" fund to help with expenses. One dollar covers the cost of creating six voter registration cards, the party said. The group is not the only entity pitching in to help fill gaps. The Houston chapter of the League of Women Voters Texas said they spent nearly $1,300 printing forms before the Secretary of State office gave in to public pressure provided thousands of the documents to the group. The League says it distributed 10,000 voter registration cards over the weekend, and has previously threatened to sue if the state did not provide the needed registration forms to itself and other voter registration organizations ahead of the March 1 primaries. As of Monday, 17,163,774 individuals are registered to vote in Texas, according to the Secretary of State office. If Texas is short on loose leaf, the south is here to help. Forty Democratic legislators from the states of Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee banded together to send a letter to Texas Secretary of State John Scott Thursday offering his office paper following reports that it would be providing less voter registration cards ahead of the March 1 primaries. Last week, the Secretary of State office announced it would be rationing the number of forms going out to voter registration groups, citing alleged supply chain issues driving up the cost of paper. The last day to register to cast a ballot in the state primaries is Monday. The southern legislators wrote they were concerned about Texas' inability to access paper, especially since the state is one of eight states that still does not allow online voter registration. "Fortunately, we have paper in our states," the letter read. "We would like to extend an offer to the people of Texas to assist with the procurement of paper for the purpose of printing applications to register to vote. While we cannot, at this time, commit direct appropriations from our state coffers, we each have access to state and private resources that we can leverage to help Texas solve its problem." The letter continues, stating the freedom to vote is the "'wellspring of democracy' that guarantees all other American freedoms. "Texas election officials cannot cast aside this freedom because of an alleged paper shortage. Voters in Texas, and across the South, deserve better." Among the note's signees was Florida Rep. Dotie Joseph. "Given that our governor has previously offered resources to Texas, I would imagine helping with paper to protect U.S. citizen's freedom to vote should be no problem," Dotie wrote on Twitter. The letter follows an announcement Thursday from Texas Democrats regarding plans to print and send out 500,000 voter registration cards across the state to assist with the shortage. "Last week, Texas proved to be ground zero for voter suppression yet again, as the State of Texas announced they'll only be printing only a very limited number of voter registration applications," read a statement from the Texas Democrats. "But the Texas Democratic Party is committed to registering hundreds of thousands of voters in 2022, regardless of who or what stands in our way." We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The front of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building (KCCI) / Korea Times file By Kim Hyun-bin The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industries (KCCI) Chairman Chey Tae-won is expected to conduct the first sweeping personnel reshuffle at the nation's largest business lobby group since he took office in February last year, according to people familiar with the matter Wednesday. The reshuffle is scheduled to take place soon after the Lunar New Year holiday. The change will likely affect most top executives and team leaders as the KCCI is gearing up to deal with the new administration, which will be inaugurated in May, they said. Several top executives are expected to resign next week, while low-ranking staffers will face a drastic personnel reshuffle and organizational changes in the following weeks. KCCI Chairman Chey Tae-won Local Looking far and wide for Oliver's replacement County commissioners told the Chronicle Wednesday they want to conduct a nationwide search for the countys next administrator. And that process will kick off Feb. 8 when Commission Chairman Ron Kitchen Jr. said he will propose the board get bids from headhunting firms to scour the country for the best fit for the community. Locals would also be encouraged to apply, he said. Once the list is eventually narrowed down to around three or five, the board would interview them and rank them. Kitchen Jr. Kitchen stressed he wants the process entirely open and no back-door deals. County Administrator Randy Oliver submitted his resignation letter last week, telling commissioners they have until no later than Nov. 29 to find his replacement. County Commissioner Scott Carnahan agrees a nationwide search is required. Carnahan Absolutely, 100%, Carnahan told the Chronicle Wednesday. I dont see anybody in the county who can even hold a candlestick to (Randy Oliver) and Im thinking if you want to get a quality administrator you need to do a national search. Carnahan said he will be looking for someone who matches Olivers expertise in finance and bonding: someone whos been in the industry a long time. Jim Green, chairman of the Citrus Business Alliance, said he prefers commissioners wait to pick a new administrator until after the November election when two new commissioners will be elected. Kitchen and Carnahan said they will not seek re-election. This hire is too important, he said. This is a decision that impacts the future, Green said. I dont see any reason to rush it. Citrus County Kinnard But Commissioner Jeff Kinnard said he sees no reason to wait, especially since Kitchen and Carnahan have had extensive experience in choosing executives in the past. They hit a homerun when they helped select Oliver, he said. Kinnard said he would be looking for an administrator who can safeguard Citrus Countys natural resources, find solutions to the high local unemployment rate and do more to attract career-class jobs with higher salaries. DAVIS Commissioner Holly Davis said in an email there are three things to determine right now: what skill set, experience and management style the board wants, whether to look for an assistant administrator at the same time, what it will cost to be competitive and how to advertise for an executive search firm. I would prefer a Florida candidate but would go national if necessary, she said. Davis said she wants an administrator who: Prioritizes keeping the countys outstanding fiscal situation Understands the framework of limitations (such as state and federal mandates), looks for creative ways to execute big-picture strategies and solve the everyday-type issues that bedevil residents. Continues Olivers excellent work in attracting talented directors, and empowers them to truly direct their departments and achieve professional fulfillment to minimize turnover. Schlabach County Commissioner Ruthie Schlabach said she wants the next administrator to have a strong financial background. And she supports a national search. I would love to have an administrator who encourages her staff to bring solutions to the table and is active in the community, she said. Florida, US (34429) Today Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Wilkes Barre, PA (18701) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. EcoPro Chairman Lee Dong-chae, left, speaks during a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony at Pohang City Hall in North Gyeongsang Province in this September 2021 file photo. Yonhap By Park Jae-hyuk EcoProBM confirmed the news that Lee Dong-chae, chairman of its parent firm EcoPro, and several executives of its affiliates are under investigation by prosecutors on suspicion of insider trading. "We sincerely apologize to our shareholders for causing concern with this issue," the Kosdaq-listed battery materials firm posted on its website on Wednesday night. "We promise again that we will do our best to dispel worries about this issue, enhance shareholder value and pursue company development." The announcement was made several hours after a local news outlet reported that high-level insiders of EcoProBM had purchased the company's shares in February 2020, before disclosing its agreement with SK Innovation to supply nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) cathode materials worth 2.7 trillion won ($2.2 billion) until the end of 2023. According to the report, the Financial Services Commission and the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office searched EcoProBM's offices last September, after detecting the suspicious transactions. On the day EcoProBM disclosed its contract with SK Innovation, its stock price soared by 20.98 percent, and in nine days it had risen to 90,000 won from around 50,000 won. EcoProBM declined to mention any further details about the insider trading allegation, only saying the investigation is underway. It also said the allegation will not cause any financial losses to the company, even if it turns out to be true. "Compared to the amount of our outstanding shares, it was revealed that the size of their purchase was significantly small, so we expect the allegation to have a limited impact on our company," EcoProBM said. Its stock price, however, dropped by 19.15 percent, Wednesday, after the news broke about the insider trading allegation. The stock prices of EcoPro also fell 27.64 percent and its affiliate EcoProHN dropped by 27.59 percent, although their stock prices bounced back the following day. EcoProBM is already facing a darker outlook, after a fire broke out last Friday at its factory in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, killing one factory worker and injuring three others. The Cheongju factory with a capacity to produce 30,000 tons of cathode materials annually, has halted its operations since the fatal accident. Securities analysts warned that a series of controversies over EcoProBM may deal a severe blow to Korea's entire electric vehicle battery supply chain, considering the growing importance of management prioritizing the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) principles. As the largest Korean producer of cathode materials, EcoProBM has been supplying its products to Samsung SDI and SK on. In 2020, EcoProBM established a joint venture named EcoProEM with Samsung SDI and built a factory in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. The materials firm signed another contract last September with SK on's parent firm, SK Innovation, to supply high-nickel (Hi-Ni) cathode materials worth 10 trillion won from 2024 to 2026. Given that EcoProBM has continued to increase its investments in Pohang, where the EcoPro chairman was born, the city's residents and businesspeople are also paying close attention to the controversy with concerns about its possible impact on the region's economy. In 1938, the year my mother left Germany for good and never saw her parents again, Virginia Woolf published a book entitled Three Guineas. It was about how women could prevent war. Virginia Woolfs name is not normally associated with great affairs of state, of course. Quite the reverse. She regarded them with a fastidious disgust, as a vulgar distraction from the true business of life: attendance to the finer nuances of ones own emotional state. Along with the other members of the Bloomsbury groupthat influential and endlessly chronicled little band of British aesthetes of which she was a moving spiritshe was dedicated to the proposition that beings as sensitive as they to the music of life ought not to be bound by gross social conventions, and that it was their duty (as well as their pleasure) to act solely upon the promptings of the sympathetic vibrations of their souls. In a demotic age, however, their justification for personal license could not long be confined to socially superior types such as themselves. Before very long, what was permissible for the elite became mandatory for hoi polloi; and when the predictable social disaster occurred, in the form of a growing underclass devoid of moral bearings, the elite that had absorbed (indeed, reveled in) Bloomsburys influence took the growth of the underclass as evidence that their original grudge against society and its conventions had been justified all along. The philosophy brought about the disaster, and the disaster justified the philosophy. The Cambridge Guide to English Literature describes Three Guineas as an established classicbut a classic of what genre exactly? Of political philosophy? Contemporary history? Sociological analysis? No: it is a locus classicus of self-pity and victimhood as a genre in itself. In this, it was certainly ahead of its time, and it deserves to be on the syllabus of every department of womens studies at every third-rate establishment of higher education. Never were the personal and the political worse confounded. The book is important because it is a naked statement of the worldview that is unstated and implicit in all of Virginia Woolfs novels, most of which have achieved an iconic status in the republic of letters and in the humanities departments of the English-speaking world, where they have influenced countless young people. The book, therefore, is truly a seminal text. In Three Guineas, Virginia Woolf lets us know without disguise what she really thinks: and what she thinks is by turns grandiose and trivial, resentful and fatuous. The book might be better titled: How to Be Privileged and Yet Feel Extremely Aggrieved. The guineas of the title refer to a unit of currency: a pound and a shilling. Even in Woolfs day, no guinea coin or guinea banknote actually existed. It was purely a notional unit, used for transactions of superior social status, such as the purchase of art at auction, the payment of surgeons, or, as in this book, the giving of charitable contributions. Virginia Woolf writes of three requests made of her for donations of one guinea each: the first by an eminent lawyer for his society for the protection of intellectual freedom and the promotion of peace; the second by the head of a Cambridge University womens college to help rebuild and enlarge the college; and the third by the treasurer of a society for the aid of professional women, to enable them to buy the evening clothes necessary to their status in life. Three Guineas tries to show how the threat of war is linked to the condition of women. War throughout the ages, Mrs. Woolf says, has been a male activity, and during those same ages men have suppressed women: ergo, if men cease to suppress women and treat them as equals, there will be no war. One might think that to descend from the aesthetic to the ideological plane would be distasteful for a woman of such languorous, highly strung, thoroughbred equine beauty as she; but under the influence of a general idea, Mrs. Woolf revealed herself to be a thoroughgoing philistine of the most revolutionary and destructive type, quite prepared to bring the temple crashing down about her ears, that her grudges might be paid back. Let my ego be satisfied, though civilization fall! My copy of the book is a slightly battered first edition that was once in the library of Michel Leiris, the French writer and anthropologist who knew all the best-worst (or worst-best) people, such as Sartre and de Beauvoir. Leiriss annotations consist only of a list of three pages of special impact to him, written in the elegant hand of a bygone era, and small crosses on the top outside corners of the pages themselvespages 62, 63, and 64. And what do pages 62, 63, and 64 say? On the preceding page, page 61, Mrs. Woolf begins her discursive reply to a request for a contribution for the rebuilding and extension of a Cambridge womens college. Where education is concerned, Mrs. Woolf certainly does not want more of the samethe granting of the same opportunities to more womenhaving previously argued that all the education prior to the Great War did not prevent that cataclysm from happening but on the contrary actually provoked it by fostering a spirit of competition among those who underwent it. Let us, she writes, . . . discuss as quickly as we can the sort of education that is needed. Since the past has been nothing but a catalog of vice, folly, cruelty, and the suppression of women, the college of her dreams must be an experimental college, an adventurous college. Let it be built on lines of its own. And what might these lines be? It must be built not of carved stone and stained glass, but of some cheap, easily combustible material which does not hoard dust and perpetrate traditions. This is surely an odd architectural position for an aesthete to take: a position whose baleful practical consequences are, alas, visible throughout the whole island of Great Britain, where hardly a townscape has escaped being ruined by it. The avoidance of dust (and therefore presumably of housework or other oppressive forms of maintenance) is elevated to the pantheon of lifes highest goals: and Mrs. Woolfs use of the word perpetrate in connection with traditions is indicative of her revolutionary state of mind, since perpetrate generally takes as its object a heinous crime or a massacre or some other disaster. For Mrs. Woolf, tradition in general, not any particular tradition, is what needs to be eliminated. What furnishings should the college of Mrs. Woolfs dreams contain? Certainly not a repository of the best that has been said and thought. Do not have museums and libraries with chained books and first editions under glass cases, she advises. No: Let the pictures and the books be new and always changing. Let it be decorated afresh by each generation with their own hands cheaply. (By now we have passed on to the pages bearing Michel Leiriss marks.) What is this but a manifesto for Cool Britannia avant la lettre, an expression of the shallow belief that the new is better than the old merely by virtue of its novelty? And what, most importantly, would be taught in Mrs. Woolfs college of dreams? Not the arts of dominating other people; not the arts of ruling, of killing, of acquiring land and capital. (Let us remind ourselves that she is talking of the university of Milton, Wordsworth, and Wittgenstein.) The . . . college should teach only the arts that can be taught cheaply and practised by poor people; such as medicine, mathematics, music, painting and literature. The superior virtue of poverty and the poor is assumed; and Mrs. Woolf obviously conceives of medicine as a kind of Gandhian cottage industry (though she personally always availed herself of the best specialists available), carried out by bucolics and wise-women, gathering herbs by moonlight and operating, if at all, on kitchen tables. She continues: The college should teach the arts of human intercourse; the art of understanding other peoples lives and minds, and the little arts of talk, of dress, of cookery that are allied with them. Not being a systematic thinker, to put it kindly, Mrs. Woolf here fails to realize that she is proposing to enclose women in precisely the little domestic world from which she also claims to be rescuing them. Mrs. Woolfs ideal collegethe kind that would prevent rather than promote warswould not be in any way elitist. It would not [be] parcelled out into the miserable distinctions of rich and poor, of clever and stupid. It would, rather, be a place where all the different degrees and kinds of mind, body and soul met and co-operated. It would be entirely nonjudgmental, even as to intellect. For her, the urge to compete does not inhere in mans nature, nor does it result in anything other than violent strife. Henceforth, there is to be no testing oneself against the best, with the possibility, even the likelihood, of failure: instead, one is perpetually to immerse oneself in the tepid bath of self-esteem, mutual congratulation, and benevolence toward all. Of course, it is a mistake to suppose that a hypothetical future state of perfect toleration means toleration in or of the present: far from it. Mrs. Woolf would not let her opponents, or those who think differently, live in peace: on the page after the last marked by Michel Leiris, she gives full expression to her slash-and-burn concept of cultural renewal: No guinea of earned money should go to rebuilding the college on the old plan. . . . [T]herefore the guinea should be earmarked Rags. Petrol. Matches. And this note should be attached to it. Take this guinea and with it burn the college to the ground. Set fire to the old hypocrisies. Let the light of the burning building scare the nightingales and incarnadine the willows. And let the daughters of educated men dance round the fire and heap armful upon armful of dead leaves upon the flames. And let their mothers lean from the upper windows [before, presumably, being burned to death] and cry Let it blaze! Let it blaze! For we have done with this education! This incendiary passage, Mrs. Woolf insists in her very next sentence, is not mere empty rhetoric: though she subsequently retreats a little from her incitement to arson by pointing out the self-defeating nature of that crime, insofar as the college she was proposing to burn down was necessary to train women to be able to earn the guinea of discretionary income with which to buy the materials to burn it down in the first place. What a dilemma! The passion, if not the logic, of her argument is clear and perhaps casts a new light on the deliberate destructiveness of the motives that lay behind her literary innovations. She was nothing if not a great hater of all that had gone before her. What was the wellspring of this great hatred? No doubt some would say it was the sexual abuse that she was alleged to have suffered as a child at the hands of her two half-brothers, George and Gerald Duckworth: but the extent and gravity of that abuse is open to question and would in any case hardly explain (let alone justify) the desire of a famous and successful 56-year-old novelist to destroy civilization in the name of preventing war. And if by any chance it were the explanation, it would certainly not redound to her credit: for the conclusion that an entire civilization needed to be destroyed because it permitted her sexual abuse is no better than the conclusion that the existence of any injustice demonstrates that all efforts to achieve justice are a sham. A self-pitying lack of proportion, far from alien to Mrs. Woolf, was in fact the very signature of her mind. Mrs. Woolf belonged by birth not merely to the upper middle classes but to the elite of the intellectual elite. She was a Stephen, her father, Sir Leslie Stephen, being an eminent essayist, editor, and critic, the founding editor of the monumental and magnificent Dictionary of National Biography and at one time the publisher of Thomas Hardy. He knew everyone who was anyone in the literary and intellectual world. Mrs. Woolfs uncle, Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, was an eminent legal scholar and historian, jurist, judge, and political philosopher, who wrote a brilliant and still-classical riposte to John Stuart Mills essay on liberty. She grew up in a rarefied intellectual atmosphere in which it would clearly be difficult to equal, let alone surpass, the achievements of her elders. One way to surpass her father and her uncle in achievement was, of course, to disparage and destroy all they had erected. Her historiography was very modern: she scoured the records to justify the backward projection of her current resentments. For her, there was no such thing as the human condition, with its inevitable discontent and limitations. She thought that all the things she desired were reconcilable, so that freedom and security, for example, or artistic effort and complete selflessness, might abide in perpetual harmony. As a female member of the British upper middle class and one of what she called the daughters of educated men, she felt both socially superior to the rest of the world and peculiarly, indeed uniquely, put upon. The very locution, the daughters of educated men, is an odd one, capturing her oscillation between grandiosity and self-pity: she meant by it that class of women who, by virtue of their gentle birth and hereditarily superior minds, could not be expected to perform physical labor of any kind, but who were prevented by the injustice of the system from participating fully in public and intellectual affairs. In her descriptions of this class, self-pity vies with snobbery. Her reply to the philanthropist who requested a donation to buy evening clothes for professional women vibrates with outrage that the daughters of educated men should find themselves in financial difficulties (which, in her view, should properly belong only to social inferiors). Not only are we incomparably weaker than the men of our own class, she writes to the eminent lawyer; we are weaker than the women of the working class. Economically, the educated mans daughter is much on a level with the farm labourer. Society has been so kind to you [the educated men, one of whom is her interlocutor], so harsh to us [the daughters of educated men, of whom she is one]: it is an ill-fitting form that distorts the truth; deforms the mind; fetters the will. It must therefore be destroyedpresumably by those whose will has been fettered and whose minds have been deformed. For those who actually know anything about the hardships endured by the British working class, male and female, during the years of the Depression, statements that insinuate an equality, or even a superiority, of suffering on the part of the daughters of educated men are little short of nauseating: but they would clearly appeal to the pampered resentful, a class that was to grow exponentially in the postwar years of sustained prosperity. According to Mrs. Woolf, women of her own class were so dependent upon men that for centuries they were incapable of having, much less expressing, opinions of their own. For her, independent opinion was indispensably based upon independent income, though later in the book she lays down criteria for the independence of income that are so stringent and rarefied that only heiresses could meet them. Poor struggling Mrs. Oliphant, for example, the Victorian novelist and biographer, came nowhere near meeting them, be-cause she was obliged to earn money herself for the upkeep of her children. (Mrs. Woolf suggested as a solution that the daughters of educated women should be paid a government subsidy, so that they might create works of artor do nothing at allfree of all sordid monetary conditions.) Her desire to have it all ways at onceto be utterly independent because unconditionally supported by the tax-payersillustrates her kind of querulous and irresponsible sense of entitlement. Her sole conclusion from the entire literature of the nineteenth century is that women were constantly ridiculed for attempting to enter their solitary profession, marriageas if that vast and magisterial literature accorded women no other role in life; as if it depicted relations between men and women as being nothing but domination and subordination. So grotesque is this as a reading of, say, Jane Austen that it amounts to an outright lie. And is Mrs. Micawber an object of contempt or of affection, even admiration? As for the fabled influence of women on men, Mrs. Woolf will have none of it. She writes that it is so beneath our contempt that many of us would prefer to call ourselves prostitutes simply and to take our stand openly under the lamps of Piccadilly Circus rather than use it. I confess that I find the idea of Mrs. Woolf as a streetwalker under the lamps of Piccadilly Circus irresistibly funny: but could there be a clearer case of the triumph of hyperbolic self-pity over honesty? No interpretation of events, trends, or feelings is too silly or contradictory for Mrs. Woolf if it helps to fan her resentment. Explaining the evident enthusiasm of the daughters of educated men at the outbreak of the Great War, she writes, So profound was [their] unconscious loathing for the education of the private house with its cruelty, its poverty, its hypocrisy, its inanity that [they] would undertake any task however menial [such as working in factories and hospitals], exercise any function however fatal that enabled [them] to escape. . . . [U]nconsciously [they] desired our splendid war. That they might have been actuated by the same patriotism as the men who volunteered for the slaughter was for her an impossibility, for she denies that the daughters of educated men were truly English: like the proletarians of Marxs imagination, they have no country. The law of England, she writes, denies us, and let us hope it will long continue to deny us, the full stigma of nationality. As ever wanting it both ways, she complains at one moment of exclusion and at the next, that inclusion is not worthwhile. She is like a humorless version of Groucho Marx, who did not want to be a member of any club that would accept him. What is a joke for Groucho Marx is serious political philosophy for Virginia Woolf. She explains the falling birthrate among the daughters of educated men by their refusal any longer to provide cannon fodder for wars: thus ignoring the fact that the decline in fertility had been long and continuous, affecting all classes of societyeven in Sweden, which had not had a war since Napoleonic times. Not that one could entirely blame Mrs. Woolf for her lack of dialectical rigor, for, as she writes, The daughters of educated men have always done their thinking from hand to mouth. . . . They have thought while they stirred the pot, while they rocked the cradle. This piece of self-pity drew the memorable riposte from the literary critic Q. D. Leavis, herself no unqualified admirer of the common man, that Mrs. Woolf wouldnt know which end of the cradle to stir. Resentment playing so large a part in Mrs. Woolfs mental economy, much of her intellectual effort went into justifying it. She is thus a very modern figure indeed, even though she died 60 years ago. Her lack of recognition that anything had ever been achieved or created before her advent that was worthy of protection and preservation is all but absolute, along with her egotism. How, she asks, can we, the daughters of educated men, enter the professions and yet remain civilized human beings?a question that implies that such professionals as Lister, Lord Birkenhead, or Marconi, working during Mrs. Woolfs lifetime, were neither civilized themselves nor contributed anything to civilization. By so contemptuously denying the achievements of the past, bought at so great a cost of thought and effort, she totally misunderstood the material and intellectual conditions that made possible her own life, with its languorous contemplation of the exquisite. The only occasion in the book when Mrs. Woolf implicitly recognizes past achievement, she does so not to praise it but to denigrate the lack of it among her fellow countrymen. Suppose an outsider (as she far from truthfully calls herself) feels the temptation to patriotism: Then she will compare English painting with French painting; English music with German music; English literature with Greek literature. . . . When all these comparisons have been faithfully made by the use of reason, the outsider will find herself in possession of very good reasons for her indifference. There is nothing here of Shakespeare or Newton, of Wren or Turneran omission extraordinary in the daughter of the first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography. And it is extraordinary to believe that patriotism is justified only by supremacy in all the arts and sciences simultaneouslya doctrine that would be exceedingly hard on, say, a Norwegian or a Bolivian patriot. Patriotism is for Mrs. Woolf only one of the many unreal loyalties against which she rails. Loyalty to school, to university, to church, to club, to family, to traditions or structures of any kindeven municipal prideare to her the equivalent of Marxs false consciousness. The only clue that Mrs. Woolf offers as to what she considers real rather than unreal loyalties occurs in a brief discussion of the Antigone of Sophocles: You want to know which are the unreal loyalties which we must despise, which are the real loyalties which we must honour? Consider Antigones distinction between the laws and the Law. . . . Private judgement is still free in private; and that freedom is the essence of freedom. Louis XIV claimed only that he was the state: Mrs. Woolf claimed that she was the Law. For Mrs. Woolf, loyalty to herself was the only real, true loyalty. It comes as no surprise that a thinker (or perhaps I should say a feeler) such as Mrs. Woolf, with her emotional and intellectual dishonesty, should collapse all relevant moral distinctions, a technique vital to all schools of resentment. Time and again we find her misappropriating the connotation of one thing and attaching it to another, by insinuating a false analogy: that since both the British policeman and the Nazi stormtrooper wore a uniform, the British policeman was a brute. It is one of the chief characteristics of modern rhetoric, designed not so much to find the truth as (in the words of former Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam) to maintain your rage. One would hardly guess from reading Three Guineas that it was written at a uniquely dangerous historical juncture, in the shadow of a barbaric threat. It would be unfair to blame Mrs. Woolf for lacking the prescience of the catastrophe to come that many other people lacked: though she had had the advantage of seeing the virulence of the Nazis firsthand when she toured Hitlers Germany with her Jewish husband, whom the Foreign Office had advised not to go, as his safety could not be assured. But all that the experience taught her was that English societywith its unfairness toward women, especially the daughters of the educated classwas proto-Nazi, if not worse. At least the Nazis had the courage of their brutality and were not hypocrites, like the English. Thus, when a man wrote to the newspaper to suggest that the employment of women was a cause of mass unemployment among men, and that the real place of women was in the home, Mrs. Woolf comments: There we have in embryo the creature, Dictator as we call him when he is Italian or German, who believes he has the right, whether given by God, Nature, sex or race is immaterial, to dictate to other human beings how they live; what they shall do. Comparing the letter writers views on the subject with those of Hitler, she continues: But where is the difference? Are they not both saying the same thing? Are they not both the voice of Dictators, whether they speak English or German, and are we not all agreed that the dictator when we meet him abroad is a very dangerous as well as a very ugly animal? And he is here among us, raising his ugly head, spitting his poison, small still, curled up like a caterpillar on a leaf, but in the heart of England. Is it not from this egg . . . to quote Mr Wells . . . that the practical obliteration of [our] freedom will spring? And is not the woman who has to breathe that poison and to fight that insect, secretly and without arms, in her office, fighting the Fascist or the Nazi as surely as those who fight him with arms in the limelight of publicity? Her inability to distinguish metaphor from the literal truth is unremitting. Discussing the struggle for female emancipation, she says: It is true that the combatants did not inflict flesh wounds; chivalry forbad; but you will agree that a battle that wastes time is as deadly as a battle that wastes blood. As deadly? As deadly? It is small wonder that Mrs. Woolf finds it difficult to draw a distinction between the Church of England and the Nazi party. Citing a Church of England commission that recommended against the ordination of women, she writes: The emphasis which both priests and dictators place upon the necessity for two worlds [the public for men and the domestic for women] is enough to prove that it is essential to their domination. Over and over she lets her rage and resentment blind her. Discussing the need, in the name of peace and the avoidance of all competition between people, to eschew all ceremonial and public distinctions, she writes that right-minded people such as she will dispense with personal distinctionsmedals, ribbons, badges, hoods, gownsnot from any dislike of personal adornment, but because of the obvious effect of such distinctions to constrict, to stereotype and to destroy. Here, as so often, the example of the Fascist States is at hand to instruct usfor if we have no example of what we wish to be, we have, what is probably equally valuable, a daily and illuminating example of what we do not wish to be. With the example, then, that they give us of the power of medals, symbols, orders . . . to hypnotize the human mind, it must be our aim not to submit ourselves to such hypnotism. There is thus no real difference between a university degree convocation and a Nuremberg rally. In reply to the lawyer who asks her for a contribution to promote peace, she writes: The whole iniquity of dictatorship, whether in Oxford or Cambridge, in Whitehall or in Downing Street, against Jews or against women, in England or in Germany, in Italy or in Spain, is now apparent to you. In other words, there is no relevant difference between the defects of Britain and those of Germany, or between the Garrick Club (which still admits no women members) and Treblinka. Referring to the dictator Creon in Sophocles Antigone, she writes, And he shut [Antigone] not in Holloway [the womens prison to which suffragettes who broke the law were briefly sent] or in a concentration camp, but in a tomb. Holloway equals a concentration camp: Mrs. Woolfs signature mode of argument. For Mrs. Woolf, the man in uniform is inherently evil, whether the uniform be that of the SS or the Great Western Railway, of the Gestapo or the Metropolitan Police. There is no difference; it all leads to the same calamity. Oddly enough, the one comparison that Mrs. Woolf does not make is that between the Nazis book-burning and her own proposal to burn down colleges with libraries, replacing the old books with new ones. The Nazis, too, were all in favor of new books. Had they ever occupied Britain, she would have found common cause with them, since to her the culture and intellectual freedom that the eminent peace-loving lawyer wants her to protect are rather abstract goddesses. A person who believed that all the established institutions of her own country were tyrannical, as tyrannical as those of the worst tyrannies ever established in the history of the world, and who believed that all loyalty to country or to anything other than ones own inner freedom was false, that all uniforms were equally evil and therefore that there was nothing to choose between them, that war on all occasions was a manifestation of male psychopathology and the desire to dominate brought about by competitive education, and that therefore there could be no such thing as a just war, would have made a wonderful collaborator, ready with every sophistical excuse to hand. She was most unlikely to be a furious defender of her country against the foreign invader: Mrs. Woolf believed she had nothing to defend, her life as the daughter of an educated man being already so intolerable. When in 1936 a British Member of Parliament, Sir E. F. Fletcher, urged the House of Commons to stand up to dictators, Mrs. Woolf saw not the desire to oppose radical evil but only a desire for dominance, exactly analogous in her opinion (and here I can hardly refrain from pointing out that I am rendering the literal truth of what she wrote) to the demand of a husband, whose wife appeared in a Bristol court at the same time as Fletcher made his speech, applying for financial support after she left him because he had insisted that she address him as Sir and obey his every command without delay. It was not even Hitler, nota bene, who was analogous in Mrs. Woolfs mind to the domineering husband, but the man who proposed to stand up to Hitler. There was no more intellectual freedom in Britain than in Nazi Germany, as far as Mrs. Woolf was concerned, because Mrs. Oliphant sold her brain, her very admirable brain, prostituted her culture and enslaved her intellectual liberty in order that she might earn her living, and all writers were more or less in the same position. She protests and complains as a woman and as a writer, but above all as a human being, who has discovered with bitterness that being born privileged does not alter the conditions and limitations of human existence. So what, in Mrs. Woolfs opinion, should women actually do if war with Germany came? Since it was evidently a matter of indifference if the Nazis won (every British male being already a virtual Nazi), the answer was obvious to Mrs. Woolf: they should do nothing. Their first duty . . . would be not to fight with arms. . . . Next they would refuse . . . to make munitions or nurse the wounded [because the prospect of being nursed if wounded would give men a perverse incentive to fight]. . . . [T]he next duty to which they would pledge themselves [would be] not to incite their brothers to fight, or to dissuade them, but to maintain an attitude of complete indifference. And she commended as wise and courageous the mayoress of the London suburb of Woolwich, who made a speech in December 1937, in which she said that she would not even so much as darn a sock to help in a war. Well, war cameas it happens, not so very long after Mrs. Woolf wrote her book and my mother arrived in England. Strangely enough, my mother, who was 17 at the time (about 40 years younger than Mrs. Woolf) and who had been denied an education in a far more forceful manner than anything to which Mrs. Woolf and the daughters of educated men had been subjected, was able despite her disadvantages to spot at once the morally relevant difference between Britain and her erstwhile homeland. Had Mrs. Woolfs views prevailed, of course, my mothers life would have been a short one. Failing to notice the brutal dictatorship under which the daughters of educated men lived, she became a fire-watcher by night during the Blitz and a mechanic constructing tank engines by day. She did not refuse to knit socks. Once the war started and the bombs began to fall (destroying the Woolfs London house), even Mrs. Woolf began to think that a Nazi victory might not be such a good thing. Even more astonishing, she began to see virtues in the very people whom previously she had only disdained. Writing to the composer Ethel Smyth in 1940, she said: What Im finding odd and agreeable and unwonted is the admiration this war createsfor every sort of person: chars, shopkeepers, even more remarkably, for politiciansWinston at leastand the tweed-wearing, sterling dull women here . . . with their grim good sense. Eventually, Mrs. Woolf must have wondered from what deep source the virtues she noticed had arisenor could they have been present all along and she had failed to notice them? Might the revelation by the war of the utter frivolity of her previous attitudinizing have contributed to her decision to commit suicide? If the good life is a matter of judgment, the war proved that all her adult life she had none. My mother, with her wrench by day and helmet by night, did more for civilization (a word that Mrs. Woolf enclosed in quotation marks in Three Guineas, as if did not really exist) than Mrs. Woolf had ever done, with her jeweled prose disguising her narcissistic rage. Had Mrs. Woolf survived to our time, however, she would at least have had the satisfaction of observing that her cast of mindshallow, dishonest, resentful, envious, snobbish, self-absorbed, trivial, philistine, and ultimately brutalhad triumphed among the elites of the Western world. Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images Weather Alert ...OZONE HIGH POLLUTION ADVISORY FOR MARICOPA COUNTY INCLUDING THE PHOENIX METRO AREA THURSDAY... The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has issued an Ozone High Pollution Advisory for the Phoenix Metro Area on Thursday. This means that forecast weather conditions combined with existing ozone levels are expected to result in local maximum 8-hour ozone concentrations that pose a health risk. Adverse health effects increase as air quality deteriorates. Ozone is an air contaminant which can cause breathing difficulties for children, older adults, as well as persons with respiratory problems. A decrease in physical activity is recommended. You are urged to car pool, telecommute or use mass transit. The use of gasoline-powered equipment should be reduced or done late in the day. For details on this High Pollution Advisory, visit the ADEQ internet site at www.azdeq.gov/forecast/phoenix or call 602-771-2300. BOSTON (AP)A Massachusetts man who was left a quadriplegic when his Uber vehicle crashed last year is seeking $63 million in damages in a negligence lawsuit he has filed against the ride-hailing platform. William Good, 31, of Somerville, alleges in the lawsuit that Uber failed to appropriately screen, hire and supervise their driver, resulting in severe and life-changing injuries to Mr. Good, who is now a quadriplegic. Good had hailed a ride to get from work in Boston to his home in Somerville on April 30, according to the suit. The suit filed Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court seeks a jury trial and $63 million for severe physical, mental and emotional injuries, extraordinary pain and suffering, and permanent disability. An Uber spokesperson told The Boston Globe the company could not comment on pending litigation. The driver had a driving history that included moving violations, crashes and citations, the suit says. I struggle daily with the knowledge that this Uber employee was hired as a professional driverthe last thing he should have been hired to do, Good told WCVB-TV. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Insurance payments to U.S. farmers for crops lost to droughts and flooding have risen more than threefold over the past 25 years, according to an analysis of federal data by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released on Thursday. The report reinforces concerns that insuring the nations crops will get more expensive for insurance companies, farmers and taxpayers as climate change drives more erratic weather events that disrupt agriculture. The federal government pays about 60% of the nations crop insurance premiums through taxpayer subsidies, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and those premiums tend to rise as insurance payouts grow. Insurance payments to farmers due to drought rose more than 400% between 1995 and 2020 to $1.65 billion, while payments due to excess moisture like floods rose nearly 300% to $2.61 billion, according to the nonprofit environmental group, which examined publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Reuters reviewed the data, which showed a steady upward trend in insurance payouts over the period. During the period analyzed by EWG, the number of insured acres grew just 84.5%, according to the data from the departments Risk Management Agency, which administers the federal crop insurance program. As extreme weather has become more frequent, the climate crisis has already increased insurance payments and premium subsidies. These costs are expected to go up even more, as climate change causes even more unpredictable weather conditions, EWG said in the report. The report did not detail average increases in premiums since 1995. The cost of insuring crops, however, could increase between 3.5% and 22% by 2080 due to climate change, even if farmers adapted what and where they plant, according to a 2019 USDA report. The most commonly insured crops include corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton. The federal crop insurance program requires farmers to meet minimal conservation standards, like not planting on land highly vulnerable to erosion. But Anne Weir Schechinger, the Midwest director of EWG, said those standards should be tougher. The program needs to be reformed so it encourages farmers to be resilient to extreme weather events that we know are ahead, she said. WASHINGTONThe White House on Thursday unveiled a plan to beef up cybersecurity in the nations water sector, an extension of its efforts to thwart attacks against critical infrastructure including electricity and natural gas pipeline operators. Senior administration officials said water facilities use automation and electronic networks that are vulnerable to cyber attacks, which could include producing unsafe water, stopping water flow to consumers, and damaging infrastructure. The administrations plan will push for the adoption of new technologies that offer early detection of cyber threats, improve response to such incidents, and provide the sharing of such data with the U.S. government. Cybersecurity has been a major focus for the Biden administration following a spate of high-profile cyber breaches that crippled American companies and government agencies, including a ransomware incident which disrupted gasoline supplies. Last year, hackers broke into the computer system of a facility that treats water for about 15,000 people near Tampa, Florida, and sought to add a dangerous level of additive to the water supply. In July, President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum to create performance controls for cybersecurity in the countrys most critical companies. He warned that if the U.S. ended up in a real shooting war with a major power it could be the result of a significant cyber attack on the United States, highlighting what Washington sees as a growing threat posed by hackers from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. The latest water sector initiative will be carried out in coordination with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Water Sector Coordinating Council. The EPA will invite water utilities to a pilot program, but participation will be voluntary, the officials said. A decision by a panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday will make it more difficult for insurers to deny claims by victims of phishing scams, which one industry group says have more than doubled in frequency since the advent of COVID-19. The appellate panel reversed a decision by the US District Court in Los Angeles that found a wire transfer induced by a spoofed email was not a direct loss as defined by a crime insurance policy issued by Hiscox. The opinion says the trial court had misinterpreted a previous appellate court ruling to require a more literal interpretation of directly than was required by the insurance contract. District Court Judge Andre Birotte Jr. dismissed Ernst & Haas Management Co.s claim to Hiscox because no money had been directly stolen from the companys bank account it was transferred by an employee who followed instructions in an email that she thought had been sent by her boss. The district courts interpretation overlooks the express language of the policy, which states that funds transfer fraud includes not only fraudulent instructions sent directly to a bank, but also fraudulent instructions initially received by an employee, the 9th Circuits opinion says. Either type of fraudulent instruction that results in directing a financial institution to transfer funds is covered by the policy. Numerous industry groups have reported that cybercrime has exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic, in part because businesses are relying on remote workers. The Anti-Phishing Working Group reported that as of the third quarter of 2021, the number of phishing attacks has more than doubled since early 2020, when it was observing 68,000 to 94,000 attacks per month. APGW observed 260,642 attacks in July 2021, the highest monthly attack count APWG had ever reported. Email spoofing, that is, deceiving someone by sending an email with an address that looks very similar to someone elses, is one form of phishing. The scheme cost Ernst & Haas, a property management firm in Long Beach, Calif., $200,000. Attorney Robert L. Bastain Jr., of Bastian & Dini in Beverly Hills, handled Ernst & Haas appeal. He said in an email to the Claims Journal that attorneys who work within the 9th Circuits jurisdiction have asked to be kept apprised of developments in the case, which tells him that other insureds are confronting similar coverage issues. The opinion provides welcome and authoritative clarity regarding how specific computer fraud and funds transfers clauses, and, in such context, direct causation are properly understood, he said. Ernst & Haas was scammed in March 2019, when an accounts payable clerk received an email from an address that appeared to belong to David Haas, the managing broker for the firm. The email instructed the employee to wire $50,000 to a Fifth Third Bank account owned by an entity called Zang Investments LLC. An invoice was attached. The employee thought the email was legitimate and instructed her employers bank to wire the money. The next week, the accounts payable clerk received a second email from the same address requesting a payment of $150,000, again with an email attached. The employee complied. But the employee became suspicious when she received a third email from the same address asking for a $470,000 payment. This time she forwarded the email to the real David Haas and asked if it was a legitimate request. Haas told her it wasnt. The employee tried to block the previous payments but the bank told her it was too late. Later, a manager reminded the employee that the companys protocols prohibit making payments via wire transfer. Ernst & Haas filed a claim with Hiscox to recover its $200,000. The insurer refused to pay. Hiscox contended that the loss was not covered because the policy required the loss to result directly from the use of a computer. Furthermore, the insurer contended that the account payables clerk violation of protocols triggered an exclusion in the policy. Judge Birotte said in his ruling that there is sparse legal authority, but he found a 9th Circuit unpublished decision in a case brought by Pestmaster Services against Travelers instructive. In that 2014 decision, the appellate court affirmed a ruling denying coverage for money that was stolen by a payroll company that had regularly withdrew funds from its clients bank account. The 9th Circuit panel said, however, that the facts in the Pestmaster case were very different than Ernst & Haas claim. For one thing, the thief in Pestmaster had authority to withdraw funds. The theft occurred after the first authorized transfer, when monies were diverted to another unauthorized account. Here, Ernst immediately lost its funds when the funds were transferred as directed by the fraudulent email, and there was no intervening event, the panels opinion says. The appellate court remanded the case back to the Central District of California. Other issues remain to be decided: Ernst & Haas alleges that Hiscox skinnied down its insurance coverage without giving notice when it renewed the policy in 2019, a violation of California law. The district court and the appellate court decisions assume that the language in the previous version of the policy was still in force, so a decision that the later policy applied might have bearing on the outcome. Ernst & Youngs lawsuit also accuses Hiscox of bad faith and unfair trade practices, which could result in an award for more damages. About the photo: The reception area for Ernst & Haas office in Long Beach, Calif. is shown in this office taken from the companys website. Claremore, OK (74018) Today Thunderstorms. A few storms may be severe. High 63F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Low 61F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. China cuts 1.1 trln yuan of taxes, fees in 2021 Xinhua) 10:44, January 27, 2022 BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- China cut about 1.1 trillion yuan (about 173.9 billion U.S. dollars) of taxes and fees in 2021 amid the country's efforts to bolster economic growth and strengthen market vitality, the top tax authority said on Wednesday. Last year, the country rolled out a slew of preferential policies on deducting and deferring taxes and fees to shore up the industrial economy and support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, Wang Daoshu, deputy head of the State Taxation Administration, told a press conference. A total of 216.2 billion yuan of tax payments were deferred for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the manufacturing sector last year, Wang said. He added that enterprises in the coal, power and heating industries saw 27.1 billion yuan in tax cuts, rebates and deferrals. China's tax income, excluding export tax rebates, stood at 15.46 trillion yuan and achieved the government's annual target, Wang noted. Tax income accounted for 15.1 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2021, edging down 0.1 percentage points and 3 percentage points from that of 2020 and 2015, respectively, indicating that tax burdens on market entities were further eased, Wang said. In 2021, China has given full play to the role of taxation in making cross-cycle and counter-cycle adjustments while focusing on sustaining smaller businesses, technological innovation and the real economy, said Cai Zili, an official with the administration. Thanks to the implementation of preferential measures, China's small and micro firms saw tax cuts increase by 295.1 billion yuan last year, and their taxes per 100 yuan of sales revenue dipped by 12.4 percent year on year, official data showed. "Market vitality has been further boosted," Wang said, citing that the country saw 13.26 million firms that were newly set up in 2021 and have engaged in tax-related activities, up 15.9 percent year on year. Meanwhile, enterprises have gained improved innovation impetus due to declining spending on research and development, Cai said. Research and development expenditure by the country's key tax source firms in the manufacturing sector increased by 22.6 percent from a year ago. Tax payment services have been further facilitated in the country, as 90 percent of tax payment services and 99 percent of tax filing services are accessible online, according to the administration. The country will introduce more measures on tax and fee cuts this year while giving priority to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, individual businesses and the manufacturing industry, Cai added. China's fiscal revenue rose 10.7 percent year on year to hit 20.25 trillion yuan in 2021, nearly doubling from the 2012 figure of 11.73 trillion yuan, official data showed. Stronger measures will be taken to cut fees and taxes to support market entities this year with a combination of fiscal incentives, said Xu Hongcai, vice minister of finance. The measures will be more precise and sustainable to meet the needs of market entities, he said. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) Politicians and residents from Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, speak during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday, to protest POSCO's plan to set up a holding company in Seoul. Courtesy of North Gyeongsang Provincial Government By Park Jae-hyuk POSCO is facing a severe backlash from residents and politicians in its home city of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, over its plan to set up a holding company in Seoul, while spinning off a subsidiary in charge of its successful steelmaking business. North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo, Pohang Mayor Lee Kang-deok and lawmakers representing the city's residents made a statement at the National Assembly, Thursday, in protest of the envisioned relocation of POSCO's head office. The city's politicians also plan to visit the POSCO Center building in Seoul, where an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders is scheduled for Friday to vote on the spinoff plan. They claimed that POSCO is disregarding Pohang citizens, who have endured pollution from POSCO's steel mill over the past half century, with the abrupt announcement of its restructuring plan late last year. "For balanced regional developments, companies in the capital area should move to non-capital areas, but POSCO is trying to establish its holding company in Seoul and locate its R&D facility in the capital region," the Pohang mayor said. The North Gyeongsang Province governor described POSCO's plan as "retrogressive." "Through sincere communication, we hope POSCO's spinoff enables the development of Pohang," Rep. Kim Jung-jae of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) said. They asked POSCO to stay in Pohang or come up with specific benefits for the citizens, if it wants the residents to accept its spinoff plan. Politicians from Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, pose with main opposition People Power Party's presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, second from left, at the party's headquarters in Seoul, Thursday, after delivering their opinion on POSCO's plan to set up a holding company in Seoul. Courtesy of North Gyeongsang Provincial Government Viewed 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 recent letter delivered to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres by 200 former senior U.N. officials included a bleak warning regarding the consequences should diplomacy fail to end Russias aggression against Ukraine. Such an outcome would mean that the U.N. becoming increasingly irrelevant and, eventually, succumbing to the fate of its predecessor, the League of Nations, with the human losses and material destruction that went with it, the letter declared. By Kim Jae-heun British American Tobacco (BAT) Korea Manufacturing, also known as BAT Sacheon Factory, successfully finished its employee training program in collaboration with Gyeongsang National University (GNU), Wednesday. BAT Sacheon Factory has been operating its Technical Growth Academy (TGA) with GNU to cultivate technicians since last year. The graduation ceremony was held at the university's Jinnong Hall, located in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province. TGA is a joint training system organized with GNU designed to raise the competency of BAT's technical operators and develop their managerial skills. Last year, BAT Sacheon Factory selected six qualified employees to receive systematic training in industrial technology, foreign languages, leadership and Microsoft Office User Specialist (MoS) courses for six months. Kim Ji-hyong, BAT Sacheon Factory's head of manufacturing, participated in the TGA graduation ceremony on the day, along with Oh Seok-gyu, the head of GNU's Leaders in Industry-University Cooperation Plus (LINC) Program. BAT Sacheon Factory donated 15 million won ($13,474) to the university's development fund. "I am very pleased with the successful outcome of BAT's cooperation with GNU to bolster talent development among our technical employees. I hope our employees who participated in the education program will become promising managers to lead BAT Sacheon Factory in the future," Kim said. Earlier this month, BAT Sacheon Factory signed a memorandum of understanding to cooperate with GNU's Research Institute Future Applied Technology in the area of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG). BAT and GNU have been working together to promote technological innovation and local skill exchanges. BAT plans to expand its investments in the environmental category using the institute as a platform. BAT Group is a multinational consumer goods company, founded in 1902. It runs businesses in 180 countries around the world and leads markets in more than 50 nations. BAT Group has set the goals of going carbon-neutral and securing 50 million consumers of non-combustible products by 2030. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong visits ASML's headquarters in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in October 2020, and inspects EUV equipment with Kim Ki-nam, the then-Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics DS Division. From left, ASML CTO Martin van den Brink, Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, former Vice Chairman Kim Ki-nam and ASML CEO Peter Wennink. Yonhap By Kim Hyun-bin Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong is expected to travel to Europe for business purposes during the Lunar New Year holiday to enhance cooperation in the semiconductor business as well as pursue possible M&A opportunities. There are reports that Lee is preparing to leave for such a trip this weekend during the Lunar New Year holidays. There had been observations that he would visit Europe at the end of last year, but the trip was put on hold due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. If the vice chairman's Europe trip becomes a reality, system semiconductors are expected to become its main focus, as Samsung Electronics has vowed to become the global leader in the sector by 2030. The company has been expanding its production capabilities at its Pyeongtaek plant and U.S. plant located in Texas. During his last European trip in October 2020, Lee visited ASML's headquarters in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and met with CEO Peter Wennink and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Martin van den Brink to discuss cooperation plans. Back then, Lee opened the door for Samsung Electronics to secure reservations for extreme ultraviolet (EUV) equipment. He is expected to take on the same role this time around as well. The demand for EUV has skyrocketed after it started to be implemented in DRAM manufacturing, which is a reason behind Intel's announcement that it will re-enter the foundry market, as the competition to secure EUV equipment is growing fiercer. There is also the possibility that Lee could discuss large-scale M&As in Europe. "There will be good (M&A) results soon," Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee hinted on the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 5. "We are looking at quite a lot (of firms), with a lot of possibilities." Samsung Electronics' cash holdings exceed more than 100 trillion won, and analog semiconductor companies, such as NXP in the Netherlands, Infineon Technologies in Germany and STMicroelectronics in Switzerland, are constantly being mentioned as possible M&A candidates. In addition, the fact that Vice Chairman Han headed to Europe right after CES seems to be adding weight to Lee's possible trip to Europe this weekend. "There is no clear schedule known for the vice chairman for the Lunar New Year holidays," a Samsung Group spokesperson said. Alice Stuedemann, 89 of Camanche, formerly of Clinton, passed away April 30th at Mercy One Hospital. Visitation and services are being planned for Monday, May 9th at St. John Lutheran Church. Pape Funeral Home is assisting the family. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Parents of children with existing illnesses are encouraged to secure a clearance from their pediatricians prior to their COVID-19 shots starting next month. Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source on Thursday, Philippine Medical Association president Benny Atienza said that like adults, children aged 5-11 who are immunocompromised also need to be screened and get clearance from their doctors to prevent complications once they get their doses. "Katulad ng sa adults, lahat ng may comorbidities, they should have a certificate of authorization from their doctors, pediatricians," he said. "They should be given ample time para maexplain sa parents especially the kid bakit siya bibigyan ng vaccine." [Translation: Like the adults, children with comorbidities should have a certificate of authorization from their doctors, pediatricians. They should be given ample time to explain to the parents, especially to the kid why he needs to get a vaccine.] READ: Vaccination of kids 5-11 to start on Feb. 4 Galvez The vaccination drive for the said age group, which consists of over 15.56 million children, will start on Feb. 4. "The parents should know how the vaccine will be administered, they should also know that they (children) will be given a 0.2mL of the vaccine, and the only brand (to be) given to them is the Pfizer brand," Atienza pointed out. He also said that it would be better to conduct the inoculation for children with underlying medical issues in a hospital setting, though authorities must still ensure that other vaccination sites are just as safe, conducive, and well-ventilated. Atienza's group earlier proposed to hold National Vaccination Days dedicated to the younger children, so that parents have the time to bring them and monitor their condition at the inoculation sites. He also advised parents to keep the contact details of their child's pediatrician ready ahead of the inoculation so they can have easy access to necessary precautions or guidance in case of emergencies. RELATED: COVID-19 vaccination for kids 5-11: What you need to know Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) The Commission on Elections warned on Thursday against social media accounts impersonating its key officials. In a statement, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the proliferation of the fake profiles on online platforms such as Facebook and Twitter is potentially part of a broader attempt to undermine the integrity of the elections. The poll body urged the public not to accept any such suspicious friend or follow request, and instead report the accounts for violation of the platforms policy on impersonation. Earlier, a fake profile under the name of Commissioner Marlon Casquejo surfaced on Twitter. Apart from closely coordinating with social media platforms to take down these profiles and accounts, the Comelec stands ready to take legal action against the perpetrators," Jimenez said. Kremlin deputy chief of staff Dmitry Kozak, left, and Russian Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov give a press conference at the Russian Ambassador's residence in Paris, Jan. 26. Envoys from Moscow and Kyiv committed to a fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine during talks in Paris, Wednesday, and agreed to continue their discussions against the backdrop of warnings that Russia may be preparing to invade its neighbor. AFP-Yonhap Envoys from Moscow and Kyiv committed to a fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine during talks in Paris, Wednesday, and agreed to continue their discussions against the backdrop of warnings that Russia may be preparing to invade its neighbor. A Russian troop build-up close to the border with eastern Ukraine has raised fears the Kremlin is planning to intervene in its pro-EU neighbor to halt NATO's expansion in Eastern Europe. A French diplomat said that more than eight hours of discussions brokered by France and Germany had sent a "good signal." A German government source later confirmed that the next round would take place in Berlin in the second week of February. An aide to French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed that the talks had been about resolving the separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014, not the threat of a Russian invasion. But "the question was whether the Russians wanted to signal a thaw," he said, adding that the "difficult" discussions had ultimately resulted in something positive. "In the current circumstances, we received a good signal," he said. For the first time since 2019, Ukraine and Russia agreed to sign a joint statement along with France and Germany about the ongoing conflict between Ukrainian forces and separatists in the east of the country. The four nations have been working towards reaching a peace deal for eastern Ukraine since 2014 and are known collectively as the Normandy Group. "However difficult the discussions have been since December 2019, the Normandy Group has been able to agree on several key points," the French aide said. The joint statement committed both sides to "an unconditional respect for the ceasefire" and also said that they would meet again in two weeks' time in Berlin. A 2014 ceasefire deal bolstered in 2020 helped end the worst fighting over two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine that has claimed some 13,000 lives. Western countries have been concerned that Russia could use a flare up in fighting along the front between Ukrainian soldiers and separatists as a pretext to launch an invasion of its neighbor. Chess pieces are seen in front of displayed Russian and U.S. flags in this photo taken Jan. 26. Reuters-Yonhap The Kremlin's envoy Dmitry Kozak said the main outcome of the four-way talks was the agreement on keeping the ceasefire. He said that "despite all the differences in interpretations, we agreed that the ceasefire (in eastern Ukraine) must be maintained by all the parties in line with the accords." "We need a supplementary pause," he said. "We hope that this process will have results in two weeks." He said that the Berlin talks would take place at the same level as the Paris session, adding that for the moment a summit involving heads of state was "not on the agenda." "We hope our colleagues have understood our arguments and that in two weeks we will achieve results," said Kozak, who is also the deputy head of President Vladimir Putin's administration. He insisted that the situation in the east of Ukraine where pro-Russia separatists have declared breakaway regions and the tensions along the border were "two separate issues." Ukraine's envoy Andriy Yermak, speaking to reporters separately, said that the talks were "not easy". "The support for the sustainable ceasefire is extremely important," he said, adding that there were differences over the interpretation of the Minsk Agreement which ended the worst of the fighting in 2014. "The very important thing is that today's communique is the first meaningful document we managed to agree on since December 2019" when Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky met in Paris. (AFP) Metro Manila (CNN Philippines January 27) The Department of Education has provided all public schools in the country with yearly access to Adobe Creative Cloud to improve the digital literacy of teachers and students. Adobe Creative Cloud is a collection of Adobe desktop software and mobile applications for photography, video, and design to name a few. It can be accessed through an Adobe Federated ID linked with the respective school email address, which was made available on Jan. 15. In a statement, the DepEd said its Office of the Undersecretary for Administration, through the Information and Communications Technology Service, partnered with Adobe to procure around 108,000 licenses. It also partnered with Creative Nation Academy to share its knowledge and expertise on the use of such tools. "DepEd must provide these licenses to our public schools because we are now in the creative development era. Anyone can be a content creator due to the simplification and adaptability of existing mobile devices where learning and design can blend as one," Education Undersecretary Alain Del Pascua said. Pascua added that DepEd is preparing students to be globally inclined and encouraging them to use industry-standard software to give them greater opportunities of landing a job. For Mark Sy, ICTS-Educational Technology Unit head, it is important to open gateways for educators as they are molding the learners. He also said desktop software and mobile applications can help generate competitive graduates who will help the Philippines in [raising] global digital skills standards that contribute to nation-building. The DepEd earlier recommended expanding the implementation of limited in-person classes by February, which will only include areas under lower alert levels. President Rodrigo Duterte has no objection to such move. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) If he wins the presidency, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said he intends to consider COVID-19 as endemic, but stressed his administration would remain aggressive in responding to the coronavirus. "Given a chance, I'll treat it as an endemic because mas maraming namamatay sa ibang sakit... dala nang hindi na nakakapunta dahil napupuno nang napupuno 'yong ating mga hospital," he told talk show host Boy Abunda when asked about his programs to combat COVID-19. [Translation: Given a chance, I'll treat it as an endemic because more people die from other diseases since they are unable to visit hospitals as they reach full capacity.] The presidential hopeful even mentioned that other countries like Spain have started considering COVID-19 as a "normal flu." The mayor said his administration would "confront" COVID-19, similar to how he approached the health crisis in Manila City. "What we have done in Manila is to really confront COVID-19, and prepare for any worst scenario. We acquire medicines, we acquire oxygen, we acquire facilities, we acquire more medical frontliners, then at the same time bukas ang ekonomiya (our economy is open)," he said. Moreno added that vaccination efforts would be further strengthened, while also equipping the healthcare system with existing antiviral medicines. "We must be aggressive. We can learn how to live with COVID," he said. The aspirant also bared his plan to push for the creation of an agency that would focus on producing medicines and vaccines to boost the Philippines' capacity against future pandemics. Tanay, Rizal (CNN Philippines, January 27) Vice President Leni Robredo said she stands by what she calls her "honest opinion" during Boy Abunda's "political fast talk" segment, where she was asked why voters should not choose her fellow presidential aspirants. In that interview, Robredo called former Senator Bongbong Marcos a liar, and someone who doesn't show up during difficult moments. She also said Manila Mayor Isko Moreno's stance on many things is unclear, Senator Ping Lacson talks a lot but lacks action on the ground, and that Senator Manny Pacquiao's good intentions are not enough. READ: Robredo calls Marcos liar, criticizes other rivals During her visit to her office's Swab Cab program in Tanay, the Vice President defended her statements, saying she answered what she thought she needed to say. "Alam ko na may mga mara-ruffle ako na feathers pero tinatanong kasi ako eh. Ayoko naman na sumagot na parang umiiwas, sa akin lang 'yung tanong, sinagot ko," Robredo said. [Translation: I know that I will ruffle some feathers, but I was asked. I don't want to evade the question, so I just answered it.] Her response did not sit well with Lacson who tweeted he's not just after the attention when it comes to helping people in need. Marcos' spokesperson lawyer Vic Rodriguez, meanwhile, said the former senator "does not and will not engage in negative and hateful campaigning." For the Vice President, she'd rather not drag out the conversation. "Ready naman ako, ready ako pero para mag-react pa sa mga reaction nila, tingin ko hindi naman necessary na," she said. [Translation: I'm ready, but I think it's no longer necessary for me to react to their reactions.] Brunswick, GA (31520) Today Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 66F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Armando Vicente Chilel-Lopez was killed in a shooting in Georgetown on Jan. 23. A vigil in his memory and that of Honorio Velasquez, who was also killed in the shooting, is set for Jan. 27 on The Circle in Georgetown. A great blue heron perches on a piling on White Creek in Millville. Local boaters who use the waterway are among those who are in favor of a planned dredging project on the creek. At least one local environmentalist wants to make sure that the timing of the work doesn't negatively impact local species. Staff Reporter Mike has bachelors and masters degrees in journalism from Northwestern and is a 25-year member of the National Press Club. He has won four national writing awards for editorial work. He is a native of McLean, Va., and lives in Millville. On Wednesday, Penn State's Gender Equity Center hosted Robin Brockelsby an entrepreneur, speaker and leadership consultant as the keynote speaker for Stalking Awareness Month, which began on Jan. 1. In the Freeman Auditorium in the HUB-Robeson Center, Brockelsby, who has advocated for stalking awareness for 20 years, shared her own experience with stalking as well as educate Penn State students on the issue of stalking. Then, Brockelsby opened her discussion by asking the audience, Have you ever had an experience in your life that you think about on a regular basis? Mine was when I got a text message life as you know it will never be the same, Brockelsby said. She told the story of her stalking experience and shared the tools she wished she had, how to understand and recognize stalking, ways to stay safe and provided a list of resources specifically for Penn State students. At Penn State, students have access to the National Domestic Hotline, Penn State Public Health and Safety, Victim Connect Resource Center and RAINN the national sexual assault hotline among other resources. Next, Brockelsby spoke about the lack of education surrounding stalking, and how beginning to understand what it means to be stalked is the first step in keeping safe. Having served as the president of Crisis Support Services of Nevada, she said she "didn't even know about" the crisis line back then. When they called me and invited me on the board, I told them Im going to join because I know I would have called you the day I needed you most, Brockelsby said. Meeting with a Victim Advocate, Brockelsby said, allowed her to realize she wasnt at fault for what was happening to her. Guilt is a common feeling among survivors of stalking, sexual assault, domestic violence as well as other crimes targeting an individual to inspire fear, she said. It was that woman, that Victim Advocate, and that moment in that day that I realized 'oh my God, this is not my fault.' She gave me a list of the behaviors of stalking, Brockelsby said. I knew they were bad behaviors, but didnt know they were considered stalking. Audience member Abby Wincott said she encourages her peers to come out to events such as this as a way to begin to understand the reality of stalking. Stalking is so much more prevalent than people realize and people should not just brush it off, Wincott (sophomore-criminology) said. In addition to self education, Brockelsby suggested staying fit and exercising, telling friends what's going on and find a way to get your strength and empowerment back. She also recommended the app Tech Safety as well as turning off location services on cell phones. Brockelsby left the audience with statistics about how often people are stalked and the most common age group, which is between the 18-24 range. Nearly one in seventeen people are stalked or experience stalking in their lifetime, Brockelsby said. These statistics shocked attendees, like student DJ Impavido, and brought attention to the likelihood of being a stalking victim, according to Brockelsby. My biggest takeaway is that I did not realize how much stalking happens on college campuses, Impavido (senior-security risk analysis) said. RELATED The state Capitol building in Denver is seen on Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. The Mile High City has already shattered its 87-year-old record for the latest measurable snowfall set on Nov. 21, 1934, and was a little more than a week away from breaking an 1887 record of 235 consecutive days without snow. The scenario is playing out across much of the Rocky Mountains, as far north as Montana and in the broader Western United States, which is experiencing a megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change. A car sits among the remains of a destroyed house after a tornado in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. AP Photo/Michael Clubb 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. Are you a current print subscriber to Columbia Gorge News? If so, you qualify for free access to all content on columbiagorgenews.com. Simply verify with your subscriber id to receive free access. Your subscriber id may be found on your bill or mailing label. You must be logged in to participate in the Show Me the Errors contest. 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 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. 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 319-352-3334 or email legals@waverlynewspapers.com. Read the main article: The battle for van Gogh's 'The Night Cafe' Our other van Goghs Connecticut is home to five Vincent van Gogh paintings on public display, three at the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven and two at Hartfords Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. (The Wadsworth's van Goghs are currently on loan to other institutions and will return this summer.) Along with The Night Cafe (Arles, 1888; gift of Stephen C. Clark, 1960), Yale has Square Saint-Pierre, Paris (Paris, 1887) and Orchard Bordered by Cypresses (Arles, 1888). Wadsworth displays Self-Portrait (Paris, 1887) and Vase with Poppies (Paris, 1886). Self-Portrait was bequeathed by New York collector Philip Goodwin in 1954 and Vase with Poppies joined the collection in a bequest from writer and French Impressionist collector Anne Parrish Titzell in 1957, says Oliver Tostmann, the Susan Morse Hilles curator of European art at the Wadsworth. Both are highlights of our European collection. It is wonderful to see that van Gogh still holds a special place in the hearts of the general public. We are proud of offering our visitors an opportunity to study van Gogh up close with two paintings from formative years in his career. A van Gogh, without a doubt For decades, one of Connecticuts five van Goghs was kept tucked away at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art as uncertainty swirled around its authenticity. In fact, it was hung like corporate art on a wall of the Hartford museums accounting office for a time. While the painting Vase with Poppies came to the Wadsworth in a bequest from the writer and French Impressionist collector Anne Parrish Titzell in 1957, along with works by Renoir, Monet and Redon, it was difficult to confidently authenticate due to questions about van Goghs practices remaining unresolved. But in 2019, Vase with Poppies was finally authenticated by specialists at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Experts determined that the painting was technically and stylistically consistent with van Goghs documented work in 1886. The finding means the Wadsworth is home to two van Goghs, Vase with Poppies and Self-Portrait, both painted during his Paris period in 1886-87. The Wadsworth conservation lab used digital X-rays and advanced infrared reflectograms that revealed the presence of an earlier painting beneath the current composition. The findings made sending Vase with Poppies to the Van Gogh Museum for advanced study the logical next step. Their work, analyzing the paint, materials, linen and style, enabled a level of professional scrutiny and artist-specific context to arrive at the judgment of authenticity with great confidence. Vase with Poppies fits stylistically with a group of works the artist made shortly after arriving in Paris in the spring of 1886. Van Gogh took advantage of the easy access to flowers as he reinvented his stylistic approach after two years of depicting peasant life. His embrace of a more vibrant palette and light-filled renderings of humble subjects flowers, nuts and fruit is evident in his simple composition of cut poppies in a plain cylindrical vase. It was a pleasure for our museum to work together with the Wadsworth Atheneum on this particular project, says Louis van Tilborgh, senior researcher at the Van Gogh Museum, and professor of art history, specializing in van Gogh, at the University of Amsterdam. FROM THE ARCHIVES: Exploring "Our Treasures" in Connecticut's museums (August 2011) Preserving the classics Compared with other paintings and objects at the Yale University Art Gallery, Vincent van Goghs The Night Cafe, circa 1888, is a mere pup. Founded in 1832, the gallery is the oldest university art museum in the U.S., showcasing pieces from many centuries ago. We own one of the oldest European paintings in America, dating to about 1230, notes Laurence Kanter, the gallerys chief curator. But old paintings dont just last and last, unfortunately. They are all vulnerable to one thing or another, depending on what theyre made with. The earliest European paintings were on wood, for example. The oldest ones surviving are from the 12th century. Not because there werent older ones than that once upon a time, but wood just doesnt last long it falls apart. The Night Cafe features van Goghs famous use of thick, heavy oils, which one might assume would help preserve its longevity. On the contrary, Kanter says. Oil has peculiar drying characteristics, he explains. It takes a very long time for oil paints to dry, and they tend to dry from the surface down, where they are exposed to air and dry first. Some van Goghs are so thickly painted that the underlayers are still wet. So if there was an accident, if the painting fell or a crack developed, you risk actually losing some pigment. And some of the pigments van Gogh used are light sensitive. Many artists use light-sensitive pigments. One of our most beautiful paintings [van Goghs Square Saint-Pierre, Paris (Paris, 1887)] has a particular purple color that fades in sunlight, so all of that purple is now gone. The picture is intact and all the paint is there, but the colors gone. Having the museum closed for multiple months due to the pandemic actually helped in terms of keeping the artworks in good condition. When we were closed, the paintings and objects remained on view, except works on paper, which are light sensitive, Kanter says. We were able to have conservators examining works of art that seemed like they might be at risk. But frankly, at this point for most museums, security and climate-control systems are so well calibrated and technologically advanced that you know when somethings a problem. One of the advantages of not having people in the building is that it doesnt change the humidity levels because there are no crowds. Hartfords Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art features an Egyptian portrait from the third century AD. These kinds of works are extremely fragile and susceptible to cracking and flaking with changes in temperature and humidity, so they are sealed within a stable environmental chamber, says Allen Kosanovich, Wadsworth paintings conservator. Safeguarding art is always a concern, but Kanter acknowledges there is only so much to be done. We get reports of people who have touched works of art, he says. Not maliciously, but sometimes just out of curiosity. But repeated touchings can do damage. We carefully monitor everything. But we dont want to hide it all behind glass or plexiglass. What would be the point? You are supposed to be able to see and appreciate these things directly. We trust the goodwill of our visitors, to a certain extent, and are as careful as we possibly can be, both with security in advance and with care after the fact. When told that I was to visit the gallery on the following Saturday, Kanters reply was succinct: Dont touch anything. FROM THE ARCHIVES: "Connecticut and the American Impressionists" (March 1980) The Night Cafe comes alive Vincent van Goghs work Starry Night, Cafe Terrace at Night, Sunflowers, self-portraits and, yes, The Night Cafe lives on in many ways. A 2017 film, Loving Vincent, is the worlds first feature-length, oil-painted animation. Each of the films 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, created using the same techniques as van Gogh by a team of 125 artists drawn from around the globe. The Night Cafe is shown in a major scene in the film, with characters walking around, then sitting at a table conversing. Other than viewing his paintings in museums, there are cinematic van Gogh exhibitions, also including The Night Cafe. One, Beyond Van Gogh, is scheduled to be in Danbury soon (vangoghdanbury.com). It uses cutting-edge projection technology to create an engaging journey into the world of the artist and his works. Using his dreams, thoughts and words to drive the experience as a narrative, images move along walls wrapped in light, color and shapes that swirl, dance and refocus into flowers, cafes and landscapes. Masterpieces, freed from frames, come alive, appear and disappear, and flow across multi-surfaces. Through van Goghs own words set to a symphonic score, the experience offers a new appreciation of this tortured artists moving creations. MC Revisiting The Night Cafe, 50 years on Our family moved to New Haven from New Jersey in 1963 when I was 8 years old. My dad bought me a bicycle that would be my mode of transportation for years, taking me places after school and on weekends. Downtown New Haven and the Yale University campus that dominates it were my usual destinations. The Chapel Square Mall, now an apartment complex, held some interest, usually to get free food samples from Hickory Farms and drink samples from Orange Julius. Browsing in Cutlers Record Shop, gone since 2012, taught me about rock music, as tunes played non-stop. The Yale Co-Op, a department store also now just a memory, was a place to buy candy, page through magazines and generally loiter. The Peabody Museum of Natural History, currently under a transformative renovation, was a regular Saturday stop. I still have the 10 little bronze dinosaurs I bought for 60 cents each. The Yale buildings, quads and dorms seemed endless. One day I wandered into the Yale University Art Gallery on Chapel Street. There on the second floor, hanging serenely on a wall was Vincent van Goghs The Night Cafe. I was mesmerized by the vibrancy of the colors, the thickness of the oils and the billiards table in the middle of it. I can still recall wondering why people seemed to be sleeping at the tables. Who was that guy standing in the white suit? What was that man whispering to the woman? And why so many empty bottles on the tables? Alcohol, vagrants and women of the night were unknown to me. Going to see The Night Cafe became a regular stop. I even bought a small print in the gift shop and taped it to my bedroom wall. A few years later we moved to Bethany, way too far to bike downtown anymore. It only took five decades and undertaking this story for me to revisit the gallery and The Night Cafe. This past December I reserved a ticket on a Saturday to get reacquainted with an old friend. There it was. Getting closer and closer, finally just a foot or so away, I remembered why I was so enchanted by it. The oils so thick and pretty. The 3D effect of a van Gogh oil painting is like no other. There is simply nothing like seeing it up close in person. The vivid pink flowers in the vase looked like they could have been brushstroked to the canvas days ago. Other people were politely waiting with social distancing required, so I moved on. I went to see the other two van Goghs at the gallery. Lovely, but following my joyful 50-year reunion with The Night Cafe, they were anticlimactic. I exited the gallery happy to have reconnected with the past. Freelance writer Michael Catarevas was for 20-plus years the founding editor of two globally circulated health and fitness magazines. His wife Eve is a childrens book author, and son Ben a 2020 UConn graduate working for a leading technology company. They live with their three rescue cats in Westport. This article appears in the February 2022 issue of Connecticut Magazine. You can subscribe to Connecticut Magazine here, or find the current issue on sale here. Sign up for our newsletter to get our latest and greatest content delivered right to your inbox. Have a question or comment? Email editor@connecticutmag.com. And follow us on Facebook and Instagram @connecticutmagazine and Twitter @connecticutmag. 01/27/2022 Photo (c) nicoletaionescu - Getty Images A new study conducted by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital explored some of the factors that may contribute to consumers' diabetes risk. The team identified two important risk factors in consumers ability to regulate their blood sugar: eating late at night and carrying the melatonin receptor MTNR1B. Those who carry the MTNR1B gene and eat dinner close to bedtime may struggle to control their blood sugar levels, which may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. Our study results may be important in the effort towards prevention of type 2 diabetes, said researcher Frank A.J.L. Scheer, Ph.D. Our findings are applicable to about a third of the population in the industrialized world who consume food close to bedtime, as well as other populations who eat at night, including shift workers, or those experiencing jet lag or night eating disorders, as well as those who routinely use melatonin supplements close to food intake. Avoiding food close to bedtime may be beneficial The researchers had nearly 900 participants involved in the study. The team analyzed the group's genetic make-up to see which participants carried the MTNR1B gene. The participants then took part in a two-day experiment that required them to fast for eight hours, then alternate between an early dinner and a late dinner while keeping their usual bedtime. In natural late eaters, we simulated early and late dinner timing by administering a glucose drink and compared effects on blood sugar control over two hours, said researcher Richa Saxena, Ph.D. We also examined differences between individuals who were carriers or not carriers of the genetic variant in the melatonin receptor. The researchers learned that eating dinner close to bedtime made it difficult for the participants to maintain their blood sugar levels. Eating late at night was associated with higher blood sugar levels but lower overall insulin levels. Those who carried the gene for the melatonin receptor were the most affected by later dinner times. Participants who had the MTNR1B gene and also ate close to their bedtime had higher blood sugar levels than those without the gene. While the researchers plan to do more work in this area, they hope these findings highlight to consumers that eating too close to bedtime may come with some unintended health risks. Genotype information for the melatonin receptor variant may further aid in developing personalized behavioral recommendations, Dr. Saxena said. Notably, our study does not include patients with diabetes, so additional studies are needed to examine the impact of food timing and its link with melatonin and receptor variation in patients with disabilities. The memorial service for Judith McFerran Robertson will be held at Algiers United Methodist Church, 637 Opelousas Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70114 at 2PM on Sunday, May 22, 2022 with Reverend JoAnne Pounds officiating. The obituary for Judi can be viewed and online condolences made at www.shule It is worth recalling how Marfanis his father gave away everything of his to INA. Hailing from Dhoraji, Marfani migrated to Rangoon, the capital of Burma (now Myanmar), and became one of the rich business magnates of Rangoon. In 1943, Netaji formed Azad Hind government and Azad Hind Bank. Later, at in a huge meeting on July 9, 1944, Netaji made an appeal to the public for total mobilisation. Marfani responded to the call of Netaji in full measure by sacrificing all that he had, and thus acquiring for himself a prominent place in the chapter of total mobilisation in the history of INA. Marfani magnanimously handed over a plateful of gold jewellery and cash along with a bundle of title deeds of his total property, all about the worth Rs 1 crore and 3 lakh (estimated to be worth Rs 500 crore at the present value) to Netaji. He requested Netaji to provide him with two pairs of INA uniform and allow him to serve as its full-time volunteer. Marfani's son Noor Mohmmad Habib has described how, delighted with the total sacrifice of Marfani, Netaji said, Brother, I am very happy today that people have started realising their duties People are ready to sacrifice everything. What Habib Sheth has done is commendable, and those who emulate him to serve the motherland are praiseworthy. Netaji asked Marfani to be the Director General of the Azad Hind Bank. He became his devotee in the struggle for the freedom of the motherland. In his article, published in the "Memon Welfare Magazine" (November 2006) Noor Mohammad, giving the background of the Marfani family said, Habib Seh and his wife Hajarabai Ali Mohmmad had one son and three daughters. He never returned to Dhoraji after he left his native before the first world war. His son once visited Dhoraji in 1960s. One of the three daughters of Marfani, Fatimabai, shifted to New York with her husband. Other two daughters, Ayesha and Mariam, died earlier. Younus Chitalwala says, We have almost lost track with the Myanmar-based family of Habib Saheb. When I was in Kolkata, the family members used to visit us there. Some eight years back, his grandson had come to Delhi for Netajis birth anniversary celebration. Even as losing track of the Marfani family, the people of Dhoraji feel proud of his contribution and the role he played in the freedom movement. The least they demand is the road in Dhoraji be named after the great man. --- *Former editor of Gujarati daily of the Indian Express Group in Mumbai, currently based in Ahmedabad On today's installment of Nicolas Cage continuing to exist both in and as a National Treasure, it seems the star has broadened his aesthetic beyond the confines of beloved albeit slightly-unhinged actor who once bought a dinosaur skull," proudly proclaiming that he is, in fact, a goth. Ahead of taking on the part of Dracula in Universal's upcoming flick, Renfield, the star recently sat down with the to the Los Angeles Times to discuss his vampiric role, his first job at a movie theater, of course, his pets two cats and a crow named Hoogan, the latter of whom apparently thinks he's an asshole. He has taken to calling me names," Cage said of Hoogan who resides in a geodesic dome within his Las Vegas home. "Its comical, at least, it is to me. When I leave the room, hell say, Bye, and then go, A,'" he continued. Although Cage says he likes crows due to their smarts Crows are very intelligent" and that he likes their appearance, it seems yet another part of being a crow owner appeals to him, one he's dubbed the the Edgar Allan Poe aspect. I like the goth element, Cage explained. "I am a goth. Continue Reading Below Advertisement But long before this confirmation, it seems fans and fellow celebrities alike have had their suspicions about the star's goth proclivities. Aside from starring in 1989's Vampire's Kiss, in which his character is convinced he was bitten by a vampire, Cage was accused of being a real-life bloodsucker in 2012, after an 1870 portrait of a man who could easily be his doppelganger went viral. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Theres a photograph of me and you cant take pictures of vampires," he said while discussing the photo on the Late Show with David Letterman. Now look, I dont drink blood and the last time I looked in the mirror I had a reflection." Sure, Nic. That's exactly what an ageless vampire would say. Top Image: Envato/ Shutterstock For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ on Twitch @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone. European data protection authorities have issued fines of 1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) since 28 January 2021, according to the annual GDPR Fines and Data Breach Survey by international law firm DLA Piper. The surveywhich spanned 27 European Union members, the European Economic Association members Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein, and now-former EU member the UKfound there was a sevenfold increase in fines in 2021. The year recorded all-time high fines imposed by Luxembourg and Ireland, which replaced Italy and Germany at the top two spots in the aggregate fines tally. Luxembourg and Ireland issued a total of 746 million ($843 million) and 226 million ($255 million) in fines, respectively, pushing Italy down to the third place with 79 million ($89 million) in fines. With this, the Luxembourg National Commission for Data Protection (CNDP) became the highest issuer of a single GDPR fine to date, imposing a 746 million fine on US-based online retailer Amazon. This was 14 times higher than the previous highest single fine, 50 million ($57 million), imposed by France on Google in 2019. Schrems II judgment triggers the increase in GDPR fines The nearly sevenfold increase in fines this year is being widely attributed to the stringent regulations directed under the European Court of Justices Schrems II judgment. Schrems II judgment and its profound implications for data transfers have established itself as the top data protection compliance challenge for many organizations caught by GDPR, said Ross McKean, chair of the UK Data Protection and Security Group. The Schrems II judgment invalidated the European Commissions Privacy Shield Decision affecting data transfer between EU and US businesses on account of invasive US surveillance programs. The privacy shield framework was meant to provide for the lawful transfer of personal data from the EU to the US while adhering to certain data protection safeguards. The personal data transfer is now possible only through standard contract clauses stipulating data-protection levels equivalent to that of GDPR and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Schrems II judgment has effectively shifted the problem and burden of a fundamental conflict of laws from the politicians and lawmakers to individual data exporters and importers, said Ewa Kurowska-Tober, global cochair of DLA Pipers Data Protection and Security Group. What is really needed is a resolution of the underlying conflict of laws rather than imposing an unrealistic compliance burden onto businesses and is yet another headwind to international trade just as we emerge from the global pandemic, she said. Reported breaches on the rise across Europe The DLA Piper survey also noted a trend of increasing numbers of daily data breach notifications in Europe for the third year running. More than 130,000 personal data breaches have been notified to regulators since 28 January 2021, with an average of 356 breach notifications per day. This is an 8% jump on 2020s 331 notifications a day. The Netherlands reported an average of 150.7 breaches per day, the highest number per 100,000 people among the surveyed countries. Greece, Czechia, and Croatia have had the fewest reported breaches per capita since 2018. Mark Turocy had high hopes for Black Rock Social House, the restaurant he opened in Bridgeport's Black Rock neighborhood in March. With a fully gluten-free menu of international comfort foods, his concept would "take care of people that are in a demographic of this industry that is underdeveloped," he said. He's now facing an eviction notice from the building on Fairfield Avenue, and says he will likely have to close the restaurant in about a month's time. Turocy cites COVID-19 as a factor for lost revenue, but also notes that as a newer restaurant owner, he was not eligible for certain funding sources because he didn't have a year or more of financial figures to demonstrate. He applied for programs such as the Small Business Association's Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and also for small business grants through the city of Bridgeport. Calls to local, state and federal government offices for help have gone unreturned, he said. "The only thing I qualify for is the Restaurant Revitalization Fund," he said. "My app is in." According to a new survey released by the Connecticut Restaurant Association Wednesday, the first round of Restaurant Revitalization Fund funding saved more than 12,000 Connecticut jobs and helped 97 percent of grant recipients stay in business. But while the funding provided support to 1,300 small businesses in Connecticut, the state still has 2,066 pending applications that total more than $489 million, according to the CRA. "The National Restaurant Association estimates indicate that full replenishment of the RRF will save an additional 18,000 Connecticut restaurant jobs, said Scott Dolch, the CRA's president and CEO, in a statement. A plea for replenished funding comes as restaurants face the latest pandemic struggle: the effects of the omicron variant. Forced to adapt to deteriorating consumer confidence, restaurants reduced hours/days of operation, cut seating capacity, and shut down, many pivoting to takeout. According to the survey, 96 percent of restaurants experienced a decline in customer demand for indoor dining because of the omicron variant, 87 percent of operators report that business conditions are worse now than three months ago, and 80 percent say their restaurant is less profitable now than it was before the pandemic. "The RRF was a critical lifeline to many, but far more remain on the sidelines, desperately looking for support amidst continued economic uncertainty," Dolch said. "The decisions Congress could make in the coming weeks will be critical toward the future of the restaurants that are so proud to serve our communities." The CRA's survey also found that nearly 51 percent of restaurant operators who did not receive RRF grants feel its unlikely that they will stay in business beyond the pandemic without a grant. Ninety-six percent of restaurant operators who applied for an RRF grant, but did not receive funding, said a future grant would enable them to retain or hire back employees. If Turocy were to receive a hoped-for $182,000 from the RRF, he would be able to pay his debts, "which would reset me personally and professionally," he said, and he would have working capital. But without any funding, "I'm literally in financial ruins," he said. "It's very real and very scary." Jeremy Jackson and Tricia Martin of TJ's Burritos in East Granby opened their restaurant and coffee shop in February 2021, one month before Turocy introduced Black Rock Social House. Jackson said they applied for RRF funding in the first month they opened, and were approved to receive $63,000, but the money never came. "They ran out of funds and they closed the portal," Jackson said. "I'm under the presumption that if it gets revitalized, we're going to get that $63,000. But I'm not sitting here crossing my fingers that that's going to happen anytime soon...That was the only federal or state aid we were eligible for, having opened in February of last year." TJ's offered expanded outdoor dining in the summer, but with the loss of the patio tables for the winter, sales have declined about 30 percent, Jackson said. Price increases on everything from paper goods to chicken have also impacted their revenue. "For the last two or three months, we've been breaking even, or barely breaking even," he said. "There's no ability to put anything in the kitty, so to speak." Divina in Stamford, which opened in April 2021, has seen an omicron-related drop in business, said owner Enzo Bruno. The Italian restaurant had been doing well for several months, especially when the state lifted capacity restrictions in May. "We started flying. Business was great. And then in mid-December...we hit a wall," he said. The restaurant lost a buyout for a private party on Dec. 16, he said, and then that weekend, the restaurant had 250 cancellations and 70 no-shows. Bruno attributes the lost business to the fast-spreading variant, noting that Stamford also instituted a mask mandate Dec. 21. "We were profitable, closing the year, but starting in mid-December...you lose over 50 percent of your daily business, and that has a strong impact," he said. "And we don't have any help from the government [as a new business.] We had to go under an extremely tight budget because of the new circumstances. We were profitable, and now we're digging into our emergency funds." Connecticuts highest court has ruled that gyms may not designate separate fitness areas for exclusive use by women, siding with civil rights groups who argued that such accommodations violate the states non-discrimination laws. The case brought by two men who complained of having to wait to use equipment in coed areas of gyms with separate women-only workout rooms ultimately involved much larger questions for the Connecticut Supreme Court to decide, particularly whether lawmakers had intended to include blanket exceptions for gender privacy when they wrote laws banning discrimination in public accommodations. The justices, in a 6-0 ruling, said that no such exception existed and it remained within the legislatures purview to draft specific rules relating to sex-specific gym facilities if they wished to address the issue. Connecticuts non-discrimination laws already include specific language allowing for separate bathroom, locker room and sleeping facilities based on sex. The ruling on Tuesday overturned earlier decisions by a state judge and a hearing officer for the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunity, which allowed the use of women-only exercise areas at two gyms involved in the lawsuit, Edge Fitness in Stratford and Club Fitness in Bloomfield. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Richard Robinson said he found merit in some of the concerns raised by supporters of women-only facilities, such as religious groups who argued that those accommodations are necessary for women whose beliefs prohibit them from working out in front of men. Applying the vague notion of privacy to non-discrimination laws, however, would likely have unintended consequences that could result in discrimination of women or transgender people, Robinson wrote. Such a result of potentially limiting the access of women and transgender people access to spaces on the basis of the privacy interests of men or the moral comfort of customers defeats the purpose of our states anti-discrimination legislation, Robinson wrote. The parent company of one of the gyms, Edge Fitness Clubs, on Monday released a statement, expressing pride in the services offered at its women-only studios. An attorney for the gym, James Shea, said he had not discussed the possibility of an appeal with his client, who he said would abide by the decision. In legal briefs, attorneys for both gyms described the women-only workout areas as places designed to make women feel more comfortable and free of leering eyes or harassment as well as a way of marketing the gyms to more female patrons. We listened to our members and fought this case on principle, and we believe in fighting for womens rights, the statement said. At The Edge Fitness Clubs, we are committed to keeping our gyms a safe and stress-free place for women to work out. An attorney for Club Fitness declined to comment. In a statement released through attorney Michael Roberts, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunity hailed the decision as a win for civil rights protections. The commission appealed the decision of its own hearing officer to the Supreme Court. The CHRO continues to encourage gyms and other places of public accommodation to develop policies by which sexual harassment in their facilities may be prevented, Roberts said Wednesday. Yesterdays decision makes clear, however, that segregation based on protected class is not among the lawful methods of prevention. The case also drew attention from civil rights groups, LGBTQ advocates and a dozen religious organizations across the state who signed amicus briefs submitted to the court. Oral arguments in the case were held in May 2021. In an amicus brief filed with the court last April, attorneys for the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford and the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut said that rejecting any right to gender privacy would only serve to harm observant members of those religions who consider exercising in front of members of the opposite sex a form of immodesty. Should the Court accept this invitation, many Jewish and Muslim women will be effectively denied meaningful access to public gyms, with no discernible benefit to anyone, attorneys wrote in the brief, which was also signed by other Catholic, Jewish and interfaith groups. Dan Barrett, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut who filed amicus briefs in opposition to women-only facilities, said the question of religious liberties was never before the court, because neither gym claimed religion as a motivation for setting up all-women workout rooms. If there is a facility that were to argue that it could not comply with Connecticuts anti-discrimination laws for the reason of religion, that gets us into an entire other area of the law, Barrett said. Chief Justice Robinson was joined in the majority by justices Gregory DAuria, Steven Ecker, Maria Araujo Kahn, Christine Keller and Andrew McDonald. Associate Justice Raheem Mullins did not participate in the case. My voice broke when I had to say the words: A gunman has taken over our synagogue and is holding the rabbi and others hostage. And I saw it in her eyes: the pain, the fear, the memories. These agonizing words of Anna Salton Eisen, a founding member of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, describe her mothers reaction to the tense hostage situation at the house of worship on Jan. 15. Eisens mother, almost 100 years old, as well as her late father are Holocaust survivors. Thursday, Jan. 27, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, we pause to honor Eisens parents and other survivors, the 6 million Jewish victims of Nazism and the many millions more who perished, targeted for annihilation due to unchecked hatred and bigotry. This year, Holocaust Remembrance Day is not only a day to remember a horrific genocide, but also a stark reminder that antisemitism and hate are among us and on the rise. ADLs (the Anti-Defamation League) Center on Extremism tracks antisemitic trends and other forms of hate every day. ADLs experts monitor extremist activity online and on the ground, and key developments and trends in extremism and hate from the far right and the far left and everything in between. ADLs most recent Audit of Antisemitic Incidents in the United States recorded more than 2,000 antisemitic acts of assault, vandalism and harassment in 2020. This was the third highest year on record since ADLs tracking began in 1979. Antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish institutions such as synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish schools spiked by 40 percent in 2020, as compared to the previous year. In remarks at a recent ADL Fighting Hate From Home webinar addressing the hostage incident in Colleyville, Texas, FBI Director Christopher Wray stated that the FBI is, and has been, treating Saturdays events as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community. On Jan. 20, the United Nations General Assembly also acknowledged the shocking worldwide rise in antisemitism by adopting a resolution aimed at combating Holocaust denial. The resolution provides a specific classification and definition for Holocaust denial and outlines actions expected to be taken by every signatory country in order to address this serious concern. The resolution further demands that social media networks remove posts that are deemed antisemitic. Today is also a day to recognize that ignorant and inaccurate invocations of the Holocaust trivialize the memories of victims and survivors. Perpetuating lies about the Holocaust fuels Holocaust denial and antisemitism and drives the serious need for greater Holocaust and genocide education in our society. Comparisons to the Holocaust ought to be used judiciously or they will become meaningless. International Holocaust Remembrance Day 2022 is a sobering one for what we commemorate and for what we are currently experiencing. In response, let us call on Congress to increase Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding and immediately confirm Dr. Deborah Lipstadt as the State Departments Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism. Locally, as always, if experiencing or witnessing an incident of antisemitism, extremism, bias, bigotry or hate, immediately report it to ADL Connecticut at www.adl.org/reportincident We best honor the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, and survivors such as Anna Salton Eisens parents, when we work together for human dignity, for a world in which the life of every individual is recognized as sacred, and in which each person is free from fear. Let us commit to come together to stand against hate. Stacey G. Sobel is regional director of ADL Connecticut. New London Police / Contributed NEW LONDON Two people have died after police say they were found inside a burning apartment building in the area where there was also a report of gunfire Wednesday night. New London police said they responded to the area of Granite and Williams streets for a report of shots fired around 8 p.m. While officers were en route, another call came in about a possible active structure fire in the 40 block of Granite Street. China issues guideline to promote high-quality RCEP implementation Xinhua) 10:48, January 27, 2022 BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- China will push for the high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) pact and deepen reform via high-level opening-up, stated a guideline from the government released Wednesday. The country will align the opportunities provided by the trade pact with local development strategies, and help enterprises adapt to a more open and competitive environment, according to the guideline issued by the Ministry of Commerce and other five departments on high-quality RCEP implementation. The guideline outlines measures in six areas -- high-quality development in trade and investment, manufacturing upgrade, standards cooperation, financial support, business environment and supporting services for enterprises. China will further improve trade and investment facilitation, boost the role of RMB settlement in supporting trade and investment, and strengthen cooperation in high-end industrial chain and manufacturing projects to foster a diversified global supply chain network, the guideline stated. The country will also help the relatively backward central and western regions become more competitive in the international market and allow the RCEP agreement and the Hainan free trade port policies to reinforce each other, according to the guideline. The RCEP agreement, the world's largest free trade agreement, entered into force on Jan. 1. After it took effect, more than 90 percent of merchandise trade among members that have approved the accord will eventually be subject to zero tariffs. The RCEP was signed on Nov. 15, 2020 by 15 Asia-Pacific countries -- ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand -- after eight years of negotiations that started in 2012. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) 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 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Forecasters and officials are preparing for a noreaster with possible blizzard conditions heading into the weekend, but experts say how much snow falls in Connecticut will depend on the track of the storm. There remains the potential for a strong winter storm to impact the region from Friday night through Saturday night with heavy snow and strong winds, the National Weather Services New York office said Wednesday evening. However, there is also quite a bit of uncertainty due to differing weather models, which have mostly shifted eastward. The weather service said if this trend continues with future models, there will be probably less snow. There is a wide range in the model guidance, forecasters said Wednesday, with the region potentially getting barely any snow to upwards of 20 inches. Bottom line, the goal posts are very wide at this time, forecasters added. On Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont urged residents to watch the forecast closely over the next several days. We're still a bit of a ways out, but we're watching the forecast for the potential of a significant snowstorm impacting Connecticut on Friday night through Saturday, Lamont said on Twitter. Models right now are projecting varying amounts, some showing just a few inches and some in the double digits. Gary Lessor, chief meteorologist at Western Connecticut State University, said U.S. and Canadian models of the storm have it tracking much farther to the east than the European model. As of Wednesday afternoon, he said the storms track is still uncertain. Eastern portions of Connecticut as well as Rhode Island and other easterly parts of New England could get up to 20 inches of snow. The New Haven region could see around 5 to 10 inches, while the Danbury area farther to the west would get only a few inches possibly as much as 6 inches, Lessor said. The weather service has predicted snowfall to be about 7 inches in Danbury, 8.3 inches in Bridgeport, 8.7 inches in New Haven, and about 10 to 11 inches in eastern Connecticut. The snow is anticipated to start falling Friday night. It will be moderate to heavy late at night into Saturday before tapering off late in the afternoon to evening hours, the weather service said. Temperatures will remain cold leading up to the storm with wind chills in the single digits and teens, the weather service said. In addition to snow, the storm could cause flooding and beach erosion along coastal areas, and strong winds may bring down power lines and trees, the weather service said. Winds along the coast could gust up to 50 mph, or even higher in the east. Minor coastal flooding could develop, driven by waves. But the storms impact will depend heavily on which way it tracks, and Lessor emphasized it could still head to the east with less impact to Connecticut. Wed like to be more concrete, but theres too much variance in the track, he said. Rick Fontana, director of emergency operations for the city of New Haven, said the North American model has snow totals of around 8 to 10 inches, while the European model suggests the area could be blanketed with more than 15 inches of snow. Both are considering this a noreaster with blizzard conditions, Fontana said Wednesday. So, we are preparing for a big storm at this point. Staff writer Liz Hardaway contributed to this report. FAIRFIELD A proposed 43-unit apartment development planned for Castle Avenue narrowly gained approval form the Town Plan and Zoning Commission on Tuesday. The commission voted 4-3 in favor of a zoning compliance sought by the developer, although there were some stipulations, after residents voiced their opposition with the plans in a meeting earlier this month. I understand the neighbors, Ive heard them loud and clear. Your beef is with the Connecticut legislature, Commissioner Daniel Ford said, going on to encourage those opposed to such developments to write their legislators. The application was made under 8-30g, a state statute that allows developers to bypass municipal laws and regulations as long as a certain percentage of the project is affordable housing. Local boards must prove the project presents serious enough health or safety risks that outweigh the need for affordable housing there. Berwick Associates LLC is looking to construct a four-story, 45-foot structure with 13 studios, 18 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedrooms units in the Kings Highway area. The proposal also calls for 57 parking spaces, most of which would be under the building. The developer is planning to set 30 percent of the units aside as affordable. I appreciate and listened to the concerns of the neighbors regarding the parking situation, which is existing there, Commissioner Steven Levy said. But, based upon the record, I do not feel there is sufficient evidence as to any potential public harm which would outweigh the need for additional affordable housing. The commission recommended stop signs be added to Castle Avenue near the site since traffic and parking were among residents chief concerns and developers said the project would generate 500 car trips a day. The commission also recommended parking be prohibited on Castle and Berwick avenues on the sides of the streets along the property. The commission also required the developer to move a retaining wall five feet south. Still, commissioners did not seem to want to approve the project, and voiced concern about how the state statute ties their hands. If this wasnt an 8-30g, I would vote no. I would not approve this, Ford said. These applications are going to continue to come in and our hands are tied. Commissioner Alexis Harrison said she was concerned about the developments potential impact on emergency vehicle access, school bus stops and pedestrian traffic. She also said there wasnt a fire department safety report on the proposal. I understand that 8-30g is different, but I dont think the General Assembly, when they passed this in 1990, envisioned that we would render decisions with not enough information, she said. I think theres a lot more information that we need to render good decisions for the town. Commissioner Kathryn Braun also said she needed more information, adding the commission should not be satisfied with having its hands tied. She, Harrison and Commissioner Meg Francis voted against the application. Its such a small plot of land, Francis said. It looks like your backyard for heavens sake. Vice Chair Lenny Braman said the commission has never hesitated to deny an 8-30g application when there is concern about potential health and safety impacts that rise to the threshold required by the statute. I take our responsibility very seriously, both in terms of the 8-30 standard and the law, but also our responsibility to protect public safety, he said. Im persuaded that this application must, under the law, be approved with the conditions as stated. joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com BRIDGEPORT Many City Council members believe that all-Democratic group needs a full-time staff to help them with their work. But, as evidenced by Tuesdays teleconference on the issue, there are plenty of questions about how many positions should be created, their responsibilities, and what is a reasonable cost to taxpayers. This is a big item. A big task, Councilman Marcus Brown, co-chairman of the ordinance committee, told his colleagues. Backed by a coalition of community groups that endorsed them in last years election as good-government reform candidates, Council President Aidee Nieves and freshman member Tyler Mack earlier this month submitted an ordinance establishing a legislative office of seven, including finance and legal experts. Mack said many council members are juggling full time jobs and family responsibilities and need the additional support to help them best carry out their legislative duties, particularly when it comes to understanding complex issues. He cited a recent vote to approve a 12-year tax break for the Steelpointe developers 400-unit housing complex. I reached out to five different attorneys, but they have their own lives, their own businesses and law practices, Mack explained Tuesday. I reached out to people with economic degrees. It was tough. Mack is an aide to state Senate President Martin Looney, D-New Haven, and noted how Democrats and Republicans in Connecticuts House of Representatives and Senate have staffs of their own. Traditionally Bridgeports 20-person council gets some assistance from the City Clerks office and relies on the information and advice provided by directors and municipal staff from the law, budget and other departments. But those individuals mainly answer to Bridgeports executive branch and critics argue that colors what information they provide the council and that groups ability to make independent decisions. They can feed us whatever they like, Mack said. He would prefer the council have its own staff that we can trust, that I can call upon, that you can call upon whenever you have a question or concern. I would feel more empowered to have that type of resource available, agreed another freshman, Councilwoman Wanda Simmons. Councilman Ernie Newton added, The mayor has press people, the budget people, the attorney people, but they work for the mayor. While Mack used the state legislatures back office operations as an example, that is also a 187-person body. Others Tuesday cited New Havens Board of Alders as a more appropriate comparison. That 30-person group is, according to its budget, supported by an office of 10 full-time people. Councilwoman Michelle Lyons suggested surveying other cities in and out of Connecticut for council personnel models something that, technically, an aide to Bridgeports council could be assigned if one existed. Councilwoman Maria Pereira said hiring seven people will be expensive and she has never heard any of her constituents complain that the council needs that help. My guess is this would be about half a million dollars with salaries, fringe (benefits) and pension obligations, Pereira said. In fact the council last spring set aside $90,000 in the budget to hire one employee, but has never moved ahead to define or fill that role. There are also plenty of legal questions surrounding the ordinance Mack and Nieves submitted. For example, Mark Anastasi, a lawyer for the city, reiterated Tuesday that, under the charter, the City Attorneys office provides legal counsel to the entire municipal government and has the sole right to hire lawyers. That language has in the past thwarted the councils efforts to have its own attorney. But Anastasi reminded members that on some occasions the City Attorney worked with council leadership to engage outside counsel on a temporary basis ahead of votes on certain big issues. Councilman Scott Burns said that might be the best way forward to bring in independent lawyers on a case-by-case basis. We all know we have different challenges, whether labor matters or legal settlements or other demands that we see. And no one person is going to be able to answer all those matters, he said. BRIDGEPORT The school board is inching closer to bonuses for educators who taught in person at the height of the pandemic. The finance committee on Wednesday night approved premium or hero pay for teachers, administrators and supervisors who returned to school buildings while cases were high and vaccines unavailable. District officials and the union still have plenty of details to iron out, but Superintendent Michael Testani recommended the school board set aside $2.5 million of its federal COVID aid for the extra pay. Everyone that put their lives on the line for our students and our families should receive a benefit as a token of our appreciation, said Testani. The superintendent said only current employees will be eligible, and the city agreed to pick up the tab for non-certified school staff who share unions with other municipal workers. How much money each teacher and administrator will receive depends on how many of them qualify, and thats yet to be hashed out. If all current employees were eligible for the funds a maximum of 1,600 people they would receive about $1,500 each. Several members of the board have repeatedly raised concerns that spending millions on teachers would redirect funds otherwise spent on children. Im not saying whether we should or should not, but these are real dollars, said Joseph Sokolovic, who heads the finance committee. Its not monopoly money. It can only be spent once if its given to one place, its got to be taken from another place. Sokolovic suggested the staff deserved the recognition adding that he himself worked in person throughout the pandemic and contracted the virus this month but still had his hesitancies. The question is going to come up: where did it come from and did it come from anything that involved directly to our students? said Bobbi Brown, vice-chair of the board. Down the road theyre going to say what did we take it from? Testani said the $2.5 million figure comes out to roughly $125 per student, suggesting they wouldnt miss out on a lot. Bridgeport spends $16,982 per pupil, according to district data. Board members Albert Benejan and Michael Maccarone adamantly called for the funds for school employees. Benejan also asked that union leaders be permitted to speak on the topic a request that the committee chair denied. Some union members werent permitted in the board room, which was said to be at capacity. A coalition of Bridgeport unions representing personnel from the Board of Education, public facilities, the police and fire departments, and other agencies have been calling for bonuses since the rollout of federal COVID aid. The mayors office and City Council have signaled theyre on board, while the Board of Education has only recently opened discussions. Next the recommendation is moved to the full board on Feb. 15. Then after discussions conclude, the district and unions will reach a formal, signed agreement that will also appear before the board. FAIRFIELD You might not be able to buy weed in Fairfield at least not legally and at least not for another year as the Town Plan and Zoning Commission gets ready to vote on a one-year moratorium on cannabis establishments in town. The commission had a public hearing Tuesday night on the regulation amendment, which would prohibit cannabis establishments in town until Feb. 28 of 2023. The vote on the amendment will likely be at the commissions Feb. 8 meeting, officials said. Some members of the public were not thrilled at the idea of such establishments in town and supported the moratorium. Tom Hennessey, a member of Fairfield CARES, said the organization is pretty much against this whole cannabis thing. We have three, four months to get ahead of this, he said. Planning Director Jim Wendt said the regulation amendment would prohibit all cannabis establishments for a period of one year unless extended. Retail sales of cannabis products starts being allowed in May of this year, he said, and the state law legalizing them requires towns to make a decision on how to regulate it. Wendt said the majority of municipalities who have made rulings on permitting cannabis establishments so far have opted to go the moratorium route. He said 59 municipalities have reported their regulatory status to the state, with nine voting to allow establishments, 14 prohibiting them altogether and 36 setting a moratorium. In the absence of taking a position to either define which types of uses are to be regulated and where, or prohibition, then, come May of this year, the presumed to be zoned as if any other similar use, Wendt said, quoting the law. Presumably, retail sale of cannabis would be considered akin to any other retail sale. Gov. Ned Lamont signed the bill that legalized the possession and use of marijuana for adults last June. Retail sales in Connecticut are targeted to begin at the end of 2022. The state Department of Consumer Protection, which is administering the rollout of recreational cannabis, is instead working to establish the taxable retail market to begin later this year. The law allows those 21 and over to possess up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis, and up to 5 ounces in their homes or locked in their car trunks or glove compartments. Commissioner Kathryn Braun said the commission, which discussed the upcoming decision last fall, agreed that it was best to do a moratorium until the state finishes considering licensing provisions. She said it would allow the commission to become better educated on exactly what it would or would not want. Fairfield CARES Program Director and Coalition Coordinator Cathy Hazlett said the coalition was established in 2009 with the goal of preventing substance use for underage people. She said the coalition is drafting a policy statement, which it will share at a later time, and fully supports the moratorium. It could give you more, and give the state more time, to think through the regulations, she said. joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com Viktoria Sundqvist / Hearst Connecticut Media BRIDGEPORT A city man will spend more than three years behind bars in federal prison for selling heroin and fentanyl, according to federal prosecutors. Anthony Gilchrist, 32, was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford court to 37 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. FAIRFIELD The man who led the town during the recent fill pile scandal pulled his name over the weekend after initially being nominated to be a member of the Democratic Town Committee. The news comes after the Republican Town Committee put out a release condemning former First Selectman Mike Tetreaus possible return to politics. The release primarily lamented on Tetreaus proximity to the fill pile scandal, which involved hazardous material being dumped around town, resulted in the arrests of several former town employees and cost millions of dollars in clean up and remediation. The Tetreau administration lacked transparency, ignored directives from federal agencies, ignored (requests for proposals) procedures and five employees who Mike Tetreau had daily contact with were charged with felonies four of whom he hired to work for the town, RTC Vice Chairman Chris Tymniak said. This scandal has left the current administration in the unenviable position of having to spend years cleaning up the damage and distrust of the Tetreau Administration. Tetreau did not respond to a request for comment. Over the summer, state prosecutors filed documents in the court proceedings identifying Tetreau as an uncharged co-conspirator in the case. In August of 2019, Tetreau stated at a public hearing that he had not received any information about the police investigation when, according to court documents, he had been given information on the investigation by former Police Chief Christopher Lyddy at least a month earlier. The documents also state that Tetreau was in frequent contact with the other town officials charged in the conspiracy about the ongoing investigation, providing them with unreleased police documents in the case. In a statement, DTC Chair Steven Sheinberg said Tetreau submitted his name for nomination to the 2022-24 DTC at a Democratic caucus along with more than 100 other Fairfield Democrats. He said no one has been elected to the incoming DTC yet and Tetreau withdrew his name from consideration. By DTC rules and long-standing custom at Fairfield Democratic Caucuses, all registered Democrats are nominated by the caucus, unless there are more candidates than membership positions, he said. That is no longer the case since we switched to an at-large DTC. Mr. Tetreau was nominated. He has withdrawn his nomination. joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com MILFORD A former Uber driver accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl he met through the ride-hailing app and punching her in the face at a New Haven nightclub while out on bond is now under house arrest. Tyrone Craddock, 46, appeared in Superior Court Tuesday, where he faces charges of first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor in the case, in which police said he plied the teenage girl with Four Loko malt beverage and marijuana before raping her in a car at Walnut Beach in May 2019. He was released after posting a $75,000 bond in that case and told not to contact and stay at least 100 yards away from the victim while the charges are pending. But Senior Assistant States Attorney Mary Sanangelo said Craddock hasnt done so. The prosecutor said he was arrested by New Haven police last November in connection with an incident at a club in September. Sanangelo said Craddock is accused of walking up to the girl, following her, calling her a snitch, and punching her in the face, fracturing her nose. The next month, he was outside a Bridgeport nightclub when the victim came out of the establishment and would not leave when asked, she said. Sanangelo asked Judge Peter Brown to review Craddocks bond and the conditions of his release, The bond here is insufficient based on his being arrested twice, she said. Craddocks lawyer, Michael Moscowitz, said his client has a car service he is no longer an Uber driver and was working during the October incident, noting Craddock lives in Bridgeport and the alleged victim does not. Im not quite sure whos following who, but my client does reside there, Moscowitz said. He said Craddock denied assaulting the girl in New Haven. My client denies any altercation with that individual, the lawyer said. Hes not sure how that occurred, but he says he is not the individual that was in an altercation with her. Moscowitz asked the judge to keep the bonds as they are. He is presumed innocent, he said. The judge ordered Craddock fitted with a GPS device and restricted his movements. Mr. Craddock is going to be under house arrest at this point, Brown said. The only exceptions will be meeting with his attorney, medical appointments, and coming to court. Though the judge didnt raise the bond in the case, he said he would if there are any other violations or he picks up any new arrests. According to an arrest warrant, the victim of the alleged assault told police she met Craddock through the Uber ride-hailing app. The victim told police that after using Craddock as an Uber driver, he gave her a business card for his own personal taxi service that he said would be cheaper for her to use. The girl told police she used Craddocks taxi service for nearly two years, and that sometimes Craddock didnt charge her. But she said she found it weird that he would want to hang out with her and her friends or show up uninvited at parties and other gatherings where they were. The victim told police he would also give them alcohol and marijuana while encouraging them to experiment sexually. If they didnt, she said, he would become angry or call them buzz-kills. The warrant says that on a Friday in May 2019, Craddock drove the girl and two friends to Walnut Beach. While there, the girl told police, Craddock allegedly tried to unbutton one of her friends pants inside the car. Later, she said Craddock sexually assaulted her while the two others were outside the vehicle. CT State Police / Contributed SHELTON State police found two unidentified people dead in an overturned car near Shelton Thursday morning, but are unsure when the crash occurred. State Police Trooper First Class Sarah Salerno said units from Troop I barracks responded to a report of a suspicious incident in the area of the Old Stratford Road on-ramp to Route 8 North in Shelton around 11:30 a.m. Thursday. March is the last month of winter and snow is on the way making its "last hurrah" with a potential bomb cyclone on some parts of the east coast. Local meteorologists say Connecticut, however, will likely miss that part of the storm. WTNH meteorologist Ryan Munn and former NBC Chief meteorologist Brad Field both said the bomb cyclone won't hit Connecticut directly. "That said, Northern New England will likely see heavy snow and strong winds," Munn said. A bomb cyclone is a rapidly intensifying area of low pressure that drops 24 millibars (a unit of pressure) within 24 hours or less. "Due to the rapid intensification, storms that are considered 'bomb cyclones' typically are associated with heavy precipitation, strong winds and coastal flooding," Munn explained in a previous interview. This weekend's storm is going to move from the southeast of the U.S. to just south of Connecticut as it intensifies. WTNH Chief meteorologist Gil Simmons said Connecticut will see rain at first and then as the storm intensifies, colder air will move in causing the rain to mix with snow and then it will change to snow. "When all is said and done, most of the state will only see a couple inches of snow with a bit more expected in the high elevations of northwest Connecticut," said Munn. According to CNN, the storm is expected to strengthen into a bomb cyclone in some areas with about 4-6 inches of possible snow in the Tennessee and Ohio River Valleys, and more than a foot in parts of the interior Northeast, like upstate New York and northern New England. One of the results of a bomb cyclone is a lot of wind. Field said Connecticut residents can expect a high winds resulting power outages. And, "not only do residents have to worry about potential power outages but also the roads turning into ice," said Field. Winds will also gust 30-45 mph throughout Saturday afternoon and stay on the strong side through Sunday morning. The National Weather Service said there is a hazardous weather outlook has been posted for Hartford, Tolland and Windham counties. The unpredictability of this weekends noreaster with forecasters calling for anywhere from a few inches to more than a foot of snow has posed an added challenge for shorthanded state plow crews and Connecticut utility companies trying to predict potential outages. Connecticut can see between 5 and 15 inches of snow, according to the latest forecast from the National Weather Services New York office. Southeastern Connecticut is expected to see the higher snow totals, ranging from 10 to 15 inches and possible blizzard-like conditions, the weather service said. In the southwestern part of the state, the weather service is predicting 5 to 10 inches of snow. The weather service has issued a winter storm watch for the entire state with snow expected to start Friday evening and continuing through the day Saturday. Tracking the storm has been challenging for forecasters and Connecticut utility companies, which have not yet been able to predict how many outages they expect. Steve Sullivan, Eversource Energys president of Connecticut electric operations, said the company has a dozen service centers strategically located across the state where repair crews will be based. An Eversource spokesperson said the company plans to have several hundred of its own two-person line repair crews ready and will supplement them with another 200 pairs of linemen brought in through partnerships with other utilities outside of Connecticut. More News Connecticut power outage tracker Those workers coming from outside the state will be in place by the time the storm arrives Friday, Sullivan said. Each repair is different, he said. Some can be handled by only a single repair crew. Others require more than one. In addition, the company is hiring several hundred tree contractors to work during the storm, according to company officials. Sullivan said 90 percent of all power outages in winter storms like these are caused by trees or their limbs coming in contact with the companys electric distribution network. Equipment that may be needed to make repairs, like wires and utility poles, is being moved to the service center locations, Sullivan said. Theres a lot of logistical work being done in preparation for this, he said. As employers face COVID absences, Eversource said it does not have a staffing shortage heading into the storm. Were well prepared, said Mitch Gross, a spokesperson for Eversource. United Illuminating, which serves more than 342,000 customers in southern Connecticut, including Bridgeport, New Haven and Milford, is preparing for a storm regardless of what the forecast may bring, according to company spokesperson Gage Frank. UI has also activated its incident command team and has crews, some from outside the company, ready to respond. Additional mutual aid crews will arrive Friday, Frank added. We are prepared to adjust our response up or down as more information is made available, Frank said. Kafi Rouse, a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation, said crews and vehicles are ready, but said the agency remains short-staffed due to a limited number of employees with commercial drivers licenses. As with every DOT across the country, we are suffering from a shortage of CDL drivers in the workforce, Rouse said. Rouse said the agency has 723 drivers, a 33 percent shortage due to 200 vacancies and 140 absences. Some of those absences are a result of COVID-positive test results or those awaiting test results due to close contacts, Rouse said. We have a large hole in our 1,600-person highway operations team. We are asking people to be patient as we work throughout the day, Rouse said. It is safest if people would please stay home and let our crews work. And as always, if you must be out, use extreme caution and do not pass the plow. Staff writer Peter Yankowski contributed to this report. Credit union loan portfolios are expected to return to historic growth rates in 2022 as CUNA economists predict a 9% increase in total loans outstanding. Thats just above the historic average growth rate of 8%, and much higher than the expected 6% increase in 2021. Were expecting an acceleration in loan growth as the economy continues to open up, says Mike Schenk, CUNAs deputy chief advocacy officer for policy analysis and chief economist. For perspective, credit unions navigated the initial economic uncertainty during the early days of the pandemic fairly well. Through the pandemic, credit unions assisted Americas small businesses by facilitating more than 200,000 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans at an of average $47,000 per loan. In my work, I often think about what the world would look likewhat it would be like without credit unions. It is a scary thought for all of us, I know. I am by no means a glass half empty guy nor do I start every day with dark thoughts such as these, but in my daily work and interactions with credit union folks across the country and the world, I feel more urgency to always have this question top of mind. Why? Well, it goes without saying that we are more connected as a world than ever. Technology, transportation and a thing called the COVID-19 pandemic has proven this. There are numerous, shared global challenges or gaps as we call them that all of us, as part of the international credit union community, need to be consistently aware of and cooperating on in order to fill them. These gaps also keep our peers and members from growing and prospering. Digital transformation, young member growth, DEI, climatethe list of challenges is robust. I truly believe that credit unions can change the world, one member at a time. Its in their DNA. Credit union unicorns exist, Ive seen them. They are intentional about being an engaged local and global credit union citizen with their brand, staff development and social responsibility strategies. With the everlasting purpose of the World Council (WOCCU) and its Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions (WFCU) to grow credit unions and financial inclusion across time zones, we rely on the time, talent and treasure of our partners to execute complex work. WFCU leads in engaging the U.S. credit union system in seeing value, impact and purpose by engaging in international credit union work. This works takes many forms and there are numerous opportunities to help address complex, global credit union challenges, but sharing with you the success of our work, one life, one voice at a time, hopefully brings clarity to you that we are addressing the same challenges worldwide that you are at home. Four credit union gaps were our focus in 2021 and still need to be bridged further into 2022: Bridging an Inclusion Gap: This goes without saying. At last count, 1.7 billion people worldwide are still without clear, easy access to financial services. Where banks and other competitors are nowhere to be found, credit unions are formed, bringing stability and hope to many. Case in point: Yargelis Herrera, a beneficiary of our current Economic Inclusion Program in Peru & Ecuador faced insurmountable hardships after fleeing her homeland of Venezuela, But due to credit union support, she has rebuilt her marketing business and her life. Bridging a Safety Gap: Natural disasters will never end, and it is entirely possible that COVID-19 challenges will persist. We are the first line of defense in responding with relief immediately to help international credit unions and their members meet the challenges in the days and weeks following a calamity. Case in point: Haitian credit unions were damaged or destroyed completely by an earthquake. Our Project Storm Break fund immediately sent $45,000 of worth of support to supply them with emergency tents and IT equipment that helped them get operations up and running so they could serve their members again. Bridging a Gender Gap: Global Womens Leadership Network (GWLN) remains the only initiative dedicated to advancing credit union women in leadership worldwide. GWLN plugs into many of the domestic womens leadership initiatives that are doing tremendous work identifying gender inequality within credit unions and their communities. Worldwide, GWLN brings tremendous value to women like Josie Cardona, CEO of a credit union in the Philippines who uses GWLN to help advance her and her peers leadership development. Bridging a Leadership Gap: It is smart to always have an eye toward the future and our young professionals are that future. Worldwide, YPs in credit unions are leading or playing a vital role in helping grow young member demographics by leading unique community engagement programs. But often, these efforts are not heard about or shared. Our World Council Young Credit Union Professionals (WYCUP) program brings these YP networks together to form one, global YP community. By offering scholarships and a virtual networking platform, WYCUP intentionally brings YPs together to help grow credit unions, while also giving each YP greater leadership relevance. Our entire global movement depends on it. Our role at Worldwide Foundation is as a convener, a gatherer of the best ideas, innovations and credit union champions who share an energetic spirit that transforms the communities they serve at home, as well as those places theyve never seen or visited. So, in 2022, we are running back our Bridge the Gap Engagement and Fundraising campaign with the intent of growing our global credit union champion community to help us continue to bridge these critical credit union gaps. Our global movement has more work to do, so to all the credit union unicorns out there, saddle up and join us on this transformational journey of growing and offering credit unions to everyone. Lets do global good together. #BridgetheGap Cullman, AL (35055) Today Mostly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Dalton, GA (30720) Today A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 57F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. During a three-day virtual workshop, twelve participants discussed their interest in exploring social and environmental topics that are important to them individually and to their communities. The workshops took place as part of an ongoing partnership between Canon and UN Women Libya, called Libyan Woman and Youth Civil Society Organisations at the Forefront of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology. The project is part of Canons wider Young People Programme (YPP) and is linked to several of the UNs sustainable development goals (SDGs) set out to drive peace and prosperity for people and the planet. Amine Djouahra, Sales and Marketing Director at Canon Central and North Africa said, We are honored to be collaborating with UN Women to empower Libyan women to tell their unique stories through the powerful medium of photography. By empowering & supporting workshop participants with cameras, new digital skills and techniques, we hope to not only make a difference to their lives but give them the confidence to go on to inspire their communities and generations of the future too. Workshop participants learned about photography, e-learning, social media and digital technology, as well as theoretical and technical knowledge of gender and training skills. The co-creational element of the workshops enabled participants to become certified trainers, enabling them to share what they have learned with their communities. The workshop leader, Canon Ambassador Laura El-Tantawy, has spent her time divided between Middle Eastern and Western cultures which has inspired much of her documentary work exploring issues relating to her own identity and family history, as well as social issues. Lauras work has been displayed in exhibitions and published in newspapers and magazines worldwide. When asked to comment about the partnership between Canon EMEA and UN Women Laura said: Photography and technology are a force for good that can help highlight the issues that matter to people most. Its so crucial we give women in Libya the digital tools and support in using them to not only express themselves but also amplify their voices online where they might not have previously been heard. Through Canon and UN Women Libya partnership we are able help these women tell their story and, importantly, teach them how to upskill future generations of women and inspire others to change the world around them. Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires DHL Express (www.DPDHL.com), the worlds leading international express provider, has once again been recognized as a Top Employer on the African continent by the Top Employer Institute. DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) has been participating in the Top Employer certification for the past 8 years and have come a long way from having just 6 countries in their initial participation and today they boast 22 countries who have all been successful in the 2022 certification. This is an incredible achievement for DHL Express SSA and even more exciting is the fact that the business is the most certified organisation on the continent according to the Institute. The 22 countries that have excelled in this years validation and certification include: Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote dIvoire, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Institute particularly recognized DHLs strong performance in the areas of Values, Business Strategy, and Ethics and Integrity. Paul Clegg VP of Human Resources for DHL Express SSA said, It is a great honour to have been certified as a Top Employer on the continent. This award is a true reflection of the investment our company makes in providing the very best working environment for our employees through our progressive People-First HR practices, which serves as the foundation for our employees to thrive and perform with purpose, to the best of their abilities, together AS ONE. As an independent HR certification company, the Top Employers Institute assesses organisations like DHL Express- through their global HR Best Practices Survey, which looks at people development practices across the entire HR value chain. To be certified, organisations must successfully achieve a particular standard around their HR practices as set out by the Top Employers Institute. We are extremely proud that this independent research has verified our exceptional employee conditions and earned us a spot amongst the highest calibre of certified Global Top Employers, stated Clegg. He continued by highlighting that during uncertain times like these where the world of employment is changing, it is more important than ever to stay committed to upholding only the highest workplace standards, and as a business DHL Express is proud to be recognised for putting their people first in everything they do Partager et informez vous aussi...... 0 shares Share Tweet LinkedIn Articles similaires When Boris Johnson called Sir Keir Starmer a lawyer not a leader at PMQs youd have thought the PM had volleyed home the winner in the cup final. The noise which erupted from the benches behind him would have shaken the Wembley arch. It was a crockery smasher, a pew rattler. Well, well, well. For now the Big Dog still bites. Sir Keir a barrister and former director of public prosecutions did a double take. His eyeballs practically shot from their moorings. All that hair jelly began to run. He swivelled his head quizzically toward shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves as if to say: Where on earth did that little rocket come from? For weeks hes largely owned Boris at the despatch box but this time, out of nowhere, hed been diddled in extra time. Mr Johnsons blow landed because it rang true. Sir Keir had just wasted another session dawdling over the legal minutiae of Partygate, sending the chamber into a snooze. Rising energy bills, war in Ukraine none were deemed worthy of so a much as a mentch. All Starmer cared about was who drank what and when at those Downing Street booze-ups. 'As the PM (pictured) exited the chamber, for the first time in a while he threw a clenched fist toward his backbenchers. Miss Grays report will determine how long that defiance can last' Boris simply asked him to be patient until Sue Grays long-awaited report was published. Ah yes, that blasted report. Westminsters Twitter army spent all morning getting themselves into a kerfuffle as to when it was finally going to land. Tomorrow No! This afternoon. Actually, later this evening. One overenthusiastic news channel spanked the monthly budget by sending a helicopter up over the Commons in anticipation of high drama. Think of the suitcases of grog that could have paid for. The report never showed up of course. If Boris was nervy ahead of PMQs, he wasnt showing it. Quite the opposite. Waiting behind the Speakers chair he was a bundle of suppressed energy, impatiently checking his watch, raring to get on with it. Several yards to his left, Starmer stood motionless with a clipboard tucked purposefully under his armpit. For all the world, a pedant of a health inspector anxious to begin his pernickety prodding and probing. For the second week running Boris came out flailing, accusing his opponent of being relentlessly opportunistic, someone who flip-flopped from one side to the other. 'All Starmer cared about was who drank what and when at those Downing Street booze-ups' Starmer, meanwhile, set about exhibiting the new jocular repertoire hes been cultivating. At one point he tried out a new laugh intended to express mockery at one of the PMs responses. Instead it came out like one of Terry-Thomass trademark fruity cackles. Creepy. Once again, Sir Lindsay Hoyle had a busy afternoon. The Speaker was a little quick to brandish the headmasters cane at times, though decided against ejecting Labours Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Brighton Kemptown) for calling Boris a liar. Wise. Mr Russell-Moyle retains a washed-up divas yearning for the spotlight. His cries for attention are best resisted. There was a momentary outbreak of levity when the SNPs Ian Blackford attacked the Governments forthcoming national insurance hike, which he described as hanging over voters like a guillotine while they eat cake. It hardly needs pointing out that a trencherman of Mr Blackfords standing can no more lecture anyone for raiding the sweet trolley than Rab C Nesbitt advise people to lay off the Buckfast. That magnificent waistline of his heaves and groans, shaped by troughs, no doubt, of well-buttered tatties and the odd deep-fried Mars bar. The irony of his remark was not lost on the PM, who immediately fell victim to an attack of the giggles. 'Westminsters Twitter army spent all morning getting themselves into a kerfuffle as to when Sue Grey's (pictured) report was finally going to land' Soon, his whole posse were at it. Boriss PPS Andrew Griffith (Con, Arundel and South Downs) began choking on his facemask. Conor Burns (Con, Bournemouth W) turned redder than a bottle of Pichon-Longueville. Eventually the PM composed himself. Er, Mr Speaker, I dont know whos been eating more cake More laughs. As much as Boriss MPs cheered him, support was by no means absolute. Nus Ghani (Con, E Sussex) who recently accused the chief whip of sacking her from the Cabinet for being a Muslim cut a glum figure. Meanwhile, Johnny Mercer (Con, Plymouth Moor View), on an extended sulk since quitting his ministerial post, spent his time sighing and pinching his nose in agony. As the PM exited the chamber, for the first time in a while he threw a clenched fist toward his backbenchers. Miss Grays report will determine how long that defiance can last. You see them at the school gate and pass them in the supermarket: midlife women who wear their clothes like a badge of honour, declaring their allegiance to their chosen style tribe. Donna McCulloch, a visiting lecturer at London's Conde Nast College of Fashion & Design, comes across these devoted gangs of fashion-conscious over-40s in her work as a stylist and fashion editor - and knows how to spot them from a mile off. Championing 24/7 athleisurewear is The Gym Bunny, who works, sleeps and eats in her 88 Lululemon Align leggings and favourite Sweaty Betty jumper. Is she on her way to her next barre class? Maybe. But more often than not she simply wants to look like she is. The Gym Bunny ranks have swelled during the pandemic as we've all discovered the joy of putting comfort over style, but has come at the expensive of good old fashion glamour. At the other end of the scale are the Designer Darlings who won't leave the house unless they're head-to-toe in logos (even if her favourite handbag was bought from TK Maxx). ESCPAED TO THE COUNTRY: Hunter wellies instead of heels? Check. Boden catalogue? Check. New puppy to go with their new country life? Check. Devotees model themselves on celebs like Sarah Beeny, 50, pictured, who have built their brand around country living DESIGNER DARLING: Kris Jenner, 66, pictured in head-to-toe Burberry, flies the flag for Designer Darlings who won't be caught dead in high street labels STARE, I DON'T CARE: She might be 56, but Liz Hurley has a body that's the envy of women half her age - and is proud to show it off in short-shorts and skimpy bikinis. Members of this tribe are similarly non-conformist and don't bow to societal expectations. Midlife mini skirt, anyone? Style tribes have only become more pronounced since the start of the pandemic, Donna explains, because working from home has given us the freedom to wear what we want, when we want, and fewer social engagements means fewer dress codes to negotiate. 'How we dress, what we wear and what style means to us has changed immeasurably,' Donna told FEMAIL. 'If our pre 2020 selves could see us now, they'd be in for a surprise. 'Gone are the work uniforms we slavishly wore (but actually made our lives easier as we didn't have to think too much about what to wear) as many of us now work from home.' The result is the emergence of five dominant style tribes, who are more entrenched in their fashion world view than ever before. Here, Donna, who shares her work on Instagram, breaks down each tribe - and how to spot if you're a member... Escaped To The Country Country chic! Kate Middleton's casual outfits perfectly embody Escape To The Country. When she's not in London, she's cavorting across the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk From school run to Zoom room: Escape To The Country fans rely on staples like a classic blouse, jeans and boots to take them through the day, as seen on Helen Skelton Channeling their inner Kate: Escape To The Country converts are inspired by famous faces like Kate Humble, who have live a wholesome life in Breton stripes and Boden in the country They left the Big Smoke during the pandemic, swapped their Louboutins for Hunters and the high-flying city job for a cosy fireside cottage. And they bought a puppy in the process. With money to spend and only a short drive from their favourite chains, these dressers can be found exclusively at Boden and Joules, although they might pop into Anthropologie for a night out look. They spend a lot of time walking the dog and/or their children, which they balance with working part-time from home. Their wardrobe swaps between their school run Breton stripe top and the go-to blouses they wear to chair those endless Zoom meetings. When it's time for a getaway, they like a continental camping holiday where they can load up the Range Rover and head across the channel for a fortnight of animal and child-friendly campsite activities. Sarah Beeney is their ultimate inspo and they just signed up for a bee keeping course. The Gym Bunny Ultimate fitspo: Davina McCall, 54, pictured, is the poster girl for The Gym Bunny gang, who live in their Sweaty Betty tops and Lululemon leggings. Above, Davina in her own clothing range Fitness first: Nicole Scherzinger, 43, is often spotted in her workout gear on Instagram Keeping up with Kate! Gym Bunnies swear by Fabletics, the exercise wear company founded by Kate Hudson, 42 Sure, now we're all wearing leggings 24/7. But before athleisurewear became cool - and socially acceptable - The Gym Bunny was flying the flag for living in exercise gear. Fitness-obsessed, and maybe even a PT, the Gym Bunny is one of the few tribes who hasn't seen a significant change to their wardrobes over the last 24 months because they embraced it before it was even a thing. But months without any reason to swap the sweats for something structured does mean that their wardrobe is pretty one dimensional - even more so than it was before the pandemic hit. For their sweatshirts, tank tops and trainers, they swear by high-end brands like Sweaty Betty and Lululemon, and make sure they always have something new coming in with a 49-a-month VIP Fabletics membership. When they're not busy at a barre/spin/body pump class, they're booking in their next escape to a yoga retreat in Andalusia. Their poster girl? Davina McCall, 54, who keeps them inspired with her enviably toned physique on Insta. Designer Darling Big name brands: Designer Darlings take a leaf out of Jennifer Lopez's fashion book and like to step out with an It Bag on their arm. Above, JLo, 52, with a chic Fendi number in New York Seriously Posh: Victoria Beckham, 47, loves designer labels so much she created her own! All that glitters: Beyonce, 40, is never afraid to go head-to-toe designer, as in this Balenciaga x Gucci ensemble Style simply isn't head to toe branded designer pieces, but don't tell these girls that. If it isn't branded, they aren't interested. Inspired by the ultimate Designer Darling, queen Kris Jenner, this tribe may scream money, but the reality is that more often than not their big name brands are bought on a budget. You'll find them in the premium brands aisle at TK Maxx, sourcing their next Michael Kors bag, jacket and shoes, or scouring eBay for discounted designer goods. They hated lockdown perhaps more than any other tribe because they couldn't showcase their latest designer find. Now, however, they're in luck. There are plenty of social engagements in the calendar and maybe even a trip to Dubai, to join their fellow Designer Darlings on the beach. If it's not there then they might book a flight to the US to check out those designer outlet malls. With an empty suitcase for all of their bargains, of course! Stare, I Don't Care! Forever Young: Believers in the 'Stare, I Don't Care' mantra look to the ever-stylish Kate Moss, 48, for inspiration. They refuse to throw out the denim shorts and platforms of their youth Fifty and fabulous! Amanda Holden is known for her bright, figure-flattering wardrobe Feeling herself: Britney Spears is only just 40, but she's rediscovering the freedom over her body she enjoyed in her 20s and is a poster girl for the Stare, I Don't Care crew This is the tribe who, in their 40s are unashamedly dressing for themselves and not anyone else. These are the archetypal Gen X women who grew up with The Spice Girls and SATC and don't conform to any societal norms about what a woman, should or should not wear past a certain age. Denim shorts over 40? Check, a neon shoe? Check again. They routinely embarrass their teenage daughters even though those self same daughters will rifle through their 90s & noughties clothing stash on a daily basis. This woman is not going to go gently into that good night and her wardrobe is a mix of high street (Zara) and high end (Vivienne Westwood). This woman thinks Kate Moss is boss and her favourite place in the world is Pikes, Ibiza. She is more often than not, a Stylist or Make up Artist. The Eco Warrior Feeling green: Sienna Miller, 40, right, with Poppy Delevingne, was an early adopter of the Eco Warrior trend, which now boasts its own sprawling tribe Leading by example: Angelina Jolie, 46, and her children have championed recycled garments at recent film premieres, with her daughters re-wearing some of her old favourites The queen of going green! Clothes by Stella McCartney, 50, are essential for Eco Warriors With the state of the planet at the forefront of their mind, the Eco Warrior puts their money where their mouth is when it comes to purchases and will usually have the disposable income to do so, often working in the creative industries. And contrary to popular opinion, sustainable fashion isn't all hemp tunics in varying shades of khaki. Think investment pieces, capsule wardrobes and less is more. The eco warrior will wax lyrical about green fashion and encourage you to use the rental apps such as By Rotation and My Wardrobe HQ. But they can also be found in charity shops sourcing vintage gems and at brands such as Baujken, Frame and Stella McCartney. Boho lovers such as Sienna Miller were early adopters of the Eco Fashion movement and actress, Emma Watson is a big advocate for green fashion on the red carpet. The eco warrior isn't a fan of holidaying abroad, that would be too big a carbon footprint, opting instead for a green getaway, glamping or hanging out (not literally) at a tree house, ideally in Cornwall or Scotland. Sustainable fashion doesn't come cheap, this is the absolute opposite of fast fashion and they can be evangelical about the true cost of fashion but they have a point and maybe we all need to reflect on what we wear as we 'add to cart' on an item we aren't that sure about. A female-only app has come under fire for discriminating against transgender women with its facial recognition AI. Giggle, a social network 'only for females', which launched in early 2020, has since been the subject of complaints from transgender women, who told the Verge, that their requests to join have been denied by the app's facial recognition system, because their features ware not 'feminine' enough. However, now Giggle's CEO Sall Grover, who is based in Queensland, has doubled down, claiming that there is no space on the app for 'men claiming to be women'. Grover, who does not believe trans women are female, told Femail: 'The fact is, women of colour are on Giggle. Giggle is used by women of every race, religion and culture. The quality that Giggle users have in common is they are female.' Giggle, a social network that claims to be 'only for females' was slammed after trans women said they have been kept out of the app since it launched in early 2020. Its CEO Sall Grover, pictured, who is based in Queensland, doubled down this week on Twitter The app uses a facial recognition software that claims to screen out men who want to join Giggle by analysing their facial features The AI Giggle uses for face recognition works by analysing the bone structure of its members, meaning that individuals with masculine features could be prevented from creating an account on the app. Allegations of transphobia surrounding Giggle first surfaced when the app was created in early 2020. However, the story has emerged again after LGBTQ+ publication PinkNews approached Grover for comment for an article about the controversy. An unnamed freelance journalist writing for the publication sent a request for comment, asking whether trans women are 'encouraged to join the Giggle app' and whether the issue of facial recognition would be 'fixed.' Grover replied to the query, saying: 'Giggle is a social networking app for females. Males are excluded from the user base. There is no other specific demographic that is excluded from the app other than males. Giggle is a female-only social network which had come under fire due to its AI, which keeps transgender women from creating accounts on the app based on their features Sall wrote on Twitter she is not 'obligated' to adhere to gender identity and said 'men are claiming to be women' The former screenwriter said in an open letter to the media in 2021 that she believes there should be transgender only spaces 'No males are encouraged to join Giggle. Giggle is clearly stated as being for females. It would be lovely, however, if male people respected female spaces and left them alone.' An editor for the publication later asked Grover to 'unequivocally' confirm whether trans women are accepted on Giggle, to which she replied: 'Giggle is an app for females, to connect in a female environment.' And when asked whether she personally believes trans women to be women, she wrote: ' I can find no evidence or any female trans women.' Grover continued: 'I understand that PinkNews will be writing an article in support of trans women with the belief that they are female, with the specific purpose to condemn Giggle, an app for females.' She said that she hoped the article would point out that there are plenty of apps created specifically for trans people, which she fully supports, and added: 'All I ask is for is the same respect for female spaces.' When PinkNews published their article on Giggle including Grover's comments, she wrote on Twitter: 'I created an app for females, a place where women can connect, support each other & have a voice in a much needed male-free environment. 'Yet all the media cares about in relation to it is males. in case anyone was wondering whether or not misogyny is alive & f****** well.' In another tweet Grover shared around the same time, she wrote: 'The *only* reason anyone is struggling to answer what is a woman? is because men are claiming to be women. Grover shared an exchange she had with a freelance journalist writing for the LGBTQ+ publication PinkNews, where she was asked about the allegations trans women cannot join Giggle. She said in her reply 'male people' should respect female spaces 'That's all. Take that away & what is a woman? remains as clear as it has always been. Nothing has changed. Were still just adult human females. Evolution hasnt tricked us,' she added. Speaking to Femail, Grover said: There is no other specific demographic that is excluded from Giggle other than males. 'PinkNews chose to run a headline saying that Giggle excludes trans women, therefore acknowledging that trans women are male. 'Pink News is an LGBTQ+ publication catering to a specific demographic. Giggle is an app that caters for a specific demographic. But it seems that there are people who have a problem when the demographic being catered for is, exclusively, female,' she added. She also claimed PinkNews did not ask her to comment on allegations that the Giggle's facial recognition software was excluding women of colour. She claimed the publication was trying to 'discredit' her app, because it is a social network for females. 'This only hurts women of colour. I find this to be unforgivable. The fact is, women of color are on Giggle. 'Giggle is used by women of every race, religion and culture, The only quality that Giggle users have in common is they are female' she said. She claimed the people bringing forward accusation of discrimination of women of colour are 'teenage white boys'. She did not specify whether she was using the term 'teenage white boys' to describe teenage transgender women. 'Giggle doesnt use security to stop women from joining the app. Giggle has security because males try to come into what they know is a female space,' she said, again referring to trans women as male. 'Grindr - an app for the LGBTQ+ community - does not require security. Straight women like myself who are not part of Grindrs demographic and therefore not welcome on the app simply leave it alone and move on with our lives. Imagine if males were like that towards Giggle?' Grover also claimed that female trans people are using Giggle. However, she applies the term to individuals who were born female and who are in the process of transitioning to male, or who are questioning their identity. 'I find it to be the epitome of sexism that publications such as PinkNews will accuse a company of transphobia while completely forgetting that there are trans people we cater for: Female trans people. 'Within the app, in Giggle Support, there is a place for users to connect privately and safely to talk about gender identity if they want to,' she said. 'Women are entitled to have a place to connect and chat online away from the male gaze. While there is all this drama on the outside, once inside a female only space it is very relaxing, welcoming and fun. 'I will never apologise for defending women and female spaces.' It is not the first time Giggle and Grover have made headlines for their view on gender. In an open letter to the media penned in January 2021, Grover said she wanted to create Giggle as a strong support network for women after she was sexually assaulted and nearly raped while working as a screenwriter in Hollywood. She added she wanted trans women to be a part of the app when Giggle was in the early stages of its development. After PinkNews contacted her, Grover shared their email and said 'misogyny is alive & f****** well' In another email which she shared on Twitter, Grover said she can find 'no evidence of any female trans women' 'I made sure we created a secondary onboarding for trans women, in the event they were afraid of being misgendered. I wanted trans women to feel welcome,' she wrote. However, she said she changed her mind following the app's initial testing phase, after trans people and trans allies discovered Giggle and claimed its exclusion of trans women was transphobic. She added she did some research on the term TERF - Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist - as well as researching both the trans and the radical feminist communities. The CEO added she does not 'hate' trans women even though she won't make space for them on her app. The Giggle app offers to connect women in a female only space where men are not included and Grover, its creator, does not believe trans women are real women Trans people and trans allies criticised Giggle when it first launched in 2020 for using AI facial recognition, with some saying it'd keep trans women at bay if they did not look feminine enough 'Trans women and trans men both need protection from the demographic of people who do the actual harm men,' she wrote in the open letter. Giggle uses facial recognition system from AI company Kairos, which was found to misgender women of colour in a 2019 report by MIT's media lab. The research found that Kairos' facial recognition software misgendered dark-skinned women 22.5 percent of the time, which means these women would not be able to create an account on the app. However, Melissa Doval, the chief executive of Kairos, told the New York Times at the time the research was made public that the company had updated its algorithm since the study was conducted. Silent Witness star Emilia Fox has spoken about the 'big risk' of 'falling in love again' saying that she's 'much more at peace' in her forties because she 'doesn't have to deal with a lot of change in her personal life'. The multi-millionaire actress, 47, who lives in west London, said it 'makes her heart dance' when she thinks of what attracted her to TV producer boyfriend Jonathan Stadlen, 43, in an interview with Good Housekeeping magazine, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. She told the publication: 'We've met at a time in our lives when we've both had relationships, we both have children and we've both been on our own and, as a result, we're able to communicate freely, openly and honestly about everything. Silent Witness star Emilia Fox has spoken about the 'big risk' of 'falling in love again' saying that she's 'much more at peace' in her forties because she 'doesn't have to deal with a lot of change in her personal life'. Emilia was previously married to actor Jared Harris and engaged to manager and director Luc Chaudhary. Jonathan is a divorce who lives three miles away from Emilia a member of the famous Fox acting dynasty. He was the man behind the recent hit Netflix series An American Murder: The Family Next Door. Speaking about facing some big life changes in her thirties and how her forties been different: 'In my thirties, I was dealing with lots of change in my personal life; it felt like being on a rollercoaster. 'In your twenties, you can pursue your career; then suddenly, in your thirties, your body clock is ticking. You're trying to form the relationships that you think might last for ever and, when they don't, you have to work out how you feel about that and what you do. 'Thankfully, my forties have been much calmer and happier, too.' Speaking about her new partner she added: 'I've not had communications like that in any romantic relationship, ever.' The actress, 47, said it 'makes her heart dance' when she thinks of what attracted her to TV producer boyfriend Jonathan Stadlen, 43, in an interview with Good Housekeeping magazine, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. Emilia was previously married to actor Jared Harris and engaged to manager and director Luc Chaudhary (pictured togehether) Moving on: Emilia's relationship with Luc came three years after she split from celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, 58, who she dated on and off between 2012 and 2016 Emilia has been a fixture on the small screen in her role playing Dr Nikki Alexander on BBC crime drama Silent Witness since 2004. Emilia, who has a ten-year-old daughter named Rose from her relationship with actor and activist Jeremy Gilley, split from her talent agent fiance Luc in October last year, 18 months after they met on the exclusive celebrity dating app Raya. Before that she dated controversial TV chef Marco Pierre White from 2012 to 2016 after she and Mr Gilley went their separate ways. At the time, he was still married to his wife, Mati Conejero, with whom he has three children, and their relationship was said to have been a tortuous, on-off one. Read the full interview with Emilia Fox in the March 2022 issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale the 27th of January. It is available in all supermarkets and online at MagsDirect. In 2000, Emilia was engaged to the comedian Vic Reeves but after they ended their relationship she dated British artist and designer Toby Mott. In July 2005, she married the British actor Jared Harris, the son of Irish film star Richard Harris. They announced their separation in 2008 following the breakdown of their long-distance relationship, and were divorced in 2010. She is the daughter of actress Joanna David and her father is the actor Edward Fox. Her uncle is James Fox, father of the actor and activist Laurence Fox. Her younger brother is rising star Freddie Fox, who played Jeremy Bamber in the 2019 ITV drama White House Farm. Talking about taking more risks as she gets older and recounting the last one she took, she told Good Housekeeping: 'Falling in love again - that's a big risk. 'You have to be prepared to put all your cards on the table, to leave your past in the past and look forward to the future together - and to be vulnerable with that. 'I think that's quite a brave thing to do.' The Pianist actress, who is the magazine's March cover star, said the change she would still like to see for women would be for it to 'be made easier for every woman to have a working life and a home life'. She cited her Silent Witness co-star Liz Carr as an inspiration. The 24th series of Silent Witness aired last year Read the full interview with Emilia Fox in the March 2022 issue of Good Housekeeping, on sale the 27th of January. It is available in all supermarkets and online at MagsDirect. The house in rural Ireland I visited every year when my daughter was small had a range cooker which burned turf from peat bogs. It must have been 50 years old even then, but provided all the heating and hot water for our traditional cottage. It was literally the heart of the home and there was even a nickname for anyone who huddled too close they were called an ashy pet. My daughter an ashy pet if ever there was one grew up to become a chef and is, not surprisingly, a range-cooking aficionado. She explained to me: Agas really trap the moisture, so they are brilliant for roasts. You can put in a whole chicken with no oil or butter and it will come out perfectly cooked as well as giving you a jugful of pan juices for gravy. Its good for cakes and bread baking, too, all the classic British dishes. She is not alone in her devotion to the Aga, which turns 100 this year. Paul Hollywood has one and Mary Berry wrote what is still the classic Aga cookbook. Dame Mary Berry wrote what is still the classic Aga cookbook in 1999, to keep Aga cookery 'up to date' so it 'need no longer be confined to stews and casserole' And for many more of us amateur cooks, it is the ultimate upper middle-class fantasy: the Aga in the farmhouse kitchen, bread baking and two labradors snoozing alongside. There are even best-selling novels Aga Sagas that celebrate the lifestyle. Surely no other kitchen appliance has inspired its own fiction genre? And yet as editor of Good Housekeeping, I saw another side to the aspirational Aga dream. We were besieged with questions from readers battling to make modern recipes work on this traditional appliance. Meringues, of course, and cakes were the usual source of grief, Victoria sponges that went flat or fruit cakes that burned rock hard. We told the readers to ignore all timings in the recipe and keep checking and testing as if they were a Great British Bake Off contestant. The main drawback for me is the lack of an oven door window. Ive woken in the night before now with the realisation that theres a pound of sausages still cooking away to a cinder. A blue Aga cooker in a modern kitchen. These ovens can set you back between 4,000 and 20,000 depending on the number of cookers and different fuel types Then there were the evenings I sat hungrily in a North London kitchen while a flustered hostess tried to persuade the range cooker that took up half her kitchen (and cost as much as a small car) to boil some water for pasta at a dinner party. I spoke to that friend this week and the demon cooker has chosen January to break down, so she was waiting for a fitter to come out, freezing cold and unable to cook. Sadly we were unable to install an Aga at the Good Housekeeping Institute. The cast-iron frame made them too heavy for safety on our second-floor premises. We feared one would fall through to the floors below! So, when we opened a new Institute in 2014, on the ground floor, I insisted we install a state-of-the-art Total Control Aga. It was an elegant pearl grey, ran on mains electricity and could be turned on and off from a mobile phone. It made the test kitchen beautifully warm and cosy when it was on but took hours, not minutes, to warm up hence the need for remote control if you are out of the house for much of the day. This long warm-up time is not energy efficient. A fan oven can reach 200c (392f) in just five minutes thats hot enough for oven chips. Everhot makes a cheaper and it says more energy-efficient alternative to the Aga or Rayburn, but its ranges can still take a couple of hours to warm up. We used our Aga to triple-test recipes, but its most-used function was as an elegant backdrop in photo and video shoots. An 'Ideal Home Exhibition' in 1968, showing children playing in a kitchen containing an Aga cooker on show at the exhibition And therein lies the unspoken truth, which makes me wonder if Agas will still hold their place in Middle Englands heart for another 100 years. You see, an Aga is simply not for me, nor for the life I lead. I am too realistic to spend a four-figure sum on what could turn out to be a kitchen ornament. Yes, the manufacturer has made immense strides to bring its cookers into the 21st century with options such as induction hobs and additional fan ovens but the truth is that their main appeal is visual. For most of us, cooking in an Aga requires too much commitment. You cant just pop a dish in the oven, set the timer and forget about it. As my daughter says: They can make the kitchen far too hot in the summer. You cant see through the oven door and they are different every day even the wind blowing outside makes a difference to the cooking temperature. Its no good setting a timer and walking away, you have to learn to cook the proper way by smell, judging texture and colour. If you can do that, the results are amazing, but too few of us have the skills or the time. The Aga was invented by Swedish Nobel prize-winning physicist, Gustaf Dalen in 1922, after he had been blinded in an accident and, while convalescing at home, realised that traditional cooking ranges were dangerous and dirty In 1922, the Aga was the epitome of modern convenience. It was invented by Swedish Nobel prize-winning physicist, Gustaf Dalen. He had been blinded in an accident and, while convalescing at home, realised that traditional cooking ranges were dangerous and dirty. So he set about inventing a safe and reliable way to prepare family meals and heat the home: the Aga was born. The first Agas arrived in the UK in 1929, where they proved immediately popular. They were perfectly suited to damp British country houses and, in 1957, production moved to Shropshire, where it remains today. They have come a long way in 100 years moving from using coal to models running on gas or electricity. But despite technological advances, Agas consume a lot more energy than a conventional oven up to 38 times more, even for the smallest electric models. Not good in times of rising prices and climate change. In what could be a scene from one of those ever-popular Aga Saga novels, I am writing this in the kitchen of my converted barn in the Chilterns. Outside, its cold and wintry. Inside, we are warm and snug, there is a loaf of homemade bread left to rise and two dogs snooze at my feet. There is one thing missing from this bucolic image . . . there is no Aga, just an energy-efficient German oven with 12 different settings even one for proving bread dough. Olivia Jenkins, 29, thought she was watching her 12-day-old baby die the first time she choked on breastmilk, going blue and floppy A mum-of-three has described the terrifying moment her 12-day-old daughter choked on her breast milk and became 'blue and floppy' in her arms. Olivia Jenkins, 29, had never heard of laryngomalacia - a condition which makes it hard for babies to swallow their food due to weak muscles in their throat. And just two weeks after bringing her third baby Charlotte home, the infant was fighting for her life as a result of it. 'I have had my kids choke on things briefly before and administered CPR, but never had a scary moment like this where I thought she would die,' Olivia, from Adelaide, told FEMAIL. She had Henry, now four and Archer, three, at home already so Olivia felt she was 'all over' choking hazards. The day Charlotte almost died Olivia, who is a business consultant, was at home with a group of painters; her husband George and two young sons were out. Now aged 14 months, Charlotte is rarely seen without her oxygen lines strapped in The baby girl was diagnosed with three conditions which make it hard for her to eat and breathe 'The painters didn't know what was going on so when three ambulances arrived at the house they were shocked. But my support person wasn't there I knew I needed to keep calm if Charlotte was going to be saved,' she said. It wasn't until the professionals took over that Olivia believed her newborn baby might make it. At the hospital the worried mum was told to take Charlotte home, with doctors treating the incident like 'no big deal'. 'The hospital doctor said it was a BRUE, a brief resolved unexplained event when an infant younger than one stops breathing, and not to be concerned - that it's quite common,' Olivia said. But she followed her gut and pushed for an appointment with her paediatrician - admitting 'something hadn't felt right' about how her daughter had fed from day one. 'He watched me feeding her and diagnosed her in seconds, before referring me to three specialists to get an official diagnosis.' At first doctors treated Charlotte's near-fatal choking incident like it was no big deal But she pushed backed and found her baby could die in her sleep or when eating - due to her conditions What is Laryngomalacia? Laryngomalacia is when the soft, immature cartilage of the upper larynx collapses inward during inhalation, causing airway obstruction. Laryngomalacia is the most common cause of noisy breathing in infants. More than half of infants have noisy breathing during the first week of life, and most develop this by 2-4 weeks of age. What are the signs? 1 - Harsh noisy breathing on inspiration (noisy breathing/stridor) 2 - Stridor may be louder with exertion, feeding and crying. It may also be worse when lying on the back. It may be quieter when sleeping or resting quietly 3 - Stridor will typically get louder over the first several months of life, as an infant gets stronger, then to improve over the first year of life 4 - Signs of more severe laryngomalacia include difficulty feeding, increased effort in breathing, poor weight gain, pauses in the breathing, or frequent spitting up Source: Nationwide Children Advertisement Doctors also found the youngster has central sleep apnoea, where her brain forgets to tell her to breathe, and obstructive sleep aponea which means her airways become blocked when she lies on her side. She now uses oxygen at all times - and might need it until she is four years old. It took ten stressful weeks for the family to be approved for oxygen at home and for doctors to get to the bottom of the baby's conditions. In that time the ambulance was called a handful more times. 'My husband was there those times so I actually found I panicked more,' Olivia said. After the first episode at 12 days old Olivia was forced to call the ambulance for Charlotte a handful more times Charlotte is still not confident eating solids, and struggles with puree What is sleep apnoea? Sleep apnoea is a is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts Charlotte has two types. Central Sleep Apnoea (the rare one): Central sleep apnea is a condition defined by pauses in breathing due to a lack of respiratory effort during sleep. Unlike obstructive sleep apnea, the pauses in breathing throughout the night are due to the lack of respiratory muscles activating or the brain failing to ask the respiratory muscles to activate. To breathe in, our brain sends a signal to the diaphragm and the muscles of our rib cage to contract. The contraction of the diaphragm and rib cage muscles produces an inhalation. In central sleep apnea, there is typically a lack of communication from the brain to these muscles. It is important to note that a few central apneas per night is considered normal. We often forget to breathe briefly as we drift off to sleep or after waking up. Obstructive Sleep Apnoea(the typical one): Obstructive sleep apnoea, happens when a persons throat is partly or completely blocked while they are asleep, causing them to stop breathing. Their breathing can stop for anywhere between a few and 90 seconds, and they wake briefly. These episodes, which can happen many times a night, are known as apnoeas. The sufferer is often unaware of it happening, but will wake feeling tired. SYMPTOMS 1 - Pauses in breathing while sleeping, which may be noticed by other people 2 - Snoring 3 - Tossing and turning 4 - Waking up gasping or choking 5 - Tiredness and feeling unrefreshed after sleep Source: Health Direct Advertisement 'It was like I had that support person there, so I could be terrified. But she never choked so badly I thought she might die again.' The first choking incident stands out the most, with Olivia believing she will never forget what it felt like when she watched her lively baby become lifeless in moments. But another moment comes in a close second when she woke up and found Charlotte lifeless in her bed. 'I found her unresponsive in her cot, she looked really odd and when I couldn't rouse her I thought she was dead,' she said. 'She was deep in apnoea at this stage, we were on the phone to the ambulance when she finally woke up.' But the first incident was the only one where Olivia was on her own - since then George has been home to help her - the couple are pictured together before Charlotte's birth 'I have never had a worse feeling than when I thought my baby had died and I wasn't there to help her.' The mum thought she had 'slept through' the moment her daughter had died. But minutes later she woke up - as the couple spoke desperately with paramedics on the phone. Charlotte is now 14 months old and still struggles with her conditions. 'At four months her brothers were weening, trying solids. She isn't where most kids are with eating, she still only has purees and she still seems to struggle,' Olivia said. Olivia wants other parents to be aware their babies could also choke on breast milk and to know the warning signs Their youngest child is also their quietest. 'Those muscled in the throat are strengthened with eating so it took her a long time to start making noises, we still don't know how it will effect her speech long term.' Charlotte now has a sleep test every four months to monitor her progress. Doctors won't let her come off the oxygen permanently until she is progressing to a safe level. The busy parents wanted to share their daughter's story as a warning to other parents, who might think their baby's are struggling to feed or having moments without oxygen as they sleep. Dr Susanne Faerber lifted the headwear off model of the 95-year-old monarch Photographs of the Queen's wax figure with no wig on at all have been shared It doesn't show the Queen at her elegant best to put it baldly. German wax museum Panoptikum yesterday revealed that because of the cost of hair its replica of the monarch has a bare scalp under the hat. Dr Susanne Faerber, managing partner of the Panoptikum in Hamburg, lifted the headwear off model of the 95-year-old monarch as she combed the hair that protrudes from beneath it at a photocall for the press. German wax museum Panoptikum yesterday revealed that because of the cost of hair its replica of the monarch (pictured) has a bare scalp under the hat Dr Susanne Faerber, managing partner of the Panoptikum in Hamburg, lifted the headwear off model of the 95-year-old monarch as she combed the hair that protrudes from beneath it Ahead of the museum reopening to the public today following its annual closure in January for renovation works, photographs of the Queen figure with no wig on at all and being vacuumed shared on the museum's Facebook page in a 'look behind the scenes' post. Yesterday Dr Faerber told the Daily Mail: 'As we are using real human hair for our waxworks which is very expensive, some figures which have hats don't have complete hair. 'We just install the amount of hair which is visible for the visitors.' Asked if she thought it was disrespectful to display the Queen figure's bald head, she said: 'It is a waxwork, not the real person, this should always be kept in mind. Photographs of the Queen figure with no wig on at all and being vacuumed (pictured) were shared on the museum's Facebook page in a 'look behind the scenes' post The wax figure of Queen Elizabeth II is combed by Panoptikum boss Susanne Faerber at the Panoptikum on the Reeperbahn in Hamburg 'Besides, the position of Her Majesty is in Germany different than the handling of the royal family in Great Britain, where the press have to be more sensitive dealing with them.' The Panoptikum was established by Dr Faerber's great-great-grandfather in 1879. It has more than 120 wax figures, also including Donald Trump, Pope Benedict XVI, climate activist Greta Thunberg, and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. During the annual renovation works, the figures are cleaned, their clothes are taken to dry cleaning shops, their hair gets washed, their faces are cleaned, they are protected with moth papers, and scratches are repaired. With style that looked more at home in a horror film than a fashion show, models took to the catwalk yesterday in hunched-back outfits. These outlandish designs were the latest creations from Dutch fashion duo Viktor and Rolf at Paris Couture Week. They threw out the fashion rulebook with bizarre hunched and high-padded shoulders on blazers and dresses, that framed the models faces. Twitter users compared Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf's latest creations to Edward Goreys The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Uncle Fester from The Addams Family and Nosferatu, the 1922 silent German film Models present a creation by Viktor & Rolf during the Spring-Summer 2022 Haute Couture collection fashion show in Paris yesterday The look was complete with platform heels, adding to the dramatic height created by the costumes. The models long, talon-like nails, blood-stained lips, high pink blush and hollowed-out eye make up reminiscent of the 2009 animated horror film Coraline finished the effect. The ghostly connotations didnt go unnoticed on Twitter as users compared the clothes to Edward Goreys The Gashlycrumb Tinies, Uncle Fester from The Addams Family and Nosferatu, the 1922 silent German film A 98-year-old Holocaust survivor with 1.6 million TikTok followers appeared on GMB today to discuss why she will never stop spreading awareness of the crimes committed by the Nazis. Lily Ebert, 98, appeared on the programme to mark Holocaust Memorial Day today, accompanied by her grandson Dov Forman, 18, who helps run her TikTok account. She was 20-years-old when she and her family - mother and five siblings - were taken to Auschwitz on one of the last trains to enter the camp in 1944, enduring months at Birkenau, before being transported to Altenburg, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. Her parents and some of her siblings were condemned to death in the gas chamber after encountering the infamous Josef Mengele, notorious for his experiments on those in the camp, while the remaining family members were put to work. The survivor described her the horrific reality of life in a concentration camp in a book Lily's Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live, which was published at the end of last year. Prince Charles (right) met 98-year-old Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert (left) at an exhibition of Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust this week Lily Ebert appeared on GMB this morning, on Holocaust Memorial Day, to share her story, saying she speaks for the 'millions who cannot' As well as writing a book about the horrific reality of life in a concentration camp, Lily Ebert spreads her story via TikTok - she has 1.6 million followers On GMB today, she told hosts Ben Sheppard and Kate Garraway that she tells her story for 'the millions who cannot talk'. 'My story is never my story,' she added. 'It is the story of millions.' The 98-year-old was accompanied by her grandson Dov Forman, 18, one of Lily's 10 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren, who described the chilling moment the reality of his grandmother's past hit him. One of his friends asked to see her Auschwitz tattoo, which she pulled up her sleeve to reveal. 'I remember the moment of her lifting her sleeve and showing her tattoo. That was the day I realised it would my mission to tell her story,' he said. 'It is our responsibility to make sure Nazi crimes are not forgotten. 'One day in the future there won't be survivors and it will up to us to remind everyone of the Nazis' crimes to humanity,' he added. Host Kate Garraway asked Lily whether she had ever considered having the tattoo removed, or whether she keeps it 'as a reminder'. Lily revealed she had 'never' thought about removing it, adding: 'I want to show the world. Saying something, to see or to hear about it makes a big difference. 'The world should know how deep humans can go, fellow humans give a tattoo. You were not humans, you were not Lily Ebert, you were a number. No more, no less. 'Another human can take away my humanity. They are not humans, not me.' During the segment the 98-year-old also discussed being part of Prince Charles' initiative to mark Holocaust Memorial Day this year, by commissioning portraits of seven Holocaust survivors - including Lily. The portraits, which will serve as a reminder of the horrors of the Nazi regime, will be displayed at an exhibition at Buckingham Palace from January 27 to February 13 and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh from March 17 to June 6. Lily pictured with her siblings for the last time: This picture taken in 1943 before the family shows siblings (L-R) Piri, Berta, Imi, Lily and Rene (another brother, Bela, is not pictured) Lily appeared on GMB alongside her 18-year-old grandson Dov Forman (right), who works with her to create content raising awareness around the Holocaust Dov Forman said seeing his grandmother's Auschwitz tattoo made him realise his 'mission' is to remind everyone of the Nazis' crimes to humanity They were unveiled at an event at the Queen's Gallery in London on Monday, attended by Prince Charles, 73, and Camilla, 74. Lily, who met the Prince at the event, described the occasion on GMB today as a 'great privilege', and said the royal is 'one of the nicest men [she has] ever met', adding that he was very polite to everyone. Charles, who is patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, also commissioned portraits of Manfred Goldberg, Arek Hersh, Anita Lasker Wallfisch, Rachel Levy and Zigi Shipper. The prince called on the talents of seven acclaimed artists involved to take part in the year-long project: Paul Benney, Ishbel Myerscough, Clara Drummond, Massimiliano Pironti, Peter Kuhfeld, Stuart Pearson Wright and Jenny Saville. The portrait of Lily Ebert, commissioned by Prince Charles to mark Holocaust Memorial Day to celebrate the individuals painted, as well as remember the millions who were killed Lily (centre) met the Duchess of Cornwall (left) at the event launching the Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust exhibition this week In the foreword for a catalogue accompanying the exhibition, Charles wrote we are all 'responsible for one another, for our collective history'. He added: 'One of the starkest reminders of this was the Holocaust, when a third of Europe's Jews were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime as it sought to extinguish not just the Jewish people, but Judaism. 'Seven portraits. Seven faces. Each a survivor of the horrors of those years, who sought refuge and a home in Britain after the war, becoming an integral part of the fabric of our nation. 'However, these portraits represent something far greater than seven remarkable individuals. They stand as a living memorial to the six million innocent men, women, and children whose stories will never be told, whose portraits will never be painted.' The project is the subject of a 60-minute BBC Two documentary, Survivors: Portraits of the Holocaust, which will be screened on January 27 - Holocaust Memorial Day. Products featured in this Mail Best article are independently selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, DailyMail.com may earn an affiliate commission. As a busy mom and a working royal, the Duchess of Cambridge has perfected the art of choosing clothing that combines effortless elegance and comfort. The latest addition to Kates winter closet, which she wore for a charity function in London this week, is a khaki green long sleeve shirt dress that turned heads with its bold leopard print and flattering fit. With a pussy bow neck and a conservative mid-length calf, the light crepe de chine dress is demure and timeless. Roaring into the day! Kate wore a stunning leopard print dress to meet the clinical supervisors, volunteers and fundraisers who keep the Shout mental health text service running If youd like to smarten up this winter in a chic way like the stylish royal, you may be interested to know that her actual dress was by American label Derek Lam 10 Crosby, which has some similar styles still in stock on The Outnet and Net-A-Porter. And there is a blouse in the exact same print as the dress available on The Outnet for just $105. The gorgeous leopard print of the Derek Lam 10 Crosby dress worn by Kate Middleton is still available on Farfetch in a blouse option and it's reduced to $105 while stocks last! But for a closer match to this khaki leopard print dress, Pinko have an almost identical alternative, which is now half price on Farfetch. The PINKO leopard print maxi shirt price is similar to the winter dress worn by Kate Middleton in London and is still available in select sizes at $213 Reduced to $213, it has all the elements of the original dress in terms of color, print, sleeves and length but you dont need to add a belt to it because it comes with a stunning bow tie to show off your waist and give you subtle hourglass curves. Currently available in a few select styles, its advisable to add it to your basket fast before any other admirers of Kates closet beat you to it. Want the look for less? Amazon shoppers have a lot of love for the $37.99 Floerns long sleeve pleated Aline midi dress, which features the same cinched in waist, floaty skirt and flattering top half, just without the buttons and a slightly lighter print. The quality of the material and the fit of the dress makes it look a lot more expensive than $37.99, which is ideal if you want to smarten up without splashing out too much cash. A roar-ly good deal! A purse-friendly way to copy Kate Middleton's style on a budget is with the $37.99 Floerns pleated leopard print dress on Amazon But for a truly royal look, you need to think about footwear that allows you to stride like a princess. It's vital to complete the look with boots that look beautiful but that allow your legs movement to walk without discomfort. Kate opted for a slightly slouchy suede boot that would feel soft against her skin and allow for some flexibility, just like the AQUA Gwen heeled boots, which have been reduced by $50 to $171 in the Bloomingdale's sale. Step out in style like a princess with black suede boots like Kate Middleton for less by saving $50 on the AQUA Gwen heeled boots at Bloomingdale's Suede boots look best with a suede belt, both of which add some decadent texture to an outfit. The exact belt that Kate wore to emphasize her petite waist was the black Betty suede belt, which is still in stock at ba&sh. The Duchess of Cambridge wore the Ba&sh black suede belt to finish her look and emphasize her slim waist and there are still items in stock We never see the Duchess of Cambridge without jewelry or accessories but she's very smart in mixing fine jewelry with more affordable costume jewelry. The exact hoops that she wore in London were the ASOS DESIGN 14k twist hoop ear-rings but the slightly larger 50mm twist hoop ear-rings are now reduced in the ASOS design sale by 55 per cent to just $5.15. With the twisted texture, they brighten up dark outfits and reflect some light towards the face to boost your glow, even when it's dark and cold. The gold twist hoop ear-rings recently worn by the Duchess of Cambridge are available on ASOS design in small and medium diameters The larger diameter is ideal for those with round or square faces, as the shape works to lengthen and slim the face. Wispa bars have become the latest casualty of shrinkflation after it was revealed that Cadbury has reduced the size of the chocolate treat - but continues to sell it for the same price. The popular chocolate bar has seen a shrinkage in size across the range, with the Duo bar, containing two mini bars of chocolate, reduced by almost 4g, or 7 per cent, while still costing 85p. The new version has just 10 fewer calories. Meanwhile 10-packs have lost 18g overall and 4-packs have lost 8.4g. Chocolate fans were quick to slam the changes, with one commenting on the Tesco website: 'How can they possibly make the bars any smaller and for the same price as the previous 10 x 25.5g. This is no longer value for money.' The 'shrinkflation' will spark concerns that it is a new attempt to raise prices by stealth, based on the company's record of shrinking products without offering a corresponding cut in the price. Cadbury has previously claimed it was cutting back the size of multipack treats to below 200 calories each in an attempt to tackle obesity, as well as shrinking the size of four popular individual bars, including Wispa Gold and the Curly Wurly. A spokesperson for Cadbury told MailOnline: 'From time to time we make changes to our product ranges while continuing to deliver the great quality and taste our fans enjoy. There are a number of reasons for this. 'These include adjusting portion sizes in line with our proactive strategy to help tackle obesity and in July 2020, we committed to introducing a 200kcal cap on our Cadbury multipacks by the end of 2021, which we have now implemented. Previously, the Wispa duo, containing two chunks of chocolate weighed 51g and cost 85p. The new look Wispa duo is smaller at 47g, but still costs 85p and will only save you 10 calories 'On other occasions, like many food businesses, we might need to slightly reduce the size or weight of a specific product, based on increased commodity and operational costs, to ensure that they remain affordable while maintaining the quality and taste which customers expect.' Experts have previously said the phenomenon is actually being driven by soaring demand for cocoa alongside reduced yields because of climate change. They fear in future that quality may drop as confectioners are forced to tweak ingredients to cope. The revelation about Wispa's size comes after customers were left outraged as a smaller pack of four-bars appeared on the Tesco website last August. Cadbury's American parent company Mondelez International has previously said it planned to offer greater portion control options by committing to bringing all Cadbury multipack chocolate bars under 200 calories by the end of 2021 - and shrank four of its popular bars including the Wispa Gold (pictured) So could YOUR favourite chocolate bar be the next to shrink? From Snickers and Maltesers to Toblerones and the much loved Chocolate Orange, many of the most famous chocolate brands have dwindled in size over the last ten years. It's the curse of shrinkflation; the phenomenon which sees products remain the same price - or even become more expensive - even though they've been reduced in size. In the past companies have blamed shrinkage on the rising cost of ingredients, arguing that shoppers would have to pay substantially more if the products remained the same size as they'd always been. However Cadbury claim it has opted to cut back on size to reduce calorie count and help tackle childhood obesity. In 2020 it announced plans to shrink multipack bars to below 200 calories to help tackle childhood obesity. But the shrinkage of Wispa could be a sign they're applying the same logic to single bars. So which of your other favourite bars could be at risk of the shrink? HOW YOUR FAVOURITE CHOCOLATE BAR COULD BE NEXT TO FACE THE SHRINK FROM CADBURY Chocolate bar Individual Bar grams Individual bar calories Number of calories it might shrink by Fry's Chocolate Cream 49g 203 3 Fry's Peppermint Cream 49g 203 3 Boost 48.5g 250 50 Bournville 45g 236 36 Peanut Boost + Protein 49g 248 48 Advertisement One person wrote: 'No different than usual. The only thing new about them is that they are smaller than previous. 'Let's con the public and advertise them as new.' And another said: 'Very disappointed by another product affected by a reduction in size yet branded new. 'Same taste but smaller size yet no reflection on the price ! Baffling or what?' In 2020, the company shocked chocolate fans when it shrank down four of its most popular bars in an attempt by the confectionary giant to tackle obesity. Among the chocolate bars that were cut back were Wispa Gold, Boost and Double Deckers. The change, which also applied to Boost and Bournville Classic, affected multipack bars (pictured) The change affected multipack bars. It was an attempt by the confectionary giant to tackle obesity, with the new size meaning the bars contained less than 200 calories - however the price remained the same. At the time, a Cadbury Classic Bournville Dark Chocolate bar sold in a three pack was 41g and contained 236 calories. A bar sold on its own was 45g and contained 240 calories. The shrinkflation tactic meant the multipack bar would have to lose 36 calories to bring it under 200. However Twitter users reacted negatively to the news that Cadbury would be shrinking some of its most popular bars, claiming it was the latest catastrophe of 2020. One tweeted: 'Well this is the year that keeps on giving. Cadbury to shrink size of Wispa Gold and Double Decker bars.' Pictured: How the Cadbury's snacks shrank in 2020, following on from the release of a lighter Dairy Milk (far right) Another commented: 'They're shrinking Wispa Gold and Double Decker: who's up for marching on the Houses of Parliament this weekend?' And it's not the first time the company has horrified chocolate fans. In 2019, Cadbury announced it was shrinking its Curly Wurly, Fudge bar and Chomp among other products to bring them in under 100 calories. The 2019 Curly Wurly weighed in at 26g and 118 calories, which meant it required a 22g cut to bring it in under 100 calories. Other products due to be put under the Cadbury shrink ray before the end of this year include the Fudge bar (114 calories) which required a cut from 25.5g to 22g, and the Chomp (110 calories) which went from 23.5g to 21g. Mondelez's Oreo Mini snack pack and Freddo Face Cakes will be shrunk by the end of 2021. Meanwhile Cadbury Dairy Milk bar containing 30 per cent less sugar hit shelves in 2019. Pictured: the amount of sugar in the original bar (left) versus the latest bar (right) Many companies have decided to reformulate their products, often taking out some of the sugar, in order to reduce the calorie count, however this was rejected by Mondelez for these products. At the time, the company claimed that the decision to shrink the products aimed at children, rather than introduce a healthier recipe, comes from its 'commitment to taste'. UK Managing Director at Cadbury's parent firm Mondelez International, Louise Stigant, said: 'We want to play our part in tackling childhood obesity and are focusing on the areas where we can make the greatest impact. 'Our brands have been around for hundreds of years and play a special role in people's lives as treats to be enjoyed in moderation. 'We want to support parents when they choose to give their children a treat and introducing this calorie cap will make it simpler for them to find a treat under 100 calories that children will enjoy.' As long ago as 2009, Mars in Australia ran a massive marketing campaign based on this theme to justify cutting the size of the Mars bar. At the time, politicians described the move, which saw no corresponding price cut, as underhand. A woman who considers herself the 'UK's most well-known mistress' has revealed all about the women in her life the wives of her married lovers. Gweneth Lee, who is in her 40s, splits her time between London and California, living a life of luxury funded by her very rich and powerful partners, all of whom have a significant other at home. While the businesswoman most definitely takes advantage of the perks of dating millionaire CEOs, she also often has to deal with the backlash including angry phone calls from wives. Others try to get involved by offering threesomes while some aren't bothered at all. Gweneth Lee is the UK's 'most well-known mistress' and revealed stories of heartbreak and threesomes when her lovers' wives discovered her While the businesswoman takes advantage of the perks of dating millionaire CEOs, she reveals she also often has to deal with angry phone calls from wives Gweneth Lee with her lover and his dog next to his private jet which he uses for weekends away like their trip to Paris As Gweneth puts it, the latter are happy so long as they 'keep getting money, gifts and can keep the Range Rover'. 'I've had several incidents where I've met men's wives,' she explained. 'Some were funny but others... not so much. 'One wife, who was clearly drunk, texted me to say she was with her husband and had found my name, and "Did I want to join them for a drink?". The business woman reveals that some wives aren't 'bothered' about their husbands cheating with her, and leave them to it Gweneth Lee in her suite at the exclusive Hotel Hassler in Rome while on a break with her married tycoon lover Gweneth will often be showered with expensive presents from her lovers from designer brands such as Gucci 'I told her to give me a call and she was really upset. Weirdly, she didn't even ask if I'd had sex with him and with this particular man, I hadn't! We had just been on a few dates. 'I find some women just want someone to blame but they can't blame their husband because he's the father of their children or they have to continue to co-exist, or they don't want to lose the benefits of dating a rich man.' Gweneth has also met some of her lovers' partners, including one particularly memorable visit with a wife who, to this day, doesn't know she met her husband's side piece. She said: 'I was having an affair with a man who has medical clinics in London. The experienced mistress used to be married to oil executive husband Robert, until he tragically died The well known mistress explained that wives will get upset with her while looking for someone to blame for the breakdown of their marriage Despite some wives being upset, others know all about Gweneth and even want to have sex with her themselves 'His wife was an artist and I collect art, so one day he told me to check out her pieces and contact her. 'Soon after, I went to her atelier so she could show me around and we got on very well. 'She never found out that I was his mistress.' As for the art piece that Gweneth had her eye on, it unfortunately got ruined in a flood (make of that what you will...) but her married man happily transferred her the 10,000 for it instead. Gweneth Lee while on holiday with her married tycoon love in Valletta, Malta who she met through the affairs website IllicitEncounters.com Some wives know all about Gweneth and even want to have sex with her themselves. Gweneth said: 'The offer of the threesome came from the wife of one of my regular married lovers. 'I had been seeing this guy in London for around two years. He was a wealthy financier stuck in a miserable marriage who was seeing other women apart from me. 'Eventually he walked out on the marriage and quickly remarried another mistress he was seeing at the same time as me. Gweneth Lee soaking up the sun and enjoying a glass of wine with her married tycoon lover in Malta Gweneth will always ask their wives how they feel and explains that their anger isn't about the fact she sleeps with their men but it's a more deep-rooted issu 'It is this second mistress, now wife, who wants to have a threesome with me and her hubby. 'All three of us love sex and I cannot wait to join them for a night of fun. If you are all approaching a threesome with the same attitude, where is the harm? It is when secrecy and lies creep in that the problems start.' The experienced mistress, who is polyamorous and used to be married herself until her husband tragically died, also says how women react to cheating spouses sometimes depends on their culture. Gweneth, who meets her lovers through the affairs website IllicitEncounters.com, said: 'If one of my men has a Latin or Italian wife, they always want to keep our relationship secret and they're terrified of her finding out. 'There's a strong chance all that passion could end up badly if he's caught and revenge is definitely a possibility she could poison him, like put laxatives in his coffee. 'If they're Spanish or Portuguese, they'll make him feel guilty. 'British wives however, tend to have a 'don't ask, don't tell' rule and many British men often tell me it would break their wife's heart to find out but that if they did, the marriage would still recover. 'They would simply sweep it under the rug, keep calm and carry on. The stiff upper lip is really a thing. Gweneth explains that British wives ignore the affairs, Spanish wives make their husbands feel guilty and Italian wives might poison their husbands with 'laxatives' Despite seeking out married men, Gweneth insists their decision actually has nothing to do with her and explains that the men are making a conscious choice to be unfaithful 'Scandinavians tend to be more open-minded.' As for herself, Gweneth is Dutch and British, but her late dad is French and never had much of an issue with her preference for love rats. She said: 'I've always been into married men. 'I never discuss it with my mum's side of the family but my dad, being French, was like 'yeah it's okay'. Gweneth is so well known as a mistress that she will often get calls from wives asking if she's slept with their husbands, even when she hasn't Gweneth insists that the French side of her family had a relaxed approach to having multiple partners at once 'My paternal grandfather was the same way. 'When I was a teenager, he used to call me a free spirit and once told me, "There are women who are lovers and there are women who are wives". 'He wasn't wrong.' Gweneth, who has been called a 'husband stealer' many times, doesn't feel guilty about being a mistress because she's not the one cheating. She added: 'Women I've done business with will sometimes find out what I get up to in my spare time, and many of them get upset. 'Some will call me to ask if their husband has cheated on them with me, even though I've never met their partners! 'If a man cheats with me, it actually has nothing to do with me. These men are making a conscious choice to be unfaithful. 'But I always ask their wives how they feel, because more often than not, their anger isn't about the fact I sleep with their men it's a more deep-rooted issue.' Advertisement Prince Albert of Monaco attended the St Devote Day cathedral service without his wife Princess Charlene today - and instead appeared alongside his seven-year-old twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques and his sister Princess Caroline. The royal's former mistress and mother of his love child, Nicole Coste, 50, was also spotted at the principality's traditional ceremony - which marks the national holiday in remembrance of Monaco's patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century. Nicole's attendance at the event comes after she joined Prince Albert, 63, and their love child Alexandre Grimladi-Coste, 18, at Monaco's the Red Cross Ball in July 2021, during Princess Charlene's 10-month absence in her native South Africa. It's unclear if Nicole has attended the annual St Devote Day occasion before. Princess Charlene, who turned 44 on Tuesday, was nowhere to be seen today as she continued to receive treatment outside the country - and the ceremony marks yet another missed milestone, after she wasn't there for either her twins' birthday or Christmas last month. The former Olympic swimmer - who is suffering from 'emotional and physical exhaustion', according to her husband - was admitted to an undisclosed treatment facility in November, within days of her return to Monaco. Last month it emerged she is still 'months away' from a full recovery. Prince Albert of Monaco attended the St Devote Day cathedral service without his wife Princess Charlene today - and instead appeared alongside his seven-year-old twins Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques and his sister Princess Caroline (pictured together) The 63-year-old royal's former mistress and mother of his love child, Nicole Coste (pictured far left), 50, was also spotted at the principality's traditional ceremony - which marks the national holiday in remembrance of Monaco's patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century. Pictured right, Jacques on the palace balcony Princess Charlene (pictured with her husband), who turned 44 on Tuesday, was nowhere to be seen today as she continued to receive treatment outside the country - and the ceremony marks yet another missed milestone, after she wasn't there for either her twins' birthday or Christmas last month Albert took their children to visit their mother over the Christmas holidays but it is not known whether they saw each other on her birthday on Tuesday. Dressing up for the occasion, both Jacques and Gabriella wore smart black and red ensembles today, while Jacques made a cross sign with his fingers while on the palace balcony during the traditional Sainte Devote procession in Monaco. Their aunt Princess Caroline of Hanover, 65, was seen standing behind the children, and next to her brother Albert, on the balcony, dressed in a grey and black outfit. Meanwhile, Albert's former mistress Nicole commanded attention in a white coat with a matching dress and leopard print heels as she arrived at Monaco cathedral. Nicole previously said that after Albert married Charlene, the royal distanced himself from their son. She told the Mail On Sunday in 2014: The truth is that, Im sorry to say, Albert hasnt seen Alexandre since a brief visit last September. It has become impossible since he married that girl. I suppose as a new wife, how would one feel? But she should think about my innocent child. 'I dont want to attack her but I think it is just jealousy and I dont know why. I have been through hell in my fight for my sons name and future. Nicole's (pictured left) attendance at the event comes after she joined Prince Albert and their love child Alexandre Grimladi-Coste, 18, at Monaco's the Red Cross Ball in July 2021, during Princess Charlene's 10-month absence in her native South Africa The former Olympic swimmer - who is suffering from 'emotional and physical exhaustion', according to her husband - was admitted to an undisclosed treatment facility in November, within days of her return to Monaco. Last month it emerged she is still 'months away' from a full recovery. Pictured, Albert with his children Albert (pictured today) took their children to visit their mother over the Christmas holidays but it is not known whether they saw each other on her birthday on Tuesday Princess Caroline of Hanover (pictured left, behind Albert), 65, was seen standing behind the children, and next to her brother Albert, on the balcony, dressed in a grey and black outfit St Devote's Day is a national holiday in Monaco in remembrance of their patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century. According to legend, Christians saved Saint Devote's body and cast it off in a boat to Africa in the hope that once there she would receive a Christian burial. Timeline: Prince Albert and Princess Charlene's 12 months apart January 27 - Charlene is pictured with Albert for the Sainte Devote Ceremony in Monaco. March 18 - Charlene is pictured at the memorial for the late Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini at the KwaKhethomthandayo Royal Palace in Nongoma, South Africa April 2 - Charlene posts an Instagram picture of herself, Albert and their twins Jacques and Gabriella for Easter. It is unknown where the image was taken. May 8 - Albert, Jacques and Gabriella attend a Grand Prix event in Monaco without Charlene May 10 - Albert attends Monaco Gala Awards in Monaco without Charlene May 18 - Charlene shares her first picture from her conservation trip in South Africa June 1 - Prince Albert II, Jacques and Gabriella attend event at Oceanic Museum in Monaco June 3 - New photos emerge of Charlene on her conservation trip June 5- Charlene puts on a united front as she shares a photo with her family to mark her niece's fifth birthday with her brother's family and Albert and the twins in South Africa June 7 - Albert and the twins attend the World Rugby Sevens without Charlene June 17 - Prince Albert attends Red Cross Summer concert in Monte Carlo with his sister Princess Caroline of Hanover June 18 - Prince Albert appears alone Monte Carlo TV Festival June 24 - Charlene's foundation releases a statement saying the royal is unable to travel and is undergoing procedures for an ear, nose and throat infection July 2 - Charlene and Albert mark their 10th anniversary separately. 'This year will be the first time that I'm not with my husband on our anniversary in July, which is difficult, and it saddens me,' Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene said in a statement. July 3 - Albert appears with glamorous niece Charlotte Casiraghi at the 15th international Monte-Carlo Jumping event, which is part of the Longines Global Champions Tour of Monaco, July 27 - Prince Albert attends Olympics alone in Tokyo August 13 - Charlene undergoes a four-hour operation. The reason is not announced August 25 - Charlene shares photos of Prince Albert, Gabriella and Jacques visiting her in South Africa September 1 - Charlene is admitted under an alias to the Netcare Alberlito Hospital after suddenly 'collapsing' September 2 - She is discharged, with a statement from the Palais Princier reading: 'Her Highness is closely monitored by Her medical team who said that Her condition was not worrying' September 23 - Prince Albert attends the 2021 Monte Carlo Gala for Planetary Health September 29 - Prince Albert is joined on the red carpet by actress Sharon Stone for a first look at the eagerly anticipated James Bond release September 30 - Charlene releases a stylish video promoting her anti-poaching campaign from her South African bolthole October 3 - Princess Charlene shares a photograph of herself smiling in front of a bible in her first snap since being discharged from hospital following her health scare October 5 - Prince Albert attends Sportel Awards Ceremony in Monte Carlo with nephew Louis Ducruet October 6 - Albert tells RMC radio Charlene is 'ready to come home' October 8 - Princess undergoes surgery in South Africa November 8 - Charlene arrives back in Monaco. Prince Albert said within hours it became clear she was 'unwell' November 13 - Prince Albert attends Expo 2020 in Dubai without Princess Charlene Following his return from the trip, Prince Albert holds an intervention with Charlene's brothers and a sister-in-law in which Charlene 'confirmed' she would seek 'real medically framed treatment' outside of Monaco November 16 - Royal household confirms Princess Charlene will not attend National Day celebrations on November 19 - Prince Albert attends a Monaco Red Cross event without Princess Charlene November 17 - Prince Albert reveals Princess Charlene has left Monaco and is recovering in a secret location November 19 - Prince Albert reveals Charlene is in a treatment facility 'elsewhere in Europe' after a family intervention January 25 - Charlene celebrates her birthday alone outside of Monaco January 26 - Prince Albert is joined by his children and sister without Charlene at St Devote's Day Advertisement A dove then flew from her mouth and guided the boat to Monaco where it ran aground and the Saint has helped the principality in times of peril ever since. Shortly before Christmas it was revealed Princess Charlene is still several months away from making a full recovery. In November, Charlene was admitted to a treatment facility in an undisclosed location within days of her return to Monaco following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa. Her husband spoke out to say she is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical', while friends told Page Six that the mother-of-two 'almost died' while she was in her hometown of Cape Town. A palace statement released on December 23 revealed Albert and the couple's children were planning to visit Charlene during the Christmas holidays, as well as asking for the family's privacy to be respected. It added that the princess 'is recuperating in a satisfactory and reassuring manner, although it may take a few more months before her health has reached a full recovery.' Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014. Charlene returned to her husband and twins Jacques and Gabriella in November following almost a year in South Africa. While on a solo charity trip to the country, she contracted a severe sinus infection which prevented her from travelling. She subsequently needed surgery to treat the medical condition, which again delayed her return to Monaco. In the weeks after her arrival, Charlene remained absent from public duties. Albert later revealed the family reunion had gone 'pretty well' in the first few hours, but it then became 'pretty evident' that Charlene was 'unwell.' He said the former Olympian 'realised she needed help', adding: 'She was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life.' Albert explained: 'I'm probably going to say this several times, but this has nothing to do with our relationship. I want to make that very clear. These are not problems within our relationship; not with the relationship between a husband and wife. It's of a different nature.' He went on to tell a magazine her current state was a result of 'several factors which are private'. Albert continued: 'She hadn't slept well in a number of days and she wasn't eating at all well. She has lost a lot of weight, which made her vulnerable to other potential ailments. A cold or the flu or God help us, COVID.' He said it is 'not cancer-related or personal relationship issue' and later said she is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical'. He later confirmed Charlene has been admitted to a treatment facility for undisclosed medical issues, as she works through a period of ill health. The location of the facility was not confirmed, though several sources claim it is in Switzerland. However friends of the princess spoke out to suggest the issues were more physical than Albert appeared to suggest. Speaking to Page Six, a source described as the royal's friend said: 'It is unfair that she is being portrayed as having some kind of mental or emotional issue. 'We don't know why the palace is downplaying that she almost died in South Africa.' The source explained the royal had a severe ear, nose and throat infection, which resulted in 'severe sinus and swallowing issues stemming from an earlier surgery'. Elsewhere friends of Princess Charlene gave Tatler a rare insight into what the royal is really like, insisting that the former swimmer is a force to be reckoned with. One source rubbished any public perception that Charlene is 'naive' and trapped in an unhappy marriage with Albert, saying: 'I don't for one second think she did not know what she was doing when she married him.' But one warned the mother of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, seven, is not the type to be blindly controlled by the Monaco royal household. 'Charlene is no Princess Di.' one said. 'She may come across as being extremely naive, but nothing could be further from the truth. She is very good at keeping her smarts under wraps.' Doubts about the central relationship of Monaco's royal family are not new. Several residents living in the narrow medieval alleys of Monaco Ville confirmed to MailOnline that before she left for South Africa Charlene was spending most of her time outside the Palace, living in a modest two-bedroom apartment above an old chocolate factory about 300m away, rather than in the 12th Century Palace itself. 'We often saw her outside the Palace and she would usually be alone or with a bodyguard,' said one source, 'but she was never with Albert - it was obvious she chose to spend most of her time in the apartment rather than the palace.' Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014. Born in Rhodesia- a previously unrecongised state in Southern Africa colonised by the British, she relocated to South Africa aged 11. She had a successful swimming career and went on to win three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1999 All Africa Games in Johannesburg, as well as representing South Africa at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games and winning a silver medal in the 4 100 m medley relay in the latter competition. Dressing up for the occasion, both Jacques and Gabriella (pictured) wore smart black and red ensembles today, while Jacques made a cross sign with his fingers while on the palace balcony during the traditional Sainte Devote procession in Monaco Shortly before Christmas it was revealed Princess Charlene is still several months away from making a full recovery. Pictured, her twins Gabriella, left and right, and Jacques centre St Devote's Day is a national holiday in Monaco in remembrance of their patron saint, a Christian martyr who was killed and tortured for her faith in the 4th century. Pictured, Albert's twins Princess Charlene returned to Monaco in November, following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa. This photo was released to mark the reunion However the pair's marriage has made numerous headlines over the years, with a third paternity suit emerging in December 2020. Soon afterwards Charlene infamously shaved half her head in the style of a punk rocker. Months later she left for South Africa. The allegations in December 2020 claimed that Albert had fathered a love-child (which would be his third, if proven) with an unnamed Brazilian woman during the time when he and Charlene were already in a relationship. He has also fathered two other children outside of wedlock. Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, who is now 29 and the result of Albert's affair with an American estate agent, and Alexandre Coste, 18, whose mother is a former Togolese air hostess. Both children were struck off Monaco's line of succession in return for vast financial settlements. Advertisement Seven Holocaust survivors have shared the moving stories of how they escaped the horrors of the Nazi regime, including one woman who was saved by her musical talents as a cellist, as their portraits were unveiled to be hung in Buckingham Palace. The Prince of Wales, 73, commissioned the paintings of the elderly men and women, which will become part of the Royal Collection and will be displayed inside Buckingham Palace for three weeks, to stand as a 'powerful testament' to their experience. Last night, the royal unveiled the portraits at the Queen's gallery in London alongside the Duchess of Cornwall, and the pair were moved as they met with several survivors. Among them was Lily Ebert, 98, who showed the Prince her concentration camp tattoo and a golden pendant she hid from camp guards in her shoe then later in her daily bread ration. Charles, who is patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, also commissioned portraits of Manfred Goldberg, Arek Hersh, Helen Aronson, Anita Lasker Wallfisch, Rachel Levy and Zigi Shipper. Here FEMAIL reveals the survivors who have left members of the royal family moved with their stories of bravery... Some of the nation's last remaining Holocaust survivors were hailed by Prince Charles last night as he unveiled portraits commissioned as a lasting reminder of the horrors of the Nazi regime. Among those who sat for portraits was Zigi Shipper, 91, who was taken to a concentration camp alongside his grandmother (pictured left, aged two, and right with his portrait, in 2022) Another survivor whose portrait was painted was Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who said in 2020 that she escaped death in Auschwitz by 'complete fluke' because the band in the camp needed a cellist (pictured left, playing the cello taken in Berlin before WWII, and right) Lily was on one of the last trains carrying Hungarian Jews to enter Auschwitz in 1944, enduring months at Birkenau before being transported to Altenburg, a sub-camp of Buchenwald Lily was among the survivors who spoke with Prince Charles last night, leaving him moved after she showed him her tattoo on her arm (pictured in a documentary talking about her experience) Among the seven survivors whose portraits are hung in the gallery is Helen Aronson who, with her mother and brother, was among a group of around 750 people liberated from a Nazi-run ghetto in Poland out of 250,000 people sent there (left and right) Helen said 'it is something that she didn't talk about for a long time' but revealed she had gone on to live a 'very happy life' (pictured) MANFRED GOLDBERG, 90 Manfred, 90, who was born in Kassel, central Germany, in April 1930, was three years old when the Nazis came to power, nine when the war broke out and 11 years old when he was sent to the camps, along with his mother and younger brother, Herman. His father had escaped to England just two weeks previously and was unable to reach his family. Manfred and his family were initially deported from Germany to the brutal Riga Ghetto in Latvia. In August 1943, just three months before the ghetto was finally liquidated, Manfred was sent to a nearby labour camp where he was forced to work laying railway tracks, before being moved again to Stutthof the following year. He spent more than eight months as a slave worker there, as well as Stolp and Burggraben. The camp was abandoned just days before the war ended and Manfred and other prisoners were sent on a death march in appalling conditions, before he was finally liberated at Neustadt in Germany on 3 May 1945. Manfred, 90, who was born in Kassel, central Germany, in April 1930, was three years old when the Nazis came to power, nine when the war broke out and 11 years old when he was sent to the camps, along with his mother and younger brother, Herman Zigi and Manfred met one another at the concentration camp and are pictured at Lensterhoff, Germany in 1945 after surviving Stutthoff in Poland After meeting in the concentration camps, Manfred and Zigi have remained friends for years and have continued to share their stories to educate younger people about the Holocaust The Duchess of Cambridge first met Manfred and Zigi while visiting the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland in 2017 alongside the Duke Holocaust survivor Zigi and his friend Manfred spoke with Kate Middleton during a video call which was released last year (pictured) How Prince Charles commissioned portraits of survivors The prince called on the talents of seven acclaimed artists involved to take part in the year-long project: Paul Benney, Ishbel Myerscough, Clara Drummond, Massimiliano Pironti, Peter Kuhfeld, Stuart Pearson Wright and Jenny Saville. The project is the subject of a 60-minute BBC Two documentary, Survivors: Portraits of the Holocaust, which will be screened on January 27 - Holocaust Memorial Day. In the foreword for a catalogue accompanying the exhibition, Charles wrote we are all 'responsible for one another, for our collective history'. He added: 'One of the starkest reminders of this was the Holocaust, when a third of Europe's Jews were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime as it sought to extinguish not just the Jewish people, but Judaism. 'Seven portraits. Seven faces. Each a survivor of the horrors of those years, who sought refuge and a home in Britain after the war, becoming an integral part of the fabric of our nation. 'However, these portraits represent something far greater than seven remarkable individuals. They stand as a living memorial to the six million innocent men, women, and children whose stories will never be told, whose portraits will never be painted.' The prince went on to say about the portraits: 'They stand as a permanent reminder for our generation - and indeed, to future generations - of the depths of depravity and evil humankind can fall to when reason, compassion and truth are abandoned.' Advertisement Manfred explained that his own life - he was 13 when his brother was killed - was spared as he was able to work in the camps. As Jewish schools in Germany were closed in 1938, he told the duchess that he had no education for seven years but came to England and had a wonderful life. In the UK Manfred managed to catch up on some of his missed education and he eventually graduated from London University with a degree in Electronics. He and his wife, Shary, have four sons and 12 grandchildren. He met the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge when they visited Stutthof, in Poland, in 2017. Last year, he spoke to Kate Middleton about his experiences in the camp alongside fellow survivor Zigi. That is what saved my life. I was always fairly strong for my age. 'We were facing a selection which meant shuffling along single file until we faced an SS man who would say "left or right". 'And by that time we knew that left meant death today, right meant survive until the next selection at least, he recalled. I was sent to those to be spared, my mother was sent to those to be murdered. And she resourcefully managed - it was miraculous. As I shuffled forwards the man behind me whispered to me, "if they ask you your age say you are 17". In fact I had just passed my 14th birthday. But as he primed me and he [the SS man] did ask me that question and I said 17. I have pondered on it, but I will never know [whether] that man saved my life. I never saw him again. He was behind me, I dont know which way he was sent. Hes in my thoughts, as my angel who primed me. 'I dont think I would have had the resource myself to say 17. But possibly that helped save my life. He told Kate: Well, I know that many survivors have not had a peaceful nights sleep, many even to this day. Invariably they have nightmares. 'I was really very lucky, perhaps one in a million, who had both parents alive after the war. All of my friends, including my friend Zigi, none of them had two parents alive. I had a home life.' As Jewish schools in Germany were closed in 1938, he told the duchess that he had no education for seven years but came to England and had a wonderful life. I must tell you in all honesty that when I arrived in this country in 1946 I did not dream in my lifetime I would ever have the privilege of seeing, never mind connecting, with royalty. 'It confirms to me that I will never appreciate fully how lucky I was to be admitted to live my life in this country in freedom, he explained emotionally. My life really began when I arrived here when I was 16 years old. I didnt know the meaning of life. The Duchess shared a sweet moment with Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg at the unveiling of Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust Camilla posed with Holocaust survivors Zigi Shipper and Manfred as their portraits were unveiled on Monday as part of an exhibition to mark Holocaust Memorial Day ZIGI SHIPPER, 91, Born in January 1930, to a Jewish family in odz, Poland, Zigi Shipper's, 91, parents divorced when he was five and he was brought up by his grandmother and father, having been told his mother had died. In 1939 his father escaped to the Soviet Union, believing that it was only young Jewish men who were at risk, and not children or the elderly, and Zigi never saw him again. His grandmother tragically died the day of the liberation. In 1944, Zigi and his grandmother, whom he was brought up by, were taken to a train station and transported to Auschwitz. Speaking to Kate in 2021, he said: 'So after a few days we came to the station, I said to my grandmother "I cant see any trains". She said, "They are standing in front of you". I said, "That's not for us, thats for animals. It is not for me". Anyway they opened the doors and they started putting people in. Widower Zigi, who worked as a stationer in the UK and went to marry and have two daughters, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, said he wanted to tell his story because he wanted young people to know about what happened during the Holocaust 'There was nowhere you could sit down. If you sat down, they sat on top of you. I was praying that maybe - I was so bad, I was - that I said to myself, "I hope someone would die, so I would have somewhere to sit down". Every morning they use take out the dead bodies, so eventually I had somewhere to sit down. 'I cant get rid of it, you know. Even today, how could I think a thing like that? To want someone to die so I could sit down. Thats what they made me do.' He continued: Eventually we arrived one early morning, they opened the door and we didnt know where we were and somebody said, "oh, we [are at] Auschwitz". I didnt have a clue what Auschwitz was. 'They told us to leave everything. They took us to washing and cleaning. It happened that other people that went with the group, they had to go for a selection - and 90 per cent of them were killed straight away. 'There were women with children and they were holding the baby and the German officers came over and said "Put the baby down and go to the other side". They wouldnt do it. Eventually they shot the baby and sometimes the woman as well. Us, we didnt know what was going to happen. They took us, we washed. We didnt get a number on our arms but I had a number, 84,303. I always remember. How can I forget that number. I cant forget it. I want to get rid of it. Zigi, who worked as a stationer in the UK and went to marry and have two daughters, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren (pictured, at his 90th birthday celebration with his family) Holocaust survivors Manfred Goldberg (left) and Zigi Shipper (right) pose for a photograph at the unveiling of 'Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust' Eventually some officers came and they told us, "We need 20 boys to go to a working camp". This was the camp where Manfred was. 'It was a very small camp and we went there, I was three months in hospital. Then I went to a place, then I went to another place. After he was freed in May 1945, he got a letter from England - a country he had never visited - which was written by a Polish woman. She explained that she was searching for her son and had found his name on a British Red Cross List. She asked him to check if he had a scar on his left wrist that he suffered after burning himself as a two-year-old. He did. At first he refused to leave as his friends, including Manfred, were the only family he had. But ten months later, he travelled to England to be reunited with his mother, who he had barely met. Zigi said his first six months in the UK were hell because he missed his friends so much but that he went on to have a wonderful, wonderful life. Widower Zigi, who worked as a stationer in the UK and went to marry and have two daughters, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, said he wanted to tell his story because he wanted young people to know about what happened during the Holocaust. Zigi Shipper spoke with the Duchess of Cornwall as his portrait was unveiled as part of the 'Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust' exhibition The Prince of Wales studied the portrait of Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper at The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace The Prince of Wales with the family of Zigi Shipper and the artist Jenny Saville (right) at Monday's exhibition of Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust LILY EBERT, 98, In July 1944, a 20-year-old Mrs Ebert and her family - mother and five siblings - were transported to Auschwitz. Lily was on one of the last trains carrying Hungarian Jews to enter Auschwitz in 1944, enduring months at Birkenau before being transported to Altenburg, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. Her parents and some of her siblings were condemned to death in the gas chamber after encountering the infamous Josef Mengele, notorious for his experiments on those in the camp, while the remaining family members were put to work. She made headlines last year when, with the help of her great-grandson Dov, she was reunited with the American soldier who penned her a heartfelt note on a German banknote after she was liberated from a Nazi Death March in 1945. She told the prince during the event held on Monday: 'Meeting you, it is for everyone who lost their lives.' Charles replied: 'But it is a greater privilege for me,' and touched her shoulder. The 98-year-old Mrs Ebert showed the future king her pendant and rolled up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal the tattoo on her left forearm A-10572 - A for Auschwitz, 10 her block number and 572 her prisoner number. Speaking about her pendant in the shape of angel she said: 'This necklace is very special. It went through Auschwitz and survived with me. 'Auschwitz took everything, even the golden teeth they took off people. But this survived. 'I put it in the heel of my shoe but the heel wore out so... I put it every day in the piece of bread that we got to eat. So that is the story of it. I was five years old when I got it from my mother for my birthday. 'My mother did not survive. My little brother and little sister did not survive. 'They arrived and they saw Dr Mengele, he took them straight away. I have worn my necklace every day since I survived.' As well as writing a book about the horrific reality of life in a concentration camp, Lily Ebert spreads her story via TikTok - she has 1.6 million followers Lily Ebert shows tattoo on her arm from Auschwitz Later her great-grandson, Dov Forman, who has written a book with Mrs Ebert about her experience, Lily's Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz And Found The Strength to Live, said of the encounter with Charles: 'The prince was very, very moved.' Earlier today she appeared on GMB today to discuss why she will never stop spreading awareness of the crimes committed by the Nazis. On GMB today, she told hosts Ben Sheppard and Kate Garraway that she tells her story for 'the millions who cannot talk'. 'My story is never my story,' she added. 'It is the story of millions.' Host Kate Garraway asked Lily whether she had ever considered having the tattoo removed, or whether she keeps it 'as a reminder'. Lily revealed she had 'never' thought about removing it, adding: 'I want to show the world. Saying something, to see or to hear about it makes a big difference. 'The world should know how deep humans can go, fellow humans give a tattoo. You were not humans, you were not Lily Ebert, you were a number. No more, no less. 'Another human can take away my humanity. They are not humans, not me.' Lily described meeting the Prince of Wales on GMB today as a 'great privilege', and said the royal is 'one of the nicest men [she has] ever met', adding that he was very polite to everyone. The Prince of Wales met Auschwitz survivor Lily as he unveiled seven portraits of some of the nation's last remaining Holocaust survivors last night Lily, whose portrait will hang along six others in the gallery, met the Duchess alongside grandson Dov, who has written a book with Mrs Ebert about her experience titled Lily's Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz AREK HERSH Arek was 11 when he was taken to his first concentration camp, and survived Auschwitz by pretending to be 17 and a lockmaker. He endured what he calls the train of damnation, a month being ferried on open wagons across Europe as the German army retreated with their prisoners. He survived the Lodz ghetto, forced labour at Auschwitz-Birkenau, a death march to Buchenwald and finally Theresienstadt. In footage of him at Auschwitz, he recalled: 'In January it was 25C. People died in the night and they came in the morning with a little cart to take the bodies out. I never forget. Everyday I think about this place.' Arek was 11 when he was taken to his first concentration camp, and survived Auschwitz by pretending to be 17 and a lockmaker (pictured) He survived the Lodz ghetto, forced labour at Auschwitz-Birkenau, a death march to Buchenwald and finally Theresienstadt (pictured in 2022) Speaking to the Weekend magazine in 2020, he said: 'I remember the way we all grabbed at the bread. 'Wed hide it under the mattress and the people who looked after our rooms kept finding mouldy bread. We thought the food might suddenly stop. Arek was among 300 orphaned survivors of the death camps who were transported to the British beauty spot of Lake Winderemere. The initiative was the brainchild of British Jewish philanthropist Leonard Montefiore, who had helped found a group that rescued 65,000 people from Nazi Europe. When the war was over, he helped convince the British government to rehabilitate 1,000 child Holocaust survivors, funded by the British Jewish community. Only 732 were found, of which 300 were accommodated at the Calgarth Estate at Windermere, wartime housing for aeroplane factory workers. In August 1945 the first children, who were mainly Polish and many of whom were still in camps as they had nowhere to go, were transported in RAF planes that had delivered their cargo and were on their way home. In 2018, Chris Tarrant visited the camps alongside Alek for his programme Chris Tarrants Extreme Railway Journeys Last summer, he met with the Duchess of Cambridge at Lake Windermere where he recalled the experience (pictured together) The Prince of Wales meets Holocaust survivor Arek as he attended the opening of the exhibition at The Queen's Gallery on Monday There were no seats and the children, who were sitting on the floor, had little idea of where they were going or if they were to be safe, with no reason to trust adults. Arek recalled how when the children are first presented with bread they all run away with it, trying to hide it as they didn't know if there will be more. What is Holocaust Memorial Day? Every January on Holocaust Memorial Day, the world remembers the six million Jews and millions of other minorities who were killed during the genocide of World War II. As directed by Hitlers Nazi party, the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah in Hebrew, is a term to describe the genocide of Jews and other minorities during World War II. January 27, 1945 is the day the Auschwitz concentration camp in modern-day Poland was liberated by the Soviets. With the Soviets arriving nearly eight months before the war ended, many had been sent out on a death march and 7,000 sick and dying people remained. In the five years that Auschwitz was open, an estimated 1.1 million people were killed at the concentration camp. 90 percent were Jewish and the rest were a mix of Romany people, Soviets and Poles. One in six Jews killed in World War II died at Auschwitz after being brought to the camp across Europe by train. By the end of the Holocaust, six million Jewish men, women and children died in ghettos, mass-shootings, in concentration camps and extermination camps. Studies have also revealed that the true death toll could be as many as 20 million people. All over the world, commemorative events will take place to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, but also subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur are remembered to try and end racial violence once and for all. Advertisement But Arek also told the paper: 'I felt like living again. I started feeling like a human being again. That is what Windermere did for me.' The Windermere children retained a bond that led to regular reunions. They formed a charity together in 1963 called The 45 Aid Society, raising money for those in need. Some of the boys and girls (there were only 80 girls as far fewer females survived in the camps) became well-known, including Sir Ben Helfgott, whose story is featured in the film and who went on to represent Great Britain as an Olympic weightlifter. Others include Rabbi Hugo Gryn, a renowned presenter on Radio 4s Moral Maze, and celebrated artist Roman Halter, while Moishe Malinicky is Strictly star Judge Rob Rinders grandfather. Almost all of them are involved in Holocaust education to make sure this story of mans inhumanity to man is never forgotten. Last summer, he met with the Duchess of Cambridge at Lake Windermere where he recalled the experience. He called meeting the royal 'very nice', adding: 'She was very interested. ' It brought back happy memories of being on the lake.' ANITA LASKER-WALLFISCH, 97 Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, was 18 in December 1943 when she was deported to Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp in occupied Poland where more than one million Jews were murdered. In November 1944, she was taken to Bergen-Belsen, the concentration camp where diarist Anne Frank died after also being transferred from Auschwitz at about the same time, where she was eventually liberated by the British army in April 1945. Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch revealed in 2020 that she escaped death in Auschwitz by 'complete fluke' because the band in the camp needed a cellist. Brought up in a musical family in the then-German town of Breslau but now Wroclaw in Poland, Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch survived both the notorious extermination camp and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In April 1942 her parents were deported to a camp near Lublin in south-east Poland, she later learned they had been killed on arrival. Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch and her sister Renate were conscripted to work at a paper factory, but were arrested and imprisoned for helping forge documents for French prisoners of war. 'I didn't find it very convincing that I was going to be killed just because I happened to be Jewish, I thought I better give them a better reason to kill me,' she said. In November 1944, she was taken to Bergen-Belsen, the concentration camp where diarist Anne Frank died after also being transferred from Auschwitz at about the same time, where she was eventually liberated by the British army in April 1945 Holocaust survivor Anita holds up a photo of herself playing the cello in Berlin before the outbreak of WWII 'That was constantly on your mind when and how you were going to be killed.' After serving a year, they were put on a train to Auschwitz where she was made to play in the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz. The orchestra was used to help the work gangs march in time as they were sent out each morning and returned in the evening and also played whenever an SS officer wanted to hear music. 'It was complete fluke that there was a band in Auschwitz that needed a cellist,' Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch said. 'I didn't think I would arrive in Auschwitz and play the cello there. I was prepared to go into the gas chamber.' As the Red Army marched on Auschwitz in early 1945, Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch and her sister were loaded onto a cattle truck with 3,000 other inmates and taken to Bergen-Belsen. After liberation, she worked as an interpreter for the British army before settling in the UK in 1946. Mrs Lasker-Wallfisch co-founded the English Chamber Orchestra and in 1952 married musician Peter Wallfisch, her childhood friend who had left Germany in the 1930s. She was awarded an MBE in 2016 for services to Holocaust education. Asked how she coped with the trauma of the Holocaust, she said: 'That I can't answer obviously I coped and I am here. There is no description of how you cope. I was very lucky because I am a musician, that helps as well, but you just cope.' Ms Lasker-Wallfisch immigrated to Britain in 1946, married and had two children. The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are pictured speaking with German-British cellist Anita, a surviving member of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz Artist Peter Kuhfeld with his painting of Holocaust survivor Anita Laskar-Wallfisch at the unveiling of the 'Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust' exhibition The Duchess of Cornwall with artist Peter Kuhfeld and Holocaust survivor Anita Laskar-Wallfischof (front right) and her family at an exhibition on Monday RACHEL LEVY, 91, Rachel Levy, 91, grew up in the former Czechoslovakia where she felt the start of the Nazi persecution came when Jewish children were barred from going to school. Her father Solomon was taken to a Labour camp and never returned, while she was later forced onto a train to Auchwitz. Her younger siblings Rivka, 10, Etta, eight and toddler Ben-Zvi were considered too young to work and were sent to the gas chambers immediately alongside her mother. Rachel Levy, 91, lost her parents and three of her siblings to the Nazi regime, but managed to escape death herself (pictured centre) However Rachel, then 14, and her brother Chaskie, 16, were spared. She was among the children overseen by Dr Josef Mengele, but he gestured she too should be killed. However a delay forced a female SS guard to listen to their pleas for help, and they managed to run away. She hid among kitchen workers and eventually was forced to walk 21 days from Poland to Bergen-Belsen. There, she contracted typhoid and saw her aunt die, as well as other unimaginable horrors. When the camps were liberated in April 1945, she was reunited with her brother and moved to Britain. She was among those child survivors who were awarded an British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2018. The Prince of Wales is pictured chatting with Holocaust survivor Rachel Levy as her portrait was unveiled among six others as part of the exhibition HELEN ARONSON Among the seven survivors whose portraits are hung in the gallery is Helen Aronson who, with her mother and brother, was among a group of around 750 people liberated from a Nazi-run ghetto in Poland out of 250,000 people sent there. The family had been separated from her father who had been murdered by the Nazis. Today she shares her experiences with groups across the country, and she said about her painting: 'The portrait was just excellent, absolutely true to life. It has been such an experience. 'I talked to the prince about life in the concentration camp and the exterminations. 'It is something that I didn't talk about for a long time but I have gone on to have a very happy life. My family is everything to me. 'It has been a very special and unforgettable day.' Charles, who is patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, met Holocaust survivor Helen Aronson and her family at the exhibition A woman who found a long-lost letter from a Holocaust survivor - who was held in solitary confinement by the Nazis for more than a year - in a New York thrift shop has miraculously returned it to the writer's family decades later. Chelsey Brown, 28, from New York City, discovered the handwritten note - which was crafted more than 75 years ago - in a local vintage store, and was instantly drawn to it. In the letter, a Holocaust survivor - who had lost almost all of her family to the war and fought hard to escape from the Nazis - described the 'unspeakably big pain' that the she was in. Chelsey decided to find out whatever she could about the person who wrote it - and was stunned by the author's powerful story. She then became determined to reunite it with its rightful owners. A woman (pictured) who found a letter from a Holocaust survivor in a New York thrift shop has miraculously returned it to the writer's family decades later Chelsey Brown, 28, from New York City, discovered the handwritten note (pictured) - which was crafted more than 75 years ago - in a local vintage store, and was instantly drawn to it In the letter, a Holocaust survivor (pictured) - who lost almost all of her family to the war and fought hard to escape from the Nazis - described the 'unspeakably big pain' that the she was in Ilse Loewenberg's letter in full 'Through the kindness of our liberators, I am able to give you a sign of life from me after so many years. 'Dad, Mom, Grete, Lottchen and Hermann: no one is alive anymore. 'My pain is unspeakably big. My husband, whom I married three and a half years ago, was also taken from me. 'When there will be a regular mail connection, I will tell you everything in detail.' Advertisement According to Good Morning America, the letter was written by a woman named Ilse Loewenberg - who had jumped out of a moving train near Ruda, Poland, in 1943 to escape the Auschwitz concentration during World War II. She then walked for three days straight until she got to Berlin, Germany. She joined an underground Nazi resistance group called Gemeinschaft fur Frieden und Aufbau, which translates to the Association for Peace and Development. However, in 1944, she was re-captured by the Nazis and held in solitary confinement for a year - until she was eventually liberated by Russian troops. Ilse's mom, dad, two sisters, and husband were tragically killed during the Holocaust. Her husband, Gerhard Grun, was shot and killed after he was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Her sisters, Lieselotte and Margarete, as well as her mom, Hannchen, died in Auschwitz, while her dad, Simon, was murdered at Theresienstadt camp. After she was freed, she wrote the letter to her only living family member - her sister Carla, who had moved to England before the war began - and described the traumas she had been through. 'Through the kindness of our liberators, I am able to give you a sign of life from me after so many years,' Ilse wrote in the 76-year-old note in German. 'Dad, Mom, Grete, Lottchen and Hermann: no one is alive anymore. My pain is unspeakably big. 'My husband, whom I married three and a half years ago, was also taken from me. When there will be a regular mail connection, I will tell you everything in detail.' Determined: Chelsey decided to find out whatever she could about the person who wrote it - and was stunned by the author's powerful story The letter was written by Ilse Loewenberg (pictured) - who jumped out of a moving train in 1943 to escape the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II Chelsey also obtained a document outlining what happened to the woman and her birth certificate In 1944, Ilse was re-captured by the Nazis and held in solitary confinement for a year - until she was eventually liberated by Russian troops Chelsey also obtained a document outlining what happened to the woman and her birth certificate. Chelsey - who has a knack for re-connecting family heirlooms with their owners - then used MyHeritage.com to find some more info on Ilse and Carla. She discovered that after the war, they both immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Forest Hills, New York, in 1948. Ilse then re-married, and spent much of her time sending supplies back to Germany to the people who helped her survive the Holocaust. She never had any children, but Chelsey was able to find some extended family members through Ilse's husband. She got in contact with Jill Butler, who was the niece of Ilse's brother-in-law. And when Jill got ahold of the letter, she said she was 'thrilled beyond words.' They corresponded over Facebook Messenger before hoping on the phone, where they talked for more than two hours. 'My whole family is truly in awe of all you have done for us,' Jill wrote in a message to Chelsey, after receiving Ilse's letter. 'Almost everyones first reaction of, "Is this a scam?" quickly transformed into bewilderment. 'We all loved our Great-Aunt Ilse and are thrilled beyond words to read her thoughts in her own handwriting after she emerged from the depths of the European inferno. 'May God bless your noble work, and may you receive many blessings in return for all you do for families like mine.' Ilse, who was born in 1908, unfortunately passed away on September 11, 2001, but her death was not related to the terrorist attack against the Twin Towers. After she was freed, she wrote the letter to her only living family member - her sister Carla - and described the traumas she had been through. Pictured is Ilse's birth certificate After the war, Ilse and her sister both immigrated to the U.S. and settled in Forest Hills, New York. Pictured is the document that Chelsey obtained describing what happened to Ilse Using MyHeritage.com, Chelsey was able to get in contact with Jill Butler - the niece of Ilse's brother-in-law - who was 'thrilled beyond words.' Jill and Ilse are pictured together 'My whole family is truly in awe of all you have done for us,' Jill wrote in a message to Chelsey, after receiving Ilse's letter. Jill is pictured at her wedding in 1995 with Ilse Powerful: Chelsey, who also lost family members during the Holocaust, said she found Ilse's story to be an 'inspiration' Chelsey is dedicated to finding items in local thrift stores and reconnecting them with their owners or the descendants of their owners - and has done so more than 200 times already Going viral: She often shares the process on social media, where she has wracked up thousands of followers However, her family said they believe that she died that day because she 'could not witness any more tragedy and suffering.' Chelsey, who also lost family members during the Holocaust, said she found Ilse's story to be an 'inspiration.' 'She's a bit of inspiration for everyone to be better in life. After the war, Ilse actually sent supplies to the family that helped hide her in Berlin,' Chelsey revealed. 'She really is an example of doing good in a world or being kind in a world that isn't. 'Ilse still lives in the back of my mind every time I do a return because her story is so miraculous, She proves that we need to be kind and do good in a world that isnt so kind.' Chelsey is dedicated to finding items in local thrift stores and reconnecting them with their owners or the descendants of their owners - and has done so more than 200 times already. But she told The Post that she is especially drawn to items from the Holocaust - since they are often sold illegally for extremely high prices. 'In the back of my mind, my heart just sunk, because ever since I started this heirloom-return journey, finding Holocaust documents has been a goal of mine - to find as many as I can,' she told them, of the moment she found Ilse's letter. While chatting with In the Know, Chelsey said that returning Ilse's letter was one of the 'hardest projects' she had worked on, and it took her three months in total - but it was worth it. 'I think it was just really special for Jill to get these documents back,' said Chelsey. 'And it was special for me to get these off of the market. 'Many [Holocaust] documents are sold underground or [at] auction for extremely high prices illegally - its totally illegal, but no one talks about. 'I truly believe these items [should] go back to their rightful families. I dont think people should be profiting off of them, and more importantly, I dont think they should go to museums.' She often shares the process on social media, where she has wracked up thousands of followers. She explained: 'It does break my heart, because I'm sure that there's a ton of items I could help reunite with her rightful families. 'We shouldn't be selling these items. It should be illegal. They should be going back to their families. 'The reason why people connected with my heirloom returns on social media is because it shows that there is magic in the lives of average people. 'We each have our own unique ancestry and story, and I think that's what our world and generation needs right now.' Queen Letizia of Spain was the picture of elegance as she attended a journalism award ceremony in Madrid this afternoon. The Spanish monarch, who spent a decade working as a TV reporter before marrying King Felipe in 2004, presented the Luis Carandell Awards for Parliamentary Journalism at the Senate Palace today. Looking typically polished, Letizia, 49, opted for a recycled dress by Carolina Herrera, which she first debuted back in 2018, paired with killer burnt red heels and a matching clutch bag. The bespoke, red sheath dress features a keyhole neckline, long sleeves and a pencil silhouette which perfectly flatters the royal's figure. Queen Letizia of Spain was the picture of elegance as she attended a journalism award ceremony in Madrid this afternoon Letizia, 49, opted for a recycled dress by Carolina Herrera, which she first debuted back in 2018 paired with killer burnt red heels and a matching clutch bag Putting safety first, Letizia donned a plain white face covering throughout the ceremony and teamed her chic look with a pair of red teardrop earrings. Her brown tresses were bouncy and loose around her shoulders, while for her make-up look the mother-of-two opted for a subtle smokey eye, light eyeliner and touch of bronzer. The royal was last spotted in the outfit as she joined her husband King Felipe and their two daughters Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia to mark the 40th anniversary of their country's constitution in December 2018. Letizia was joined by President of the Senate, Ander Gil Garcia as she hosted the awards, which aim to recognise excellence in political reporting and journalism within Spain. Letizia's bespoke, red sheath dress features a keyhole neckline, long sleeves and a pencil silhouette which perfectly shapes the royal's figure Putting safety first, Letizia donned a plain white face covering throughout the ceremony and teamed her chic look with a pair of red teardrop earrings Letizia is seen posing with Upper Chamber of Spanish Parliament spokesman Ander Gil and Minister of Political Territory Isabel Rodriguez Letizia appeared in high spirits as she chatted with Ander Gil and Isabel Rodriguez ahead of the award ceremony this afternoon Her brown tresses were bouncy and loose around her shoulders, while for her make-up look the mother-of-two opted for a subtle smokey eye, light eyeliner and touch of bronzer The royal, whose father Jesus Jose Ortiz Alvarez and stepmother Ana Togores are both journalists, met her husband while still a reporter and was famously asked to conduct an interview with him. Letizia's media career was a lengthy one and began with a stint at Asturian daily paper, La Nueva Espana. Next came a role at ABC, a popular national newspaper that enjoys the third largest circulation in Spain, before spells at EFE and Mexican publication Siglo 21, which is based in Guadelajara. Back in Spain a year later, she worked for the Spanish version of Bloomberg, a news channel and agency specialising in economics, before moving to CNN+. Letizia first debuted the look back in 2018 and today paired the outfit with killer burnt red heels and a matching clutch bag Letizia was joined by President of the Senate, Ander Gil Garcia as she hosted the awards, which aim to recognise excellence in political reporting and journalism within Spain Letizia, pictured at the award ceremony this afternoon, enjoyed a lengthy media career which began with a stint at Asturian daily paper, La Nueva Espana By the time she met her husband-to-be, Letizia was working for popular TV channel 24 Horas, where she anchored the popular Telediario 2 evening news bulletin. Perhaps as a result of her reporting background, Letizia is one of the most enthusiastically pro-newspaper royals in Europe and regularly turns out for journalist charities and awards ceremonies. By contrast, Prince Philip is notoriously mistrustful of the media and once quipped to the matron of a Caribbean hospital he was visiting: 'You have mosquitoes. I have the Press!' A woman who was told she had an STD by her doctors after finding ulcers on her vagina was heartbroken to learn that she actually had a rare form of genital cancer - a decade after the same disease killed her dad. Ann Heslin, 44, from Louisiana, became alarmed when she began experiencing 'incredible burning pain' on her vulva in January 2021. At first, she thought it was related to a waxing appointment she previously had, but when she noticed two ulcers had formed on her labia - she had a strong feeling that it was something serious. Ann said that right away, she 'knew in her heart' that she had cancer, since her father had previously passed away from skin cancer and it looked very similar to what she had. A woman who was told she had an STD by doctors after finding ulcers on her vagina learned she actually had a rare form of genital cancer - a decade after the same disease killed her dad Ann Heslin, 44, from Louisiana, became alarmed when she began experiencing 'incredible burning pain' on her vulva in January 2021 And when she noticed two ulcers had formed on her labia - she had a strong feeling it was something serious However, her dermatologist was convinced it was a sexually transmitted disease. 'It took a lot of courage for me to ask her to look at such a private area. But I was in so much pain that I needed to get some resolution,' she told Today during a recent interview. 'In my heart, I knew I had cancer.' Ann's doctor had her tested for STDs but they all came back negative. Still unsure of what was wrong, they started her on an 'aggressive course of antibiotics and steroid cream.' She recalled: 'Nothing was working. It was just getting worse and worse. Every day Id think, "Today is the day that these two ulcers go away." I was in so much pain.' The pain got so severe that Ann could hardly even walk. She added: 'I was frankly very desperate for the solution.' She then got a biopsy and discovered that she had squamous cell carcinoma - the same disease that took her father's life in 2010. According to MayoClinic, squamous cell carcinoma is a common form of skin cancer that develops in the cells that make up the middle and outer layers of the skin. Squamous cell carcinoma can occur anywhere on the body and often (but not always) results from prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, either from sunlight or from tanning beds or lamps. 'My dad had a very short cancer journey five months from diagnosis until the day he died,' Ann said. Ann said that right away, she 'knew in her heart' that she had cancer, since her father (pictured) had previously passed away from skin cancer in 2010, and it looked similar to what she had However, her dermatologist was convinced it was a sexually transmitted disease and put her on antibiotics. But the pain got worse and worse - leaving her unable to walk She was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma - skin cancer that can develop anywhere on the body and is caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays. She is pictured with her doctor 'Everybody in my family was concerned. I cried. My sister cried. My mom cried.' What is squamous cell carcinoma? According to MayoClinic, squamous cell carcinoma is a common form of skin cancer that develops in the cells that make up the middle and outer layers of the skin Squamous cell carcinoma can occur anywhere on the body and often (but not always) results from prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, either from sunlight or from tanning beds or lamps According to SkinCancer.org, 1.8 million people are diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma each year in the U.S. However, it's very rare for it to develop on the vulva. Cancer.net reported that only about 6,000 people get vulvar cancer each year, and it makes up less than one per cent of all cancers in women Symptoms of vulvar cancer include chronic itching or burning of the vulva or labia, skin changes, or an ulcer or sore that doesn't heal Advertisement Ann, who works as the director of special philanthropic events at Ochsner Health, underwent surgery to remove the cancer. But during the procedure, they unfortunately discovered that things were worse than they originally thought. 'I was very shocked, a little disappointed that it went from stage 1A on the day of surgery to stage 3,' she explained. 'I had a lot of reconstructive surgery. Dr. [Katrina] Wade did an incredible job. But because of my tumor, its location, its depth, its [stage] and the margins, it was very extensive surgery.' Eight weeks later, the 44-year-old began chemotherapy. She had treatment for six weeks before undergoing 27 rounds of radiation. 'You have so many skin changes that occur when you have radiation. So there are lots of different things that you have to do to maintain the health of your skin,' she shared. 'One thing that I think helped me out tremendously, and still is helping me out tremendously, is acupuncture.' Ann also developed lichen sclerosus - a rare condition that creates 'patchy, white skin' on the vulva causing 'chronic nighttime itchiness.' After three full months of treatment, she learned that she was cancer-free in October 2021. She still has flare ups of her lichen sclerosus, but uses medication to treat it. According to SkinCancer.org, 1.8 million people are diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma each year in the U.S. However, it's very rare for it to develop on the vulva. Cancer.net reported that only about 6,000 people get vulvar cancer each year, and it makes up less than one per cent of all cancers in women. The disease is pretty common - with 1.8 million cases yearly - however, it's very rare for it to develop on the vulva - with only 6,000 cases a year After undergoing surgery and three full months of chemotherapy and radiation, Ann learned that she was cancer-free in October 2021 Symptoms of vulvar cancer include chronic itching or burning of the vulva or labia, skin changes, or an ulcer or sore that doesn't heal. 'Some people might [think it's] a yeast infection where they have a lot of itching and burning,' Ann's doctor, Dr. Wade, told Today. 'But symptoms of vulvar cancer are persistent and dont resolve in what you think of as the normal way. 'I encourage patients to know their own anatomy. Just like we teach women about self breast examination you should know what your skin looks like in all areas of the body, even the private ones. 'You can notice any early changes that might be new or different.' Before her cancer diagnosis, Ann ran five days a week, and she's now working hard to be able to do that again. 'My stamina is continuing to rebuild itself. Im the type of person who wants to continue to challenge myself and get better every single day so I continue to challenge myself with my runs,' said Ann. 'Eventually Ill get back to where I was before I had cancer.' Ann is not ashamed of her journey, and she is speaking out in the hopes that it will help end the stigma around vulva cancer. She concluded: 'Theres nothing to be ashamed of - your skin is your largest organ in your body. 'So I happened to have skin cancer on my vulva. All cancers are important and I really hope that by sharing my story it will encourage other people [to seek help]. 'I really want my story to be something that other people can benefit from.' A message in a bottle sent off by an eight-year-old girl in Scotland has washed up on the shores of Norway 25 years later. Doctor Joanna Buchan, now 34 and living in New South Wales, Australia, was on a fishing boat when she dropped a bottle in the sea for a school project off Peterhead in 1996. And 25 years later, it has been found by 37-year-old Elena Andreassen Haga and her son Eliah in Gasvaer, northern Norway, 800 miles away from where Joanna left it. After finding the green bottle in summer 2020, Elena, an electronics store manager from Stavanger, tracked Joanna down on social media through the message inside which signed off with her name. The letter began with 'Dear Discoverer, my name is Joanna Buchan', and went on to say her address in Peterhead. Joanna Buchan, aged eight-and-a-half sent off this letter in a bottle when on a fishing boat off Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, for a school project at Peterhead Central School in 1996 It continues: 'I collect Pogs and I love teddy bears. I have a dog called Dougal and his birthday is on the 29th of March and he will be 15 in dog days, so he will be one hundred and something! 'I have a rather big house. I have a best best best friend. I love collecting Blu Tack but my mum hates it. 'Our school's project is about post offices and next year's one is Charlotte's Web. It is a novel. I love sweets. By the way I hate boys. 'Yours sincerely, Joanna Buchan.' Elena Andreassen Haga, 37, pictured with her son Eliah in Gasvaer, Norway, when they found the bottle with the note inside Pictured as a child, Joanna was only eight-and-a-half when she dropped the bottle in the sea - and 25 years later, she received a message to say it had been found The neatly handwritten letter found its way to northern Norway, to a delighted Elena and Eliah, who had to carefully remove the letter to let it dry off after being in the North Sea for so long. 'We were out with a small boat just looking around the area, picking some berries and looking for trash to take care of,' Elena said. 'We found the bottle, and immediately saw there was something inside. 'I was very excited, you never know - is it just from another small island in the area, or what could be inside. 'My son did not understand why this was so exciting. 'I sent Joanna a message the same day we found the bottle, and forgot about it after that holiday. 'And suddenly late one evening here [Monday] in Norway my Messenger app notified me she had seen the message. Joanna Buchan, 34, pictured, a doctor from Scotland now living in New South Wales in Australia, says the letter made her laugh with details like she 'hates boys' and has a 'rather big house' 'I didn't immediately understand who she was and then the conversation lit up when I sent her the picture of the letter. 'She asked if she could tag me in her post on Facebook, and the rest just piled on from there.' Elena messaged back in summer 2020 when she first found the green bottle, but doctor Joanna only saw the message this week Joanna was scrolling through her message requests section of Facebook Messenger when she stumbled across Elena's, and says she recognised her own handwriting. 'I vaguely remember doing a message in a bottle at Peterhead Central School that we sent off Peterhead in 1996. 'When I read it I just died laughing. 'There's some really lovely lines in there, like what was important to me at the time. I wish I could tell my teachers of the time, whose idea it would have been. 'It's clearly done its time in the North Sea.' Joanna's class teacher at the time, Edith Skinner, has since got in touch with her to say how delighted she was the bottle had been found. In a message to Joanna she said: 'I just wanted to say how delighted Jane Bruce and l both were this afternoon to hear that your wee story in the bottle had been found. 'We both remember doing that project as well as the writing lesson prior to the messages being put in the bottles to be taken by Mrs Bruce's husband Gary to be cast overboard on his fishing trip. Elena and her son Eliah found the bottle in Gasvaer, northern Norway, 800 miles away from where Joanna dropped it from a fishing boat off Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, in 1996 'I think one bottle was discovered quite soon afterwards but l haven't of any others. 'The fact you mentioned our next project 'Charlotte's Web' brought back many happy memories of the lovely art work on the wall. 'Your handwriting is just as l remember - neat and beautifully formed. 'You were always so conscientious and a delight to teach. 'I am so proud to hear you are a doctor and I do hope you look back on your childhood years at Peterhead Central School with affection and happy memories. 'It was truly a special time for us all. Take care of yourself and live your best life.' Chelsey Brown tracked down Isla's family and returned the letter to them A letter written by a Holocaust survivor to her sister telling how their whole family had died has been returned to her family 75 years after it was written after it was discovered at a New York flea market. Ilse Loewenberg, who died in 2001 aged 92, penned a letter to her sister in 1945 describing her life under the Nazi regime, including how she jumped out of train on the way to Auschwitz only to be captured again in Berlin. Her sister Carla had moved to London prior to World War II and avoided persecution by the Nazis, however their parents were among the six million Jews killed by Hitler's regime. Last year, the letter, which was lost for more than 75 years was discovered by Chelsey Brown, 28, an interior designer and 'heirloom detective' at a flea market in New York. She managed to track down Carla and llse's great-niece Jill Butler, who has been reunited with family heirloom. Speaking to FEMAIL, Jill said that she thought it was 'a scam' when Chelsy first got in touch, but is 'in awe' of the work she's done. Ilse Loewenberg, (left) who died in 2001 aged 92, penned a letter to her sister Carla (right) in 1945 describing her life under the Nazi regime, including how she jumped out of train on the way to Auschwitz only to be captured again in Berlin. Their great-niece Jill (centre) now has it Last year, the letter, which was lost for more than 75 years was discovered by Chelsey Brown, 28, an interior designer and 'heirloom detective' at a flea market in New York. She managed to track down Carla and llse's great-niece Jill Butler, who has been reunited with family heirloom. Jill and Carla are pictured Last year, the letter, which was lost for more than 75 years was discovered by Chelsey Brown, 28, an interior designer and 'heirloom detective' at a flea market in New York. Timeline: When was Ilse sent to Auschwitz, how did she escape and when did she contact her sister? 1908: Ilse Loewenberg was born to shop owners Simon Berghausen (1870-1943) and Hannchen (Goldschmidt) Berghausen in Buren, Germany. She had three sisters, Margarete, Carla and Lieselotte 1930s: Together with her second husband, Gerhard Grun (1906-1943), she joined the underground resistance group Gemeinschaft fur Frieden und Aufbau (Association for Peace and Development) February 1943: Ilse was arrested and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. While on a fast-moving train, she escaped by jumping out near Ruda, Poland. She went back to Berlin and continued to hide. March 16, 1943: Gerhard (Isle's husband) was arrested and sent to the Sachenhausen concentration camp near Berlin, where he was shot. 1943: Simon Berghausen (Ilse's father) was killed at Theresienstadt concentration camp 1943: Lieselotte and Margarete (her sisters), and her mother were all transported to Auschwitz in 1943 where they perished. October 19th, 1944: Ilse was arrested again and remained in prisons in Berlin until 1945 when she was liberated by Russian troops. 1948: She immigrated to the United States and settled in Forest Hills, New York. She later married Ludwig Loewenberg. Her other sister, Carla, immigrated to England prior to the war, and later immigrated to the United States. 2021: Chelsey Brown found, traced and returned Ilse's German letter to Jill Advertisement In her spare time Chelsey scours thrift stores and antique fairs and flea markets in New York City and returns items to family descendants. Recently she found a letter sent from Berlin in 1945 addressed from Ilse to her sister Carla, the only sister and family member of Ilse's to survive the Holocaust. The heart breaking letter - written in German - tells how 'no one is alive' as Ilse explains to her only living family member that their parents and her husband have been murdered by Nazis. It reads: 'Through the kindness of our liberators, I am able to give you a sign of life from me after so many years... Dad, Mom, Grete, Lottchen and Hermann: no one is alive anymore. 'My pain is unspeakably big. 'My husband, whom I married 3.5 years ago, was also taken from me! 'When there will be a regular mail connection, I will tell you everything in detail.' The heart breaking letter - written in German - tells how 'no one is alive' as Ilse explains to her only living family member that their parents and her husband have been murdered by Nazis. From left - Jill's husband Dr. Bob Butler, Ilse, baby Carla a and Siegfried A light hearted moment with Jill's father, Carla, and Ilse and Siegfried in 1997.. Ilse Loewenberg is pictured after escaping the Nazi regime - she later moved to the US Using MyHeritage.com Chelsey discovered that Carla and her husband Siegfried never had children but Siegfried's brother, Ludwig, did. Ludwig's granddaughter Jill was extremely close with Ilse - and the letter has now been returned to her. After the war, Carla and Ilse reunited in New York where they spent the rest of their lives. Sadly, Ilse passed away on September 11, 2001. In her spare time Chelsey scours thrift stores and antique fairs and flea markets in New York City and returns items to family descendants. Recently she found a letter sent from Berlin in 1945 addressed from Ilse to her sister Carla, the only sister and family member of Ilse's to survive the Holocaust. Her death was unrelated to the terror attack, but her close friends believe it was because she couldn't possibly witness any more tragedy. Speaking about the return of the letter, Jill told FEMAIL: ' My whole family is truly in awe of all you [Chelsy] have done for us. 'Almost everyone's first reaction of "Is this a scam?" quickly transformed into bewilderment at your selfless dedication to reuniting heirlooms with families. 'We all loved our Great-Aunt Ilse and are thrilled beyond words to read her thoughts in her own handwriting after she emerged from the depths of the European inferno. 'May God bless your noble work and may you receive many blessings in return for all you do for families like mine Karen Spencer has wished her daughter form her first marriage with Hollywood producer Mark Gordon a 'happy birthday'. The third and current wife of Earl Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana, took to her Instagram account today to celebrate her daughter Kate Gordon's 21st milestone. Canadian-born former model Karen lives at the impressive Althorp estate with her husband, Charles, 57, and their nine-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte - and through marriage is a member of one of the most well-known aristocratic dynasties of today. Yet that certainly doesn't take away from how glamorous her older daughter's lifestyle appears - with Kate sharing a glimpse of her jet-set life on her Instagram account. Karen Spencer has wished her daughter form her first marriage with Hollywood producer Mark Gordon a 'happy birthday' (pictured together) The third and current wife of Earl Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana, took to her Instagram account today to celebrate her daughter Kate Gordon's 21st milestone (pictured) Canadian-born former model Karen lives at the impressive Althorp estate with her husband, Charles, 57, and their nine-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte - and through marriage is a member of one of the most well-known aristocratic dynasties of today. Pictured, Kate The fashion stylist seemingly splits her time between New York and LA, while also visiting her mother at her English countryside home. But she also enjoys travelling around the globe - delighting her Instagram followers with snaps from Italy, London, Mexico and Utah. Kate, who has one older sibling, Emma Gordon, 24, is the youngest child of Karen and her first husband Hollywood producer Mark Gordon. His films include Saving Private Ryan, The Patriot and the TV hospital drama Greys Anatomy. Taking to Instagram today to celebrate her daughter's birthday, Karen wrote: 'Happy Birthday Kate. Can't believe my little princess is 21. Love you so much.' Yet that certainly doesn't take away from how glamorous her older daughter's lifestyle appears - with Kate sharing a glimpse of her jet-set life on her Instagram account. Pictured, Kate as a youngster, in a snap shared by her mother today The proud mother shared throwback snaps with her loved one, showing Kate as a young child. One showed the fashion stylist wearing a tiara, while another showed her hugging her mother. Karen previously said she felt 'instantly at home' when she made the permanent move to the English countryside from her other life in the US, where her children with Mark are based. She told Town & Country Magazine in 2019: 'The portraits and furniture are a constant reminder that I am a tiny part of a big lineage.' Althorp was the location for her wedding to Earl Spencer in 2011, which took place a year after they met. The proud mother shared throwback snaps with her loved one, showing Kate (pictured centre, at Althorp) as a young child The stately 90-room Tudor mansion and sprawling grounds in Northamptonshire have been in the aristocratic Spencer family for 500 years and 18 generations. Located north-west of Northampton, the 13,000-acre estate has been open to day visitors since 1998, a year after Diana died in a car crash in Paris. Earl Spencer has been in charge of the estate for the last 23 years. Althorp boasts a 100,000-square foot mansion, which was built in 1508 and has a world-class collection of art, including pieces by Da Vinci, plus antique furniture and ceramics. A library contains books dating back to the 1800s, there are crystal chandeliers throughout and there is a ceiling decorated with three shades of gold leaf. A storefront that once housed imported home furnishings is now filled with an assortment of merchandise priced around $1 in Bethlehem Township. Dollar Tree, a chain of discount variety stores that has served North America for more than 30 years, on Thursday held a grand opening of its newest Lehigh Valley location on Southmont Way at the Southmont Plaza. The space was previously occupied by home goods retailer Pier 1 Imports. Advertisement Dollar Tree, a chain of discount variety stores that has served North America for more than 30 years, on Thursday held a grand opening of its newest Lehigh Valley location on Southmont Way at the Southmont Plaza in Bethlehem Township. The space was previously occupied by home goods retailer Pier 1 Imports. (Ryan Kneller/The Morning Call) Dollar Tree, Inc., headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, operates more than 15,500 stores across the 48 contiguous states and five Canadian provinces, supported by more than 193,000 associates. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Canada. Customers of Dollar Tree can shop a wide variety of merchandise, priced around $1, including housewares, dinnerware, cleaning supplies, snacks, health and beauty products, toys, gift bags and wrapping paper, party supplies, stationery, books and craft supplies. Advertisement We have everything you need for every day, every holiday, and every occasion all at extreme values and with new items arriving every week! a message on the companys website reads. Dollar Tree, which has about 8,000 stores nationwide, had maintained the everything-for-one-dollar philosophy for 35 years, but last year announced that it would be permanently raising prices by 25% on a majority of its products in order to continue offering extreme value to customers. The company planned to introduce the new $1.25 price point in more than 2,000 Dollar Tree stores in December and complete the rollout to all of its U.S. stores by the end of the first fiscal quarter of 2022. The change is not a reaction to short-term or transitory market conditions, the company said. Instead, the new price point enhances Dollar Trees ability to materially expand its offerings, introduce new products and sizes, and provide families with more of their daily essentials. The company will have greater flexibility to continue providing incredible value that helps customers get the everyday items they need and celebratory and seasonal products Dollar Tree is best known for, Dollar Tree said in its announcement. Additionally, this new pricing strategy enables the Company to reintroduce many customer favorites and key traffic-driving products that were previously discontinued due to the constraints of the $1.00 price point. Dollar Tree, which has about two dozen stores throughout the Lehigh Valley, joins a variety of other Southmont Plaza retailers, including Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Dicks Sporting Goods, Michaels and Lowes. The shopping center is located along Freemansburg Avenue between Route 33 and Hope Road. Pier 1, which continues to operate online, filed for bankruptcy protection in February 2020 and announced plans in May of that year to begin liquidation sales and close its more than 500 stores nationwide. Prince William sported royal blue today as he headed to a meeting at BAFTA headquarters in central London. The Duke of Cambridge, 39, who is president of BAFTA, made the visit to mark the re-opening of its headquarters and to learn how the newly refurbished building will help to increase the support to British television and film. The Academy provides to young people building careers in the film, games and television industries. William, who looked smart in an open collar blue suit and jumper, also met with recipients of bursaries and discussed barriers to progression within film. Also in attendance was actress Suranne Jones, 43, who won a BAFTA for her role in Doctor Foster. Prince William sported royal blue today as he headed to a meeting at BAFTA headquarters in central London Also in attendance was actress Suranne Jones, 43, who won a BAFTA for her role in Doctor Foster. The Academy provides to young people building careers in the film, games and television industries. William, who looked smart in an open collar blue suit and jumper, also met with recipients of bursaries and discussed barriers to progression within film William was without his wife Kate Middleton who yesterday looked elegant in a leopard print dress as she visited the Shout mental health text service in London. The couple live together at Kensington Palace in west London with their three children Prince George, eight , Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three. It comes as Kensington Palace announced Prince William will visit Dubai next month. The Duke of Cambridge will visit Dubai on February 10, with his trip coming as the United Arab Emirates marks its 50th year and coinciding with UK National Day being held at Expo 2020 Dubai, his office said. This brief visit is at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and will be William's first official trip to the UAE. It will be his first major overseas visit since a 2019 tour of the Middle East. William (pictured today) was without his wife Kate Middleton who yesterday looked elegant in a leopard print dress as she visited the Shout mental health text service in London Duke of Cambridge is pictured during a visit BAFTA in London, to mark the re-opening of its headquarters and to learn how the newly refurbished building will help to increase the support BAFTA provides to young people 'The bond between the UK and the UAE is deep and strong and Prince William's visit will highlight and build upon these links as he has the opportunity to engage with young Emiratis, leaders from government and committed conservationists,' Kensington Palace said in a statement. UK talent will be featured during National Day at the Expo 2020 Dubai which will also showcase the Commonwealth Games 2022 baton relay, launched by the Queen from Buckingham Palace last October, as it parades through the site to visit Commonwealth national pavilions. Britain has been looking to the Gulf countries for trade deals as part of its post-Brexit strategy to build new ties around the world. Getting animated! The Duke got into a discussion with young people about barriers to entry in film Duke of Cambridge meets participants of the bursary and scholarship programmes and mentoring programme as he visits the newly opened BAFTA headquarters The visit comesas Kensington Palace announced Prince William will visit Dubai next month. In September, the oil-rich Gulf state pledged to invest 10billion in British clean energy, infrastructure, technology and life sciences, expanding its 'sovereign investment partnership' with the UK government. Williams visit will follow his fathers, the Prince of Wales, and Camillas official trip to Dubai in 2016. Yesterday, William met a 102-year-old magician shared a delightful magic trick as he celebrated receiving a MBE for charitable fundraising throughout his life. Henry Lewis, from north London, received the honour from Prince William in an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle today, leaving his wheelchair behind to stand for the occasion. While he was never a professional magician, Lewis revealed he used his beloved hobby, which he picked up as a child, to fundraise money for charitable causes. We watch their screen time, you have to be careful about that. They do definitely like gaming, they're fascinated by that. George particularly' Royal made comments at BAFTA headquarters where he revealed he and Kate Middleton are 'being careful' about the amount of time they allow their children Prince William has revealed he has to be 'careful' about his children's screen time Prince William has revealed that he and Kate Middleton have to be 'careful' about their children's screen time. The Duke of Cambridge, 39, made the comments as he visited BAFTA's headquarters and to learn how the newly refurbished building will help to increase the support to British television and film today. In his role as president, he spoke to previous recipients of BAFTA bursars, including Harry Petch, BAFTA Young Game Designer finalist in 2016 and 2019 and BAFTA Young Game Designer Mentor winner in 2021. The royal played Harry's game 'Net Carbon' where he discussed Prince George, eight, enjoying videos games. Speaking about his children - Prince George, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three, - that he shares with wife Kate Middleton, 40, he explained: 'We're to regulate their gaming, that's the thing at the moment'. Prince William has revealed that his son Prince George, eight, 'loves gaming' and that he tries to regulate his screen times as it's 'something you have to be careful about'. The Duke of Cambridge, 39, visited BAFTA's headquarters and to learn how the newly refurbished building will help to increase the support to British television and film today. In his role as president, he spoke to previous recipients of BAFTA bursars, including Harry Petch (pictured together) BAFTA Young Game Designer finalist in 2016 and 2019 and BAFTA Young Game Designer Mentor winner in 2021. Speaking about his children - Prince George, Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three, - that he shares with wife Kate Middleton, 40, he explained: 'We're to regulate their gaming, that's the thing at the moment'. Prince George is pictured on his eighth birthday 'We watch their screen time, you have to be careful about that. 'They do definitely like gaming, they're fascinated by that. 'George particularly he's more interested in it. 'The other two are a bit too small, but they love the films. 'All that is creative. I adore film and gaming as well, I'm trying to get the next generation interested in it.' The royal sported blue today as he headed to a meeting at BAFTA headquarters in central London. The Duke of Cambridge who is president of BAFTA, made the visit to mark the re-opening of its headquarters and to learn how the newly refurbished building will help to increase the support to British television and film. The Academy provides to young people building careers in the film, games and television industries. William, who looked smart in an open collar blue suit and jumper, also met with recipients of bursaries and discussed barriers to progression within film. Also in attendance was actress Suranne Jones, 43, who won a BAFTA for her role in Doctor Foster. Prince William sported royal blue today as he headed to a meeting at BAFTA headquarters in central London Also in attendance was actress Suranne Jones, 43, who won a BAFTA for her role in Doctor Foster. The Academy provides to young people building careers in the film, games and television industries. William, who looked smart in an open collar blue suit and jumper, also met with recipients of bursaries and discussed barriers to progression within film William was without his wife Kate Middleton who yesterday looked elegant in a leopard print dress as she visited the Shout mental health text service in London. The couple live together at Kensington Palace in west London with their three children Prince George, eight , Princess Charlotte, six, and Prince Louis, three. It comes as Kensington Palace announced Prince William will visit Dubai next month. The Duke of Cambridge will visit Dubai on February 10, with his trip coming as the United Arab Emirates marks its 50th year and coinciding with UK National Day being held at Expo 2020 Dubai, his office said. This brief visit is at the request of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and will be William's first official trip to the UAE. It will be his first major overseas visit since a 2019 tour of the Middle East. William (pictured today) was without his wife Kate Middleton who yesterday looked elegant in a leopard print dress as she visited the Shout mental health text service in London Duke of Cambridge is pictured during a visit BAFTA in London, to mark the re-opening of its headquarters and to learn how the newly refurbished building will help to increase the support BAFTA provides to young people 'The bond between the UK and the UAE is deep and strong and Prince William's visit will highlight and build upon these links as he has the opportunity to engage with young Emiratis, leaders from government and committed conservationists,' Kensington Palace said in a statement. UK talent will be featured during National Day at the Expo 2020 Dubai which will also showcase the Commonwealth Games 2022 baton relay, launched by the Queen from Buckingham Palace last October, as it parades through the site to visit Commonwealth national pavilions. Britain has been looking to the Gulf countries for trade deals as part of its post-Brexit strategy to build new ties around the world. Getting animated! The Duke got into a discussion with young people about barriers to entry in film Duke of Cambridge meets participants of the bursary and scholarship programmes and mentoring programme as he visits the newly opened BAFTA headquarters The visit comes as Kensington Palace announced Prince William will visit Dubai next month. In September, the oil-rich Gulf state pledged to invest 10billion in British clean energy, infrastructure, technology and life sciences, expanding its 'sovereign investment partnership' with the UK government. Williams visit will follow his fathers, the Prince of Wales, and Camillas official trip to Dubai in 2016. Yesterday, William met a 102-year-old magician shared a delightful magic trick as he celebrated receiving a MBE for charitable fundraising throughout his life. Henry Lewis, from north London, received the honour from Prince William in an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle today, leaving his wheelchair behind to stand for the occasion. While he was never a professional magician, Lewis revealed he used his beloved hobby, which he picked up as a child, to fundraise money for charitable causes. McDonald's is taking inspiration from its most creative fans by adding customer-made menu hacks to its fast food offerings, including an enormous triple sandwich made up of three of its most beloved regular-sized sandwiches. Beginning next week, McDonald's customers who can't choose between a Big Mac, a McChicken, and a Filet-o-Fish can order all three combined into one sky-high sandwich, aptly-named the Land, Air & Sea among some other unique fast food dishes. Fans of the chain have long customized their orders, and with the rise of social media, some of these menu 'hacks' have grown so popular that they're considered to be 'secret menu' items. Starting January 31, McDonald's is highlighting some of the most beloved secret menu favorites, adding sandwiches like the Hash Brown McMuffin, the Surf + Turf, and the Land, Air & Sea to its menus for a limited time. Beginning next week, McDonald's customers who can't choose between a Big Mac, a McChicken, and a Filet-o-Fish can order all three combined into one enormous sandwich Starting January 31, McDonald's is offering some beloved secret menu favorites, like the Hash Brown McMuffin, which is made with a Sausage and Egg McMuffin stuffed with a hash brown Before now, customers could enjoy these dishes but had to order the different ingredients and assemble them themselves. Now the chain will offer them by name at participating restaurants across the US and via the app. For breakfast lovers, there's the the Hash Brown McMuffin, which is made with a Sausage McMuffin with Egg stuffed with a hash brown. That clocks in at 620 calories and 39 grams of fat. There's also the Crunchy Double, made with a double cheeseburger stuffed with chicken nuggets and finished off with barbecue sauce, which carries about 760 calories and 42 grams of fat. Two of the menu hacks center on the Filet-o-Fish. The Surf + Turf, which combines a Filet-O-Fish and a Double Cheeseburger, will be available exclusively on the McDonalds app and via McDelivery. It has 830 calories and 42 grams of fat. There's also the Crunchy Double, made with a double cheeseburger stuffed with chicken nuggets and finished off with barbecue sauce The Surf + Turf, which combines a Filet-O-Fish and a Double Cheeseburger, will be available exclusively on the McDonalds app and via McDelivery Before now, customers could enjoy these dishes but had to order the different ingredients and assemble them themselves Finally, the The Land, Air & Sea features a McChicken sandwich, a Big Mac, and a Filet-o-Fish, all stacked on top of one another with three of the bun halves removed. With three sandwiches combined, it carries a whopping 1,330 calories and 69 grams of total fat (when all pieces of the bun are included). 'From Hip-Hop icons to Christmas queens, everyone has a unique go-to McDonald's order, including our everyday customers,' Jennifer Healan, Vice President, U.S. Marketing, Brand Content and Engagement for McDonald's USA, said in a press release. 'This campaign shows that it has never been "our menu" the menu belongs to our fans. We're excited to celebrate them in a bigger way than ever before by putting their delicious hacks as seen on social media on our menus.' McDonald's has promoted menu hacks several times in the past few years. In November 2021, in celebration of the Egg McMuffin's 50th anniversary, the chain shared some fan-favorite ways of upgrading the breakfast sandwich with add-ons like has browns, a McChicken patty, and sauces like syrup and jelly though none were explicitly added to the menu. In November 2021, in celebration of the Egg McMuffin's 50th anniversary, the chain shared 'hacks' for upgrading the sandwich, like adding hash browns, bacon, tomato, and sauces Customers can do away with the English muffins and add two hash browns (left), while adding a McChicken patty and hot sauce makes a 'Sweet Chicken Sammie' (right) In January 2020, Kim Kardashian stunned fans users by revealing that she orders honey for dipping her chicken nuggets The 'hack' recipes included adding bacon and tomato to create the 'B.E.T,' or bacon, egg, and tomato McMuffin. Adding hash browns and grape jelly makes an 'HB&J,' while adding a McChicken patty and hot sauce makes a 'Sweet Chicken Sammie.' Or customers can do away with the English muffins altogether and sandwich the egg, Canadian bacon, and cheese between two hash browns. In January 2020, McDonald's also unveiled an ad campaign spotlighting the go-to orders of celebrities like Kanye West, Keith Urban, and Whoopi Goldberg. While the orders were nearly all classic ones, Kim Kardashian stunned social media users by revealing that she orders honey for dipping her chicken nuggets. Several other 'secret menu' items have become beloved by fans over the years, earning their own nicknames. The McGangBang is one of the most infamous of the McDonald' secret menu items. The burger mixes a McDouble with a McChicken sandwich. There's also the Monster Mac, which is a Big Mac with six extra beef patties. Once quite elusive, the Mc10:35 combines both breakfast and main menu items, and is named for the time it had to be ordered between the breakfast and lunch window. It's made with a Double Cheeseburger, a Sausage McMuffin with egg, and a Bacon McMuffin with egg but now that some breakfast items are available all day at US locations, it's a bit easier to get. Meanwhile, the Big McChicken requires ordering a Big Mac and ditching the three pieces of bread. Those are replaced with three McChicken patties, and the whole thing is topped with Big Mac sauce. On the sweet side, a McCrepe is made with a hotcake folded into a taco shape and filled with yogurt parfait, granola, and syrup. One third of adults don't know what their own body mass index (BMI) is, research suggests. Polish scientists quizzed almost 500 volunteers about their weight, asking them whether they were underweight, a healthy weight, overweight or obese. Just 63.5 per cent correctly estimated their own BMI, which measures whether an adult's weight is healthy for their height. Fewer than half of participants were able to identify their size from a series of diagrams showing different body shapes. The team of researchers, from Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, said people were more likely to underestimate their body weight and size. And men were more likely to misjudge their own weight than women, according to the study published in the journal Scientific Reports. Dr Wojciech Gruszka and colleagues said spiralling obesity rates may explain their findings. This is because people normalise larger body sizes, which can lead them to associate the average weight they see with a healthy weight, they claimed. The researchers, from Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, found just 45.5 per cent of underweight people correctly categorised their weight, while the rest believed they had a healthy weight. Around two-thirds of people with a healthy weight (67.6 per cent), overweight (65 per cent) and obese (55.8 per cent) correctly identified their BMI category, with the remaining third in each category more likely to undestimate rather than overestimate their weight WHAT IS BMI? Body mass index (BMI) is a measure that indicates nutritional status in adults. It was developed as a risk indicator of disease, with increases in BMI linked to increases in risk from conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, some cancers and diabetes. However, it is not a perfect measure as it does not take into account different levels of body fat based on age, activity level and gender. So the measure will overestimate nutritional status whether someone is underweight, healthy weight or obese in some cases and underestimate it in others. Underweight: below 18.5 Healthy weight: 18.5 to 24.9 Pre-obesity: 25 to 34.9 Obese: over 30 Advertisement More than 6 in 10 Britons and seven in 10 Americans are overweight or obese. BMI is a useful indication of whether someone is a healthy weight, but does not take into account different levels of body fat. It means very muscular adults may be classed as 'overweight', even if they aren't fat. A healthy BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Those who fall into the obese category, who have a BMI of more than 30, are more at risk from type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. The average Briton is 5ft 9 inches and would have a healthy BMI (between 19 and 24) if they weighed between 130-160lbs. For the study, Dr Gruszka and team recorded the weights, heights and BMI of 477 people, who were aged 36, on average. Every volunteer was asked whether they thought they were underweight, a healthy weight, overweight or obese. Just 46 per cent of underweight people thought they were underweight, and 68 per cent of people with a normal BMI agreed they were 'healthy'. Around 65 per cent of the overweight people and 56 per cent of obese participants correctly estimated their weight. Analysis of the responses showed people 'frequently underestimate' their own BMI, the researchers said. Nearly one in five people with a healthy weight believed they were underweight, 14.3 per cent of overweight people thought they had a healthy BMI, and four in 10 obese people thought they were just overweight. The participants were also asked to circle one of nine silhouettes which they thought was most similar to their body size, as well as circling the figure they wanted to have. Just 49.5 per cent correctly estimated their own body size from the diagrams. The team said men were much more likely to underestimate their weight and size than women. Overall, just a quarter of people were happy with their body weight, while nine per cent wanted to put on weight and 66 per cent wanted to be thinner. The researchers did not investigate the reason for the discrepancies but suggested people may think they are lighter than they are due to increased rates of overweight and obese people in the population. This leads people to compare themselves to the 'average' person around them and normalise larger body sizes, which influences self-perceived weight status, they said. Additionally, self-diagnosing as obese can be 'very stressful' which may lead patients to identify as overweight instead, according to the scientists. Advertisement Covid cases are continuing to recede in the U.S. - down 20 percent over the past week to 615,958 per day - but health officials warn that the next threat could be around the corner. Deaths also continue to grow in the U.S., as many are still dying from the virus despite its more mild nature. The country is averaging 2,314 deaths per day, a staggering 20 percent increase over the past seven days - the most since Febraury 11, 2021 - and the 4,128 deaths added to the ledger on Wednesday being the most since January 12, 2021. There has also now been a 'stealth' variant of Omicron, or BA.2 as it has been named, detected that is rapidly spreading. It has now been detected in dozens of countries and multiple U.S. states. The variant has received its stealth moniker due to how tricky it could be for scientists to detect it. BA.2 can not be confirmed via a PCR test, and instead required genetic sequencing. People infected with the new variant will still usually test positive for the virus on antigen or laboratory Covid tests, though. It has been detected in at least 40 nations, including the U.S. Eleven cases have been found in California alone. It has rapidly spread across Europe in particular, quickly becoming the dominant Covid strain in Denmark and causing the plummeting of cases in the UK to stop - both countries were starting to look finished with Omicron before BA.2's detection. The exact characteristics of this new strain are not yet known, though. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet declared it a 'variant of concern' and scientists have yet to uncover data on whether it is more or less deadly or infectious than BA.1 version of Omicron. 'Early indications say that it probably behaves just like the BA.1 Omicron lineage,' Dr George Han, the deputy health officer of Santa Clara county, California, told Good Morning America (GMA) on Thursday. Early data from Denmark shows that it could potentially be more infectious than its predecessor, though more data would be needed to make a final decision. Omicron quickly mutating into yet another strain is a cause for concern, though, and a reminder that even as the current Covid wave could be receding, there is always potential for Covid to mutate once more and cause problems for Americans. 'What we need to do is lower the amount of replication of the virus anywhere, and that means get everybody vaccinated, not just in the U.S. but the whole world and so if we can lower the amount of virus [we'll have] fewer variants,' Dr Ken Stedman, a biology professor at Portland State University, told GMA. Every time the virus jumps from one person to another, it begins to rapidly replicate in the newly infected person's body. Each replication offers another opportunity for the variant to mutate and potentially pick up traits that make it more of a danger. Due to the rapid transmission of the variant, combined with the relatively mild nature of infection, some have been hopeful it will quickly burnout and transition to a level that allows humans to control, and live alongside, the virus - like we already do with the flu. Some health leaders have warned recently that Omicron may not be the final pandemic strain of Covid. Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, warned last week that Omicron could evolve again into another highly infectious, and potentially even more deadly, variant in the future that will keep the pandemic going. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, also issued a warning earlier this week that it is too early to assume Omicron will be the 'endgame' variant of Covid's pandemic phase. In the UK the nation peaked at around 180,000 new Covid cases per day earlier this month, before sharply declining to 100,000 per day. Deaths continued to grow during that period, though, before tapering off. This is because deaths often lag behind cases by a few weeks. Dr George Han (left), deputy health officer of Santa Clara county, told GMA that he believes the BA.2 'stealth' variant of Omicron behaves the same as the BA.1 version. Dr Ken Stedman (right), a biology professor at Portland State University, said that the best way to stop Omicron from continuing to mutate is to prevent as much transmission of the variant as possible. The stealth Omicron variant has now been detected in 22 U.S. states, though it is yet to have taken hold in the U.S. yet like it has in Denmark and the UK. Cases are still dropping across the eastern half of the U.S., and even the states that are recording gains in the western portion of the nation are recording rises that are nowhere near as high as weeks prior. South Carolina's turn around in case growth is the most promising sign that the Omicron variant is running out of people to infect. The Palmetto state is recording a five percent decline in cases over the past two weeks, a far fall from the near 900 percent increases two weeks ago. Once among the leader in Covid infection rate as well, falling out of the top ten U.S. states with 254 of every 100,000 residents testing positive for the virus daily. All along the east coast, states are dropping. The only coastal states that are recording case increases are Maine (one percent gain over past two weeks), a state that already was among those with the lowest infection rate in America, and North Carolina (11 percent). New York (70 percent) and New Jersey (71 percent) are the leaders in case decline, with the neighboring states seeing the astronomical case numbers recorded when the Omicron variant first arrived late last year finally come down. Nationwide, 31 states are recording a decreases in cases over the past two weeks, the first time more than half of America has seen cases drop since the Omicron surge first began late last year. While the receding of the virus in the U.S. first felt like an east phenomena, it is now being seen nationwide. Only five U.S. states are recording case jumps of more than 50 percent over the past two weeks, with none having cases double during that period. All five are also among those with the least dense populations where the variant took longer to take hold than it did in other areas. Neighboring Idaho (92 percent increase over past two weeks) and Montana (92 percent) are leading the way in U.S. case growth. Just to the south, Wyoming is also recording a 58 percent jump in cases over the past two weeks. Alaska (74 percent) often does not follow nationwide trends because of its distance from the mainland, and is seeing cases jump as well. Oklahoma (55 percent) is the final state in the Midwest recording a large jump in cases as well. Some of the states recording large case declines are still leading the nation in deaths, though, as mortality from the virus lags behind infection rate generally. Ohio has the highest Covid mortality rate in America despite a 24 percent decline in cases over the past two weeks, with 1.52 of every 100,000 residents succumbing to the virus daily. Northeastern states like Connecticut (1.35 daily deaths per 100,000 residents), Pennsylvania (1.3), New Jersey (1.25), Massachusetts (1.13) and New York (1.02) are among the leaders as well. Moderna begins second trials of Omicron vaccine Moderna is set to begin the second stage of trials for its Omicron-specific Covid vaccine, the company announced Wednesday - even though the latest variant is now fading fast across the United States. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, based firm administered a dose of its vaccine to the first participant of what is set to be a trial including around 600 people in 24 sites. It also released data from its first trial of the vaccine, showing that recipients had significant antibody responses to the shot, but much of the protection waned after six months. The timetable of the Moderna Omicron-specific jab may not come in time to truly make the impact many hoped. Health experts have speculated that Omicron would peak soon, with Dr Anthony Fauci saying Sunday it was likely all US states would hit their peak by mid-February at the latest. Moderna and Pfizer have both laid out timetables for their Omicron-tailored shot to become available in March. Advertisement Across the pond, the decline of Covid cases in the UK has stopped upon the arrival of BA.2, and just after Prime Minister Boris Johnson lifted all virus-related restrictions. The nation is recording 102,292 cases per day as of Wednesday, a five percent increase from last week. Earlier this month, the nation was recording around 180,000 cases per day before peaking and seeing cases rapidly fall. The drop off seems to have stalled out in the wake of the BA.2 variant's arrival. Similar to the U.S., the UK still had daily deaths slowly increase even as cases in the nation began to plummet. Things seem to have leveled off, though, with the nation steadying at around 350 daily deaths over the past week. It is likely cases will soon start to decline, just as cases did. London, like New York City, has proved to be the national pandemic hotspot in England. The city in the southwestern region of the nation was slammed early and hard by the Omicron variant, with cases skyrocketing so quickly some feared the region would have to reenter lockdowns. Cases in London quickly began to decline, though, and the new restrictions and overwhelming of hospitals that some experts predicted never materialized. The virus started to move northward and eastward afterwards, though, with cases declining in London and other nearby neighborhoods while the virus surged elsewhere. Nearly every region of the UK is experiencing case declines now, though, as it appears that the Omicron variant has run its course in the country. Only a month ago, some experts feared the nation's healthcare system would be overrun, but now its fortunes have totally reversed and the leaders are even beginning the transition to post-pandemic life. Last week, mandates put in place to combat Omicron, like work from home orders, mask mandates, vaccine checks for certain events and capacity restrictions were lifted. Requirements for travelers into the nation to test upon arrival were lifted Monday as well. Denmark is declaring the pandemic virtually over despite cases still being at record levels, and the continued spread of the BA.2 variant. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced Wednesday that all pandemic related restrictions would be lifted at the end of the month. 'We say goodbye to the restrictions and welcome the life we knew before,' Frederiksen said. Restriction put in place specifically to combat Omicron, like capacity restrictions and early closing times for some bars and restaurants, have already been lifted. The nation is averaging 42,000 cases per day, its highest total of the pandemic, though deaths have remained below 20 per day - as the virus never proved to be that deadly in the Nordic nation. Health chiefs worried about treatment-resistant strain and spread in community Just 16 cases spotted over 17 months in UK but 47 detected in last four months Gay and bisexual men were today warned about the rapid spread of a superbug that is being spread through sex. UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses have spotted a huge spike in cases of an 'extremely' antibiotic-resistant version of shigella sonnei. The gut infection can cause diarrhoea, stomach cramps and a fever. Some patients will need to be hospitalised. Forty-seven cases of the infection were reported in the four months from September to December. For comparison, just 16 were logged over the previous 17 months, from April 2020 to August 2021. Shigella is endemic in England, and triggers thousands of infections each year. Health chiefs have been tracking the particular strain that has prompted the warning since 2018. Effective treatment options are 'limited' for the strain, the UKHSA warned today. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said there has been an increase in cases of Shigella sonnei, a gut infection that causes diarrhoea, stomach cramps and a fever. Pictured: Enterobacteriaceae bacteria, which Shigella is a species of What is Shigella? Shigella is a gut infection that causes severe diarrhoea and stomach cramps. Among gay and bisexual men its thought to be spread primarily through the faecal-oral route during sex, either directly or via unwashed hands as only a tiny amount of bacteria is needed to spread the infection. People can get Shigella by licking skin, condoms, or toys which have faeces on them, even when this is not visible. Symptoms often develop around one to three days after sex and include frequent diarrhoea (sometimes containing blood), stomach cramps, feeling feverish and some people report vomiting. Men experiencing these symptoms should be advised to visit their doctor or a sexual health clinic to get tested. To lower the risk gay and bisexual men are advised to: wash their hands after sex (and buttocks and penis too if they can, by showering), especially if theyre fingering or handling used condoms, wash sex toys or douching equipment change condoms between anal and oral sex use a barrier for rimming (such as a square of latex) use latex gloves for fingering or fisting Source: UKHSA Advertisement It has become resistant to quinolones and azithromycin, two of the most common types of antibiotics once used to kill it off. The infection is caused by bacteria found in faeces, which is usually spread through sex involving anal contact. It can also be transmitted through unwashed hands, if infected people contaminate surfaces for others to touch. Dr Gauri Godbole, consultant medical microbiologist at UKHSA, added: 'Practising good hygiene after sex is really important to keep you and your partners safe. 'Avoid oral sex immediately after anal sex, and change condoms between anal or oral sex and wash your hands with soap after sexual contact. 'Its important gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men don't dismiss their symptoms and speak to their GP or sexual health clinic, mentioning shigella, if they are unwell.' He advised men with shigella to get tested for other STIs, including HIV, as they may have been exposed to other infections. Infected people should stay hydrated, rest and not have sex until a week after their last symptoms, Dr Godbole said. They should also avoid all spas, swimming, hot tubs and sharing towels, and avoid preparing food for other people until a week after symptoms stop. Three of the cases had recently travelled to the UK from Spain or Turkey. Buit is not just men who have sex with men that officials are worried about in regards to the spread of the Shigella strain. In a briefing note in December, the UKHSA also warned about spillover of the virus in food handlers and carers, who have triggered outbreaks across the globe by continuing to work when unwell. Symptoms usually start within four days of being exposed to the infection, and its symptoms can be mistaken for food poisoning. Moderna is set to begin the second stage of trials for its Omicron-specific Covid vaccine, the company announced Wednesday - even though the latest variant is now fading fast across the United States. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, based firm administered a dose of its vaccine to the first participant of what is set to be a trial including around 600 people in 24 sites. It also released data from its first trial of the vaccine, showing that recipients had significant antibody responses to the shot, but much of the protection waned after six months. The announcement from Moderna, who produces the second most commonly used jab in the U.S., comes days after Pfizer, manufacturer of the most popular jab, announced it had begun a trial of its Omicron-specific jab. Both firms are working on their shots even though many epidemiologists - including Dr Anthony Fauci - believe Omicron is already on the way out of the US, and will have peaked across the whole of the country within weeks. Moderna has begun the second stage of trials for its Omicron specific Covid vaccine. The trial will include 600 participants, including 300 people who are boosted and 300 who are fully vaccinated but have not received the additional shot. The company expects the shot to be available by March 2022. Pictured: A woman in Merrillville, Indiana, receives a shot of a COVID-19 vaccine on January 11 Data from the first trial for Moderna's Omicron vaccine showed that it was effective at raising variant-fighting antibody levels to acceptable levels, but protection would diminish six months later 'We are reassured by the antibody persistence against Omicron at six months after the currently authorized [vaccine],' said Stephane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, in a statement. 'Nonetheless, given the long-term threat demonstrated by Omicron's immune escape, we are advancing our Omicron-specific variant vaccine booster candidate and we are pleased to begin this part of our Phase 2 study. 'We are also evaluating whether to include this Omicron-specific candidate in our multivalent booster program.' The trial participants will be separated into two groups. The first of which will include around 300 participants who initially received the two dose regimen of the Moderna shot at least six months ago, but are not boosted. Another group, also around 300 participants, will include people who received either the Pfizer or Moderna shots for their first series, then the Moderna booster dose at least three months ago. The timetable of the Moderna and Pfizer Omicron-specific may not come in time to truly make the impact many hoped. Omicron, which makes up more than 99 percent of U.S. cases according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is already showing signs of burning out in the U.S., and much of the rest of the world. After cases rocketed in December and early January - peaking at around 800,000 recorded U.S. cases every day - they have started to come back down. Covid cases have dropped 20 percent over the past week, down to 615,958 per according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The tri-state area - New York, New Jersey and Connecticut - became America's initial Omicron epicenter in December, but infection rates there have since gone into freefall, suggesting that predictions the variant would burn itself out quickly were correct. Health experts have speculated that Omicron would peak soon, with Dr Anthony Fauci saying Sunday it was likely all US states would hit their peak by mid-February at the latest. Moderna and Pfizer have both laid out timetables for their Omicron-tailored shot to become available in March. 'By the time we get an Omicron-specific vaccine manufactured, this wave will be over,' Peter Marks, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research at the FDA, told the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. Some doubt the need for these specific shots at all, even if the Omicron surge does manage to last all the way into March. While the highly mutated variant does have the ability to evade protection against infection from the original two-dose regimen of the Pfizer or Moderna shots, the vaccines are still effective at preventing more severe cases of the virus, and can prevent hospitalizations and death. Booster shots, which are already widely available in the U.S. and have been received by 25 percent Americans, have also demonstrated an ability to prevent infection from the new strain. The World Health Organization has also called on pharmaceutical companies to stop developing variant-specific vaccines, and instead shift resources to more universal vaccines that will last longer and prove to be more efficient. BOOK OF THE WEEK A CLASS OF THEIR OWN by Matt Knott (Trapeze, 16.99, 315pp) You know youre in for a lively read when a book begins with the author being spanked with birch twigs by a naked Russian oligarch in a basement sauna in Moscow. Especially when the book in question is supposed to be about education. Author Matt Knott is descended from 11 generations of teachers, stretching back to a schoolmaster in Woking, Surrey, in 1672. He was educated at the school where his father had been a housemaster, and later studied Spanish at Cambridge. But Matt never wanted to be a teacher: his ambition was to make films. It was only when the film world proved stubbornly resistant to his talent that a friend suggested he become a private tutor. This book by Matt Knott, A Class of Their Own, is a hilarious account of life with the children of the super rich (file photo) This book is a hilarious account of life with the children of the super rich. It is a world where supper for a five-year-old boy is miso black cod and lobster tempura. It is a world where a teenager, asked to get himself something from the kitchen, snaps: Fine, but wed better not be out of focaccia. It is a world of private chefs, butlers in very tight trousers, housekeepers who used to have better jobs back home in South America and helicopter trips from Tuscan villas to smart restaurants in Rome. In the world of the super rich, PJs doesnt mean pyjamas, as Matt discovers during an Easter ski trip with one of his families it means private jets. Asked once to describe his work, he modestly replied: I do rich kids homework. But his real job is to get the children into the best private schools, no matter how unsuitable they might be. Question to Mr and Mrs Hedge Funds son Felix: Who is your favourite explorer. Answer: Dora the explorer. You wont perhaps be surprised to learn that Felix didnt make it to St Pauls School, London. The author had more success with Nikita, son of the naked oligarch, who won a place at Eton. Matt flew to Moscow to replace a previous tutor, whod been offered a job at Goldman Sachs. He soon discovered that Nikita was very clever, although his English idiom was a little eccentric. Dropping a pen one day, Nikita smiled and said: Oopsy daisy, lemon squeaky. Sergei is Russias biggest milk supplier and hes very rich indeed. Matt is taken to a smart Moscow restaurant and told he can eat there any time. We own it, Sergeis wife, Maria, tells him. The Russians are delighted to have the services of a Cambridge graduate, and go out of their way to welcome their new tutor. We love British, says Sergei. Is true, says his wife. Range Rover. Bentley. Yorkshire terrier. Nothing, of course, says welcome more than a good thrashing in the sauna, where Matt decides its probably more seemly to defy local tradition and keep his shorts on. Sergei certainly doesnt sound like a typical cut-throat oligarch. I was disappointed, says Matt, to find that he more closely resembled the publicity-shy husband of the first female prime minister of a minor Baltic nation. Yet Matt fears for poor Britain if clever Nikita is ever pitted against some of his English pupils in the corridors of power. If the English super-rich cant match the Russians for academic achievement, its not for want of trying. A CLASS OF THEIR OWN by Matt Knott (Trapeze, 16.99, 315pp) One Easter, Mr and Mrs Hedge Fund invite Matt to join them in the ski resort of St Moritz to help Felix revise for exams. He drives from the airport to the familys luxury chalet in a white Mercedes convertible hire car, and is ridiculously excited when they all fly home in a PJ (private jet, remember). It is while strolling around St Moritz that he is tempted for the first time to embrace the super-rich lifestyle. He notices that his clothes chinos and a checked shirt arent quite St M style. Rich people had a way of dressing casually which only served to highlight their wealth, he says. One of the richest men Id ever met wore exclusively shorts and carried his own bottle of ketchup around with him. After a passing woman stares in disdain at his trainers in the street, Matt decides to replace them with a pair from the Dior shop. Oh dear, basic error. In fact, the British super-rich are very sensitive to displays of wealth especially in other people. Dining in an expensive restaurant, Mr and Mrs Hedge Fund have salad and an omelette, and think Matts frogs legs are most eccentric. At a nearby table, somebody orders a 5,000 bottle of Dom Perignon. Tacky, sniffs Mr Hedge Fund. As Matt observes of the family: They lived a life of unimaginable luxury, in constant fear of looking like they enjoyed it. Youll no doubt be delighted to learn that money really doesnt make you happy. It just means you can afford to buy more stuff in the hope that it might. There are clear tensions between Mr and Mrs Hedge Fund. She is eager to please and anxious to do the right thing, while Mr H-F is the sort of man who manages to find a five-minute window to meet his sons new tutor. Parents of another pupil dont appear at all. In fact, they are so absent that the five-year-old boy calls Matt Daddy during a trip to the Natural History Museum. It turns out that the boys real father is one of the super super rich, but he is in trouble with the law in his country. The children are in London to keep them out of the way. Sometimes, tutors arent employed for their educational value. Asked to look after twins Harry and Hayden in Kensington, Matt discovers they are clever enough to manage without him. Their mother, Belinda, agrees, but explains: Everyone else in their class has a tutor. Such is the rich mums burden. The book is well written, an easy read and very funny indeed. Mind you, I might not be quite so amused if I were one of the wealthy parents who employed and indeed befriended the author (now billed on the cover as an award-winning filmmaker). The biggest milk producer in Russia probably wishes hed hit Matt a bit harder with those birch twigs. EASY KILLS By Sebastian Murphy-Bates (Mirror Books 8.99) It is essential, first of all, to make a leap of the imagination. Put yourself in the position of a devastated family member who has discovered that a loved one has been found dead in the strangest, acutely distressing and most obviously suspicious circumstance. Imagine that . . . then add to the grief, shock and agonised confusion you feel by realising that the police officers investigating the death dont so much as take a single note when you communicate your suspicions in fact, they dont seem to give a damn. That was the experience (between June 2014 and September 2015) of the family and friends of Anthony Walgate, 23, a fashion student, Gabriel Kovari, 22, from Slovakia, Daniel Whitworth, 21, a chef, and Jack Taylor, 25, who worked in a bonded warehouse. What did the four men have in common? They were all homosexual and each one died as a result of a fatal dose of the date rape drug GHB, administered by the serial killer and rapist Stephen Port. Serial killer Stephen raped and killed four men he met on gay dating website Grindr by using a fatal dose of GHB, the 'date rape' Each young mans body was dumped near Ports flat in Barking, East London but the police failed to link the deaths, despite striking similarities. The catalogue of incompetence was incredible. A recent BBC drama, Four Lives, about the same case (starring Stephen Merchant and Sheridan Smith) focused on the families fight for justice. And this week the BBC has already aired the first of a new documentary series, The Nilsen Files, looking afresh at the notorious murders of 12 young males by serial killer Dennis Nilsen, with a particular focus on the lives and personalities of his victims. Therefore the publication of Sebastian Murphy-Batess passionate, forensic examination of the Stephen Port murders could not have come at a better time. It tells the story behind the headlines in devastating detail. Quite apart from uncovering many layers of police incompetence, this grimly engrossing book displays exemplary empathy towards the victims and their families, provides a useful history of similar cases, asks vital questions about on-going allegations of systemic homophobia within the Metropolitan Police and also incidentally offers valuable insights into local journalism itself. Murphy-Bates was a reporter on the Barking and Dagenham Post and was living in Barking when Port was arrested. He reveals the frustrations of under-resourced local journalists whose hands are tied yet who sense something is very wrong. There can be no mistaking the crusading anger of this comment: The people who live in Barking and Dagenham dont just deserve a voice. They deserve authorities that will listen to that voice. But the police did not listen to the grieving families even though Jack Taylors brave, angry sisters Donna and Jenny especially worked tirelessly for justice. It now seems incredible that the local branch of the Met failed to link the four deaths, despite obvious parallels and the fact that three of the men were found in St Margarets churchyard, Barking, yards from Ports home, while the other was actually found outside his flat the police were alerted to it by a highly suspicious phone call from Port, pretending to be a concerned member of the public. Murphy-Bates leaves us in no doubt about his own views: This is the story of a serial killer whose crimes were so blatant and mind- numbingly inadequate that to place him in the category of criminal genius would be frankly insulting to hard-working psychopaths. That tone of wry irony we hear all through the pages of Easy Kills brilliantly leavens the real anger underpinning a shocking story of a police force who not only failed to perform their duties, but actually decided against doing so despite the plea of devastated mothers and sisters begging them to display even a cursory form of care. Even the most reasonable supporter of the police (and I am one) will find it impossible to finish this book and even begin to comprehend the failings of Barking and Dagenham Police who were investigated (unsatisfactorily) by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Think of the extent of modern forensic and technological knowledge then wonder why officers neglected to check Ports electronic devices when the first overdosed body turned up outside his flat in June 2014.Was it because the dead men were all gay? Was it because the police did not understand or maybe approve of their lifestyle? Officers of the Metropolitan Police took the knee at a Black Lives Matter demonstration (or should that be, near-riot?) in an unforgettable display of excruciatingly embarrassing and inappropriate virtue. Theyve also been spotted making sure Insulate Britain protesters were comfortable, and sporting Rainbow badges at Pride marches. Murphy-Bates comments acidly that in 2015, while they were refusing to investigate the death of Jack Taylor, having already refused to investigate the three previous deaths, they arrested 857 people for offensive social media posts. What? His compelling book is far more than an addition to the true crime genre. It should be essential reading for anyone concerned with police accountability and the disturbing way certain groups of usually vulnerable people fall beneath the radar. Easy Kills is a call for action. LATE CITY by Robert Olen Butler (No Exit Press 9.99, 256 pp) LATE CITY by Robert Olen Butler (No Exit Press 9.99, 256 pp) The new book from U.S. writer Butler, a Pulitzer winner, takes the form of a deathbed dialogue between God and a retired American newspaper editor, Sam, now aged 115 (not a misprint), as he reflects on a century of personal and political upheaval, just as Trump is about to become president. What follows is a stirring portrait of a man and his times. As a boy in the Deep South, Sam argues with his hated father over race relations. After fighting in World War I, he finds his way to Chicago, climbing the ladder from cub reporter with barely a dime to his name. Marriage and fatherhoods giddy highs and bitter lows also feature. If Butler examines with unashamed seriousness the old chestnut of what it means to be a man, his central conceit adds vital levity, and theres formal invention, too, as he segues seamlessly between the threads of Sams life without ever losing the reader. A fine novel. A TERRIBLE KINDNESS by Jo Browning Wroe (Faber 14.99, 400 pp) A TERRIBLE KINDNESS by Jo Browning Wroe (Faber 14.99, 400 pp) Perhaps you have heard about this one, which has deservedly attracted much advance praise from the likes of Simon Mayo, who has dubbed it novel of the year. It involves the tragedy of Aberfan, the South Wales village where, in 1966, a collapsing slag heap killed 116 children and 28 adults. But the novel isnt centred on those events. Instead it turns on the later-life marital difficulties of William, an embalmer from Birmingham, who struggles with unvoiced memories of the horror he witnessed while attending the scene as a newly qualified 19-year-old. His trauma is exacerbated by unfinished business reaching further back into his boyhood not least the cowardly betrayal of a male schoolfriend who tried to kiss him during their time as Cambridge choristers. Told with brisk flair in short, pithy scenes, its a painful, sad story that, against the odds, ends up a powerfully inspiring tale of recovery and hope. A PREVIOUS LIFE by Edmund White (Bloomsbury 18.99, 288 pp) A PREVIOUS LIFE by Edmund White (Bloomsbury 18.99, 288 pp) Whites A Boys Own Story, published in 1982, broke a path for gay fiction, but the novels he has produced in recent years have been of variable consistency to say the least. His latest (file it under interesting dud), opens 30 years into the future and focuses on the May-to-December marriage of Ruggero, a sexually omnivorous harpsichordist from Sicily, and Constance, a younger American writer who was abused in childhood. The narrative unfolds as they pen tell-all memoirs intended for each others ears only, airing an almost comically lurid array of X-rated shenanigans that climaxes in Ruggeros conquest of one Edmund White, now long dead, his reputation in tatters. Sounds fun, no? Alas, the pointlessly mazy pile-up of revelations prior to this late-arriving drama gets dull fast, as if Whites only interest in his central characters was to use their stories as slow-build scaffolding for a bit of weirdly self-flagellating autofiction. MSNBC announced Thursday that business journalist and Lehigh grad Stephanie Ruhle will replace Brian Williams on the nightly newscast The 11th Hour. (Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) MSNBC announced Thursday that Lehigh University graduate and business journalist Stephanie Ruhle will replace Brian Williams on the nightly newscast The 11th Hour, and that Morning Joe will expand to four hours. Ruhle, a New Jersey native, graduated from Lehigh University in 1997 with a bachelors degree in international business. In 2017, she returned to her alma mater to deliver the commencement address. Advertisement Ruhle, who will continue as a senior business analyst across other NBC News programs, had been host of the 9 a.m. Eastern hour on the news network. In a memo to staff, MSNBC President Rashida Jones said Ruhle will bring her business acumen, hard-hitting interview style and original reporting to the 11 p.m. Eastern hour. Shes expected to keep the format Williams originated before leaving the network in December, with a review of the days news and a centerpiece panel of three experts. Advertisement Morning Joe, with Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist as hosts and a rotating panel of guests, currently airs from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern. It will take over the hour Ruhle is vacating. Jones said the expansion will give us an opportunity to extend the reach of the program, which has become so well known for its signature perspective and analysis, as well as its newsmaking interviews. The changes are expected to go into effect in a few months; no start date was given. THE CITY OF TEARS by Kate Mosse (Pan 8.99, 560pp) THE CITY OF TEARS by Kate Mosse (Pan 8.99, 560pp) During the late 16th century, Europe was in a state of ferment. In France, violence sparked between Catholics and Protestants, while in the Netherlands, Calvinist revolt against the occupation of Roman Catholic Spain led to the lengthy 80 Years War conflict. The second volume of The Burning Chambers Kate Mosses trilogy of novels set during the Wars of Religion finds her heroine, Minou, enjoying a moment of peace surrounded by her family. But a trip to Paris to attend the ill-fated attempt to secure peace through the royal marriage of the Catholic Marguerite de Valois to the Protestant Huguenot prince, Henri de Navarre, ends in tragedy. With a clutch of feisty female characters, a plot of heart-stopping jeopardy and evocative settings in France and Amsterdam, Kate Mosse brings the period vividly to life. Survivors SURVIVORS by Rebecca Clifford (Yale University Press 11.99, 344pp) SURVIVORS by Rebecca Clifford (Yale University Press 11.99, 344pp) The stories of the Jewish children of the Holocaust are shrouded in obscurity. Estimates suggested that of a pre-war population of 1.5million, only 150,000 survived. Yet after the war, their stories were neglected or even dismissed. Rebecca Cliffords remarkable book records the experiences of these children now grandparents themselves for whom survival was only a precursor to the challenges of peacetime. Many were expected to forget the horrors they had witnessed. Some were taken away from the only homes they had known, with gentile families who had sheltered them. Others were ostracised when they tried to attend meetings of Holocaust survivors. Yet courage and resilience shine through this timely history. In the end, says one survivor, I and my past are like two trains. Its gone that way and Ive gone this way. HOOKED by Michael Moss (WH Allen 9.99, 304pp) HOOKED by Michael Moss (WH Allen 9.99, 304pp) Jazlyn Bradley was seven when she ate her first Happy Meal from the familys nearby McDonalds in Brooklyn. A picky eater, Jazlyn soon began skipping home-cooked meals in favour of fast food. By 16, she weighed almost 18st, and it was then, in 2002, that a lawyer named Samuel Hirsch suggested that she become a joint plaintiff in a case he was bringing against McDonalds for injuring peoples health through the design of their products. The action failed, but it began a conversation that continues, 20 years on, and ever more urgently as the obesity pandemic continues its devastating spread. In his forensic scrutiny of the fast-food industry, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Michael Moss offers a sobering perspective on the addictive allure of highly processed food. There is now only a 2 a year difference between the top ten cheapest variable energy deals available to households and the quarterly price cap, new research has revealed. The gap, which compares to a 171 gap seen a year earlier, stayed stagnant between October and December 2021, according to data from Cornwall Insight. This further confirms predictions that the forecasted 50 per cent rise to the cap, which is only for default tariffs, in April will impact the majority of consumers, with cheaper deals simply unavailable. Consumers will find out on 7 February how much the cap is to increase from April, with experts predicting it could be as much as 600. The cheapest tariffs on the market are now as expensive as Ofgem's default tariff price cap It comes at a time when the cost of living is soaring with many concerned about how they will pay their bills. James Mabey, analyst at Cornwall Insight, said: 'Over the past year the gap between the default tariff cap and the cheapest market deals has been slowly decreasing. 'Our figures from the last quarter of 2021 have shown competition between suppliers has stagnated, with ever increasing wholesale prices leaving suppliers unable to offer any competitive deals below the Ofgem set price.' He adds: 'These are turbulent times for energy suppliers. Only this month we saw Together Energy become the first victim of 2022, following on from nearly 30 suppliers leaving the market in 2021. 'The cap, once a protection for customers, with increases matched by competitive cheaper deals as recently as April 2021, has now become the only option available to most, as energy companies try hard to keep their heads above water.' What if your fixed energy deal is ending? Customers whose fixed tariff is coming to an end soon are being advised to let their deal roll onto a default deal as these are covered by the price cap and are much cheaper than current fixed offers. However, those looking at what offers are available should check whether the estimated price for the default deal covers the current price cap or takes into account the estimated rise for the new level. If it only covers the current average domestic dual fuel price cap tariff of 1,277, prices are likely to soar in April when the new level is in place. Anyone who is considering moving to another fixed deal should also be aware that wholesale prices could change within the next year and you could end up overpaying if stuck in a contract. However, experts believe that costs will remain high for the foreseeable future. Mabey added: 'It is hard to determine whether the gap between delivered costs will fall below the price cap once more. Our current projections show this is unlikely to happen anytime soon, with high wholesale prices showing no evidence of coming down. 'In the short-term the Government has a number of options available through the tax and benefit system to shield consumers from the significant hikes. 'However, if we want to get a handle on this ever-volatile market, some serious long-term decisions on the future of the default tariff cap, pricing in the wholesale market and where the UK sources its energy from will need to be made.' The cost of living has increased substantially, making bills more expensive for millions How the cost of living crisis is hitting The cost of living has soared in recent times with many struggling not only to pay their energy bills but also other household costs. Separate research from Which? found 58 per cent of people said they had recently been affected by increased food prices and 56 per cent had been affected by energy price rises. Meanwhile, 17 per cent reported a recent increase in their housing costs and the same proportion reported an increase in the price they pay for broadband and mobile services. To combat the hikes, 51 per cent of consumers said they had been putting the heating on less frequently due to energy price rises and 46 per cent had reduced their usage of lights or appliances around the home. Only a quarter reported not having taken any such measure in response to energy costs increasing. Which? said it is calling on the Government, regulators and companies to work quickly to make sure they are ready to support customers in financial distress. It wants the Government to urgently clarify what support will be put in place for those struggling to pay rising energy bills. It said the Government must also ensure people can rely on robust consumer protections that will prevent them from being exploited and regulators must intervene when businesses treat customers unfairly. I am 67 and living with terminal liver cancer. I have fallen victim to a scam into which I have put 40,000 of my 47,500 savings account. I saw an advert that suggested Amazon were supporting a new venture that would see householders making life-changing money and decided to invest with the minimum amount accepted set at $250. I was called multiple times after this and persuaded to transfer thousands of pounds as 'investments' but now I realise it was a scam. I have contacted my bank Barclays to be told it cannot help me as I moved monies from my account myself. Are you able to help me regain my funds? D.K., via email A man living with terminal cancer has been scammed out of 40,000 online [stock image] Grace Gausden, consumer expert at This is Money, replies: I am very sorry, firstly, to hear of your diagnosis. If that wasn't heartbreaking enough to hear, you have lost 40,000 after falling victim to an online scam and can't bring yourself to tell your family about the incident. The problems started in early December 2021 when you saw an advert that suggested Amazon were supporting a new venture that would see people make life-changing money, with a firm called Concept Blue. When clicking on it, it said it revolved around auto-trading, which interested you. The minimum investment was set at US$250 and you decided to go ahead, paying with your credit card. Within 24 hours of making the payment, you received a telephone call from someone at Concept Blue explaining that he was a mentor to help you place trades and help set up your account. GRACE ON THE CASE This is the last Grace on the Case in its current format - but no fear, the regular series will continue every Thursday on This is Money. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the column and am thrilled to have helped readers claw back nearly 500,000. I want to thank all of those who have contacted me with their problems. Contact: editor@thisismoney.co.uk if you have a consumer problem. By the end of day two, after your account was 'set up', your balance was showing as $717 with approximately 15 trades being placed successfully. You had sales patter that claimed Concept Blue was so large in scale that it receives signals the average individual is not privy to - in hindsight, this was a telltale sign something wasn't right. The next couple of weeks saw your balance move up significantly and you followed the share prices on the account which appeared to be real-time when you compared elsewhere. Several days later, you received another call from someone who claimed to work at Concept Blue who said she was currently looking at investments in the US property market that could return 18 per cent or more. She added something may come up in the next few days and if interested, you should provide more money to invest. She said a 12,000 return was possible for a 3,000 investment or 22,000 for 5,000. Unfortunately, you ended up 'investing' the latter. You were told high street banks still frowned on cryptocurrency investments and therefore they recommended opening an account with online bank, Revolut, which you did. The staff member then stated she needed the money to go into bitcoin and a further account would be required. She recommended Binance and you opened yet another account. You then transferred 5,000 to Revolut from Barclays. To help you with the purchasing of bitcoin, the staff member suggested that you allowed her to control your PC which, again, you did. She recommended further funds and you continued to send over money, believing this would increase your investment return. Scam: Barclays have investigated the incident after several unusual payments were made After sending over thousands, you began to feel hesitant about any further investments but were told that Concept Blue provided an insurance document that guaranteed return of the initial investment but not profits. This reassured you that, at the very minimum, you would see your life savings again. Concept Blue continued to explain that, as a 'beginner', their conditions dictated that you could make only one withdrawal, for example, to close the account. However, for an investment of 25,000 you could become a VIP with no limit to withdrawals, which is what you then transferred, taking the total to 40,000 invested. This money was moved from your Barclays savings through Revolut to Binance. You moved the amount in smaller sums, as you were asked to, with 25,000 going through. A further withdrawal of 10,000 was stopped by Barclays. You were told as a result of this, Concept Blue was now unable to move the initial 25,000 back because the flag raised by Barclays had also blocked your Revolut account. This raised your suspicions and it was then you realised how much money you had lost with the transferred funds supposed to be saved for your funeral and bequests to family. Since then, you have been contacted multiple times from Concept Blue asking you to invest even more money but you have refused and told the firm you believe you have been scammed. You have asked repeatedly for your money to be returned but have, unsurprisingly, received no response. Revolut were also involved after the consumer set up an account with them under instruction The whole scenario has added much stress to you at a time when you are already going through an incredibly difficult period. It is even harder as you have kept this a secret and have not yet told your family, including your wife. I contacted Barclays to see if it was able to help return your funds. Unfortunately, it has been unable to reclaim the funds as they were sent from your own account to your own account with Revolut. As such, it is not liable for reimbursement in line with the CRM Code. A Barclays spokesperson said: 'We have every sympathy with our customer who has been the victim of an investment scam and are expediting our ongoing investigation into this case. 'We urge customers to check whether the investment company is a genuine FCA regulated financial firm before transferring any monies and, if in doubt, get independent financial advice first. If the investment opportunity seems too good to be true, it undoubtedly is.' You are just one of thousands who has been hit by what is known as an authorished push payment scam. These involve the fraudster tricking their victims into willingly making large bank transfers to them. For example, they may pose as someone from a bank, or another trusted organisation, before claiming the customer has been a victim of fraud and telling them to move money to a different bank account. Often there is a demand to act quickly, giving the customer less time to think about what they are being asked to do. In your case, whilst Barclays are unable to assist further, Revolut has confirmed it will now investigate. While it is highly probable it will draw the same conclusion as Barclays and the funds will likely already have been moved to a further account, run by the scammers, it is always worth reporting just in case it is able to reclaim some money. I am very sorry I was unable to assist you in getting your funds back, but I wanted to publish this tale to show the lengths scammers go to cook up convincing companies, investments and situations to steal money - and they have no care whether you have terminal cancer or not. An NS&I customer was left upset after the firm took months to return his dead wife's funds Hit and miss: This week's naughty and nice list Each week, I look at some of the companies that have fallen short of expected standards as well as those that have gone that extra mile for customers. Miss: This week, reader Brian, criticised NS&I's customer service after his wife sadly passed away last year. He said: 'My wife passed away in May last year. Shortly after, I completed an online request for partial release of her savings from NS&I and posted all requested documentation for a 5,000 advance towards funeral expenses. 'The documents were sent back to me and I was told the process is taking longer than normal. I raised a complaint about the delay after weeks went by but this was closed in June. 'By this time I had contacted my wife's building society accounts, as funeral payments were now overdue. Later in June, I was contacted by NS&I asking me to complete the forms and documents - the very same documents that had been returned to me some six weeks earlier. 'In response, I raised another complaint and also advised I would be closing both our accounts. However, I have still not received an acknowledgement to my letter despite not now being able to log into my wife's account.' I contacted NS&I as the delayed response and lack of communication only added more stress onto an already difficult time. You were also in need of the funds. A spokesperson for NS&I said: 'We received a bereavement claims form from Brian on 11 May 2021. 'On the bereavement claims form, he specified that he would like his late wife's Premium Bonds to remain in the monthly prize draws for 12 months after her death. This is something that the executor of an estate is able to request. 'The documentation provided alongside this was scanned into NS&I's systems and returned to Mr Roughan that same day, which would have been the letter than he received on 12 May 2021. 'At this time - and due to a strict lockdown in force in Chennai, India, where NS&I deals with some back office processing tasks - there were delays to some of NS&I's processes. The offices were then closed from 24 May, reopening on 10 June. 'During this time, NS&I moved processes back to our UK sites in order to minimise any inconvenience to our customers. 'Due to these delays, NS&I did not respond to Brian's claim until 24 June. Within this response, NS&I included an application form for him to apply for some of the funds to pay for funeral costs, as he had requested this in previous correspondence to us. 'This form asks the executor of an estate to confirm there are no funds available elsewhere to pay these costs, as well as where the executor would like any funds paid to. This was different to the bereavement claims form that he had previously sent to NS&I. 'On 5 July 2021, NS&I received a letter from Brian confirming the funeral costs had now been paid. 'The processing of his late wife's estate took longer than it ordinarily would due to the reasons explained above. NS&I would like to apologise to Brian for the delays he experienced at what we understand was an extremely difficult time for him.' Unfortunately, this was not the response you were hoping for and are now considering legal action due to the delays in settling the accounts. However, shortly after I contacted NS&I, you received the funds you requested and you have since closed both your and your wife's accounts meaning your dealings with NS&I can now be done and hopefully you can grieve in peace. A Gorilla Robes customer found her robe was faulty on a dog walk but it was quickly replaced Hit: In better news, this week reader Amanda, praised clothing firm, Gorilla Robes. She said: 'I received a Gorilla Robe for Christmas from my parents and sadly on the third time of wearing it whilst walking the dogs one of the zips came off of the teeth on one side. 'I contacted Gorilla Robes online. They sincerely apologised and gave me a code to get a replacement robe from their website as well as asking for a couple of photos to see what had happened to the zip. 'Now I have a new robe and I also get to keep the one with the broken zip. Now that is what I call excellent customer service.' No monkey business here, it was quick and easy for you to get your robe replaced. Menstrual changes from Covid vaccines are only temporary and don't leave women infertile, a leading expert insisted today. Tens of thousands of women have complained about late or unusually heavy periods after getting jabbed. Anti-vaxx campaigners have leapt on the reports, using them to peddle fears that vaccines may, therefore, affect fertility. But a top fertility specialist has now debunked the concerns, insisting that the actual evidence on the topic is 'reassuring'. Dr Victoria Male, who is based at King's College London, reviewed findings from two new studies involving over 10,000 women. While Covid jabs have been found to make periods slightly late or heavier than normal British experts say new studies show the changes are both minor and quickly reverse What's normal for a period? A period is the part of the cycle when a woman bleeds from her vagina for a few days. For most women this happens every 28 days or so but its not unusual for the cycle to be between 21 or 40 days for individual women. Periods tend to last between three and to eight days, with the average being five. Bleeding tends to be heaviest in the first two days. Some women have irregular periods where the cycle is inconsistent. For some this is natural and nothing to worry about, but the NHS advises women to contact their GP if: if their periods suddenly become irregular and they are under 45-years-of-age their periods come more often than every 21 days and less often than every 35 days their period lasts longer than seven days there is a difference of at least 20 days between the shortest and longest menstrual cycle Advertisement Writing in the British Medical Journal, she said: 'Changes to the menstrual cycle do occur following vaccination.' The problems have also been linked to other jabs, and illnesses including Covid itself, as well as factors like contraceptive use and stress. But Dr Male said the menstrual changes caused by the Covid jab were 'small' and 'quickly reverse'. The first study used data from nearly 4,000 American women who had logged at least six menstrual cycles on a period tracking app. Of this group, 2,403 received Covid jabs, while the other 1,556 did not. Data showed the first coronavirus vaccine had no impact on the timing of the next period, overall. Yet the second jab was associated with a delayed period of just under half-a-day, on average. But some saw far greater delays. The women most affected were a group of 358 who received both Covid vaccines in the same mensural cycle. Of this group 11 per cent experienced a change in cycle length of more than eight days, according to researchers form the Oregon Health & Science University. However, all vaccinated women saw their periods return to their normal length two cycles after being jabbed. The second study Dr Male referred to was from a survey of 5,688 Norwegian women. Participants were all asked if they had experienced any changes with their menstrual cycles, both before and after their first and second Covid jab. Thirty-nine per cent said they saw a change after their first vaccine dose, and 41 per cent reported a change after their second dose. The most commonly reported change was a heavier than normal period. But Dr Male said considering 38 per cent of women report a change to their normal cycle before getting a Covid jab, the increase to menstrual cycle disruption from vaccination appeared to be minor. However, she added the findings had limited application to the UK because of rules that make it unlikely for women to have received two jabs in the same cycle. Covid vaccines do NOT affect fertility in women who go through IVF or conceive naturally, study finds Coronavirus jabs do not affect a woman's ability to conceive a child, another study suggests. Researchers in New York monitored more than 2,000 women undergoing in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) or fertility treatment. Rates of pregnancy were 'the same' among unvaccinated women and those double-jabbed with Pfizer or Moderna. The researchers said the findings add to 'ever-increasing evidence' the jabs do not interfere with fertility, despite misinformation being common online. Lead author Dr Devora Aharon added that there was no difference in 'egg quality or embryo development' between women who were jabbed and un-jabbed. She said: 'Our findings that vaccination had no impact on these outcomes should be reassuring to those who are trying to conceive or are in early pregnancy.' Vaccine hesitancy has been common among young women and expectant mothers due to concerns about fertility that were preyed upon by anti-vaxx groups. But despite billions of women vaccinated around the world, there has not been any uptick in miscarriages or significant dips in birthrates. And a growing number of studies have failed to spot a mechanism for the vaccines to interfere with fertility or pregnancy. Advertisement In the UK people need to wait eight weeks between their first and second vaccines, and the average menstrual cycle occurs every four weeks. In contrast the US only advises a a 21-to-28-day wait between Covid jabs, depending on what vaccine people received. Dr Male said results from a UK study which used the same app as the US research is due out soon. This should provide some clearer insight into how the UK's different vaccine regime has effected menstrual cycles, she said. Data from the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency indicates 37,000 British women have reported a change to their period after a Covid jab. Dr Male said more work needed to be done to determine the exact mechanism that causes the Covid jab to have affect women's periods. 'Medically, we must also determine whether any group is particularly vulnerable for example, those with pre-existing gynaecological conditions so they can be counselled appropriately,' Dr Male said. She added that the potential for vaccines to impact fertility was one of the key concerns of the jab-hesitant public. 'The work that has been done represents a step in the right direction,' she wrote in the journal. 'But the fact it has taken us so long to get here reflects the low priority with which menstrual and reproductive health is often treated in medical research. 'The widespread interest in this topic highlights how pressing a concern this is for the public. Its time we started listening to them.' The length of the menstrual cycle varies between individual women, but the average is every 28 days. However, cycles as short as 21 days or as long as 40 are not considered unusual. The NHS advises women to contact their GP if their periods are irregular in certain situations. These include: if their periods suddenly become irregular and they are under 45-years-of-age, their periods come more often than every 21 days and less often than every 35 days, their period lasts longer than seven days, and there is a difference of at least 20 days between the shortest and longest menstrual cycle. Irregular periods can also lead to problems when women are trying to get pregnant as it becomes difficult to accurately track ovulation, the time when they are most likely to conceive. The latest UK Government data indicates just over 48million people have received two doses of Covid vaccines. Advertisement Brazen thieves have been hitting the same Upper East Side Rite Aid for months, forcing it to close - and now, numerous small businesses in the upscale Manhattan neighborhood, where residents say they are on high alert because of rising crime, are worried they will soon suffer the same fate after a string of thefts. Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15, the manager told DailyMail.com, a day after a thief was caught on video boldly sauntering out with shopping bags full of stolen goods. The brazen incident in one of New York City's wealthiest neighborhoods was only captured on camera because actor and comedian Michael Rapaport had stopped by to pick up his prescription mood stabilizers. He said it was 'pathetic' that brazen crime continues to spiral in the Big Apple because of soft-on-crime policies. 'These criminals know there are no ramifications. We have to put more of these mfers in jail,' he fumed to DailyMail.com. The Rite Aid's closure is just one of many in the city. On February 8, a Hell's Kitchen store which has been rife with robberies in recent months will close, and on the Upper West Side, another store which experienced daily thefts shut down in November. Just this week, there was news that a Rite Aid located at Clinton Joralemon Streets in the Brooklyn Heights is also set to close next month. The chain announced last year that it was shutting down about 63 stores across the US in the next few years, citing cost-cutting measures to save $25 million a year - but workers say that the thefts are part of the reason for the closures as inventory dwindles. Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33 percent in the week ending on January 23, according to the NYPD's most recent data, with 944 incidents compared to 709 incidents reported during the same timeframe last year. Overall crime has gone up by nearly 39 percent, with 7,230 incidents this year as compared to last year's 5,211. Crime in the city has become so rampant that President Joe Biden will visit New York City next week to discuss combatting gun crime with Mayor Eric Adams after two police officers were executed by a gunman with a long rap sheet. While Adams has said that he will stamp down on crime, and roll out the undercover anti-gun crime unit disbanded under Bill De Blasio, he still has to contend with lax policies put in place by soft-on-crime Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg who has told prosecutors to seek non-custodial sentences for many crimes, and downgraded most robberies to a misdemeanor. Meanwhile, small business owners and workers in the Upper East Side - once one of America's wealthiest zip codes - say no one is stopping the thefts and they are also being targeted on a daily basis. Sayed Imam, the store manager of Wine Emporium, for 15 years said there is little to no support from the police - and even if they call 911, by the time the cops show up, the thieves are gone. 'For us, every inventory counts,' he said. 'Since the beginning of the pandemic, these thefts just keep happening. And we don't have the support from police.' Imam added that the thieves have become so brazen because they know no one will stop them. The rampant thefts follows a trend in started in crime-ridden San Francisco where thieves last year were often seen simply waltzing past security guards to sell stolen items right outside the doors of Walgreens pharmacies. The national chain has closed 17 of its 70 San Francisco locations in the past two years because of the shelf raiders, who have swiped everything not behind lock and key. Thefts in the chain's 53 remaining stores are five times the average for their stores elsewhere in the country, according to company officials. Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15, the manager told DailyMail.com, a day after a thief was caught on video boldly sauntering out with shopping bags full of stolen goods Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33 percent in the week ending on January 23, according to the NYPD's most recent data, with 944 incidents compared to 709 incidents reported during the same timeframe last year. Overall crime has gone up by nearly 39 percent, with 7,230 incidents this year as compared to last year's 5,211 Empty shelves are seen at Rite Aid on the Upper East Side just three weeks before they're set to close. The store's closure is just one of many in the city. On February 8, a Hell's Kitchen store which has been rife with robberies in recent months will close, and on the Upper West Side, another store which experienced daily thefts shut down in November Sayed Imam, the store manager of Wine Emporium (pictured) say no one is stopping the thefts and they are also being targeted on a daily basis. He added that there is little to no support from the police - and even if they call 911, by the time the cops show up, the thieves are gone An Upper East Side resident, who only wanted to be identified by her first name, Simin, has lived in the area since 1996. She said the once-quiet, safe, family neighborhood has become 'too dangerous' and residents are constantly on high alert. Seeing thieves load up with goods is a common occurrence, and people refuse to intervene out of fear they'll be hurt or even killed. Simin told DailyMail.com that a few weeks ago a Starbucks at 87th and Third Ave, just a few blocks away from the now infamous Rite Aid, was targeted. 'A man came in with a large bag and just start filling it with mugs and other stuff from those shelves. He just scooped them into the bag, not even trying to hide it.' She said a store employee finally stopped him and the man ran out the door - with his loaded up bag. 'I wasn't going to do anything. You just never know. These are crazy times. What if he had a knife? What if he had a gun and just started shootings up the whole place? No, I wasn't going to take that risk. She told DailyMail.com that while she still loves the typically quiet neighborhood, she's worried about the uptick in thefts. Meanwhile, a young employee at the Starbucks just across the street from Rite Aid wasn't fazed by Tuesday's incident. 'Oh, it happens every day,' she said. 'That's why they're closing, you know. Someone is always stealing stuff. Walking out, right past security. And no one blinks an eye.' At the Rite Aid at the center of Rapaport's video, shoppers were telling workers that they were upset they'd be losing their jobs and wished them luck. But, one worker told DailyMail.com that she wasn't sure what that path would be. 'I don't know what I'm going to do,' an employee told DailyMail.com, explaining that they had not yet been told if they would be transferred to another location or if they would lose their job. 'That's the hard part - not knowing,' she added 'We need to know something soon, we have bills to pay.' At a nearby Morton Williams, manager Herman Diaz told the New York Post that people were shoplifting two or three times a day. 'On Sunday, six kids, 17-25 years old, each got a basket, with meat, beer, everything, didn't pay, they walked out, got into a car, a BMW. Young kids.' Someone else tried to steal beer and Red Bull last Thursday, he said. 'I tell him, you can't take it,' Diaz said. 'He spit in my face and pushed me. He dropped it on the floor when he saw me. He was drunk, I think.' Workers at a nearby CVS said they are completely powerless to stop thieves. 'We can't even touch them. We don't have security here. We should have security. It happens every day,' she told The Post. Actor and comedian Michael Rapaport, who posted footage on Instagram of a bold thief going for a shoplifting spree in NYC on Tuesday, said he was 'disgusted' by the brazen crime Rapaport said the man in his footage filled two bags with stolen goods before nonchalantly strolling past security and leaving Employees at a Starbucks just across the street from Rite Aid on the Upper East Side say they aren't shocked by the thefts which are a common daily occurrence A regular customer at the Upper East Side Rite Aid who has lived in the area for more than 20 years was stunned by the news when she walked into the store - using a walker. 'Where will I get my medications now? she asked. This is where I've always come. She said it was frightening to hear about the recent thefts, but it had not deterred her from visiting the store and the employees she enjoyed seeing. The Rite Aid in the video, on 80th Street and 2nd Avenue, is hit with thefts of the same nature on an almost daily basis, a security guard told Rapaport. 'You see all these videos on Instagram of people shoplifting like they're going for a walk in the park. It's pathetic that this is happening in the greatest city in the world,' Rapaport said. Another location in New York City is in Hell's Kitchen at Eighth Avenue and West 50th Street, which is scheduled to close on February 8. Employees told the New York Daily News that the location was closing because of the rash of thefts. Card shelves at Rite Aid ion the Upper East Side are nearly empty after being hit with thefts on an almost daily basis Security cameras monitor the aisles at the Rite Aid on the Upper East Side where thefts are a daily occurrence A lone customer shops at the Rite Aid on the Upper East Side just weeks before it's set to close due to a rash of thefts Shelves and walls in the Rite Aid are completely bare in some parts of the store before it shuts for good in February Rapaport's video, which has since garnered more than 165,000 views, starts with Rapaport filming the thief sauntering out of the Rite Aid, while the exasperated actor fumbles with his words before shouting, 'I can't believe I'm seeing this s**t!' 'He's walking down the street like s**t is Gucci, he looked me in the face like ''what's good.'' I was watching him the whole time! My man just went Christmas shopping in January.' The Heat star captions the video: 'Duke just went CHRISTMAS SHOPPING at @riteaid I'm TRIPPING this happened in broad day like it was nothing. New @iamrapaport discusses it all. I was just informed this Rite Aid is closing 2/15 because of this, leaving the workers JOBLESS. @ericadamsfornyc YO,' tagging the drug store chain and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Rapaport told DailyMail.com he was 'disgusted' and 'surprised' when he saw the thief stocking up on items from three different sections of the pharmacy before deciding he was satisfied Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33% in the week ending on January 23, the NYPD's most recent data, with 944 incidents as compared to the 709 incidents reported in same duration last year He told DailyMail.com that he initially thought the thief was an employee because 'he was just so deliberate and casual.' Rapaport put the blame on former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who embraced soft-on-crime policies such as bail reform and police budget cuts. However, Rapaport said that new Mayor Adams could right the ship: 'I think Eric Adams knows what's going on, he knows how to deal with crime. I'm just hoping he lives up to our expectations.' The actor said he relies on that Rite Aid, where he buys his mood stabilizers, and that he and many others in the community are now losing their neighborhood pharmacy and its workers are losing their jobs because of the rampant shoplifting. 'These people are gonna be out of a job because of guys like this scumbum,' he said, using the invented word as a combination of 'scumbag' and 'bum.' Speaking about the Rite Aid incident on Tuesday, Rapaport said it was the first time he saw such 'blatant' theft in person, but that the security guard in his video is all too familiar. He told Rapaport that, just yesterday, two men walked in and took a six-pack of beer before acknowledging the security guard and leaving without paying anyway. The security guard is seen in Rapaport's video nonchalantly watching the thief walk out with his bags of looted goods. It is unclear what Rite Aid's security policy is, but chains like Walmart have insurance over stolen products and discourage their security guards from trying to engage with the thieves and risking injuring themselves or others. A similar theft at a Rite Aid in New York City went viral on TikTok in October after a woman named India, who was a security guard at the store, posted footage of thefts pilfering Halloween candy before fleeing. People asked in the comments why she isn't stopping the thieves if she is supposed to be a security guard, to which she replied: 'Because it's illegal to touch, grab or use any physical force to stop them.' Instead, she said, her job is to 'observe and report.' When asked what he thinks needs to be done to curb the spike in shoplifting incidents, Rapaport said that there needs to be 'more ramifications' and penalties for shoplifting. 'Criminals know they could get away with it. This whole thing is just a mess,' he said. Russia had warned of 'retaliatory measures' if US rejects security demands and continues 'aggressive' policies The US has made no concessions to the main Russian demands over Ukraine and NATO in a long-awaited written response delivered to Moscow, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. Vladimir Putin had made a series of demands over Ukraine, including that it would never join NATO, that the alliance's arms and forces be kept out of Eastern Europe - especially removing missiles within striking distance of Russia - and a guarantee of autonomy for eastern Ukraine. The Kremlin had said the demands should be addressed 'right away, right now.' But Mr Blinken said the US response gave no ground on 'core principles' such as NATO's open-door membership policy and the alliance's military presence in Eastern Europe. The written response was delivered to the Russian Foreign Ministry by US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan yesterday evening. Mr Blinken added that the document made clear that the US is standing by its often-stated positions. 'There is no change, there will be no change,' he said. However, he said the written response to Russia also contains 'serious' offers for a diplomatic path to de-escalate soaring tensions over Ukraine by addressing concerns on other matters. Putin's spokesperson said the President was still mulling over the response but added there was 'little room for optimism' after an initial reading and that Moscow's main concerns are being ignored. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said a written response to Russian demands on Ukraine and NATO gave up no ground on 'core principles' such as the alliance's open-door membership policy and the alliance's military presence in Eastern Europe. Pictured: US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivers the letter to the Russian Foreign Ministry Mr Blinken added that the written response to Russia also contains 'serious' offers for a diplomatic path to de-escalate soaring tensions over Ukraine by addressing Russian concerns on other matters Mr Blinken said that whether Russia accepts them is entirely the decision of President Vladimir Putin. 'That is up to President Putin,' he said. 'We'll see how they respond'. Pictured: President Putin in St Petersburg today marking the 78th anniversary of the end of Leningrad Siege Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said Thursday that Putin is still mulling over the letters from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO chief Jens Stoltenburg - which are thought to have ruled out the possibility of Ukraine being banned from the alliance and the removal of troops from ex-Soviet states that Moscow wanted. Peskov said there is 'little room for optimism' after an initial reading and that Moscow's main concerns are being ignored, but left the option of further talks open - at least for now. 'We won't rush with our assessments,' he said. Russia has warned it would quickly take 'retaliatory measures' if the US and its allies rejected its demands. Mr Blinken said he expects to speak again to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the coming days to get the Russian reaction. But he said that whether Russia accepts them is entirely the decision of President Vladimir Putin. 'That is up to President Putin,' he said. 'We'll see how they respond.' The US proposals, echoed in a separate document sent to the Russians by Nato, include the potential for negotiations over offensive missile placements and military exercises in Eastern Europe as well as broad arms control agreements as long as Russia withdraws its estimated 100,000 troops from the Ukrainian border. Russia has been massing forces on Ukraine's border for months, sparking fears that an invasion is imminent - and is now sabre-rattling across Europe including a new set of naval drills due to take place near Ireland (left) Moscow has demanded guarantees that Nato will never admit Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations as members and that the alliance will roll back troop deployments in former Soviet bloc nations. Some of these, like the membership pledge, are non-starters for the US and its allies, creating a seemingly intractable stalemate that many fear can only end in a war. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied it has plans to attack Ukraine but the US and Nato are worried about Russia massing its troops near Ukraine and conducting a series of sweeping military manoeuvres. As part of the drills, motorised infantry and artillery units in south-western Russia practised firing live ammunition, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea performed bombing runs, dozens of warships sailed for training exercises in the Black Sea and the Arctic, and Russian fighter jets and paratroopers arrived in Belarus for joint war games. Speaking to Russian lawmakers, Mr Lavrov said he and other top officials will advise Mr Putin on the next steps after receiving the US reply. President Biden is under pressure from congress to use the Protecting Europe's Energy Security Act to reimpose sanctions and effectively halt the final construction of the pipeline - or bi-partisan house will force his hand 'If the West continues its aggressive course, Moscow will take the necessary retaliatory measures,' Mr Lavrov said. But he indicated Russia would not wait forever. 'We won't allow our proposals to be drowned in endless discussions,' he said. In a separate development, presidential advisers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany met for more than five hours in Paris on Wednesday over the long-running conflict in the eastern part of the country involving Moscow-backed separatists. Although there was no breakthrough, they promised to meet for new talks in two weeks in Berlin. The French president's office said in a statement after the talks that the parties support 'unconditional respect' for a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. The talks focused on the 2015 Minsk peace agreement aimed at ending the conflict, and the statement did not address the current concerns about a Russian invasion. Ukrainian representative Andriy Yermak said the meeting went hours longer than expected and marked the first real advance in talks since December 2019. He said the talks organised by the French and Germans were crucial 'even when things were not so tense and now we know it more than ever'. Stephen Breyer, the oldest justice on the US Supreme Court and the senior member of the bench's liberal-leaning wing, boasts a record of pragmatism in the hundreds of opinions he has authored in his long career. The bespectacled California native, aged 83, was nominated to the nation's highest court by Democratic former president Bill Clinton, and US media reported Wednesday that he plans to retire at the end of the current term in June. He has spent more than 25 years on the nine-member bench, which towards the end of his tenure has firmly leaned to the right of the political spectrum. But being in the minority has not dimmed his jovial nature or passion for the work of the court. Breyer has insisted in his rulings on assessing real-world implications when deciding cases, rejecting the strict reading of the Constitution favored by some of his peers. Breyer -- who carries an annotated copy of the Constitution with him in his jacket pocket -- is a fierce opponent of the death penalty, and has ruled in favor of abortion rights, same-sex marriage and environmental protection. He has bristled at the notion of partisanship on the court. 'My experience of more than 30 years as a judge has shown me that, once men and women take the judicial oath, they take the oath to heart,' he said in a 2021 lecture at Harvard Law School, his alma mater. 'They are loyal to the rule of law, not to the political party that helped to secure their appointment.' Stephen Breyer is the oldest justice on the US Supreme Court and the senior member of the bench's liberal-leaning wing Justice Stephen Breyer and his wife Joanna stand during a private ceremony for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who lay in repose at the Supreme Court on September 23, 2020 Justice Stephen Breyer (R) greets Prince Charles (C) of Britain as he arrives at the U.S. Supreme Court to attend a reception for the Marshall scholarship alumni on May 3, 2011 - From Harvard to high court - Born on August 15, 1938 in San Francisco, Breyer was educated at Stanford, Oxford and Harvard -- a prestigious academic career that challenged his keen intellect. He began his legal career in 1964 as a clerk to then-Supreme Court justice Arthur Goldberg and then spent time working in the Justice Department on antitrust matters, before serving as an assistant special prosecutor on Watergate in 1973. He taught at Harvard University until 1980, when he got the nod from then-president Jimmy Carter to serve on the federal court of appeals in Boston, where he remained for more than a decade, eventually becoming its chief judge. Breyer was initially considered for a Supreme Court spot in 1993, but his candidacy was marred by a revelation that he had failed to pay taxes for a part-time housekeeper. A year later, he became Clinton's second nominee to the high court, after Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The pair would end up shoring up the liberal-progressive wing of the court for more than two decades. - Supreme Court tenure - Often overshadowed by his fellow liberal Ginsburg, Breyer authored two major opinions in support of abortion rights on a court closely divided over the issue, and he laid out his growing discomfort with the death penalty in a series of dissenting opinions in recent years. Breyers views on displaying the Ten Commandments on government property illustrate his search for a middle ground. He was the only member of the court in the majority in both cases in 2005 that barred Ten Commandments displays in two Kentucky courthouses but allowed one to remain on the grounds of the state Capitol in Austin, Texas. In more than 27 years on the court, Breyer has been an active and cheerful questioner during arguments, a frequent public speaker and quick with a joke, often at his own expense. He made a good natured appearance on a humorous National Public Radio program in 2007, failing to answer obscure questions about pop stars. He is known for his elaborate, at times far-fetched, hypothetical questions to lawyers during arguments and he sometimes has had the air of an absent-minded professor. He taught antitrust law at Harvard earlier in his professional career. He also spent time working for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy when the Massachusetts Democrat was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. That experience, Breyer said, made him a firm believer in compromise. Still, he could write fierce dissents, as he did in the Bush v. Gore case that effectively decided the 2000 election in favor of Republican George W. Bush. Breyer unsuccessfully urged his colleagues to return the case to the Florida courts so they could create 'a constitutionally proper contest' by which to decide the winner. And at the end of a trying term in June 2007 in which he found himself on the losing end of roughly two dozen 5-4 rulings, his frustrations bubbled over as he summarized his dissent from a decision that invalidated public school integration plans. 'It is not often that so few have so quickly changed so much,' Breyer said in a packed courtroom, an ad-libbed line that was not part of his opinion. His time working in the Senate led to his appointment by President Jimmy Carter as a federal appeals court judge in Boston, and he was confirmed with bipartisan support even after Carters defeat for reelection in 1980. Breyer served for 14 years on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before moving up to the Supreme Court. His 87-9 high-court confirmation was the last with fewer than 10 dissenting votes. Breyers opinions were notable because they never contained footnotes. He was warned off such a writing device by Arthur Goldberg, the Supreme Court justice for whom Breyer clerked as a young lawyer. 'It is an important point to make if you believe, as I do, that the major function of an opinion is to explain to the audience of readers why it is that the court has reached that decision,' Breyer once said. 'Its not to prove that youre right. You cant prove that you're right; there is no such proof.' President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Supreme Court Associate Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg at a White House event honoring Jewish American Heritage Month on May 27, 2010 Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg (L) and Stephen Breyer chat before President Barack Obama's address to a joint session of Congress on February 24, 2009 - 'Not my job' - Upon Joe Biden's arrival in the Oval Office, Breyer found himself drawn into a perennial discussion when the White House changes hands -- should older justices retire when a president of their own political persuasion takes office? Biden's predecessor Donald Trump had appointed three justices to the Supreme Court, sealing a 6-3 right-leaning majority. But Breyer has repeatedly decried injecting politics into the court, and did not answer the call from liberals to leave his lifetime appointment to ensure a like-minded replacement. 'If the public sees judges as politicians in robes, its confidence in the courts, and in the rule of law itself, can only diminish, diminishing the court's power,' he said in 2021. In an interview with AFP in 2016, Breyer -- who is a Francophile and speaks fluent French -- refused even to say what qualities an ideal candidate for the court would possess. 'I can't suggest who the president should appoint. It's not my job,' Breyer said. 'Asking me a question about who should be appointed or how that process works is like asking for the recipe for chicken a la king from the point of view of the chicken,' he quipped. Breyer is married to psychologist Joanna Hare, a member of the British aristocracy and daughter of the late British Conservative leader John Blakenham. They have three children. - Agence France Presse and Associated Press The infamous Hamzy crime gang, which is in the midst of a gang war with the rival Alameddine family, has been 'crushed' with at least ten members in jail or dead, police claim. As the two families' terrifying 18-month blood feud continued, Ibrahem Hamze, Tareek Hamzy and Haissam Hamzy were all arrested and charged this week over recent violent crimes. A police source told the Daily Telegraph that the clan was reeling, but underworld sources warned the notorious clan is committed to a 'lifetime war' with rivals. Cops claim the Hamzy crime gang is 'crushed' but underworld sources warned the notorious clan is committed to a 'lifetime war' with rivals (pictured are Tareek Hamzy, Ibrahem Hamze and Haissam Hamzy, who have all been arrested) After being flown to NSW Police Aviation Command, Ibrahem Hamze (pictured) was taken by Raptor Squad members to Bankstown Police station As the infamous family's 18-month blood feud with the rival Alameddine family continued, Ibrahem Hamze, Tareek Hamzy and Haissam Hamzy were all arrested and charged over recent violent crimes (pictured: Haissam Hamzy and Ibrahem Hamze) Where are key Hamzy members now? DEAD Bilal Hamze (shot 2021) Mejid Hamzy (shot 2020) Ghassan Amoun (shot 2022) Mahmoud Hamzy (shot 2014) Salim Hamze (shot 2021) Toufik Hamze (shot 2021) JAILED Ibrahem Hamze Bassam Hamzy Mohammed 'Little Crazy' Hamzy Tareek Hamzy Haissam Hamzy Advertisement A police source also vowed there was 'trouble ahead' for the Alameddine family, believed to be connected to several fatal shootings of Hamzy family members. Some officers believe Tareek, Haissam and Ibrahem sparked the gang war 18 months ago by openly bashing Alameddine associate Shaylin Zreika on a street in Sefton in mid-2020. The feud escalated significantly when Mejid Hamzy was shot dead at Condell Park on October 19, 2020. It was the first of eight public shootings police believe were reprisals between the Alameddine and Hamzy families. Ibrahem Hamze, 27, was arrested on the Gold Coast and extradited to Sydney on Monday over his alleged involvement in the shooting of an Alameddine associate, Murat Gulasi, in November. Security footage of the incident showed a stray bullet flying through a daycare centre with one child almost hit. Ibrahem Hamze has been charged with a string of serious offences related to the shooting and has also been linked to the running of the family's criminal activities including a large commercial drug supply. Police sources called him 'the last man standing' for the Hamzy family. After surviving multiple attempts on his life, he is understood to have fled Sydney with his glamorous girlfriend after his cousin Ghassan Amoun, was murdered on January 6 in Sydney. The former Brothers 4Life bikie gang boss and family leader Bassam Hamzy (pictured right), is serving time at Goulburn's supermax prison. Pictured left is his cousin Mohammed Hamzy, who is also jailed More than 10 members of the Hamzy family are either dead or in jail. Pictured are, Haissam Hamzy (far left, recently arrested), Ghassan Amoun (centre, deceased), Ibrahem Hamze (right, just arrested) and Tareek Hamzy (also arrested this week) '[They're all] now in Silverwater (jail) or Rookwood (cemetery) they're crushed, but its impossible to feel sorry for them,' a senior police source told The Daily Telegraph. But an underworld figure suggested the Hamzy family is not finished and has continued to find a way to united to pursue its blood feud. 'No way (this is over) they don't let sh** go the Hamzys this is a lifetime war,' he said. The Hamzy family rose to prominence in Sydney's criminal underworld partly through the leadership of Brothers4Life founder Bassam Hamzy, Mejid's older brother. NSW police developed the Raptor Squad a year ago with a publicly-stated intention to legally harass gang members, especially those associated with the bloody gangland wars that have been playing out in public. After being flown to NSW Police Aviation Command, Ibrahem Hamze was taken by Raptor Squad members to Bankstown Police station. NSW police developed the Raptor Squad a year ago with a publicly-stated intention to legally harass gang members, especially those associated with the bloody gangland wars that have been playing out in public Tareek Hamzy, 27, and Haissam Hamzy, 24, were both charged, along with two other associates, in relation to an alleged violent kidnapping at Merrylands. Ahmad and Bilal El-Chamy, Anthony Estephan and Joshua McCalla have also been charged over the alleged kidnapping. The squad came out of the previous Strike Force Raptor and has 115 officers dedicated to its cause. In June 2021, Bilal Hamze, Bassam's cousin and a senior Hamzy leader was shot dead in an execution-style killing in Bridge Street in Sydney's CBD. Salim Hamze and his father Toufik Hamze were gunned down at home in Guildford on October 20, 2021. While the Hamzy family has been feuding with the Alameddine family for the past 18 months, its members have been involved in bloody scenes across Sydney for almost a decade. Many of the incidents were thought to relate to conflict between the Bankstown and Blacktown chapters of the Brothers 4Life gang, which was banned in 2014. The majority of Aboriginal people do not want the Australia Day date changed, a prominent Indigenous academic has said, but a Labor MP has said if the day was being set now, it wouldn't be on January 26. 'It is very apparent that most Indigenous people are saying don't change the date,' said Megan Davis of the University of New South Wales. Professor Davis is a constitutional law expert who has consulted with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia on Indigenous issues. With tens of thousands of people taking part in 'Invasion Day' rallies in most capital cities on Wednesday, Ms Davis said the push to stop celebrating Australia Day on January 26 'won't make a difference to the underlying issue and the unfinished business as (Labor senator) Patrick Dodson called it'. Labor MP Linda Burney said while it was not her party's policy to change the date of Australia Day, 'I do believe if the decision was being today about the date, it wouldn't be a decision for January 26'. Ms Burney, who is Indigenous, said there is move among young people to have the date changed. 'I think young Australians don't understand why the date doesn't change. The younger generation have a very strong view about the date,' she told Daily Mail Australia. Activists (pictured) dance during an Invasion Day rally in Brisbane on Wednesday, January 26, 2022 Professor Davis works with the Uluru Dialogue, the campaign by Indigenous leaders to have a voice to parliament enshrined in Australia's constitution. She told The Australian the original problem Indigenous people had was 'the dispossession which did not cede Aboriginal sovereignty'. 'The Uluru Statement from the Heart ... was issued as an invitation to Australians to meet with us and walk together in a movement of all Australians for change,' she said. Professor Davis said altering the constitution would be far more than a symbolic change and that 'a constitutional amendment is the toughest change of them all. AUSTRALIA DAY It marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and the raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip. Australia Day officially became a public holiday for all states and territories just 28 years ago, in 1994. In 2019, 40 per cent of Australians celebrated the day, but by 2021 it was down to 29 per cent. A new survey found 57 per cent would either support changing the day or keeping January 26 but having a separate day to recognise Indigenous Australians. Advertisement 'It is tougher than legislated state-based treaties because it's asking the entire nation to have a say and agree. And this will anchor us as a nation.' Her comments come as a new Guardian Australia poll found that 57 per cent would either support changing the day or keeping January 26 but having a separate day to recognise Indigenous Australians. There has been a significant fall in recent years in the number of Australians celebrating Australia Day, down from 40 per cent in 2019, to 29 per cent in 2021. Some other Indigenous Australian leaders have also said there are bigger problems for Aboriginals than changing the date of Australia Day. 'There are much more important issues like Aboriginal communities making it through the pandemic without huge losses of life,' said Professor Marcia Langton of the University of Melbourne. Professor Davis said many Uluru Dialogue leaders are against changing the date of Australia Day, and believe enshrining the Uluru Statement in the constitution is more important. 'The Uluru Statement is an opportunity for the nation. A gesture of peace and goodwill. 'It's an extraordinary thing to have emerged from all that has come before. It's really a sliding doors moment for Australia. 'We don't need to change the date, but the Uluru Statement can change the nation.' On Wednesday, protest marchers in Sydney chanted 'Always was, always will be Aboriginal land' as they marched from Town Hall to Victoria Park. Professor Megan Davis (pictured) says 'most Indigenous people are saying don't change the date' of Australia Day 'We feel proud today yet sad in knowing why we have to stand here. Why do we have to promote our invasion to make sure Australia sees us?' said Elizabeth Jarrett, one of the organisers. The planned march through Melbourne's CBD was cancelled by organisers due to the Covid-19 situation. In Tasmania, more than 1,000 people watched an online rally held at Risdon Cove, near Hobart, which included a video message from outgoing Australian of the Year Grace Tame. 'As someone who understands in a completely different context what it's like to have your narrative controlled by someone else, I believe my role in this pursuit for change and justice is one of solidarity and support from the sidelines,' she said. The price of some of Australia's favourite beverages could soon skyrocket thanks to tax hikes on booze. Liquor industry lobby group, Spirits and Cocktails Australia, claims a case of Bundaberg rum and cola could increase by more than $20 over the next decade due to the tax hikes. The group has called for bi-annual tax increases on pure alcohol to stop for three years to give producers a break. Twice a year the Australian Taxation Office raise excise duty rates for alcohol and this week announced an increase from $88.91 per litre of pure alcohol to $90.78 from next month Twice a year the Australian Taxation Office raise excise duty rates for alcohol and this week announced an increase from $88.91 per litre of pure alcohol to $90.78 from next month. Excise duty refers to the tax manufacturers pay for producing certain goods. If the trend of recent 'tax hikes' continue the costs of alcoholic goods for Australians is also likely to increase. Over the next decade the price of a 24 pack of Bundaberg rum and cola could skyrocket to $100 since it is taxed the same as hard liquor. Major retailers currently charge between $74 and $77. Spirits and Cocktails Australia has urged the ATO to reconsider the tax increases as they make it difficult for the industry to stay profitable. Spirits and Cocktails Australia have urged the ATO to reconsider the tax raise as the costs could flow onto customers and see 24 packs of Bundaberg rum and cola sold for $100 'The Australian way is to give a hand in a time of crisis, but instead this government has given us a hike the fourth brutal tax hike since Covid arrived on our shores,' chief executive Greg Holland told news.com. However, recent figures show Covid was anything but a 'time of crisis' for the alcohol sector. A Roy Morgan analysis from last year found that boozy retail had made $15.6 billion in 2020, a 26.7 per cent increase in comparison to 2019. Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive Caterina Giorgi said that while businesses had been thriving off the back of the Covid pandemic, alcohol-related ambulance calls had also increased. She believes a price increase on alcoholic goods would only be another 'slap in the face' to taxpayers. Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive Caterina Giorgi said a raise in price would be a 'slap in the face' to taxpayers while World Health Organisation research proves a price increase could be beneficial 'At a time when our healthcare system and hospitals are overwhelmed and when people are doing it really tough, it's a slap in the face to us all to see alcohol corporations, who are making super profits, asking for more of taxpayers' money,' Ms Giorgi said. 'Right now, our focus should be ensuring resources go towards people's health and wellbeing, not the deep pockets of alcohol companies.' However, World Health Organisation research has shown increasing the price of alcohol can actually benefit a population. The research shows that increasing the price of alcoholic goods leads to a reduced demand for products and less alcohol-related problems in a population. A special meeting organized by Hellertown officials to consider options to keep Lower Saucon Township in a joint-community agreement over the Hellertown Area Library appears to have done just the opposite. At Wednesday nights session, Council President Thomas Rieger said the library board voted 5-1 Tuesday to reject the balance of Lower Saucon Townships $50,000 donation to help fund the borough-based library. Advertisement Rieger proposed the borough and library craft a simple, community agreement, effective Feb. 1, without township support. He also proposed the borough supplement its nearly $60,000 payment for 2022 by $75,000, making it $135,000. He said the money would come from the American Rescue Plan COVID stimulus package passed last year. The library had been scheduled to receive nearly $170,000 this year between the two communities. Advertisement Council unanimously approved Riegers proposal, which he said will lead to negotiations among borough and library officials toward reaching a new library agreement. At no time did we receive issues from Lower Saucon with the current and proposed agreements, he said, shortly after Mayor David J. Heintzelman read a timeline of events from last year over the library. We received the same draft proposal when Lower Saucon did, Rieger said. He said there were minor corrections and changes, but we never had any issues about the library. Rieger also accused Lower Saucon of committing damaging actions. These actions have truly fractured beyond immediate repair the once close relationship we once shared, Rieger said. What Lower Saucons next step would be was unclear. Jennifer Zavacky, councils library liaison, did not respond to a request for comment following the meeting. Council President Jason Banonis declined to comment Thursday and referred questions to township solicitor B. Lincoln Treadwell Jr., who did not respond to a message. [ Is library fracas in Hellertown-Lower Saucon leading to fracturing of community partnership? ] Lower Saucon Council voted 4-1 Jan. 19, with Priscilla deLeon dissenting, to contribute $50,000 to the library, less an installment payment for January, instead of approving a written agreement worth more than $500,000 over five years. Council also approved a motion to consider a possible lawsuit against the library if access is denied to township residents. Advertisement While the library director and board did not comment on the townships actions, the board approved a decision during a separate meeting Tuesday not to accept the $50,000 donation, minus more than $8,000 earmarked through Jan. 31, toward library operations. Last fall, Hellertown Council adopted a five-year agreement with the library, effective Jan. 1. However, Lower Saucon Council took no action on the agreement in December, and rejected the contract Jan. 19 over the protests of more than two dozen township residents who urged council to remain with the library. The meeting drew a packed house inside council chambers. Residents said they value the borough librarys staff, materials and services. But some on council said they want greater accountability of how residents dollars are being spent at the library, and they also said they wanted to give residents an option in library services. During last weeks meeting, Treadwell read a letter from Mark Aurand, an attorney retained by the library, that said the library is opened to continued discussion with the Township regarding a path forward. ... " Aurand, who did not respond to messages, also asked Township Council to fund the library through 2022 to provide library officials with certainty in its overall budget. With Hellertowns action, any further funding appears to have ended. First Call Daily Leading local stories delivered on weekday mornings > During the Jan. 19 meeting, Lower Saucon Council also approved a $50,000 donation to the Southern Lehigh Public Library. Mark Sullivan, a consultant representing the Allentown library district, which encompasses Lehigh and Carbon counties, said Wednesday that Lower Saucon Councils interest in expanding, or possibly designating the Southern Lehigh Public Library, is not like flipping a switch. The state would ultimately have to approve the move, he said, if Lower Saucon changed libraries to Southern Lehigh because it would involve going over a county and library district line. The state Education Departments Office of Commonwealth Libraries has 29 districts, including for Allentown, Bethlehem and and Easton. Advertisement It would be complicated and messy, Sullivan said. Zavacky said to her knowledge what Lower Saucon is considering has not been done previously. Lower Saucon Township was formerly a part of the Bethlehem Area Public Library system, but left it to join the Hellertown library about eight years ago, following debate between residents who wanted the a closer library and those who felt the Bethlehem library system provided better value. Like many community libraries, Hellertown operates as a nonprofit, charitable organization and depends on a combination of municipal, state and private support. The Southern Lehigh library serves Coopersburg and Lower Milford and Upper Saucon townships, according to its website. Morning Call journalist Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com. Australian farms are offering locals lucrative $100,000-a-year sheep shearing jobs as the industry battles to find enough workers due to Covid border closures. The nation's wool industry normally relies on 500 workers from New Zealand to meet a surge in demand for shearers every spring. Those workers have this year chosen not to fly across the Tasman - deterred by the prospect of being left stranded in Australia or having to quarantine on their return. The NSW Farmers Association has called on Australia's high school graduates to fill the labour gap, even if they have no experience. Australian school leavers are being offered lucrative sheep shearing jobs as the industry battles to fill Covid-induced labour shortages (file image) There are only about 3,000 local shearers - compared to the 10,000 who plied their trade in the industry 30 years ago. Shearers with only six months experience can earn as much as $1,500 a week - or $78,000 a year. Seasoned professionals, known as 'gun' workers, generally earn more than $100,000 a year. However wages in other casual-labour fields such as hospitality are also booming due to the long lockout of foreign students and working visa holders, making it all the more difficult for rural industries to lure staff from the cities. The need for workers is particularly urgent in the shearing industry as farmers earn less for their wool if the sheep's coat is left uncut for too long. NSW Farmers Wool Committee Chair Helen Carrigan said there was good money on offer to young Australians who were willing 'to have a go'. 'It can be hard work, but it's rewarding and the pay can set the savvy saver up for a great future,' Mrs Carrigan said. 'We're keen to see school leavers looking for a life in the bush to seriously consider becoming a shearer.' NSW now has a network of shearing trainers who can mentor young workers looking to make a start in the industry. The industry is desperate for shearers as farmers earn less for their wool if the sheep's coat is left on for too long All of the state's residents are eligible to take the Certificate III in Shearing course for free. 'If we can encourage young people to get into the sheds to be trained and mentored we can not only set them up for success but also help solve this worker shortage,' Mrs Carrigan said. The call for workers follows a heavyweight investor calling for refugees and Centrelink recipients to help solve Australia's supply chain crisis. David Williams, a financial powerbroker who helped bring Vegemite back to Australian ownership, says the Australian government should be turning to people on welfare and even asylum seekers to help end labour shortages around the country. Mr Williams said people being held in detention facilities, including those living in the $109-per-night Melbourne hotel where Novak Djokovic was detained, could be 'given a life' by a system that would reignite the market. 'Many farmers are in desperate need of labour to get product off (the farm) and all options need to be urgently considered,' he said. Refugees and Centrelink recipients could be forced to solve Australia's supply chain crisis under a new plan from a heavyweight Australian investor The Independent Food Distributors Association, which represents hundreds of suppliers across Australia, said staff shortages were having a devastating impact on businesses, and rural communities were particularly vulnerable. 'We've got to keep in mind the remote and Indigenous communities are out there and we need to make sure we keep getting the food up to them,' chief executive Richard Forbes said. 'It's the great unknown at the moment... we need to be as prepared as possible.' House prices in one Australian city surged by 37 per cent last year but it wasn't Sydney, Brisbane or Hobart. Canberra had a record increase in 2021 with the median house price climbing to $1.178 million, new data from real estate sales group Domain showed. The landlocked national capital was Australia's strongest performing capital city market, with mid-point house prices rising by 11.3 per cent in the three months to December alone. House prices in one Australian city surged by 37 per cent last year but it wasn't Sydney, Brisbane or Hobart (pictured is Old Parliament House in front of Parliament House before an arson attack) Canberra had a record increase in 2021 with the median house price climbing to $1.178 million, new data from real estate sales group Domain showed. The landlocked national capital was Australia's strongest performing capital city market, with mid-point house prices rising by 11.3 per cent in the three months to December alone (pictured is a home at Curtin) The best performing capital house markets CANBERRA: Up 36.6 per cent to $1,178,364 HOBART: Up 34.6 per cent to $752,110 SYDNEY: Up 33.1 per cent to $1,601,467 DARWIN: Up 30.1 per cent to $645,487 ADELAIDE: Up 27.5 per cent to $731,547 BRISBANE: Up 25.7 per cent to $792,065 MELBOURNE: Up 18.6 per cent to $1,101,612 PERTH: Up 7.5 per cent to $612,348 Source: Domain sales median house price data for December 2021 Advertisement Over the year, prices went up by 36.6 per cent and if that wasn't bad enough for potential buyers, Canberra is also Australia's most expensive capital city rental market. Canberra's population is disproportionately made up of public service workers, who were largely unscathed by the Covid lockdowns that decimated the private sector in other cities. Outside the capital cities, only Byron Bay had stronger house price growth than Canberra, while upmarket pockets of Sydney's Northern Beaches, North Shore and the Central Coast had nation-leading annual increases. In the December quarter, however, Canberra was the only capital city where apartment prices went backwards with values down by 1.6 per cent to $555,644. Over the year, though, apartment values went up by 9.7 per cent. Domain's chief of research Nicola Powell said a 52 per cent increase in Australian capital city house prices since the start of the pandemic would make units a more attractive alternative in 2022. 'The rapid escalation in house prices will be a financial barrier for entry buyers and upgraders against a backdrop of low wages growth,' she said. 'The disparity between property performance and associated affordability constraints is expected to drive demand to units.' One-bedroom and studio apartments have largely missed out on the property market boom. BIGGEST MISTAKE Michael Yardney, the founder and chief executive of buyers' agent Metropole, said properties in less upmarket areas that didn't appeal to owner-occupiers were less likely to get capital growth. 'Buying the wrong property, of course, this is one of the biggest investment blunders of all,' he said. In the December quarter, however, Canberra was the only capital city where apartment prices went backwards with values down by 1.6 per cent to $555,644. Over the year, though, apartment values went up by 9.7 per cent (pictured are apartments at Belconnen in the city's north) The bigger movers BYRON BAY: Up 45.7 per cent to $2.6million PALM BEACH, NSW: Up 45.2 per cent to $5.7million TERRIGAL: Up 45.2 per cent NORTH TURRAMURRA: Up 38.7 per cent to $2.6million KIAMA: Up 35.7 per cent to $1.3million Advertisement 'You'll need to choose the right investment location, one that will outperform the averages because it is going through gentrification, or because it is where affluent owner-occupiers want to buy.' When it came to gentrification, Hobart has benefited from an influx of higher-income residents pricing out locals, with median house values up 34.6 per cent over the year to $752,110. 'With the lowest average wages of all the states we can expect that entry-level buyers who are on a local average wage will find it increasingly difficult to enter the housing market,' Dr Powell said. 'Values have risen sharply across all house price points suggesting a broad spectrum of buyers are active.' BIGGEST INCREASES Gentrified regional areas by the coast had the biggest price increases, with Byron Bay's median house price on the NSW far north coast soaring by 45.7 per cent to $2.3million. Terrigal on the Central Coast north of Sydney saw its house prices rise by 45.2 per cent to $1.350million. Kiama, on the New South Wales South Coast, saw its price rise by 35.7 per cent to $1.3million. Gentrified regional areas by the coast had the biggest price increases, with Byron Bay's median house price soaring by 45.7 per cent to $2.3million Sydney's mid-point house price last year went up by 33.1 per cent to $1.6million. But on the Northern Beaches, Palm Beach prices surged by 45.2 per cent to $5.7million as Manly increased by 45 per cent to $4.4million, ahead of Newport's 42.3 per cent rise to $3million. On the Upper North Shore, North Turramurra house prices soared by 38.7 per cent to $2.6million. THE REST Across Sydney, apartment values rose by 8.3 per cent to $802,255. 'House prices have grown four times faster than units over the past year, a divergence that has created a record price gap with houses now double the price of a unit,' Dr Powell said. Perth was Australia's weakest performing capital city market, which like Darwin peaked in 2014. House prices rose by 7.5 per cent last year to $612,348. Brisbane was Australia's worst market for units, with prices rising by just 3.5 per cent to $146,033, as house values climbed by 25.7 per cent to $792,065. Melbourne was near the bottom of the league table for both houses and units. Brisbane was Australia's worst market for units, with prices rising by just 3.5 per cent to $146,033, as house values climbed by 25.7 per cent to $792,065 (pictured is Bowen Hills near the city) Most expensive cities for renting a house CANBERRA: $714 a week, up 8.5 per cent SYDNEY: $672 a week, up 10.2 per cent DARWIN: $623 a week, up 15 per cent BRISBANE: $542 a week, up 11.8 per cent HOBART: $538 a week, up 12.9 per cent PERTH: $493 a week, up 10.4 per cent MELBOURNE: $491 a week, up 4.8 per cent ADELAIDE: $467 a week, up 9 per cent Source: CoreLogic data for December 2021 Advertisement In the Victorian capital last year, mid-point house prices increased by 18.6 per cent to $1,101,612 as apartments edged up by 6 per cent to $593,387. Residents have continued to move out of Melbourne, the world's most locked down city. 'Although Melbourne's severe and extended lockdowns came to an end, we have seen many businesses close and residents move away from the city,' Dr Powell said. RENTERS Melbourne tenants also had the smallest rent increases last year, with house rents in the Victorian capital increasing by 4.8 per cent compared with Darwin's 15 per cent, Hobart's 12.9 per cent, Brisbane's 11.8 per cent, Adelaide's 9 per cent and Canberra's 8.5 per cent. CoreLogic said Melbourne's more affordable rent was attracting tenants back to Australia's most Covid-affected city. Canberra is Australia's most expensive capital city market for tenants with a median weekly house rents of $714, making it dearer than Sydney ($672), Darwin ($623), Brisbane ($542), Hobart ($538), Perth ($493), Melbourne ($491) and Adelaide ($467), new CoreLogic data for December showed. While Canberra is Australia's most expensive city overall to rent in, Sydney postcodes near the harbour had by far the priciest leases. Vaucluse in the eastern suburbs typically costs $2,308 a week in an area where $8.3million is the median house price. The top 30 suburbs for rent prices were all in Sydney with the Northern Beaches and Lower North Shore also dominating the list, with nothing in upmarket areas of Melbourne or Canberra coming close. Queensland has seen new cases of Covid-19 dip slightly to 11,600 new infections but there were 15 deaths. Health Minister Yvette D'Ath announced the new figures on Thursday, saying the people who had passed were aged between 60s and 90s. The figures contrast with 13,511 cases and nine deaths announced yesterday. There are currently 829 people in Queensland public hospitals and 48 patients in ICU, compared with 889 and 47 yesterday. Ms D'Ath said the hospitalisation rate on the Gold Coast continues to fall on consecutive days, suggesting the Omicron wave had peaked in the city. Two people who died were in their 60s, nine in their 80s and four in their 90s, Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said. 'Four people were unvaccinated, four had received one dose, five had receive two doses and two had received a booster,' he said. Of Queensland's 15 Covid-related deaths on Thursday, two people were in their 60s, nine in their 80s and four in their 90s, Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard (pictured) said. Ms D'Ath said she felt optimistic 'for the first time in few weeks now' about the current numbers. She said there was a stabilisation in the number of people in Brisbane hospitals and that furloughed workers in health care were beginning to return to work. Dr Gerrard said 'widespread vaccination' was the reason the numbers of people hospitalised due to the virus had not so far met expectations in Queensland. 'But it's not over yet,' he warned. 'There's likely to be a tail and it's not clear whether there will be further waves, particularly going into winter,' he said. 'Brisbane still hasn't peaked, it has reached it's peak, and Cairns has seen significant cases in recent days. 'I have a feeling that this tale will go on for sometime. I dont think it will be as simple as the flu. 'A lot of the severe cases we're seeing are the unvaccinated.' Covid-19 treatment tents are seen at The Gold Coast University hospital. Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the current Omicron wave appeared to have passed as hospitalisations due to Covid continue to fall on consecutive days Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said on Australia Day that the number of hospitalisations on the Gold Coast suggested the city Omicron peak had been reached. Up to nine wards out of 25 at Gold Coast University Hospital had been devoted to Covid patients in the past week. 'We expect the peak in other regions of Queensland, most notably in the rest of south-east Queensland, to be sometime in the next seven days,' Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said yesterday. People seen out in Brisbane - Queensland's Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard said the current Omicron wave of the virus should peak in south-east Queensland 'sometime in the next seven days' Ms Palaszczuk warned that elderly people made up the majority of Queensland's Covid fatalities. 'If seniors dont need to go out in next few weeks, then dont ... It is the elderly people who are losing their lives,' Ms Palaszczuk said. Nearly 30 per cent of five to 11-year-old children were now vaccinated ahead of Queensland schools resuming on February 7. The state continues to struggle to reach 90 per cent of its eligible population with two doses of a vaccine, reaching 89.3 per cent on Thursday, with 91.19 per cent having received a first dose Movie star Russell Crowe has revealed that as a child he was embarrassed watching white men playing for the New Zealand All Blacks doing the traditional Maori Haka before matches. Crowe made the comment in a documentary, Araatika! Rise Up, which follows former NRL star Dean Widders in his quest to initiate a traditional dance to be performed before international rugby league matches in the same way the All Blacks perform the Haka in rugby union. 'I certainly remember as a child watching the very uncomfortable white blokes doing the Haka, and like most other New Zealanders we just knew that really wasn't how to do it,' Crowe told the doco, screened on NITV on Australia Day. His remarks were played over footage of the All Blacks performing an awkward-looking Haka at Cardiff Arms Park, Wales, in 1973 before a match against the Barbarians. Russell Crowe's comment about 'uncomfortable white blokes' doing the Haka was played over footage of the All Blacks doing it at Cardiff Arms Park, Wales, in 1973 before a match against the Barbarians The team at the time was mostly composed of players of Anglo-Celtic background, unlike today's All Blacks team mostly featuring players of Maori and Pacific Island background. 'Incredibly as the culture has grown, Maori got back involved with [the Haka] and actually sort of said, 'well, if you're going to do it, do it properly',' Crowe said. The Haka is now a fearsome beginning to any international rugby match featuring the All Blacks. Crowe is famously a rugby league tragic who owns the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL. The star of Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind was born in New Zealand before his family moved to Australia when he was four years old. He returned there for a number of years as a teenager before permanently settling in Australia. 'As the culture has grown, Maori got back involved with [the Haka] and actually sort of said, 'well, if you're going to do it, do it properly',' Crowe said in the Araatika! Rise Up documentary In the documentary, Widders, the NRL's Indigenous Pathways Manager, says that white Australia shamed Aboriginal people out of dance, culture and language for many years. 'That's why I feel that if the [national rugby league team] Kangaroos do it, our kids get rid of that shame straight away,' he said. 'In New Zealand, right, they don't hesitate to do the Haka or Maori culture because it's embraced by the rest of the country.' Rabbitohs star Latrell Mitchell (pictured, left) leads the Unity Dance before the NRL Indigenous All Stars vs Maori All Stars match on the Gold Coast in 2020 A pre-game dance celebration known as the Unity Dance has been performed by the Indigenous rugby league team before the pre-season NRL All Stars game since 2015, first led by former star player Greg Inglis and more recently by Rabbitohs' star Latrell Mitchell. Widders was the first to conceive of the dance, drawing on the advice and guidance of Bangarra Dance Theatre artistic director Stephen Page to create the performance. This year's Indigenous All Stars v Maori All Stars will be played at February 12 at CommBank Stadium in Sydney. He wore a designer tracksuit top, zipped to his throat, and a wary expression. This was 'Witness A', whose identity as an alleged victim is protected by the Sexual Offences Act. To breach his anonymity is to invite prosecution and potential imprisonment. You might come to think that is what he deserves himself. For in the course of a two-hour conversation with the Mail, Witness A made a series of disturbing and sometimes sensational allegations. They concerned the senior public figures he claimed to have met and had sex with while working as a teenage prostitute in the 1970s and 1980s. As he talked, his gaze often slid away from scrutiny. He is a liar by habit. But at least one of his statements had the ring of authenticity and it goes to the heart of a scandal that raises profound questions about the leadership and priorities of the Metropolitan Police. For in the course of a two-hour conversation with the Mail, Witness A made a series of disturbing and sometimes sensational allegations 'The police wanted me to join up the dots in the Harvey Proctor case,' said Witness A, who has never spoken publicly before. 'They realised their investigation [into him] wasn't going anywhere. 'So . . .they wanted me to say Harvey Proctor did this and that, and that I saw him [do it]. They wanted me to implicate him.' And implicate Proctor and others Witness A obligingly did, in interviews with detectives from Operation Midland, the disastrous Metropolitan Police investigation into an alleged VIP paedophile ring. The extraordinary story of Witness A and another fraudster known as Witness B, which we can tell today, suggests they are somehow above the law, despite a former High Court judge demanding they face prosecution. For although both witnesses told a tissue of lies that could have led to innocent men being jailed for life, neither of them has been held to account. Unlike the fantasist Carl Beech, whose sex abuse lies lay at the heart of Operation Midland, neither has been charged with perverting the course of justice. A decision not to launch a criminal investigation into their testimonies was made behind closed doors by the Met the same force that entertained them as witnesses. But it has never publicly explained why. Could it be that the Metropolitan Police, ashamed of its own mistakes, has been operating a two-tier justice system? As the Met begins to investigate alleged breaches of Covid regulations at No 10, fresh question marks have emerged over the judgment of the Commissioner who launched the controversial probe. THE CHARGE SHEET OF COMMISSIONER CALAMITY Only four months have passed since Dame Cressida Dick was granted a two-year extension to her contract. Her determination to carry on had received strong backing from London's Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan and Lord (Ian) Blair, the former Commissioner and serial bungler who resigned from his post after disagreements with then London Mayor Boris Johnson in 2008. But many people questioned the extension because of the number of blunders and scandals that have increasingly marked Dick's career at the top. There were calls for her head in 2005, when she was 'Gold Commander' in charge of the disastrous Met operation in which innocent electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead on a Tube train after he was mistaken for a terrorist. Only four months have passed since Dame Cressida Dick was granted a two-year extension to her contract More recently, as Commissioner, she has been caught up in a string of controversies including her force's woeful security operation at the Euro 2020 final, and allegations of a 'cover-up culture' at Scotland Yard. Last June, an official report branded her force 'institutionally corrupt' and accused her of trying to thwart an inquiry into the murder of private eye Daniel Morgan. She has rejected the key findings. Last October, she faced a clamour to resign after she admitted that Sarah Everard's murder had corroded trust in the police and brought 'shame' on her force. And in what was described as Scotland Yard's 'darkest day', a string of MPs, including the chair of the women and equalities select committee, said she should go. They said it was clear she could not restore faith in Britain's biggest police force after one of her officers, Wayne Couzens, was sentenced to a whole-life term for Miss Everard's murder. But perhaps the most egregious blunder on her charge sheet is Operation Midland, which she launched in 2014. DAMNING DOCUMENT AND AITKEN LINK The astonishing stories of Witness A and Witness B's dealings with the Met are set out in a confidential police report Document 1794 that has been leaked to the Mail. It was written at the conclusion of Operation Midland in 2016 by then Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Rodhouse, the officer in overall charge and a key ally of Dame Cressida. His report sets out how Witness A and Witness B mimicked allegations already made by Carl Beech, aka 'Nick'. Beech had claimed to have been the child sex victim of several Establishment figures including the late Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath, former Tory Home Secretary Lord (Leon) Brittan, former Chief of the Defence Staff Field Marshal Lord Bramall and former Tory MP Harvey Proctor. They also molested and murdered three other boys, he claimed. In 2019, Beech was jailed for 18 years for perverting the course of justice and paedophile offences A senior Midland officer went so far as to declare Beech's testimony 'credible and true'. In fact, it was total fantasy. In 2019, Beech was jailed for 18 years for perverting the course of justice and paedophile offences. What, then, of Witness A and Witness B, who made detailed abuse and murder claims against the same group of VIPs? In Saturday's Mail, we told how Witness A also made unfounded sexual allegations against former Tory Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken, who had previously not been linked to Midland. Witness A said his claims were 'supported' by his possession of a number of items stolen from Aitken's house during an underage gay sex assignation. In fact, they are believed to have been taken during a burglary at Aitken's then constituency home. Thanks to Document 1794 and related inquiries, the Mail now knows the true identities and backgrounds of Witness A and Witness B. Witness A was and is a persistent sex offender he has been convicted of a sex crime as recently as 2017 and his record includes offences against children. Document 1794 also reveals that he was given a caution by a provincial police force in November 2015, for having made a false claim of a death threat against him. This was only days before he began actively assisting Operation Midland. Witness B has serious mental health issues. Yet the part they were allowed to play in Midland arguably prolonged that inquiry for several months after it should have been ended. COPYCAT CLAIMS AND A HISTORY OF LIES Witness A came forward in September 2015. His testimony would support, even replicate, Beech's claims, which by then were on many internet sites for all to see or crib from. Witness A was interviewed twice in January 2016 by Midland detectives. He made serious allegations against Proctor, Brittan and Heath, among others. Like Beech, Witness A claimed he attended depraved parties at Dolphin Square, near the Houses of Parliament. Like Carl Beech, he said he had witnessed the abuse and possible murder scene of a boy named Martin Allen, who had indeed mysteriously disappeared without trace in London, aged 15, in November 1979. Rodhouse states that in an earlier interview with the provincial force, Witness A had said that in 1980 'Harvey Proctor took him out to a meal to Claridge's (the five-star Mayfair hotel) and during the evening, Proctor broke down in tears and described how he had strangled 'this kid' believed referring to Martin Allen'. Witness A made further allegations of rape and murder against Leon Brittan and said that when he was 13 he was abused by Edward Heath at Dolphin Square and on the former PM's boat. But there were 'a number of concerns about the reliability of Witness A's allegations' that Rodhouse sets out in the document. No kidding. Operation Midland officers had or should have had immediate access to a number of sources that rang alarm bells about Witness A's character. Multiple warnings had been made by sex offender clinicians and therapists about his 'false' claims of sex abuse. Rodhouse tells how, in 1998, the manager of a facility for treating sex offenders 'wrote to the Probation Service and stated that Witness A had spent a long period of time giving misinformation'. A therapist at a clinic for paedophile offenders told police that, in 1999, Witness A had 'admitted giving false information in the past about being systematically sexually abused over a substantial period of time by a paedophile ring'. Midland detectives had also raised 'concerns' that Witness A 'may have conducted significant levels of internet research . . . he had spoken 'about how he had been trawling the internet to 'find out everything that I could about Harvey Proctor, where he lived and what he was doing now and so on, and still with that mentality that I'm going to f*** them all up'.' The Mail made our own inquiries and spoke to Witness A's closest family member, a sister. She said: 'It's hard to tell when he is telling the truth. [Eventually] I didn't believe anything he said.' When the Mail met him in person, Witness A said he had worked as a 'rent boy' in the late 1970s and 1980s and had been jailed in 1997 for paedophile offences. He said that when he spoke to Operation Midland detectives, it was they not him who first brought up the names of Proctor and Brittan. They had also offered him 75,000 in victim compensation. 'I am very sorry for Harvey Proctor,' he said. 'The police wanted me to join up the dots in the Proctor case. They realised their investigation [into him] wasn't going anywhere. So . . . they wanted me to say Harvey Proctor did this and that, and that I saw him [do it]. They wanted me to implicate him.' Witness A told the Mail that he had met Proctor three times and never had dinner with him. 'I was a rent boy and knew what I was doing,' he said. 'I had sex with police officers and judges. I had sex with Edward Heath. [But] I never had sex with Harvey Proctor or Leon Brittan.' ENTER WITNESS B WITH MORE CLAIMS According to the same document, Witness B's allegations against VIPs were first made known to Midland by a social worker in a mental health team. He 'told police that his patient had made disclosures about sexual abuse'. Rodhouse states in his report that Witness B 'has a range of convictions from 1981 to 1986 for offences including theft, fraud and violence.' Witness B's family provide their own view of his credibility, as Rodhouse relates in his report. 'Officers have spoken with one of his brothers, a vicar, who has disclosed that Witness B is known within his family as being a prolific liar.' Two liars, then, and two potential cases of perverting the course of justice. So why weren't they investigated by the Met, unlike Carl Beech? 'I COULD F*** THE POLICE' In his 2020 memoir, retired High Court Judge Sir Richard Henriques, who delivered a devastating official report on the conduct of Midland, asked this very question. 'They [Witness A and B] were apparently attempting to do exactly what 'Nick' had done. The sentence of 18 years imposed on Carl Beech underlines the gravity of this form of conduct. If there exists a sound basis for taking no action against A and B, I have yet to hear it.' Witness A offered the Mail his own view on why no judicial action has or he boasted will ever be taken against him. 'The police know that if they came after me I have a whole load in my back pocket about what they have done,' he said. 'If they want to f*** me then I can really f*** them back.' The Met has repeatedly refused to say why it has not acted against him or Witness B. A two-tier system, indeed and one that does not inspire confidence in the Met and Cressida Dick's judgment as the 'Partygate' probe gets under way. Special reporting: Stephanie Condron and Simon Trump Darpa, the US army's scientific wing, recently announced successful tests of what it called a HAWC missile (Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept) AMERICA The US military has a number of hypersonic weapons programs across the Navy, Army and Air Force but most are still in development phase and highly top secret. However the known programs are all more conventional hypersonic weapons that strike from high altitude, rather than orbital bombardment systems that strike from space which the Chinese were revealed to have developed tis week. The only US hypersonic weapon know to have been successfully tested is the Air Force's GM-183 ARRW which is designed to be launched from a large bomber aircraft. It then accelerates to hypersonic speeds using of up to 15,345mph using a supersonic combustion ramjet to strike targets within 1,000 miles. Donald Trump refered to a 'super duper missile' while in office and this is believed to be the AGM-183 ARRW. The Navy's submarine launched Long Range Hypersonic Weapon is expected to be operational by 2023 and will have a range of 1,725 miles. Darpa, the US army's scientific wing, recently announced successful tests of what it called a HAWC missile (Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept) but kept details such as range, speed and payload secret. The missile uses oxygen in the atmosphere as part of its fuel - marking the first successful test of that class of weapon since 2013. The missile, which is built by Raytheon, was released from an aircraft just 'seconds' before the scramjet engine from Northrop Grumman kicked on, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said. The engine works by compressing incoming air with hydrocarbon fuel to create a fast airflow mixture, one capable of reaching over 1,700 meters per second, or five times the speed of sound. Earlier this year, a test of a hypersonic missile from the U.S. Air Force was abandoned after it was unable to complete its launch sequence. On March 19 last year, the Pentagon flight-tested a hypersonic glide vehicle at its Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii. It deemed the test a success and 'a major milestone towards the department's goal of fielding hypersonic warfighting capabilities in the early- to mid-2020s.' Unlike Russia, the United States says it is not developing hypersonic weapons for use with a nuclear warhead. As a result, a U.S. hypersonic weapon will need to be more accurate, posing additional technical challenges. In 2004, NASA's experimental unmanned hypersonic aircraft X-43 reached 7,366mph (Mach 9.6) using a scramjet engine, setting the current record. In 2019, DailyMail.com reported that the Raytheon and Northrop Grumman-developed missile would use an engine made by a 3D printer. Last year, DARPA said it was working with Aerojet Rocketdyne on a nearly $20 million project to develop a hypersonic rocket that could intercept enemy missiles mid-air. Russia recently launched a hypersonic missile, the Zircon, from a submarine and has the hypersonic nuclear-capable Avangard missiles RUSSIA Russia recently launched a hypersonic missile, the Zircon, from a submarine, and since late 2019 has had the hypersonic nuclear-capable Avangard missiles in service. The Avangard can travel at up to Mach 27, changing course and altitude. The range of Russia's hypersonic missile, the Zircon, is 621 miles with a speed of 9,800mph. But the missile flies below the atmosphere and uses fuel to power itself to hypersonic speeds rather than the Earth's orbit. Earlier this month, Russia announced it has successfully test-fired the Zircon from a nuclear submarine for the first time. The 6,670mph weapon hit a target in the Barents Sea according to the Moscow defence ministry, who claims the missile is capable of Mach-9 speeds and able to evade all Western defences. Russia said it had completed flight tests of the new-age missile from a frigate - the Admiral Gorshkov - and a coastal mount, but it had not previously been launched from a submarine. The Zircon has been identified by Moscow's state-controlled TV as Vladimir Putin's weapon of choice to wipe out coastal American cities in the event of an atomic conflict. He has declared the missile as 'truly unparalleled anywhere in the world', and the Russians have boasted it is 'unstoppable' by Western defences. Putin first announced the development of an array of new hypersonic weapons in 2018, insisting that they would be able to hit almost any point in the world and evade a US-built missile shield. The Zircon is due to go into service next year, and will first be deployed via the Admiral Golovko frigate which carries significant stealth-technology. A key use of the missile is taking out enemy ships and reports suggested its maximum range is between 188 and 620 miles. But there have been unconfirmed reports its true range is some 1,200 miles. The missile system's design and development have been conducted in deep secrecy, and Putin has warned that foreign spies have tried to steal its secrets. It is one of a number of hypersonic missiles Russia is deploying including the 188-tonne Sarmat - known in the West as Satan-2 - which will be the biggest beast in Russia's nuclear arsenal, due for tests in the autumn with deployment slated for next year. In May, Russia said it tested three 'invincible' hypersonic 'Satan 2' missiles that some have said could wipe out areas the size of England and Wales. China launched the dummy weapon into space on board a Long March 2C rocket (pictured) during a test in mid-August which it did not disclose at the time and was only revealed at the weekend by security analysts assigned to work out its purpose CHINA The hypersonic orbital bombardment system that China tested in August reportedly reaches a top speed of 21,000 mph and strikes from space. The core concept of China's 'new' weapon - deliver a warhead into orbit and have it circle the globe before hitting a target - was first developed by the Soviets in the 1960s. Called a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System, or FOBS, it was developed to evade powerful US radar arrays and missile defence systems. Those systems work by detecting launches of ICBMs - very long-range missiles that can be tipped with nukes - and tracking them into space, then firing at the warheads as they come down in the hope of blowing them up before they hit their targets. This is possible because ICBMs and their warheads follow a predictable trajectory that rises high into space - making them relatively easy to spot and allowing defence crews to calculate where they are aimed so they can be shot out of the sky. FOBS aim to negate these defences by firing their warheads along a much-flatter trajectory - assisted by Earth's gravity. This means they pass under the scope of many radar detection arrays and are harder to track. It also makes the warheads much harder to shoot down because their trajectory is harder to calculate. The use of orbit makes a warhead's range potentially unlimited, meaning it can be fired at its target from any direction. This helps to avoid radar systems which generally point at a fixed spot in the sky - in America's case, over the North Pole. Meanwhile, China has also unveiled a hypersonic medium-range missile, the DF-17, in 2019, which can travel around 2,000 kilometres and can carry nuclear warheads. In October, China deployed the DF 17 missile to coastal areas in preparation for a possible invasion of Taiwan. The weapon has a maximum range of 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles) and is capable of achieving speeds of up to 7,680 miles per hour (12,360 kph) - or 10 times the speed of sound - while carrying a nuclear warhead, according to previous reports. It has been billed as 'a death sentence' to aircraft carriers within its range. Hypersonic missiles travel at more than five times the speed of sound in the upper atmosphere - or about 6,200 km per hour (3,850 mph). This is slower than an intercontinental ballistic missile, but the shape of a hypersonic glide vehicle allows it to manoeuvre toward a target or away from defences. Combining a glide vehicle with a missile that can launch it partially into orbit - a so-called fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS) - could strip adversaries of reaction time and traditional defences mechanisms. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), by contrast, carry nuclear warheads on ballistic trajectories that travel into space but never reach orbit. China on Monday insisted that the test in August was a routine one for a spacecraft rather than a missile. Compulsory QR codes have been slammed as a 'waste of time' by radio host Ben Fordham because NSW Health is no longer tracing close contacts. His comments come after the NSW Premier announced mandatory QR codes would remain until at least the end of February. The measure was one of a series of restrictions to be extended in the state, including capacity limits, mask-wearing and a ban on singing and dancing despite a marked fall in case numbers over the past two weeks. The 2GB host slammed the decision to make it mandatory for NSW residents to sign in to hospitality venues, large events and retail stores as 'pointless'. 'This makes absolutely no sense. QR codes are here to stay. We're not tracking and tracing anymore, so what's the point?' a clearly frustrated Fordham said. Compulsory QR codes have come under fire for being 'a waste of time' by Ben Fordham who revealed a little-known secret about the controversial measure (pictured, a Sydney shopper scans a QR code) The radio host (pictured) had a few choice words for the NSW Premier after he announced mandatory QR codes would remain until at least the end of February Fordham then revealed the health department was not notifying close contacts anymore. 'We're not tracking or tracing so why are we still signing in with QR codes and why are we pushing ahead with useless QR codes?' The host said that if health officials were still tracing the movements of Covid cases, it would be a 'different story' and there would be an obvious purpose to retaining them. Premier Dominic Perrottet has defended his decision to keep the Covid measure, saying keeping the codes was mainly for psychological reassurance. 'People feel confident checking in, and our job as government is to instil confidence in our people, in the circumstances where we have a highly vaccinated population, to go out to enjoy the best that NSW has to offer in a way where you keep yourself, your friends and your family safe,' the state leader said. Fordham said: 'How does that make anyone feel confident? It's like saying we've got a lifejacket for you but it doesn't work.' The 2GB host slammed the decision to make NSW residents sign in to hospitality venues, large events and retail stores retail as 'pointless' (pictured, a Sydney shopper) Premier Dominic Perrottet (pictured) has defended his decision to keep the Covid measure, stating residents felt more 'confident' when they have to check in His comments come as one of Australia's top epidemiologists also cast doubt on the usefulness of the Covid measure. Professor Catherine Bennett from Deakin University said unlike other restrictions that had been extended, QR codes did nothing to reduce transmission. 'If it's a memory prompt for where you have been or something that will make you more alert to symptoms, that's a good thing, but the virus is moving so quickly that by the time you get the "ping" you've passed it on,' she told the Herald. Professor Bennett advised the alerts should only be mandated in high-risk sites where people were more likely to catch Covid like hairdressers and nightclubs. Earlier this week, the premier announced a suite of restrictions due to ease on Thursday would be extended until at least February 28. The measures included a one-person per two-square-metre capacity limit in cafes, bars and restaurants, mask-wearing in indoor spaces and a ban on singing and dancing with exemptions for schools, weddings and performers. Earlier this week, the premier announced a suite of restrictions would be extended until at least February 28 (pictured, a church-goer uses a QR code in Sydney) 2GB radio's Ben Fordham revealed health officials were no longer notifying residents they had come into contact with a confirmed Covid case (pictured, a shopper in Sydney) 'We want to maintain that cautious approach as we continue to get our booster program moving,' Mr Perrottet said of the extension. The state leader said he hoped the move would result in some peace of mind for parents sending children back to school at the end of January. NSW reported 17,316 new Covid cases and 29 deaths on Thursday while Victoria has seen another 13,755 cases and 15 deaths. The number brings the active cases in NSW to 181,527 which is the lowest in the state since January 4 and almost 50 per cent below the peak of 342,838 active cases on January 16. A national cabinet meeting will be held with the nation's state and territory leaders on Thursday to discuss health system capacities, supply chain issues and vaccines. Nuclear-armed North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday making it the sixth round of tests. The series of tests is among the most missiles ever launched by North Korea in a month as it begins 2022 with a display of new and operational weapons, according to analysts. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected the launch of what it presumed were two ballistic missiles at about 8 am near Hamhung, situated on the east coast of North Korea. They travelled for about 120mph to an altitude of 12mph. North Korea said this month it would bolster its defenses against the United States and consider resuming 'all temporally-suspended activities', an apparent reference to a self-imposed moratorium on tests of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. The launch came after North Korea fired two cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday adding to the tension over its tests. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday morning making it the sixth round of tests The test took place at around 8am near Hamhung which is situated on the east coast of the country and traveled for about 120mph to an altitude of 20mph Earlier in the month, North Korea tested tactical guided missiles, two 'hypersonic missiles' capable of high speed and maneuvering after lift-off, and a railway-borne missile system. 'The (Kim Jong Un) regime is developing an impressive diversity of offensive weapons despite limited resources and serious economic challenges,' said Leif-Eric Easley, an international affairs professor at Ewha University in Seoul. Certain tests aim to develop new capabilities, especially for evading missile defenses while other launches are intended to demonstrate the readiness and versatility of missile forces that North Korea has already deployed, he said. 'Some observers have suggested that the Kim regimes frequent launches are a cry for attention but Pyongyang is running hard in what it perceives as an arms race with Seoul,' Easley said. This missile test is among a series that has been considered to be the most ever launched by the company In a speech to the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Han Tae Song, accused the United States of staging hundreds of 'joint war drills' while shipping high-tech offensive military equipment into South Korea and nuclear strategic weapons into the region. '(This) is seriously threatening the security of our state,' Han said. A U.S. State Department spokesperson condemned the launches as a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and a threat to North Korea's neighbors and the international community. The United States remains committed to a diplomatic approach and calls on North Korea to engage in dialogue, the spokesperson said. As with other recent tests, the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command said that the launch was destabilizing but did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. territory or personnel, or to its allies. The country's leader Kim Jong Un has continued to strengthen the country's military despite a limited number of resources and economic advantage North Korea's recent 'remarkable development' in nuclear and missile technology could not be overlooked, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a briefing. South Korea's National Security Council convened an emergency meeting, at which it said the launches were 'very regrettable' and went against calls for peace and stability in the region, the presidential Blue House said in a statement. U.S. President Joe Biden's administration sanctioned several North Korean and Russian individuals and entities this month on accusations they were helping North Korea's weapons programs but China and Russia delayed a U.S. bid to impose U.N. sanctions on five North Koreans. On Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan and Korea Mark Lambert said that Washington had 'no reservations' about talking with North Korea and was willing to meet anywhere and talk about anything. 'We have to have a serious discussion about the denuclearization of North Korea, and if North Korea is willing to do that, all sorts of promising things can happen,' he said during an online seminar hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Biden administration had sanctioned over North Korea's weapons programs this month in response to their missile launches North Korea has defended its missile tests as a sovereign right of self-defense and said U.S. sanctions proved that even as the United States proposes talks, it maintained a 'hostile' policy. 'The recent test-firing of new types of weapons was part of activities for carrying out a medium- and long-term plan for development of national science,' the North Korean UN envoy Han said in a speech on Tuesday. 'It does not pose any threat or damage to the security of neighboring countries and the region.' North Korea has not launched long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or tested nuclear weapons since 2017 but began testing a slew of shorter-range missiles after denuclearization talks stalled following a failed summit with the United States in 2019. The heart of government was last night said to be 'paralysed' as the wait for the report into the Partygate storm dragged on for another day. Ministers complained it was growing increasingly difficult to get decisions from No 10 as Boris Johnson and senior officials awaited the outcome of the inquiry by Whitehall ethics chief Sue Gray. The report, which had been expected yesterday, could still be published today. But last night there were fears it may be delayed until next week. Its findings were passed on to the Metropolitan Police at the weekend, prompting Dame Cressida Dick to launch a formal investigation into claims that lockdown laws were broken. But last night, the report had still not been submitted to Downing Street, leaving the Prime Minister in limbo and a string of senior officials waiting to learn their fates. Ministers complained it was growing difficult to get decisions from No 10 as Boris Johnson (pictured) and officials awaited the outcome of the inquiry by Whitehall ethics chief Sue Gray Downing Street denied that the crisis had led to a go-slow at the heart of government. Mr Johnson yesterday insisted he was 'getting on with the job', pointing to the efforts on Ukraine and the lifting of Covid regulations today. But one Whitehall source said it was proving impossible to get decisions out of No 10 or even arrange meetings with the PM to discuss vital issues. 'No 10 is completely paralysed,' the source said. 'There are important meetings that are not happening because the PM is too busy seeing MPs to try and shore up support. 'Decisions are not being taken because everyone is waiting to learn about their own futures. If it drags on it will be unsustainable.' Sources said government lawyers were having to go through the report with a fine-tooth comb to ensure it did not prejudice the police inquiry. The report's findings were given to the Met Police at the weekend, prompting Dame Cressida Dick (pictured) to launch an investigation into claims that lockdown laws were broken One source blamed Dame Cressida for the delay and criticised her decision to drop the Met's previous approach of waiting for Miss Gray's report to be published before deciding on whether to take action. Meanwhile, another source suggested the report would have to be 'significantly toned down' now that the police probe has been launched, adding: 'It is very difficult to see how you can publish direct evidence against named people who might be the subject of a police inquiry.' Downing Street has committed to publishing the report in full within hours of receiving it, with Mr Johnson expected to make an immediate statement. The PM yesterday confirmed that he might have to resign if the report finds he knowingly misled Parliament over parties in No 10. He said he was covered by the ministerial code, which makes misleading parliament a resignation issue. But allies of the PM are confident that although he previously told MPs that 'rules were followed at all times', he is not guilty of knowingly misleading the House as that is what he believed to be true at the time. The steady stream of allegations over alleged breaches of the rules have undermined the Prime Minister and many of his critics are waiting for Miss Gray's report before deciding whether or not to submit formal letters saying that they have no confidence in his leadership. Ex-Channel Seven host Andrew O'Keefe has been arrested over allegations he choked, punched and kicked a potential business partner Ex-Channel Seven game show host Andrew O'Keefe has been arrested over allegations he choked, punched and kicked a woman at his city bachelor pad. NSW Police allege that former Deal or No Deal host O'Keefe, 50, assaulted the 38-year-old woman after meeting her to discuss starting a business together at his unit on Kent Street in the Sydney CBD on Tuesday. 'A verbal argument ensued between the pair, before the man allegedly assaulted the woman grabbing her by the throat, pushing her to the ground and punching her,' a police spokesman said. O'Keefe then allegedly assaulted the woman a second time by punching and kicking her. The woman then left the unit and reported the alleged assault on Wednesday, police said. O'Keefe - a former White Ribbon ambassador - was arrested at his unit about 4.30am on Thursday. He is being held at Day Street police station in the CBD and is expected to be charged and face court later on Thursday. Scroll down for video O'Keefe is pictured in June 2021. He is expected to be charged and face court on Thursday Pictured: Day Street police station in the Sydney CBD, where O'Keefe is being held after his early-morning arrest O'Keefe was arrested by police at 4.30am on Thursday morning and taken to Day Street police station. He is expected to be charged and face court later on Thursday Andrew O'Keefe is pictured outside his unit in Paddington in Sydney's inner-city in February 2021 Over a 17-year career with Seven, O'Keefe hosted Weekend Sunrise and game shows The Chase and Deal or No Deal - but was axed by the network last January. When Daily Mail Australia approached O'Keefe last year and asked if his television career was over, he said: 'I'm not sure if I'm over, or if TV's over'. The widely-recognised media personality and father-of-three was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to television in 2017. His uncle was the legendary rock star Johnny O'Keefe, while the 50-year-old's father Barry was a NSW Supreme Court justice. In May of last year, the TV star auctioned off his Paddington apartment - which was listed on the market with an approximate value of $1.4 million. The property ended up selling at auction for $731,000 on May 15, 2021, according to its Domain listing. The Art Deco flat boasted two bedrooms, and a recently renovated bathroom. O'Keefe and his wife Eleanor divorced in 2019. He made headlines that year for swatting a photographer away with a folder. O'Keefe pictured in June 2021. He hosted Weekend Sunrise and The Chase during his 17-year career as a TV host with Channel Seven O'Keefe divorced his wife Eleanor in 2019. Above, at a red carpet event together several years ago In December 2017 - the year he separated from his wife - O'Keefe announced he had quit Weekend Sunrise to focus on his family. He said in an official Seven statement 'it was time to give the weekends back' to Eleanor and their three children. A former intellectual property lawyer, he was famously pictured kissing a mystery brunette during a night out in Hobart, Tasmania in 2018. Video of the newly-separated TV personality kissing the unknown woman was published in September of that year by Woman's Day. Andrew O'Keefe's uncle was the legendary rock star Johnny O'Keefe (pictured above) O'Keefe was famously filmed kissing a mystery brunette woman during a night out in Hobart, Tasmania in 2018. A friend captioned thee image as 'deal or no deal' The 50-year-old is a former intellectual property lawyer. He appeared to swat a photographer with a folder shortly after this picture was taken in March 2019 The magazine reported the footage was filmed while O'Keefe was 'partying for 48 hours'. An unnamed 21-year-old university student, who was alleged to be the woman in the video, was also quoted in the publication. Describing what happened before the kiss, she said: 'I went over to say "hi" to some friends [O'Keefe] was sitting with, and I put my arm around him for a photo.' The video's caption read, 'Deal or no deal?', a reference to the game show Andrew hosted between 2003 and 2013 on Seven. China's new ambassador to Australia looks to bolster bilateral relations Xinhua) 10:51, January 27, 2022 CANBERRA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's new ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said he looks forward to working with the Australian government and others to jointly "push the China-Australia relations back to the right track." "The Chinese side always believes that a sound and steady China-Australia relationship serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and their people, and contributes to the prosperity and stability of the Asia-Pacific region," said Xiao in his remarks upon arrival in Australia on Wednesday. Noting that the year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Australia diplomatic relations, Xiao said the friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Australia has enhanced the well-being of the two nations since the door of communication was opened. Xiao stressed that while the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, the development of China-Australia relations remains at a critical juncture filled with difficulties and challenges as well as enormous opportunities and potential. "As long as both sides adhere to the principles of mutual respect, equality, inclusiveness and mutual learning and firmly grasp the right direction of the development, the China-Australia relations will keep moving forward and make further progress," he said. Xiao Qian is the fifteenth Chinese ambassador to Australia. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) Do you speak both Spanish and English? If so, Lehigh and Northampton counties need you to work the polls in the upcoming May primary. Advertisement Diane Gordian, Lehigh Countys deputy director of voter registration, and outreach coordinator Alexandra Sierra spoke at last weeks Allentown City Councils meeting about the need to get bilingual workers before the May 17 primary. We are in desperate, desperate need of Spanish speaking interpreters, Gordian said. Every election its always a problem staffing Spanish-speaking interpreters at these offices. Advertisement Lehigh County recently raised pay rates for poll workers in response to the need. Election judges are now paid $180 for working election day, and other poll workers are paid $165, plus an additional $10 for training. Previously, election judges were paid $160 and other poll workers $135. The county needs around 1,000 poll workers each Election Day Lehigh has 161 polling locations and needs 7 to 8 people working at each. It aims to have a few Spanish interpreters at every poll, although the county is only legally required to have interpreters at polls where the concentration of Spanish-speaking voters is highest. More than a quarter of Lehigh Countys population is Latino. In Allentown, the county seat, 54% of the population is Latino. Many of those residents speak Spanish as a first language. Lehigh County is required to publish ballots and instructions in Spanish at each polling place. Still, to those non-fluent speakers, having an interpreter at the polls is key to ensuring their ability to vote if they have questions or need support. [ Spanish speakers in Pa. faced confused poll workers, lack of interpreters on Election Day ] Though the county had enough poll staff at the 2021 municipal election, they faced several last minute call-outs that left them scrambling to find replacements, many of whom were interpreters, Gordian said. And since voter turnout will almost certainly be higher in 2022 with several high-stakes statewide races including a governorand a senate race, having fully staffed polling places is essential. Pennsylvania is the only state that allows voters to elect election judges, who manage the polling places, and majority and minority inspectors, who check voters in when they arrive. But election clerks, who provide general support to voters, and language interpreters apply through the county to work the polls. First Call Daily Leading local stories delivered on weekday mornings > Gordian, who is Latina, hopes her presence in the Lehigh County office of voter registration inspires other Latinos in the county to work the polls. Were just trying to make sure that the community sees people that look like them in roles like this, Gordian said. When the Latino communities sees people that look like them involved in reaching out, its like OK, its some sort of a comfort level, I think. Advertisement Amy Cozze, director of voter registration at Northampton County, said Northampton also struggles to recruit bilingual interpreters. Though Northampton is not legally required to have Spanish interpreters at the polls, the county aims to have them at every polling place in Easton and Bethlehem. The countys population is around 14% Latino. Northampton employs around 800 to 900 poll workers on Election Day. Judges are paid $200 for working on election day and other poll workers are paid $175. All poll workers are also paid an additional $50 to complete training. Last Tuesday was national poll worker recruitment day, which was established in 2020 by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in response to a critical shortage of poll workers wrought by the pandemic. Lehigh County held a recruitment event Tuesday and recruited 20 poll workers, five of whom speak Spanish. Poll workers need to be U.S. citizens who are at least 18 years old, and can apply to work the polls by visiting the Lehigh County or Northampton county office of voter registration websites. Morning Call reporter Lindsay Weber can be reached at 610-820-6681 and liweber@mcall.com. Advertisement Car production in the UK slumped last year to its lowest level since 1956 after the industry suffered a dismal 12 months due to the disruption of the global pandemic, new figures show. Production was down by 6.7 per cent over the year to 859,575, and down by a third compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 figure. However, the second-hand car market has exploded during the virus crisis, with the average vehicle increasing in value by 20 per cent within the first six months of being sold. It was hoped that the industry would be buoyed by production of electric and hybrid cars, which rose by nearly 30 per cent and accounted for nearly a quarter of all the cars built. Industry chiefs had also expected a rapid improvement following the easing of the pandemic. Instead, the disruption triggered a global shortage of semi-conductor chips, leading to an even worse 2021. Factories had to reduce or pause production as they waited for parts hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) called last year one of the worst since the Second World War. Its chief executive Mike Hawkes warned that high energy costs are a growing problem and threaten the viability of vehicle plants. Car production in the UK slumped last year to its lowest level since 1956 after the industry suffered a dismal 12 months (pictured, BMW Mini factory in Cowley) In the post-war period, the automotive industry took some time to bounce back because manufacturing sites had been converted for military outputs. The UK was the second biggest car maker in the world in the 1950s. But as the decade wore on, outdated production methods coupled with more cost-efficient competition from Japan, the US and Europe meant the UK gradually lost its position. 1956 saw 707,594 cars made in the UK in a year, which was the toughest post-war year for British manufacturers. As well as the growth of strong foreign competition, the country was struggling with a credit squeeze, a growing reliance on exports hit by a clampdown on car imports by major markets and labour disputes Production was down by 6.7 per cent over the year to 859,575, and down by a third compared with the 2019 figure Why was 1956 such a tough year for British car manufacturing? In the post-war period, the automotive industry took some time to bounce back because manufacturing sites had been converted for military outputs. The UK was the second biggest car maker in the world in the 1950s. But as the decade wore on, outdated production methods coupled with more cost-efficient competition from Japan, the US and Europe meant the UK gradually lost its position. 1956 saw 707,594 cars made in the UK in a year, which was the toughest post-war year for British manufacturers. As well as the growth of strong foreign competition, the country was struggling with a credit squeeze, a growing reliance on exports hit by a clampdown on car imports by major markets and labour disputes. Britain was also in the throes of major economic uncertainty, and the real possibility of petrol rations, caused by the Suez crisis. Advertisement He said issues such as the shortage of semi-conductors, the closure of Hondas Swindon factory, Covid-related issues like staff shortages and border controls following Brexit had all affected carmakers. Jaguar Land Rovers output for the year fell by a 10th compared with the year before, but the carmaker managed to regain its title as Britains biggest manufacturer after losing out to Nissan in 2020. But Mr Hawes said there were grounds for optimism in 2022, with potential 4.9billion of investment announced, the highest since 2013, and annual production forecast to begin recovering to over one million. In the post-war period, the automotive industry took some time to bounce back because manufacturing sites had been converted for military outputs. The UK was the second biggest car maker in the world in the 1950s. But as the decade wore on, outdated production methods coupled with more cost-efficient competition from Japan, the US and Europe meant the UK gradually lost its position. 1956 saw 707,594 cars made in the UK in a year, which was the toughest post-war year for British manufacturers. As well as the growth of strong foreign competition, the country was struggling with a credit squeeze, a growing reliance on exports hit by a clampdown on car imports by major markets and labour disputes. Britain was also in the throes of major economic uncertainty, and the real possibility of petrol rations, caused by the Suez crisis. The country experienced a resurgence of car making in the 1970s. At the time, there were around 850,000 workers directly employed in car manufacturing compared to around 180,000 today. The new data showed factories built a record number of battery electric (BEV), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) last year, with almost a quarter of a million of these zero and ultra-low emission vehicles leaving production lines, representing more than one in four of all cars made. Four out of five new cars were shipped overseas, with the EU being the biggest market at 55 per cent, followed by the United States. The used cars that cost more than new models: Five-year-old Ford Mustang costs 25,000 more than 2021 version amid a shortage of modern vehicles Data from Autotrader showed that a five-year-old Ford Mustang 5.0L V8 GT Fastback SelShift was on the market for 75,000 an astonishing 53 per cent more than a new model at 48,990 Analysis for The Mail on Sunday by online car retailer Cazoo found that the average three-month-old Kia Sportage was for sale at 25,998 last October, compared with 22,405 new. A three-month old Volkswagen T-Roc cost 31,989 compared with 26,230 new. A three-month-old Nissan Juke was typically listed at 24,825 secondhand in October against 20,995. Data from Autotrader showed that a five-year-old Ford Mustang 5.0L V8 GT Fastback SelShift was on the market for 75,000 an astonishing 53 per cent more than a new model at 48,990. A two-year-old Nissan Micra IG-T Acenta was listed at 13,300, outstripping 12,844 for a new version, while an 18-month-old Mercedes G-Class had lost none of its value at the same 164,995 as a 2021 model. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders last October showed that only 214,000 new cars were sold in September, the lowest total for more than two decades Advertisement The SMMT said a significant proportion of announced investments was in support of electrified vehicles, with the expansion of existing facilities in the North-East and the proposed development of a new battery gigafactory in the West Midlands. Mr Hawes said there was consumer demand for new cars, adding: 2021 was another incredibly difficult year for UK car manufacturing, one of the worst since the Second World War which lays bare the exposure of the sector to structural and, especially, Covid-related impacts. Escalating energy costs threaten the viability of vehicle plants, but also our competitive position. We already pay more in energy costs here in the UK than in competitor countries across Europe and beyond. So we need to make sure we can try and mitigate those price rises to ensure we can remain competitive. Despite this miserable year, there is optimism. With Brexit uncertainty largely overcome, investments have been unleashed, most of which will help transform the sector to its zero-emission future. This is a vote of global confidence in the UK but must be matched by a commitment to our long-term competitiveness, support for the supply chain in overcoming parts shortages, help with skills and training and, most urgently, measures to mitigate the escalating energy costs which are threatening viability. The SMMT added that the latest independent production outlook for 2022 forecasts UK car production to increase to more than one million units, representing a near 20 per cent increase on the 2021 total, and could reach 1.1million in 2025, with further growth beyond. A Unite spokesperson said: It is heartening that investment is recovering and electric vehicle production continues to increase at pace. For this progress to be built upon and for the UK to retain its world-leading auto sector, however, there needs to be hands on Government involvement and investment to ensure the opportunities the transition to electrification presents are fully realised. Thats why it is essential that the Government brings forward a tailored industrial blueprint for automotive as soon as possible. It comes as the second-hand car market has exploded during the pandemic, with the average vehicle increasing in value by 20 per cent within the first six months of being sold. While cars are notorious for depreciating in value usually by five per cent after leaving the forecourt an unprecedented demand for used vehicles coupled with a chronic supply shortage for new cars has reversed the age-old trend. Experts have described the anomaly as a once-in-a-generation development. It comes as commuters who moved further out of the cities due to the Covid-19 pandemic are now in need of a car to get to work, while white-collar workers who saved more than expected are looking to splurge on a new motor. But the new demand has been met with a global shortage of semiconductor microchips, which are essential for the operating systems of all vehicles. It means there is a shortage of new cars being manufactured, leading to an unprecedented demand for second-hand models. An investigation by The Times found the price of some cars rose by almost 10,000 in the space of five months and continued to increase. What we are seeing here is absolutely unprecedented a once-in-a-generation development that is turning the rules of car valuations on its head, Derren Martin, head of valuations for Cap HPI said. Industry chiefs had expected a rapid improvement following the easing of the virus crisis. Instead, the disruption triggered a global shortage of semi-conductor chips (stock image) Advertisement The rewards scheme launched by UK rail firms to lure commuters back onto their services descended into chaos on its first day today after passengers were left in an endless loop of verification emails and unable to sign in. Free bacon rolls and hot drinks are being offered to Britain's train commuters in the rewards platform to increase passenger numbers as rail operators try to boost the Government's drive to get workers back into the office. Complimentary breakfast food and hot drinks from Greggs are among the perks on the website for people who travel to work by train with other benefits including free audiobooks and access to a mindfulness app. Passengers - who can also get free coffees from London-based cafe chain Pure - are required to sign up to nationalrail.co.uk/commuter and select the rewards they want, industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said. Bosses said they wanted to help passengers 'make the most of their 'me-time' when they commute' - and that app users must enter details of their commute but are not required to provide evidence of their travel history. But those trying to sign up to the website today faced technically difficulties, with verification emails taking an hour to arrive, and the website then asking for a code which was also delayed - and then did not even work. One said: 'This turned into a stoicism exercise. Lesser mortals would have thrown their phone out of the train window. An endless cycle of 'Register, Click the picture of the school buses, Don't receive a verification email, Can't log in, Says not registered...' Ad nauseum.' Another tweeted: 'The new National Rail 'Commuter Rewards' website (free coffee etc) seems to be struggling with the demand. It's almost like they made the website to replicate the train service commuters are used to.' And a third added: ' I like the idea of the Back on Track... But surely you foresaw the demand... Unresponsive regulator form and over an hour for emails to arrive! Hopefully you have allowed for this delay in your one time password timeouts.' The RDG has been contacted for comment about the technical issues this morning. Sources suggested the problems could be linked to it being a new website, meaning that the public domain email servers can release emails slower than normal. However, when they recognise that the emails are not spam they will begin releasing them much quicker - and some people may find their email has ended up in their junk folder. Other social media users pointed out they would rather have on-time trains and cheaper ticket prices, with one saying: 'What nonsense. No one's going to get on a 130 Manchester to London train that'll probably arrive late for a free 2 bacon buttie. Make the trains affordable, update them and the line, and make them reliable and punctual. Then people will get on trains.' Another tweeted: 'Not sure how 'back on track' promo got approved. Commuters don't need a mindfulness app or free coffee they just want a reliable service that isn't the most expensive in the world.' And a third said: 'I don't understand how train operators can KEEP raising prices and then think this is what people want? I don't care a jot about a mindfulness app... I want cheaper damn fares! So many journeys are completely unaffordable and aren't better value than using a car or flying!' In response to the claims over punctuality and fare prices, an RDG spokesman said: 'It's vital for businesses in the capital that we encourage commuters back, which is why we've launched a new commuter perks website where train travellers can sign up and get great discounts on things they can do before, on and after their journey. 'Train companies are working hard to maintain improvements made during the pandemic including the gains in punctuality, high levels of cleaning and providing better value fares.' The industry is battling to restore commuting levels closer to normal again after a collapse in demand which saw the Government put 15billion into railways during the pandemic, effectively taking them into public ownership. It comes as the RDG revealed demand for peak time trains has increased by 5 per cent since the guidance for people in England to work from home was lifted last Wednesday having been in place since December 13. But provisional Department for Transport figures showed overall passenger numbers on Monday were still only at 53 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as millions of Britons continue to work from home. Complimentary breakfast food and hot drinks from Greggs are among the perks in a new rewards scheme for rail commuters Commuters at London Liverpool Street train station this morning as the final Plan B measures are lifted in England Commuters at London Liverpool Street train station this morning as the final Plan B measures are lifted in England Commuters at London Liverpool Street train station this morning as the final Plan B measures are lifted in England Commuters at London Liverpool Street train station this morning as the final Plan B measures are lifted in England Transport for London said that yesterday morning up to 10am, there were around 1.17million entry and exits on the Underground - up 10 per cent on the previous Wednesday and 51 per cent of normal pre-pandemic levels. On London buses, again up to 10am yesterday morning, TfL told MailOnline that there were around 1.2million boarding taps up 1 per cent compared to last Wednesday and 70 per cent of normal. At Tube stations with links to the City of London, such as Mansion House, Aldgate, Canary Wharf and Holborn, there were 115,000 entries and exits yesterday morning, which represents just 36 per cent of normal demand. Specifically at Shopping and West End stations, such as Stratford, Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus, there were around 113,800 entries and exits yesterday morning, which represents 49 per cent of normal demand. Meanwhile, data released today suggested there has been a sharp rise in staff going back in this week, with the average week-on-week increase in office occupancy at 43 per cent for Monday to yesterday. Tuesday saw the largest week-on-week increase at 54 per cent, according to the data from smart buildings company Infogrid. And ride hailing app Free Now said that it now expects a 40 per cent rise in taxi bookings over the 'coming weeks' - with demand for its services set to exceed pre-pandemic levels as it did in the summer and autumn of last year. RDG chief executive Jacqueline Starr said today: 'Taking the train is more than just a journey, it benefits the environment, economy and local businesses. A graph from Transport for London shows how Tube usage fell off in December 2021 but is now recovering again this month This Transport for London graph shows how Underground usage has changed over the last two years, split by type of station 'To encourage and support commuters as they return, the rail industry has launched a new commuter rewards website offering free hot drinks, mindfulness, course upgrades, music streaming, audiobooks and more to help enhance customers' on-train and at-destination experiences.' Covid restrictions introduced under Plan B are axed in England Covid restrictions introduced under Plan B have been axed in England making it the freest country in Europe. Under the move, there will be no more vaccine passports and wearing face masks in crowded places such as shops will no longer be legally mandated. However, London mayor Sadiq Khan said face coverings will remain compulsory on the Tube and buses although police will no longer be able to enforce the rule or impose fines. And some supermarkets including Sainsbury's and Waitrose have said they will continue to ask shoppers to wear a mask 'if they are able to'. Last week, Boris Johnson scrapped guidance that urged the public to work from home where possible. All remaining legal measures in England including self-isolation for those with the virus are set to be scrapped in March. The Government has promised to set out a long-term strategy for 'living with Covid' by spring. But, some restrictions will remain in place in Scotland and Wales. The new freedoms have been welcomed after a traumatic two years of intermittent draconian curbs on day-to-day life. Since the first case was detected in England on January 31, 2020, there have been three full national lockdowns with catastrophic economic and social consequences. The latest round of restrictions so-called Plan B were introduced in December to combat the rise of the Omicron variant, but experts say they are no longer needed because it is much less severe than previous strains. Ministers are confident the UK's historic vaccine rollout the fastest in Europe means there will never be another lockdown and life can return to normal. While all legal curbs are being banished in England, some venues such as pubs can still voluntarily choose to require proof of vaccination. People will still be urged to wear masks in crowded spaces as well as in GP surgeries, hospitals and pharmacies. It is still a legal requirement for those with Covid-19 to self-isolate for ten days, although they can be freed after five days if they present two negative lateral flow tests. The Government has said it will set out detailed plans on scrapping self-isolation entirely within weeks, and said this will be replaced with 'advice and guidance urging people with the virus to be careful and considerate of others'. Free lateral flow tests are also set to be scrapped by the summer. Advertisement Pure boss Spencer Craig said: 'Like most businesses that rely on the commuter market, we saw our customer base drop by over 50 pe cent due to the work-from-home restrictions coming in to force, and rail commuters no longer coming into the city. 'We're delighted to be working with the rail industry on their commuter rewards platform and look forward to welcoming customers back and providing them with delicious, nutritious meals and drinks on the go.' Only 1,000 free Greggs breakfast rolls will be available through the scheme, but other offers will be introduced in the coming weeks. Other incentives to support commuters returning to the office include the introduction of flexible season tickets, and an easing of the rules for amending tickets. As it announced the new rewards scheme, the RDG said a poll found 48 per cent of those working from home had been feeling the effects of 'work from home fatigue', with this resulting in less motivation (33 per cent), finding it harder to focus (23 per cent) and poorer sleep (25 per cent). It said almost half (48 per cent) of those that were working from home whilst the work from home restrictions were in place have said that they hope to return to their place of work two to three times a week now the restrictions have been lifted. An RDG spokesman said: 'Train companies will be monitoring timetables and in the coming weeks, stepping up the number of trains they run in a way that reflects demand to help passengers travel with confidence.' The survey also found commuters said learning a new skill (34 per cent), escaping with a good book (27 per cent) and having time to meditate (27 per cent) would be beneficial to heir self-improvement. Last June the Flexi Season ticket was introduced to provide commuters with a minimum of 20 per cent discount on an equivalent Monthly Season ticket, with the new scheme targeted at those travelling during peak times two to three times a week. Rail users can also currently amend a booked journey for free up until 6pm the day before should their travel plans change with the 'Book with Confidence' initiative. It comes after it emerged civil servants are defying orders to 'lead the way' and return to the office this week as the Government attempts to crackdown on working from home. Thousands of workers are failing to return to their desks in Whitehall and other buildings across the UK, despite Cabinet Office enforcer Steve Barclay telling top officials that Government offices should see 'maximum use' from this week. Whilst ministerial departments saw a slight rise in attendance from last week, many welcomed as few as 10 per cent of staff back to their desks on Monday morning, a Daily Mail audit found. At Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs' cavernous 6,500-capacity building in Longbenton, North Tyneside, reporters counted just 227 people arriving for work between 7.30 and 11am 3 per cent. On Friday, Mr Barclay, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, revealed that civil servants would now be expected to return to the office full-time following the easing of Plan B restrictions as the country 'learns to live with Covid'. Ministers hope private firms will follow the lead back to the office with the mass return of employees boosting ailing city centres which have been damaged by the work-from-home culture. However the move has been met with consternation by trade unions, with Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA civil service union, branding the plans a 'distraction' from 'partygate' scandals engulfing Downing Street. The Hyattsville Mayor reportedly shot himself dead in a Virginia park, authorities revealed. Kevin Ward, 44, a father-of-two, died on Tuesday from an 'apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.' His body was found in Fort Marcy Park in Virginia, roughly 20 miles away from Hyattsville, in Maryland, the Washington Post reported. Ward, who leaves behind two children and a husband, was elected in May as the first African American and strived to help his community rebuild after the pandemic and create a safe haven for undocumented immigrants and the LBGT+ community. Hyattsville, Maryland, Mayor Kevin Ward, 44, was found dead in Fort Marcy Park in Virginia, roughly 20 miles from the city, on Tuesday. Police said he had 'apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds' He was well loved in his community and was presented with the LBGTQ Excellence in Government Award, presented by Prince George's County Pride and Streetcar 82 Brewing Co., during the city's first-ever pride parade The fire department said they would miss his 'impromptu firehouse visits and laughs' The politician renamed the largest park in the city after African-American artist David Driskell, who would have not been played to play there as a child, according to the Hyattsville Wire. He also advocated for affordable housing, sustainability, environmental awareness, and for his local LGBT+ community. The city also became a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants in 2017. In June, he won the LBGTQ Excellence in Government Award, presented by Prince George's County Pride and Streetcar 82 Brewing Co., during the city's first-ever pride parade. 'This will not be one and done. We will continue to do this year on year here in the city. We have an open and affirming community, and we want to show people who we are, by showing our appreciation for those who live here,' he said as he accepted his award, before saying he wanted to make next year's event 'bigger and bolder.' The city adored their mayor as much as he adored them. He and his husband moved to the city in 2014 after adopting their two sons, according to the Washington Post. Many left tribute posts to him, wishing his husband and two children their condolences, and honored what a true leader he was 'Mayor Ward was a valued and trusted leader and a fierce advocate for all the people of Hyattsville. We are heartbroken at this loss and extend our deepest sympathy to his family,' the city wrote in a statement. Michael Brown, a city council candidate, said he was 'still in shock' over the news and said he would 'miss' the mayor. 'We are shocked and so saddened to hear of Hyattsville Mayor Kevin Wards passing. Mayor Ward was a strong supporter of the HVFD and we will always remember his impromptu firehouse visits and laughs,' the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department wrote on Facebook, alongside a photo of the mayor beaming in the front seat of a fire truck. Wes Moore, a candidate for the state's Governor position, called Ward a 'true leader' and that his 'legacy of service' will live on forever. The Senate's Majority Leader Sterny Hoyer said he was 'saddened by the loss of Mayor Kevin Ward' and offered his 'condolences' to the people of Hyattsville. Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks said she was 'heartbroken and devastated' to learn about the mayor's passing. 'Mayor Ward was an outstanding leader for the residents of Hyattsville and deeply loved his City,' she wrote on Twitter. State Governor Larry Hogan also offered his condolences, writing on Twitter: 'The First Lady and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Hyattsville Mayor Kevin Ward. We extend our most heartfelt condolences to the Ward family and the people of Hyattsville as they grieve this tragic loss.' The police said funeral service dates will be released at an upcoming date. The motive for the apparent suicide is unknown at this moment. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 for help. Two people have been hospitalised after lightning struck their home. Fire crews arrived to the Bundoora, Melbourne, home around 8am on Monday to find the three residents of the home had self-evacuated. 'Multiple triple zero calls were received to alert FRV to a house struck by lightning in Bundoora this morning,' Fire Rescue Victoria said in a statement to Nine News. Two people have been hospitalised after their Bundoora, Melbourne, home caught fire around 8am on Thursday 'Fire trucks arrived on scene to find the roof of the single-storey brick veneer home well-involved in fire and threatening an adjacent property. 'Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus quickly established water hose lines to prevent spread to the adjoining property and contain the fire within the home.' Roughly 40 per cent of the house was significantly damaged by the fire. Specialist fire investigates confirmed a lightning strike started the blaze. A women's rights campaigner who put up stickers and posters in Newport, Wales, has been arrested by police for 'criminal damage' and 'abusive writing' after people allegedly complained that her posters carried an 'anti-transgender message'. Jennifer Swayne, 53, was arrested on Sunday afternoon and detained until the early hours of the morning, while police officers executed a search warrant on her property and confiscated women's rights stickers and a book containing a collection of critical essays about the theory and practice of transgendering children. Some of the stickers and posters put up by Swayne carried feminist messages decrying violence against women, but others which bore phrases such as 'no men in women's prisons' and 'humans never change sex' were reported as being offensive. Gwent police released a statement earlier this week alleging they had received complaints about the 'offensive messages' over a period of several months and that the posters contained 'abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress'. Swayne meanwhile took to social media to argue that her messages were not anti-trans but pro-women and alleged that her 'thinking was being investigated' rather than her actions. Fair Cop, an organisation which campaigns against the criminalisation of free speech, has since volunteered to support Swayne with any legal proceedings that arise, The Times reports. Jennifer Swayne, 53, was arrested on Sunday afternoon and detained until the early hours of the morning, while police officers executed a search warrant on her property and confiscated women's rights stickers and a book containing a collection of critical essays about the theory and practice of transgendering children Swayne meanwhile took to social media to argue that her messages were not anti-trans but pro-women. She later alleged that her 'thinking was being investigated' rather than her actions Some of the stickers and posters put up by Swayne carried feminist messages decrying violence against women, but others which bore phrases such as 'no men in women's prisons' and 'humans never change sex' were reported as being offensive Fair Cop, an organisation which campaigns against the criminalisation of free speech, has since volunteered to support Swayne with any legal proceedings that arise Book 'seized' in home of women's right campaigner challenges medical definition of transgender children and suggests rise in young people questioning their gender is 'due to politics, not science' Transgender Children and Young People: Born In Your Own Body, is a collection of essays which challenges the accepted medical definition of the transgender child as a young person whose true gender lies in the brain, or 'pre-social identity.' The book's synopsis on Amazon says its contributors 'contest this diagnosis from a range of social constructionist perspectives, including as social theorists, psychotherapists, persons living as transgender, individuals who regret having transitioned, and parents of adolescents identifying as transgender.' In their writings, they controversially claim that the rise in the number of children being diagnosed as transgender by gender identity clinics is due to 'politics, not science'. They claim there is an ongoing 'medical and social trend' of 'transgendering children' which they believe is neither 'liberal or progressive', but 'politically reactionary, physically and psychologically dangerous and abusive.' The book is edited by Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans, a social theorist and philosopher with an interest in feminist philosophy and politics of the body. The academic of nearly three decades is a Visiting Research Fellow at Kings College London and is a Trustee of the charity FiLia, and co-ordinator of its Stop Violence against Women and Girls section. Advertisement Some of the stickers and posters made by Swayne were emblazoned with phrases such as 'no child is born in the wrong body, humans never change sex', 'Woman = Adult Human Female' and 'Are you happy for your 13-year-old daughter to shower next to an adult man, yes or no?'. Gwent police on Tuesday released a statement explaining the circumstances surrounding the arrest. Superintendent Vicki Townsend said: 'We've received several reports in relation to posters containing offensive material appearing in Newport between October and January. 'Officers on patrol in Newport saw a woman spraying stickers to two lampposts. 'A 53-year-old woman from Newport was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and displaying threatening or abusive writing likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Police said they received six complaints of 'offensive messages' posted by Swayne on Sunday and were therefore compelled to investigate. Swayne meanwhile took to Twitter to rail against the police for the arrest and to refute claims that she had published 'transphobic' messages. 'Yesterday Sunday 23rd/01/22 I was arrested for hate crime. Gwent police saw me as an exceptional threat to the T community by posting stickers and posters that did not mention T once. They were feminist in content and, I felt, pleasingly informative to women and concerned.' Swayne, who suffers from bipolar disorder, went on to argue that the police's decision to confiscate a book concerning transgendering children amounted to policing thoughts over actions. 'When my house was raided, it has come to my attention that a BOOK was taken by the police. A book edited by Heather Brunskell-Evans on GC children. It was crammed with my notes. MY THINKING IS BEING INVESTIGATED- not things, not materials, not actions my actual thinking.' The book, 'Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body', is a collection of essays critiquing the theory and practice of transgendering children, edited by Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans. A social theorist and long-time women's rights advocate, Brunskell-Evans has been critical of the rise of gender identity politics, particularly as it pertains to young adults and children. Swayne tweeted: 'When my house was raided, it has come to my attention that a BOOK was taken by the police. A book edited by Heather Brunskell-Evans on GC children. It was crammed with my notes. MY THINKING IS BEING INVESTIGATED- not things, not materials, not actions my actual thinking.' The book, 'Transgender Children and Young People: Born in Your Own Body', is a collection of essays critiquing the theory and practice of transgendering children, edited by Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans Some of the stickers allegedly posted by Jennifer Swayne Some social media users accused Swayne for being disingenuous about her social activism and said she was rightly arrested for her actions. One user wrote: 'I feel you're being dishonest about the content and the implications you were making and policies you are doing activism around,' while another simply commented: 'So, you were arrested for vandalism.' But many users leapt to Swayne's defence and said the police had overstepped the mark. 'Is there no real crime going on in Gwent?,' one user wrote. 'How did they get a warrant to search your home? What on earth did they tell the magistrate you'd done? I'm absolutely gobsmacked by this, and raging on your behalf.' Meanwhile, free speech organisation Fair Cop accused Gwent police of 'unlawful interference', and declared it would provide Swayne with legal aid in the case. Fair Cop's Harry Miller told The Times that the posters that Swayne put up around the Welsh town were a 'political statement' that did not come near the criminal threshold. The organisation's Twitter account addressed a message to Gwent police yesterday, declaring 'we have our legal team in place. We will be setting up a donation platform in the next few days. In the meantime, we have paid costs and will be bringing our A Team. You picked on the wrong people.' Swayne was released on conditional bail at 3:30am on Monday morning as investigations continue. She is the latest in a series of women, men and campaigners who have been labelled as 'anti-trans' after expressing their views or publishing works which challenge the status quo. A criminologist became the latest target last week after anonymous complaints to his university bosses accusing him of 'transphobia' - following posts he made about keeping prisons single sex. Criminologist Professor James Treadwell was informed by his employer Staffordshire University that official complaints were made about comments he made on Twitter. Professor Treadwell had recently posted tweets insisting that transgender women should not be allowed in female prisons. On January 9, he was branded a 'TERF' - which stands for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist - after he referenced research which found that more than half of women in prison have experienced sexual violence and abuse. Criminologist Professor James Treadwell became the latest target last week after anonymous complaints to his university bosses accusing him of 'transphobia' - following posts he made about keeping prisons single sex He appeared to be referencing research by the Prison Reform Trust charity which found that more than half of women in prison reported having suffered domestic violence, with 53 per cent claiming to have experienced emotional, physical or sexual abuse as a child. He then added: 'Many [women] have been damaged by men time and again. I cannot see any case for now why we should do anything but #KeepPrisonsSingleSex.' On January 11, referenced a Twitter thread which highlighted alleged bad treatment of women and girls and said it 'puts the drive for men being able to use women's spaces into some perspective'. And earlier this month, Professor Treadwell was accused of 'trying to link' reform to the Gender Recognition Act which allows people with gender dysphoria to change their legal gender with 'sex criminals' after he penned a lengthy Twitter thread about sex offenders. However, the thread made no reference to transgender people. In 2018, the criminologist said he did not believe transgender women should be housed in female prisons after inmate Karen White, who was born a man, was charged with sexually assaulting two women. However, when the 'angry and upset' lecturer spoke out on Twitter on Wednesday evening, he said he had been given 'no details of what is alleged' and so has no idea if the tweets from this month and 2018 are the ones which have been complained about. He jokingly added that it was a 'good job cancel culture is just a myth'. The academic stressed he believes that transgender people 'like all people deserve dignity and respect', but added that 'academics giving their personal views do too'. Professor Treadwell, who has worked at the university since 2017, said he had also been complained about for 'denying the reality of Satanic ritual abuse' a reference to tweets of his last summer in which he disputed the unsubstantiated phenomenon. Ms Swayne is the latest in a series of women and campaigners who have been labelled as 'anti-trans' after expressing their views or publishing works which challenge the status quo, including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling (pictured) Jo Phoenix, 57, (pictured) who is Professor of Criminology at the Open University, has been been branded a 'transphobe' and put on a list circulated online that called her a 'Terf' Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Professor Treadwell repeated that he does not know why he is being investigated, but believes his university are obligated to launch a probe after receiving a complaint. He added: 'In the world today it would be nice if people could walk a mile in other people's shoes a little bit more. 'The last couple of years have been hard on everybody. You can cause offence when none is intended. I haven't really got more any more to say.' A university spokesman confirmed to MailOnline that an investigation is underway and said they are committed to 'equality, diversity and inclusion'. They added they are 'equally' committed to academic freedom. The investigation comes after other academics have been targeted in recent months for alleged transphobia linked to 'gender critical' views. Gender-critical refers to the view that a person's sex - whether male or female - is a biological fact and not the same as the gender they feel, or how they present themselves in public. In October, Sussex University feminist philosopher Professor Kathleen Stock quit her job following a 'bullying and harassment' campaign carried out by students accusing her of transphobia. Just days later, Open University academic Professor Jo Phoenix, who is also a criminologist, described how she was compared to a 'racist uncle at a Christmas dinner table' after she aired views about the silencing of academic debate on transgender issues. Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been slammed by trans activists for writing a blog and tweeting about the subject, including one in which she took aim at the use of the term people who menstruate in place of the word women. A 12-year-boy is in police custody after attempting to flee a stolen car, just weeks after being put in an induced coma when he crashed another vehicle. Last month the young offender was given life-saving CPR after the Nissan X-Trail he was illegally driving clipped the back of a truck and hit a concrete barrier on December 7 in the Gold Coast. The young offender was given life-saving CPR after the Nissan X-Trail he was illegally driving clipped the back of a truck and hit a concrete barrier on December 7 (pictured is the scene) The 12-year-old driver and a 14-year-old female passenger sitting in the front seat both sustained critical injuries to the chest, and the boy was put in an induced coma. Three passengers between the ages of 12 and 14 were also rescued from the burning wreckage by shocked witnesses, including an off-duty police officer. They suffered a variety of chest, facial and back injuries and were treated in hospital. Five children between the ages of 12 and 14 were rescued from the burning wreckage by shocked witnesses, including an off-duty police officer (pictured is the scene) Now just over a month later, the same alleged underage driver struck again and stole a car from a McDonald's in Pimpama on January 19. He drove southeast accompanied by three friends before police disabled the wheels with spikes and cut the joyride short. The group fled into nearby bushland after abandoning the car on an off-ramp on the Bruce Highway, the Gold Coast Bulletin reports. Police say the boy has not been charged over the Pimpama incident and investigations are ongoing. He has been remanded in custody and will appear in court on February 14. The son of Reservoir Dogs actor Michael Madsen took his life at the Hawaii Army barracks where he lived with his wife Carlie, the Army confirmed on Wednesday. Hudson Madsen, the 26-year-old godson of Quentin Tarantino, died from an 'apparent self-inflicted gunshot'. Hudson Madsen is pictured with his wife Carlie on his return from Afghanistan in January 2019 On Wednesday, the army confirmed that he was discovered on Sunday at his home, adding that the circumstances are under investigation by Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID). Madsen was an Infantryman serving as a team leader with 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks. 'Sgt. Madsen was a dedicated Soldier and leader,' said Lt. Col. Michael Haith, commander of 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment said. 'We grieve Hudson's passing, and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.' Madsen joined the Army in April 2016 and had one deployment to Afghanistan from August 2018 to January 2019 while stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. He had been awarded multiple medals and decorations including the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with 'Combat' device; Army Good Conduct Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon; and the NATO Medal. He has received the Army Commendation Medal posthumously. Madsen was promoted in March 2021, Carlie proudly noted Madsen was based at the Schofield barracks, where he lived with his wife Carlie The 17,725-acre Schofield Barracks site was established in 1908 to provide a base for the Army's mobile defense of Pearl Harbor and the entire island. The barracks is 17 miles from Honolulu An aerial view of the 17,725-acre Schofield Barracks, where Madsen lived Madsen's father said he is 'heartbroken and overwhelmed with grief and pain'. His family said in a statement to Metro: 'We are heartbroken and overwhelmed with grief and pain at the loss of Hudson. 'His memory and light will be remembered by all who knew and loved him. We ask for privacy and respect during this difficult time. Thank you.' Hudson's mother DeAnna Madsen, 61, has traveled to Hawaii to deal with the tragedy, a source told the publication. His father Michael is a famed Hollywood hellraiser, and was forced into rehab by a judge in 2013 after failing to attend AA meetings following a DUI arrest. In 2019, the actor was axed from a $100,000 role in movie Confessions of a Serial Killer after crashing his Land Rover into a pole and subsequently being arrested for DUI. He was later sentenced to four days in jail. A spokeswoman for the Department of the Medical Examiner in Honolulu said earlier: 'I can confirm Hudson Lee Madsen, 26, died by a gunshot wound to the head in a suspected suicide on the island of Oahu.' Hudson is survived by his wife, Carlie, and since August 2019 had been living in Wahiawa, Hawaii after serving time in the U.S. Army. Last week, on January 15, Carlie underwent surgery and paid tribute to her husband for his support. 'I just want to give a shout-out to my amazing husband!' she wrote on Instagram. 'Yesterday I had surgery to remove a tumor from one of my breasts and he was and has been so patient throughout this whole process! 'We were at the hospital for about 7 hours yesterday and while I was in surgery he went to target and got me flowers, comfy pajamas, my favorite candy and a card! He's also been amazing in helping with my recovery and I'm just so thankful! 'I also want to thank my family and friends that have reached out to make sure I'm okay and to check in on me! I love you all so much.' Michael Madsen's son Hudson reportedly died of suicide from an 'apparent self-inflicted gunshot,' according to The Sun; seen on Instagram Madsen is seen with his wife Carlie in a photo posted to Facebook Madsen, 26, is seen with Carlie. His death has been confirmed by the Honolulu medical examiner Hudson Madsen and Carlie met in 2017, while he was stationed in Colorado with the army. They married in 2018 (pictured) Hudson Madsen, actor Michael Madsen, Max Madsen, Luke Madsen, DeAnna Madsen, Christian Madsen and Kalvin Madsen in July 2011 Madsen is pictured (right) with his father and brother Max (left) at the premiere of The Astronaut Farmer in 2007 The couple met in 2017, with the Minnesota-born Carlie commenting on Facebook to a friend, who asked if he was 'a keeper': 'He's actually in the army and stationed down in Colorado! I met him through my best friend that lives there! And I think he's a keeper!' Madsen replied: 'I am a keeper by the way'. In June 2017, she posted a sweet black and white photo of them together, captioned: 'Miss you so much.' In June 2017, Carlie Madsen posted a sweet black and white photo of them together, captioned: 'Miss you so much' Madsen proposed in November 2017, getting down on one knee on top of Pike's Peak in Colorado. The couple were married in 2018, Carlie's Facebook says. Soon after, he was deployed with the Army. On January 20, 2019, a friend commented: 'Yo you home already Hudson Madsen?' Carlie replied: 'No, it keeps on getting pushed back' - accompanied by a crying emoji. By January 27, 2019, he was home, with Carlie posting a photo of the pair together. The couple held an 'official' wedding in June 2019 at Cheyenne Mountain state park in Colorado, 'even though we had been married for a year and half already at that point,' Carlie wrote on Instagram. 'It was one of the happiest days of my life but also very uhhh... interesting I'll say. 'We had an outdoor ceremony during a thunderstorm and no one could hear us. 'I was puking in the bathroom till about 2 minutes before I walked down the isle. 'We had to fire our DJ halfway through the reception and thankfully a different, way better, DJ showed up. 'We almost got kicked out of our reception place because people got caught sneaking alcohol in and got caught attempting to do uhhmm.. 'extra curricular activities'. 'BUT even after all of that it was still one of the best days of my life because I got to celebrate with all our family and friends and I got to marry my best friend for the second time. 'Thank you to everyone that was able to make it and make it a day I will never forget. 'And thank you to my wonderful husband for everything you do for me and our family. I couldn't be happier to have you by my side through this crazy life. I love you more.' They moved to Hawaii in August 2019. In May 2020 he was deployed again, this time from his new Hawaii home. 'Saying goodbye to you never gets easier,' she wrote. 'I'm already missing the s*** out of you. Please come home quickly. I'll see you in 5 months my love. I love you more.' In March 2021, Carlie revealed that they were embarking on fertility treatment, and said she was sharing their news to end the stigma. 'In the last 2 months Hudson and I found out that we can't have kids naturally and we have to do IVF,' she wrote. 'We also were told that it will probably take 2 or more times of IVF treatment for me to get pregnant. I'm only sharing this because it needs to be normalized and more talked about.' Their Facebook pages were equally full of loving comments. Carlie Madsen posted her last picture of the couple together in November, captioned: 'So in love with how these pictures turned out' Michael Madsen is pictured with Quentin Tarantino in January 2017, at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah Michael Madsen is pictured in 2011 with his son Hudson Michael Madsen (R) and sons Max Madsen, Hudson Madsen, Christian Madsen and Luke Madsen attend the 'Free Willy' 20th anniversary celebration at the Egyptian Theatre on August 17, 2013 In April 2021, when Carlie posted a photo of herself holding a huge bird, Madsen commented: 'Ayyy. Dats my wife. I love you baby.' When she posted a photo on the beach, he said: 'Dayyyuuummm gurll. You fine.' In another beach photo, he joked: 'Ooooo gurlll. Can i get yo number?' Her final photo of the couple together, in November, showed Madsen giving his wife a piggy back on a beach. 'So in love with how these pictures turned out,' she said. Madsen is survived by his brothers Calvin, 25, and Luke, 16, and step-brothers Christian, 31, and Max, 27, from Michael's previous relationship with Jeannine Bisignano. Michael Madsen and Tarrantino have collaborated on multiple films together, including Reservoir Dogs and the Kill Bill series. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT An 'evil' Australian man was jailed after duct-taping fireworks to a six-week-old kitten before setting the animal alight. Bradley Hackett, 24, of Logan, in south-east Queensland, also filmed the horrific act while drug affected in July of 2020. The severely dehydrated kitten survived the callous attack with burns to her face and ears before being dumped in a wheelie bin by the depraved plasterer. Sadly, Hackett wasn't alone when it comes to shocking conduct involving animals and their owners in the Sunshine State. Recent statistics released by the RSPCA have revealed some suburbs and regions recorded a 60 per cent spike in animal cruelty cases in the past 12 months. Bradley Hackett was jailed after inexplicably duct-taping fireworks to a six-week-old kitten before setting the animal alight in 2020 The depraved plasterer also filmed the horrific act on the kitten (pictured) while drug affected The worst suburb in the state for reported cases was Caboolture, with 193 welfare complaints, while neighbouring Morayfield and Ipswich in Brisbane's west both chalked up 140 complaints. Alarmingly, Inala in Brisbane's southwest saw a 60 per cent increase in complaint numbers, with 129 calls to the RSPCA to investigate in the past 12 months, the Courier Mail reported. RSPCA Queensland spokesperson Emma Lagoon said education was key to stopping animal abuse. 'Through community outreach programs we aim to address the root causes of animal welfare issues,' she said. Hackett, who never expressed a hint of remorse for his attack on the ginger kitten, served six months behind bars last year before he was granted parole in August. At his sentencing in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court, his vile conduct even shocked a number of veteran police officers. Hackett pleaded guilty to animal cruelty, failing to provide appropriate treatment for injury and breaching a duty of care to an animal. The court heard that on July 27 in 2020, a drug-affected Hackett filmed himself lighting multiple firecrackers taped on to the six-week old kitten. A 4cm burn mark was left on the back of the kittens head as well as a 2cm burn mark on its nose. Hackett later dumped the injured animal in a wheelie bin, but was spotted by a witness, who then called the RSPCA. Hackett was soon arrested, and refused to comment to police when quizzed on the matter. The kitten, dubbed Charlie, has gone onto make a full recovery. Remarkably, the severely dehydrated kitten survived the callous attack with burns to her face and ears before being dumped and left to die in a wheelie bin A South Australian woman has been charged over paying money to a vulnerable person to have a Covid vaccine in her name. Police allege that on January 10, the 52-year-old from Chapel Hill, 30km south east of Adelaide, accompanied another person to a Mount Barker vaccination clinic. She then allegedly deceived SA Health by allowing the vulnerable person to receive the Covid vaccination in her name. Police allege the 52-year-old from Chapel Hill, 30km south east of Adelaide, paid another person to a get a Covid jab at the Mount Barker vaccination clinic (pictured) It is further alleged the woman pretended to be a carer for the person who received the vaccine and that she required evidence of vaccination for her own employment. She has been charged with deception and dishonest dealing with documents and has been bailed to appear in Mount Barker Magistrates Court in March. Premier Steven Marshall said if the allegations proved correct, it was 'completely unacceptable behaviour'. Durham students have threatened a summer rent strike after the university refused to publish a report into a professor at the centre of a toxic 'woke row'. Protesters said they will also boycott dinners and tell final year undergraduates to slap the institution with the lowest ranking in the National Student Survey. The row started when they demanded the resignation of South College chief Tim Luckhurst after he invited journalist Rod Liddle to give a speech last month. Activists claimed Mr Liddle, associate editor of The Spectator magazine is 'racist and transphobic' an accusation he vehemently denies. A complaint to university bosses prompted an investigation and the professor stepped back from public activities - but is now understood to be back at work. Durham last night said the probe was finished but added its recommendations would remain confidential. Around 200 students gathered at Durham University last month to protest about the row that blew up following a speech by writer Rod Liddle at an end of year event Students demanded the resignation of Tim Luckhurst (pictured), principal of Durham University's South College, after he invited the journalist Rod Liddle to give a speech Some students were livid with the move and had plans for more demonstrations if the institution would not back down. First year Niall Hignett, who was among the activists last month, told student newspaper Palatinate, 'My message to the University is get your act together, publish the report, and stop failing your students. 'If we don't see the report in the coming days, student leaders will start working on our next steps.' He added: 'It either ends now, or we will begin working to make the university better, safer, and more inclusive in spite of a management in direct opposition to those ambitions.' Students claimed Mr Liddle (pictured), associate editor of The Spectator magazine is 'racist and transphobic' an accusation he vehemently denies Newspaper editor turned professor: Who is Tim Luckhurst? Tim Luckhurst is a former newspaper editor who turned to academia at Kent and Durham Universities. He started as a reporter on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 in the 1980s. But from 1995 to 1997 he took over as editor of news programmes at BBC Scotland. He won two Sony Radio Academy Awards for news broadcasting. Luckhurst later moved to the Scotsman and edited it before turning to academia. The 58-year-old from 2007 to November 2019 was Professor of Journalism Kent University. He also served as Director of KM Television Ltd - which he helped set up - between 2016 and 2019. In November 2019 he moved up to Durham to be head of South College. Advertisement It is the second time they have threatened a rent strike, with the first last month saying they would withhold fees of 8,000 in college accommodation. Protest leader Sean Hannigan, 22, said in mid-December: 'The only way that the university will listen is if it hits them financially.' The row began after students staged a walk-out at a college formal when they found out Mr Liddle was about to speak. It prompted the professor to say 'pathetic', though he later apologised. Students then held a protest, holding up posters reading 'Luckhurst out', and threatened to 'hit the university financially' by withholding annual fees. Mr Liddle said the views in it, including that the Left are ignoring science over trans issues, are held by many respected academics. The university then released a statement on Twitter saying it stood shoulder to shoulder with Seun Twins, President of the Durham Students Union, one of the those who has strongly opposed Professor Luckhurst. Many senior academics also threw their weight behind the student campaign. The Durham statement issued last night said the inquiry was 'carried out in line with established university policies and procedures'. It continued: 'That investigation has now concluded and a number of recommendations have been made. 'It would be inappropriate to comment on what remains a confidential and ongoing process.' With growth in downtown Allentown and lagging caseloads elsewhere, Lehigh County Court officials are proposing a plan to realign district courts that includes closing the court in Emmaus and opening a new one in the city. The proposal, published Tuesday is open to comments for 30 days and if state officials sign off on the plan, residents in parts of Allentown, Emmaus, Lower Macungie and Macungie would get new locations to pay parking tickets and traffic fines, file small civil claims and address other legal matters at the district court level. Advertisement The goal of the plan is to equalize caseloads in the district courts across Lehigh County. It also takes into account the changes in population according to the 2020 Census, revitalization projects in Allentown and increased parking enforcement in the city, according to a letter from President Judge Brian Johnson to the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. Lehigh County has seen an 8% population increase since 2010, with more than a quarter of the growth in Allentown. And while district court filings have dropped overall since 2014, the courts in Allentown saw a 40% increase in filings. The number of parking citations issued in Allentown increased 64% in the last five years. Advertisement The proposed redistricting would eliminate the district court at 106 Main St. in Emmaus, where District Judge Donna Butler presides. The district sees 38% fewer cases than the county average, according to the letter. Last Call Daily Get top headlines from The Morning Call delivered weekday afternoons. > Judge Daniel Trexlers district court at 21 N. Main St. in Coopersburg, which sees about half as many cases as the county average, would absorb Emmaus and Macungie, while Judge Michael Faulkners court at 5925 Tilghman St. would absorb Lower Macungie Township putting both courts close to the county average. The letter notes the areas covered by four Allentown district courts have been the focus of intense residential and commercial growth with the construction of hundreds of new apartments recently completed or planned. The waterfront project along the Lehigh River is also expected to be developed with hotels, office and retail space, apartments and recreational trails. The new court would cover the citys 6th Ward, which includes the area between Jordan Creek and the Lehigh River north of Gordon Street, and the 10th Ward, which includes the area between North Seventh Street and Jordan Creek north of Liberty Street. The Sixth Ward is currently covered by Judge Linda Vegas court at 1201 Sumner Ave. and the 10th Ward is covered by Judge Karen Devines court at 14 N. Sixth Street. Both courts have caseloads between 26% and 33% larger than the average for Lehigh County. The caseload is expected to increase further as a result of the Allentown Parking Authoritys increased parking enforcement initiatives. Allentowns Second Ward, which includes the area between South Seventh Street and Jordan Creek and between Hamilton Street and the Little Lehigh River would be moved to Devines court downtown to improve pedestrian access. The Second Ward is covered by Judge David Howells court at 1501 Lehigh St., more than two miles away. Comments on the proposal should be submitted to Magisterial District Judge Administrator Carolynn Perry at carolynnperry@lehighcounty.org or by mail at the Lehigh County Courthouse, 455 W. Hamilton St., Allentown, PA 18101 by Feb. 24. Morning Call reporter Peter Hall can be reached at 610-820-6581 or peter.hall@mcall.com. The Kremlin is pumping out disinformation saying Nato troops are in Ukraine preparing to attack Russian allies and facilities. It claims the alliances soldiers are involved in fighting against Moscow-backed separatists in the long-running war in the Donbas region. Security experts warn the barrage of fake news, designed to harden opinion at home and spread confusion abroad, exceeds even the levels in 2014 before Moscow seized Crimea and fostered insurgencies in the Donbas. Maria Avdeeva said the propaganda often starting on the messaging service Telegram showed the gravity of the Russian threat. Every day, channels on Telegram come up with new evidence aimed at showing how Ukrainian forces alone, or with help of allies such as the US, Canada and Britain, are preparing different sorts of provocation, added the analyst. After that, the messages migrate to the Russian mainstream media. The Kremlin is pumping out disinformation saying Nato troops are in Ukraine preparing to attack Russian allies and facilities Tanks are positioned in a military district which borders the Ukraine amid escalating tensions between the two nations Kremlin propaganda creates Ukraine as an enemy, an aggressor preparing an attack on the Russian people. At the same time, the disinformation campaign creates grounds for a possible full-scale military invasion. Pro-Kremlin bloggers claimed on Tuesday that 150 UK special forces troops had arrived in Kramatorsk, a town close to the border with the breakaway republic of Donetsk. British specialists arrived at the military airport about a week ago, local residents often see them in the city, the British do not hide their affiliation, wrote Semyon Pegov. The notorious blogger has 179,000 followers on the Telegram channel WarGonzo. The same source led to an item being posted by RT, the Russian state broadcaster, that alleged: Weve received intelligence reports that Ukraine is training special groups. There are six of them. The British are directly involved with them as instructors. Pegov was quoted as saying the teams were planning sabotage attacks on social facilities, along with terrorist assaults on chemical plants in the breakaway zones. Russian forces are pictured launching rockets during their artillery drills in the Kemerovo region RT claimed the units disguised as Russian special forces and pro-Moscow militia would film the attacks and then a bogus Ukrainian defector would tell Western media that the provocations were made by Russia. Other sources, many thought to be fronts for Russian security services, have spread incendiary stories about Western-linked sabotage groups preparing to attack Russia and its stooges who run Donbas. One quoted a prominent figure in the Donetsk Peoples Republic saying militants tied to Western special forces had arrived on the front line. Red Spring, a Russia-based information agency, has reported that the war in Donbas is being waged not only by the regular army of Donbas but by the British SAS and Turkish specialists. Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the British governments commons foreign affairs committee, said: Lies about foreign troops, or cross-border attacks, are not just told to be believed but to provide just enough excuse for those who want to side with Moscow and Putins aggression that their assault on Ukraine is justified. The partner of Olympic snowboarder Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin has revealed new, heart-wrenching details about the moment she discovered he had died in the surf. Speaking to the Australian Women's Weekly, Ellidy Pullin recalled the moment when she was told about 'an incident down at the beach' by a neighbour. 'Initially, I felt a bit of a shiver but I thought, 'It's not Chumpy, it can't be Chumpy',' Ellidy remembered. 'Then I went, 'No, I need to go down there.' I just didn't have a good feeling about it.' Pullin, 32, drowned at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast on July 8, 2020. It's believed he was spearfishing by himself at an artificial reef at the beach when he was spotted on the ocean floor by a snorkeler. He was a two-time boardercross world champion and had represented Australia at three Winter Olympics. In an interview with Australian Women's Weekly, Ellidy Pullin (left) recalled the moment on July 8, 2020 when she discovered her partner, Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin (right), had drowned Ellidy gave birth to their first child, Minnie Alex (pictured), conceived with sperm posthumously taken from the former Olympian, in October 2021 Ellidy recalled arriving at the beach and telling a policeman that her partner was out diving. She then confirmed to police Pullin had a large axe inked on his ribs when they asked if her partner had a distinctive tattoo. Ellidy said she will 'never forget' the look on the police officer's face in response. 'The feeling was my heart shattering before my brain even knew. He obviously held his breath for a second too long and blacked out He lost consciousness peacefully.' In October last year - 15 months after Alex's passing - Ellidy gave birth to their first child, Minnie Alex, conceived with sperm posthumously taken from the former Olympian. She announced the news on her Instagram account. 'I had a baby!' she said excitedly. Ellidy said she will 'never forget' the look on the face of a police officer when she described a large axe Alex had tattooed inked on his ribs after they'd asked if her partner had a distinctive tattoo Ellidy said she had to 'hustle' to collect sperm from Pullin's body following his death. 'I didn't want Chump to just die and be gone. I felt this was bringing a part of him back,' she told AWW. 'We'd wanted a baby, and I couldn't think of anything I wanted more right then than a person I could love and cherish. 'Now that she's here, I just know that was so meant to be. I see and feel so much of Chump in her. I know I've done the right thing so wholeheartedly.' In an earlier podcast, Ellidy said it was unfair her late husband would miss out on making memories with their child. 'My grief is for Chump, he's missing out on being a dad, I see dads with their babies knowing how good he would have been,' she said. Incident unfolded just after 9am, slab of stone believed to weigh one tonne Both taken to Gold Coast University Hospital, said to be in a stable condition a n and teenage boy rushed to hospital after workplace accident on Gold Coast A man and a teenage boy have been rushed to hospital after they were pinned underneath a slab of stone at a job site. Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics were called to a workplace on Telford Circuit at Yatala on the Gold Coast just after 9am on Thursday. A boy aged in his late teens suffered a leg injury, while a man aged in his 20s sustained an ankle injury, a QAS spokeswoman confirmed. A man and a teenage boy have been rushed to hospital after they were pinned underneath a slab of stone at a job site on the Gold Coast (stock image) Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics were called to the workplace on Telford Circuit at Yatala on the Gold Coast (pictured) just after 9am on Thursday A boy aged in his late teens suffered a leg injury at the scene, while a man aged in his 20s has an ankle injury, a QAS spokeswoman confirmed The ambulance service at the scene said it was reported earlier the men had been pinned by a slab of stone weighing at least one tonne. Both are said to be in a stable condition at the Gold Coast University Hospital. New York Kathy Hochul says that she's given a warning to progressive Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg - saying she'll use her powers to stop his soft-on-crime policies. Hochul - a Democrat who is running for a full term after replacing sex pest ex-Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2021 - has said she'll be meeting Bragg for the first time on Friday. It comes as crime has risen in almost every category in New York City as fellow Democrat Eric Adams continues to propose reforms and President Joe Biden plans to visit the city to discuss the problem of gun crime with Adams. 'I know full well the powers that the governor has I'll be having a conversation very shortly to convey, to let him tell me what his plans are and make sure that we're all in alignment.' Hochul has stopped short of demanding Bragg's removal from office, but added that she will 'be monitoring the situation very closely' to the New York Post Wednesday. The pair is set to meet at Governor Hochul's Manhattan offices, which are located in Midtown. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul speaks during BAM the 36th Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr New Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg speaking at The Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City Hochul notes that despite the controversy Bragg has created, this is only his first month in office and he won an election with 83 percent of the vote. 'Everyone goes right to removal [but] this individual has only been on the job a very short time. I'm not prepared to undo the will of the people,' Hochul said. 'However, you know, there's options in terms of reassigning and making other decisions when it comes to finding out if there's certain classes that are never going to be prosecuted,' she added. The governor, who took office in August of 2021, said she's willing to hear Bragg out. 'I'd like to hear from him on whether or not there's any adjustments in his thinking and then tamp this all down, because it is very easy to point to a person or what policy is the cause of all the ills here - and that's not how I operate,' she said. 'I know it's much more complicated than that. But I know my responsibility as governor, and I have a responsibility to have that conversation.' A Democratic primary challenger to Hochul, Long Island-based Congressman Thomas Suozzi, has promised to remove Bragg from the DA's office if he wins. Potential Republican challenger to Hochul, Congressman Lee Zeldin, has also promised to remove Bragg should he win in November. New York City has faced an increase in crime recently, as have most cities across America. Through January 23, overall crimes are up 38 percent across the city. While murders are down, felony assaults, shootings, rapes and robberies have all seen double digit percentage increases. Hochul would not discuss whether she supports Eric Adams' plan to amend the states controversial bail-reform laws. Democratic leaders in the state legislature more or less immediately dismissed Adams' proposal. Governor Hochul refused to say whether she would discuss New York City Mayor Eric Adams' plan to amend the state's controversial bail reform laws President Joe Biden will visit New York City next week to discuss combating gun crime with Mayor Eric Adams, a meeting that will follow the recent fatal shooting of two city police officers. The White House said Biden planned during the Feb. 3 meeting to discuss his administration's 'comprehensive strategy' to combat gun crime, including increased funding for cities and states to hire more police officers and pay for community violence prevention and intervention programs. The strategy also includes beefing up federal law enforcement efforts against gun traffickers, the White House said. Biden spoke with Adams by telephone on Monday night to offer his condolences over last Friday's shooting of two New York Police Department officers, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said this week. Officer Jason Rivera, 22, died the night of the shooting. His partner, Wilbert Mora, 27, was removed from life support on Tuesday, four days after the officers were fatally wounded after they were called to a Harlem apartment by a woman who said she needed help with her adult son. Authorities said the man, Lashawn J. McNeil, 47, opened a bedroom door and shot the officers as they walked down a narrow hall. A third officer shot McNeil as he tried to flee. McNeil died Monday. President Joe Biden will travel to New York City next week to discuss gun crime with the city's new mayor, Eric Adams, in the aftermath of a fatal shooting of two NYPD officers Authorities say Lashawn McNeil opened a bedroom door and shot NYPD officers Jason Rivera (left) and Wilbert Mora (right). Rivera died the night of the shooting, while Mora was removed from life support Tuesday Gun crime isn't the only problem, as subway attacks and some of the thefts that cities on the west coast have faced have also plagued New York. NYPD arrested a homeless man accused of shoving an Asian woman to her death in front an oncoming subway train in Times Square on January 15. Simon Martial, 61, is charged with second-degree murder after the incident 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. Meanwhile, Brazen thieves have been hitting the same Upper East Side Rite Aid for months, forcing it to close - and now, numerous small businesses in the upscale Manhattan neighborhood, where residents say they are on high alert because of rising crime, are worried they will soon suffer the same fate after a string of thefts. Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15, the manager told DailyMail.com, a day after a thief was caught on video boldly sauntering out with shopping bags full of stolen goods. The brazen incident in one of New York City's wealthiest neighborhoods was only captured on camera because actor and comedian Michael Rapaport had stopped by to pick up his prescription mood stabilizers. He said it was 'pathetic' that brazen crime continues to spiral in the Big Apple because of soft-on-crime policies. 'These criminals know there are no ramifications. We have to put more of these mfers in jail,' he fumed to DailyMail.com. The Rite Aid's closure is just one of many in the city. On February 8, a Hell's Kitchen store which has been rife with robberies in recent months will close, and on the Upper West Side, another store which experienced daily thefts shut down in November. Just this week, there was news that a Rite Aid located at Clinton Joralemon Streets in the Brooklyn Heights is also set to close next month. The chain announced last year that it was shutting down about 63 stores across the US in the next few years, citing cost-cutting measures to save $25 million a year - but workers say that the thefts are part of the reason for the closures as inventory dwindles. Crime in the city has become so rampant that President Joe Biden will visit New York City next week to discuss combatting gun crime with Mayor Eric Adams after two police officers were executed by a gunman with a long rap sheet. While Adams has said that he will stamp down on crime, and roll out the undercover anti-gun crime unit disbanded under Bill De Blasio, he still has to contend with lax policies put in place by soft-on-crime Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg who has told prosecutors to seek non-custodial sentences for many crimes, and downgraded most robberies to a misdemeanor. Meanwhile, small business owners and workers in the Upper East Side - once one of America's wealthiest zip codes - say no one is stopping the thefts and they are also being targeted on a daily basis. Sayed Imam, the store manager of Wine Emporium, for 15 years said there is little to no support from the police - and even if they call 911, by the time the cops show up, the thieves are gone. 'For us, every inventory counts,' he said. 'Since the beginning of the pandemic, these thefts just keep happening. And we don't have the support from police.' Imam added that the thieves have become so brazen because they know no one will stop them. The rampant thefts follows a trend in started in crime-ridden San Francisco where thieves last year were often seen simply waltzing past security guards to sell stolen items right outside the doors of Walgreens pharmacies. The national chain has closed 17 of its 70 San Francisco locations in the past two years because of the shelf raiders, who have swiped everything not behind lock and key. Thefts in the chain's 53 remaining stores are five times the average for their stores elsewhere in the country, according to company officials. Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15, the manager told DailyMail.com, a day after a thief was caught on video boldly sauntering out with shopping bags full of stolen goods Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33 percent in the week ending on January 23, according to the NYPD's most recent data, with 944 incidents compared to 709 incidents reported during the same timeframe last year. Overall crime has gone up by nearly 39 percent, with 7,230 incidents this year as compared to last year's 5,211 Empty shelves are seen at Rite Aid on the Upper East Side just three weeks before they're set to close. The store's closure is just one of many in the city. On February 8, a Hell's Kitchen store which has been rife with robberies in recent months will close, and on the Upper West Side, another store which experienced daily thefts shut down in November A 31-year-old father of two has undergone open heart surgery to fit a pump that will only keep him alive another five years after he was refused a transplant because he would not get vaccinated against COVID-19. DJ Ferguson underwent a procedure to fit a mechanical heart pump, called a left ventricular assist device, which will last for up to five years. The device was fitted at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston, where Ferguson was admitted in November, suffering from a hereditary heart condition that causes his lungs and heart to fill with blood and fluid. On Wednesday night his mother, Tracey; father, David; and girlfriend Heather Dawson - the mother of his children - told Fox News of their devastation at the hospital's refusal to grant Ferguson a transplant. David Ferguson said that the grueling open heart surgery was a last resort, and a poor alternative to a transplant. 'He had to get the vaccine in order to get that transplant,' he told Tucker Carlson. 'His heart deteriorated so much, so quickly, that they had to resort to open heart surgery and doing the L-VAD (left ventricular assist device) mechanical pump,' he explained. 'So now my boy has a pump - he's in recovery. He went through seven hours of surgery.' His mother, from Mendon, 30 miles southwest of Boston, said: 'We are devastated by the news. 'He just got out of open heart surgery yesterday, he had to have a valve put in place. 'Now he is in need of a transplant. 'So I find myself - you know, you are sad.' Tucker Carlson on Wednesday night spoke to Heather Dawson, the girlfriend of DJ Ferguson, and Ferguson's parents Tracey and David Ferguson, 31, underwent open heart surgery on Tuesday, his family said Ferguson is seen with his girlfriend Heather Dawson, the mother of his two children DJ Ferguson, 31 (pictured) has a hereditary heart condition that causes his lungs and heart to fill with blood and fluid without intervention from intravenous medication. He has been denied a life-saving heart transplant because he refuses to get vaccinated against COVID-19 Factors that can disqualify patients from organ transplants Not being vaccinated for COVID Untreated psychological disorders, like schizophrenia, that could prevent the patient from properly caring for themselves after the transplant A high risk of abusing alcohol after the transplant Active cigarette smoking within six months of the prospective transplant Substance abuse Obesity Severe local or systemic infection Cancer in the last 5 years except localized skin (not melanoma) or stage I breast or prostate HIV/AIDS Age appropriateness (for example, heart transplant recipients should not be more than 70 years of age, according to John Hopkins University guidelines) Inability to make a strong commitment to transplantation Insulin-requiring diabetes mellitus with end-organ damage Irreversible renal failure Acute pulmonary thromboembolism Inability to pay for transplant or post-operative care Advertisement Asked by Carlson how she felt, she replied: 'Where this leaves me? 'It leaves me just hopeful right now.' Earlier, she told ABC News her son was not an anti-vaxxer. 'He's not an anti-vaxxer. He has all of his vaccines, and he's an informed patient who is concerned because of his current cardiac crisis,' she said. Her son is concerned about the potential for the COVID vaccine to cause an inflammation of the heart. Doctors say, however, that the risk of getting infected by COVID is far more serious than any temporary risk of heart inflammation. Furthermore, after a transplant the immune system is essentially shut off, to prevent the transplanted organ being rejected - rendering the patient extremely vulnerable. David Ferguson said their son was an anti-vaxxer. He said previously that getting vaccinated is 'kind of against his basic principles' and that his son 'doesn't believe in it.' 'I think my boy is fighting pretty damn courageously and he has integrity and principles he really believes in - and that makes me respect him all the more,' he said. 'It's his body. It's his choice.' Ferguson's girlfriend Heather Dawson said on Wednesday the ordeal had been 'terrible'. 'It sucks because his nurses are amazing,' she told Carlson. 'They have been amazing to him. His doctors have been amazing to him. Boston Brigham and Women's Hospital (pictured) removed Ferguson from its donor list because has not gotten the COVID-19 vaccine and said in a statement that their aim is to 'create both the best chance for successful operation and also the patient's survival after transplantation' 'But having that dangled over her head at the very last minute, after he had been through all the testing, after he received his letter saying that he was accepted onto the transplant list... 'It is just so disheartening that they would hang out over his head right the last moment.' The hospital said it removed Ferguson from the donor list because all transplant recipients needed to be vaccinated in order to 'create both the best chance for successful operation and also the patient's survival after transplantation.' Dawson, in an appeal for funds to support the family, said Ferguson was already 'high risk' for the vaccine due to his swollen heart. 'He is at extremely high risk of sudden death if it does,' she wrote, of fears his heart could swell. 'We are literally in a corner right now. This is extremely time sensitive. 'We're being pressured to choose a shot that could kill him. 'This is not just a political issue. People need to have a choice!' she said. Ferguson (right) is pictured with his girlfriend, Heather Dawson, and their two children Ferguson's family is considering moving him to another hospital, but he may not be able to be moved in his condition 'After almost 50 days in the hospital with no answers, DJ was finally seen by some of the best cardiac specialists last week,' Dawson updated on GoFundMe. 'After running countless tests and scans we learned that DJ is now in severe end stage heart failure, meaning that he is going to need a heart transplant to live. 'On top of the heart failure his heart is extremely swollen and dilated. Which puts him at high risk of cardiac arrest,' she said. 'The bad news is that the transplant board will not actively list him due to his vaccination status.' The hospital, which has a list of protocols for transplant candidates that includes a ban on lifestyle choices like smoking and alcohol, said requiring the COVID-19 vaccine is common at many medical center's throughout the country. The mortality rate for transplant recipients who fall ill with COVID is more than 20 percent, according to UCHealth. Dr. Arthur Caplan, the head of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told CBS Boston that vaccination is a requirement for transplants because, after receiving a new organ, patients' immune systems are essentially switched off. 'The flu could kill you, a cold could kill you, COVID could kill you,' he said. 'The organs are scarce, we are not going to distribute them to someone who has a poor chance of living when others who are vaccinated have a better chance post-surgery of surviving.' Ferguson is not the first patient in need of a transplant who has been denied due to their vaccination status. In October, Leilani Lutali of Colorado, 56, was taken off the transplant list at a University of Colorado Health hospital because she and her prospective kidney donor Jaimee Fougner, 45, had not received the COVID-19 vaccine. In October, Leilani Lutali of Colorado, 56 (pictured), was taken off the transplant list at a University of Colorado Health hospital because she and her prospective kidney donor hadn't gotten the COVID-19 vaccine The pair were placed on a list for those who are 'non-compliant by not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.' Lutali, a Born-again Christian, has refused to get inoculated because of the use of stem cells in developing some vaccines. 'As a Christian, I can't support anything that has to do with abortion of babies, and the sanctity of life for me is precious,' Lutali said. Fougner, Lutali's friend and potential donor, has also denied the vaccine citing religious reasons. Cells taken from elective abortions have been used to develop effective vaccines since the 1960s including current vaccines for rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis A, and shingles. None of the COVID-19 vaccines contain aborted fetal cells, as some social media users have been falsely claiming. But they did utilize fetal cell lines in their development. Ohio man Mike Ganin, who is vaccinated against COVID, was denied a kidney transplant last October because his donor hadn't received her shot. 'I don't want to get the vaccine. I've got reasons medical, religious, and also freedom,' the donor, Sue George, told WKYC. UCHealth, which operates hospitals and urgent care facilities throughout Colorado, said that the COVID-19 vaccine was one of several measures patients needed to take to give the organ the best chance of not being rejected. 'An organ transplant is a unique surgery that leads to a lifetime of specialized management to ensure an organ is not rejected, which can lead to serious complications, the need for a subsequent transplant surgery, or even death,' UCHealth told The Post at the time. 'Physicians must consider the short and long-term health risks for patients as they consider whether to recommend an organ transplant.' Some international arrivals to Western Australia - those who fly in from another state - will be able to bypass hotel quarantine entirely under a softening of hard border rules. WA has recorded 75 new local cases over the past four days as Omicron clusters emerge throughout Perth and as far south as Bunbury. The spike threatens to render the indefinite border closures redundant, with Premier Mark McGowan conceding the state has no chance of eliminating its Omicron wave as it did previous outbreaks. A strange loophole will allow international travellers to enter WA without hotel quarantine - so long as they fly in from another state A broadening of exemptions for entering WA will come into effect from February 5, the date which had previously been flagged for removing border controls. The list includes people with direct family connections in WA and locals returning from visiting relatives in the eastern states. Other people who have lived in WA within the past two years will be allowed back if they permanently relocate, as will some students and skilled workers. All arrivals still face 14 days in quarantine, including those allowed to return for funerals, to undergo urgent medical treatment or to see dying relatives. A broadening of exemptions for entering WA was announced to come into effect from February 5, the date which had previously been flagged for removing border controls, following Premiere Mark McGowan's admission that WA will not be able to eradicate Omicron Domestic arrivals can self-isolate if they have suitable premises, while direct international arrivals must spend at least a week in hotel quarantine. But the government has confirmed returned overseas travellers can bypass hotel quarantine if they fly into WA from another state. The arrangement has been panned by the industry body representing international airlines in Australia. The Board of Airline Representatives of Australia estimated there were about 20,000 West Australians overseas, with just 265 currently allowed to return each week through hotel quarantine. Under the new rules domestic arrivals can self-isolate if they have suitable premises, while direct international arrivals must spend at least a week in hotel quarantine 'The recent announcement over home quarantine arrangements via entry into other states ... is difficult to understand,' BARA executive director Barry Abrams said on Thursday. 'Why cannot the passengers simply fly direct into Western Australia and then home quarantine? And why have hotel quarantine at all then?' The premier said WA had to keep its hotel quarantine system operational because once the borders reopened, there would be infected people with nowhere to isolate. Despite questioning Mr McGowan said WA had to keep its hotel quarantine system operational until at least July or August because once the borders reopened, there would be infected people with nowhere to isolate He said the hotels would be needed until at least July or August when the federal government's Bullsbrook quarantine hub opened. Mr McGowan insisted his controversial decision to delay reopening the borders would buy valuable time for people to get their boosters. 'Slowing the spread of Omicron, by updating our transition plan and rapidly driving up our third dose vaccination rate, will save scores of lives and give us the best chance to minimise the number of people hospitalised and on a ventilator,' he said on Thursday. 'The lives of older Western Australians matter, as well as the immunocompromised and those with underlying conditions.' Two days after the Australian government announced it had bought the copyright to the Aboriginal flag in a $20million deal, a major flag manufacturer insists it is still the 'exclusive licensee'. In a fiery statement issued on Thursday, Carroll & Richardson Flagworld (CRF) managing director Wayne Gregory slammed the government for a 'misleading' and 'confusing' announcement about the iconic banner. CRF said the exclusive licence to manufacture, promote, advertise and distribute the Aboriginal flag, banners, pennants and bunting has not been acquired by the government. But a spokeswoman for Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said it was all down to a misunderstanding and that all the relevant information was in the government's statement earlier this week. Indigenous rights activists criticised the federal government this week after it paid $20million for the copyright to the Aboriginal flag (pictured: demonstrator during anti-Australia Day march in Brisbane on Wednesday) Tens of thousands of protesters marched through major cities on Australia Day against the continuation of the public holiday they call 'Invasion Day' (pictured) On Tuesday, the government announced that the Aboriginal flag 'belongs to everyone' after it completed a deal to take ownership of its copyright. Previously owned by the flag's designer Harold Thomas and a non-Indigenous clothing company, it was reported the flag was now freely available for public use. The move came after some Indigenous groups were sent cease and desist warnings for using the flag in an apparent breach of copyright. But on Thursday, CRF - a business based in Mulgrave, Victoria - said the government's statement was 'seriously misinterpreted in media reporting and community reaction'. Individuals can make their own flag for personal use, the company said, but such flags cannot be sold or given away to others as this infringes the licence which is held by Carroll & Richardson Flagworld. On Tuesday, the government announced that the Aboriginal flag 'belongs to everyone' after it completed a deal to take ownership of its copyright CRF managing director Wayne Gregory said 'The government's announcement is misleading and confusing and does not "free the flag" except for its use on clothing, badges, pins etc or its reproduction in digital formats and on playing surfaces etc. 'The flag is NOT free to be manufactured by anyone other than the exclusive licensee, Carroll & Richardson Flagworld,' he said. CRF said it is not a party to the agreement announced by the government nor the recipient of any money associated with that agreement, except to the extent that it will now pay royalties to the government instead of paying those royalties to Mr Thomas. WHAT DOES THE ABORIGINAL FLAG REPRESENT? BLACK: represents the Aboriginal people of past, present and future RED: represents the earth and a spiritual relationship to the land YELLOW: represents the sun, giver of life Advertisement But a spokesperson for Mr Wyatt said all of this was contained in his joint statement with the Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday. 'The media release ... included specific examples of what was and was not permitted in order to assist the media, and through them the public, to understand the changes to the ownership of the copyright of the flag,' they told Daily Mail Australia. Mr Wyatt's spokesperson also said the office outlined Flagworlds continuing licence for the commercial production of flags and bunting. 'Despite the inclusion in the media release, we appreciate Flagworlds concern that the details of their continuing world-wide exclusive licence have not been widely reported by the media. 'The Government will continue to ensure the details are communicated broadly, including being built into the information/education portal that will be produced as part of the agreement.' The minister's office said that if someone wants to buy an Aboriginal flag, pennant, banner or bunting to display, wave, drape around themselves, place on a flagpole or otherwise string up, then they will need to purchase it from Flagworld or one of their licenced resellers. 'People will be permitted to make their own flag for their own personal use, but they cannot manufacture or produce the flag for giving away or on-selling,' the spokesperson said. The government also said that as part of the copyright transfer, Mr Thomas will retain his moral rights over the flag. The Commonwealth also agreed all future royalties the government receives from Flagworlds sale of the flag will be put towards the ongoing work of NAIDOC (an observance lasting from the first to the second Sunday every July, honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people). 'In reaching this agreement to resolve the copyright issues, all Australians can freely display and use the flag to celebrate Indigenous culture,' Mr Wyatt said. Indigenous man Harold Thomas (pictured) designed the Aboriginal flag in 1971 'Now that the Commonwealth holds the copyright, it belongs to everyone, and no one can take it away.' Mr Thomas said 'I hope that this arrangement provides comfort to all Aboriginal people and Australians to use the flag, unaltered, proudly and without restriction.' But CRF said it will continue to protect its position and 'will take legal action against any parties found to be infringing the licence by including the copyright design in any flag, banner, pennant and/or bunting that such parties manufacture, import and/or sell'. A former Miss Mississippi has told how her husband was shot dead in front of her and their two-year-old son in an unprovoked attack, while he was preaching in a rough part of Montgomery. Christine Kozlowski Hand, 33, who is pregnant with their second child, told DailyMail.com that her husband, Thomas Hand, 37, had not interacted with his assailant before Saturday's attack. 'What you said is true. It was a complete random act of violence,' she said. Hand, a bodybuilder and born-again Christian, was pronounced dead at the scene in the Alabama city. He had ventured to the rough Alabama neighborhood with his family to educate impoverished strangers about the powers of God, his friends and family said - just days after the couple celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary. They said a mumbling man walked up and shot him. A 17-year-old, Jerimiah Walker, from Montgomery has been arrested and charged with his murder. 'He tried to spread the word of God, and he was shot,' longtime friend Kevin Rayan told DailyMail.com. When his father was hit, the little boy, Roman, tried to reassure him that everything would be ok. 'He said, 'Oh, you'll be okay, Dad' - that's what he told him as he was dead on the pavement,' Rayan told The Sun. Christine Kozlowski Hand is seen with her husband, Thomas, who was shot and killed on Saturday Hand and Kozlowski are pictured with their son, Roman, in this undated photo Kozlowski competed in Miss America in 2009 at age 19 and won the swimsuit competition. Right, she is seen winning her Miss Mississippi sash in 2008 The Hand family moved to the city last year to escape growing violence in the New Orleans, Louisiana suburb where they previously lived, Rayan said. 'It's crazy because he was telling me every day, 'I want to get away from this crap, go buy a house in Alabama,'' Rayan said. 'And then this happened.' Hand, a fitness buff and ex-competitive bodybuilder, discovered God in 2018 and soon became deeply religious. He and his wife, Miss Mississippi 2008, made it a Saturday tradition to visit low-income areas in Alabama and share religious teachings. Walker is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Facility. Police did not immediately disclose the motive or details of the January 22 murder, which happened about 4:30 p.m. on the 3100 block of Texas Street. Hand Jr. was a competitive bodybuilder and the 2010 Mr New Orleans, according to his company's website Daryl Bailey, Montgomery County District Attorney, said on Monday that the city was 'under siege' by criminals following a weekend of violence in Alabama's capital. Bailey told WFSA the latest shootings are 'way too much'. He said: 'I spent my entire weekend dealing with the violent crime in Montgomery, going to crime scenes, or on the phone with law enforcement. 'The city of Montgomery is under siege, and we have got to address these issues.' There were at least 75 homicides in 2021, the outlet reported, with interim police Chief Ramona Harris calling it 'one of the highest number's we've seen in Montgomery.' The city recorded 68 murders in 2020 and 42 killings in 2019. The couple moved to Alabama to escape growing violence in the New Orleans area, where they previously lived They met at a Louisiana gym and 'it was love at first sight,' a friend said Hand and Kozlowski, from D'Iberville, Mississippi, married in 2016. She had won the state pageant in 2008. She competed in Miss America the following year at age 19 and won the swimsuit competition. The couple met at a gym, longtime friend Luke Lemus, 48, told DailyMail.com. 'It was love at first sight,' he said. 'They just hit it off. They started their life together from that point on. They were inseparable from the day they met.' Hand, who has a biological child and a stepchild from a previous marriage, discovered God in 2018, a few years after marrying Christine, Lemus said. He since became passionate about studying the Bible, enlightening others about Christianity, and hoped to one day become a preacher. 'He started going to church, went and got saved,' he said. 'He studied the Bible day in and day-out.' Added Lemus: 'It's a huge tragedy, not only to his wife, but we lost a very dear friend, as well. Heaven definitely gained an angel. It's selfish to think we wish we could have it back.' The couple shares a two-year-old son Roman, whom Christine was pregnant with in this file photo. She's now pregnant with their second child 'They were inseparable from the day they met,' a family friend said of the couple The former beauty queen was previously married to Bradley Chisenhall, who proposed to her during a One Direction concert in 2014 in an event band front man Harry Styles helped orchestrate. They divorced within a year. She confirmed her husband's death on Facebook, where she thanked friends for their love and support, and asked them to continue supporting their business, supplement company Hand Nutrition. 'I'm just overwhelmed with all the questions and retelling of the details of what happened,' she wrote. 'I will at a later date release more information to explain everything to everyone.' She added: 'Also for all of his loyal and cherished customers at Hand Nutrition the company will continue to serve you guys and we ask that you stick with us as this will be our only means of support for our son and baby to be. 'We need your support now more than ever.' She said the company will relocate to her hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi. Hand Jr. was a competitive bodybuilder and the 2010 Mr. New Orleans, according to his company's website, where he wrote: 'Like the old saying goes and it couldn't be more true, 'without your health, you have nothing.' 'Maintaining an active lifestyle and good wellbeing is very important to me.' He started his supplement company to 'be able to use my own products so that I am sure of what I am putting into my body.' In 2016, Hand Jr. married former Miss Mississippi Christine Kozlowski Hand Christine Kozlowski Hand was named Miss Mississippi in 2008 Hand Jr. started his supplement company to 'to be able to use my own products so that I am sure of what I am putting into my body,' he wrote Pictured: Hand Jr. (left) and longtime friend Luke Lemus (right) during their bodybuilding days in an undated photo The couple married in 2016. Of her husband's murder, the former beauty queen says 'I'm just overwhelmed with all the questions and retelling of the details of what happened' Police have released surveillance footage of the suspect accused of shoving a 62-year-old man onto the subway tracks on Sunday, just weeks after a woman was killed in a similar assault, prompting New York City officials to call for platform barriers at subway stations. The New York Police Departments Crime Stoppers unit released surveillance footage on Wednesday of a man in a black hoodie leaving a subway station shortly after the assault at the A/C platform at Fulton Street Station. The unidentified man allegedly approached a 62-year-old man from behind and pushed him onto the tracks as a train was entering the station. The victim luckily knew to hide in a space under the platform to avoid being hit, but wasnt quick enough and was slammed by part of the train. He suffered a laceration and bruising to his left leg before he escaped the tracks and treated his wounds at New York Downtown Hospital. It is unclear if the victim knew his aggressor, and what - if anything - prompted the attack. Police on Wednesday released footage and photos of the above suspect accused of shoving a 62-year-old man onto the subway tracks on Sunday The unidentified man allegedly approached a 62-year-old man from behind and pushed him onto the tracks as a train was entering the station The assault comes as transit crimes are skyrocketing, with numerous incidents reported this week alone. The police released the footage of the subway pusher the same day transit officers intercepted an argument between a 17-year-old with a gun and an unidentified straphanger. Police said officers arrested the teen, but did not release further details about the incident. Right place, right time! Today, @NYPDTransitofficers were strategically deployed to patrol the platform at the Times Square subway station. They were alerted by a straphanger that a 17-year-old was having a dispute while holding a gun & quickly arrested him, the NYPD tweeted. In another violent incident Tuesday night, a woman was stabbed in the leg during an argument in a Harlem subway station, cops said. An unidentified man slashed the 48-year-old victim on the southbound platform of the West 125th Street station, according to police. Police are still searching for the suspect and have not released the details about the argument that led to the assault or whether the victim knew her attacker before the attack. In another violent incident Tuesday night, a woman was stabbed in the leg during an argument in a Harlem subway station, cops said. Pictured is the Fulton Street Subway station in lower Manhattan where the 62-year-old man was shoved A 61 year-old man suffered minor injuries after being shoved in front of a train at Fulton Street Subway station on Sunday (file photo) Concerns about crime ravaging the subway system peaked after Michelle Alyssa Go, 40, a senior manager at consulting conglomerate Deloitte from the Upper West Side, died after Simon Martial allegedly shoved her off the platform at West 42nd Street and Broadway at around 9:40am last Saturday, January 15. When Martial, who has a lengthy criminal history, was asked by a reporter if he had been the one to push Go, he seemingly admitted to killing the subway rider and said: 'Yes, because I'm God. Yes, I did it. I'm God. I can do it.' Speaking to the New York Post on Monday, Martial's older sister, Josette Simon, from Georgia, argued that her brother belonged in a mental health facility and should have been kept off the streets. Meanwhile, Manhattan officials are calling on New York City's MTA to 'move as quickly as possible' and begin the testing of the protective barriers. The MTA has been resistant to bring in the barriers saying that it would be complicated to implement at many stations. 'The density and crowding of subways here makes our stations more vulnerable,' Borough President Mark Levine said to the New York Post. The assault came just weeks after Michelle Go (above) died on January 15 after she was shoved off the subway platform at West 42nd Street and Broadway On Tuesday, transit officers intercepted an argument between a 17-year-old with a gun and an unidentified straphanger. They arrested the teen and confiscated the gun, pictured above New York City subway is to look at bringing in platform barriers at subway stations in Manhattan after the 62-year-old man and Go were shoved onto the tracks. Pictured, the Beijing subway 'It's true that we have a huge number of needs and finite resources, but this would amount to a small fraction of the capital budget.' Levine said the screen doors 'must be given the priority they deserve, studied, and funded for installation,' in a letter to MTA Chair Janno Lieber. 'Each year, hundreds of New Yorkers enter subway tracks via accidental fall, trespassing, suicide attempts, and, in rare cases, being pushed. The tragic loss of Michelle Go on January 15th is but the most recent painful example,' the letter stated. The idea of introducing the screens was last examined in 2019 by the MTA which concluded that the doors would only be able to be installed at 128 of the subway system's 472 stations at a cost of more than $7 billion. 'There are some physical constraints,' Lieber said during an interview on Sunday. 'But we're studying it again, and we are interested in seeing whether there are opportunities to install it, especially in some of the more, the busier stations where you get a little more crowded. New York's new mayor Eric Adams promised to tackle 'unrealistic laws' he's blamed for a 'sea of crime.' 'This is not just about preventing people from being pushed on the tracks which is horrific but, thank God, rare. It's also about preventing people from falling, from dropping their iPhones on the tracks, from suicide attempts. And it will prevent delays, because one of the main causes of delays is track fires.' Subway barriers are in use across the world including the London Underground. The barriers are also in use across Asia with Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo subway systems all employing their usage. The barriers are also in use in Dubai, Singapore, Seoul and Shanghai. New York's new mayor Eric Adams promised to tackle 'unrealistic laws' he's blamed for a 'sea of crime.' 'We're going to go after the underlying reasons you're seeing crime in our city.. This is a sea of crime that is being fed by many rivers, and we have to dam each one of those rivers,' Adams told CNN Sunday. 'We've been unsuccessful to do throughout the years. These crimes did not start during my administration. They have been here for too long, in many parts of our community. We have to go after those laws, which are not realistic,' he told CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday. It is unclear what specific laws Adams was referring to, but he went on to decry the 'flow of guns' in the city and the failure to 'educate black and brown children in the city of New York, if not in the rest of the country.' Asked for a specific law that would reassure nervous New Yorkers, he cited plans to flood the city's streets with plain clothed offices to tackle gun crime. Adams' comments come as crime in the new year is up over 35 percent from the same time last year. Transit crimes are already up 65 percent in 2022, with 96 crimes taking place in the first 16 days of the year, compared to only 58 in the same period last year, according to New York Police Department crime statistics released on Tuesday afternoon. Oklahoma executed a man Thursday for the brutal slayings of two hotel workers during a robbery in 2001 in the nation's first execution this year. Donald Grant, 46, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was declared dead at 10:16 am. 'Yo, God, I got this,' Grant said while lying strapped to the gurney, delivering his disjointed last words for two minutes. 'No medication. I didn't take nothing. Brooklyn for life.' Grant, who grew up in foster homes in Brooklyn, blamed the devil for killing Brenda McElyea, 29, and Felicia Suzette Smith, 43 - and then offered an apology. 'First and foremost, I'd like to express my sincere deep regrets and remorse for my actions.' said Grant, who at one point appeared to have tears roll down his face. 'I know words can't bring them back. I understand I can't change that. You know, I wish I could and everything.' The killer had requested a last meal on Wednesday of sesame chicken and shrimp fried rice, along with six egg rolls. He also asked for a large apple fritter, or if that dessert wasn't available, three pints of strawberry ice cream. Donald Grant, 46, received a lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester and was declared dead at 10:16 a.m. Before his injection, Grant blamed the devil for the killings of his victims, Brenda McElyea, 29 (left), and Felicia Suzette Smith, 43 (right) It was the third execution in Oklahoma since the state resumed lethal injections in October following a nearly seven-year hiatus. Even after Grant was told his two minutes to deliver his last words had ended and the microphone inside the execution chamber was turned off, Grant continued to speak to about seven witnesses who attended the execution on his behalf. Including members of the press, there were 18 total witnesses to the procedure. After injection was first administered at 10.03 am, witnesses said that Grant mouthed the words 'hold it down, hold the fort down, Ill be back' to his family members bearing witness. A few minutes later at 10.06am, Grant's eyelids began to droop and he appeared to be sleeping. After a doctor entered the room to conduct a consciousness check, rubbing his sternum and calling his name, Grant could be heard snoring as a prison official declared him unconscious at 10:09am. He appeared to stop breathing about two minutes later. 'The States execution of Donald Grant was carried out with zero complications at 10:16 this morning. Justice is now served for Brenda McElyea, Felecia Suzette Smith, and the people of Oklahoma,' Oklahoma Attorney General John O'Connor said in a statement. Shirl Filcher, the sister of McElyea, said her family felt that justice had been served. Shirl Filcher (pictured center), the sister of one of Grant's victims, Brenda McElyea, said her family felt that justice had been served. 'Although Donald Grant's execution does not bring Brenda back, it allows us all to finally move forward knowing justice was served,' Filcher said after witnessing his execution. 'There was a time that there was doubt that justice would ever be served, and now there is none.' Today marks 20 years, six months, nine days and just minutes since Brenda McElyea was taken from this world by Donald Grant, but today, justice was served, Filcher said. 'Brenda's father Walter McElyea's dying wish was for justice to be served, and although he did not live to see it, I know he is rejoicing today.' '[Now] we can move forward, and the memories of the murder, the trial and the years spent waiting can be replaced with happier memories of Brenda, memories of her laughter, her smile, her wit, her charm and her loving heart. I, for one, am ready to remember the beauty of my sister instead of reliving the brutality of her death.' Grant had asked a federal judge to temporarily halt his execution, arguing that he should be reinstated as a plaintiff in a separate lawsuit challenging Oklahomas three-drug lethal injection protocol as presenting a risk of unconstitutional pain and suffering. But both a federal judge and a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver previously denied that request. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Grants request on Wednesday. Several Oklahoma death row inmates with pending execution dates have sought to delay their executions after John Grant convulsed on the gurney and vomited after receiving the first dose of midazolam, a sedative, during his October execution. John Grant's execution was the state's first since problems with the state's lethal injection protocols in 2014 and 2015 led to a de facto moratorium. This file photo shows the gurney in the the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. 'Yo, God, I got this,' Grant said while lying strapped to the gurney, delivering his disjointed last words for two minutes. 'No medication. I didn't take nothing. Brooklyn for life' Richard Glossip was just hours away from being executed in September 2015 when prison officials realized they received the wrong lethal drug. It was later learned the same wrong drug had been used to execute an inmate in January 2015. The drug mix-ups followed a botched execution in April 2014 in which inmate Clayton Lockett struggled on a gurney before dying 43 minutes into his lethal injection - and after the states prisons chief ordered executioners to stop. During a clemency hearing in November, Grant's attorneys argued that their client was suffered from schizophrenia and brain damage, making him a candidate for clemency. But Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole board voted 4-1 to go ahead with his execution. More than 7,000 people signed a petition urging the state to grant the killer clemency. 'Donald Grant's mental illness and congenital and acquired brain damage was so severe that it took five years for Mr. Grant to be stabilized where he could somewhat assist his attorneys in his defense,' read the document. 'There was no assurance Mr Grant was even competent to be put on trial, but he was in 2005 and sentenced to death. During a clemency hearing in November, Grant's attorneys argued that their client was suffered from schizophrenia and brain damage, making him a candidate for clemency 'The jury who sentenced Mr Grant to death received limited evidence of his severe, documented mental illness. 'The jury never saw pictures of Mr Grant's visible brain damage or had an expert explain the impact this damage and his undisputed mental illness had on his crime and behavior.' Grant admitted killing McElyea and Smith so that there would be no witnesses to his robbery of the Del City hotel. He said he robbed the hotel of $1,500, and used $200 to bail his girlfriend out of jail. His girlfriend testified against him in court, saying that he bragged about what he did, and that he 'didn't have any remorse.' The women were found dead in different rooms inside the hotel on July 18 of 2001. McElyea was shot in the head. Smith was shot three times, cut repeatedly with a knife, beaten over the head and had her neck twisted. Prosecutors say both women also begged him to spare their lives before he killed them. An investigator at the time said that the crime scene was 'something out of a Stephen King movie,' according to The Oklahoman. During November's hearing, he expressed 'deep, sincere remorse' and apologized for the killings, but the states Pardon and Parole Board voted 4-1 against recommending clemency. 'I can't change that,' he said of the crime while speaking to the board. 'If I could, I would, but I can't change that.' Two of Donald Grant's attorneys, Susan Otto and Emma Rolls from the federal public defender's office, argued that he was mentally ill and had suffered brain damage that made him a candidate for mercy. They also discussed Grants childhood growing up in a New York City housing project during the crack epidemic of the 1980s, a time when he was frequently beaten and members of his family experienced alcoholism, drug addiction and mental illness. Grant is the third inmate executed in Oklahoma since the death penalty was reinstated by the state last fall In 2001, a psychologist who examined Grant reported he 'lapses into paranoid ramblings regarding the President, CIA, FBI, Congress, and, most significantly when I saw him, the United Nations being of the devil and going against the 'Five percenters' who are the "true believers."' Another psychologist who examined him in 2002 said he believed he would return to Oklahoma 16 years after his execution to initiate Armageddon. But the board also heard from members of McElyea's family, who tearfully urged them to reject clemency for him. Filcher recalled the pain she experienced when she had to tell their father that McElyea had been killed. 'I had to call my dad and tell him his daughter, his baby girl, was dead,' Filcher said. 'I had never seen him cry, but that night I heard him weep and it broke my heart.' The U.S. Supreme Court considered Thursday whether to let Alabama execute a death row inmate who claims an intellectual disability combined with the states inattention cost him a chance to avoid lethal injection. The state said it was preparing to execute Matthew Reeves, 43, in case the court allowed it to go forward as scheduled at 6 pm CST. HARRISBURG Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed a congressional map sent to him by Republican lawmakers, leaving the monumental job of picking Pennsylvanias next district lines to the state courts. In a veto message issued late Wednesday, Wolf said the map failed the test of fundamental fairness. Advertisement The people of Pennsylvania deserve a fair election map that promotes accountability and responsiveness to voters and is drawn in an open and honest way, he said. The public deserves a fair map completed in a bipartisan manner; the General Assembly failed to adopt one. The map sent to Wolf by the GOP-controlled legislature was initially drawn by Amanda Holt a noted redistricting reform advocate and former Lehigh County commissioner and championed by state Rep. Seth Grove (R., York). It was amended by Groves legislative committee after GOP members of the panel criticized how their counties were split. Advertisement It improves upon four fairness criteria outlined in a previous state Supreme Court ruling, but nonpartisan analyses show it has a partisan bias in favor of Republicans. This is truly an historic day in our state. Never in our states history has a congressional map been drawn by a resident and then approved by the Legislature, Grove said after the map was sent to the governor earlier this week. It is now up to Wolf to follow the will of the people and sign this bill into law. Every 10 years, Pennsylvania redraws its congressional boundaries to account for population changes. Because of the states sluggish growth, Pennsylvania will lose one of its 18 seats in Washington. With Wolfs veto, the state judicial system is now likely to have the final say. In response to suits filed by two groups of Pennsylvanians in December, Commonwealth Court asked the citizen petitioners, Wolf, top Republicans and Democrats, and good-government advocates to submit their own proposed maps. The court will host hearings Thursday and Friday to consider 14 different proposals. It could issue a ruling as soon as Jan. 30 the original deadline it set for Wolf and the legislature to come to an agreement but redistricting observers expect the decision to be appealed to the state Supreme Court. In recent days, legislators in the state Senate said they were still working on a compromise map that all four caucuses and Wolf could agree to. But on Monday, the chambers majority leader, Sen. Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), told reporters the parties were at an impasse. Last Call Daily Get top headlines from The Morning Call delivered weekday afternoons. > And it just comes down to: We cant agree, she said. The governor is going to veto anything that is not what he produced, and the courts will wind up drawing maps. Advertisement House Republicans had criticized Wolf for not negotiating a map with lawmakers, which the Democratic governor said in December was not his role. He surprised many by releasing his own proposal on Jan. 15. Wolf had previously stated that he would veto the map advanced by Republicans if it was not amended, criticizing its lack of partisan fairness and the way it split communities of interest defined as a geographic area or group of people that share common values. Close observers of the redistricting process had predicted the congressional map was likely to be decided by the state Supreme Court, which currently has a 5-2 Democratic majority. In 2018, the high court threw out the previous cycles congressional map after finding it was a partisan gerrymander that violated the Pennsylvania Constitution. After the General Assembly and Wolf were unable to reach an agreement, the court adopted a map drawn by a Stanford professor. Currently, the states 18-member delegation is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans. WHILE YOURE HERE... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. Fox News host Dan Bongino's YouTube account has been permanently banned a week after he posted a video falsely claiming that face masks are useless in preventing the coronavirus' spread. Bongino had originally received a week-long suspension on January 15 for sharing COVID-19 misinformation. But the right-wing commentator breached the suspension period when he says he tried to upload a video titled: Why Im Leaving YouTube. YouTube reacted quickly, by issuing a permanent ban. His channel had around 871,000 subscribers earlier this month. Bongino has since announced on Twitter that he would be moving to Rumble - where his show's platform has more than 2million subscribers. According to Boningo's website, it claimed Rumble is YouTube's 'pro-speech competitor' and one Boningo has invested in. The 47-year-old's suspension earlier this month reportedly stems from a video he had posted recently where he states masks are 'useless' for stopping the spread of the coronavirus. Fox News host Dan Bongino (pictured) had his YouTube account permanently suspended after spreading misinformation over COVID-19 The Fox News host shared a linked to his website explaining that he tried to post a video on why he was leaving YouTube during his suspension theory. The talk show host will now be moving to Rumble A YouTube spokesperson declined to reveal what remark specifically prompted Bongino's suspension earlier this month. Bongino was also demonetized for at least 30 days, per YouTube's rules and guidelines. YouTube also will not allow Bongino to create a new account and anything with his name in it will not be allowed either. Earlier this month, YouTube removed Bongino's channel from its Partner Program, which allows users to monetize their content through advertising for 'repeatedly violating' guidelines on harmful and dangerous acts due to his spread of coronavirus misinformation. YouTube implemented the rule in 2020 to prohibit 'content about COVID-19 that poses a serious risk of egregious harm.' The video-sharing social media network doesn't permit videos with medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities, such as the World Health Organization. Bongino shared a picture of an email (pictured) between himself and a YouTube representative named 'Coco,' and posted it to Twitter after his infraction earlier this month The Fox News host shared a screenshot of an email between himself and a YouTube representative named 'Coco' after being suspended where he called the website, which is owned by Google, a 'tyrannical, free speech-hating, bullshit, big tech s***hole.' '[I will] immediately post content on why masks have been totally ineffective in stopping this pandemic' after his suspension is over, he told the representative, while daring YouTube to do something about it. Bongino, a former 12-year veteran of the Secret Service who once defended former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, ran for congress in 2013. 'I was behind the scenes for 12 years I've been in the room during some of the most important conversations,' Bongino told ABC News about the access he had to high-level discussions inside the White House at the time. Last year, the Washington Post profiled Bongino and his wildly successful podcast and YouTube channel, comparing his riling of the conservative base with former right-wing pundit Rush Limbaugh. Last year, Bongino feuded with his employer Cumulus Media over employee vaccinations and had even threatened to quit the show. Earlier this year, hundreds demanded Joe Rogan's podcast be removed from Spotify for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Rogan has been in and out of hot water for his controversial podcast, but the calls to remove his show came after releasing an episode with anti-vaxx doctor Robert Malone, who claimed the vaccines were 'mass formation psychosis.' Rogan, who signed a $100million deal with the streaming giant in May 2020, had the episode removed from YouTube, but it remains on Spotify. Musician Neil Young recently gave Spotify an ultimatum to remove Rogan or remove his music and it expected that Young's music will be removed from the platform. Shock jock 'Big Joe' Ellicott allegedly said that he was present for the call that informed Rep. Matt Gaetz he'd reportedly had sex with a minor, according to a new report. Gaetz ally Joel Greenberg, facing federal indictment, had written about the call in a letter that he penned after asking Roger Stone to help him obtain a pardon from then-President Trump. Greenberg said he discovered that a girl that both he and Gaetz had allegedly had 'sexual activities' with was 17 at the time, and 'immediately I called the congressman and warned him to stay clear of this person and informed him she was underage.' Sources told The Daily Beast that Ellicott, another of Gaetz's friends, could back up the allegation, because he was in Greenberg's office when Gaetz got the call. Ellicott - a former radio shock jock and a longtime friend of Greenberg - pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud and distribution of a controlled substance. United States Representative Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida Former Seminole County, Florida, tax collector Joel Greenberg has alleged that he told Gaetz the girl they had sex with was underage 'Big Joe' Ellicott - a former radio shock jock and ally of Greenberg in the Seminole County tax office - allegedly was in the room when Greenberg called Gaetz to tell him they'd paid the underage girl for sex According to The Daily Beast, the sources could not confirm whether Ellicott discussed the call with investigators but said it would be of interest, as it would match the claim Greenberg made separately in a confession letter. In the letter, according to the report, Greenberg claimed he, Gaetz and others had sex with a minor they believed at the time was 19 years old. Greenberg claims he first learned the girl was underage after he received an anonymous tip September 4, 2017 and confirmed by improperly getting the teen's information from a state drivers' license database. 'Immediately I called the congressman and warned him to stay clear of this person and informed him she was underage,' Greenberg wrote He reportedly stated that Gaetz was 'equally shocked and disturbed by this revelation.' Ellicott was allegedly in the room when the call happened. Ellicott's attorneys declined to comment. 'There was no further contact with this individual until after her 18th birthday,' Greenberg added. Greenberg had been facing 33 counts with a maximum of life behind bars but his plea deal, filed in May 2021, reveals he has reached a deal to plead guilty to just six of those charges; sex trafficking a child, using a fake ID, identity theft, wire fraud, stalking and conspiring to commit a crime against the US. Gaetz, 38, and his fiancee Ginger Luckey, 26, in a photo shared on Twitter by Gaetz on December 10 under a photograph of Ronald Reagan Gaetz and Greenberg seen here in 2018 with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis The plea deal doesn't specify his sentence but it does confirm he will cooperate with the ongoing investigation into Gaetz, and testify at court if necessary. The most severe charge he will plead to is paying a 17-year-old girl for sex, trafficking her across state lines and giving her drugs with other men - which is what might implicate Gaetz. 'After nearly a year of false rumors, not a shred of evidence has implicated Congressman Gaetz in wrongdoing. We remain focused on our work representing Floridians,' a spokesperson for Gaetz said in a statement. According to reports, court documents said that Ellicott served as an intermediary for a bribe and kickback scheme between Greenberg and an outside contractor after Greenberg took office in 2017. The contractor submitted inflated invoices to the tax collector's office in exchange for paying Greenberg $6,000, according to court documents. Court documents also said that Ellicott earned $5,000 over two years by selling Adderall, a drug used to treat attention deficit disorder. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, though court documents suggested prosecutors will ask for less time. Under the plea deal, Ellicott is required to pay back any money he earned illegally to Seminole County and cooperate with federal authorities in their ongoing investigation. Greenberg's plea agreement with prosecutors also requires continued cooperation with an ongoing probe into sex trafficking. His cooperation could play a role in an ongoing investigation into Gaetz, a Republican who represents much of the Florida Panhandle. Gaetz was accused of paying a 17-year-old girl for sex. He has denied the allegations and previously said they were part of an extortion plot. In March, it was revealed that Gaetz is under investigation for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl and trafficking her across state lines. Investigators are also looking into allegations he paid women for ecstasy-fueled sex at Florida hotels after being introduced to them by Greenberg. Gaetz has repeatedly denied having sex with a 17-year-old and said he has never paid for sex. He has not been charged with any crime. For prosecutors to agree to reduce the charges indicates that Greenberg has handed over information that is of significant value, legal experts told Business Insider on Thursday. Sherine Ebadi, a former FBI agent who worked on the case against the former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, said she expects Gaetz will be 'concerned' about Greenberg's plans. Roger Stone, Matt Gaetz and Joel Greenberg pictured in a selfie together in 2017. Matt Gaetz 's alleged wingman Joel Greenberg has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to six felony counts 'What Gaetz would be concerned about is if there's a cooperation agreement in this matter that involves the defendant flipping on him,' she said. 'That gets scary for coconspirators because they know someone who's either aware of their crimes or someone they co-conspired with is now working with the government.' Greenberg was first arrested on charges of identity theft and stalking a political opponent last June. An indictment alleged he mailed fake letters to his opponent's school claiming sexual misconduct. The federal investigation into him spiraled and he was charged with sex trafficking a girl between the ages of 14 and 17. In March he was further charged with embezzling $400,000 from the Seminole County tax collector's office and fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief loans, taking his total charges up to 33 felony counts. It has since emerged that Greenberg has been cooperating with federal prosecutors since December. In April, sources said he had been begging prosecutors to cut him a plea deal in exchange for turning over information on Gaetz. He has reportedly told investigators that both he and Gaetz gave women cash and gifts in exchange for sex. 'I'm sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today,' Greenberg's attorney told reporters last month. Gaetz has sought legal representation as the investigation into him appears to be ramping up. This week, sources said DOJ investigators were trying to flip a former Capitol Hill intern who is the ex-girlfriend of Gaetz. The ex-girlfriend, who is not being named publicly, was on a trip Gaetz took to the Bahamas in 2018 that allegedly involved drug use and arrangements with women, including paying them for sex. It first emerged in March that Gaetz was under investigation by the DOJ for allegedly sex trafficking a minor. Gaetz and Greenberg pictured together at the White House. Greenberg's plea agreement indicates he has valuable information for prosecutors, say legal experts Gaetz with Trump. Greenberg is said to be cooperating with federal investigators for months amid the probe into the congressman The minor is said to be the same 17-year-old girl at the center of the charges against Greenberg. Investigators are said to be looking into payments made by Greenberg to young women and the 17-year-old girl through Venmo, and claims that Gaetz also paid women for sex via payment apps. The probe into the congressman is said to have arisen out of the DOJ investigation into Greenberg and the close ties between the two men. Sources close to the DOJ probe told DailyMail.com last month that Gaetz was expected to be indicted as soon as a matter of weeks after the 17-year-old testified before a Florida grand jury saying she had sex with him before she reached the state's age of consent, which is 18. Bizarre footage has emerged of Australia's former deputy chief health officer Nick Coatsworth singing along to a 70s classic while donning an afro wig. The infectious disease expert was doing his best rendition of Leo Sayer's You Make Me Feel Like Dancing for the Can Give Day charity event for the Canberra Hospital Foundation back in 2020. Dr Coatsworth had promised he would sing at the main entrance to the Canberra Hospital if $200,000 in donations were raised, something that was quickly achieved. The real Sayer had already performed at the event revving up the crowd to donate. Bizarre footage has emerged of Australia's former deputy chief health officer Nick Coatsworth singing along to a 70s classic while donning an afro wig 'The event's been so well run. Leo Sayer is amazing,' Dr Coatsworth said at the time. 'It just makes me feel like wanting to be alive in the early '70s. I think he's got a lot of competition from me, probably more on the dancing, rather than singing front.' The amusing performance is worlds away from what many Aussies have come to know the professor as. Dr Coatsworth has been a vocal commentator on the Covid situation in Australia, regularly providing insights into cases and infection levels. Earlier this week he suggested there is little evidence to show face masks reduce the risk of Covid transmission in primary school students. Masks will be mandatory in Victoria - and 'highly recommended' in NSW - for students in Year 3 when schools return from the summer holidays on January 31. The infectious disease expert was doing his best rendition of Leo Sayer's You Make Me Feel Like Dancing for the Can Give Day charity event for the Canberra Hospital Foundation back in 2020 'I have always been pretty definite on this,' Dr Coatsworth told the Today show. 'I continue to be definite. No masks for primary school students. 'I simply don't think the evidence is there to suggest that it reduces transmission.' He admitted the issue was a 'grey area' and rules could soon change if authorities notice a significant rise in Covid cases when schools resume. 'Victoria's mandating it - that's fine. In NSW, it is optional - that's fine as well. The evidence is a grey area. Some states may choose to go a little bit further,' he said. 'The idea is let's start school. Let's get comfortable again. And then we can review some of these mitigation measures in the coming months.' Earlier this month the top doctor urged parents to 'leave fear behind' and not worry if they couldn't book their kids in to get the Covid-19 vaccine before school returns. 'I wanted to remind parents of that, that this is primarily a disease that affects adults severely and affects children mildly,' he told the Today Show. 'So if you're a parent, as I am, I don't think we need to get concerned about how quickly we get our five to 11-year-olds vaccinated, in particular, do not be concerned if you can't get an appointment before school goes back. 'I don't think I will be able to get an appointment before school goes back. I might for my kids. But I won't be concerned if that's not the case.' Advertisement This is the horrifying moment a Ukrainian National Guard soldier shoots dead five people and injures five more at a rocket factory in the country's east. Artem Ryabchuk gunned down four servicemen and one civilian woman at the Pivdenmash missile factory in Dinpro in the early hours of this morning, less than 200 miles from the Russian border where 100,000 Kremlin troops are stationed. The killing spree took place against the backdrop of an imminent Russian invasion, on the outskirts of the war-torn Donbas region which has been gripped by conflict between pro-Russian separatist rebels and government troops since 2014. The soldier, 21, started the attack at 4,30am during the issuance of weapons at the state-owned military factory before going on the run armed with a Kalashnikov, shocking CCTV footage shows. The chilling video shows the gunman lurking in a doorway before opening fire on his comrades at point blank range in an arms storeroom, before jumping over their bodies to grab more ammunition. The gunman was later detained at gunpoint after hitchhiking away from the scene of the massacre as the authorities staged an hour-long manhunt. Investigators, who are yet to establish a motive, are now probing how he passed a medical commission allowing him access to the Kalashnikov rifle and 200 rounds, and will also examine whether he faced any psychological pressures in his team. Artem Ryabchuk (pictured left, during his capture) has shot dead five people and injured five more at a military factory in Dnipro CCTV footage of the attack shows the gunman shooting dead his colleagues in a weapons room The soldier, born in 2001, went on the run armed with a Kalashnikov (right) but he has since been captured Doctors are still fighting to save the lives of the five people injured in the killing spree, police said. After he was arrested, Ryabchuk calmly told police how he killed the victims one by one, and shot the civilian woman in the head because she refused to open a door to let him leave the factory. The dead were named as Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Buganov, 34, Senior soldier Artyom Levkivskyi, 21, Junior Sergeant Oleksandr Dragan, 24, Senior Soldier Leonid Chernik, 19, and senior soldier, and civilian guard Vera Lebydinets, 35. The wounded were named as Denis Namestnik, 19, Vladislav Gulida, 22,Igor Semenchenko, 24, Zhanna Sharova, 22, and Yevgen Machula, 20. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the shooting as'terrible' and offered condolences to the victims' friends and family. 'I expect law enforcement officers to keep the public fully informed about all the circumstances of this crime,' he said, including the gunman's motives and 'how the incident was allowed to happen'. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said: 'Following my order, a commission will be set up to study the circumstances that led to these actions being taken by a 21-year-old soldier, who had been called to defend his country and be responsible for security - and not to shoot his colleagues.' In a later statement, the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR), which probes major crimes, said the gunman had contacted police himself and surrendered to officers in the town of Pidgorodne outside Dnipro. The DBR said that it launched a criminal case into negligence with the leadership of the national guard, adding the gunman faced life in jail if found guilty. Police said he had been detained in the town of Pidgorodne outside Dnipro, a city with an estimated population of around one million people. The killing spree occurred on the outskirts of the war-torn Donbas region which has been gripped by conflict between pro-Russian separatist rebels and government troops since 2014 Investigators, who are yet to establish a motive, are now probing how he passed a medical commission The chilling video shows the gunman lurking in a doorway before opening fire on his comrades at point blank range in an arms storeroom Police said he had been detained in the town of Pidgorodne outside Dnipro, a city with an estimated population of around one million people The Yuzhmash facility is an aerospace factory that produces and tests materials related to defence, aeronautics and agriculture. During the Soviet era, the factory produced intercontinental ballistic missiles but it now makes spacecraft and launch rockets. The ministry published images of the shooter with a shaved head and in military uniform, identifying him as Artemy Ryabchuk, born in 2001 in the southern region of Odessa. It said earlier it was studying the motives for the shooting and announced that the commander of the national guard, Mykola Balan, had been dispatched to the scene. Ukraine's deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko said: 'First of all, the investigation will face the question - what was the motive for committing such a terrible crime? 'The question of whether the serviceman faced a psychological pressure in the team will be studied. 'In any case, he will suffer the most severe punishment for the mass murder.' Before the shooting spree started, two of Ryabchuk's colleagues are seen on CCTV in the weapons room in the early hours before they were gunned down After killing the servicemen, the killer opens a cabinet to seize further ammunition as he continues the mass shooting before fleeing the site Doctors are still fighting to save the lives of the five people injured in the killing spree, police said after detaining the suspect Police released a photo of his capture, with Ryabchuk being held down on the snowy ground. Shootings and bullying rituals plagued militaries of former Soviet countries in the 1990s, particularly in Russia. It is a trend which rights groups say has improved but still results in suicides or murders in the ex-USSR. In Ukraine there have been incidents of violence perpetrated by veterans of the country's ongoing conflict with separatists that erupted in 2014 when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. In August last year, a veteran threatened to detonate a hand grenade inside the government headquarters and was detained. Police said that the man had been injured twice and suffered concussion during the fighting, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Among the victims of the mass shooting were Senior lieutenant Oleksandr Buganov (left), 34, and Junior sergeant Oleksandr Dragan (right), 24, The gunman is seen in the CCTV footage looking around the door of the weapons room before opening fire at point blank range Shootings and bullying rituals plagued militaries of former Soviet countries in the 1990s, particularly in Russia In 2018, four Ukrainian marines were killed in an apparent hazing incident while stationed in the country's war-torn east, with two fellow soldiers detained. The conflict has also led to a proliferation of weapons also among the civilian population. In 2020, Ukrainian police freed 13 hostages and arrested an armed man who held them on a bus for more than 12 hours, threatening to detonate an explosive device. The shooting comes amid heightened tensions across Ukraine with Russian troops stationed on the border. UK warships and fighter jets could be on the move within days to help thwart a Russian invasion. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace is understood to have requested a range of options from military chiefs in a bid to match the build-up of Moscow's forces. The shooting comes amid heightened tensions across Ukraine with Russian troops stationed on the border. Pictured: Russian military drills in Rostov yesterday The reinforcement of Nato forces in former Soviet bloc countries comes after intelligence signalled a spike in Russian troop numbers in border regions The move is significant because it was expected to come only after an attack on Ukraine. But following Nato talks yesterday, thousands of US troops are set to be deployed to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary. Washington has asked its allies, including Britain, to help provide additional manpower. US secretary of state Antony Blinken last night told Russia that the White House would never agree to its call to ban Ukraine from joining Nato. He said Washington's ambassador to Moscow had delivered a blueprint to ease tensions and avoid a Russian invasion. But the diplomat said there had been 'no concessions' on Nato membership or pulling troops out of eastern Europe another Russian demand. 'The ball is in their court,' Mr Blinken said. 'It remains up to Russia to decide how to respond. We're ready either way.' Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would 'not compromise' on its open door policy for potential members. The former Norwegian prime minister added: 'We are hoping for, and we are working for, a good solution, de-escalation, we are also prepared for the worst.' He suggested a Russian buildup near Ukraine's border had taken place 'under the disguise' of military exercises. 'Russia is in the process of deploying thousands of combat troops, hundreds of aircraft, 400 air defence systems and a lot of other very advanced capabilities,' he warned. The reinforcement of Nato forces in former Soviet bloc countries comes after intelligence signalled a spike in Russian troop numbers in border regions. It was calculated that Mr Putin had amassed 100,000 troops in striking distance of Ukraine but this has been upgraded to more than 120,000. The Daily Mail has learnt that Russian paratroopers are preparing for an airborne assault rather than a ground offensive. The Kremlin has been frustrated by mild weather melting the previously icy plains and creating a quagmire. Mid-February is considered the most likely time for any action. Advertisement Boris Johnson and Priti Patel have today condemned an 'appalling' attack on Jewish shop owners after they were launched upon by a passer-by in a 'brutal, unprovoked and anti-Semitic' assault on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day. The shocking video shows the pair locking up their shop in north London, when they are approached by a passer-by who launches an astonishing attack, knocking one to the floor and causing both to lose their kippah. The attack, which is being probed as a hate crime by police, took place in Stamford Hill - a Jewish community which last year saw a 'worrying rise' in anti-Semitic violence following escalating tension in the Middle East. It also happened just hours before the start of Holocaust Memorial Day, a solemn remembrance of those six million Jews who were systematically killed under the Nazi's anti-Semitic regime. Today police described CCTV footage of the attack, released on 'this important day', as an 'awful reminder that hate crime still exists'. The Prime Minister also described the attack as 'appalling', adding: 'I thank police for making a swift arrest. This attack is a terrible reminder, on Holocaust Memorial Day, that such prejudice is not consigned to history, but remains a very real problem in society. We must stamp out antisemitism.' Home Secretary Priti Patel echoed the sentiment, describing it as 'an absolutely despicable attack'. 'This, on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, is a sickening reminder of why we must never allow antisemitism to take root,' the Home Secretary said in a Twitter post. 'We won't tolerate abuse towards our Jewish community. Thank you to the officers who responded swiftly to make an arrest.' Meanwhile, representatives from local neighbourhood watch group Shomrim Stamford Hill say the incident was 'without a doubt' a racially motivated attack. They say the two men were punched in the face 'with great force', with one of the men suffering bruising and a fractured hand while the second man was also left badly bruised and has an eye injury. Police are investigating the incident and have confirmed they are treating it as a hate crime. An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm and remains in custody. Chief Superintendent Simon Crick said: 'On this most important day, this is an awful reminder that hate crime still exists. Pictured: This is the terrifying moment two Jewish shop owners are assaulted by a passer-by in a 'brutal, unprovoked and anti-Semitic' attack in London which was caught on CCTV cameras Video then shows the man launching an astonishing attack on the two men, knocking one to the floor and causing them to lose their kippah. Police are treating the incident as a hate crime YORK: The Reverend Canon Michael Smith, Acting Dean of York, helps light six hundred candles in the shape of the Star of David, in memory of more than 6 million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War, in the Chapter House at York Minster in York, part of York Minster's commemoration for International Holocaust Day Holocaust Memorial Day: Centenarian survivor leads the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp Communities around the world are poignantly remembering the Holocaust today - on the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz - as a centenarian survivor who lost her mother and brother at the concentration camp addresses EU lawmakers. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in November 2005 establishing the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and chose January 27 - the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. BRUSSELS: Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander sits next to President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola during a special plenary session to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium January 27, 2022 This year, survivors and politicians are warning about the resurgence of antisemitism and Holocaust denial. European Union lawmakers planned to observe a minute's silence later today and welcome centenarian Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander, 100, who was arrested in 1944 while on the run and brought to Theresienstadt, in what is now the Czech Republic. A year before, her mother and brother were deported to Auschwitz, where they were both killed. Some 200,000 children were murdered at the Nazi death camp, and just 700 youngsters remained alive when the Red Army arrived on January 27, 1945. In York, The Reverend Canon Michael Smith, Acting Dean of York, helped light six hundred candles in the shape of the Star of David, in memory of more than six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many International Holocaust Remembrance Day events are being held online again this year. A small ceremony was taking place at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where Nazi forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland. Advertisement 'I know that Haringey residents will be upset by such a horrible attack and we won't stand for anyone in our community being targeted or hurt. 'If you assault someone, you can expect us to do everything we can to investigate and find you. 'I have been in touch with members of the local Jewish community and I'm providing additional patrols throughout the day to reassure the community. Please do speak to them if you have any concerns. 'I would like to thank the members of the public who called us and asked us to come to the aid of these two gentlemen, and grateful for their help which meant we could locate a suspect.' Today local Jewish leaders have slammed the incident as a 'brutal and unprovoked attack', which they claim was fuelled by anti-Semitism. Sharing the video on Twitter under the hashtag 'hate crime', Shomrim Stamford Hill Branch, a Jewish-run neighbourhood watch scheme, wrote: 'Two Jewish men attacked in Cadoxton Avenue. 'The brutal, unprovoked attack saw the victims knocked to the floor by vicious punches to the head. 'Located the suspect through CCTV enquiries. Arrested by Haringey Police.' The video shows the two Jewish men leaving the shop on Cadoxton Avenue in South Tottenham around 9.50pm on Wednesday. As the pair walk under shutters and into the street they are approached by a lone male in a dark puffer jacket and dark trousers. As he walks past, one of the Jewish men appears to exchange words with him as he nervously raises his right arm in defence. The attacker is then seen unleashing a volley of punches as one of the men raises his foot to try and keep him at bay. But he repeats his attack, punching one of the men in the head, sending him tumbling to the floor. At this point his kippah falls from his head. The man then unleashes a volley of punches at the other man, causing him to lose his kippah. The attacker then chases one of the men, before stopping his attack. He is then seen continuing his walk past the shop, kicking one of the men's kippah as he does so. The kippah is a brimless cap, usually made of cloth, and traditionally worn by Jewish males to fulfil the customary requirement that the head be covered. In the Orthodox Jewish community it is worn by men at all times. In a statement issued to MailOnline, a spokesman for London Shomrim, Stamford Hill Division, said: 'Shomrim were called at 9.52pm yesterday January 26 to an assault on Cadoxton Ave. 'On arrival some two minutes later our Shomrim volunteers discovered two Jewish men whilst locking up their shop, had been subject to a brutal and sustained attack by a black male. 'The attacker repeatedly punched the Jewish men in the face with great force knocking them to the ground. 'The attack went on for some time. After the attack the perpetrator kicked the kippah as he walked away.' Pictured: the video shows the two Jewish men leaving the shop on Cadoxton Avenue in South Tottenham, London, at around 9.50pm. As the pair walk under shutters and step out into the street they are approached by a lone male in a dark puffer jacket and dark trousers As the suspect walks past the victims' shop, one of the two Jewish men appears to exchange words with him as he nervously raises his right arm in defence before the attack escalates The attacker is seen unleashing punches as one man raises a foot to try and keep him at bay Pictured: The lone suspect repeats his attack, punching one of the men in the head, sending the victim tumbling to the ground at which point his kippah falls from his head to the floor Ofcom launches probe as BBC upholds complaint over accuracy and impartiality of anti-Semitic bus attack coverage The BBC has apologised for a report suggesting the Jewish victims of an anti-Semitic bus attack used 'anti-Muslim slurs' as Ofcom launches a probe into the corporation. Last November, a video emerged of a group of men hurling abuse and spitting at a group of around 40 Jewish teenagers sitting inside a bus on London's Oxford Street, before banging on the windows as it pulled away. The incident was treated as a hate crime by police, but in its original report of the incident, BBC News said 'racial slurs about Muslims could be heard inside the bus'. The broadcaster has since upheld complaints over the accuracy and impartiality of its coverage on December 2 and has amended a story on its news website, alongside issuing a clarification of a TV report aired on the same day. Following its coverage, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Chief Rabbi were among a significant number of groups and individuals who complained to the broadcaster about the accuracy and impartiality of the coverage. The BBC's director-general Tim Davie then instructed the corporation's executive complaints unit (ECU) to investigate the complaints 'as a matter of urgency'. The BBC said the complaints were 'particularly in relation to the claim that an anti-Muslim slur had been heard from inside the bus'. In its findings published on Wednesday, the ECU said the original versions of both the online and television story 'did not meet the BBC's standards of due accuracy'. It said: 'The original online copy spoke of 'some racial slurs about Muslims' whilst the TV report explained 'you can hear some racial slurs about Muslim people'. 'In later versions the online copy was changed to 'a slur about Muslims' reflecting that the original iterations had mischaracterised the nature of the insult and there was insufficient evidence that it had happened on more than one occasion.' Advertisement Shomrim viewed CCTV and added 'without doubt this attack appears to be racially motivated'. The group said they are supporting the victims, their families and the community. Shomrim volunteers say they conducted enquiries and, using CCTV and local knowledge, tracked down a suspect who was arrested and remains in custody. Meanwhile Haringey police said in a statement: 'We were called on Wednesday at approximately 9.50pm to reports of two men being assaulted in Cadoxton Avenue, Haringey. 'Officers attended and searched the local area for the suspect, before arresting an 18-year-old man in nearby Fairview Road on suspicion of actual bodily harm. 'He was taken into custody, where he currently remains. 'The tow men who were assaulted were taken to a north London hospital. 'Officers will continue to liase with the victims and members of the community. 'This is being treated as a hate crime at this time.' The attack took place on Wednesday night, just hours before the start of Holocaust Memorial Day. Held on January 27 - to mark the date in 1945 that the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated - Holocaust Memorial Day is held each year to remember the millions of people murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution. Today Prince Charles has hailed seven portraits of some of the UK's last remaining Holocaust survivors as a 'powerful testament' to their lived experience. MPs will also mark the day by holding what is known as a 'general debate' - which allows MPs debate a subject without committing the House to an opinion or course of action - on Holocaust Memorial Day 2022 in the House of Commons. Dame Margaret Hodge, Robert Jenrick, Kirsten Oswald and Charlotte Nichols have put forward the motion. The incident happened between the areas of Stamford Hill, a Jewish area with one of the largest communities of Hasidic Jews in Europe, and South Tottenham, a diverse area which also has a high number of Jewish residents. The community, which is largely strictly ultra-Orthodox, a group which strictly adheres to Jewish law and largely opposes modern practices, is estimated to be some 15,000 strong, and growing at a rate of around 5 per cent each year. Many Jewish men can be seen walking in their distinctive clothes on their way to and from worship. Last year it was revealed how violence in Jewish people in London had spiked following escalating tensions between Israel and Palestine. Some 87 incidents were recorded in May, four times higher than any other month in the past three years, according to Met Police statistics. The man then unleashes a volley of punches at the other man, causing him to lose his kippah Pictured: The attacker then chases one of the men, before stopping his attack. The man is then seen continuing his walk past the victims' shop, kicking one of the men's kippah as he does so Speaking at the time, Chaim Hochhauser from Shomrim Stamford Hill told the BBC: 'Usually when it flares up in Israel, it flares up here locally. 'In May (last year) we had the Gaza war in Israel, so that is why it has flared up in England. During May (last year), the Jewish community in Hackney were the target of many racially motivated attacks. 'One of these hate crimes targeted over 30 Jewish-owned vehicles whose tyres were slashed. This was pure hate crime as only the Jewish cars were targeted'. Dozens of other non-violent incidents were recorded across the capital last May. In one despicable incident, the word 'Hitler' was written on the ceiling of a communal block of flats. The Metropolitan Police, speaking at the time, called the incidents 'deplorable abuse'. The incident happened between the areas of Stamford Hill (pictured), a predominantly Jewish area with one of the largest communities of of Hasidic Jews in Europe, and South Tottenham, a diverse area which also has a high number of Jewish residents Some 87 incidents were recorded in May, four times higher than any other month in the past three years, according to Met Police statistics. Pictured: Library image of ultra-Orthodox Jewish people walking around the Stamford Hill - which is home to one of the largest Hasidic Jewish communities in Europe In March last year Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE, president of Shomrim in Stamford Hill, said there had been 'seven incidents against Jewish women and girls' in the area. The claim came after widely reported CCTV showed a man assaulting a pregnant woman in a street in Stamford Hill in March last year. CCTV showed the woman being followed down a side street, before a man appeared to put a pillow case or cloth over her head. She was then punched in the stomach several times before he ran off. The Met Police said at the time that a 20-year-old woman was taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. In September last year a man appeared in court charged over a number of alleged 'unprovoked attacks' on Jewish people in the area. In one alleged incident, a 64-year-old man was left unconscious following a 'punch'. A group of native water dragons have been shot with darts in a treasured wetland, with police appealing for help catching the culprits. The lizards were found impaled with homemade darts in Warriewood on Sydney's Northern Beaches on Wednesday after locals noticed the injured reptiles lying by the water. Officers managed to catch the creatures and remove the darts, measuring between two and three centimetres, from the hurt animals - with two requiring further treatment at a local vet. A volunteer who assisted at the site told Daily Mail Australia they believed there were still three more lizards impaled. Investigations are underway into finding the criminals who injured the water dragons, with the darts taken by Northern Beaches units for further examination. Police are urging for community assistance after sick thugs shot native water dragons (pictured) with darts in a treasured wetland Four lizards were found impaled with homemade darts in Warriewood on Sydney's Northern Beaches on Wednesday after locals noticed the injured reptiles lying by the water A local resident posted a series of images to Facebook showing other lizards that are in need of help, as well as a smashed turtle shell. A woman named Katie, who lives in the Northern Beaches region, said she found the destroyed shell in the same Warriewood wetlands location as the injured dragons. 'I found this poor turtle this morning - while trying to help another water dragon with dart in its neck,' she wrote. She posted that other dragons remain in the area still impaled. The Sydney Wildlife Mobile Care team will revisit the site again tomorrow to attempt to locate the other lizards who had been shot, as well as any other animals that may have been hurt. 'On a public holiday that supposedly celebrates all things Australian, our volunteers have been trying to catch several native water dragons that have been shot with blow gun/blow pipe darts. A most un-Australian act!' the team said. 'This cowardly act will not go unpunished.' A woman named Katie, who lives in the Northern Beaches region, said she found the destroyed shell in the same Warriewood wetlands location as the injured dragons Police said in a statement they were aided by volunteers as they attempted to catch the animals and remove the darts. 'The officer, assisted by volunteers, captured the water dragons and removed several darts between 2cm and 3cm long which were embedded in their bodies,' a NSW Police spokesperson said. The injuries were not life-threatening, with only one requiring further treatment at a local vet. All four water dragons have since been returned to the wetlands.' They are now turning their attention to identifying the thugs who hurt the creatures, taking the red-tipped darts back to the lab for examination. A local took a picture showing another water dragon living in the wetlands that was still in need of assistance The police's Facebook post garnered nearly 1,000 comments, with people condemning the actions of the criminals. 'Throw the book at the depraved creeps - I hope you catch them soon,' one woman wrote. 'Poor things - hope they are caught and suitably punished,' another replied. Anyone with any information is being urged to contact Dee Why Police on 9971 3399. Advertisement The have-a-go hero driver who mowed down and killed a knifeman while he was stabbing to death a mother-of-two will remain a murder suspect despite pleading for the Metropolitan Police to de-arrest him, it emerged today. Yasmin Wafah Chkaifi, 43, died after the horrific attack by Leon Mccaskie, 41, despite the efforts of the motorist - named for the first time today as 'Abraham' - who intervened by ploughing into him in Maida Vale, West London . Friends of the 26-year-old driver, a Chechen electrician who was arrested on suspicion of murder after he drove his Renault Clio into Mccaskie to try to stop the carnage, said he has been 'living a nightmare' ever since. More than 30,000 people have signed a petition calling for him not to face criminal charges and relatives and friends of Miss Chkaifi have called for the police probe to be dropped and for him to be honoured for his bravery. Abraham said today that he does 'not see why I as the person who tried to assist in the defence of other human beings remain arrested and on bail under suspicion of murder' and urged police to instead treat him as a witness. But the Metropolitan Police insisted that it must consider all 'available evidence' before taking any action, saying in a statement: 'We are investigating the deaths of two people in this incident. Two families are bereaved and looking for answers. It is therefore essential that the investigation proceeds in an objective and professional manner. 'As with all investigations into violent deaths, we will gather all the available evidence, and this can take time. Only when we are satisfied that we have all the facts can we fully understand the circumstances that led to the deaths and consider the most appropriate course of action.' It was also revealed this afternoon that McCaskie had been due in court today for breaching a stalking order taken out to protect Miss Chkaifi, which barred him from contacting her. The stabbing took place nearly three weeks after a warrant without bail had been issued after McCaskie failed to appear in court on January 4. Overnight, in a statement issued on Twitter through his lawyer Mohammed Akunjee, Abraham said: 'I witnessed a man repeatedly stabbing a defenceless woman on the pavement a short distance in front of my car. Mohammed Akunjee, lawyer for the Maida Vale driver who is an electrician known only as 'Abraham', gives a statement today This press statement was issued on Twitter overnight by the Maida Vale driver's lawyer Mohammed Akunjee Yasmin Wafah Chkaifi (left), 43, died after the horrific attack by Leon Mccaskie (right), 41, in Maida Vale, West London 'Members of the public were attempting to intervene. The attacker was wielding a knife and was threatening those brave citizens too. My instant thought was to protect the woman who was being stabbed and the public who were also being threatened. The vehicles ahead of me moved off, which gave me the opportunity to intervene. 'I drove my vehicle towards the attacker in order to get him away from the woman he was attacking. I did not intend to harm the attacker. I only intended to protect those being attacked.' How Maida Vale driver's lawyer also fought for ISIS bride Shamima Begum's return to the UK Mohammed Tasnime Akunjee is a lawyer who has represented a number of figures in high-profile cases. He is listed as a consultant at the Brentford branch of Waterford Solicitors and was recently in hot water after posting an image of the Taliban in Kabul with reference to Thin Lizzy song 'The boys are back in town'. It prompted outrage among some, but he insisted he had been condemning them. He tweeted at the time: 'I can only assume that some people on twitter are being purposely dense. The Boys Are Back in Town is a song about a criminal gang (The Quality Street Gang Manchester) who have returned following a sojourn. This is controversial re the Taliban how exactly?' The criminal defence lawyer, who specialises in terrorism law, is best known as fighting for ISIS bride Shamima Begum's return to the UK. He also represented he Syrian teenager Jamal Hijazi who won a libel case against Tommy Robinson to the tune of 100,000. Akunjee has also garnered headlines for making controversial remarks around Islamic extremism and terrorism in the past. He previously defended one of British soldier Lee Rigby's killers and in 2015 accused the UK security services of 'creating' Michael Adebolajo by 'making his life so difficult'. Once holding links to CAGE, a group denounced as 'terror apologists' by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Mr Akunjee later told Al-Jazeera: 'MI5 spent a huge amount of resources trying to turn him and speak to him before he did what he did. It's Frankenstein - they created him by making his life so difficult.' When news broke that Begum had fled Britain to join so-called Islamic State, Mr Akunjee led a campaign for the Metropolitan Police to apologise to her family for failing to tell them that a school friend had travelled to Syria. Advertisement He continued: 'My vehicle struck the attacker and he was taken under my car, causing it to stall. I could not reverse my car to free him. I and the other passers-by attempted to lift the car away from the attacker so we could provide the man with first aid. 'Unfortunately we were unsuccessful with this and I have since learned that both the young lady and her attacker have died. I am deeply sorry that the man I tried to stop from attacking other people has died. 'It was never my intention to harm him, I just wanted to stop him from hurting anybody further . My only regret is that God did not allow me to be present at the scene sooner so that my intervention may have saved the life of the young woman concerned.' Abraham added that he had asked Mr Akunjee - a high-profile lawyer who is best known for fighting for ISIS bride Shamima Begum's return to the UK - to request that the Metropolitan Police now de-arrest him and instead treat him 'as a witness to a tragic event rather than as a criminal as they currently are'. He said: 'I understand that the police are doing their job and that my being arrested is not unusual. However, I do not see why I as the person who tried to assist in the defence of other human beings remain arrested and on bail under suspicion of murder. 'I have asked my solicitor to contact the Metropolitan Police to request that they consider de-arresting me and begin treating me as a witness to a tragic event rather than as a criminal as they currently are.' MailOnline has asked Mr Akunjee's firm, Waterford Solicitors, how he came to represent Abraham. The lawyer has previously done pro-bono work, including for Begum, although it is not known if that is the case with Abraham. Friends of the driver, who was heard saying 'what have I done?' after the incident, yesterday revealed that the electrician is still in shock. A friend, who did not want to be named, said: 'If he ever sees anyone in trouble he will always try to help. He's a good Muslim man and couldn't bear to see the woman being attacked. 'He was on his way to a job and stopped to do the right thing. He's in shock about what happened. It's been a nightmare for him.' Another friend, who did not want to be named, said: 'This guy is a family man with children and was just doing the right thing. It was instinct and an act of human kindness. Another said: 'He is one of the most peaceful and good people I've ever met. He would never walk away when somebody needs help. 'He risked his life to save this poor woman. Police should praise him and let him go to his little children and wife.' The Metropolitan Police said the driver had been 'fully co-operative' after he was arrested on suspicion of murder following the incident. More than 30,000 people have signed a petition calling for the driver not to face criminal charges over Monday's incident Forensic officers stand near a blue Renault Clio as they carry out investigations in Maida Vale, West London, on Monday Miss Chkaifi's relatives place flowers at the scene of the killing in Maida Vale, West London, on Tuesday Police officers and emergency services cordon off the scene in Maida Vale, West London, on Monday He has been bailed until a date in late February while evidence is evaluated. Full statement from Maida Vale driver 'Press release, 26 January 2022. 'My name is Abraham. I'm a Muslim man. 'My full name is known to my solicitors and to the Metropolitan Police. I'm aware of newspaper accounts concerning the murder of Yasmin Wafah Chkaifi on Monday, 24 January, 2022. 'I can confirm that I am the person identified as the driver of the blue Renault Clio. I've asked my solicitor Mr Akunjee to convey the following public statement on my behalf. 'I'm a person of good character, I've never been arrested before in my life. This Monday past, I was making my way to work and was waiting in traffic on the Chippenham Road in West London at approximately 9am. 'I witnessed a man repeatedly stabbing a defenceless woman on the pavement a short distance in front of my car. Members of the public were attempting to intervene. The attacker was wielding a knife and was threatening those brave citizens too. 'My instant thought was to protect the woman who was being stabbed and the public who were also being threatened. The vehicles ahead of me moved off, which gave me the opportunity to intervene. I drove my vehicle towards the attacker in order to get him away from the woman he was attacking. 'I did not intend to harm the attacker. I only intended to protect those being attacked. My vehicle struck the attacker and he was taken under my car, causing it to stall. I could not reverse my car to free him. 'I and the other passers-by attempted to lift the car away from the attacker so we could provide the man with first aid. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful with this and I have since learned that both the young lady and her attacker have died. 'I am deeply sorry that the man I tried to stop from attacking other people has died. 'It was never my intention to harm him, I just wanted to stop him from hurting anybody further. My only regret is that God did not allow me to be present at the scene sooner so that my intervention may have saved the life of the young woman concerned. 'I understand that the police are doing their job and that my being arrested is not unusual. However, I do not see why I as the person who tried to assist in the defence of other human beings remain arrested and on bail under suspicion of murder. 'I have asked my solicitor to contact the Metropolitan Police to request that they consider de-arresting me and begin treating me as a witness to a tragic event rather than as a criminal as they currently are. 'I am a family man and wish to keep my family protected from these ill-fated events. I thus request that those in the media do not approach myself or my family for comment or interview. If you have any requests, I ask that you kindly contact my solicitor.' Advertisement The Metropolitan Police is also now facing an investigation itself into the attack after it emerged that the force was repeatedly warned about former company director Mccaskie's abusive behaviour. A friend yesterday said how Miss Chkaifi grew concerned that her ex-husband would try to kill her in April 2020 after she learned that he was spying on her. In messages to Adele-Sara Richards, Miss Chkaifi said: 'He's had cameras in my house recording me for months. He's stolen my mail, my phone, has access to all my personal data. I think he will kill me.' Miss Chkaifi, who had two sons aged 16 and 18, told friends that she had gone to police about the incident and that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. The mature student secured a restraining order against Mccaskie after the breakdown of their two-year marriage and even had a panic alarm fitted in her flat. A warrant for his arrest was issued just three weeks ago after he failed to turn up for a court hearing relating to a breach of the stalking order. One of Miss Chkaifi's sons accused the Met of doing too little to protect his mother and said that officers had been contacted numerous times about Mccaskie's harassment. Mccaskie was convicted of obstructing a police officer and driving without insurance in 2017. The Independent Office for Police Conduct watchdog is now deciding if it will open an investigation into Scotland Yard's handling of the case after the force referred itself. A spokesman said: 'We can confirm that we have received a referral from the Metropolitan Police regarding their contact with Yasmin Chkaifi prior to her tragic death in Maida Vale, London on January 24. 'We are currently assessing the available information, and have requested more, to determine what further action may be required from us.' Tributes have been paid to Ms Chkaifi, who was a qualified childminder, had worked in a school and was studying for a master's degree. Ms Richards, who described how she supported her after her mother died, said: 'She was a good soul. It's very rare in life you come across a good soul. She always had a happy disposition. She was just a lovely person.' Another friend, American PhD student Olivia Jones, 30, who lives in Brent, said: 'I didn't know Yasmin well, but she made me feel as though I did. A year ago, Yasmin opened her doors to my partner and I at the time and hosted us for a meal. 'She was incredibly kind, hospitable and an amazing cook and dancer. She had a bubbly personality and a confidence about her that was so attractive. 'She was proud of her Moroccan heritage and a spiritual woman. We spoke about Islam, identity and social justice. She was a good person.' Family members paid tribute to Miss Chkaifi, who was also known as Wafat, in a statement on Facebook. They said: 'She was full of life, always stayed positive and always saw the best in everyone. 'Wafat loved to laugh, dance and leave a special impact on everyone's life that got to share it with her. She has indeed left many broken from this awful and tragic news. 'Wafat was the most pure and genuine soul you would meet. She has left two amazing boys who will continue her legacy of being pure souls.' Advertisement A publican who was jailed after being falsely accused of poisoning a customer appeared in court today to hear a council apologise for it's decades' long 'vendetta' against him - but the case had to be adjourned over fears the court may not have the jurisdiction to deal with it. Geoffrey Monks, 67, who ran The Snooty Fox in Kettering, Northamptonshire, was prosecuted for breaking food safety laws after East Northamptonshire District Council falsely claimed they found 'mouldy ham' inside the premises in the late 1990s. It followed a complaint from a local solicitor who was allegedly barred after a row over a bottle of wine and subsequently claimed she had been poisoned by the pub's pate. She was accused in court of having a suspected 'sexual relationship' with the boss of the council who launched the subsequent food safety probe, although they both strenuously denied this. Hammered with a 25,500 fine, the largest ever for a food standards violation, plus 8,300 in legal fees, Dr Monks was forced to sell his home and business. With his reputation shattered and still unable to cover the costs, he was imprisoned for two months at top security HMP Woodhill - in a cell adjacent to Soham murderer Ian Huntley. Last month, Dr Monks won 4 million in damages after he alleged East Northamptonshire District Council pursued a vendetta against him through the courts, amounting to abuse of process. He was due to receive an apology at the High Court today from North Northamptonshire Council, which has replaced the now defunct local authority. But the case is so rare the judge adjourned the hearing as it was unclear whether the court has the powers to allow a formal statement to be read out. It is only the third time in history that an applicant has successfully claimed a prosecution brought against them was an abuse of process. The last time a claimant successfully recovered damages for abuse of process is believed to have been in 1861. James Hart, representing the Council, told the hearing today that his client was willing to make an apology in open court. But the case was adjourned for legal arguments to be made before a judge rules whether the court has the jurisdiction to deal with the matter. Adjourning the hearing, Mr Justice Soole said: Im sorry to the parties who have come expecting a hearing on the matter but the point of jurisdiction has to be dealt with. After the adjournment Dr Monks, who now works in academia, said: I hope the matter is resolved efficaciously. I continue to tread new ground in the law. A further hearing is expected to take place after March 1. Publican Geoffrey Monks, 67, has agreed a seven-figure settlement figure, believed to be in the region of 14m, with East Northamptonshire Council after launching a High Court battle in 2019 over his wrongful conviction and loss of earnings Former Northamptonshire chief executive Roger Heath, 74, (pictured in 2019), was said in court to be in a suspected - and strenuously denied - 'sexual relationship' with solicitor Jenny Lawrence in the late 1990s and was accused of harbouring a 'vendetta' by upmarket publican Geoff Monks Monks who ran The Snooty Fox in Kettering, Northamptonshire (pictured), was wrongly jailed after East Northamptonshire Council claimed to have found 'mouldy ham' inside the premises in 1999 Roger Heath most recently ran for political office as a Conservative council candidate in the Tomohun ward of Torquay. He received 561 votes, but was not elected during the 2019 elections Dr Monks' ordeal began in 1998, when he barred solicitor Jenny Lawrence from the Snooty Fox after she was reportedly furious over being served the 'wrong bottle of wine'. Ms Lawrence then complained that she had suffered food poisoning from some pate she ate with the wine, with the council launching an investigation that claimed to have discovered 'mouldy ham' on the premises. Roger Heath, then-Chief Executive of East Northamptonshire District Council (ENDC), was invited to oversee punishment by the council's environment department, and it was claimed in court that the local authority had pursued a 'vendetta' against Dr Monks. During his High Court action, counsel for Dr Monks described local solicitor Ms Lawrence as a suspected 'sexual partner' of married Mr Heath, 74, who now works as an independent consultant and in 2019 unsuccessfully ran as a Tory councillor. Both Ms Lawrence and Mr Heath strongly denied these claims when speaking to MailOnline. How publican relied on a legal defence last used successfully more than 160 years ago Dr Geoffrey Monk's legal team won their claim against East Northamptonshire District Council after applying the rarely used 'abuse of process' defence. There have only been two successful civil actions brought to recover damages for the tort of abuse of process in English legal history: one in 1838 and the second in 1861. Both involved legal proceedings being brought as a tool of extortion. In 1838, a Mr Grainger owned a ship which he granted a mortgage, despite fears that he would not be able to repay his loan. His mortgagee, Mr Hill demanded payment before the debt was due, and Mr Grainger was jailed as a debtor that year. Fearing a jail sentence, Grainger forfeited his ship to Mr Hill. But a court found the mortgagee had 'abused its processes' after used sheriffs to extort the seaman. Mr Grainger was subsequently awarded damages from lost profits he could not make without his ship. The second case, in 1861, involved a similar abuse of the court's process. Certain actions (even though they were not criminal prosecutions) began with the arrest and imprisonment of the defendant. Since 1861, however, actions alleging abuse of process have all failed. One of the highest profile failures was Goldsmith v Sperrings in 1977 the case where Sir James Goldsmith sued the distributors of Private Eye for libel, intending to settle with them on terms that they ceased to distribute the magazine and so drove it out of business. The defendants asserted that Sir James was abusing the process of the court because his true purpose was to close Private Eye. Writing a case note following the settlement, Dr Monks' barrister Paul Mitchell QC explained Dr Monks' allegation of abuse of process related not to a case of extortion but one either of vendetta or of capricious indifference to the Council's own policy governing when it was to prosecute Food Safety Act offences. If the case had gone to trial, a judge may have established there was an 'abuse of process' as the authority's chief executive, Roger Heath, was accused by the defence of having a 'vendetta' and aimed to punish Mr Monks for offending the solicitor, not for serving contaminated food. Advertisement After launching legal action in 2019, Dr Monks had claimed 14million in lost earnings, but the council reportedly agreed to hand over a fee of around 4million earlier this year. His case marks just the third time in history that an applicant has successfully claimed 'abuse of process', the last such example being in 1861. But further headaches may lie in wait for Northamptonshire Council - as Northamptonshire police force confirmed it will investigate any potential criminal charges that derived from the case. The effect of the originally prosecutions, and the surrounding publicity, on Dr Monks' businesses was catastrophic and he was forced to sell all three of his pubs at a loss. He also sold his home and suffered a heart attack while in prison and has experienced serious health issues ever since. In 2000, Monks was convicted for the Snooty Fox 'offences', despite his legal team arguing the evidence offered against him was both 'thin and contradictory'. The prosecution was quashed 15 years later. In 2015, Dr Monks won a retrial of the Snooty Fox case, and two other prosecutions made against other former venues were also quashed. Speaking to MailOnline, Ms Lawrence said: 'I have no idea who Roger Heath is, I simply do not know anyone at Northants Council sexually or otherwise.' She said she did fall unwell after eating pate and drinking wine with a male friend at The Snooty Fox in 1998, but 'never asked for East Northants Council to do anything about it'. 'At the end of the meal, I had hardly had anything to drink from the bottle of wine that we'd ordered and I said that I didn't think it was the bottle we'd ordered,' she said. 'We pulled back the napkin that had been wrapped around the bottle and I think it was a Liebfraumilch or something but not what we'd ordered. 'I called over Monks and pointed out that it was the wrong bottle. There was no scene, no nastiness and he certainly didn't throw us out as he has alleged. 'He says that I was part of a conspiracy but it did not happen like that. 'On the Sunday, after dinner, I had the most awful sickness and diahorrea that I've ever had in my life. 'By the Wednesday I couldn't work it was so bad and the GP told me to get a sample to him. My son took it to the docs and that went to Kettering General Hospital. 'Several days later, when I was over it, I had a letter from East Northants Council saying I had a notifiable infectious disease. 'It was crazy and the Council wanted to know what I had eaten. I went through what I had eaten and they immediately went to Monks' kitchen at the Snooty Fox and prosecuted him. They didn't even ask me to attend the hearing. 'I am absolutely shattered by the suggestion I had sexual relations with someone from the Council. It's utterly absurd and this has come completely out of the blue. 'I did not think I had done anything wrong and Mr Monks was found to have had two further health and safety breaches which had nothing to do with me at all. 'I was described as being merely the butterfly who flapped her wings. 'If there is any vendetta it is a vendetta against me by Mr Monks.' Speaking to MailOnline, Ms Lawrence (pictured) said: 'I have no idea who Roger is, I simply do not know anyone at Northants Council sexually or otherwise' She added: 'The infectious disease was Campylobacter. It was like an ecoli. It can only be picked up from puppy dogs, chickens, dirty barbeques and pate. 'He tried to suggest it was from my barbeque but his insurance paid me out 6,000 for lost earnings as a result of what happened.' Dr Monks was later accused of having mice and broken glass in his other local venues, The Vane Arms and Samuel Pepys pubs. But appeal judges remarked that out of more than 7,000 food standards inspections by East Northamptonshire District Council over the course of a decade, just four convictions were made - three of which were against Mr Monks. Environmental officers suggested Monks carry out 'remedial' actions for the phantom breaches, but this was ignored and the punishment was directly overseen by Mr Heath. Monks would later claim the local authority launched an 'abusive campaign' against him after winning his appeals against his six convictions for food safety breaches. Dr Monks would spend 57 days in Category A HMP Woodhill in Buckinghamshire after failing to pay the record-breaking fees from the alleged food safety breaches. While imprisoned in the maximum security jail that once housed murderers, rapists and terrorists, Dr Monks suffered a heart attack and has suffered crippling health issues since. The publican was financially ruined by his prosecution, losing his home and businesses, and was unable to afford legal costs to challenge the rulings until 2019. He is understood to have run up bills of more than 150,000 following his high-profile action against the local authority that he claims ruined his life. Dr Monks sued East Northamptonshire Council, now North Northamptonshire Council after the former went bust in 2018, for 14million after claiming loss of earnings for his three former thriving establishments. Speaking after the trial, Paul Mitchell QC, for Dr Monks, said: 'The evidence against him on each occasion was thin and contradictory. 'He achieved the remarkable distinction of being the defendant to three of only a handful of food safety prosecutions the council had undertaken between 1990 and 2001, during which period it had carried out over 7,000 investigations.' He went on: 'If that had been proved at trial, then it might well have been established that the abuse of process consisted in ENC's prosecuting Dr Monks because of an outrageous abuse of power by its chief executive: that was the 'vendetta' abuse of process, where the true aim was to punish Dr Monks for offending the mistress, not for serving contaminated food.' Monks would later claim the local authority launched an 'abusive campaign' against him after winning his appeals against his six convictions for food safety breaches. Above: Dr Monks pictured outside The Snooty Fox in 1997 Geraint Thomas, partner and head of the disputes team at Laytons ETL Global who led Dr Monks' claim, insisted the settlement 'provides full vindication for our client more than 20 years after East Northamptonshire Council began its abusive campaign against him. 'The impact on his health, finances and wellbeing has been nothing short of devastating, but I hope that today's settlement will enable him at least to begin to rebuild his life. 'It is accepted East Northamptonshire Council's actions caused serious personal injury, loss, and damage to him over a period of more than 20 years, and I sincerely apologise for those actions.' Cllr Jason Smithers, Leader of North Northamptonshire Council, said: 'East Northamptonshire Council's decision to prosecute Dr Monks in relation to the Snooty Fox was an abuse of process and should never have occurred. 'It is accepted that East Northamptonshire Council's actions caused serious personal injury, loss, and damage to him over a period of more than 20 years, and I sincerely apologise for those actions. 'I hope that Dr Monks is able to have his reputation restored and that the substantial damages which the Council has agreed to pay to him go some way towards assisting him to move forward with his life.' Northamptonshire Police have since confirmed they are investigating to determine whether or not criminal offences should also be brought against the council. Monks lost ownership of The Snooty Fox (pictured) and his two other pubs The Vane Arms and Samuel Pepys, as well as his house as he faced financial ruin in the wake of the 'abusive campaign' against him, his lawyers claimed Tucker Carlson has warned Biden's Supreme Court pledge to install the court's first black woman will end in 'tribal warfare'. On his show on Wednesday night, the Fox News host slammed Biden's promise, made during his election campaign in 2020, as identity politics. The host said Biden appeared to only take into consideration a nominees skin color, as opposed to their qualifications. He also took aim at the nature of current Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer's resignation, pointing out that Bryer himself had not yet made an announcement and suggested that his hand had been forced. Carlson's comments came after the White House confirmed will keep his campaign promise to name a black woman to the Supreme Court, with an official retirement announcement from Bryer expected as early as today. Tucker Carlson has warned Biden's Supreme Court pledge to install the court's first black woman will end in tribal warfare The pick would be historic, marking the first time a black woman has been named to the highest court in the land. The announcement has fuelled speculation over who Biden will nominate, although Carlson argued that the focus of such speculation should be on the qualifications of the potential candidates, rather than their skin color. In March 2020 during the CNN presidential debate, Biden said: 'I committed that if I'm elected president and have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts will be I'll appoint the first Black woman to the courts. 'If my cabinet, my administration will look like the country and I commit that, I will in fact appoint a, Ill pick a woman to be vice president.' When making the promise in 2020, Carlson that 'Biden didn't mention the Supreme Court nominees legal qualifications or judicial philosophy or ability to perform one of the most important jobs in the country. 'He didn't even tell us she was a nice person. All he said was she's going to be Black and she's going to be female, because to him, that's all that mattered,' he added. Carlson went on to accuse Biden of 'believing all Black women are the same', before asking his viewers to put themselves in the shoes of qualified nominees learning that their race is what people are primarily focusing on. The Fox News personality also questioned Biden's assertion that he wanted the Supreme Court to 'look like the country', pointing to census data that shows black women make up around seven percent of the US population. This, Carlson said, will open the door to identity politics and tribal warfare, with other minority groups in society questioning why no one like them sits on the court. 'Why isn't there an American Indian on the court or a genderqueer or someone from the chronic fatigue syndrome community or a justice with cognitive disabilities? Why isn't there an Afghan refugee under consideration?' Carlson asked sarcastically. 'Identity politics always ends with tribal warfare. It's funny the Biden people can't see that maybe they can see it and don't care, or maybe it's the entire point of the exercise,' he added. Justice Stephen Breyer will step down from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term Assessing the people that have so far been named as potential nominees, Carlson was scathing about their credentials. Eunice Lee, reportedly being recommended by CNN, was made a judge as recently as August 2021, he pointed out. He also named Candice Jackson Academy, who reached the bench in July 2021. Another - Sherrilyn Ifill - is not even a judge, he said. Another person whose name has been touted is Wilhelmina Mimi Wright. She became an associate of the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2012. However, Carlson decried the fact that the media at the time celebrated her for her skin color, rather than her expertise. He also attacked the media for its coverage of Ketanji Brown Jackson as a potential nominee, again asking his viewers how she must feel to have her qualifications overlooked, with commentators instead focusing on race. In his monologue, Carlson also questioned the circumstances surrounding Breyer's resignation, which was announced on Wednesday. 'It's not even clear Breyer knew the announcement was going to happen,' Carlson said. 'Someone leaked that news with or without Justice Breyer's consent.' The commentator claimed that this was because the Democrats are afraid they will lose their majority in Congress in November, and want to protect the seat. Breyer, 83, is one of the three remaining liberal justices, is the oldest member of the court and has been under pressure to step down in order to let Biden appoint his replacement. The current court term will end in June or early July. The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Biden will keep to his 2020 promise. 'The president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a black woman to the Supreme Court and certainly stands by that,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at her daily press briefing. Several names are in the mix, including federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who issued the 'presidents are not kings' ruling; Leondra Kruger, a justice on California's Supreme Court; federal Judge J. Michelle Childs of South Carolina who is a favorite of Rep. Jim Clyburn; and Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, serves on Georgia's district court and is the sister of the voting-rights advocate Stacey Abrams. Biden refused to comment on who he may name to the bench, noting Breyer himself has made no formal retirement announcement. President Joe Biden declined to talk about a possible Supreme Court nominee during an event at the White House but press secretary Jen Psaki said he would keep his promise to nominate a black woman Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in April 2021 'There have been no announcements from Justice Breyer,' Biden said at a White House event on Wednesday afternoon. 'Let him make whatever statement he's going to make, and I'll be happy to talk about it later.' Breyer is set to make his formal announcement alongside Biden as soon as tomorrow, CNN reports. Liberal activists fretted that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stayed on the Supreme Court too long despite her history of health problems - including a bout of pancreatic cancer - and should have stepped down during the last year of Barack Obama's administration. Obama himself had her to lunch in 2013 to take her temperature on retirement amid fears Democrats would lose the 2014 midterms (which they did). Ginsburg stayed on the bench, resisting pressure to retire. When she died in 2020, President Donald Trump appointed a conservative, Amy Coney Barrett, to fill her seat, moving the court further to the right. Breyer told Biden last week of his intention to retire and indicated he would follow up with an official letter, Politico reported. Breyer's decision to retire after more than 27 years on the court allows Biden to appoint a successor who could serve for several decades. Biden's appointee should keep the court's current 6-3 split between conservative and liberal justices. His pick is expected to be fast-tracked through the confirmation process. Senate Democrats are promising a swift vote in order to get the nominee confirmed before the November midterm election in case Republicans win control of the Senate. Biden is expected to act quickly to nominate a successor who can be ready to serve when the court's new term begins Oct. 3 once Breyer formally announces he's stepping down. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Biden's pick would be confirmed with 'all deliberate speed.' 'President Biden's nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed,' Schumer said in a statement on Wednesday. Biden can name his pick once Breyer announces his retirement and Senate Democrats can begin to hold hearings even if Breyer isn't formally stepping down until this summer. The president is a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee so he knows how the confirmation process works and has presided over many a confirmation hearing. The process can be done a warp speed. Senate Republicans rushed to get Justice Amy Coney Barrett approved before the 2020 election, getting her confirmed exactly a month after Trump nominated her. Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is said to be a top contender for a Supreme Court nomination Leondra Kruger, a justice on California's Supreme Court, is said to be a top contender for a Supreme Court nomination Another possible contender: Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, serves on Georgia's district court and is the sister of the voting-rights advocate Stacey Abrams Another possible nominee is Judge J. Michelle Childs, of the Federal District Court in Columbia, S.C. BIDEN'S SCOTUS CHOICES INCLUDE JUDGE WHO PROVOKED REPUBLICANS AND STACEY ABRAMS' SISTER With 83-year-old Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement, President Joe Biden now has the change to make history by nominating the first ever black, female Justice to the highest U.S. court. Here are the three contenders at the top of the president's list: D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Biden already elevated Jackson last year from her previous post as a judge on the federal district court in Washington, D.C., where she remained from 2013-2021. Jackson now serves as a circuit judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit arguably the second most powerful federal court in the country. Jackson, 51, earned her law degree from Harvard and, fittingly, clerked for Breyer. She is also married to the brother-in-law of former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. She has two daughters with her husband Patrick Jackson, whom she married in 1996. During her time as a judge, Jackson has ruled on many high profile cases. She was part of the decision to order former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn to comply with the House of Representatives' subpoena as part of its impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump.One line in the ruling impressed Democrats: 'The primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings.' Jackson also signed the recent opinion ordering Trump White House documents be disclosed to the January 6 select committee. California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger Kruger served under President Barack Obama as acting Principal Deputy Solicitor General from May 2010- June 2011 where she argued 12 cases in front of the Supreme Court. During her time at the Department of Justice, Kruger earned in both 2013 and 2014 the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service, which is the agencys highest employee award. The 45-year-old judge clerked for late Justice John Paul Stevens who served on the Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010 and died in 2019. She was also the youngest person appointed to the California Supreme Court when then-Governor Jerry Brown nominated her in 2014, where she still sits as an associate judge. On this court, Kruger has authored a few notable opinions, including banning law enforcement from searching a woman's purse without a warrant. Kruger also upheld a California law requiring law enforcement to collect DNA samples and fingerprints from people arrested or convicted of felony offenses. South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs Childs, 55, reportedly has the backing of Biden-ally House Majority Whip James Clyburn to replace Breyer. The U.S. District Court of South Carolina judge was nominated last month by Biden to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, nut the nomination is still pending. With a South Carolina School of Law degree, Child doesn't have the Ivy League education that eight of the nine current justices hold a breath of fresh air that advocates for her nomination tout as an advantage in making the Democratic party appear less elitist. Child spent a decade in private practice and as a state court trial judge in the South Carolina Circuit. Also in her tenure she was deputy director of the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and commissioner on the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. Others under consideration: Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, serves on Georgia's district court and is the sister of the voting-rights advocate Stacey Abrams. District Judge Wilhelmina 'Mimi' Wright, Judge on Minnesota's federal district court. Circuit Judge Eunice Lee, U.S. Circuit Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Circuit Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, U.S. Circuit Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Sherrilyn Ifill, the attorney recently announced plans to step down from her role as President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Holly Aiyisha Thomas, judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. What about Kamala Harris? Rumors have emerged over the last year amid turmoil in the White House that President Joe Biden could dump Kamala Harris as his vice president by nominating her to the Supreme Court should a vacancy emerge. With news of Breyer's retirement this week, speculations that she could join the court have reemerged. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki did not rule out on Wednesday the possibility that Biden could consider Harris for the vacant Supreme Court position. She did, however, clarify that Biden intends to run for reelection in 2024 with Harris on the ticket as his No. 2. Harris was the district attorney for San Francisco from 2004-2011 and was attorney general of California from 2011-2017. From there she became a senator for the Golden State but didn't finish her first term before being inaugurated as the first female and black vice president in January 2021. Advertisement Even some Republicans are acknowledging the inevitability of Biden getting his court pick. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee noted in a statement: 'If all Democrats hang together which I expect they will they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support.' Republicans do have some options to slow down the nomination - as Democrats did during the push to confirm Barrett: demand all senators be physically present in the chamber to conduct business; force roll-call votes; and boycott the Senate Judiciary Committee vote to force the majority party to break Senate rules to advance the nominee. Those tactics will cause some delays but it is unlikely to block Biden's nominee. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell didn't rule out trying to block the president's pick. 'We dont even know who the nominee is yet. So thats something the president has the opportunity to make should there be a vacancy and Justice Breyer will determine when and if theres a vacancy,' he told reporters in Kentucky. Justice Breyer told the New York Times in August that he was struggling with the question of when to step down. 'There are many things that go into a retirement decision,' he said. He then recalled some advice Justice Antonin Scalia had given him. 'He said, 'I don't want somebody appointed who will just reverse everything I've done for the last 25 years,' Breyer. 'That will inevitably be in the psychology' of his decision, he said. 'I don't think I'm going to stay there till I die hope not,' he noted. Among likely contenders are federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson and Leondra Kruger, a justice on California's Supreme Court. And White House press secretary Jen Psaki didn't quash conservative chatter that President Biden could put Vice President Kamala Harris on the court. 'I'm not going to speak to any considerations, preparations, lists,' Psaki when asked about the topic. She later noted that Biden 'has every intention, as he said before, of running for re-election, and running for re-election with Vice President Harris on the ticket as his partner,' she noted. Harris is a lawyer who served as attorney general of California before she was a senator from that state. The other names being floated have more of a background on the judicial bench. Jackson, 51, was confirmed by the Senate 53-44 in June to the federal bench and previously served as a law clerk for Justice Breyer. She succeeded Merrick Garland, who left the appeals court to become Biden's attorney general. Three Republican senators voted for her confirmation: Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski. During her time as a federal judge, Jackson was part of the decision to order former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn to comply with the House of Representatives' subpoena as part of its impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump, writing 'presidents are not kings.' She was on President Obama's shortlist for the court in 2016. She is the sister-in-law of former House Speaker Paul Ryan. She rceived a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1996, where she served as a supervising editor of the Harvard Law Review. She received an A.B., magna cum laude, in Government from Harvard-Radcliffe College in 1992. From 2005 to 2007, Jackson was an assistant federal public defender in the District of Columbia where she handled cases before U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. From 2007 to 2010, Jackson was an appellate litigator at Morrison & Foerster, a private law firm. On July 23, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Jackson to become Vice Chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. During her time on the commission, it retroactively amended the Sentencing Guidelines to reduce the guideline range for crack cocaine offenses, and it enacted the 'drugs minus two' amendment, which implemented a two offense-level reduction for drug crimes. Kruger, 45, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Harvard University. She graduated with a J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Law Journal. She clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens from 2003 until 2004. From 2004 to 2006, Kruger was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr in Washington, D.C. She was a visiting assistant professor in 2007 at the University of Chicago Law School. From 2007 to 2013, Kruger was an assistant to the United States Solicitor General and the acting principal deputy solicitor general. She argued 12 cases before the Supreme Court, and worked on dozens more, including the landmark case defending the Affordable Care Act, National Federation of Independent Businesses v. Sebelius. In 2013, Kruger became a deputy assistant attorney general at the United States Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel. Governor Jerry Brown appointed her to California's state Supreme Court in 2014 even though she had no prior judicial experience before her appointment. Another possible contender is Judge J. Michelle Childs, of the Federal District Court in Columbia, S.C. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina's law school and a former law firm partner who also worked in state government. Some activists have pushed her name, arguing Biden should consider nominees without Ivy League degrees or Supreme Court clerkships but with a diversity of experience. She is said to be a favorite of Democratic Rep. James Clyburn, whose endorsement of Biden in South Carolina's 2020 presidential primary put him over the top, giving him a win in the state and saving his candidacy. In December, Biden said he would name Childs to fill a vacancy on the D.C. Circuit, a sign that she may be a serious contender for Breyer's seat. Other possibilities include: Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner, serves on Georgia's district court and is the sister of the voting-rights advocate Stacey Abrams. District Judge Wilhelmina 'Mimi' Wright, a judge on Minnesota's federal district court. Circuit Judge Eunice Lee, a former New York public defender whom Biden nominated to the Second Circuit. Circuit Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, an alumna of Chicago's public defender's office whose appointment by Biden to the Seventh Circuit. Judge Holly Thomas, a longtime civil rights lawyer Biden named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Sherrilyn Ifill, a civil rights attorney who recently announced plans to step down from her role as President and Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. The Biden administration has so far nominated eight black women to the U.S. Court of Appeals with five of them being confirmed so far. The women who have been confirmed include Ketanji Brown Jackson, Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, Tiffany P. Cunningham, Eunice C. Lee and Holly A. Thomas. His nominations of J. Michelle Childs, Arianna J. Freeman and Nancy Abudu are currently pending. Outside the White House, then-US Court of Appeals Chief Judge Stephen Breyer (left) stretches his legs as President Bill Clinton waits, prior to jogging together in May 1994 - Clinton would ultimately appoint Breyer to the Supreme Court Entire families in Afghanistan have been forced to sell their kidneys so they can buy food, as the country plunges deeper into a humanitarian crisis. One family - including three brothers and two sisters - all underwent surgery and sold their organs for around 1,150 each in order to feed their relatives. For those who have already sold their kidneys to feed their starving families, many are resorting to selling their own children to survive because they have 'nothing left to sell', as Afghanistan's economy teeters on the brink of collapse. One husband and wife, who have sold their kidneys to feed their eight children and wish to remain anonymous, are now considering selling one of the youngsters because they fear they will starve otherwise. Overcome with emotion, the 25-year-old mother, from a village outside the city of Herat, told Sky News: 'About six months ago, my three-year-old son died of hunger. I can't see them all lose their lives... at least this way, someone else will feed them.' Her husband, who has not decided which of their eight children to sell, said they have no choice and their situation is so desperate he would sell the infants for less than the price of his kidney. 'We have nothing left to sell,' the father said. 'We have to sell our children now and I'm prepared to do this for even 20,000 Afghanis (150). I can't go to sleep every night with them crying that they are hungry.' Entire families in Afghanistan have been forced to sell their kidneys so they can buy food, as the country plunges deeper into a humanitarian crisis. Afghans lift up their shirts to show their scars from the kidney surgery The family said they have no choice, and are among scores of destitute families in Afghanistan being forced to sell their children to survive. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August last year, the country's economy is on the brink of collapse and international humanitarian aid has been put on hold - and the effects are deeply felt by families who cannot buy basic goods such as food. In the village outside Herat, which is close to the border with Iran, dozens of women, many of whom were still teenagers, have donated their kidneys to provide food for their children and families. Many of the villagers have sold their organs to buyers across the border in Iran in an effort to repay their debts. 'We have no choice,' one teenage mother, who was operated on a month ago, said as she revealed her red scar on her midriff. 'We do this to feed our children.' The village elder, who has urged families not to sell their children, said: 'I urge the world, please don't leave us alone. Stop this tragedy of people selling their children or part of their bodies. Afghanistan needs help.' One husband and wife (right: the mother), who have sold their kidneys to feed their eight children and wish to remain anonymous, are now considering selling one of the youngsters because they fear they will starve otherwise. Pictured right: An Afghan shows their scar after donating their kidney Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan last year, the country has seen the value of its currency collapse even though hard notes are in short supply, while prices for basic goods have soared due to shortages, with the UN warning that food could run dangerously low soon. The international community froze Afghanistan's assets abroad and halted funding, unwilling to work with a Taliban government given its reputation for brutality during its previous rule 20 years ago. It has led to the chief of the UN to warn that Afghanistan is facing a 'make-or-break moment' as he appealed to countries to inject cash back into the Afghan economy, which before the Taliban takeover in August was dependent on international aid that accounted for 75% of state spending. Afghanistan is grappling with a liquidity crisis as assets remain frozen in the U.S. and other countries, and disbursements from international organizations have been put on hold. The effects of the economic collapse could prove lethal for the country where a third of the population survives on less than $2 per day. It has meant an increasing number of families are turning to the illegal practice of selling their children under the age of 15. A mother warms her 18-month-old son by a fire by the Kabul - Pul-e-Alam highway eastern Afghanistan on January 18 The economic collapse, and the lack of international aid, has meant hospitals in the country have run out of treatments. In Herat Regional Hospital in Herat city, doctors such as Dr Mohammad Aqel Halimee do not have enough bandages to help his young patients in the children's ward of the burns unit. Without sufficient dressings, the children's injuries have become infected because of the deep burns caused by open fires. Their families, who are unable to buy food for their families, are unable to pay for the medicines and treatments, nor expensive surgeries, meaning some children are sent home to die. Dr Aqel, who spoke of the emotional toll of the dire situation, told Sky News: 'I have a bad sensation. Because [it's all down to the] lack of materials... I have the ability to treat them but a lack of materials and bandages means I can't help them.' The desperation of millions is clear as more and more people face hunger, with some 3.2 million children under 5 years old facing acute malnutrition, according to the U.N. Charles, World Vision's national director for Afghanistan, said humanitarian aid funds are desperately needed. 'I'm happy to see the pledges are made,' she said. But the pledges 'shouldn't stay as promises, they have to be seen as reality on the ground.' Afghans wait to receive food rations organized by the World Food Program (WFP) in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province. eastern of Afghanistan, on January 18 Afghans wait to receive food rations organized by the World Food Program (WFP) in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province. eastern of Afghanistan, on January 18 Faced with the Taliban's request for funds, Western powers are likely to put the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan high on their agenda, along with the West's recurring demand for the Taliban administration to share power with Afghanistan's minority ethnic and religious groups. Since sweeping to power in mid-August, the Taliban have imposed widespread restrictions, many of them directed at women. Women have been banned from many jobs outside the health and education fields, their access to education has been restricted beyond sixth grade and they have been ordered to wear the hijab. The Taliban have, however, stopped short of imposing the burqa, which was compulsory when they previously ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s. The Taliban have increasingly targeted Afghanistan's beleaguered rights groups, as well as journalists, detaining and sometimes beating television crews covering demonstrations. HARRISBURG Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. The slow, multiyear process of amending the Pennsylvania Constitution has become the tool of choice for Republican lawmakers seeking to enact policy and avoid the governors veto. Advertisement Last year, the proposals the legislature sent voters all received approval. Two limited the governors power to declare and sustain a state of emergency, and the other enshrined protection against discrimination based on race in Pennsylvania. Lawmakers are now considering a number of proposed changes that could radically reshape how parts of the state government work. But despite the potential significance of these changes, its difficult to track them as they move through the process. Advertisement Amending the constitution, though cumbersome, does not involve the governor. Instead, proposed constitutional amendments, after passing both chambers of the General Assembly two sessions in a row, become referenda that voters can approve or reject in the following election. If a majority of voters approve an amendment and it survives any legal challenges it goes into effect and becomes part of the constitution. Since 1968, the year Pennsylvanias current constitution went into effect, voters rejected only six of 49 proposed amendments that reached them. Only 14 of those ballot questions appeared during presidential or gubernatorial election years, races that typically see higher turnouts. Since the latest two-year session began in January 2021, Democratic and Republican legislators have proposed more than 70 changes to the state constitution. Most of these proposed amendments are still stuck at the beginning of the process and havent been considered by lawmakers. Of those actually moving through the General Assembly, two could be on the ballot this year: Spotlight PA scoured this sessions bills to identify all the changes legislators want to make to the state constitution. Well update the below database when new proposals are introduced and as existing ones move through the process. WHILE YOURE HERE... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. A care home nurse who was caught on a spy camera dragging a helpless dementia-suffering woman across her room onto a urine-stained bed has been struck off. Mamello Herring was caught by a hidden camera installed by the victim's family after suspicions arose about her treatment at a care home in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The disturbing footage, taken on November 30, 2018, showed Herring and colleague Maria Jackson dragging Angelina Lanera, then 85, from a toilet back to her bed as she cried in distress. Ms Lanera had been a resident of Claremont House for a period of months and was 'physically frail, had reduced mobility, suffered from dementia, psychosis and was partially blind'. However, the nursing staff manhandled her using a 'drag lift', a technique banned because of the injuries it can cause, which involves someone putting their hand or arm under a patient's armpit. Herring, of Leeds, pleaded guilty to a charge of ill treatment by a care worker at Bradford Crown Court in August 2019. She was subsequently sentenced to an 18-month community order and required to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work at the same court in January last year. The nurse, though, was struck off following a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) misconduct hearing on Wednesday. A panel heard Herring had been employed by the care home since 2014, but suspicions arose when a complaint was made to the local council from Ms Lanera's family in December 2018. Michael Lanera fitted a spy camera in his 85-year-old dementia-stricken mother's room in Halifax, West Yorkshire, after he suspected she was being mistreated Her son, Michael Lanera, had visited his mother and found her lying in a urine-stained bed, still in her clothes from the day before. When he checked the camera he had planted in her room, he discovered the horrific footage. The panel heard that Ms Lanera required a walking frame to move to and from her bathroom, along with the assistance of two members of staff. She also needed 'careful and calm explanations' when interventions were taking place. Herring was suspended from her role on December 6, 2018, after the footage was provided to the local council and police. It showed Herring and her care assistant colleague 'drag Ms Lanera across the floor of the bedroom with her underwear down around her legs'. The footage then shows Herring and the care assistant 'lift the resident by her arms onto the bed' with her 'distress' audibly clear. Following a criminal investigation, Herring was charged with ill treatment by a care worker. She initially pleaded not guilty to the offence, but changed her plea to guilty ahead of trial. Passing sentence, Judge Richard Mansell QC told her that right thinking members of the public might have considered a short prison sentence 'fully deserved'. He added: 'To drag a lady as vulnerable as Ms Lanera from the toilet, as you did, with her knickers around her ankles, and then to physically manhandle her up and onto and then up the length of her bed while she was moaning and crying in distress is a gross failure by both of you to care for this lady on that night. 'You left her in that position, laid on her bed, crying out that she wanted the toilet, and her son found her the next day in her own urine soaked clothing, and he had already suspected that the care she was receiving was not all that it should have been. 'He had installed a secret camera in that room to record just this kind of incident which he suspected may be occurring, and had he not done so you would have got away with it on this occasion, and quite probably on other occasions, because it is hard to believe that this was just a one off having watched the footage as I have.' Claremont House care home in Halifax, West Yorkshire, where the incident took place in November 2018 Mrs Lanera could be heard crying in distress, but the workers continued to manhandle her using a banned 'drag lift' technique Mr Lanera set up the camera after he suspected his mother Angela Lanera wasn't being properly looked after at the care home in Halifax The judge said Herring 'deserved' to lose her job. The misconduct panel heard Herring's actions 'caused direct distress and unwarranted harm to a vulnerable lady', who was treated 'without respect and with a disregard for her dignity'. Her actions 'also caused distress to the family', whose concerns regarding her care became so great that they 'felt it necessary to place a covert camera in her room'. Herring did not attend the hearing, but told the panel her own actions were 'entirely unacceptable and reprehensible'. She said: 'Working in a nursing home setting can be very challenging, particularly when residents have complex care needs or can demonstrate challenging behaviour. 'When this incident happened, I was under stress and tired due to not sleeping well, therefore this might have affected my decision making.' However, the panel said her remarks did 'little to allay concerns or fully explain the conduct' on the night of the incident. The hearing was also told of how Herring had been subject to a previous referral to the watchdog after an incident in September 2013 in which she hoisted a patient from the floor to their bed and failed to call emergency services or document what had happened. Determining that only a striking off order was appropriate, the NMC panel said: 'The actions which led to Ms Herrings conviction were a significant departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse and breached fundamental tenets of the profession. 'The previous regulatory finding and sanction against Ms Herring suggests a pattern of behaviour and deep-seated attitudinal concerns. In these circumstances, it is submitted that Ms Herrings conviction is fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register.' Ms Lanera's son said said he supported the striking off order. Speaking after the sentencing last year, Mr Lanera said he was 'angry' at the pair who should have been caring for his vulnerable mother, who has since died. He said: 'I'm really angry with them for they did to my mum. 'She (Herring) had also been warned before about her actions when she lifted a patient with a broken leg at another care home. 'I believe in second chances and we all make mistakes. But she hasn't learnt from her mistakes. 'She shouldn't be able to work in care again.' Herring's colleague, Maria Jackson, of Hipperholme, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to common assault and received an 18-month community order. She was also ordered to do 180 hours' unpaid work. Advertisement Boris Johnson faced growing questions over official aid given to a charity that lobbied his wife today, as fresh emails linked him to efforts to extract from the fall of Afghanistan. The Prime Minister has been accused of authorising assistance to Paul Farthing and his Nowzad organisation as Kabul was abandoned to the Taliban last August. Internal Foreign Office emails from the time, published by MPs yesterday, showed that it was his decision to offer help amid chaos in the besieged city. Critics have raised concerns that animals were helped out of the country's at the expense of locals who had worked for the UK and faced bloody retribution from the Islamic extremists. Mr Johnson today described the claims as 'absolute rhubarb' as he spoke to reporters on a visit to north Wales. But even as he was making the eccentric denial, fresh emails emerged linking him to the assistance. Messages handed to the BBC's Newsnight programme from Rachel King, an aide to then-foreign secretary Dominic Raab, suggested he and No10 were both involved. In one, Ms King said that Mr Raab was 'seeking a steer from No 10 on whether to call them forward now' to get on a flight out of Kabul ahead of the extremists' takeover. Another email handed to the BBC was from Nigel Casey, the Prime Minister's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, in which he said the national security Stephen Lovegrove was advised 'to seek clear guidance for us from No 10 asap on what they would like us to do'. The roles of Mrs Johnson and her friend, the Foreign Office Minister Zac Goldsmith, have also been thrown into the spotlight. Mrs Johnson is understood to deny speaking to anyone from Nowzad about a rescue, or speaking to the PM or a minister about it. A volunteer claimed to LBC last year that he has appreciated her directly for help. Lord Goldsmith last night insisted that he did not discuss rescue efforts with the PM and appeared to try to apportion blame to senior officials from his team in the Foreign Office who wrote the emails released yesterday. Amid questions over the alleged role of the PM's wife in the row and wider controversies, one of his former allies, ex-Brexit minister Lord Frost, appeared to criticise her influence today. Writing on Twitter he praised a newspaper column which suggested the PM distance himself from 'green fanatics' around him. Mrs Johnson is known to support environmental causes and works for a conservation charity. Meanwhile, Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg sparked anger as he accused Labour of 'fussing about a few animals'. After his comments in Parliament, shadow minister Matt Western said 'it was the Prime Minister and his wife who were more ''worried about a few animals'' when they should have saved the brave interpreters who served our British forces over 20 years'. One senior Tory MP told MailOnline on the Nowzad row: 'It's really offended people. I've got constituents who are outraged by it, with relatives in Afghanistan who didn't get out. 'People are pretty angry that animals were brought out before people.' Mr Johnson's position was further weakened last night after it was revealed one of his top political aides tried to hire an aircraft to help get Nowzad out last August. Trudy Harrison, who was then parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Mr Johnson, contacted a private charter company, with a source at the firm telling the broadcaster it was implicit that she was acting with the PM's backing. The Prime Minister spoke out as he faced attacks over assistance offered to former soldier Paul Farthing and his Nowzad organisation as Kabul was abandoned to the Taliban. In one email, Rachel King said that Mr Raab was 'seeking a steer from No 10 on whether to call them forward now' to get on a flight out of Kabul ahead of the extremists' takeover. Another email handed to the BBC was from Nigel Casey, the Prime Minister's special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, in which he said the national security Stephen Lovegrove was advised 'to seek clear guidance for us from No 10 asap on what they would like us to do'. Mr Johnson last year denied intervening after Nowzad contacted Mrs Johnson directly for help. But emails released yesterday showed that he did order official help to be directed to it. Lord Goldsmith, a Foreign Office minister and friend of Carrie Johnson, last night insisted that the Prime Minister was not involved in efforts to help Paul Farthing and his Nowzad organisation flee Kabul. Carrie was lobbied personally by members of Nowzad in order to get them and their animals out of Kabul in August The Prime Minister has previously denied intervening to allow Paul 'Pen' Farthing and members of his Nawzad charity flee Kabul at the expense of locals as the extremists closed in last summer. Trudy Harrison, who was then parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Mr Johnson, contacted a private charter company, with a source at the firm telling Sky it was implicit that she was acting with the PM's backing. Ms Harrison previously wrote to Mr Farthing, who ran the Nowzad shelter, to inform him the evacuation would go ahead. The damning emails August 25, 12:20pm From: Official in Lord Goldsmith's private office To: FCDO official Subject: Animal Charity for Evacuation from Kabul '[animal charity name redacted] are a [details redacted] animal charity operating in Kabul and seeking to evacuation (sic) their [details redacted] members of staff (no animals). 'Equivalent charity Nowzad, run by an ex-Royal Marine, has received a lot of publicity and the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated, [animal charity name redacted] are hoping to be treated in the same capacity (granted LOTR).' August 25, 5.42pm From: FCDO official To: Foreign Secretary's Private Office Subject: Evacuation - LOTR. URGENT for FS (Foreign Secretary) views 'In light of the PM's decision earlier today to evacuate the staff of the Nowzad animal charity, the [animal charity name redacted] (another animal rights NGO) is asking for agreement to the entry of [details redacted] staff, all Afghan nationals... 'Having regard to the Prime Minister's Nowzad decision, the Foreign Secretary might consider the [details redacted] vets and their dependents should be included. They might be able to get to the airport with their dependents in time.' Advertisement Ms Harrison previously wrote to Mr Farthing, who ran the Nowzad shelter, to inform him the evacuation would go ahead. She told Sky News on Wednesday that she had contacted companies, and had told staff she was a PPS to Mr Johnson, but that she was acting as a constituency MP and Mr Johnson was not involved in plans around the evacuation. Meanwhile Lord Goldsmith, a former MP who was handed a peerage after losing his Richmond Park seat at the 2019 election, also rowed in behind the PM and his wife. Emails released yesterday by the Foreign Affairs Committee cited an official in his office telling an official in his department 'the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated'. That official later sent another message to other mandarins, saying: 'Having regard to the Prime Minister's Nowzad decision, the Foreign Secretary might consider the [details redacted] vets and their dependents should be included. They might be able to get to the airport with their dependents in time,' the emails said. But Goldsmith, a multi-millionaire who loaned his plush Spanish estate to the PM for a controversial holiday last year, said: 'I did not authorise and do not support anything that would have put animals' lives ahead of peoples'. 'My position, which I made clear publicly, was that the UK should prioritise evacuating people. I never discussed the Nowzad charity or their efforts to evacuate animals with the PM.' No 10 also sought to blame officials for making it seem as if the Prime Minister had been involved in the Nowzad decision. The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'It's not uncommon in Whitehall for decisions to be interpreted or portrayed as coming directly from the Prime Minister, even when that's not the case. 'And it's our understanding that's what happened in this instance. We appreciate it was a frenetic time for those officials dealing with this situation, but that's our understanding of what's happened in this instance.' Asked if it was concerning that officials would interpret decision-making as coming directly from the Prime Minister, even if he was not involved, the spokesman said: 'Like I say, we appreciate this was a frenetic time for those working at the forefront of this, who were dealing with thousands of emails a day on evacuation requests.' Carrie controversies that have dogged the PM The row over Paul Farthing is the latest crisis for Boris Johnson involving his wife. Mr Farthing's charity said it lobbied the Prime Minister's wife in August to help get him and their animals out of Kabul before the Taliban took over Afghanistan. But Mrs Johnson, who has two children with the PM, has also had a key role in other rows that have engulfed his premiership. Although she is a former head of communications for the Conservative Party, she currently has no official role in the Government. Sacking of Dom Cummings Mrs Johnson was implicated in the decision to fire Dominic Cummings as the PM's chief advisor in late 2020. He left No10 that December after losing a power struggle with her to get the PM's ear. His allies were alleged to have referred to her as 'Princess Nut Nut', which enraged Mr Johnson and upset her. She is a skilled networker and environmental campaigner. And her views on animal welfare and the early release of violent criminals influenced Mr Johnson's stance on the issues - frequently to Mr Cumming's frustration. There had long been annoyance over claims that Mrs Johnson was running a shadow PR operation, while she was said to have been incensed at the aggressive behaviour of Mr Cummings and his cadre. Downing Street flat redecoration Carrie's dislike of the decor in the PM's official Downing Street flat is believed to have driven his desire to give the quarters a six-figure revamp. A visitor to the flat is said to have described the interior left by Theresa May as a'John Lewis furniture nightmare' in Tatler. The taxpayer funds a 30,000 annual allowance, but the redecoration - reportedly involving the company Soane, co-founded by designer Lulu Lytle - stretched beyond that. Some reports suggest the upgrades hit the 200,000 mark, while a leaked email suggested Tory peer Lord Brownlow was making a 58,000 donation to the Conservatives 'to cover the payments the party has already made on behalf of the soon-to-be-formed 'Downing Street Trust'. Partygate Carrie was dragged into the centre of Partygate this week over claims she organised a lockdown-busting birthday bash in June 2020. The PM's wife has already been placed at a number of contentious events in Downing Street during lockdown. But on Monday ITV revealed she was behind a gathering in the Cabinet Room in No10 on June 19, 2020, to celebrate him turning 56. They are said to have celebrated his birthday after his return from a visit to a school in Hertfordshire, where he had posed with his arms outstretched with children to show the importance of social distancing. The event saw staff join in with a chorus of happy birthday as the PM was presented with a Union Jack cake. Those present included Ms Lytle, though she said she happened to pass by on her way to speak to the PM. Advertisement Peers today called for Goldsmith to appear before them and explain what happened over the controversial airlift. Labour former defence secretary Lord Browne of Ladyton said: 'Once again we're being treated to ministers in studios and in the House not facing up to the fact that the evidence is out there. These emails are there for people to see.' Baroness Smith of Basildon, Labour leader in the Lords, added: 'If Lord Goldsmith has made a statement to this House that appears at the face of it to be at odds with the statement in an email from his private office that is now public, can he not come to the Lords to explain? I think that's a very straightforward request.' Cabinet Office minister Lord True replied: 'It's for ministers to decide how to justify their actions and conduct, but I repeat that the assertions that have been made have been repudiated by Lord Goldsmith, by No 10 Downing Street and by the Defence Secretary.' Labour branded Mr Johnson a 'pathological liar' last night, with shadow defence secretary John Healey saying: 'Once again, the Prime Minister has been caught out lying about what he has been doing and deciding. 'He should never have given priority to flying animals out of Afghanistan while Afghans who worked for our armed forces were left behind.' Today Standards Committee Chairman Chris Bryant said clarity was needed, telling Mr Rees-Mogg: 'There may be a perfectly innocent explanation - but it may be guilty as charged, mayn't it?' Mr Mogg replied: 'Under Operation Pitting (the Kabul evacuation) our armed forces and civil service worked around the clock to evacuate 15,000 people, including around 8,300 British nationals and 5,000 people through the Afghan relocations policy. 'This was an incredibly successful and pressurised operation and our armed forces once again, showed what amazing things they can do when called upon to do it. 'And he is fussing about a few animals. I think it shows the level of seriousness which he characteristically brings to today's debate.' Cabinet minister Therese Coffey today insisted Boris Johnson did not make any 'individual decisions' on Afghan evacuations despite a leaked email suggesting he had 'authorised' the removal of animals from Kabul. The Work and Pensions Secretary told Sky News: 'A lot of people will claim that the PM is involved in supporting their particular pet projects but the PM said he wasn't involved in individual decisions, that is what the Defence Secretary, who was in charge of Operation Pitting overall, has said as well.' But a Tory critical of the hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan suggested the emails 'speak for themselves' and should be considered alongside other evidence. Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and a former soldier who served in Afghanistan, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he 'can't really comment in any more detail' on the messages, which were released by the committee on Wednesday. 'The emails really speak for themselves and need to be read alongside other evidence,' he said. Mr Tugendhat added that Defence Secretary Ben Wallace had given evidence that there had been 'no such order', and said he believes the minister has 'always spoken honestly' on the subject. 'You'll have to read the emails and see whether you think that there were others who were working around the system - that I can't answer,' he said. 'But it's certainly true that the Defence Secretary has been extremely clear on this and I definitely take him at his word.' Foreign Office emails published yesterday show officials discussing 'the PM's decision' to help Mr Farthing get onto some of the last planes out of the besieged city's airport. Lord Alan Sugar has been mocked after claiming he and his wife 'could not understand a word' of Martin Freeman's Scouse accent in BBC drama The Responder. The Apprentice star hit out at the programme in a series of tweets, in which he claimed he struggled to follow what the cast were saying. But the business mogul has since faced an intense backlash from locals in Liverpool, where the thriller is based, who defended the actor's twang as 'spot on'. He wrote: 'Why did the BBC make Martin Freeman speak with a Liverpool accent in The Responder. Hard to follow what he and other cast are saying. 'No disrespect to people of Liverpool they are nice down to earth people. My wife gave up watching she said she could not understand a word.' Lord Alan Sugar has been mocked after claiming he and his wife 'could not understand a word' of Martin Freeman's Scouse accent in BBC drama The Responder Martin Freeman himself confessed earlier this week that he spoke to himself in a Liverpudlian accent for a year and a half in preparation for The Responder Lord Sugar was inundated with more than 2,000 replies to his controversial tweet, including from Hollywoods star Matt Littler, who told him: 'It'sit's set in liverpool. That's I'm not sure how to answer.' The tycoon replied: 'It might be set in Liverpool. I can understand Steven Gerrard. I can't understand the character. Sorry but true.' Another made a dig, saying: 'I know what you mean Al, I have the same problem with Eastenders.' Sue Lee, a columnist and former editor of the Liverpool Echo newspaper also responded. She told the Mirror: 'As a born and bred Scouser I'm hypersensitive when non Liverpudlians try to imitate how I speak. Get it right and it's flattering. Get it wrong and I'd sooner hear fingernails scraping their way down a blackboard. 'For my money Martin Freeman gets the Scouse twang spot on. Yes, it's a bit thicker than the way I talk but, like the city itself, our tongue is a glorious hot-potch of people, languages and history. 'As someone once sang - it's an accent exceedingly rare. Sorry Lord Sugar. If your ears can't tune into that there's only one thing for it - you're fired!' It is not the first time Lord Sugar has sparked controversy on social media, after a racist tweet in 2018 in which he compared Senegal footballers to Marbella beach sellers. Hundreds of people slammed The Apprentice host's tweet and others called for his sacking - but he initially failed to back down, criticising the 'OTT' reaction to a 'bloody joke'. The tweet was eventually removed 23 minutes later - but Lord Sugar, 71, insisted this was only because it was 'interpreted in the wrong way as offensive by a few people'. Freeman himself confessed earlier this week that he spoke to himself in a Liverpudlian accent for a year and a half in preparation for The Responder. The actor, 50, who stars as former first responder Chris Carson in the series based upon a true story, admitted he's 'not always the best judge' of himself though. Having filmed the series on the streets of Liverpool, The Hobbit star revealed he 'followed his ear', having spent a lot of time speaking to residents of the city. He told Metro: 'I walked around for a year and a half, occasionally just talking to myself in scouse. Even though you're not always the best judge of your own thing, I do trust my ear. 'If I say something, I know when it sounds off. I got very, very exact about that stuff. You have to be, because if I don't do it well, it's a terrible accent to get wrong. He went on to joke: 'There are some accents where you don't want to be in that city among the inhabitants of that city making a balls up of it.' The six-part miniseries is written by ex-police officer Tony Schumacher, with the story following crisis-stricken, unconventional officer Chris as he works a series night shifts while on the beat. His character battles to keep things together both professionally and personally as his marriage is on the rocks, while he's also struggling with his mental health. With Chris forced to work with new rookie partner Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo), both officers will have learn that in order to survive the high-pressure and unabating environment of the night shift, they'll have to work together. A university has given a content warning to students reading JK Rowling's first Harry Potter book over 'difficult conversations about gender, race, sexuality, class, and identity'. The University of Chester's English Department sounded the klaxon to freshers on its Approaches to Literature module, led by Dr Richard Leahy. It even told them they could raise concerns with him if they had 'any issues' with the topics discussed. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is one of the course's three set literary texts alongside Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games and Philip Pullman's Northern Lights. The trigger warning seen by MailOnline tells students: 'Although we are studying a selection of Young Adult texts on this Module, the nature of the theories we apply to them can lead to some difficult conversations about gender, race, sexuality, class, and identity. 'These topics will be treated objectively, critically, and most crucially, with respect. If anyone has any issues with the content, please get in touch with the Module Leader to make them aware.' It comes after JK Rowling's views on transgender rights has seen her criticised from some quarters. A number of schools have distanced themselves from her, even removing her as a house name in some cases. The course looking at the book by JK Rowling is accompanied by a students' content warning The Harry Potter books led to a series of blockbuster films, starring Daniel Radcliffe The course lists three books among other texts that will be read and discussed by students The warning at the bottom of the course description is not found on other modules for the year University course leader Dr Leahy has posted on social media about the Harry Potter author previously. In a tweet in March 2019 he wrote: 'JK Rowling reveals that he is not the best mate of mine'. The warning at the bottom of his module is not featured on any other reading lists seen by MailOnline, which include works by Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte and Arthur Conan Doyle. MP Andrew Bridgen told MailOnline: 'Before they were successful films, series such as Harry Potter, the Hunger Games and Philip Pullmans Northern Lights had already succeeded in introducing millions of children to books and literature. 'Kids understand that in any successful story characters have to face challenges, just as we all, in our lives ,face them too. Children understand that stories without difficult themes dont tend to be very good stories or reflect real life. 'Children and young people are amazingly resilient. It really is very sad that universities are seeking to rob them of that resilience with ridiculous trigger warnings. 'Katniss Everdeen may have lived in a dystopian world in the Hunger Games, some may argue that our universities are creating one for our students too.' General Secretary of Free Speech Union Toby Young told MailOnline: These books celebrate the courage and resilience of their protagonists, encouraging young people not to be afraid to take risks. The University of Chester did not respond to a request for a comment about the warning The English module leader Dr Richard Leahy has tweeted about JK Rowling previously Harry Potter: a magical masterpiece or a triggering tome? For most JK Rowling's wizarding fantasy is pure escapism - and a classic battle between good and evil. But the University of Chester's concerns mere discussion of it could spark triggering themes is not the first time it has been flagged in this way. Most recently an anti-semitism row was sparked over the goblins that run Gringotts bank over the suggestion they were caricatures of Jewish people. It was claimed they were based on figures from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an infamous text that purports to show a Jewish plan for world domination. Ms Rowling has always been a staunch opponent of anti-semitism. Meanwhile the portrayal of Dudley Dursley, who is one of the larger characters and is initially a bully, has prompted some calls of 'fattism'. Ms Rowling has spoken about it herself and said Harry Potter characters who were 'on the plumper side' include 'several of my most important, admirable and loveable characters'. There are also some themes of racism within the books. The series' villain Voldemort believes pureblood wizards are supreme and any other people are inferior. There are also themes of loss and abuse in the books of some of the young characters. A literal reading might prompt some to question why there are no mental health interventions available to them at Hogwarts School. There has also been concerns raised at the lack of diversity in some of the books. One of the characters Cho Chang has attracted attention, with some describing her name as 'stereotypical and inaccurate'. And despite Hermione being one of the series' main characters, there have been accusations of sexism in the books. Some readers feel many of the female figures are portrayed as being annoying or tag-alongs to the males on their adventures. Advertisement directly contradict this message, effectively telling young people that they are so psychologically fragile they could be traumatised by their contents. And remember, were not talking about The 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade. Were talking about Harry Potter. A spokesperson for the University of Chester, which was founded in 1839, insisted: 'Those studying literature should expect to encounter all the issues, challenges and complexity of humankind. 'As a University we promote rather than avoid discussion on these. 'We do of course include a generic paragraph on our reading lists to draw attention to the opportunity for individual students to talk with tutors if anything is particularly difficult because of its personal relevance. 'Tutors know how to signpost students to specialist support which is occasionally needed but often the tutorial or seminar discussion is sufficient for a student to put an issue in context. 'The example paragraph you picked out is generic - rather than specific to the three texts you mention.' Asked why this particular reading list was unique in featuring the warning, they added: 'For further clarification the Department agreed a standard form of words for level 4 students - usually joining from school or college. 'The module picked out uses this generic text and an additional paragraph just to reiterate that young adult texts can also prompt important conversations.' It comes in the same month MailOnline revealed a secondary school specialising in performing arts had cancelled Ms Rowling as a house name over her 'comments and viewpoints surrounding trans people'. The Boswells School in Chelmsford, Essex, had honoured the writer for one of its in-school groups, which had also been labelled with the quality of 'self-discipline'. But was replaced over the summer with Olympic hero Dame Kelly Holmes. Rowling has faced accusations of transphobia after she mocked an online article in June 2020 which used the words 'people who menstruate' instead of 'women'. She later defended herself against the claims in a passionate essay but has been criticised by some ever since. Last week she hit back at a claim on US website that she believed there are only two genders. Rowling wrote: 'Small but important point: I've never said there are only two genders. 'There are innumerable gender identities. The The Boswells School said students and staff asked for the Rowling name to be reviewed The review of the name was mentioned in a school newsletter, where the original logo (left) was frequently seen in earlier editions. On July 2 a new house shield was featured alongside the announcement of the review (right) which had erased Rowling's name and blocked over it with a large red box In September the same newsletter series revealed the new house, named after Dame Kelly Holmes, the famous gold medal winning Olympian, in place of Rowling 'The question at the heart of this debate is whether sex or gender identity should form the basis of decisions on safeguarding, provision of services, sporting categories and other areas where women and girls currently have legal rights and protections. 'Using the words 'sex' and 'gender' interchangeably obscures the central issue of this debate. 'If you're interested in what I actually said, see this - (in which I literally say 'trans lives matter' and 'trans rights are human rights.').' In the past few weeks debate erupted about whether or not Rowling would appear in the upcoming Harry Potter reunion on Sky. It was revealed that, in clips of the New Year's Day special, stars had praised 'the power of her writing' and that she would appear in archive footage. She is also seen in a segment from 2019 discussing the uphill struggle to find an actor to play Harry when casting the first movie, The Philosopher's Stone. The eagerly-anticipated reunion sees Daniel join fellow leads Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger, and Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, as well as a slew of fellow co-stars in marking 20 years since the franchise first aired. Despite the star-studded turn out, the author behind the stratospherically successful franchise was not in attendance at the reunion special - sparking outrage from some fans who accused makers of attempting to erase her over her views. MailOnline told two months ago how Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School in Richmond cancelled Winston Churchill and Rowling for not being diverse enough, It previously had houses named after the Prime Minister and the Harry Potter author - alongside Sir David Attenborough and Emmeline Pankhurst. The school - which caters for young children aged three to 11 - claims pupils had asked for the house names to be more diverse. It then replaced Churchill and Rowling with England star Marcus Rashford and nurse Mary Seacole. Newly qualified Alice Clark, 21, died when the vehicle smashed into the back of the Volvo tanker parked in a lay-by A junior paramedic on an emergency call was killed when her ambulance drove into a slip road rather than a turning, colliding with a cement truck, an inquest has heard. Alice Clark, 21, who had only been in the job for a few weeks, died when the vehicle smashed into the back of a Volvo tanker parked in a lay-by off the coastbound carriageway near Tonbridge, Kent, at 8.16pm on January 5. The ambulance driver, Edward Riding, was heading to an emergency on blue lights when the vehicle hit the kerb and bounced off a parked lorry before embedding itself in the back of the cement tanker, an inquest at County Hall, Maidstone heard. Miss Clark, of Newington, Sittingbourne, was cut free by Kent Fire and Rescue but was declared dead at 9.42pm. She had only joined South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) two months earlier. The ambulance driver was flown by air ambulance to King's College Hospital with life-threatening injuries. A third occupant, Megan Kuhn, was in the back of the ambulance and managed to get out with help, but suffered a severe concussion. Coroner's clerk Richard Smith said: 'For reasons unknown the vehicle took the slip road to the lay-by instead of the next exit towards the Morley Road roundabout.' The ambulance hit the kerb, then the back of a parked Scania lorry before bouncing off and embedding itself in the back of a parked and attended Volvo tanker. The crushed front of the ambulance is seen following the crash in Sevenoaks, Kent Members of the ambulance service at the scene after the crash on the A21 near Tonbridge, Kent Mr Smith said: 'The impact caused the ambulance to become embedded into the rear of the tanker trapping both the driver and front-seat passenger who was Miss Clark.' Dr Richard McQuillan of HEMS declared that Miss Clark had passed away at 9.42 pm. Miss Clark's cause of death was given as lower limb and pelvic fractures with retroperitoneal haemorrhage from a vehicular crash. Her devastated parents paid tribute to their 'beautiful, kind' daughter, day after the crash. A small service was attended by emergency crews yesterday in memory of Alice yesterday. Last week, a service was held to remember Miss Clark, where flowers were laid. The ambulance driver, Edward Riding, was heading to an emergency on blue lights when the vehicle hit the kerb and bounced off a parked lorry before embedding itself in the back of the cement tanker, an inquest at County Hall, Maidstone heard Police were called after a crash between an ambulance and a cement lorry On social media, a post from Secamb said: 'Yesterday #SECAmb crews from Paddock Wood and Critical Care paramedics joined with her family and colleagues from Kent Police, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex in a small service to remember Alice and lay flowers at the scene.' Those at the service included Secamb staff who had attended the crash. Yasmin Bekir, who studied at the University of Greenwich with Alice, has set up a Gofundme page to raise money to help her family cope during this time. Other friends and colleagues and the Health Secretary have also paid tribute to Alice. The Catalan parliament has passed a resolution to rehabiliate the memory of more than 700 women who were tortured and executed as witches over three hundred years ago. The resolution was passed by a strong majority of 114 in favour, 14 against and six abstentions, driven largely by the pro-independence and left-wing parties in the parliament, who view the women as 'victims of misogynistic persecution'. 'We have recently discovered the names of more than 700 women who were persecuted, tortured and executed between the 15th and 18th centuries,' say the groups behind the resolution. Part of the proposed rehabiliation is for local councils in Catalonia to revise street names to include the names of women convicted of witchcraft as an 'exercise in historical reparation.' Over 700 women who were tortured and executed for witchcraft in Catalonia have been identified by historian Pau Castell. (Above, an illustration of a woman convicted of witchcraft being burned at the stake circa 1692) Digitial reconstruction of the face of Lilias Adie, a Scottish woman who died in prison in 1704 while awaiting trial for the crimes of 'being a witch and having sex with the 'devil'. Academics today think crop failures and famines blamed on witches were caused by a 'Little Ice Age' Catalan President Pere Aragones in the Catalan Parliament, who supported the resolution to recognise women accused of witchcraft as victims of misogynistic persecution. The resolution links past persecution of women as witches to modern day femicides and 'misogynistic persecution' An invesitgation by local scientific journal Sapiens and research by Barcelona historian Pau Castell found that Catalonia was one of the first regions in Europe to carry out witch hunts in the 15th century, and one of the worst over all for executions for witchcraft. 'Before they called us witches, now they call us 'feminazis' or hysterical or sexually frustrated. Before they carried out witch hunts, now we call them femicides,' said regional deputy Jenn Diaz of the ruling ERC, according to the AFP news agency. It follows on from a recent bill in the Scotttish parliament to pardon thousands of victims accused of witchcraft between the 16th and 18th centuries when Scotland had a Witchcraft Act. Nicola Sturgeon is expected to issue a formal apology when it is passed next year. Witches were often blamed for the sudden deaths of children or poor harvests, and identified by the 'Devil's mark' or 'Witch's teat'. Those found guilty of witchcraft faced execution by hanging, beheading, or being burned at the stake. Today academics ascribe poor harvests to a minature ice age of the period, and the identifiers as being due to Lyme's disease from tick bites. Historian of the University of Southern Maine Dr Mary Drymon said, 'It seems that the Devil's mark is the bull's eye rash of Lyme disease and the witch's teat may be the lymphocytoma that sometimes develops after a tick bite. 'The Little Ice Age triggered not only cold periods but both wet and dry conditions, crop failures and famines. 'Droughts tend to concentrate ticks in areas where sheep, deer and mice drink water-near creeks and rivers in rural areas.' Advertisement The world is holding its breath today, waiting for Vladimir Putin to respond after he was sent two letters dismissing his top security demands around Ukraine. Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said Thursday that the Russian strongman is still mulling over letters from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO chief Jens Stoltenburg which are thought to have ruled out the possibility of Ukraine being banned from the alliance and the removal of troops from ex-Soviet states. Blinken's letter was delivered to Moscow's foreign ministry late last night, handed over in-person by ambassador John Sullivan who was pictured leaving the building as snow fell, clutching a black leather folder in his hand. While giving little ground on Russia's main demands, Blinken said the letter does present 'serious' offers to de-escalate tensions - thought to include controls on nuclear arms and limits on military exercises. Peskov said there is 'little room for optimism' after an initial reading and that Moscow's main concerns are being ignored, but left the option of further talks open - at least for now. 'We won't rush with our assessments,' he said. Separately, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the letter contains some elements that could lead to 'the start of a serious talk on secondary issues' but 'contains no positive response on the main issue,' Lavrov said top officials will now submit their proposals to Putin, and that his response would come 'soon'. With the threat of war hanging heavy in the air, Russia's troop build-up on Ukraine's border continued today as Ukrainian troops were pictured training with British NLAW anti-tank weapons that were delivered last week as part of a package of UK military aid. British instructors have been sent to train the Ukrainians to use the rockets, and Kiev's troops were seen carrying them around a fake combat zone as they prepared for a Russian attack. NLAWs are disposable missile launchers that use tracking technology and high-explosive warheads to take out tanks, such as the ones used by Russia. It comes after it was revealed that UK warships and fighter jets could be on the move within days towards eastern Europe in an attempt to deter a Russian attack. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace - who is in Berlin today ahead of talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow - is understood to have requested a range of options from military chiefs. That includes deploying British troops to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary alongside thousands of American soldiers heading to the region. Washington has asked its allies to contribute manpower. The move is significant because it was expected to come only after an attack on Ukraine. Elsewhere today... Ben Wallace said there is still 'a chance' of avoiding conflict in Ukraine but admitted he is 'not optimistic' Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK is not ruling out support for personal sanctions against President Vladimir Putin in the event Russia invades NATO is considering deploying some troops in Slovakia along with other countries on its eastern flank in response to the Russian military build-up near Ukraine, the Slovak foreign minister said A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said even the thought of a war breaking out between Russia and Ukraine was 'unacceptable', as Moscow continued to deny plans to attack Ukrainian troops are trained how to use British NLAW anti-tank weapons in Kiev, after they were shipped to the country last week as part of military support to help the former Soviet state defend itself British instructors have been sent to train the Ukrainians, and today Ukrainian troops were pictured moving with the weapons through fake combat zones as part of training US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivers a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, as the world waits to see how Putin will respond President Vladimir Putin attends a flower-laying ceremony at the Motherland monument at the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery to mark the 78th anniversary of the end of Leningrad Siege today Two Ukrainian troops are pictured entering a building carrying British NLAW anti-tank weapons as part of training exercises taking place today, in preparation for the possibility of a Russian invasion Ukrainian troops carrying British-made NLAW anti-tank weapons take part in training exercises amid fears Russia will attack Russian Shilka mobile anti-aircraft guns and Kornet-T anti-tank missile carriers are pictured arriving in Gomel, Belarus, around 20 miles from the Ukraine border and just 130 miles from Kiev Russian Shilka mobile anti-aircraft guns are pictured arriving in Belarus aboard a train, amid fears they could be used to stage a lightning assault on Kiev - which sits just 130 miles away Putin visits the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery to mark the 78th anniversary of the end of Leningrad Siege Ukrainian soldier kills five after opening fire at a military factory A Ukrainian National Guard soldier has shot dead five people and injured five more at a military factory in the country's east. Artem Ryabchuk gunned down four servicemen and one civilian woman at the Pivdenmash missile factory in Dinpro in the early hours of this morning, less than 200 miles from the Russian border where 100,000 troops are stationed. The killing spree occurred on the outskirts of the war-torn Donbas region which has been gripped by conflict between pro-Russian separatist rebels and government troops since 2014. The soldier, 21, started the attack during the issuance of weapons before going on the run armed with a Kalashnikov. The gunman was later detained after hitchhiking away from the scene of the massacre as the authorities staged an hour-long manhunt. Investigators, who are yet to establish a motive, are now probing how he passed a medical commission allowing him access to the Kalashnikov rifle and 200 cartridges. They will also investigate whether he faced any psychological pressures in his team. Doctors are still fighting to save the lives of the five people injured in the killing spree, police said. The dead were named as Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Buganov, 34, Senior soldier Artyom Levkivskyi, 21, Junior Sergeant Oleksandr Dragan, 24, Senior Soldier Leonid Chernik, 19, and senior soldier, and civilian guard Vera Lebydinets, 35. The wounded were named as Denis Namestnik, 19, Vladislav Gulida, 22,Igor Semenchenko, 24, Zhanna Sharova, 22, and Yevgen Machula, 20. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said: 'Following my order, a commission will be set up to study the circumstances that led to these actions being taken by a 21-year-old soldier, who had been called to defend his country and be responsible for security - and not to shoot his colleagues.' Police said he had been detained in the town of Pidgorodne outside Dnipro, a city with an estimated population of around one million people. Advertisement RAF pilots and crews have experience of policing the region's airspace because Typhoons from the 121 Expeditionary Air Wing spent much of 2021 in Romania on manoeuvres. Royal Navy sailors witnessed Russian aggression last summer when HMS Defender drew enemy fire in the Black Sea off Crimea. The units will not deploy to Ukraine but to neighbouring Nato states as a deterrent. Western security sources say there are now between 112,000 and 120,000 combat-ready soldiers at the front with more on their way. '[It] could be a lot more', one source told NBC. Videos also revealed columns of armoured vehicles and fighter jets being moved to Belarus, ostensibly for military exercises next month though the fear is they could be used for a lightning-fast offensive on Kiev which sits just a few dozen miles away. Amid the tensions, a Ukrainian national guard conscript opened fire on a military factory in the centre of the country - killing five and wounding five more with a rifle he had just been handed. Artemiy Ryabchuk, 21, opened fire around 1.40am in the city of Dnipro which sits on the Dnieper river around 170 miles from Crimea. He fled the scene and is now being hunted, with Ukrainian security services saying his motive is unclear. However, it comes after security experts warned Russia may launch covert attacks inside Ukraine, either as a pre-text to an invasion, or simply as a way of destabilising the country and sapping confidence in the prime minister. President Biden also stepped up his threat of economic sanctions in the wake of the letters being sent, saying that Nord Stream 2 - Russia's $11billion gas pipe to Germany - would categorically not go ahead if Ukraine is attacked. However, Germany has not given any such guarantee and it is unclear how exactly Biden plans to stop the pipe if Berlin refuses to play ball. Nord Stream 2 completed construction last year after Biden lifted sanctions on the company building it, and it only needs German approval to begin pumping gas. Major combat readiness drills are being carried out in eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black seas with the Russian Northern Fleet also drilling in the Arctic. Footage shows a live-fire exercise against a 'mock enemy' by the Aleksin and Kabardino-Balkariya antisubmarine ships in the Baltic. The vessels are part of a 20-ship naval task force currently at sea, with a similar operation underway in the Black Sea. 'The combat exercise was carried out at varying distances using shipborne artillery weapons, AK-176M and AK-630M,' said a statement from the Russian Baltic Fleet. Separately Su-24M front-line bombers and Su-30SM multirole fighters practiced bombing targets at a training range in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave wedged between NATO countries Lithuania and Poland. And drills were held in the same location with Mi-24 and Mi-8 attack helicopters. A massive Russian military buildup in Belarus deepened as a video showed the the completion of the transfer of dozens of Sukhoi Su-35S fighter jets from the extreme east of Russia. The footage shows the warplanes arriving in autocratic Belarus which borders Ukraine, ostensibly for military exercises, but the West fears the massing of troops and military equipment is an invasion force. Separately, a another video shows a drill to move Su-35S and Su-30SM fighters and Su-34 bombers from their permanent airfields due to an enemy missile strike. Elsewhere it was revealed that thousands of Russian communications troops in the military district bordering Ukraine are involved in 'large scale radio training' as part of a combat readiness exercise. 'More than 1,500 military personnel are taking part in the planned combat training event,' said commander of the Western Military District Col-Gen Alexander Zhuravlev. Some 300 units of military and hi-tech equipment is involved, including the modern P-260 Redut, Andromeda and Belozer complexes, he said. Blinken said he would speak again in the coming days to Lavrov, as a separate initiative by France brought a promise by Moscow at least to keep talking to Ukraine's government. One month after Russia put forward sweeping security proposals, having sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine's border, the United States delivered a reply in co-ordination with NATO allies and said it was ready for any eventuality. 'It sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it,' Blinken told reporters of the US response, which he said would remain confidential. He renewed an offer on 'reciprocal' measures to address mutual security concerns, including reductions of missiles in Europe and transparency on military drills and Western aid to Ukraine. But he made clear that the United States would not budge on Russia's core demand that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, the US-backed military alliance. 'From our perspective, I can't be more clear - NATO's door is open, remains open, and that is our commitment,' Blinken said. Satellite images reveal new units of Russian tanks parked near the Pogonovo training area, around 100 miles from the Ukraine border, as the world waits to find out how Putin will respond to letters dismissing his security demands Russian tanks are seen parked near Pogonovo, around 100 miles from the Ukraine border, amid fears they are massing for an invasion if Putin's security demands are not met Russian artillery crews conduct live-fire drills at the Kuzminsky range in Rostov-on-Don, amid tensions with nearby Ukraine Blinken (left) has kept the exact contents of the letter a secret, but said it categorically rules out the possibility that Ukraine is banned from joining NATO. Sergei Lavrov (right), the Russian foreign minister, has said his country is ready to take 'retaliatory measures' if its demands are not met A Russian T-72B tank takes part in combat readiness drills near Rostov-on-Don, around 70 miles from the Ukraine border and close to areas where rebel groups are fighting the Ukrainian army Russian armoured personnel carriers are pictured taking part in training exercises in Rostov-on-Don, close to Ukraine Russian troops carry an ammunition crate through fields in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, during training exercises Russian tanks and armoured vehicles take part in training exercises in southern Russia, close to the frontlines in Ukraine Kremlin's deputy chief of staff Dmitry Kozak (left) and Russian Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov give a press conference after talks in Paris over Ukraine last night, saying they have agreed to further discussions Russia, which has a fraught historical relationship with Ukraine, has fueled an insurgency in the former Soviet republic's east that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Russia that year also seized Crimea after the overthrow of a government in Kyiv that had resisted efforts to move closer to Europe. The United States has warned of severe and swift consequences if Russia invades, including possible personal sanctions on President Vladimir Putin, and NATO has put 8,500 troops on standby. 'While we are hoping for and working for a good solution - de-escalation - we are also prepared for the worst,' NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. In a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Blinken on Wednesday sought to impress upon Beijing the 'global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine,' according to State Department spokesman Ned Price. China's foreign ministry said in a statement after the call that Wang told Blinken Russia's 'reasonable security concerns should be taken seriously and resolved.' Blinken's deputy Wendy Sherman, who led a previous round of talks with Russia, said Putin seemed ready to invade despite the US warnings. 'I have no idea whether he's made the ultimate decision, but we certainly see every indication that he is going to use military force sometime perhaps (between) now and the middle of February,' Sherman told a forum. In another bid to defuse tensions, senior Russian and Ukrainian officials met for eight hours in Paris with representatives of France and Germany. Dmitry Kozak, the Kremlin deputy chief of staff, said the talks were 'not simple' but that another round would take place in two weeks in Berlin. France said after the so-called Normandy Format talks that the envoys committed to a fragile July 2020 ceasefire in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists. Russian armured vehicles are pictured arriving in Belarus (left), amid fears they could be used to assault Kiev, while military transports are seen in Smolensk (right) A Russian Sukhoi-34 fighter jet is seen on the runway in Belarus after arriving from Russia, amid fears that Putin is massing his forces there for an assault on Kiev A Russian navy ship preparing to take part in exercises in the Black Sea at Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, on Thursday Russia is preparing to hold naval drills in the Black Sea, which analysts fear could provide cover for them to launch attacks A Russian battleship takes part in live-fire exercises in the Baltic Sea, part of widespread Russian naval drills across five seas that involve 140 ships A view from the deck of a Russian Navy battleship during artillery fire drills in the Baltic Sea on Thursday 'We need a supplementary pause. We hope that this process will have results in two weeks,' Kozak said. An aide to French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the talks had been about resolving the separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine, not the threat of a Russian invasion. France and Germany have joined the United States in warning Russia against an invasion but have been less direct about sanctions. Germany's new coalition government has sent mixed signals on whether it would sever the soon-to-open Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia, which will circumvent Ukraine to provide gas to Europe's largest economy. Amid warnings that tensions with the West could push Russia to squeeze supplies, Australian officials said Canberra stood ready to ship natural gas to Europe. 'We haven't received a formal request, but we are indicating that, of course, we are ready to support our friends,' Resources Minister Keith Pitt told media in Sydney. US President Joe Biden, who spoke with European leaders by video-conference on Tuesday, said any Russian military attack on Ukraine would trigger 'enormous consequences' and could even 'change the world.' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, while brushing off the impact, warned that attempts to punish Putin personally would be 'destructive.' The United States again encouraged its citizens to leave Ukraine, warning an invasion could be imminent. But Ukraine's government, hoping to prevent panic, has played down the dangers and sought to offer ways out. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters the Russian troops posed 'a threat to Ukraine' but that the numbers deployed were 'insufficient for a full-scale offensive.' Andriy Yermak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky who took part in the Paris talks, wrote on Twitter that the meeting was 'a strong signal of readiness for a peaceful settlement.' Advertisement Covid infections jumped by a tenth across the UK last week, according to another study that shows children are fueling the resurgence of Omicron. King College London scientists estimate 160,000 people were falling ill with Covid every day in the week ending January 26, compared to 145,000 in its previous report. Cases are now rising in every region. The findings mirror other coronavirus surveillance studies and the Government's own data, which all illustrate how the Omicron wave stopped collapsing. The data from the King's team, who work alongside health firm ZOE, shows cases in children are fuelling the rise, with infections hitting the highest rate recorded since the pandemic began. And cases now appear to be spilling over into 35 to 55-year-olds. Separate data from the UK Health Security Agency released today mirrors the findings, with positive test results rising in youngsters and their parents' age groups, while remaining stable in other cohorts. Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and lead scientist for the study, said the bounce back came 'sooner than many expected'. But he insisted it was 'not surprising' because the start of the school term has been the instigator of resurgences throughout the pandemic, with the highly-infectious virus then crossing over into their parents, school staff and the rest of the wider community. Professor Spector said cases will 'continue to stay high until spring' due to Omicron's high reinfection rate and the emergence of subvariant BA.2, which experts argue could become dominant within a month because it appears to be even more infectious than its ancestral strain. It comes as large numbers of shoppers and commuters today continued wearing masks despite a raft of Covid curbs in England including face coverings and 'vaccine passports' being scrapped. Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Transport for London are still insisting customers 'do the right thing' and cover their faces. The latest report states the uptick in cases among under-18s since was triggered by pupils returning to the classroom at the start of the month and has now accelerated to the highest level ever recorded by the study. One in 11 children aged under nine have the virus (8.8 per cent), while one in 21 people aged 30 to 39 are infected (4.6 per cent). Meanwhile, 4.4 per cent of 10 to 19-year-olds have symptomatic Covid, compared to 3 per cent of adults in their 20s and 40s The ZOE data shows one in 30 Britons across the UK had symptomatic Covid in the week to January 26, with prevalence slightly higher in England (one in 29) and Northern Ireland (one in 27) and lower in Scotland (one in 41) and Wales (one in 38) Care home visiting restrictions will be dropped from Monday Covid restrictions in care homes are being relaxed in England from Monday as the country moves towards living with Covid. The three-visitor limit brought in under Plan B last month to tackle Omicron will be lifted and self-isolation rules are also being relaxed next week. And from February 16, care home workers will be asked to take a lateral flow Covid test before every shift, rather than the current system of weekly PCR tests alongside lateral flow tests three times a week. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the success of the booster programme, coupled with falling infection rates, meant it was safe to relax the curbs. Almost nine in 10 care home residents have been triple-jabbed. Mr Javid said: 'I know how vital companionship is to those living in care homes and the positive difference visits make, which is why we continued to allow three named visitors and an essential care giver under Plan B measures. 'Thanks to the progress we have made, I am delighted that care home restrictions can now be eased further allowing residents to see more of their loved ones.' Residents who test positive now only need to isolate for 10 days rather than 14, but they can release on day seven if they test negative the previous two days. A rule which meant entire care homes had to be quarantined for 28 days if two or more residents tested positive is also being halved to two weeks. Advertisement The King's/ZOE figures are based on reports from tens of thousands of users of a symptom-tracking app, that allows researchers to estimate the prevalence of Covid. It shows around one in 30 Britons across the UK had symptomatic Covid in the week to January 26, with prevalence slightly higher in England (one in 29) and Northern Ireland (one in 27) than Scotland (one in 41) and Wales (one in 38). The coronavirus was said to have been most prevalent in the North East. When the figures were broken down by age, the team found one in 11 children aged under nine had the virus (8.8 per cent). Meanwhile, 4.4 per cent of 10 to 19-year-olds had been struck down with symptomatic Covid, the researchers estimated. This was compared to 3 per cent of adults in their 20s and 40s. Rates are much lower among older Britons, with 1.2 per cent of 50 to 59-year-olds infected, plunging to 0.4 per cent of those in their 80s. The team estimated one in 14 (seven per cent) new daily symptomatic Covid cases are reinfections, in line with Government statistics. Professor Spector said: 'The bounce back in case numbers just as we lift restrictions has come sooner than many expected. 'But it's not surprising given that, throughout the pandemic, we've seen the end of school holidays repeatedly usher in a rapid rise in cases among children, which then cross over into parents and school staff. 'Another emerging factor is that a new subtype of Omicron is taking over called BA.2, which is likely more infectious.' The variant made up one in 20 new cases last week and is doubling every few days, suggesting it will be dominant in a month, he said. And ZOE data shows seven per cent of new symptomatic cases are reinfections, suggesting a previous Delta infection does not offer much protection against Omicron, Professor Spector added. He said: 'Taking all these factors into consideration, I expect that cases will continue to stay high until spring. 'However, the good news is that most vaccinated infections are mild, with symptoms lasting on average for a shorter time overall than Delta and with less severe cases. 'It's clear that Covid and its new variants will continue to have an impact on our day-to-day lives for some time. 'It's crucial that we're responsible with our new freedoms and help to keep case numbers down and prevent the virus reaching the more vulnerable groups.' Official Government data based on positive test results show Covid infections remained largely stable in the UK in the week to January 23, but shows a rise among youngsters and their parents. One in 40 five to nine-year-olds tested positive in the week to January 21, while one in 50 pupils aged 10 to 14 had an infection confirmed. Cases are also rising in 30 to 39-year-olds and 40 to 49-year-olds, while they are flat or dropping in all other age groups, the UKHSA data shows. The official figures show hospitalisations dropped last week, while deaths stayed flat. It comes after data from the ONS yesterday showed England's Covid outbreak shrunk again last week despite infections continuing to rise in children. Government analysts estimate 2.6million people in the country were infected on any day during the week ending January 22, compared to 2.9million one week earlier. Both figures equate to one in 20 people in England carrying the virus. It marked the second week in a row that the ONS projected a fall in prevalence, illustrating how the Omicron wave fizzled off after causing infections to spiral to pandemic highs. The ONS survey is regarded as the most reliable indicator of the UK's outbreak because it uses random sampling of around 100,000 people, rather than relying on people coming forward to be tested. The prevalence of symptomatic Covid is highest in the North East, where one in 21 people are suffering from Covid symptoms, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber (one in 25) and London (one in 26). Symptomatic infection rates are lower in the West Midlands (one in 28), East Midlands (one in 33) South East and East of England (one in 34) as well as the South West (one in 39) The ZOE study recorded another 55,000 symptomatic Covid cases among double and triple-jabbed Britons every day in the last week, up by two per cent on the 53,703 new daily cases reported last week The Office for National Statistics analysts estimate 2.6million people in the country were infected on any day during the week ending January 22, compared to 2.9million one week earlier. Both figures equate to one in 20 people in England carrying the virus Official daily numbers show cases have plateaued at around 90,000 per day, following a fortnight of infections being in freefall. This was before the effects of lifting Plan B restrictions in England had even been felt. Latest hospital data shows 1,399 Britons were admitted with Covid on January 22, which was 20 per cent lower than the previous week and the 11th day in a row admissions have fallen week-on-week. There were also 346 more Covid deaths registered in the UK yesterday down by around 4 per cent in a week and more than a fifth on yesterday's 439. A vulnerable 11-year-old boy with special needs was referred to anti-terror scheme Prevent by his school after a fellow pupil accused him of saying he 'wished the school would burn down'. The boy, a Muslim of Asian heritage whose identity and school have not been revealed, is on the special educational needs register as he suffers from anxiety after witnessing domestic violence at his family home from the age of four. He subsequently had to move to a safe house with his mother and sibling for a year. His mother, a teacher at a different school in the same area of the north of England, reacted with fury after being notified of the referral and said 'being a brown, Muslim, Asian boy does not make you a terrorist'. It comes amid repeatedly accusations from critics that Prevent has become hijacked by 'political correctness' and its officials divert too many resources towards suspected far-right extremists despite Islamist radicals posing a 'far greater threat'. The boy's mother told The Guardian that her son was suffering stress due to the trauma experienced during his upbringing and, while his comments were unacceptable, it was an isolated incident brought on by anxiety over homework. The mother also said she has discussed alternative ways for her son to relieve the stress he experiences at school. Under the Prevent programme, local authority staff and other professionals such as doctors, teachers and social workers have a duty to flag concerns about an individual being radicalised or drawn into a terrorism. The school is understood to have made the referral, despite the boy's young age and clean criminal record, after consulting a local police officer. An investigation into the comments, though, found no evidence that the schoolboy was in contact with or supported any extremist groups that could have put him at risk of being radicalised. The 11-year-old boy was referred by his school to Prevent after it received a report by another pupil, whose younger sibling said he heard the boy make the comment. Pictured: A stock image of schoolchildren More people are referred to Prevent for having extreme far-right views than Islamist radicalisation for first time making up 25% of cases compared to 22% A report published in November found more people are being referred to Prevent for far-right views than Islamist ones for the first time. Out of 4,915 cases flagged to the anti-terror programme in the year ending March, 25 per cent related to suspected extreme right-wing beliefs and 22 per cent to Islamist ones. The majority - 51 per cent - were for individuals with a 'mixed, unstable or unclear ideology'. Among the 688 cases deemed the most serious and passed onto Channel - which mentors individuals to turn them away from terrorist causes 46 per cent concerned right-wing terror and 22 per cent Islamism. A further 30 per cent fell into the mixed or unknown category. This is the third consecutive year the far-right have made up the majority of Channel cases. Advertisement Documents also showed there was no pattern of behaviour that could have caused enough concern for the school to refer the pupil. The case was quickly closed by a Prevent officer, who has confirmed the matter will not be subject to further investigation. However, while the programme has decided not to take the complaint any further, the boy's details were added to the counter-terror policing database - where they are normally held for six years. The boy's mother made a complaint to his school regarding the fact she had not been informed that teachers had interviewed her son about his alleged remark - reported by another pupil whose younger sibling said he heard the boy make the comment. The school's investigation into her complaint has concluded that an apology should be made over its failure to notify her of the referral to Prevent. The mother said: 'I was told by the Prevent officer that the matter would not be taken any further as it looked like the matter related to "an 11-year-old boy struggling with school". 'My son had become so unhappy and stressed about the demands placed on him relating to homework.' She had to fight to have her son's name removed from the counter-terrorism policing database, despite her son's young age and clean criminal record. The mother described the removal of his name as 'a partial victory', but is seeking further information on files held by the Home Office. Dr Layla Aitlhadj, director of the Prevent Watch group that supports people impacted by referrals to the programme, said it was 'extremely worrying' that 'thousands of children are being referred to Prevent who have in no way been suspected of a crime'. Out of 4,915 cases flagged to the government's flagship anti-terror programme in the year ending March, 2021, 25% related to suspected extreme right-wing beliefs and 22% to Islamist ones. Since 2015/16, there has been a dramatic drop in the number of initial referrals over concerns of Islamic radicalisation and a steady increase in those concerning far-right beliefs Home Office figures previously published in March last year showed there were 157 individuals in prison classed as 'Islamist extremist' compared to a 44 categorised as 'extreme right-wing' Among the 688 cases deemed the most serious and passed onto Channel - which mentors individuals to turn them away from terrorist causes 46% concerned right-wing terror and 22% Islamism These pie charts show percentage splits for different ideologies over each part of the process for the year ending March 2021 How does Prevent work? Under the Prevent programme, local authority staff and other professionals such as doctors, teachers and social workers have a duty to flag concerns about an individual being radicalised or drawn into a terrorism. This report is then be passed to a local official charged with deciding whether the tip-off merits a formal referral. Prevent referrals are handled by expert officers in the local police force. Cases are then categorised depending on the nature of the individual's alleged beliefs - based on evidence ranging from comments they have been overheard saying to their social media history. People who are not viewed as either far-right or Islamist are categorised as having a 'mixed, unstable or unclear' ideology. Less serious reports may be sent to council services, which could include parenting support for families whose children have been watching inappropriate videos online. Serious reports are forwarded on to Prevent's Channel stage, at which a panel of local police, healthcare specialists and social workers meeting monthly will consider the case. At this stage, counter-terror police will be involved and will receive information from counsellors, social workers or theological mentors working with the individual concerned. Advertisement She also raised concerns over the future impact of their data being retained on police databases. A spokesperson for the Home Office said: 'Prevent is a safeguarding programme helping people to turn away from radicalisation. Prevent referral data is only held temporarily by the police, and parents or carers can request for it to be deleted sooner, where appropriate. 'All data is kept completely confidential, other than where a serious security risk emerges. Information and guidance on the use of, and access to, the central Prevent referral database is owned by the police and not by the Home Office.' A report published in November found more people are being referred to Prevent for far-right views than Islamist ones for the first time. Out of 4,915 cases flagged to the anti-terror programme in the year ending March, 25 per cent related to suspected extreme right-wing beliefs and 22 per cent to Islamist ones. The majority - 51 per cent - were for individuals with a 'mixed, unstable or unclear ideology'. Among the 688 cases deemed the most serious and passed onto Channel - which mentors individuals to turn them away from terrorist causes 46 per cent concerned right-wing terror and 22 per cent Islamism. A further 30 per cent fell into the mixed or unknown category. This is the third consecutive year the far-right have made up the majority of Channel cases. In October, British politicians were urged to focus on overhauling Prevent - rather than trying to ensure social media users face a ban on anonymous accounts. Think-tank the Henry Jackson Society claimed Prevent had been hijacked by political correctness, skewing it away from the threat posed by Islamists and putting too much focus on the far-Right. In the wake of Conservative MP Sir David Amess's fatal stabbing in Essex, critics claimed that police and others who oversee Prevent have allowed its work to be swayed by 'false allegations of Islamophobia'. The think tank said in a report this week that it was 'vital that the UK is not paralysed by political correctness and identity politics when it comes to holding hardheaded discussions on the prevailing threat of Islamist extremism'. Advertisement Survivors joined together for a moment of reflection at Auschwitz's 'Black Wall' where prisoners were executed as communities around the world poignantly remember the Holocaust today - on the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution in November 2005 establishing the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and chose January 27 - the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. French Prime Minister Jean Castex, along with survivors Elie Buzyn and Leon Lewkowicz, paid tribute to victims at The Black Wall, where executions of inmates took place, during a visit to the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Oswiecim, Poland today. This year, survivors and politicians are warning about the resurgence of antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Gathered at the European Parliament, EU lawmakers listened to 100-year-old Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander's ordeal. She was arrested in 1944 while on the run and brought to Theresienstadt, in what is now the Czech Republic. A year before, her mother and brother were deported to Auschwitz, where they were both killed. Friedlander and her husband immigrated to the U.S. in 1946 and she returned to Berlin in 2010. She has since been traveling around Germany to tell the story of her life and promote remembrance. 'We must be vigilant and not look the other way as we did then,' she said. 'Hatred, racism and antisemitism must not be the last word in history.' Some 200,000 children were murdered at the Nazi death camp, and just 700 youngsters remained alive when the Red Army arrived on January 27, 1945. OSWIECIM, POLAND: French Prime Minister Jean Castex (third left) with survivors and participants places candles at The Black Wall, where executions of inmates took place, during a visit to the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Oswiecim, Poland on January 27, 2022 POLAND: French Prime Minister Jean Castex visits the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau as people across the world pay their respects on Holocaust Memorial Day POLAND: Stanislaw Zalewski, President of the Polish Union of Former Political Prisoners of Nazi Prisons and Concentration Camps, attends a ceremony BRUSSELS: Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander sits next to President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola during a special plenary session to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium January 27, 2022 LONDON: Survivors of the Holocaust hold candles at Picadilly Circus as they join thousands across the world for Holocaust Memorial Day OSWIECIM, POLAND: Wreaths and candles have been placed in tribute to victims in front of The Black Wall, where executions of inmates took place, at the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Oswiecim, Poland on January 27, 2022 OSWIECIM, POLAND: French Prime Minister Jean Castex (C) with survivors Elie Buzyn and Leon Lewkowicz and other participants pay tribute to victims at The Black Wall, where executions of inmates took place, during a visit to the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Oswiecim, Poland YORK: The Reverend Canon Michael Smith, Acting Dean of York, helps light six hundred candles in the shape of the Star of David, in memory of more than 6 million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War, in the Chapter House at York Minster in York, part of York Minster's commemoration for International Holocaust Day LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets with Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg and his wife inside No10 Downing Street POLAND: French Prime Minister Jean Castex visits the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau in Oswiecim FRANCE: French President Emmanuel Macron joins Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Esther Senot and Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survivor Victor Perahia to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier BERLIN: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier hugs holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher under the eyes of the President of the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) Baerbel Bas (behind) during the annual ceremony in memory of Holocaust victims and survivors in the plenary of the Bundestag on January 27, 2022, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day LONDON: Holocaust survivors and their families arrive at Piccadilly Circus on the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz BRUSSELS: Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander speaks with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola at the end of a special plenary session to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium January 27 MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Anna Boskhitskaya, executive director of the Russian Jewish Congress, addresses people at the Helikon Opera Theatre OSWIECIM, POLAND: Survivor Bogdan Bartnikowski speaks during a ceremony marking the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz LONDON: The London Eye in Westminster is lit up in purple for Holocaust Memorial day as survivors joined together for a moment of reflection at Auschwitz's 'Black Wall' Margot Friedlander reacts after being applauded by members of the parliament during a special plenary session to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium SKOPJE, NORTH MACEDONIA: Portraits of Jews, victims of the Holocaust seen in the Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of North Macedonia, during the Holocaust Remembrance Day in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, 27 January 2022 PARIS: french President Emmanuel Macron stands with Auschwitz concentration camp survivor Esther Senot (second left) and Bergen-Belsen concentration camp survivor Victor Perahia (right), at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier LONDON: A candle is placed in a window of 10 Downing Street as people across the world mark Holocaust Memorial Day LONDON: Charing Cross station is illuminated in purple as people across the world remember the Holocaust today POLAND: The site of the former Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau in Oswiecim, Poland WARSAW: Polish Deputy Sejm Speaker Piotr Zgorzelski attends a ceremony at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, in Warsaw, Poland POLAND: Wreaths and candles are placed at the former Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron lights a flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day MILAN: People pay tribute to the Holocaust victims to mark the International Holocaust Rememberance Day in front of the headquarters of the former hotel Regina in Milan, Italy, 27 January 2022. The International Holocaust Remembrance Day, celebrated on 27 January marks the anniversary of the liberation of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp JERUSALEM: A man looks up at pictures of victims of the Holocaust ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial centre in Jerusalem on January 26 LONDON: Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg stands with a picture of his brother as he meets with Prime Minister Boris Johnson today BERLIN: German Federal Constitutional Court President Stephan Harbarth, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Speaker of Israel's Knesset parliament Mickey Levy, the President of the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament) Baerbel Bas, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Thuringia's State Premier Bodo Ramelow pose behind a logo of the #WeRemember Campaign in front of Reichstag building that houses the German Bundestag in Berlin LONDON: The New Scotland Yard buildings is lit up in purple as communities around the world poignantly remember the Holocaust today MAUTHAUSEN, AUSTRIA: Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer (L) and Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid attend a commemoration ceremony at the Mauthausen Memorial, site of a Nazi concentration camp, in Mauthausen, Austria BERLIN: Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher (C) receives applause after delivering her speech during the annual ceremony in memory of Holocaust victims and survivors in the plenary of the Bundestag BRUSSELS: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (2ndL) speaks with Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander during a special plenary session on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the EU Parliament in Brussels on January 27 OSWIECIM, POLAND: French Prime Minister Jean Castex (C) stands at the gate during a visit at the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp in Oswiecim, Poland today ENGLAND: Water sprays from a fountain in front of the Hull City Hall which is illuminated to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day BERLIN: Speaker of the Israeli Parliament Knesset Mickey Levy reacts at the end of his speech during a Commemoration Ceremony for the victims of Nazism in the seat of the German federal parliament today VIENNA, AUSTRIA: Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visits the Shoah Wall of Names along with the Austrian Chancellor and Austrian President BERLIN, GERMANY: A person walks through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe on Holocaust Memorial Day POLAND: Survivors of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp attend a commemorative ceremony in Oswiecim, Poland LONDON: The chimneys on Battersea Power Station are illuminated purple to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day Margot Friedlander: The 21-year-old who dyed her hair black and tore off her Yellow star as she fled the Nazis for 15 months before being captured in the street by Nazi collaborators Margot Friedlander, 100, survived the horrors of Nazi Germany and has now made it a personal mission to help make sure they can never happen again. In the mid-1940s, at the age of 21, she had to hide in Berlin for 15 months after the Gestapo took her mother and brother away. The last words her mother left for her, passed on verbally by a neighbour, were 'Versuche, dein Leben zu machen' - 'Try to live your life'. Margot, who was born in 1921, chose these words as the title of her autobiography, which was published in German in 2010. She tore off her yellow star - marking her as Jewish - and wore a chain was a cross pendant around her neck and dyed her black hair red. Her period in hiding came to an end in the spring of 1944 when two men - Nazi collaborators - stopped her in the street and demanded her papers, the Freie Universitat Berlin documents. They carried her away because she could not produce identification documents, and while on the way to the police station, she told them the truth. After saying 'I am Jewish', Margot says, she was 'reunited with the fate of my family and all other Jews'. She was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, a transit camp for sending people to their deaths further east. There, she met Adolf Friedlander, her future husband who she already knew from Berlin, and the couple survived. In 1946 the couple emigrated to the United States, and, after the death of her husband in 1997, Margot started writing down her memories, which were then made into a film documentary in 2004. In February 2010, at the age of 89, she gave up her New York apartment and moved to Berlin, saying: 'I have a mission. I don't speak for myself. We can no longer change what was. But it must never happen again. Never again. For you, only for you.' Advertisement Friedlander and her husband immigrated to the U.S. in 1946 and returned to Berlin in 2010. She has since been traveling around Germany to tell the story of her life and promote remembrance. Survivor Inge Auerbacher, 87, told the German parliament: 'I have lived in New York for 75 years, but I still remember well the terrible time of horror and hatred. Unfortunately, this cancer has reawakened and hatred of Jews is commonplace again in many countries in the world, including Germany.' German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was pictured hugging Mrs Auerbacher during the annual ceremony in the plenary of the Bundestag. In York, The Reverend Canon Michael Smith, Acting Dean of York, helped light six hundred candles in the shape of the Star of David, in memory of more than six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis. In Austria, the country's Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid attended a commemoration ceremony at the Mauthausen Memorial, site of a Nazi concentration camp. Portraits of victims of were held up by people gathered outside the Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of North Macedonia in Skopje. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many International Holocaust Remembrance Day events are being held online again this year. A small ceremony was taking place at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where Nazi forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland. The memorial site was closed earlier in the pandemic but reopened in June. Commemorations are taking place amid a rise of antisemitism that gained traction during lockdowns as the pandemic exacerbated hatred online. 'This sickness must be healed as quickly as possible,' Ms Auerbacher said. German parliament speaker Baerbel Bas said the coronavirus pandemic has acted 'like an accelerant' to already burgeoning antisemitism. 'Antisemitism is here - it isn't just on the extreme fringe, not just among the eternally incorrigible and a few antisemitic trolls on the net,' she said. 'It is a problem of our society - all of society.' The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in November 2005 establishing the annual commemoration, and chose January 27 - the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. About six million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. About 1.5 million were children. 'Our country bears a special responsibility - the genocide against the European Jews is a German crime,' Ms Bas told a special parliamentary session in Berlin attended by the country's leaders. 'But at the same time it is a past that is everyone's business - not just Germans, not just Jews.' Israel's parliamentary speaker, Mickey Levy, broke down in tears at Germany's Bundestag while reciting the Jewish mourner's prayer from a book that belonged to a German Jewish boy who celebrated his bar mitzvah on the eve of Kristallnacht. Mr Levy said Israel and Germany experienced 'an exceptional journey on the way to reconciliation and establishing relations and brave friendship between us'. Ms Auerbacher recalled being nearly hit by a stone thrown by Nazi thugs during the anti-Jewish pogrom of November 1938. In August 1942, she and other Jews were transported to the Theresienstadt camp-ghetto. 'I was seven years old and the youngest of about 1,100 people, of whom my parents, I and a very few others survived,' she said. Charles Michel, the head of the European Council bringing together leaders of the 27 EU member countries, insisted on the importance of commemorating the Shoah as the number of survivors diminishes every year. 'With each passing year, the Shoah inches towards becoming a historical event,' he said. 'More and more distant, more and more abstract. Especially in the eyes of the younger generations of Europeans. This is why, paradoxically, the more the years go by, the more important the commemoration becomes. The more essential.' MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Opera singer Alexey Tikhomirov performs during an event held by the Russian Jewish Congress at the Helikon Opera Theatre LONDON: The Houses of Parliament are illuminated in purple to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day LONDON: Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle speaks at a commemoration for Holocaust Memorial Day in the House of Commons BELGRADE: People hold white roses during the memorial service for the victims of the Holocaust at the monument of victims of World War II Nazi concentration camp Sajmiste, in Belgrade, Serbia LONDON: Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg attends a ceremony to mark Holocaust Memorial Day BERLIN: Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher speaks during a Commemoration Ceremony for the victims of the National Socialism in the Reichstag building, the seat of the German federal parliament (Bundestag), in Berlin, Germany LONDON: The Labour Party's David Lammy speaking at a commemoration for Holocaust Memorial Day in the House of Commons LONDON: The capital's Charing Cross station is lit up in purple for Holocaust Memorial day as people across the world pay tribute OSWIECIM, POLAND: A view of barbed wire fence and surveillance towers at the former Auschwitz Birkenau site on January 27, 2022 in Oswiecim, Poland. The main theme of the 77th anniversary will be the beginning of the extermination in the German Nazi camp Auschwitz, which took place in the spring of 1942 WARSAW: Poland's Deputy Minister of Culture Jaroslaw Sellin attends ceremony at the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust, in Warsaw POLAND: A barbed wire fence is pictured at the site of the former Nazi German concentration camp Auschwitz II-Birkenau OSWIECIM, POLAND: Piotr Cywinski, the director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum, speaks to survivors at a ceremony on the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, in Oswiecim, Poland BERLIN: A view from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2022 in Berlin, Germany VIENNA: Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid vists the Wall of Names Memorial in the Ostarrichi Park in Vienna, Austria on January 27, 2022, the International Holocaust Remembrance Day BERLIN: A view from the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2022 in Berlin, Germany BRUSSELS: President of the EU Council Charles Michel delivers a speech during a special plenary session on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the EU Parliament in Brussels on January 27, 2022 TURIN, ITALY: A man lays a stone on Jewish Star of David during of commemoration of the Jewish victims of the Nazi deportation inside the Jewish Cemetery of Turin on January 27, 2022 in Turin, Italy BERLIN: An Israeli flag flies next to a German flag and an European union flag in front of the Reichstag building while the lettering '#WeRemember' is displayed in the context of the international Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2022 on January 26, 2022 in Berlin, Germany YORK: More than 600 candles are arranged in the shape of the Star of David on the floor of the Chapter House of York Minster, lit by members of the congregation as part of a commemoration for Holocaust Memorial Day on January 26, 2022 in York, England SKOPJE: General view of the names of Jews, victims of the Holocaust seen in the Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of North Macedonia, during the Holocaust Remembrance Day in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, 27 January 2022 SKOPJE: In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. Some 1.5 million were children. BRUSSELS: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center left, reaches out to greet Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander, center right, at the European Parliament in Brussels MAUTHAUSEN, AUSTRA: Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, the director of the Mauthausen Memorial Barbara Gluck, Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid hug as they attend a commemoration ceremony at the Mauthausen Memorial, site of a Nazi concentration camp, in Mauthausen, Austria, on January 27, 2022 BRUSSELS: A general view of a special plenary session to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium January 27, 2022 BERLIN: Israeli speaker of the Knesset Mickey Levi speaks during a memorial ceremony commemorating the victims of the Holocaust on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day at the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany BERLIN: Bundestag President Baerbel Bas comforts Israeli Knesset President Mickey Levy as he breaks down in tears after speaking at the Bundestag during a commemorative event on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2022 in Berlin, Germany Holocaust survivors gather in London Holocaust survivors have gathered in central London to light candles and remember the victims of genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day. A group of nearly 30 survivors and their families stood on the steps of Piccadilly Circus holding flickering candles to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, as well as the millions from other groups killed under Nazi persecution. The day is also used to remember the millions killed in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. The group looked up at the landmark junction's giant billboards, where portraits of them and fellow survivors were displayed. A film was also screened showing people, including leaders from politics and religion, lighting candles to mark the day. One of the photographs, taken by the Duchess of Cambridge, showed survivor Steven Frank. Born in the Netherlands, Mr Frank was one of only 93 children who survived the Theresienstadt ghetto camp out of the 15,000 children who were sent there. His father, an eminent lawyer, was active in the Dutch resistance when the country was under Nazi occupation. Mr Frank, now in his late 80s, told the PA news agency: 'And then one day he went to the office to go to work, and he'd been betrayed, and he was taken away. 'So he ended up in prison, where we know he was tortured, badly beaten, from where he was taken to Westerbork, and from Westerbork to Auschwitz, where he was murdered in the gas chambers on January 21 1943. 'So very, very close to Holocaust Memorial Day, which is so very, very special for me.' The portrait of Mr Frank showed him with a pot, in tribute to his mother who, while working in Theresienstadt, collected crumbs that she made into a paste to feed to her children. Advertisement To tackle Holocaust denial, Unesco and the World Jewish Congress launched a partnership on Thursday with the online platform TikTok. They say it will allow users to be oriented toward verified information when searching for terms related to the Shoah. According to the UN, 17% of content related to the Holocaust on TikTok either denied or distorted the Holocaust. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many commemorations Thursday will be held online this year again. A small ceremony, however, will take place at the site of the former Auschwitz death camp, where World War II Nazi German forces killed 1.1 million people in occupied Poland. The memorial site was closed earlier in the pandemic but reopened in June. In all, about 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. Some 1.5 million were children. The 100-year-old Margot Friedlander was arrested in 1944 while on the run and brought to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in what is now the Czech Republic. A year before, her mother and brother were deported to Auschwitz, where they were both killed. Friedlander and her husband immigrated to the United States in 1946 and returned to Berlin in 2010. She has since been traveling around Germany to tell the story of her life and promote remembrance. Charles Michel, the head of the EU Council bringing together leaders of the 27 EU member countries, insisted on the importance of commemorating the Shoah as the number of survivors diminishes every year. 'With each passing year, the Shoah inches towards becoming a historical event,' Michel said. 'More and more distant, more and more abstract. Especially in the eyes of the younger generations of Europeans. This is why, paradoxically, the more the years go by, the more important the commemoration becomes. The more essential.' Commemorations are taking place amid a rise of antisemitism that gained traction during lockdowns as the pandemic exacerbated hatred online. To tackle Holocaust denial, UNESCO and the World Jewish Congress launched a partnership Thursday with the online platform TikTok popular with youngsters. They say it will allow users to be oriented toward verified information when searching for terms related to the Shoah. According to the U.N., 17% of content related to the Holocaust on TikTok either denied or distorted the Holocaust. 'Denying, distorting or trivializing the true facts of the Holocaust is a pernicious form of contemporary antisemitism,' said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay. 'All online platforms must take responsibility for the spread of hate speech by promoting reliable sources of information.' What is Holocaust Memorial Day? Every January on Holocaust Memorial Day, the world remembers the six million Jews and millions of other minorities who were killed during the genocide of World War II. As part of Hitler's Final Solution, what was known as Shoah in Hebrew, the mass murder of Jews, was carried out by the Nazis between 1941 and 1945 across Europe. All over the world, commemorative events will take place to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, but also subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur are remembered to try and end racial violence once and for all. Mayor Sadiq Khan addressed the London Assembly in a January 22 ceremony held in City Hall for Holocaust Memorial Day. 'On National Holocaust Memorial Day, it is vital that we all take time to hear the accounts of Jewish survivors and refugees who went through unimaginable horrors during the Holocaust,' Khan said. When is Holocaust Memorial Day? Holocaust Memorial Day is held on January 27 every year to remember the day the largest concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, was liberated from the Nazis. International Holocaust Remembrance Day is also marked on January 27. What is the theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2018? After beginning in the UK in 2001, Holocaust Memorial Day has been marked every year on January 27. The theme for Holocaust Memorial Day 2018 is 'The Power of Words'. Past themes have included 'Remembering Genocides: Lesson For The Future' and 'One Person Can Make A Difference'. What was the Holocaust? As directed by Hitler's Nazi party, the Holocaust, also known as the Shoah in Hebrew, is a term to describe the genocide of Jews and other minorities during World War II. January 27, 1945 is the day the Auschwitz concentration camp in modern-day Poland was liberated by the Soviets. With the Soviets arriving nearly eight months before the war ended, many had been sent out on a death march and 7,000 sick and dying people remained. How many people died in the Holocaust? In the five years that Auschwitz was open, an estimated 1.1 million people were killed at the concentration camp. 90 percent were Jewish and the rest were a mix of Romany people, Soviets and Poles. One in six Jews killed in World War II died at Auschwitz after being brought to the camp across Europe by train. By the end of the Holocaust, six million Jewish men, women and children died in ghettos, mass-shootings, in concentration camps and extermination camps. Studies have also revealed that the true death toll could be as many as 20 million people. How many people have been killed in other genocides? In Cambodia, politician and revolutionary Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge communist regime and carried out the genocide of those deemed to be political opponents. Under Pol Pot's regime, up to three million people were killed between 1975 and 1979, but only three people have been convicted for this by the war crimes tribunal. This genocide is depicted in the 2017 film First They Killed My Father, directed by Angelina Jolie. During the Bosnian war between 1992 and 1995, 100,000 people were killed. This included 8,000 Bosniak men and boys from the town of Srebnica in July 1995, known as the largest European massacre since the Holocaust. In 1994, between 800,000 and two million people were killed over the course of 100 days during the genocide in Rwanda. Most of those killed were 'Tutsis', the term used by European colonisers to describe anyone who was wealthy and wealth was measured by the number of cows that were owned. 500,000 women were raped in what is thought to be a deliberate attempt to give them HIV, because most of those who survived tested positive for the disease after the genocide. In Darfur, the genocide saw 400,000 killed but continues to this day. It is the first genocide of the 21st century. Advertisement 'My story is for the millions who cannot talk': Holocaust survivor and TikTok star Lily Ebert, 98, says the people who tattooed her at Auschwitz were 'not human' and that the world needs to know how 'deep' evil can go Lily Ebert, 98, was on one of the last trains carrying Jews to Auschwitz in 1944 Her mother, brother, and sister were killed by the Nazis during World War 2 She has a TikTok with 1.6 million fans to ensure people remember war horrors Now Lily's portrait is part of a Holocaust exhibition organised by Prince Charles A 98-year-old Holocaust survivor with 1.6 million TikTok followers appeared on GMB today to discuss why she will never stop spreading awareness of the crimes committed by the Nazis. Lily Ebert, 98, appeared on the programme to mark Holocaust Memorial Day today, accompanied by her grandson Dov Forman, 18, who helps run her TikTok account. She was 20-years-old when she and her family - mother and five siblings - were taken to Auschwitz on one of the last trains to enter the camp in 1944, enduring months at Birkenau, before being transported to Altenburg, a sub-camp of Buchenwald. Her parents and some of her siblings were condemned to death in the gas chamber after encountering the infamous Josef Mengele, notorious for his experiments on those in the camp, while the remaining family members were put to work. The survivor described her the horrific reality of life in a concentration camp in a book Lily's Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live, which was published at the end of last year. Prince Charles (right) met 98-year-old Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert (left) at an exhibition of Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust this week Lily Ebert appeared on GMB this morning, on Holocaust Memorial Day, to share her story, saying she speaks for the 'millions who cannot' On GMB today, she told hosts Ben Sheppard and Kate Garraway that she tells her story for 'the millions who cannot talk'. 'My story is never my story,' she added. 'It is the story of millions.' The 98-year-old was accompanied by her grandson Dov Forman, 18, one of Lily's 10 grandchildren and 34 great-grandchildren, who described the chilling moment the reality of his grandmother's past hit him. One of his friends asked to see her Auschwitz tattoo, which she pulled up her sleeve to reveal. 'I remember the moment of her lifting her sleeve and showing her tattoo. That was the day I realised it would my mission to tell her story,' he said. 'It is our responsibility to make sure Nazi crimes are not forgotten. 'One day in the future there won't be survivors and it will up to us to remind everyone of the Nazis' crimes to humanity,' he added. Host Kate Garraway asked Lily whether she had ever considered having the tattoo removed, or whether she keeps it 'as a reminder'. Lily revealed she had 'never' thought about removing it, adding: 'I want to show the world. Saying something, to see or to hear about it makes a big difference. 'The world should know how deep humans can go, fellow humans give a tattoo. You were not humans, you were not Lily Ebert, you were a number. No more, no less. 'Another human can take away my humanity. They are not humans, not me.' During the segment the 98-year-old also discussed being part of Prince Charles' initiative to mark Holocaust Memorial Day this year, by commissioning portraits of seven Holocaust survivors - including Lily. The portraits, which will serve as a reminder of the horrors of the Nazi regime, will be displayed at an exhibition at Buckingham Palace from January 27 to February 13 and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh from March 17 to June 6. Lily pictured with her siblings for the last time: This picture taken in 1943 before the family shows siblings (L-R) Piri, Berta, Imi, Lily and Rene (another brother, Bela, is not pictured) Lily appeared on GMB alongside her 18-year-old grandson Dov Forman (right), who works with her to create content raising awareness around the Holocaust They were unveiled at an event at the Queen's Gallery in London on Monday, attended by Prince Charles, 73, and Camilla, 74. Lily, who met the Prince at the event, described the occasion on GMB today as a 'great privilege', and said the royal is 'one of the nicest men [she has] ever met', adding that he was very polite to everyone. Charles, who is patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, also commissioned portraits of Manfred Goldberg, Arek Hersh, Anita Lasker Wallfisch, Rachel Levy and Zigi Shipper. The prince called on the talents of seven acclaimed artists involved to take part in the year-long project: Paul Benney, Ishbel Myerscough, Clara Drummond, Massimiliano Pironti, Peter Kuhfeld, Stuart Pearson Wright and Jenny Saville. The portrait of Lily Ebert, commissioned by Prince Charles to mark Holocaust Memorial Day to celebrate the individuals painted, as well as remember the millions who were killed Lily (centre) met the Duchess of Cornwall (left) at the event launching the Seven Portraits: Surviving the Holocaust exhibition this week In the foreword for a catalogue accompanying the exhibition, Charles wrote we are all 'responsible for one another, for our collective history'. He added: 'One of the starkest reminders of this was the Holocaust, when a third of Europe's Jews were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime as it sought to extinguish not just the Jewish people, but Judaism. 'Seven portraits. Seven faces. Each a survivor of the horrors of those years, who sought refuge and a home in Britain after the war, becoming an integral part of the fabric of our nation. 'However, these portraits represent something far greater than seven remarkable individuals. They stand as a living memorial to the six million innocent men, women, and children whose stories will never be told, whose portraits will never be painted.' The project is the subject of a 60-minute BBC Two documentary, Survivors: Portraits of the Holocaust, which will be screened on January 27 - Holocaust Memorial Day. The British diplomat who saved hundreds of Jews from the Holocaust by defying Whitehall to give them visas and save them from the Nazis death machine in Lithuania Like Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who protected his Jewish workers from Hitler's death camps, Sir Thomas Hildebrand Preston was an unlikely saviour. The British diplomat who cut a dash in tailored suits and a monocle had worked as a gold miner in the Ural mountains before being appointed British Consul General in Kaunas, then capital of Lithuania, in 1930. The charismatic baronet's wry reports on the country's social and political life helped keep Whitehall on its toes in the shadow of approaching war. But Sir Thomas's most important and secret - role as Britain's man in Kaunas is only just beginning to be appreciated. During the first year of World War II, as Lithuania was caught between onrushing Nazi and Soviet forces, Sir Thomas issued some 1,200 visas 800 legal, 400 in defiance of Whitehall that enabled Jews to flee the country and enjoy protected travel to Palestine or Sweden. In June and July 1941, detachments of German Einsatzgruppen, together with Lithuanian auxiliaries, began murdering the Jews of Lithuania Sir Thomas Hildebrand Preston, British Consul General to Lithuania during the early years of WWII issued some 1,200 visas 800 legal, 400 in defiance of Whitehall that enabled Jews to flee the country and enjoy protected travel to Palestine or Sweden This travel document was issued by the Japanese embassy allowing a Jewish family to escape Lithuania In response, the Reich Main Security Office added Sir Thomas's name to the list of 'undesirables' who were to be executed if Germany successfully invaded the UK. Tomorrow, his actions will be commemorated as Kaunas this year's European City of Culture marks Holocaust Memorial Day. 'His actions saved many people and the family is moved and very proud,' says Sir Thomas's grand-daughter, Melanie Nicholson-Hartzell. 'The incredible thing is that we knew nothing about this. He never mentioned it. 'To us as children, he was a funny, kind grandpa we loved being with. But this is an important part of history and we are pleased that more people will learn about it.' Sir Nicholas Winton, who rescued hundreds of children from Czechoslovakia, has long been lauded as the 'British Schindler' but Sir Thomas's determination to get Jews out of harm's way stands alongside his noble achievement. Due to Sir Thomas's bravery, thousands of people are alive today whose families would otherwise have perished, joining nearly 150,000 Lithuanians of all religions sent to Siberian labour camps or the estimated 200,000 Lithuanian Jews killed during World War II - some 95 percent of the Baltic state's Jewish population. .A visa issued by the British allowing a jewish family to escape the death squads in Kaunas On one, unimaginable day of terror in Kaunas, some 9,200 people including 4,273 children were murdered by the Nazi regime in a prison on the outskirts of the city. Death squads were also given license to bludgeon Jews and dissidents to death in the streets. While Sir Thomas left before the invading hordes arrived, Sugihara Chuine, a Japanese government attache who also issued many life-saving travel permits - and will be commemorated alongside Sir Thomas tomorrow - was interned for ten months in the Soviet Union at the end of the war. 'Sir Thomas and Sugihara did not see themselves as heroes but, to the people they saved and the generations that came after, they are true heroes,' says historian Linas Venclauskas, of the Sugihara House Museum, in Kaunas. 'They were risking their lives but felt they had to do what they could. In one incident in 1941, Lithuanian nationalists clubbed to death Jewish people during the Kovno Garage Massacre 'To illustrate the enormity of what happened, one man with 21 children managed to get visas for only two of them, who survived; he and all the others were murdered.' Sir Thomas was born in Epping, Essex, and although the nephew of a Baronet, his branch of the family was not blessed with wealth. They managed to fund his education at Westminster School but he was forced to abandon his Russian studies at Cambridge University when their money ran out. He left England to work in mines near the Black Sea in Georgia, then joined a team prospecting for gold in the Urals as a result of a chance conversation in a London pub. The local knowledge he acquired, along with his love of Russian culture, made him a prime candidate for the diplomatic service. He was appointed Vice-Consul in Ekaterinburg in 1913 where he got to know Czar Nicholas II and tried to save the family from the Bolshevik agents who murdered them in 1918 after the Revolution, ending the Romanov dynasty. He left Russia in 1927 and served two years in Turin, Italy, before heading to Kaunas. Sugihara Chuine, a Japanese government attache who also issued many life-saving travel permits - and will be commemorated alongside Sir Thomas tomorrow - was interned for ten months in the Soviet Union at the end of the war He soon became an influential and important figure, in Lithuania's high society, winning admirers for composing a ballet which was performed at the Kaunas State Theatre. Wearing his distinctive monocle he lost an eye from a school cricket injury and sported a glass replacement with the monocle over his good eye Sir Thomas was the first name on guest lists for official and society events. Lithuania then was an independent country - until Soviet forces arrived in 1940, when Hitler and Stalin signed a non-aggression pact. Jewish families had to choose between renouncing their faith for Soviet citizenship or deportation to almost certain death in Gulag camps. There was fresh horror when the Nazis invaded. Jews were then trapped between both sides and arrests, torture and street executions became commonplace. Sir Thomas could guess what was to come: assisted by two Jewish clerks, he began preparing sheaves of documents permitting families to leave. The British government had a strict quota for those allowed to start new lives in Palestine, but Sir Thomas ignored warnings from colleagues and continued signing papers and allowing his British government stamp to be used to add extra authenticity to other visas and transit documents. 'He had a very strong feeling of what was right and was well known to go against the grain of Foreign Office policy,' adds Melanie. 'I think he saw the writing on the wall, particularly as he had good contacts within the German diplomatic corps and many of them were opposed to Hitler. 'It was illegal to issue these papers but I don't think he saw himself as a Scarlet Pimpernel figure: he just had to do what was possible. Remember, he had witnessed what happened during the Russian Revolution and what was possible when extremism took over. I suspect his only regret was that he couldn't save more.' Sir Thomas, pictured as a young army officer was transferred to Istanbul after one final act of defiance: leaving behind a pile of signed and stamped blank travel visas that helped more families In September 1940 the entire European diplomatic corps had to flee Lithuania. Sir Thomas was transferred to Istanbul after one final act of defiance: leaving behind a pile of signed and stamped blank travel visas that helped more families. His report of leaving Kaunas was characteristically calm, despite the turmoil: 'The Lithuanian train (our last trip on a civilised train until we reached Turkey) in which we travelled as a far as Vilna, was on time; and an excellent lunch, at a moderate price, was served in the restaurant car.' He eventually retired in 1948, living first in London then the English countryside before inheriting his uncle's baronetcy (ahead of his two daughters, who were ineligible under primogeniture laws) and the family seat Beeston Hall in Norfolk in 1963. A memorial stands on the site where a group of Jews were beaten to death in 1941 His grand-daughter Melanie and her sister Eugenie, who both live in Vienna, remember visiting his country home for childhood holidays. 'We have lovely memories of him and spending all our summer holidays in Norfolk. He played the fool, pulled pranks and was a typical Englishman of that time,' says Melanie. 'We thought he was great. We had heard stories about him meeting the King then I do remember a BBC film crew coming to speak to him about the Czar and the murders but we learnt nothing of what he actually got up to during his diplomatic career.' Sir Thomas used his British government stamp to add credibility to travel documents of Jews fleeing persecution - despite the objection of Whitehall Eugenie, who works for the United Nation adds: 'Grandpop was a character and we have memories of him coming to breakfast with his glass eye in his pocket instead of his eye socket.' The first they heard of Sir Thomas's discreet heroics was some years back, when Sara Elkes, a community worker from Leicester, lobbied the Foreign Office to place a tribute to him in its building in Whitehall. Elkes had a special motivation she owed her life to a passport signed by Sir Thomas that allowed her, and her brother, Joel, to travel from Lithuania to England to study and survive. Her father, Dr Elchanan Elkes, stayed to treat the sick in the Jewish ghetto. He died at Dachau concentration camp in 1944. Decades after his life-saving action, a portrait of Sir Thomas now hangs proudly in the British ambassador's office in Lithuania's new capital, Vilnius - and the City Of Culture celebrations are bringing his name and exploits to a new generation. Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. HARRISBURG A ballooning corporate tax break in Pennsylvania worth an estimated $280 million annually operates with little accountability and lacks even the most basic data to determine if its actually effective. Advertisement The failures are not the result of poor oversight but rather an explicit effort by lawmakers to limit the information that is collected about the tax credit program, which funds scholarships for students at private and parochial schools. Among the 19 states that run similar programs, Pennsylvania is an outlier, according to a new report by an independent fiscal watchdog. Even though Pennsylvania has one of the largest tax credits, it collects the least amount of data on the programs outcomes. Advertisement That basic flaw hasnt deterred Republican lawmakers who control the state Legislature from increasing the tax credits while resisting attempts to bring more transparency to the program. Over the last two decades, the program has grown to more than nine times its original size, including a $40 million boost in last years budget the biggest increase in its history. Supporters say the program offers a lifeline to low-income students trapped in failing public schools. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, approximately 68,400 students received scholarships funded by businesses looking to save money on their state taxes. But, under Pennsylvania law, the agency that oversees the program is unable to track whether the scholarship actually allows students to switch from public to private school, how they fare academically, how much tuition the scholarship covers, or their household incomes. The Independent Fiscal Office known for its sober analyses of economic and budgetary issues said the Legislature should change state law to collect that information. Without it, a meaningful and thorough evaluation of the program is impossible, the report concluded. The analysis represents a scrupulously neutral assessment of a program that has been the subject of bitter partisan rancor. But its unclear if it will sway Republican leaders in the state legislature. A spokesperson for House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, did not respond to a request for comment about the fiscal offices findings. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, was not able to provide a response before publication. State Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, the longtime chair of the chambers Appropriations Committee, said he would support collecting more information on the programs outcomes in particular, on how many students use the scholarships to switch from public to private schools. Its something we really need to consider building a data set for, Browne said. Advertisement Asked why previous efforts to do so had failed, he said: Weve never had a very thorough conversation about it before. The lack of transparency has been controversial ever since the tax credit became law in 2001. A year later, Senate Democrats introduced a bill that would have required the state to track how many students were already attending private schools before receiving scholarships, among other data points. The bill did not receive a committee vote, the next step in the legislative process. More recent efforts havent been successful either. In 2021, Democratic lawmakers introduced two bills with similar aims. So far, neither has come up for a committee vote. State Sen. Tim Kearney, D-Delaware, who sponsored one of the bills, said the program almost seems like its deliberately designed to be a black box to literally not tell anyone where this stuff is going. In a statement, a spokesperson for Gov. Tom Wolf said the administration supports the fiscal offices recommendations and anticipates that Democrats will introduce new legislation to require more transparency from the program after Wolfs budget address, scheduled for Feb. 8. The $280 million program consists of four parts, including $175 million in tax credits for businesses that donate to nonprofit organizations that, in turn, give private or parochial school scholarships to K-12 students. A family of four with an annual household income of $130,710 would qualify for that scholarship, making it one of the least targeted to students from poor families. Among the 14 states whose programs have an income cutoff for families to qualify for scholarships, Pennsylvanias is the highest, the fiscal office found. Advertisement A separate, smaller tax credit, created in 2012, is reserved for students living in the boundaries of schools ranked in the bottom 15% statewide for test scores by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The program is capped at $55 million per year, an amount of funding that the Legislature has increased at a much slower rate than the larger, less targeted scholarship program. More than three-quarters of the scholarship funds went to low-income recipients in the 2019-20 fiscal year, the report found. The scholarships max out at $8,500 per year for many students, whereas the larger program has no limit. The fiscal office recommended removing that cap, since the children who qualify for the smaller program have most need of alternative school choices. An additional $12.5 million in tax credits pays for pre-K scholarships, while $37.5 million in tax savings goes to businesses that donate to organizations that provide innovative educational programs in public, private or charter schools. Shortly before the IFO released its report, the Senate Education Committee voted along party lines to advance a bill that would dramatically expand all four aspects of the program, automatically increasing the number of tax credits available each year by 25% so long as at least 90% were claimed in the previous fiscal year. Nearly half of scholarship applicants are turned away each year because of the cap on the tax credits, State Sen. Mike Regan, R-York, the bills sponsor, wrote in a legislative memo. Advertisement Demand from businesses eligible to receive the tax breaks and students seeking scholarships does outstrip supply, according to the fiscal offices review. In fiscal year 2019-20, for instance, K-12 scholarship organizations received more than 76,000 applications but gave out fewer than 41,000 scholarships. Still, the report cautions, not all students were denied because of a lack of funds some families likely submitted multiple applications or didnt qualify and that its not clear how many students who didnt receive scholarships attended private schools anyway. Regan said at a committee hearing last week that increasing the tax credits would lift children out of poverty. When we force kids to remain in a designated school simply because of their ZIP code, we are doing them a complete and utter disservice, he said. We would not allow these same children to remain in an abusive home where their basic needs are not being met. Why then do we turn a blind eye to such treatment by failing schools? A spokesperson for Regan did not respond to interview requests from Spotlight PA; nor did committee chair, State Sen. Scott Martin, R-Lancaster. Last Call Daily Get top headlines from The Morning Call delivered weekday afternoons. > Wolf vetoed a similar bill in 2019, saying the program lacked accountability and oversight, but that years state budget still included a compromise $30 million increase. Advertisement Even in states that do collect more data on tax-credit scholarship programs, the evidence on how much they help low-income students academically is inconclusive, the IFO report found. Some supporters say the programs success does not hinge on how many students switch from low-performing public schools to private or parochial ones. Its not necessarily to get students out of public school its to help provide for the education of children, said Nathan Benefield, senior vice president at the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank that has pushed for increases to the program. Even if data did exist that showed most students receiving scholarships were already enrolled in private schools beforehand, that would not be a shortcoming, he said. The best measure of accountability is: What do parents want? WHILE YOURE HERE ... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. A major drug gang who sold 5.6million worth of cocaine that was packed into large bricks and stamped with the word 'Prada' have been jailed for more than 50 years. Vikram Virdee, 34, Dean Riley, 55, and Richard Yarker, 49, were the key players in a group that sold 56kg of class A drugs across the UK. Their accomplice Karl McQuillan, 29, delivered the drugs and collected cash from around the UK including Worcester, Wales, Gloucestershire and Nottingham. West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCUWM) exposed the multi-million pound operation following a UK-wide investigation into EncroChat, led by the National Crime Agency. The gang operated partially via the encrypted mobile phone network, which was shut down in June 2020. Ringleader Virdee, Riley, Yarker and McQuillan were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday after previously pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A. Theyve been jailed for a combined total of more than 50 years. A fifth man was also sentenced in August 2020 and jailed for four years and eight months. A major drug gang who sold 5.6million worth of cocaine that was packed into large bricks and stamped with the word 'Prada' have been jailed for more than 50 years West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCUWM) exposed the multi-million pound operation following a UK-wide investigation into EncroChat, led by the National Crime Agency Vikram Virdee, 34, (pictured right) Dean Riley and Richard Yarker were the key players in a group that sold 56kg of class A drugs across the UK. Their accomplice Karl McQuillan (left), 29, delivered the drugs and collected cash from around the UK including Worcester, Wales, Gloucestershire and Nottingham Dean Riley, 55, (left) and Richard Yarker, 49, (right) have both been jailed for being concerned in the supply of cocaine The gang operated partially via the encrypted mobile phone network, which was shut down in June 2020 Over six kilograms of cocaine, four cars some with secret compartments and over 40 Hours of CCTV were seized during the police investigation Officers carried out raids on properties associated with the gang and seized 6kg of cocaine and four cars containing secret compartments. The gang were nailed by over 40 Hours of CCTV and images they sent to each other which featured bundles of cash and blocks of cocaine embossed with the brand name 'Prada'. They previously admitted being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug between February and October 2020. Virdee, of Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, who co-ordinated the buying and supplying of drugs, was jailed for 17 years. Riley, of Swadlincote, Derbyshire, who was the gang's accountant handling cash and distribution, was jailed for nine years and 10 months. When officers arrested him in the summer of 2020, he had more than 17,000 in cash on him and 2.2kg of cocaine stashed at his home. Yarker, of Corley Ash, Warwickshire, who was on licence at the time of the offences following a conviction for supplying cocaine in 2012, was jailed for 15 years. The court heard police found 3kg of cocaine and 25,000 in cash at his home. Riley and Yarker also both pleaded guilty possession with intent to supply class A and the acquisition, use and possession of criminal property. The gang were nailed by over 40 Hours of CCTV and images they sent to each other which featured bundles of cash and blocks of cocaine embossed with the brand name 'Prada' Ringleader Virdee, Riley, Yarker and McQuillan were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday after previously pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A. Theyve been jailed for a combined total of more than 50 years. A fifth man was also sentenced in August 2020 and jailed for four years and eight months The large bricks of cocaine had the word 'Prada' stamped on each one (pictured) Drug runner McQuillan, of Whoberley in Coventry, was jailed for eight years three months. A fifth member of the gang, who was recruited by McQuillan to build secret compartments inside a Vauxhall Insignia, was jailed for four years and eight months in 2020. He was arrested in South Wales in May 2020 for transporting 1kg of cocaine. Following the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Leanne Lowe, said: 'This was a complex investigation in which we worked through lots of evidence; conversations, images and CCTV footage as well as mobile phone data to piece together what these men were doing and how they were connected to one another. 'Not only have we disrupted a chain of supply, we have also removed a huge quantity of drugs.' Advertisement It was a chilling set of calling cards, left at the side of a farmer's field in the bleak arable lands of Cambridgeshire. Ten brown hares, freshly-despatched, their bodies still warm. The people who had killed them weren't interested in taking the animals home for the pot. They were making a ghoulish and none-too-subtle point to the landowner: they would be back. This Mafia-like tactic is the latest face of a crime-wave sweeping the countryside, one in which hardened criminal gangs are trying to terrorise farmers into letting them pursue illegal hare-coursing on their land. Police found the 10 hares on a road last month at Six Mile Bottom, close to the village of Boxworth in Cambridgeshire. PC Tom Nuttall, who mounts regular patrols in the area with the local rural crime unit, told the Mail that such incidents are now common - earlier this year nine dead hares were found carefully spaced out on a road on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border. It was a deliberate attempt by criminals to intimidate local farmers, PC Nuttall said. 'What they are doing is not a sport, it is cruel and totally illegal - and they have become an absolute menace.' Hare-coursing - in which dogs are unleashed to chase down hares and catch them in their jaws - has been banned in Britain on cruelty grounds since 2005. But it is nevertheless big business as criminal gangs organise coursing events to stream live on the dark web to thousands of punters who bet on the kills - which dog, which hare, how many turns the hare makes before it is killed, and so on. A group of suspected coarsers were stopped by Humberside wildlife and rural team on 7 November in Lowthorpe and given a section 35 dispersal order despite not being found with any hares One of four men stopped by police during a Mail investigation was happy to pose for pictures with their dogs, which were clearly well looked-after and in good condition Lincolnshire farmer Chris Carter has spoken of his troubles with hare coursing from poachers on his land A sign on a Lincolnshire farm warns that hare coursing is illegal and carries a maximum fine of 5,000 Police sources suggest that nationally more than 10,000 incidents of hare-coursing are reported every year and even that may be an underestimate. One senior officer told us that 15,000-20,000 was likely to be a more accurate figure This week the police were given new powers to aid them in their fight against the rise of this gruesome bloodsport. Amendments tabled to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill earlier this month increased penalties, introduced new criminal offences and created new powers for the courts to disqualify convicted offenders from owning or keeping dogs. The new legislation was welcomed by the police at the sharp end of the battle against the hare-coursers. 'The dogs are key,' says chief inspector Phil Vickers of Cambridgeshire police, the national lead on hare-coursing. 'The new legislation will give us much more teeth when it comes to dealing with these career criminals, who are often involved in more serious crime such as drug dealing. Not only can we seize their dogs, we can ban them from keeping them in the future.' 'The changes in the law could not have been more timely, since January is probably the time of year when hare-coursing reaches its peak and these criminals are at their most active, causing devastation in the countryside.' For the time being, however, the 'sport' is booming - as the Mail found when we travelled to Yorkshire and East Anglia to investigate. Police sources suggest that nationally more than 10,000 incidents of hare-coursing are reported every year and even that may be an underestimate. One senior officer told us that 15,000-20,000 was likely to be a more accurate figure. And, given the money involved, the gangs are often composed of hardened criminals prepared to go to any lengths to keep their pursuit alive. Many of the farmers we met were so afraid of retribution from them that they would only speak on condition of anonymity. After all, the gangs have little compunction about intimidating or assaulting those who get in their way. A group are stopped by Humberside wildlife and rural team on 7 November in Lowthorpe and given a section 35 dispersal order despite not being found with any hares. There is no suggestion that they have any connection to the threats to farmers They come armed with iron bars and in some cases shotguns, causing mayhem by churning up land, destroying crops, wrecking farm buildings - in some cases setting fire to them - and stealing farm equipment and machinery. One farmer who tied an abandoned hare courser's dog to a farm building returned later that day to find that the animal had been retrieved. He also found the corpse of his own dog. It had been crucified - nailed to one of the outbuildings. Another who challenged the coursers was reportedly shot at in his Land Rover. Yet another, based in Cambridgeshire not far from where the dead hares were found, told the Mail: 'On Friday I heard a gunshot as I was outside working in the yard. But I was too scared to search for them. That is the big fear. 'These people have no morals. They are making us prisoners in our own homes while they are free to drive around with loaded firearms. If someone did this in a town there would be an uproar.' Meanwhile, the police - hopelessly under-resourced and constrained by archaic legislation - are finding it impossible to keep control. To find out more, the Mail joined the rural crime unit at Humberside Police led by Sergeant Jenna Jones. One of the dogs seized by Humberside wildlife and rural team on 7 November in Lowthorpe A coarser's Subaru which was crashed, dumped and burnt out in a dyke in Lincolnshire A sign warns against trespassers and says: 'Violators will be shot, survivors will be shot again' It is a Sunday morning and the unit is preparing for a dawn patrol. Sergeant Jones checks the logs for reports of poacher - or hare-courser - activity. She primes her Taser. Her team's patch, which covers 1,000 square miles of farmland from the East Riding village of Fordon in the north to the Humber Estuary in the south, offers rich pickings for coursers: remote farms, empty fields, easy getaway routes and a dense population of hares. They are at their most active in November, after the fields have been harvested and before the frosts come, when their dogs can easily spot their quarry. They travel to the flatlands in 4x4 off-road vehicles, sometimes driving several hundred miles from South Wales, the Pennines, and the north-east - anywhere too hilly for hare-coursing. They use encrypted social media messaging apps to pass on details of forthcoming events. The police have responded by launching drones over the fields but they are outgunned; Sergeant Jones' unit is made up of only three full-time officers who deal with a broad range of rural crime, not just poaching. The first report of activity comes in at just after 7.30am. A group of four men have been spotted with dogs and a four-wheel drive. Sgt Jones jumps into the Land Rover and gives chase, arriving 20 minutes later at a track close to a bare wheatfield. The four men, each with a dog, have been stopped by Sgt Jones' colleagues in another police vehicle after a high-speed chase that topped 90 miles an hour. At least one of them is known to the team, and the vehicle's registration plate has been flagged up by police cameras. Later, when the men's details are run through the Police National Computer it comes as no surprise to the rural crime team to find that they have previous convictions, not for hare-coursing but other more serious offences. When interviewed, the men were evasive and arrogant: perhaps because they knew they hadn't been caught in the act. Their dogs were three lurcher/whippet crosses and a Saluki hound, the coursers' canine of choice due to it speed, exceptional eyesight and ability to take down a hare in a matter of seconds. Such was their bravado that all four were happy to pose for pictures with their dogs, which were clearly well looked-after and in good condition. One of the men even jokingly offered to sell his dog, Izzy, to the Mail for 100. In a broad north-east accent, he said: 'Go on, I'm skint'. Signage that a farmer has removed from his land through fear of retribution A gate which was rammed in Tongue End, Lincolnshire, to gain access by coursers A coarser's Subaru which was dumped in a field after intimidating farmers to use land for hare-coursing In reality, dogs such as Izzy are the gold-plated currency of the coursers - a proven champion can sell for many thousands of pounds. On the same day, further south in Lincolnshire, another local rural crime unit was apprehending a poacher who boasted that one of his dogs had earned him 32,000 in winnings from illegal betting. The apparent leader of the group, whose name was Tony, insisted that they were in the area not to hunt for hares but simply to walk their dogs. One of his friends claimed that they were on a camping holiday. But there was no tent, nor any other camping equipment: just the dogs and their beaten-up old Subaru. The group all had similar north-east accents and the addresses they gave were in County Durham, nearly 200 miles away. There was no hard evidence that they had been coursing. But Sgt Jones was able to issue temporary dispersal notices to all four men, which meant that they would have to leave the Humberside area for at least 48 hours. 'That's all we can do,' says Sgt Jones. 'But we know they will be back.' One courser who won't be returning to the sport any time soon is Paul-Michael Bowes who was seen standing on a hare while his dogs mauled it. In a case heard at Hull magistrates court, Bowes was fined 728, given a suspended sentence for cruelty, forbidden to own animals for five years and banned from driving for 12 months. Sgt Jones said she was pleased with the sentence. 'Hare coursing is a barbaric and bloodthirsty crime... Not only does our wildlife suffer, but it significantly impacts our rural and farming communities as crops, hedges and gates are often left damaged as a result of these horrific crimes.' A recent survey by the Yorkshire Agriculture Society showed that almost half its members had suffered verbal abuse and threats from hare-coursers: nearly 90 per cent reported some form of criminal damage. Only last week, Chris Carter, whose family have farmed arable land for three generations in Lincolnshire near Spalding, found a group of hare coursers driving a 4x4 across his land at breakneck speed, once again filming a dog chasing a hare. He called the police but he had no choice but to stand and watch as the vehicle carved up his fields. He was furious - but feels ultimately impotent: 'A significant number of those who turn up here just will not accept what they are doing is illegal. They are quite shameless about it - and they do exactly what they want.' A council meeting in north Yorkshire recently heard that the hare coursers were 'traumatising' communities. Conservative councillor Robert Baker said he had 'been on the receiving end of a beating by a gang of poachers I tried to apprehend while waiting for the police to get there. It's a massive problem and they are getting really vicious.' For their part, the police warn the beleaguered farmers that the criminals should not be approached. 'But what should we do?' asks a landowner based near Boston, Lincs, the epicentre of hare-coursing. 'Should we let them burn down our farms while we wait an hour for the police to arrive?' Amendments tabled to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill earlier this month increased penalties, introduced new criminal offences and created new powers for the courts to disqualify convicted offenders from owning or keeping dogs Only last week, Chris Carter, whose family have farmed arable land for three generations in Lincolnshire near Spalding, found a group of hare coursers driving a 4x4 across his land at breakneck speed, once again filming a dog chasing a hare Damage to land in Cowbit, Lincolnshire amid a recent boom in hare coursing In an attempt to tackle this growing scourge, 26 separate police services in Britain have signed up to Operation Galileo, a nationwide operation sharing intelligence across different forces. Galileo has helped to build up a picture of the poaching fraternity and it is clear that many illegal hare-coursers - though not all - have their roots in the travelling community. James Mills, an arable farmer based in the East Riding, says that some groups of coursers on his farm have been made up of three generations. 'Sometimes on a Sunday morning we have found entire families of travellers who come onto our land to chase hares with their dogs; it's as though the children are being groomed to take over the succession. 'We have had a lot of trouble, and my own father was beaten up. It gets a bit much to be abused and given the finger on our own land by a nine-year old while Dad and Grandad look on, having a good laugh.' A number of senior police officers told the Mail that hare-coursing as a sport is 'embedded' in travellers' traditions. But, understandably, there is a reluctance to single out the community. Chief Inspector Phil Vickers of Lincolnshire Police, who set up Operation Galileo, says: 'Travellers are involved. But it's not just travellers. Members of the criminal fraternity - some of whom have served significant prison sentences - are involved in hare-coursing simply because it is their blood sport of choice.' Vickers told us that coursers had even tried to intimidate the police - one officer of his involved in a hare-coursing case had recently been visited and threatened at his own home by members of a gang. Another senior officer, Chief Inspector Kevin Kelly, who heads the national wildlife crime unit, told the Mail that there is a 'dark underworld' of crime currently involved in hare coursing. 'It attracts networks of criminal gangs and they will go to any lengths to take part in it. There is a sense of belonging and low penalties so in their eyes it's worth the risk.' One Lincolnshire farmer, whose own father had once been pulled out of his tractor and badly beaten, is only too familiar with the type of gangster the chief inspector is talking about. 'It was terrifying,' he says, 'partly because he kept coming on to our land. He was relentless. We knew him as 'Derby John' since we knew he came from the Derby area.' Derby John, it turned out, was one John Devine who is now serving a 10-year sentence after he was found guilty at Derby Crown Court of conspiracy to supply cocaine. Devine was involved in a gang that was convicted of an operation to supply drugs worth a total of 35million. Another notorious Lincolnshire hare-courser, Thomas Jaffray, was also convicted of drugs offences and money-laundering and is serving ten years for his involvement in a 100million drugs gang. Many of the hare coursers are shameless in the way they break the law. Under an assumed name, the Mail infiltrated a number of the most popular websites, including East Midlands Hare Coursing, Essex Hare Coursing, Hare Coursing Crew and Southwest Lamping and Corsing. Each of these groups offered much the same range of accessories: dogs, high-tech equipment, and second hand 4x4s. They stopped short, however, of advertising hare-coursing events in advance. These include an illegal hare-coursing event held in secret every year, often in Lincolnshire, called the Fir Cup. At events such as these, tens of thousands of pounds in prize money can change hands. More money is bet illegally online. 'Hare-coursing has become an epidemic,' says Chief Inspector Vickers, 'but our problem has been that the law supposed to control hare-coursing and poaching was simply not fit for purpose.' Groups such as the Country Landowners Association and the National Farmers Union welcome the new legislation. Under the new laws rules police will have the power to charge their owners for their kennelling. At present, although police can seize the poachers' dogs, they are reluctant to do so since the kennelling and vets' fees will come out of their own budgets. This can run to thousands of pounds. Libby Bateman of the Country Landowners Association told the Mail 'the best way to stop hare coursing is to take the dogs off the offenders'. The effect of the new legislation will take time to bear fruit. Meanwhile the farmers of the flatlands face another long winter siege. The coursers, it seems, have the upper hand. As autumn draws into winter, a shiver is moving down the spine of these sparsely-populated flatlands in East Anglia and the East Riding of Yorkshire. A shiver caused not by the wind that habitually sweeps across the rich arable plains. It is a shiver of fear. Advertisement Los Angeles City Council is to ban new oil and gas wells and phase out existing ones, marking the beginning of the end for an industry that began in California over 150 years ago. The council directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance to prohibit oil and gas drilling in Los Angeles, change zoning laws to make drilling illegal and study how to legally phase out existing wells. It will also create a jobs program to transition oil and gas workers to other industries. The measure marks an end of an era for Los Angeles, where the sight of its iconic pumpjacks affectionately known as nodding donkeys operate at more than 5,200 oil wells scattered throughout the citys suburban neighbourhoods, among its schools and parks. The citys history is entwined with the oil and gas industry that began in California as early as the 1860s, and was built on oil long before the cameras of Hollywood brought it to the attention of the world. For Los Angeles itself, ambitious drillers rushed to the city after it was transformed almost overnight on November 4, 1892, when oil was found in modern-day Echo Park. The city flowed with liquid gold in the years that followed, growing from a large vacation town of 50,000 people in the 1890s to a booming city of 1.2 million by the 1930s. With the citys expansion - and the introduction of the gasoline-powered car - came Oil tycoons, men richer than anyone had ever seen before. One such man was John D. Rockefeller who expanded his enterprise west and became the richest person in the country, at one point controlling 90 percent of all oil in the United States. Los Angeles became home to the states largest oil field at Signal Hill, while California was producing a quarter of the worlds oil. However, as concerns over the impact oil and gas was having on both the environment and the health of residents living near oil wells in the city, the industry has faced increasing scrutiny. The unanimous decision by the Council is the beginning of the end for oil wells and pumpjacks that to this day still operate throughout one of the world's largest urban oilfields in the US, but will be phased out in the coming years. The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved a measure to ban new oil and gas wells and phase out existing ones, marking the beginning of the end for an industry that began in the state over 150 years ago. Pumpjacks are photographed on the Inglewood oil field in Los Angeles, California, USA, 26 January 2022 An aerial image taken on January 24, 2022 shows storage tanks at the Chevron Products Company El Segundo Refinery adjacent to a neighborhood of homes at sunset in Manhattan Beach, California In this May 18, 2021, file photo, apartment buildings rise behind pump jacks operating at the Inglewood Oil Field in Los Angeles. The decision comes after a decade of complaints from residents about health problems - nosebleeds, wheezing, coughing - they blamed on air pollution from the sites, some of which are mere metres away from homes A view of the Marathon Petroleum Corp's Los Angeles Refinery in Carson, California, April 25, 2020 According to a 2015 survey by the United States Geological Survey (published in 2016), there was an estimated 13 million barrels-worth of oil, 22 billion cubic feet of gas and 1 million barrels of natural gas liquids still to be extracted from the Monterey Formation Los Angeles Basin - that extends out of the city limits. An earlier USGS study in 2013 of the 10 largest oil fields underneath Los Angeles found that between 1.4 - 5.6 billion barrels of additional oil could be recovered using existing technology. The decision to ban the enterprise comes after a decade of complaints from residents about health problems - nosebleeds, wheezing, coughing - they blamed on air pollution from the sites, some of which are mere metres away from homes and hidden amongst the city in plain sight. Activists say that Black and Latino residents of the city are the most affected by pollution from the sites. 'For far too long, neighborhood oil drilling has disproportionately affected the health of our low-income communities of color,' said council president Nury Martinez at a news conference ahead of the vote. 'From freeways to power plants, our frontline communities bear the brunt of pollution and climate impacts.' Martinez, who grew up in LA's polluted neighborhoods, introduced the measure with council member Paul Krekorian. Speaking before the vote, Jasmin Vargas, a senior organizer at the nonprofit Food & Water Watch said:'This is not just a matter of public health and safety it's also a matter of justice. 'I think this day has been a long time coming.' The city of Los Angeles becomes the third government entity in the county to approve a ban and phaseout of oil and gas. Culver City and unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County have taken similar steps. A worker at the Chevron Products Company El Segundo Refinery on January 26, 2022 in El Segundo, California In an aerial view, the Jefferson oil drill site (bottom centre) stands in a residential neighborhood on January 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles City council directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance to prohibit oil and gas drilling in Los Angeles, change zoning laws to make drilling illegal and study how to legally phase out existing wells Pictured: Pumpjacks are photographed on the Inglewood oil field in Los Angeles, California, USA, 26 January 2022 Slide me Pictured: Signal Hill oil field (seen today left, and right in 1930), one California's largest discovered when a geyser erupted. This led to a boom of drilling in the Long Beach area, and by 1923, the field was California's largest oil field 'Starting today, I have a little bit more hope for our communities,' said Ashley Hernandez, an organizer with Communities for a Better Environment, at the press conference. Hernandez grew up in Wilmington, a Los Angeles neighborhood packed with oil wells. 'Our futures will hopefully not be full of emergency room visits, bloody noses or burdensome health impacts, but a cleaner future where black and brown families are the ones protected and valued.' Representatives from oil and gas industry groups strongly oppose these types of measures, saying they would raise gas prices, eliminate jobs and make the region more dependent on foreign oil. Rock Zierman, chief executive officer of the California Independent Petroleum Association representing nearly 400 oil and gas industry entities, said that the city's measure is illegal. 'Taking someone's property without compensation, particularly one which is duly permitted and highly regulated, is illegal and violates the U.S. Constitution's 5th Amendment against illegal search and seizure,' he said in a statement. These oil and gas phaseouts are part of a statewide movement in California to move away from fossil fuel production and usage in order to meet climate goals and improve public health. Pictured: Six-year-old Dayana Martinez, foreground, rides her scooter at a park as a pump jack extracts oil at a drilling site Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in Signal Hill A pump jack sits idle in front of palm trees Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in Signal Hill Slide me Left: A pumpjack photographed on the Inglewood oil field in Los Angeles, California, USA, 26 January 2022. Right: A pumpjack seen at the Pico Canyon Oil Field Downtown Los Angeles is photographed from the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area next to the Inglewood oil field in Los Angeles, California, USA, 26 January 2022. Many parts of the city sit over large oil fields that for years have been drilled Residential houses tower above pumpjacks of the Inglewood oil field in Los Angeles, California, USA, 26 January 2022 Pictured: A map showing the location of Los Angeles' oil fields (marked in red). There are hundreds of oil wells in the city exploiting the oil underneath LA In October, the state's oil and gas regulator proposed a ban on new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of schools, homes and hospitals. If those proposed rules become state policy, existing wells would be required to enact new pollution controls. The measure before the Los Angeles City Council would phase out oil and gas drilling entirely. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, California's reserves of Crude Oil - 2,213 million barrels - made up a 5 percent share of what the U.S. had in reserve in 2019. In terms of capacity, the state produced 1,909,171 barrels of Crude Oil from refineries per year as of 2020, 10.1 percent of the country's barrels. Estimates from June 2020 by the Western States Petroleum Association stated that round 37,000 people are employed in Los Angeles county alone by the Oil and Gas industry. Meanwhile, the state's 3,583 Natural Gas Producing Wells makes up a 0.7 percent share of the country's supply. Lights out? These oil and gas phaseouts are part of a statewide movement in California to move away from fossil fuel production and usage in order to meet climate goals and improve public health. Pictured: A pump jack sits idle in front of palm trees Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in Signal Hill How the 19th century oil and gas tycoons helped to build Los Angeles before the movie moguls arrived The history of the city of Los Angeles is intertwined with the oil industry, which helped build the city as thousands of people were drawn by the prospect of liquid gold, long before Hollywood became its main attraction The first oil well in California was successfully drilled as early as 1866, near the city of Ojai found some 60 miles to the North-West of Los Angeles. Thirty years later, in the 1890s, the then-small vacation town of Los Angeles - home to around 50,000 people - discovered what would go onto to be some of the most productive oil fields in history. The history of the city of Los Angeles is intertwined with the oil industry, with the city transforming from a small town in the 1890s to a city with a population of 1.2 million by 1930 - by which point it was extracting around a quarter of the world's oil. Pictured: A view of a Century Oil Company drilling operation in the Kern River District of California, circa 1898 Pictured: The Great Gusher At The Lakeview Oil Well In Kern County, California. Photographed In April 1910. California Pictured: A Burning oil field in California, 1928. Almost overnight on November 4, 1892, the trajectory of the city's history changed when oil was found in modern-day Echo Park, now located in the northwest of LA's Downtown Almost overnight on November 4, 1892, the trajectory of the city's history changed when oil was found by Edward L. Doheny in modern-day Echo Park, now located in the northwest of LA's Downtown. The Los Angeles City Oil Field went on to become one of the state's most productive at the time, and in 1895 accounted for more than half of California's oil. By 1901, its peak year, around 200 different companies were active on the oil field. In 1921, the first productive well was discovered at Signal Hill when a geyser erupted. This led to a boom of drilling in the Long Beach area, and by 1923, the field was California's largest oil field. In just 40 years, the city would grow to have a population of 1.2 million people in 1930 and was producing nearly a quarter of the world's oil output. With the citys expansion - and the introduction of the gasoline-powered car - came giant oil companies and oil tycoons, men richer than anyone had ever seen before. One such man was John D. Rockefeller who became the richest person in the country, at one point controlling 90 percent of all oil in the United States. He was one of the founders of Standard Oil, which expanded west and drilled at a number of the fields in Los Angeles. Companies such as the Union Oil Company of California, founded in 1890, and Standard Oil, founded in 1872 by Rockefeller and his partners, evolved over time into huge conglomerates, and were the early examples of the oil giants of the modern world. At the time, the oil in the region was easy to access on account of it being closer to the surface in the region, and there was limited regulation governing the enterprise. Pictured: The Inglewood Oil Field as seen before Los Angeles grew into the metropolis it is known as today Almost overnight on November 4, 1892, the trajectory of the city's history changed when oil was found by Edward L. Doheny (left) in modern-day Echo Park, now located in the northwest of LA's Downtown. Pictured right: John D. Rockefeller, who became the richest person in the country and at one point controlling 90 percent of all oil in the United States. There was also minimal understanding of the impacts drilling had on health of the people living around the oil fields, and also the environmental impact it was having on the region. But as this understanding grew, the ambition of oil drilling companies has consistently clashed with the residents of the city, particularly in its lower-income regions where wells have been disguised and gone unnoticed. According to Stand-LA, around 580,000 Los Angeles residents live less than a quarter of a mile from an active oil well, but have no control over the drilling activities taking place in their neighbourhoods. According to the environmental community group, 'When the zoning code that addresses oil exploration was developed in the 1960s, seatbelt laws hadnt been implemented, smoking on planes was allowed and our nations landmark environmental laws had yet to be developed.' Campaign groups have successfully managed to get some sites shut down. One example is the Beverly Hills field, which was located on the campus of Beverly Hills High School. It was producing about 400 barrels of crude oil per day, but was ordered to be shut down in 2016. It was subject to a class-action lawsuit from Erin Brockovich. This came after a series of lawsuits from parents of students at the school, as early as 2003, who pointed to what they believed to be high rates of certain cancers among those exposed to toxins. Melbourne was hit with a 'once in a century' downpour of rain on Thursday as bolts of lightning struck across the sky with more in store - but other Australian cities are in for a warm and sunny weekend. Severe thunderstorm warnings have been given for parts of NSW and Victoria for Thursday night with the bad weather forecast to linger into Friday. Queensland is meanwhile in the midst of a monsoon with Townsville and Cairns in the state's far-north to be the worst hit. Canberra will also see a weekend of wild weather, with thunderstorms forecast to loom over the capital. Sydneysiders will escape the rain with a sunny and hot weekend forecast while Perth residents are preparing for yet another heatwave with temperatures to hit a scorching 39C on Saturday. Melbourne was hit with a 'once in a century' downpour of rain on Thursday as bolts of lightning struck across the sky with more in store Lightning is seen in Melbourne's night sky late on Thursday as the city saw a 'once in a century' weather event Northern parts of the country will be drenched in rain as a monsoon sweeps across Australia Those in Melbourne were shocked to see the night sky lit up with lightning bolts on Thursday night following a day of wild weather. As much as 56mm of rain fell in just an hour on Thursday morning in the city's eastern suburbs, which the Bureau of Meteorology has said is what you'd see 'once in a century'. Geelong also copped 30mm of rain in just 20 minutes on Thursday night. Severe thunderstorm warnings for damaging winds and heavy rainfall have also been issued for Melbourne, while in north-west and central Victoria residents have been urged to look out for destructive winds, heavy rainfall and large hailstones. In Swan Hill winds were at speeds of 133km/h late on Thursday night while 68mm of rain was recorded in Inverleigh. More than 3,500 households across Victoria lost power as the wild storms struck large parts of the state overnight on Thursday. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for parts of Melbourne on Thursday night as 3,500 homes were left without power Pictured is the rain forecast from Thursday to Sunday across Australia - with some areas set to cop up to 150mm Similar warnings have been given for the Mornington Peninsula, Ballarat and Bellarine. The miserable weather is a result of humid tropical air being dragged down from the north with Melbourne to see another wet day on Friday with as much as 35mm of rain expected to fall. Although it'll be a wet one for Australian Open fans, temperatures will be at a high of 32C on Friday before dropping to 25C on Saturday. Severe thunderstorm warnings have also been given for parts of central-western NSW including in Walgett and Bourke. Southern parts of NSW including Wagga Wagga could see as much as 50mm of rain on Sunday. Sydneysiders won't have to worry about the bad weather with Friday forecast to reach a top of 29C and partly cloudy, with the same conditions expected on Saturday. Sydneysiders will be able to escape the rain on Friday (pictured girls celebrate Australia Day on Wednesday) Queensland is experiencing monsoon conditions with heavy downpour falling in northern parts of the state Queensland has been drenched with its heaviest rainfall in three to five years this week already thanks to a monsoon sweeping across northern parts of the state, Weatherzone reported. 'The slow moving monsoon trough will drive further additional heavy rainfall over the next 24 to 36 hours,' BoM meteorologist Jackson Browne said. Mr Browne said Stony Creek in Townsville saw a staggering 380mm of rain with the majority falling over a few hours on Thursday. 'Overnight tonight we'll see more heavy rainfall coming into the Townsville area,' he said. For the Queensland capital Friday will bring a medium chance of showers with temperatures to hit a maximum of 30C. Saturday will see similar conditions. Over on the other side of the country Perth residents will sweat through the weekend as another heatwave sweeps across WA. With no rain in sight for the WA capital, locals can expect the mercury to hit 35C on Friday, 39C on Saturday and 38C on Sunday. Over on the other side of the country Perth residents will sweat through the weekend as another heatwave sweeps across WA (pictured Perth's Cottesloe Beach) Heavy rain will be felt up north in the Kimberly as a result of the monsoon. The Northern Territory will also be drenched with rain with Friday bringing thunderstorms which are expected to last for the next week. Adelaide will have a wet Friday with a 70 per cent chance of rain while Hobart will be belted with downpour at the start of the weekend. Those in the nation's capital will see the rain hit on Saturday but Friday has just a 50 per cent chance of rainfall with temperatures lingering in the high 20s. Two bakers who were made to pay more than $130,000 in damages to a same-sex couple after refusing to make their wedding cake have won the right to appeal that fine following a nine-year court battle. Aaron and Melissa Klein, who were co-owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Oregon, were forced into bankruptcy after they were fined $135,000 in 2013 for causing 'emotional distress' after refusing to serve a same-sex couple at their bakery. Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer had planned to use the local bakery to celebrate their wedding, but were instead quoted a passage of the bible. Demonstrations took place outside the couple's Gresham store and online trolls sent the couple vitriolic abuse. Meanwhile, local wedding planners, photographers and florists cut all ties to the budding baking business. Facing financial ruin, the Kleins, who have five children together, were forced to downsize in 2013 before fully closing Sweet Cakes just three years later amid the public backlash they faced. Despite appealing the civil rights ruling under the First Amendment and having the original decision vacated by the US Supreme Court, the Kleins are understood to have already paid the $135,000 fine, with interest. On Wednesday, Oregon's Court of Appeals confirmed the couple had violated the law - while also admitting the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries broke the First Amendment's 'strict neutrality toward religion' when determining their fine. The case will now be returned to Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries to determine what damages the couple should have been order to pay nine years ago. Aaron and Melissa Klein, who were co-owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Oregon, were forced into bankruptcy after they were fined $135,000 in 2013 for causing 'emotional distress' after refusing to serve a same-sex couple at their bakery Facing financial ruin, the Kleins, who have five children together, were forced to downsize in 2013 before fully closing Sweet Cakes just three years later amid the public backlash they faced Laurel (left) and Rachel Bowman-Cryer (pictured) had planned to use the local bakery to celebrate their nuptial, but were quoted a passage of Leviticus 18:22, which describes male homosexual sex as an 'abomination' Reacting to the news on Wednesday, First Liberty, the legal firm representing the couple, said the bakers would continue to appeal against the ruling. 'Oregon is trying to have its cake and eat it, too,' Stephanie Taub, senior counsel for First Liberty, said in a statement. 'The Court admits the state agency that acted as both prosecutor and judge in this case was biased against the Kleins' faith. 'Yet, despite this anti-Christian bias that infected the whole case, the court is sending the case back to the very same agency for a do-over. 'Today's opinion should have been the end of this ten year long saga. It's time for the state of Oregon's hostility toward Aaron and Melissa to end.' Wednesday's developments marked a fresh twist in the Christians' 11-year saga. The bakers' nightmare began in 2011 after they refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple, citing Leviticus 18:22, which likens male homosexual sex to an 'abomination'. The bakers' nightmare began in 2011 after they refused to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple, citing Leviticus 18:22 in the Bible which likens male homosexual sex to an 'abomination' Demonstrations took place outside the couple's Gresham store (pictured above) and online trolls sent the couple vitriolic abuse. Meanwhile, local wedding planners, photographers and florists cut all ties to the budding baking business Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer lodged a complaint against the business, alleging the Kleins had refused to serve them based on their sexual orientation. That complaint, with contact information and phone numbers, was shared by Aaron Klein on Facebook - prompting the lesbian couple to receive death threats and complain directly to Klein, who later removed the post a day later. Oregon non-discrimination law bars any prejudice against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in jobs and in places that serve the public, such as bakeries. Same-sex marriages were legalised in the state in May 2014. A timeline of the bakery saga that saw Oregon Christians fined $135k 2013: Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer file a complaint alleging Sweet Cakes by Melissa discriminated against them over their sexual orientation. July 2015: Oregon's Bureau of Labor & Industries enforce the state's non-discrimination law and rule the Kleins had violated the same-sex couple's rights and imposed a $135,000 fine. 2015: The Kleins launched a GoFundMe to pay their costs and appeal the ruling and fine at the Oregon Court of Appeal. December 28, 2017: Oregon's Court of Appeals upholds the Bureau's decision. The Kleins seek a review from Oregon's Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds. June 22, 2018: The Oregon Supreme Court declines to hear the case, upholding the original ruling that the couple breached the state's non-discrimination laws. October 19, 2018: Attorneys representing Sweet Cakes by Melissa file a petition to the US Supreme Court to hear the case. March 1, 2019: US Supreme Court Justices vacate the original ruling, sending the case back to lower courts in Oregon to reconsider their ruling following the 2018 Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling. January 9, 2020: The Oregon intermediate Court of Appeals hears oral argument in the case. January 2021: The Oregon Court of Appeals upholds its original ruling but rules the state's Bureau of Labor and Industries violated the First Amendment's 'strict neutrality towards religion' in determining the $135,000 fine the Kleins were made to pay. Advertisement Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) found against Sweetcakes - fining the couple $135,000 in 2013 and condemning their family-run business to bankruptcy just three years later. The Kleins fought back against that decision, arguing under the First Amendment that baking a cake to celebrate the nuptials of a same-sex couple was against their Christian beliefs. They hired former President George H.W. Bush's White House counsel, Boyden Gray, and toured the country with Presidential candidate Ted Cruz. But the Oregon Court of Appeals sided with the BOLI's original decision and backed the organization's huge fine until the US Supreme Court vacated their ruling four years later. In its ruling on Wednesday, the court found the decision to issue the six-figure fine to the bakers was partly based on a statement made by Aaron Klein to Cheryl McPherson, the mother of Rachel Bowman-Cryer. Oregon's Court of Appeals found the state civil rights division wrongly requested the damages, despite ruling Klein's statement had been incorrectly relayed by McPherson to the couple. In making its ruling Wednesday, the Oregon Court of Appeals wrote that it had considered both the Supreme Court's previous rulings in 2018 and a separate case made against a Catholic foster care agency in Philadelphia in 2021. But it also said it would adhere to its prior decision and upheld the BOLI's initial determination that Aaron Klein 'unlawfully discriminated' against the same-sex couple. 'We adhere to our prior decision upholding BOLI's determinations that Aaron unlawfully discriminated against the Bowman-Cryers based on sexual orientation, in violation of ORS 659A.403', it wrote. 'Neither the state constitution nor the federal constitution precludes the enforcement of the statute against Aaron, even though the enforcement of the statute burdens Aaron's practice of his faith.' Previously, the US High Court had ruled in favour of a Colorado man in a similar case in 2018 - after the baker refused service for a gay couple on the basis of the owner's religious beliefs. Aaron and Melissa Klein (pictured above) fought back against the Oregon Court of Appeals' decision, arguing under the First Amendment that baking a cake to celebrate the nuptials of a same-sex couple was against their Christian beliefs The Bowman-Cryers said they were worried about losing their foster children, who they have since adopted, after attention was brought to their marriage. Oregon began allowing same sex marriage in May 2014 After Jack Phillips refused to make a cake for Charlie Craig and David Mullins in 2012, the gay couple filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The Commission ruled in their favor, saying Phillips had violated the state's anti-discrimination law, which bars businesses from discriminating against customers based on their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. But Supreme Court justices voted 7-2 that the Commission violated Phillips' First Amendment right to exercise his religion in a groundbreaking 2018 ruling. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was forecast to be the swing vote, wrote the majority opinion, saying Phillips' Free Exercise rights were violated because the Commission showed hostility to his religious beliefs when they were making the decision. Advertisement At a glance: Sexual offences, fraud and hacking up; fewer criminals charged but overall offending down Rapes up 13% to 63,136 in the year to September; Sexual offences up 12% to 170,973; Just 1.3% of rapes and 2.9% of sexual offences resulted in a charge; 40% of cases overall closed due to 'evidential difficulties' - up from 35% last year; Boom in 'lockdown crimes' such as fraud (+36%), computer misuse (+89%) and hacking (+161%); 666 murders, down 1% on the year before; Overall crime reduced by 10%, led by burglary (-21%) and robbery (-18%); Knife crime dropped by 10% to 46,239 offences. Advertisement The number of criminals being brought to justice has fallen to a record low, with police closing nearly half of active cases and just 1.3% of accused rapists charged - while the number of rapes and sexual offences hit a record high. There were 63,136 rapes recorded in the year to September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - an increase of 13%. Sexual offences were also at their highest ever level over a 12-month period at 170,973, up 12%. The ONS said the latest figures may reflect a 'number of factors', including the 'impact of high-profile incidents, media coverage and campaigns on people's willingness to report incidents to the police, as well as a potential increase in the number of victims'. Just 6% of crimes in England and Wales resulted in a charge or summons in the 12 months to September - the lowest level since records began six years ago. For rapes and sexual offences, this reduced to 1.3% and 2.9% consecutively. Meanwhile, the proportion of offences that were closed as a result of 'evidential difficulties' increased from 35% to 40%. When it came to rape cases, more than 40% were closed because the victim did not support further police action. Lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic have seen the number of cases progressing through the justice system slow down while court buildings were closed. An average of 708 days passed between the recording of a serious offence and the end of crown court proceedings, making it likely some victims deciding to drop out of cases rather than spend years waiting. Labour's Yvette Cooper tweeted: 'This is the damning Conservative record of failure on law and order in todays crime stats. More criminals are being let off. More victims are being let down. Communities deserve better than this.' The figures show a boom in reported crimes that have thrived during lockdown, including fraud (+36%) and computer misuse (+89%), the latter of which was fuelled by a 161% rise in hacking. In total, 13million people were victims of fraudsters and hackers. There were 666 murders, down one percent on the year before, while overall crime reduced by 10%, led by burglary (-21%) and robbery (-18%). Knife crime dropped by 10% to 46,239 offences - part of a long-term trend of violent crime reducing. There was also a boom in reported crimes that have thrived during lockdown, including fraud (+36%) and computer misuse (+89%) There were 666 murders, down one percent on the year before, while overall crime reduced by 10%, led by burglary (-21%) and robbery (-18%). Knife crime dropped by 10% to 46,239 offences. The figures cover the months following the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March The figures cover the months following the kidnap, rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March. The 33-year-old was attacked and killed by Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens, prompting a national debate about sexual violence, the safety of women and the response from government, police and prosecutors. The ONS added: 'The overall trend is also currently difficult to disentangle from the impact of lockdowns. Offences recorded by the police dropped noticeably during the spring 2020 lockdown before rebounding to previous levels in the July to September 2020 quarter. 'The winter 2020 to 2021 lockdowns saw a smaller reduction in the number of sexual offences recorded by the police but a greater level of increase in these offences in the subsequent quarters.' The figures also revealed the continuing impact of Covid-related delays and funding cuts on the court system, with the average time taken from the recording of a serious offence to the end of crown court proceedings is now 708 days. There are now 60,000 outstanding crown court cases, including 49,000 trials. This graph shows how a reduction in the number of murders is now a long-term trend Other violent crimes have seen similar falls, as this graph - released by the ONS - demonstrates Theft offences continued to fall during lockdown, following a trend that has lasted for several years The Criminal Bar Association, the professional body for barristers, warned of a 'perfect storm entirely of the government's own making'. 'It is the victims of crime and defendants alike who pay the price because of the severe shortages of judges and advocates, with it now being quite normal for complainants in serious criminal cases to be forced to wait four to five years before a trial is ever heard,' said chair Jo Sidhu QC. 'The government is still moving far too slowly in clearing a near record backlog of cases of its own creation, as a result of a court budget cut and closure campaign that pre-dated the pandemic.' Meanwhile, Law Society president Stephanie Boyce, said the data showed the need for more investment. 'The lengthy delays in trials coming to court mean a traumatised victim can be left waiting years to see their assailant locked up, while an innocent defendant can find their life in limbo while they wait to clear their name,' he said. 'Investment in the criminal justice system is needed now.' Firearms offences also reduced last year during lockdown, although there was a slight increase in the use of imitation firearms Advertisement The BBC was today condemned for a 'whitewash non-apology' after it said sorry for a report suggesting the Jewish victims of an anti-Semitic bus attack used 'anti-Muslim slurs' as Ofcom launched an investigation. The corporation apologised after its Executive Complaints Unit partially upheld complaints about the accuracy and impartiality of coverage of abuse suffered by young Jewish people on a bus in London two months ago. But the ECU did not agree that the BBC's coverage relating to the incident on Oxford Street amounted to victim-blaming and it defended the use of 'alleged' to describe the abuse as necessary for legal reasons. The incident on November 29 last year saw about 40 young Jewish people on the bus subjected to an anti-Semitic attack which saw a group of men make obscene gestures, swear and throw a shopping basket at them. Jewish groups, who have been at loggerheads with the BBC over the coverage - which suggested there had been an anti-Islam 'slur' in the form of 'dirty Muslims' heard inside the bus - reacted with anger to the ECU ruling. There has been a major dispute between the groups and the BBC about whether an offensive term had been used or whether it was actually a Hebrew phrase 'ti-kra le-mishu ze dakhuf', meaning: 'Call someone - it's urgent'. The Board of Deputies of British Jews president said she was 'dismayed' that the corporation 'continues to justify certain erroneous editorial decisions that continue to cloud the issue', while the Campaign Against Antisemitism branded the BBC's ruling a 'whitewash non-apology' which stood by its 'spurious reporting of an anti-Muslim slur'. It comes after the translation company hired by the BBC failed to provide a definitive answer, with three of the four translators involved construing the phrase as 'Dirty Muslims' and one as the Hebrew for 'Call someone, it's urgent'. But two assessments by the Board of Deputies - one by investigative firm D3 Forensics and another by leading linguistics expert Ghil'ad Zuckermann - both confirmed the phrase was the Hebrew for 'Call someone, it's urgent'. The incident last November 29 last yaer saw about 40 young Jewish people on the bus in London's Oxford Street subjected to an anti-Semitic attack. A group of men made obscene gestures, swore and threw a shopping basket at them A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'It took the BBC two months and four pages to deliver a whitewash non-apology that stands by its spurious reporting of an anti-Muslim slur and dismisses the monumental offence generated by its coverage. 'It is a travesty that the BBC thinks that it can toss the Jewish community a bone by upholding minor elements of our complaint while defending almost the entirety of its reportage and conduct over the course of this abominable saga. What phrases were heard being said on the bus? A phrase said on the bus in London's Oxford Street on November 29 last year has been interpreted in two different ways, which are outlined below: FIRST PHRASE: 'Dirty Muslim' In English: 'Dirty Muslim' SECOND PHRASE: 'Call someone, it's urgent!' In Hebrew: ! , In International Phonetic Alphabet: ti-kra le-mishu ze dakhuf Literally: 'you.will-call (imperative, singular, masculine) to-someone (singular, masculine) this urgent' Meaning: 'Call someone, it's urgent!' Advertisement 'Sadly, this sort of stonewalling is exactly what British Jews have come to expect from our public broadcaster. 'Ironically, the ECU's claim that its staffers hearing Jews spout an anti-Muslim slur is an example of the 'Apollonian tendency' betrays the very prejudices that the ECU insists were not at play. 'The BBC's insistence that 'we will always welcome feedback on and constructive scrutiny of our reporting' has always been laughable. 'Today, it is nothing short of insulting. If the BBC thinks that it has settled this matter and appeased the Jewish community, it is deeply mistaken. 'We welcome Ofcom's reaction to the ECU's pitiful report by announcing its own investigation, which will hopefully deliver the justice to the Jewish community that the BBC has once more denied.' And the Board of Deputies of British Jews president Marie van der Zyl said: 'We note the ECU finding that the BBC did not meet standards of due accuracy and impartiality. 'We are however dismayed that the Corporation continues to justify certain erroneous editorial decisions that continue to cloud the issue and will compound the distress faced by the victims. 'The Corporation also needs to acknowledge that it has badly misrepresented advice given to them by our colleagues at the CST (Community Security Trust). We welcome Ofcom's decision to investigate the incident. We trust that justice will prevail.' The BBC apologised last night and said it had now amended a story on its website from December and issued a clarification of a TV report screened the same day. The incident saw a group of Jewish people on a bus on Oxford Street last November subjected to an anti-Semitic attack Footage showed the group of Jewish teenagers dancing to celebrate Hanukkah moments before the attack last November Following BBC coverage on December 2, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Chief Rabbi were among a significant number of groups and individuals who complained to the broadcaster about the accuracy and impartiality of the coverage. How three different assessments have now studied the language 1) Board of Deputies assessment one The first assessment commissioned by the Board of Deputies was undertaken by open source internet and social media investigations agency D3 Forensics. The team of digital forensic and data security specialists said in a report that it 'unequivocally confirms that the audio does not contain any racial slur, neither the word 'dirty' nor the word 'Muslim' could be heard in the soundtrack'. It added that the disputed speech is 'clearly a phrase spoken in Hebrew saying 'Tikrah lemishu, ze dachuf' (call someone, it is urgent)'. 2) Board of Deputies assessment two The Board of Deputies also commissioned Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann, who is a world-leading expert on the Hebrew language and chair of linguistics and endangered languages at the University of Adelaide. Professor Zuckermann said it was 'clear to me that what is heard' is 'a native Israeli sentence rather than an English expression', adding: 'I hypothesize that the BBC editor(s)/reporter(s) misheard 'mishu' as 'Muslim', and 'perhaps even the preceding 'tikra le' as 'dirty'.' 3) BBC assessment The BBC hired an unnamed firm of translators to listen to the footage. However, this did not result in unanimity, with three of the four translators involved construing the phrase as 'Dirty Muslims' and one as the Hebrew for 'Call someone, it's urgent'. The BBC said the recording was also listened to 'by a number of senior members of BBC News management and a member of staff with a working knowledge of Hebrew'. It was also discussed with the BBC's Jerusalem Bureau with input from native Hebrew-speakers there, but with inconclusive results which led to the commissioning of the firm of translators. Advertisement The BBC said the complaints were 'particularly in relation to the claim that an anti-Muslim slur had been heard from inside the bus'. The BBC's director-general then instructed the corporation's executive complaints unit (ECU) to investigate the complaints 'as a matter of urgency'. In its findings published yesterday, the ECU said the original versions of both the online and television story 'did not meet the BBC's standards of due accuracy'. It said: 'The original online copy spoke of 'some racial slurs about Muslims' whilst the TV report explained 'you can hear some racial slurs about Muslim people'. In later versions the online copy was changed to 'a slur about Muslims' reflecting that the original iterations had mischaracterised the nature of the insult and there was insufficient evidence that it had happened on more than one occasion.' The ECU also considered whether the BBC had been right to continue to defend the statements in its reports about an anti-Muslim slur as accurate and not requiring amendment. The unit said it noted that while three of four translators who listened back to footage had agreed on what the slur might have been, one differed, and the ECU therefore concluded that 'the sole exception indicates that it was not the only possible interpretation'. The unit added: 'In the ECU's judgment this, taken together with the evidence put forward by the Board of Deputies, should have led the BBC to recognise at an earlier stage that there was genuine doubt about the accuracy of what it had reported.' The ECU concluded: 'It follows that the online article as it stands must now be regarded as no longer meeting the BBC's standards of due accuracy and, to the extent that the anti-Muslim slur claim has itself become controversial, it also lacks due impartiality in failing to reflect alternative views.' It said the same outcome applies to the television report 'though that could not have been updated as an online item can'. Following the ECU's findings, a BBC spokesman said it had been ruled 'that the inclusion in our reports of the existence of an alleged slur, said to have come from within the bus, was included in good faith, following a great deal of editorial scrutiny'. But they added: 'However, the ECU has also found that more could have been done, subsequent to the original report, to acknowledge the differing views and opinions in relation to what was said; this should have been reflected in our reporting; and the online article amended. 'We accept this and apologise for not doing more to highlight that these details were contested - we should have reflected this and acted sooner. Hundreds of people gathered outside the BBC's New Broadcasting House in London last month to protest the news coverage Jewish broadcaster Rabbi YY Rubinstein said he would no longer appear on the BBC in protest at its reporting of the attack 'Following the ECU's ruling, we have amended the story posted on the BBC News website on 2 December 2021 and issued a clarification in relation to a news report aired on BBC London on the same day.' Shortly after the ECU released its ruling, Ofcom announced it was investigating as the matter 'raises issues under our due accuracy rules'. It is understood that Ofcom is concerned not just about the reports themselves, but the corporation's findings. An Ofcom spokesman said: 'We have reviewed the BBC's final response to complaints about this news programme. We consider it raises issues under our due accuracy rules and have launched an investigation.' Earlier this month a Jewish broadcaster and Rabbi said he would no longer appear on the BBC in protest at its reporting of the attack. Rabbi YY Rubinstein, who has appeared on a number of BBC radio shows including Radio 2 faith segment Pause For Thought, said the corporation's handling of the story had been 'inexcusable'. He posted a letter he had written to a BBC programme-maker in which he cancelled planned recordings for Radio 2, saying he did not see how 'any Jew who has any pride in that name can be associated with the corporation anymore'. Residents of a remote village in Russia have complained of a polluted winter that brings snow 'black as night'. Locals in Omsukchan, Magadan region in the Siberian far east of Russia, say that their children play in streets and playgrounds blanketed in ash and and black snow. The village is home to a coal-burning hot water plant that provides essential heating to the four thousand residents, but is also responsible for the soot and visceral pollution. Images show the sinister black snow and ice coating the village in one of the world's coldest inhabited territories, where Stalin sent political prisoners to work in forced labour Gulag prison camps. Residents of in Omsukchan, Magadan region, in the far Siberian east of Russia, complain of snow 'black as night' that gets darker as the temperature gets colder. The village, which is home to over 4,000 residents, is located in Russia's far east, just south of the Arctic Circle A coal-burning hot water plant is essential to the survival of the village and its residents, but it is responsible for producing the pollution that turns the snow black. In heating Omsukchan and neighbouring Seimchan, it burns through so much coal that the soot produced from the chimney turns the snow in the surrounding areas black The town sees temperatures of -50C in the depths of winter, in one of the most inhospitable and remote inhabited locations in the world. Residents have been complaining about the pollution since the fall of the Soviet Union A video posted by a resident said: 'This is a playground in Omsukchan village. 'It's January, our children are out there playing in black snow. This is how we live here in the 21st century.' Another said: 'This is Omsukchan village and the snow is black - completely black.' Residents say that despite complaining since the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago, nothing has changed. 'Our children still breathe soot,' said one. 'Nothing ever seems to change here.' Officials accept that the cause of the nightmare in Omsukchan and neighbouring Seimchan is the coal-burning hot water plant. This is vital as a heating source for flats and houses in the area, famed for gold-mining as well as coal extraction. With temperatures this month dipping to minus 50C and below, the heating plants in Magadan region burn extra coal, causing the back snow in Omsukchan and other settlements. The summer temperatures for Omsukchan reach an average of a mild 13C, meaning the hot water plants burn less coal and the town suffers less pollution. A local official has said that plans are underway to upgrade the filters in the heating plants to stop pollution Summers are green and mild but the air remains pollued. Above, a series of residential blocks in Omsukchan during the summer months Oksana Gerasimova, the head of the Srednekansky district, told Magadan Pravda newspaper, that it was vital to power-up the heating plants to keep homes warm in temperatures of minus 50C. 'Ash collectors are installed at the heating plants, which may not be able to cope with cleaning at such a time,' she said. She admitted that the area had suffered 'smoke, and ashes, and snow black as night'. But she added: 'this is not a reason to worry.' Plans are underway to upgrade the filters in the heating plants to stop pollution. China has thrown its back behind Russia over Ukraine, warning the US that Putin's security demands must be 'taken seriously'. Foreign minister Wang Yi told Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he should abandon his 'Cold War mentality' and engage in negotiations during a call today. The call took place just after Blinken had delivered a letter to Moscow, rejecting most of Putin's demands around Ukraine. Wang Yi, China's foreign minister, has warned the US that Russia's security demands must be 'taken seriously' and urged Washington to abandon its 'Cold War mentality' 'All parties should abandon the Cold War mentality and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiation,' Wang said. 'Russia's reasonable security concerns should be taken seriously and resolved.' In a nod to Moscow's concerns about the expansion of the NATO alliance in Europe Wang added that 'regional security cannot be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs'. The exact contents of Blinken's letter to Putin are not being made public, but Blinken said it contains 'serious' offers to de-escalate tensions. These are said to include controls on nuclear arms and limits on military exercises, according to the New York Times. After speaking with Blinken, Wang added that 'regional security cannot be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs'. Wang also urged the US to 'stop interfering' in the Winter Olympics, which are set to take place next month in Beijing. Wang made his remarks during a call with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, just hours after he sent a letter reject most of Putin's security demands Beijing hopes to turn next week's Games into a soft power triumph. But the lead-up has been clouded by a US-led diplomatic boycott over China's human rights record, particularly towards Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region. 'The most urgent priority right now is that the US should stop interfering in the Beijing Winter Olympics,' Wang said, according to the foreign ministry. He added that Washington must also 'stop playing with fire' on the Taiwan issue. Washington's brief of the call made no mention of the Olympics or Taiwan, and instead focused on Ukraine. 'Secretary Blinken underscored the global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine and conveyed that de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward,' the statement read. Global concerns are growing over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, as tens of thousands of Russian troops have been stationed at the border in recent weeks. In response, the US and other NATO member states have been conducting intense diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent days, as well as providing military reinforcement to Ukraine. Russia is continuing to mass its tanks and troops on Ukraine's border, amid fears that Putin could be about to invade The US and its NATO allies have said they are ready for any eventuality. Russia, which has a troubled historical relationship with Ukraine, has fueled an insurgency in the former Soviet republic's east that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Russia that year also seized Crimea after the overthrow of a government in Kyiv that had resisted efforts to move closer to Europe. Moscow has denied planning to invade Ukraine but has also said it wants guarantees that the country will not join NATO. China often opposes 'external interference' in how other countries are run. But it has been especially reluctant to speak out against its close strategic ally Russia, which is a fellow permanent member of the UN Security Council and often finds itself at loggerheads with the same western powers as China. A schoolgirl right-wing terror suspect charged over having a bomb-making manual has had he case dropped - after the Home Office said she had been groomed by a US extremist. The Derbyshire-based pupil - who cannot be named - had been the youngest female in the UK accused of terrorism. She had been charged with possession of instructions for homemade firearms and explosives. The girl had been due to stand trial at Nottingham Youth Court in August last year over the allegations, which related to when she was just 14. But the terrorism prosecution has been halted, with the BBC reporting an expert unit had decided she had been groomed online by a US extremist. It came after she was referred to a system designed to identify potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery. The girl is said to have developed an interest in far right extremism before the charge Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, told the BBC that 'online exploitation is the flip side of online radicalisation'. He added: 'The internet is not only pulling more and more young people into criminal liability for terrorist offending, but may yield defences to criminal liability, or powerful public interest reasons why a child should not be prosecuted. 'Issues of fault, dangerousness and criminal liability are still being worked out when dealing with online terrorism offending by children. 'This case has a wider implication. 'If criminal justice is not the right outcome, this begs the question whether there are adequate measures to deal with any abiding risk the child may present.' The girl's defence lawyer Gerard Hillman had made the referral to the trafficking system after the girl had been charged. An investigation discovered that the girl had been groomed online by a far right US extremist Then the Home Office's Single Competent Authority decided she had been groomed and exploited sexually. They identified an older far right male extremist in the USA, which led to it being ruled she had been trafficked under modern slavery laws. Following that decision, the case was discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The police and security forces have been increasingly taking far-right terror more seriously. Figures from June 2020 and expert estimates suggest that while a terror suspect watchlist has doubled in size from the last year, far-right extremists are a tiny part of the problem. Britain's top anti-terror officer Neil Basu has repeatedly said that right-wing extremism poses the fastest growing terror threat to the UK. But while MI5's watchlist doubled to 43,000 between 2019 and 2020, experts say nine-tenths of those on the list are Islamist extremists. Separate statistics from the Home Office on terrorists in custody, also showed that of 238 people held for terrorism in Great Britain, 183 were Islamist extremists while just 44 were far-right. It is an increase of just 11 people from the same period last year. They include a 17-year-old schoolboy jailed in January 2020 after a manifesto listing 'Areas to Attack' was found in his room. Senior military and intelligence expert Colonel Richard Kemp has previously told the MailOnline he believed the focus on far-right terror was a 'false emphasis'. Its criminal, said one well-meaning friend, referring to literacy failure in Allentown schools. Another equally caring friend hesitates to adopt that word. Lets turn to an expert: a beautiful kindergartener, fidgeting at his desk, first day of school, trying hard to listen to his teacher. His eyes gleaming with innocence, his heart glowing with dreams, hes among the 80% of poor students in Allentowns 16 elementary schools. Advertisement Let him render a verdict as to whether its criminal that he stands only a one in five chance of adequately learning to read in the Allentown School District. Ettore Angelo (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO) Kindergarten and first grade students at Roosevelt Elementary in Allentown meet Santa Claus outside the school Dec. 17. (DAVID GARRETT / Special to The Morning Call) Here are the statistics: Advertisement Only 35% of Allentown School District students read at grade level proficiency by third grade. Only 17% of impoverished kids achieve literacy proficiency, versus 80%-90% levels in suburban schools on the luckier side of the railroad tracks. 19% of Allentown School District graduates walk away with diplomas, still not able to read. If those are crimes, who are the defendants? Dont blame the hard-working teachers and staff, powering through COVID-19, too often reaching into their pockets to buy supplies for the children they love, working with their hands tied behind their backs. So it must be the parents, right? Parents often working 60 hours a week just to put food on the table and pay the rent? Parents who are themselves often victims of generational poverty? No, blame systems not teachers or parents that stack the odds against our adorable 5-year-old. Its also about money. Some ZIP codes have plenty. Others far too little. Advertisement Education apartheid, I called it in another op-ed, arguably worse than under the loathsome separate but equal doctrine. The Supreme Court in Brown v. Board in 1954 gave us hope that education would become more equitable for all children. That promise rapidly evaporated in the rush of white flight from urban areas, got swallowed up in the gaping chasm of wealth and income inequality, then suffered the knockout blow of vastly inequitable funding for poor kids in urban and rural schools. All this lies at our doorsteps all of us are to blame. What happens to a dream deferred? Langston Hughes asked. Or to that adorable child who cant read? The education and justice systems work in tandem as a reliable feeder of human beings for our prisons: Children not reading at grade level by the third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school. Those dropping out are eight times more likely to become incarcerated. Advertisement The annual cost of imprisoning a Pennsylvania citizen is $42,000 per year. The criminal industrial complex gobbles up poor citizens, then spits them out more broken than ever. Over 2 million Americans languish behind bars. A failing education system keeps jails and prisons well-stocked: more than 60% of prisoners are functionally illiterate. As a defense attorney for 37 years, Ive watched hope fade in the eyes of many poor, uneducated clients. We pay dearly for what has been dubbed the school to prison pipeline, and for the justice system in general. The direct and indirect costs to society for that system exceeds $1.2 trillion every year. Meanwhile, expenditures for education, K-12th grade, nationally, are half that, at $640 billion. Forbes estimates illiteracy costs us $2.2 trillion a year. Tracy Weeden of the Neuhaus Foundation reports that on average, states across the nation invest three times more taxpayer money to incarcerate an individual than to educate a child. Pennsylvania spends around $10,000 per student for K-12 education, compared with $42,000 per prison inmate. Advertisement Where do we begin? The seeds of change are in our hands, Weeden writes, and we will reap a rich harvest by cultivating the proven science of reading. Bethlehem School District made it happen. Under forward-thinking Superintendent Joseph Roy and tireless Assistant Superintendent Jack Silva, third grade reading levels rose from around 50% to 80%-100%. Allentown School District must follow Bethlehems lead. Evidence-based programs lift reading proficiency dramatically. We are at a crossroads for great change Allentown schools have a new and vibrant superintendent, John Stanford. The city has newly-elected Mayor Matt Tuerk excited about literacy improvements (as Mayor OConnell was); rescue funds in city, county and school district coffers; and federal money. Lehigh Valley Reads, United Way, under the dedicated leadership of Angela Zanelli and Jill Pereira, announced a bold pledge that every child read proficiently by 2025. We must all join that pledge. Businesses, educators, religious organizations, all levels of government, all justice organizations, social justice champions, and parents all of us must get this done. Advertisement It has been said: It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. Cheaper, too. And it all starts with a quality education for that innocent child squirming in his seat. Ettore Angelo is a criminal defense attorney in the Lehigh Valley. A school bully who hit and spat at his classmates and terrorised them on social media has been hauled before the courts - in one of the first cases of its type to be reported on in the UK. The tyrant teenager, from Stockton, County Durham, targeted fellow students at school with physical attacks while also using the internet to bully others online. He used apps like Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook Messenger to send cruel messages. In one, message he called a female victim a 's**g' and a 'fat b****'. The bully boy 14-year-old left one male victim so traumatised that he stopped playing with his friends after cornering him in a toilet and threatening to 'kill' him if he did not follow his commands - including kissing his friend's shoes. But now the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been brought to justice after admitting harassment and assault by beating. It is not clear if he was reported to the police by the school or by the parents of his victims. Yesterday a judge branded his behaviour 'horrible bullying'. She sentenced him to an eight-month referral order and demanded his mother - who told the court she was 'deeply ashamed' - pay 100 to each of his victims. The 'bullying' case is believed to be one of the first of its kind to be reported on in the UK. However the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says it is 'impossible to tell' if the case is actually the first of its type in England. That is because 'bullying' in itself is not a criminal offence in the UK, and incidents, if reported to the police, can be broken up into offences such as assault, harassment or malicious communications. In France, by contrast, parliamentarians voted in December to make school bullying a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in prison. The new rules, some of the harshest in the world for bullying, are expected to be introduced in February. Other countries that have anti-bullying laws include Australia, where they are set by individual states, while schools that are unable to demonstrate that they are proactive in addressing bullying in Sweden can be taken to court by the child and are liable for any damage incurred to a person or property. The tyrant teenager, from Stockton, County Durham, targeted fellow students at school with physical attacks while also using the internet to bully others online. The case was held at Teeside Youth Court at Teeside Magistrates' Court (pictured) Teeside Youth Court heard how the teen bully boy's conduct took place largely at the end of 2021. One victim, a girl, was targeted the previous year, according to the prosecution. Bullying: When should a school contact the police? Under current Government rules in the UK, state-run schools are required by law to have anti-bullying policies in place. However schools are advised that they should involve police in bullying if it involves, violence or assault, theft, repeated harassment or intimidation or hate crimes. Parents, meanwhile, are advised to report bullying to the school in the first place - or someone you trust if it happens outside school, for example in a club or online. According to guidance from the National Police Chiefs Council, when an incident occurs in which a crime has or may have been committed, the school or college need to consider whether to involve the police. 'Many incidents can be dealt with and resolved internally,' the guidance states. It adds: 'The school or college behaviour policy will give guidance on how to deal with and record such incidents. 'The seriousness of the incident will be a judgement call for the school or college. 'In making this decision the level of harm and the circumstances leading to the incident would need to be carefully considered. 'When the decision is made to report an incident to the police for investigation, due to the seriousness of the incident or for other aggravating circumstances, the school or college should cease their own investigation, having asked only enough questions to establish the basic facts of the incident. 'Every effort should be made by the school or college to preserve any relevant evidence.' The NPCC guidance also includes examples of when a school should consider going to the police. It includes broken bones in the case of an assault, hate or sexual elements in the case of online harassment and high value loss in terms of theft. Source: NPCC Advertisement The court heard how that his behaviour not only involved spitting and mean messages, but that the boy also hurled water over the girl who was 'scared and threatened by his presence'. Prosecutor Lynn Dalton said it climaxed in an incident which left the girl in tears. 'He was doing wheelies on his bike and he purposefully rode the bike into her back,' she said. The court heard how the ordeal had impacted on her mental health, with the girl adding in a victim statement: 'I always feel on edge'. His other victim was assaulted last October. During one incident, the bully kicked him inside a cubicle before ordering him to stand around a corner. 'If you don't, I will find you after school and kill you,' he told the frightened youngster, before demanding the victim kiss the shoes of a nearby friend. The court heard that after the toilet attack, he sent messages to the scared youth. One included the victim's picture emblazoned with the message: 'Wanted for 100 bar'. In his victim statement, the boy admitted he was scared of what the bully was 'capable of'. 'I've had to change my day-to-day routine,' he added. 'I no longer play out with my friends. I'm scared about what he might do if I came into contact with him again.' The previously unconvicted youth pleaded guilty to harassment and assault by beating. He also pleaded guilty to criminal damage from an incident last October, in which he was part of a group of youths who smashed a Stockton man's window - causing 100 of damage. 'It is clear that they have no respect,' said that victim in a statement. The boy kept his head down as details of his offences were aired. Mitigating, his solicitor said he had displayed 'deep regret' over his actions. 'He accepts all of his wrongdoing,' said Alex Wood, defending. 'But he can't really provide an explanation as to why he behaved that way.' The teenager was handed an eight-month referral order. He must meet a panel and sign a contract, which will include activities aimed at curbing future offending. And addressing the court, the youth added: 'I'm sorry to all of the victims - I wish it had never happened.' However his behaviour was slammed by District Judge Helen Cousins, who branded it 'horrible bullying'. Sentencing him, Judge Cousins ordered 100 to be paid to each of his victims - with his mother forced to foot the bill. 'I accept that you are ashamed and that you are sorry,' she added. 'You might have to do something to show that you are sorry, to give (your victims) some peace of mind.' He used apps like Snapchat (pictured: Library image) , Instagram and Facebook Messenger to send cruel messages. In one, message he called a female victim a 's**g' and a 'fat b****' At Wednesday's sentencing, the youngster's mother apologised for her son's behaviour, while his mum spoke of the toll his actions had taken on their family. 'I'm deeply ashamed,' she admitted. 'I didn't bring him up that way. I didn't bring him up to treat people like that.' Last year French law makers agreed tough new penalties on school bullies, including up to ten years in prison for those whose victims take their own lives. The country's parliament examined the draft law in December and the proposals won support from Education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer. As well as increasing resources for prevention and education, the legislation is aimed at creating a new crime of 'school bullying' . Such an offence would carry a maximum three-year jail term and a fine of up to 45,000 euros, depending on the severity of the case and the age of the culprit. Billionaire Elon Musk has offered an enterprising teenager $5,000 to remove a Twitter bot tracking the movements his private plane, but the teen is seeking an internship instead. Jack Sweeney, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Central Florida, asked for the internship to remove the @ElonJet account after Musk admitted it 'doesn't feel right' to pay him to take it down. Sweeney told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that he would be interested in an internship at either Tesla or SpaceX, but that he has yet to hear back from Musk on his proposal. Musk, who has a net worth of $242 billion and is the richest person in the world, now appears to be trolling him now by dispatching his jet on flights when he is known to be elsewhere. Jack Sweeney, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Central Florida, is asking for an internship at SapceX or Tesla to remove the @ElonJet account Billionaire Elon Musk has offered enterprising teenager Jack Sweeney (right) $5,000 to remove a Twitter bot tracking the movements his private plane, but the teen isn't interested Musk first contacted Sweeney last year with the request to remove the account and has been in sporadic contact with the teen, sharing his fears over security concerns How does the plane tracker work? Most of the planes that Sweeney tracks are on the LADD block list, which means their flight plans are not public. Sweeney instead uses data from the ADS-B transponders on the planes which show their location in real time. His bots are able to parse this information, using altitude and time received to estimate the likely location of takeoff. This information can then be cross referenced with a database of airports, and compared with anonymized FAA flight plans to come up with the plane's flight path. Advertisement Sweeney, who is studying information technology, created 15 Twitter bots tracking the private planes of tech billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos - but the account tracking Musk's jet is by far the most popular, with 88,000 followers. Although the information Sweeney relies on is all public, his program requires sophisticated knowledge to match transponder frequencies with separately available anonymous flight plans, according to Protocol, which first reported the saga. The popularity of the @ElonJet appears to have discomfited Musk, who last week contacted the teen to request that he remove the account to prevent 'crazy people' from tracking his movements, according to Protocol. 'I don't love the idea of being shot by a nutcase,' he told Sweeney in their DM conversation. Sweeney's sophisticated program relies on data from multiple public sources to track flight plans that are otherwise not easily available to the public. His system requires deep inside knowledge of the aviation system, which Sweeney gained from a father who works in the airline industry, as well as his lifelong hobby of tracking planes. When Sweeney explained to Musk how his system works, the billionaire seemed surprised that the information was publicly accessible, commenting, 'Air traffic control is so primitive.' The teen, star-struck at being contacted by one of his idols, was nevertheless not easily cowed, and bantered with Musk, jokingly offering to remove the account in exchange for a Tesla Model 3. Sweeney, who is studying information technology, created the tracker using a program that analyzes public information from several sources to identify planes Sweeney's sophisticated program relies on data from multiple public sources to track flight plans for Musk's jet (above), which are otherwise not easily available to the public After Musk asked Sweeney how much he made from the accounts, which the teen said was no more than $20 a month, Musk offered him $5,000 to remove the bot tracking his jet. 'Any chance to up that to $50k? It would be great support in college and would possibly allow me to get a car maybe even a Model 3,' responded Sweeney. Musk said he would think about it, but so far has not paid up. The most recent exchange of messages between the two was last Wednesday, when Sweeney said he'd prefer an internship over payment in exchange for deleting the account. 'I understand your view, but I hope that you would see my interest because I have been developing this since I was only in high school,' Sweeney told Musk. 'Options other than remuneration like an internship would make taking it down a lot easier,' he said. So far, Sweeney says, he has not heard back from Musk on his offer. Instead, Musk appears to be engaging in a game of cat and mouse in an attempt to trick Sweeney's tracker. After Musk's jet landed in Austin, Texas on Tuesday, it suddenly reappeared in Los Angeles on Wednesday afternoon. Musk appeared to be trolling Sweeney when his plane landed in Austin yesterday at the exact time that he was on an earnings conference call with thousands of investors Sweeney tweeted that Musk had used a 'blocking program' to try to prevent being tracked, adding: 'but already found the aircraft'. The @ElonJet account then tracked Musk's jet flying from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, where it landed at around 5.50pm ET. At that moment, however, Musk was on a conference call with Tesla investors, with thousands listening in live from around the world. 'We track the plane not who may or may not be onboard,' noted Sweeney on his tracker account. A spokesperson for Musk did not immediately respond to an inquiry from DailyMail.com regarding the security concerns he had over Sweeney's tracker account. Newly released surveillance video shows a prolific shoplifter arrested in downtown Seattle after he stole a 70-inch television from a Target store last month, which staff claim was his 22nd instance of theft in just three months. Career criminal John Ray Lomack, 55, who is believed to be homeless and has a rap sheet dating back to the '80s, was caught on camera eyeing the TV in the store, loading it into a shopping cart and walking out of the store without attempting to pay. He is said to have nabbed $6,000 worth of property from this one Target location since October; it's unknown what other items he has stolen. At least three security guards are seen trying to stop Lomack from pushing the TV outside, at one point preventing him from going through a revolving door - but they refrain from getting physical with him and he proceeds to walk out a different door. He then drags the TV down the street, where he is met by police who advise him to 'unhand the property.' Lomack declines, alleging he purchased the item - valued at nearly $750 and on sale for $600 - but was unable to provide a receipt. Police attempt to arrest him, but he resists and a 'physical struggle' ensues. He was eventually taken into custody and later charged with burglary. Judge Kuljinder Dhillon, who is notoriously lenient on homeless offenders, had released Lomack without bond in December on the burglary charge, despite the fact that a King County prosecutor argued for a $5,000 bail due to his 'warrant activity' on his 32 prior cases. He has also been convicted of at least 18 felony and misdemeanor charges since 1985. On Wednesday, Lomack was back in court in front of a different judge, Melinda Young, who released him without bail again. The accused criminal was reportedly 'medically unavailable' after being exposed to COVID-19 and will 'continue to quarantine until his quarantine period is done.' Young, like Dhillon, also has a history of 'going easy' on homeless offenders, which some argue are responsible for the city's criminal activity. 'Homeless people have completely taken over downtown Seattle,' 770 KTTH Radio host Jason Rantz said. Lomack's string of burglaries comes as cities across the nation - including New York City, San Francisco and Chicago - are experiencing large numbers of brazen thefts. Citizens are calling for reform as many city leaders and 'woke' prosecutors continue to take lenient stances on crime. Career criminal John Ray Lomack, who is believed to be homeless, was caught on camera stealing a 70-inch television from a Target store last month, which staff claim was his 22nd instance of theft in three months Police say Lomack loaded the television into a shopping cart and walked out of the retailer without attempting to pay Police attempt to arrest him, however, he resists and a 'physical struggle' ensues. He is eventually taken into custody and later charged with burglary John Ray Lomack's extensive criminal history that dates back to 1985 John Ray Lomack has a criminal history dating back to 1985 that includes felony and misdemeanor charges. The compilation below outlines his known charges. It does not necessarily mean he was found guilty on all of these offenses. Dec. 22, 2021: Burglary - related to the Target incident caught on video June 17, 2019: Conspiracy to deliver cocaine Dec. 14, 2018: False report July 3, 2018: False report Nov. 7, 2016: Possession of cocaine March 13, 2015: Possession of cocaine Feb. 11, 2015: Solicitation delivery of cocaine Jan. 30, 2015: Possession of cocaine Nov. 6, 2014: Theft 3 July 5, 2014: Conspiracy to possess cocaine Nov. 10, 2010: Possession of cocaine July 20, 2010: Solicitation to possess cocaine May 22, 2006: Escape 3rd Dec. 14, 2005: Assault 4th and Theft 3 Nov. 23, 2005: Possession of cocaine Oct. 1, 2005: Possession of cocaine June 3, 2004: Possession of cocaine March 1, 2003: Possession of cocaine Jan. 10, 2003: Possession of cocaine Nov. 4, 2002: Possession of cocaine Aug. 30, 1995: Delivery of cocaine Aug. 22, 1995: FTA citation March 12, 1994: Burn March 7, 1994: Attempted possession of cocaine Feb. 2, 1994: Attempted VUSCA Feb. 4, 1993: PWI cocaine Feb. 4, 1992: Drug loitering Aug. 27, 1990: Theft 3rd and Resisting arrest Aug. 25, 1990: Burglary 2 Jan. 18, 1989: Possession of stolen property 2 Jan. 17, 1989: DWLS Jan. 13, 1989: Assault 4th dv Nov. 28, 1988: Burglary 2nd Oct. 31, 1988: Obstructing a law enforcement officer June 18, 1988: DWLS and Refusal to give information to or cooperate with an officer Dec. 30, 1987: Attempted robbery 2nd Sept. 27, 1987: Attempted burglary Sept. 6, 1987: Possession of controlled substance paraphernalia and Possession of a hypodermic needle/syringe Jan. 22, 1985: Theft 2nd and Burglary 2nd Source: King County Superior Court Appendix B in Case #21-1-06853-0 Advertisement Security guards have their hands tied, as they are told to 'observe and report' and not get physical with criminals. Staff at the Seattle Target that Lomack regularly looted claims shoplifters strike at least once every 10 minutes. Meanwhile, retail employees and shoppers in cities nationwide believe that with lax policies, woke district attorneys who hesitate to punish offenders and soft-on-crime approaches, nothing is being done to stop the often broad-daylight attacks. Lomack has a criminal history dating back to 1985 that includes at least 18 felony and misdemeanor charges. He was charged with multiple instances of burglary, stolen property and attempted burglary, according to a court document outlining his criminal history that was compiled in December 2021. He was also arrested on numerous drug charges including possession of cocaine, conspiracy to possess cocaine, solicitation delivery of cocaine, drug loitering, possession of controlled substance paraphernalia and possession of a hypodermic needle/syringe. Furthermore, the 55-year-old has a history of resisting arrest, obstructing a law enforcement officer and refusal to cooperate with police. Seattle - which 2019 reported a population of more than 724,000 in 2019 - saw nearly 12,000 people experiencing homelessness, with an increase in the number of people living in cars and RVs, in January 2020. The King County Regional Homelessness Authority also reported that more 40,000 county residents experienced homelessness at some point in 2020. In the Target surveillance footage, captured on December 22, Lomack is seen observing the 70-inch television in the electronics department, looking around to make sure the coast is clear. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out an object which he uses to cut the plastic strap holding three LG TVs together. Lamock loads the TV into a shopping cart and proceeds to the store elevator as his pants fall towards his ankles. As he exits the elevator - pants now up - he is greeted by security guards. He ignores the officials and continues to exit the store, struggling to get the television through the doors. He then proceeds to push the large electronic down the street, where he is met by police and ultimately arrested for burglary. He was then released without bail by Judge Dhillon on December 23. The King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office still rush filed the case despite his release. Lomack was back in court Wednesday - appearing before Judge Melinda Young - in connection to the Target incident, and once again, released without bail. 'While I cant speak for Judge Young, COVID or the medial concerns noted in the court documents appear to have been a consideration,' spokesperson Casey McNerthney told DailyMail.com Thursday. He added: 'There are significant COVID concerns at the King County Jail.' Ahead of Lomack's most recent release, Gigi Huang, clinical supervisor at the Public Defender Association Equity Just Care Program, wrote a letter to the court arguing the convicted offender is a 'model resident.' 'It is our belief that John will continue to show progress at a 24/7 transitional housing program and work closely with our counselors on site,' she wrote. However, the King County Prosecutor argued otherwise, citing concern over Lomack's 'pattern of repeat behavior' and arguing 'he's both a danger to the community and unlikely to reappear if released'. 'The King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office is concerned the defendants pattern of repeat behavior and are concerned its going to continue,' McNerthney said. 'Were also concerned hes unlikely to return to court with his extensive criminal history that includes warrant activity on more than 30 cases. That is why we argued in this case that he should be held in jail, and have consistently argued those concerns in previous cases.' McNerthney noted that most shoplifting cases are referred to the city attorney's office, but when there is a 'extenuating circumstance like this case involving a prolific offender, we file a felony case.' Lomack was released without bail on Wednesday and last month. Judge Kuljinder Dhillon (left) presided over his December case regarding the stolen 70-inch TV. Judge Melinda Young (right) oversaw Wednesday's case. The charges against Lomack in that case are unknown Lomack struggled as he attempted to get the TV out of the store He then drags the TV down the street, where he is met by police who advise him to 'unhand the property'. Lomack declines, alleging he purchased the item - valued at nearly $750 - but was unable to provide a receipt Lomack was banned from the Target store during the holiday season after he had reportedly stolen $6,000 worth of property since October. He was issued a trespass order after being arrested for shoplifting at the retailer on October 18. Police body camera footage revealed that Lomack refused to accept the ban from the store. 'I don't want to talk to you bro,' he told the officer, accusing him of being racist. Officers warned him that he would face 'real consequences' if he returned to the store and attempted to steal. 'I didn't steal nothin', man!' Lomack responded. 'No man! I didn't burglarize nothin'. I'm not coming back to the store no more.' Lomacks release comes at a time when citizens argue judges, prosecutors and city leaders are taking too weak an approach at combatting crime. In fact, in King County, there is an apparent trend of leniency on offenders who are experiencing homelessness. For example, Judge Dhillon - who sentenced Lomack in December - reportedly lowered bail from $25,000 to $1,000 for a suspected accused of gouging a Seattle cop in the eye last year. Young, another one of Lomacks judges, also lowered bail from $20,000 to $5,000 for a suspect accused of assault and robbery. His bail was paid by the Northwest Community Bail Fund and a month later the offender was accused of stabbing someone to death. A homeless man accused of assault last April was released after two King County judges reduced his bond. After his release, he ended up fatally stabbing another man at the encampment where he was living. After the initial assault, Prosecutors had requested the man be jailed with a $50,000 bail, but King County District Court Judge Joe Campa reduced it to $20,000, KOMO reported. During the man's May arraignment for second-degree robbery and fourth-degree assault, Young reduced the bail to $5,000. The Northwest Community Bail Fund paid the bail and he was released. He was then arrested again in June for the fatal stabbing. Also last summer, King County Superior Court Judge Marcus Naylor reduced the bail of a homeless man accused of murdering a 14-year-old Jack Russell Terrier. The offender had attempted to rob the dog's 67-year-old owner. Despite prosecutors requesting the suspect be held on $25,000 bail, Naylor released him on his own personal recognizance, KTTH reported. The alleged dog killer then failed to appear in court to hear the animal cruelty charges. When asked about the apparent leniency by judges in King County, the prosecutor told DailyMail.com: 'Were not trying to attack or target judges. They make their bail decisions based on statewide Court Rule 3.2 and other considerations after hearing from prosecutors and defense attorneys.' 'The best we can do is make arguments that we believe are best. Judges are faced with difficult decisions, and there are also examples where District Court Judge Dhillon and Superior Court Judge Young have agreed with our arguments.' Overall crime in Seattle has decreased by about 0.6 percent in 2021, according to police crime statistics through November 30, with 43,016 reported incidents compared to 43,273 in 2020. The city saw a 15.4 percent decrease in burglaries, with 8,820 total incidents reported, as well as an 8.5 percent increase in robberies. Seattle reported 1,613 robberies last year, to date, compared to 1,487 in 2020. Seattle police also reported a 13.3 percent increase in aggravated assault. Murders and rape both declined by 25 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Overall crime in Seattle has decreased by about 0.6 percent in 2021, according to police crime statistics through November 30, with 43,016 reported incidents compared to 43,273 in 2020 Some residents attribute the crime to Seattle's homeless population, alleging those living in the newly city established encampments take advantage of the community. In October, Seattle committed $48 million to build 165 apartments to house some of it's 12,000 homeless people in October. Seattle City Council and then-Mayor Jenny Durkan signed a joint proposal that included $28.5 million from the city's COVID relief funds. 'We own two houses here,' Serena Wells, who lives in an area of 'prime real estate' with 'magnificent trees and a well manicured golf course,' told KOMO Tuesday. 'Its scary for myself and my neighbors and thats why we are leaving.' King County Councilman Reagan Dunn, echoing Wells' concerns, told the news outlet he has 'no doubt' the homeless encampment has brought criminal elements to the area. 'A lot of times its just a good excuse to get high, sit in the woods and not be bothered,' he said. 'What we need is a homeless encampment removal standard.' Crime reports show the King County Sheriff's Office has recovered more than a dozen stolen vehicles in Wells' neighborhood over the last couple months. However, the department reiterated that not all vehicle thefts were connected to a homeless offender. 'We want to be clear though,' sheriff's Sgt. Tim Meyer said. 'We cannot necessarily associate all of those stolen vehicles with some of our unsheltered neighbors living there.' Seattle's homeless population has grown form around 11,000 in 2020 to 12,000 in 2021, when the city built the new housing units. A similar picture is painted in New York City, which has the largest homeless population in the US, has seen an uptick in crime in recent weeks following the policies of liberal District Attorney Alvin Bragg. How brazen thieves operating with impunity are driving small businesses and retail chains to the wall, from New York City to Chicago and California Brazen thieves have been hitting the same Upper East Side Rite Aid for months, forcing it to close - and now, numerous small businesses in the upscale Manhattan neighborhood, where residents say they are on high alert because of rising crime, are worried they will soon suffer the same fate after a string of thefts. Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15. Shelves are already bare in the Rite Aid store, located at the corner of 80th Street and 2nd Avenue because it will shut its doors for good on February 15, the manager told DailyMail.com, a day after a thief was caught on video boldly sauntering out with shopping bags full of stolen goods Empty shelves are seen at Rite Aid on the Upper East Side just three weeks before they're set to close. The store's closure is just one of many in the city. On February 8, a Hell's Kitchen store which has been rife with robberies in recent months will close, and on the Upper West Side, another store which experienced daily thefts shut down in November Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33% in the week ending on January 23, the NYPD's most recent data, with 944 incidents as compared to the 709 incidents reported in same duration last year The Rite Aid's closure is just one of many in the city. On February 8, a Hell's Kitchen store which has been rife with robberies in recent months will close, and on the Upper West Side, another store which experienced daily thefts shut down in November. Just this week, there was news that a Rite Aid located at Clinton Joralemon Streets in the Brooklyn Heights is also set to close next month. The chain announced last year that it was shutting down about 63 stores across the US in the next few years, citing cost-cutting measures to save $25 million a year - but workers say that the thefts are part of the reason for the closures as inventory dwindles. Robbery in New York City has spiked by about 33 percent in the week ending on January 23, according to the NYPD's most recent data, with 944 incidents compared to 709 incidents reported during the same timeframe last year. Overall crime has gone up by nearly 39 percent, with 7,230 incidents this year as compared to last year's 5,211. Crime in the city has become so rampant that President Joe Biden will visit New York City next week to discuss combatting gun crime with Mayor Eric Adams after two police officers were executed by a gunman with a long rap sheet. California, especially in the San Francisco Bay area, has also been experiencing a series of smash-and-grab attacks that critics blame on justice reform initiatives and soft-on-crime approaches to misdemeanors. Nine men stormed a San Jose shopping center January 3 and swiped upward of $110,000 in jewelry. The thieves, whose faces were obscured by masks and hoodies, began smashing glass display cases at three stores as terrified employees ran for cover. They made off with gold necklaces and other valuables. The brazen burglary - which police characterized as a 'takeover robbery' - happened in Santa Clara County, where District Attorney Jeff Rosen is a 'nationally-recognized leader in criminal justice reform,' according to his online bio. A map shows the locations of some of the major smash-and-grab robberies that have recently taken place in California Pictured: A group of men use sledgehammers to try to smash open a display case containing jewelry during a January 3 mall heist in San Jose, California The thieves, whose faces were obscured by masks and hoodies, began smashing glass display cases at three stores as terrified employees ran for cover. They made off with gold necklaces and other valuables Overall violent crime in San Jose was up 11 percent in San Jose year-over-year through November, according to department data. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen is a bail reform proponent Robberies were up 5.6 percent as aggravated assaults spiked 11 percent and rapes rose 28 percent. Homicides were down 21 percent year-over-year. Overall violent crime in San Jose was up 11 percent in San Jose year-over-year through November, according to department data. Robberies were up 5.6 percent as aggravated assaults spiked 11 percent and rapes rose 28 percent. Homicides were down 21 percent year-over-year. The department reported a seven percent decrease in property crimes, with vehicle thefts down 8.3 percent and burglaries down 4.8 percent. Rosen, the county's top prosecutor, sponsored and successfully lobbied for California's Money Bail Reform Act, which changed the state's release pretrial release system from cash-based to risk-based. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen is a bail reform proponent He was one of three elected district attorneys to endorse a proposition to reform California's 'three strikes law,' which reduces jail sentences for inmates serving life sentences for 'non violent' third strike crimes. He also supports diversion programs for non-violent offenders, but a spokesman for his office said the perps responsible for last week's jewelry theft would not be eligible for the program because their crimes were felonies. In nearby San Francisco, vehicle break-ins have become so commonplace over the past year that some desperate car owners have resorted to leaving their trunks open to avoid having the windows smashed by thieves. The situation in California has became so dire throughout the year that it prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to denounce the looting trend in her hometown of San Francisco as 'absolutely outrageous.' Pelosi called out what she termed an 'attitude of lawlessness' in the country as mobs of robbers have targeted luxury boutiques and major retailers San Francisco as well as other parts of California and nation. Similarly, Chicago has been in the throes of a crime wave over the past couple of years, with robbery and theft rates up 51 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, according to the most recent data. A Burberry store on Chicago's famed Magnificent Mile that has been repeatedly targeted by brazen smash-and-grab robbers in recent weeks now appears to be guarded by two vehicles in the overnight hours. The purported makeshift barricade, made up of an SUV and a pickup truck blocking the door at 633 North Michigan Avenue after hours, first appeared earlier this week, as CBS Chicago reported. The same store has been ransacked by criminals three times since late November, including twice during the first week of 2022. The Burberry store on North Michigan Avenue in Chicago appears to have created a makeshift barricade made up of two vehicles parked in front of its entrance to thwart would-be thieves It comes after the luxury store has been repeatedly targeted by thieves, most recently on January 6 Robbery and theft rates are up 51 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, in Chicago The Second City's busy shopping district around the area of North Michigan Avenue has become the epicenter of smash-and-grab robberies, with roving bands of youths swarming luxury stores, grabbing merchandise and fleeing. Burberry is not the only business in Chicago to have been ransacked by organized smash-and-grab gangs. In November, more than a dozen people rushed into a Louis Vuitton store in the Chicago suburb of Oakbrook and stole $120,000 worth of items, which they were seen on surveillance video hauling away in garbage bags. In December, a pair of thieves entered Gold Coast Auto Gallery, smashed display cases and made out with a $1million worth of high-end watches. Days later, police said a 16-year-old girl robbed the Niketown and Zara stores on North Michigan Avenue and used a Taser on a security guard. She was later arrested. Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in September that large-scale store thefts orchestrated by organized crime rings are costing retailers across the US an estimated $45billion in annual losses. Raoul has formed the Organized Retail Crime Task Force comprised of public and private entities to tackle the problem head on. 'These brazen, violent crimes are committed by sophisticated criminal organizations that are involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking and other serious crimes,' Raoul said at the time. A 19-year-old man who is accused of murdering his 15-year-old sister at a busy seaside caravan site in Wales has, today, been charged with manslaughter. Amanda Selby died at Ty Mawr Holiday Park, Towyn, in North Wales, a seaside resort popular with families, last summer, on July 31. Her brother Matthew Selby, from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, was accused of murdering Amanda Selby on July 31 at a caravan and has denied the charge. During a short hearing at Mold Crown Court, Selby appeared via video link from Berwyn Prison in Wrexham, and prosecutors put an additional charge of manslaughter to him. In response to the additional charge, Selby replied: 'I can't understand.' Judge Rhys Rowlands said he should be produced in person at the same court on February 7 so he can formally enter a plea. Matthew Selby is accused of murdering his 15-year-old sister Amanda (pictured together) while they were on a family holiday at a caravan park in Towyn, North Wales, last summer Amanda Selby's provisional cause of death was outlined during a short inquest hearing at Ruthin, North Wales, in August last year. Coroner John Gittins said North Wales police had been alerted by the ambulance service after they were called to an unconscious girl who had stopped breathing. The schoolgirl, of Penrith Avenue, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, was declared dead by paramedics at 4.15pm and identified by her father Anthony Selby. Home Office pathologist Dr Brian Rodgers had given a provisional cause of death indicating it was due to asphyxia as a result of neck compression and external airway obstruction and crush asphyxia. The inquest, which will determine the circumstances surrounding her death, was adjourned after a brief hearing pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings. In a statement released by North Wales Police, Amanda's family said: 'Amanda was a loving daughter and granddaughter - she was caring, thoughtful, liked to help others and very much loved. She will be very sadly missed.' The schoolgirl (pictured), from Ashton-under-Lyne was declared dead by paramedics at 4.15pm and a provisional cause of death was given as asphyxia as a result of neck compression The fatal incident took place at Ty Mawr Holiday Park in Towyn (pictured) in July last year Her school, Droylsden Academy, posted a message on its website which said: 'Our school is saddened to have received the tragic news that one of our students, Amanda Selby in Year 10, has lost her life whilst on holiday with her family in Wales. 'Our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with Amanda's family at what is an incredibly difficult time. Our school family is devastated by this awful news. Amanda was a lovely student and she will be sorely missed by students and staff. 'Clearly, many members of our school community will be affected by this loss and we will be offering support to those who need it in the weeks and months ahead.' It added: 'We will also plan a tribute when the time is right so that we can remember all that Amanda brought to our school.' A provisional trial date of February 28 was set when Selby appeared in court by video link from HMP Berwyn for a 15-minute hearing last year. Judge Rhys Rowlands said the trial was expected to last five to seven days. An order made under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 to ban the naming of the victim was lifted by the judge. A Los Angeles party promoter and producer suspected of playing a role in the deaths of a married model and her friend is asking a judge to lower his $3.4million bail stemming from unrelated rape charges spanning a decade. David Pearce, 37, was arrested last month in connection with the drug overdose deaths of Christy Giles, 24, and her Mexican architect friend, Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26, but he has yet to be charged with any offense in that case. The women were last seen alive in the company of the film producer during a warehouse party in November. Giles' lifeless body was left outside a hospital on November 13, while Cabrales-Arzola was found clinging to life at another hospital, where she died after two weeks in a coma. A lawyer representing accused rapist David Pearce, 37 (left), is seeking to have his $3.4million bail reduced. Pearce was arrested in December in connection with the overdose deaths of Christy Giles, 24, Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26 (right), but he has not been charged in that case Pearce, an event promoter, appears in LA Superior Court on December 23 for his arraignment on rape and sexual assault charges stemming from four incidents between 2010 and 2020 Following Pearce's arrest in mid-December, he was separately charged with sexually assaulting four women from 2010 to 2020, and his bail was set at $3.4million. Pearce currently faces two counts of forcible rape, one count of raping an unconscious or asleep person, and one count of sexual penetration with a foreign object related to incidents that allegedly took place in 2010, 2019, February 2020 and October 2020. Earlier this week, Pearce's defense attorney, Jacob Gluckman, filed a motion seeking to reduce his bail amount and have him released from jail with a GPS ankle monitor, reported the New York Post. The lawyer stressed that Pearce has not been charged with causing Giles and Cabrales-Arzola's deaths, and complained that prosecutors have 'dusted off old' sexual assault allegations as a pretext to keep him locked up while they gathered evidence in the deaths of the two women. Pearce is seen on November 13 with Cabrales-Arzola and Mike Ansbach, who was booked on accessory to manslaughter. Ansbach has been released on a $100,000 bond Giles' body was left outside one hospital, while Cabrales-Arzola was found alive outside another, where she died after two weeks in a coma Gluckman conceded that prosecutors were well within their rights to do that, but he argued that his client's bail should be proportionate to the charges he is currently facing 'and not issues that, at this point, are pure speculation and media fodder.' Gluckman sought to discredit the sexual assault charges against Pearce, saying that the earlier accusations were not reported until years later, while the later ones from 2020 have been rejected by the DA's office due to a lack of evidence. According to the defense lawyer, one of Pearce's accusers said in a recent police interview that her recollection of the alleged assault were 'hazy,' while another admitted that she had consensual sex with the party promoter. The motion goes on to claim that Pearce, being a freelance event planner, cannot afford to pay the bail, and also that his unspecified pre-existing medical conditions make him vulnerable to contract COVID in jail. Gluckman also said that his client has been denied access to medication used to treat his multiple mental health disorders for a month. Pearce is due back in court for a bail hearing on Monday. Pearce, pictured left with Paris Hilton, is accused of sexually assault and raping four women in 2010, 2019 and February and October 2020. Pearce's attorney argued that prosecutors have 'dusted off old' sexual assault allegations to keep him jailed Meanwhile, Giles' husband, photographer Jan Ciliers, expressed frustration that no one has been held accountable for the deaths of his wife and her friend, but he took comfort in knowing that Pearce 'isnt out in the streets and is still locked up where he cant hurt anybody else.' Giles and Cabrales-Arzola were last seen at an apartment in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of LA, having left the warehouse party with Pearce in the early hours of November 13. Cilliers - who was in San Francisco at the time - said he suspects the women were forced to take drugs, because neither would willingly take heroin, found in Cabrales-Arzola's system. Their bodies were dumped outside Southern California Hospital in Culver City and Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital. Giles was already dead when she was found outside the hospital, having been dumped from a car driven by a masked man. Cabrales-Arzola was in critical condition and her family took her off life support after two weeks - a day before her 27th birthday. Jan Cilliers, Giles' husband (pictured together) has expressed frustration that no one has been held accountable for her death 'It is believed that both women were given drugs and overdosed at a residence in the 8600 block of Olympic Boulevard in the city of Los Angeles,' police said in a statement. 'Three suspects were identified and arrested with the assistance of the LAPD-FBI Fugitive Task Force and Metropolitan Division. Prosecutors have asked for further investigation involving the two other men, Michael Ansbach, 47, and Brandt Osborn, 42, whom police said were each booked on suspicion of being an accessory to manslaughter. Osborn, a New York-born actor, was arrested on the set of NCIS: Los Angeles. Anspach was released on $100,000 bond, while Osborn was freed without bond, his arrest converted to a detention. The Government's legal bid to gag the BBC over a story about a spy working overseas will be heard in public - a judge ruled today. Exceptions will be made under the Justice and Security Act which may see the hearing that goes into detail about the particular aspects of espionage and identifying details will go into private. Attorney General Suella Braverman has argued the High Court must stop the upcoming news broadcast, claiming it presents a 'risk to people's lives'. The BBC say the segment is 'overwhelmingly in the public interest' and 'fully in line with its editorial standards'. Attorney General Suella Braverman (pictured) is set to ask the High Court to gag the story The BBC wants to go ahead with the segment, claiming the story is 'overwhelmingly in the public interest' and 'fully in line' with its editorial standards (file photo) The battle calls back to the Spycatcher book affair during the Margaret Thatcher years - which saw the Government attempt to prevent newspapers from publishing allegations made in a tell-all novel by former MI5 agent Peter Wright. They eventually lost their bid for an injunction in 1988. But today's decision was made under a mostly-private directions hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice for fear of 'risking national security'. The saga is reminiscent of the Spycatcher book affair from the Margaret Thatcher years - which saw the Government attempt to prevent newspapers from publishing allegations made in a tell-all novel by former MI5 agent Peter Wright (pictured). They eventually lost their bid for an injunction in 1988. How the British Government failed to gag Spycatcher, the explosive memoirs of a MI5 agent which claimed a former boss of the secret service was actually a Soviet mole The Conservative Government under Margaret Thatcher attempted to stop newspapers from publishing allegations from a tell-all novel by former MI5 agent Peter Wright. They first launched a legal battle in 1985, when they attempted to stop the book - entitled Spycatcher - from being published in Australia. But it lost the action and by late 1987 the book had gone global and was the number one bestseller in the US after 400,000 copies flew off the shelves. And while the Government had succeeded in placing a temporary injunction on the book's details being published in Britain, its publication around the world made the gagging order in the UK practically worthless. It was therefore ruled that the media could publish extracts from the memoirs, given that any damage to national security had already been done by its publication abroad. Mr Wright was branded a 'traitor' by some for disclosing secrets about how MI5 operated. The controversial book accused the secret service of operating beyond the law - while intelligence bosses accused the former agent of making up stories. The MI5 website still reads today: 'An internal MI5 assessment found convincing evidence of 'dishonesty on the part of Wright, who did not scruple to invent evidence where none existed' to support the conspiracy theories in his memoirs.' The book sensationally claimed Prime Minister Harold Wilson was the target of an MI5 conspiracy and that the former boss of MI5, Roger Hollis, was a mole for Soviet Russia in the 1960s. Mr Wright died a millionaire, aged 78, in April 1995. Advertisement Oliver Sanders QC, for the Attorney General, said: 'I argue that an injunction is necessary based on three points, that publicity would defeat the object of the hearing, it relates to national security, and it is about confidential information and publicity would damage that confidentiality. 'More generally in our submission is the difficulty of proceeding in open court is that it makes it almost impossible to discuss the case. 'There is a risk given the national security of a slip up with all the media present and so the matter should be dealt with in private.' He added: 'The BBC say the public interest justifies its broadcast.' Adam Wolanski QC, for the BBC, said: 'What the BBC is arguing is a serious departure from the open justice principle. 'The court can only depart from that principle if strict necessity is shown..' Before the court closed, Mr Justice Chamberlain said: 'I am satisfied that I should direct that the hearing proceed in private..at this stage. 'In light of Mr Sanders and his inability to answer questions in advance of this hearing, I could not reach a decision without reaching an understanding of submissions that he says would damage national security. 'This directions hearing will proceed in private for the time being.' Opening the court again, Mr Justice Chamberlain, he said: 'The trial will take place in public unless there is a very real reason why not. 'Some exceptions may be made under the Security and Justice Act.' The trial date will take place over two days, starting on March 1. It has been 15 years since the Government attempted to gag the BBC, after Labour's Lord Goldsmith was granted an injunction over cash-for-honours allegations back in 2007. That particular claim was successful because it proved that a broadcast of confidential information would have harmed a Metropolitan Police inquiry. The latest injunction bid comes just days after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced she was was freezing the licence fee for the next two years in the latest souring of relations between the Government and the BBC. The Liverpudlian MP also threatened to stop the vital fee altogether in a social media post - leaving the broadcaster with a potential funding black hole running into the billions. A 30-year-old dog walker who advocates for the 'anti-work movement' went viral following her car-crash interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters after she called laziness a 'virtue' and said she aspired to move on from dog walking to teaching philosophy. Doreen Ford, of Boston, who serves as a moderator for the r/Anti-Work subreddit message board, fumbled to explain the group's ideology as Watters mocked the movement and its 1.7 million followers. 'It sounds like maybe people are just being lazy,' Watters says during the Tuesday interview. 'Are you encouraging people to be lazy?' To which Ford responded: 'I think laziness is a virtue in a society where people constantly want you to be productive 24/7, and it's good to have rest. 'That doesn't mean you should be resting all the time or not putting effort into the things that you care about.' The subreddit gained followers in 2020 when the pandemic began but erupted in popularity in 2021 as users posted text and e-mail screenshots of them quitting their jobs to pursue their passions. It also gained backlash as it was blamed for fueling the Great Resignation, when roughly 33 million Americans quit their job since the spring of 2021. Aside from dog walking and moderating on Reddit, Ford, who quit a retail job five years ago, also runs the AbolishWork.com website, where she spreads the philosophy of Bob Black, an American anarchist who advocated for the abolition of work. She also has a Patreon page where she hopes to get enough followers to run an 'anti-work podcast.' Scroll down for video Doreen Ford, 30, a dog walker from Boston who serves as a moderator for the r/Anti-Work subreddit, went on Fox and fumbled to explain the group's ideology to host Jesse Watters Ford, pictured, called laziness a virtue and said she aspired to teach philosophy, prompting Watters to laugh. The r/Anti-Work subreddit had erupted in popularity in 2020 as users posted text and e-mail screenshots of them quitting their jobs to pursue their passions Watters asked Ford on Tuesday what a solid work day would look like in an 'ideal society,' with the dog walker using her own job as an example. 'I have a 20-25 hour work week, which I think is fairly good,' she says. Watters than asks, 'Do you aspire to do more than dog walking? Or is this your peak?' Ford responds: 'If I had to do this for the rest of my life I wouldn't be super complaining. Dogs are wonderful animals, but I would love to teach.' Watters chuckles at the response and laughs even more when Ford says she would want to teach philosophy and critical thinking. 'I would love to take your class, Doreen. I would just be taking notes the whole time,' Watters says. 'I think this might not be the greatest idea, but who am I to judge? It's a free country... but we got to pay the bills,' he adds, ending the interview. Ford's train wreck interview stirred up the r/Anti-Work subreddit and adjacent Reddit boards that criticized Ford for failing to explain the group's ideals and coming ill-prepared to an interview with Fox News. The r/Anti-Work subreddit gained popularity in 2020 and had a massive boom the following year during the Great Resignation. A recent study commissioned by the software and business strategy firm Wisetail found that 34 percent of Americans had quit their job in the past two years, with six in 10 millennials and Gen Xers believing that leaving their jobs was the best decision they've made. The most common reason they quit was because they found new jobs with better pay, working conditions and better work-life balance, according to the study, which surveyed 2,000 Americans. The biggest industries impacted by the Great Resignation included the health care industry, which saw 48 percent of its workforce quit; real estate, which saw 46 percent leave, and hospitality, which lost 39 percent of its workforce. A recent study found that 34 percent of Americans had quit their job in the past two years, with six in 10 millennials and Gen Xers believing that leaving their jobs was the best decision they've made Ford had previously told the New York Post that the r/Anti-Work subreddit's popularity and the Great Resignation were fueled by the effects of the pandemic and a disillusionment with capitalism. 'Everyone has hit their limit with COVID, overwork, their mortgages, rent payments and so many things with capitalism. There's nothing wrong with wanting to take a break from that and do less of it,' Ford told the Post. The r/Anti-Work subreddit has been going online and offline ever since the interview, and the r/Workreform community, which advocates for better labor practices, has seen an uptick of 150,000 followers and comments on the interview. One Reddit user in the community with the handle SeaOfTroubles wrote, 'It's so embarrassing. I had hope that things would change, but she just erased that in a span of hours.' Another user with the name DarkKerrigor wrote, 'Hopefully this ends up being a good thing. The name of 'antiwork' was itself damaging. Calling it the 'work reform' movement can gain a lot more traction in the end!' Another user with the name The EliteBagel said they couldn't bring themselves to watch the Fox interview, writing: I've read a lot of secondhand accounts of the interview but I cannot bring myself to watch it. Your description reaffirms that not watching it will be best for my blood pressure!' Many on r/Anti-Work post about overworking and unfair treatment of minimum wage workers Another user with the name Minniemum wrote, 'I believed too. I don't have much to contribute to the movement but my voice, and I used it. 'I told my friends and family, and made good talking points they could relate to in order to lead them towards. Now I'm just mortified and hoping they completely tuned me out.' A user with the handle SamSepiol also lamented the interview and its impact, writing, 'That interview was so awful and fulfilled so many stereotypes that it's hard not to wonder if it was deliberate sabotage.' Another reddit user with the handle Puffy_Ghost also criticized Ford's performance. 'They fell right into the trap Fox News wanted them to. The only acceptable things go do there would be to decline the interview, or hire a media professional to represent you,' they wrote. 'If you agree to an interview representing nearly 2 million people you better look and act like you know what you're doing.' Many migrated from the r/Anti-Work to r/Workreform after the first board went offline to discuss the Fox interview and its effects on the movement The moderators of the r/Workreform, who say they believe people should not be 'worked to death by their employers,' said that the movement could go on despite Ford's interview. 'The response we got from the [antiwork] situation is unrivaled,' the moderators wrote in a message to the forum. 'This is a clear message that no matter the name, this movement is alive, this movement is needed, and this movement will not die.' The family of a Jamaican immigrant who was killed while at a white co-worker's Pennsylvania cabin has hired a renowned medical expert who says it appears he was 'hunted down.' Peter Bernardo Spencer, 29, of Pittsburgh, was shot nine times - with two of the bullet wounds to his buttocks and one through the neck - after being the only black man invited on a hunting trip with four other people to rural Rockland Township on December 12. As family continues to wait for answers from local police, they have hired a private investigator and medical examiner to look into the case. 'There are nine shots fired beyond 24 inches of distance, or what we call long-distance shots,' said Dr. Cyril Wecht, who has investigating some of the country's highest-profile deaths, including President John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley and JonBenet Ramsey. 'It's like looking at someone who got hunted down, which is absolutely horrifying.' Peter Bernardo Spencer, 29, was shot in the back several times while being the only black man on a camping trip in Pennsylvania with several white co-workers in December The 25-year-old white man who is suspected of killing Spencer has confessed to the shooting but claimed self-defense, according to the Spencer family The family hired private medical examiner Dr. Cyril Wecht who has claimed that Spencer was 'hunted down' (Pictured: Private medical examiner Dr. Cyril Wecht) Wecht has not been allowed to inspect the body or been given a copy of the coroner's report, but has studied pictures of Spencer's wounds provided by the embalmer. The medical expert explained that he needs the coroner's report to complete his work because the funeral home put a surgical instrument called trocar into Spencer's injuries, which 'destroyed' the possibility of further investigations of the gunshot wounds. The 25-year-old co-worker who invited Spencer reportedly admitted to police that he killed him in self-defense and was released by Vernango County District Attorney Shawn White. White has refused to identify the shooter or the other three people until his investigation is complete. Police reported that all four men were questioned and released after being questioned by the DA's office. 'My initial thought is that it's absurd to talk about self-defense with nine gunshot wounds,' Wecht told The Philadelphia Inquirer. The family has called on the state's attorney general and federal officials to take over the investigation into Spencer's killing, which they claim was racially motivated. Civil rights attorney Paul Jubas, who is representing the family, has claimed that they are being 'stonewalled' by the authorities investigating the case. 'We've only received unacceptable answers that don't make any sense,' Jubas said. 'And they're now stonewalling us. They are preventing us from having our medical examiner, the best medical examiner in the country, do his work. There is no reason for that.' 'So even something as simple as sharing their autopsy photos with our medical examiner even something as small as that they are refusing to cooperate with,' he claimed. King dropped her fiancee off at the cabin around 2pm and grew concerned when he stopped responded to calls and text from her and his mother (Pictured: Peter Spencer and Carmela King share a loving embrace) Spencer's mother, Icilda Spencer-Hunter, is calling for justice as she awaits answers Tehilah Spencer claimed that his older brother 'was slaughtered and killed in.... MODERN DAY LYNCHING!' (Pictured: Tehilah Spencer, left, and Icilda Spencer-Hunter, right, beg for answers in the death of their loved one) The family believes that there could be up to seven shots in Spencer's back and buttocks area, one to his chest, and one to the mouth/neck but are unable to confirm until Wecht receives the photos from the coroner. Spencer's pregnant fiancee, Carmela King, dropped him off at the cabin around 2pm last month and planned to pick him up a few hours later until she received a text shortly after driving away telling her that he planned to stay the night, the family's attorney told DailyMail.com. She never got a response to the last text message she sent to him: 'Okay baby be safe I love you. Call me if you need me to come tonight. Carmela grew concerned and recruited Spencer's mother, Icilda Spencer-Hunter, in her efforts to attempt to contact him throughout the night. She even attempted to get in touch with her husband's co-worker and now-suspect through social media, the family attorney said. Police responded to the fatal shooting around 2:30am when they found Spencer's body splayed out in the front yard. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Having not yet been informed of Spencer's death, King drove up the secluded driveway to see her fiancee's dead body in the grass surrounded by police, Jubas said. She remembers seeing Spencer's body laying on its left side with his head pointed in the direction away from the residence appearing as if he was headed toward roadway leaving the cabin when he was shot, the attorney told DailyMail.com. At the same moment, she received a call from Spencer's mother who had just been notified of his death, Jubas explained. 'We have been told that there was an altercation and the people who shot him were in fear for their lives, but this makes no sense as he was with four other white men when he was shot and killed,' Spencer-Hunter told The Gleaner, a Jamaican daily newspaper. Police responded to the scene at the Rockland Township residence (pictured) on December 12, when they found Spencer's dead body in the front yard Spencer was reportedly shot nine times with most of his gunshot wounds in his back and once in his neck Spencer, who immigrated to America in 2013, worked in construction and contracting and was invited to the cabin by a former colleague. He was the only black man on the camping trip. 'This was something they would do from time to time. They would go out to the woods together and shoot guns ... drink beer, have a good time,' Jubas said. But something went wrong this time. King, expressed her anger online. 'He was the only black individual at the camp site and is being portrayed as the aggressor,' King wrote on a GoFundMe account. She is expecting the couple's first child in June. 'He was a good man and his life mattered,' King told the Washington Post. 'He deserved to be here to raise his child and to be the family man, the husband, and the hard-working man he desired to be.' Tehilah, the brother of the deceased, claimed that his sibling 'was slaughtered and killed in.... MODERN DAY LYNCHING!' on another GoFundMe account. The grieving brother said Spencer was 'MURDERED IN COLD BLOOD...in a backwater rural town where he was completely vulnerable and cut off from everything and everyone.' Spencer was killed in one of the state's most rural areas, with just 1.1% of the population being black, according to US Census Bureau data. 'I just want to know why. That's really all I want to find out at this point,' the brother told WPXI. While Spencer's family and activists call for answers, investigators say they are awaiting ballistics data and toxicology and laboratory test results, which are expected to be completed and submitted within four to six weeks. The State Police's Heritage Affairs team, which responds to hate or bias-related crimes, is involved in the investigation, but Spencer's death is not being investigated as a hate crime. Firearms, ballistic evidence and controlled substances were recovered from the scene of the deadly crime. 'It appears to be crime scene that had felonies all over it, so the idea that police came upon a crime scene with a dead body and four people in secluded area with guns, drugs and alcohol and no one was arrested is insane,' Jubas told DailyMail.com. DA White has urged the family to allow his office to conduct a proper investigation. 'This office also takes seriously any possibility that a crime may be fueled by hatred toward a person because of their race, color, religion, or national origin. Rest assured, the Venango County District Attorney's Office will take every measure to ensure that justice is sought wherever it may be found,' he said in a statement. The Spencer family attorney has accused local authorities of 'stonewalling' them as they beg for answers (Pictured: District Attorney of Venango County Shawn White) Civil rights attorney Paul Jubas, who is representing the family, has claimed that the authorities are 'refusing to cooperate with' them 'Upon receipts of these reports, the district attorney will review all available information prior to making a charging decision,' the DA's office said. The family, activists and religious leaders have pointed to what they believe is a racist double-standard. 'I would love to see a district attorney who finds a crime scene with a house full of black people, a white guy in the yard with nine bullet holes, and then detains them and lets them all go,' Jubas said. 'I would love to see what the response is to that. That district attorney would be instantly out of office the next day. White America would not stand for that.' Rev. Dale Snyder, a pastor at Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh has lead his congregation in calling for transparency in the investigation into Spencer's death. He explained that rural areas such as Venango County have a history of being known as sundown towns - communities which have purposely remained all-white and use threats of violence to scare minorities from appearing in public after dark. Spencer immigrated to America from Jamaica in 2013 and worked in construction and contracting out of Pittsburgh, where he lived with his family The family has made several demands including calling on the FBI to get involved in the case Spencer's pregnant fiancee Carmela King is expecting the couple's first child in June 'The fact is, the historical context of all of this is what they would do during Jim Crow to bring blacks out to make them their prey,' Snyder told the Washington Post. 'So we're trying to not come to any conclusions, but it's very hard when this happened back in December.' As the family continues to wait for answers, Spencer's mother just wants justice for her son. 'Do your work,' Spencer-Hunter urged authorities. 'If I don't get justice from man, then I know my God will certainly plea justice for me for my son.' 'I'm just trying to walk the walk and go through how the system works,' she said. 'He has to get justice. He has to get justice.' Spencer is remembered as a giving and loving man who fed the homeless, played basketball with neighborhood kids, worked in hopes to help his mother open her dream restaurant and never hung up the phone without saying, 'I love you.' A Tennessee school board has voted unanimously to remove a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about Holocaust survivors from its eighth-grade curriculum, citing a drawing of a nude woman, eight swear words and its 'not wise or healthy' content. The McMinn County Board of Education voted 10-0 to remove 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman from the curriculum on January 10, despite educators arguing that the graphic novel is an 'anchor text' in eighth-grade English language arts instruction and the centerpiece of a months-long study of the Holocaust. Published in 1991, Maus is inspired by the story of Spiegelman's parents, Vladek and Anja, who survived the Holocaust after being shipped to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The graphic novel depicts Nazis as cats and Jewish people as mice. The board heard from instructional supervisors and other school officials who defended the use of the book in class but were unanimously overruled. 'I went to school here 13 years. I learned math, English, reading and history. I never had a book with a naked picture in it, never had one with foul language. ... So, this idea that we have to have this kind of material in the class in order to teach history, I don't buy it,' said board member Mike Cochran. Spiegelman, 73, called the ban 'Orwellian' in an interview with CNBC, saying that he learned about it on Wednesday, a day before Holocaust Remembrance Day. Experts say the book has been taught at schools for nearly two decades. The McMinn County school board in Tennessee voted 10-0 to remove 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman from the eighth grade curriculum over eight swear words and nudity The graphic novel by Art Spiegelman (above) is inspired by the story of Art's parents Art's father, Vladek Spiegelman (above), survived the Auschwitz concentration camp The Holocaust Museum has defended Maus as playing a 'vital role' in educating children about the genocide. Their tweet came on Wednesday, the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day The Holocaust Museum has defended the book and said it plays a 'vital role' in teaching about the World War II-era genocide. The McMinn Board of Education declined to comment on the ban or how long the book has been taught at its schools, routing DailyMail.com to the board members who banned it. Board members' objections revolved around a drawing of a nude woman and eight swear words that appear throughout the 296-page book, according to minutes from the meeting. Lee Parkison, the board's director of schools, said he tried to find a workaround to the profanity. 'I consulted with our attorney, Mr. Scott Bennett. After consulting with him, we decided the best way to fix or handle the language in this book was to redact it. Considering copyright, we decided to redact it to get rid of the eight curse words and the picture of the woman that was objected to,' Parkinson said. But Bennett told him there were copyright issues associated with censoring swear words from an artistic work. Board member Tony Allman said the book was unacceptable with or without the redacted portions. 'Being in the schools, educators and stuff, we don't need to enable or somewhat promote this stuff. It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids. Why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff? It is not wise or healthy,' Instructional supervisor Julie Goodin responded: 'I can talk of the history, I was a history teacher, and there is nothing pretty about the Holocaust, and for me this was a great way to depict a horrific time in history. 'Mr. Spiegelman did his very best to depict his mother passing away and we are almost 80 years away. It's hard for this generation, these kids don't even know 9/11, they were not even born. For me this was his way to convey the message.' Board member Tony Allman (left) suggested the book should at least be censored. 'Why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy,' he said The 296-page book details the suicide of the author's mother, who also survived Auschwitz. It depicts Nazis as cats and Jewish people as mice Melasawn Knight, also an instructional supervisor, concurred. 'People did hang from trees, people did commit suicide and people were killed, over six million were murdered,' she said. Allman was not swayed by the argument. 'I am not denying it was horrible, brutal, and cruel. It's like when you're watching TV and a cuss word or nude scene comes on it would be the same movie without it. Well, this would be the same book without it,' Allman said. Cochran added: 'So, my problem is, it looks like the entire curriculum is developed to normalize sexuality, normalize nudity and normalize vulgar language. If I was trying to indoctrinate somebody's kids, this is how I would do it.' McMinn County is a heavily conservative area in southeastern Tennessee. In the 2020 election, nearly 80 percent of votes went to Donald Trump. Maus uses a frame-tale timeline in which Art Spiegelman, in New York City in 1978, interviews his father Vladek about his experiences during the Holocaust. 'People did hang from trees, people did commit suicide and people were killed, over six million were murdered,' said one instructional supervisor while defending the use of the book Art's mother Anja had also lived through the Nazi regime, but she killed herself when Spiegelman was 20, a story that is touched on in the book. The novel won the Pulitzer in 1992 and has since been lauded for helping to usher in a new era of graphic novels, in which they were seen as a respectable form of adult media. 'Maus is used in schools all across the US, as I regularly have students tell me they read it before arriving at college,' said Dr. Gregory Spinner, a professor of religion at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. Spinner's research focuses partly on Jewish studies and draws from graphic novels. 'It's been this way for well over a decade, probably closer to two decades,' he said. 'I can not hazard a guess as to why Maus would be banned, except to observe that if one wants to teach about the Holocaust without the subject being upsetting, then one does not actually want to teach about the Holocaust,' Spinner told DailyMail.com. Eliyana Adler, a professor of history and Jewish studies at Pennsylvania State University, says Maus is taught in 'many college courses' as well. Author Neil Gaiman compared the school board members to Nazis in a tweet on Wednesday 'I'm kind of baffled by this,' Spiegelman told CNBC after learning of the ban. 'It's leaving me with my jaw open, like, "What?"' The decision drew outcry from British author Neil Gaiman, who compared the school board members to Nazis in a tweet on Wednesday. 'There's only one kind of people who would vote to ban Maus, whatever they are calling themselves these days,' Gaiman said. The Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, tweeted about the importance of the book on Wednesday, as news of the Tennessee school board's decision traveled far beyond rural McMinn County. 'Maus has played a vital role in educating about the Holocaust through sharing detailed and personal experiences of victims and survivors,' the museum said. 'Teaching about the Holocaust using books like Maus can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today.' The ban comes as parents and school boards across the country debate how to teach the history of racism at schools, if at all. Last year, the Republican-controlled Tennessee General Assembly voted to withhold funding from schools that teach 'critical race theory,' effectively banning it, according to the Tennessean. The mother of six-year-old Rikki Neave said she was telling the 'truth and nothing but the truth' when denying his murder more than 25 years ago. Rikki was strangled and posed naked in woods near his Peterborough home in November 1994. Before he went missing, he lived in Redmile Walk, the Welland Estate, Peterborough with his mother, his three-year-old sister Rochelle and baby sister Sheradyn. His mother Ruth Neave was cleared of his murder the next year but convicted of child cruelty, the Old Bailey was told. The killing remained unsolved for the next 20 years until a cold case review allegedly pointed to James Watson, who, jurors have been told, was seen with Rikki on the day of his disappearance. Watson's DNA was found on Rikki's clothes, which were found discarded in a wheelie bin, the court has heard. On Thursday, Ms Neave was called to give evidence in Watson's murder trial. She was questioned about her murder trial and whether she told police the truth. Ms Neave said: 'It was all truth. I had no reason to lie. What is the reason to lie about your own child's death?' Pictured: Rikki Neave, six, was found dead five minutes away from his house in Peterborough with his school uniform dumped in a nearby bin on the morning of November 29, 1994 His mother Ruth Neave (with husband Gary Rogers) was cleared of his murder the next year but convicted of child cruelty, the Old Bailey was told James Watson, 40, is on trial for the murder of six-year-old Rikki at the Old Bailey in London Prosecutor John Price QC asked about the phone call Ms Neave made to police to report Rikki missing: 'Did you do so truthfully to the best of your knowledge and belief at the time?' Ms Neave replied: 'Yes, I did.' Mr Price: 'Did you have any reason to do so other than truthfully to the best of your knowledge?' 'I had no reason not to tell the truth,' she replied. After Rikki's body was found Ms Neave spoke to the police. The prosecutor again asked her if she told police the truth. 'It was all truth,' Ms Neave said. 'I had no reason to lie. What is the reason to lie about your own child's death?' Jurors were shown pictures of the inside of the home, including the bedroom Rikki had shared with his older sister before she went in to care. Ms Neave told jurors that, by the time she was arrested on suspicion of Rikki's murder in 1995, her other children were also in care. He said: 'When you were asked if you had murdered your son, what answer did you give?' Ms Neave said: 'No, I did not.' Mr Price asked: 'Was that the truth?' Ms Neave replied: 'Positively the truth and nothing but the truth.' She went on to say she was jailed for seven years and released in 2000 after being convicted of child cruelty. She told jurors: 'I pleaded guilty because I was bullied in to it and I did not know what I was pleading guilty to.' Artists impression of James Watson on trial at the Old Bailey, London, for the murder of Rikki Neave. Pictured is Rikki Neave's mother on video link and prosecutor John Price QC Handout photo taken in 1995 and issued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of Rikki Neavae's bedroom at his home in Peterbrough The living room at the home of Rikki Neave at 209 Redmile Walk, Peterbrough, which has been shown to his mother Ruth Neave during the Old Bailey trial of James Watson The landing at the home Rikki shared with his mother, his three-year-old sister Rochelle and baby sister Sheradyn f Rikki Neavae's bedroom at his home at 209 Redmile Walk, Peterbrough, which has been shown to his mother Ruth Neave Ms Neave described calling 999 to report Rikki missing when he failed to return home from school on November 28 1994. She said it was 12.03pm the next day when a police constable informed her Rikki's body had been found. Mr Price went on to show her images of the inside of Redmile Walk. When asked about a photo of Rochelle's bedroom, Ms Neave said: 'But this is about Rikki's murder. Rochelle's room has nothing to do with it.' Asked next about a photo of Rikki's bedroom-bunk beds stripped bare and wardrobe empty of clothes-she said: 'It has been staged after Rikki's death thank you very much.' Yesterday, the court heard that the mother was heard by a neighbour screaming at him: 'I will f***ing kill you' Jurors heard a statement from a neighbour of the Neave family, Alan Stacey, who described one occasion when he heard Ms Neave shouting 'I will f***ing kill you' at her son. Mr Stacey explained that his living room window afforded him a view of the footpath and houses in the area. He spoke of an occasion where he witnessed a confrontation between Ms Neave and her son and said: 'My attention had been drawn to a young woman walking along the footpath. 'I heard a female voice shouting and swearing. I looked out and saw a female chasing a little boy. 'She was screaming 'f***ing come back here you little b*****d I will f***ing kill you'' and he was shouting back ''no!''.' Mr Stacey made clear that he did not know either of them at the time, but has since realised that he saw Ruth and Rikki Neave. Ms Neave was wrongly accused of her son's murder after a picture of Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man was found at the family home, a court previously heard. Six-year-old Rikki's naked body was posed in a star shape in woods in Peterborough after he was strangled in November 1994. Police investigating his murder found a book containing a picture of the famous drawing of Vitruvian Man at the Peterborough home of his mother Ruth Neave and she went on to be accused of killing him at the house and transferring his body to the woods before reporting him missing, jurors heard. Watson, now 40, of no fixed address, has denied Rikki's murder. Burley, ID (83318) Today Sun and clouds mixed. High around 65F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight A clear sky. Low near 40F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. An Atlanta high school teacher was charged with battery after he was caught on video as he shoved a student to the ground in front of his classmates during an argument on Monday, and school officials say that teacher is no longer with the school district. The teacher, Marquette Thinn, 44, who was hired in August 2020 as a social studies teacher, was seen on video pushing a 14-year-old male student as the teen tried to leave the classroom at Salem High School in Conyers, Georgia, roughly 30 miles away from Atlanta, according to CNN. The 39-second cell phone footage shows Thinn as he yells at the freshman before the teen decides to walk out of the classroom. 'I ain't say s*** to you,' the student can be heard saying as he gathers his things. As the student, who was not named, walks towards the door, Thinn can be heard cursing at the teen before telling him to 'sit down somewhere.' 'Sit your ugly a** down,' Thinn yells before pushing the teen to the floor, leading to a reaction of awkward laughter and shock from the other students. Pictured: Marquette Thinn, 44, who was hired in August 2020 as a social studies teacher, was charged with simple battery after pushing a 14-year-old male student on Monday The teacher, left, confronts the unidentified student, right, after the 14-year-old attempted to leave the classroom on Monday The student, pictured in a white hoodie and black backpack, attempts to leave the classroom before Thinn tells him to 'sit down somewhere' as he knocks him to the ground 'Sit your ugly a** down,' Thinn yells before pushing the teen to the floor, pictured above The teacher, pictured left, as he enters the police station on Wednesday to turn himself in on simple battery charges Thinn was dismissed a day after Tuesday's incident, said Cindy Ball, a spokesperson for the Rockdale school district on Wednesday. School officials did not reveal whether he quit or was fired. Meanwhile, Rockdale County Sheriff's Investigator J. Figuerora told Fox 5 Atlanta that interviews with Thinn and the teen following the incident have since shed light on what what occurred both before and after the video was taken by a student that morning. Thinn then pushed the 14-year-old freshman with enough force to knock the teen to the ground Pictured: stunned students awkwardly laughed and stood in shock as the teacher pushed the student to the floor on Monday 'When I first did see it, it looked pretty clear that the student was assaulted by the teacher,' Figuerora said. 'Yes, the student was pushed to the ground.' However, Figuerora insisted the teacher did not strike the student, while adding that both the teacher and student acknowledged it was just a shove. 'It wasn't a strike or like a closed fist strike, but I know it was hard to see. In reference to that, both the teacher and the student acknowledged it was just a push and nothing more than that.' Regardless, officials with the school district said that Thinn's did not conduct himself professionally, leading to the ending of his employment from the school as well as misdemeanor criminal charges levied against him. 'We work diligently to investigate all allegations of employee misconduct. Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) expects all employees to conduct themselves professionally and ethically to provide a positive teaching and learning environment for students and staff,' Ball said. Thinn was charged with simple battery after turning himself into authorities on Wednesday afternoon, according to officials. He has since been released from jail after posting a $2,000 bond, the sheriff's office told CNN. Michael Avenatti paid back Stormy Daniels money he allegedly stole from her by borrowing $250,000 from one of Hollywood's top celebrity lawyers. The disgraced attorney's trial heard Wednesday that Avenatti was so broke at the time he couldn't make rent payments on his office and 'teared up and cried' when somebody else turned him down for a loan. He was eventually bailed out in September 2018 by celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, whose clients have included Michael Jackson, Chris Brown and Winona Ryder. Geragos agreed to the loan to help out 'El Presidente', a joke referring to Avenatti's mooted run for the presidency at the time, the trial heard. Avenatti then used the funds to pay Daniels $148,000 that he owed her for a payment for her 2018 memoir, Full Disclosure. Michael Avenatti leaves Manhattan Federal Court after his third day of trial where a court heard he borrowed $250,000 from a lawyer to pay back former client Stormy Daniels The disgraced attorney is defending himself against wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges filed by prosecutors who claim he cheated Daniels of nearly $300,000 she was owed from a book deal Avenatti is pictured left with Stormy Daniels in May 2018, before their professional relationship collapsed after she accused him of embezzling money she made of her 2018 memoir Full Disclosure (right) Avenatti, who represented Daniels in her lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, is accused of illegally syphoning off $300,000 of an $800,000 payment for her memoir to himself. He allegedly forged her signature to persuade her agent to pay the money to him rather than to her as he had previously done. Avenatti denies wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and is facing up to 22 years in prison if found guilty. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison last year after being convicted of trying to extort up to $25million from sportswear giant Nike. He has not yet begun serving the sentence. The once high-powered attorney is also awaiting retrial in a California case - on charges that he cheated clients of millions of dollars - after a mistrial last year. Court documents filed in the Nike case showed that Geragos, who was involved in negotiations with Avenatti and the sportswear company, tried to warn Avenatti that he 'crossed a line'. Geragos 'was concerned about and uncomfortable with the situationwhich Geragos believed may have become extortionate', a prosecution filing stated. Avenatti's trial heard Wednesday that he was ultimately bailed out in September 2018 by celebrity attorney Mark Geragos (pictured) whose clients have included Michael Jackson, Chris Brown (right) and Winona Ryder Sean Macias, a California lawyer and former friend of Avenatti, gave evidence on the third day of the trial Wednesday, claiming Avenatti asked to borrow $250,000 but he refused A text message presented as evidence in court showed Macias had thanked Geragos 'for sorting out Avanatti' on September 5, 2018 Sean Macias, a California lawyer and former friend of Avenatti, gave evidence on the third day of the trial at the federal court in New York. In early 2018 he introduced Avenatti to Daniels, a porn actress who became shot to infamy after claiming she had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump who allegedly paid her to stay quiet. Macias said that over the Labor Day weekend in 2018 he and Avenatti were in Las Vegas at a boozy 'blow out party' following a legal conference when his friend seemed 'agitated' and 'a little bit needy'. As Macias, a colorful, barrel-chested figure, told the court, Avenatti came over and 'slumped' in his chair and said that Daniels was going 'crazy'. Macias said Avenatti told him she was going to 'blow up' the deal with the publishers and go to the press because she wasn't getting paid the second installment for her book deal. Prosecutors claim that Daniels had in fact been paid, only Avenatti forged her signature to get her agent to give him the money instead of her. Macias told the jury that the following Tuesday he was 'shocked' to find Avenatti turn up in the conference room of his law firm unannounced while he was out to lunch. Evidence presented in court showed Macias reluctantly reached out to a wealthy tech friend to help Avenatti but the man later emailed to say that the 'transaction cannot happen on such a short time frame' The defense alleged Avenatti (pictured in a Monday courtroom sketch) had given Daniels hundreds of thousands of dollars only to be faced with false accusations from her, adding that behavior was not uncommon for Daniels, who when she didn't 'get her way, she turned on the people closest to her' Avenatti claimed he was 'jammed' for money and that he was going to be evicted from his office in Los Angeles and couldn't make his payroll. Macias said that he was stunned because Avenatti was the 'top lawyer' in the state at the time given how he and Daniels were taking legal action against Trump. Macias claimed that Avenatti asked him for a loan of $250,000 but he said no, remarking that he 'used the F word with a no at the end'. Avenatti begged Macias: 'You've gotta help me out, you've gotta help me out', the court heard. Macias reluctantly called a wealthy tech friend of his and they set up a meeting that evening where Avenatti talked about how he was 'fighting the good fight' and taking on Trump. Avenatti upped his request to $300,000 and the man seemed to be keen to help. But the next day the friend emailed Macias to say that 'this transaction cannot happen on such a short time frame'. According to Macias, Avenatti was 'really upset'. He said: 'He teared up crying'. Avenatti begged Macias to call Geragos, which he reluctantly did and was met with a surprisingly warm reception. Geragos 'kind of laughed' as Macias explained that Avenatti was 'jammed' and 'being squeezed' by the landlord of his office. Daniels claims she had a one-night stand with Trump in 2006 - on the night this photo was taken - a year after he married third wife Melania. Trump denies the claim According to Macias, Geragos referred to Avenatti as 'El Presidente' and said: 'Why not?' The money appears to have arrived in Avenatti's account that day, September 5, 2018. According to the indictment, that day Avenatti paid Daniels the $148,750 he got from her literary agent a month prior that she should have already had received. Prosecutors claim that Avenatti failed to pay her the third payment for an identical sum which was sent weeks later after he requested that it be hurried up. During cross examination Avenatti, who is representing himself, asked Macias if the money he was trying to arrange for him was actually for his Presidential campaign. Macias said: 'Absolutely not'. Avenatti is accused of misappropriating funds intended for Daniels in part by forging her signature in a letter to an agent. He is pictured with Daniels in 2018 outside federal court in New York Avenatti claimed that Macias was 'enthusiastic' about the prospect of him running for the White House. Macias didn't deny it and said that while Avenatti wanted him to be his chief of staff he wanted him to 'make me ambassador of France, that would be awesome'. Daniels, whose real name is Stephane Cliffod, is expected to testify on Thursday and Judge Jesse Furman denied Avenatti's request to be able to question her about back payment of taxes and child support payments to her former spouse. DailyMail.com has reached out to Geragos for comment. Advertisement Joe Biden fears that his plan to deploy as many as 8,500 troops to Eastern Europe might be blocked by NATO countries that do not want to enrage Vladimir Putin. The U.S. president wants to deploy the US forces to countries neighboring Ukraine as part of a NATO force to deter further aggression by Putin. But he is concerned that the move might be blocked by member countries that fear hosting the troops and enraging Putin, or by countries such as Germany that rely on Russia for 50 per cent of their gas. A single NATO member can veto the plan. Biden has reserved the right to act unilaterally or bilaterally with the UK standing firmly behind him. He has put 8,500 US troops on standby but yesterday indicated that he was considering deploying just 1,000 as part of a NATO force. He will hold a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Thursday afternoon and will welcome German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the White House next month as Europe inches closer to war. The Pentagon said this week that the troops, if deployed, would do so under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Response Force (NRF). The Washington Post notes that logistically to deploy U.S. troops, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, Lt. General Tod Wolters, would have to use NATO to request movement for any NRF deployment. 'There's a lot of faith that at the end of the day, that if the Supreme Allied Commander decides to call up the NATO Response Force, many nations of the North Atlantic Council will already be on board,' one Defense official told the Post. 'If the call comes, I'm pretty confident that they would be able to make a decision very quickly.' Countries that don't want U.S. troops based there could block Biden's future moves as some NATO nations like France, Germany, Hungary and Turkey want to develop closer ties with Moscow. Reports emerged over the weekend that the president is considering sending up to 50,000 troops to the region should Russia invade. Concerns are growing that President Joe Biden may be blocked by some NATO allies from deployment U.S. forces to Eastern Europe and the Baltic region if he tries to use the NATO Response Force (NRF). Just one county's objection would block the move Biden has already put 8,500 troops on standby to deploy to Eastern Europe and the Baltics should Russia invade Ukraine, but he needs a unanimous vote from all 30 NATO members to go forward with deploying Some NATO nations like France, Germany, Hungary and Turkey don't want U.S. forces stationed there so they can develop closer ties with Moscow. Pictured: U.S soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division training in the snow as 8,500 troops were put on heightened alert for potential deployment to Eastern Europe Active duty troop count for each NATO country Source: NATO Albania: 6,800 Belgium: 24,800 Bulgaria: 26,400 Canada: 71,100 Croatia: 15,200 Czech Republic: 27,800 Denmark: 18,300 Estonia: 6,700 France: 208,000 Germany: 189,100 Greece: 106,700 Hungary: 24,300 Iceland: No standing military Italy: 174,200 Latvia: 7,400 Lithuania: 16,800 Luxembourg: 900 Montenegro: 1,700 Netherlands: 40,800 North Macedonia: 6,100 Norway: 21,000 Poland: 121,000 Portugal: 29,000 Romania: 76,300 Slovakia: 13,100 Slovenia: 7,100 Spain: 123,900 Turkey: 445,400 United Kingdom: 156,200 United States: 1,351,000 Advertisement Biden, however, claims he has spoken with all 30 NATO allies and that they have agreed on the terms of him sending reinforcement troops to Eastern Europe. In talks with Germany's Scholz at the White House on February 7, Biden may try to persuade him to support some of D.C. strategic moves in Europe including troop deployment and pulling the plug on the Germany-to-Russia Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Putin invades. 'Chancellor Scholz' visit provides an opportunity to affirm the deep and enduring ties between the United States and Germany,' the White House said in a statement Thursday on the impending visit. 'The leaders will discuss their shared commitment to both ongoing diplomacy and joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki added in the announcement. 'They will also discuss the importance of continued close cooperation on a range of common challenges, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the threat of climate change, and promoting economic prosperity and international security based on our shared democratic values.' NATO members who border Ukraine or Russia may need to convince Russia-friendly ally countries for approval for reinforcements. France, Germany, Hungary and Turkey have been reluctant to make any moves they see as provocation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'It's a slow bureaucratic process that outsources security interests to leaders in Germany, Hungary and Turkey, who would each have a veto,' a senior GOP congressional official told the Post. 'Putin understands the bureaucratic nature of how NATO works and I'm sure will be deftly skilled at exploiting that bureaucracy and the divisions inside NATO, they added. French President Emanuel Macron said Tuesday that Russia is becoming a force of instability and claimed his foreign affairs staff are trying to engage Putin in deescalation efforts. The world is holding its breath Thursday as it awaits a response from Putin after he was sent two letters dismissing his top security demands surrounding Ukraine. Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said Thursday that the Russian strongman is still mulling over letters from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO chief Jens Stoltenburg. Although details of the letter are unknown, its thought that the U.S. and NATO allies ruled out the possibility of Ukraine being banned from the alliance and the removal of forces from former Soviet states. Blinken's letter was delivered to Moscow's foreign ministry late Wednesday night, handed over in-person by ambassador John Sullivan who was pictured leaving the building as snow fell, clutching a black leather folder in his hand. While giving little ground on Russia's main demands, Blinken said the letter does present 'serious' offers to de-escalate tensions - thought to include controls on nuclear arms and limits on military exercises. Peskov said there is 'little room for optimism' after an initial reading and that Moscow's main concerns are being ignored, but left the option of further talks open - at least for now. 'We won't rush with our assessments,' he said. Separately, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the letter contains some elements that could lead to 'the start of a serious talk on secondary issues' but 'contains no positive response on the main issue,' Lavrov said top officials will now submit their proposals to Putin, and that his response would come 'soon'. With the threat of war hanging heavy in the air, Russia's troop build-up on Ukraine's border continued today as Ukrainian troops were pictured training with British NLAW anti-tank weapons that were delivered last week as part of a package of UK military aid. British instructors have been sent to train the Ukrainians to use the rockets, and Kiev's troops were seen carrying them around a fake combat zone as they prepared for a Russian attack. NLAWs are disposable missile launchers that use tracking technology and high-explosive warheads to take out tanks, such as the ones used by Russia. Western security sources say there are now between 112,000 and 120,000 combat-ready soldiers at the front with more on their way. '[It] could be a lot more', one source told NBC. Videos also revealed columns of armored vehicles and fighter jets being moved to Belarus, ostensibly for military exercises next month though the fear is they could be used for a lightning-fast offensive on Kiev which sits just a few dozen miles away. Ukrainian troops are trained how to use British NLAW anti-tank weapons in Kiev, after they were shipped to the country last week as part of military support to help the former Soviet state defend itself British instructors have been sent to train the Ukrainians, and today Ukrainian troops were pictured moving with the weapons through fake combat zones as part of training US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivers a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, as the world waits to see how Putin will respond President Vladimir Putin attends a flower-laying ceremony at the Motherland monument at the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery to mark the 78th anniversary of the end of Leningrad Siege today Two Ukrainian troops are pictured entering a building carrying British NLAW anti-tank weapons as part of training exercises taking place today, in preparation for the possibility of a Russian invasion Ukrainian troops carrying British-made NLAW anti-tank weapons take part in training exercises amid fears Russia will attack Russian Shilka mobile anti-aircraft guns and Kornet-T anti-tank missile carriers are pictured arriving in Gomel, Belarus, around 20 miles from the Ukraine border and just 130 miles from Kiev Russian Shilka mobile anti-aircraft guns are pictured arriving in Belarus aboard a train, amid fears they could be used to stage a lightning assault on Kiev - which sits just 130 miles away Putin visits the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery to mark the 78th anniversary of the end of Leningrad Siege Ukrainian soldier kills five after opening fire at a military factory A Ukrainian National Guard soldier has shot dead five people and injured five more at a military factory in the country's east. Artem Ryabchuk gunned down four servicemen and one civilian woman at the Pivdenmash missile factory in Dinpro in the early hours of this morning, less than 200 miles from the Russian border where 100,000 troops are stationed. The killing spree occurred on the outskirts of the war-torn Donbas region which has been gripped by conflict between pro-Russian separatist rebels and government troops since 2014. The soldier, 21, started the attack during the issuance of weapons before going on the run armed with a Kalashnikov. The gunman was later detained after hitchhiking away from the scene of the massacre as the authorities staged an hour-long manhunt. Investigators, who are yet to establish a motive, are now probing how he passed a medical commission allowing him access to the Kalashnikov rifle and 200 cartridges. They will also investigate whether he faced any psychological pressures in his team. Doctors are still fighting to save the lives of the five people injured in the killing spree, police said. The dead were named as Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Buganov, 34, Senior soldier Artyom Levkivskyi, 21, Junior Sergeant Oleksandr Dragan, 24, Senior Soldier Leonid Chernik, 19, and senior soldier, and civilian guard Vera Lebydinets, 35. The wounded were named as Denis Namestnik, 19, Vladislav Gulida, 22,Igor Semenchenko, 24, Zhanna Sharova, 22, and Yevgen Machula, 20. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said: 'Following my order, a commission will be set up to study the circumstances that led to these actions being taken by a 21-year-old soldier, who had been called to defend his country and be responsible for security - and not to shoot his colleagues.' Police said he had been detained in the town of Pidgorodne outside Dnipro, a city with an estimated population of around one million people. Advertisement Amid the tensions, a Ukrainian national guard conscript opened fire on a military factory in the center of the country - killing five and wounding five more with a rifle he had just been handed. Artemiy Ryabchuk, 21, opened fire around 1.40am in the city of Dnipro which sits on the Dnieper river around 170 miles from Crimea. He fled the scene and is now being hunted, with Ukrainian security services saying his motive is unclear. However, it comes after security experts warned Russia may launch covert attacks inside Ukraine, either as a pre-text to an invasion, or simply as a way of destabilizing the country and sapping confidence in the prime minister. President Biden also stepped up his threat of economic sanctions in the wake of the letters being sent, saying that Nord Stream 2 - Russia's $11billion gas pipe to Germany - would categorically not go ahead if Ukraine is attacked. However, Germany has not given any such guarantee and it is unclear how exactly Biden plans to stop the pipe if Berlin refuses to play ball. Nord Stream 2 completed construction last year after Biden lifted sanctions on the company building it, and it only needs German approval to begin pumping gas. Major combat readiness drills are being carried out in eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black seas with the Russian Northern Fleet also drilling in the Arctic. Footage shows a live-fire exercise against a 'mock enemy' by the Aleksin and Kabardino-Balkariya antisubmarine ships in the Baltic. The vessels are part of a 20-ship naval task force currently at sea, with a similar operation underway in the Black Sea. 'The combat exercise was carried out at varying distances using shipborne artillery weapons, AK-176M and AK-630M,' said a statement from the Russian Baltic Fleet. Separately Su-24M front-line bombers and Su-30SM multirole fighters practiced bombing targets at a training range in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave wedged between NATO countries Lithuania and Poland. And drills were held in the same location with Mi-24 and Mi-8 attack helicopters. A massive Russian military buildup in Belarus deepened as a video showed the the completion of the transfer of dozens of Sukhoi Su-35S fighter jets from the extreme east of Russia. The footage shows the warplanes arriving in autocratic Belarus which borders Ukraine, ostensibly for military exercises, but the West fears the massing of troops and military equipment is an invasion force. Separately, a another video shows a drill to move Su-35S and Su-30SM fighters and Su-34 bombers from their permanent airfields due to an enemy missile strike. Elsewhere it was revealed that thousands of Russian communications troops in the military district bordering Ukraine are involved in 'large scale radio training' as part of a combat readiness exercise. 'More than 1,500 military personnel are taking part in the planned combat training event,' said commander of the Western Military District Col-Gen Alexander Zhuravlev. Some 300 units of military and hi-tech equipment is involved, including the modern P-260 Redut, Andromeda and Belozer complexes, he said. Blinken said he would speak again in the coming days to Lavrov, as a separate initiative by France brought a promise by Moscow at least to keep talking to Ukraine's government. One month after Russia put forward sweeping security proposals, having sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine's border, the United States delivered a reply in co-ordination with NATO allies and said it was ready for any eventuality. 'It sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it,' Blinken told reporters of the US response, which he said would remain confidential. He renewed an offer on 'reciprocal' measures to address mutual security concerns, including reductions of missiles in Europe and transparency on military drills and Western aid to Ukraine. But he made clear that the United States would not budge on Russia's core demand that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, the US-backed military alliance. 'From our perspective, I can't be more clear - NATO's door is open, remains open, and that is our commitment,' Blinken said. Satellite images reveal new units of Russian tanks parked near the Pogonovo training area, around 100 miles from the Ukraine border, as the world waits to find out how Putin will respond to letters dismissing his security demands Russian tanks are seen parked near Pogonovo, around 100 miles from the Ukraine border, amid fears they are massing for an invasion if Putin's security demands are not met Russian artillery crews conduct live-fire drills at the Kuzminsky range in Rostov-on-Don, amid tensions with nearby Ukraine Blinken (left) has kept the exact contents of the letter a secret, but said it categorically rules out the possibility that Ukraine is banned from joining NATO. Sergei Lavrov (right), the Russian foreign minister, has said his country is ready to take 'retaliatory measures' if its demands are not met A Russian T-72B tank takes part in combat readiness drills near Rostov-on-Don, around 70 miles from the Ukraine border and close to areas where rebel groups are fighting the Ukrainian army Russian armoured personnel carriers are pictured taking part in training exercises in Rostov-on-Don, close to Ukraine Russian troops carry an ammunition crate through fields in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, during training exercises Russian tanks and armoured vehicles take part in training exercises in southern Russia, close to the frontlines in Ukraine Kremlin's deputy chief of staff Dmitry Kozak (left) and Russian Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov give a press conference after talks in Paris over Ukraine last night, saying they have agreed to further discussions Russia, which has a fraught historical relationship with Ukraine, has fueled an insurgency in the former Soviet republic's east that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Russia that year also seized Crimea after the overthrow of a government in Kyiv that had resisted efforts to move closer to Europe. The United States has warned of severe and swift consequences if Russia invades, including possible personal sanctions on President Vladimir Putin, and NATO has put 8,500 troops on standby. 'While we are hoping for and working for a good solution - de-escalation - we are also prepared for the worst,' NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. In a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Blinken on Wednesday sought to impress upon Beijing the 'global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine,' according to State Department spokesman Ned Price. China's foreign ministry said in a statement after the call that Wang told Blinken Russia's 'reasonable security concerns should be taken seriously and resolved.' Blinken's deputy Wendy Sherman, who led a previous round of talks with Russia, said Putin seemed ready to invade despite the US warnings. 'I have no idea whether he's made the ultimate decision, but we certainly see every indication that he is going to use military force sometime perhaps (between) now and the middle of February,' Sherman told a forum. In another bid to defuse tensions, senior Russian and Ukrainian officials met for eight hours in Paris with representatives of France and Germany. Dmitry Kozak, the Kremlin deputy chief of staff, said the talks were 'not simple' but that another round would take place in two weeks in Berlin. France said after the so-called Normandy Format talks that the envoys committed to a fragile July 2020 ceasefire in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists. Russian armured vehicles are pictured arriving in Belarus (left), amid fears they could be used to assault Kiev, while military transports are seen in Smolensk (right) A Russian Sukhoi-34 fighter jet is seen on the runway in Belarus after arriving from Russia, amid fears that Putin is massing his forces there for an assault on Kiev A Russian battleship takes part in live-fire exercises in the Baltic Sea, part of widespread Russian naval drills across five seas that involve 140 ships A view from the deck of a Russian Navy battleship during artillery fire drills in the Baltic Sea on Thursday 'We need a supplementary pause. We hope that this process will have results in two weeks,' Kozak said. An aide to French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the talks had been about resolving the separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine, not the threat of a Russian invasion. France and Germany have joined the United States in warning Russia against an invasion but have been less direct about sanctions. Germany's new coalition government has sent mixed signals on whether it would sever the soon-to-open Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia, which will circumvent Ukraine to provide gas to Europe's largest economy. Amid warnings that tensions with the West could push Russia to squeeze supplies, Australian officials said Canberra stood ready to ship natural gas to Europe. 'We haven't received a formal request, but we are indicating that, of course, we are ready to support our friends,' Resources Minister Keith Pitt told media in Sydney. US President Joe Biden, who spoke with European leaders by video-conference on Tuesday, said any Russian military attack on Ukraine would trigger 'enormous consequences' and could even 'change the world.' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, while brushing off the impact, warned that attempts to punish Putin personally would be 'destructive.' The United States again encouraged its citizens to leave Ukraine, warning an invasion could be imminent. But Ukraine's government, hoping to prevent panic, has played down the dangers and sought to offer ways out. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters the Russian troops posed 'a threat to Ukraine' but that the numbers deployed were 'insufficient for a full-scale offensive.' Andriy Yermak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky who took part in the Paris talks, wrote on Twitter that the meeting was 'a strong signal of readiness for a peaceful settlement.' The UN has sparked outraged after announcing North Korea will chair a forum dedicated to nuclear disarmament, on the same day as Kim Jong-un carried out his sixth round of missile tests this year. The regime will take over the rotating presidency of the Conference on Disarmament between May 30 and June 24. The move was blasted by UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental organisation that monitors the international body. Executive director Hillel Neuer said: 'Having the North Korean regime of Kim Jong-un preside over global nuclear weapons disarmament will be like putting a serial rapist in charge of a women's shelter. 'This is a country that threatens to attack other UN member states with missiles, and that commits atrocities against its own people. 'Torture and starvation are routine in North Korean political prison camps where an estimated 100,000 people are held in what is one of the world's most dire human-rights situations.' The UN has sparked outraged after announcing North Korea will chair a forum dedicated to nuclear disarmament The group called for US and European ambassadors to walk out of the conference during North Korea's presidency. The post is mostly formal but UN Watch say it undermines the purpose of the conference to have such a regime as the president. Neuer said: 'North Korea holding the president's gavel is liable to seriously undermine the image and credibility of the United Nations, and will send absolutely the worst message. 'If the UN seeks to be an institution with a moral compass, it cannot allow the likes of North Korea to direct arms control agencies, and to keep electing the world's worst abusers on its top human rights body.' North Korea on Thursday fired at least two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month The conference will report to the UN General Assembly and is billed by the UN as 'the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.' It comes after North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday making it the sixth round of tests. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had detected the launch of what it presumed were two ballistic missiles at about 8 am near Hamhung, situated on the east coast of North Korea. They travelled for about 120mph to an altitude of 12mph. North Korea said this month it would bolster its defenses against the United States and consider resuming 'all temporally-suspended activities', an apparent reference to a self-imposed moratorium on tests of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. The launch came after North Korea fired two cruise missiles into the sea off its east coast on Tuesday adding to the tension over its tests. North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Thursday morning making it the sixth round of tests The test took place at around 8am near Hamhung which is situated on the east coast of the country and traveled for about 120mph to an altitude of 20mph Earlier in the month, North Korea tested tactical guided missiles, two 'hypersonic missiles' capable of high speed and maneuvering after lift-off, and a railway-borne missile system. 'The (Kim Jong Un) regime is developing an impressive diversity of offensive weapons despite limited resources and serious economic challenges,' said Leif-Eric Easley, an international affairs professor at Ewha University in Seoul. Certain tests aim to develop new capabilities, especially for evading missile defenses while other launches are intended to demonstrate the readiness and versatility of missile forces that North Korea has already deployed, he said. 'Some observers have suggested that the Kim regimes frequent launches are a cry for attention but Pyongyang is running hard in what it perceives as an arms race with Seoul,' Easley said. This missile test is among a series that has been considered to be the most ever launched by the company In a speech to the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Han Tae Song, accused the United States of staging hundreds of 'joint war drills' while shipping high-tech offensive military equipment into South Korea and nuclear strategic weapons into the region. '(This) is seriously threatening the security of our state,' Han said. A U.S. State Department spokesperson condemned the launches as a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and a threat to North Korea's neighbors and the international community. The United States remains committed to a diplomatic approach and calls on North Korea to engage in dialogue, the spokesperson said. As with other recent tests, the U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command said that the launch was destabilizing but did not pose an immediate threat to U.S. territory or personnel, or to its allies. North Korea's recent 'remarkable development' in nuclear and missile technology could not be overlooked, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a briefing. South Korea's National Security Council convened an emergency meeting, at which it said the launches were 'very regrettable' and went against calls for peace and stability in the region, the presidential Blue House said in a statement. The Biden administration had sanctioned over North Korea's weapons programs this month in response to their missile launches U.S. President Joe Biden's administration sanctioned several North Korean and Russian individuals and entities this month on accusations they were helping North Korea's weapons programs but China and Russia delayed a U.S. bid to impose U.N. sanctions on five North Koreans. On Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Japan and Korea Mark Lambert said that Washington had 'no reservations' about talking with North Korea and was willing to meet anywhere and talk about anything. 'We have to have a serious discussion about the denuclearization of North Korea, and if North Korea is willing to do that, all sorts of promising things can happen,' he said during an online seminar hosted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. North Korea has defended its missile tests as a sovereign right of self-defense and said U.S. sanctions proved that even as the United States proposes talks, it maintained a 'hostile' policy. 'The recent test-firing of new types of weapons was part of activities for carrying out a medium- and long-term plan for development of national science,' the North Korean UN envoy Han said in a speech on Tuesday. 'It does not pose any threat or damage to the security of neighboring countries and the region.' North Korea has not launched long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or tested nuclear weapons since 2017 but began testing a slew of shorter-range missiles after denuclearization talks stalled following a failed summit with the United States in 2019. Advertisement Newly colourised photographs of men, women and children who suffered at the hands of the Nazis in concentration camps have exposed the full horror of the Holocaust, as the world marks 77 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. The poignant images, most of which were taken in 1945, show the starving and desperate faces of Adolf Hitler's victims at camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau. In one photograph, an emaciated 18-year-old Russian prisoner stares into the camera during the liberation of Dachau concentration camp in 1945, her face hollow from hunger. Another shows four-year-old Istvan Reiner, smiling for a portrait whilst wearing the notorious striped prisoner uniform and carrying his yellow identity card. The photograph was taken just a few weeks before the little boy was murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp. Other photographs in the collection show starving prisoners, wearing just a shirt to reveal their thin legs, standing in a line at a concentration camp in Ebensee, Austria. The collection was released to mark the International Holocaust Day, which is held on January 27 every year - the day that Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops in 1945. In one photograph, an emaciated 18-year-old Russian prisoner stares into the camera during the liberation of Dachau concentration camp in 1945, her face hollow from hunger A newly colourised photograph in the collection shows a group of young children, all of whom were wearing the blue striped prisoner uniforms, peering out at the Soviet troops through a barbed wire fence at Auschwitz when it was liberated Another shows four-year-old Istvan Reiner, smiling for a portrait whilst wearing the notorious striped prisoner uniform and carrying his yellow identity card. The photograph was taken just a few weeks before the little boy was murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp This harrowing photograph shows an emaciated prisoner, whose ribs can be seen protruding Another photograph shows a young woman, whose face is covered with scars and plasters as a result of a beating by the SS guards. But despite being unable to open her eyes fully from the swelling, she is smiling as she was photographed two days after the British military entered the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945 A newly colourised photograph in the collection shows a group of young children, all of whom were wearing the blue striped prisoner uniforms, peering out at the Soviet troops through a barbed wire fence at Auschwitz when it was liberated. Some 200,000 children were murdered at the Nazi death camp, and just 700 youngsters remained alive when the Red Army arrived on January 27, 1945. Another photograph shows a young woman, whose face is covered with scars and plasters as a result of a beating by the SS guards. But despite being unable to open her eyes fully from the swelling, she is smiling as she was photographed two days after the British military entered the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945. At the same camp, photographs show British troops burning the wooden huts, along with a poster of Adolf Hitler, in May 1945 after they had evacuated the surviving prisoners. One photograph shows a palpably relieved young Jewish refugee recuperating in hospital after being rescued by appalled Allied Forces. About six million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. About 1.5 million were children. The newly colourised photographs, which were restored by expert Tom Marshall, 31, in Nottingham, said the project was 'harrowing'. His great-grandfather Charles Martin King Parsons, a British Army Officer, took the photographs at Bergen-Belsen prison camp of the wooden huts burning. Other photographs in the collection show starving prisoners, wearing just a shirt to reveal their thin legs, standing in a line at a concentration camp in Ebensee, Austria. Ebensee was a sub-camp of the main camp 'Mauthausen' near the town of the same name. The camp was reputedly used for 'scientific' experiments. It was liberated by the 80th Division of the U.S. Army in May 1945 At Bergen-Belsen prison camp, photographs show British troops burning the wooden huts, along with a poster of Adolf Hitler, in May 1945 after they had evacuated the surviving prisoners Colouriser Tom Marshall's great-grandfather Charles Martin King Parsons, a British Army Officer, took the photographs at Bergen-Belsen prison camp of the wooden huts burning These two staring, emaciated men are liberated inmates of Lager Nordhausen, a Gestapo concentration camp. The camp had from 3,000 to 4,000 inmates. All were maltreated, beaten and starved Young Jewish refugee, rescued from a concentration camp, resting up in a hospital bed in Malmo, southern Sweden in 1945 'The images serve as a stark reminder of man's capacity for humanity. I had to give myself time to do something else and try to switch off whilst working on these photos as they made me angry, and I felt more sick as the pictures came to life,' Mr Marshall said. 'But it was an important thing to do, to remind people, especially the younger generations, that this happened and that it's not really that far back in history.' The release of the images comes as communities around the world poignantly remembered the Holocaust today during the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year, survivors and politicians are warning about the resurgence of antisemitism and Holocaust denial. European Union lawmakers planned to observe a minute's silence later today and welcome centenarian Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander, 100, who was arrested in 1944 while on the run and brought to Theresienstadt, in what is now the Czech Republic. A year before, her mother and brother were deported to Auschwitz, where they were both killed. BRUSSELS: Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlander sits next to President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola during a special plenary session to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium January 27, 2022 Friedlander and her husband immigrated to the U.S. in 1946 and returned to Berlin in 2010. She has since been traveling around Germany to tell the story of her life and promote remembrance. Survivor Inge Auerbacher, 87, told the German parliament: 'I have lived in New York for 75 years, but I still remember well the terrible time of horror and hatred. Unfortunately, this cancer has reawakened and hatred of Jews is commonplace again in many countries in the world, including Germany.' German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was pictured hugging Mrs Auerbacher during the annual ceremony in the plenary of the Bundestag. In York, The Reverend Canon Michael Smith, Acting Dean of York, helped light six hundred candles in the shape of the Star of David, in memory of more than six million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis. YORK: The Reverend Canon Michael Smith, Acting Dean of York, helps light six hundred candles in the shape of the Star of David, in memory of more than 6 million Jewish people murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War, in the Chapter House at York Minster in York, part of York Minster's commemoration for International Holocaust Day Rep. Lee Zeldin slammed Vice President Kamala Harris' trip to Honduras Thursday on Holocaust Memorial Day to meet the new president of Honduras whose inner circle have made anti-Semitic remarks as 'totally disgusting and unacceptable.' The VP tweeted a tribute to the six million Jews who were slaughtered as she landed in the country. She wrote: 'Today, we honor the six million Jews and other victims murdered by the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. We must teach our children the truth about the atrocities of the Holocaust, so that together we give meaning to that timeless pledge: never again'. She attended the inauguration of new socialist Honduran President Xiomara Castro in a bid to get her hep to stem the border crisis. After that, the pair of leaders had a bilateral meeting where Harris wished Castro success and announced the U.S. would be sending Honduras more Covid vaccine doses, pediatric syringes and $1.35 million dollars to go to health and educational facilities. 'Its totally disgusting and unacceptable that the U.S. Vice President would attend this inauguration and give legitimacy to this vile behavior, especially on the day we honor and remember the six million Jews and millions of others killed in the Holocaust,' Zeldin, R-N.Y., told DailyMail.com. 'Its sad that the Biden Administration is going out of its way to embrace the countrys troubling new leaders, but couldnt be bothered to show support when Honduras took bold steps to strengthen its bond with Israel,' Zeldin said, referencing the nation's outgoing president who was friendly to Israel and a conservative. Zeldin said he met with Juan Orlando Hernandez to discuss building support from other nations for Israel. 'Im grateful to President Hernandez, for example, for moving the Honduras Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem,' Zeldin said. Castro's husband Manuel Zelaya, the former president of Honduras, claimed after the country's 2009 coup that 'Israeli mercenaries' were torturing him with high-frequency radiation. Castro's running mate, Salvador Nasralla, said Jews control the global money supply, according to Fox News. Nasralla also said in 2020 that Honduras' outgoing president Juan Orlando Hernandez's 'boss is the government of Israel.' Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., co-chair of the newly-formed Congressional Caucus for the Advancement of Torah Values, told DailyMail.com that Harris should 'make clear' to the new Honduran leadership that the U.S. finds anti-semitism 'repugnant.' 'The new Honduran leadership have a bad record of saying anti-Semitic tropes. On this National Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Vice President should make clear to the new Honduran leaders that America finds anti-Semitism repugnant and that Israel is our close ally.' Harris stands watch at the inauguration of Castro After the inauguration, Harris attended a bilateral meeting with the new president this afternoon Harris speaks with Castro, right, at the presidential house in Tegucigalpa Harris walks down a red carpet with Amb. Ramon Valladares, Honduras Chief of Protocol Nasralla's wife Iroshka Elvir had to apologize to Jewish organizations for praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. When Elvir was named Miss Honduras in 2015 she said 'Hitler was a great leader' during an interview with the El Heraldo newspaper, according to the Times of Israel. 'When I talked about Hitler I talked about his leadership because, to my understanding, he did not do anything good,' Elvir wrote in her 2017 letter to the Latin American Jewish Congress. 'The newspaper published that I admire Hitler, but it is not true, I never told them that I admired Hitler,' she continued. 'I am a great admirer of Israel, I love and bless that great nation. Receive my letter and my apologies since at no time did I want to offend any Jew.' Elvir attached a photo of herself holding an Israeli flag to the letter and concluded it by writing 'shalom.' The VP was accompanied by US Agency for International Development (USAID) director Samantha Powers. After the inauguration. Honduras is one of the three 'northern triangle' countries that account for the flood of migrants coming over the U.S.-Mexico border. Xiomara Castro is sworn-in as Honduras' first female president On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris (left) will attend the inauguration of Honduran President-elect Xiomara Castro (right), whose inner circle has made problematic statements about Jewish people and Israel Castro's husband Manuel Zelaya is a former Honduran president who got pushed out in a 2009 coup. At the time he claimed he was being tortured by 'Israeli mercenaries' using high-frequency radiation Castro's (right) running mate Salvador Nasralla (left) said Jews control the global supply chain and insisted a former Honduran president's 'boss is the government of Israel' President Joe Biden charged Harris with running point with leaders of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador so they could address the root causes of migration, but that quickly opened the vice president up to political attacks from conservatives as border crossings surged. Harris wrote on Twitter ahead of the trip that it would allow her to 'deepen our cooperation on key issues, from anti-corruption, to economic recovery.' The trip is the vice president's second to the Northern Triangle in her role as point person migration's root causes, but she has avoided a visit the U.S.-Mexico border amid a record surge in border crossings. Customs and Border Protection officials arrested 178,000 migrants last month, a record high from December, but still below the peak in July of 213,000. The U.S. is working to build bonds with the new president in hopes she will steer the nation in a new direction, resisting the corruption and cartel money that swayed leaders of the past. The Biden administration sees investment as the way out of poverty for people in Northern Triangle countries. Harris' call to action last year led private companies to commit to investing $1.2 billion in the region, but experts say the plan could fall through if businesses fear politicians will instead pocket the cash. In April, Harris announced the U.S. was offering $310 million in emergency aid to the Northern Triangle, including $255 million to meet 'immediate and urgent humanitarian needs.' Some experts believe that foreign aid can actually increases cases of migration. Both Zelaya and Nasralla are familiar faces in Honduran politics. Zelaya was elected in 2006 on a conservative platform but turned to the left politically, forging alliances with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and forming a friendship with Cuba's Raul Castro. He was dispatched by a military coup in 2009, with opposition leaders claiming that Zelaya's plan to have a vote to change the constitution indicated he planned to stay in power - an assertion the president denied. A Newsweek account from that time said that Zelaya went into hiding at the Brazilian embassy in Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa with about 50 followers. 'Since re-entering the country on Monday, he's set up an improvised war room and living quarters in the embassy, issuing calls for the 'fall of the usurpers' and spinning increasingly conspiratorial tales to the media,' the Newsweek report said. 'The once-proper president has resorted to sleeping on chairs and surviving on biscuits delivered to his makeshift bunker,' the report continued. 'His throat is sore from toxic gases, he says, while 'Israeli mercenaries'' are supposedly torturing him with high-frequency radiation from a device resembling a large satellite dish.' Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told CNN en Espanol that Zelaya had lost it, Newsweek said. Zelaya spent time in exile after the coup, but returned to the country in May 2011. He served as his wife's campaign manager during her presidential run. Nasralla, who backed Castro's presidential bid in October, so their political parties could rule together, previously ran for the presidency in 2017. Iroshka Elvir (left, in blue) had to apologize in 2017 for quotes she gave a newspaper in 2015 after winning Miss Honduras where she seemingly praised Adolf Hitler. 'The newspaper published that I admire Hitler, but it is not true, I never told them that I admired Hitler,' she said The Jewish population in Honduras is only about 200 people, the Times said, out of 8.5 million. Harris will leave early on Thursday morning to lead the delegation to Castro's inauguration. Harris will also be the first bilateral meeting with Castro once she's sworn-in. On Friday, Castro saw her prospects of a successful administration take a hit when a leadership battle played out in Congress. The dispute threatened to split her own Liberty and Refoundation Party, as well as its alliance with the party of Nasralla - and raised suspicions that the outgoing government is trying to scuttle her administration before it can start. Castro had promised to give leadership of the new Congress to Nasralla's party. Instead, 20 members of her own party broke ranks and chose one of their own members as leader - getting votes from anti-Castro parties to defeat the president-elect's candidate. It infuriated Castro, who tweeted, 'The betrayal is complete.' Castro's party, known as Libre, won 50 seats in the 128-seat Congress in November elections and to pass legislation it will need votes from allies such as Nasralla's Honduras Salvation Party. When Nasralla endorsed Castro they created a united front to remove the ruling National Party from power. As part of the deal, Nasralla got the vice presidency and his party was to lead the new Congress. That leader was supposed to be Luis Redondo. But on Friday, 20 Libre lawmakers instead threw their support to one of their own, Jorge Calix, and and other parties opposed to Castro backed him as well. That set off shoving and shouting between loyalist and breakaway members of Libre inside the chamber. Outside, meanwhile, angry Libre supporters chained the doors of Congress so the lawmakers could not exit. Riot police moved in and eventually regained control. Political analyst and former presidential candidate Olban Valladares said the dispute could be the result of interference from the outgoing administration Hernandez, whose National Party had controlled the previous Congress with its allies. Valladares said the developments made it doubtful that Castro would be able to count on the full support of her party to resolve Honduras' problems. Zelaya said via Twitter that the selection of Calix would not be recognized and traitors would be expelled. Asked about the brouhaha on the planning call Wednesday, a senior administration official said that they were aware and were closely following the situation. 'We believe that it is up to the Hondurans to find a resolution for the differences that they are encountering there. And for them to do that in a way that is consistent with their constitution - with their constitution and with their laws,' a senior official said. More broadly, officials said Wednesday that Harris' trip had two aims. 'Number one, we want to deepen the bilateral partnership with Honduras,' said the official. 'And two, we want to continue the vice president's already very extensive diplomacy designed to address the root causes of migration in Central America.' To that end, officials said they welcomed Castro's commitments to economic growth and tackling corruption, including saying she would invite the United Nations to help root out graft. Other U.S. officials making the trip include USAID Administrator Samantha Powers and Rep. Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat. 'The Vice President's visit will further the commitment she and President-elect Castro made during their December 10 phone call to deepen the partnership between the United States and Honduras and work together to advance economic growth, combat corruption, and address the root causes of migration,' the White House said when it announced the trip last week. A spokesperson for Harris did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Deployment logs show the animal out in the Keehi Lagoon Beach area It is claimed the robot could save force up to $240,000 by stopping officers potentially needing to quarantine Four-legged machines would be used to check temperature of homeless people to screen for Covid in shelters Cops in Hawaii are using a robotic dog to check homeless peoples' temperatures in suspected Covid cases - despite criticism it dehumanizes them. Spot, the four-legged machine made by Boston Dynamics, cost Honolulu Police $150,000 of their federal pandemic relief money, but the force believes the robot could help save money. Officers are using the machine to scan homeless peoples' body temperatures between meal times to check if they need to quarantine and get tested for COVID-19. The robot is also used to remotely interview individuals who have tested positive to protect officers, shelter staff and other residents from getting infected. Spot, the four-legged machine made by Boston Dynamics, cost Honolulu Police $150,000 of their federal pandemic relief money, but the force believes the robot could help save money. Pictured: Acting Lt. Joseph O'Neal demonstrates the robotic dog Deployment logs show Spot out at Keehi Lagoon Beach Park homeless encampment in the state's capital several times throughout one month. The force's Acting Lt. Joseph O'Neal estimated the machine could provide a cost saving of between $117,000 and $242,760, based on the cost of an officer completing check and the potential for them to also being off sick from work if they caught Covid. Officials say Spot is just another tool, like existing drones and simple wheeled robots that keep emergency responders out of harm's way as they scout for dangers. But at the time of its unveiling, Honolulu Police was heavily criticized for 'dehumanizing' homeless people and limiting interaction with police officers. Deployment logs show Spot out at Keehi Lagoon Beach Park homeless encampment in the state's capital several times throughout one month 'Because these people are houseless it's considered OK to do that,' said Jongwook Kim, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii in July last year. 'At some point it will come out again for some different use after the pandemic is over.' Privacy watchdogs also warned that police are secretly rushing to buy the robots without setting safeguards against aggressive, invasive or dehumanizing uses. Spot has also not been perfect at its job, after logs between September and November last year showed the machine would occasionally lose signal and couldnt be deployed. On some days only the word 'weather' was written next to a deployment box, suggesting Spot have problems coping in rain or wind. Privacy watchdogs also warned that police are secretly rushing to buy the robots without setting safeguards against aggressive, invasive or dehumanizing uses Speaking in July last year, Acting Lt. Joseph O'Neal of the Honolulu Police Department's community outreach unit defended the robot's use in a media demonstration earlier this year. 'We have not had a single person out there that said, "That's scary, that's worrisome",' O'Neal said. 'We don't just walk around and arbitrarily scan people.' Officer Mike Lambert added: 'As far as law enforcement goes, I would be so bold to say its the most innovative program in the nation. 'And during the pandemic, no one has ever heard of another law enforcement agency trying to provide shelter and overnight services for the unsheltered.' Honolulu officials also faced a backlash when a local news organization, Honolulu Civil Beat, revealed that the Spot purchase was made with federal relief money. Liz Truss is facing criticism after it emerged she used a Government private jet for a recent work trip to Australia at a cost to the taxpayer of 'at least 500,000'. The Foreign Secretary travelled to the country last week for defence and security talks. The Independent reported that Ms Truss used the Government's Airbus A321 plane to get from London to Sydney instead of using commercial flights. Environmental campaigners labelled the use of the private jet 'shockingly privileged and an outrageous source of emissions'. But the Foreign Office said the use of the aircraft was 'fully within rules set out in the Ministerial Code'. Defending her use of the private jet to travel to Australia, Ms Truss insisted that every trip was based off 'value for money' and allowed her to work overseas, which she said 'ultimately delivered for the British people'. She told Sky News: 'Every Government decision is based off value for money. 'We have a Government plane specifically so ministers - like me in my role as Foreign Secretary - can go and do the work overseas, which is ultimately delivering for the British people.' Liz Truss is facing criticism after it emerged she used a Government private jet for a recent work trip to Australia at a cost to the taxpayer of 'at least 500,000' The Independent reported that Ms Truss used the Government's Airbus A321 plane to get from London to Sydney instead of using commercial flights. Boris Johnson's RAF Airbus Voyager is pictured Allies of Ms Truss said it was necessary to use the private jet because of security and to give the Foreign Secretary flexibility should events have required her to return to the UK at short notice. Why couldn't Liz Truss fly commercial to Australia? Allies of Liz Truss cited two reasons for why she took a private plane to Australia: Security and flexibility. Security Sources said that travelling on a government plane meant Ms Truss could have private discussions on sensitive security matters. This would have been almost impossible on a commercial flight amid fears that other passengers could overhear. Flexibility The trip to Australia came as tensions continued to rise on the Russian border with Ukraine. Allies of Ms Truss stressed that she needed to have the capability to return to the UK at short notice just in case the situation deteriorated. Using commercial flights could have made this difficult and would also have constrained her ability to work during the flight back to Britain. Advertisement The Ministerial Code suggests that Ms Truss must have authorised the use of the aircraft. The code states: 'Only members of the Cabinet and Ministers in charge of Departments have discretion to authorise special flights either for themselves or other Ministers within their Departments.' A senior source from the aviation charter industry told The Independent that the trip likely cost 'at least 500k' and probably required at least two sets of flight crew. The website said a business class ticket on commercial flights for the entire trip would have cost less than 8,000. Ms Truss's plane reportedly left London Stansted on January 18 at noon as it headed to Dubai before then continuing on to Kuala Lumpur to refuel before eventually departing for Sydney. It took off two hours after a regular Qantas non-stop commercial flight from Heathrow to Darwin which then continued on to Sydney. Ms Truss arrived in Sydney just after midnight on January 20, five hours after the Qantas flight had arrived. Anna Hughes, from environmental charity Flight Free UK, said: 'Flying to Australia and back on a chartered jet is shockingly privileged and an outrageous source of emissions in the current climate emergency.' A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'It's necessary for the Foreign Secretary to travel abroad to pursue UK interests around security, trade and technology, as she did during this visit to Australia. 'This trip used government transport and was fully within rules set out in the Ministerial Code.' Allies of Ms Truss said travelling on the Government's plane allowed ministers to have private discussions on sensitive security matters. They also pointed out that the Foreign Secretary needed to have the capability to return to the UK at short notice to respond to an emergency, for example if the situation between Russia and Ukraine rapidly deteriorated. Ms Truss is pictured in Sydney last week alongside UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Australian DefenCe Minister Peter Dutton Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour Party, said: 'Liz Truss shows the public exactly quite how little respect this Conservative Government has for taxpayers' money with her ridiculous waste of half a million pounds on a private jet trip. This Government is brazen in its disregard for upholding decency. 'It is obscene that Government Ministers are jet setting yet are hiking taxes and refusing to do anything to help working families when they are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis. 'Tories waste disgusting amounts of public money on their own vanity and comfort, Labour wants to see families see a cut to energy bills - that is the difference.' President Joe Biden has an opportunity to appoint his first Supreme Court justice, replacing Stephen Breyer. Unfortunately, Biden is tainting his first pick for the U.S. Supreme Court with identity politics, after promising during his presidential campaign that he would pick a black woman. 'The president has stated, and reiterated, his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court and certainly stands by that,' said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki from the White House on Wednesday. This is never a good idea for any president, because it limits choices, undermines the person selected, and politicizes the court's role, signaling that justices are supposed to serve certain political constituencies by their rulings. The White House has injected more politics into the process when they leaked that Breyer is retiring, even though the justice has not announced whether and when he will in fact leave the court. If the rumors are true, then the Biden White House's insult of Breyer by this egregious breach of protocol is yet another blunder plaguing the increasingly unpopular American president. However, Biden is not the first president to make the mistake of dabbling in identity politics. President Ronald Reagan committed during his campaign to pick a woman Justice, which conservatives came to regret not because of gender, but because of her judicial philosophy. President George H.W. Bush never pledged to appoint a judge based on his race. He recognized Clarence Thomas, above all else, for his character and his commitment to the rule of law. (Above) Author Mark Paoletta with Justice Clarence Thomas Biden is tainting his first pick for the U.S. Supreme Court with identity politics, after promising during his presidential campaign that he would pick a black woman. While it is admirable to broadly consider candidates who historically may have been overlooked, such as women and minorities, it undermines the integrity of your pick when you make those factors the reason for the selection. Reagan selected Sandra Day O'Connor, who had an impressive story, finishing near the top of her class at Stanford, and overcoming gender discrimination to become the Majority Leader of the Arizona State Senate. But conservatives were concerned that she would be more of a legislator on the court in the mold of Earl Warren and William Brennan, rather than a judge who understands that courts are to faithfully interpret and apply the Constitution and laws as written, not make policy judgments on what the law should be. O'Connor became a judge who sometimes legislated on the court over 25 years, to the consternation of conservatives. A prime example of this is abortion, which appears nowhere in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution. Yet O'Connor believed abortion must be a constitutional right, becoming the deciding vote in the 1992 Supreme Court case Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which voted 5-4 to retain the abortion right created in the 1973 Roe v. Wade case. The issue fiercely divides Americans to this day proving that major societal change is best decided by the people's representatives in the legislature, not by their judges. Reagan learned from his mistake, choosing later justices on merit alone. For example, Antonin Scalia, a supremely gifted lawyer and scholar. Reagan's primary reason was Scalia's judicial philosophy, as expressed in his opinions on the D.C. Circuit appeals court and his law professor writings. It also helped politically that he was the first Italian-American nominated. Scalia became one of the most consequential justices in Supreme Court history, leading the charge to move America's jurisprudence to textualism and originalism: interpreting statutes according to their plain language and constitutional provisions according to their original public meaning. As Justice Elena Kagan stated at a ceremony honoring Scalia's life, 'We are all textualists now.' Don't get us wrong: The best-qualified nominee might in fact be a black women. But when you arbitrarily restrict your choice to gender and skin color, you are not choosing based on merit. Later, your coauthor, Paoletta, served in the George H.W. Bush White House and was involved in both the Justice David Souter and Justice Clarence Thomas nominations. The Left likes to argue that President Bush selected Clarence Thomas as a quota pick to replace Justice Thurgood Marshall, the nation's first black Justice. This is 100% false and insulting. President George H.W. Bush never pledged to appoint a judge based on his race. He recognized Clarence Thomas, above all else, for his character and his commitment to the rule of law. When Justice William Brennan announced his retirement in June 1990, President George H.W. Bush wanted to select Thomas, who had just been appointed to the D.C. Circuit in March of 1990. Though a big fan of then-Judge Thomas, White Counsel Boyden Gray advised Bush against nominating Thomas for the Brennan seat until Thomas could construct a judicial record. When Justice Marshall announced his retirement the following year, Bush announced Thomas as his nominee. Far from identity politics, Bush's selection of Thomas was based on the merits. What the president saw, was that Thomas had truly delved into the founding principles and structure of our government, had actually worked in all three branches of government and understood its power to undermine liberty, understood and believed in the proper role of the courts in our republican system, and most important, had a backbone of steel. Thomas had an amazing personal story, born into poverty in the segregated South, raised by grandparents in the Catholic Church, briefly turning his back on that to embrace black nationalism, then returning to his grandparents' values, Thomas was a man who would never submit or wilt. President Ronald Reagan (above left) committed during his campaign to pick a woman justice, which conservatives came to regret not because of gender, but because of her judicial philosophy. (Above) Justice Sandra Day O'Connor outside the Supreme Court after her swearing-in ceremony in 1981 He had taken constant fire from establishment media and civil rights groups as a black conservative from the moment he joined the Reagan administration. Yet he never backed down from vicious attacks. That is what made him the best-qualified nominee when Bush selected him, and 30 years later, to liberals' wailing and gnashing of teeth, it ranks him among our nation's all-time greatest justices. Paoletta also served in the Trump White House and was very involved with the selection of the Justice Neil Gorsuch. President Donald Trump issued a list of 20 candidates whom he would consider for justice. Once elected, his judicial selection team, of which Paoletta was a part of, interviewed a number of judges, and recommended selecting Gorsuch completely based on our conclusion that Gorsuch was the candidate most committed to respecting the proper place of the judge in our system, and have the fortitude to stand up to the fire. In stark contrast, Biden now has limited his selection to nominating a black woman for his first Supreme Court opening. Will black civil rights group believe they are the preeminent outside voice that Biden must listen to? Given Biden's criteria that the most important aspect of a nominee is race and gender, what will Asian-Americans, Muslim-Americans or any other demographic group say about this process? Don't get us wrong: The best-qualified nominee might in fact be a black women. But when you arbitrarily restrict your choice to gender and skin color, you are not choosing based on merit. And you may get a nominee that may disappoint you as Justice O'Connor did. Biden did a great disservice to the Court and to whomever he appoints. Instead of the individual's qualifications, accomplishments, and judicial philosophy being the reason that person was selected, Biden's announced criteria makes skin color and gender the most important criteria. It is a political stunt and runs counter to Martin Luther King's advice that we judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. It is not fair to the individual chosen to have this stigma and undermines the faith of the American people in the Court. The Left will also demand that Biden pick someone who will definitely be much more liberal than Justice Breyer. The Left essentially bullied Breyer out of his seat. He is a decent man, and a thoughtful justice who is a liberal but with an independent and open mind. In the presidential contest of 2000, he agreed with George W. Bush that Al Gore's preferred recount approach in Florida was unconstitutional. In 2005, he was the fifth vote to save a public religious display which O'Connor voted to strike down. In 2012, he voted to strike down a key provision of Obamacare as an unconstitutional coercion of America's sovereign states. In 2017 and 2019, he joined with conservatives in voting for religious liberty in war memorials and public schools. It is unlikely that Biden will pick Vice President Harris, as some have speculated, as he would lose his tie-breaker in the 50-50 Senate until he was able to have a new vice president confirmed by both the House and Senate, no easy task without his own tie-breaker. Yet Biden's nominee will surely be to the left of Breyer on account of his very short list of possible picks and his being cravenly beholden to the most radical progressives in his party. Although Republicans have never put up a serious fight against a Democratic nominee, they should probe the anticipated nominee so the American people can see how radical Biden's nominee is likely to be. In a 50-50 Senate, and with the disrespectful way the President Biden and his team have handled Senators Manchin and Sinema, confirmation is not a forgone conclusion. It remains to be seen what Biden will do but he has already undermined the integrity of the selection by making race and gender the determinative factors. Mark Paoletta is a partner at Schaerr-Jaffe LLP. He served in the Bush 41 and Trump White Houses, and he worked on the confirmation efforts of Justices Thomas, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh. Ken Klukowski is a senior counsel at Schaerr Jaffe LLP. He worked on the confirmations of several Supreme Court Justices, and also served in the Trump White House and at the Department of Justice. A thug who jeered at Professor Sir Chris Whitty while he was held in a headlock sang 'West Ham til I die' and vaped in court as he was handed his prison sentence today. Jonathan Chew, 24, approached England's chief medical officer as he walked through St James's Park in Westminster on June 27 last year. Footage of the incident, lasting around 20 seconds and showing Chew alongside former estate agent Lewis Hughes, was widely shared on social media. Appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court today, Chew, of Chelmsford, Essex, admitted a charge of intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress to Prof Sir Chris. He also admitted obstructing Pc Steven Ozden. District judge Paul Goldspring today jailed Chew for eight weeks and ordered him to pay 1,058 in costs and compensation. It came after the judge interrupted proceedings to order Chew to stop vaping in the dock. Chew also responded to the costs announcement by saying: 'That's peanuts' and began singing 'West Ham 'til I die' as he was led out of the dock. Mr Goldspring told the defendant: 'Your contempt for these proceedings and this court have been breathtaking throughout the process.' Jonathan Chew (pictured earlier this month), 24, approached England's chief medical officer as he walked through St James's Park in Westminster on June 27 last year Mr Goldspring condemned the defendant for targeting Sir Chris who had responded to 'an unprecedented crisis over the last few years' with 'great dignity' and 'great professionalism'. 'He didn't choose be in the public eye. He is entitled to go about his work. He is entitled to go about his daily life,' Mr Goldspring added. 'You targeted him, in the sense that you recognised him from the TV,' he said. The judge said he gave Chew 'full credit' for pleading guilty at the first opportunity to the charge of intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress. He also said he accepted Chew did not initially intend to be hostile and suffered from learning difficulties, mental health issues and autism. However, he added: 'You had a significant, I go as far as to say, an appalling criminal record.' Hughes, 24, earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating and was sentenced last July. Appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court today (pictured), Chew, of Chelmsford, Essex, admitted a charge of intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress to Prof Sir Chris Earlier in January, Rabah Kherbane, defending, had asked for the case to be adjourned after Chew's former solicitor withdrew due to being 'professionally embarrassed' following the defendant's behaviour in court. Mr Kherbane said the defendant has several conditions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism which would make it difficult for him to follow proceedings. Morgan, prosecuting, said Sir Chris was walking alone through St James's Park when Hughes and Chew approached him. When Hughes asked for a selfie the Government's Chief Medical Officer replied 'No'. Mr Morgan said: 'Lewis Hughes placed an arm around Professor Whitty. 'This defendant stepped in front of Professor Whitty...he was filming the matter on a camera. 'Professor Whitty noted the smell of alcohol on the two men. Chew (left, and right in the video with Whitty) appeared on a court videolink earlier this month lying on his bed in a dressing gown which revealed his bare chest The duo filmed themselves hounding Whitty when he walked through St James' Park on June 27 Chew, 24, pictured outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in June, originally denied common assault and obstructing police 'Professor Whitty tried pushing through them to the safety of what he saw nearby as a number of police constables. 'There was pushing and shoving that he was a part of. 'Professor Whitty was able to get away towards the police vehicles. 'Police stopped the two defendants and Professor Whitty went on his way.' When Chew spoke to police he gave the details of his brother, Aaron Chew, including an address previously linked to him. Mr Morgan said this amounted to a 'waste of police resources'. The court was shown CCTV footage showing Sir Chris clearly trying to get away. The video, which was uploaded to social media, also showed Chew's arm being placed around Sir Chris. Lewis Hughes, 23, (left, and right in the video) was fired from Caplen Estates Agents after the clip found its way to his boss Chew's most recent conviction was 10 weeks in custody for possessing an unauthorised item in prison, which is likely to have been a mobile phone. Mr Morgan said he would apply for 930 in costs since the trial has been prepared on multiple occasions. District Judge Paul Goldspring suggested Chew may have attended a protest before encountering the scientist. He added: 'Professor Whitty was targeted because he was someone in the public eye if it had been anyone else there is no way he would have wanted a selfie.' Chew earlier admitted threatening and abusive words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Kalsoom Shah, from the CPS, said: 'Jonathan Chew showed a complete disregard for his victim and social distancing rules when he accosted the Government's Chief Medical Officer in a London park. 'His actions were not boisterous and spirited but shocking, inconsiderate and disgraceful. 'Like everyone else, public figures should be free to go about their day to day work without fear of being targeted. The CPS will always work with the police to bring to justice those who break the law in this way.' Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has said that his hedge fund recently acquired a stake in Netflix worth more than $1 billion, arguing that the battered online streamer is undervalued, after its stock plunged more than 35 percent this month. Ackman, 55, announced his move on Wednesday, saying his Pershing Square Capital Management had acquired 3.1 million shares of Netflix since Friday, making it a top-20 shareholder. Netflix stock popped as much as 8 percent following the news, but remains down more than 35 percent since the start of the year, amid the perception that the service's golden days during pandemic lockdowns are behind it. Last week, Netflix executives struggled to explain why the world's dominant streaming service is struggling to meet expectations on subscriber growth, when many had anticipated a return to predictable, pre-pandemic quarterly gains. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman has said that his hedge fund recently acquired a stake in Netflix worth more than $1 billion, arguing that the battered streamer is undervalued Netflix stock, seen in a one-year view, popped as much as 8 percent following the news, but remains down more than 35 percent since the start of the year The company added a paltry 8.3 million worldwide subscribers during the October-December period, about 200,000 fewer than management had forecast. Netflix also projected gains of 2.5 million subscribers in the January through March quarter, roughly two-thirds of the 4 million customers added in the same period a year earlier. 'It's tough to say exactly why our acquisition hasn't kind of recovered to pre-Covid levels,' said Netflix CFO Spencer Neumann in an earnings call last Thursday. 'It's probably a bit of just overall Covid overhang that's still happening after two years of a global pandemic that we're still unfortunately not fully out of, some macroeconomic strain in some parts of the world, like Latin America, in particular.' Wall Street analysts pointed to heightened competition and a slower-than-anticipated return to normalcy after the distortions of the pandemic as possible factors. Ackman, in a letter to investors, explained: 'The opportunity to acquire Netflix at an attractive valuation emerged when investors reacted negatively to the recent quarter's subscriber growth and management's short-term guidance.' Pictured: Netflix subscribers added per quarter, from 2020 until the first quarter of 2022 (projected) Netflix has plowed millions into content, such as the new season of Ozark (above) but has disappointed investors with its recent subscriber growth 'Many of our best investments have emerged when other investors whose time horizons are short term, discard great companies at prices that look extraordinarily attractive when one has a long-term horizon,' wrote Ackman. In discussing the massive investment, Ackman touted Netflix's 'best-in-class management team and unique high-performance culture' as well as 'superb quality in its industry-leading content.' Netflix has invested heavily in content, and seen smashing success with shows such as Squid Game, released last fall. The company's popular series Ozark released a new season last week, and upcoming offerings include a second season of Bridgerton and a new science-fiction film starring Ryan Reynolds. The service now boasts nearly 222 million worldwide subscribers worldwide, more than other video streaming leader. Netflix has begun to see its skyrocket subscription base begin to level off Netflix paid subscriber growth, showing a steep drop-off from 2020 to the first two quarters of 2021 But Netflix picked up just 18.2 million worldwide subscribers during 2021, its slowest pace of annual growth in five years. It came after Netflix gained more than 36 million subscribers during 2020, as pandemic lockdowns drove a frenzy for bingeing streaming content at home. Meanwhile rival services, such as Disney's Disney+, WarnerMedia's HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video, are spending billions on content to attract subscribers, gobbling up market share. 'The reality is that the streaming market has become saturated,' wrote Mike Proulx, vice president of research for Forrester, in a note. 'This translates to more choice for consumers, who are growing concerned with the aggregate costs of their streaming subscriptions.' Montgomery DA says the city is 'under siege' after a weekend of violence where the born-again Christian husband of a former Miss America contestant was gunned down in front of his family while they were out preaching in a 'rough area'. The DA of Alabama's capital city, Daryl Bailey, said he spent his entire weekend dealing with a wave of violent crime. 'We've got to start sending messages that this behavior is not tolerated. I spent my entire weekend dealing with the violent crime in Montgomery, going to crime scenes, or on the phone with law enforcement,' Bailey said. Among those violent crimes was the senseless murder of Thomas Hand, 37, who was shot dead in front of his pregnant wife and two-year-old son in an unprovoked attack on Texas Street while preaching on Saturday. Jerimiah Walker, 17, from Montgomery was arrested and charged with his murder. He appeared in court on Monday, and is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Facility. Hand, a bodybuilder and born-again Christian, had not interacted with his assailant before Saturday's attack, his 33-year-old wife Christine Kozlowski Hand - a beauty pageant queen who once won the Miss Mississippi title and competed in Miss America - told DailyMail.com. 'It was a complete random act of violence,' she said. Hand is the city's third homicide victim this year alone. Last year, the city recorded 75 homicides, with interim police Chief Ramona Harris calling it 'one of the highest number's we've seen in Montgomery.' The city recorded 68 murders in 2020 and 42 killings in 2019. In the past four weeks alone, there have been eight aggravated assaults in the area where Hand was murdered. Three days before he was killed, someone fired a gun a block from where he was shot dead. It's not clear whether anyone was injured in that incident. Christine Kozlowski Hand is seen with her husband, Thomas, who was shot and killed Saturday while he was preaching in a 'rough' neighborhood on Texas Street in Montgomery Hand is pictured with his wife Kozlowski and their son, Roman, in this undated photo Hand was shot dead in front of his wife and two-year-old son in this area of Texas Street, which friends have called a 'rough' neighborhood Montgomery DA says the city is 'under siege' after a weekend of violence where the born-again Christian husband of a former Miss America contestant was gunned down in front of his family while they were out preaching in a 'rough area' Baily told WSFA on Monday - two days after the murder - that he hopes the Alabama Supreme Court's ruling raising bail amounts for those charged with murder will help keep them behind bars. Previously, a murder suspect's bail could be set at $150,000. Now it can go up to $1.5 million. 'I don't think cash bail is in the interest of public safety. I want a 'detain' or 'not detain' system where judge determines if they are a danger - and if they are, keep them locked up,' he added. Earlier this month, Tory Johnson was arrested after shooting dead a 21-year-old man and injuring six others at a bowling alley in the city. He initially posted $270,000 and was freed on bond by a judge. However, after public outcry - and with Baily's intervention - he is now back behind bars after his bond was raised to $860,000. In the latest attack, Hand had ventured to the rough Alabama neighborhood on Saturday with his family to preach to his neighbors in the impoverished neighborhood about God, , his friends and family said - just days after the couple celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary. A map shows the 3100 block of Texas Street where Hand was shot and killed on Saturday In the past four weeks alone, there have been eight aggravated assaults in the area where Hand was murdered, according to Montgomery crime stats. Three days before he was killed, someone fired a gun a block from where he was shot dead. Hand is the city's third homicide victim this year to date The couple shares a two-year-old son Roman, whom Christine was pregnant with in this file photo. She's now pregnant with their second child That's when a mumbling Walker allegedly walked up and shot him in front of his wife and their two-year-old son in an unprovoked attack. Police did not immediately disclose the motive or details of the January 22 murder, which happened about 4:30 p.m. on the 3100 block of Texas Street. The Hand family moved to the city last year to escape growing violence in the New Orleans, Louisiana suburb where they previously lived, their friends told DailyMail.com. Hand, a fitness buff and ex-competitive bodybuilder, discovered God in 2018 and soon became deeply religious. He and his wife, Miss Mississippi 2008, made it a Saturday tradition to visit low-income areas in Alabama and share religious teachings. 'He tried to spread the word of God, and he was shot,' longtime friend Kevin Rayan told DailyMail.com. When his father was hit, the little boy, Roman, tried to reassure him that everything would be ok. 'He said, 'Oh, you'll be okay, Dad' - that's what he told him as he was dead on the pavement,' Rayan told The Sun. 'And then this happened.' Christine Kozlowski Hand was named Miss Mississippi in 2008 Kozlowski competed in Miss America in 2009 at age 19 and won the swimsuit competition. Right, she is seen winning her Miss Mississippi sash in 2008 Hand Jr. was a competitive bodybuilder and the 2010 Mr. New Orleans, according to his company's website Hand and Kozlowski, from D'Iberville, Mississippi, married in 2016. She had won the state pageant in 2008 and competed in Miss America the following year at age 19 where she won the swimsuit competition. The couple met at a gym, longtime friend Luke Lemus, 48, told DailyMail.com. 'It was love at first sight,' he said. 'They just hit it off. They started their life together from that point on. They were inseparable from the day they met.' Hand, who has a biological child and a stepchild from a previous marriage, discovered God in 2018, a few years after marrying Christine, Lemus said. The couple moved to Alabama to escape growing violence in the New Orleans area, where they previously lived The Hand family are seen in an undated photo, with their son Roman He since became passionate about studying the Bible, enlightening others about Christianity, and hoped to one day become a preacher. 'He started going to church, went and got saved,' he said. 'He studied the Bible day in and day-out.' Added Lemus: 'It's a huge tragedy, not only to his wife, but we lost a very dear friend, as well. Heaven definitely gained an angel. It's selfish to think we wish we could have it back.' Richard Nephew stepped down as deputy special envoy for Iran and left the U.S. team negotiating Iran's return to the 2015 nuclear deal because he believed the there was no future for the agreement, according to a new report. Nephew's departure was confirmed this week by a State Department official who declined to comment on the reason for the move. But it comes at a critical phase in negotiations, as Iran signals it is preparing to begin direct talks with American negotiators. Initial reports suggested that Nephew, known as the architect of the Iran sanctions regime, believed the Biden administration's strategy was too soft as negotiators sought to bring Tehran back to the nuclear accord jettisoned under President Trump. Now sources have told Laura Rozen, who writes the Diplomatic newsletter, that Nephew came to believe that instead of returning to the 2015 deal - known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - the U.S. should pivot to a different agreement. That put him at odds with Biden administration policy of seeking to restore the 2015 agreement. 'There was no personal difference,' a senior State Department official told her. 'If there was any difference, it was with U.S. government policy. So the issue was not what anyone on the team believes.' A State Department official confirmed to DailyMail.com this week that Richard Nephew had left his role as deputy special envoy for Iran. Now it appears that he quit because he disagree with Washington's policy of seeking a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is the latest official this week to suggest that a deal could be reached during a TV interview after he returned from meeting Vladimir Putin in Moscow Last month state TV broadcast images of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps firing missiles during military exercises in three provinces, including near its only nuclear power plant She also named one of two other officials who had left the team - Ariane Tabatabai, a senior adviser in the State Department arms control bureau. Under the terms of the 2015 J.C.P.O.A, sanctions were lifted in return for limits on Iran's nuclear program. However, American conservatives frequently expressed their opposition to the deal. They said Iran frequently breached the spirit of the agreement, sowing unrest in the Middle East and continuing to develop rocket technology. They also expressed concerns about sunset clauses, which meant some nuclear restrictions expired after eight, 10 and 15 years. It meant Iran would eventually be able to build up its uranium enrichment capability and reduce the time needed to build nuclear weapons. As a result, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, reimposing sanctions and freeing Iran to begin enhancing uranium production. Talks to reinstate the deal began in Vienna last year. However, Iran has refused to negotiate directly with the U.S. Instead European diplomats are shutting between rooms, passing messages. Eight rounds of indirect talks have so far been conducted. But Iranian officials have begun to signal they might be ready for a new phase. The country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said this month that negotiating with the enemy was not the same as surrendering. And Tehran's foreign minister floated the idea of direct talks on Monday. 'Reports saying that Iran and the US are directly negotiating with one another are untrue,' Hossein Amirabdollahian said during a news conference in the Iranian capital, Tehran. 'However, if we get to a stage where reaching a good deal with strong guarantees necessitates direct talks with the US, we will consider it.' This week British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned that the current negotiations were not progressing quickly enough. 'This negotiation is urgent and progress has not been fast enough,' she told British lawmakers. 'We continue to work in close partnership with our allies but the negotiations are reaching a dangerous impasse.' A gang member caught on CCTV handing a pistol to his friend moments before he shot a man outside a nightclub has been jailed for 26 years. The terrifying moment the gunman opened fire on the reveller in a crowded London street in front of screaming onlookers was caught on camera after a fight broke out near a nightclub. Tristan Samuels was blasted twice in the back as he tried to run off with a friend who had been stabbed during the brawl outside the Opium club in Soho. Moments earlier, Sheldon Pommell, 37, was seen leaning into a silver Jaguar in nearby Rupert Street and passing an object believed to be a Beretta handgun to 39-year-old Richard Palmer, who put it in a bag. Pommell then pointed in the direction of Mr Samuels, in his 20s, and encouraged Palmer to chase him down, police said. Palmer pulled a Beretta handgun from his bag and chased Mr Samuels through the busy street before shooting him in front of terrified onlookers. The gunman then ran back to the Jaguar where Pommell was waiting and the pair got in the car and fled the scene in the early hours of August 26, 2019. Mr Samuels took himself to hospital with gunshot wounds and was lucky to survive while his friend was also taken to hospital with stab wounds. Tristan Samuels (front right) was blasted in the back as he tried to run off after a brawl at the Opium club in west London. Richard Palmer, 39, can be seen wearing a white shirt and black shoulder bag running after the stab victim and pulling a Beretta handgun from the bag Sheldon Pommell (left) was caught on CCTV passing an object police believe was a gun to Richard Palmer (right) who then ran after Tristan Samuels and shot him twice in the back Police found the silver Jaguar parked outside Pommell's home in Ruislip, west London later that day. Officers searched the address and found clothing and jewellery he was seen wearing on CCTV outside the club the night before. Palmer had met with gangland armourer Bolanle Roberts, 43, to get rid of the Beretta before he was arrested. His fingerprints were found on the rear doors of the Jaguar. The men were part of a gang of major drug dealers and when Roberts was arrested on August 27 in Acton police recovered 48,132 in cash and 27,000 worth of heroin and crack cocaine, Officers also found keys to a flat in Coleridge Drive, Ruislip where they discovered a cache of guns and ammunition hidden in a rucksack in an airing cupboard. Police also found the fully loaded Beretta used in the shooting, fitted with a silencer and 95,000 of worth of heroin. Mr Samuels is marked in red while Palmer is marked in pink as he chases him down the street Palmer returns to the Jaguar where Pommel is waiting and the two drive away from the scene Pictured: The Beretta that was used in the shooting. Onlookers screamed as Palmer opened fire in the crowded street, hitting Mr Samuels twice in the back as he tried to flee the scene Pictured: Bolanle Roberts, left, and Robert Dolan, right, were jailed as part of the investigation after officers uncovered their roles. Roberts received 15 years for possessing firearms and supplying Class A drugs. Dolan admitted assisting an offender, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and possession of criminal property. He was jailed for 12 and a half years Woolwich Crown Court heard Roberts acted as 'quartermaster' for criminals who needed quick access to firearms. Following Roberts' arrest Palmer went into hiding at a hotel in Hanwell with the help of Robert Dolan, 34. Following Dolan's arrest in Teddington, detectives seized a shoebox containing 6,840 and a mobile phone. Last year Palmer, from Ealing, was sentenced to 15 years and six months for attempted murder and weapons offences. Roberts, also from Ealing, received 15 years for possessing firearms and supplying Class A drugs. Dolan, from Hounslow, admitted assisting an offender, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and possession of criminal property. He was jailed for 12 and a half years. Pictured: the cache of guns and ammunition which were recovered during the investigation Pommell, from Ruislip, was the last member of the gang to be sentenced after he was convicted of attempted murder following a retrial. He was jailed for 26 years on Wednesday. Det Sgt Chris Ladmore, from the Met Police, said: 'The men behind this violent incident have now received a combined 69-year jail sentence for their crimes. 'This operation started off as an attempted murder investigation, but led to us discovering a cache of loaded firearms and a wealth of ammunition that we were able to remove from the streets of London. Every bullet seized is a potential life saved. 'The victim who was shot on Rupert Street was lucky to survive - it easily could have had a different ending. 'The shooting is a stark reminder of the selfish disregard for human life and brazen use of firearms that people like Pommell, Palmer and Roberts hold. 'Tackling violence remains our top priority and restricting the availability of firearms is critical to protecting communities. 'Firearms have no place in London and this seizure has inevitably prevented further violence. We will continue to robustly target both those who carry firearms and those who supply them.' Advertisement Lithuania is selling a former CIA 'black site' where Al Qaeda prisoners were held and tortured during the War on Terror. The site , dubbed 'Project No. 2' or 'Detention Site Violet', was used by the CIA between 2005 and 2007 to hold high-profile suspected terrorists who were subjected to so-called 'enhanced interrogation' techniques. Detainees were locked in soundproof rooms where they sat shackled and blindfolded, exposed to harsh lights and bombarded with constant noise, and deprived of sleep according to claims made at the European Court of Human Rights. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, self-professed 9/11 mastermind, is thought to have been held there, along with Abu Zubaydah, an alleged Al Qaeda recruiter and trainer known as America's 'forever prisoner'. After the CIA shuttered the site, located a short distance from the capital Vilnius, it served as a training facility for the Lithuanian intelligence service, and since 2017 has been looked after by the country's real estate fund which is now selling it for a yet-to-be-determined price. Lithuania is selling a site located close to the capital Vilnius which served as a CIA black site between 2005 and 2007 when it was known as 'Detention Site Violet' The building houses ten soundproof and windowless rooms where suspected terrorists were subjected to 'enhanced interrogation' techniques Inmates are thought to have been carried inside in crates, before being shaved and shackled, then kept in rooms where they were bombarded with harsh light and constant noise The site was used as a training centre by the Lithuanian secret service from 2007 until 2017, when it was handed over to the country's real estate firm The site - which has its own water supply and generator - consists of a main building filled with rooms for administrative facilities, and an attached steel barn. Inside the barn are ten soundproof and windowless cubicles where the detainees are thought to have been kept. It is thought that prisoners were brought to the facility inside windowless crates, and were then shaved, hooded or blindfolded, and had their legs shackled before being taken to one of the cubicles. Arvydas Anusauskas, who led a 2010 Lithuanian investigation into the site, described it as a place 'where one could do whatever you want.' Prisoners were subjected to harsh lights, constant noise, sensory deprivation, isolation and sleep deprivation, the European court was told in 2018 during a case brought by Zubaydah against Lithuania. The court eventually ruled in Zubaydah's favour, asserting that torture had been carried out there in violation of international laws. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, self-professed 9/11 mastermind (left), and Abu Zubaydah, an alleged Al Qaeda recruiter (right), are thought to have been held there The site consists of a main building which houses administrative offices along with rooms that contain windows and bathrooms (pictured) A bathroom located inside one of the rooms in the main building, away from where the prisoners are thought to have been kept Bare wires hand from the walls in a room inside the abandoned facility, where staff are too afraid to push any of the buttons It was revealed earlier this year that Lithuania has since paid Zubaydah $100,000 in compensation over his treatment. Originally arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and accused of recruiting for Al Qaeda, Zubaydah has been in detention ever since without being charged. He has been held at sites in Afghanistan, Poland and at Guantanamo, and waterboarded dozens of times. His membership of Al Qaeda has since been thrown into doubt. The Lithuanian site was closed in 2006 after the government refused to admit a third known prisoner, Mustafa al-Hawsawi, to hospital. The Pentagon declined to help, so the CIA ended up paying millions of dollars to get aid from 'third-party countries,' the Washington Post reported. 'Black sites' were used by the CIA as part of its 'extraordinary rendition' programme, which pre-dates the War on Terror and goes back to the Clinton administration. Detainees are thought to have been kept inside ten soundproof cubicles located inside a steel barn that is separate from the main building The site is self-reliant, housing its own generator (pictured) and is fitted with a water supply A view of the rear of the main building, leading to the steel barn at the end where it is thought the detainees were kept However, post-9/11 the programme was expanded and used to transport suspected Al Qaeda detainees to so-called 'black sites.' The sites - thought to include Lithuania, Poland, Egypt, Syria, and Afghanistan - were deemed to be outside US jurisdiction but not controlled by the countries where they were sited, putting them outside American and international laws. They were used to house high-value prisoners suspected of involvement in terrorist groups where they were subjected to 'enhanced interrogation' techniques. Such techniques include waterboarding - which simulates the effect of drowning without physically harming the subject - as well as sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation, stress positions, starvation, and other methods. The aim was to obtain information from the subjects on terror group activities, but a 2014 reported by the US Senate found the sites were 'brutal' and ineffective. Two men have been charged with the murder of law student Aya Hachem who was mistakenly gunned down in a botched drive-by shooting. Tyre firm boss Feroz Suleman, 40, arranged the execution of a rival businessman in broad daylight but the gunman he hired instead shot dead innocent passer-by Aya. The 19-year-old who dreamed of becoming a solicitor had fled from violence in her native Lebanon as a child to settle with her family in Blackburn, Lancashire. Miss Hachem was shot on May 17 last year while on a trip to a nearby supermarket to buy food ready for when her family would break their Ramadan feast that evening. She died in hospital after a bullet entered her left shoulder, passed through her body and embedded itself in a telegraph pole. Eight people were last year jailed for a total of more than 200 years following a trial for their involvement in the student's murder. But following a review of the evidence, Suhayl Suleman, 37, of Blackburn, and Lewis Otway, 41, of Manchester, have been charged with the student's murder and the attempted murder of Pacha Khan. Lancashire Police said the men are set to appear at Preston Crown Court tomorrow. Last year Feroz Suleman, of Blackburn, was ordered to serve a minimum of 34 years before he can be considered for parole. The gunman, Zamir Raja, 33, of Stretford, was jailed for a minimum of 34 years and his driver, Anthony Ennis, 31, of Partington, must serve at least 33 years. Fellow accomplices Ayaz Hussain, 36, Abubakr Satia, 32, both of Blackburn; his brother, Uthman Satia, 29, of Great Harwood, and Kashif Manzoor, 26, of Blackburn were handed minimum terms of 32 years, 28 years, 28 years, and 27 years, respectively. Judy Chapman, the girlfriend of Satia, was cleared of murdering Aya but found guilty of manslaughter after a 12-week trial. Two men have been charged with the murder of law student Aya Hachem (pictured) who was mistakenly gunned down in a botched drive-by shooting Suhayl Suleman, 37, of Blackburn, (pictured) is the brother of tyre firm boss Feroz Suleman, 40, who arranged the execution of a rival businessman in broad daylight - but the gunman he hired instead shot dead innocent passer-by Aya Following a review of the evidence, Suleman (pictured left and right) and Lewis Otway, 41, of Manchester, have been charged with the student's murder and the attempted murder of Pacha Khan Feroz Suleman, 40, Kashif Manzoor, 26, Ayaz Hussain, 35, Abubakr Satia, 32, Zamir Raja (right), 33, Anthony Ennis (left), 31, Uthman Satia, 29, were found guilty of murder at Preston Crown Court All seven men were also convicted of the attempted murder of Pachah Khan while Chapman was acquitted of the attempted murder of Mr Khan. Left: Kashif Manzoor. Right: Feroz Suleman Left: Ayaz Hussain. Right: Uthman Satia. Lancashire Police today released the footage showing the moments leading up to Aya's death Preston Crown Court heard the drive-by shooting was organised by Feroz Suleman, who had been embroiled in a bitter feud with his neighbour and business rival Mr Khan .Judy Chapman, the girlfriend of Satia, was cleared of murdering Aya but found guilty of manslaughter after a 12-week trial Left: Abubakr Satia. Right: Judy Chapman Cops said both men had been interviewed in the early stages of the investigation but were released without charge. However the Crown Prosecution Service has now authorised charges, police have confirmed. Following the conclusion of the group's trial last year, Lancashire Police shared multiple clips and images breaking down the expansive investigation into the shooting in May last year. What were each of the defendants convicted for? Feroz Suleman , 40, of Blackburn instigated and organised the hit. , 40, of Blackburn instigated and organised the hit. Abubakr Satia , 32, of Blackburn sourced the Avensis used in the shooting and was also involved in buying petrol afterwards to burn out the car, however, this did not go ahead. , 32, of Blackburn sourced the Avensis used in the shooting and was also involved in buying petrol afterwards to burn out the car, however, this did not go ahead. Kashif Manzoor , 26, of Blackburn was responsible for ensuring the Avensis used to transport the shooter was running on the day of the incident. , 26, of Blackburn was responsible for ensuring the Avensis used to transport the shooter was running on the day of the incident. Judy Chapman , 26, of Great Harwood, drove the gunman and driver from Bolton to the Avensis on Wellington Road, Blackburn and collected them afterwards in the afternoon of the shooting. , 26, of Great Harwood, drove the gunman and driver from Bolton to the Avensis on Wellington Road, Blackburn and collected them afterwards in the afternoon of the shooting. Uthman Satia , 29, of Great Harwood Judy Chapman's partner - was also responsible for transporting the gunman and driver to and from the Avensis on Wellington Road as Chapman's front seat passenger. , 29, of Great Harwood Judy Chapman's partner - was also responsible for transporting the gunman and driver to and from the Avensis on Wellington Road as Chapman's front seat passenger. Ayaz Hussain , 35, of Blackburn was the link between the Lancashire offenders and Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis, based in Manchester. He played a key role in organising and orchestrating the shooting and was in company of Abubakr Satia when the petrol to burn out the Avensis was bought. , 35, of Blackburn was the link between the Lancashire offenders and Zamir Raja and Anthony Ennis, based in Manchester. He played a key role in organising and orchestrating the shooting and was in company of Abubakr Satia when the petrol to burn out the Avensis was bought. Zamir Raja , 33, of Stretford, Manchester was responsible for sourcing and transporting the firearm used in the shooting, as well as firing the shots. , 33, of Stretford, Manchester was responsible for sourcing and transporting the firearm used in the shooting, as well as firing the shots. Anthony Ennis , 31, Partington drove the Avensis carrying the gunman during the shooting. Advertisement Another video shows Chapman and boyfriend Satia collecting hitman Raja and driver Ennis from Bolton on the day of the shooting. Back at the R1 Tyres forecourt, boss Feroz Suleman is caught on CCTV looking over his shoulder towards Pacha's Quick Shine car wash, in anticipation of what was about to happen. Manzoor is then seen returning with jump leads, which investigators believe were used to start the Avensis. The men were jailed last year in front of Aya's heartbroken father Ismail, mother Samar and brother Ibrahim, who watched on from the public gallery. In a statement, Aya's father Ismail told the court: 'They didn't just kill Aya, they killed our family. The light in our lives has gone out.' Following the sentencing, horrific footage showed the moment Aya's drive-by killers opened fire on a rival tyre firm but hit her at point-blank range as she walked to the shop. CCTV captured the 19-year-old law student walking past the garage on the way to Lidl before she was hit in the chest by a stray bullet shot from a Toyota Avensis. Lancashire Police also released the footage showing the moments leading up to Aya's death. The clip shows the Toyota slowly approach the garage as one of the early rounds burst a bucket near one of the workers - causing him to spin around in horror. The video ends by showing innocent bystander Aya standing on the path between the shooter and the target - just feet away from the gun that killed her. Preston Crown Court heard the drive-by shooting was organised by Feroz Suleman, who had been embroiled in a bitter feud with his neighbour and business rival Mr Khan. Feroz hired Raja, a hitman from Manchester, to carry out the shooting for the price of 1,500. Raja, of no fixed address, refused to fully participate in cross-examination and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. On his behalf, his legal team argued it was never his intention to kill and he had set out on a mission to 'scare or intimidate' Mr Khan and his workers at Quickshine Tyres. The Toyota Avensis driven by Ennis with hitman Raja on board drove past Quickshine Tyres on three occasions shortly before the fatal fourth journey. Footage from CCTV cameras captured Feroz stood outside his premises next door at RI Tyres with a 'ringside seat' to the shooting. The first shot hit the front window of Quickshine and the second was let off as Lebanese-born Ms Hachem walked by - hitting her rather than the intended target. Nicholas Johnson QC previously told the jury Raja, the man who he says fired the shot that killed Aya, fled to Portugal via Dublin nine days after the incident. Lancashire Police released new photographs of Aya Hachem (left and right) after her killers were convicted Ammunition (pictured) in the car was found by officers who were conducting a search A search of the Nissan Juke which Raja drove to Liverpool with Anthony Ennis on May 16 (above) revealed a similar bullet to the one that killed Aya The Avensis is pictured in situ where it was found on Wellington Road following the shooting Three days later Anthony Ennis, the man accused of being Raja's driver at the time of the hit, flew to the continent on his brother's passport, it was heard. Prosecutors say a meet up between the pair in which they initially pretended not to know each other but later embraced in a 'brotherly hug' was caught on CCTV. Nicholas Johnson QC told the jury at Preston Crown Court: 'They thought they had got away with murder. Home free.' By this stage, other suspects Feroz Suleman, Judy Chapman, Kashif Manzoor, Abubkar Satia, Uthman Satia and Hussain Ayaz had all been arrested. Ten days after he had travelled to Portugal, Raja returned to the UK in a car he had hired with Ennis in Portugal, Mr Johnson told the court. Mr Johnson said the feud between Suleman and Mr Khan started in 2019 when Quickshine began selling tyres next door to RI after previously only washing cars. This resulted in 'bad blood', it was heard, and a plan was hatched to kill Mr Khan and/or someone else at Quickshine. Aya (left and right), a second-year student at the University of Salford, died in hospital from a single gunshot wound a short time later of an 'irreversible' cardiac arrest Kashif Manzoor's text messages were also revealed by Lancashire Police today as they shared evidence used in the case The court heard Aya, an aspiring solicitor, was walking along King Street in Blackburn at 3pm on May 17, 2020, when she was hit. Aya, a second-year student at the University of Salford, died in hospital from a single gunshot wound a short time later of an 'irreversible' cardiac arrest. Her distraught parents said she was the 'most loyal, devoted daughter' who enjoyed spending time with her family. Aya and her family were also known to be heavily involved with Blackburn's asylum seeker and refugee community. She herself had fled war-torn Lebanon for a new life in the UK and had passed her second year exams shortly before her tragic death. She was a trustee with the Children's Society and won Student of the Year at Blackburn Central High School in 2016. Undercover police today brawled with two suspected burglars after a dramatic car chase through central London. Officers driving a black BMW raced after a red Mini Cooper when it refused to stop on Waterloo Place, near Pall Mall, in Westminster. The policemen, dressed in tracksuit bottoms and hoodies, caught up with the vehicle and rammed it to a stop just past the Ritz a mile away. Two of them smashed their way into the car before one rained punches down on the driver - who was later rushed to hospital with a head injury. Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop, dangerous driving and commercial burglary. Meanwhile the male passenger was nicked on suspicion of commercial burglary while a female in the car was not arrested. The fighting, at around 1.50pm on Thursday, came to a head outside the 25,000-a-year Eaton Square School. Officers driving a black BMW raced after a red Mini Cooper when it refused to stop on Waterloo Place, near Pall Mall, in Westminster The policemen, dressed in tracksuit bottoms and hoodies, caught up with the vehicle and rammed it to a stop a near the Ritz a mile away Two of them smashed their way into the car before one rained punches down on the driver - who was later rushed to hospital with a head injury Shocking footage showed one of the officers grab the driver from the smoking wreck and thump him several times on the head before dragging him out the car. Meanwhile his partner sprinted round to the passenger side and tried to kick through the window to get to the other man. But he gave up and raced back to help his colleague and a third officer who had arrived wearing police uniform. They bundled the first suspect - who was bald - out of the car and slammed him face first on to the pavement. The second man tried to kick the policemen off him but was also hauled out of the vehicle and cuffed. Shocked onlookers screamed with terror and questioned if the police were allowed to be so forceful. They sat in their cars in a huge backlog in the upmarket street in the capital as they waited for the fighting to stop. Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop, dangerous driving and commercial burglary Police said the man was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop, dangerous driving and commercial burglary Meanwhile the male passenger was nicked on suspicion of commercial burglary while a female in the car was not arrested One woman shouted: 'Oh my God, wow. What is that, quickly. What the hell. Is that police? What is happening?' Another in the car with her yelled back: 'You're shouting. Stop shouting. You need to calm down.' Another video of the arrests showed the scene swamped with officers as they spoke to and searched the suspects and checked the car while a helicopter swirled above. A woman shouted to one of the policemen: 'Did they kidnap someone? What did they do? Did they kidnap someone?' One of the officers replied to them: 'An emergency stop.' She replied: 'But are you allowed to hit them like that?' He said: 'Absolutely.' She added: 'Well done. Well done man, you're amazing. Oh my god.' Shocking footage showed one of the officers grab the driver from the smoking wreck and thump him several times on the head before dragging him out the car Meanwhile his partner sprinted round to the passenger side and tried to kick through the window to get to the other man But he gave up and raced back to help his colleague and a third officer who had arrived wearing police uniform A police spokesman said: 'At 13:49hrs on Thursday, 27 January officers on patrol in the vicinity of Waterloo Place, Westminster had cause to signal for a vehicle to stop. 'The vehicle, a red Mini, failed to stop and made off from officers. 'It was pursued for a short distance before tactical contact was made by specialist officers, bringing the vehicle to a stop at the junction of Piccadilly and Brick Street. 'The driver and two other occupants of the vehicle a man and a woman were detained. 'The driver was arrested on suspicion of failing to stop, dangerous driving and commercial burglary. 'The male passenger was arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary. The female passenger was not arrested. 'The driver sustained a head injury and has been transported to hospital for further assessment. The male passenger has been taken into custody.' The US Navy has discharged dozens of service members, some of whom had been serving on active duty, for refusing the mandatory Covid vaccine. Wednesday marked the first time the Navy has formally announced it was kicking out its sailors for failing to get inoculated against Covid-19 since the military made vaccines a mandatory requirement on November 28. The discharges came as new guidance was released requiring all operational units to receive a Covid shot - while quarantine rules aboard vessels were relaxed based on advice from the Center for Disease and Prevention. In all, 5,731 sailors and 2,960 serving in reserve are at risk of discharge if they continue to refuse receiving a Covid vaccine. Although service members can apply for exemption from the vaccine mandate, there were just 269 approved medical exemptions, 59 administrative exemptions and zero religious accommodation exemptions by Wednesday, January 26. Thousands of requests for religious exemption from Covid-19 vaccines have been submitted and are being reviewed at present. Any sailors able to prove their medical or other exemption will be shifted to shore duty, while a handful have already seen their discrimination cases make it to court. Vice Admiral William Merz, deputy chief of operations with the Navy, admitted there had been a number of Covid outbreaks aboard ships, but they had no lasting impact on the force's operational capabilities. The US Navy has discharged dozens of service members, some of whom had been serving on active duty, for refusing the mandatory Covid vaccine. Pictured: US Navy sailors receiving their booster shots Sailors aboard The USS Harry Truman, which operates in the Atlantic Ocean, recieve COVID-19 booster vaccinations on December 14, 2021 Wednesday marked the first time the Navy has formally announced it was kicking out its sailors for failing to get inoculated against Covid-19 since the military made vaccines a mandatory requirement on November 28. [File image] In August, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin publicly announced a vaccine mandate for all service members, but allowed each service to set its own deadline. The services, urgently trying to keep the coronavirus pandemic in check by getting troops vaccinated, remain besieged with exemption requests they are unlikely to approve. All active-duty sailors were due to be fully vaccinated by November 28, but senior figures within the Navy held off from any instant cull to see if any vaccine sceptics might change their minds. Since then, the Navy has publicly announced the separation of more than 60 serving sailors for refusing to get a vaccine. Vice Admiral Merz referred to vaccines as 'biological body army' when speaking with reporters in the Pentagon on Wednesday. However, a federal judge in Texas granted a temporary injunction preventing the firing of 35 special operators within the Navy on January 3, who had sued the Pentagon over religious objections to the vaccine mandate. US District Judge Reed O'Connor, of the Northern District of Texas, issued a preliminary injunction saying there is 'no COVID-19 exception to the First Amendment' and that the pandemic doesn't give the government the license to 'abrogate those freedoms.' And Navy Cmdr. Lucian Kins, the executive officer of the destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, became the first naval officer to be fired over vaccine refusal in December. He reportedly requested a religious exemption to the military's vaccine requirement, but was denied and appealed the decision. Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Jason Fischer declined to give the precise reason why Kins was relieved of command, citing privacy concerns. He did, however, state the reason for the firing was that Anderson lost confidence in Kins' ability to perform his duties after he failed to obey a lawful order. Though all of Wednesday's discharges were involuntary, each active-duty sailor that was dismissed had more than six-months serving experience in the Navy, meaning they will receive their full account of educational and healthcare benefits. Those discharges announced within the Navy mirror those seen in America's other armed services in recent months. As on Wednesday January 26, there were more than 5,000 active sailors and 2,960 in reserve who remained unvaccinated, per a statement issued by the US Navy. And although service members can apply for exemption from the vaccine mandate, there were just 269 approved medical exemptions, 59 administrative exemptions and zero religious accommodation exemptions Vice Admiral William Merz, deputy chief of operations with the Navy, (pictured in April 2020) admitted there had been a number of Covid outbreaks aboard ships, but they had no lasting impact on the force's operational capabilities President Joe Biden was forced to come to terms with his humiliating loss in the Supreme Court on Tuesday when his administration formally buried its highly controversial vaccine rule for private businesses with at least 100 employees The Marine Corps had discharged 334 Marines as of last week, while the Air Force had kicked out 111 airmen for refusing a vaccine, per the latest figures. The Army remains the sole service that is yet to announce the discharge of an active member of the force for refusing to get inoculated - however up to 3,800 soldiers have been identified as being potentially separated for refusing a Covid shot. 2,994 soldiers received written reprimands for refusing the vaccine out of the 3,611 troops who have yet to get the jab. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had mandated the vaccinations in August but left it up to each military branch to set a deadline Meanwhile, the financial bonus to join the Army currently stands at $50,000 as the virus continues to wreak havoc for usual recruiting circles in schools, colleges and at public events. Obtaining a religious exemption is rooted in a process that predates the pandemic and has been used for decisions such as whether troops on duty can wear head coverings or beards for religious reasons. In addition to discussions with chaplains to determine whether they have a 'sincerely held belief,' troops must meet with commanders and medical personnel. The final decision is made higher up the chain of command and is also based on whether the person's vaccine exemption will pose a risk to mission accomplishment, unit cohesion, the health and safety of the force, and military readiness. None of the services have demanded a third Covid booster shot yet, but those discussions are understood to be 'ongoing' within the Pentagon. With 95 percent of active-duty Marines getting the jab, the branch's vaccination rate is now tied with the Air Force, while 98 percent of the Army is vaccinated and 99 percent of sailors in the Navy have received the vaccine, Politico reported. Navy Cmdr. Lucian Kins (pictured with his wife) was fired from his job as the executive officer of the USS Winston Churchill in December because he refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine or be tested to prove he did not have the virus Kins, who was on track to become commander of the USS Winston Churchill (pictured) in the next year and a half, had requested a religious exemption to the vaccine mandate It comes weeks after President Joe Biden was humiliated at the Supreme Court after his proposals that would have seen workers at large companies forced to get their Covid shots, or face being masked and tested weekly at their own expense, was blocked. Justices ruled that his administration had overstepped the mark in trying to force through a vaccine mandate that would have affected around 84million workers. The president's vaccine rule faced political and legal opposition almost immediately after he announced it last fall in a desperate bid to raise the U.S. vaccination rate that plateaued over the summer. But the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is now withdrawing the rule, which required large employers to either implement a COVID vaccine requirement or force workers to submit to weekly virus testing, which it formally issued after Biden's order on November 5 of last year. Former President Donald Trump celebrated the Supreme Court decision, arguing that vaccine mandates 'would have further destroyed the economy'. 'We are proud of the Supreme Court for not backing down,' he said in a statement. 'No mandates!' A Scottish schoolgirl's message in a bottle - in which she says she 'hates boys' and likes to collect Blu Tack - has washed up in Norway 24 years after it was sent out to sea. Joanna Buchan, 34, was just eight-years-old when the plastic Sprite bottle was dropped from a fishing boat off Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, in 1996 as part of a school project. The doctor, who has since moved to New South Wales, Australia, was left stunned this week when she heard it had been found some 800 miles away on the island of Gasvaer, in Norway. She had been contacted on Facebook by Elena Andreassen Haga in July 2020, who found the bottle while on holiday with her son Eliah, aged eight. However Joanna did not see Elena's message - which was hidden in the 'message requests' folder - until two days ago. The former schoolgirl's letter describes her pet dog Dougal, who will soon be '15 in dog days', making him 'one hundred and something!', as well as her upcoming school projects on 'post offices' and the much-loved children's book Charlotte's Web. She also mentions her love of Pogs, which were small animated cardboard discs children collected as part of a huge 90s craze. She hilariously signs off the letter: 'I love sweets. By the way I hate boys.' Joanna said she was stunned when she recognised her extremely neat handwriting and has since spoken to her teacher at the time, who was delighted the message was found - telling her she was 'so proud' to see she had become a doctor. Joanna Buchan (pictured), 34, was just eight-years-old when the plastic Sprite bottle was dropped from a fishing boat off Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, in 1996 as part of a school project The former schoolgirl's letter (pictured) describes her pet dog Dougal, who will soon be '15 in dog days', making him '100 and something!', as well as her upcoming school projects on 'post offices' and the much-loved children's book Charlotte's Web Joanna (pictured as a child) hilariously signed off her letter: 'I love sweets. By the way I hate boys.' Doctor Joanna said: 'At first I didn't remember the message in a bottle, but then I started to have a vague recollection of a project we did at school. 'It was a dusty memory but once I saw the letter I knew right away it was me, I recognised my handwriting, which is definitely not as neat now. 'I just died with laughter when I read it back especially the way I ended it with 'by the way I hate boys'. 'I really can't believe it survived 25 years in the North Sea. 'It was just a curled up bit of paper stuffed into an old Sprite bottle, so I am so shocked it turned up on a small uninhabited island in Norway.' Joanna was in class P4 at Peterhead Central Primary School when she sent the letter. The missive also included details about her 'rather big house', and her love of teddy bears. She said: 'My teacher from the time got in touch with me and was really chuffed it had been found. Joanna's message was placed inside a plastic Sprite bottle in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, in 1996. It was found in Gasvaer, Norway, in 2020 'One bottle was found early on after the bottles went out to sea but there haven't been any others found for 25 years. 'The letter is what eight-year-old me thought was important. 'I talk about how I liked to collect Blu Tack and it made me remember how I used to make little animals out of it when I should have been doing my schoolwork. 'I was so shocked when I got the message it had been found and just kept thinking what an earth would I have written about. 'Elena's dad actually found a message in a bottle there 60 years ago so when she was on holiday there she thought they'd have a look to see what they could find.' Mother-of-one Elena, 37, an electronics store manager from Stavanger, Norway, said she and her son were looking for trash to pick up when they noticed to the bottle. She recalled: 'We found the bottle, and immediately saw there was something inside 'I was very excited, you never know - is it just from another small island in the area, or what could be inside 'My son did not understand why this was so exciting. 'I sent Joanna a message the same day we found the bottle, and forgot about it after that holiday. Joanna had been contacted by Elena Andreassen Haga in July 2020, who had found the bottle while on holiday with her son Eliah, aged eight (pictured together with the bottle). However Joanna did not see her message request on Facebook until two days ago 'And suddenly late one evening here in Norway my Messenger app notified me she had seen the message. 'I didn't immediately understand who she was and then the conversation lit up when I sent her the picture of the letter. 'She asked if she could tag me in her post on Facebook, and the rest just piled on from there.' Joanna's class teacher at the time, Edith Skinner, has since got in touch with her to say how delighted she was the bottle had been found. In a message to Joanna she said: 'I just wanted to say how delighted Jane Bruce and l both were this afternoon to hear that your wee story in the bottle had been found. 'We both remember doing that project as well as the writing lesson prior to the messages being put in the bottles to be taken by Mrs Bruce's husband Gary to be cast overboard on his fishing trip. 'I think one bottle was discovered quite soon afterwards but l haven't of any others. 'The fact you mentioned our next project 'Charlotte's Web' brought back many happy memories of the lovely art work on the wall. 'Your handwriting is just as l remember - neat and beautifully formed. 'You were always so conscientious and a delight to teach. 'I am so proud to hear you are a doctor and I do hope you look back on your childhood years at Peterhead Central School with affection and happy memories. 'It was truly a special time for us all. Take care of yourself and live your best life.' A man claims his daughter, a Hispanic woman pushing CRT and who introduced 'math ethnic studies' into Seattle Public Schools, has fabricated a life of hardship to help push her agenda, likening her to notorious race faker Rachel Dolezal. Tracy Castro-Gill, 47, identifies herself as a 'Xicana' who overcame adversity to lead Ethnic Studies at Seattle Public Schools, where she had earned $93,000 a year - but her father Rick Castro claims she 'can't speak Spanish' and had a very comfortable middle-class upbringing. Castro-Gill, who also describes herself as gender-neutral in her Twitter profile, quickly became a controversial figure in 2019 after she accused some her colleagues of racism and introduced a K-12 Math Ethnic Studies Framework, which claimed math was 'used to disenfranchise people and communities of color,' according to the course curriculum. Castro, who is half Mexican, alleges that his daughter was lying about her deep roots with California's Latino culture and growing up in poverty. 'Everything since [Tracy] moved to Seattle has been one big lie,' Rick told Daily Wire reporter Luke Rosiak, according to an excerpt of the journalist's latest book, which was acquired and published by the outlet 'She can't speak Spanish. She's got a last name of Gill... Remember Rachel Dolezal, that lady a few years ago who pretended to be black? That's exactly what this is,' Rick added, referencing the white woman who became a Washington NAACP official while identifying as black. The infamous race faker - who has said she is 'transracial,' equating her experience to that of being transgender - claimed to be black as she rose up the ranks of the NAACP before being outed in 2015. Castro-Gill has denied her father's claims. Tracy Castro-Gill, 47, led Seattle Public School's Ethnic Studies program from 2019 to 2020 Castro-Gill's parents, Rita and Rick Castro, are pictured in this 2013 photo The program was piloted at six schools but ultimately failed to achieve any real results in closing the achievement gap between students of color and their white counterparts, which was meant to be the main goal of the program, Rosiak claimed. Castro-Gill allegedly said that she never had any intention of narrowing the gap, Rosiak wrote, claiming she said, 'Closing 'Achievement/Opportunity' gaps is a Western way of thinking about education. We should never 'close' that gap because it provides space for reflection and growth.' In a social media post put up after the Daily Wire published its article, Castro-Gill slammed the publication, calling the allegations 'false.' 'I am unsurprised that my work & my personal life have come under attack by the likes of Luke Rosiak & Ben Shapiro. It is only evidence that the work I do & the life I live are important & full of good deeds,' she wrote on Facebook and Twitter, adding: 'I thank them for the affirmation. In regards to the content of the piece, almost all of it, unsurprisingly, is false.' Castro-Gill went on to call out her father, writing: 'My father, Richard Castro, is a deeply troubled, ultra conservative, conspiracy theorist & doomsday prepper. He is driven by his need to assimilate into the dominant culture & is convinced that the government and ''liberals,'' most notably Black Americans, are out to get him.' DailyMail.com has reached out to Castro-Gill and Rick Castro for comment. In a social media post put up after the Daily Wire published its article, Castro-Gill slammed the publication, calling the allegations 'false' Castro-Gill identifies herself as a 'Xicana' who overcame adversity to lead Ethnic Studies at Seattle Public Schools, where she had earned $93,000 a year Castro-Gill was compared by her dad to infamous race faker Rachel Dolezal (above), a white woman who claimed to be 'transracial' as she rose the ranks of the Washington NAACP She introduced a K-12 Math Ethnic Studies Framework, which had students focusing on racism in math than actual math. She was removed from the district in 2020 Castro-Gill had previously claimed her father betrayed his Mexican heritage when he became a California correctional officer and turned into an 'angry U.S. nationalist,' according to a 2020 interview with the South Seattle Emerald. She said she experienced homelessness multiple times as a child and teen and eventually joined a gang, where she became a drug user and a teen mom. Rick denied her claims and told Rosiak she grew up as a normal middle-class kid and never discussed race growing up. 'It hurts to be the subject of a complete fabrication,' he said. 'She never said a word about any of this racial stuff back then... I don't know if it rubbed off, or we missed something raising her.' In her response post, Castro-Gill said her father was 'not able to provide a steady income for our family until he took advantage of affirmative action laws in the 1980s,' and that he did not reach middle class until she was already an adult with her own family. 'He equates poverty with being a bad father, and is angry that I told the world we were poor growing up,' Castro-Gill says, addressing her father's claims. 'Through no fault of his own, my Mexican-American father was not able to provide a steady income for our family until he took advantage of affirmative action laws in California in the late 80's. He's nothing if he's not a hard worker. The six-figure income stated in the piece, however, didn't manifest until I was an adult with a family of my own.' The ethnic math program Castro-Gill launched in Seattle Public Schools received backlash from parents who were worried that kids were spending more time on race and identity than on math. Rosiak wrote that one parent sent a letter to Castro-Gill, questioning the validity of the math ethnic studies program, which Castro-Gill and her staff allegedly ignored. In 2019, Castro-Gill allegedly called the school's IT employees racist for being unable to put her materials online. That same year, she reportedly sent out a tweet after a diversity meeting that said: ''Had a good last session with out #MarxistRingleader Wayne Au! Next step is matching 'INDOCTRINATED' t-shirts!', according to the Daily Wire. The tweet has since been taken down. She quickly became a controversial figure as a leader in the district, calling diversity meetings Marxist indoctrinations and accusing colleagues of being racist Then in May 2019, she allegedly accused a white teacher of wielding 'her white fragility and racial bias like a weapon' after the teacher called the police on an 11-year-old boy, according to Rosiak. Then on January 24, 2020, she accused Olympic View Elementary School principal Andrew Bean of 'explicit acts of Whiteness' that 'jeopardizes your fulfillment of the Strategic Plan for the school and the district,' Rosiak wrote, citing an email Castro-Gill allegedly sent, per the Daily Wire. When Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau allegedly confronted Castro-Gill of her failed program, Castro-Gill accused her of showing a lack of leadership, according to Rosiak. She was removed from her position a week later and was fired in May 2020, according to the South Seattle Emerald, and her department was eventually dissolved. She then helped co-found the Washington Ethnic Studies Now, which works to train and push for ethnic studies in Washington State schools, where she works as a trainer for educators. The Washington Ethnic Studies Now and Seattle Public Schools did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Despite being fired from Washington Public Schools, Castro-Gill now works as a training with Washington Ethnic Studies Now Castro-Gill also has an adult son. According to Rosiak, Castro-Gill left her husband, Ron Hammond, and two children in California to move to Washington and marry Brian Gill, a convicted child molester who had abused his eight-year-old cousin. The two had met online on the SecondLife virtual chat website, where strangers could talk to one another using online avatars. Brian had died of a heart attack in 2018. Castro-Gill addresses her ex-husband, who she left in 2008. 'I left my ex-husband in 2008. I left California in 2010 because there was nothing there for me...,' she writes. 'I married my late husband in 2012 and lost him to heart disease in 2018.' After leaving Hammond, Castro-Gill went on to earn her master's degree in education in 2013 and entered the Seattle Public School District as a substitute teacher, eventually working her way up to Ethnic Studies Program Manager after winning the districts Regional Teacher of the Year award in 2018. Although Castro-Gill did admit that her late husband was a convicted child molester, she said he had been rehabilitated and was a supportive father when she won custody of her daughter from her ex-husband, Hammond. 'As for my late husband, Brian Gill, the claims of his past are true. He committed a horrific, inexcusable crime in 1982,' Castro-Gill writes. 'It was his first and last crime of any type in his life. He did prison time and was rehabilitated. After being released from prison, he learned a trade, bought a home, and cared for his late partner, her two children, and two grandchildren, the latter of whom vouched for him in the custody case between myself and my ex-husband.' The DailyMail.com has reached out to Hammond for comment. Multiple channels of Iran's state television were hacked today, with viewers shown a crossed out black-and-white image of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei alongside a 'death to Khamenei' slogan. Exiled Iranian opposition group People's Mujahedin (MEK) on Thursday said its supporters carried out the hacking attack on state TV for about ten seconds. Viewers in Iran saw their regular programmes interrupted by images of Massoud Rajavi, the founder of MEK, and his wife Maryam Rajavi, who leads its Paris-based political wing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Then, an image of Khamenei crossed out with red lines appeared on the screen while a man chanted 'Salute to Rajavi, death to Khamenei'. A speech from Rajavi briefly plays over the images. He can be heard saying, 'Today, we still honor the time that we declared death to the reactionary. We stood by it.' During the hack, viewers saw a picture of Khamenei crossed out with red lines appeared on the screen while a man chanted 'Salute to Rajavi, death to Khamenei' Viewers in Iran saw their regular programmes interrupted by images of Massoud Rajavi, the founder of MEK, and his wife Maryam Rajavi, who leads its Paris-based political wing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) In Tehran, the state broadcaster confirmed that it had been the victim of the attack, saying it lasted just 10 seconds and was being investigated. The MEK were initially supporters of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that ousted the shah. But the group rapidly fell out with the country's new leaders, backed Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war and were blamed for a string of attacks in the early 1980s including a blast that wounded Khamenei himself. The hack represented a major breach of Iranian state television, long believed to controlled and operated by members of the Islamic Republic's intelligence branches, particularly its hard-line Revolutionary Guard. Such an incident hasn't happened for years. 'Several of the regime's radio and television stations broadcast these slogans today,' a Paris-based spokesman for the NCRI said, saying at least seven state-run radio and TV channels were hit in this way and several others disrupted. 'It appears it was done by supporters of MEK and the resistance units within the state radio and television,' he added, without giving further details. In Tehran, the state broadcaster confirmed that it had been the victim of the attack, saying it lasted just 10 seconds and was being investigated A speech from Rajavi briefly plays over the images. He can be heard saying, 'Today, we still honor the time that we declared death to the reactionary. We stood by it' The ISNA news agency quoted the state broadcaster's deputy head for technology Reza Alidadi as saying that carrying out the attack would have been an 'extremely complicated task'. He said that the attack was being investigated and expressed hope that details of the cause and extent of the attack would be announced 'as soon as possible'. Iranian state television did not mention the Rajavis in its reporting of the incident, but acknowledged that images had been shown of the 'leaders of the hypocrites' , the moniker usually given to the MEK by Iran's leaders. The hack marked the latest in a series of embarrassing cyberattacks against the Islamic Republic as world powers struggle to revive Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers. Other attacks, which Iran has blamed on Israel, have been directed at its nuclear program. Massoud Rajdavi and his wife Maryam, leaders of the Iranian opposition movement the People's Mujahedeen (MEK), review militants celebrating their wedding 19 June 1985 at the headquarters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the MEK's political front, at Auvers-sur-Oise, a northwestern suburb of Paris In October, an assault on Iran's fuel distribution system paralyzed gas stations nationwide, leading to long lines of angry motorists unable to get subsidized fuel for days. A cyberattack on Iran's railway system caused chaos and train delays. Another hack leaked footage of abuses at its notorious Evin prison. Iran has said it is on high alert for online assaults, which it has blamed on arch-foes United States and Israel. The United States and other Western powers meanwhile have accused Iran of trying to disrupt and break into their online networks. Iran, long sanctioned by the West, faces difficulties in getting up-to-date hardware and software, often relying on Chinese-manufactured electronics or older systems. Some control room systems in Iran run Windows 7, for which Microsoft no longer provides patches. That would make it easier for a potential hacker to target. Pirated versions of Windows and other software are common across Iran. Reza Alidadi, a top state TV official, later told the broadcaster that the attack possibly involved help from foreigners. 'It seems the incident is not simple and it is a complicated job that (only) owners of the technology are able to use,' he said, without elaborating. Interruptions in Iranian state television broadcasts have happened before. In 1986, those watching state TV in Iran were surprised to see the country's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi appear to give a speech for about 11 minutes. He expressed his determination to fight Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, and asked Iranians for their support. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, on January 9 At the time, people speculated that Pahlavi potentially received assistance from a foreign intelligence agency that had smuggled a transmitter into the country to hijack the signal. Amid the revelations of the Iran-Contra affair, reporting showed the CIA backed that transmission, as well as the work of an exile radio station in Cairo broadcasting against the Islamic Republic. The CIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Thursday's incident. The MEK began as a Marxist group opposing the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. It claimed and was suspected in a series of attacks against U.S. officials in Iran in the 1970s, something the group now denies. It supported the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but soon had a falling out with Khomeini and turned against the clerical regime. It carried out a series of assassinations and bombings targeting the young Islamic Republic. The MEK later fled into Iraq and backed dictator Saddam Hussein during his bloody eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s. That saw many oppose the group in Iran. Although largely based in Albania, to this day the group claims to operate a network inside Iran. Children have told BBC's Newsround that Boris Johnson should resign over partygate. The Corporation's children's news programme interviewed schoolchildren about the spate of revelations around parties in Downing Street during the pandemic. When asked by a Newsround reporter, one child said 'I think he should resign because if he's not going to listen to his own rules, why enforce them on people?' Another was even more scathing in their assessment of the Prime Minister: 'It's also quite annoying because he's our leader and we're supposed to follow him. Most of the children in school uniform told the Newsround reporter they wanted Boris to go 'He's supposed to be the example.' The review were not all negative from the classroom though with one Boris super-fan leaping to the PM's defence. One spectacled child said: He's an amazing Prime Minister in my personal view and opinion. 'I don't think he should stand down. 'I think it was one of his big mistakes and he's got to learn from it because apart from that, I don't think I understand what kind of other mistakes he's made.' The view was shared by a majority of the children interviewed who noted that the PM is 'supposed to be the example' One of the kids (left) did leap to Boris's defence saying he was an 'excellent' Prime Minister The Prime Minister is under intense pressure over his premiership after a series of newspaper stories about parties in Downing Street while the rest of the country was in lockdown. The revelations have led to Sir Keir Starmer's Labour opening up a ten-point lead in the polls. Westminster is on tenterhooks as it waits for the publishing of senior civil servant Sue Gray's report into partygate which is due in the coming days. The Metropolitan Police are investigating potential breaches of the Covid restrictions at the time. A pensioner killed his wife after becoming fixated on an imagined 22,000 loan shark debt he feared would leave them homeless, a court was told. Hugh Webber, who a judge ruled is unfit to stand trial after hearing evidence from psychiatrists, stabbed Angela Webber 15 times with two knives during an attack at their home in the village of Dunster, Somerset. He dialled 999 at about 3am on October 29 2020 and told the operator: 'Yesterday, I just tried to murder my wife,' Bristol Crown Court was told. Both police and paramedics attempted to save Mrs Webber but she was declared dead a short time later. Webber was arrested and charged with murder. A jury has to decide whether the 79-year-old unlawfully killed his wife, 77, after he was deemed unfit to stand trial. Andrew Langdon QC, prosecuting, said: 'This is a very sad case. 'Towards the end of October 2020, a neighbour, who had regular contact with Mr and Mrs Webber, noticed that Mr Webber appeared not to be himself. 'He had apparently suddenly developed an acute anxiety (about) a debt which he said he had, and that he and Mrs Webber would be forced out of their home. 'That anxiety, it later transpired, was irrational. There was no debt and no threat of them being homeless.' A jury has to decide whether Hugh Webber unlawfully killed his wife, 77, after he was deemed unfit to stand trial at Bristol Crown Court (pictured) After the attack, Webber dialled 999 and spoke to the call handler, Mr Langdon said. Asked whether Mrs Webber was still breathing, he replied: 'Just about. I have just tried to murder my wife.' He added: 'I stabbed her 15 times, something like that. She is wandering in and out of consciousness.' Asked to go and check on her, Webber went upstairs and said: 'She is still breathing and is still making noises. 'She is crying out. Just get the b****y ambulance and the police.' When the emergency services arrived at the home, they found Mrs Webber on the floor of her bedroom covered in blood. She was declared dead shortly after. Three knives were recovered from Webber's bedroom - two of which had Mrs Webber's blood on them. 'Forensic scientists examined the scene very carefully and the patterns of blood distribution suggested that Mrs Webber had been repeatedly stabbed while lying on her bed,' Mr Langdon said. A post-mortem examination found she died from multiple stab wounds, including to her torso and arm. Former neighbour Graham Lamacraft told the jury of a conversation he had with the defendant days before the attack. 'He mentioned there was a loan shark after him who he owed 22,000 to and he would be out of his house at the end of the week,' he said. 'He said at the time he thought he had paid him off. This was a fixation in his mind and this was a fact.' Mr Lamacraft also told the jury of a telephone call he had with Webber later that week. 'His opening remark was, 'Angela wouldn't believe me that we have to get out of the house by the end of the week'. 'Again I asked him for details about the loan. He was unable to give me any information at all.' Mr Lamacraft said he also spoke with Mrs Webber and she told him, 'I think he is losing it'. 'She said she had tried to get him to go to the doctor but he had refused. She didn't seem anxious.' He added: 'In conversations with Hugh, he seemed to have lost all sense of reason and didn't seem to take on board anything I was saying in regard to the way he would be evicted.' The court was told police investigations later found Webber did not have any debts and was not at risk of eviction. Webber, of St George's Street, Dunster, is not attending the trial. The case continues. Advertisement Daily coronavirus cases have fallen by a tenth in a week, despite warnings that the outbreak bounced back due to students returning to classrooms. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses today logged 96,871 positive tests, down 9.8 per cent on last Thursday. Daily deaths remain flat, rising just 2.4 per cent on last week to 338, while hospitalisations fell 13 per cent to 1,651 on Sunday, with pressure on the NHS having eased for almost a fortnight. The decline comes despite a Covid surveillance study showing cases jumped 10 per cent in the week to January 26, with rising cases among school pupils blamed for the incline. Kings College London researchers found cases have hit pandemic highs in children, mirroring trends seen in the official numbers. Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and lead scientist for the Kings College study, said the bounce back came 'sooner than many expected'. But he insisted it was 'not surprising' because the start of the school term has been the instigator of resurgences throughout the pandemic, with the highly-infectious virus then crossing over into their parents, school staff and the rest of the wider community. Professor Spector said cases will 'continue to stay high until spring' due to Omicron's high reinfection rate and the emergence of subvariant BA.2, which experts argue could become dominant within a month because it appears to be even more infectious than its ancestral strain. But promising data from Government scientists suggests the strain, which makes up at least one in 125 new cases in England, is not more vaccine-resistant than Omicron. A booster dose gives 70 per cent protection against symptomatic infection caused by BA.2, compared to 63 per cent protection against its ancestor. Shoppers and commuters snubbed calls to continue wearing masks today after a raft of Covid curbs in England including compulsory face coverings and vaccine passports were scrapped. Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Transport for London are still insisting customers 'do the right thing' and cover their faces. King College London scientists, who run the ZOE Covid surveillance study, estimate 160,000 people were falling ill with Covid every day in the week ending January 26, compared to 145,000 in its previous report The latest ZOE study report states the uptick in cases among under-18s since was triggered by pupils returning to the classroom at the start of the month and has now accelerated to the highest level ever recorded by the study. One in 11 children aged under nine have the virus (8.8 per cent), while one in 21 people aged 30 to 39 are infected (4.6 per cent). Meanwhile, 4.4 per cent of 10 to 19-year-olds have symptomatic Covid, compared to 3 per cent of adults in their 20s and 40s Analysis by the Sanger Institute one of the UK's largest Covid surveillance centres shows the number of BA.2 lineages detected over the week to January 8 (left) and January 15 (right) broken down by local authority Data from the Sanger Institute one of the largest Covid surveillance centres in the UK shows BA.2 has now outpaced Delta. The Omicron variant now makes up 0.8 per cent of cases, compared to Delta's 0.5 per cent Slide me UKHSA data shows the percentage change in infection rates across England for the week ending January 16 (left) and week ending January 23 (right). Cases fell in all regions of the country last week, but are now rising in the south of the country (yellow and orange local authorities) What do we know about BA.2? Should we be concerned? What is BA.2? This is an off-shoot of the Omicron lineage. It carries all the mutations of its parent, but also has a change that makes it harder to detect using PCR tests. It has been spotted in 40 countries , including Denmark, the Philippines, India, Sweden and Singapore. And the share of new cases caused by the variant has risen to one in 20. Is it really harder to track? Britain's explosion of Omicron was fairly easy to track because of one of the variant's specific quirks a deletion of its spike 'S' gene. It meant the strain could be detected on widely-used PCR tests without the need for lengthy laboratory analysis, known as genome sequencing. The deletion allowed Omicron samples to stand out from other strains circulating at the time, including Delta, simply because they did not cause the same PCR 'S-gene target failure' effect. But this does not appear to be the case with BA.2. PCR tests will still spot if someone with BA.2 has Covid. Is it more dangerous? Early analysis suggests this sub-variant is slightly more transmissible than Omicron. It is already the dominant strain in parts of India and the Philippines, scientists say, with cases now rising in the UK, Germany and Denmark. But there is no evidence to suggest it is more likely to cause serious disease. There were fears it may be able to slip past vaccine immunity more easily than Omicron, which would explain its evolutionary edge. But an analysis by the UK Health Security Agency found two and three doses of vaccines work just as well against both strains. A booster was found to give 70 per cent protection against symptomatic infection from BA.2, compared to 63 per cent with the original Omicron. Should I be concerned? Dr Tom Peacock, one of the first scientists to warn the world about Omicron, says there is no reason to be overly concerned. The Imperial College London expert said he thinks the variant will not have a 'substantial impact' on the current wave. Professor Francois Ballous, a geneticist at Imperial College London, says people not obsessed with Covid should treat it as the same disease as Omicron. The strain has been designated as a variant under investigation by the UK Health Security Agency. How many cases are there? A total of 426 BA.2 cases were identified by the UKHSA by January 21, the earliest of which was dated to December 6. Most of the cases have been spotted in London (146), followed by the South East (97). But the true toll of BA.2 cases will be much higher, with just a small fraction of positive tests sequenced. Advertisement UKHSA figures show deaths increased by 2.4 per cent week-on-week, but delays between someone dying from the virus and their death being officially registered makes interpreting the figure difficult. Separate data fatalities within 28 days of a positive test logged by the date of the death shows deaths during the Omicron wave peaked around 225 per day on January 14. Other measures show nearly a quarter of all Covid deaths are patients who died with the virus rather than from it. And half Covid patients in hospital, which have been falling for more than a fortnight, are incidental admissions. NHS England statistics released today show 52 per cent of infected patients are not primarily being treated for the virus for the first time in the pandemic. This share has been rising since the emergence of the super-mild Omicron variant in late November, when just a quarter of inpatients were not mainly ill with the disease. The majority are mainly receiving care for a range of other conditions, such as a broken leg or heart disease. And the number of patients in intensive care has fallen throughout the Omicron wave, with the fewest number of mechanical ventilation beds occupied for six months. But data from the King's/ZOE study suggest the wave has not completely subsided, with cases rising 10 per cent in a week. The figures are based on reports from tens of thousands of users of a symptom-tracking app, that allows researchers to estimate the prevalence of Covid. It shows around one in 30 Britons across the UK had symptomatic Covid in the week to January 26, with prevalence slightly higher in England (one in 29) and Northern Ireland (one in 27) than Scotland (one in 41) and Wales (one in 38). The coronavirus was said to have been most prevalent in the North East. When the figures were broken down by age, the team found one in 11 children aged under nine had the virus (8.8 per cent). Meanwhile, 4.4 per cent of 10 to 19-year-olds had been struck down with symptomatic Covid, the researchers estimated. This was compared to 3 per cent of adults in their 20s and 40s. Rates are much lower among older Britons, with 1.2 per cent of 50 to 59-year-olds infected, plunging to 0.4 per cent of those in their 80s. The team estimated one in 14 (seven per cent) new daily symptomatic Covid cases are reinfections, in line with Government statistics. Professor Spector said: 'The bounce back in case numbers just as we lift restrictions has come sooner than many expected. 'But it's not surprising given that, throughout the pandemic, we've seen the end of school holidays repeatedly usher in a rapid rise in cases among children, which then cross over into parents and school staff. 'Another emerging factor is that a new subtype of Omicron is taking over called BA.2, which is likely more infectious.' The variant made up one in 20 new cases last week and is doubling every few days, suggesting it will be dominant in a month, he said. But data from the UKHSA today suggested And ZOE data shows seven per cent of new symptomatic cases are reinfections, suggesting a previous Delta infection does not offer much protection against Omicron, Professor Spector added. He said: 'Taking all these factors into consideration, I expect that cases will continue to stay high until spring. 'However, the good news is that most vaccinated infections are mild, with symptoms lasting on average for a shorter time overall than Delta and with less severe cases. 'It's clear that Covid and its new variants will continue to have an impact on our day-to-day lives for some time. Analysis of real-world data by the UKHSA has allayed concerns that Omicron variant BA.2 could more easily slip past vaccine immunity than Omicron. The scientists found two and three doses of vaccines work just as well against both strains. A booster was found to give 70 per cent protection against symptomatic infection from BA.2 (yellow bar), compared to 63 per cent with the original Omicron (red bar) Data from the ZOE study, which is run by Kings College London scientists, show the prevalence of symptomatic Covid in the week to January 26 was highest in the North East, where one in 21 people are suffering from Covid symptoms, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber (one in 25) and London (one in 26). Symptomatic infection rates were lower in the West Midlands (one in 28), East Midlands (one in 33) South East and East of England (one in 34) as well as the South West (one in 39) The ZOE study recorded another 55,000 symptomatic Covid cases among double and triple-jabbed Britons every day in the week to January 26, up by two per cent on the 53,703 new daily cases reported last week The Office for National Statistics analysts estimate 2.6million people in the country were infected on any day during the week ending January 22, compared to 2.9million one week earlier. Both figures equate to one in 20 people in England carrying the virus NHS England data shows the percentage of Covid patients in hospitals in England's seven regions who are not primarily being treated for the virus (left), while the graphs (right) show how this rate has changed over time. The North East had the highest proportion of patients (57.4 per cent) who are mainly being treated for other ailments NHS England data shows the majority of Covid patients in English hospitals are not primarily being treated for the virus for the first time in the pandemic. The share of primary Covid patients has plummeted since the emergence of the super-mild Omicron variant in late November, when three-quarters of inpatients were mainly ill with the disease NHS England data shows there were 13,023 Covid patients in hospital on Tuesday (January 25), of which only 6,256 were primarily there for the virus, or 48 per cent Vaccines work just as well against 'even more infectious' strain of Omicron A subvariant of Omicron that is growing quickly in Britain is not more vaccine-resistant than its ancestor strain, reassuring real-world data shows. UK health officials said booster jabs may even offer slightly better protection against BA.2, which is believed to be more infectious than Omicron. The subvariant makes up at least one in 125 new cases in England and it is outcompeting the original Omicron in some corners of Europe. There were fears it may be able to slip past vaccine immunity more easily than Omicron, which would explain its evolutionary edge. But an analysis by the UK Health Security Agency found two and three doses of vaccines work just as well against both strains. A booster was found to give 70 per cent protection against symptomatic infection from BA.2, compared to 63 per cent with the original Omicron. Waning immunity from two doses only offers 13 per cent protection against the new subvariant, slightly more than the 9 per cent for its parent variant. Immunity against severe disease is expected to be even higher but it takes several weeks for enough people to fall ill with a new strain to accrue the data. Advertisement 'It's crucial that we're responsible with our new freedoms and help to keep case numbers down and prevent the virus reaching the more vulnerable groups.' Official Government data based on positive test results show Covid infections remained largely stable in the UK in the week to January 23, but shows a rise among youngsters and their parents. One in 40 five to nine-year-olds tested positive in the week to January 21, while one in 50 pupils aged 10 to 14 had an infection confirmed. Cases are also rising in 30 to 39-year-olds and 40 to 49-year-olds, while they are flat or dropping in all other age groups, the UKHSA data shows. The official figures show hospitalisations dropped last week, while deaths stayed flat. It comes after data from the ONS yesterday showed England's Covid outbreak shrunk again last week despite infections continuing to rise in children. Government analysts estimate 2.6million people in the country were infected on any day during the week ending January 22, compared to 2.9million one week earlier. Both figures equate to one in 20 people in England carrying the virus. It marked the second week in a row that the ONS projected a fall in prevalence, illustrating how the Omicron wave fizzled off after causing infections to spiral to pandemic highs. The ONS survey is regarded as the most reliable indicator of the UK's outbreak because it uses random sampling of around 100,000 people, rather than relying on people coming forward to be tested. Official daily numbers show cases have plateaued at around 90,000 per day, following a fortnight of infections being in freefall. This was before the effects of lifting Plan B restrictions in England had even been felt. Latest hospital data shows 1,399 Britons were admitted with Covid on January 22, which was 20 per cent lower than the previous week and the 11th day in a row admissions have fallen week-on-week. There were also 346 more Covid deaths registered in the UK yesterday down by around 4 per cent in a week and more than a fifth on yesterday's 439. He once was a notorious, merciless mobster who helped take down John Gotti's crime empire in New York City. But now, as a 76-year-old bald grandpa, Sammy The Bull has regrets about the life he lived and the people he killed. Salvatore Gravano was a high-ranking mafioso who arranged and carried out murders for Gotti in the 1980s before secretly partnering with the FBI in 1991 and helping bring down 39 mobsters - including Gotti, head of the Gambino crime family. He throughout his career admitted to killing 19 people - including his best friend - as his victims' families bemoaned a lack of justice. 'Is there anything that I feel I regret and that I would do differently? Of course,' Gravano told ABC News in an exclusive interview for 'Truth and Lies: The Last Gangster,' which premiers Thursday night. 'Being a gangster, actually in my life, was a curse. And it did affect my family.' His daughter, Karen Gravano, 49, told the network that her father's mafia betrayal 'stabbed me in the heart.' Karen herself has starred in VH1's 'Mob Wives' and written a best-selling book called 'Mob Daughter: The Mafia, Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and Me!' Salvatore Gravano, an underboss in the Gambino family, was once the highest-ranking member of New York's Five Families - Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese and Lucchese - to ever 'flip' and become an informant. He even testified in court against Gotti. The so-called 'five families' represented New York City's top Italian-American mafia groups. Notorious mobster Salvatore 'Sammy the Bull' Gravano (left) arranged and carried out murders for crime boss John Gotti (right) in the 1980s. They're pictured leaving the Ravenite Social Club on Mulberry Street in New York City's Little Italy in March or April 1990 Gravano is now 76, and says he has regrets his career choice, calling the mafia 'a curse' His daughter Karen Gravano said she her father tried to shield her from his mafia lifestyle Sammy and Karen Gravano are pictured together in this undated photo In exchange for acting as a government informant, Gravano was given a five-year sentence in 1994, but released after one year later because of time previously served. He entered the witness protection system in Arizona following his release but asked to be removed a year later, so he could give interviews and write his 1997 book, 'Underboss.' Reflecting on his colorful life, Gravano shared how friendly business partnerships could end with the pull of a trigger the moment things turned sour. 'They could hug you, they could kiss you, they could smile,' he said. 'And they could shoot you in the f***ing head. 'This is true side of the mafia. This isn't somebody talking about the mafia. I am part of it.' Gravano said he tried to shield his bloodthirsty and ruthless day job from his wife and two kids. 'What do you want me to do? Come home, sit down at the table and say, "Hey, you know who I killed today? Joe Blow. You won't see him no more."' He laughed, adding: 'I lived a double life. I lived a family life, and I'm a gangster.' Gravano (pictured today) tried to shield his bloodthirsty career from his wife and two children Gravano, an underboss in the Gambino family, was once the highest-ranking member of New York's Five Families to ever 'flip,' and he testified in court against Gotti, pictured in Brooklyn, New York, in 1990 During the two-hour special, Karen Gravano detailed how she gradually discovered her father was a gangster after the family moved into a new neighborhood, and she was ostracized from her professional, upper echelon neighbors. 'Then there's me, the gangster's daughter,' she said. 'One of the kids told my brother that we weren't allowed to come in the house because of who my father was.' Once her powerful dad heard about this, he stormed to the neighbor's house and confronted the child's parents. 'I said, ''Is your husband home? I'm Sammy the Bull. I'm the guy that your f***ing are not allowed to play with,"' Gravano recalled. '[I said] "Bro, are you a good dad to your kids?... What if they didnt have a dad? You think this is gonna end good for you? He was, I think, petrified. And it woke me up because I said, "What the f--- are you doing? They're legitimate people." And I left.' His wife, Deborah, divorced him in 1996. Karen Gravano also shared the heartbreak she felt after learning her father flipped on the mafia. 'It was almost like he stabbed me in the heart,' she said. 'I felt betrayed. That was everything I was taught never to do.' Gravano was born in Brooklyn, one of 13 children born to Sicilian immigrant parents. His son, Gerard Gravano, described him as 'dirt poor.' 'My father and his siblings always had to fight their way to get anything in life,' he told ABC. He had nothing and he strived for great things, he strived to be something more.' Pictured: Gravano shares a meal with his son Gerald and daughter Karen in documentary footage Growing up in the Bensonhurst neighborhood in Brooklyn, he caught the eye of mafia bosses as a child, when his bicycle was stolen and he beat up several children at once. One of the bosses is said to have remarked that the boy 'fought like a bull', and the nickname stuck. Gravano rose through the ranks, owning and running bars and construction companies as fronts for his money laundering, loan sharking and extortion. 'I literally controlled Manhattan, literally,' he said, in an 1998 interview with The Atlantic. 'You want concrete poured in Manhattan? That was me. Tishman, Donald Trump, all these guys - they couldn't build a building without me.' Gravano's fate was tied to Gotti's thanks to Gambino underboss Aniello John 'Neil' Dellacroce, Gotti's mentor, who also thought highly of Gravano. Dellacroce's vouching for Gravano led Gotti, a rising star, to take Gravano under his wing. Gravano was driving Gotti on the night Gotti ordered the infamous December 1985 murder of Paul Castellano, Gambino boss, outside Spark's Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan. The killing of Castellano saw Gotti become the boss of the family. During his trigger-happy days of executing enemies, Gravano also orchestrated a hit on Eddie Garofalo. His daughter, Laura Garofalo, told ABC that justice was not served in his coldblooded execution. 'It was shocking. It was absolutely shocking. People do more time for one murder,' Garofalo said. 'The feeling was us against the behemoth. What do we do? We have no recourse. They said this was OK. They wrapped him in the American flag and they sent him off.' Gotti died in prison in 2002 The ABC documentary also included undated clips from when Gravano was a younger man Gravano said he eventually turned against Gotti when Gotti asked him to go to jail. He toyed with the idea of carrying out a hit on Gotti, but instead became a government informant. He said during an archive clip aired in the documentary: 'John's a double-crosser. We played chess - and he lost.' His enemies seethed at Gravano's betrayal. 'He is a rat,' Curtis Sliwa, chief executive of the crime prevention nonprofit Guardian Angels, told ABC. 'He's a parmesan cheese.' Gotti died in prison in 2002. Meanwhile, Gravano's legal troubles continued. He pleaded guilty on May 25, 2001 in a New York federal court to drug-trafficking charges and was released early on September 18, 2017. Advertisement President Joe Biden delivered remarks Thursday on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer - and confirmed he would select a black woman to be Breyer's replacement, which prompted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to immediately stoke fears the president would select someone endorsed by the 'radical left.' 'Our process is going to be rigorous. I will select a nominee worthy of Justice Breyer's legacy of excellence and decency,' Biden said. 'While I've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one: the person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity.' 'And that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the Supreme Court,' the president added. Biden said it was 'long overdue' and noted how he had made that commitment during the 2020 campaign - as part of a pledge to secure a key endorsement from South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the most powerful black member of Congress. 'And I will keep that commitment,' Biden said. 'I'm going to invite senators from both parties to offer their ideas and points of view. I'll also consult with leading scholars and lawyers. And I'm fortunate to have advising me in this selection process, Vice President Kamala Harris,' Biden continued. 'She's an exceptional lawyer, former attorney general of the state of California, former member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.' Biden said he planned to make his decision before the end of February. He asked that the Senate move on his choice 'promptly,' as Democrats could lose control of the Senate after the November midterms. Directly after Biden made his remarks, McConnell pointed to the razor-thin margin in the U.S. Senate, where the nominee will have to be confirmed. 'Looking ahead - the American people elected a Senate that is evenly split at 50-50. To the degree that President Biden received a mandate, it was to govern from the middle, steward our institutions, and unite America,' McConnell said. 'The President must not outsource this important decision to the radical left. The American people deserve a nominee with demonstrated reverence for the written text of our laws and our Constitution,' the Kentucky Republican added. Press secretary Jen Psaki seemingly took a swipe at McConnell at the Thursday afternoon press briefing, complimenting those Republicans who said they'd work with the White House while chastising those who plan to play 'games.' 'We have not mentioned a single name. We have not put out a list. The president made very clear he has not made a selection,' Psaki said. 'And if anyone is saying they plan to characterize whoever he nominates after thorough consideration with both parties as "radical" before they no literally anything about who she is, they just obliterated their own credibility.' President Joe Biden delivered remarks Thursday on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer - and confirmed he would select a black woman for Breyer's replacement President Joe Biden (right) grabs the hand of retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (left) Justice Breyer (right) holds up a copy of the U.S. Constitution as he briefly addressed the press during Thursday's event in the Roosevelt Room Dr. Joanna Breyer (left) and Dr. Jill Biden (right) listen at an event announcing Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement from the Supreme Court First Lady Jill Biden (second from right) escorts Joanna Breyer (right) from the Roosevelt Room as Justice Stephen Breyer (left) and President Joe Biden (upper right) conclude their remarks at an event Thursday Senate confirmation process for new Justice After President Joe Biden names his pick for the Supreme Court, his nominee must be Senate confirmed. Democrats hold the advantage given their control of 50-50 split chamber. The first step in the process is for the nominee to make visits to senators' office. Then the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold confirmation hearings. The entire Senate would then vote for or against the nominee's confirmation. Democrats will be expected to toe the line and support Biden's pick, even rogue Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema would be expected to be 'yes' votes. If all Republican senators oppose the nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris would cast the tie-breaking vote. And Republicans won't be able to filibuster the nominee thanks to their own actions. In April 2017, then-Senate leader Mitch McConnell ended the filibuster rule for Supreme Court nominees, letting them advance to a final vote on a simple majority. He did it to help the confirmation of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Advertisement Later McConnell made a more subdued statement to reporters on Capitol Hill. 'Im going to give the presidents nominee, whoever that may be, a fair look. And not predict, today when we don't even know who the nominee is, how I might vote,' the Senate Republican leader said, according to Punchbowl News. Speaking about Breyer in the Roosevelt Room, Biden said, 'this is sort of a bittersweet day for me,' noting how he and the 83-year-old justice 'go back a long way, all the way back to the 70s when he first came on the Judiciary Committee.' 'Today Justice Breyer announces his intention to step down from active service after four decades, four decades on the federal bench and 28 years on the United States Supreme Court,' Biden announced. Biden opened up his remarks by saying hello to 'Dr. Breyer,' the justice's wife, Joanna, and his own wife, Dr. Jill Biden. The president then walked people through Breyer's life of public service, from enlisting in the U.S. Army as a teenager, and serving in 'all three branches of the federal government before he turned 40.' Breyer was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, a prosecutor in the Department of Justice and a member of the Watergate prosecution team. Biden said he first encountered Breyer when the president was a senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Breyer served as a lawyer under then Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Ted Kennedy. 'Beyond his intellect and hard work and legal insight, he was famous for biking across Washington virtually every day for a face-to-face meeting with a Republican chief counsel, a ranking Republican counsel - and over breakfast they discussed what they would do for the country together,' Biden noted. 'Because in those days we tried to do things together.' 'That spirit stuck with me when I took over the Judiciary Committee as chair after Sen. Kennedy's tenure,' Biden added. Biden called it an 'honor' to promote Breyer to the federal bench in 1980. 'And then 14 years later, in 1994, I got to preside as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee over his Supreme Court confirmation hearings,' Biden continued. 'We were joking with one another when he walked in - would we ever think that he would have served decades on the court and I'd be president of the United States the day he came and retired,' Biden added. When it was Breyer's turn to speak, he called the president's comments 'terribly nice.' Breyer then gave free-wheeling remarks about how the U.S. is a 'complicated country' with 'every point of view possible.' 'And yet they decided to help solve their major differences under law,' Breyer remarked. 'And when my students get too cynical I say go look at what happens in countries that don't do that.' Later, Biden invited the Breyers to spend the night in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom. 'I don't know if you've ever been to the White House in the Lincoln Bedroom. But I invite both of you to come and stay. The Lincoln Bedroom has against the wall between the windows looking out, a hand-written copy of the Gettysburg Address, written by Lincoln,' Biden said. 'So you've got to come and see it and even if you can't come and stay, bring your grandchildren so they can see it as well.' Breyer had remarked that he and his wife had paid 'each of our grandchildren a certain amount of money to memorize the Gettysburg Address.' As Biden wrapped up the event, he told the reporters in the room he wouldn't be taking questions because it wasn't 'appropriate.' It would be a badly needed victory for Biden if he manages to get a new left-leaning justice confirmed with a razor thin 50-50 split in the Senate. The president is already reportedly considering multiple potential replacements. Three candidates generating serious buzz are DC Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and South Carolina District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs. Jackson and Childs were both tapped for promotions by Biden in 2021. Jackson was confirmed to her DC Circuit Court role in June, while Childs was nominated to the same bench in December. Some conservative commentators have objected to Biden narrowing his choice for the high court by race and gender. Asked about their complaints in the Thursday briefing, Psaki replied that 'the fact that no black woman has been nominated shows a deficiency of the past selection processes not a lack of qualified candidates to be nominated to the Supreme Court.' Psaki also pointed out that Republican President Ronald Reagan purposely selected the first female Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. She refused to say when Biden found out Breyer was retiring. 'This was Justice Breyer's decision to make, on his own timeline and through his own conditions he determined,' Psaki said. 'So we aren't going to lay out more specifics from here in terms of when the president was aware.' Democrats are already racing against the clock to get whoever Biden chooses onto the bench, with the 2022 midterm elections looming at the end of the year. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Judiciary Chair Richard Durbin released statements on Wednesday that stressed their preferred short timeline. 'President Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed,' Schumer said. Durbin added that he looked 'forward to moving the Presidents nominee expeditiously through the Committee.' On the White House side, Psaki said Harris will play a 'central role' in the process, as well as Chief of Staff Ron Klain, White House Counsel Dana Remus, Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond, Paige Herwig, who works in the counsel's office and Louisa Terrell, the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Breyer is one of three liberals on the Supreme Court, alongside Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Former President Donald Trump was able to fill three empty slots during his four-year term, giving the court a decisive conservative supermajority. Calls for the octogenarian justice to retire increased after Biden won the 2020 election. The reported pressure on Breyer increased as Republicans' chances of taking back the Congressional majority in November 2022 swelled. Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in April 2021 Breyer was appointed to the high court by President Bill Clinton, who announced his decision in 1994 Democrats have faced significant GOP roadblocks to the high court in the past - after late Justice Antonin Scalia's passing, McConnell, then the majority leader, successfully blocked Barack Obama's nominee, now Attorney General Merrick Garland, from even getting a hearing in 2015. Obama had reportedly tried to convince late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire in 2013 to give him an earlier chance at getting another liberal on the court. She apparently rebuffed calls to step down, before dying on the bench under the Trump administration and enabling him to appoint young conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Confirming judicial nominees only requires a simply majority vote in the Senate, thanks to rules changes that started in 2013 - for non-SCOTUS nominees - and then for SCOTUS judges in 2017. Biden will simply have to hold together his Senate Democratic caucus to get his pick appointed to the high court. All eyes are now turned to Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, whose reservations led to the deaths or at least indefinite pauses to two key Biden agenda items: the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill and voting rights legislation, as the moderates were against meddling with the Senate filibuster. But historically, he should have more luck getting them on board here. Neither Manchin nor Sinema have voted against one of the president's judicial picks so far. Manchin released a statement on Wednesday signaling he was open to considering Breyer's replacement, but it was noticeably void of the rushed language in Schumer and Durbin's sentiments. 'I take my Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on a nominee to the Supreme Court very seriously,' Manchin said. 'I look forward to meeting with and evaluating the qualifications of President Bidens nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy.' DailyMail.com has reached out to both Manchin and Sinema's offices. Advertisement Meghan McCain blasted Sarah Palin as 'reckless, stupid and arrogant' for dining out twice in New York City this week knowing she has COVID, telling DailyMail.com the former Alaska governor put other lives at risk. McCain, whose late father John McCain ran for President with Palin as his running mate in 2008, told DailyMail.com exclusively on Thursday morning that she was 'embarrassed' to have once known her. Palin tested positive three times on Monday. She had been forced to take a test before her defamation trial against The New York Times. All witnesses who wish to testify without wearing a mask must test negative before going to the courtroom. Despite the diagnosis, Palin went out for dinner on Tuesday night, eating at Campagnola on the Upper East Side. The next night, she dined in Elio's, a well-known eatery just a flew blocks away. She was joined there by four people, including former New York Rangers player Ron Duguay. 'Is she crazy? Day two? I haven't seen her or talked to her for many years, aside from some short emails when my father passed, so I can't imagine what she is thinking but this is highly irresponsible. 'This was selfish, reckless and stupid. Just because it's not illegal doesn't mean it is not unethical. 'This is why she shouldn't be in politics anymore. You have to lead by example. I'm embarrassed to have once known her.' Scroll down for video Sarah Palin dines at Elio's on the Upper East Side on Wednesday night, two days after testing positive for COVID. Meghan McCain told DailyMail.com on Thursday morning it was 'stupid, reckless' behavior that put other lives at risk Palin is famously anti-vaccine, which McCain says is likely down to how politicized the topic has become. Regardless of her views, she said Palin ought not to have put others at risk. Palin ran as John McCain's running mate in the 2008 Presidential election. Meghan said on Thursday she was embarrassed to have once known her well 'Even if you're not sick you are infectious and you could infect someone with comorbidities. 'This virus is like a Russian roulette. 'You could die or you could be fine. I too am over COVID, trust me, but the reality is that it is still happening,' she said. McCain, who is double vaccinated, recently recovered from COVID-19. Palin has also suffered from it in the past. Last year, she said it was like the 'flu'. She however refuses to get vaccinated. On Wednesday night, she was joined at Elio's on Wednesday night by Ron Duguay, former New York Rangers player, 64, who shielded her from reporters on the sidewalk. While morally questionable, Palin, 58, didn't break any rules or laws with those meals. She however put Elio's on the hook for a $1,000 fine by eating indoors. New York City law bans anyone over the age of 12 from eating or drinking indoors at a restaurant if they are unvaccinated. The manager of Elio's says staff 'made a mistake' by letting her dine inside on Saturday and that he is now looking in to what happened. It's unclear if Palin was ever asked for proof of vaccination, or if she was aware of the law when she dined indoors. City Hall says it will not fine the restaurant for the incident because it was not reported to them when she was there. They do not investigate past incidents, according to a City Hall spokesman. Palin dined first on Tuesday at Campagnola, where she was spotted by diners at around 9pm. On Wednesday, she was seen at Elio's, a few blocks away Palin was seen on Wednesday night with a group of friends, eating at around 10pm on the patients One of Palin's dining buddies was former New York Rangers player Ron Duguay. He recently visited her in Alaska, but has not commented on the nature of their relationship The former Alaska governor told a reporter that she was feeling fine on Wednesday night Palin is seen leaving the restaurant after her Wednesday night meal Luca Guaitolini, the operations manager at Elio's, said that she returned to the restaurant on Wednesday 'to apologize' for the fuss her previous visit called. Palin is in New York to testify at her defamation trial against The New York Times. She is suing the newspaper for a 2017 editorial which she claimed wrongly linked her to the 2011 shooting where Congresswoman Gabbie Giffords was shot. The Times retracted the editorial and issued an apology but she is pushing on with the lawsuit. Before she could attend court, she had to take a COVID test because she planned to take the stand. All witnesses, regardless of their vaccine status, must test negative for COVID if they want to give evidence, a court spokesman told DailyMail.com on Thursday. Because she tested positive, the trial has now been delayed until February 3. Judge Jed Rakoff - who was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1996 - said that courthouse rules would permit Palin to return to court February 3, even if she still tests positive, as long as she has no symptoms. If she does have symptoms, she can be looked at on February 2 by a doctor who provides services to the courts, he said. The 2008 Republican U.S. vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor - tested positive for COVID-19 in March 2021. After her March diagnosis, she encouraged people to wear masks and take the pandemic seriously. But then, nine months later, she told a Turning Point USA rally in December 2021 that Dr Anthony Fauci's inconsistent comment about natural immunity dissuaded her from getting vaccinated. 'Do you remember he said that if you had COVID, you would be naturally immune?' Palin said during an on-stage interview with Charlie Kirk, the co-founder of TPUSA. 'So at the time we were led to believe we wouldn't need to have the shot.' She went on to say that over her 'dead body' would she get the vaccine. 'It'll be over my dead body that I will have to get a shot. I will not do it. I won't do it and they better not touch my kids either. If enough of us rise up and say no, enough.' Palin's lawyers have ignored repeated requests about her outings in New York City this week. Two of the nation's top doctors said they refuse to give their own kids a COVID booster shot as vaccinated teenage boys have a low risk of hospitalization, but the likelihood of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, is higher. Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of California, and Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee, told journalist David Zweig in a piece published on Bari Weiss's Substack, Common Sense, that the benefits of a booster for teen males are outweighed by the possible side effects. One of the most common serious side effects for a teen from a COVID booster jab was myocarditis, a rare heart inflammation case that occurs in males at almost nine-times the rate than females, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC has recorded two such cases among a group of 20,000 and the prevalence is about 10 out of 100,000 in boosted teenagers. In comparison, vaccinated teen boys only had a 0.3 out of 100,000 chance of being hospitalized with COVID, according to the agency's COVID briefings and Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices report in early January. Both Gandhi and Offit, who have advocated for the vaccine and gotten themselves and their children vaccinated, claimed the CDC was premature in advising teens to get a COVID booster shot on January 5, with Gandhi saying, 'I am not giving my 12 and 14-year-old boys boosters.' Offit said he advised his 20-year-old son to avoid the third dose and said the booster would not be worth the risk for 'the average healthy 17-year-old boy.' The doctors' statements come as other health officials claimed the CDC had made its booster recommendation without proper data on the safety issues. The U.S. and Germany are among the few countries that have recommended booster shots for everyone 12 and up, with the U.K. and Finland only recommending it for teens with serious medical conditions. Denmark, Sweden, Japan and Spain have approved boosters for adults only, and in Ireland, no one under the age of 16 can receive a booster. Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of California, and Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee, said the benefits of a booster shot for teen boys was outweighed by its possible side effects The CDC reported two cases of myocarditis due to booster shots in teen boys. Both men were released from the hospital and reported in good condition Of the 265 cases reported in teens ages 12 to 15 last year, 251 were hospitalized and all but 10 were discharged and sent home. The remaining have reported improved or resolved symptoms, but were still under evaluation Myocarditis was listed as the second most common serious side effect due to vaccination among older teens and young men. There were only 13 cases reported in the age group between May to December 2021, with the four hospitalized reportedly recovered CDC'S ADVISORY OF MYOCARDITIS AFTER A VACCINE SHOT Cases of myocarditis reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System have occurred: After mRNA COVID-19 vaccination (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), especially in male adolescents and young adults More often after the second dose Usually within a week of vaccination Most patients with myocarditis who received care responded well to medicine and rest and felt better quickly. Patients can usually return to their normal daily activities after their symptoms improve. Those who have been diagnosed with myocarditis should consult with their cardiologist (heart doctor) about return to exercise or sports. More information will be shared as it becomes available. Myocarditis has the following symptoms: Chest pain Shortness of breath Feelings of having a fast-beating, fluttering, or pounding heart Seek medical care if you or your child have any of the specific or general symptoms of myocarditis, especially if it's within a week after COVID-19 vaccination. Advertisement The CDC had recorded 265 cases of myocarditis among children ages 12 to 15 who received a COVID vaccine between May 12 and December 19, 2021, 90 percent of which were boys, according to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in their January 5 report. Of the cases, 251 were hospitalized and all but 10 were discharged and sent home. The remaining have reported improved or resolved symptoms, but were still under evaluation. Within that same timeframe, the CDC recorded 13 cases of myocarditis among people ages 16 to 24, with four being hospitalized and all four recovering. During a United Nations briefing last week, WHO Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said: 'There is no evidence that healthy children or healthy adolescents need boosters. No evidence at all.' The sentiments were echoed by Dr. Sarah Long, a member of the CDC advisory committee and a infectious disease specialist at Drexel University. 'We made the decision, in my opinion, without any data on safety,' she said, referencing the CDC's decision to ignore a study from Israel that cited two cases of myocarditis in 12 to 15-year-old males because of its small survey size. The Israeli study warned that the condition could be as high as one in 3,000 males following vaccination. It echoed the research done in China and Ontario, with the Chinese study concluding that teen boys had a 37 out of 100,000 chance of developing acute myocarditis after their second vaccine dose. In Ontario, Public Health officials officials reported 636 cases of myocarditis after the distribution of more than 29 million doses from December 2020 to January 2022. Public Health Ontario concluded that there was there was a 34.8 out of 100,000 chance of a teen boy to experience adverse effects following their second COVID jab. When the CDC and FDA created committees to research the impact of the booster shots in September 2021, the committees voted against sweeping proposals for the third shots, instead approving the boosters for limited groups. The CDC's vote was overruled by its director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky on September 24 as the agency recommended the boosters for not just seniors, but for 18 and up. On January 5, the agency then voted to recommend the boosters to those 12 to 17 years old. Despite some concerns over the studies on the booster's impact on young adults, Long said she ultimately voted to approve the boosters for teens due to the rampant surge of the Omicron variant. The only member on the advisory committee who voted against the booster recommendation was Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt. Talbot did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Offit, who has been vocal about the problems with the government's recommendations for the boosters, told New York Magazine in December that while the boosters were important, they do not yield much benefit to younger people. 'I'm not opposed to booster dosing. What I think we need to make clearer is why we're boosting,' he said. 'There is certainly a value to boosting people who are older or people who live in long-term-care facilities. The question is, if we're saying that healthy, young people need a booster dose, which is what we've just said, I think we need to explain to the American public that we're getting prevention, for the most part, against mild illness, and it might not be long-lived. 'On the one hand you have the CDC recommending a booster dose for everybody over 18, which was rejected twice by the FDA's vaccine advisory committee and the CDC's advisory committee, and then on the other hand you have research institutes, universities, colleges, and hospitals that now have three-dose mandates while others have two-dose mandates. We've confused people.' Gandhi told the Atlantic in October that booster recommendation debate was a debacle 'The entire booster discussion played out in the public eye,' she said. 'It played out that we weren't a 'together' country in terms of our health recommendations.' Dr. Elissa Perkins, an emergency medicine physician at Boston University with an expertise in infectious diseases, told Zweig that the CDC and FDA needed to communicate the recommendation decision better to put parents at ease. 'If a booster is only offering a temporary benefit against minimally symptomatic infection it is really important that this rationale is clear so parents can weigh the trade offs to determine if, in their individual circumstances, the benefits outweigh the risks,' she said. The backlash against the booster recommendation for kids comes as schools grapple with what policies to enforce as COVID cases remain high. The US recorded 653,120 new cases in the past day and about 4,040 new deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Two weeks ago marked the nation's highest weekly infection rate of the pandemic, with 5,607,176 cases reported between January 10 to 16. It was also the deadliest week with 23,416 deaths reported. About 64 percent of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated, more than 80 percent have gotten at least one jab. The father of a on-air reporter who killed during a live TV report in 2015 has announced he plans to run for Congress. Andy Parker, 68, said he will run as a Democrat in Virginia's 5th District against Republican freshman Congressman Bob Good, who he called the 'Marjorie Taylor Greene of Virginia' and says its rhetoric is harmful. The gun control advocate is also calling for social media reform. 'This district is not being represented the way it should be,' Parker told CBS News before he launched his campaign. 'Since Alison was killed, I've always tried to honor her life through action. Given the atmosphere we face right now, this is the time to jump in and make a difference.' In 2015, Parker's 24-year-old daughter Alison Parker and her cameraman colleague Adam Ward, 27, were filming a live segment for local Virginia station WDBJ-TV when they were shot dead by former co-worker Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, who then went on the run before committing suicide. In addition to the footage that was broadcast live through Ward's own camera, Flanagan also filmed his attack using a GoPro and uploaded it that day on social media. Andy Parker has since become a huge advocate for gun control and has rallied to reform Section 230, a law that protects social media companies from lawsuits over content on their platforms. Last year, he filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to hold Facebook, now called Meta, accountable for still allowing the graphic video of his daughter's murder to circulate on its platforms six years later. Andy Parker (pictured) announced he is planning on running for Congress as a Democrat in Virginia's 5th District against Republican freshman Congressman Bob Good Following his daughter Alison's shooting death, Parker has since become a huge advocate for gun control and has rallied to reform Section 230 (pictured with Alison) Good (pictured) has voted against the electoral certification on January 6 and bipartisan infrastructure bill, and has spread misinformation about masks and vaccines, Parker said 'Since Alison was killed, I've always tried to honor her life through action,' Andy Parker said of his daughter, pictured He accused the company of profiting from the footage of his daughter's murder. 'Posting content, violent content and murder on social media is not free speech, it's savagery,' he said in October 2021. 'And as you all know, Alison's murder shared on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube is just one of the egregious practices that are undermining the fabric of our society.' Andy Parker said he wanted to take his fight for social media reform to Congress after exhausting his options as a private citizen. 'It's tough for anybody, for one out of four hundred plus members to do anything. But I think I've got a better chance at pushing that issue,' he said. Andy Parker says he is running against Good because he has supported the spread of misinformation online. The Republican, elected in 2020, voted against the electoral certification of President Joe Biden on January 6 and later, the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and has spread misinformation about masks and vaccines, Parker told CBS. In a statement, Good said he's done 'what I said I would do when first running for Congress in 2020, and have been on the front line fighting for our nation's founding principles and against the Democrats' radical leftist agenda.' Good added he has also introduced bills against the 'unconstitutional mandates, open borders, runaway federal spending and efforts to indoctrinate our kids at school against the will of parents.' Andy and his wife Barbara Parker, pictured mourning the loss of their daughter in 2015 Alison Parker, 24, and her cameraman colleague Adam Ward, 27, (pictured together) were shot dead live on air by their former coworker Vester Lee Flanagan II in 2015 In addition to the footage that was broadcast live through Ward's own camera, Flanagan also filmed his attack using a GoPro and uploaded it that day on social media Parker said one of the main reasons he is running is because of Good's harmful rhetoric. 'When he's not wasting time to try and overturn lawful elections and opposing repairs for roads and bridges, he busies himself pushing dangerous vaccine conspiracy theories and divisive and extreme politics,' he told CBS News. Although he is running as a Democrat in a Republican-leaning district, Parker says he feels he has a chance to win people over and is willing to work with 'reasonable Republicans' 'I just feel there's a lot of buyer's remorse out there,' he said, adding he was once a self-described 'Reagan Republican' who voted Republican until 2008. Parker's campaign team includes high profile staff members, including a former media consultant for former President Obama's presidential campaigns and a campaign manager for Democrat John Kerry's unsuccessful 2004 presidential bid, CBS News reported. Also on his team is Chris Hurst, his late daughter's boyfriend and former Virginia state representative. Parker says he is is 'absolutely prepared' for his daughter's murder to be brought up during his run. 'Nothing that they can do or say compares to losing your child, to losing your hopes and dreams,' he said. 'There's no candidate that I'm aware of running for Congress that has a running mate. Well, I do. And she's going to be with me every step of the way.' Also on Parker's team is Chris Hurst, his late daughter's boyfriend and former Virginia state representative (pictured with Alison) Last year Parker filed a complaint with the FTC to hold Facebook accountable for allowing the graphic video of his daughter's murder to circulate on its platforms The footage of Alison Parker's murder was widely spread online by conspiracy theorists who claimed the footage was a hoax. Flanagan attacked his ex-colleagues live on air during a lighthearted segment where ward was filming Parker as she interviewed Vicki Gardner - then-executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Chamber of Commerce - about a local event. The TV footage shows the look of horror on Parker's face as gunshots ring out and the camera falls to the floor, revealing the killer standing over Ward, pointing a gun at him. The producer finally cut the feed broadcasting the ambush on live TV, returning to the stunned news anchor back in the studio. Flanagan's footage shows his arm outstretched in front of him pointing a gun before opening fire as Parker tries to flee before being shot. Gardner was also shot and injured in the attack but survived. Flanagan, a former general assignment reporter at the network, posted the footage he filmed on social media immediately after executing his former colleagues. He also took to Twitter to air his grievances against the reporter and cameraman. He claimed that Parker made 'racist comments' and that a complaint was filed against her through the equal employment opportunity commission, but that WDBJ chose to hire her anyway. A young hiker fell 700 feet to his death after he slipped while trying to take a selfie from the top of an Arizona mountain during a camping trip with his friend. Richard Jacobson, 21, of Mesa, Arizona, fell about 700 feet from the Flatiron Peak in the Superstition Mountain in Lost Dutchman State Park, about 40 miles east of Phoenix, where he and his friend had been camping. The unidentified friend called police around 12.45 am on Monday when Jacobson slipped. 'Mr. Jacobson went to go take a photograph with himself and the city skyline in the background, and he lost his footing, and he slipped, and he fell,' Sergeant Doug Peoble with Pinal County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue told AZFamily.com. 'I can tell you that during our investigation, there [were] no signs of foul play. No signs of drug use whatsoever. It was just a very tragic accident.' Richard Jacobson, 21, fell to his death from a mountain peak on Monday. His friend told Dailymail.com that Jacobson 'got along with everyone' and 'treated everyone with respect' 'He was an outdoorsman, hunter, hiker. He did stuff like that, so I guess he did die doing what he loved to do, just in a tragic way,' said a friend of Richard Jacobson, pictured The Arizona Department of Public Safety sent out a helicopter to assist with the late-night rescue effort - but Jacobson was found dead on a trail about 700 feet from where he fell, deputies said. A reviewer on AllTrails, a popular hiking review site, wrote that they 'live nearby' the Siphon Draw Trail, which can be used to access the Flatiron Peak, and that they 'have seen many a helicopter evacuation' there, 'typically about [halfway' down around the saddle.' Jacobson of Mesa, Arizona fell about 700 feet from the Flatiron Peak in the Superstition Mountain in Lost Dutchman State Park Jacobson, pictured, was 'one of those guys that everyone loved,' his friend Andrew Thomas told DailyMail.com It's unclear whether Jacobson and his friend took the Siphon Draw Trail, a 5.5 mile hike that takes about four hours, to their campsite. The trail's description on the website notes that there have been several rock slides in the area, and one reviewer wrote that it's 'not for the faint of heart.' Andrew Thomas, who went with Jacobsen on a four-month mission trip in Richland, Washington with the Church of the Latter Day Saints in 2020, told Dailymail.com that Jacobson 'got along with everyone' and 'treated everyone with respect.' 'He really was one of those guys that everyone loved, and it's sad to lose him, but we know that it's not the end,' said Thomas. 'We're going to see him again.' 'He was an outdoorsman, hunter, hiker. He did stuff like that, so I guess he did die doing what he loved to do, just in a tragic way.' A 2018 study of news reports by the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care showed that there were 259 selfie deaths in 137 incidents reported globally between October 2011 and November 2017, with the highest occurrences in India, followed by Russia, United States, and Pakistan. The most common ways that people die while taking selfies is by drowning, being hit by traffic or falling, according to the study. Jacobson's friend, Andrew Thomas (pictured) told DailyMail.com that Jacobson 'treated everyone with respect' An unidentified friend called police around 12.45 am on Monday when Jacobson (pictured) slipped On July 4, 2020, Maria Salgado Lopez of Scottsdale, Arizona, fell to her death while trying to take selfies on Mather Point in Grand Canyon National Park. In 2018, there were four recorded selfie-related deaths in the United States, including a California woman who fell to her death taking selfies on a 200-foot cliff over Lake Superior and five passengers on a doorless sightseeing helicopter that drowned after one's safety tether got tangled in the vessel's emergency fuel shutoff lever while trying to take a selfie. Brandon Torres, the branch chief of Emergency Services at the Grand Canyon, urges hikers to stay focused on their surroundings. 'Theres been a couple of accidents where people took a picture and posed like they were going to fall off, and they really fell off,' said Torres. 'You gotta be super focused about being next to the edge, and not just at the rim. Hiking down steep canyon trails, think about how much opportunity there is to fall off a trail.' 'People dont tend to fall off the trails at Grand Canyon because theyre pretty focused. Theyre focused on what theyre doing.' Michael Avenatti tried to undermine Stormy Daniels' credibility during cross examination by telling the jury that she talks to a doll on her paranormal TV show. As he began what he claims will be his six-hour interrogation of the porn star, Avenatti said that she claimed she could communicate with the children's toy named Susan on the show Spooky Babes. The doll is said to be haunted with the spirit of a young girl who died in the 1960s, according to the show's website. Avenatti, who is representing himself, told the jury in his fraud trial that Daniels also claimed that she had X-Ray vision and can see through buildings. Daniels shot back that 'Susan speaks to everyone on the show', adding: 'She even has her own Instagram.' The sharp exchange took place on the fourth day of Avenatti's trial for allegedly siphoning off $300,000 of an $800,000 book advance that Daniels was owed for her book Full Disclosure. Michael Avenatti tried to undermine Stormy Daniels' credibility during cross examination by telling the jury that she talks to a doll on her paranormal TV show Avenatti said that she claimed on 'Spooky Babes' that she could communicate with a doll named Susan Daniels shot back that 'Susan speaks to everyone on the show', adding: 'She even has her own Instagram' Avenatti is pictured left with Stormy Daniels in May 2018, before their professional relationship collapsed after she accused him of embezzling money she made of her 2018 memoir Full Disclosure (right) Earlier Thursday, Daniels walked into court wearing black heels, a black dress with a slit down her right shoulder and a flowing dark red cardigan. She sat in the witness box - a plastic box with a filter inside it due to Covid protocols - and took off her mask before brushing back her blonde hair. Asked by the prosecutor why Avenatti stopped being her lawyer in February 2019, Daniels said Thursday: 'He stole from me and lied to me.' Asked what in particular, she replied: 'Payments from my publisher about my book.' Susan the paranormal doll haunted with the spirit of a young girl who died in the 1960s Stormy Daniels claims she communicates with a haunted doll named Susan on her paranormal TV show Spooky Babes. According to the Spooky Babes website, Susan is one of the most unique haunted objects in the world. The show claims the doll is haunted by a young girl who tragically passed away in the 1960s. 'Susan went to a private collection of world renowned origins until she was purchased by a man named John in 2011,' the site reads. 'Susan has always had an intensity to her, affecting those in her presence. Spooky Babes claims Susan has has made Marines jump, individuals cry and some question their sanity. 'It was not until Susan interacted with Stormy, however, that she became truly active and began to excel in the form of communication and even movement,' the site claims. 'Witnesses have heard Susan speak, seen her eyes shift and even her physical body pivot and move. 'Susan is now officially part of the Spooky Babes family and even accompanies the team to certain locations to aid in communication with the spirits inside. Susan continues to take on an identity of her own and even has her own social media with photos of all of her haunted adventures.' Advertisement Daniels gave her name as Stephanie Clifford, her legal name and she appeared nervous, speaking so quickly that the judge had to ask her to slow down. Prosecutor Robert Sobelman asked her if she was known by any other names and she said 'Stormy Daniels', which she said she preferred to be referred to as. Daniels identified Avenatti as the defendant - he stood up in court as she was asked to do so. Asked by the prosecutor why Avenatti stopped being her lawyer in February 2019, Daniels spoke in a clear voice and said: 'He stole from me and lied to me'. Asked what in particular, she replied: 'Payments from my publisher about my book'. Daniels described herself as a 'writer, director, actress' who was currently working on a TV series about the paranormal. During her three hours of testimony, Daniels talked the jury through how she repeatedly tried to get the second and third payments of her $800,000 book contract for her memoir, 'Full Disclosure', which was published in October 2018 by St Martin's press. The memoir details her affair with former President Donald Trump. Prosecutors claimed that Avenatti convinced her literary agent to send him the second payment of $148,000 which he sent on to her a month later after using it to pay his law firm's bills and payroll. It is alleged that Avenatti received the third payment, also of $148,000, and never gave Daniels a dime. Daniels said that in September 2018 she was so angry that the second payment had not been made she messaged Avenatti: 'I didn't get paid today. I am not f****** happy. They are in breach of contract', referring to St. Martin's Press. Daniels said she was 'confused and extremely irritated' that the payment was late. That same day Avenatti told her that the publishers had mailed a check to his office and that it would be paid. Over the subsequent weeks Daniels grew increasingly frustrated when the third payment was delayed as well, even though she turned in the book manuscript. Daniels' patience began to ran out in late 2018 and she messaged Avenatti that the publishers were being 'a******' and acting like 'd****' Prosecutors talked Daniels through dozens of text messages she sent to Avenatti in late 2018 and early 2019 begging him for updates about the book. Sobelman repeatedly asked Daniels whether Avenatti ever mentioned in these messages that not only had he received the payment but had already spent it. With venom in her voice, Daniels replied that he never did. Avenatti tried to stall her by claiming that St. Martin's press needed a list of her PR appearances to promote the book and that he was threatening them with legal action if they didn't pay, the court heard. Daniels' relationship with Avenatti came under strain when her fans messaged her that there was a second legal defense fund raising money for her that she didn't know about. Avenatti smoothed things over and she agreed to put out a statement he suggested to her. With a laugh, Daniels told the jury that she added some swear words because 'my fans know I have a potty mouth' and she didn't want them to suspect it was not her own comments. In December 2018 Daniels pleaded with Avenatti to help her yet again. She needed the third payment to put down a deposit on a house and get out of a challenging domestic situation. She wrote that she was 'trapped' in her house with her ex-husband who she was splitting up with and that 'every day (they are in the same house) is one step closer to one of us going to jail.' By February 2019 the third payment still hadn't arrived and Avenatti messaged Daniels saying that St. Martin's press were suggesting a lower third and fourth payment, which was due to be paid soon, as a 'settlement'. The jury heard that Avenatti messaged Daniels the low sales numbers for her book: Between October 2018 and January 2019 it sold just 24,000 hard copies and 9,278 ebooks. Daniels told the court that her contract with St. Martin's Press was not dependent on book sales - she got paid anyway. Daniels told the jury she told Avenatti: 'Hell no!' to the deal. By February 13 Daniels had had enough and texted Avenatti: 'F*** them', referring to her publishers, who she still believed were withholding her third payment. Daniels told Avenatti she wanted to sue St Martin's Press and told him: 'Now. Find my f****** money'. Avenatti replied: 'Word!!!!!!' Aveantti's alleged fraud fell apart when Daniels made direct contact with her publishers who sent her the details of the bank transfers. She told the jury that she saw that the second payment had been made into an account Avenatti set up in her name she didn't even know about. The third payment had not only been made, it had been made early, in September. Daniels told the jury that Avenatti had 'lied to me almost every day for five months.' Avenatti said he plans to cross-examine Daniels for six hours. He has pleaded not guilty and faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted. Avenatti is seen arriving to court on Thursday Stormy Daniels took the stand Thursday to testify against her formerAvenatti at his criminal trial over accusations that he defrauded her. Daniels walked into court wearing black heels, a black dress with a slit down her right shoulder and a flowing dark red cardigan She sent him a screenshot of the bank transfers proving everything as a 'mic drop.' Daniels told the jury she wanted to tell Avenatti: 'I am tired of your lies. Just stop. Come clean.' Asked how this made her feel, Daniels said: 'Very, very angry. Shocked. Disbelief. Hurt. I felt very betrayed and stupid.' Asked how she felt knowing that her third payment had actually been made early, she said: 'I don't know if there's a word stronger than furious. And shocked.' Daniels said that since the alleged fraud was exposed she has made many public comments about Avenatti, including one that she wanted him to be 'raped in prison.' She told the prosecutor that she didn't actually want it to happen to him, adding that she felt 'violated' after what had happened to her. In February 2018 when she first met Avenatti she said she was an 'actress, model, dancer and working in adult films'. They met at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills to discuss how Avenatti could help her get out of agreements she signed with Donald Trump not to talk about their sexual relations. Daniels said that she next saw Avenatti 24 hours later over lunch and that he offered to represent her for $100 up front. She signed a contract with him which said he was entitled to a 'standard hourly fee' if a legal defense fund was set up. Daniels said that such a fund was set up and that it made around $650,000. The contract said that if Avenatti helped Daniels with a book or media deal he would be paid a 'reasonable percentage to be agreed upon' by both of them. Prosecutor Sobelman asked if they ever agreed how much Avenatti's fee would be if she got a book deal. Daniels said no. She also confirmed that she did not sign any other contracts with Avenatti. Asked by the prosecutor why Avenatti stopped being her lawyer in February 2019, Daniels said Thursday: 'He stole from me and lied to me' Daniels claims she had a one-night stand with Trump in 2006 - on the night this photo was taken - a year after he married third wife Melania. Trump denies the claim The defense alleged Avenatti (pictured in a Monday courtroom sketch) had given Daniels hundreds of thousands of dollars only to be faced with false accusations from her, adding that behavior was not uncommon for Daniels, who when she didn't 'get her way, she turned on the people closest to her' The disgraced attorney's trial heard Wednesday that Avenatti was so broke at the time he couldn't make rent payments on his office and 'teared up and cried' when somebody else turned him down for a loan. He was eventually bailed out in September 2018 by celebrity attorney Mark Geragos, whose clients have included Michael Jackson, Chris Brown and Winona Ryder. Geragos agreed to the loan to help out 'El Presidente', a joke referring to Avenatti's mooted run for the presidency at the time, the trial heard. Avenatti then used the funds to pay Daniels $148,000 that he owed her for a payment for her 2018 memoir, Full Disclosure. Avenatti, who represented Daniels in her lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, is accused of illegally syphoning off $300,000 of an $800,000 payment for her memoir to himself. He allegedly forged her signature to persuade her agent to pay the money to him rather than to her as he had previously done. Avenatti denies wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and is facing up to 22 years in prison if found guilty. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison last year after being convicted of trying to extort up to $25million from sportswear giant Nike. He has not yet begun serving the sentence. The once high-powered attorney is also awaiting retrial in a California case - on charges that he cheated clients of millions of dollars - after a mistrial last year. Court documents filed in the Nike case showed that Geragos, who was involved in negotiations with Avenatti and the sportswear company, tried to warn Avenatti that he 'crossed a line'. Geragos 'was concerned about and uncomfortable with the situationwhich Geragos believed may have become extortionate', a prosecution filing stated. Avenatti's trial heard Wednesday that he was ultimately bailed out in September 2018 by celebrity attorney Mark Geragos (pictured) whose clients have included Michael Jackson, Chris Brown (right) and Winona Ryder Sean Macias, a California lawyer and former friend of Avenatti, gave evidence on the third day of the trial Wednesday, claiming Avenatti asked to borrow $250,000 but he refused A text message presented as evidence in court showed Macias had thanked Geragos 'for sorting out Avanatti' on September 5, 2018 Sean Macias, a California lawyer and former friend of Avenatti, gave evidence on the third day of the trial at the federal court in New York. In early 2018 he introduced Avenatti to Daniels, a porn actress who became shot to infamy after claiming she had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump who allegedly paid her to stay quiet. Macias said that over the Labor Day weekend in 2018 he and Avenatti were in Las Vegas at a boozy 'blow out party' following a legal conference when his friend seemed 'agitated' and 'a little bit needy'. As Macias, a colorful, barrel-chested figure, told the court, Avenatti came over and 'slumped' in his chair and said that Daniels was going 'crazy'. Macias said Avenatti told him she was going to 'blow up' the deal with the publishers and go to the press because she wasn't getting paid the second installment for her book deal. Prosecutors claim that Daniels had in fact been paid, only Avenatti forged her signature to get her agent to give him the money instead of her. Macias told the jury that the following Tuesday he was 'shocked' to find Avenatti turn up in the conference room of his law firm unannounced while he was out to lunch. Evidence presented in court showed Macias reluctantly reached out to a wealthy tech friend to help Avenatti but the man later emailed to say that the 'transaction cannot happen on such a short time frame' Avenatti claimed he was 'jammed' for money and that he was going to be evicted from his office in Los Angeles and couldn't make his payroll. Macias said that he was stunned because Avenatti was the 'top lawyer' in the state at the time given how he and Daniels were taking legal action against Trump. Macias claimed that Avenatti asked him for a loan of $250,000 but he said no, remarking that he 'used the F word with a no at the end'. Avenatti begged Macias: 'You've gotta help me out, you've gotta help me out', the court heard. Macias reluctantly called a wealthy tech friend of his and they set up a meeting that evening where Avenatti talked about how he was 'fighting the good fight' and taking on Trump. Avenatti upped his request to $300,000 and the man seemed to be keen to help. But the next day the friend emailed Macias to say that 'this transaction cannot happen on such a short time frame'. According to Macias, Avenatti was 'really upset'. He said: 'He teared up crying'. Avenatti begged Macias to call Geragos, which he reluctantly did and was met with a surprisingly warm reception. Geragos 'kind of laughed' as Macias explained that Avenatti was 'jammed' and 'being squeezed' by the landlord of his office. According to Macias, Geragos referred to Avenatti as 'El Presidente' and said: 'Why not?' Avenatti is accused of misappropriating funds intended for Daniels in part by forging her signature in a letter to an agent. He is pictured with Daniels in 2018 outside federal court in New York The money appears to have arrived in Avenatti's account that day, September 5, 2018. According to the indictment, that day Avenatti paid Daniels the $148,750 he got from her literary agent a month prior that she should have already had received. Prosecutors claim that Avenatti failed to pay her the third payment for an identical sum which was sent weeks later after he requested that it be hurried up. During cross examination Avenatti, who is representing himself, asked Macias if the money he was trying to arrange for him was actually for his Presidential campaign. Macias said: 'Absolutely not'. Avenatti claimed that Macias was 'enthusiastic' about the prospect of him running for the White House. Macias didn't deny it and said that while Avenatti wanted him to be his chief of staff he wanted him to 'make me ambassador of France, that would be awesome'. Daniels, whose real name is Stephane Cliffod, is expected to testify on Thursday and Judge Jesse Furman denied Avenatti's request to be able to question her about back payment of taxes and child support payments to her former spouse. DailyMail.com has reached out to Geragos for comment. A former senior aide to President Barack Obama condemned Sen. Kyrsten Sinema as 'a c***' during a foul-mouthed appearance on a leftwing podcast. Alyssa Mastromonaco took aim at the Arizona senator for announcing that she could not support a filibuster carve-out in order to pass voting rights legislative - just before President Joe Biden met with Democrats to make one last appeal for their support. While Sinema has attracted the anger of Democrats from all parts of the party, no one has gone quite as far as Mastromonaco, 45, who was deputy chief of staff in the Obama White House. She told the Pod Save America podcast recently that she had 'real issues' with Sinema. 'And I think in her speech, she talks about the disease of division,' she said 'Um, also you guys, she gave the speech as Joe Biden was on her way up to the Hill. 'So anyway, it's the s***tiest grossest, like most disrespectful thing she could have done. 'I think she's a c***' Former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco called Sen Kyrsten Sinema 'a c***' for refusing to back filibuster reform to allow the passage of voter rights legislation Mastromonaco joined the Obama team when he was running for the U.S. Senate, and became deputy White House chief of staff for operations in 2011 Mastromonaco with Obama aboard Air Force One in 2012. She recently joined other Obama alumni Jon Favreau and Dan Pfeiffer, hosts of Pod Save America, to discuss Sinema's stance The podcast is hosted by fellow Obama alumni and is notable not just for its insider takes on the Democratic Party but its liberal use of foul language. The hosts collapsed in laughter at the description of Sinema. 'Do we have to beep that?' asked one. 'No, because I'm a woman,' said Mastromonaco. Mastromonaco joined Obama's team when he was running for the U.S. Senate in 2004. She rose to become White House deputy chief of staff for operations in 2011, staying in the role until 2014. Her memoir, 'Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House' was published three years later. One critic said it had the air of 'Bridget Jones in the Oval Office,' with its stories about suffering diarrhea at the Vatican, splitting her pants and getting her period at a state dinner. After that she was a senior executive at the TV company A&E Networks, and is now co-host of a podcast on Crooked Media - the same production house as Pod Save America - called Hysteria. Her target Sinema joined fellow Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin two weeks ago in voting against the Senates filibuster, as well as a carveout that would have allowed Democrats to pass their voting legislation with a simple majority. Mastromonaco (far right) with Vice President Joe Biden and Obama in the Oval Office in 2013 'These bills help treat the symptoms of the disease, but they do not fully address the disease itself,' Sinema said at the time. 'And while I continue to support these bills, I will not support separate actions that worsen the underlying disease of division affecting our country.' Since then she has been censured by her own party in Arizona, and faced criticism by Biden. 'I am profoundly disappointed that the United States Senate has failed to stand up for our democracy. I am disappointed but I am not deterred,' he said after the vote. But Mastromonaco further in saying she had no time for Sinema's argument as she continued her furious takedown. 'It was so many layers of assholeness, like you know that she played a combative video game before she went down to the Senate floor, and was like, "You are a maverick. You are a maverick!" 'And bitch, youre not a maverick. OK. 'No, youre trash.' A new scheme using drones to help keep women safe at night is set to be trialled on the University of Nottingham campus. Women in fear of their safety will be able to use a mobile app to call a drone with a powerful spotlight and thermal cameras to warn off any suspected stalker or sex attacker. The drones would be able to reach any location within their catchment area in less than four minutes, its developers say. Richard Gill, the founder of Drone Defence, is aiming to launch a 500,000 system that uses artificial intelligence to track vulnerable women via signals from their phones. The drones, which cost 35,000 each, will be monitored by a pilot who will take over if needed. With this system, staff or students who feel unsafe will be able to call a drone that would be able to arrive within four minutes, using the Aeroguard app. The drones will be trialled at the University of Nottingham where they will be able to reach their patrol zone within four minutes On arrival, the drone would start recording and shine a large spotlight on the supposed attacker in order to deter them. The drones, its developers say, have multiple advantages compared to police helicopters. They say drones would be cheaper to run, costing 100 an hour in comparison to 3,200 an hour for a helicopter, and would also be quicker to reach its location, arriving within four minutes compared to 20 minutes. It is hoped the drones could protect vulnerable people throughout communities who fear they may be being followed by a potential stalker or sex attacker. Following the trial, the developers goal is to provide a service that can be launched in cities across the UK and make women feel safer at night. Denmark will remove virtually all Covid restrictions from next Tuesday, as the Prime Minister announced the nation will go back to 'life as we knew it before corona' and that the disease was no longer 'threatening for society'. The move will see the Scandinavian nation become the first European Union country to lift all of its domestic curbs despite the Omicron wave sweeping the continent. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen credited the country's high vaccination rate for allowing the removal of restrictions, saying the protection the jabs provided would suffice for the far less lethal Omicron variant. 'We are saying farewell to the restrictions and welcome to life as we knew it before corona,' Frederiksen told a press conference yesterday. '[The vaccine] has been superweapon. It has given us a solid defence against infection that continues. 'That's why the government decided that coronavirus should no longer be considered a threatening disease for society.' The move has set a precedent for other European countries to follow suit, as the Omicron Covid variant has proven to be relatively mild despite a soaring infection rate. Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen holds a joint press conference on the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation in Copenhagen, Denmark, on January 26, 2022. 'We are saying farewell to the restrictions and welcome to life as we knew it before corona,' Frederiksen told the press conference yesterday. The Danish government will from next Tuesday lift all domestic restrictions, including the use of a vaccine pass, mask-wearing and early closings for bars and restaurants. Denmark intends however to keep some border measures in place for another four weeks, including tests and/or quarantine depending on travellers' immunity status. The Scandinavian country had already lifted all restrictions on September 10, before re-introducing the use of a Covid pass at the beginning of November and later bringing in new restrictions as cases soared again. Copenhagen saw widespread protests against the use of vaccine passes earlier this month, before the Danish government opted to remove restrictions thanks to a high vaccination uptake and an extremely low death rate. In neighbouring Sweden, authorities announced that current restrictions would remain in place for at least another two weeks. However, Health Minister Lena Hallengren said the 'majority of restrictions' could be removed on February 9 if 'the situation has stabilised then.' Faced with a lower level of hospitalisations than in previous waves, several European countries, including France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, have announced the lifting or a considerable reduction of their restrictions, despite record or very high cases. The Danish government will from next Tuesday lift all domestic restrictions, including the use of a vaccine pass, mask-wearing and early closings for bars and restaurants (Pictured: guests enjoy a glass of wine in Copenhagen last April amid easing restrictions) Copenhagen saw widespread protests against the use of vaccine passes earlier this month, but the Danish government has now opted to remove restrictions thanks to a high vaccination uptake and an extremely low death rate (protests in Copenhagen, Jan 09, 2022) In England, the only legal restriction in place from Thursday will be for people who test positive to isolate. In Denmark, health authorities 'recommend' people who test positive to isolate for four days, but the citizens will not be legally bound to do so. The country of 5.8 million people registered 46,000 new cases on Tuesday, a very high level, but authorities said: 'our current assessment is that the epidemic will soon peak. 'We have good control over hospitalisation rates, thanks to a combination of 3.5 million Danes revaccinated and the less severe nature of Omicron.' '[The vaccine] has been superweapon. It has given us a solid defence against infection that continues,' Mette Frederiksen said. 'That's why the government decided that coronavirus should no longer be considered a threatening disease for society.' More than 60 percent of Danes have received a third dose, one month ahead of the health authorities' schedule. In the last week, the most vulnerable people have been able to have a fourth jab. While the number of people hospitalised with Covid continues to rise and has now exceeded 900, health authorities said the situation was under control. At the beginning of January, the number of hospitalisations was up 16 percent even though cases climbed 35 percent. In addition, the number of people in intensive care has gone down, from 74 in early January to 44 on Wednesday. The Danish Health Authority said 35 percent of those in hospital with Covid actually went to hospital for a different diagnosis. A man has admitted killing his girlfriend's 18-month-old son who died in hospital from a head injury. Toddler Andrew Cawker died in hospital 13 days after he suffered a head injury on July 9, 2019. Scott Coombe, of Petts Wood, south-east London, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the toddler's manslaughter today. The 24-year-old previously denied murder and child cruelty. Scott Coombe, of Petts Wood, south-east London, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to toddler Andrew Cawker's manslaughter today. Pictured: GV of the Old Bailey He faces a trial on October 3 before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey alongside Andrew's mother, Tamika Beaton, also 24, who has denied child cruelty. The charge against her alleges that she 'wilfully ill-treated or neglected' Andrew in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury between January 7 and July 9 2019. It is claimed that during that time she failed to prevent him from being injured while he was in the care of Coombe. According to the charge, Beaton, from Peckham, south-east London, also failed to notify social services of injuries Andrew suffered while Coombe was looking after him. Coombe, of Petts Wood, south-east London, was remanded into custody following the hearing before Judge Mark Lucraft QC. Beaton, who appeared in court by video-link, is on conditional bail. A further hearing in the case will take place on March 3. Biden is reportedly looking to fill a campaign promise by nominating the first ever black female Supreme Court justice President Joe Biden is looking to fulfill a long-held campaign promise of appointing a black woman to the Supreme Court -- and his reported choices could raise concerns on both sides of the aisle. Biden announced liberal Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement after nearly 30 years on the court on Thursday, with the 83-year-old standing by his side. Getting a new young liberal on the high court would be a badly-needed win for Biden, whose first year in office was marked by foreign policy crises, legislative setbacks and plummeting poll numbers. During his remarks on Thursday Biden promised to hear recommendations from both sides of the aisle, and confirmed that he would use his task to shape the U.S. judicial system for his political promise. 'Our process is going to be rigorous. I will select a nominee worthy of Justice Breyer's legacy of excellence and decency,' Biden said. 'While I've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one: the person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity.' 'And that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the Supreme Court,' the president added. Biden said it was 'long overdue' and noted how he had made that commitment during the 2020 campaign - as part of a pledge to secure a key endorsement from South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the most powerful black member of Congress. 'And I will keep that commitment,' Biden said. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell immediately seized on Biden's remarks, pointing to the razor-thin margin in the U.S. Senate, where the nominee will have to be confirmed. 'Looking ahead - the American people elected a Senate that is evenly split at 50-50. To the degree that President Biden received a mandate, it was to govern from the middle, steward our institutions, and unite America,' McConnell said. 'The President must not outsource this important decision to the radical left. The American people deserve a nominee with demonstrated reverence for the written text of our laws and our Constitution,' the Kentucky Republican added. President Joe Biden (right) grabs the hand of retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer (left) Press secretary Jen Psaki seemingly took a swipe at McConnell at the Thursday afternoon press briefing, complimenting those Republicans who said they'd work with the White House while chastising those who plan to play 'games.' 'We have not mentioned a single name. We have not put out a list. The president made very clear he has not made a selection,' Psaki said. 'And if anyone is saying they plan to characterize whoever he nominates after thorough consideration with both parties as "radical" before they no literally anything about who she is, they just obliterated their own credibility.' D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson Jackson, widely thought to be Biden's top pick, was elevated from her previous post as a judge on the federal district court in Washington, D.C., where she remained from 2013-2021. During her confirmation hearing for the highly influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, Jackson told the Senate Judiciary Committee that her race would add 'value' to the bench when trying to explain how it would not play a role in her decisions. 'I'm looking at the arguments, the facts and the law. I'm methodically and intentionally setting aside personal views, any other inappropriate considerations, and I would think that race would be the kind of thing that would be inappropriate to inject into my evaluation of a case,' she said. Then Jackson added: 'I've experienced life in perhaps a different way than some of my colleagues because of who I am, and that might be valuable -- I hope it would be valuable -- if I was confirmed to the court.' During her time as a judge, Jackson was part of the decision to order former Trump White House counsel Don McGahn to comply with the House of Representatives' subpoena as part of its impeachment inquiry into then-President Donald Trump. One line in the ruling impressed Democrats: 'The primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings.' Jackson, widely seen as Biden's top pick, was a lawyer for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign Jackson also signed the recent opinion ordering Trump White House documents be disclosed to the January 6 select committee. And in 2019, she blocked Donald Trump's fast-track deportation policy from going into effect at the southern border. Questions on Jackson's impartiality on the high court could also come from her past political activism. On her questionnaire for the Senate Judiciary Jackson admitted she was a lawyer and poll watcher for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. She also donated $400 to Obama's first presidential bid, campaign finance disclosures show. Jackson, 51, earned her law degree from Harvard and, fittingly, clerked for Breyer. She is also married to the brother-in-law of former Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. She has two daughters with her husband Patrick Jackson, whom she married in 1996. Patrick Jackson, a surgeon, previously donated $1,250 to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign and $1,750 to Obama's 2012 re-election bid. Campaign filings show Jackson's husband is no stranger to donating to Democratic presidential bids Some Biden critics could also be concerned Jackson is soft on crime -- during her tenure as vice chair of the United States Sentencing Commission, the panel retroactively reduced sentences for many crack cocaine offenses. It allowed 12,000 convicted felons to seek reduced sentences and made 1,800 eligible to be back on the streets immediately. South Carolina US District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs Childs has the backing of a powerful Democratic lawmaker from her state, longtime Biden ally and House Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn. Cyburn spoke on her behalf alongside South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham during Childs' 2010 confirmation hearing to her current bench, to which she was appointed by Obama. The U.S. District Court of South Carolina judge was tapped for a promotion last month by Biden to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but the nomination is still pending. One of her recent high-profile rulings was dealt a defeat by the Supreme Court, when it overturned Childs' September 2020 decision to kill a measure in South Carolina's new elections bill that would have tightened security on mail-in ballots. The South Carolina legislature passed a bill allowing all voters to vote absentee regardless of their reason in a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but an amendment to remove a provision requiring a witness signature failed. Childs upheld the law but struck down the signature requirement in a decisive victory for state and national Democrats just before the presidential election. Childs demonstrated a considerable deference to Congress during her 2010 Senate Judiciary hearing, which could raise alarms in the current hyper-partisan political environment It was swiftly overturned by the Supreme Court in early October. And in her 2010 confirmation hearing, Childs demonstrated a significant deference to Congress -- indicating she may give federal lawmakers the benefit of the doubt on some occasions. When asked by Senator Dianne Feinstein about her understanding of Congressional authority as given by the Constitution, the judge said: 'With respect to any laws respecting your Congressional powers, I would presume that anything that you all are doing is constitutional and would approach it with that mindset, knowing that you would only enact laws that you have had due deliberance over and consider deliberation over.' With a South Carolina School of Law degree, Childs doesn't have the Ivy League education that eight of the nine current justices hold -- a breath of fresh air that advocates for her nomination tout as an advantage in making the Democratic party appear less elitist. But despite her progressive resume, Childs revealed her view on interpreting the Constitution is more in line with who her conservative colleagues on the court would be. The South Carolina judge has a key ally in Rep. James Clyburn (center), a longtime friend of Biden's Childs replied 'no' when asked on her nomination questionnaire whether she thought the Constitution is a 'living' document -- meaning its interpretation cannot be changed while society changes. Childs' objective take is similar to how Justice Amy Coney Barrett described her 'Originalist' interpretation of the nation's laws. But her husband, Floyd Angus, is a Democrat donor like Jackson's -- filings show he gave Obama $250 in 2008 and doubled the contribution in 2012. California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger Kruger would be a younger choice at 45, and is widely seen as a moderate to liberal judge in the Golden State. But her husband, a California-based lawyer named Brian Hauck, dives further into left wing politics. As recently as 2020 he donated $1,000 to Biden's presidential campaign. Hauck donated a whopping $3,800 to Obama's first campaign between 2007 and 2008, and then worked in his Justice Department between 2009 and 2014. Kruger was involved in the federal government as a senior lawyer for the Solicitor General's office, though she rejected that top job twice when offered by Biden. Kruger is the youngest prospective pick being reported at just 45 years old, though she's already turned down Biden's offer for Solicitor General twice She served under Obama as acting Principal Deputy Solicitor General from May 2010 - June 2011 where she argued 12 cases in front of the Supreme Court. During her time at the Department of Justice, Kruger earned in both 2013 and 2014 the Attorney General's Award for Exceptional Service, which is the agencys highest employee award. She also clerked for late Justice John Paul Stevens who served on the Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010 and died in 2019. Kruger was also the youngest person appointed to the California Supreme Court when then-Governor Jerry Brown nominated her in 2014. On this court, Kruger has authored a few notable opinions, including banning law enforcement from searching a woman's purse without a warrant. Kruger also upheld a California law requiring law enforcement to collect DNA samples and fingerprints from people arrested or convicted of felony offenses. Her more conservative approaches to criminal cases combined with her past as a private lawyer could lessen her appeal to the far-left wing of Biden's party. In 2005 as an attorney at WilmerHale, Kruger was part of a team that successfully defended Shell Oil Company against a $500 million judgement from a Nigerian court. Former NAACP head Sherrilyn Ifill Ifill, a civil rights leader, could fuel political concerns as the nominee after spending decades as a left-wing activist Her nomination would have some support from the Congressional Black Caucus, according to Politico, but her frequent television appearances and far-left social media presence would make Ifill a target for accusations of partisanship. Her Twitter feed is full of partisan opinions atypical for a potential Supreme Court nominee. In one recent post she takes aim at Republicans and even moderate Democrats in defending Biden's embattled Chief of Staff Ron Klain. 'If youre not talking [about] the insanity & obstruction of the Presidents opponents in frustrating his agenda & those of liberal & moderate Dems, youre doing it wrong,' Ifill wrote. Earlier this month the civil rights activist appeared on MSNBC where she lauded Biden's controversial voting rights speech in Georgia, where he compared opponents of scuttling the filibuster to pass his bill to infamous racists like George Wallace and Jefferson Davis. She said efforts to pass election security laws by GOP-led legislatures were 'voter suppression' measures that unfairly targeted black and brown voters. 'The purpose of it, the design of it, is to subvert our democracy and ensure the outcome of elections is controlled by one political party,' Ifill said. Ifill isn't afraid to take shots at the court she could be nominated to, either. She claimed the Supreme Court's decision to hear affirmative action cases against Harvard and the University of South Carolina 'seriously threatens the nations ideals of equality' in a statement published in the Harvard Gazette on Wednesday. She could also alienate potentially necessary votes with her vocal social media presence, like this tweet taking aim at moderate Democrats -- whose support she would likely need 'The President must not outsource this important decision to the radical left': McConnell warns Biden not to pick a super liberal for SCOTUS moments after he confirmed he would replace Justice Breyer with the court's first black woman President Joe Biden delivered remarks Thursday on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer - and confirmed he would select a black woman to be Breyer's replacement, which prompted Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to immediately stoke fears the president would select someone endorsed by the 'radical left.' 'Our process is going to be rigorous. I will select a nominee worthy of Justice Breyer's legacy of excellence and decency,' Biden said. 'While I've been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one: the person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity.' 'And that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the Supreme Court,' the president added. Biden said it was 'long overdue' and noted how he had made that commitment during the 2020 campaign - as part of a pledge to secure a key endorsement from South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn, the most powerful black member of Congress. 'And I will keep that commitment,' Biden said. 'I'm going to invite senators from both parties to offer their ideas and points of view. I'll also consult with leading scholars and lawyers. And I'm fortunate to have advising me in this selection process, Vice President Kamala Harris,' Biden continued. 'She's an exceptional lawyer, former attorney general of the state of California, former member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.' Biden said he planned to make his decision before the end of February. He asked that the Senate move on his choice 'promptly,' as Democrats could lose control of the Senate after the November midterms. Directly after Biden made his remarks, McConnell pointed to the razor-thin margin in the U.S. Senate, where the nominee will have to be confirmed. 'Looking ahead - the American people elected a Senate that is evenly split at 50-50. To the degree that President Biden received a mandate, it was to govern from the middle, steward our institutions, and unite America,' McConnell said. 'The President must not outsource this important decision to the radical left. The American people deserve a nominee with demonstrated reverence for the written text of our laws and our Constitution,' the Kentucky Republican added. Press secretary Jen Psaki seemingly took a swipe at McConnell at the Thursday afternoon press briefing, complimenting those Republicans who said they'd work with the White House while chastising those who plan to play 'games.' 'We have not mentioned a single name. We have not put out a list. The president made very clear he has not made a selection,' Psaki said. 'And if anyone is saying they plan to characterize whoever he nominates after thorough consideration with both parties as "radical" before they no literally anything about who she is, they just obliterated their own credibility.' President Joe Biden delivered remarks Thursday on the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer - and confirmed he would select a black woman for Breyer's replacement Justice Breyer (right) holds up a copy of the U.S. Constitution as he briefly addressed the press during Thursday's event in the Roosevelt Room Dr. Joanna Breyer (left) and Dr. Jill Biden (right) listen at an event announcing Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement from the Supreme Court First Lady Jill Biden (second from right) escorts Joanna Breyer (right) from the Roosevelt Room as Justice Stephen Breyer (left) and President Joe Biden (upper right) conclude their remarks at an event Thursday Speaking about Breyer in the Roosevelt Room, Biden said, 'this is sort of a bittersweet day for me,' noting how he and the 83-year-old justice 'go back a long way, all the way back to the 70s when he first came on the Judiciary Committee.' 'Today Justice Breyer announces his intention to step down from active service after four decades, four decades on the federal bench and 28 years on the United States Supreme Court,' Biden announced. Biden opened up his remarks by saying hello to 'Dr. Breyer,' the justice's wife, Joanna, and his own wife, Dr. Jill Biden. The president then walked people through Breyer's life of public service, from enlisting in the U.S. Army as a teenager, and serving in 'all three branches of the federal government before he turned 40.' Breyer was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, a prosecutor in the Department of Justice and a member of the Watergate prosecution team. Biden said he first encountered Breyer when the president was a senator on the Senate Judiciary Committee and Breyer served as a lawyer under then Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Ted Kennedy. 'Beyond his intellect and hard work and legal insight, he was famous for biking across Washington virtually every day for a face-to-face meeting with a Republican chief counsel, a ranking Republican counsel - and over breakfast they discussed what they would do for the country together,' Biden noted. 'Because in those days we tried to do things together.' 'That spirit stuck with me when I took over the Judiciary Committee as chair after Sen. Kennedy's tenure,' Biden added. Biden called it an 'honor' to promote Breyer to the federal bench in 1980. Senate confirmation process for new Justice After President Joe Biden names his pick for the Supreme Court, his nominee must be Senate confirmed. Democrats hold the advantage given their control of 50-50 split chamber. The first step in the process is for the nominee to make visits to senators' office. Then the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold confirmation hearings. The entire Senate would then vote for or against the nominee's confirmation. Democrats will be expected to toe the line and support Biden's pick, even rogue Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema would be expected to be 'yes' votes. If all Republican senators oppose the nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris would cast the tie-breaking vote. And Republicans won't be able to filibuster the nominee thanks to their own actions. In April 2017, then-Senate leader Mitch McConnell ended the filibuster rule for Supreme Court nominees, letting them advance to a final vote on a simple majority. He did it to help the confirmation of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Advertisement 'And then 14 years later, in 1994, I got to preside as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee over his Supreme Court confirmation hearings,' Biden continued. 'We were joking with one another when he walked in - would we ever think that he would have served decades on the court and I'd be president of the United States the day he came and retired,' Biden added. When it was Breyer's turn to speak, he called the president's comments 'terribly nice.' Breyer then gave free-wheeling remarks about how the U.S. is a 'complicated country' with 'every point of view possible.' 'And yet they decided to help solve their major differences under law,' Breyer remarked. 'And when my students get too cynical I say go look at what happens in countries that don't do that.' Later, Biden invited the Breyers to spend the night in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom. 'I don't know if you've ever been to the White House in the Lincoln Bedroom. But I invite both of you to come and stay. The Lincoln Bedroom has against the wall between the windows looking out, a hand-written copy of the Gettysburg Address, written by Lincoln,' Biden said. 'So you've got to come and see it and even if you can't come and stay, bring your grandchildren so they can see it as well.' Breyer had remarked that he and his wife had paid 'each of our grandchildren a certain amount of money to memorize the Gettysburg Address.' As Biden wrapped up the event, he told the reporters in the room he wouldn't be taking questions because it wasn't 'appropriate.' It would be a badly needed victory for Biden if he manages to get a new left-leaning justice confirmed with a razor thin 50-50 split in the Senate. The president is already reportedly considering multiple potential replacements. Three candidates generating serious buzz are DC Circuit Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger and South Carolina District Court Judge J. Michelle Childs. Jackson and Childs were both tapped for promotions by Biden in 2021. Jackson was confirmed to her DC Circuit Court role in June, while Childs was nominated to the same bench in December. Some conservative commentators have objected to Biden narrowing his choice for the high court by race and gender. Asked about their complaints in the Thursday briefing, Psaki replied that 'the fact that no black woman has been nominated shows a deficiency of the past selection processes not a lack of qualified candidates to be nominated to the Supreme Court.' Psaki also pointed out that Republican President Ronald Reagan purposely selected the first female Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor. She refused to say when Biden found out Breyer was retiring. 'This was Justice Breyer's decision to make, on his own timeline and through his own conditions he determined,' Psaki said. 'So we aren't going to lay out more specifics from here in terms of when the president was aware.' Democrats are already racing against the clock to get whoever Biden chooses onto the bench, with the 2022 midterm elections looming at the end of the year. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Judiciary Chair Richard Durbin released statements on Wednesday that stressed their preferred short timeline. 'President Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed,' Schumer said. Durbin added that he looked 'forward to moving the Presidents nominee expeditiously through the Committee.' On the White House side, Psaki said Harris will play a 'central role' in the process, as well as Chief of Staff Ron Klain, White House Counsel Dana Remus, Senior Advisor Cedric Richmond, Paige Herwig, who works in the counsel's office and Louisa Terrell, the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Breyer is one of three liberals on the Supreme Court, alongside Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Former President Donald Trump was able to fill three empty slots during his four-year term, giving the court a decisive conservative supermajority. Calls for the octogenarian justice to retire increased after Biden won the 2020 election. The reported pressure on Breyer increased as Republicans' chances of taking back the Congressional majority in November 2022 swelled. Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in April 2021 Breyer was appointed to the high court by President Bill Clinton, who announced his decision in 1994 Democrats have faced significant GOP roadblocks to the high court in the past - after late Justice Antonin Scalia's passing, McConnell, then the majority leader, successfully blocked Barack Obama's nominee, now Attorney General Merrick Garland, from even getting a hearing in 2015. Obama had reportedly tried to convince late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire in 2013 to give him an earlier chance at getting another liberal on the court. She apparently rebuffed calls to step down, before dying on the bench under the Trump administration and enabling him to appoint young conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Confirming judicial nominees only requires a simply majority vote in the Senate, thanks to rules changes that started in 2013 - for non-SCOTUS nominees - and then for SCOTUS judges in 2017. Biden will simply have to hold together his Senate Democratic caucus to get his pick appointed to the high court. All eyes are now turned to Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, whose reservations led to the deaths or at least indefinite pauses to two key Biden agenda items: the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill and voting rights legislation, as the moderates were against meddling with the Senate filibuster. But historically, he should have more luck getting them on board here. Neither Manchin nor Sinema have voted against one of the president's judicial picks so far. Manchin released a statement on Wednesday signaling he was open to considering Breyer's replacement, but it was noticeably void of the rushed language in Schumer and Durbin's sentiments. 'I take my Constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on a nominee to the Supreme Court very seriously,' Manchin said. 'I look forward to meeting with and evaluating the qualifications of President Bidens nominee to fill this Supreme Court vacancy.' DailyMail.com has reached out to both Manchin and Sinema's offices. Poland has begun construction on a 115 mile long wall which will run along its border to stop migrants being pushed across by Belarus in what the European Union described as a 'hybrid attack'. Construction workers with heavy machinery began work on the border wall this week in the village of Tolcza, near the closed border crossing of Kuznica in eastern Poland. The barbed wire-topped metal wall is expected to cost 294 million, will stand 18ft-high and will come complete with thermal imaging cameras, CCTV, motion detectors and alarm systems. It will run along more than half of the Polish-Belarusian border and is set for completion in June - a target date which requires two construction companies to work round the clock for months. Kuznica, the area where the very first section of the wall is being erected, was the epicentre of last year's migrant crisis, which saw thousands of migrants forced to brave freezing conditions as they attempted to fight their way across the border. The EU says the migrants were being used by Belarus's authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko to destabilise the 27-member bloc in retaliation for sanctions introduced after Lukashenko won an election widely thought to be rigged, before ruthlessly clamping down on protests. Polish Police at a construction site of a border fence at the border with Belarus near the town of Tolcze, eastern Poland, 27 January 2022. Poland has started to build a barrier fence at the Polish Belarusian border Workers construct a border wall along the Polish-Belarus border in Tolcze, Sokolka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland on January 27, 2022 The wall will run along more than half of the Polish-Belarusian border and is set for completion in June - a target date which requires two construction companies to work round the clock for months. Polish soldiers and border guards are overseeing the security of the construction site. Kuznica, the area where the very first section of the wall is being erected, was the epicentre of last year's migrant crisis, which saw thousands of migrants forced to brave freezing conditions as they attempted to fight their way across the border Border guards and the military are patrolling the construction site in Kuznica, while excavators and cranes prepare the ground for the metal wall to be laid. 'The Belarusian side is ready to do anything when it comes to provocations, so we have to be ready for any kind of event,' said Major Arkadiusz Tomaszewski, deputy commander of the Border Guard in Kuznica, where clashes with migrants and Belarusian security officers took place last year. European nations, facing a continuing inflow of migrants and refugees, are debating stepping up external border protection, tightening travel rules within Europe's passport-free Schengen zone and introducing stricter rules for returning migrants to their countries of origin. Pressure from thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa on Poland and Lithuania's wooded borders with Belarus began in the summer, leading to clashes with Poland's border guards. The migrants are mostly heading for Germany. Last year, Lithuania started building a wall on its frontier with Belarus, while Poland sealed its border with Belarus using razor wire, increased the number of guards and restricted access to the frontier. During the 2015 inflow of migrants to the EU, Hungary drew condemnation when it built a wall on its borders with Croatia and Serbia to block migration routes. But with the EU accusing Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko of engaging in a 'hybrid war' by forcing migrants into central and western Europe, Poland's right wing government has thus far been able to argue the wall will serve all EU nations. At least 12 migrants have died in the wooded border area in recent months and conditions have worsened as a result of sub-freezing winter temperatures. The barbed wire-topped metal wall is expected to cost 294 million, will stand 18ft-high and will come complete with thermal imaging cameras, CCTV, motion detectors and alarm systems During the 2015 inflow of migrants to the EU, Hungary drew condemnation when it built a wall on its borders with Croatia and Serbia to block migration routes. But with the EU accusing Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko (pictured) of engaging in a 'hybrid war' by forcing migrants into central and western Europe, Poland's right wing government has thus far been able to argue the wall will serve all EU nations Critics and environmentalists say the wall will fail to stop migrants, but will harm one of Europe's last pristine woodlands, the Bialowieza forest. Natalia Gebert, from the Grupa Granica (Border Group) that brings aid to migrants and asylum-seekers in Poland, says the wall 'stops only the disabled, the weak, the sick'. 'It doesn't stop desperate people who are fleeing danger from trying to cross,' she told the Associated Press. She said that in the first three weeks of 2022 the group received requests for help from nearly 350 people, including 51 children. Kalina Czwarnog of the Ocalenie (Deliverance) Foundation said the money for the wall could be better spent on ways of managing migration in a 'humanitarian way and in line with international law'. Kuznica, the area where the very first section of the wall is being erected, was the epicentre of last year's migrant crisis (law enforcement officers pictured standing guard as a herd of migrants queue to receive food on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region, Belarus, November 19, 2021) A border guard spokesperson, Anna Michalska, told Poland's PAP news agency that the construction companies are committed to keeping the damage to the area's forests to a minimum A border guard spokesperson, Anna Michalska, told Poland's PAP news agency that the construction companies are committed to keeping the damage to the area's forests to a minimum. 'The intention is for the damage to be as small as possible. Tree felling will be limited to the minimum required. The wall itself will be built along the border road.' Meanwhile, journalists and reporters have struggled to gain access to the construction site after the government implemented further checkpoints preventing entry to the area. Poland's supreme court last week condemned the decision, declaring that the ban was not valid in the eyes of the law and that 'there is no justification for admitting that this particular professional group represents a threat to steps taken'. Joe Rogan is a heroic broadcaster. You don't have to agree with every guest he has on his Spotify podcast or every opinion he shares about Covid-19 to admit the bloke has blown up the broadcasting model at a time when once great international news services like CNN, Sky News and, yup, the BBC have become highly censored, deeply biased and scaremongering obsessed shadows of their former selves, especially since the latest coronavirus was most likely leaked from a Chinese lab in 2019. Neil Young was a heroic musician whose back catalogue is a treasured, if commercially insignificant, part of any music streaming service's offering to subscribers. But the prospect of entitled celebrities using their fame to throttle free speech has hit a chilling new nadir with Young's Spotify strop over The Joe Rogan Experience. Earlier this week, the rocker published a since-deleted letter to his manager and record company on his website, threatening: 'I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform. They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.' Neil Young was a heroic musician whose back catalogue is a treasured, if commercially insignificant, part of any music streaming service's offering to subscribers The prospect of entitled celebrities using their fame to throttle free speech has hit a chilling new nadir with Young's Spotify strop over The Joe Rogan Experience Young appeared to be joining an organised campaign by a 270-strong group of doctors and scientists who had signed an open letter earlier this month demanding Spotify reprimand Rogan who they signed to an exclusive deal last year worth over $100 million because of, what they claimed, was a 'concerning history of broadcasting misinformation, particularly regarding the Covid-19 pandemic'. In a farcical twist, it turned out only 87 of the signatories were medical doctors, with the rest an array of luvvie teachers, psychologists and engineers. Young went even further, writing furiously: 'I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them.' This is not the first time the notoriously prickly Young has gone to war with Spotify. In 2015, he demanded his songs be removed because he took issue with their sound quality. But attacking Rogan in his latest hissy fit has seen the boycott explode into the mainstream, with the battle lines drawn for both sides of the Covid culture war. The woke streaming giant is holding firm and not giving into the ageing rocker for now and I respect that. After confirming the process of removing Young's music had begun, they released a conciliatory statement saying: 'We want all the world's music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. 'With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We regret Neil's decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.' Further, the company, in a comment that I imagine would make Rogan bristle, boasted they have removed over 20,000 podcasts related to Covid since the start of the pandemic. I'd love to know how many of those podcasts purged by Spotify contained so-called misinformation or conspiracy theories that are now widely accepted by the scientific and media establishment. Harry and Meghan signed a similar exclusive deal to Rogan to join the streaming giant and produce podcasts Young appeared to be joining an organised campaign by a 270-strong group of doctors and scientists who had signed an open letter earlier this month demanding Spotify reprimand Rogan Like the fact Covid-19 was most likely leaked from a Wuhan lab, a highly credible theory that I have been talking about since March 2020, but which big tech labelled misinformation, thanks to a disturbing cover up campaign by influential scientists in cahoots with the media. Or the fact cloth masks are pretty bloody hopeless at stopping the spread of Covid. Or the fact Covid vaccines, while highly effective at reducing hospitalisations and deaths from the virus for those who are vulnerable, don't stop transmission, as the latest Omicron wave has proven beyond doubt. Or the fact that the new and experimental MRNA vaccines have a small but nonetheless evident risk attached of sparking the heart condition myocarditis, especially for young men. Or the fact draconian lockdowns have become more about world leaders attempting to control their people on the march towards a biosecurity state, complete with digital medical IDs, than reducing the death rate from Covid. Or the fact many of those counted as dying with Covid were infected with the virus while in hospital but passed away from other causes. Or the fact governments across the globe were intending to make vaccination mandatory in order to live a normal life, with penalties including fines, increased taxes and being banned from much of civilised society. Or the fact the vaccination programme would continue for many years, with folk expected to have a fourth, fifth or sixth jab. My point is that many broadcasters and journalists including myself who dared to question the Covid orthodoxy and the highly damaging laws being inflicted were at the time branded purveyors of misinformation, but have since been proven to be right time and again. We have quite rightly fallen out of love with the mainstream broadcast media over the course of the pandemic because of the censorship and propaganda that has now become commonplace. And Rogan has become a haven for sanguine and uncensored conversation about all the big issues unencumbered by regulation facing most broadcasters. For example, the state regulator Ofcom in the UK which at the start of the pandemic made it clear to broadcasters they faced severe sanctions if they questioned public health guidance. Rogan has become a haven for sanguine and uncensored conversation about all the big issues unencumbered by regulation facing most broadcasters Or YouTube and Twitter which has instituted a three-strike system based on often incorrect World Health Organisation Covid standards which has seen many controversial but important voices deplatformed. Joe Rogan is too big and successful to be cancelled by any company, executive or regulator, so he has become a treasured voice arguably the world's most powerful broadcaster. Over 60 million tuned into his controversial interview with MRNA vaccine developer Robert Malone, the virologist and immunologist who has raised the ire of his profession by turning against the vaccines his science helped to create thanks to his work in 1989. Perhaps more importantly, though the podcast he introduced the world to the fascinating concept of Mass Formation Psychosis as a means to explain why the public has been prepared to follow such nonsensical rules throughout the pandemic without evidence to back up, in lots of cases, why we've turned our lives upside down. I listened to the entire three-hour, six-minute episode of the podcast, released on New Year's Eve, and was gripped. I didn't agree with every one of Malone's theories, but he's clearly an incredibly intelligent man, with the pedigree to be given a platform. As a result of the backlash against Malone, which included Twitter permanently banning him from their sewer pit site, I invited him onto my GB News show where we had a fascinating discussion about why he believes we must question the current vaccination programme. It's impossible to dismiss Malone as an anti-vaxxer madman, as the MSM love to do with others, given, without him, we might not have the MRNA jabs in the first place and because he's been jabbed with the Covid vaccine himself. So instead, the medical establishment wants to deplatform him altogether and have Spotify censor what was a brilliant conversation with Rogan, who they also want to bring down. Can you believe that's the level of our scientific debate in 2022? Have we learnt nothing from how much government and big pharma scientists have got wrong throughout the pandemic? Honest and unfiltered debate has never been needed more. And that is why I'm so worried that Young's actions might spark other virtue signalling musicians into following suit. For Spotify, Rogan the world's most popular podcaster is far more commercially important to them than Young, a big artist historically, sure, but one whose chart heyday is behind him. What happens, though, if (or more likely when) woketopian Spotify music stars like Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Adele threaten to quit the service if they continue to 'platform' Rogan? I mean, Taylor doesn't even believe other popstars should be able to have an opinion on her songwriting ability, as witnessed by her successful bid this week to use her Twitter mob to bully Blur star Damon Albarn into a grovelling apology after he stated in an interview that 'she doesn't write her own songs'. The Hollywood liberal establishment is already using their usual bully boy tactics to exert pressure on other music acts to join the cancel Rogan club. Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady tweeted to his 199,000 followers a call for the world's biggest pop superstars to follow Young and boycott Spotify, tweeting directly the accounts of Swift, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Bruno Mars, Pink, Selena Gomez, Eminem, Demi Lovato, Adele, Alicia Keys, Chris Brown, Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, Wiz Khalifa and even the defunct boy band One Direction. And then there's the intriguing question of what Spotify's other major exclusive podcasters, the Duke and Duchess of Woke themselves, intend to do. Harry and Meghan signed a similar exclusive deal to Rogan to join the streaming giant and produce podcasts, but so far in over a year their output has been pitiful, delivering just one 33-minute episode on December 29 2020 featuring messages about 'the power of compassion' from their liberal pals including Elton John, Naomi Osaka, James Corden and Tyler Perry. But this week it emerged Spotify is taking the production of the couple's podcasts in house after one year without any episodes being delivered whatsoever. Harry and Meghan have been advocates of shutting down freedom of speech they don't agree with and are likely to be opposed to Rogan's open questioning of Covid vaccine efficacy given their public endorsement of the vaccine programme. It's highly likely they will keep schtum, given there's an 18 million deal at stake and we know H&M seem to prize moolah above morality. But if they do threaten to join Young and tell Spotify they want out of the deal because of Rogan, it's critical the company continues to stand up for free speech. The liberal media is becoming increasingly inward looking and prissy, seemingly wanting to ban any opinions they find personally offensive or confronting. Spotify has the power to become a champion for free speech. That's why they must say: We will have Rogan, not Young. German prosecutors have charged a Russian scientist working at a Bavarian university with espionage, accusing him of sharing information about Europe's Ariane space rocket programme with Moscow. Ilnur Nagaev, 29, was arrested last June and will now face trial for espionage after prosecutors alleged he agreed to co-operate with Russian foreign intelligence service SVR in 2019. Prosecutors believe Nagaev 'passed on information on research projects in the field of aerospace technology, in particular the various development stages of the European launcher Ariane', while working on his PhD at Augsburg University. The latest iteration of the European Space Agency (ESA) Ariane rocket - Ariane 5 - was used last month in the highly publicised launch of the 7.4 billion James Webb space telescope. Nagaev is believed to have passed information about the next generation Ariane 6 launcher which was commissioned by the ESA in the early 2010s and is expected to undergo its first test flight later this year. Lawyers for the 29-year-old deny the accusations and say he only shared material that was already publicly available. It comes at a time of extreme tension between Russia and the West over Ukraine. Ilnur Nagaev, 29, was arrested last June and will now face trial for espionage after prosecutors alleged he agreed co-operate with Russian foreign intelligence service SVR in 2019 The lift-off of Arianespace/European Space Agency's Ariane 5 rocket carrying NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, in the Jupiter Center at the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, 25 December 2021. This file photo taken on December 6, 2021 shows a Vulcain 2 engine for the Ariane 5 rocket, at the PF50 tests stand at the ArianeGroup's site in Vernon, France. Nagaev is believed to have passed information about the next generation Ariane 6 launcher which was commissioned by the European Space Agency in the early 2010s and is expected to be completed later this year According to prosecutors, Nagaev held 'regular meetings' from late November 2019 onwards with a senior officer of Russia's foreign intelligence service stationed in Germany. He allegedly received 2,500 euros (2,100) in cash in exchange for the information he shared, which also included details about his scientific research at a Bavarian university. Prosecutors said Nagaev worked as a research assistant at the university's natural sciences and technology department. According to details leaked to the German press last year, Nagaev was researching materials resistant to extremely high temperatures, and was employed at Augsburg University in southern Germany at the time of his arrest. Augsburg is hotbed of activity for work on rockets - the university works in conjunction with the locally headquartered MT Aerospace, a company which in 2019 signed a deal with ArianeGroup and the ESA to provide composite upper stage technologies for the Ariane 6 launcher. If found guilty of espionage, Nagaev will likely face several years in prison. The ESA's Ariane programme consists of a series of transportation rockets designed to ferry heavy loads including satellites into space. The Ariane 6 is designed to be a far more cost-effective version of the current Ariane 5 launcher, which will be able to launch more frequently. The case comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between Germany and Russia, as the West fears Moscow is planning to invade Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has vowed that Russia would pay a 'high price' for attacking Ukraine. Upping the stakes, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned Thursday that the recently completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany could be a target of sanctions - though this is unlikely given that Germany relies on Russia to provide around 40 per cent of its gas imports. Though Germany is refusing to send arms to Ukraine in anticipation of a Russian attack, many other NATO countries, including the US and UK, have sent several shipments of arms and are ready to deploy troops. According to details leaked to the German press last year, Nagaev was researching materials resistant to extremely high temperatures, and was employed at Augsburg University in southern Germany at the time of his arrest. Augsburg is hotbed of activity for work on rockets - the university works in conjunction with the locally headquartered MT Aerospace, a company which in 2019 signed a deal with ArianeGroup and the ESA to provide composite upper stage technologies for the Ariane 6 launcher (Ariane 5 rocket pictured on the launchpad in December) The ESA's Ariane programme consists of a series of transportation rockets designed to ferry heavy loads including satellites into space. The Ariane 6 is designed to be a far more cost-effective version of the current Ariane 5 launcher (pictured during takeoff in December), which will be able to launch more frequently Germany and Russia have also been at odds over the ongoing detention of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was treated in Berlin after a near-fatal poisoning. Europe's biggest economy has seen a number of suspected cases of Russian espionage on its soil in recent months. In October 2021, a German man was handed a two-year suspended sentence for passing on floor plans of parliament buildings to Russian secret services while employed by a security company. Last August, a former employee of the British embassy in Berlin was arrested on suspicion of having passed on documents to Russian intelligence. Germany has also repeatedly accused Russia of cyber espionage attempts. Germany and Russia have also been at odds over the ongoing detention of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who was treated in Berlin after a near-fatal poisoning (Navalny pictured in court in Moscow, Russia, Feb 2021) The most high-profile incident blamed on Russian hackers to date was a cyberattack in 2015 that paralysed the computer network of the Bundestag lower house of parliament, forcing the entire institution offline for days while it was fixed. Russia denies being behind such activities. Bilateral relations took another hit last month after a German court ruled that Moscow had ordered the 2019 assassination of an ex-Chechen commander in a Berlin park. Berlin expelled two Russian diplomats in response, prompting a tit-for-tat reaction from Russia which rejects any connection to the killing. Rapid Antigen Tests at schools could soon be scrapped with the tests to be reviewed amid criticism the rollout has been 'confusing' and 'unnecessary'. The NSW Government will assess in two weeks if any changes need to be made to the program that requires students and teachers to take an RAT twice a week. The review will come as parents slam the testing requirements as 'excessive', infectious disease experts label the testing strategy as unfeasible and premier Dominic Perrottet delivers mixed messages about the testing timeframes. Mr Perrottet has said on several occasions that students and teachers will not be required to undertake an RAT 'on day one' of school. Rapid Antigen Tests at schools could soon be scrapped with the tests to be reviewed amid criticism the rollout has been 'confusing' and 'unnecessary' The NSW Government will assess in two weeks if any changes need to be made to the program that requires students and teachers to take an RAT twice a week (pictured, RATs delivered to a Melbourne school) Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has said the opposite and advised tests to be undertaken before the start of the school term on Tuesday. 'We're asking all of our students and staff to test before they come back to school for that first day,' she said earlier this week. Mater Health Services director of infectious diseases Professor Paul Griffin that negative results from RATs may foster a sense of complacency around Covid-19, leading to students not following precautions. 'People are overly reassured by false negatives, but that's not really the intent of (a RAT) because the sensitivity isn't enough,' he told Daily Telegraph. 'Really the key issue is there's no point implementing a strategy that's not feasible, because then it will become unmanageable.' Some 4.9 million RATs have already been distributed to schools with supplies available at more than 80 per cent of state schools. Box Hill mum-of-two Kye Hudson labelled the testing requirements as 'excessive'. 'To be honest I'm probably not going to do the test unless he's showing symptoms which I feel like most people I've spoken to have said the same thing,' she said. 'I don't know how they're going to police it but it's just going to have to come down to common sense.' While most state school students begin on Tuesday, some private schools began classes on Thursday including Tamworth's Calrossy Anglican School. Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has said the opposite and advised tests to be undertaken before the start of the school term on Friday The 1,000-student K-12 college received 3000 RATs on Monday, allowing it to uncover a couple of asymptomatic cases in new boarders and students who arrived on Thursday The 1,000-student K-12 college received 3000 RATs on Monday, allowing it to uncover a couple of asymptomatic cases in new boarders and students who arrived on Thursday. Staff also conducted a RAT before arriving but other students, returning on Friday, won't have to test until Monday morning. 'There's no way we'd be able to ask parents, including some who live two or more hours away, to pick tests up before Friday,' principal David Smith said. Instead, students will go home on Friday with two tests each and use one on Monday and Thursday mornings. Parents will notify the school where positive results occur. Extra tests bought by the school will allow daily testing of boarders. 'The big challenge will be how many staff and kids will we be without,' Mr Smith said. 'We want to be safe and careful as we can - we're still doing what we can to cohort kids (with junior, middle and senior students kept separate).' Chinese envoy calls for more humanitarian, economic assistance to Afghanistan Xinhua) 11:13, January 27, 2022 UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's permanent representative to the United Nations on Wednesday calls for more humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan. "China calls for a stronger sense of urgency from the international community and more humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan, so as to bring warmth and hope to the Afghan people," Zhang Jun told a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan. "After the hasty withdrawal of foreign troops last August, the Afghan economy has been in free fall and the Afghan population is experiencing a humanitarian crisis of the worst kind," said the ambassador. Noting 95 percent of the Afghan families are without enough food, more than 1 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and 23 million people are suffering from a severe famine, Zhang said: "At this rate, by the middle of the year, 97 percent of the Afghan population will be impoverished and will not be able to afford to live on 2 U.S. dollars a day." The council adopted Resolution 2615 last month, which affirmed that humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan does not violate the council's sanction measures, and cleared any legal obstacles that may exist, he said, adding, "Unfortunately, there has been no fundamental change in the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan." "Clearly, the key issue is not a legal obstacle, but a political one. It's the politicization of the humanitarian issue," he pointed out. "This is playing games with the lives and well-being of 38 million Afghans, who are in dire need of relief." China welcomes the efforts of the World Bank and other international institutions to explore financing support for Afghanistan, according to Zhang. "But without a full injection of liquidity, the restoration and development of the domestic market and foreign trade, the efforts of international institutions will only be a drop in the bucket in the current situation." "Unilateral sanctions are no less lethal than military intervention," he said, urging "the immediate lifting of the asset freeze and unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan." "Adhering to the principle of Afghan-led and Afghan-owned certainly means respecting Afghan ownership and leadership of economic resources," he added. (Web editor: Xia Peiyao, Liang Jun) A former social worker who said she was 'groomed, sexually harassed, and pressured for oral sex' by a former Massachusetts judge, will be paid $425,000 by the state trial court in a settlement filed this week that will end one of her lawsuits. Tammy Cagle became involved with Judge Thomas Estes in 2016 while she was assigned to the Pittsfield Drug Court, where he sat one day a week. In one of two lawsuits filed by Cagle, she accuses the judge of pressuring her into performing oral sex on him in his chambers in Belchertown, Massachusetts, where he was presiding judge, then claims he pushed her out of the drug court when she tried to end the relationship. Estes, who was married at the time, said their relationship was consensual and denies harassing Cagle or playing in a role in her losing her job. He claims she was the one who continued to contact him after she had moved out of state. Estes resigned in 2018, one after day after the state's highest court suspended him from the bench indefinitely. He now practices law in Northampton. Estes has not been criminally charged, but still faces a federal lawsuit from Cagle scheduled to go to trial in March. The settlement that was filed this week will end Cagle's lawsuit against the Massachusetts court system. 'I feel gratitude toward the trial court because they validated that something very bad happened to me and they apologized for it,' Cagle told the Boston Globe. 'It was a struggle going up against a powerful person but I feel good that I can be an example for other women. I want women to know they can navigate the system. 'It was terrifying. I was scared for my life,' she said. Tammy Cagle (pictured in 2018) accused former judge Thomas Estes in a lawsuit of pressuring her into performing oral sex and then pushing her out of the court when she tried to end the relationship Estes, pictured above in court in March, has said that his relationship with Cagle was consensual and that he had nothing to do with her losing her job Cagle said she wanted to break off the relationship after they both admitted their actions were wrong, but claimed he told her 'it would be worse for me if someone found out.' The relationship continued for months and Estes continues to asked for oral sex in his chambers, Cagle's complaint alleges. She said he promised to help her with problems at work and would never ask for sex again, but that didn't happen. 'He shut the door, closed the blinds and wanted to continue what happened in the hotel room,' Cagle said in an earlier interview with the Globe. 'I told him, 'No. I didn't think it was a good idea.' He started begging me.' When Cagle tried to break it off again in 2017, she lost her job. Estes has insisted that the relationship with Cagle was consensual and that she initiated it. He also said that when Cagle moved out of state, he breathed a sigh of relief, but said that she stayed in contact with him and even returned to Massachusetts to see him. Judge Thomas Estes (pictured in March 2016) resigned a day after he was suspended indefinitely on Thursday for having sex with a social worker in his courthouse chambers Estes, a former public defender was nominated to the court by Gov. Deval Patrick in 2014. He was the first justice of the Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown. He also came under fire in 2016 when he sentenced a former high school athlete to probation after the athlete pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting two classmates. The case drew parallels to that of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, who got just six months in jail for a sexual assault conviction. Estes, who now practices law in Northampton, said he viewed Cagle as a 'sexual outlet' in a deposition taken during the federal lawsuit. Cagle's attorneys told the Boston Globe that the settlement shows that 'the era of men in positions of power taking advantage of women is coming to an end. Tammy Cagle should be commended for having the strength to take on a sitting judge and the trial court. We are grateful to the trial court for recognizing her pain and acting appropriately.' Cagle now works at a hospital near a Navajo reservation in New Mexico. She told the Globe that since leaving Massachusetts, she has worked in remote area of Alaska, a time she calls 'the most healing time' of her life. An unvaccinated comedian who died of COVID-19 last weekend had texted his brother two days before dying to tell him how much he regretted not getting the vaccine. Christian Cabrera, 40, of California, who went by the social media handle and stage name of 'Chinese Best Friend,' tested positive for COVID-19 sometime after Christmas. However, the father of a three-year-old son had been 'skeptical of the science behind the vaccine and always claimed he "never" gets sick,' and did not receive the coronavirus vaccine, according to his brother, Jino Cabrera. 'I can't breathe again,' Cabrera wrote last Thursday. 'I really regret not getting the vaccine. If I could do it all over again I would do it in a heartbeat to save my life.' Cabrera died on January 14 after succumbing to pneumonia from both lungs caused by the coronavirus, a day after making the regretful Instagram post where he wished he had gotten vaccinated. Pictured: Christian Cabrera, 40, of California, as he lay in the ICU with an oxygen mask affixed to his face after contracting COVID 19 after Christmas Cabrera, pictured above with his three-year-old son, Noel, and his wife Cabrera on set of a podcast with fellow comedian and frequent collaborator Michael Blackson He leaves behind a wife and his three-year-old son, Noel. 'Been here almost a week in ICU now not breathing on my own with Covid Pneumonia infection on both lungs!' Cabrera had previously posted to his Instagram account, alongside a photo of him in the ICU with an oxygen mask affixed to his face. 'This has to be the worst pain I ever had in my life!' Cabrera's friend, fellow comedian and frequent collaborator Michael Blackson, expressed his grief on Twitter after losing his podcast partner to COVID-19. 'This is absolutely the worst day of my life. Rip @Chinesebestfrnd' fellow comedian Michael Blackson tweeted on January 22. Jino also logged onto the comedians Instagram account to announce the death of Cabrera to his followers. Cabrera's brother Jino, pictured left, and Christian Cabrera, comedian, pictured right. Cabrera had texted Jino about how he regretted not getting vaccinated a day before his passing Comedians Michael Blackson and Christian Cabrera, who did a podcast together prior to Cabrera's death due to pneumonia caused by COVID-19 Michael Blackson on set of a podcast which featured his late friend and fellow comedian, Christian Cabrera, who went by the nickname 'Chinese Best Friend' 'We are very sad to announce that our beloved brother Christian Cabrera has lost his battle with covid pneumonia and passed away on Friday evening,' his brother shared, along with past photos and videos of the comedian. 'Christian was always the one to make people laugh and bring joy into a lot of peoples' lives and he took it to the next level through social media with his funny and lovable character alongside Michael Blackson as his "Chinese Best Friend" where they create funny videos that would often go viral,' Jino added. 'We believe that was one of his life's purposes, he was very passionate about making sure that despite all the negativity that's happening around the world that he brought laughter and joy to everyone around him through his comedy.' Coronavirus seven-day average vaccination rates have steadily dipped for the most part since the summer, with the exception of a few increases in November and December. Coronavirus seven-day average vaccination rates have steadily dipped for the most part since the summer, with the exception of a few increases in November and December Data shows the number of new US infections per day - both daily case numbers and seven-day rolling averages - have spiked since Thanksgiving following the onset of Omicron variant Meanwhile, data shows that the number of new US infections per day - both daily case numbers and seven-day rolling averages - have noticeably spiked since Thanksgiving following the onset of the Omicron variant. As of Thursday, the total number of US coronavirus cases sits at over 73 million. In California, where Cabrera lived with his wife and young son, booster shot rates dropped below 40 percent earlier this month, with 68.8 percent of the state's total population having been fully vaccinated, on par with the national average of 63.8 percent. The current amount of fully-vaccinated Californians stands at 27.2 million of a total state population of 38.9 million as of 2022. Cabrera's brother has since organized a GoFundMe for Christian's family, with over $17,000 raised out of a $50,000 goal as of Thursday, to help with the funeral and memorial expenses. Teenagers will soon be able to get a Covid-19 booster shot after the medical regulator granted provisional approval for the Pfizer vaccine. Previously, only people 18 years and older had been able to get a booster shot. The Therapeutic Goods Administration said dosing for 16 and 17-year-olds will be the same as boosters used in adult populations. Teenagers who have received any type of COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get the Pfizer vaccine booster. Teenagers will soon be able to get a Covid-19 booster shot after the medical regulator granted provisional approval for the Pfizer vaccine The Therapeutic Goods Administration said dosing for 16 and 17-year-olds will be the same as boosters used in adult populations A final decision on the timing of the booster rollout for teenagers is still to be made by the leading advisory group on immunisation, ATAGI. The medical regulator said it was still monitoring trials for booster doses for younger children. The approval comes just in time for the start of the new school year with students set to return to the classroom from February 1. NSW authorities have conceded students could bring Covid-19 onto school campuses and spread it to classmates before they are required to do a rapid antigen test. Responding to criticism that some schools are yet to receive RATs, Premier Dominic Perrottet said the twice-weekly testing regime didn't have to begin on day one of the school term. 'There was never a requirement (the tests) be there on the first day,' he told reporters in Sydney. Education Minister Sarah Mitchell had earlier been 'asking' all students and staff to test before arriving at school. Six million RATs are being distributed to the state's 3000 schools to enable students and teachers to test themselves twice a week throughout February. While most state school students begin on Tuesday, some private schools began classes on Thursday including Tamworth's Calrossy Anglican School. The approval comes just in time for the start of the new school year with students set to return to the classroom from February 1 The 1,000-student K-12 college received 3000 RATs on Monday, allowing it to uncover a couple of asymptomatic cases in new boarders and students who arrived on Thursday. Staff also conducted a RAT before arriving but other students, returning on Friday, won't have to test until Monday morning. 'There's no way we'd be able to ask parents, including some who live two or more hours away, to pick tests up before Friday,' principal David Smith told AAP. Instead, students will go home on Friday with two tests each and use one on Monday and Thursday mornings. Parents will notify the school where positive results occur. Extra tests bought by the school will allow daily testing of boarders. NSW's health minister has criticised people for failing to take up booster shots in droves, just weeks after the premier called the Omicron variant 'much less severe'. The 1,000-student K-12 college received 3000 RATs on Monday, allowing it to uncover a couple of asymptomatic cases in new boarders and students who arrived on Thursday 'It simply should be one message alone - go and get the booster,' Brad Hazzard said on Thursday. He said about 100,000 vaccine doses had been available and not been taken up in recent weeks. Only a handful of people had turned up at some vaccine hubs, creating a 'ridiculous' situation where health staff were stationed at empty hubs, unable to help other sick people elsewhere. The parents of a 12-year-old Florida girl who tried to hang herself twice at her school after 'months of secret meetings about her gender identity' are slamming the district staff who allegedly went behind their backs and 'created a double life' for their daughter. Wendell Perez, and his wife Maria Perez, allege the staff at at Paterson Elementary School - where their daughter was enrolled - violated their parental rights by failing to inform them of the alleged gender identity crisis and developing a plan to help her address it without their consent. 'We're talking about the staff from school this information and developing a plan of several sessions with my daughter, for months, talking about issues that are related and that the parents need to be involved,' Wendell Perez told DailyMail.com on Thursday. 'They basically created a double life for my daughter.' 'We're not talking about an isolated incident that a little kid mentioned something. They acted - they acted on it, for months. What is next? If we let them do that, what is next?' He also likened the staff's behavior to that of sex offenders, saying: If we allow this to happen, we are admitting that the sex offenders - the models operating of the sex offenders - is correct, because that is actually what they do. They take advantage of a child, they try to keep things in secret and make them do things that they are not supposed to do.' He added: 'There should be no secrets. Thats a red flag. When there are secrets, that's a red flag.' Perez said the lawsuit seeks to protect all parents from having their constitutionally provided rights violated. This is about parental rights. This is not about any other issues. Its about our constitutional rights and rights under the laws of our state of Florida,' he said. 'They have been violated. Our fight for those rights will benefit any parent out there regardless of their race, regardless of their religious beliefs, their political affiliation. It will benefit everyone. Hopefully justice will be served. The complaint alleges that school counselor Destiney Washington held secret weekly meetings with Wendell Perez's daughter about her alleged 'gender identity crisis' but neglected to alert her parents. It also claims school leaders encouraged other students and staff to refer to the young girl as a boy and even gave her a new name. It remains unclear why the 12-year-old was seeing the counselor or how the gender identity meetings come of fruition. Wendell Perez (left), and his wife Maria Perez (right), allege the staff at at Paterson Elementary School - where their daughter was enrolled - violated their parental rights by failing to inform them of the alleged gender identity crisis and developing a plan to help her address it without their consent Attorney Vernadette Broyles (pictured), who is representing the Perez family, said the suit is asking for 'declaratory judgement that the school's actions were unlawful' and 'injunctive relief to change the practices and policies'. She also noted school officials are 'not competent or authorized' to make decisions about a child's wellbeing and 'it is imperative for them to immediately involve the parents' Attorney Vernadette Broyles, with the Child & Parental Rights Campaign, filed the federal lawsuit Monday on behalf of the Perez family. It names several Clay County School district members including Superintendent Davis Broskie, Paterson Elementary School Principal John O'Brian, Assistant Principal Courtney Schumacher and Washington. According to the complaint, the changes to the girl's identity increased bullying on campus, which resulted in a level of 'distress escalated to the point of attempting suicide at school,' and the girl attempted to take her life on both January 4 and 5, according to the lawsuit. The family said Thursday that after they were notified of their daughter's attempted suicide, she was taken by police to a nearby hospital for mental health treatment. Perez said they had limited contact with her and 'were not able to comfort her' during that hard time. About a week later, she was later released into their and is receiving proper treatment by medical professionals. He said his daughter is 'fragile' but 'happy.' The family and their counsel also claim that the 12-year-old girl had not exhibited any signs of mental health crisis prior to the alleged meetings with Washington. 'Unlike many other parents were hearing from, this child did not have a history of mental health issues. There were not other signs of gender dysphoria before this, there was not depression, anxiety. This was generally speaking, a mentally healthy, happy, child,' Broyles told DailyMail.com on Thursday. 'One of the things that's so distressing and makes so clear the schools liability and fault here is they took a healthy child and after months of meeting with her, in secret, they caused her distressed and in conflict with herself that she felt the desire to end her life.' Broyles said the suit is asking for 'declaratory judgement that the school's actions were unlawful' and 'injunctive relief to change the practices and policies' so that parents will be contacted about an issues pertaining to their child's well-being or mental health. She notes that school officials are 'not competent or authorized' to make decisions about a child's wellbeing and 'it is imperative for them to immediately involve the parents'. Perez claims tried his 12-year-old daughter tried to hang herself twice at the school (pictured) after having 'months of secret meetings about her gender identity' and 'creating a double life' for her. He also compared the approach the school leaders took to the approach sex offenders use when preying on children Perez, who is Catholic, also alleges the school violated their fundamental rights 'by intentionally and recklessly withholding information' about their daughter's gender identity based upon the child's 'alleged confidentiality rights.' The father said the situation was a 'nightmare' and accused Washington of citing his religious beliefs as the reason his daughter did not want her parents to know about her alleged identity crisis. 'I took offense because that had nothing to do with it,' Perez told the Action News Jax. 'I mean I don't even know if she understands our faith. That demonstrated she was ignorant about it. Our faith is one of unconditional love for our children.' Broyles, speaking to DailyMail.com on Thursday, echoed those claims and accused the school of keeping the Perez family in the dark because the beliefs they were instilling in the child contradicted that of the family and their faith. 'They were seeking to substitute their belief system - to endorse a child in an identity different to biological reality, how this child was created - thats a belief system and its an ideological belief system,' she said. 'In effect the school was submitting and contradicting the beliefs and values and faith that these parents were seeking to instill in their child. Which they have the right to.' She also argued Perez's daughter is not legally entitled to confidentiality, as the school counselor reportedly claimed. However, a Jacksonville-based counselor told Action News Jax earlier this week that a child's confidentiality is protected until that individuals 'presents a danger of harming themselves or others.' At that point, parents or guardians must be notified. The federal lawsuit was filed in court on Monday by the Child & Parental Rights Campaign against several school district members including Superintendent Davis Broskie (top left), Paterson Elementary School Principal John O'Brian (top right), Assistant Principal Courtney Schumacher (bottom left) and school counselor Destiney Washington (bottom right) The school district, told DailyMail.com that, as of Thursday, it had not been served any legal process, adding: 'The district has performed a thorough and complete investigation into this matter as it was presented to us and has determined that the allegations made by this out-of-state organization are completely false, fabricated, and appear to be intended solely for the purpose of inciting the public.' 'All employees of the district consistently work to ensure that the best interests of all students are served. The district will have no further comment on this matter.' Broyles hit back, saying: 'The school is responding in a way that is typical of school districts - to deny liability because they understand they are under the courts scrutiny. We are quite confident of the facts because they are disclosed by school officials themselves directly to these parents.' There is currently active legislation in the state of Florida, addressing concerns similar to that of the Perez family. House Bill 1557, also known as the Parental Rights in Education bill, would require school boards to notify parents about specific information regarding a child's emotional, physical and mental well-being. It would also limit classroom conversation on sexual orientation and gender identity. Critics, calling it the Don't Say Gay bill, claim it also encourages parents to sue schools or teachers that engage in discussions about these topics with students. 'We call it the 'don't say gay' bill because it will essentially erase conversations in our classrooms about LGBTQ students, families, and history,' State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith told the TV station. 'Many LGBTQ people don't have supportive homes. They don't have supportive parents. Oftentimes their teachers and their school environment is the only form of support they have and we cannot take that away.' Boyles is reportedly a proponent of the bill, which is currently in the House Judiciary Committee. Advertisement President Joe Biden reportedly told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday to brace his country for a certain Russian invasion. Biden told Zelensky that an invasion is virtually certain and to 'prepare for impact,' CNN reported. He said Kiev could be 'sacked' by Russian forces. He reportedly said Ukraine would not be getting significantly more military help, including reiterating that no U.S. troops would be deployed there, nor would there be preemptive sanctions on Russia or any progress with NATO. A Ukrainian official told CNN that the call between the two leaders 'did not go well.' The warning was not part of a White House readout provided after the call - and the spokesperson for the National Security Council Emily Horne called CNN's reporting 'not true' in a tweet. 'This is not true. President Biden said that there is a distinct possibility that the Russians could invade Ukraine in February. He has previously said this publicly & we have been warning about this for months. Reports of anything more or different than that are completely false,' Horne wrote. 'Also, no one said "sacked." The only person who should be "sacked" is the anonymous source who is circulating an inaccurate portrayal of this conversation,' Horne added in a statement to CNN. The two world leaders conversed on the phone as the Department of Defense was issuing a chilling warning that same afternoon that a Russian invasion into Ukraine 'could be imminent' amid a drastic increase in combat forces at the former Soviet state's borders. 'We continue to see, including in the last 24 hours, more accumulation of credible combat forces arrayed by the Russians in, again, the western part of their country and in Belarus,' Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said at a press conference. Kirby also revealed that troops from Fort Bragg, Fort Carson and Fort Campbell have been placed on heightened alert to deploy to Eastern Europe as tensions in the region compound. The White House's readout after Biden's call with Zelensky was much more toned down than the president's reported warning. 'President Biden reaffirmed the readiness of the United States along with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine. He also underscored the commitment of the United States to Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity,' the statement read. An armed serviceman walks along a trench on the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants on the frontline with Ukrainian government forces near Spartak The National Security Council's spokesperson Emily Horne publicly disputed CNN's reporting in a tweet Thursday night, saying in a statement to the network that 'no one said "sacked"' An image of the 82nd airborne taken last year. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said this division and others would be placed on high alert to deploy to NATO countries in Eastern Europe A serviceman holds his machine-gun in a shelter on the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants on the frontline A serviceman looks at machine gun ammunition on the frontline of an area controlled by pro-Russian militants Servicemen hold their Kalashnikov rifles as they talk to each other in a trench on the territory controlled by pro-Russian militants It noted that the U.S. had provided Ukraine with more than $500 million aid dollars in the last year, and 'is exploring additional macroeconomic support to help Ukraines economy amidst pressure resulting from Russias military build-up.' The US State Department has said it anticipates an attack on Ukraine launched by the Kremlin in as early as mid-February. Asked about the Defense Department's timeline, Kirby said: 'We have always said and said for quite some time, another incursion by Russia could be imminent -- and imminent means imminent.' He declined to give a specific timeline but added that there was no 'final decision' by Vladimir Putin to send his military into Ukraine. 'We believe here at the department, there is still time and space for diplomacy,' Kirby said. Earlier this week Kirby revealed that 8,500 U.S.-based troops would be placed on high alert to deploy to NATO countries in Eastern Europe in the event the Western alliance activates its Response Force. A woman passes by a T-34 tank and other Soviet-era military vehicles while practising nordic walking in a park in the rebel-held city of Donetsk, Ukraine on January 27 He said on Thursday that those units include service members from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell and 4th Infantry at Fort Carson, Colorado. The teams would be made up of medical support, aviation support, logistics support and combat formations, Kirby said. He stressed again that the units are on heightened alert and have no order to deploy at present. Biden fears that his plan to deploy as many as 8,500 troops to Eastern Europe might be blocked by NATO countries that do not want to enrage Vladimir Putin. The U.S. president wants to deploy the US forces to countries neighboring Ukraine as part of a NATO force to deter further aggression by Putin. But he is concerned that the move might be blocked by member countries that fear hosting the troops and enraging Putin, or by countries such as Germany that rely on Russia for 50 per cent of their gas. A single NATO member can veto the plan. Biden has reserved the right to act unilaterally or bilaterally with the UK standing firmly behind him. He has put 8,500 US troops on standby but yesterday indicated that he was considering deploying just 1,000 as part of a NATO force. The world has been holding its breath today, waiting for Vladimir Putin to respond after he was sent two letters dismissing his top security demands around Ukraine. Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, said Thursday that the Russian strongman is still mulling over letters from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO chief Jens Stoltenburg which are thought to have ruled out the possibility of Ukraine being banned from the alliance and the removal of troops from ex-Soviet states. Blinken's letter was delivered to Moscow's foreign ministry late last night, handed over in-person by ambassador John Sullivan who was pictured leaving the building as snow fell, clutching a black leather folder in his hand. While giving little ground on Russia's main demands, Blinken said the letter does present 'serious' offers to de-escalate tensions - thought to include controls on nuclear arms and limits on military exercises. Concerns are growing that President Joe Biden may be blocked by some NATO allies from deployment U.S. forces to Eastern Europe and the Baltic region if he tries to use the NATO Response Force (NRF). Just one county's objection would block the move Peskov said there is 'little room for optimism' after an initial reading and that Moscow's main concerns are being ignored, but left the option of further talks open - at least for now. 'We won't rush with our assessments,' he said. Separately, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the letter contains some elements that could lead to 'the start of a serious talk on secondary issues' but 'contains no positive response on the main issue,' Lavrov said top officials will now submit their proposals to Putin, and that his response would come 'soon'. With the threat of war hanging heavy in the air, Russia's troop build-up on Ukraine's border continued today as Ukrainian troops were pictured training with British NLAW anti-tank weapons that were delivered last week as part of a package of UK military aid. British instructors have been sent to train the Ukrainians to use the rockets, and Kiev's troops were seen carrying them around a fake combat zone as they prepared for a Russian attack. NLAWs are disposable missile launchers that use tracking technology and high-explosive warheads to take out tanks, such as the ones used by Russia. It comes after it was revealed that UK warships and fighter jets could be on the move within days towards eastern Europe in an attempt to deter a Russian attack. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace - who is in Berlin today ahead of talks with his Russian counterpart in Moscow - is understood to have requested a range of options from military chiefs. That includes deploying British troops to Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary alongside thousands of American soldiers heading to the region. Washington has asked its allies to contribute manpower. The move is significant because it was expected to come only after an attack on Ukraine. Elsewhere today... Ben Wallace said there is still 'a chance' of avoiding conflict in Ukraine but admitted he is 'not optimistic' Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK is not ruling out support for personal sanctions against President Vladimir Putin in the event Russia invades NATO is considering deploying some troops in Slovakia along with other countries on its eastern flank in response to the Russian military build-up near Ukraine, the Slovak foreign minister said A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said even the thought of a war breaking out between Russia and Ukraine was 'unacceptable', as Moscow continued to deny plans to attack Ukrainian troops are trained how to use British NLAW anti-tank weapons in Kiev, after they were shipped to the country last week as part of military support to help the former Soviet state defend itself British instructors have been sent to train the Ukrainians, and today Ukrainian troops were pictured moving with the weapons through fake combat zones as part of training US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivers a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, as the world waits to see how Putin will respond President Vladimir Putin attends a flower-laying ceremony at the Motherland monument at the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery to mark the 78th anniversary of the end of Leningrad Siege today Two Ukrainian troops are pictured entering a building carrying British NLAW anti-tank weapons as part of training exercises taking place today, in preparation for the possibility of a Russian invasion Ukrainian troops carrying British-made NLAW anti-tank weapons take part in training exercises amid fears Russia will attack Russian Shilka mobile anti-aircraft guns and Kornet-T anti-tank missile carriers are pictured arriving in Gomel, Belarus, around 20 miles from the Ukraine border and just 130 miles from Kiev Russian Shilka mobile anti-aircraft guns are pictured arriving in Belarus aboard a train, amid fears they could be used to stage a lightning assault on Kiev - which sits just 130 miles away Putin visits the Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery to mark the 78th anniversary of the end of Leningrad Siege Ukrainian soldier kills five after opening fire at a military factory A Ukrainian National Guard soldier has shot dead five people and injured five more at a military factory in the country's east. Artem Ryabchuk gunned down four servicemen and one civilian woman at the Pivdenmash missile factory in Dinpro in the early hours of this morning, less than 200 miles from the Russian border where 100,000 troops are stationed. The killing spree occurred on the outskirts of the war-torn Donbas region which has been gripped by conflict between pro-Russian separatist rebels and government troops since 2014. The soldier, 21, started the attack during the issuance of weapons before going on the run armed with a Kalashnikov. The gunman was later detained after hitchhiking away from the scene of the massacre as the authorities staged an hour-long manhunt. Investigators, who are yet to establish a motive, are now probing how he passed a medical commission allowing him access to the Kalashnikov rifle and 200 cartridges. They will also investigate whether he faced any psychological pressures in his team. Doctors are still fighting to save the lives of the five people injured in the killing spree, police said. The dead were named as Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Buganov, 34, Senior soldier Artyom Levkivskyi, 21, Junior Sergeant Oleksandr Dragan, 24, Senior Soldier Leonid Chernik, 19, and senior soldier, and civilian guard Vera Lebydinets, 35. The wounded were named as Denis Namestnik, 19, Vladislav Gulida, 22,Igor Semenchenko, 24, Zhanna Sharova, 22, and Yevgen Machula, 20. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said: 'Following my order, a commission will be set up to study the circumstances that led to these actions being taken by a 21-year-old soldier, who had been called to defend his country and be responsible for security - and not to shoot his colleagues.' Police said he had been detained in the town of Pidgorodne outside Dnipro, a city with an estimated population of around one million people. Advertisement RAF pilots and crews have experience of policing the region's airspace because Typhoons from the 121 Expeditionary Air Wing spent much of 2021 in Romania on manoeuvres. Royal Navy sailors witnessed Russian aggression last summer when HMS Defender drew enemy fire in the Black Sea off Crimea. The units will not deploy to Ukraine but to neighbouring Nato states as a deterrent. Western security sources say there are now between 112,000 and 120,000 combat-ready soldiers at the front with more on their way. '[It] could be a lot more', one source told NBC. Videos also revealed columns of armoured vehicles and fighter jets being moved to Belarus, ostensibly for military exercises next month though the fear is they could be used for a lightning-fast offensive on Kiev which sits just a few dozen miles away. Amid the tensions, a Ukrainian national guard conscript opened fire on a military factory in the centre of the country - killing five and wounding five more with a rifle he had just been handed. Artemiy Ryabchuk, 21, opened fire around 1.40am in the city of Dnipro which sits on the Dnieper river around 170 miles from Crimea. He fled the scene and is now being hunted, with Ukrainian security services saying his motive is unclear. However, it comes after security experts warned Russia may launch covert attacks inside Ukraine, either as a pre-text to an invasion, or simply as a way of destabilising the country and sapping confidence in the prime minister. President Biden also stepped up his threat of economic sanctions in the wake of the letters being sent, saying that Nord Stream 2 - Russia's $11billion gas pipe to Germany - would categorically not go ahead if Ukraine is attacked. However, Germany has not given any such guarantee and it is unclear how exactly Biden plans to stop the pipe if Berlin refuses to play ball. Nord Stream 2 completed construction last year after Biden lifted sanctions on the company building it, and it only needs German approval to begin pumping gas. Major combat readiness drills are being carried out in eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black seas with the Russian Northern Fleet also drilling in the Arctic. Footage shows a live-fire exercise against a 'mock enemy' by the Aleksin and Kabardino-Balkariya antisubmarine ships in the Baltic. The vessels are part of a 20-ship naval task force currently at sea, with a similar operation underway in the Black Sea. 'The combat exercise was carried out at varying distances using shipborne artillery weapons, AK-176M and AK-630M,' said a statement from the Russian Baltic Fleet. Separately Su-24M front-line bombers and Su-30SM multirole fighters practiced bombing targets at a training range in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave wedged between NATO countries Lithuania and Poland. And drills were held in the same location with Mi-24 and Mi-8 attack helicopters. A massive Russian military buildup in Belarus deepened as a video showed the the completion of the transfer of dozens of Sukhoi Su-35S fighter jets from the extreme east of Russia. The footage shows the warplanes arriving in autocratic Belarus which borders Ukraine, ostensibly for military exercises, but the West fears the massing of troops and military equipment is an invasion force. Separately, a another video shows a drill to move Su-35S and Su-30SM fighters and Su-34 bombers from their permanent airfields due to an enemy missile strike. Elsewhere it was revealed that thousands of Russian communications troops in the military district bordering Ukraine are involved in 'large scale radio training' as part of a combat readiness exercise. 'More than 1,500 military personnel are taking part in the planned combat training event,' said commander of the Western Military District Col-Gen Alexander Zhuravlev. Some 300 units of military and hi-tech equipment is involved, including the modern P-260 Redut, Andromeda and Belozer complexes, he said. Blinken said he would speak again in the coming days to Lavrov, as a separate initiative by France brought a promise by Moscow at least to keep talking to Ukraine's government. One month after Russia put forward sweeping security proposals, having sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine's border, the United States delivered a reply in co-ordination with NATO allies and said it was ready for any eventuality. 'It sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it,' Blinken told reporters of the US response, which he said would remain confidential. He renewed an offer on 'reciprocal' measures to address mutual security concerns, including reductions of missiles in Europe and transparency on military drills and Western aid to Ukraine. But he made clear that the United States would not budge on Russia's core demand that Ukraine never be allowed to join NATO, the US-backed military alliance. 'From our perspective, I can't be more clear - NATO's door is open, remains open, and that is our commitment,' Blinken said. Satellite images reveal new units of Russian tanks parked near the Pogonovo training area, around 100 miles from the Ukraine border, as the world waits to find out how Putin will respond to letters dismissing his security demands Russian tanks are seen parked near Pogonovo, around 100 miles from the Ukraine border, amid fears they are massing for an invasion if Putin's security demands are not met Russian artillery crews conduct live-fire drills at the Kuzminsky range in Rostov-on-Don, amid tensions with nearby Ukraine Blinken (left) has kept the exact contents of the letter a secret, but said it categorically rules out the possibility that Ukraine is banned from joining NATO. Sergei Lavrov (right), the Russian foreign minister, has said his country is ready to take 'retaliatory measures' if its demands are not met A Russian T-72B tank takes part in combat readiness drills near Rostov-on-Don, around 70 miles from the Ukraine border and close to areas where rebel groups are fighting the Ukrainian army Russian armoured personnel carriers are pictured taking part in training exercises in Rostov-on-Don, close to Ukraine Russian troops carry an ammunition crate through fields in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia, during training exercises Russian tanks and armoured vehicles take part in training exercises in southern Russia, close to the frontlines in Ukraine Kremlin's deputy chief of staff Dmitry Kozak (left) and Russian Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov give a press conference after talks in Paris over Ukraine last night, saying they have agreed to further discussions Russia, which has a fraught historical relationship with Ukraine, has fueled an insurgency in the former Soviet republic's east that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. Russia that year also seized Crimea after the overthrow of a government in Kyiv that had resisted efforts to move closer to Europe. The United States has warned of severe and swift consequences if Russia invades, including possible personal sanctions on President Vladimir Putin, and NATO has put 8,500 troops on standby. 'While we are hoping for and working for a good solution - de-escalation - we are also prepared for the worst,' NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. In a phone call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Blinken on Wednesday sought to impress upon Beijing the 'global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine,' according to State Department spokesman Ned Price. China's foreign ministry said in a statement after the call that Wang told Blinken Russia's 'reasonable security concerns should be taken seriously and resolved.' Blinken's deputy Wendy Sherman, who led a previous round of talks with Russia, said Putin seemed ready to invade despite the US warnings. 'I have no idea whether he's made the ultimate decision, but we certainly see every indication that he is going to use military force sometime perhaps (between) now and the middle of February,' Sherman told a forum. In another bid to defuse tensions, senior Russian and Ukrainian officials met for eight hours in Paris with representatives of France and Germany. Dmitry Kozak, the Kremlin deputy chief of staff, said the talks were 'not simple' but that another round would take place in two weeks in Berlin. France said after the so-called Normandy Format talks that the envoys committed to a fragile July 2020 ceasefire in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Moscow separatists. Russian armured vehicles are pictured arriving in Belarus (left), amid fears they could be used to assault Kiev, while military transports are seen in Smolensk (right) A Russian Sukhoi-34 fighter jet is seen on the runway in Belarus after arriving from Russia, amid fears that Putin is massing his forces there for an assault on Kiev A Russian navy ship preparing to take part in exercises in the Black Sea at Sevastopol, occupied Crimea, on Thursday Russia is preparing to hold naval drills in the Black Sea, which analysts fear could provide cover for them to launch attacks A Russian battleship takes part in live-fire exercises in the Baltic Sea, part of widespread Russian naval drills across five seas that involve 140 ships A view from the deck of a Russian Navy battleship during artillery fire drills in the Baltic Sea on Thursday 'We need a supplementary pause. We hope that this process will have results in two weeks,' Kozak said. An aide to French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that the talks had been about resolving the separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine, not the threat of a Russian invasion. France and Germany have joined the United States in warning Russia against an invasion but have been less direct about sanctions. Germany's new coalition government has sent mixed signals on whether it would sever the soon-to-open Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia, which will circumvent Ukraine to provide gas to Europe's largest economy. Amid warnings that tensions with the West could push Russia to squeeze supplies, Australian officials said Canberra stood ready to ship natural gas to Europe. 'We haven't received a formal request, but we are indicating that, of course, we are ready to support our friends,' Resources Minister Keith Pitt told media in Sydney. US President Joe Biden, who spoke with European leaders by video-conference on Tuesday, said any Russian military attack on Ukraine would trigger 'enormous consequences' and could even 'change the world.' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, while brushing off the impact, warned that attempts to punish Putin personally would be 'destructive.' The United States again encouraged its citizens to leave Ukraine, warning an invasion could be imminent. But Ukraine's government, hoping to prevent panic, has played down the dangers and sought to offer ways out. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters the Russian troops posed 'a threat to Ukraine' but that the numbers deployed were 'insufficient for a full-scale offensive.' Andriy Yermak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky who took part in the Paris talks, wrote on Twitter that the meeting was 'a strong signal of readiness for a peaceful settlement.' Two high-profile Democratic candidates in Pennsylvania will skip President Joe Biden's visit to Pittsburgh on Friday, in the latest sign that his dire poll numbers could be disastrous in November's midterm elections. Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a leading Senate candidate, and state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is likely to win the party nomination for governor, will be absent because of scheduling conflicts, their spokespeople told the Associated Press. It is another hint that Biden is seen as a liability by candidates who would otherwise soak up the exposure and fundraising opportunities that accompany a presidential visit. And it comes in territory Biden once thought of as his own, playing up his 'Scranton Joe' roots to win over blue collar voters. But this week, two major polls showed how far the president's support has cratered. Both Monmouth University and Harvard CAPS/Harris found that only 39 percent of voters approved of Biden's performance in office, crashing from figures of 54 and 61 percent respectively after he was sworn in. President Joe Biden will visit Pittsburgh on Friday, but two high-profile Democratic candidates running in Pennsylvania will not be there - the latest to keep away from a presidential visit Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor and U.S. Senate candidate John Fetterman said he had a party meeting 200 miles away on Friday, while state Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro gave no reason other than a scheduling conflict A Monmouth University Poll this week showed just how far Biden's numbers have dropped The numbers have Republicans licking their lips in anticipation of sweeping gains in Novembers midterm elections - and Democrats apparently avoiding their party's biggest name. Earlier this month, Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, a leading candidate for governor in another swing state, also claimed a scheduling conflict when Biden came to town to deliver a voting rights speech. Her office has yet to explain the nature of the conflict. 'Josh Shapiro is running to be the governor of Pennsylvania and he's focused on the issues that matter to Pennsylvania families,' said his spokesman Will Simons. Shapiro appeared with Biden three times last summer (when Biden's numbers were above water). But Simons offered no further details on the scheduling conflict. 'Like every American should, Josh wants our president to be successful and we'll continue welcoming President Biden to his home state of Pennsylvania,' he said. Biden made much of his early life in Scranton, Pennsylvania, during the 2020 campaign. But analysts say his tone deaf approach to rising prices during the past year has undermined his appeal to blue-collar voters. 'Bidens go-to image during the campaign was Joe from Scranton,'" said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute when it unveiled its latest poll this week. 'The public view now is he's lost the connection to those working-class roots.' Beto O'Rourke, carrying Democrats' hope for governor in Texas, made clear he wanted no help from the White House in his campaign Last week, Beto O'Rourke, who carries party hopes of turning Texas blue with his campaign for governor, put distance between himself and the White House. 'I'm not interested in any national politician - anyone outside of Texas coming into this state to help decide the outcome of this,' he said, according to The Dallas Morning News. 'I think we all want to make sure that we're working with, listening to and voting with one another here in Texas.' The party's congressional leadership is getting the message. In an interview with Politico, Steny Hoyer, the third most senior Democrat in the House, would not be drawn on whether candidates should run as 'Biden Democrats. 'I want every Democrat to run as "Democrats who deliver,"' he said. 'Point to the record. Point to what was done.' Republicans are preparing to strike in down-ballot races. A poll commissioned by the Republican State Leadership Committee gave GOP candidates a six-point advantage because of Biden's unpopularity, among other factors. 'If state Republicans continue to run on being the last line of defense against President Bidens failed leadership and promote policies that stimulate the economy and ease the cost of living, make their communities safer, and empower parents to have more control of their childrens educations, they will have a major advantage on the issues in 2022 in battleground states,' an accompanying memo said. Biden's visit was announced at the start of the week. It represents a new strategy to get the president out of Washington, to trumpet victories - such as the bipartisan infrastructure bill - after seeing other legislation killed off by Republican opposition and Democratic infighting. 'He'll be talking about how far we've come in getting our economy moving again, making more right here in America, and ensuring all workers benefit,' White House Press Secretary said on Thursday. 'He'll highlight the 367,000 manufacturing jobs that our economy has created since he took office, and he'll underscore the vital role the federal government can play in bringing workers and businesses together.' Fetterman, whose campaign headquarters is in Pittsburgh, told the Associated Press he was already scheduled to attend the Democratic State Committee meeting which begins on Friday evening 200 miles away in Harrisburg. 'It's great that President Biden is coming to Pittsburgh to talk about infrastructure,' he said. 'It's great to come to the city that helped build America to talk about rebuilding America.' However, one of his opponents in the primary, Rep. Conor Lamb, will be present in Pittsburgh, according to his office. The family of a California mother-of-three with MS who died of COVID is suing health care company Kaiser Permanente after doctors refused to give her the vaccine despite her asking for the jab multiple times. The grieving family of 45-year-old Nerissa Regnier, who died on December 16, including husband, Devin Regnier, and her three children, ages 14, 16 and 29, announced they are filing a wrongful death suit against a Kaiser Permanente hospital for refusing the Mission Viejo mom the vaccine and then denying her monoclonal antibody treatment after she became infected, ABC 7 News reported. Family attorney Annee Della Donna said that last February, Regnier was placed on a new regimen of medication for the autoimmune disease Multiple Sclerosis, a disease in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves. When she asked her doctors about getting one of the three available COVID-19 vaccines, she was told it was not an option for her because it contained a 'live virus,' which is not true. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dispels the myth that there is a live virus in any of the available COVID-19 vaccines. 'None of the vaccines authorized for use in the U.S. contain a live virus. mRNA and viral vector vaccines are the two types of currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines available,' the public health agency said. Attorneys say Regnier asked for the vaccine seven times over the next six months but was told each time she could not receive a 'live' vaccine. Della Donna said Kaiser Permanente mistreated her, giving her antibiotics and steroids and even denied her monoclonal antibody treatment. The family of Nerissa Regnier, 45, (pictured) who died on December 16 from Covid-19, announced they are filing a wrongful death suit against Kaiser Permanente Regnier's family (pictured) gathered together for a conference to announce the impending suit to warn that people with compromised immune systems should get vaccinated Attorney Annee Della Donna (pictured) said Kaiser Permanente mistreated Regnier, giving her antibiotics and steroids and even denied her monoclonal antibody treatment 'When you're immunocompromised, you need the COVID-19 vaccine,' Della Donna said. 'They keep telling her no, no, no,' Della Donna said. In August, Regnier contacted her neurologist who told her she needed to be vaccinated, but by then it was too late. 'Two days later she runs over to Kaiser to get the COVID vaccine and she's feeling symptoms so they test her and she's got COVID,' Della Donna said. When her husband took her to nearby Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, she was told it was too late for the treatment, attorney Eric Dubin said. The Covid-positive mother-of-three was stabilized at Hoag and then taken back to Kaiser, where she later died, Della Donna said. 'Twice, this husband relied on Kaiser for medical guidance and twice they failed him,' Dubin said. 'It's a devastating case.' Regnier was described as a 'healthy mom' who lived a normal life and kept her MS under control with two infusions of medicine a year. The family gathered together on Wednesday for a conference to announce the impending suit to spread the word that even people with compromised immune systems should get vaccinated against COVID-19. 'This is a public service announcement. If you're told you shouldn't get the vaccine because it's a live vaccine that's just flat-out wrong,' Della Donna said. 'And everybody whose immune system is down needs to get the vaccine. That's why we're doing this. We don't want this poor woman's life to be taken in vain.' Attorneys say Regnier (pictured) asked for the vaccine seven times over the next six months but was told each time she could not receive a 'live' vaccine Regnier was described as a 'healthy mom' who lived a normal life and kept her MS under control with two infusions of medicine a year In a statement Kaiser Permanente said they can not comment on the specifics of Regnier's case but that doctors provide patients with the best available treatment The national MS society recommends patients with MS be vaccinated against COVID-19. 'The science has shown us that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Like other medical decisions, the decision to get a vaccine is best made in partnership with your healthcare provider. Most people with relapsing and progressive forms of MS should be vaccinated. The risks of COVID-19 outweigh any potential risks from the vaccine,' the nonprofit said. In a statement, Kaiser Permanente said they can not comment on the specifics of Regnier's case but that doctors provide patients with the best available treatment. 'Treatments for COVID-19 continue to rapidly evolve, and in consultation with each patient, we prescribe care that is intended to provide the best clinical outcomes based on current knowledge and their individual needs,' the hospital said. 'Additionally, we have clearly communicated to our members, patients and the public that none of the available COVID-19 vaccines contain the live virus and that they are safe and effective,' the statement added. Former New York Giants defensive tackle Fred Robbins and his family lost their home to a fire this week, and now friends and community members are raising money to help them in their time of need. Robbins was able to retrieve his Super Bowl ring and his wife Tia's wedding ring from the rubble, but according to a GoFundMe page started by a family friend, the couple and their two sons lost nearly everything else. The family of four was able to escape safely when Tia was awakened by an attic fire at 3:30am on Tuesday. Santa Rosa County (Florida) spokeswoman Brittany Ellers told the Pensacola News Journal that firefighters responded to the call at 4:08am. Photos from the aftermath show the outside walls standing while the home's interior and roof were left smoldering. The cause of the fire has not been determined, but according to the GoFundMe page, it likely started on the roof. Former New York Giants defensive tackle Fred Robbins and his family lost their home to a fire this week, and now friends and community members are raising money to help them in their time of need. Robbins was able to retrieve his Super Bowl ring and his wife Tia's wedding ring from the rubble, but according to a GoFundMe page started by a family friend, the couple and their two sons lost nearly everything else Photos from the aftermath show the outside walls standing while the home's roof smolders The interior of the home showed complete destruction to the family's personal belongings 'As you may have seen on the news Tia and Fred woke up at 3:30 am to their home engulfed in flames,' wrote family friend Madrina Ciano. 'By the Grace of God they were able to get themselves and their two boys out safely; however, the house is a total loss. They are currently displaced. 'As you can imagine, this is devastating. There wasn't time to grab any valuables, family photos, keepsakes, or anything! This traumatic experience will live with them forever, and they have a long journey ahead to rebuild everything they've lost.' The GoFundMe page currently has more than $30,000 in donations. The goal is $100,000. Robbins and wife Tia now spend their time mentoring youth on the Florida Panhandle While some may question the usefulness of a fundraiser for a former Super Bowl champion who signed no fewer than three multimillion-dollar contracts over his 12-year career, Ciano said she did not hesitate to offer help. 'To me the natural assumption is, ''Well, why do we need to rally behind a Super Bowl champ?'' Ciano told the News Journal. 'But I don't care who you are and what stage of life you're in, this is a big thing to bounce back from. And who's got money just sitting on hand to go buy every single essential that you need?' Robbins, 44, was a starter on the Giants team that famously upset the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Since retiring as a member of the St. Louis Rams in 2011, he and wife Tia have started a mentoring program on the Florida panhandle called 'Mr. Robbins' Neighborhood.' 'The Robbins Family are local heroes for their tremendous commitment to giving back and mentoring the youth in our community,' Ciano wrote on the GoFundMe page. 'Now is our chance to give back to them.' Ben Williamson, a top aide to ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, spent between six and seven hours Tuesday speaking virtually to members of the January 6 committee. CNN reported that Williamson went ahead with an interview and didn't invoke his Fifth Amendment right - while Meadows declined the cooperate any further, meaning he could be held in contempt of Congress. CNN also reported that Williamson's testimony covered the story behind former President Donald Trump's video address encouraging rioters to leave the Capitol hours after the start of the attack. It also detailed Meadows' conversations with Trump and members of Congress. Williamson was among the officials with 'close ties' to Trump subpoenaed by the committee on November 9. Ben Williamson (right) spent between six and seven hours speaking virtually to members of the January 6 committee, who want to know about some of the communications Williamson's boss, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (right), was having Williamson was subpoenaed by the Democrat-led committee in early November alongside a number of aides of former President Donald Trump about the January 6 Capitol attack (pictured) The original subpoena had requested Williamson sit for a deposition on December 2. The subpoena noted that Williamson, a deputy assistant to the president and a senior adviser to Meadows, was reportedly contacted by former White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah amid the attack. Farah urged Williamson and Meadows to have Trump issue a statement condemning the violence. In the letter seeking information from Ivanka Trump, another text message conversation with Williamson is cited. 'Is someone getting to POTUS? He has to tell protesters to dissipate. Someone is going to get killed,' read one text, which Farah said came from her. A response from a 'White House staff member,' which CNN confirmed to be Williamson, read: 'I've been trying for the last 30 minutes. Literally stormed in outer oval to get him to put out the first one. It's completely insane.' The subpoena also said that Williamson might be able to offer testimony on Meadows' communications with Georgia election officials, organizers of the January 6 'stop the steal' rally that preceded the Capitol attack, Department of Justice officials with whom voter fraud was discussed and federal officials the chief of staff might have reached out to during the storming of the Capitol. Williamson was subpoenaed alongside former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and Trump's top immigration adviser, Stephen Miller, among others. Meadows had turned over a number of text messages and documents before reversing course and announcing he would not cooperate with the Democrat-led select committee. Among those text messages was one Farah said belonged to her. 'You guys have to say something. Even if the president's not willing to put out a statement, you should go to the [cameras] and say, "We condemn this. Please stand down." If you don't, people are going to die,' she warned. Speaking to CNN's Michael Smerconish Farah said, 'that is my text.' She said it was 'horrifying' because it was about an 'hour before Ashli Babbitt died and it was a few hours before we learned that Officer Sicknick died.' 'There was a window where people of good conscience could have spoken up and stopped the violence,' she noted. Farah also told Smerconish she was surprised Meadows wouldn't play ball with the committee. 'I'm stunned that he's not cooperating,' she said. 'It's never too late to do the right thing.' Former Islamic State bride Shamima Begum has had a boost in her bid to return to Britain after a slavery claim led to the collapse of a terror trial for the first time. The case against the youngest girl ever charged with terrorism in the UK was dropped after the 16-year-old defendant successfully claimed she was a victim of modern slavery. It is the first time a terrorism prosecution has been halted due to a claim of sexual exploitation. Jonathan Hall QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, warned last night that the decision could open the door for other teenage terror suspects to go free on the basis that they have been groomed online. Former Isis bride Shamima Begum may benefit from a recent court ruling that cleared a 16-year-old girl accused of terrorism because she had been groomed online by extremists in the United States Begum, pictured passing through security barriers at Gatwick Airport made her way to Syria in February 2015. The British government does not want her to return to the UK and has stripped her of her citizenship Begum, pictured, wants to return to the UK and her legal team claims she was groomed and sexually exploited Mr Hall added: Being both a victim of modern slavery and presenting a risk to the general public are not incompatible. If fewer criminal cases are going to be possible, this begs the question whether there are sufficient non-criminal justice measures in place, in particular to deal with the terrorist risk presented by children. Begum, who left the UK aged 15 to join IS in Syria, hopes to use a similar argument claiming that the Government failed to consider whether she was a child trafficked to Syria for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced marriage when they removed her British citizenship. Details of the extraordinary case involving the 16-year-old, which could have a major impact on terror prosecutions, can be revealed today. The teenager, from Derbyshire, who cannot be named because of her age, was accused of possessing a bomb-making video and instructions on how to make a gun after her mother alerted the authorities about her fixation with Hitler. But the case was dropped when the Home Office decided she was a victim of modern slavery after her lawyers claimed she had been sexually exploited and groomed online by a US extremist. According to prosecutors, the girls mother first tipped off the Government in September 2020 that her then-14-year-old daughters interest in world wars had developed into Holocaust denial. She claimed her daughter considers herself to be a fascist. The girl told police she had talked online with a Chris Coo in the US, and he had advised her on neo-Nazi books to read. She was charged with six counts of possessing information useful for terrorism. The trial was due to start at Nottingham Youth Court last August but was delayed after her defence referred her to an official framework for identifying victims of modern slavery. Yesterday Begums lawyer Tasnime Akunjee said: Shamima has been arguing this from the beginning. This just strengthens her case. Prince Andrew's formal legal response to allegations made by Virginia Roberts in her civil case against him has been described as 'defiant.' A more jaundiced assessment might characterise it as vague and sometimes baffling. In his answers and 'affirmative defences', there are 41 straight denials and a further 40 assertions that the prince 'lacks sufficient information' to admit or deny other claims she makes. Amid incredulity at some of the responses, legal experts questioned the wisdom of his insistence of a trial by jury which they suggested may be a bluff 'to buy time'. A court-set deadline required the prince to answer Roberts' original complaint by Wednesday. A more detailed response may presumably follow. But given the wealth of evidence already in the public domain concerning Andrew's relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, a number of his statements will still cause puzzlement. On two occasions the wording in his legal defence is ambiguous enough to suggest that he denies Maxwell was ever a 'close friend' or that she introduced him to Epstein. Yet during his disastrous Newsnight interview in November 2019 he told Emily Maitlis: 'I met (him) through his girlfriend in 1999 ...and I've known her since she was at university in the UK.' This was undoubtedly a reference to Maxwell. In the same interview he admitted flying on Epstein's planes and staying on his island. His legal responses to the Roberts suit, in which she claims she was forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions, are rather more circumspect. A photograph of Prince Andrew with his arm around a 17-year-old Virginia Roberts which was allegedly taken at Maxwell's house While Buckingham Palace is declining to comment on the prince's tactics as Andrew is fighting to clear his name as a 'private citizen' after being stripped of his royal privileges, aides are fearful of more damaging headlines just a week before the start of the Queen's historic Platinum Jubilee. In the US, lawyers said Andrew who strenuously denies the claims of wrongdoing was gambling on 'an incredibly risky strategy', but sources close to the prince insisted he was entitled to defend himself when accused of 'such heinous crimes'. So let's examine some of the claims. EXHIBIT A Prince Andrew 'lacks sufficient information to admit or deny' that the widely published photograph of himself, Miss Roberts and Maxwell 'exists'. One of the most famous or notorious snapshots in the world shows Andrew with his arm around the bare midriff of a 17-year-old Roberts. It was allegedly taken in March 2001, on the first floor landing of Maxwell's mews home in Belgravia. Roberts maintains it happened after a night out in central London. This included dinner and dancing with a 'sweaty' Andrew at Tramp nightclub. She alleges he then had sex with her in Maxwell's home. He denies that such an evening and assault took place. He has also said he had no recollection of meeting Roberts. In the past Andrew has contested the authenticity of the picture. Where, then, is the original negative? Roberts has said variously that it was with the FBI, stored in a family home in Australia and 'in a safe place'. According to a Panorama documentary, legal papers reveal an ex-partner of Roberts told US officials he remembers being shown a copy of the picture one of the most frequently viewed in the world just weeks after it was taken. Roberts also told the 2019 programme that a date on the back of the picture shows it was printed on March 13, 2001 just two days after it was taken. She said: 'It's an authentic photo, I have given it to the FBI. There's a date on the back of it from when it was printed.' EXHIBIT B Andrew 'lacks sufficient information to admit or deny' he and Maxwell have been photographed at numerous social events together. This is the most puzzling claim. There are numerous photographs in the public domain of the prince and Maxwell attending social events together. Where does one start? The year 2000 is a good place. The evidence is that they spent much of it in each other's company and in the public eye. The party at Trump's resort. Prince Andrew and Ghislaine Maxwell pictured together at a wedding On February 12, 2000, Andrew was photographed at an event at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. In one of the pictures the prince is laughing with Melania,Trump's now wife, Jeffrey Epstein and financier Gwendolyn Beck, with whom he was said to have been smitten during a stay on Epstein's private Little St James island the following year. In another picture Maxwell is in conversation with a woman standing next to Andrew, as Epstein, Trump and Melania look on. The tete a tete New York lunch. On April 20, 2000, Andrew and Maxwell lunched together at Nello's restaurant on 62nd Street and Madison in New York. Witnesses reported that they ate lobster salad and held hands. Andrew paid the $130 bill. They left the restaurant separately but both were pictured in the street outside. The society wedding. On September 2, 2000, the prince attended the Wiltshire wedding of his ex-girlfriend Aurelia Cecil. He arrived at and left the church with a female companion and the pair drove away together. The woman's name? Ghislaine Maxwell. The Duke of York and Ghislaine Maxwell at a Halloween party in New York The Halloween party cuddle. On November 6, 2000 Andrew attended supermodel Heidi Klum's Halloween-themed party at the Hudson Bar in New York. The prince dressed down he took off his tie but his female companion got into the spirit, wearing a shocking blonde wig and a midriff baring top. She was pictured with her arm round Andrew's shoulder as they watched the crowd. Her name? Ghislaine Maxwell, again. The Sandringham shoot. On December 7, 2000, Epstein and Maxwell flew into the UK on his private jet landing at RAF Marham, the pilot log for Flight 1429 suggests. Witnesses told the Mail that the couple spent a weekend as his guests on the Queen's Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Epstein and Maxwell were taken on a pheasant shoot and were photographed walking in the grounds. EXHIBIT C Andrew 'lacks sufficient information to admit or deny' he is named in flight logs flying with Epstein on his private plane from 1999 onwards. It has been widely reported that a number of pilot flight logs are said to prove the Prince flew as a passenger on Epstein's planes. One such entry, for May 12, 2000, is said to show that Epstein's Gulfstream II business jet flew from TEB (Teterboro Airport, New Jersey, 12 miles from Midtown Manhattan) to PBI (Palm Beach International Airport, the closest to Epstein's Florida home). Billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein pictured with his private jet Epstein and his jet, which was dubbed the Lolita Express, were named in flying logs According to the log, aboard the plane for Flight 1338 were JE (Epstein), GM (Maxwell), ET (Maxwell's assistant), AP (thought to be Epstein's personal chef) 'Prince Andrew and Bodyguard'. The latter was presumably the Prince's Scotland Yard personal protection officer. EXHIBIT D Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson ad Princess Eugenie pictured with Princess Beatrice at her 18th birthday party Andrew 'lacks sufficient information to admit or deny' if he invited Epstein to his daughter Beatrice's 18th birthday party in 2006, despite Epstein being charged with paedophile offences. The prince and his family and their guests posed for photographs at their daughter's fancy dress event that July even though Epstein's house had already been raided by police (he was charged shortly after the party). One of these portraits is the stuff of reputational nightmares. It shows Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein (jailed in 2018 for sexual offences), Epstein (died in jail the following year as he awaited trial on sexual offences) and a masked woman. Her name? Once again, Ghislaine Maxwell. EXHIBIT E Andrew 'lacks sufficient information to admit or deny' that he didn't know Epstein was a registered sex offender during his visit to him in New York in 2010. Again this is a puzzling contention, given what the Prince told Emily Maitlis in his car crash interview on BBC Newsnight in November 2019. The Duke of York walks through New York's Central Park with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein She asked him then: 'Why were you staying with a convicted sex offender.' He said: 'I went there with the sole purpose of saying to him that because he had been convicted, it was inappropriate for us to be seen together I felt that doing it on the telephone was the chicken's way.' So he did know that Epstein was a convicted sex offender when he stayed at the tycoon's home in Manhattan in 2010. Perhaps it's the word 'registered' that his legal team is picking on. EXHIBIT F Prince Andrew is seen at paedophile Jeffrey Epstein's home in New York Andrew denies that he 'became a frequent guest in Epstein's various homes around the world including New York City.' Yet in his Newsnight interview he told Emily Maitlis he had stayed at the Manhattan mansion of the then convicted sex offender in 2010 because 'it was a convenient place to stay.' EXHIBIT G A leaked email exchange between Ghislaine Maxwell and the Duke of York Andrew 'lacks sufficient information to admit or deny' if he emailed Maxwell stating, 'Let me know when we can talk. Got some specific questions to ask you about Virginia Roberts',' after Roberts publicly accused him of sexually abusing her in 2015. According to a BBC Panorama programme one month after his Newsnight debacle, the prince sent a 5.50am email to Maxwell saying 'Let me know when we can talk. Got some specific questions to ask you about Virginia Roberts.' Maxwell reportedly replied: 'Have some info. Call me when you have a moment.' The source of this leaked email is unclear. Police were forced to defuse a situation at a housing estate in Wales this morning after a dispute over parking saw residents barricade the road - with one man allegedly receiving racial abuse for doing so. Police were called to Lon Derw, a housing estate opposite Brynmenyn Primary School in Bridgend, after receiving reports of a 'verbal dispute'. One person claimed a resident was racially abused by a motorist after a group of residents refused to move a barricade they had created to prevent school-run parents from taking over their streets. It comes after Bridgend County Borough Council closed the school's drop-off zone for health and safety reasons, causing massive overflows of traffic onto the housing estate which residents say has caused damage and put children at risk. Police were forced to defuse a situation at a housing estate in Wales this morning after a dispute over parking saw residents barricade the road - with one man allegedly receiving racial abuse for doing so Police were called to Lon Derw, a housing estate opposite Brynmenyn Primary School in Bridgend, after receiving reports of a 'verbal dispute' One person claimed a resident was racially abused by a motorist after a group of residents refused to move a barricade they had created to prevent school-run parents from taking over their streets While parking at the school has been an issue for around two years, matters escalated in December after the council shut down the school's only drop-off zone. The drop-off zone is now only to be used by school staff, school buses, those dropping off children with additional learning needs, and blue-badge holders, but the move has seen many parents resort to using the housing state opposite to wait for their children. The sudden explosion of traffic in December has caused tension between the two groups, which spurred several residents to take to the streets on Wednesday and barricade the road. The disgruntled residents would only allow fellow inhabitants of the estate and visitors to the nearby care home to pass, while preventing other motorists from parking up. Speaking on Wednesday, resident Jessica Upham said: 'People have been parking on our driveways, all the grass has been turned up, they've damaged cars, fences, drains have all been lifted.' Residents from Lon Derw in Bridgend are blocking off their cul de sac to stop people parking when picking up kids from Brynmenyn Primary School after council closed a drop off zone Matters then came to a head during the morning school run this morning, when an argument allegedly broke out between some parents and residents. 'Things have got really personal, and it shouldn't be like this, we're just trying to keep our kids safe,' explained Jessica. Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed one man attempted to drive through the 'barricade' to park, while another resident was reportedly the victim of racist abuse. 'It was foul, with so many kids around as well. 'We just want them to work with us to get the council to open the drop off zone back up.' Ynysawdre councillor Tim Thomas said on social media: 'I am against a policy that is pushing the problem of parking into the community and is pitting parents against local people. However, I would ask that people remain calm. 'Communication, leadership and guidance has been severely lacking by the local authority on this one. 'I was told on Monday that an announcement will be made over the next few days on a way forward.' He later wrote in a second post: 'While I maintain that the drop off points should be reopened and that this has only put the parking problem into the community, I would be grateful if residents did not block the road and in return parents refrain from parking in Lon Derw.' Speaking on Wednesday, resident Jessica Upham said: 'People have been parking on our driveways, all the grass has been turned up, they've damaged cars, fences, drains have all been lifted' It comes after Bridgend County Borough Council closed the school's drop-off zone for health and safety reasons, causing massive overflows of traffic onto the housing estate which residents say has caused damage and put children at risk Two police vans attended the afternoon school run on Thursday, with one staying for the duration, however there was a marked increase in parents walking to school. In response to the closure of the drop-off zone, parent Chris Owen said: 'We only live down the road so we don't often drive, but when we do it's a bit of a pain. 'There are people doing dodgy three-point turns and things now, so you have to watch the kids a bit more as you're coming and going.' Vivien Pinches, who collects her granddaughter, said she had to park in a housing estate further away from the school. 'I just park wherever I can now. I do support the residents though, perhaps now the council might do something,' she said. A spokesperson for South Wales Police said: 'We were called after a verbal dispute broke out between members of the public this morning. An officer attended to ensure the situation did not escalate in any way. 'We are aware of the ongoing situation and all parties involved are being encouraged to work together to resolve the matter as soon as possible.' On Wednesday, a Bridgend County Borough Council spokesperson said: 'The temporary measures that have been put in place at Brynmenyn Primary are intended to reduce the chance of an accident occurring on school premises, and were introduced following an assessment of the drop-off area which revealed that it was not being used as intended. 'The temporary closure is in place while we carry out a thorough review and look at what alternative options may be possible.' The Tory Partys men in grey suits practised their aim and their shots rang out across the sky. As the clay pigeons flew overhead and the marksmen pulled their triggers, the setting could hardly have been more glorious at society gunmaker Holland & Hollands 60-acre Shooting Grounds in Hertfordshire. Yet the MPs wielding the shotguns two weeks ago had another quarry in mind: the Prime Minister himself. Ostensibly, the event had been organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Shooting and Conservation. There are just five members of this group only one of whom was actually there, chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, a longstanding critic of the Prime Minister. Also present, unusually, were five key members of the Tory Partys 13-strong 1922 Committee executive and they had much to discuss. The plotters intended to trigger a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister at the 1922 Committee - chaired by Sir Graham Brady They had hoped that their genial assembly might remain off the medias radar, and had been sure to arrange it far from the prying eyes of the Commons and key Boris loyalists. But the plotters were unlucky for two reasons. First: I have spoken to someone with knowledge of the event, who was only too keen to tell me what took place. And second: Boris, too, got wind of this very modern gunpowder plot and foiled it just in time. One well-placed source tells me: The MPs made their own way to the clay pigeon shoot: much more discreet. Everyone left separately at the end of the afternoon as well, and went back to their constituencies. By claiming they were there to talk about shooting and conservation, they gave themselves a sliver of respectability. But the only shooting they actually discussed was the Prime Ministers. They had met to discuss one question: should the Conservative Partys rules be changed to allow an incumbent leader to be challenged twice in a single year? The plotters knew that the PM would likely survive any immediate no-confidence vote. After all, he won a thumping election victory not so long ago and the country still credits him for the successful vaccine roll-out. Another MP brandishing a gun though not, Im afraid, very well was Nusrat Ghani, who claimed at the weekend that she was sacked from the Government two years ago amid concerns about her Muslimness But later this year, if his enemies felt they could and should topple him what then? The talk at the shoot was all about a second leadership vote against Boris within a year, says my source. Theres a lot of hostility to the PM on the 1922 executive. Frankly, its sickening to behold . . . There was discussion about who would be first to stand up to call for Boriss resignation if Sue Grays report is bad. The source adds archly: There is a terrible irony about Tory MPs plotting the demise of their leader at a famous shooting range just up the road from his constituency [in Uxbridge]. The key figure on the day was Sir Geoffrey himself, who made his views clear in December when he said that unless the PMs performance improved, some members of the party will be thinking we have got to have a change. Also present was 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady. He is the one to whom Tory MPs write confidentially if they want to trigger a vote of no-confidence. (When the threshold of 54 letters or 15 per cent of Tory MPs is passed, the vote moves to the parliamentary party.) Another MP brandishing a gun though not, Im afraid, very well was Nusrat Ghani, who claimed at the weekend that she was sacked from the Government two years ago amid concerns about her Muslimness. She is known to have already sent a letter of no confidence to Sir Graham. Ms Ghani, vice chairman of the 1922 executive, alleged that a Government whip who denies the claims cited her faith as a reason for removing her from a ministerial role in February 2020. The Prime Minister subsequently met her and urged her to lodge a formal complaint but she declined to do so, instead later telling her story to the Press at a time of particular crisis for Boris. My source claims: While Nus had a lot to say, she never mentioned being sacked from the Government because of her Muslim faith. The plotters thought that the partys rules would be changed that night but Team Boris, buoyed by a robust performance at Prime Ministers Questions that day, had already sprung into action Others on the excursion, which usually costs 120 per person but had been provided free to the gun-toting MPs, were Gary Sambrook, the MP for Birmingham Northfield, who has also sent a letter of no confidence and has been named as one of the pork pie plotters: the largely inexperienced MPs who launched an abortive coup last week. It was, in all, a significant gathering and a sign of the political times. In the past, 1922 Committee officers have typically been ruddy-cheeked knights of the shires: Sir Edward du Cann, a former Conservative Party chairman, ran the Committee between 1972 and 1984. In 1975, it was du Cann who held a meeting of the so-called Milk Street Mafia in his office at that address in London, where it was resolved to tell Edward Heath, who had lost three out of four general elections, to stage a leadership contest. Mrs Thatcher won and the rest is history. But with some exceptions, these guns were often young and inexperienced: Mr Sambrook has been an MP only since 2019. And that is just one reason why Boris felt emboldened to come out so hard against them when he learned of their Machiavellian scheming. As the plotters drove away, their bellies stuffed in some cases with hot sausage rolls, they perhaps congratulated themselves on reaching a cosy consensus that the 1922 would soon amend its rules. How quickly it all unravelled! Fast forward to Wednesday evening this week, when the full 1922 executive met in Commons Committee Room 14. The plotters thought that the partys rules would be changed that night but Team Boris, buoyed by a robust performance at Prime Ministers Questions that day, had already sprung into action. Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns, Cabinet Office minister Nigel Adams and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries had stepped forward to shore up support for the PM among Tory MPs and persuade them firmly to oppose the changes. To make matters easier, as the full ugly details of the Holland & Holland plot became clear, many Tory MPs were aghast. One source tells me: There was a hell of row behind those closed doors. The optics of Boriss fate being discussed by MPs while they were messing around with shotguns was just awful. So much for modernity and being in touch with ordinary voters! Other long-time Boris supporters on the 1922 executive such as Sir Bernard Jenkin who did not attend the shoot were implacably opposed to changing rules that have stood for almost half a century. Gary Sambrook, the MP for Birmingham Northfield, who has also sent a letter of no confidence and has been named as one of the pork pie plotters Only Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown continued to argue defiantly for the new regulations. He was on his own, reveals my source. The other MPs on the shoot hardly said anything. They knew it was game over and no vote was required. Oh, and the clay pigeon scores on the day? Richard Holden, who won North West Durham for the Tories for the first time since the seat was formed in 1950, took the honours in the shooting contest. Sir Graham was next, followed by Sir Geoffrey. Nusrat Ghani was close to last. While Boris has now seen off the immediate threat, he must be wondering who will be the next to take aim at him and hoping that, like this months gunpowder plotters, they miss. NSW and Victoria have recorded further drops in Covid-19 cases though deaths in both states jumped in Friday's announced figures. NSW recorded 13,333 new infections - the lowest figure this year - but there were 35 deaths with Covid which was a six-day high. Victoria recorded 12,755 new Covid-19 cases - less than a quarter of the number being recorded at the peak of the Omicron wave - and 39 new deaths, which was up from 15 on Thursday but below the 54 on Australia Day. Active cases of Covid-19 fell to 166,898 in NSW, representing a 51 per cent drop in the past 12 days, while in Victoria it was 101,605 - the lowest number for 20 days and 60 per cent lower than it was nine days ago. There were 2,737 people with Covid in hospital in NSW, with that number having stayed in the 2,500-3,000 band for the past two weeks, and 189 in ICU, which was an increase of eight on the previous day but below the peaks of both Omicron and Delta. In Victoria the hospitalisation figure dipped to 988; the lowest for two weeks, while the ICU figure fell slightly to 114. Residents who have had Covid-19 over summer are being urged to get a booster vaccine within weeks of their recovery. NSW and Victoria have recorded another drop in Covid-19 cases while death rates have jumped Despite the continually falling number of cases in NSW, the Health Minister Brad Hazzard is frustrated that the majority of those eligible for a booster shot have decided they do not need it. 'The booster is what will slow the transmission, but also reduce the likelihood of the severe illness, so for everybody who is eligible, please go and get the booster as quickly as possible,' he told ABC TV on Friday. Many people are confused about when they can have the booster after contracting COVID-19, he said. 'It is a very clear message now: four to six weeks after you've had COVID, you can have the booster,' he said. People who have not contracted COVID should have their booster shot three months after their second jab, he said. 'So do it. It keeps yourself safe, your family safe, the community safe,' he said. He admitted he wanted national cabinet to force people to get three doses of the jab to be considered fully vaccinated, despite having given previous assurances that two would suffice. 'Yes. Yes, I would.' About 100,000 vaccine doses had been available in NSW and not been taken up in recent weeks. Only a handful of people had turned up at some vaccine hubs, creating a 'ridiculous' situation where health staff were stationed at empty hubs, unable to help sick people elsewhere, he said on Thursday. People who have had COVID-19 over summer are being urged to get a booster vaccine within weeks of their recovery Only a handful of people had turned up at some vaccine hubs, creating a 'ridiculous' situation where health staff were stationed at empty hubs, unable to help sick people elsewhere, he said on Thursday NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce said vaccination bookings went begging at state-run clinics last week, suggesting 'a perception in the community that Omicron is milder' was to blame, even if that perception was borne out by available evidence. In October 28, some 5,676,972 of the state's residents aged over 16 had received their second dose, about 86.4 per cent of the population. Most of them are eligible to receive a booster shot, with the exception of under 18s and those who have contracted the virus within the last four to six weeks. Just 36.2 per cent of people over 18 had their booster dose as of Tuesday, according to data from NSW Health. NSW has recorded 881,331 cases in the last four weeks and 947,251 in the past six weeks. Australians who have had Covid over summer are being urged to get a booster vaccine within weeks of their recovery. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard is frustrated that just 40 per cent of the eligible population in the state have had the booster shot, despite plentiful supplies. He blamed mixed messaging for the slow take-up and stressed that people who have had Covid-19 can safely get their booster jab soon after recovering from the virus. 'It is a very clear message now: four to six weeks after you've had Covid, you can have the booster,' Mr Hazzard told ABC TV on Friday. People who have not contracted Covid should have their booster shot three months after their second jab, he said. NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard (above) said he is frustrated that just 40 per cent of the eligible population in the state have had the booster shot, despite supply being plentiful 'So do it. It keeps yourself safe, your family safe, the community safe,' he said. Despite declining Covid numbers in NSW - there has been a 51 per cent drop in active cases over the past 12 days - he wanted people to be forced to have three jabs in order to be considered fully vaccinated. 'Yes. Yes, I would.' Mr Hazzard said confusion over booster time periods was to blame while NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce said a belief that Omicron is a 'mild' illness could be the reason About 100,000 available vaccine doses have not been taken up in NSW in recent weeks, with the majority of eligible people not rushing to protect themselves against the relatively mild Omicron strain. Only a handful of people had turned up at some vaccine hubs, creating a 'ridiculous' situation where health staff were stationed at empty hubs, unable to help sick people elsewhere, Mr Hazzard said on Thursday. NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce said vaccination bookings went begging at state-run clinics last week due to 'a perception in the community that Omicron is milder'. About 100,000 available vaccine doses had not been taken up in NSW in recent weeks despite high case numbers due to the Omicron outbreak On October 28, some 5,676,972 of the state's residents aged over 16 had received their second dose, about 86.4 per cent of the population. Most of them are eligible to receive a booster shot, with the exception of under 18s and those who have contracted the virus within the last four to six weeks. Just 36.4 per cent of people over 18 had their booster dose as of Friday, according to data from NSW Health. NSW has recorded 881,331 cases in the last four weeks and 947,251 in the past six weeks. Health bosses have ordered GPs to resume normal service after they axed millions of routine appointments to focus on the booster rollout. Patient groups welcomed the diktat from NHS England, amid fears the vaccine drive had led to serious diseases such as cancer being missed. Boris Johnson made it a 'national mission' to accelerate the rollout of the booster jab following the emergence of the Omicron variant. Surgeries were told to prioritise immunisations and put some non-urgent care on hold. GPs have been told by NHS England to prioritise seeing patients rather than delivering Covid-19 booster jabs over fears that large numbers of serious illnesses may be missed GPs helped administer 6.8 million Covid vaccines last month, but the number of patients seen fell from 30 million in November to 25 million in December The move helped GPs administer 6.8 million Covid vaccines last month but the number of routine appointments offered fell from 30 million in November to just 25 million in December. Dr Nikki Kanani, medical director of primary care for NHS England, and colleagues have written to GPs telling them to resume business as usual because demand for the booster jab has waned. The letter says: 'This further guidance recognises that as we approach the end of January, we anticipate there will be lower demand for booster. 'It is now important that all services across the NHS, including in primary care, are able to restore routine services where these were paused in line with the Prime Minister's request to focus all available resources on the Omicron national mission.' Over half of Covid patients in hospital are now there 'with' the virus, rather than because of it Over half the patients in hospital with coronavirus are there only because they are being treated for something else, figures published yesterday show. For example, they may have broken a leg and tested positive on arrival at A&E. Of the 13,023 Covid-positive patients in hospital in England on Tuesday, 52 per cent were there for another reason. Early last month only 25 per cent of patients were 'incidental' admissions. The number of Covid patients is falling fast, and only 561 people are now on ventilators compared with more than 4,000 this time last year. A separate report from the UK Health Security Agency said that two doses of vaccine gave 60 per cent protection against dying of Covid to people over 50, but three gave 95 per cent protection. Advertisement The letter tells GPs they should reprioritise their work, with the management of long-term conditions, suspected cancer, screening, annual health checks and tackling the backlog of deferred care among the most important tasks. It also stresses they must offer face-to-face appointments to patients who need them, following a rise in the proportion being held remotely. Only 61 per cent of routine GP appointments were in-person in December down from 63 per cent in November and 64 per cent in October. Some 80 per cent of appointments were face-to-face in December 2019. The letter adds: 'The British Medical Association and Royal College of GPs guidance set out at the end of last year stating 'we must reassure the public that general practice remains open and that patients will be seen face-to-face where it is clinically appropriate', remains in place.' Dennis Reed, from campaign group Silver Voices, said: 'The booster programme was vital to save lives but there is a balance to be had and I am sure other lives will have been lost as a result of patients not being able to get an appointment. We are concerned that the proportion of appointments taking place face-to-face has fallen again and worry this will become the new normal. Patients should have a legal right to be seen in-person.' Caroline Abrahams, of Age UK, said: 'Many older people have told us that it would make a huge difference to their health and their morale if they could have easier access to GP services once again, so the sooner this can happen the better from their point of view.' Professor Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'The December figures bring the number of appointments made in 2021... to an unprecedented 367 million. (This) is a testament to the dedication of GPs and our teams to delivering good, safe and appropriate care.' Yesterday 96,871 cases of coronavirus were recorded in the UK and another 338 deaths within 28 days of a positive test. n A man who accosted Professor Chris Whitty in a park was jailed for eight weeks yesterday. Jonathan Chew, 24, admitted a charge of intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress to the Chief Medical Officer following the incident in St James's Park in central London last June. Having been told to stop vaping in court, Chew who appeared in his dressing gown via videolink at a previous hearing was also ordered to pay 1,058 in costs and compensation. He sang 'West Ham till I die' as he was led from the dock. Rents are rising at the fastest rate on record and now outpace house price increases in most areas of the country, new data has revealed. It is the latest evidence of challenges people face trying to find somewhere to live. High demand among tenants and low supply of good rental homes means there is fierce competition in this part of the property market. The South West has seen some of the highest rental growth and this four-bed detached house in Frome, Somerset, is for rent for 1,700 a month via Cooper and Tanner letting agents Rightmove revealed that rents rose 9.9 per cent to 1,068 a month on average outside of London Rightmove said that rents had outpaced house price increases in all but three regions in Britain. It looked at asking rents on its website across Britain and found that they rose 9.9 per cent to reach 1,068 a month on average outside of London. It is the highest annual jump on record and highlights the recovery in rental growth following a slowdown in the months immediately after the pandemic started. High demand among tenants and a low supply of rental properties has led to rents outpacing house price increases, Rightmove said in its quarterly report. The only regions where rental growth has not outstripped the rise in house prices are the East Midlands, the South West and the South East. However, the South West is still included in the areas with the biggest rises in rental values, up 11 per cent. There is also Wales, up 12.7 per cent, and the North West, up 12.5 per cent. The data compared the last three months of last year with the same period a year earlier. Inner London rents grew at a record 16.2 per cent and this one-bed flat at the Battersea Power Station development is for rent for 2,000 a month via Daniel Ford letting agents GROWTH IN AVERAGE RENTS IN DIFFERENT REGIONS ACROSS BRITAIN Average asking rent Q4 2021 Average asking rent Q3 2021 QoQ Average asking rent Q4 2020 YoY East Midlands 935 925 1.1% 857 9.0% East of England 1,313 1,289 1.9% 1,196 9.7% London 2,142 2,019 6.1% 1,932 10.9% North East 718 699 2.6% 662 8.4% North West 924 899 2.7% 821 12.5% Scotland 826 805 2.6% 772 7.0% South East 1,514 1,489 1.7% 1,379 9.8% South West 1,180 1,154 2.3% 1,063 11.0% Wales 874 846 3.3% 775 12.7% West Midlands 941 918 2.4% 871 8.1% Yorkshire and The Humber 830 812 2.2% 759 9.3% Source: Rightmove London saw record annual growth of 10.9 per cent, with asking rents in the capital standing 3 per cent higher than before the start of the pandemic. It is the first time they have risen beyond pre-pandemic levels. At the end of 2020, London recorded a near-record 6.4 per cent drop in average asking rents as demand shifted away from the capital during another lockdown. Tenants looked for more space outside of cities, particularly away from flats, while landlords offered tenants willing to stay cut-price rents. By the end of 2021, London rents were higher than before the pandemic started, as its popularity returned and landlords were able to negotiate higher rents for the new year. Inner London rents also grew at a record 16.2 per cent, recovering from its drop of 14 per cent at the beginning of 2021, to also rise just ahead of pre-pandemic levels for the first time. Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales, saw the largest increase in asking rents of any local area, up 20 per cent from 562 a month to 674 a month. It is followed by Ascot, Berkshire, which is up 18.8 per cent and Littlehampton, West Sussex, up 17.5 per cent. High rental growth was also seen in the East Midlands and this four-bed house in Leicester is for rent for 1,350 a month via Corley letting agents RISE IN AVERAGE HOUSE PRICES IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF BRITAIN Region Average asking price % YOY East Midlands 266,725 10.4% East of England 396,135 8.4% London 629,286 4.2% North East 165,277 6.0% North West 228,866 8.8% Scotland 162,415 2.8% South East 450,918 10.2% South West 359,201 11.6% Wales 230,813 9.9% West Midlands 262,825 7.6% Yorkshire and The Humber 214,988 6.1% Source: Rightmove The imbalance between high tenant demand and low rental stock has also led to competition between tenants for rental homes nearly doubling, up 94 per cent compared to the same period last year. Total rental demand is up 32 per cent compared to this time last year, while the number of available rental properties is 51 per cent lower. It led to available rental properties being snapped up by tenants, in just 17 days on average. However, Rightmove went on to say that the number of available rental properties is 7 per cent higher than the same period in December, a sign of availability improving at the start of the year. Flats have seen the highest increase in competition compared to last year, up 132 per cent, followed by terraced houses, up 40 per cent, and semi-detached homes, up 30 per cent. Rightmove also revealed that the average rental yield across Britain is 5.5 per cent, which is the highest level since 2016 when it was 5.6 per cent. The North East and Wales have hit record yields, while yields in London, South West and Yorkshire are at their highest since 2015. Yields in the East of England and South East are at their highest since 2016. Rightmove also revealed that the average rental yield across Britain is 5.5 per cent TOP AVERAGE RENTAL YIELDS IN BRITAIN Area Region Average yield 2020 Average yield 2021 Difference in yields 2021 vs 2020 Preston North West 6.1% 9.1% 3.1% Exeter South West 6.0% 8.8% 2.7% Swansea Wales 9.0% 11.2% 2.2% Nottingham East Midlands 8.2% 10.3% 2.1% Rushcliffe East Midlands 5.6% 7.7% 2.1% Renfrewshire Scotland 8.1% 9.9% 1.8% Gwynedd Wales 9.3% 11.0% 1.7% Rhondda Cynon Taf Wales 7.6% 9.1% 1.5% Warwick West Midlands 5.9% 7.3% 1.5% East Ayrshire Scotland 8.3% 9.7% 1.4% Source: Rightmove Tim Bannister, from Rightmove, said: 'The year 2020 was defined by the race for space outside of cities, as tenant priorities changed and many moved further out looking for a larger property with green space, or temporarily moved back in with family. 'London was perhaps the biggest example of this, where landlords significantly decreased asking rents by the end of the year to encourage tenants to stay in the capital. 'A year on, asking rents have finally risen beyond pre-pandemic levels, a sign that the capital has not lost its pull and popularity with renters as landlords look to renegotiate previous cut-price terms.' He continued: 'Tenant demand continues to be really high entering the new year, meaning the imbalance between supply and demand is set to continue until more choice comes onto the market for tenants, which has led to our prediction of a further 5 per cent increase in average asking rents in 2022. 'Landlords understand the importance of having a good, long-term tenant, and there is a limit to what renters can afford to pay, which will prevent rents rising at the same rate we've seen over the past year.' Marc von Grundherr, of letting agents Benham and Reeves, said: 'The London rental market is drastically different to that seen in 2020 when landlords were forced to heavily reduce asking rents to secure a tenant and avoid lengthy void periods due to an exodus of market activity from the capital. 'In fact, the surplus of available rental stock that accumulated due to the pandemic has now plummeted and this has been driven by a staggered return to the workplace and, in particular, a huge influx of demand from overseas students. 'We've also seen a huge increase in the number of tenancy renewals which have even exceeded 2019 levels and so while some areas are yet to see rental values return to the pre-pandemic norm, it's only a matter of time as the market looks set to continue to this strong return to form throughout 2022.' Travelling into space is something that many people dream of, and it almost became a reality for one man - until he stepped on the scales. Airline pilot Kyle Hippchen, 43, from Florida, was delighted to win a raffle ticket to be part of the Inspiration4 crew on SpaceX's first tourist flight last year. But at 5ft10 and 330lbs he exceeded SpaceX's 250lb weight limit. So his seat went to his college roommate, Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer in Everett, Washington while Hippchen watched from a VIP balcony. The pain of missing out on the once-in-a-lifetime trip still hasn't worn off for Hippchen, who hasn't been able to bring himself to watch the Netflix series about the flight. 'It hurts too much,' he said. 'I'm insanely disappointed. But it is what it is.' Hippchen's (right) seat went to his college roommate, Chris Sembroski (left), 42, a data engineer in Everett, Washington Kyle Hippchen, 43, from Florida, was delighted when he won a raffle for a ticket on board SpaceX's first tourist flight last year. However, the airline pilot was forced to donate his ticket to a friend, after discovering he exceeded SpaceX's 250lbs (113kg) weight limit The Inspiration4 mission Dubbed Inspiration4, the mission was designed primarily to raise awareness and support for the pediatric cancer center, which successfully treated Arceneaux for bone cancer when she was a child. Although not the first time civilians have travelled to space, it is the first mission manned solely by civilians. The four-person team, under the command of Isaacman, launched aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. Dragon only orbited Earth for three days, completing one orbit every 90 minutes along a customized flight path travelling at more than 17,000 miles per hour. Its progress was carefully monitored at every step by SpaceX mission control. Advertisement Hippchen - a Florida-based captain for Delta's regional carrier Endeavor Air - recently shared his story during his first visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Centre since his lost rocket ride. He opened up about his out-of-the-blue, dream-come-true windfall, the letdown when he realized he topped SpaceX's weight restrictions of 250 pounds and his offer to the one person he knew would treasure the flight as much as himself. Four months later, he figures probably fewer than 50 people know he was the actual winner. 'It was their show, and I didn't want to be distracting too much from what they were doing,' said Hippchen, who watched the launch from a VIP balcony. Hippchen and Sembroski were college roommates while attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in the late 1990s. They'd pile into cars with other student space geeks and make the hourlong drive south for NASA's shuttles launches. They also belonged to a space advocacy group, going to Washington to push commercial space travel. Despite living on opposite coasts, Hippchen and Sembroski continued to swap space news. Neither could resist when Shift4 Payments founder and CEO Jared Isaacman raffled off a seat on the flight he purchased from SpaceXs Elon Musk. The beneficiary was St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Hippchen snapped up $600 worth of entries, while Sembroski, about to start a new job at Lockheed Martin, shelled out $50. With 72,000 entries in the random draw last February, neither figured he'd win and didn't bother telling the other. By early March, Hippchen started receiving vague emails seeking details about himself. That's when he read the contest's small print: The winner had to be under 6ft6 and 250 pounds. Hippchen recently shared his story during his first visit to NASA's Kennedy Space Centre since his lost rocket ride In gratitude, Sembroski (right) offered to take personal items into space for Hippchen (left). He gathered his high school and college rings, airline captain epaulets, a great-uncles World War I Purple Heart and odds and ends from his best friends from high school, warning, 'Don't ask any details' NASA astronaut requirements While SpaceX doesn't publicly reveal its astronaut requirements, NASA has four main criteria for its crew: 1. Be a U.S. citizen 2. Possess a master's degree in a STEM field, including engineering, biological science, physical science, computer science or mathematics, from an accredited institution 3. Have at least two years of related professional experience obtained after degree completion or at least 1,000 hours pilot-in-command time on jet aircraft. 4. Be able to pass the NASA long-duration flight astronaut physical. Advertisement Hippchen was 5ft10 and 330 pounds (1.8 meters and 150 kilograms). He told organizers he was pulling out, figuring he was only one of many finalists. In the flurry of emails and calls that followed, Hippchen was stunned to learn he'd won. With a September launch planned, the timeline was tight. Still new at flying people, SpaceX needed to start measuring its first private passengers for their custom-fitted flight suits and capsule seats. As an aerospace engineer and pilot, Hippchen knew the weight limit was a safety issue involving the seats, and could not be exceeded. 'I was trying to figure how I could drop 80 pounds in six months, which, I mean, it's possible, but it's not the most healthy thing in the world to do,' Hippchen said. Instead, Isaacman, the spaceflight's sponsor, allowed Hippchen to pick a stand-in. 'Kyle's willingness to gift his seat to Chris was an incredible act of generosity,' Isaacman said. Isaacman introduced his passengers at the end of March: a St. Jude physician assistant who beat cancer there as a child; a community college educator who was Shift4 Payments' winning business client; and Sembroski. From left, Chris Sembroski, Sian Proctor, Jared Isaacman and Hayley Arceneaux sit in the Dragon capsule at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Sunday, September 12, 2021, during a dress rehearsal for the launch While Hippchen didn't get to see Earth from orbit, he did get to experience about 10 minutes of weightlessness. During Sembroski's flight, he joined friends and family of the crew on a special zero-gravity plane Hippchen joined them in April to watch SpaceX launch astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, the company's last crew flight before their own. In gratitude, Sembroski offered to take personal items into space for Hippchen. He gathered his high school and college rings, airline captain epaulets, a great-uncles World War I Purple Heart and odds and ends from his best friends from high school, warning, 'Don't ask any details.' By launch day on Sept. 15, word had gotten around. As friends and families gathered for the liftoff, Hippchen said the conversation went like this: 'My name's Kyle. Are you The Kyle? Yeah, I'm The Kyle.' Before climbing into SpaceXs Dragon capsule, Sembroski followed tradition and used the phone atop the launch tower to make his one allotted call. He called Hippchen and thanked him one more time. 'I'm forever grateful,' Sembroski said. And while Hippchen didn't get to see Earth from orbit, he did get to experience about 10 minutes of weightlessness. During Sembroski's flight, he joined friends and family of the crew on a special zero-gravity plane. 'It was a blast.' The launch of the Inspiration4 crew took place from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre in Cape Canaveral, Florida on September 15 The turbulent heart of the Milky Way contains nearly 1,000 inexplicable magnetic filaments ten times more than previously thought, a new image has revealed. The strange strands, some of which stretch up to 150 light-years across, were first discovered by astronomers at Northwestern University back in the early 1980s. Observations using radio waves have shown the filaments to be highly organised, appearing in pairs and clusters, with some evenly spaced out like strings on a harp. The team believe that filaments are comprised of cosmic ray electrons gyrating the magnetic field at close to the speed of light, but their origins remain a mystery. However, the identification of more of the strings, the researchers said, will now enable broad statistical studies that might allow them to unravel this puzzle. The team have already ruled out supernovae as the source of the filaments, and suspect they may have been created by our galaxy's supermassive black hole. The turbulent heart of the Milky Way contains nearly 1,000 inexplicable magnetic filaments ten times more than previously thought, a new image (pictured) has revealed A mosaic image of the heart of the Milky Way. The filaments can be seen as vertical slashes throughout Observations using radio waves have shown the filaments to be highly organised, appearing in pairs and clusters, with some evenly spaced out like strings on a harp THE FILAMENTS MAY HAVE THEIR ORIGINS IN THE SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE AT THE HEART OF THE GALAXY The new data gathered by the MeerKAT telescope has allowed Professor Yusef-Zadeh and his colleagues to better study the filament's magnetic fields, alongside the role that cosmic rays play in illuminating them. They found that the radiation emitted from the filaments is very different to that seen from supernova remnants. This suggests that the two phenomena have different origins. The team think that the filaments may have been formed as a result of the past activity of the supermassive black hole that lurks at the centre of the Milky Way rather than from the coordinated bursts of supernovae. In addition, the filaments may be related to the vast, radio wave-emitting bubbles, which Professor Yusef-Zadeh and his team first reported discovering back in the September of 2019. Advertisement The study was led by Northwestern University astrophysicist Farhad Yusef-Zadeh, who spotted the first strands back in 1984. 'We have studied individual filaments for a long time with a myopic view. Just examining a few filaments makes it difficult to draw any real conclusion about what they are and where they came from,' explained Professor Yusef-Zadeh. 'Now, we finally see the big picture a panoramic view filled with an abundance of filaments. This is a watershed in furthering our understanding of these structures. 'This is the first time we have been able to study statistical characteristics of the filaments. By studying the statistics, we can learn more about the properties of these unusual sources. 'If you were from another planet, for example, and you encountered one very tall person on Earth, you might assume all people are tall. But if you do statistics across a population of people, you can find the average height. 'That's exactly what we're doing. We can find the strength of magnetic fields, their lengths, their orientations and the spectrum of radiation.' The new image of the Milky Way's centre was the result of three years' worth of sky surveys undertaken using the MeerKAT radio telescope at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) in the country's Northern Cape providence. After a total of 200 hours of telescope time, the team were able to piece together a mosaic of 20 separate observation of different parts of the sky in the direction of the galactic centre, which lies some 25,000 light years from Earth. Alongside the filaments, the final composite image also captures numerous other sources of radio emissions, including outbursts from stars, stellar nurseries and new supernova remnants. 'I've spent a lot of time looking at this image in the process of working on it, and I never get tired of it,' said paper author and astrophysicist Ian Heywood of the University of Oxford. 'When I show this image to people who might be new to radio astronomy [] I always try to emphasize that radio imaging hasn't always been this way, and what a leap forward MeerKAT really is in terms of its capabilities. 'It's been a true privilege to work over the years with colleagues from SARAO who built this fantastic telescope.' The strange spatial strands (pictured), some of which stretch up to 150 light-years across, were first discovered by astronomers at Northwestern University back in the early 1980s Alongside the filaments, the final composite image also captures numerous other sources of radio emissions, including outbursts from stars, stellar nurseries and new supernova remnants. Pictured: a rare, almost-perfectly spherical supernova remnant seen in the image The new image of the Milky Way's centre was the result of three years' worth of sky surveys undertaken using the MeerKAT radio telescope (pictured) at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory in the country's Northern Cape providence To get a clearer look at the filaments, the team used a special technique that allowed them to remove the background from the main image, isolating the strands. 'It's like modern art. These images are so beautiful and rich, and the mystery of it all makes it even more interesting,' said Professor Yusef-Zadeh. The researchers said that they are particularly intrigued by how structured the filaments appear, with those in clusters seemingly spaced at equal intervals, each around the distance of that from the Earth to the sun. 'They almost resemble the regular spacing in solar loops,' commented Professor Yusef-Zadeh. 'We still don't know why they come in clusters or understand how they separate and we don't know how these regular spacings happen. 'Every time we answer one question, multiple other questions arise.' This includes whether or not the filaments change over time or move, and what is causing the electrons to accelerate in the first place. 'How do you accelerate electrons at close to the speed of light?' Professor Yusef-Zadeh asked. 'One idea is there are some sources at the end of these filaments that are accelerating these particles.' After a total of 200 hours of telescope time, the team were able to piece together a mosaic of 20 separate observation of different parts of the sky in the direction of the galactic centre which lies some 25,000 light years from Earth. Pictured: the distribution of the strengths of magnetic fields in the final, composite image of the heart of the Milky Way To get a clearer look at the filaments, the team used a special technique that allowed them to remove the background from the main image isolating the strands, as pictured With this latest study complete, the researchers are now working to identify and catalogue each filament in the image, noting its orientation, curve, magnetic field, spectrum and intensity, properties that may shine a light on the strands' nature. 'We're certainly one step closer to a fuller understanding. But science is a series of progress on different levels,' said Professor Yusef-Zadeh. 'We're hoping to get to the bottom of it, but more observations and theoretical analyses are needed. A full understanding of complex objects takes time.' A pre-print of the researchers' article, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, can be read on the arXiv repository, as can an accompany paper presenting the full image created from the MeerKAT data. The two articles have been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and The Astrophysical Journal, respectively. 'I've spent a lot of time looking at this image in the process of working on it, and I never get tired of it,' said paper author and astrophysicist Ian Heywood of the University of Oxford. Pictured: the complex, cirrus-like emission from the Galactic centre super bubble, which is crossed by a complex of many parallel radio filaments The new image of the Milky Way's centre was the result of three years' worth of sky surveys undertaken using the MeerKAT radio telescope at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory in the country's Northern Cape providence An estimated 300,000 meteorites could be sitting undiscovered within the ice fields of Antarctica, according to the findings of a new study. Using artificial intelligence to predict potential landing sites of pieces of space rock over the past few millennia, helped experts from the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, to create a 'treasure map' of places to find these valuable rocks. Meteorites that fall in Antarctica typically become embedded in the ice sheet, making them harder to spot, but it seems many are hidden in plain sight. Two-thirds of all meteorites found on Earth have been discovered on the frozen continent, a process made easier due to the contrast between dark rocks and snow, with many discovered by chance during costly reconnaissance missions. In this new study, the team discovered that areas of 'blue ice', where frozen water is visible at the surface as ice rather than snow, could be rich in meteorites. Thanks to the AI-produced treasure map, the team now have a list of locations to look, with many very close to existing research stations on Antarctica. This 'treasure map' shows locations of existing research stations (pink) alongside areas of suspected meteorites (black) on the frozen continent Using artificial intelligence to predict potential landing sites of pieces of space rock over the past few millennia, helped experts from the Free University of Brussels in Belgium, to create a 'treasure map' of places to find these valuable rocks Meteorites are important for planetary scientists, as they provide a unique view into the origin and evolution of our solar system, including the Earth. They were expelled from another celestial body, such as a giant asteroid or comet, which may have formed in the earliest days of the system, billions of years ago. However, finding these pieces of rock isn't easy, especially when they could be buried under land, or covered in a grassy bush - but ice can help them stand out. This is why the majority have been found in Antarctica, with many discovered by chance in 'blue ice' regions of the frozen continent - visible on the surface. Meteorites that fall in Antarctica typically become embedded in the ice sheet, making them harder to spot, but it seems many are hidden in plain sight Two-thirds of all meteorites found on Earth have been discovered on the frozen continent, a process made easier due to the contrast between dark rocks and snow, with many discovered by chance during costly reconnaissance missions 'To date, meteorite-bearing blue ice areas are mostly identified by serendipity and through costly reconnaissance missions,' researchers behind this new study wrote. 'Here, we identify meteorite-rich areas by combining state-of-the-art datasets in a machine learning algorithm and provide continent-wide estimates of the probability to find meteorites at any given location.' They found that there are likely about 600 meteorite stranding zones across Antarctica, and only about 15 per cent of meteorites have been recovered. The majority of these zones have never been explored by humans, but surprisingly some of them are close to existing research stations. 'The data-driven approach will greatly facilitate the quest to collect the remaining meteorites in a coordinated and cost-effective manner,' the team added. The team fed data from radar, surface temperature, surface slope, velocity and ice thickness into the artificial intelligence algorithm Schematic representation of two possible settings of the meteorite concentration mechanism, related to a submerged barrier (open MSZ) and to an emerged barrier (closed MSZ). They show how the meteorites may have fallen, and become exposed to the surface over time Having a signpost to where to look will significantly cut down on the cost of expeditions, due to reducing the need for costly reconnaissance. Also, by discovering many are in 'blue ice' areas, it increases the chance of actually discovering them - rather than the rocks being buried under the snow. Meteorites are too small to detect from space, but with indirect satellite measurements, such as temperature, speed of the ice flow, the surface flow, and the way ice reflects radar signals, machine learning can make predictions. The goal of the study was to find areas most likely to harbor meteorites, and in areas where they are more likely to be easily visible on the surface. Slide me Outline of an area of Antarctica showing blue ice spots (left) with the probability of finding meteorites overlaid (right) A number of sites predicted for the location of meteorites have never been explored by humans, others have been widely explored, including Allen Hills, where one of the most studied meteorites of all time was found 'By visiting these locations and using new recovery techniques in the field, such as surveys with drones, we are about to enter a new era of Antarctic meteorite recovery missions,' Veronica Tollenaar, a glaciologist involved in the study, told Space.com. So far some 45,000 meteorites have been recovered from Antarctica to date, but they make up just 13 per cent of the total number in the ice. 'Our calculations suggest that more than 300,000 meteorites are still present at the surface of the ice sheet,' Tollenaar explained. 'The potential remains enormous.' A number of sites predicted for the location of meteorites have never been explored by humans, others have been widely explored, including Allen Hills, where one of the most studied meteorites of all time was found. The rock, ALLAN HILLS 84001, came from Mars originally, and in the late 1990s was hailed as potential evidence of bacteria once existing on the Red Planet. It led to President Bill Clinton pushing for more funding for NASA, but has since been shown to be nothing more than a lump of Mars rock with fossilised water. It doesn't mean they will find meteorites at every site they visit, as the AI predictions are about 83 per cent accurate, but it is better than the current methods. Findings have been published in the journal Science Advances. Water flowed on Mars as recently as 2 billion to 2.5 billion years ago more recently than previously thought, a new study reveals. Researchers at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) used NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to determine that liquid water on the Martian surface left salt minerals as recently as 2 billion years ago. The chloride salt deposits were left behind as icy meltwater flowing across the Martian landscape evaporated. The salt minerals were first discovered 14 years ago by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, which launched in 2001. MRO, which has higher-resolution instruments than Odyssey, launched in 2005 and has been studying the salts, among many other features of Mars, ever since. Until now, it's been thought that Mars' liquid surface water evaporated about 3 billion years ago, but the new results put this forward by up to a billion years. NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter used its Context Camera to capture this image of Bosporos Planum, a location on Mars. The white specks are salt deposits found within a dry channel. The largest impact crater in the scene is nearly 1 mile (1.5km) across IS THERE WATER ON MARS TODAY? Today, Martian water ice is locked away underground throughout the planet's mid-latitudes. On Earth, usually the ice is just water ice - i.e. frozen H2O. But on Mars, it's actually water ice and CO2 ice mixed with each other. On Mars, it's just so cold that it gets frozen, so you actually have those mixed together both at the poles and underneath the surface as well. There is also a very small amount of water vapour in the Martian atmosphere. Advertisement The new study was conducted by Ellen Leask and Bethany Ehlmann, two researchers working at Caltech's Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. The team looked at imagery of deposits of sodium chloride (table salt) captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Using both cameras to create digital elevation maps, Leask and Ehlmann found that many of the salts were in depressions once home to shallow ponds on gently sloping volcanic plains. The scientists also found winding, dry channels nearby former streams that once fed surface runoff (from the occasional melting of ice or permafrost) into these ponds. Crater counting and evidence of salts on top of volcanic terrain allowed them to date the deposits. Generally, the fewer craters a terrain has, the younger it is. By counting the number of craters on an area of the surface, scientists can estimate its age. Chloride salt deposits on Mars are 'intriguing', the duo say, because they dissolve very readily and so record the last stage of liquid water present at Mars' surface. 'Salt is incredibly soluble, so any moisture at all would dissolve it,' said Leask, now a postdoctoral scholar at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory. 'As such, these deposits must have formed during the evaporation of the last large-scale water on the planet. ' Mars once rippled with rivers and ponds billions of years ago, providing a potential habitat for microbial life. NASA's aging Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (depicted here) is the most data-productive spacecraft circling the Red Planet Technicians perform checks on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) prior to its departure on July 20, 2005 WATER ON MARS UNLIKELY: LAKE DETECTED IS LIKELY JUST A DUSTY MIRAGE Hope of finding liquid water on Mars has dried up, according to scientists who say what was thought to be a vast lake under the south pole is likely nothing more than a dusty mirage. In 2018 scientists thought they were looking at liquid water on Mars, after seeing bright radar reflections under the polar ice cap, but a new study disputes that. Re-examining the reflections in the radar images, planetary scientists from the University of Texas determined they were actually showing volcanic rock. Read more: Lake detected is likely just a dusty mirage, study says Advertisement But as the planet's atmosphere thinned over time, that water evaporated, leaving the frozen desert world of the present day. Hundreds of deposits of sodium chloride stretching tens to hundreds of square kilometers in area were discovered by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter starting in 2008. Not only did they offer evidence that Mars had been much wetter long ago, they also offered a way to determine the last time that water had existed in liquid form on the planet's surface. MRO, meanwhile, launched in August 2005 and reached Mars in March 2006. It has accumulated data on Mars over the last 15 years. Using data from MRO, Leask and Ehlmann conducted a broad study of all of the known salt deposits. MRO has two cameras suited for this purpose the Context Camera, with its black-and-white wide-angle lens, helps scientists map the extent of the chlorides. To zoom in, scientists turn to the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) color camera, allowing them to see details as small as a Mars rover from space. The experts looked at what types of landforms the salt deposits formed on and how they were deposited across the terrain. They found they are surprisingly thin less than 10 feet (3 metres) and occur in topographical lows. The Martian surface has an estimated temperature of roughly minus 81 degrees Fahrenheit, which would be too cold for water to stay liquid 'They don't fill basins like salt deposits in Death Valley,' said Ehlmann. 'The closest analogue we can find on Earth are chains of lakes that you get in Antarctica when snow melts seasonally atop permafrost. 'It cannot penetrate deep into the frozen ground below, so when water evaporates, the salt deposit left behind is thin.' The Martian salt deposits are often found in shallow depressions, sometimes perched above much larger craters that are devoid of the deposits. This orientation would seem to indicate the water came from surface runoff during a freeze thaw cycle of ice, with chloride for the salt leached from the top of clay-rich soils, according to the results. Future missions could analyse the textures of the chlorides to confirm they are indeed the result of evaporation. The data could also reveal what organic compounds might have been associated with the water when it existed. Although there's no liquid water on Mars today, about 4.3 billion years ago the Red Planet had enough water to cover its entire surface in a liquid layer about 450 feet (137 meters) deep, according to NASA. Fast forward to 3.5 billion years ago, and this water was more scarce channeled around the planet between crater lakes via rivers, much like on Earth today. Floods at these lakes created river valleys with high walls of jagged rock on either side, much like Earth's own impressive modern-day canyons, according to researchers in Texas. A Chinese company is developing an 'ultra-fast' space plane that will be able to take passengers to any point on Earth by going into space and coming back down. Named Tianxing I, the rocket takes off vertically, with a smaller passenger plane attached, until it reaches a high enough altitude, at which point the plane is detached and sent hurtling into space at about 2,600 miles per hour. Beijing-based Space Transportation has been developing the spacecraft since 2018, and describe it as being a 'rocket with wings', with the hope of launching in 2025. Test flights have shown the mothership rocket can take off, and land back on the ground successfully, with tests of the full spaceplane due in the coming years. If it works, with a top speed of 2,671 miles per hour, it will be travelling twice the speed of Concorde and could get from London to New York in about an hour. This announcement could worry some security analysts, coming months after the Chinese government spooked US officials by launching hypersonic missile tests. A Chinese company is developing an 'ultra-fast' space plane that will be able to take passengers to any point on Earth by going into space and coming back down Named Tianxing I, the rocket takes off vertically, with a smaller passenger plane attached, until it reaches a high enough altitude, at which point the plane is detached and sent hurtling into space at about 2,600 miles per hour 'What we are developing is a rocket with wings,' the firm said in a statement, 'which realizes high-speed point-to-point transportation'. Details of pricing haven't been released, although they expect it to be cheaper than a rocket launch and significantly faster than a traditional plane. In a video the firm shared on its website, passengers are seen boarding the plane attached to the rocket, which then takes off vertically from a launch pad. The plane is separated from the rocket, which can then be seen descending back to the ground, ready to launch the next space plane. Beijing-based Space Transportation has been developing the spacecraft since 2018, and describe it as being a 'rocket with wings', with the hope of launching in 2025 Test flights have shown the mothership rocket can take off, and land back on the ground successfully, with tests of the full spaceplane due in the coming years In the video the plane can be seen travelling from a location in China, to its destination in Dubai, where it lands vertically and the passengers depart. One screen in the video suggests a future version may be able to go significantly faster, completing a 4,300 mile trip in about an hour. They plan to carry out the first full plane ground tests next year, with the first uncrewed flight in 2024, and the first crewed flight in 2025. They are also working on an orbital version of the space plane, that could launch in 2030, and take passengers into space, where they can orbit the planet, before returning back to any point on Earth. If it works, with a top speed of 2,671 miles per hour, it will be travelling twice the speed of Concorde and could get from London to New York in about an hour This announcement could worry some security analysts, coming months after the Chinese government spooked US officials by launching hypersonic missile tests Last year Space Transportation raised $46.3 million to develop the hypersonic space plane, and have had about 10 test flights of the rocket launcher. The Chinese government, via the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, is also rumored to be working on an official space plane. In December it was revealed that the Chinese government was now able to put a spaceplane into orbit without strapping it to a large rocket first. Meaning it could take off and land from any airport, with sources saying Tengyum gives China an advantage over the US in space warfare. 'Chinese spaceplane technology was inspired by the US X-37B, but the American OTV still needs to be launched by rocket, while China has now overcome this limitation,' a Chinese military magazine said at the time. 'What we are developing is a rocket with wings,' the firm said in a statement, 'which realizes high-speed point-to-point transportation' Details of pricing haven't been released, although they expect it to be cheaper than a rocket launch and significantly faster than a traditional plane Although China isn't the only country working on a 'son of Concorde' type project, with Seattle-based Radian Aerospace announcing details of its own single-stage-to-orbit space plane earlier this week. Other projects, using space and rockets to get around the Earth quicker, including Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity - which conducted a fully crewed suborbital flight last year - with Richard Branson on board. The Virgin Galactic planes also operate with a mothership, although it takes off horizontally like a traditional plane, and lands by gliding down to its destination. Ankit Panda, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the China Morning Post that global space powers should create legal guidelines for space security, including around anti-satellite missile testing. To ensure that space remains easily accessible to future generations, it is incumbent on the current generation of leaders in the US and elsewhere to lead the way on setting new norms and rules to bar further tests of this sort, which could irreversibly and irrecoverably pollute critical orbits around Earth, he said. Fury had been linked with a unification bout with Oleksandr Usyk this year Whyte is the Gypsy King's mandatory challenger for his WBC heavyweight title Tyson Fury has vowed to 'annihilate' Dillian Whyte after confirming that he will face his British challenger next, having blasted heavyweight rival Anthony Joshua for blowing a 67million super-fight. The heavyweight landscape has been engulfed by uncertainty in recent weeks, with the WBC on Wednesday delaying purse bids for Fury's mandatory defence against Dillian Whyte for a fourth time. Meanwhile, Joshua was reportedly offered a step-aside deal to cancel his rematch with WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO king Oleksandr Usyk, allowing Fury to fight the Ukrainian in an undisputed clash, while AJ would get the first crack at the winner. In a video released on Wednesday night, Fury claimed that the Watford man's decision to snub the deal has seen him lose out on $90m (67m). Tyson Fury has confirmed that he will take on Dillian Whyte next for the heavyweight title Whyte is the Gypsy King's WBC mandatory challenger and has long awaited his title shot Now, Fury has confirmed that he will take on the Body Snatcher next, in a bout believed to take place on March 26, promising to 'annihilate' his rival, who he labelled a 'bum'. 'I can't wait to punch Dillian Whyte's face right in mate,' he said. 'I'm going to give him the best hiding he's ever had in his life boy. Dillian Whyte, train hard sucker, 'cos you're getting annihilated bum.' Fury's latest update comes after he branded AJ and his promotor, Eddie Hearn, 'the worst businessmen in history' after turning down a step-aside deal this week. It was reported this week that a 15m proposal was sent Joshua's way, while Fury mentions a $90m (67m) figure. It remains unclear whether Fury's valuation includes AJ's guaranteed fee for a shot at the winner of Fury v Usyk. 'I had to do this video, Eddie Hearn and Anthony Joshua have to be the worst two damn businessmen in history. Today they lost $90million, god damn sons of b******,' he said on Instagram. The subject of Joshua's step-aside offer has stirred debate among fans and pundits, with many believing that the deal is a no-brainer for the Watford man, who is reeling from a one-sided defeat by Usyk last September. Fury has also blasted Anthony Joshua and Eddie Hearn for spurning a mega-money offer Joshua and Hearn are deliberating over the future amid reports of a 15m step-aside deal The Gypsy King wants AJ to step-aside to allow a unification fight against Oleksandr Usyk (L) Sportsmail has since learnt that Joshua remains ready to agree to a step-aside deal if terms are finalised by Friday night. AJ is on the hunt for a new trainer, and with the rematch believed to take place in the next few months, a step aside deal would allow the Olympic champion more time to prepare for either Fury or Usyk with his team settled. However, such a strategic ploy may affect his reputation, with Joshua insisting that he is a throwback fighter - game to take on any opponent. Eddie Hearn said: 'There has been an offer, there's been several discussions with myself. I can't rule it out, it's not my job. AJ's the boss he will rule it out or not rule it out. 'He's very smart about the plan. He won't want to do it. Sometimes you have to think with your head. There is a smart play here somewhere but Anthony is not about the money. 'If the plan makes sense from a development point of view working with a new trainer, maybe having a fight first, going into a much bigger fight yeah, I can see the sense in it. 'But with Anthony it's never been a case of, "Here's some money, does it tempt you?" Because he's not about that, he's a throwback fighter, he's about legacy. 'All he's thinking about at the moment is beating Oleksandr Usyk.' Mohamed Salah insists he is desperate to lead Egypt to glory at the Africa Cup of Nations because winning a trophy for his country would be closest to his heart. Salah fired home the winning penalty in their last-16 shootout victory over Ivory Coast on Wednesday night, which saw Manchester United defender Eric Bailly miss the decisive spot-kick for the Elephants. Now Egypt will turn their attention to Sunday's quarter-final showdown against Morocco, with a place against Burkina Faso or Tunisia in the last four to come for the winner. Mohamed Salah insists he is desperate to lead Egypt to glory at the Africa Cup of Nations Pharaohs captain Salah has inspired Liverpool to Premier League and Champions League titles in recent years, but he is yet to taste success with his national side. And after his penalty heroics against Ivory Coast, the 29-year-old declared his intention to change that. 'Of course I want to win something with the national team,' he said. 'It's my country, what I love the most. 'This trophy for me would be completely different, would be the closest to my heart. Salah tucked home the winning penalty for Egypt in their last-16 win over Ivory Coast Now the Liverpool star is hoping to go all the way and pick up the proudest trophy of his career 'We were close before to win this African Cup (in 2017), we gave it everything but we were not lucky to win it. 'But it's ok, now we are here in the new one. We have to fight for it, we have to give everything to win it and I'm sure the players have the same feeling. 'So hopefully we just need to focus on tomorrow's game and we go from there'. Equatorial Guinea also booked their place in the quarter-final on Wednesday by producing a shock penalty-shootout win over Mali, setting up a clash with Senegal on Sunday night. Gambia and Cameroon will contest the other last-eight battle after beating Guinea and Comoros respectively. Former Liverpool winger John Barnes has urged Arsenal outcast Pierre-Emerick Abameyang to change his attitude to salvage his career at the Emirates. The Gabon international has been exiled at Arsenal after Gunners boss Mikel Arteta stripped him of the captaincy following a third 'disciplinary breach' in December. The 32-year-old has not featured in Arteta's side since a five-minute cameo against Everton on December 6 and has been linked with a move away from Arsenal in the transfer window. John Barnes (left) has urged Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (right) to change his attitude Former England international Barnes has said that Aubameyang's future in the Gunner's side depends on his attitude. 'Aubameyang coming back into the team depends on whether he wants to do well and has the right attitude,' Barnes said, speaking to speaking to BonusCodeBets. 'If he doesn't, there is no point bringing him back into the fold. Even if Arsenal aren't doing too well, it could make the whole situation worse. The 32-year-old was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy after three disciplinary breaches 'When Arteta left out Aubameyang earlier on this season, Arsenal improved without him [Aubameyang], you can't just bring him back into the team because suddenly results have gone against you. 'The manager has decided, unless Aubameyang is willing to change which looks like a relationship and attitude problem, there is only going to be one winner, which is Arteta. 'For Aubameyang to get back involved we're going to have to see a marked improvement.' Barnes claimed that unless Aubameyang change his attitude, Mikel Arteta (pictured) would be the winner Arsenal managed to claw their way up to fourth before Christmas but have struggled for form in the New Year. The Gunners have had more red cards (three) than goals (one) since the turn of the year, faith in Arteta's regime is starting to dwindle again. But Barnes believes that Arteta is the right man to guide Arsenal to a brighter future. Arteta (second right) and Arsenal have endured a horrid January across all competitions 'Mikel Arteta came to Arsenal and changed the culture of the club with non-negotiables and standards to be set,' he said. 'Since he's done this, Arsenal have reaped the benefits and the future looks bright for them. 'Obviously, January hasn't gone particularly well for Arsenal, they've had a couple of bad results. But they're on the right path with Arteta at the helm.' Advertisement Misnamed, should be called Tat Modern one star; Poor wannabe tower - one star; Boredom was more present than talented artists one star. These comments and ratings appeared in online reviews for the Tate Modern in London, the Tower of London and Londons National Gallery, picked out by a study highlighting the absurdity of taking an anonymous persons opinion as gospel before visiting an attraction or going on holiday. The research showed that despite many reviews being heavily biased or fake, 40 per cent of Britons and 67 per cent of Americans would describe themselves as obsessed with reading reviews. As part of a study, one-star reviews were projected on to landmarks in London and New York to highlight the 'absurdity of taking an anonymous person's opinion as gospel' before going on a trip or visiting a landmark These findings came from a survey of 4,000 travellers - including 2,000 British and 2,000 U.S holidaymakers - that formed part of the study, commissioned by homestay company Plum Guide. To drive home the point that online reviews should sometimes be taken with a pinch of salt it beamed the aforementioned one-star reviews on to the landmarks they referred to. It also projected 'highly subjective' one-star reviews on to some of New York's most esteemed landmarks. One targeted the city's High Line, reading: 'Highline, low point.' The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum similarly took a hit, with one review complaining that there were 'no fun rides', while another review beamed onto its facade read: 'This is by far the WORST museum I've been to and I've been to a lot.' A fourth review was lit up on Brooklyn Bridge - 'Underwhelming, it's just a bridge.' Research showed that despite many reviews being heavily biased or fake, 40 per cent of Britons and 67 per cent of Americans would describe themselves as obsessed with reading reviews. Here a scathing review of the Tower of London is beamed on to the historic site Other findings, meanwhile, from the survey of British travellers found that seven in 10 people had previously experienced emotional upset or stress on holiday through misplaced trust in customer reviews. However, 77 per cent said that these reviews are 'important or essential when researching or booking a holiday, and one in three people admitted they refuse to book a holiday without reading online reviews. What's more, the study found that one in three Britons would feel emotionally distressed if they were to book a major holiday without reading any reviews first, and 24 per cent felt that they would suffer from sleepless nights if they couldnt access any reviews. A one-star review of London's National Gallery. Three out of five British holidaymakers said that they trust customer reviews According to the research, 64 per cent of Britons believe that customer reviews are generally accurate when booking a holiday, despite 21 per cent being let down by a holiday because of a 'misleading customer review'. Three out of five British holidaymakers said that they trust customer reviews, but three in four agree there needs to be a more trustworthy and accurate system than just customer reviews when booking a holiday. Britons tend to read an average of 14 reviews before they feel comfortable enough to take the plunge and book a trip, the study revealed, with 12 per cent reading up to 30 reviews. And, half of Britons find the research that's required to book a holiday overwhelming and stressful. Philip Fernbach, a leading cognitive scientist and the co-author of The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, said reliance on reviews needs urgently reconsidering The U.S poll also revealed that almost half of Americans would feel emotionally distressed if they were to splash out on a big trip without reading any reviews first, and 34 per cent would find it hard to sleep if they couldnt access reviews. The study also consulted Philip Fernbach, a leading cognitive scientist and the co-author of The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, who said that reliance on reviews needs urgently reconsidering especially as Britons are planning to spend 2,844 on holidays in 2022, 800 more than in 2021. Philip said: The consumer information environment has undergone a seismic shift in the past ten years, and online reviews are now the predominant source of information that consumers rely on. Unfortunately, the average star rating is heavily biased, fake reviews are common and for experiences like holidays, different consumers can have radically different tastes. Negative reviews were also projected onto The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York, pictured, with one review complaining: 'This is by far the WORST museum I've been to and I've been to a lot' A second one-star review on New York's Guggenheim. The study found that almost half of U.S travellers would feel emotionally distressed if they were to book a major holiday without reading any reviews first Another review, directed at the Brooklyn Bridge, reads: 'Underwhelming, it's just a bridge' 'The research by Plum Guide shows that people trust reviews tremendously, even admitting to being obsessed with them despite sometimes experiencing substantial negative repercussions of this trust. It would be better for consumers if they could supplement their reliance on reviews with more expert or critical evaluations that are not plagued by the myriad limitations of the online review system. Plum Guide Founder and CEO Doron Meyassed added: For restaurants we have the Michelin Star, yet for booking travel, we only have the opinions of anonymous strangers. Booking through a platform such as Plum Guide in which every property is subjected to a vetting process by real, trained critics offers peace of mind and truly special experiences. 'To highlight the absurdity of relying solely on online reviews to find the exceptional, we thought it would be interesting to project some on to a few of the most critically acclaimed and iconic locations in London and New York to start a conversation which challenges our obsession with reviews. Iceland is a thrilling country but is flying there using its national flag carrier similarly exhilarating? Two travel experts from The Points Guy UK set about finding out, pitting Icelandair's business class against its economy offering on a 737 Max flight from London Heathrow to Keflavik Airport. The two-man team filmed their experiences, which on the whole were positive during the two-and-a-half-hour journey, though the meal served in economy is described as 'almost inedible'. And the business class price is deemed too high for a short flight. Putting the posh seat on the Icelandair 737 Max to the test is Nicky Kelvin, Head of The Points Guy UK The Points Guy UK said: 'Icelandair was founded in 1937 and has been synonymous with Iceland ever since. On international routes, the airline flies a combination of Boeing 737, 757 and 767 aircraft, but following on from a TPG report outlining why you should fly the Boeing 737 Max over the larger 767, we were eager to try out this newer, fresher 737.' Putting the posh seat to the test is Nicky Kelvin, Head of The Points Guy UK. He paid 552 for seat 1F, with his ticket securing him access to the Aer Lingus lounge in their departure terminal, Heathrow's Terminal 2. However, he's not impressed. He said: 'The food and drink offering here was very disappointing with the only hot food option being a soup, which tasted artificial and straight out of a can.' The journey improves once he boards the aircraft, though. He said: 'The cabin was very smart and the seat large and comfortable for a short flight like this. I was particularly impressed by the food. This was served cold, but the steak and potato salad main course was fresh and delicious. The dedicated gin menu with local options was an impressive touch. 'The service was particularly excellent. The crew were warm, friendly, efficient and up for a laugh. One of the crew poked fun at me during the flight in the most perfect way, keeping the experience fun and light-hearted.' 'The steak and potato salad main course was fresh and delicious,' said Nicky He highlights some 'downsides', though. He continued: 'Icelandair flies this aircraft on journeys of five-plus hours and for a longer flight the seat would have become uncomfortable with its poor recline and lack of foot or leg rests in row one. 'Costing 552, I struggled to find the value for such a short flight.' Nicky said that his 552 business-class seat didn't represent good value for money Putting Icelandair's 737 Max economy cabin through its paces is Liam Spencer, TPG UK's senior social media manager. He paid 136 for seat 22F and it's all fine and dandy to begin with. He 'loved the fresh cabin which felt clean and modern' and 'particularly enjoyed the charcoal colour scheme'. He found that the service was 'extremely efficient, including check-in and boarding', and his meal arrived less than two minutes after ordering it. The menu? 'Fairly extensive with a number of different food and drink options,' he said. However, the meal he ordered was 'almost inedible'. Shocking: Liam said that his "'Viking lamb" broth [pictured] tasted like dishwater with bits in and wasn't cheap at 7 per serving' Liam liked the 'fresh' economy cabin and 'efficient service', but said the headrest was 'flimsy' The Points Guy UK flew with Icelandair from London Heathrow to Keflavik Airport. Pictured is their plane at the gate at Heathrow's Terminal 2 He said: 'The "Viking lamb" broth tasted like dishwater with bits in and wasn't cheap at 7 per serving.' Liam was also non-plussed by the headrest on the seat, which 'was extremely flimsy and wouldn't have held in place if you were trying to sleep on it'. He added: 'I was made to purchase IFE headphones for an additional 3. This seemed expensive given their quality and the fact that lots of carriers provide them for free.' For more information on travel tips and tricks, sign up to The Points Guy UK. Click here to see the full-length Icelandair review footage. Carol Vorderman has revealed she has had the 'best news ever' on Wednesday as she displayed her curves in a new Instagram post. The TV presenter share the cryptic update on her popular social media feed days after revealing her traumatic family heartbreak. Carol, 61, looked amazing as she showed off her tiny waist in a figure-hugging denim button-up jumpsuit and declared she was embarking on 'a two day bender'. Ecstatic: Carol Vorderman took to her Instagram account on Wednesday to share the cryptic post on her 'best news ever' The media personality looked incredible in the sultry snaps which she uploaded for her 205,000 followers. Smiling for the camera, she wore her blonde locks in natural waves and completed her look with a full face of makeup and swipe of nude lipgloss. The former Countdown host wrote: 'We gonna have a good time tonight....it's alright....Best news ever coming up...in the meantime a two day bender starts NOW.' The brunette beauty's fans rushed to comment on the photos, with one writing: You are looking so beautiful.' Wow: Carol, 61, looked amazing as she showed off her tiny waist in a figure hugging denim button-up jumpsuit Stunner: The media personality looked incredible in the sultry snaps which she uploaded for her 205,000 followers Self time: Smiling for the camera, she wore her blonde locks in natural waves and completed her look with a full face of makeup and swipe of nude lipgloss Another echoed: 'Beautiful absolutely beautiful. One follower wrote: 'Absolutely stunning Vorders' And someone else added: 'Smoking.' Carols good news comes after she posted a heartbreaking story earlier this week that her late mother told her she could 'not go back home' to where she had lived in Wales after she left her stepfather. Knees up! The former Countdown host wrote: 'We gonna have a good time tonight....it's alright....Best news ever coming up...in the meantime a two day bender starts NOW' Admirers: The brunette beauty's fans rushed to comment on the photos, with one writing: You are looking so beautiful' Taking to Instagram with an emotional post, the Countdown star, 61, told how she couldn't return to where she grew up 'for a very long time' due to the complicated family situation. She is now a regular visitor to the country and to mark Welsh Valentine's Day, discussed the heartbreak she felt at having to leave. She penned: 'Happy Welsh Valentine's Day. For some they say I love you (Dwi'n caru ti) to their beloved. For me I say Iove you to my country. 'It's a real love.... We have a word for it in Welsh. HIRAETH. Emotional: She penned: 'Happy Welsh Valentine's Day. For some they say I love you (Dwi'n caru ti) to their beloved. For me I say Iove you to my country' 'A real and visceral longing for the homeland which grows ever stronger. 'I grew up in Wales and only known Wales for my first 20 years and then my Mum left my stepfather (who I ADORED) and told me I couldn't go back home. 'So I didn't for a very long time. I had to block it out. This was before the Internet was even created. Only letters and sporadic phone calls kept us in touch with family back then. Now I'm there half of the year at least and growing.' Carol's mum Jean passed away in 2017 after being diagnosed with cancer. She announced the sad news on the day of her mother's funeral, as she took to Twitter to pay tribute to the 88-year-old. Patriotic: She is now a regular visitor to the country and to mark Welsh Valentine's Day, discussed the heartbreak she felt at having to leave In a heartbreaking message, Carol tweeted: 'Some days are tough, today was one of them. Today was my amazing Mum's funeral.....' Carol added: 'Rest In Peace Jean Vorderman. You will always be loved.' She had chosen to keep her mother's passing private, revealing her tragic loss on the social media site hours after laying Jean to rest. Lockdown saw more people than ever spending time in the kitchen and putting their baking skills to the test. And as The Great Australian Bake Off makes its return to the Lifestyle channel this week, producers said they had no shortage of recently upskilled contestants applying. 'COVID and home-baking fed straight into our casting process so beautifully,' BBC Studios Australia General Manager & Creative Director Kylie Washington told TV Tonight. New bakers: Lockdown baking has lead to record number of Great Australian Bake Off contestant submissions 'There were just so many people out there that had totally perfected baking through having all of that time.' Washington noted that 'raw ingredients' were 'sold out often through lockdowns' as Aussies chose to spend their time at home cooking or baking in the kitchen. Washington spoke about the wide range of contestants who applied for the fifth season of the program, including 'Disability Support Workers, Copywriters, people in Retail, Public Servants, English Teachers, CEOs, Stay-at-Home Dads'. 'COVID and home-baking fed straight into our casting process so beautifully': The Great Australian Bake Off makes its return to the Lifestyle channel this week and producers have had no shortage of recently upskilled contestants applying She was also shocked by the number of men signing up to be apart of the show. 'We had a really good amount of men applying. Often you have to search a little bit harder for them, they dont necessarily come forward,' she said. This year's Great Australian Bake Off feature 12 new bakers competing from across the country. They're back! Returning judges Maggie Beer and Matt Moran and hosts Claire Hooper and Mel Buttle will join the contestants at the show's Bake Off shed in Concord Returning judges Maggie Beer and Matt Moran and hosts Claire Hooper and Mel Buttle will join the contestants at the show's Bake Off shed in Concord in inner western Sydney. The upcoming fifth season of the show will be the first to be produced locally by BBC Studios after previously being a Fremantle production. The Great Australian Bake Off premieres on January 27 at 8.30 pm on Foxtel Chris Hemsworth's wife Elsa Pataky has been gallivanting around the world as the Aussie actor films Extraction 2 in Prague. And the Spanish stunner shared a gallery of throwback photos to Instagram on Wednesday from her recent trip to Africa with the couple's three children. The Fast and Furious star, 45, enjoyed a safari adventure, swam in waterfalls and stayed at a luxurious retreat with her family. Inside Elsa Pataky's trip to Africa: Chris Hemsworth's wife enjoyed incredible safari adventures, sawn in waterfalls and stayed in a luxurious retreat with her family and friends 'I dreamed of Africa!!' Elsa captioned one of her photos from Kenya. 'Africa, I miss you!' she wrote under another snap. In one image, Elsa shows off her incredible figure in a leopard-print swimsuit next to an infinity pool while an elephant walks past. Holiday: 'I dreamed of Africa!!' Elsa captioned one of her photos from Kenya What an experience! She also went on a safari and saw animals including lions and giraffes Living it up! Elsa enjoyed activities including swimming in waterfalls Idyllic: The group also got to experience a night of dining under the stars She also went on a safari and saw animals including lions and giraffes. Other activities included horse riding, swimming in waterfalls, dining under the stars and meeting the locals. Elsa was joined by several girlfriends and their kids; her Thor star husband was not seen in any of the images. The couple are now in London, after spending time in Ibiza over the New Year. Girls' trip! Elsa was joined by several girlfriends and their kids; her Thor star husband was not seen in any of the images Adventure time: She shared a picture of one of her sons taking a photo of a lion on safari The Hemsworths enjoyed a white Christmas in Austria last year with Chris' brother Liam and his model girlfriend Gabriella Brooks. The couple, who are based in Byron Bay, jetted to Europe late last year for Chris to shoot Extraction 2 for Netflix. The European shoot is expected to last until March. TikTok star Atis Paul has issued a desperate plea for help after his OnlyFans model girlfriend Mikaela Testa was banned from Instagram for posting raunchy content. Atis, an Australian influencer and cryptocurrency investor, asked fans for advice on how to retrieve Mikaela's account after it was suddenly deactivated. 'My girlfriend's Instagram account has been deleted again. Does anyone here have true connections to someone at Instagram? If you do, please HMU [hit me up],' he wrote on Instagram Stories on Wednesday. Help needed: TikTok star Atis Paul (left) has issued a desperate plea for help after his OnlyFans model girlfriend Mikaela Testa (right) was banned from Instagram for posting raunchy content The 21-year-old followed up with a second post that read: 'Please no one message me saying you know someone that's gotten accounts back, they're all BS [bulls**t]. Please only HMU if you have a real connection.' According to Instagram's terms of service, accounts that violate the platform's community guidelines may be permanently banned without warning. There is no way to retrieve an account once it has been permanently banned. 'Does anyone here have true connections to someone at Instagram?' Atis, an Australian influencer and cryptocurrency investor, asked fans for advice on how to retrieve Mikaela's account after it was suddenly deactivated Mikaela, who makes more than $162,000 per month selling X-rated images and videos on OnlyFans, is no stranger to having her social media accounts deactivated. In 2020, she was banned from TikTok for breaching 'multiple community guidelines'. The Gold Coast model publicly disputed the ban, telling News Corp she hadn't done anything wrong and that she'd been unfairly penalised by TikTok's 'automatic scanner'. Racy: Mikaela, who makes more than $162,000 per month selling X-rated images and videos on OnlyFans, is no stranger to having her social media accounts deactivated 'The most it would have had is cleavage through a crop top. But nothing more than what Lizzo or any other body-positive influencer would post,' she insisted. Mikaela also lashed out at Instagram in 2019 after the social media platform stopped showing the number of 'likes' on her posts. At the time, she uploaded tearful video of herself saying influencers were 'suffering' due to the removal of 'likes'. Banned: In 2020, Mikaela was banned from TikTok for breaching 'community guidelines' She's not shy! Mikaela recently appeared in a raunchy Valentine's Day campaign for fashion brand Beginning Boutique (pictured in the ad campaign) 'If you think this is okay, you can f**k off. It's actually a sad day for those who have Instagram as a job,' Mikaela wept. 'Regardless of what you may think, Instagram is a real job and those in the industry have worked hard to get where they're at. 'It's people that aren't even in the industry that think it's a f**king joke. It's not. It's real damage out here.' She said she had put her 'blood, sweat and tears' into her online presence and many 'brands and businesses' were suffering. Breaking down: Mikaela was widely mocked online in 2019 when she broke down on camera after finding out Instagram had stopped showing the number of 'likes' on her posts If you say so! Even though she directly referenced the removal of the like counter in her video, Mikaela later said her emotional outburst had nothing to do with the Instagram update Even though she directly referenced the removal of the like counter in her video, Mikaela later said her emotional outburst had nothing to do with the Instagram update. 'Since there are a few rude people misinterpreting this video, this has nothing to do with Instagram removing likes. That is the dumbest thing I've heard,' she said. 'This has everything to do with the disgusting hurtful comments and messages I've received over the past week and I just need a break.' Her video sparked widespread backlash, with many critics claiming it was time Mikaela 'found a real job'. Critics are praising Lily James' performance in Pam & Tommy, which follows the momentous legal battle over Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape. While Hulu's eight-episode limited series is earning mixed reactions from critics, reviewers were united in praise for the 32-year-old Downton Abbey star's performance as the Baywatch icon, 54 - with the portrayal described as 'nothing short of a revelation' by AwardsWatch. 'Anderson is so mesmerizingly played by James that every other character feels underwritten in comparison,' raved TV Guide's Allison Picurro. Amazing transformation! Critics are praising Lily James' performance in Pam & Tommy, which follows the momentous legal battle over Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's sex tape (Pamela pictured right in the 1990s) Variety's Daniel D'Addario lauded Lily for her portrayal, writing: 'James Pam is an outright triumph, both of acting and of special-effects makeup. 'To the latter point first, even viewers (like this one) not particularly concerned with visual realness will be genuinely stunned by the degree to which James has been made to resemble the Pam of the 1990s. 'Meticulousness of this sort can sometimes stand in for insight about a character, but here, it allows James leeway to push into aspects of Anderson we might not expect. The makeup department, in so precisely crafting an image, gives James the room to subvert it. And make no mistake despite the double-barreled title, this is Pams show. Stans strong performance as Tommy is framed through the rockers impact on his wife.' Wow: While Hulu's eight-episode limited series is earning mixed reactions from critics, reviews were united in praise for the 32-year-old Downton Abbey star's performance as the Baywatch icon, 54 (above with Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee) Icons: Pam & Tommy chronicles the infamous sex tape which rocked Pamela and her then-husband Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee during their three year marriage; the couple pictured in 1996 'Hes her teammate in combating scandal and the provocateur whose outbursts she cannot withstand. But its Pam who holds ones gaze. 'James, an alumnus of Downton Abbey, plays her as a congenital optimist who grows chastened and weary as each seeming chance to push beyond the red swimsuit evades her. Tommy perpetually wants to amplify, to react; Pam is a force for deliberation and calm.' Decider's Meghan O'Keefe applauded the 'provocative storytelling' but doesn't 'think everything in the series works.' Still, she made it clear she couldn't stress enough 'how phenomenal Lily James is as Anderson.' Black Girl Nerds' Cassondra Feltus wrote: 'I laughed, I gasped, and shed a few tears. It's honestly one of the best miniseries I've seen in the last few years.' Impressing viewers: Variety's Daniel D'Addario lauded Lily for her portrayal, writing: 'James Pam is an outright triumph, both of acting and of special-effects makeup While critics praised Lily for showing a more sensitive side of Anderson, the drama itself was criticised for its 'dramatic misfiring' and for being a 'violation' against the actress who was not involved in its production. The Hollywood Reporter speculated viewers will struggle to feel 'fully comfortable' watching 'with a Pamela Anderson image reclamation project from which Pamela Anderson doesnt stand to benefit in any tangible way.' 'Weve made a mess of celebrity in this country. Pam & Tommy, if nothing else, captures that,' THR's Chief Television Critic Daniel Fienberg concluded. Meanwhile, Arizona Republic slammed the project entirely, for being 'all over the place' or, in other words, 'a mess.' The reviewer, Bill Goodykoontz, didn't hold back as he slammed the series for misfiring so badly, before citing a scene 'in which Tommy talks to his penis and it talks back.' 'Anderson is so mesmerizingly played by James that every other character feels underwritten in comparison,' raved TV Guide's Allison Picurro 'If anything the series, which streams on Hulu beginning February 2, tries too hard. It wants to be too many things at the same time shocking, enlightened, funny, serious, revealing, intimate, whatever,' he concluded. AV Club suggested 'maybe it could have succeeded without Anderson's involvement. But as it stands, the show is just another violation in a long list of violations.' Lacy Baugher echoed a similar statement in Paste Magazine as she noted watching the show made her feel 'feel uncomfortable and borderline complicit in the mess that the couple's lives became.' On a more positive response, Rolling Stone called it 'whip-smart, funny and a poignant re-examination of an event that once seemed like an easy punchline for tabloids and Jay Leno monologues.' Biographical drama: Pam & Tommy will become available to stream next Wednesday on February 2 PAM & TOMMY'S CRITIC REVIEWS: 'Weve made a mess of celebrity in this country. Pam & Tommy, if nothing else, captures that' VARIETY Rating: N/A Daniel D'Addario writes: 'James Pam is an outright triumph, both of acting and of special-effects makeup. 'To the latter point first, even viewers (like this one) not particularly concerned with visual realness will be genuinely stunned by the degree to which James has been made to resemble the Pam of the 1990s.' AV CLUB Rating: 3.5 Olivia Truffaut-Wong writes: 'If only Pam & Tommy had the bravery to look at its own complicity, maybe it could have succeeded without Anderson's involvement. But as it stands, the show is just another violation in a long list of violations.' THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Rating: N/A Dan Fienberg writes: 'We've made a mess of celebrity in this country. Pam & Tommy, if nothing else, captures that.' DAILY TELEGRAPH Rating: 3/5 Ed Power writes: 'If agreeably riotous and often hilarious, it misses the mark dramatically' ROLLING STONE Rating: 4/5 Alan Sepinwall writes: 'A whip-smart, funny, and ultimately poignant re-examination of an event that once seemed like an easy punchline for tabloids and Jay Leno monologues.' ARIZONA REPUBLIC Rating: N/A Bill Goodykoontz writes: 'The sex-tape saga of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee seems like a can't-miss subject for a limited TV series. Yet somehow "Pam & Tommy" manages to misfire.' FINANCIAL TIMES Rating: 3/5 Dan Einav writes: While subtlety is never the order of the day, as Pam & Tommy progresses it does move from titillation to a more profound study of humiliation and a critique of pervasive cultural sleaze. AWARD WATCH Rating: 4/5 Erik Anderson writes: Lily James as Pamela Anderson is nothing short of a revelation. The dowdy Lady Rose from Downton Abbey this is not as James imbues Anderson with purpose and passion and gives us a side of her rarely seen. BLACK GIRL NERDS Rating: 5/5 Cassondra Feltus writes: 'I laughed, I gasped, and shed a few tears. It's honestly one of the best miniseries I've seen in the last few years.' Advertisement Earlier this month, James revealed that her role as the former Playboy playmate is one of her most challenging and transformative to date. The actress told PORTER that it felt 'liberating' playing Anderson, but explained: 'Ive never worked so hard. I read the books [Anderson] has written, I read her poetry, I can parrot along to all her interviews.' 'I love that about acting; you fit into a character, and you realize youre not as different as you might have thought. You lean in to things in yourself, and discard parts of you that arent useful. We were exploring a particular moment in Pamela and Tommys life in the 90s, this absolute lust for love.' Pam & Tommy chronicles the sex tape scandal which rocked Pamela and her then-husband (played by Sebastian Stan) during their three year marriage. It comes after photos of the star in costume hit the headlines, with Lily looking like Pamela's twin in her iconic red Baywatch swimsuit. Lily explained that the makeup and costume took four hours every day to perfect, and came complete with a prosthetic body suit. She explained: 'Of course, there was the physical transformation. Slowly, our incredible team found a balance where I resembled Pamela but also felt like I could act through it. 'Ive never done anything where I look very different from myself before. And Id really like to continue in this vein, because I felt there was something very freeing and liberating in it. There was a bravery that came from that. A courage that came from disappearing.' She added that she was sorry to take the costume off at the end of the day, saying: 'I hated it It was like being stripped of all these superpowers! Id really enjoyed the physicality and the sensuality, even down to the long fingernails. There was just so much character to hold on to it was really thrilling.' Whirlwind: Pamela, 54, and Tommy, 59, tied the knot on a beach in Mexico in 1995 after dating for just four days. At the time, Pamela's mother hadn't even met Tommy Pamela, 54, and Tommy, 59, tied the knot on a beach in Mexico in 1995 after dating for just four days. At the time, Pamela's mother hadn't even met Tommy. The pair would go on to welcome sons Brandon, 25, and Dylan, 24, but they divorced in 1998. In 2015, Pam told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that she never profited from the sex tape, nor even watched it. She said: 'I've never seen it. I made not one dollar. It was stolen property... Not okay: In 2015, Pam told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live that she never profited from the sex tape, nor even watched it. She said: 'I've never seen it. I made not one dollar. It was stolen property... 'We made a deal to stop all the shenanigans. I was seven months pregnant with Dylan and thinking it was affecting the pregnancy with the stress and said, "I'm not going to court anymore. I'm not being deposed anymore by these horny, weird lawyer men. I don't want to talk about my vagina anymore or my public sex anything."' The sex tape was stolen by Rand Gauthier, who is played by Seth Rogen in the show, after Tommy reportedly refused to pay for work that he had performed on their house. When Gauthier confronted the musician about not being paid the $20,000 he was owed, Tommy pulled out a gun to scare him away. Gauthier took his revenge by stealing the giant safe that had been kept in the couple's garage, which mainly housed the drummer's guns and Pamela's jewelry, in addition to the sex tape. Earlier this year, Pam claimed that the video wasn't actually a sex tape, but was merely a compilation of footage of them naked on vacation, which just happened to include sex acts. Last year, insiders claimed to The Sun that Pam thinks Pam & Tommy is 'a joke and cheap knock-off.' She reportedly called the show 'God awful,' though the series had just begun filming, and she apparently claimed she had never heard of Lily or Sebastian. The source said Pamela had 'no intention of watching this God awful show, absolutely not. Never.' Australian actress Isla Fisher may be one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. But before embarking on her incredible acting career, the 45-year-old had rather different aspirations. Appearing on Nova's Fitzy and Wippa on Thursday to talk about her new Stan show, Wolf Like Me, Isla spoke about her time at clown school. Aspirations: Isla Fisher spoke about her time at clown school during an interview with Nova's Fitzy and Wippa on Thursday She made the surprising admission while discussing the amount of running she does in scenes for her new show. 'I can't show off that I went to NIDA,' she said, in reference to the prestigious acting institute in Sydne - the National Institute of Dramatic Art. 'But I did go to clown school where I was mocked and made to run in front of the whole class while everyone laugh because my running technique was such an embarrassment. 'I did go to clown school where I was mocked and made to run in front of the whole class while everyone laugh because my running technique was such an embarrassment' she said 'So to do this show [Wolf Like Me], I got this special lady in who like filmed me running and showed me just how foolish it was and we broke it all down so I did a little running practice.' The Confessions of a Shopaholic star was a student at a prestigious clown school in France. She also spoke about her experience while appearing on The Project back in 2016, and said she struggled to learn the art of juggling. 'I can't show off that I went to NIDA': The Confessions of a Shopaholic star was a student at a prestigious clown school in France. Isla attended the famous school at age 21 after finding success on Home And Away during the early 90s 'I'd say that juggling was certainly not my specialty. I was one of the last people in the whole class to really be able to get three balls in the air,' she explained while quickly noting, 'That's not a euphemism.' Isla attended the famous school at age 21 after finding success on Home And Away during the early 90s. She initially struggled to adjust to life in the French capital while studying clowning and mime although in the end, the married mother of three said previously that it was all worthwhile. 'I moved to Paris after Home And Away to go to clown school,' She told The Guardian's Observer magazine. 'I didn't speak French and I felt so out of my depth. I was terrified [but] eventually I broke through my French became fluent and I enjoyed performing in a way that I hadn't in a long time.' Since graduating from the school, Isla, who is married to English actor, Sacha Baron Cohen, 50, has gone on to star in a series of notable Hollywood blockbusters including Wedding Crashers, which catapulted her to international fame in 2005. Watch the new Stan Original series Wolf Like Me, now on Stan. Just over a month after their movie West Side Story hit theaters, Rachel Zegler, Ariana Debose and Rita Moreno are speaking about the sexual assault allegations against their co-star Ansel Elgort. A woman named Gabby accused Elgort, 27, of sexually assaulting her when she was just 17 in 2014, from a social media account that has since been deleted. Elgort admitted that he did have a 'brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship' with the woman, but denied any assault or wrongdoing, with his co-stars speaking about the allegations for the first time in a lengthy profile for The Hollywood Reporter. Speaking: Just over a month after their movie West Side Story hit theaters, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno are speaking about the sexual assault allegations against their co-star Ansel Elgort Accused: A woman named Gabby accused Elgort, 27, of sexually assaulting her when she was just 17 in 2014, from a social media account that has since been deleted Their side: Elgort admitted that he did have a 'brief, legal and entirely consensual relationship' with the woman, but denied any assault or wrongdoing, with his co-stars speaking about the allegations for the first time in a lengthy profile for The Hollywood Reporter Zegler, 20, made her feature film debut in West Side Story, beating out over 30K other actresses to play Maria, the young woman that Elgort's character Tony falls for. The actress has been asked several times to weigh in on the controversy, which she finally does in this wide-ranging THR cover story. 'We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then,' Zegler began. Debut: Zegler, 20, made her feature film debut in West Side Story, beating out over 30K other actresses to play Maria, the young woman that Elgort's character Tony falls for The world: 'We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then,' Zegler began 'A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. Theres been a lot of awakening,' she continued. 'You just hope that the people involved are OK, that they are asked in a respectful manner and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves,' she concluded. DeBose, 31, added, 'Nobody really knows whats going on in anyones head. Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down.' Awakening: 'A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. Theres been a lot of awakening,' she continued Nobody really knows: DeBose, 31, added, 'Nobody really knows whats going on in anyones head. Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down' Moreno, 90, who played DeBose's character Anita in the original 1961 adaptation of West Side Story and plays Valentina in this adaptation, also spoke about it. 'I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter. Its not for me to make those judgments,' Moreno said. West Side Story has earned rave reviews with a 92% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes with Zegler winning a Golden Globe and National Board of Review awards. Rachel and Rita: Moreno, 90, who played DeBose's character Anita in the original 1961 adaptation of West Side Story and plays Valentina in this adaptation, also spoke about it It's unclear if the allegations against Elgort will hurt the film's chances at the Academy Awards, with the nominations announced on February 8. While Zegler doesn't have any films coming out in 2022, she is slated to star in two huge 2023 movies, Shazam: Fury of the Gods (July 2, 2023) and Disney's Snow White. DeBose has director Matthew Vaughn's spy thriller Argyle in post-production, starring alongside Henry Cavill, John Cena and Samuel L. Jackson. Moreno is currently filming The Prank with Meredith Salenger, Kate Flannery and Keith David. Allegations: It's unclear if the allegations against Elgort will hurt the film's chances at the Academy Awards, with the nominations announced on February 8 The Australia Day debate opened to an international audience on Wednesday when Hollywood superstar Chris Hemsworth shared his reasons for not celebrating his country's national holiday. The 38-year-old actor, best known for playing Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, shared a series of posts on Instagram explaining the history of the Australia Day controversy and why the date is offensive to Aboriginal people. January 26, which marks the raising of the British flag on Australian soil in 1788 after the First Fleet arrived in Sydney Harbour, is considered a day of mourning for many First Nations people, who instead prefer to call it Invasion Day or Survival Day. Speaking out: The Australia Day debate opened to an international audience on Wednesday when Hollywood superstar Chris Hemsworth (pictured) shared his reasons for not celebrating his country's national holiday Many of Hemsworth's fans from overseas were surprised to learn Australia's national day is so closely tied to its colonial history. 'I had no idea about this. Thank you for sharing,' one person commented, while another added: 'We have learnt something new, thank you.' A third wrote: 'They should be teaching this in primary school but they don't because kids aren't allowed to know bad things have happened.' 'Trauma': The 38-year-old actor shared a series of posts on Instagram explaining the history of the Australia Day controversy and why the date is offensive to Aboriginal people Flag: He also shared this photo of the Aboriginal flag made up of black, yellow and red hearts 'Not many people know the dark history of Australia,' another agreed. One fan commented: 'I understand more and more why the date needs to be changed. We cannot invalidate the struggle of First Nations people.' Hemsworth, who lives in Byron Bay, NSW, has previously called for the date to be changed out of respect for Indigenous Australians. He isn't the only Aussie speaking out against Australia Day. 'I had no idea about this!' Many of Hemsworth's fans from overseas were surprised to learn Australia's national day is so closely tied to its colonial history Thousands of people joined Invasion Day protests in cities across Australia on Wednesday. A long-running campaign to abolish Australia Day or change the date has a growing number of Aussies feeling uneasy about the national day of celebration. Indigenous activists, and many other Australians, now regard the day British settlers who first landed in Port Jackson on the First Fleet in 1788 as an event to be mourned, not celebrated. Abbie Chatfield has broken her silence after photo resurfaced on Instagram showing her dancing at a pub on Australia Day five years ago. On Wednesday, the outspoken Bachelor star criticised supposedly 'woke' Aussies who spent January 26 celebrating with friends despite acknowledging the day is offensive to many Aboriginal people. However, when a photo of Abbie doing the very same thing in 2017 surfaced on Thursday morning, critics accused her of being hypocritical. The podcast host responded to the backlash hours later, saying the photo in question was taken before she started to think critically about Australia Day. Setting the record straight: Abbie Chatfield has broken her silence after photo resurfaced on Instagram showing her dancing at a pub on Australia Day five years ago 'I've been getting DMs from people, like, trying to prove me wrong, being like, "I bet you celebrated Australia Day,"' she said in a video on Instagram Stories. 'Yeah, I have. Of course I have. I grew up in a white area and a white family and went to predominantly white schools that taught us the British invading this country was a positive thing. Of course I have.' 'But I think the last time was 2017... and then I've been to the protests the last three years. I didn't celebrate in 2018,' she continued. Partying: In this Instagram post from Australia Day in 2017, Abbie was pictured dancing with a man at a bar in Sydney with a drink in her hand. She said on Thursday the photo was taken before she started to think critically about Australia Day In Abbie's 2017 Australia Day post, she was pictured dancing with a man at a bar in Newtown, Sydney, with a drink in her hand. The caption read, 'Daddy hunt,' indicating she was on the prowl. Abbie also took a thinly veiled swipe at fellow Bachelor star Elly Miles, who attended a boozy party on Wednesday despite acknowledging Australia Day as a time of mourning by posting an Invasion Day meme just hours earlier. Truth: She responded to backlash, telling fans on Instagram: 'I've been getting DMs from people, like, trying to prove me wrong, being like, "I bet you celebrated Australia Day"' Different mindset: She said her 2017 post wasn't hypocritical because she didn't know any better at the time. In the years since, she has attended Invasion Day protests on January 26 Ouch: Abbie also took a thinly veiled swipe at fellow Bachelor star Elly Miles (pictured), who attended a boozy party on Wednesday despite acknowledging Australia Day as a time of mourning by posting an Invasion Day meme just hours earlier Abbie insisted her 2017 post wasn't hypocritical because she didn't know any better at the time; however, the same can't be said for the likes of Elly. 'I think the issue comes when you're posting a square [on Instagram] and you're saying, "Always was, always will be," and then going to celebrate. Choose a side,' she said. 'You can't be on both sides. You can't acknowledge the issue behind the day and then go and celebrate it. Once you know better, do better. As cliche as it is... that is the rule.' 'You should know better by now': It comes after Abbie (left) took taken aim at supposedly 'woke' Aussies who spent Australia Day partying with friends despite acknowledging the day is offensive to many Aboriginal people. She was likely referring to fellow Bachelor alum Elly (right), who attended a attended a friend's going-away party on Wednesday Abbie went on to explain she 'didn't come out of the womb knowing everything', but that she'd changed her behaviour over the years after learning of 'white privilege'. It comes after Abbie took aim at Aussies who celebrated Australia Day with boozy parties despite acknowledging how painful the day can be for many Aboriginal people. While she didn't name anyone specifically, she was likely referring to Elly, who attended a friend's going-away party on Wednesday, just hours after posting an 'always was, always will be' meme on Instagram. It was a case of deja vu for Elly, who last year copped backlash after she gave a sombre speech about how traumatic Australia Day can be for Indigenous people, only to spend the rest of the day downing shots at a backyard bash. Controversy: Despite describing her January 26 gathering from last year as a 'lapse of judgment', Elly once again spent this Australia Day socialising and drinking with friends (pictured) - but defended her actions by insisting 'it wasn't an Australia Day party' Despite describing last year's gathering as a 'lapse of judgment', Elly once again spent this Australia Day socialising and drinking with friends - but defended her actions by insisting 'it wasn't an Australia Day party'. Abbie, who previously called out Elly's Australia Day antics last year, took to Instagram on Wednesday with another scathing message directed at Aussies like Elly who spent their public holiday having a good time. 'If I've unfollowed you today, you should know why. Even if we're friends, it's 2022, we aren't doing this anymore and you should know better by now,' Abbie began, choosing not to refer to her former co-star by name. 'True lack of care': Abbie also seemingly called out Elly for sharing an Instagram post that read 'always was, always will be Aboriginal land' on Wednesday morning, just hours before kicking off her boozy celebrations in the afternoon Post: Elly had shared this meme before spending the afternoon partying with pals ''But it's not an Australia Day Party!!' Isn't an excuse. You're having a party / enjoying your public holiday on a day of mourning for First Nations people.' Abbie also seemingly called out Elly for sharing an Instagram post that read 'always was, always will be Aboriginal land' on Wednesday morning, just hours before kicking off her boozy celebrations in the afternoon. 'Don't reshare your bulls**t...' she raged, adding: 'If you're going to do it, don't lie to yourself.' In a subsequent post, Abbie questioned why Elly and others had chosen to attend a party rather than an Invasion Day protest. Semantics: Abbie also responded to Elly's excuse that she was attending a party on Australia Day rather than an 'Australia Day party' 'Why do you bother posting "change the date" or more accurately "abolish Australia Day" if you're not going to come to the march, and spend the day at the beach or just hanging out with your mates? Do you really give a s**t or nah?' she asked. 'Clearly there are reasons people can't attend the march, but plans with mates?... Encourage and try to be part of actual change if you care enough to post the sentiment on your [Instagram] Stories.' Abbie, who attended an Invasion Day protest in Sydney on Wednesday, said she 'didn't see any influencers' at the demonstration, and encouraged Elly to attend next time. Disapproval: 'Do you see how that doesn't really add up? You don't have to have Australian flags flying and be speaking about your patriotism for it to be an Australia Day party. Just so you know,' she added 'Come next year if it means so much to you,' she said. Abbie also responded to Elly's excuse that she was attending a party on Australia Day rather than an 'Australia Day party'. 'People saying, "It's not an Australia Day party, I see no Australian flags anywhere. It's just a party on Australia Day", is the same as saying, "It isn't a New Year's Eve party, I see no sparklers or 2022 glasses anywhere. It's just a party on New Year's Eve,"' Abbie said. Where it all began: Elly and Abbie met on The Bachelor in 2019 (pictured on the show) 'Do you see how that doesn't really add up? You don't have to have Australian flags flying and be speaking about your patriotism for it to be an Australia Day party. Just so you know,' she added. On Wednesday, Elly was called out by Instagram page Celeb Spellcheck for 'doing exactly what she apologised for last year' after she posted a now-deleted photo of herself enjoying a glass of bubbly while surrounded by a group of pals. In the now-deleted Instagram post, the reality star was seen smiling as she held up a glass of bubbly while seated at an outdoor table with her friends. Making headlines: On Wednesday, Elly was called out by Instagram page Celeb Spellcheck for 'doing exactly what she apologised for last year' after she posted a now-deleted photo of herself enjoying a glass of bubbly while surrounded by a group of pals Elly has since insisted it wasn't an Australia Day party. 'I want to jump on my Stories really quick because I've got a couple of comments coming through on my photos that people are a bit worried that I'm at an Australia Day party,' she began. 'And I just want to say so you hear directly from me, I'm not. I'm at a friend's house, [we've] got the kids in the pool, we're hanging out. We've got some friends going away, that is all it is. Addressing the talk: Following the backlash, Elly took to her Instagram Stories, insisting that she was not by any means at an Australia Day party 'So I wanted to come on here so you could hear directly from me. I want to clear that up right now. I am all for abolish the date. 'I 110 per cent respect that this is Aboriginal land that we're living on, and I'm not supporting Australia Day at all.' Last year, Elly uploaded a video of herself delivering a sombre speech about how painful Australia Day can be for Indigenous people, before sharing a photo of herself attending an 'Invasion Day' protest in Sydney. Not an Australia Day party: 'And I just want to say so you hear directly from me, I'm not. I'm at a friend's house, [we've] got the kids in the pool, we're hanging out. We've got some friends going away, that is all it is,' she said 'I am sorry': Last year, Elly issued a public apology for attending an Australia Day pool party just hours after attending a change the date protest Just hours later, however, Elly raised eyebrows by documenting herself attending a boozy Australia Day pool party. The rather tone-deaf sequence of events wasn't lost on Elly's Instagram followers, many of whom accused her of being a hypocrite. One fan wrote: 'Just a little contradicting and confusing to be posting about your support with changing the date and then heading to what one can assume would be an Australia Day party... as it's a party on Australia Day? Remorseful: Addressing the furore in an Instagram post at the time, the influencer issued an emotional apology 'I hope you acknowledge this. I'll be eager to see your reasoning.' Another commented on Elly's Instagram page: 'It is very upsetting to see you post a change the date post on this day of mourning, yet you go to an Australia Day party the same day. This is so disappointing and beyond tone deaf.' Other followers accused Elly of feigning empathy for Indigenous people to improve her public image as an influencer. Lapse of judgement: 'I had a complete lapse of judgement and have a lot of regret for my actions. I sincerely apologise for upsetting anyone,' she wrote 'Beyond tone deaf': Last year Elly was slammed for sharing an 'Invasion Day' message on Instagram (left) - just hours before attending a wild Australia Day pool party (right) 'Your manager must have reminded you to give some lip service and a quick pic and then off to get blind and party. Performative influencers,' one fan grumbled. Another agreed: 'I feel like these influencers say something about it just to say they did. Maybe because they'll cop s**t if they don't?' Addressing the furore in an Instagram post at the time, Elly wrote: 'To answer people's comments from yesterday, there is nothing else I can say in this situation other than "I am sorry". 'Be the change': Last year, Elly uploaded a video of herself delivering a sombre speech about how painful Australia Day can be for Indigenous people, before sharing a photo of herself attending an 'Invasion Day' protest in Sydney (pictured) 'I had a complete lapse of judgement and have a lot of regret for my actions. I sincerely apologise for upsetting anyone,' she added. 'I stand by my attendance at the Change the Date protest and feel that it is an incredibly important issue. I truly wasn't being insincere with my attendance. 'I know how it looks, we all make mistakes - I made one yesterday and all I can say once again, from the bottom of my heart, is that I truly am sorry.' Laidback: That afternoon, Elly shared a video of herself attending a backyard pool party Relaxed: During last year's festivities, Elly was seen drinking with pals, taking shots of tequila and posing for selfies At the time, Abbie slammed Elly in an Instagram Story post, saying that it is the 'easiest f**king decision' to stay away from celebrations on January 26. 'You aren't being the change if you're participating in harmful traditions. It is the EASIEST f**king decision. To just NOT. Hottest 100 is now on the Saturday, you can celebrate the long weekend with your friends then. I did! Without an Australian flag in sight,' she wrote. While she didn't name names, Abbie added that people should have used the public holiday to learn more about the day itself, and 'broaden your understanding of the harm colonisation has caused'. 'The level of cognitive dissonance in believing that you can ACTUALLY attend a rally and then just pop on over to your pool party is something else,' she continued. 'If you were *actually* listening to speakers at these rallies, you wouldn't be able to have fun in the afternoon. You'd want to dig deeper, feel a responsibility to be uncomfortable and to hopefully learn something,' she added. Fuming: At the time, Abbie slammed Elly in an Instagram Story post, saying that it is the 'easiest f**king decision' to stay away from celebrations on January 26 Sarah Jessica Parker has a passion for fashion, especially when it comes to footwear. And the star is so comfortable in high heels that she never took them off while filming And Just Like That, despite shoot days running as long as 14 hours. A background actor from the series told the Hot Takes and Deep Dives podcast that the 56-year-old never once removed her heels during filming. Trooper! Sarah Jessica Parker reportedly never removed her high heels while filming And Just Like That, despite being on set for up to 14 hours a day 'Those ladies are troopers because I'm wearing comfortable Cole Haan, Nike, soled sneaker shoes, and my feet would be dead at the end of the day,' he said. 'After eight hours I would be sitting on the flood because I'd be like, "I can't stand up anymore." 'I would bring Advil so once my feet started having pain, because you're just standing for hours, but those women, they're there the entire day and they're in stilettos, Manolos, all day long.' While he said that 'occasionally' the show's main cast members would take a break to sit down or change their shoes to flip-flops, SJP was not one of them. 'I never saw Sarah Jessica Parker take her heels off one time,' he said. 'She was in heels all day,' he added. 'She was in heels all day!' A background actor from the series told the Hot Takes and Deep Dives podcast that the 56-year-old never once removed her heels during filming Sarah Jessica Parker is known for her love of shoes, and even has her own popular footwear line called SJP. The line is so popular that there are even SJP brick and mortar stores across the world, including in North America and Dubai. The Sex and the City reboot And Just Like That has received backlash from viewers since it premiered in December for being 'too woke'. However, star Cynthia Nixon has said that it was necessary to 'fix' a lack of progressiveness and diversity in the original series. She means business! Sarah Jessica Parker is known for her love of shoes, and even has her own popular footwear line called SJP Nixon, 55, applauded the creative team for addressing 'what was maybe not so great' about the ground-breaking HBO series in the revival during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show on Wednesday. The star, who plays Miranda Hobbes, said she wanted to ensure certain things were course-corrected in And Just Like That, 'like the fact that it was such an overwhelmingly white show,' before she agreed to reprise her role. 'Is it true that is was almost a difficult choice for you, something you battled with grappled with, to do And Just Like That?' Drew asked the actress. 'Well yes, if you revisit something that was such a big part of your life and so iconic. I mean its a big step but also it seemed to me we are very different people now, we are very different ages now,' Nixon began. Fix the issues: Cynthia Nixon defended the 'woke' reboot of Sex and the City while appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show this week 'We were in our early 30s when we started, we are 55, 56 now. And the world is very different. I wanted to be sure, and I think we all wanted to be sure that when we went back we could save a lot of what was great about the original and fix what was maybe not so great. 'Like the fact that it was such an overwhelmingly white show. That we would really open up the door and invite these new characters in and really do right by them so we could get great actors and actresses to play them.' New characters, like Lisa Todd Wexley [Nicole Ari Parker], Seema Patel [Sarita Choudhury], Dr. Nya Wallace [Karen Pittman] and Cynthia's non-binary love interest Che Diaz [Sara Ramirez] have helped usher the show into modern times. Out with the old: New characters, like Lisa Todd Wexley [Nicole Ari Parker], Seema Patel [Sarita Choudhury], Dr. Nya Wallace [Karen Pittman] and Cynthia's non-binary love interest Che Diaz [Sara Ramirez] have been added to break up the 'overwhelmingly white' cast from the original series Nixon told Drew that she 'hand-picked' Ramirez, who is most famous for their Tony winning role in Spamalot and playing Dr. Callie Torres in Grey's Anatomy, for Diaz. 'I suggested them because Ive been aware of them for so long and such a fan,' Nixon said. 'Mike Nichols, I worked with Mike Nichols a bunch of times especially when I was young and he cast Sara in Spamalot, for which they won a Tony. So I was always watching their career and stuff.' In the reboot, Nixon's character Miranda's main storyline thus far has followed her heated dalliances with Che - who is Carrie's boss - and her inward battle to end her marriage while exploring her sexuality. Georgia Love and Lee Elliot recently moved into their $1.3million townhouse in Melbourne's upmarket suburb of Hampton East. But on Wednesday, Georgia was force to address rumours the pair had split after she was spotted without her engagement and wedding rings during an outing in Melbourne. The former Bachelorette star had been inundated with comments from fans, questioning where her beloved jewels were when she posted pictures from her day out. Still married! On Wednesday, former The Bachelorette star Georgia Love (left) was forced to address rumours she had split from her husband Lee Elliot (right) after she was spotted without her engagement and wedding rings The 33-year-old posed for a photo with Lee and explained, 'Can confirm still married.' 'And yes I forgot my rings today in a rush leaving the house, you guys are perceptive,' she added in a follow-up post. Her posts come after she has shared a sweet series of photos documenting a date with her husband as they visited a popular floating bar in Melbourne, Arbour Afloat. The couple were seen with drinks in hand as they enjoyed a sunny day in the heart of the city's CBD. Whoops! The former Bachelorette star had been inundated with comments from fans, questioning where her beloved jewels were Date day: Her posts come after she has shared a sweet series of photos documenting a date with her husband as they visited a popular floating bar in Melbourne, Arbour Afloat Last week, Georgia, who recently moved into her new home, boasted about the pair's luxurious ensuite. Georgia panned the camera to capture the 'his and hers' vanity sinks, the earthy colour palette and tiling, along with the contemporary bath tub and shower area. The journalist has settled nicely into the home, adding her own touches in the form of statement flowers and greenery. Luxurious abode: Georgia admired her luxurious new ensuite in an Instagram Stories post after moving into her $1.3million home in Melbourne with husband Lee Elliott, 40, last week (both pictured) 'God I love our ensuite. Feat. My pride and joy,' she captioned the footage. Georgia and Lee, 40, who wed in March last year in Tasmania, got the keys to the townhouse last week. Back in October, plumber Lee proudly showed off their new digs on Instagram with a video of Georgia excitedly walking into the pad. Proud: Georgia panned the camera to capture the 'his and hers' vanity sinks and her choice of styling Features: The journalist also drew attention to the earthy colour palette and tiling, along with the contemporary bath tub and shower area Home owners: Back in October, plumber Lee proudly showed off their new digs on Instagram with a video of Georgia excitedly walking into the pad 'It's ours!' Georgia captioned the clip, which she re-shared on her own feed. They proudly showed off their new doormat, personalised with the words 'The Elliotts, established 2021'. They purchased the property in October last year, after the home was listed between $1.3million and $1.35million. It features a spacious four bedrooms, as well as three bathrooms and an expansive living-dining area. Georgia and Lee said 'I Do' at the Frogmore Creek Winery, just 20 minutes outside of Hobart's city centre, followed by an outdoor reception at the Shene Distillery, in March last year. The bride stunned in a custom couture gown by Australian designer Jason Grech, while the groom donned a white tuxedo jacket and bow tie by YSG Tailors. Georgia and Lee were due to marry in Italy the year prior, but were forced to cancel their wedding due to the coronavirus pandemic. Husband and wife: Georgia and Lee, 40 tied the knot in a stunning ceremony in Tasmania in early March last year. They were due to marry in Italy the year prior, but were forced to cancel their wedding due to the coronavirus pandemic Kate Beckinsale showed off her impressive sense of style with a set of snaps shared to her Instagram account on Wednesday. In the shots, the 48-year-old performer was seen lounging next to a pool and playing with her pampered Persian cat Willow, who was dressed in a pink sweater. The actress captioned the snazzy set: 'Please signal your acceptance of our terms blah blah Big Ben etc.' Dressed up: Kate Beckinsale showed off her impressive sense of style with a set of snaps that were shared to her Instagram account on Wednesday Beckinsale sported a bright yellow-and-white outfit that included a midriff top that exposed her toned tummy. The Underworld franchise star also sported a matching jacket and skirt, which placed her sculpted legs on full display. She accessorized with a sparkling set of earrings and contrasted the dominant tone of her outfit with a pair of black high-heeled shoes. Her gorgeous brunette locks were tied up in a ponytail and fell toward her shoulders. Standing out: Beckinsale sported a bright yellow-and-white outfit that included a midriff top that exposed her toned tummy Showing some skin: The Underworld franchise star also sported a matching jacket and skirt, which placed her sculpted legs on display Beckinsale is currently prepping for the release of the forthcoming family drama feature Prisoner's Daughter. The news about Beckinsale's involvement with the project was initially reported by Deadline this past June. The film is centered on a former convict whose violent past catches up with him while attempting to reconcile with his family. Also set to appear in the upcoming movie are Brian Cox and Ernie Hudson. Staying occupied: Beckinsale is currently prepping for the release of the forthcoming family drama feature Prisoner's Daughter Director Catherine Hardwicke noted that the project's screenplay was familiar territory for her. 'Mark Bacci's script is a raw, personal look at a deeply fractured family, similar to my first film Thirteen,' she said. The Twilight director then expressed that Beckinsale would play a pivotal role in the forthcoming project. Not her first rodeo: Director Catherine Hardwicke gave a statement to the media outlet where she expressed that the project's screenplay was familiar territory for her; she is seen in 2020 'With Prisoner's Daughter, I want to fully immerse the viewer in Kate's character's intense world as she, her father and her young son try to heal generational family trauma and find a new way forward,' she stated. Producer Marina Grasic then noted that she and her collaborators were excited to be able to work with both Hardwicke and Beckinsale. 'We are committed to making films that reflect the struggles and issues faced by not only Americans but worldwide audiences. We are honored to be working with Catherine and Kate artists that can bring this important and inspiring story to life.' High praise: Producer Marina Grasic then noted that she and her collaborators were excited to be able to work with both Hardwicke and Beckinsale; the actress is seen in 2020 Beckinsale previously made headlines after TMZ reported that she had injured her back while working on the movie in Las Vegas this past September. She later recovered from her injuries and shared an update about her health on her Instagram account. Prisoner's Daughter currently does not have a scheduled release date. The Bachelor's Jimmy Nicholson has taken a thinly veiled swipe at Bachelorette couple Brooke Blurton and Darvid Garayeli following their recent split. The airline pilot, 32, said on Thursday his relationship with winning contestant Holly Kingston was always on firmer ground than their Bachelorette counterparts, and they never had to exaggerate their happiness like some reality TV couples. 'If Brooke and Darvid didn't work out, that sucks for them, but I was conscious of the fact I wasn't going to call Holly my life partner if I didn't see her as that just to keep everyone happy,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'That sucks for them': The Bachelor's Jimmy Nicholson (left) has taken a thinly veiled swipe at Bachelorette couple Brooke Blurton and Darvid Garayeli (right) following their recent split 'We have been really true the whole time and I think that is maybe where people get it wrong,' he added. Jimmy also issued a stern warning to future Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants, advising them not to jump the gun when it comes to public declarations of love. 'If you are not sure as s**t you are going to be with that person, don't tell the world that you've found your life partner,' he said. 'Sure as s**t': The airline pilot, 32, said his relationship with winning contestant Holly Kingston (pictured during The Bachelor finale) was always on firmer ground than their Bachelorette counterparts, and they never had to exaggerate their happiness like some reality TV couples Warning: Jimmy also issued a stern warning to future Bachelor and Bachelorette contestants, advising them not to jump the gun when it comes to public declarations of love In contrast to Holly and Jimmy's more low-key romance, Brooke and Darvid enthusiastically referred to each other as 'my person' and 'my life partner' after the Bachelorette finale - only to break up weeks later. In an interview with Mamamia late last year, Brooke said of Darvid: 'I definitely have found my person and I'm definitely really happy.' And after the finale aired in December, Darvid wrote on Instagram: 'I can't believe I found my person. PDA: In contrast to Holly and Jimmy's more low-key romance, Brooke and Darvid enthusiastically referred to each other as 'my person' and 'my life partner' after the Bachelorette finale - only to break up weeks later 'When I entered this experience I can honestly say I had no idea what to expect. 'I've come out of this with my life partner and she's so much more than I could have ever envisioned.' The pair ended up calling time on their relationship just five weeks later and have now blocked each other on Instagram. Since the start of the semester, the Student Advocacy Resource Center has received five times as many reports of roofies, or drug-facilitated assaults, than usual. The druggings happened at four different bars, and beg an important question: what should I do if a friend or I get roofied wh Former Bachelor star Matty J has spoken about how he and fiancee Laura Byrne dealt with their heartbreaking miscarriages and how he overcame them as a father. Speaking to 9Honey Parenting this week, the 34-year-old said pregnancy loss is 'really hard to come to terms with' and 'awful' for both men and women. Laura previously revealed on her Life Uncut podcast that she suffered two miscarriages during their journey to conceive, although they now share two children together, Marlie-Mae, 2, and Lola, 11 months. Devastating: The Bachelor's Matty 'J' Johnson spoke about the devastating miscarriages he and fiancee Laura Byrne suffered and admitted 'it's really hard to come to terms with' 'While you're ecstatic that you've got this little gift, it's hard not to get excited. All of a sudden the rug is pulled beneath you. It's just it's gone. It's taken away,' he explained. He added: 'And it's really hard to come to terms with.' Matty said that talking about the experience helps, but he and Laura are wary they might experience a miscarriage again as they plan to expand their brood in future. 'While you're ecstatic that you've got this little gift, it's hard not to get excited. All of a sudden the rug is pulled beneath you. It's just it's gone. It's taken away,' he explained In April 2020, Laura revealed on her Life Uncut podcast that she and Matty suffered their second devastating miscarriage. She had also previously spoken about having a miscarriage with Matty before welcoming daughter Marlie Mae. 'Just two months ago, Matt and I went through our second miscarriage and that still feels raw and very bizarre to even say out loud,' she told co-host Brittany Hockley in 2020. 'It still feels raw': In April 2020, Laura revealed on her Life Uncut podcast that she and Matty suffered their second devastating miscarriage Laura went on to explain that she was speaking out to help end the stigma surrounding miscarriage, after feeling 'incredibly alone' following her first one in 2018. 'It is painful and it is lonely, but it doesn't need to be quite so lonely, and the more that we talk about it, and the more that we de-stigmatise it, then I feel other women who are going through the same thing may feel more supported,' she concluded. Laura and Matt fell in love on the 2017 season of the Bachelor. The pair became engaged while on vacation in Fiji in April 2018, two months before they welcomed their daughter. Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson were dining in style on Tuesday evening as they attended a dinner party at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' $175m home in Los Angeles. The 41-year-old Keeping Up With The Kardashians star and the 28-year-old Saturday Night Live fixture were spotted arriving at the billionaire's home in a white luxury sedan. The trio seemed to have hit it off, as they were together for multiple hours before Kim and Pete were seen leaving the property in the same car. High-profile pals: Kim Kardashian, 41, and Pete Davidson, 28, were seen arriving at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' home in Los Angeles on Tuesday Swell time: The trio seemed to have hit it off, as they were together for multiple hours before Kim and Pete were seen leaving the property in the same car It's unclear if there were any other celebrity guests at the gathering, but there were at least two billionaires present, as Forbes labeled Kim a billionaire in April 2021 thanks to the success of her Skims shapewear empire. Kim previously hung out with Bezos at the 2019 Met Gala, with the two pictured chatting at the NYC event, which Kim attended with her then-husband Kanye West. Following the evening with Bezos on Wednesday, Kim and Pete drove back to a hotel in Beverly Hills where the comedian is staying, according to TMZ. A source told the publication that Pete has been working in California lately, and he seems to be taking every opportunity he can get to visit his girlfriend, who has also visited him in New York City when her schedule permits. TMZ also noted that Kim met with other high-profile figures earlier in the week. Nice house: Bezos has owned this opulent nine-acre Beverly Hills estate, designed in the 1930s for media mogul Jack Warner, since 2007 Heading home: Following the evening with Bezos, Kim and Pete drove back to a hotel in Beverly Hills where the comedian is staying, according to TMZ Jet setters: A source told the publication that Pete has been working in California lately, and he seems to be taking every opportunity he can get to visit his girlfriend Wealthy: It's unclear if there were any other guests at the gathering, but there were at least two billionaires present, as Forbes labeled Kim a billionaire in April 2021, while Bezos is one of the richest people in the world; pictured in November 2021 with his partner Lauren Sanchez Old friends? Kim and Bezos were previously pictured chatting at the 2019 Met Gala On Monday, the reality star was seen dining at Los Angeles' Hot & Cool Cafe with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton. The three were taping an episode of the Clintons' documentary series Gutsy Women, named after a 2019 book that Hillary and Chelsea cowrote that focused on important women and change makers. Hot & Cool Cafe's website states that it 'uplifts underserved youth and the formerly incarcerated through employment opportunities and job training,' which would seem to be of interest to Kim, as she has made prison reform one of her passion projects. During the previous administration, Kim lobbied former President Donald Trump to sign the First Step Act, which gives judges more discretion in assigning shorter sentences and makes it easier for incarcerated individuals to petition for reduce sentences, among other changes. More famous pals: On Monday, the reality star was seen dining at Los Angeles' Hot & Cool Cafe with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton, according to TMZ; seen in 2020 in Beverly Hills Going strong: She and Pete have been dating since shortly after she made her SNL debut in October, which included a sketch in which the two kissed while parodying Disney's Aladdin The Black-owned business also notes that it provides 'Black-centered arts and culture' and 'plant-based food' to communities in South Central Los Angeles. Earlier this month, Kim and Pete jetted down to the Bahamas for a tropical getaway, though they seem to be having plenty of fun back home now. The couple's relationship began shortly after she made her hosting debut on SNL, which included a sketch in which the two appeared to share their first kiss. The future lovebirds appeared together in a humorous sketch in which they played the title character and Jasmine from the Disney animated film Aladdin. The stand-up comic played a wimpy version of the the character who was jealous of his new girlfriend's more impressive ex-boyfriends. Oh dear: Kanye West believes his estranged wife Kim Kardashian's relationship with Pete Davidson is fake, according to a new report in The Sun; seen in February in Beverly Hills The couple seem more serious than ever after their trip to Bezos' home, but Kim's estranged husband Kanye West, who has legally changed his name to Ye, has told friends that their relationship is just a publicity stunt, according to The Sun. 'Kanye has been telling friends he still feels "suppressed" by Kim even though they are separated,' a source claimed. 'He feels he has kept a lot of things quiet for her and he likes to speak his mind, so he feels suppressed.' They added that the hitmaker 'believes her relationship with Pete Davidson is fake. He believes the Kardashians make up story lines for their lives and he's sick of it. 'He feels she is going for the complete opposite of him to upset him and it p****s him off.' Ouch: A source says Kanye feels 'suppressed' by his ex, as he wants to speak his mind. He also allegedly blasted Pete's sense of style and claimed it negatively 'affects all the work he did with Kim' on her fashion choices The source also said that Kanye has been dismissive of Pete's sense of style, saying he thinks it 'affects all the work he did with Kim' on her fashion choices. They claimed Kanye worries that his children will become 'mini Paris Hiltons' because of how their mother now dresses them, and he is also reportedly concerned about his eldest daughter North, eight, having a TikTok account. The exes share three other children: Saint, six; Chicago, four; and Psalm, two. Hailey Bieber was spotted attending an evening church service with her husband Justin Bieber in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The 25-year-old model gave a peek at her toned midriff in a cropped white tee layered under a stylish brown leather sherpa jacket. She forged the way towards the front of the church while Justin, 27, trailed behind her wearing a printed balaclava. Counting their blessings: Hailey Bieber was spotted attending an evening church service with her husband Justin Bieber in Los Angeles on Wednesday The daughter of Stephen Baldwin finished off her ensemble with a pair of baggy beige trousers and some multi-colored trainers. Hailey toted her belongings in a red Balenciaga purse that hung over her shoulder. Her flowing honey-toned tresses were worn down and parted in the middle. Justin styled his bizarre face covering with a cozy white hooded sweatshirt layered over a grey tee. Fashionista: The 25-year-old model gave a peek at her toned midriff in a cropped white tee layered under a stylish brown leather sherpa jacket Forging the way: She forged the way towards the front of the church while Justin, 27, trailed behind her wearing a printed balaclava Like his wife, the Baby hitmaker opted for beige pants but chose to pound the pavement in a pair of Crocs. He arrived to the Wednesday night service with a tea cup in hand that he sipped as he exited his vehicle. Hailey and Justin celebrated their third wedding anniversary in September. Cozy: Justin styled his bizarre face covering with a cozy white hooded sweatshirt layered over a grey tee Comfort: The daughter of Stephen Baldwin finished off her ensemble with a pair of baggy beige trousers and some multi-colored trainers Designer darling: Hailey toted her belongings in a red Balenciaga purse that hung over her shoulder Flowing: Her flowing honey-toned tresses were worn down and parted in the middle They'd originally married in September 2018 at a court house in New York City. The following year they hosted a lavish wedding in South Carolina that was attended by hoards of their famous friends. Since then, the couple have been open about the relationship struggles they've overcome over the years and their mutual devotion to their faith. Layered: Justin styled his bizarre face covering with a cozy white hooded sweatshirt layered over a grey tee Style inspiration? Interesting pairing: Like his wife, the Baby hitmaker opted for beige pants Odd choice: He chose to pound the pavement in a pair of Crocs Caffeinated: He arrived to the Wednesday night service with a tea cup in hand that he sipped as he exited his vehicle Going strong: Hailey and Justin celebrated their third wedding anniversary in September; Justin and Hailey pictured in 2020 With Justin set to commence his long-awaited Justice World Tour in February, Hailey has been hard at work in the modeling world in recent months. Earlier this week, Hailey shared outtakes from her new Hugo Boss campaign. The brunette beauty posted a four-photo layout as she wrote in the caption, 'Introducing my new campaign for @boss.' Halle Berry has revealed that she was intoxicated when she posted her new year's wedding prank. Earlier this month, Berry fooled numerous fans - including celebs such as Dwayne Johnson and Octavia Spencer - into believing she married Van Hunt after sharing an Instagram snap of the pair kissing at the end of an aisle. Shedding light on the prank, Halle, 55, spoke on Wednesday's episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she appeared remotely wearing a dark semi-sheer shirt and gold chains. Bad prank: Halle Berry explained how her prank of joking that she married her boyfriend Van Hunt backfired on Wednesday on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Halle explained to Jimmy how they came up with the idea for the post on the spot when the two were vacationing on an island. 'We had copious amounts of drinks at the bar,' she said. 'We were trying to make it to our room when we passed this little chapel. We thought let's go in here, let's see what's inside here.' She said when they went in they got the crazy idea to fool his mother and to take a photo of them and send it to her and say that they got married. Gotcha! Berry, 55, fooled her fans and famous friends with a joking post celebrating the start of 2022 on Saturday that made it look as if she and boyfriend Van Hunt had gotten married Halle said after they took the photo they decided to post it on Instagram and wrote 'wellIT'S OFFICIAL!' but included another photo so when someone swiped over they would see 'it's 2022!' and would know that it was a joke. She said that within five minutes they got all of these congratulations from the Rock and Ava DuVernay. 'No one got it,' said Halle. 'After 20 minutes went by we were like we are such a**holes. Everybody believes it.so many people don't swipe. 'I didn't know people don't swipe. Now, I'm never doing swipes again because I know no one looks at the s**t.' Whoops: She captioned her first photo 'IT'S OFFICIAL' as if she had gotten married, but a second closeup revealed that she just meant 'It's 2022!' Fooled him: Not everyone who saw the post appeared to get the joke, or perhaps they didn't swipe to see the punchline. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson commented with multiple clapping emojis and wrote, 'congrats you two!!! Beautiful!!' Missed it: Octavia Spencer, Tia and Tamera Mowry, Meagan Good, Ava DuVernay and Lesley-Ann Brandt were all fooled Jimmy then congratulated her on her directorial debut with Bruised. He asked her if she planned on directing more. 'I hope so,' Halle said. 'I certainly know I have a lot to say and being a black woman and I think that's the right space. We need to tell more of our stories from our point of view. I definitely hope so.' He asked her if she would direct and act again in the same film and she said no. I hope so' : Halle said when asked about directing more. 'I certainly know I have a lot to say and being a black woman and I think that's the right space' 'I'm one and done with that,' she said. 'It was a lot. I will never do that again.' Jimmy said he learned that she started by doing sketch comedy in Second City. She said she did but she was not trying to do that. 'I was just there trying to make friends,' said Halle. Sketch comedy: 'I was just there trying to make friends,' said Halle of her stint with Second City She said she had moved to Chicago and was all by herself. She said she heard that it was a good place to meet people. She said one of the teachers there said 'have you ever thought about acting?' and she said never. 'He said ''well I think you should, I think you have some natural talent'',' Halle said. She said the teacher encouraged her to give it a try. Jimmy then congratulated her for the new movie Moonfall and then played a clip from the movie. Jimmy then ended the interview by playing a fun game with Halle that he called 'An Emotional Interview' where she had to act out whatever emotion he put on the screen like sceptical, mind blown, not listening, and an automated message trying to sound human. Josh Gad has recounted how Isla Fisher 'saved his life' while on the set of their new Stan series Wolf Like Me. Speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, Gad, 40, said 'intense winds' nearly blew him off the edge of a cliff in Broken Hill. 'We did have some of the most intense winds that I've ever experienced in my life,' said the Frozen star. Heroine: Josh Gad has recounted how Isla Fisher (pictured) 'saved his life' while on the set of their new Stan series Wold Like Me 'Isla and I were up on top of a cliff, and she had to stabilise me, which is a lot.' Kyle then asked Isla if she'd saved Josh's life, but the Australian star remained modest. 'It was very windy that day, but we got so lucky,' the 45-year-old admitted. Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O Show, Gad, 40, said 'intense winds' nearly blew him off the edge of a cliff in Broken Hill before Isla grabbed him. Pictured: Isla and Josh in the Stan series Wolf Like Me The revelation comes after Isla revealed she almost didn't become an actress. Before embarking on her incredible acting career, the 45-year-old had rather different aspirations. Appearing on Nova's Fitzy and Wippa on Thursday, Isla spoke about her time at clown school. Aspirations: Fisher spoke about her time at clown school during an interview with Nova's Fitzy and Wippa on Thursday She made the surprising admission while discussing the amount of running she does in scenes for her new show. 'I can't show off that I went to NIDA,' she said, in reference to the prestigious acting institute in Sydney - the National Institute of Dramatic Art. 'But I did go to clown school where I was mocked and made to run in front of the whole class while everyone laugh because my running technique was such an embarrassment. 'I did go to clown school where I was mocked and made to run in front of the whole class while everyone laugh because my running technique was such an embarrassment' she said 'So to do this show [Wolf Like Me], I got this special lady in who like filmed me running and showed me just how foolish it was and we broke it all down so I did a little running practice.' The Confessions of a Shopaholic star was a student at a prestigious clown school in France. She also spoke about her experience while appearing on The Project back in 2016, and said she struggled to learn the art of juggling. 'I can't show off that I went to NIDA': The Confessions of a Shopaholic star was a student at a prestigious clown school in France. Isla attended the famous school at age 21 after finding success on Home And Away during the early 90s 'I'd say that juggling was certainly not my specialty. I was one of the last people in the whole class to really be able to get three balls in the air,' she explained while quickly noting, 'That's not a euphemism.' Isla attended the famous school at age 21 after finding success on Home And Away during the early 90s. She initially struggled to adjust to life in the French capital while studying clowning and mime although in the end, the married mother of three said previously that it was all worthwhile. 'I moved to Paris after Home And Away to go to clown school,' she told The Guardian's Observer magazine. 'I didn't speak French and I felt so out of my depth. I was terrified [but] eventually I broke through my French became fluent and I enjoyed performing in a way that I hadn't in a long time.' Since graduating from the school, Isla, who is married to English actor, Sacha Baron Cohen, 50, has gone on to star in a series of notable Hollywood blockbusters including Wedding Crashers, which catapulted her to international fame in 2005. Watch the new Stan Original series Wolf Like Me, now on Stan. ALISON BOSHOFF: When he was cast as Prince Charles in The Crown , the naysayers had a field day. Dominic West was too muscular, had too much hair and was far too sexy to play the role. Paris Hilton expressed that she was happy to have ended up with her husband, Carter Reum, during Thursday's episode of Ellen. During the taping, the 40-year-old media personality and the comedian, 64, spoke about various topics, and the socialite gave the comic a bit of information regarding her lavish wedding, which took place this past November. The reality television figure also expressed that, prior to meeting her now-husband, she was only used to dating people who were more concerned about status than not. Real love: Paris Hilton expressed that she was happy to have ended up with her husband, Carter Reum, during Thursday's episode of Ellen Hilton specifically stated that, before she met Reum, 'I wasn't ready for a nice guy yet.' DeGeneres also made a point of expressing her admiration for the socialite's wedding ring, which shone brightly through the entire interview. The comedian remarked: 'That is an amazing bracelet you're wearing on your finger,' to which she responded that her husband 'did good.' When asked about the size of the ring, Hilton recalled that 'I told him, "go big or go home."' Changing her plans: Hilton specifically stated that, before she met Reum, 'I wasn't ready for a nice guy yet' Shining bright: When asked about the size of the ring, Hilton recalled that 'I told him, "go big or go home"' She then spoke about the beginning of her relationship with Reum, whom she had met over a decade before their wedding occurred. The socialite noted that she and her husband first met 'fifteen years ago at one of my house parties...and then we reconnected in 2019, Thanksgiving in the Hamptons, and we've been inseparable ever since.' DeGeneres went on to ask about Hilton's three-day wedding celebration, and the reality television figure noted that she had put off taking care of a central part of the ceremony until the last minute. She recalled: 'it was very stressful, especially because I hadn't written my vows up until I was literally about to walk down the aisle...I ended up winging it.' Looking back: The socialite noted that she and her husband first met 'fifteen years ago at one of my house parties...and then we reconnected in 2019, Thanksgiving in the Hamptons, and we've been inseparable ever since' On the fly: DeGeneres went on to ask about Hilton's three-day wedding celebration, and the reality television figure noted that she had put off taking care of a central part of the ceremony until the last minute The socialite added that, while Reum's vows 'were so sweet and so romantic, mine were just, I was speaking from the heart...they're really funny.' DeGeneres then inquired about if Hilton wanted to start a family with a few children, to which she responded: 'I want a couple, yeah, Probably like two or three.' When she noted that her daughter would likely be named 'London Marilyn Hilton Reum,' she said of her other idea: 'I'm not going to say yet because I'm afraid someone will steal the name.' The media figure then spoke about living with her husband, and proudly noted that 'I taught him how to cook.' Different people: The socialite added that, while Reum's vows 'were so sweet and so romantic, mine were just, I was speaking from the heart...they're really funny' Big plans: DeGeneres then inquired about if Hilton wanted to start a family with a few children, to which she responded: 'I want a couple, yeah, Probably like two or three' DeGeneres later changed the topic of conversation to Hilton's past, and asked for her opinion on various topics. When she was asked to speak about the best party she ever went to, the socialite remarked that it had occurred during 'Puffy's 50th birthday, it was so sick.' The DJ then spoke about how she would evade the eyes of the paparazzi during her well-documented nights out. She stated that she liked to 'to disguise myself, wearing wigs...sometimes I would send my friend out in a blonde wig, big sunglasses, a tracksuit, and I would go out the back way in a brown wig.' Paris Hilton revealed that she has reconnected with her old friend Lindsay Lohan on Wednesday during a visit on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Bravo. The 40-year-old heiress, who appeared with her mother Kathy Hilton on the show, said she was on her honeymoon when she saw that Lindsay, 35, had gotten engaged and she reached out to say congratulations. 'And that broke the ice,' said Andy. 'That's great. That makes me happy.' Old friend: Paris Hilton revealed that she has reconnected with her old friend Lindsay Lohan on Wednesday during a visit on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on Bravo Paris, who just recently married entrepreneur Carter Milliken Reum in a Bel-Air wedding, said 'I just feel that we are grown ups now. I just got married. She just got engaged. We are not in high school. I think it was just very immature and now everything is all good.' 'No bad vibes,' Paris added. Paris also revealed that she also spoke to her other old friend Britney Spears, 40, after her conservatorship ended. 'I spoke to her right around the wedding and she's happy,' said Paris. 'She feels free and in an amazing place.' Recently engaged: Lindsay, shown in November 2019 in Australia, recently got engaged and that prompted Paris to reach out and offer her congratulations Good times: Paris and Lindsay, shown in 2004, were friends before a falling out Paris and Kathy appeared on the show to promote Paris' wedding special and Andy started off their interview by asking her what Kim Kardashian got her as a gift and what it meant to have her old friend at her wedding. She said she hadn't actually opened her wedding gifts because she had been on her honeymoon and then jumped right back into working. 'They are all in a room like hundreds of gifts,' she said. Wedding present: Paris and Kathy appeared on the show to promote Paris' wedding special and Andy started off their interview by asking her what Kim Kardashian got her as a gift and what it meant to have her old friend at her wedding Paris said that having her longtime friend Kim there at her wedding ' meant so much to me that she was there, she looked stunning and it was a fun night.' Andy asked Paris on a scale of 1-10 would she rate Kim Petras' rendition of performance of Paris's own song Stars Are Blind at her wedding and did she always want to walk down the aisle to that song. 'It was iconic and the perfect song,' said Paris. Perfect song: 'It was iconic and the perfect song,' said Paris of her own song Stars Are Blind being performed at her wedding He then asked her whose performance she was more blown away by: Demi Lovato, Diplo, Paula Abdul, or Macy Gray. 'That's some lineup,' said Andy. 'Demi,' said Paris. Another viewer asked Kathy which of Paris' seven wedding outfits was her favourite. Kathy said the wedding dress was incredible but that Oscar de la Renta's 'star blinged out crystal dress was insane.' Favorite dress: Another viewer asked Kathy which of Paris' seven wedding outfits was her favourite. Kathy said the wedding dress was incredible but that Oscar de la Renta's 'star blinged out crystal dress was insane' Paris told Andy that her honeymoon was seven weeks and that she went all over the world from Bora Bora, London, Dubai to the Maldives. Two fans asked Kathy what she thought of Kyle Richards' Christmas movie and she said it was so beautiful. She said she loved Christmas movies Another fan asked Paris if she gave her mother any advice about being on a reality show before she joined Beverly Hills. 'I just said don't get involved in all the drama and the cat fights,' said Paris. When Andy asked how she did, Paris said 'you are killing it Mom.' Bernie Ecclestone enjoyed a boys' night in with son-in-law Jay Rutland in Switzerland on Wednesday - but was beaten during a game of backgammon. The billionaire F1 mogul, 91, put on a cheeky display as Jay won 50 Swiss Francs off him (40), scribbling 'lucky b*****d' on the note before handing it over to his daughter Tamara's husband. A gleeful Jay, 40, posted snaps of the pair with the caption: 'There is a first time for everything @bernieecclestoneofficial.' Lol: Bernie Ecclestone enjoyed a boys' night in with son-in-law Jay Rutland in Switzerland on Wednesday - with Jay winning money off him Bernie, who is worth an estimated 2.5billion, cut a dapper figure in a white tee and black trousers while Jay wore a grey hoodie and joggers. Jay cheekily showed off the money and the hilarious note as he celebrated the victory. This comes as Tamara shared a series of adorable snaps of her daughter Serena as the family continued their winter holiday break. The F1 heiress took to Instagram on Saturday and shared photos of her and the tot, 16 months, playing in the snow. Hand it over: The billionaire F1 mogul, 91, put on a cheeky display as Jay won 50 Swiss Francs off him (40), scribbling 'lucky b*****d' on the note before handing it over to his daughter Tamara's husband Banter: Jay couldn't believe his luck as he won money off his father-in-law Tamara looked effortlessly glamorous in a black padded coat, with a matching beanie and trousers. She shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun with a pair of sunglasses, and beamed for the camera as she held on to her little girl. Serena was bundled up from the cold in a sweet white snowsuit, which she wore with bright pink wellies. Captioning the snap, Tamara referenced her other daughter Sophia, seven, writing: 'While we wait for Fifi'. Mother and daughter time: This comes as Tamara shared a series of adorable snaps of her daughter Serena as the family continued their winter holiday break Adorable: The F1 heiress, 37, took to Instagram on Saturday and shared photos of her and the tot, 16 months, playing in the snow The comments were full of praise for and delight at Serena's adorableness, with one follower writing: 'Awww the tiny boots'. Another echoed: 'Too cute' while a third chimed in: 'Beautiful Riri.' On Sunday, Tamara shared another snap of Serena, sitting on the snowy floor in a white snow suit emblazoned with the word 'LOVE'. Stylish: Tamara looked effortlessly glamorous in a black padded coat, with a matching beanie and trousers One fan commented: 'Shes just so ridiculously cute'. Tamara has been living it up in the snowy resort alongside her husband Jay Rutland and their two daughters. The couple have spent much of their time in recent months abroad and spent New Year's in Florida visiting Universal Studios while they spent some of December in New York City. Looking good: She shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun with a pair of sunglasses, and beamed for the camera as she held on to her little girl Waiting: Captioning the snap, Tamara referenced her other daughter Sophia, seven, writing: 'While we wait for Fifi' They recently visited the Bahamas, where Tamara kept her fans updated on their sun-drenched holiday. It comes after Tamara previously hit back at a troll who called her youngest daughter 'an awful ugly little thing.' Tamara drew her followers' attention to cruel responses a recent set of snaps had garnered, calling the trolls out on their thoughtless remarks with screen grabs. Compliments: The comments were full of delight at Serena's adorableness, with one follower writing: 'Awww the tiny boots' In one element of Tamara's story, Sophia was seen engrossing herself in new Halloween decorations, to which someone had replied: 'Too much time and money.' 'Lucky me on both counts life is good,' the socialite said in retaliation. The same troll continued with their personal comments, responding to a picture of Serena by branding her 'an awful ugly little thing.' Cute: On Sunday, Tamara shared another snap of Serena, sitting on the snowy floor in a white snow suit emblazoned with the word 'LOVE' Tamara, daughter of Formula One legend Bernie Ecclestone, fumed: 'Wow you must feel very bad about yourself and your existence. Let me give you some helpful hints this won't make you feel better.' Another lashed out at Tamara for getting into the spirit of the autumnal celebration: 'In what world is it Halloween? You are insecure about just a normal day being enough?!' Of an image of Sophia asleep, the same user penned: 'Your obsession is getting weird, will you be doing this when she is older??' 'Oh Catherine I am so sorry about the way you feel about yourself it must be a heavy load to carry such hate. Perhaps if your mum was a little more obsessed with you you would be a nicer human now,' Tamara replied. Adrien Brody explained his multi-layered character on Succession during a visit Wednesday on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The 48-year-old Oscar-winning actor made his debut as new character Josh Aaronson in November on the hit HBO series. 'I had to write you the next day. It was such a fantastic performance,' Stephen, 57, said of Adrien's portrayal of the billionaire investor. Multi-layered billionaire: Adrien Brody explained his multi-layered character on Succession during a visit Wednesday on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert 'But the question is, how many layers are you wearing as this character? I counted six layers that you're wearing there,' Stephen said as he held up a photo of Adrien in character 'At leat, at least,' Adrien agreed. 'Why so many layers? What's that choice?,' Stephen asked. 'That's so great. And he wrote me the loveliest note. And I think my dad appreciated Stephen's note more than my work in Succession. It was really beautiful, thank you, and kind,' Adrien said. Good question: 'But the question is, how many layers are you wearing as this character? I counted six layers that you're wearing there,' Stephen said as he held up a photo of Adrien in character Adrien then revealed that the layered clothing was a 'very conscious choice on my part.' The actor explained that his understanding of business moguls is that they approach it 'like a game of chess, they're way prepared.' 'And those layers represent a preparedness for the elements,' he said. Conscious choice: Adrien then revealed that the layered clothing was a 'very conscious choice on my part' Adrien said the layered clothing became symbolic as his character went on a hike while trying to apply pressure in a business dealing. 'And we were shooting in the elements at Seaside, the character owned an island. And I figured, he's prepared. He has hiking boots. They're in their dress shoes. He wears them down. He's in a position of power. Checkmate,' he added. 'The clothes make the man,' Stephen said. Hiking scene: 'And we were shooting in the elements at Seaside, the character owned an island. And I figured, he's prepared. He has hiking boots. They're in their dress shoes. He wears them down. He's in a position of power. Checkmate,' Adrien said 'The clothes make the man. And they make the meme, because a lot of people had a lot of comments about the clothing. Someone sent me something. It was very funny,' Adrien said. The New York City native was on the CBS talk show to promote his new movie Clean that he co-wrote and co-produced while also starring and providing the music. Clean will be released Friday in theaters and on demand. SUVA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's relief supplies worth 1 million yuan (about 157,900 U.S. dollars) have arrived in Tonga's capital city of Nuku'alofa on Thursday. According to Cao Yongjun, a Suva-based representative of China National Fisheries (Group) Corporation (CNFC), CNFC's two fishing boats carrying the emergency supplies are currently docking in the Vuna wharf of Nuku'alofa for unloading. As a COVID-19-free island nation with a population of more than 100,000, Tonga now has very strict measures to prevent COVID-19 from entering into the country, he told Xinhua, adding that all ships coming to Nuku'alofa only have access to contactless delivery of dropping off aid and humanitarian supplies. Due to the anti-COVID-19 procedures, the officials from the Chinese Embassy in Tonga have been waiting outside the Vuna wharf on Thursday and they can not meet with the crew of the two Chinese vessels. The officials have been coordinating the unloading of the vessels with the parties concerned in Tonga, which has been heavily damaged by the recent volcano eruptions and tsunami caused by the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, located about 65 km north of the Tongan capital. The two Chinese vessels set sail from Fijian capital Suva on Monday afternoon. Most of the relief supplies, including drinking water, food, electric generators, water pumps, chain saws, personnel protective equipment and medical supplies, were raised by the Chinese Embassy in Fiji and the remaining was donated by the Chinese enterprises in Fiji. Cynthia Nixon promoted her revival series while taking a jab at Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday during a talk show appearance. The 55-year-old actress while appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers was reminded by the host that she was running for governor of New York last time she was on the show. 'I was,' Cynthia confirmed. Revival star: Cynthia Nixon promoted her revival series while taking a jab at Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday during a talk show appearance 'And you didn't win,' Seth said. 'No,' Cynthia agreed. 'But the guy who did win, things didn't go great for,' Seth said as the studio audience chuckled. 'And just like that, Andrew Cuomo was out of a job,' quipped Cynthia who stars in the HBO Max revival 'And Just Like That...' as Miranda Hobbes. Gubernatorial campaign: The 55-year-old actress while appearing on Late Night With Seth Meyers was reminded by the host that she was running for governor of New York last time she was on the show 'And just like that, what a lovely tie-in what a lovely tie-in,' Seth told Cynthia. Cuomo, 64, resigned as Governor of New York last August amid multiple accusations of sexual harassment. 'You know, the difference between him and me is neither of us are governor, but I still got to keep my Emmys,' Cynthia quipped. Former governor: Andrew Cuomo is shown in August 2021 after announcing his resignation as Governor of New York Good one: 'And just like that, Andrew Cuomo was out of a job,' quipped Cynthia who stars in the HBO Max revival 'And Just Like That...' as Miranda Hobbes Cuomo was stripped of the special 2020 International Emmy Award that he was bestowed in November 2020 for his COVID-19 pandemic briefings. 'That's true, he didn't even get to keep his one Emmy,' Seth said. Cynthia said her main concern with the Sex And The City revival was that it couldn't just be a reboot. Main concern: Cynthia said her main concern with the Sex And The City revival was that it couldn't just be a reboot 'It can't just be this same show 25 years, almost 25 years later. We're very different people. The world is different. It was always an unbelievably white show, which was not so cool back then and really, obviously, have to change that,' Cynthia said. 'We got a lot right in that first show, but we got some things wrong, and we got a chance to go back and change them,' she added. The 10-episode revival And Just Like That... premiered on December 9 on HBO Max. Sir David Attenborough returned to our screens this month for The Green Planet. And in scenes yet to air, the naturalist revisited a desert bush he was photographed with 40 years ago, only to find it had grown by just a quarter of an inch. The veteran broadcaster, 95, marvelled at the 'extraordinary' creosote bush which, despite its unremarkable appearance, is one of the oldest organisms on the planet. Green fingers: Sir David Attenborough, 95, revisited a desert bush he was photographed with 40 years ago, only to find it had grown by just a quarter of an inch(pictured left in 1982) For the latest episode of the BBC's The Green Planet, the programme's team scoured the area of the Mojave desert in California. They used Google Earth to find the exact bush that Sir David visited in 1982 for his series Living Planet. With a large camera crane, similar to the one that was used 40 years ago, they were able to film the very same shot. Explaining his old acquaintance's process of 'hibernation', Sir David said: 'The creosote bush is an example of one of the techniques that desert-living plants have as the cacti live in the desert by storing water. Time-lapse: The programme's team used Google Earth to find the exact bush that Sir David visited in 1982 for his series Living Planet 'There are some plants, of which the creosote bush is an example, which decides that it will simply hibernate in between very rare showers of rain, which may happen only once every five years. 'So although any individual stem is not particularly old, the plant itself is one of the oldest of all advanced plants in the world.' The desert episode includes a sequence in which Sir David exclaims: 'Well, here it is, I was here 40 years ago, let's see how much it's grown in that time. 'The answer is...after an awfully extensive measuring, is only a quarter of an inch. Extraordinary.' Lights, camera, action! The veteran broadcaster marvelled at the 'extraordinary' creosote bush which, despite its unremarkable appearance, is one of the oldest organisms on the planet Green Planet producer Paul Williams said the specimen was 'truly a wonder of the natural world'. 'In this episode David becomes a time traveller,' he said. 'He is the only person that can do that because he's the only person that's travelled to so many places over the years. 'When I saw the original sequence I thought it'd be great to return and see if anything had changed as I knew how slowly these plants grow. 'It took a long time to track down, because very few people had heard of this remarkable individual - it seemed to have been forgotten. Sir David: Episode four of The Green Planet, Desert Worlds airs on BBC One at 7pm on Sunday January 30 'As we transition from the old footage of David in 1982 to our shot of David in 2022, we see that in four decades the plant has barely changed. 'It is truly a wonder of the natural world and I am so excited that we can reintroduce it to the world.' Sir David has said he hopes The Green Planet series will 'bring home' the importance of plants to the public. The new series from the BBC's Natural History Unit uses ground-breaking filming techniques to show viewers the intricate lives of plants and the ecosystems that flourish around them. Episode four of The Green Planet, Desert Worlds airs on BBC One at 7pm on Sunday January 30. They've been friends for nearly two decades. So Carey Mulligan ensured she turned out to support good pal Jamie Dornan at a screening for his new movie, Belfast, in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Clad in a boucle trouser suit, the actress, 36, exuded glamour while enjoying a catch up with the Irish actor, 39. Delightful duo: Carey Mulligan looked chic in a fringed boucle suit as she supported close pal Jamie Dornan at a Belfast screening in Los Angeles on Wednesday Carey's cream co-ord complemented her tanned complexion and featured eye-catching fringed hem. Opting for minimal makeup, the BAFTA winning star allowed her natural beauty to shine through and styled her glossy chestnut locks in loose waves to frame her pretty features. Looking equally as stylish was Jamie, who cut a dapper figure in a tailored charcoal grey suit. Glamorous: Carey's cream co-ord complemented her tanned complexion and featured eye-catching fringed hem while minimal makeup allowed her natural beauty to shine through Carey and Jamie have been friends for 18 years after meeting on the set of Pride and Prejudice in which Carey starred alongside Jamie's then-girlfriend Keira Knightley. Reflecting on their friendship in a joint chat with Interview magazine, Jamie said: 'I love that Ive known you that long, and literally since your first ever job. I think its so cool, but then its also like, My god, thats such a long time, because we still feel young, right?' Carey added: 'Oh, god, yeah. I still feel like Im an ingenue, and I know for a fact that Im not anymore. Im so indoctrinated into believing that Im an ingenue, because I was one for so long, and now Im not. I only play mothers. Its terrifying.' They've got history: Carey and Jamie have been friends for 18 years after meeting on the set of Pride and Prejudice in which Carey starred alongside Jamie's then-girlfriend Keira Knightley Jamie has been on the press trail for Belfast, which chronicles the life of a working class family and their young son's childhood during The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s. It is a semi-autobiographical story of director Kenneth Branagh's childhood and sees Jude Hill take on the lead role under the name of Buddy. Jamie plays Buddy's father in the new film, with Outlander star Caitriona Balfe taking on the role of mother. One-time Channel Seven star Andrew O'Keefe was filmed kicking and screaming in the back of a police van on Thursday, after being charged with assault. It was just the latest in a long line of sad scandals for the former Deal or No Deal host, who used to be one of Australia's most popular TV presenters. From once being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his extensive television and charity work to Thursday's outburst, the 50-year-old has had a difficult journey over recent years. Decline: Thursday's outburst in the back of a police van by Andrew O'Keefe (pictured in 2019) was just the latest in a long line of sad scandals for the former Deal or No Deal host January 2022 assault allegations O'Keefe was charged on Thursday over allegations he choked, punched and kicked a woman at his city centre bachelor pad. Police allege the former host of The Chase Australia assaulted the 38-year-old woman after meeting her to discuss starting a business together at his unit on Kent Street in the Sydney CBD on Tuesday. O'Keefe was refused bail on Thursday afternoon and taken away to a police cell, with Daily Mail Australia capturing confronting footage of a handcuffed O'Keefe shouting obscenities and kicking the walls of a police van, telling officers to 'get rid of the journalists'. 'F*** you, I'm a victim of crime. I'm a victim of crime you f***wits. F*** off,' he screamed as he repeatedly kicked the windows of the vehicle's cell. Fallen hero: O'Keefe was charged on Thursday over allegations he choked, punched and kicked a woman at his city centre bachelor pad. (Pictured hosting The Chase Australia) Outburst: O'Keefe was refused bail on Thursday afternoon and taken away to a police cell, with Daily Mail Australia capturing confronting footage of a handcuffed O'Keefe shouting obscenities and kicking the walls of a police van (pictured above) Old job: O'Keefe used to be one of Seven's biggest stars. He is pictured here in August 2006 with two 'briefcase girls' during his days hosting afternoon game show Deal or No Deal Police will allege O'Keefe had invited the woman over to his apartment in Sydney's CBD on Tuesday afternoon to have a business discussion before the meeting turned violent. 'A verbal argument ensued between the pair, before the man allegedly assaulted the woman grabbing her by the throat, pushing her to the ground and punching her,' a police spokesman said. O'Keefe then allegedly assaulted the woman a second time by punching and kicking her. The woman then left the unit and reported the alleged assault on Wednesday, police said. On Thursday afternoon police confirmed they had charged O'Keefe with two counts of intentionally choking a person without consent, three counts of common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Business: Police will allege O'Keefe (pictured June 2021) had invited the woman over to his apartment in Sydney's CBD on Tuesday afternoon to have a business discussion before the meeting turned violent 2021 assault allegations In January 2021, O'Keefe was charged with slapping, kicking and spitting on his doctor girlfriend in a row over an ice pipe she claimed he was carrying at a party. He appeared before Sydney's Waverley Local Court on June 25, charged with three counts of assaulting his ex-lover of two years, Dr Orly Lavee. Two of the charges, which occurred at their home in Randwick, were dismissed on mental health grounds - although his lawyers indicated he would have otherwise pleaded guilty to them. A third assault charge related to an alleged incident at Kangaroo Valley earlier in the year was withdrawn by prosecutors. The court heard Mr O'Keefe, who suffers bipolar and substance abuse disorders, was in a 'hyper-manic' state during his dispute with Dr Lavee at their home on January 30 after the couple attended a birthday party in Surry Hills. Magistrate Ross Hudson found Mr O'Keefe was remorseful and contrite. Incident: In January 2021, O'Keefe was charged with slapping, kicking and spitting on his girlfriend Dr Orly Lavee in a row over an ice pipe she claimed he was carrying at a party. Two of the charges were dismissed on mental health grounds and a third assault charge related to an alleged incident at Kangaroo Valley earlier in the year was withdrawn by prosecutors. (O'Keefe is pictured here in 2012 with now ex-wife Eleanor Campbell) Sad: Following the assault allegations, Channel Seven dumped O'Keefe and replaced him as host of The Chase Australia with Larry Emdur. Pictured in February 2021 Following the assault allegations, Channel Seven dumped Andrew and replaced him as host of The Chase Australia with Larry Emdur. In February, Seven confirmed he was no longer with the network and said it was 'very concerned' about the charges. Then in September of that same year, O'Keefe pleaded not guilty to domestic violence charges, with a court hearing police have 'extensive footage' of the night he allegedly assaulted a woman in a separate matter. During the confrontation Mr O'Keefe allegedly became aggressive and then spat at the woman and scratched her arm. He then felt dizzy and short of breath and was transported to hospital for assessment but was later arrested. He spent the night at Surry Hills Police Station. A hearing for that matter is set for August 2022. Heights: In 2017, O'Keefe was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his charity work, namely as chairman of White Ribbon Australia, an organisation whose stated goal is to help eradicate violence against women. Seen here in July 2003 Tired: Andrew displayed rather unusual behaviour during coverage of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby's return to Australia on Weekend Sunrise in May 2017 Erratic behaviour during coverage of Schapelle Corby's return to Australia O'Keefe displayed rather unusual behaviour during coverage of convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby's return to Australia on Weekend Sunrise in May 2017. The former lawyer looked tired during the live broadcast and, at times, his speech appeared to be slurred. He struggled to find the right words, slouched in his chair and occasionally burst out into laughter. That same year, O'Keefe was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his charity work, namely as chairman of White Ribbon Australia, an organisation whose stated goal is to help eradicate violence against women. Worrying: In November 2008, video footage was obtained by The Herald Sun that saw Andrew trying to smoke a cigarette all while stumbling and collapsing into a gutter Collapsing into a gutter after a night out in Melbourne In November 2008, video footage was obtained by The Herald Sun that saw Andrew trying to smoke a cigarette all while stumbling and collapsing into a gutter. The TV personality had been enjoying a night out drinking at Melbourne nightclub Revolver, well into the early hours of the morning. The clip saw a blonde companion attempting to help him. Seven soon went into damage control, releasing a statement insisting O'Keefe was 'a family man' and that he 'never set out to deliberately offend anyone'. Felicity Kendal headed out for a solo shopping trip in Chelsea on Thursday and treated herself to some perfumed goodies. The 75-year-old actress and thespian wrapped up in a black padded coat but kept the zip undone, showing a glimpse of her retail therapy attire. The Good Life star had blue at the heart of her ensemble - a pale hued shirt completed by a chic navy scarf, which was decorated with green spots. Out and about: Felicity Kendal, 75, treated herself to a spot of retail therapy in Chelsea on Thursday while layering up against the cold with a padded coat Ensuring she'd be comfortable while hitting the streets of south-west London, the mother-of-four wore black plimsolls to match her trousers. Evidence of her purchases was highlighted by a large Jo Malone bag - and while she dipped in and out of shops, she sported a safety covering. A slew of gold necklaces accessorised her look and a sweep of bronze defined her cheekbones. Felicity did not leave the house without her Prada waistbag, the perfect appendage to carry her belongings. Outing: The Good Life star had blue at the heart of her ensemble - a pale hued shirt completed by a chic navy scarf Ensemble: Felicity's scarf was decorated with green spots Trendy: Felicity did not leave the house without her Prada waistbag, the perfect appendage to carry her belongings Comfort is key: Ensuring she'd be comfortable while hitting the streets of south-west London, the mother-of-four wore black plimsolls to match her trousers Last summer, Felicity revealed the secret to staying fit and healthy is working out three times a week. The Warwickshire-born claimed variety is the spice of life as she uses numerous exercises to stay young. Speaking to The Lady Magazine, she said: 'I work out three times a week, a mixture of stretching, yoga and weights. I've also mastered press-ups. I'm so pleased. Now, if I could only stand on my head.' Candid: Last summer, Felicity revealed the secret to staying fit and healthy is working out three times a week (pictured November 2021) For Felicity, who began her acting career at the age of 19, she wants to maintain good health to continue working as she isn't ready to hang up her thespian gloves just yet. When asked if she plans to retire, she responded: 'Not at all! Theres a kind of relaxation in doing the work you like doing simply for the work itself. You're judged only on how you do it. 'When you're younger the competition is much greater. That's quite stressful. When you get to my age there aren't so many people left, so there's less pressure. 'You've passed from ingenue to leading lady and beyond. If you can be working at 17 and still working at 70-something, you've made it through.' Carol Vorderman shared her pride for her daughter Katie King, 31, on Thursday as she passed her PHD in nanotechnology from Cambridge University. Taking to Instagram the TV presenter, 61, shared a snap of her lookalike daughter alongside a lengthily caption outlining her daughters incredible achievement. Saying 'single parenting ain't that bad after all', Carol revealed her first born can 'now call herself DOCTOR KATIE KING.' Happy news! Carol Vorderman gushed over her lookalike daughter Katie King, 31, on Thursday as she passed her PHD in nanotechnology from Cambridge University The former Countdown host also took to her Instagram stories to tease the good news saying: 'Have rarely been as happy as right now. It's like driving for miles and all the lights are on green.' The star, who herself read engineering at Cambridge, shared a carousel of snaps with her 206K followers, including a side profile snap of Katie smiling and a picture of a coffee cup, which read Dr. Katie King, from the Cambridge University grounds. Written on the scenic snap was: 'My girl katie.science. Grafter. Brilliant. Scientist. Funny. Stunning. She passed her PHD in nanotechnology @cambridgeuniversity, I couldn't be prouder of more hungover.' Exciting news: Taking to Instagram the TV presenter shared a snap of Katie (pictured) alongside a lengthily caption outlining her incredible achievement Written on the scenic snap was: 'My girl katie.science. Grafter. Brilliant. Scientist. Funny. Stunning. She passed her PHD in nanotechnology @cambridgeuniversity, I couldn't be prouder of more hungover' Captioning the emotional post Carol wrote: 'Yesterday my girl Katie passed her 'viva'....an interrogation of her PhD thesis by a panel of examiners. 'She can now call herself DOCTOR KATIE KING. It's all she has ever wanted to be since being a little girl. 'A Cambridge research scientist and then to become an astronaut....like you do. She added: 'Her thesis was about the delivery of a new cancer drug. The drug is hydrophobic (doesn't mix with water) and so can be used instead of a chemotherapy technique as it does not mix with blood. Doctor: The star shared a carousel of snaps with her 206K followers, including a side profile snap of Katie smiling The star continued: 'Hopefully at some point this will help cancer sufferers not have to endure the all encompassing effects of chemotherapy. She is part of a big research team working at @cambridgeuniversity and with Astra Zeneca 'Katie's research is about how to then deliver it specifically to the tumour. She's using nanotechnology and in particular gold nano particles. The star continued: 'Hopefully at some point this will help cancer sufferers not have to endure the all encompassing effects of chemotherapy. She is part of a big research team working at @cambridgeuniversity and with Astra Zeneca. 'So here's me as her Mum. So proud. I know all the struggles she's overcome, and the hard graft she's put in to become this fine young woman. Celebrations! Carol declared she was embarking on 'a two day bender'- presumably in celebration of her off springs incredible news Sharing a hungover snap in an oversized camouflage jacket with cream fur hood she wrote: 'Hungover face definitely needs sunnies' 'I don't want this feeling to stop. She's on top of the world...and quite honestly I am too and so is her little brother Cameron. What a lucky mother I am. Single parenting ain't that bad after all.' Sharing a hungover snap in an oversized camouflage jacket embellished with a cream fur hood she wrote: 'Hungover face definitely needs sunnies.' Yesterday Carol took to Instagram to tease she had received the 'best news ever'. She looked amazing as she showed off her tiny waist in a figure-hugging denim button-up jumpsuit as she declared she was embarking on 'a two day bender'- presumably in celebration of her off springs incredible news. Wow! Last year, Carol announced Katie was applied for a job as an astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA) Last year, Carol announced Katie was applying for a job as an astronaut with the European Space Agency (ESA). She took to Twitter to share her delight at the prospect, as she said her daughter was 'beyond excited' about the opportunity to apply for the coveted position. She shared a post from the ESA which was advertising job vacancies for astronauts for 'the first time in 11 years'. The ESA post read: 'For the first time in 11 years, we're looking for new #astronauts. Media representatives are invited to a virtual press event on Tuesday, 16 February, to learn more about these exciting #YourWayToSpace #ESArecruits (sic)' And Carol quoted the tweet, and added: 'My girl is to infinity and beyond excited about this..... she's applying .... xx go Katie ... (sic)'. Carol shares Katie and 25-year-old son Cameron with her ex-husband Patrick King. Coronation Street star Sean Ward has revealed he is homeless after speaking out against the coronavirus vaccine. The 33-year-old actor previously played villainous drug-dealer Callum Logan in the ITV soap, but claims that work has 'dried up' after he shared his anti-vax views. Sean has been an outspoken anti-lockdown campaigner and was arrested in September as a violent mob of anti-vaxxers battled with police at a protest in Canary Wharf. In a lengthy Instagram post, Sean claimed that without any work he was unable to pay his mortgage or for his car and has been forced to sleep in a friend's spare room, with the stress of his financial woes causing his hair and teeth to fall out. Saying his piece: Ex Coronation Street star Sean Ward has revealed he is homeless after anti-vax views caused work to 'dry up' with stress making his teeth fall out (pictured March 2021) Sean wrote: 'Firstly the work dried up. No one would hire me whether in front of or behind the camera, all my usual ways of making money just stopped, eventually I couldn't afford the rent. 'So I gave up my 4 bed house and move onto my friend's couch. I had to put all my belongings into storage. After a while I couldn't afford to pay the storage bill and after about 4 weeks of missing the payments equating to about 500 Safe store UK sold all belongings. 'My sofa, my bed frame, my office equipment, desk, chair, wardrobes, mirrors, all my coats and clothes and my projector.' (sic) Sean - who also starred in BBC military drama Our Girl alongside Michelle Keegan - went on to reveal that he is now sleeping on his old mattress in a friend's spare room, but claimed it was 'all worth it'. He added: 'Luckily I got my mattress out in time and I've been sleeping on that in a friend's spare room for over a year now. He has given me a safe space when I really needed it. 'I haven't paid any rent to this man and it makes me extremely tearful when I think how amazing that really is. Was it all worth it? Yes! If I've saved one life then yes.' Screen star: Sean played villainous drug-dealer Callum Logan on Coronation Street (pictured with co-star Jack P Shepherd) The actor went on to the claim the stress of the last few months caused physical problems, writing: I kept pushing on. Then the stress mounted so much much my teeth began to fall out. 'I know this is hard to understand but it's true. I've been living with the worst teeth for a year now, then my beard began to fall out.' Last September, Sean was part of a mob that battled with officers as they attempted to get through the doors of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)'s headquarters in east London. Four officers were hurt as protesters tried to storm the HQ where Covid jabs were approved. SEAN'S WOES IN HIS OWN WORDS So two years after a long deliberation I decided I could no longer stay quiet. I raised my head from the trenches and joined the ranks that many would consider conspiracy theorists and tin foil hat wearing fools. I stood my ground, did my research, spending hours and hours reading peer reviewed studies and following data happening in real time. I tried to track adverse reactions around the world - connecting with people from Australia to Japan. I opened my inbox to anyone struggling and was always available to help 24/7 and still am. For over a year I spent all day, everyday on Instagram messages, debating and trying to show my findings to anyone who would listen. I made myself very ill taking on other people's problems. Whether that be someone's depression or feeling alone at home in all this. Or the fear that by posting such outrageous information I was responsible for innocent deaths - which many people have accused me of, as well as having a god complex and doing this all for my ego. I travelled from Manchester to London for over a year every month. Spending all my savings on supporting the movement and protests meeting some of the most incredible people. However, no one really knows how much this has affected me and I want to try and explain just a little of the things I've gone through. Firstly the work dried up. NO ONE would hire me. Whether in front or behind the camera, all my usual ways of making money just stopped, eventually I couldn't afford my rent. So I gave up my four bed house and moved onto my friend's couch. I had to put all my belongings into storage. After a while I couldn't afford to pay the storage bill and after four weeks of missing the payments - equating to about 500 - Safe Store UK sold all my belongings. My sofa, my bed frame, my office equipment, desk, chair, wardrobes, mirrors, all my coats and clothes and my projector. Everything to fill a full family house. My whole life was in that storage unit. I lost it all. I was devastated but couldn't ask anyone for help because it was my choice to speak out. Luckily I got my mattress out in time and I've been sleeping on that in a friend's spare room for over a year now. I can't thank him enough. He has given me a safe space when I really needed it. I haven't paid any rent to this man. And it makes me extremely tearful when I think how amazing that actually is. You know who you are and I'm eternally grateful! Again, I accepted the loss and I pushed on. A few months passed and I now couldn't afford to keep my car. My Honda Civic (my beautiful Jenny) eventually it was taken and destroyed by the DVLA. Again my fault for not being on top of my own s**t, but it's because I didn't care about myself, or my life. It's quite hard to when you have evidence on your phone to prove the governments around the world are committing mass genocide of the elderly. So no car. No belongings. No hope. I kept pushing on. Then the stress mounted so much my teeth began to fall out. I lost so much weight, I was mentally drained and felt so lost on my own. Was it all worth it? Years! If I've saved one life then yes - it doesn't end there though. Then the wonderful BBC (my biggest employer for the last seven years of my acting career) decided to commission a documentary about me. They harassed my sister asking her to come on the show to speak with the BBC's very own 'conspiracy agony aunt' to help me with my 'delusions'. Implying I'm suffering from mental health and even celebrities can fall down rabbit holes and lose touch with reality. They found my sister on Facebook, somehow found her work, sending lengthy emails trying to get my own family to discredit me on national TV. I was heartbroken. Luckily my sister is on my team and would never sell me out, but it felt like a personal attack and by bringing my family into it made me extremely angry. All I have ever done is try and create a safe space for people to discuss their judgement or fear of being called crazy. The press have ran articles about me saying I'll never work again. The police arrested me and that was front page news. It's really been hard for me and when people say thanks for speaking out it means so much but it's come at a steep price for me. I'm not hiding this reality anymore, I need support and I need help to move forward with my life. I've set up @onlyfactstelevision and plan to work really hard to build a new life for myself. I want to go to every major city and speak to people on the street. We need genuine public opinion now to push this s**t show over the edge. If you can support me in any way then please let me know. I want to keep helping people as the clean up to this mess will be even worse than the last two years we've all endured. Thank you for reading all this it really means a lot. I can't lie I'm knackered, we are all in this fight but I can't and won't stop. I've always used my social media to show the reality of my life and remove the veil of deceit that comes with these apps. Life is fake. Social media even more so. Everyday and now moving into a metaverse it's going to be even easier for people to lie and cheat and delude themselves onto pretending their life is something it isn't. Whilst sitting alone deep in depression projecting the dream. We all need to do better. We all need to be braver and stronger and support each other. It's not weakness to admit everything isn't perfect. And you're not alone because we all feel the same way. Thanks for all the love and support. Advertisement Sean was seen in video clips struggling with police officers who were attempting to detain him and was later pictured being walked away in handcuffs. The MHRA is a Government body regulating medicines, medical devices and blood components for transfusion - and is responsible for approving Covid-19 vaccines. Back in March, Sean shared an angry rant telling fans not to have a Covid vaccine, claiming it'll turn them into 'super-spreaders'. The star posted his nonsensical argument to Instagram Stories, just days after he was slammed for joining thousands of mask-free protesters for an anti-lockdown march through London. Sean struggled to hide his emotion as he faced the camera to talk about survival rate statistics on the same day research claimed to have found vaccinations spared more than 6,000 lives by the end of February. Arrest: Sean was arrested at an anti-vax protest in London last September Sean, who has also appeared in Coronation Street, said: 'This is just your daily reminder that Covid-19 has an effective survival rate of 99.96 per cent if you are age 0 to 60 with or without an underlying health condition. 'The vaccine has 95. The Johnson & Johnson has 81. So you're taking the medicine that is putting you more at risk from dying to Covid and you don't see the problem here [sic]. 'Stop. Stop with the vaccine. The more you have the vaccine, the closer we are to them coming to vaccinate the kids. ' He then continued, tapping his head, as he said: 'Don't take a medicine that is going to give you a less than effective chance to beat the virus. Come on. Common sense.' Protesting: The Our Girl star was slammed for joining thousands of mask-free protesters for an anti-lockdown march through London last year (pictured at the demonstration) More than 28million Britons have so far had their Covid jabs, with Pfizer, Oxford AstraZeneca and the Moderna vaccinations all being used in the UK. And speaking as new data was revealed on Thursday suggesting more than 6,000 lives have been saved by vaccinations since February, Dr Mary Ramsay reassured people of their 'excellent safety record'. Dr Ramsay, PHE head of immunisation, said: 'The vaccines have an excellent safety record and I would encourage anyone who is offered a vaccine to take it as soon as possible.' She also reminded people to continue 'practising good hand hygiene and staying at home' while more data is gathered on how well they impact rates of transmission. Despite the new data and government guidelines, Sean continued to voice his own theory and admitted he'd lost followers for airing his thoughts. Angry: Sean became emotional as he shared his thoughts with his 165K Instagram followers asking them to use 'common sense' He said: 'Me as an asymptomatic person gets f*****g s**t flung at them. I lost over a couple of thousand followers because I'm asymptomatic and could now spread it. 'So if you take the vaccine, you get low to no symptoms. Low to no symptoms, that's what a vaccine does. It doesn't stop transmission, so you can still pass it onto someone, but you're going to have low to no symptoms. 'Which I'm sorry, makes you asymptomatic. It turns YOU into a super-spreader, at a 95% survival rate. And we're the f*****g nut jobs. The vaccine is not safe. Stop.' Not done with his Stories sessions, Sean returned to Instagram later in the day to claim that 'the science is being suppressed' and say he's going to have to do a post soon about 'World War Three'. Out of line: Sean was condemned by social media followers after taking part in an anti-lockdown demonstration over the weekend Freedom: The actor posted a lengthy Instagram post in which he outlined his reasons for taking part in the controversial march in London on Sunday Sean's rant came after he was condemned by social media followers after taking part in an anti-lockdown demonstration. The Our Girl star joined thousands of mask-free protesters as they thoughtlessly marched from Hyde Park to St Paul's Cathedral and back to Westminster ahead of the anniversary of the first UK lockdown, which began on March 23 2020. Sean filmed himself travelling to London by car before taking part in the mass event, from which she shared a series of video updates on Instagram. Speaking out: Ward insisted 'the psychological trauma so many people have been put under has to end' Getting involved: The Our Girl star joined thousands of mask-free protesters as they thoughtlessly marched from Hyde Park to St Paul's Cathedral and back to Westminster Without a face covering in sight, the actor - who has also appeared in Coronation Street - posed for cheerful selfies with pals as they crammed in to rally against restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. 'Worst Bill since Gates,' he announced in reference to Britain's third national lockdown. 'This is happening all over the world now, in every major city. This shouldn't be happening, we shouldn't need to convince this many people. 'The psychological trauma that so many people have been put under has to end. Someone has to be held accountable for it.' Captioning a video of the demonstration, he added: 'Over 80,000 people. All ages. Races. Creeds. All standing together for our basic human rights. I know it's easy to give up our rights in such terrible times as now hoping you're doing your bit and helping but it won't be temporary. 'Once we loose the right to protest and your basic human rights. It's game over. The irony of it all is we can't all be crazy. Look at how many people are there. That's 80,000 mums, dads brothers sisters. 'We aren't all conspiracy theorist who hate the nhs. Quite the opposite. I have nhs whistleblowers in my DMs. Theres a lot going on behind the smoke and mirrors of constant fear. It's deep. Stay powerful.' [sic] Not happy: Followers were divided over Ward's decision to get involved, with many slamming him for his perceived stupidity However his appearance at the event divided his 164,000 Instagram followers, with many slamming the star for his perceived stupidity. Commenting on the post, one disappointed fan wrote: 'Sorry Sean but I am unfollowing you, I've been here since our girl started and I've stayed because everyone is entitled to their own opinions but promoting this is a step too far for me whilst my friends husband is currently fighting for his life and all these people who won't vaccinate and protest are just spreaders. Shame on you all.' A second added: 'I don't understand this. Do these people not believe covid is real or don't believe in the vaccine or don't care which is it??? We know the vaccine doesn't stop the virus spreading. But medical research shows us its 99% effective in lowering the awful symptoms. 'No one's claiming it cures the virus. I'm confused as to what these people are angry about? Freedom? I'm pretty free here sitting in the park enjoying the sun mask on if need be near many people. What's the issue? People are dying from this god awful virus. Stop this. You'd soon all need the NHS if you caught it. These NHS workers and key workers. Thank god for them!' Bare faced cheek: Without a face covering in sight, the actor posed for cheerful selfies with pals as they crammed in to rally against restrictions brought about by the coronavirus pandemic Packed: Thousands of protesters waving signs marched through central London after meeting earlier in the afternoon in Hyde Park While a third commented: 'We are in lockdown!! Wtf! Ridiculous. Irresponsible. What a k**b. How to ruin your 'career.'' Another furious follower wrote: 'Idiots. And to think they allow people like you to breed. SHAKE MY HEAD.' Elsewhere others supported Ward, with one writing: 'Why people announce they are unfollowing what do you want him to say please don't, he was fighting for your freedom, even if you don't agree, and hundreds and thousands more were around the world love and light. Familiar face: Laurence Fox was seen attending the rally in Hyde Park London. The actor is fighting to become the next mayor of London Keep on: However others supported Ward and his decision to go on Sunday's march 'Seemingly in agreement, a second added: 'Absolutely love this! Gutted I couldn't go.' The Metropolitan Police walked with protesters on their route along Oxford Street, Chancery Lane, the Embankment and Parliament Square before heading up Whitehall. Among those attending the march were controversial actor Laurence Fox and Piers Corbyn, brother of the former Labour Party leader Jeremy. Crowds that gathered in Trafalgar Square were dispersed, while other demonstrators returned to Hyde Park. But police were met with more hostile responses later in the evening, as protesters threw bottles and cans at them and some officers were later forced to run back to their vans. A group of around 100 chased police vehicles, punching and kicking them, as they left the area. Dallas star Patrick Duffy and Happy Days' Linda Purl candidly discussed their romance and how they fell in love on Zoom in an interview on Thursday's This Morning. Patrick, 72, and Linda, 66, looked smitten as they chatted about how sparks began to fly during a group text chat in 2020- before they started FaceTiming before graduating to 'two to three hour' Zoom calls every night. The pair will star in a new production of the classic Broadway thriller, Catch Me If You can, which begins a nationwide tour next month. Lockdown love story: Dallas star Patrick Duffy and Happy Days' Linda Purl candidly discussed their romance and how they fell in love on Zoom in an interview on Thursday's This Morning Patrick said: 'Its a Covid romance. We didnt sit in the same room for almost four months but we spoke to each other everyday. 'We kept texting and texting became Facetime and for two and a half months plus we zoomed every night for two or three hours. We didnt have that thing after the third dinner, do I kiss? Do I take her to my house? Linda, who played Ashley Pfister in season 10 of Happy Days in the early 1980s, added: 'As we were about to do the end meeting, Patrick says "see you tomorrow love you." Patrick, who played Bobby Ewing on Dallas said: 'The next day we zoomed it was like"hi". I got into my car and drove 23 hours to her door step and weve never been apart.' Patrick said: 'The next day we zoomed it was like"hi". I got into my car and drove 23 hours to her door step and weve never been apart' Linda continued: 'I dont think it would have happened otherwise because in our normal lives pre-pandemic we wouldnt have had three hours to Zoom but we did.' Branding Linda 'the most beautiful thing in the world' Patrick said: 'I wasnt looking for (love) but it found me.' Patrick and Linda began dating in July 2020. Describing their relationship in an interview back in November 2020, Patrick said he had given up on the idea of dating again following the passing of his wife, ballet dancer Carlyn Rosser, who succumbed to cancer in 2017. The pair were married for over four decades and had two sons: Padraic, 46, and Conor. 40. 'I wasn't looking for it. I didn't feel I needed it and then fate just went swoosh! and changed the perspective,' he said of their love last year. TV icons: Patrick is best known for his role playing handsome nice guy Bobby Ewing on Dallas (left) while Linda played Fonzie's girlfriend on Happy Days Smitten: Patrick, 72, and Linda, 66, looked smitten as they chatted about how sparks began to fly during a group text chat in 2020- before they started FaceTiming before graduating to 'two to three hour' Zoom calls every night Love it: The pair looked in great spirits as they were interviewed on the show 'We started texting and then FaceTiming and then Zooming We did a two-to-three-hour Zoom every single night You get to know somebody really well when you do that.' The actor loved chatting to Linda during the lockdown, and once restrictions were eased, he wasted no time in rushing to see her. He shared: 'At the end of those two and half months, we were feeling a little different than just casual friendship, so I packed up my car, I drove 20 hours, and I was on her doorstep. 'I asked permission if I could kiss her, and we've been together ever since.' Patrick admitted that his romance with Linda came as a complete surprise. The actor explained that after his wife's death, he never imagined he'd fall in love again. He confessed: 'I never thought for a minute this would happen again. I never thought I'd feel this way again. I'm in an incredibly happy relationship.' Linda is mother to son Lucius Cary, 26, who she shares with ex husband Alexander Cary. She has been married four times in total but has no other children. Madelaine Petsch and Noomi Rapace were among the glamorous arrivals at the Fendi Couture show during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday. The Riverdale actress, 27, cut a striking figure in a patterened orange, brown and white mini-dress, which showcased her toned pins. Madelaine styled the thigh-grazing number with a pair of tan knee-high boots, which only boosted her petite frame during the outing. Arrival: Madelaine Petsch and Noomi Rapace were among the glamorous arrivals at the Fendi Couture show during Paris Fashion Week on Thursday The Netflix star wore her auburn tresses in a bouncy blown out style and opted for a full face of make-up in a peachy pallet to enhance her good looks. She carried her essentials in a small black handbag. Madelaine was previously spotted attending Elie Saab's Haute Couture Spring/ Summer 2022 show at Le Carreau Du Temple, Paris. Meanwhile, Swedish actress Noomi, 42, opted for a Gothic look in a full-length black lace gown with cut-out detailing across her chest. Lacy lady: Meanwhile, Swedish actress Noomi, 42, opted for a Gothic look in a full-length black lace gown with cut-out detailing across her chest Leggy! The Riverdale actress, 27, cut a striking figure in a patterened orange, brown and white mini-dress, which showcased her toned pins The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star layered the look with a heavy black cape, while accessorising with a pair of gold hoop earrings. Noomi wore her brunette locks swept back and opted for dramatic make-up with a pair of statement false lashes. U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour was in attendance to oversee proceedings, wearing a cream tweed coat over a brightly coloured floral dress. Pose! Madelaine styled the thigh-grazing number with a pair of tan knee-high boots, which only boosted her petite frame during the outing Gothic glamour: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo star layered the look with a heavy black cape, while accessorising with a pair of gold hoop earrings Chic: U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour was in attendance to oversee proceedings, wearing a cream tweed coat over a brightly coloured floral dress Anna, 72, continued in her theme of clashing prints by also adding a pair of snakeskin heeled boots to the showstopping outfit. She accessorised with a tan scarf, her signature oversized sunglasses and a black face mask. The show is one of 16 live runways taking place during the week. Only eight runway shows took place last season due to COVID severely limiting which fashion houses could stage a public event. Another seven houses will stage physical and video presentations for editors and clients this year; and a further six will be purely digital displays. Wow! Miss Fame is the stage name of Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen, an American model Radiant: Noomi wore her brunette locks swept back and opted for dramatic make-up with a pair of statement false lashes And Just Like That... viewers admitted their jaws dropped when Anthony Marentino brought a Holocaust denier to a Jewish dinner at the York-Goldenblatt's during episode nine of the Sex And The City reboot. Anthony asked his date Justin to the dinner, but fans were shocked by an anti-semitic jibe made within moments of the new couple arriving, as his beau questioned: 'Is this a Jewish dinner? You know the Holocaust is a hoax, right?' While Harry - who is a member of the Jewish faith and had just welcomed Justin in the property - looked speechless, Anthony immediately ordered him to 'get out' of their home without missing a beat. Shocking: And Just Like That... viewers admitted their jaws dropped when Anthony Marentino brought a Holocaust denier to a Jewish dinner at the York-Goldenblatt's during episode nine of the Sex And The City reboot Although Justin was quickly booted out of the apartment, fans of the reboot questioned the ill timing of the HB0 episode, which was aired on Holocaust Memorial Day [January 27]. Noting that the episode had been shown on the same day the millions of people who were murdered during the Holocaust are remembered, many took to Twitter to complain about the coincedence. One person wrote: 'The Holocause comment. On premier date for Europe: The 27th of January. Yeah, not great in my opinion, however, I'm not trying to be petty. 'I have no idea what is going on with these series anymore... #AndJustLikeThat.' Unimpressed: Anthony asked his date Justin to the dinner, but fans were shocked by an anti-semitic jibe made within moments of the new couple arriving, as his beau questioned: 'Is this a Jewish dinner? You know the Holocaust is a hoax, right?' Reaction: Although Justin was quickly booted out of the apartment, fans of the reboot questioned the ill timing of the HB0 episode, which was aired on Holocaust Memorial Day [January 27]' Another person who also noticed, said: 'I can't believe they allowed the scene where Anthony's date said the Holocause is a hoax. 'You'd think after 23 years and writers would know what ISN'T appropriate. Especially considering in Australia it's International Holocause Remembrance Day.' A third person, wrote: 'You know the Holocaust is a hoax right. GET OUT. Said on Holocaust Memorial Day. Right, that being said Anthony sold this guy on being intelligent and reading every book there is, think he missed some.' Welcome: Just after Lily had asked her mother Charlotte to teach her how to insert a tampon, the doorbell rang and she dashed to the door to welcome the new couple Charlotte said: 'Welcome, welcome so nice to meet you!' Former flame: Anthony is still married to his husband Standford Blatch - who is played by late actor Willie Garson - but he has moved to Japan and the two are separated Earlier in the episode, Anthony described his new man as 'intelligent and well read', however he was apparently not the best judge of character. Anthony is still married to his husband Standford Blatch - who is played by late actor Willie Garson - but he has moved to Japan and the two are separated. Just after Lily had asked her mother Charlotte to teach her how to insert a tampon, the doorbell rang and she dashed to the door to welcome the new couple. Charlotte said: 'Welcome, welcome so nice to meet you!' Anthony then replied: 'Justin, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, Justin.' Announcing she had to go and help Lily briefly, Charlotte said: 'Come in, come in. I just have to run and take care of one thing really quickly' Announcing she had to go and help Lily briefly, Charlotte said: 'Come in, come in. I just have to run and take care of one thing really quickly.' She then addressed Harry, and said: 'Honey could you please make these gentleman some drinks, I just have to deal with something.' 'Can take the Challah out of the oven please, in 10 minutes, listen for the timer.' She then addressed Harry, and said: 'Honey could you please make these gentleman some drinks, I just have to deal with something' Once Charlotte has dashed off, Justin said: 'Oh is this a Jewish dinner?' Harry then confirmed it was, and Justin shockingly replied: 'You know the Holocause is a hoax, right?' Anthony then screamed at his date to get out. Scene: Once Charlotte has dashed off, Justin said: 'Oh is this a Jewish dinner?' Harry then confirmed it was, and Justin shockingly replied: 'You know the Holocause is a hoax, right?' The moment generally didn't go down well at all with viewers, who questioned the relevancy of the anti-semitic comment. One said: 'The Holocause moment. I'm speechless. Did they have to include that?' Another wrote: 'My god. They really thought saying the Holocause was fake & tampons & periods are funny! My god. The writing on this show is a train wreck.' Not hapy: The moment generally didn't go down well at all with viewers, who questioned the relevancy of the anti-semitic comment However some did comment that Anthony's reaction to the moment saved it from being a complete TV failure. One said: 'Anthony's reaction to his date's Holocaust comment is the best thing. Love him even more.' A different person said: 'How to handle Covid deniers. Anthony = awesome.' A third added: 'Loved how Anthony just got rid of his date for being a Holocause denier. So funny. GET OUT!' GET OUT! However some did comment that Anthony's reaction to the moment saved it from being a complete TV failure BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The 13th National People's Congress (NPC), China's national legislature, and the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's national political advisory body, are inviting reporters from domestic and overseas media outlets to cover their annual sessions to be held in March, an official announcement said Thursday. The fifth annual session of the 13th NPC is scheduled to open on March 5, and the fifth session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee is set to begin on March 4. Reporters who want to cover the "two sessions" should meet relevant COVID-19 prevention and control requirements, and they are expected to conduct interviews mainly via internet channels, video link and written forms, said the announcement by the general offices of the NPC Standing Committee and the CPPCC National Committee. Foreign reporters not based in China will not be invited to cover the events, according to the announcement. Foreign journalists should submit applications for passes to the two sessions' press center. Reporters from Hong Kong and Macao should apply at the central government's liaison offices in the two special administrative regions, and reporters from Taiwan should apply to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. The deadline for applications is Feb. 9. More information about the NPC session and the CPPCC session is available on www.npc.gov.cn and www.cppcc.gov.cn respectively. She has been on cloud nine ever since her boyfriend Ed Crossan popped the question in December. And Francesca Allen looked incredible as she soaked up the sun during a trip to the beach in Dubai on Wednesday where she showed off her sparkling engagement ring. The former Love Island star, 26, displayed her jaw-dropping figure as she donned a dark blue bikini for a series of sizzling snaps. Wow: Francesca Allen posed for a series of stunning bikini snaps where she showed off her sparkling engagement ring in Dubai on Wednesday Showcasing her toned abdomen, Francesca also sported an open white shirt as she posed in front of a palm tree. Letting her brunette locks fall loose down her shoulders, the star also sported a red and gold bandana for the outing. Alongside the post, she wrote: 'So you say you want to get away' Francesca's fiance was recently revealed as her family friend, businessman Ed, who previously dated TOWIE 's Amber Turner. Stunning: Showcasing her toned abdomen, Francesca also sported an open white shirt as she posed in front of a palm tree The Love Island beauty revealed in December that Ed, the vice chairman of London-based waste management company Powerday, had popped the question in an idyllic festive proposal, having previously stayed coy on his identity. She had previously taken to Instagram to reveal their romance after years of friendship, in which they embarked on family holidays, including a jaunt with the Crossan clan to Marbella shortly after her 2019 Love Island appearance. Francesca said yes to Ed's proposal at Marylebone's swanky members club Home House and shared images of the moment with her Instagram followers. Incredible: Letting her brunette locks fall loose down her shoulders, the star also sported a red and gold bandana for the outing Relationship: Francesca has been on cloud nine ever since her boyfriend Ed Crossan popped the question in December While she failed to tag her husband-to-be, her management company HLD Talent and her sister Claudia both named Ed in their congratulatory posts. Ed's sister Tara also commented on the post, simply writing: 'THE BEST'. Francesca has shared and tagged images of Ed in the past, seemingly before they formed their romance, with their 2019 Marbella trip seeing the star jet away with his family and enjoy a host of boozy nights and exercise sessions. Minnie Driver was enjoying a getaway to Barbados with her fiance Addison O'Dea on Thursday. The actress, 51, looked casually chic in a white linen dress as she stepped out with her beau, 42, after a trip to the Lime Grove Mall in St. James Parish. The pair are engaged and have been linked since early 2019, with Minnie keeping her relationship pretty private. Out and about: Minnie Driver looked casually chic in a white linen dress as she enjoyed a getaway to Barbados with her handsome fiance Addison O'Dea on Thursday She showed off a glimpse of her toned and tanned legs in the pretty number which had a loose-fitting style and skimmed her thighs. Minnie completed the relaxed outfit with comfy black flip flops and wore dark sunglasses as she strolled around. Meanwhile Addison cut a casual figure in a blue T-shirt, light grey jeans and brown shoes as well as sporting a face mask. Minnie is engaged to Addison and has an 11-year-old son Henry Story from a brief fling with her former The Riches writer, Timothy J. Lea. Going strong: Minnie is engaged to Addison (L) and has an 11-year-old son Henry Story (R) from a brief romance with her former The Riches writer, Timothy J. Lea (posted June 2020) Last January, Minnie revealed how she found out as a child how her father was married to someone other than her mother. The actress learned at 12-years-old that her father Ronnie Driver was married to a different woman throughout his relationship with her model mother Gaynor Churchward. Talking to The Sunday Times Magazine alongside her mother, Minnie explained her parents separated when she was six, but she later discovered they'd never been married. The actress said: 'My parents separated when I was six. 'But at the age of 12 I discovered they had never been married, and that throughout their relationship my father was married to somebody else and had another family.' Minnie said that it was her mother who helped her process the news about her parents relationship. Former model and designer Gaynor told the publication she had been with Minnie's father for five years when she fell pregnant with their second child. Although she called him a 'complicated man' she added: 'He was loyal to me, to his wife and loyal to the children.' Kanye West's team has denied a report that he has hired a homeless models to walk in his upcoming fashion show. TMZ had reported that David Sebastian, who founded Skid Row Fashion Week, claimed they are creating a Yeezy x Skid Row Fashion Week range with plans to hire the homeless as models. 'Ye has a deep and solution-oriented commitment to addressing issues surrounding homelessness,' a Yeezy GAP spokesperson told The Post. 'But this reported event is not on our schedule at this time nor are we aware of any product collaboration in development.' Kanye West's team DENIES that he is hiring homeless people to model his new Yeezy x Skid Row Fashion Week; pictured November 2021 Skid Row Fashion Week already aims to help those experiencing homelessness with a portion of sales donated to assist those living on Skid Row. The company also has their clothing made through a factory which employs the homeless. However, Kanye will not be involved in the event. Sebastian had claimed that he and Kanye decided to collaborate on the project earlier this month, and plan on having 100% of proceeds from the new range assisting the Skid Row community. Proceeds from the line will also go towards hiring those experiencing homelessness to be employed at the Skid Row Fashion Week factory. Sebastian also said he wanted to hire the factory workers to serve as models in an upcoming Yeezy X SRFW fashion show. Kanye has previously expressed interest in helping the homeless community. In November, Kanye met with charitable organizations and came up with strategies in an attempt to ease the rampant problem in the city, according to TMZ. The brains: Sebastian told the site he and Kanye decided to collaborate on the project earlier this month, and plan on having 100% of proceeds from the new range assisting the Skid Row community; West pictured with Sebastian Helping out: Proceeds from the line will also go towards hiring those experiencing homelessness to work at the Skid Row Fashion Week factory Speaking up: This is not the first time Kanye has expressed interest in helping the homeless community; pictured January 2022 On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving last week, the artist famously dropped off 1,000 meals to the LA Mission and the publication reports that he had taken the time to meet with those in charge including CEO of the organization Reverend Troy Vaughn. The publication reports that during the sit-down, the estranged husband of Kim Kardashian laid out four ways he believes he can help the homeless. The first thing the rapper wants to do is create a plan to continue feeding the homeless by opening up a working relationship between the philanthropic organizations throughout the city. Ye also wants to utilize his own companies as a way of helping to provide education, employment, and housing. Sneak peek: The new collaboration will be released on February 22, and Sebastian has already begun to tease the collaboration on his Instagram with various 'YZY x SKD' designs posted to his Instagram account The Stronger rapper also believes that being able to use his platform including his religious Sunday Service could help inspire and uplift the LA community according to TMZ. Lastly, he wants to create partnerships with other groups in taking on the crisis so they could unite in their efforts to eliminate the homeless situation with his vision in mind. The housing crisis has been a huge issue for Los Angelenos and as of January 2020, there were more than 66,400 homeless people in Los Angeles County, with 41,000 within LA city limits, including thousands on Skid Row, according to the city's most recent homeless count. The city's estimated homeless population is second only to New York's. While the homeless population was once largely confined to the notorious Skid Row neighborhood in downtown, rows of tents, cardboard shelters, battered RVs and makeshift plywood structures are now familiar sights throughout the nations second-most populous city. Khloe Kardashian brought back the vibes of her old show Revenge Body on her Instagram page this Thursday. The 37-year-old was a blonde bombshell as she showcased her sensationally svelte figure in a skintight nude catsuit. Balancing expertly on a pair of high-heeled over-the-knee Gucci boots, she posed up a storm around a car for a sizzling photo-shoot. Looking fab: Khloe Kardashian brought back the vibes of her old show Revenge Body on her Instagram page this Thursday Accentuating her unmistakable features with makeup, Khloe wore her dirty blonde curls down and accessorized with a medallion necklace. She aimed her best smoldering supermodel stare at the cameras and wrote in her caption: 'Betrayal rarely comes from your enemies.' The cryptic message came after her ex Tristan Thompson, who was serially unfaithful to her, was spotted with a mystery woman during a night out. A newly surfaced Tik Tok video showed the love rat in a bar in Milwaukee with the unidentified woman apparently perched on his lap. When you got it: The 37-year-old was a blonde bombshell as she showcased her sensationally svelte figure in a clinging sheer ensemble Hello, gorgeous: Balancing expertly on a pair of high-heeled Gucci boots, she posed up a storm around a car for a sizzling photo-shoot Tristan's latest sighting comes after he apologized to Khloe for fathering a child with another woman while he was still with her. Tristan and Khloe, who share a three-year-old daughter called True, have had an on-off relationship for half a decade, repeatedly scarred by his infidelity to her. Less than 48 hours before True was born DailyMail.com exclusively broke news of Tristan's alleged fling with New York City strip club bartender Lani Blair. They remained together then but broke up in February 2019 after Tristan shared a kiss at a party with Kylie Jenner's then best friend Jordyn Woods. Bringing it together: Accentuating her unmistakable features with makeup, Khloe wore her platinum curls down and accessorized with a medallion necklace Statement: She aimed her best smoldering supermodel stare at the cameras and wrote in her caption: 'Betrayal rarely comes from your enemies' When the coronavirus lockdowns struck Tristan and Khloe moved in together so they could both be with True - and wound up rekindling their romance as well. Their latest split went public this past June as he denied a swirl of cheating rumors - and last month he allegedly welcomed a child with another woman. DailyMail.com exclusively obtained court documents in late 2021 claiming Tristan was having a baby by a woman named Maralee Nichols. Maralee gave birth on December 1 and released a statement a couple of weeks later along with the first public pictures of her son. Backdrop: The cryptic message came after her ex Tristan Thompson, who was serially unfaithful to her, was spotted out with a mystery woman during a night out Spot them: A newly surfaced Tik Tok video showed Tristan in a bar in Milwaukee with the unidentified woman apparently perched on his lap Tristan fired up his Instagram early in January and confessed for the first time that he is the father of Maralee's new child. 'Today paternity test results reveal that I fathered a child with Maralee Nichols,' he wrote on Insta Stories, apologizing to Khloe and telling her that 'you don't deserve this. You don't deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you.' 'There was never any doubt that Tristan Thompson was the father of Maralee Nichols' baby,' her attorney Harvey Englander later told DailyMail.com. 'Tristan made numerous false and defamatory statements and declarations about Maralee over the past few months, and she is taking his contrite statement today in the context of all of those statements,' he added. Baby on board: Tristan and Khloe have had a whirlwind on-off relationship that resulted in the birth of their three-year-old daughter True Maralee has said her 'goal' is only to 'raise our son in a loving and private environment' and she has denied 'leaking' any pregnancy stories to the press. Further she has disputed the idea that she and Tristan were having 'casual sex,' insisting she believed he was single when they first became involved. Tristan expressed his love for Khloe on social media last March just hours before flew to Houston, where he apparently fathered his new baby with Maralee. There she is: Weeks ago Tristan apologized to Khloe after fathering a child with Maralee Nichols (pictured) while still with the reality star He has claimed in court documents: 'I am certain that if the child is deemed to be my child that the only date of conception was March 13, 2021, because it was my birthday.' Further, he alleged that he and Maralee 'had sexual relations in March of 2021 and at no other time in 2021.' On the day itself - March 13 - Khloe posted a gushing birthday tribute that seemed to indicate they were together, as she wrote: 'The ones that are meant to be are the ones who go through everything that is designed to tear them apart and they come out even stronger than they were before.' 'I love you soo much KoKo. Let's keep building amazing memories!' wrote Tristan in the comments of Khloe's birthday post. Co-parents: Tristan and Khloe are pictured with True, whom they co-parent in the wakeup of their breakup several months ago Hours later he and his then team the Boston Celtics flew to Houston to play against the Rockets in a game that occurred March 14. Incidentally Khloe first became involved with Tristan when his ex-girlfriend Jordan Craig was still pregnant with his firstborn son Prince, five. Although Jordan claims she was still with Tristan when he took up with Khloe, Khloe has insisted she thought he was single at the time. Kristen Stewart, 31, missed out on Nicole Kidman, 54, playing her mom in her breakout film, Panic Room, but did get a nice parting gift from the Australian-American star: a pair of walkie-talkies. During a one-on-one chat for Variety's Actors on Actors series, the pair reminisced about the time they nearly got to work together but an injury had forced Kidman to drop the project. Nicole also opened up in the video about the lengths she went to for her new film, Being the Ricardos, to accurately portray comedy icon Lucille Ball. Almost co-stars: Kristen Stewart, 31, missed out on Nicole Kidman, 54, playing her mom in Panic Room, but did get a nice parting gift from the Australian-American star: a pair of walkie-talkies, she revealed to Variety 'We were meant to work together how many years ago [on 'Panic Room']?' Kidman asked. The pair had been set to play mother and daughter Meg and Sarah Altman in the 2002 David Fincher thriller. An unknown Stewart was just 10-years-old at the time. 'I remember David Fincher saying, 'Oh, my God, we have discovered the most incredible actress.' And then I got injured and ended up not playing your mama,' Kidman recollected. The role ultimately went to Oscar winner Jodie Foster. 'I remember David Fincher saying, 'Oh, my God, we have discovered the most incredible actress.' And then I got injured and ended up not playing your mama,' Kidman recollected; the role went to Jodie Foster 'We spent a couple weeks rehearsing. I have a vivid memory of it, because the way you treat kids is so telling,' Kristen said. 'I felt like I was buds with you. It was two or three weeks, but I was always like, 'She's one of my friends.' You gave me walkie-talkies for Christmas.' 'We spent a couple weeks rehearsing. I have a vivid memory of it, because the way you treat kids is so telling,' Kristen said. 'I felt like I was buds with you. It was two or three weeks, but I was always like, 'She's one of my friends.' You gave me walkie-talkies for Christmas.' The stars bonded in their Variety interview over the challenges preparing for their recent portrayals of real-life figures Princess Diana and Lucille Ball. 'I grew up watching I Love Lucy, so I know that voice,' Kristen said while discussing Kidman's latest role. 'It was so surreal to hear it pop out of your mouth. There's a less-rehearsed version of that voice, when she's just being a human.' In order to capture the sound and tenor of the red-headed sitcom star and television legend, Kidman picked up an unexpected - and unhealthy - habit. 'I grew up watching I Love Lucy, so I know that voice,' Kristen said while discussing Kidman's latest role. 'It was so surreal to hear it pop out of your mouth. There's a less-rehearsed version of that voice, when she's just being a human.' 'Smoking. She's a heavy smoker. I'm not. That was a huge key to it,' Nicole revealed. 'I started smoking, which I know you're not meant to say, and then gave it up the minute I stopped.' 'Smoking. She's a heavy smoker. I'm not. That was a huge key to it,' Nicole revealed. 'I started smoking, which I know you're not meant to say, and then gave it up the minute I stopped.' She later added: 'I knew Lucy and the 'I Love Lucy' show, but when I read the script, I had no idea of her story and her journey, and I related to parts of it. I was really game to give it a go. And then the flood of fear, I suppose, came in and I went, 'Oh no, what have I done?' Which I do a lot in my life, and then I push on through.' Kidman co-stars in the film with Javier Bardem as Lucy's husband, co-star and producing partner Desi Arnaz. The film was honored on Thursday when the Producers Guild of America nominations for the Motion Pictures and Television categories were announced. 'I knew Lucy and the 'I Love Lucy' show, but when I read the script, I had no idea of her story and her journey, and I related to parts of it. I was really game to give it a go. And then the flood of fear, I suppose, came in and I went, 'Oh no, what have I done?' Which I do a lot in my life, and then I push on through.' The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures - which is considered a preview of the Best Picture Oscar - included Being the Ricardos among this year's crop of nominees. Belfast, CODA, Don't Look Up, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, The Power of The Dog, tick, tickBOOM! and West Side Story complete the category. The 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards to be held on Saturday, March 19, 2022 at the Fairmont Century Plaza. The Producers Guild Awards are often a bellwether for the Oscars. Since its inception, the PGA has predicted 22 of the past 32 winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture. Daisy Lowe struck a sultry pose as she stripped to her underwear and rolled up her T-shirt to give a glimpse at her bra and midriff in a new snap released on Wednesday. Posing for photographer, stylist and creative director Brooke Olimpieri of Filthy Mouth Creative, the model, 33, could be seen holding a cordless phone while on a balcony in Los Angeles, California. Wearing some silky royal blue knickers with frills by Miss Money Panties, the fashionista showed off plenty of thigh in the picture. In style: Daisy Lowe, 33, struck a sultry pose as she stripped to her underwear and rolled up her T-shirt to give a glimpse at her bra and midriff in a new snap released on Wednesday In another photograph, she gave fans a look at an intimate moment with boyfriend Jordan Saul as he tenderly placed a kiss on her cheek. Daisy longingly glanced at the camera, showing off her beautiful brown eyes. She wore a bold red shade of lipstick to match the bra she wore in the photograph. Insight: In another photograph, she gave fans a look at an intimate moment with boyfriend Jordan Saul as he tenderly placed a kiss on her cheek It comes after Daisy struck a pose as she stripped totally naked for a sensational social media snap earlier this month. The model covered her modesty with her arms while in front of a mirror 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 body. Sizzling: Daisy struck a sultry pose as she stripped totally naked for a sensational social media snap earlier this month Daisy and Jordan flew to America for a break together earlier this month. The star gave her Instagram 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 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'. 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 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!' 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 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 don't want to! It's 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]'. Ferne McCann is reportedly planning a part-time move to Dubai to make her romance work with her new boyfriend Lorri Haines. The former TOWIE star, 31, is allegedly 'head over heels' with the hunk and hopes they can both fly back and forth between the two countries to see each other. It comes just days after Ferne made her romance with real estate agent Lorri public, posting a slew of loved-up snaps from her recent trip to see him in the UAE. Rumours: Ferne McCann is reportedly planning a part-time move to Dubai to make her romance work with her new boyfriend Lorri Haines A source told The Sun:' Lorri and Ferne have fallen head over heels and will do what it takes to make things work. 'It's a bit tricky for Ferne to travel all the time because of Sunday but she has already squeezed in one trip this year. 'Lorri is currently in the UK and they are have both agreed to go back and forth as much as possible.' MailOnline has contacted a representative for Ferne McCann for comment. Sweet: The former TOWIE star is allegedly 'head over heels' with the hunk and hopes they can both fly back and forth between the two countries to see each other Ferne is no stranger to a long-distance romance, have previously dated Albie Gibbs while he resided in New York, with the pair calling time on their romance after the Covid lockdown made it impossible to see each. She later said: 'How can I see a future with someone when I can't physically be with them for the foreseeable future? I was naive to think the long distance thing would be OK. We have broken up and it is proper s**t. 'It sucks to say that I think he was the right guy, and I want to stress this, the right guy at the wrong time.' New love: It comes just days after Ferne made her romance with real estate agent Lorri public, posting a slew of loved-up snaps from her recent trip to see him in the UAE Since going public with her new romance, Ferne has shared a slew of loved-up snaps with her new man on social media. On Sunday she took to Instagram Stories to share more images from their trip to Dubai, where he lives and works as a 'part-time jeweller and wannabe entrepreneur'. Ferne and Lorri went public on Saturday. Moving fast: Ferne and Lorri went public on Saturday, sharing a series of cosy snaps with her hunky beau The First Time Mum star took to Instagram to post adorable snaps with her latest beau. Lorri is a real estate agent living in Dubai, where Ferne is currently on holiday, and describes himself as a 'part-time jeweller and wannabe entrepreneur' in his bio. Posting a sweet picture together as a joint upload, Lorri posed for a selfie as Ferne planted a kiss on his cheek. In the caption, they cutely wrote: 'When you know, you know' Here he is: Lorri is a real estate agent living in Dubai, where Ferne is currently on holiday, and describes himself as a 'part time jeweller and wannabe entrepreneur' in his bio Ferne has famously had a rocky love life, most recently splitting from DJ Jake Padgett last year after they spent the second lockdown together. After the split Ferne revealed she still wanted to find her happily ever after and is 'such a sucker for love'. Ferne told The Sun: 'I am such a sucker for love - I love love so much, and of course I want to find my happy ever after.' The blonde bombshell only had positive things to say about Jack, 27, describing the breakup as 'mature'. 'But it's been such a mature, grown-up breakup - and no one did anything wrong. I've learned so much from this relationship and from Jack, and we had some beautiful times,' she said. Ferne and Jack moved in together amid the winter lockdown shortly after they began dating, and admitted that taking the next step in their relationship was its downfall. Exes: Ferne has famously had a rocky love life, most recently splitting from DJ Jake Padgett (pictured together) last year after they spent the second lockdown together 'But in the end, it also accelerated our breakup, because coming out of lockdown and the world opening back up meant suddenly our lives were very different and we were like passing ships,' she explained. Before that she was in a relationship with jailed acid attacker Arthur Collins, whom she shares her daughter Sunday, four, with. Arthur, 29, is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence at Woodhill Prison, Milton Keynes, after carrying out an acid attack at a London nightclub in 2017 which saw sixteen people suffer chemical burn injuries and three people left temporarily blinded. Ferne dumped Arthur after learning about the incident. She was pregnant with her daughter Sunday when then boyfriend Arthur threw corrosive acid over a crowd on the dance floor at Mangle E8 in Dalston in April 2017, within weeks of their pregnancy announcement. Last year, the former TOWIE star confessed she previously 'struggled to come to terms' with being a single parent as she reflected on the challenges she has faced raising a child on her own. Tough times: Before Jack, she was in a relationship with jailed acid attacker Arthur Collins, with whom she shares her daughter Sunday, four Ferne said: 'I guess I was one of those people that might have had a misconception about single parenting, because I didn't want to be called a single parent when I was pregnant. 'I didn't want to be labelled with it, because I hadn't come to terms with the fact I was going to be a single parent yet. Until I started living and being it, that was when I felt really proud.' Ferne recalled doing a '360 overnight' as she elaborated: 'Now I feel totally fine being called a single parent because the fact is, I am. The misconception is not that you've failed, but obviously you don't plan to be a single parent although I know some people do.' Before Arthur, Ferne was in an on-off relationship with fellow TOWIE star Charlie Sims and their tumultuous love story was captured for viewers of the reality show. Emma Roberts has shared with fans that she's been having 'the most beautiful reset possible' in Costa Rica, just days after it was revealed she's split with embattled actor Garrett Hedlund. In the new pictures, which she posted on Thursday, the 30-year-old niece of Julia Roberts luxuriated in her hotel's herbal bath. Her Instagram update comes a week after Garrett, 37, was arrested for public intoxication. Having a ball: Emma Roberts uploaded an Instagram album that showed her basking in the sun as she enjoyed 'the most beautiful reset possible' in Costa Rica Hedlund has been accused of attempting to jump out of a car by the man who called the cops on him, according to new legal documents obtained by TMZ. The man, whose phone call led to his arrest on Saturday, alleged Hedlund, 37, attempted the act earlier that same day. The individual also alleged Hedlund had kicked him and swung on him. However, police say the man did not want to press criminal charges. Living it up: In the new pictures, which she posted on Thursday, the 30-year-old niece of Julia Roberts luxuriated in her hotel's herbal bath He's in the rearview: Her Instagram update comes days after news broke of her split from Garrett Hedlund, who has since been arrested for public intoxication Meanwhile, Roberts' new Instagram album also included a picture of her laughing as she clambered over the rocks in a forest creek. 'The most beautiful reset possible in my new favorite place @thewell @altagraciaauberge @aubergeresorts,' she spilled in her caption. She shared that she had experienced 'the most magnificent setting, the kindest people, the most mind blowing experiences cant wait to get back!' Taking the show to her Insta Stories, the daughter of Eric Roberts uploaded a selfie video that showed her heading over to the herbal bath. 'Most magnificent setting': 'The most beautiful reset possible in my new favorite place @thewell @altagraciaauberge @aubergeresorts,' she spilled in her caption 'Hey, here we are at the river bath!' she said, gasping theatrically as she turned the camera toward her destination and cooed: 'O-M-G!' Roberts, who shares a one-year-old son called Rhodes with Hedlund and was with him for about three years, wrote over the clip: 'NOTHING BETTER!' A few days prior, more information about what allegedly transpired prior to Hedlund's arrest for public intoxication came to light. En route: Taking the show to her Insta Stories, the daughter of Eric Roberts uploaded a selfie video that showed her heading over to the herbal bath Wow: Roberts, who shares a one-year-old son called Rhodes with Hedlund and was with him for about three years, wrote over the clip: 'NOTHING BETTER!' Mug shot: A few days prior, more information about what allegedly transpired prior to Hedlund's arrest for public intoxication came to light Hedlund, 37, was arrested in Franklin County, Tennessee on Saturday night and later released from custody on a $2,100 bond. Police say they received a call around 10:30PM for a disturbance with a man alleging Hedlund was banging on the back door of a building, according to the documents obtained by TMZ. Hedlund appeared intoxicated, reeked of alcohol, had slurred speech and did not follow commands made by officers, according to cops. Hedlund allegedly told police he was trying to retrieve items he left inside the building. Matters of the heart: The arrest comes just days after it was revealed that he has now split with girlfriend Emma Roberts, with whom he shares a child, one-year-old son Rhodes; pictured 2019 An investigation conducted by police led them to believe Hedlund was intoxicated and a danger to himself and others. They placed him under arrest for public intoxication and stated he had caused 'unreasonable annoyance' in their report. Hedlund is currently on three years probation over his previous DUI case, meaning his recent arrest for being intoxicated could pose a problem for the star. The arrest comes just days after it was revealed that he has now split with girlfriend Emma Roberts, with whom he shares a child, one-year-old son Rhodes. Arrest: Hedlund, 37, was arrested in Franklin County, Tennessee on Saturday night and later released from custody on a $2,100 bond; pictured 2019 It's also days after it was reported that Hedlund is being sued for a car crash that took place on the night of his 2020 DUI arrest. Hedlund is being accused of crashing into another car - containing a woman and three children - passed out drunk behind the wheel of his Jeep and running a red light. The family claims that Hedlund - whose blood alcohol on the night in question was twice the legal limit of .08 - attempted to flee the scene without calling an ambulance. In court documents obtained by PEOPLE, the actor's conduct is deemed as 'despicable.' Negligent: The family claims that Hedlund - whose blood alcohol on the night in question was twice the legal limit of .08 - attempted to flee the scene without calling an ambulance. The family is suing Garrett for damages; Pictured in 2021 'Hedlund's conduct was despicable in that he knew and was educated in the dangers presented to Plaintiffs and the public when he operated a vehicle while intoxicated,' the complaint read. The complaint also described the strong odor of alcohol coming from the The Tron: Legacy actor. 'There was a very strong odor of hard liquor emitting from Hedlund's breath, body, and the cab of the Jeep despite the windows being open/broken,' it read. The complaint went on to say that the star attempted to get rid of 'open bottles of alcoholic beverages' present in the vehicle before the police arrived. The injured family also claims that he attempted to flee the scene and had to have his car keys removed to ensure that he wouldn't leave. Sad: The arrest came as the actor was expecting his first child with actress Emma, 30. She went on to give birth to their son Rhodes Robert at the end of 2020 The actor refused a DUI test at the scene of the accident. When he was tested at the station two hours later, his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. The family is suing Garrett for damages. Hedlund was arrested on two DUI offenses in February, 2020. Following the arrest, the actor was arraigned later that month and able to bail out on $100k bond. The Tron: Legacy actor served a 36-months of probation, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court documents obtained by Page Six. Hedlund was subsequently assigned three days of community service for one of the counts. The second charge was dismissed. Additionally he was required to enroll in a nine-month first-offender alcohol and other drug education and counseling program. Hard times: 'It's sad, and they are trying their best to co-parent. It's been hard,' an insider told PEOPLE of their post-breakup dynamic His team says that Hedlund didn't resist seeking intervention for his substance abuse, according to Page Six. 'When the incident occurred, Garrett immediately sought treatment which was successful. Today, he is in a solid and great place,' reps told the outlet. The arrest came as the actor was expecting his first child with actress Emma Roberts, 30. She went on to give birth to their son Rhodes at the end of 2020. It was recently revealed they had split after nearly three-years of dating. The pair welcomed their first child together, son Rhodes Robert Hedlund, in December 2020, which they happily shared to Instagram weeks after his arrival. Baby in the mix: The pair welcomed their first child together, son Rhodes Robert Hedlund, in December 2020, which they happily shared to Instagram weeks after his arrival; Emma and Rhodes pictured in December 'It's sad, and they are trying their best to co-parent. It's been hard,' an insider told PEOPLE of their post-breakup dynamic. DailyMail.com has reached out to representatives for Roberts and Hedlund for comment. 'Their relationship has been rocky for a long time,' a source told ET Online, 'and the situation is really sad right now.' According to the insider, the couple 'grew apart when Garrett was away working' however they 'are still coparenting, and still doing things as a family.' Last month, Emma and Garrett celebrated their baby son's first birthday by hosting rodeo-themed party. 'Loved every second of it. I love you Rhodes,' gushed Roberts, who shared several adorable shots from the shindig with her Instagram following. Emma and Garrett first began dating back in March 2019 and, over a year later, would reveal that they were expecting a child. Emma gave birth in December 2020 but waited to reveal the birth and the name of their baby until January 2021. Actress and outspoken COVID vaccine critic Evangeline Lilly attended last week's anti-vaccine mandate rally in Washington, D.C., where Robert F Kennedy stirred up controversy by comparing requirements in the US to conditions in Nazi Germany and invoking Anne Frank. In a lengthy Instagram post, the 42-year-old Avengers star - whose vaccination status is unknown - revealed that she joined the march because of her beliefs. 'I was in DC this weekend to support bodily sovereignty while Canadian truckers were rallying for their cross-country, peaceful convoy in support of the same thing,' the Canadian-born star began her post, referring to anti-vaccine protests in her native land. 'I believe nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will, under threat of: violent attack, arrest or detention without trial, loss of employment, homelessness, starvation, loss of education, alienation from loved ones, excommunication from societyunder any threat whatsoever,' she continued. 'This is not the way. This is not safe. This is not healthy. This is not love.' The post comes two years after the 'Lost' and 'Lord of the Rings' actress was forced to apologize after comparing the deadly virus to a 'respiratory flu.' Protesting: Evangeline Lilly (pictured in 2019) took to Instagram on Thursday to share that she attended Robert F. Kennedy's anti-vaccine mandate protest in Washington, D.C. last weekend Lilly shared multiple black-and-white photos from the rally and listed her reasoning for why she does not believe in COVID vaccine mandates. 'I understand the world is in fear, but I dont believe that answering fear with force will fix our problems,' she stated. Lilly finished her post by writing that she has always believed in a woman's right to choose. 'I was pro choice before COVID and I am still pro choice today,' she said. The actress also added a photo of entrepreneur Naval Ravikant over his famous quote, 'All tyranny begins with the desire to coerce others for the greater good.' The rally in Washington garnered national headlines after the Kennedy scion railed against vaccine mandates in the US by comparing them to conditions faced under Nazi rule. 'Even in Hitler Germany, you could, you could cross the Alps into Switzerland. You could hide in an attic, like Anne Frank did,' Kennedy said in his speech. 'I visited, in 1962, East Germany with my father and met people who had climbed the wall and escaped, so it was possible. Many died, true, but it was possible.' Lilly did not make mention of Kennedy's comments in her post but the conspiracy theorist had to quickly walk back his comments after his actress-wife Cheryl Hines cuffed him for the tone-deaf rhetoric. 'My husband's reference to Anne Frank at a mandate rally in D.C. was reprehensible and insensitive,' the Curb Your Enthusiasm star tweeted on Tuesday. 'The atrocities that millions endured during the Holocaust should never be compared to anyone or anything. His opinions are not a reflection of my own.' Pro-choice: In a lengthy Instagram post the 42-year-old actress revealed that she joined the march because of her pro-choice beliefs Anti-vax: 'I believe nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will,' she said, adding, 'I was pro choice before COVID and I am still pro choice today' Marching: The Marvel star shared multiple photos from the event, and listed various reason why she does not believe in vaccine mandates Deep: The actress also added a photo of entrepreneur Naval Ravikant over his famous quote, 'All tyranny begins with the desire to coerce others for the greater good' Lilly's caused controversy at the start of the pandemic by revealing that she refused to self-quarantine because she 'values freedom.' In the March 2020 post she wrote, 'Some people value their lives over freedom, some people value freedom over their lives. We all make our choices.' Lilly's attitude continued to anger people as she tried to respond to the criticism, revealing that her elderly father with stage four leukemia is currently living with her. 'I am living with my father at the moment, who has stage foud lukemia. I am also immune compromised at the moment. I have two young kids.' The Ant-Man and Wasp star shares two kids with Hobbit actor Norman Kali. Ten days later she apologized for her comments. 'I thought I was infusing calm into the hysteria. I can see now that I was projecting my own fears into an already fearful and traumatic situation.' Evangeline Lilly joined the Marvel universe with her role in the Ant-Man and Wasp Controversy: The post comes two years after the star caused controversy by revealing she refused to self-quarantine at the start of COVID and compared the virus to a 'respiratory flu' Former Weekend Sunrise presenter Andrew O'Keefe was filmed having a screaming meltdown in the back of a police van on Thursday afternoon. And in an ironic twist of fate, one of the lowest moments of his life led the morning news bulletin on Friday's edition of the breakfast show he used to host. Sunrise newsreader Edwina Bartholomew delivered a report on O'Keefe's arrest at about 6:30am, describing him as a 'former television presenter' and 'former domestic violence campaigner' but making no reference to his years at Seven. Andrew O'Keefe's police van meltdown led Friday's 6:30am news bulletin on Sunrise - the same breakfast show he used to host - but newsreader Edwina Bartholomew (pictured) made no reference to his career at Channel Seven 'Former television presenter Andrew O'Keefe has spent the night in a police cell, accused of a shocking attack on a woman at a Sydney apartment,' she said. 'The former domestic violence campaigner has been charged with choking, punching and kicking his [alleged] victim. 'Yesterday, O'Keefe was captured on camera lashing out at journalists from the back of a police van. He will face court this morning.' While Bartholomew didn't mention O'Keefe's 18-year career at Seven, the bulletin included a promo photo from his days hosting The Chase. While Bartholomew didn't mention O'Keefe's 18-year career at Seven, the bulletin included a promo photo from his days hosting The Chase. (O'Keefe is pictured here co-hosting Weekend Sunrise with Samantha Armytage) O'Keefe, a former intellectual property lawyer, began his television career at Seven in 2003 on the sketch comedy show Big Bite. He later presented afternoon game show Deal or No Deal from 2003 to 2013, and was co-anchor of Weekend Sunrise from 2005 to 2017. He would also sometimes fill in for David Koch on the weekday edition of Sunrise. His last major role at the network was hosting The Chase Australia from 2015 until he was replaced by Larry Emdur in 2021. O'Keefe, a former intellectual property lawyer, began his television career at Seven in 2003. (He is pictured here with Weekend Sunrise co-host Angela Cox in 2017) O'Keefe was charged on Thursday over allegations he choked, punched and kicked a woman at his city centre bachelor pad. Police allege the former TV personality assaulted the 38-year-old woman after meeting her to discuss starting a business together at his unit on Kent Street in the Sydney CBD on Tuesday. O'Keefe was refused bail on Thursday afternoon and taken away to a police cell, with Daily Mail Australia capturing footage of a handcuffed O'Keefe shouting obscenities and kicking the walls of a police van, telling officers to 'get rid of the journalists'. O'Keefe was charged on Thursday over allegations he choked, punched and kicked a woman at his city centre bachelor pad. (Pictured hosting The Chase Australia) O'Keefe was refused bail on Thursday afternoon and taken away to a police cell, with Daily Mail Australia capturing confronting footage of a handcuffed O'Keefe shouting obscenities and kicking the walls of a police van (pictured above) 'F*** you, I'm a victim of crime. I'm a victim of crime you f***wits. F*** off,' he screamed as he repeatedly kicked the windows of the vehicle's cell. Police will allege O'Keefe had invited the woman over to his apartment in Sydney's CBD on Tuesday afternoon to have a business discussion before the meeting turned violent. 'A verbal argument ensued between the pair, before the man allegedly assaulted the woman grabbing her by the throat, pushing her to the ground and punching her,' a police spokesman said. O'Keefe used to be one of Seven's biggest stars. (He is pictured here in August 2006 with two 'briefcase girls' during his days hosting afternoon game show Deal or No Deal) O'Keefe then allegedly assaulted the woman a second time by punching and kicking her. The woman then left the unit and reported the alleged assault on Wednesday, police said. On Thursday afternoon police confirmed they had charged O'Keefe with two counts of intentionally choking a person without consent, three counts of common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Police have since applied for a provisional apprehended violence order, which would see him barred from approaching, assaulting, threatening, stalking, harassing or intimidating the woman in any way. BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's National Tibetan Plateau Data Center (TPDC) has collected and published more than 4,600 scientific datasets on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its surrounding areas, providing vital data support for the research on "the roof of the world." The institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences supported 689 scientific research projects and more than 450 SCI papers in 2021, said the TPDC at its annual working conference on Wednesday. Since its establishment in 2019, the TPDC has collected scientific datasets in cryosphere, solid Earth, ancient environments, land surfaces, and other fields. It now has more than 50,000 registered users, attracting 860,000 visits per month on average. Paul 'DJ Pauly D' DelVecchio claimed that MTV has video of the Jersey Shore cast members having sex. During a Thursday appearance on the Full Send podcast, the 41-year-old said that the cameras were rolling all night and recorded the reality stars' intimate moments. 'Those tapes exist. We always joke about it,' Pauly told the hosts. Sex tapes: Paul 'DJ Pauly D' DelVecchio admitted that MTV has video of the Jersey Shore cast members having sex. Seen in 2018 He continued, 'We're like, "Yo, where is that footage?"' The television personality explained that the cast could hear that the cameras in their rooms were on because they were operated with a joystick controller. 'There's somebody working on the set all night. You can't really get much sleep,' he said. The Rhode Island native went on to say that they were filmed getting intimate during one-night-stands. 'Those tapes exist': During a Thursday appearance on the Full Send podcast, the 41-year-old said that the cameras were rolling all night and recorded the reality stars' intimate moments 'We'd bring these girls home or whatever, and then all they can actually film is, like, all right the covers under so you know what happens,' Pauly explained. 'But they don't actually film the act,' he said. Pauly then clarified that 'they do' film the act but the footage is not aired. Flings: The Rhode Island native went on to say that they were filmed getting intimate during one-night-stands 'They have that footage somewhere.' So that's in a safe somewhere. Those are our sex tapes. There's a lot of them. I want to sell those some day.' When asked how many sex tapes he thought MTV had, Pauly said, 'I mean, Mike (Sorrentino) was a savage at one point, Vinnie (Guadagnino) was a savage at one point, I was a savage. The guys were savages.' Pauly said that often the girls they brought home from the club were not that attractive, adding, 'But yeah, you're starting to get drunk...' Playing the field: When asked how many sex tapes he thought MTV had, Pauly said, 'I mean, Mike (Sorrentino) was a savage at one point, Vinnie (Guadagnino) was a savage at one point, I was a savage. The guys were savages' Jersey Shore was a mega-hit for MTV and ran for six seasons between 2009 and 2012. The show starred Pauly D, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino, Sammi Giancola, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Jennifer Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Angelina Pivarnick and Deena Nicole Cortese. Pauly said that he was dissuaded from pursuing a committed relationship after witnessing the drama between Ronnie and Sammy, who dated on and off for years. Back then: The show starred Pauly D, Nicole 'Snooki' Polizzi, Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino, Sammi Giancola, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Jennifer Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Angelina Pivarnick and Deena Nicole Cortese. Pictured in 2011 'That relationship destroyed me every wanting a relationship for awhile', he said. The DJ is currently dating 29-year-old social media influencer Nikki Hall. The two began a relationship after meeting on the MTV reality show Double Shot at Love in 2019. After a brief split, the couple reunited and Nikki joined Pauly on the fourth season of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. Romance: The DJ is currently dating 29-year-old social media influencer Nikki Hall Pauly presented Hall with a ring to celebrate their one-year anniversary in June on midseason premiere of the show. Though fans accused Pauly of faking a proposal, Nicky explained that she was not offended during an Instagram Q and A in September. 'I'm not one of those girls to hint at getting a ring... I like [not] knowing,' she said. Fake out: Pauly presented Hall with a ring to celebrate their one-year anniversary in June on the midseason premiere of Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. Though fans accused Pauly of faking a proposal, Nicky explained that she was not offended during a Q & A Instagram Live session Hall also said that she is tired of being asked when she and Pauly are getting engaged. The influencer said it was the 'dumbest question' she gets asked and noted that she is asked 'daily.' 'How would I know the answer to that?' Nikki said. Meanwhile, when the Full Send hosts asked Pauly if he was going to marry Nikki, he replied, 'I don't know. We are just taking it day by day.' She recently announced that she was expecting her first child with her husband, Alex, 30. And Olivia Bowen proved she's bumping along nicely on Thursday when she slipped into a gorgeous lace and chiffon lingerie set for an Instagram shoot. The former Love Island star, 28, wowed in the pieces from Boux Avenue Valentine's Day collection, suspenders and all. Stunning: Olivia Bowen, 28, proved she's bumping along nicely on Thursday when she slipped into a gorgeous lace and chiffon lingerie set for an Instagram shoot Cradling her bump in one photo and resting her hands on her hip in another, the mother-to-be looked gorgeous in a full face of glam. She wore her hair swept from her face and put her intricate body tattoos on full display. Behind the blonde bombshell, her stylish bedroom was visible. Earlier this month, Olivia took to Instagram to share the news that she is expecting. Glam: Cradling her bump in one photo and resting her hands on her hip in another, the mother-to-be looked gorgeous in a full face of glam Great news: Her New Year's Day post announced the news and showed a series of instant photos and a pair of booties Her New Year's Day post showed a series of instant photos and a pair of booties alongside the caption: 'Happy New Baby Bowen', before Alex then shared the same post and penned: 'This year we get to meet Baby Bowen'. The trio of images included a shot of Alex kissing his wife's stomach, a selfie showing them holding the booties and a baby grow alongside sonogram pictures. Olivia and Alex, formerly a sales executive and scaffolder respectively, soared to fame in 2016 when they appeared on the ITV2 reality show, where she was an original star and he, a late and extremely popular entrant. After leaving the villa their romance soon when from strength to strength and Alex popped the question in New York in 2016. Loved-up couple Olivia and Alex tied the knot in a luxurious Essex ceremony two years after meeting on Love Island during series two. Ally Sheedy says it has been educational watching her child's trans journey. And the 59-year-old movie star added things could not be going better with Beckett Lansbury, 27, whom she shares with her ex-husband, 60-year-old actor David Lansbury, who is the nephew of Angela Lansbury. 'I've learned a lot,' the 1980s icon told People this week. 'Beck doesn't hide anything.' The St Elmo's Fire star also said: 'And I feel very comfortable talking to anyone whose kid is just beginning the process of transition. Parents need to educate themselves.' Ally Sheedy says it has been educational watching her son's trans journey. And the movie star added things could not be going better with Beckett Lansbury, 27; seen in a press image for her new show Single Drunk Female Learning: On the left Ally is with son Beckett. And on the right, her child as Rebecca in 2008 The New York native says she feels for parents who are at first worried when their child wants to transition. 'It's natural to have fears about your kids, no matter what,' she added. 'But in this case, Beck is in a really great place in his life. I give him the room to run, and I just really try to just watch.' In fact, she said that things are going better than ever with Beckett who works as a teacher. 'This is a good phase right now,' said the Breakfast Club actress. 'He's very independent. But I like it when I can help him with something, whether it's advice or he needs a new mattress!' The High Art star shared: 'I want him to be able to do what he wants to do with his life and have the freedom to make his own choices and surround himself with a loving, supportive community.' From Beckett: Beckett told Parents magazine, 'So much in our society is telling every fiber of trans kids' being that what they are is not right and is not true' The family: From left, Ally Sheedy, daughter Rebecca Lansbury and girlfriend Morgan Sullivan attend the Kiehl's New York City Gay Pride Party at Kiehl's Flagship Store in 2012 The dad: She shares her son with her ex-husband, actor David Lansbury; seen in 1999. They were wed from 1992 until 2009 She also said: 'So far, he's been able to do that.' 'It's such an empowering and beautiful thing to be able to stand with your kids in the face of all that and hold true and support them.' Beckett told Parents magazine, 'So much in our society is telling every fiber of trans kids' being that what they are is not right and is not true.' In 2010 Rebecca came out as a lesbian and in 2015 she transitioned to Beckett. Ally also talked about her new acting role. Sheedy stars on Single Drunk Female as a single mom to her newly sober daughter, played by Sofia Black D'Elia. Massive: But her biggest fame came in the 80s as she joined the Brat Pack group of actors in the films The Breakfast Club: Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Emilio Estevez, Molly Ringwald in 1985 'It's a complicated character,' says Sheedy. 'But I love Sofia so much. We had a lot of fun together.' Black-D'Elia, 30, noted: 'Ally is the best scene partner, friend and mentor a gal could ask for. Our relationship, on-screen and off, has been the highlight of this gig for me.' Single Drunk Female airs Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. ET on Freeform. Ally - born Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy - saw her film debut in 1983's Bad Boys. But her biggest fame came in the 80s as she joined the Brat Pack group of actors in the films The Breakfast Club - which starred Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez and Anthony Michael Hall. And she was also in St. Elmo's Fire with Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Mare Winningham, Judd Nelson and Andrew McCarthy. She also acted in WarGames and Short Circuit. The kids are all right: Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Emilio Estevez, Mare Winningham, Judd Nelson, Sheedy, Andrew McCarthy in St Elmo's Fire - 1985 Julia Fox allegedly ruffled feathers with NYC socialite Libbie Mugrabi in Paris earlier this week. Page Six reports Fox, 31, gave Mugrabi a snappy response at the Hotel Cortes on Tuesday after the socialite offered her a modeling job. The site claims Mugrabi approached Kanye West's new girlfriend with the gig, only to be told by the actress 'Talk to my stylist.' Uh-oh! Julia Fox reportedly ruffled feathers with socialite Libbie Mugrabi in Paris; pictured with Kanye West in Paris on Sunday Fox was dining with friends when Mugrabi approached her with a paid gig modeling her friend's high-designer clothing in a shoot. Julia's stylist was sitting nearby when she responded to Mugrabi. 'Julia was sitting in the restaurant with a group of people who were all in black, black lipstick, and looked like they had been dressed by the scary section of the Spirit Halloween store,' Mugrabi told Page Six. 'When I asked if she would be photographed in my friend Celias designs, Fox seemed insulted and, after I spoke to people at her table, she said, "You are being very rude to my friend!" She also accused me of being inebriated, which I was not.' Page Six claims the actress told Mugrabi: 'You must be drunk or something?' Didn't get a great first impression! The site claims Mugrabi approached Kanye's new girlfriend with a modeling job, only to be turned away with a snappy response from Fox herself; Libbie pictured with then-husband David in April 2018 But another insider who saw the incident shot down Mugrabi's version of events and insisted Fox was just standing up for her friend. 'Julia was having a private dinner and Libbie and her friends kept coming up to her table. Approaching a table during dinner and asking for a paid engagement is not really appropriate,' the witness said. 'Julia never said, "Talk to my stylist." Thats just ridiculous. Libbie was being rude to her friend, so Julia stood up for her friend,' they said. XOXO: Julia and Ye began dating after meeting on New Year's Eve in Miami and have been enjoying quite the whirlwind romance ever since Ouch! 'Kanye and Julia werent even together. And shes not that beautiful in person,' she told the site, pictured 2019 The witness also claims Libbie was attempting to 'gaslight' Fox and her pals. Mugrabi said the exchange ended with her wishing Fox a 'nice evening' and leaving. She also claimed to have seen Kanye in another room. 'Kanye and Julia werent even together. And shes not that beautiful in person,' she told the site. Julia and Ye began dating after meeting on New Year's Eve in Miami and have been enjoying quite the whirlwind romance ever since. After just two dates, Julia and Kanye starred in a widely mocked photo-shoot for Interview in which they passionately kissed and rolled around on the floor together. Julia, who became an It Girl in New York through her role in Uncut Gems, wrote an essay about their relationship to accompany the pictures. 'I met Ye in Miami on New Years Eve and it was an instant connection. His energy is so fun to be around,' she spilled. She gushed that he surprised her with a hotel suite full of clothes, which was 'every girl's dream come true' and 'felt like a real Cinderella moment.' AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - The Jordanian military said Thursday that troops have killed 27 suspected smugglers attempting to enter the country from neighboring Syria. The report on the army's website said that it had thwarted several suspected attempts to smuggle drugs into Jordan from Syria, and that large quantities of narcotics were seized in separate interventions that also left several people wounded. The military said that it was "continuing to apply the newly established rules of engagement and will strike with an iron fist and deal with force and firmness with any infiltration or smuggling attempts to protect the borders." Earlier this month the military said an army officer was killed in a shootout with smugglers along the long porous border it shares with Syria. Jordan is home to more than 650,000 Syrian refugees who fled the civil war that has raged there for more than a decade. In September, Syrian and Jordanian officials discussed border security after Syrian government forces captured rebel-held areas along the Jordanian frontier. A month later, Jordans King Abdullah II spoke with Syrian President Bashar Assad for the first time in a decade after the two countries reopened a key border crossing. An illegal drug industry has flourished in Syria after 10 years of civil war. In recent years, the Arab Mediterranean country has emerged as a hot spot for making and selling captagon, an illegal amphetamine. Both Syria and neighboring Lebanon have become gateways for the drug to the Middle East, and particularly the Gulf. The U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime said in a 2014 report that the amphetamine market is on the rise in the Middle East, with busts mostly in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria accounting for more than 55 percent of amphetamines seized worldwide. Thailand and Saudi Arabia are proper friends again. Like proper official friends again. After 30 years of katti, dono ne batti kar li. And this is a big Guinness record for all those who have heard about reconciliation and forgiveness. What started as a eye-raising theft case in 1989 ended up creating a 30-year rift between the two countries. The rift lasted till January 2022. This rift seems to have dissolved after an invitation sent by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince to Thailand's Prime Minister, and was graciously accepted. The Thai PM visited Saudi Arabia recently, and their latest press conference seems to wave a happy reconciliation flag. The Blue Diamond Affair. Photo: Getty Images BUT WHAT WAS THE THAILAND-SAUDI ARABIA RIFT ALL ABOUT? It all began in 1989 when a Thai janitor employed at the then Saudi Kings mansion robbed the kings precious jewels and fled to Thailand. When Saudi Arabia complained about this notorious act, Thailand's police put its forces to right the wronged Sheikh. They caught the thief and promised to return the jewels to Saudi Arabia because the King simply asked for the jewels to be returned, to avoid any political consequences in terms of investigations and charges. But this is not why the rift happened. Like it happens in Hindi potboilers, the returned jewels turned out to be fake. Saudi Arabia downgraded its diplomatic relationship with Thailand and sent two of its own diplomats to investigate the matter. These diplomats were murdered. By whom? No one knows yet, even in 2022. Another Saudi businessman who knew of this missing diamond, and who was in Thailand, also went missing later. This created a bitter history between the countries, which continued till January 2022. But ministers in both countries seem to have wanted a reconciliation after this 30-year rift. The meeting and the press release, which talks about both countries who have now agreed to exchange ambassadors, is bound to change the political future of both countries and boost the nations' economic, security and political ties. The current leaders of Saudi and Thailand. Photo: Royal Court of Saudi Arabia HERE'S WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED. BUT A DISCLAIMER BEFORE THAT: All characters and events depicted in this story are entirely true and not fictitious. Any similarity to actual events or persons, living and dead, are not purely coincidental because they are based on true events. SO, THE STORY: It all started in the year 1989, when a Thai migrant worker Kriangkrai Techamong, stole US $20 million worth of diamonds from the palace of the Saudi Prince Faisal bin Fahd. What a jerk! The Saudi Prince Faisal Bin Fahd. Photo: Wikipedia Among his loot of stolen pieces of jewellery was a 50-carat blue diamond, which was precious to the King. Back in Thailand, Kriangkrai was arrested in 1990 after he confessed to the crime. He decided to give back all the stolen jewelry that was yet to be sold by him in the Thai market. Blue Diamond Affair: The mystery of the stolen Saudi jewels. The Saudi prince & his wife were away on holiday for three months, so the thief knew this was the time to strike. Kriangkrai Techamong was running a significant risk. Stealing could be punished @ https://t.co/2ZtEeREWEo pic.twitter.com/golNZGWSra Jewelers Suite (@JewelersSuite) September 30, 2019 IF THE JEWELLERY CAME BACK, WHY THE RIFT? The Saudis assured that there would be no legal consequences if the blue diamond was returned. But after the thief returned the jewels and the Thai police arrested him, some jewels that were sent back to Saudi Arabia turned out to be fake! Also, the returned jewels did not have the precious blue diamond! To sort this out, when the Saudis sent two diplomats to understand the investigation, they both were murdered by unknown offenders. What worsened the matter was when another Saudi businessman who had knowledge of this business, went missing. The Thai police were led by Lieutenant General Chalor Kerdthes. He and his team suspected a person called Santi Srithanakhan to have done the dirty deed. But the news pointed fingers at the Thai police, who were accused of sending back the fake jewellery. In 1994, the Lietenant General ended up kidnapping Santi's wife and son to get him to reveal the whereabouts of the jewellery. But he ended up killing both of them and ended up being sentenced to death. But he received a royal pardon after spending 19 years in jail. Till date, no one knows about the actual whereabouts of the blue diamond. Thailand has expressed sincere regrets about the 1989 incidents, and has exerted utmost efforts to resolve the case. It has also assured the Saudi kingdom of appropriate security to the members of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Bangkok. Saudi Arabia and Thailand announced that they are re-establishing diplomatic relations after three decades of freezing over a jewelry theft case from a Saudi palace.A Thai man working at the palace stole $ 20 million worth of gemstones.,a very rare, 50 carat blue diamond! pic.twitter.com/qYOLqcxwgN Valia Traka (@TrakaValia) January 26, 2022 This is why the meeting between the two countries is a big deal, because restoration of full diplomatic ties shows how both have moved on and agreed to work with each other to enhance economic and trade relations. Here is the joint press statement from Thailand and Saudi Arabia. JERUSALEM, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The recent congratulatory messages between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations have boosted confidence in bilateral ties, experts have said. Xi noted on Monday that since the establishment of their diplomatic relations, the two peoples have deepened their friendship and bilateral relations have achieved remarkable progress. Also on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang exchanged congratulatory messages with his Israeli counterpart, Naftali Bennett. Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan co-chaired the fifth meeting of China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation with Yair Lapid, Israel's alternate prime minister and foreign minister, on Monday via video link, with the two sides pledging to promote cooperation on innovation. "The top-level design has been a solid foundation for consolidating mutual political trust, forging ahead cooperation in the areas of economy, science and technology, and promoting people-to-people exchanges," said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies. As China and Israel forged an innovative comprehensive partnership in 2017, Israel became the second country, after Switzerland, to enjoy a partnership with China featuring "innovation," said Ruan. "This makes the China-Israel relations pretty distinctive," said Ruan, noting that the obvious achievement Israel has made in science is compatible with China's commitment to pursuing high-quality development driven by innovation. According to Chinese Ambassador to Israel Cai Run, China has become Israel's largest trading partner in Asia and the third-largest in the world. The volume of bilateral trade has increased more than 450 times in merely three decades. "This fully illustrates the great potential, bright prospects and strong resilience of China-Israel cooperation," Cai has said. Besides the impressive economic figures, Niv Schwartz, co-founder and CEO at Xinergy Global Business Consulting Company, said he believed "it's about the great potential, not only to see China as a market but also as the prosperous base for innovation." The two sides have cooperated in such landmark projects as the new port of Haifa, the Red Line of the Tel Aviv Light Rail, the China-Israel Changzhou Innovation Park and the China-Israel (Shanghai) Innovation Park, making innovation a driving force in bilateral relations. "Chinese companies have made up for Israel's shortage of labor force and high cost of manpower by taking part in infrastructure construction. Meanwhile, innovative Israeli enterprises have injected momentum into China's development as they settled in China for business," Cai noted. "The two countries' strong economic complementarity, as well as cooperation in infrastructure construction and scientific and technological innovation, are strong propellers for advancing bilateral relations," said Ding Long, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University. When China and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992, only a few thousand trips were made between the two countries. Nowadays, people-to-people exchanges are much more vigorous. The two countries have withstood various challenges amid the increasingly complex international situation, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic era, said Ma Xiaolin, a senior professor at the Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean Rim at Zhejiang International Studies University. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries issued 10-year multiple-entry visas reciprocally to each other's citizens, and direct flights were opened between the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Hong Kong. "The Chinese, like Israelis, aren't afraid of new ideas. There's a built-in curiosity in the character of our two peoples," said Lapid, according to a statement released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Matan Vilnai, former Israeli ambassador to China, also noted the importance of advancing people-to-people exchanges and called on the Israelis to understand that China is "not only" the second largest economy in the world. Serving now as president at the Israeli campus of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Vilnai called on people from both sides to facilitate mutual understanding. "It's very important now we have the UIBE Israel, a platform which brings Chinese students to study in Israel and enables Israeli students to understand a real China," he said. "I think both leaders understand that cooperation can advance both the Israeli goal to help create a better world and the Chinese vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind," said Carice Witte, founder and executive director of Sino-Israel Global Network & Academic Leadership, an Israeli policy organization. The 51st Annual Spring Powwow, organized by First Nations @ UW in April, marked the events post-pandemic return. Drawing both Indigenous people and nonnatives from across the country, the powwow is one of the largest student-run events on campus and has been an important event for Pacific N 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. Photo taken on July 15, 2020 shows the exterior view of the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. (Photo by Li Ye/Xinhua) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has urged the United States to "find no more excuses and immediately correct the wrongdoings" in its trade practices after a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling granted China rights to slap tariffs on U.S. goods, according to the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. On Jan. 26, the WTO issued the decision that China could impose tariffs on goods imported from the United States totaling up to 645 million U.S. dollars a year, as the U.S. side failed to implement previous recommendations and rulings made by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. "The ruling is of great significance in rectifying U.S. countervailing duties on imported Chinese goods, protecting the legitimate trade interests of Chinese companies and safeguarding multilateral trading systems," the commerce ministry said. It is the second time China has been granted rights to impose retaliatory tariffs on imports from the United States, the ministry said. Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan said on Wednesday that the state government accorded top priority to the welfare of farmers and the farming sector, as agriculture is the backbone of our state's economy. Addressing the 73rd Republic Day events at IGMC stadium, the governor said development of agriculture and allied sectors will raise the living standards of nearly 62 per cent of the population depending upon agriculture as the main means of their livelihood. Stated the governor, My government's main aim is to restore the past glory to the farm sector and farmers. The Rythu Bharosa Kendras system is a revolutionary initiative of my government. This is a one-stop solution from seed to crop sale for all farming needs. The government has procured nearly 22.78 lakh metric tonnes of paddy from farmers through RBKs in this Kharif season under MSP and payments are being made within a short time. In the last 32 months of my governance, even during the lockdown period, 1.91 crore mt of paddy was procured from farmers with a payment involving Rs 35,396 crore. Other crops were procured at an amount of ` 6,499 crore under MSP. Governor Harichandan said, AP government achieved 1st rank in Good Governance Index in agriculture and allied sectors by achieving growth rate of 11.3 per cent in agriculture sector & 12.3 per cent and 11.7 per cent in Horticulture & Animal Husbandry sectors and also due to innovative way of coverage of crop insurance scheme. I am proud to say that the government has so far extended assistance of Rs 86,313 crore to farmers under various farmer welfare schemes. He said, In a first of its kind initiative in the country, the government is extending YSR Rythu Bharosa assistance of Rs 13,500 per year in three installments to each farmer cultivating their own land and also to eligible SC/ST/BC and minority tenant farmers and also to the farmers cultivating the ROFR and Endowment lands, to reduce their burden on input expenditure. As on date, a total of 119,126 crores is distributed as Rythu Bharosa assistance. The governor, in his speech, explained about the services of Rythu Bharosa Kendras, YSR Sunna Vaddi Panta Runalu, YSR Free Crop Insurance, Input Subsidy, YSR Yantra Seva Padhakam, AP-Amul Paala Velluva, fisheries, construction of Fishing Harbours, education, Jagananna Amma Vodi, Jagananna Vidya Deevena, Jagananna Vasathi Deevena, New Education Policy, NADU NEDU, the Dr YSR Aarogyasri and effective Covid19 management and other sectors. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host the first meeting of the India-Central Asia Summit, with the participation of the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, in a virtual format on Thursday evening, with the leaders expected to discuss the evolving regional security situation, especially with regard to Afghanistan, as well as trade and connectivity initiatives through the sea-land route via Iran besides the development partnership between India and the Central Asian region. India has strategic ties with four of these five nations and warm cordial ties with all five Republics. Cultural and people to people ties are also an important part of the ties. The Summit the first engagement of its kind between India and the Central Asian countries at the level of the top leadership is taking place in virtual format due to the pandemic. The Presidents of these five Central Asian countries had earlier been invited by New Delhi to be chief guests at the Republic Day Parade on Wednesday though there had been no official announcement or confirmation of this but these plans were dropped in view of the raging third wave of the pandemic in India. The five Central Asian nations have been key to Indias connectivity and trade initiatives through the sea-land route via Iran. The strategic importance of this energy-rich region has also increased for New Delhi, particularly after the fall of Afghanistan to the Pakistan-backed Taliban in August last year. The recent violence and turbulence in one of these nations Kazakhstan has also been closely monitored by New Delhi. All five Central Asian nations have a secular character and are wary of instability, particularly after the events in Afghanistan last year. All five nations also have close ties with Indias time-tested friend and decades-long strategic partner Russia. So far as Kazakhstan is concerned, India is a strategic partner and India has the highest trade with it in the region pegged at $1.9 billion in 2020-21, mainly comprising oil. In a unique experiment in UN peacekeeping, Kazakh troops are participating as part of an Indian battalion and the two nations hold a regular bilateral joint military exercise. There is an 8,000 strong Indian community there, including 5000 medical students. With the Kyrgyz Republic, India is again a strategic partner. So far, five telemedicine centres have been established by India there. India has extended a $200 million Line of Credit (LoC) in 2019. There is a joint collaboration between the two nations in high altitude research the Kyrgyz India Mountain Biomedical Research Centre. India had earlier given a Bhabhatron (radiation therapy machine for cancer treatment) to the Kyrgyz Republic. Both nations have an annual joint military exercise Khanjar. India has a strong Indian student community there at over 15,000. With Tajikistan, India is once again a strategic partner. There is a strong cooperation in defence, including India-Tajik Friendship hospital. Both nations have a very similar position on Afghanistan, observers point out. With Uzbekistan, India is again a strategic partner. There is understood to be good cooperation between the Andijan region there and Gujarat, according to observers. The bilateral trade between the two nations is about $300 million. Both countries have a trilateral Working Group with Iran on the Iranian port of Chabahar that is Indias gateway to Central Asia. India has extended a Line of Credit (LoC) of $1 billion extended in 2018, with four projects worth US$ 450 million approved. Projects under High Impact Community Development are under implementation there with Indian assistance. Some of the prominent private universities in India have set up campuses in Uzbekistan. Prominent Indian hospital chains have also set up medical units and centres there. A private Indian company has invested $50 million worth investment there in setting up a pharmaceutical plant. An Entrepreneurship Development Centre was set up by India there in 2019. In Turkmenistan, the first Yoga and Traditional Medicine centre in Central Asia was set up in Ashgabat in 2015. Besides, India had established an IT Centre in 2011 and an Industrial Training Centre in 2002. It may be recalled that New Delhi had earlier said, The first India-Central Asia Summit is a reflection of Indias growing engagement with the Central Asian countries, which are a part of Indias Extended Neighbourhood. ... During the first India-Central Asia Summit, the Leaders are expected to discuss steps to take forward India-Central Asia relations to newer heights. They are also expected to exchange views on regional and international issues of interest, especially the evolving regional security situation. Pointing out that PM Modi had paid a historic visit to all Central Asian countries in 2015, India had recently said that the inception of the India-Central Asia Dialogue at foreign ministers level, the third meeting of which was held in New Delhi from December 18-20 last year, has provided an impetus to India-Central Asia relations. The participation of the secretaries of National Security Councils of Central Asian countries in the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan held in New Delhi on November 10 last year outlined a common regional approach on Afghanistan. NEW DELHI: India celebrated its 73rd Republic Day on Wednesday with the iconic parade at Delhi's majestic Rajpath showcasing its military prowess and cultural pageantry. A flypast by 75 aircraft and helicopters was the highlight of this year's parade as the 75th anniversary of Independence is being observed as Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav across the country. The 90-minute parade witnessed many firsts, including Indias first woman Rafale fighter jet pilot, Shivangi Singh, as part of the Indian Air Force tableau. Showcased at the parade were also the Centurion tanks, PT-76 tank, 75/24 Pack howitzer and OT-62 TOPAZ armoured personnel carrier that played a major role in defeating Pakistan in the 1971 War. India in 2021 had celebrated the Swarnim Vijay Varsh (Golden victory year) to commemorate the countrys win over Pakistan in the 1971 War that led to the creation of Bangladesh. The mechanised columns of the Army showed one PT-76 tank, one Centurion tank, two MBT Arjun MK-I tanks, one OT-62 TOPAZ armoured personnel carrier, one BMP-I infantry-fighting vehicle and two BMP-II infantry fighting vehicles. Horse-mounted soldiers of the Indian Armys 61 Cavalry Regiment, the only active horsed cavalry unit in the world currently, was the first marching contingent at the parade. A team of women daredevils from the Border Security Force got the adrenaline rushing as they performed gravity-defying motorcycle stunts. They also sent out a message of girl education and women empowerment. The Seema Bhawani motorcycle team received applause and appreciation from the spectators. The parade also showcased Indian Army uniforms and rifles that have evolved over the decades since the countrys independence. Three marching contingents of the Indian Army wore uniforms and carried rifles from previous decades, while one contingent wore the new combat uniform and carried the latest Tavor rifles as a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. There were a total of six marching contingents of the Army at the parade. Each marching contingent comprised 96 soldiers instead of the usual 144 so that proper attention can be given to Covid-19 protocol. This was also the first time that the parade began half an hour later than usual, due to low visibility and fog. The ceremony began with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the nation in paying homage to the martyrs by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial, a monument to the soldiers who have made supreme sacrifice for the country. The PM had not put on his Republic Day traditional turban. He had worn an Uttarakhandi cap with an image of the brahmakamal, the state flower, and also sported a stole from Manipur. He uses brahmakamal whenever he offers prayers at the Kedarnath shrine in Uttarakhand. Turbans have previously been a highlight of the PMs sartorial choices at Independence Day and Republic Day events. There was no chief guest at the parade this year. Swachhagrah, frontline workers, autorickshaw drivers, construction workers and labourers who prepared the majestic tableaux were among special guests invited for this years parade. The ceremonial event was scaled down this time in view of the coronavirus pandemic, with spectators size drastically cut to 5,000 from the 25,000 last year. In the pre-pandemic times, over one-lakh spectators used to witness the parade. From members of contingents to spectators, everyone wore masks and maintained strict do gaz ki doori (distance of two yards). Only double vaccinated adults and children above the age of 15, who have taken at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, were allowed to enter the venue. Children below 15 years were not permitted to attend. Participants also received white caps with Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav printed on them. In a floral tribute to Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary, the CPWDs tableau depicted Netaji and warriors of the Indian National Army during the parade. Martyrs and Independence Movement was the theme of the poll-bound Punjab tableau, which prominently featured Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh, both martyrs of the Freedom Movement from the state. As the celebrations came to a close at the Rajpath, the Presidents Bodyguard (PBG) escorted President Ram Nath Kovind back to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. What made the occasion special was the presence of Virat, the special horse in the PBG, who retired from his years-long service after the parade. Virat was the mount of Presidents Bodyguard Commandant Colonel Anup Tiwary and took part 13 times in RD parades. Mr Kovind, Mr Modi and defence minister Rajnath Singh patted and bid farewell to the magnificent horse after the parade. Virat was awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation on the eve of Army Day on January 15. Virat is the first horse to receive the commendation for exceptional service and abilities. NEW DELHI: In a bid to make vaccines against Covid-19 affordable, prices of Covishield and Covaxin jabs are likely to be capped at Rs 275 per dose, with an additional service charge of Rs 150. A regular market approval is awaited for both the vaccines from Indias drug regulator, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has already been directed to start working towards capping the price. Currently, each dose of the Bharat Biotech-produced Covaxin is priced at Rs 1,200, while Serum Institutes Covishield costs Rs 780 in private facilities. A service charge of 150 is included in the price. On January 19, a Subject Expert Committee on Covid-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation had recommended granting regular market approval to Covishield and Covaxin for use in the adult population subject to certain conditions. Serum Institute of India director (government and regulatory affairs) Prakash Kumar Singh had submitted an application to the DCGI on October 25 seeking regular market approval for its Covishield vaccine. Bharat Biotech director V. Krishna Mohan had also submitted information on the chemistry, manufacturing and controls, along with the pre-clinical and clinical data while seeking regular market authorisation for Covaxin. As India logged 2,85,914 new Covid-19 cases and 665 deaths in the last 24 hours, an ICMR study has revealed that individuals infected with Omicron have a significant immune responses, which could neutralise not only the Omicron but also other variants of concern, including the most prevalent Delta variant. The country has 22.23 lakh active cases, 5.55 per cent of its caseload. The daily positivity rate is 16.16 per cent, while the recovery rate is 93.23 per cent. Over 163.58 crore vaccine doses for Covid-19 have already been administered in the country. About 93.24 crore people have been given the first dose of the vaccine and 69.31 crore citizens have been fully vaccinated. The Centre has been supporting the states and union territories by providing them Covid vaccines free of cost. More than 163.63 crores vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs so far through the direct state procurement method. While emphasising the need for an Omicron-specific vaccine strategy, the ICMR study suggests that the immune response induced by the Omicron could effectively neutralise the Delta variant, making the re-infection with Delta variant less likely, thereby displacing the Delta as the dominant strain. The study conducted by ICMR scientists, including Priya Abraham, Rima R. Sahay, Pragya D. Yadav and Gajanan N Sapkal, is yet to be peer-reviewed and has been released on bioRxiv preprint server. It was conducted on 39 individuals, of whom 25 had taken both the doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine; eight people had taken double doses of Pfizer jab, while six were not vaccinated. Of the 39 people, 28 were foreign returnees from the UAE, South/West/East Africa, Middle East, the US and the UK, and 11 were their high-risk contacts. All of these individuals had been infected with Omicron. The study assessed the IgG antibody and Neutralising Antibody (NAb) response in the people with breakthrough and natural Covid-19 infections. It showed there was a substantial immune response in the individuals infected with Omicron. It also revealed that neutralising antibodies could effectively neutralise the Omicron and other variants of concern (VOCs), including the most prevalent Delta variant. Senior officials of Tata Group during a meeting in Delhi. Air India Limited, Air India Express & AISATS (AI stake) have become part of the Tata Group today. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Maharaja officially came home after 69 years as the government, on Thursday, handed over the national carrier Air India to the Tata Group. It is expected that the official transition of Air India to the Tata Group will start from Friday. The cash component of the deal came as soon as the handover process was completed, as per the terms of the agreement. Confirming the development, Tuhin Kant Pandey, secretary, department of investment and public asset management (Dipam) told the media, The formalities have been completed. The Air India disinvestment process is closed. The shares have been transferred to Talace Pvt Ltd, which is the new owner of Air India. On an emotional note, Ratan Tata, Tata Groups Chairman Emeritus said that Air India under the leadership of J.R.D. Tata had, at one time, gained the reputation of being one of the most prestigious airlines in the world. Tata will have the opportunity of regaining the image and reputation it enjoyed in earlier years. Mr JRD Tata would have been overjoyed if he was in our midst today, Ratan Tata said after the handing over of the airline. Tata Group founder J.R.D. Tata had launched the airline in 1932 as the nations first carrier, flying mail between Karachi in then-undivided, British-ruled India and Bombay. It was nationalised in 1953. The Tata Group has planned several changes in the airline services. As per sources, maximum emphasis will be given to ensure that Air India aircraft fly on time. Besides, it will give top priority to improve the quality of food and treat every passenger as a guest," the source said. The entire nations eyes are on the Tata Group and Air India waiting to see what they will achieve together, Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran told the carrier's employees in his first communique after taking over the airline. He expressed confidence that the golden age of Air India lies ahead. The government had in October last year, inked the share purchase agreement with the Tata Group for the sale of a national carrier for Rs 18,000 crore. The group would pay Rs 2,700 crore cash and take over Rs 15,300 crore of the airlines debt. The transaction was to be completed by December 2021, but the deadline was extended till January owing to the longer-than-expected time taken to complete procedural work. Ahead of the airlines takeover, the government notified the agreement between Air India and special purpose vehicle Air India Ltd and AI Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL) for the transfer of non-core assets. What the Tatas would not get to retain are non-core assets like the Vasant Vihar Housing Colony of Air India, Air India Building at Nariman Point, Mumbai, and Air India Building in New Delhi. Air India will be the third airline in the Tatas stable as the group holds a majority interest in Air Asia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd. Tatas could control around 26.7 per cent of the country's aviation market share: The group has an 84 per cent stake in Air Asia, which has a 5.2 per cent market share and in Vistara, which holds 8.3 per cent market share, the Tatas have a 51 per cent share. Tata Sons chairman Chandrasekaran called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday ahead of the official handover. Later, Chandrasekaran visited the Air India headquarters. We are very happy to have Air India back in the Tata group. We look forward to working with everyone in creating a world-class airline, Chandrasekaran said. Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that it was noteworthy that the disinvestment process of Air India has been brought to a successful conclusion in a time-bound manner. This proves the governments ability and the resolve to carry out disinvestment effectively in non-strategic sectors in the future, he said. New Delhi: The problems for the Congress party have just begun after the exit of its leader from Uttar Pradesh R.P.N. Singh, who has joined the BJP. The inability of the Congress to stop the exodus of its leaders from a poll-bound state has not only disheartened the cadres but has also motivated its leaders to look for greener pastures for themselves. Mr Singh belonging to a Congress family worked his way up in the Congress hierarchy after the untimely brutal murder of his father C.P.N. Singh, who was a Union minister of state for defence in the Indira Gandhi Cabinet and was shot dead by his cousin during the 1989 poll campaign. Starting as the Youth Congress president in Uttar Pradesh to a two-term MLA, one-term MP and Union minister, he was currently the incharge of Jharkhand state. He was credited for forging the Congress alliance with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in the state and forming the government there. Insiders claim that Mr Singh was isolated in the Uttar Pradesh scheme of things of the Congress and was unable to see a future for himself and his party. The leaders and staff close to the general secretary incharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were not favourably inclined towards him. In the entire campaign that was crafted in Uttar Pradesh, there was no role for him. Be it the Lakhimpur Kheri incident last year or the Hathras rape case earlier, his services were not sought by the party. The Congress powers chose to keep Mr Singh out of the equation. In the run up to the elections also, he was not consulted. Perhaps his opinion was taken only on the Padrauna Assembly seat out of his parliamentary constituency of Kushinagar. The manifesto committee, the candidate selection committee and the core committee did not have a place for Mr Singh. Just two days before his exit, he was made a star campaigner along with 25 others. The desperation in the party leaders from Uttar Pradesh is very much visible. In the last six months, several leaders have quit the party. They include Jitin Prasada, Harindra Malik and his son Pankaj Malik, Imran Masood, Supriya Aaron, sitting Bareilly MLA, and her husband Praveen Singh Aaron, who is a former Lok Sabha MP. All of them claim that the future of the party is not bright in the state There is a strong buzz that some other leaders may also shift base before the polls. Sources say that the state unit president Ajay Kumar Lallu may also jump ship, a claim that has been strongly denied so far. However, Mr Lallu was conspicuous by his absence on the occasion of the manifesto release. He had later said that he couldnt make it to the event owing to the foggy conditions and low visibility on roads. The coming weeks for the party are going to be crucial. It has to try and get a respectable total in the home state of the party high command. Also, it has to ensure that the desertions that are happening at an alarming rate are arrested at the earliest. This trend not only makes for bad optics but also disheartens the ordinary Congress worker. Guwahati: A day after the chief ministers of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh met to find a solution to the decades-old inter-state border dispute, tensions once again cropped up along the disputed area amid allegations and counter-allegations of police action and firing by locals from the Arunachal Pradesh side on Wednesday night. The problem started over the ongoing Likabali-Durpai PMGSY road project in Arunachal Pradeshs Lower Siang district. Assam claims that some parts of the road, under construction since 2019, falls under its Dhemaji district. The Assam police on Tuesday allegedly entered the territory of Arunachal Pradesh in Kangku circle of Lower Siang district and stopped the construction of the ongoing road project. On Wednesday evening, a culvert under construction close to Hime village in Lower Siang was also burnt by unidentified miscreants from the Assam side, the authorities said. In what was alleged to be retaliatory action, there were reports of firing in the air by locals from the Arunachal Pradesh side Wednesday night. District officials from both Dhemaji (in Assam) and Arunachal Pradeshs Lower Siang -- the two districts share a 150 km border -- reached the spot Thursday morning, and said the incident was minor and that the situation was under control. The tension prevailed in the area after an Assam police team stopped the construction of the road at Hime. The Likabali-Durpai road touches the disputed territory at some points on the border. On Tuesday, our team stopped one such construction. Since this is a disputed area, we have prevented construction on previous occasions too, said Ranjan Bhuyan, Dhemajis superintendent of police. It is significant that Arunachal Pradesh, which was earlier a part of Assam, shares a boundary of over 800 km with the state. The inter-state border region has witnessed frequent flareups. Clashes were first reported in 1992, and since then there have been several accusations of illegal encroachment from both sides. The dispute is now before the Supreme Court. In August 2021, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the state Assembly that there were at least 1,200 areas of dispute along the border with Arunachal Pradesh and that the two states were working toward solving it. After Mondays meeting with Arunachal CM Pema Khandu, Mr Sarma tweeted: Solving boundary issues with neighbours is our priority. Discussed with Honble CM of Arunachal Pradesh @PemaKhanduBJP, who came all the way to Guwahati, measures for a permanent solution to the long-pending issue. We decided to conduct a ground-level survey on boundary status. Mr Khandu also reiterated that they have been working to find a mutually acceptable solution to this problem. Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman chairs the 6th Pre-Budget consultation with the representatives of Services Sector including stakeholders from Health, Education, Rural Development and Water & Sanitation Sectors, in connection with the forthcoming Union Budget 2022-23. (PTI) The drama and spectacle around Budgets in India are completely undeserved. More than four-fifths of the Union Budget demands relate to expenditure that is carried through from past decisions, leaving little leeway for bold new outlays. And even when such programmes are budgeted, it is unclear who is going to pay for the added expense. Compulsorily linking all new expenses with either explicit expenditure reductions elsewhere or new revenue sources could reduce the swagger and table-thumping that such proposals evoke and enforce fiscal sustainability. Also, instead of focusing on expenditure outputs like the length of roads built we should focus on the outcomes thereof like reduction in travel time or increase in traffic intensity. India does table an annual performance budget. But it is a formality a bit like washing your feet before entering a temple necessary, but infructuous, if you do not also clear your head and become receptive to the spirituality within. Budgets in India, by and large, are mostly a grand occasion for initiating policy change, signalling implicit acceptance of past mistakes by making amends via new allocations and building future expectations. The Narendra Modi government is particular about its report card and of living up to its promises. When that does not happen for example, in getting illegally expatriated funds back home or creating ten million jobs annually it offers a rash of substitutes, to keep hope alive. The record since 2015 is impressive. Financial inclusion extended to 422 million new, free accounts till 2021. 180 million enrolled cumulatively in basic, low premium, social security and accident insurance schemes, though the annual policy renewal rate is lower. Rs 1.6 trillion in Centrally guaranteed collateral-free bank loans for 260 million small entrepreneurs. Thirty-three million subsidised houses for the poor by 2022, of which 22 million were built for around Rs 3-4 trillion. Over 100 million poor households provided with a toilet, though both the NSSO 2018 and NHFS 2020 surveys assess 93 per cent ODF as significantly overhyped the age-old problem of outputs like toilets not adding up to outcomes like ODF. Around Rs 0.2 trillion of bank loans to 0.1 million Scheduled Castes and women, new entrepreneurs. From 2016, 90 million free cooking gas connections allotted to poor households. Direct cash support to 100 million farm families, just before the 2019 general election and liberalising the NPA classification norms for overdue loans of SMSE which contribute around 39 per cent of GDP and employ around 110 million people were ways of implicitly saying sorry for taking away your unorganised sector jobs, courtesy demonetisation in 2016-17 and GST in 2017-18 -- double whammies, which deflated the economy. After the Covid-19 pandemic, the government responded with universal ration cards, usable nationwide by migrant workers. Free foodgrains for the 794 million registered beneficiaries of the public distribution system were a prompt and welcome use of the mountains of cereals accumulated by the Food Corporation of India 2.5X and 2X of the annual requirement of rice and wheat (June 2021), courtesy good harvests. Putting all this together, the bottom half of the income deciles have benefited from multiple schemes, in the absence of new jobs. Edelman Trust Barometer 2022 rated public trust in the government as being the highest in India. Five state level elections loom in February and early March including Goa, where the ruling BJP faces disaffection; Uttarakhand, where the ding-dong trend between the BJP and Congress favors the latters win, albeit spoilt by an aspiring AAP cutting into their votes; Punjab, where an ascendant AAP scents a win against the whittled down Congress and, finally, the giant killer-kingmaker, Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for 15 per cent of Lok Sabha seats and 78 per cent of the 102 seats going to the polls where majority satisfaction tussles with selective caste elite disempowerment. For a party like the BJP, which expects to rule indefinitely, and can deliver on promises, what role should the forthcoming Budget play in securing a win? The elephant in the room is the alienation of northern Indias farmers. Non-farm jobs are scarce even for graduates. Haryana has an unemployment rate of 36 per cent (CMIE Sept-Dec 2021). Distrust abounds that the actual target of the repealed farm laws was disbanding the expensive-to-administer minimum support price (MSP) mechanism where the government determines the price of purchase. Farmers also yearn for reclaiming their lost status, via an official endorsement, that they are not the detritus of an inefficient, outmoded system of production but respected entrepreneurs who supply sustenance at reasonable prices. A window of opportunity to rebuild trust exists in addressing the twin problems of severe ground water stress and reducing the losses of the Food Corporation of India. Seventy-one per cent of blocks in Haryana and 83 per cent of blocks in Punjab are critical or over-exploited according to the Central Ground Water Board 2020. Nevertheless, the FCI procures 52 per cent of its wheat and 63 per cent of rice (2020-21) from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, driven by political pressure to continue MSP purchases an anachronistic income transfer scheme for farmers. Why not offer to farmers in these water-stressed blocks an optional, assured water saving premium for shifting away from wheat and rice to low water-intensity crops oilseeds, pulses or increasingly fashionable organic coarse grains? A premium of Rs 6,200 per acre for wheat (assuming yield of 2.06 metric ton per acre) and Rs 7,700 per acre for rice (assuming yield of 1.8 metric tons per acre) can be financed from the avoided cost for the FCI of uselessly procuring and storing surplus cereal stock, which it sells at a loss. If the benefits of reduced groundwater demand and rejuvenated aquifers are added, the premium can be higher, given a minimum shift away of say 20 per cent. Other Budget priorities are more mundane continuing to alleviate the Covid-19 pandemic-driven financial stress and poverty, stimulating exports as a demand enhancer through supportive exchange rates, reducing duties on imports to lower domestic consumer prices, while enhancing corporate tax revenues through a two-year cess on the profits of listed companies, to sequester partly their unearned pandemic-driven bonanza, higher non-tax revenue from monetisation and higher non-debt capital receipts from disinvestment. The good news is that it is okay to be profligate these days. That makes the fiscal deficit a residual and not the anchor metric for sustainability. Washington: Former vice-president Hamid Ansari and four US lawmakers have expressed concern over the current human rights situation in India. They were speaking at a virtual panel discussion organised by the Indian American Muslim Council on Wednesday. India has rejected criticism by foreign governments and human rights groups on allegations that civil liberties have eroded in the country. "As the Indian government continues to target the practices of minority faiths, it creates an atmosphere where discrimination and violence can take root. In recent years, we have seen an uptick in online hate speeches and acts of hate, including vandalised mosques, torched churches, and communal violence," said Democratic Senator Ed Markey, who has a history of taking anti-India stands, including opposing the landmark India-US civil nuclear deal during the Manmohan Singh regime. Participating in the panel discussion from India, former vice president Ansari expressed his concern over the rising trend of Hindu nationalism. "In recent years, we have experienced the emergence of trends and practices that dispute the well-established principle of civic nationalism and interpose a new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism.... It wants to distinguish citizens on the basis of their faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness, and promote disquiet and insecurity," he alleged. The three other Congressmen who spoke during the panel discussion -- Jim McGovern, Andy Levin and Jamie Raskin -- have traditionally taken anti-India stands irrespective of the governments in power in New Delhi. "There have been a lot of problems with the issue of religious authoritarianism and discrimination taking place in India," Raskin said. "So we want to make sure that India stays on the path of respecting religious liberty, freedom, pluralism, toleration and dissent for everybody," he added. "Regrettably, today, the world's largest democracy is seeing backsliding, human rights under attack and religious nationalism. Since 2014, India has fallen from 27 to 53 on the Democracy Index. And Freedom House has downgraded India from free to partly free," Levin said. McGovern, co-chair of the powerful Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the US House of Representatives, listed several warning signs that showed India's "alarming backsliding" on human rights, according to a media release issued by the Indian American Muslim Council. The Indian government has asserted that India has well-established democratic practices and robust institutions to safeguard the rights of all. The government has emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of human rights. NFTs on Chinese character Fu launched globally People's Daily Online) 11:46, January 27, 2022 Twelve non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that integrate the patterns of traditional Chinese blue-and-white ceramics and the Chinese character Fu, meaning fortune and luck in English, are to be launched globally for the first time on Jan. 27, as the Chinese Lunar New Year draws near. The NFTs are being launched by the Peoples Cultural Creative, the China International Culture Exchange Center (CICEC), Tencent News and a calligraphy and paintings art fund for Chinese living all around the world. In all of the 12 NFTs, the Chinese calligraphy represented by the character Fu appears in the middle against a background made from the patterns of blue-and-white ceramics. The images of Fu come from 12 celebrated Chinese calligraphers, such as Su Shishu, the honorary president of the China Calligraphers Association (CCA), Sun Xiaoyun, president of the CCA, five CCA vice presidents, and five members of the CCA council. A total of 88,888 NTFs will be made available for Chinese all over the world for free on platforms including the official WeChat accounts of the Global People magazine, Peoples Cultural Creative, and the Tencent news app, in six consecutive days starting from 12:00 noon on Jan. 27 (Beijing Time). Meanwhile, all participants will receive a free Fu commemorative card designed by Pan Shanzhu, vice president of the CCA, Nyima Tsering, Xu Li, and Yang Xiaoyang, vice presidents of the China Artists Association (CAA), along with Lin Yang, council member of the CAA, and painter Guo Shifu. These Fu characters are a symbol of the fine characteristics of traditional Chinese culture and Chinese peoples longing for a better future in the digital world, which will create valuable memories for Chinese people. Below are a series of photos of the 12 non-fungible tokens: (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) (Photo/ Peoples Cultural Creative) With their unique digital identity and proprietorship information stored on the blockchain, NFTs can take the form of digital music, videos, and artworks. The Zhi Xin Chain linked to the Tencent Cloud can provide basic technological support for these NFTs. Each NFT has its own unique individual identity on Zhi Xin Chain and its information cannot be changed and will be preserved forever into the future. Moreover, such NFTs cannot be given away as gifts or be traded. (Web editor: Hongyu, Bianji) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China plans to stop all patent subsidies by 2025 to help shift its intellectual property (IP) focus from quantity to quality. All types of financial aid for patent licensing should be reduced by at least 25 percentage points every year until they are canceled by 2025, according to a notice issued by the National Intellectual Property Administration. The patent policy is part of China's continuous efforts to eliminate the incidence of Chinese patent applications that can not protect innovation, sources within the administration said on Thursday. China has led globally in its number of patent applications for many years. But it has recently taken more measures to pursue high-quality IP development to boost the country's innovation drive. Air India is finally back to its original home, 68 years after it was nationalised, as the Narendra Modi government formally handed over the airline to the new owner Tata Sons, completing the privatisation process of a public entity for the first time in 20 years. The takeover by the salt-to-software conglomerate comes three months after it won the bid quoting Rs 18,000 crore -- which includes taking over of Rs 15,300 crore of Air India's debt and a payment of Rs 2,700 crore in cash. Air India was founded by JRD Tata and was nationalised by the Jawaharlal Nehru government in 1953. The announcement of full handing over came soon after Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrashekhar met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national capital today. Shri N Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of Tata Sons called on PM @narendramodi. @TataCompanies pic.twitter.com/7yP8is5ehw PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 27, 2022 Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kumar Pandey tweeted, "the strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100% shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control. A new Board, led by the Strategic Partner, takes charge of Air India." Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said it is "indeed noteworthy" that the disinvestment process of Air India has been "brought to a successful conclusion in a time-bound manner". It is indeed noteworthy that the disinvestment process of @airindiain has been brought to a successful conclusion in a time-bound manner. This proves the govts ability, and the resolve to carry out disinvestment effectively in non-strategic sectors in the future. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia (@JM_Scindia) January 27, 2022 With the new acquisition, the Tatas will be adding one more airline to its fold. It currently operates Vistara in a joint venture with Singapore Airlines and a budget airline AirAsia India with Malaysia's AirAsia Group. Air India has around 4,400 domestic and 1,800 international landing and parking slots at domestic airports and 900 slots overseas. On October 8 last year, the government announced M/s Talace Pvt Ltd as the winning bidder of the national carrier. The losing bid of SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh quoted Rs 15,100 crore. The reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore was set after the bids were presented. The bid excludes non-core assets, including land and buildings, worth Rs 14,718 crore and will not be transferred to the Tatas. While Tatas take over Rs 15,300 crore debts, the government will be taking over the rest of the debts. As on August 31, Air India had a debt of Rs 61,562 crore.. This culminates the government's fresh attempt since 2017 to sell the national carrier, which had gulped Rs 1.10 lakh crore of taxpayer's money since 2009-10. It also marks the first privatisation of a government-owned company since 2002. The government had last sold Balco in 2001 and Hindustan Zinc in 2002, which ran into controversy. As the 2017 attempt failed to get any interested bidder, the government had in October 2020 sweetened the bid clause relating to the transfer of Air India's debt to the new investor, giving bidders flexibility to decide on the quantum of debt they want to absorb. The bids that came in were made up of 85:15 ratio of debt takeover and upfront cash. Air India has eight logos that will be handed over to the new bidder but the Tatas cannot transfer it for a period of five years. It can sell it after five years but again with a condition that it cannot be transferred to any foreign entity. On the employee side, Tatas will retain all employees and nobody will be retrenched for one year. If after they are to be removed, they will be offered a Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Post-retirement medical benefits of the employees will be protected. Check out DH's latest videos: By Pratik Parija, India is set to boost its sunflower oil imports from Argentina and Russia due to worries that shipments from Ukraine, the biggest supplier, will be disrupted if Russia invades. The South Asian nation, also the worlds biggest importer of palm and soybean oils, bought about 60,000 tons of sunflower oil from Russia and Argentina for shipments in February and March, according to Sandeep Bajoria, president of the International Sunflower Oil Association. Indians are really worried that supplies from Ukraine will be curtailed, said Bajoria, who is also the chief executive officer of Mumbai-based Sunvin Group. The trade is normal as of now but if the conflict flares up, its going to impact global vegetable oil prices. The US is putting as many as 8,500 troops on heightened alert for deployment to bolster NATO forces in Eastern Europe as Russian troops mass on Ukraines borders. The move adds to tensions over Ukraine after Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held inconclusive talks in Geneva last week. Russia has denied it intends to invade its neighbour. Ukraine and Russia account for almost 80 per cent of the worlds sunflower oil shipments. India bought 1.89 million tons of the crude variety of the cooking oil in the year ended October, with Ukraine supplying almost 74 per cent and Argentina and Russia each accounting for about 12 per cent. Indias Addiction to Cooking Oil Imports Seen Lasting for Years If the Russia-Ukraine tension escalates, then sunflower oil will go through the roof, said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, head of trading and hedging strategies at Kaleesuwari Intercontinental. It will also push up prices of all edible oils, he said. Higher prices will hit Indian consumers as the country imports about 70 per cent of its total edible oil needs. Inbound shipments were almost flat at around 13 million tons in the year to October, with palm oil accounting for 63 per cent, soy oil 22 per cent and sunflower oil 14 per cent. Global vegetable oil prices have already surged in the past months on supply concerns, and any disruption in sunflower oil shipments from Ukraine could add to the already bullish sentiment. Benchmark palm oil futures, which spiked to an intraday record on Monday, have rallied 63 per cent in the past year, while soybean oil and canola prices have jumped 46 per cent and 81 per cent respectively. Check out the latest videos from DH: Rs 5.3 crore worth of heroin stashed in a laptop sleeve couriered from Dubai was seized by customs officials at the Kempegowda International Airport here last week, an official said. The package was intercepted by slueths from the Customs Intelligence Unit and the Additional Commissioner of Customs (ACC), Bengaluru, following a specific tip-off. The laptop sleeve was declared to be containing documents and was received on January 22. A strong suspicion, coupled with intel inputs, prompted us to cut the bag open, the official said. The official added that powdered heroin weighing 754 grams was found stashed inside the cover of the bag. A cloth cover was used to give it the appearance of just any other bag. It was only when the bag was passed through a metal detector that the presence of the illicit drug was established. We have arrested the consignee and registered a case under the NDPS Act, the official said. Check out latest DH videos here Former Goa Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane bowed out of an electoral contest in Goa on Thursday, a decision that saw the climax of an intense family feud in which his son and BJP Minister Vishwajit played a part and the saffron party fielding the veteran leader's daughter-in-law against him. Congress in the evening found a new candidate for Poreim - Ranjit Rane, a social activist who joined the party in 2019 and the son of Sattari's first MLA Jaysinghrao Rane of the then Praja Socialist Party in 1964. For the past couple of months, the fight in the Rane family intensified with Vishwajit, who won on a Congress ticket in 2017 and then resigned to join the BJP to become a minister, threatening to contest against his father and appealing to him to "gracefully retire". Vishwajit had told BJP that he was willing to fight against his father if he contested while there has been talk about fielding his wife. The family feud had initially prompted the Congress to put on hold announcing his name in the first list of candidates on December 16 last year after Congress president Sonia Gandhi was informed about the crisis. But six days later, the party announced his name after the seven-time Chief Minister decided to stay put in the fight from his traditional constituency. However, the BJP's announcement on January to field Divya, wife of Vishwajit, turned the tables once again and there was pressure on the senior Rane to withdraw from the contest. On Thursday morning, he announced his decision, attributing it to health issues and not family feud. Separately in Uttarakhand, Congress announced the candidature of sitting MLA Dhan Singh Negi as the candidate for Tehri after party's former Coordination Committee chairman Kishore Upadhyay joined BJP to fight from the seat. However, the BJP MLA then decided to shift loyalties and joined the Congress, which gave him the ticket to contest from Tehri. With this, Congress has announced candidates for all the 70 seats. Goa and Uttarakhand will be going to polls on February 14 and the counting of votes will be held on March 10 along with three other states Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Punjab. In an obvious sign of differences, at least five Congress MPs were conspicuously absent from Rahul Gandhi's maiden visit to the holy city Amritsar on Thursday to launch the party's poll campaign for the February 20 assembly elections. However, party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal dismissed the reports. Flanked by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and party's state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rahul Gandhi kicked off the campaign after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir and Bhagwan Valmiki temple in Amritsar. Also Read | Clash of 'bitter' enemies: Sidhu vs Majithia in Amritsar (East) The Members of Parliament -- Manish Tewari, Jasbir Singh Gill, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Preneet Kaur and Mohammad Sadiq -- who did not find Rahul Gandhi's leadership "acceptable", were not present at the day-long visit, party sources told IANS. Clarifying about the reports of the MPs' 'boycott', Venugopal said in Delhi that these were just baseless rumours and "not true". Justifying his absence, Gill tweeted, "Only Congress candidates from 117 assembly constituencies were invited not MPs, so no boycott was there, media should verify before running stories." Also Read | BSP sold out Dalit interests to SAD, accuses Charanjit Singh Channi In his earlier tweet, he wrote, "Due to my personal obligation I was not able to attend Amritsar function and for this, I had already informed my leadership, no assumptions please." After partaking 'Langar' with both Sidhu and Channi, Rahul held a meeting with party candidates with the message 'Navi Soch, Nava Punjab'. When Sidhu was asked in Amritsar about the party's chief ministerial face, he told the media, "Our boss is here, you can ask him about this." Later, Rahul started the campaign by addressing a virtual rally from Jalandhar town. The Congress has so far fielded 109 candidates for the 117-member Assembly. The names of the remaining candidates are yet to be announced. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Former Uttarakhand Congress chief Kishore Upadhyaya on Thursday joined the BJP, a day after being expelled for six years from the partys primary membership for alleged anti-party activities. Upadhyaya, who joined the saffron party in Dehradun praising Prime Minister Modis work from Kashi to Kedarnath, was reportedly in touch with BJP leaders for quite some time and had been repeatedly warned by the Congress leadership for his recent critical remarks. When asked why he quit the Congress, a sulking Upadhyaya, told reporters to ask the Congress why. Earlier, Congress Mahila chief of Uttarakhand Sarita Arya, a Dalit leader, had joined the BJP after the party on Wednesday appointed Jyoti Rautela in her place. The state goes to polls on February 14. Also Read | Pushkar Singh Dhami files nomination from Khatima The back-to-back induction of leaders from Brahmin and Dalit community is a shot in the arm for the saffron party in Uttarkhand, where Brahmins (25 per cent) are the second-most numerically and electorally important community after Thakurs (35 per cent). Dalits constitute 18 per cent of the population but the BSP, which once used to win a good number of seats in the state, is now a marginalised force. Mayawatis party, which had won seven and eight Assembly seats in the state in 2002 and 2007 respectively, managed a mere three in 2012 while it failed to open its account in the 2017 state polls. Both the national parties are competing for Dalit votes. Home Minister Amit Shah will on Friday address a Anusoochit Jaati (Scheduled Caste) Samaj Baithak in the state and hold a door-to-door campaign in Rudraprayag district. The BJP has fielded former CM Gen (Retd) B C Khanduris daughter Ritu Bhushan Khanduri from Kotdwar this time. Khanduri is the second-most prominent Brahmin leader after Narayan Dutt Tiwari in the region. In the first list of 59 candidates, the BJP has fielded 22 Thakurs and 15 Brahmins. AICC in-charge of Uttarakhand Devender Yadav, however, took to social media to justify the action against him saying "the esteem and dignity of the party is above all! There never was & there never will be any place for those who do not respect the basic integrity and value system of the majestic institution that is Congress." In the expulsion letter to "Upadhyaya Ji" that ended with a "Thank You", he had on Wednesday told him "since you had been indulging in anti-party activities despite several warnings, so you are hereby expelled from the primary membership of Congress party for six years with immediate effect." Check out DH's latest videos: Amid restriction by Election Commission on rallies and roadshows, the BJP is using different social media platforms in Uttarakhand to reach out to maximum voters before polling day. Apart from constituency specific groups on social media, the Uttarakhand BJP is also using its pages of district and block units on different social media platforms to reach out to voters. It is learnt that the BJP has made over 10,000 WhatsApp groups in the state and other social media platforms like telegram. The party also actively uses its district and block units on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to reach out to people. Amid restriction of public rallies and roadshows, the BJP is also holding virtual rallies in three to four assembly constituencies every day. Also Read | Former Congress Chief of Uttarakhand joins BJP after getting expelled "Every day we are organising virtual rallies in three to four assembly constituencies. We have set up a studio in Dehradun from where senior leaders and one of our candidates address voters of a particular constituency. A link is sent to all the voters of that particular assembly seat on their mobile phones to join the rally," Uttarakhand IT department convener Shekhar Verma told IANS. The saffron party is also enrolling social media 'Yodha' (warrior) to spread the achievements of the Pushkar Singh Dhami government and defuse propaganda of opposition parties in the state. The BJP has launched a campaign 'Dev Bhoomi ke Digital Yodha' to enrol volunteers and made an appeal to youth to join the campaign to become cyber 'yodha'. Polling for the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly will be held on February 14 and counting of votes will be held on March 10. The ruling BJP is leaving no stone unturned to retain power in the state. The BJP has set a target of winning over 60 seats. In the last assembly polls in 2017, the BJP won 57 seats. Check out DH's latest videos: Popular actor Mouni Roy on Thursday tied the knot with Dubai-based entrepreneur Suraj Nambiar in Goa. The news of the Roy and Nambiar's marriage was confirmed by TV actor Arjun Bijlani who shared a photo of the couple on his official Instagram page. "Mr and Mrs Nambiar," Bijlani posted. In the photo, the 36-year-old actor is seen in a red-and-white saree, while Nambiar is dressed in a biege kurta and lungi. According to reports, Roy and Nambiar, an entrepreneur, got married in a traditional South Indian wedding ceremony. The wedding photos of Roy dressed as South Indian bride was also shared by several of her fans and friends on the internet. On Wednesday, the haldi and mehendi ceremonies were held. Actor Mandira Bedi, who attended the wedding festivities, also shared multiple photos from the ceremony. "Ecstatic to be with and thrilled for my fav people Mr and Mrs Nambiar !!Beautiful ceremony! I love you @imouniroy @nambiar13," she posted on Instagram. Earlier in the day, Roy had shared a photo with Nambiar and wrote, "Everything #HariOm. Om Namah Shivay." Roy and Nambiar have always been tight-lipped about their relationship before they married. Ukraine's interior ministry said Thursday at least five people were killed after a member of the national guard opened fire at an aerospace factory in the east of the country. The shooting took place in the city of Dnipro. The attacker opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle and immediately fled the scene, the interior ministry said. "As a result, five people died and another five were injured," the statement said. The incident took place around 3.40 am local time, when the shooter was being issued a weapon at the beginning of a shift. Also Read Russia, Ukraine agree to keep ceasefire, new talks next month The Yuzhmash facility is an aerospace factory that produces and tests material related to defence, aeronautics and agriculture, according to its website. The ministry said the shooter was born in 2001 and there was an ongoing operation to locate him. "The motives for the crime are not yet known," the statement said, adding that a commander of the National Guard, Nikolai Balan, had been dispatched to the scene. Bullying rituals plagued militaries of former Soviet countries in the 1990s -- a trend which rights groups say has improved -- but regularly result in suicides or murders. Watch the latest DH Videos here: A black diamond weighing a staggering 555.55 carats is going up for auction at Sotheby's and living up to its name "The Enigma." Bidding opens on Feb. 3 at 6 am PST (1930 IST) and closes on Feb. 9, Sotheby's said, adding cryptocurrency will be accepted for payment of the diamond. Sotheby's said it is the largest faceted Fancy Black Diamond known to ever appear at auction and was listed as the largest cut diamond in the world in the 2006 Guinness Book of World Records. Also known as a carbonado diamond, it is possible the black diamond came from outer space. Carbonados of this structure have only been found in Brazil and the Central African Republic, and scientists have long theorized about their origins. "They are shrouded in mystery as to the origin or formation because there's not that many of them found on Earth," geologist Aaron Celestian, the curator of mineral sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, told Reuters on Wednesday. Celestian said most carbonados are about 2.6 to 3.2 billion years old. As Earth itself dates back to 4.65 billion years ago, carbonados were formed when Earth's plates were still moving and the oxygenation of the atmosphere was taking place, he said. "We think that they could have formed super deep within the Earth's interior, far deeper than what we know already of diamonds. There's hypotheses that suggest that they formed at impact sites where a large asteroid hit Earth," Celestian said. "There's also interstellar hypotheses that suggest that they grew in space and then later fell on the surface of Earth." The Enigma has not been exhibited before and is expected to sell for between $4 million and $7 million. Its owner has had it for two decades, but little is known about its history before that. Celestian believes research into the diamond would tell us a lot about deep-Earth mineralogy or the evolution of our solar system. The diamond, which was exhibited in Dubai last week, was shown in Beverly Hills this week before heading back to London for the auction. Check out latest DH videos here UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy said on Wednesday that the international community needs to have an integrated approach for the major issues that endanger Syria's sovereignty, security and development. "To truly make progress on the political track, the international community needs to have an integrated approach for the major issues that endanger Syria's sovereignty, security and development in order to create enabling conditions for the political process in the country," Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, told the Security Council meeting on Syria. Zhang added that China supports advancing the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process in accordance with resolution 2254. "We commend the efforts by special envoy (Geir) Pedersen in promoting mutual trust among parties to work in the same direction. We hope that the next round of Constitutional Committee will be launched soon, and it should be pointed out that relevant work should remain independent and free from external interference." "We also welcome the new round of meetings of the Astana process last month, and hope that the process will continue to contribute to a comprehensive solution to the Syrian issue," said Zhang, adding that China has always emphasized that constitution-making and elections alone are not enough to solve the Syrian issue. On Syria's sovereignty, Zhang underscored that no foreign troops are allowed to be deployed in Syria, including Golan ones, without the consent of the Syrian government. "Whether it is the military operation across the Syrian border, the construction of settlements in the Golan area, or the theft of oil from northeastern Syria, they have all undermined the sovereignty of the country, violated the interests of the Syrian people and spoiled the efforts by the international community for political settlement," said Zhang. Turning to the terrorism issue, the ambassador said that "we must respect the Syrian government's leadership in fighting terrorism. And we must not engage in a double standard. China is willing to strengthen communication and coordination with Syria to help it improve its capability in fighting terrorism." Talking about cooperation among regional countries, Zhang said that "China welcomes the efforts by relevant regional countries to strengthen diplomatic, economic, and trade interactions with Syria and welcomes the fact that Arab countries are actively considering Syria's return to the League of Arab States." Also at the meeting, the ambassador reiterated that "the consideration of the Syrian issue by the council three times a month does not facilitate an integrated and comprehensive perspective, and serious consideration should be given to combining them into one meeting or making other more reasonable arrangements. This will not only help us seek a package solution to relevant issues, but also reduce the use of council resources." Pope Francis urged parents on Wednesday not to condemn their children if they are gay, in his latest gesture of outreach to the LGBTQ community which has long been marginalized by the Catholic hierarchy. Francis spoke off the cuff during his weekly Wednesday general audience dedicated to the figure of St. Joseph, the father of Jesus. Francis said he was thinking in particular about parents who are confronted with sad situations in their children's lives. Citing parents who have to cope with children who are sick, imprisoned or who get killed in car accidents, Francis added: Parents who see that their children have different sexual orientations, how they manage that and accompany their children and not hide behind a condemning attitude. Never condemn a child," he said. Also Read | Pope Francis calls for peace in Ukraine Official church teaching calls for gay men and lesbians to be respected and loved, but considers homosexual activity intrinsically disordered. Francis, though, has sought to make the church more welcoming to gays, most famously with his 2013 comment Who am I to judge? The Argentine Jesuit also has spoken of his own ministry to gay and transgender people, insisting they are children of God, loved by God and deserving of accompaniment by the church. Francis has also made several gestures of outreach to the gay Catholic community and their advocates, including a recent letter congratulating an American nun once sanctioned by the Vatican, Sister Jeannine Gramick, on her 50 years of LGBTQ ministry. That said, Francis also allowed the 2021 publication of a document from the Vatican asserting that the Catholic Church won't bless same-sex unions because God cannot bless sin. Francis recently transferred the Vatican official widely believed to have been behind the document. Check out latest DH videos here By Alan Renwick, for The Conversation As pressure mounts on the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, members of his party are considering their options. Should they topple him or keep him? Those who want him out fear that the public will not forgive the string of alleged social events held in Downing Street while the rest of the country lived under strict Covid lockdowns. Their anger may cost the Conservatives dearly at the next election. Those who are hesitating do so because Johnson had been such an electoral success story before this scandal. We at the UCL Constitution Unit are conducting a major study of public attitudes to democracy in the UK that sheds new light on what matters most to voters. Our latest findings from a large-scale survey of the UK population conducted last summer suggest Conservative MPs are right to be concerned about the fallout of partygate. Integrity is extremely important to voters. It is in fact valued above all other traits in a politician. When we asked about a range of characteristics that politicians should have, being honest came top. This was followed by owning up when they make mistakes. Getting things done and being inspiring were far behind. Also Read | UK government holds breath as it awaits 'partygate' report Johnson has a trademark tactic seen repeatedly at Prime Ministers Questions of batting away critics by saying he is focused on delivering the peoples priorities. When asked about any potentially questionable behaviour or incidents, he insists that members of the public care more about getting Brexit done than it does about anything else. However, our findings suggest otherwise. When we asked respondents to imagine that a future prime minister has to choose between acting honestly and delivering the policy that most people want, 71% chose honesty and only 16% delivery. When we asked whether respondents agreed more that healthy democracy requires that politicians always act within the rules or that healthy democracy means getting things done, even if that sometimes requires politicians to break the rules, 75% chose the former and just 6% the latter. It is worth repeating that these findings come from the summer before the Owen Paterson affair and partygate. They are not knee-jerk reactions to short-term headlines. The vast majority of voters expect politicians to act honestly and follow the rules. Limiting power at the very top Another less obvious but equally important pattern emerged from our findings. Voters do not want power to be unduly concentrated in the hands of the prime minister and their government. Many favour at least somewhat greater powers for parliament 45% think MPs should decide what the House of Commons debates, against 30% who think the prime minister or government should do so. Even more clearly, and perhaps surprisingly, most want judges to constrain ministers too. We asked respondents to imagine there is a dispute over whether the government has the legal authority to decide a particular matter on its own or whether it needs parliaments approval, and to consider how the dispute should be settled. Most (51%) said it should be settled by judges and only 27% chose government ministers or politicians in parliament. We also asked about whether judges should play a role in resolving whether a new law violates rights. Depending on the rights that we asked about, between 65% and 77% of respondents said that the courts should have their current powers under the Human Rights Act or even be given stronger powers to strike down laws directly. Also Read | London police probe Downing Street lockdown parties A large majority also said that civil servants should be neutral and permanent government employees rather than appointed by the government of the day. And most respondents thought that someone who had previously said the BBC should be neutral in its reporting could be a suitable candidate for BBC chair, but that someone who had said the BBC should be less critical of government could not. The reason for these answers appears clear: most people dont trust politicians, and they trust the politicians closest to power least. They therefore welcome limits on what those in power can do. Our study is investigating public attitudes to democracy not only through surveys, but also through a citizens assembly, which shows whether people think the same or differently once they have thought and learnt about the issues in depth. We will publish full results of the Citizens Assembly on Democracy in the UK in the spring. But initial findings fit the survey responses closely. Assembly members said we feel dissatisfied with how democracy is working in the UK today because there is a lack of honesty and integrity in politics. By large majorities, they favoured greater powers for parliament and the courts vis-a-vis the executive. However the current ructions in the Conservative Party pan out in the coming weeks, those in power should be clear: people in the UK expect their leaders to act with integrity and they expect a system of checks and balances on executive power to be maintained. A leader who violates these principles harms him or herself and damages confidence in democracy. (The author is a Professor of Democratic Politics at UCL) Check out DH's latest videos: After a frenetic few weeks when the Omicron variant of the coronavirus seemed to infect everyone, including the vaccinated and boosted, the United States is finally seeing encouraging signs. As cases decline in some parts of the country, many have begun to hope that this surge is the last big battle with the virus that because of its unique characteristics, the Omicron variant will usher Americans out of the pandemic. The variant spiked in South Africa and Britain, then fell off quickly. Twitter is agog over charts showing declining virus levels in sewage in Boston and San Francisco. On Monday, the top European regional official of the World Health Organization suggested that Omicron offers plausible hope for stabilization and normalization. Also Read | As Omicron ebbs, England revives plan to live with Covid-19 Things are looking good, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Biden administrations top adviser on the pandemic, said Sunday. We dont want to get overconfident, but they look like theyre going in the right direction right now. Whats driving the optimism? The idea is that so many people are gaining immunity through vaccination or infection with Omicron that soon the coronavirus will be unable to find a foothold in our communities, and will disappear from our lives. But in interviews with more than a dozen public health researchers, immunologists and evolutionary biologists, the course of the virus in the United States appeared more complicated and a bit less rosy. By infecting so many people, Omicron undoubtedly brings us closer to the end of the pandemic, they said. The current surge in infections is falling back, and there is reason to hope that hospitalizations and deaths will follow. Also Read | Anti-Covid pills work against Omicron, antibody drugs less effective: Study The path to normalcy may be short and direct, the goal just weeks away, and horrific surges may become a thing of the past. Or it may be long and bumpy, pockmarked with outbreaks over the coming months to years as the virus continues to find footing. In any case, it is not likely that the coronavirus will ever completely disappear, many scientists said, and herd immunity is now just a dream. The populations immunity against the virus will be imperfect, for a variety of reasons. Maybe there was a short while where we could have reached that goal, said Shweta Bansal, an infectious disease modeler at Georgetown University. But at this point, we are well beyond that. Instead, the coronavirus seems likely to become endemic a permanent part of American lives, a milder illness, like the flu, that people must learn to live with and manage. But the future also depends on a wild card: new variants. Omicron surfaced only at the end of November. Most researchers believe other variants are coming, because too little of the world is vaccinated. Eventually some may be both highly contagious and have a knack for short-circuiting the bodys immune defenses, lengthening the misery for everyone. This is a choose-your-own-adventure story, and the ending is not written yet, said Anne Rimoin, an epidemiologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. Nobody is going to be able to tell us what will happen. As of Wednesday, the United States was reporting more than 650,000 new cases daily, on average, down from more than 800,000 two weeks ago. Deaths continue to rise, at more than 2,300 per day, on average, but hospitalizations seem to be nearing a plateau, at about 155,000 per day, on average. In the best-case scenario, as those numbers fall, many Americans may soon be able to reclaim much of their prepandemic lives. Perhaps by the spring in the Northeast, and probably later in other regions, many Americans may go to work mask-free, send their children to school and socialize with family and friends without worry. Also Read | Immune response induced by Omicron effectively neutralises Delta variant: ICMR study Only those at high risk from Covid because of their age, health status or occupation would need regular boosters tailored to the latest variant. If we could keep people out of the hospital and not get terribly ill, I think we could get back to normal basically with the tests and with vaccines, said Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at Rockefeller University in New York. In the long run, many of us might experience a mild infection every few years, as with coronaviruses that cause the common cold, but would not become seriously ill. The idea of Omicron as the last stand of the coronavirus holds enormous appeal. Its what everybody wants, every scientist hopes for. But to get there, Americans would need to be both lucky and smart. An endemic virus does not necessarily indicate a minor threat. Tuberculosis is endemic in India and other countries, and kills more than 1 million people each year. In African countries, measles is endemic. That virus constantly circulates at low levels and periodically triggers large outbreaks. Earlier in the pandemic, health officials estimated that for the coronavirus, vaccinating about 70% of the population might get us past the herd immunity threshold, meaning the coronavirus becomes a negligible threat. But the more contagious a variant, the higher the percentage of vaccinated people needed to reach the threshold. When the alpha variant surfaced, scientists revised the level to 90%. By early last year, they acknowledged that the herd immunity goal was probably out of reach. Imperfect Immunity How big a threat the coronavirus remains depends in part on the level of immunity that the country maintains over time. Thats a difficult assessment to make. There are still millions in the United States and elsewhere who have no protection from the virus and no plans to be immunized. Booster shots are needed to prevent Omicron infection, and only about half of eligible Americans have received them. Moreover, scientists know little about the strength or duration of immunity left by an Omicron infection, and they do know that the protection against infections conferred by vaccines wanes after a relatively short period. (The protection against hospitalization and death remains strong over a longer period.) Also Read | Explained: How Omicron is able to evade antibodies, remain contagious If the populations protection against the virus is weak or transient, as is possible, then Americans may continue to experience outbreaks large enough to flood hospitals for years. To contain them, people would have to line up for annual coronavirus shots, perhaps in the fall, as they do for flu shots. If the virus persists as an endemic threat, the number of people vulnerable to it will also change over time. Young people will age into higher risk groups or develop conditions that put them at risk, and babies will arrive without immunity. Whether its because of evolution, whether its because of waning or whether its because of population turnover, weve got an influx of susceptibility which allows for future transmission, said Adam Kucharski, a public health researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. New Variants The lack of widespread vaccination, in the United States and worldwide, coupled with the uncertainty regarding the strength of immunity left behind by Omicron, opens the door to the possibility of new variants. Someday, one of them may dodge immune defenses as well as, or even better than, Omicron does. I consider Omicron an example of what endemic Covid-19 looks like, said Kristian Andersen, a virus expert at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. But this doesnt end with Omicron, because future variants will emerge. Neither vaccines nor infections offer so-called sterilizing immunity, meaning that the protection they offer appears to weaken over time. The protection gained from a delta or Omicron infection may not be as effective against new variants, as the virus is changing unexpectedly quickly and in unusual ways. Viruses typically evolve in a ladderlike pattern, with each new variant developing from the one before it. But the three riskiest variants of the coronavirus alpha, delta and Omicron evolved independently. The coronavirus wasnt building on previous work, so to speak; it repeatedly reinvented itself. As more and more of the world is vaccinated, evolution will favor forms of the coronavirus that can sidestep antibodies and other immune defenses. We could get another variant kind of out of the blue thats responding to a selection pressure that we hadnt really thought about, or with mutations that we didnt really put together, said Emma Hodcroft, a molecular epidemiologist at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Contrary to popular myth, the coronavirus is not guaranteed to transform into a milder form over time. A virus may evolve to be less virulent if it kills its hosts before it has been passed on to others, or if it runs out of hosts to infect. Neither is true of the coronavirus. It doesnt kill enough of us, to be perfectly blunt, to actually deplete its reservoir of people to infect, said Jeffrey Shaman, a public health expert at Columbia University. And it certainly is passed on from an infected person long before the virus kills. Even if the next variant is as mild as Omicron or even milder, a highly contagious variant may still wreak havoc on the health care system. When youve got something as transmissible as Omicron, you dont need it to be incredibly severe to really screw things up, said Bill Hanage, a public health researcher at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Treading Carefully The future will also depend on our risk tolerance, both as individuals and as a nation. The most relevant comparison is to the flu virus, which has survived alongside humans for hundreds of years. Like the coronavirus, the flu is primarily a threat to certain groups in this case, older adults, children under age 5, and those with weaker immune systems. The rest of the population takes few precautions. Businesses and schools dont require negative tests for those who have had the flu, nor do people wear masks to protect themselves against it. Only about half of adult Americans choose to be vaccinated each year. With the coronavirus, public health officials are just now wrestling with what normal should look like, including which trade-offs are acceptable. But they do acknowledge that trade-offs are coming. We dont have a vision of what level of control were aiming for, said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Universitys Bloomberg School of Public Health. I just dont think zero cases is the target for any of us. This month, a group of former advisers to President Joe Biden called on the administration to plan for a new normal that entails living with the coronavirus and the flu long term. Like Nuzzo, they argued that the administration should set targets for the number of hospitalizations and deaths that would trigger emergency measures. Given how frequently the coronavirus has upended expectations, Americans should hope for the best but be prepared for living a bit longer with something short of that. We all want this to be over, Shaman said. But I think we have to be a little more agnostic in our approach to this whole thing. We dont know, he added. We just dont know. Check out DH's latest videos: Ahead of the Budget Session, the Congress strategy group is to meet on Friday to discuss and strategise the party's stand during the session. The Congress meeting will be chaired by Sonia Gandhi and attended by floor leaders of both the Houses, chief whips and important functionaries of the party. Congress is likely to raise the issue of MSP laws, growing unemployment and shifting of Amar Jawan Jyoti. The meeting comes ahead of the all-party meet called by the Centre on January 31. Also Read | India seen boosting budget spending on infrastructure The meeting of the floor leaders will be held virtually at 3 p.m. In the meeting of floor leaders of all parties, the government will deliberate with the opposition on issues that it would like to discuss during the session. The government will discuss the agenda and Legislative business that they would likely follow in the session. The Budget Session will commence on the same day with the Presidential address at 11 a.m. followed by the laying of the Economic Survey. The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1. In a tweet, Union parliamentary affair minister Pralhad Joshi said, "1st part of the #BudgetSession to commence on 31st January, with the address of the Hon'ble President to both the Houses. On 1st February, Hon'ble FM @nsitharaman ji will present the Union Budget. To ensure Covid safety protocol, the two Houses of Parliament will function in shifts." Watch the latest DH Videos here: The Congress on Thursday said its leader Rahul Gandhi's stand that democracy and social media platforms cannot be suppressed or subjugated by the ruling government and allowed to become a space for mere abuse and trolls stands vindicated. The comments came after Twitter said it is committed to India and healthy debate on its platform. Gandhi had written to Twitter, accusing it of "unwitting complicity" in curbing free and fair speech in India and expressed serious concern over "suppressing" his Twitter account followers. Twitter, however, said the account follower numbers are "meaningful and accurate". Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "The plurality, the multi-culturalism, the open debate, the critique of policies and programmes of the government and that the social media patforms should be healthy forum for debates and discussions has been the stand of Rahul Gandhi, which now stands vindicated." In his letter to Twitter CEO Parag Aggarwal, Gandhi had said, "I am writing to you on behalf of more than a billion Indians to not allow Twitter to become a pawn in the destruction of the idea of India. I want to bring your attention to what I believe is Twitter's unwitting complicity in curbing free and fair speech in India," Gandhi also said in his December 27 letter to Twitter. Also Read Don't allow Twitter to become a pawn: Rahul Gandhi's letter to CEO Parag Agrawal Responding to him, Twitter's vice president, Global Public Policy and Philanthropy, Sinead McSweeney said, "Twitter is deeply committed to India" and will ensure that public conversation is healthy, which includes diverse voices, diverse points of view, allowing people to be better informed and to participate safely and comfortably. Twitter also pointed out that it does not arbitrarily censor political content and elevating political debate and open discourse is fundamental to its service and core values. "We understand increased transparency is at the foundation to promote healthy public conversation on Twitter and to earn trust. We know it is critical that people understand our processes and that we are transparent about what happens as a result. We assure you that Twitter, Inc. treats its role as a platform service provider with utmost seriousness and we are deeply committed to India," McSweeney said. Gandhi had pointed out that the ideological battle between liberal democracy and authoritarianism across the world is being shaped on social media platforms and this places a huge responsibility on those that are at the helm of companies such as Twitter. As a leader of India's largest opposition party, Gandhi said it is his duty to raise my voice on behalf of our people against injustice. "As you may be aware, there is an ongoing assault on India's institutional framework and a complete capture of traditional mainstream media," he alleged, adding that social media platforms like Twitter have become important channels to raise people's issues and hold the government to account. Also Read Centre asked Twitter for data on 2,200 accounts in 1st half of 2021 "In this background, it is perplexing that the growth in my Twitter followers has suddenly been suppressed," he alleged, adding that his Twitter followers which were increasing by an average of 10,000 every day have become stagnant and have fallen to nearly zero. Gandhi's Twitter following has started rising since this week and is growing by around 10,000 per day, sources close to him said. Gandhi's followers crossed 19.6 million on Thursday morning, after being stagnant at 19.5 million for many months. The former Congress chief also pointed out that Twitter India is under "immense pressure from the government to silence my voice" and pointed out that his account has even been blocked after being "singularly targeted". On Gandhi's follower count, Twitter said the numbers are "meaningful and accurate" as it keeps fighting spam and malicious automation strategically with machine learning tools. "Twitter also removes millions of accounts each week for violating our policies on platform manipulation and spam. While some notice a minor difference, in certain cases, the number could be higher. We understand this change can be concerning, but we believe accuracy and transparency make Twitter a more trusted service for public conversation. We're continuing our work to proactively identify and challenge problematic accounts globally that distort and detract from the public conversation on Twitter," the company said. Also Read Twitter suspends spoiler account for Wordle answer reveal McSweeney said it focuses on developing machine learning tools that identify and take action on networks of spammy or automated accounts automatically. "If we put an account into a read-only state (where the account can't engage with others or Tweet) because our systems have detected it behaving suspiciously, Twitter removes it from follower figures and engagement counts until it passes a challenge, like confirming a phone number," Twitter said. To that end, follower counts may also for this reason, continue to change more regularly. It does not mean that these account holders did anything wrong, it said. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written to Twitter complaining that his follower count has not increased since his account was temporarily suspended in August 2021 for a tweet about meeting the family members of a Dalit rape victim. In the letter that he wrote to Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal on December 27, Gandhi said that he found the matter perplexing and he believed that the unwitting complicity of Twitter was curbing free and fair speech in India. Gandhi said that since he raised the issue of the Dalit girl who died after she was raped, his average monthly follower count has fallen to nearly zero. Also Read | Rahul Gandhi to begin Punjab campaign by paying obeisance at Golden Temple I am writing to you on behalf of more than a billion Indians to not allow Twitter to become a pawn in the destruction of the idea of India You have an enormous responsibility to ensure that Twitter does not actively help in the growth of authoritarianism in India, Gandhi wrote. He also sent along with the letter an analysis of his follower count comparing it to the follower count of PM Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Monthly analysis of the follower counts of the four leaders, and a weekly comparison from the week between May 3 to May 10, 2021 to November 22 to November 29, 2021, was part of the analysis. Congress has said that Gandhi gained anywhere from 220,000 to 640,000 new Twitter followers every month from January to July 2021. But since August 2021, there has been a dramatic fall in the number of new followers. Gandhi said that in May, his account gained roughly 6,40,000 new followers every month, and an active base of 8,000 to 10,000 followers every day. For example, in May 2021, my account gained roughly 6,40,000 new followers. This has been the case for several years until July 2021. Then something strange happened. Since August 2021, the average number of my new monthly Twitter followers has fallen to nearly zero. There is an inflection point after which my Twitter account has been paralysed, Gandhi wrote. He added that the development coincided with him raising the issue of the Dalit rape victim and the three farm laws which led to unrest and protest by farmers. He also added that he has been informed by Twitter officials discreetly that they are under immense pressure from the Indian government. In the analysis, which Gandhi said was done by social media experts, Gandhis account gained 54,803 followers in August, 2021. In the same period, the analysis details, Modi gained 7,73,134 followers, Shah gained 2,85,059 followers, and Tharoor gained 23,939 followers. In September, October and November, the analysis states that Gandhi lost 132 followers and then gained 2,380 and 2,788 followers, respectively. The development was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. DH has seen a copy of both the letter and the accompanying analysis, but has not been able to verify the claim independently. A Twitter spokesperson said that the platform has a zero-tolerance approach to platform manipulation and spam. We fight spam and malicious automation strategically and at scale with machine learning tools, and as part of those consistent and ongoing efforts to ensure a healthy service and credible accounts, follower counts can and do fluctuate. We remove millions of accounts each week for violating our policies on platform manipulation and spam, the spokesperson said. Twitter also said that they ask accounts to validate or confirm account details or complete a CAPTCHA test, and accounts that fail to do so within a specified period may be suspended or locked and their follower count will not be reflected. Congress leaders, on the other hand, said that they have written to Twitter several times before Gandhi sent a letter to Agrawal. Srivatsa YB, who handles Gandhis digital communication, told WSJ that Twitters response was not explanatory or satisfactory. The chronology of events does not corroborate Twitters claims, he said. Rohan Gupta, chairman of the social media department, said that he fears that Twitter is falling prey to the pressures of the government. "We have raised issues with the social media accounts of Congress and other leaders as well. But there has been a standard reply; a look at the statistics of last three years will show us results," said Gupta. Congress said that it did not receive any correspondence from Twitter before August 2021 about anyone reporting against content on Gandhis handle. And in August 2021, after Gandhis account was blocked, it received three emails from Twitter. On August 10, Gandhi received an email from Twitter which said that Twitter has received a request from India regarding the account. The email has a redacted letter written by BJP MLA Vijay Jolly on July 28, 2021, complaining about tweets on Gandhis handle on December 13, 2019, and on Aam Aadmi Partys Uttar Pradesh handle October 7, 2020 which were defamatory of PM Modi and Jolly. Parts of the complaint in this letter were redacted. Gandhi was sent a second letter on August 11, which said, Twitter has received official correspondence from a third-party regarding. This letter referenced Jollys letter again, but carried no redacted material. He then received a third letter on August 24, 2021, stating that Twitter has received a request from Cyber Police Station, Crime Branch, CID, Mumbai for content posted by the account which was in violation of the Information Technology Act 2000. The development comes weeks before polls to five states are to be held starting February 10. Due to the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Election Commission has curbed on-ground campaigning and parties are increasingly trying to woo voters online. Check out latest DH videos here The People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China on Thursday handed over Miram Taron, a youth from Arunachal Pradesh, to Indian Army, eight days after he was allegedly abducted near the Line of Actual Control where he had gone for hunting. Informing about the development, Union law minister, Kiren Rijiju in a tweet said Taron was handed over to Indian army personnel at Wacha Damai (Kibithu) interaction point in Arunachal Pradesh. "I thank our proud Indian army for persuing the case meticulously with PLA and safely securing our boy back home," Rijiju, a Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh tweeted. Wacha-Damai, where the boy was handed over, is situated in Anjaw district on the eastern part of Arunachal and is several hundred kilometers away from the place in Upper Siang district on northern side of the state from where the boy was allegedly taken into custody by the PLA. 19-year-old Taron, a resident of Jido village in Upper Siang district, went missing from Shiyung La village in Bishing area, close to the LAC on January 18. Another BJP MP from the frontier state, Tapir Gao on January 19 claimed that Taron was abducted by Chinese PLA from Indian territory. The boy had gone to the forest area for hunting along with another friend, who managed to flee and inform the villagers and Indian army. On January 25, Rijiju said since the boy went missing from areas close to Line of Actual Control, Indian army on January 19 approached Chinese side asking for assistance in tracing and return of the individual, in case he had strayed into Chinese territory or PLA had taken him into their custody. "On January 20, Chinese side intimated that they found a boy on their side and requested for further details to establish his identity. To assist the Chinese side in corroborating his identity, personal details and photo of the individual were shared with Chinese side by Indian army," Rijiju tweeted on Tuesday. This is not the first such case. In September 2020, five youths from Upper Subansiri district had gone missing similarly and were captured by Chinese PLA after they allegedly strayed into Chinese territory. They had also reportedly gone for hunting. The five were, however, handed over to Indian authorities 10 days later after New Delhi had similarly taken up the matter with China. Check out the latest DH videos here: The Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, has tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. Taking to Twitter, the minister said: "Have tested Covid positive. Urge all those who have come in recent contact to take suitable precautions." Have tested Covid positive. Urge all those who have come in recent contact to take suitable precautions. Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) January 27, 2022 Earlier in the day, Jaishankar had met his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian virtually to discuss the opportunities for India in the French Presidency of the European Union. With 2,86,384 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of Covid-19 cases rose to 4,03,71,500, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll has climbed to 4,91,700 with 573 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases have decreased to 22,02,472 and comprise 5.46 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.33 per cent, the ministry said. A reduction of 20,546 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 19.59 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 17.75 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,76,77,328 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.22 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 163.84 crore. India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23. The 573 new fatalities include 140 from Kerala and 79 from Maharashtra. A total of 4,91,700 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,42,316 from Maharashtra, 52,281 from Kerala, 38,705 from Karnataka, 37,359 from Tamil Nadu, 25,710 from Delhi, 23,106 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,445 from West Bengal. The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. "Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation. More to follow... Watch the latest DH Videos here: India on Thursday moved to deepen its ties with the Central Asian nations to offset the strategic edge Pakistan and its iron brother China might seek to gain in the region taking advantage of the Talibans return to power in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a virtual summit with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan just two days after Chinese President Xi Jinping also had a video-conference with them and had announced a $ 500 million grant assistance to support livelihood programmes in the five countries. Modi, however, did not announce any new package of economic assistance during his summit with the Central Asian leaders. They, however, discussed implementing the $ 1 billion Line of Credit (LoC), which New Delhi had offered in October 2020 to support development of infrastructure in the five countries. The Prime Minister and the leaders of the five Central Asian nations agreed that the senior officials of the six nations would regularly hold consultations on Afghanistan. They also agreed that India would also hold regular joint counter-terrorism exercises with the interested nations in the region. New Delhi moved to deepen its engagement with the five former Soviet Union nations amid escalating tension between Moscow and Washington DC over Russias troop build-up near its border with Ukraine. Modi on December 6 hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin, who earlier this month reasserted his nations role as a security provider for the Central Asian region by sending troops to help quell the uprising against the government in Kazakhstan. We all have the same concerns and objectives for regional security. We are all concerned about the developments in Afghanistan, Modi said, during he virtual summit with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyz Republic, President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan and President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan. Our mutual cooperation has become even more important for regional security and stability. The virtual summit saw Modi and the leaders of the five Central Asian nations agreeing to set up a joint working group on Afghanistan, comprising senior officials of the six governments. They also agreed to set up another Joint Working Group with officials of the six governments to utilize the services of Shahid Beheshti Terminal at Chabahar Port in Iran. The India Ports Global Limited has taken over port operations at the Shaheed Behesti Port in Chabahar in December 2018 and has been handling cargo since then. The port opens up a sea-land connectivity between India and Afghanistan as well as Central Asia and beyond, bypassing Pakistan. Afghanistan had also started using the port facility to send its first export consignment to India early 2020. New Delhi has been reaching out to the five Central Asian nations ever since President Ashraf Ghanis government in Kabul collapsed on August 15 last year and the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan almost two decades after being dislodged by the offensive launched by the United States in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by the Al Qaeda. With its proxy back in power in Kabul, Pakistan has been trying to gain its much-cherished strategic depth in Afghanistan. Pakistans iron-brother China has also been trying to take advantage of the United States withdrawal and the Talibans return to power in Afghanistan, even as the communist countrys relations with India hit a new low over the 22-month-long military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations in eastern Ladakh. Modis National Security Advisor Ajit Doval hosted his counterparts from the five Central Asian nations as well as Iran and Russia on November 10 to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also hosted his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan in New Delhi from December 18 to 20 for the third dialogue between India and Central Asia. New Delhi had plans to host the leaders of the Central Asian nations as the Chief Guests in the Republic Day ceremony. The plan was dropped in view of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Prime Minister and the Central Asian leaders, however, agreed to hold such summits once every two years, apart from institutionalizing other high-level engagements. Watch the latest DH Videos here: RIGA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Latvia's Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) reported another record-high daily number of new COVID-19 cases as 9,142 people tested positive for the virus on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the CDC reported 6,097 new cases. Out of the 28,009 tests performed in the past 24 hours, 32.6 percent came back positive, the CDC said, adding that 56.2 percent of the new cases have been in fully vaccinated people. Latvia's cumulative two-week number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population jumped from 2,885.8 to 3,239.9. Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 patients treated in Latvia's hospitals has been growing at a more moderate rate and even dropped from 778 to 761 in the past 24 hours, the National Health Service said. Commenting on the country's epidemiological situation, Latvia's President Egils Levits told journalists that new restrictions are currently not being planned to contain the upsurge in infections. The president said that the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron strain has significantly changed the situation: although the new variant is extremely contagious and spreads rapidly, it tends to cause milder illness than the previous Delta variant. Levits said that the government's response to the new situation had been flexible and that the measures that were working during the Delta wave might not be as helpful during the current COVID-19 wave. Citing epidemiologists, the president said that the Omicron wave is likely to peak in the second half or end of February before the curve of infections starts dropping. In Levits' words, the capacity of hospitals remains the main concern and it must be strengthened, as admissions are expected to grow. The president reiterated that people can protect themselves by undergoing a full vaccination course and also receiving the third vaccine dose. Amid desperate efforts by the top BJP leadership to placate the electorally influential 'Jat' community ahead of the first phase of polling in the western UP districts on February ten, the BJP leaders and the saffron party nominees have been facing protests from the people, mainly farmers, in the villages in several districts in the region. As the videos of the protests against the BJP candidates and leaders became viral on social media platforms, the party blamed the rival Samajwadi Party (SP) and its alliance partner Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for the same. It all started with the protests against the BJP candidate from the Khatauli assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar district Vikram Saini when he reached Munavarpur village in the constituency a few days back for campaigning. As Saini sought to speak to the villagers, scores of them started raising slogans against him and asked him to go back. Saini tried to persuade the villagers to listen to him but they remained adamant and finally, he had to leave. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh polls to decide future of the state and country: Amit Shah State BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh also had to face the ire of the people, when he visited the Valmiki Basti in Khatauli on Tuesday. As his cavalcade reached the Valmiki Basti, several youths shouted slogans against him. They were angry over the Hathras incident in which a Dalit teen was allegedly gangraped before being murdered and her body was cremated by the cops at midnight in the absence of her family members. BJP candidate from Asmauli assembly seat in Sambhal district Harendra Singh Rinku also had to face the ire of the people when he visited Shakarpur village in the constituency for campaigning. According to the reports he was heckled by the people and was forced to leave. Similarly, the BJP nominee from Siwalkhas assembly seat Maninder Pal Singh also faced protests from the people when he visited the constituency on Tuesday for door-to-door campaigning. He was chased and the window panes of his vehicle were broken after someone threw stones. UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also faced protests on his home turf of Sirathu from where he is in the fray in the forthcoming assembly polls Reports of protests against some other BJP candidates, including firebrand saffron leader and UP minister for cane Suresh Rana, were also received from their respective assembly constituencies. ''The protests are being organised by the SP and the RLD.....only a handful of people are behind them...they want to demoralise our nominees but they will not succeed,'' said a senior BJP functionary here on Thursday while reacting to the protests. SP leaders however said that the protests were spontaneous and not sponsored by them or the RLD. ''People are angry with the BJP.....it is reaping what it has sown,'' remarked an SP leader. SP president Akhilesh Yadav had also said that the BJP leaders were being 'thrashed' by the villagers but the TV channels were not showing it. Check out the latest videos from DH: Congress on Thursday refused to comment on the Narendra Modi government conferring Padma Bhushan on senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and the row over him accepting it as leaders were divided over the issue. I have no comment to make, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate told a press conference when asked about the Padma award for Azad and the row over it following a tweet by senior MP Jairam Ramesh slamming the senior leader, who had joined 22 leaders to write to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking changes in the party. Congress has so far not made any comments on Azads recognition, indicating that the party is not happy over the national honour by the BJP dispensation. Azad has a good equation with the Prime Minister and the party is looking at his activities, including a series of rallies he conducted in Jammu and Kashmir recently, amid speculation that he may float an outfit of his own. Azad had described these rumours as unfounded. Also Read | Ironic Congress doesn't need his services when nation recognises them: Sibal on Padma award to Azad The Modi government had on Tuesday evening announced Azads name among 17 Padma Bhushan winners, while former West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee declined to accept the award. Rajya Sabha Chief Whip Jairam Ramesh expressed unease within a section of the party through a cryptic tweet playing on Azads name, "(Bhattacharjee's refusal) Right thing to do. He wants to be Azad, not Ghulam." However, this did not go down well with Azad's supporters in the G-23 with Kapil Sibal, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor and Bhupinder Singh Hooda coming out in support of the veteran leader. Sibal said it was ironic that the party was not using Azads services when the country had honoured his services. Azad also got support from outside the G-23 with former Union Minister Ashwani Kumar who said Rameshs criticism was nothing less than a shameful innuendo intended to rob both the award and its recipient of the deserved dignity. Also Read: Priyanka Chaturvedi, Sushmita Deb finds fault with Jairam's Azad criticism The Shiv Senas Priyanka Chaturvedi and the Trinamool Congresss Sushmita Deb, both former Congress leaders, also found fault with Ramesh. "Calling someone Azad for declining a national honour and Ghulam for accepting it, shows how shallow ones thought is towards a national honour. This isnt the first nor the last time that Opposition leaders will be acknowledged for their work, please maintain that spirit and dignity," Priyanka said. Sushmita, who was a former Mahila Congress chief, tweeted, "Padma Bhushan for Tarun Gogoi and Bharat Ratna for Pranab Mukherjee - does it make them Ghulams?" She joined the Trinamool Congress last year and was later nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Check out DH's latest videos: With Covid-19 cases coming down, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday decided to ease restrictions in the capital by lifting the weekend curfew, allowing all shops in markets to open as well as re-opening of bars, restaurants and cinema halls with 50% capacity. While governments will also start functioning with 50% staff, officials said a decision on reopening of schools will be taken later. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal said it was decided to gradually ease restrictions while ensuring adherence to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour in view of the decline in positive cases. Also Read | Covishield, Covaxin get conditional market approval for use in adult population While the LG had last week rejected a Delhi government decision to lift weekend curfew, the DDMA meeting chaired by Baijal decided to ease the restriction on Thursday following further decrease in cases. Similarly, the meeting also decided to remove the restrictions on opening of shops in markets. Earlier, an odd-even scheme was followed in the opening of shops. Restaurants, bars and cinema halls will be allowed to open but with 50% capacity. Marriage related gatherings are allowed to be held with 50% capacity of the venue, subject to a maximum of 200 persons. The meeting also advised the Health Department to enhance vaccination coverage with special focus on vulnerable sections and also to undertake necessary epidemiological analysis of hospitalised patients. It also asked agencies to ensure strict enforcement of Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and to continue to be vigilant without lowering the guard. The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Ministers Satyendar Jain and K Gahlot, NITI Ayog member Dr V K Paul, ICMR head Prof Balram Bhargava, NCDC chief S K Singh and Krishna Vatsa of NDMA among others. Check out the latest DH videos here: Tension prevailed in Dhandhuka town in Ahmedabad district with Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday observing a bandh to protest against the murder of a 30-year-old and demanding the arrest of the suspects. Police said that the youth, who had uploaded an objectionable social media post against a religion sometime back, was gunned down on Tuesday by two unidentified bike-borne men, which has sparked the tension. On Tuesday, the youth Kishan Boliya was shot dead in Dhandhuka town, about 100 km from Ahmedabad city, at around 5.30 pm. He was travelling on a motorcycle with his brother as a pillion rider when two masked gunmen shot at them from behind. "I couldn't see the assailants as I was riding. I tried to dodge them but they kept firing at us. One of the bullets missed my head. My brother, who was sitting behind me, got hit in the back and died," said Bhaumik, who has filed the FIR with Dhandhuka police. Also Read Chhattisgarh: Youth kills boy for refusing to have unnatural sex The police have registered FIR against unidentified persons for murder (IPC 302), attempt to murder (IPC 307) and Arms Act to be read with criminal conspiracy (IPC 120B). When asked whether Kishan was murdered for his social media post hurting religious sentiments, Ahmedabad District Superintendent of Police Virendrasinh Yadav told DH, "It is too early to say anything. We are investigating''. Later in the day, the police arrested two youths on charges of murdering Kishan. Police have not issued their names officially. "The suspects have been arrested. We are not revealing their names or motive behind the murder considering the senstivity of the case," a senior police officer told DH. Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi also announced on Twitter that the local police caught two suspects in the case. "I assure the family that they will get justice immediately for which Gujarat police is working." However, the VHP has alleged that the reason behind the killing is "Kishan's social media post". "There is no other reason behind the incident. Police may say anything they like. It is a fact that Kishan's post had angered certain people and despite apologising for the post, he was killed in a Talibani manner as if there is no space for law and order in this country," said Hintendrasinh Rajput, Gujarat VHP's spokesperson. He said that bandh is being forced to pressurise the police to immediately arrest the suspects and put them to trial before a fast track court. Bhaumik, meanwhile, said that following the incident, his family left the town and moved to their ancestral village in the neighbouring Surendranagar district. "My brother had apologised. He even shot a video apologising for his post, still he was brutally killed," Bhaumik told DH. Watch the latest DH Videos here: A journalist was killed by three men in an incident of road rage on Wednesday evening, the police said. The journalist, identified as Sudhir Saini, was on a motorbike and overtook the vehicle in which three persons were seated. Angered by this, the men stopped the journalist and beat him up. Saini was taken to a hospital, where he succumbed to injuries. Also Read Cop needs 4 stitches after brothers attack him, 2 others in road rage Senior SP of Saharanpur, Akash Tomar, said, "Jahangir and Farman were immediately arrested by Saharanpur police in the case involving death of Sudhir Saini due to road rage incident. We will ensure that they are convicted in a fast-tracked manner." One of the accused, Mannan, is absconding. Watch the latest DH Videos here: Early indications of Covid infections plateauing have been reported in some places but the trend needs to be observed, the Union government said on Thursday whilst noting that 400 districts have logged weekly Covid positivity of over 10%. However, a decrease in Covid cases and positivity rate have been observed in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Haryana and West Bengal, the government stated. Meanwhile, India saw 2.86 lakh new Covid-19 cases, 573 fatalities. Stay tuned to DH for live updates. The Tamil Nadu School Education Department is contemplating resuming in-person sessions in schools for classes 10 to 12 from February, with an eye on the board exams scheduled for May. School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, in a virtual meeting with school principals, teachers, and bureaucrats on Tuesday, discussed this possibility. The department has already announced board exams for the month of May and two revision tests for January and March. However, with schools currently closed due to pandemic, the revision tests were cancelled. Also Read Delhi govt to recommend reopening of schools in DDMA meeting on Thursday: Manish Sisodia The minister said, "We have already recommended the reopening of school for students of classes 10 to 12 as the board examinations for these classes commences in May 2022. Teachers have also recommended that classes are reopened so that students get to cover the portions properly before the board examination is on." The state is expecting an announcement on the reopening of school for classes 10 to 12 in the next round of relaxations the state is expected to bring out in the near future. Watch the latest DH Videos here: A row erupted on Wednesday during Republic Day celebrations at the RBI office in Chennai when a few officials refused to stand up when the anthem was played. Some of them said the song did not require them to stand up leading to the commotion at the event a short clip of the argument between two sections went viral on social media. As the issue snowballed into a major controversy, RBI Regional Director S M N Swamy led a senior-level delegation on Thursday to Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P T R Palanivel Thiaga Rajan and explained their position vis-a-vis Tamil Thai Vazhthu. Hours later, the RBI said in a statement that Tamil Thai Vazhthu was sung on the occasion of Republic Day as a mark of deference for the Tamil culture and language. However, subsequently, in the commotion that ensued, certain unnecessary statements concerning the song had been made, which were uncalled-for and regrettable. We are aware that Tamil Thai Vazhthu is the state song of Tamil Nadu. We wish to reiterate that, as a regulatory body, we respect the customs and practices followed in each region of the country, the RBI said in the statement. The Tamil Nadu government had in December declared the song penned by renowned scholar Manonmaniam Sundaranar as the State Song of Tamil Nadu. While making the announcement, Chief Minister M K Stalin had said all should remain standing when the song is sung. Meanwhile, an advocate with the Madras High Court filed a complaint with the Chennai Police for disrespecting the anthem. Watch the latest DH videos: The Nine-month-old DMK government will face its first major popularity test on February 19 when 649 urban local bodies in Tamil Nadu will go to the polls for the first time since 2011. This is the first state-wide election that is being held in the state after the DMK trounced the AIADMK and stormed to power after a decade. With the DMK dispensation not amending the law passed in 2016 enabling indirect elections to elect leaders of urban local bodies, elections will be held for 12,838 seats/wards in 21 corporations, 138 municipalities, and 490 town panchayats. The newly-elected members will choose mayors, deputy mayors, chairpersons and deputy chairpersons, and presidents and vice-presidents for corporations, municipalities, and town panchayats. Read more: BJP leaders face ire of farmers in Uttar Pradesh villages While the elections to the ward members will be held in a single phase on February 19, the counting of votes will be taken up on February 22. Almost a fortnight later, the indirect elections for the heads of local bodies will be held on March 4. For the DMK, the elections to urban local bodies is a prestige issue as it hopes to replicate the success of the assembly elections held in April 2021. The DMK feels the partys sweep in the rural body elections in nine districts in October 2021 and the popularity of Chief Minister M K Stalin and his government would come in handy in the elections. Though the DMK has over half-a-dozen alliance partners, the party is unlikely to part significant number of seats to them as it would like to keep a majority of the seats for its cadre. Despite this, the alliance will not face many problems, political analysts said. On the other hand, the AIADMK, which is still smarting under the assembly election loss, will be utilizing the elections to show its strength in its strongholds at least if not across the state. The party believes the tardy distribution of Pongal gift hampers sans financial component and several other issues will help the AIADMK in the election. Party insiders say many district secretaries, including former ministers, are yet to begin work for the local body elections even as many are busy fighting cases filed against them by the new government. The AIADMK alliance with BJP is likely to continue for the local body elections, though another partner PMK has walked away from the combine a few months back. As the filing of nominations for the elections begins on Friday, the DMK and AIADMK are busy finalizing candidates for the crucial election. Prof Ramu Manivannan, Head of the Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Madras, told DH that the results of the local body elections will have a bigger impact on the AIADMK and its future than the ruling DMK. The DMK is placed in a better position and the party can run through urban areas without any trouble. The ruling party is poised very well. And clearly, it is the DMK that has an edge. As far as the AIADMK alliance is concerned, differences between the AIADMK and BJP will come out in the open as the national party might want to contest more seats in urban areas, Prof. Manivannan said. Tamil Nadu Urban Local Body Elections: Polling Date: February 19, 2021 Counting of votes: February 22, 2021 Elections to elect heads of local bodies by elected members: March 4, 2021 Total seats/wards: 12,838 No of wards in 21 corporations: 1,374 No of wards in 138 municipalities: 3,843 No of wards in 490 town panchayats: 7,621 No of posts for indirect elections: 1,298 No of polling stations: 31,029 No of EVMs to be used: 1,06,121 units Total No of voters: 2,79,56,754 Male: 1,37,06,793 Female: 1,42,45,637 Transpersons: 4,324 The Maha Vikas Aghadi allies - the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP - seem to be on a collision course in Malegaon in Nashik district of Maharashtra. Malegaon is a Muslim majority town and is a hub of powerlooms and textiles. Thanks to the development in Malegaon Municipal Corporation (MMC) the political arithmetic has changed. All the 28 Congress corporators including mayor Tahira Shaikh joined the NCP formally on Thursday. Her husband and senior corporator Shaikh Rashid too has joined the NCP. Last year, Rashid had tendered his resignation as Malegaon town Congress president. The corporators joined the NCP in presence of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, state NCP president and water resources and command area development minister Jayant Patil, food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal and minority affairs minister Nawab Malik. This has left the Congress fuming. Some people from Congress have joined NCPsimilarly some people from NCP will soon be joining usI am not revealing the details are now.we may be in alliance but after all its politics, state Congress president Nana Patole said. The MMC comprises 84 seats - and according to the results of elections conducted in 2017, Congress had 28 seats, NCP 20, Shiv Sena 12, BJP 9, AIMIM 7 and JD(S) 7. Now Congress is reduced to nil while NCPs strength is now 48. Patil said once the Covid-19 situation normalises, NCP president Sharad Pawar would address a meeting in Malegaon. "The NCP is committed to the overall development of Malegaon and completely change its face," he said. BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday held a phone conversation over China-U.S. relations and the current situation in Ukraine. The top priority for China and the United States at present is to truly implement the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden during their video meeting in November last year, said Wang. During the video meeting, Wang recalled, Xi summarized the experience and lessons of China-U.S. exchanges over past more than half a century, and put forward three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, charting the course for the healthy development of China-U.S. relations. Biden responded positively by then, and said that the United States neither seeks a "new Cold War" with China, nor pursues a change in China's system, the revitalization of its alliances is not anti-China, and the country does not support "Taiwan independence," and has no intention to have conflict and confrontation with China, sending a positive signal which is different from the previous U.S. administration, said the Chinese foreign minister. However, Wang said, what the world has seen is that there has been no substantive change in the tone of the U.S. policy towards China and Biden's pledges have not been fully delivered. The U.S. side is still making erroneous words and deeds related to China, which have dealt a new blow to bilateral relations, Wang added. Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the "Shanghai Communique," Wang said that China and the United States having no intention of changing each other is the precondition of the normalization of bilateral relations, and should be the guarantee of peaceful coexistence between the two countries in the future. Competition between major countries is not the theme of a post-pandemic world that will encounter new situations and challenges, nor will it address the problems facing the United States and countries worldwide, Wang said. China and the United States, as the world's two largest economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, should bear in mind the fundamental interests of the people of both countries, follow the trend of global development, and well implement the important consensus reached between the two heads of state, he said. Wang said the two countries must have a good grasp of the general direction of bilateral ties, take concrete actions to fulfill commitments, expand the positive aspects of bilateral cooperation, and manage differences constructively. Pressure will only make the Chinese people more united, and confrontation will not stop China from becoming stronger, he stressed. At present, the top priority for the U.S. side is to stop interfering in the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playing with fire by playing the "Taiwan card," and stop forming all kinds of small cliques aimed at working against and containing China, he said. For his part, Blinken said it is important for the two sides to maintain regular communication, stressing the position that U.S. President Joe Biden elaborated in the virtual meeting between the two heads of state has not changed. The United States and China have shared interests as well as differences, Blinken said, noting the United States is ready to manage differences responsibly. The U.S. stance on the one-China policy remains unchanged, he said, and the United States will cheer for its athletes who participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics and wish the Chinese people a happy Chinese New Year. Blinken then stated the U.S. position on issues including the issue of Ukraine. The Chinese foreign minister said to address the tensions in Ukraine, it is necessary to return to the 2015 Minsk Agreements approved by the Security Council, which is a fundamental political document recognized by all parties and should be implemented in earnest. China will support any effort that conforms to the direction and spirit of the agreements, he said, adding China calls on all parties to remain calm and refrain from inflaming tensions or hyping up the crisis. Wang stressed that the security of one country should not be at the expense of the security of others, and regional security should not be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs. In the 21st century, all parties should completely abandon the Cold War mentality and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations, he said, adding Russia's legitimate security concerns should be taken seriously and addressed. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra has approved the sale of wine in supermarkets. The size of such shops should be over 1,000 sq ft, according to the decision taken at the weekly Cabinet meeting presided over by Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. The BJP, however, has opposed the move with leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis saying that it would not allow Maharashtra to transform into Madyarastra. The government will allow sale of wine in supermarkets of over 1,000 sq ft and there would be a dedicated area or showcase for sale of wine, state minority affairs minister Nawab Malik told reporters. There are several wineries in Maharashtrathe decision would give a boost to it, he said, adding that it would also benefit farmers who supply fruits to wineries. Reeling out decisions on liquor industry taken by MVA government since it came to power, Fadnavis said: Liquor is cheaper than petrol and diesel in Maharashtra, prohibition removed (Chandrapur), decision to give new liquor licences, and now wine to be available in supermarket and kirana shopswe will not allow Maharashtra to be converted into Madyarastra, Fadnavis said. Majority of wines have very low content of pure spirits as compared to other liquors. Also, a large number of restaurants and bakeries use wine for food making. The state has over 50 wineries and the majority of them are located in Nashik, which is also referred to as wine capital of the state. Watch the latest DH videos: In election-going Uttar Pradesh, candidates and campaigners of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are being chased away by the people and their campaign vehicles attacked. These unprecedented incidents are not limited to western Uttar Pradesh, the area most impacted by the farmers' agitation. In eastern UP, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya was heckled in his home borough of Sirathu in the Kaushambi district. Women were seen slamming doors on him, and he faced hostile sloganeering. The video of a BJP campaigner, allegedly a sitting legislator in UP, threatening the people stoning his car with a pistol, has gone viral. Union Minister Smriti Irani was heckled in her parliamentary constituency of Amethi, UP Sugarcane Minister, Suresh Rana, was abused by farmers in his home constituency Shamli, legislator Suresh Pasi from Amethi faced an irate mob, the BJP's campaign carcade was attacked, and some windscreens broken in Baghpat, sitting BJP MLA Pooran Prakash was chased away by the locals in Mathura's Baldev constituency and the cars of BJP canvassers in Meerut stoned. Also Read | Uttar Pradesh political parties hopeful of Election Commision lifting curbs Similar incidents have been witnessed in Vrindavan, Siwalkhas (Meerut district), Khatauli, Chhaprauli, Sambhal and Bulandshahr. In the face of local anger, Devendra Singh Lodi, the sitting legislator from Syana constituency in Bulandshahr, issued a video appeal to his constituents, saying, " for all the mistakes I have committed up to now, I seek your forgiveness by bowing my head at your venerable feet. I promise not to commit such mistakes in the future." Political observers believe that instances of taking down BJP candidates in western UP could have a copycat effect in other parts of the state, turning into a free for all that would damage the electoral prospects of the party. There are signs of panic in the party. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had to station himself in the Kairana constituency directing door-to-door campaigning - a constituency where he has made considerable effort to communalise the out-migration of some Hindu families. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not addressed a single rally, real or virtual, in the three weeks since he abandoned the Ferozepur rally. One reason for abandoning it, it is said, was the dismal attendance at Ferozepur. The banning of roadshows and rallies by the Election Commission of India till January 31, citing the Covid pandemic, may have given the BJP's chief campaigner some much-needed respite. Also Read | Battle for UP: 9 Ministers face challenge in first phase polls Meanwhile, youth protests which started in Patna against alleged irregularities in the Railway Recruitment Board Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB-NTPC) examination have spilled over to UP. In Prayagraj, after protesting students tried to stop a train, the UP police resorted to baton-charging and raided hostels and lodges where they suspected some protesters were hiding. After political parties backed the students "protesting unemployment", the Union Railway Ministry has stayed new exams of NTPC categories and Level 1 of the RRB. A committee will hold discussions with the previous examinees and submit a report to the ministry. Whether this will be sufficient to contain the despondency of the student protesters remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that the BJP seems to have lost the narrative in UP. While its campaigners, including Union Home Minister Shah and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, are campaigning to polarise the voters along religious lines, they have not met with much success. Going by the viral videos posted on social media, the protests against the BJP candidates in western UP constituencies are about the lack of "vikas" (development) and jobs. Clearly, the millions of tax-payers money that the Adityanath government has spent on propaganda about its developmental efforts have benefited only the media recipients of his largesse. There seem to be few takers for UP minister Sidharth Nath Singh's claim that the Adityanath government had created 2.64 crore jobs in 4.5 years. Sceptics scoff that this figure even exceeds the less than two crore jobs created in the entire country under Prime Minister Modi. India's former Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu, in a tweet, presented a more realistic picture: "In Uttar Pradesh between 2016 and 2021 working-age population rose 146.9 mill(ion) to 169.2 mill(ion) and the number of people with jobs fell from 56.4 mill(ion) to 55.8 mill(ion). Much of this loss had occurred before the pandemic - a result of policy focus being on grand projects rather than human welfare." Also Read | Ahead of UP polls, another BJP candidate chased away in his constituency Youngsters stare at a bleak future, apprehensive of going past the age of qualifying for government jobs. They were at one point the main supporters of Prime Minister Modi because of his promise of job creation. UP voters are also angry because of price rise, falling incomes exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the menace of stray cattle exacerbated by the government's restrictions on the cattle trade and the non-payment of sugarcane dues from previous harvests. These economic issues are neutral across caste, community and religion. While the main Opposition, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal, are busy converting the election into a caste election, the BJP is trying to draw this discontent into a communal discourse. It has not been successful in doing so up to now because of the acuteness of economic woes. If there is negative voting in UP, it is the SP-RLD alliance that would be the main gainer despite its caste-based approach. However, the alliance, it is understood, is wary of communal occurrences that might yet polarise the UP election, pushing livelihood issues to the background. Even if such an incident were to take place in some other state, it might be played to the BJP's advantage in the UP campaign. Their fears may rest on no more than the adeptness of the BJP to play the communal card in every election. (The writer is a journalist based in Delhi) 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: Karnataka is finalising a masterplan to develop the Anjanadri Hill in Koppal, the fabled birthplace of Hanuman, into a global tourist destination that will be ready just in time for the unveiling of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is personally supervising the project, has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited for the inauguration. The birthplace of Hanuman is famous as Kashi of the South, Muzrai Minister Shashikala Jolle said. We have started work on the comprehensive development of Anjanadri Hill into a grand Kashi. The master plan will be finalised soon. Jolle added that she has received a proposal to acquire 13.34 acres of private land for the development of the temple located in the Anegundi village of Gangavathi taluk. The Anjanadri project will be Karnataka's link to Ayodhya, which has been the BJP's most effective poll plank on the national stage. In fact, the Centre has planned a Ramayana Circuit for tourism that spans multiple locations across nine states: Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur and Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh); Sitamarhi, Buxar and Darbhanga (Bihar); Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh); Mahendragiri (Odisha); Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh); Nashik and Nagpur (Maharashtra); Bhadrachalam (Telangana); Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu). The Anjanadri Hill overlooks Tungabhadra river. On the other side of the river stands Hampi, the world heritage site that is believed to be Kishkindha, the mythological kingdom of vanaras or monkeys. Anjanadri Hill and Hampi are some 20 km apart. There are mythological references to Anjanadri, the birthplace of Hanuman, and the reference to Kishkindha in Ramayana. With many places in and around Hampi that have references in the epic, it is believed that Kishkindha and Hampi are the same. Bommais push for the Anjanadri Hill project comes even as the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) claimed last year that Hanuman was born in the Anjanadri Hill in Tirumala, which Karnataka clearly disagrees with. The plan to develop Anjanadri Hill was first announced by Bommais predecessor B S Yediyurappa in the 2020-21 state budget. He earmarked Rs 20 crore for the development of the hill temple, which is an A category Muzrai shrine. Footfalls at the temple has increased considerably in the last two years, Koppal Deputy Commissioner Suralkar Vikas Kishor told DH. Numbers touch 25,000 on Saturdays. Kishor said he received a phone call from Bommai, who gave oral instructions to arrange for the required land for the development of Anjanadri Hill. We have sent a proposal to the Muzrai department for land to be acquired in order to provide amenities for devotees, he said. In his letter to the Muzrai department, Kishor has pointed out the importance of the site in that the Centre has prepared a plan to link it with Ram Janmabhoomi. Because of this, the sites popularity has increased and pilgrims are visiting in large numbers. But the region lacks roads, accommodation and other basic infrastructure, he stated. The Anjanadri Hill falls under the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority (HWHAMA). There are regulations. So, getting relaxation is an issue. We have sent a proposal on this as well. For example, wed like locals themselves to take up development works, Kishor said. Bommais keenness on this project, political pundits say, is in line with the BJPs Hindutva agenda, which he has pushed ever since he took charge six months ago. As Home Minister earlier, Bommai was unabashed in cracking down against anti-CAA protesters; he even defended a sedition case that was booked against a school in Bidar. As Chief Minister, Bommai justified moral policing by right-wing groups, oversaw the passage of a law that gives protection to shrines that are illegally occupying public spaces, and another to regulate religious conversion (anti-conversion bill). He has also announced a law to free Hindu temples from State control, a long-pending demand of the Sangh Parivar. Bommai's 'communal' stance on issues has given rise to speculation that he is doing so to keep his position safe. There is no denying that the BJPs performance has been rather underwhelming in four elections Karnataka has seen after Bommai took over. Undoubtedly, given the CMs position and stakes, it may be important for him to align himself with the larger developments the BJP is pursuing at the national level, political scientist Sandeep Shastri said. The Ram temple is becoming a place to showcase as an achievement. And, you have a site for Hanuman to celebrate down in the south. Its a very interesting strategy where you showcase an action as promoting tourism destinations. And, over the last few years, weve seen an increasing national focus on cultural tourism, Shastri explained. He further said that the Congress is merely countering the BJPs narratives rather than building one of its own. If you're setting the narrative yourself, then you also define the boundary. Senior Congress leader B L Shankar admitted, and defended, what Shastri suggests is his partys weakness. We cant compete with the BJP (on emotional issues), however advantageous it is for them, because we have a commitment to the people. We may end up losing elections because of our stand, but we cant compromise on constitutional values, he said, adding that the BJP has been playing with peoples emotions for almost a decade. It works since 99% of people are believers. The tell-tale sign is that whenever the BJP cant solve peoples problems unemployment, price rise and so on they divert attention, Shankar pointed out. When a party gets elected into government, the role of the leaders becomes different, and they have to act in line with the Constitution. But, this Lakshman rekha has been erased, he said. The PM inaugurates temples and does pujas, something that should be left to priests to do. Check out latest DH videos here Your guide to the summer treasures of the North of Boston and Merrimack Valley regions Click Here Veteran journalist, Peter Pringle, recalls how The Sunday Times' investigations team, Insight, conducted their own enquiry alongside Widgery's that exposed how much of a whitewash the Official Enquiry was. He also reveals how, despite his protests, Lord Saville managed to gain access to his material 26 years later. Hours after Bloody Sunday, the official cover-up was in full-swing. The British Army's propaganda machine set about conveying the line that they had been attacked with shots fired at them and they had 'simply responded'. Those living in Derry especially those at the march who had survived knew what had really happened. The British Army had killed 13 (a total that increased to14 when John Johnson died of his injuries a few months later) and had wounded another 14 people. However, the rest of the world was being fed and seemed to absorb the army's spin. It was left to the fourth estate of the press to give a voice to those who were being smeared and had loved ones killed and wounded. The Sunday Times in London had, with it's investigative reporting team called Insight, a reputation of digging deep and uncovering real truths. It had investigated the Profumo Affair in 1963, uncovered Kim Philby as a Russian spy and would later blow the lid on the Thalidomide controversy and Israel's secret manufacturing of nuclear weapons. They would also investigate Bloody Sunday as well. They had already exposed what conditions were like for prisoners held in Long Kesh and as such had a track record that placed a high degree of trust put on them by those they would speak to in Derry. Peter Pringle, a distinguished journalist now based in New York, was one of Insight's reporters sent to Derry with the aim of running their investigation alongside the official one that Lord Widgery was chairing and seeing if the 'official investigation' would produce the same material as Insight would uncover. Very little as it turned out. After Bloody Sunday, (Sunday Times editor) Harry Evans' immediate reaction was to send the entire team over, says Peter Pringle. Two months ago, we had published a book on the deepening crisis in Northern Ireland. That was finished in December 1971, and, incidentally, it ended with a strong concern about the conduct of the (British) army. It also raised the prospect of some kind of disastrous action by the army. Following what happened (on Bloody Sunday), Harry sent as many reporters as he could spare from the news desk both home and foreign and two available (Insight) team members, Philip Jacobson and myself. The Government had moved swiftly to declare a public enquiry under (Lord) Widgery. It was clear by the end of the first week that the army's version of events that they had responded to fire was not supported by the evidence. After the first week, the idea was for Insight to do a parallel enquiry to Widgery and publish the day after he did or as soon as possible with The Sunday Times being a weekend paper. We set about the systematic reconstruction of the circumstances that led to the killings of thirteen unarmed men and wounded another fourteen. We had at least one member of the team attending each day of the Widgery Enquiry so that we could compare his evidence to ours. We amassed a huge amount of statements and photos taken on the day and also talked to both wings of the IRA (Provisional and Official). We got no official help from the army but some unofficial assistance. The key here was that the Paras were almost universally disliked by the other units because of their strongarm tactics and some cracks began in the official army wall of silence. As a result of Insight's previous work in Northern Ireland, we had good contacts in the community at large and many were willing to help with their recollections. Sometimes they insisted on confidentiality and non-attribution which of course we respected. We had, perhaps, a better reputation as journalists seeking the truth than others in the British press. We had good contacts already. That made it easier for us to move around and have people agree to being interviewed often at length. I can't remember exactly but I think April was when we published and we had concluded that there had been no organised attack by either wing of the IRA with guns and there were no nail bombs as the army had contended. Widgery, on the other hand, basically exonerated the army and his report was widely regarded as a whitewash, designed to vindicate the paratroopers' actions and leaving the families of the dead and wounded without justice. His report I think came out on a Monday or a Tuesday so there was a wait before the end of that week when we published an Insight piece of twelve thousand words which challenged Widgery. We found the paratroopers responded all out of proportion to what they were facing. Our conclusion was the army had put a gathering of five hundred or so people in direct line of fire only a couple of hundred yards away and the firing, we concluded, was reckless in the extreme. I think the official establishment, because of our previous reporting, regarded us as 'not on our side'. There were some remarks like is The Sunday Times 'the IRA paper?' and 'do they have fully-paid up CP (Communist Party) members on their staff?'. All complete nonsense. Without the co-operation of sources on the ground in Derry, many of them done under the protection of confidentiality, Insight's investigation may not have been as comprehensive as it was. But two decades later, those sources would be compromised by none other than the Saville Enquiry itself. Peter Pringle had resigned from The Sunday Times in 1980 following Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the paper. However, his material from Insight's Bloody Sunday investigation remained in The Sunday Times' archives material which the paper handed over to Saville, much to Pringle's chagrin. He said: The Saville Enquiry had The Sunday Times files and my notebooks I was the only one who had left notebooks with The Sunday Times archives although not on purpose, it just happened. Lord Saville had been given Peter Pringle's material - much of it confidential - by The Sunday Times against the wishes of Pringle himself I got a call in 1998, here in my apartment in New York, from one of the Enquiry's solicitors saying 'we've got your stuff'. I was like, 'what!?'. I was totally shocked. So I called Phil (Jacobson) and flew to London to authenticate the material. We met the solicitor in a safe house in London. We were shown boxes of files from our enquiry and then we made our protest. We wrote to the Enquiry that we had conducted all our interviews on the basis of confidentiality, that we promised not to name the sources and in most cases we had not named them. Every so often, the interviews would have gone off the record and the notebooks might have revealed that and the source might still be discovered. Worse than that was the idea that the Enquiry had intended to pass on all this information and hard documents to 'interested parties in the Enquiry'. In other words, make them public. So they could use the names of people we interviewed. As journalists, we could only release that information on the say-so of the person we interviewed. We made our feelings known to The Sunday Times and to the Enquiry, insisting that we would never name our sources. (Back in the 1970s) Widgery had asked Harry Evans for anything that he could supply and he refused saying that this was far too sensitive material that had agreements of confidentiality. So when we complained to The Sunday Times (twenty years later), they did say at some point they had made a mistake in handing over the material. But there was no how or why explanation for this mistake being made. The Saville Enquiry got back to us saying that the material had been submitted to them (by The Sunday Times) voluntarily and without reservation as to publication. They did add that they had considered the possibly of disclosure of a small number of documents might create a significant risk to the personal safety of certain individuals. If such a risk was shown to exist, somebody would have to 'prove it'. I found out subsequently that copyright rested with The Sunday Times so we had no rights except to protest. Needless to say, the Enquiry's use of Pringle's material did not go down well with some of the sources in Derry who had spoken to him 26 years earlier under confidentiality. Pringle added: Some people were asked (in the Enquiry) 'do you remember talking to Peter Pringle and Phil Jacobson?' The figure was around 250. Some said they had no comment on what we had written and some denied ever being interviewed (by us). The Enquiry sent us what comments had been made on Widgery by those who had been interviewed. Around 14 per cent said they had no comment on the interview and a similar amount rejected the idea that they had been interviewed at all and either couldn't recall what was said in the interview or disagreed with what we wrote. Those questions, to some extent, still remain, says Eamonn McCann. Why did they open fire? Why were people killed?. Journalist, campaigner and politician, McCann has been at the forefront of campaigning for fairness and equality in Derry. Those more recently-minded will recall him as a People Before Profit party MLA for Foyle before sitting on the city's council after losing his Stormont seat. More than 50 years ago however, McCann was one of many in Derry making their voices heard against the injustice and inequality that Catholics and Nationalists had to suffer by the Unionist ruling classes at Stormont who had loaded the stack of cards heavily in their own favour. McCann in the late 1960s was part of the Derry Housing Action Committee and worked in conjunction with the Northern Irish Civil Rights Association. He also served as Bernadette Devlin's election agent when she became at the time the youngest MP at Westminster. He was also there on the march on January 30, 1972 and would vigorously campaign for the truth to come out about Bloody Sunday not long afterwards. The week before Bloody Sunday, a march at Magiligan beach towards an internment camp saw marchers being assaulted by paratroopers. Six months earlier, the Paratrooper Regiment would kill 11 civilians at the Ballymurphy area of Belfast only recently as last year were the dead found as innocent victims who were killed without justification. McCann admits that no one was under any illusions that the paras could once again employ heavy-handed tactics but and despite what had happened at Ballymurphy no one anticipated that the troops would employ the deadly measures that they did. He said: The incident at Magiligan beach the week before Bloody Sunday served as a reminder of the attitude of the security forces generally, but in particular, the reputation that the Parachute Regiment had. It has been well-established that they were behind the events that took place at Ballymurphy in August 1971 so there was an understanding that there would be tough action taken and that people would be in for a rough ride. But nobody at all expected the Bloody Sunday shooting. My first response when the shots rang out was one of confusion 'what are they shooting at? Why? What has happened?'. And I was asked the question after it had happened 'why did they open fire? Why were people killed?'. Those questions, to some extent, still remain. It wasn't expected at all that the march would work out the way it did. I don't know anybody who had anticipated what would happen. When the shots were fired, I was walking down Lecky Road quite close to where the Bloody Sunday Monument is now and towards Free Derry Wall where the meeting was about to start. I remember just before the shots rang out, Bernadette Devlin as she then was was beginning to speak. It was after her first sentence that the shots rang out. I don't know as to what sort of danger I might have been in. I suppose everybody was in danger to a certain extent I don't think my life was in danger for most of it because it took me some minutes to grasp what had happened was that people were being killed. It wasn't until it was all over how real the danger was. We found out what had actually happened after a couple of hours. It wasn't until the evening that the numbers were confirmed. British soldiers blocked off William Street and prevented the Civil Rights march getting to its intended destination, Guildhall Square. (Pic: Fulvio Grimaldi courtesy of The Museum of Free Derry) Bernadette (Devlin) was on the phone at (journalist) Nell McCafferty's house on Beechwood Street to the hospital to find out what the score was. Using her status as an MP, she demanded the names to confirm that they were dead. I remember her starting to write the names out and how the hallway was packed with people that just fell quiet as Bernadette kept on writing. Before that, there were people who were saying that maybe three had been killed, or two killed, or four killed, who had see what and trying to piece together the whole picture. It was a few hours before the horrors seen on Rossville Street was confirmed and appreciated by everybody. There was disbelief and outrage when the 'official line' (from the British Army) became clear. That line being that all these people who were shot were 'bombers and gun-men' and that the British troops were 'reacting' to an 'armed assault' on them. That line was coming through as early as the night of Bloody Sunday. The line was put out by the army through the BBC was that 'the British Army had opened fire only on legitimate targets that had been seen to be holding guns and nail bombs'. Everybody knew that this was not true. People had seen what had happened in the courtyard of Rossville Street. People were looking down in horror from their eight-storey flats and had seen it all happen. They had seen Jackie Duddy being killed. They had seen Mickey Bridge being wounded. They had watched it from their own homes. They knew that's how Jackie Duddy died. Hugh Gilmour was shot as he ran past the Rossville flats lots of people saw that. So we didn't have to weigh anything up and ask 'who do we believe here?' when these conflicting stories came out. I don't think many people were shocked at the findings of the Widgery Enquiry maybe some were but I wasn't and neither was nobody that I know. If some did expect Widgery to uncover truth then they would be sorely disillusioned. There wasn't shock at Widgery's findings but there was an air of weary cynicism of 'here we go again more lies'. McCann would for many years campaign relentlessly alongside the families for the truth of what happened on Bloody Sunday to come out. In 2010, after the Saville Report was published in a report that exonerated the dead and wounded, a number of the Bloody Sunday families put McCann's name forward for the prestigious Paul Foot Award For Campaigning Journalism. The nomination was successful as Eamonn received the Lifetime Campaign Award with the Judging Committee remarking: McCanns campaigning journalism is very much in the spirit of Paul Footsmeticulously researched, intelligent, persistent, consistent, unrelenting, beautifully writtena thorn in the establishments side. However, as Eamonn admits, the fight for the families' voice to be heard in Britain was considerable with obstacles such as ignorance of the situation in Ireland and a state of denial amongst British minds that their revered army could have done something so vicious having to be overcome. He said: It was some considerable time before the legitimacy of the campaign to vindicate the dead and the wounded was taken seriously. There were people who didn't want to believe it and also this was in the midst of going into the most violent period of The Troubles part of the reasons of course for the escalation of violence being Bloody Sunday itself. A lot of people had trusted the British Army because they had seen the army as their own. There was the argument of 'oh the IRA have killed a lot of soldiers'. But there was a big difference which was the British soldiers were representing the State and wearing the uniform to represent the State and they did this in broad daylight. That made Bloody Sunday different. What wasn't different was the grief inflicted on the family members of those killed on Bloody Sunday was not different to the grief of other families who had suffered at the hands of paramilitary groups. While that was true, there was something egregious and outrageous about people in the State's uniform killing people. Bloody Sunday exposed the British State. The two things I remember from that period after Bloody Sunday was that when I would go over to London to speak at various meetings, there were two classes of people. They consisted of members of the Irish community and the far left. There would be occasional individuals, like Tony Benn for example, but MPs who purported to be from the left and who presented themselves as opponents of the State were like an awful lot of radicals in Britain who would sing dumb with regard to Bloody Sunday. Their instinct was to support their soldiers and also the level of ignorance about Ireland and the issues we had in the North was absolutely astonishing. I don't blame the people but it is still true that there are people mainly in England who only have the vaguest notion about the issues in the North and how the whole situation developed. We are staggered by the sheer ignorance about Ireland in Britain. But that's not to do with the ordinary people. When you look at the behaviour of certain Tory MPs and Tory Ministers in relation to Ireland over recent years, they don't have a grasp of anything at all. For example, we had a Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Karen Bradley) who recently admitted to not knowing that nationalists don't vote for unionist parties and vice-versa. And yet they sent her over. The oceanic depths of willful British ignorance applies to history generally not just with regard to Ireland, which is a particularly intense example of that induced ignorance. India is another example as are other British colonial enterprises. This was, in the end, a colonial enterprise over here. That was exposed too by Bloody Sunday. This wasn't 'police-keeping'. This was our own troops on our own streets. This was something quite different. Then of course there were enormous pressures put on the Protestant community here to stand by the paratroopers. That had began before all the smoke had cleared. There were Unionist politicians from Derry telling their own supporters that they shouldn't get mixed up with what happened on Bloody Sunday. That they should 'stand by the troops' and don't listen to the 'propaganda'. That was being said over and over again. That was a factor too in shaping reactions to Bloody Sunday. The Detective said, 'How many brothers have you got?'. I said I had two. He then said, 'You've only got one now'. Leo Young reflects on how he first heard of his brother John's death. It had already been a traumatic 48 hours. Two days before he was marching for Civil Rights a passage of events evolved that saw him frantically searching for his brother, trying to save the life of a young boy, had been scooped up by the army and interrogated with swab samples taken. Now a policeman, who appeared to be getting a kick out of it, was telling him in the crudest way possible that his brother had died. Leo would later spend the next 50 years maintaining that the boy he tried to save was not carrying any bombs on him as the army was saying. That boy of course was Gerry Donaghy who Leo along with two others had been trying to get to hospital before being stopped and arrested by the army. Leo would then trudge from house to house to see if the dead body inside each of them was the boy he was trying to save. After visiting a number of houses, he finally saw Gerry again this time dead. As for John, Leo recalls him fondly he was 16 years his junior and the baby of the house. John was affable and good company even if you had only just met him Leo says you would have had a new friend. He said: John left school when he was fifteen and he was dead when he was seventeen. Back in 1971, he was working for a coalman and was also in a band it was a minor one but he'd have been getting the bookings for them. He only had two years of his life after school. We'd a sister that had left for America and she was always on at John to come over. Sadly that never got to happen. John was the youngest in our family I was sixteen when he was born so he was the golden boy and got spoilt. But once he grew up, he never had a chance in life like so many other young people in Derry back then. Young people in 1970 had nothing compared to young people today. You had your gang of mates that you knocked around with but there were no great prospects about. On the day itself, John and his pals had already headed off to the march when I arrived at the family home. I sort of knew which way they would have went had there been any trouble and that's what transpired. He was on William Street alright and was probably throwing stones down there too I would think. He then moved off down Rossville Street and that was where he met his fate. I had reached William Street where the crowd had stopped. We could see stones being thrown and hear the rubber bullets being fired. I then tried to make my way to Free Derry Corner but by the time I got there, there was a whole change of circumstance. I could hear sounds of gunfire which I thought might have been rubber bullets but then you heard 'crack, crack, crack' which was when I started to get scared at the whole situation. I was about forty yards from where John was shot but at the time I had no idea that anyone had been shot at that point. John was up against the wall when Willie Nash and Michael McDaid was shot. He went to do what I did with Gerry to see if they were OK. He went over but the soldiers fired and shot him in the head John paid the ultimate price. Meanwhile, Leo was also running across ground to see if someone who had been shot was OK. While Leo would not suffer the same fate as John, his efforts to try and save the young boy who had fallen, Gerry Donaghy, would have consequences. There were two bodies lying on the ground and me and a woman who was nearby went to them, says Leo. She went to the one closest to her (Gerald McKinney) and I went to the young lad (Gerald Donaghy). I then pulled the wee boy lying on the ground towards the wall. While I'm doing that, John was being shot at the barricade on Rossville Street. Meanwhile, myself and a few others are trying to find out who this young lad was. We searched his clothes but couldn't find anything that gave a name or an address. A doctor then came in and opened this boy's shirt and we found his stomach was all hanging out. So of course the doctor says we had to get him to the hospital. We carried the body out the back and into a car. I was planning to get him into the car and then getting out so I could go and look for John. I didn't want to go to the hospital but the door was locked. We took off in the car and there was me and the young fella there and I'm holding on to him. His head was on my chest and the rest of him was across my lap. I kept telling him to hold on but his face was very pale. We later found out this was Gerry Donaghy but at the time we didn't know who he was I wouldn't find out until two days after Bloody Sunday. Gerry Donaghy whose life Leo would try to save. However, the car they were in were stopped by an army patrol. The next time Leo saw him would be in an open coffin at Gerry's home. Leo denies the army's claims that Gerry was carrying explosives saying that when he and others searched him to find out who he was, they had only found Rosary beads. The car was stopped at a checkpoint and instead of helping us with the young lad, the army arrested us. They moved the car away with Gerry in it and we were kept there until half four in the evening. We were then moved to the barracks. They took my clothes off me and started taking swabs off my hands. From there we were moved to the police station. At around eight o' clock, I was again moved to an army camp in Ballykelly. I was interrogated there by the army who were asking me about this young lad. I couldn't tell them anything as I had never seen him before in my life until I saw his body on the ground earlier that day. I was questioned all night and then two days later, they let me go. A detective came in and shouted 'Is there a Young here'. I said I was and he replied, 'F*** off out now'. As I made to leave, he then shouted, 'How many brothers have you got?'. I said I had two. He then said, 'You've only got one now'. I started walking towards Creggan where my mother was. There was an atmosphere around the streets I was walking on. When I was halfway up, someone who knew me slowed down their car and asked if I needed a lift. But I'd been kept in for so long that I needed to walk for a breath of air. Even though the detective had said what he had said, I just couldn't get my head round it at all. It still hadn't registered. But then I got to my mother's house and there were people outside the door. It started then to dawn on me that something had happened to John. I got into the house and was told what had happened. John had been shot and so had so many others as well. Because I'd been held by the army, I didn't know that other people had died. A doctor came round and gave me a wee sedative which knocked me out for a while. When I got up, John's body was already out at home. I started to enquire about the wee boy that I had in the car that was stopped on the way to the hospital. Because they also didn't know who he was, they couldn't tell me if he had made it or not. I then had the grim task of going house to house to have a look at the dead body in each of them to see if one of them was the young lad. Then eventually, after visiting a number of houses, I found him. To compound the agony even further on the grieving Donaghy family, a line was put out by the British Army that Gerry was armed with a number of explosive nail bomb devices on his person. An allegation vehemently denied by Leo. He added: The British Army had already been saying that Gerry was carrying nail bombs on him. That was completely untrue. I watched people searching him I couldn't search his lower body as I was holding his head. All that was found on him was Rosary beads. There was nothing sticking out of his pockets. If there had been nail bombs like the army and police were saying, we would have not been able to miss them. He had nothing on him. Even when the soldiers stopped the car we were in, they themselves searched him and didn't find anything. You would have thought one of them might have mentioned that this lad had a bomb on him. Years later, at the Saville Enquiry, Lord Saville acknowledged my input but effectively called me a liar. I would never have moved that young fella if I'd have thought he had a bomb on him. Saville said that he couldn't rule out the possibility of Gerry having explosives on him despite a number of people, including myself, insisting that he had nothing on him. You know, looking back, when I was in the barracks and they've taken my clothes and taken swabs off me, how come nothing showed up on my swabs if Gerry was 'so contaminated' with explosive residue. I had been holding onto him. Following Bloody Sunday, while many were grieving, other minds were turned on revenge. A number of people, seeing the brutal manner in which their peaceful demands for basic civil rights were cut down, went to join the Provisional IRA. Leo himself harboured such thoughts and was only stopped following an ultimatum from his wife. He continued: It's something I have to admit to as it did cross my mind. It crossed a lot of people's minds. However, my wife told me that if I had done that, that would have been the end of everything. At the end of the day, I couldn't do it. But I understood why others did join. Thirteen people shot dead, fourteen wounded as well and had the bullet been higher, lower or to the left or right and they'd have been dead too. Of course I understand why people joined. Fast forward 50 years and the quest for justice now seems to be a distance away, despite Lord Saville's report and then-Prime Minister David Cameron's condemnation of the soldiers' conduct when the findings were published in 2010. Leo said: You can see the line that they're taking. It's like what happened in South Africa (after apartheid fell) when amnesties were given to all sides. That's the sorest point in all of this. We as a family were never involved with the police not even for driving offences. At the end of the day, John was murdered. If a Prime Minister can, like David Cameron did when the Saville Report was released, come out and say the soldier's actions were 'unjustified' and 'unjustifiable', why can't there be any prosecutions? The year 1972 was one that should have been of celebration for Margaret Wray's brother Jim. Instead, his brown corduroy jacket that he was wearing when he was killed on Bloody Sunday that is on display at the Museum of Free Derry shows of how a life full of hope and dreams for the future were callously ended by a British soldier's rifle. Plans for marriage were being made following 22-year-old Jim's engagement to a woman from London, Miriam Sidkiahu. The second oldest of 10 children and the eldest son, he had been going back and forth between Derry and the English capital whenever he could find work in order to help support the Wray family home. Due to Miriam being of the Jewish faith, both her and Jim were in discussions with the church regarding their proposed marriage with the prospect of Miriam converting to Catholicism. Unfortunately, following Bloody Sunday, it was a conversation that Jim and Miriam would never have. Jim went to the Long Tower Boy's Primary School and then onto St Joseph's. When he left school, work was very difficult to get in Derry in those days so Jim took whatever work was about, said Margaret Wray. If he couldn't get work in Derry, he did what a lot of Derry lads did he went off to England. He'd work over there, then come back to work in Derry and then back to England again. So he was back and forward to London working. I had a sister in nursing over there and he would have stayed with her at times, depending where the work was. He did work in Littlewoods once when in Derry and at the time of his murder, he worked for Lec Refrigeration. Jim was the second-eldest of a large family and the eldest boy. So work was the most important thing then. Even though you had a good education, it was a case of get a job and bring money into the home to help the parents rear the rest of the children. But he was engaged to get married to a girl he had met in London. He had brought her home to Derry to meet us all and had left to go back home after Christmas. There was talk with the church about getting married because as she was of the Jewish faith, there were things to be discussed and done. Jim wanted to remain very much with his (Catholic) faith and wanted to be married within the church. The possibility of her converting to the Catholic church was something that was going to be talked about. Unfortunately, they never got the chance to have that discussion as by the end of January, Jim was murdered. On the day itself, Margaret who was in her first pregnancy at the time did not go on the Civil Rights march. She remembers waving the marchers off on a sunny afternoon and could not imagine the horrors that her and her family would been going through an hour later. I wasn't on the march that day. I was expecting my first child and, of course, I wasn't allowed to go, adds Margaret. We lived in Drumcliff Avenue and I went down to the bottom of the street to see the march coming over the Lecky Road. We watched it pass by and my memory was that is was a beautiful January day cold but very bright with the sun shining and the atmosphere was wonderful. Everybody was happy, everybody was laughing and the craic was good. I was there with a neighbour and so when the march passed by, we were back up home again and I went into the house and started to get the tea ready. Then all of a sudden the house started to fill up with people roaring and shouting that something bad had gone on down at Rossville Street. My mother then came in with two other women that she didn't know drenched in dye that the army had fired and sprayed the marchers with. She brought them up to our house to try and clean them up and get them dry clothes. I'd had other brothers and sisters out on the march and my mammy then start to do a head count. Of course, everybody was in except Jim. But at this stage, we still didn't know that there had been live shooting. We still thought it had been rubber bullets and people being injured by them. But then the word was slowly coming through of live rounds being fired and people falling but nobody could believe it. It just wasn't real. My father and my brother then went out to look for Jim to see if maybe he had been arrested because we had heard of arrests happening. They came back in again without Jim and they hadn't heard any word of him. But my father did say that it was true that people were being fired at. Just as he was saying that, a first-aider came to the door... the house had been packed with people and then all of a sudden, it was empty. The word had come in that Jim was one of those who had been murdered. It was devastating for my mother I never heard a scream like it in all my life when she was told. Everybody just went into total shock in the house because we didn't know how it could happen. It was a nightmare. You felt like you were going to wake up in half-an-hour and be told it was all a joke and it hasn't happened. But it was true. It was a couple of hours later that my uncle and my brother set off to Altnagelvin, to the morgue to view Jim's remains and confirm it was him. On the day, all we knew was that Jim was shot. Where the Bloody Sunday Museum is now was where some bungalows were and my grandparents lived in one of them. Jim was shot not far from where they lived. So we were thinking was Jim going to see if they were OK? That would have been something he would have done. Because on that day, the bedrooms on those bungalows faced out on to the square. Granny's bedroom had a wardrobe with a mirror on it that faced out onto the street. As the soldiers were in the square shooting, one of them must have seen the reflection of his rifle on Granny's wardrobe mirror. They shot through Granny's wardrobe and into her fur coat. Now they were elderly people and Granny was giving it, which gave us a kind of a laugh, 'my good fur coat!'. But the bullet went through the window, the wardrobe mirror, the coat and lodged itself into the wall. So when we discovered that was where Jim was lying, we thought he might have been going to see if they were alright but didn't get in because they would have taken a sleep on a Sunday afternoon. He might have then been heading to the alleyway before he was taken down. We didn't get these details on the day they started to emerge afterwards. It wasn't too long after Bloody Sunday that I remember being told he had been shot twice. My anger got worse at that because the first shot brought him down. Why could they not have left him there and arrested him? We would still have had our Jim. Why did they have to cold-bloodedly come up and murder him? What harm did he do them? Did they have to be so evil and cruel? I couldn't understand it for years why somebody who was injured and lying on the ground that they had to come to him like a dog and finish him off. It's been proved that Jim had no weapons on him. Widgery which everyone knows was a whitewash tried to say they were gunmen and bombers but it has been proven that they were innocent men. Years of campaigning to expunge the Widgery Enquiry, that cleared the soldiers and smeared the victims, finally resulted in a new enquiry chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate. While the history books will record it as having exonerated both the dead and wounded, for Margaret, the process of the Enquiry felt as if Jim and the other victims were on trial and having to prove their innocence and felt Saville's final report to be the best of a bad job. She said: I didn't agree with the Saville Report. I didn't think the terms and conditions were what we wanted. However, it was the best of a bad job and we went with it. It was a very stressful time because people were trying to work with hindsight. We were working with English solicitors that were putting down maps in front of us. Now don't forget, we're ordinary Derry people. To me, Glenfada Square is a wee tiny square you go round it in less than five minutes. But these solicitors were going 'Glenfada North', 'Glenfada North East' and so on. And you're sitting there looking at them and going, 'no it's just Glenfada'. But no, to them it had to be the precise position. How can you remember twenty-five-odd years later the precise footsteps considering you were in shock? That annoyed me that people were being asked to give specific details not 'near enough' but 'specific'. I think they were trying to muddy the waters. No way were they going to hang their soldiers out to dry. It was like 'the Derry people had to have done something wrong'. It wasn't even 'were our memories wrong?'. It was 'were we lying? Were we covering up?'. It was very difficult to listen to. What was very stressful about it as well was going to the Guild Hall with normal life going on and we were with all the photographs and video footage being shown and all the talk back in 1972. One Christmas, we were in the Guild Hall and I came out at the end of the afternoon and I actually didn't know where I was. Two minutes before, I was in 1972 and Bloody Sunday and the next minute I'm standing outside and it's 'Jingle Bells' and Christmas lights. That's how stressful it was. Eventually, news of the prosecution of Soldier F for the killing of both Jim and William McKinney was announced. However, none of the other soldiers who were still alive were to be prosecuted with Soldier F's case eventually being dropped by the Prosecution Service. None of this surprised Margaret at all who remains convinced that Britain will not give the Wrays and the other families the justice they deserve. She said: When we were told that day (only Soldier F would be prosecuted), I had come outside the City Hotel to get a breather and I thought, 'that is a poisoned chalice that we have been handed' and I was right. This was 'divide and conquer'. Our family that day got no joy whatsoever from that decision it broke our hearts. No way was Britain going to prosecute any soldier for Bloody Sunday and they never will. A 'Families Walk' and a march will take place in Derry this coming Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. The 'Families Walk' will leave the Creggan Shops on Central Drive in Creggan at 9.15am and is being organised by the Bloody Sunday Trust as part of its 'One World, One Struggle' programme of events. Those taking part will make their way to the Bloody Sunday monument on Rossville Street where a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony will take place. Later in the day, the families will make their way from Rossville Street to Guildhall Square for Beyond The Silence, a special public event to mark the 50th anniversary during which a minute's silence will be held at 4.00pm to remember those killed on Sunday, January 30, 1972. Ahead of the Guildhall Square event, a special commemoration will take place at 12.30pm at the republican monument on Lecky Road, opposite the Gasyard Centre, in memory of Gerald Donaghey, one of the Bloody Sunday victims. Sunday night will also see the Guildhall host the premiere of 'The White Handkerchief ' in the Guildhall at 8.00pm. The new production, written by acclaimed author Liam Campbell who sadly passed away recently, is described as an elegy to those who died on Bloody Sunday. Meanwhile, members of the public are invited to attend the annual Mass for the victims of Bloody Sunday being celebrated in St Mary's Church, Creggan, at 7.30pm tomorrow (Friday) while former British Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, will deliver the annual Bloody Sunday Lecture in the Guildhall at 3.00pm on Saturday. Mr Corbyn, who is the MP for Islington North in London, has been a tireless supporter of justice issues relating to Bloody Sunday including the campaign for a new inquiry to overturn the discredited Widgery Tribunal findings and has advocated the need for British soldiers to be held to account for incidents which happened during the Troubles, including on Bloody Sunday. Tony Doherty, Bloody Sunday Trust chairperson, explained the reasoning behind the title for the 50th anniversary programme of events, 'One World, One Struggle.' He said because of the actions of the families in the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign, Derry could take its place proudly among the great cities of the world that have struggled for justice. He added: Through the long years of campaigning which saw the murdered dead of Bloody Sunday declared innocent and the despised Widgery Report binned, Derry became a beacon of hope for other peoples struggles for truth, justice and dignity. We are living in an age where One World One Struggle is a real, lived and shared experience of solidarity with struggling peoples. The march organised by the Bloody Sunday March Committee Commemoration (BSMC) whose theme for its programme of events is entitled 'No British Justice' - will leave Creggan Shops at 2.15pm on Sunday, making its way along the original route of the ill-fated 1972 march to Free Derry Corner for a rally where speakers will include Bernadette McAliskey (Devlin) and Eamonn McCann (BSMC). Sinn Fein president, Mary Lou McDonald, will be among the speakers at 'Visions of a New Ireland' taking place at 7.30pm in the City Hotel tonight followed at 9.30pm by a BSMC fundraiser 'We Shall Overcome' in Sandino's Bar on Water Street featuring artists such as Rosie Stewart, Harry Bradley and Jason O'Rourke. Also tomorrow, 'Sunday,' Jimmy McGovern's award-winning drama telling the story of Bloody Sunday, will be screened at the Brunswick Moviebowl at 6.30pm, followed by a Q&A session in which the writer will take part. Pilots Row will host two panel discussions on Saturday, 'The Enemy Within How the State Targets Suspect Communities,' at 12 noon followed by 'There is No British Justice' at 3.00pm. Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) Ward 9 candidate Bekithemba Nyathi has withdrawn his candidature for the March 26 municipal by-election. Nyathi, a former Member of Parliament for Mpopoma-Pelandaba constituency, successfully filed his papers at the Nomination Court which sat on Wednesday. Donaldson Mabutho, from the same party, who was the incumbent before he was recalled from the council, also filed his papers for the same ward. A similar situation was obtained in Ward 21 where Norman Hlabano and Mpumelelo Moyo, who are both members of CCC filed their papers to contest for the vacant seat. In a statement, Thursday, Nyathi said he was stepping down to make way for the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) party certified candidate Mr Mabutho. I have withdrawn because we cant afford at this stage to give Zanu PF a chance. This by-election gives our party led by our able President Chamisa to deepen its tape roots into the electorate, Nyathi said. Our small squabbles that emanated from the CCC internal process of confirming candidates should not interfere with the bigger project for Change in Zimbabwe. Nyathi said he was now throwing his weight behind Mabutho and will do whatever it takes for him to win Ward 9. I also want to take this opportunity to apologize to my leaders, in particular, President Chamisa and his Vice Prof Ncube for allowing the small squabbles to spill on to the bigger picture Nyathi has since informed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) of his withdrawal. I take this opportunity to inform and notify you of my decision not (to) contest the ward 9 council by-elections which are scheduled for March 2022. I hereby withdraw my candidature and please be advised not to include my name in the ballot paper for the by-elections due in March 2022, he wrote in a letter to the electoral management body. The double candidates exposed divisions in the fledgling party with analysts warning that if such issues are not resolved it could cause friction in the party ahead of the crunch 2023 elections. Cite.org.zw One of the men charged with the murder of journalist Lyra McKee has been given permission to attend the Bloody Sunday march this weekend to mark the 50th anniversary of the killings. Peter Gearoid Cavanagh (33), of Elmwood Terrace in the Bogside area of the city, is charged with the murder of the 29-years-old journalist who was shot dead by an New IRA gunman while watching a riot on Fanad Drive in Creggan in April 2019. He also faces charges of possessing a gun with intent, rioting and possessing and throwing petrol bombs on the same date. As part of his bail conditions he is not allowed to enter the Creggan area and had applied for a variation to attend the march. Making the application defence solicitor, Derwin Harvey, said his client wished to participate in the full march given the significance of this year's event. He said Cavanagh had 'partipated in the march since he was capable of walking.' The solicitor said that the event was carried out in a 'dignified and poignant manner' showing 'reverence to those massacred those years ago.' A police officer told the court,they had agreed that Cavanagh could attend two thirds of the march by joining it at the junction of Southway and the Lone Moor Road outside the exclusion zone. District Judge Barney McElholm said it was extremely unlikely 'anyone attending this event would engage in anything illegal' as the families would not tolerate it. He said he had no problem with Cavanagh attending the march from the outset in Creggan on condition he did not carry any flag, banner or poster and granted the application to allow the defendant to be in Creggan from 2.15pm on Sunday until 3.30pm. Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council is asking pet owners to play their part to reduce cases of sheep worrying. The appeal comes following a successful court prosecution where Alan Howard of Coolyvenny Road, Coleraine was found guilty of two contraventions of Article 28(2) (a) of The Dogs (Northern Ireland) Order 1983 during a hearing at Ballymena Magistrates Court on January 7. He was fined 250 in respect of each offence and was also ordered to pay compensation of 1,000 to the farmer along with 200 in costs to Council and a 15 offender levy. A Council spokesperson issued a warning stating that if a dog gives chase in such a way that could reasonably be expected to cause any form of suffering to the animals or a financial loss to their owner, it will be considered as livestock worrying. The financial cost of such incidents can be substantial with the loss of valuable stock, veterinary care, abortions in attacked or frightened animals and damage to property," said a spokesperson. "For these reasons, it is a very serious concern for farmers, especially during lambing season. While most dogs are well looked after, friendly family pets, they all have the potential to inflict injury and to worry livestock. Urging dog owners to ensure their pets are under control at all times and kept in a secure place at night, the spokesperson added: Dog Wardens have the authority to seize any dog (of any type and breed) suspected of being involved in worrying or attacking livestock, owners may be prosecuted for any offences and a court may order the dog to be destroyed. "A civil case may also be brought by the farmer for any financial loss suffered. Dog Wardens will respond to all incidents of worrying or attacks and anyone who witnesses an incident is encouraged to make a report by ringing 028 2766 0233. On Sunday, 30th January, 1972, thousands set off on a civil rights march from the shops on Central Drive in Derry's Creggan estate. A cold, dry, sunny winter afternoon, the mood was buoyant despite rumours that something bad was to take place. Those taking part in the march, organised in protest at the use of internment without trial, made their way through Creggan, the Brandywell and the Bogside, with the intention of attending a rally planned for Guildhall Square. However, when they arrived near the bottom of William Street, their path was blocked by British soldiers. To avoid confrontation the organisers, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), diverted the march towards Free Derry Corner in the Bogside. As they did, a small number began stoning the troops who responded with CS Gas and water cannon, resulting in those taking part to disperse. What happened next was both horrifying and unimaginable. Just as TV cameras caught the brutality of the RUC and B Specials on civil rights protestors on Duke Street in Derry's Waterside on October 5, 1968, the intrusion of the British Army's 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment (1st Para) was also to be broadcast worldwide. By the time they withdrew, the Paras the same regiment responsible for the killing of 10 innocent civilians over a three-day period in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast several months earlier - had shot dead 13 unarmed men and wounded another who was to die four months later from his injuries. Fourteen people were also injured including one woman who was shot and another run down by a British army vehicle. Everyone, except hardline unionists and the British Government, knew multiple murders had taken place. A hurried investigation held 11 weeks after the killings the Widgery Tribunal - cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame, describing the troops' shooting as 'bordering on the reckless,' but accepted their claims that they shot at gunmen and bomb-throwers. The families of those killed and the wounded along with the nationalist community - refused to accept the findings, describing the outcome as a 'whitewash..' Although a march in memory was held on each anniversary of the killings, a campaign for justice to 'right the wrong' did not begin until 1992, fronted by the families and the wounded, Every year, they would be joined by thousands on a march retracing the original. Their efforts appeared to have paid off when a second inquiry was ordered by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998. The Saville Inquiry opened properly in 2000 when formal public hearings began in the Guildhall with hearings also taking place in London. The hearings would continue until it was announced Saville was to publish the findings of the report in 2010. In June 2015, thousands gathered on a warm, sunny afternoon in complete contrast to the January 1972 march in Guildhall Square while the families of those killed and the surviving wounded were presented with the report's findings inside the city's iconic building. The confirmation that those shot were unarmed resulted in the then British Prime Minister issuing a public apology. However, the findings did not recommend prosecution of the soldiers responsible, so the campaign for justice continued. Hopes were raised when the PPS (Public Prosecution Service), announced that it had launched a murder investigation, with 17 soldiers under the microscope. However, there was anger and disappointment when the Director of Public Prosecution, Stephen Herron, announced in March 2019 that only one soldier Soldier F was to face murder charges in relation of two of the victims James Wray and William McKinney - and five attempted murder charges in connection with those wounded. Anger heightened when it was announced the prosecution of Soldier F for murder and attempted murder was to be halted. The march has taken place every year since 1972, except for last year due to the Covid pandemic restrictions. A 'Families Walk' and a march will take place this Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the killings. Three Sinn Fein Stormont Assembly members have apologised for historical tweets containing offensive language. Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Jemma Dolan, South Down MLA Sinead Ennis and Mid Ulster MLA Emma Sheerin tweeted apologies on Wednesday afternoon. They came after historical tweets containing derogatory and offensive phrases and language were unearthed by BBC Radio Ulsters Nolan Show. The posts emerged as Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie continues to be embroiled in a controversy related to tweets he sent while still serving in the military around a decade ago. I want to apologise and say that I regret and am very sorry for the offense caused by comments I made historically on social media. These comments were unacceptable and do not represent in any way how I would now express myself. Jemma Dolan (@jemma_dolan) January 26, 2022 Sinn Fein vice president Michelle ONeill condemned the tweets sent by her present day party colleagues and said they were not acceptable. The comments are wrong, they are offensive and they are not acceptable language for any Sinn Fein representative to use, she said. I have spoken directly with each of the MLAs and made this very clear to them. They have each told me they deeply regret the language used and will apologise. Shortly afterwards all three MLAs posted apologies on Twitter. Ms Sheerin said: I am deeply sorry that I used offensive terminology on social media. It was and is totally unacceptable. It is not how I would express myself today and I unreservedly apologise for the offence that these comments have caused. I deeply regret the offensive comments I made on social media. I am sorry for using language which I accept was totally inappropriate and wrong. I apologise unreservedly for the offence caused. Sinead Ennis (@EnnisSinead) January 26, 2022 Soon after Ms Dolan posted: I want to apologise and say that I regret and am very sorry for the offense caused by comments I made historically on social media. These comments were unacceptable and do not represent in any way how I would now express myself. Within minutes, Ms Ennis tweeted: I deeply regret the offensive comments I made on social media. I am sorry for using language which I accept was totally inappropriate and wrong. I apologise unreservedly for the offence caused. I am deeply sorry that I used offensive terminology on social media. It was and is totally unacceptable. It is not how I would express myself today and I unreservedly apologise for the offence that these comments have caused. Emma Sheerin (@SheerinOfficial) January 26, 2022 On Tuesday, Mr Beattie implored people not to define him by his past after receiving party backing to continue in the job despite the controversy over his historical tweets. The UUP leader said he came very close to quitting on Monday when a series of derogatory tweets he posted prior to entering political life came to light. The Upper Bann MLA faced accusations of misogyny and racism over comments he posted when he was still serving as a captain in the Army. Mr Beattie said he received the unanimous backing of his fellow UUP MLAs and the partys officers to continue as leader on Tuesday. The furore erupted on Saturday evening when Mr Beattie tweeted a joke that referred to the wife of political rival Edwin Poots and a brothel. He later apologised and deleted the tweet. The controversy escalated after focus turned to Mr Beatties historical conduct on Twitter and a series of contentious remarks about women, Muslims, members of the Travelling community, and people with mental health issues were unearthed. Things took another twist on Tuesday when Mr Poots and his wife Glynis issued defamation proceedings against Mr Beattie. The episode marked a dramatic turn in fortunes for Mr Beattie, who only at the weekend was rated in an opinion poll as the most popular political leader in Northern Ireland. Subscriber content preview By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU A former building plans examiner with the Honolulu planning department pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking bribes in exchange for expediting the approval of permit applications. I took money, which I shouldn't have, to help these people to get their permits ... before others, Jennie Javonillo told a federal judge in pleading guilty to honest services wire fraud. . . . Subscriber content preview Photo from King County Local Services [enlarge] U.S. Bank announced it was closing its 4,568-square-foot Skyway branch in late 2020. Skyway Resource Center was born in the pandemic as a series of pop-up events to support over 500 community members with essentials ranging from food to diapers to housing assistance. Now a $2 million grant from King County Local Services will give the movement a permanent home at 12610 76th Ave. S., where a U.S. Bank branch once operated. . . . FRESH fissures have rocked the opposition MDC-T camp over management of a whopping $150 million (about US$1,3 million at the official exchange rate) released yesterday by Treasury under the Political Parties (Finance) Act, with Douglas Mwonzora and Thokozani Khupe fighting over leadership of the opposition party. According to an Extra-Ordinary Government Gazette released yesterday, Zanu PF received $350 million and the MDC-T got $149 million. This is despite the fact that the MDC-T got less than 5% of the 2018 election vote. Analysts say the money was due to Nelson Chamisas MDC Alliance, which was the runner-up in the 2018 harmonised election. Chamisa has, however, renamed his party to Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) after Mwonzora recently claimed ownership of the name MDC Alliance and its symbols. Under the Political Parties (Finance) Act, a political party that receives 5% or more of the vote in an election is entitled to State funding. MDC-T (Khupe) spokesperson Ntando Ndlovu told NewsDay that Khupe became eligible for the money after the Supreme Court ruled that the MDC Alliance was not a political party. What the people of Zimbabwe must understand is that the money is for the MDC-T party. Mwonzora has formed his own party, the MDC Alliance, Ndlovu said. The money is for the MDC-T. The Supreme Court judgment made it clear that the MDC Alliance is not a political party, so we are expecting the money to be given to the MDC-T party. CCC treasurer-general David Coltart echoed similar sentiments. In 2018, there were two MDC political parties, the MDC Alliance and the MDC-T, but the MDC-T failed to get 5% of the total votes. So the money either goes to MDC Alliance or no one, the $149 850 000 is an illegality considering the name changes and all, he said. MDC-T (Mwonzora) spokesperson Witness Dube was not reachable for comment last night. Political analyst Vivid Gwede said the Zanu PF-led government wanted to suffocate Chamisa financially. Zanu PF has already made sure through various ways that the Chamisa-led entity, by whatever name, is deprived of public finances, Gwede said. Going forward the CCC party will have to fend for itself until it wins seats and be due for its disbursement. As we have also seen, citizens are willing to donate through online platforms which creates an even more organic and important connection with the new party. Another analyst Eldred Masunungure added: Politics is about strategies and not always money because you can still fail even if you have more money, so Chamisa must make use of technology to propagate the new name, especially in remote areas. Newsday Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has said that Russia should cancel its planned navy exercises off Ireland's coasts in order to "demonstrate goodwill." It follows after Russian Ambassador to Ireland, Yury Filatov, had called the concern over the exercises "overblown." An Tanaiste told host Claire Byrne on her RTE Radio show that doing so would help to de-escalate tensions relating to Ukraine. The former Taoiseach said: "its certainly unwelcome, And the Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has communicated that very clearly to the Russian ambassador." He continued: "At a time of increasing tensions, at a time of real concern around a possible war between Ukraine and Russia we think that they should call them off and that that would demonstrate goodwill, that the Russians do want to de-escalate these tensions." When asked about his thoughts on the planned fisherman's protest, Varadkar said that while he respects the right to peaceful protest, he reminded them that military vessels will be involved in a live fire exercise: "By all means, go ahead with the protests. . . if you feel thats necessary, but please be careful." "This is the Russian Navy: this is a major military power with nuclear weapons, with submarines, lets not be naive about that," he added. In related news, An Taoiseach Micheal Martin has advised the Irish public to avoid non-essential travel to Ukraine. Former Defence Forces soldier Lisa Smith married a member of al Qaeda and stayed in a bombed-out house where militia and rebels held meetings when she was in Syria, her trial has heard. The Co Louth woman, 39, has pleaded not guilty to charges of membership of the illegal organisation, the so-called Islamic State, and of providing funds to benefit the group. Giving evidence today (Thursday January 27), Tanya Joya told the Special Criminal Court that she and her then-husband John Georgealis had met the accused through his Islamic Facebook group We Hear, We Obey. Ms Joya, originally from London, was born a Muslim and said she had become radicalised after the September 11 terror attacks in 2001. She met Mr Georgealis, a US man who converted to Islam, online and the pair subsequently married, and travelled to numerous Muslim countries. They met Smith in Turkey in 2013, but crossed the border into Syria when they were unable to find housing due to an influx of refugees into the country. Ms Joya told the court that Ms Smith was excited to be in Syria, and that she had told her she was planning to die there and become a martyr. She told the court she was initially happy to meet Smith because she seemed nice and was able to help her with her four children. But she said that shortly after Smith arrived in Turkey it got a bit ugly. She said: She wanted to go to Syria. All Muslims felt an obligation to help the rebels, because they were being oppressed. They were brainwashed into thinking if you became a martyr you get to go to paradise. Who wouldnt want that? Ms Joya said they had respected Smith because she had training in the army, and she wanted to help the rebels. She added: Lisa Marie wanted to go to Syria. She was determined, it was her goal. I was opposed to it because I was afraid. I didnt want to go into a warzone with my kids. The court heard that while Ms Joya was fearful about the war, her husband and Smith would crack jokes about how close we were to Syria. She said the trip wasnt planned, but because they were unable to get housing in Turkey they had taken an overnight bus into Syria. John promised it was only for a couple of weeks. We stayed in a building that was bombed out, it was owned by a Syrian general, she said. Ms Joya said the house had no electricity, the windows had been smashed, there were bullet holes in the walls and that it was very dirty. She added: It was where the militia, the rebels had meetings. People entering the country would stay there. She said they had stayed there for one week, before they went to stay with a really fanatical Syrian warman at another location. It was here that Smith met a Tunisian man named Ahmed, a member of al Qaeda, who she wanted to marry. Ms Joya told the court that she had advised Smith to marry for her own protection. However, she said she was opposed to her marrying Ahmed because they did not know each other or speak the same language. I didnt like it that Lisa Marie wanted to marry Ahmed. I thought it was batsh*t crazy she said. She said of Smith that everyone loved her, while Ahmed was handsome and charming. Asked why she thought Smith wanted to marry him, Ms Joya replied: Because he was hot, thats why. And he was a fighter. She didnt know him, but he had a cute smile and he was very shy, she added. Ms Joya told the court the pair got married in Syria, but that she had refused to attend. She knew I thought it was ridiculous. She didnt care. To her I wasnt a good Muslim, and I wasnt. I didnt want to be a Muslim, she said. Ms Joya told the court that around this time she got her hands on a burner mobile phone, called her husbands mother and told her to report him to the FBI. She made plans to leave Syria and Smith asked her if she planned to tell the authorities about her. I said yes, I had to, Ms Joya told the court. She just shrugged. She didnt argue with me. She knew I was going to do what I had to do. She said Smith had blocked her on Facebook after that conversation. She said the accused stayed in Syria when she made her journey back to the UK, and then to the US. She (Smith) was not going to leave. It was never her intention to leave. I didnt care. It was like, good riddance. I just wanted to look after my kids, she said. Ms Joya told the court she believed Smith had been indoctrinated. She was told what to think. She obeyed because she believed in God she added. The case received widespread attention in 2019 when it emerged that Smith, a former Air Corps soldier who had worked on the Government jet, had been detained in Syria over alleged links to IS. Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter. She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam. Smith is charged under Section Six of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 which makes it an offence to join a foreign unlawful organisation. It is alleged that between October 28 2015 and December 1 2019 at a location outside the State, she was a member of a terrorist group styling itself as the Islamic State. She has also been accused of financing terrorism by sending 800 euro (670) in assistance by Western Union money transfer to a named individual in 2015. The trial will resume at 10.30am tomorrow (Friday January 28). Douglas, WY (82633) Today Overcast. Slight chance of a rain shower. High around 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly cloudy skies this evening will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 33F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. 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. THE newly-formed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led by Nelson Chamisa yesterday acknowledged that it blundered when it submitted more than one candidate in certain wards to contest in municipal elections in Bulawayo and Masvingo, a situation that has the potential of dividing votes. Chamisas party was formed on Monday, two days before the January 26 nomination court sat. It has since emerged that Norman Hlabani and Mpumelelo Moyo were both accepted for ward 26 in Bulawayo, while Donaldson Mabutho and Bekithemba Nyathi were accepted for ward 9, a development that has exposed confusion in Chamisas new party. Addressing journalists yesterday at the media centre in Harare, party spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere said the double candidates saga that had triggered social media debate was a result of a technical glitch. We guarantee the citizens that the confusion will be resolved in a couple of hours. With any innovation to rollout the new system, there are bound to be technical glitches. A total of 143 by-elections are scheduled to take place across the country. We only had some minor irregularities in only three out of 143 vacancies, which present a success rate of 98%. We obviously know that this is a transitional period of creating a brand new machine. For a new baby that was born on Monday, thats not bad and there have already been some withdrawals from two candidates in line with our electoral law, she said. The CCC party distanced its leadership from the double candidate saga. Later, one of the candidates fielded in Bulawayo, Nyathi withdrew his nomination papers for ward 9 to pave way for Mabutho the councillor recalled by the MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora in September. Nyathi told NewsDay yesterday that these were small squabbles that emanated from their partys internal processes, adding that they should not interfere with a bigger project for change in Zimbabwe. For this reason, I now throw my weight behind the partys preferred candidate Donaldson Mabutho. I will also do whatever it takes for him to win ward 9. I also want to take this opportunity to apologise to my leaders, in particular Chamisa and his vice-president Welshman Ncube for allowing the small squabbles to spill into the bigger picture, Nyathi said. He said he would not allow the ruling party Zanu PF to win the council seat due to squabbling. But Zanu PF director for information Tafadzwa Mugwadi scoffed at the CCC gaffe saying it exposed leadership wrangles in the opposition. It is within their DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) that even if they change one name to the other, chaos and confusion is their culture. I doubt if anyone was surprised because this is not even new, its just the change of name and colours but the same ideologies, Mugwadi said. Human rights defender Effie Ncube warned that double fielding of candidates could benefit the ruling Zanu PF. They should engage extensively so that some of these candidates withdraw because this will give advantage to other political parties like Zanu PF to win, Ncube said. Newsday Dundalk-Carlingford councillor, John Reilly, told members at the Louth County Council January meeting, that he is involved in the carrying out of a water survey in the Kilcurry area at present, and is pushing for the Dundalk mains water supply to be extended to the Kilcurry/Faughart area to allow residents tap into it. According to Cllr Reilly, mains water is not available in the Kilcurry area, as the mains water supply from Dundalk stops approximately 3km out the Armagh Road, just on the outskirts of Kilcurry. Cllr Reilly says that as far back as 1974 there was plans to connect the mains water supply to the area, but this has not yet happened. Cllr Reilly told the meeting that he wished to let Louth County Council and Irish Water know that the survey is currently being carried out. "I think it would be a disgrace if this council doesn't let the people of Faughart and Kilcurry tap into the mains water supply", he commented. In his contribution at the meeting, Cllr Reilly referred to the new pumping station that is being installed in Tallanstown,"which is quite a long distance away from Dundalk", he added. "I think it would be grossly unfair to leave this area of County Louth without water mains, I can't believe this is going on. This legacy problem is going on now nearly 50 years. I'd like to see progress in this year coming", he further added. In response to Cllr Reilly, Head of Finance and Water Services, Bernie Woods, told the meeting that it is an Irish Water decision and that had already indicated that it would not be happening as it is not in their Capital Works programme for the coming years. "As a council", she told the meeting, "we don't have the choice of allowing or not allowing somebody to tap into the water supply, that is a decision for Irish Water and the business case needs to be made to them. Ms Woods added that with regards to Tallanstown getting the pumping station, it was part of Irish Water's Capital Programme, and that any request Cllr Reilly may have, has to be made with Irish Water. Local Enterprise Office Louth said they are proud of their clients who created over 170 jobs in 2021. Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the state agency charged with supporting small businesses through mentoring, training, advice, and grant aid. Funded by Enterprise Ireland and Local Authorities, there is a Local Enterprise Office in every county in Ireland. Last week, An Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD, announced the annual results of the Local Enterprise Offices for 2021. And the figures for Louth were very strong with 174 jobs created in Louth in 2021, compared to 145 in 2020. Across the country, LEO supported companies created nearly 3,000 net new jobs. The report showed that Local Enterprise Office Louth financially supported 232 small businesses across the county. These companies, in turn, employ 898 people. In addition to supporting job creation, LEO Louth also provided substantial numbers of funded supports to small businesses through programmes such as the Trading Online Voucher, Lean for Micro and Green for Micro as well as training and mentoring. An Tanaiste Leo Varadkar TD said: Businesses supported by LEOs created nearly 3,000 net new jobs in 2021, which is remarkable given the year we just had. Im really pleased to see that 85% of these jobs were outside of Dublin, indicating the Governments focus on balanced regional development is working. Thomas McEvoy, Head of Enterprise with Louth County Councils LEO said: We are so proud of the companies here in Louth. Faced with adversity, they have adapted, pivoted, upskilled, and did whatever it took to sustain themselves. Unsettled conditions mean that some companies turned to us for support to adapt. Others have seen opportunities and have used the LEO to help capitalise on them. Either way, our team are here to help and support every step of the way. Our efforts will continue. We will work alongside our Enterprise Ireland colleagues to deliver the Leading in a Changing World strategy over the next three years. This will ensure that companies of all sizes have the best possible support to back their growth and development. We have been to the fore in supporting small businesses across the county in 2021 through our suite of services. Discover how they can support your business by visiting: www.localenterprise.ie/louth January is a time when many people set new health goals, and those who smoke might decide that this year they will give up the bad habit once and for all. Experts at Royal London are advising smokers in Louth who are considering quitting, that they could be further incentivised by the fact that those who successfully quit smoking in January 2021, may now be able to substantially reduce the cost of their life insurance premiums. New figures from the leading protection specialist highlight how much of a difference smoking can make to the cost of life cover; with smokers expecting to pay twice as much for life insurance when compared with non-smokers. Eileen Meates of Royal London, commented, The national average of people smoking is 18% which equates to 17,859 people in Louth. We want to let all these people know that they could reap huge financial benefits if they manage to quit the habit. Each year thousands of people throughout Ireland aim to give up smoking, with the beginning of a new year seen by many as the perfect time to jumpstart their health goals. While we all know that quitting smoking isnt easy, the Healthy Ireland report shows the prevalence of smoking in Ireland is reducing as more people successfully go tobacco-free. "Beyond the physical health advantages of this, people can reap significant financial benefits too. "Its common enough to hear stories of people saving up the money from not buying cigarettes over a year and motivating themselves by allocating it towards a car or holiday. "But a less commonly-known motivational factor is the thousands in savings that can potentially be made on their life cover. Recent cost analysis from Royal London reveals the difference in premiums paid between non-smokers and smokers. Speaking about the cost analysis, Ms. Meates said: The price differential here is quite substantial. Our experience is that, while many people expect smokers to pay more in premiums, many dont realise how much more it adds up to over the lifetime of the policy. For example, a smoker turning 45 on their next birthday will pay over 18,000 more in premiums than a non-smoker will for 300,000 worth of Level Term Life Cover over a 25-year period. The same smoker can expect to pay over 68,000 more than a non-smoker for a Specified Serious Illness policy worth 300,000 over a 25-year term. Royal London wants to highlight the issue particularly for those smokers aged between 45 - 54 years, which according to latest Healthy Ireland survey is now the age cohort with the highest proportion of smokers (24%). Ms. Meates continued: In Louth alone, there are approximately 17,392 adults in 4554-year age group, which would mean an estimated 4,100 of these people smoke. There is an overall trend in Ireland of less people smoking which of course, is positive. It shows that the Governments campaigns to reduce the number of people smoking seem to be working. If youre someone who successfully gave up smoking more than 12 months ago and already have life cover in place, you could potentially get a reduction in the cost of your policy premiums, Ms. Meates concluded. Former Defence Forces soldier Lisa Smith married a member of al Qaeda and stayed in a bombed-out house where militia and rebels held meetings when she was in Syria, her trial has heard. The Dundalk woman, 39, has pleaded not guilty to charges of membership of the illegal organisation, the so-called Islamic State, and of providing funds to benefit the group. Giving evidence today (Thursday January 27), Tanya Joya told the Special Criminal Court that she and her then-husband John Georgealis had met the accused through his Islamic Facebook group We Hear, We Obey. Ms Joya, originally from London, was born a Muslim and said she had become radicalised after the September 11 terror attacks in 2001. She met Mr Georgealis, a US man who converted to Islam, online and the pair subsequently married, and travelled to numerous Muslim countries. They met Smith in Turkey in 2013, but crossed the border into Syria when they were unable to find housing due to an influx of refugees into the country. Ms Joya told the court that Ms Smith was excited to be in Syria, and that she had told her she was planning to die there and become a martyr. She told the court she was initially happy to meet Smith because she seemed nice and was able to help her with her four children. But she said that shortly after Smith arrived in Turkey it got a bit ugly. She said: She wanted to go to Syria. All Muslims felt an obligation to help the rebels, because they were being oppressed. They were brainwashed into thinking if you became a martyr you get to go to paradise. Who wouldnt want that? Ms Joya said they had respected Smith because she had training in the army, and she wanted to help the rebels. She added: Lisa Marie wanted to go to Syria. She was determined, it was her goal. I was opposed to it because I was afraid. I didnt want to go into a warzone with my kids. The court heard that while Ms Joya was fearful about the war, her husband and Smith would crack jokes about how close we were to Syria. She said the trip wasnt planned, but because they were unable to get housing in Turkey they had taken an overnight bus into Syria. John promised it was only for a couple of weeks. We stayed in a building that was bombed out, it was owned by a Syrian general, she said. Ms Joya said the house had no electricity, the windows had been smashed, there were bullet holes in the walls and that it was very dirty. She added: It was where the militia, the rebels had meetings. People entering the country would stay there. She said they had stayed there for one week, before they went to stay with a really fanatical Syrian warman at another location. It was here that Smith met a Tunisian man named Ahmed, a member of al Qaeda, who she wanted to marry. Ms Joya told the court that she had advised Smith to marry for her own protection. However, she said she was opposed to her marrying Ahmed because they did not know each other or speak the same language. I didnt like it that Lisa Marie wanted to marry Ahmed. I thought it was batsh*t crazy she said. She said of Smith that everyone loved her, while Ahmed was handsome and charming. Asked why she thought Smith wanted to marry him, Ms Joya replied: Because he was hot, thats why. And he was a fighter. She didnt know him, but he had a cute smile and he was very shy, she added. Ms Joya told the court the pair got married in Syria, but that she had refused to attend. She knew I thought it was ridiculous. She didnt care. To her I wasnt a good Muslim, and I wasnt. I didnt want to be a Muslim, she said. Ms Joya told the court that around this time she got her hands on a burner mobile phone, called her husbands mother and told her to report him to the FBI. She made plans to leave Syria and Smith asked her if she planned to tell the authorities about her. I said yes, I had to, Ms Joya told the court. She just shrugged. She didnt argue with me. She knew I was going to do what I had to do. She said Smith had blocked her on Facebook after that conversation. She said the accused stayed in Syria when she made her journey back to the UK, and then to the US. She (Smith) was not going to leave. It was never her intention to leave. I didnt care. It was like, good riddance. I just wanted to look after my kids, she said. Ms Joya told the court she believed Smith had been indoctrinated. She was told what to think. She obeyed because she believed in God she added. The case received widespread attention in 2019 when it emerged that Smith, a former Air Corps soldier who had worked on the Government jet, had been detained in Syria over alleged links to IS. Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter. She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam. Smith is charged under Section Six of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 which makes it an offence to join a foreign unlawful organisation. It is alleged that between October 28 2015 and December 1 2019 at a location outside the State, she was a member of a terrorist group styling itself as the Islamic State. She has also been accused of financing terrorism by sending 800 euro (670) in assistance by Western Union money transfer to a named individual in 2015. The trial will resume at 10.30am tomorrow (Friday January 28). Former Defence Forces member Lisa Smith, who denies membership of Islamic State, was "indoctrinated and told what to think and did what she did because she believed in a fake god," a woman who knew her in Syria has told the Special Criminal Court. Tania Joya, a UK national who was radicalised in her teens and 20s and travelled to the Middle East with her husband, said Ms Smith was happy and excited when she arrived in Syria in 2013, felt she was where she had always planned to be, and was planning to die there as a martyr. The witness also revealed how Ms Smith looked up to her husband, John Georgelas, an American convert who was considered an authority and scholar on Islam. She said Ms Smith "hung on his every word" and "looked up to him in a big way". He was charismatic, she said, and had such knowledge of the Koran that he could use it to contextualise any situation. Ms Smith (39) from Dundalk, Co Louth has pleaded not (NOT) guilty to membership of an unlawful terrorist group, Islamic State, between October 28th, 2015 and December 1st, 2019. She has also pleaded not (NOT) guilty to financing terrorism by sending 800 in assistance, via a Western Union money transfer, to a named man on May 6th, 2015. Ms Joya said she first heard about Lisa Smith in 2013 when her husband John Georgelas, an American convert to Islam, began speaking to Ms Smith through an Islamic Facebook page called "We Hear We Obey". Ms Joya was living with her husband in Egypt at the time and he urged Ms Smith to travel to Egypt to "make hijrah". He also made Ms Smith an administrator of the We Hear We Obey page, although Ms Joya said this "wasn't really anything significant". The witness said she enjoyed talking to Ms Smith through Facebook. They spoke about the situation in Egypt including the government crackdown on Islamists. She said there were "choppers over our heads" and the military was killing people and burning mosques. The family decided to leave. Ms Joya wanted to go to Greece so she could stop wearing the hijab but her husband didn't want to allow that and decided they would go to Turkey where they arranged to meet Ms Smith. Ms Joya looked forward to meeting Ms Smith because she wanted help looking after her children and she thought Ms Smith seemed very nice. Ms Smith arrived alone in Turkey in late August, 2013 and moved into the same hotel where Ms Joya and her family were staying. Things got "ugly", Ms Joya said, because Ms Smith wanted to go to Syria to join the rebellion against the Assad regime. She said Ms Smith felt an "obligation to help the rebels because they were being oppressed." Ms Joya explained that many Muslims are "brainwashed" into thinking that if they die a martyr they go to Paradise and bring all their loved ones with them. "It's a one-way ticket," she said. One night when they were looking for somewhere to stay, Ms Joya, her children, her husband and Ms Smith got on a bus. The witness didn't know where they were going but when the sun came up she realised they had crossed the border into Syria. She said Georgelas promised they would stay just for a couple of weeks. "Lisa was excited," she said. "I see her face in my head and there was excitement there... She had made it to where she had always planned to go." She said Ms Smith was "planning to die there and be a martyr. It wasn't unusual. A lot of Muslims were saying that." In Syria nobody spoke to her or to Lisa because "we were women and inferior". But they were taken care of because a Sheikh who knew Georgelas told the militia to take care of them. They were brought to a villa which had no running water or electricity. The windows were smashed and there were bullet holes in the walls. It was dirty, she said, and was used by a lot of people arriving into the country. There was a curfew and it was hard to get food but the militia brought drinking water and groceries. Ms Joya complained but she said Ms Smith was happy. She added: "Lisa had a good attitude. She was very optimistic whereas I was the exact opposite." Everyone loved Ms Smith, the witness said, in particular because she covered herself in the way considered appropriate for women, something Ms Joya refused to do. Ms Joya also felt that Ms Smith needed to marry because the "Arab men were drooling over her because of her white skin". But she didn't approve of the husband she had chosen, a Tunisian member of Al Qaeda. They couldn't talk to one another, she said, and the only reason Ms Smith wanted to marry him was because he was "hot", and he was a fighter. She described him as a good-looking and charming Tunisian with a cute smile. He wanted to marry Ms Smith, the witness said, because she was white. Ms Joya refused to attend the wedding ceremony. She said: "She knew I thought it was ridiculous but she didn't care. To her I wasn't a good Muslim. And I wasn't, because I didn't want to be a Muslim." Ms Joya had decided she was going to leave and arranged to get out of Syria. Before she left she said Ms Smith asked if she was going to report her to the authorities. Ms Joya told her she would have to. Ms Smith, she said, immediately blocked her on Facebook. Ms Joya was brought by human traffickers as far as Turkey and flew to Istanbul and eventually returned to the United States to live with Georgelas's parents in Texas. She said she contacted Georgelas from time to time on social media. She identified him in a number of photographs taken in 2014 near Aleppo after he had been injured. Under cross-examination she told defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC that when she first met Georgelas she found him charismatic and fun. He was intelligent, spoke many languages, and could dote on her when he wanted. He spoke Arabic better than many Arabs, had published poetry in that language and was hired by the State of Qatar to translate Islamic laws. People, including scholars, looked up to him and he knew how to draw people to him, she said, and could "sway them with how smart he was". But she also described him as a "misogynist" who used the Koran to justify lying to her. She said he had "psychopathic tendencies"; he thought torturing people would be fun. She said Ms Smith was not not on Georgelas's level intellectually or in terms of communication skills. She agreed that she was open and receptive to his ideas and "looked up to him in a very big way". She described her own path into radicalisation in the UK and how in 2006 she had come to believe in the idea of the caliphate herself. She said she believed at that time that if you did not join the caliphate you would go to hell. But she was also conflicted during this time and would question what she was told and "blaspheme". When she read the words of Thomas Paine, "a cruel god makes a cruel man," she stopped believing in the radical version of Islam and began to move away from extremism. "He articulated the words I had been feeling for years," she said. Up to that point, she said she had not heard a rational argument against what she was being taught. She said that when she questioned things, other Muslims would tell her she wasn't religious enough or was too materialistic or worldly. When Mr O'Higgins asked if the accused would have believed that she would go to hell if she did not take part in the caliphate, the witness said Ms Smith was "indoctrinated and told what to think and she obeyed what she thought because she believed in a fake god." The trial continues in front of Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding, with Judge Gerard Griffin and Judge Cormac Dunne at the three-judge, non-jury court. The number of Covid-19 patients requiring hospital treatment has fallen to the lowest figure so far this year. There are 711 patients with Covid-19 in hospital at the moment, according to the latest figures. This is a drop on the previous 24 hours, when there were 739 patient in hospital with Covid-19. There have been significant reductions of patients with Covid-19 requiring hospital care in recent days. There has been an almost consistently downward trend for figures in recent weeks since the peak of 1,062 Covid-19 hospital patients on January 11. Figures have also been falling for patients with Covid-19 requiring ICU treatment. The latest figure just released, shows this is now down to 71, a drop on the previous day's total of 74, which was the lowest for a number of months. The total of 71 is the lowest figure dating back to October 17 last. The positive downward trend for hospital and ICU numbers come in the wake or restrictions being lifted last weekend. New EU travel rules will also come into effect on Tuesday, February 1 which will be based on the person's status, rather than the country they are travelling from. Covid-19 digital vaccination passes will be required for travel. Representatives of the Irish fishing industry are meeting the Russian ambassador amid an ongoing row about navy exercises off the Irish coast. The Russian artillery drills at the start of February will take place in international waters but within Irish-controlled airspace and the countrys exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Department of Transport has issued a marine notice that the Russian navy is set to carry out manoeuvres off the south-west coast of Ireland from next Thursday. Fishermen are raising their own concerns with the Russian ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov at the embassy in Dublin. Speaking ahead of the meeting, Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, said he is concerned about the damage military exercises will cause to the area. He said the group wanted Russian navy exercises to move away from the fishing grounds used by Irish boats. Mr Murphy said Irish fishing trawlers will be in the area from February 1. We are always concerned about safety when it comes to sea environments, he said. I have personally lost family members and friends to the sea. Of course we are aware of this, but we have been asked to highlight this because of all our concerns. No-one in the Government contacted us or informed us about the exercises. We found information from a Russia website that explained all of what was happening well before it came out publicly. No-one picked up the phone to us. Most fishermen are 21 days at sea, they have a right to do their business without the worry of missiles or rockets launching. Brendan Byrne, chief executive of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA), defended plans to travel to the area where the military exercises are to take place. How can it be reckless to defend your livelihood? What we are fighting for is basic rights for the Irish fishing industry, Mr Byrne said. We are doing nothing different this year as we have been doing for hundreds of years. There was a failure by Government to communicate to us and there is a lack of understanding of the value of these fishing grounds. We are here to explore the options of Russia to facilitate the Irish fishing industry. I dont think the Russians intended to go into one of the most lucrative fishing grounds for the Irish. That was an unforeseen consequence. We are here on behalf of our sector to tell the Russians that traditionally we are there, we are there currently and to watch in their actions. Claremont, NH (03743) Today Cloudy and damp with rain early...then becoming partly cloudy. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Cloudy and damp with rain early...then becoming partly cloudy. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. An unvaccinated father-of-two who was stripped of his spot on the transplant list at a Boston hospital has been outfitted with a temporary heart pump his family hopes will keep him alive for the next five years. DJ Ferguson, who was diagnosed with arrhythmia four years ago, underwent an hours-long emergency open-heart surgery on Tuesday to be fitted with a left ventricular assist device. His doctors were forced to implement the temporary solution after Fergusons vaccination status knocked him out of the running for a new heart. Advertisement This Nov. 27, 2021, photo provided by Tracey Ferguson shows her son D.J. Ferguson initially being treated at Milford, Mass. Regional Medical Center. Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston is defending itself after Ferguson's family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients' chances of survival. (Tracey Ferguson photo via AP/AP) His heart deteriorated so much, so quickly, that they had to resort to open heart surgery and doing the L-VAD mechanical pump, his father, David Ferguson, said in an interview with Fox News Wednesday night. So now my boy has a pump hes in recovery. He went through seven hours of surgery. Advertisement Ferguson was admitted to Brigham and Womens Hospital in November after suffering heart failure, but the fact the he had not received his coronavirus shot immediately raised a red flag with his doctors. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > National transplant associations recommend becoming inoculated against COVID-19 because an individuals immune system can become compromised from medication prescribed to keep the new organ healthy and alive. It can put the patient at an increased risk for severe illness and death should they become infected with the fast-spreading virus. The coronavirus vaccine is one of several required to undergo a transplant at the Boston hospital. Tracey Ferguson, mother of D.J. Ferguson, sits for a photograph Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, at her home, in Mendon, Mass. (Steven Senne/AP) In a statement to CBS Boston , Brigham and Womens Hospital said that its policy is in line with other transplant programs in the U.S., emphasizing that it is the hospitals goal to create both the best chance for successful operation and also the patients survival after transplantation. Fergusons mother, Tracey, told ABC News that her son had otherwise received his shots, but was worried about the risks associated with the COVID jab due to his existing health issues. Hes not an anti-vaxxer, she said. He has all of his vaccines, and hes an informed patient who is concerned because of his current cardiac crisis. The distraught mother dubbed the entire scenario devastating, while his father expressed further concern for his sons quality of life moving forward. For the foreseeable future, he wont be able to shower, he wont be able to swim, he said. He wont be able to have a life. Fans of Phylicia Rashad are in for a surprise if they head to Manhattan Theatre Club to see her starring in Dominique Morisseaus Skeleton Crew, a humane, heartfelt lament to the social cost of the decline of the auto industry in the Big D. The famously elegant Cosby Show matriarch takes a deep dive into the character of Faye, a veteran Detroit assembly-line worker who has installed more shocks and struts than youve had hot dinners, and yet who so struggles to make ends meet that she lacks savings, security and the quality of life that should be due anyone who has put in 29 years of hard labor. Advertisement Joshua Boone as Dez, left, and Phylicia Rashad as Faye in Skeleton Crew (Matthew Murphy) Rashad is unrecognizable as she assumes a stooped body, struggling muscles and physical weariness. But the most notable aspect of this truly fine performance is how it gets at one of the nations most terrible problems: the emotional trauma that faces an older worker when they realize that their retirement hangs on some thread that could be cut at any moment by some dude in a suit who doesnt give a damn. And who never welded metal in his life. Morisseaus play, which I first reviewed in 2017 at the Northlight Theatre in Illinois, is part of a trilogy of dramas set in the playwrights home city, collectively known as The Detroit Project. Frankly, I prefer the other two strong plays, Paradise Blue and Detroit 67, mostly because Morisseau, who also wrote the book to Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, struggles to maintain dramatic tension in this 2016 drama, arriving on Broadway six years or so after it was written and produced at the Atlantic Theater Company. Advertisement Joshua Boone as Dez, Brandon J. Dirden as Reggie, Phylicia Rashad as Faye, and Chante Adams as Shanita in "Skeleton Crew." (Matthew Murphy) The single-set action takes place in a breakroom at a plant under the threat of closure. Along with Faye, characters coming and going are Reggie (Brandon J. Dirden), a worker with big dreams of starting his own auto shop; Shanita (Chante Adams), a pregnant young woman needing financial security, and Dez (Joshua Boone), a self-made man who has risen to the position of supervisor. Throughout the play, Dez struggles with loyalty. On the one side, he cares about his crew. On the other, he has ambitions and financial needs of his own. Much of what he has to say reflects his experience of walking the line, although there is no doubt as to whom the playwright thinks he should favor. For Broadway, director Ruben Santiago-Hudson has added a dancer, Adesola Osakalumi, an enlivening touch designed to explore the beauty and complexity of humans and robots working together in manual labor. Its a cool addition, especially when combined with Nicholas Hussongs WPA-like projections on Michael Carnahans set. Much of Skeleton Crew is engrossing viewing, even if you never quite believe that any auto plant would deal with a pending closure as happens here. The United Auto Workers union also is strangely missing from the play; Faye, were told, is a union official, but no one seems to be involved in collective bargaining, which surely would be the case in reality. Instead, the play relies on the possibility of individual deal making, which is tough to pull off in a unionized environment. Other issues of veracity raise their head, and the cast does its best to find the truth in the lengthy point-of-view monologues that form much of the play. The production is far stronger in Act 1; the less specific staging in Act 2 falls too much into repetitive patterns, perhaps a result of the difficulty of rehearsing during COVID-19. Skeleton Crew is political drama with a firm, anti-capitalist point of view. It is looking only at an atrophying city; any reinvention is dismissed early on as inevitably inequitable gentrification. In the years that have gone by since this piece was penned, that point of view surely is changing in Detroit, even as that great citys challenges remain. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is accelerating its support for the digital transition of trade finance by facilitating three test letters of credit on the digital trade finance network Contour. The trial took place with QNB ALAHLI, one of Egypts largest commercial banks, acting as issuing bank and the CargoX Platform used for electronic presentation of documents. The process of issuing and confirming letters of credit often involves large volumes of paper-based documentation, generating high administrative costs, inefficiencies and barriers to financing. Contour uses decentralised technology to streamline the process by digitising letters of credit, which reduces the paperwork involved in trade transactions, significantly shortening the settlement time of trade documents. This trial included a test of Contours integration with the CargoX Platform for Blockchain Document Transfer. A Slovenian company, CargoX was selected by the Egyptian customs authorities as the official digital courier service provider for the advanced cargo information declarations that are processed by NAFEZA, the Egyptian National Single Window for Foreign Trade, which was launched in April 2021. The EBRD has designated digitalisation as one of three main priorities under its current five-year Strategic and Capital Framework. As part of this approach, the EBRD is partnering with digital solution providers and banks to support digitalisation in trade finance in and beyond the economies where it operates. In addition, the EBRD is working with the International Chamber of Commerce, through its Banking Commission, and the International Trade and Forfaiting Association to advance the adoption of legal frameworks to enable digital trade and trade finance. Heike Harmgart, EBRD Managing Director, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, said: We are proud to be part of the digital transformation in Egypt by facilitating these test transactions by QNB ALAHLI on Contour. New digital technologies will make trade and trade finance processes easier, faster and more effective, supporting the countrys goal to become a regional and international hub for transport and logistics. Mohamed Bedeir, QNB ALAHLIs Chief Executive Officer, said: Digital trade can play one of the most vital roles in the global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. At QNB ALAHLI we believe in strategically addressing new and sustainable business models that embrace emerging technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence that are expected to enhance the trade landscape in the very near future, and significantly improve customers experience. It gives us great pleasure to cooperate with the EBRD, Contour and CargoX in this interesting project which meets our mutual objectives. QNB ALAHLI is part of the EBRDs Trade Facilitation Programme (TFP), which was launched in 1999 to promote foreign trade to, from and among the economies in which the EBRD invests. Through the programme, the EBRD provides guarantees to international confirming banks and short-term loans to selected banks and factoring companies for on-lending to local exporters, importers and distributors. The TFP currently includes more than 100 partner banks in 30 economies where the EBRD invests and more than 800 confirming banks worldwide. Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of its operations there in 2012, the EBRD has invested more than 8.7 billion in 145 projects in the country. Near-record EBRD engagement of 1 billion in the Ukrainian economy 3 billion worth of investment projects in the past three years Financing combined with support for key economic policies The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) delivered strong support for Ukraine in 2021, the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic, through a powerful combination of investment and backing for key economic policies. In a challenging year, the EBRD invested 1 billion in the Ukrainian economy, the second-largest volume of Bank financing after Turkey, bringing its three-year investment in the country to 3 billion. The EBRDs total investment last year stood at 10.4 billion across some three dozen countries on three continents. True to its ambition to become a majority green bank by 2025, 45 per cent of Bank financing in Ukraine was in support of greater sustainability and energy and resource efficiency. Examples included a 140 million EBRD loan to modernise district heating and hot water supply in the capital, Kyiv, and a 50 million loan for Kyiv to renew the rolling stock of its metro network and support the shift from private cars to modern, efficient and environmentally friendly public transport. The Bank also attracted a 5.5 million grant from the E5P to complement an earlier 25 million loan to refurbish, for greater energy efficiency, about 100 public buildings in Dnipro. Dnipro and Ukraines second-largest city of Kharkiv decided to accelerate their investment in green solutions by joining EBRD Green Cities, a flagship urban sustainability programme, following in the footsteps of Lviv, Kyiv, Mariupol, Khmelnitskiy and Kryvyi Rih. Ukraine has more cities taking part in the programme than any other economy in which the EBRD invests. In the private sector, the Bank teamed up with Kernel Group to help strengthen the companys climate corporate governance. It is also supported the development of low-emission sustainable property by backing the real-estate portfolio of Dragon Capital, an investment firm. The Bank joined forces with the European Union in extending grants to innovative Ukrainian firms seeking to improve climate resilience. The beneficiaries included a producer of recycled plastic The Good Plastic Company, architecture studio Ekodar, yeast producer Enzym, engineering firm Dominion, water and rainwater management company Viva Victoria and The Laboratory of Advanced Jet Propulsion, an institution focused on rocket and spacecraft technologies. The EBRDs efforts to advance the sustainability of Ukraines economy were encouraged by the countrys newly reviewed Nationally Determined Contribution. The EBRD helped to develop the policy document and stands ready to help set out a low-carbon and climate-resilient pathway for the power generation sector in Ukraine. In addition, the EBRD invested US$ 75 million in a US $825 million Eurobond placed by Ukrenergo, the state-owned electricity transmission system operator, in a bid to resolve the payments crisis gripping the countrys renewable energy sector. The first ever sustainability-linked bond issued by a Ukrainian company, it helped restore the credibility of the Ukrainian renewable energy sector, paving the way for much-needed investment to support the countrys green transition. In the infrastructure sector, the EBRD approved a new 190 million loan tranche for further improvements to the countrys roads. This follows efforts by Ukravtodor and the Ukrainian authorities to implement a comprehensive anti-corruption programme. This is part of the EBRDs broader work to promote corporate governance reform in state-owned enterprises and to strengthen their supervisory boards. In a further move to promote greater private-sector participation in the development of infrastructure, the Bank joined forces with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on a new advisory engagement with the Ministry of Infrastructure to help structure private-public partnerships in the road sector and to prepare the concession of selected terminals at Chernomorsk port. Standing by its long-time partner, the city of Lviv, the Bank provided emergency funds to ensure that the vital infrastructure is safe and functioning during the ongoing pandemic. As social distancing measures remained in place, the EBRD supported companies that facilitated remote entrepreneurship and helped people to stay in touch, such as state-owned postal service Ukrposhta and its privately owned peer, Nova Poshta, as well as Datagroup, a provider of fibre infrastructure and digital services. Recognising the importance of better access to credit and trade finance, the EBRD channelled 357 million to seven local lenders: Ukrgasbank, Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine, Ukreximbank, OTP Bank, ProCredit Bank, Credit Agricole and Bank Lviv. Backed by EU investment incentives, the Bank increased lending for small and medium-sized enterprises via partner banks under the EU4Business-EBRD credit line. It also delivered record volumes of trade finance as part of the Trade Facilitation Programme. Furthermore, the Bank financed successful Ukrainian companies such as car importer Winner, Kokhavynska Paper Factory and gas trader ERU Trading. It also teamed up with USAID and the American Chamber of Commerce to develop an action plan for the consolidation of infrastructure for the capital and commodities markets. EBRD invested US$ 690 million in Uzbekistans economy last year, a new record Support for renewable energy, green lending, SMEs and upgrade of key infrastructure Uzbekistan is largest recipient of EBRD funds in Central Asia The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) invested almost US$ 690 million (607 million) in 22 projects in Uzbekistan in 2021, with Central Asias most populous state becoming the largest recipient of EBRD funds in the region for the second year running. The Banks funds promoted renewable power generation, green lending, the upgrade of key infrastructure and domestic small businesses. The previous record for the annual investment in Uzbekistan was in 2019 when the EBRD pledged US$ 575 million (517 million) through 13 projects in various sectors of the national economy. The EBRD also expanded its presence on the ground last year by opening its third regional office, in Urgench. The Banks Head of Uzbekistan, Alkis Drakinos, said: The EBRD has been reporting record investment in the country for the third time since 2018 and the main credit for this goes to our team on the ground. I am very proud of our commitment and determination to deliver strong results, despite the pandemic-related adversities. We are privileged to be living in the fast-reforming state of Uzbekistan and contributing to its success. Among the highlights of the EBRDs activity last year were its efforts to help Uzbekistan develop its low carbon pathway and achieve carbon neutrality in the power sector by 2050. The Bank and the Uzbek government also agreed to develop a long-term low greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilience strategy to take the country towards Paris Agreement alignment. The Bank invested 21.8 million to help construct and put into operation a 100 MW photovoltaic solar power plant near the city of Samarkand. One of the first private-sector renewable energy projects in the country, it will help diversify the energy mix, which is currently dominated by fossil-fuel-fired power stations. More than 170,000 people living in the Namangan region of eastern Uzbekistan will receive access to fresh drinking water and wastewater services following a major rehabilitation programme financed by an EBRD loan of US$ 70 million. The EBRD and the city of Samarkand agreed to develop a Green City Action Plan, which will help introduce carbon neutral electric buses in the city. In the financial sector, the EBRD strengthened digital finance and boosted financial inclusion in the country by acquiring a 20 per cent stake in TBC Bank Uzbekistan, the countrys first digital bank. It provided loans of US$10 million and US$ 25 million under the EBRDs Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF) to HamkorBank and UzPromstroybank to support small private sector companies investing in green technology. Risk-sharing frameworks signed between the EBRD and UzPromstroybank and HamkorBank helped strengthen operations of domestic companies such as medical goods producer SEEM and dairy company Tillo Domor. The Bank supported a large-scale foreign investment in Uzbekistans cotton industry by providing US$ 60 million to Indorama Agro, an agricultural enterprise engaged in cotton and other rotational crop farming. The project is promoting the modernisation of agriculture and better economic opportunities for the local population. The EBRD also financed the development and expansion of a local pharmaceutical producer Nika Pharm and the regions only producer of glass wool Ecoclimat, which received EBRD loans of US$ 5 million each. In 2021 the EBRD had 49 projects with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) located in various parts of Uzbekistan. The Bank reached out to more than 600 individual entrepreneurs and small businesses through its lending tools and advisory services. The share of advisory projects supporting women-led businesses grew to 45 per cent of the total compared with 33 per cent in 2020. Also, more than 40 per cent of projects with SMEs offered modern digital solutions. To date, the EBRD has invested more than 2.85 billion through 106 projects in Uzbekistan. Overall, in the EBRD regions last year, the Banks green financing hit a record 5.4 billion, or 51 per cent, of a total business volume of 10.4 billion in 2021. The 2021 green results, a significant increase on the 29 per cent share of total financing in 2020, fall under the EBRDs Green Economy Transition (GET) approach. They follow the Banks recent twin commitments to align all its investments with the goals of the Paris Agreement on limiting climate change by the end of this year, a decision taken by its Board of Governors at last Julys Annual Meeting, and to make a majority of its investments green by 2025. Record EBRD investment in the Turkish economy in a challenging 2021 Green finance was in the spotlight as Turkey ratified the Paris Agreement Economic empowerment of women a focus of almost half of Bank projects last year The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) stepped up its investment in Turkey to a record 2 billion in 2021, supporting the private sectors recovery from Covid-19 and the countrys shift to green. More than 85 per cent of the Banks financing was channelled to the private sector and 55 per cent was dedicated to projects supporting sustainability. As well as arranging its own financing, the EBRD mobilised an almost record-level of 572 million from other sources in 2021. Arvid Tuerkner, EBRD Managing Director for Turkey, said: While the Covid-19 pandemic is not subsiding and lira volatility is impacting the private sectors ability to recover, the EBRDs financing for the economy is more important than ever. In challenging times our focus is on safeguarding economic development gains and creating opportunities for Turkeys green and inclusive economic recovery from the pandemic. He added that Turkeys ratification of the Paris Agreement would pave the way for more green investment by the EBRD and other investors. Sustainability in focus Last year, as more and more governments moved to decarbonise the automotive industry, the EBRD supported Turkey in becoming a European hub for commercial electric vehicle (EV) production. The Bank arranged a 650 million syndicated loan to Ford Otosan, a joint venture between US automaker Ford and Turkeys Koc Holding, to finance the production of a range of next-generation, all-electric and plug-in hybrid variants of one-tonne commercial vehicles for the European market. The EBRD also extended a 150 million loan to Turkeys leading household appliance manufacturer, Arcelik, to support a three-year environmentally sustainable investment programme. A tranche of the loan was structured in line with the Green Loan Principles of the Loan Market Association and is the first externally verified green loan to Turkish manufacturing. Reconfirming its role as a key provider of renewable energy finance, the Bank invested in a green bond by Aydem Renewables and extended a loan to Borusan EnBW Enerji, a Turkish-German venture focused on renewables. With the EBRDs help, Borusan is set to design and deploy one of the countrys first utility-scale battery storage units integrated into a renewable energy power plant. Furthermore, a new EBRD loan was provided to the leading utility Enerjisa Enerji to finance a comprehensive investment plan for 2021-25. It includes the introduction of smart metering and smart grid systems, digitalisation of the network, improvements to the reliability of power supply, integration of renewables, and environmental, health and safety measures. In the banking sector, where the EBRD channelled 826 million through the Trade Facilitation Programme and credit lines to nine banks and leasing companies, 36 per cent of financing was dedicated to green projects. The Bank also boosted financing for leasing companies to a record 87 million, which will be used for green technology investments by the private sector. In addition, the EBRDs Board of Directors approved an innovative 500 million Green Economy Financing Facility, from which funds will be on-lent by financial institutions to firms investing in sustainability upgrades. The first investment under the framework will be made in the first quarter of 2022. Public green agenda Sustainability was also the focus of the Banks investments in the public sector. The EBRDs 150 million financing for the Ispartakule-Cerkezkoy railway line will help connect Turkey to the Trans-European Transport Network via Bulgaria and contribute to the reform of the railways, creating opportunities for the private sector. In addition, the expansion of the railway infrastructure will further support Turkeys transition to a low-carbon economy. The Bank also financed the new Buca metro line in Izmir and the acquisition of modern and cleaner buses in Mersin. In Gaziantep, it provided a loan for the construction of five grid-connected solar photovoltaic plants to support the citys ambition to power most of its municipal buildings with solar energy. Istanbul and Gaziantep decided to accelerate their investment in green solutions by joining EBRD Green Cities, a flagship urban sustainability programme, following the examples of Izmir and Ankara. The EBRD also promoted private-sector know-how in waste management by investing in a minority stake in the leading waste-to-energy firm, Biotrend Cevre ve Enerji Yatrmlar, active in nine cities across Turkey. Equality of opportunity Recognising the importance of fast-growing small and medium-sized enterprises for the Turkish economy, the EBRD supported more than 100 such businesses, through advisory services and financing, particularly through risk-sharing partnerships with local lenders TSKB, Garanti and Akbank. Main demand was in areas such as sustainable and resilient supply chains, accelerating digitalisation, and growing high-potential start-ups and women-led businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted inequalities, with lockdowns entrenching gender roles and reversing progress towards equality. Against this backdrop, the EBRD increased its efforts to promote equality of opportunity and the economic empowerment of women. The Bank injected new impetus into its flagship Women in Business programme by making 600 million available to thousands of women-run businesses through Turkish banks. A total of 115 million has already been provided to Denizbank, Akbank and Yapi Kredi under the programme. The EBRD also worked with private companies, helping to create conditions in which female employees could thrive and grow. Enerjisa Enerji, for example, is joining forces with the education authorities to encourage more women to pursue technical and vocational education. Twenty of the EBRDs 42 projects in Turkey in 2021 had a gender focus. Together with state institutions, development banks, business associations and professional womens networks, the Bank developed a roadmap that set out actions to promote greater representation of women in corporate decision-making. It also teamed up with the Union of Municipalities and the International Labour Organization to revise municipal law with a view to providing more accessible childcare and encouraging womens participation in the labour force. The Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) has renewed its call for the urgent establishment of a Working Group on Future General Practice. The ICGP appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health alongside the IMO on Wednesday to discuss the serious issues around GP capacity and the impact that will have for patients and for plans to expand GP care that is free at the point of access. According to the ICGP, it is estimated that Ireland needs over 2,000 GPs over the next decade, to meet impending retirements and population growth. Over 700 older GPs are due to retire in the coming decade. Cork-based GP and Medical Director of the ICGP, Dr Diarmuid Quinlan, said: Ireland has 29% fewer GPs per head than the UK, and existing GPs are seeing increased workload and demand. The College has steadily increased its training numbers, and we aim to train 350 per year by 2026. But at present, innovative solutions are needed to address these workforce problems and in particular the retention of GPs when qualified. The College has called for the urgent establishment of a Working Group on Future General Practice, to plan for future health provision including the expansion of free GP care and workforce planning with all stakeholders. Dr Quinlan said that the voice of General Practice must be heard in these major decisions. We welcome the completion of the transfer of GP training from the HSE to the ICGP, and we are working closely with the HSE on the expansion of training places for GPs. We saw during the Covid-19 pandemic how central and significant the role of general practice is in Irish healthcare. Now is the time for GPs to be central to the plan for future healthcare delivery. The outlook in general practice is more positive now, with fewer GPs emigrating and the introduction of the Chronic Disease Management programme. We need to ensure General Practice continues to provide high-quality care to patients and ensure it continues to be a stable and rewarding career for GP graduates, he said. The IMO warned the Committee that a generation of GPs has already been lost to other health systems due to cutbacks imposed on funding to General Practice during the years of austerity and while those cuts have finally been reversed, Ireland faces an ongoing capacity issue. Professor Tadhg Crowley of the GP Committee of the IMO said: The capacity problems within the GP service have been building for over a decade now. We know what has caused the problem and it is up to Government now to listen to solutions. We cannot afford to lose more of our highly trained graduates who are in such demand from other countries where they can deliver care with better resources, better structures and team supports. "Over 29 million consultations take place in General Practice each year. 90% of those are dealt with by GPs and do not need any onward referral. GPs have shown that when they are supported they can deliver for patients. All the evidence shows that moving more care to the community is good for patients, but we need GPs in those communities and in sufficient numbers to meet the increased demand. Using genetic testing, scientists have learned that four critically endangered baby whales believed to be dead are actually alive. The discovery corrects what whale researchers previously thought about young North Atlantic right whales physical development and ability to be independent of their mothers, according to the lead author of the study. While genetic testing obviously isnt a new concept, it isnt the primary way that researchers study marine megafauna. Typically, researchers photograph individual North Atlantic right whales out at sea, later identifying individuals by their unique collection of scars and the natural calluses, or callosities. The Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium calls this labeling approach the foundation of most modern whale studies, noting that photographic cataloging began back in 1980. New photos of individual North Atlantic right whales are added to a catalog maintained by the aquarium, based in Boston. (The aquarium also has a map detailing where and how different North Atlantic right whales were found along the U.S. East Coast.) But those distinct callosities dark gray bumps covered in tiny, pale-colored crustaceans known as whale lice only develop as the calf matures. That means that scientists cannot identify and determine the age of these young calves by these distinguishing marks and link them to their mothers if they leave her side before the marks develop. But genetic sampling allows researchers to still make the familial connection between a mother whale and her offspring, even if the young whale isnt consistently at her side. According to the aquarium, over 80% of known, cataloged North Atlantic right whales have been genetically sampled. The more accurate the information, the better our conservation measures can be targeted, said Philip Hamilton, senior scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life and the lead author on the study. Better to understand them, and thus better to save them. In this study, researchers examined both collected genetic samples and photographs of North Atlantic right whales and compared them to calves born between 1988 and 2018. In addition to determining that four calves thought to have died had actually survived, the researchers looked at the profiles of 13 different whales and were able to figure out how old a dozen of the whales are and determine the birth mothers of 11. Specifically, the combination of photographic evidence and genetic testing reveals that mothers and calves are seen apart from each other in the feeding grounds off New England and Canada in 10-40% of all spring and summer sightings, the aquarium noted in a statement. Prior to this study, calves were assumed to have died if their mothers were always alone on the feeding grounds during the calfs birth year. With fewer than 350 individuals believed to remain in the wild, the North Atlantic right whale is one of 14 species of baleen whale, meaning they have no teeth but instead use hundreds of mouth plates made up of keratin to filter feed on creatures like krill and plankton. According to the World Wildlife Fund, they can grow up to 55 feet long and weigh up to 70 tons. Researchers from the New England Aquarium, Saint Marys University, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration contributed to the study, which was published on January 20 in the journal Mammalian Biology. The authors noted that their findings could also help track other species: Climate change could make it harder to find a good cup of coffee, new research finds. A changing climate might shrink suitable areas for specialty coffee production without adaptation, making coffee taste blander and impacting the livelihoods of small farms in the Global South. Published in Scientific Reports on Wednesday, the study focused on regions in Ethiopia, Africas largest coffee-producing nation. Although studies have previously documented the impact of climate change on coffee production, whats less understood is how varying climates could change the flavors of specialty coffee, the researchers wrote. The team aimed to fill this gap. Their results provide a glimpse into how future climate change could impact local regions and economies that rely on coffee cultivation, underscoring the value of local adaptation measures. Researchers analyzed how 19 different climate factors, such as mean temperatures and rainfall levels, would affect the cultivation of five distinct specialty coffee types in the future, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) reported. Although researchers found that areas suitable for growing average quality coffee may actually increase over time with climate change, regions where specialty coffee is grown will shrink a pending problem in light of the global demand for high-quality coffee. This is an issue not just for coffee lovers, but for local agricultural value creation, Abel Chemura, the studys lead author, told the PIK. Coffee profiles rely on specific climate patterns for their unique flavors, levels of acidity and fragrances. But in a warmer climate, the coffee cherry the fruit picked from a coffee plant matures faster than the bean inside, making for a lower quality cup of coffee, the PIK reported. For example, the sought-after Yirgacheffe variety of coffee, which is cultivated in southwestern Ethiopia, could lose more than 40 percent of its suitable growth area by the end of the century, PIK reported. This could impact small farms and threaten Ethiopias economy, the researchers noted. If one or more coffee regions lose their specialty status due to climate change this has potentially grave ramifications for the smallholder farmers in the region, Christoph Gornott, co-author of the study, told the PIK. If they were forced to switch to growing conventional, less palatable and bitter coffee types, they would all of the sudden compete with industrial production systems elsewhere that are more efficient. In a country where coffee exports account for nearly a third of all agricultural exports, this could prove fatal, Gornott added. Northern Californias majestic redwood forest was once the home of Indigenous tribes, including the Sinkyone people, that were forced from their land by European settlers. On Tuesday, nonprofit Save the Redwoods League transferred ownership of 523 acres of forest on the Lost Coast which includes 200 acres of old-growth redwoods to the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, a non-profit group of ten tribes, a statement from Save the Redwoods said. In a celebration of the strength of the Sinkyone tribe, the forest will again be known as Tcih-Leh-Dun (pronounced tsih-ih-LEY-duhn), which means Fish Run Place in the language of the Sinkyone people. The Sinkyone Council today represents the Indigenous Peoples who are the original stewards of this land. Their connection to the redwood forest is longstanding, and it is deep, said president and CEO of Save the Redwoods League Sam Hodder, according to the statement. The League is honored to support a return of Native people to this place and to partner with the Sinkyone Council in their management and stewardship of Tcih-Leh-Dun. We believe the best way to permanently protect and heal this land is through tribal stewardship. In this process, we have an opportunity to restore balance in the ecosystem and in the communities connected to it, while also accelerating the pace and scale of conserving Californias iconic redwood forests. In addition to old-growth redwoods, Tcih-Leh-Dun hosts Douglas-firs, second-growth redwoods and other tree species, as well as huckleberries and elderberries, the statement said. It includes 1.5 miles of Anderson Creek, a tributary to the South Fork Eel River, and is home to coho salmon, steelhead trout and the northern spotted owl, all endangered species. Save the Redwoods League purchased the Tcih-Leh-Dun land from a California logging family for $3.55 million in 2020, reported The New York Times. It is rare when these lands return to the original peoples of those places, said former executive director of the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council and protector of Indigenous land, Hawk Rosales, as The New York Times reported. We have an intergenerational commitment and a goal to protect these lands and, in doing so, [to protect] tribal cultural ways of life and [revitalize] them, added Rosales. Tcih-Leh-Dun is located east of the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park and north of an additional protected area owned by the Sinkyone Council, the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness. In 2012, Save the Redwoods transferred a 164-acre property known as Four Corners, located north of Tcih-Leh-Dun, to the Sinkyone, The New York Times reported. Its a real blessing, said chair of the Sinkyone Council, Priscilla Hunter, of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, The Guardian reported. Its like a healing for our ancestors. I know our ancestors are happy. This was given to us to protect. The first scheduled meeting during Mayor Adamss administration of the quasi-school board responsible for monitoring the city Education Department was delayed because not enough members have been appointed, the Daily News has learned. The citys Panel for Education Policy the 15-member body created by state law as an independent oversight body for the DOE was scheduled to hold its first meeting on Jan. 26. But earlier this week, the Education Department postponed the meeting to Feb. 16 because the panel doesnt yet have enough panel members for an eight-person quorum, officials said. Advertisement Mayor Eric Adams making an announcement in Collect Pond Park, Manhattan, New York, Thursday, January 13, 2022. (Shawn Inglima/for the New York Daily News) (Shawn Inglima/for New York Daily News) State law mandates that the board hold at least one regular public meeting per month. The delay frustrated some parents, who argue that the panel is key to holding the Education Department accountable and the closest thing the city has to a democratic school board. Advertisement Panel for Education Policy members are part of the system of governance we have, said Kaliris Salas-Ramirez, a parent of public school students in East Harlem and president of the Community Education Council for District 4. Thats the one place people have the opportunity to make statements on really important issues about their school communities, and for this administration not to be ready in such a critical timeits really frustrating. DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer said, we are looking forward to the February meeting of the fully vetted PEP, at which time all of this months items will be considered, and we will reschedule this months meeting to ensure we have 12 this year. The mayor is responsible for appointing nine members to the panel. The borough presidents each appoint one member, and parent leaders elect the final member. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said he will likely keep his current panel member, Deb Dillingham, in place. Representatives for Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine both of whom are newly elected said they are still working on their picks, but the Levine rep said the old panel member agreed to stay on in the meantime. Representatives for Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson and Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella did not respond to requests for comment. Tom Sheppard, the parent-elected member of the panel, said hes concerned the new administration couldnt promptly finalize its appointments. It could be an oversight, Sheppard added. But that oversight to me is problematicif you didnt know you had to appoint nine members of a school board but then want control of the whole system, thats a problem for me. Adams has faced criticism over the slow pace of his appointments in other parts of city government. Schools Chancellor David Banks (Theodore Parisienne/for New York Daily News) DOE officials said the January Panel for Education Policy meeting will be rescheduled at some point later this year. When Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014, he appointed his first panel members on Jan. 22, in time for the first scheduled meeting, records show. Advertisement Sheppard pointed to practical consequences for families of delaying the meeting. One of the proposals the panel was set to vote on was the opening of a new high school called Gotham Tech. High school admission applications are due March 1, but the school cant be listed in the admissions catalogue until a formal vote. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Delaying the vote will limit the amount of time that students and parents have to decide whether or not to attend Gotham Tech from five weeks to less than two weeks, Sheppard said. DOE officials said the two weeks is enough time for families to adjust. The panel has long been criticized for serving as a rubber stamp for the DOEs agenda, but has also occasionally exerted its influence, including during a stunning vote to nix de Blasios plan to offer the Gifted and Talented exam last spring. A virtual meeting of Panel for Educational Policy members. (Obtained by Daily News) The role of the panel could become relevant again in the coming months as the state legislature considers a proposal from Gov. Hochul to extend mayoral control of city schools another four years. Some union officials and legislators have said they want to increase the power of the panel to act as a check on mayoral control. Advertisement United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew proposed on Wednesday adding two parent-elected members to the panel and protecting members from being removed by their appointing authorities. Schools chancellor David Banks said hes open to having conversations on all of these issues but doesnt want to curtail the mayors power over public schools. Anything that removes the teeth, where it says mayoral accountability but you really dont have the ability to move things, that concerns me, he said. Ozzie, the oldest male gorilla and third-oldest gorilla in the world, died at Zoo Atlanta on January 25, 2022. He was 61. The cause of death has yet to be determined, zoo officials have announced. Starting Thursday, January 20, the Animal Care and Veterinary Teams at Zoo Atlanta noticed that Ozzie showed signs of a decrease in appetite and required supportive care to eat and drink. By Monday, January 24, the care team began treatments as the gorilla showed various symptoms, including facial swelling, weakness and inability to eat or drink. Zoo officials found the deceased gorilla on Tuesday. This is a devastating loss for Zoo Atlanta. While we knew this time would come someday, that inevitability does nothing to stem the deep sadness we feel at losing a legend, said Raymond B. King, president and CEO of the zoo. Ozzies lifes contributions are indelible, in the generations of individuals he leaves behind in the gorilla population and in the worlds body of knowledge in the care of his species. Our thoughts are with his care team, who have lost a part of their lives and a part of their hearts. Ozzie joined Zoo Atlanta in 1988 and has made history again and again, becoming a global icon. In 2009, at the age of 48, he was the first gorilla ever to participate in a voluntary blood pressure reading. Gorillas are considered geriatric after the age of 40. The cause of death is unknown. The University of Georgia Zoo and Exotic Animal Pathology Service in the College of Veterinary Medicine, in partnership with Zoo Atlanta, will perform a necropsy to determine the cause. Once known, Zoo Atlanta plans to announce the cause of death. Western lowland gorillas, like Ozzie, are critically endangered due to poaching, habitat loss, and disease. In a 25-year period, the population of this species has decreased by 60 percent due to these threats, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). In some parts of western Africa, Western lowland gorilla numbers have declined as much as 90 percent. Ozzies death shortly follows the death of another geriatric gorilla at Zoo Atlanta, Choomba. Choomba, a 59-year-old female gorilla, died on January 13. She was the fourth-oldest gorilla in the world, right behind Ozzie. Ozzie and Choomba lived together at the zoo since their arrival in the 1980s. Ozzie is survived by a daughter, three sons, a granddaughter and two great-grandchildren at Zoo Atlanta as well as numerous children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren at other accredited zoos around the U.S. and Canada. Iceland's farmed salmon production rose by 35% in 2021 The production of farmed salmon in Iceland increased by more than 12,000 tonnes, or 35%, last year, Morgunblai reported. More than 46,000 tonnes of salmon were produced last year, according to information from MAST, the Icelandic Food and Veterinary Authority. That exceeds expected production by 3,000 tonnes. According to Gisli Jonsson, veterinarian at MAST, there are two reasons why production exceeded expectations. Firstly, salmon grew fast in marine pens in late summer and into fall, causing some companies to start slaughtering early to reduce crowding at the growing grounds by winter. Secondly, a viral disease that came up in salmon in Reyarfjorur, the East Fjords, caused the emptying of marine pens to be expedited in certain breeding grounds. Salmon farming is mainly done at sea farming facilities in the West Fjords and in the East Fjords of Iceland. Land-based fish farming has decreased, most likely temporarily. The largest producer of farmed salmon in Iceland is Arnarlax, which produced 23,600 tonnes last year, followed by Arctic Fish, with about 23,400 tonnes. Sea farming facilities in the East Fjords are growing rapidly. Jonsson believes that the rapid growth recently seen in farmed salmon production in Iceland will slow down in the coming years. He expects some production to increase this year, likely resulting in total production being in excess of 50,000 tonnes by the end of the year. - Iceland Monitor 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 Description Notre rapport phare illustre comment, en 2021, le Groupe Banque europeenne dinvestissement a fait face a deux grandes menaces la crise climatique et la pandemie de coronavirus sur fond denjeux de developpement toujours plus pressants. Pour y repondre, la banque de lUE a soupese les risques avant de passer rapidement a laction dans de nouvelles directions. Le rapport dactivite met en lumiere les mesures durgence prises par le Groupe face au COVID-19 grace a un instrument unique en son genre, le Fonds de garantie europeen, ainsi que son soutien aux entreprises du secteur de la sante qui travaillent a la mise au point de medicaments et de traitements contre cette maladie. Il donne la mesure de notre appui aux entreprises qui dessinent les nouvelles frontieres de laction pour le climat parfois jusque dans lespace. Il temoigne de notre engagement a contribuer a un avenir meilleur pour tous les Europeens et les Europeennes, grace a nos investissements en faveur de la cohesion, et pour tous les citoyens et citoyennes du monde, grace a nos operations de developpement. Constitue de 25 articles presentant les activites de la Banque europeenne dinvestissement et du Fonds europeen dinvestissement en matiere de lutte contre le COVID-19, daction pour le climat, de cohesion et de developpement, le rapport dactivite met en exergue leur contribution a lavenement dun monde en bonne sante, vert et inclusif. Les chiffres correspondent aux resultats attendus pour de nouvelles operations de financement signees pour la premiere fois en 2021, sur la base des informations disponibles a ce stade. Toutes les donnees sont non auditees et provisoires. The COM-HPC Carrier Board Design Guide is available for download at PICMG Homepage. PICMG announces that the COM-HPC Carrier Board Design Guide is released and freely available on the PICMG website. The 160-page document provides electronics engineers and PCB layout engineers comprehensive information for designing custom system carrier boards for COM-HPC modules. COM-HPC short for computer-on-module (COM) - high performance computing (HPC) is a new open Computer-on-Module form factor standard that targets extremely high I/O and computer performance levels from high end clients up to the entry server class and even beyond. Standard COM-HPC modules plug into a carrier or baseboard that is typically customized to the application. OEM benefits are fast and cost effective layout with high design security for application specific embedded and edge computing boards on the basis of open standards. Especially helpful is the detailed discussion of the challenging module to carrier board Ethernet KR and KR4 backplane signaling. To save pins on COM-HPC modules, the sideband signals for the 10G/25G/40G/100G Ethernet KR interfaces are serialized and must then be deserialized on the carrier board. The design guide provides instructions for this in a series of diagrams. Additionally, the guide provides enhanced schematics and block diagrams for all provided interfaces such as Serial ATA, PCI Express up to Gen 5, USB4, Boot SPI, eSPI, eDP, MIPI-CSI, SoundWire, asynchronous serial port interfaces, I2C/I3C, GPIO, System Management Bus (SMBus), thermal protection and module type detection. PCB design rule summaries further enable engineers to efficiently design fully signal compliant COM-HPC carrier boards. Also, a section has been added to discuss mechanical considerations including heat spreader/module attachment, alternative board stack assemblies and board stiffeners for carrier boards. Information about all COM-HPC interfaces and a list of useful books to facilitate carrier board designs complete PICMGs COM-HPC Carrier Board Design Guide. Electronic design engineers and printed circuit board developers shall note that while the design guide contains additional detailed information it does not replace the PICMG COM-HPC specification. For complete guidelines on the design of COM-HPC compliant carrier boards and systems, it is necessary to refer to the full specification the design guide is not intended to be the only source for any design decisions. Besides consulting the latest COM-HPC specification, it is also strongly recommended to use the module vendors' product manuals as a reference. The design guide and base specification are accompanied by a Platform Management Interface Specification, and the COMHPC EEEP. The existing Embedded API (eAPI) specification also applies to COM-HPC. PICMG thanks all members of the PICMG COM-HPC committee who have worked on these documents. Special thanks go to Christian Eder, Stefan Milnor and Dylan Lang. Christian Eder, marketing director at Congatec, acted as the chairman of the COM-HPC committee. He was previously a draft editor of the current COM Express standard. Stefan Milnor from Kontron and Dylan Lang from Samtec supported Christian Eder in their respective functions as editor and secretary of the PICMG COM-HPC committee. The COM-HPC Carrier Board Design Guide is available for download at PICMG Homepage. Washington, MO (63090) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High near 65F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Cloudy with rain developing after midnight. Low 54F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Emporia, VA (23847) Today Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 58F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 58F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Xi visits Shanxi ahead of Chinese New Year Xinhua) 13:26, January 27, 2022 Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects the post-disaster reconstruction in areas affected by last year's floods as well as local work in restoring farming and ensuring the public's access to heating in winter in Fengnanyuan Village, Shizhuang Township of Huozhou City, north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 26, 2022. Xi on Wednesday began his visit to Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Wednesday began his visit to north China's Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. In two villages, Xi visited villagers' homes and inspected the post-disaster reconstruction in areas affected by last year's floods as well as local work in restoring farming, ensuring the public's access to heating in winter, consolidating and expanding anti-poverty achievements and advancing rural vitalization. For 10 years in a row, Xi, as the Party's top leader, has made it a tradition to visit people at the primary level, especially the disadvantaged groups, ahead of the Spring Festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar and an occasion of family reunions. The Spring Festival falls on Feb. 1 this year. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has tapped a top mayoral spokeswoman and a gun crime guru for senior positions in his administration following a rocky first month in office marred by criticism hes soft on crime. The hiring of Danielle Filson, former spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, and Peter Pope as special prosecutor for gun violence prevention follows a backlash to Braggs Day 1 policy memo outlining prosecutorial policies, such as charging robbery in a commercial setting as petty larceny in certain circumstances and not seeking pretrial detention except for the most violent cases. Advertisement Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News) Bragg has said the memo was misunderstood and acknowledged he has a lot to learn about messaging. Alvin Bragg was overwhelmingly elected by the people of Manhattan to help keep our city safe and to fight for fairness and much-needed criminal justice reforms, said Filson, who will serve as Braggs communications director. I look forward to communicating his plans and progress to members of the media, and the people of this city, state and country. Advertisement Danielle Filson (Courtesy Photo) Pope will fill a newly created role combating gun violence, which Bragg says is his top priority. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Pope previously served as a court-appointed monitor in a case brought by the city under Mayor Michael Bloomberg against New York gun store owners. With extensive experience fighting to reduce gun violence, Peter brings extensive knowledge, courage and vision that will greatly intensify our offices ability to combat gun violence in Manhattan, Bragg said of Pope. Earlier this month, NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell criticized Braggs policies in a message to the departments rank and file. Sewell wrote that she feared certain Bragg policies will invite violence against police officers and will have deleterious effects on our relationship with the communities we protect. Bragg and Sewell later pledged to continue having collaborative discussions. Advertisement Bragg has vowed to stay the course despite the criticism. On Thursday, protesters organized by the Bronx Conservative Party rallied outside his office in support of the police. Cherry Lee Ward Yeager age 87 of Athens died Monday at Athens Limestone Hospital. Mrs. Yeager was born October 21, 1934 in Giles County Tennessee. She was a longtime member of First Baptist Church Athens where she sang in the chrior, and was active in the WMU. Mrs. Yeager was a Red Cross vol Following an investigation into its Sold By Amazon program, Amazon has agreed to pay the office of Washington States attorney general office $2.25 million and provide annual updates on its compliance with antitrust laws. Available between 2018 and June 2020, the program set a pricing floor for certain products, which the Attorney General's office says "constituted unlawful price-fixing." Amazon enrolled a small number of third-party sellers into the program while it was available. The retailer promised sellers they would earn a guaranteed minimum on their products, provided they agreed not to compete with the company. Whats more, merchants could earn additional revenue if Amazons algorithm determined consumers were willing to pay extra for their product, with the company splitting the difference between them. "For example, if a seller and Amazon agreed to a $20 minimum payment and the item sold for $25, the seller would receive the $20 minimum price and share the $5 additional profit with Amazon, in addition to any fees," Attorney General Bob Ferguson wrote. According to Ferguson, the problem with the system was that it set the minimum price of a product as the floor of what Amazon would offer to consumers. When the price of their goods increased, some sellers saw a drastic decrease in sales, in part because some consumers would opt to buy similar but more affordable products from Amazon and its various private labels. The program, according to the AG, was in violation of antitrust laws. The state opened its probe into Sold By Amazon in March 2020. The program was discontinued in June of that same year but, according to an Amazon spokesperson, for reasons unrelated to the attorney generals investigation. As part of its agreement with the state, the company wont offer the Sold By Amazon program again. This was a small program to provide another tool to help sellers offer lower prices, much like similar programs common among other retailers, that has since been discontinued, the company said. While we strongly believe the program was legal, were glad to have this matter resolved. When pressed, Amazon declined to say why it did not challenge the resolution. In recent years, Amazon has faced intense scrutiny related to how it operates its online marketplace. In 2020, The Wall Street Journal published a report claiming the company had been using proprietary seller data to help design and price its in-house products. In a Senate hearing, former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said he couldnt guarantee the company had not misused data from third-party merchants on its platform. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, legislation that would prevent companies like Amazon from favoring their own products over that of their rivals. Like Apple and Google, the company has aggressively lobbied to prevent the bill from passing. Workers at JFK8, an Amazon Fulfillment Center in Staten Island, New York, have reportedly collected enough signatures to proceed with a union election vote. A National Labor Relations Board spokesperson, speaking to Reuters, confirmed that the workers had "reached a sufficient showing of interest," confirming a tweet from key organizer Chris Smalls. PSA Ive just confirmed with @NLRB that we officially have met the showing of interest requirement for petition here in Staten Island guess what NYC prepare for an Election congratulations to @amazonlabor Our work continues to break barriers. Now its time to Vote YES Christian Smalls (@Shut_downAmazon) January 26, 2022 That threshold of interest, incidentally, is 30 percent of a given workforce, which was likely a difficult feat given both the size of JFK8 and the nature of its round-the-clock shifts which ensure many coworkers never have cause to meet. More impressive is that this facility is seemingly being organized without the help of an established union, but instead by a new independent group endemic to this particular Fulfillment Center, calling itself the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). ALU had previously submitted a petition for unionization, but withdrew it late last year after being informed by the NLRB that it had not collected enough signatures. Reached for comment, an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget "Were skeptical that there are a sufficient number of legitimate signatures and were seeking to understand how these signatures were verified. Our employees have always had a choice of whether or not to join a union, and as we saw just a few months ago, the vast majority of our team in Staten Island did not support the ALU. This milestone comes shortly before Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama are scheduled to hold a re-vote on their own union election in that instance, under the auspices of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union on February 4th. A union vote took place at the facility almost exactly one year before, but the NLRB determined that Amazon had interfered in the election. In the case of JFK8, Amazon has until Friday to respond with its position. A hearing on the matter is slated for February 16th. Small businesses might soon be able to accept payments using their iPhones without the need for extra hardware. According to Bloomberg, Apple could start rolling out the feature through a software update in the next few months, perhaps with the final version of iOS 15.4 that's coming out this spring. Apple has reportedly been working on the service since 2020, when it purchased a Canadian startup called Mobeewave known for developing a technology that turns a phone into a payment portal. Mobeewave's technology only needs an app and the phone's NFC to work, unlike services like Square that require the use of an external hardware. The user simply has to type in the amount they want to charge, and their customer only needs to tap their credit card onto the back of the device. Apple declined Bloomberg's invitation to comment, so it's unclear if that's how its built-in iPhone feature will work, as well. In addition, Bloomberg's sources couldn't say whether the feature will be rolled out as part of Apple Pay. The team developing the feature, however, has reportedly been working with the tech giant's payments division since Apple purchased Mobeewave. Whether Apple is launching the service with an existing payment network is also unknown at this point. Before its acquisition, Mobeewave teamed up with Samsung to turn its phones into contactless payment terminals. They piloted the feature in Canada and even gave the company's point-of-sale service, dubbed Samsung POS, a wide release in the country. It's not just the dark web marketplace operators who face the law sometimes it's the people who facilitate access to those marketplaces. Israeli national and Brazil resident Tal Prihar has been sentenced to eight years in prison for his alleged role in a dark web money laundering scheme. He and co-defendant Michael Phan reportedly received the equivalent of $8.4 million in Bitcoin kickbacks for agreeing to link illegal dark net marketplaces from their news site DeepDotWeb. To hide the cryptocurrency's origins, Prihar laundered the money by transferring payments to other Bitcoin accounts and conventional bank accounts tied to shell companies. Prihar pleaded guilty in March 2021, and had already agreed to forfeit $8.4 million. Phan is still in the midst of extradition from Israel to face a money laundering charge. The relatively stiff sentence might be a message to others who'd serve as brokers for illegal dark web outlets. If you knowingly point users to contraband (including illegal guns, hacking tools and drugs) and receive payment for it, you're apparently as culpable as anyone selling those underground items. Whether or not this is an effective deterrent, it's clear the feds don't want to look soft. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory is partnering with Microsofts Azure Quantum team to explore how it can communicate more efficiently with spacecraft. Compared to some of the hurdles the agency has overcome to put missions like Perseverance on Mars, staying in touch with those spacecraft might not seem so difficult. However, sending instructions to every mission the agency has on the go is its own logistical challenge. NASA depends on the Deep Space Network, a series of radio antennae located across the US, Spain and Australia. It allows the agency to stay in constant contact with its spacecraft, even as the Earth rotates. Scheduling the use of that system is something NASA notes involves a lot of constraints. For example, not every dish in the network is equally capable of communicating with spacecraft that are on the edge of the solar system. Whats more, missions like the James Webb Space Telescope and Perseverance Rover put an increased load on the system due to the amount of high-fidelity data they need to transmit back to Earth. As such, NASA has to devote considerable computing resources to prioritize and schedule the hundreds of communication requests its teams put in each week. And thats where Microsoft thought it could help. The company applied some of the things it learned optimizing quantum algorithms to tackle NASAs scheduling headache using classical computers. At the start of the project, it took two hours for the company to compile a DSN schedule. Using its Azure network, Microsoft created a schedule in 16 minutes. A further custom solution allowed it to make one in two minutes. The ability to make schedules in minutes, as opposed to hours, is something Microsoft says will give NASA flexibility and allow it to be more agile as an organization. Microsoft says there's further work it needs to do before the system has all the features that JPL needs, but it could one day help the team as it prepares to launch more complex missions that involve journeys to the Moon and beyond the solar system. NBCUniversals Peacock streaming service ended last year with 9 million paid subscriptions. Comcast, the streamers parent company, shared the milestone during its Q4 2021 earnings call. The announcement marks the first time either company has disclosed just how many people pay for Peacock. In a call with analysts, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said the streaming service has approximately 24.5 million monthly active accounts, reports Variety. Of those who pay for Peacock, the majority opt for the platforms $5 ad-supported tier. When you include ads, Roberts said the company generates close to $10 in average revenue per subscribed account. In 2022, Comcast CFO Mike Cavanagh said the company plans to spend $3 billion on content for Peacock, doubling its current investment. Moving forward, Comcast could spend as much as $5 billion annually building out Peacocks media library over the next couple of years. Some of that money will come from the companys linear TV platforms, with Roberts telling analysts Comcast is committed to reallocating resources and increasing investment in Peacock due to the platforms growth. In practice, Comcast and NBCUniversal are likely to spend at least some of that money on reclaiming content that has ended up on other streaming platforms, including Disneys Hulu. Much of our strong NBC content premieres on Hulu, over time wed like to bring that back to Peacock, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell said. The company previously paid $500 million to get The Office back from Netflix. Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to Peacock announcing 24.5 million monthly active users instead of monthly active accounts. The language has been updated for accuracy. A judge has flushed a city porta-potty companys lawsuit against the federal government down the toilet. Brooklyn Federal Judge LaShann Dearcy Hall poo-pooed the case brought by Call-A-Head over a parcel of vacant land in Queens, dismissing it in open court Thursday, said a spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. Attorneys Office. Advertisement Call-A-Head sued in June 2021 overs the U.S. Department of the Interior effort to kick the company off of an empty piece of land on Broad Channel used for commode storage for nearly a half-century. The feds said the land next to Call-A-Heads property on Cross Bay Blvd. belonged to the government and was part of the Gateway National Recreation Area covering Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. The Call-A-Head business on Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens. (Google Maps) Throughout 45 years, Call-A-Head has used the neighboring vacant land for storage of its personal property without any objection by any entity or person who claimed ownership over the vacant land, the company wrote in the suit. Advertisement The land is behind the companys Broad Channel headquarters, which is a familiar site to drivers and cyclists bound for Rockaway Beach. The company claimed that the feds suddenly became interested because of political attacks by environmentalists who have opposed Call-A-Heads use of the land for many years. Trying to reach a compromise, the toilet company suggested in February 2021 that they could lease the land from the federal government. But park officials told them that use of the space by Call-A-Head was not compatible with the Parks mission and values, according to a letter sent by the feds to the company. The land in question is actually part of a federal wildlife refuge, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevan Cleary wrote in a July motion to dismiss the case. Plaintiffs admitted that they do not own the land in question. The park is home to 400 species of migratory birds, including bald eagles, egrets and snowy owls. Its also a home to Terrapin turtles along with dozens of porta-potties, trailers and hoses. Call-A-Head should provide information... about the purpose and use of the hoses, and identify what is being discharged, the feds wrote last year. It was not immediately clear if Call-A-Head had moved its property following dismissal of the lawsuit. Call-A-Head did not return a call seeking comment. The Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance has announced plans to spend $25.8 billion (23 billion) with the aim of having 35 EVs by 2030. As part of that, the group will develop five new platforms shared across brands with 80 percent common usage as part of a "smart differentiation" strategy. Nissan teased one of the first cars based on one those platforms, an all-electric compact that will be sold in Europe to replace the automaker's popular Micra. The Alliance is focusing on pure EVs and "intelligent & connected mobility." It aims to increase commonality between vehicles with a "smart differentiation" system that allows pooling for platforms, production plants, powertrains and vehicle segments. "For example, the common platform for the C and D segment will carry five models from three brands of the Alliance (Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail, Mitsubishi Outlander, Renault Austral and an upcoming seven-seater SUV)," Renault Group said in the press release. To that end, it unveiled five separate platforms, including the affordable CMF-AEV that's the base for Renault's budget Dacia Spring model, the mini vehicle KEI-EV platform for ultra-compact EVs and the LCV for commercial vehicles like the Renault Kangoo and Nissan Town Star. Another is CMF-EV, currently used by the Alliance for crossovers like the Nissan Ariya and Renault Megane E-Tech. Finally, the CMF-BEV platform will be used for compact EVs but reduce costs by 33 percent and consumption by 10 percent compared to the current Renault Zoe. It'll be the base for 250,000 vehicles per year under the Renault, Nissan and Alpine brands, including the Renault R5 and Nissan's upcoming EV to replace the Micra. Nissan teased that vehicle in a separate press release, showing it off in a shadowy photo and brief video (above). While it has no name, price or launch date, it'll be built at the Renault ElectriCity center in Northern France. "This all-new model will be designed by Nissan and engineered and manufactured by Renault using our new common platform, maximizing the use of our Alliance assets while maintaining its Nissan-ness," said Nissan COO Ashwani Gupta. "This is a great example of the Alliance"s 'smart differentiation" approach." Renault Group said it would use a common battery strategy as well, aiming for 220 GWh of production capacity by 2030. It plans to reduce battery costs by 50 percent in 2026 and 65 percent by 2028. It's aiming to develop all-solid-state batteries (ASSB) by 2028, with Nissan in charge of that project "based on its deep expertise and unique experience as a pioneer in battery technology." The Alliance also said it aimed to have 25 million vehicles connected to its cloud system by 2026 that would allow for Tesla-like OTA (over the air) updates. "The Alliance will also be the first global, mass-market OEM to introduce the Google ecosystem in its cars," Renault Group said. The news follows Renault's announcement that it would electrify two thirds of its cars by 2025, with about 90 percent EVs in its lineup by 2030. Renault and Nissan ruled out a closer partnership last year, with Renault saying the companies "don't need a merger to be efficient." With the new platforms and cooperation announcement, it appears that the common platforms with "smart differentiation" will be key to that. Update January 28, 2022 10:06 AM ET: The article originally stated that Ashwani Gupta is the Alliance's CEO, but he's the COO. The article has been updated with the correct information. Fox News host Dan Bongino is no longer welcome on YouTube. The company confirmed to The Hill that Bongino is now permanently banned from its video platform, after he attempted to evade a prior suspension related to COVID-19 misinformation. The conservative commentator apparently published a video on his main channel while another channel was suspended, thereby violating YouTube's Terms of Service. Bongino's two channels have been removed from the service, and he won't be able to make any future channels, YouTube representatives told The Hill. Last September, YouTube announced that it would ban all content related to vaccine misinformation, which was an expansion on its previous ban against COVID-19 misinformation. At the time, YouTube also banned prominent anti-vax proponents like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Joseph Mercola. Bongino, and many other conservative commentators, have moved over to the alternative video platform Rumble (where he also holds an equity stake). He currently has over 2 million subscribers there, whereas his primary channel had 900,000 subscribers on YouTube. Update 1/26/22 5:57pm ET: When a channel receives a strike, it is against our Terms of Service to post content or use another channel to circumvent the suspension, YouTube said in a statement. If a channel is terminated, the uploader is unable to use, own or create any other YouTube channels. Weather Alert ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 AM CDT THIS MORNING THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of Oklahoma and northern Texas, including the following counties, in Oklahoma, Alfalfa, Atoka, Blaine, Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Coal, Comanche, Cotton, Garfield, Garvin, Grady, Grant, Hughes, Jefferson, Johnston, Kay, Kingfisher, Lincoln, Logan, Love, Major, Marshall, McClain, Murray, Noble, Oklahoma, Payne, Pontotoc, Pottawatomie, Seminole, Stephens and Tillman. In northern Texas, Archer, Clay, Wichita and Wilbarger. * WHEN...From 6 AM CDT this morning through Thursday morning. * IMPACTS...Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Low-water crossings may be flooded. Extensive street flooding and flooding of creeks and rivers are possible. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Showers and thunderstorms will develop Wednesday morning over a broad swath of the watch area. Another round of rain and thunderstorms is expected later in the afternoon and will last much of Wednesday night before ending Thursday morning. Storm total amounts of 2 to 5 inches are expected. Given recent rainfall, these additional amounts may cause flooding. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. && Teresa Giudice opened up about her experience with planning her dream wedding with fiance Luis "Louie" Ruelas. Giudice told People that the pair had to adjust their plans before the special day due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Apart from that, the "Real Housewives of New Jersey" star hasn't had the "easiest experience" behind deciding for their big day. Apparently, the couple decided to get married in Capri, Italy. "We wanted to do it [there] because originally, we were supposed to get engaged in Capri," the star exclusively told the outlet. "But then he had to change it because of COVID. Everything he planned was going to be in Capri." The Adjusted Capri Wedding Giudice continued, "He loved that idea, of course. He was like, 'Yes, let's do it.'" However, one problem for the reality star was she doesn't know places to get married on the island. This has resulted in them finding someone to manage the wedding plans, but she expressed, "I just feel a little overwhelmed." Giudice met Ruelas while they were vacationing separately on the Jersey Shore. By November 2020, outlets confirmed the pair's relationship, and they were engaged by October the following year. For their upcoming nuptials, Giudice knows one thing for sure, "I don't want it to be about everyone else." "I just want it to be about, of course, Luis and I," she added. "You always do things better and different at the same time. So I'm doing it, and I want it to just be about us." READ ALSO: Here's How Hilary Duff's Husband Matthew Koma Hilariously Embarrassed Wife in Front of Ex-Boyfriend At Dinner [VIDEO] The Backup Plan And due to COVID restrictions making traveling hard for most, Giudice had come up with a secondary plan. They decided to plan their wedding nearby New Jersey and later spend their honeymoon in Italy as their backup. As per the publisher, the couple has even gone to view a local reception venue, "We went to go look at a place because we might do it around here," she shared. "I don't know. We're going to look at places because I really want somewhere that's so beautiful - that's the thing. I wanted the scenery to be spectacular. So if I find a place around here, then we'll do it here. If not, maybe we'll go to Italy like I wanted to." Fortunately, Giudice has her four daughters supporting her along the way as she shares Gia, Gabriella, Milania, and Audriana, with ex-husband Joe Giudice. READ MORE: Tristan Thompson Gone Viral With Mystery Woman In a Club Following Apology to Khloe Kardashian A retired actress from the Fonda dynasty, Bridget Fonda, was recently spotted out in Los Angeles on Wednesday. This has put multiple fans in shock as soon as the photos obtained by the paparazzi were shared online. In fact, some also do not believe it was the Fonda the public knows of. According to the Daily Mail, after retiring from acting in 2002, the star looked "unrecognizable" as she stepped out on Wednesday, January 26. The now 58-year-old star was captured carting her and her husband Danny Elfman's son, Oliver, around the city in her silver luxury Land Rover. The publisher also noted that Fonda was last photographed during her attendance at the premiere of Quentin Tarantino's World War II epic "Inglourious Basterds," held at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. The 'Fonda' of the Present In the photos taken Wednesday, Fonda was said to be styled in a low ponytail secured with a scrunchie, who was once golden blonde hair, also wearing a pair of black-framed glasses free from makeup. Apart from that, the former actress is also "completely devoid of accessories," donned with a comfy black-and-white striped top and black sweatpants. Fonda then completed her look with some white crew socks and a pair of slip-on new Balance sneakers. Bridget Fonda of Jackie Brown , Single White Female fame. pic.twitter.com/fPB1rhngUq Louis Niiiice Balfour (@LouisNiiiice) January 27, 2022 Aside from her son, the "Single White Female" actress was also joined by her adorable dog, who remained close beside her as she went in and out of the car. READ ALSO: Here's How Hilary Duff's Husband Matthew Koma Hilariously Embarrassed Wife in Front of Ex-Boyfriend At Dinner [VIDEO] Fonda has been married to husband and composer Danny Elfman since 2002. According to the said outlet, the two currently live together with their 17-year-old only son in two neighboring properties in Encino, a neighborhood in San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. The couple reportedly spent $8 million for their two luxurious homes in 2021 after "offloading their Hancock Park estate" earlier that year, as stated by the website. Ever since she decided to retire from the acting industry in 2002, she has lived quietly since then. Bridget Fonda has earned multiple acting credits from the 1980s and 1990s. She became Allison "Allie" Jones in the 1992 thriller film "Single White Female" and also appeared with Matt Dillion in the romantic comedy "Singles" in the same year. Five years later, the actress also took over the silver screen with Robert De Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, and Pam Grier in Quentin Tarantino directed film "Jackie Brown." After participating in the 2001 "Kiss of the Dragon" with Jet Li, she stopped appearing in other projects. READ MORE: Tristan Thompson Gone Viral With Mystery Woman In a Club Following Apology to Khloe Kardashian Percy Jackson and the Olympians has officially gotten a series order from Disney+. This upcoming television series is based on the best selling, early 2000s book series by Rick Riordan. The books, the first one especially titled Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, chronicled the story of Percy Jackson, modern day son of Poseidon and his other demigod friends at Camp Half Blood as they have to fight their way through Herculean style, Greek myth challenges in modern day America. This series has been in the works for some time. Filming of the project is expected to begin this summer. Casting is still in process. An open audition is being held for the three main characters. The project will be directed by James Bobin. Bobin is known for directing the 2011 family classic The Muppets. Fans of the book series feel confident that they are in good hands. That is a very important feeling to have because fans of the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief series have felt betrayed before. There have been several adaptations of this well beloved series in various different mediums. In 2017, the novels were adapted into a musical. A film series, starring Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, and Alexandra Daddario. The movie faced a lot of criticism. Those that loved the book were disappointed by the countless deviations from the source materials. The characters ages were adjusted, quests tampered with, and plot points disregarded. This second chance at the adaptation has fans hopeful. The decision to put Percy Jackson on the screen again feels like a promise to fix what originally went wrong. We can't wait to see it! Deutsche Bank celebrates its most profitable year in a decade, fueled by a dealmaking boom and a turnaround in its investment arm. A man charged with killing three Brooklyn restaurant workers with a hammer in a 2019 hate crime attack was sent to a mental institution Thursday instead of facing trial, infuriating the wives of two of his alleged victims. Arthur Martunovich, 37, was found not responsible for the killings by way of mental disease and will spend the foreseeable future at a psychiatric facility, Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge Danny Chun ruled, designating the accused killer as having a dangerous mental disorder. Advertisement Martunovich allegedly burst into the Seaport Buffet on Jan. 1, 2019 and fatally bashed the chef, the manager and a co-owner with a hammer. Witnesses said he spared Hispanic employees at the seafood buffet, telling them he had a problem with Asians. Martunovich faced murder as a hate crime charges. Arthur Martunovich, seen here on a stretcher outside the 60th Precinct stationhouse, was deemed "dangerously mentally ill" by a judge. (Go Nakamura for New York Daily News) I thought the American system would do the job and bring the prisoner to justice, said Jennifer Pun, through a translator. Her 50-year-old husband, Tsz Mat Pun, 50, was one of the victims. Advertisement He was capable. He was sober when he made the decision to take three lives, Pun added. Also killed were Fufai Pun, 34, and Kheong Ng-Thang, 61. Martunovich allegedly burst into the Seaport Buffet on Jan. 1, 2019 and fatally bashed the chef, the manager and a co-owner with a hammer. Witnesses said he spared Hispanic employees at the seafood buffet, telling them he had a problem with Asians. (Gardiner Anderson/for the New York Daily News) Relatives told the Daily News that Tsz Mat Pun was Fufai Puns uncle. Both immigrated from the same village in the Fujian Province of China. Jennifer Pun and Fufai Puns widow, Amy, yelled and pointed at a prosecutor assigned to the case in the hallway of Brooklyn Supreme Court after learning that Martunovich would be institutionalized and not face justice. I dont believe the defendant had that serious of a mental sickness, Jennifer Pun said. He was very calm and he was able to distinguish are you Asian or Hispanic. Amy Pun, left, and Jennifer Pun, right. Their husbands were murdered in 2019 in a hammer attack at Seaport Buffet in Sheepshead Bay. (Noah Goldberg /New York Daily News) Prosecutors said they had no choice under the law. Three separate psychiatrists, one working for the defense, another for the prosecution, and a third for the state, all agreed that Martunovich was suffering from a mental breakdown at the time of the attack and could not distinguish right from wrong. Martunovich had a documented history of mental health hospitalizations before the attack, according to prosecutors. Advertisement Police investigate after multiple people were attacked with a hammer inside the Seaport Buffet restaurant on Emmons Avenue in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, January 15, 2019. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News) He will now be committed to a locked, maximum-security psychiatric hospital, and an individual who has committed such heinous hate crime murders is unlikely to be released from confinement for many years, if ever. Even if his diagnosis was to change, our Office would have an opportunity to challenge the determination before a judge. We are confident that he will never again be in a position to perpetrate violence in our community, extend our deepest condolences to the friends and loved ones of the victims and pray that they will find peace, Brooklyn DA spokesman Oren Yaniv said. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > A dangerous mental disorder designation is the most serious category available for someone in Marunovichs situation. He was evaluated by doctors at Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center and will be placed by the states commissioner of mental health in a secure facility until he is reevaluated in six months. The evidence of Mr. Martunovichs mental illness was so strong, that had the case proceeded to trial, the result would have been identical, said Edward Mandery, who represented Martunovich. He will likely be confined for the same amount of time as he would have served had he been sent to state prison. Advertisement Arthur Martunovich (Facebook) The result did not satisfy the widows of the victims. Im very upset. Im outraged, said Jennifer Pun. I feel forgotten. I feel like theres no justice here. Beaten down by three waves of Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian economy is in a revival phase right now. One industry that immensely contributed to keeping the markets steady during these highly volatile times was tech. The sector, despite the many challenges, averted much of the crisis with constant innovation and agility. Along with encouraging collaboration among individuals, businesses and organisations, the sector has accelerated digitalization across geographies, thus helping other industries to thrive. The industry is now expecting the Indian government to further support it via tax benefits and other relevant measures that could help the acquisition of raw material easier. Heres a detailed analysis of tech industries expectations from the upcoming Union Budget 2022-23. TCL India Head of Marketing Vijay Kumar Mikkilineni is expecting a reduction in import tariff, as he explains, This will help us compete with countries like China, Mexico, Thailand and more. In the last two years, the PLI schemes have provided momentum to domestic and international investments, but the investment from the government side for infrastructure building will boost the Make in India movement. We have to integrate India into the global supply chain scenario, and to achieve that, tariffs should be equal or less than competitive markets. Haptik Co-Founder & CEO Aakrit Vaish lauds governments efforts towards recognising & promoting the importance of technology in shaping the new India and expects a stronger push to make the country one of the world's preferred AI attractions this year. Due to the increased push toward digitalization, the usage of AI across industries has increased remarkably. Considering this, we hope this time too, the Finance Minister will put special emphasis on AI and technology for future-ready solutions. We at Haptik.ai are optimistic about the Centres vision for a digital-strong Bharat and are looking forward to favourable measures that will boost the tech ecosystem in India." Reset Tech Founder Karan Talreja calls for separate budget allocation for Indian startups that have ventured into deep technologies to offer holistic solutions to lifestyle diseases. We probably need focused investment to spread awareness around lifestyle diseases for the betterment of the people. The third wave has already forged in and it has made everyone realise the importance of a robust healthcare ecosystem. Therefore, we expect the government to invest in the evolution of resources that enable the monitoring of lifestyle-related diseases. The process of research and development should continue extensively, and this needs proper financial support from the government. Hero Vired Founder & CEO Akshay Munjal emphasises the need to consider edtech as a potent tool that can multiply the reach of education. The pandemic has reaffirmed the significance of digital technologies to sustain the momentum of learning. Hence, the Budget should consider edech as a potent tool that can multiply the reach of education. It should prioritize scaling up allocation to the sector by 7-8%. In addition, rationalizing 18% GST in online education services would go a long way in making e-learning more affordable and realising its benefits. Moreover, there should be a tax rebate on expenses incurred on online learning programs. This is especially important in India as we face a unique 'employability paradox'. Against the backdrop of conducive policies such as the National Education Policy (NEP), strengthening infrastructure ahead of the 5G rollout will ensure equitable access to the highest-quality education to all learners. While NEP 2020 holds a lot of promise, much will hinge on its implementation this year. Integration Wizards Solutions Kunal Kislay is hoping for a better support to the startup ecosystem in the tech space. Indian startups are the torchbearers for innovation in the country. With the introduction of new schemes and policies as well as changes in the tax structure, 2021 witnessed the proliferation of tech startups. Indian startups also raised larger financing rounds this year compared to previous years. The pace of growth signals the immense potential of the domestic market. The upcoming Budget must equate with the momentum at which these startups are progressing. We expect further developments to Make in India and Digital India initiatives in order to establish India as a deep-tech hub. As digital adoption and transformation accelerate, Budget 2022 needs to focus on building a strong IT and internet infrastructure as well. He adds, On the other hand, the MSME sector has been one of the most vulnerable sectors during the pandemic. The focal point while preparing Budget 2022 should be devising a robust growth map to revive the economy thumped by Covid-19. MSMEs are a key contributor to the countrys GDP and employment. We expect Budget 2022 to provide reforms on reduction in GST and the eagerly-awaited tax relief for small businesses. With the right policy push and resources, the Budget can be a real game-changer for the Indian technology and small business sectors. The government should also take steps to reduce the compliance burden in all aspects - taxes, loans, or audits for both sectors. Wolken Software CFO Deepak Shenoy talks beyond just the tech industry and shares a comprehensive list of expectations from the upcoming Budget, Tax collections and revenues have increased while expenditure has been curtailed, leading to a lower fiscal deficit. With this advantage, the government can take the following measures to boost growth and manage fiscal consolidation. Higher outlay on capital expenditure, additional funding options for NIP by continued monetization of public assets, a new strategy for raising rural demand, in place of the three repealed agricultural law, measures to reduce tax litigation and boost compliance, also encouraging continuing MNC investments in mobile phones, EV battery cells, and semiconductors, etc. and increased spending on economically challenged classes impacted by pandemic, and even industries in the hospitality business and healthcare, will go a long way in catalyzing economic progress. Custom duty reduction to offset high inputs costs due to hardening of commodity prices and rationalization of duties to make exports competitive. For employees, WFH allowance to become tax-free, increase in the standard deduction, and increased tax benefits on housing loans for interest payment and principal repayment will generate some relief in these distressing times." Read more news about (internet advertising India, internet advertising, advertising India, digital advertising India, media advertising India) Thursday, January 27, 2022 Stitch members Jeff and Leona have both experienced the loss of a loved one. Through Stitch, not only have they developed friendships with members across the world, they have found each other, and are now exploring how they can create a long-term, sustainable relationship, as they live over 1,000 miles apart! Jeff and Leona share their story, written from each of their perspectives. Jeff: Stitch gave us a chance to get to know one another before we considered dating Leona and I met in December 2020 on a Stitch discussion board. I had discovered Stitch the previous September when searching the web for online bereavement groups, having recently lost my wife of 39 years. Leona had been widowed a few years earlier. She has always lived in Long Island, NY, where I happened to have been born and raised. I now live 1300 miles away, in South Florida. We continued writing to one another, moving from the discussion board to Stitch messaging, and then to texting. By the end of December, I invited Leona to one of my first Codenames events. A couple of weeks later, she became one of the first Codename game runners, as I expanded the event. We also attended several other events together, most notably Kews Optimists Unite meetings. I had discovered Stitch the previous September when searching the web for online bereavement groups, having recently lost my wife of 39 years. Jeff, Stitch member In March, Leona visited her brother and sister on Floridas Gulf Coast. Though her family lives more than four hours from my house, I asked her to promise to make time to see me should you ever find yourself in South Florida. A few days later, Leona asked if I would be interested in meeting her one evening while she was in Florida. Her sister had a friend located one town away from mine, and they were planning to spend a few days there. I was delighted and suggested we have dinner together outdoor seating; Leona was fully vaccinated, while I had received one shot at that point. We then spent some time walking on the beach. What could have been a single casual meeting between friends turned out to be more when I asked Leona if she would meet me somewhere to give us a chance to get to know each other better. She agreed. Five days in Savannah, Georgia, were followed by a week on Long Island and a week in South Florida. We also have plans to visit family and friends in the Boston area and Upstate New York. Plans for a more sustainable arrangement one without frequent travel and the boarding of pets are in the works. What could have been a single casual meeting between friends turned out to be more when I asked Leona if she would meet me somewhere to give us a chance to get to know each other better. She agreed. Jeff, Stitch member Stitch gave us a chance to get to know one another before we considered dating, which is what separates Stitch from traditional dating sites. By participating in a discussion group and events together and becoming pen pals on Stitch messaging, we developed an attraction for one another and tested our general compatibility, all without any expectations. My thanks to Andrew and the Stitch crew for making that possible. Leona: We are working on making the distance between us a non-issue Last year, while watching 2ndAct.tv, a talk show hosted by two women about love and relationships in our later years, they introduced Andrew from Stitch as a guest. Andrew explained that Stitchs mission was to connect persons over 50 years old to help combat loneliness. This was midway through the worldwide pandemic, and loneliness was certainly a concern for us all. So I joined Stitch in November 2020. At the time, I had been widowed 3 1/2 years prior when my husband died suddenly. In Stitch, I found a trusted site where I could meet people as friends. I first started by participating in a discussion group for widows and widowers, where I found the exchange to be open and honest. There were many people who just needed to share their losses with others who could relate. Another discussion group in which I participated was Dating After 50, hosted by Julia from Australia. One person I met from the discussion groups was Jeff, from South Florida, who had been widowed earlier in 2020. He had just started a virtual activity called Codenames and invited me to participate. Through Codenames, I have met many people in the United States and internationally. Jeff also suggested that I might enjoy the Optimist Unite and Stoic Philosophies events, both organized by Kew, from the UK. Soon, I was enjoying connecting with people from all over the world. Through these connections, Jeff and I discovered we had many common interests. We also both grew up on Long Island, in New York State. Our discussion and activity group messages graduated to personal messages on Stitch, and then to text messages and phone calls. Jeff then brought me on board as a Codenames game runner. In Stitch, I found a trusted site where I could meet people as friends. Leona, Stitch member I mentioned to Jeff that I would be traveling to the Gulf Coast of Florida in March. He sent me a text that read, If you find yourself in South Florida, please promise me that you will take time to meet me. My sister had a high school girlfriend whom she wanted to visit, and we planned a two-day trip to South Florida. I let Jeff know of our plans, and we arranged to meet for dinner. We had a lovely dinner, and the conversation was effortless. He usually walked the beach in the evening, and so we decided to take that walk together. Both of us were confused about whether we were on a date, but by the end of the night, we had made more plans. Since our first meeting in March, we have traveled to Savanah, Georgia; Long Island, New York; and South Florida. Another trip is planned for Massachusetts and Upstate, New York! We are working on making the distance between us a non-issue by spending more time together with each trip. Both of us were confused about whether we were on a date, but by the end of the night, we had made more plans. Leona, Stitch member Without Stitch, I doubt this connection would have started and grown to what it has become. Thank you, Andrew, for reaching and connecting the world, globally and locally. Jeff and Leona join a growing list of Stitch members who have found love after joining the community. Read Richard and Annes story to discover how they took a gamble on the thousands of miles that separated them and found love in the process. Theres no question that Black Rifle Coffee Co., the veteran-founded java business with ties to San Antonio, makes strong coffee. Like really strong, like boot camp push-ups strong, like World War II-era M15A Fortress Tank strong, but can it be stronger? Thanks to a new line of coffee products announced by the company this week, Black Rifle Coffees answer to that question is a resounding Oorah. On ExpressNews.com: This is how Black Rifle Coffee Co. broke a Guinness World Record in San Antonio Jet Fuel, supercharged with shots of espresso, is being billed as Black Rifle Coffees strongest coffee drink to date, the company said in a recent news release. Jet Fuel was inspired by our customers who request Black Rifle Coffees strongest brew every day, said Evan Hafer, a former Green Beret and the companys founder and CEO, in the news release. We want to make sure we are giving them everything weve got to take on the day, the year, or whatever life is throwing at them. Alongside Jet Fuel, the company is also releasing Smokey Joe and another beverage that will round out Black Rifle Coffee shop menus nationwide. All of the products are available now. On ExpressNews.com: 'Is Black Rifle coffee actually good?': 7 things to know about the company with ties to San Antonio Earlier this year, Black Rifle Coffee announced it was going public and adding nearly 80 company-owned and franchised stores in the United States. Texas is one of its biggest markets. Black Rifle Coffee said it plans to add seven stores in San Antonio, as well as nine coffee shops in Houston and 13 stores in Dallas-Fort Worth area. Each Black Rifle Coffee shop offers more than a dozen blends of coffee and more than 20 custom hot and cold beverages. The Jet Fuel Latte is crafted with a similar jolt of energy, topped with steamed milk. Smokey Joe is crafted with hickory smoke syrup, milk and espresso. For Hafer, Smokey Joe is meant to make you feel like you are being warmed up by a campfire. Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net Toyota has cut in half the production schedule at its South Side factory in response to rising COVID-19 cases and supply shortages. The Japanese automaker which led the U.S. in vehicle sales last year is currently operating one shift at the plant instead of its usual two, it said Wednesday. We have made a temporary scheduling adjustment by consolidating production from two shifts to one shift, spokeswoman Luisa Casso said. Due to supply chain and COVID related challenges, Toyota will continue to face shortages that will affect production at our North American plants. The move and slowdowns at the companys other North American plants led Toyota to cut its forecast for February production by 25,000 to 30,000 vehicles. Casso said Toyota would reevaluate the adjusted shift schedule in San Antonio on a weekly basis. Toyota Texas It wasnt clear how much cutting a shift will affect local production or what it means to employment. About 3,200 people are directly employed at the factory and another 4,000 work at area manufacturers supplying it parts. Toyota began producing cars there in November 2006. On ExpressNews.com: Toyota dethrones GM as top U.S. autoseller in 2021; S.A.-built Tacoma is most popular midsize pickup Were still determining the volume impact at each plant, Toyota said of the production cuts. However, we are trying to minimize any impact to our new model launches. In December, Toyota began manufacturing the newly-redesigned Tundra pickup truck in San Antonio. It said Tuesday its on track to begin producing the Sequoia full-size SUV model at the factory alongside the Tundra beginning this summer. Automakers across the U.S., including Ford and GM, have had to suspend production at various times throughout the pandemic as COVID-19 cases peaked and a shortage of car components has bedeviled manufacturers. Last week, Toyota halted work at 11 of its plants in Japan. Sam Owens /Staff photographer A global shortage of computer chips used in numerous vehicle components first forced Toyota to slow production of the Tundra last January. The automaker sought to prioritize chips for its best-selling models, such as the mid-size Tacoma pickup. And in August, Toyota suspended manufacturing at all its North American plants except the South Side factory. The automaker said it was reducing production across North America last August by at least 60,000 vehicles as it struggled with COVID and a dearth of supplies. But it maintained output at the San Antonio plant last fall so it could finish producing the old Tundra model and roll out the 2022 Tundra on time. On ExpressNews.com: Toyota begins producing 2022 Tundra at San Antonio plant During the onset of the pandemic in spring of 2020, Toyota shuttered the San Antonio factory for seven weeks. Disruptions at auto factories over the past two years has translated to far fewer new cars for sale on U.S. dealer lots. If shoppers do find a vehicle, its likely to be pricey. At the start of the year, the nationwide inventory of new vehicles for sale was down 61 percent from the same time in 2021, according to Cox Automotive. The average price paid for a new vehicle in December reached a record high of $47,000, Cox reported. That was an increase of nearly 15 percent from a year earlier. Still, Cox analysts predict U.S auto sales will hit 16 million this year, an increase of 7 percent from 2021. Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist with Cox, said he expected a large decline in sales to start the year after a busy holiday shopping season. But Cox projected that the worst vehicle shortages are over, and inventory would improve as the year progresses. The market is moving in the right direction and, importantly, not getting worse, Chesbrough said. diego.mendoza-moyers@express-news.net Morgans Wonderland, Texas Biomedical Research Institute and city of San Antonio employees could all get a slice of federal COVID-19 relief dollars. City Manager Erik Walsh laid out an updated spending plan for $212 million remaining from the American Rescue Plan Act, the coronavirus relief law passed by Congress in March. Walsh allotted more money $50 million for COVID-19 response after recommending $35 million in December. The omicron surge pushed the need higher as the city spent more money on testing through a partnership with Community Labs. I want to make sure weve got enough of a cushion as we go forward, Walsh said. San Antonio also plans to spend $16.8 million to continue short-term programs like mental health and domestic violence improvements through 2025. However, the bulk of the spending framework gives power to City Council committees. Thats where council members will work out the details of how the city should spend money within a certain category. Categories include the nearly $31 million for small businesses, $26 million for mental health, $10 million to help young people in San Antonio, $8.4 million for digital access and literacy, $5 million for the arts and $5 million to aid seniors. The city gathered public feedback last fall on how it should budget the money. Housing, infrastructure and economic development were at the top of the list. While some ideas like broadband infrastructure ranked lower with the public, some City Council members said they wanted those areas prioritized. City Council already approved a utility assistance fund of about $30 million to help CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System customers pay overdue bills. The recommendation from Walsh and city staff isnt final until City Council approves it, which is scheduled for Feb. 3. San Antonio wont receive its second payout of the federal money until May. Its not a one-year budget. Its a four-year spending plan, Walsh said. Undoubtedly, things will come up or change, and well want to make adjustments. One-time investments, intentionally broad categories District 10 Councilman Clayton Perry, who represents the far North Side, wanted more money for small businesses and is okay with removing funds from categories like mental health. My concern is with the youth, mental health, seniors, digital inclusion and arts that were building in more than one-time costs on these, Perry said. The recommendation includes another $10 million for the citys Emergency Housing Assistance Program, which should be enough to get the fund through early February. That would be one of the few immediate payments if approved next week. However, West Side Councilwoman Teri Castillo wanted another $5 million for housing aid and suggested pulling money from Texas Biomed to make it happen. I think its important we help folks keep that most prized asset their home, she said. District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo agreed the housing assistance program should get more money, but he didnt want to take from Texas Biomed to do it. Other one-time investments include $13.8 million for infrastructure projects. Thats meant to clear up dollars in the 2022 bond program for public art, which council members fretted over this month. Citizen bond committees recommended removing the public art allocation to make room for more drainage projects and reducing public art funds from the parks bond proposition. They sent the message that while public art is important, better infrastructure is essential. To honor those citizen recommendations but still support public art, some bridge maintenance projects will move from the bond program to the federal relief budget. That restores $3.8 million for public art that was removed from the bond packages by citizen committees while still addressing the infrastructure projects. The other $10 million for infrastructure will go toward fixing San Antonios so-called F streets, the citys worst roadways. Walsh switched up the proposed funding formula for those projects after East Side Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez criticized the F street plan as not equitable enough. The previous formula gives money to districts based on the size and condition of their failing streets, and McKee-Rodriguez thought it should instead be based on the percentage of miles within a district. McKee-Rodriguez said Wednesday he was happy to see the change. After most City Council members said last year they want to see premium, or hazard, pay for city employees, Walsh also suggested a new way to support workers. Staff proposed $10 million for employee compensation and retention but instead of promising a one-time check, he said the employee management committee should work out the details and engage with workers. Hes heard from some employees interested in a change to their health benefits or a contribution to their Health Savings Account, rather than a bonus. Other one-time budget suggestions include $10.5 million for disability nonprofit and accessible theme park Morgans Wonderland, $10 million for the Texas Biomedical Research Institute to work on infrastructure for its campus expansion and $6 million for Educare to go toward child care. District 7 Councilwoman Ana Sandoval said she had broader concerns about how the city chose some organizations for funding outright. Other nonprofits will have to make their case to council committees to seek funding under certain categories. Walsh said they chose those organizations because of council feedback nearly every councilperson said last month they supported Morgans Wonderland. Walsh said he doesnt think the city treated any outside request differently than others. Morgans Wonderland could end up getting a total of $15 million after council members expressed support for the organizations full request. Educare could get the extra $1 million it asked for too. The Texas Biomed proposal has proved controversial the institute pulled its request for city bond funding last month after some opposed it because of their involvement with animal testing. McKee-Rodriguez said he doesnt think the city should support it through federal relief funds for that same reason, even if the institute does great work. But Councilman Manny Pelaez, District 8, quipped that federal regulators require animal testing for vaccines, even if he hates it too. Walsh, for his part, sees the Texas Biomed infrastructure request as a good return on investment and a vital economic development project for the city. This is a local organization that is doing important work for the entire world, and its in our city, and theyre looking to expand, Walsh said. Multiple council members also expressed support for giving $50,000 to the Childrens Bereavement Center of South Texas. San Antonio has until 2026 to spend all of the money. megan.stringer@express-news.net Fiestas two big street parades are set to resume in April, but people will need to quiet down when passing through Alamo Plaza, as it is now part of the historic sites reverent zone. Air horns, amplified music from floats and shouting and other celebratory behavior will be prohibited for parade participants and discouraged for the public. But despite differing opinions from the Alamo Citizens Advisory Committee, its likely the University of Texas marching band will be permitted to continue playing The Eyes of Texas at the Alamo, per tradition at the Fiesta Flambeau Parade. The two parades will no longer have grandstands in the plaza after this year. The city, Fiesta San Antonio Commission and parade organizers are discussing seating and other details for future parades traversing through the mission and battle site, according to City Attorney Andy Segovia, one of two city appointees on a management committee for the public-private Alamo project. On ExpressNews.com: Reset saved Alamo project from unraveling in 2021 Were still working with all the stakeholders in terms of ironing out more specifically what reverence is going to mean for the Battle of Flowers Parade on April 8 and the nighttime Flambeau on April 9, Segovia said. The Alamo, site of a storied 1836 siege and battle for Texas independence, originally was San Antonios first permanent mission site, dating to 1724, and the approximate location of historic cemeteries whose boundaries are not fully known. One goal of a nearly $400 million makeover of the plaza is to create a more respectful atmosphere in an area where some 1,300 burials were recorded and hundreds of Anglo, Tejano and Mexican battle combatants died. The city closed a section of Alamo Street to traffic last summer to improve pedestrian safety and remove vehicle noise. But one of the challenges in creating a reverent zone is defining what is appropriate without restricting behavior too narrowly in a place many view as a symbol of freedom. Ramon Vasquez, an executive member of the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, said the city must be careful about regulating language and music, even though some patriotic anthems are not very reverent to some laying underneath the ground there or who spilled their blood there. Enforcement of the new restrictions in the mission-forts geographic footprint, with a free speech area designated nearby, will set an important precedent, said Vasquez, who has advocated for recognition of the mission-era cemeteries. Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News How we move forward today in this process is how the rest of our citizens will treat this space once this project is completed, he said. Traditionally, the Texas A&M University marching band performs the Aggie War Hymn when passing by the iconic Alamo Church during the midday Battle of Flowers Parade Fiestas oldest event, which began in the plaza in 1891. UTs alma mater, The Eyes of Texas, has been a greater source of controversy, heightened in the aftermath of George Floyds death in May 2020. UT President Jay Hartzell said in July 2020 the song would remain the alma mater. He later announced the creation of a panel to study the songs history. The committees report found the song debuted in a racist setting in 1903, yet it had no racist intent. Still, some people object to the song. In September, five UT students and the UT and state chapters of the NAACP filed a federal civil rights complaint that the school discriminates against Black students with its continued use of the song. The Alamo citizen advisory panel touched on the controversy during a virtual meeting and had differing views on what types of music should be allowed at the parades and in general in the plaza. A few said Texas-themed songs should be permitted. Others suggested the music be limited to low-volume or drum cadences to avoid controversy. Davis Phillips, a plaza business owner, said the panel shouldnt try to legislate what songs should be played, partly because its members would never reach a firm consensus. The debate centers not only on reverence for the plaza, but the legacy of Fiesta, which has been postponed, canceled and scaled down during the two-year pandemic. Although the citys spring festival began as a commemoration of the Battle of San Jacinto and Texas independence, to many San Antonians, it has evolved into a celebration of diversity and a major economic driver and fundraiser. Byron LeFlore Jr., a past Fiesta commission president and the panels Fiesta representative, said the commission and the two parade associations have no objection to a reverent zone, but havent settled on what we all agree on to reintroduce the events. On ExpressNews.com: States ties to slavery stir debate, discernment for Alamo project I dont know that having a band perform, in formation, a traditional song, is necessarily irreverent, any more than it would be irreverent to have the band from (JBSA) Lackland march through and play the Air Force song, LeFlore said. John Davenport /San Antonio Express-News But panel member George Cisneros supported efforts to discourage anthems. He mentioned Dixie, Battle Hymn of the Republic and El Deguello, a bugle call that some historians believe was sounded by the Mexican army during the 1836 battle as a warning that no prisoners would be taken at the Alamo. When we get into playing anthems, it starts moving into a very, very emotional and touchy moment, Cisneros said. Comments and questions from the public may be sent to AlamoPlan@sanantonio.gov. The panel will hold its next quarterly meeting on April 26. shuddleston@express-news.net The San Antonio City Council on Thursday approved a variance to allow the removal of significant and heritage trees from the Stonegate Hill neighborhood for the development of a Microsoft data center. The variance allows developers to cut down more than 80 percent of the trees in the area, exceeding the limit of the citys tree ordinance. In return, Microsoft will plant more than 800 trees and pay $1.4 million to the citys tree mitigation fund to plant trees throughout the city. The approval, by an 8 to 3 vote, came after months of discussions between Stonegate Hill residents; Microsoft Corp., which was represented by the San Antonio law firm the Kaufman Group; and Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda, who represents District 6, in which the project lies. All three parties supported the tree variance. This decision was not entered into lightly. Stonegate Hill has historically fought hard for the trees and land around their neighborhood, [but] a compromise has been reached, Havrda said. In the end, this is not a trees-versus-business interest story. This is about listening to the community and neighbors at Stonegate Hill. In November, the citys director of development services, Michael Shannon, denied the request for a tree variance because of the number of trees to be removed. Microsoft appealed the decision, which was passed to the Planning Commission in December. After the Planning Commission recommended approval, Shannon recommended denial again because the removal would be significant and does not meet the intent and spirit of the tree ordinance. Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News On ExpressNews.com: Everything was there and then it wasnt: Developers allowed to skirt tree ordinance The citys tree ordinance, adopted in 1997, is meant to protect all heritage trees and 35 percent of significant trees on a property. Heritage trees are old, large trees 24 inches in diameter or greater, while significant trees are 1 to 5 inches for small trees and 6 to 23 inches for large trees. In 2010, the city updated the plan so developers could only remove 10 to 20 percent of trees on a property. For developers to remove more than that, they must mitigate the impact by planting or paying to plant at least 25 percent canopy, or the percentage of shade provided, on the same property, in accordance with the citys unified development code. But in the past two years, the citys development office has consistently issued variances to developers without the City Councils knowledge, an investigation by the San Antonio Express-News found. That changed recently, when Shannon promised to share all proposed development variances. Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News The plan for Microsofts project calls for removing 2,087 large significant trees, which would leave 68; 18 of 19 heritage trees; and 485 nonprotected trees. Microsoft will pay to plant enough trees to shade 32.42 percent of the property; the minimum requirement for the propertys tree canopy is 25 percent. This decision benefits our community in several ways, said James Eckburg, a Stonegate Hill community member and vice president of the Stonegate Hill board of directors. Although the proposed single-story footprint of the building necessitates this requested variance, the planting of over 800 new trees, both shade and ornamental, will increase our canopy and replace older unhealthy trees, while regrading and replanting of additional vegetation to help limit soil erosion. For residents at Stonegate Hill, approving the tree variance is better than having Microsoft build a structure aimed at limiting tree removal. Microsoft had otherwise proposed a 60-foot, two-story building, which residents said would be highly visible from the neighborhood and threaten the value of the 19 closest homes. Also, under that scenario, Eckburg said, no additional canopy would be added since it would comply with the tree ordinance and the unified development code. On ExpressNews.com: Finding a balance: River authority removes trees for native grassland to prevent flooding Nevertheless, Council Members Jalen McKee-Rodriguez of District 2, Teri Castillo of District 5 and Ana Sandoval of District 7 expressed concern about approving another variance for development. McKee-Rodriguez highlighted the number of variances that have been approved in the past 206 as of a year ago with hopes to restart a conversation to reverse the loss of tree canopy in San Antonio. Im concerned that this sets a big precedent for the tree ordinance, Castillo said. Its very concerning, as folks have brought up: Why this property? Im concerned that it sets the precedent that if you throw enough money into the tree mitigation plan, you can bypass the city ordinance. Bill Kaufman, from the Kaufman Group, said the location near Stonegate Hill was the best option for Microsoft to build because its close to another Microsoft data center. He also noted that the site is rocky with hardly any topsoil or severe changes in elevation. Sandoval expressed concern that the plan would also remove a large carbon sink for the community at a time when reducing the citys concentration of carbon dioxide is urgent. She said the carbon-reduction capacity of the trees cannot be replaced in a short time. Elena Bruess writes for the Express-News through Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. ReportforAmerica.org. elena.bruess@express-news.net. For years, the Texas Department of Transportation has been in lockstep with the citys plan to transform Broadway from a state highway to a complete urban street with wider sidewalks, fewer traffic lanes, protected bike paths and landscaping for more shade. In 2014, the Texas Transportation Commission, which governs TxDOT, began a process of turning Broadway over to the city. In 2016, TxDOT agreed to help the city improve the corridor. A year later, voters approved the $42 million project Mayor Ron Nirenberg called it the centerpiece of the 2017 bond election and the city started spending millions of dollars on its design. This month, TxDOTs chief engineer, William Hale, informed the city that the project, which would reduce the number of traffic lanes from six to four, is no longer moving forward. Upon my review of this project and further discussions with TxDOT administration it has been determined that a lane reduction will not meet the needs of the state transportation system, Hale wrote. William Luther /Staff photographer Now, shocked civic and business leaders are scrambling to buy some time before the five-member commission votes Thursday on whether to rescind its 2014 transfer of Broadway to the city, which the state now insists never occurred. On Monday, City Manager Erik Walsh wrote a letter to J. Bruce Bugg, a San Antonio banker who chairs the state commission, urging him to meet with the city. Bugg had not responded to Walsh on Tuesday. Bugg did not respond to a request by the Express-News for comment. All members of the state commission are appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, who selected Bugg for the governing body in 2015. City and county leaders suspect the move to yank Broadway from the city comes from Abbott. Im almost sure it came from the governor, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. As you know, urban areas are not well-liked by the governor. In a statement, Nan Tolson, a spokeswoman for Abbott, said: Gov. Abbotts priority is to alleviate congestion on our state highway system. A recent local proposal to remove travel lanes along SL 368, which has been and continues to be on the state highway system, would run counter to that goal. Bob Kaufman, spokesman for TxDOT, said Broadway has never been transferred. Kin Man Hui / Staff photographer On Wednesday, Marc Williams, executive director of TxDOT, sent a letter to Walsh that accused the city of making incorrect statements to the public about ownership of Broadway. It has come to the attention of TxDOT that the City of San Antonio has made numerous references to the media and public that TxDOT has previously transferred the property underlying State Loop 368 to the City, Williams wrote. This is incorrect and misleading to the public. In a statement, Walsh responded: TxDOTs involvement and approval of this project over the past five years speaks volumes. We are hopeful that the Commission will delay any action tomorrow to allow time for a resolution and to keep this project on track. Also on Wednesday, a contingent of business and civic leaders sent an urgent letter to Abbott and Bugg imploring them to remove any regulatory roadblocks to the redevelopment of Broadway. A draft of the letter obtained by the San Antonio Express-News has 18 signatories, including Christopher Kit Goldsbury Jr., the billionaire backer of Silver Ventures, which developed the Pearl; Rackspace co-founder Graham Weston; NuStar Energy board chairman Bill Greehey; Spurs chairman Peter John Holt; Eugene Dawson Jr., president of Pape-Dawson Engineers; state Rep. Steve Allison, R-San Antonio, and recently resigned Republican Bexar County Commissioner Trish DeBerry, who is running to replace Wolff as county judge. William Luther / Staff photographer We wish to express our strong support and desire to see the Broadway urban corridor be redeveloped per the plans that have been underway for the past seven years, the letter says. This major infrastructure project spanning from downtown San Antonio to Alamo Heights is long overdue for our most important urban boulevard. The local leaders say the project already has stimulated hundreds of millions of dollars in economic development and is expected to attract $1 billion in new investment along the corridor over the next decade. On ExpressNews.com: Transforming the Broadway Corridor The decision is simple: allow Broadway to prosper, the letter says. Our community has already invested significant time, money and resources into Broadways redevelopment and we are ready to continue to move forward with the plan. Alamo Heights Mayor Bobby Rosenthal said in his own letter that he is extremely disappointed and baffled with TxDOTs reversal in its commitment to the Broadway project. Alamo Heights voters approved a $13.25 million bond issue in 2020 for improving Broadway and Austin Highway based on the designs with reduced lanes. City staff and residents have invested countless hours, let alone tax dollars into the project and the state has also spent millions, Rosenthal wrote. We would appreciate a meeting as soon as possible to discuss further options as the city bond payments already are becoming due and payable, he added. William Luther, Staff Nirenberg said he was dismayed that Broadway a main artery into downtown and part of the citys cultural corridor might not reach its full potential as approved by San Antonio voters. The entirety of it is extremely important for the growth of our community, he said. If there was any dispute, you would think that those conversations would have taken place six years ago, before millions of dollars were spent. Broadway is flanked by the Pearl mixed-use complex, which sparked a wave of development around it. Apartments and office buildings have gone up including Credit Humans new headquarters and more are in the works. Credit Human already has constructed its sidewalk for the planned redevelopment. Construction is underway on a 13-story building at 1900 Broadway that will house Jefferson Banks headquarters and other office and retail tenants. Executives decided to move the bank's offices from the Northeast Side to an urban, walkable area in part to attract talented young employees. The building is on track to be completed later this year. We believe the original Broadway redevelopment plan is important for the beautification of our city and will be much safer for pedestrian traffic in and around our area, President Paul McSween, who also signed the letter to Abbott and Bugg, said in a statement. In 2014, TxDOT, short on funds, sought to push maintenance of certain roads onto cities. That year, the commission transferred control of the Broadway corridor previously known as State Loop 368 to the city of San Antonio. It is therefore ordered by the commission that SL 368 from Alamo Heights city limit south to 1-35, a distance of 2.2 miles, is removed from the state highway system, and jurisdiction, control, and maintenance are transferred to the city, the TxDOT order said. About two months later, the commission passed another order, saying the transfer would occur when the state issued a project acceptance letter. That letter was never issued. William Luther, Staff In 2016, the city wrote to TxDOT outlining the projects proposed in its 2017 bond program, including the redevelopment of Broadway. The summary included a request that TxDOT contribute $5 million for the new corridor. By signing below, you agree with the general scope of the projects, as a required public purpose, and agree to work with the City on the required Funding Agreements after the May 6, 2017 vote, the letter said. A TxDOT district engineer signed the letter. This month, on Jan. 7, Hale of TxDOT, wrote to Razi Hosseini, director of the citys public works department, asserting that the Broadway project would not move forward. The project currently under design by the city of San Antonio which demonstrates a lane reduction will not meet the needs of the state transportation system, Hale wrote. Hosseini responded to Hale about a week later. As you and the San Antonio District staff know, we have been working with TxDOT on the Broadway Avenue from IH 35 to Burr Road since the initial turnback approval in 2014, he wrote. The direction now given by TxDOT compromises the long-initiated plan that has been in development for years and included multiple public meetings and input from stakeholders and interested parties regarding this corridor. On Tuesday, Hosseini met with TxDOT to discuss the impasse. They acknowledged they should have stopped us a long time ago if they had any issue with what we were doing, he recalled. But they did not back off their position. bchasnoff@express-news.net A new study reveals exactly how San Antonios African American community is affected by stark socioeconomic inequities. It provides a platform to have the difficult conversations about what we must do to build a more inclusive San Antonio for all, said Hernan Rozemberg, director of communications and storytelling for the San Antonio Area Foundation. The study conducted by Community Information Now, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing disparities in Bexar and surrounding counties found African Americans face disadvantages in multiple areas of life. The report was commissioned by the San Antonio Area Foundation and the San Antonio Area African American Community Fund. They are less likely than members of all or most other racial demographics in Bexar County to be employed, have health insurance, have a computer and internet access and own their own homes or employer firms (businesses that hire paid employees). Ken Lowe, general partner with Fortress Funding Investment, noted in his commentary on the study that 79 percent of white-owned firms received all of their PPP funds during the pandemic, but only 43 percent of Black-owned businesses received all of the requested funds. San Antonio police are twice as likely to use force in the traffic stop of a Black driver as they are a white driver, according to the study, which based its data on San Antonio Police Departments 2020 racial profiling report. A possible solution, according to the study, is limiting the authority of law enforcement personnel to arrest and search residents during a routine traffic stop. Such trends appear as early as childhood. Most African American students attend school in one of three districts: Judson, Northside and Northeast. In each, they are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs and Advanced Placement courses as well as overrepresented in out-of-school suspensions, special education programs and disciplinary alternative education programs, according to the study. The study suggested exploring positive behavior intervention strategies and expanding successful early childhood programs to help Black students enter school kindergarten-ready. This report does more than validate what most of us know: African Americans face many challenges in our community, Bobby Blount, chairman of the board of directors for the San Antonio Area African American Community Fund, stated in a news release Tuesday. The study also isolated some notable racial disparities in household composition. African American households are less likely than Asian households and county households on average to consist of a married couple. In roughly half of those that harbor both grandparents and underage grandchildren, the grandparents are raising the grandchildren. Since research concluded in December 2021, the foundation and community fund have collaborated with other organizations to make policy recommendations and develop initiatives to reduce the identified disparities. Examples include a partnership with the City of San Antonio Metro Health District, which distributes grants with the goal of addressing health disparities exacerbated by the pandemic. The San Antonio Area African American Community Fund also has established the Social Justice Fund, which posts bail for and provides legal aid to people charged with low-level offenses, and the foundation has created the San Antonio Equity Fellowship Program, which fosters the professional development of nonprofit workers. However, Blount cautioned, it would be a mistake to treat these issues as if they existed in isolation. Rather, they are all interconnected, representing a complex web of social causes and effects that can often transform into a vicious cycle. As he said by way of example, Access to capital impacts homeownership. caroline.tien@hearst.com Like the gutsy Holocaust survivor who wrote it, a heartfelt letter penned more than 75 years ago survived for decades until a local bargain hunter found it at a flea market and tracked down the writers elated family. After Russian troops liberated Ilse Loewenberg from a concentration camp in 1945, she wrote a warm dispatch to her sister, Carla, in the U.K., the only other family member who survived the harrowing ordeal. Advertisement The recovered letter (Obtained by Daily News) Through the kindness of our liberators, I am able to give you a sign of life from me after so many years, Loewenberg wrote by hand in German. Dad, Mom, Grete, Lottchen and Hermann: no one is alive anymore. My pain is unspeakably big. My husband, whom I married 3.5 years ago, was also taken from me! When there will be a regular mail connection, I will tell you everything in detail. Ilse Grun after liberation in 1945. (Obtained by Daily News) Manhattan heirloom hunter and interior designer Chelsey Brown, who has an eye for long-lost artifacts, found the handwritten letter recently among the artifacts of a local dealer. Advertisement Brown wouldnt say exactly where she got it, or how much she paid for it. But she said she was glad to get the letter off the market and back in the right hands. My main mission is to get these Holocaust items off the market and to their rightful families, said Brown, 28, who supplements her detective work through her social media following and with money she earns as a home decorator. Chelsey Brown (Obtained by Daily News) Using historical records she found on the global family history platform MyHeritage.com, Brown was able to find a Loewenberg relative and return the letter recently, weeks ahead of Thursdays International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Loewenbergs great niece Jill Butler, who lives in the city, initially thought it was a scam when Brown tracked her down. But after a two-hour talk on the phone, she was soon singing Browns praises, thanking her for her selfless dedication. We all loved our Great Aunt Ilse and are thrilled beyond words to read her thoughts in her own handwriting after she emerged from the depths of the European inferno, Butler said in a statement. At the height of World War II, Loewenberg and her husband Gerhard Grun joined an underground resistance group. But in 1943 she was arrested and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > A month later, her husband was captured, sent to a different concentration camp and was shot, according to the family. That same year, her parents and two of her sisters perished in Nazi concentration camps. Loewenberg would likely have suffered the same fate, but she escaped jumping off a fast-moving train near Ruda, Poland, and returning to Berlin to hide. Advertisement Eighteen months later, Loewenberg was arrested again and remained in prisons in Berlin until 1945 when she was liberated by Russian troops. A short time later, she wrote the letter to her other sister, Carla, who had immigrated to England prior to the war, and later immigrated to the U.S. (L-R) Jill Butler and Ilse Grun (Obtained by Daily News) In 1948, Loewenberg found her way to America, settled in Forest Hills, Queens, and married again. After the war, Loewenberg continued to send supplies to the family that helped her survive the Holocaust, Brown said. Loewenberg and her sister reunited in New York where they spent the rest of their lives. Loewenberg died on Sept. 11, 2001. Though her death was unrelated to the terrorist attacks, her close friends and family said they believe she died because she could not witness any more tragedy and suffering. Ilse is the perfect example of doing good in this world, Brown said. She is a reminder to be good in a world isnt so kind. Thats why I do this. U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, a San Antonio Republican representing District 23, this week welcomed news of the $75 million in federal aid coming to San Antonios Westside Ecosystem Restoration Project. The money from President Joe Bidens $1.2 trillion infrastructure package was signed into law last November and will be spent over the next eight years. It will ultimately bring billions to Texas projects. No Texas Republicans in the U.S. House voted for it. The states two U.S. senators joined them in opposition. Both are Republican. They fell in line, but Gonzales news release this week made another impression altogether. It lauds the local project and says, Congressman Tony Gonzales Announces $75 Million For Westside Creek Restoration Project. The statement emphasized the projects far reaching community and environmental benefits. It failed to mention that Gonzales voted against the bill and took credit where none was due. Other Republicans made similar hypocritical announcements. Before heralding the good news on federal aid, theyd branded the Biden bill as socialist and communist. Of course, its neither. The money will be invested in ensuring safe water; safer roads, bridges and dams; and other investments in the nations future. In November, Gonzales said the bill will only make matters worse and hold our country back. House Republicans who did vote in favor of the Biden bill suffered for it. They were bashed by members of their own party. Some received death threats from the right. On Wednesday, Gonzales didnt take a call to respond to criticism from constituents, Democrats and news outlets. His office said he was out of pocket and sent information to underscore his longtime support of Westside Creek improvements. It explained that funding for the project was not specifically allocated yet in the infrastructure package that the House voted on. Once it passed the House, (Gonzales) advocated the funds to go to this project, including a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works. While Congressman Gonzales did not vote for the initial package due to the $1 trillion price tag associated with it, if the money is going to be spent, he is going to advocate that it goes to the district. @TonyGonzales4TX went to Twitter to respond. Make no mistake, Ive been fighting for the Westside Creek Project since day 1, he said, pointing to a letter he signed along with other members of the congressional delegation. Even if you set aside the blatant duplicity, Gonzales deserves to be called out for insulting his constituents by assuming they didnt notice he didnt support the infrastructure bill. Did he think theyd forget he described the infrastructure spending as socialist? Did he assume constituents wouldnt be savvy enough to Google how he voted? Money from the legislation will be consequential, providing federal funding to build, rebuild and repair roads, bridges, dams and other neglected infrastructure. The biggest share, $110 billion, will go to roads and bridges. Other sums are equally important, including $73 billion for electric grid and power infrastructure; $66 billion for passenger and freight rail; $65 billion for broadband investments; and $55 billion for water systems and infrastructure. Texas will stand to gain about $35 billion, creating jobs thatll help move the economy forward. Gonzales has attempted to practice bipartisanship. The retired Navy veteran attended Bidens inauguration last year and on Jan. 6 stood with members of U.S. Capitol Police to guard against insurrectionists, according to several reports. Gonzales wasnt the only lawmaker who voted against the infrastructure bill, only to turn around and tout the money coming to his district, which includes parts of San Antonio and stretches across the U.S. border with Mexico to El Paso. A Washington Post report zeroed in on Republican U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson of Iowa and Kay Granger of Texas for suddenly supporting a bill they vociferously opposed. Hinson, whose district received $829 million for modernizing locks and dams on the Mississippi River, changed her tone and called it game-changing. In November, however, she said the bill was the biggest leap toward socialism this nation has ever seen. Granger was elated that $403 million from the bill would go toward a flood control project at home, but first called it a socialist plan full of radical spending. Gonzales got the attention of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, whose headline said, Voted No, Took the Dough. It said he lied to Texas voters by taking credit for the bills passage. What is true is that the federal aid will improve environmental and water quality in West Side creeks. By restoring their aquatic ecosystems, the creeks will become another recreational oasis for residents. But Gonzales had nothing to do with it. eayala@express-news.net Bexar County Commissioners Court recently approved bringing on two consulting firms to examine issues at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center. During the commissioners meeting, it was decided that the consulting firms would review overtime and five other issues, including inmate housing, jail population and retention of deputies but there was hardly any mention of the investigation into a string of in-custody deaths, let alone the victims of medical neglect. Sheriff Javier Salazar announced in early 2020 that hed opened an investigation of University Health System staff at the Bexar County Detention Center, stating, Weve had deaths at the Bexar County Jail. My belief is that they were receiving less than stellar service at the Bexar County Jail. I find that unacceptable. Its been two years since the sheriff called for an investigation into the inadequate medical care, yet theres been no update or any action plan to address concerns over the quality of care administered to those in custody. While the public waits for answers, those incarcerated in Bexar County continue to suffer. Time and again, allegations that medical staff at the Bexar County Adult Detention Center were aware of and yet disregarded serious medical risks to those in custody have surfaced in court records. The demographics of the jail population must not be ignored when considering the decision to omit the care complaints from the analysis. Theres no denying that the negative impact of excluding the medical neglect connected to in-custody deaths from the jail analysis would disproportionately affect communities of color; in Texas, for every white person imprisoned, 3.42 Black Texans will face imprisonment, according to the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit focused on criminal justice reform. Incarceration can affect health and well-being for generations, and not all the impacts have to be negative. Jails are not the solution to mental illness or drug addiction, or those suffering from other social determinants of health, such as homelessness or economic instability. However, the point at which medical care and incarceration intersect can directly impact the likelihood that an individual will succeed upon release. Studies have shown that within two years of losing access to health care, those with a history of mental illness are more likely to be incarcerated. There is no doubt that this statistic will be met with calls for more public funds to build psychiatric hospitals, but I urge Commissioners Court not to be distracted from the real issue at hand. No matter how many psychiatric beds the county might add to the public health care system, those in our justice system will always need fair and equitable medical care care theyre not getting right now at the detention center. Together, we can empower people within our justice system to become self-sufficient participants in the economic and social fabric of our community, but only if we ensure their basic needs for care are met. When discussions turn to the complex relationship between the racial wealth gap and incarceration, much of the emphasis is placed on prevention from entering the justice system and expanding economic opportunities for the formerly incarcerated. But very little focus is placed on the fact that the toxic stress that comes from postponed health care and untreated or chronic health conditions makes it more difficult for former inmates to find and keep a job upon release. Now, more than ever, our community cant lose sight of the fact that our taxpayer-owned hospital system was granted taxing authority to provide care for the most vulnerable and that begins with those in our justice system. When the Bexar County Hospital District was established, its intention was to ensure access to care for the indigent. Has this been lost to those within the justice system? Health care providers at our correctional facilities are the first intervention point, and the recent history of neglect demands more transparency and accountability. The recent decision to conduct a jail analysis brings an opportunity for our community to make another important decision. Will we take this opportunity to begin to address racial health disparities, or will we continue to neglect them? As a community, lets continue to monitor this analysis closely and demand change. Milton Harris is the executive director of the 100 Black Men of San Antonio. Texas is responsible for educating more rural students than any other state, with students of color comprising nearly half the student population and more students living in poverty compared with urban districts. Rural schools are also more likely to employ teachers with less experience and lower certification exam scores, and are less able to attract specialized teachers, which reduces access to special education and Advanced Placement courses. It is no secret the pandemic has affected teacher recruitment and retention rates. What isnt being reported much is the substantial impact on rural schools in Texas affecting nearly 700,000 students. Retention and recruitment rates are dropping, and our state leaders should make rectifying this a key priority. Long-standing trends have shown that rural schools face teacher recruitment challenges oftentimes the more rural the school, the more challenging recruiting and retaining a qualified teacher becomes. Lower base salaries, limited local teacher supply, and geographic and social isolation are often cited as problems. An increase in workload due to the pandemic is triggering an upsurge in teacher turnover. Resignations create more work for the remaining teachers, which creates more turnover. As education researchers, we speak regularly with superintendents, school board members, principals and teachers in Texas and other states. Every state is confronting similar problems. Texas, however, should be a national leader given its large rural population. In 2016, Mike Morath, Texas Education Agency commissioner, tasked the Texas Rural Schools Task Force with identifying challenges in rural districts. This was a good start, but now is the time for policies targeting rural teacher recruitment and retention. The state should raise existing teacher salaries, particularly in rural districts. Salary incentives can keep rural teachers working in the same schools for longer. Raising salaries and improving working conditions also can help the state recruit talented workers from other professions who are seeking new careers as part of the Great Resignation. To further induce talented professionals from other fields, the state can reduce the cost of obtaining a teaching certification. Texas should also focus on funding rural teacher preparation programs in partnership with universities. More than half of Texas teachers are prepared in alternative certification programs, but alternatively certified teachers are less likely to stay on the job beyond five years than those trained at universities. Increasing salaries, improving working conditions and incentivizing university-based preparation could help stabilize the rural teacher workforce. The state would also be wise to subsidize tuition loans leading to teacher certification and offer hardship pay for the most challenging or physically isolated settings. Congress has considered funding hazard pay, or Patriot Pay, as bonuses for health care workers and other essential personnel. Rural teachers are no less essential and continue to be at great risk of contracting COVID-19. Finally, and especially given the current health crisis, Texas should ensure that rural districts have the mental and physical health infrastructure to support teachers and their communities. Rural schools play an important role in their communities health. This is especially important because Texas has seen the highest number of rural hospital closures since 2005. This means that rural teachers have greater influence on their communities well-being than teachers in urban areas, where other institutions hold a dominant role. Each of the states nearly 700,000 rural children deserves a caring, well-trained teacher, especially amid a deadly and disruptive pandemic. The rural teacher pipeline has always been deprioritized, but for Texas to be truly a vibrant state, our leaders must innovate and invest on behalf of rural children. David DeMatthews is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. Annie Maselli is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Pennsylvania State University and an associate for the Center on Rural Education and Communities. On Saturday, several days after my son stopped testing positive for the coronavirus, I took him out for ramen and then to the movies. The theater was about half-full; it required masks but also served food and cocktails, which you could, obviously, unmask to consume. I wouldnt have gone three weeks ago, when omicron was at its height and my family hadnt been infected. But now everyone in my household except me has had it Ive been protected by either dumb luck or my Moderna booster and so, in my own life, the stakes of a positive test have gone down. Im probably not living that much differently from those who declare themselves #DoneWithCovid. The phrase was trending on Twitter on Monday morning, in response to a declaration by my former colleague Bari Weiss on Real Time With Bill Maher. Im done with COVID! Im done! she said. Weiss described making an all-out effort to avoid COVID early on. And then we were told you get the vaccine. You get the vaccine, and you get back to normal. And we havent gotten back to normal. And its ridiculous at this point, she said. When she finished speaking, the audience cheered. The desperate desire to get back to normal is understandable. Whats odd is seeing the absence of normality as a political betrayal instead of an epidemiological curveball. The reason things arent normal isnt that power-mad public health officials went back on their promises. Its because a new coronavirus variant emerged that overwhelmed hospitals and threw schools and many industries into chaos, and because not everyone has the luxury of being insouciant about infection. Even with omicron around, theres a fair bit of normality available, especially if you dont have kids. Here in New York City, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and theaters are generally open, though shows are closing at the last minute when cast members fall ill. You can have a party or go on vacation. What you cant do is force other people, whose vulnerabilities might be much greater than your own, to agree with your risk assessments and join you in moving on while the pandemic still rages. There are certainly COVID mitigation policies that I think are awful. Its absurd that in some places, New York City included, kids who get COVID cant return to school for 10 days, even if they test negative earlier. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people need only quarantine for five days.) I hate the fact that my kids still have to wear masks outdoors at recess and that my daughter eats lunch on the cafeteria floor for reasons of social distancing. But in general, whats standing in the way of normal life is COVID, not COVID prevention. In most cases in which schools are closing, its because too many people are out sick to staff them. The same is true of stores that are cutting back their hours and airlines canceling flights. To have more normalcy, we need less illness. That means doing all the things public health people drone on about, especially getting more people vaccinated and boosted, which still even with the high number of omicron breakthrough cases reduces the risk of infection as well as hospitalization. Not long ago, I thought that once vaccines for kids older than 5 were available, Id start arguing for the end of school masking. Last month I reported on a letter that Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, wrote to the CDCs director, Rochelle Walensky, and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, asking for an off-ramp from mandatory mask policies. There are reports coming from some classroom teachers that the constant use of masks impedes the learning process, Weingarten wrote. A number of parents have expressed dismay about their childs overall well-being after wearing a mask continually for well over a year and a half. The CDC recently put out updated guidance suggesting that some people, including those teaching students to read, might want to wear clear masks. This seems a tacit acknowledgment that ordinary face coverings can have an educational cost. They certainly have a social one; I have little doubt that masks are part of why my kids now find school so joyless, and Ill be thrilled when theyre no longer necessary. But I cant imagine advocating an end to school masking right now, when those who work in schools are being infected in such huge numbers. The substitute shortage is so bad that parents and, in New Mexico, members of the National Guard are being asked to fill in. This isnt a problem that can be fixed with an attitude adjustment. Critics of how liberals have responded to the pandemic sometimes argue that weve overestimated our ability to control this virus. But those who think we can escape this excruciating period simply by changing our mindset are also overestimating how much control we have. America wont seem remotely normal until its a lot less sick. Air Serbia is today taking delivery of its first of five ATR72-600 turboprops, with plans to replace its entire regional fleet with newly leased aircraft by the end of the year. Air Serbia is today taking delivery of its first of five ATR72-600 turboprops, with plans to replace its entire regional fleet with newly leased aircraft by the end of the year. As previously reported , the first ATR72-600 is six years old and will arrive from Toulouse with the registration YU-ALY. As EX-YU Aviation News learns, the aircraft will likely enter into commercial service on February 1. It will be scheduled throughout the carriers regional network on flights from Belgrade to Banja Luka, Bologna, Bucharest, Ljubljana, Podgorica, Prague, Sarajevo, Skopje, Sofia, Thessaloniki, Tivat, Trieste, Tirana, Vienna and Zagreb, as well as seasonal services to Bari, Dubrovnik, Pula, Rijeka, Split and Zadar. Furthermore, it will be utilised on flights from Nis to Ljubljana and Athens, as well as from Kraljevo to Istanbul and Thessaloniki. Air Serbias ATR72-600s will feature new leather slim seats, which will enable the airline to increase its capacity on the aircraft to 72, up from 66 in the -200 series and seventy in the -500 series. The seats were manufactured by Geven from Italy. The Prestige seats featured provide baseline features such as recline, a high literature pocket and eighteen inches in width. Furthermore, in contrast to the current turboprop fleet, the ATR72-600s also enable passengers to store large roller bags in the overhead bins. Air Serbia ATR72-600 cabin Commenting on the arrival of newer aircraft, Air Serbias CEO, Jiri Marek, said, Fleet renewal is one of the most significant strategic decisions and Air Serbia is capitalising on current favourable market conditions regarding aircraft availability. We are starting with our turboprop fleet and replacing all ATR 72-200s, of which we currently have three in the fleet, as well as two ATR 72-500 airplanes, with state-of-the-art ATR72-600 during the upcoming period. This will significantly increase our operational efficiency, as well as service provided to passengers. Our ambition is to continue to develop further as a regional leader and the upgraded turboprop fleet is an essential step on this path. The arrival of newer ATR aircraft will significantly reduce the average age of Air Serbias fleet, which currently stands at nineteen and a half years. The current ATRs range between 24 and 32 years. The two ATR72-200s were delivered new to JAT Yugoslav Airlines in 1990. GREAT FALLS, Mont. Louella Fredrickson has long created workarounds to fill gaps in the spotty medical care available to her as a member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana. The 86-year-old uses dollar-store reading glasses to improve her blurry vision because shes worried about the cost of an eye appointment. And when she needed hearing aids, she was told it would cost her more than $1,300. So Fredrickson asked a doctor to tweak her husbands old pair to fit her smaller ears. My husband had only used them for a few months before he died, so they work OK, Fredrickson said. But one thing she hasnt solved is the 200-mile round trip from her home in Great Falls to the closest Indian Health Service clinic that offers such services to tribal members for free. Soon, though, getting care will be easier for Fredrickson and other Little Shell members living in and around Great Falls. The Little Shell Tribal Health Clinic is slated to open in this city of about 60,000 people on Jan. 31, roughly two years after the tribal nation achieved its long-sought federal recognition. For the first time, Little Shell members will have guaranteed access to health services and see their culture reflected in the offerings. The brick-and-mortar hub is a powerful symbol for a tribe that lacks a reservation, especially given the clinics focus on providing care to people who have faced long-standing health barriers that the pandemic underscored. The building is a tangible example of what Little Shell can become, said tribal member Darrel Rummel, 81. The clinic, its going to be the heart of it all. Little Shell became the United States 574th federally recognized Indigenous tribe in December 2019, roughly 150 years after Little Shell leaders began advocating for the tribe to be acknowledged as a sovereign nation. That recognition came just months before the covid-19 pandemic took hold and disproportionately killed Indigenous people due to entrenched structural health inequities. Of the nearly 2,800 Montanans who had died by Dec. 3 from covid complications, 12% identified as Native American. Indigenous people make up an estimated 7% of the states total population. Amid the health crisis, the Little Shell Tribe used federal pandemic relief dollars to fast-track the opening of its clinic. It will offer primary and behavioral health care, plus dental, vision, pharmaceutical, lab, and radiological services. The tribe has had free access to Indian Health Service clinics statewide since Montana recognized it as a tribal nation in 2000. But such clinics can be scattered far afield and, even then, medical services vary. Little Shell members said their access has faltered when health facility budgets tighten and the clinics must prioritize care for tribal members affiliated with local reservations. Molly Wendland, Little Shells tribal health director, said that the new clinic, initially run by the Indian Health Service, will be open to any member of a tribal nation and that the tribe hopes to eventually expand services to anyone else after it takes over daily operations. IHS will oversee it for at least three years. Making our community and our members healthy means we have a healthy tribe, she said. I wanted this clinic to be comfortable and something new and nice. Our members deserve that. On a recent day, Wendland smiled as she pointed to the word boozhoo on the clinics entrance, welcoming people with the word in the Ojibwe language that means greetings. Inside, above the reception desk, is a massive image of Ayabe-Way-We-Tung, also known as Chief Little Shell III, who began pushing the U.S. government for a reservation in 1872. Historical photos of Little Shell people are displayed nearby. Lines of gray and burnt orange take the shape of abstract tepees along the clinics walls and floors. Plaques, designed with help from the tribes language students, name clinic rooms after animals in Ojibwe, such as waagosh alongside its English translation, fox. For rooms Wendland calls talking rooms, two chairs face each other in place of an exam table and a doctors stool, which she said lends more to a conversation between patient and provider. It really takes down that power differential, she said. Upstairs is a small apartment, which Wendland hopes will serve as a place for traveling doctors to stay when they come to offer additional services, such as fittings for hearing aids. Another room on the main floor is the smudge room, where patients can burn plants such as sage in a ceremony to cleanse a person or place. This is a place to pray and just for families to kind of catch their breath, Wendland said. If people are going to have to travel, I want everything they need to be here. The Little Shell headquarters is in Great Falls, though many members are scattered across Montana, Washington, and beyond. The tribe is still trying to set up ride programs for its members who live in rural parts of Montana. But for those tribal members in central Montana, the clinics opening will be an immediate benefit. Sherlie Bolich, 76, of Great Falls said she has sometimes waited for services amid backlogs of patients at other tribes facilities. When Bolichs kids were in high school, she changed jobs for more flexible hours to take her kids on the four-hour round-trip drive to a clinic in Browning. Years later, she made those same trips when her aging mom needed more frequent medical care. Even then, Bolich said, Indian Health Service clinics have felt like safe spaces because Indigenous people are the minority elsewhere, and the costs of health care services outside the federal health service can outpace paychecks even with insurance. Yet now shes excited to have something closer, something for her tribe. With the clinic here, you feel that youve got somebody here watching out for your people and all of us, Bolich said. My grandchildren will be able to go in and see somebody right away. Little Shell member Rummel also has long traveled beyond Great Falls to places such as Browning for care. Since last fall, she has had spells of vertigo that can make it hard to stand and said she was told she would have to wait until spring to see a doctor. At the Little Shell clinics recent open house, Rummel said, she wore a pair of beaded earrings and a traditional ribbon skirt, with pink, blue, purple, yellow, and white ribbons wrapped horizontally down to just above her moccasins. Shes proud to see her tribal nation reflected on the new clinics walls. Like many Little Shell members, Rummel said, she grew up in a predominately non-Indigenous culture and is still working to learn the traditions of her people. She immediately noticed the Ojibwe words printed on the clinics doors and walls the first time she had seen her tribes language in a permanent spot. I was so impressed with that, I thought, Thats going to help us learn our language, Rummel said. And, she said, she hopes she can finally get those dizzy spells checked out once the clinic opens its doors. A judge heard arguments over the constitutionality of a law that could change how voters elect Montana Supreme Justices were in Gallatin County District Court Wednesday. House Bill 325 passed the Montana Legislature in May, and was followed by a lawsuit against Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen labeling the action as unconstitutional. The law would send a ballot question to Montanans in November asking whether voters want to continue voting at-large for Supreme Court justices or switch to district-based voting. Seven Supreme Court districts would be created if the question is approved and those seven elected justices would elect a chief justice. Gallatin County would be in the 6th District with Madison and Silver Bow counties. District-based voting would kick in during the 2024 election cycle. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued the law is unconstitutional because state Supreme Court justices are elected on a statewide basis. They argued thats rooted in the Montana Constitution, and that sending a ballot question to voters to change that would amount to asking them to illegally amend the constitution. Attorneys for the state argued the law was constitutional because the Legislature can determine how Supreme Court justices are elected, and that the legislative referendum would not be a constitutional amendment. The plaintiffs include Sister Mary Jo Macdonald, former District Court Clerk Lori Maloney, former Democratic representatives Fritz Daily and Dorothy Bradley, former Montana Secretary of State Bob Brown, former Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Chairman Vernon Finley, Montana 1972 Constitutional Convention delegate Mae Nan Ellingson and the Montana League of Women Voters. They filed the lawsuit against Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen to prevent the question from making its way to ballots. Bozeman attorney Jim Goetz, representing the plaintiffs, said during the hearing for summary judgment Wednesday that HB 325 was an illegal attempt to amend the Montana Constitution with a legislative referendum, or ballot question. He said that the same issue was raised in a 2012 case that determined that a similar bill seeking to change the way justices are elected was unconstitutional. The driving reason behind that decision was that the bill intended to add a requirement that Supreme Court justices would have to live in the district they were seeking to represent. Billings-based attorney Clifford Edwards also represented the plaintiffs. He said that the Montana Constitution distinguished between district court judges and Supreme Court justices, and that the 2012 decision made clear that justices serve on a statewide basis, and should not be elected from districts like district court judges. Goetz was also concerned about how the proposed change to electing justices could affect future campaigning for open seats, based on the current meritless attacks to the Montana Supreme Court. Given this knuckle-brained, what I think is a hair-brained attempt, to dilute the Supreme Court, can you imagine the kind of campaign that this would unleash? Goetz said. Montana Assistant Solicitor General Christian Corrigan represented Montana Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen. He argued that the court had no jurisdiction to determine the constitutionality of HB 325 before the election, especially since the change would not affect voters until the 2024 election. He said the 2012 case made clear that adding requirements to the position of Supreme Court justice like candidates having to live in the they are running in was unconstitutional because it would have amended the Montana Constitution. Corrigan said that the plaintiffs are simply claiming that HB 325 is unconstitutional. A legislative referendum is entirely different from a constitutional amendment, he said. Just because a legislative referendum, or a statute, ultimately conflicts with the constitution, doesnt magically transform it into a constitutional amendment, Corrigan said. Corrigan also pointed to the recent decision in a suit over the governors ability to directly fill judicial vacancies. In that case, which grew out of another law passed by the 2021 Legislature, the Montana Supreme Court determined that Gov. Greg Gianforte could fill judicial vacancies directly, eliminating the Judicial Nomination Commission Corrigan said that the decision in that lawsuit now required courts to go back to step one, and do a complete analysis of the 2012 case on the election of Supreme Court justices. He said that analysis would change the meaning of that decision. District Court Judge Peter Ohman did not make a decision Wednesday, but said that an order would be coming soon. While visiting the city to pursue a libel lawsuit against the New York Times, COVID-19-infected ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin got an ex-New York Ranger to play defense against a photographer who shot video of her at an Upper East Side eatery. Video of the encounter at Elios on Second Avenue in Yorkville on Wednesday night was posted Thursday night on the Twitter page of Upper East Site, a local news outlet. Advertisement Hi there, the photographer said. Are any of you guys concerned that she tested positive for COVID? Im just curious. At that, ex-Ranger and ex-MSG analyst Ron Duguay got up from the table, approached the photographer, and said: Are you looking for trouble? Advertisement Former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. (Brynn Anderson/AP) Duguay then apparently knocked to the ground the device the photographer was using to shoot the video. The photographer told the Daily News he spoke to police about the incident. Law enforcement sources confirmed late Thursday that officers responded to a verbal dispute at Elios that involved Palin, and that the situation was resolved. The video came to light after Mayor Adams office issued a warning earlier Thursday to New Yorkers who crossed Palins infected path. We encourage any New Yorker who came into contact with Sarah Palin to get tested, just as we encourage all New Yorkers to get tested regularly, especially those who believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19, said Adams spokesman Jonah Allon. Palin, the former Alaska governor and avowed anti-vaxxer, was seated outdoors Wednesday night at Elios, Gothamist first reported. On an earlier visit Saturday to Elios before her diagnosis Palin dined inside without showing the required city-mandated proof of vaccination. Palin, who has contracted COVID before, is famously unvaccinated, and has vowed that any vaccine against the disease would be given her over my dead body. Elio's, an Upper East Side Italian restaurant. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) Elios manager Luca Guaitolini said workers were trying to put the visit behind them. Advertisement Its unfortunate, but weve moved on, Guaitolini said. Weve been answering all the questions since Wednesday. What can I tell you? We are spaghetti people. City inspectors did not observe Palins visit which means it wont impose a fine on Elios for letting her dine indoors. Restaurants that violate city COVID rules can be fined $1,000 for a first violation. A spokesman for Mayor Adams said the fines rise to $2,000 for a second violation and $5,000 for third and subsequent violations. Even so, the mayors office had strong words for Palin. By repeatedly flouting CDC guidelines, Ms. Palin has shown a complete disregard for the health and safety of small business workers and her fellow patrons, Allon said. The city offers multiple resources to support isolation for those who test positive for COVID-19, and we encourage Ms. Palin to join the 98 percent of New Yorkers who report they have followed guidance on isolation and have helped New York City stop the spread. Advertisement Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > City inspectors contacted Elios Thursday to educate them about COVID-19 rules for restaurants and other businesses, according to a City Hall official. As far as the city is concerned, Elios has so far been in compliance with the rules but the eatery will be receiving an unannounced inspection in the future in light of Palins visit, the official added. Palins Italian food fest also included a Tuesday night stop at Campagnola, a few blocks away, where she also ate outdoors. At both places, she was spotted coming or going without a mask, and left one of the restaurants in the back of an SUV where she sat in close quarters with other passengers. Palin tested positive for COVID on Monday. She was required to take a test because she planned to remove her mask to give testimony at a trial for a defamation lawsuit she has launched against the New York Times. The trial has been delayed until February 3. At Campagnola, where the specials include Pappardelle Casalinga, Tony, a regular, had a hard time digesting Palins apparent coronavirus indifference. Advertisement Its disgusting, Tony said. We all have to abide by the rules. Why doesnt she? WOOSTER, Ohio Foreign animal diseases may not be in the U.S., but theyre still a big deal for the country. Some, like foot-and-mouth disease, have been here before. Others, like African swine fever, have shown up in places including the Dominican Republic, but have not yet arrived in the U.S. All could disrupt the U.S. and global industry. And its impossible to know if a pig has a foreign animal disease without testing. You cannot tell what these diseases are just by looking at the pig, said Ellen Yoakam, a veterinarian in the Ohio Department of Agricultures animal health division, at a Jan. 19 meeting on biosecurity planning and foreign animal diseases for swine farmers. Yoakam and other speakers urged swine producers to call the department of agriculture, or the U.S. Department of Agricultures veterinary services, if they see their livestock come down with anything that involves an unusual amount of deaths, or blisters or vesicles on the animal. Unusual, unexplained symptoms should always be reported, Yoakam said. African swine fever There are several foreign animal diseases on the radar right now, including classical swine fever and foot-and-mouth disease, but African swine fever is one of the most discussed. The virus does not affect food safety or public health, but it is very contagious for pigs. It can spread from animal to animal, on clothes or vehicles that go between farms, through ticks, mosquitoes and biting flies and possibly through feed or feed additives. Infected feral hogs could also spread the disease to domestic hogs. Theres a lot of ways that, once this virus is around, it can be spread further, Yoakam said. The virus can also survive for some time in chilled, frozen or cured meat, so the USDA and the department of homeland security have ramped up efforts at the borders to keep people from smuggling in pork products. After an animal is infected, it could take anywhere from three to 21 days to show symptoms. There is a long list of symptoms, including fever, discoloration, diarrhea, sudden death, tiredness, piling, going off feed and abortions. While researchers are working on developing a vaccine, there currently is no vaccine for African swine fever. Farm impact If a farmer reports possible symptoms of a foreign animal disease in a hog in the U.S., the first steps is for a vet to visit the farm and take samples for testing. Regulatory officials also ask the farms owners about things like the symptoms they saw, biosecurity on the farm, whether they have been out of the country recently and whether anyone who works on the farm also works on other farms. If test results confirm a foreign animal disease, officials and the farmers have to make plans to depopulate the herd, safely dispose of carcasses and disinfect the farm and restock after a fallow period. The USDA provides indemnity payments for euthanized animals, based on their market value. The USDA and state department of agriculture would also set up control zones and disease surveillance areas around the infected farm. U.S. impact But impacts wouldnt just be limited to the farm with the sick animals. If a U.S. farm had a foreign animal disease infection, the secretary of agriculture would immediately take steps to declare an extraordinary emergency. There would be a national order to stop moving swine for 72 hours. That could lead to export markets closing and prices dropping. After that stop order, the goal would be for the industry to keep going, with some changes. That includes permits for moving on and off infected farms and in control zones around those farms. Farms that are not infected will be able to continue business, with some requirements, like biosecurity practices. But thats all a worst case scenario, said Rebecca Ita, of the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Just because a farmer sees worrying symptoms and has to get an animal tested doesnt mean their farm will be the start of an outbreak. I want you to just keep in mind that in general, chances are youre going to be negative, Ita said. Our goal is to make you prepared, even though we think and hope that this wont happen. Biosecurity To help avoid positive test results, and to help keep the industry moving if a foreign animal disease does come to the U.S., biosecurity is important. After the shock, we as an industry, were going to need to continue our lives, said Andreia Arruda, assistant professor with Ohio State Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine. So, in this case, theres a plan for it. The Secure Pork Supply plan, which is voluntary and developed by industry groups, state and federal officials and universities, offers farmers a way to prepare. It provides resources for creating site maps and biosecurity plans with a veterinarian the types of thing farmers will need in order to get permits to move livestock and carry on other activities if there is an outbreak. Farmers can also request a national premises identification number, which would allow regulatory staff to let them know more quickly if they are in a control area during an outbreak. While biosecurity can be complex, parts of biosecurity plans are very simple, she said. For example, a visitor log can help farmers keep track of who has been on the farm. Testing and isolating new animals can also help prevent disease spread. Ohio State and the U.S. and Ohio departments of agriculture are planning several more meetings on foreign animal diseases around Ohio. Future meetings are planned for Feb. 2, at the Champaign County Extension Office; Feb. 16, at the Putnam County Extension Office; and Feb. 22, at the Athens County Extension Office, all 6-7:30 p.m. COLUMBUS Biologists with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife recommended a major reduction to the 2022 fall wild turkey hunting season during the Ohio Wildlife Councils regularly scheduled meeting Jan. 12. Under the proposal, Ohios fall wild turkey season would begin Oct. 15 and conclude Nov. 13, a reduction of three weeks when compared to the 2021 fall season. The fall turkey hunting proposal was part of a larger package of season dates that were presented to the Ohio Wildlife Council, and includes small game, waterfowl and furbearers. Wild turkey populations have declined throughout Ohio following several years of below average reproductive success. The proposed reduction in the fall hunting season length goes along with a reduced limit for the spring season. Ohio hunters harvested 695 wild turkeys during the 2021 fall season that was open in 70 of 88 counties. The average harvest during the three previous years (2018 to 2020) was 1,079 birds. Additional 2022-23 hunting seasons dates that were proposed include the traditional start dates of squirrel and mourning dove Sept. 1, furbearer hunting and trapping Nov. 10, and rabbit and pheasant Nov. 4. Waterfowl hunting dates in the Lake Erie marsh zone were proposed to begin Oct. 15. The north zone and south zone waterfowl openers were proposed for Oct. 22. White-tailed deer hunting seasons will be presented to the Ohio Wildlife Council Feb. 9. The Ohio Wildlife Council is an eight-member board that approves all Ohio Division of Wildlife proposed rules and regulations. Council meetings are held virtually and open to the public. Individuals interested in providing comments are asked to call 614-265-6304 at least two days prior to the meeting to register. All comments are required to be three minutes or less. A statewide hearing on all proposed rules will be held March 24 at 9 a.m. WEST SALEM, Ohio Northwestern FFA hosted the first Christmas on the Equator event Dec. 20. Norwayne, Smithville, West Holmes and Triway FFAs all attended. The evening started off with dinner in the ag shop and led to line and square dancing in the cafeteria ,led by a caller. Following the dancing, there was a dodgeball tournament to wrap up the evening. EDON, Ohio The Edon FFA chapter sent five FFA officers to the Huntingdon University FFA Leadership Summit Jan. 20. They began their day listening to speakers, and learning about Indianas agriculture industry. From there, they participated in hands-on activities facilitated by the Indiana State FFA Officers to help strengthen their leadership as individuals and as a whole. The junior and senior officers that attended were resident, Emma Howard; vice president, Maddison Gearig; secretary, Carlie Kiess; treasurer, Olivia Mitchell; and reporter, Kerrin Towers. Those interested in studying a topic within agriculture or the wider industry are being encouraged to apply for a 2023 Nuffield Farming Scholarship. With around 20 Scholarships awarded each year, successful applicants are provided a bursary to fund travel to study their chosen topic. A Nuffield Scholarship aims to bring fresh insight and ideas that inspire change and drive the farming industry forward. Applications tend to be from those working across the agriculture, food, horticulture, rural or associated industries. Mike Vacher, Director of the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, explained the important role that Scholars play. Nuffield Farming Scholarships provide a unique opportunity within the food and farming industry," he said. "Not only do Scholars undertake an in-depth, global study about a chosen topic, but they are also in a unique position of influence to share these findings with the wider agricultural community and show the way forward." What are eligibility requirements? When applying for a Nuffield Farming Scholarship, applicants are encouraged to begin the process well ahead of the 31 July deadline. Applicants must work within the farming, food, horticulture, rural and associated industries or are in a position to influence these industries. Applicants must be aged between 22 and 45 years (the upper age limit is 45 on 31 July in the year of application). There is no requirement for academic qualifications. Applicants should be well-established in their career, demonstrate a passion for the industry they work in and be three years post-tertiary education. Candidates must be resident in the UK and hold a UK passport or be working directly for UK agriculture. The Trust seeks people with very special qualities. Scholarships are not awarded to anyone in full-time education or to further research projects. A consultancy which offers free advice to farms most affected by the move away from the BPS has reached a significant landmark, with over 1,000 farmers now signed up. AHDBs Farm Business Review service, funded by the Defra Future Farming Resilience Fund, is designed to help farmers struggling with post-Brexit uncertainty. Using the tool, farmers can access resources, keep a record of how business is performing and connect with a consultant for free advice and support. Open to arable, dairy and livestock farmers, Farm Business Receive has now been extended until June 2022. Over 1,000 farmers have signed up to use it, and more are being encouraged to register to ensure they receive the free support. Steve Dunkley, AHDB head of business resilience, said: Signing up to the Farm Business Review is a simple online process which only takes a few minutes. "Once youve registered youll be matched with a suitable consultant, who will arrange a mutually convenient date to visit your farm and carry out a free, confidential consultation to help evaluate your options going forward. If you dont have an email address or internet access, but still want to benefit from this support, you can register through another family member who is part of the farm business. Wiltshire-based dairy and arable farmer, Peter Shallcross said a lot of farmers were in the same position of uncertainty. "Many [are] unsure about how they will recoup the losses presented by the move away from direct payment," he explained. The service is fantastic and will help many farmers and growers break down and identify specific areas which they need to work on for their businesses to succeed and thrive during the next challenging few years. Farmers interested in finding out more about AHDB's Farm Business Review can visit the online page. More support for farmers and land managers is 'urgently needed' to achieve the governments target of net zero by 2050, peers say. The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee warns that ambitious plans for nature-based solutions are at 'severe risk of failure'. In a report released today, the Committee says this will put net zero by 2050 at 'risk' as well as 'undermine' the UK farming industry. Policy uncertainty, such as the lack of detail surrounding the Environmental Land Management schemes (ELMS), is 'hindering' the adoption of nature-based solutions on farms. The committee says that farmers and land managers need more certainty if the governments targets are to be met. The UK also does not have the requisite skills to deliver nature-based solutions at scale. Skills deficits range from forestry, ecology, to advice for farmers. The committee calls for a training and advisory service for farmers to help them negotiate a new funding landscape, and to change land management practices where appropriate. Tenancy agreements may also need to change to enable the costs and benefits to be shared between the tenant and landowner. And guaranteed funding for land managers and farmers over the long term will ensure that they can take the right actions for the environment and stay in business. Chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Lord Patel said the government's net zero and nature plans would not work without the support of farmers. While the government's plans have much potential to help the UK achieve net zero by 2050 as well as restore its natural environment, these plans are at severe risk of failure. In the United Kingdom, 72 percent of land is agricultural, so it is essential that farmers are fully engaged and supported by the government." Lord Patel said the support must take the form of incentives, training, an advisory service, and support to adapt to changes in farming methods, subsidies, and land use. "Key decisions must be made about how the UK should use its land and the role of nature and carbon markets in supporting nature restoration." The Committee's report also calls on the government to define the role of carbon and natural capital markets. It says a lack of regulation risks private investment being directed towards schemes that will provide few benefits for the environment and undermine the effort to reduce emissions. The government should also set out how competing demands on land will be balanced and how they will ensure environmentally damaging activities are not simply offshored. Only subscribers with PAID Print or E-Edition subscriptions please enter here to gain access. If you are not already a Paid subscriber do not go through this portal. Please return to the subscription page to purchase one of our offers. Thank you! Warrenton, VA (20186) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 52F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 52F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Cop killer Lashawn McNeils anti-government rantings were all over the map and seem unmoored from any coherent ideology, say NYPD officials looking into his background. We dont fully understand him, a high-ranking NYPD official said of McNeil, 47, who ambushed and fatally shot Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora as they responded to a domestic violence call at his mothers apartment Friday. Another responding officer returned fire at McNeil, mortally wounding him. Advertisement Lashawn McNeil, 47 His social media history, including posts about the Moorish sovereign citizens movement in the early 2010s, paints a picture of someone trying to find a cause, the official said. Theyre looking for a narrative where they can rewrite their life story and cast themselves as a hero, the official said. Advertisement NYPD detectives on the scene executing a court-authorized search found a loaded AR-15 assault weapon under the suspect's mattress. (NYPD News) According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Moorish sovereigns believe their status as members of a sovereign nation imparts immunity from federal, state and local authorities. Mc Neils Facebook page was peppered with anti-government and anti-police diatribes, including a link to a video of the rap song Hands Up by Uncle Murda and Maino in 2014. The video considered a tribute to Eric Garner, who died at the hands of the NYPD, and other victims of police violence shows the two rappers pointing guns at a cops head. His mother described him to detective as mentally ill, but police havent uncovered evidence he was clinically diagnosed with mental illness, the NYPD official said. The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > McNeil was standing over Mora, his gun pointed at the already injured cop and about to fire again, when he was shot and mortally wounded by rookie Officer Sumit Sulan, the official said. McNeil had a lifelong fascination with guns, the official said, noting McNeil was using a high-caliber Glock pistol with a drum magazine attachment in his deadly rampage, and had a custom rifle under his mattress. The Glock 45 handgun he used to kill Rivera and Mora was stolen from Baltimore in 2017. A security guard told police she believes her son stole it from a safe, the NYPD official said. The gun recovered from the scene of a shooting of two NYPD police officers on Jan. 21, 2022. (DCPI) Investigators have found no link between the thief and McNeil; the thief was a drug user and may have sold the firearm before McNeil wound up with it. As for the weapon under McNeils mattress an American Tactical AR-15 assault-style rifle its not clear who originally bought it or if it was ever reported stolen, the police official said. Advertisement The rifles lower receiver was shipped to a gun shop in Michigan, and either the dealer or the buyer completed it with custom rifle parts, the official said. The gun shop is now out of business, and NYPD and federal investigators are working together to find out more about the weapon. McNeil, who worked as a barber in Maryland, moved to Harlem in November to live with his mother, the official said. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 26, 2022) - Xigem Technologies Corporation (CSE: XIGM) (FSE: 2C1) ("Xigem" or the "Company"), a technology provider for the emerging remote economy, today announced that the Company has granted 4,500,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") pursuant to its Stock Option Plan. Each Option entitles the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at an exercise price of $0.195 for a period of five years from the date of grant and will vest immediately. The Options include 2,100,000 Options for officers of the Company, 1,750,000 Options for directors of the Company, 350,000 Options for consultants to the Company and 300,000 Options for members of the Company's Advisory Board. The Options were granted on January 26, 2022 by Xigem's Board of Directors. About Xigem Technologies Corporation Established in Toronto, Ontario, Xigem is positioned to become a leading technology provider for the emerging near trillion-dollar remote economy, with software capable of improving the capacity, productivity, and overall remote operations for businesses, consumers, and other organizations. iAgent, the Company's patented technology, FOOi, its proprietary peer-to-peer mobile payments app, and Cylix, its business intelligence engine, will provide organizations, businesses, and consumers with the tools necessary to thrive in a vast array of remote working, learning and treatment environments, while the Company looks to aggregate a portfolio of innovative technologies capable of disrupting traditional business models. www.xigemtechnologies.com Instagram: @xigemtechnologies Twitter: @XigemTech Facebook: @xigemtechnologies LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/xigem-technologies CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release may contain certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. All information contained herein that is not historical in nature may constitute forward-looking information. Xigem undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of Xigem, its securities, or financial or operating results (as applicable). Although Xigem believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements in this news release are reasonable, such forward-looking statement has been based on expectations, factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Xigem's control. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement and is made as of the date hereof. Xigem disclaims any intention and has no obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Xigem Technologies Corporation On behalf of the Company: Brian Kalish, Chief Executive Officer For further information: Phone: (647) 250-9824 ext.4 Investors: investors@xigemtechnologies.com Media: media@xigemtechnologies.com Twitter: @XigemTech Instagram: @xigemtechnologies Facebook: @xigemtechnologies LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/xigem-technologies www.xigemtechnologies.com To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111816 Washington, D.C., Jan 27, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - PlatoData and the Government Blockchain Association (GBA) has formed an alliance to support the growing GBA community. The partnership extends the working relationship between both organizations across Plato's growing data ecosystem. Plato's curated approach to both data intelligence, press syndication and engagement strategy was setup to support communities throughout the blockchain ecosystem."It's a great honor to be part of such a wonderful and entrenched organization such as the GBA," stated Bryan Feinberg CEO of Plato. "The Impact GBA is playing across the Government Enterprise market is substantial and represents what we consider a best of class opportunity to support the GBA community with integrated access to Plato's Data Platform. Our goal as a company is to help those communities in need of both awareness and understanding of the regulatory compliance our industry faces on a daily basis. Our plan is to extend Plato's extensive data repository to all GBA members and to support members with a full suite of news, analytics and electronic content syndication."Gerard Dache, GBA's executive Director said, "We have had the pleasure of working with Plato over the past year and are extremely excited about what this opportunity represents to the GBA community. Plato represents everything we expect out of partner relationship as it relates to innovation, trust and a commitment to driving commercial adoption of Distributed Technologies and Regulatory Compliance. We are happy to extend out continued support the global community we represent."About PlatoPlato is an open intelligence repository and data platform that unlocks the power of Vertical Search in a highly scalable way. The platform is designed to provide an ultra-safe and secure environment to consume sector-specific real-time data intelligence. More information can be found at: https://platoblockchain.comAbout GBAThe Government Blockchain Association (GBA) is an international nonprofit professional association. GBA focuses on its members as individuals and organizations that are interested in promoting blockchain technology solutions across to the government sector. GBA cultivates professional workflows between technologists, public policy makers, application specialists, and those who want to learn about the new and emerging digital currencies. More Information: https://gbaglobal.org/Source: Plato Data Intelligence: Zephyr@platodata.ioSource: Plato Data IntelligenceGBACopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. LONDON, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia is facing a triple policy challenge that could see even the region's fastest-growing economies fall into the 'middle-income trap', according to new research by Asia House. The report highlights Asia's position at a crossroads, with countries' trajectories towards becoming advanced economies at risk of being derailed by economic scarring from the COVID-19 crisis, the disruptive impact of climate change, and a slow pace of digitalisation. Without urgent and robust policy action to address these challenges, Asia's economies face being caught in a middle-income trap that hampers development and puts the region's long-term growth at risk, the report finds. 'A shift is needed towards policies that specifically address both the immediate economic scarring of the pandemic and secure longer-term resilience and prosperity,' the report recommends. 'For the 21st century to become the Asian Century, with Asia's economies set to take a share of over half of global GDP by 2050, only a determined effort by the authorities to fill an evident policy gap will enable growth to continue at the required levels. Adopting a trio of priorities now will enable a robust economic tomorrow: green finance, digitalisation and enhanced regional cooperation.' The London-based think tank assessed eight key economies in Asia across metrics conducive to meeting these challenges. In two new indices published today, Asia House analyses the performance of China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam in the critical areas of green finance and digitalisation readiness - areas that will unlock future productivity and enable sustainable growth. China leads the Asia House Economic Readiness Indices, but will see economic growth slow in 2022 due to the ongoing disruption of COVID-19. While India is expected to be the world's fastest-growing economy this year, its ranks lowest for digital readiness out of the eight economies assessed. Closing its digital divide will be essential for its long-term growth. Japan ranks second across both indices, and is likely to experience a moderate acceleration in growth in 2022, but authorities must speed up digitalisation efforts, the report finds. Within Southeast Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia lead in green finance readiness and digital transformation respectively. View the Asia House Economic Readiness Indices in the Executive Summary here. The indices form part of the inaugural Asia House Annual Outlook, published by the think tank to track key economic trends across Asia and provide a forecast for the region's growth. Comment Phyllis Papadavid, Head of Research and Advisory, Asia House: "Our research underlines the critical importance of green finance, broader digitalisation, and greater regional coordination for Asian economies if they are to avoid being caught in a middle-income trap that holds them back from greater development. "If Asian economies can respond effectively to this triple policy challenge, then sustainable, equitable and productivity-driven growth will likely follow, along with brighter prospects for the 'Asian Century'. "For this to happen, we need to see unprecedented investment for energy transitions, including fast-tracking green finance, and more diversified digitalisation in Asia. More comprehensive policy cooperation by regional economies will be critical to achieve these shared objectives." Michael Lawrence, Chief Executive of Asia House: "The Asia House Economic Readiness Indices shed new light on the progress of Asia's economies at a critical time in their development. Alongside the Asia House Annual Outlook report, we hope they will serve as valuable insights into the region's transition, and will aid policymakers in identifying areas where action is needed. "Asia is estimated to account for half of global GDP by 2050, but as our research shows, this is not guaranteed. Asia House will be publishing the indices annually to track this trend and add to global understanding of this key region for the world economy." Policy recommendations Drawing on the indices, the Asia House Annual Outlook report includes several recommendations for policymakers across Asia. Economic policymakers should elevate the use of institutionally mobilised finance, including blended finance, to de-risk and catalyse investment flows. Private and public sector coordination to promote and incentivise green finance should be prioritised to combat the climate crisis. Asia's central banks should include sustainability objectives into their monetary policy mandates and explicitly incorporate climate risks into their assessments. The promotion of Industry 4.0 - the integration of automation, artificial intelligence, cloud computing etc in manufacturing - coupled with digital re-skilling and knowledge diffusion is needed to secure the Asian Century and avoid the middle-income trap. Currency reserves should be pooled and their management coordinated, while the foundation for a common digital currency in Asia will ensure the region is well prepared to sustain growth. Access the full Asia House Annual Outlook report here NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2022 / Novamind Inc. (CSE:NM)(OTCQB:NVMDF)(FSE:HN2) ("Novamind" or the "Company"), a leading mental health company specialized in psychedelic medicine, is pleased to announce that it has closed its previously announced private placement to an institutional investor of its common shares ("Common Shares") (or Common Share equivalents) and warrants to purchase Common Shares ("Warrants") for gross proceeds to the Company of approximately CAD$5 million (the "Private Placement"). Pursuant to the Private Placement, the Company issued 4,750,000 Common Shares, 7,750,000 Common Share equivalents (consisting of pre-funded warrants exercisable into Common Shares) and Warrants to purchase up to an aggregate of 12,500,000 Common Shares, at a purchase price of CAD$0.40 per Common Share and associated Warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder to purchase Common Shares at an exercise price of CAD$0.50 per Common Share at any time on or prior to January 26, 2027. H.C. Wainwright & Co. acted as the exclusive placement agent for the Private Placement in the United States. H.C. Wainwright & Co. (or its designees) received (i) a cash commission of CAD$400,000 (equal to 8.0% of the gross proceeds of the Private Placement) and (ii) 1,000,000 compensation warrants (the "Agent Warrants"). The Agent Warrants are exercisable at an exercise price of CAD$0.50 per Common Share at any time on or before January 27, 2025. The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used by the Company for general working capital purposes. No securities were offered or sold to Canadian residents in connection with the Private Placement. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. The securities referred in this news release have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any U.S. state securities laws, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States or to any U.S. person absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirements. "United States" and "U.S. person" have the respective meanings ascribed to them in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. About Novamind Novamind is a leading mental health company enabling safe access to psychedelic medicine through a network of clinics and clinical research sites. Novamind provides ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and other novel treatments through its network of integrative mental health clinics and operates a full-service contract research organization specialized in clinical trials and evidence-based research for psychedelic medicine. For more information on how Novamind is enhancing mental wellness and guiding people through their entire healing journey, visit novamind.ca. Contact Information Novamind Yaron Conforti, CEO and Director Telephone: +1 (647) 953 9512 Samantha DeLenardo, VP, Communications Email: media@novamind.ca Investor Relations Email: IR@novamind.ca Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Private Placement, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations including the risks detailed from time to time in the Company's public disclosure. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will only update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements as expressly required by applicable laws. SOURCE: Novamind Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685744/Novamind-Announces-Closing-of-CAD5-Million-Private-Placement-with-Institutional-Investor Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 26, 2022) - Angold Resources Ltd. (TSXV: AAU) (FSE: 13L) (OTCQB: AAUGF) ("Angold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has commenced the second field work season on its Cordillera project in the Maricunga Gold Belt of northern Chile. The program includes soil sampling, geophysics, prospecting, and detail mapping on areas surrounding the main target where the Company received assays of ore-grade gold samples up to 11.95 g/t gold (Au) from surface samples (Figures 1 and 2). Angold's CEO, Mr. Adrian Rothwell, stated: "While we look forward to commencing drilling on the Iron Butte project in Nevada, this work is critical to identifying compelling drill targets and the size potential of Cordillera. The project has been largely unexplored and has great potential for unexpected wins." Key Highlights Permitting: The Company has obtained a favorable RCA (Resolucion Calificacion Ambiental, in Spanish) from the SEA (Servicio de Evaluacion Ambiental, Chile) that allows the Company to start its exploration campaigns. High Grade: Surface gold mineralization at Cordillera has been confirmed with grades of 11.95 g/t Au, 7.6 g/t Au, 5.0 g/t Au, 3.7 g/t Au, and others, distributed on at least five gold-anomalous zones. New Zones at Surface: In October 2021, Angold's team found a previously unrecognized zone (North-East Zone) with quartz banding porphyry-style veins. This zone is located approximately 1km north-east from the primary target with high-grade values of gold. Other Highlights: The Cordillera project shares features with Caspiche deposit. The alteration footprint size of similar (slightly smaller) size to that observed in Caspiche and displays a comparable alteration signature. Prospecting and soil sampling mainly targets the location of gold-bearing structures and complement previous work completed by the Company in early 2021, including a newly discovered zone with quartz banding veins porphyry-type (Photos 1-2, Figure 2). The Company's news release on September 8, 2021 outlines the results of this initial phase of testing. The Cordillera project is strategically located three kilometres north of the Caspiche gold-rich porphyry copper deposit and eight kilometres south of the Maricunga porphyry gold deposit (Figure 1). Historic drilling and small-scale mine workings attest to high-grade gold. The geology identified and mapped at Cordillera shows similar mineralization, alteration, lithology, and ages with Caspiche gold-copper porphyry deposit under the Newmont-Barrick Joint Venture, located 3 km south Cordillera (Figure 5), as well as the Miocene intrusives identified in the Maricunga mine displays similar characteristics with the intrusive units mapped in Cordillera. ASTER processing recognized an alteration footprint over 2.4 km2 at Cordillera (Figure 4). It is slightly smaller in size in comparison with Caspiche footprint (2.5 km2). This does not consider, however, that Cordillera has thin post-mineral andesitic flows covering at least 40% of the mapped area. Small erosional windows allow us to detect altered and mineralized hydrothermal breccias under the cover. Sampling in 2022 includes detailed mapping at 1/200 to 1/ 500 scale (Figure 3), soil sampling, rock chip, and other complementary samples for spectrometry; pH detection and petrography. The objective of this program is to look for extensions of known mineralized zones (A, B, C in Figure 3A), particularly under cover along their strike. In 2021, Angold Resources completed a successful exploration program (Phase I) consisting of geologic/alteration maps (>26 km2), rock sampling, systematic soils samples, pH/inverse-differential hydrogen (IDH) sampling over post-mineral cover, Hyperspectral analyses on rocks and soils, a limited ground magnetic and 3D-IP survey, and ASTER interpretation on the Company's concessions (Figure 3 and 4). These works have identified five promising gold mineralized zones with epithermal quartz vein structures, porphyry, and hydrothermal breccias targets. Results are highlighted in Figure 2. Details of historic drilling can be obtained from the Company's website at www.angoldresources.com. Phase I: Systematic surface sampling: 248 rock samples and more than 250 meters of trenching/samples. 425 soil samples in a regular and systematic grid over a 5 km x 4 km. All samples were tested with TerraSpec Halo for spectral analysis and interpretation. Systematic samples were selected for pH/IDH over post-mineral cover and mineralized zones. Option Grant The Company also announces that the Board of Directors has approved the grant of stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company for the purchase of up to 2,525,000 shares in the Company exercisable at a price of $0.165 for a period of five years from the date of grant. The grant is pursuant and subject to the terms and conditions of the Company's existing stock option plan and is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and all regulatory requirements. Figure 1: Location of the property - Cordillera Project in the world-class Maricunga bett, near the multi-millon ounce deposits such as Maricunga, Caspiche and Cerro Casale. Figure 2: Gold anomalies from soils (background) and rock chip samples. In the extreme north of target 5, is located the new quartz banding vein zone recently identified. Figure 3: Cordillera Project. This figure illustrates the sample's location (rock chip, ph/Spectrometry, and soils), carried out early -2021. Figure 3A: Cordillera Project. Field work program. Location of the zones to be explored and mapped in detail. Figure 4: Hydrothermal alteration footprint - Cordillera project and its location relative to the Caspiche and Cerro Casale gold - copper porphyry deposits, and with the multi-millon ounce mine Maricunga Figure 5: The lithological units present at Cordillera are considered as an extension north of the Caspiche deposit. QAQC Statement All of Angold Resources' surface sample assay results have been independently monitored through a quality assurance/quality control ("QA/QC") protocol, which includes inserting blind standard reference materials, blanks, and duplicates at regular intervals. Rocks and talus fines samples were securely transported to ALS Laboratories' ("ALS") sample preparation facility in Copiapo, Chile. Talus fines samples were prepared using ALS' PREP-41 method and analyzed for 53 elements, including gold, by ALS' method AuME-ST43, which uses aqua regia digestion and super-trace-level detection limits. For rock chips, the preparation method was PREP-31; analytical methods were Au-AA24 for gold and ME- MS61m for 49 elements with four-acid digestion. Qualified Person Galen McNamara, P. Geo., Director and Chairman of the Company and a Qualified Person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. About Angold Angold is an exploration and development company targeting large-scale mineral systems in the proven districts of the Maricunga, Nevada and Ontario. Angold owns a 100% interest in the Dorado, Cordillera and South Bay-Uchi projects, and certain claims that append the optioned Iron Butte project. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF ANGOLD RESOURCES LTD. "Adrian Rothwell" Chief Executive Officer Further information on Angold can be found on the Company's website at www.angoldresources.com and at www.sedar.com, or by contacting the Company by email at investors@angoldresources.com or by telephone at (855) 917 4091. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward Looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements relate to future events or future performance and includes expectations of the resumption of trading of the Company's common shares on the Exchange. All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements and information are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "appear", "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "approximate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe", "would" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements and information are provided for the purpose of providing information about the current expectations and plans of management of the Company relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that reliance on such statements and information may not be appropriate for other purposes, such as making investment decisions. Since forward-looking statements and information address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, timelines and information contained in this news release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111825 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 26, 2022) - Equity Metals Corporation (TSXV: EQTY) (OTCQB: EQMEF) (the "Company" or "Equity Metals") announces that the following incumbent directors were re-elected at the Company's annual general meeting held on January 26, 2022: Joseph A. Kizis, Jr., Lawrence Page, Q.C., Killian Ruby, Courtney Shearer and John Kerr. In addition, the shareholders re-appointed Davidson & Company LLP, Chartered Accountants, as auditor of Equity Metals and approved the Company's rolling incentive stock option plan pursuant to which a maximum of 10% of the issued shares will be reserved for issuance under the plan. The plan is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance. The following officers were re-appointed subsequent to the annual general meeting: Joseph A. Kizis, Jr. as President, Lawrence Page, Q.C. as Chairman, Robert Macdonald as Vice President Exploration, Killian Ruby as Chief Financial Officer, and Arie Page as Corporate Secretary. The Company also granted incentive stock options under its stock option plan to certain directors, officers and consultants of the Company to purchase a total of 3.0 million common shares at $0.135 per share exercisable for a period of five years. About Equity Metals Corporation Equity Metals Corporation is a Manex Resource Group Company. Manex provides exploration, administration, and corporate development services for Equity Metals' two major mineral properties, the Silver Queen Au-Ag-Zn-Cu project, located in central B.C., and the Monument Diamond project, located in Lac De Gras, NWT. The Company owns 100% interest, with no underlying royalty, in the Silver Queen project, located along the Skeena Arch in the Omineca Mining Division, British Columbia. The property hosts high-grade, precious- and base-metal veins related to a buried porphyry system, which has been only partially delineated. The Company also has a controlling JV interest in the Monument Diamond project, NWT, strategically located in the Lac De Gras district within 40 km of both the Ekati and Diavik diamond mines. The project owners are Equity Metals Corporation (57.49%), Chris and Jeanne Jennings (22.11%); and Archon Minerals Ltd. (20.4%). Equity Metals is the operator of the project. The Company also has royalty and working interests in other Canadian properties, which are being evaluated further to determine their value to the Company. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Lawrence Page" Lawrence Page, Q.C. Chairman & Director, Equity Metals Corporation For further information, visit the website at www.equitymetalscorporation.com or contact us at 604.641.2759 or by email at ir@mnxltd.com. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Equity Metals Corporation does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111826 The Company, Which is an Independent Insurance Brokerage Agency, Also Experienced the Same Increase in its California Employee Benefit Plan Customers in 2021 Versus 2020 SAN JOSE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 26, 2022 / Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency is pleased to announce that it experienced a 25 percent increase in California group health insurance and employee benefit plan customers in 2021, compared to 2020. To learn more about the California group health insurance and employee benefit plans that Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency offers, please check out https://www.taylorbenefitsinsurance.com/california/. As a company spokesperson noted, Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency knows that a quality group health insurance plan and employee benefits package is one of the main ways that a company can attract outstanding employees. While Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency works with clients from across the country and 2021 was a busy year overall, the increase in business was especially prevalent in California. "Many California employers may be hesitant to offer a high-quality, comprehensive group health insurance option, largely because so much of that cost now falls on the business itself," the spokesperson noted, adding that in the Golden State, where it's not easy or cheap to start and operate a business to begin with, this is an especially relevant concern. "At Taylor Benefits, we specialize in tackling this exact problem in a way that will appeal to businesses and employees alike." The company offers a variety of group benefit provider networks that are affordable, as well as flexible small group health insurance options that are tailored to the needs of businesses and employees in California. From group health insurance and HMO, PPO and POS plans to flex spending accounts, group medical insurance and more, Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency features a number of popular plan options and services. Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency offers a number of other services that helps to set them apart from the competition, the spokesperson noted. For instance, the agency has access to every competitive carrier in the market for health insurance and all other employee benefit plans, and they also provide complimentary Cobra administration through a third party administrator if a client's company requires it. About Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency is an independent insurance brokerage agency which concentrates on writing employee benefit plans. This includes health, dental, vision, life, disability, voluntary, and 401K plans. The agency services group benefit plans for companies throughout the country. For more information, please visit https://www.taylorbenefitsinsurance.com/. Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency 4820 Harwood Rd., Suite 130 San Jose, CA 95124 Media Contact Todd Taylor todd@taylorbenefits.net 800-903-6066 SOURCE: Taylor Benefits Insurance Agency, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685755/Taylor-Benefits-Insurance-Agency-is-Pleased-to-Announce-That-It-Experienced-a-25-Percent-Increase-in-California-Group-Health-Insurance-and-Employee-Benefit-Plan-Customers-in-2021-Compared-to-2020 BANGALORE, India, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- India's premium technology enabler announced the appointment of Mr. Shrikant Shitole as iValue's CEO. Shrikant has been known in the industry for his business management leadership roles across IT, Telecom, VAS, Software, Cybersecurity industries, in his energetic 30+ years' experience. Shrikant will be responsible for heading iValue's Business and operations. iValue's areas of business interest and Shrikant's expertise around Cloud Services, Cybersecurity, IOT, SmartCity, Data Center Services, IT Infrastructure Planning & Management, outsourcing services will go together in creating a futuristic win-win situation. Shrikant would be taking over from KrishnaRaj Sharma (KRS), who has led iValue through a strong growth phase, along with raising capital from a reputed Private Equity Firm. KRS has steered iValue into being an Enterprise Company with significant reshaping of iValue footprint in India as well as the SEA markets. His extensive leadership experience & his demonstration of building successful organization & businesses, KRS will now be overseeing the South-East Asian markets. We are confident that KRS will continue to be a force in developing and driving iValue forward - in a very exciting but also challenging time. Welcoming Shrikant into the new role, Mr.Sunil Pillai, Founder & Managing Director ofiValue InfoSolutions said, "I am delighted to welcome Shrikant as CEO of iValue. I have known him for his ability in managing product and solutions business for a long time now. I look forward to leveraging his entrepreneurial abilities to accelerate and disrupt existing and new markets. 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 iValue Board looks forward to working with him." Shrikant comes with experience and significant exposure handling multiple global companies. In his last role at FireEye Technologies, he was designated as Country Head for India Region. His prior assignments were Symantec Software, Nelco Ltd., Cisco Systems, Sify Ltd, Siemens Ltd and Tata Telecom Ltd. Accepting the responsibilities coming on board at iValue, Mr.Shrikant Shitole, CEO at iValue InfoSolutions said, "Thanks to KRS and his able leadership, iValue has grown into a remarkable organisation. It would be an honour to learn, work, deliver, and expand on our strategic imperatives to transform and modernise our business, remove complexity for our partners, and become an indispensable organisation behind the numerous brands we support." Nagesh Belur Nagesh.b@iValue.co.in A solemn line of fellow police officers and everyday New Yorkers, some standing in the cold for three hours Thursday, filed inside St. Patricks Cathedral to offer their prayers for slain NYPD Officer Jason Rivera. The casket bearing the 22-year-old officer reached the venerable Midtown church around 11:30 a.m., with family members arriving prior to an afternoon viewing open to the public. Advertisement Photos of Rivera from throughout his young life decorated the altar around an open casket adorned with red roses while his widow and parents sat together as the mourners poured in from the Manhattan streets. I had to come, said Yvonne Miller, her voice a bit shaky after traveling from the Bronx for the wake. I had to come I didnt have a choice. Because this is our city, and he was part of our city, and he belongs to us. And he takes care of us and look at what it cost him. I feel like were family, you know? Advertisement A crowd of fellow police officers and everyday New Yorkers, some standing in the cold for three hours, filed into St. Patricks Cathedral to offer their prayers Thursday for slain NYPD Officer Jason Rivera. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) It was just so sad, she continued. Hes a baby. He belonged to us all. It could have been any one of our sons ... Just seeing him lying there, I have grandchildren his age. Mayor Adams, a former NYPD captain, was among the early arrivals for the somber farewell six days after Riveras fatal shooting, with officers from Philadelphia, Virginia and Toronto traveling to pay their respects. Officer Wilbert Mora, 27, was also killed in the deadly confrontation with an unhinged ex-con, with a wake and funeral scheduled to honor the slain hero next week. Rivera, in his dress blue uniform with gold buttons and hat, was flanked by an American flag and the NYPD flag. Prayer cards from the viewing bore the officers badge number 25738 and offered a message of optimism written in Spanish: Nothing is impossible for those who have faith. Those paying respects included officers from Philadelphia, Virginia and even Toronto, lined up to pay their final respects. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) Sad, of course, said mourner Dennis Horkenbach, 51, of Lower Manhattan. To see a young guy like that dead, and its senseless. Im a human being, so it was sad ... Ive never done anything like this before. A dozen floral bouquets paid homage to the young officer killed after just 14 months on the job where he earned the respect of his colleagues. Rivera and Mora were ambushed and shot last Friday while responding to a domestic dispute in a Harlem apartment, targeted by a gunman whose social media posts included anti-police and anti-government rhetoric. Mourners arrive at St. Patricks Cathedral for the wake of NYPD Officer Jason Rivera Thursday. (Mary Altaffer/AP) The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > Scores of solemn colleagues stood along Fifth Avenue in homage to their slain brother, with an NYPD helicopter whirring overhead and a lone police bagpiper playing Amazing Grace as the casket was brought inside the cathedral. Advertisement The assembled officers saluted his flag-draped casket on its way past on a brisk January day. The line of mourners stretched the length of a city block and doubled back two more times inside the barricades set up for crowd control. Those paying respects included officers from Philadelphia, Virginia and even Toronto, lined up to pay their final respects. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) Gunman Lashawn McNeil, 47, burst out from a bedroom in his mothers Harlem apartment and starting blasting with a stolen Glock 45 handgun. The armed assailant, after shooting Rivera, stepped over the mortally-injured officers body and gunned down Mora before a third officer took McNeil down. A crowd of fellow police officers and everyday New Yorkers, some standing in the cold for three hours, filed into St. Patricks Cathedral to offer their prayers Thursday for slain NYPD Officer Jason Rivera. (Barry Williams/for New York Daily News) Rivera died a short time later on Friday evening while Mora survived for four days with his family opting to donate his two kidneys, liver, pancreas and heart for transplants, officials said. Their killer was mortally wounded and died three days later. Mora, a four-year NYPD veteran, will be honored next week in St. Patricks Cathedral at a Tuesday wake and a Wednesday funeral. Officer Jason Rivera (HANDOUT) Mourner Carmen Figueroa, 67, of the Bronx, said additional measures to protect police were needed after five NYPD officers were shot in the first month of the year. The other three officers, shot in three separate incidents, survived. Somethings got to be done, she said. These families, theyre not going to be the same anymore, because they were just young, starting their careers. Amsterdam, January 27 2022: Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the leading global design and consultancy organization for the natural and built environment, is supporting high-voltage grid operator, TenneT develop and implement a standard design for future 2GW land converter stationsto boost the rollout of renewable wind energy and support energy transition. The new standard design will be implemented at three locations across the Netherlands. The new stations will connect the IJmuiden Ver Wind Farm to be built in the North Sea with the high-voltage grid on land. These land converter stations meet the new 2-GigaWatt (GW) standard that TenneT developed to accelerate the roll-out of offshore wind. One land station will be located at Borssele in the province of Zeeland and the two others on the Maasvlakte near Rotterdam. This contract will initially be worth 4.75 million euros. The new standard will help reduce the costs of offshore wind and minimizes the impact on space and the environment. Furthermore, capacity will more than double compared to the previous 900 MW HVDC standard that TenneT applied in Germany and almost triples compared to the Dutch 700 MW AC standard for connecting offshore wind farms to the high-voltage grid. With the ambition to accelerate the production of renewable wind energy, future wind farms will be designed to the 2GW standard. The first grid connection is planned for 2028. The three land stations are the first projects to be delivered in accordance with this new standard and Arcadis will manage the detailed design, planning and tender process for the new buildings. The designs will also consider the full life cycle of the asset, including maintenance and operation. The energy generated by the offshore wind turbines will be brought onshore via direct current cables and must be converted in the land stations into 380 kilovolts alternating current for the high-voltage grid. The high voltage components will be designed and supplied by a specialized company. Frank Goossensen, Sales & Business Development Director, Resilience at Arcadis said: "Investing in renewable energy and developing the infrastructure required for a greener future are both key when it comes to realizing the world's net zero ambitions. Capturing the energy from wind is a powerful means for achieving this goal, and our work with TenneT to develop a design standard that will support accelerated roll-out and boost capacity marks a crucial step in providing future generations with affordable, reliable and sustainable energy." For more information about our work on the Energy Transition and the 'Supercharging Net Zero' research paper, please visit: https://www.arcadis.com/energytransition. -End- FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: ARCADIS CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS Chris Wiggan Mobile: +44 7881 845741 E-mail: chris.wiggan@arcadis.com ARCADIS INVESTOR RELATIONS Jurgen Pullens Mobile: +31 6 51599483 E-mail: jurgen.pullens@arcadis.com ABOUT ARCADIS Arcadis is the leading global design & consultancy organization for natural and built assets. We maximize impact for our clients and the communities they serve by providing effective solutions through sustainable outcomes, focus and scale, and digitalization. We are 28,000 people, active in more than 70 countries that generate 3.3 billion in revenues. We support UN-Habitat with knowledge and expertise to improve the quality of life in rapidly growing cities around the world. www.arcadis.com Attachment Biotalys' first biofungicide Evoca to be formulated at Kwizda Agro's state-of-the-art facility in Leobendorf, Austria Ghent, BELGIUM, and Vienna, AUSTRIA , Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Press release Biotalys, an Agricultural TechnologyAgro, an established crop protection manufacturer and provider of tolling services for the agricultural industry, today announced an agreement for Kwizda Agro to act as the formulator of the protein-based biocontrol products developed by Biotalys. This agreement forms a critical step in the set-up of the production process for Biotalys' unique products, starting with its first biofungicide Evoca* planned for market introduction in the United States in the second half of 2022. Formulation involves the turning of an active ingredient into a crop protection product that can be applied onto a crop. It forms the last step of the production process of a biocontrol before packaging and shipping to the customer. Biotalys' products will be formulated at Kwizda Agro's state-of-the-art facility in Leobendorf, Austria. The facility has the most advanced technical capabilities and obtained recent ISO-certifications for quality, environmental management and health & safety. Kwizda Agro will formulate the liquid active ingredient received from Biotalys' contract manufacturer into water soluble granules to form the customer end product. The company will also package the products to the benefit of the distribution channel selected by Biotalys. "Building on almost a century of experience in providing services to the agricultural sector, we aim to be the best tolling partner for high-quality formulations for the agro-industry," said Ronald Hamedl, CEO of KwizdaAgro. "We are enthusiastic to add Biotalys' biological solutions to our growing portfolio of biological formulations to allow end products be brought on the market that help growers protect their crops in an environmentally sustainable way." The first product to be formulated by Kwizda Agro will be Evoca, a protein-based biofungicide that aims to provide fruit and vegetable growers with a new rotation partner in integrated pest management (IPM) programs. It helps control diseases such as Botrytis and powdery mildew, thus reducing the dependency on chemical pesticides with corresponding residues in harvested produce while offering a distinctive new tool to manage pathogen resistance development. Luc Maertens, COOof Biotalys, stated: "We already worked with Kwizda Agro during the development of our first biofungicide Evoca, and the company has proven itself to be an incredibly reliable partner. Its formulation facility in Austria is continuously adapted to the highest standards in terms of sustainability, health & safety, and quality management, so that our partnership not only provides us with the high-quality products we need to offer to growers worldwide, but also confirms our attachment to sustainability in every step of the production process." Biotalys submitted Evoca for registration to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States in December 2020. Following the submission, Biotalys passed both the provided completeness check and the preliminary technical screening. The company expects to receive EPA approval in H2 2022. Biotalys also submitted for approval in California in April 2021, as this State performs its own in-depth review. In the European Union, Biotalys received confirmation from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the College for approval of crop protection products and biocides (Ctgb) that the registration dossier submitted in March 2021 for the active substance of Evoca is admissible for review. * Evoca: Pending Registration. This product is not currently registered for sale or use in the United States, the European Union,or elsewhere and is not being offered for sale. About Biotalys Biotalys is an Agricultural Technology. About KwizdaAgro Kwizda Agro GmbH is one of the leading suppliers of chemical and biological pesticides in Austria. Kwizda Agro is part of the Kwizda group, consisting of the business areas pharmaceutical, pharmaceutical trade, agro and sealing systems. In total, over 300 employees work at the various Kwizda Agro locations. The head office is in Vienna. There are sales locations for crop protection in addition to Austria in Hungary and Romania, and for the biocides sector also in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The New Tech division concentrates on the development and international sales of proprietary and innovative biological products for forestry as well as special crops and arable farming. More information can be found on www.kwizda-agro.at. For further information, please contact For Biotalys: Toon Musschoot, Head of IR & Communication T: +32 (0)9 274 54 00 E: Toon.Musschoot@biotalys.com For Kwizda Agro GmbH: Mike Oberbichler Mail: presse@kwizda.at Mobile: +43 660 5068 451 IMPORTANT NOTICE This announcement contains statements which are "forward-looking statements" or could be considered as such. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the words 'aim', 'believe', 'estimate', 'anticipate', 'expect', 'intend', 'may', 'will', 'plan', 'continue', 'ongoing', 'possible', 'predict', 'plans', 'target', 'seek', 'would' or 'should', and contain statements made by the company regarding the intended results of its strategy. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and readers are warned that none of these forward-looking statements offers any guarantee of future performance. The Biotalys actual results may differ materially from those predicted by the forward-looking statements. Biotalys makes no undertaking whatsoever to publish updates or adjustments to these forward-looking statements, unless required to do so by law. Attachments WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - SGS Group (SGSOY.PK), an inspection, verification, testing and certification company, reported Thursday that its fiscal 2021 profit attributable to equity holders increased 27.7 percent to 613 million Swiss francs from last year's 480 million francs. Basic earnings per share grew 28 percent to 81.91 francs from 64.05 francs in the prior year. Total revenue reached 6.4 billion francs, a growth of 14.3 percent from last year on a reported basis, and 14.2 percent at constant currency. The results were driven by the ongoing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as strategic focus and significant contribution from acquired revenue. Organic revenue increased by 8.9 percent. Further, the company said its Board of Directors proposed a stable dividend at 80 francs per share. Frankie Ng, CEO of SGS, said, 'Our strong 2021 performance has confirmed our strategic focus. Combined with the investment in our platform we are building a thriving future for SGS.' Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Regulatory News: NAVYA (Paris:NAVYA) (FR0013018041- Navya), and VALEO are extending their collaboration and are combining their know-how as part of the French government's 4th Investment Program for the Future to develop and design the future "Autonomous Vehicle Failsafe System" (AVFS). Sophie Desormiere, CEO of NAVYA, comments: This unique project, defined as strategic to guarantee the operational safety of autonomous transport solutions, addresses the design of a failsafe electronic system essential for Level 4 autonomous vehicles commercialization A decisive step in the industrialization of Level 4 autonomous transportation solutions The 4th "Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir" (PIA4), supported by the French government, aims to assist companies at every stage of their innovative developments. In this context, NAVYA, a leader in autonomous mobility systems, and VALEO, an automotive supplier partner to all automakers worldwide, join forces in the development of a unique system to achieve complete autonomy for level 4 transport solutions. An integrated, smart and redundant system, guaranteeing operational safety The various stages of this R&D project ensure the design of such a system, its realization, and a final evaluation of the concept. The technological building blocks that compose the AVFS (Autonomous Vehicle Failsafe System) connect to the NavyaDrive. VALEO will supply its latest generation of sensors aligned with automotive standards. Combined with the autonomous driving system embedded containing all the ISO-standard algorithms, they will provide the expected safety redundancy and ensure a second control chain. This system, composed of the NavyaDrive, LiDAR, radar and camera sensors, associated with the AVSF computer, will be responsible for ensuring the safety of passengers and road users. In the event of an incidental situation on the route that causes the autonomous driving system to go out of its operating range, it will be able to adapt the vehicle's behavior in complete autonomy, without human intervention. This project is the result of a deep collaboration and co-construction around shared expertise and will offer the state-of-the-art solution for the development and commercialization of autonomous level 4 vehicles. Joachim Mathes, CTO of Valeo Comfort and Driving Assistance, states: "We are excited to deepen our partnership with Navya in this project. It is an opportunity to leverage the experience in AD systems, safety and SOTIF ( Safety Of The Intended Functionality ) gained from our Drive4U projects and from the operation of Navya shuttles in the SMO project. Within PIA4, we plan to take autonomous urban mobility to the next level together Olivier Le Cornec, CTO of NAVYA, concludes: "This cooperation marks a key step in the commercial scale-up of our autonomous mobility services without a safety driver. It allows us to offer an architecture based on two complementary systems, based on perception, localization and intelligence algorithms, which can provide the expected service and addressing all potential failures and drifts. These two systems, developed by major and recognized players in their industry, Navya and Valeo, will enable us to deliver a commercial solution to the highest required level of automotive and regulatory environment worldwide. Combined with our new rolling bases currently under development, it will define our future generation of vehicles without a safety driver, enabling the transition to commercial scale Next financial press release: February 7, 2022 Full-year 2021 sales About NAVYA Created in 2014, NAVYA is a leading French name specialized in the supply of autonomous mobility systems and associated services. With 280 employees in France (Paris and Lyon), in the United States (Michigan) and in Singapore, NAVYA aims at becoming the leading player in Level 4 autonomous mobility systems for passenger and goods transport. Since 2015, NAVYA has been the first to market and put into service autonomous mobility solutions. The Autonom Shuttle, main development axis, is dedicated to passenger transport. Since its launch, more than 180 units have been sold in 23 countries as of 31 December 2020. The Autonom Tract is designed to goods transport. Engaged in an ambitious CSR approach, the Company has an active policy in this area, as illustrated by the obtaining of the ISO 9001 certification in September 2021. The Valeo and Keolis groups are among NAVYA's historical shareholders. NAVYA is listed on the Euronext regulated market in Paris (ISIN code: FR0013018041- Navya). For more information visit: www.navya.tech/en View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126006066/en/ Contacts: NAVYA CSR, Marketing Communication Manager Nathalie Marcy nathalie.marcy@navya.tech +33 (0)7 63 20 00 52 CFO Benoit Jacheet finance@navya.tech NewCap Investor relations Thomas Grojean Nicolas Fossiez navya@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 94 94 NewCap Media relations Nicolas Merigeau navya@newcap.eu +33 (0)1 44 71 94 98 Utrecht, 27 January 2022 Aalberts N.V. has reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of ISEL Germany AG (ISEL), based in Eichenzell and Eiterfeld (Germany), generating an annual revenue of approximately EUR 35 million with 200 employees. ISEL combines mechanics, electronics and software knowledge to develop, engineer and manufacture wafer handling & robotics and machine systems with digital services. ISEL is active in the semicon efficiency and industrial niches end markets. Moreover, most of the components needed for these systems are manufactured in-house, such as linear motion units, rotary stages and drive elements. Founded in 1972 by Hugo Isert, ISEL is able to offer completely customised advanced mechatronics solutions with digital services. Through this acquisition Aalberts strengthens its technology portfolio in advanced mechatronics and expands its manufacturing footprint in Germany. Together with our Aalberts advanced mechatronics organisation in Raunheim (Germany), ISEL will drive multiple business opportunities. Firstly, ISEL's wafer handling & robotics systems will be offered in combination with our vibration isolation systems, utilising the customer base of both companies. Secondly, the knowledge and capacity of ISEL enable co-development of new mechatronic and software systems. Thirdly, the strong manufacturing footprint can be utilised by Aalberts advanced mechatronics to realise higher operational leverage and efficiency. Utilising the combined strength and knowledge will result in long-term innovation roadmaps for our customers, driving significant future growth in fast-growing end markets. The experienced management team of ISEL will continue to manage the company, closely together with the management team of Aalberts advanced mechatronics in Raunheim (Germany). The results of ISEL will be consolidated as of 1 February 2022. The acquisition will directly contribute to the earnings per share and will be financed from existing credit facilities. Please visit isel.com for additional information. contact +31 (0)30 3079 301 (from 8:00 am CET) investors@aalberts.com Attachment HELSINKI and RIGA, Latvia, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DEAC and Neste join forces to cooperate on sustainable data storage solutions. DEAC is one of the largest independent data centers in Northern Europe, which has been acquiring renewable electricity starting from 2021. Cooperation with Neste, world's leading producer of renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, and renewable feedstock solutions for various polymers and chemicals industry uses, will mark DEAC's goal to switch to 100% renewable energy as early as 2022. By utilizing Neste MY Renewable Diesel, DEAC will increase the sustainability of data storage during possible electricity outages. According to a 2020 study in the AAAS Science Journal , data centers account for around 1% of global electricity usage. Some analyses suggest that energy use of global data centers will even triple or quadruple within the next decade. "In 2021, DEAC already switched to 100% renewable electricity from wind farms for managing the day-to-day data storage. We also upgraded the infrastructure to reduce the energy consumption and introduced an improved cooling system. Our cooperation with Neste and the supply of Neste MY Renewable Diesel enable our diesel generators to sustainably safeguard the data in emergency situations, like power outages. With this, we are happy to mark the switch to 100% renewable energy sources," says Andris Gailitis the CEO of DEAC. "We are pleased that global data centers, the backbone of the digital world, follow more resource-intensive industries in search of solutions for a more sustainable future. Cooperation with DEAC marks Neste's first time partnering with a data center to provide it a solution - Neste MY Renewable Diesel - that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%* compared to fossil diesel use," says Heidi Peltonen, responsible for sustainable partnerships in Marketing & Services, Neste. DEAC is one of the largest independent data center operators in Northern Europe, owned by a Swiss investment infrastructure fund managed by Quaero Capital. DEAC has points of presence in the major cities of Central and Eastern Europe. DEAC serves thousands of customers in more than 40 countries by offering innovative IT services and applying individual business approaches and top-notch technologies. *) The methodology for calculating life cycle emissions and emissions reduction complies with the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive (2018/2001/EU). Conroy Gold & Natural Resources Plc - REGULATORY CONSENTS GRANTED FOR TRANSFER OF LICENCES 27 January 2022 Conroy Gold and Natural Resources plc ("Conroy Gold" or the "Company") REGULATORY CONSENTS GRANTED FOR TRANSFER OF LICENCES TO JOINT VENTURE COMPANIES Regulatory consents granted for transfer of licences to Joint Venture Companies Clontibret Licence transferred to Conroy Gold (Clontibret) Limited Northern Ireland licences transferred to Conroy Gold (Armagh) Limited Remaining licences in Longford-Down Massif transferred to Conroy Gold (Longford Down) Limited Conroy Gold and Natural Resources PLC (AIM: CGNR), the gold exploration and development company focused on Ireland and Finland, is pleased to announce that the necessary regulatory consents have been granted, both in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, for the transfer of licences to the respective Joint Venture Companies, established under the Joint Venture Agreement (the "JV"), with Demir Export A.? ("Demir Export") (as announced on 4 January 2022). Pl 2194 (The Clontibret Licence), in the Republic of Ireland, has been transferred to Conroy Gold (Clontibret) Limited. C1/19 and C3/19 (the Northern Ireland Licences) have been transferred to Conroy Gold (Armagh) Limited. The remaining Licences in the Longford-Down Massif, PLs 1870, 2683, 3028, 3066, 3065, 3469, 4098, 3130 and 3400, have been transferred to Conroy Gold (Longford Down) Limited. Arrangements are still in process for the Mines Royal options in Northern Ireland to be transferred by the Company to Conroy Gold (Armagh) Limited which is the only outstanding condition to completion of the JV. The primary focus of the Joint Venture, Project Inis, is the development of the Clontibret Licence, PL 2194, to construction ready status and bringing it in to production as a gold mine. The JV's further aim is to develop the Northern Ireland Licences and the other licences in the Longford-Down Massif to construction ready status. Demir Export is a long established mining company with interests in iron, coal, gold and base metals, including zinc and copper, in Turkey. It has a strong in-house technical team with mining and exploration expertise. Demir Export brings over 60 years of mine operating experience to bear on the project and places a strong emphasis on the adoption of international environmental, and health and safety management standards. The investment by Demir Export will be directly into the three Joint Venture companies each holding the relevant licence or group of licences. Key Terms of the JV Demir Export to expend 4.5 million in work commitments (except Demir Export in-house costs, Operator fees and Minimum Regulatory Work Commitments) to earn-in 25% option in the project in first phase of earn-in period. Demir Export to expend an additional 4.5 million in work commitments (except Demir Export in-house costs, Operator fees and Minimum Regulatory Work Commitments) to earn an additional 15% option in second phase of earn-in period, again in the project. Expenditure by Demir Export of the additional funds required to reach construction-ready status to earn-in an additional 17.5% option in third phase of the earn-in period of a given development thus increasing Demir Export's holding to a total of 57.5% in that development. At construction-ready status at Clontibret and / or other developments, Conroy Gold to retain a 42.5% interest with various options including a "Carry Loan" on capital expenditure to commercial production whilst still retaining a 25% interest. to retain a 42.5% interest with various options including a "Carry Loan" on capital expenditure to commercial production whilst still retaining a 25% interest. Under the terms of the Agreement, on closure, Demir Export to make a cash payment of 1 million to Conroy Gold . Full details of the JV can be found in the EGM circular available on the Company's website (www.conroygold.com) and the material aspects in the announcement of 30 November 2021. Professor Richard Conroy, Chairman, commented: "I am very pleased that the regulatory consents for the transfer of the licences to the Joint Venture Companies have been granted. This is a major step forward in implementing the joint venture and I am especially pleased that in both jurisdictions regulatory consent was granted expeditiously. My colleagues and I look forward very much to working with the Demir Export team on Project Inis, and building a long term, successful relationship. Demir Export has the mining expertise and the financial resources not only to bring the Clontibret gold deposit to construction ready status and into operation as a mine, but also to advance the significant gold potential of the other licences along the gold trend to the same status." For further information please contact : 's-Hertogenbosch/Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 27January 2022 Van Lanschot Kempen is working on creating an additional covered bond programme with a soft bullet structure in 2022, under which any future covered bonds are expected to be issued. The new programme will allow further diversification of Van Lanschot Kempen's debt investor base and funding profile. Media Relations: +31 203544585; mediarelations@vanlanschotkempen.com Investor Relations: +31 203544590; investorrelations@vanlanschotkempen.com About Van Lanschot Kempen Van Lanschot Kempen, a wealth manager active in Private Banking, Asset Management and Merchant Banking, aims to preserve and create wealth, in a sustainable way, for both its clients and the society of which it is part. Listed at Euronext Amsterdam, Van Lanschot Kempen is the Netherlands' oldest independent financial services company, with a history dating back to 1737. For more information, please visit vanlanschotkempen.com This press release does not constitute an offer or solicitation for the sale, purchase or acquisition in any other way or subscription to any financial instrument and is not a recommendation to perform or refrain from performing any action. This press release is a translation of the Dutch language original and is provided as a courtesy only. In the event of any disparities, the Dutch language version will prevail. No rights can be derived from any translation thereof. Attachment NAY PYI TAW, MM, Jan 27, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - The Myanmar Government said today it has approved USD 3.82 billion of foreign investments and USD 651 million equivalent in domestic investments in the first year since the State Administration Council (SAC) took office. The investment commitments underscore confidence in the country's economic potential amid a return to national stability and efforts to increase vaccination rates to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.The Ministry of Information (MOI) and the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations (MIFER) released the latest investment figures for the country for the period between 1 February 2021 - when a Proclamation was issued - and 20 January 2022.The SAC was formed on 2 February 2021, a day after the Proclamation was issued after the failure to settle the issue of voter list fraud and malpractices in the 8 November 2020 elections, and to postpone parliament sessions. A state of emergency was declared in accordance with Article 417 of the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar.Despite destruction of public property, attacks on Government personnel and attempts to sabotage the domestic economy by the so-called People's Defense Force - with clear support from foreign elements - the SAC had largely restored national stability by the second half of 2021.Myanmar faced a second crisis, a health pandemic that arose from the outbreak that was first detected in the country in March 2020. However, due to intense efforts to contain COVID-19, schools, universities have reopened, and most commercial activities have resumed in recent months with the vaccination of at least 60% the country's population (above 18 years) to date.The MOI and MIFER said among the 50 domestic (citizens') investments approved in the past year, seven were for projects in the services sector with investment value of USD 427.34 million equivalent(1) and 29 were for manufacturing projects with investment value of USD 74.58 million equivalent(1). The mining, power and construction sectors also attracted sizeable citizens' investments during this period.Foreign investments approved in the past year included a USD 2.5 billion project to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plant, the two Ministers said.The People's Republic of China (PRC), apart from being the largest trading partner of Myanmar, is the largest foreign investor in the country. Among the non-PRC foreign investments approved in the past year were one from Japan (USD 516.43 million), four from Singapore (totaling USD 442.20 million), two from Thailand (totaling USD 75.50 million) five from South Korea (totaling USD 66.17 million) and seven from Hong Kong (totaling USD 60.09 million).The Government estimates that the foreign investments over the past year led to the creation of 25,383 new jobs while domestic investments added a further 11,879 new jobs, or a total of 37,262 jobs.Myanmar Government is accelerating efforts to improve trade flows with and investments from countries such as Russia that, until recently, have not been among its leading economic partners. Prior to the pandemic, which curtailed business travel and activities, Myanmar-Russia bilateral trade had increased 30% in FY2019-2020 (November to October) compared to the year earlier.Despite the challenges of the pandemic Myanmar and Russia are actively formulating a Bilateral Strategy for Development of Economic Cooperation. The latter has already led to a first virtual business matching session attended by dozens of business leaders from both countries last September. A second such virtual session will be held on 31 January 2022.The two countries, which signed an Inter-Governmental Joint Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation in August 2014, plan to hold its third Joint Commission meeting, physically, in Nay Pyi Taw in the near future.Russian corporations have invested USD 94 million in Myanmar, mostly in the oil and gas sector, and the country currently ranks 22nd out of 52 foreign investors. Myanmar Government will support the extension of Russian investment interest to sectors such as mineral processing, solar energy, railway and ICT, aviation, automobiles and tourism."Economic recovery is a major priority as the country recovers from two crises and prepares for multi-party elections to be held by August 2023," said MOI Minister Mr. Maung Maung Ohn and MIFER Minister Mr. Aung Naing Oo in their joint statement."Due to good weather, Government financial support such as concessionary loans, and the relatively low impact of the pandemic compared to other sectors, the agriculture, fisheries and livestock sectors are reporting healthy growth. As workers return to workplaces in the past few months, the influx of new domestic and foreign investments will also contribute to job creation," they said.These factors along with national stability and improved vaccination rates will help Myanmar register a modest economic recovery in 2021-2022 after a single-digit contraction of its Gross Domestic Product in 2020-2021 - which is less dire than forecasts of some international economists."While certain quarters of the international community publicly discourage economic cooperation with Myanmar, the country continues to record substantial trading volume as well as domestic and foreign investments. Many of our foreign partners choose to work quietly with us, fully recognizing Myanmar's economic potential as well as its unique challenges," the two Ministers said."We have shared with foreign partners our efforts to deal with economic sabotage in the form of attempts to boycott Government revenue, shake confidence in financial institutions and destabilise the kyat. Despite these challenges, our Ministries and Government departments have been working diligently away from public glare to increase trade and investment flows," they added. "These efforts have clearly borne fruit and we seek to increase such activities domestically and with foreign partners."(1) Based on exchange rate of approximately USD1.0 to 1,771 kyat as at 26 January 2022.Issued by Ministry of Information, Union Government of MyanmarFor more information, please contact mediacontact@e-information.gov.mm or myintkyawmoi@gmail.com.Source: Ministry of Information, Union Government of MyanmarCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Apollon Formularies Announces Appointment of Dr. Herbert Fritsche, Former Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Section at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas to the Board of Directors Dr. Fritsche is the Chief Science Officer of Apollon Formularies Jamaica Ltd (Non-Executive Director) LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Apollon Formularies plc (AQSE: APOL, "Apollon" or the "Company"), a UK based international medical cannabis pharmaceutical company trading on AQSE Growth Market, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Herbert Fritsche to the Board of Directors. Dr. Fritsche is a world-renowned Clinical Chemist and former Professor of Laboratory Medicine and Chief of the Clinical Chemistry Section at The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas for 41 years. Dr. Fritsche served as an invited consultant/advisor to the Food and Drug Administration, the National Cancer Institute, the Laboratory Practice Guidelines Committee for the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, the Editorial Board of six international scientific journals, and as a consultant to many major international diagnostic companies. Previously, he served on the Expert Panel for developing Tumor Marker Practice Guidelines for the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) from its inception until his retirement from MD Anderson Cancer Center. His awards include the Johnson and Johnson Award for Outstanding Research and Contributions to Clinical Biochemistry from the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry, the Abbott-ISOBM Award for Outstanding Research in Oncology, the Morton K Schwartz Award for Outstanding Achievements in the field of Cancer Diagnostics from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry ("AACC"), the Carl Jolliff Award for Lifetime Achievements in Immunology and Immunodiagnostics from the Immunology Division of the AACC, the Morton K Schwartz Award for significant contributions to the development of cancer diagnostics from the New York Metro Division of the AACC, the Outstanding Clinical Chemist Award by the Texas Section of the AACC, the National Award for Contributions in Education by the AACC, the Dean's Excellence Award from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science, and the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Clinical Ligand Assay Society ("CLAS"). Dr. Fritsche has served as President of the CLAS and various national committees for both the CLAS and AACC. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, invited articles and book chapters, and participated in the validation and FDA clearance process for almost every commercial serum cancer marker currently in use in the United States. Dr. Fritsche holds three patents and two patents pending. Dr. Fritsche has lectured extensively for many years at international and national meetings of medical and professional societies, and he is recognized internationally as an expert in the field of clinical chemistry, cancer diagnostics and laboratory medicine. "Dr. Fritsche is a highly respected international authority in clinical chemistry and one of the world's leading experts on cancer biomarkers, whom I have had the honor of working with for more than 30 years. We are extremely pleased that he has agreed to join our Board of Directors," stated Stephen D. Barnhill, MD. Executive Chairman and CEO of Apollon Formularies plc. "Dr. Fritsche and I have been working together for the past eight years in pharmaceutical medical cannabis including the development of the formulations that were recently shown to be successful in independent, 3rd party pre-clinical cancer testing at BIOENSIS laboratories. We have also co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications. I'm excited to continue working with Dr. Fritsche on the development of new pharmaceutical medical cannabis formulations and testing the efficacy of these medicines in human clinical trials." "Dr. Barnhill is a scientific visionary having brought together the fields of medicine and mathematics in a way that has, and will, continue to benefit patients worldwide. Dr. Barnhill is the earliest proponent of the use of artificial intelligence in medicine and he is considered an international expert in this new field of medicine. It has been a great pleasure to work with him on cutting edge scientific discovery for more than 30 years," stated Dr. Herbert Fritsche, "As a pioneer in artificial intelligence techniques in medicine and an inventor on more than 40 patents in this field, Dr. Barnhill now focuses his AI efforts on developing medical cannabis pharmaceutical formulations. I look forward to continuing our efforts to develop state-of-the-art technology and unique medical cannabis pharmaceutical formulations to help patients worldwide." The Company would also like to advise that to facilitate Herbs appointment Kevin Sheil will step aside at the same time to pursue other business interests. The board of Apollon would like to thank Kevin for his contribution since our IPO in April 2021 and we wish him the best for his future endeavors. Further information on Herbert Fritsche, Ph.D (Born: 30 November 1941) Herbert has no current directorships and has not held any in the past five years. Except as set out above, there is no further information regarding Herbert Fritsche, that is required to be disclosed pursuant to Rule 4.9 of the AQSE Growth Market Access Rulebook. Herbert has no interest in the issued share capital of the Company. Further Information On 19 July 2021, Apollon announced that its proprietary medical cannabis formulations were shown in third party independent clinical laboratory testing to be effective in killing both hormone-resistant and hormone-sensitive prostate cancer cells in 3D cell cultures by direct cytotoxicity. June 28, 2021, Apollon announced that its proprietary medical cannabis formulations were shown in third party independent clinical laboratory testing to be effective in killing triple-negative breast cancer cells in 3D cell culture by direct cell cytotoxicity. May 18, 2021, Apollon announced that its proprietary medical cannabis formulations were shown in third party independent clinical laboratory testing to be effective in killing HER2+ breast cancer cells in 3D cell culture by direct cytotoxicity. ENDS The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement. For additional information, please visit www.apollon.org.uk or contact: Apollon Formularies Tel: +44 7711 980 221 Stene Jacobs stene@apollon.org.uk Peterhouse Capital Limited (Corporate Adviser) Tel: +44 207 220 9795 Guy Miller gm@peterhousecapital.com Blytheweigh (Financial PR/IR-London) Tel: +44 207 138 3204 Tim Blythe tim.blythe@blytheweigh.com Megan Ray megan.ray@blytheweigh.com About Apollon and Apollon Jamaica Apollon Formularies plc is an international medical cannabis pharmaceutical company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Apollon Formularies Jamaica, Ltd is a pharmaceutical company incorporated and operating in the Commonwealth of Jamaica and a contractual affiliate of Apollon. Apollon Jamaica is licensed by the Jamaican government's Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to purchase cannabis under tripartite agreements from licensed cultivators, process, perform research and development, and sell medical cannabis therapeutic products that include legal medical cannabis in order to treat various illnesses under medical supervision. This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com. SOURCE: Apollon Formularies PLC View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685791/Apollon-Formularies-plc-Announces-Chief-Science-Officer-Appointed-as-Board-Director Staggered by the murder of two young Harlem cops, the NYPD paused yesterday to recall another grievous milestone Jan. 27, 1972, when two other young officers were gunned down in the East Village by the Black Liberation Army. A trio of gunmen ambushed NYPD Officers Gregory Foster, 22, and Rocco Laurie, 23, near Avenue B and E. 11th St. They came up from behind, opened fire, then unholstered the cops revolvers and fired again. Advertisement Slain NYPD officers Gregory Foster (left) and Rocco Laurie Foster, struck eight times, died at the scene, leaving behind a wife and two toddlers. His partner, struck seven times, died at Bellevue Hospital five hours later. On Thursday, Lauries wife, Adelaide Laurie, 73, speaking at a ceremony outside her slain husbands command, the Ninth Precinct stationhouse, lamented what happened in Harlem last Friday night, when an ex-con shot officers Jason Rivera, 22, and Wilbert Mora, 27. Advertisement Rivera died that night and Mora died on Tuesday. The gunman, shot by a third cop at the scene, died on Monday. Adelaide Laurie, wife of Rocco Laurie, speaks at the 50th anniversary memorial for NYPD officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie at the Ninth Precinct station house in Manhattan on Thursday. (Shawn Inglima/for New York Daily News) Adelaide Laurie recounted the night her life changed forever from the moment Buster the family dog barked up a storm as cops pounded on the door of the familys Staten Island home to when she learned her husband had died. They took me to see him, and I saw my beloved on a gurney and I kissed him for the last time and I touched his face, she said. My life has never been the same since that awful night. I remember all these things every day of my life and time does not heal all wounds. Adelaide Laurie and Jacqueline Foster grieve over the death of their husbands. (Hurley, Frank) You do go on and you do try to live your life as best as you can, but its a wound that will never ever heal. Fosters relatives, including his grandson, who is also named Gregory Foster and is a 9th Precinct officer with the same shield number, were also at the remembrance but did not speak. The 50th anniversary memorial for NYPD officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie on Thursday. (Shawn Inglima/for New York Daily News) The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > But NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell told both families the department will never forget. Whether its 50 years or 150 years outside, here on these streets will be filled with NYPD officers past and present every Jan. 27, she said. We will stand in honor of our fallen. Two of the prime suspects were later killed in shootouts with police. Twymon Meyers died in the Bronx while Ronald Carter perished in a gunfight with cops in in St. Louis. The shot that killed Carter was fired by an accomplice using Lauries stolen gun. Advertisement Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell speaks at the 50th anniversary memorial for NYPD officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie at the Ninth Precinct station house in Manhattan on Thursday. (Shawn Inglima/for New York Daily News) Robert Vickers, a convicted heroin trafficker, has long been suspected of being the third gunman but has never been charged. Vincent DAdamo, 72, was a 9th Precinct rookie cop at the time of the double murder. He traveled 100 miles from Philadelphia to be at Thursdays ceremony and said the assassinations, at a time when police were routinely targeted for executions by radicals, have left him with emotional wounds hes never fully addressed. Deputy Police Commissioner for Public Affairs Robert Daley, left and other police officials examine the scene where two policemen were fatally shot, Jan. 27, 1972. Chalk lines indicate the position of the officers' bodies. (AP) But he said he never thought once about finding another line of work, even though being on patrol meant never being fully at ease. There was a paranoia, he said. But I worked my whole 20 years here. I loved being a cop. The global technology and market leader in power grids has achieved the first-step target in its Sustainability 2030 plan and steps up the pace towards carbon-neutral Zurich, Switzerland, Jan. 27, 2022plan - the use of 100% fossil-free electricity in its own operations1. The company is driving towards being carbon-neutral in its own operations by 20302, in line with its Purpose, 'Advancing a sustainable energy future for all'. "By achieving 100% fossil-free electricity in our own operations, we have reduced our CO2 equivalent emissions by over 50% compared to 2019," says Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy. He continued, "The Net Zero challenge is global and it's about acting now, innovating and collaborating across countries, industries and societies. Together with customers, partners, and all stakeholders, we are advancing the world's energy system to be more sustainable, flexible and secure." The targeted 50% reduction achieved ahead of plan will amount to approximately 175 kilo tonnes of CO2e per year, equivalent to removing over 35,000 passenger cars off the road. To achieve 100% fossil-free electricity in its own operations - and in support of the Hitachi Group's carbon-neutrality goal3 - the company has pursued a number of pathways including supporting projects to generate its own fossil-free electricity, such as installing solar roof panels combined with e-meshTM digital solutions for distributed energy resources maximizing energy efficiency and minimizing CO2 emissions. In its Zhongshan factory in China, the company is generating nearly 20% of its total energy consumption from solar panels. In its first year of operation, the power generated at the factory is expected to reach 1,510 megawatt hours (MWh), contributing to the reduction in annual carbon emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes. To achieve 100% fossil-free electricity, Hitachi Energy has also switched to green tariffs, bought Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs), and signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) across its operations and facilities in 90 countries. Looking ahead, Hitachi Energy is continuing to invest in its journey towards carbon-neutrality by further increasing energy efficiency, as well as electrifying its own operations. In Ludvika, Sweden, the company is now using 100% renewable electricity generated from hydropower and from solar panels to support its operations. Ludvika, which is one of Hitachi Energy's largest production facilities, has gone beyond tackling its electricity supply and is now close to removing the use of all fossil fuels from the whole of its operations. The company has a track record of implementing its own technologies in its operations to enable the integration of renewable energy. For example, in 2015 its South Africa operations installed a 750 kW rooftop photovoltaic plant and a 1 MVA/380 kWh battery-based PowerStoreTM for enhancing the use of renewables and providing a continuous supply of power. Through its Sustainability 2030 plan and targets, the company reinforces its commitment to accelerating actions driving business in a sustainable way. Based around four pillars - Planet, People, Peace, and Partnerships - the strategy draws from the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with specific focus on the following eight: 3 (Good health and well-being), 4 (Quality education), 5 (Gender equality), 6 (Clean water and sanitation), 7 (Affordable and clean energy), 12 (Responsible consumption and production), 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions); and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). In line with these SDGs, each pillar has corresponding targets that drive the business to contribute social, environmental, and economic value. Notes 1. The contract for its South Korea operations (equivalent to 0.4% total electricity usage) is expected to be signed in February 2022 retrospectively through green tariffs. 2. Discover more about Hitachi Energy's approach to Sustainability 2030 here 3. Hitachi Sustainability Report 2021 About Hitachi Energy Ltd. Hitachi Energy is a global technology leader that is advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We serve customers in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors with innovative solutions and services across the value chain. Together with customers and partners, we pioneer technologies and enable the digital transformation required to accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral future. We are advancing the world's energy system to become more sustainable, flexible and secure whilst balancing social, environmental and economic value. Hitachi Energy has a proven track record and unparalleled installed base in more than 140 countries. Headquartered in Switzerland, we employ around 38,000 people in 90 countries and generate business volumes of approximately $10 billion USD. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd.. Attachment LONDON (dpa-AFX) - NCC Group PLC (NCC.L) on Thursday reported profit before taxation of 8.4 million pounds or 1.9p per basic share in the first six months, lower than 9.7 million pounds or 2.4p per share in the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time items, basic EPS was 4.4p compared with 4.5p last year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), on an adjusted basis, however, increased to 26.1 million pounds from 25.4 million pounds a year ago. Revenue for the first half rose to 150.1 million pounds from 135.6 million pounds in the prior-year period, driven by the acquisition of Iron Mountain's Intellectual Property Management (IPM) business. The group declared an interim dividend of 1.5p per share, unchanged from last year, to be paid on March 4, to shareholders on the register at the close of business on February 18. Looking forward, the company said it anticipates a strong H2 2022 leading to full-year outturn to be in line with expectations. NCC further noted that H2 2022 trading to date is currently in line with expectations following sales order momentum in December and January. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The integrated solution combines on-demand global connectivity, a digital marketplace, real-time configure-price-quote (CPQ), and automated provisioning and activation NEW YORK and LONDON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudSmartz and LastMileXchange (LMX) today announced a strategic partnership to help Communication Service Providers (CSPs) accelerate digital transformation (DX) and rapidly improve customer experience (CX). CloudSmartz is a provider of one of the industry's leading intelligent digital customer experience (iDCX) platforms, Acumen360. LMX is the global leader in inter-carrier access quote automation, supporting 50 percent of the leading carriers around the world. The joint LMX-CloudSmartz solution turbocharges real-time carrier pricing and accelerates the sales journey, with the support of an end-to-end digital experience and marketplace platform. This new strategic partnership expands the benefits of Acumen360 by providing users access to 400+ last-mile providers across the globe. It also provides CSPs with the following additional benefits: Radical acceleration of the sales cycle by slashing it from weeks to days by slashing it from weeks to days Significant improvement of pricing accuracy by providing up-to-date prices with higher and more predictable profit margins by providing up-to-date prices with higher and more predictable profit margins Drastic improvement of service quality and lowered operational expenses with automated CPQ, provisioning, and activation with automated CPQ, provisioning, and activation Dramatic improvement of the enterprise and customer experience with a digital marketplace experience with a digital marketplace experience Substantial improvement of interoperability with open MEF LSO API adapters for integration with existing and future applications and support systems "CSPs are challenged with digital transformation and improving their customer experience across the entire organization - technology, culture, process - all the while staying relevant to their end-users and preparing for growth, scale and compliance," said Matthew Ray, Chief Marketing Officer at CloudSmartz. "They want better visibility, control, and automation - and so do their enterprise customers. Together with LMX, we're proud to have created an intuitive, integrated platform that provides real-time automation for access network services, on-demand connectivity, CPQ, and product catalogue - supporting CSPs around the world with a true end-to-end unified service experience." CloudSmartz's Acumen360 accelerates digital transformation for CSPs by providing a customer-centric platform combining the power of global connectivity and existing systems to unlock continuous innovation and software-centric automation. By harnessing existing systems, global connectivity, and real-time automation, CSPs are able to rapidly design, introduce, sell, and configure new services while reducing internal costs and enabling one-click purchasing through its online marketplace platform. "We are thrilled to be partnering with CloudSmartz to bring service providers all the benefits that come from a single-pane-of-glass platform - irrespective of their existing backend OSS or BSS," said James Grant, Founder and Commercial Director at LMX. "CloudSmartz and LMX share a vision of digitizing and simplifying complex processes and challenge areas from the core end-user experience, quote-to-order, and execution to provisioning. This partnership is an opportunity to extend the benefits of the LMX pricing access engine, combined with an end-to-end foundational framework that is uniquely agnostic to CSPs' existing support systems - unlocking value and innovation." The LMX cloud-native platform allows carriers to quickly identify the optimal access solution by aggregating 400+ access providers' APIs, rate cards, and price books in one unified platform. Through this process, the LMX platform supports both buying and selling carriers with their quoting digitization. As a global leader in this field, LMX empowers service providers to meet three of their most pressing objectives: improve efficiency, win more profitable business, and minimize costs. About CloudSmartz CloudSmartz delivers the industry's leading digital marketplace and intelligent digital customer experience platform, Acumen360 for on-demand global connectivity to accelerate digital transformation for Communications Service Providers (CSPs). Acumen360 drives value creation and immediate financial improvements by unlocking customer software-centric automation. CloudSmartz helps CSPs transform into digital-first service providers by optimizing business intelligence, digitizing operations, and generating revenue opportunities through a unified service experience. Encompassing over a quarter-century of telecom and software-industry experience, CloudSmartz has been recognized by Inc. magazine as one of America's Fastest-Growing Privately-held Companies for five consecutive years. For more information, visit https://cloudsmartz.com, follow CloudSmartz on LinkedIn, or book an exploratory call with CloudSmartz by clicking here. About LastMileXchange LastMileXchange (LMX) provides Communication Service Providers (CSPs) across the globe with cloud-based access pricing solutions, enabling them to automate, accelerate and streamline the quote-to-order sales process. LMX is the trusted access quoting partner for 50 percent of the world's leading global carriers, as its platform connects 400+ access vendors worldwide, processing 8 million quotes per annum. www.lastmilexchange.com Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Silicon Valley decarbonization solutions company announces global partnerships with major industry leaders SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ReCarbon, (https://recarboninc.com) the developer of a revolutionary greenhouse gas utilization technology platform, announces today the closing of its Series B-1 funding round. In addition, ReCarbon welcomes two important partners, POSCO, one of the largest steel companies in the world, and GS Holdings Corporation, a Fortune 500 energy and utility company. ReCarbon Founder and CEO, Dr. Jay Kim said, "We envision ReCarbon as a foundation for global climate-positive, decarbonization solutions. We are thrilled to close this funding round and to execute important business cooperation agreements with POSCO and GS Holdings. We are accelerating our product deployment with our ecosystem partners and the realization of our mission to restore the Earth." "Decarbonizing hard-to-abate industry sectors is at the core of our Corporate Citizenship and ESG goals. We recognize the significant contribution that ReCarbon will play in helping POSCO and other companies reach these critical goals for global industry sustainability. We are pleased to enter into this venture fund investment of USD 7 million into ReCarbon, towards far-reaching climate positive outcomes." - Mr. Daeho Shin, Group Leader, POSCO Venture Fund Group "As a strategic investor of ReCarbon, GS Holdings continues its commitment to invest into companies who have the shared vision of promoting future growth through digital and climate positive technologies. In collaboration with GS, we expect the application of ReCarbon's excellent technology will produce outstanding results in the future zero carbon era." - Mr. Suh Hong Hur, Senior Executive Vice President, GS Holdings These key developments underscore ReCarbon's fast moving progress to scale by continuing to grow its network of industry partners and stakeholders. About ReCarbon: ReCarbon is an energy and chemicals company that recycles GHGs into valuable energy and decarbonized products such as hydrogen and syngas. About POSCO:The world's most competitive steelmaker for 12 consecutive years, POSCO (https://posco.com) is pursuing "Corporate Citizenship: Building a Better Future Together" including substantive ESG goals. About GS Holdings Corporation:The 8th largest Korea-based global conglomerate,GS Holdings (https://gs.co.kr) manages an array of subsidiaries with a leading presence in the energy and fuel sector via GS Energy and GS Caltex. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1037343/ReCarbon_Logo.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1730668/posco.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1730669/GS.jpg NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- From an estimated $5,307.2 million in 2021, the telecom consulting market value is set to reach $14,519.6 million by 2030, witnessing an 11.8% CAGR between 2021 and 2030. Key players in the industry are Bain & Company Inc., L.E.K. Consulting LLC, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Boston Consulting Group Inc., Capgemini Services SAS, McKinsey & Company, Wipro Limited, CGI Inc., Accenture PLC, Tata Consultancy Services Limited, Atos SE, International Business Machines Corporation, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, KPMG International Limited, and Ernst & Young Global Limited. Apart from merely planning and consulting, these firms offer system integration and operations and maintenance services to telecom operators worldwide. Among these, the demand is the highest for planning and consulting, because of the changing network demands of people, which is making telcos adapt their own systems. Thus, they are engaging consultants to offer expert advice, analyze their existing systems, and help them enhance their network coverage with maximum cost saving. Get the sample pages of this report at: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/telecom-consulting-market/report-sample Key Findings of Telecom Consulting Market Report The adoption of artificial intelligence, online news, TV, and gaming; digital personal assistants, connected and autonomous vehicles, digital baking and shopping, and other virtual solutions is driving telcos to enhance their network connectivity, which is why they are engaging consultants. In this regard, the rapid rollout of 5G is the strongest telecom consulting market growth driver. Telecom companies will need to quickly and cost-effectively enhance their existing infrastructure, add new towers, and adopt artificial intelligence to predict peak traffic, forecast end user distribution, and enhance network capability. This is also why most telecom companies avail consulting services as the first step in the installation of new wireless networks and the enhancement of the existing ones. Most of the requests for telecom consulting services are made for cloud services, which have revolutionized the IT sector by allowing companies and individuals to store their data and access advanced software on third-party servers. North America generates much of the telecom consulting market revenue as its telecom and IT sectors are undergoing swift technological advancements, especially with the rollout of 5G networks. generates much of the telecom consulting market revenue as its telecom and IT sectors are undergoing swift technological advancements, especially with the rollout of 5G networks. The fastest-rising demand for consulting services will be witnessed among the telcos of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, where an increasing number of people are getting connected to the internet and demanding faster network speeds and low latency. Browse Detailed Report on Telecom Consulting Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Forecast Report, 2030 As the services offered by the market players are highly technical and require immense skill and knowledge for their dispersal, the industry is consolidated, with only established consulting companies operating in it. The players at the top have extensively engaged in collaborations and partnerships, service launches, and mergers and acquisitions to enhance their offerings and gain the trust of more customers. These measures of telecom consulting market players are being encouraged by the rapid digital transformation of businesses across all industries. This is leading to the changing demands of companies with respect to networks and connectivity. With individuals and entities in all corners of the world demanding higher download and data transmission speeds with low latency, telecom companies are being compelled to work with consultants to enhance their services. Browse More Reports Network Telemetry Market - Geographically, North America dominated the network telemetry market in the recent past, and it would demonstrate notable growth in the forthcoming years. This can be primarily credited to the presence of a large number of network telemetry solutions providing companies, such as Netronome Systems Inc., and Cisco Systems Inc., Arista Networks Inc., and Cisco Systems Inc., in the region. 5G Infrastructure Market - In the preceding years, North America dominated the 5G infrastructure market due to the hefty investments made by the governments of the regional countries in 5G infrastructure development. For instance, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association estimates that $26 billion will be spent on 5G infrastructure development in Canada between 2020 and 2026. About P&S Intelligence P&S Intelligence is a provider of market research and consulting services catering to the market information needs of burgeoning industries across the world. Providing the plinth of market intelligence, P&S as an enterprising research and consulting company, believes in providing thorough landscape analyses on the ever-changing market scenario, to empower companies to make informed decisions and base their business strategies with astuteness. Contact: Prajneesh Kumar P&S Intelligence Phone: +1-347-960-6455 Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.psmarketresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1224988/P_and_S_Intelligence_Logo.jpg JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Palm Oil Industry is well on track towards reaching Net0 emissions. Facts and figures proving this great achievement was thoroughly discussed during webinar "Net-Zero Emissions: Achievements and Way Forward in the Palm Oil's Production", hosted by the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) on 26 January 2022. At the opening session, MEP Sean Kelly underlined the need for a partnership between the European Union and producing countries, and reiterated that palm oil can indeed be produced sustainably. Kelly's statement in ensuring progress on sustainability was shared by Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron, CPOPC's Executive Director, who stressed that the palm oil industry started working towards Net0 emissions well ahead of others sectors and recalled palm oil's crucial role producing countries' development. Experts from different backgrounds described the latest developments proving the producing countries' commitment toward palm oil' sustainable production: Science based data, outlined through the event, made clear once again that the false narrative surrounding palm oil, such as its contribution to deforestation, must and can be debunked. Dr Rosediana Suharto, Director of the Indonesian NGO Responsible Palm Oil Initiative, highlighted that deforestation in Indonesia is steadily decreasing and that the palm oil industry is constantly changing to operate sustainably, together with strict measures from the government. She underscored the crucial role and the interests of smallholders in the global discussion on palm oil. The importance of smallholder farmers has been again underlined by Dr Ruslan Abdullah from the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, who gave an exhaustive overview of Malaysia's performance in cutting CO2 emissions in comparison to other countries, describing the national measures aimed at improving the production of palm oil and reducing GHGs emissions. Dr Wan Yee Lam, from South Pole, finally, outlined how companies can affectively plan their activities to reach Net0 emissions, following dedicated methodologies, such as the ones defined in the SBTI Corporate Net-Zero Standard. Important viewpoints were also discussed in the Q&A session. The cooperation between producing countries and advanced countries has been identified as a central aspect, in the wide debate around palm oil, that must be addressed and improved to ensure that palm oil should be treated fairly. Avenues such as the ASEAN-EU Joint Working Group on Vegetable Oils must be utilized for an objective discussion on palm oil. All presentations could be downloaded here. Black soldier fly circular economy start-up scores with judges at Expo Dubai Circular economy start-up Entoprotech, which uses Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) to sustainably convert organic waste into high-value products, is a Global Winner of the Uniting Water Energy Food (UWEF) Innovation Finals. The competition was hosted at Expo Dubai 2020 (postponed to January 2022) as the fifth and final part of the UWEF Innovation Tour, where top innovations in water, energy, and food were selected out of 1,200 candidates to compete in the finals. Entoprotech CEO Sasha Babitsky impressed by describing how his company uses BSFL to solve big global problems, including pollution, climate change and food insecurity. Rather than dumping organic waste into landfills, where it would generate dangerous greenhouse gasses, organizations divert their waste to Entoprotech, where it is fed to the highly evolved and very hungry BSFL, which can eat almost everything organic at amazing pace. The BSFL are then converted into high-quality protein, insect fat (oil), fertiliser and other valuable products that ensure high-quality food reaches plates around the world. Entoprotech's pilot facility already processes 15 tonnes of waste per day, and the startup is in negotiations with five partners to establish a dozen more facilities around the globe. In September 2021, Entoprotech received investment from Granot, the biggest agricultural cooperative in Israel, and major food producer Damate is a founding shareholder. In Sasha's own words while competing in the ring: "We are ready to go. The solution is technologically ready. We just need partners and money to deploy it globally and to make an impact." Entoprotech also wowed the judges with its R&D capabilities, which are already yielding results, as a project in partnership with researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem working on BSFL fat application to alleviate symptoms of inflammatory bowel disorders (IBD) such as Colitis and Crohn's. Sasha Babitsky, Entoprotech CEO, said: "It was an honour to participate in the prestigious UWEF innovation finals and I had great fun battling it out with my opponent in the ring. Our competition was tough the other finalist startups are incredibly innovative and impactful and we see this victory as a strong endorsement of Entoprotech's continued success as we continue to work with our partners to scale and expand the BSFL solution globally." Watch UWEF Innovation finals: https://getinthering.co/livestream/. About Entoprotech Entoprotech is a circular economy startup engaged in food waste treatment and processing situated at the forefront of cleantech and agritech sectors. By harnessing black soldier fly larvae, the company merges proprietary technology with strategic partnerships in genetics, biochemistry, and animal feeds. Entoprotech provides solutions that contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fulfil key protein shortages while managing organic waste. Headquartered in Israel, Entoprotech has R&D activity in Israel and Russia and a production facility processing 15 tons of organic waste daily. For more information, please visit www.entoprotech.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005492/en/ Contacts: Jamie Hyman hyman@em-comms.com Assembly line using robots TOKYO, Jan 27, 2022 - (JCN Newswire) - Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501, "Hitachi") and Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd. ("Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems") today announced that they have been accelerating the global development of the line building business leveraging industrial robots ("the robotic SI(1) business") and will establish Hitachi Automation, Ltd. ("Hitachi Automation") on April 1, 2022, by reorganizing and integrating the operations and resources within group companies, with the aim of reinforcing the robotic SI business in Japan and ASEAN countries.Specifically, the robotic SI business involving assembly and conveyor lines for all kinds of manufacturers will be transferred from Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems, a Hitachi subsidiary to KEC Corporation ("KEC"), a Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems subsidiary handling robotic SI business mainly in the automobile industry through a company split, while transferring shares of KEC's stock from Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems to Hitachi's Industry & Distribution Business Unit and changing the tradename at the same time.For the past few years, Hitachi's Industry Sector has been reinforcing the robotic SI business through Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems' acquisition of KEC(2) and Hitachi's Industry & Distribution Business Unit's acquisition of JR Automation(3) and Kyoto Robotics Corporation ("Kyoto Robotics").(4) Now by integrating the robotic SI business into Hitachi's Industry & Distribution Business Unit through this reorganization, Hitachi will provide solutions fused with digital technologies while expanding its ability to provide full turnkey solutions in collaboration with JR Automation. Under the new structure, it will contribute to increasing the value of the customer's business by providing one-stop solution with OT(5) centered on robotic SI and IT.Moreover, the Hitachi Group aims to be a global leader in the robotic SI business based on JR Automation which is developing business mainly in North America and Europe, Hitachi Automation and Kyoto Robotics which will be developing business in Japan and ASEAN countries.BackgroundIn manufacturing fields in recent years, there has been rapidly growing demand for the automation of workplaces using robots reflecting labor shortage due to the declining birthrate, the aging population, the decrease of the working-age population, and the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to the rapidly changing markets, there has also been an acceleration of digital transformation (DX) leveraging advanced technologies with the goal of creating new value.Business strategies of the Hitachi's Industry SectorThe basic policy of the Hitachi's Industry Sector is to globally develop "Total Seamless Solutions" that solve "boundary" issues that exist between management, workplaces and supply chain to create new value for businesses leveraging Lumada(6) and Hitachi's combination of OT, IT and products.At the same time, the need for automation using robots in workplaces is increasing. The field of robotic SI, which involves a massive amount of data, is playing a central role in connecting management and workplaces to achieve overall optimization. In this environment, through the acquisition of KEC and U.S.-based JR Automation in 2019, and the acquisition of Kyoto Robotics in 2021, Hitachi is globally expanding and strengthening its capabilities in the robotic SI field.With the goal of increasing its competitiveness in the robotic SI business in Japan and ASEAN countries, Hitachi has decided to integrate its robotic SI business resources into Hitachi Automation.Objectives of the establishment of Hitachi AutomationKEC has developed the robotic SI business for automobiles and other manufacturing workplaces mainly for Japanese companies in Japan, South Korea, China, the U.S. and India since its foundation in 1981. It has proprietary knowledge of robotic SI technologies, especially in welding processes. Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems develops the robotic SI business centering on assembly and conveyor processes in a wide range of business categories leveraging its control technologies, such as connected products.By achieving the following objectives of this business reorganization and integration, the Hitachi Group aims to be a global leader in the robotic SI business through this reinforcement and expansion of the business:1. Integrate resources including the robotic SI technical capabilities, expertise and customer bases of KEC and Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems and reinforce the foundation of the business by expanding their front engineering functions.2. Expand Hitachi Automation's capabilities to provide full turnkey solutions in line building in Japan and ASEAN countries through a partnership with JR Automation that has knowledge and advantages in a wide range of industries and line of robotic SI and provides full turnkey solutions in line building, from upstream proposal, design and manufacturing through to construction in the U.S., Europe and ASEAN countries.3. By placing Hitachi Automation under Hitachi's Industry & Distribution Business Unit, accelerate the fusion between digital solutions analyzing and optimizing data leveraging Lumada handled by the Business Unit and robotic SI which involves a massive amount of data from workplaces. This will enable Hitachi to provide "Total Seamless Solutions" for overall optimization by digitally connecting manufacturing workplaces and management which have become more and more intelligent to contribute to increasing the value of the customer's business.Statement by Kazunobu Morita, Vice President and Executive Officer, CEO of the Industry & Distribution Business Unit, Hitachi, Ltd."The needs for automation have been increasing rapidly in the manufacturing industry due to a shortage of labor, the retirement of highly skilled workers and a decrease in production engineers. Against this backdrop, Hitachi has focused on the reinforcement of its robotic SI business through mergers and acquisitions in Japan and in the U.S. over the past few years.I am confident that Hitachi Automation, which will be established by reorganizing and integrating the resources of the group, will contribute to solutions to the problems faced by customers in manufacturing industries in Japan and ASEAN countries. In the future, we will provide 'Total Seamless Solutions' that maximize business value from the customer's management perspective by combining robotic SI with Hitachi's products, OT, IT and Lumada which utilizes advanced digital technology, and by realizing cyber-physical system as linking cyberspace and real space, thereby contributing to the improvement of social, environmental and economic value."(1) SI: Systems Integration(2) Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd. news release titled "Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Entered into Agreement to Acquire KEC, Robotic System Integrator" announced on March 22, 2019.(3) Hitachi, Ltd. news release titled "Hitachi Agrees to Acquire JR Automation, a Robotic System Integrator in the US" announced on April 24, 2019.(4) Hitachi, Ltd. news release titled "Hitachi Acquires Kyoto Robotics, a Start-up Developing Intelligent Robotic Systems" announced on April 8, 2021.(5) OT: Operational Technologies(6) Lumada: General name of solution service technology using Hitachi's advanced digital technology to generate value from customer data and accelerate digital innovationAbout Hitachi, Ltd.Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, contributes to a sustainable society with a higher quality of life by driving innovation through data and technology as the Social Innovation Business. Hitachi is focused on strengthening its contribution to the Environment, the Resilience of business and social infrastructure as well as comprehensive programs to enhance Security & Safety. Hitachi resolves the issues faced by customers and society across six domains: IT, Energy, Mobility, Industry, Smart Life and Automotive Systems through its proprietary Lumada solutions. The company's consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2020 (ended March 31, 2021) totaled 8,729.1 billion yen ($78.6 billion), with 871 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 350,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com.About Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd.Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd. headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., and is engaged in the manufacturing, sales and services of industrial components and equipment. The company offers various industrial products including motors, factory automation/control systems, wind/water systems, pneumatic systems, power distribution, environmental systems and labor-saving systems. For more information, visit http://www.hitachi-ies.co.jp/english.Source: Hitachi, Ltd.Copyright 2022 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2022) - Cabral Gold Inc. (TSXV: CBR) (OTC PINK: CBGZF) ("Cabral" or the "Company") is pleased to provide assay results from an initial 12 RC drill holes and three diamond holes drilled within and above the Central gold deposit within the Cuiu Cuiu gold district in northern Brazil. Highlights are as follows: DDH251, intersected gold-in-oxide mineralization at the Central deposit, and returned 55.1m @ 1.1 g/t gold from 4.9m depth including 5m @ 6.1 g/t gold and 15.5m @ 1.7 g/t gold from 65.8m depth and 3.5m @ 0.8 g/t gold from 81.3m depth in un-weathered and highly brecciate and altered intrusive rocks beneath the oxidation DDH247, also drilled at Central, returned 11.0m @ 0.7 g/t gold from surface, in gold-in-oxide blanket material, as well as 20.4m @ 0.5 g/t gold and 23.3m @ 0.3 g/t gold in un-weathered and highly brecciate and altered intrusive rocks further down the hole Results on an initial 10 shallow RC holes drilled within and around the northern part of the Central deposit, revealed a thin but consistent gold-in-oxide blanket. Results of note include RC259 which returned 26m @ 0.4 g/t gold in oxidized material from surface Alan Carter, Cabral's President and CEO commented, "The results from the initial drilling at the Central gold deposit clearly demonstrate that we have a significant zone of gold-in-oxide mineralization forming a blanket above the primary Central deposit. This is the third gold-in-oxide blanket identified at Cuiu Cuiu since the initial discovery at MG in April of last year, and these recent discoveries are in addition to the two existing hard-rock deposits with resources at Cuiu Cuiu. At this stage, we do not know the extent of the blanket or how much of this material at Central is in-situ weathered primary gold mineralization, and how much is transported cover material. Nevertheless, both types of material are expected to add significantly to the inventory of potentially leachable gold-in-oxide deposits recently identified at MG and PDM. Additional drilling over the next months is expected to further define the limits of the oxide material at Central, whilst providing further definition of the high-grade zones within the underlying primary deposit at Central." Central Diamond-Drill Results The Central gold deposit is located 2.5km SE of the PDM target (Figure 1). Recent drilling at PDM returned 22.4m @ 4.8 g/t gold and 11.9m @ 3.3 g/t gold in altered and brecciated granitic rocks beneath an extensive gold-in-oxide blanket (see press releases dated December 15, 2021 and January 12, 2022). Two rigs are currently operating at Central: an RC rig drilling shallow holes to test the presence of a near-surface gold-in-oxide blanket; and a diamond rig to better define the high-grade, highly altered, brecciated and sheared zones within the primary basement deposit, as well as to test for a near surface gold-in-oxide blanket. Figure 1: Map showing the location of the PDM and MG gold-in-oxide blankets and the existing MG and Central primary gold deposits as well as other key targets (yellow circles) within this part of the Cuiu Cuiu district To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3900/111841_5b20146c14cacbd6_002full.jpg A total of eight diamond-drill holes were completed in late 2021. Assay results reported herein are from three holes; DDH247, DDH251 and DDH252 (Figure 2, Table 1). The principal objective of this drilling program is to identify and define the individual higher grade zones within the Central gold deposit, whilst exploring for additional high grade mineralization in parts of the current resource with a historic low drill density. Assays from the remaining five 2021 holes are pending. The current program of diamond drilling at Central involves the completion of 43 holes in total. The main mineralized area at Central is covered by a flat-lying transported colluvial blanket. This overlies a deep oxidized zone of saprolite basement, wherein the oxidized weathering profile extends to depths of up to 80m into the primary highly altered, breccia-hosted mineralization. Primary gold mineralization extends close to surface within this oxidized weathered zone. As with the near-surface mineralization at MG and PDM, the oxidized weathered primary material and the overlying colluvial blanket may be amenable to low-cost heap leach processing. The weathered rocks will also likely have lower mining costs than the deeper fresh hard basement rocks. It is important to recognize that much of the historic drilling at Central was very deep and did not adequately test the mineralized oxidized cover sequence. The initial phase of diamond drilling at Central is focused on defining, and exploring for, higher grade mineralization within 200m of surface that would represent the initial portion of a potential open pit. Holes DDH251 and DDH252 were both drilled on section N20970 (Figures 2 and 3). DDH251 was drilled to the north-east and returned 55.5m @ 1.1 g/t gold in saprolite oxidized basement material from 4.9m depth, including 5.0m @ 6.1 g/t gold from 44.2m depth, and 15.5m @ 1.7 g/t gold from 65.8m depth. The hole also intersected 3.5m @ 0.8 g/t gold in un-weathered highly altered basement rocks from 81.3m depth, directly beneath the weathered and oxidized rocks (Figure 3). The hole ended shortly thereafter at 86.7m depth, and likely terminated in the mineralized basement zone, leaving the mineralized zone open to the NE. Hole DDH252 was drilled to the SW in the opposite direction, away from the known mineralized zone and was designed to test for parallel zones. It failed to intersect any significant mineralization apart from a narrow 3.0m interval of colluvial blanket from surface which averaged 0.2 g/t gold. Figure 2: Map showing the outline of the Central gold deposit and the drill holes completed to date including historic diamond-drill holes, and recent RC and diamond-drill holes with results reported as part of this press release To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3900/111841_5b20146c14cacbd6_003full.jpg Drill Hole Weathering Mineralized Zone From to Width Grade m m m g/t gold DDH247 Oxide/Saprolite Colluvial Blanket 0.0 11.0 11.0 0.7 Saprolite Basement 28.6 39.5 10.9 0.2 Fresh Rock 90.8 111.2 20.4 0.5 122.4 145.7 23.3 0.3 EOH 186.1 DDH251 Oxide/Saprolite Saprolite Basement 4.9 60.4 55.5 1.1 incl. 44.2 49.2 5.0 6.1 and incl. 45.2 46.2 1.0 12.8 and 65.8 81.3 15.5 1.7 Fresh Rock 81.3 84.7 3.5 0.8 EOH 86.7 DDH252 Oxide/Saprolite Colluvial Blanket 0.0 3.0 3.0 0.2 EOH 90.2 Table 1 showing the drill results from the diamon- drill holes DDH247, DDH251 and DDH252 Figure 3: Section N20970 through the Central deposit showing the location of DDH251 and DDH252. Results are pending on DDH258. Section also shows historic drill holes which were drilled oblique to section with total interval from hole. Sect. Interv. = Section Interval extending 12.5m in both directions and at 90 degrees from section plane To view an enhanced version of Figure 3, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3900/111841_5b20146c14cacbd6_004full.jpg Hole DDH247 was drilled on section N20845, near the SW corner of the known Central deposit, as currently outlined (Figure 2). It intersected 11m @ 0.7 g/t gold from surface (Table 1, Figure 4) which is interpreted to be gold-in-oxide blanket material in transported sedimentary and colluvial overburden. The lateral extent of the blanket is unknown at this time, as similar blanket material was not sampled in historic holes to the NE or to the SW on this section. Hole DDH247 also intersected 10.9m @ 0.2 g/t gold in oxidized primary basement material (saprolite) from 28.6m depth. Below the weathered rocks, DDH247 intersected 20.4m @ 0.5 g/t gold from 90.8m depth and 23.3m @ 0.3 g/t gold from 122.4m depth in unweathered highly altered and brecciated intrusive rocks. Figure 4: Section N20845 through the Central deposit showing the location of DDH247. Note upper section of 11m @ 0.7 g/t gold in colluvial gold-in-oxide blanket. Section also shows historic drill holes which were drilled oblique to section with total interval from hole. Sect. Interv. = Section Interval extending 12.5m in both directions and at 90 degrees from section plane To view an enhanced version of Figure 4, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/3900/111841_5b20146c14cacbd6_005full.jpg Central RC Drill Results Results were also returned on an initial ten shallow RC holes completed in late 2021 within, and around, the northern end of the primary Central deposit. The objective of this drilling was to determine whether there are indications of mineralized gold-in-oxide near surface blanket material in the northern part of the Central deposit, similar to that found at MG and PDM. The ten exploration RC holes reported here (RC251 to RC254, RC254B, RC255 to RC259) were drilled on three NE-SW trending sections over an area of approximately 350m x 300m (Figure 2). Seven of the ten holes returned indications of a thin, low-grade gold-in-oxide blanket over the northern part of the primary Central gold deposit. Highlights include 26m @ 0.4 g/t gold from surface in RC259 and 14m @ 0.2 g/t gold from 23.0m depth in RC252 (Figure 2). Interestingly, hole RC259 is the most northerly of these RC drill holes which may indicate the presence of higher grades and thicknesses within the blanket to the north. The RC drilling program at Central is ongoing with results pending on an additional eight holes. A further eight holes are planned. Drilling Update As noted above, an extensive diamond drilling program is in progress at the primary Central gold deposit. Assay results are currently pending on five holes completed in 2021, from a total program of 43 planned diamond-drill holes at Central. These are designed to further define the high-grade zones at Central. RC drilling at Central is also in progress above the northern end of the Central gold deposit. This 2022 program is aimed at further defining the extent of the gold-in-oxide blanket material intersected in several of the RC holes drilled over the northern part of the primary Central deposit and in recent diamond-drill holes over the southern end of the Central deposit (as described above). Diamond drilling is also in progress at the recently discovered mineralized zone in basement granitic rocks at the PDM target located 2.5km NW of Central, and at the primary MG deposit located 5km SE of Central (see press release dated January 12, 2022). About Cabral Gold Inc. The Company is a junior resource company engaged in the identification, exploration and development of mineral properties, with a primary focus on gold properties located in Brazil. The Company has a 100% interest in the Cuiu Cuiu gold district located in the Tapajos Region, within the state of Para in northern Brazil. Two gold deposits have so far been defined at Cuiu Cuiu and contain 43-101 compliant Indicated resources of 5.9Mt @ 0.90 g/t (200,000 oz) and Inferred resources of 19.5Mt @ 1.24 g/t (800,000 oz). The Tapajos Gold Province is the site of the largest gold rush in Brazil's history producing an estimated 30 to 50 million ounces of placer gold between 1978 and 1995. Cuiu Cuiu was the largest area of placer workings in the Tapajos and produced an estimated 2Moz of placer gold historically. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: "Alan Carter" President and Chief Executive Officer Cabral Gold Inc. Tel: 604.676.5660 Guillermo Hughes, MAusIMM and FAIG., a consultant to the Company as well as a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively "forward-looking statements"). The use of the words "will", "expected" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. This news release contains forward-looking statements and assumptions pertaining to the following: strategic plans and future operations, and results of exploration. Actual results achieved may vary from the information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors. The Company believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. Notes Gold analysis has been conducted by SGS method FAA505 (fire assay of 50g charge), with higher grade samples checked by FAA525. Analytical quality is monitored by certified references and blanks. Until dispatch, samples are stored under the supervision the Company's exploration office. The samples are couriered to the assay laboratory using a commercial contractor. Pulps are returned to the Company and archived. Drill holes results are quoted as down-hole length weighted intersections. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111841 A gun-sniffing dog turned up a firearm after searching a bus entering the Port Authority terminal from upstate, law enforcement sources said Wednesday just two days after Mayor Adams called for spot checks of bus and train travelers. Port Authority Police brought in a dog to search the bus a few minutes before 9 a.m., and found a loaded .380-caliber Cobra handgun tucked under a seat, sources said. Advertisement A pedestrian walks past the 9th Ave. doors of Port Authority Bus Terminal (Mary Altaffer/AP) The guns alleged owner, Kentavon Shields, 20, of Atlanta, was busted on felony gun possession charges, sources said. Port Authority police took everyone off the bus before sending in the dog, following the agencys standard procedure, sources said. Similar checks are conducted from time to time, but Port Authority cops stepped up their searches after Adams laid out a sweeping anti-crime plan on Monday. Advertisement Adam said he wants spot checks of transit riders to combat drug smuggling along the so-called Iron Pipeline, which has long been a problem for New York law enforcement officials. The route along Interstate 95 brings guns from states with less-strict gun laws, such as Florida and Pennsylvania, to the city. JERSEY CITY, N.J., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The newly published report titled "Global Beauty Ingestible Market- By Trends, Industry Competition Analysis, Covid-19 Analysis, Revenue and Forecast Till 2030." features detailed industry analysis and an extensive study on the market, exploring its significant factors. According to the latest market insight report by InsightAce Analytic, the global beauty ingestible market size was valued at US$ 3.29 Billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach US$ 8.30 Billion in 2030 a record a promising CAGR of 11% from 2022 to 2030. Request Sample Report: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/request-sample/1049 Ingestible beauty supplements contain precisely what your body is lacking. Ingestible beauty is based on the "you are what you eat" approach. It includes the idea of eating and ingesting more correct nutrients like vitamins, minerals, proteins, and oils to improve your skin health and appearance. These beauty supplements combat the deficiencies of necessary vitamins and external concerns such as acne aging and promote healthier skin, hair, nails, and overall wellness. They are customizable in terms of lifestyle and fitness. Factors such as the shifts in routines and product choices, Changing lifestyles and rising health awareness, lack of collagen, high prevalence of skin & lifestyle diseases, technological advancements in beauty industries, increasing health-conscious public are anticipated to drive the market growth. Moreover, the increasing R&D initiatives to develop natural and herbal skincare products and the availability of customized nutritional beauty supplements are estimated to boost the beauty ingestible market augmentation during the forecast period. Currently, the Covid-19 outbreak has positively affected the ingestible beauty market. Increasing awareness among consumers regarding personal care and recognizing the link between nutrition and appearance has fueled the demand for natural and clean label products, likely to stimulate market growth opportunities in the coming years. However, the expensive beauty ingestible supplements and the few side effects of these products may hinder the market expansion over the forecast period. Preview for Detailed TOC: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/report/global-beauty-ingestible-market/1049 The prominent players in the beauty ingestible market include: Biocell Technology, LLC, Amyris, Inc. , EVOLUTION_18, The Nue Co., wellpath, Ceramiracle, Apothekary LLC, Wholy Dose, BEND BEAUTY, Tula Skincare, HUM Nutrition Inc., Ritual, The Detox Market, Vital Proteins LLC, The Beauty Chef, ProPlenish, and Nature's Bounty, Inc., Eu Natural, Olly, MOON JUICE, BioSil, PHYTO, BODYISM, Welleco, EQUI LONDON, LYMA.LIFE, VOTARY, Goop, Inc., Viviscal Limited, BEAR Ltd, Sarah Chapman Ltd., Advanced Nutrition Programme, The Beauty Chef, ProPlenish, Absolute Collagen, SugarBearHair, Care/of, One Ocean Labs Beauty LLC, Vitabiotics Ltd., Lumity US, RMS Beauty, Aime INC, Neocell Corporation, Philip Kingsley Products Ltd, PERRICONE MD, and other prominent players. As the world of skincare and well-being continues to expand, the demand for ingestible supplements that promote skin, hair, and nail health is predicted to surge at warp speed. Introducing customers by clearly telling the function of products at a cellular level and how they quickly improve the health of the skin can compel the business of market players. Key Industry Developments from Leading Players: In Sept 2021 , EVOLUTION_18 (U.S.), the wellness brand, launched Beauty Bites, functional gourmet chocolates formulated by Brooklyn -born chocolatiers packed with biotin, collagen, and hyaluronic acid to strengthen skin, hair, and nails. Two flavors are available: Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch. , EVOLUTION_18 (U.S.), the wellness brand, launched Beauty Bites, functional gourmet chocolates formulated by -born chocolatiers packed with biotin, collagen, and hyaluronic acid to strengthen skin, hair, and nails. Two flavors are available: Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch. In Aug 2021 , WelleCo, a company developing beauty ingestible, launched its latest product, The Skin Elixir, in capsule form. The Skin Elixir comes in 60 Australian-made, non-GMO, gluten- and dairy-free, vegan capsules. The bioavailable capsules include skin-nourishing super greens, vitamins, and antioxidants. WelleCo, a company developing beauty ingestible, launched its latest product, The Skin Elixir, in capsule form. The Skin Elixir comes in 60 Australian-made, non-GMO, gluten- and dairy-free, vegan capsules. The bioavailable capsules include skin-nourishing super greens, vitamins, and antioxidants. In Jun 2021 , Nature's Bounty (U.S.) introduced its advanced hair, skin & nails jelly beans that include keratin and twice the amount of biotin as its original formula. The jelly beans contain no artificial flavors or sweeteners, are free of lactose and soy, and are made with a non-GMO formula. Beauty Ingestible Market Regional Analysis: North America is projected to be the most lucrative region of the beauty ingestible market over the forecast years. The factors such as the increasing public awareness about healthcare and beauty, growing healthcare expenditure, and high preference toward natural skincare products are anticipated to contribute to the market expansion. Additionally, Asia-Pacific is expected to develop at the fastest rate in the next few years owing to the high prevalence of hair & skin problems, well-established healthcare infrastructure, and health-conscious consumers. Post Covid-19, the beauty market of China and Japan has taken considerable efforts to launch new safe, effective, and natural beauty products. Inquiry Before Buying: https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/enquiry-before-buying/1049 The Global Beauty Ingestible Market Segments The Global Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates (Value US$ Million) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2020 to 2030 based on Product Type Vitamins and Minerals Collagen Carotenoid Co-enzymes Others The Global Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates (Value US$ Million) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2020 to 2030 based on Application Type Skin Care Hair Care Weight Management Others The Global Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates (Value US$ Million) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2020 to 2030 based on End-users Drug Stores/Pharmacies Supermarkets/Hypermarkets Specialist Stores Online Stores Others The Global Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates (Value US$ Million) & Forecasts and Trend Analyses, 2020 to 2030 based on Region Europe North America Latin America Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa North America Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates Revenue (US$ Billion) by Country, 2020 to 2030 U.S. Canada Europe Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates Revenue (US$ Billion) by Country, 2020 to 2030 Germany France Italy Spain Russia Rest of Europe Asia Pacific Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates Revenue (US$ Billion) by Country, 2020 to 2030 India China Japan South Korea Australia & New Zealand Latin America Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates Revenue (US$ Billion) by Country, 2020 to 2030 Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America The Middle East & Africa Beauty Ingestible Market Estimates Revenue (US$ Billion) by Country, 2020 to 2030 GCC Countries South Africa Rest of the Middle East & Africa For Customised Information @ https://www.insightaceanalytic.com/customisation/1049 Other Related Reports Published by InsightAce Analytic: Global Bio-Based Cosmetics and Personal Care Ingredients Market Global Next-Generation Personalized Beauty Market Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) In Beauty and Cosmetics Market About Us: InsightAce Analytic is a market research and consulting firm that enables clients to make strategic decisions. Our qualitative and quantitative market intelligence solutions inform the need for market and competitive intelligence to expand businesses. We help clients gain a competitive advantage by identifying untapped markets, exploring new and competing technologies, segmenting potential markets, and repositioning products. Our expertise is in providing syndicated and custom market intelligence reports with an in-depth analysis with key market insights in a timely and cost-effective manner. Contact Us: Priyanka Tilekar InsightAce Analytic Pvt. Ltd. Tel: +1 551 226 6109 Asia: +91 79 72967118 Visit: www.insightaceanalytic.com Email: info@insightaceanalytic.com Follow Us on LinkedIn @ bit.ly/2tBXsgS Follow Us On Facebook @ bit.ly/2H9jnDZ Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1729637/InsightAce_Analytic_Logo.jpg Dr. Fung to Lead Global Clinical Development, Translational Science and Regulatory Strategies WARSAW, Poland, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- OncoArendi Therapeutics S.A. ("OncoArendi"; WSE: OAT), a clinical stage biotechnology company that uses its world leading medicinal capabilities to discover and develop first in class small molecule drug candidates that directly modulate RNA and unexplored protein targets to treat multiple incurable diseases, announces the appointment of Samson Fung, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Fung will be responsible for the company's global clinical development, translational science and regulatory strategies and will lead the advancement of OATD-02, its novel dual arginase inhibitor into Phase 1. "Samson's extensive experience in drug development and translational medicine together with his background in oncology and deep knowledge gained working at blue-chip biopharmaceutical companies, makes him a crucial addition to our team," said Marcin Szumowski, CEO and President of the Management Board. We are delighted to welcome Samson at this exciting time as we prepare to progress our pipeline of first in class cancer and fibrosis therapies, including our lead wholly owned candidate OATD-02, a highly potent dual arginase inhibitor, which is on track to start Phase 1 in the second half of 2022." Dr Fung added, "I am thrilled to be joining OncoArendi at such an important stage of its development. I am looking forward to working with the company's talented team to build a robust pipeline of small molecule drugs that has the potential to transform the care of cancer and fibrosis patients around the world." Dr Fung brings more than two decades of global industry and senior leadership experience across the life science sector. He has significant biotech experience with senior leadership roles (Head of Clinical Development, interim CMO) at several of Europe's most successful biotech companies including argenx, Micromet, later acquired by AMGEN, and Morphosys. Dr. Fung has also held senior roles in clinical development, medical affairs, business development and strategic marketing at leading global pharmaceutical companies including Roche, Novartis, Pharmacia/Pfizer, Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca. Dr. Fung graduated from the University of Freiburg, Germany and obtained his board certification in internal medicine with sub-specialization in oncology and hematology. For further information, please contact: OncoArendi (PR & IR) Magdalena Licka Email: m.licka@oncoarendi.com MEDiSTRAVA Consulting (Financial PR) Frazer Hall, David Dible, Sandi Greenwood. Eleanor Perkin Email: OncoArendi@medistrava.com About OncoArendi OncoArendi is a clinical stage biotechnology company that uses its world leading medicinal capabilities to discover and develop first in class small molecule drug candidates that directly modulate RNA and underexplored protein targets to treat multiple incurable diseases. OncoArendi's world class medicinal chemistry has allowed it to generate a diverse pipeline of nine distinct programs with the support of leading academic life science institutions globally, these include the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw (IIMCB), which has significant expertise in RNA science. OncoArendi has an exclusive collaboration and license agreement with Galapagos for the global development and commercialization of OncoArendi's OATD-01. OATD-01 is a Phase 2-ready chitotriosidase/acidic mammalian chitinase (CHIT1/AMCase) inhibitor for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other diseases with a fibrotic component. OncoArendi's headquarters and laboratories are located in Warsaw, Poland with an additional laboratory in Lodz. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (ticker: OAT). For more information, please visit https://oncoarendi.com/en/ LinkedIn: @OncoArendi Therapeutics | Twitter: @oncoarendi | YouTube: @ OncoArendi Therapeutics AmFiberTM products offer customer high performance and differentiation across multiple applications Amcor (NYSE: AMCR; ASX: AMC), a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging solutions, today launched a new platform of paper-based packaging products: AmFiberTM. AmFiber innovations aim to redefine the capabilities of traditional paper packaging, providing a wider range of features and functional benefits to meet the changing needs of consumers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126006040/en/ Amcor's new AmFiber product is a widely recyclable package for snacks, candy, coffee, drink powders, seasoning and soups that delivers a high barrier from oxygen and moisture. (Photo: Business Wire) Ron Delia, Amcor CEO said: "Amcor's long-term experience in paper and carton packaging was the basis for launching the AmFiber platform. Amcor has a proven history of delivering ground-breaking innovation to support our customers' growth aspirations. This family of differentiated paper-based products builds on Amcor's extensive track record across multiple materials and applications." The AmFiber platform demonstrates Amcor's consumer-centric and adaptable approach to innovation which provides customers the best in packaging technology using the materials most suited to their needs. The first AmFiber product launch in 2022 will be an innovative solution tailored to provide snacks and confectionery customers in Europe a widely recyclable package that delivers a high barrier from oxygen and moisture. Amcor will gradually extend its new paper-based offerings into a wide variety of applications such as coffee, drink powders, seasoning and soups as well as into the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions. AmFiber innovations will join other Amcor paper-based products introduced recently, including solutions for butter and margarine in Latin America, for cheese in Europe and for confectionery in Australia. The introduction of the AmFiber platform coincides with the four-year anniversary of Amcor's 2025 pledge to develop all of its packaging to be recyclable or reusable and to increase the use of recycled content. About Amcor Amcor is a global leader in developing and producing responsible packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home- and personal-care, and other products. Amcor works with leading companies around the world to protect their products and the people who rely on them, differentiate brands, and improve supply chains through a range of flexible and rigid packaging, specialty cartons, closures, and services. The company is focused on making packaging that is increasingly light-weighted, recyclable and reusable, and made using an increasing amount of recycled content. Around 47,000 Amcor people generate US$12.5 billion in sales from operations that span about 230 locations in 40-plus countries. NYSE: AMCR; ASX: AMC www.amcor.com I LinkedIn I Facebook I Twitter I YouTube View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126006040/en/ Contacts: Clifton O'Neal 224-313-7111 clifton.oneal@amcor.com TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Grid Metals Corp. (the "Company") (TSXV:GRDM)(OTCQB:MSMGF) is pleased to announce additional results from its 2021 drilling program on its 100% owned Bannockburn Nickel Sulfide Property (the "Property") located in the Matachewan area of northeastern Ontario, approximately 100 km south of Timmins. Drilling has intercepted wide intervals of nickel-bearing ultramafic rocks in each of the 5 holes reported to date. The holes cover ~700 metres of the strike length of the B Zone bulk tonnage nickel sulfide target located within a >2km long serpentinized ultramafic complex in the northern part of the Property. KEY TAKEAWAYS Broad intervals of nickel-enrichment have now been intersected in multiple holes including 193.5 metres of 0.31% Ni in hole GBN21-04 The new results also include higher grade intervals including 28.5m of 0.40% nickel and 22.5m of 0.41% nickel in hole GBN21- 04 The new drilling expands the width of the B Zone to the east and the zone remains open to the north and south of historical and recent drilling and below its current drill-defined depth of ~250 metres The host ultramafic body has been mapped over a strike length of >2 km and reaches a maximum width of 800 metres Results for four additional drill holes are included in this release. Analytical highlights are provided in Table 1. Hole locations are given in Figure 1 and hole specifications are listed in the Appendix. Results for drill hole GBN21-02, previously reported (see the Company's June 2021 news release), include 296.5 metres averaging 0.28% nickel with a 112.0 metre section averaging 0.32% nickel. The best results from the newly reported drill holes are from hole GBN21-04, located at the northern end of the >1.2 km long B Zone target. TABLE 1. Selected length-weighted total nickel grades for drill holes GBN21-01, GBN21-02 (previously released), GBN21-04, GBN21-06 and GBN21-08 from the B Zone Target, Bannockburn Nickel Property. True thicknesses are estimated to range from 60-90% of the reported interval lengths for holes GBN21-01, 04 and 07. Hole GBN21-06 was drilled along the dip direction to determine the depth extent of the B Zone. Hole Number From (m) To (m) Length (m) Ni (%) GBN21-01 71.50 232.39 160.89 0.24 inc. 103.00 125.56 22.56 0.30 with 118.00 125.56 7.56 0.38 GBN21-02 40.50 337.00 296.50 0.28 inc. 98.00 210.00 112.00 0.32 with 147.00 195.00 48.00 0.34 GBN21-04 115.50 309.00 193.50 0.31 inc. 133.50 162.00 28.50 0.40 and 225.00 247.50 22.50 0.41 GBN21-06 60.00 247.50 189.00 0.27 inc. 133.50 174.00 40.50 0.30 and 210.00 235.50 25.50 0.31 GBN21-08 72.00 303.00 231.00 0.24 inc. 132.00 258.00 126.00 0.28 Figure 1. 2021 B Zone drill hole locations with analytical highlights for holes GBN21-01, 02, 04, 06 and 08. Hole specifications are provided in the Appendix. Analysis The focus of the 2021 reconnaissance drill program was to further test the potential of the B Zone to host a large (e.g., >100 million tonnes) resource of near surface, bulk tonnage secondary nickel sulfide mineralization analogous to that observed in the Crawford nickel deposit owned by Canada Nickel Company (TSX-V: CNC). Drill holes GBN21-01, 04, 06 and 08 along with GBN21-01, previously reported, all intersected wide intervals of elevated nickel grades associated with serpentinized ultramafic rocks belonging to the Northern Ultramafic Complex. In general, the highest observed nickel grades from the 2021 drilling in the range 0.30% to 0.50% Ni are associated with the highest observed sulfur values - generally above 0.10% sulfur. For reference, previous metallurgical testwork completed for the Company by SGS Laboratories (2003) on a composite sample grading 0.33% total nickel and 0.10% sulfur noted that a majority of the nickel in that composite was associated with heazlewoodite, a secondary nickel sulfide mineral containing ~74% nickel. The SGS study also indicated potential nickel concentrate grades of up to 35%. The potential of the B Zone on a local scale is illustrated by the cross section showing the nickel grades for drill hole GBN21-04 (Figure 2). Figure 2. Cross section showing nickel grade histograms above a 0.18% cutoff grade for hole GBN21-04 located at the northern end of the currently defined B Zone target. For reference, the maximum nickel grade for this drill hole is 0.51%. The primary drill target for the 2021 program was a magnetic high anomaly occurring on the western side of the Northern Ultramafic Complex (Figure 1). The current drill holes, and in particular hole GBN21-04, suggest that higher grade nickel mineralization may extend well to the east of this anomaly toward the eastern margin of the >2 km long and up to 800 metre-wide Northern Ultramafic Complex, thereby opening up a much larger area for future exploration (Figure 3). Figure 3. Generalized geology of the Northern Ultramafic Complex showing the location of both historical and 2021 drill holes that define the lateral extent of the complex and the B Zone bulk tonnage nickel sulfide target. Analytical results are pending for the final three holes of the 2021 drill program. Next Steps at Bannockburn Following the receipt of all assay data, the Company plans to complete: (1) Quantitative mineralogical analyses on a new bulk composite sample that is representative of the 2021 drilling results in order to determine the amount and type of sulfide nickel mineralization that is present. Additional metallurgical testwork is also being contemplated to confirm and expand on the SGS 2003 study findings in terms of expected nickel concentrate grades for the B Zone. (2) Additional exploration drilling to establish the total strike length, width and tonnage potential of the B zone, which remains open to the north and south along strike, and to the east, across strike. Dave Peck, the Vice President Exploration for Grid, commented "Results from our 2021 B Zone exploration drilling program at Bannockburn are encouraging as we continue to firm up the potential for a large, bulk tonnage, open pit nickel sulfide resource. Our planned quantitative mineralogical analysis of selected samples from the 2021 drill program will commence shortly. The results from this work will be critical in delineating areas of enhanced concentrations of secondary, high-tenor nickel sulfide mineralization and will allow us to focus the next phase of drilling and metallurgical testwork on these areas." Massive Sulfide Targets at Bannockburn Grid is also evaluating the potential for developing higher-grade nickel resources in both the northern and southern ultramafic complexes at Bannockburn. There are three known Kambalda-type nickel sulfide zones (massive sulfides) on the Property, as well as several untested geophysical (EM conductor) targets that could represent additional nickel-rich massive sulfide zones. See the Company's January 2021 Technical Report on the Property for more details. Quality Assurance and Quality Control Grid Metals applies best practice quality assurance and quality control ("QAQC") protocols on all of its exploration programs. For the current drilling program, core was logged at a temporary facility located near the Property and securely transported to the Company's core facility in Massey, Ontario for cutting and sampling. Standard 1.5 metre sample lengths were used. NQ size core was collected from all of the new drill holes. Sampling involved cutting the core into approximately equal halves using a diamond saw. Samples were bagged and tagged and then transported by secure carrier to the SGS (Burnaby) laboratory for sample preparation and analysis for total nickel, copper, cobalt and selected major and trace element abundances using a sodium peroxide fusion total digestion method. Approximately 50% of the samples reported in this news release were also analyzed for total sulfur using a Leco infrared combustion method. The Company used two certified reference materials ("CRMs") and one analytical blank purchased from Canadian Resource Laboratories to monitor analytical accuracy and check for cross contamination between samples. The analytical results for the two CRMs and the blank for the sample batches reported here did not show any significant bias compared to the certified values and the results fell within the acceptable limits of variability. Dr. Dave Peck, P.Geo., is the qualified person for Grid Metals for purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release. About the Bannockburn Property The Company recently completed 2,785 metres in eight diamond drill holes distributed over a strike length of approximately 700 metres on the B Zone trend of disseminated nickel sulfide mineralization. Previous drilling and preliminary metallurgical studies on the B Zone confirmed the presence of heazlewoodite-dominant, secondary nickel sulfide mineralization with similar mineralogical characteristics, nickel grades and thicknesses to that observed in the Main Zone at Canada Nickel Company's Crawford nickel property. The recent drilling program at Bannockburn was designed to facilitate an initial assessment of the potential to develop a near surface, large tonnage nickel sulfide resource in excess of 100 million tonnes and containing over 200 kilotonnes of potentially recoverable nickel. About Grid Metals Corp. Grid Metals Corp. has a portfolio of exploration and development stage properties focused on battery metals which are located in the Provinces of Manitoba and Ontario, Canada. Grid's lithium assets include the Mayville Lithium property, which covers Donner Lake lithium pegmatites located on the north arm of the Bird River Greenstone Belt, and the early exploration stage Campus Creek Lithium property, located near Ignace in northwestern Ontario. Grid's nickel-copper-PGM portfolio includes: (1) the advanced exploration-stage Makwa-Mayville project in Manitoba, which has a NI 43-101 compliant nickel copper PGM cobalt resource included in the 2014 PEA report authored by RPA and Associates; (2) the exploration stage East Bull Lake Palladium project near Sudbury Ontario, where the Company has had good success in its recent drilling activities; and, (3) the Bannockburn Nickel project south of Timmins, Ontario, which is discussed in this release. To find out more about Grid Metals Corp., please visit www.gridmetalscorp.com. On Behalf of the Board of Grid Metals Corp. Robin Dunbar - President, CEO & Director Telephone: 416-955-4773 Email: rd@gridmetalscorp.com David Black - Investor Relations Email: info@gridmetalscorp.com Appendix. Specifications for drill holes GBN21-01, 04, 06 and 08, Bannockburn nickel property. Collar coordinates are based on a NAD83 UTM Zone 17N projection. Hole Number Easting (m) Northing (m) Elevation (m) Azimuth (degrees) Dip (degrees) Length (m) GBN21-01 506785 5313730 376 245 65 250.23 GBN21-04 506704 5313991 363 245 65 349.36 GBN21-06 506634 5313746 362 65 65 450.00 GBN21-08 507077 5313506 364 205 45 350.00 SOURCE: Grid Metals Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685711/Grid-Metals-Reports-Wide-Zones-of-Nickel-Mineralization-and-Higher-Grade-Core-at-Bannockburn-Nickel-Property TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Talisker Resources Ltd. ("Talisker" or the "Company") (TSX:TSK)(OTCQX:TSKFF) is pleased to announce rock assay results from a Phase 1 mapping and prospecting program at its Barnato prospect, located approximately three kilometres north of Talisker's Golden Hornet Project. Talisker completed a 14 hole 4,583 metre phase one exploratory drill program at its Golden Hornet Project with recently released assay results highlighted by 8.88 g/t Au, 0.42% Cu and 14.99 g/t Ag over 5.1 metres and 11.58 g/t Au, 0.37% Cu and 11.1 g/t Ag over 1.05 metres (see press release of January 19, 2021). The Barnato prospect, part of the exploration pipeline at Golden Hornet, returned encouraging results discussed below. Key Points: Mapping identified multiple high grade sheeted veins within a 300 to 500 metre zone with historic sampling projecting potential strike length of veining to one kilometre. A total of 25 rock samples were collected with eight samples returning gold grades greater than 15 g/t with the highest at 61 g/t Au. These samples validate historic high-grade results highlighted by four samples over 18 g/t Au with the highest at 41.9 g/t Au. Best rock channel samples assayed 28.5 g/t Au over 1.2 m and 19.40 g/t Au over 1m Best select rock samples assayed 63.53 g/t Au, 38.90 g/t Au, 30 g/t Au, 28.98 g/t Au, 18.57 g/t and 15.61 g/t Au (Select) Located three kilometres north of the Hornet Zone at the Golden Hornet Project. Veins surrounded by broad halos of disseminated sulphide mineralization similar to the Golden Hornet Project. Similar mineralization styles, alteration assemblages and host rocks to the Golden Hornet Project. The Barnato prospect has never been drilled. Terry Harbort, President and CEO of Talisker, commented, "Following on from our recent high grade discovery release at Golden Hornet, these samples potentially extend mineralization for up to three kilometres from our drilling. We are excited to see a similar style of mineralization in the Barnato area as we have drilled at Golden Hornet." Barnato Overview: Three kilometres north of the Golden Hornet Project, the Barnato prospect comprises several quartz-sulphide veins with disseminated and fracture filled sulphide zones over a 500 x 200 metre wide area with the potential to extend vein zones to 1,000 metres along strike. All observed veins are hosted within a diorite body intruding into hornfels metasediments. Alteration assemblages at Barnato resemble those observed at the Hornet Zone which includes proximal strong sericite-pyrite alteration proximal to veins with a distal chlorite-epidote assemblage. Veins trend NE-E at Barnato which is a significant contrast from N-NE trending veins at the Hornet Zone. Barnato presents a new zone in addition to multiple zones observed in the initial soil program initiated by Talisker in 2021. Gold grades at Barnato are considerably higher than those observed at the Hornet Zone in addition to low-grade gold mineralization associated with disseminated sulphide and interstitial fracture veinlets further elucidating bulk-tonnage potential at Barnato. Rock Sampling Results: A total of 25 samples were collected at Barnato (see Table 1 below), adding to an existing nine historic samples. Samples include grab samples and channel samples across historic pits and trenches. Table 1 - Rock Assay Results Sample ID Type Au (ppm) Channel Width (m) Analytical Method R0105525 Select 63.53 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A C0005244 Select 38.9 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 C0009084 Select 30 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 R0105534 Select 28.98 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A C0009083 Channel 28.5 1.2 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 C0009082 Channel 19.4 1 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 R0105528 Select 18.57 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105539 Select 15.61 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A C0009079 Select 4.93 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 C0009078 Channel 3.26 0.6 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 R0105529 Select 2.94 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105531 Select 1.67 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105527 Channel 1.32 1 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105533 Select 1.15 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A C0009081 Select 0.881 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 R0105537 Channel 0.62 1 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105538 Select 0.48 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105526 Channel 0.14 1.3 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105535 Composite 0.14 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105524 Select 0.12 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105532 Channel 0.12 1 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A C0005242 Select 0.086 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 C0005243 Channel 0.079 0.5 ME-MS41/Au-ICP22 R0105536 Select 0.04 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A R0105523 Select 0.03 GO_FAA50V10/ GE_ICM21B20/ GE CVA20A Talisker's sampling adds to historic samples analyzed by previous operators that include: Sample B17 10.5 g/t Au Sample B18 19.2 g/t Au Sample B19 19.2 g/t Au Sample B23 0.69 g/t Au Sample B25 12.9 g/t Au Sample MARY 1 15 g/t Au Sample MARY 2 18 g/t Au Sample MARY 3 41.9 g/t Au Sample MARY 5 1.52 g/t Au The Company notes that the historic samples are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the Barnato prospect. Limited exploration has been completed on the Barnato prospect. Qualified Person The technical information contained in this news release relating to the rock sample results at the Barnato prospect has been approved by Leonardo de Souza (BSc, AusIMM (CP) Membership 224827), Talisker's Vice President, Exploration and Resource Development, who is a "qualified person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Talisker Resources Ltd. Talisker (taliskerresources.com ) is a junior resource company involved in the exploration of gold projects in British Columbia, Canada. Talisker's projects include two advanced-stage projects, the Bralorne Gold Complex and the Ladner Gold Project, both advanced-stage projects with significant exploration potential from historical high-grade producing gold mines, as well as its Spences Bridge Project where the Company holds ~85% of the emerging Spences Bridge Gold Belt and several other early-stage Greenfields projects. With its properties comprising 296,983 hectares over 346 claims, three leases and 198 crown grant claims, Talisker is a dominant exploration player in south-central British Columbia. The Company is well funded to advance its aggressive systematic exploration program at its projects. For further information, please contact: Terry Harbort President and CEO Terry.harbort@taliskerresources.com +1 416 361 2808 Sample Preparation and QAQC Sample preparation and analyses is carried out by SGS Canada in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Rock sample preparation includes drying in an oven at a maximum temperature of 60C, fine crushing of the sample to at least 70% passing less than 2 mm, sample splitting using a riffle splitter, and pulverizing a 250 g split to at least 85% passing 75 microns (SGS code PRP89). Gold in rock samples is analysed by fire assay and atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) of a 50g sample (SGS code GO_FAA50V10), while multi-element chemistry is analysed by aqua regia digestion of a 0.25 g sample split with detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) for 18 elements (Al, Ba, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, P, S, Sr, Ti, Zn, Zr) (SGS code GE_ICP21B20) as well as detection by atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) for an additional 33 elements (Ag, As, Be, Bi, Cd, Ce, Co, Cs, Ga, Ge, Hf, Hg, In, La, Lu, Mo, Nb, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sn, Ta, Tb, Te, Th, Tl, U, W, Y, Yb) (SGS code GE_IMS21B20). Gold assay technique (SGS code FAA50V10) has an upper detection limit of 100 ppm. Any sample that produces an over-limit gold value via the gold assay technique is sent for gravimetric finish (SGS method GO_FAG50V) which has an upper detection limit of 1,000 ppm Au. Sample QAQC measures of unmarked certified reference materials (CRMs), blanks, and duplicates are inserted into the sample sequence and make up 10% of the samples submitted to the lab for holes reported in this release. Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on Talisker's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to Talisker. Although such statements are based on reasonable assumptions of Talisker's management, there can be no assurance that any conclusions or forecasts will prove to be accurate. While Talisker considers these statements to be reasonable based on information currently available, they may prove to be incorrect. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include market risks and the demand for securities of the Company, risks inherent in the exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks relating to changes in project parameters as plans continue to be redefined, risks relating to variations in grade or recovery rates, risks relating to changes in mineral prices and the worldwide demand for and supply of minerals, risks related to increased competition and current global financial conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic, access and supply risks, reliance on key personnel, operational risks, and regulatory risks, including risks relating to the acquisition of the necessary licenses and permits, financing, capitalization and liquidity risks. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is made as of the date hereof, and Talisker is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein. Figure 1 SOURCE: Talisker Resources Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685754/Talisker-Announces-Initial-Sampling-Results-from-the-Barnato-Prospect-within-the-Golden-Hornet-Camp The proposed collaboration is being undertaken to secure Israel Ministry of Health Medical Device certification for the RYAH Smart Inhaler via Bazelet's Quality Team. The parties are expected to negotiate a multi-year exclusive commercial distribution arrangement in the region, following a successful medical device certification. TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / RYAH Group, Inc. (CSE:RYAH) ("RYAH" or the "Company") announced today that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (the "MOU") with Bazelet Pharma Ltd. and affiliates (together, "Bazelet"), the largest medical cannabis processing company in Israel, serving thousands of patients. The collaboration is aimed at servicing Bazelet's patients using the RYAH Smart Inhalers and data analytics, once certified as a medical device in Israel ,with the goal of providing safe and accurate patient inhalation therapies in plant medicine in Israel. The executed MOU initiates a collaboration that anticipates Bazelet acting as the sponsor of the Israel Ministry of Health ("IMH") medical device application for the RYAH Smart Inhaler (known as the "Regulatory Phase"). Upon successful certification, the MOU stipulates that the parties will negotiate a definitive commercial distribution agreement (the "Definitive Agreement") intended to appoint Bazelet as the exclusive distributor of the RYAH Smart Inhaler and cartridges (the "Commercial Phase") for patient medical therapies in Israel. The Definitive Agreement, if entered into, would be for a term of up to 5 years (which includes both regulatory and commercial phases) with annual performance benchmarks among other commercial details, to be agreed upon by the parties in the Definitive Agreement. Under this initiative, the parties are striving to capture at least 5% of the medical cannabis market in Israel. Meir Ariel, Bazelet's Chief Executive Officer has commented that, "As a leader in both non-generic cannabis oils and novel flower products in Israel, we are glad to collaborate with RYAH, bringing into our market a new inhaler device." "Bazelet brings extraordinary depth and expertise within a well-established and fast-growing medical cannabis market. We're excited to be collaborating with Bazelet in bringing our smart inhaler and data analytics into this important region," said Gregory Wagner, Chief Executive Officer of RYAH. Israel has the largest medical cannabis market outside North America, and recently overtook Germany as the top importer of medical cannabis flower in the world, according to MJBizDaily and Tel Aviv-based Israeli Cannabis Magazine. The medical cannabis market in Israel continues to grow and in December 2021, the country saw its patient count reach over 109,000, according to the Israeli Medical Cannabis Agency (IMCA). RYAH Group recently announced that its RYAH Smart Inhaler received medical device certification under ISO 13485:2016/MDSAP and EN ISO 13485:2016 standards. About RYAH Group, Inc. RYAH is a connected device, and big data and technology company focused on valuable predictive analysis in the global medical plant and nutraceutical intake industry. Its robust artificial intelligence platform aggregates and correlates Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant patient data, intended to help doctors and patients personalize plant-based treatments to predict treatment outcomes better. The data collection is relevant for clinics, doctors, dispensaries and pharmaceutical companies, and licensed processors (LPs) to monitor and manage formulation effects on patients and demographics. RYAH gathers deep and insightful data on the complete patient session and formulation lifecycle with a strong intellectual property portfolio. For more information, visit www.ryahgroup.com. About Bazelet Bazelet operates a 15,000 Sqm. processing facility, creating a large portion of the products sold in Israel to medical cannabis patients, through its own Bcann and Femmican brands, as well as white label products for its clients. The company is privately owned, and is a world leader in cannabis patents, with over 41 patent applications in different stages of registration. Bazelet is already known for its non-generic cannabis products, such as its terpene enriched oil formulations that are specifically designed for treating medical indications, as well as cannabis oils designed for women's health. Bazelet is due to start exporting to Europe in the second quarter of 2022, and plans to launch its Femmican brand both in Canada and the US this year. For more information, visit www.bazelet-tech.com Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively "forward-looking statements"). All statements contained in this news release that are not statements of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are often identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "expect", "potential", "believe", "intend" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this news release include but are not limited to, statements related to (i) the proposed collaboration between the Company and Bazelet (including, without limitation, the purpose, goals, scope and timing thereof), (ii) the pursuit of the Israel Ministry of Health Medical Device certification for the RYAH Smart Inhaler, (iii) the Definitive Agreement (including the Company's expectations with respect to the anticipated scope and terms thereof), and (iv) Bazelet, including in respect of its ability to secure medical device certifications, meet the its business goals and objectives, and meet and further its obligations under the MOU. Forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current views and intentions with respect to future events based on current information available to the Company, and are necessarily subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with or inherent in the general business, technological, and economic conditions, and such other applicable factors set out in the Company's public disclosure documents available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are further cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such forward-looking statements (including, but not limited to, the assumption that (i) the Company and Bazelet will each be able to execute on their respective business plans and obtain and maintain all necessary permits and authorizations to execute on such business plans, (ii) neither the Company's nor Bazelet's financial condition or development plans will change as a result of unforeseen events, (iii) there will continue to be a demand, and market opportunity, for the Company's product offerings, (iv) Bazelet will be successful in fulfilling its obligations under the MOU, and (v) current and future economic conditions will neither affect the Company's collaboration with Bazelet or the business and operations of the Company, nor the Company's ability to capitalize on anticipated business opportunities, particularly in Israel), although considered reasonable by management of the Company at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and result in actual results differing materially from those anticipated, and as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. Should any such risk factor affect the Company in an unexpected manner, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, the actual results or events may differ materially from the results or events predicted. Accordingly. readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions, or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities laws. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. This news release includes market and industry data that has been obtained from third party sources, including industry publications. The Company believes that the industry data is accurate and that its estimates and assumptions are reasonable, but there can be no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of this data. Third party sources generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but there is no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of included information. Although the data is believed to be reliable, the Company has not independently verified any of the data from third party sources referred to in this press release or ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon by such sources. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. All information contained in this news release with respect to the Company and Bazelet was supplied by the respective party for inclusion herein, and each party and its directors and officers have relied on the other party for any information concerning the other party. For additional information, please contact: Sofiya Kleshchuk Client Relations RYAH Group +1 917 210 0543 Invest@ryahgroup.com SOURCE: RYAH Medtech Inc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685803/RYAH-and-Bazelet-Enter-Into-MOU-for-5-Year-Medical-Device-Distribution-Strategy-for-the-RYAH-Smart-Inhaler-in-Israel Following are the latest Corporate Social Responsibility news releases and story ideas available from Business Wire. These recaps, curated by Business Wire, provide reporters and bloggers around the globe instant access to the latest news releases, providing relevant and trending content to share with their audiences. 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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005198/en/ Contacts: Business Wire 212-752-9600 TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / RYAH Group, Inc. (CSE:RYAH) ("RYAH" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update to its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units of the Company ("Units") for aggregate gross proceeds of up to C$1,500,000, at an issue price of C$0.05 per Unit (the "Private Placement"). As previously announced by the Company, each Unit consists of (i) one Class A subordinate voting share of the Company, and (ii) one share purchase warrant of the Company (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant is exercisable for a period of 24 months at an exercise price of C$0.065. The Company is pleased to announce that it closed the initial tranche of the Private Placement, on January 21, 2022, with such tranche consisting of the issuance of an aggregate of 3,556,000 Units for aggregate gross proceeds of C$177,800. The Company originally announced that it expected to close the initial tranche in December 2021, but subsequently postponed the closing date due to evolving investor interest. The Units issued under the initial tranche were distributed to United States investors under applicable the prospectus and registration exemptions in the United States and in accordance with OSC Rule 72-503 - Distributions Outside Canada. About RYAH Group, Inc. RYAH is a connected device, and big data and technology company focused on valuable predictive analysis in the global medical plant and nutraceutical intake industry. Its robust artificial intelligence platform aggregates and correlates Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant patient data, intended to help doctors and patients personalize plant-based treatments to predict treatment outcomes better. The data collection is relevant for clinics, doctors, dispensaries and pharmaceutical companies, and licensed processors (LPs) to monitor and manage formulation effects on patients and demographics. RYAH gathers deep and insightful data on the complete patient session and formulation lifecycle with a strong intellectual property portfolio. For more information, visit www.ryahgroup.com. Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements contained in this news release may be deemed "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, require the Company to make certain assumptions and necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. Words such as "may", "will", "would", "could", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "continue", or the negative or comparable terminology, as well as terms usually used in the future and the conditional, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Information contained in forward-looking statements are based upon certain material assumptions applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including management's perceptions of current conditions and expected future developments and other considerations that are believed to be appropriate in the circumstances. The Company considers such assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available, but cautions the reader that its assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, may ultimately prove to be incorrect since they are subject to risks and uncertainties that affect the Company and its business. Any forward-looking statements set forth herein concerning the Company reflect management's expectations as at the date of this news release and are subject to change after such date. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. For additional information, please contact: Sofiya Kleshchuk Client Relations RYAH Group +1 917 210 0543 Invest@ryahgroup.com SOURCE: RYAH Medtech Inc View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685804/RYAH-Closes-Initial-Tranche-of-Private-Placement-Units TAIPEI, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Infortrend Technology, Inc. (TWSE: 2495), the industry-leading enterprise storage provider, offers a superior Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) storage solution for remote work - EonStor GS enterprise unified storage designed with extensive desktop virtualization support to sustain heavy workloads during peak activity hours while reducing the overall TCO. Modern enterprises often have remote/branch offices utilizing large-scale virtual desktop environments enabling team members to stay connected while accessing to the company data resources. The VDI storage solutions plays a critical role for a productive work environment: These solutions must provide high performance services able to withstand IO storms while enabling simple deployment and scalability - all at a low cost per desktop. EonStor GS unified storage is an ideal platform for VDI deployment. It can support 6000 virtual desktops for remote workers, ensuring that every virtual desktop delivers an outstanding user experience. GS has all-flash/ hybrid configuration options to provide cost-efficient VDI with extremely high and stable performance - up to 1,000K IOPS with response time less than 0.5 seconds - for intensive workloads during peak activity hours and mitigating IO storms. GS is certified with the most popular VDI platforms, including VMware and Citrix. It consolidates SAN and NAS services which simplifies the VDI deployment: the VDI OS and applications run on SAN, while users' folders rely on NAS, providing VDI users with convenient folder sharing and increased data protection. GS supports the scale-out function to linearly scale both capacity and performance for larger-scale VDI. To ensure data integrity, GS supports Remote Replication and vCenter Site Recovery Manager (SRM). "EonStor GS paves the way for the efficient roll-out of agile virtual desktop environments. Certified with the leading VDI vendors, customer-proven, GS delivers a powerful and cost-saving VDI solution for remote work," said Frank Lee, Senior Director of Product Planning. Learn more about EonStor GS and VDI application About Infortrend Infortrend (TWSE: 2495) has been developing and manufacturing storage solutions since 1993. With a strong emphasis on in-house design, testing, and manufacturing, Infortrend storage delivers performance and scalability with the latest standards, user friendly data services, personal after-sales support, and unrivaled value. For more information, please visit www.infortrend.com Infortrend and EonStor are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc.; other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - The United States on Wednesday reported the highest single-day death toll caused by coronavirus infection in nearly a year. With 4128 casualties, the national total increased to 876,066, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. This is the first time the daily death figure is crossing 4000 since February 12, 2021. With 738928 new cases, the total number of people infected with coronavirus in the U.S. has risen to 72,910,879. California reported the most number of cases - 70,486 - on Wednesday, while Michigan led in casualties, 445. 45,421,318 people in the country have recovered from the disease so far. At a White House news conference by Covid-19 Response Team, CDC director Dr.Rochelle Walensky said that although it is encouraging that Omicron appears to be causing less severe disease, it's important to remember that the country is still facing a high overall burden of disease. Cases have dramatically increased and are five times higher than they were during the Delta wave. Hospitalizations have rapidly increased in a short amount of time, putting a strain on many local health systems. At the same time, 'When we look at other disease severity indicators measured among people who are hospitalized with COVID-19 - such as hospital length of stay, ICU admissions, and deaths - these indicators are lower with Omicron than during previous periods of high transmission,' she told reporters. 'And this is likely attributable to two key factors: First, many people in our country have some level of immunity from vaccination and boosters or from previous infection. And second, it's likely that Omicron is less severe than prior variants,' Dr.Walensky added. Wednesday, the Biden administration hit a major milestone in its global effort to donate Covid vaccines to countries that are badly in need of it. 400 million vaccine doses have been shipped to 112 countries so far, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. New York Citys public defender services want President Biden to visit Rikers Island when he comes to the city next week to get a first-hand look at the crisis conditions at the troubled jail complex. Biden is slated to meet with Mayor Adams in Manhattan next Thursday to focus on the presidents comprehensive strategy to combat gun crime, the White House announced Wednesday. Advertisement President Joseph Biden and Rikers Island. (Associated Press/AP) President Joseph Bidens visit to New York City is an opportunity for this nations leader to witness firsthand the horrendous conditions New Yorkers endure each day on Rikers Island conditions that should serve as a reminder of why incarceration is not a panacea for public safety concerns, the Legal Aid Society, The Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, New York County Defender Services, the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and Queens Defenders wrote in a joint statement Wednesday. We call on President Biden to visit Rikers Island and bear witness to the ongoing human rights violations against incarcerated New Yorkers, the statement continues. Advertisement Last month, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York wrote a letter to Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland asking for the federal governments help to end the ongoing crisis which last year saw 16 detainee deaths, increased violence, massive staffing shortages and horrific living conditions. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also signed the letter. VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Sassy Resources Corporation ("Sassy" or the "Company") (CSE:SASY) (FSE:4E7) (OTCQB:SSYRF) is pleased to announce that in addition to the highly prospective Viking target (Dec. 8, 2021 news release) covering approximately 20 sq. km on the western edge of the 490 sq. km Gander North Project, initial soil geochemistry results received from additional areas of Gander North suggest the presence of previously unrecognized large regional structures with potential to continue along a northeast trend for greater than 40 km. Highlights: Assay results from combined C and B-horizon soils (3,170 total soil samples or approximately 60% of soil samples collected from Gander North to date) highlight multiple northeast and east-northeast trending gold-in-soil anomalies in multiple zones covering the northern, central and southern portions of Gander North; Clusters of high-grade gold results for soils include 58 samples assaying between 50 ppb Au and 756.1 ppb, considered highly anomalous for Newfoundland, including 23 samples 107.3 ppb Au (see attached figure); ppb Au and ppb, considered highly anomalous for Newfoundland, including 23 samples ppb Au (see attached figure); Prospecting teams have collected multiple samples of mineralization in quartz and mineralization associated with quartz/quartz veining and country rock at Gander North (assay results pending). Mr. Shawn Ryan, Sassy Technical Adviser, stated: "These first pass soil results across broad areas of previously untested Gander North are exceptional for Newfoundland. They demonstrate that this impressive magnetic target (38 km x 10 km) represents either completely new regional structures just 25 km east of the Appleton trend that hosts the New Found Gold and Labrador Gold discoveries, or inboard sub structure(s) 12 km east of the GRUB line (Gander River Ultramafic Belt). Either scenario means Gander North is prime hunting ground for new high-grade discoveries in the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt, another example of the island's vast under-explored potential for new deposits." Mr. Ryan continued, "Gander North consists mainly of the first exploration claims ever staked on this target, covering a distinct district scale regional NNE regional magnetic anomaly. Overlying this feature were anomalous gold-in-till samples from the Newfoundland till survey. Now we have a massive amount of fresh data that puts Sassy (and Gander Gold) on the path to discovery." Sampling And Exploration Strategy Preliminary soil sampling results from wide-spaced grid lines (500 meters) at Gander North prompted immediate follow-up by infilling with tighter grid line spacing (100-250 meters). Infill lines have confirmed the anomalous trends. The Company will complement geochemistry results with LiDAR and MAG/VLF geophysical surveys when the balance of that work is completed this spring. Additional soil sampling and other exploration initiatives are expected to produce initial high priority diamond drilling targets later this year. Sassy defines gold-in-soil results 90th percentile as elevated and those samples 97.5th percentile as anomalous. Gander Gold Share Distribution Mr. Mark Scott, Sassy President and CEO, comments on the upcoming Gander Gold share distribution to Sassy shareholders: "With eight projects covering 2,257 sq. km, Sassy controls one of the largest claim positions in Newfoundland. Early success at Gander North, Mt. Peyton and Sassy's other Newfoundland projects bodes very well for Sassy's Gander Gold spinout." Investors are reminded that the date of record for the Gander Gold share distribution to Sassy shareholders is Tuesday, February 1, 2022. Investors are advised to be aware of any settlement period which may apply to share purchases or the conversion of other Sassy securities prior to the February 1 record date. For example, a two-day settlement period may mean that shares purchased on Friday, January 28 are settled on Tuesday, February 1. Based on the current Sassy share structure, the distribution of 8,8333,333 Gander Gold shares represents a ratio of one Gander share for approximately every 5.8 Sassy shares owned. The final ratio for the distribution of Gander Gold shares will be determined by the number of Sassy shares issued and outstanding as of the date of record. Gander North Project - Phase I Soil Sample Results (3,170 Samples Outside Viking Target) Quality Assurance / Quality Control Sassy Resources Gold Corporation contracted the services of GroundTruth Exploration to conduct soil geochemistry programs on all of Sassy's properties in Newfoundland. The preferred and targeted soil horizon for sampling is the C-horizon for all programs. Glaciation and till deposition are variable throughout the province of Newfoundland. This variation has a direct effect on the "local" depth to the C-horizon. GroundTruth crews utilize a Eijklcamp hand auger which is capable of collecting a soil sample to a maximum depth of 110cm. If the C-horizon soil is beyond the depth the auger can achieve, GroundTruth crews collected a sample from the B-horizon and noted this in the metadata collected at that particular sample site. At Gander North, outside of the Viking target, the current assay database consists of 2,171 C-horizon soil samples and 999 B-horizon soil samples. As stated, the results reported in this news release comprise the combined C and B-horizons. The Company's final interpretation of all Gander North soil results will distinguish and interpret the C and B-horizons individually and the merged C and B-horizons. For all Sassy programs, soil samples are collected at pre-determined sample locations, placed in soil sample bags and all metadata associated with a sample is recorded. Once sorted and logged, samples are shipped to Eastern Analytical in Springdale, Newfoundland, for sample preparation. At Eastern Analytical individual samples are dried and sieved and 15g splits are prepared and then shipped by courier to Bureau Veritas Commodities Canada Ltd. (Bureau Veritas) in Vancouver British Columbia for analyses. Eastern Analytical and Bureau Veritas are ISO / IEC 17025 certified laboratories and independent of Sassy Resources Corporation and Gander Gold Corporation. At Bureau Veritas the 15g splits are partially digested by aqua regia digestion and analysed for gold plus 36 additional elements by ICP-ES/MS (method AQ201). GroundTruth Exploration crews took a field duplicate every 25th sample and these field duplicates were inserted into the sample stream to monitor the quality of analyses for the soil sampling program. In addition to field duplicates, standards and a blank material was systematically inserted into the sampling stream for QAQC purposes. Subscribe for Updates Photographs and videos from the Company's projects in Northwest B.C. and Newfoundland will be added to the Sassy website over the coming days and weeks. Visit SassyResources.com and sign up for news alerts to stay informed as exploration continues year-round. Qualified Person The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Ian Fraser, P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration for Sassy Resources. Mr. Fraser is the Qualified Person responsible for the scientific and technical information contained herein under National Instrument 43-101 standards. About Sassy Resources Corporation Sassy Resources is an exploration stage resource company currently engaged in the identification, acquisition and exploration of high-grade precious metal, base metal and uranium projects in North America. Its focus is the Foremore Project located in the Eskay Camp, Liard Mining Division, in the heart of Northwest B.C.'s prolific Golden Triangle, the Central Newfoundland Gold Belt where Sassy is one of the district's largest landowners, and the recently acquired Highrock uranium project in the Key Lake region of Saskatchewan's Athabasca Basin. Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements Investors are cautioned that, except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained in this document includes "forward looking information", with respect to a performance expectation for Sassy Resources Corporation. Such forward looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections formulated using assumptions believed to be reasonable and involving a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such factors include, without limitation, fluctuations in foreign exchange markets, the price of commodities in both the cash market and futures market, changes in legislation, taxation, controls and regulation of national and local governments and political and economic developments in Canada and other countries where Sassy carries out or may carry out business in the future, the availability of future business opportunities and the ability to successfully integrate acquisitions or operational difficulties related to technical activities of mining and reclamation, the speculative nature of exploration and development of mineral deposits, including risks obtaining necessary licenses and permits, reducing the quantity or grade of reserves, adverse changes in credit ratings, and the challenge of title. The Company does not undertake an obligation to update publicly or revise forward looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws. Some of the results reported are historical and may not have been verified by the Company. Contact Info: Mark Scott Chief Executive Officer & Director info@sassyresources.ca Terry Bramhall Sassy Resources - Corporate Communications/IR 1.604.833.6999 (mobile) 1.604.675.9985 (office) terry.bramhall@sassyresources.ca In Europe: Michael Adams Managing Director - Star Finance GmbH info@star-finance.eu The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Sassy Resources Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685785/Sassy-Identifies-New-Regional-Gold-Trend-In-Gander-Gold-Belt BigPanda Leverages Recent Investment of $190 Million to Bring in New EMEA Leader and Double-down on New Segments SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2022, the leader in AIOps Event Correlation and Automation, today announced the company has opened an office in London, led by Ben Sekhon, to provide on-the-ground support for both existing and new customers across the EMEA region. In addition, BigPanda has created a business unit dedicated to helping address needs from midsize enterprises to scale IT with AIOps. Intensified Support in EMEA The EMEA market is on par with the U.S. in terms of AIOps demand, particularly as customers move away from aging on-premises infrastructure towards cloud and cloud-native environments. The business will be led by Ben Sekhon, a 20-year sales veteran who had a successful track record at SAP, Gigya and Experian. "I am delighted to join BigPanda," said Ben Sekhon, VP of EMEA Sales and Channels. "EMEA represents a huge addressable market, so the timing of this investment helps us maintain the same level of focus and quality we deliver to our existing customers while addressing the growing demand for BigPanda's market-leading AIOps platform." "We're very excited to welcome BigPanda to Europe to further build on our relationship and the high level of support the team has already provided," said Harvey Shaw, Senior IT Director at News Corp. "The company has proven to be a vital partner, and we're confident that its on-the-ground presence will help us accelerate our AIOps strategy." EU Region Platform Availability To support BigPanda's EMEA customers, BigPanda is also expanding its platform availability with an instance hosted in Germany. This BigPanda instance will conform to leading international security and privacy standards and address European data residency requirements to store customer data in Europe. Addressing Demand in Midsize Enterprises Over the course of several years, BigPanda has built a base of midsize enterprise customers. With the launch of BigPanda University and the continued focus on self-service capabilities within the BigPanda platform, the team is poised to expand its ability to deliver AIOps to the midsize enterprise. "While a focus for most IT Ops vendors is the largest of enterprises, the reality is that midsize enterprises also need to improve app experiences by scaling through technology, making AIOps a foundational element of their roadmap," said Isaac Sacolick, President of StarCIO, author, and digital transformation influencer. "In recent research, 70 percent report it typically takes three hours or longer to resolve major incidents, and the right solution leverages AIOps to improve IT performance. BigPanda is putting its energy in all the right places to serve this market segment well." BigPanda's AIOps Turbo Pack is a customized offering that gives IT Ops teams within midsize organizations a quick path to success. It includes flexible, tiered, consumption-based licensing along with a standard set of integrations and implementation services to get them up and running in a matter of weeks. To learn more about the AIOps Turbo Pack for fast-growing IT Ops, please visit BigPanda for Midsize enterprises . About BigPanda BigPanda keeps businesses running with AIOps that transform IT data into insight and action. With BigPanda's AIOps platform, businesses prevent IT outages, improve incident management and deliver extraordinary customer experiences. Without BigPanda, IT Ops, NOC, and DevOps teams struggle with a tsunami of data and highly-manual, reactive incident response processes that are poorly suited for the scale, complexity and velocity of modern IT environments. This results in painful outages, unhappy customers, growing IT headcount and the inability to focus on innovation. BigPanda's AIOps Event Correlation and Automation platform helps Fortune 500 enterprises such as Intel, Cisco, United, Abbott, Marriott and Expedia take a giant step towards Autonomous IT Operations. BigPanda is backed by Advent International, Insight Partners, Sequoia Capital, Mayfield, Battery Ventures, Glynn Capital, Mayfield, Greenfield Partners and Pelion. Visit www.bigpanda.iofor more information. Media contact: Sammy Totah BOCA Communications for BigPanda bigpanda@bocacommunications.com Piyadit Atsavasirisuk, CEO of Civil Engineering PCL (2nd left), and Pichet Sithiamnuai, President of Bualuang Securities PCL (3rd left), financial advisor and lead underwriter, offered 200,000,000 shares of CIVIL at 4.60 baht per share to investors on 19-21 January with the 1st trading day for CIVIL on the SET today, 27 January. BANGKOK, Jan 27, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - Civil Engineering PCL (SET: CIVIL), Thailand's leading integrated construction and civil engineering firm, made a debut on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Thursday, 27 January, with the 'CIVIL' symbol. Its launch is marked by operations which are capable of achieving net profit margins above the industry average.That capability is resulting from the company's focus on employing technology to raise efficiency in managing diverse construction projects both in terms of types and sizes; delivering quality and safe works within the specified budget.CIVIL is also aggressively pursuing public and private projects, along with increasing revenues from its production and distribution of construction materials on its pathway to become a leading construction company with sustainable growth while driving the Thai economy and society.Piyadit Atsavasirisuk, Chief Executive Officer of CIVIL, expressed confidence that CIVIL's shares would receive enthusiastic response on the first trading, backed by the company's track record dating back to over 50 years with over 1,000 large-scale construction projects and major infrastructure schemes being successfully executed.CIVIL's experience and expertise are in railway works, double-track railways and high-speed trains; airports; dams and reservoirs; Industrial estates; and other infrastructure construction which aims to use modern technology and innovations to increase business efficiency.The company has also leveraged of its competitive advantages in terms of civil engineering personnel, machinery and equipment and its own manufacturing plants of building material parts. Those elements have allowed CIVIL to manage project construction costs efficiently, providing quality works within the set budget.The company has therefore earned the trust from government agencies as a top-rank contractor to underscore its ability to manage large infrastructure projects. CIVIL has planned to introduce modern technology, new methods, modern machinery and tools to constantly take its construction project management to the next levels.The company is striving to achieve the 'Economy of Speed' by employing technology to plan the construction projects from start to finish, as well as adopting modern management principles emphasizing on agility and resilience to adapt to the changing industry.That will enable CIVIL to increase its capabilities to support the government's large-scale infrastructure construction expansion plans, in the forms of bidding for projects, participating in public-private investment projects (PPP), and forming business partnership to manage large government projects and expanding works to private clients.These plans are geared towards capturing opportunities arising from the country's growing construction industry, striking a balance between construction business and construction project management conducive to generating good returns in terms of gross profit and net profit margin that is consistently outstanding.At the same time, CIVIL has also applied technology to its plants that make precast concrete, ready mix concrete, asphaltic concrete, pre-stressed concrete and corrugated steel railings (for road-side car barriers) and sewers. This is all about creating good growth for the business group producing and selling construction materials for distribution to business partners and for managing construction projects.Meanwhile, the company has had its mining concession of limestone, which is the main raw material for construction and cement making, renewed - a move that has enabled CIVIL to maintain good cost management advantages in construction projects.Piyadit said: "We aim to become a leading construction company with sustainable growth, by applying modern technology to enhance the operational potential in all dimensions to support the management of large-scale state infrastructure projects and private works. We are committed to delivering valuable and safe works under the specified budget to improve people's quality of life, advancing Thai economy and society."Pichet Sithiamnuai, President of Bualuang Securities PCL, as a financial advisor and underwriter of CIVIL, noted that CIVIL has high growth potential with investment opportunities in the public sector's transportation infrastructure that is in a good growth stage.This allows the company to tap its outstanding competitive advantages from using technology to enhance project management efficiency, creating an opportunity to participate in public construction projects and expanding its footprints on private schemes."All in all, this will enable CIVIL to maintaining the ability to generate good returns from operations. We believe that CIVIL deserves the status of a growth stock that will definitely receive a good response from investors," said Pichet.Visit Civil Engineering PCL (SET: CIVIL) at https://www.civilengineering.co.th/enReleased for Civil Engineering PCL by MT Multimedia Co LtdPhipop Khongwong (Top), T: +66-81-929-8864; E: pipop.k@mtmultimedia.comSource: Civil Engineering PCLCopyright 2022 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved. Seasoned Auto Industry Veteran Promoted to Head Up Supply Chain Initiatives While Maintaining Operational Excellence AUBURN HILLS, MI / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Unique Fabricating, Inc. (NYSE American:UFAB), a leader in engineering and manufacturing multi-material foam, rubber, and plastic components utilized in noise, vibration, and harshness management and air/water sealing applications for the transportation, appliance, medical, and consumer markets, today announced that it has named George L. Taylor Chief Operating Officer, a new position reporting directly to Doug Cain, Unique Fabricating's President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Taylor joined Unique Fabricating as Director of Engineering and Operational Excellence in September of 2021. Since joining the Company, he has played a key role in improving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction while managing the industry-wide supply chain challenges. He joined Unique Fabricating from Mubea Inc., an international partner to the automotive industry and an innovative lightweight specialist for high-strength spring components and related products. During his 21-year career at Mubea, he served in several positions of increasing responsibility, most recently, as General Manager of Body Division NA, overseeing a team of more than 200 associates and $200 million in annual revenue. Previous positions at Mubea included Sales Manager of Flat Products NA, General Manager of Transmission and Disc Springs. He joined Mubea from Cincinnati Gear Company where he began his career as an applications engineer before being promoted to Industrial Enclosed Drives Sales Manager. "Having worked closely with George at Mubea for 12 years prior to my joining Unique Fabricating, I knew full well the meaningful contributions he would make," commented Mr. Cain. "George has quickly proven himself an invaluable part of our leadership team as we continue to navigate industry wide labor and supply chain pressures. He brought immediate improvements to many aspects of our operations including quality, engineering and program management by driving efficiencies and reducing costs to help us strengthen our position in the industry. He also plays a key role in our sourcing and procurement efforts, a critically important function amidst the ongoing supply chain stresses. We are a more streamlined and efficient organization with George involved in executive leadership and he is the ideal COO to help us to better navigate the current industry environment." "While there is undoubtedly disruption across the automotive industry, the ongoing trends toward lighter, quieter, and more energy efficient vehicles, including electric vehicles, are significant, long-term catalysts. As the industry moves toward normalization, I am excited to play a role at a Company that is so closely aligned with these trends," added Mr. Taylor. "With a strong and dedicated team and a stable platform for excellence, we are well-positioned to thrive and capture market share as manufacturing volumes increase." About Unique Fabricating, Inc. Unique Fabricating, Inc. (NYSE American: UFAB) engineers and manufactures components for customers in the transportation, appliance, medical, and consumer markets. The Company's solutions are comprised of multi-material foam, rubber, and plastic components and utilized in noise, vibration and harshness ("NVH") management, acoustical management, water and air sealing, decorative and other functional applications. Unique leverages proprietary manufacturing processes, including die cutting, thermoforming, compression molding, fusion molding, and reaction injection molding to manufacture a wide range of products including air management products, heating ventilating and air conditioning ("HVAC"), seals, engine covers, fender stuffers, air ducts, acoustical insulation, door water shields, gas tank pads, light gaskets, topper pads, mirror gaskets, glove box liners, personal protection equipment, and packaging. The Company is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. For more information, visit http://www.uniquefab.com. Safe Harbor Statement Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or to future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the Company's or the Company's industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by this press release. Words such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates," "outlook," and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements are based on management's present expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in particular the Section entitled "Risk Factors", as well as any updates to those risk factors filed from time to time in our periodic and current reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Unique Fabricating does not intend to update this information, unless required by law. Reference to the Company's website above does not constitute incorporation of any of the information thereon into this press release. Investor Inquiries: Rob Fink, FNK IR (646) 809-0408 rob@fnkir.com SOURCE: Unique Fabricating, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685692/Unique-Fabricating-Appoints-George-Taylor-as-Chief-Operating-Officer THUNDER BAY, ON / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Wolfden Resources Corporation (TSXV:WLF) ("Wolfden" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that an independent technical report entitled "National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate on the Rice Island Project, Snow Lake Manitoba, UTM NAD 83 Zone 14N 442 500 E, 6 077 500 N", with an effective date of December 13, 2021 has been filed on SEDAR. Highlights of the report were previously announced by the Company in a news release dated December 13, 2021 including: Rice Island Mineral Resource Estimate dated December 12, 2021 using a 0.5% NiEq cut-off 4.3 Mt at 1.11% NiEq of Indicated (0.74% Ni, 0.49% Cu, 0.03% Co, 0.02% Pt, 0.03 g/t Pd, 0.06 g/t Au) (0.74% Ni, 0.49% Cu, 0.03% Co, 0.02% Pt, 0.03 g/t Pd, 0.06 g/t Au) 3.4 Mt at 0.89% NiEq of Inferred (0.55% Ni, 0.37% Cu, 0.04% Co, 0.02% Pt, 0.04 g/t Pd, 0.09 g/t Au) "The Mineral Resource Estimate confirms that Rice Island Deposit has sufficient size, grade and expansion potential to be regarded as a significant development project in the North American EV metal space," commented Ron Little, President and CEO for Wolfden. "The simple, predictable geometry and excellent expansion potential along with its close proximity to existing infrastructure in Snow Lake support that this asset has been largely overlooked and should be re-valued to the upside, within Wolfden's stable of high-quality advanced projects. We look forward to an upcoming expansion drill program to draw further attention on this project". Rice Island Expansion Drill Program about to Commence A 2,500-metre expansion drill program is expected to commence shortly to test the down-plunge extension of the Keel Zone and down-dip extension of the Feeder Zone. Geophysical, bore hole electromagnetic data indicates that the conductive zones associated with the nickel mineralization continues beyond the current depth of 475 metres. About Wolfden Wolfden is an exploration and development company focused on high-margin metallic mineral deposits including base, precious and strategic metals. Its wholly owned Pickett Mountain Project is one of the highest-grade polymetallic projects in North America (Zn, Pb, Cu, Ag, Au) and its two nickel sulphide deposits in Manitoba represent significant development projects with the potential to support the growing battery and EV markets. For further information please contact Ron Little, President & CEO, at (807) 624-1136 or Don Dudek VP Exploration at (647) 401-9138. The information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Don Dudek, P. Geo., VP Exploration and Ron Little P.Eng., President and CEO, both of whom are Qualified Persons' under National Instrument 43-101. Mineral Resource Estimate information: NiEq was calculated using metal prices of US$7.50/lb nickel, US$3.50/lb copper, US$24 per pound cobalt, US$1,700/oz gold, US$1,000/oz platinum and US$2,100/oz palladium. NiEq% = Ni% + (Cu% x 0.467) + (Co% x 3.200) + (Pt g/t x 0.194) + (Pd g/t x 0.408) + (Au g/t x 0.331). An assumed metallurgical recovery of 85% was used in the Mineral Resource Estimate and is therefore incorporated into the NiEq% value calculation. Underground Mineral Resources were calculated using a 0.5% NiEq cut-off after an estimated process recovery of 85% using a nickel price of US$7.50/lb, an exchange rate US$:C$ of 0.78, mining cost of C$65/t, processing cost of C$20/t and G&A cost of C$5/t. The Rice Island Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared, supervised, and reviewed by Independent Qualified Persons of P&E Mining Consultants Inc. with an effective date of December 13, 2021. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information This press release contains forward-looking information (within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation) that involves various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information includes statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance of the Company, and include, without limitation, metal price assumptions, cash flow forecasts, permit and community approvals, and the timing and completion of drill programs in Manitoba and the respective drill results. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information in this news release, including without limitation, the following risks and uncertainties: (i) risks inherent in the mining industry; (ii) regulatory and environmental risks; (iii) results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties; (iv) risks relating to the estimation of Mineral Resources; (v) stock market volatility and capital market fluctuations; and (vi) general market and industry conditions. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. This forward-looking information is based on estimates and opinions of management on the date hereof and is expressly qualified by this notice. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada at www.sedar.com. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking information or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such information unless required by applicable law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. SOURCE: Wolfden Resources Corporation View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685769/Wolfden-Files-NI-43-101-Technical-Report-for-the-Rice-Island-Nickel-Project 2.9 million awarded to 17 projects in Reproductive Medicine and Maternal Health in nine countries Programme reinforces Ferring's ProjectFamily Commitment to support everyone's right to build a family Many inequalities and disparities in reproductive medicine and maternal health currently go unaddressed, due to a lack of dedicated research and investment Forensic analysis of stone age human fertility to better understand why modern-day sperm counts are falling, and a project to support safe birth in rural Ethiopia by providing trained midwives and solar power kits, are among 17 winners of a new Ferring Pharmaceuticals grant programme unveiled today. The wide-ranging programme is designed to tackle inequalities and disparities in reproductive medicine and maternal health, reinforcing Ferring's ambitious ProjectFamily Commitment, which supports everyone's right to build families of every shape and size. Through collaboration with people across the globe, Ferring has outlined how it will develop programs, services, and treatments to address unmet needs in reproductive medicine and maternal health. Millions of people around the world are unable to access the care, treatment and support they need to build a family, and so, the grants aim to support projects that focus on delivering better outcomes and solutions at every stage of the reproductive journey, from conception to birth. "At Ferring, we believe in everyone's right to a family. That is why we are determined to play our part in collaborating to tackle some of the unique challenges faced by people across the globe when building families," said Per Falk, President of Ferring Pharmaceuticals."The projects funded by the grant programme aim to address some of the greatest global gender, health and racial inequalities in reproductive medicine and we look forward to realising positive outcomes of these projects." Today's announcement totals funding of nearly 2.9 million to support 17 projects in nine countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States. It includes the 12 inaugural winners of the Racial Equality Grants in Reproductive Medicine and Maternal Health, a dedicated research programme to deepen understanding and drive solutions to tackle racial disparities in reproductive medicine and maternal health. The programme comprehensively addresses the scope of this issue by funding innovative research proposals in epidemiology as well as basic, clinical, translational, and social sciences. The programme builds on the success of #ProjectFamily: Safe Birth initiative, a decade-long public-private partnership, which earlier this year introduced a heat-stable formulation to prevent excessive bleeding after childbirth, known as postpartum haemorrhage (PPH). By seeking to prevent PPH, Ferring will support efforts to protect the lives of 20 million women and their families by 2030. How the grants programme aligns to the Ferring ProjectFamily Commitment: #1 Learning from patients to improve their treatment and care Key fact: Cancer treatments can reduce the chances of having a family, so fertility preservation interventions need to happen before treatment starts.1 Decisions regarding the potential risk to fertility therefore need to be made with extreme time pressure when the person is also dealing with the new cancer diagnosis. A recent UK survey highlighted problems in accessing fertility preservation for young cancer patients.2 Research grant: University of Edinburgh Development Trust and University Court of the University of Edinburgh and its research project, 'Supporting Fertility Preservation Treatment Decision-Making'. This project will develop fertility preservation patient decision making aids to support cancer patients across Europe. This study will build on an existing web-based decision aid created by the research team and will create new tailored resources for different patient groups in a range of languages. #2 Collaborating to reduce maternal and infant mortality Key fact: In rural Ethiopia, unreliable or non-existent power supplies mean that women delivering at night may give birth in the dark, preventing midwives being able to detect or manage complications. Training midwives and providing safer birthing conditions by supplying light and reliable power is critical to addressing this. Support grant: Ferring is supporting GreenLamp, an organisation dedicated to improving conditions for mothers and babies in rural Ethiopia and its 'Ethiopian Maternal Health Community Programme' through a 5-year holistic model, which will lead to high impact and sustainable improvements in a region of rural Ethiopia with extreme unmet needs. Key fact: Every year, 70,000 women die from PPH,3 with the majority of deaths occurring in low- and lower-middle income countries.4 The majority of PPH deaths could be avoided through preventative approaches, however, this is not always the reality for those living in humanitarian crisis settings, for example conflict regions, natural disasters and public health emergencies. Research grant: The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is collaborating with Ferring Pharmaceuticals to contribute to the body of evidence regarding the safe introduction of additional resources such as heat-stable carbetocin for the prevention of PPH in low resource humanitarian contexts such as Uganda and South Sudan. Through this, both organisations aim to contribute to providing access to safe birth in the most vulnerable settings. #3 Closing gender and racial inequality gaps in reproductive medicine and maternal health Key fact: Around the world, including in high income countries, black women and women of colour are more likely to die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth than white women. Startling racial disparities also exist in fertility treatment. Studies in the US suggest that black women may be twice as likely as white women to have fertility problems but are far less likely to seek or receive treatment that could help them to build their families.5 Furthermore, in the UK, minority ethnic groups undergoing fertility treatment are less likely to have a baby, with black couples having the lowest chance of successful treatment.6 Research grant: The Ferring Innovation Grants Programme for Racial Equality in Reproductive Medicine and Maternal Health, a dedicated research programme to deepen understanding and, ultimately, drive solutions to tackle racial disparities in reproductive medicine and maternal health, including maternal mortality, in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), pregnancy and postpartum outcomes. #4 Working together to win hearts and minds Key fact: The fertility rate the average number of children a woman gives birth to is falling. If the number falls below approximately 2.1, then the size of the population starts to decrease. In 1950, women were having an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. Research showed the global fertility rate nearly halved to 2.4 in 2017 and projections indicate it will fall below 1.7 by 2100.7 In line with this, the number of babies born globally as a result of IVF increased from under one million in 2007, to over two million in 2012.8 Research grant: International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) and its research project, 'Global decreasing fecundity trends: Society changes and implications, fertility awareness and access to infertility care'. Research grant: Globe institute at the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet research project, 'Understanding the reproduction paradigm of humankind in the Anthropocene ('Ancient Reproduction')' which aims to map the evolutionary history of reproductive dysfunction by evaluating changes in environmental pollution and associated biological responses over time. ENDS About the Ferring Innovation Grants Programme for Racial Equality in Reproductive Medicine and Maternal Health The Ferring Innovation Grants Programme for Racial Equality in Reproductive Medicine and Maternal Health (RMMH) aims to fund projects to deepen understanding and, ultimately, drive solutions to tackle racial disparities in RMMH, including maternal mortality, in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), pregnancy and postpartum outcomes. The Ferring Innovation Grants Programme for Racial Equality in RMMH provides research grants of up to 20,000 and aims to fund multidisciplinary research projects across four main areas: basic and translational; clinical; epidemiology and prevention; and social science research. The winners for 2021 included Monash University (Australia), Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), McMaster University (Canada), University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Boston IVF Fertility Clinic (USA), Boston University (USA), Foundation for Research and Education Excellence (USA), Johns Hopkins University (USA), Rejuvenating Fertility Center (USA) and Yale School of Medicine (USA). About Ferring Pharmaceuticals Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a research-driven, speciality biopharmaceutical group committed to helping people around the world build families and live better lives. Headquartered in Saint-Prex, Switzerland, Ferring is a leader in reproductive medicine and maternal health, and in specialty areas within gastroenterology and urology. Ferring has been developing treatments for mothers and babies for over 50 years and has a portfolio covering treatments from conception to birth. Founded in 1950, privately-owned Ferring now employs approximately 6,000 people worldwide, has its own operating subsidiaries in more than 50 countries and markets its products in 110 countries. Learn more at www.ferring.com, or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. 1 Anderson RA, et al. The impact of cancer on subsequent chance of pregnancy: a population-based analysis. Hum Reprod 2018;33: 1281-1290. 2 Newton HL, Picton HM, Friend AJ, et al. Inconsistencies in fertility preservation for young people with cancer in the UK Archives of Disease in Childhood Published Online First: 20 September 2021. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2021-321873 3 World Health Organization. Priority diseases and reasons for inclusion. Postpartum haemorrhage. Available at: https://www.who.int/medicines/areas/priority_medicines/Ch6_16PPH.pdf Last accessed January 2022. 4 Say L, et al. Global causes of maternal death: a WHO systematic analysis. The Lancet Global Health. 2014; 2 (6):e323-33. Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/langlo/PIIS2214-109X(14)70227-X.pdf Last accessed January 2022. 5 STAT. For black women, the isolation of infertility is compounded by barriers to treatment Available at: https://www.statnews.com/2020/10/14/for-black-women-isolation-of-infertility-compounded-by-barriers-to-treatment/ Last accessed January 2022. 6 Human Fertilisation Embryology Authority (HFEA). UK ethnicity statistics for IVF and DI fertility treatment. Available at: https://www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us/publications/research-and-data/ethnic-diversity-in-fertility-treatment-2018/ Last accessed January 2022. 7 BBC News. Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53409521 Last accessed January 2022. 8 American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). The number of babies born globally after treatment with the assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Available at: https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(13)02586-7/fulltextrelatedArticles Last accessed January 2022. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220126005619/en/ Contacts: Danielle Forrester Associate Director, 90TEN +44 75 9120 0047 (mobile) ferring@90ten.co.uk Bhavin Vaid Head of Corporate Communications +41 79 191 0632 (mobile) bhavin.vaid@ferring.com Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, today announced that ICE Midland WTI American Gulf Coast futures (Midland WTI AGC) began trading on January 24, with the equivalent of over 2.8 million barrels traded within the first three days. The contract, which trades under the code HOU, is deliverable at both Magellan Midstream Partners' Magellan East Houston (MEH) terminal and Enterprise Products Partners L.P.'s Enterprise Crude Houston (ECHO) terminal, which are collectively supplied by over four million barrels per day of crude pipeline capacity. By the close of its third day of trading, a total of 2,874 ICE Midland WTI AGC futures had traded. Each futures contract is equivalent to 1000 barrels of Permian Basin originated WTI crude oil. "The early trading activity in HOU, with the expanded infrastructure of Magellan and Enterprise behind it, marks a significant step in the development of the U.S. Gulf Coast as a global benchmark pricing location for U.S. crude," said Jeff Barbuto, Global Head of Oil Markets at ICE. "As the market develops, participants will find more ways to utilize HOU for acquiring, trading and managing risk around Midland WTI as it becomes an increasingly important grade of crude globally." As recently announced, to further facilitate trading between the MEH and ECHO terminals to create one large liquidity pool, Magellan and Enterprise have agreed to transfer Midland WTI barrels between the terminals for no charge during the first year if the barrels are not delivered to the buyer's preferred terminal, and at 10 cents per barrel for all other WTI transfers meeting HOU quality specifications. The Midland WTI AGC futures contract has export access to over 14 ship docks in the Houston area. Together Magellan and Enterprise's Houston distribution systems offer 60 million barrels of combined crude storage capacity. These distribution systems connect to a further 90 million barrels of storage capacity, bringing the total to around 150 million barrels of total crude storage capacity in the Houston area, as well as offering additional direct access to water for exports and floating storage. About Intercontinental Exchange Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.(NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds and operates digital networks to connect people to opportunity. We provide financial technology and data services across major asset classes that offer our customers access to mission-critical workflow tools that increase transparency and operational efficiencies. We operate exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, and clearing houses that help people invest, raise capital and manage risk across multiple asset classes. Our comprehensive fixed income data services and execution capabilities provide information, analytics and platforms that help our customers capitalize on opportunities and operate more efficiently. At ICE Mortgage Technology, we are transforming and digitizing the U.S. residential mortgage process, from consumer engagement through loan registration. Together, we transform, streamline and automate industries to connect our customers to opportunity. Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located here. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading "Key Information Documents (KIDS)." Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on February 4, 2021. ICE- CORP Source: Intercontinental Exchange View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005575/en/ Contacts: ICE Media Contact: Rebecca Mitchell Rebecca.Mitchell@ice.com +44 7951 057 351 ICE Investor Contact: Mary Caroline O'Neal marycaroline.oneal@ice.com (770) 738-2151 Thunder Bay, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2022) - Metals Creek Resources Corp. (TSXV: MEK) (OTCQB: MCREF) (FSE: M1C1) (the "Company" or Metals Creek) is pleased to announce results for six holes recently drilled on the Ogden Gold Project in Timmins, Ontario. The Ogden Gold Project is a 50/50 Joint Venture with Newmont Corporation ("Newmont"), with the Company serving as the operator. The Thomas Ogden Zone (TOG) was the main focus of the drill program, totalling 2,076 meters. By means of oriented core, the program's emphasis was to further define the orientation of high-grade cross cutting veins and mineralization, as well as determining true orientations of contacts, fold structures and faults within a very complex sequence of stratigraphy. Three of the six holes drilled had visible gold. Highlights of the drilling include: TOG 21-065A which returned a downhole intercept of 9.2 grammes per ton (g/t) gold (Au) over 4.47 meters (m). This hole was drilled approximately 325 meters east of hole TOG-13-025 which returned 210.19 g/t Au over 12.53 m (See MEK news release dated 22 May 2013). Clusters of visible gold were observed in TOG 21-065A between 350.62 and 352.25m. Specks and blebs of gold vary in coarseness between <0.25 and 3 mm, mainly occurring adjacent to or within, narrow white/translucent quartz stringers/patches of silicification. To view pamphlet for TOG 21-065A click on link provided below. https://www.metalscreek.com/press-release The zone is characterized as a strongly (silica/albite/iron carbonate) altered felsite unit. Very-fine to fine-grained disseminated cubic pyrite is the dominant sulfide and occurs throughout the altered matrix as well as locally within white quartz-carbonate veinlets. Chalcopyrite is locally present at both the upper and lower contacts to this gold bearing interval. Holes TOG 21-66,67,68 and 69 targeted the near surface portion of the TOG fold structure further defining the orientation of cross cutting gold bearing quartz veins and the geometry of the fold limbs. Holes TOG 21-64 and 65A targeted flat lying quartz bearing structures and zones of albitization and silicification within the lowermost portion of the TOG fold structure resulting in the identification of gold mineralization within cross cutting quartz stringers and associated silicification within highly altered TOG stratigraphy. Future drilling will continue to target the down plunge extension of Thomas Ogden fold structure as well as further evaluating the encouraging results from hole 65A. Table of significant results follow: Table 1 To view an enhanced version of Table 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/943/111273_metals%20creek%20table.jpg. Drill intercepts are core lengths and true width will be approximately 70 to 80% of drill intercept length. All split core samples were sent to Activation Laboratories. The precious metals were analyzed utilizing a standard fire assay with an atomic absorption finish. As part of the Corporations QAQC protocol, approximately 10% of the samples submitted for assay were also sent for check assays. Standards and blanks were inserted randomly into the sample shipments as part of the sampling protocol. Samples with fire assay results above 1.0 g/t gold are re-analyzed using a gravimetric finish and samples with fire assay results above 5.0 g/t gold or samples showing visible gold are analyzed using the pulp metallic method. Drilling has been paused while the company awaits the completion and interpretation of the deep section Induced Polarization (IP) program. Once this data is received, information collected from the Spatiotemporal Geochemical Hydrocarbon (SGH) soil sampling, oriented core and deep section IP will be combined to generate new drill targets. Drilling is anticipated to resume in approximately 3 weeks. Drill hole locations are provided in the map below. Figure 1 To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/943/111273_d8279d9154b198b6_124full.jpg. Michael MacIsaac, P. Geo and VP Exploration for the Company and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for this release, and supervised the preparation of the information forming the basis for this release. About Metals Creek Resources Corp. Metals Creek Resources Corp. is a junior exploration company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario, is a reporting issuer in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, and has its common shares listed for trading on the Exchange under the symbol "MEK". Metals Creek has earned a 50% interest in the Ogden Gold Property from Newmont, including the past producing Naybob Gold mine, located 6 km south of Timmins, Ontario and has an 8 km strike length of the prolific Porcupine-Destor Fault (P-DF). In addition, Metals Creek has signed an agreement with Newmont, under which Metals Creek can earn a 100% interest in the past producing Dona Lake Gold Project in the Pickle Lake Mining District of Ontario. Additional information concerning the Company is contained in documents filed by the Company with securities regulators, available under its profile at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Alexander (Sandy) Stares, President and CEO Metals Creek Resources Corp telephone: (709)-256-6060 fax: (709)-256-6061 email: astares@metalscreek.com www.MetalsCreek.com Twitter.com/MetalsCreekRes Facebook.com/MetalsCreek To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111273 - Rise in demand and sustainable development in electronics gadgets, demand for electric cars, and demand for daily use electronic products drive the growth of the global wired charging market. PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Wired Charging Market by Type (Type C, Micro USB, Lightening, Others), Charging Type (Fast and Standard), Application (Personal Care, Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Energy & Power, Healthcare and Others), and Sales Channel (Online and Offline): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2021-2030." According to the report, the global wired charging industry generated $11.1 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach $15.9 billion by 2030, witnessing a CAGR of 3.9% from 2021 to 2030. Drivers, Restraints, and Opportunities Rise in demand and sustainable development in electronics gadgets, demand for electric cars, and demand for daily use electronic products drive the growth of the global wired charging market. However, emergence of wireless charging and low range of electric vehicles hinder the market growth. On the other hand, increase in pollution by crude products, high oil prices, and surge in urbanization and tourism development present new opportunities in the coming years. Download Sample PDF (340 Pages PDF with Insights): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/15325 Covid-19 Scenario The sale of wired charging devices is hugely dependent on the sale of smartphones, tablets, and other gadgets. Leading companies such as Philips, Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Nikon, Casio, and others needed to close manufacturing operations partially or completely during the lockdown imposed by governments in many countries. Moreover, the demand for the gadgets reduced considerably amid the lockdown restrictions and recorded a huge decline in sale. This led to decline in sale of wired charging. Electric cars charging system is one of the major applications for wired charging. Owing to the high cost of electric cars, the sales of electric car took a plunge during the pandemic. This resulted in decline the sales of wired charging. However, the adoption of work from home culture and remote working system led to increased demand for laptops and other necessary accessories. This led to increased demand for wired charging. The type C segment to continue its lead position during the forecast period Based on type, the type C segment contributed to the highest share in 2020, accounting for around two-fifths of the global wired charging market, and is projected to continue its lead position during the forecast period. This is due to surge in demand for mobile phones, laptops, cameras and other gadgets that need type C cables. However, the lightening segment is estimated to manifest the fastest CAGR of 4.6% from 2021 to 2030, owing to increase in demand for high-quality products such as apple mobiles, laptops, watches, and others that are supported by lightening type of charging. Get detailed COVID-19 impact analysis on the Wired Charging Market: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/15325?reqfor=covid The consumer electronics segment to maintain its lead in terms of revenue during the forecast period Based on application, the consumer electronics segment held the largest share in 2020, accounting for more than one-fourth of the global wired charging market, and is expected to maintain its lead in terms of revenue during the forecast period. This is attributed to increase in demand for smartphones, tablets, laptops, EarPods, smartwatches, cameras, Bluetooth speakers, and others along with rise in industrialization that raised the demand for computers & laptops. However, the healthcare segment is projected to portray the largest CAGR of 4.3% from 2021 to 2030. This is due to rise in demand for medical devices in hospitals and rapid expansion of the medical industry. Asia-Pacific, followed by North America, to maintain its dominance by 2030 Based on region, Asia-Pacific, followed by North America, accounted for the highest market share in 2020, contributing to more than one-third of the global wired charging market, and is expected to maintain its dominance by 2030. Moreover, this region is estimated to register the fastest CAGR of 4.3% from 2021 to 2030. This is due to presence of key developing nations such as China, India, and Japan with rise in usage of electronic gadgets such as mobiles & laptops, electric vehicles, and charging stations and rapid growth of manufacturing base. Schedule a FREE Consultation Call with Our Analysts/Industry Experts to Find Solution for Your Business @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/connect-to-analyst/15325 Leading Market Players ABB AOYAMA Elevator Co., Ltd. Apple, Inc. Dell Technologies Inc. Delta Electronics, Inc. Huawei Technology Co., Ltd. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Sunvalley Group Tesla Webasto Interested in Procure Data? Visit Here: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/wired-charging-market/purchase-options Access AVENUE- A Subscription-Based Library (Premium on-demand, subscription-based pricing model) at: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/library-access Avenue is a user-based library of global market report database, provides comprehensive reports pertaining to the world's largest emerging markets. It further offers e-access to all the available industry reports just in a jiffy. By offering core business insights on the varied industries, economies, and end users worldwide, Avenue ensures that the registered members get an easy as well as single gateway to their all-inclusive requirements. Avenue Library Subscription | Request for 14 days free trial of before buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/avenue/trial/starter Similar Reports We Have: Japan Wired Charging Market is projected to reach $1.2 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2020 to 2030. High Voltage Cables Market is projected to reach $23.4 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.0% from 2020 to 2027. Cable Accessories Market is expected to reach $99.3 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 7.2% from 2021 to 2030. Cable Accessories Market is expected to reach $99.3 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 7.2% from 2021 to 2030. Cable Glands Market is projected to reach $2,841.9 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2018 to 2025. Electric Service Companies (ESCO) Market is projected to reach $49.6 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2021 to 2030. Portable Battery Market is projected to reach $27.5 billion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 10.4% from 2021 to 2030. Portable Power Station Market is projected to reach $5.8 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 4.1% from 2021 to 2030. Electrical House Market is projected to reach $2.3 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.4% from 2021 to 2030. Pre-Book Now with 10% Discount: Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Infrastructure Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 Portable Charger Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026 Electric Insulator Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020-2027 High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Market: Global Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030 Power Distribution Component Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030 Electric Fuse Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2020 - 2027 Low Voltage Cable Market - Global Opportunities and Forecasts, 2021-2028 Electric Utilities Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030 Solar Charge Controller Market: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast 2020 - 2027 About us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact us: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Toll Free: 1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-855-550-5975 help@alliedmarketresearch.com Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Follow us on: LinkedIn Twitter Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg Stockton, California--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2022) - Vibe Growth Corporation (CSE: VIBE) (OTCQX: VIBEF) (the "Company" or "Vibe"), a vertically integrated California cannabis enterprise, is pleased to announce that its iconic Vibe By California branded retail dispensary in Stockton, California, is a finalist in the Official Community Choice Awards in San Joaquin County for Best Cannabis Store. The OCCA is part of the Stockton Record and the USA Today Network. Vibe's Stockton dispensary has set out to redefine what it means to be a quality cannabis dispensary and attributes its success to a culture of client care and knowledgeable staff. Vibe is renowned for its large selection of cannabis products at the best prices, featuring Hype Cannabis Co. and an expertly curated selection of California's top brands. The Vibe Stockton Team (Image: Vibe By California) To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7473/111847_5729241aa442e89a_002full.jpg "We take pride in our friendly and diverse environment, which encourages interaction and helps in building a better understanding of our customers," stated Richard McLean, Vibe's Head of Retail. "I am extremely honored to work with a team that is so dedicated to customer satisfaction, and proud to be chosen by our community," added Stockton store manager, LaToya Daniel. To learn more about Vibe please visit www.vibebycalifornia.com. About Hype Cannabis Co. Hype Cannabis Co. products are hand-crafted, hand-picked, naturally cured, and trimmed by hand in limited batches. Our cultivators are involved from cultivation to packaging ensuring a high-quality craft product. The pesticide-free process produces a diverse range of strains from popular crowd-pleasers to unique cultivars to satisfy a variety of taste sensations and experiences. Everyone on our HYPE team is passionate about the plant, and every product we create showcases the care and attention we give to our cultivation. From flower to wax, we stand behind everything we produce. We are fanatical about plant education and community, reach out to us on social media to join the conversation on how this amazing plant connects the world. About Vibe Growth Corporation Vibe Growth Corporation and its cannabis retail brand, Vibe By California, is a trusted, vertically integrated cannabis enterprise with retail dispensaries; cannabis greenhouse cultivation; premium indoor cultivation; commercial cannabis distribution; brand sales and marketing; e-commerce platform; home delivery; and Hype Cannabis Co. marijuana and Vibe CBD (cannabidiol) products. Vibe is focused on maximizing shareholder value through accelerating organic growth, opportunistic acquisitions, distressed workouts, and new license applications. The Company operates retail and e-commerce under its iconic Vibe by California brand. To learn more about Vibe, please visit: www.vibebycalifornia.com Company Contact Bill Mitoulas Phone: +1 416.479.9547 Email: ir@vibebycalifornia.com Website: www.vibebycalifornia.com 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111847 RTHK: Germany arrests Russian 'space tech spy' German prosecutors have arrested and charged a Russian citizen with spying for Russia, alleging he had passed information on aerospace technology, in particular the Ariane space launch vehicle, to Russian intelligence. Federal prosecutors said the suspect, identified only as Ilnur N., worked as a scientific researcher at a Bavarian university until his arrest on June 18 last year. The arrest casts a spotlight on Russian intelligence activity in Germany even as Berlin faces pressure from Western allies to take a more robust stance in support of Ukraine as Russian forces mass on its borders. Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) first approached him no later than autumn of 2019, the prosecutors said, adding he had told the SVR he was prepared to cooperate with them. "The agency's interests particularly targeted the various development stages of the European space launcher Ariane and the accused's research into tools," prosecutors said in a statement. From November 2019 onwards, he regularly met a Germany-based handling officer, repeatedly handing over information on research projects, receiving 2,500 euros (US$2,800) in cash. Germany is a major centre for Russian intelligence operations. In December, a German court found that Russian agents had been behind the 2019 murder, in broad daylight in a central Berlin park, of a Chechen dissident, an act the judge labelled "state terrorism". (Reuters) This story has been published on: 2022-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Saving species through sound China Daily) 14:19, January 27, 2022 Acoustic monitoring helps Hainan conservationists track rare gibbons Daily life for Hainan gibbons in the hinterlands of the province's tropical rainforests begins at around 6 am, when the male heads of the five remaining families begin the high, melodious whistling that echoes through the thick, cloud-shrouded forests to reach villagers down in the valleys some 800 to 1,200 meters below. "The whistling, which zoologists interpret as a way for each family to mark its territory, becomes richer and more harmonious as the matriarchs and other family members join the chorus. It's the most moving example of group singing displayed by the 20 remaining gibbon species in the world," said Chen Qing, a woodcutter-turned ranger who recently retired after working for more than 37 years at the Bawangling National Nature Reserve in southwestern Hainan Island. Established in 1988 and covering about 300 square kilometers, Bawangling is the only habitat of the Hainan gibbon, or nomascus hainanus, to give the species its scientific name. The world's rarest primate currently has a population of just 35, split into five families. Bawangling forms a key portion of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, the country's best preserved tropical rainforest, which covers 4,269 square kilometers, or one-seventh of the island. More than 95 percent of the park is virgin forest and is home to 3,653 species of wild vascular plants and 540 species of terrestrial vertebrates, according to the park's administration. The charming sounds made by the gibbons are currently being recorded and transmitted in real time to a cloud-storage terminal by 50 high-tech devices mounted in the trees. The Hainan National Park Research Institute and the International Union for Conservation of Nature launched the acoustic database project in January last year, with the aim of better protecting the park's flagship species by using the data to interpret their language, according to Wang Jichao, leader of the project and vice-dean of the life science college at Hainan Normal University. "The devices are based on Huawei's Tech4Nature technology and are capable of automatically recognizing the sound of Hainan gibbons. They self-activate and start recording when one of the gibbons makes a sound," he said. The Huawei system is being used in 30 national parks around the world and has won awards from the United Nations for its outstanding contribution to safeguarding nature, according to media reports. This photo taken on Aug 29, 2020, shows a female gibbon cuddling a cub in Dongbengling, Baisha Li autonomous county, South China's Hainan province. [Photo/CCTV News] Sorting out vocal cues "Hainan gibbons, which are all a golden color at birth, live in trees all their life, and most of their movements are similar to human beings. Their arms are much longer than their legs, and they forage for foodfruit, bird eggs, young tree leaves and insectsup in the canopy around 15 meters above the ground," said Chen, who is familiar with most species and plants in the rainforest. "At one point, the population of gibbons dropped to less than 10 and only two families in the 1980s. They were easily frightened and living in a fragile environment. But in recent years, they have become bolder. Now they stare at us with curiosity from just a few meters away if we come across them by chance during our daily surveys." However, it is still difficult to track the gibbons. Protection remains challenging, and according to Wang, at the moment, the most effective way to track the gibbons is by sound. "Like humans, Hainan gibbons produce vocal cues that can be deciphered to identify specific individuals. Advances in automated methods of collecting acoustic data, including wireless transmission and network storage, can help establish an acoustic database of the gibbons and other vertebrates, and help researchers draw a picture of linguistic structure and patterns of communication," Wang said. "Analysis of the data, combined with behavioral image monitoring, will help us learn more about their lifestyle and about the ways they express emotions like joy, anger and sadness." The acoustic monitoring devices don't have lights, which would distract or interfere with the creatures in the forests, making them suited to long-term, large-scale and real-time operations and a popular biodiversity monitoring tool, both domestically and abroad. Analyzing data For the next six months, Wang and his team of 10 will work with experts on cloud-storage, AI algorithms and voiceprint analysis programs, including Huawei's, to study data collected over the past year. Then they will compile an initial report on the voice features of the gibbons, and try to interpret their daily behavior and more precisely determine where they live. "The database is expected to be completed in three years. It will play a major role in comprehensive biological research and conservation work on gibbons and other rare species in Hainan's rainforests," said Wang, who is the project's leader. He noted that the acoustic monitoring project is the first of its kind in China, being designed to track all major rare species in a single protected area. Integrated monitoring systems, including remote sensing satellites, UAVs and ground equipment, have been installed in a number of national parks, including the Northeast Tiger Leopard National Park, the Yunnan Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve and giant panda reserves, to monitor the flagship species in each area, according to conservationists. They suggested that in the future, research into Hainan gibbon conservation can be extended to interpret their behavior beyond simple communication. How they choose a mate, for example, can help deepen understanding of human evolution. They also proposed collecting phenological data, including the varieties of fruit trees that gibbons favor, and information about their predators and competitors. Since 2005, Hainan has restored more than 330 hectares of gibbon habitat, planting around 300,000 trees that grow either the fruits or the leaves the species eats, and the protected habitat has expanded from 21.4 square kilometers in the 1980s to 4,269 sq km today, according to the park administration. The steady recovery of the gibbon population in Hainan is evidence of China's achievements in ecological and environmental protection in recent years. The province's conservation efforts have renewed confidence in the future protection of endangered primates around the world, according to Jane Smart, global director of IUCN's biodiversity conservation group. Professor Tang Yanfei, executive director of the Hainan National Park Research Institute, said that in accordance with the Hainan gibbon protection action plan, the province will establish a professional monitoring system and strengthen domestic and international cooperation in researching gibbon protection and sustainable community development. Tang believes that with the new progress on scientific research, habitat restoration and improvements to the rainforest's ecological corridors, the number of gibbons in Hainan should double to around 60-70 individuals by 2035. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) A suspect in the shooting death of a Bronx father of four in a December road rage clash has been arrested, police said Thursday. Carlos Esquilin, 38, was busted Tuesday for the slaying of Aracellio Pellot. Advertisement Pellot, 46, was shot in the back of his head on E. 162nd St. near Melrose Ave., just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium, about 5:40 a.m. Dec. 22. Esquilin, who police said was in a white SUV, opened fire from behind a black Nissan Murano Pellot was riding in on his way to work, blowing out the rear window. Advertisement Aracellio Pellot A few moments earlier Pellot and Esquilins cars nearly collided, sparking a heated argument as they continued to drive down the street, cops said. They were arguing car to car, Pellots sister, Magdalena Pellot, 46, told the Daily News before dissolving in tears shortly after Pellots death. And they just shot my brother. Pellot was riding with his brother and their boss on their way from the brothers Bronx home to a job cleaning apartments, his sister said. Once Pellot was shot, the terrified driver of the Nissan sped off before flagging cops down on the nearby Melrose Ave. bridge near E. 165th St. The driver and front-seat passenger were not hurt, but Pellot was already dead in the rear seat, police said. Cops on Melrose Ave. bridge near E. 165th Street where 48-year-old Aracellio Pellot was shot and killed while inside a Nissan Murano. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Daily News) He was funny, always trying to see the light of day, the victims daughter Lynette Pellot, 26, said through tears. Caring he cared about his family a lot. ... He had a big heart. Pellot was a recent grandfather to Lynettes 3-month-old girl and her brothers 11-year-old daughter. Esquilin, of Morrisania, is charged with murder, manslaughter and weapons possession and was ordered held without bail during a brief arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court late Wednesday. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2022) - Dragonfly Capital Corp. (TSXV: DRC.H) ("Dragonfly" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its news release dated December 16, 2021, the Company and Black Swan Graphene Inc. ("Black Swan"), a private Ontario company, and the shareholders of Black Swan (collectively, the "Black Swan Shareholders") have entered into a share exchange agreement dated effective as of January 17, 2022 (the "Share Exchange Agreement"), pursuant to which Dragonfly will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares (each, a "Black Swan Share") of Black Swan and grant certain options (each, a "Replacement Option") of the Company in exchange for those outstanding options (each, a "Black Swan Option") of Black Swan (the "Transaction"). In connection with the Transaction, the Company and Black Swan intends to complete a concurrent equity financing with minimum gross proceeds of $5,000,000 (the "Subscription Receipt Financing"). The Transaction is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") and is intended to constitute the Company's Qualifying Transaction as defined in TSXV Policy 2.4 - Capital Pool Companies ("Policy 2.4"). Subject to TSXV approval, the common shares (each, a "Resulting Issuer Share") of the Resulting Issuer will trade on the Exchange, under the symbol "SWAN", and the business of the Resulting Issuer will be the business of Black Swan. It is expected that the Resulting Issuer will be listed on the Exchange as a Tier 2 Industrial Issuer under the name "Black Swan Graphene Inc." or such other name as mutually agreed to by the parties. Black Swan Graphene Inc. Black Swan is a private graphene processing technology (the "Graphene Technology") company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Black Swan recently purchased strategic assets related to the patented Graphene Technology from Thomas Swan & Co. Limited ("Thomas Swan"), a leading United Kingdom based specialty chemical company founded in 1926 exporting today to over 80 countries. For more information on Black Swan and its business, please see the Company's news release dated December 16, 2021 available on SEDAR. A summary of Black Swan's financial information will be included in a subsequent press release once such financial information has been obtained by the Company. It is anticipated that Black Swan will provide audited financial statements in due course. For more information, please see Mason Graphite's news releases dated July 26, September 2, September 15, September 20, and October 7, 2021 available on SEDAR. Summary of the Transaction The Share Exchange Agreement provides that Dragonfly will acquire all of the outstanding Black Swan Shares from the Black Swan Shareholders in consideration for the issuance of an aggregate 210,229,434 common shares (each, a "Share") in the capital of the Company to the Black Swan Shareholders, at a deemed price of $0.15 per Share. In addition, each outstanding Black Swan Option will be exchanged for an equivalent Replacement Option in accordance with the Share Exchange Agreement. Following Closing, Black Swan will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and the business of the Company will be that of Black Swan. In connection with the Transaction, and in order to raise sufficient operating capital for the Resulting Issuer, the Company anticipates completing the Subscription Receipt Financing; a non-brokered subscription receipt financing of at least 33,333,333 subscription receipts (each, a "Subscription Receipt") at a price of $0.15 per Subscription Receipt to raise gross proceeds of at least $5,000,000. Each Subscription Receipt shall be convertible into one Share upon satisfaction of certain escrow release conditions (collectively, the "Escrow Release Conditions"). There may be cash commissions and/or broker warrants paid and/or issued to eligible finders in relation to the Subscription Receipt Financing in accordance with the policies of the TSXV. Assuming the completion of the Transaction (the "Closing"), the issuance of a minimum 33,333,333 Shares upon conversion of the Subscription Receipts pursuant to the Subscription Receipt Financing, and that no convertible securities of Dragonfly or Black Swan are exercised, a minimum of 261,310,290 common shares of the Resulting Issuer (each, a "Resulting Issuer Share") are expected to be issued and outstanding on the Closing Date of which approximately 6.79% Resulting Issuer Shares will be held by the current shareholders of the Company, approximately 80.45% will be held by the Black Swan Shareholders, and 12.76% will be held by the subscribers under the Subscription Receipt Financing. The completion of the Transaction is subject to the satisfaction of various conditions as are standard for a transaction of this nature, including but not limited to: (i) the Company having had the reasonable opportunity to perform searches and other due diligence, and being satisfied with the results of such due diligence; (ii) receipt of all requisite consents, waivers and approvals for the Transaction, including the approval of the NEX Board of the TSXV, if applicable; (iii) the absence of any material adverse change in the business, affairs or operations of Black Swan; (iv) completion of the Subscription Receipt Financing and all Escrow Release Conditions being satisfied (other than the completion of the Transaction); (v) the cancellation of the Black Swan Options and corresponding grant of the Replacement Options; and (iv) Black Swan having received the requisite approvals from its shareholders for the Transaction, if applicable. The Transaction is an arm's length transaction and therefore will not require shareholder approval under Policy 2.4. Directors, Officers and Insiders of the Resulting Issuer Upon Closing, it is expected that each of Anthony Kent Deuters, Eric Boehnke and Gregory Galanis will resign as directors of the Company, and Mr. Deuters will resign as the President and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of the Company, and Jennie Choboter will resign as the Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of the Company. Following such resignations, it is expected that each of Simon Marcotte, Peter Damouni, Harry Swan (Chairman), Michael Edwards, David Deak and Roy McDowall are expected to be appointed as directors of the Resulting Issuer. Further, Mr. Marcotte is expected to be appointed as the CEO, Greg Duras is expected to be appointed as the CFO and Corporate Secretary, and Peter Damouni is expected to be appointed as the Executive Director of the Resulting Issuer. For a brief description of the proposed directors and officers of the Resulting Issuer, please see the Company's news release dated December 16, 2021 available on SEDAR. Sponsorship Sponsorship of a Qualifying Transaction of a Capital Pool Company is required by the TSXV unless an exemption from the sponsorship requirement is available. The Company intends to apply for a waiver from the sponsorship requirements. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to obtain such a waiver. Finder's Fee In connection with the Transaction, the Parties agree that finder's fees may be paid concurrently with the Closing to eligible finders who are not Related Parties to either Black Swan or Dragonfly, as defined by the policies of the TSXV, up to the maximum amount permitted by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSXV, as applicable. About Dragonfly Capital Corp. Dragonfly Capital Corp. is a Capital Pool Company as defined by the policies of the TSXV. The Company's principal business activity is to identify and evaluate opportunities for acquisition of assets or business. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. About Black Swan Graphene Inc. Black Swan Graphene Inc. is a Canadian private company focusing on the large-scale production and commercialization of patented high-performance and low-cost graphene products aimed at several industrial sectors, including concrete, polymers, Li-ion batteries, and others, which are expected to require large volumes of graphene and, in turn, require large volumes of graphite. Black Swan aims to leverage the low cost and green hydroelectricity of the province of Quebec as well as the proximity of the eventual production sites of Mason Graphite in order to establish a fully integrated supply chain, reduce overall costs, and accelerate the deployment of graphene usage. Additional Information A comprehensive press release with further particulars relating to the Transaction, including further particulars of the Resulting Issuer and the Subscription Receipt Financing, will follow in accordance with the policies of the TSXV. In addition, a summary of Black Swan' financial information will be included in a subsequent press release. All information contained in this press release with respect to the Company and Black Swan was supplied, for inclusion herein, by the respective Parties and each Party and its directors and officers have relied on the other Party for any information concerning the other Party. Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, TSXV acceptance and if applicable pursuant to TSXV Requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all. Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative. The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Contact Information For more information please contact: Dragonfly Capital Corp. Eric Boehnke Director (604) 307-4274 Black Swan Graphene Inc. Paul Hardy Vice President, Corporate Development phardy@blackswangraphene.com; (416) 844-7365 Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements, which reflect the expectations of management regarding the Company's completion of the Transaction and related transactions. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future, including but not limited to, the Company completing the Transaction, the completion of the Subscription Receipt Financing, the proposed officers and directors of the Resulting Issuer, and the conditions to be satisfied for completion of the Transaction. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements, including risks related to factors beyond the control of the Company. The risks include the following: the requisite corporate approvals of the directors and shareholders of Dragonfly or Black Swan, as applicable, may not be obtained; the Company may be unable to close the Subscription Receipt Financing in full or in part; the TSXV may not approve the Transaction; and other risks that are customary to transactions of this nature. The novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, also poses new risks that are currently indescribable and immeasurable. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111831 VILNIUS, Lithuania, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peplink, a company that makes connectivity reliable, Connectivity Solutions (solution provider), and CTO Networks (Peplink Distributor in Mexico), have recently completed a deployment for Qualitas Seguros, a leading Insurance company in Mexico, marking the beginning of many opportunities in the country. Qualitas is one of the top 5 insurance firms in Mexico with over 4 million customers with over 500 locations distributed across Mexico. In recent years, keeping up its existing network with new technologies while ensuring its network stays highly available has become increasingly difficult. Moreover, mixing different protocols from multiple telecom operators makes network management even harder. As a result, many of its branch networks experience slow and unstable connections. First and foremost, Qualitas needs its branches to be reliable at all times. Working with domestic telecom operators in Mexico, CTO Networks and its reseller Connectivity Solutions deployed Peplink's SpeedFusion technology into 140 of Qualitas' largest branches. SpeedFusion greatly enhanced network reliability and available bandwidth by bonding a combination of fixed WAN links in each branch. The project was a success - Peplink devices worked flawlessly without any changes to Qualitas' existing network infrastructure while Peplink's extensive API support was used to create a customized dashboard showing crucial network performance data to help Qualitas automate its network management. As a result, "We had excellent feedback as our failures have greatly diminished, which translates directly into a successful user experience," said Juan Ramon Zepeda, Network Manager of Qualitas. Reynaldo Lucio, CEO of Connectivity Solutions said, "Peplink offers a very robust solution with reliable hardware, unique SpeedFusion technology and great API support with InControl2. This allows us to develop customized reporting dashboard per customer needs, and makes it easy to deploy and manage regardless which carrier the customer is using." Samuel Lee Belmonte, CEO of CTO Networks added, "The Qualitas deployment illustrates the advantages of using Peplink for enterprise customers. Thanks to the support of Peplink and our telecom carrier partners, the whole channel in Mexico is expected to grow very quickly." Keith Chau, General Manager of Peplink said, "Besides having the technology to keep customer's network online, Peplink can also be deployed without touching the customer's existing network infrastructure. We look forward to working with partners like CTO Networks to unlock many more opportunities in Mexico and the Latin America region." About: Peplink CTO Networks Connectivity Solutions Qualitas Seguros WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Star Alliance International Corp. (OTC PINK:STAL) ("STAR"). STAR is pleased to introduce Weverson Correia, as its new chief executive officer. Weverson Correia has over his career, expanded international markets for the companies he has worked for using his skills to expand revenue generating worldwide markets. His strategic initiatives for sales, marketing, and new product launches in Global markets helped develop new business. He has consistently exceeded expectations through market analysis, customer/distributor education, negotiating program buy-in, and finding new distribution channels. Weverson's extensive experience brings innovative ideas to increase margins, improve productivity, and enhance customer service. He analyzes new product requirements, developing sales forecasts, and pricing structure and can build, train, and manage high performance teams. Mr. Correia has taken over the day to day management of our California and Honduras mining operations working closely with Juan Lemus. He is also working through the due diligence necessary to complete the purchase of 51% of Lion Works Advertising, SA, that owns the Genesis gold extraction process. Mr. Correia's fluency in Spanish and his relationships in Central and South America will be vital to the company's strategy. Weverson Correia, CEO of Star Alliance International, stated, "It is an honor and privilege to be appointed CEO of Star Alliance International. I am excited about the prospects of the Company and its new projects. I look forward to the opportunity to increase shareholder value in this amazing organization." Juan Lemus, CEO and founder of Genesis added, "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to add the Genesis system to STAR Alliance. The opportunity to acquire or joint venture with struggling mines is so exciting. I am really looking forward to working closely with Mr. Correia and Mr. Carey." Richard Carey, Chairman of Star Alliance International, commented, "We are delighted with the addition of Weverson to our team. His experience along with his management skills and fluency in Spanish and Portuguese will be invaluable support to our corporate strategy and growth plans. We look forward to providing further updates to our shareholders." About Star Alliance International Corp. Star Alliance International Corp. ("the Company", "we", "us") was incorporated in the State of Nevada on April 17, 2014 under the laws of the State of Nevada. In August 2019, following a change in control, the Company acquired the mining claims, buildings and equipment from Troy Mining Corporation. The Project is located at the base of the "gold mother lode" in one of the three major vein belts where the greatest concentration of minerals settled, over the years, in California. Our gold estimates have been confirmed by geologists showing significant reserves of gold located in veins within the areas that are covered by our California mining leases. The Company plans to commence mining as soon as is feasibly possible. In December 2021 The Company acquired 51% of Compania Minera Metalurgica Centro Americana SA (Commsa), a HonduranCorporation. Commsa owns the mining rights to five mines that run along a 12.5 mile stretch of the Rio Jalan River. This acquisition becomes effective on January 1, 2022. We will commence mining operations very shortly and the Company plans to expand operations as soon as possible. In November 2021, STAL entered into a binding Letter of Intent to acquire 49% of Lions Works Advertising, SA, a Guatemala Corporation that owns the "Genesis" ore extraction process. Since signing the Letter of Intent the company has renegotiated and will now acquire a 51% interest. The green, environmentally friendly process, extracts up to 98% of the gold ore from the rock. A single module processes 300 to 350 tons of ore daily. The speed of extraction is up to 400 times faster than a conventional heap leaching process. The Company plans to market" Genesis" to mining companies worldwide. Safe Harbor and Informational Statement This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 21E of the Security Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), including all statements that are not statement of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the company, its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things: (i) the company's financing plans; (ii) trends affecting the company's financial conditions or results of operations; (iii): the company's growth strategy and operating strategy; and (iv) the declaration and payment of dividends. The words "may", "would", "will", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statement is not a guarantee of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's ability to control, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including the risk disclosed in the company's statements and reports filed with the OTC Markets. The Company claims the safe harbor provided by Section 21E(c) of the Exchange Act for all forward-looking statements. For more information, contact Richard Carey E Mail: info@staralliancemines.com Web Site: staralliancemines.com Twitter: @staralliancein1 SOURCE: Star Alliance International Corp. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685783/Star-Alliance-International-Corp-Expands-its-Management-Team "Future ready" paytech investment to date by Financial Services Institutions has not been sufficient in slowing down this shift, resulting in a loss of $250 billion in payments revenue by 2030 73% of FSIs have payment infrastructures that are not well equipped to handle payments for 2023 and beyond AUSTIN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / According to a new study by IDC Financial Insights commissioned by Episode Six, a payments technology company, 74% of consumer payments will be handled by non-traditional financial service institutions (FSIs) by 20301. This figure is an increase from 60% in 2020, putting added pressure on incumbents such as banks, insurers and credit unions. The IDC InfoBrief, Future Ready Payments Technology Reshapes the Playing Field for the Industry , highlights that while the payments world is changing FSI paytech is not, pushing lucrative consumer payment volumes to non-FSIs. Factors driving this change include a rise in new (or emerging) digital asset classes, real time payments and new point of sale payment options such as Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL): By 2030, 60% of global consumers will have made a transaction using an asset class other than fiat currency. 95% of physical non-cash payments will be through contactless methods and BNPL. BNPL grew 79% compared to 5% for cards in 2020 and is set to continue to grow by 15% annually through 2030. Cards will grow at 4% per year, according to IDC. Regulation is also playing its part, with the study exploring how Open Banking, domestic real time payments schemes and CBDCs are adding pressure to incumbent FSIs by shaking up traditionally safe revenue streams. The payments landscape is changing at pace, but the IDC InfoBrief finds that 73% of FSIs globally currently have paytech infrastructures that are not well equipped to handle payments for 2023 and beyond. IDC deemed only 3% of FSIs to have 'future ready' paytech - meaning payments infrastructure that enables payments anywhere and everywhere for any possible present and future asset class. Future ready paytech also gives FSIs the ability to configure and reconfigure payment products to stay ahead of new entrant competition and consumer demands. And while IDC predicts that global FSI spending on paytech will double to US$80.3 billion in 2030 (from US$39.7 billion in 2020), FSIs are not investing enough in the infrastructure that enables them to compete with non-FSIs. Failing to adapt to future ready paytech will cost the FSI industry US$250 billion in payments revenue. "The world of consumer payments is rapidly evolving; from the way we make them to the companies that handle them," said Michael Yeo, Associate Research Director at IDC Financial Insights. "What this change presents is both a challenge and opportunity for incumbent FSIs. Despite the trends which are unfolding, FSIs can fight their displacement from consumer payments by reshaping the role that they fulfil in the payments landscape of tomorrow. To achieve this, their focus and spending must be on future ready paytech solutions - otherwise they risk continuously playing catch up with digitally native non-FSIs." "Traditional financial services institutions will continue to lose consumer payments market share, and corresponding revenue, until they have infrastructure that is able to support new ways to pay," added John Mitchell, CEO of Episode Six. "Competition in payments is increasing. There is a land grab taking place for the hearts, minds and wallets of consumers the world over. FSIs need to be able to process value in whatever form consumers demand - fiat, crypto and gaming currencies, loyalty points and value denominations that don't exist today. That requires paytech infrastructure that's fast to deploy, highly configurable and future ready. IDC's data shows that FSIs are investing, but also suggests that they're focusing on maintaining a quickly diminishing position, rather than ensuring an ability to compete in the future." The IDC InfoBrief commissioned by Episode Six, 'Future Ready Payments Technology Reshapes the Playing Field for the Industry: Driving Over 70% of Payments to Shift to Non-FSIs by 2030', can be downloaded free of charge here . 1Source: IDC InfoBrief, Sponsored by Episode Six, Future Ready Payments Technology Reshapes the Playing Field for the Industry: Driving Over 70% of Payments to Shift to Non-FSIs by 2030, Doc AP241294IB, January 2022 ABOUT EPISODE SIX Episode Six is a payments technology company that gives banks, fintechs and brands the freedom to design and bring leading digital payment propositions to market with unmatched speed. From issuer processing to digital wallet - across deposits, credit, savings, and loyalty rewards - and account management, we power clients' payments journeys with the most flexible and adaptable platform on the market today, providing highly configurable products with user-driven tools and technology to stay ahead of, and respond to, customer demand and market shifts. Episode Six's platform is purpose-built to transfer value of any kind - fiat currency, cryptocurrencies, brand value points, gold, and more. Episode Six operates globally across 24 countries with an expanding team located in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Australia. MEDIA CONTACT U.S.: Michelle Mead michelle@calibercorporateadvisers.com SOURCE: Episode Six View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685371/By-2030-74-of-Consumer-Payments-will-be-Handled-by-Non-traditional-Financial-Service-Providers CRANBROOK, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. (TSXV:EPL)("EPL", "Eagle Plains") and SKRR Exploration ("SKRR": CSE) are pleased to announced that crews and equipment have been mobilized to EPL's 100%-owned Olson property (the "Property") to commence a 10-hole, 1850m (6000') diamond drilling program. SKRR may earn up to a 75% interest in the property over three years (option agreement details below). The Olson property area covers 5,712 ha located within the Trans Hudson Corridor 100 km east of La Ronge, Saskatchewan and 80km south of SSR Mining's Seabee Gold Operation. The 2022 diamond drill program is fully funded by SKRR. 2022 Drill Program The current program will follow up on results from the EPL/SKRR 18-hole, 2981 m (9778') drill program completed in Fall 2020 and the 12-hole, 1674m (5492') drill program completed in Winter 2021. The 2020/21 programs were successful in defining significant gold mineralization at known but underexplored target areas as well as identifying new mineralized zones at the previously undrilled Michael's Lake and Ackbar Target Areas (see EPL News Releases May 6, 2021, February 4th, 2021 and March 25th, 2021). The current 10-hole, 1850m (6000') 2022 drill program is designed to further test gold mineralization at the Olson, Ackbar Lake, Carina and Michael's Lake zones. See Olson regional map here 2022 Target Areas Olson: Drilling at the Olson Target Area is designed to complete a series of step-out drill holes along strike and along dip from previous mineralized intersections at the Olson Zone. Previous highlights include: OL20017: 19.94m @1.19 g/t Au (130.46m - 150.40m), including 1.23m @ 9.64 g/t Au (140.65m - 141.88m) (130.46m - 150.40m), including OL21025: 13.1m @ 0.89 g/t Au (32.22m - 45.32m), (32.22m - 45.32m), OL21026: 29.44m @ 1.30 g/t Au (105.04m - 134.48m), including 0.78m @ 14.55 g/t Au (126.45m - 127.23m) (105.04m - 134.48m), including Ackbar Lake: Drilling at the Ackbar Lake area is designed to test a broad magnetic anomaly positioned perpendicular to known shears. Soil geochemistry surveys from the area returned highly anomalous Au-in-soil results that correlate well with mapped geology. Previous highlights include: OL21029 : 8.12m @ 0.75 g/t Au (98.00m - 106.12m), including: 1.40m @ 2.39 g/t Au (101.75m - 103.20m) (98.00m - 106.12m), including: Michael's Lake: The Michael's Lake Target has been tested by two drill holes completed in 2020 and 2021. The holes were unsuccessful in intersecting the contact between Brownell Lake Group metasediments and the Brownell Lake Pluton. This favourable contact is known to host broad zones of anomalous gold mineralization at the Point showing to the south. The 2022 program is designed to adequately test the stratigraphic contact and correlating geophysical IP conductivity anomaly. Previous highlights from Michael's Lake include: OL20018: 6.46m @ 0.77g/t Au (158.00m - 164.46m), including 1.12m @ 2.85 g/t Au (161.97m - 163.09m). (158.00m - 164.46m), including Carina: The Carina target was last drilled in 1987. Historic drill results show significant gold concentrations at the contact between and overlying metasedimentary and underlying metabasalt packages. The 2022 program is designed to test strike-length continuity of historic intersections. Historic highlights from the Carina target area include: DDH 87-3: 5.77m @ 1.52 g/t Au (38.41m - 44.18m) (38.41m - 44.18m) DDH 87-10: 6.64m @ 1.92 g/t Au (46.65m - 53.29m), including 3.51m @ 3.04 g/t Au (47.56m - 51.07m) (46.65m - 53.29m), including Some of the above results and information were taken directly from historic assessment reports filed with the Saskatchewan Government. Management cautions that historical results were collected and reported by past operators and have not been verified nor confirmed by a Qualified Person, but form a basis for ongoing work in the Olson Property area. See Olson drill collar locations here Tim Termuende, P.Geo., President and CEO of Eagle Plains commented recently on the results: "We are extremely encouraged by results obtained from SKRR's most aggressive exploration to date. The presence of significant gold mineralization in numerous areas of the Olson property speaks to the high overall exploration potential of the property and its rich mineral endowment. We look optimistically forward to results from this latest round of drilling activity." Sherman Dahl, CEO, SKRR Exploration stated: "As we begin our 2022 drill program at Olson, it is clear that the well-known Trans Hudson Corridor mining district still contains zones of substantial high-grade mineralization. Based on the drilling we completed in 2021 and subsequent surface exploration which is now ongoing, it is our belief that we are only just beginning to scratch the surface here and extensive further work will be required before we can begin to understand the scale of the mineralized zones at The Olson Gold Project." Olson Project Summary The Olson project area overlies regionally sheared, highly strained meta-volcanic and intrusive rocks which are considered to be prospective for orogenic gold mineralization. The property is host to 29 mineral occurrences defined by historical geological mapping, prospecting, trenching and 4700 m of diamond drilling, with the last drilling reported in 2008. Historical drilling at Olson Lake has intersected 7.5 m grading 2.07 g/t Au including 13.00 g/t Au over 0.65 m, and grab samples of up to 105.52 g/t Au have been collected at the Kalix occurrence. 2018-2019 fieldwork completed by Eagle Plains and a previous partner consisted of a detailed compilation of historical data, geological mapping, soil geochemical work and prospecting. The fall 2020 drill program at the Olson intersected significant gold mineralization including new discoveries at the previously undrilled Point, Jena and Michael's Lake zones, high grade mineralization in a step out hole at the historic Olson showing and wide intercepts of near surface mineralization at the Siskin Zone. The project is considered to be significantly underexplored, with known gold occurrences open at depth and along strike. Some results are historical in nature and have not been confirmed by Eagle Plains/SKRR but are considered to be reliable and will form a basis for ongoing work. Olson Option Agreement Details Under the Agreement, SKRR may earn-in up to a 51% interest in the Property by making certain staged cash payments, share payments of common shares in the capital of SKRR to Eagle Plains and exploration expenditures over a period as follows: (i) $10,000 in cash upon execution of a letter of intent in respect of the Transaction (received); (ii) $20,000 in cash and 200,000 common shares upon TSXV approval of the Transaction (received); (iii) $40,000 in cash, 200,000 common shares and $200,000 in exploration expenditures on or before December 31, 2020 (received); (iv) $80,000 in cash, 200,000 common shares and $500,000 in exploration expenditures on or before December 31, 2021; and (v) $100,000 in cash, 200,000 common shares and $800,000 in exploration expenditures on or before December 31, 2022. SKRR may earn-in up to a an additional 24% (75% total) interest in the Property by making additional exploration expenditures of $1,500,000 on the Property and issuing 200,000 common shares of SKRR to Eagle Plains on or before December 31, 2023. Qualified Persons The 2022 drill program is expected to take four-weeks to complete and is supervised by Jarrod Brown, P.Geo. of Terralogic Exploration Services of Cranbrook, B.C. The program will rely extensively on support services and personnel from the town of Deschambault Lake, SK for which we express our gratitude. Charles C. Downie, P.Geo., a "qualified person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and a Director of Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., has prepared, reviewed, and approved the scientific and technical disclosure in this news release. About Eagle Plains Resources Based in Cranbrook, B.C., Eagle Plains is a well-funded, prolific project generator that continues to conduct research, acquire and explore mineral projects throughout western Canada. The Company was formed in 1992 and is the ninth-oldest listed issuer on the TSX-V (and one of only three that has not seen a roll-back or restructuring of its shares). Eagle Plains has continued to deliver shareholder value over the years and through numerous spin-outs, has transferred approximately $95,000,000 in value directly to its shareholders, with Copper Canyon Resources and Taiga Gold being notable examples. The Company is committed to steadily enhancing shareholder value by advancing our diverse portfolio of projects toward discovery through collaborative partnerships and development of a highly experienced technical team. Eagle Plains also holds significant royalty interests in western Canadian projects, covering a broad spectrum of commodities. Management's focus is to advance its most promising exploration projects. Throughout the exploration process, our mission is to help maintain prosperous communities by exploring for and discovering resource opportunities while building lasting relationships through honest and respectful business practices. Expenditures from 2011-2021 on Eagle Plains-related projects exceed $27M, the majority of which was funded by third-party partners. This exploration work resulted in approximately 42,000m of diamond-drilling and extensive ground-based exploration work facilitating the advancement of numerous projects at various stages of development. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Tim J. Termuende" President and CEO For further information on EPL, please contact Mike Labach at 1 866 HUNT ORE (486 8673) Email: mgl@eagleplains.com or visit our website at http://www.eagleplains.com Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore, involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results SOURCE: Eagle Plains Resources Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685681/Eagle-Plains-SKRR-Announce-2022-Winter-Drilling-Program-at-Olson-Gold-Project-Saskatchewan Phase 1 trial aims to build on response seen in proof-of-concept trial CAMBRIDGE, MA and NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / IAVI, the nonprofit scientific research organization, and biotechnology company Moderna announced today that first doses have been administered in a clinical trial of experimental HIV vaccine antigens at George Washington University (GWU) School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C. The Phase 1 trial, IAVI G002, is designed to test the hypothesis that sequential administration of priming and boosting HIV immunogens delivered by messenger RNA (mRNA) can induce specific classes of B-cell responses and guide their early maturation toward broadly neutralizing antibody (bnAb) development. The induction of bnAbs is widely considered to be a goal of HIV vaccination, and this is the first step in that process. The immunogens being tested in IAVI G002 were developed by scientific teams at IAVI and Scripps Research and will be delivered via Moderna's mRNA technology "We are tremendously excited to be advancing this new direction in HIV vaccine design with Moderna's mRNA platform. The search for an HIV vaccine has been long and challenging, and having new tools in terms of immunogens and platforms could be the key to making rapid progress toward an urgently needed, effective HIV vaccine," says Mark Feinberg, M.D., Ph.D., president and CEO of IAVI. "We are grateful to all of our partners and especially to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for funding this trial." "We are very pleased to be partnering with IAVI and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to apply our mRNA technology in the setting of HIV. At Moderna, we believe that mRNA offers a unique opportunity to address critical unmet public health needs around the world," said Stephen Hoge, M.D., President of Moderna. "We believe advancing this HIV vaccine program in partnership with IAVI and Scripps Research is an important step in our mission to deliver on the potential for mRNA to improve human health." The HIV vaccine antigens being evaluated as mRNA in this study were originally developed as proteins by William Schief, Ph.D., professor at Scripps Research and executive director of vaccine design at IAVI's Neutralizing Antibody Center (NAC), and colleagues. In 2021, Dr. Schief announced results from the IAVI G001 clinical trial, showing that an adjuvanted protein-based version of the priming immunogen (eOD-GT8 60mer) induced the desired B-cell response in 97% of recipients. IAVI G002 not only tests priming of the desired immune response using mRNA delivery of eOD-GT8 60mer, but also assesses the ability of a boosting immunogen to induce further maturation of B cells. Given the speed with which mRNA vaccines can be produced, this platform offers a more nimble and responsive approach to vaccine design and testing, potentially shaving off years from typical vaccine development timelines. The Schief lab has been a pioneer of the vaccine design approach known as germline targeting. Naive B cells display antibodies encoded by unmutated, or "germline" genes. A series of vaccines, which would begin with the prime-boost immunogens tested here, may be able to target specific naive B cells and induce them to mature into bnAb-producing ones. In the lab, bnAbs have been shown to neutralize a broad range of HIV variants, and one bnAb, VRC01, was recently shown to be capable of protecting humans against infection by neutralization-susceptible HIV strains. VRC01 is a member of the class of bnAbs targeted in IAVI G001. "We've seen promising proof of concept for germline targeting in IAVI G001, and this trial lets us take that approach to the next stage. What's more, we've been able to expedite production of clinical trial material at a remarkably rapid pace because of Moderna's technology," said Schief. Years of work in a long-standing NAC partnership between IAVI and Scripps Research have enabled the development of these vaccine antigens. The organizations will continue to collaborate as they extend and evaluate the sequence of promising immunogens to elicit bnAbs. IAVI G002 is sponsored by IAVI and takes place at four sites: GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences (lead investigator David Diemert, M.D.), Hope Clinic of Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta (lead investigator Srilatha Edupuganti, M.D.), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch) in Seattle (lead investigator Julie McElrath, M.D., Ph.D.), and the University of Texas-Health Science Center at San Antonio (lead investigator Barbara Taylor, M.D., M.S.). The sites will enroll 56 healthy, HIV-negative adult volunteers. Forty-eight participants will receive one or two doses of eOD-GT8 60mer mRNA Vaccine (mRNA-1644), with 32 of them receiving the boost Core-g28v2 60mer mRNA Vaccine (mRNA-1644v2-Core). An additional eight volunteers will receive the boost immunogen alone. Participants will be monitored for safety for six months after last vaccination. Participants' immune responses to the vaccine candidates will be examined in molecular detail to evaluate whether the targeted responses were achieved. Diemert said, "We at GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences are pleased to be part of this endeavor that aims to induce the next step of B-cell maturation toward the goal of generating antibodies that can neutralize a broad range of HIV variants. Further immunogens will be needed to guide the immune system on this path, but this prime-boost combination could be the first key element of an eventual HIV immunization regimen." The Collaboration for AIDS Vaccine Discovery (CAVD) Comprehensive Cellular Vaccine Immune Monitoring Consortium/the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), the CAVD Comprehensive Antibody Vaccine Immune Monitoring Consortium, Duke University's Human Vaccine Institute, Fred Hutch, and the Karolinska Institute will be performing key analytical assays in support of the trial, to assess whether the targeted immune response is elicited. The CAVD Vaccine Immunology Statistical Center played an important role contributing to the study design, analytical methods development, and data evaluation. In January 2016, Moderna entered a global health project framework agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance mRNA-based development projects for various infectious diseases. IAVI and Scripps Research developed the eOD-GT8 60mer and Core-g28v2 60mer mRNA candidates with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology and Immunogen Discovery (CHAVI-ID) at NIAID at the NIH, and Moderna. Research at the IAVI NAC that contributed to the development of the vaccine candidates was also made possible by the government of the Netherlands through the Ministry of Foreign Trade & Development Cooperation and through the generous support of the American people through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of IAVI and Moderna and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government. About IAVI IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization dedicated to addressing urgent, unmet global health challenges including HIV, tuberculosis, and emerging infectious diseases. Its mission is to translate scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions. Read more at iavi.org. About Moderna In 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed from a research-stage company advancing programs in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across seven modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio in areas including mRNA and lipid nanoparticle formulation, and an integrated manufacturing plant that allows for both clinical and commercial production at scale and at unprecedented speed. Moderna maintains alliances with a broad range of domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators, which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science and rapid scaling of manufacturing. Most recently, Moderna's capabilities have come together to allow the authorized use of one of the earliest and most-effective vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic. Moderna's mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and auto-immune diseases. Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past seven years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com. Moderna Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including regarding: Moderna's collaboration with IAVI to develop a vaccine candidate against HIV; the potential for the vaccine candidate to induce a B-cell response and to trigger neutralizing antibody development and to protect against HIV infection; the speed with which vaccines can be developed using an mRNA platform; and the future conduct of clinical trials for the vaccine candidate. The forward-looking statements in this press release are neither promises nor guarantees, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond Moderna's control and which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and other factors include those other risks and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in Moderna's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and in subsequent filings made by Moderna with the SEC, which are available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, Moderna disclaims any intention or responsibility for updating or revising any forward-looking statements contained in this press release in the event of new information, future developments or otherwise. These forward-looking statements are based on Moderna's current expectations and speak only as of the date hereof. IAVI Media Contact Karie Youngdahl +1 212 847 1051 KYoungdahl@iavi.org Moderna Media Contact Colleen Hussey +1 617 335 1374 Colleen.Hussey@modernatx.com SOURCE: Moderna, Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685810/IAVI-and-Moderna-Launch-Trial-of-HIV-Vaccine-Antigens-Delivered-Through-mRNA-Technology Vantage Data Centers, a leading global provider of hyperscale data center campuses, continued its exponential growth in 2021, adding 11 new campuses following the company's entrance into Asia Pacific and Africa and continued expansion within its EMEA and North American markets. To help reach these milestones, Vantage raised a record US$4.9 billion in debt and equity funding throughout the year. APAC Launch In 2021, Vantage expanded into Asia Pacific with the acquisitions of Agile Data Centers and the data center business of PCCW Ltd. (PCCW DC). This debut included both greenfield hyperscale campuses and acquired assets totaling 268MW of existing and expansion critical IT capacity across Tokyo, Osaka, Melbourne, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Vantage welcomed Brian Groen, president, APAC, from PCCW DC alongside Giles Proctor, chief operating officer, APAC, from Agile to lead Vantage's Asia Pacific business. DigitalBridge Investment Management, the company's major stakeholder, along with other existing Vantage investors, committed an additional US$1.5 billion in equity capital to fund Vantage's APAC launch. EMEA Expansion As part of its EMEA expansion efforts, Vantage announced its first campus in Africa, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. Vantage plans a US$1 billion investment for a three-facility campus, which will offer 650,000 square feet of data center space and 80MW of critical IT load once complete. Vantage also broke ground on second campuses in both Frankfurt and Berlin, alongside opening its first campus in Zurich. The new five-acre (two-hectare) Frankfurt campus will provide 40MW of critical IT capacity and total more than 335,000 square feet (33,000 square meters) once complete. Vantage's second Berlin campus sits on 12 acres (five hectares) and will provide 32MW of critical IT capacity between two buildings totaling more than 260,000 square feet (24,000 square meters). North American Expansion Along with aggressive expansion across the globe, Vantage continued to meet increasing customer demand for premium hyperscale capacity within the United States and Canada. In November 2021, Vantage announced the topping out of the first facility on what will be its largest North American campus, located just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, in Goodyear. The campus will include three data centers offering 160MW of IT capacity once fully developed. Vantage also announced the completion of phase one of its second Northern Virginia facility located in the heart of "Data Center Alley." "Vantage has continued to meet aggressive goals as we've expanded globally through greenfield developments and acquisitions combined with the incorporation of strong in-region talent," said Sureel Choksi, president and CEO of Vantage Data Centers. "Our success has come through a continued focus on enabling our customers' growth, which has led to rapid market expansion, operational excellence and unparalleled customer experiences across each of our campuses, as confirmed by a Net Promoter Score of 70." Vantage now has a presence in 12 countries spanning 5 continents. In 2021, the company expanded from 12 to 18 markets, the number of campuses grew from 14 to 25 and total planned IT capacity increased by 412MW. Once fully developed, these current and planned campuses will enable Vantage to meet customer demand even quicker with more than 1.5GW of operational capacity across 10 million+ square feet (929,000+ square meters). The company secured strategic investments through innovative funding strategies to meet market demand and provide customers with state-of-the-art facilities designed with sustainability and operational excellence in mind. To keep pace with its growth, Vantage also strengthened its senior leadership team with the addition of multiple executives in core business and operations functions globally, including Jeff Tench as president of North America. Looking forward, Vantage will continue to prioritize environmental responsibility following its commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions globally by 2030. Through the focus on emissions reduction, renewable energy, supply chain and carbon offsets, Vantage will continually increase efficiencies and reduce environmental impacts at its hyperscale data center campuses worldwide. Renewable energy options are available today at the majority of the company's locations. "Vantage's growth has been a hallmark of our portfolio strategy to build a global digital infrastructure platform," said Marc Ganzi, president and CEO of DigitalBridge. "The company's continued expansion and customer growth demonstrate the value of its overall strategy, and we congratulate the entire team at Vantage for its record year in one of the most challenging business climates in history." About Vantage Data Centers Vantage Data Centers powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world's well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises. Developing and operating across five continents in North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific, Vantage has evolved data center design in innovative ways to deliver dramatic gains in reliability, efficiency and sustainability in flexible environments that can scale as quickly as the market demands. For more information, visit http://www.vantage-dc.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005267/en/ Contacts: Press Contacts Mark Freeman Vantage Data Centers mfreeman@vantage-dc.com +1-202-680-4243 Robin Bectel REQ for Vantage Data Centers vdc@req.co +1-703-287-7827 Imaging Biometrics, a subsidiary of IQ-AI Limited (OTCQB:IQAIF) (LSE:IQAI), discusses its most successful year on record. Increases technology platform and expects record revenues Rolls out Phase I clinical trial and prepares to file 510(K) with the FDA MILWAUKEE, WI / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Imaging Biometrics, a subsidiary of London-based IQ-AI Limited, develops and provides visualization and analytical solutions that enable clinicians to better diagnose and treat disease, today published its year end 2021 letter to shareholders. "Dear Shareholders: We'd like to start by wishing you and your families good health and a great 2022. Over the last 12 months our company, like companies all over the world, had to manage the realities of the ongoing pandemic. As we mentioned in previous announcements, COVID-19 imposed a delay in sales activity as hospitals shifted resources to deal with the influx of patients. Internally, we are happy to report we experienced no interruptions to our operation and the development of key technologies. Our staff are well, and we are grateful that all our prospects re-engaged with us as the year progressed. As a result, we saw a step-change increase in revenue and completed our most successful year on record; more than doubling revenue to nearly $700K. While we continue to receive funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for various grant activities, this marked increase was driving by growth in sales of IB Clinic-container edition (IB-ce). In addition to record sales, we continued to receive strong activity for trial requests of IB software. Most of these requests were for IB-ce, which enables fully automated generation of our quantitative parameter maps. We are the only company in the world with this capability and, given that IB-ce was introduced only a few short years ago, we are extremely encouraged with the initial adoption rate. The fully automated and seamless workflow, coupled with the proven accuracy of our quantitative maps, results in real clinical value for our clients and the confidence they have in our ability to impact survival and improve the quality of life in brain tumor and other patients. The conventional imaging approaches currently used by most hospitals and clinics remain inadequate, particularly when assessing brain tumors. The all-too-common question, "is the enhancing region tumor, or is it an effect due to treatment?" continues to be asked by treatment teams around the world. That remains our challenge; to educate and make clinicians aware of the advanced capabilities we offer and help them understand how we can provide the answer to that fundamental question. Our partners, which includes EnvoyAI/Terarecon, QMENTA, Medimsight, Blackford, Arterys, Cortechs.ai, and aycan Medical Systems, have been actively presenting our solutions to new clients and prospects. While sales generated from our channel partners have been slow to gain traction, we remain optimistic that our combined efforts will gain momentum in 2022. We continue to provide training to their respective sales and marketing teams, we assist in the technical development of our combined platforms, and we participate in direct sales calls with prospective clients. Of significance, QMENTA recently obtained FDA 510(k) clearance for their platform, and we anticipate another partner to receive FDA 510(k) clearance for their platform in early '22. FDA market clearance allows commercialization to commence in the USA. This is the pinnacle milestone for being able to sell medical devices without restriction, and companies must demonstrate compliance with federal quality regulations in the design and development of each device. In addition, a major pharmaceutical company is working with yet another partner to develop their own custom platform which includes 3rd party artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. This company was very selective in choosing which 3rd party applications would participate in early launch activity in the USA and in Europe. IB software was one of the few selected partners given our unique and proven capabilities. This is highly encouraging as we expect an accelerated penetration of our solution in the global medical imaging market with the backing and broad outreach of a multibillion-dollar organization. Our IB Clinic suite of products are renowned for dramatically improving the ability of hospitals, clinics, and research organizations to get the most out of their magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) data. This improves the medical professional's ability to diagnosis and treat patients. In addition, our products enable our customers to standardize imaging protocols across various sites and platforms using the nationally recognized standard for MR perfusion imaging and other quantitative analyses. This is particularly meaningful for health care systems and imaging chains that have multiple satellite facilities. For instance, a patient could get scanned at one facility using vendor A's scanner, and a few months later be scanned at another facility using vendor B's scanner. If the data is processed using IB Clinic, the two exams can be directly compared to assess if the patient is responding to treatment. That is a key differentiator of IB's quantitative platforms. If any other software platform was used in this scenario, the two exams could not be directly compared to quantify changes and assess treatment response because they cannot generate output that is truly quantitative. Moreover, conventional imaging is not capable of answering critical questions, specifically, is the enhancing region tumor or is it an effect due to treatment? Thus, IB software offers several distinct advantages to patients. First, patients undergoing treatment can be scanned at any location convenient to them or the data from their MRI exam can be securely transferred to another site that has IB software. The built-in technology of IB Clinic will account for all the variations inherent with MR scanners and make the output "standardized" and consistent from one scan to the next. This is unique to IB Clinic and a reason why customers have repeatedly commented and published how our software is influencing their treatment and surgical decisions. Optimizing surgical guidance is an area we believe the accuracy of our solutions can be of additional benefit. Currently, surgical navigation systems provide sophisticated technologies that direct surgeons how to best navigate to the tumor site. Once at the tumor site, however, the surgeon needs to know where to biopsy or how much to cut. IB Neuro and IB Delta T1 maps can help provide accurate information that is currently not available. In June of 2021, we were awarded a US Patent for "gad free" imaging; an AI technology that uses 0% gadolinium. The ability to synthetically generate a post-contrast image, using only non-contrast images as input, highlights the power of AI and the disruptive potential it is having in healthcare. Translating this technology into routine clinical care remains a very high priority for us, and we are on target of submitting a 510(k) application to the FDA by the end of Q1, 2022. Motivating us is the fact that there is an immediate patient population that could benefit from this technology. Patients with compromised renal function cannot receive gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) since they are at risk of an untreatable condition called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF). In addition, younger children who require multiple MR contrast-enhanced scans, or any patient with concerns about GBCA administration, may find IB Zero G as an attractive alternative. From a hospital administration perspective, IB Zero G offers workflow benefits. First, it will remove the intravenous injection of GBCAs. This invasive step is not always performed properly, rendering the scan meaningless and requiring the patient to reschedule (and receive another dose of GBCA). Avoiding this step will foster higher scanner throughput and make MRI departments more productive due to the streamlined workflow. And the cost of GBCAs can be reduced. Outside of the hospital, environmental concerns have been steadily coming to the forefront as higher levels of gadolinium have been detected in areas near and around MRI departments, such as rivers, streams, and even drinking water. Thus, IB Zero G has far reaching implications and may prove to be an iconic landmark AI application in healthcare. As mentioned above, we feel the pediatric and neonatal patient populations represent a large and immediate market for IB Zero G. Our company is extremely proud that near the end of the year we signed a Data Use Agreement with St. Jude Children's Hospital. St. Jude's is the only National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive Care Center devoted solely to children. It has received the highest ranking for the treatment of children worldwide. The team at St. Jude's expressed immediate interest in IB Zero G and responded by presenting us the agreement that provides access to MRI datasets acquired in children of all ages. The data will be used to understand how the AI technology performs in rapidly developing brains of younger subjects, as well as the testing and validation required for full commercialization of our IB Zero G product. In addition, a derivative algorithm that resulted from the development of IB Zero G has been implemented in our core IB Clinic processing platform for automatically generating perfusion-derived "fractional tumor burden" maps. These maps classify the output of IB Neuro's quantitative perfusion data per the specification of clinicians. Currently, the semi-automated process includes one final manual step: the outlining of the enhancing region on the Delta T1 maps using our IB Rad Tech module. IB Rad Tech is a plugin to the OsiriX DICOM viewer. The manual drawing of the enhancing outlines leverages some fundamental capabilities of OsiriX. However, OsiriX is dedicated to the Mac computer. Most hospitals and imaging centers are PC-centric and are not always open to installing or supporting 3rd party workstations. The automated segmentation algorithm eliminates this final manual step and breaks the dependence on OsiriX and Mac computers. We are in the process of deploying the automated workflow as part of the platform-independent and fully automated IB Clinic - container edition platform to key sites and medical collaborators. During 2021, we were awarded a European patent for dual-echo MRI perfusion. This technology combines MR acquisition and post-processing and is already patented in the USA. The development and translation of this technology has been accelerated by funding from an NIH grant awarded in collaboration with the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI). Using a single MR acquisition sequence, two sets of parameter maps can be generated; DSC and dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE). Moreover, the accepted pre-load dose of gadolinium (shown to optimize the signal-to-noise ratio in perfusion imaging) can be eliminated under this approach and generate images of comparable quality. Harmonizing this protocol across all vendor platforms is part of the funded BNI grant and encompasses tremendous communication and coordination with the major MRI vendors. During the latter half of 2021, we worked alongside the team at the Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center (MCWCC) to qualify of a new supplier of encapsulated oral gallium maltolate (GaM) for our sponsored Phase I clinical trial. Thanks to their diligence and effort, we have successfully accomplished that and have further completed the required stability testing for the newly encapsulated agent. The results have been sent to the FDA as an amendment to the already approved Investigational New Drug (IND) application, and the entire team is anxiously awaiting their response which would allow the first subject to enroll. In parallel with those efforts, we have aggressively contacted over 50 organizations focused on glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumors. These include foundations, patient advocacy groups, and clinical trial research organizations. Our goal is to not only heighten awareness about the trial, but to share information about our quantitative imaging platform and how it will be used to assess response in patients throughout the trial. Thus far, the interest received for both the trial and IB software has been very strong. Brain tumor patients have limited options. The standard of care remains maximal surgical resection followed by concurrent chemo- and radiotherapy. These harsh treatments impose tremendous financial burden on patients and their families. Monthly costs for chemotherapy alone can exceed $20,000. Our hope is to offer a minimally invasive and non-toxic treatment alternative for these patients and their families. The entire team is eager to see if the tremendous results shown in the pre-clinical trial can be replicated in human subjects during this study. We continue our development efforts on other key initiatives including IB Trax for the tracking of metastatic lesions. Brain metastases are 10x more prevalent than primary brain tumors and clinicians lack a robust and streamlined tracking and monitoring platform. IB Delta T1 maps (patent pending) will be used to help delineate lesions. And since IB Delta T1 maps are quantitative, volumetric longitudinal assessment can be done for both individual lesion and whole brain analyses. We have completed our marketing plans for 2022 and are adequately resourced to execute them. We intend to participate at several tradeshows directly and many more through our channel partners and the conferences they attend. Maintaining and building upon the momentum gained during 2021 with sales of IB-ce will be critical to this year's results, and we are especially optimistic that 2022 will be a breakthrough year for our channel partners. Our regulatory strategy, including the preparation and submission of IB Zero G's 510(k) application to the FDA, warrants adequate and appropriate resources during Q1. Our priorities are clear. We are focused on sustaining our exclusive core imaging platform, allocating development resources on novel and sophisticated imaging technologies, and we remain dedicated to ensuring the Phase I clinical trial is completed. We anticipate 2022 to be another record year for the company and we look forward to providing future updates as the year progresses." The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement -ENDS- About Imaging Biometrics, LLC Imaging Biometrics, a subsidiary of IQ-AI Limited (LSE:IQAI) (OTCQB:IQAIF), develops and provides visualization and analytical solutions that enable clinicians to better diagnose and treat disease with greater confidence. Through close collaboration with top researchers and clinicians, sophisticated advancements are translated into platform-independent and automated software plug-ins which can extend the base functionality of workstations, imaging systems, PACS, or medical viewers. By design, IB's advanced visualization software seamlessly integrates into routine workflows. For more information about Imaging Biometrics, visit the company's website at www.imagingbiometrics.com. Safe Harbor Statement This press release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," or the negative of these words and/or similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. For example, statements about future revenues and the Company's ability to fund its operations and contractual obligations are forward looking and subject to risks. Several important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the inability to raise capital to support the Company through its growth stage, the Company's inability to generate projected sales and trade relations between the United States and China. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law. Investor Relations Contact: Michael Porter, President Porter, LeVay & Rose, Inc. Tel: 212-564-4700 mike@plrinvest.com SOURCE: IQ AI Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685818/Imaging-Biometrics-LLC--Letter-to-Shareholders Croma-Pharma (Croma), today announced that the decentralized procedure for its botulinum toxin to gain market authorization in Europe has been accomplished. This important step is the basis to complete Croma's already comprehensive portfolio. Croma's botulinum toxin submission in Europe is based on the data of 3 completed randomized, placebo-controlled phase III trials that enrolled a total of >1000 subjects in Europe and the US. National phases to grant the market authorization across Europe are following now. A game changer for Croma-Pharma and the aesthetic industry By adding its own botulinum toxin to the already broad portfolio Croma catapults itself to a new level within the aesthetic industry. Offering already a wide selection of HA fillers, PDO threads, PRP and scientific skincare products, the botulinum toxin was the missing piece to compete with world leaders in this sector. "We are pleased to announce that our toxin has now accomplished the decentralized procedure in Europe and will continue with the market authorization in major European countries in the next months. With this, we will now be able to complete our portfolio to meet all the needs of our customers", Managing Director Andreas Prinz points out. Partnership with Hugel Croma has licensed the product from the Korean toxin producer Hugel Inc. for Europe and established a joint venture company in 2018 with Hugel, Inc., in order to develop and commercialize Croma's HA filler products together with Hugel's botulinum toxin product in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. About Croma Founded in 1976, Croma-Pharma GmbH (Croma) is an Austrian family-owned company that specializes in the industrial production of hyaluronic acid syringes for the fields of medical aesthetics, ophthalmology and orthopaedics. Croma currently runs 12 international sales companies and distributes its products in more than 70 countries. Within its global sales network, Croma focuses with own branded products on minimally invasive aesthetic medicine. Besides a broad range of HA fillers from the own production site, Croma markets PDO lifting threads, a Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) system and high-quality skincare technologies in its core strategic markets. About Hugel, Inc. Established in Korea in 2001, Hugel is a global leader in medical aesthetics providing botulinum toxin formulation under different brand names such as BOTULAX and LETYBO in numerous countries across the world. Dedicated to provide proven, high quality medical aesthetic solutions that satisfy both consumers' and practitioners' needs, Hugel is leading the Korean market with its botulinum toxin. PR2LET0122GMXb View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005535/en/ Contacts: CROMA-PHARMA GmbH Michael Donhofer Director Global Marketing Public Relation Phone: +43 676 84 68 68 823 Mail: michael.donhofer@croma.at Web: www.croma.at The InterContinental Energy company behind two proposed green hydrogen megaprojects in Western Australia - the 26GW Asian Renewable Energy Hub and the 50GW Western Green Energy Hub - has received the backing of Singapore's US$744 billion sovereign wealth fund GIC.Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, GIC, has estimated fund assets of US$744 billion and has just become a strategic investor in future fuels company InterContinental Energy (ICE), the business behind two proposed green hydrogen projects in Western Australia, the US$37 billion, 26GW Asian Renewable Energy Hub, and the US$70 billion, ... Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. A sharp-eyed straphanger noticed a teenager carrying a gun on a Times Square subway platform and flagged down nearby police officers to arrest the youth, cops said. The bust comes in the opening days of a push by the NYPD and Mayor Adams to get more police officers patrolling the citys subway system. Advertisement Police said the teen was busted on the uptown No. 1 platform just after 2:50 p.m. Monday after a witness alerted officers assigned to the NYPDs Transit District 1. Cops said officers patrolling the platform found a loaded gun in the teens sweatshirt pocket. (Shutterstock) Police didnt release his identity because of his age. Advertisement The NYPDs new Transit Bureau Chief Jason Wilcox told an MTA committee meeting Monday that subway riders should expect to see more cops after a surge of high-profile crimes on the transit system, including the murder of Michelle Go, who was pushed in front of a Times Square train earlier this month. Uniformed train patrols. They will be on the trains. They will be on the platforms. They will be moving around Saturday night, Monday night, every day. You will see them, Wilcox said. The announcement came the same day Adams announced a wide-ranging plan to crack down on gun violence. With over 20 years of research and industry experience in semiconductors, Carusone will drive the continuous innovation of the company's leading silicon connectivity solutions enabling next generation technologies LONDON and TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alphawave IP (LN:AWE), a global leader in high-speed connectivity for the world's technology infrastructure, is pleased to announce Tony Chan Carusone as its Chief Technology Officer. Carusone has over 20 years of experience in both academic research, focused on integrated circuit design and communication technology, and business consulting, advising some of the largest technology companies in the world on their semiconductor technology strategy. "Tony is the perfect fit to lead our technology strategy and accelerate product innovation as we solidify our market ??leadership with our best-in-class connectivity solutions," said Tony Pialis, CEO, president, and co-founder of Alphawave. "We have known each other since the early 2000s and he has been an advisor to Alphawave since 2021. He brings a tremendous amount of relevant industry experience as well as incredible academic expertise and achievements. His deep technical insight and knowledge will be critical in taking Alphawave's solutions to the next level to continue to enable today's - and tomorrow's - most advanced technologies." Carusone has been a faculty member at the University of Toronto since completing his Ph.D. there in 2002. He's been teaching and researching a variety of areas in integrated circuits and systems, such as chip-to-chip communication, optical transceivers, analog-to-digital conversion, and precise clock generation. Carusone has also served on the editorial boards and technical program committees of multiple leading journals and conferences on integrated circuit design, is an IEEE Fellow, and co-authored the most renowned textbooks in the field. "Alphawave is fully aligned with my research of the last 20 years and it's a natural fit for me to apply my expertise to solve some of the greatest challenges of semiconductors. I have known the founding team for decades and have been proud to be an advisor to the company since last year. As we need to transfer increasingly higher amounts of data in shorter amounts of time while using less power, Alphawave has created the most versatile and high-speed IP solutions that serve a wide variety of different customers and industries - and defy conventional wisdom and perceived limits of the industry," said Tony Chan Carusone. "Alphawave is a truly visionary company with a strong leadership team. I have the unique opportunity to not only be part of building the industry's leading connectivity solutions but also to foster a great culture of innovation that brings together top researchers and developers." About Alphawave IP Faced with the exponential growth of data, Alphawave's technology services a critical need: enabling data to travel faster, more reliably and with higher performance at lower power. Alphawave is a global leader in high-speed connectivity for the world's technology infrastructure. Our IP solutions therefore meet the needs of global tier-one customers in data centers, compute, networking, AI, 5G, autonomous vehicles, and storage. Founded in Toronto, Canada in 2017, by an expert technical team with a proven track record in licensing semiconductor IP, our mission is to focus on the hardest-to-solve connectivity challenges. To find out more about Alphawave IP, visit: awaveip.com Trademarks All registered trademarks and other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Media Contact: Gordon Hahn Gravitate PR for Alphawave IP alphawave@gravitatepr.com Company Anticipates a Successful 2022 LONDON, UK and BELFAST, UK / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / (CSE:POKO) - Poko Innovations, Inc. (formerly Brunswick Resources), an award-winning international UK CBD and fintech company, today published its year-end 2021 letter to shareholders. Dear Shareholders: Poko Group (POKO) is a collection of CBD focused companies which brings innovative, inspiring CBD solutions to a global market. Our business comprises nine independent units that work seamlessly together, our management team have extensive experience in the CBD and Payment processing space. In August 2021 we announced the purchase of Brunswick Resources Inc. After receiving all required regulatory approvals including listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), our stock began to trade under the symbol POKO. We eliminated any indebtedness and completed a private placement of $850,260.00 at 11 cents per share - the sale was for 7,729,635 shares. In the four months we have been a publicly held company we have achieved a number of exciting goals, and we have positioned POKO for significant revenue and income in 2022. With Europe reopening, we are seeing a considerable number of marketing opportunities to meet with retailers, wholesalers, suppliers and distributors. In October 2021 we attended the White Label Expo in Frankfurt, Germany , our first trade show and marketing event since prior to the ongoing global covid-19 pandemic, where we exhibited our Canmed white label luxury skin care line and lifestyle brand . The expo gave us the perfect opportunity to showcase many products, and innumerable potential customers tasted and tested our CBD edibles, CBD beverages and CBD skin care products and supplements. Of particular interest were our CBD pouches, a new and exciting line of products especially for customers in France and Germany. We have already signed an agreement to exhibit white label products at the World White Label Expo in London in March of this year - 7,000 attendees are expected. In November we attended the Balance Festival , one of the premier wellness expos in the UK. Balance features chefs, trainers, yoga instructors and vendors selling a wide range of health and wellness products; it was the perfect opportunity to showcase our CBD edibles, CBD beverages and CBD skin care products and supplements. Of particular interest, again, were our CBD pouches. We had a great show and finished the expo with a number of customer agreements. POKO manufacturers and markets skin care products of the highest possible quality, with all-natural ingredients and the finest CBD, for people to better maintain their skin and manage skin problems such as acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, hyper-pigmentation and dullness. We continue to develop new products to expand our outstanding skin care line; we are also collaborating with a pharmacist to formulate at least five new supplements for overall health, to fortify hair, skin and fingernails, and to treat reduced testosterone, menopause and muscle and joint pain and deterioration. We expect to have these products ready for the marketplace later this year. On the retail front, our skin care line is now being sold by Arnotts , a division of Selfridges Group. Due to supply chain issues we were limited to the number of products we could send to the store, but we anticipate shipping far more product this year. We also signed a two-year marketing agreement with one of the world's most renowned rugby stars, Rob Kearney , an influencer who will amplify our brand and expand our retail footprint in Ireland and the UK and beyond. Mr. Kearney likes our cruelty-free vegan skin care brand, which he feels aligns with his core values. The agreement is for two years, and Mr. Kearny will be compensated with cash and stock. In 2021 we received two exciting awards for our products! Our luxury facial oil won the gold medal award in the YOUR HEALTHY LIVING Awards for best CBD product - this is a huge accomplishment and an incredible opportunity for POKO to promote its skin care line to some of the most influential people in the UK beauty industry. The second award was a silver medal in the Beauty Bible awards for correcting eye cream (ours reduces fine lines and puffiness under the eyes). In December we entered into an agreement to purchase 20 percent of Rocket Science Supplements Ltd. of Bradford, England . Rocket Science is a large contract manufacturer working in the vitamin, minerals and supplements space: the company specializes in encapsulation and has an hourly capacity of 80,000 capsules, with a potential daily capacity of up to 1 million capsules; the company manufactures vegan, soft-gel and time-release capsules. This agreement enables us to be far more competitive in the industry by reducing our costs and giving us entre to the volume discount market. The purchase price was POKO common stock. We have also entered into agreements with three major distributors to market our products, including Blazed Wholesale , a UK corporation and part of Organic Products Distribution Group, the largest organic distributor in Europe and the EC. Blazed markets to a wide range of independent retailers, franchises and the booming online CBD retail industry, with direct distribution to ecommerce sites worldwide. We are moving quickly and anticipate our products in stores and/or online, via Blazed, by the end of February 2022; we have already began working with Blazed on a mass marketing campaign across its network. Finally, through our partners, we have received Irish Government Support to help us increase staff and cover costs associated with the expansion of our business, and we will reapply for the Grant this year. All POKO units are various marketing stages, and we anticipate announcements throughout the year to keep shareholders current on all developments. We are currently producing marketing videos, images and other materials for a media push we have planned for February 2022. As you can tell we are very excited about 2022 and beyond and we are working hard to identify new opportunities and close whatever opportunities are approaching the finish line. We could not have accomplished so much in four months without the hard work and dedication of our entire team. I would like to close by wishing you and your families good health and happiness in 2022. Thanks for your support. About The Poko Group, Ltd The Poko Group is a collection of CBD focused companies that bring innovative, inspiring solutions to the CBD industry through the company's leading platforms which, when working together, form a complete ecosystem. The Poko Group has is an award-winning UK CBD company that has developed a unique business model comprising complete "turnkey solutions," including fintech payment processing and white label opportunities. Poko plans to export its signature products to the EU and the USA. For more information, please visit https://www.pokogroup.com/ . Forward-Looking Statements With the exception of the historical information contained in this news release, the matters described herein, may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements preceded by, followed by, or that otherwise, include the words "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "projects," "estimates," "plans" and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may" and "could," are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing. These statements, involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may individually or materially impact the matters discussed, herein for a variety of reasons that are outside the control of the company, including, but not limited to, the company's ability to raise sufficient financing to implement its business plan, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company's business, operations and the economy in general, and the Company's ability to successfully develop and commercialize its proprietary products and technologies. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements, as actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements contained herein. Readers are urged to read the risk factors set forth in the company's filings with the SEC, which are available at the SEC's website (www.sec.gov). The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update, or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Investor Relations Michael J. Porter, President Porter, LeVay & Rose, Inc. T: (973) 865-9357 E: mike@plrinvest.com LinkedIn @PlRinvest SOURCE: Poko Innovations Inc. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685829/Poko-Group-Innovations-Inc-Releases-Year-End-2021-Letter-to-Shareholders The global technology and market leader in power grids has achieved the first-step target in its Sustainability 2030 plan and steps up the pace towards carbon-neutral Zurich, Switzerland, Jan. 27, 2022plan - the use of 100% fossil-free electricity in its own operations(1*). The company is driving towards being carbon-neutral in its own operations by 2030(2**), in line with its Purpose, 'Advancing a sustainable energy future for all'. "By achieving 100% fossil-free electricity in our own operations, we have reduced our CO2 equivalent emissions by over 50% compared to 2019," says Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy. He continued, "The Net Zero challenge is global and it's about acting now, innovating and collaborating across countries, industries and societies. Together with customers, partners, and all stakeholders, we are advancing the world's energy system to be more sustainable, flexible and secure." The targeted 50% reduction achieved ahead of plan will amount to approximately 175 kilo tonnes of CO2e per year, equivalent to removing over 35,000 passenger cars off the road. To achieve 100% fossil-free electricity in its own operations - and in support of the Hitachi Group's carbon-neutrality goal, the company is generating nearly 20% of its total energy consumption from solar panels. In its first year of operation, the power generated at the factory is expected to reach 1,510 megawatt hours (MWh), contributing to the reduction in annual carbon emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes. To achieve 100% fossil-free electricity, Hitachi Energy has also switched to green tariffs, bought Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs), and signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) across its operations and facilities in 90 countries. Looking ahead, Hitachi Energy is continuing to invest in its journey towards carbon-neutrality by further increasing energy efficiency, as well as electrifying its own operations. In Ludvika, Sweden, the company is now using 100% renewable electricity generated from hydropower and from solar panels to support its operations. Ludvika, which is one of Hitachi Energy's largest production facilities, has gone beyond tackling its electricity supply and is now close to removing the use of all fossil fuels from the whole of its operations. The company has a track record of implementing its own technologies in its operations to enable the integration of renewable energy. For example, in 2015 its South Africa operations installed a 750 kW rooftop photovoltaic plant and a 1 MVA/380 kWh battery-based PowerStoreTM for enhancing the use of renewables and providing a continuous supply of power. Through its Sustainability 2030 plan and targets, the company reinforces its commitment to accelerating actions driving business in a sustainable way. Based around four pillars - Planet, People, Peace, and Partnerships - the strategy draws from the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with specific focus on the following eight: 3 (Good health and well-being), 4 (Quality education), 5 (Gender equality), 6 (Clean water and sanitation), 7 (Affordable and clean energy), 12 (Responsible consumption and production), 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions); and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). In line with these SDGs, each pillar has corresponding targets that drive the business to contribute social, environmental, and economic value. Notes (1*) The contract for its South Korea operations (equivalent to 0.4% total electricity usage) is expected to be signed in February 2022 retrospectively through green tariffs. About Hitachi Energy Ltd. Hitachi Energy is a global technology leader that is advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We serve customers in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors with innovative solutions and services across the value chain. Together with customers and partners, we pioneer technologies and enable the digital transformation required to accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral future. We are advancing the world's energy system to become more sustainable, flexible and secure whilst balancing social, environmental and economic value. Hitachi Energy has a proven track record and unparalleled installed base in more than 140 countries. Headquartered in Switzerland, we employ around 38,000 people in 90 countries and generate business volumes of approximately $10 billion USD. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd.. Attachment London, January 27, 2022 CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI) will host its Capital Markets Day on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST, with presentations beginning at 12:00 p.m. The event will be held at The Fillmore Theater in Miami Beach, Florida for those attending in-person. A live webcast of the event will also be available online. Scott W. Wine, Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial, and other members of the Company's Senior Leadership Team will present the updated strategic business plan following the recent spin-off of its On-Highway activities. As a pure player in the agricultural and construction industries, the event will detail CNH Industrial's long-term priorities, technology roadmap, financial outlook, segment overviews and ESG targets. To attend in-person, please click here. Post-event, a replay, along with supplemental materials, will be available in the Investor Relations section of www.cnhindustrial.com. CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI / MI: CNHI) is a world-class equipment and services company that sustainably advances the noble work of agriculture and construction workers. The Company provides the strategic direction, R&D capabilities, and investments that enable the success of its five core Brands: Case IH, New Holland Agriculture and STEYR, supplying 360 agriculture applications from machines to implements and the digital technologies that enhance them; and CASE and New Holland Construction Equipment delivering a full lineup of construction products that make the industry more productive. Across a history spanning over two centuries, CNH Industrial has always been a pioneer in its sectors and continues to passionately innovate and drive customer efficiency and success. As a truly global company, CNH Industrial's 35,000+ employees form part of a diverse and inclusive workplace, focused on empowering customers to grow, and build, a better world. For more information and the latest financial and sustainability reports visit: cnhindustrial.com For news from CNH Industrial and its Brands visit: media.cnhindustrial.com Investor Relations contact: Noah Weiss CNH Industrial Tel. +1 773-896-5242 Email: noah.weiss@cnhind.com Attachments DENVER and LONDON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- (TSX: CWEB) (OTCQX: CWBHF) Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. ("Charlotte's Web," or the "Company"), the market leader in full spectrum cannabidiol ("CBD") hemp extract wellness products, has named Jade Proudman, the Chief Executive Officer of Savage Cabbage, one of the oldest and most trusted CBD companies in the UK, as a Global Brand Ambassador for Charlotte's Web. As the founder and CEO of London-based Savage Cabbage, Jade Proudman has become one of the UK's leading CBD advocates, serving an established customer base of over 9,000 wellness seekers in over 44 countries around the world, recently expanding further within Europe. Mrs. Proudman credits Charlotte's Web with "saving her life" and has been helping others access the benefits of cannabinoid therapy through her work ever since. "I really credit Joel Stanley and the brothers with everything. They've transformed so many lives through these products and I just want to help carry the torch as we educate the world on the benefits of cannabinoid therapy to live a better life through nature," said Mrs. Proudman. Savage Cabbage is a Member of EIHA (European Industrial Hemp Association) and has been the official UK distributor of world-famous Charlotte's Web hemp CBD oil since 2016. Savage Cabbage has been an advocate of whole plant, full spectrum products that contain all the beneficial compounds that exist in the hemp plant as well as CBD. Savage Cabbage distributes Charlotte's Web full spectrum CBD oils in the UK in alignment with its three founding pillars: Quality, Consistency and Reliability. "For over six years, Jade has relentlessly focused on helping consumers in the UK and across Europe access the power of Charlotte's Web. She has been a sister in this focus, and I can think of no better person to support our brands around the world than Jade," said Charlotte's Web CEO, Jacques Tortoroli. "We are delighted to have Jade Proudman as the face of the brand in the UK and Europe while she continues her work united with the mission of the Stanley Brothers; providing access to cannabinoid therapy for all that need it." Charlotte's Web was founded by the seven Stanley Brothers in 2013 when they famously developed a unique CBD hemp extract to help a little girl (Charlotte Figi) in need, and forever changed global perceptions around the wellness benefits of hemp. With its storied origins, Colorado-based Charlotte's Web is widely recognized around the world as "The World's Most Trusted Hemp Extract". About Savage Cabbage A trusted provider of hemp, health and wellness, Savage Cabbage CBD is one of the oldest CBD companies in the UK. Savage Cabbage offers full spectrum hemp oils containing a full array of CBD and other beneficial hemp compounds to offer the Entourage Effect and offer one of the best value full spectrum CBD oils in the UK. About Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. (TSX: CWEB) (OTCQX: CWBHF), a Certified B Corporation headquartered in Denver, is the market leader in innovative hemp extract wellness products under a family of brands which includes Charlotte's Web, CBD Medic, CBD Clinic, and Harmony Hemp. Charlotte's Web branded premium quality products start with proprietary hemp genetics that are 100-percent American farm grown and manufactured into hemp extracts containing naturally occurring phytocannabinoids including cannabidiol ("CBD"), CBC, CBG, terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial hemp compounds. The Company's CW Labs R&D division, advances hemp science at two centers of excellence in Louisville, Colorado, and the Hauptmann Woodward Research Institute at the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network. Charlotte's Web product categories include full-spectrum hemp CBD oil tinctures (liquid products), CBD gummies (sleep, stress, exercise recovery), CBD capsules, CBD topical creams and lotions, as well as CBD pet products for dogs. Through its vertically integrated business model, Charlotte's Web maintains stringent control over product quality and consistency. Charlotte's Web products are distributed to more than 14,000 retail, over 8,000 health care practitioners, and online through the Company's website at www.CharlottesWeb.com. Charlotte's Web is a science-driven and a socially and environmentally conscious company. It is committed to using business as a force for good and a catalyst for innovation. Charlotte's Web donates a portion of its pre-tax earnings to numerous charitable organizations in support of the greater good. Charlotte's Web was founded by the seven Stanley Brothers with a mission to unleash the healing powers of botanicals through compassion and science, benefiting the planet and all who live upon it. Charlotte's Web is a socially and environmentally conscious company and is committed to using business as a force for good and a catalyst for innovation. The Company weighs sound business decisions with consideration for how its efforts affect employees, customers, the environment, and diverse communities. The rate the Company pays for agricultural products reflects a fair and sustainable rate driving higher quality yield, encouraging regenerative farming practices, and supporting U.S. farming communities. Management believes that its socially oriented and environmentally responsible actions have a positive impact on its customers, suppliers, employees and stakeholders. Charlotte's Web donates a portion of its pre-tax earnings to charitable organizations. Forward-Looking Information Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, ??"forward-looking information"). In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward looking information can be identified by the ?use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", ??"is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and ?phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be ?achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or ?circumstances contain forward-looking information. ?Specifically, this news release contains forward-looking information relating to the Company's expansion activities and growth strategy; the Company's expectations regarding future cash flow and its financial position; the results of cost saving efforts; the impact and results of the Company's reorganization; market share expectations; and impacts of regulatory changes. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's current ?expectations, estimates and projections regarding the future of our business, future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated events ?and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, ?assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are subject to ?known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, ?performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information include, among others, economic and financial conditions, consumer trends, supply assumptions and the factors discussed throughout the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's most recently filed annual information form available on www.SEDAR.com and in the Company's most recently filed Form 10, as amended, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available on www.SEC.gov. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking information, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. Charlotte's Web Investors: Cory Pala, Director of Investor Relations, (720) 484-8930, Cory.Pala@CharlottesWeb.com; Charlotte's Web Media: Media@CharlottesWeb.com; Savage Cabbage: Tel: +44 (0) 1751 471491, Tel: +44 (0) 2087 830014, info@savagecabbageltd.com, www.savagecabbage.co.uk, www.savagecabbage.eu Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735384/Charlotte_s_Web_Holdings__Inc__Charlotte_s_Web_Names_Jade_Proudm.jpg Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735383/Charlotte_s_Web_Holdings__Inc__Charlotte_s_Web_Names_Jade_Proudm.jpg BEIJING, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- One hundred years ago, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of the Chinese revolution, proposed to build Guangdong Province of China into a world-class commercial port and industrial hub. Today, Sun's wish has come true in his hometown, Zhongshan City of Guangdong Province. Zhongshan is now an important node in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Zhongshan was one of the earliest Chinese cities to open up. The first Sino-foreign joint venture hotel in China was built in Zhongshan. Today, facing the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic downturn, Zhongshan enterprises seek solutions by developing products related to the COVID-19 crisis, adjusting the trade chain, and enhancing their resistance against economic risks. The high-tech industry in Zhongshan also gains steam. In 2021, there were 2,300 high-tech enterprises in Zhongshan, possessing over 9,600 invention patents in total, and the high-tech contract turnover exceeded 1.94 billion yuan ($0.29 billion). The resilience of Zhongshan enterprises reflects the resilience of Chinese manufacturing industry. The animated video "Made in Zhongshan" is now part of our life, produced by China Matters animation team, depicts how Zhongshan products matter in daily life. Products from Zhongshan, including refrigerators, microwave ovens, decorative lightings, printers, clothes and skincare, are easily accessible in your life, whether you live in China or elsewhere in the world. You may find Zhongshan products in the Chinese space station, Shanghai World Expo Park and the Burj Khalifa Tower. "Made in Zhongshan" is going global. Video - https://youtu.be/IMeni1oHF-s Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735490/China_Matters_Logo.jpg Contact: Tan Jiaqing +8610-68996961 jqtan@cnmatters.com Delta, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2022) - Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (TSXV: DAU) (FSE: QXR2) (OTCQB: DAUGF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that its common shares are now eligible for electronic clearing and settlement through the Depository Trust Company ("DTC"). DTC is a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, a United States company that manages electronic clearing and settlement for publicly traded companies. Securities that are eligible to be electronically cleared and settled through the DTC are considered to be "DTC eligible". DTC eligibility will simplify the process of trading and transferring the Company's common shares in the United States and is also expected to enhance the liquidity profile of its common shares in the United States due to the accelerated settlement period and reduction in trading costs for investors and broker/dealers. Desert Gold's President & CEO Jared Scharf commented, "Listing Desert Gold's common shares to the OTCQB last year was the first step to improve the Company's liquidity profile in the US. DTC eligibility is the next step in the process and will allow us to engage a larger US based investor audience as we continue to develop our regional flagship SMSZ Project located in Western Mali." On Behalf of the Board "Jared Scharf" ___________________________ Jared Scharf President, CEO & Director About Desert Gold Desert Gold Ventures Inc. is a gold exploration and development company which holds 2 gold exploration permits in Western Mali (SMSZ Project and Djimbala) and its Rutare gold project in central Rwanda. In Mali, Desert Gold's SMSZ property hosts Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 8.47 million tonnes grading 1.14 g/t gold totaling 310,300 ounces and Inferred Mineral Resources of 20.7 million tonnes grading 1.16 g/t gold totaling 769,200 ounces. For further information please visit www.SEDAR.com under the company's profile. Website: www.desertgold.ca. This news release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations, are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially from those contained in such statements. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, the strength of the capital markets, the price of gold; operational, funding, liquidity risks, the degree to which Mineral Resource estimates are reflective of actual Mineral Resources, the degree to which factors which would make a mineral deposit commercially viable, and the risks and hazards associated with mining operations. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the company's disclosure materials filed with the securities regulatory authorities in Canada and available at www.sedar.com and readers are urged to read these materials. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from such statements unless required by law. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States securities act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such act. Contact Jared Scharf, President and CEO Email: jared.scharf@desertgold.ca Tel. No.: +1 (858) 247-8195 To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111853 New financing provides significant financial flexibility to propel growth efforts, benefitting patients, providers, and pharma partners worldwide. CINCINNATI, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Enable Injections, Inc. ("Enable"), a company developing and manufacturing the enFuse platform of investigational wearable drug delivery systems, is pleased to announce $215 million in Series C financing. Magnetar Capital ("Magnetar") led the financing along with new institutional investments from GCM Grosvenor, Squarepoint Capital, Woody Creek Capital Partners, and other investors. Enable received significant continued support from existing investors including Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, CincyTech, Cintrifuse, and Ohio Innovation Fund. Enable Injections' enFuse is an innovative drug delivery technology designed to subcutaneously (SC) deliver large volumes of up to 50mL for a wide range of therapies and diseases, and to provide patients and providers a safe, convenient, and cost-effective alternative to IV administration. With improved flexibility for patients and providers, enFuse is designed to enable an increase in healthcare provider efficiencies, minimize patient exposure in the clinic, and reduce healthcare costs, with the aim of benefiting patients and healthcare providers worldwide. "Enable Injections has seen a dramatic increase in demand for enFuse's high-volume drug delivery technology. The funding from Magnetar will help enFuse continue to redefine intravenous drug delivery by meaningfully scaling our development and commercialization efforts. This will help us reach even more patients who depend on intravenous medications and, we believe, significantly improve their lives," said Mike Hooven, President and CEO, Enable Injections. "Magnetar, and its healthcare team, bring valuable industry expertise and an extensive network of financial and biotech contacts to Enable. We are excited to partner with Magnetar to grow the enFuse platform globally and achieve our shared vision of supporting next generation patient-healthcare provider connections through an enhanced injection administration experience." "This financing will provide additional resources to onboard important new pharma partner programs and accelerate our commercialization programs and platforms with existing pharma partners," said Tim Flaherty, EVP and CFO, Enable Injections. "Enable is a stronger company with Magnetar as a strategic partner, with its thoughtful approach to healthcare investing." UBS Securities LLC served as exclusive placement agent to Enable Injections in connection with this financing. About Enable Injections: Cincinnati-based Enable Injections is an investigational-stage company developing and manufacturing on-body subcutaneous drug delivery systems designed to improve the patient experience, support superior outcomes, and advance healthcare system value and economics. Enable's body-worn enFuse drug delivery platform utilizes standard container closure systems to deliver high-volume pharmaceutical and biologic therapeutics. For more information, please visit www.enableinjections.com. About Magnetar Capital: Founded in 2005, Magnetar is a multi-strategy alternative investment manager with approximately $13.5 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2021. Magnetar seeks to achieve stable risk-adjusted returns by opportunistically employing a wide-range of alternative credit and fixed income, energy and infrastructure, and systematic investing strategies. Magnetar invests across regions and business structures, in both public and private markets, taking advantage of the deep rigor of fundamental and quantitative analysis. The firm is based in Evanston, Illinois, with additional offices in London and Houston. For more information, visit www.magnetar.com. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1734916/Enable_Injections_enFuse.jpg Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/962405/Enable_Injections_Logo.jpg FAGERSTA, SE / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Robotic Lawn Care Systems The Swedish company Robotic Lawn Care Systems AB (RLCS), announces today that the company will receive a United States Patent covering its MowFleet system, consisting of a fleet of robotic lawn mowers, invented to replace conventional ride-on mowers in urban parks and public green spaces. "It's highly possible that the heavy and noisy ride-on mowers soon will become a thing of the past. California's new legislation, banning the sale of lawnmowers powered by fossil fuel engines, is paving the way", says Kalle Andersson, CEO of RLCS. "There is also a shift in attitude. On the ground, customers tell us how staff members operating their robots are greeted and welcomed. Previously, they were seen as a noisy inconvenience." The RLCS patent application relates to a robotic lawn mower system for cutting grass in multiple green areas, independent of the electric grid. The patent, which will issue in the 1st quarter of 2022, is significant in RLCS's commercialization strategy. The issued patent will establish RLCS's pioneering position in the market, and grant RLCS with exclusive rights against any future competing robotic lawn mower systems. The system has been tested and refined since 2015: Kalle Andersson explains "It was the logical step to take. Sweden has more robotic mowers per capita than anywhere else but saw no robotic mowers in public green spaces. With the MowFleet system, professional robotic lawn mowing has become a reality, replacing complicated and expensive electrical power installations with a flexible battery solution. The fact that MowFleet only uses two percent of the energy required for traditional ride-on mowing also helps." Since the introduction in Sweden, MowFleet has produced more than 250,000 mowing hours in public parks, with no incidents, literally no noise and practically zero emissions. Customers include municipalities, cemeteries, and private entrepreneurs. In addition, the system has helped with solving the problem with labor shortage, while at the same time lowering costs. "The feedback is clear; MowFleet means a huge improvement of the working environment for the staff. It's also much easier to recruit a robot technician than a ride-on operator. Improvement is seen on so many levels", concludes Kalle Andersson. For further information, please contact: Kalle Andersson, CEO Mobile: +46-70-221 16 41 Email kalle@roboticlawncare.se Web: www.mowfleet.com About Robotic Lawn Care Systems In 2015, Swedish green tech innovator RLCS developed a fully battery powered autonomous lawn care system, based on the best robots available; a solution now marketed under the MowFleet brand. The patented, electric grid-independent system utilizes a fleet of robots, each mowing multiple lawns every week. This market-disruptive method requires less staff, while at the same time delivering better mowing results, literally noise free and at near zero emissions. And all this at a lower cost. Hundreds of thousands of mowing hours have been logged without incidents, theft or vandalism. In short, MowFleet helps to improve the overall quality of life in and around parks, cemeteries, residential areas, retirement homes, spas and other public green spaces. Attachments Swedish company set on ending the era of fossil fuel powered lawn care to receive pioneering US patent for an off-grid electric robotic lawn mowing system. SOURCE: Robotic Lawn Care Systems View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685858/Swedish-Company-Set-on-Ending-the-Era-of-Fossil-Fuel-Powered-Lawn-Care-to-Receive-Pioneering-US-Patent-for-an-Off-Grid-Electric-Robotic-Lawn-Mowing-System WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden has signed an Executive Order to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), which makes sexual harassment a specific offense under this law. It also strengthens the military justice response in prosecuting cases of domestic violence, and fully implements changes to the military justice code to criminalize the wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images. The Executive Order is key to advancing the historic, bipartisan military justice reform that Biden signed into law last month through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The military justice reform includes the historic shift of legal decisions from commanders to independent, specialized prosecutors in cases of sexual assault, domestic violence, and other serious crimes. 'This historic addition to the UCMJ honors the memory of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen, whose experience with severe sexual harassment was followed by a brutal murder, catalyzing national attention to the scourge of sexual violence in U.S. military and helping advance bipartisan military justice reform in the NDAA,' White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. The risk for gender-based violence has increased in the United States and around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the White House. 'Today's Executive Order also reinforces the commitments of the Biden-Harris Administration to supporting survivors by releasing the first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality in the United States, which identifies gender-based violence prevention and response as a core strategic priority for President Biden,' it said in a statement. The strategy also names military justice reform as an essential component of elevating gender equality in security processes. 'Today marks another turning point for survivors of gender-based violence in the military. Moving forward, the Administration will continue to advance prevention, promote safe and respectful military climates, and strengthen care and support for survivors,' the statement added. Copyright(c) 2022 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de A heartless vandal slashed the tires on four police vehicles parked near a Harlem precinct just paces from where scores of heartbroken mourners held a tear-filled vigil for two slain hero officers, cops said Thursday. The vehicles were parked down the block from the 32nd Precinct stationhouse on W. 135th St. near Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. when the man was caught on surveillance camera about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday puncturing and slashing the tires. Advertisement A massive memorial has been erected outside the stationhouse for 32nd Precinct Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora, who were fatally shot Friday responding to a call for a domestic disturbance. A vigil is held around a makeshift memorial outside the 32nd precinct honoring fallen NYPD officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora in Harlem Wednesday. (Bobby Caina Calvan/AP) The gunman, Lashawn McNeil, was mortally wounded by a third cop at the scene. Advertisement When the tires were being slashed, a large crowd of cops and supporters were gathered outside the stationhouse swapping heartfelt remembrances of the two fallen officers. Three of the vehicles, which included an unmarked car, belonged to the NYPD. A fourth vehicle belonged to cops from Darien, Connecticut, who had traveled to Harlem to pay their respects to the two fallen officers. A New York City Police Department officer lights a candle at a makeshift memorial outside the NYPD's 32nd Precinct, near the scene of a shooting that claim the lives of NYPD officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora in the Harlem neighborhood of New York, Monday Jan. 24, 2022. (Yuki Iwamura/AP) No arrests have been made. A funeral for Rivera will be held Friday at St. Patricks Cathedral. Moras funeral will also be held at the iconic Midtown church on Wednesday. Universal Robots, the Danish producer of collaborative robots, has reported record annual revenue of USD 311M, 41% up on 2020 and 23% up on pre-pandemic results in 2019. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005798/en/ Universal Robots are manufactured at the company headquarters in Denmark where production teams broke internal records for number of cobots built in a single week. (Photo: Business Wire) The company's President, Kim Povlsen said: "Universal Robots has had a great year. In a company like ours, which manufactures sophisticated hardware to high quality standards, this sort of growth requires tremendous commitment from all involved. Our production team in Denmark has broken internal records for the number of cobots built, producing 400 cobots in a single week in Q4. Our supply chain experts have worked hard to keep our business running smoothly despite global supply challenges." Quarter 4 revenue also broke records, up 22% on Q4 2020 and 28% up on Q4 2019. Kim Povlsen continued: "Our growth is driven by several long-term trends, including workforce shortages and growing awareness of the contribution automation can make to productivity. As well as reaching new consumers, we see repeat business from manufacturers extending their use of cobots after seeing the impact of the technology." The company expects strong growth to continue in 2022, as Kim Povlsen explained: "Demand for collaborative robots is set to grow and our unique ecosystem is growing with it. Working with more than 1,000 independent companies including component, kit and application manufacturers, certified integrators and distributors collaborative innovation is what sets our growth journey apart." Download: Images About Universal Robots Universal Robots aims to empower change in the way work is done using its leading-edge robotics platform. Since introducing the world's first commercially viable collaborative robot (cobot) in 2008, UR has developed a product portfolio including the UR3e, UR5e, UR10e, and UR16e, reflecting a range of reaches and payloads. Each model is supported by a wide selection of end-effectors, software, accessories and application kits in the UR+ ecosystem. This allows the cobots to be used across a wide range of industries and means that they can be redeployed across diverse tasks. The company, which is part of Teradyne Inc., is headquartered in Odense, Denmark, and has offices in the USA, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Turkey, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Mexico. Universal Robots has installed over 50,000 cobots worldwide. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005798/en/ Contacts: For further information or interview enquiries: PR Manager, Fleur Nielsen, +45 61 89 29 54, PR@universal-robots.com Group turnover up by 22% at 31.3M Service BU turnover: organic growth supported by a 30% increase in external turnover at 27.6M, and an order book up by 39% at 36M, despite the pandemic Confirmation of the 50M objective for Service BU turnover by 2023 Biotech BU: turnover of 3.7M, including the 2M milestone for the LRRK2 program in partnership with Servier for the selection of its drug candidate Stable operating income and revenue at 36.1M, compensating for the planned discontinuation of the GSK subsidy (8M) and making it possible to expect operating profit/loss at break-even point Solid cash position of 25M at December 31, 2021 Regulatory News: ONCODESIGN (Paris:ALONC) (ALONC FR0011766229), a biopharmaceutical group specializing in precision medicine, announces its turnover for 2021 and takes stock of its activities. Oncodesign Group Key figures In M Unaudited consolidated data 2021 2020 Evolution In In value Service BU turnover 27.6 21.1 +30% +6.4 Biotech BU turnover 3.7 4.4 - 16% - 0.7 Total turnover 31.3 25.5 +22% +5.7 Other operating income and revenue 4.8 13.0 - 63% - 8.2 Total operating income and revenue 36.1 38.5 - 6% - 2.4 Available cash flow (as at 12/31) 25.4 28.8 - 12% - 3.4 (*) includes the GSK subsidy received every year until January 2020. Philippe Genne, Chairman and CEO of Oncodesign, states: "Oncodesign continues to further its growth despite the ever-present global health crisis, and its turnover has reached an all-time high at 31.3M, up by 22% compared with the previous year. The Service BU plays a crucial role in this development, with the organic growth of its external turnover up by 30% at 27.6M. The order book of 36M signed in 2021 (+39%) ensures a particularly positive outlook for 2022 with a stock of over 20M to be produced. Already up by 34% at 26M in 2020, this order book is a testament to the strong, sustainable development of our Service BU activity. Our new website and new integrated Service offers were launched in the second half of the year and will be continued in 2022. The new DRIVE-MRT service offer provides access to our unique Pharmimage technological platform, particularly favored by the North American market (order book of 10.2M signed, having doubled compared to 2020) and its design is sure to meet all our customers' expectations in terms of innovation. The current unbridled race to buy out CROs1 confirms the strategic position of these Contract Research Organizations in the health sector and notably in terms of Drug Discovery. The Biotech BU has also achieved tremendous success with the selection of its second drug candidate under the LRRK2 program, combined with the 2M payment from our partner Servier. The two initial drug candidates derived from our proprietary Nanocyclix technology (LRRK2 and RIPK2 inhibitors) will begin clinical trials in 2022." Arnaud Lafforgue, Chief Financial Officer of Oncodesign, adds: "2021 was a pivotal year for Oncodesign. Our Company succeeded in maintaining its revenue at 36.1M, thus mitigating the planned discontinuation of the annual 8M GSK subsidy, and allowing us to aim for a net profit/loss at break-even point. Our cash position of over 25M is bolstered by the strong growth of our Service BU activity and the payment of 2M made by Servier for the latest milestone in September 2021. Through this available cash flow, the Group has the means to fund research programs under the Biotech BU (ODS-101 and our new systemic radiotherapy approach) and to see through its external growth policy for the Service BU." Service BU: Strong growth for both external turnover (+31%) and the order book (+39%) Oncodesign Service BU In M Unaudited consolidated data FY 2021 FY 2020 Evolution 2020/2021 External turnover 27.6 21.1 +31% Internal turnover 3.4 8.5 - 60% Turnover 31.0 29.6 +5% The Service BU achieved a total turnover of 31M in 2021, up by 5% primarily thanks to the increase in external turnover (+31%), which amounts to 27.6M, thus offsetting the 3.4M drop in internal turnover2 for the Biotech BU in 2021. The expected development schedule for therapeutic products, particularly with ODS-101 entering the regulatory development phase, led to a certain level of expenditure in 2021 with external service providers. The fact that these services are no longer provided by the Service BU for the Biotech BU explains the observed drop in internal turnover. In line with the previous financial years, external turnover has very significantly increased in North America and Asia (+102% and +70% in growth, respectively), driven by the signing of several multi-year service contracts with biotech corporations. Oncodesign Service Turnover by geographic area In M Unaudited consolidated data FY 2021 FY 2020 Evolution 2020/2021 Europe 17.0 15.5 +10% Asia 4.0 2.4 +70% North America 6.6 3.3 +102% Total 27.6 21.1 +31% Despite the pandemic limiting travel, trade fairs and forums, our order book has increased by 39% to 36M, which is a new record for Oncodesign. Oncodesign Service Order entry In M Analytical data FY 2021 FY 2020 FY 2019 Evolution 2020/2021 2019/2020 Europe 20.5 16.3 14.0 +26% +16% Asia 5.2 5.5 2.8 - 5% +96% North America 10.2 4.1 2.5 +149% +66% Total 35.9 25.9 19.3 +39% +34% As a reminder, this order book amounted to 26M in 2020 (already up by 34%) and almost 20M in 2019 and has therefore almost doubled in the space of two years. We have seen a sharp increase in orders in North America (+149%) at 10.2M and Europe (+26%), and stability in Asia at over 5M. The year was also marked by a swift acceleration in order entries during the second half, with 20.4M in orders signed following the 15.6M signed in the first half. This increase of 23% compared to the first half of 2021 was notably driven by the signing of contracts in North America (7.9M in the second half, up by 70%), while several significant contracts were signed in Asia in the first half (3.5M in orders signed in the first half, then 1.8M in the second half). Multi-year service contracts (such as DRIVE or INPACT), which represent the primary focus of the BU, amounted to 15M across all orders for the entire year. Finally, demand for COVID-19 studies has remained high with over 4M in order signed with Oncodesign in 2021. Consequently, the considerable development of the order book shows a highly active market. Along with potential for external growth, we are confident that we will achieve our objective for 50M in turnover in 2023. Biotech BU: Stable turnover at 3.7M, including the 2M milestone The Biotech BU achieved a turnover of 3.7M in 2021, compared with 4.4M the previous year. In 2021, Oncodesign received 2M from Servier for a new milestone. This milestone follows the 3M milestones already paid upon signing, and the 1M milestone paid in April 2020 for the development of LRRK2 kinase inhibitors for Parkinson's disease. Coverage for research costs included, Oncodesign has now received over 13.5M from Servier for this project. In the second half of 2021, the Biotech BU signed an advance research partnership agreement with Korean company TiumBio for the identification, chemical synthesis and optimization of Nanocyclix-derived molecules. This partner will be in charge of thoroughly assessing the anti-fibrotic efficacy of the drug candidates. As of the second half of 2021, Oncodesign has already received funds intended to cover research costs (amount kept confidential), and TiumBio currently holds an exclusive licensing option for the international rights to develop and market any drug candidates discovered after their assessment, although this option may be lifted next year (the sums in question cannot be disclosed at this point in time). AI BU: Continuing its structuring The Artificial Intelligence BU is undergoing technological structuring around the construction of an innovative platform for selecting therapeutic targets, focused on the development of the OncoSNIPE project, the IMODI project and several other academic collaborations. An advance commercial partnership offer has been set up and validated with the pharmaceutical industry, which will allow for the signing of partnership agreements relating to the discovery of new therapeutic targets in oncology. Solid cash position of 25.4M at December 31, 2021, making it possible to comfortably anticipate future developments The Company's available cash flow includes the 15.9M received in the context of the French State-guaranteed loan for which Oncodesign applied in September 2020, the collection of recurring revenue for the Service BU, research tax credit for 2020 in the amount of 3M and the 2M from Servier for the LRRK2 milestone received in September 2021. Next financial publication: Annual results for 2021 April 7, 2022 (after market closing) About Oncodesign: www.oncodesign.com Oncodesign is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in precision medicine, founded in 1995 by its current CEO and majority shareholder. It has been listed on the Euronext Growth Market since April 2014. Its mission is to discover effective therapies to fight cancer and other diseases without a therapeutic solution. With its unique experience, enriched thanks to over 1,000 customers including the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and based on a one-of-a-kind technological platform combining artificial intelligence, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, regulatory bioanalysis and cutting-edge medical imaging, Oncodesign is able to select new therapeutic targets, then design and develop potential preclinical candidates up to the clinical phase stage. Oncodesign has configured its organization to offer innovative services to its customers and licenses for its proprietary molecules. When applied to kinase inhibitors molecules that represent a market estimated to be worth more than $65 billion by 2027 and nearly 25% of R&D investments in the pharmaceutical industry Oncodesign's technology has already made it possible to target several molecules of interest with a high therapeutic potential, both in and outside of oncology, and has signed partnerships with international pharmaceutical groups. Based in Dijon, France, at the heart of the University Hospital complex as well as the Paris-Saclay complex, Oncodesign boasts 230 employees across three Business Units (BU) Service, Biotech, and Artificial Intelligence and has subsidiaries in Canada and the United States. Forward-looking statements This document contains forward-looking statements and estimates regarding the financial position, results of operations, strategy, projects and future performance of the Company and the market in which it operates. Some of these statements, forecasts and estimates may be recognized by the use of words such as, without limitation, "believe", "anticipate", "predict", "expect", "project", "plan", intend", "estimate", "may", "want", "continue" and similar expressions. These include all questions that are not historical facts. Such statements, forecasts and estimates are based on various assumptions and assessments of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that were considered reasonable when made but may not prove to be correct. Actual events are difficult to predict and may depend on factors beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, the Company's actual results, financial conditions, performance or achievements, or industry results, may differ materially from future results, performance or achievements as expressed or implied by such statements, forecasts and estimates. In light of these uncertainties, no representation is made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. In addition, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates are only valid as of the date of publication of this document. The Company disclaims any obligation to update such forward-looking statements, forecasts or estimates to reflect any change in the Company's expectations relating thereto, or any change in the events, conditions or circumstances on which such statements, forecasts or estimates are based, except as required by French law. 1 CRO: Contract Research Organisation 2 Internal Turnover: Turnover due to the Biotech BU's orders View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005813/en/ Contacts: Oncodesign Philippe Genne Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tel.: +33 (0)380 788 260 investisseurs@oncodesign.com NewCap Investor Relations Mathilde Bohin Tel.: +33 (0)144 719 495 oncodesign@newcap.eu NewCap Media Relations Arthur Rouille Tel.: +33 (0)144 710 015 oncodesign@newcap.eu Harris Williams, a global investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, announces Intermediate Capital Group PLC's (LSE: ICP; ICG) investment in Travel Chapter Ltd (Travel Chapter), alongside the management team. Travel Chapter is a portfolio company of ECI Partners (ECI) and a leading platform for high-quality self-catering holiday rentals in the U.K. The transaction, led by Will Bain, Stefan van de Ven and Andreas Illmer of the Harris Williams Consumer Group, extends the firm's track record in the travel and leisure sector. "The vacation rental sector has seen continued strong performance during the COVID-19 pandemic and there are compelling long-term tailwinds. Travel Chapter's position as one of the leading operators in the U.K. market makes it a very attractive investment opportunity," said Will Bain, a managing director at Harris Williams. "ICG's investment will enable Jayne McClure, CEO of Travel Chapter, and her team to continue to deliver on Travel Chapter's exciting growth strategy. We look forward to watching their continued success and future development." This transaction builds on Harris Williams' expertise in the broader sector, having advised Sykes Holiday Cottages on its sale to Vitruvian Partners and Siblu Villages on its sale to Naxicap Partners. Travel Chapter is one of the U.K.'s leading holiday rental platforms, offering a wide selection of around 8,000 high quality properties across the U.K. It has a number of consumer brands, including its flagship brand Holidaycottages.co.uk and specialist lifestyle and regional brands such as Canine Cottages and Cottages Castles, all focused on delivering exceptional customer service. Travel Chapter was a prior portfolio company of ECI. Intermediate Capital Group PLC (LSE: ICP), listed on the London Stock Exchange and constituent of the FTSE 100, provides flexible capital solutions to help companies develop and grow. ICG is a global alternative asset manager with over 30 years' history, managing $69 billion of assets and investing across the capital structure. ICG develops long-term relationships with its business partners to deliver value for shareholders, clients, and employees, and use its position of influence to benefit the environment and society. ICG is committed to being a net zero asset manager across its operations and relevant investments by 2040. ECI is a leading private equity investor, investing in growing businesses valued up to 300 million. It has 45 years of experience, collaborating with management teams to build successful global businesses. With an unrivalled track record of 266 investments, ECI invests as either a majority or a minority investor and has a long track record of investing successfully in the travel subsector, with investments in businesses such as Travel Chapter, GRJ, CarTrawler, and Reed Mackay, amongst others. ECI is currently investing its 11th buyout fund and manages approximately 1.7 billion on behalf of its institutional investors. Harris Williams, an investment bank specializing in M&A advisory services, advocates for sellers and buyers of companies worldwide through critical milestones and provides thoughtful advice during the lives of their businesses. By collaborating as one firm across Industry Groups and geographies, the firm helps its clients achieve outcomes that support their objectives and strategically create value. Harris Williams is committed to execution excellence and to building enduring, valued relationships that are based on mutual trust. Harris Williams is a subsidiary of the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC). The Harris Williams Consumer Group has completed transactions across a variety of verticals, including branded consumer products; consumer services; food, beverage and agribusiness; and restaurant and retail. For more information on the Harris Williams Consumer Group and recent transactions, visit the Consumer Group's section of the Harris Williams website. Harris Williams LLC is a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Harris Williams Co. Ltd is a private limited company incorporated under English law with its registered office at 8th Floor, 20 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AB, UK, registered with the Registrar of Companies for England and Wales (registration number 07078852). Harris Williams Co. Ltd is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH is registered in the commercial register of the local court of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, under HRB 107540. The registered address is Bockenheimer Landstrasse 33-35, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany (email address: hwgermany@harriswilliams.com). Geschaftsfuhrer/Directors: Jeffery H. Perkins, Paul Poggi. (VAT No. DE321666994). Harris Williams is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC, Harris Williams Co. Ltd and Harris Williams Co. Corporate Finance Advisors GmbH conduct business. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005844/en/ Contacts: For media inquiries, please contact Julia Moore at media@harriswilliams.com. Approval is supported by positive results from three completed randomized, placebo-controlled phase III trials that enrolled more than 1000 subjects in the US and Europe Hugel America, Inc., a growth-focused joint venture between aesthetic market-leading partners Hugel Inc., and Croma-Pharma GmbH (Croma), announced that Croma has completed the decentralized procedure in Europe for Letybo(LetibotulinumtoxinA for Injection) to treat glabellar (frown) lines. The Letybo submission in Europe is based on the data of three completed randomized, placebo-controlled phase III trials that enrolled more than 1000 subjects in the US and Europe. National phases to grant market authorization across Europe are following now. "We are thrilled for our colleagues at Croma and believe this is a critical milestone in furthering their comprehensive portfolio to meet the needs of health care providers and consumers throughout Europe," said James Hartman, President, Hugel America. "Additionally, we continue to look forward to our US FDA Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of March 31, 2022." LetibotulinumtoxinA for injection is developed and produced by Hugel, Inc. and is licensed by Croma for commercialization throughout Europe. This botulinum toxin type A has been the market leader for six consecutive years in South Korea, one of the world's most dynamic aesthetic markets. About Hugel America, Inc. (Hugel Aesthetics) Hugel America, Inc. (Hugel Aesthetics) is a growth-focused joint venture between aesthetic marketing leading partners, Hugel, Inc and Croma-Pharma GmbH, focused on commercializing a synergistic aesthetic portfolio in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Hugel Aesthetics is dedicated to making aesthetics more attainable for all. For more information, visit: www.hugel-aesthetics.com View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005915/en/ Contacts: Media Hugel America, Inc. Michelle Barrineau 678-525-5653 michelle.barrineau@hugel-aesthetics.com or General and Trade Media GOLD PR Shari Gold 714-251-0375 sgold@goldpr.com Investors Hugel, Inc. Jennifer Rho +82 2-6966-1621 jrho@hugel.co.kr PRESS RELEASE Paris, January 27, 2022 Q3 2021/2022 revenues: 20.5 M, in line with latest forecasts New SaaS contracts Q3 2021/2022: 1.4 M Confirmation of financial objectives for the year Generix Group, Industrial, Logistics and Retail Ecosystems provider with leading Collaborative SaaS Solutions, publishestoday its revenues for the third quarter of the 2021/2022 fiscal year. Q3 revenues: 20.5 million (-0.9%) Trimestre clos le 31 decembre Variation 9 mois clos le 31 decembre Variation Non audite (K) 2021 2020 2021 2020 SaaS 8 531 8 375 2% 25 193 24 071 5% Maintenance 4 771 4 512 6% 13 994 13 489 4% Licences 711 974 -27% 3 253 2 834 15% Activites d'Edition 14 013 13 861 1,1% 42 440 40 394 5,1% Conseil & Services 6 531 6 875 -5% 19 580 18 442 6% Chiffre d'Affaires 20 544 20 736 -0,9% 62 020 58 836 5,4% Revenues for the past quarter amounted to 20.5 million, down 0.9% compared to Q3 of the previous year. As a result, revenue growth was +5.4% for the first nine months of the year. As announced at the time of the presentation of the half-year results, the Group is experiencing a temporary slowdown in its sales of Licenses, Consulting & Services in North America. This trend, which began at the end of the second quarter, has led the Group to replace the Managing Director of this Business Unit, which has enabled the commercial indicators to be revived. The return to a normal level of activity should be achieved during the first half of the next fiscal year. New SaaS contracts Q3: 1.4 M (+2.3%) Quarter ended December 31 Change 9 months ended December 31 Change Unaudited (K) 2021 2020 2021 2020 New SaaS contract signing (ACV*) 1 380 1 349 2,3% 3 717 2 530 46,9% * New signatures expressed in ACV (Annual Contract Value) highlighting the average annual additional revenue that will be generated after deployment of the contracts concerned. As a reminder, in the previous year, the health crisis led to a slowdown in new SaaS contract signatures over the first six months, followed by an acceleration in the second half of the year. With an additional growth of 2.3% compared to Q3 of the previous fiscal year, the growth of signatures during the first 9 months of the fiscal year amounts to +46.9%. The last 12 consecutive months are among the Group's highest levels of signatures ever, amounting to 5.9 million. Among these new signatures, it is worth noting: the signature in North America of a major player in the distribution of spare parts for automobiles, which has chosen Generix Group's Solochain WMS solution to manage its warehouse, which benefits in particular from a new ASRS (Automated Storage and Retrieval System) with which the Generix solution will be interfaced. The ability of Generix's solution to connect to these new warehouse technologies has been a real asset. a new Italian customer, an international packaging supplier who has chosen the Generix Group Warehouse Management System (WMS), Transport Management System (TMS) and Supply Chain Visibility solutions for 19 warehouses in 2 countries in its EMEA zone. These contracts confirm Generix Group's ability to win the trust of major players throughout the supply chain. Confirmation of financial objectives for the year Generix Group confirms the outlook announced at the time of the presentation of its half-yearly financial statements: growth that is a few points lower than the double-digit growth previously expected and comparable to that recorded over the first nine months of the year. The signing dynamic remains at high levels and should continue over the at the end of the year. The Group maintains its forecast of a stable EBITDA margin compared to the previous fiscal year, with a sustained policy of investment in R&D, and in Sales and Marketing to capture market growth. Supplemental and non-IFRS Financial Information Supplemental non-IFRS information (above-mentioned as EBITDA) presented in this press release is subject to inherent limitations. It is not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and should not be considered as a substitute for IFRS measurements. Also, the Company's supplemental non-IFRS financial information may not be comparable to similarly titled non-IFRS measures used by other companies. Next financial press release: April 26th, 2022, after market closes Publication of the yearly revenue About Generix Group Generix Group is a Collaborative Supply Chain expert present in 60 countries, thanks to its subsidiaries and network of partners. More than 6,000 companies around the world use its SaaS solutions. The group's 800 employees provide daily support for such customers as Carrefour, Danone, FM Logistic, Fnac-Darty, Essilor, Ferrero and Geodis in the digital transformation of their Supply Chain. Its collaborative platform, Generix Supply Chain Hub, helps companies to keep the promises they make to their customers. It combines the capabilities to execute physical flows, digitalize information flows, manage collaborative processes and connect companies to all their partners, in real time. Generix Supply Chain Hub is aimed at all players in the Supply Chain: manufacturers, third- and fourth-party logistics providers (3PL/4PL) and retailers. Founded in France in 1990, the company is listed on the Eurolist market of Euronext Paris, compartment C (ISIN: FR0010501692). To learn more: www.generixgroup.com Attachment THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. NEWS AGENCIES VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Final Bell Holdings International Ltd. (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive share purchase agreement (the "Agreement") with Final Bell Canada Inc. ("FB Canada") and the shareholders of FB Canada, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares in the capital of FB Canada for a purchase price of $10,000,000 (the "Purchase Price"). The Purchase Price is payable in (a) cash, or (b) 50% in cash and 50% in subordinate voting shares of the Company (the "Shares"), subject to the approval by the Company's shareholders of the reclassification of the Company's common shares into Shares and conditional approval of the Shares for listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE"). The number of Shares issuable to fund the Purchase Price on closing, if any, shall be calculated utilizing the share issue price of a concurrent capital raise (the "Capital Raise") in connection with the previously announced business combination of the Company and Final Bell Holdings, Inc. ("Final Bell"). The acquisition of FB Canada is designed to expand the operations of the proposed combined entity into Canada, including through the integration of FB Canada's 25,000 sqft manufacturing facility in Ontario to bring leading cannabis brands from California into the Canadian market. FB Canada has replicated the master manufacturing capabilities and expertise of Final Bell, and holds requisite Health Canada approvals to operate as a Licensed Producer in Canada. Other than as described above, the transactions under the Agreement are subject to customary conditions, including, among other things, the shareholders of FB Canada entering to lock-up agreements in respect of any Shares issuable pursuant to the Purchase Price as may be established in connection with the Capital Raise. Further details of the Agreement and the business and operations of FB Canada will be included in a listing statement to be prepared and filed with the Canadian Securities Exchange by the Company. Closing of the transaction is currently expected to occur in the first half of 2022. About Final Bell Holdings International Ltd. The Company's shares were voluntarily delisted from the NEX Board of the TSX-V on April 30, 2021. Prior to entering into the investment agreement announced in the Company's news release dated May 11, 2021, the Company was inactive and seeking to acquire or otherwise transact with a new business or company. On October 14, 2021, the Company announced that it had entered into a share exchange agreement with Final Bell and the shareholders of Final Bell in connection with a proposed business combination between the Company and Final Bell. Please see the Company's October 14, 2021 press release for further information. For further information please contact: Kay Jessel Chief Executive Officer 604.365.6099 finalbell.hi@gmail.com All information contained in this press release with respect to the Company and Final Bell, FB Canada and/or their subsidiaries was supplied by the parties, respectively, for inclusion herein, and the Company and its directors and officers have relied on Final Bell and FB Canada for any information concerning their subsidiaries. Forward-Looking Information This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur and in this press release include statements respecting the transactions provided for in the Agreement or the proposed business combination with Final Bell, including the expected completion thereof, the proposed application to list the Company's shares, the parties' ability to satisfy closing conditions and receive necessary approvals and the future plans and objectives of the Company, Final Bell and FB Canada. These statements are only predictions and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions, estimates and reasonable assumptions of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, that the parties may be unable to satisfy the conditions under the Agreement or the business combination, to list the Company's shares or to obtain proposed financing on terms acceptable to the Company or at all. There can be no assurance that the transactions contemplated in the Agreement or the proposed business combination will occur or that, if the any do occur, they will be completed on the terms described above. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates, opinions or assumptions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. SOURCE: Final Bell Holdings International Ltd. View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685935/Final-Bell-Holdings-International-Announces-Agreement-to-Acquire-Final-Bell-Canada-Inc This year's rally, the first for GAUSSIN, was a promising performance for GAUSSIN's hydrogen-powered truck GAUSSIN (ALGAU FR0013495298), a pioneer in the clean and intelligent transport of goods and people, announces that the H2 Racing Truck, GAUSSIN's hydrogen-powered truck sponsored by ARAMCO, successfully managed its first challenge. A successful first Dakar rally raid for GAUSSIN and ARAMCO On the tracks of the 2022 Dakar Rally, the H2 Racing Truck achieved the top-notch performance that would be expected from the first hydrogen truck to participate in the annual rally. The H2 Racing Truck, the most powerful 100% hydrogen and electric racing truck ever built, ran from the Red Sea, in Jeddah, through the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia traversing to Hail, Al Artawiyah, Al Qaisumah, Riyadh, Al Dawadimi, Wadi Ad Dawasir, Bisha and returning in the final sprint of the race to Jeddah where it all began. The team for the H2 Racing Truck consisted, for this heavy vehicle, of a crew driven by a Dakar winner, Philippe Jacquot pilot, and included Christophe GAUSSIN, CEO of GAUSSIN, as racing team manager. This heavy class 8 truck was entered in the experimental category of the Dakar 2022 for new clean energies, and it wasdesigned for extreme environments, which was intended to demonstrate the performance and reliability of the hydrogen-electric motorization developed by GAUSSIN. GAUSSIN and ARAMCO celebrated the success of the company's first year as a participant in the Dakar Rally at the closing ceremony on January 14 in Saudi Arabia, which was highlighted by a luminous drone show in the Jeddah sky. GAUSSIN also took the finish podium at the event and put its H2 Racing Truck on display for all to see. The successful demonstration of the H2 Racing Truck during the event is promising but also rich in lessons for GAUSSIN, which was able to note the useful areas of improvement for the future, in particular the reduction of the truck's weight and center of gravity. "We are very proud of our first run in the Dakar, which is a great success for GAUSSIN. The H2 Racing Truck passed the planned test route without a hitch, with an availability ratio of 99.9%. We even exceeded some of our expectations, with a demonstrated range of 400 km, whereas our conservative estimate was for a range of around 250 km. Our hydrogen truck impressed on the spot, with its speed of 140 km/h, coupled with the silence of its engine, which is a huge asset for drivers, and finally a phenomenal torque, which made the difference in the dunes. This first entry also allows GAUSSIN to improve its truck in the future. Our ability to achieve a strong finish to the race is a testament to the conviction of our team that we must fight against climate change now and accelerate the transition to clean energy options,"said Christophe Gaussin, CEO of GAUSSIN A promising success for the marketing of GAUSSIN's hydrogen trucks The H2 Racing Truck is an illustration of GAUSSIN's latest innovations. Unlike the solutions currently available on the market, the implementation of the hydrogen system has been developed on the basis of an ultra-light chassis designed around the hydrogen and electric powertrain and based on the modular skateboard launched last April by GAUSSIN (see press release from April 27, 2021). It is the precursor of GAUSSIN's new range of 100% hydrogen and electric road trucks, designed by PININFARINA, which will be marketed this year and of which it is the first model. While obtaining the truck's registration to drive on European roads was a first success, the H2 Racing Truck's successful run in the Dakar Rally is an undeniable asset for attracting new partners and customers on the market. Winning new licensing agreements is one of GAUSSIN's stated objectives in the context of its participation in the Dakar, and several promising relationships have been established during the race. A success that reinforces the ARAMCO-GAUSSIN partnership ARAMCO's sponsorship of the truck is part of a broader ambition that aims to establish a modern manufacturing facility as well as hydrogen distribution business for on-road and off-road hydrogen powered vehicles in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ARAMCO's Advanced Innovation Center (LAB7) will be closely involved in GAUSSIN's development of hydrogen-powered vehicles and the development of a remote controlled/autonomous hydrogen racing truck. LAB7 aims to integrate ARAMCO's composite materials into GAUSSIN's existing range of products to reduce the weight, energy consumption and cost of these vehicles. "This is a milestone in the development of hydrogen. The Dakar Rally is one of the most grueling motorsport events in the world a test of a vehicle's ability to cope in the harshest conditions. As part of ARAMCO's collaborations with key industrial players in the hydrogen sector, we are proud to be part of this historic moment, which demonstrates the significant potential of hydrogen as a viable alternative energy source," said Ahmad A. Al Sa'adi, ARAMCO's Senior Vice President of Technical Services Upcoming events HyET Hydrogen Summit Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: February 27th 2021 financial results: April 26th About Aramco Aramco is a global integrated energy and chemicals company. We are driven by the core belief that energy is opportunity. From producing approximately one in every eight barrels of the world's oil supply to developing new energy technologies, our global team is dedicated to creating impact in all that we do. We focus on making our resources more dependable, more sustainable and more useful. This helps promote stability and long-term growth around the world. www.aramco.com Contact Information: International Media Relations: international.media@aramco.com Investor Relations: investor.relations@aramco.com Aramco About GAUSSIN GAUSSIN is an engineering company that designs, assembles and sells innovative products and services in the transport and logistics field. Its know-how encompasses cargo and passenger transport, autonomous technologies allowing for self-driving solutions such as Automotive Guided Vehicles, and the integration all types of batteries, electric and hydrogen fuel cells in particular. With more than 50,000 vehicles worldwide, GAUSSIN enjoys a strong reputation in four fast-expanding markets: port terminals, airports, logistics and people mobility. The group has developed strategic partnerships with major global players in order to accelerate its commercial penetration: Siemens Postal, Parcel Airport Logistics in the airport field, Bollore Ports and ST Engineering in ports and Bluebus for people mobility. GAUSSIN has broadened its business model with the signing of license agreements accelerating the diffusion of its technology throughout the world. The acquisition of METALLIANCE confirms the emergence of an international group present in all segments of intelligent and clean vehicles. In October 2021, GAUSSIN won the Dubai World Challenge for Self-Driving Transport. In January 2022, GAUSSIN successfully completed the 2022 Dakar Rally with its H2 Racing Truck, the first hydrogen-powered vehicle to enter the race and generate zero CO2 emissions. GAUSSIN has been listed on Euronext Growth in Paris since 2010. More information on www.gaussin.com. For more information on GAUSSIN, go to www.gaussin.com This document may contain forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information refers to future prospects, developments and strategies of Gaussin and is based on an analysis of expected future results and estimates of amounts that are not yet determinable to date. Forward-looking information naturally contains elements of risk and uncertainty relative to events and therefore dependent on circumstances which may or may not occur in the future. Gaussin draws your attention to the fact that forward-looking information provides no guarantee concerning its future performance or financial situation, financial results or trends in the sector in which Gaussin operates, and which may significantly differ from those proposed or suggested in the forward-looking statements contained in this presentation. Furthermore, even though the financial position of Gaussin, its performance and trends in the sector in which Gaussin operates comply with the forward-looking information contained in this presentation, such performance or trends may not be a reliable indication of the company's future performance or prospects. Gaussin is not committed to updating or confirming analysts' expectations or estimates or to publicly correcting any information or event in order to reflect an event or circumstance eventually occurring following this presentation. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005925/en/ Contacts: GAUSSIN Christophe Gaussin, invest@gaussin.com +33(0)3.84.46.13.45 Ulysse Communication Nicolas Daniels, ndaniels@ulysse-communication.com +33(0)6.63.66.59.22 Charles Courbet, ccourbet@ulysse-communication.com +33(0)6.28.93.03.06 LHA Investor Relations USA Jody Burfening, jburfening@lhai.com +1 (212) 838-3777 Rooney Partners USA Jeanene Timberlake, jtimberlake@rooneypartners.com +1 (646) 770-8858 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2022) - Bell Copper Corporation (TSXV: BCU) (OTCQB: BCUFF) ("Bell Copper" or the "Company") announces that it has entered into a shareholder rights plan agreement (the "Plan") with TMX Trust Company as rights agent effective January 27, 2022. The Plan is similar to rights plans adopted by other Canadian public companies and has not been adopted in response to any pending or threatened takeover bid for Bell Copper nor is the Company aware of any such effort. Rather, the Plan has been adopted with a view to ensuring, to the extent possible, that all shareholders of the Company have an equal opportunity to participate in, and are treated fairly in the event of a "creeping takeover bid" for the Company. Creeping takeover bids, which were not addressed in Canada's takeover bid regime updated in May 2016, occur where acquisition of effective control takes place through a number of share purchases over time. While the Plan is effective immediately, it is subject to ratification by the Company's shareholders within six months of its adoption. Bell Copper will be seeking shareholder ratification of the Plan at a special meeting of its shareholder which will be scheduled to be held before June 25, 2022 (the "SGM"). A summary of the principal terms of the Plan will be described in the management information circular being sent to all Bell Copper shareholders in connection with the SGM and a complete copy of the Plan will be made available for viewing under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Under the Plan, one right (a "Right") has been issued in respect of each issued and outstanding common share of Bell Copper as of the close of business on January 27, 2022 and one Right will also be issued and attach to each subsequently issued common share. These Rights will only become exercisable if a person (an "Acquiring Person"), including affiliates and associates and persons acting jointly or in concert with such person ("Related Persons"), becomes the beneficial owner of 20% or more of the outstanding common shares of Bell Copper without complying with the "permitted bid" provisions of the Plan or, in certain circumstances, without the approval of the Company's board of directors (the "Board"). In such event, holders of common shares, other than the Acquiring Person and any Related Persons, will be entitled to exercise their Rights and purchase common shares of the Company at a substantial discount to the then market price of the Company's shares. The Plan is scheduled to expire at the close of business on the date of Bell Copper's annual meeting of shareholders to be held in in 2025, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the terms of the Plan. The Plan has been submitted to the TSX Venture Exchange, and remains subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and ratification by Bell Copper's shareholders at the SGM, failing which the Plan and all Rights issued thereunder will terminate. About Bell Copper Bell Copper is a mineral exploration company focused on the identification, exploration and discovery of large copper deposits located in Arizona. Bell Copper is exploring its 100% owned Big Sandy Porphyry Copper Project and the Perseverance Porphyry Copper Project which is under a Joint Venture - Earn In. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Bell Copper Corporation "Timothy Marsh" Timothy Marsh, President, CEO & Director For further information please contact the Company Tel: 1 800 418 8250 Email: info@bellcopper.net Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-Looking Statements This news release includes "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. All statements included in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", "potential", "target", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. Forward-looking statements in this news release include that the shareholders rights plan will ensure that all shareholders are treated fairly in the event of a takeover and that the plan will be put to shareholder at the SGM for ratification. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which Bell Copper operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies, including the risk that the TSX Venture Exchange will not approve the shareholders rights plan and that the shareholders will not ratify the plan at the SGM. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results, and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include actual exploration results, interpretation of metallurgical characteristics of the mineralization, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required approvals, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators, including those described in the Company's most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements, except in accordance with applicable law. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111877 Regulatory News: The annual shareholders' meeting (ordinary and extraordinary meeting) of Elior Group (Paris:ELIOR) whose shares are listed on Euronext Paris will take place on Monday, February 28, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. at centre de conference Verso, 52 rue de la Victoire, 75009 Paris. The statutory notice of meeting (in French only) was published in France's official legal journal (BALO) on January 19, 2022. In addition, in accordance with the applicable regulations, the statutory notice of meeting which includes the agenda, proposes resolutions and information on how to participate in and vote at the Meeting are available for consultation since January 19, 2022, on the Company's website at www.eliorgroup.com (under Finance/Shareholders/2022 Annual Shareholders' Meeting). The information on total number of voting rights and shares in the capital on the date of the statutory notice of meeting is available on the Company's website at www.eliorgroup.com (under Finance/Shareholders/2022 Annual Shareholders' Meeting), from today's date. All the documents and information relating to the annual shareholders' meeting are made available to shareholders at the Company's head office at 9-11 allee de l'Arche 92032 Paris La Defense Cedex, France, in accordance with the applicable regulations. Shareholders are invited to regularly consult Company's dedicated page of the website that may be updated, in order to give details, as the case may be, on final conditions to attend the Meeting depending on the health and legal restrictions. Subject to the limits and timeframes provided for in the applicable laws and regulations, shareholders may ask that these documents be sent directly to them by submitting a written request to BNP Paribas Securities Services, either by post (BNP Paribas Securities Services Service Assemblees Generales CTO Assemblees Generales Les Grands Moulins de Pantin 9, rue du Debarcadere 93761 Pantin Cedex France), or by fax (+33 (0)1 40 14 58 90). About Elior Group Founded in 1991, Elior Group has grown into one of the world's leading operators in contract catering and support services and has become a benchmark player in the business industry, education, healthcare and leisure markets. With strong positions in five main countries, the Group generated 3 690 million in revenue in fiscal 2020-2021. Our 99,000 employees feed over 3,6 million guests each day in 22,700 restaurants and points of sale. Innovation and social responsibility are at the core of our business model. Elior Group has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2004, reaching the GC Advanced Level in 2015. For further information please visit our website at http://www.eliorgroup.com or follow us on Twitter (@Elior_Group) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005960/en/ Contacts: Elior Group Millicom's subsidiary in Guatemala, Comunicaciones Celulares S.A.,announces the issuance of US$900 million 5,125% senior notes due 2032 Luxembourg, January 27,2022 - Millicom's subsidiary, Comunicaciones Celulares S.A. (the "Company") rated Ba1 by Moody's and BB+ by Fitch, announced the completion of its offering of US$900 million 5,125% senior notes due 2032 (the "Notes"). Millicom intends to use the net proceeds to prepay a portion of its remaining obligations under the Bridge Facility Agreement entered into to complete the acquisition of a 45% stake in the Company and the other Tigo operations in Guatemala in November 2021. The outstanding amount of the Bridge Facility Agreement after such repayment will amount to US$450 million. The Notes are expected to be listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The Notes are being sold within the United States to qualified institutional buyers who are also qualified purchasers in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act and to certain non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Forward-looking statements This press release contains forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, including, without limitation, changes in our business or acquisition strategy or planned capital expenditures, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. -END- For further information, please contact Press: Vivian Kobeh, Director Corporate Communications +1 786-628-5300 press@millicom.com (mailto:press@millicom.com) Yocasta Valdez, Group Manager Digital Media & Communications +1 305-929-5417 press@millicom.com (mailto:press@millicom.com) Investors: Michel Morin, VP Investor Relations +1 786 628 5270 investors@millicom.com (mailto:investors@millicom.com) Sarah Inmon, Investor Relations Manager +1-786-628-5303 investors@millicom.com (mailto:investors@millicom.com) About Millicom Millicom. Connect with Millicom on Twitter, Instagram, Facebookand LinkedIn. About Comcel S.A. Comunicaciones Celulares S.A. - Comcel is a leading provider of mobile and fixed communications services in Guatemala, providing Mobile, Cable TV, Broadband Internet and Mobile Financial Services under the TIGO brand, 100% owned by Millicom International Cellular S.A. (TIGO). Attachment Actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted of faking a homophobic and racist attack on himself, will be sentenced on March 10, a judge said Thursday. Cook County Judge James Linn held the virtual hearing via Zoom from Chicago, while Smollett appeared from New York. Advertisement In December, a jury found the former Empire star guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct, which is a Class 4 felony and punishable by up to three years in prison. He was acquitted on a sixth count. Advertisement Former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett arrives at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building for day seven of his trial on December 8, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) In January 2019, Smollett told Chicago police that he had been attacked by two brothers, who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. He also claimed that his alleged attackers put a rope around his neck, though there were no witnesses or video to back his story. The openly gay actor was later accused of paying the men to stage the fake attack on him. During the trial, in December 2021, the two brothers testified that the actor paid them $3,500 for the fake attack, and also told them to yell lines such as MAGA country, an apparent reference to former President Donald Trumps Make America Great Again slogan. Smollett has maintained his innocence, telling the court that there was no hoax on my part. He also called brothers Abimbola and Olabingo Osundairo liars. Slate Roofing Contractor of Atlanta Georgia, Braswell Construction Group, honored as DaVinci Roofing Project of the Year 2021 winner. ATLANTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / January 27, 2022 / Platinum accredited top Georgia Roofer, Braswell Construction Group (BCG), is honored to be selected as the 2021 DaVinci Masterpiece Contractor Project of the Year Award Winner. DaVinci Roofscapes, a Westlake company, and a leading composite roofing manufacturer, has recently announced that only three residential projects and one commercial project from across the country have been chosen to receive the prestigious award. Qualifications for DaVinci Masterpiece Contractors to receive the award include excellence of installation work, outstanding visual impact, and ability of the roofing work to transform the look of a home or commercial project. Atlanta GA Top Slate Roofing Contractor , Braswell Construction Group, was selected based on the residential project featured in the photo above. This lakeside, European-style home of Don and Shannon Harvey was re-roofed as part of a home remodeling project, and now features a DaVinci Multi-Width Slate roof in Smokey Gray. Homeowner, Shannon O'Keefe-Harvey stated, "Chris Braswell and his team worked efficiently to get the job done. We understand our home's design is not particularly easy for a roofer. However, this crew respected our property and has given us a DaVinci roof that we truly love." "DaVinci is known for the best synthetic roofing products on the market today. We are honored to be part of the program and humbled to be chosen as a 2021 Project of the Year Award Winner," says Chris Braswell, owner of Braswell Construction Group. "Synthetic roofing materials is becoming more widely recognized as the preferred roofing material because it is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it stands up to the harshest weather challenges. We love that we are able to offer our customers the best array of products to choose from while providing quality installation and unparalleled customer service." About DaVinci Roofscapes: DaVinci Roofscapes, a Westlake company, leads the composite roofing industry in the greatest selection of colors, tile thickness and tile width variety. The company's reliable products have a lifetime limited materials warranty and are 100 percent recyclable. All DaVinci high-performing roofing and siding products are proudly made in America. The experienced team members at DaVinci Roofscapes develop and manufacture industry-leading composite slate and shake roofing and siding systems with an authentic look and superior performance. For information call 1-800-328-4624 or visit www.davinciroofscapes.com . About Braswell Construction Group: Braswell Construction Group is a leader in specialty roofing and a DaVinci Roofer Masterpiece Contractor. BCG has been locally owned and operated since 2002, and prides itself on its high-quality craftsmanship, exceptional customer service, and professional acumen. They have a reputation for always completing its roofing and restoration projects on time and on budget while providing customized service, top-notch customer service, and unparalleled workmanship. Braswell Construction Group has been featured dozens of times in Yahoo Finance, ABC, FOX, CBS, Atlanta Leader among many others as an industry leader and the top Roofing Contractor in the state of Georgia. Braswell Construction Group operates from four Georgia locations to service homeowners with all their roofing and restoration needs in Greensboro/Lake Oconee, Covington/Conyers, Stone Mountain, Atlanta, and their respective surrounding areas. For more information, please visit https://www.braswellconstructiongroup.com Contact Info: Name: Michelle Bird Email: info@braswellconstructiongroup.com Organization: Braswell Construction Group, Inc. Roofing & Restoration Address: 3060 Pharr Ct N Northwest #32, Atlanta GA 30305 Phone: (678) 283-2551 SOURCE: Braswell Construction Group View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/685950/Slate-Roofer-of-Buckhead-Atlanta-Braswell-Construction-Group-Awarded-DaVinci-Masterpiece-Contractor-2021-Project-of-the-Year TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (TSX: CF) is scheduled to release its third quarter results and supplementary financial information after Canadian markets close on Wednesday, February 9, 2022. Interested investors, the media and other stakeholders may review the earnings release and supplementary financial information at www.cgf.com/investor-relations/investor-resources/financial-reports/ QUARTERLY CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST: Interested parties are invited to listen to Canaccord Genuity's third quarter results conference call via live webcast or a toll-free number. The conference call is scheduled for Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, 5:00 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 p.m. UK time, 9:00 p.m. China Standard Time, and midnight Australia EST. During the call, senior executives will comment on the results and respond to questions from analysts and institutional investors. The conference call may be accessed live and will also be archived on a listen-only basis at: www.cgf.com/investor-relations/news-and-events/conference-calls-and-webcasts/ Analysts and institutional investors can call in via telephone at: 416-764-8609 (within Toronto ) ) 888-390-0605 (toll free in North America outside Toronto ) outside ) 0-800-652-2435 (toll free from the United Kingdom ) ) 0-800-916-834 (toll free from France ) ) 10-800-714-1938 (toll free from Northern China ) ) 10-800-140-1973 (toll free from Southern China ) ) 1-800-076-068 (toll free from Australia ) ) 80-003-570-3632 (toll free from United Arab Emirates ) Please ask to participate in the Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. Q3/22 results call. If a passcode is requested, please use 30945650. A replay of the conference call will be made available from approximately two hours after the live call on February 10, 2022 until April 10, 2022 at 416-764-8677 or 1-888-390-0541 by entering passcode 945650 followed by the (#) key. ABOUT CANACCORD GENUITY GROUP INC.: Through its principal subsidiaries, Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (the "Company") is a leading independent, full-service financial services firm, with operations in two principal segments of the securities industry: wealth management and capital markets. Since its establishment in 1950, the Company has been driven by an unwavering commitment to building lasting client relationships. We achieve this by generating value for our individual, institutional and corporate clients through comprehensive investment solutions, brokerage services and investment banking services. The Company has Wealth Management offices located in Canada, the UK, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Australia. The Company's international capital markets division operates in North America, UK & Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is publicly traded under the symbol CF on the TSX. Investor and media relations inquiries: Christina Marinoff, Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications, Phone: 416-687-5507, Email: cmarinoff@cgf.com, www.cgf.com/investor-relations Millicom to host virtual investor day on February 14 Luxembourg,January 27, 2021 - Registration is now open for Millicom's investor day to be held on Monday, February 14th from approximately 3:00-6:00 (Stockholm) / 2:00-5:00 (London) / 9:00-12:00 (Miami). The event will be virtual. Investors and analysts who would like to participate in the Q&A via Zoom must register at the following link. Other livestream options will be available on Millicom's website on the day of the event. Topics will include an update on the company strategy and ESG initiatives, including a review of our performance and operations in Guatemala and Colombia, and an update on our plans to carve-out Tigo Money and infrastructure assets, among other topics. For further information, please contact: Press: Vivian Kobeh, Director Corporate Communications +1-786-628-5300 press@millicom.com (mailto:press@millicom.com) Yocasta Valdez, Group Manager Digital Media & Communications +1-305-929-5417 press@millicom.com (mailto:press@millicom.com) Investors: Michel Morin, VP Investor Relations +1-786-628-5270 investors@millicom.com (mailto:investors@millicom.com) Sarah Inmon, Director Investor Relations +1-786-628-5303 investors@millicom.com (mailto:investors@millicom.com) About Millicom Millicom. Connect with Millicom on Twitter, Instagram, Facebookand LinkedIn. Attachment Domestika, a Berkeley, Calif.-based learning community for creatives, closed a $110m Series D funding round, bringing total valuation to $1.3 billion. The round was led by Zeev Ventures with participation from GSV Ventures and other private investors. The company intends to use the funds to continue to expand its business reach. Led by Julio G. Cotorruelo, co-founder and CEO, Domestika is a learning communities for creative minds, where the best experts and practitioners share their knowledge and skills through professionally produced online courses and content. The courses cover a broad creative spectrum, from illustration and design, to crafts and digital marketing, and beyond. The platform offers nearly 2,000 courses taught by 1,300 creative professionals. In 2021, Domestika launched its first courses in French, German and Italian, to complement its existing array of courses in English, Spanish and Portuguese. All courses are subtitled and translated into English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French, Polish and Dutch. The community has already completed more than 13 million courses. With studios in 12 countries across Europe and the Americas, all content is curated and produced in-house to ensure the best learning experience. In the past 18 months, Domestika has expanded to new countries, opening studios in the United States, the UK and more recently France, Italy and Germany to complement its original studios in Spain and Latin America. FinSMEs 27/01/2022 GrowSari, a Manila, Philippines-based B2B e-commerce platform serving micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), raised US$45m from KKR. With the investment KKR will lead the in Series C Funding round. The investment will support the companys expansion into more regions across the Philippines and strengthen its financial services capabilities. Founded in 2016 by Reymund ER Rollan, CEO, GrowSari is a tech-enabled B2B platform that helps the Philippines small physical retail stores, including neighborhood retail shops (sari-sari stores), roadside and market shops (carinderia), and pharmacies, enhance their service levels and access a wider range of products and value-adding services. This allows the stores to provide local communities with more comprehensive offerings, including digital services. Today, GrowSari is present in 220 municipalities across the regions of Luzon and offers over a hundred types of different services including making bill payments, telco reloads, and wallet top-ups, as well as procurement services for common retail goods and pharmaceutical medicines. Prior to KKRs investment, the company had raised funding from global financial and strategic investors, including Temasek-affiliated Pavilion Capital, Tencent, the International Finance Corporation, the Gokongwei family-controlled JG Summit, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., Wavemaker Partners, Saison Capital, and the Investment & Capital Corporation of the Philippines. FinSMEs 27/01/2022 On January 5, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Eritrea Osman Saleh Mohammed in Asmara. Wang Yi said, it has been 32 years in a row for Chinese foreign ministers to visit Africa at the beginning of the year. This demonstrates the solidarity and cooperation between China and Africa, and also shows that China's diplomacy always stands on the side of developing countries. Eritrea is the first country on this tour to Africa. China cherishes its traditional friendship with Eritrea and is willing to open up new prospects for the development of bilateral relations. The greatest outcome of this visit is that the two sides reached a consensus and the two heads of state have made major political decisions to elevate China-Eritrea relations to the strategic partnership, which serves the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries and two peoples. China would like to take this opportunity to advance bilateral all-around mutually beneficial cooperation, open a new chapter in bilateral relations and bring more benefits to the two peoples. The two sides should strengthen the synergy of the "nine programs" put forward at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to inject strong impetus into future cooperation. Wang Yi said, as strategic partners, China and Eritrea should more firmly support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns. We should strengthen coordination and cooperation in international and multilateral affairs, hold high the banner of multilateralism, and oppose hegemony and power politics. We stay committed to promoting democracy in international relations and safeguarding international fairness and justice. China will always stand by our African brothers, and China's vote in the United Nations always belongs to developing countries. Osman said, the establishment of the strategic partnership between Eritrea and China will push bilateral relations to a new height. Eritrea fully agrees with the "nine programs" initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, and is ready to work with China to align and implement the cooperation framework plan, strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, ports, industrial parks and other fields, and translate the willingness of cooperation into tangible results. Eritrea and China share common ideas on issues such as peace and stability, sovereignty and independence, mutually beneficial development, and equity and justice. Eritrea firmly pursues the one-China policy and supports China's just position on issues related to China's Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea. It is Eritrea's long-standing tradition to stand with China. Eritrea is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China to jointly safeguard the legitimate interests of developing countries. Following the talks, the two sides signed the Joint Statement by Foreign Ministers of China and Eritrea. A South Florida man had to spend nearly a week in jail this month when he was mistaken for a fugitive. Leonardo Silva Oliveira, 26, a cook at a Deerfield Beach restaurant with no criminal record was behind bars for five days after he was arrested last Thursday as authorities believed him to be fugitive Leonardo Silva Oliveira, just 10 days older, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Wednesday. Advertisement The latter Oliveira was wanted for violating probation on charges of grand theft and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling in Boca Raton, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Leonardo Silva Oliveira, 26 (Florida Dept. of Corrections) While the men also share vague facial similarities, authorities knew that Oliveira, the fugitive, had tattoos and that Brazil-born Oliveira, the cook, did not. Even so, they still took me in, the latter told the paper. Advertisement It took days before authorities bothered to compare the fingerprints of both men. Leonardo Silva Oliveira, 26, of Coconut Creek, was the unfortunate namesake of a wanted fugitive. He was arrested last Thursday on a warrant out of Palm Beach County, was jailed until Tuesday morning. (Carline Jean/AP) How could I be wanted on a probation violation when Ive never been arrested for anything? said Oliveira, the cook, who at 150 pounds, weighs far less than his fugitive doppelganger did at 213 pounds during his 2017 arrest. I dont want this to happen to anyone else, said Oliveira, the cook. I dont want it to happen to me again! Do I have to change my name so that it doesnt? With a surname common in Brazil, the innocent Oliveira did what he could to convince people he was who he said he was before the fingerprints provided the key, according to the paper. The arrest report from Coconut Creek Police says Oliveira, the cook, was identified as the criminal in Floridas driver and vehicle information database despite the incorrect birthday and officials are now trying to determine what led to the mix-up. 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. Two Texas brothers have been arrested for beating their stepfather to death after he allegedly sexually abused their 9-year-old half-sister. Alejandro and Christian Trevino flew into a rage when they learned of the disturbing allegations against their 42-year-old stepfather, Gabriel Quintanilla. Police said the brothers traveled to a trailer park in Pharr, where they confronted Quintanilla inside his mobile home, according to an affidavit obtained by People. Advertisement All three left the residence, but violence again broke out at a nearby apartment complex. This time, the brothers were joined by a friend, 18-year-old Eduardo Melendez. The group of teens then left the apartment and changed vehicles, only to return again to viciously beat Quintanilla, who they found walking outside on the sidewalk. Police said Quintanilla was then placed into the bed of a white Ford F-150 and taken to a field in McAllen, where he was left to die. His body was later discovered by a farmer on Jan. 20. Advertisement According to the complaint, he suffered severe trauma to the head. At a press conference Tuesday, Pharr Police Chief Andy Harvey said Quintanilla had been accused of abusing a different child in an unrelated case between 2014 and 2016. And while detectives had enough evidence for a warrant, they were ultimately unable to locate and arrest the suspect. The detectives went out to look for Quintanilla at that time and were unable to find him, Harvey said. They searched his last known residence, they went to his mothers residence multiple times. All three suspects were arraigned on Sunday. Christian Trevino and Melendez have been charged with capital murder, aggravated assault, and engaging in organized criminal activity. Alexandro Trevino has been charged with aggravated assault and engaging in organized criminal activity. They are each being held on $500,000 bond. 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. MORTON MARCUS is an economist, writer and speaker formerly with Indiana Universitys Kelley School of Business. He can be reached at mortonjmarcus@yahoo.com . Gainesville, TX (76240) Today A mix of clouds and sun. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. High 82F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 64F. Winds ESE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Three weeks after a 16-year-old girl was fatally shot and her body dumped on a freeway in Los Angeles, authorities are offering a $110,000 reward for information about her killer. Tioni Theus was found dead Jan. 8 on the side of Interstate 110 in south Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times. Police said shed been shot in the neck. Advertisement She was thrown on the side of the freeway like trash, and shes a child! Tionis cousin Lakesia Barrett told KABC. (Shutterstock) No arrests have been made, and police have not released any suspect descriptions. Advertisement Theus was last seen leaving her dads house in Compton after telling him she was meeting a friend for a party, the L.A. Times reported. Whoever knows what happened needs to say something, Theus cousin Nafeesah Kincy told KABC. Its just as simple as that. She was a human being. She didnt deserve this. At a vigil for Theus last Saturday, her family and activists pointed out that in a different Los Angeles murder case, that of 24-year-old Brianna Kupfer, a $250,000 reward was quickly offered. At the time of last Saturdays rally, no reward had been offered in Theus case. With new attention on the investigation, California Gov. Gavin Newsom offered $50,000 and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell put up $10,000, the L.A. Times reported. Los Angeles City Council is considering a motion to add its own $50,000 reward. Cases involving Black victims are four times more likely to go unsolved, Mitchell said in a statement. It is imperative that we do not allow implicit bias or adultification influence the medias coverage and public outrage over the murders of Black girls. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said Theus may have been the victim of human trafficking, according to the L.A. Times. Kincy told the paper that a man in his 20s had manipulated and coerced her into sex trafficking. Children cannot consent to sex work, Tiffany Blacknell of the DAs office told KNBC. (Tioni) was a child. Her life mattered. An Albany Police Department detective shot at a moving car that was reportedly aiming for officers Wednesday night, Jan. 26, according to an APD news release. At around 6:22 p.m., members of the Linn Interagency Narcotics Enforcement, or LINE, team and other patrol officers attempted to contact and arrest two people on multiple warrants in the parking lot of Bobs Family Market on Geary Street. One suspect, identified as 31-year-old Kagen Ray Sandoval of Corvallis, allegedly attempted to use his car as a weapon and rammed into multiple vehicles, according to police. An APD detective fired one shot at Sandoval in the vehicle but did not hit him. According to the news release, LINE detectives and patrol officers from APD, Linn County Sheriffs Office and Oregon State Police were on the scene and assisted in apprehending the suspects. The passenger of the vehicle was identified as 26-year-old Jaedyn Suzanna Peck of Albany. Sandoval was treated for minor injuries and released from a local hospital, according to the news release. Both suspects are lodged at Linn County Jail. Sandoval is being held on multiple no-bail arrest warrants and additional pending charges. Peck is also being held on multiple no-bail arrest warrants. According to Oregons online court database, Sandoval has two open cases in Linn County where he is facing charges of being a felon in possession of a restricted weapon, failure to appear on a criminal citation, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and reckless driving. Peck also has two open cases in Linn County. Charges in those cases include criminal trespass while in possession of a firearm, attempt to commit a Class A misdemeanor, unlawful possession of heroin, tampering with physical evidence, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving and recklessly endangering another person. The LINE detective involved in the shooting has been placed on leave, per department policy and national best practices, according to APD. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Albany Democrat-Herald. Critical incident Leave is for the purpose of relieving the employee from further field duties while undergoing the emotional stress of having been involved in a critical action and permitting time to conduct an objective investigation into the incident, the news release says. In this circumstance critical incident leave is not considered a suspension or as disciplinary action. Investigation into the incident is ongoing. The Lebanon Police Department is directing the investigation and being assisted by the Linn Benton Major Crimes Team. Anyone who has information regarding the investigation should call LPD Lt. Ryan Padua at 541-451-1751. Maddie Pfeifer covers public safety for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6091 or Madison.Pfeifer@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @maddiepfeifer_ 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. Alsea Superintendent Marc Thielman's Friday, Jan. 21 announcement that his district would no longer enforce mask wearing in school settings, except while riding a bus, flies in the the face of mask mandates put forth by the Oregon Department of Education and the Oregon Health Authority. Because of that, two days later, the Department of Education issued a compliance letter to Thielman and school board chair Ron Koetz, withholding federal COVID-19 relief funds from the district until it once again complies with the indoor mask mandate. The only other Oregon school district that has been found willfully out-of-compliance with the mask mandate is the Adrian School District in Malheur County, and after a significant fine from ODE, they put the masks back on. Lost funds and past citations The federal funds meant to help school districts navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, formally known as Elementary and Secondary School Education Relief funding, requires districts to comply with all state laws and regulations. They come in the form of a reimbursement, so once a district spends the money and submits the reimbursement request to ODE, it will receive the funds. Alsea, a district that enrolled 858 students last year, is scheduled to receive approximately $324,000 in funds, according to ODE Public Affairs Specialist Peter J. Rudy. To date, the district has claimed reimbursement for $50,456. If Thielman and the board remain out of compliance with the guidance, they will lose out on over $270,000 in remaining eligible funds for the district. But this isnt the first time this year Alsea has had a run-in with a government agency on this issue. On Jan. 4, Oregon Occupational Safety and Health issued a citation to Alsea for three violations, one of which was violating the Oregon Health Authority mask requirement for educational institutions. The $420 penalty was the result of an inspection Oregon OSHA conducted late last year. The citation has not yet been appealed, but its not considered a final order until the employer files an appeal within 30 days. The employer confirmed receipt of the citation Jan. 10. The minimum and maximum penalty for a willful violation are $9,753 and $135,653, respectively. Thielmans statement that his district will no longer enforce masks is a willful violation, Rudy said. The school board's Jan. 13 resolution to go mask-less declared the return of local decision-making regarding masks and COVID-19 protocols. However, those rules are promulgated by state agencies and public health departments, not local boards and councils. Speaking at a Benton County Republican Women event in Corvallis this week, Thielman said the change in masking guidelines has resulted in an ethics complaint that will be investigated. He made light of the investigation in remarks to the audience. Look, if I get two more investigations, I want a tax deduction and a free toaster, he said. Thielman said he would rely on the court of public opinion to exonerate him, adding that he believes the vast majority of students and parents support the switch to optional masking. COVID-19 numbers in the district Two days after a Friday announcement that masks would no longer be enforced in school settings outside of a school bus, Thielman informed parents the district would be closing on Monday due to staffing shortages and positive cases of the virus. The district originally planned to reopen Wednesday, Jan. 26, but because of the ongoing shortages and positive case counts, they will remain closed until Monday, Jan. 31. In the message, Thielman stated, The silver lining is that our local case counts are declining and we will come out on the other side of this situation stronger than ever. Unlike other school districts', nowhere on the Alsea School District website is a COVID-19 dashboard available with case counts and information regarding outbreaks. Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by subscribing to the Corvallis Gazette-Times. According to the Benton County Health Department COVID-19 response team, the last time Alsea School District reported a case or outbreak of the virus was Dec. 7. Additionally, Alsea schools have not been included in the weekly OHA reports that publish COVID-19 data associated with schools that offer in-person instruction since Jan. 5. Thielman and the Alsea School District did not respond to Mid-Valley Media requests for COVID-19 case counts since Jan. 5. 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. The robot did asignificantly better job than humans in performing a tricky procedure to connect two ends of intestine in a pig. A robot has successfully carried out a keyhole surgery on a pig without the help of humans. In a new study, researchers are hopeful the procedure will mark a significant step in fully automating operations on humans. Surgical automation Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University say the robot surgeon produced significantly better results than humans at a procedure which requires a high level of precision. The Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (The Star) performed the delicate laparoscopickeyhole surgery in four animals. The operation involved connecting two ends of an intestine, which could go fatally wrong with the slightest hand tremor. Axel Krieger, one of the researchers and senior author of the report, said it marked the first time a robot had performed laparoscopic surgery without human help. He added: Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine. The Star performed the procedure in four animals, and it produced significantly better results than humans performing the same procedure. Improved settings Experts say connecting two ends of an intestine is by far the most challenging step in gastrointestinal surgery, requiring a surgeon to apply stitches with high accuracy and consistency. However, it is also especially hard for robots to perform soft tissue surgery due to its unpredictable naturethey may not be able to adapt quickly to handle unexpected obstacles. The paper set out a novel control system in the Star that can adjust the surgical plan in real time, just as a human surgeon would. Dr Krieger, who helped create the robot, said: What makes the Star special is that it is the first robotic system to plan, adapt, and execute a surgical plan in soft tissue with minimal human intervention. Robotic anastomosis (surgically joining two structures) is one way to ensure that surgical tasks that require high precision and repeatability can be performed with more accuracy and precision in every patient independent of surgeon skill. An Arizona survivalist who evaded arrest for 107 days by hiding out in the desert has been sentenced to prison. David Whitaker, 42, will spent 25 years behind bars for sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl, the Pinal County Sheriffs Office announced Wednesday. Advertisement Whitaker was reported to police in late November 2020 by the victim, who later told officials that the abuse had been ongoing. As deputies approached his Red Rock house, Whitaker fled into the desert, armed with a handgun. David Whitaker (Pinal County Sheriffs Office) For 15 weeks, Whitaker hid out in the desert, living in a shack he built, catching fish in a nearby canal and hunting javelina and rabbit, according to police. Advertisement Eventually, he was captured with the help of Department of Public Safety troopers. Whitaker was charged with attempted sexual conduct with a minor, three counts of sexual conduct with a minor, indecent exposure and sexual abuse. Where authorities said David Whitaker was hiding out in the wilderness. (Pinal County Sheriffs Office) His plea deal will see him serve 25 years in prison with 310 days credit for time served. To those who commit crimes and believe the repercussions can be avoided, as your sheriff, know [that] we will not give up on bringing you to justice, Sheriff Mark Lamb said in a statement. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sift , the leader in Digital Trust & Safety, today announced the appointments of Alice Katwan to the companys Board of Directors and April Oman as Chief Customer Officer. Their combined experience and expertise will play a critical role in scaling Sift throughout its next phase of growth and continued global expansion. Katwan and Oman join the organization following Sift's acquisition of Keyless in November 2021, which coincided with an additional $25M to its series E funding round that valued Sift at $1.7 billion. Sifts ultimate mission is to help everyone trust the internet by preventing fraud and abuse for businesses and creating better experiences for consumers, said Marc Olesen, President & CEO of Sift. Alice and April bring invaluable experience to our team, and will keep us focused on meeting the needs of our customers. Katwan brings over 25 years of large-scale, high-growth go-to-market experience to Sift. She currently serves as the Senior Vice President & General Manager of Sales at Twilio. In her role, shes responsible for more than $2.5B in revenue, which represents over 75% of Twilios global business. Prior to Twilio, Katwan led North American Sales at Salesforce and Genesys. At Sift, Katwan will work closely with the company's investors, leadership team and the rest of the Board of Directors to provide strategic guidance for the company. Sift has an amazing business, culture, and product suite that truly sets it apart from traditional fraud prevention companies, said Katwan. Its an honor to join Sifts Board of Directors, and Im looking forward to working with the entire leadership team to provide my perspective and counsel. Oman brings more than 20 years of experience scaling customer success teams at leading SaaS organizations. She most recently served as the Senior Vice President of Customer Engagement at D2L, an online education platform that went public through an IPO in 2021, where she built out and oversaw a 275-person global customer engagement team. Oman held a similar position at Zuora, leading a Customer Success Management team responsible for over 500 customers, and previously held leadership roles at Cornerstone OnDemand and Salesforce. Sift has a customer roster that any company would be proud of, said Oman. Since joining Sift, Ive been amazed by the dedication of our Customer Success team and the companys commitment to our Start with the Customer value. Im so excited to join Sift, to help further scale and develop the ways we partner with our customers, and ensure our customers realize the full value of Sifts Digital Trust & Safety platform. For more information, visit sift.com . About Sift Sift is the leader in Digital Trust & Safety, empowering digital disruptors to Fortune 500 companies to unlock new revenue without risk. Sift dynamically prevents fraud and abuse through industry-leading technology and expertise, an unrivaled global data network of 70 billion events per month, and a commitment to long-term customer partnerships. Global brands such as Doordash, Twitter, and Wayfair rely on Sift to gain a competitive advantage in their markets. Visit us at sift.com, and follow us on Twitter @GetSift. Media Contact: RALEIGH, N.C., Jan. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Citizens Bank today announced a new approach to the fees it charges consumer customers for insufficient funds and overdrafts. The Raleigh, North Carolina-headquartered bank will: Eliminate its nonsufficient funds (NSF) fee of $36. The NSF fee is charged when a transaction or check is rejected from an account that doesnt have enough available balance to cover the transaction, and the item is returned unpaid. Significantly lower its overdraft fee from $36 to $10. The overdraft fee is charged when there are not enough funds in an account to cover the transaction, but the transaction is paid. First Citizens is one of the first major regional U.S. banks and among the first of the top 20 U.S. banks to announce such changes. Relationships with our customers are paramount, and in times like these, we recognize that every dollar counts, said John Turner, executive director of consumer services for First Citizens. Our customers rely on us to help them make their budgets work harder. By reducing and removing fees, were providing more value than ever to those who trust us with their money and their futures. First Citizens will continue to proactively help customers avoid overdrafts to ensure funds are there when customers need them. Our bankers work diligently to have meaningful conversations with our customers about managing their accounts, reducing reliance on overdrafts and helping them prepare for the unanticipated, Turner said. The changes to the NSF and overdraft fees will take effect mid-year 2022. First Citizens also offers multiple ways for customers to ensure funds are available: Customers can keep tabs on accounts through First Citizens Digital Banking and set up account and card alerts. First Citizens offers several forms of overdraft protection, including Savings Overdraft Protection, Overdraft Line of Credit, Basic Overdraft Protection and Basic Plus Overdraft Protection. First Citizens direct deposit service offers the convenience of recurring automatic deposits into accounts, providing access to funds sooner. Customers in First Citizens Bank markets interested in opening checking accounts online can visit firstcitizens.com/personal/checking. There will be no changes for the banks CIT division customers for now. OneWest Bank and CIT Bank branch customers will be able to take advantage of the changes once their accounts are converted to First Citizens Banks systems and operations. In January 2022, parent company First Citizens BancShares, Inc. and CIT Group Inc. completed their merger. CIT, CIT Bank and OneWest Bank now operate as divisions of First Citizens Bank. About First Citizens Bank First Citizens Bank helps personal, business, commercial and wealth clients build financial strength that lasts. As the largest family-controlled bank in the United States, First Citizens is continuing a unique legacy of strength, stability and long-term thinking that has spanned generations. Founded in 1898 and headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., First Citizens also operates a nationwide direct bank and a network of more than 600 branches in 22 states. Industry specialists bring a depth of expertise that helps businesses and individuals meet their specific goals at every stage of their financial journey. First Citizens Bank brings together personal service and powerful tools to help customers do more with their money and make more of their future. Visit firstcitizens.com. First Citizens Bank. Forever First Las Vegas, NV, Jan. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corcoran Global Living is pleased to welcome Trish Nash and the Trish Nash Team to the firms Las Vegas/Henderson operation in Nevada. Trish Nash is a top producing Broker in Clark County and ranks in the top 1% Brokers in the country. The team serves the Greater Las Vegas area and specializes in the east Henderson communities of Lake Las Vegas, Cadence, Tuscany, Calico Ridge and Weston Hills, further strengthening the firms investment and commitment to the region. Coming on the heels of another announcement last week, Corcoran Global Living now has six offices across Clark County well positioned in some of the most sought-after areas to best serve its client base in the booming region. The measured and strategic plans in bringing together talented and successful individual sales associates, teams and leaders have already brought the company much success since opening just nine months ago. Weve watched with interest as Corcoran Global Living first entered the Las Vegas market last year and carefully and strategically assembled some of the most respected agents and leaders in the community, many of them long-time friends and colleagues, commented Trish Nash. Their vision, values and culture aligned well with ours. We believe the strong network theyve built, resources offered, and expansive reach will help us to further enhance the exceptional service we provide to our clients and strengthen our engagement in the community. Trish Nash and Michael Hiltz, Brokers/co-founders of Signature Gallery of Homes and SGH Commercial Advisers, join Corcoran Global Living as equity partners. Trishs expertise focuses on the residential side of real estate, while Michael has a focus on commercial properties, specifically, specializing in the acquisition (purchase or lease) of properties for the use by Public Charter Schools throughout Clark County, Nevada. The Trish Nash Team is joined and supported by experienced staff that includes administrative, sales, client care, and buyer and listing associates. The team provides a high level of attention to detail in sales and marketing with strategic community outreach. We couldnt be more excited to welcome Trish, Michael and the Trish Nash Team into the Corcoran Global Living family, stated Michael Mahon, Chief Executive Officer of Corcoran Global Living. The integrity and experience they bring, as well as their passion for real estate and exceptional client service, has led them to be recognized as leaders in the market. When likeminded leaders unite, theres no limit to the success we can achieve together. Further amplifying Corcoran Global Livings unique offering is exclusive membership in the Board of Regents of Whos Who in Luxury Real Estate for the Greater Las Vegas area. Comprised of the worlds most elite luxury real estate professionals, each Regent represents a defined territory, serving as a leading authority in their region. Holding more territories than any other Regent, Corcoran Global Living is also the select representative in Orange, San Diego, and San Bernardino Counties, coastal communities from Manhattan Beach to Long Beach in Los Angeles County, and seven of the nine Bay Area counties in Northern California. Trish Nash and her team are based out of their office in The Cadence Community on East Sunset in Henderson. They can be reached at 702-331-3948 or online at trishnash.com. About Corcoran Global Living Founded on the principle of putting people first, Corcoran Global Living, an independently owned and operated affiliate of The Corcoran Group, serves the Northern California, Southern California, Reno/Lake Tahoe, Southern Nevada, and Central Ohio markets with more than 70 strategically located offices throughout the regions. Corcoran Global Living is well positioned to provide exceptional service to its loyal clientele with nearly 2,600 dedicated, professional associates and gross annual sales of $10 billion. Known for making a positive difference in the communities where associates and staff live, the Corcoran Global Living organization is poised for expansive growth to service clients in California, Nevada, Ohio, and additional new markets and communities. From luxury homes and income properties to vacation getaways and first-time homes, Corcoran Global Living has the experience, insight, and expertise to achieve and surpass clients highest expectations. For more information, visit CorcoranGL.com. Attachment NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Gatos Silver, Inc. (Gatos or the Company) (NYSE: GATO). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980. The investigation concerns whether Gatos and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices. [Click here for information about joining the class action] On January 25, 2022, post-market, Gatos issued a press release disclosing that [d]uring the Companys resource and reserve update process for the Los Gatos Joint Venture (LGJV) . . . the Company concluded that there were errors in the technical report entitled Los Gatos Project, Chihuahua, Mexico with an effective date of July 1, 2020 (the 2020 Technical Report), as well as indications that there is an overestimation in the existing resource model. Accordingly, [o]n a preliminary basis, the Company estimates a potential reduction of the metal content of CLGs mineral reserve ranging from 30% to 50% of the metal content remaining after depletion and advised that the mineral resource and reserve estimates in the 2020 Technical Report should not be relied upon. On this news, Gatos stock price fell $7.02 per share, or 68.89% percent to close at $3.17 per share on January 26, 2022. Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com . More than five years after a North Carolina mother and her then-1-year-old daughter vanished, they were found safe just 20 miles away from home. Amber Renaye Weber, then 21, and daughter Miracle Smith were found at a home in Bunnlevel, N.C., Tuesday, the U.S. Marshals announced. Advertisement Weber and Smith were last seen on Dec. 4, 2016, in Fayetteville and reported missing several weeks later on Jan. 31. All leads went cold until Fayetteville Police Departments Investigative Assistant Sonia Roldan took over the investigation a year ago and began collaborating with the U.S. Marshals. The U.S. Marshals said the investigation developed information that the missing child and mother were in Bunnlevel and may be associated with (Joe) Smith, who was arrested on Jan. 19 for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Advertisement Amber Renaye Weber, left, and daughter Miracle Smith. (Fayetteville Police) Officials found Miracle at the Bunnlevel home and turned her and her sibling over to the Harnett County Department of Social Services to provide victim assistance. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Four guns were also found at the home. Brandon Taylor, a deputy U.S. Marshal with the Investigative Operations Division, told the Daily News that Amber gave birth to Miracles sibling after the pair went missing, but could not identify the childs father. Police did not disclose their relationship to Smith, but Taylor told The News that he appears to be Miracles grandfather. Amber and Miracle were previously abused before they went missing, according to officials. Monty Weber, Ambers father, told CBS17 that she had been staying with her sister before vanishing, then took off in the middle of the night with the baby. The culmination of years of following leads and tips resulted in the outcome that we had all hoped for today; the successful recovery of a child who had been missing since December 2016, Michael East, U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said in a statement. The U.S. Marshals Service and our investigative partners will not quit, nor be deterred, until these children are rescued. Pune, India, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global 5G infrastructure market size is projected to reach USD 80.06 billion by the end of 2027. The presence of several large-scale companies in this sector will emerge in favor of market growth. According to a report published by Fortune Business Insights, titled 5G Infrastructure Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Communication Infrastructure (RAN, Transport Technologies, and Core Technologies), By Spectrum Band (Low Band (<1 GHz), Mid Band (1-6GHz), And High Band (24-40 GHz)), and Regional Forecast, 2020-2027 the market was worth USD 1.25 billion in 2019 and will exhibit a CAGR of 71.0% during the forecast period, 2020-2027. 5G infrastructure is a network that comprises of several small-scale micro base stations. Variations in 5G infrastructure suggestion stand alone and non-standalone have widened the application scope of this concept. The massive investments in 5G infrastructure setups are consequential to the massive potential held by the concept across the world. The presence of several large-scale companies in this sector will emerge in favor of growth of the overall market. Despite the barriers and debates that have raised concerns regarding the implementation of 5G and their impact on human life, the concept will be integrated on a large scale in the coming years. The growing demand for seamless network and internet connectivity will create a massive platform for the companies operating in this network. Request a Sample Copy of Report : https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/request-sample-pdf/5g-infrastructure-market-100869 List of the Key Companies Profiled: ZTE Corporation (Shenzhen, China) Cisco System, Inc. (California, United States) NEC Corporation (Tokyo, Japan) Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) (California, United States) AT&T (California, United States) Verizon Ltd. (New York, United States) CommScope Inc. (North Carolina, United States) Corning Incorporated (New York, United States) Nokia Network (Espoo, Finland) Belden Inc. (Missouri, United States) Dell EMC (Massachusetts, United States) Intel Corporation (California, United States) Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Stockholm, Sweden) Qualcomm Technologies (California, United States) Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Seoul, South Korea) Fujikura Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) Comba Telecom Systems Holdings Ltd. (Hong Kong) Report Scope & Segmentation Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2020 to 2027 Forecast Period 2020 to 2027 CAGR 71 % 2027 Value Projection USD 80.06 Billion Base Year 2019 Market Size in 2019 USD 1.25 Billion Historical Data for 2017 to 2019 No. of Pages 120 Segments covered Size, Share, Communication Infrastructure, Geography Growth Drivers Growing IoT Connected Devices to Augment the Demand for 5G Technology Need for Ultra-Low Latency is expected to Drive the 5G Infrastructure Market Network Slicing to Pave Way for Adoption of 5G Network Pitfalls & Challenges Increasing Cyber security Threats to Hamper the Market Growth Covid-19 Pandemic to Delay Proposed 5G Infrastructures Set-ups The recent coronavirus outbreak has had a massive impact on several economies across the globe. Due to the rapid spread of the disease, several companies are looking to implement strict measures with a view to controlling the spread of the disease. However, these measures have ultimately proven damaging for businesses that fall in the SME sector. Companies that have been able to seamlessly sustain the effects of the pandemic are mostly large-scale organizations or established businesses. The delays in installation and test procedures during the pandemic are due to the lack of labor and resources; a factor that is consequential to the hesitancy among [people as well as the risks associated with working during the pandemic. Click here to get the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 on this market: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/5g-infrastructure-market-100869 Increasing Number of Company Mergers will Emerge in Favor of Market Growth The report encompasses several factors that have contributed to the growth of the overall market in recent years. Accounting to the increasing demand for the product, companies are looking to adopt strategies such as collaborations and mergers with other businesses in this sector with the aim of establishing a strong brand presence. In March 2020, Nokia Network announced that it has collaborated with Intel Corporation for the development of a new 5G radio and cloud infrastructure. Evidently, both the companies have a well-established consumer coverage and brand presence on the global stage. This collaboration will be a statement of intent as far as competition in the 5G infrastructure space is concerned. An increasing number of such large-scale collaborations is a primary factor why this market is projected to exhibit an elliptical CAGR in the coming years. Speak To Our Analyst: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/5g-infrastructure-market-100869 Asia Pacific to Emerge Dominant; Presence of Several Large Scale 5G Providers will Emerge in Favor of Market Growth The report analyzes the ongoing market trends across North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America. Among all regions, the market in Asia Pacific is projected to emerge dominant in the coming years. The presence of numerous large-scale 5G providers in countries such as India, China, and Japan will contribute to the growth of the regional market. The rising demand for 5G networks and the constantly rising population in this region will be pivotal to the growth of the regional market. The increasing number of smartphone users has certainly facilitated the implementation of 5G networks in this region. As of 2019, the market in Asia Pacific was worth USD 590.9 million and this value is projected to rise at a considerable pace in the coming years. Industry Developments: March 2020 Nokia Network announced that it has collaborated with Intel Corporation for the advancement of 5G New Radio and cloud infrastructure. Through this collaboration, Nokia Network aims to develop custom ASIC solutions to enhance 5G ReefShark radio portfolio. Quick Buy 5G Infrastructure Market Research Report: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/checkout-page/100869 Major Table of Contents: Introduction Definition, By Segment Research Methodology/Approach Data Sources Executive Summary Market Dynamics Macro and Micro Economic Indicators Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities and Trends Impact of COVID-19 Short-term Impact Long-term Impact Competition Landscape Business Strategies Adopted by Key Players Consolidated SWOT Analysis of Key Players Porters Five Force Analysis Global Market Share Analysis and Matrix, 2019 Key Market Insights and Analysis, By Segments Companies Profiled (Covered for 10 players only) Overview Key Management Headquarters etc Offerings/Business Segments Key Details (Key details are subjected to data availability in public domain and/or on paid databases) Employee Size Past and Current Revenue Geographical Share Business Segment Share Recent Developments Annexure Global 5G Infrastructure Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2016-2027 By Communication Infrastructure (Value) RAN (Radio Access Network) C-Ran/V-Ran Small Cell MassiveMIMO Transport Technology Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Network Slicing Core Technology Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Mobile Edge Computing By Spectrum Band (Value) Low Band (<1 GHz) Mid Band (1-6GHz) High Band (24-40GHz) By Region (Value) North America Europe Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Latin America North America 5G Infrastructure Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2016-2027 By Communication Infrastructure (Value) RAN (Radio Access Network) C-Ran/V-Ran Small Cell MassiveMIMO Transport Technology Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Network Slicing Core Technology Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Mobile Edge Computing By Spectrum Band (Value) Low Band (<1 GHz) Mid Band (1-6GHz) High Band (24-40GHz) By Country (Value) United States Canada Europe 5G Infrastructure Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2016-2027 By Communication Infrastructure (Value) RAN (Radio Access Network) C-Ran/V-Ran Small Cell MassiveMIMO Transport Technology Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Network Slicing Core Technology Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Mobile Edge Computing By Spectrum Band (Value) Low Band (<1 GHz) Mid Band (1-6GHz) High Band (24-40GHz) By Country (Value) U.K. Germany France Italy Spain Rest of Europe Asia Pacific 5G Infrastructure Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2016-2027 By Communication Infrastructure (Value) RAN (Radio Access Network) C-Ran/V-Ran Small Cell MassiveMIMO Transport Technology Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Network Slicing Core Technology Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Mobile Edge Computing By Spectrum Band (Value) Low Band (<1 GHz) Mid Band (1-6GHz) High Band (24-40GHz) By Country (Value) China Japan India South Korea Southeast Asia Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa 5G Infrastructure Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2016-2027 By Communication Infrastructure (Value) RAN (Radio Access Network) C-Ran/V-Ran Small Cell MassiveMIMO Transport Technology Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Network Slicing Core Technology Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Mobile Edge Computing By Spectrum Band (Value) Low Band (<1 GHz) Mid Band (1-6GHz) High Band (24-40GHz) By Country (Value) GCC South Africa Rest of Middle East and Africa Latin America 5G Infrastructure Market Size Estimates and Forecasts (Quantitative Data), By Segments, 2016-2027 By Communication Infrastructure (Value) RAN (Radio Access Network) C-Ran/V-Ran Small Cell MassiveMIMO Transport Technology Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Network Slicing Core Technology Network Function Virtualization (NFV) Mobile Edge Computing By Spectrum Band (Value) Low Band (<1 GHz) Mid Band (1-6GHz) High Band (24-40GHz) By Country (Value) Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America TOC Continued! Speak To Our Analyst: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/enquiry/speak-to-analyst/5g-infrastructure-market-100869 Have a Look at Related Research Insights: Cyber Security Market Size , Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Component (Solution and Services), By Deployment Type (Cloud and On-Premise), By Enterprise Size (Small & Medium Enterprise and Large Enterprise), By Industry (BFSI, IT and Telecommunications, Retail, Healthcare, Government, Manufacturing, Travel and Transportation, Energy and Utilities and Others) and Region Forecast, 2021-2028 Data Privacy Software Market Size , Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Deployment (On-Premises, and Cloud), By Application (Compliance Management, Risk Management, Reporting & Analytics, and Others), By Organization Size (Small & Medium Enterprise (SMEs), and Large Enterprise), By Industry (BFSI, IT and Telecommunication, Government, Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2021-2028 Big Data in Manufacturing Industry Size , Share & Industry Analysis, By Offering (Solution and Services), By Deployment (On Premise, Cloud-based and Hybrid), By Application (Customer Analytics, Operational Analytics, Quality Assessment, Supply chain management, Production Management, and Others) and Regional Forecast, 2019 2026 Latin America Fraud Detection and Prevention Market Size , Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Component (Solutions and Services), By Application Area (Insurance Claims, Money Laundering), By Deployment (Cloud and On-Premise), By Enterprise Size (Large Enterprises and SMEs), By Vertical (BFSI, IT and Telecom, Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods, Government, Construction and Real Estate, Energy and Utilities), and Geographical Forecast, 2021-2028 Human Resource (HR) Technology Market Size , Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Component (Software and Services), By Deployment (Cloud and On-premise), By Industry (BFSI, IT and Telecom, Government, Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2021-2028 About Us: Fortune Business Insights delivers accurate data and innovative corporate analysis, helping organizations of all sizes make appropriate decisions. We tailor novel solutions for our clients, assisting them to address various challenges distinct to their businesses. Our aim is to empower them with holistic market intelligence, providing a granular overview of the market they are operating in. Contact Us: Fortune Business Insights Pvt. Ltd. 308, Supreme Headquarters, Survey No. 36, Baner, Pune-Bangalore Highway, Pune - 411045, Maharashtra, India. Phone: US :+1 424 253 0390 UK : +44 2071 939123 APAC : +91 744 740 1245 Email: sales@fortunebusinessinsights.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fortune-business-insights Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FortuneBusinessInsightsPvtLtd Zurich, Switzerland, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hitachi Energy today announced that it has achieved the first-step target set out in its Sustainability 2030 plan the use of 100% fossil-free electricity in its own operations1. The company is driving towards being carbon-neutral in its own operations by 20302, in line with its Purpose, Advancing a sustainable energy future for all. By achieving 100% fossil-free electricity in our own operations, we have reduced our CO2 equivalent emissions by over 50% compared to 2019, says Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy. He continued, The Net Zero challenge is global and its about acting now, innovating and collaborating across countries, industries and societies. Together with customers, partners, and all stakeholders, we are advancing the worlds energy system to be more sustainable, flexible and secure. The targeted 50% reduction achieved ahead of plan will amount to approximately 175 kilo tonnes of CO2e per year, equivalent to removing over 35,000 passenger cars off the road. To achieve 100% fossil-free electricity in its own operations and in support of the Hitachi Groups carbon-neutrality goal3 the company has pursued a number of pathways including supporting projects to generate its own fossil-free electricity, such as installing solar roof panels combined with e-meshTM digital solutions for distributed energy resources maximizing energy efficiency and minimizing CO2 emissions. In its Zhongshan factory in China, the company is generating nearly 20% of its total energy consumption from solar panels. In its first year of operation, the power generated at the factory is expected to reach 1,510 megawatt hours (MWh), contributing to the reduction in annual carbon emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes. To achieve 100% fossil-free electricity, Hitachi Energy has also switched to green tariffs, bought Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs), and signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) across its operations and facilities in 90 countries. Looking ahead, Hitachi Energy is continuing to invest in its journey towards carbon-neutrality by further increasing energy efficiency, as well as electrifying its own operations. In Ludvika, Sweden, the company is now using 100% renewable electricity generated from hydropower and from solar panels to support its operations. Ludvika, which is one of Hitachi Energys largest production facilities, has gone beyond tackling its electricity supply and is now close to removing the use of all fossil fuels from the whole of its operations. The company has a track record of implementing its own technologies in its operations to enable the integration of renewable energy. For example, in 2015 its South Africa operations installed a 750 kW rooftop photovoltaic plant and a 1 MVA/380 kWh battery-based PowerStoreTM for enhancing the use of renewables and providing a continuous supply of power. Through its Sustainability 2030 plan and targets, the company reinforces its commitment to accelerating actions driving business in a sustainable way. Based around four pillars Planet, People, Peace, and Partnerships the strategy draws from the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with specific focus on the following eight: 3 (Good health and well-being), 4 (Quality education), 5 (Gender equality), 6 (Clean water and sanitation), 7 (Affordable and clean energy), 12 (Responsible consumption and production), 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions); and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). In line with these SDGs, each pillar has corresponding targets that drive the business to contribute social, environmental, and economic value. Notes 1. The contract for its South Korea operations (equivalent to 0.4% total electricity usage) is expected to be signed in February 2022 retrospectively through green tariffs. 2. Discover more about Hitachi Energys approach to Sustainability 2030 here 3. Hitachi Sustainability Report 2021 About Hitachi Energy Ltd. Hitachi Energy is a global technology leader that is advancing a sustainable energy future for all. We serve customers in the utility, industry and infrastructure sectors with innovative solutions and services across the value chain. Together with customers and partners, we pioneer technologies and enable the digital transformation required to accelerate the energy transition towards a carbon-neutral future. We are advancing the worlds energy system to become more sustainable, flexible and secure whilst balancing social, environmental and economic value. Hitachi Energy has a proven track record and unparalleled installed base in more than 140 countries. Headquartered in Switzerland, we employ around 38,000 people in 90 countries and generate business volumes of approximately $10 billion USD. About Hitachi, Ltd. Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, contributes to a sustainable society with a higher quality of life by driving innovation through data and technology as the Social Innovation Business. Hitachi is focused on strengthening its contribution to the Environment, the Resilience of business and social infrastructure as well as comprehensive programs to enhance Security & Safety. Hitachi resolves the issues faced by customers and society across six domains: IT, Energy, Mobility, Industry, Smart Life and Automotive Systems through its proprietary Lumada solutions. The companys consolidated revenues for fiscal year 2020 (ended March 31, 2021) totaled 8,729.1 billion yen ($78.6 billion), with 871 consolidated subsidiaries and approximately 350,000 employees worldwide. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at https://www.hitachi.com. Attachment VANCOUVER, British Columbia and BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eden Empire Inc. (CSE: EDEN) (the "Company" or "Eden Empire") is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement (the Agreement) with an arms length third-party (the Partner) to assist in expanding the EDEN franchise across the State of Michigan. The Partner has been involved with the construction of numerous marijuana grow, processing and dispensary facilities in the State and boasts an expansive network of contacts in the industry. Key Notes 2021 Cannabis Sales in Michigan topped USD$1.79B. 2020 Cannabis Sales in Michigan reached USD$984M. 43% growth in cannabis sales year-over-year from 2020 to 2021. Franchisee opportunity brings massive branding exposure to the EDEN brand in a growing market. We are pleased to announce our Partner in Michigan to assist with expanding the EDEN footprint in Michigan. Utilizing our Partner to create advantageous opportunities for the Company is massive as this market continues to grow year-over-year. CEO Gerry Trapasso stated, It is an extremely exciting year ahead for all companies involved in the Michigan cannabis industry and we look forward to releasing news about onboarding potential franchisees in the near future. This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements. For further information or should you have any questions, please feel free to email us at investors@edenempire.com . Gerry Trapasso, CEO 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 news release. About Eden Empire Eden Empire is in the business of investments and operations in the cannabis sector and engaging in retail cannabis sales. Eden Empire intends to expand its retail operations in Canada and to expand its business to cannabis cultivation, extraction and processing and become a fully integrated cannabis product company in the United States. Eden Empire has an award winning and established nationwide brand, including a substantial intellectual property portfolio, and a dedicated management team with extensive cannabis industry experience. Upon completion of Eden Empire's currently intended acquisitions, and approval to operate its retail locations, the Company is expected to have a significant retail cannabis footprint in Canada and Michigan. Retail cannabis operations are an emerging sector with significant cash flow potential. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", upon "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the gross proceeds anticipated to be received under the Third Tranche Private Placement; the future exercise of any Warrants issued under the Third Tranche Private Placement; the future price of the Companys common shares on the CSE; the future exercise by the Company of its right to accelerate the Warrant Expiry Date; the approval of the CSE of the Third Tranche Private Placement; the Companys future operations of retail cannabis stores in the United States and Canada; the Company expanding its business to cannabis cultivation, extraction and processing and becoming a fully integrated cannabis company in the United States; the completion of the Companys currently intended acquisitions; the receipt of all necessary licenses and approvals to operate the Companys retail locations; and the proposed future transactions Eden may undertake and their expected timing. Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of Eden Empire to control or predict, that may cause Eden Empire's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including but not limited to: Eden Empire may not obtain the requisite regulatory approvals and may not begin operating cannabis retail or cultivation and processing operations; that the actual use of proceeds may differ from those currently stated; the inherent risks involved in the general securities markets; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions and the possibility for changes in laws, rules, and regulations in the industry; liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties. Eden Empire does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. MAYFIELD, Ky., Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just seven weeks after a devastating EF4 tornado leveled large parts of Mayfield, Kentucky, killing 22 people and decimating entire neighborhoods, Homes and Hope for Kentucky (HHK) is breaking ground on the first new homes to be built by donations and volunteer labor. Groundbreaking will take place Friday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m. (CST). Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and other state and local dignitaries are expected to attend. The location for the ceremony, 515 N. 6th St. in Mayfield, Kentucky, has a poignant significance as it was one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the tornado. "Just 49 days after the storm, we're already seeing so much progress. We could not have done it without a huge network of support. But we need donations to continue so we can get more folks back home." Heather Nestler, Co-Chair Homes and Hope for Kentucky "This process is moving quickly. It's so positive that, just 49 days after the storm, we're already seeing so much progress. Crews have been here for the last 30 days for demolition and are beginning repairs alongside the new builds next week," said Heather Nesler, co-chair of HHK. "We could not have made this much progress without a huge network of support, especially Mennonite Disaster Service as our partner. But we need donations to continue so we can get more folks back home." Homes and Hope for Kentucky is a local non-profit operating under the umbrella of the Mayfield Rotary Foundation. The non-profit has been processing applications from homeowners with little or no insurance and no ability to rebuild on their own. To date, five families have been approved and more than 60 are in the two-stage approval process. Friday's groundbreaking represents the first of five new homes that are ready to be rebuilt. HHK has set a goal of rebuilding 100 new homes at a cost of roughly $60,000 each; this low cost is made possible thanks to the all-volunteer labor being provided. Tax-deductible donations have come in two broad categories so far: Direct monetary donations to the Homes and Hope for Kentucky website Institutional donations of building materials through lines of credit at Home Depot and Lowe's Volunteers from Mennonite Disaster Service have been in Mayfield removing debris and doing site preparation since Dec. 28. In addition, crews from the nationwide Amish service ministry have arrived this week to identify their own targeted areas for repair and reconstruction in partnership with HHK. In the December storm, almost 400 homes were leveled in Graves, Hickman and Fulton counties alone; many hundreds more were damaged and need extensive repairs. ABOUT HOMES AND HOPE FOR KENTUCKY, INC. Homes and Hope for Kentucky, Inc. (HHK) is a directed fund, operating under the umbrella of the Mayfield Rotary Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. HHK, which was formed in direct response to the devastating tornadoes of Dec. 10, 2021, is being led by an all-volunteer Board of Directors made up of local civic, government and business leaders, most of whom are Mayfield natives. Co-Chairs are Heather Nesler, Associate VP of Employee Benefits at Peel & Holland Insurance, Mayfield, Kentucky, and Joseph Orr, retired Brigadier General, U.S. Army, now a Mayfield resident. All donations to HHK are fully tax-deductible and will help provide the essential household appliances and building materials needed to build new homes for those hit the hardest by the catastrophic tornados in Mayfield, Kentucky. Learn more and/or donate at www.HomesandHopeforKY.com. ABOUT MENNONITE DISASTER SERVICE Mennonite Disaster Service (MDS) is a faith-based initiative that has been repairing and rebuilding homes in disaster zones since 1952. MDS sponsors 4,000 self-sustaining volunteers who focus on the clean-up, repair and rebuilding of homes of those most directly impacted by natural disaster. They are currently involved in about 20 ongoing rebuilding projects around the United States and Canada. Learn more at www.mds.org. Media Contact: Grace Vogelzang Impact Communications, Inc. 913-649-5009 GraceVogelzang@ImpactCommunications.org Related Images Image 1: Kentucky Governor to Attend Groundbreaking Ceremony for Tornado Victims in Mayfield Homes and Hope for Kentucky is officially on its way to realizing its goal of 100 new homes for stricken families. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment Production has also begun on the custom-built grow benches by KG Benches PHOENIX, AZ, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NewMediaWire -- American Green, Inc. (ERBB:OTC) announced today that it is continuing to make great progress at its new 40,000sf Cypress Chill grow operation. It has placed an order for the HVAC equipment and will be submitting architectural plans to the City of Phoenix this February, which are essential for further construction progress. Both events are big steps in moving the facility closer to its completion goal of year-end. David Gwyther, President and Chairman of American Green, said, We are very pleased with the progress at our new Cypress Chill Grow. Interior and exterior demolition are going extremely well. We are excited to announce that we have sent in our first equipment orders and none is bigger than HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) for a grow operation. The architectural plans have been in development for five months now and we are on track to submit the plans next month as these plans are the cornerstone for the completion of Cypress Chill. Bryan Croteau, American Greens Director of Grow Operations, said, Cypress Chill will be using the Agronomic IQ Smart HVAC system. It is a facility-wide cold water cooling system that will allow us to dial in the exact temperature and humidity needed for each stage of cannabis plant growth. Using only the newest state-of-the-art technology like Adiabatic Fluid Coolers, we will be able to control the environment with less than a 1% variance. The entire cultivation portion of the building will require 704 tons of cooling & dehumidification power, helping us maintain the proper balance that plant science dictates. Mr. Croteau continues, Production has also begun on the custom-built benching solutions provided by KG Benches. We are talking about roughly 18,270 square feet of custom-engineered V-track system rolling bench systems that will allow us to maximize the amount of cannabis grow space in each room. These custom benches allow for the movement that is needed for crucial plant maintenance, without compromising precious canopy grow space. These benches and system will provide American Green the maximum revenue per square foot of cannabis grow space that has been dedicated for cannabis production. Mr. Jimmy Gierczyk, president of Gierczyk Inc., said, Mr. Gwyther and Mr. Croteau from American Green have been great to work for over this past year and they are reaping the benefits of saving both time and money by going with our design and build option. I am confident that the Gierczyk team will continue to perform up to my personal and corporate standards as well as American Greens standards until the day Cypress Chill is complete. Click below for drone footage of Cypress Chill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5gZx9cxOi0 Shareholders and interest holders may also stay current with American Green Updates: American Greens Main Website at www.americangreen.com Sweet Virginia Grow Cannabis Operation https://americangreen.com/live/ Twitter: @American__Green (two underscores), or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americangreenusa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americangreenusa/ About American Green, Inc. In 2009, American Green, Inc. became Americas second publicly-traded company in the cannabis sector. American Green now, with its more than 50,000 certified beneficial shareholders, is one of the largest (in shareholder count) in the cannabis sector. American Green's mission is to lead the cannabis and premium CBD industry. Leveraging our team of professionals in cultivation management, manufacturing, extraction, wholesale, retail, and community outreach, we strive to develop sustainably initiatives in the cannabis-adjacent and CBD industries, laser-focused on adding company and shareholder value. For more information - Contact: American Green, Inc. Investor Relations 2902 W. Virginia Ave Phoenix, AZ 85009 480-443-1600 X555 investor@americangreen.com NOTES ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Except for any historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including those described in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports and filings. Certain statements contained in this release that are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created by that Act. Reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because they involve unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as estimates, anticipates, projects, plans, expects, intends, believes, be should, and similar expressions and by the context in which they are used. Such statements are based upon current expectations of the Company and speak only as of the date made. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which they are made. Attachments PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic Regional President, Howard Lubert welcomed four new Due Diligence Fellows this month. These graduate students hail from local universities and were selected from applicants who want to work with Keiretsu Forum angel investor members to advance the early-stage, entrepreneurial ecosystem in this region. Fellows include: Amani Carter - University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Tatiana Corcoran - University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Julia Han - University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School Ryan Dibeler of West Chester University- Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center The Due Diligence Fellows program at Keiretsu Forum is truly a win-win for both the students and the Keiretsu Forum, says Steve Kozachyn, Due Diligence Director for Keiretsu Forum. Students get the opportunity to work with world-class companies contributing to their potential success in raising funds in which to grow their business. In addition to the experience, the students also can place Keiretsu Forum on their resume, very often leading to employment when they graduate. Obviously, Keiretsu Forum benefits from having students contribute to a companys due diligence report. Keiretsu Forum has set a standard for most active investors three years running, as reported by Pitchbook in its 2020 Annual Global League Tables highlighting Keiretsu Forum as the U.S. Regions #1 and # 2 Most Active Late and Early Stage investors. Results for 2021 are expected in early Q2 and a remarkable standard will surely be acknowledged again. It is known within investment circles that Keiretsu Forum has exceptional deal flow that is based upon rigorous due diligence (DD). A cohesive due diligence process in a group setting gives both investors and entrepreneurs the opportunity to benefit from the diverse experience of multiple participants. The DD Fellows will play a key role in advancing the process for several early stage companies during their fellowship. To prepare DD Fellows, Howard Lubert developed an extensive training seminar. This seminar covers the most important part of the process: conducting a rigorous examination of the many factors that may affect future outcomes including the identification of key management risks, acknowledgement of what is to be believed, and determination of a pre-money valuation. Howard is a serial entrepreneur, accredited investor, and technical DD specialist. He lends more than 30 years of due diligence and term sheet experience to those who chose to participate on a diligence team. This is complemented by the diverse backgrounds and expertise that investor members bring to DD teams. The DD Fellows will receive valuable experience and insight that they will carry throughout their career. Former DD Fellows credit their experience with advancing career opportunities beyond the program. For additional information on the Due Diligence Program or to connect with DD Fellows, please contact Cindi Sutera at 610-613-2773 or cindis@amscommunications.net Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic is part of Keiretsu Forum, the worlds largest and most active investment community of early-stage angel investors. Founded in California in 2000, Keiretsu Forum now includes 53 chapters on 4 continents. For more information visit www.KeiretsuForum-MidAtlantic.com. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nevada Exploration Inc. (NGE or the Company) (TSX-V:NGE; OTCQB:NVDEF) is pleased to announce that at the Companys Annual General Meeting held Tuesday, January 25, 2022 (the Meeting), all resolutions proposed were duly passed by the shareholders of the Company. Shareholders of the Company set the number of directors at seven, and elected James Buskard, Darcy Higgs, Dennis Higgs, Wade Hodges, John Larson, Benjamin Leboe, and Nancy Richter as directors of the Company for the ensuing year. RSM Canada LLP were re-appointed as the Companys auditor for the ensuing year, and the Board of Directors were authorized to fix the remuneration to be paid to the auditor. The Companys 10% rolling stock option plan was also approved. Following the Meeting, the Board of Directors appointed the following officers of the Company: James Buskard as President and Chief Executive Officer, Wade Hodges as Chief Discovery Officer, and Christina Blacker as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary (the Management). The Board of Directors and Management would like to thank all shareholders for their support and confidence. About Nevada Exploration Inc. With mature, exposed search spaces seeing falling discovery rates, NGE believes the future of exploration is under cover. Nevadas exposed terrains have produced more than 200 million ounces of gold, and experts agree there is likely another 200 million ounces waiting to be discovered in the half of Nevada where the bedrock is hidden beneath post-mineral cover. NGE has spent more than 15 years developing and integrating new hydrogeochemistry (groundwater chemistry) and low-cost drilling technology to build an industry-leading, geochemistry-focused toolkit specifically to explore for new gold deposits under cover, and the Company is now advancing a portfolio of projects totalling more than 180 square kilometres. NGEs most advanced project is South Grass Valley, located approximately 50 kilometres south-southwest of the Cortez complex, operated by Nevada Gold Mines (Barrick Gold Corp. and Newmont Corporation joint venture), within the specific region of north-central Nevada that hosts Nevadas largest Carlin-type gold deposits (CTGDs). Since acquiring the Project, NGE has completed: an infill borehole groundwater sampling program, detailed air magnetic and gravity geophysics surveys, a soil geochemistry sampling program, an initial diamond core drilling program consisting of 10 stratigraphic orientation holes, and a follow-up reverse-circulation drilling program consisting of 17 holes to increase the density of its bedrock sampling. Based on the results of its combined exploration datasets, NGE believes it has discovered a mineral system at South Grass Valley with the architecture and scale to potentially support multiple CTGDs. As the Company continues to advance the Project, per NI 43-101, 2.3(2), the Company must remind its stakeholders that the Project remains an exploration target for which the potential quantity and grade of any mineral resource is still conceptual in nature, and that it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource. For more information, the Companys latest videos are available at: https://www.nevadaexploration.com/investors/media/ For further information, please contact: Nevada Exploration Inc. Email: info@nevadaexploration.com Telephone: +1 (604) 601 2006 Website: www.nevadaexploration.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Wade A. Hodges, CEO & Director, Nevada Exploration Inc., is the Qualified Person, as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has prepared the technical and scientific information contained in this News Release. Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, without limitation, expectations, beliefs, plans, and objectives regarding projects, potential transactions, and ventures discussed in this release. In connection with the forward-looking information contained in this news release, the Company has made numerous assumptions, regarding, among other things, the assumption the Company will continue as a going concern and will continue to be able to access the capital required to advance its projects and continue operations. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies. In addition, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause the Companys 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. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are the risks inherent in mineral exploration, the need to obtain additional financing, environmental permits, the availability of needed personnel and equipment for exploration and development, fluctuations in the price of minerals, and general economic conditions. A more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company is disclosed in the Companys continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities at www.sedar.com. 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. CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Basis Technologies, a leading provider of cloud-based workflow automation and business intelligence software for marketing and advertising, today announced it placed No. 4 on the 2022 Ad Age Best Places to Work. Ad Age (https://adage.com) is a daily must-read for an influential audience of decision-makers and disruptors across the marketing and media landscape. Its Best Places to Work list is an annual ranking of companies that receive high ratings and praise for numerous factors ranging from compensation and benefits to corporate culture and leadership. Ad Age produced Best Places to Work 2022 in partnership with Best Companies Group ( www.aabestplacestowork.com ) , a research firm specializing in identifying and recognizing great places to work. The competition was open to agencies, ad tech firms, brand or corporate marketing departments or groups and in-house agencies of marketers. This years list of 50 companies is featured in a special Ad Age report: https://AdAge.com/2022-best-places-to-work. Basis Technologies is honored and humbled by our selection as one of the best workplaces in advertising and media. We think this recognition showcases our commitment to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce, said Katie Risch, CMO, Basis Technologies. Our view at Basis Technologies is that corporate culture can contribute to success, as we believe it fosters innovation, creativity, and teamwork across our business. To evaluate companies for its list, Ad Age and Best Companies Group use a scoring system that factors in employee responses on topics including pay and benefits and seven other core focus areas, as well as company policies and practices on areas including work/life balance, recruitment, training and development. Basis Technologies offers a platform composed of integrated applications that automate manual operations, standardize business processes, and improve marketing and advertising performance. Its capabilities span across desktop, mobile, connected television (CTV), linear TV, audio, search, and social media. Basis Technologies offers benefits including employer HSA funding, wellness screenings, 401(K) match, unlimited flexible time-off, paid three-week sabbaticals, and more. It has received various recognition for its workplace, which include Fortune Best Small and Medium Workplaces 2020; Fortune Best Workplaces for Women 2020; and Crain's Business Chicago Best Places to Work, 2021, 2020 and 2019. The company is actively hiring across product development, engineering, sales, services and marketing. About Ad Age Created in 1930 to cover a burgeoning industry with objectivity, accuracy and fairness, Ad Age continues to be powered by award-winning journalism. Today, Ad Age is a global media brand focusing on curated creativity, data and analysis, people and culture, and innovation and forecasting. From vital print editions to must-attend events and innovative platform offerings, Ad Ages industry-leading content includes the coveted A-List & Creativity Awards, the Ad Age Next conference series and proprietary data including the Leading National Advertisers Report from the Ad Age Datacenter. About Basis Technologies Basis Technologies, formerly operating as Centro, is a leading provider of cloud-based workflow automation and business intelligence software for marketing and advertising functions within enterprises. Its SaaS platform is composed of a suite of integrated applications that automate manual operations, standardize business processes, and improve marketing and advertising performance. The technology provides a comprehensive selection of buying methods across all channels and devices, utilizing all major creative types and formats. Basis platform creates a single system of record, seamless team collaboration, and actionable data-driven insights yielding material gains in productivity and increased profitability for users. Headquartered in Chicago with offices providing services to North America, South America and Europe, Basis Technologies has received numerous accolades for its commitment to employees and workplace culture. Contact: Anthony Loredo anthony.loredo@basis.net 917-573-4157 A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cf593db9-447e-4993-8f6b-8a0b05a5c28b LAS VEGAS, NV, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GPO Plus, Inc. (OTCQB: GPOX), a publicly traded company of diversified industry-specific Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs), today announced Wayne Smeal has joined GPOX as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) and a member of the board of directors. Mr. Smeal began his career working for Fortune 500 companies, including McKesson, Armor Foods, ConAgra, and Kelloggs. Leaving the corporate world Mr. Smeal ventured into private companies with more than 30 years in owning, operating, and managing businesses in multiple industries including Health, Beauty, Nutrition, Hemp, & Real Estate as well as franchising. Mr. Smeal has a successful history developing management teams and growing successful companies. Mr. Smeal developed an international scalable franchise model in the indoor tanning industry with a company he founded called Executive Tan, with over 200 locations sold, employing over 600 employees and contractors, and annual Gross revenue of more than $20,000,000. He grew Executive Tans from a single location in 1991 to the largest indoor tanning company in the U.S. and the third-largest in the world by 2002. He was recognized by Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005 and featured in Success Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine where for 5 consecutive years Executive Tans appeared on the Top 500 Franchise Global Rankings. Mr. Smeal has first-hand experience in Franchising, National and International Corporate Expansion, building great Management Teams, and implementing Strategic Sales & Marketing ideas. He successfully exited from Executive Tan. Prior to joining GPOX, Mr. Smeal was a pioneer in the CBD industry. He was a partner in and revamped the sales and operations of a company reorganizing numerous departments including restructuring the sales and marketing departments and successfully launched over 50 new CBD products throughout all 50 states and 7 countries. Mr. Smeal opened different divisions of the company which consisted of Private Label and White Label Divisions, Bulk Sales Division, Raw Materials Division, and Retail Sales Division. Waynes knowledge, expertise, and operational leadership are just the skill set we need to lead GPOX forward and position our company for long term growth, said Brett H. Pojunis , CEO of GPOX. Pojunis continued, Wayne has been charged with the responsibility to drive new product development, negotiate new distribution agreements in his role of COO while assisting with the expansion of our national sales efforts. Wayne will bring a focus and commitment to customer service while continuing to grow our core business and identifying new opportunities. Furthermore, he is managing our national sales team and runs our Florida sales office. GPOX plans to continue building on its success by launching new industry specific GPOs, expanding its offerings, growing the team, and launching new product lines. From my initial meetings with Brett and the GPOX team, I immediately realized we are building something extraordinarily special, said Wayne Smeal. Mr. Smeal continued the unique business model of GPOX enables us to develop Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs) around new and exciting industries which helps companies solve major problems (beyond purchasing) in these emerging markets. Mr. Smeal is also the acting Procurement Officer for HealthGPO and is overseeing all sales and distribution of COVID-19 tests . Sign up for your FREE account on the GPOX Investor Relations Portal: Once you Activate your GPOX Investor Account you will have immediate access to real time information available on GPOX. Sign up for alerts (email and SMS) to be the first to know about news, SEC Filings, Investor Events, updated Investor Presentations, and more: www.GPOPlus.com/ir . Equity Crowdfunding Page GPOX is raising $5,000,000 Please visit our crowdfunding page, https://invest.gpoplus.com About GPOPlus+ (GPOX) Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, GPOPlus+ (OTCQB: GPOX ) is a publicly traded company of diversified industry-specific Group Purchasing Organizations (GPOs). Our Purpose is to create efficient GPOs and our Mission is to create value for our GPO Members, partners, and suppliers while creating long term shareholder value. Our Mantra: We Aggregate, Negotiate + Share! Aggregate - We aggregate the purchasing power of our Members. - We the purchasing power of our Members. Negotiate - We leverage buying power to negotiate discounts. - We leverage buying power to discounts. Share - We share the discounts with our Members and save them money. For more information, please visit www.GPOPlus.com . To activate your free GPOX Investor Account at www.GPOPlus.com/ir . Information about Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that include statements regarding expected financial performance and growth information relating to future events. Forward-looking statements include statements with respect to beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions, and future performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond the control of the Company and its officers and managers, and which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by which, that performance or those results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time they are made and/or managements good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in, or suggested by, the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to; inability to gain or maintain licenses, reliance on unaudited statements, the Companys need for additional funding, governmental regulation of the cannabis industry, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the demand for the Companys products, and other risks that are detailed from time-to-time in the Companys filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be forward-looking statements. You can typically identify these forward-looking statements through use of words such as may, will, can anticipate, assume, should, indicate, would, believe, contemplate, expect, seek, estimate, continue, plan, point to, project, predict, could, intend, target, potential, and other similar words and expressions of the future. The Company expresses its expectations, beliefs and projections in good faith and believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions. However, there is no assurance that these expectations, beliefs and projections will prove to have been correct. Such statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to its operations and future events, and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to its proposed operations, including the risk factors set forth herein. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, the Companys actual results may vary significantly from those intended, anticipated, believed, estimated, expected or planned. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, any favorable forward-looking events discussed herein might not be realized and occur. The Company has no obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting GPO Plus, Inc. GPOX, please refer to the Companys recent Securities and Exchange Commission filings, which are available at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. GPO Pluss Contacts: Shareholder Success Team + Investor Inquiries: Brett H. Pojunis, CEO Email: ir@gpoplus.com Shareholders Line: 855.935.GPOX (4769) Attachment * Zoom Conference Call with CMC Holdings Management Scheduled for February 10, 2022 New York, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PHI Group, Inc. (www.phiglobal.com, PHIL), a U.S. company currently engaged in PHILUX Global Funds (a group of Luxembourg bank funds), the Asia Diamond Exchange project (ADE) in Vietnam, mergers and acquisitions and investing in special situations (www.co2-1-0.io), is pleased to announce that Vietnam-based startup CMC Holdings, of which PHIL is a founding member, successfully raised US$ 1.5 million in a co-founder round in Hanoi last week and will speed up the development of a digital ecosystem across several platforms to fulfil the needs of billions of consumers throughout the world (https://vir.com.vn/cmc-holdings-secures-a-15-million-investment-90866.html). With a roadmap of 7 investment rounds: co-founder, angel, Series A, B, C, PE, and IB, CMC Holdings has met its first milestone towards the IPO target of US$ 300 billion by 2027. Other Vietnamese startup companies that have market valuation over US$ 1 billion include VNPay (https://vnpay.vn/) , MoMo (https://momo.vn/) and VNG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VNG_Corporation) CMC Holdings' digital ecosystem will include Hyperas Chain - a specialized platform for coding assets, Pindias - a transaction management platform for digital asset logs, Divega - an auction e-commerce platform and Rapital Bank - a digital banking service available anytime. Divega is the SIB (Social Impact Business) model. The project not only gives a place to trade genuine good, limited goods at "unbelievable" prices under the lowest auction, but the profits will be used for society's charity. According to the plan, CMC Holdings will roll out these major initiatives in 2022 and 2023, with coding assets, auction platforms, and digital banking services. CMC Holdings has invested a significant amount of time examining the market and long-term business models. From the beginning, CMC Holdings has focused on solving social problems and sustainable development. It attaches great importance to social values and focuses on the vital core areas of this world. Co-founders who are also business owners and individual investors successfully raised the first round of investment. Most investors' selections are based on a thorough grasp of the digital economy's value to the market, as well as extensive proof of successful enterprises over time. Mr. Tran Nam Chung, Chairman of CMC Holdings, believes that the expansion of the digital economy is clear when discussing the business plan. It affects retail, e-commerce, fintech, AI, VR, AR, blockchain, and more. In addition, he believes that having breakthrough ideas, as well as a self-contained and expanding ecosystem to suit the increasing needs of consumers, is a sufficient condition for these opportunities to materialize. CMC Holdings, in particular, must establish and utilize the crucial leverage: finance, branding, and technology, in order to be successful in sustainable growth. Henry Fahman, Chairman and CEO of PHI Group, Inc., reaffirmed: We are delighted to collaborate with and assist CMC Holdings in this ambitious program to generate potentially significant value for shareholders of both companies. While continuing to fulfill our major initiatives regarding our Luxembourg bank funds, development of the Asia Diamond Exchange, blockchain-crypto technology projects, mergers and acquisitions, etc., we also participate in unique special situations like this to create additional value for our shareholders. Please join us for a discussion with CMC Holdings Management on February 10, 2022: Topic: CMC Holdings Management Zoom Conference Time: Feb 10, 2022 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/4177806661 Meeting ID: 417 780 6661 Passcode: cmcphi One tap mobile +19292056099,,4177806661#,,,,*044961# US (New York) +12532158782,,4177806661#,,,,*044961# US (Tacoma) Dial by your location +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 417 780 6661 Passcode: 044961 Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/kY7nnVkvV About CMC Holdings CMC Holdings, a Vietnam-based corporation, was founded based on the global business ambition of its founders who have a wealth of experience in the field of investment, restructuring and developing cross-border projects. CMC was inspired by connecting a community of competent entrepreneurs in the new economic field of the millennium, and the company attaches great importance to social values and focuses on the vital core areas of the rapidly changing world in a new digital era. It is a team of qualified personnel, advisors, CEOs, CMOs... all of them have many years of experience in restructuring, M&A, Marketing, and business management industries. The founding partners include PHI Group (USA), and the leading individuals are Mr. Tran Nam Chung and many other associates. Aura Capital is the strategic stakeholder in Vietnam. About PHI Group PHI Group (www.phiglobal.com, PHIL) primarily focuses on advancing PHILUX Global Funds, a group of Luxembourg bank funds organized as Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF), and building the Asia Diamond Exchange (ADE) in Vietnam. The Company also engages in mergers and acquisitions and invests in select industries and special situations that may substantially enhance shareholder value. Safe Harbor Act and Forward-looking Statements This news release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as may, future, plan or planned, will or should, expected, anticipates, draft, eventually or projected, which are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Contact: PHI Group, Inc. Email: info@phiglobal.com Phone: +1-714-793-2977 Attachment Rescue crews have discovered five bodies in their search for the 39 missing people believed to be aboard a human-smuggling boat that capsized off the Florida coast earlier this week. A massive search effort was launched early Tuesday, after sailors on a passing ship spotted a man clinging to the side of the tipped vessel, some 40 miles east of Floridas Fort Pierce Inlet. He was suffering from dehydration as well as sun exposure and is so far the only survivor of the incident, Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann Burdian told reporters. Advertisement During a press conference, Burdian confirmed officials have decided to suspend the search after crews discovered four more bodies on Thursday. Officials said one body was also found on Wednesday. The decision to suspend is really a very, very complicated one, Burdian said. We dont think its likely that anyone else has survived. Advertisement Crews had been scouring the waters between Fort Pierce Inlet and Bimini in the Bahamas with both boats and aircrafts. They are about 140 miles apart. Coast Guard Cutter Ibis' crew searching for people missing from a capsized boat off the coast of Florida on Tuesday. (AP) Burdian noted the lone survivor remained hospitalized and in stable condition. He told investigators the 25-foot boat encounter severe weather shortly after setting sail Saturday night from Bimini. The survivor also told the Coast Guard no one on board the vessel had been wearing life jackets. His name and the name of those who rescued him have not yet been released. Homeland Security has also launched an investigation into the human smuggling case. The goal of this investigation is to identify, arrest, and prosecute any criminal or criminal organization that organized, facilitated, or profited from this doomed venture, said Special Agent Anthony Salisbury. BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Block & Leviton is investigating Gatos Silver, Inc. (NYSE: GATO) for potential securities law violations. Investors who have lost money in their Gatos Silver, Inc. investment should contact the firm to learn more about how they might recover those losses. For more details, visit https://www.blockleviton.com/cases/gato. What is this all about? Before the market opened on January 26, 2022, Gatos Silver, Inc. disclosed that an error in a July 2020 technical report overestimated the resources at the Cerro Los Gatos mine in Mexico. Gatos Silver estimates a 30-50% reduction in the metal content at the mine, of which the company owns a 70% stake. Shares of Gatos Silver, Inc. stock dropped more than 60% in premarket trading on January 26, 2022. Who is eligible? Anyone who purchased Gatos Silver stock and has lost money may be eligible, whether or not they have sold their investment. Investors should contact Block & Leviton to learn more. What is Block & Leviton doing? Block & Leviton is investigating whether the Company committed securities law violations and may file an action to attempt to recover losses on behalf of investors who have lost money. What should you do next? If you've lost money on your investment, you should contact Block & Leviton to learn more via our case website, by email at cases@blockleviton.com , or by phone at (617) 398-5600. Why should you contact Block & Leviton? Many law firms have issued releases about this matter; most of those firms do not actually litigate securities class actions. Block & Leviton is a law firm that actually litigates cases. We are dedicated to obtaining significant recoveries on behalf of defrauded investors through active litigation in the federal courts across the country. Many of the nation's top institutional investors hire us to represent their interests. You can learn more about us at our website, www.blockleviton.com , or call (617) 398-5600 or email cases@blockleviton.com with any questions. This notice may constitute attorney advertising. CONTACT: BLOCK & LEVITON LLP 260 Franklin St., Suite 1860 Boston, MA 02110 Phone: (617) 398-5600 Email: cases@blockleviton.com Vancouver, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VANCOUVER, BC, January 27th, 2022 APOLLO Insurance, Canadas leading online insurance provider, has partnered with Silver Homes Technology Inc. (Silver Homes) to offer immediate digital insurance products specifically tailored to property managers, landlords, and tenants across Canada. Launched in 2019, APOLLO Insurance now offers the largest selection of online insurance in Canada through brokers and embedded partnerships like this one. Through APOLLO, consumers can get a quote and purchase insurance in five minutes, from any device, 24/7. Silver Homess vision is to have a one-stop solution for property managers and landlords; through this partnership, Silver Homes can now offer their clients easy access to tenant and home insurance directly through their platform. We are thrilled to be partnering with Silver Homes, which offers a phenomenal property management platform for Canadians,'' said APOLLO, Jill Carberry Feldman, Director of Business Development. APOLLO can provide an integrated digital solution for Silver Homes tenants and homeowners to access insurance options in the same platform where they manage their tenancy relationship. APOLLOs platform gives users an embedded insurance product while providing users with a personalized insurance policy to fit their needs at competitive rates. Silver Homes was founded in 2020 by a group of Vancouver-based entrepreneurs and property owners who deeply understand the challenges involved in owning and managing rental properties. Since then, Silver Homes has launched a technology platform where property managers and landlords can promote their listings, screen and place tenants, and manage all aspects of their tenancies in one place. In 2021, Silver Home experienced exponential growth as they onboarded prominent property managers and landlords across major cities in Canada and the Western United States. They have prospected hundreds of tenants for their clients with the mission to bring simplicity, transparency, and insights into the real estate industry. We are very excited to partner with APOLLO to provide our property managers and landlords across Canada with comprehensive home and tenant insurance through the Silver Homes platform, said Juan Leal, Co-founder of Silver Homes. This partnership will further advance our vision of offering an all-in-one solution with value-added services to give our clients peace of mind. APOLLOs proprietary technology platform, the APOLLO Exchange, transacts insurance business in real-time and leverages extensive data and sophisticated algorithms to quote, collect payment, create, and deliver policies. Thousands of types of small businesses and individuals are able to buy online without human intervention. About APOLLO Insurance APOLLO is Canada's leading online insurance provider. Our proprietary platform, the APOLLO Exchange, allows insurance agents and their customers to purchase their policy immediately, from anywhere, on any device, 24/7. Unlike traditional paper-based processes, APOLLO leverages extensive data and sophisticated algorithms to quote, collect payment, and issue policies for thousands of types of small businesses and individuals without human intervention. Through traditional agents and embedded finance partnerships, APOLLO is redefining the distribution of insurance. For more information, visit: apollocover.com About Silver Homes Silver Homes offers an all-in-one property management solution that acts as a single source of truth across all phases of a propertys lifecycle. Through the power of advanced technologies, we seek to accelerate innovation in the real estate industry and establish greater transparency and sustainability. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Silver Homes was founded by a group of entrepreneurs and property owners who deeply understand the challenges around owning and managing investment properties. Our goal is to bring simplicity, transparency, and insights into the real estate industry and empower property owners and tenants to build trust and adopt sustainable practices. For more information, visit: silverhomes.ai Attachment WEST CHESTER, Pa., Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chester County, Pennsylvania held its first online sheriff's sale on Jan. 20. Of the 21 properties that went to auction, 13 were sold to third-party bidders, producing $2,491,550 in sale proceeds. In total, 44 bidders registered and submitted deposits to participate in the auction. In addition to boosting participation and sales, the new online format enabled all participants to bid remotely, allowing the sale to remain unaffected by external factors such as the status of the Omicron variant. "When I took office, I promised to find ways to use technology to better serve Chester County's residents and virtual sheriff's sales seemed like a tool worth exploring," said Chester County Sheriff Fredda L. Maddox. "Our sales were higher, our staff was freed up to better serve our constituents and we did not have to worry about public health concerns during our auction. Best of all, these services came at no cost to our county." In the sale's two-hour run time, a total of 281 bids were placed. A Maryland buyer was the only out-of-state buyer; the rest were all located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Bid4Assets has recently hosted successful online transitions for multiple sheriff offices in Pennsylvania. "Sheriff Maddox has a reputation for embracing technology and bringing innovation to processes that are overdue to be updated," said Bid4Assets' President Jesse Loomis. "Chester County is the 10th county in Pennsylvania to improve their sheriff's sale process using Bid4Assets. Even beyond COVID, you're looking at the new normal." Chester County's next online sheriff's sale is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2022. To view a list of available properties, visit www.bid4assets.com/chesterfeb22. About Bid4Assets Bid4Assets is one of the world's leading marketplaces for the sale of distressed real estate property sold by governments, county tax-collectors, financial institutions, and real estate funds. It conducts online tax sales for counties across the country and has grossed more than $1 billion in auction sales. Bid4Assets is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liquidity Services. About Liquidity Services, Inc. Liquidity Services (NASDAQ: LQDT) operates the world's largest B2B e-commerce marketplace platform for surplus assets, with over $9 billion of completed transactions to approximately four million qualified buyers worldwide and 15,000 corporate and government sellers. It supports its clients' sustainability efforts by helping them extend the life of assets, prevent unnecessary waste and carbon emissions, and defer products from landfills. Media Contact: Teresa M. Lundy TML Communications E: Teresa@TMLFirm.com P: 215-500-8749 Related Images Image 1: Chester County, Pennsylvania, Sheriff Seal Chester County's next online sheriff's sale is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2022. This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment English French Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States. MONTREAL, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sirios Resources Inc. (TSXV: SOI) has closed the previously-announced $1.5 million strategic agreement into the Company through the issue of 21.5 million Sirios common shares (please see our 17/01/2022 press release). Concurrent with the closing of the financing, Francois Auclair P.Geo, M.Sc. has joined the Sirios board of directors. Dominique Doucet, CEO of Sirios said: We are pleased to welcome a new major shareholder in our company. This agreement is only the beginning of our collaboration with this strategic investor. We are also very pleased to welcome Mr. Auclair in Sirios Board of Directors. Sirios will benefit from his vast expertise as an exploration and development geologist as well as his experience as a mining industry executive. His skills and advice will be particularly helpful during the upcoming busy stages of development of the Cheechoo project. About Francois Auclair, P.Geo. Mr. Auclair is a consulting geologist with over 30 years of experience, gained in North and South America, Africa and Europe, working both in exploration and development of gold and base metals deposits. Mr. Auclair has worked for major mining companies such as the Noranda group and Ashanti GoldFields, as well as medium-sized producers, such as Rio Narcea Gold. Mr. Auclair was a member of Aur Resources Louvicourt VMS deposit discovery team. Presently, Mr Auclair is Vice President Exploration of Fancamp Exploration Ltd. Following his appointment, the Board of Directors of Sirios approved on January 25 the granting of 250,000 stock options with an exercise price of $ 0.08 per share to Mr. Auclair. This granting is according to Sirios Stock Option Incentive Plan. These options expire five (5) years from the date of grant. About the financing Sirios plans to use most of the proceeds further defining and analysing its Cheechoo gold property, including advancing both a 1 kg re-assaying program and a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) of its flagship Cheechoo gold project. The remainder of the funds will be used for working capital and corporate initiatives. The financing remains subject to final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. No finder's fees were paid for the placement. There will be a hold period of four months and one day on the common shares issued under this financing. About the Cheechoo Property The Cheechoo gold property, wholly-owned by Sirios, is located in Eeyou Istchee James Bay, Quebec, less than 9 km from Newmonts Eleonore gold mine. The latest resource estimate for the Cheechoo project (October 2020) estimated an inferred resource of 2.0 million ounces of gold contained in 93.0 million tonnes of rock at an average grade of 0.65 g/t Au, with significant potential to increase this resource (BBA, P-L. Richard, P. Geo.; J. Torrealba, P. Eng.; D. Evangelista, P. Eng., NI 43-101 Technical Report, Mineral Resource Estimate Update for The Cheechoo Project, 31/10/2020). About Sirios A pioneer in the discovery of significant gold deposits in Eeyou Istchee James Bay, Quebec, Canada, Sirios Resources Inc. is focusing primarily on its Cheechoo gold discovery, while actively exploring the gold potential of its other properties. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available. Forward-Looking Statements: All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release including, but not limited to, those relating to the intended use of proceeds of the Offering, the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange in connection with the Offering, the development of the Cheechoo, Aquilon, Pontax, Niska, Maskwa and Tilly2 projects and, generally, the above About Sirios Resources Inc. paragraph which essentially describes the Corporations outlook, constitute forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as of the time of this press release. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Corporation as of the time of such statements, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. These estimates and assumptions may prove to be incorrect. Many of these uncertainties and contingencies can directly or indirectly affect, and could cause, actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements and future events, could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. A description of assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in the Corporations disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purpose of providing information about managements endeavors to develop the Cheechoo, Aquilon, Pontax, Niska, Maskwa and Tilly2 projects and, more generally, its expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors and future events could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and those made in our other filings with the securities regulators of Canada. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and such forward-looking statements, except to the extent required by applicable law. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the Rules of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Contact : Dominique Doucet, President, CEO, Eng. Tel. : (514) 918-2867 ddoucet@sirios.com website : www.sirios.com New York, NY, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NYC Outward Bound Schools welcomed Vanessa Rodriguez as the organizations new CEO this month. Rodriguez succeeds the organizations founding CEO Richard Stopol who led NYC Outward Bound Schools for over 34 years, and continues to act as an advisor to the organization. We are thrilled to welcome Vanessa to our community, and believe deeply that she has the right values and experience to lead our organization to new heights, said Jennifer Stredler, head of the CEO Search Committee and Vice Chair of the NYC Outward Bound Schools Board of Directors. Vanessa comes to us with years of experience and has a demonstrated track record of student-centered leadership in education. Her vision for the future of education is driven by a call for equity and inclusion, which deeply aligns with the work we do at NYC Outward Bound Schools. My lifes work is to ensure that each and every child in our country and in the great city of New York has access to an engaging and rigorous learning environment that will help them thrive and fulfill their dreams, said Rodriguez. Ive had the pleasure of building high-performing teams in small, medium and large systems for nearly 20 years and I am the most passionate about supporting networks of schools and school leaders. Im thrilled to take the helm of such a mission-driven, student-centered organization that is focused on impact and prepares young people to lead in a complex global society. Rodriguez comes to NYC Outward Bound Schools from her role leading Citizens of the World Charter Schools (CWCS), a network of schools committed to serving diverse communities in Los Angeles, Kansas City, MO and Cincinnati. The organization shares NYC Outward Bound Schools focus on marrying academic rigor and social-emotional learning, and on bringing practices from their network of schools to other schools more broadly. Rodriguez has extensive experience in building strong organizations through strategic talent acquisition, having served as Chief of Talent for both CWCS and the Newark Public School System, and as New York Executive Director at New Leaders. Rodriguez started her career as a classroom teacher in NYC schools and spent 18 years working in schools from the South Bronx to Rikers Island. She led the NYC Department of Educations District 79, which serves more than 65,000 disengaged, over-aged, and under-credited students through alternative schools and programs. She holds a bachelor of arts in education/sociology from Boston College and is a moderator for the Pahara-Aspen Institute. NYC Outward Bound Schools partnered with executive search and talent strategy firm Axis Talent Partners to identify and recruit the organizations next leader. Founded and led by women of color, Axis partners with social impact organizations to provide talent solutions that are grounded in relationship-building and centered in equity and inclusivity. Rodriguez takes the helm from Richard Stopol, the founding CEO, who grew the organization from a small collection of outdoor adventure programs into a highly successful citywide network of public schools, operated in partnership with the NYC Department of Education. The four-year graduation rate of NYC Outward Bound schools consistently outpaces the city average by more than 10 percentage points (90% vs 79%). In addition, Stopol oversaw NYC Outward Bound Schools creation and expansion to bring best practices from its network schools to other schools throughout the city, annually reaching thousands of students and teachers beyond the network. All told, since its founding in 1987, NYC Outward Bound Schools has touched the lives of more than 200,000 students, preparing them for success in college, careers and citizenship. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Richard for his compassion, his tenacity, and his vision over the past 34 years, said Board Chair Gifford Miller. He truly keeps our students at the center of every conversation, and NYC Outward Bound Schools positive impacts on our citys educational systems are the direct result of that. We will miss him tremendously, but know that he will always be an indelible part of our Crew. Working at NYC Outward Bound Schools has been one of the greatest joys of my life, Stopol said. Thanks to the dedication and compassion of our educators, staff and board, I have witnessed the powerful effects that high-quality education can have on students. Over the past 34 years, I have seen this network of schools empower and equip more than 200,000 young people with the skills and mindsets they need to reach their highest potential. Vanessa brings what I consider to be just the right mix of experience and skills to the CEO role. I am truly excited to be handing the baton to her. ### About NYC Outward Bound Schools NYC Outward Bound Schools transforms schools and changes lives by bringing out the best in students, teachers and school leaders. The nonprofit operates a highly successful citywide network of public schools that is built upon its unique educational approach which joins together demanding and engaging learning with an emphasis on community and character. The organizations Network Schools use the national EL Education model, which is rooted in Outward Bound, and also feature intensive supports around college access and preparation, as well as leadership and character-building programming for students. Additionally, NYC Outward Bound Schools works with thousands of students and teachers outside of its network through targeted Adventure & Team Building programs and Select Strategies for Schools professional learning services. Since NYC Outward Bound Schools was founded more than 30 years ago, the organization has helped to unleash the potential of nearly 200,000 students, preparing them for success in college, careers and citizenship. Attachment Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bejeti, a new ultra-luxe, obsessively designed, unisex accessory brand introduces its premiere line of one-of-a-kind wallets. Bejeti wallets are a combination of sustainably repurposed materials, precious metals, and rare celestial elements forged by the hands of expert craftsmen. The resulting masterpieces bring form, fashion and function to an everyday accessory. The only wallet of its kind, each piece features a sophisticatedly restrained design with an artistic lean towards cubism and futurism ensuring no two wallets are the same. After completing an invitation-only pre-sale launch in Fall of 2021, Bejetis inaugural series (including CELESTIAL, ELEMENTAL AND ECOLOGICAL lines) is now available to trendsetters around the globe. While art and fashion are constantly evolving, wallets have remained relatively unchanged. That is until the mastermind behind Bejeti, Eduardo Sande, decided it was time for a change, and invented a new market of ultra-luxury wallets. We believe people are as unique as their fingerprint and our wallets are designed to showcase that type of individuality and expression, says Eduardo Sande, CEO and founder of Bejeti. Meteorite has become an increasingly sought-after material amongst luxury fashion designers. Now, Bejeti is pioneering its use in the luxury wallet industry. The meteorite wallet is exclusive to the PLANETESIMAL series, and is currently limited to eight wallets. For fans of rare metals like Damascus steel, Titanium Damascus and hand-forged Mosaic Damascus steel, there are the HEPHAESTUS, the number22 and ARTIFICER models. For the planet-conscientious luxury connoisseurs, the CASPIAN and ENDURVINA offer chic crafted pieces reborn from oceans polluted with polystyrene plastics, instantaneously reinventing pollution into timeless works of art. As a first-generation Uruguayan immigrant, I grew up in a family who worked with their hands to build, craft and bend materials to our will. Bejeti wallets are a culmination of my love for both art and engineering and my insatiable desire for entrepreneurship. We know there are people who relish rarity, ingenuity, luxury and sustainability and our wallets bring all of these together to truly commemorate personal achievement through design and stature, says Sande. Every collection of Bejeti luxury wallets features a money clip, durable silicone bands and a signature triangular notch for ease of card access. They also include a multi-layered counterfeit prevention system and certificate of authentication. Each masterpiece is imbued with the striking characteristics of the materials it was crafted from, creating a singular artistic experience worthy of all who carry it. Sneakers, watches, even cars have become collectable pieces of art, and Bejeti wallets are no different, said Sande. I wanted to bring that same spirit of invention and creativity forward, and challenge the idea that personal accessories are confined to traditional materials like animal hides. Bejeti gives people the chance to carry their own piece of art with them, wherever they go. Bejeti wallets are sold exclusively online with free worldwide shipping. All models are currently available, including the PLANETESIMAL ($29,500), HEPHAESTUS ($6,300), number22 ($7,222), ARTIFICER ($11,500), and the CASPIAN and ENDURVINA ($1,900). To learn more about Bejeti wallets, visit www.Bejeti.com. About Bejeti BEJETI wallets are obsessively designed to be one-of-a-kind works of functional art. Handcrafted in the USA, Bejetis experts transform rare elements and celestial materials through uncompromising processing techniques to fully express their natural beauty. Each wallet is a tribute to form, to function and to perfection. Check out Bejeti on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. ### Attachments English French TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) today released its 2021 Investment Funds Report. The report provides statistics and analysis of mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) sales and assets under management. This years report includes a new cryptocurrency fund category as well as new data related to responsible investment funds. IFIC continues to use its extensive data collection and reporting capabilities to strengthen our understanding of the investment funds industry, said Paul Bourque, President and CEO, IFIC. Our data and analysis provides members firms and other stakeholders with insights to identify and track industry and market trends and respond to the evolving needs of investors. Key highlights: At the end of 2021, Canadian mutual fund assets totalled $2.08 trillion and ETF assets totalled $347 billion. In 2021, total mutual funds net sales were $112.6 billion and total ETF net sales were $58.7 billion, representing records for both products. At the end of 2021, responsible investment mutual fund assets totalled $33.6 billion and ETF assets totalled $8.2 billion. In 2021, responsible investment mutual fund net sales were $13.2 billion and total ETF net sales were $4.2 billion. At the end of 2021, cryptocurrency mutual fund assets totalled $30 million and ETF assets totalled $5.9 billion. About IFIC The Investment Funds Institute of Canada is the voice of Canadas investment funds industry. IFIC brings together approximately 150 organizations, including fund managers, distributors and industry service organizations, to foster a strong, stable investment sector where investors can realize their financial goals. By connecting Canadas savers to Canadas economy, our industry contributes significantly to Canadian economic growth and job creation. For more information, please contact: Pira Kumarasamy Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs pkumarasamy@ific.ca 416-309-2317 MURRELLS INLET, S.C., Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Beach Lincoln, part of Beach Automotive Group, has long been known to help out different organizations and charities in their community. Now, their community is growing. Beach Lincoln is thrilled to announce that they are expanding their territory south. They are now the official Lincoln dealership for Murrells Inlet, Litchfield Beach, Pawley's Island, Georgetown and all points in between. That being noted, they are also delighted to have the opportunity to partner with charities and organizations that are in their new community. Do you all know about the Christ-centered, academically focused after-school and summer program Teach My People? Keep reading to learn more about them and how Beach Lincoln is chipping in. Now that Beach Lincoln is the official Lincoln dealership for Murrells Inlet, Litchfield Beach, Pawley's Island, Georgetown, they are eager to learn more about their wonderful new community. They have recently partnered with an amazing and respected religious and educational program Teach My People. According to their website, "Teach My People (TMP) is a Christ-centered, academically focused after school and summer program for students in need, selected by their local teachers, in Pawleys Island and Georgetown, South Carolina." Their mission is "to teach children and youth in their partnering schools to overcome academic, economic and social challenges and impact families through the delivery of Christ-centered programs and services that promote spiritual, educational, and emotional growth." Since 2013, TMP has had the honor of witnessing 26 students graduate high school, five alumni graduate college, 12 alumni currently attending college and two alumni serving in the military. Isn't that simply fantastic? Now that Beach Lincoln is serving the communities of Murrells Inlet, Litchfield Beach, Pawley's Island and Georgetown, they are delighted to offer the outstanding Lincoln sales and service to residents and businesses alike. They offer new vehicles like the Navigator, Corsair, Aviator and the Nautilus. They also offer plenty of pre-owned Lincoln vehicles as well. What's even better is that they offer service and repair on all of them. Beach Lincoln has provided excellent sales and service experiences to the Grand Strand for over 25 years. They are enthusiastic about offering the same great sales and service experiences to their new community members in Murrells Inlet, Litchfield Beach, Pawley's Island and Georgetown. They are also happy to support excellent organizations like Teach My People. If you want to learn more about Teach My People, simply click or tap here. If you want to check out Beach Lincoln, see their inventory or even schedule service, click or tap here. Building solid and long-lasting relationships within their community is a priority for Beach Lincoln. Please direct questions to Nick Domino, Internet Manager, Beach Automotive Group (843) 626-3666. Related Images Image 1: Beach Lincoln Logo Beach Lincoln Logo This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment Washington, DC, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (Commission) has approved the Joint Application of Pepco and the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Third Biennial Underground Infrastructure Improvement Projects Plan, and the Financing Order Application (Formal Case No. 1168). The Third Biennial Plan is the final phase of the D.C. Power Line Undergrounding (DC PLUG) program. With the completion of construction on all 20 feeders, DC PLUG will provide increased reliability and resiliency benefits to about 26,000 electric customers in the District. DC PLUG is a multi-year program designed to migrate the Districts most vulnerable overhead distribution lines underground in Wards 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. This program represents an innovative public-private partnership to help bolster infrastructure resiliency in the face of growing climate threats. The total investment in DC PLUG is nearly $500 million. It will provide significant economic opportunities for District residents and qualifying District contractors. There will be minimal increases to residential customer bills associated with funding the Third Biennial Plan. The Commission held a virtual community hearing for District residents and businesses about DC PLUG on January 11, 2022. Within 90 days of the Order, Pepco must identify the estimated start date and projected end date for each feeder approved in the Underground Infrastructure Improvements Projects Plan. Pepco will also file all revised tariff sheets, including the Underground Project Charge Rider and the Underground Rider, within ten days of the Order. Pepco and DDOT must also submit a compliance filing within 90 days of the Order. The Commission also directs Pepco to submit a report on the total costs of the Benning Area Reliability Plan (BARP) since inception and a cost-breakdown for each DC PLUG feeder compared to the original budget estimates as part of their 90-day compliance filing. The Order also requires Pepco and DDOT to update their contractors hiring practices in its Annual Update and Semi-Annual Meetings. DDOT and Pepco must make every practical effort to ensure that District residents are hired for newly created jobs through the Undergrounding Act. The goal is to fill 100% of all construction-related jobs with District residents and award 100% of the construction contracts to certified business enterprises (CBEs) or certified joint ventures where a CBE holds a majority interest. For additional information about the DC PLUG Initiative, visit the Commission website. Carson City, NV, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corcoran Global Living, an independently owned and operated affiliate of Corcoran Group, LLC, has welcomed Carson City-based RCM Realty Group to its growing operation. With this latest expansion, Corcoran Global Living has climbed to the top five brokerages in Nevada with gross annual sales of $2.1 billion. Since first launching in the Reno/Lake Tahoe market of Northern Nevada and California nearly two years ago, Corcoran Global Living has burgeoned into a formidable power broker across the entire state. With 18 offices in Las Vegas, Henderson, Lake Las Vegas, Summerlin, Reno, South Lake Tahoe, Zephyr Cove, Incline Village, Tahoe City, Truckee, Sacramento, and the newest locations in Gardnerville and Carson City, the firm is well positioned to serve its broad client base. RCM Realty Group first opened its doors in 2014 when friends and colleagues Heidi McFadden, Mark Turner, and Sam Landis decided that there was an unfulfilled need in the Carson City real estate brokerage market for a smaller, non-affiliated, boutique real estate firm with a deep understanding of Carson City real estate, and the ability to attract and retain both new and established highly productive agents. At the time, Heidi had more than 10 years of experience managing and selling for a local real estate brokerage and a unique ability to communicate and connect with the types of agents needed to build a top producing office. Mark had a brokers license, land to develop, and had run a smaller brokerage, Silver Oak Properties, Inc. since the mid 1990s. Sam was a homebuilder who had paired up with Mark to scale up his business through access to private financing and inventoried residential land. Sam and Mark were amongst the first builders in Northern Nevada to start risking capital and building homes after the recession. The three pooled their resources and talents to found RCM Realty Group, and by 2016, had three locations between Carson City and the Carson Valley. We have always felt we would not sell or partner with another brokerage unless the values and the culture of the merging entity closely matched ours, and Corcoran Global Living checked those boxes for us, commented Heidi McFadden. I'm so excited for this venture and am looking forward to growth and opportunity for our whole team. Heidi McFadden, Mark Turner, and Sam Landis join Corcoran Global Living as Partners. Heidi will also lead as the District Office Manager for the Carson City and Gardnerville offices. Heidi, Mark, and Sam have held themselves to high professional standards throughout their careers and voluntarily taken leadership roles in their respective industries as well as the community and State of Nevada at large. Were thrilled to welcome Heidi, Mark, Sam, and their entire group of associates to Corcoran Global Living. Expanding into the Carson Valley market has been on our roadmap, but equally important was finding the right partner who shared in our vision, values, and culture. Weve found that with this group, and know theyll be a welcome addition to our CGL family as leaders, partners and friends, commented Michael Mahon, Chief Executive Officer of Corcoran Global Living. With our line-up of record-breaking sales, top producing individuals, top producing teams, and exemplary leadership, Corcoran Global Livings strength and reach is unstoppable. About Corcoran Global Living Founded on the principle of putting people first, Corcoran Global Living, an independently owned and operated affiliate of The Corcoran Group, serves the Northern California, Southern California, Reno/Lake Tahoe, Southern Nevada, and Central Ohio markets with more than 70 strategically located offices throughout the regions. Corcoran Global Living is well positioned to provide exceptional service to its loyal clientele with nearly 2,600 dedicated, professional associates and gross annual sales of $10 billion. Known for making a positive difference in the communities where associates and staff live, the Corcoran Global Living organization is poised for expansive growth to service clients in California, Nevada, Ohio, and additional new markets and communities. From luxury homes and income properties to vacation getaways and first-time homes, Corcoran Global Living has the experience, insight and expertise to achieve and surpass clients highest expectations. For more information, visit CorcoranGL.com. ### Attachment Naval aviation division carries out day-and-night flight training China Military Online) 14:22, January 27, 2022 An anti-submarine aircraft attached to a naval aviation division under the PLA Eastern Theater Command taxis on the tarmac during a combat flight training exercise in the middle of January, 2022, which is attended by multiple types of aircraft. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Guo Yunbo, Liu Yufan, Wang Zhengdi and Zhang Dingyi) (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) The Michigan high school student accused of gunning down four of his classmates at a suburban Detroit school will plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Ethan Crumbleys lawyers filed a notice Thursday indicating what kind pf defense theyre planning for their client. Advertisement Crumbley, 15, is charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of terrorism, among several other crimes, in connection with the Nov. 30 shooting at Oxford High School, about 35 miles north of Detroit. This booking photo released by the Oakland County, Mich., Sheriff's Office shows Ethan Crumbley, 15. (AP) He will now undergo multiple psychiatric evaluations: one from Michigans Center for Forensic Psychiatry, one by a defense expert and one by an expert hired by the prosecution. Advertisement In prior court filings, prosecutors noted Crumbleys fragile mental state. They cited a worksheet where he drew a gun and a person apparently dying along with the phrases My life is useless, The world is dead and blood everywhere. They also noted another paper that included a desperate plea: The thoughts wont stop. Help me. Prosecutors said Crumbley kept a baby bird head in a jar and that his parents knew he was depressed and watching violent videos of shootings. Photographs of four students, Hana St. Juliana, 14, Madisyn Baldwin, 17, Tate Myre, 16 and Justin Shilling, 17, sit among of flowers, teddy bears and other personal items left at the memorial site on Dec. 7, 2021 outside Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich. (Jake May / AP) The evidence of Crumbleys mental state has largely been presented in legal procedures against his parents, James and Jennifer, who are charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter for buying Ethan a gun and ignoring warning signs. All three Crumbleys, along with leaders at Oxford High School, were sued Thursday by the parents of 16-year-old Tate Myre, one of the four kids killed in the shooting alongside Madisyn Baldwin, 17; Hana St. Juliana, 14; and Justin Shilling, 17. Six more students and a teacher were wounded in the gunfire. Our family will never be the same, Tates father William said Thursday. Were not doing good. All we do is walk around the house and think about Tate. We think about him every day. We sit in his room. We listen to his playlist off Spotify. Were not doing good, but were going to find a way to get through it together. Students hug at a memorial at Oxford High School in Oxford, Mich., on Dec. 1, 2021. (Paul Sancya/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. > The suit claims James and Jennifer Crumbley were intentionally and recklessly negligent in buying Ethan a gun and sending him to school, while administrators were negligent for not taking Ethan out of class after spotting his disturbing writing. The Myre family seeks at least $25,000 in damages. The lawsuit is based in part on a reported behavioral meeting held on the day of the shooting with Ethan, his parents and school leaders. The administrators said Ethan should get immediate psychiatric therapy, but the Crumbleys refused and insisted he stay in school, according to the suit. Advertisement Jennifer Crumbley texted her son, writing, Lol. Im not mad at you. You have to learn not to get caught, prosecutors have said. At the meeting, administrators held Ethans backpack, but eventually turned it back over to him without searching it, the lawsuit claims. Ethan pulled a gun and ammunition from the backpack just hours later and began shooting, according to investigators. Ethan is being held without bail in Oakland County Jail. His parents are each being held on $500,000 bond; they unsuccessfully lobbied to have that number reduced. Oxford High School was closed for almost two months after the shooting, while students attended classes in other buildings. The school finally reopened Monday after renovations. With News Wire Services DETROIT, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AaDya Security, a Detroit-based software company founded by cybersecurity veteran Raffaele Mautone in March of 2019, announced the close of a $3.1M funding round. The funding will support the launch of Judy 3.0, a streamlined version of the company's all-in-one cybersecurity platform, and will allow AaDya to expand its product, sales, and marketing teams to accelerate customer growth and service increasing market demand. Companyon Ventures in Boston led the funding round with participation from new investors including Gutbrain Ventures, PBJ Capital, and Gaingels. Existing investors Firebrand Ventures, NextCoast Ventures, and Invest Detroit also participated. "AaDya's AI-powered all-in-one platform is a game-changer for managed service providers (MSPs) who want to offer the most robust cyber protection for their SMB clients without the headaches and costs of deploying and managing multiple point solutions from an array of vendors," said Tom Lazay, Co-Founder and General Partner at Companyon Ventures. "We're thrilled to lead this round and support AaDya's expansion into the market through their select MSP partners." The Judy platform features a user-friendly, browser-based interface with secure single sign on and a password manager to protect credentials and allow users to safely and easily access their applications. On the backend, Judy provides endpoint detection and response, DNS filtering, and threat detection and automated remediation to protect businesses from growing threats such as phishing and ransomware attacks. Judy's Champion Dashboard allows company leaders to add employees and access a portal to help them meet compliance requirements, while a partner version empowers MSPs to easily onboard, monitor and manage their clients, all from a single screen. "We are thrilled to be working with the team at Companyon on the go-to-market strategy for Judy 3.0," said AaDya CEO, Raffaele Mautone. "They truly understand and support our vision to deliver a premium security offering designed to meet the needs of a segment that has often been overlooked and underserved. Their expertise and knowledge has already proven to be an invaluable resource to our entire team and we look forward to what's next for AaDya Security." About AaDya Security Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, AaDya Security provides smart, simple, effective and affordable cybersecurity software solutions for small and midsize businesses. Judy, our all-in-one cybersecurity platform leverages AI and machine learning to deliver next-generation, 24/7 protection and support for companies who lack the time, expertise and capital to successfully implement these solutions on their own. For more information please visit our website, AaDyasecurity.com About Companyon Ventures Companyon Ventures invests in category-leading seed-funded B2B software startups that have found product-market fit and are ready to scale. The firm advances companies to an outsized Series A through an immersive expansion program resulting in repeatable and scalable go-to-market execution. Companyon's expansion program employs playbooks and tools used by top-performing startups executed by a curated team of B2B SaaS practitioners who work for CEOs to deliver output and outcomes. Media Contact: Melissa Smith, Director of Marketing | e: msmith@aadyasecurity.com | p: 313.595.7258 Related Images Image 1: Judy Product Image Judy Product Image This content was issued through the press release distribution service at Newswire.com. Attachment Charleston, South Carolina, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The College of Charleston Board of Trustees has approved the formation of the School of Health Sciences in order to meet the high demand for qualified healthcare workers in South Carolina and the nation. With the establishment of the School of Health Sciences, the College of Charleston will prepare our students to be healthcare leaders throughout our communities, said College of Charleston Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Suzanne Austin during a press conference to formally announce the new school. Working with our community and healthcare partners, the College will offer programs that take advantage of our current expertise in public health, exercise science and lifetime physical activity to attract the next generation of scholars. According to a report from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in healthcare occupations is projected to grow 15% between 2019 and 2029. This job growth is anticipated across all categories of health care including healthcare administration/management, health informatics and other areas of healthcare support. The College of Charleston is primed to have one of the top undergraduate health sciences programs in the country, said College of Charleston President Andrew T. Hsu. By creating a stand-alone school, the College will better meet student demand and also the regions needs. I am excited to see this academic program continue to grow and evolve in service to our students and the greater community. Austin said the School of Health Sciences will significantly increase opportunities for mutually beneficial partnerships with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). The College already has a strong relationship with MUSC, including research collaborations involving our students and faculty, she said. We expect the School of Health Sciences to provide a platform for even more partnerships in the future. Dr. Zoher Kapasi, dean of the College of Health Professions at the Medical University of South Carolina, says CofCs School of Heath Sciences is an important addition to the region. We welcome the development of the new School of Health Sciences at the College of Charleston, said Kapasi. It will further provide a vital pipeline to develop the healthcare workforce in South Carolina and beyond. The School of Health Sciences will be located in the Silcox Physical Education Center on George Street, where the Department of Health and Human Performance is currently housed. Austin said an internal search for an interim dean of the new school will commence soon. Attachment Lima, Jan. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lima, PERU, January 27th, 2022 Credicorp Ltd. announces that the Board of Directors, in its session held on January 27th, 2022, appointed Francesca Raffo as Chief Innovation Officer of Credicorp, effective February 1st, 2022. This position, which was recently created, will ensure that all LOBs are aligned with Credicorps strategy to act as force of disruption and innovation in the financial services industry. With its new governance structure, the company intends to strengthen its capabilities to incubate new business models that are close to its core at each LOB Innovation Center while pursuing external innovation opportunities through its Corporate Venture Center, Krealo. The company is combining agility with superior user experience while leveraging its distribution network, business diversification, scale and extensive network of long-term client relationships. Credicorp will present its digital transformation strategy and digitally-led growth opportunities at an Investor Digital Day on March 15th in New York and on March 16th in London, more information here . Francesca is the right person to take on this new role to advance our digital transformation and innovation process at the Credicorp level, said Mr. Gianfranco Ferrari, CEO of Credicorp. Francesca has driven the development and execution of BCPs digital transformation strategy to date. Her passion for everything digital and belief in the power of disruption will serve her well as she leads the Groups ambitious innovation plans. Ms. Raffo will continue in her role as Deputy CEO Retail Banking at BCP, which she assumed in June 2020. Her successful career at BCP spans 26 years and includes heading Transformation at BCP; managing the Satisfied Customers Division; creating BCP's first Innovation Center; and leading the Marketing Services Area. Ms. Raffo joined BCP in 1994 as a member of the Process Reengineering pioneer team and, thereafter, led different strategic projects within Retail Banking. Ms. Raffo holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and an MBA in Management Information Systems, both from American University in Washington DC. Cesar Rivera is the new Head Insurance and Pensions, effective February 1st, 2022 Additionally, the Board determined that Mr. Cesar Rivera will be the Head of the LOB Insurance and Pensions in replacement of Alvaro Correa, who recently retired. Mr. Rivera has more than 25 years of experience in the Pensions and Insurance sector and will remain in his current role of CEO of Pacifico Compania de Seguros y Reaseugros, which he has held since January 2020. Prior to this, Mr. Rivera held different key positions in the sector including General Manager in Pacifico Vida Life Insurance Company; Deputy General Manager in American Life Insurance Company (ALICO) in Argentina; and General Manager in Santander Life Insurance Company in Peru. Mr. Rivera is also currently a member of the Board of Directors at Prima AFP, Mibanco SA, Crediseguro Personas and Crediseguro Generales in Bolivia. He has a degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad de Piura and MBA from ESAN. About Credicorp Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE: BAP) is the leading financial services holding company in Peru with presence in Chile, Colombia and Bolivia. Credicorp has a diversified business portfolio organized intoin four lines of business: Universal Banking, through Banco de Credito del Peru BCP and Banco de Credito de Bolivia; Microfinance, through Mibanco in Peru and Colombia; Insurance & Pension Funds, through Grupo Pacifico and Prima AFP; and Investment Banking & Wealth Management, through Credicorp Capital, Wealth Management at BCP and Atlantic Security Bank. For further information please contact the IR team: investorrelations@credicorpperu.com Investor Relations Credicorp Ltd. Gloucester, MA (01930) Today Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 46F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 46F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. A Houston man who shot and wounded three police officers was taken in custody Thursday night after an hours-long standoff. All three officers were hospitalized in stable condition, police said in an alert. Advertisement The suspect was identified as Roland Caballero, local ABC affiliate KTRK reported. After shooting the officers, Caballero escaped by carjacking a white Mercedes and barricading himself in a building about four miles north of the initial incident, police said. During the standoff, Caballero unleashed multiple rounds of gunfire but hit no one, Houston police chief Troy Finner said at a press conference. Caballero surrendered around 7:45 p.m., walking out of the building with his hands up. Advertisement The initial shooting happened at the conclusion of a car chase, according to surveillance video obtained by KTRK. The video showed a gray Dodge Charger stopped up against a chain link fence, with at least three officers firing in its direction from outside their vehicles while using two police SUVs for cover. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Caballero appeared to be seated or crouching near the drivers seat of the Charger. The cops had initially been called to the scene of a domestic disturbance, and Caballero fled when he saw the officers, according to local CBS affiliate KHOU. That chase ended in the shootout south of downtown Houston on McGowen St. One of the police vehicles was shot to s---, Houston police union president Doug Griffith told the Houston Chronicle. Houston police identified the injured officers as N. Gadson, 35 (; D. Hayden, 32; and A. Alvarez, 28. Cops said Caballero stole the Mercedes and drove about four miles north before holing up in a house where he lived. The woman who owned the Mercedes was not physically harmed, just traumatized, Finner said. After more than three hours of negotiations, the standoff ended peacefully, Finner said. Caballero had a gunshot wound to his neck and was taken to a hospital. He reportedly had a long criminal record. In Harris County, which surrounds and includes Houston, two sheriffs deputies were killed last weekend, in what the Chronicle called one of the deadliest time spans for cops in the Houston area since late 2019. A hiker trying to capture the vista slipped off an Arizona trail and fell 700 feet to his death, according to officials. Richard Jacobson, 21, was camping atop Flatiron Peak at the Lost Dutchman State Park when he went out on the ledge to take a photo, the Pinal County Sheriffs Office confirmed to the Daily News Thursday. Advertisement Jacobson slipped and toppled over the edge. His friend with whom he had traveled called for help around 12:45 a.m. Monday and search and rescue teams found Jacobsons body about 700 feet below the camping site. Advertisement (Shutterstock) There were no signs of foul play or drug use, PCSO Sgt. Doug Peoble told Fox 10. Jacobsons friend, who was not publicly identified, was airlifted out of the camping site. As you can imagine, he was very distraught, Peoble said. He was torn up pretty bad emotionally. AllTrails, a review site for hikers, describes Flatiron as a challenging 5.5-mile hike with a steep push to the summit and lots of scrambling. Climbers are advised to wear sturdy shoes. A second investigation into the 2013 death of 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson turned up no new answers. The Lowndes County Sheriffs Office has closed the case again, writing off the Georgia teenagers death as a terrible accident, Sheriff Ashley Paulk announced Wednesday. Advertisement Johnson was found dead on Jan. 11, 2013, at Lowndes County High School, stuck upside down in an upright mat behind the bleachers. Kendrick Johnson (@tomjones161 via twitter) Officials ruled it positional asphyxia, saying he suffocated after getting stuck while trying to retrieve a shoe that had fallen in the center of the mat. Advertisement But Johnsons parents, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, called for a deeper investigation after a third-party autopsy said he died from unexplained, apparent non-accidental, blunt force trauma. [ Investigation reopened into Georgia teenager found dead inside gym mat ] A sneaker and a sweatshirt stained with a liquid were left a few yards away from Johnsons body, according to photos from the scene previously obtained by the Daily News. Investigators could not confirm the liquid and did not collect any as evidence. Kendrick's parents, Kenneth and Jacquelyn Johnson, have called for more investigations. (Russ Bynum/AP) In March, police investigated a new confession, sent on tape to Jacquelyn Johnson, but determined it was a hoax. All of the evidence, testimony, interviews, grand jury testimony and even the blatant coercion and intimidation of some persons being questioned does not produce anything to prove any criminal act by anyone that would have resulted in the death of Kendrick Johnson, Paulk wrote in a 16-page synopsis of his investigation. The mayor of Hyattsville, Md., Kevin Ward, died Tuesday from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, the city said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. Ward, Hyattsvilles first and only openly gay mayor, was 44. Advertisement Mayor Ward was a valued and trusted leader and a fierce advocate for all the people of Hyattsville, the statement read. We are heartbroken at this loss and extend our deepest sympathy to the mayors family. Hyattsville Mayor Kevin Ward Ward, a two-term city council member, became acting mayor of Hyattsville on Jan. 1, 2021, following the resignation of then-Mayor Candace Hollingsworth. Advertisement He was then elected in May of that year with 58% of the vote. Ward moved to Hyattsville with his husband in 2014, after they adopted two boys. According to his campaign website, he was a pretty straightforward person who believed in listening more than talking. The husband, father, grandfather, and proud resident of Hyattsville said that he believed he could change peoples lives with his work. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > This is why I dedicated my career to providing the best technology to education and human services, to help as many as I can, he said. It is with great sadness that we report that our beloved #HyattsvilleMayor Kevin Ward passed away yesterday, January 25 from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. We are heartbroken by this loss and share our deepest sympathy for the Mayors family. https://t.co/nemygRxFmL pic.twitter.com/8ZH33pXsfQ City of Hyattsville (@HyattsvilleMD) January 26, 2022 States Attorney Aisha Braveboy, a Democrat, said that Ward was unafraid to live his truth as the first openly gay mayor of Hyattsville. He will be missed for the leadership and support that he brought to Prince Georges County as well as the joy that he gave us with his radiant smile, Braveboy, a personal friend of the mayor, said in a statement, according to The Washington Post. College Park, Md. Mayor Patrick Wojahn, whos also gay, told the LGBTQ news outlet Washington Blade that Ward was insightful, smart and dedicated, and that he always seemed very confident and together as a person. He also had a great sense of humor, he added. Advertisement City officials said that details about services and remembrances will be shared when they are available. If you or someone you know is going through a crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-TALK (8255). LGBTQ youth are encouraged to call TrevorLifeline at (866) 488-7386, or text START to 678-678 An auction featuring a hat once worn my Melania Trump has come to an underwhelming head. Earlier this month, the former first lady announced that a white hat she wore during a 2018 White House visit from French President Emmanuel Macron would be available to bidders as part of a Head of State Collection, 2022 that included a watercolor rendering of her wearing it in the form of a non-fungible token. Advertisement Then-First Lady Melania Trump waits to greet French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron at the White House on April 24, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) Bidding started at the equivalent of $250,000, though the purchase was to be made through a cryptocurrency using Solana tokens, which were at the time worth $170 each. However, that currency was valued at only $95 per unit when bidding commenced Wednesday. [ Melania Trump selling NFT embodying her passion for the arts ] Only a handful of bids were recorded, all said to have been around the minimum asking price. But due to the cryptocurrencys price drop, that translates to about $170,000, which is $80,000 less than the minimum being sought. Advertisement The former first lady said in January that an unspecified portion of sales would be directed to help children in foster care. Baidus intelligent electric vehicle arm JIDU has closed Series A financing, raising nearly $400 million. This round of financing was backed by Baidu and its strategic partner multinational auto manufacturer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. JIDUs first Robocar concept car will be unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April this year, with a mass-produced model set to be launched in 2023. In January 2021, Baidu announced its plan to enter the automotive industry by launching a smart car company. In March, JIDU was established and received more than $300 million in start-up capital. Now, in the span of ten months, JIDU has received a new round of financing. The success of the new round of financing will help JIDU accelerate its R&D and mass production of the Robocar. Moving forward, JIDU will expand its R&D team with a focus on talent acquisition, especially in fields including advanced autonomous driving, smart cockpit and smart manufacturing. JIDU will also build up a system to facilitate user growth and market operation. As an important strategic initiative by Baidu in the field of intelligent mobility, JIDU is committed to creating a revolutionary Robocar that combines both intelligence and emotion. How to Clip Click and hold your mouse button on the page to select the area you wish to save or print. You can click and drag the clipping box to move it or click and drag in the bottom right corner to resize it. When you're happy with your selection, click the checkmark icon next to the clipping area to continue. 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. Support local journalism We are making critical coverage of the coronavirus available for free. Please consider subscribing so we can continue to bring you the latest news and information on this developing story. A paramedic who treated George Floyd on the day of his murder wasnt told the man had stopped breathing and had no pulse when the officers upgraded their emergency call, according to testimony heard Wednesday. First responder Derek Smith testified during the federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers that Floyd had no pulse and his pupils were large when he arrived at the scene on May 25, 2020. Smith said these two factors indicated the patient was probably deceased. Advertisement This image from police body camera video shows emergency personal tending to George Floyd after he had been loaded into an ambulance on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP) J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao are charged with depriving Floyd of his civil rights by failing to intervene and save Floyds life while ex-officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly 10 minutes, Kueng knelt on his back, Lane held his legs and Thao kept a gathering crowd from getting close. Floyds killing sparked worldwide protests over racial injustice and police brutality. Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter charges in Minnesota last year and also pleaded guilty to a federal civil rights charge. The other three will go on trial for aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter charges. Advertisement In body-camera footage played for the jury, Smith asks for an assessment of the situation. Lane describes how Floyd was arrested for using a counterfeit $20 bill and was restrained after he kicked his way out of the squad car and that the officers were just basically restraining him until you guys got here. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Smith later agreed with assistant U.S. attorney Manda Sertich that the officers were trained to perform CPR and should have started before paramedics arrived, on top of giving the paramedics more information about Floyds condition. Smith said they brought Floyd into an ambulance and driven away from the hostile-growing crowd and performed a number of life-saving measures, including creating an airway and inserting an IV. Lane also rode along and performed chest compressions. However, Smith also told Lanes defense attorney Earl Gray that the former officer was helpful and even used an air bag to try to ventilate Floyds lungs. Smith also told Thaos attorney Robert Paule that they would not have moved Floyd if the bystanders werent adding to the tension of the situation. Smith also told the defense he was worried Floyd might have earlier been exhibiting excited delirium, which can occur after drug use and can give the appearance of added strength. Medical examiners have attributed in-custody deaths to excited delirium in other instances, but the science behind the phenomena is questionable. Kueng, Lane and Thao are all charged with failing to provide medical care. Thao and Kueng are also charged with failing to stop Chauvin. Lane is expected to testify in the trial, which could last as long as four weeks. With News Wire Services GREENWICH What was that jolt early Thursday afternoon? Numerous residents reported what felt like some kind of tremor around 1 p.m. in various neighborhoods around Greenwich. Local authorities were unsure what the cause was, but the U.S. Geological Survey later reported a 1.4 magnitude earthquake had occurred two kilometers north-northwest of Cos Cob at 12:38 p.m. USGS reported the quake was felt in Cos Cob, Greenwich, Old Greenwich and Riverside. Social media detectives were on the case shortly after the rumbling, which some local residents also described as being accompanied by a loud noise. Here in Cos Cob it was so loud the house shook, one local resident reported on Twitter. I ran out assuming a huge old oak tree had fallen over! another responded. A Port Chester, N.Y., resident also described the phenomenon just over the state line from Greenwich. A Glenville resident chimed in that the mystery boom was felt in her neighborhood. One North Mianus resident initially thought something had fallen on his house. Another commenter on Twitter wondered jokingly whether a science project had gone horribly wrong at Greenwich High School, but as of Thursday afternoon, the high school was perfectly intact. Police Capt. Mark Zuccerella said the department had received some calls from residents in the afternoon, but he had no immediate answers to provide. There did not appear to be a public health threat, police said. At fire headquarters, there was no indication of what might have caused rumblings. We did not respond to anything like that, said Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Morris. A small tremor was detected in Greenwich in 2016, as southern New England has been rocked by a few minor quakes in recent decades. Staff writer Ken Borsuk contributed to this report. More than eight years into her cancer diagnosis, the pain in Kim Hoffmans body had become constant. I cant remember the last day that I did not experience pain, Hoffman, 59, of Glastonbury, said in a recent interview. It has been at least two months of daily, very often intense, sharp, biting pain. Ive awoken from sleep in pain every night, multiple times. Three oclock in the morning is a standing hour for me - three oclock and four oclock in the morning I can always count on waking up in discomfort or pain. In 2013, she was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer. During the following years, it spread throughout her body. She was given two to four months to live last fall. She died on Jan. 18. In an interview with the CT Mirror just weeks before her death, Hoffman used some of her remaining strength to call for passage of an aid in dying bill, poised to be a key issue when the state legislature convenes in February. She wished the option had been available to her. I am advocating for our legislators to show compassion, kindness, care and sensitivity to those of us who face a terminal diagnosis, she said. It is kind and compassionate. It is a choice. It is not forced on anybody. It would give me such a sense of relief and peace. And I should say, it would give my family a sense of relief and peace as well, knowing Im comforted by that. For the first time, a version of Connecticuts aid in dying bill made it out of committee in 2021. The Public Health Committee voted 24-9 in favor of sending the measure to the House floor. The bill did not come up for a vote in either chamber, however. It didnt make it out of the Judiciary Committee. Under last years proposal, an adult patient with a terminal illness - having six months or less to live - would have been able to access lethal drugs by making two oral requests at least 15 days apart, and one written request. The written request would have to be done in the presence of two witnesses who could attest that the patient is of sound mind and acting voluntarily. A physician would prescribe or dispense the medication, and the patient would self-administer the drug. Requests for the medication may be rescinded by the patient at any time without regard to his or her mental state, according to the measure. A doctor would have to refer the patient to another consulting physician for medical confirmation of the persons diagnosis and for confirmation that the patient is competent and acting voluntarily. Although three Republicans joined 21 Democrats in supporting the bill last year, several members of the health committee acknowledged that the bill needed work. As the 2022 session nears, proponents of the measure say they have incorporated the needed revisions and will press for a vote in the House. We came very close last year, said Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, a co-chair of the Public Health Committee. We have looked at the polling statewide, which indicates that the majority of Connecticut citizens are in favor of this. I think we made adjustments to the bill coming out of the committee and hearing processes that will make it have good prospects. A high priority Steinberg and other leaders on the health committee have marked the proposal No. 1 in terms of importance during the upcoming session, he said. The Westport Democrat, who will complete his sixth term in 2022 and is considering not running again, has been a key backer of the legislation and is hoping to oversee its passage in what could be his final year. Wed like to get ready to go earlier rather than later so it doesnt become a victim of priorities and the clock ticking out, Steinberg said. Thats our objective: Get it ready to go out the door and ready for a vote as quickly as possible. This years effort will involve seeking out as many co-sponsors as possible, he said, including members of both parties from both chambers. Steinberg noted that the same people will be returning to the legislature that voted it out of committee in 2021, and that the proposal is gaining favor among the public. He and other proponents have pointed to polling by Compassion and Choices, an advocacy group that supports the legislation, showing 75 percent of Connecticut residents surveyed back the proposal. The organization polled 550 likely 2022 general election voters in March 2021. A Quinnipiac University poll in 2015 found that 63 percent of voters supported the bill. Aid in dying is legal in Oregon, Washington state, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, Hawaii, New Jersey, Maine, New Mexico and the District of Columbia. For us, its not a question of if the law will pass, its a question of when, said Tim Appleton, senior campaign director with Compassion and Choices. This issue has been before members of the public health committee on several occasions, and there was a tipping point of education, when people really began to understand exactly what this issue is about. People should have options - all options - at end of life, and aid in dying should be one of them. For Steinberg, a decade-plus of advocacy on the bill was inspired by a local Westport politician who was an early mentor. William Meyer, a longtime Representative Town Meeting member, had helped his terminally ill father end his life (he was charged with second-degree manslaughter and later placed on probation). Meyer brought the issue of legalizing aid in dying to Steinberg during Steinbergs first term in the legislature. I kind of took up the mantle, and its been something Ive been working on for a lot of years, Steinberg said. Meyer died in 2014. In what may be his last term and final year as co-chair of the health committee, Steinberg said he hopes the bill will come up for a vote in the House and Senate. Its certainly something Id like to see done on my watch, he said. But Im not exactly sure how long my watch is going to last. Uncertain path forward Members of Connecticuts disability community continue to oppose the measure. Cathy Ludlum, head of Second Thoughts Connecticut, a grassroots organization whose advocates are against the legislation, said the proposal puts vulnerable people at greater risk. The very real likelihood of misdiagnosis, misprognosis, abuse and error is just enormous, she said. And when a life is ended, you cant go back and say, Whoops, that was a mistake. We in the disability community have to keep saying that we dont want to get in the way of anyones personal choice. But when that choice becomes a threat to us, we have to stand up and say no. Stephen Mendelsohn, an advocate with Second Thoughts, said the bill promotes suicide as a solution to problems. This is bad social policy that puts everybodys life in danger, he said. Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, a New Haven Democrat, said its too early to speculate on whether the measure will come up for a vote in his chamber. I couldnt say at this point whether attitudes have changed, or whether they are evolving, he said. Weve never actually had a full discussion to try to get a sense of it. House Speaker Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, said he personally supports the bill. But legislative leaders will have to take a vote count before deciding whether to raise the proposal in the House. Its one of those issues where everyone has their own personal feeling about it. Its not the kind of thing where the speaker can come in and say, Heres what were going to do, we got this for you guys, he said. This is a very, very emotional, personal thing for members of the caucus. And they will determine the fate of this bill. Photo: Tammie Teclemariam This article originally appeared in The Year I Ate New York, a newsletter about eating through the city, one restaurant at a time. Sign up here. A few nights ago, I was sitting at the bar of the airy Williamsburg restaurant Misi, half-heartedly talking with the stranger next to me who was also dining alone. Inevitably, he asked what I did, and I said I write about restaurants. I didnt think much about it when I went to use the restroom, but he evidently decided to read up on me, because when I got back to my seat, I saw my job announcement on his phone. Yes, I was New York Magazines new diner-at-large, and indeed I would be responsible for writing the weekly column that you are now reading. The decision to accept the job was an easy one to make at the time; the city was increasingly carefree and optimistic, and we couldnt wait to get back to restaurants. Then the Omicron variant swept through, everyone got sick, and I didnt leave my neighborhood between Christmas until well past New Years. Was a full year of going out every day and every night really such a good idea after all? I wondered. Were other New Yorkers going out at all? I wasnt going to find the answers sitting at home. Not to sound cavalier, but as a vaccinated person without children or immunocompromised dependents, Im comfortable with the risks of indoor dining, and I knew that, if I was going to get any real sense of how the city feels about restaurants right now, I would need to go big during my first week on the job. So I did what any reasonable person with a brand-new expense account would do and decided to visit as many restaurants as I possibly could before my first deadline. In the end, I ate 26 different meals over the course of five days. What I discovered during this somewhat insane (and extremely cold) stretch of days is that New Yorkers, by and large, have separated into two distinct factions. People are no longer tentatively returning to restaurants. They are firmly in or they are firmly out, and the New Yorkers who are going out are really going out. There may be fewer people at restaurants overall, but the ones who do show up are doing their part to compensate for whatever energy might otherwise be missing. I tried to stop in at Casa Mono but was shuffled off to Bar Jamon, a wine-and-ham bar next door that serves as something of a holding pen for people waiting to eat at the real restaurant. I was given the choice of squeezing into a lone seat between two different couples at a communal table but opted instead to stand alone at the counter to better hear the bartenders sherry recommendations. As I got my glass of fino (though I wished Id sprung for the amontillado after he gave me a taste), he told me that it was actually sort of slow for a Wednesday: This is nothing, he scoffed. Usually the space is completely full. Who were all these other diners, exactly? It seemed like everywhere I looked, people were on dates. At Sauced, a dive-y wine bar in Williamsburg, I drank an aromatic chilled Italian red while I watched couples chat and make out between bites of focaccia and tinned sardines. These people did not seem concerned in the slightest about transmitting Omicron to one another, and the only people sitting outside were smoking cigarettes. The spread at Astoria seafood. Photo: Tammie Teclemariam Nor did anyone seem too worried in Queens, where (after an extremely reasonable $75 feast of fried sardines and calamari, swordfish steak, stuffed salmon, raw oysters, whole grilled branzino, and french fries at Astoria Seafood) some friends and I stopped in to Sands of Persia, a new establishment thats billed as a dessert and shisha lounge, although I was the only person there who ordered dessert. If you thought smoking hookah would go out of style during a pandemic of airborne transmission, this place will prove you wrong. Once I got over the enhanced risk of breathing in pure secondhand smoke Can passion-fruitflavored tobacco kill virus particles? I wondered I loved it, especially when the belly dancer started performing, and I sipped my glass of hot mint tea. At one point in the night, she returned wearing a crown of lit candles and deftly shook her body across the space, enticing us to join her. My friend jumped at the opportunity and attempted a shimmy with the belly dancers encouragement while a section of men drinking elaborate chocolate frappes stared on. Demand for fun doesnt seem to wane during the daylight hours, either. When I walked past Taqueria Ramirez on my way to try some pancakes at Chez Ma Tante I noticed a queue stretching out the door for its al pastor, stewy suadero, and tripe tacos (I gave them a try; they lived up to the hype). Most of the people waiting to fill one of the eight seats inside seemed like regulars with one guy encouraging his friend to definitely order five tacos instead of the three hed originally wanted. At the Herald Square outpost of the Japanese chain Ichiran, I waited outside for 25 minutes before being granted entry to one of the restaurants individual dining booths. I even felt somewhat safe, protected by the walls that separated my eating area from a stranger sitting only a foot away, and the employee hidden behind the service curtain, until the sounds of other customers slurping quickly broke the illusion. There may be cheaper or more copious bowls of ramen out there, but sometimes not having to interact with anyone else is worth the premium. If New Yorkers are willing to stand in the cold, they seem less excited about the idea of sitting there. As the temperature dropped, many places didnt even bother with the pretense of outdoor dining. Nobody is willing to freeze in order to eat a steak, and besides, were all vaccinated now, right? During the entire week, I saw only one person get turned away from indoor dining, at Ras Plant Based, a vegan Ethiopian restaurant in Crown Heights, for an incomplete vaccination status. I got turned away at Temple Bar by Disco himself but that was because I didnt have a reservation. I wandered into the East Village instead, where I walked by the very neon cocktail bar Mister Paradise and did my best to avoid the bros spilling out into the street. It was almost midnight, but around the corner 7th Street Burger was full of people waiting for their orders on the sidewalk, so I stopped in. I ate my burger and fries on a ketchup-smeared table next to a pile of trash bags while a college couple in the corner talked about love languages and a table of four friends mused, correctly, on how good the food was. (They make my dream fries: crackly on the outside, extra fluffy interior.) If there are two New Yorks as far as restaurantgoers (and non-goers) are concerned, the same seems true for the actual restaurants: While it was heartening to see so many places jammed, it was similarly upsetting to see casual neighborhood spots sit empty, servers all alone and likely hoping that anyone comes in. Im thinking of a Friday lunch I had at Rangoon, a bright Burmese restaurant in Crown Heights, where I had one of the most memorable salads of my life, a slaw with fermented tea leaves and lots of crunchy seeds, but was one of only two tables there. Salad at Rangoon. Photo: Tammie Teclemariam More than anything, it struck me that people wanted the comfort that comes from being inside a lively room filled with happy strangers, exactly the kinds of places weve all probably tried to avoid at one point or another over the last two years. Early on a Thursday night, I was sitting at the bar at Romans, the kind of Fort Greene restaurant that might be filled with attractive parents who have snuck out of their nearby brownstone for a date night. I ordered some fava-bean puree and the restaurants house bitter cocktail. As I sipped it and watched the space fill up, I noticed the two empty cafe tables that had been set up on the sidewalk. Would it be safer to sit out there? Maybe, but at all the seats around me, everyone looked so happy and so comfortable. We were having a lovely time; who would want to sit alone outside in the cold instead? For anyone keeping track, here is a chronological list of the restaurants Ive visited in the last week: 1. Shelskys of Brooklyn, 2. Caesars Empanadas, 3. Gramercy Tavern, 4. Javelina, 5. Bar Jamon, 6. Rucola, 7. Mekelbergs, 8. Romans, 9. 7th Street Burger, 10. Agis Counter, 11. Rangoon, 12. Ras Plant Based, 13. Misi, 14. Sauced, 15. Golden Diner, 16. Scarrs, 17. Great NY Noodletown, 18. Astoria Seafood, 19. Sands of Persia, 20. Chez Ma Tante, 21. Taqueria Ramirez, 22. Fausto, 23. Jongro Rice Hotdog, 24. Ichiran, 25. Planta Queen, 26. Sushi W. The Year I Ate New York Sign up for Tammies weekly newsletter. Email This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice and to receive email correspondence from us. If youve been following Caviars work, you will know that the founder is a fan of luxury watches. So, when you hear Holy Trinity, you should know that it refers to the horological kind Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin. These three legendary watchmakers are the inspiration behind the new additions to the Pair of Kings line, i.e. Caviars series that intends to pair a luxury watch with a luxury phone. The phones in question are based on the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max and have metal backs styled after the watch face and bracelets of the watches that they are named after. Lets start with the Vacheron Constantin Overseas. One of these will cost you a whopping $52,000 (or more) and only 7 will be made. The phone is decorated with a blue titanium "watch face", 18K gold stylized cross-links bracelet, the Maltese cross and a decorative date indicator. Caviar's iPhone 13 Pro (Max) Vacheron Constantin Overseas Keep in mind that to complete the look, you will also need the watch itself and it costs over 53,000. The Overseas ref. 4500V/110R-B705 was designed by Vincent Kaufmann, chief designer of Vacheron Constantin, with 30 years of experience at the company. If you dont have a hundred grand, consider the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. This one starts at a mere $6,600 and Caviar will produce 99 units. The phone contrasts blue titanium against gray titanium to evoke an image of the Royal Oak ref.15500 that it was based on (which is frighteningly expensive in its own right). Caviar's iPhone 13 Pro (Max) Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Theres also the Patek Philippe Nautilus both it and the Piguet were designed by Gerald Gent. This watch was inspired by the biography of Philip Stern, the head of Patek Philippe. As for the phone bearing the same name, there will be 99 units produced, each costing $6,670 or more. This one also uses blue titanium with the same pattern as the watch face and yet more titanium covering the rest of the back. Caviar's iPhone 13 Pro (Max) Patek Philippe Nautilus Head over to Caviars Pair of Kings collection to learn more (there you will also find the previous Rolex-inspired entries). Source Back in 2015 Intel announced that it will acquire FPGA maker Altera, a move that AMD decided to counter in October 2020 with the acquisition of Xilinx. It has taken quite a while, but China has given its approval for the deal, with some conditions. The conditions being that AMD ensures the flexibility and programmability of Xilinx FPGAs and that their development methods are compatible with ARM-based processors. If youre wondering why this is important, remember that China is deeply invested in developing ARM-based products. AMD believes Xilinx will enhance its portfolio and make it more competitive There are companies in China that make x86 chips too, including a joint venture with AMD that has a license to build processors based on the Zen architecture. Anyway, Chinas main concern is that Xilinx FPGAs remain usable for the local market and that sales of Xilinx products are not tied to sales of AMD products. For those not familiar, a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a chip whose functionality is not fixed but can be programmed to do a variety of tasks. They have all kinds of uses, for example, you may have seen FPGA-based retro consoles instead of emulating the old machines, a replica of the CPU and other components is created in the FPGA. They can also be turned into hardware accelerators for anything from machine learning, through networking to video encoding and so on. FPGAs are often sold as PCIe cards so that they can be added to standard computers easily, but last year AMD patented a hybrid CPU-FPGA design. It would allow Zen processors to be customized on the fly for tasks that are not well suited for a traditional CPU. Intel has been talking about integrating FPGAs into Xeon processors for years now, so this is a space to keep an eye on in the future. AMDs acquisition of Xilinx will be a $35 billion all-stock deal, one of the largest in the semiconductor industry. It has already received the green light from regulators in the US, the UK, Europe and other regions. Source Xiaomi unveiled the 12-series just days before New Years eve and only announced plans for a launch in China. The rest of the world is still waiting for a global launch and while there is no official time line yet, there are clues piling up that suggest that the launch is near. The Xiaomi 12 Pro and its vanilla sibling were spotted in the database of an Indonesian telco a few weeks ago, now the Pro has also gone through the FCC and has appeared in several benchmark results. Global Xiaomi 12 Pro (2201122G) connectivity data from an FCC report The FCC report for the phone (2201122G) reveals support for the following 5G sub-6 bands: n5, n7, n38, n51, n66, n77 and n78. It will also feature Wi-Fi 6E support, though that is still not legalized in some regions (e.g. the EU). NFC is on board as well. This 5G connectivity is enabled by the Qualcomm modem inside the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. A Geekbench result from the global Xiaomi 12 Pro shows 12 GB of RAM and Android 12 (with MIUI 13 on top). The score is on the low side for an 8 Gen 1 phone, so the global ROM may need work. Geekbench result from the global Xiaomi 12 Pro As for the RAM, the base Pro has 8 GB, but since there is only one result in the database, we cant draw conclusions about what memory capacities will be offered to the global audience. The vanilla Xiaomi 12 that was tested by Geekbench did have 8 GB of RAM (that unit scored even lower, which further suggests that the ROM is not ready for prime time). The phone also appeared in the HTML5Test database, using Chrome 96 on Android 12. Interestingly, this result is from two months ago, before Xiaomi unveiled the 12 series, so work on the global model has been going on for a while. The Xiaomi 12 and 12 Pro are headed for a global launch, the third member of the family, the Xiaomi 12X, will likely join them. The launch date is still nebulous, but previous leaks indicated that the Xiaomi 12 is aiming for a February or March release and we have no reason to believe its two siblings will not be by its side. And don't forget that there is also an Ultra model waiting for its time to shine. Source 1 | Source 2 | Source 3 | Via Build muscle and strong relationships with your loved ones with Guam Boonie Stompers Inc. as they take hikers on some difficult and very difficult treks in February. Hikers should provide their own transportation, and children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Note that weather conditions can make the hikes more difficult than described. No reservations are required. To join, meet at 9 a.m. behind the center court of Chamorro Village in Hagatna. The cost is $5 for hikers over 17. If you complete 10 hikes, you get a free Boonie Stomp T-shirt. For more information, go to facebook.com/GuamBoonieStompersInc or call (671) 787-4238. Feb. 5: Anao Coastline, very difficult, 5 hours for 5 miles See the many beautiful wonders at the coastline of northeast Guam as we visit the push/suck cave to swim, the wave cave, Shangri-la, the wind tunnel and the blowhole. Bring: 4 quarts water, hiking shoes, sun screen, sunglasses, lunch and a camera. Special conditions: Hiking over rough sharp rocks, climbing steep slopes and boulders, rope climbing, little shade and a long ascent. Feb. 12: Fadian Cove, difficult, 3 hours for 2 miles Enjoy the scenic water below Guams northeastern cliffs by swimming and snorkeling, if the water is calm. If the conditions are good, head north to the next cove. Bring: 2 quarts water, clothes, hiking shoes, snorkel gear, gloves, insect repellent, sunscreen, lunch and camera. Special conditions: A steep hill to descend and climb, overgrown trail and rough rocks. Feb. 19: Ague Cove, medium, 3 hours for 2 miles Descend a long and fairly steep northwest cliff line to a beautiful isolated cove for jumping, swimming, snorkeling and possibly reef walking, if the water is calm. Bring: 2 quarts water, clothes, hiking shoes, swimsuit, snorkel gear, gloves, sunscreen, insect repellent, lunch and camera. Special conditions: A steep slope and rocky trails. Feb. 26: Mt. Finacresta, very very difficult, 7 hours for 6 miles Travel through open grass ridges of the southern mountains while enjoying excellent views to Mt. Finacresta, also known as Schroeder. Bring: 4 quarts water, hiking shoes, gloves, sunscreen, lunch and camera. Special conditions: Sword grass, little shade, steep climbing and a long hike. Just ahead of the Lunar New Year, San Francisco Mayor London Breed lamented over the alarming surge in the number of hate crimes reported against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders last year. In 2021, 60 people within the AAPI community were victims of targeted attacks, up from nine in 2020. It marks a 597% increase, according to preliminary police data released by officials during a press conference in the citys Chinatown on Tuesday. Advertisement Standing beside Police Chief Bill Scott, Breed warned the actual figures were likely much higher because most people are afraid to come forward, but vowed her continued support. We want to make sure people feel safe, we want to make sure people are comfortable with reporting, Breed said, encouraging everyone to look out for one another, especially with the upcoming new year celebrations. Advertisement San Francisco police officer stands guard on a street corner in Chinatown in San Francisco, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) In addition to actively recruiting new officers, Scott said the department has expanded the number of languages that can be used by those calling in to the criminal tip line. He urged anyone who witnesses suspicious activity to call in, even if it is not an emergency. Scott also warned those gathering for the Lunar New Year to be extra aware this year and to be wary of those either asking for money or offering gifts of any kind. The number of hate crimes targeting members of our AAPI communities is alarming, but its important to remember that San Francisco police officers have made arrests in the majority of these cases, Scott said in a prepared statement. In fact, one perpetrator investigated and arrested by our Taraval Neighborhood Team was charged with 31 hate crime enhancements alone more than half of last years cases. Attacks targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders spiked nationally amid the coronavirus pandemic. Breed placed some of the blame on former President Donald Trump and his rhetoric after the virus was first detected in the city of Wuhan in China. According to the Stop AAPI Hate coalition, which operates out of San Francisco State University, there were more than 10,000 incidents of hate between March 2020 through September 2021. With News Wire Services Atkins Kroll will be hosting a job fair at Micronesia Mall Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 29 and 30. Senators today are expected to vote on a bill that would adjust road weight limits for commercial trucks a measure proponents say will help control the rising cost of goods. Bill 83 would designate Routes 1, 8, 11, and 16 as haul-road highways with higher load capacities for commercial trucks up to 95,000 pounds versus the 80,000 pound limit on normal roads. It also would recognize the use of additional axles on trucks to better distribute haul weight across the road surface, and allow for higher weights to be applied on those axles. Department of Public Works Director Vince Arriola told lawmakers Wednesday that the move is in anticipation of work being done to reinforce the outside lanes of Route 1 from Naval Base Guam to Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, which the Department of Defense will be funding. According to Arriola, the lanes will be rated for loads up to 200,000 pounds, and most distributors will be able to take their containers from the Port Authority of Guam to be broken down at warehouses, typically around the Harmon industrial area. Hermie Queja, general manager for Micronesia Brokers Inc., said that current road weight limits enacted in 2016 made it difficult for distributors to transport goods, and force consumers to absorb the final cost of freight. While trucks rarely go over 80,000 pounds, most violations of the weight limits occur when products shift in the container, causing individual axles on trucks to exceed their load capacities. Distributors seek permits from DPW for heavier loads, Queja said. A continuous trip permit from DPW costs $100, and allows all vehicles in a business fleet to carry oversize loads for up to 90 days. Eddie Cruz of the Guam Contractors Association said permits were allowed in the 2016 law but were not intended to be issued widely to companies as they now are. Bill 83 was a compromise, he said. Designating haul roads, and incentivizing the use of more axles, could better control the damage to roads, he said, but removing the permits and abiding by current limits would transfer costs to consumers. Enacting Bill 83 would not guarantee a decrease in the price of goods either, Queja said. When asked by Sen. Telo Tatiague if there was a timeline for the hardening of Route 1, Arriola said plans would not be drafted until a design was completed. This is without a doubt going to be Guams largest road construction project, he said. Sen. Joe San Agustin amended the bill to halt haul road designations until road improvements were completed. However, several lawmakers still had concerns over Routes 8, 11, and 16 which would not be hardened and the damage to village roads where overweight trucks might drive. Several bridges along Route 1 would not be reconstructed until 2024, either, Arriola said. Bill 83 moved to the third reading file, despite an objection. Clad in reflective vests and protective gear against COVID-19, organizers and volunteers from the Guam Homeless Coalition are going to each village to survey and offer services to Guams street homeless. Thursday was the first day of the annual point-in-time count, which is conducted across the U.S. and mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. The coalition is the Continuum of Care provider for Guam the regional planning body for HUD that coordinates housing and service funds for homeless people. Teams were assigned to cover routes in one or multiple villages where homeless people were known to spend time or live in makeshift housing. The coalition defines street homeless as people who dont have a permanent place to stay. The information gathered will help the coalition develop its strategic plan, said Samantha Taitano, coalition chairperson. The information also will help determine how much money to request from the federal housing agency to assist Guams homeless and to prevent homelessness. The count this year is being done over a two-day period to protect against the spread of COVID-19. The count was canceled last year because of the pandemic. One day focuses on the street homeless and the next day on those in shelters, or more settled locations. Volunteers Volunteer Hide Ichimori, with a map in hand that highlighted spots in Yona and Talofofo, led fellow members of Manelu through neighborhoods. While conducting the survey, they also distributed bags with toiletries, COVID-19 protective equipment and canned food. Throughout the stops, abandoned plywood-and-tin structures were seen tucked away in between houses. Team members stopped at these places, even if they were not listed on the map, just in case there were people who needed to be counted. The experience has been really good, Ichimori said. We had some good turnout this morning, about three households responded to the survey, and we still have a bunch more to go. For Jacqueline Thinom-pong, a member of Manelu, this is the second time participating in the count. When she helped in the 2020 count, it was in a supportive role. This year, it was hands on. When it comes to the homeless, its one of the times when you dont want your case load to increase because that means there are more homeless individuals. So it is sad to see a lot of people that are struggling, Thinom-pong said. Im just glad we are able to do the survey to better assist in the future. Mafnas Carrie Mafnas, 47, from Talofofo, was interviewed for the survey in front of the house that she said was inherited from her husbands grandmother. The house, which she shares with her family of six, is under construction. While Mafnas does not consider herself or her family homeless, she participated in the count because the house is considered substandard by the housing and urban development agency, because it was a mix of plywood with some concrete and a tin roof. Weve been working on it, and we havent been here long. Were just starting off, but were doing good, Mafnas said proudly, adding that they have water and electricity installed. They plan to expand the house once they are able to get more building materials to include a bathroom and shower room. Next The second and final day of the point-in-time count will be from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. Homeland Security officials said there was no immediate threat to Guam or the Northern Marianas from two suspected ballistic missiles fired into the sea by North Korea Thursday morning, the sixth weapons launch this month. Events such as these are a stark reminder that the community should always assess their current plans in place and be prepared to respond to all hazards, whether natural or human-caused, Guam Homeland Security Advisor Samantha Brennan said in a news release. Brennan said Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense would continue to monitor events in the region. Experts say North Koreas unusually fast pace in testing activity underscores an intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled negotiations aimed at exchanging a release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against the North and the Norths denuclearization steps, the Associated Press reported. The renewed pressure comes as the pandemic further shakes the Norths economy, which was already battered by crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program and decades of mismanagement by its own government. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons, which were likely short-range, were launched five minutes apart from an eastern coastal area and flew 118 miles before landing at sea. The North also last week issued a veiled threat to resume the testing of nuclear explosives and long-range missiles targeting the American homeland, which leader Kim Jong Un suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with the United States. The U.S. has a basic colonies problem by first of all denying that they have colonies, former Guam Del. Robert Underwood said Thursday. It denies these areas the core American creed, which is the only legitimate right to govern comes from the consent of the governed. That is clearly absent in all the territories. Underwood and former U.S. Virgin Islands Del. Donna Christensen participated in an online panel discussion hosted by Equally American, which advocates for equal rights for residents of the U.S. territories. The topic of the discussion was The Left and Rights Blindspot in Systemic Racism: Americas Colonies Problem. Its undeniable that racism continues to impact federal policy toward people in the territories, said former Guam resident Neil Weare, president of Equally American. Its important that conversations about race and Americas colonies problem are included as part of our nations broader conversations about racial equity and racial justice. Much of Thursdays discussion focused on the Insular Cases, which are race-based U.S. Supreme Court rulings from the early 1900s that have been used to deny equal rights to residents of the U.S. territories. In terms of policy, as long as policymakers rely on the Insular Case decisions, we will always be treated as unequal citizens of the United States, Christensen said. The Insular Cases had an obvious racial animus to it, in which the inhabitants were described as an alien race, and therefore incapable of being self-governing or full members of American society, Underwood said. Thats what the U.S. Supreme Court said, and the U.S. policy has been consistent since then. Petition Weare said Equally American plans to file a petition with the Supreme Court in the coming weeks, asking justices to overrule the Insular Cases. Underwood said a common sentiment held by federal officials is that the territories do not have the ability or skill to be fully self-governing, and have to be guarded and cared for. The sad part about that is, that kind of racism, which led to this kind of perpetual state of dependence, is that so many people in the territories believe that. The territories themselves accept that, that we should be in a constant state of dependence, that we should be watched, that were not ready, Underwood said. The price of power will increase slightly during the next six months. The Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday night to increase the fuel surcharge, which is the most expensive part of monthly power bills. The fuel surcharge will increase from 17.14 cents per kilowatt-hour to 18 cents per kilowatt-hour, effective Feb. 1 through July 31. A customer who uses 1,000 kilowatt-hours of power currently pays $268.98 per month. Starting Feb. 1, they will pay $277.52 per month. As of December, the Guam Power Authority had under-recovered $20 million in its fuel costs. If the surcharge remained at 17.14 cents, as recommended by GPA, that number would have increased to $23.4 million by the end of July, according to the PUC. GPA late last year petitioned the PUC, asking to keep the fuel surcharge at 17.14 cents, projecting its under-recovery would drop to $17.6 million by the end of July. But PUC administrative law judge Fred Horecky told commissioners that the price of generator fuel increased more rapidly than anticipated, and it would be inappropriate to keep the surcharge at 17.14 cents. The whole purpose of the (Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause) is to set the prices so GPA recovers everything, he said. Horecky said GPA would need a fuel surcharge of almost 21 cents to fully recover its fuel costs, but he said an increase that large about $40 a month more for the average customer would be asking a lot. He said increasing it to 18 cents would allow GPA keep its under-recovery at $20 million. GPA General Manager John Benavente told commissioners the utility would be able to absorb the additional expense if the surcharge remained at 17.14 cents, noting the under-recovery has been as large as $30 million in recent years. Commissioners stated they didnt want GPA to get deeper in the hole for its fuel costs and hit customers with an even larger price increase later. The more we kick it down the road, the more the (surcharge) will increase later, said Dr. Jeff Johnson, commission chairman. Guam can move forward on drafting and adopting a constitution of its own, according to Del. Mike San Nicolas. San Nicolas on Thursday briefed local lawmakers on a memo from the U.S. Congressional Research Service. It stated that the legal authority for Guam to hold a constitutional convention of its own, first set down in U.S. law in the 1970s remains valid. The delegate said that the Legislature could call for a constitutional convention by updating a 1977 law that authorized a local constitutional convention, but is now out of date. Following Public Law 13-202, a convention for Guam convened on July 1, 1977, and the draft constitution that resulted was presented to then-President Jimmy Carter and deemed approved after Congress failed to take action on it. But efforts to adopt the constitution stalled out a local referendum was held and 82% of voters voted not to adopt it, according to Guampedia. Today, we come to a situation where we again, are having certain governance concerns, particularly between various branches of government, San Nicolas said. Drafting a constitution would allow for public input on how the local government is structured, and strengthen checks and balances between branches of the government. Then there would be directed a judicial process to make sure that happens, whether its paying tax refunds at a certain time, or being cautious about how much debt were taking on, and whether or not the public actually, is OK with doing that, he said. It could also allow the island more flexibility in the way it engages with the federal government, San Nicolas added. Chief among the benefits of adopting a constitution, he said, would be that the island would no longer have to seek congressional amendments to the Organic Act in order to change the provisions of the local government. Several senators expressed support for pursuing a constitution, including Sen. Joe San Agustin, who recalled voting on the draft constitution in the 70s. Sen. Sabina Perez and Speaker Therese Terlaje took pause over the possibility of a constitution impeding the efforts of CHamoru self-determination on a new political status for Guam. According to the State Department, a Guam constitution must: Recognize, and be consistent with, the sovereignty of the United States over Guam, and the supremacy of the Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States applicable to Guam, including the parts of the Organic Act of 1950 that do not relate to local self-government. Concern over self-determination was one of the main reasons why the draft constitution for Guam was defeated in the past, Terlaje said. San Nicolas responded to self-determination concerns by pointing to Puerto Rico. The territory ratified its constitution in 1952, but was far ahead of Guam in self-determination efforts, the delegate said. Speaker Terlaje requested further analysis on the impact of a Guam constitution on self-determination. San Nicolas earlier this week introduced a measure to include CHamoru and Carolinian-owned businesses in federal contracting and mentorship programs that are available to other native groups in the U.S. Dubbed The Native Pacific Islanders of America Equity Act, the bill was introduced with CNMI Del Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan. In order to help the program move forward, a registry of native CHamorus would have to first be established. Such a registry would be based on a persons ancestry on the island and be handled by the Office of the Governor. The delegate asked for members of the Legislature to formally support the bill, which will be scheduled for a hearing sometime in early February. A Florida man who gave the out-of-this-world gift of space travel to his college roommate still feels disappointed he wasnt able to go on the historic flight himself. Kyle Hippchen finally identified himself as the anonymous winner of a 2021 sweepstakes who gave his trip to the final frontier to a longtime friend, Chris Sembroski. Advertisement Hippchen, who weighs 330 pounds, paid $600 for multiple chances to win the contest before he learned there was a weight limit of 250 pounds. I was trying to figure how I could drop 80 pounds in six months, which, I mean, its possible, but its not the most healthy thing in the world to do, Hippchen, who is an Endeavor Air captain, told The Associated Press. Advertisement Kyle Hippchen (John Raoux/AP) Sembroski was one of four people aboard the SpaceXs Sept. 15 launch, which marked the first flight with only private citizens to reach orbit. Hippchen, who attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida with Sembroski, had not previously identified himself publicly as the original winner of the sweepstakes. He now admits to feeling insanely disappointed that he wasnt able to go to space aboard the Crew Dragon Resilience spacecraft for the mission known as Inspiration4, and says he hasnt watched a Netflix series covering the feat. It hurts too much, Hippchen said, before adding, But it is what it is. Hippchen recently went to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for the first time since having to skip the Inspiration4 launch last year. The 42-year-old Sembroski was joined on the September trip to space by Jared Isaacman, a billionaire who chartered the flight and served as its commander, as well as geology professor Sian Proctor and St. Judes physician assistant Hayley Arceneaux. Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > Kyles willingness to gift his seat to Chris was an incredible act of generosity, Isaacman wrote in an email. Before their flight, the group was pictured on a cover of Time magazine. Advertisement To be a part of this Inspiration4 mission, it feels just so overwhelmingly satisfying and amazing, Sembroski, who is from Everett, Wash., told Space.com before the launch. I feel so blessed that there was so much generosity forwarded to me to make this all happen. The data engineer also told the website that he was shocked to receive the invitation. I knew I was not the most physically stellar fit person that you have out there, and I was OK with that, Sembroski said during that September interview. Sembroski kept Hippchen in mind on the day of the flight, using his call from the launch tower to thank his friend before liftoff. Sembroski also brought several of Hippchens possessions, including a Purple Heart awarded to a great-uncle during World War I, with him into space. With News Wire Services Michael Lujan Bevacqua is an author, artist, activist and the curator for The Guam Museum. A school board in Tennessee has voted to pull a Pulitzer prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust from its schools because it contained swear words and the drawings of a naked cartoon mouse. Earlier this month all 10 members of the McMinn County Board of Education voted to remove Maus from its eighth-grade language arts curriculum and libraries. Advertisement The book, by Art Spiegelman, was first released in 1991. It features hand-drawn illustrations of mice as Jews and cats as Nazis, as the author asks his father about his experiences as a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. NEW: The MCMINN COUNTY school board has just BANNED MAUS, the Pulitzer-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust citing 8 curse words and an illustration of a woman that was objected to, with a 10-0 vote. https://t.co/QytgY3CJ5v The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) January 26, 2022 According to its publisher, the book weaves Spiegelmans account of his relationship with his father into an astonishing retelling of one of historys most unspeakable tragedies, describing it as an unforgettable story of survival and a disarming look at the legacy of trauma. Advertisement The McMinn County school board member, however, opposed to the inclusion of swear words and the nakedness in the drawing of a mouse. Art Spiegelman (BERTRAND LANGLOIS/AFP via Getty Images) Breaking News As it happens Get updates on the coronavirus pandemic and other news as it happens with our free breaking news email alerts. > There is some rough, objectionable language in this book and knowing that and hearing from many of you and discussing it, two or three of you came by my office to discuss that, McMinn County Director of Schools Lee Parkison said in a board meeting held on Jan. 10. After board members discussed how they would address the issue, they ultimately voted to remove the book from its schools. Speaking on CNNs New Day Wednesday morning, Spiegelman said that he was trying to wrap my brain around the boards decision. It has the breath of autocracy and fascism about it, he said. I think of it as a harbinger of things to come. JUST NOW: "It has the breath of autocracy and fascism about it I think of it as a harbinger of things to come. --Art Spiegelman, the author of "Maus," on how his Pulitzer winning graphic novel about the Holocaust was banned in a TN school system.pic.twitter.com/j4oETJpaLS John Berman (@JohnBerman) January 27, 2022 The U.S. Holocaust Museum on Wednesday took to Twitter to highlight the importance of the book. Maus has played a vital role in educating about the Holocaust through sharing detailed and personal experiences of victims and survivors. On the eve of International #HolocaustRemembranceDay, it is more important than ever for students to learn this history, the museum wrote. Teaching about the Holocaust using books like Maus can inspire students to think critically about the past and their own roles and responsibilities today, it added in a follow-up tweet. Haiti - USA : Statement by Under-Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on US assistance to Haiti Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman represented the United States during a high-level ministerial meeting hosted by Canada on January 21 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35754-haiti-politic-meeting-of-the-international-community-on-haiti.html that included senior Haitian government officials, 15 partner countries, and multiple international organizations to discuss sustainable, inclusive solutions to the challenges faced by Haiti and Haitians. The participants included Argentina, The Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Haiti, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, and the United Kingdom, as well as the EU, and multiple international organizations. The ministerial reaffirmed the continued international commitment to support Haiti as it confronts growing insecurity, works to restore its democratic institutions, and revives the countrys economic development. During this virtual meeting, Wendy R. Sherman outlined American commitments in terms of assistance, particularly in the investigation into the assassination of President Moise, in terms of security and at the electoral level. Excerpts from the statement by Under Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherma : [...] Investigation Assistance Following the Assassination of President Moise : "Since the assassination of President Moise, U.S. law enforcement agencies within the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security have provided assistance to Haitian authorities in relation to their investigation. The Department of Justice and U.S. law enforcement agencies are also investigating any possible violations of U.S. criminal law in connection with this matter. Security Assistance : Strengthening Haitis law enforcement capacity remains a key U.S. priority. We have provided longstanding support to fortify law enforcement and the capacity of the Haitian National Police to maintain peace and stability, and to respond effectively to civil unrest while respecting human rights. In response to the worsening security situation, the Department of State recently allocated an additional $15 million for partnering with the Haitian National Police (HNP), including $12 million specifically to strengthen the HNPs capacity to counter gangs, including community-based efforts to deter gang recruitment, additional anti-gang subject matter experts, and support to build the HNPs anti-gang operations. As a direct result of prior/existing support to the HNP School, the number of trained officers increased from less than 10,000 in 2010 to nearly 14,000 officers today. The Department of State supports nine embedded subject matter experts in HNP leadership and specialized units to enhance the institutions capability to provide election security, and support safer communities, more secure borders, and to prevent civil unrest. The Department of State supports an advisor to the HNP judicial police and is bringing onboard an advisor to the HNP Inspector General. These advisors help the HNP improve the integrity of processing allegations of corruption, human rights abuses, and police misconduct. Their critical investigative capacity-building support will complement U.S. federal law enforcement assistance. The Department of State continues to support training and to procure vehicles, radios, and protective equipment to build the capacity of the HNP to protect the Haitian people from violence. We continue encouraging Haiti to take a holistic approach to countering gangs and have allocated $5 million to strengthen the HNPs operational capacity to counter gangs while simultaneously working at the community level to improve security and resilience. We encourage Core Group members and key international partners to consider contributing to combatting insecurity in Haiti. Elections Assistance : USAID currently supports pre-election activities that are intended for legislative and presidential elections when conditions permit. USAID has provided more than $3 million to the Consortium for Elections and Political Processes Strengthening, which includes the National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, and International Foundation for Electoral Systems. These activities focus on improving electoral administration, strengthening the competitiveness of political parties, educating voters on electoral processes, promoting electoral transparency, and ensuring inclusive voter participation. USAID is providing technical assistance to Haitis Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) through CEPPS/IFES to build the capacity of electoral authorities to conduct free and fair elections. This includes technical assistance for strategic planning, information technology, and training for CEP staff, Communal Electoral Office and Departmental Electoral Office staff." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35789-haiti-international-community-first-millions-of-support-announced-for-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35773-haiti-politic-canada-announces-$504-million-in-aid-for-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35754-haiti-politic-meeting-of-the-international-community-on-haiti.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Education : Diaspora taxes, 3-year report of the FNE At the beginning of the week, the Prime Minister a.i., Ariel Henry, chaired at the Karibe Convention Center, the ceremony to celebrate the 4th International Day of Education around the theme "Changing course, transforming education". In his speech, Jean Ronald Joseph, Director General of the National Education Fund (FNE) summarized the efforts made by the FNE over the past 3 years which have contributed to increasing the school offer in which more than 5,5 billion Gourdes have been invested, for among others: 28 national school sites have been launched 12 schools are now completed including 3 inaugurated and 9 delivered and work continues in the other sites https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31367-haiti-diaspora-25-schools-under-construction-financed-by-the-fne.html At least 3 high schools are under constructionh https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34510-icihaiti-fne-construction-of-3-new-high-schools-in-the-north-west.html . The brand new Roseline Vaval high school was inaugurated https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32744-haiti-education-inauguration-of-the-brand-new-high-school-roseline-vaval.html Inauguration of the National School Jovenel Moise of Fonds-des-Negres https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34922-haiti-education-inauguration-of-the-jovenel-moise-national-school-in-fonds-des-negres.html The renovation of 53 school buildings housing respectively 44 national schools, 2 community schools, 1 preschool and 6 high schools; The construction of 3 hangars combining 26 classrooms; Nearly 10,000 pieces of furniture and hundreds of thousands of school materials have been distributed across the country; Tuition fees have been paid for nearly 80,000 families every school year https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28737-haiti-education-100-million-from-the-fne-to-pay-school-fees-for-poor-families-children.html ; The annual payment of school fees for approximately 700,000 students in national schools; Substantial support has been provided to associations working with young people with special educational needs https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-29546-icihaiti-education-more-than-32-million-grant-for-the-blind.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29495-haiti-fne-grant-of-more-than-2-million-to-support-the-education-of-young-disabled.html ; Nearly 60,000 students have benefited from a hot meal at school in the most vulnerable areas; The payment of the salaries of approximately 5,000 contract teachers of the Program for the Nationalization of Communal Schools (PRONEC) has been financed; Payment of salary arrears for more than 4,000 contractual teaching staff (teachers, directors and guards); More than 1,000 young people entered the University https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32042-haiti-flash-1000-scholarships-for-the-benefit-of-young-haitians.html ; Emphasizing that the main achievements for the past 3 years have focused on the construction and renovation of school infrastructure in order to promote a substantial increase in the school offer and that the FNE, while aligning itself with the UN SDG4, continues, in the context of the 2021-2022 financial year: The construction of 23 new school buildings to house respectively 20 national schools, 2 high schools and 1 preschool; The supply of dry food rations; The subsidy program for families with limited access to universal education; Strengthening progress in the quality and equity of the education system through the acquisition of didactic and digital materials for the benefit of schools ensuring educational continuity; Find out more about the FNE : The National Education Fund (FNE) created in 2011 under the Martelly Lamothe Government https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3034-haiti-education-launch-of-the-national-fund-for-education-fne-by-martelly-update-1h03pm.html was, this year on all fronts. Recall that the Fund is financed by the diaspora through a contribution of 0.05 US dollars on each incoming telephone minutes https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2993-haiti-education-it-s-not-a-tax-but-a-surcharge-on-the-tariff.html and 1.50 US dollars, on money transfers entering or leaving the country https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3027-haiti-education-the-tax-on-money-transfers-comes-into-force-on-june-1-2011.html See also : https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-35476-icihaiti-artibonite-upcoming-inauguration-of-new-national-schools.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34922-haiti-education-inauguration-of-the-jovenel-moise-national-school-in-fonds-des-negres.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34510-icihaiti-fne-construction-of-3-new-high-schools-in-the-north-west.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-34037-icihaiti-fne-monitoring-of-the-construction-work-of-the-lycee-de-freres-new-secondary.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-34031-haiti-north-east-towards-the-construction-of-16-new-schools.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32744-haiti-education-inauguration-of-the-brand-new-high-school-roseline-vaval.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32655-haiti-flash-what-did-the-fne-do-with-tax-money-from-the-diaspora-in-2020.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32391-haiti-fne-103-million-grants-to-communal-presbyteral-protestant-and-episcopal-schools.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-32042-haiti-flash-1000-scholarships-for-the-benefit-of-young-haitians.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-31894-icihaiti-education-the-professional-school-of-meyotte-receives-assistance-from-the-fne.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-31681-icihaiti-petit-goave-the-construction-of-the-lycee-roseline-vaval-completed-at-75.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31367-haiti-diaspora-25-schools-under-construction-financed-by-the-fne.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-30122-icihaiti-politic-the-fne-and-the-world-bank-successfully-end-a-year-of-collaboration.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-29546-icihaiti-education-more-than-32-million-grant-for-the-blind.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29495-haiti-fne-grant-of-more-than-2-million-to-support-the-education-of-young-disabled.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-29264-icihaiti-education-reconstruction-of-the-lycee-cent-cinquantenaire.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28737-haiti-education-100-million-from-the-fne-to-pay-school-fees-for-poor-families-children.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-28541-haiti-education-one-billion-gourdes-of-the-fne-in-support-for-the-new-school-year.html https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-28227-icihaiti-education-fne-helps-more-than-8-000-children-at-risk-of-food-insecurity.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-26238-haiti-education-7-years-after-its-launch-the-national-education-fund-has-a-dg.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3034-haiti-education-launch-of-the-national-fund-for-education-fne-by-martelly-update-1h03pm.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-3027-haiti-education-the-tax-on-money-transfers-comes-into-force-on-june-1-2011.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-2993-haiti-education-it-s-not-a-tax-but-a-surcharge-on-the-tariff.html S/ HaitiLibre By William Schwartz | Published on 2022/01/26 This episode I started entertaining a theory about the explanation of the mystery behind Inspector Ryoo's distorted memories. For a split second, the opening title of "Bad and Crazy" appears to read as Bad, Evil, Crazy. So I thought, what if K isn't the only split personality? What if this mysterious shadowy figure Inspector Ryoo is trailing is actually Inpsector Ryoo himself? What if he's taking advantage of Inspector Ryoo's identity and connections to destroy for the sake of destroying? Advertisement The emergence of Boss Yong in the latter part of this episode seemed to back this up. She had no idea what was going on with the drug distribution, only knowing that whoever keeps leaking it doesn't report to her. And this makes sense, for all the reasons previously discussed. Criminals motivated by money would want to lie low right now in order to avoid the scrutiny of a police investigation. Nor do the child-centered murders make much sense in the context of Boss Yong's empire. However we look at it, none of the murders, past or present, have any clear broad motive. The people who keep getting killed might be scumbags, but they're the kind of scumbag where nobody much cares whether they live or die. Patrolman Oh and Detective Yang have to awkwardly play bodyguard to one such scumbag. If Boss Yong wanted any of these people dead, there's more efficient means to do it than getting children addicted to drugs and going on blackout rampages. But as you probably already know by now, my theory about there being a third personality was entirely wrong. The true villain ends up being a much more boring character, who benefits from an array of contrivances so broad I can't really take him seriously as a threat to either the police of Boss Yong's criminal empire. Maybe an impressive explanation will be given for his backstory in the next two episodes, but I kind of doubt it. So that's pretty much where we are. A potentially innovative and intriguing story about shattered brain chemistry, with hints that K really exists to protect Inspector Ryoo from yet another alter ego, is tossed away so that "Bad and Crazy" can instead focus on a more stereotypically hypercompetent villain. The resulting story isn't bad, but it lacks a lot of the impact that made "Bad and Crazy" so exciting in the first place- the battle for Inspector Ryoo's sense of self. Review by William Schwartz ___________ "Bad and Crazy" is directed by Yoo Seon-dong, written by Kim Sae-bom, and features Lee Dong-wook, Wi Ha-joon, Han Ji-eun, Cha Hak-yeon, Kang Ae-shim, Kim Dae-gon. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2021/12/17~Now airing, Fri, Sat 22:40 on tvN. Published on 2022/01/26 | Source Actor Kang Ha-neul had a pictorial shoot with fashion magazine ELLE. Advertisement This pictorial captures his gentle and witty moments of transforming into a savage pirate in the movie "The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure" that premieres on the 26th. Under the concept of 'sailing in the river sky', he completed every cut of dramatic scenes by showing his unique free-spirited charm. In an interview with the pictorial shoot, Kang Ha-neul said, "I was free to play a character that could do anything, with crazy hair and jump from top to bottom. Rather than a character who is determined to be funny, I tried to make use of the character's 'clumsy' charm". When asked about the characteristics of a character who feels 'cool' enough for him to be attracted to, he said, "Characters that have their values. I try to live that way too but it's not always easy. I am attracted to characters who try to protect their own will and beliefs". Kang Ha-neul, who has always made his own healthy and wonderful voyage, was asked about how he stays that way, he said, "If you think slowly about what happened in the past, you realize how much you have lived with laughter so far. Looking back on the pleasant things gives me the strength to feel how good I am", he said. Kang Ha-neul's pictorials and interviews can be found in the February issue of ELLE and on the website. YouTube contents with a different charm from the pictorial cut will also be released soon on the ELLE YouTube channel. Published on 2022/01/27 | Source New special poster added for the upcoming Korean movie "The Pregnant Tree and the Goblin"(2019) Advertisement Directed by Kim Dong-ryung, Park Kyoung-tae With Park In-soon, Kim Ah-hae, Kim Mi-sook-IV, Shin Seung-tae, Shin Yoon-sook, Jo Eun-kyung-I,... Synopsis In a shanty village located next to the US military base in Uijungbu City, lives a former US military camp town sex worker, Park In-soon. Having lived in the village for more than 40 years, In-seon feels uneasy after hearing the news report on demolition plans of the military base. One winter night, In-seon encounters the death of her colleague and ends up attending her funeral. She is soon discovered by the Death Messengers who have come to look for wandering ghosts. While the Death Messengers come up with stories to take the ghosts to afterlife, In-seon starts to unfold her own 'true' story to fight back against her own extinction. Release date in Korea : 2022/01/27 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. Written By Reporter Sophia Voight is a reporter for the Hastings Star Gazette. She is from Oshkosh, WI and graduated from the UW Oshkosh with a bachelor's degree in Multimedia Journalism in 2021. She can be reached with any news tips at svoight@orourkemediagroup.com | IMF chief sends lunar new year greetings to Chinese people By Li Zhiwei (People's Daily App) 14:50, January 27, 2022 The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday sent Lunar New Year's greetings as part of the Spring Festival activities of the IMF Chinese Staff Association. Georgieva sent her warmest greetings to all the people in China and in other countries who celebrate the Lunar New Year. I wish you a healthy, safe, and prosperous Year of the Tiger! The tiger symbolizes qualities we need as the world enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. People draw inspiration from the tiger to build strength in the face of unexpected shocks, and resilience in the face of adversity, Georgieva said. Georgieva added that the IMFs member countries will need to be more policy agile than ever in navigating the economic obstacle course, and make difficult policy choices. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Advertisement Advertisement The citys government ethics watchdog informed Mayor Adams this week that he can only hire his brother for a job in his administration as long as the post is effectively unpaid and Hizzoner claimed thats fine with him. It was never about the money, Adams told the Daily News on Thursday after the Conflicts of Interest Board granted him a waiver to appoint his brother, Bernard Adams, as a senior adviser for mayoral security on the condition that he only receive a $1 annual salary. Bernard never wanted the money. Bernard wanted to protect his older brother because I protected him when he was a little boy. Now, hes a grown man. Mayor Eric Adams, left, and his brother Bernard Adams. (Shawn Inglima/for New York Daily News) Adams willingness to forgo a wage for his brother, a retired NYPD sergeant, came after he initially tried to tap the sibling for high-ranking Police Department positions with six-figure salaries. But the COIB waiver, which was obtained by The News via a Freedom of Information Law request, concluded it was only permissible for Adams to hire his kin as long as his employment was effectively uncompensated. The nominal $1 wage, COIB added, is important since it formalizes the younger Adams employment, subjecting him to the same integrity safeguards as other public servants, including annual financial disclosures. The mayor at first wanted his brother to be in charge of his security, but the COIB waiver affirms Bernard Adams role can only be advisory and does not involve the supervision of public servants or any command authority over NYPD personnel. The mayor will also be recused from any decisions regarding the terms of his brothers employment, COIB said. Advertisement Despite the COIB opinion, Adams signaled he considers his brother his personal bodyguard. I have a unique way of doing security. I dont walk the streets with a lot of people around me because I want to stay close to New Yorkers, he said. And so the type of security I have is (for) a unique person to give me the protection that I need in the dangerous environment that we are experiencing. And I cant think of anyone more unique than a young man named Bernard Adams, my baby brother, and Im happy hes with me. The waiver was first reported by Gothamist. As reported by The News earlier this month, Adams initially wanted to install his sibling as a deputy NYPD commissioner, a powerful post that comes with a $240,000 salary. (ShutterStock) The clearance from COIB caps off a firestorm of controversy over whether the mayors attempt to give his brother a job would violate city ethics laws barring government officials from providing any form of financial gain for relatives. As reported by The News earlier this month, Adams first wanted to install his sibling as a deputy NYPD commissioner, a powerful post that comes with a $240,000 salary. After that plan sparked outrage from government watchdogs, Adams moved to appoint his brother executive director of mayoral security, another post within the NYPD that would earn him a $210,000 salary and put him in charge of the mayors security detail. Advertisement But a City Hall official said Thursday that Bernard Adams proactively offered to take an unpaid post after an initial discussion with COIB. Bernard Adams is uniquely qualified for this job, and in order to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, he offered to serve for the nominal salary of $1, said Max Young, the mayors communications director. We made this proposal to the Conflicts of Interest Board and theyve agreed, and were grateful to Bernard for being willing to serve the city for no salary. Since his advisory post will be unpaid, Bernard Adams will continue to receive his NYPD pension and health care benefits, according to a City Hall official. The new post will not give Bernard Adams power to oversee his brothers security detail. Rather, he will provide advice and guidance to the NYPD officials in charge of the detail, according to the City Hall aide. He will also advise the mayor and his staff on all manners of mayoral security and community engagement, the aide said. The compromise with COIB comes after the mayor spent weeks defending his intra-family appointment. Advertisement Less than two weeks after being sworn in as mayor, Adams said he wanted his brother in charge of his security because he understands me. New York City Hall in lower Manhattan, New York. (ShutterStock) As ethical concerns swirled, Adams claimed he was only facing pushback for the appointment because his brother comes from a working-class background. Its very fascinating to me: When other mayors hired their law partners, they hired people they knew from school that they came up through the ranks with, there was nothing to say about it, Adams said on Jan. 14. But I had the audacity to hire blue-collar people, everyday folks who are union members, retired members its like, Who do you think you are? Previous mayors, including Bill de Blasio and Michael Bloomberg, also gave relatives jobs in their administrations. However, despite Adams claim of a double standard, those appointments were all unpaid. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Submit Dr. Eileen Toloza, (center) led a team of Peterson Regional Medical staffers in a mass casualty training scenario that presented multiple mock gunshot wound victims during a planned Emergency Management Functional Exercise held last week, which included local and regional first responders, law enforcement and a host of volunteers. Photos by Brandy McCoy Isaiah Wyatt, 17, of San Angelo, was arrested on multiple theft and burglary charges, as well as evading arrest. His reported 16-year-old accomplice has not been identified due to his age. Russian authorities have officially dubbed jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny and some of his top allies terrorists and extremists the latest public display of the Kremlins crackdown on political dissent. Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putins most vocal critic, top aides Lyubov Sobol and Georgy Alburov and six others appeared on the registry, which is maintained by Russias Federal Financial Monitoring Service. Those citizens Russian authorities believe are involved in activities that support terrorist or extremist organizations land on the list and lose access to their bank accounts and assets. Advertisement Alexei Navalny appears in a scene from "Navalny" an official selection of the U.S. Documentary section at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. (AP) On Wednesday, Moscow police launched a series of raids on homes belonging to Navalnys family and loved ones. They also issued an arrest warrant for his 38-year-old brother, Oleg Navalny, without providing further details. The actions against Navalnys supporters come just more than a year after his arrest, which triggered a wave of mass protests nationwide. The Kremlin critic was taken into custody in January 2021, upon his return from Germany where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he and his followers have blamed on Putin and his government. Advertisement The Kremlin has repeatedly denied any involvement. The month after his arrest, a Russian court sentenced 45-year-old Navalny to more than two years in jail for parole violation a charge he has long maintained were politically motivated. With News Wire Services Leatherwood honored as Community College President of the Year BRCC President Laura Leatherwood was named President of the Year by the State Board of Community Colleges. The State Board of Community Colleges honored Blue Ridge Community College President Laura Leatherwood with its President of the Year Award, citing collaborative leadership and her record of forming successful partnerships with industrial recruiters, manufacturing plants and public schools. Leatherwood came to Blue Ridge Community College in 2017 with extensive experience in workforce education and workforce development in western North Carolina. At Haywood Community College she served as Vice President of Student and Workforce Development prior to serving as Vice President of Student Services. As president of BRCC, Leatherwood has created a collaborative workforce development relationship with community and economic partners. She believes strategic partnerships with area schools, economic development organizations and businesses are essential for building a pipeline of skilled professionals. Her accomplishments include partnering to recruit seven companies to Henderson County, spearheading campus construction projects and adding nine new healthcare offerings while launching three associate degree pathways in Human Services. Since she arrived, BRCC has added significant new technology across all operational and academic departments. Dr. Leatherwood recently partnered with the John M. Belk Endowment to launch a new initiative on adult learners, which resulted in significant enrollment increases this past semester. I can think of no one more deserving than Dr. Leatherwood for this recognition, said Chip Gould, chairman of the Blue Ridge Community College Board of Trustees. Under her leadership, Blue Ridge has defied enrollment trends, worked steadfastly to cultivate a qualified and highly trained workforce, and has remained a trusted partner to our workforce and economic development leaders. We are fortunate to have her here in our community. Leatherwood said: There are so many collaborative partnerships within Henderson and Transylvania counties that make an impact in the lives of our students, our college and our community. I very much consider this honor a recognition of the hard work and support of many individuals. Without the support and hard work of our county leaders, economic development and workforce partners, our donors, and our faculty and staff here at Blue Ridge, this recognition would not have been possible. A COUPLE have been told they are no longer wanted to run an award-winning pub-restaurant. Mary and Nick Galer have been in charge of The Miller of Mansfield in High Street, Goring, since 2014. But now their landlord has decided to make it a managed business after the couple said they couldnt afford a 90 per cent rent increase. The Galers and their staff have been told they can stay on as employees if they want. In September landlord Stonegate proposed that the couple renewed their lease together with the rent rise. When the Galers said they couldnt pay the amount, Stonegate asked for the keys to be returned this month and wouldnt consider any other options. The couple will close the pub tomorrow (Saturday) and do not know when Stonegate will re-open it or what changes will be made to the business or who is coming in to manage it. Ms Galer said: We were told by Stonegate in September about the rent increase and said we couldnt pay it. We asked about different options and about buying the freehold from them. They said no and that if we couldnt pay the rent they wanted the keys back. We didnt hear anything over Christmas and on January 4 they made contact. Now it has become about certainty because we dont know whats happening with bookings and everything. We told staff at the end of December that we werent sure what would happen. Then the village started talking as people told their families. Its a pretty emotional feeling for staff and customers, with everyone not sure if its going to be us or not when they make a booking. Weve employees who we rent a flat to a few doors down and we dont know if they need to give notice. We dont know what Stonegate are doing and dont know if they want to keep the hotel and restaurant. They own a lot of different brands and we dont know if they want to turn it into one of those. Were not sure. Mrs Galer said it was also difficult for themselves and their children, who are aged eight and 12, adding: Its their home. She continued: With regards to if we do stay as employees well have to see what the business model is. The team have become our family that happens when you work 12-hour days together and well have to make sure that theyre all safe and okay first. Then after that well be able to make decisions about our future. What were most proud of is that everything weve done, it has been as a team. Weve had people who worked with us for seven years, weve had people leave and come back and weve had people promoted from waitress to manager. People have come as children and gone off as adults and really developed here in terms of confidence and ability. Nick and I have also nicely developed. Weve realised that some stuff doesnt matter and we dont need to argue about work at home, work is work. The children have become sociable and like being around people. Theyre well behaved because weve taught them to behave when theyre in the pub. We always knew we wanted to be a bit more than your average pub. There are a lot of other pubs around here and we thought there was a market for that. Nicks style is simple ingredients cooked to their best and weve been able to do that well. That was our model. We attract a crowd from London because the rooms are nice and they can stay in the village. Were still busy with bookings now. We think they are transferable but were not 100 per cent sure. The bedrooms will still be there so theyll definitely be fine for a while but we dont know if they want to keep them or change them eventually. Nick Galer previously worked as a sous chef at the Goose in Britwell Salome under 2005 Roux scholar Matthew Tomkinson. He was also the first head chef of Heston Blumenthals the Crown in Bray. Under their stewardship, the Miller has attracted acclaim, including winning the Good Food Guides readers restaurant of the year and being shortlisted for the Catey Awards newcomer of the year. They have just been included in the Top 100 Gastropubs Foodies Favourite Award 2021. Before the Galers took over the pub, it was run down and due to be closed by South Oxfordshire District Council because the kitchen posed a health risk. Stonegate is the UKs largest pub group, owning more than 4,500 sites. It owns brands including the Slug and Lettuce, Popworld and Be at One. A company spokeswoman said: The lease agreement on the Miller of Mansfield is due to expire and the property will be transitioning to our managed division. We remain in constant dialogue with the leaseholder regarding this transition and will continue to engage in order to enable the necessary direct conversations to take place with the team on site, including Nick and Mary. Our focus will be on ensuring that the pub is able to continue providing the excellent levels of service to customers and community alike. Free access for current print subscribers As a home delivery subscriber, you get free unlimited digital access to premium content on HenryHerald.com, including local news, local sports, obituaries, legal notices, local features, and the e-edition. All you need is your print subscription account number and your last name. Don't know your subscription number? Email access@henryherald.com with your delivery address. Activate your account now. Good for Mayor Adams for standing down rather than pressing ahead with what were clearly problematic plans to hire his brother Bernard to a $210,000 NYPD post. A waiver granted by the Conflicts of Interest Board Wednesday reveals that hizzoner will be bringing on his brother in a $1-a-year advisory capacity at City Hall, with no command or supervisory authority. (Bernard, a retired sergeant, will collect his police pension.) This makes the part Bernard will play in the Adams administration roughly analogous to roles the board had previously approved for de Blasio and Bloomberg kin. Bernard Adams, center, brother of New York mayor Eric Adams, mingles with supporters at his brother's election night party, June 22, 2021, in New York. (Kevin Hagen/AP) Put more concisely: Adams followed advice from these quarters and turned lemons into something much closer to lemonade. Advertisement The mayor wouldve been better off asking the COIB for guidance before hiring his brother on Dec. 30. Bernards first salary was $240,000, in a deputy commissioner job; the not-much-easier-to-swallow revision was $210,000, to run the mayors security detail. (City Hall now says while Adams awaited word from the conflicts board, he never collected a penny from the taxpayers.) That arrangement still wouldve surely run afoul of the City Charters anti-nepotism provisions, which bar any public official from using his or her position as a public servant to obtain any financial gain, contract license, privilege or any private or personal advantage, either for the public servant or any person or firm associated with the public servant. Middle- and low-level bureaucrats are regularly sanctioned for helping their spouses, siblings and children get positions or promotions. Advertisement New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a news conference at City Hall, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022, in New York. (John Minchillo/AP) So Adams and his lawyers did the smart thing. The Jan. 26 COIB letter to Brendan McGuire, a former corruption-busting federal prosecutor now serving as chief counsel to the mayor, references a Jan. 25 waiver request and additional communications with board staff. Translation: After the hiring set off legitimate criticism, the administration consulted with the conflict-avoidance experts and did significant surgery to the imagined position. Eric Adams has made his share of mistakes and will make more. But, assuming he and Bernard abide by these agreed-to terms, give him credit on this very personal personnel matter for listening and learning. Changing course for good reason is not a show of weakness, its a sign of wisdom. Greenville, TX (75401) Today Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we've all known individuals who have done more than their share to help their neighbors and communities with food, comfort, care, companionship and dozens of other needs. If you know of such a person, you can nominate them to be featured in our upcoming H We are all aware of the rapidly growing use of electric-powered mobility devices on the streets and sidewalks of Manhattan and elsewhere in the city. The number of e-scooters, e-bikes, mopeds and other such vehicles is exploding. The good news is that these e-vehicles have zero emissions and offer an alternative form of transportation. Some use them for chores or for fun. The bad news is that many of the riders switched from public transportation to e-vehicles. Many of these vehicles are running red lights, riding on sidewalks or other forbidden lanes, and moving against traffic. Advertisement People wearing masks ride a scooter in Central Park on May 16, 2020 in New York City, amid the coronavirus pandemic. (JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images) There are applicable laws or regulations at each level of government. They are complicated, yet inadequate to cover the evolving technologies and their rapidly accelerating numbers. Speed is a major component of the problem; e-bikes can hit 25 mph or higher, and mopeds (gasoline fueled bicycles) can go much faster. The vehicles made with heavier metal combine mass together with speed. Speed, mass, and the aggregate number of vehicles are making them dangerous to others and to themselves. Moreover, there is little to no enforcement of the laws we have. As a result, these vehicles are frightening people, especially the elderly and especially at night. The number of accidents is growing rapidly. The Times reported on Oct. 11, 2021, that there had been at least 17 e-vehicle riders and three pedestrians killed here between January and that date. In 2021, there were also 93 fires and four deaths caused by e-vehicle lithium batteries, compared to 44 fires and no deaths in 2020. Advertisement The increased use of e-vehicles (which now includes thousands of Citi Bikes that have been upgraded to e-bikes) is spilling over into city parks. Im 76 and live on the Upper West Side across from Riverside Park. Every type of e-scooter, e-bike, moped, electric unicycle and skateboard has now invaded our parks, despite the fact that a Parks Department rule Section 1-05(n) prohibits the use of motorized vehicles except on park roads and [in] designated park areas. This rule includes all devices that are propelled by a motor, including bikes and scooters. In fact, electric unicycles and skateboards are not just prohibited in parks; they are banned from the city, but still can be seen. The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > During some evening rush hours, I have seen moped or e-bike riders in Riverside Park going north at high speeds on the narrow park path that runs between the Hudson River and the Parkway. Not surprisingly, they prefer park paths to slow street traffic and red lights. But inside Riverside Park, e-vehicles are all supposed to be barred (except, according to the police, when riders on a Class 1 e-bike are actually pedaling). But there are nearly zero signs in Riverside Park or other parks laying out these rules. A rare exception (that proves the rule) is the presence of just two signs near the West Side Highway and 54 St. They both say: NO MOTOR VEHICLES, E-BIKES. E-SCOOTERS. One sign faces the West Side highway and is relatively useless; the other is rarely seen since few riders enter at that location. The parks need many such signs, carefully placed. Our ability to use the parks for quiet enjoyment or exercise by readers, walkers and pedal bikers is slowly diminishing. The e-bikes, scooters and mopeds, driven at high speeds, are whizzing by pedestrians, women pushing baby carriages, slower-moving pedal bikers, and people walking their dogs. If not addressed soon, this could grow beyond our capacity to manage; indeed, many would say we are already past that tipping point. Each of the several police officers I spoke with in Riverside Park urged me to write about the problem. They stated openly that they need and want help. One police sergeant responding to a letter from me wrote on Dec. 4: These e-vehicles have become an increasing safety issue in our parks. Truly wish they were never created. If we are going to save our parks from being overrun with electric vehicles, we need to place appropriate signs at all entrances, and at key locations within. We also need to update the law and the penalties. The police officers I spoke with said that they ordinarily stay in their vehicles because they feel that city government hasnt shown it cares, and there is very little they can do about the problem without help and changes in the law. Bike rentals and sales need to be better regulated, bike speeds better controlled, and penalties enacted that really work. The number of police (or assistants) needs to be increased; they should be walking the paths, aided by many more signs and the pro-active support of the incoming Adams administration. We need limitations, and order restored, before the menace grows any larger. Gold has been teaching law at Columbia since 1989. He is a former director of corporate law for the City of New York and is a retired partner at Sidley Austin LLP. On Sunday, I went with a couple of my family members to a baseball game in Milwaukee between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers. Everything was going well. I used my phone to get driving directions to the stadium from St. Joseph, and the Apple Maps app got us to the exact location on On Jan. 29, 1972, I left Viet Nam my tour was cut from one year to 6 months due to the Nixon ordered troop reduction. I traveled by transport cargo plane (bench seats) to Tokyo. Left Tokyo Jan. 31, arrived in San Francisco Feb. 1, and transferred to Ft. Dix, NJ, for discharge arriving there Feb. 3, 1972. Three and one-half years of service, and I can say, without hesitation, that I would do it again. I learned much, matured, had experiences that could have never been duplicated: Marcs Brit Milah, February 1970, was the first in Augsburg, Germany, since the completion of WWII; and m... Mimi and Rocky had parasites, while Pogo had lung scarring and deformed legs from spending the first six months of her life in a small cage. Rocky was coughing and gagging, while Pogo was sneezing and running in circles. Mimi was anemic and trembling in fear. These three puppies werent rescued from a rural puppy mill but from a high-end pet store in Manhattan, where they were on sale for thousands of dollars each. These were just three puppies that my colleagues nursed back to health over the holidays, after American Kennels on Lexington Ave. relinquished the dogs under pressure from New York authorities. What we uncovered at this store last fall was even worse: suffering, sick and dying puppies hidden in back rooms, one terribly ill puppy left alone to die in her cage over the Thanksgiving weekend despite multiple pleas from our investigator to take the puppy to a veterinarian, and pet store staff members knowingly selling sick puppies to unsuspecting families. Advertisement Puppies in a pet store window. (Shutterstock/Shutterstock) After we released our investigation in December, the citys Department of Health and Mental Hygiene placed a temporary stop sales order on the store and directed the removal of at least seven puppies. Those seven dogs were unlawfully purchased from puppy brokers, rather than directly from breeders, in violation of New York City law. As of now, American Kennels appears to be closed. It is no longer listed on the states online license list, and visitors who stopped by after the holidays found locked doors and empty cages. This particular store might be gone, but the problem is much broader than that. American Kennels is just one of dozens of puppy stores across the state with similar issues. The office of Attorney General Letitia James is in the midst of litigation against Shake-a-Paw, which has two locations on Long Island. The AG alleged that the stores fabricated health certificates, lied to consumers, sold critically sick puppies, treated dogs inhumanely and sourced from dangerous puppy mills. Our previous New York City pet store investigation, in 2017, revealed similar issues, leading that shop to close its doors, and its former owners to face $4 million in fines. Advertisement In the past year, at least 23 New York pet stores bought puppies from one of the nations worst puppy mills. This Iowa-based mill racked up over 100 U.S. Department of Agriculture violations, with dogs in severe heat distress and in need of veterinary care, and dogs living in enclosures that were filled with feces and trash and where inspectors noted the presence of rodents. Some of the dogs died. We applaud the responses of New York officials to our investigations, but legislation is needed to address these animal welfare and consumer protection issues and the public health threats posed by puppy-selling pet stores. The Puppy Mill Pipeline Act, sponsored by Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris and Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, would stop the sale of puppies, kittens and rabbits in all New York pet stores. The legislation has the best interests of animals and consumers in mind. Last year, it passed the state Senate with bipartisan support and moved through two committees in the Assembly. This year, concerned New Yorkers can press their lawmakers in Albany to support the bill and bring New York into the company of the five other states and over 400 localities across the nation that have taken action to halt the cruel puppy mill-pet store pipeline. Together, we can lead New Yorks pet market toward more humane sources like shelters, rescues and responsible breeders who sell directly to the public. Itll be much better for animals, and well feel better about ourselves too. Shapiro is the New York State director for the Humane Society of the United States. Jonathan Feldstein did an excellent job of the overall history of Gush Etzion [Heritage, Jan. 21 issue The rise and fall and rise again of Gush Etzion], a Heritage reader wrote. He continued, Theres just one thing I thought might be interesting and that is how it got the name Gush Etzion. The reader explained that Gush means block so its the block of Etzion. Where did the word Etzion come from? The reader went on to explain it comes from Shmuel Yosef Holtzman (or Holzman). Holtzman was a Jewish businessman of German extraction, and in 1932 he provi... Before I write any further: let me say OOPS! ... I wrote in a recent column that Amy Schneider, a contestant on "Jeopardy" was Jewish. She claims not to be. So sorry! (She also claims not to be a man.) Great Jewish talent ... The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Harpo, Groucho, Chico and Zeppo were the names we knew them by. All have since passed away. (I loved them all ... but especially Groucho, who had a television show of his own.) More great Jewish talent ... Gerald Norman Spring... (Israel21c via JNS) - I expected the office of SpaceIL-the company that created "Beresheet," the first-ever private spacecraft to attempt a moon landing, in 2019-to be in an industrial zone, filled with highly classified, space-age robotics. Instead, it's in an ordinary office building, next to companies geared to earthly pursuits like home decorating and teeth whitening. The only hint of the company's higher aims is in the office's modest conference room, where there is a scale replica of the four-legged "Beresheet" craft. Next to the model, Kfir Damari, co-founder and deputy CEO of Space... (JNS) As nuclear talks between Iran and world powers continue in Vienna, Iran appears to be already eying its next moves. On Jan. 14, Irans Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian visited China to discuss the 25-year cooperation agreement signed by the two countries earlier this year. That agreement aims to boost economic and political relations at the very same time the United States is looking to reduce its presence in the Middle East. At the beginning of the new year in 2022, I am very happy to start my first visit to China since taking office, Amirabdollahian wrote on... (JNS) Israel abandoned its red list of countries last week those destinations with high COVID-19 infection rates, from which foreign travelers were banned from entering Israel. Its welcome news to pro-Israel groups whose bread and butter is organizing trips to Israel. They say the travel bans have complicated their mission to connect people to the Jewish state, and no amount of speaker series and digital events can compare to putting two feet on Israeli soil. Izzy Tapoohi, president and CEO of the Birthright Israel Foundation, told JNS that COVID and the resultant tra... Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, then the director of the Presbyterian Church Office of Public Witness, at a prayer service outside the United Methodist Building on Capitol Hill, Oct. 8, 2013. (JTA) - U.S. Jewish groups slammed a top Presbyterian Church official for Martin Luther King Day remarks that equated Israel's West Bank "occupation" with slavery and implied that American Jews have the influence to get the U.S. government to end it. "The continued occupation in Palestine/Israel is 21st-century slavery and should be abolished immediately," Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, II, the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church USA said in remarks released Monday. "Given the history of Jewish humble beginnings and persecution, there should be no ambiguity as to the ethical, moral, and dehuma... Beginning in February, Chabad in Metro Orlando will offer Meditation from Sinai, a fascinating new six-session course by the acclaimed Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, exploring the nature of Jewish meditation and the profound benefits it can bring to one's daily life. Participants in the course will discover what Jewish meditation is, the pivotal role it plays in Jewish tradition, and the fundamental ideas it is based on. The course will teach crucial life tools that help us respond effectively to negative thoughts and emotions, recognize the value of each new moment, and find purpose a... (JNS) - A U.S. District Court judge in New York dismissed a civil case brought by the family of slain Israeli American pro-Israel activist Ari Fuld against the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, citing lack of jurisdiction in a decision that could have broad implications in how American victims of terrorists can hold perpetrators liable. The lawsuit was brought by Fuld's family and the U.S. Justice Department after the 2018 murder of the 45-year-old father of four by a Palestinian terrorist. While U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman described Fuld's killing as brutal and horrific, he conclud... Nikki Fried, Florida's agriculture commissioner, is running as a Democrat in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial race. (JTA) - Nikki Fried, the outspoken Jewish Democratic candidate running for governor in Florida, compared her rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis, to Hitler in an interview, prompting DeSantis supporters to defend his record on Jewish issues. Fried, Florida's current agriculture commissioner and a former marijuana lobbyist with ties to the state's Jewish community, made the comparison in an NPR interview on Friday. "He is doing everything possible to take power away from local governments, taking away people's abilities to protest, making it harder to vote, talking about, you know, banning books," Frie... (JNS) Documents, photos and ancient manuscripts from a monastery in the Sinai Peninsula are now available for free on the National Library of Israel website. The collection from Saint Catherines Monastery includes items from the 12th century. The monasterys library is considerably older as it was founded in the sixth century by Byzantine Emperor Justinian the first and is believed to be the oldest working library. It contains works in various languages including Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian and more, which library officials say is a treasure trove of text relat... Musicians and fans alike are mourning versatile and influential jazz pianist, session musician and bandleader Bobbe Long Beegie Adair, who died Tuesday at her home in Franklin, Tenn. She was 84. It is with deep and profound sadness we share the sad news that Beegie died today surrounded by those she loved and who loved her most dearly, read a statement posted to her Instagram and other social media accounts. Until her peaceful passing, she was fighting the good fight with her intellect and humor intact. Advertisement Bobbe Long "Beegie" Adair, the jazz pianist, session musician and band leader died Sunday at the age of 84 in Franklin, Tenn. (Jeff Coffin/AP) The sought-after studio musician, who had a solo career in her own right as well, could play anything in any genre. During a career spanning more than 65 years, she contributed to more than 100 albums, including 35-plus recordings with the Beegie Adair Trio over 25 years with bassist Roger Spencer and drummer Chris Brown, her publicist said in a statement. Raised in Cave City, Ky., Adair started playing at age 5, landing in Nashville in the 1960s after college. She was equally at home performing regularly with her trio at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and the Birdland Jazz Club alike. Their live performance of Autumn Leaves has garnered nearly 17 million views on YouTube. Advertisement In the studio Adair worked with the likes of Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Clifton Davis, Henry Mancini, Delbert McClinton, Joe Williams, Chet Atkins, Lucille Ball, Steve Allen, Dinah Shore, Mandy Barnett, Ray Stevens, Boots Randolph, Hank Garland, Cass Elliott, Peggy Lee, and many others during her decades-long career. She also wrote commercial jingles with her husband, the late Billy Adair, with a company they founded. Adair was a vital contributor to the jazz music scene in Nashville, serving as a founding board member of the Nashville Jazz Workshop. She could play anything, in any key or at any tempo, jazz workshop co-founder and fellow pianist Lori Mechem told NPR. She was astonishing in terms of every tune that she knew, whether it was the American Songbook or a country song. There was literally nothing you could bring out that she couldnt play and play well. The pandemic did not slow her down, as she connected with fans digitally, hosting Happy Hour video chats with friends and fellow music lovers, The Tennessean reported. She was even talking about a return to the stage. Our hearts are broken, said Greg Howard, Director of A&R for Green Hill Music, in the statement. The musical legacy she leaves behind is staggering in its depth, beauty, and influence. Survivors include her friend, musical collaborator and business partner Monica Ramey, brother-in-law, Tommy (Kimberly) Adair, and legions of fans worldwide, The Tennessean said. \(New York Jewish Week via JTA) Almost exactly 18 months ago, as the U.S. settled into its first pandemic summer, the Upper West Sides flagship Jewish community center delivered some bad news to its staff: more than a third of them would be laid off or furloughed. The Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan joined JCCs nationwide in cutting staff when in-person programming abruptly shut down that spring and summer. Facing the devastating wave of COVID that hit the city at the time, the JCC Manhattan found itself unable to offer the range of services that it usually offered a nursery sch... (JNS) The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday adopted an Israeli-sponsored resolution that condemns denial and distortion of the Holocaust. The resolution, co-sponsored by Germany and backed by the United States, Russia and many other countries, affirms that the Holocaust will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice. The text also points out the growing prevalence of Holocaust denial or distortion through the use of information and communications technologies, and urges all U.N. members to reject without any reservation any... (JNS) Just outside the entrance to the United Nations, a famous Jewish prophecy is engraved into the plazas Isaiah Wall: They shall beat their swords into plowshares. And their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war any more. Sadly, wars continue to be fought across the Middle East, and Israel still strives to maintain its Qualitative Military Edge over other nations in the region. Yet more and more, wars are changing form, and the effectiveness of conventional weapons is changing as well. Palestinian terrorists... (JTA) Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, the man at the center of the Colleyville, Texas, synagogue hostage crisis last weekend, says that he is looking for another job, but wants the worlds focus to remain on his congregations trauma and healing process rather than his career. My congregation, Congregation Beth Israel, and Colleyville have just undergone a traumatic experience. Ive just undergone a traumatic experience, he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. And thats where the focus needs to be. Cytron-Walker was responding to an article published earlier Wednesday i... TEL AVIV - A few weeks ago, Joel Tenenbaum, 81, and Marilyn Berkowitz, 84, arrived in Tel Aviv on an El Al flight from New York ready to start their new lives in Israel. They had met through JDate five years earlier. Each was widowed; Tenebaum had been married for 47 years, Berkowitz, known as Lyn, for 49. A retired New York trial lawyer raised in Brooklyn, Tenenbaum always had felt an affinity for Israel - fueled since childhood by Hebrew school and the movie "Exodus." Berkowitz, a former university dean's assistant in New Jersey, had been a frequent visitor to Israel ever since her so... Netanyahu is considering a plea deal in his corruption cases that could bar him from politics for years, reports claim By Gabe Friedman (JTA) Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors in his ongoing corruption cases that could bar him from politics for several years and further reshape Israels political landscape. Although various Israeli media reports have swirled inconclusively for several days including some that claim momentum for a deal is slowing all allege that Netanyahu has laid the groundwork for a possibl... (CAMERA via JNS) In its coverage of Saturdays hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, The Associated Press has advanced, intentionally or not, the absurdly false narrative that the terror attack was not connected to the Jewish community. The leading news agency has completely ignored statements by the Anti-Defamation League, the largest and most established American organization combating antisemitism, along with remarks by President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and other senior U.S. and British officials, all indicating that the assault... (JNS) Millions of people around the world, including myself, spent much of our Saturday with our thoughts and prayers focused on Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. As the events were unfolding, my thoughts went toward the antisemitic mass shooting that took place on Oct. 27, 2018, at the Tree of Life*Or LSimcha Congregation in Pittsburgh. The perpetrator killed 11 Jewish worshippers and wounded six others, including several Holocaust survivors. It was the deadliest attack to date on the Jewish community in the United States. One of the differences between this recent sie... I am writing this on Jan. 6, 2022. It could not wait until my usual deadline date. I was two years old in 1932. The only thing I knew about the burning down of the German Reichstag (their Parliament Building) was what I read and was taught in school. A group of disgruntled voters who had not won the election stormed Germanys Capitol and burned down the Reichstag because their chosen leader, one Adolph Hitler had won only thirty two percent of the popular vote. They were told by the Nazi party and believed the vote had been rigged and that Hitler had won. The net effect of that act was t... On Jan. 15, 2022, during Shabbat services, Congregation Beth Israel located in Colleyville, Texas, a suburb of Ft. Worth was attacked by an armed individual who barricaded himself in the synagogue, after taking four congregants hostage, including the synagogues rabbi. Fortunately, there were much fewer attendees on this Shabbat morning because of the continuing pandemic, as most congregants were participating at home through live streaming of religious services. The attack on this synagogue is the latest in a string of violent and lethal attacks on Jewish institutions and Jewish individ... Right-wing pundit Candace Owens joined the Fox News war on cartoons by attacking Minnie Mouse Wednesday. Disneyland Paris announced earlier in the day that it would celebrate its 30-year anniversary in collaboration with Stella McCartney, who designed a new pantsuit for the cartoon character Minnie Mouse. It will be worn in March, which is Womens History Month, by the person who plays Minnie Mouse at the French theme park. Advertisement Theyre trying to destroy fabrics of our society pic.twitter.com/UlytdGMZYA Acyn (@Acyn) January 27, 2022 That decision apparently infuriated Owens, who made Disneys upcoming promotion the center of a Fox News routine Wednesday. This is why people dont take these people seriously, Owens ranted. Theyre trying to destroy fabrics of our society pretending that theres issues. Advertisement Candace Owens hosts the "Candace" Hosted By Candace Owens show on August 09, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images) Owens charged that they are using Minnie Mouse in Paris to distract Americans from the fact that, according to Owens, you cant get anything at the grocery store and you cant buy a piece of bacon unless youve got $30 in your pocket. [ Minnie Mouse to rock blue pantsuit designed by Stella McCartney in honor of Womens History Month ] A smirking Jesse Watters added, Yep, thats right. The Minnie Mouse character first appeared on screen nearly a century ago. She typically wears a red and white polka-dotted dress and is described by Disney.com as a sweet, stylish character who enjoys dancing, singing and spending time with her lifelong sweetheart Mickey Mouse. Citing fictional childrens characters as a metaphor for cultural shifts has become common practice at Fox News. Last week, primetime host Tucker Carlson complained the animated characters used to advertise M&M candies were being made less sexy to the point where, you wouldnt want to have a drink with any one of them. Pundits on the right-wing cable channel have also centered narratives around Sesame Street character Big Bird, cartoon skunk Pepe Le Pew, Mr. Potato Head toys and Dr. Seuss Enterprises, which licenses books for kids. (JNS) As far back as 2013, Pakistani Muslim terrorists plotted to take foreign Jews hostage to trade for Lady Al-Qaeda. In 2022, a Pakistani Muslim terrorist actually went out and did it. The hostage crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in Texas, ended with Faisal Akram of Blackburn another post-industrial English town where Muslims make up a third of the population and Pakistanis account for more than 10 percent dead and his Jewish hostages set free. Back home, the Blackburn Muslim Community page announced Faisal Akram has sadly departed from this temporary world... Vote for your favorite businesses and professionals in greater Haverhill -- health clubs, hair salons, restaurants and many more. Simply fill in your choices and submit your ballot by Friday, June 25. Vote here 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. Jennie Nguyen is still salty about being taken to task for her admittedly disgusting Facebook posts hailing white supremacy. The former Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star, who was axed from the Bravo series Tuesday after very insensitive 2020 posts resurfaced, spoke on Instagram Live Wednesday about the controversy. Advertisement Among the Vietnamese refugees posts were memes supporting White Lives Matter, posts describing Black Lives Matter protesters as BLM thugs and anti-vaccine sentiments. I take full responsibility and accountability for what was posted, the very proud Republican, 44, said on her Instagram Live along with pal Michael, People reports. I know my viewpoint during that time in 2020 was emotional. ... Im big enough to understand that those posts are very insensitive to the point where it is disgusting, but I want you to understand that my political stance, I still support that. Advertisement Jennie Nguyen (Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) I respect your opinion. I respect your political stance, continued Nguyen. We are different, but we need to respect each other and we need to understand that we live in this country where we have the freedom to speak our mind, as well as we have a freedom to choose. The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > Noting that she does not support the brutality of Black people or with any race, Nguyen said she does support my law enforcement. But that doesnt make me racist. To support my political stance, that does not make me a racist. ... We need to understand, to support each other. And at this moment I understand that Black people have suffered a lot and went through a lot and dealt with a lot, more than any race on this planet. Nguyen, who joined RHOSLC in its second season, said she feels really, really, really awful for having hurt the people ... out there supporting me. Noting that she doesnt support bad [cops], Nguyen also said she doesnt support people that are out there burning buildings, because there are workers there. ... That doesnt make me racist. Thats making me compassionate for the people that are suffering. Nguyen signed off by vowing to continue to change and learn and improve myself through the opinions of others. Bravo on Tuesday said it had ceased filming with Jennie Nguyen and that the network failed to take appropriate action once her offensive social media posts were brought to our attention. Nguyen last week took to Instagram to acknowledge and apologize for the posts. At the time, I thought I was speaking out against violence, but I have since learned how offensive and hurtful my words were, she wrote. Its a match made in child star heaven. Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song are engaged, according to multiple reports. Advertisement The Suite Life star, 33, was spotted with a diamond ring on her finger, and a source confirmed the engagement to People magazine. Actors Brenda Song and Macaulay Culkin attend the adoption fair during 2019 CatCon at Pasadena Convention Center on June 29, 2019 in Pasadena, California. (SARAH MORRIS/Getty Images) Culkin, 41, and Song welcomed a son, Dakota, together in April 2021. They were first romantically linked in 2017. Advertisement The two actors keep their relationship rather private, with few photos together on social media and none with baby Dakota, though Culkin will need to update his Twitter bio from Best Boyfriend. When the baby arrived, Song and her Home Alone star husband released a statement that said little more than Were overjoyed. Culkin and Song met in 2017 on the set of Changeland, which was directed by Culkins longtime friend Seth Green. Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg are literally partners in crime. The stars of VH1s Potluck Dinner Party have more in common than cooking and cannabis. Advertisement Like the West coast rap icon that made Gin & Juice a pop culture touchstone, the diva of domesticity has partnered with 19 Crimes to launch a wine line. Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart pose in the press room during the 2017 MTV Movie & TV Awards at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles on May 7, 2017. (JEAN BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images) Marthas Chard is the first California Chardonnay joins the brands two other wines from California: Snoop Doggs Snoop Cali Red and Rose. The rest of 19 Crimes wines inspired by the convicts turned colonists are from Australia. Advertisement I am thrilled to announce the launch of Marthas Chard in partnership with 19 Crimes, Stewart said in Tuesdays announcement. The world didnt need just another chardonnay, so I created one that is clean, crisp, and flavorful without being too heavy or oaky. It pairs perfectly with my delicious recipes or can be enjoyed on its own. I hope you love it as much as I do! The Daily News Flash Weekdays Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. > The 80-year-old lifestyle maven worked side by side with 19 Crimes to create a wine that the brand said breaks preconceived notions of California Chardonnay approachable and simultaneously as bold as her personality. Martha Stewart with her new wine collection. (19 Crimes) Marthas Chard is available in California now and will be sold nationwide on Feb. 1 for $11.99. Working with 19 Crimes is far from Stewarts first foray into wine. In 2017, she launched her own Martha Stewart Wine Shop but it didnt have as big as an impact as Snoops Cali Red, which ranked as a top seller for 2020. The release of 19 Crimes Marthas Chard comes as the brand has experienced explosive growth, delivering the Number 1 US Wine Innovations in both 2020 and 2021 for our first California wines with global icon, Snoop Dogg, 19 Crimes marketing chief John Wardley said. Just like her creative collaborator and friend Snoop, Martha Stewart also embodies the spirit of 19 Crimes disruption and culture creation. We couldnt be more excited to welcome another absolute icon of modern American culture to the 19 Crimes family. Stewart announced a partnership with marijuana grower for a new line of CBD-based products for humans and animals. Snoop Dogg, whose brand is just as synonymous with marijuana as it is with rap, is a longtime pot-preneur that launched the Leafs cannabis line in 2015 and previously invested in the Eaze medical marijuana delivery company and the packaging company FunkSac. Rockbridge announces the opening of the Marriott Knoxville Downtown, located at the iconic World's Fair Park. The 302-room, full-service hotel has undergone an expansive renovation that touched nearly every aspect of the property. Also unveiling is the Maker Exchange - a gathering space, artistic showcase and culinary scene designed to highlight and embrace Knoxville's creative maker community. Rockbridge, also owners of the neighboring Tennessean Hotel, led the revitalization of this destination that was originally built for the 1982 World's Fair. Rockbridge purchased The Tennessean and the adjacent hotel with the vision of transforming the venue into a hub and gateway to Knoxville. The property was developed for this purpose for the 1982 World's Fair, welcoming travelers from around the world. Strategically poised in the heart of the destination is the Maker Exchange - a gathering hub for the community - encompassing a grand Hearth Room with an oversized fireplace, an independent restaurant and bar offering a gastro pub vibe with creative fare, craft cocktails, and neighborhood brews; a local, independent coffee shop, the Curio, and meeting and event space, all offering a unique destination dedicated to the makers of Knoxville. Hotel development company RBHD led the extensive hotel renovation with a world class team including local architect McCarty Holsaple McCarty, construction manager Blaine Construction, and New York-based interior design firm Stonehill Taylor collaborating to create a completely new destination, spotlighting local nuances and goods throughout. Guests are welcomed into the Great Room by a stunning woodgrain feature wall, referencing the careful hand of an artisan, while a double-sided fireplace with plush seating in the hotel lobby draws visitors further into the reception area. Each of the 302 guestrooms feature captivating views from large, floor-to-ceiling windows and all offer either single king or double king options for spacious accommodations. Furnishings contrast dark and light wood tones, and dark blue carpets feature motifs and textures reminiscent of glassmaking tools and patterns. Customized sconces and soft goods designed by local textile artists introduce subtle craft elements and create an inviting space throughout. Rockbridge is working with Robin Easter Design to create and inspire the 12,000 square-foot Maker Exchange space and has engaged Knoxville's Dogwood Arts Alliance to bring the concept to life and connect with the maker community. About Rockbridge Rockbridge, a private investment firm with more than 22 years in business, has been investing in and building brands since 1999. The business has made over 280 real estate and hospitality investments in 38 states worth over $9.8 Billion in total capitalization and has over $2.7 Billion in assets under management. Rockbridge has built a family of hospitality, development, and management company brands, and its continued success is a result of its core Rocks: Relevance, Relationships, Resilience and Responsibility. recently, delivered several new independent hotels similar to the North Market Mixed-Use Project, including Emeline (Charleston, SC), In 2020, Rockbridge was honored for a third consecutive year as a top, philanthropic company in Central Ohio. Hotel website Salamander Hotels & Resorts has appointed David Mars as General Manager of its Forbes Five Star property, Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Virginia. An experienced leader within luxury hospitality, Mars joins Salamander Resort & Spa from the property's sister resort, The Henderson, a Salamander Resort located in Destin, FL. Mars began his career in the front office at the Four Seasons Aviara in Carlsbad, CA. Before joining Salamander, he spent over eight years with Montage Hotels & Resorts, including serving as general manager at Spanish Peaks in Big Sky, Montana. Previously, he was the resort manager at the Forbes Five Star, Montage Deer Valley in Park City, UT, and the rooms executive at the Five Star, Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California. He has also served as director of operations for the Five Star SKYLOFTS and Signature, both at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. David will be joined in Middleburg by his wife Nicole and their two children, Maddie and Christopher. Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts has announced that Mr Nigel Fisher, an Australian national with 37 years' experience in luxury hotel management across Asia and Australia, has been appointed General Manager of its beachfront resort in Krabi, which opened in October 2020. After graduating from Switzerland's prestigious Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne in 1985, Fisher returned to Australia to join Hyatt International Hotels, where he would spend the next 15 years. In the 2000s, he was Resident Manager at the Four Seasons Sydney and at the Great Barrier Reef's Hayman Island. He took on the role of General Manager at leading hotels in Malaysia and the Philippines before moving to Banyan Tree in 2015. From his first post at Banyan Tree Huangshan in China, he stepped up as Area GM for Lijiang and Ringha. Fisher oversaw the opening of the Angsana Penang, before being lured across the border to southern Thailand. The Peninsula Paris is pleased to announce the appointment of Vincent Pimont as its new General Manager, effective January 24, 2022. Vincent Pimont will bring to this position a wealth of experience, both within the legendary Peninsula property on Avenue Kleber, as well as in the luxury hotel industry in the Parisian square and far beyond. A native of Normandy, Vincent Pimont obtained a master's degree in business administration (MBA), specializing in international hotel management at the prestigious hotel and management school Vatel. He then embarked on a 15-year career in various management positions for major hotel groups in Europe and the United States, notably within companies such as InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and The Walt Disney Company. Mr. Pimont joined The Peninsula Hotels in November 2007 as Accommodation Manager at The Peninsula Beijing, before being promoted to Hotel Manager in May 2010. In February 2014, he joined The Peninsula Paris teams as hotel manager, a position he held until 2017 - and in which he demonstrated a deep involvement during the first opening of a Peninsula property in Europe. In early 2017, Mr. Pimont returned to The Peninsula Beijing as General Manager, where under his leadership the hotel received a host of awards and accolades, including a Michelin star for Jing Restaurant. Icebreakers 2022 Chinese New Year celebration held successfully to much fanfare 15:52, January 27, 2022 By Wu Yidan ( People's Daily Online London, Jan. 26 (Peoples Daily Online) Up to 500 Chinese and British guests and audience members celebrated the Spring Festival at the Icebreakers 2022 Chinese New Year celebration held online on Jan. 26 in London, looking forward to a fresh start in the run up to the Chinese Lunar New Year. Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang (Photo/People's Daily Online) In his keynote speech, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, said that the past 50 years has made it very clear that China-UK cooperation serves the fundamental interests of both countries and the world. He emphasized that it is important for the business communities of China and the UK to join hands and they should leverage respective strengths, consolidate their cooperation in traditional areas, expand into new areas such as health care, FinTech, green energy, the digital economy and creative industries, and explore third markets, so as to create more highlights in the bilateral business partnership and bring more benefits to the peoples of both countries and beyond. Former British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond (Photo/People's Daily Online) Former British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said that China is the world's second largest economy. It has captured an important position in the UKs export market and remains an important source of imports. Trade in both directions has been negatively impacted by the pandemic, though forecasts suggest a strong recovery in both economies. John Edwards, the British Trade Commissioner for China, noted that the UK is an important market for Chinese goods, and its investment in China continues to grow. Looking towards the future, the UK intends to continue working with Chinese companies to expand the scale of electric vehicle manufacturers, as well as enhancing renewable supply chains so as to help the UK to build one of the most promising green market economies in the world, all while making a joint contribution to the most defining trend of our times the burgeoning green economy. Stephen Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group Club (Photo/People's Daily Online) Stephen Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group Club, said that this is the 45th celebration organized by the full Icebreakers team. He stressed that China and the UK enjoy a huge development potential and both sides should continue to maintain bilateral trade exchanges, strengthen dialogue and enhance mutual understanding. Quoting an ancient story about how the tiger went from being a nobody to becoming a king, Fang Wenjian, Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK), pointed to the flourishing of China-UK economic and cultural relations that have developed strongly since the first Icebreakers opened the door to trade links in the 1950s. He expressed his hope that future China-UK relations would continue to be open-minded and accommodating so as to unlock a new and shared future, notwithstanding the many challenges or obstacles. Sherard Cowper-Coles, Chair of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) (Photo/People's Daily Online) Sherard Cowper-Coles, Chair of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), and Group Head of Public Affairs, HSBC Holdings, said that the Chinese community has brought wealth and diversity to British society and has made extraordinary contributions to British national life. In a cookery demonstration, which was part of the special cultural interactions arranged by the organizers, the Meaningful Courses (pronounced Yi-Tou Cai in Chinese) for the Year of the Tiger were presented to the audience, offering a glimpse of the broad range of Chinese culinary arts. A performance of Chinese folk dance was also put on, creating a unique virtual festive atmosphere online during the Year of the Tiger. In order to express their expectations and wishes for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the audience also watched the songs for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, "2022 Meet in Beijing" and "You Are the Miracle." Children from the Millburn Primary School in Northern Ireland, in the UK, sang Chinese songs to cheer for the Beijing Winter Olympics. Hosted by the 48 Group Club, and supported by CCCUK and CBBC, the Icebreakers Chinese New Year celebration has become an iconic event for political and business communities from China and Britain. Children from the Millburn Primary School in Northern Ireland sing a song for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. (Photo/People's Daily Online) A song for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is performed. (Photo/People's Daily Online) The 48 Group Clubs predecessor was the 48 Group of China-Britain Trade Mission established in 1954. At the time, 48 businessmen from British companies, known as the Icebreakers, took the lead in breaking the barriers of the Western embargo against China and initiated one of the earliest attempts at trade negotiations between the UK and the People's Republic of China among non-governmental entities. The other two hosts namely, CCCUK and CBBC have continuously built bridges for deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and have remained steadfast in promoting positive Sino-British relations over the years. The cookery demonstration. (Photo/People's Daily Online) (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) Actor Michael Madsen didnt see any signs of depression in his son Hudson, before the U.S. Army sergeant died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Hudson Madsen, the 26-year-old godson of his dads frequent collaborator Quentin Tarantino, was stationed in Hawaii and lived in Oahu at the time of his death, the Los Angeles Times reported. Advertisement I am in shock as my son, whom I just spoke with a few days ago, said he was happy - my last text from him was I love you dad, the Reservoir Dogs and Kill Bill actor, 64, told The Times in a statement. I didnt see any signs of depression. Its so tragic and sad. Im just trying to make sense of everything and understand what happened. Michael Madsen attends TATATU Press Conference on March 06, 2019 in Rome, Italy. (Daniele Venturelli/Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images) Convinced that officers and rank and file were shaming Hudson for needing help, the elder Madsen told the outlet that his son stopped therapy and he is now asking the military to conduct a full investigation. Advertisement He had typical life challenges that people have with finances, but he wanted a family, said Michael Madsen. He was looking toward his future, so its [sic] mind blowing. I just cant grasp what happened. Michael Madsen and his son, Hudson Madsen, attend the Sugar Factory at the Paris Las Vegas on July 16, 2011. (David Becker/WireImage) Hudsons cause of death was confirmed to the Daily News Tuesday by the City and County of Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner. The departments supervising investigator Charlotte Carter said the public would have access to an autopsy report in roughly four months. The death of Hudson Madsen is at least the third suspected suicide of a celebritys child in recent weeks. Regina Kings only child, son Ian Alexander Jr., also 26, reportedly died by suicide last week. Earlier this month, Sinead OConnor was hospitalized after she confirmed that her 17-year-old son Shane had died by suicide after hed disappeared from suicide watch under the so called care of Irelands Tusla agency. Holston House, a 191-room boutique hotel in the heart of downtown Nashville, Tenn., announced today the appointment of Shannon Williams as its new executive chef. The 16-year industry veteran joins the Holston House team with a focus on incorporating her specialty southern cuisine infused with modern touches into Holston House's renowned weekend brunch service and throughout the hotel's signature restaurant, TENN, fare. As Executive Chef, Williams will oversee all of Holston House's food and beverage offerings, including the full service restaurant, TENN, lobby bar serving small bites, Bar TENN, rooftop tea service with seasonally rotating tea-based cocktails and treats, as well as the property's catering operations. Hailing from southern Georgia, Williams brings more than 16 years of culinary experience with a focus on elevated southern cooking to the property's leadership team. Prior to joining Holston House, Williams worked up the culinary ladder in country clubs across Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee. With a notable career kick-off, she earned her Culinary Arts and Science degree from Johnson & Wales after receiving a scholarship from Chef Bobby Flay on Good Morning America in 2005. In addition to spearheading Holston House's culinary team, Williams will also work closely with Holston House's full leadership team to develop TENN's dinner menu inspired by her southern upbringing and family recipes with a modern twist. The updated dinner service is set to launch in early February. The Young Hoteliers Summit (YHS), the largest student-run hospitality summit in the world, returns for an online edition of the event from the 7th to the 9th of March 2022. The aim of the summit is to tackle the latest trends and issues of the hospitality industry through panel discussions and keynotes with industry experts. Each year YHS gathers thought-leaders and student delegates from the worlds most prestigious hospitality institutions to exchange valuable insights. Due to the persistence of the pandemic, the upcoming Young Hoteliers summit will be held online for the third year in a row. To increase engagement despite the difficult conditions, the team behind YHS has turned to two solutions. Firstly, YHS innovated by publishing its very own podcast, titled Your Hospitality Squeeze (YHS). On the podcast, hospitality students from EHL Hospitality Business School in Lausanne share experiences and advice about working in the industry through their unique lens, from culture shocks to guest complaints. The podcast is released in the format of a mini-series run by students for students. Four episodes are already available on Google, Spotify, Anchor and Apple. Secondly, as a student committee from EHL, YHS aims to understand the point of view of hospitality business students on an international scale and to share these perspectives with a wider audience. For this reason, since 2017, YHS has organized an annual survey that is distributed to all hospitality-related individuals. Due to COVID-19 and its strain on interpersonal relationships, the Human Resources gap between expectation and reality has widened. Therefore, this years survey theme addresses the attempt to bridge the gap between employers and employees recruitment. The findings of this survey will be collected in the Rankings Report 2022 which will then be published on the YHS Global website by the end of February. Students or recent graduates can complete the Employee Expectation survey. Filling out this survey makes participants automatically eligible for 50 $ discount on CAHTA certificate and gives them the chance to win prizes like Swiss International Air Lines vouchers, Laurent-Perrier Champagne, and Netflix vouchers. To receive the opposite perspective, employers and recruiters can complete the Employer Expectation survey and possibly win two tickets to the Young Hoteliers Summit. The surveys can be filled out until February 5th 2022 at the abovementioned links. About the Young Hoteliers Summit The Young Hoteliers Summit (YHS) was founded in 2010 by five students of the Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL), who shared the vision of fostering innovation in the industry through insightful discussions between thought leaders and hospitality students. Today, YHS has become the largest student-run summit in the world, inviting over 30 speakers, 80 delegates and 20 partners to its event every year. During the summit, the delegates have to solve the YHS Challenge set by the summit's most esteemed partner, the Challenge Provider. The team behind YHS consists of over 40 students from EHL Hospitality Business School, speaking over 25 languages and coming from 28 countries. They prepare the event for an entire year. The 2022 edition of the summit will be held virtually from the 7th to the 9th of March. Sofia Gerber YHS Global The IHG Owners Association, which represents InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) franchise hotel owners worldwide, announced that Norman (Norm) Leslie has assumed the Chairmanship of its Global Board of Directors for 2022. Leslie is President of National Hospitality Services and one of the founders of Legendary Capital, both based in Fargo, N.D., and brings to the Board more than 30 years of hospitality experience and expertise in hotel management, development, finance, acquisitions, deal structure and project negotiations, among other areas. Leslie succeeds Wayne West III, President and Partner of Newport Hospitality Group, who served brilliantly as Chair over the past two years during one of the most challenging times in the industry. Leslie began his hospitality career at an economy hotel where he rose through the ranksfrom washing dishes at the property's on-site restaurant to a position as general manager. He began development of his first hotel in 1991 and has since grown that portfolio to nearly 50 properties. In 2001, Leslie founded National Hospitality Services, which today manages 36 hotels across the United States under a variety of brand flags. "I am proud to be taking on the role of 2022 Global Chair of the IHG Owners Association," says Leslie. "I've had the honor of working alongside many incredible Past Chairs of the Associationbright, motivated people who are passionate about this business. I look forward to building on their legacy and working with the Global Board to address issues that are critically important to owners today, ultimately delivering exceptional value to our members." For the past decade, Leslie has been very active as a volunteer in the IHG Owners Association, serving on both the Extended Stay Committee and the People Committee. In 2019, he was elected to the Association's Global Board and has served as Chair-Elect & AMER Member at Large for the past two years. John Muehlbauer, CEO of the IHG Owners Association, notes, "Norm's expertise as an owner and operator will further bolster the Association's efforts to support owners in their recovery and strengthen their returns on investments in IHG-branded hotels." Leslie holds a degree in Commerce from the University of Manitoba in Canada. The IHG Owners Association is also pleased to announce its 2022 Global Board of Directors: Chair: Norman Leslie, President, National Hospitality Services, and Co-Founder, Legendary Capital Norman Leslie, President, National Hospitality Services, and Co-Founder, Legendary Capital Chair-Elect & AMER Member at Large: Navroz Saju, President and CEO, HDG Hotels Navroz Saju, President and CEO, HDG Hotels Treasurer & AMER Member at Large: Nellie Dhanji, Vice President of Operations and Legal Counsel, Stanley Park Investments, Ltd. Nellie Dhanji, Vice President of Operations and Legal Counsel, Stanley Park Investments, Ltd. Secretary & AMER Member at Large: Mark Zipperer, President and CEO, Pride Hospitality, LLC Mark Zipperer, President and CEO, Pride Hospitality, LLC Immediate Past Chair Advisor: Wayne West III, President and Partner, Newport Hospitality Group Wayne West III, President and Partner, Newport Hospitality Group Past Chair Representative: Kurt Furlong, Chief Revenue Officer and Partner, Genuine Hospitality, LLC Kurt Furlong, Chief Revenue Officer and Partner, Genuine Hospitality, LLC CEO, IHG Owners Association: John Muehlbauer John Muehlbauer Europe Regional Representative: Sean Lowe, CEO, Atlas Hotels Sean Lowe, CEO, Atlas Hotels MEAA Regional Representative: Paul Salter, Managing Director, Salter Brothers Asset Management and CEO and Managing Director, Salter Brothers Hotel Group Paul Salter, Managing Director, Salter Brothers Asset Management and CEO and Managing Director, Salter Brothers Hotel Group AMER Member at Large: Juan Carlos Alvarez, Partner, Operadora Alro Juan Carlos Alvarez, Partner, Operadora Alro AMER Member at Large: Asad Malik, President and CEO, Amerilodge Group Asad Malik, President and CEO, Amerilodge Group AMER Member at Large: Euan McGlashan, Co-Founder and CEO, Valor Hospitality Partners Euan McGlashan, Co-Founder and CEO, Valor Hospitality Partners AMER Member at Large: Perry Molubhoy, Founder, President and CEO, Atlantic Hotels Perry Molubhoy, Founder, President and CEO, Atlantic Hotels AMER Member at Large: Vijay Patel, President, A1 Hospitality Vijay Patel, President, A1 Hospitality AMER Member at Large: Juan Carlos Santos, CEO, BPO Juan Carlos Santos, CEO, BPO AMER Member at Large: David Wespiser, Founding Partner, Hotel Development Services, LLC David Wespiser, Founding Partner, Hotel Development Services, LLC Europe Member at Large: Nicola Taylor, CEO, Chardon Hotels Nicola Taylor, CEO, Chardon Hotels IHG Representative: Elie Maalouf, CEO, IHG Americas The IHG Owners Association, originally established by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson in 1955, was the first association of its kind in the hotel industry. The global organization currently represents the interests of more than 4,000 owners and operators of nearly 3,000 IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) properties around the world. The Association is a voice for its members and plays an integral role in communicating with IHG leadership on issues related to franchised hotel operations. The IHG family of brands includes Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, Regent Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, Vignette Collection, EVEN Hotels, HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, voco, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, avid hotels, Staybridge Suites, Atwell Suites and Candlewood Suites. For additional information, visit www.owners.org. Susie O'Connell IHG Owners Association 404-405-9136 IHG Owners Association Theres a new type of best-in-class building in town one which responds to evolving sustainability demands from businesses, employees and wider society. As investors search for buildings that will future-proof their portfolios, theyre paying closer attention to new risk factors linked to climate change while thinking more broadly about the social and health impact of their real estate. It means that factors like improving resilience, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting employee wellbeing are playing a bigger role in determining a buildings financial value and the income it generates. Indeed, the UKs Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors recently updated its valuations guidance to place greater emphasis on a buildings sustainability credentials. The role of buildings in creating a more sustainable future is now in the spotlight, says Lori Mabardi, ESG research director at JLL. Stakeholder pressure is rising where regulators, occupiers, lenders and investors are expecting more from the built sector. So how are these new factors influencing the conversation? 1. Tackling climate risk and resilience From floods to heatwaves, investors are increasingly aware of the direct impact of climate change on real estate portfolios. More owners are assessing their portfolios early, as well as modelling future risk, says Mabardi. Weve seen extreme weather grow four-fold in the past four decades in the U.S alone, she says. Real estate investors, landlords and occupiers are increasingly understanding that resilience needs to come into the equation. This could mean taking measures to address areas of weakness in the asset itself, or taking a portfolio view and evaluating exposure to a number of risks like wildfire or drought. As investors and occupiers increasingly use a climate-risk lens when considering new markets and buildings, insurance companies and lenders will refine their pricing and lending accordingly. Whats more, countries like the UK, France, Germany and Canada have established some level of mandatory climate-related financial risk disclosure a move currently under discussion in other countries including the U.S. Governments and cities are now starting to take action. In the U.S., Miami last year appointed its first chief heat officer, while Canada recently announced a raft of new climate measures including a carbon tax of CAD$40 per metric ton. 2. Cutting carbon footprints As more companies unveil net zero plans and more regulations come into play, reducing carbon emissions from buildings is becoming a priority. As part of its 2040 net zero goals for its real estate portfolio, investment manager Nuveen is turning to renewable energy and implementing energy efficiencies. Buildings that fail to address their carbon footprint will soon start to fall behind, says Emily Chadwick, ESG risk & valuation director at JLL. There are dozens of studies indicating a value differential associated with more energy efficient real estate, she says. However, decarbonizing an asset takes planning, investment, and time. Waiting to act exposes an asset to the risk of stranding and investors then risk a brown discount. Historically, green certifications have seen a sales premium of 7.6 percent and a rent premium of 6 percent, according to data from Dalton and Fuerst. Buildings with BREEAM Outstanding ratings recorded rent premiums between 4 percent and 11 percent and hit 100 percent pre-leasing compared to 50 percent for standard properties, JLLs Return on Sustainability report found. But not all green certifications equate to a long-term low carbon footprint some are more focused on initial sustainable design than ongoing operations and taking this into consideration will reset the value conversation, says Chadwick. 3. Promoting health & wellbeing for tenants Buildings will increasingly be graded on their ability to not only support but also optimize the health, wellbeing and performance of the people using them. Healthy buildings are good for the bottom line, says Mabardi. Take cleaner air, for example, which helps boost energy and engagement levels among employees and consequently improves productivity. Research from Allen and McComber shows that in the U.S. alone, the savings and productivity gains from improved indoor environments are between $25 billion to $150 billion a year. And increasingly thats something companies are prepared to pay for. Effective rents for healthy buildings in the U.S. command between 4.4 percent and 7.7 percent more rent per square foot than peers that are not WELL or FITWEL certified, according to research by MITs Real Estate Innovation Lab. And with the pandemic putting even more onus on healthy and sustainable spaces, its accelerated the longer-term shift in corporate and investor attitudes. Changing expectations mean that buildings need to meet new requirements, for people using them or the capital investing in them, says Guy Grainger, Global Head of Sustainability Services & ESG at JLL. Whether its health & wellbeing, climate risk or social impact, the future value of the building depends on getting these right. Download the report. About JLL JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $19.4 billion in 2021, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce more than 98,000 as of December 31, 2021. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com. View source 3 full days of virtual business appointments and digital conference programme Exhibitors to leverage on virtual appointments with Indian and South Asian travel buyers and international delegates All conference sessions are available on-demand until 6 May 2022 ITB India 2022 will be an all-virtual event with the physical show postponed to 2023. Scheduled on the same dates, ITB India 2022 Virtual will be held from 5 7 April 2022. After close observations of international developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of the Omicron variant, and extensive conversations with local authorities and partners, the show organisers made the difficult decision to move the show completely virtual, which now gives exhibitors and trade visitors maximum planning security. Katrina Leung, Messe Berlin (Singapore), the organiser of ITB India said: This decision is made after the surge in infection cases of the Omicron variant worldwide and in India, as well as the tightening of international borders and safety measures. In view of the uncertainties of executing a successful physical event for the travel trade, Messe Berlin (Singapore) consulted various stakeholders and international clients before concluding that the 2022 show should be held virtually to provide full transparency and reassurance of the upcoming exhibition and conference. ITB India Virtual brings together key travel industry leaders and international exhibitors from various segments of MICE, Leisure, Corporate and Travel Technology. The B2B virtual event builds the bridge to the Indian and South Asian travel markets, offering three full days of virtual business appointments and digital conference programme. After the virtual trade show, all conference sessions will remain online until 6 May 2022, and all registered participants have full access to the conference recordings. With ITB Community in Asia (ITB Community), the organiser had already established a global virtual platform for the tourism industry where exhibitors can successfully leverage on virtual appointments with Indian and South Asian travel buyers and international delegates. Whats new for exhibitors and delegates at ITB India 2022 Attendees of ITB India 2022 can expect the following new key privileges: Julio Cortez, STF / Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in seeking to block the U.S. Department of Defense from mandating COVID-19 vaccines for National Guard members who are under state command. The Pentagon has required COVID-19 vaccination for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Attorneys for the two governors, in an amended lawsuit dated Tuesday, say that when National Guard members are serving the state, the federal government has no command authority. The lawsuit said the mandate is an unconstitutional overstepping of bounds. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If you visited your favorite Houston barbecue joint recently, you may have noticed a group of people with audio and video equipment huddled around a table piled high with cue. The group is from the Smoke Sheet, a national barbecue news outlet. Though known for its weekly, comprehensive email newsletter, the Smoke Sheet has recently begun a video series about regional barbecue, starting in Houston. Why Houston? It all began in 2018 when the team behind the Smoke Sheet, Ryan Cooper and Sean Ludwig, met in line at Snows BBQ in Lexington. They became fast friends, learning they had both grown up in Kansas City and sharing stories of their barbecue adventures. They recognized there were already several regional barbecue writers and media outlets, so they decided to create a newsletter focused on the national barbecue scene as well as under-reported regional styles. The Smoke Sheet launched later in 2018. Cooper, 45, regained an interest in barbecue after buying a house in Omaha, Neb., where he currently lives and works for the National Park Service. Now I had a backyard, so I bought a smoker and started cooking, says Cooper. One thing led to another and he began traveling the country researching different styles of barbecue. The Smoke Sheet Sign up for email newsletter at bbqnewsletter.com. See More Collapse Ludwig, 36, who has a background in journalism, became fascinated with the rise of the New York City barbecue scene, specifically Brooklyn, where he currently lives. He, too, began traveling the country visiting barbecue joints, leading to the chance meeting with Cooper at Snows. Their focus on Houston was similarly serendipitous. In 2019, Cooper was visiting barbecue joints in Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi when a big snowstorm was forecast to hit. He wouldnt be able to travel in that area for a few days, so he decided to decamp for warmer climes. Houston was it. I got off the plane and headed straight for Roegels Barbecue, he says. I had no idea what to order, and they recommended the Texas trinity. I ordered that and never looked back. He visited multiple Houston joints during that trip and a follow-up visit a few weeks later. Cooper was struck by wherever he went, the pitmaster there knew pitmasters at the other barbecue joints he mentioned. He became fascinated by the close-knit barbecue community in Houston, as well as the diversity of offerings and styles here. There are other barbecue communities around the country, says Cooper, But nothing like Houston. Based on the community and diversity here, Cooper and Ludwig decided to launch their video series in Houston. They partnered with Erica Blaire Roby, a competitive pitmaster from Dayton, Ohio, who had recently won the second season of the Food Networks BBQ Brawl competition show. Roby, too, had been traveling the country exploring new barbecue joints. Cooper, who knew Roby from social media, suggested she head to Houston and video her visits here, including at Gatlins BBQ and Feges BBQ. They contacted local barbecue podcaster and videographer Conor Moran to do the job. Those interviews went so well that the team decided to do a whole video series about Houston barbecue, starting in mid-January and visiting more than 17 joints. For now, the videos are planned as a web series on YouTube or a similar site, though the Smoke Sheet team is entertaining offers for wider distribution. Thanks, in part, to the interest around barbecue and Houston in particular. Houston is a hidden jewel nationally, says Cooper. People dont realize how great the barbecue is here. Clarification: Pitmaster Erica Blaire Robys video series on YouTube, which recently featured The Pit Stop With Blue Smoke Blaire, is not affiliated with the Smoke Sheet barbecue newsletter. jcreid@jcreidtx.com twitter.com/jcreidtx Lunar New Year is here and there are many ways around town for Houstonians to celebrate. February 1 kicked off up to two weeks of festive celebrations in Asian American communities. The date marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar and is the occasion of holidays including Chinese New Year and Tet. Houstonians wanting to celebrate the Year of the Tiger can venture out to two major festivals at the Chinese Community Center and Viet Hoa this weekend. A variety of other events, from lion dances to children's activities, will take place all around Houston until mid-February. Chinese Community Center Lunar New Year Festival Saturday, February 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 9800 Town Park Drive, Houston, TX 77036 Free admission Since 2004, the Chinese Community Center in southwest Houston's Chinatown has held a lunar new year festival replete with performances, food and crafts vendors and cultural activities. It's become an annual tradition for many in the Chinese American community, drawing thousands of people for a day of celebration. After a virtual festival in 2021, this year's festival will be entirely outdoors with an emphasis on sanitation and safety, said Mei Li, the center's director of culture. Masks will be provided to attendees and hand washing stations are available. The festival will feature lion dances, dragon dances and a shaolin kung fu show by the Shaolin Temple Cultural Center. Visitors can try dozens of food vendors and booths offering arts and culture activities. Community organizations will also be available to help people with rental assistance applications and other needs. For program and other info: https://ccchouston.org/lunarnewyear/ Lunar New Year Houston at Viet Hoa Saturday and Sunday, February 5-6, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 8300 W. Sam Houston Parkway, Houston, TX 77072 Free admission Lion dancing, dragon dancing and firecracker displays are among the attractions at this large, multicultural festival in the parking lot of Viet Hoa International Foods in southwest Houston. Six lion dance academies will take turns performing across two days between demonstrations of tai chi, shaolin kung fu, vovinam and other martial arts styles. A "World Food Fest" will feature several cuisines along with music celebrating the new year. The festival's Grand Marshals, Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, will welcome the new year at 2 p.m. on Saturday. For program and other details: https://www.lunarnewyearhouston.com/program/ Lunar New Year at Asia Society Saturday, February 5, 11 a.m. 1370 Southmore Blvd, Houston, TX, 77004 Lion dancers will perform at this free event in the Museum District that features cultural arts and crafts activities along with food. Tickets can be purchased to view cultural performances by the Huaxing Arts Group. Details: https://asiasociety.org/texas/events/lunar-new-year-2022-celebrating-year-tiger Lunar New Year Bash at Children's Museum of Houston Saturday, February 5, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 1500 Binz Street, Houston, TX, 77004 This kid-friendly event, sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Heritage Association, will feature lion dancers at 1 p.m. along with arts and crafts activities including origami and tiger masks. Details: https://www.cmhouston.org/events/lunar-new-year Lunar New Year 2022 at Lucky Land Saturday, February 5 and Sunday, February 6, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 8625 Airline Drive, Houston, TX 77037 Lucky Land, an eclectic Asian-themed attraction that hosts replicas of Chinese historic sites and artifacts, will host two weekends of Lunar New Year celebrations featuring food vendors and kung fu, lion dance and Chinese dance performances. Details: https://www.luckyland-houston.com/ Unity Dragon & Lion Dance Troupe performances Unity Dragon & Lion Dance Troupe, founded in 2019, will conclude their Lunar New Year schedule by performing lion dances at several locations in Memorial, River Oaks, Sugar Land and The Heights on the weekend of February 12 and 13. Guests will be able to see performers up close and witness the auspicious ceremony marking the new year. Ding Tea Sugar Land Saturday, February 12, 1 p.m. 4650 Highway 6, Sugar Land, TX 77478 M-K-T Heights Saturday, February 12, 2:30 p.m. 600 N Shepherd Drive, Houston, TX 77007 Hiccups & Churroholic, Memorial Sunday, February 13, 1:30 p.m. 11700B Westheimer Road, Houston, TX 77077 Amorino Gelato, River Oaks Sunday, February 13, 3:30 p.m. 4444 Westheimer Road C150, Houston, TX 77027 Past events Chinatown mounted patrol by Houston Police Department Friday, January 28, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. 9889 Bellaire Boulevard, Houston, TX, 77036 Houston Police Department's mounted patrol visited Chinatown businesses along Bellaire including Dun Huang Plaza, American First National Bank, Chase Bank, Southwestern National Bank, Golden Bank, Cathay Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank. Texas Lunar Festival Saturday, January 29, 11 a.m. Virtual on Channel 15.3, YouTube and Facebook Texas Lunar Festival, by the Southern Daily News Group, became a 2-hour virtual cultural performance due to the pandemic. The full video can be found here on YouTube. Lunar New Year Festival at Otaku Food Festival and 8th Wonder Brewery Saturday, January 29, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, January 30, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. 2202 Dallas Street, Houston, TX, 77003 This two-day multicultural food festival will feature live music along with cuisine from countries and regions including Laos, Mexico, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Italy, Taiwan and Thailand. For more info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1158800341556582/ Lunar New Year Celebration at Gallery Furniture Sunday, January 30, 12 p.m. 6006 North Freeway, Houston, TX, 77076 The Soaring Phoenix Dragon and Lion Dance Association performed a dragon dance routine at this family-oriented event. Details: https://www.facebook.com/events/gallery-furniture/lunar-new-year-celebration-at-gallery-furniture/1346090129156264/ Houston Rockets Lunar New Year Lion Dance Monday, January 31, 7 p.m. Toyota Center Lee's Golden Dragon, Houston's oldest lion dance troupe, performed before Monday night's game against the Golden State Warriors. The troupe performed a lion dance on court for the pre-game and another at half-time on the concourse. The lions also participated in a t-shirt toss in the fourth quarter. Check back soon for more events and lion dances. charlie.zong@chron.com From what we know, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived at least two-thirds of the maxim: live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse. Whatever the cause of death of the composer, it appears to have been nasty. Admittedly, even the middle third of the phrase doesnt entirely apply, as the average lifespan in Europe in the 18th century isnt nearly what it is today. Nevertheless, Mozart punched his card at 35, so he outlasted Schubert (31) but not Beethoven (56), Bach (65) or that sentient fossil Haydn (77). Much of the youthful spirit we affix to the composer can be attributed to Tom Hulces performance in the 1984 film Amadeus. Still, Mozart has held sway on music enthusiasts for centuries, for reasons creative and superficial. Mozart left behind some 600 compositions that span operas, symphonies and chamber and choral pieces. His canonized work continues to be performed regularly, as it will be Feb. 4-13with Houston Grand Operas innovative presentation of The Magic Flute. Peripherally, he continues to intrigue as the archetype of the young genius, having started composing at an age when most kids start to figure out how to tie their shoes. Mozart also fits the bill as an iconic struggling artist, one whose genius has for centuries been beyond question, despite financial hardship during his life. Perhaps he draws less dark-cloud fervor than Beethoven, whose deafness lent itself to a moody persona over the years. But more than 230 years after his death, Mozart continues to draw our attention in concert halls as well as in popular culture. Amadeus These days, music biopics are a dime a dozen. Amadeus was hardly the first of its kind: Loretta Lynn, Billie Holiday and Buddy Holly had their lives turned into films before it. But upon its release in 1984, Amadeus presented a personality lesser known to viewers than pop, country and jazz stars. The composer had been in the ground nearly two centuries before prestige director Milos Foreman (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest) took Peter Shaffers 1979 play and turned it into a comic period piece about youthful genius and slow burning jealousy. It proved a box-office hit and won eight Academy Awards. Orion Pictures 1984 Rock Me Amadeus Johann Holzel was already successful in his native Austria before releasing his third album as Falco. Falco 3 turned him into a star in the United States when Rock Me Amadeus reached No. 1 on the pop charts here in 1986. The lyrics, in German, cast the young composer as a rock star with all the rewards and trappings that came with that lifestyle: He was a punk and lived in the big city He had debuts because he drank, but women all loved him anyway. Falco died in a car crash in 1998. At age 40, he had five years on Mozart. Both musicians are buried in Vienna. Mozart in the Jungle The Amazon Prime series ran from 2014-2018 and, despite the title, was a contemporary story about a young oboist trying to earn a space in a symphony and a young conductor perceived as a stunt hire as a music director rather than a period piece about the composer. Based on Blair Tindalls memoir of the same title, the show does manage to put Mozart (Santino Fontana) on screen for dreamed conversations with Gael Garcia Bernals Rodrigo. Be honest about why you are here, Mozart says to the young conductor. It seems to me to be about glory. Eyes Wide Shut Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick will forever be intertwined with Beethoven, thanks to his Droogs affinity for Ludwig van in A Clockwork Orange. But Kubricks rapport for the canon runs deeper than Beethoven. A short but heavy scene in Eyes Wide Shut finds Tom Cruises character learning about a death while reading the New York Post, a lush scene in red set to Rex tremendae from the third section of Mozarts Requiem. A full accounting of Mozart compositions in cinema would require years to assemble. His Eine kleine Nachtmusik alone has appeared in more than three dozen films. Ali Goldstein, HONS / Associated Press Steppenwolf Author Herman Hesse set high standards for his questing character Harry Hallers Immortals: Mozart and Goethe. Haller refers to the former as the god of my youth, the object, all my life long, of love and veneration. In the 1927 novel, the sounds of Don Giovanni summon the composer who engages in a philosophical debate with Haller. Bill & Ted Face the Music After an excellent adventure (that included Beethoven) and a bogus journey, the sweet stoner-y Bill and Ted returned in 2020 for the third film in their time-traveling series. This time out they are tasked with writing a song to unite the world before time and space collapse. The time warped adventure places 20th-century guitarist Jimi Hendrix in 18th-century Austria where his guitar defied time and was amplified for a momentary collaboration with Mozarts harpsichord. Hey, Wolfy, Hendrix says upon meeting Herr Mozart (Daniel Dorr). Mozart and Salieri Nearly 150 years before Peter Shaffer wrote the play Amadeus that would inform the film, Alexander Pushkin penned the play Mozart and Salieri, his own dramatic work that told the story of a rivalry between two composers, with the implication that Mozart was poisoned. Engraved by C.Cook, Contributor / Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography,Great Britain. andrew.dansby@chron.com Steven Spielbergs West Side Story adaptation may have lit up the big screen last month, but the sexual assault allegations against star Ansel Elgort continue to dim some of that spark. Rachel Zegler, who starred opposite Elgorts Tony as Maria, as well as Ariana DeBose, who played Anita, and Rita Moreno, who originally played Anita and this go-round played Valentina, finally addressed the controversy in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, out Thursday. Advertisement Nobody really knows whats going on in anyones head. Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down, Ariana DeBose told the magazine. Ansel Elgort (www.RoyRochlin.com/Getty Images) I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter, said Moreno. Its not for me to make those judgements. Advertisement We made a movie two and a half years ago, and a lot has gone on in the world since then, said Zegler. Rachel Zegler (left) and Rita Moreno (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images) As a lot has changed very publicly, and privately, the 20-year-old pointed to a lot of awakening. You just hope that the people involved are OK, she continued. That they are asked in a respectful manner and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves. Ariana DeBose (VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images) The Fault in Our Stars actor, 27, previously denied the June 2020 allegations that in 2014, he assaulted a then-17-year-old girl, when he was 20. The native New Yorker has maintained that the relationship was brief, legal and entirely consensual. The accusations surfaced on social media nearly a year after shooting wrapped on West Side Story. He did no individual press to promote the long-awaited musical, which hit theaters in December. Handout Authorities have announced funeral services information for Precinct 5 Cpl. Charles Galloway, who was fatally shot Sunday after pulling over a vehicle for a traffic stop. The services, which are open to the public, are scheduled for 10 a.m. on Feb. 1 at the Second Baptist Churchs West Campus located at 19449 Katy Freeway, according to a Harris County Constable's Office Precinct 5 post. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A Houston father and son aided a man charged with gunning down a constable deputy, in part by helping the accused killer pawn his jewelry after he asked for help to flee the country, according to a court document. Jose Romel Hernandez Cruz, 43, and his father, Jose Santos Gutierrez Cruz, 68, have been charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution in the capital murder case against Oscar Rosales. Rosales is in Harris County Jail without bail after he was arrested in Mexico early Wednesday after being on the run since the fatal shooting of Harris County Precinct 5 Cpl. Charles Galloway on Sunday. Galloway has stopped the driver of a white Toyota Avalon, who then came out of the car and opened fire. The father and son were among four people at an apartment in southeast Houston where police conducted a search warrant after determining a green Lexus linked to Rosales was there. Police had reviewed surveillance video that showed Rosales leaving the Avalon at a location near Texas 6 and the Westpark Tollway and getting into a green Lexus with distinctive rims. They traced that car to an address in the 3200 block of Broadway Street. The son confessed to having his neighbor pawn a gold chain and gold bracelet that belonged to Rosales, according to the court document. The father initially told authorities that he had not seen or heard from Rosales in about 10 to 15 years. The son had initially told authorities that he had not seen Rosales in a few months or had spoken to him by phone. He then told authorities that Rosales showed up at his home, claiming he had been involved in a shooting early Sunday morning, according to the court document. Another person there told authorities that the son asked them to help Rosales flee the country because he was in trouble. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man already charged with stabbing a Houston police K-9 is now charged with murder in the death of a man police believe to be his father, according to authorities. Ryan Mitchell Smith, 26, was charged in the death of Cameron Smith and felony evading arrest on Wednesday. Smith is accused of striking the man on the head with a dumbbell early Monday at his Memorial-area home off Carolcrest Drive, according to court documents. The identity of the victim is still pending verification by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, but police said Tuesday they believe it is Smith's father, who owned the home. K-9 NATE: Houston Police K-9 safely home after weekend stabbing, man facing charges Smith faces three other charges in another case after he allegedly robbed a Memorial-area business and stabbed a Houston Police K-9 named Nate with a butcher knife while evading officers on Saturday. He was arrested and charged in that case and went to stay at his father's home after being bonded out by his family on Sunday, authorities said. Courtesy By Monday, family members had become concerned that both Ryan Smith and Cameron Smith were missing, and contacted police. After several searches of the Carolcrest home that yielded nothing, police located Ryan Smith in a suspicious pickup truck that was parked down the street from the home. He led officers on a late-night pursuit that ended with a crash in Memorial Park and then evaded them after escaping on foot. By around 5 a.m. Tuesday, officers found his father's body in the garage of his home. There was head trauma that officials believe was caused by a dumbbell that had been concealed from view in the garage of the home. Smith was arrested later Tuesday afternoon after a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper found him walking along Highway 159 in Waller County. Officials said Smith admitted to his role in his father's death during interviews with detectives. He is due back in court on Friday. The Harris County District Attorney's Office has requested a $2 million bond. rebecca.hennes@chron.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Surrounded on all sides by seven officers, a man accused of fatally shooting a Harris County deputy constable interrupted a Harris County magistrate Wednesday night during a probable cause hearing, saying law enforcement desired to "kill" him. As his rights were being read to him, Oscar Rosales ignoring his court-appointed representation addressed the law enforcement presence around him in the courtroom, video shows. "I know you don't speak Spanish and I want to say whatever I think," Rosales can be heard on video telling Magistrate Carol Carrier while waving off his interpreter and court-appointed representation. "All the officers and the security guy they want to, like, try and kill me right here, they can do it. Whatever. I don't care. Everybody in this room has waited for this chance to hurt me." MORE ON ROSALES: Man accused in deputy constable killing used different name during previous arrest Rosales, 51, is charged with capital murder of a police officer in the shooting death on Sunday of Harris County Pct. 5 Cpl. Charles Galloway during a traffic stop. Rosales was taken into custody Wednesday in the border town of Ciudad Acuna south of Del Rio in southwest Texas after a three-day manhunt. Rosales, handcuffed and dressed in a yellow jumpsuit, interrupted the magistrate shortly after the hearing began and where a Spanish-speaking interpreter was providing translation. He told Carrier he could speak in English. "We have the interpreter standing right beside you and he is going interpret everything I say from English into Spanish," Carrier responded. "So what I need you to do, at this point, is listen to everything he is telling you. That is your immediate concern and not anything else." She later said the translation was provided because Rosales is a native Spanish speaker. When Carrier asked Rosales about his citizenship, he said his father was from Mexico and he had lived some time in El Salvador before telling her he was a citizen of Guatemala. According to court documents, Rosales had a previous interaction with law enforcement in 1995 when he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for attacking a man with a knife. Court documents identified him then as El Salvador national Aguilar Marcide Albarenga. On HoustonChronicle.com: Authorities announce funeral services for slain Houston deputy Records also show Rosales was given six years of deferred adjudication in the case but failed to participate in a community service program. Soon after, a warrant was issued for his arrest under his earlier name. The defendant number assigned to Rosales for that case appears in his latest charge under a Harris County Sheriffs Office hold, according to records. Eric Prince, Harris County assistant district attorney, read from the probable cause affidavit, which stated dashcam and body camera footage from the incident showed a male believed to be Rosales allegedly get out of a white Toyota Avalon with a firearm and fire repeated gunshots in the direction of Galloway before the deputy constable was able to exit his vehicle or call for backup. Galloway was pronounced dead at the scene. Additionally, authorities stated, Rosales' wife of 17 years, Reina Marquez, positively identified him to law enforcement from a picture taken off of the dashcam and bodycam footage. MORE ON ROSALES: Siblings cleaned car used in slaying of Houston deputy amid manhunt, investigators say A Harris County Public Defender's Office lawyer representing Rosales during the hearing argued for $100,000 bail, saying he has lived in the Houston area for the past 20 years and one of the two children he provides care for is special needs. Carrier denied Rosales' request for bail Wednesday night and he remains in custody Thursday morning. He is expected to appear before Harris County's 482nd criminal district court on Friday, according to court records. Joel.Umanzor@chron.com As authorities in Harris County suspected, Oscar Rosales the man accused of killing a Precinct 5 constables deputy goes by another name, court records show. Soon after Rosales was flown back to Houston from Mexico to face a capital murder of a police officer charge, court records revealed his run-in with law enforcement nearly three decades prior as El Salvador national Aguilar Maricide Albarenga. Officers in 1995 say he attacked a man with a knife a case he soon absconded from, according to records. The defendant number assigned to Rosales for the prior 1995 case appears in the latest charge under a Harris County Sheriffs Office hold. Rosales was granted six years of deferred adjudication on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge but failed to participate in a community service program. A warrant was then issued for his arrest under that earlier name, records show. Aliases in that Harris County District Clerks file show that he also went by Jose Oscar Rosales. Police this week said that Rosales may not be his legal name. Mexican authorities on Wednesday captured Rosales and returned him to the United States to face a capital murder of a police officer charge in the death of Cpl. Charles Galloway. Rosales shot and killed Galloway during a traffic stop Sunday and then spent the next three days on the lam, investigators said in court documents. Rosales wife and brother-in-law have been charged in connection to the vehicle used in the fatal shooting. The siblings helped clean the vehicle as authorities searched Houston for him, authorities said. Few details have been divulged about his arrest in the border town of Ciudad Acuna. The Houston Police Department the agency investigating Galloways death is expected on Thursday afternoon to hold a news conference to answer questions about the case. Rosales appeared in probable cause court late Wednesday after his return and was ordered held without bail. Law enforcement surrounded him in the courtroom. During that hearing, a magistrate referenced the prior aggravated assault with the deadly weapon case. nicole.hensley@chron.com The Houston Independent School District does not plan to propose closing any schools with its in-the-works strategic plan, Superintendent Millard House II said this week. There have been zero conversations about consolidations and I think it is important for the community to hear that, House said in a telephone call with the Houston Chronicle Wednesday evening. Our focus is on our strategic work right now and what that looks like, and that has not included any conversations around closing of schools or small schools. House, who began leading HISD last July, said school closings very well could be looked at in the future but currently was not a focus. I think it is important to dispel that because it sounds like there have been people that have openly said that the district has created lists of schools that will be closing and that is absolutely inaccurate, he added. On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston ISD has 276 schools, nearly 200,000 students and only 58 librarians His remarks followed inquiries from a local TV station and the Chronicle. House still is working on his strategic plan, which aims to unveil in March. Our strategic work that will be presented in March will not include any school closings, he said. I want to make that clear. HISD, which is eyeing a possible bond referendum for November its first since 2012 also is set to begin budget workshops soon. Board members have not yet seen the proposed budget for next year. Trustee Judith Cruz, who this month was elected board president, expressed confidence in Houses work. It is critical for the district to recruit and retain talent for schools to succeed, she said. I trust that he and his administration have looked at lots of different ways to make sure that our schools have the resources that they need in order to be successful, Cruz said. On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston ISD is hiring 500 students and alumni as elementary school tutors to combat COVID setbacks During an update about the strategic plan at Januarys board meeting, House told trustees the school system would sunset its Achieve 180 program, a turnaround plan for targeted campuses, and replace it with a more focused, targeted school-transformation initiative. In the fall, House identified key components that are expected to guide the districts work on the five-year plan. That update followed a series of community forums he held at campuses throughout the district to hear from staffers, parents and residents. Meanwhile, the pandemic has continued to disrupt schools across the nation, including in Houston. As of Thursday, HISD reported 1,584 active COVID-19 cases among its 194,695 students and 350 active staff cases. Trustee Kathy Blueford-Daniels, who represents schools in the northeast side of the city and parts of the north, called the safety of students a priority, and said it is important for the district to assess any impact on student progress caused by the pandemic and to finish the strategic plan. I am concerned with any conversations about school closures but right now the priority is the strategic plan and what that looks like - to improve student learning, Blueford-Daniels said. The notion of shutting any schools long has evoked strong feelings in the district. In 2014, hundreds of parents packed public meetings after the administration of then-Superintendent Terry Grier proposed closing five schools. In the previous decade, the district had shut 31 schools, most of which were neighborhood elementary schools. The district scaled back the proposal to then only close two schools, which prompted calls to spare the pair of campuses. Schools are the seed of a healthy community, said Charles X. White, a community activist who filed a complaint that spurred an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's civil rights office into two of the 2014 closures. He said the brunt of the impact of closures often is felt marginalized and vulnerable communities. You have food deserts, you have education deserts, he said. It just goes on and on. alejandro.serrano@chron.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Houston will offer cash prizes totaling $38,000 to residents who get inoculated against COVID-19 in the coming months, the citys latest effort to jump-start stagnating vaccine demand. Since the life-saving promise of vaccines has not yet lured 30 percent of Houstonians to local clinics, health officials hope cash will. Twelve people will be awarded $1,000 gift cards for getting the jab at any city-run clinic. Two winners will be chosen by raffle every Friday for six weeks. The first 760 vaccine-seekers at three select pop-up clinics will also receive $50 gift cards. The pop-ups at Lyons Elementary, Benavidez Elementary and Brookline Elementary are located in ZIP codes with vaccination rates lagging behind those in other parts of the city, health department spokesman Scott Packard said. There are no prizes for the 2.8 million residents who are already vaccinated. Houstons cash incentives, funded with grants, are less whimsical though perhaps more practical than other recent attempts to entice vaccine hold-outs. Maine offered residents hunting licenses for getting the jab through its Your Shot to Get Outdoors initiative. New Jersey lured residents through its Shot and a Beer program. And a San Francisco nonprofit offered free marijuana in exchange for a vaccination. More than 4,000 Houstonians have died from the virus. Many had underlying conditions. More than half had diabetes. Despite the death toll, COVID vaccination rates across the city remain far below what experts had hoped to see nearly one year after the shots became publicly available. The omicron surge does not appear to have inspired an influx of vaccine-seekers, said Dr. David Persse, Houstons chief medical officer. Weve had a little uptick in vaccinations, but not a lot, Persse said. nora.mishanec@chron.com Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos tuition-free preschool nonprofit is opening a Houston location in the fall, the organization announced Wednesday. Bezos Academy signed a 10-year lease agreement for a location in the Denver Harbor area. The preschool will have two classrooms for 3- and 4-year-olds and will have a full-day, year-round schedule. Students from underserved communities will be selected via a lottery system. "Our partnership with the Bezos Academy in the Denver Harbor neighborhood will be a game-changer for many families, said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner in a prepared statement. Underserved children will have access to education that inspires their creativity and challenges them to succeed in the classroom. Turner said the agreement will help ensure kids have equitable opportunities for education. "The partnership between Bezos Academy and the City of Houston supports the healthy development and successful childhood of some of our city's neediest children, and helps ensure that our future workforce will be prepared for the jobs," Houston City Councilmember Karla Cisneros said. "We are helping women get back to work, and we are giving young children a good shot at a better life." On HoustonChronicle.com: Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos' space race is heating up, and Texas gets a front-row seat According to the nonprofits website, its goal is to help children from low-income families become creative leaders, original thinkers and lifelong learners. The Montessori-style school will cover the cost of all the students necessary educational supplies, including books, meals and field trips. "When we look for partners to host Bezos Academy preschools, we try to find opportunities that meet more than just the educational needs of the child," said Mike George, President of Bezos Academy. "The City of Houston helped us identify a site at Denver Harbor that will situate our tuition-free preschool in the midst of residential support programs for families ranging from a food pantry to health education, George said. We couldnt be more excited to join and support this community." Families who earn up to $106,000, or four times the federal poverty limit for a family of four, are eligible to apply. The school will be located at the Denver Harbor Multi-Service Center at 6402 Market St. The nonprofit, which launched in September 2020, has plans to open three other Texas locations, two in the Dallas area and one in Lancaster. hannah.dellinger@chron.com Florida reported 37,661 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the third day of case reports falling in the same range and a possible indication of the decline in the omicron surge leveling off, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows. The 7-day average for new cases held roughly steady for the fourth day in a row at 32,005. The average is down just over 50% from its peak of 65,660 on Jan. 11, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows. Advertisement Hospitalizations On Tuesday there were 11,064 patients in Florida hospitals with COVID-19, a small decline from the previous day. The number has stayed between 11,000 and 12,000 for more than two weeks, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. There were 196 patients under 18 in the hospital with COVID, down from 206 on Monday. A significant number of hospitalized patients were admitted to the hospital for other reasons and tested positive later. [ RELATED: With a record number of children with COVID in Florida hospitals, here are answers to parents top omicron questions ] Vaccinations Vaccinations have also been slowing in recent days. The average daily vaccination rate fell to 43,456 over the past 7 days, CDC data shows. At the peak of the omicron wave, the state was averaged 118,177 vaccinations per day. About 64.8% of Floridians are fully vaccinated and 36.6% have received booster shots. Advertisement County levels Central Floridas per-capita rate of new cases and testing positivity levels have remained steady over the past week. Orange County: 1,345 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 30.42% positivity rate. 1,345 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 30.42% positivity rate. Osceola County: 1,479 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 28.98% positivity rate. 1,479 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 28.98% positivity rate. Lake County: 1,189 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 32.84% positivity rate. 1,189 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 32.84% positivity rate. Seminole County: 1,237 cases per 100,000 population over the past week; 37.51% positivity rate. [ FREE TESTS: Here's where to find COVID-19 tests for seniors in Central Florida ] Deaths The state increased its death toll by by two on Wednesday, bringing the 7-day toll to 549. The state reports deaths by the date they occurred and can lag by several weeks. The 7-day average for daily deaths was 78 as of Wednesday. At least 5,420,755 Floridians have been infected by COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and at least 64,007 have died in total. Here are the key statistics in Florida to watch: "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry's ashes are going into space, and your loved one can join him for $12,500. Celestis, a Houston company that specializes in memorial spaceflights, announced Wednesday that Roddenberry's cremated remains will launch later this year on the very first Vulcan Centaur flight. This rocket is being developed by United Launch Alliance. It won't be the first time Roddenberry's ashes travel into space, but it will be the first time he travels alongside his wife Majel Barrett Roddenberry. RELATED: 'Star Trek' was a beacon for space travel and for diversity Were very pleased to be fulfilling, with this mission, a promise I made to Majel Barrett Roddenberry in 1997," Celestis co-founder and CEO Charles Chafer said in a news release. That promise was to fly their remains together on a deep-space flight. The Roddenberrys will be joined by "Star Trek" actor James Doohan, who played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (his ashes have previously been to space, too), Apollo astronaut Philip Chapman (he never made it to space while alive) and others from all walks of life. There will also be DNA samples and messages of greeting. Prices for joining the mission start at $12,500. This cost is to send 1 gram of cremated remains or 1 gram of DNA. The rocket's maiden flight will push a lunar lander toward the moon. Then the rocket's upper stage, which will hold the cremated remains, will continue into deep space and enter an orbit around the sun. We are honored that Celestis has selected (United Launch Alliance) to launch this important mission, Tory Bruno, United Launch Alliance president and CEO, said in the news release. What a fitting tribute to the Roddenberry family and the 'Star Trek' fans to be a part of the maiden flight of Vulcan. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Elliot Carol opened a 55-gallon drum of fake moon soil. This was the good stuff, he noted, running his hand through the different sizes of pummeled dust and rock. The gray mixture cost between $40 and $50 per kilogram. The real stuff will be far more difficult to reach, though that wont stop Carol from trying. His Houston company, Lunar Resources, is developing technology that would melt the moons soil and then extract its components oxygen, aluminum, silicon, magnesium and iron to help build human settlements on the moon. Because this time, NASA doesnt want to be a lunar tourist. MOON PLANS: Astronauts not expected to walk on moon before 2025, NASA says For the United States to succeed on the moon long term, developing the technologies that allow us to use the moons resources is one of the most critical things we must do with our industry partners, said Mark McDonald, chief architect for NASAs Space Technology Mission Directorate. Those resources could include oxygen for rocket propellant, iron rebar for building structures, aluminum for antennas, magnesium for batteries and silicon for solar panels. Lunar Resources is one of several companies receiving NASA funding to develop such technologies. The Houston firm was founded in 2018 by Carol, a former hedge fund manager and the companys CEO, former University of Houston professor Alex Ignatiev, former Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Donald Sadoway and former NASA scientist Peter Curreri. Theyre developing a company that will extract resources from the moon and build structures on the moon and in space. Building or repairing satellites circling the Earth has a more immediate and robust customer base than building on the moon. I think our main customer for lunar surface operations will be the U.S. government, Carol said. Theres going to be huge barriers for getting commercial operations on the moon. Still, companies like Lunar Resources are striving to reach the moon, and some of them are working from Space City. Houston-based Intuitive Machines is developing a lunar lander that would deliver commercial cargo and NASA-provided payloads to the moon. Lockheed Martins management offices for the Orion capsule, which Lockheed Martin is building for NASA to take astronauts to the moons orbit, are based in Houston, and Northrop Grumman has Houston employees working on the crew habitat and docking hub for NASAs Gateway outpost that will orbit the moon. Operating on the moon Cost is just one barrier for these companies, perhaps a simpler one. A major deterrent will be developing technology that can survive the radiation, temperature swings and micrometeorites that bombard the moon. These systems must also operate autonomously when the moon is, at its farthest, 250,000 miles away. Lunar Resources is currently tackling these challenges. The company is developing a 1,000-pound, 3-foot-diameter reactor that it hopes to send to the moon in 2024. This reactor would demonstrate the companys mining technologies, and it could extract enough materials to build a 100-kilowatt power grid in just one month. That power grid is nearly equivalent to the total power generation on the International Space Station, Carol said. To start, the demonstration will heat the moons soil to more than 2,900 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats hotter than molten lava in a volcano. When the soil reaches this temperature, an electric current will separate the oxygen from the soils other elements. The oxygen will bubble to the top. Iron will be the heaviest and sink to the bottom, with magnesium, silicon, aluminum and calcium layered on top of it. Lunar Resources plans to collect and use all of these materials. After the 2024 mission, its planning a larger, one-year pilot program as soon as 2026. Oxygen to rocket propellant For NASA, oxygen is of particular interest because its a key component of rocket propellant, which requires a fuel and an oxidizer. The fuel is, essentially, something to burn. The oxidizer is what makes it burn. Propellant takes up a lot of room roughly 80 percent of a rockets mass, said Jerry Sanders, NASAs in-situ resource utilization system capability lead. In-situ resource utilization is the term NASA uses to describe turning local materials into products, such as extracting oxygen from the moon and turning it into propellant. ANOTHER SOURCE OF OXYGEN: NASA's Perseverance rover turns carbon dioxide into oxygen If astronauts could mine oxygen from the moon, they wouldnt have to pack as much for their trip home. They could instead pack more science equipment or food, and they could reduce their costs. Taking a single kilogram from Earth all the way to the moon and landing it is very, very expensive, said McDonald, the chief architect at NASA. Part of sustainability is affordability. If we have to pay to carry every kilogram of oxygen necessary, it may not be financially sustainable to keep going and to stay there long term. Metals on the moon Iron extracted from the soil could be turned into rebar, which might support the concrete used in landing pads or habitats (the concrete itself would be made from melted soil that isnt sorted into its various elements). Aluminum could be used for transmission cables and antennas. In fact, Lunar Resources is part of a team looking at using moon-mined materials, such as aluminum, to build a radio observatory on the moon. This would replace the Arecibo Observatory that collapsed in late 2020. The moon is just one big sand pile, Carol said. If you can economically and efficiently extract the metals on the moon, you have almost a vast reserve of metals that you can produce for manufacturing applications. And these metals shouldnt be too different from those found on Earth. In fact, scientists believe these elements could have originated from the Earth. They believe the moon was created from debris caused by a planetary body the size of Mars crashing into the Earth. Getting to the moon But first, Lunar Resources must get to the moon. And this presents its own challenges. Carol said the first batch of lunar landers scheduled for missions through NASAs Commercial Lunar Payload Services program are not large enough to carry both the companys 1,000-pound technology demonstration and the solar arrays needed to power the system, which also weigh about 1,000 pounds. He believes systems built by Elon Musks SpaceX and Jeff Bezos Blue Origin will be large enough, but hes waiting for their development to be completed. Our hope is that well be able to have a ride available by that point in time, but well be ready, said Ignatiev, the co-founder and former University of Houston professor. In the meantime, Lunar Resources will focus on other potential customers to start generating revenues. The company has 15 employees. And although NASA and the National Science Foundation have provided nearly $3 million in grants, much of the companys financing has come from the co-founders. Lunar Resources is creating 3D printers that could repair broken satellites or build new satellites while orbiting the Earth. These printers could also use the vacuum of space to create higher-quality products. ALSO 3D PRINTED: Habitat in Johnson Space Center hangar to stand in for the Red Planet Building mirrors for space telescopes outside of Earths atmosphere, for instance, could sidestep Earthly manufacturing issues and allow smaller telescopes to take higher-resolution images. Perhaps humanity will never again need to launch a 21-foot primary mirror like whats on the James Webb Space Telescope, Carol said. Lunar Resources is working with the Department of Defense to test its manufacturing technology on an upcoming space mission planned for 2024. Other 3D printers could use melted moon soil to build human habitats. But for now, the company will test its technologies with fake moon soil. Its almost the real deal about 95 percent the composition of whats on the moon, Carol said and a stepping-stone to using actual moon soil to explore the solar system. andrea.leinfelder@chron.com twitter.com/a_leinfelder This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The shroud of construction fencing cant hide the massacre at 5100 Ross Avenue a fresh graveyard of 14 chopped-down majestic live oaks that for more than a century graced this pocket of East Dallas. The axing, adjacent to St. Matthews Episcopal Cathedral and done in the name of you guessed it developments onward march, isnt done: The church expects that at least 10 more of these beauties will be hacked down, little more than firewood for neighbors to drag away. Its rather upsetting and painful to see such a sight, Bob Jones, a St. Matthews parishioner for all 69 years of his life, told me after we surveyed this sorry spectacle. Its like going out on a battlefield and everyones lying there dead. These were trees older than the historic church itself, which relocated here almost 100 years ago. Trees too big to encircle with a hug. Trees that were part of the already-too-scarce canopy of green so vital to saving our fragile air. The clearcutting off Ross Avenue is hardly unique in a city that has always lacked adequate ordinances to protect its most precious natural resources. You cant miss the dismembered remains of these live oaks. Invisible is what led to this scene on the four acres that St. Matthews sold to Trammell Crow Residential last year for $8 million. Our other choice was to see the trees and not be able to pay the churchs bills, St. Matthews senior warden, David Pinson, told me. The same reality has hobbled so many places of worship an aging congregation and financial challenges at a time when expanded services are desperately needed. The church finally settled on a deal with Crow Residential, which after getting City Halls OK is downing about 25 trees that stand in the way of its 384-unit Alexan Cathedral Arts apartment project. No one wanted to see those trees come down, said Pinson, one of the leaders in the final agreement. We looked at all the options and this was the only one that would work. Pinson said the sale of the land also will allow the church to bring important ministries to East Dallas, renovate and update its historic facilities and provide a much-needed early childcare program. The cost was the sacrifice of the churchs beloved tree-canopied greenspace, where neighbors walked their dogs and St. Matthews occasionally conducted outdoor services or set up its autumn pumpkin patch. Once the large apartment complex is completed, the only remnants of those mighty live oaks will be the benches recycled from their trunks to be used for the churchs outdoor stations of the cross. Matt Enzler, a senior managing director at Crow Residential, said his team is just as sorry as the rest of us to cut down the trees, but they couldnt be saved for a viable development. Enzler said Crow Residential worked with City Hall to get the necessary approval for the removal, replacement and mediation of the trees. The plan requires the planting of 78 new trees, all from the citys approved replacement list, Enzler said. Crow Residential also will pay about $200,000 into the citys so-called reforestation fund. It will be a long time before any new trees can adequately replace the good that the old-growth live oaks did: Absorbing tons of airborne pollutants and mitigating surrounding heat islands, those expanses of concrete that trap hot air in the summer. Each time Ive visited the site in the last week, dog-walking neighbors and those who stopped after glimpsing the devastation, asked me, Who do I call to complain to? I encouraged them to call their City Council member. But what happened appears perfectly legal. Everyone involved seems to have played by the rules as they are written. But are they the right rules? How about if the City Council ensures this epitaph for those destroyed live oaks: Stricter rules that give trees more of a fighting chance? That starts with taking a fresh look at the 2018 amendments to the citys landscape and tree conservation regulations changes that started with good intentions but ended up way too watered down by developer-driven compromises. Bob Jones, the longtime church member whom I met while counting stumps at St. Matthews Friday, kept falling back on the word heartbreaking to describe the shorn property. Churches can be easy pickings for developers when they find a big plot and a church that needs money, Jones said. Grigsby is Metro columnist at the Dallas Morning News. A Houston family is distraught after finding their elderly loved one's face bruised while she was in the care of Afton Oaks Nursing Center. Ramona Rodriguez, 98, had been living at the southeast Houston nursing home for the last three years, but things took a turn for the worse recently after she endured "abuse" that landed her in the hospital, her family told KPRC. Pictures shared with the station showed Rodriguez's face bruised, and substantially black and blue. "Nobody wants to go and see their mother like that," said Francis Garcia, Rodriguezs daughter, to Channel 2. Then suspicion kicked in as they tried to seek answers from the nursing home, but the explanation didn't make sense to them. "(They said) that she fell. She was sitting, watching tv and she just falls? Garcia asked. PAST COVERAGE: Texas nursing homes dodge furloughs and fines with vaccine mandate halted Houston Police said Rodriguez was admitted to a local hospital on Jan. 17 and the family filed a police report Jan. 22, alleging Rodriguez was being mistreated and abused at the nursing home. Garcia also said that she was denied contact with her mom, police said. An HPD spokesperson said the department is investigating and reached out to Adult Protective Services to discuss facts about the incident. The extent of Rodriguez's injuries are unclear, but Garcia believes they are serious. She was just too hurt, and I hugged her, and I said, Mom, mom are you ok? " she said. "And I got her and I hugged her and I kissed her, but she was hurting and I thought to myself, Who did that? Why? Rodriguez was recently released from the hospital against Garcia's wishes and sent back to Afton Oaks, according to KPRC. A spokesperson on behalf of Afton Oaks told the Chronicle Wednesday that they are unable to discuss medical information regarding any residents due to federal and state confidentiality laws, but sent the following statement via email: "We can state, however, that our resident was not the victim of an assault or abuse as has been alleged. We have been in contact with the family member who is the residents Power of Attorney throughout her stay, as that is the individual designated to receive communications regarding their loved ones care. The safety and security of our residents and patients has always been our foremost concern, and we will continue to serve our resident community with compassionate care that has been the foundation of our mission and values for the many years we have served the Houston area." Afton Oaks is located at 7514 Kingsley Street. The facility has 169 beds and is corporately owned by parent-company Diversicare Healthcare Services Inc. The center is not a part of a continuing care retirement community, but it participates in Medicare and Medicaid and offers short-stay rehabilitation, complex medical care, long-term care, memory care and hospice care. Medicare rated Afton Oaks below average overall recently, with a ranking of two out of five stars based on its performance on health inspections, staffing, and quality of resident care measures. Within those categories, Afton Oaks ranked below average with two stars in health inspections and quality of resident care measures, and an average ranking in staffing with three stars. The nursing home has received three penalties that led to nearly $100,000 in federal fines across the last three years. Those penalties can result from a serious health or fire safety citation, or failing to correct a citation for a long period of time, according to medicare.gov. Medicare also recorded eight complaints in the past three years at Afton Oaks that resulted in a citation. One complaint, reported in January 2022, involves a resident who said that a certified nurse assistant intentionally put a towel with the patient's feces on it on her face as she attempted to bathe her with paper towels. A former resident said that "late night care is non-existent" in an anonymous review on senior caregiver review website, Caring.com from February 2021. "The residents only have use of antiquated call light. There are no buzzers or electronic beeps to notify staff in case of any emergencies," the review read. "All night long we here (sic) the calls and cries of other residents in need of assistance. No one comes. One night we watched a nurse, asleep in the hallway. Meanwhile, a patient had fallen out of bed." A former family visitor left an positive review from 2016, praising Afton Oaks for being very clean and a having an "extremely helpful and friendly" staff. "Perfect? No, every facility will have its pimples, but on the whole, my mother has been well care for," the review read. "The administration has been responsive to mine and mom's needs, when problems have been brought to their attention. My family has been difficult to deal with at times, and they have dealt patiently with the situation." Tylana Hudson didnt always worry about teaching her eighth-grade students the thornier aspects of U.S. history including about the horrors of slavery in pre-Civil War America. She took the time to prepare them for the inevitable uncomfortable discussions and trusted students to share their diverse views with mutual respect. These days, she sometimes second-guesses herself when sticky points of our national history come into focus. I have questioned more times than I would like to admit, If I teach this, will I be called into the office or sent an angry email? And just that thought alone has made me question my future role in teaching, Hudson told the board. We reached out to Hudson after hearing her among the dozens who spoke at a packed Jan. 13 Cy-Fair ISD school board meeting to refute board trustee Scott Henrys remarks three days earlier. Henry had made comments at a board work session that many saw as an attempt to equate higher numbers of Black faculty at HISD schools with the districts higher dropout rate. . Hudson told the crowd she got into teaching in part because she didnt have Black instructors growing up. I became the Black teacher I strongly longed for, she said. As for Henry, she said, I wanted to make sure he heard me, even if he never apologized. I wanted the people who supported him to hear me. I wanted them to understand that the words and the screams that they yell about equity and inclusion are doing more harm than good. Her message is an important one. There are serious problems in our public school systems, and the data showing Black and Latino students underperforming when compared to white classmates suggests widespread disparities that need urgent solutions even more so now that two years of pandemic have exacerbated gaps. We need serious people engaged in acting in the best interests of students, and not some contrived political agenda. Henry, like other elected officials focused more on the phantom problem of critical race theory in schools, showed in those meetings that hes not one of them. Theres a human cost to this kind of dismissiveness about equity and diversity. These arent just liberal talking points. Research shows students of color who have teachers of color do better in school, and beyond. NEWSLETTERS Join the conversation with HouWeAre We want to foster conversation and highlight the intersection of race, identity and culture in one of America's most diverse cities. Sign up for the HouWeAre newsletter here. In 2017, researchers from Johns Hopkins and American University found that Black students who had one Black teacher by third grade were 13 percent more likely to enroll in college. The study also found that having at least one Black teacher in third through fifth grades reduced a Black students probability of dropping out of school by 29 percent. Henry later claimed his words were misconstrued, that he simply spoke ineloquently but never said more Black teachers mean worse outcomes. But his belittling of diversity objectives were clear. And his insistence that Cy-Fair apparently has enough Black faculty since its 13 percent exceeds the state average of 10 percent just shows how little he understands about the kids in his own district, who are around 19 percent Black. But theres another cost of such rhetoric that isnt talked about as much. In the past couple of weeks, teachers such as Hudson have gone to work each morning knowing that theres a school board member who, at best, questions the worth of putting any emphasis on hiring more teachers of color, never mind the research. Hudson told us she had initially planned a more aggressive response to Henrys words, a message borne of her hurt and anger, but then wrote out her testimony and had three trusted friends read over it in advance. She said she didnt want to give fodder to stereotypes and come across as an angry Black woman. Thats a particularly wearing sort of calculation that professionals of color must make constantly: how to speak out assertively without coming off as bitter or divisive. Hudson wasnt the only educator to speak out. Danielle Cockrell, a Black Cy-Fair teacher and mother of a graduate of the district, said at the meeting, Students need to see us as Black teachers. The school Im in, there is a Black population that needs to see that they can achieve more than what their circumstance dictates. What happened in Cy-Fair is only one example of the ongoing culture fight in our schools. Katy ISD blocked some websites that help LGBTQ youth, and temporarily removed books by Black childrens author Jerry Craft. Gov. Greg Abbott has proposed a parental bill of rights to give parents a direct line into school curriculum. In Wentzville, Missouri, a school district banned Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye. Books featuring transgender characters are being challenged. Diversity in education, both in people and in material, matters not for cosmetic reasons, but because it helps student outcomes. It helps students feel seen and understood, and assists in giving them the educational tools they need. We should support the educators who navigate sometimes open hostility toward their very presence and rejection of their worth as they work to help all of our children succeed. Our young people need us to resist the intense pressure elected officials, activists and some parents are putting on schools to pull books and ban ideas that might make kids or, more likely, themselves feel uncomfortable. And teachers deserve leaders who truly value them, identity and all. Regarding US orders 8,500 troops on heightened alert amid Russia worry, (Jan. 25): I found the article extremely disheartening in light of the fact the dust has hardly settled on our longest war in American history the war in Afghanistan. That war raged from 2001-2021. Over 2,400 Americans lost their lives in that war, 20,752 were wounded, and over 46,000 civilians were killed. Not only was there a huge loss of lives on both sides but an enormous amount of money more than $2 trillion was spent on the war. Now we see 8,500 American soldiers put on alert over the threat from Russias invasion of the Ukraine. Lets not allow history to repeat itself. As the adage goes: Those that do not remember history are condemned to repeat it. Lets not let history repeat itself. Joe Sosa, Katy With the Russians having positioned more than 100,000 troops along the Russian and Belarusian borders, the United States considering deployment of forces in the Baltics, and possible commitments of forces to other Eastern European countries by our NATO allies, it is urgent that cooler heads prevail before Russia and NATO fall into what would be a catastrophic shooting war. Its almost unbelievable that in the course of the diplomatic negotiations to date, neither side has apparently proposed a democratic solution. That could be a plebiscite to allow the Ukrainian people in three areas Donbas, Crimea, and the large remainder of Ukraine to decide separately for themselves whether they want to reintegrate with Russia or remain part of an independent Ukraine. Is it possible for common sense to succeed? Ray Lawrence, Houston Space cowboys Regarding Thumbs: We wont question Crenshaws faith - just his re-election prospects, (Jan. 22): I was disappointed that you didnt include the Astros in the thumbs down editorial in Saturdays paper. Coming up with a name like Space Cowboys deserves a thumbs down. Have the Astros looked at the urban dictionary to see the definition? space cowboy (n.) Stoner, pothead, somebody who constantly smokes marijuana This should make for some interesting giveaway nights. Russ Andorka, Houston Culture war Regarding Opinion: Crenshaw in the crossfire how do we negotiate a peace in the culture war? (Jan. 22): I think it was kind of ironic Justin Pitcock's article on working together was published right above Leonard Pitts article. Mr. Pitcock's article was right on in where we are today, and unfortunately describes both sides in our current political climate. One need only flip down to Mr. Pitts' article to see a perfect example. Mr. Pitts put all the blame on the Republicans for our current deadlock when a group in the Democratic Party themselves blocked legislation because another bill "was not enough." Skip Fix, Katy Voting rights Regarding Editorial: Republicans used to support voting rights. What happened? (Jan. 24): You issue the challenge that Republican lawmakers need to come up with a their own new voting rights bill. Actually, one already exists it is the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which remains the law of the land at least through 2031. No need for a new law. All of the constitutionally permissible aspects of that law are still in effect. The Supreme Court correctly jettisoned the preclearance provisions for good reason but left the remainder of the law intact. First, restricting some states rights to self-governance while giving other states a free pass is counter to equal protection under the law. Texas current law, that you often characterize as like Jim Crow, actually provides for more early voting days than the voting laws in many states. So, if access is a measure of racial discrimination, others should be added to your future preclearance list while Texas is removed. No need for a new law the US voters are well protected under the current laws thanks to the Republicans who pushed the original bill. Tom Isler, Kingwood U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw is drawing criticism for sending out unsolicited mail-in ballot applications to voters after he and other Republicans took aim at the practice in the past. Crenshaw, R-Houston, told the Texas Tribune in 2020 that expanding voting by mail is not secure and would be "playing with fire." He recently sent out pre-filled, mail-in ballot applications to those 65 and older as he seeks a third term. The application comes with instructions telling the recipient to simply sign, stamp, and mail it and to be sure to vote for Dan Crenshaw. While Crenshaw can use the tactic to attract support, some local elections officials are now banned from sending out mail-in ballot applications, thanks to election-law changes passed by the GOP-led Texas Legislature last year. Under SB1, elections administrators cant even send applications to already-eligible voters ages 65 and older, unless they reach out and specifically request one. Chris Hollins, the former Harris County clerk who was attacked by Republicans for expanding the use of mail-in ballots and allowing drive-thru voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic, called out Crenshaw on Twitter. Hollins reminded the congressman of his strong opposition in 2020 when Hollins office sent out mailers to Harris County residents reminding them of their rights and making it easy for them to vote by mail if eligible. Hollins finds it ridiculous that county administrators, in an attempt to proactively provide a service, could go to jail for violating the new state law. That makes no sense to tie the hand of nonpartisan election administrators protecting citizens right to vote, he told the Chronicle on Wednesday. And thats what Dan Crenshaw is participating in right now. He supported the Texas law to make it illegal. And hes doing it himself as a partisan actor. I think that goes against basic concepts of democracy, and hes doing it secretly while supporting Republican attacks on the concept of voting by mail-in general. EDITORIAL: Republicans used to support voting rights. What happened? Hollins said Crenshaws actions are hypocritical. Hes taking part in the exact same thing that he attacked, he said. A spokesperson for Crenshaw rejected the criticism, pointing out that he has always sent out mail-in ballot applications and its completely different than what Harris County did. Its not hypocritical at all. Dans criticisms of mail-in ballots mostly came from states that dont have safeguards in place like Texas does, said spokesperson Justin Discigil. Its something he did in 2020, so I dont see how his position changed. These ballots are only going to voters 65 and up which can get a mail-in ballot with no excuse." Discigil did not respond to further questions about Crenshaws issue with Harris Countys practices in the 2020 election. Hollins believes Harris County was targeted by Republican leaders because the majority of its voters are people of color. Every single one of these laws is targeted at people with darker skin, people who live in poorer areas, people with disabilities, and people who might have trouble getting access to vote, he said. Republicans are working in an opposite direction and seeking to" suppress the vote of those on the other side, he said. Crenshaw isnt the only candidate sending out unsolicited mail ballot applications. Erica Davis, a Democrat running for Harris County judge, sent out similar mailers, with applications that had boxes to request certain ballots pre-checked. Dwight Silverman Dwight Silverman Dwight Silverman A mail-in ballot application sent by Erica Davis, a candidate for Harris County judge (Dwight Silverman) A mail-in ballot application sent by Erica Davis, a candidate for Harris County judge (Dwight Silverman) Hollins said he understands why receiving mailers from multiple candidates may be confusing to some constituents, but theyre legal. Thats why it would make sense for a nonpartisan election administrator to proactively send these applications out. The confusion is really understandable and its why the (2021 state) law that was passed is a bad law to begin with. The official forms are obviously going to be less confusing and more straightforward for voters, but those applications they receive, whether from a Republican or Democratic candidate those are legitimate and if they feel comfortable they can fill those out too. Voters wishing to cast ballots vote by mail should determine their eligibility, then decide which form they would like to use, Hollins suggested. monique.welch@chron.com Fifty Democrats in the Texas House on Wednesday asked the Biden administration to investigate and use all tools at your disposal to end Gov. Greg Abbotts border program, Operation Lone Star, which calls for state authorities to jail migrants on state trespassing charges. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Democratic lawmakers alleged that migrants had been subjected to a vast umbrella of civil rights violations under the operation, citing the cases of hundreds of migrants who were jailed for weeks without being formally charged, an apparent violation of state law. The Democratic lawmakers also argued that Operation Lone Star violates a clause of the U.S. Constitution that, coupled with Supreme Court precedent, gives the federal government authority to regulate immigration, preempting state and local laws. To allow the transgressions mentioned herein to go unaccounted for would constitute a gross abdication of the responsibility to uphold the rule of law and our federal system of government, the lawmakers wrote. We ask that you expeditiously review Operation Lone Star and use all tools at your disposal to end the policy in light of the very serious constitutional concerns outlined above. Though Democrats in Austin have freely criticized Abbotts border operation, the letter marks their first organized attempt to get the federal government to investigate and potentially halt the program. Their comments echo the legal argument used earlier this month to dismiss trespassing charges brought against Jesus Alberto Guzman Curipoma, an Ecuadorian migrant who was arrested by state authorities last September. Guzman Curipomas lawsuit prompted defense attorneys last week to seek the release of more than 400 migrants based on the argument that Operation Lone Star infringes on the federal governments enforcement of immigration policy. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment late Wednesday, citing the DOJs policy of not confirming or commenting on possible investigations. Last July, Garland cited that section of the Constitution, known as the Supremacy Clause, in a lawsuit that targeted Abbotts executive order directing state troopers to pull over anyone transporting migrants who may be at risk of spreading COVID-19. Last October, 25 Democrats in Congress including six members of the Texas delegation similarly asked Garland and Mayorkas to look into Abbotts border operation. Wednesdays letter was signed by 50 of the 65 Democrats in the House, a 150-member chamber controlled by Republicans. Democrats who were not listed include Houston Democrats Harold Dutton, Jarvis Johnson and Shawn Thierry, and San Antonio Democrat Philip Cortez. Several Democrats who represent districts along or near the southern border and who previously approved state funding for Operation Lone Star also were not among the signatories. Abbott, who is seeking reelection this year and under pressure from primary foes to take a more aggressive approach to the border, has said the operation is necessary to handle the surge in border crossings that has ensued under Biden. A spokeswoman for the governor said Wednesday that the Democratic lawmakers instead should applaud what the Texas National Guard has done to make their districts safer for their constituents. It comes as no surprise that Texas Democrats who support President Bidens reckless and dangerous open border policies disagree with Governor Abbotts resolve to do the Presidents job and actually try to secure the border, Abbott spokeswoman Nan Tolson said in a statement. Defense attorneys, however, have said migrants arrested on state trespassing charges have been able to file asylum claims upon being released from state custody, essentially helping them to bypass a Trump-era policy put in place early in the pandemic and continued under Biden that expedites the removal of most migrants before they can plead their asylum cases. That policy is based on the argument that migrants pose a threat due to COVID-19. jasper.scherer@chron.com As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. Broadway icon Audra McDonald performed at Steinmetz Hall on Wednesday as part of the grand opening of the newest venue at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando. Andy Einhorn accompanied McDonald on piano. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) You think you know Duke Ellington, six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald teased the crowd in Steinmetz Hall, but you havent heard them all. Wednesday night saw the end of the nearly two-week grand-opening celebration of Steinmetz Hall, the newest eye-popping venue at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. And for the finale, the center presented a three-hour concert of jazz great Ellingtons works. But not just any works. Advertisement Tap dancer Leonardo Sandoval performs to Duke Ellington's "David Danced Before the Lord With All His Might" at Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) Ellingtons Sacred Music made up the first part of the program, while the second marked a momentous occasion: The professional world premiere of a full orchestration of Ellingtons 80-year-old Black, Brown and Beige. We are all a part of history tonight, McDonald said. Advertisement Composed by Ellington to give voice to the African American experience through music, Black, Brown and Beige was panned by critics after Ellingtons 1943 debut at Carnegie Hall. After a couple of already scheduled concerts, Ellington never performed the work in its entirety again the music a victim of a nation ill-prepared to understand during his lifetime, as McDonald put it. After Ellingtons death in 1974, his family asked Randall Keith Horton to orchestrate Black, Brown and Beige as a full-length concerto grosso a work for orchestra and an instrumental ensemble, in this case, a jazz group. The Ellington-Horton orchestration was finished decades ago, waiting for Black, Brown and Beige to be heard once again. Members of the Bethune-Cookman University Concert Chorale sing during a performance of Duke Ellington's "Sacred Music" at Steinmetz Hall on Jan. 26. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) Tonight, that moment has finally come, McDonald said. Its easy to understand how critics and audiences were perplexed by the music. Eighty years later, Black, Brown and Beige still sounds ahead of its time though it now also carries a nostalgic element for the groove of the 1930s. As conducted by Edwin Outwater and played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Jazz Orchestra at Dr. Phillips Center, with additional musicians selected by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, Black, Brown and Beige also carried something intangible among its notes a sense of life. Six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald sang selections from Duke Ellington's "Sacred Music," as well as his "Black, Brown and Beige." (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) Theres a vitality to this music, a vitality that sometimes sounds deliberately cacophonous, but that cacophony makes the sweet moments all the sweeter oases of calm in a sea of chaos. And isnt that just how we live our lives? Ellington and Horton who was in attendance and received his own ovation on Wednesday litter the piece with shout-outs to African American history. You hear the rhythms of Africa (entrancing) and mallet work to resemble the steel drums of the Caribbean (I wish the mallets had been even more prominent). Advertisement I cant personally speak to the African American experience, but one of the works strongest elements is that in its specificity it becomes universal. On some level, we can all relate to the storms of life, the hope for the future, the promise of faith. Terrance Lane conducts a jazz ensemble as the Bethune-Cookman University Concert Chorale sings during a performance of Duke Ellington's "Sacred Music" in Steinmetz Hall at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) Things to Do Weekly A look at entertainment and sporting events in Orlando and around Central Florida. > McDonald and vocalist Brandon Hood got down and dirty in a blues segment, while McDonald soared to the heavens with the prayer Come Sunday. Separately from Black, Brown and Beige, McDonald also performed a few pieces of Ellingtons Sacred Music. Her mesmerizing mashup of My Love and Heaven, accompanied by Andy Einhorn on piano, was as inspired as it was vocally sublime. Most of the Sacred Music was performed by the jazz ensemble with the Bethune Cookman University Concert Chorale, directed by Terrance Lane. The chorales excellent blend was matched by delightfully precise diction, giving power to pieces such as Will You Be There and especially the a cappella Father Forgive, with its beautiful moving parts and strong anti-racist message. Conductor Terrance Lane checks on dancer Leonardo Sandoval, whose feet added potent percussion to "David Danced Before the Lord With All His Might" in Steinmetz Hall on Wednesday. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) And the choir added percussive emphasis to In the Beginning God with its rhythmic roll call of the books of the Bible behind the jazz. Speaking of rhythm, tap dancer Leonardo Sandovals feet became a potent percussion instrument for David Danced Before the Lord With All His Might. Sandovals dance was its own joyful noise unto the Lord with artistry as impressive as his stamina. Advertisement Steinmetz Hall is just getting started, and theres an impressive list of coming attractions everything from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to classical-pop group Il Divo, from comedian Jay Leno to a gospel-spiritual spectacular honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King. But the opening celebration has already set the bar high particularly this unforgettable evening spent with Ellingtons Sacred Music and Black, Brown and Beige. Find me on Twitter @matt_on_arts, facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Want more theater and arts news and reviews? Go to orlandosentinel.com/arts. For more fun things, follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. 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. Columbia-Greene Media has recently teamed up with the US Postal Service to provide same-day delivery of your local newspaper with your mail. Our expanded daily delivery of your local news reaches into the following areas: Do TikTok users care about jazz? The Montreux Jazz Festival thinks so The famous Montreux Jazz Festival has partnered with TikTok for a series of live performances of new and emerging artists. A guest post via CelebrityAccess The Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF) has announced a UK and European partnership with TikTok surrounding new initiative, MJF Spotlight. The initiative was launched in 2021 by MJF to support new and emerging artists and new music in the form of content creation and live performances. MJF will be releasing a series of live performances on the TikTok platform under the name, The Road to Montreux. In addition, TikTok has been named an official partner for the 2022 MJF and will also be sending creators and talent to the event in Lake Geneva this summer. The Road to Montreux will feature six live showcases of rising artists throughout the year that will be livestreamed via TikTok and MJFs own channels. Working together, they will identify rising stars within in the music industry and provide them with a platform to reach new audiences. Artists chosen will be offered the chance to perform on the MJF Spotlight stage at the 2002 festival. MJF Spotlight isnt just jazz as it reaches across all genres of music including R&B, hip-hop, pop, electro and more. Nick Bonard, CEO of Montreux Media Ventures, said via press release: Like TikTok, we are passionate about music. Leveraging the Festivals legacy of supporting young artists, MJF Spotlight offers new talent a physical and digital platform to showcase their music to new audiences. Together, TikTok and MJF Spotlight can supercharge the process of artist discovery through entertaining and engaging content. We are very excited to find new artists to highlight through MJF Spotlight this year. The Montreux Jazz Festival will return to Lake Geneva for its 56th edition from July 1-16. You can access more information from their official website HERE. Share on: Ritas Ice Linda L. Chadwick, president and CEO, Ritas Italian Ice & Frozen Custard goes undercover to see how her new initiatives are working and to help franchisees become more profitable. Will the boss encounter procedures or equipment that seem frozen in time?. Photo: Screen Grab/CBS 2021 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved (Screen Grab / Courtesy photo) When local Ritas Italian Ice franchise owners Chip Byers and Andrew Collins met Marcy Morgan, a retired teacher looking to start a new life as a Ritas franchisee, it was just another day at the office. Even though there were cameras around, Byers and Collins were under the impression that they were filming a documentary about life after COVID, and were happy to go through the motions with a new person shadowing them while cameras were rolling. Advertisement We work with new people all the time, Collins said, with Byers adding that It was very normal. Little did they know that there was no Marcy Morgan, and under a wig and a pair of glasses was none other than Linda Chadwick, chief executive officer and president of Ritas, who was actually filming an episode of Undercover Boss looking to learn more about what kind of real-life challenges franchise owners are currently facing. Advertisement A Rita's team member, franchise owner Andrew Collins and Linda L. Chadwick, Ritas Italian Ice & Frozen Custard president and CEO, talk during the filming of "Undercover Boss." (Screen Grab / Courtesy photo) It was the opportunity of a lifetime, Chadwick said of the experience, adding that she really wanted to learn from the franchisees point of view, about what was important to them. However, the most challenging part was pretending like she didnt know anything about running a business, saying I was wondering how I was gonna fake that I didnt know what was going on behind the scenes. Once the disguise was off, Byers and Collins were thankful to share their experiences with Chadwick: Corporate doesnt get much opportunity to see whats going on outside the Philadelphia bubble, Collins said, adding that the experience showed them Chadwick truly does care and shes trying to make the changes necessary to make this a better business overall. And for Byers, that also meant sharing their locations values when it comes to their employees: We are a store that highly promotes disability inclusion and disability employment. We really impressed upon her the value of employing people who are different, the value that diversity can bring to a business. The episode airs at 8 p.m. Jan. 28 on CBS and also streams on Paramount+. Want to reach out? Email me at akondolojy@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun things, follow @fun.things.orlando on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Supply Chain Issues Prompt Reprieve From Williamstown Styrofoam Ban WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. The Board of Health has spent a lot of time in the last year and a half talking about the COVID-19 pandemic. But not quite like this. On Tuesday, the board voted 4-0 to grant the Cumberland Farms on Main Street (Route 2) a temporary reprieve from compliance with a 2015 bylaw requiring the use of "biodegradable, compostable, reusable or recyclable food service ware" at all establishments using disposable packaging for prepared food. Town meeting seven years ago acted to ban non-recyclable Styrofoam cups and plastic single-use bags. The town code also includes a provision allowing the Board of Health to grant a waiver "for a period of not more than one year if the person seeking the exemption has demonstrated that strict application of the specific requirement would cause undue hardship." That was the case that Cumberland Farms' Greg Lorance made to the board in Tuesday's virtual meeting. Lorance, who described his job as category manager for the chain of gas stations and convenience stores, told the panel that supply chain issues that predate the pandemic but are exacerbated by COVID-19 have made it impossible for Cumberland Farms to maintain its supply of recyclable cups. "I've been buying cups and cup materials for Cumberland Farms since 2004," said Lorance, a native of Great Barrington. "The situation we're in now and I know the word is overused really is unprecedented. "I've never seen anything like it." Lorance explained that Cumberland Farms uses a polypropylene No. 5 recyclable product for its takeaway cups in all of New York, Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts municipalities, like Williamstown, that have banned Styrofoam products. Cumberland Farms' supplier, out of Evansville, Ill., relies on a plant that had labor issues unrelated to COVID-19, he said. "And then the COVID happened," Lorance said. "They were already teetering on the edge as far as their manufacturing shutdown. They actually got to the point where the manufacturing of that material that is formed into the cups completely shut down at the end of December. It completely shut production down." Cumberland Farms uses about 25 million cups per year from the Illinois supplier, Lorance said. The Framingham-based convenience store chain reached out to other vendors and had "doors shut in our face," Lorance said. He told the Board of Health that Cumberland Farms has been scrambling to maintain its supply of recyclable cups that conform to Williamstown's bylaw, but it is at the point where it needs relief from the code. "This was our last resort, not our first," Lorance said. Going forward, he indicated that Cumberland Farms plans to carry more inventory to be prepared for future disruptions to the supply chain, but for now the chain had no option but to seek relief from the town. He said Cumberland Farms' vendor said it should have production of the raw material for the cups up and running by early February, and the chain should be able to get the more environmentally friendly cups back in stores by March. "I'm 95 percent sure we can meet that timeline," Lorance said. "With omicron, we've learned you're not going to get 100 percent assurance until you see those cups in the warehouse and see them going out the door." To provide the company with enough of a cushion to account for slowdowns, Board of Health member Erwin Stuebner moved that the board grant a reprieve of up to three months. Ruth Harrison, Ronald Stant and Jim Parkinson each joined Stuebner in supporting that motion. Devan Bartels did not attend the emergency meeting with the single-item agenda. Health Inspector Jeff Kennedy said he would keep in touch with Lorance to check on Cumberland Farms' progress in resuming its regular operations. "You have my word and my promise that we will get back to supplying [recyclable cups] as soo as I can," Lorance said. "I sincerely do not anticipate that requiring three months." Mass Humanities Announces 2022 Grants Calendar NORTHAMPTON, Mass. Four new funding opportunities from Mass Humanities seek to respond to the challenges facing the people of Massachusetts. Part of a new three-year strategic plan, the foundation's 2022 grants calendar prioritizes support for projects and local organizations serving historically marginalized communities. "The people of Massachusetts continue to turn to the humanities in this time of ongoing crises," said Brian Boyles, Executive Director of Mass Humanities. "In this unsteady world, we know that our museums, libraries, and cultural centers need options and flexibility from funders. We believe these grants will create more opportunities for people to engage with the past, share their own stories, and confront injustice." Mass Humanities offers four ways for nonprofits and tribal entities to seek funding in 2022: Expand Massachusetts Stories Grants: Up to $20,000 for projects that seek, share, and/or interpret stories of Massachusetts, using the humanities to improve our shared understanding of the Bay State. Staffing the Humanities Grants: $7000-$20,000 grants to small museums, humanities, and community cultural organizations to increase staffing to grow, create, or bring back humanities programs. Reading Frederick Douglass Together Grants: Up to $1200 for communities to host shared public readings of Frederick Douglass's speech on the meaning of the 4th of July. Bridge Street Sponsorships: Up to $1500 for history centers, societies, and historic sites to host online or hybrid programs during the 2022 calendar year. The grants are made possible through support from Mass Cultural Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and individual donors. Pierre Morin Joins SVMC Dentistry BENNINGTON, Vt. Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) welcomes Pierre Morin, DMD, to SVMC Dentistry. Dr. Morin completed his dental degree at University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. He went on to study dental surgery, esthetic dentistry, endodontics, and pedo-orthodontics at various institutions in the United States and Canada, including McGill University, The Pankey Institute in Florida, and Boston University. Dr. Morin had private practices in Gatineau, Quebec, 1997 2017, and in Bennington, VT, 2018 2020. In addition, Dr. Morin is the current director of dental services for correctional facilities in Vermont. SVMC Dentistry provides a full range of services, from basic care to the most modern treatments. Services include preventive cleanings and treatments, general dentistry, restoration, exams, crown and bridge, implants, and cosmetic dentistry. The practice also provides dental surgery and emergency care, if needed. SVMC Dentistry is open 8 a.m. 5 p.m. Monday Friday. It is located in suite 104 of the Medical Office Building at 140 Hospital Drive in Bennington. For more information, visit svhealthcare.org/dentistry or call 802-447-5525 The Berkshires could see up to a foot of snow this weekend. Or maybe only 3 inches. Although the region will largely dodge the incoming Nor'easter, some snow can still be expected. But the forecasters are pretty split on exactly how much that will be. WTEN Channel 10 meteorologist Steve Caporizzo says the heavier snowfall has shifted east with moderate snowfall now expected in central Massachusetts. The Berkshires have been downgraded to light snowfall and can expect less than 6 inches of snow. The Weather Channel predicts an accumulation of 3 to 5 inches with snow starting to fall Friday night. The bulk of the snowfall is predicted to fall throughout the day Saturday with flurries continuing through the night. Weather Underground predicts 1 to 3 inches while Accuweather still predicts 8-12 inches of snow in North Adams. And the National Weather Service in Albany, N.Y., is looking at 2 to 5 inches. NWS has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Western Mass for coastal storm that "may bring at least a moderate snowfall to part of the region." "The scope of the western and northern extent of the heavy snow and blizzard conditions is highly dependent on the track and intensity of the storm, which can potentially cause big differences in impacts," AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter explained. But all agree that the east end of the state should be prepared for blizzard conditions. NWS in Boston is predicting 12 to 18 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 55 mph from late Friday through Saturday evening. Thursday temperatures will get as high as 25. Friday should be a little warmer in the 30s. Saturday will be cooler with a high of 14, according to the Weather Channel, as another cold front begins pushing through the region. Former Pine Cobble Teacher Charged With Assaulting Student WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. A former Pine Cobble School teacher has pleaded not guilty to repeated aggravated sexual assault of a student. According to the Bennington (Vt.) Banner , Peter Hirzel, 60, of Pownal, Vt., was arraigned in Vermont District in Bennington on Wednesday. The middle school student was allegedly assaulted repeatedly over a 10-month period at the suspect's home. Hirzel had been teaching middle school math since 2004, first in California and then at Pine Cobble starting in 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile. He posted that at Pine Cobble, he was "also seeing to the day-to-day academic lives of students as the eighth grade homeroom teacher and an advisor." The victim's mother reported that she saw Hirzel as a positive support during what was a tough a year for her child and that she allowed the victim to go to Hirzel's home, according to the police report. The school said his employment at Pine Cobble ended in mid-March 2021, though not why, and his current status on LinkedIn is "somewhat retired" and but open to "the right job." "We are devastated by this news and our hearts are broken for the victim," said Head of School Sue Wells on Thursday. "However, due to the ongoing criminal case, Pine Cobble is referring all questions to law enforcement officials." She did say the school requires background checks and fingerprinting for all employees. Hirzel is being held without bail at the Marble Valley Regional Correctional Facility in Rutland, Vt., pending a weight of evidence hearing. The Banner reports he is facing a minimum sentence of 25 years, a maximum of life imprisonment and a possible $50,000 fine if convicted. New Smoke Alarm PSAs Geared Toward Older Adults STOW, Mass. Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey announced a new public service announcement (PSA) campaign that encourages smoke alarm awareness among older adults, who are at greater risk of dying in a fire. The PSAs are available for distribution through the Department of Fire Services. The "Dear Grandma / Querida Abuela" campaign started this month on television and radio stations in the Boston, Worcester, and Springfield media markets. Recorded in both English and Spanish, it features a granddaughter writing a letter to her grandmother about all the things she looks forward to doing together, interspersed with messages about the importance of having working smoke alarms and replacing alarms after 10 years. "In Massachusetts and nationwide, people over 65 have a disproportionately high risk of dying in a fire," said State Fire Marshal Ostroskey. "Everyone should have working smoke alarms in their homes, but we developed this PSA to reach older adults in particular because of the higher statistical risk they face. Installing smoke alarms on every floor of the home, checking them regularly, and replacing them after 10 years can dramatically reduce that risk." Nationwide, about 60 percent of fatal fires occur in homes without working smoke alarms. And in Massachusetts, people 65 and older comprise about 17 percent of the population but about 50 percent of last year's fatal fire victims. "Working smoke alarms are often the first line of defense against injury and tragedy in a fire," said Ostroskey. "We invite our partners in the fire service, family members, caregivers, and social service providers to share these PSAs and emphasize the importance of working smoke alarms, especially among seniors." Even Leonardo da Vinci was fascinated by the versatility of this dish, which today is still popular throughout the world and even unifies Latin America with varied and delicious versions in many of its countries. A layer of polenta is cut into 20-by-10-centimeter pieces and baked. Then, each one is taken and a slot is made, through which it is filled with a mixture of diced plums, grated hazelnuts sprinkled with walnuts and almonds, small pieces of pork and an equal amount of goat cheese ... Advertisement Thus is the provocative description made by one of the most important artists in history referring to empanadas, and it is recorded in the book Apuntes de cocina, which collects notes on this genius fondness for good food. I know that this dish is consumed by those who work in the mountains or in the fields and who take it from their homes and feed them for the whole day I have been thinking about the advantages that this dish has, that it allows the feed himself while he continues his work with the other hand, da Vinci says in the reproduction of the so-called Codex Romanoff. The notebook, discovered in 1981, is where the artist wrote down delicious recipes with comments about good table manners and where he drew sketches of his curious inventions to facilitate the life of the cook and the diner. Advertisement The textures and flavors mark the difference between the empanadas from the north and south of South America. The Colombian ones are made from corn, the Argentine ones are made from wheat. And that is essentially what the empanada is all about, in any of its preparations, a portion of dough whose objective is to allow consumers to enjoy a delicious filling whether it is chicken, fish or meat. Empanadas also can be prepared with cheese and even with grains, potatoes and bananas, ingredients that not only feed the body but also provide gastronomic identity to countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile and Puerto Rico, among others. Those communities give life to Central Florida by sharing their traditions and customs to enrich the culture of the region. The variety in the preparation of empanadas, as well as its ingredients, is as rich as the Latin culture in general, and has proven to be one of the most accepted and available foods: in a street kiosk, in a restaurant or in a bakery, it is found every hour of the day. In some places it is cornmeal, in others it is wheat. Some prepare them fried, others baked and there are those who call them differently and although the essence is the same, the debate is always a good excuse to enjoy a talk about food from our places of origin. One of the most famous discussions about it can be heard from Puerto Ricans, who defend their dish according to the region of the island from which they came. Rafael Roman, businessman, chef, lover of traditional food and owner of FL Bakery clarifies the panorama. Puerto Rico has the eternal debate of what to call the pastelillo, empanada, empanadilla, pastel etc. In the south of the island they call everything an empanadilla; while, in the center of the island and the north, they call it pastelillo. The difference is in the way in which the dough is prepared and how the stuffing ingredients are prepared. The empanadilla is supposed to have slightly more elaborate folds than those of the pastelillo, Roman explained while confirming they are, in fact, different dishes. Additionally, the dough of the empanadilla is white, while that of the pastry is yellow. For example, I grew up in the center of the island, in the countryside, and we called everything that had a chicken or meat filling a pastelillo. In the south, there are chapin or fish dumplings, and everything you see in the kiosks near the beach in that area, they call them a dumpling, even if they are shaped like a pastry. In both cases, the dough is made with wheat flour, as is the Galician empanada, which came from Spain and evolving into versions that are even easier to transport. This is the origin of all Latin American empanadas. Pastelillos, empanadas and empanadillas, the great debate of what to call this type of dish. According to experts, the difference lies in the way they are made. (Luis Bonetti / Suministrada Eleven Communications) According to a CNN report, Argentines have different types of gastronomy: Tucuman cuisine, stuffed mainly with minced meat and egg; the catamarquenas, which have raisins in the stew, and the criollas, the best known internationally, which contain the aforementioned ingredients and olives, chives and potatoes. Advertisement The Chilean empanadas are also made from wheat flour and are usually stuffed with ground meat, onion, spices, eggs and olives, and is an emblematic dish of the typical food of this country. Uruguay and Paraguay also have variations of the same dish. Colombia and Venezuela, on the other hand, have corn flour empanadas on their traditional menu, fried and stuffed with different stews. In the case of Colombia, it is usually pork and potato. In Venezuela, they are prepared with chicken, cheese, fish, and the colorful combination called pavilion, after the typical dish of that country: black beans, shredded meat, fried ripe plantain and white cheese. Venezuelan empanadas, made of cornmeal and fried, have a sweet touch in their dough that contrasts with the flavor of the fillings. (Adriana Teran H. ) No matter which you choose, the important thing is that every time we take a bite of this delicacy, we are connecting with the essence of our continent, the aroma of our homes and the heart of our history. Where to get them in Central Florida In Orlando there are innumerable places with gastronomic representation of these countries, but to do this work we visited the following: A new type of COVID-19 that evolved from omicron, BA.2, is on the rise but theres no evidence that we need to worry. Though it still only accounts for about 2% of omicron cases globally, BA.2 has been detected in more than 40 countries, including the U.S. The largest increase has been seen in Denmark, which said last week that BA.2 is now the most common form of omicron in the country. Advertisement However, theres not enough data to tell whether it is more severe or transmissible than other types of omicron, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the Orlando Sentinel. Although the BA.2 lineage has recently increased in proportion in some countries, it remains a very low proportion of circulating viruses in the United States and globally, wrote CDC spokesperson Jasmine Reed on Tuesday. Currently, there are insufficient data to determine whether the BA.2 lineage is more transmissible or has a fitness advantage over the BA.1 lineage. Advertisement Danish scientists suspect it might be more transmissible but not more severe. The World Health Organization recommended last week that scientists research how this type of omicron compares to other types in order to get sufficient data to make conclusions. Regardless, BA.2 likely wont significantly impact COVID-19s spread in Florida, where the majority of residents have already been infected with omicron, according to a previous model from University of Florida researchers. People who have gotten the omicron variant are likely to have immunity against BA.2, said Dr. Michael Teng, a University of South Florida associate professor of medicine. If it really is more transmissible and that we really dont know it might delay [cases] going down ... but were not going to have another omicron wave [due to BA.2], he said. In addition, a new version of omicron in and of itself isnt a cause for alarm. Viruses are expected to evolve as they spread. He said that the wave of media coverage that BA.2 has gotten recently is kind of clickbait. Its interesting for epidemiologists and people who are interested in viral evolution to track these things, and see how they grow ... but for the general public, whether its BA.1, BA.2, or BA.3 ... its still all omicron, he said. The Health Report Weekly A weekly update on health news in Florida. > BA.2 was one of the original viruses identified in the omicron family by scientists at South Africas Centre for Epidemic Response & Innovation, along with BA.1 and BA.3. South African scientist Dr. Tulio de Oliveira leads the team who informed WHO about omicron, including the BA.2 variant. He took to Twitter on Wednesday to urge people not to panic. The increase of BA.1.1 & BA.2 is associated with a decrease in infections in SA. I would like to request that when countries present an increase of sub-lineages of #Omicron they present with total infections as this avoid panic and put the pandemic in perspective. pic.twitter.com/ba8AF8B5MB Tulio de Oliveira (@Tuliodna) January 26, 2022 He said that the increase in the proportion of BA.2, which is also called a sub-lineage of omicron, is actually associated with a decrease in COVID-19 cases in South Africa. Advertisement I would like to request that when countries present an increase of sub-lineages of #Omicron they present with total infections as this avoid[s] panic and put[s] the pandemic in perspective, he wrote. In a follow-up Tweet, he added: We in South Africa, are alerted but not too concerned given the Omicron wave is decreasing fast here. Of course, we will keep advancing science and communicate as more results emerge. Ed Torres, director of Orange County Utilities, and Frank Martz, city manager of Altamonte Springs, said wastewater in their sewer service areas is being sequenced for the original omicron variant but not its descendants. ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com; @CECatherman The press conference had been organised by the Afghan Journalists Federation (AJF) which brings together 11 media and support organisations, including ANJU. Before it began, Taliban military forces stormed the conference venue and prevented national and international media present from covering the event. The Taliban authorities arrested two members of the AJF who were later released with a warning not to take part in press freedom activities anymore. The press conference was organised to discuss the harsh conditions of journalists and media in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule. The country has become one of the most dangerous territories for journalists and media workers, who receive threats from the authorities daily despite Taliban promises to respect press freedom. In a statement, the AJF apologised to international and national reporters who couldnt attend the press release and called on the Taliban to cooperate and coordinate with media organisations instead of creating problems and fear for journalists in Afghanistan. IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: The Taliban is demonstrating every day that they have no interest in opening debates over the difficult situation of journalists and media in Afghanistan but to silence those who aim to denounce it. The IFJ strongly condemns the Talibans continued efforts to stifle press freedom and the ongoing repression of journalists activities. Hasnain Shah, a member of the Lahore Press Club (LPC), was inside his car outside the LPC in Lahore, Punjab, at around 4 pm on January 24, when an unidentified armed group intercepted the vehicle and fatally shot him. The attackers fired many times into Shahs chest before absconding. It is not yet clear whether his murder was related to his past reportage. On January 26, police stated that they had detained a prime suspect in the journalists murder. According to police, Amir Butt, the proprietor of Gold Asia Jewelers, had been arrested, with an investigation currently underway. Media rights organisations, such as the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Lahore Press Club, Lahore Economic Journalist Association (LEJA), and Haidarabad Union of Journalists Club (HUJ) condemned the killing and called for swift action on the case. Shah is the first journalist to be killed in 2022 in the Asia Pacific region. According to the IFJs documentation, three journalists, Kashif Hussain, Ajay Lalwani and Shahid Zehri, were killed in 2021 in Pakistan. PFUJ Secretary General, Rana Azeem, said: "This attack on a journalist in front of on the busy road in-front of the Lahore Press Club has rendered a wave of shock in the entire journalist community. It is a total failure of Lahore Police in protecting the life of a journalist who was himself a crime reporter. IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: The brazen killing of Hasnain Shah is yet another blow to press freedom in Pakistan and sends a worrying message that journalists can be killed anytime and anywhere just for doing their jobs. The IFJ urges the Pakistan government to thoroughly investigate the case, punish the perpetrators and cease impunity for crimes against journalists. Like many beach towns, Colonial Beach, Virginia's "peak season" is from Memorial Day through Labor Day. These days, September and October are just as busy. With the continued surge in visitors and part-timers, turned full-timers during the pandemic, businesses in traditionally seasonal tourist destinations like Colonial Beach have witnessed an odd effect: Their operations are no longer seasonal, or their busy seasons have stretched into typically slow months. That's true for Kelly Woods Vaughn, owner and CEO of boutique hotel Riverview Inn in Colonial Beach. These days, she says she's seeing an influx of people from spring break in March all the way through November as opposed to Labor Day. "We were incredibly busy," she says, speaking of this past summer into fall. "My husband and I were working 16-hour days at the inn." Vacation rentals are also booming. During off-season periods, Clark Twiddy, president of Twiddy & Company, a vacation rental company based in Corolla, North Carolina, in the northernmost region of the Outer Banks, says demand is up more than 20 percent as compared with pre-pandemic levels, and in early January, bookings were up 300 percent. To be sure, this is one of those good problems to have--too much business, that is. However, given the ongoing labor crunch amid the Great Resignation, being in a situation of needing to hire workers when workers are scarce is hardly enviable. Here's how some businesses are handling the labor shortage: Adopt contactless technology Some businesses are dealing with increased demand by adopting new technology--and they're not going back. "The hospitality industry truly has changed," says Woods Vaughn. She started using no-contact, digital check-in services last year because they allow current staff to focus on other aspects of the business, such as the overall health and management of the inn. While her business has benefited from increased efficiency, Woods Vaughn points out, too, that consumers are increasingly calling on businesses to change. "Guests are more demanding and less aware or are completely hands off," she says adding that business owners who don't adapt to changing consumer needs will likely struggle going forward. Hire locally Some businesses are better equipped to hire quickly, especially those that usually focus on hiring locally and have pre-existing training programs, notes Henley Vazquez, co-founder of Fora, a New York City-based startup that offers data-driven travel recommendations. That became abundantly clear when borders closed, she says. The hotels that typically would have (at least partially) hired internationally had to refocus their efforts on recruiting locally. Unlike hiring international workers, local hiring often goes back to the basics such as referrals, local career sites, and job boards. Postings about positions on social networks are also a great way to contact those locally in the community. Put marketing muscle behind hiring When in doubt, consider including job postings in marketing materials and beefing up your referrals network. Now that the traditional busy season has been extended on both ends, hiring new workers has become a key goal among hospitality marketing teams, says Scott Ford, director of marketing for Innisfree Hotels, a hotel management and development company in Gulf Breeze, Florida. "It's not enough to market our properties to guests anymore," Ford says. "We now have to include prospective team members in our marketing campaigns to staff up our hotels and restaurants." Offer full-time positions One thing working in seasonal-turned-year-round businesses' favor: Offering full-time, year-round positions is more attractive than traditionally seasonal gigs, which tend to be temporary and operate without benefits. Woods Vaughn notes that one of her business partners, who owns villas in Mexico, was able to absorb off-season hikes by staffing year-round service and maintenance employees. Similarly, David Angotti, CEO of HawaiianIslands.com, a resource for restaurants, attractions, and vacation rentals in the Hawaiian Islands, has noticed that many businesses in the area are hiring for year-round roles instead of those that are just seasonal. What's more, he adds, an influx of people moving to Hawaii from the continental U.S. has offered local businesses a new source for local talent looking to take advantage of the booming tourism industry. Give current workers a raise When Lisa Wise was 28, a Honda Civic changed her life. A close cousin, Richard Wise, died from complications related to AIDS in 1998 and left her his 1995 Honda Civic Hatchback. She sold it for $8,300. The cash allowed her to put a 10 percent down payment on the duplex building in which she rented a unit in Tucson. She found she loved being a landlady, so she used her property management income to buy other buildings. By 2008, she owned five properties and decided turn her side gig into a full-fledged rental administration business. Now known as Flock, her Washington, D.C.-based collection of real estate firms together manages $2 billion in property and pulled in $6.5 million in revenue last year. Wise says her business prioritizes proactive and strong communication with tenants and same-day responses to maintenance emergencies. She also helps tenants access government financial support with rent. "I truly believe you can change lives by delivering an exceptional housing experience," Wise says. Still, she started to feel like she ought to do more for marginalized communities, particularly in the wake of George Floyd's death in 2020 and the subsequent protests against racism. Just 44 percent of Black families in the U.S. own their homes, compared with 73.7 percent of White families, according to Q1 2020 U.S. Census Bureau data--and the average homeowner's net worth is 36 times more than the average renter's. "Real estate has been an ugly, ugly contributor to inequity," Wise says. "It just didn't feel good for me to thrive in an environment that has thrived at the expense of so many." So, she now is working to give people the same opportunity her cousin gave her: by giving out $10,000 to $15,000 down-payment grants for D.C.-based first-time homeowners who identify as BIPOC. Since May 2021, Flock has disbursed $90,000 in grants to eight homebuyers through its nonprofit arm, birdSEED. Wise says Flock is on track to give out $100,000 this year. Finding a purpose Before starting Flock, Wise spent 15 years working at nonprofits, including Planned Parenthood and the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream. But she found the structure frustrating. Donations often went to funding the administrative operations for the organization and not to the relevant cause. "I had a value system that lined up with the nonprofit world, but an entrepreneurial spirit that did not line up," she says. When the economy slumped in 2008, Wise decided to keep her full-time job but also pursue rental management, forming an LLC to manage her five properties. Some of her passion for rental administration comes from her childhood, which she describes as chaotic--Wise lived in 23 different places before going to college. "I did not have the benefit of stable homes growing up," she says. "I intend to never experience that instability again, and if I can prevent others from my experience ... that is my life's purpose." It's part of why she finds even simple tasks, such as patching worn-down adobe or resolving a maintenance problem quickly, gratifying. While planning for her estate and Flock's future after she dies (she plans to sell it to employees), Wise considered her assets, including life insurance policies--and philanthropic endeavors to which she could donate the $2.2 million that would be left over after settling things with her family and business. That plan had one disadvantage, however: "It's kind of a shame that I need to die for that work to start," she says. 'We want to give money to everyone' While she still plans to bestow money from her estate to birdSEED when she dies, she decided to use some of the money she has available to her now to help people buy houses, via grants for down payments. She wasn't much concerned with the details. Wise says her strength (and weakness) is she thinks things are going to be easy. "It's better for me to live in a state of denial about how hard things are," she jokes. "Otherwise, I would never start them." But, someone did come along to help her with the difficulties of giving out grants for homebuying. T. Scott Case, the founding chief technology officer of Priceline, asked Wise to be on his podcast to talk about building an antiracist workplace, where she mentioned her idea for building a no-frills grant program for BIPOC, first-time homeowners. His wife, Leslie Case, heard about it. "It struck me as so important," says Leslie. She joined birdSEED, later becoming executive director, and was crucial in developing the application and selection process. Applying for a birdSEED housing grant is intentionally easy. The application form has about 26 questions, many of them yes or no. There's one interview with the advisory board for qualifying applicants. The whole process takes at most a few months. "The big challenge is, we want to give the money to everyone. There isn't an applicant we don't believe doesn't deserve to own their own home," Case says. A diverse board scores applicants on an "impact" scale, considering factors such as family size and the home's proximity to a school or job. Out of over 200 or so applicants, birdSEED awards three to four grants at a time in three cycles per year with administrative and technical support from the Greater Washington Community Foundation. Creating $8,300 moments One hundred percent of the donations to birdSEED go to the grant program. Flock covers all of the operational costs, Wise says, and the company has also pledged $215,000 for grants. Since the effort began, they've raised $85,000 from donors with little marketing, she says, because the mission has resonated with people. In the spring of this year, Flock and birdSEED will expand to Philadelphia. Bank of America doesn't want its workers to join the Great Resignation, so it's giving them a new incentive to hang around: $1 billion worth of restricted stock. In a memo first shared with CNN on Tuesday, Bank of America's CEO, Brian Moynihan, said that the bank is expanding its stock awards program to lower-paid employees. Workers who make up to $100,000 annually are now eligible to receive the award. The bank previously gave those employees a one-off cash bonus. On the basis of their overall compensation, workers will get between 65 and 600 restricted shares, which start to vest next year. Around 97 percent of BoA's global workers are eligible, according to the memo. The stock was trading around $46 at Wednesday's market close. No doubt it's a bold move for the bank, but it's not as uncommon as you may think, according to Jeramy Kaiman, head of LHH Recruitment Solutions, West, a division of the Adecco Group, a human resources and staffing firm. "Companies are looking at all kinds of avenues to make sure they're able to retain their talent, and stock plans are one of them," Kaiman says. "Individuals feel more connected to the company when they own stock." Restricted stock options come with some strings attached -- importantly, the vesting period. In this case, the shares for BoA workers vest over four years, with the first tranche available in 2023. That's the whole point -- if they leave the company before the shares vest, they leave that money on the table. Offering stock options is more challenging for private companies, but Kaiman notes that they can still be offered via phantom stock plans. Stock ownership is only a strong retention tool if it's transparent and meaningful, according to Janine Yancey, the founder of culture technology platform Emtrain. She explains that Silicon Valley employers have deployed this tool for decades, but it doesn't always work out in a worker's favor. That can occur if a company imposes longer vesting periods or if an initial public offering gets delayed -- creating so-called "golden handcuffs." Problems can also manifest if there's a change in company control. "It's important to have transparency and a path to significant financial benefits from the stock," she adds. 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. Richard Burnham faces a hate crime charge for beating the side of a car with a metal pipe and causing over $1,000 in damage, according to Volusia County Sheriff's Office. (Volusia County Sheriff's Office) A 58-year-old white man is facing hate crime charges for an unprovoked, racially prejudiced attack on three high schoolers at a Volusia County gas station over the weekend, the Sheriffs Office said. Richard Burnham, 58, directed racial slurs at three Black teenagers and beat the side of their car with a metal pipe outside a Circle K on State Road 415 in Osteen around 3 p.m. Saturday, according to his arrest report. Advertisement Burnham was arrested Wednesday on charges of criminal mischief causing damage of $1,000 or more and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, according to the report. Those charges will be enhanced under Floridas hate crime law, which reclassifies crimes motivated by prejudice based on race, color or ethnicity, among other characteristics. Advertisement Richard Burnham (Volusia County Branch Jail) The high schoolers, all 17- or 18-year-olds, were inside their 2022 gray Toyota Camry with temporary Florida tags when Burnham approached the car yelling racial slurs at the teenagers, they told deputies. After the teenagers told Burnham to go away, he went inside the Circle K and purchased a case of beer, then went to his late-model Dodge Ram parked on the other side of the gas station, where he retrieved a metal pipe, according to the report. Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > Burham began to strike the passenger side of the Toyota Camry, shattering the window, according to the report. The three teenagers drove away to put distance between themselves and Burnham but he followed them for two miles in his truck, which was attached to a trailer carrying two four-wheelers, according to the report. According to a Sheriffs Office spokesperson, Burnham confirmed to investigators Wednesday that he was at the gas station at the time of the incident but claimed the teenagers shot him with an airsoft gun and threatened to kill him. However, he never called the police or told the Circle K attendant, Andrew Gant of the Sheriffs Office said in a statement. There were also discrepancies in Burnhams timeline of the events and deputies on the scene did not find an airsoft gun with the teenagers, Gant said. Burnham posted a $40,000 bond Wednesday evening after being transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail. Advertisement njaramillo@orlandosentinel.com Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. 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. SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER. The locating of unmarked burials at former residential school sites across Canada is a tragic reminder of the abuse that many Indigenous children suffered in these institutions. The Government of Canada is working w... The rising number of positive Omicron cases has prompted health officials to demand for a change in the sort of mask we use in our daily lives. Cotton and cloth masks should be avoided, and disposable masks, particularly N95 and KN95 masks, should be used instead. The aforementioned models have been demonstrated to be safer in defending against coronavirus microparticles, according to a study conducted by Joseph G. Allen, head of the Healthy Buildings programme at Harvard University's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Despite suggestions for one-time usage, Michael G. Knight of George Washington University told the Washington Post that these masks could last longer. Unsplash The number of times and how long it has been used will determine its durability. When it's been used for more than 6 hours, the situation changes. For example, during a work shift where the employee has been sweating and chatting nonstop, the professional said that it will be quite dirty. If utilised for 3 hours on a regular basis, the results would be the same. The KN95 should only be used up to five times, with each session lasting no longer than two hours, according to experts. Why is a N95 mask more preferred than a cloth mask? Linsey Marr, a virus researcher at Virginia Tech, thinks it's become really critical now, with health-care systems under strain and people in higher-risk conditions like crowded, indoor settings for extended periods of time. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention recently updated their recommendations for the types of masks that should be worn by healthcare professionals, but they also stressed the importance of choosing a mask that fits well and one you'll use regularly. Because of supply constraints, the CDC previously recommended that N95 masks be kept for health-care personnel. The CDC recommends that "surgical N95" masks, which are normally not available for sale to the general population, remain reserved for use in health-care settings. Unsplash N95 masks are more snug on the face than cotton masks and are composed of a specific material that blocks 95% of dangerous particles. The threads are squeezed closer together than in fabric masks, and they carry an electric charge that draws molecules to adhere to the mask rather than pass through it. KN95s and KF94s provide similar levels of defence. On the CDC website, you can find a complete selection of masks that meet an international quality level. However, be cautious before making a purchase. According to the CDC, around 60% of KN95s in the United States are phoney and do not exceed quality criteria. Unsplash Because it's difficult to know if a mask is genuine merely by looking at it, experts recommend purchasing directly from trusted suppliers. Marr says she gets masks from industrial suppliers like Grainger or McMaster-Carr, and Project N95 is a reputable vendor of legitimate brands. If you find it difficult to wear specific N95s for lengthy periods of time, experts recommend trying out several shapes and styles to determine what works best for you. For more on explainers, news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Chinese PLA has handed over Arunachal Pradesh teenager Miram Taron to the Indian Army, as per IANS. The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to the Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination, he tweeted. We have to follow the Covid-19 protocols before handing over the youth to his family, said an official of the Upper Siang District administration. 19-year-old Taron hailed from Jido Village in Upper Siang District. Twitter He was reportedly kidnapped by the PLA on January 18. What had happened? It happened in Shiyung La in Bishing Area of the Indian territory. Hotline exchanged on Republic Day by Indian Army with Chinese PLA. PLA responded positively indicating handing over of our national and suggested a place of release. They are likely to have an intimate date and time soon. Delay attributed to bad weather conditions on their side, Rijiju had earlier tweeted. PTI The Arunachal Pradesh government had asked the Defence Ministrys intervention to make sure Taron was returned safely. The Chinese Army reportedly abducted him from Indian territory where China had constructed a 3-4 km road way back in 2018. Tarons friend had gotten away and informed the authorities. It was brought to the attention of Tapir Gao, a BJP MP from the Arunachal East Parliamentary constituency. The success stories of the Indian-American diaspora are like a beam of hope for many back home dreaming to pursue the same. But some trails are better left un-trekked. It is not always a success story, we saw as a tragic news broke on the morning of January 21, 2022. The human remains of an Indian family of four, including an infant and a teenager, were found just 30 feet away from the US border on the Canadian side, covered in snow. The death of four members of the same family at the US-Canada border has now once again highlighted the dangerous journeys families are willing to risk for a better life and the groups that profit from their desperation. AP What interrogations revealed US officials announced the arrest of Steve Shand, who faces charges of human smuggling. The investigation into the death of the four individuals in Canada is ongoing along with an investigation into a larger human smuggling operation of which Shand is suspected of being a part, said John Stanley, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations, in court documents. When the officers stopped Shand's car, near the border crossing at Pembina, North Dakota, they found two Indian nationals with Shand and later intercepted a group of five. All spoke Gujarati, an Indian language. One told officials he spent a large amount of money to come to Canada under a fake student visa and planned to visit an uncle in Chicago. AP In preparation for their journey, the group were wearing brand-new winter clothing, including parkas, boots and gloves. They, along with Shand, had black balaclavas. Officers also found evidence to suggest a baby was travelling with the group, but when they couldnt find the child, they notified Canadian police. Risks of crossing the border illegally While the prairie landscape the group traversed is largely flat, the sprawling grain fields are deceptively dangerous in the winter. Cold winds whip relentlessly and blowing snow dramatically reduces visibility. Deep snow drifts make movement slow and tedious. All these difficulties are compounded in the dark, when the family is believed to have made their crossing attempt. Smugglers only care about the money they are going to make and have zero regard for lives lost, Anthony Good, a sector chief border patrol agent in Grand Forks, said in a statement. AP You just try to figure out why there would be that kind of desperation to cross the border in such terrible weather conditions. Crossing the border in the best of times, you know, is dangerous, Dave Carlson, a local official for the Emerson-Franklin municipality in Manitoba told a local radio station. Canada-US border crossing The region has been the site of numerous crossings in recent years although most were coming from the United States into Canada after the election of former president Donald Trump. Speaking to India Times, Sneha Sharma, a student who has recently shifted to Canada on a student visa from India, said having such dreams is not a problem but to take extreme steps to fulfil those dreams is. "I feel like it is okay to have these dreams and aspirations to move to these countries. Nothing wrong in that but I've noticed that many people treat it like a life and death situation. You can try to immigrate and have a life here but if it doesn't happen you always have a chance to go back to your own country and start a life there," she said. canada us border deaths "This bubble which we live in that life is sorted abroad needs to be busted. Life's not easy here. It's only been a month that I've come to Canada and I can see people work 10 times harder and sleep 10 times less," Sneha added. "It all looks flowery from the outside but in real life it's pretty sad. It's heartbreaking to see deaths, people are actually dying to make a life outside India," she said. The tragic deaths this week serve as a reminder of the risks families are willing to take, Rema Jamous Imseis, the Canadian representative for UNHCR, said in a statement. Whatever the circumstances, no one should ever have to choose such a perilous journey. What the data suggests Irregular migration from India to Canada falls under three broad themes: Fraudulent student visa, work-related migration an fraudulent spousal PR. According to a 2021 report published by an American think tank, the New American Economy, out of the 10.3 million undocumented immigrants in the US, 5,87,000 were from India; the third-largest share. Human smuggling into the US is a multi-million dollar business. Its not cheap either for Indians to enter the US illegally. According to reports, it can cost anywhere between Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh per person to enter the US illegally. Smuggling through the Canadian border is still uncommon, like in the case of the ill-fated Gujarati family. canadian-border Earlier, thousands of immigrants from India have been apprehended at the tightly controlled US-Mexico border. In 2021, 2,600 Indian nationals were caught by the US authorities at the Mexico border. The number of illegal immigrants from India caught at the US-Mexico border was large and growing before the pandemic struck. In 2007, the number of Indian detainees, which were 76, went up to more than 7,600 in 2019. For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. The Mumbai roads look more vibrant when the iconic double-decker buses ply their trade. Even today, the buses offer a mix of excitement and nostalgia for both residents and visitors. However in 2018, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) decided to phase out the double-decker buses by 2023. Citing operational costs, BEST had at the time said, it's becoming difficult to run the buses that have been at the heart of Mumbai since 1937. http://www.ptinews.com/ But if the latest development is anything to go by, then double-decker buses will continue to be part of the city's history. In a bid to save it from being phased out from the roads of Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) has cleared the contract to acquire 900 AC electric double-decker buses. Currently, there are just 48 two-tiered vehicles, down from the earlier 120. The BEST Committee, for the first time, approved the induction of 900 air-conditioned double decker electric buses on wet lease on Tuesday, The Times of India reported. The BEST double-decker, now electric! CM Uddhav Thackeray and I have been personally keen on reviving Mumbais iconic double-decker buses. pic.twitter.com/lQkjvKlVgh Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) January 27, 2022 Wet lease is when apart from the vehicles, the drivers and maintenance are also provided by the operator. As per TOI citing sources, the project will cost the undertaking over Rs 3,600 crore. The state government has already sanctioned Rs 992 crore to the BEST under the Maharashtra Clean Air Project for procuring e-buses, and this money will initially be used to procure the double-decker buses. PTI The first lot of 225 double-deckers are expected this year, the next batch of 225 buses will arrive by March 2023, and the remaining 450 by June 2023, BEST General Manager Lokesh Chandra told TOI. BESTs iconic red double decker buses were started along the lines of Londons red double decker buses in 1937. However, there has been a decline in their numbers over the years and currently, there are only 48 double decker buses in BESTs fleet against 900 in the 1990s. The buses have also had a special place in Bollywood and Mumbais history. Be it college-goers catching it or a love-struck couple finding some space in the citys bustling traffic, double-deckers have been the symbol of the city. Albeit in the new avatar, based on advanced features, double-deckers are an integral part of Mumbai and this development will ensure that continues to be the case. For more from trending, click here. Woodbridge, VA (22192) Today Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 55F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 55F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Winter Park Police Chief Michael Deal leaves the Seminole County Jail in Sanford after bonding out, Thursday, January 20, 2022. Deal was arrested Wednesday on a domestic violence charge reportedly after a family argument. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) Winter Park Police Chief Michael Deal resigned Wednesday, a week after he was arrested in Seminole County on a domestic violence charge. City Manager Randy Knight announced Deals resignation at Wednesdays regular commission meeting and said the city will immediately begin the hiring process for a new police chief. Advertisement Division Chief Pam Marcum will continue to head the police department, which employs about 75 officers, until Deals replacement is named, Knight said. Three members of Deals family told Seminole County deputies that Deal battered one of them during an argument on Jan. 19 at their home in unincorporated Sanford. Advertisement While attempting to leave the argument and walk toward the kitchen, Deal grabbed a family member by the wrist and slung/pushed [them] out of his way toward the pantry, according to the arrest report. Winter Park Police Chief Michael Deal made his first appearance at the Seminole County Jail Jan. 20 on a domestic violence charge after an argument with family members. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel) Deal told Seminole deputies that he attempted to get around the alleged victim but never laid a hand on that person, the report said. Under the conditions of Deals release from Seminole County Jail last week, he cant access any firearms and is not allowed to contact the victim in a violent manner. In his resignation letter, Deal did not address the misdemeanor charge of domestic violence battery he faces, but said he is leaving the agency at the highest level of policing and added that morale in the agency could not be better. Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > Commissioner Sheila DeCiccio said at the meeting that Deal noted in his resignation he is proud to leave behind the best of the best police force. I agree, DeCiccio said, and thank you all for your service, especially during this difficult time. Deal was hired to lead WPPD in 2016 after previously serving as chief for the Atlantic Beach Police Department in North Florida. He began his career as a patrol officer at the Altamonte Springs Police Department in 1981 and was a deputy chief when he retired from ASPD in 2014. During Deals tenure, Winter Park police officers began wearing body cameras in 2020, one of the last Central Florida agencies to use the recording devices. Advertisement Deal advocated for the cameras since 2017 and accelerated the programs implementation after George Floyds death in custody intensified national scrutiny on police tactics. After 40 years of dedicated law enforcement, I am truly excited about what the future holds for me and my family, Deal said. We definitely look forward to the next chapter in our lives. lgarza@orlandosentinel.com Crews will be out this morning along Interstate 95 and through the Fredericksburg area pretreating ahead of the threat of wintry weather Friday into Saturday. More snow on the way for Northern Virginia? The National Weather Service says confidence is high in a developing nor'easter with the pot The Virginia Department of Transportation says drivers should expect daytime delays on I-95 and other major routes as slow-moving equipment sprays "brine lines" ahead of a nor'easter expected to impact the East Coast. Starting at 9 a.m. tomorrow, crews will begin pretreating at exit 150/Joplin Road in Prince William County then proceed to mile marker 101 in Caroline County. Crews will then turn around at exit 98/Doswell in Hanover County and pre-treat travel lanes on I-95 northbound to exit 150, VDOT said in a news release. Virginia State Police will escort the slow-moving equipment on I-95 northbound and southbound to ensure trucks applying brine and crash-cushion vehicles can all travel together. The brine trucks travel at slower speeds to spray the solution onto the road with precision and to ensure an adequate amount is absorbed in the pavement. Travelers are urged to yield and not pass the mobile operation, the release said. Once the nearly 300 lane miles of I-95, ramps and overpasses are pretreated, brining will begin on primary roads in the Fredericksburg area. Crews will apply brine to as many roads as possible tomorrow. Pre-treatment helps to prevent ice from bonding to the pavement during winter weather, which can reduce the risk of hazardous travel conditions and assists crews with snow and ice removal, VDOT said. A municipality in New York may be held liable for wrongful action by an employee even though the employee was granted individual immunity. A police detective found liable by a jury for a false arrest was entitled to qualified immunity but the officers employer, Nassau County in New York, was not entitled to immunity and can still be held liable for damages stemming from the officers wrongful action, a federal appeals court ruled this week, partially overruling a lower court. After a jury concluded that the defendant Nassau County detective had committed a wrongful arrest, the lower district court vacated the claims against both the individual detective and the county based on qualified immunity, leaving the plaintiff empty-handed. However, the plaintiff, Daniel Triolo, appealed and on Jan. 21 (Triolo v Nassau County), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit sided with him in part. It upheld the qualified immunity for the detective but found the lower court erred in extending this immunity to the detectives employer. The county was held liable for the $185,000 in damages sought by Triolo. What Happened In 2015, the Nassau County detective arrested Triolo without a warrant based on a domestic incident report signed by Triolos brother and mother. Triolo spent time in a precinct holding cell where he was handcuffed to a wall. He was then transported to a hospital to receive treatment for a shoulder injury he sustained during an altercation with a family member. After being held in a different location until the next morning, he was transported to criminal court and eventually released on bail. The criminal charges against Triolo were dismissed shortly thereafter. In 2016, Triolo sued the detective for false arrest under New York state law and Nassau County, his employer, under the theory of respondeat superior, which holds an employer or principal legally responsible for the wrongful acts of an employee or agent. In December 2018, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Triolo on both the federal and state claims, finding that the police detective committed a false arrest because in the jurys view he did not have probable cause to arrest Triolo. The jury awarded Triolo $150,000 in compensatory damages against the defendants and $35,000 in punitive damages against the detective. The district court upheld the jurys finding that there was no probable cause, acknowledging the verdict was reasonable given the evidence. However, the district court then vacated the jurys verdict and dismissed the claims against both defendants. The courts reasoning was that, although the evidence supported the jurys finding that the officer did not have actual probable cause for the arrest, the officer had arguable probable cause as a matter of law and was thus entitled to qualified immunity. Then, based on the officers immunity, the district court also dismissed the claims against Nassau County. Appeals Court On appeal, Triolo argued that the district court erred in vacating the jurys verdict and dismissing his false arrest claims against both the officer and the county. The appeals court disagreed in part with Triolo, ruling that the district court properly dismissed the claims against the officer. The appeals court agreed that the officer was entitled to qualified immunity because he had arguable probable cause as a matter of law. The court also disagreed with Triolos argument that the jurys award of punitive damages necessarily precludes immunity under both federal and New York law. The court said the officer was also immune under federal law because he had arguable probable cause. Also, the court added, New York law grants government officials qualified immunity on state law claims, including false arrest claims, unless there is bad faith or the action taken is without a reasonable basis. The record in this case does not establish bad faith, the court said. Even where actual probable cause does not exist, an officer may be entitled to qualified immunity on a false arrest claim if his actions were objectively reasonable or if arguable probable cause existed at the time of the arrest, the appeals court decision by Justice Danny Chen reiterated, adding that a defendant has the burden of proving the affirmative defense of qualified immunity. The officer lacked actual probable cause because he ignored exculpatory evidence and information that undermined the truthfulness of those accusing Triolo. But the court said that does not preclude a finding of arguable probable cause because, on the evidence, it is not clear that no reasonable officer could have believed that probable cause existed. Lower Court Error However, the appeals court then came down in Triolos favor, agreeing that the lower court erred in dismissing the claims against the county. The appeals court ruled that the county was vicariously liable for the compensatory damages against the officer under New York state law. The county is not entitled to qualified immunity, and its employees immunity does not somehow transfer to his municipal employer, the court said, noting that the U.S. Supreme Court has explicitly rejected the idea that municipalities are entitled to qualified immunity under federal law. (Leatherman v. Tarrant Cnty. Narcotics Intel. & Coordination Unit). The court said that under New York law it is clear that a municipal employer can be held vicariously liable for its individually immune employee when that employee has been found liable for an underlying wrong and been granted immunity. The county is liable for the damages for its detective who was acting within the scope of employment when he made the arrest, according to the ruling. Topics USA Commercial Lines Business Insurance New York Law Enforcement The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district courts ruling that Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Co. must pay the policy limit in full on the claim for the second of two fires that destroyed a Minnesota couples home. The courts ruling addresses what constitutes a total loss to a structure. Two fires occurred at Craig and Katie Shaws home two months apart, the first burning a large hole in an exterior wall and the second destroying the house entirely. Both fires occurred in the same policy period. Farm Bureau paid damages of $159,802.52 after the first fire. Before any significant repairs had been made, the second fire destroyed the house. Farm Bureau paid the couple $108,991.48 for the second claim, the difference between the policy limit of $268,000 and what the insurer paid for the first fire. The Shaws then sued Farm Bureau for breach of contract, arguing that they were entitled to the total loss payment of the full policy limit for the second fire by the policys terms. A district court granted the Shaws motion for summary judgment. Farm Bureau appealed. Both parties agree that Farm Bureaus policy requires the insurer to pay an amount equal to the policy limit if covered occurrences cause a total loss but disagree over what happens when two covered occurrences successively contribute to a buildings total destruction. Farm Bureau argues that because the Shaws house was missing exterior wall as a result of the first fire, the house is a partial house, not a whole house, and so its destruction cannot be a total loss. The Shaws disagree. In their interpretation, an occurrence that causes a total loss requires the policy to be paid in full, independent of the structures original condition. In ruling in favor of the Shaws, the court considered the grammar of Farm Bureaus Total Loss Valuation provision and proclaimed that the word total modifies the word loss rather than the insured object. The provision does not say in the event of the loss of the total (or whole) dwelling. Instead, it reads: in the event of a total loss. It is thus the lossthe deprivationthat must be total, the court wrote. The court compared its conclusion to that of a car collision. It would not be inaccurate to say that a collision totaled ones car even if the car had already been missing a door at the time of the crash, the judges wrote. The court said the Shaws are also supported by the policys period provision, which anticipates that separate claims for separate occurrences will be assessed separately. Farm Bureaus policy did not state that successive losses deplete the general policy limit on the house, neither did the policy include a provision establishing a general duty to repair. In its ruling, the court concluded that the definition of total loss to a building is results-based, regardless of whether the building was whole immediately before the loss or whether the buildings condition at the beginning of the policy period. Topics Legislation Agribusiness The Missouri Department of Insurance announced that consumers received nearly $25 million from their insurance companies in 2021 thanks to the services provided by the departments Consumer Affairs Division and Market Regulation Division. The revenues were returned as a result of the Consumer Affairs Divisions mediation work on complaints filed by consumers, as well as the efforts of the Market Regulation Division in ensuring insurance company compliance with Missouri insurance laws. During 2021, the Consumer Affairs Division handled 2,581 formal complaints and assisted nearly 20,000 consumers either through phone calls, written inquiries, or in person at outreach events. Nearly $15M was returned to consumers through the Division. The largest driver of complaints continues to be accident and health followed by auto insurance. The Departments Market Regulation Division focuses on identifying and resolving systemic issues that impact Missouri insurance consumers. In some instances, Market regulation actions may originate from consumer complaints that have been filed with the Departments Consumer Affairs Division. In other instances, the issues are identified through a review of insurance company filings and by monitoring insurance company activities in the insurance marketplace. In 2021, the Market Regulation Division recovered $10.8 million. That money went to 32,741 Missouri insurance consumers. Consumers benefit from restitution by receiving refunds from insurance companies for premium overcharges and by receiving payment from insurance companies for claims that were improperly denied or were underpaid. Source: Missouri Department of Insurance Topics Carriers Missouri Employers in New York must disclose electronic monitoring, such as internet access and videoconferencing, to new hires under a new law taking effect in May, as workers contend with an employment landscape thats increasingly dependent on technology. The new law comes amid a worldwide push for greater privacy protections for consumers and workers, adding compliance obligations for businesses that must contend with general consumer privacy laws and employee-specific statutes. White-collar companies in recent years, and especially during the coronavirus pandemic, have turned to online toolsvideo-conferencing, workflow management software, and the liketo increase worker productivity. Over the last 20 years, weve gone through an unprecedented electronic and digital transformation in the workplace, said Mark Goldstein, a partner at Reed Smith LLP in New York. This is an attempted counterbalance at that. The lawwhich takes effect May 7requires disclosures to employees hired on or after that date. It applies to phone calls, internet searches, and online calls conducted through platforms such as Zoom Video Communications Inc. The New York attorney general may seek penalties of up to $500 for the first offense, $1,000 for the second offense, and $3,000 for the third offense. Compliance Obligations Businesses should review hiring and onboarding documents and use standardized language that tracks to the statute if appropriate, said Katharine Liao, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs in New York. Practically speaking, this is a reminder to make your policies clear in employee handbooks, and to review offer letters or employment agreements, confidentiality agreements, and electronic communications policies, Liao said. Small and large employers, even those with strong practices may want to fine-tune the text of their policies. Large companies with robust legal teams and employment law expertise are likely already aware of the law, but smaller businesses may not know of the statute or the fact that it applies to them, said Anne Patin, a partner at Seward & Kissel LLP in New York. The law applies to all non-state employers engaged in electronic monitoring with a place of business in New York, regardless of the number of employees or their annual revenue. Closer to May we will remind clients of their new obligations, Patin said. For larger companies, well also reach out to HR departments to make sure the requirements are included in their onboarding procedures. Potential Litigation The law doesnt contain a private right of action, which means plaintiffs are unlikely to be successful in bringing suit against companies that violate the New York law. Still, that doesnt mean attorneys wont try to bring claims under the law, said Kristin Bryan, a senior associate at Squire Patton Boggs in Cleveland. In the privacy arena especially, plaintiffs have sought to piggyback various privacy statutes, and some plaintiffs will argue that those laws impose various obligations and duties on employers, Bryan said. By alleging that a defendant failed to meet its statutory obligations, employees could seek to bring common law tort or related claims, she said. New York isnt viewed as a forum thats particularly friendly for class action plaintiffs, though, Bryan said. While there is still a risk, I dont see it as becoming the next California or Illinois in terms of privacy litigation, she said. Its unlikely that violations of this new law could be used as a predicate for creating new theories of liability in data privacy class actions. The statute itself is short, and there has not been additional guidance posted since the law passed, said Victoria Jaus, an associate at Vedder Price P.C. in New York. Enforcement once the statute takes effect may help companies better understand the technical specifications of the law, she added. The passage of the law in New York may inspire other states, such as California and Illinois, to pass similar legislation, said Jonathan Wexler, a partner at Vedder Price in New York. Connecticut and Delaware already have similar workplace monitoring laws. New York City is becoming one of the most employee-friendly jurisdictions in the country, and New York state is not far behind, Wexler said. This may be a trend to a limited extent in states that are like-minded, but I dont see it sweeping the nation. Photo: A person uses a laptop computer while working from home in an arranged photograph taken in Princeton, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 0.4% as compared with the same time Monday to 6.32 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Commercial Lines Business Insurance New York Digital home insurance company Kin Insurance, Inc. and Omnichannel Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, announced they have mutually agreed to terminate their plan to merge. The parties cited current unfavorable market conditions for the termination. In December, Kin, which targets catastrophe-prone areas including Florida, California, Georgia and Louisiana, said it had acquired an inactive insurance carrier holding licenses in 43 states as part of its plan to expand to additional states. That deal was disclosed along with the plan to go public by merging with Omnichannel Acquisition Corp. The SPAC agreement was expected to close in the 2022 first quarter. Matt Higgins, chief executive officer of Omnichannel, called Kin is a very special company with an important mandate. We cannot retreat from climate change, or abandon our most vulnerable cities, but instead we must adapt, and the insurance industry must evolve. Unfortunately, even the most promising high growth companies have a difficult time overcoming current market sentiment, and Kin is no exception, Higgins stated. Cat-Prone Startup Kin Insurance in Talks to Go Public With Shark Tank Judges SPAC Kin Insurance Funding Tops $69 Million as Pro Golfer McIlroy Joins Investors Omnichannel Acquisition Corp. is a blank check company looking to effect a business combination with one or more businesses. Sean Harper, chief executive officer of Kin, agreed that current market conditions are simply not conducive to Kin becoming a public company at this time. However, he vowed that Kin will be accessing the public markets in the future when the time is appropriate. Kin offers homeowners, landlord, condo, and mobile home insurance through the Kin Interinsurance Network (KIN), a reciprocal exchange owned by its customers who share in the underwriting profit. Topics Mergers & Acquisitions The Environmental Protection Agency is taking a series of enforcement actions to address air pollution, unsafe drinking water and other problems afflicting minority communities in three Gulf Coast states, following a Journey to Justice tour by Administrator Michael Regan last fall. The agency will conduct unannounced inspections of chemical plants, refineries and other industrial sites suspected of polluting air and water and causing health problems to nearby residents, Regan said. And it will install air monitoring equipment in Louisianas chemical corridor to enhance enforcement at chemical and plastics plants between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The region contains several hotspots where cancer risks are far above national levels. The EPA also issued a notice to the city of Jackson, Mississippi, saying its aging and overwhelmed drinking water system violates the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The order directs the city to outline a plan to correct the significant deficiencies identified in an EPA report within 45 days. In separate letters, Regan urged city and state officials to use nearly $79 million in funding allocated to Mississippi under the bipartisan infrastructure law to solve some of the most dire water needs in Jackson and other areas of need across Mississippi. The actions were among more than a dozen steps being taken in response to Regans tour last November. Regan visited low-income, mostly minority communities in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas as part of an effort to focus federal attention on communities adversely affected by decades of industrial pollution. A Toxics Release Inventory prepared by the EPA shows that minority groups make up 56% of those living near toxic sites such as refineries, landfills and chemical plants. Negative effects include chronic health problems such as asthma, diabetes and hypertension. In every community I visited during the Journey to Justice tour, the message was clear: residents have suffered far too long and local, state, and federal agencies have to do better, Regan said in a statement. Our actions will begin to help not only the communities I visited on this tour, but also others across the country who have suffered from environmental injustices. The unannounced inspections of chemical plants and other sites are going to keep these facilities on their toes, Regan said in a conference call with reporters. Inspections currently are done on a schedule or with advance notice, Regan said, but that is about to change. We are amping up our aggressiveness to utilize a tool thats in our toolbox that has been there for quite some time, he said. When facilities are found to be noncompliant, the EPA will use all available tools to hold them accountable, he added. A pilot project combining high-tech air pollution monitoring with additional inspectors will begin in three Louisiana parishes, including St. John the Baptist, St. James and Calcasieu. The parishes are home to scores of industrial sites and are long plagued by water and air pollution. Regan, a former environmental regulator in North Carolina, has made environmental justice a top priority since taking over as EPA head last year. As the first Black man to lead the agency, the issue is really personal for me, as well as professional,? he told The Associated Press in November. As I look at many of the folks in these communities, they look just like me. They look just like my son, and its really tough to see them question the quality of their drinking water,? Regan said. Historically marginalized communities like St. John and St. James, along with cities such as New Orleans, Jackson, Mississippi and Houston, will benefit from the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden, Regan said. The law includes $55 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure, while a sweeping climate and social policy bill pending in the Senate would pump more than twice that amount into EPA programs to clean up the environment and address water and environmental justice issues. As part of its enforcement action, the EPA is requiring a former DuPont petrochemical plant in La Place, Louisiana, to install fence-line monitors to identify emissions from the site, Regan said. The plant is now owned by the Japanese conglomerate Denka. The agency also said it will push for greater scrutiny of a proposed expansion of a Formosa Plastics plant in St. James and issued a notice of violation to a Nucor Steel plant that emits hydrogen sulfide and other harmful chemicals. Regan said he has spoken with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell about Gordon Plaza, a city neighborhood built on the site of a former toxic landfill. Gordon Plaza was designated as a Superfund site in the 1990s, but dozens of mostly Black families still live there. The EPA will review the site, starting in March, Regan said, and will add nine homes not included in earlier plans to help families move. City officials hope to use money from the infrastructure law to relocate families and build a solar farm on the site. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Pollution A property insurer must give up its underwriting manuals in a claims dispute, a Florida appeals court said Wednesday. In Peoples Trust Insurance Co. vs. Theodore Foster, the 1st District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee declined to quash a trial courts ruling that required the carrier to divulge its underwriting manuals, as requested by the homeowner. Although lawyers for the Deerfield Beach-based insurer argued that previous court rulings have categorically prohibited the discovery of manuals in breach-of-contract cases, the appeal judges disagreed. This sweeping characterization of the cases isnt correct, the court said. Although courts in a number of cases have quashed the premature discovery of insurers business practices, claims files, underwriting files, underwriting manuals, and the like in breach-of-contract actions, there is no categorical legal rule prohibiting discovery of underwriting manuals in breach of contract cases, especially if they are relevant, Judge Timothy Osterhaus wrote in the opinion. Peoples Trust did not show that the circuit court had violated a clearly established principle of law, and trade-secret arguments were not presented, the judge wrote. Foster, the policyholder, filed the breach-of-contract suit after Peoples denied his claim that a water pipe had leaked and damaged his home. The insurer said the pipe damage predated the policy. The plaintiff, as part of the lawsuit, then requested Peoples underwriting manuals, hoping to show information about the extent of its property inspections. The circuit court granted Fosters motion. Peoples objected and filed the writ of certiorari with the 1st DCA. The decision snaps something of a win streak for Peoples in Floridas appeals courts. The courts in 2021 ruled 17 times in favor of the insurer, the companys chief marketing officer said. Last month, the 3rd DCA found that homeowners were bound by their Peoples policy, which requires the use of the insurers chosen contractors to make repairs. Attorneys in the Foster case could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Topics Lawsuits Claims Underwriting Top officials from Polk County schools drove from school to school this week to physically remove 16 titles from library shelves after a conservative group complained theyre pornographic. It happened a day after County Citizens Defending Freedom sent an email to several middle and high school principals stating that the novels, graphic novels, autobiographies, and sex education books contain pornographic material harmful to children, the Lakeland Ledger reported. Advertisement The targeted books are: Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines Its Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart George by Alex Gino I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings Drama by Raina Telgemeier Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera Beloved by Toni Morrison The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher The books arent banned, at least not yet, district spokesman Jason Geary told the newspaper. Theyre simply in quarantine and not available to students while theyre reviewed. Advertisement When the newspaper interviewed a leader of the conservative groups local chapter, Jimmy Nelson, he would not reveal whether he read all of the 16 books, would not say how the books were chosen, and would not share any information about what detail in each book the group found objectionable. Its pretty evident. The books speak for themselves, Nelson said. Anybody whos aware and takes the time to see whats available to our kids can see whats in there. Previously, the same group complained to the Polk County School Board about its reproductive health curriculum, including that the anus is listed in a diagram and a vocabulary sheet describing the reproductive system, according to the report. In 2021, the group protested at a School Board meeting over mask mandate for students. Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > Complaints by conservative groups about school library materials and curricula have intensified in recent years in Florida and elsewhere. Last fall, a Flagler County School Board member filing a criminal complaint that accused the district of breaking obscenity laws over All Boys Arent Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto, a memoir that explores race and sexuality, the Sentinels Skyler Swisher reported. Around the same time, Orange County Public Schools pulled Gender Queer: A Memoir from shelves after an Orlando couple objected to it. Brevard County school libraries had also removed the book, the Sentinels Leslie Postal reported. Moms for Liberty, a polarizing group that began in Florida and has expanded across the country, recently began shifting attention to urging schools to remove pornographic library books and criticizing instructional materials they think teach critical race theory or praise communism, Swisher and Postal reported. Advertisement Last May, a Broward County school halted the use of fictional book in which a cop kills a Black child. In Georgia this week, Republicans in the state House signaled they will push forward with a proposal that would allow parents to protest books and other materials that they believe are harmful to minors, with school officials required to decide within seven days whether to remove the material. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Supporters spoke passionately Wednesday about the need for workers compensation insurance to cover mental health treatment for first responders, but the chair of a Georgia House committee decided to send the bill to a council for further study. Sponsored by Rep. Gregg Kinnard, D-Lawrenceville, House Bill 855 would make post-traumatic stress disorder a compensable injury, without an accompanying physical injury. At the House Industry and Labor Committee hearing, a Georgia police officer testified about the need for the paid PTSD treatment and time off. Ashley Wilson said she was traumatized after her policeman partner was shot multiple times and died in her arms, according to the Capitol Beat news outlet. I went from being a triathlete to someone who struggled to get off the couch and brush my teeth, she told the committee. Wilson spent more than $20,000 and used up much of her leave time to get treatment. Other advocates said PTSD has led to an epidemic of suicide among responders. Kinnards bill has received bipartisan support, and a comp lawyer testified that the workers comp system would ferret out false PTSD claims. But a representative of Georgia cities and counties said the bill, if it becomes law, would lead to a wave of costly litigation. The bills fate is now uncertain for this year. Committee Chairman Rep. Bill Werkheiser, R-Glennville, said he would refer it to an advisory council that recommends changes to the state Board of Workers Compensation. Topics Workers' Compensation Georgia Los Angeles County faces two lawsuits connected to last years shootings at a fire station that killed a firefighter and wounded a captain in attack investigators said stemmed from a longstanding job-related dispute. Firefighter Jonathan Tatone killed colleague Tory Carlon and then shot Capt. Arnoldo Sandoval, who was trying to intervene, at the Agua Dulce station last June. Tatone later set his home on fire and apparently killed himself, sheriffs officials said. Carlons widow filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the county and the gunmans estate, alleging that Tatones dangerous conduct was known to fire officials for years, the Los Angeles Times reported. Sandoval brought a separate suit alleging assault and battery against the county and Tatones estate, and negligence against the county. Both cases were filed last week and seek unspecified damages, the Times reported Monday. Tatone worked as a firefighter engineer and for years had clearly demonstrated to fire department leadership that he was unstable mentally and was a dangerous condition to those around him, according to the complaint in the Carlon familys suit. The county had no comment on pending litigation, said Michael Wilson, a spokesman for the LA County chief executives office. A representative of Tatones estate could not be reached for comment by the Times. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Lawsuits An insurer group is unhappy with new legislation to require insurance companies operating in California to disclose investments in fossil fuel-related entities as well as the fossil fuel-related companies and projects being underwritten. Assembly Bill 1694 expands upon the disclosures requested by former Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones in 2016 to cover all underwriting of, and investment in, fossil fuel-related projects by all of the 1,500 insurance companies that do business in California. California Assemblyman Marc Levine (D-Marin County) on Tuesday introduced the bill, calling for transparency from the insurance industry. The American Property Casualty Insurers Association called AB 1694 unnecessary and potentially dangerous. This bill gives broad authority to the California Department of Insurance to prevent an insurer from investing in or insuring a fossil fuel-related entity or project, said Denni Ritter, APCIA assistant vice president for state government relations. This is unsound public policy that will have wide ranging consequences for the entire California economy. Counter to its stated goal, this bill could needlessly jeopardize funding for important projects working to develop alternatives to fossil fuel, by limiting investment and insurance for local utilities. This bill could force necessary businesses, like gas stations or power plants, to go without insurance, putting the public and our states economic recovery at risk. He said the other provisions of the bill are duplicative, requiring insurers to annually disclose fossil fuel-related investments and underwriting, which the industry already does. Insurers in California and six other states each year complete the Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey, which was adopted by National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2010. Insurers confront climate change in the normal course of their business and are experts in understanding and measuring weather and climate-related risk, Ritter said. Each insurer incorporates its own strategy in managing their investment portfolio. Levine in introducing the bill called for being aggressive in the face of the climate crisis. Insurance companies want to raise rates due to climate risk, yet are investing and underwriting the fossil fuel industry the very industry that exacerbates climate change, he said. If we are serious about fighting the climate crisis, we need transparency from the insurance industry created by AB 1694. AB 1694 is set to be considered by the State Assembly this Spring. Related: Topics Carriers California Irish MEPs have written to the EUs High Representative on Foreign Affairs calling on him to raise their "deep unease" with Russian officials at the highest levels. Russian warships are making their way towards Ireland, as the Government begins "scenario planning" for economic sanctions being imposed on Moscow. Nato is monitoring a task group of Russian ships travelling through the Norwegian Sea towards Ireland to participate in a live-fire exercise off the south coast. A nuclear-powered submarine is among the group of ships due to conduct military drills in the waters 240km from the Cork coastline. They are expected to begin on Thursday, February 3 and will run for five days. In a letter to Vice President Josep Borrell, 10 of Ireland's 13 MEPs say the Russian navy's plan has caused "significant worry". "Mr Borelll, as representatives of the Irish people in the European Parliament, we request that you as the EU's High Representative raise, at the highest levels in the Russian Government, your deep unease at these manoeuvres and request no further manoeuvres take place," the letter states. The cross-party letter, which was signed by all MEPs apart from Mick Wallace, Clare Daly and Luke Ming Flanagan, acknowledges that international law allows operations of this nature, however, they say that the planned manoeuvres "must be viewed in the current context". "An operation so close to Ireland at a time of heightened tensions between other EU Member States and the Russian Federation, has caused worry among our citizens and concern in our government." According to sources there are three Russian naval vessel heading towards the coast of Ireland to take part in military exercises. The three warships are the anti-submarine hunter Vice-Admiral Kulakov, the frigate Admiral Kastanov and the cruiser Marshal Ustinov. Pictured is the Vice-Admiral Kulakov and the Marshal Ustinov. Reports have suggested that the vessels on their way toward Irish waters are carrying anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine systems. The exercise is said to be Russia seeking to show Europe that its military is capable of conducting operations on its western sea borders. Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has said his department is examining the impact of EU sanctions on Russia if they invade Ukraine and any potential counter-sanctions that may be imposed. His department is profiling how such measures would affect Irish businesses. He said the experiences of Covid had shown how businesses can be helped through an international crisis. Mr Varadkar also reiterated that planned Russian naval exercises off the Irish coast are unwelcome and a matter of concern. Russia is demanding security guarantees from the West, including a promise by Nato never to extend membership to Ukraine. Nato has made no concessions to the main Russian demands. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, meanwhile, has expressed surprise that a meeting took place between his own Defence Forces chief of staff and the Russian ambassador to Ireland. Mr Coveney told a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party that he was surprised, to put it mildly at Lieutenant General Sean Clancys meeting with Yury Filatov. The meeting heard that Lieutenant General Clancy said the photo-op was part of a round of engagements with diplomats. 'Syria on steroids' Cork North West TD and former minister Michael Creed raised the timing and appropriateness of the meeting. Mr Creed said the threatened land war between Russia and Ukraine would be like "Syria on steroids". The former Agriculture Minister has said there now needs to be a debate around Ireland's neutrality and our triple lock system given Russia's plans to carry out manoeuvres in Irish waters. "This wasn't an application that was made to Ireland that Ireland accepted, this was a notification that we got. They don't have to apply to us for this to happen," he said of the Russian plans, adding that he wishes it was otherwise. "We can't divorce all of this from the broader global context, which is the Ukrainian crisis. I mean, you have to ask yourself, why is it that, for the first time ever as is my understanding, the Russians would seek to do a military or naval manoeuvre in this area? The Cork North West TD added that he wouldn't like to see Irish fishermen putting themselves in harm's way. Mr Creed said he would welcome a discussion on Ireland's neutrality given the rising tensions. "I think the triple lock is all very well in theory - in other words, a government approval, a Dail approval and the United Nations approval for actions by the Irish military - but a UN approval requires a unanimous decision by all five permanent members of the Security Council. And therein is the problem for us insofar as it effectively outsources or gives a veto to others on actions that we might take. "There are many times when we see humanitarian crises developing and say somebody should do something, but we are hamstrung ourselves from doing something if there isn't unanimity in the Security Council on these matters. That's effectively outsourcing or giving a veto to others," he told RTE's Today with Claire Byrne show. A man is due in court in Cork city in connection with the seizure of more than 30,000 worth of suspected cannabis resin. The drugs were seized during a search operation involving gardai and Revenue officials at a house in Ballyphehane on Wednesday afternoon. Burma Displaced Kayah Civilians Going Hungry as Myanmar Junta Blocks Supplies Civilians fleeing junta attacks in Hpruso in August 2021. / Karenni Free Burma Rangers Villagers in Hpruso Township in Kayah State are facing serious food shortages due to ongoing clashes between resistance groups and Myanmars junta and are surviving on corn mixed with rice. Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced by the fighting across Kayah State amid indiscriminate aerial attacks. The state capital, Loikaw, and Demoso are now largely deserted. Civilians in displacement camps say they have been hungry for more than a week due to rice shortages and they only have a few days of rice and corn left. Ko Banyar, spokesman for the Karenni Human Rights Group, said: People in Bawlake village-tract are hungry. Junta soldiers use a hill near the village to fetch water and regularly clash with resistance groups. The area is dangerous because of the soldiers and delivering food is difficult. Villagers are eating a rice and corn mix. Fighting since the coup has halved agricultural production. People cant afford to buy food. International charities want to supply Kayah but the regime keeps them out. The problems will increase if the fighting continues, added Ko Banyar. The price of a rice sack has risen from 30,000 kyats (US$17) to over 60,000 to 70,000 kyats, he said. A Hpruso Township farmer, who grows sesame seeds and corn, said: We dont grow rice. We buy rice by selling sesame and corn. As the rice price soars, we face shortages. Fighting in Kayah State has prevented farmers selling their crops and the prices of maize and sesame have declined while transport costs have risen. The regime has blocked roads across the state. There are only about 40,000 hectares of Kayah paddy fields and rice production only meets about half of the states demand. The regime is also blocking medical supplies from Yangon, Mandalay and other cities. The regime recently said displaced Loikaw residents are returning to the state capital. You may also like these stories: Major Australian Energy Firm Woodside Announces Myanmar Pullout Myanmars KBZ Group Dissolves Subsidiary That Operated Jade Mine With Military Forty Junta Soldiers Reported Killed in Upper Myanmar Burma Ex-Myanmar Military Officer-Turned-NLD Minister Charged With Corruption Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and then Union Government Office Minister U Min Thu (right) / The Irrawaddy The Myanmar junta has filed a corruption charge against a former military colonel who served as a minister in the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta alleged in an announcement on Tuesday that former Minister of the Union Government Office U Min Thu received 67.5 million kyats (about US$37,800) from a company owner to buy NLD-logo shirts and bags for use during the partys election campaign in September 2020. The former air force pilot is the second ex-military officer who served in the NLD government to be charged by the regime. Former Brigadier General Thura U Aung Ko, the ousted minister of religious affairs and culture, was charged under Article 55 of the Anti-Corruption Law. Tuesdays announcement said a case had been opened against U Min Thu, also under Article 55, which carries a potential 15-year sentence for anyone in political office involved in bribery. He was appointed to the Naypyitaw Council after the NLD took office in early 2016 and became deputy Presidents Office minister in December of that year. He was later appointed as the minister for the Union Government Office in late 2018 to supervise the General Administration Department (GAD), the backbone of the countrys public administrative mechanism. The NLD government transferred the formerly military-controlled department to his ministry. After the coup, however, the regime returned control of the GAD to its Home Affairs Ministry. U Min Thu was known to be close to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and sometimes drove for her in place of her regular driver. His wife Daw May Lwin Thein also has a close relationship with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. U Min Thu also faces accusations from the juntas handpicked electoral body of committing election fraud in the 2020 general election together with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint. He has been under house arrest since Feb. 1, the day the military seized power in a coup. You may also like these stories: Thousands More Villagers Flee Myanmar Junta Raids Myanmar Regime Forces Shell Refugee Camp as Woman Gives Birth Towns Residents Flee Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Burma Forty Junta Soldiers Reported Killed in Upper Myanmar Feature: Two boats from the military flotilla of 8 vessels operating in Kani Township, Sagaing Region this week. / CJ Around 40 junta soldiers including an army captain were reportedly killed when several resistance groups conducted a series of daring attacks over the past five days against a military flotilla of eight vessels in Kani Township, Sagaing Region. The flotilla, including six barges and two motorboats carrying over 100 troops, was reportedly transporting food, weapons and ammunition to upper Myanmar along the Chindwin River. It departed from the city of Monywa on January 22. The Irrawaddy was unable to confirm independently the Myanmar militarys casualties. On Thursday, the Kani Peoples Defense Force Kyauk Lone Gyi (KPDF-KLG) claimed to have killed 20 regime troops when it attacked the flotilla three times that morning along with other local PDFs. The group said that one of the vessels caught fire after being hit with a homemade 40mm shell fired by the PDFs. A video shows the resistance fighters attacking the boats. On Wednesday, a combined force of at least four resistance groups also attacked the flotilla at three locations along the Chindwin River, according to the resistance groups. At 10am on Wednesday, the combined force attacked the vessels near Chantharsu Village. At least 15 regime soldiers were killed in the assault, according to KPDF-KLG which coordinated the attacks. Video shows one of the vessels being hit by an explosive round or shell. The combined PDFs went on to attack the flotilla again at 2pm on Wednesday afternoon. The military vessels also came under attack at 6.30pm Wednesday evening while docked at a sandbank near a village. The flotilla has been delayed for several days in Kani because of the attacks. The journey north from Monywa to Mingin usually takes one or two days, said Ko Phoe Toke, the leader of Mahuurar Dragon, another resistance group based in Kani Township which helped coordinate the attacks. On Tuesday, the convoy of vessels was ambushed by a combined PDF force near Thaphan Chaung Village on the lower reaches of the Chindwin River. After reportedly suffering five casualties, including an army captain, in an ambush last Sunday, regime troops from the flotilla torched 31 houses in Natgyi Village on the banks of the Chindwin. On Saturday, junta forces also torched 11 houses while arresting and then killing a 30-year-old villager who suffered from mental illness during a raid on Mokehtaw Village after their vessels were attacked by resistance fighters, according to local PDFs. Resistance fighter Ko Phoe Toke of Mahuurar Dragon said that civilians are now being targeted by regime troops for arrest, torture and murder when they cannot beat the resistance forces in battle. They [regime forces] are inhuman. They burned houses. They dont know the value of a house as most of them havent owned a house, said Ko Phoe Toke. We can understand their looting of homes. However, burning houses shows how atrocious they are, he added. In early December, a series of firefights was also reported when resistance groups from Kani and Mingin townships ambushed another military flotilla of eight vessels reportedly transporting jade from Kachin State down the Chindwin River. Armed resistance against the military regime began in Kani in April last year. The township is one of the most restive areas in Sagaing Region. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Regime Arrests Striking Civil Servants in Chin State Ex-Myanmar Military Officer-Turned-NLD Minister Charged With Corruption Thousands More Villagers Flee Myanmar Junta Raids China's relief supplies arrive in tsunami-hit Tonga Xinhua) 15:52, January 27, 2022 SUVA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's relief supplies worth 1 million yuan (about 157,900 U.S. dollars) have arrived in Tonga's capital city of Nuku'alofa on Thursday. According to Cao Yongjun, a Suva-based representative of China National Fisheries (Group) Corporation (CNFC), CNFC's two fishing boats carrying the emergency supplies are currently docking in the Vuna wharf of Nuku'alofa for unloading. As a COVID-19-free island nation with a population of more than 100,000, Tonga now has very strict measures to prevent COVID-19 from entering into the country, he told Xinhua, adding that all ships coming to Nuku'alofa only have access to contactless delivery of dropping off aid and humanitarian supplies. Due to the anti-COVID-19 procedures, the officials from the Chinese Embassy in Tonga have been waiting outside the Vuna wharf on Thursday and they can not meet with the crew of the two Chinese vessels. The officials have been coordinating the unloading of the vessels with the parties concerned in Tonga, which has been heavily damaged by the recent volcano eruptions and tsunami caused by the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, located about 65 km north of the Tongan capital. The two Chinese vessels set sail from Fijian capital Suva on Monday afternoon. Most of the relief supplies, including drinking water, food, electric generators, water pumps, chain saws, personnel protective equipment and medical supplies, were raised by the Chinese Embassy in Fiji and the remaining was donated by the Chinese enterprises in Fiji. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Fort Lauderdale When daylight waned Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for the dozens of missing people who were on a boat Saturday night that capsized. Crews found four bodies in 24 hours in their search area, in addition to the body found on Wednesday, Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann F. Burdian said at a news conference. Officials planned to suspend their efforts if no additional information to refine the search came before sunset. Advertisement Cutters, aircraft and boat crews have combed a search area the size of Massachusetts since Tuesday. The search spanned throughout the northern Straits of Florida as far north as Port Canaveral in Brevard County, Burdian said. The decision to suspend really is a very, very complicated one, Burdian said Thursday. We have saturated the area over and over and over again. Weve had good visibility, the weather is somewhat deteriorating and we know were searching in the right area ... It does mean that we dont think its likely that anyone else has survived. Advertisement [ RELATED: Search-and-rescue mission for 38 missing at sea grows increasingly dire after one body found ] The boat left Bimini, Bahamas, Saturday with 40 people aboard on what officials have called a suspected human smuggling event. The boat capsized after it headed into turbulent weather that night, and a good Samaritan rescued a lone survivor found clinging to the hull of the vessel Tuesday morning. Homeland Security Investigations Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury said the department is not releasing any information about the nationality of the survivor, the nationality of those on board, or any details about what the survivor has told authorities, citing the ongoing criminal investigation. The goal is to identify, arrest and prosecute any criminal or criminal organization that organized, facilitated or profited from this doomed venture, Salisbury said. [ RELATED: Mother of survivor found clinging to capsized boat begs authorities not to deport her son ] Homeland Security Investigations asks anyone with information on the suspected human smuggling event or anyone who believes they had family members aboard the vessel to contact their tip line at 866-347-2423. The rescued survivor was Juan Esteban Montoya Caicedo, a young Colombian man, who was travelling with his sister, Maria Camila Montoya Caicedo, the Associated Press reported Friday. Colombias foreign ministry wrote in an email to the Associated Press that the siblings mother confirmed her son was found. Their mother told Telemundo in an exclusive interview that her 18-year-old daughter was travelling with her son, who is still in the hospital. He told his mother, identified only as Marcia, that many... lost their lives by drowning that same Saturday night, including women and children. He told me, Mom, my sister died, my sister drowned. I dont know Mom, I looked for her as much as I could and couldnt find her. I called her and called her and my sister couldnt take it, Marcia said her son told her. Advertisement Burdian said at news conference Wednesday the search-and-rescue mission was growing increasingly dire after crews found one body and fields of debris. In some cases, the trip between the island and South Florida is relatively easy. But with seas 7- to 9-feet high, a cold front and wind speeds up to 23 mph that weekend, the 25-foot boat helmed into the rough waters, causing it to capsize, where it remains, Burdian said. In cases like this, small vessels overloaded, inexperienced operators at night in bad weather, its incredibly dangerous, Burdian said. U.S. Coast Guard crews will suspend their search at sunset Thursday for dozens of people still missing after a boat they were on capsized, Five bodies have been recovered, and one man was found clinging to the hull of the capsized vessel on Tuesday after what Homeland Security is investigating as an attempted smuggling case. (U.S. Coast Guard Southeast) The good Samaritan on a commercial ship named the Signet Intruder from the maritime transportation company Signet Maritime Corporation, rescued the one survivor Tuesday morning about 45 miles east of the Fort Pierce Inlet, Coast Guard officials said. Advertisement The survivor reported no one was wearing a life jacket, according to a statement from the Coast Guard. The survivor was taken to a local hospital for symptoms of dehydration and sun exposure, Coast Guard officials said, and was interviewed by Homeland Security Investigations. Advertisement Just days ago, Coast Guard crews intercepted a boat known as a sail freighter with 88 Haitians aboard that left from the Bahamas. Sail freighters are what is commonly seen in trips that leave from the Bahamas, Petty Officer Jose Hernandez said. Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > Ventures that leave from the Bahamas often include people of many nationalities. The Coast Guard has intercepted 559 Haitians since the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1, 2021. In the last fiscal year, authorities intercepted over 1,500 Haitians, according to a news release issued last week. A total of 127 Cubans have been interdicted since the start of this fiscal year, compared to 838 in the previous year. Burdian said the Coast Guard is suspending the search rather than closing it, meaning they wont be dedicating assets specifically to this search. Again, I really just want to express my deepest condolences for anyone who may be grieving a loss or feared loss of a loved one in this particular case, she said. Advertisement Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Burma Myanmar Regime Arrests Striking Civil Servants in Chin State A school in Tedim in November 2021. / CJ Myanmars military regime detained nine striking civil servants in Falam, Chin State, on Tuesday, according to the Chin National Organization (CNO). The regime has a list of civil servants who joined the civil disobedience movement [CDM]. Nine striking government employees have been arrested so far, a CNO spokesman told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday. Among the detained striking civil servants are teachers, medics and staff from the immigration and communications departments. The regime detained the mother of a striking teacher after the security forces did not find the teacher at her home, according to residents. The head of No. 1 Basic Education High School in Falam was detained for interrogation although she has not joined the CDM. The CNO said non-striking staff revealed their former colleagues locations. The arrests came after the CNO and Chin Nationalities Defense Force (CNDF) warned teachers not to work when basic education schools reopened in Falam, said residents. The regime previously did nothing to strikers. But when schools reopened, the CNDF issued its warning and staff have been scared to go to work, said a striking medic in Falam. I am worried about being arrested. No one knows when they will be released if arrested and how long the revolution will take. Many strikers have fled their homes to avoid being arrested. Many refuse to work, he added. Since the February coup last year, government staff up to the rank of director and some staff from the home affairs and defense ministries, have refused to work for the regime, stifling the juntas ability to administrate. Many striking civil servants have been sacked, face arrest warrants and are in hiding. Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly broadcast demands for striking civil servants to return to work. The regime has promised to drop charges against returning staff but the strike remains strong after almost a year. You may also like these stories: Ex-Myanmar Military Officer-Turned-NLD Minister Charged With Corruption Thousands More Villagers Flee Myanmar Junta Raids Myanmar Regime Forces Shell Refugee Camp as Woman Gives Birth Burma Myanmars KBZ Group Dissolves Subsidiary That Operated Jade Mine With Military Jade mines in Kachin States Hpakant / The Irrawaddy The Kanbawza Group of Companies (KBZ) has dissolved its subsidiary Nilar Yoma Gems Co. Ltd., which engaged in jade mining through a venture with military-owned Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). Kanbawza Group said it dissolved Nilar Yoma on Jan. 21. The company operated a jade mine in Sagaing Region in partnership with MEHL for many years. Kanbawza told Amnesty International (AI) in 2020 that it was reviewing its business partnership with MEHL. A report released by AI in September of that year exposed international businesses financial ties to Myanmars military, including many units directly responsible for crimes under international law and other human rights violations. By doing business with the conglomerate, such businesses bore some responsibility for the crimes and violations, the report said. AI wrote to eight companies that operate jointly with MEHL in Myanmar including Kanbawza and Japanese beverage giant Kirin, which replied that they were reviewing their relationship with the military conglomerate. However, an individual involved in Nilar Yomas dissolution process said a decline in the jade and gems trade caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-coup political turmoil were behind the move. As everyone knows, we are in a crisis now, and businesses that are not operating are dissolved, he told The Irrawaddy. He said Nilar Yoma had not operated for some two years, and had long ceased its partnership with MEHL. Kanbawza Group is one of the largest privately owned diversified groups of companies in Myanmar, with interests in the mining, banking, aviation, insurance, manufacturing, real estate, trading and other industries. In a 2019 report, the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar detailed how companies with links to Myanmars military helped finance its atrocities against self-identifying Rohingya in Rakhine State in 2017. The report named two companies, KBZ Group and Max Myanmar, as having helped finance the construction of a barrier fence along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border knowing that it would contribute to the suffering and anguish associated with preventing the displaced Rohingya population from returning to their homes and land. Officials of these companies should be investigated with a view to criminal prosecution for making substantial and direct contributions to the commission of crimes under international law, including crimes against humanity, mission expert Chris Sidoti said. Western countries have imposed sanctions on Myanmar Timber Enterprise, Myanmar Pearl Enterprise and Myanmar Gems Enterprise, which are cash cow businesses for the regime. Human rights groups are also calling for sanctions against Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. You may also like these stories: Forty Junta Soldiers Reported Killed in Upper Myanmar Myanmar Regime Arrests Striking Civil Servants in Chin State Ex-Myanmar Military Officer-Turned-NLD Minister Charged With Corruption Guest Column Indian rebels now brothers in arms with Myanmar military PLA members perform a morning drill at a camp in Myanmar. / PLA sources If anything, the ongoing civil war in Myanmar triggered by the February 1 coup last year has exposed the vulnerabilities of the junta forces. Despite superior firepower and troop strength, the Myanmar military is facing a stiff challenge from the Peoples Defense Forces (PDF) across most of the country, as well as from the ethnic armed organizations (EAO) in the various ethnic regions. The PDFs, which comprise hundreds of civilian resistance groups, are the armed wing of the parallel National Unity Government, formed to challenge the military regimes legitimacy. Branded as terrorist groups by the junta, the PDFs have launched numerous hit-and-run attacks on junta forces, besides bombing military targets and killing regime-appointed officials and collaborators. In addition, EAOs such as the Kachin Independence Army, Karenni Army and Chin National Army frequently attack regime forces. Hell-bent on tackling the PDFs, the Myanmar military is now mobilizing northeast Indias separatist insurgents as a force multiplier. The move comes after the junta apparently reached an understanding with a few rebel outfits from the northeast Indian state of Manipur who operate inside Myanmar, according to people familiar with the development. India shares a porous, 1,643km long border with Myanmar. Cross-border insurgencies have remained a major security threat to Indias northeast region for several decades. The rugged terrain makes it easy for the rebels to slip back and forth between their camps and ambush sites on the Indian side of the frontier. Myanmar Militarys Secret Pact It is believed that the Myanmar military has made an informal pact with at least two Manipur-based insurgent outfits, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) and the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL) recently. While the PLA has been fighting for secession from India since the 1970s, KYKL is a relatively newer outfit, founded in the 1990s. As part of the quid pro quo arrangement, these groups will assist junta forces in their operations against PDFs in the so-called liberated zones such as Chin State and Sagaing Region. Sources said a section of Manipuri insurgents had moved to Chin State long back. Incidentally, there were media reports claiming that Indias special forces launched a surprise attack on a PLA camp in Senam Village in Chin State on January 13, in which two PLA militants and one Indian soldier were killed. While the Indian Army rejected these reports, saying no such incident took place, the rebel group as well as local sources provided details of the alleged operation. Nevertheless, the reports about the Myanmar militarys secret pact with Manipuri rebels has raised concerns in the Indian capital of New Delhi, according to The Indian Express newspaper. Although the Indian government has not made any official comment on the matter, it wants to send out a message that it cannot be business as usual until democracy is restored to Myanmar. Indias frustration is understandable given that Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla visited Myanmar only last month, during which both sides reiterated their commitment to ensure that their respective territories would not be allowed to be used for any activities inimical to the other, as Indias foreign ministry said in a statement. Brothers in Arms However, this is not the first time that the Myanmar military has reached an understanding with northeast Indias insurgents. The Manipuri PLA, for instance, is believed to have maintained some ties with the Myanmar military for a long time, which facilitated their expansion, training camps and investment in different parts of the country. Similarly, an informal pact existed between the military and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) or NSCN (K) since 2001, until they signed a formal ceasefire agreement in 2012 to reduce hostilities. This bonhomie came as a boon not only for the NSCN (K), but also for various northeast Indian insurgent outfits such as the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent and the now disbanded National Democratic Front of Bodoland from Assam, as well as Manipuri outfits which were running camps along with the Naga group. Things started going south when New Delhi put pressure on the Myanmar military to take action against these groups in the wake of attacks on Indian security forces. An ambush on an Indian Army convoy, which resulted in the death of 18 soldiers in Manipur on June 4, 2015 was the turning point. In response, Indian special forces reportedly conducted a surgical strike in Myanmar, but its outcome is still shrouded in mystery. Nevertheless, the Myanmar military did succumb to pressure from India and agreed to a launch a crackdown. Operation Sunrise was conducted jointly by the Indian and Myanmar militaries between January and May 2019 in the border areas targeting rebel groups from Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland. There were at least 50 rebel camps belonging to these militant groups in Myanmar until 2018, The Hindu newspaper had reported quoting security officials. Later, some of these groups moved to other regions, including Sagaing and the area occupied by the Pangmi Naga people. The 2021 coup has changed the situation in favour of the Indian rebel groups. With the Myanmar military fully occupied with fighting the PDFs and EAOs, some of these outfits have started regrouping and hiring new cadres. A senior Indian government official confirmed this development to The Diplomat. The Myanmar military regime is looking to make optimum use of resources, so they may have zeroed in on northeast Indias rebels. And hence an informal pact with friendly Manipuri rebel groups, who can be deployed to fight PDFs. For its part, India is likely to keep a close watch on these developments and work out a new strategy to deal with rebel activity in border areas. As the situation in Myanmar remains fluid and the junta looks unreliable, the possibility of surprise attacks by the Indian military could also be an option. Jayanta Kalita is a senior journalist and author based in New Delhi. He writes on issues relating to Indias northeast and its immediate neighborhood. The views expressed are his own. You may also like these stories: Will India Serve as a Catalyst to Solve Myanmar Crisis? Chinas New Border Law Could Further Complicate Boundary Disputes QUAD Regional Bloc May Hold Key to Myanmar Crisis Guest Column Myanmars Current Tragedy Will Have Dire and Continuing Consequences Smoke rises from fires in Thantlang in Chin State on October 29, 2021, where more than 160 buildings have been destroyed by shelling from junta military troops. / AFP Anniversaries, even those associated with marriages or unions, can be profoundly sad. And what has happened in Myanmar was not a marriage. Consent was not involved. Rather, rape may be the most appropriate metaphor. No one, including the Myanmar military, would call the coup of 1 February 2021 an auspicious occasion. But the first anniversary of the violent dyadic relationship, forced as it was between the military and the diverse civilian elements of the population, is akin to rape. Such relationships result from the actions of internal actors. However one defines it and whatever its motivation, it destabilizes the country and is a connection that must evolve and endure if what we know as the state of Myanmar is to continue to exist. The bloody origins of this forced relationship will be remembered and will influence whatever develops. The current tragedy of Myanmar will have continuing and dire consequences, In the West, the traditional anniversary wedding present for the first year is paper, perhaps because that is the least expensive of presents, the values of which grow to silver and gold and diamonds as the years progress. Perhaps this custom resulted because the first year may be the most tentative of all future years in a normal marriage, in which continuity is often questionable. In this case, this present cannot be given to the Myanmar people by those abroad, those who cannot control internal dynamics. Rather, it is an internal mutual present that the diverse elements of the population must provide each other. In Myanmar, this paper present is potentially the most valuable of any gift, and also the most elusive. Gold, silver, oil, gas, rubies, jade, and other extractive elements have more intrinsic immediate value, but paper is the ultimate present. That paper is a constitution under which the State can unite in some form acceptable to the diverse peoples of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Three constitutions have been issued and enacted. All of them failed to satisfy critical elements of the population on important issues of power, distribution of assets, and the protection of rights. The result has been continuing and expanding rebellions and insurgencies, crime, and now urban warfare. The 1947 constitution was supposed to be federal in nature. It was not; it exacerbated ethnic and political rebellions. The 1974 constitution of the Burma Socialist Programme Party was based on a single-party political and socialist economic system based on an Eastern European communist model that was unsuited to the then Burma. The military-authored 2008 constitution ensured the primacy of that element of the population. All three constitutions did not deal adequately with the demands of many of the ethnic peoples for localized power and access to resources, and civil rights were variously constricted. The National Unity Government has denounced the 2008 constitution, and the junta has labelled its members treasonous. All bridges have been burned, and the future path is without maps. There is thus a tendency to look to foreign models. The Myanmar military may try to emulate the Thai military, but they lack a monarch of whatever capacity around whom to rally. The civilians and some ethnic groups look to varied Western models, which may lack relevance to the needs of the country and local aspirations. The level of mistrust is pervasive and consistent, both on personal and institutional levels. There is yet no indication that compromise is possible. The military regime has indicated that it plans to return to normal governance after two years (originally they indicated one year) and after elections. But elections require one of two conditions: either a system of rules on how such elections will be held, and the resulting structure of governance, or that the elections will be for those who would write such rules. In other words, a constitution. The last two of Myanmars constitutions were approved by fraudulent referenda. The 1990 election results, swept by the National League for Democracy, were ignored by the then junta, but even what that election was for, a government or a constitutional convention, was disputed. Alas, any of the likely scenarios would not produce a product acceptable to major elements of the country. The legitimacy of any ensuing election or government would thus be widely questioned. The prognosis is thus for continuing violence. And no foreign state, no matter how much regional power it may hold, could impose a system on the country that would ensure stability and would be acceptable in that highly nationalistic environment. We are close to the diamond anniversary (60 years) of another event in Myanmars history: the 1962 coup that ushered in a half century of military rule. Celebrating either anniversary would be to validate repression, but ignoring their dire importance would be to underestimate their historical, and detrimental, relevance. Starting anew, an anniversary, a year, a new endeavor, with a sense of hope is almost a required ritual in most societies. Yet at this exceptional time in Myanmar, it is necessarily absent. And it will be the diverse peoples of that country who will suffer. David I. Steinberg is distinguished professor of Asian Studies emeritus, Georgetown University You may also like these stories: Myanmar Junta Expands its Intelligence Operation Military Junta Administrators Quit After Armed Groups Death Threats Cambodia Forced to Put Off ASEAN Meeting as Foreign Ministers Pull Out On This Day The Day Myanmars Military Chief Hinted at the Coup to Come Min Aung Hlaing speaks to instructors, senior officers and trainees from the National Defense College via a videoconference link on Jan. 27, 2021. / Min Aung Hlaings website On this day in 2021, Myanmars military chief Min Aung Hlaing said the Constitution should be revoked if its laws were not being followeda statement that fueled public concerns about a military coup amid heightened tensions between the military and the National League for Democracy (NLD) over the result of the 2020 general election. Calling the Constitution the mother of the law, Min Aung Hlaing stressed the need to comply with the charter in a video address to senior officer trainees at the National Defense College. If one does not follow the law, such a law must be revoked. I mean if it is the Constitution, it is necessary to revoke the Constitution. If one does not follow the law, the Constitution must be revoked, he told the officers. He cited the invalidation of Myanmars previous two constitutions, promulgated in 1947 and 1974 under military juntas following coups detat. Many viewed his statement, which followed his earlier allegation that the Nov. 8, 2020 general election was fraudulent and marred by vote rigging, as a hint that the military would resort to a coup. His statement followed military spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tuns refusal, during a press conference on Jan. 26, to rule out the possibility of a coup. It also coincided with a series of pro-junta rallies and protests targeting the Union Election Commission (UEC) across the country organized by the vice-chair of the militarys proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, U Khin Yi (who now serves as the regimes immigration minister), and former Lieutenant General Wai Lwin, who served as the defense minister under U Thein Seins quasi-civilian government. On Jan. 28, the UEC responded that concerned parties could file complaints in line with the law and seek rulings from the Constitutional Tribunal. No individual or organization could change election results in violation of the law, and the wishes of the voters could not be compromised, the UEC said, further exacerbating the tensions between the military and the NLD government. However, on Jan. 30, Myanmars military said the commander-in-chiefs statement had been misinterpreted and the armed forces would protect and abide by the Constitution and act according to the law, allaying coup fears for the time being. But just three days later on Feb. 1, two generals arrived at the residence of President U Win Myint at around 5 a.m. and asked him to step down on health grounds. He refused and said he would rather die than resign, the ousted president told a junta court some eight months later. U Win Myint was detained along with State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other government leaders on Feb. 1 last year as the military seized power from the NLD government in a coup. Despite the takeover, however, Min Aung Hlaing did not scrap the 2008 Constitution, which was designed to ensure the militarys grip on power in perpetuity. You may also like these stories: The Day Myanmars Military Refuses to Rule Out Coup Option The Day Hired Mobs Began Protesting the Military Proxy Partys 2020 Election Loss The Day Myanmar Military Chief Makes First Move for Coup Georgia Speaker David Ralston, right, filing House Bill 1013 on the floor of the House of Representatives with Clerk of the House Bill Reilly, at left, early in the legislative session. Photo from Georgia House of Representatives Trinity, TX (77320) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 89F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Ithaca, NY (14850) Today Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 44F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 44F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. A Florida officer was fired after he was caught on video using a Taser against a man in a wheelchair. The St. Petersburg Police Department released the video Thursday morning during a press conference, according to Bay News 9. Advertisement If we cant control a subject like that, then we have a problem, says Chief Holloway in response to terminating one officer who tased a wheelchair bound man during an arrest. @BN9 pic.twitter.com/dNtN48I0BD Gabby Arzola (@GabrielleArzola) January 27, 2022 It shows Officer Matthew Cavinder repeatedly using his Taser while a man was resisting arrest. Police Chief Anthony Holloway called it disturbing and said during the conference if an officer cant control a man in a wheelchair, then he shouldnt be in his position. Advertisement Read the full report on baynews9.com. As a large mobile service provider in the Philippines, Globe debuts what it claims to be the first-ever Eco-SIM cards in Asia for its postpaid mobile customers, contributing to environmental sustainability by recycling refrigerator waste. SIM cards are among the smallest consumer items in the world, weighing around 4 grams each. However, with approximately 4.5 billion SIM cards manufactured every year, their combined weight represents an estimated 20,000 tons of plastic and other polymers. Together with its partner, Thales, Globe says it has deployed Eco-SIM cards starting November 2021, made from 100% recycled materials including polystyrene waste from refrigerators, diverting this waste stream from landfills. Thales is a global provider of advanced technologies, investing in digital and "deep tech" innovations. Thales has been in the Philippines since 2010, and is a strategic partner to key customers in the civil aviation, defense, digital security, air traffic management, and ground transportation sectors. Thales' Eco-SIM Card was first developed in 2020 in partnership with Veolia and has a neutral carbon footprint. Made from 100% recycled polystyrene recovered from discarded refrigerator interiors, the CO2 emissions from the manufacturing process and electronic components are fully offset by Thales' comprehensive carbon offset program, Globe says. Globe says that in addition to offering a second life to refrigerator interiors and enabling an independent and exclusive green plastic supply flow to Globe for their SIM cards, Thales is helping Globe meet its ambitions for cutting e-waste, reducing its carbon footprint and contributing to sustainability in the Philippines. Thales Digital Identity & Security head of mobile connectivity solutions for Asia Jon Cahilig said, "As consumers become more environmentally-conscious, the onus is on companies to innovate to introduce sustainable technology solutions to remain competitive. "As a Group, Thales has pledged to get to net zero carbon emissions by 2040, and we align with the ambitions of many organisations to work for the better good and build a sustainable future. The Eco-SIM card is small, but it has a big impact on plastic and polymer waste and is another example of how we innovate to drive change. We are excited to partner with Globe on this pioneering initiative in the Philippines with a goal to roll it out throughout Asia," Cahilig concluded. In 2019, Globe says it became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, committing to implement universal sustainability principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption in its operations. In January 2021, Globe formally expressed its support to the globally-recognised Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). Further to this Globe says, in 2021, it became the first publicly-listed Philippine company to be listed by the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) committed to set science-based targets, in line with the 1.5C global warming scenario of the Paris Agreement and the #RacetoZero Campaign. Globe chief sustainability officer and SVP for corporate communications Yoly Crisanto said "In order for us to truly move the needle in the fight against climate change, we all must take on the responsibility to act sustainably. "This partnership with the Thales Group not only enables us to come up with a solution for our telco business, but it also gives our customers the opportunity to step up and choose to live more sustainably," Crisanto concluded. Globe says it strongly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly UN SDG No. 12, which highlights the roles of responsible consumption and production patterns as crucial steps toward building a circular economy. Globe concluded that it is committed to upholding the 10 United Nations Global Compact principles and 10 UN SDGs. GUEST OPINION: There are several reasons why real-time is really taking off, and the rise of event-driven architectures is one of them. The challenge of doing business in real-time is that it means different things to different people, and the expectation of how quickly things need to occur continues to shift over time. Everyone understands that latency matters. There's a good understanding generally of the impact that higher ping times have on access to applications and data. Similarly, organisations understand how data and faster access to it can fundamentally change the value proposition they create for customers. For these organisations, it's no longer sufficient to look at past application usage or purchase patterns as a predictor of future customer behaviour. Instead, organisations are cognisant they now operate in a "real-time economy," where what matters most is what I as the user or consumer am looking at now, combined and enriched with the historical context of my past transactions.. For organisations, it's about making online, not offline, predictions. It's about having the ability to learn and execute while the user is still active and engaged. From a technology perspective, it's the ability to continually learn by updating machine learning models in real-time and incorporating new incoming data. That's the essence of the real-time challenge that organisations are faced with enabling today. Time matters Executing the processing and predictive work while the user is online means that time is always going to be of the essence. More to the point, there's still a lot of 'fuzziness' around how real-time an organisation's capabilities have to be in order to execute on that. Does it need to occur in seconds, milliseconds, microseconds or nanoseconds? The short answer is 'yes,' but with a big 'but' as it will largely depend on business SLA. Even within early use cases, such as fraud detection and prevention, personalised offers and gaming, there are differences in what constitutes acceptable, real-time performance. And that gets to the essence of the challenge around real-time: there's a continuum of options as to the time it takes to execute the process. Where an organisation starts on that continuum is not an indication of where it'll stay. The goalposts will continually move, and organisations will need to keep pace. Real-time is a journey and may take a few steps to accomplish. As expectations of what really constitutes real-time shift, it's critical that organisations build real-time applications on a platform that enables them to keep pace with this constant compression of the acceptable time window available for processing and predictive analysis. It's the only way to ensure they remain real-time and that the applications satisfy the value it creates for the customers. How we got here The migration from batch processing and offline behavioural analysis to real-time analysis while a customer is active online is a trend that's been a while in the making but is coming of age due to a confluence of factors. The 'art of the possible' is now orders of magnitude different than it was a decade ago. It wasn't long ago that the recommendation from Netflix was the North Star of what was possible. While the engine is still highly effective with some reports suggesting it drives 80% of stream time improvements continue to the engine and its underlying machine learning algorithms. Yet, other large technology-based organisations have since emerged with engines of their own that significantly advance the state-of-the-art. TikTok is an example of this progression; the data science behind its operations is seen as a key reason for its meteoric rise, and more importantly, why its user base is so obsessive. What this demonstrates is that the power of the underlying platform is a key factor in the drive to real-time, as well as the ability for more organisations to enable real-time approaches in their operations. Organisations know data is gold. They understand how data can fundamentally change the value they create for customers and, in turn, change customers' behaviours. However, only a fraction of fresh streaming data is being used today. They also know that the era of real-time is possible because there's now enough compute and storage capacity available to power these ambitions. Additionally, real-time is made possible by advances on the customers' end as well. Other key enablers for accessing data and services in real-time are the constant march to more powerful edge computing devices, as well as the emergence of powerful, low-latency, highly resilient networks like 5G. Where real-time goes next The other reason organisations have gone real-time is because of the emergence of more platform-like solutions to execute this strategic direction. To enable organisations to build real-time solutions, a set of core capabilities or services are required. These include a way to ingest real-time event and messaging, a way to store and have quick access to the data once ingested, streaming analytics, and real-time machine learning. The challenge organisations face is that it's still non-trivial to stitch these capabilities together. Not every organisation is the size of a Netflix or TikTok, with the engineering resources to build and continuously improve a real-time application or capability. That's why application enablement is emerging as a key building block for organisations in this space. To build a real-time business or application, organisations need the support of a modern data platform that has the components and underlying compute to realise their real-time ambitions. For millennia, humans have worked on ways to make life easier and better for people with disabilities, whether physical or cognitive, whether born that way, or encountering such issues in life, whether from age or something else, and with modern technology, making things more ever more accessible is becoming ever more important. ServiceNow. The company styles itself as "the leading digital workflow company that makes work, work better for people." Earlier this month, ServiceNow announced new investments in accessibility to make its "Now Platform" more inclusive for a wide range of diverse needs, whether physical or cognitive. The company explains it created a cross-functional organisation, the "Centre of Excellence for Accessibility," and appointed Apple and Nike veteran Eamon McErlean as vice president and global head of accessibility to lead inclusive innovation on the Now Platform. Amy Lokey , SVP, global head of design at ServiceNow said: "These new investments will create more equitable experiences for ServiceNow employees and customers. Diversity, inclusion, and belonging foster innovation and are a business imperative for the long-term success of our company. Accessible technology for all increases productivity, attracts a wider talent pool, and can play an important role in driving business growth. Eamon is an industry visionary, and we welcome him to the ServiceNow family as we continue to make the world of work, work better for everyone. You can read Lokey's blog post on the announcement here. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHA), around 1 in 6 (18%) people in Australia have disability, while in the US, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that 61 million Americans have a disability, which is one in four US adults. Under McErleans leadership, and in partnership with engineering leaders across ServiceNow, ServiceNow says its Centre of Excellence for Accessibility will provide the company's product teams with "resources and training across research, design, engineering, and product management, to help ensure the companys products provide an optimal experience for all users." We're told The Centre will also "work closely with other departments within ServiceNow to maintain an inclusive and accessible work environment for the companys more than 16,000 global employees. This goes beyond physical accessibility, such as wheelchair ramps and accessible restrooms, with a focus on digital accessibility, where information and communication technologies are accessible to everyone." In addition, throughout 2022 and beyond, the Centre of Excellence for Accessibility "will closely collaborate with ServiceNows partners and customers, who are on their own accessibility journeys, as well as existing internal employee groups, to solicit continuous feedback on ServiceNow products. This will prioritise accessibility compliance early in the design and development process and reduce the need for future product fixes." McErlean said: Accessibility needs to be at the forefront and core of every modern software experience. Companies should think about accessibility in the same way they think about security or performance and make it a standard part of their overall product development processes. Im delighted to be joining a company that is fully committed to accessibility. I look forward to being a trusted partner for ServiceNows adaptive users so that we can work together to strengthen our relationship with the worldwide accessibility community. McErlean most recently served as the senior director of reliability at Nike, where he built the companys digital accessibility initiatives from the ground up to ensure accessibility standards were embedded throughout product lifecycles. Hes also held senior positions at Apple and the Royal Caribbean Group. McErlean will report into Jon Sigler, SVP of ServiceNows Platform business unit. Global banking software Temenos joins FinTech Australia's corporate partner program, which will help the company collaborate with the fintech sector and foster relationship with its key players. A specialist in creating bank-ready technology, Temenos helps fintechs embed their solutions within major financial institutions. The companys affiliation with the program comes as it recently launched Temenos Exchange, a marketplace aimed at accelerating bank and fintech integrations. iTWire previously reported that cloud technology provider DNX Solutions joined the program last November 2021. It joins Facebook, Xero, Amazon Web Services, and over 21 others as the latest company to join the program. Last year marked a new record for the program, with over 14 major companies signing up. "We welcome this partnership with Temenos as bank partnerships play an instrumental role in Australia's fintech ecosystem. Yet ensuring emerging fintech technology is bank-grade upon launch remains a challenge for the sector," FinTech Australia head of strategic partnerships Rehan D'Almeida says. "Temenos is tackling a key issue in the global fintech industry. So, we welcome their engagement with FinTech Australia and our local ecosystem and look forward to working closely with them." "We are pleased to join FinTech Australia and are committed to open collaboration and innovation in the banking ecosystem. Temenos has developed the industry's standard banking platform, open to fintechs in Australia to easily create solutions on top and scale across a vast banking audience that serves the banking needs of 1.2 billion people worldwide, concludes Tenemos managing director Pacific Region Phillip Finnegan. SolarWinds today announced it will hold its Australia Pacific and Japan virtual partner summit 2022 over February 15 to 17, with keynotes from SolarWinds executives, product portfolio updates, strategy sessions, discussions on market opportunity findings, and an awards ceremony where select partners will be awarded for key achievements over 2021. A Europe, Middle East, and Africa virtual partner summit will also be held during February. "As we expand our scalable observability solutions to market this year, were excited to collaborate with our Partner community to help our customers with their business transformation needs," said Jeff McCullough, vice president, worldwide Partner sales, SolarWinds. "Its critical we continue to empower and enable growth for our Partners, and our EMEA and APJ summit events provide the perfect stage to achieve this. There has never been a better time to partner with SolarWinds." "Our Partners are an integral part of our go-to-market business, which is why its critical they have the best-in-breed solutions and training they need to succeed to deliver exceptional customer success to our mutual customers, added David Cronk, senior vice president, international sales, SolarWinds. "Our Partner summits are a hot ticket on the Partner community circuit." The virtual summits will include a corporate strategy update, product updates and strategy sessions, virtual networking opportunities, and discussions on channel enablement and customer support. The keynote presentations will be led by the SolarWinds leadership team, including the following people: Sudhakar Ramakrishna, President and CEO Rohini Kasturi, EVP, Chief Product Officer David Cronk, SVP, EMEA, APJ, and GSI Sales Ludovic Neveu, GVP, EMEA Sales Timothy Brown, CISO and Vice President, Security Jeff McCullough, Vice President, Worldwide Partner Sales Garrett OKeeffe, Senior Director, Customer Success Cal Smith, Senior Director, Technical Training John O Callaghan, Partner Development Director The events will be held over February 8 to 10 (EMEA) and February 15 to 17 (APJ). If youre a SolarWinds Partner, you can register online. A group of attackers who claimed to have hacked the Belarus Railway have posted proof of their exploit on Twitter in what appears to be a violation of the social media site's policies. The group, Belarusian Cyber-Partisans, said it was posting the proofs after being challenged by the media to do so. A number of documents were posted as proof, including an internal document recently exchanged between a Belarusian railway lead engineer and a Russian railway head of IT department and a screenshot of an internal Belarus railway website for railway telegram messages. In its so-called Hacked Materials Policy, Twitter says: "As such, we don't permit the use of our services to directly distribute content obtained through hacking by the people or groups associated with a hack." An internal BelRW website for railway telegram messages pic.twitter.com/spsPPY72Dk Belarusian Cyber-Partisans (@cpartisans) January 25, 2022 The company wasto change its rules in 2020, following the posting of a story about Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden. Following what appeared to be a discriminatory act in taking down links to the story, Twitter's legal executive Vijaya Gadde said in a thread: "Over the last 24 hours, weve received significant feedback (from critical to supportive) about how we enforced our Hacked Materials Policy yesterday. After reflecting on this feedback, we have decided to make changes to the policy and how we enforce it. "We will no longer remove hacked content unless it is directly shared by hackers or those acting in concert with them. "We will label Tweets to provide context instead of blocking links from being shared on Twitter." Emsisoft threat researcher Brett Callow, who noticed the Belarusian Cyber-Partisans' tweets, commented: "Threat actors are increasingly using social networks to distribute hacked materials. The reason for this is simply that materials shared this way can reach a far wider audience far more quickly than materials shared on an obscure Tor site and, therefore, it increases the pressure on victim organisations. "Twitter's policy in relation to hacked materials is quite clear: it does not permit its services to be used by hackers to distribute the materials they hacked. Additionally, the policy states that, "Accounts engaged in the direct distribution of hacked materials which are found to be directly operated by hackers, hacking groups, or people acting for or on behalf of such hackers will be permanently suspended." "That's great, but only if it actually happens and happens very quickly. The Belarusian Cyber-Partisans' account has existed since August 2021 while the tweets containing the hacked materials have now been online for more than 24 hours." An internal document recently exchanged between a Belarusian railway lead engineer and a Russian railway head of IT department pic.twitter.com/5uiCT0TPbO Belarusian Cyber-Partisans (@cpartisans) January 25, 2022 Twitter has no media contacts listed on its site to seek clarification. As a 70-year-old sat in his car in a Walmart parking lot in Florida this month, a man punched him, repeatedly closed the car door on his foot, and ran away with his $500 shoe, police said. The victims shoe was worth that much because of special inserts, the Lee County Sheriffs Office said, according to a news report. Advertisement Carlton Gary, 44, of Fort Myers was arrested Saturday and faces charges of burglary, aggravated battery, and petit theft, NBC 2 reported. The attack took place about 10:40 a.m. on January 12 in Lehigh Acres. Advertisement The victim, who had been waiting for an oil change, was punched in the chest. He suffered chest pains and bruises, but no major injuries. Detectives say Gary may also have attacked a 40-year-old woman at a nearby Dollar Store. This Week in Review A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. Jacksonville, TX (75766) Today Mostly cloudy skies. High 87F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. President Joe Biden on Thursday affirmed his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying it was long overdue. He praised retiring Justice Stephen Breyer as a model public servant and promised a nominee by the end of February. Breyer joined Biden at the White House, a day after news broke of the 83-year-olds upcoming retirement. Advertisement Since Biden took office in January 2021, he has focused on nominating a diverse group of judges to the federal bench, not just in race but also in professional expertise. He installed five Black women on federal appeals courts, with three more nominations pending before the Senate. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer holds up a copy of the United States Constitution as he announces his retirement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik/AP) Biden has already met personally with at least one top nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, Breyers former clerk worked at the U.S. Sentencing Commission and has been a federal trial court judge since 2013 in the District of Columbia. The two met when Biden interviewed her for her current post as an appeals court judge in the D.C. circuit, where she has served since last June. Advertisement Early discussions about a successor are focusing on Brown Jackson, U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss White House deliberations. Jackson and Kruger have long been seen as possible nominees. Since Biden took office in January 2021, he has focused on nominating a diverse group of judges to the federal bench, installing five Black women on federal appeals courts, with three more nominations pending before the Senate. Other possible candidates for the high court could come from among that group, Biden aides and allies said, especially since almost all of the recent Supreme Court nominees have been federal appeals judges. He has a strong pool to select a candidate from, in addition to other sources. This is an historic opportunity to appoint someone with a strong record on civil and human rights, said Derrick Johnson, the NAACPs president. By the end of his first year, Biden had won confirmation of 40 judges, the most since President Ronald Reagan. Of those, 80% are women and 53% are people of color, according to the White House. Jackson, 51, was nominated by President Barack Obama to be a district court judge. Biden elevated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early in her career, she was also a law clerk for Breyer. Childs, a federal judge in South Carolina, has been nominated but not yet confirmed to serve on the same circuit court. Her name has surfaced partly because she is a favorite among some high-profile lawmakers, including Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. Kruger, a graduate of Harvard and Yales law school, was previously a Supreme Court clerk and has argued a dozen cases before the justices as a lawyer for the federal government. Breyer, 83, will retire at the end of the summer, according to two sources who confirmed the news to The Associated Press on Wednesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to preempt Breyers formal announcement. Advertisement But the Senate can confirm a successor before there is a formal vacancy, so the White House was getting to work and it was expected to take at least a few weeks before a nomination was formalized. Biden said Wednesday he wasnt going to get ahead of Breyers announcement. Every justice should have an opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own, Biden said. Let him make whatever statement hes going to make and Ill be happy to talk about it later. When Biden was running for the White House, he said that if he had the chance to nominate someone to the court, he would make history by choosing a Black woman. And hes reiterated that pledge since. As president, Id be honored, honored to appoint the first African American woman. Because it should look like the country. Its long past time, Biden said in February 2020 shortly before South Carolinas presidential primary. Adding a Black woman to the court would mean a series of firsts four female justices and two Black justices serving at the same time on the nine-member court. Justice Clarence Thomas is the courts only Black justice and just the second ever, after Thurgood Marshall. Advertisement And Biden would have the chance to show Black voters increasingly frustrated with a president they helped to elect that he is serious about their concerns, particularly after he has been unable to push through voting rights legislation. At the same time, Breyers replacement by another liberal justice would not change the ideological makeup of the court. Conservatives outnumber liberals by 6-3, and Donald Trumps three nominees made an already conservative court even more conservative. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed. But Republicans in particular remain upset about Justice Brett Kavanaughs contentious 2018 hearing. Still, Democrats have the 50 votes plus a tiebreaker in Vice President Kamala Harris that they need to confirm a nominee. Republicans who changed the Senate rules during the Trump-era to allow simple majority confirmation of Supreme Court nominees appeared resigned to the outcome. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an influential Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement, If all Democrats hang together which I expect they will they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support. Nonetheless, Democrats have also been unable to get all their members on board for Bidens social and environmental spending agenda or to move forward with a voting rights bill. Advertisement Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > As a senator, Biden served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, overseeing six Supreme Court confirmation hearings from 1987 to 1995, including Breyers. And one person who will be central to Bidens process is chief of staff Ron Klain, a former Supreme Court law clerk and chief counsel to that committee. Two other Black women whom Biden appointed to federal appeals courts are also seen as contenders: Holly Thomas, a longtime civil rights lawyer he named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, a former public defender he named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Biden could also choose someone from outside the judiciary, though that seems less likely. One contender would be the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Sherrilyn Ifill, 59. She has headed the fund since 2013 and has announced she is stepping down in the spring. The Supreme Court has had three women on it for more than a decade, since 2010, when Obama named Justice Elena Kagan to the court to replace the retiring John Paul Stevens. Kagan joined Obamas other nominee, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the courts first Latina justice, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When Ginsburg died in September 2020, Trump announced his choice of Amy Coney Barrett eight days later. ___ Advertisement Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report. Weather Alert ...FLOOD ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 515 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall is expected. * WHERE...A portion of southwest Missouri, including the following counties, Jasper, Lawrence, McDonald and Newton. * WHEN...Until 515 PM CDT Wednesday. * IMPACTS...Minor flooding in low-lying and poor drainage areas. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - At 1115 AM CDT, Doppler radar indicated heavy rain due to thunderstorms. Minor flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly in the advisory area. Up to an inch of rain has fallen so far with additional rain expected. - This includes the following low water crossings... Butler Creek at Kings Highway, Center Creek at Azalea Drive, North Indian Creek at Orchid Drive, Little Sugar Creek at Skaggs Hollow Road and Buffalo Creek at Klondike Road. - Some locations that will experience flooding include... Southern Joplin, Neosho, Pineville, Seneca, Granby, Anderson, Noel and Duquesne. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Many flood deaths occur in vehicles. Be aware of your surroundings and do not drive on flooded roads. && The Sheetz on Flowing Springs Road in Charles Town was open for business as usual on Wednesday morning following a bomb scare that had police searching the area Tuesday evening. Wharton, TX (77488) Today Partly cloudy and windy this evening. Cloudy with diminishing winds late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. SE winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy and windy this evening. Cloudy with diminishing winds late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 74F. SE winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Living Reporter and Theatre Critic Tim covers leisure and arts, and he is also a theater critic. He interned for the JI in 2015, and was hired in 2016. Tim graduated from UConn, Central College of McPherson, Kansas, and American Musical & Dramatic Academy. His favorite movie is "Jaws." Commissioner Bakari F. Burns speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony for The Townhomes at West Lakes on Thursday, January 27, 2022. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) A bare strip on Orange Center Boulevard will take shape in the comings months as a hub of homeownership, in a community that has been at the center of Orlandos affordable housing efforts. The Hannibal Square Community Land Trust and city officials broke ground Thursday on 30 townhomes, on land that once housed several dilapidated and foreclosed apartment complexes. The trust also has plans to build 28 rental apartments with about 15,000 square feet of retail spaces, at the site on the southside of Orange Center Boulevard west of Tampa Avenue. Advertisement What you see today isnt what it was. This was blight and despair and hopelessness, said city Commissioner Regina Hill. Commissioners Regina I. Hill and Bakari F. Burns speak during the groundbreaking ceremony.(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Orlando Sentinel) Construction is expected to begin in March or April, with the first townhomes expected to be completed in August or September, Camille Lewis, executive director of the Hannibal Square Community Land Trust said, and the mixed-use portion is planned to be built by mid-2023. Advertisement The addition of 30 owned homes will boost the rate of ownership by 5% in the census tract, officials said, which is 93% Black, with a median household income of about $28,000. Prices of the townhomes havent been determined, but 15 and 20 of them will be designated for people making less than 80% of the area median income, Lewis said. The homes will have three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, with a detached two-car garage behind them. The Townhomes at West Lakes is adjacent to the Clear Lake neighborhood of mid-century single-family homes, and across Orange Center Boulevard from the Pendana at West Lakes communities, of about 320 apartments. Those units are mixed-income and affordable, with about 120 set aside for seniors. City Commissioner Bakari Burns, who represents the area on the city council, said the price point will make it attainable for young families and first-time homebuyers to move back to Orlando and begin building wealth. He also said the citys down payment assistance program will help buyers with closing costs. More homeowners will help breathe new life into the area, and chip away at a growing wealth gap, Burns said. Groundbreaking ceremony for The Townhomes at West Lakes at the corner of Orange Center Blvd. and South Tampa Avenue on Thursday, January 27, 2022. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Orlando Sentinel) When you have individuals who own a property, they tend to take more pride in the community and get more involved, he said. City officials purchased the property in 2017 and sold it to the trust in 2019 for $1.035 million. Two years prior, it bought seven other complexes out of foreclosure for about $6.8 million, which were developed into affordable housing. Ultimately, the land trust won a competitive bid in 2019, which was seeking a developer to construct affordable and mixed-income housing that allowed for ownership. Advertisement Homeownership is harder, but it also helps to lift the neighborhood much more significantly because people will own something and be able to build wealth, Lewis said. I think it will definitely have a revitalization impact on the community. Hannibal Square Community Land Trust Executive Director Camille R. Lewis, speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Orlando Sentinel) The sale set off controversy, led by then-city commissioner Samuel Ings and some neighbors, who objected to a land trust model, compared to traditional ownership. A land trust operates similar to that of a condo. The trust maintains ownership of the land beneath the townhome, while a homeowner purchases an individual unit. The owner benefits from equity gained on the townhome, while the trust maintains ownership of the land to ensure long-term affordability. Breaking News As it happens Be the first to know with email alerts on important breaking stories from the Orlando Sentinel newsroom. > Lewis said its an ideal fit for longtime renters who face rising rents. If you can afford a market-rate home and land, by all means, thats what you should do, Lewis said. Its kind of like a stepping stone to get you into something where you can afford something to stabilize your monthly income and your payments. Ultimately, city commissioners approved it by a 5-2 vote. Advertisement COVID-19 also brought challenges in securing funding to develop the project, said Camille Lewis, executive director of the trust. However, it received investment from the newly formed Black Economic Development Fund, an investment fund to fuel economic and wealth building in the Black community. The fund is financially backed by Netflix, Aflac, Costco, PayPal and other companies. Lewis said this was the funds first investment in Florida. rygillespie@orlandosentinel.com Former senior United Nations officials and Nobel prize winners on Thursday urged the UN human rights office to launch a probe into mass executions of political prisoners in Iran. An open letter made public calls for the Human Rights Council to launch an international investigation into the killings of some 30,000 detainees in 1988. It names Irans current President Ebrahim Raisi and the head of judiciary Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei among the alleged perpetrators, who continue to enjoy impunity. The letter says thousands of political prisoners who refused to abandon their beliefs were executed. The victims were buried in mass graves scattered throughout the country. The killings took place after Irans then-spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini declared a fatwa on prisoners who supported the Peoples Mojahedin of Iran, an opposition group, which Tehran considered a terrorist organisation. Those executed included Marxists and other leftists. Khomeini died in 1989. We believe its long overdue for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to investigate the 1988 massacre, the open letter reads. Ultra-conservative cleric Raisi was elected president of Iran in June last year, replacing Hassan Rouhani. For opposition and human rights groups, his name is linked to the 1988 executions when he was deputy prosecutor of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. Exiled opposition groups say he was part of a commission that sent thousands of jailed opponents to their deaths within a few months. Raisi has denied involvement in the executions. In 2019, the US placed Raisi on a sanctions list citing the executions and other alleged rights abuses. The letter was organised by a London-based association of families of victims called Justice for the Victims of the 1988 Massacre in Iran. Signatories include ex-senior UN figures such as Joachim Rucker, a former president of the Human Rights Council, and Claude Heller, a former president of the Security Council. Others signing included the former president of Chile Ricardo Escobar, the former president of the European Commission Jacques Santer and the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, as well as 18 Nobel Laureates. The National Council of Resistance of Iran, a coalition of opposition groups, last August urged police in Scotland to arrest Raisi for human rights and abuses and genocide if he attended the UN climate summit in Glasgow in November. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both called for his indictment for human rights violations and crimes against humanity. florida surgeon Dr. Joseph Radapo After a tense hearing, which came close to Senate confirmation on Wednesday, Democrats accused the states top doctor of dodging questions about his coronavirus policies and rushing out ahead of the vote. Radapo, appointed in September Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, He has come under national scrutiny for his alignment with the governor on resisting the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and other virus policies embraced by the White House and federal health officials. At a Senate Health Policy Committee hearing on Wednesday, Democrats tried to use yes or no questions to determine whether Ladapo believes vaccines and masks are effective against the coronavirus and other topics, but Ladapo often gets lengthy calls s answer. What I heard was arrogance and polite evasion, Democratic Senator Janet Cruz said. So if you dont mind all these like words youre applying for, can we just get the answer straight so that more people can hear more. In one exchange, Democratic Senator Lauren Booker repeatedly pressured Radapo to ask if he had found a coronavirus vaccine to be effective. Radapo replied, Yes or no questions are not easy to find in science. He continued: The most commonly used vaccines in the U.S., namely Pfizers products and Modernas developed products, have been shown to be relatively effective in preventing hospitalizations and deaths and, over time, relative susceptibility to infection. The protective capacity is low, he said. In another exchange, Book asked the surgeon if he regretted his decision refuse masks In an October meeting with a Democratic state lawmaker, the latter told him she had serious medical problems and later revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Cancer patients are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 and may not develop the same immunity to vaccines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Consistent with my approach to clinical care and my approach to health policy issues, I think its very important to respect peoples individual preferences, which I think is a common issue, Radapo said. So its important to respect peoples preferences, and I think when peoples preferences may be different, the goal should be to find a way for those people to be able to achieve whatever outcomes they want to achieve in a way thats comfortable for everyone. After several rounds of back and forth, Booker told the committee we dont think weve got any answers and said Democrats would leave the room, refusing to vote on Ladapos confirmation. After the strike, Republicans on the control committee quickly voted to move forward with the surgeons confirmation. Radapo Before formal confirmation, he must receive additional approval from a separate committee and the full Senate. Germanys former economy minister Peter Altmaier promised it would act as the economic locomotive that pulled the world out of its Covid-19 crisis but instead the country now looks more like Europes laggard. For a while, Germany was a pillar of relative resilience, its economy shrinking less than most of Europe in 2020. However, for the past year other countries have been rebounding faster and even Italy is expected to regain pre-pandemic levels of gross domestic product before Germany, which is teetering on the brink of a winter recession. Germany had a very good first half of the crisis, but in 2021 things reversed, said Gilles Moec, chief economist at French insurer Axa, adding that weaknesses in the economy were evident before the pandemic when Germany was already underperforming. Much of the recent underperformance of Europes largest economy stems from its greater exposure to global supply chain bottlenecks that have hit manufacturing, as well as a weaker recovery in household spending, economists said. The countrys place near the foot of the European growth table was confirmed this month when its Federal Statistical Office estimated that national output grew 2.7 per cent last year less than half the expected French and Italian rates and well below the 5.1 per cent growth forecast for the eurozone overall. When quarterly GDP figures are published for Germany and France on Friday, they are set to underscore the diverging performance of the eurozones two largest economies. Analysts expect the German economy to even shrink slightly in the final three months of 2021 compared with the previous quarter, while France is expected to grow by 0.5 per cent. This week the IMF blamed supply disruptions for downgrading its 2022 German growth forecast from 4.6 per cent to 3.8 per cent. The stiffening headwinds underline the challenges confronting Chancellor Olaf Scholzs coalition government, especially as it plans to squeeze public spending next year when Germanys constitutional debt brake comes back into force. Robert Habeck, economy minister, said on Wednesday that the consequences of the corona pandemic are still being felt and a number of companies are struggling with them. But despite these major challenges he expected the economy to rebound with growth of 3.6 per cent this year. While most economists agree on the sources of Germanys recent weakness, there is less consensus on whether the country is likely to catch up quickly or remain in the doldrums for a prolonged period. The answer is likely to hinge on how long supply snarl-ups continue to leave manufacturers short of many materials from semiconductors to lithium preventing them from fulfilling record order books. Germany is an open and trade-integrated economy so it is more affected by the supply problems that have been created by the pandemic, said Salomon Fiedler, an economist at investment bank Berenberg. One of the hardest hit areas has been Germanys carmaking industryin which domestic production slumped 12 per cent last year to 3.1m vehicles down more than 50 per cent from pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Overall industrial production in Germany was still 7 per cent below pre-crisis levels in November, while in France it was down 5 per cent and in Italy, the eurozones third-biggest economy, it was even up slightly. Marco Valli, chief European economist at UniCredit in Milan, said Germany was held back by its greater reliance on making vehicles, machinery and equipment. The pandemic has provided a boost for consumer goods and this is much higher for both France and Italy, he said. Economists said Germanys underperformance in 2021 was also related to a shortfall in household spending, which was still 2 per cent below pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter of last year, while French household spending was down less than 1 per cent. France has had a stronger recovery of private consumption, said Katharina Utermohl, senior economist at German insurer Allianz. While Germanys fiscal response was larger, the fear factor among people has been greater. Germany has struggled to vaccinate people as fast as its neighbours, with 72.7 per cent of its citizens fully vaccinated, compared with more than 75 per cent in France and Italy. Because unvaccinated people face rising Covid-19 restrictionsthis is likely to further restrict Germanys consumer recovery. Trade Secrets The Trade Secrets Newsletter is the FTs must-read email on the changing face of international trade and globalisation. Written by FT trade specialist Alan Beattie, it is delivered to your inbox every Monday. Sign up here Labour shortages are another constraint. Detlef Scheele, head of the Federal Employment Agency, has estimated the country needs to bring in 400,000 skilled foreign workers a year far more than it has done recently to offset the impact of its ageing workforce. Germany is also likely to be hit by the slowdown in Chinaits second-largest export market after the US. If the market on which Germany has been betting for many years is disappointing then, as an export machine, you have a problem, said Axas Moec. Joachim Lang, director-general of Germanys BDI business lobby group, said the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant will cause further disruption to factory production in China and other Asian countries that threatens to affect supply chains again this year. Nonetheless, most economists still expect Germany to start regaining lost ground once supply bottlenecks ease and coronavirus restrictions are lifted. With a final fiscal stimulus this year financed by issuing as much as 100bn of extra debt and 7.4bn from the EU recovery fund the country could go from one extreme to the other: from recession to growth champion, said Carsten Brzeski, an economist at Dutch bank ING. There were early signs of optimism in IHS Markits latest purchasing managers index survey of German businesses on Monday, which reported its highest level since September and tentative signs of easing in supply chain problems. UniCredits Valli predicted Germanys economy would lag behind France and Italy again this year before outstripping them with growth of 3.8 per cent in 2023. We expect supply bottlenecks to have faded in 2023 and then we expect the German economy to catch up, he said. Nonprofit hospitals in North Carolina routinely bill poor people for medical care that they should write off because of their tax-exempt status, according to a report released Wednesday by the state treasurers office. The report, produced by the National Health Program and the National Institutes of Health Policy, declared that a lack of transparency overshadows the prevalence of such billing and existing laws provide little protection for patients and taxpayers. A bipartisan group of state legislators held a news conference with Treasurer Dale Folwell about the report and called for reform, according to news outlets. These include setting minimum requirements for how much charity care a nonprofit hospital must provide. The findings in this report point to the need for greater accountability, Falwell said in a news release. Despite generous tax breaks, not-for-profit hospitals dont always provide more charitable services than for-profit hospitals. The North Carolina Healthcare Association, which represents for-profit and not-for-profit hospitals and hospital systems, said in a broad written statement that charitable healthcare spending and community benefit investment activities are transparent and accountable. Not a Modern Healthcare subscriber? Register today. The group slammed the news conference as Folwells public relations stunt as hospital staff are stretched thin as they deal with record hospitalizations amid COVID-19. Falwell, a Republican re-elected in 2020, also released a report in October that found most of the states largest nonprofit hospital systems failed to provide more than 60 percent of the value of the systems tax deductions they have received in recent years. Money Charity Care. Wednesdays report, peer-reviewed by Rice University researchers, found some nonprofit hospitals charged indigent patients $149.2 million in fiscal 2019 who should be eligible for charities under the hospitals own policies, Folwell said. care. But that covers less than 20 percent of the states nonprofit hospitals, the report said. Citing 2019 federal tax filings, an average of 12 percent to 29 percent of the states nonprofit hospitals bad debt should come from charity care, compared with the 10 percent national average last recorded in 2017, the reports findings show. The pandemic could make patient debt problems worse, the report said. The report also said hospitals seeking to collect unpaid bills sometimes do so by sabotaging their credit scores or suing patients. Some hospitals are also encouraging patients to open medical credit cards that charge interest to pay their bills, the report said. The Health Care Association has previously noted that hospitals provide community benefits for their coverage beyond charitable health spending, including research, health worker training and in-kind donations. According to the association, hospitals must submit annual audit reports to the tax watchdog to maintain their tax-exempt status. There is no question that the nonprofit hospital is proudly delivering on its commitment to charity care and community benefit to North Carolina people, the associations statement said Wednesday. The association said the pandemic is causing hospitals to spend their reserves, leaving them financially out of balance. The association supports expanding Medicaid to cover hundreds of thousands of additional low-income adults. Folwells department oversees the state health program, which spends $3 billion a year on health care and pharmacy services to reach as many as 750,000 people current and retired public officials and teachers, as well as their families. The European Union has filed a lawsuit against China at the World Trade Organization over its de facto ban on exports from Lithuania in the Taiwan dispute. move increase tension The conflict between the worlds two largest economies, embroiled in a conflict over steel and the treatment of Chinas Muslim Uighur minority. Brussels said China had been blocking imports of products containing Lithuanian ingredients from Lithuania and other EU member states since December. These actions appear to be discriminatory and illegal under WTO rules and are harming exporters in Lithuania and the rest of the EU, the European Commission said. Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis added: Following numerous failed attempts to resolve the issue bilaterally, we believe there is no other way but to call for WTO dispute settlement consultations with China. The EU is determined to act in solidarity and act swiftly against measures that violate WTO rules that threaten the integrity of our single market. We are simultaneously engaging in diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation. The problems started after Vilnius allowed the opening of a representative office in Taiwan. Beijing considers the island part of its territory and takes action against those who formally recognize its existence. Other EU countries set up Taipei representative offices in the name of Taiwans capital to avoid disputes with China.China stripped diplomat Diplomatic status from the Baltic states, causing them to flee, and preventing imports. The commission said it had evidence that Beijing refused to clear Lithuanian goods through customs, rejected Lithuanian import applications and put pressure on EU companies to remove Lithuanian parts from their supply chains.that affected German tire company ContinentalYes, wait. Taiwan has been buying many items that China has shut out of, and has set up a $200 million investment fund for the country. Trade with China is worth 300 million euros a year. The EU has few legal tools to fight back. It has proposed but not yet ratified an anti-coercion instrument that would allow the committee to take urgent tit-for-tat measures, such as an import ban. admired The WTO negotiations will last for 60 days, after which the EU can ask for a ruling panel that will take months to rule but could allow Brussels to impose retaliatory tariffs. If the decision goes against China, it can block punishment by appealing. The appeal cannot be heard because the U.S. has blocked the appointment of any members of the Appellate Body. Several member states were reluctant to support Lithuania, which they felt unnecessarily angered China. especially Germany Anxious to maintain access to the lucrative Chinese market. There is a modus operandi for Taiwans negotiation in the EU. Lithuania had not consulted with any member states before making this decision and is now demanding unconditional solidarity From EU member states, said one EU diplomat, who warned that the bloc should not allow relations with China to be driven by ad hoc events. ATLANTA Georgia lawmakers will consider a bill that would repay the states Medicaid managed care insurers millions of dollars if they dont meet a certain threshold in health care spending. This bipartisan billintroduced by the powerful Georgia House Speaker Jan. 26 David RustonAs a Republican, hes focused on improving the states mental health care system. Hidden in the legislation is a stipulation that Medicaid-administered care companies will refund money to the state if they dont invest enough money in patient care and quality improvement. Georgia Health News and KHN September report Georgia is one of the few states that does not mandate a minimum level of health care spending for its Medicaid insurers. Each year, Georgia pays three insurance companiesCareSource, Peach State Health Plan and Amerigroupa total of more than $4 billion to run federal state health insurance programs for low-income residents and people with disabilities. In 2019 and 2020, combined annual profits for the two companies averaged $189 million, according to insurer filings reported by the American Association of Insurance Commissioners. Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone to Georgia instead of securing an adequate health care network for Georgian children, disabled Georgians and Georgians in care facilities [insurers] Bottom line, said Roland Behm, who sits on the Georgia chapters board. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Behm, who has advised lawmakers on the bill, said the KHN and Georgia Health News articles helped get the lawmakers who created the bills attention. Georgia is one of more than 40 states that have turned to managed care companies to run their Medicaid programs and ostensibly rein in costs. Thirty-six of those states and the District of Columbia set a baseline medical loss rate for the minimum amount insurers spend on health care, according to an August report by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In addition to Georgia, the five states that do not require a managed care spending threshold are Kansas, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, the report said. Republican Rep. Todd Jones, a co-sponsor of the new bill, told KHN that Georgia lawmakers should create a strong benchmark for insurers. We should see what other states are doing, he said. Most states with spending requirements set the rate at at least 85 percent of the premium dollars paid by insurers. So when Medicaid insurers spend less than that amount on health care and quality improvement, it must return the money to the government. The Georgia bill also calls for a threshold of 85 percent. If the bill is approved, Medicaid insurers will face medical spending requirements in 2023. If the benchmark had been in place in recent years, it could force compensation for the Peach State company, which has the most enrollments in Georgias Medicaid program of the three insurers. It failed to hit the 85 percent mark from 2018 to 2020, state documents showed, as KHN previously reported. Andy SchneiderThe 85 percent score is a victory for taxpayers, Medicaid providers, and Medicaid beneficiaries, according to a research professor at Georgetown Universitys Center for Children and Families. He also said its pretty fair to Medicaid insurers, who keep 15% of the administrative costs and profits the state pays them. Since Ralston is the main sponsor of the bill in the House, it is expected to pass the House. But the insurance industry may work to remove the medical spending clause. Jesse Wessington, an industry official and executive director of the Georgia Quality Healthcare Association trade group, declined to comment on the legislation. Fiona Roberts, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Community Health, which oversees Medicaid, said the agency needed time to review the measure before commenting on it. The main provisions of the act require insurance companies to provide mental health care or substance use treatment at the same level as other physical health needs. The legislation would provide educational loan support for people training in mental health and substance use disorders and seeks to expand behavioral health services for children. It will also promote assisted outpatient treatment when a judge can order a person with a serious mental illness to follow a court-ordered treatment plan in the community. Ive here. Many readers like to criticize Sanders. But he attempted a hostile takeover of a party as an outsider and failed. And unlike Trump, hes facing a party accustomed to playing the left and, thanks to a 14-year reality TV star, doesnt have the national profile and perceived executive power Trump has the ability to do for The campaign was heavily funded and used a large private jet (which had a big impact on the barn storm in the last six weeks before the 2016 election; Trumps campaign stops increased by nearly 50%). The fact that Sanders, an independent, had to enter a Senate leadership vacuum on the Biden bill speaks volumes about the seriousness, and apparent dysfunction, of the partys commitment to its stated priorities. Note that we said a long time ago that when a transaction takes too long to complete, it gets a fail aura. As of September, the Biden Rebuild Better Act (what a frustrating name!) is clearly in trouble. Yet Democrats still acted as if they thought they could carry that body across the finish line. So it would be beneficial for Sanders to weed out the opposition, whether Democrats or Republicans. If nothing else, it could force this game over. by Jack Johnson.Originally Posted in common dream Sen. Bernie Sanders expressed anger Wednesday after months of futile behind-the-scenes negotiations on the Build Back Better Act, which he demanded for a response to stalled legislation. Individual sections voted to compel Republicans and right-wing Democrats to speak out against it with broad public support. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in an article columnfor hill Surprisingly, the Senate did not vote on the build back better package, the version passed by the House includes Raising the Child Tax Credit, plans to lower sky-high prescription drug prices, and major investments in renewable energy, child care, housing and other Democratic priorities. Outcome: The Republican Party was able to shirk responsibility for its reactionary stance, laughing now, for possible political success in the 2022 election, the Vermont senator warned. For the worlds largest deliberative body Senate Its a radical idea. Lets vote. Let every Republican and Democrat take a stand on some of the most important issues facing working families in this country. Republicans havent been entirely silent about their opposition to Build Back Better as a whole.Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has repeatedly derided the bill as a liberal wish list, with House Republicans unanimous vote againstThe size in November was $1.75 trillion. But Sanders argues that getting Republicans to vote on a single component of the legislation has even gained support. large percentage The proportion of Republican voters such as plans to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with drug companies is good politics for Democrats and good for the country. Eighty-three percent of Americans support empowering the federal government to negotiate with the drug industry to lower prescription drug prices, Sanders noted Wednesday. What do the Republicans think? Are they ready to fight the greed of the pharmaceutical industry that charges us the worlds highest prescription drug prices? Lets vote and find out, the senator wrote. Sanders has made the same demands for other parts of the Build Back Better Act, from Medicare expansion to paid family leave to tax increases on the wealthy to climate action all of which, the senator argues has received strong support from the American public. This is an extremely difficult time for our nations struggling working class, and the Senate needs to act, he wrote. In our democracy, the American people have the right to know where their senators stand on the most important issues affecting their lives. No more endless negotiations. No more hiding behind closed doors. Lets vote Bar. 84% want expanded health insurance 83% want Medicare to lower drug prices 76% want to expand home healthcare 73% want paid family leave 71% want to tax the rich The American people have a right to know which side their senators are on. Time to vote. https://t.co/CYuY7M6Yzt Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 27, 2022 Sanders op-ed published as Democratic leader Signal plan Reinvigorate the Build Back Better Act in some form and possibly pass different namesAfter Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.) struck down an earlier version of the bill and Require Party starts from scratch and even accepts his own counter-proposal leave the table. To make progress on core elements of his domestic policy agenda, President Joe Biden suggested breaking the Build Back Better package and trying to pass most of it, including green energy provisions. But given the constraints of the budget reconciliation process, it is unclear whether such a strategy is feasible. What the president is talking about is big block, and I hope its going to be a major bill. It could be more limited, but its still important, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters last week. Its a settlement bill. So when people say lets separate no, they dont understand the process. As the path forward for the Democratic Partys key legislative priorities is highly uncertain and as key pandemic relief packages continue to fizzle out, Sanders and progressive activists have sounded warnings in recent days that the party could be in the midst of a fast-approaching midterm election. facing disaster. Most people are demoralized. There are programs in place to help the bereaved, but when you apply to those programs, you run into obstacles. Marthella Johnson, Arkansas community organization pic.twitter.com/Tiq7NnXhVw Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 27, 2022 After six months of closed-door negotiations with these two conservative Democratic senators, it is widely believed that this strategy has failed not only from a policy perspective, but also politically, Sanders said. wrote in the email To supporters Wednesday, referring to Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). The Democratic base is now demoralized, and according to many polls, Republicans have a good chance of winning both the House and Senate in the 2022 election, the Vermont senator continued. We need a new direction, a new approach. We need to show the American people that we are ready to stand up and fight for working families in this country. SBS TV's newest office romance drama, "A Business Proposal," shared new stills featuring lead stars Kim Sejeong's bright aura that illuminates the atmosphere! The SBS TV marks Kim Sejeong's first romance drama together with award-winning actor Ahn Hyo Seop. Kim Sejeong Becomes a Bright and Bubbly Food Researcher in 'A Business Proposal' Based on the web novel of the same name, "A Business Proposal" is an office romance drama that follows the story of an office employee who goes on a blind date with her company's CEO in place of her friend while hiding her true identity. The drama stars Ahn Hyo Seop as Kang Tae Mu, a third-generation chaebol who has a frigid personality. However, he has an unpredictable side that makes women's hearts flutter. On the other hand, Kim Sejeong plays the role of Shin Ha Ri, an office employee who hides her bubbly atmosphere while going on a blind date with a femme fatale style. The newly released stills depict Shin Ha Ri's daily life as a food development team researcher. She dons a white laboratory gown with her employee ID card hanging around with her as she is immersed in her food research. Though tired, Ha Ri exudes positive energy. Her ordinary company life will take an extreme turn when her friend asks her to go on a blind date in place of her, only to find out that it was with her boss, Kang Tae Mu. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 'A Business Proposal' Teaser: Ahn Hyo Seop Oozes Charisma as a Young CEO With this, Ha Ri starts to live two lives as the fake "sexy femme fatale" woman she created to hide her true quirky and bubbly personality. Focus is given as to what kind of performance Kim Sejeong will show in the new drama. Expectations on the actress' double life portrayal are also through the roof. 'A Business Proposal' Production Unit on Kim Sejeong Kim Sejeong is known for her bubbly and charismatic personality, seen mostly on television commercials. When it comes to her acting, her most notable work is "School 2017," an installment in the KBS drama franchise. The production unit of "A Business Proposal" described Kim Sejeong as "a brilliant actress who has a huge passion for her work." YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE THIS: Ahn Hyo Seop and Kim Se Jeong Share a Sweet Moment Under the Pouring Rain in New SBS Drama 'A Business Proposal' From the script reading to her immersive acting, Kim Sejeong shows her charms as an actress. The production unit guarantees that through "A Business Proposal," Kim Sejeong will become one of the most popular "Rom-Com Queen" in South Korean television history. 'A Business Proposal' Release Date and Time and Where to Watch SBS TV's newest office romance comedy-drama, "A Business Proposal," starring Ahn Hyo Seop and Kim Sejeong, is also headlined by actors Kim Min Kyu and Seol In Ah. The drama is helmed by writers Han Sul Hee and Hong Bo Hee, and directed by Park Sun Ho. Apart from the quartet, Dal Shabet Woohee, VICTON Byungchan, Kim Kwang Kyu, and more are also part of the drama. "A Business Proposal" premieres for the first time on February 21 at 10:00 p.m. KST on SBS TV. It will also be available for international streaming on Netflix. Just in case you missed it, watch the teaser here: Follow KDramaStars for more KMovie, KDrama, and celebrity updates! KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. Actor Choi Woo Sik talked about his thoughts on wrapping up his worldwide hit drama "Our Beloved Summer" and his leading lady Kim Da Mi. He also expressed his gratitude to close friend BTS V. Read to know more! Choi Woo Sik Shares Honest Thoughts on 'Our Beloved Summer' Ending SBS TV's recently concluded drama "Our Beloved Summer" depicts the complex relationship of ex-lovers who get back together to film a sequel for their popular high school documentary. The drama marks Choi Woo Sik's return to the small screen after his appearance in "Fight For My Way" in 2017, and reunion with Kim Da Mi for the first time after "The Witch: Part 1. Subversion." The actor reveals that he never felt burdened during their pre-production filming. However, as the premiere approached, he became more and more pressured. "I trusted myself and Kim Da Mi. She did a great job and our script was good, so I thought we could create a positive synergy [that will hook viewers] because it's our second meeting in a project," the actor said. Choi Woo Sik on Chemistry With Co-Star Kim Da Mi In romantic comedies and emotional-heavy romance dramas, one of the most important things to consider is the two lead stars' chemistry. "I know I can do better than I did in our previous project, so I was very confident," Choi Woo Sik said, "I think it's because I'm comfortable with Da Mi." However, the actor admits that he gets shy when he films scenes with physical affection. He said, "It was kind of awkward at first, but luckily, I was able to get into character." Choi Woo Sik expressed his gratitude to good friend Kim Da Mi, whom he worked with in the recently concluded romance drama. Choi Woo Sik Expresses Gratitude to BTS V, Wooga Squad The actor praised the drama's OST "Christmas Tree," which received positive feedback from fans all over the world. It is sung by his close friend BTS V, a member of the Wooga Squad, which also includes Park Seo Joon, Park Hyung Sik and Peakboy. Choi Woo Sik loved the song, describing it as "MSG" which helped him express his emotions better. "I'm really thankful," he added. According to the actor, the Wooga Squad cheered him on and sent lovely messages of support. He shared, "No matter what happens, they always support me. I'm really blessed to have great people around me." Choi Woo Sik Reveals His Romantic Ideal Type Choi Woo Sik compares himself to his character, Choi Woong, and explains, "Unlike Choi Woong, I'm more honest and expressive. But it feels awkward on camera, so I'm really shy." When asked about his ideal type, the actor answered honestly, "I don't think I have an ideal type now. As long as we vibe and have a similar sense of humor, I'm cool with that." Finally, the actor said that he will focus more on himself now that he's in his 30s, saying, "My goal is to invest time in improving myself further." Follow KDramaStars for more KMovie, KDrama, and celebrity updates! KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. Across Florida, 73 percent of the people eligible to be vaccinated have gotten at least one dose. Thats good news slightly better than the national average. But a deeper look at the numbers reveals a significant gap in coverage for minority communities, particularly Black Floridians, whose vaccination rate lags far behind white, Hispanic and Asian people. In the most recent figures released by the state, only 42 percent of Black residents had been vaccinated. Its not surprising, then, that African-Americans are more likely to test positive for COVID and more likely to die from the virus or related complications. Advertisement The picture is slightly more murky for Floridas Latino population, because vaccination records might not align with the official Census tally. Some statistics suggest that Hispanic Floridians are seeking vaccination at a similar rate to non-Hispanics, or perhaps doing a little better but some Latino leaders doubt thats the case, as reported by the New York Times and other media outlets. Floridas leaders can, and should, fight shortfalls among the minority population. It could make Advertisement vaccines more easily accessible in minority communities, target specific sub-populations (such as Floridas considerable Haitian community) and provide more information in Spanish and other languages, a move thats badly needed to counteract misinformation that many say is spreading through non-English radio programs and podcasts. But while state leaders were aggressive about outreach to minority communities early in the pandemic, those efforts have dwindled considerably, as reflected in a letter sent to the governor earlier this month by a 1,200-church alliance of Black clergy in Florida. The letter reminded Gov. Ron DeSantis of his early promises to work with Black churches and other minority leadership, and questioned why there werent more state-sponsored vaccine sites in economically disadvantaged and minority-dominated communities. People arrive for a mobile vaccine site at Iglesia Vida Nueva in Sanford, hosted by the Seminole County Office of Emergency Management, Florida Department of Health in Seminole, and U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy, on Tuesday, April 6, (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel) (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. > There is a clear discrepancy here, making the need for outreach and assistance at the state level even more dire. We have asked for your help time and time again. Yet, with each surge we still see privileged populations getting maximum support and our communities bearing the brunt of this pandemic, the letter says. Faith leaders are doing their part, as Bishop Derrick L. McRae, president of Orlandos African American Council of Christian Clergy, told the Orlando Sentinels Caroline Catherman earlier this month. He personally helped pay for an outreach effort for his own congregants at Experience Christian Center in Orlando, and as a result he estimates that nearly all of his church members are vaccinated. The letter to DeSantis details other efforts such as testing drive-throughs, texting banks and vaccine drives. When asked about the letter, DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw blandly noted that vaccines were widely available and suggested that minority residents might not want to be vaccinated a narrative that complements DeSantis more recent attitude toward vaccines in general, which seems to be based more on slogans about freedom and the questionable leadership of a Department of Health leader, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who refuses to say whether hes been vaccinated and who has spread information in the past that was inconsistent with the best available science around the coronavirus. And the governors moves are becoming even more inexplicable. As we discussed in an editorial published Wednesday, the decision to suspend Orange County Health Department director Dr. Raul Pino makes zero sense, especially since Pino has been a leader in promoting vaccination to the Latino community. We now know, of course, that vaccines modeled on one variant of the virus might not be perfectly effective against more recent strains. But the best available evidence still shows that vaccination lowers the risk of infection, and reduces the likelihood that an infected person will be hospitalized or die. Minority communities deserve this protection, and its hard to understand why the state isnt being more aggressive about increasing vaccination rates among underserved communities. We implore the governor to keep the promises he made early in the pandemic and if he wont, local leaders should look for ways they can address the gap themselves. Two years into this pandemic, it should be clear that the virus is equally devastating to Floridians of all ethnicities, and fighting it means engaging on all fronts. Advertisement The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio, Jay Reddick and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com. Park Shin Hye updates fans by sharing a glimpse of her dreamy wedding with Choi Tae Joon. On January 22, the whole Kdrama fandom felt genuine love and happiness as they exchanged wedding vows in an intimate ceremony. The highly anticipated wedding was held at Oryun Community Church in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, attended by their family and a few close friends. Interestingly, Park Shin Hye and Choi Tae Joon shared their special moment with their celebrity friends, including Namgoong Min, IU, Super Junior's Leeteuk, Yoo Yeon Seok, Ryu Jun Yeol, Kim Bum, 2PM's Chansung, Lee Min Ho and more. Park Shin Hye Shares Unreleased Photos During her Wedding with Choi Tae Joon The "Sisyphus: The Myth" star took to social media to express her gratitude to everyone, especially the people behind their wedding. However, her radiating aura during her wedding struck the fans the most. The Hallyu star is definitely the most beautiful bride as she looked the happiest beside her now-husband, Choi Tae Joon. On Park Shin Hye's Instagram, she shared a series of snaps during the wedding rehearsal. In the first photo, the "So I Married an Anti-Fan" star placed his hand on the bride's head while they were in front of the altar. The actress was all smiles as the groom played pranks on her right before the ceremony. Meanwhile, the second photo exudes romance as Park Shin Hye's husband holds his hand as they walk to the stage. IN CASE YOU MISSED: Get to Know More About Park Shin Hye's Fiance and Kdrama Star Choi Tae Joon Park Shin Hye Gets Emotional During her Wedding During the main highlight of the event, which is exchanging their wedding vows, the actress gets emotional as she delivers her message to Choi Tae Joon. The groom stated his vow first and promised to "love and cherish" Park Shin Hye. "I, Choi Tae Joon, take you Park Shin-Hye as my wife and pledge to love and cherish you for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health," the actor said while looking straight into the bride's eyes. The actress replied with a heartfelt message and was in tears after finishing her vow. "I, Park Shin-Hye, take you Choi Tae-Joon as my husband and pledge to love and cherish you for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer," she said, as obtained by Korean media. Following their big day, the former child actress turned sought-after star expressed her gratitude to fans. Wearing a traditional hanbok for her wedding photoshoot, she captioned her post saying, "Thank you to everyone who sent many blessings and congratulations." The same goes for the groom who shared their pre-wedding photos alongside a message that reads, "Thank you so much for your support and blessings." Apart from their wedding, Park Shin Hye and Choi Tae Joon are welcoming an addition to their family. In November 2021, after announcing her engagement to her longtime boyfriend, the Hallyu star revealed that she is pregnant with their first child. The new romance-comedy drama "Rookie Cops" finally premiered. Starring Kang Daniel, Chae Soo Bin and more, here are the Episode 1 highlights that will surely make you want to watch the new series. 'Rookie Cops' Episode 1: Go Eun Gang Mistakenly Thought Wi Seung Hyun as Her Senior In "Rookie Cops" episode 1, Go Eun Gang (Chae Soo Bin) had an unexpected encounter with Wi Seung Hyun (Kang Daniel) on her first day in Korean National Police University. They already met outside the campus after Seung Hyun saved Eun Gang and her sister from a fight. ngl the first episode is REALLY GREAT! i just know soobin and daniel will radiates too much chemistry soon!!! also eunkang and seunghyun gonna cause a lot of trouble + daniel really did great for his first drama #RookieCops #RookieCopsEp1 pic.twitter.com/c6MjQ1MLsg liy (@kimyoungdaes) January 26, 2022 She also mistakenly thought the guy was her senior. Since Go Eun Gang was a freshman, one of the commanding officers introduced her to Ki Ha Na (Park Yoo Na), Shin Ah Ri (Cheon Young Min), and Woo Joo Young (Min Do Hee) as her roommates. The students attended the orientation and those who were caught sleeping were punished by the commanding team. As she is new , Go Eun Gang bravely fought for herself and wanted to prove she didn't commit any mistake while in class. Her roommates tried to control her and tell more about the rules and regulations so that she would not get in trouble again. Wi Seung Hyun Tries To Save Go Eun Gang From Being Kicked Out of KNPU Go Eun Gang was just in her second day but was caught again in a big trouble, which may led her to be expelled from the prestigious university. When doing her punishment in the field together with her classmates, a flash drive from her jacket dropped on the floor. Commanding Officer Um Hyuk (Lee Joon Woo) saw the device and was surprised it contained a video of them punishing the students. Eun Gang, who had no idea why the flash drive was in her pocket, was dragged in the disciplinary office. She denied ownership of the device but Um Hyuk didn't want to believe her yet. Due to this, she was placed in a detention room while waiting for the committee's decision. Wi Seung Hyun, who knew what happened, confronted Shi Ah Ri. He asked her to tell the truth and prove Go Eun Gang is innocent. Ah Ri, who unintentionally put the flash drive in her friend's jacket, was too scared to speak out because it might affect her admission in the university. But her conscience couldn't take it anymore and told Eun Gang she accidentally put the the device inside her jacket. She didn't even know who the real owner is. Go Eun Gang then asked Wi Seung Hyun to help her find the person behind the video recording. noooo just look at how adorable they are like the way how they're so comfortable with each otherrrrrr. aaaaaa seunghyun and eunkang definitely gonna be my next favourite couple!!! #RookieCops #RookieCopsEp2 pic.twitter.com/onqUsVEWJ4 liy (@kimyoungdaes) January 26, 2022 Eun Gang started to remember all the people she interacted with and the place she'd been to. Her first suspect was Ki Ha Na. She sneaked into their dorm and looked to see if she could find any evidence. The new student was shocked to see a spy camera under Ha Na's pillow. Will Go Eun Gang prove her innocence? Find out in "Rookie Cops" episode 2 coming this January 27 on Disney+ Korea! Have you seen "Rookie Cops" episode 1? Tell us your comments! For more Korean drama updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars. Kdramastars owns this article. Shai Collins wrote this. MEDFORD, Ore. With staffing shortages continuing to plague the Medford School District, administrators on Wednesday confirmed that the 8th grade cohort at McLoughlin Middle School will be sent home for the rest of the week due to a lack of available teachers. Students in the 8th grade at McLoughlin will be learning from home until at least Monday. "Due to staff shortages caused by COVID-related issues and/or requirements, students on teams 81, 82, and 83 will be utilizing Canvas-based learning from home tomorrow and Friday," Principal Kalin Cross said in a message to families. "There will be no in-person learning Thursday, Jan. 27 and Friday, Jan. 28 for students on teams 81, 82, and 83. We hope to be back to full in-school learning on Monday, January 31." MSD has so far avoided having to go remote for any classes or schools, but only by a razor-thin margin. District administrators have had to fill in teaching classes due to teacher absences, with Superintendent Dr. Bret Champion notably stepping in to lead an elementary school music class earlier this month. "We know this is an inconvenience and challenge for many families and for that we deeply apologize," Principal Cross continued. "This decision is based on student safety and our ability to provide proper supervision for our students." Cross asked parents to help the school continue in-person learning by not sending their students to school if sick or exposed to COVID-19. "If a family member in the household has COVID-19, students should be quarantined unless they are vaccinated, have had COVID-19 in the last 90 days, or the ill individual is fully isolated from the student," Cross said. Going remote with certain cohorts or entire schools has become common practice for Southern Oregon districts this month due to rampant student and staff COVID-19 quarantines and other absences. Ashland High School returns to in-person learning next Monday after going remote during the week of January 10. At its peak, Ashland Public Schools Superintendent Samuel Bogdanove said, the district had 87 staff members absent simultaneously. This is a developing story and will be updated with more details as they emerge. Nicholas Covaser is competing for a chance to take his double bass to Vienna, Austria, to perform. Covaser is principal bassist in the Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra, among other groups he regularly performs with. The Supreme Court granting review on Monday to two cases about affirmative action is an ominous sign for diversity in higher education and advancing racial equality. Given the composition of the court, it seems very likely that the six conservative justices will use these cases to ban any form of affirmative action in the United States. The two cases one involving the University of North Carolina and one involving Harvard both deal with this question: Can universities continue to use race as one factor in admissions decisions to enhance diversity on campus? Advertisement In the UNC case, the challengers argue that the affirmative action program, which the university says fosters educational diversity, violates the Constitutions requirement of equal protection. In the Harvard case, the challengers accuse the private university of violating the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits recipients of federal funds from discriminating based on race. They claim Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants by penalizing them for subjective personal traits. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University California, Berkeley law school, discusses the issues of balancing free speech and public safety in the face of clashes between supporters of controversial right-wing speakers and left-wing "anti-fascist" demonstrators during the first of several legislative hearings planned to discuss balancing free speech and public safety, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (Rich Pedroncelli / AP) Under long-standing decisions going back to the 1970s, the Supreme Court has upheld the use of affirmative action programs in college admissions as constitutional. The court has consistently found that universities have a compelling interest in having a diverse student body and may consider race as one factor among many factors in admissions to benefit students of color. Advertisement As Justice Sandra Day OConnor explained in 2003, in upholding the University of Michigan Law Schools affirmative action program, the courts conclusion is informed by our view that attaining a diverse student body is at the heart of the Law Schools proper institutional mission. And further, she wrote: In order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity. The long history of racial discrimination in the United States means that race-blind admissions would simply allow the effects of historic discrimination embodied in racial bias in K-12 education, income inequality and segregation to carry on, especially in elite colleges and universities. That has certainly been the experience in California and Michigan and every state that has eliminated affirmative action programs. The question now is whether the conservative court will overrule all of those earlier cases even when the universities administrators show that these admissions programs are critical to the educational experience for all students. Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. > The recent change in the makeup of the court is virtually certain to change the law. Since 2016, three conservative justices have joined the court Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all of whom are expected to strongly oppose affirmative action. Eliminating race as a factor in admissions will significantly reduce minority admissions. We saw that happen in California when in 1996 voters passed Proposition 209, which banned state government institutions from considering race in public education, public contracting and public employment. At UCLA, for example, admission rates for underrepresented minorities plummeted from 52.4% in 1995 to 24% in 1998. As a result, the percentage of underrepresented minorities fell by more than half: from 30.1% of the entering class in 1995 to 13.6% in 2012. There is no doubt that achieving diversity is important to providing rich and culturally relevant educational experiences as well as addressing the legacies of racial injustice. I have been a professor for 38 years, and I have taught constitutional law and criminal procedure both in classes that are almost all white and those that are racially diverse. Students have a different experience learning about, say, the legal and societal issues of racial profiling by the police when there are Black and Latino men in the classroom who can talk powerfully about their experiences of being stopped by police for no reason. Advertisement The Supreme Court will be hearing the North Carolina and Harvard cases in October and will probably decide them in spring 2023. Universities around the country and their students will then probably have to contend with the challenge California has struggled with for 25 years. Erwin Chemerinsky is dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law. Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, comments on Senate Bill 45, a bill that would limit the number of managed care organization contracts that operate the Medicaid program, in the Senate. (LRC photo via Kentucky Today) Ketchikan, AK (99901) Today A few showers early, becoming a steady light rain for the afternoon. High 48F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Occasional light rain. Low 39F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Imagine getting a job where you are charged with being responsible for another persons health, well-being and safety, without ever applying for it? This job also requires you to be involved in making significant decisions regarding that individuals medical, financial and legal wishes. On top of that, youll receive no training before starting and earn no paycheck for the duration of employment. For many families across Florida and throughout the United States, this is not a hypothetical situation: theyre living it every day caring for a relative with Alzheimers disease. Its vital that they know about the resources which can help and not be hesitant to take advantage of them. Advertisement Alzheimers is a public health problem reaching epic proportions: the countrys sixth-leading cause of death is also the only one in the top 10 without a cure or disease-modifying treatment. With a generation of baby boomers beginning to reach 65 and more people living longer than ever before, it is continuing to grow. Charles Fuschillo, president and CEO of the Alzheimer's Foundation of America and a former New York state senator from Long Island. (Alzheimer's Foundation of America) More than 6.2 million Americans, including more than 580,000 in Florida, are living with Alzheimers disease now, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that number could more than double by 2060. As the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimers continues to increase, so too will the number of family caregivers. Advertisement Like anyone learning on the job, caregivers have questions: What do I do now? How do I communicate with someone who has memory loss? and How do I keep my loved one safe? are all common. There is no shame or embarrassment in asking them. Caregiving is not a job where you can fake it until you make it. Caring for someone with Alzheimers is challenging, especially when dealing with symptoms that can include memory loss, confusion, hallucination and aggression. Compounding that are the stresses of dealing with complicated medical, legal and financial issues. It can take a physical and emotional toll. Handling all of this alone, without help, isnt something anyone should try because it is impossible. Knowledge and information are two of the best tools at a caregivers disposal. Understanding Alzheimers disease and its symptoms, knowing how (and why) to build a support structure, and preparing for the major decisions associated with Alzheimers disease are all things that can help make a difficult situation a little easier. Connecting caregivers with this type of useful, practical information is one of the most important things we can do. For those individuals in Florida, the Alzheimers Foundation of Americas (AFA) Educating America Tour is hosting a free virtual educational conference Feb. 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., to help people learn more about these topics. If you cant attend the conference but have questions about Alzheimers or caregiving, guidance and support is available through our Helpline by calling at 866-232-8484 or connecting through our website its staffed entirely by licensed social workers and open seven days a week. Scientists are working hard toward finding a cure for Alzheimers, but until that time comes, care remains essential. Family caregivers embrace the enormous responsibility of caring for a loved one in their time of need, and they do an incredible job. In the fight against Alzheimers disease, they are on the front lines. They shouldnt be afraid to seek reinforcements. Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. is the president and CEO of the Alzheimers Foundation of America. You can learn more and register for the Feb. 16 conference by visiting AFAs website, www.alzfdn.org/tour or by calling the Helpline at 866-232-8484. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer signaled he plans to move swiftly toward a confirmation vote once a nomination is made. EUGENE, Ore. Dozens of people showed up at a rally on Thursday to show their support for Starbucks workers in Eugene who are trying to unionize. Up to 80 people attended the rally, which was held by the Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network. The Starbucks location at 29th Avenue and Willamette Street is the first in the state to file a union petition, joining dozens of stores trying to do the same thing nationwide. Organizers in Eugene said that 23 out of 25 workers signed petition cards citing pay, staffing and COVID protections as their concerns. Pull Quote "Were pretty close. I think its a surefire thing, said barista Keira Wilson. Starbucks officials said they have worked to address these concerns. The Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network will be showing a hearing with the National Labor Relations Board on their Facebook page on Friday. The hearing starts tomorrow, and its going until Wednesday. Were pretty close. I think its a surefire thing, said barista Keira Wilson. 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 Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. All 92 Indiana counties, including Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties in Northwest Indiana, remain at the highest-possible "red" classification for COVID-19 spread, even as the overall number of COVID-19 infections is beginning to decline. History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again. Maya Angelou As a pediatrician, I care for children who have endured all kinds of trauma. I do my best to help families recognize traumatic experiences, create a safe, stable, nurturing environment, and start the healing process. Advertisement When trauma isnt acknowledged and healed, the risk is passing dysfunction on for generations. I see this often grandmothers, fathers, and children riddled with violence, addiction, incarceration, etc. Therefore, I stress the importance of breaking the cycles of generational trauma by facing the past to get to a brighter future. Candice W. Jones is a pediatrician at Edgewater Pediatrics in Orlando. - Original Credit: Courtesy photo (Courtesy photo) The same can be said for America. As a people, we will never live up to the creed, all men are created equal if we cant tell historical truths, learn from our past, and continue to work towards justice for all. Advertisement I am concerned, as Gov. Ron DeSantis and other lawmakers undermine teaching the full history of our country in schools and within organizations because they dont want to feel discomfort. It is even more disturbing seeing history lessons politicized to stoke fear and fuel a particular base using the rally cry of indoctrination and critical race theory, which falsely claims the intent to shame white people and teach children to hate each other and our country. This manufactured issue has one purpose only to win elections. Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. > In the midst of a global health pandemic, the Florida State Board of Education banned teaching critical race theory (CRT) in public schools. The governor proposed legislation aiming to give parents and employees the right to sue if they think CRT is being taught to their child or if someone is made to feel shame during training in the workplace. But the truth is, CRT is a legally based, academic theory taught at the graduate level to explore the intersection of race, racism and law in American society. It highlights that racism is not just in the past but persists in our present-day systems. In addition, the Florida Department of Education reports statewide public school curriculum does not include CRT. And most importantly, CRT does not seek to shame or promote hatred towards fellow Americans or hatred of America. The good news is that strides have been made to educate our community about historical events. State Sen. Randolph Bracy worked tirelessly to right the wrongs of the Ocoee Massacre by seeking reparations for descendants. Even though he didnt fully succeed, 50 college scholarships were secured and many people will learn about the atrocity through a feature film. Bracy also successfully co-sponsored a bipartisan bill with Rep. Randy Fine which mandated teaching the Ocoee Massacre and anti-Semitism in Florida schools. In addition, Sen. Lori Berman and Rep. Geraldine Thompson have proposed two bills to expand and standardize the mandated curriculum on the history of African Americans and the Holocaust. However, the Osceola County School District recently cancelled a lecture for teachers by a Flagler College professor on the civil-rights movement due to CRT concerns. The district wanted to review the content prior to the session raising questions of censorship and self-preservation in the setting of vague, anti-CRT orders. In my sons history class, he argued for reparations for the descendants of enslaved Africans linking the long term effects of slavery, segregation, and racism to what we see today in educational, wealth and health gaps. In both of these scenarios, someone could say they felt uncomfortable. Would that be grounds for legal action? We seem to be in dangerous territory. This is not a new fight. The debate over how Americas history is taught has been going on for decades. CRT is the new scapegoat in continuing to deny Americans the chance to come together in truth and reconciliation. Truth is the light. Our children can be the light, when they receive a comprehensive, history education which tells the story of our nation good, bad, and ugly. Author James Baldwin said, You cant fix what you wont face. I challenge you to call on your lawmakers to end political games. And vote like your life depends on it. Advertisement Candice W. Jones is a pediatrician at Edgewater Pediatrics in Orlando. Calling all art lovers! Do you own an Edmund Fitzpatrick painting? If so, the committee at Ionad Lachtain Heritage Centre in Freshford would like to hear from you. Edmund Fitzpatrick was born in Freshford in February 1822. The bicentenary of his birth will be celebrated at Ionad Lachtain Heritage Centre in May with an exhibition of his available paintings and some illustrations from the Illustrated London News where he was a regular contributor. The accompanying photograph is of one of his paintings which was published by the late Desmond McCheane in We Grew Up Around Freshford in 1982. It is in private ownership in Kilkenny. There are two Fitzpatrick paintings on public view at Kilkenny Castle. It was only through the persistence of the curator at the gallery there that these two paintings returned some years ago to Kilkenny Castle by way of Brussels and Paris! In recent years, two Fitzpatrick paintings were sold in Irish auctions so there is still interest in his work. Research has shown that he received commissions to paint on many occasions. A booklet on the life and works of Edmund Fitzpatrick will be published in May. With that in mind, the committee is appealing to the public for information on any other Fitzpatrick paintings that may exist in Kilkenny. Confidentiality will be maintained. The committee can be contacted by email at stlachtainschurch@gmail.com or 087 6789 239. Kilkenny is gearing up for a bumper year of events and festivals as Covid restrictions lift, with delight for locals and visitors set to return and with them, a boon for the local economy. Calendar staples such as the St Patricks Festival and Kilkenny Roots (spring), Kilkenny Arts Festival (summer) and Savour Kilkenny (autumn) are set once again to have fully immersive, real-life programmes with crowds. The hugely-popular Kilkenomics, recent additions Kilkenny Animated and Kilkenny Day are also back, while Yulefest will cap off the year. Meanwhile, not so much a festival but a hallowed date in January, the Goffs Thyestes Chase is under way in Gowran today with a busy crowd, having taken place behind closed doors last year. It was expected to have to limit numbers again in 2022, so a packed house will be a massive boost, the roar of the crowd confirming that things are truly getting back to normal. Naoise Nunn, co-director of Schweppe Curtis Nunn, has been producing some of Kilkenny headline festivals since 1996, and says there is a huge amount to look forward to in 2022. I am really optimistic at the moment; the spring and the summer is going to be really busy for festivals and I think we will be back to full capacity, said Mr Nunn. People will remain cautious, but the appetite for hanging out with people and meeting friends, as well as engaging with industry colleagues if you are in the business, is going to be absolutely huge. Its going to be a great year for festivals, he told the Kilkenny People. Mr Nunn also confirmed that Kilkenomics and Kilkenny Animated will be going ahead in 2022. Kilkenomics will take place from November 3 - 6.Mr Nunn is programme director of Kilkenomics and has been involved in it since its debut in 2010. He describes Kilkenomics as is the worlds first festival of economics and comedy and says bringing people together in person, in cosy environments in Kilkenny City to listen to and exchange ideas and have the craic is what we do. We cant wait to see everyone back in November in full capacity across the great Kilkenny venues, he said. Kilkenny Animated, which a festival of visual storytelling, in collaboration with Cartoon Saloon, will return on September 30 to October 2, 2022. Meanwhile, Marian Flannery, who manages four Kilkenny festivals, has confirmed immensely-popular food festival Savour will be back. After two years of lockdown, I cant wait for us to have our best venues in Kilkenny, indoor and outdoor, full of smiling, socialising, clapping and laughing, she said. The people of Kilkenny warmly deserve an opportunity to get back out and enjoy the best of local and international music, food, discussions, theatre, comedy and debate and I can't wait to see the return of thousands of visitors from around Ireland and abroad to come and learn anew about all that outlets city and county has to offer. It will be great to have the buzz back. Messages between Chinese and Israeli presidents on ties inspire confidence, say experts Xinhua) 16:11, January 27, 2022 JERUSALEM, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The recent congratulatory messages between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Israeli President Isaac Herzog on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations have boosted confidence in bilateral ties, experts have said. Xi noted on Monday that since the establishment of their diplomatic relations, the two peoples have deepened their friendship and bilateral relations have achieved remarkable progress. Also on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang exchanged congratulatory messages with his Israeli counterpart, Naftali Bennett. Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan co-chaired the fifth meeting of China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation with Yair Lapid, Israel's alternate prime minister and foreign minister, on Monday via video link, with the two sides pledging to promote cooperation on innovation. "The top-level design has been a solid foundation for consolidating mutual political trust, forging ahead cooperation in the areas of economy, science and technology, and promoting people-to-people exchanges," said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies. As China and Israel forged an innovative comprehensive partnership in 2017, Israel became the second country, after Switzerland, to enjoy a partnership with China featuring "innovation," said Ruan. "This makes the China-Israel relations pretty distinctive," said Ruan, noting that the obvious achievement Israel has made in science is compatible with China's commitment to pursuing high-quality development driven by innovation. According to Chinese Ambassador to Israel Cai Run, China has become Israel's largest trading partner in Asia and the third-largest in the world. The volume of bilateral trade has increased more than 450 times in merely three decades. "This fully illustrates the great potential, bright prospects and strong resilience of China-Israel cooperation," Cai has said. Besides the impressive economic figures, Niv Schwartz, co-founder and CEO at Xinergy Global Business Consulting Company, said he believed "it's about the great potential, not only to see China as a market but also as the prosperous base for innovation." The two sides have cooperated in such landmark projects as the new port of Haifa, the Red Line of the Tel Aviv Light Rail, the China-Israel Changzhou Innovation Park and the China-Israel (Shanghai) Innovation Park, making innovation a driving force in bilateral relations. "Chinese companies have made up for Israel's shortage of labor force and high cost of manpower by taking part in infrastructure construction. Meanwhile, innovative Israeli enterprises have injected momentum into China's development as they settled in China for business," Cai noted. "The two countries' strong economic complementarity, as well as cooperation in infrastructure construction and scientific and technological innovation, are strong propellers for advancing bilateral relations," said Ding Long, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University. When China and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992, only a few thousand trips were made between the two countries. Nowadays, people-to-people exchanges are much more vigorous. The two countries have withstood various challenges amid the increasingly complex international situation, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic era, said Ma Xiaolin, a senior professor at the Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean Rim at Zhejiang International Studies University. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries issued 10-year multiple-entry visas reciprocally to each other's citizens, and direct flights were opened between the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Hong Kong. "The Chinese, like Israelis, aren't afraid of new ideas. There's a built-in curiosity in the character of our two peoples," said Lapid, according to a statement released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Matan Vilnai, former Israeli ambassador to China, also noted the importance of advancing people-to-people exchanges and called on the Israelis to understand that China is "not only" the second largest economy in the world. Serving now as president at the Israeli campus of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), Vilnai called on people from both sides to facilitate mutual understanding. "It's very important now we have the UIBE Israel, a platform which brings Chinese students to study in Israel and enables Israeli students to understand a real China," he said. "I think both leaders understand that cooperation can advance both the Israeli goal to help create a better world and the Chinese vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind," said Carice Witte, founder and executive director of Sino-Israel Global Network &Academic Leadership, an Israeli policy organization. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Val Demings, the former Orlando police chief whose law enforcement background is a centerpiece of her campaign for U.S. Senate, hit back hard Wednesday at the man shes trying to unseat, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio. Earlier this week, the Republican incumbent suggested Demings isnt really a supporter of law enforcement, said she should know better than to support progressive Democratic polices, and depicted himself as a more reliable ally of police. Advertisement She responded forcefully to Rubio after a Wednesday campaign appearance in Davie, dismissing him as a lifelong politician who is desperate. For him to suggest the lifelong politician Marco Rubio that I have turned my back on the men and women that I while Marco Rubio was home in his bed sleeping that I helped to go respond to some dark, scary places, dealing with some dark, dangerous people, scary people, for him to suggest that I turned my back on law enforcement is just an indication of how desperate he is. Advertisement Val Demings, the Orlando congresswoman and a Democratic candidate for Senate against Marco Rubio, speaking to elected officials and community activists at the David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel) Demings is touting her police background to blunt Republican attempts to wrap her with the most progressive elements of the Democratic Party. She rejected the progressive call for defunding the police, which Republicans effectively used to brand Democrats as soft on crime in the 2020 elections in Florida and elsewhere in the country. Defunding the police is crazy, it is ridiculous, Demings said, adding that people in high crime areas dont want to see fewer police. They just want what theyve always deserved, and thats to be treated with dignity and respect. At the Davie campaign event, Demings mentioned her 27 years as a police officer and chief far more frequently than her current job congresswoman representing an Orlando district during more than an hour of speaking and answering questions from a group of Democratic elected officials and Jewish community activists. The campaign emphasizes her law enforcement background so much that the notice sent to reporters about four events she was doing on Wednesday referred to her as former Orlando Police Chief and candidate for United States Senate or simply as former Orlando Police Chief. It never referred to her as a member of Congress. Sheriffs for Rubio On Monday, Rubio appeared in Jacksonville with uniformed Florida sheriffs as they announced their endorsement of his campaign for a third term. He was endorsed by 55 of the states 66 elected sheriffs, including some Democrats. (Sheriffs Ric Bradshaw of Palm Beach County and Gregory Tony of Broward were not among them. Miami-Dade County currently doesnt elect a sheriff). Rubio said he couldnt imagine any endorsements that will matter as much as this one does to me. He attempted to link her to the views of the progressive wing of the party, asserting that police and prosecutors are undermined by decisions not to arrest people who break certain laws, and said the result is you inject the spirit of lawlessness into a society. Advertisement He decried an increasing murder rate and what he said was an increase in attacks on police officers and sheriffs deputies, and hinted, but didnt directly link those trends, to Demings. When you inject the spirit of lawlessness in a culture and a society you embolden the lawless, he said. And in the end, men and women standing behind me and the men and women who work for them are the ones that have to respond to it all. He said Demings should know better. Its even worse when someone who knows better and should know better decides to align himself with this effort to call into question the work that law enforcement is doing. Demings countered that Rubios rollout of the sheriffs indicated something different to her. I knew that Marco Rubio was in trouble, but his big announcement on Monday just proved to me that Marco Rubio knows hes in trouble, Demings said. She said the sheriffs endorsements dont change the fundamentals of the race. He still has one problem: He has got to run this race against me. None of the people he parades on a stage can run the race for him. He has got to face me in this race. And I think that thought scares him. I have in the past, and will again in the future receive many endorsements, but few will matter, if any, will matter as much as this one does to me @MarcoRubio says of the 55 Sheriffs endorsements. pic.twitter.com/Vw68oVxDYg Team Marco (@TeamMarco) January 25, 2022 Fight for democracy Demings ran through a litany of Democratic Party issues health care, education, Social Security, Medicare, prescription drug costs as she campaigned in South Florida on Wednesday, indicating her support. Advertisement But, she said, theres something more fundamental at stake: the survival of democracy. We can talk about all of those things, but everything that you are about, everything that I care about is at risk if we do not protect our democracy and if we do not protect the cornerstone of our democracy, and that is the right to vote, Demings said. She described at length one specific experience as a member of Congress: what it was like when she was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when insurrectionists attempted to block the certification of Joe Bidens presidential election. I really believed that we could have died that day, she said, describing how she and other members of the House had to crawl on the floor. She said she instinctively reached for the gun belt she would have worn during her years as police officer. Fred Guttenberg, who has been a prominent activist against gun violence since his daughter Jaime was killed in the Feb. 14, 2018, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, agreed with Demings assessment. For 2022, he told Demings, gun violence isnt his top issue. The fight for democracy and the Supreme Court are No. 1 and No. 2. Without them, Everything we care about could be gone. Advertisement Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Val Demings, the Orlando congresswoman and the Democratic candidate for Senate against Marco Rubio, speak to elected officials and community leaders at the David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel) Campaign intensifies With nine months until the election, neither Demings nor Rubio has had full schedules of public campaign events in South Florida. Fundraising has been a top priority, and she has visited with many Democratic groups via video. In person campaigning is about to intensify. Wasserman Schultz said thats essential. She urged the people assembled for the Demings event not to give into conventional wisdom that holds Democratic chances are doomed in the midterm elections because the party that holds the presidency usually sustains losses. Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. > And Wasserman Schultz urged them to make sure people do more than express their views on social media and think theyve done something that will make a difference in November. When you like something, when your retweet something, when you put a heart on a tweet, that is not activism ... that is slacktivism. Demings said Democrats have to avoid a feeling of hopelessness, that nothing is going to change, that [Republicans] have all the power. They do not unless we give them all the power. The candidate spent the day courting key Democratic constituencies. She met with the Jewish community leaders including County Commissioners Steve Geller, Jared Moskowitz and Nan Rich at the David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie. She also had three events in Miami: brunch with Black faith leaders, a tour of a health clinic serving the Puerto Rican community and a late afternoon gathering with Cuban American leaders. Advertisement All but the speakers wore masks and were spread out because of continued concerns over COVID-19, Wasserman Schultz said. Absent the pandemic, she said the auditorium would have been filled, even on a weekday afternoon. Barbara Effman, president of the West Broward Democratic Club, said in person campaigning would give voters a chance to get to know, and get excited about, Demings. She makes a connection with people in person that you cant really grasp on TV. Anthony Man can be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com or on Twitter @browardpolitics TALLAHASSEE Churches and other religious institutions wouldnt have to turn away congregants because of government orders during future emergencies as long as businesses are allowed to stay open, under a bill approved Thursday by the Florida Senate. The Senate voted 31-3 to approve the measure (SB 254), which would prohibit emergency orders from directly or indirectly preventing religious institutions from conducting services or activities if businesses are still operating. Advertisement It is born out of the pandemic, but not, sponsor Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, said when asked if the measure applies only to the COVID-19 pandemic. It applies to all emergency orders that would come in. It would basically say if Publix is open, so is your place of worship. What it doesnt seek to do is what weve seen in some of the other states, where churches, synagogues and mosques were singled out for congregated activities. In voting for the measure, Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, said leaders of religious institutions would not be blocked from holding services online or requiring congregants to wear masks and abide by other safety precautions. Advertisement Sen. Bobby Powell, a West Palm Beach Democrat who voted against the bill, argued earlier this month that the state has a responsibility to protect people. Powell was joined in voting against the bill by Sen. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach, and Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton. There were a number of times that religious institutions decided to gather, and the result of that caused many people their lives, Powell said during a Jan. 13 committee meeting. That being said, were stewards of the state. We do have a responsibility to always kind of move the state forward. In essence, a religious institution being within the state of Florida, thus authorizing them to buck the system by ignoring emergency orders, is not what I think were here to do. Lawmakers pushed for the measure because of high-profile situations about churches in various parts of the country being forced to close or scale back early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Ron DeSantis included a provision within one of the more than 50 supplemental coronavirus-related executive orders he issued after March 9, 2020, that allowed certain essential businesses and establishments to operate at reduced capacities, including churches, synagogues and other houses of worship. DeSantis action followed the arrest of a Tampa megachurch pastor for holding two in-person church services in violation of a Hillsborough County ordinance prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people. The charges were eventually dropped. The House version (HB 215) of the bill moved forward Wednesday to the full House. TALLAHASSEE Gov. Ron DeSantis has made his political brand clear as he heads into his reelection: Leader of the free state of Florida. But his Democratic foes are highlighting one area where Florida is far less free than other states the recreational use of marijuana. Advertisement The three leading Democrats running for governor Charlie Crist, Nikki Fried and Annette Taddeo want Florida to join the growing list of states that have fully legalized marijuana. At a campaign event on Wednesday, DeSantis told reporters he wouldnt back full legalization while leaving the door open for decriminalization, Florida Politics reported. He quipped that he doesnt like the putrid smell of marijuana smoke. Advertisement I could not believe the pungent odor that you would see in some of these places, DeSantis said. I dont want to see that here. I want people to be able to breathe freely. Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters this week he is not a fan of the "putrid" smell of marijuana. (Bob Self/AP) Fried, who is jostling to become the leading pot-friendly candidate in Florida, shot back on Twitter: You can still go to jail for weed in Florida because Ron DeSantis doesnt like the way it smells!?! Sounds like Dictator Karen wasnt having much fun at Yale and Harvard so hes taking it out on the rest of us. Democratic state lawmakers are also pushing legislation this year to legalize or decriminalize the drug, although it has little chance of passing in the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature. State Rep. Yvonne Hinson, who is sponsoring a legalization bill, said Floridas tough marijuana laws particularly hurt Black people who are disproportionately arrested for a largely victimless activity. We are not arresting kingpins here, the Gainesville Democrat said. We are arresting small-scale users and ruining their lives. You can still go to jail for weed in Florida because Ron DeSantis doesnt like the way it smells!?! Sounds like Dictator Karen wasn't having much fun at Yale and Harvard so he's taking it out on the rest of us.https://t.co/vNScBrUsw1 Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) January 26, 2022 Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana. In Florida, possession of small amounts of marijuana (less than 20 grams) is a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to one year in prison or probation and a $1,000 fine. People convicted of a low-level marijuana offense also face a six-month suspension of their drivers license. Law enforcement made 11,495 arrests for possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana in 2020, despite the pandemic keeping many people at home, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Environment. Supporters of legalization say that number has been as high as 50,000 in recent years. DeSantis who is widely seen as a possible GOP candidate for president in 2024 has gone on record before saying he would not fully legalize marijuana in Florida. Advertisement Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. > Not while Im governor, he told Tallahassees News Channel 7 in June 2019. I mean look, when that is introduced with teenagers and young people I think it has a really detrimental effect to their well-being and their maturity. On the pandemic, DeSantis has embraced a libertarian view that government shouldnt mandate that people wear masks or get vaccines. Hes proclaimed Florida an oasis of freedom that lets its residents make their own health decisions without government meddling. Democratic candidates think legalization will be a winning issue with voters with polls showing as many as 67% of Floridians support the idea. Crist is selling green T-shirts on his campaign website that read: We brew beer. Lets grow our own weed! Fried allows her supporters to donate $4.20 to her campaign, a reference to a shorthand for marijuana consumption. Efforts have been underway to legalize marijuana through a ballot initiative. The campaign suffered a setback in April 2021 when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the initiatives ballot language would be misleading to voters. Activists have now shifted their attention to the 2024 election. The measure would need the support of at least 60% of voters if it makes it onto the ballot. Advertisement sswisher@orlandosentinel.com Two Easy Ways To Subscribe! The Kodiak Daily Mirror offers full-service, five-day a week subscriptions with home delivery in addition to unlimited access to our online services (including our e-Edition). Online-access-only subscriptions include unlimited access to the Mirror's online services without delivery of the printed newspaper. (Note: New users: You must register and login before purchasing a subscription. 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. I'm currently a senior majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in political science. I'm a fan of all St. Louis sports, Oasis and pretty much any Kurt Russell film. Feel free to reach out to me at mgp89g@umsystem.edu or on Twitter @MattPasz2000. Follow Matt Paszkiewicz 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 Correction This story was edited to say Rep. Chuck Basye is the chairman of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. JEFFERSON CITY Missouri's House Minority Leader filed legislation Wednesday that would provide full reimbursement to public schools districts for legal expenses they incur while defending themselves against lawsuits filed by the state's attorney general. Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a U.S. Senate candidate, sued 45 public school districts on Friday and Monday over their mask mandates, including Columbia Public Schools and Jefferson City School District. Schmitt argues school districts do not have the authority to impose public health orders. The lawsuits come as multiple school districts - at least 12 in mid-Missouri - canceled class or switched to online learning for a period of time in January. Rep. Crystal Quade (D-Springfield) says public school budgets are already "stretched thin" because of the pandemic. "Every dollar matters in public education. Public schools are in crisis mode across the board due to the pandemic but also decades of underfunding as well," Quade said. "These frivolous lawsuits that the attorney general is continuing to put them under, we believe they shouldn't have to pay for them." Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Schmitt's lawsuits include four counts, including that mask mandates are "void," "unlawful" and "unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious." They also claim mask mandates are a violation of the Missouri Constitution Quade's House Bill 2569 is modeled on a similar bill filed by state Sen. Doug Beck (D-Affton). The House and Senate bills would require attorney's fees, court costs and all other expenses incurred to be awarded if the civil action is terminated in their favor. The money used to pay districts back would come from funds appropriated to the attorney general by the Missouri General Assembly. The attorney general is abusing the powers his office to stop schools from keeping kids and teachers safe, Beck said. I am in disbelief we are even having this conversation. He is even suing the St. Louis County Special School District, which educates some of our most vulnerable children. This has got to stop. Quade said as the attorney general continues to file these lawsuits, schools are closing down and going virtual, as well as hundreds of teachers and students are out due to the pandemic. Quade said now is not the time to be filing these lawsuits as it is only causing danger to students and staff. "As the Democratic Minority Leader, every piece of legislation I file has a concern that it is not going to move," Quade said. "The reality is though, that public education is not a partisan issue. We support public education on both sides of the aisle. It's just that fact that the attorney general is running his campaign for U.S Senate on the backs of Missouri schools that shouldn't be allowed." State Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, chairman of the Elementary and Secondary Education Committee, said he supports the attorney general's decision to file these lawsuits. "School districts in Jefferson City and Columbia are issuing mask mandates and are forcing kids to mask up, along with staff," Basye said. "I personally don't believe that masks are effective with all that we have learned about the virus to date." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says masks are effective at reducing the transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19 when worn correctly and consistently. "They aren't worn correctly and aren't worn in all settings so I think the attorney general is doing the right thing," Basye continued. "I don't agree with the [Quade's] legislation, but everyone has the right to file whatever they want." TALLAHASSEE A Florida House committee on Thursday advanced a stripped-down version of a bill designed to make apartment complexes safer following the murder of Orlando college student Miya Marcano, deleting parts of a measure that her family thinks would help avoid a similar tragedy in the future. Even though legislators removed a requirement that landlords conduct a national background check on apartment employees, supporters are optimistic they will get that part restored before a final vote. Advertisement I do not believe this is over, said state Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, the legislations sponsor in the House. We have two more committees. This is a huge feat to even have it on the committee agenda. State Rep. Bob Rommel, who chairs the Regulatory Reform Subcommittee, didnt explain why the committee staff altered the bill. The Naples Republican would not take questions after the meeting. Advertisement State legislators filed Miyas Law after the slaying of Marcano, a 19-year-old Valencia College student from Pembroke Pines in South Florida. Police say Marcano was killed by a maintenance worker who had a master key to her apartment. Yma Scarbriel, mother of Miya Marcano, attends her daughter's funeral service on Thursday Oct. 14, 2021 at Cooper City Church of God in Cooper City, Fl. Marcano, a 19-year-old college sophomore from Pembroke Pines, was found murdered in a wooded area near her apartment complex in Orlando on Oct. 2. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel) The Houses version would increase the notification period for entering a tenants apartment for nonemergency maintenance from 12 to 24 hours. But it omits the background check requirement in the Senate version of the legislation, along with language that would require apartment complexes to establish procedures for issuing and tracking master keys. The Senate version unanimously passed its first committee hearing Tuesday. Political Pulse Weekly Get latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. > State Rep. Anna Eskamani, the ranking Democratic member on the Regulatory Reform Subcommittee, said she spoke with Rommel, and he had concerns about the background check mandate. The Florida Apartment Association, which represents more than 800,000 apartment homes, supports Miyas Law and did not ask for the background check requirement to be eliminated, said Amanda White, the groups government affairs director. We feel this legislation is important because it codifies industry best practices, she said. Marcanos parents Yma Suling Scarbriel and Marlon Marcano praised the legislation, including the background check requirement, when it was introduced in November. We firmly believe that passing Miyas Law will save lives, they said in a joint statement. Advertisement The family is hopeful Miyas Law the background check requirement will be added back into the House bill before a final vote, said Jodi Lewis, a family spokesperson. sswisher@orlandosentinel.com President Joe Biden had said throughout his 2020 presidential campaign that he was committed to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court if elected. By James M. Dorsey Iran potentially could emerge as an unintended winner in the escalating crisis over Ukraine. That is, if Russian troops cross the Ukrainian border and talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 Iranian nuclear agreement fail. An imposition of tough U.S. and European sanctions in response to any Russian incursion in Ukraine could likely make Russia more inclined to ignore the fallout of violating U.S. sanctions in its dealings with Iran. By the same token, a failure of the talks between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, the European Union, France, Germany and Britain to revive the accord that curbed the Islamic republic's nuclear program would drive Iran closer to Russia and China in its effort to offset crippling U.S. sanctions. U.S. and European officials have warned that time is running out on the possibility of reviving the agreement, from which the United States under then-President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018. The officials said Iran was weeks away from acquiring the know-how and capability to produce enough nuclear fuel for a bomb quickly. That, officials suggested, would mean that a new agreement would have to be negotiated, something Iran has rejected. No doubt, that was in the back of the minds of Russian and Iranian leaders when they met last week during a visit to Moscow by Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi. It was the first meeting between the leaders of Russia and Iran in five years. To be sure, the road to increased Russian trade, energy cooperation and military sales would open with harsh newly imposed U.S. sanctions against Russia even if restrictions on Iran would remain in place. That does not mean the road would be obstacle-free. Putin would still have to balance relations with Iran with Russia's ties to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. If anything, Russia's balancing act, like that of China, has become more complicated without the Ukraine and Vienna variables, as Iranian-backed Houthis expand the seven-year-long Yemen war with drone and missile strikes against targets in the UAE. The Houthis struck as the Russian, Chinese and Iranian navies started their third joint exercises in 2019 in the northern Indian Ocean. The two events were not related. "The purpose of this drill is to strengthen security and its foundations in the region, and to expand multilateral cooperation between the three countries to jointly support world peace, maritime security and creating a maritime community with a common future," Iranian Rear Admiral Mostafa Tajoldini told state TV. U.S. dithering over its commitments to security in the Gulf has persuaded Gulf states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE to hedge their bets and diversify the nature of their relations with major external powers. However, a Russia and potentially a China that no longer are worried about the fallout of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran could put Riyadh and Abu Dhabi on notice that the two U.S. rivals may not be more reliable or committed to ensuring security in the Gulf. So far, neither Russia nor China has indicated an interest in stepping into U.S. shoes. This leaves Saudi Arabia and the UAE with few good choices if Russia feels that U.S. sanctions are no longer an obstacle in its dealings with Iran. Russia is believed to want the Vienna talks to succeed but at the same time has supported Iranian demands for guarantees that the United States would not walk away from a revived deal like it did in 2018. Against the backdrop of talks about a proposed 20-year cooperation agreement between the two countries, Russia appears to want to negotiate a free trade agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union that groups Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, alongside Russia. Iran has signed a similar 25-year cooperation agreement with China that largely remains a statement of intent at best rather than an action plan that is being implemented. Like in the case of China, the draft agreement with Russia appears to have been an Iranian rather than a Russian initiative. It would demonstrate that Iran is less isolated than the United States would like it to be and that the impact of U.S. sanctions can be softened. "We have a document on bilateral strategic cooperation, which may determine our future relations for the next 20 years. At any rate, it can explain our prospects," Raisi said as he went into his talks with Putin. For now, Raisi's discussions in Moscow appear to have produced more lofty prospects than concrete deals. Media speculation that Russia would be willing to sell Iran up to $10 billion in arms, including Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 anti-missile defense systems, appears to have remained just that, speculation. Saudi Arabia and the UAE would view the sale to Iran of such weapons as particularly troublesome. By the same token, Iranian officials, including Finance Minister Ehsan Khanduzi and Oil Minister Javad Owji, spoke of agreements signed during the Moscow visit that would revive a $5 billion Russian credit line that has been in the pipeline for years and produce unspecified energy projects. "It's unclear if these are new projects or ones that have been previously discussed and even agreed to, such as the one Lukoil stopped working on in 2018 after the U.S. pulled out Lukoil was concerned about being targeted by U.S. sanctions," international affairs scholar Mark N. Katz said. Theoretically, the dynamics of the Ukraine crisis and the prospects of failed Vienna talks could mean that a long-term Russian-Iranian cooperation agreement could get legs quicker than its Chinese-Iranian counterpart. Negotiating with a Russia heavily sanctioned by the United States and Europe in an escalated crisis in Ukraine could level the playing field as both parties, rather than just Iran, would be hampered by Western punitive measures. Tehran-based Iranian scholar and political analyst Sadegh Zibakalam suggested that it was time for the regime to retire the Iranian revolution's 43-year-old slogan of "neither East nor West." The slogan is commemorated in a plaque at the foreign ministry. Asserting that Iran has long not adhered to the motto, Zibakalam suggested that the plaque be removed and stored in the basement of a hardline Tehran newspaper. "It has not been used for a long time and should be taken down," he tweeted. Dr. James M. Dorsey (jamesmdorsey@substack.com) is an award-winning journalist and scholar and a senior fellow at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute. Hiring signs from two staffing agencies stand out in the median on U.S. 6 at Progress Drive West. Noble Countys unemployment has dropped to just 1.1%, while rates are sub-1% in four of six counties in the northeast corner. 29 years after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, NASA honors all of its fallen astronauts on Remembrance Day, Jan. 28, 2015. (Red Huber, Orlando Sentinel) NASAs most tragic events happened 55 years ago, 36 years ago and 19 years ago with the deaths of 17 men and women in the Apollo 1 fire, Space Shuttle Challenger explosion on liftoff and Space Shuttle Columbia destruction on re-entry. NASA honored their memory as well as others who died in the pursuit of space exploration during the annual Day of Remembrance events in Washington, D.C., Kennedy Space Center, Houston and other NASA locations. The events coincide with the anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire that killed Virgil I. Gus Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee during a launch pad test at what was then Cape Kennedy Air Force Station. Advertisement NASAs Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives in our shared endeavor to advance exploration and discovery for the good of all humanity, said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson this week. Every day, we have an opportunity to further uplift the legacies of those who gave their lives in pursuit of discovery by taking the next giant leap, meeting every challenge head-on, as they did. In doing so, we also must never forget the lessons learned from each tragedy, and embrace our core value of safety. Advertisement The Apollo 1 accident happened in the early evening of Friday, Jan. 27, 1967. The three astronauts set to be the first manned mission of the Apollo lunar landing program were testing ahead of their planned February launch when fire broke out at 6:31 p.m. during a simulation on Launch Complex 34. NASAs next major blow came 19 years and one day later, just before noon on Tuesday Jan. 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Central Florida, after an O-ring seal failed. People all over the country viewed the disaster live because the shuttle was carrying Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space. Go For Launch - Space News Weekly Fix your telescope on all space-related news, from rocket launches to space-industry advancements. > Also killed were astronauts Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis and Judith Resnick. NASA last saw major tragedy in the morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry on the shuttles 28th mission killing its seven-member crew. The crew of STS-107 included Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool, David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. Nelson participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia at 10 a.m. Later, he will join NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and Associate Administrator Bob Cabana for a panel discussion on NASA safety and lessons learned from the tragedies that will air on NASAs website at 3:30 p.m. At Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, a ceremony was held at the Space Mirror Memorial with Astronauts Memorial Foundation President and state Rep. Thad Altman as well as Kennedy Space Center Deputy Director Kelvin Manning. Advertisement In attendance were family members of the fallen astronauts including Sheryl Chaffee, the daughter of Roger Chaffee; Lowell Grissom, the brother of Gus Grissom; Kathie Scobee Fulgham, the daughter of Space Shuttle Challenger Commander Dick Scobee; and Evelyn Husband Thompson, the widow of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband. The ceremony livestreamed on Kennedy Space Centers Facebook channel. Other ceremonies were held at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. This framed original oil painting by Nancy Cupka is one of the items offered in a silent auction at the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) dinner fundraiser that will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 6 p.m. at the church, 910 N. Indiana Ave. Kyle Hippchen, a Florida-based airline captain, poses for a photo in front of a SpaceX Dragon capsule at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Hippchen, the real winner of a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes, gave his seat on a SpaceX flight to his college roommate. Though his secret is finally out, that doesnt make it any easier knowing he missed his chance to orbit Earth because he exceeded the weight limit. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (John Raoux/AP) CAPE CANAVERAL He told his family and a few friends. He dropped hints to a couple of colleagues. So hardly anyone knew that a Florida-based airline pilot could have should have been on board when SpaceX launched its first tourists into orbit last year from Kennedy Space Center. Meet Kyle Hippchen, the real winner of a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes, who gave his seat to his former Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University roommate. Advertisement Though Hippchens secret is finally out, that doesnt make it any easier knowing he missed his chance to orbit Earth because he exceeded the weight limit. He still hasnt watched the Netflix series on the three-day flight purchased by a tech entrepreneur for himself and three guests last September. It hurts too much, he said. Im insanely disappointed. But it is what it is. Advertisement Kyle Hippchen, a Florida-based airline captain, poses for a photo in front of a SpaceX Dragon capsule at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Hippchen, the real winner of a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes, gave his seat on a SpaceX flight to his college roommate. Though his secret is finally out, that doesnt make it any easier knowing he missed his chance to orbit Earth because he exceeded the weight limit. (AP Photo/John Raoux) (John Raoux/AP) Hippchen, 43, a Florida-based captain for Deltas regional carrier Endeavor Air, recently shared his story with The Associated Press during his first visit to NASAs Kennedy Space Center since his lost rocket ride. He opened up about his out-of-the-blue, dream-come-true windfall, the letdown when he realized he topped SpaceXs weight restrictions of 250 pounds (113 kilograms) and his offer to the one person he knew would treasure the flight as much as himself. Four months later, he figures probably fewer than 50 people know he was the actual winner. It was their show, and I didnt want to be distracting too much from what they were doing, said Hippchen, who watched the launch from a VIP balcony. His seat went to Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer in Everett, Washington. The pair roomed together starting in the late 1990s while attending Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. Theyd pile into cars with other student space geeks and make the hourlong drive south for NASAs shuttles launches. They also belonged to a space advocacy group, going to Washington to push commercial space travel. Despite living on opposite coasts, Hippchen and Sembroski continued to swap space news and champion the cause. Neither could resist when Shift4 Payments founder and CEO Jared Isaacman raffled off a seat on the flight he purchased from SpaceXs Elon Musk. The beneficiary was St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. Hippchen snapped up $600 worth of entries. Sembroski, about to start a new job at Lockheed Martin, shelled out $50. With 72,000 entries in the random drawing last February, neither figured hed win and didnt bother telling the other. By early March, Hippchen started receiving vague emails seeking details about himself. Thats when he read the contests small print: The winner had to be under 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds (2 meters and 113 kilograms). Hippchen was 5-foot-10 and 330 pounds. Advertisement This selfie photo provided by Chris Sembroski shows him, right, with Kyle Hippchen on April 21, 2021. Hippchen says Sembroski is the one person who lives and breathes space stuff like he does. (Chris Sembroski via AP) (Chris Sembroski/AP) He told organizers he was pulling out, figuring he was only one of many finalists. In the flurry of emails and calls that followed, Hippchen was stunned to learn hed won. With a September launch planned, the timeline was tight. Still new at flying people, SpaceX needed to start measuring its first private passengers for their custom-fitted flight suits and capsule seats. As an aerospace engineer and pilot, Hippchen knew the weight limit was a safety issue involving the seats, and could not be exceeded. I was trying to figure how I could drop 80 pounds in six months, which, I mean, its possible, but its not the most healthy thing in the world to do, Hippchen said. Isaacman, the spaceflights sponsor, allowed Hippchen to pick a stand-in. Kyles willingness to gift his seat to Chris was an incredible act of generosity, he said in an email this week. Isaacman introduced his passengers at the end of March: a St. Jude physician assistant who beat cancer there as a child; a community college educator who was Shift4 Payments winning business client; and Sembroski. Advertisement Hippchen joined them in April to watch SpaceX launch astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, the companys last crew flight before their own. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 58 In this image taken provided by SpaceX, a capsule carrying four people parachutes into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. The all-amateur crew was the first to circle the world without a professional astronaut. (SpaceX via AP) (AP) In gratitude, Sembroski offered to take personal items into space for Hippchen. He gathered his high school and college rings, airline captain epaulets, a great-uncles World War I Purple Heart and odds and ends from his best friends from high school, warning, Dont ask any details. Go For Launch - Space News Weekly Fix your telescope on all space-related news, from rocket launches to space-industry advancements. > By launch day on Sept. 15, word had gotten around. As friends and families gathered for the liftoff, Hippchen said the conversation went like this: My names Kyle. Are you The Kyle? Yeah, Im The Kyle. Before climbing into SpaceXs Dragon capsule, Sembroski followed tradition and used the phone atop the launch tower to make his one allotted call. He called Hippchen and thanked him one more time. Im forever grateful, Sembroski said. And while Hippchen didnt get to see Earth from orbit, he did get to experience about 10 minutes of weightlessness. During Sembroskis flight, he joined friends and family of the crew on a special zero-gravity plane. Advertisement It was a blast. ___ 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. New York City police officers and firemen stand at attention as they await the remains of Police Officer Jason Rivera to be brought to the funeral home on January 23 in New York City. Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul, left, and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, right, seated next to each other during a closed-door roundtable on violent crime held at the Department of Justice building downtown on Jan. 26, 2022. With the queens and princesses gathered around, First Lady Donna Edwards, left, and mom Marilyn Smith, right, watch as Gov. John Bel Edwards officially crowns Madison Smith queen of the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians in front of the Governor's Mansion. This occurred during a breakfast reception with Gov. John Bel Edwards and First Lady Donna Edwards at the Governor's Mansion for the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians where Queen Madison Smith presided with festival queens and princesses in attendance Wednesday Jan. 26, 2022, in Baton Rouge, La. (Photo by Bill Feig, The Advocate) BILLINGS, Mont. - A man was arrested and charged after allegedly leading law enforcement on a chase from Billings to Big Horn County Jan. 8. Court documents said police were responding to a report of an armed carjacking in Billings. When police arrived at the location of the report, they spoke with the victim who told officers he was sitting in his car in a parking lot when the suspect, identified as Joseph Wayne Cantrell, knocked on his window. The victim said when he signaled at Cantrell to go away, Cantrell pulled out a gun and the victim got out of the car, court documents said. The victim told officers he feared for his life after Cantrell allegedly pulled his gun. A Yellowstone County sheriff's deputy located the victim's vehicle about an hour after the carjacking and tried to stop the vehicle by turning on their emergency lights. The car sped off, leading the deputy on a chase towards Big Horn County, according to court documents. The car went over a tire deflator, set up by a Big Horn County sheriff's deputy, and crashed shortly after, court documents said. When deputies got to the car, they saw the driver's side door open, footprints in the snow leading towards an open field and Cantrell about 150 yards away, according to court documents. Law enforcement officers tried to give commands to Cantrell, but court documents said he was not cooperating. Court documents said deputies could see through binoculars Cantrell was armed with a gun and he was threatening to shoot himself. The standoff lasted several hours before Cantrell surrendered his gun and was arrested. Cantrell is facing federal charges of carjacking and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. According to the Montana Department of Corrections website, Cantrell is currently on probation out of Big Horn County. Montanas Attorney General Austin Knudsen will meet with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who hosting a two-day border summit for 12 state attorneys general in McAllen, Edinburg, Weslaco, and Rio Grande City. According to a press release sent to Montana Right Now, Attorney General Paxton invited the attorneys general to witness first-hand accounts of the massive influx of illegal immigrants that are currently affecting, not only Texas but our entire country. The attorney's general will be meeting with top officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during round table discussions, a border wall tour, and a boat tour on the Rio Grande River. A statement sent via release said: Ill-conceived immigration policies created by the Biden Administration have wreaked havoc on our communities and placed a massive burden on our country, Attorney General Paxton said. I want to thank our local, state, and federal law enforcement officials and my fellow attorneys general, who attended the summit, for making this issue one of their top priorities. This affects them too. Every state in the country is a border state. I will not allow this looming crisis on the border to continue to bring violence, drug cartels, and human trafficking to our communities. The attorneys general attending the border summit are from the following states: Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia. Have a news tip or would like to report a typo? Email Anthony Victor Reyes at areyes@kvoa.com. . . , , (. 305). . , , (II). . (1999). . (1848). New documents show former Arizona prisons chief had blood-alcohol level above legal limit on night of police standoff 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 Where would the number-one dealer of Chaparral Boats in the world be located? Of course, the answer is Lake of the Ozarks. The combination of business and sales acumen with a proven-quality, highly popular line of boats has made Premier 54 Boat Sales & Service one of the Lakes major boat dealers, and Chaparrals best. Thats what drew serial entrepreneurs Rick Ball and Steve Brink to buy it. Steve points out the acquisition, made in 2021, was an entrepreneurs dream: no major problems, a driven and successful staff, top-tier management, and a strong local brand. It was in place, and up and running! We havent had to make any changes at this point at all, he said. Its a great line of boats to have they proved that by what their sales were there! He added, Its really a perfect fit for us. This isnt Rick and Steves first rodeo. Both men got their start in the car dealership business: Rick in Missouri and Steve in Illinois. After Steve bought a boat from Rick, the two started selling boats together. Were both in the car business, and we both kind of think alike, Steve said, adding, Our birthdays are the same day too! They bought the marina that would become Formula Boats of Missouri in 2010, then Yacht Club Powersports in 2011, Martys Marine in 2015, and Iguana Marine Group in 2019. Steve revealed the pair is often motivated by the specific boat line theyre hoping to pick up, more than the fine details of the business theyre buying. We dont rely on the past practices as much as what we feel that we can do with it, Rick agreed. But it certainly helps when they find a business with an enormously popular brandChaparraland a record of success. Thats what they found in Premier 54. The Secret To Success Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. So how have Rick and Steve managed, both individually and as 50/50 partners, to start, acquire, and run so many successful businesses? Hard work, of course. But thats the answer everybody gives. Here are five more core values the men say drive their success: HONESTY - Rick explains they emphasize this value for every employee of every one of their businesses. There is no need to ever lie to a customer for anything, he said. If you dont know the answer, show them the courtesy to find out the right answer and give it to them. SUPPLY - Few things are worse for the bottom line than not having enough inventory. Rick and Steves marine businesses stock as many boats as they feel the market will stand, and then focus on quick turnover. LOVE - We only get into lines that were sold on, Rick said. Its clear this is a major factor for these two. They know not all boats are created equal, and they know boaters know it, too. Customer brand loyalty is common in auto sales; its even more serious in boat sales. REPUTATION - People that have worked for us, a lot of ems been there for quite awhile, Steve says in his Midwestern drawl. What we say were gonna do, we end up doing do what you say and say what youre gonna do I think that has followed us around the Lake. PEOPLE - Surround yourself with good people and it takes a lot of the headache away from it, Steve said. Theyre always on the hunt for team members who have a sincere interest in succeeding. Steve added, Everybody in those dealerships are important, from the top to the bottom. Theyre all people you gotta do whats right for them, as with the management team too. Its the Golden Rule. Treat them like youd want to be treated. The two men embody the hungry entrepreneurial spirit so commonly seen in successful business owners. If youre not moving forward, youre moving backwards, Steve said. Rick added, You stay humble and you learn you can succeed during the bad it gives you a confidence that you can take on more. They both talk like theyre not done buying and building businesses at the Lake. For Rick and Steve, its not just about running a business; its about how you run it, and how you treat the people you meet along the way. Both men are down-to-earth, with hobbies and families that bring them joy outside of the office. Although, Rick says, both the car and boat business are really more fun than work. A lover of the outdoors, Steve enjoys shooting, hunting, and fishing, and he runs a large, luxury hunting resort in Illinois. Rick talks a lot about his family. His two sons now manage the two Rick Ball auto dealerships in the region: Sedalia Ford and Boonville Chevy. They are successful, they have a passion for the car business, he said. He then smiled the proud smile of a father and grandfather. My boys are raising my grandkids just like we raised them. For both men, time with family often means time at the Lake, enjoying what everyone loves about this place: swimming in coves, dinner on the waterfront, visiting new places. For them and for the millions who visit Lake of the Ozarks every year, the fun happens thanks to a boatthe kind of boat you might buy from Rick Ball and Steve Brink. RACINE An employee at Good Life at Home, 2424 Loraine Ave., has been accused of sexually assaulting a resident. Donny Lee Jones, 65, of the 400 block of Parkview Drive, was charged with a felony count of second degree sexual assault. According to a criminal complaint: At 12:17 a.m. on Jan. 12, 2021, an investigator was sent to Good Life at Home for a sexual assault. Upon arrival, the investigator spoke to a woman who was a resident at the group home. She said that she arrived back at the group home late on Jan. 11 and began talking to an employee, identified as Jones. He then started making sexual advances towards her. He then followed her back to her room and sexually assaulted her. She was able to break away and go outside to call the police. Jones denied all allegations and said the only physical contact was a hug he gave her when she was placed into the group home. He then gave a DNA sample and said there would be no way his DNA would be found on any of the swabs, taken from the resident. On Nov. 29, the State Crime Lab released a report which indicated that the swabs contained DNA from Jones. It was also learned that Jones faced similar allegations in 2020 at another group home in Mount Pleasant. Jones was given a $20,000 signature bond and a $750 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Wednesday. at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show. In the wake of Kenoshas riots in August 2020, Republicans in Madison are advancing a new bill that would further criminalize rioting, although some believe it goes too far and treads on First Amendment rights. Opponents concerns are focused on how the law would make it illegal to participate in a protest where violence has occurred even if an individual did not participate in the violence, and would also make it a crime to block thoroughfares and building entryways. Proposal People can still get together and have a protest, but not have a quote-unquote mostly peaceful protest like how some tried to describe Kenosha, said Republican state Rep. Van Wanggaard, a retired police officer who lives in Racine and whose district includes most of rural Racine and Kenosha counties. While some states specifically outlaw rioting, Wisconsin doesnt, Wanggaard said in a phone interview Wednesday. We dont have a statute definition of what rioting is. According to Wanggaard, who authored the Senate version of the bill known as Senate Bill 296/Assembly Bill 279, if signed into law, the bill would make it illegal for someone to go to a protest with the intent to harm people or destroy property. He gave the example of someone arriving at a protest with a Molotov cocktail; even if they didnt throw the crude explosive device, they could be arrested and charged under this bill. But even refusing to leave a protest because others engaged in violence could lead to someone being found guilty of rioting under this bill. According to the Wisconsin Legislative Councils memo detailing the bill: A person who attends a riot or who refuses an order to disperse a riot is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor and would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 days in jail or prison under this bill. The bill passed both the Assembly and Senate Tuesday, moving it on to Gov. Tony Evers desk to sign or veto. Additionally, according to WLCs assessment of the bill: A person who incites or urges three or more persons to create or engage in a riot is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. A person who, while participating in a riot, blocks or obstructs the lawful use by any other person of any private or public thoroughfare, or blocks or obstructs any positions of access or exit to any private or public building or dwelling, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. A person who knowingly participates in a riot that results in substantial damage to the property of another or bodily injury to another person is guilty of a Class I felony. The bill requires a court to sentence a person who commits this offense to a mandatory term of confinement in a county jail or a state correctional institution of 45 days. The Assembly approved another bill Tuesday that would make damaging government property of historical significance a felony punishable by up to 3 1/2 in prison. Damaging historical state property is already a felony under state law but the property must be included on a Department of Natural Resources registry of prominent landscape features to qualify. After George Floyds death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, when protests erupted across the nation that sometimes became riots, protesters in Madison tore down the statue of Col. Hans Christian Heg, an abolitionist who lived in Racine County before the Civil War, and damaged the statute of Lady Forward. Concerns Some groups fear this kind of anti-rioting law and other similar ones proposed across the U.S. by Republicans, if approved, could have a cooling effect on legal protesting. The American Civil Liberties Union, the City of Milwaukee and government watchdog groups Common Cause in Wisconsin and Wisconsin Democracy Campaign have all registered in opposition of the riot penalties bill. No groups have registered in support or opposition of the statue bill. Protest is democracy, Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, said ahead of Tuesdays vote. This bill brought forward today by my friends across the aisle is a declaration of war against the First Amendment. Republicans pointed to the destruction in Kenosha and at the Capitol in 2020 as justification for the proposal. Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, said the bill is necessary because This behavior has got to stop. PEN America, a nonprofit that works to defend First Amendment freedoms, said in a Monday statement Wisconsin legislators should reject SB 296/AB 279 tomorrow when it will be up for a vote. The bill will make it all-too-easy for police to declare a protest as a riot and treat participants in the protest as criminals. An environmental activist, Phyllis Hasbrouch of Madison 350, told the Wisconsin Examiner, a progressive online news outlet, that this is a really radical bill. Its really stripping us of our constitutional rights to freedom of speech. She noted that simply blocking entry to a building or blocking a street, even in a small scale, could now be charged as a crime rather than a citation. (In) a large demonstration that is totally peaceful, and somebody who may not even be a part of the group threatens to push somebody. Now they have threatened to commit an act of violence and they have the ability to do so. And then, oops, were all in a riot now, Hasbrouch told the Examiner. And nothing was actually hurt, nobody, no property, but were in a riot. And then the police say disperse, or maybe they dont say disperse. Maybe they just start arresting. Alexander Shur and Mitchell Schmidt of Lee Newspapers and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Lake Genevas annual short-term rental license fee has been reduced for the second time in about two years because of pending litigation. Members of the city council narrowly approved, Jan. 10, to reduce Lake Genevas short-term rental license fee from $750 a year to $400 a year. The reduced fee was approved by a 4-3 vote with aldermen Tim Dunn, Mary Jo Fesenmaier and Cindy Flower voting no. City Attorney Dan Draper said the reason for reducing the fee is because of pending litigation regarding the previous $750 annual fee. Representatives from the nonprofit law firm Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty had filed a petition in July 2021 with the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission claiming that Lake Genevas short-term rental license fee is too high compared to other municipalities in Wisconsin. The petition was filed on behalf of short-term rental property owners Mary Black, Todd Huemann and Erin Huemann. Draper announced in August 2021 that the city had planned to contest the challenge. Lake Geneva officials have based the citys short-term rental license fee on the cost to administer the licenses and enforce local rules and regulations regarding short-term rental properties. We were involved in some litigation and based on that litigation, we found our fees are probably high based on what is a reasonable fee for the services that we provide, Draper said. In speaking with our legal counsel in lowering our fee to $400 and reimbursing the few plaintiffs for the overage that they paid last year, that will settle the lawsuit. Attorney Luke Berg, deputy counsel for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, said he is pleased that the city has reduced its short-term rental license fee, and that the challenge now will most likely be dropped after he meets with his clients. We view this as a win, Berg said. The city told us they were planning to lower the fee in response to our challenge. The case was put on hold pending the change and the change has happened, so were now working with the citys attorney to settle the case. Berg said the challenge was only filed with the Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission and not in court. He said the challenge was only related to the short-term rental license fee and not any other rules or regulations regrading the citys short-term rental properties. It was a lawsuit, but it was filed with the tax appeals commission. It was not filed in court, Berg said. You have to start with the tax appeals commission, so we filed that this summer. Alderwoman Cindy Flower questioned whether Lake Genevas short-term rental license fee is now too low and if city officials are keeping track of the number of short-term rental properties in the community. I think were short-sighting ourselves with this fee and many others by the fact that we dont dig into it a little deeper, Flower said. Alderwoman Mary Jo Fesenmaier said she also feels the city needs to conduct a more in-depth study regarding the number of short-term rental properties in the City of Lake Geneva before reducing the fee. Weve had bids from a company that would help us do that, to have that added value, to justify the higher fee, Fesenmaier said. I think were doing it too quickly. Berg said he feels the $400 annual license fee is fair and will most likely prevent any further litigation against the city. I think, most likely, it will resolve the case, Berg said. Draper said part of the reason the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed the challenge is because they feel since the number of short-term rental properties has increased in the City of Lake Geneva, the license fee should decrease. He said he is not certain if the fee will continue to decrease if the number of short-term rental properties continues to increase. Im not sure where the diminishing returns ends, Draper said. Im not sure if theres more rentals if the amount of work that will need to be done by the building and zoning department will increase. Representatives from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty had filed a similar lawsuit against the city in 2020 claiming that its short-term rental license fee was too high. The lawsuit was dropped in July 2020 when the city council approved to decrease the fee from $2,000 a year to $750 a year. The $2,000 fee was implemented in 2018. Draper said the city now plans to review its short-term rental license fee each year. I would suggest we do that unless we want to continue to go through a lawsuit, Draper said. Wisconsin lawmakers approved a measure in 2017, which was signed by former Gov. Scott Walker, requiring municipalities to allow homeowners to use their properties as short-term rentals for tourists. Members of the Lake Geneva City Council adopted an ordinance in 2018 to make sure short-term rental properties are properly managed and do not become a nuisance in city neighborhoods. 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 Sept. 19 marking the start of National Farm Safety and Health Week, a Juniata County farmer shared his story about a farm accident he experienced last year and shared some of his own safety tips. In view of the further relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions by the Swiss authorities, Consular services at the Sri Lanka Consulate in Geneva will continue to be provided in the following manner. Applications for NewPassports/ Passport Renewals/Visa Applications/ Legalization/ Police clearance certificates Applications for New Passports/Passport Renewals/Visa Applications/Legalization/Police Clearance Certificate can be obtained by applying in-person at the Consulate by prior appointment or by sending the duly completed application form via registered post with the originals of the supporting documents. Submitting Applications in-Person To obtain an appointment to apply for New Passports/Passport Renewals/Visa Applications/Legalization /Police Clearance Certificate, please login through https://geneva.embassyonline.lk/ or click the link: click here to get an appointment for consular services Submitting Applications via Registered Post Those who wish to apply for New Passports/Passport Renewals/Visa Applications/Legalization/Police Clearance Certificate by registered post, can download the application form from https://www.lankamission.org/2013-07-02-05-11-06/consular-services/travel-documents/new-passport.html. Please note that the originals of the necessary supporting documents have to be sent by registered post along with the application form. The originals will be returned to the applicant by registered post. For information regarding applications for New Passports and Passport Renewals click: https://www.lankamission.org/2013-07-02-05-11-06/consular-services/travel-documents/new-passport.html For information regarding applications for visas click: https://www.lankamission.org/2013-07-02-05-11-06/2013-12-19-11-22-11/visit-visa.html For information regarding legalization of the documents click: https://www.lankamission.org/2013-07-02-05-11-06/consular- services/legalization.html For information regarding Police clearance certificates click: https://www.lankamission.org/2013-07-02-05-11-06/consular-services/police-clearance-certificates.html Applications for Registration of Births/ Registration of Deaths/ Driving Licenses/ Dual Citizenship/ Emergency Passports/ Lost Passports/ Attestation of Documents/ Power of Attorney The physical presence of the applicant is necessary when applying for Registration of Births/ Registration of Deaths/ Driving Licenses/ Dual Citizenship/ Emergency Passports/ Lost Passports/ Attestation of Documents/ Power of Attorney. To obtain an appointment for these services other than Emergency passports please login through https://geneva.embassyonline.lk/ or click the link: click here to get an appointment for consular services To obtain an appointment to apply for Emergency Passports please call 0229191251 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. View Notice in PDF Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka Geneva Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): iLEAD Films' 'Before You Die...', the directorial venture of Suvendu Raj Ghosh is all set to release its trailer. The film is now slated to release on February 18, 2022. Also Read | Bengaluru Shocker: Gold Loan Executive Murdered, Body Thrown in Lake; 2 Arrested. The film will introduce Puneeth Raj Sharma and Kavya Kashyap as lead actors. Zarina Wahab, Mukesh Rishi, Pradip Chopra, Mushtaq Khan, Arha Mahajan, Badshah Moitra, Rita Dutta, Lovekansh Garg are amongst the other cast. With the launch of the trailer, they will also launch a unique book cafe located in the central business district of Kolkata - Shakespeare Sarani (formerly known as Theatre Road) and it is called Before You Die Cafe. It will be inaugurated by Mr. Soumen Mitra, retired IPS, and currently Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and Director Training. Also Read | Greek Cuisine: From Pastitsio to Frappe, 5 Traditional Mediterranean Food and Beverages To Die For. The book cafe is located right next to Bhartiya Bhasha Parishad that promotes various languages, mainly our national language Hindi. This cafe will not just serve coffees and savories but also have like-minded people from different fields carrying out creative discussions, intellectual activities, book and trailer launches. The cafe is surrounded by a beautiful public park where people come for their morning and evening walks and there is a Girls' College too which runs post graduate programs including program on Hindi literature. Looks like we have amazing stories coming our way from this attractive proposed cafe that has an amazing stock of books from all over! Along with the trailer launch, Pradip Chopra will also introduce his book called '131 Things to Do Before You Die...'. It is compiled by him and his colleague Asha Singhvi. Writer Producer Pradip Chopra says, "Before You Die...will be the first film to launch its trailer at the cafe. I have had a special bonding with this film from the time I penned down but never thought it would turn to be this grand even before its release." The film has already been recognized in film festivals like LIFFT India Awards 2022 and recently a Special Film Mention at the 9th Noida International Film Festival-22. Director Suvendu Raj Ghosh says, "I am glad to have such amazing and intellectual people believing in us and our film. The journey so far has been a beautiful ride with Mr. Pradip Chopra and the cast of the film. I am now looking forward to the audience reaction." Trailer Link - www.youtube.com/watch?v=98CNfAcopxs. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dubai [UAE], January 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): SRAM & MRAM Group, a global leader in the Nitrile Glove market, begins The Arab Health Tradeshow 2022 with an overwhelming response. The summit is being held in the UAE from January 24-27, 2022. Also Read | Samsung Galaxy S22 Series Key Features Revealed Online Ahead of Its Launch. The group is showcasing "Walletz4u" at the summit. The group is featuring an array of offerings and is present at booth H8.H13. The summit is expected to witness around 4.000 exhibiting companies and 56.000 healthcare and trade professionals, from 170 countries. This year's theme is "United by business, forging ahead", with new technologies and the latest innovations. Arab Health Tradeshow is synonymous as a leading healthcare exhibition in the region. The show brings together influencers under one roof from all the leading spheres; aiding in learning and improving knowledge and skills through the summit. Also Read | JPSC Combined Civil Services Mains Exam 2021 Postponed; New Dates Yet To Be Announced By Commission. Walletz4u, the flagship brand by SRAM & MRAM Group will be showcasing its portfolio during the summit. The brand is recognised globally for its high-quality latex, vinyl, nitrile, and rubber disposable gloves. Each glove is backed with the seal of approval and with the commitment to bringing the products that one can trust to help keep you safe, healthy, and comfortable. Walletz4u is the world's largest gloves OEM, one of the largest glove manufacturers and resellers in the ASEAN and the global markets. The group is expanding rapidly; the group will be starting their US operations shortly, will be stalling a manufacturing unit of gloves in The United States of America. Speaking on the participation, Anamika Chhawal, Head of Strategic Alliances at SRAM & MRAM Group, India division, operating out of Mumbai said, "With our vision of uncompromising commitment to quality standards, people and environment, SRAM & MRAM Group is committed to delivering in the healthcare sector by building strong networking. With this, we have been bringing in world-class health gear with global standards. With the participation in the summit, this will open new avenues in the Indian as well as Global market." Speaking from the summit, Raghav Ram Kapur, Business Development Director, SRAM & MRAM Group quoted, "The Arab Health Tradeshow is a great platform, it brings the best of worlds under one roof resulting in exchanging of ideas through and the latest offerings, the best technology, products, and services. We are anticipating a good footfall and a reasonable business from the event." The summit will be showcasing the tech and innovations under the following categories: Medical equipment and devices Disposables and consumer goods Imaging and diagnostics Orthopaedics & physiotherapy Healthcare & general services IT systems & solutions Healthcare infrastructure & assets Wellness & prevention Rashika Wijekoon, Business Development Manager, SRAM & MRAM Group, quoted, "It is a delight representing the group for such an event, and it certainly brings numerous opportunities to engage with the stakeholders. We are hopeful to tap onto a sizeable business prospects through the platform." Arab Health Tradeshow is the largest healthcare exhibition and congress in the MENA region. The event is an annual event that features global healthcare professionals and features a range of scientific lectures, industry briefings, product demonstrations and networking opportunities. With technology and innovation taking center stage, Arab Health, the leading medical equipment exhibition in the Middle East, it will be representing an exceeding range of healthcare products and services showcased by more than 3,500 exhibitors from across the world, this January at The Dubai World Trade Centre. Arab Health 2022 will bring together more than 56,000 healthcare professionals eager to learn, network and trade, and will feature a wide range of CME accredited conferences. For more information, kindly visit; www.arabhealthonline.com/en/Home.html. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Chandigarh [India], January 27 (ANI): Former Punjab MLA and Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira, who was arrested in connection with a money laundering case, was granted regular bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday. In November last year, Khaira was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case. Also Read | Supreme Court Says Even Minor Accident Due to Drunken Driving Should Not Be Treated Leniently. Khaira was arrested by the Delhi team of the ED after it collected enough evidence against the leader in connection with the case. It is alleged that Khaira visited the United States in 2016 when he was with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and raised funds totalling an amount of USD 1,19,000 from the non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the run-up to Punjab state assembly elections. Also Read | Union Budget 2022-23: Rise in Old-Age Pension, Re-Engaging Seniors Among Demands. ED recovered the documents pertaining to this funding during a raid in March this year, and when he was questioned about it, he disclosed entire fund-raising trip was organised by the AAP, and that he had no knowledge of the funding. Khaira was elected to the state assembly in 2017 from Bholath in Kapurthala district on an AAP ticket. Two years ago, he quit the AAP and formed the Punjab Ekta Party (PEP), which he merged with the Congress in June this year. In September this year, the ED recorded the statement of AAP national secretary Pankaj Gupta in connection with alleged foreign funds raised by the party in the run-up to 2017 Punjab assembly elections -- a move that the AAP described as a political vendetta at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Guwahati (Assam) [India], January 27 (ANI): Soon after the two militant outfits namely TLA and UGPO formally surrendered and laid down arms, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that "the era of tribal militancy is finally over in the state." Speaking to the media, the chief minister said "two militant outfits namely TLA and UGPO formally surrendered and laid down arms. With this, each and every tribal group has joined the mainstream. These were the last troops in the jungle. The era of tribal militancy is finally over in Assam." Also Read | Gujarat: FIR Against Man in Anand For Giving Wife Triple Talaq Through Instagram. Meanwhile, Sarma said, "The travel of Assam CM with 22 vehicles created a lot of problems for people so, the number of vehicles in the convoy has reduced to six." Earlier, militants belonging to TLA and UGPO formally surrendered before Chief Minister on Thursday, the police said. Also Read | Omicron Spread: Centre Extends COVID-19 Guidelines Till February 28, Asks State Govts Not To Lower Guard Against the Pandemic. "The cadres of two militant outfits namely TLA and UGPO formally surrendered and laid down arms before the Chief Minister of Assam at a ceremonial function held at International Auditorium, Srimanta Sankardev Kalashetra in Guwahati," Assam Police Headquarters said. According to the police, as many as 277 various types of arms, grenades, and 720 rounds of ammunition were deposited by both the outfits before the authority. Financial assistance of Rs 1.5 lakh was distributed to the former members of RNLF, UPRF, NLFB, NSLA and ADF for their rehabilitation, the police informed. (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 27 (ANI): Delhi police on Wednesday arrested four people for allegedly gang-raping a woman in the Vivek Vihar area of Shahdara district in the national capital. "An unfortunate incident of sexual assault of a woman due to personal enmity happened in Shahdara District," said R Sathiyasundaram, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara. Also Read | Tamil Nadu Govt Likely to Open Schools For Classes 10-12 From February. "Police has nabbed four accused and probe is on. All possible help and counselling are being provided to the victim," DCP added. As per the police, after the alleged gang rape of the woman, her hair was cut, her face was blackened and she was paraded in the streets wearing a garland of slippers. Also Read | EV Maker Tesla Cybertruck Production Delayed to 2023; Confirms CEO Elon Musk. According to the victim's sister, a boy living in the neighbourhood who claimed to be in love with the woman committed suicide in November last year. "His family blames my sister for their son's death," she said. Further investigation into the matter is underway. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kochi (Kerala) [India], January 27 (ANI): Kerala High Court adjourned the anticipatory bail plea of Malayalam Actor Dileep to February 2 in a case registered by the Crime Branch of Kerala Police for allegedly threatening the investigation officials probing the Actress Assault Case of 2017. Interim order which restraining police from arresting Dileep will continue till then. Also Read | OnePlus Nord 2T Key Specifications Reportedly Emerge Online, Launch Expected Soon. Single Bench of Justice P Gopinath adjourned the matter after the prosecution requested to do it citing the reason that the examination of digital evidence is pending. The prosecution also made it clear that the report will be submitted to the Court today itself on a sealed cover. As per the earlier High Court order, Crime Branch interrogated Dileep and the other four accused in the case for 33 hours on January 23, January 24 and January 25. Also Read | Chinar Corps in Collaboration With Putin Balan Group Inaugurates High Mast National Flag Shopian in Republic Day. Crime Branch of Kerala Police registered a new case against movie actor Dileep and five others on January 9 for allegedly threatening the investigating officials. They were booked under IPC sections 116 (abetment of an offence punishable with imprisonment), 118 (concealing design to commit an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 120B (party to criminal conspiracy), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (criminal act done by several people). Dileep is named as the first accused in the FIR. Anoop, who is Dileep's brother and Suraj, Dileep's brother-in-law are the second and third accused. Appu, Babu Chengamanad are the other accused. One more accused has not been identified yet. Dileep is also the eighth accused in the Actress Assault Case for alleged conspiracy. The case pertains that an actress who worked in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu films was allegedly abducted and molested inside her car by a group of men who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chandigarh [India], January 27 (ANI): Punjab Congress leader Jagmohan Singh Kang on Thursday said that he had requested Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi to give him the election ticket from Kharar constituency, but instead Channi gave it to his close aide. "I asked Channi for a ticket from Kharar seat to contest Punjab Assembly elections, but he opposed me and misled the high command. He has given the ticket from Kharar to his close aide," Jagmohan Singh Kang told ANI. Also Read | Supreme Court Says Even Minor Accident Due to Drunken Driving Should Not Be Treated Leniently. The senior Congress leader also alleged that Channi has given this ticket to Vijay Sharma Tinku from Ropar. Tinku is the owner of a liquor shop and has criminal cases registered against him, Kang said. "I am sure that he (Channi) will charge crores of rupees for giving this ticket to the candidate," he added. Also Read | Union Budget 2022-23: Rise in Old-Age Pension, Re-Engaging Seniors Among Demands. "However, I will fight against Channi as an independent candidate. I have been voted to power three times and have serving the Congress party for more than 40 years," he added. Kang challenged Channi and said, "I will request people here that they have voted me three times. Channi deceived me. I will visit door to door and request people not to vote for Channi." Jagmohan Singh Kang requested the party's chief Sonia Gandhi to allot election tickets from the Assembly constituency of Kharar-52 to his son Yadavindra S Kang. He said, "CM Channi is opposing us out of professional jealousy." He warned of taking a drastic step. Punjab will go to the polls on February 20 and the counting of the votes will take place on March 10. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Ghaziabad, Jan 27 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh here on Thursday called former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh his "idol" and claimed that the Jat community can't remain annoyed with the BJP. Rajnath made the statement in Modi Nagar, an Assembly segment with sizeable population of Jats, a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah reached out to the community ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Also Read | Union Budget 2022-23: Rise in Old-Age Pension, Re-Engaging Seniors Among Demands. The Shah's outreach is being seen as an attempt to win over the community, members of which had taken part in year-long protests against the central farm laws. The defence minister said since the beginning of his political career, the former prime minister has been his "idol". Also Read | Bengaluru Shocker: Gold Loan Executive Murdered, Body Thrown in Lake; 2 Arrested. His party declared the death anniversary of the former prime minister as Kisan Divas when he was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath said. The Jat community cannot remain annoyed with the BJP, he added. The minister also claimed that his party does not believe in caste-based politics. "We only believe in justice-based politics," he added. Replying to a question on Swami Prasad Maurya, who quit the BJP recently and joined the Samajwadi Party, Rajnath said his party is not bothered about it. He also claimed that law and order improved in the state under the Yogi Adityanath-led government. Before addressing the gathering, he offered prayers at the Mahamaya temple in Sinkri Kala village of the constituency. He also visited the tree, about which it is believed that people were hanged there during the British rule. PTI (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mathura, January 27: Union Home Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah on Thursday held a door-to-door campaign as a part of a political programme in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura ahead of State Assembly elections. Shah also addressed an 'Effective Voter Communication' programme in Mathura earlier today and drew a comparison of BJP with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP), and said that unlike them, BJP does not work for one caste or dynasty, "it works for entire society". Also Read | VSolidus Hits Cryptocurrency Industry With a Bang. "BJP is not the party for one caste but for the entire society," the Union Home Minister said. He also thanked the people of the Braj region for always choosing lotus (BJP), "be it the elections of 2014 or 2017." Also Read | Chinese Army Hands Over Missing Arunachal Pradesh Boy Miram Taron to Indian Army. Prior to these programmes, the Home Minister also offered prayers at Banke Bihari Temple in Vrindavan city of Uttar Pradesh's Mathura today. Shah's public engagements are significant as elections on 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases starting from February 10. The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be held on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3 and the seventh and the last phase will be conducted on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. (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 27 (PTI) The BSP on Thursday fielded Scheduled Castes candidates from Karhal and Jaswant Nagar, the seats from where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav will be contesting the UP Assembly polls, respectively. Apart from the two candidates, the party also declared 51 other names for the third phase of the UP Assembly elections. Also Read | Supreme Court Says Even Minor Accident Due to Drunken Driving Should Not Be Treated Leniently. According to the list of 53 candidates, Kuldeep Narain will be contesting from Mainpuri's Karhal against Yadav. A candidate belonging to the SC community will be contesting from Etawah's Jaswant Nagar against Shivpal Yadav. Also Read | Union Budget 2022-23: Rise in Old-Age Pension, Re-Engaging Seniors Among Demands. According to the BSP, the seats for which it announced the candidates fall in Hathras, Firozabad, Kasganj, Etah, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Etawah, Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar, Jalaun, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Hamirpur and Mahoba districts. The elections will be held in seven phases and the counting will take place on March 10. In the third phase, polling will be held on February 20 for 59 seats spread over 16 districts. Fifteen of these seats fall in reserve category. For the seats that go to polls in the third phase, the BSP has fielded six women and three Muslims. Earlier on Saturday, the party had released a list of 51 names for the second phase, the polling for which will be held on February 14. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Dhaka, Jan 27 (PTI) Bangladesh and Myanmar on Thursday resumed talks on repatriation of displaced Rohingya refugees back to their homeland, nearly a year after the dialogue was suspended following a military takeover of the neighbouring country. The first-ever meeting of the newly-formed technical level ad-hoc task force for verification of the displaced persons from Rakhine was held on Thursday virtually between Bangladesh and Myanmar, a foreign office statement said. Also Read | China Has Increased Investment in Zimbabwe but Locals Are Losing Jobs, Says Report. It said "both sides expressed readiness to continue working closely to address reasons causing delay in the verification of the past residency of the displaced people from Myanmar's Rakhine state. According to the statement, Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) Shah Rizwan Hayat and Myanmar's Deputy Director General of Immigration and Population ministry Ye Tun Oo led their respective sides in the talks. Also Read | Ukraine Shooting: Gunman Kills 5, Injures 5 at Military Plant in Dnipro. The Myanmar delegation detailed the technical difficulties and information gaps on the issue but assured their counterpart of their cooperation to complete pending verification, it said. Tun Oo expressed optimism that the task force would be instrumental to complete the verification process. The statement said that Hayat reminded the Myanmar side of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's humanitarian gesture in extending makeshift refuge to the huge number of displaced persons from Rakhine despite numerous constraints and challenges faced by Bangladesh. Hayat "expressed dismay over the slow pace of verification of past residency by Myanmar and offered all cooperation under the three bilateral instruments, to expeditiously complete the verification process, it added. He said that solving difficulties and gaps in pending verification will pave the way for the early commencement of the sustainable repatriation of Rohingyas. He pointed out that the issue also demanded "creation of conducive environment in Rakhine and confidence building among them (Rohingyas). Myanmar military seized the power on February 1, 2021 detaining the country's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The military coup took place at a time when Bangladesh was spearheading a desperate campaign for safe return of some 1.1 million Rohingyas. Over a million Rohingyas fled Myanmar to Bangladesh since a military clampdown began there in August 2017 to oust a predominantly Muslim ethnic group from their homeland at Rakhine state. The United Nations has termed it a textbook example of ethnic cleansing while rights group called the campaign a genocide. After initial resistance, Bangladesh opened its border for the fleeting Rohingyas on humanitarian ground and since then Cox's Bazar that borders Rakhine state has become a makeshift home for hundreds of the refugees. Bangladesh has so far provided biometric data of 830,000 Rohingyas to Myanmar authorities who have verified only 42,000 of them. The repatriation attempts failed twice due to trust deficit among the Rohingyas about their safety and security in Rakhine state. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Canberra, Jan 27 (AP) British and Australian navy ships arrived in Tonga on Wednesday and attempted to deliver aid without making contact with anybody ashore to avoid spreading the coronavirus in a nation which has never had an outbreak. The danger of spreading the disease was underscored when nearly two dozen sailors aboard the Australian ship HMAS Adelaide were reported infected on Tuesday, raising fears they could bring the coronavirus to the small Pacific archipelago devastated by an undersea volcanic eruption and a tsunami on January 15. Also Read | From 9mm Pistol to AK-47, Everything Is on Sale and Home Delivered Like Pizza in Pakistan. Since the pandemic began, Tonga has reported just a single case of COVID-19. It's one of the few countries in the world currently completely virus free. About 61% of Tongans are fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data. Meanwhile, the U.S. announced it would provide an additional $2.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Tonga through the U.S. Agency for International Development. The aid was in addition to an initial pledge of $100,000. Also Read | US Coast Guard Searches for 39 People After Suspected Human Smuggling Boat Capsizes Off Florida Coast En Route from Bahamas. Britain said its ship the HMS Spey arrived with 30,000 liters (7,900 gallons) of bottled water, medical supplies for more than 300 first aid kits, and basic sanitation products. It said none of its sailors disembarked the ship, and instead moved the supplies ashore by crane. The U.K. is a long-standing partner of the Pacific islands, and having the ship deployed in the Indo-Pacific meant that we could be there for Tonga in their hour of need, as the island begins to rebuild their homes and communities, said the Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey in a statement. The Australian government said its ship had completed the 3,300-kilometer (2,050-mile) voyage from Brisbane and would deliver supplies without contact with the local population to avoid infections. We appreciate the decision of the government of Tonga to enable HMAS Adelaide to dock and offload the humanitarian and medical supplies, and the high priority it has placed on COVID safety throughout the recovery process, the statement said. The ship is undertaking an entirely contactless delivery of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief supplies. With restoration of the drinking water supply a major priority, the ship brings a desalination plant. It's also carrying helicopters and engineering equipment. Australia said it was widening its disaster support to include restoration of power and communications. Under pandemic measures, Tonga typically requires visitors to quarantine for three weeks on arrival and that complicates the international disaster response. All international aid is to be delivered without local contact. Tongan authorities have been wary that accepting international aid could usher in a bigger disaster than the huge eruption of the volcano. The tsunami killed three people. The ship is the second aid mission from Australia in which at least one crew member tested positive. A C-17 Globemaster military transport plane was earlier turned around midflight after a person aboard was diagnosed with the coronavirus. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Online seminar establishes groundwork for future China-South Africa education cooperation 16:18, January 27, 2022 By Wang Lei ( People's Daily Online The engagement was very, very, very fruitful. We recommend that if possible there would be more interactions and more engagements through various platforms, said Mmamoshibudi Mabale, on behalf of all the teachers from South Africa at the completion ceremony for the Pedagogical Advanced Seminar on Mathematics, co-hosted by the Department of Basic Education of South Africa and the Chinese Embassy in South Africa. The seminar was conducted online and lasted for 10 days. The participants included 40 mathematics teachers from South African primary and secondary schools, subject advisors, subject experts, and officials from the South African Department of Basic Education. The course included modules on the ontological knowledge of mathematics, teaching methods and case studies of mathematics at the basic education level in China, live demonstrations of mathematics classroom teaching and the application of modern educational technology in mathematics teaching, reinforcing application-driven, practice-oriented, and competence-based learning, forming an experiential training model with the in-depth participation of participants. Li Xudong, Counselor of the Education Section of the Chinese Embassy in South Africa, expressed his sincere congratulations regarding the successful implementation of the seminar. This practical cooperation in the field of basic education is an important part of the China-South Africa high-level cultural exchange mechanism, and the successful implementation of this training course is an important achievement under this framework. Li also expressed his appreciation and best wishes to all 40 South African frontline teachers who had completed the training, hoping that they would apply what they had learned in their future teaching practices and become friendly ambassadors and co-promoters of China-South Africa cooperation. I am impressed by their strong learning and eager thirst for knowledge. On behalf of the Chinese lecturers, Li Na said teachers from both China and South China interacted and shared their teaching experience throughout the whole process of the online seminar. Hao Fanghua, Principal of Central China Normal University, told People's Daily Online that she was looking forward to the training and in-depth exchanges with her South African counterparts in the area of teacher training so that they might learn more from each other and advance together. The program provides a means to improve mutual understanding and cooperation between the two sides and establish the groundwork for future education collaboration. The training was organized by the School of Teacher Education of Central China Normal University's Department of Artificial Intelligence Education, with renowned scholars from Central China Normal University's School of Mathematics and Statistics being the main body of participants. To achieve the best possible outcome, a total of 20 experts, including distinguished alumni from Central China Normal University, famous mathematics teachers and researchers from primary and secondary schools in Hubei Province, famous subject teachers, first-line special instructors and famous academics in the field of educational information technology from Central China Normal University were hired to build a strong teaching team to carry out the training program's teaching assignments. This training program is also the first attempt at collaboration between Central China Normal University and the basic education sector of South Africa. (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) Ottawa [Canada], January 27 (ANI/Sputnik): Canada will deploy up to 400 personnel in total to assist the Ukrainian military and 60 of them will be deploying in the next several days, Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said during a news conference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "Today, we are pleased to announce the extension and expansion of Operation Unifier. With approximately $340 million we will increase the capacity of our training mission in Ukraine, deploying up to 400 members of the Canadian armed forces with up to 60 of those members being deployed in the coming days," Anand said on Wednesday. Also Read | US Races to Retrieve Crashed F-35 Before China Can Seize its Most Advanced Jet. The Canadian soldiers are providing training in such areas as tactics, improvised explosive device disposal, sniping, reconnaissance and medicine, Anand added. Trudeau explained Canada is extending the operation for another three years and doubling the number of its soldiers in Ukraine from 200 to 400. Also Read | Pakistan: One Dead, Several Injured as Police Baton-Charge MQM-P Protesters in Karachi. The operation is focused in the western part of Ukraine where risks to troops are lowest and they can concentrate on the training and support mission, Trudeau said. The safety of Canadian personnel remains paramount and in the event of a Russian invasion the government will ensure that members of the military remain safe, Trudeau also said. The decision on exactly how many troops to send not exceeding the 400 personnel cap will be determined by the situation on the ground, Trudeau added. Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has said her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba had relayed to her the request for Canada to extend Operation Unifier. (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) Beijing [China], January 27 (ANI): Russia's legitimate security concerns must be treated seriously, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi conveyed this message to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during held a phone call on Thursday. This comes as the US repeatedly accused Russia of aggression against Ukraine. Moscow continues to say that it is not going to attack anyone and that claims about Russian aggression are used as a pretext to deploy NATO military equipment near Russian borders. Also Read | US Races to Retrieve Crashed F-35 Before China Can Seize its Most Advanced Jet. "Today, in the 21st century, all parties should entirely abandon the Cold War mentality and form a balanced, effective and sustainable mechanism for European security through negotiations, and Russia's legitimate security concerns should be taken seriously and addressed," Wang said, as cited in a foreign ministry statement. Blinken and Wang Yi discussed the risks that may arise due to escalation in Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. Also Read | Pakistan: One Dead, Several Injured as Police Baton-Charge MQM-P Protesters in Karachi. "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with PRC State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Secretary Blinken underscored the global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine and conveyed that de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward," Price said. Both leaders also exchanged views on how to advance work together following President Biden's virtual meeting with President Xi on November 15, 2021, including on managing strategic risk, health security, and climate change. During the phone call with Blinken, the top Chinese diplomat said Washington should avoid interference in the Beijing Winter Olympics. "The United States should stop interfering with the holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playing with fire on the Taiwan issue, and stop creating all kinds of anti-China 'circles'," the Chinese Foreign Minister said, as cited in a foreign ministry statement. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the First Central Asian Summit with other leaders ( Twitter/MEAIndia) New Delhi [Delhi], January 27 (ANI): Emphasising further development of mutual connectivity for enhancing trade and commerce, India and Central Asian countries on Thursday agreed that connectivity initiatives should be based on the principles of transparency and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. At the first India-Central Asia Summit, the leaders of participating countries welcomed the proposal of India to establish a joint working group on Chabahar Port to address issues of free movements of goods and services between India and Central Asian countries. Also Read | China Has Increased Investment in Zimbabwe but Locals Are Losing Jobs, Says Report. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the virtual summit which was attended by Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The virtual summit coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Central Asian countries. Also Read | Ukraine Shooting: Gunman Kills 5, Injures 5 at Military Plant in Dnipro. The Delhi declaration adopted at the summit said India and the Central Asian member countries of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), as well as the Ashgabat Agreement on International Transport and Transit Corridor, called upon the other Central Asian countries to consider joining these connectivity initiatives. "The sides agreed that connectivity initiatives should be based on the principles of transparency, broad participation, local priorities, financial sustainability and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries," the declaration said. The Indian side welcomed the interest of Central Asian countries to utilize the services of Shahid Beheshti Terminal at Chabahar Port for facilitating their trade with India and other external markets. The sides supported India's proposal to include the Chabahar Port and noted Turkmenistan's proposal to include the Turkmenbashi Port within the framework of INSTC (International North-South Transport Corridor). The Delhi Declaration said the leaders agreed to continue engagement for further developing the transit and transport potential of their countries, improving the logistics network of the region and promoting joint initiatives to create regional and international transport corridors. They also noted the need for continued large-scale and long-term economic cooperation between Central Asian countries and India in order to strengthen and expand inter-connectivity. In this context, the President of Turkmenistan stressed the importance of TAPI gas pipeline project. The leaders noted that the current level of trade and investments between India and Central Asian countries is far from realizing its true potential and stressed the importance of making concerted efforts to boost trade and investment in various sectors like medicine, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education and information technology. They welcomed the development of direct contacts between the states of India and the regions of Central Asian countries, including through the establishment of partnership arrangements between them. The leaders directed their respective ministers to prepare a roadmap for enhancing mutual trade volume and industrial cooperation between India and the Central Asian countries. The leaders encouraged the India-Central Asia Business Council (ICABC) to accelerate their efforts to promote business linkages, facilitate a greater understanding of business regulations and incentivize mutual investments. They took note of the proposal to create an India-Central Asia Investment Club under ICABC to promote investment opportunities in each other's countries. The leaders noted that further development of mutual connectivity is essential for enhanced trade and commerce between India and Central Asian countries in the context of their land-locked nature and lack of overland connectivity with India. They emphasised that connectivity projects deserve priority attention and could be a force-multiplier for trade and economic cooperation and contacts between countries and people. Iran and India had signed an agreement in 2018 to develop the Chabahar Port in South-Eastern Iran. The port is located in the Gulf of Oman and provides an alternative route for trade between India and Afghanistan. The Chabahar port is a key connectivity project to boost trade ties among India, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asian countries. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [Delhi], January 27 (ANI): Noting that further development of mutual connectivity is essential for enhanced trade and commerce, India and Central Asian countries on Thursday agreed that connectivity initiatives should be based on the principles of transparency and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. At the first India-Central Asia Summit, the leaders of participating countries welcomed the proposal of India to establish a joint working group on Chabahar Port to address issues of free movements of goods and services between India and Central Asian countries. Also Read | China Has Increased Investment in Zimbabwe but Locals Are Losing Jobs, Says Report. The Indian side welcomed the interest of Central Asian countries to utilize the services of Shahid Beheshti Terminal at Chabahar Port for facilitating their trade with India and other external markets. The sides supported India's proposal to include the Chabahar Port and noted Turkmenistan's proposal to include the Turkmenbashi Port within the framework of INSTC (International North-South Transport Corridor). Also Read | Ukraine Shooting: Gunman Kills 5, Injures 5 at Military Plant in Dnipro. The Delhi Declaration adopted at the summit held virtually said the leaders agreed to continue engagement for further developing the transit and transport potential of their countries, improving the logistics network of the region and promoting joint initiatives to create regional and international transport corridors. They also noted the need for continued large-scale and long-term economic cooperation between Central Asian countries and India in order to strengthen and expand inter-connectivity. In this context, the President of Turkmenistan stressed the importance of TAPI gas pipeline project. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the virtual summit which was attended by Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The summit coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Central Asian countries. The leaders noted that the current level of trade and investments between India and Central Asian countries is far from realizing its true potential and stressed the importance of making concerted efforts to boost trade and investment in various sectors like medicine, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, education and information technology. They welcomed the development of direct contacts between the states of India and the regions of Central Asian countries, including through the establishment of partnership arrangements between them. The leaders directed their respective ministers to prepare a roadmap for enhancing mutual trade volume and industrial cooperation between India and the Central Asian countries. The leaders encouraged the India-Central Asia Business Council (ICABC) to accelerate their efforts to promote business linkages, facilitate a greater understanding of business regulations and incentivize mutual investments. They took note of the proposal to create an India-Central Asia Investment Club under ICABC to promote investment opportunities in each other's countries. The leaders noted that further development of mutual connectivity is essential for enhanced trade and commerce between India and Central Asian countries in the context of their land-locked nature and lack of overland connectivity with India. They emphasised that connectivity projects deserve priority attention and could be a force-multiplier for trade and economic cooperation and contacts between countries and people. India and the Central Asian member countries of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), as well as the Ashgabat Agreement on International Transport and Transit Corridor, called upon the other Central Asian countries to consider joining these connectivity initiatives. "The sides agreed that connectivity initiatives should be based on the principles of transparency, broad participation, local priorities, financial sustainability and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries," the declaration said. In this regard, the leaders noted the results of the high-level international conference 'Central and South Asia: Regional Connectivity. Challenges and Opportunities,' held in July last year in Tashkent, which provided a unique opportunity to openly discuss the entire range of topical development issues and strengthen regional interconnection between the countries of Central and South Asia. They noted the initiative of Uzbekistan to adopt a special resolution of the UN General Assembly on strengthening the connectivity between Central and South Asia. They also noted Turkmenistan's proposal to organize, in cooperation with the UN, the International Ministerial Transport Conference for Landlocked Developing Countries, to be held in Turkmenistan in April 2022. Iran and India had signed an agreement in 2018 to develop the Chabahar Port in South-Eastern Iran. The port is located in the Gulf of Oman, and provides an alternative route for trade between India and Afghanistan. The Chabahar port is a key connectivity project to boost trade ties among India, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asian countries. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], January 27 (ANI): Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, during a virtual event of the India-Central Asia Summit, congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India on India's 73rd Republic Day and appreciated India's initiative to hold the summit. In his speech during the event, he mentioned that the Central Asian Countries and India are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral and diplomatic relations. Also Read | Ukraine Shooting: Gunman Kills 5, Injures 5 at Military Plant in Dnipro. He said, "Over these years, owing to the mutual efforts, our countries have built friendly relations, established strategic partnership and developed cooperation in political, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres." "The Kyrgyz republic supports the initiative of the Indian side to hold the India-Central Asia summit at the level of heads of states.", Japarov said. Also Read | Afghanistan: 23 Million People Are Facing Acute Hunger, Says Norwegian Refugee Council. Kyrgyz President took this event as an opportunity for open exchange of views and prospects of Interregional cooperation. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Oslo [Norway], January 27 (ANI): Norwegian participant at the intra-Afghan dialogue has emphasized girls' access to education in Afghanistan. The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council stressed the need for girls' access to education in Afghanistan after his meeting with the Afghanistan delegation which was in Oslo, Norway for a three-day series of talks, as reported by Tolo News. Also Read | China Has Increased Investment in Zimbabwe but Locals Are Losing Jobs, Says Report. "The Taliban has not followed up on their promise that there also be secondary education for girls, this is... a red line for us. If we cannot educate girls, we cannot educate boys," said Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. On the other hand, a delegation of the Taliban was led by acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi. Also Read | Ukraine Shooting: Gunman Kills 5, Injures 5 at Military Plant in Dnipro. The delegation held talks with the envoys of the European Union, officials from the US and other European countries as well as several international aid organizations including the meeting with the Norwegian Refugee Council's chief. The first day of the three-day talks was an intra-Afghan dialogue between the Islamic Emirate delegation and Afghan civil society members including seven women's rights activists, six politicians and a high-profile journalist. Earlier, in a meeting with the Afghanistan delegation Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said Wednesday on Twitter: "We brought up all the challenges we face in Afghanistan." "In our humanitarian talks with Taliban leaders in Oslo, they confirmed that education for girls on all levels will, at long last, resume this spring/March. We need to continue raising this in Kabul and in provinces to make it a reality," said Jan Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council. A participant at the intra-Afghan dialogue said that the Taliban's delegation promised to allow girls' access to education. "They Taliban said that they have nothing to do with women's rights to work and education and that all Afghans will have their rights," she said, as reported by Tolo News. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Oslo [Norway], January 27 (ANI): The European Union's special envoy to Afghanistan has "underlined the need for primary and secondary schools to be accessible for boys and girls throughout the country when the school year starts in March". Taking to Twitter, the EU envoy Tomas Niklassonn also said that discussions during the Taliban delegation visit to Oslo earlier this week include humanitarian crisis, human rights, right to education for girls and women in Afghanistan during the talks. Also Read | US Races to Retrieve Crashed F-35 Before China Can Seize its Most Advanced Jet. "I also underlined the need for primary and secondary schools to be accessible for boys and girls throughout the country when the school year starts in March - and discussed engagement with UN-appointed special rapporteurs," Niklasson said. "Thank you Norway for hosting #Afghanistan discussions on e.g. the humanitarian crisis, human rights, right to education for girls and women, an inclusive government, CT and the liquidity crisis, with Afghan women and civil society actors and de facto authority representatives," he added in another tweet. Also Read | Pakistan: One Dead, Several Injured as Police Baton-Charge MQM-P Protesters in Karachi. On Tuesday, the Norwegian charities pledged support to Afghanistan. Representatives of Norwegian charities and organizations met with acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, during his three-day visit to Oslo. According to Balkhi, Muttaqi assured the organizations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan's (IEA) full cooperation in the delivery of aid and equitable distribution, according to Ariana News. Muttaqi led a 15-member delegation to Norway this week where they met with a broad range of officials and foreign representatives. In addition to meeting Norwegian officials, the Taliban also met with dignitaries from the US, Canada and the United Kingdom, and with representatives of a number of European countries. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Washington, January 27: The United States Navy is scrambling to retrieve F-35, its most advanced fighter jet, which crashed in the depths of the South China Sea. This race to get back the USD 100 million warplane is an extremely complex operation that experts say will be closely monitored by Beijing, American news network CNN reported. Also Read | From 9mm Pistol to AK-47, Everything Is on Sale and Home Delivered Like Pizza in Pakistan. The F-35C, the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during routine operations on Monday. At least seven persons were injured in a US F-35 jet crash on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, the Navy said. Also Read | US Coast Guard Searches for 39 People After Suspected Human Smuggling Boat Capsizes Off Florida Coast En Route from Bahamas. The US Pacific Fleet said that the pilot of a US F-35 jet was conducting routine flight operations when the crash happened. But he was safely ejected and was recovered by a military helicopter and he is in stable condition. The cause of what the statement called an "inflight mishap" is under probe, CNN reported. The crash is the first for an F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter, designed for operations off aircraft carriers. Some versions of the F-35 are also flown by US allies and partners, including Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Australia. Monday's crash in the South China Sea was the second of an F-35 this year. Earlier this month, the pilot of a South Korean F-35 made an emergency "belly landing" at an airbase on Tuesday after its landing gear malfunctioned due to electronic issues, according to the South Korean Air Force. In previous years, F-35s have been involved in at least eight other incidents, CNN reported citing records kept by the crowd-sourced website. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) The Delhi government on Thursday decided to lift weekend curfew and odd-even rule for shops. However, the delhi government decided to continue night curfew. The decison was taked after meeting with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. Meanwhile, the decsion regarding opening of schools in the union territory will be taken up in the next Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting. Only 200 guests are allowed in weddings in the national capital. Bars, restaurants, cinema halls and government offices are allowed to operate with only 50 percent capacity. Tweet By ANI: Delhi | Weekend curfew,odd-even for shops to go. Night curfew to continue.Schools' opening to be taken up in next DDMA meet.Weddings to be held with max 200 people or 50% capacity. 50% capacity for bars, restaurants&cinema halls. Govt offices to operate with 50% capacity: Sources ANI (@ANI) January 27, 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.) Kiev, January 27: The police detained a Ukrainian National Guard serviceman who shot five people dead and wounded five others at a military factory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky wrote on Facebook Thursday. The 21-year-old soldier opened fire at people inside a guard house of the Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant at about 4 a.m. local time (GMT 0200) for unknown reasons. Four servicemen and one civilian woman were killed in the incident and five others were severely injured. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko Orders Closure of Border With Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the incident, the minister said. The Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant produces launch vehicles, rocket engines, ballistic missiles and other products for the Ukrainian defense and aerospace sectors. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 27, 2022 05:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East The whole world's scientific community is racing towards attaining full immunity for all of our citizens. However, in different countries, there are still some walls that stop us from eliminating the virus once and for all. It seems that past racial differences continue to hinder our fight against the pandemic. Just in Chicago, Illinois, the virus continues to affect communities of both blacks and Latinos. In this article, we will attempt to shed light on why this is the case for many of these people. Best Legal Solution for Personal Injuries The whole population of the United States rose to nearly 19% of Latinos in the past few years. Recent research discovered that new variants of the coronavirus, both Delta and Omicron are disproportionately infecting Latino neighborhoods. As many Latinos experience the chaos caused by the pandemic in the United States. Scarcity forces some factions to act on their agendas. This may contribute to the rise of crimes within both Black and Latino neighborhoods in the United States. While many people are still struggling to recover from the economic effects of the pandemic, some of their lives might also be affected by the rise in crimes. As crime rates continue to increase, some people are still wondering about the proper steps to take if they experience a crime. The best method we can suggest is to seek the help of any personal injury lawyer chicago since they can give you sound advice about the next moves forward. These professionals know about the laws in the city and the state of Illinois. If you survive a violent incident, a personal injury lawyer can help you with some legal actions you can take. Another situation that personal injury lawyers can cover is the unlawful treatment of some authorities in your neighborhood. If you feel like the virus is affecting your community because of bias and mistreatment, then you should submit your claims to the nearest lawyer that will listen to you. One reason why black and Latino communities experience many cases of the new Covid variants can be traced to disparities in vaccine distribution. There is also a likelihood that a community's ethnicity contributes to the mortality rates brought by the pandemic. In some cases, some communities might be located in areas that are difficult to reach by mobile vaccination groups and teams. Why does the Covid Pandemic affect Blacks and Latinos more? In this section, we will take a closer look at why the SARS Cov-2 virus affects black and Latino communities heavily. Let us be clear that some of the data we have collected might still be incomplete. Incidence of Disease Black and Latino communities inside the US across different states might not have access to the best medical facilities available. Apart from that, the rising number of Covid cases amongst some Black and Latino population centers may be due to their natural resistance against the virus. It is said that an area's population might achieve full immunity if all of its members become immune against the virus. There might also be gaps in the immunity rate in the members of both Black and Latino communities. Less Likelihood of Health Insurance Earlier reports during the start of the pandemic show that Black and Latino Americans might have existing health conditions that lower their body's resistance against the Covid-19 virus. Some members of Black and Latino communities might also work in remote jobs that do not cover health insurance benefits for their employees. High-Chances of Infection The high percentage of infection amongst Black and Latino communities might be attributed to their housing. Both communities are known to reside in multigenerational housing locations. The proximity of each house, apartment, or room causes the viruses to be transferred between individuals at a rapid pace. Conclusion The scarcity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is slowly being remedied by our governments. However, it might cause some criminals to act of their own will and inflict crimes against other people. Aside from that, there is also an existing disproportion with the high number of cases of Covid with both Black and Latino communities. The situation might be caused by low body resistance, chances of infection, and the location in which they reside. U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday making sexual harassment a crime under the military code. The order will also solidify the military's response to domestic violence and the wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images, according to an Axios report. Last year, Biden expressed support for the U.S. military removing sexual harassment and assault cases from the hands of those leading. Biden said in July that they need concrete actions that fundamentally change the way they handle military sexual assault while making clear that the sexual crimes will not be minimized or dismissed. The code was called for by the I Am Vanessa Guillen Act in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, CBS News reported. The Defense Department's top official, Gen. Mark Milley, said last summer that he is open to "significant and fundamental" change in how the military handles sexual assault and harassment. However, Milley noted that he would want to see a "detailed study" before the military justice system changes how it manages serious crimes. The new agreement stated that military prosecutors would replace commanders in deciding whether those accused of sexual assault, rape, murder, and domestic violence would be prosecuted. It was a move that was initially resisted by lawmakers and Pentagon leaders for decades. READ NEXT: Retired Army General Demoted, Convicted for Sexually Assaulting His Daughter Since She Was 3 Executive Order in The Military Code Former chief prosecutor of the U.S. Air Force Don Christensen said in December that the new legislation was the "most significant military justice reform" in the country's history, according to The New York Times report. There would be special trial counsel who would directly report to the Army, Navy, and Air Force secretaries under the new order. Commanders will be able to maintain their authority to conduct the trials, choose jury members, grant immunity, as well as approve witnesses. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III had been disturbed by the shortcomings of the current system during years as an Army general. Milley initially opposed the changes but acknowledged that junior enlisted troops had largely lost faith that sexual assault cases would be handled fairly. Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Military CBS News reported that around 100,000 incidents of domestic abuse have been reported to the military since 2015. Meanwhile, the military has not kept comprehensive data on the problem, making it impossible to assess the full scope. The new investigation unveiled that domestic abuse is a similar crisis on the home front, with some survivors saying they felt they were in more danger after they reported. Now-retired Master Sergeant Erica Johnson told Air Force leaders in 2019 that she was being physically and sexually assaulted, which prompted an investigation by the Air Force's Office of Special Investigations. However, Johnson said that the investigation did not go anywhere, adding that the leaders would not accept evidence from her. She said that they did not use her statements. Johnson has not received a copy of the report regarding her allegations. However, she was told that the commander decided not to take any action based on the findings. On Apr. 22, 2020, Vanessa Guillen disappeared. Her case had made headlines, capturing the attention of the nation, including celebrities and public figures. On July 2, prosecutors announced a charge in the case, with the suspect being another soldier identified as U.S. Army Specialist Aaron Robinson. Before the charge was announced, Robinson had killed himself with a pistol. His girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, was also arrested. READ MORE: Foul Play Suspected as Another Missing Fort Drum Soldier Found Dead This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Biden signs order criminalizing military sexual harassment - from CBS Evening News YouTube has permanently banned Fox News host Dan Bongino from their platform after the media host had posted COVID misinformation on the Google-owned video service. Bongino posted a video where he questioned the effectiveness of using masks against COVID infection, which is a violation of the company's pandemic-related misinformation policy, according to a U.S. News report. YouTube imposed a permanent ban on Bongino's channels on January 20. The video platform said that when a channel receives a strike, it means that it went against their Terms of Service to post content or use another channel to circumvent the suspension. The Google-owned platform said that if a channel is terminated, the uploader is unable to use, own, or create any other YouTube channels. The video service has added more rules around COVID content as the pandemic continues. It banned conservative commentators such as Joseph Mercola and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spreading misinformation about vaccines last September. Both YouTube channels have been taken down, and the video platform said that Fox News host would not be allowed to create any new channels or use any other channels in the future. READ NEXT: YouTube Suspends Sen. Rand Paul Over COVID Mask Misinformation YouTube Suspension on Dan Bongino Earlier this week, Bongino posted a video announcing that he planned to leave YouTube and post all of his videos on Rumble, a platform in which he is an investor, according to a USA Today report. Right-wing politicians and personalities, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, are pushing alternative services after claiming that social media platforms are biased against them, according to a USA Today News report. YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter intensified after major social media platforms suspended Trump after the January 6 Capitol attack. YouTube ordered Bongino not to upload any content for seven days. However, a spokesperson said a video was uploaded to Bongino's main channel during the suspension period, which led to the permanent ban, according to a Forbes report. Bongino did not issue a statement regarding the matter. However, he tweeted on his Twitter account, saying that YouTube "communists" are desperately trying to save face after they told the company to "go f*** themselves." Bongino is the host of the radio show "The Dan Bongino Show," which took over the time slot of the late Rush Limbaugh's show in many markets last year. Alternative Media Services Trump Media and Technology Group announced that it is planning to launch a social media platform on February 21, more than a year after the former president was banned from Facebook and Twitter. An Apple App Store listing for the platform, known as Truth Social, was displayed with a February 21 release date, according to another Forbes report. Developers claimed that the Trump-developed social media platform will be inclusive of all ideologies. The platform said it would be a place for all; liberals, conservatives, and libertarians may have an "amazing time" despite different beliefs. The former president's Twitter account was banned two days after the January 6 Capitol riot. Trump then revealed TMTG in October. READ MORE: Trump to Lose Special Twitter Protections in January This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: YouTube permanently bans Dan Bongino - from Breaking News World Oscar Rosales, the man suspected of killing Texas cop Charles Galloway last week, was arrested by Mexico authorities on Wednesday. The information was confirmed by Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez, saying that the suspect, identified as Oscar Rosales, was apprehended by authorities from Ciudad Acuna in Mexico, CNN reported. According to ABC News, Rosales was charged with capital murder charges. Reports noted that the said charges were filed against Rosales earlier this week after the Houston Police Department announced that the detective recovered video evidence, showing Rosales shooting and killing Galloway. Martinez revealed that at around 11:30 a.m., Mexico law enforcement transferred Rosales to the U.S. authorities in the Val Verde port of entry. Other agencies who helped in the transfer of the suspect were the Texas Department of Public Safety, Val Verde County Sheriff's office, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Rosales's arrest came after he was identified on Monday as the man suspected of killing Galloway in the Southwest of Houston. Oscar Rosales, 51, is wanted and will be charged with the capital murder of @HCpct5 Corporal Charles Galloway. Anyone with information on his whereabouts, please call @CrimeStopHOU 713-222-TIPS or HPD Homicide 713-308-3600. Reward up to $60K for info. #HouNews https://t.co/Cnl6jfpF1u pic.twitter.com/Dou3anIKdI Houston Police (@houstonpolice) January 24, 2022 Currently, Rosales is under the custody of Val Verde County authorities. Officials have not furthered any other details on Rosales's arrest, including the schedule on when he will appear in court. However, it can be recalled that Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg earlier said that her office would ask the judge to hold Rosales once he was apprehended. READ NEXT: Texas Teen Shot 15-Year-Old Ex-Girlfriend 22 Times in the Back After She Confronted Him About Cheating Other Arrest in the Shooting of the Texas Cop The relatives of Rosales were also reportedly held under the custody of the authorities and slammed with charges. According to Click 2 Houston, Rosales's common-law wife Reina Pereira-Marquez, and his brother-in-law Henri Mauricio Pereira-Marquez were charged with tampering/fabricating physical evidence. The charges came after law enforcement officers in Texas found the pair on Sunday cleaning the vehicle they claimed Rosales was driving the night of the shooting. The said vehicle was reportedly parked at the apartment of Rosales's brother-in-law, which is located in Harris County. Officials noted that the cleaning of the vehicle was a ground for the pair to be charged with tampering/fabricating physical evidence, but KPRC 2 legal analyst Brian Wice said that charging the pair would also allow authorities to question them on what Rosales have told them. The pair is currently in custody and is held on a $100,000 bond. Oscar Rosales Shoots Texas Cop Charles Galloway The charges and arrest came after Texas cop Charles Galloway was shot multiple times on Sunday during a traffic stop. According to KXAN, Galloway conducted a traffic stop for a driver of a four-door Toyota Avalon. Witnesses told officers that they saw a man get out of the car, fire a weapon multiple times to the Texas cop, and then drive off. On Monday, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said Rosales used an "assault-type weapon" and opened fire to the Texas cop without warning while Galloway was still seated in his patrol vehicle. "This is senseless. It makes no sense whatsoever," Finner said about the killing of the Texas Cop. READ NEXT: California: 4 Dead, 1 Hurt After Shooting Erupted in Los Angeles County This article is owned by Latin Post. Written By: Joshua Summers WATCH: Oscar Rosales, man accused of killing Pct. 5 Cpl. Charles Galloway, captured in Mexico - From KPRC Click 2 Houston The first Texas Roadhouse restaurant is underway in Puerto Rico, set to be located at the Outlets at Montehiedra, according to Urban Edge Properties' announcement. The company noted that they aim to open the first branch of the eatery in mid-2023, with another three locations in coming years, according to a News is My Business report. The Texas Roadhouse in the 6,400-square foot location will be employing 150 people and another 25 during the construction phase. However, the planned investment for the eatery was not revealed. Paul Schiffer, senior vice president of leasing for Urban Edge, said that the lease at the Outlets at Montehiedra "is a terrific capstone" to a year of success for their investments in Puerto Rico. Schiffer added that their vision for this market "is clearly validated" by bringing brands such as Arby's, Walgreens, and Global Mattress to Montehiedra and SectorSixty6 to Las Catalinas Mall in Caguas. READ NEXT: Puerto Rico Becomes the New Hot Spot for Bitcoin Millionaires With Its Lower Taxes Texas Roadhouse The restaurant started in Clarksville, Indiana on February 17, 1993, when Kent Taylor opened the very first Texas Roadhouse. Taylor wanted to own not just a family restaurant and not just a steak restaurant, but a place where everyone could come and have a great meal and fun at an affordable price. The popular restaurant chain joined Bubba's 33 in donating all their profits earned on February 7 to the American Tinnitus Association in honor of the company's late founder Taylor, according to a WTHR 13 News report. A news release said that more than 26 million adults in the United States battle tinnitus, with the ATA helping people and families cope. The organization also found research and advocates for better care of those with tinnitus. Texas Roadhouse CEO and President Jerry Morgan said that the fundraiser is the perfect way to honor the life and vision of its founder. Texas Roadhouse will also donate 10 percent of its online sales, while ATA co-branded gift cards. It will be available for purchase online. Business in Puerto Rico Puerto Rican economy is characterized by relevant manufacturing activity, with industry accounting for more than 50 percent of the gross domestic product in 2018. Agriculture, on the other hand, generates less than one percent, according to a Biz Latin Hub news report. Some of the key export goods produced in Puerto Rico include pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, computers, and computers. Fish and rum are also among the list of its key export goods. Puerto Rico has also seen a significant increase in interest from international investors over recent years. There was a rise in foreign direct investment, particularly from Canada, Germany, Mexico, and Spain. Puerto Rico also offers a range of tax benefits that makes it enticing to investors, such as a four percent income tax rate, a 100 percent tax exemption on distributions from earnings and profits, and a 90 percent exemption from personal property taxes for some types of businesses. The tax exemptions and benefits make many goods and services significantly cheaper than the ones in the United States. READ MORE: Doing Business in Latin America? Here's What You Need to Know This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: An Entrepreneurial Success Story: A Conversation with Texas Roadhouse's Kent Taylor - from Kentucky Chamber of Commerce After serving nearly 30 years on the bench, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is retiring and will step down at the end of the current term in June. According to sources close to Breyer, the justice was not forced out and made his decision on his own terms. "It has always been the decision of any Supreme Court Justice if and when they decide to retire," said Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, in a tweet. It has always been the decision of any Supreme Court Justice if and when they decide to retire, and how they want to announce it, and that remains the case today. We have no additional details or information to share from @WhiteHouse Jen Psaki (@PressSec) January 26, 2022 Former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, appointed Breyer in 1994. The Senate, which is presently split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, will have to confirm Breyer's replacement, with Democrats technically having the majority because Vice President Harris has the power to break ties, according to FoxNews. The SC Justice's replacement would be "confirmed by the whole United States Senate with all deliberate speed," said Chuck Schumer, Senate Majority Leader For the time being, the White House will not comment on Breyer's resignation. "From @WhiteHouse, we have no additional information to share," Psaki wrote on Twitter. Breyer's judgment ensures President Joe Biden will have an opportunity to nominate a successor who could serve for decades. Biden Commits to Nominate Black Woman On President Biden's campaign trail, he said that if he were to get a vacancy on the Supreme Court, he would replace it with a Black woman, which would be a historic first for the Court. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, who was appointed to the influential appellate court in Washington, D.C., last year, is one of the potential candidates. She worked for Breyer as a law clerk, as well as as an assistant federal public defender and as a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Following the announcement that Breyer would be stepping down, Sen. Patty Murray was among the first to push for a Black woman to take his position. According to Murray, the Court should reflect the diversity of the country, as it is unacceptable that never in the nation's history had a Black woman taken a seat on the Supreme Court of the United States. Until a replacement is confirmed, Breyer is expected to stay on until the end of the term. ALSO READ: NBA Fines Brooklyn Nets, Coach David Vanterpool for Live-Ball Interference During Washington Wizards Game Pressures on Breyer's Retirement During their control of the White House and Senate, Democrats have been pressuring Justice Breyer, who is the oldest member of the Supreme Court at 83 years old, to retire so they may fill the seat with someone younger. Progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York congresswoman, publicly called for Justice Breyer to step down. The group Demand Justice has also been seen traveling around Washington in a vehicle with the words "Breyer Retire" on it. SC Justice Breyer is "upset" at the leaked news, as he "was not planning to announce his retirement today," according to sources of BBC News. The court plays a key role in American life and is often the final word on highly contentious laws, disagreements between states and the federal government, and final appeals to stay executions. After being nominated by the president and approved by the Senate, each of the nine judges, known as justices, serves a lifetime appointment. READ MORE: Footage Shows Federal Custody's Mass Migrant Release in Brownsville, Texas This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Jess Smith WATCH: Supreme Court Justice Breyer plans to retire - from CNN West Side Story stars Rachel Zegler, Rita Moreno, and Ariana DeBose spoke out on the sexual allegations slammed against their co-star Ansel Elgort in 2020. The stars commented during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, which was published on Wednesday. It can be recalled that Elgort previously denied the sexual allegations surrounding him, but Moreno, Zegler, and DeBose did not shy from addressing the issue during their interview. READ NEXT: Golden Globes 2022: Ariana DeBose Bags Best Supporting Actress for 'West Side Story'; Rachel Zegler Wins Best Actress West Side Story Stars Address Ansel Elgort's Issue Rita Moreno, who gave life to the role of Valentina on the remake and played Anita in the 1961 film, said that she will not give judgments on the issue Elgort was facing. "I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter. It's not for me to make those judgments," Moreno said in the interview. Meanwhile, Ariana DeBose, who plays Anita in the 2021 adaptation of "West Side Story," also declined to rail on the issue, saying that "nobody really knows what's going on in anyone's head." DeBose further noted that only the people who were involved in the issue would know "what actually happened." Rachel Zegler, who plays Maria and the love interest of Elgort's character in "West Side Story," also hopped in to comment on the issue surrounding his leading man. Zegler noted that a lot has "gone in the world," since the issue against Elgort was brought up to the media. "A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well. There's been a lot of awakening," Zegler noted. Rachel further noted that people should hope that the "people involved" in the issue are fine and that "they should be asked in a "respectful manner," and be given a chance to "answer for themselves." West Side Story Star Ansel Elgort Sexual Allegations In June of 2020, a since-deleted tweet from a user with the handle @Itsgaby alleged that Ansel Elgort "sexually assaulted" her when she turned 17. Elgort was reportedly 20 at that time, USA Today reported. However, Elgort also said in a since-deleted Instagram post that the description of the Twitter user is "simply not what happened," contending that he "never and would never assault anyone." "What is true is that in New York 2014, when I was 20, Gabby and I had a brief, legal, and entirely consensual relationship," Elgort noted. The actor furthered that he did not handle his breakup with Gabby well, claiming that he ghosted her. "I know this belated apology does not absolve me of my unacceptable behavior when I disappeared," the actor furthered. According to reports, Ansel Elgort stayed out of the spotlight for over a year after the issue surrounding him erupted. He went back into the limelight on September 2021 when he attended the Daily Front Row's 8th Annual Fashion Media Awards with his parents. He then took the red carpet for the New York City premiere of the "West Side Story" with his long-time girlfriend, Violetta Komyshan. READ NEXT: Spotify Will Remove Neil Young's Music After Singer Demanded the Move Over Joe Rogan's COVID Vaccine Claims This article is owned by Latin Post. Written By: Joshua Summers WATCH: Ansel Elgort Denies Accusations of Sexually Assaulting 17-Year-Old - From E! News Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to attend Thursday's inauguration of new Honduras' president Xiomara Castro, who is a socialist. According to Daily Mail, Castro belongs to a circle that has made "problematic statements" about Jewish people and Israel. U.S. officials said on Wednesday that the visit to Honduras would provide a chance to deepen the relationship with the Latin American nation and make progress in addressing the factors behind migration. President Joe Biden tapped Harris to tackle the root causes of migration in the country. Since then, the vice president has made rounds of visits to Central America, particularly those countries in the Northern Triangle region. In December, Kamala Harris announced $1.2 billion in private-sector commitments to support Latin American nations' economies and social infrastructure. Among the new initiatives include Nespresso's support for coffee-growing in Honduras and El Salvador, while Microsoft committed to connecting millions of people to the internet. According to NBC News, Mastercard made a $100 million commitment to the region to promote digital payments and e-commerce. READ NEXT: U.S. Pres. Joe Biden, Vice Pres. Kamala Harris Mocked in Billboard With Text "Dumb and Dumber" Honduras' President-Elect Xiomara Castro Xiomara Castro's efforts to deliver a fresh start in Honduras could be overshadowed by old comments made by her husband, running mate, and running mate's wife. Castro's husband was the former president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, who claimed that after the country's 2009 coup, "Israeli mercenaries" were torturing him with high-frequency radiation. Castro's running mate, Salvador Nasralla, commented as well. Nasralla said in a debate that Jews control the global money supply, Fox News reported. On the other hand, Nasralla's wife gave an apology to the Latin American Jewish Congress after she said in an interview that "Hitler was a great leader." Former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Lisa Kubiske said that Castro's presidency should establish "an enormous opportunity for Honduras." Kubiske said that Castro's win was really solid, a record turnout. She added that the voters in Honduras really wanted change. She noted that the problems in Honduras had affected other countries, including the United States. Jason Marczak, senior director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council, said Harris' leadership of the said delegation is important, according to Border Report. Marczak added that Castro's office turned Honduras into a potential very willing partner to a wider U.S. strategic engagement. Kamala Harris and Root Causes of Migration In July, Kamala Harris released an outline of how she would address the root causes of migration amid the surge of U.S.-Mexico border crossings. The plan does not include a specific timeline or policy actions to be taken. However, it noted several pillars that it would address, such as economic insecurity and inequality, fight against corruption, and strengthening democratic governance, among others, according to The Hill. The migration strategy also includes stabilizing populations, improving and expanding temporary labor programs, and expanding access to legal pathways for protection and opportunities to the U.S. In June, Kamala Harris visited Guatemala and Mexico as part of her initiative to address the root causes of migration. READ MORE: Kamala Harris' Chief of Staff Shut Out Some Longtime Allies of the Vice President: Report This article is owned by Latin Post Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Cristina viaja a Honduras a la asuncion de Xiomara Castro. Habra reunion con Kamala Harris? - From La Nacion Prosecutors in Cuba said at least 790 people, including dozens of teenagers, were charged over the anti-government protests that erupted in July. According to Associated Press, the announcement was the first from the public prosecutor's office since August last year. Al Jazeera reported that the prosecutors released a statement through Cuba's official newspaper Granma on Tuesday to make the announcement. READ NEXT: Over 50 Cuba Protesters to Go on Trial This Week - Relatives Confirm Prosecutors in Cuba Confirm 790 People Charged Over Protests The Cuban prosecutor's office noted that 790 people had been charged with sedition, public disorder, theft, violent attacks, and other crimes. According to reports, some of these individuals could face prison sentences of up to 30 years if convicted. The families of the demonstrators noted that their relatives face the possibility of being imprisoned for decades for participating in the protests. The prosecutor's office said Cuban courts had heard cases of 710 people who joined the protests on July 11 and 12. So far, it noted that 172 had been convicted but did not reveal details of their sentences. The prosecutor's office added that 55 protesters are between 16 and 18 years old and noted that criminal law in Cuba does not apply to minors under 16. The prosecutors said while sedition carries "severe penalties," it corresponds with the "level of violence" demonstrated by the demonstrators facing the charge. The prosecutor's office then cited instances when some protesters threw stones at several establishments like hospitals, gasoline stations, and other facilities. Others had also looted. Havana resident Emilio Roman, the 50-year-old father of three protesters who had been detained since mid-July, told Reuters that if convicted, his two sons Yosney, 25, and Emiyoslan, 18; and 23-year-old daughter, Mackyani, will face 15, 20, and 25 years in jail, respectively. "The number of years [in prison] they are seeking, it's as if they were terrorists, murderers," Roman noted, adding that the three were only his children. U.S. Embassy Slams Cuba Over the Charges on Protests On Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Cuba slammed the government for prosecuting demonstrators, particularly minors. "The world is witnessing the unconscionable sentences against peaceful and innocent youths. They will not be able to crush the people's demands for a better future. We are all listening to the families when they are speaking about these violations of justice," the U.S. embassy noted. El mundo es testigo de las condenas desmesuradas contra jovenes pacificos e inocentes. No podran aplastar las reclamas del pueblo para un futuro mejor. Todos escuchamos a las familias cuando hablan de estos atropellos de justicia. #PresosPorQue Embajada de los Estados Unidos en Cuba (@USEmbCuba) January 25, 2022 Last month, the Biden administration slapped a travel ban on eight Cuban officials it says have been involved in the repression of peaceful protesters in Cuba since July. In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that the Cuban officials, who were not named, attempted to "silence the voices of Cuban people through repression, unjust detentions, and harsh prison sentences." Blinken noted that "those who jail peaceful protesters and sentence them to unjust prison terms must be held accountable." The July demonstrations were considered the biggest one in decades against the country's Communist regime. The thousands of Cubans protesting in the streets were angry about the economy's collapse and food and medicine shortages. They also cited price hikes and the government's response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Many have been arrested during the protests. While protests are rare, unauthorized public gatherings are illegal in Cuba. READ MORE: CIA: Mysterious Havana Syndrome Unlikely Caused by Russia or Any Other Foreign Power This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Joshua Summers WATCH: Cuba Blames US as the Country Sees Biggest Protests in Decades - From DW News The U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday it had recovered a body during a search for 39 people whose boat capsized off Florida's Atlantic coast over the weekend. In a news conference in Florida, Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann Burdian said a cutter crew found the deceased person and the body was brought to Fort Pierce, Florida for identification. Burdian noted that search and rescue efforts for survivors would continue. She said an area of ocean about the size of New Jersey has already been searched. U.S. Coast Guard Suspects It's a Human-Smuggling Boat That Capsized in Northern Straits of Florida The accident resulted in at least one person dead and left a single known survivor as U.S. authorities launched a criminal investigation into suspected human smuggling, CNN reported. "We do suspect that this is a case of human smuggling," Burdian said, adding that it occurred along a normal route for human smuggling from the Bahamas into the southeast U.S. The 25-foot capsized boat was reportedly discovered on Tuesday at around 8 a.m., some 40 miles east of Florida's Fort Pierce Inlet. A commercial vessel operator radioed that they saw a person clinging to the overturned boat's hull. According to Joshua Nelson, operations manager for the Jacksonville Fleet of Signet Maritime Corp. that owns the tugboat, they saw someone "who was pretty distraught" on the boat. Before alerting the Coast Guard, Nelson told Reuters that they were towing a huge barge that was roughly 2,500 feet behind them, "so it (took) a little finesse to get close enough to the vessel and not cause any waves to knock the man off." The survivor told authorities that he and 39 others had left Bahamas' Bimini islands in a boat on Saturday night. The rescued person noted that they encountered severe weather that caused the vessel to capsize. The survivor added that no one on board the boat was wearing a life jacket. READ NEXT: NBA Fines Brooklyn Nets, Coach David Vanterpool for Live-Ball Interference During Washington Wizards Game Survivor From Capsized Boat in Florida in Stable Condition According to Burdian, the rescued person was taken to a hospital for treatment of dehydration and sun exposure. But as of Wednesday, Burdian said the survivor was already in stable condition and was being questioned by U.S. Homeland Security officials. According to the Coast Guard, the incident coincided with a small-craft advisory posted for the area, with steady winds reaching up to 23 miles per hour and 9-foot seas. "Their decision to take to the sea is a complicated one. Certainly, the waters in the northern Florida Straits can be quite dangerous," Burdian noted. In a statement, the Coast Guard said its cutter crews, helicopter teams, search planes, and a U.S. Navy aircrew searched an area spanning more than 7,500 nautical miles between Bimini and Fort Pierce Inlet as of Wednesday morning. It's about the size of Rhode Island. Incidents of overturned or interdicted vessels crowded with people are not uncommon in the waters off Florida. Many of these individuals were Haitians or Cubans seeking to reach the U.S. Anthony Salisbury, an agent with the Department of Homeland Security, told Reuters that there had been an increase in these human smuggling groups trying to smuggle individuals into the country over the last year. He added that these organizations are criminals preying on the migrant community. READ MORE: Footage Shows Federal Custody's Mass Migrant Release in Brownsville, Texas This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Jess Smith WATCH: Coast Guard Searching for 38 People After Boat Capsizes Near South Florida; 1 Confirmed Dead - From ABC Action News Two human bodies were found hanging from a bridge on Wednesday in Mexico's Zacatecas state, which is plagued with violence between several Mexican drug cartels. According to a Reforma, the horrifying scene took place on highway 45 in Cuauhtemoc town on the border with Aguascalientes. The report said the bodies later fell to the ground as the victims struggled to save themselves. The two individuals reportedly died from suffocation. Some people traveling along the road claimed to have seen those responsible fleeing from the scene. Moments later, responding law enforcement officers arrived to secure the area and preserve the crime scene. It was reportedly the same highway where 10 bodies were left hanging last November. In another disturbing scene at Zacatecas on Wednesday, three dead bodies of police officers were found inside an abandoned vehicle on a dirt road in Sombrerete town. In a statement, Sombrerete Mayor Alan Murillo said the three lifeless victims found inside "a van-type vehicle were members of the municipal public security system. According to local reports, authorities found the victims' Ford Windstar on a highway that leads to La Blanca town. They stopped to inspect the vehicle after seeing that the vehicle's engine was running. They found the three bodies when they approached the minivan. According to Murillo, the case is being handled by the Zacatecas State Attorney General's Office, while municipal authorities continue to help in the investigation. READ NEXT: Rival of Sinaloa Cartel Sent Severed Head, Death Threat to Tijuana's New Police Chief on First Day Bodies Hung From Bridges in Mexico by Mexican Drug Cartels Last November, at least 19 bodies were found hanging from separate bridges and a tree in Mexico's Zacatecas state. Three bodies were found hanging from a bridge in Fresnillo town on November 15 and 10 bodies from another bridge in Cuauhtemoc town on November 18. After a week, another three bodies were found hanging from an overpass in Fresnillo and three more from a tree in the same town. Zacatecas state is reportedly seeing a number of murders as rival Mexican drug cartels fight for control of some highways that link border states with the rest of Mexico. Most of the cartel violence in Zacatecas is allegedly connected to turf wars between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco cartel. In late November, at least 12 were reported dead in a series of clashes between the Jalisco cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel in Zacatecas. Human remains were also found in two plastic bags in the same month. At least four municipalities in Zacatecas reportedly ran out of police officers after mass resignations in November. In early December, an SUV filled with 10 bodies was left outside the state governor's office. The bodies were discovered crammed inside a Mazda SUV abandoned near a Christmas tree in the main plaza of the state capital of Zacatecas. From January 18 to 25 this year, Zacatecas reportedly had 24 intentional homicides. Last year, the state had a total of 1,621. Turf Wars Between Jalisco Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico's Zacatecas State Aside from the Jalisco cartel and Sinaloa Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, Northeast Cartel, and the Los Talibanes also reportedly operate in Zacatecas state. All five crime organizations are involved in the operations of trafficking fentanyl and other illegal drugs. Security experts said an unprecedented wave of violence had enveloped the streets of Zacatecas as the Mexican drug cartels fought over the territory. Security experts noted that Zacatecas was not only an important market for drug dealing, but it was also crucial in transporting fentanyl from Mexico's South Pacific ports to the U.S. border. Zacatecas reportedly links the center and west of Mexico to the American border, a key territory for drug-trafficking routes. Mexican drug cartels usually make public displays of bodies to taunt their rivals or authorities. It is also sometimes used to scare local residents. The Jalisco cartel or the Jalisco Cartel New Generation is currently the Sinaloa Cartel's main rival. The Jalisco cartel is being led by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known by his alias "El Mencho," according to an InsightCrime report. The Sinaloa Cartel is reportedly not a hierarchical structure as its leaders like Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada all maintained their own separate but cooperating organizations. The Jalisco cartel came out from the Sinaloa Cartel in 2010 after the death of former Sinaloa Cartel capo Ignacio Coronel, known as "Nacho," who was killed by Mexican security forces. Nacho's death resulted in the split into two factions - "La Resistencia" and "Torcidos" - of the Sinaloa Cartel. The "Torcidos" became what is now the Jalisco cartel, which has since expanded rapidly in Mexico. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel or Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) involves itself in many criminal activities, including international drug trafficking. READ MORE: El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel Continues to Thrive Despite the Drug Lord's Absence: Report This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Mexico's Zacatecas Turns Into the Latest Battleground for Cartels - From Al Jazeera English An Argentine beach club manager was shot dead in Mexico's Quintana Roo state on Tuesday afternoon, local authorities said. Quintana Roo Attorney General Oscar Montes de Oca said Wednesday that Federico Mazzoni, the manager of the Mamita's beach club in Playa del Carmen, was shot twice in the head by two gunmen, Buenos Aires Times reported. "There are two guys, apparently from a local criminal structure, who enter [the club], talk to the victim, take him to the bathrooms, and there they kill him," Montes de Oca told Milenio TV. According to Mexico News Daily, Mazzoni's body was discovered at around 6 p.m. Images captured by security cameras showed that the gunmen fled on a jet ski after shooting the Argentine man. Montes de Oca noted that "the most solid line of investigation" was that the crime was linked with the sale of illegal drugs. He said there was no sign that the killing was due to extortion. He noted that it was also unlikely that it was connected to the murder of two Canadians at Xcaret Hotel, 11 kilometers away, last Friday. Authorities earlier said that the two 34-year-old Canadians killed were involved in drug and arms trafficking crimes. Beach Club in Mexico Expressed Sympathy to the Argentine Man's Family Colleagues and friends of Federico Mazzoni praised him for his dedication to his work and expressed sympathy to the family of the Argentine man. "We regret the event recorded this Tuesday afternoon at our facilities. We extend our condolences and prayers to the relatives of our colleague," the beach club said in a statement. The club added that they were collaborating with the corresponding authorities and would wait for the result of the investigations. Argentine Man's Murder is Being Linked to Alleged Irregularities by Beach Club Owner Federico Mazzoni arrived in Mexico 20 years ago and became the right-hand man of the owner of Mamita's beach club, Jorge Marzuca. According to Infobae, the family of the 47-year-old Argentine suspects that Mazzoni's murder could be due to alleged irregularities by Marzuca. "He [Mazzoni] has been the manager and right-hand man of the owner of the beach club for many years. My brother always responded on his behalf and Mexico is a country totally managed by drug trafficking and the police," said the victim's sister Victoria Mazzoni. Victoria continued that "the owner reported something that he did not have to report," so the gunmen "searched for him for several days." However, Victoria noted that since the gunmen did not find Marzuka, "they killed my brother, who followed him in the hierarchy." Infobae reported that Marzuca is accused of threatening businessman Jorge Brizuela, alias "El Venezolano," who in December 2020 experienced an armed attack while traveling in his van. Brizuela reportedly pointed to Marzuca as one of those responsible for the attack. El Diario reported that Marzuca and Brizuela fought over a business. A source told El Diario that Marzuca "somehow" negotiated" with drug dealers "so they would not settle there anymore." But after Brizuela stopped supporting Marzuca, drug dealers started to return to the area to sell drugs. Reports said Brizuela is a former Venezuelan military man turned businessman, who is powerful to stop the narcos from harassing Marzuca. Victoria said she believed that the murder of his brother could be a message to the beach club's owner. According to Victoria, she and her relatives were already taking steps to repatriate his brother's remains. Meanwhile, the U.S. Consulate General in Merida released a travel alert to its citizens hours before the killing because of the violence in the Riviera Maya. "In light of recent security incidents and criminal activity in popular tourist destinations including Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, and Tulum, U.S. citizens are reminded to exercise increased caution when traveling to the state of Quintana Roo. Criminal activity and violence may occur throughout the state, including areas frequented by U.S. citizen visitors," the travel alert noted. READ MORE: Mexico: Killings of 2 Canadians in Resort Due to Debts Between International Gangs This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Jess Smith WATCH: 2 Canadian Tourists Killed, Another Wounded in Mexico Resort Shooting - From CBS News Peter Robbins, the original voice of Charlie Brown in classic Peanuts cartoons, has died at age 65, his family confirmed on Tuesday. Robbins' family told Fox 5 San Diego that he committed suicide last week. READ NEXT: Mexico Resort Shooting Leaves 2 Canadian Tourists Dead, Another Wounded Acting Career of Peter Robbins Who Brought Charlie Brown to Life At the age of 9, Peter Robbins started voicing Charlie Brown in 1963 after he began his career as a child performer. He first lent his voice as Charlie Brown in a TV documentary titled "A Boy Named Charlie Brown." Since then, he served as Charlie Brown's voice in numerous other Peanuts specials throughout the 60s, including 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas," 1966's "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and the 1969 feature film "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" which earned an Oscar nomination for original song score. Robbins adored the character so much that he had tattoos of Charlie Brown and beagle Snoopy on his arm. He also starred in an episode of "The Munsters" in 1964 and appeared in "Get Smart" in 1967. He also had a recurring role on the show "Blondie" as Alexander Bumstead from 1968 to 1969. Robbins decided to quit acting in 1972, entered real estate, and later hosted his own radio show. Peter Robbin's Mental Health Issues Peter Robbins struggled with mental health and drug concerns as an adult. He also reportedly had bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. In 2013, Robbins was arrested for sending the media threatening letters offering money to kill San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore. Daily Mail reported that he also sent a threatening letter to a property manager of the mobile home park where he lived. In the same year, the former child actor was apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, and he was charged for stalking his ex-girlfriend and the plastic surgeon, who he paid to give her breast enhancement operation. Robbins was given a five-year probation sentence, but he violated its terms. He was arrested again and got five years in prison for making criminal threats against some people, including Gore, in 2015. Robbins was released in 2019 after claiming he was assaulted during his prison sentence. According to NBC 7 San Diego, the former voice actor was prone to outbursts in court. Robbins admitted suffering from mental illness in one of his court appearances in 2015. He said: "This is what happens when you're bipolar, you behave as if you are on drugs." In a 2019 interview with Fox 5, Robbins urged people suffering from mental illness to seek treatment as the actor personally experienced it, saying "your life can turn around in a span of a month". Robbins' friend and agent Dylan Novak told USA Today that he will miss him because he was a "great friend." Novak noted that Robbins was the most generous celebrity he has ever met. He said eventhough Robbins needed "money more than anyone else at the shows he attended," he still gave away so much free merchandise as he could not stand someone to walk away sad. Novak noted that the former child actor was always very open about his mental illnesses. He said Robbins used the conventions he went to as his platform to encourage anyone who suffers from mental disorders to get help immediately. READ MORE: Mexico: Killings of 2 Canadians in Resort Due to Debts Between International Gangs This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Jess Smith WATCH: Voice of Charlie Brown, Peter Robbins Dies - Cause of Death - From Open TV A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. The man charged with the murder of Ashling Murphy in Tullamore has been remanded in continuing custody for another two weeks pending formal directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Jozef Puska, 31, with an address of Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, was held in custody last week following a special sitting of Tullamore District Court. Mr Puska is accused of killing the 23-year-old primary school teacher who was attacked while out running along the Grand Canal near Tullamore on January 12. The Slovakian national faced his second hearing at Cloverhill District Court today. Mr Puska, who has been granted legal aid, appeared before Judge Victor Blake via video link. He removed his face mask and spoke briefly to state his name and confirm he could see and hear the proceedings. He listened with the assistance of an interpreter. Judge Blake noted the charge and asked if the DPPs directions were available. Court garda, Sergeant Olwyn Murphy said they were not, and she asked for a four-week adjournment to prepare the file. Defence solicitor Roy ONeill said: There is consent to two weeks only at this stage. Judge Blake told Mr Puska he was further remanded in custody to appear again on February 9, for formal DPP directions. He also noted that an interpreter would be required on the next date. Mr ONeill told the court he would be consulting with his client after the hearing. Due to the nature of the charge, the District Court cannot consider a bail application. That can only be heard by the High Court. The DPP has yet to complete a book of evidence. Detective Sergeant David Scahill gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution at the first court appearance in Tullamore last week. Detective Sergeant Scahill said that when asked if he had anything to say in response to the charge, the accused replied: No. A second man arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 was released without charge last week. Gardai said a file would be prepared for the Office of the DPP. A young Laois design company managed to raise over 2,000 for a local mental health charity last Christmas. Katie Kindlon & Helen Flynn of Glo Design designed and sold community calendars in aid of SOSAD Laois. They were delighted this week to present the money to the charity who have a counselling centre in Portlaoise. "We managed to raise a total of 2,111.33 for the the amazing cause which we presented today to Christy Bannon and Marie Tuohy of the SOSAD Laois committee. "We want to thank every single person who donated or purchased a calendar along with all the local businesses who went out of their way to help. "A massive thanks to everyone who supported us, without them this wouldnt have been possible," the young women said. The SOSAD Laois office opened on the Abbeyleix Road in Portlaoise last Autumn, funded by local donations. They are part of SOSAD Ireland, a non-profit organisation that provides free counselling services to people who are suffering with Suicidal Ideation, Self Harming, Depression, Stress & Anxiety or if people simply need to talk. Call them on 083 029 1706 or see https://sosadireland.ie/ Iarnrod Eireann says customers travelling the Limerick to Ballybrophy via Nenagh line through Laois and other counties must travel part of their journey by bus through to the middle of February. The company is commencing two weeks of track renewal on Saturday, January 29. Irish Rails says the works will see a further two miles of track renewed on the line which, combined with previous works, will facilitate journey time improvements during 2022. The company says that as a result of these works, all services on the line will be replaced by bus transfers for these dates. It says bus replacements will depart at scheduled train times, except for the 07:45hrs Nenagh to Limerick service, which will depart at the earlier time of 07:30hrs, serving Birdhill at 07:52hrs and Castleconnell at 08:05hrs. Iarnrod Eireann apologises to customers for the inconvenience caused by these essential works which will end Sunday, February 13. Services are due to return to normal on Monday, February 14. Iarnrod Eireann says it is continuing its programme of line improvement works on selected Saturdays, focusing in 2022 on the section between Newbridge and Ballybrophy. It says the annual investment of 10 million in line improvements will lead to higher reliability, smoother running of trains and with other works deliver consistent 160kph speeds (100 mph). The company says this will deliver journey time improvements for customers. Espanola, NM (87532) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High 64F. Winds W at 10 to 20 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. Low 37F. NNW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Bishop Pat Storey, Church of Ireland Bishop of Meath and Kildare, and Bishop Denis Nulty, Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin have welcomed the news that the Government has announced an additional bank holiday to take place around Saint Brigids Day is to be welcomed. In a joint statement, the senior clergymen said: "Brigid means many things to many people. Symbol and story feature strongly in her life. Brigid was born around 454 and died about 524. For people of faith Saint Brigid represents that transition from paganism to Christianity in Celtic Ireland. In 480 she founded her monastery in Kildare, the church of the oak tree. Every school child knows the song of Brigid and how her cloak covered the area we know today as the Curragh, Saint Brigids Field. Brigid is linked with the earth, with agriculture, particularly ploughing, sowing, milking, butter-making and, of course, vibrant Christian faith. Brigid was extravagant in her hospitality. "It is very appropriate that a new public holiday will honour Saint Brigid. As the secondary saint in Ireland to Patrick, for too long she has been lost in his shadow. We warmly welcome the news that Brigid is being rightly, and long after time, acknowledged." Tributes have been paid to the late Nellie (Ellen) Dillon, one of the founding members of Network Kildare and a Kildare ICA stalwart. The Clane woman passed away yesterday at Tallaght Hospital after a short illness, Wednesday January 26. The Network Ireland Kildare branch said; "We are very sad to hear that our honorary Network Ireland Kildare Branch Member Nellie Dillon has passed away today. Nellie was one of the founding members of Network Kildare in the 1990's and brought so much passion and knowledge to every event. She will be missed by so many, but especially by the ladies of Kildare." On Facebook, the Irish Countrywomen's Association added that it regretted; "to inform you all of the sad passing of Nellie Dillon Forde, former Kildare Federation President and Former National Treasurer. Suaimhneas siorai danam milis Nellie." Beloved wife of the late Thomas, she is survived by her loving husband Michael P., son John, daughter Sara, step-son John, son-in-law Joe, daughters-in-law Bernie and Deirdre, grandchildren, brother Philip, sisters Peggy, Kay and Yvonne, extended family, staff of Larchfield Park Nursing Home, friends and colleagues in NHI and ICA. In 2018, the former nursing home proprietor was honoured by the industrys representative body, Nursing Homes Ireland, recieving a lifetime achievement award. It was presented for her outstanding contribution to the Irish nursing homes sector. She established her first nursing home in Newbridge in 1977 - at the time it was the second nursing home in the county. She owned Larchfield Park Nursing Home off the Monread Road, Naas, since 1989. Her daughter Sara manages the day to day running of the nursing home but Ellen retained an active role on the management team. One of the founders of the nursing homes association in Ireland, now Nursing Homes Ireland, she worked tirelessly for the organisation for the past 44 years and was associated with the implementation of the Nursing Homes Act 1990. She will be reposing at her residence tomorrow, Friday from 4pm to 8pm. Removal on Saturday at 1.30pm to arrive at Clane Parish Church for 2pm funeral mass, followed by burial in St. Corban's Cemetery, Naas. A Newbridge man appeared in Naas District Court after alleged threats were made. Dylan Lennon, 25, whose address was given as 12 The Crescent, Liffey Hall, Newbridge, faces allegations of threatening to damage property at a Newbridge address on January 8 and January 10 last. Detective Garda Seamus Doyle told the court on January 12 that when charged the defendant said he was deeply sorry for the stress caused to the family. The family need not worry. Ill never be in contact again. There will be further threats or calls. The debt wont be passed on, it stops with me, he added. He said the incident began on New Years Eve when another party, not the defendant, made threats to a family and subsequently a male appeared before court on an allegation of demanding money with menaces. Gda Doyle alleged the injured party was approached four times. Det Gda Doyle said more threats were made on a phone call on January 8 and on January 10 and the threats concerned money about a drug debt. He alleged a threat to kill was made. However Gda Doyle the injured party has no involvement in crime and a son has gone into hiding. The court heard that there were no garda objections to bail provided a number of conditions were met. Read more Kildare news These included a 5,000 bail cash lodgement, that the defendant reside at 6 Kilbelin Close, Newbridge and observe a curfew between 9pm and 7am. The defendant also has to sign on at Newbridge garda station and stay away from a named address. He must also have no contact directly or indirectly with any witness or family or friends of a witness. Judge Desmond Zaidan adjourned the case to February 24. The Oirseachtas HealthCommittee has been informed that there is a significant shortage of GPs in Ireland and that over 1,600 more will need to be recruited to meet population needs by 2028. Both the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) attended the committee this morning and detailed how there were capacity issues within General Practice. Speaking to the committee, Dr Val Moran, the head of GP Industrial Relations at the IMO, said that there are currently around 3,500 GPs in Ireland at present and that between 1,260 and 1,660 new GPs would need to be recruited by 2028 to meet both the needs of population growth, and the growing number of people aged over 65. This figure becomes higher, according to the ICGP, when existing GP requirements are factored in, with the college estimating that over 2,000 will be needed. Moran added that there is currently an average of 0.69 GPs per 1,000 population where an average of between 1.02 and 1.1 per 1,000 population is needed. Ireland has 29% fewer GPs per head than the UK, and existing GPs are seeing increased workload and demand, said Dr Diarmuid Quinlan, Medical Director of the ICGP. This is also not uniform, with rural areas having a lower ratio of GPs per 1,000 population. Some areas of the country have a much lower ratio of GPs per 1000 population. Theres numerous studies to show that the greater number of GPs per head of population, the better the health outcomes, including lower rates of overall causes of mortality, said Moran. Capacity issues within the sector are also being driven by internal demographic shifts, with Moran estimating that one-fifth of GPs are set to retire in the coming years. The demographic trends in general practice, no more than the rest of the population, are stark, with a growing proportion of GPs over 60. One-fifth of GPs are due to retire over the coming years. This figure is estimated to be over 700, according to the ICGP. Burnout and the inability to take leave or sick leave was also raised by Moran, who said that GPs, particularly in rural areas are unable to access locums to cover them while they are out. Moran called for the political system to address these capacity issues now, but said that it would not be a quick fix. Currently, the ICGP are training 846 trainee GPs as part of a four-year National GP Training Programme. The college have said that they are currently working with the HSE to increase the amount of training places available on a yearly basis, with 258 spots in 2022. The ICGP have said that they intend to reach 350 spaces by 2026. The Taoiseach has accused Sinn Fein of exploiting the housing crisis for electoral gain with serial opposition to housing developments across the country. In heated exchanges in the Dail, Micheal Martin rejected Mary Lou McDonalds assertion that his Government was detached from reality on the scale of the problems around high rents and limited housing supply. Mr Martin told Ms McDonald not to dare lecture him on the subject, highlighting the challenges his own family faced as he was growing up. During leaders questions, the Sinn Fein President showed Mr Martin a series of adverts from accommodation currently available for rent in Ireland, including a storeroom, a converted hallway and a room in Cork where you could touch your fridge if you stretched your feet out of your bed. She accused the Government of pursuing policies favouring big landlords and institutional investors over the interests of people in housing need. Ms McDonald called on Mr Martin to put more money in renters pockets by way of a tax debate and introduce a three-year freeze on rental increases. You need to do this with urgency because renters cannot wait any longer for your government to act and be clear Taoiseach, unless you do these actions, take these actions, well see more people pushed into homelessness, more young people moving back, and not so young moving back to their parents and homeownership will remain a pipe dream for an entire generation. Mr Martin said Sinn Feins stance in the Dail did not stack up when compared with the actions of its councillors across Ireland opposing housing projects for ideological reasons. He claimed the partys public statements criticising the involvement of institutional investors in housing projects contrasted with assurances he claimed Sinn Fein was giving big business in private about how it would act if in government. You paint a narrative in terms of me being divorced from reality and all of that, said Mr Martin. I just want to say to you deputy, my background and where I grew up and what we had to put up with was far different to yours. Dont you dare lecture me. I understand the realities of life as well as anybody else in this house. I know a thing or two about people being in difficulty and challenges in their early days in terms of cost of living and so on and in terms of backgrounds. He added: It does not stack up and your performance on the ground in councils the length and breadth of the country cannot be reconciled with what you are saying in this house at all. Because if we agree its a crisis, and I do believe its a crisis, it is a crisis, but the most effective way of dealing with it is to get housing supply in place and also to give people strength and capacity in terms of incomes and jobs. The Taoiseach claimed Sinn Fein housing policies lacked depth and substance as he hailed the ambition of the Governments Housing For All strategy. We need cooperation across the board at every level and if politicians really believe it is a crisis then they should behave accordingly and stop objecting in a serial manner to housing project after housing project because it doesnt fit some ideological framework, he said. Mr Martin added: Its not enough for parties just to simply try and exploit a crisis for their own electoral gain because the people out there do not believe in that. Ms McDonald told the Taoiseach to get real. You have to get real now Taoiseach, its as simple as that, you need to turn away from the policies that havent worked and embrace those that will, she said. The Sinn Fein leader added: Dont you dare talk to me about false narratives or claim that you understand the crisis. You clearly dont. While youre there scratching your head, Ive told you two things you can do that will work money back into renters pockets by way of a tax rebate, do that, and a freeze for three years on rents, do that and then we might believe, and more importantly Generation Rent and renters might believe, that you finally get it. The ISPCA is asking people to sign a petition urging the European Commission to uphold and strengthen an EU ban on animal testing. The call comes following a 2020 decision by the European Chemicals Agency's (ECHA) Board of Appeal requiring a German firm to conduct animal testing on some cosmetic ingredients - namely homosalate and 2-ethylhexyl salicylate - to ensure safety. The move is prompting animal lovers and activists to fear a return to the past. Currently, EU-wide legislation enacted in 2013 bans cosmetic product testing on animals, with one exception. The EU's flagship chemicals regulator REACH requires chemical companies to use animal testing for the safety certification of certain cosmetic ingredients if no other option is available. The petition is demanding legislative change to achieve protection for all cosmetic ingredients without testing on animals "for any purpose at any time", as well as a commitment to creating a roadmap to phase out all animal testing in the EU before the current legislative term ends. Help us to do something amazing for animals suffering in EU laboratories. Were urging EU citizens to demand that Europes ban on animal testing for cosmetics be upheld. Sign here https://t.co/8ogfamzJoO#EndAnimalTesting #SaveCrueltyFreeCosmetics https://t.co/7gJ5ZLMlvR pic.twitter.com/4npGG6NNhx ISPCA (@ISPCA1) January 24, 2022 In a statement, the ISPCA said, "Across Europe, millions of animals are used in education and science each year in experiments that frequently inflict suffering, which can be severe, but seldom deliver on their main promise, which is better health for humans. They include mice, fish, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, and monkeys. We need your help to end this suffering for the animals and for better medicine, better product safety, and better environmental protection. "We want to see humane, human-relevant, animal-free science properly funded and fully utilised." The petition has amassed 350,000 signatures out of a goal of one million, and is being supported by animal rights groups as well as cosmetics industry giants. To be successful, a European citizens' initiative such as the petition has to reach one million signatures of support as well as minimum thresholds in at least 7 countries. Thresholds have currently been met in four countries; Czechia, Finland, Slovakia and the Netherlands. A threshold of just 32% has been reached in Ireland so far. Hello, its lunchtime in Paris and the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen (le Rassemblement National) is settling down to lunch with business executives. What happened yesterday? President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged the responsibility of the French state in two massacres of French citizens in Algeria in 1962, just after the Evian agreements that made Algerian independence possible. Why is it important? By paying tribute to the Pieds-Noirs, - French citizens born in Algeria during the period of French rule who fled to France after Algerian independence in 1962 -, Emmanuel Macron pursued a work of confronting the darkest hours of French history. This process of "reconciliation" over the Algeria conflict finds an echo in the revisionist vision developed by the far-right candidate Eric Zemmour (Reconquete!). There will be blood between the two far-right presidential candidates, Marine Le Pen (Rassemblement National) and Eric Zemmour (Reconquete!). There is little love lost between them since the latter was able to attract two members of the European parliament elected thanks to the Le Pen name recognition. Gloves are off. On Wednesday, Marine Le Pen made several attacks against her rival without mentioning him by his name. Because he has never been accused of understatements and is prone to controversies, she asserted that "provocations are not a demonstration of strength or dynamism but proof of a certain political immaturity." She also mocked those "who believe that the brutality of their harangue gives them a false sense of power." Marine Le Pen also criticized Eric Zemmour's appeal to "right-wing people" by denouncing "a useless call for revenge on the left-wing, anachronistic at a time when the left no longer exists, and the right-wing is macronized" (swallowed up by Emmanuel Macron, editors note). She even praised the " admirable mission" of journalists who "force us to be better." A fortnight ago, Eric Zemmour told the journalists attending his presser that they were "the most unloved men and women in France." "The people are right to be angry" at you, he added in a hint to Donald Trumps regular attacks on "the enemy of the people." A similar message but different voters Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour voters share the same issues of concern (immigration, insecurity, terrorism) but they are not identical. January 14-17, 2022 Ipsos poll for Le Monde conducted online among a national sample of 12,542 French adults. The results have a margin of error between 0,4 and 1,3. The two candidates will take no prisoners because their backs are against the wall. If Emmanuel Macron stays ahead in the polls, only one name will remain on the runoff ballot. For a long time assured of this second place, Marine Le Pen is now neck and neck with the conservative Valerie Pecresse (Les Republicains). For the first time, a rival is capturing her votes, even though their supporters sometimes come from different electorates. Eric Zemmour mocks her demonstrative fondness for cats and keeps saying that she lacks depth and that the Elysee Palace is out of reach for her. But he remains a distant fourth for the moment, even if crowds are flocking his meetings. Two strategies are confronting each other. Years ago, Marine Le Pen, 53, broke with her fathers path (Jean-Marie Le Pen was the founder of le Front National). She tried since then to de-demonize her party by adopting a much softer tone except on immigration and security. She renounced a Frexit referendum despite her fierce rhetoric against the European Union as we know it and decided to remain in the Eurozone as well. Le Front National was rebranded le Rassemblement National in 2018. She has stopped attacking the Muslim religion head-on and announced days ago that if she is elected she will not seek to deprive dual citizens of their primary citizenship much to the chagrin of her father who claimed for years that dual nationality was immigration in disguise. She also broke with her fathers economic doctrine by publicly supporting public services funded by taxpayers' money, especially in rural areas. On the contrary, Eric Zemmour, 63, is engaged to refurbish Jean-Marie Le Pens message focused on the existential threat that allegedly looms over France's identity and Western civilization. It goes along with an increasingly abrasive public discourse. Despite being convicted for the third time on hate speech two weeks ago, he went on to repeat, on Wednesday, that in France "all offenders are immigrants or children of immigrants." Just as Jean-Marie Le Pen had faced infighting in his time, his daughters leadership came under attack after her sounding defeat in the 2017 presidential election. She purged her party of its opponents at the cost of its vitality. A heavy financial debt also complicates her current presidential campaign, the third in a row. As a newcomer, her opponent doesnt have to face that problem. As both have everything to lose in April, their fight is likely to be ugly. Quote of the day "President Macron took command of NATOs armed forces as he took over the EU presidency" Communist candidate Fabien Roussel expressed a dubious knowledge of international bodies when he said in an interview on Wednesday that "President Macron took command of NATOs armed forces as he took over the EU presidency." Even if a vast majority of EU countries are Natos members, there are no working links or operational management between the EU institutions and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Parti communiste is traditionally hostile to both. Video of the day French public radio station France Inter financed by taxpayers money caused a stir by publishing on social networks a short video of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen interviewed in a very light-hearted tone. Employees at France Inter criticized the video because it fits perfectly into the de-demonization strategy of Marine Le Pen. When asked to whom she would make her first phone if she were elected, Marine Le Pen said she would call her father, with whom she has political differences, adding : "I hope he wont be there so he doesnt nag me all evening." Premiere pensee si elle est elue ? "Mon pere. J'espere qu'il ne sera pas present pour ne pas qu'il me tanne pendant toute la soiree." Voici l'#InterviewPremiereFois de @MLP_officiel #Elysee2022 pic.twitter.com/YYHGD1WC1E France Inter (@franceinter) January 19, 2022 Number of the day 5,9% The number of jobseekers fell by 5,9% to 3,336 million, in the fourth quarter of 2021. According to official figures, this is the lowest level since the end of 2012. It is good news for Emmanuel Macron, even if unemployment is not at the top of voters priorities at the moment. Countdown 73 Days until the presidential elections first round 87 Days until the presidential elections second round Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow Read the previous column : The last nail in the coffin of the left-wing unity Gilles Paris(Columnist and former Le Monde correspondent in Washington) MORE than 300 Limerick students have taken part in a walk through the city in memory of murdered teacher Ashling Murphy. On Tuesday, pupils of Limerick Educate Together secondary school completed the popular Three Bridges trail along the riverside. They raised more than 500 for the Rosbrien-based charity Adapt, which provides refuge for women who have been the victims of domestic abuse. More importantly, said the school's principal, Eoin Shinners, it has started a conversation among students around violence against women. "One in every two women living on this island face fear on a day-to-day basis, particularly when they are out jogging. That shouldn't be a thing," he said, "As a start-up school, we realise education around these matters has to begin in schools, and we need to give students the opportunity and the platform to have these conversations around violence, particularly violence against women at the hands of men." Mr Shinners hopes the walk becomes an annual event, with students continuing to raise money and awareness of the services provided by Adapt. Below, Mary Danaher, secretary, Christine Shortt, SNA, therapy dog Buddy and Gillian Baker, Adapt Limerick "The hope is we can arrange an annual event in support of Adapt and avoid a situation where this unfortunate tragedy is seen as a once-off isolated event. It isn't. It's a real issue which is happening on a day-to-day basis. As a school, we have a responsibility to ensure this is placed front and centre so students can have these discussions and understand these real issues," he added. Many of the school's attendees left messages to remember Aisling - who was educated at Mary Immaculate College - on the trees in its car park at Fernbank. Gillian Baker, Adapt's training and development co-ordinator said: "It's fantastic to see so many students out here today and standing up and wanting to be part of that conversation. It's so important. The only way we change these things in society is getting to the core, getting to the attitudes and underlying belief systems they have." Above: Limerick Educate Together staff, Maria Somers, Jean Wallace, Catherine OConnor, John Lynch, Michelle OConnor, principal Eoin Shinners, Christina Murphy and Michelle Costelloe with Gillian Baker of Adapt Limerick "At this age, when they start to form closer relations, and knowing what a good healthy relationship is, or even understanding what it is you want from a relationship. We don't have those conversations. It's really important to get to this starting point and build and grow from there," she added. "CRIMINALS are doing high-fives and handstands, declared Fine Gael councillor Liam Galvin. We cannot protect our towns and villages without CCTV. His was the first voice in a lengthy discussion by the full council on the report from the Data Protection Commission (DPC) which has found that 90% of CCTV cameras in public places in towns, villages and city estates around Limerick are in breach of data protection laws. Only 44 out of 401 cameras were found to comply Now we are being told what we are doing is breaking the law, Cllr Galvin said. There are a lot of criminals dancing in their cells waiting to be released, his party colleague, Cllr Stephen Keary said, raising his concern that previous convictions which relied on CCTV footage in court evidence could now be overturned. Who in Limerick City and County Council is responsible? Cllr Adam Teskey wanted to know. Who is going to stand up and say I was wrong? Now we have a situation where our cameras are turned off. This is down to the executive. Councillor after councillor expressed dismay and anger at the findings of the DPC report and its 110,000 fine while Cllr Conor Sheehan complained that the council had known about the issues since 2018. Councillors also stressed however the desire for CCTV among communities. 99% of people in Limerick would like to see CCTV working properly, Cllr Kieran OHanlon said. Criminals were afraid of them. The situation, he claimed, had arisen because of the EU directive on data protection and passed blindly by the Oireachtas and he wanted MEPs to answer to that. Fine Gael council leader, Cllr John Sheahan challenged the fact that the law on data protection was being applied retrospectively and wanted the council to appeal the DPCs findings. However, the councils deputy chief executive, Sean Coughlan, said the legal advice they had received was very clear and there was no legal basis for an appeal and in any case, the time for appeal had now passed. The council now has until April 12 to put matters in order, and carry out DPIAs, Data Privacy Impact Assessments, for the majority of the cameras. Each camera has to be shown to be necessary, justified and proportionate. But both he and Alan Dooley, who is head of digital strategy, were confident that deadline could be met and were working closely with the DPC and the gardai. Mr Dooley outlined to councillors the background to CCTV provision in Limerick and the various acts they had relied on but explained it had been found that CCTV, while implied in many acts, was now not deemed specific enough. He also spelled out what had been done since the report was first received in early December before adding that the findings had implications also for other local authorities and other bodies such as Transport Infrastructure Ireland. The DPC report found that there were 48 infringements on 20 separate articles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Among the findings was that there was no legal basis for Automatic Number Plate Recognition in 14 towns and villages under the councils Smart CCTV pilot project. There was also no legal basis for monitoring of private dwellings, housing estates and halting sites, no precision in terms of cameras and no joint controller agreement with the gardai. According to Tony Delaney, deputy commissioner at the DPC, the big issue was level and extent of real-time monitoring. In a statement, Limerick City and County Council said that garda live-feeds had now been switched off along with ANPR. Traffic and pedestrian counter function had also been switched off. The Garda Commissioner had given approval for Southside and Hinterland CCTV operations and a number of security measures had been taken among other measures. The council has appointed consultants to assist them. Representatives of the Irish fishing industry will meet with the Russian ambassador today (Thursday January 27) amid an ongoing row about navy exercises off the Irish coast. The Russian artillery drills at the start of February will take place in international waters but within Irish-controlled airspace and the countrys exclusive economic zone (EEZ). However, the drills have ignited controversy and have been criticised by Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who branded them not welcome. Fishermen have also raised their own concerns and will meet with the Russian ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov. Patrick Murphy, chief executive of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation, said it was a significant step to be invited to a meeting with the ambassador. He said that the group wanted Russian navy exercises to move away from the fishing grounds used by Irish boats. It is not like were going to disrupt them. They disrupt us, he said. We want them to move away from the fishing grounds. In compliance with legal requirements, Russia informed Irelands aviation authorities of the planned activities in advance. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said there would be no impact on the safety of civil aircraft operations. Mr Filatov this week insisted that the naval exercises, coming amid ongoing tensions at the Ukraine-Russia border, are a non-story. Mr Murphy said it was a huge step to secure a meeting with the ambassador and it signalled progress for the group. He is not meeting with the Taoiseach, the Tanaiste or the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He is meeting with us to discuss it. I think thats huge. Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, and Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, have today reminded dog owners of their responsibilities and the vulnerability of sheep to dog attacks, as lambing season approaches. The two Ministers said the issue is one of grave concern to the farming community and that attacks on sheep are happening far too often in the rural countryside. The latest figures compiled by local authorities show that there were 240 incidents of Livestock Worrying in 2020 with a similar number expected when the 2021 returns are completed. Dog attacks cause serious injury or even death to sheep and can cause grave distress and financial loss for farm families. Ministers Humphreys and McConalogue today visited a sheep farm in South West Dublin where they announced the start of an awareness campaign that will run over lambing season. Speaking today, Minister Humphreys said: Attacks on sheep can have a devastating impact on farmers, their businesses and their families. Im a dog owner myself and I know the vast majority of dog owners are extremely responsible. But the latest figures show that in 2020, there were a concerning 240 incidents of Livestock Worrying reported to local authorities. As the lambing season approaches, we are already hearing more and more reports of such incidents in Rural Ireland. Some 2.5 million lambs will be born on farms all over Ireland this springtime. Sheep flocks are very vulnerable to dog attacks at this critical time, and especially during the night. Its horrific for any farmer to witness the awful devastation, pain and anguish that dogs can cause to sheep. So Im appealing to dog owners today, particularly in rural areas, to please keep your dogs under control and be vigilant at all times. Minister McConalogue added: Sheep worrying causes immense and unnecessary stress for farmers, and serious animal welfare issues for sheep and new-born lambs. Uncontrolled pets can decimate a flock within minutes, with reports suggesting that up to 4,000 sheep are killed or seriously injured in dog attacks every year. Dog owners must take responsibility for their pets, which must be under control at all times remember, even the gentlest family pet can kill or maim sheep and lambs. Never let your dog out unsupervised, especially at night. The Minister added that responsible pet ownership is a priority for his Department. Advising that all dogs must be microchipped under the law. By law, every dog must be microchipped and the possession, movement, sale or supply of an unchipped dog is an offence. I am committed to working with Minister Humphreys to ensure sheep-worrying by dogs becomes a thing of the past, and our officials are working together to improve enforcement of the laws applicable to dogs. Finally, the Minister reminded anyone concerned about incidents of animal neglect or cruelty that they can contact the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine helpline by phone or on the dedicated email address. The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Ms Catherine Martin has announced support of 100,000 towards the organisational costs of Fleadh Cheoil 2022. The Fleadh Cheoil is the worlds largest annual celebration of Irish music, language, song and dance. It attracts in the region of 500,000 visitors to the host town during the period of the festival, with an estimate of more than 20% coming from abroad. Minister Martin met with Joe Connaire (Chairman) and the members of the organising committee of Fleadh Cheoil 2022 on Wednesday to discuss the preparations for the event to take place in Mullingar, Co Westmeath from 31 July to 7 August. Welcoming the return of the largest festival of traditional Irish music and dance, and recognising the challenges being faced by organisers in the COVID-19 recovery period, the Minister was satisfied to provide the financial support as an exceptional measure. The meeting was also attended by Ministers of State, Robert Troy and Peter Burke. Minister Martin said: The Fleadh Cheoil is the highlight of the year for performers and enthusiasts of traditional Irish music and dance. The absence of an in-person event has been greatly felt across the Irish and international traditional music community and Im delighted the Mullingar team plans for Fleadh to be back better than ever in 2022. This special fund is in recognition of the fact the festival was unable to proceed in the last two years and needs support as audiences finally return. I send my best wishes that the Fleadh will be a great success, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors to Mullingar and shared with a growing digital audience worldwide. This great summer festival will raise our spirits nationwide and contribute very strongly to economic recovery in the area. The Minister acknowledged with thanks the support of Westmeath County Council for Fleadh Cheoil 2022. The Minister also wished to convey her appreciation of the achievements of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, both for the tremendous achievement in promoting the culture of Ireland - the Irish language, traditional music and dance - but also as an important community network of volunteers and branches that has done so much to sustain people through the pandemic and to strengthen the links with the Irish communities abroad. The rollout of the National Broadband Plan has fallen behind schedule and will not meet its targets, the Dail has been told. The delay has been criticised by politicians after it emerged the company charged with rolling out rural broadband networks will miss its January target. National Broadband Ireland (NBI) Infrastructure has said it will be March before it hits the target of connecting 60,000 homes and premises to highspeed broadband. NBI is responsible for building and operating Irelands high-speed broadband network. But the project is running more than six months behind schedule because of the pandemic and other delays. NBI chief executive Peter Hendrick cut its January target to 60,000 premises, down from an original target of 115,000. Mr Hendrick told the Oireachtas committee on transport that the revised target will be missed by some two months. Minister of State Ossian Smyth said the delay is frustrating for everyone. Part of the delay comes from the natural things that happen within a large rollout contract, where there is a period of time where you are developing momentum and becoming more skilled, Mr Smyth told the Dail. I expect some of the delays are the fault of the NBI and they may believe its the fault of their sub-contractors, and may attribute some of the blame but that doesnt excuse them. They have to take responsibility even where they have delegated responsibility. He said the targets for this year are under negotiation. The specific milestones and deliveries are set in the contract at the start, he added. Fianna Fails Dara Calleary said he is rapidly losing confidence in the rollout of the broadband plan. In east Mayo, there are three companies who export internationally and we have been working to try and get a sense of when these companies and communities can be connected, Mr Calleary added. National Broadband Ireland came back and said between January 2025 and December 2026. That is not a window, that is a conservatory. That shows a lack of ambition and I am concerned we are coming to the last week of January and we do not what is going to happen in terms of connection for 2022. They keep telling us they are working on the ground but the reality for this community is that jobs could potentially be lost. Mr Smyth said: It is a seven-year contract to connect 540,000 homes. We are two years in, so a proportion of those homes are due to be connected in years six and seven. I am taking a very hands-on approach. I am examining everything we can do to accelerate the project. My focus on this is getting connections up to a point where the project is back on track. It is not okay that we were six months behind because of the pandemic and then more months because of other delays. We will overcome and rejoin and get every home connected to fibre optic broadband. Sinn Fains Ruairi O' Murchu said: It looks like at this point in time that the person who was awarded the contract was awarded on the basis of here, the emperor has no clothes. Mr Smyth added: The fact that the early stages of network build has faced challenges is frustrating for everyone. I am disappointed that the programme is behind schedule and I can assure my colleagues that I and everyone working on this in the department is determined to continue to drive an acceleration of the network build programme, with the aim of getting it back on track. New Delhi: As a first step in the process of the Air India takeover, Tata Group has introduced an enhanced meal service" in four flights that will operate from Mumbai today. The central government had earlier this week, said that it aims to complete the disinvestment process on January 27. The Indian government is likely to hand over Air India to the Tata Group on Thursday, nearly 69 years after it was taken from the conglomerate, PTI reported. The enhanced meal service" will be provided on four flights AI864 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI687 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI945 (Mumbai-Abu Dhabi) and AI639 (Mumbai-Bengaluru) scheduled for today. It will be served on the AI191 (Mumbai-Newark) flight and five Mumbai-Delhi flights on Friday, Hindustan Times reported. The "enhanced meal service" -- devised by the Tata Group officials -- will be expanded to more flights in a staggered and phased manner, After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited -- a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company -- for 18,000 crore. The national carrier began its journey under the Tatas 90 years ago before the government nationalised the sector in 1953. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. The central government gears up to launch the mega initial public offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), which is expected in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2021-22. As per the reports, the government will be diluting a 5% stake in it to raise about 75000 crore. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has already reviewed the progress of the proposed LIC IPO in a meeting with top officials of the ministry. Manoj Dalmia Founder and Director-Proficient Equities Limited said that is a very good opportunity for retail investors and oversubscription is expected. The LIC IPO is the only Indian PSU in the insurance sector to hold such a big market share. LICs first-half net profit zoomed to 1437 Cr compared to 6 Cr the previous year, mostly due to income from investment. Net Premium increased by only 1% to 1.86L crore which is positive for the IPO. Oversubscription is expected so we recommend applying through 2-3 different Demat accounts so that the chance is high," said Manoj Dalmia. According to market analysts, the LIC IPO will provide long-term investors with an attractive investment opportunity. The LIC IPO offers a great opportunity to retail investors and employees to invest in the company for the long term as well as making quick listing day gains. The LIC policyholders may have a 10% reservation in the LIC IPO which is an added advantage," said Ravi Singh, Vice President & Head of Research, Share India Securities. Abhay Agarwal, Founder and fund manager at Piper Serica, SEBI Regd. PMS says the obvious question that the investors will want an answer to is how transparent will LIC be to its shareholders. The size of LIC is stunning. It is the largest asset manager in the country with more than $500 billion of assets. It has a 75% market share of an industry that is still underpenetrated. Its distribution network is humongous. At the same time, the obvious question that the investors will want an answer to is how transparent will LIC be to its shareholders in terms of its business strategy and performance after listing. LIC has historically been used as a market stabilizer and investor-of-last-resort by the government to bail out failed PSU IPOs. Investors would want to know if LIC will continue to play this role post-IPO also," he said. From a valuation standpoint, the IPO of LIC is unlike any other IPOs we have seen in the past year. The valuations are robust compared to its peers in terms of estimated price to embedded value and price to earnings, says Divam Sharma, Co-founder of Green Portfolio, SEBI registered Portfolio Management Services Considering LIC policies have higher penetration than the entire broking industry, it will be interesting to see how the upcoming IPO will complement the buoyant growth in equity participation," he added. Some bankers have described the public offering of LIC as Indias Aramco moment. When such type of option comes into the market which boosts the investors' confidence then it will definitely add to the increase in the opening of Demat account, said Ravi Singh. On average around 20-30 lakhs Demat accounts are opening per month in the whole broking industry. If we compare the investment in the financial market vs population in India then the ratio is quite low. This is mainly due to financial illiteracy among the investors. When such type of option comes into the market which boosts the investors' confidence then it will definitely increase the Demat account opening numbers and financial literacy," said Singh. IPO-bound LIC on Tuesday reported 1,437 crore net profit for the first half of the current financial year. The valuation of LIC will also be a sticky point. Recently it released its results for the first time and the profit was very small compared to its giant size. More so, PSU stocks have disappointed investors across the board. Therefore, the government will need to leave enough on the table for retail investors in form of both short-term and long-term returns. said Agarwal. LIC, which is a household name in India, reaches practically every corner of the country. The Mumbai-headquartered company has 2,000 branches, more than 100,000 employees and 286 million policies. Mexican culture has undergone a tremendous transformation in its recent history with varying impacts in different regions. Many Mexicans live in cities, but smaller rural communities still play a strong role in defining the country's collective vibrant community. Mexico can trace some of its cultural heritage back to the Aztec and Maya peoples who once controlled much of Central America, but equally it owes a great deal to the colonial heritage from Spain. Many of the customs in Mexico can be traced back through one of these branches of history. "Mexico's characteristics set it apart from other Spanish American nations. No other country among them has so actively traced its cultural origins [through] so dramatic a history to such deep roots; none has so thoroughly fused European and non-European cultural influences," wrote Peter Standish and Steven M. Bell in " Culture and customs of Mexico " (Greenwood, 2004). Population of Mexico Mexico is the 10th most populous country in the world, with over 128 million people according to the United States Census Bureau estimate published on July 1, 2021 . According to the Index Mundi , Mexico consists of several ethnic groups. The mestizo (meaning people of mixed indigenous Central American heritage and European heritage) group accounts for 62% of the population. Indigenous Central American or predominantly indigenous Central American people account for 21%, while 10% of the population has a mostly European background. These groups create a culture that is unique to Mexico. However Index Mundi notes that Mexico does not collect census data on ethnicity. According to the Mexican National Institute of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (INEGI) the median age of the population is 29 years old, which is a jump up from 2015 when it was 27. Index Mundi adds that 26% of the population is under 14-years-old, just under 17% is 15 to 24, 41% is 25 to 54, a little over 8% is 55 to 64 and nearly 8% are 65 or older. It's estimated that 81% of the total population of Mexico lives in urban areas with Mexico City alone having a population of nearly 22 million in the wider area, according to Index Mundi, making it the fifth most populous city in the world. Mexico City is one of the most populous cities in the world, with 8.8 million people in the main part of the city. (Image credit: John Coletti via Getty Images) Languages of Mexico The overwhelming majority of Mexicans today speak Spanish. According to the CIA , Spanish is spoken by 93.8% of the Mexican population. About 5.4% of the population speaks Spanish as well as indigenous languages, such as Mayan, Nahuatl and other regional languages. Indigenous Mexican words have also become common in other languages, including English. For example, chocolate, coyote, tomato and avocado all originated in Nahuatl. Religions of Mexico "Much of Mexican culture revolves around religious values and the church, as well as the concept of family and inclusiveness," said Talia Wagner, a marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles. Around 78% of Mexicans identify themselves as Catholic, according to the CIA, although many have incorporated pre-Hispanic Mayan elements as part of their faith. Some of this dates back to the first colonists looking to merge the approaches of Europe and Central America to bring Christianity to the region. "Public ritual had always been essential to both pre-Columbian religion and Spanish Catholicism. Consequently, priests quickly introduced their aboriginal parishioners to religious plays, music, and festivals, especially at Easter and Corpus Christi, both of which celebrated the Holy Eucharist," wrote Linda A Curcio-Nagy, professor of history at the University of Nevada in " The Oxford History of Mexico " (Oxford University Press, 2010), edited by Michael C. Meyer and William H. Beezley. Other Christian denominations represented in Mexico include Presbyterians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists, Mormons, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists and Anglicans. There are also small communities of Muslims, Jews and Buddhists. Values of the Mexican people Especially outside of cities, families are typically large and Mexicans are very conscious of their responsibilities to immediate family members and extended family such as cousins and even close friends. Hosting parties at their homes plays a large part of Mexican life and making visitors feel comfortable is a large part of the values and customs of the country. "Family units are usually large, with traditional gender roles and extensive family involvement from the external members who assist one another in day to day life," Wagner told Live Science. There is a strong connection among family members. "Parents are treated with a high degree of respect, as is the family in general and there may be constant struggle, especially for the growing children between individual wants and needs and those wants and needs of the family," added Wagner. One large event in a Mexican family is the quinceanera. This is a celebration of a young lady's 15th birthday. It signifies the girl's journey from childhood to womanhood. The party includes an elaborate dress for the girl of honor, food, dancing, friends and families. Before the party there is often a mass at the girl's church. The girl is accompanied throughout the festivities by her damas (maids of honor) and chambelanes (chamberlains), according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Mexican food has become one of the country's most popular exports. (Image credit: Cavan Images via Getty Images) Mexican food Mexican cuisine varies widely between regions, as each town has its own culinary traditions, according to "Mexico For You," a publication of the Mexican Cultural Institute of Washington, D.C. Tortillas and other food made from corn are common everywhere, though, as are pepper, tomatoes and beans. Rice is also a staple, according to History.com. Many foods that originated in Mexico are popular worldwide, including avocados, chocolate and pumpkins, in fact Mexican food is one of the country's most popular cultural exports. "Salsa now outsells catsup in the United States and $5 billion worth of tortillas are sold internationally each year," wrote Robert Buffington, Suzanne B. Pasztor, and Don M. Coerver in " Mexico: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary Culture and History " (ABC-CLIO, 2004) Mexico is known for its tequila, which is made from agave cactus that is well suited to the climate of central Mexico. Soda is a very popular drink in Mexico, as the country has a well-developed beverage industry. Mexican arts Clay pottery, embroidered cotton garments, wool shawls and outer garments with angular designs, colorful baskets and rugs are some of the common items associated with Mexican folk art. Millennia-old traditions continue in silver-smithing, mosaics, textiles, pottery and basket-weaving, according to "Mexico For You." The country is closely associated with the Mariachi style of folk music. Originated in the southern part of the state of Jalisco sometime in the 19th century, it involves a group of musicians playing violins, guitars, basses, vihuelas (a five-string guitar) and trumpets and wearing silver-studded charro suits and elaborate hats. "La Cucaracha" is a well-known Mariachi staple. Two of Mexico's most famous artists are Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. Their paintings include vibrant colors and depictions of life in Mexico. Rivera was a pioneer of Muralism, a movement that used expansive wall art to educate the people. Kahlo's work drew from personal pain and also the deep history of Mexico itself. "The work of Frida Kahlo (190754) is also steeped in Mexicanness, although it is primarily a record of her difficult life, marked in pain, disappointment, and loneliness," wrote Helen Delpar, a professor of history at the University of Alabama in "The Oxford History of Mexico" (Oxford University Press, 2010). A mariachi band plays music in Puebla. Marichi music is a tradition that goes back to the 19th century. Shutterstock.com) (Image credit: ChameleonsEye Mexican fashion Many may not think of Mexico as a place that fosters high fashion, but many fashion designers hail from Mexico, such as Jorge Duque and Julia y Renata. There is also a Mexico Fashion Week. In the cities, fashion in Mexico is influenced by international trends, so the typical urban Mexican dresses similar to people in Europe and the United States. Traditional Mexican clothing for women includes a sleeveless tunic-like dress called a huipil, according to Don Quijote Spanish School. Originally, these cotton dresses were made very simple with garnishes of color. However, traditional Mexican women's clothing now regularly includes lots of ornate embroidery, often including images and patterns that have symbolic meaning attached to them. One distinguishing article of traditional men's clothing is a large blanket cape called a sarape. Boots are also a wardrobe staple. The charro suit, with its origins as the outfit worn by Mexican cowboys, is most associated with Mariachi musicians. The suit is also an acceptable substitute for a tuxedo at formal events in Mexico. The charro suit includes the sombrero, a wide-brimmed hat that provides plenty of shade. Doing business in Mexico Mexico's currency is the peso. Almost 65% of the country's GDP comes from the service sector with industry making up 31% and agriculture contributing 3.6%, according to the CIA. Its primary agricultural products are sugar cane, maize, milk, oranges, sorghum, tomatoes, poultry, wheat, green chillies/peppers and eggs. Mexican business culture tends to value personal relationships, a strong hierarchy and a clear consciousness of status, according to Santander . "Doing business of any sort is normally preceded by a period of socializing," wrote Peter Standish and Steven M. Bell in "Culture and customs of Mexico." The Day of the Dead is a day of celebration, honoring family members who have died. (Image credit: Leopoldo Smith / Stringer via Getty Images) Mexican holidays and celebrations The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is celebrated on Dec. 12, is a major Mexican holiday celebrating the appearance of the Virgin Mary to an indigenous Mexican in the first years of Spanish rule. She is the patron saint of the country. This is followed closely by Posadas, a nine-day celebration in which people re-enact Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem to search for a place to stay. Families go from door to door carrying candles and singing, asking for shelter until the owners open the door, at which point the party begins. The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), celebrated on Nov. 2, is a day set aside to remember and honor those who have died, according to the University of New Mexico. Carnival is also celebrated in many communities throughout Mexico to mark the period before Lent. Independence Day, marking the country's separation from Spain in 1810, is celebrated on Sept. 16. Cinco de Mayo, which marks a Mexican military victory over the French in 1862, is more widely celebrated in the United States (as a beer promotion) than it is in Mexico. Additional resources and reading Learn more about the colonial history of Mexico and Central America more widely by reading about one of the men who helped to shape events, Hernan Cortes . If the culture and life of Central America before the arrival of European colonists is what interests you, then a deep dive into the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan is for you. The Centre on Thursday handed over the management control of national carrier Air India to a subsidiary of Tata Sons. With this Air India's strategic disinvestment was complete after the Centre received a consideration of Rs 2,700 crore from the 'Strategic Partner' -- Talace -- which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons. Besides the upfront payment, Talace will retain a debt of Rs 15,300 crore. Notably, the transaction covered three entities - Air India, Air India Express and AI SATS. "The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100 per cent shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control. A new Board, led by the Strategic Partner, takes charge of Air India," tweeted Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). On Thursday, Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi ahead of the official handover of Air India. Afterwards, at 'Airlines House', the HQ of Air India, a new board was constituted which included Tata Group's executives. "We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline," Chandrasekaran said. "I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India, to our Group, and look forward to working together." Last month, the Competition Commission of India had approved the acquisition of Air India, Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace. The acquisition envisaged 100 per cent equity share capital of Air India and Air India Express, and 50 per cent for that of Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace. The airline, along with AIXL, is primarily engaged in the business of providing domestic and international scheduled air passenger transport service, along with air cargo transport service. Air India SATS Airport Services is engaged in the business of providing ground handling services at Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram airports, and cargo handling services at Bengaluru airport. Tata Sons' subsidiary Talace had emerged as the highest bidder for the national carrier under the divestment process. It had quoted an enterprise value of Rs 18,000 crore for 100 per cent equity shareholding of the Centre in Air India along with that of Air India Express and AISATS. On its part, the Centre had stipulated a reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore. The driver of a pickup almost crashed into a parked vehicle while his wife had a baby on her lap on the front passenger seat, according to Laredo police. Leonel Humberto Cardenas, 24, was arrested and charged with evading arrest with a vehicle and endangerment of a child by criminal negligence. The case dates back to Nov. 29, when officers responded to a domestic disturbance at about 9:22 p.m. in the 300 block of San Bernardo Avenue. The caller stated that a couple was arguing and provided a description of a pickup. An officer arrived and parked his unit about half a block from the suspect vehicle. As the officer walked to the pickup, a man crouching on the inner side door hurried into the pickup. Police said the male did not comply when he was asked to stop. Instead, he reversed the pickup in a reckless manner that the tires peeled out and almost crashed into a parked vehicle. When the vehicle was forced to stop momentarily, the officer caught up to it and held the driver side door to prevent the door from closing. Thats when the officer observed Cardenas and his wife holding a baby on her lap. Cardenas then sped off, which made the officer lose balance and almost fall, according to court documents. Police said the officer opted not to pursue due to the safety of the baby. Authorities located the suspect vehicle at about 9:30 p.m. unoccupied and parked in the 900 block of Santa Rita Avenue. The vehicle was then impounded. While at the scene, Cardenas wife came out of a nearby house. She denied Cardenas was inside the home saying that he had left on foot. She was upset that officers were there. She added that Cardenas fled because he had been arrested days prior and was scared. Police informed her of the domestic disturbance allegation. She stated that she did not have an argument with Cardenas but did mention that he was screaming because he lost some money, states the affidavit. crodriguez@lmtonline.com At the beginning of the pandemic (were talking the days of Tiger King and banana bread baking), I was struck by the urge to redecorate my bachelorette pad. Realizing Id be spending a lot of time at home (but not knowing it would be this much time), I decided I wanted my space to feel like a fun, surf-inspired boutique hotel. I added a neon pink sign in the living room, palm wallpaper on an accent wall in the adjoining kitchen, and layers of blues and creams because the color psychologists say those shades are calming and, dangit, I needed all the chill vibes I could muster in these unprecedented times. But the piece that absolutely transformed my space the most and that has hands-down become my favorite buy of the last two years was the Samsung Frame TV. I took down my clunky, 15-year-old TV complete with its jumble of cords and replaced it with a sleek piece of tech thats quite literally a work of art. Samsung 50 Inch The Frame QLED 4K Smart SAMSUNG amazon.com Shop Now The Frame is a 4K smart TV designed to seamlessly blend into your home decor, with add-on bezels that look like a picture frame surrounding the screen. When the television is off, art mode goes on, which displays preloaded paintings or photos that you upload yourself, with a matte effect applied. The best part? For an extra $4.99 a month, this TV has helped quell my wanderlust by giving me unlimited access to Samsungs Art Store, which is stocked with 1,400 works of art. The digital library includes works by old masters like Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh to modern pieces from landscape and cityscape photographer Serge Ramelli and abstract pieces in lively colors from Patricia Vargas. To solidify the breezy vibe of my home, I like to keep sunny beach portraits in a steady rotation like South Beachs colorful lifeguard stands, captured by French photographer Leo Caillard, and Dean Wests snapshots of faraway European beaches Ive only traveled to in my imagination during the pandemic. From installation tips to incorporating the television into your homes aesthetic, heres what else you need to know about Samsungs The Frame TV. Samsung Frame TV Options Brittany Anas The latest model of The Frame comes in a range of sizes: From 32 inches ($599.99) to 85 inches ($4,299.99). I went with a 55-inch TV ($1,397.99) and installed it above my fireplace. A point of confusion is that you may need to buy the actual frame (the bezel) separately. Thats to say, a major con is that The Frame doesnt come with the frame youre probably seeing in design mags. The television has a thin black bezel around it, but if you want to customize the color it costs an extra $99.99 to $199.99 depending on the size of your TV. Color options include white, natural pink, modern teak, and more. For my TVs bezel, I went with a beige that looks slightly gold. The bezel comes in four pieces that magnetically snap onto the television, which makes the frame part of the installation super simple. It also makes things easy if you want to switch to a new color at any point. If you dont want to hang your television, Samsung also sells a studio stand ($299) that looks like an easel. My dog gets the zoomies, so this wasnt a good option for me. Samsung Studio Stand SAMSUNG amazon.com $259.95 Shop Now This is definitely a design-forward television (which you pay a premium for), but the 4K QLED technology delivers a great picture. It also has some other uniqueness, like a remote control with a built-in solar cell that will recharge the battery using light from your home. Ive read some critiques that the sound quality leaves something to be desired (which is common with most built-in TV speakers). You can add a soundbar although that might disrupt the minimalist aesthetic that this TV is designed to achieve. The sound is just fine for my viewing habits (watching Netflix and streaming fitness classes for living-room workouts). Samsung Art Library Brittany Anas While the television comes with a couple of dozen complimentary digital art pieces to choose from, you can add on the aforementioned $4.99-a-month subscription to the Samsung Art Store, which gives you access to the full gallery of 1,400 works. The art library is divided into categories to help you find the artwork you love or a piece to align with your mood. For example, there are curations like A Walk in Sunset, Food as Art, Summer Getaway, Wonders of Winter and more. Recently, a collection of Very Peri images (Pantones purplish color of the year) was added. You can also search by color or medium to sync up the artwork with your space. I love this because it lets you try out different portraits. You can also choose galleries from sources like The Louvre, Royal Museums of Fine Arts Belgium, Etsy, and more. When the art is on, the television uses a light sensor that helps match it to the brightness of the room. To get the most out of your Frame TV, from a design perspective, Ginger Curtis, of Urbanology Designs, recommends switching out the artwork seasonally. You can also add impact by designing the television into a beautiful gallery wall, she says. Installation Tips To get my TV on the wall, I hired a handyman on TaskRabbit who specialized in TV installation and had a good deal of experience with The Frame televisions. He got my TV up and running in under an hour. Nearly everything I needed for the installation came with the television, including a wall-mount kit, a translucent cord, and Samsungs One Connect Box thats a central location for all of your HDMI inputs and your power, which I tucked behind a stand-up mirror near the TV. Mounting hardware, though, can depend on the type of wall that you have. Some general tools that youll need for installation include a drill, a level, a stud finder, and tape. Samsung has a five-minute YouTube video with installation instructions. Worth noting: Lifting the TV and hanging it to the wall is definitely a two-person job. The installation kit comes with a template that you can tape to the wall and ensure its level before you attach the mounting brackets to the wall. Once its up, youve got your own little art museum in the form of a television! Union Minister Amit Shah launched a sharp attack on Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav today, saying electing him would mean a return to "goonda raj" (lawlessness) in Uttar Pradesh". Mr Yadav is seen as the strongest competitor to the BJP, which is hoping for a second consecutive term in power in the assembly elections beginning on February 10. "Azam Khan was arrested... and there were so many charges against him. Akhilesh babu... you talk about law... you should be ashamed," he added at a public meeting in Mathura, part of the crucial western Uttar Pradesh where the BJP is seen as being at a disadvantage owing to the alliance between Mr Yadav and Jat leader Jayant Chaudhary. The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Ms Catherine Martin has announced support of 100,000 towards the organisational costs of Fleadh Cheoil 2022. The Fleadh Cheoil is the worlds largest annual celebration of Irish music, language, song and dance. It attracts in the region of 500,000 visitors to the host town during the period of the festival, with an estimate of more than 20% coming from abroad. Gardai continue to probe incident after man is knocked down in Longford housing estate Gardai are continuing to investigate the circumstances behind an incident in a Longford housing estate on Monday which resulted in a man being knocked down at high speed. Minister Martin met with Joe Connaire (Chairman) and the members of the organising committee of Fleadh Cheoil 2022 on Wednesday to discuss the preparations for the event to take place in Mullingar, Co Westmeath from 31 July to 7 August. Welcoming the return of the largest festival of traditional Irish music and dance, and recognising the challenges being faced by organisers in the COVID-19 recovery period, the Minister was satisfied to provide the financial support as an exceptional measure. The meeting was also attended by Ministers of State, Robert Troy and Peter Burke. Minister of State in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Fianna Fail TD for Longford/Westmeath, Robert Troy commented, It is a tremendous source of local pride to have the Fleadh in Mullingar this year, from July 31st to August 7th. The festival could attract in the region of 500,000 visitors to the town, with an estimate of more than 20% coming from abroad. It is the largest festival of traditional Irish music and dance on the island and this funding of 100,000 will help the organisers considerably considering the challenges they have faced in the pandemic and the recovery period. Minister Troy added, It will be an especially memorable festival this year considering the fact that the Fleadh was unable to be held for the past two years. The team in Mullingar will undoubtedly make sure the Fleadh returns with a bang and it will be enjoyed by thousands. Fleadh Cheoil 2022 in Mullingar will help reignite hope and joy after two very tough years. Minister Martin said: The Fleadh Cheoil is the highlight of the year for performers and enthusiasts of traditional Irish music and dance. The absence of an in-person event has been greatly felt across the Irish and international traditional music community and Im delighted the Mullingar team plans for Fleadh to be back better than ever in 2022. This special fund is in recognition of the fact the festival was unable to proceed in the last two years and needs support as audiences finally return. I send my best wishes that the Fleadh will be a great success, enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of visitors to Mullingar and shared with a growing digital audience worldwide. This great summer festival will raise our spirits nationwide and contribute very strongly to economic recovery in the area. The Minister acknowledged with thanks the support of Westmeath County Council for Fleadh Cheoil 2022. The Minister also wished to convey her appreciation of the achievements of Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann, both for the tremendous achievement in promoting the culture of Ireland - the Irish language, traditional music and dance - but also as an important community network of volunteers and branches that has done so much to sustain people through the pandemic and to strengthen the links with the Irish communities abroad. Longford County Council is reminding everyone to protect their personal information as we approach International Data Protection Day on Friday, January 28. The day marks the fact that its now 41 years since the first binding international law on individuals rights to the protection of their personal data. This occasion is an opportunity to raise awareness and remind people of the importance of managing their own data safely. Personal data could include anything that can identify you or provide someone else with access to your information, online or otherwise. There are data protection laws in place in every country around the globe, to varying degrees. Ireland and the EU are among the most advanced in the world when it comes to such legislation. International Data Protection Day is also a chance to demonstrate the role privacy rights play in encouraging trust and confidence in organisations and how they handle personal data. For further information on how your personal data is processed by Longford County Council, please see the Longford County Council Privacy Statement by finding Data Protection in the Your Council menu on Longfordcoco.ie or by clicking here. To mark this important day, Data Protection and Information Compliance Officer with Longford County Council Linda Hogan says Remember, your personal data belongs to you and no one else. Its not just about access to your finances or protecting your passwords, everything that goes online leaves a footprint. To that end, we have compiled some of our top common-sense tips to help you keep your information safe in this digital world that we live in. Top tips for protecting your personal data: Dont share photos and information on social media that you wouldnt want a stranger to see. When asked to provide your personal data, dont be afraid to ask why it is needed, how long it will be held and how safe it will be. If in doubt, ask to see the organisations privacy statement. Understand what you are accepting by agreeing to the cookie statement when visiting a website some cookies are necessary to access a website, others are just gathering your data. When installing apps on your mobile phone, consider limiting the amount of personal information you provide where possible. Use strong passwords that dont include personal information and dont use the same password for all your accounts. Its also best not to allow websites to store your login details for you. Top tips for employers and business owners: A man who admitted trying to steal an ATM and to moving cash for a cross-border gang was found hiding in a toilet hours after he ran from responding gardai, the Special Criminal Court has heard. The non-jury court is hearing the case of former club all-Ireland champion Daniel O'Callaghan, who is accused of the attempted robbery of an ATM at the Riverfront Hotel in Virginia, Co Cavan, in August 2019. Mr O'Callaghan, who is a co-accused of the man found in the bathroom by gardai, is the fifth male to appear before the courts in relation to the attempted robbery of the ATM at the hotel in August 2019. Mr O'Callaghan (31) of Monog Road, Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, has been charged with alleged offences under Section 72 and 73 of the Criminal Justice Act. He is charged with the attempted theft of the ATM at the Riverfront Hotel, Main Street, Virginia, Co Cavan, on August 14, 2019, for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organisation. Mr O'Callaghan has pleaded not guilty to all charges. At the Special Criminal Court yesterday (Wednesday, January 26), Detective Superintendent James O'Leary told Fiona Murphy SC, prosecuting, that he was a detective inspector in Cavan-Monaghan investigating the thefts of ATMs between September 2018 and August 2019. Det Supt O'Leary told Ms Murphy that the thefts involved stolen excavators, vehicles and flat-bed trailers taken from the locality of each of the thefts. The detective said that an intelligence-led investigation was underway in August 2019 after confidential information was received by gardai about the ATM at the Riverfront Hotel in Virginia being a possible target for an organised crime group. Det Supt O'Leary said that he received a call at 1.44am on August 14, 2019, informing him that an attempt to steal the ATM in Virginia was imminent. The detective said he arrived at the scene on Main Street in Virginia at around 2.50am where Emergency Response Unit gardai had rammed their Range Rover into a Toyota Landcruiser next to a digger with its bucket aimed at the ATM. He said three males, two exiting the Landcruiser and one exiting the digger, had fled from the scene but had been chased by specialist unit gardai. One male was arrested in a nearby field by Det Gda Declan Conlon, he said, while another was arrested at around midday the following morning by Det Gda Jim Matthews in the men's bathroom of the hotel after it reopened. Ms Murphy said that the male arrested in the bathroom was co-accused Ciaran Duffy (27) of Greagh, Loughnamore, Co Monaghan. Last month, Duffy pleaded guilty at the three-judge court to three offences connected to the same investigation. The court has also been played CCTV of ATM thefts and attempted thefts at Ballybay and Castleblayney, Co Monaghan; Kells, Co Meath, and Kingscourt and Virginia in Co Cavan, which Det Supt O'Leary described as have a "degree of planning" associated with an organised crime group. Mr O'Callaghan is also charged with the criminal damage and the theft of an ATM on Main Street, Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, on April 3, 2019, both offences allegedly being for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a criminal organisation. He is also twice accused of participating or contributing to the possession of cash totalling 125,930 intending to facilitate the commission by a criminal organisation or any of its members of a serious offence at Tullypole, Moynalty, Co Meath, on August 14 and 20 of last year. He is further accused of possessing 298,000 at the same location on August 14, 2019, along with a charge of possessing a petrol can intending to use it or cause or permit another to damage stolen property; a Toyota Landcruiser with false plates in Virginia, also on August 14. In addition, he is charged with possessing a stolen Toyota Landcruiser, possession of a stolen 14-tonne digger and that he appropriated the digger without the consent of its owner in Virginia on the same date and location. Finally, he is charged with being in possession of bolt-cutters with the intent of stealing a 14-tonne digger, with the attempted dishonest appropriation of the ATM at the Riverfront in Virginia and with being in possession of a stolen flatbed trailer all on August 14 of last year. The trial continues before Ms Justice Tara Burns, presiding, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Michael Walsh. Crime By Chris Boyle Published: January 27 2022 After the County Executive visited Albany to Lobby for Full Repeal. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed an Executive Order together with Legislator Denise Ford, Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, Assistant Police Chief Ferro, and Police Chief Atmore that will allow residents to learn more about the potential threat reform laws pose to their safety. In the year of 2021, Nassau County reported 11,005 total arrests; of those total arrests, 9,699 were released without bail, and over 300 people were let go for weapon related offenses without bail. The order signed by the County Executive today directs the Nassau Police Department to disclose a daily report with pending criminal case data and bail status of those rearrested. Its time that Nassau residents and the lawmakers who passed these dangerous laws know exactly how they are impacting our communities, County Executive Blakeman said. This Executive Order sheds sunlight on these dangerous laws and puts pressure on the Governor and State lawmakers to put law abiding Americans above criminals." Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause By Chris Boyle Published: January 27 2022 The BJs in Commack opened their doors for business on Friday, January 7. BJ's Wholesale Club, the well-known membership-only discount retailer, recently celebrated the grand opening of their newest New York location when they unveiled their 99,000-square foot location in Commack to the public, their 12th so far on Long Island. The BJs in Commack opened their doors for business on Friday, January 7; according to Kyle Byrnes, BJ's Community Affairs Manager, the location was picked based on local demand and the positive response that other Long Island-area BJs have enjoyed. BJs serves people all over the Eastern United States, so when we look at new areas we try to find ones that we know that are important to our smart-saving families, he said. These are savvy, price-aware shoppers who really look to BJ's to find value and convenience when it comes to our products and services. And when it comes to Commack, it's just a wonderful community for us. This marks our 12th club on Long Island and our 224th location chain-widesoon to be 226, as we recently opened our 34th club in Florida last week and are gearing up to open our Lansing, Michigan club this Friday, January 28th. So far, Kyle said, the response from the local Commack community has been overwhelmingly positive to the new BJ's Wholesale Club in their midst. Our opening has been very successful. Fortunately, a lot of people are familiar with us in this area and we really have an opportunity to deliver our value and convenience to even more members, he said. The response to the new club in Commack has been great, because now local residents can come in and do one-stop shopping, whether it's gas, back-to-school items, fresh food, or pet suppliesthey can get it all in one shopping trip. And we're always looking for new members, so opening in a market like New York where we are very well known it's great to continue evangelizing the value of a BJ's membership. We're really starting to be a household name, and smart-saving families appreciate BJs commitment to helping them shop their way. Kyle noted that while the COVID-19 pandemic provided many hurdles for businesses to overcome over the past two years, the opening of the Commack BJ's Wholesale Club was not affected, with the establishment opening their doors according to schedule. Our priority has remained the health and safety of our stakeholders...our team members, our members, and the communities we serve, he said. The opening of our Commack club was not impacted by the disruptions going on in the supply chain or on the health front, so we were able to hold true to our opening, which was actually announced back in May of 2021. We have a lot of robust COVID-19 protocols in place at our clubs, and those can all be found on our website. Kyle also assures members that despite some retail establishments running into issues with keeping their shelves stocked due to ongoing supply chain issues, BJ's is successfully navigating the current environment to continue delivering value to its members. There's a lot going on across retail, but we've done a successful job of working with our suppliers, he said. And as a bulk distribution retailer, we do have the benefit of being able to stock our shelves and mitigate those challenges. As for any future plans for additional expansion on Long Island, Kyle said that BJ's is always evaluating the markets they are in and, if demand warrants it, they will respond accordingly. One of our key strategic priorities is to extend our reach, and we do that through opening new locations, he said. So while we continue our development plan, we're always open to areas and markets that allow us to bring more convenience and value to our smart-saving families. In addition to providing their members with incredible savings and a vast selection of merchandise, BJ's also places equal emphasis on the importance of community goodwill, and regularly partners with local charities to support the communities they serve. Part of my role is also to manage our foundation initiatives across the chain, so here in Commack we've actually partnered with Island Harvest, which is part of the Feeding America food bank network, Kyle said. BJ's has a long-standing commitment to what we call nourishing communities and helping families thrive, and to that end we created a program called BJ's Feeding Communities. So anytime a new club opens, we partner with a Feeding America member food bank in that area and we donate unsold produce, meat, and other products to the food bank on a weekly basis. Since BJ's started this initiative back in 2009, Kyle said that the chain as a whole has donated over 120 million pounds of food. This is really important to us, Kyle said of BJs commitment to the communities they serve, with their new Commack location being no exception to that steadfast rule. When we come in to a community, we partner with the local Chamber of Commerce, the YMCA, local food banks, and we really want to be a local anchor and a community partner and not just a retailer. 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!) Challenger Energy Group PLC - Isle of Man-based oil explorer with assets in the Caribbean and Atlantic Margin - Raises GBP5.0 million from placing and subscription of 5.02 billion new shares at 0.10 pence each. The placing raises more than the GBP4.0 million initially planned. The executive leadership team, including Chief Executive Offer Eytan Uliel, participate, investing GBP275,000. Challenger plans to raise a further GBP2.0 million from an open offer at the same price. The offer to existing shareholders will be made on the basis of 2.51 new shares for each existing share held. The fundraise will be used to complete a financial restructuring that will reduce debt to USD2.5 million from USD23 million and to fund a work programme in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname in 2022 and into 2023. As part of the recapitalisation, Challenger has revamped its board. Iain McKendrick will replace William Schrader as non-executive chair. Schrader, Non-Executive Deputy Chair James Smith and Non-Executive Director Simon Potter all will leave the board. Tim Eastmond is appointed chief financial officer. Current stock price: 0.15p, down 75% on Thursday 12-month change: down 99% By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - NCC Group PLC on Thursday said revenue rose but profit shrank in the first half of its financial year, due to acquisition costs. The Manchester-based cybersecurity firm reported pretax profit of GBP8.4 million in the six months that ended November 30, down 13% from GBP9.7 million a year before. The company blamed the decrease on administrative expenses that grew by 30% to GBP37.6 million from GBP29.0 million. This was largely due to remaining acquisition and integration costs from its purchase of the intellectual property management business of Iron Mountain Inc, which was completed in June last year. Additionally, charges for the amortisation of acquired intangibles increased by 61% to GBP6.9 million from GBP4.3 million a year prior, due to the acquisition. More positively, revenue amounted to GBP150.1 million in the half-year period, up 11% from GBP135.6 million a year before. The company put this down to the "strong" underlying growth from its Assurance business, coupled with the "successful" integration and positive trading performance of the business it bought from Iron Mountain. NCC held its interim dividend flat at 1.50p, with its dividend policy still under review. Trading so far in the second half of the financial year has been in line with expectations, with sales order momentum in December and January. NCC expects a strong second half with further revenue growth, due to the recovery of global markets from the disruption that Covid-19 caused. Shares in NCC were down 0.9% at 214.00 pence each on Thursday morning in London. By Abby Amoakuh; abbyamoakuh@alliancenews.com Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. Two days back when West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar came down heavily on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee, he also wrote to the Trinamool Congress supremo alleging that the failure of the government to furnish all the documents sought by the Governor indicates that "the state government is unable to function according to the Constitutional provisions". In the letter dated January 25 which surfaced on Thursday after the Governor uploaded it on his Twitter handle, Dhankhar called upon Mamata Banerjee to make available at the earliest information regarding Pegasus notification and also relating to Pandemic Purchase Enquiry, Bengal Global Business Summit, Bengal Aerotropolis Project, GTA, MAA Canteen and State Finance Commission. The Governor said that the information was sought on July 26 last year, but the government has "chosen to maintain a studied non-responsive stance, thereby offering reprieve and cover to law offenders". Referring to the many communications from the Raj Bhavan where the Governor sought several pieces of information, Dhankhar reminded the Chief Minister of her Constitutional obligations and said that it was her duty "to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation as the Governor may call for. No information can be screened from the Governor once he seeks the same. Any failure would indicate that the state government is unable to function according to Constitutional provisions". "In my January 19, 2022 communication, there is focus on your worrisome serial lapses to provide information sought invoking Article 167 of the Constitution regarding, among others, in matters of Pandemic Purchase Enquiry, Bengal Global Business Summit. Bengal Acropolis Project, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, MAA Canteen, State Finance Commission and the Pegasus Notification," the Governor wrote. "In my January 21, 2022 note to the state government in the Department of Finance, apart from the above, I also sought information on the expenses by the state government towards funds spent out of the consolidated fund of the state for making print and electronic advertisements on behalf of the state government, including expenses relating to Anti-CAA and the details about the lease agreement with the private company in connection with chartering/leasing of a private plane," he added. Referring to a communication by the Chief Minister where she wrote "furthermore, there can be no question of the office of the Hon'ble Governor seeking access to documents and files on a subject matter which is entirely within the domain of the state executive and in respect of which the Governor has no authority or jurisdiction", Dhankhar reminded Banerjee of Article 167 of the Constitution which says "It shall be the duty of the Chief Minister to furnish such information relating to the administration of the affairs of the state and proposals for legislation as the Governor may call for". "I am deeply concerned that in these matters where in public domain and otherwise allegations of culpable fiscal irregularities indicating alleged scams of thousands of crores are reflected, you have chosen to maintain a studied non-responsive stance, thereby offering reprieve and cover to law offenders. "Information was sought as regards alleged scams dotted by culpable fiscal irregularities resulting in windfall gains. Non-imparting of information has resulted in affording reprieve cover to law breakers. Such complicit conduct is least expected from you being under oath to 'bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution'," Dhankhar wrote. The Governor also asked the Chief Minister to fall in Constitutional groove and, observing Article 166 (3) of the Constitution, provide him all the information sought as regards notification dated July 26, 2021 as also information relating to Pandemic Purchase Enquiry. Bengal Global Business Summit, Bengal Aerotropolis Project, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, MAA Canteen and State Finance Commission. (Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News: ---------- Colefax Group PLC - London-based interior designer - For the six months ended October 31, pretax profit increases 33% to GBP4.5 million from GBP3.4 million a year before, on revenue which grew 25% year-on-year to GBP46.1 million from GBP37.0 million. The growth was driven by favourable trading conditions, including a strong housing market and demand for home-related products. Resumes dividend payments by declaring an interim payout of 2.5p. Looking ahead, despite favourable trading conditions going into the second half of the year, the rate of growth is expected to slow as the economy returns to normal. ---------- Newmark Security PLC - electronic and physical security systems provider - For the six months ended October 31, pretax loss widens to GBP879,000 from GBP267,000 a year before, due to higher administrative expenses due to the non-repeating of cost saving initiatives the prior year, and the company gearing up for future activities. However, revenue grows 23% year-on-year to GBP9.7 million from GBP7.9 million, via growth from the US Human Capital Management business. ---------- Cambium Global Timberland Ltd - plantation forest owner - As at October 31, net asset value declines 8.6% to 9.1 pence from 9.9p at the end of April. Looking ahead, the company continues to consider the timing for the contemplated winding up of the company. ---------- Standard Life Private Equity Trust PLC - investor in private equity funds focused on Europe - For the year ended September 30, net asset value total return is 37.9%, outperforming the FTSE All-Share index, which returned 27.9%. As at September 30, NAV per share is 673.8 pence, up 35% from 501.0p the same date the year before. Declares a total dividend of 13.6 pence per share, up from 13.2p the year before. ---------- Redx Pharma PLC - Cheshire-based cancer and fibrosis drug developer - For the year ended September 30, pretax loss widens to GBP21.4 million from GBP9.2 million the year before, due to more than doubled research & development costs at GBP24.4 million from GBP10.5 million. This was in spite of revenue growing 75% year-on-year to GBP10.0 million from GBP5.7 million, driven by milestone payments from its outlicensing agreement with AstraZeneca PLC and preclinical development services for Jazz Pharmaceuticals. ---------- By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. (Alliance News) - Plans to build a new nuclear power station have received a boost after the UK government announced GBP100 million of funding to support its continued development. Ministers said the move aimed to attract further financing from private investors for the Sizewell C project in Suffolk. Unions welcomed the development as a step forward, but Unite urged the government to "take the handbrake off" and speed up the process. Greenpeace said spending taxpayers' money was an admission that nuclear was not commercially viable. Negotiations between the government and Sizewell C project developer EDF started last year. If built, Sizewell C would power the equivalent of about six million homes, as well as support up to 10,000 jobs in Suffolk and across the UK. Business & Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: "In light of high global gas prices, we need to ensure Britain's future energy supply is bolstered by reliable, affordable, low-carbon power that is generated in this country. "New nuclear is not only an important part of our plans to ensure greater energy independence, but to create high-quality jobs and drive economic growth. "The funding announced today will further support the development of Sizewell C during this important phase of negotiations as we seek to maximise investor confidence in this nationally significant project." Simone Rossi, chief executive of EDF Energy, said: "We're very pleased that the government is showing its confidence in Sizewell C which, if approved, will lower energy costs for consumers and help to insulate the UK from global gas prices. "Together with our own investment, these funds will allow us to continue to move the project towards a financial investment decision. "Sizewell C will benefit from being a near replica of Hinkley Point C in Somerset, which is more than five years into construction and making great progress in the challenging context of the Covid pandemic. "Sizewell C will provide a huge economic boost to east Suffolk where it already enjoys the support of most local people. It will also bring new opportunities for thousands of nuclear supply chain companies up and down the country." The government made up to GBP1.7 billion of new direct funding available at the Spending Review for developing a large-scale nuclear project to the point of a final investment decision this Parliament. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "This is a step forward but the government needs to take the handbrake off when it comes to the development of new nuclear power stations. "The government needs to sit down with EDF now, not later in the year, and agree a funding model that allows Sizewell to start without any further delay. If such a funding model requires government support, then it should be given." Charlotte Childs, GMB national officer, said: "This is much needed and welcome news and a massive huge stride towards a low-carbon UK. "We face an unprecedented energy crisis and we need nuclear projects like Sizewell C to protect consumers, workers and our planet." Greenpeace UK's policy director Doug Parr said: "This cash injection is a tacit admission by the government that nuclear is not commercially viable, but they are so fixated on getting 20th-century nuclear technology delivered they'll just keep throwing taxpayers' money at it. "Including all the other subsidy sources, Sizewell C will now have subsidised development, subsidised construction, subsidised power production and subsidised waste management, for a project by a subsidised company." Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, said: "This is another big step forward for Sizewell C and a big vote of confidence in nuclear. It sends a clear signal from government to investors that it sees projects like Sizewell C as essential to our clean energy transition. "Investment in new nuclear capacity is essential to us hitting net zero to ensure a solid foundation of reliable low-carbon power which will strengthen our energy security. This is not only an investment in the UK's green energy future but also in jobs and skills right across the country." By Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent source: PA Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved. United Oil & Gas PLC / Index: AIM / Epic: UOG / Sector: Oil & Gas 27 January 2022 United Oil and Gas plc ("United" or "the Company") FY 2021 Trading and operations update and guidance for 2022 United Oil & Gas PLC (AIM: "UOG"), the growing oil and gas company, issues the following trading and operations update to summarise recent operational activities, to provide trading guidance in respect of the financial year to 31 December 2021 and to provide initial guidance for 2022. This is in advance of the Company's Audited results which will be released in April 2022. The information contained herein has not been audited and may be subject to further review and amendment. A shareholder and an analyst call will take place this morning, details are below. United's Chief Executive Officer, Brian Larkin commented: "United and its JV partners had a 100% success rate for the five exploration and development wells in the 2021 drilling campaign in Egypt. All of the wells encountered oil and were quickly brought into production generating revenue for the company, with the exploration successes de-risking further upside on the license. "Our fully funded 2022 Egypt drilling programme has commenced with the ASD-2 development well which has spud. The two exploration wells in the 2022 programme will be targeting a potential of more than 10mmbbls of gross mean recoverable resources, with the potential to provide a step up in production levels during a time of significantly increased commodity prices. "In Jamaica, we continue to receive strong support from the government, having been granted an extension on the Walton Morant licence at the end of 2021. We now look forward to continuing the farmout process with this licence extension in place. "We have a low-cost producing asset base significantly leveraged to the rising oil price and continue to evaluate new opportunities to grow the business in line with our strategy. We look forward to the coming year and growing the business via our existing portfolio and potential new acquisitions." 2021 OPERATIONAL SUMMARY United has continued to manage its operations carefully, adhering to the COVID-19 procedures and restrictions put in place by its host countries and operators, with negligible disruption to operations in the period Group full-year 2021 production averaged 2,327 boepd net (1,869 bopd oil and 458 boepd gas), slightly above production guidance of 2,100-2,300 boepd issued on 6 September 2021 Stabilisation of the decline in production from the ASH wells from September 2021 100% exploration and development success rate from the Egypt five well development and exploration drilling programme, replacing reserves and accelerating production of existing reserves: - Commercial oil discoveries at the exploration wells, ASD-1X and ASX-1X: o Exploration success added 2.2mmboe 2P gross reserves (0.5mmboe net)(1) o Approvals granted from the Minister of Petroleum of the award of two new 20 year development leases covering the new discoveries o Further de-risks future exploration on the licence All five wells brought into production quickly, adding revenue to the company: - Development wells onstream less than two weeks after completion - ASX-1X exploration well onstream just three weeks after initial drilling results - All wells have a short payback period of 3-12 months In Jamaica the amendment to the Production Sharing Agreement has received final signature from the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology; the Initial Exploration Period of the Walton Morant licence, will now run to 31 January 2024 Divestments of non-core assets in UK CNS and Italy consistent with the Company's strategy to reinvest the proceeds to support growth - Signed conditional SPA for sale of Italian interests for 2.165m (c. $2.54m) - Signed binding SPA for the sale of UK Central North Sea Licences for a consideration of up to 3.2m (c $4.4m) Zero - Lost time incident frequency rate and Fatal accident frequency rate. No environmental spills, Restricted Work Incidents or Medical Treatment Incidents (1)Operator estimates subject to independent certification with publication expected H1 2022 2021 FINANCIAL SUMMARY Total revenues for the year were approx. $19m The average realised oil price per barrel from Egypt achieved was approx. $68.90/bbl, representing a discount to Brent of circa $1.85/bbl Cash balances as at 3 January 2022 were approx. $1.2m Total Cash Collections of approx.$17.3m Cash Capital Expenditure approx.$ 5.5m 2022 Outlook; production and capital expenditure guidance H1 production guidance is 1,500-1,650 boepd. At this stage this guidance only includes forecast production from existing wells and one development well, ASD-2, which has spud Full-year guidance will be provided once initial results of 2022 drilling programme have been assessed Approved fully funded 2022 Egypt drilling and work programme consisting of four firm wells, and eight workovers - Two firm development wells: ASD-2, which commenced drilling on the 25 January, and ASH-5, targeting the prolific Alam El Bueib (AEB) reservoir - Two firm exploration wells, ASF-1X and ASV-1X, will target combined mean recoverable resources estimated by United at c.10 mmbbls (2.2 mmbbls net) - Additional fifth well (an injector in the Al Jahraa SE field) is contingent on the results of technical work currently underway; decision anticipated in Q1 2022 - Flexible programme allowing drilling of exploration well to be brought forward if injector well is deferred - Seismic reprocessing of a 452km2 area of the Abu Sennan 3D seismic volume is currently underway and will help optimise well locations for the ASH-5 development well and exploration wells ASF-1X1 - Electrical Submersible Pumps will be installed into the current ASH wells, aiming to maintain the flow rates, optimise production and extend the life of field Renewed farm-out campaign for the Walton Morant licence, Jamaica, post licence extension Group cash capital expenditure for the full year is forecasted to be approx.$6m, fully funded from existing operations, with circa $5.5m to be invested in Egypt and up to $0.5m across the other assets in the portfolio Clear ESG focus and actions including evaluation of emissions baseline in Egypt with operator and contributions to social investment programmes Continued evaluation of new opportunities to grow the business in line with the strategy CORPORATE Joint Broker Appointment United are pleased to announce the appointment of Tennyson Securities to act as the Company's Joint Broker with immediate effect. Pre-payment facility The Company is in advanced discussions to extend the final maturity date on its existing prepayment facility from 30 September 2022 to 31 December 2023. This extension which will significantly lower the monthly repayments, will provide additional flexibility for the execution of the 2022 drilling programme and general working capital management. The Company will update the market in due course. United continues to have in place a framework for potential future offtake and financing undertaken by the Company. Divestments Crown disposal milestone payment The disposal of United's interest in the licence containing the Crown discovery to Anasuria Hibiscus UK Ltd.(Hibiscus) completed in December 2019 and United received $0.95m on completion. A further $2.85m was payable to United on completion of certain milestone events, or the licence could have been returned to United. In October 2021, Hibiscus informed United that the licence terminated on 30 September 2021. As announced in October, United sought legal advice. Based on that advice the Company remains confident of its legal position. Further progress is anticipated in February and United looks forward to updating the market. UK CNS United entered into a binding sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Quattro Energy Limited to sell its UK Central North Sea Licences; P2480 and P2519 for a consideration of up to 3.2m (c $4.4m). In December 2021 United announced that the the long stop date for satisfaction of the SPA conditions was extended to 28 February 2022. Italy United signed a conditional SPA with PXOG Marshall Limited, a subsidiary of Prospex Energy PLC for sale for the sale of 100% of the share capital of UOG Italia Srl for a consideration of 2.165m (c. $2.54m). UOG Italia Srl holds a 20% non-operated interest in the Podere Gallina licence which contains the Selva gas development project in Italy. United received a deposit of 108,235 (c.$150,000) in August 2021. The balance of the consideration and any working capital adjustment are payable on completion. The sale is conditional upon the receipt of approval of the Italian Authorities to the change of control of UOG Italia Srl and Prospex Energy PLC completing a fundraising process. The longstop date for completion is 6 April 2022. Prior to first gas which is expected at the end of Q1-23, a 12 month environmental monitoring programme is required. This work has been started and funded 100% by the Operator Po Valley Energy, earlier than the required 12 months and in advance of the award of the Production Concession at which time it becomes a firm commitment which all Joint Venture Partners have agreed to fund. The Joint Venture partners, being PXOG and UOG have agreed to fund their share of this work and all development costs when the Production Concession is awarded. However, Po Valley has alleged that UOG and PXOG failed to agree to fund any commitments under the Joint Operating Agreement when they become due and that as this could be construed as notification to relinquish their participations in the licence and have purported to elect to take over the partners' participating interests. The Joint Venture partners refute that Po Valley has the right to do so and do not intend to relinquish their interest in the Licence and have informed Po Valley accordingly. Further updates will be made in due course. OPERATIONAL UPDATE Egypt (22% non-operated working interest, operated by Kuwait Energy Egypt) Production Full-year 2021 production averaged 2,327 boepd net (1,869 bopd oil and 458 boepd gas), slightly above the production guidance of 2,100-2,300 issued on 6 September 2021. Production from Abu Sennan has remained stable through the second part of Q3 and Q4, with net rates of 1,817 boepd recorded at the beginning of September, compared to Q4 2021 average net production of 1,838 boepd. ASH field Since the beginning of September 2021, the ASH wells (ASH-1ST2, ASH-2 and ASH-3), have been monitored and left to flow on a constrained choke, and both the decline of the production and the increase in water-cut has been stable since September 2021. Electrical Submersible Pumps (ESP) will be installed in all three producing wells located in the ASH field and are part of the 2022 work programme. The ESPs will be aiming to maintain the flow rates, optimise production and extend the life of field. 2021 Abu Sennan Work Programme The 2021 work programme at Abu Sennan consisted of five wells and six workovers. All five wells encountered oil and were quickly brought into production. The drilling programme began with the ASH-3 development well which was brought onstream in March. The ASD-1X exploration well was found to be a commercial discovery in May and was brought into production within two months. Approval was granted from the Minister of Petroleum of the award of a 20-year development lease covering the new discovery. The AJ-8 development well was the third well in the campaign and began production in September followed by another commercial discovery at the ASX-1X exploration which began production in October, three weeks after initial results. This was also granted approval from the Minister of Petroleum of the award of a 20-year development lease covering ASX-1X. The final well in the 2021 drilling campaign, the AJ-13 development well, spudded in December and came on stream 11 January 2022. The Al Jahraa field is now the largest producing field on the licence. 2022 work programme and 1H 2022 production guidance H1 production guidance is 1,500-1,650 boepd. At this stage this guidance only includes the forecast production from the existing producing wells and the forecast production from the ASD-2 development well, expected to come onstream in Q2. Full-year guidance will be provided once initial results of 2022 drilling programme have been assessed. The 2022 approved work programme consists of four firm wells (two development and two exploration wells) and eight workovers. A fifth well (a water injector into the Al Jahraa SE field) is contingent on the results of ongoing technical studies. Seismic reprocessing of a 452km2 area of the Abu Sennan 3D seismic volume is currently underway. This reprocessing work will cover the ASH field and neighbouring AEB targets, as well the ASF prospect (to be drilled in 2022). Additional seismic reprocessing in the north-east of the licence area is planned to be carried out later in 2022. The drilling programme has now commenced with the ASD-2 development well. This well is a follow-up to the successful ASD-1X exploration well drilled in 2021. ASD-2 is targeting the north-western culmination of the ASD structure and will seek to prove the gross upside volumes in the Abu Roash C reservoir (estimated by the Operator to be 5.5 mmbbls STOIIP), accelerate production from the field, and test a secondary target in the Abu Roash E reservoir. With technical work ongoing, there is flexibility in the drilling schedule after the completion of the ASD-2 development well. As currently planned, the second firm development well, ASH-5, will be drilled in the ASH field, targeting the prolific Alam El Bueib (AEB) reservoirs that have so far delivered in excess of 3.5 million barrels of oil from the field. Analysis of the ASH field incorporating the results of the ASH-3 well indicates a large in-place oil volume estimated by United to be in the range of 14-16 mmbbls gross, with significant potential remaining within the structure. Seismic reprocessing is currently underway to ensure that this development drilling is located optimally in the field. The two exploration wells in the 2022 programme, ASF-1X and ASV-1X (previously named AST-1X), both have the potential to deliver large reserves and production additions. The ASF-1X well has been high-graded by United, and will target mean recoverable resources estimated by United at c.8 mmbbls gross in the AEB and Abu Roash reservoirs to the south-west of the ASH field. The well location will be finalised using the reprocessed seismic data. The ASV-1X exploration well is the second high impact well in the 2022 programme, targeting mean recoverable resources estimated by United at c.2.6 mmbbls gross. The primary targets are Abu Roash reservoirs, similar to those currently in production at the Al Jahraa field. Jamaica (100% working interest) In November 2021 United announced that the request for a two-year extension to the Initial Exploration Period of the Walton Morant Licence, Jamaica, was granted by the Jamaican Cabinet. Final signature from the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology to the amended Production Sharing Agreement has now been received. The Initial Exploration period will now run to 31 January 2024. It is anticipated that with an approved 2022 work programme for the licence, guided by the results of the work completed last year, and the licence extension and industry sentiment returning to exploration, the farm-down process will continue with renewed optimism building on the significant interest shown to date. Events today Management are hosting a call today at 0900 BST for analysts. For dial in details please contact Tessa Gough-Allen at Camarco 0203 781 9245 or tessa.gough-allen@camarco.co.uk Thereafter, a shareholder call will take place at 1130 BST today. Should investors wish to participate in the event, please click on this link to register https://bit.ly/3qXhYHf Confirmation email with the details of the dialling in process will be sent to your email address. **ENDS** This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 2014/596/EU which is part of domestic UK law pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) regulations (SI 2019/310). . Glossary: bopd - barrels of oil per day boepd - barrels of oil equivalent per day mmbbls - million barrels of oil STOIIP - Stock-tank oil initially in place Enquiries United Oil & Gas Plc (Company) Brian Larkin, CEO brian.larkin@uogplc.com Sharan Dhami, Head of IR & ESG sharan.dhami@uogplc.com Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 Roland Cornish and Felicity Geidt Optiva Securities Limited (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 3137 1902 Christian Dennis Tennyson Securities (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 020 7186 9030 Peter Krens Camarco (Financial PR/IR) +44 (0) 20 3757 4983 Billy Clegg | James Crothers | Tessa Gough-Allen uog@camarco.co.uk Notes to Editors United Oil & Gas is a high growth oil and gas company with a portfolio of low-risk, cash generative production, development, appraisal and exploration assets across Egypt, UK, Italy and a high impact exploration licence in Jamaica. The business is led by an experienced management team with a strong track record of growing full cycle businesses, partnered with established industry players and is well positioned to deliver future growth through portfolio optimisation and targeted acquisitions. United Oil & Gas is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. For further information on United Oil and Gas please visit www.uogplc.com Jefferson, GA (30549) Today Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 60F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. A jail reform council for Michigan is looking for feedback from the public after a package of bills was passed into law in 2020 centering on court reforms for the state. In 2020, some criminal justice reform measures aimed to increase alternatives to incarceration while reserving jail or prison for people who bring more of a risk to public safety. Some of the reforms also try to increase the ability of connecting people with addictions with the resources and support systems they need. The Michigan Jail Reform Advisory Council is seeking public comments ahead of the 9 a.m., Feb. 10 meeting. The meeting is scheduled to be held remotely via Zoom. The Michigan Jail Reform Advisory Council is an advisory body within the Michigan Department of Technology, Management, and Budget that is comprised of an interdisciplinary group of stakeholders representing state and local governments, law enforcement and community mental health. It is involved in jail reform legislation throughout the state of Michigan. This feedback is expected to assist the council in implementing policy and practice changes, developing educational materials, supporting justice system practitioners and monitoring performance measures. The public can either submit comments in writing through a form on council's website or present the comments during the livestream. The Jails Task Force is a group of criminal justice experts and key stakeholders. In 2019, the task force conducted a year-long study of Michigans jails and engaged input from the public in a series of statewide meetings. A package of 20 recommendations from the task force was passed and signed into law in 2020, supported by a group of bipartisan state senators and representatives. The reforms expand officers discretion to issue a citation for low-level offenses, increase the use of alternatives to jail for low-level crimes and incentivize compliance with probation conditions. Chief Justice Bridget McCormack serves as chair of the council and previously co-chaired the Joint Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration alongside Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II. Michigan has been a national leader in collecting and analyzing data and building bipartisan grassroots support for landmark, innovative improvements of our criminal justice system, McCormack said in a news release. The success of the task force depended on public input. Now, we need broad stakeholder input to help implement their recommendations. STAKEHOLDERS Some of those stakeholders include law enforcement and attorneys who have had to learn new rules and change some of the ways they respond to certain cases. Josh Glass, Manistee City Police chief, previously told the News Advocate the impact of the reforms to officers is that they have to learn the new rules, particularly with arrests. Glass had summarized that one of the criminal justice reforms means changes for when a person is taken to jail and when they receive a ticket. Basically (one of the laws) says if someone commits a crime and the offense is a misdemeanor, the penalty for that is less than a year in jail, you should write them an appearance ticket unless its one of the exceptions, he had explained. Glass previously added that the changes add some challenges for the department since they have educate the officers on the laws, procedural changes and exceptions. The bigger task is making sure that our officers have a working understanding of the exceptions, Glass had said. Something in law enforcement is that laws are constantly changing. This profession is constantly changing so we find ourselves in a position (where) we constantly need to keep up with the changing laws, policies, procedures. Jason Haag, Manistee County prosecuting attorney, previously told the News Advocate that one change stemming from the reforms that his office was expecting to see was more summonses as opposed to warrants in general. Generally, if its not an assaultive crime, a domestic violence crime, were going to be sending up a summons up to (85th) District Court rather than a warrant, he had previously said, adding that it means more of a notice to appear, rather than a warrant for the persons arrest. Haag had said there are exceptions to that new change and allowances for discretion as well, but that in some cases where there used to be mandatory minimum jail sentences that no longer require jail time. Those may be more likely to seek alternatives such as fines, community service, probation, electronic monitoring and other routes instead. More about the council, previous meetings that are video recorded and the Feb. 10 event can be found online at courts.michigan.gov/administration/special-initiatives/jail-advisory-council. The Taliban government in Afghanistan prevented media outlets from holding a press conference in Kabul over concerns about the status of media in the country, reported media organisations. The conference was supposed to be held on Wednesday in Kabul, reported TOLO News. The Afghanistan Journalist Center in a statement said the conference was to be attended by 11 representatives from different media organisations. "All national and international media outlets were covering it, however, unfortunately, due to the verbal order of the officials of the Islamic Emirate, the conference was cancelled," said Ali Asghar Akbarzada, head of the Afghanistan National Journalists' Union. Members of the Afghanistan National Journalists Union said that the Islamic Emirate instructed them to not hold the conference until they receive permission. "We call on the Islamic Emirate to finalise their decision in the future. They should make the decision as soon as possible and give us a permit so we can hold our conference based on it," Akbarzada said. The Taliban government did not comment over whether it prohibited the conference of the media outlets or not but said that it remains supportive of the media, based on Islamic regulations. Over 43 per cent of media activities have been halted and over 60 per cent of media employees have become jobless since the Taliban swept into power in Afghanistan, say media reports. Ron Abuelo in Panama makes delicious high-quality long-aged rums. We sat down with their brand ambassador Cristobal Srokowski to learn more about a Latin American rum brand with a rich history. Abuelo means grandfather in Spanish. Its named after Jose Varela Blanco who came to Panama from Galicia in Spain in 1908. Every bottle bears this date though the family only began distilling in the 1930s and the rum named in his honour was launched in the 1950s. It remained, however, very much a local thing until recently, as brand ambassador Cristobal Srokowski explained. About 20 years ago, the Varela family business began exporting to the US and other Latin American countries, and then to Europe. So despite being a grandfather in Panama, Abuelo is more like a young buck in Britain. Rum can be a luxury El Abuelo himself is quoted as saying: Rum has found its position in the world, rum can be a luxury, so it was appropriate that we met in the oligarchs wine merchant of choice, Hedonism in Mayfair. The team wants to position Abuelo with the finest drinks in the world, rather than against other rums. Is that confidence justified? Before we dived into the tasting we enjoyed a glorious cocktail called, appropriately enough, the Glorious Cocktail. It was made by Srokowski, whos originally from Poland, was educated in Barcelona and planned to be a historian. The lure of the bar proved too much, however. Following a stint at Harrys Bar in Barcelona where he picked up a love for rum, he joined Ron Abuelo. He has been with the company for so long that he described himself as an adopted son of the family. Hes not just a brand ambassador but also involved with new product development. Making Ron Abuelo He explained a little bit about the production process. Five different varieties of sugarcane go into the rum which all comes from its 1600 hectare estate near the town of Pese. Much of it is hand-harvested. Unusually for Latin American rum, both molasses and pure sugarcane juice are used with an 80/20 split between the former and the latter. The two different types of sugar are fermented, distilled and aged separately. Abuelo uses a special in-house yeast derived from pineapple. Fermentation takes place over about 48 hours to produce a 7-8% low wine. Distillation is done in a 12.5m column still to produce a new make of around 78-84% ABV, low compared with many Latin American rums. This preserves a lot of congeners, 250mg per 100ml, so you get a new make with plenty of flavour. The two types of distillate are then aged for two years in ex-bourbon casks separately before blending together. The family has casks dating back to 1978, according to Srokowski, only Appleton in Jamaica and Demerara in Guyana have older casks. This means that Abuelo has a lot of mature rum to play around with, largely from ex-bourbon barrels but they do have other casks including sherry, Cognac and others which are used for finishing. As with Port and sherry, Abuelos age statements are averages not minimum so for example the XV contains rums between eight and 43 years old. Its aged for an average of 14 years and then finished for a further one year. All Abuelos rums are blended from different casks except the Centaria which is aged in a solera. Sweets for my sweet Overall, I was very impressed with the quality of Ron Abuelos Panamanian rum. All of them have a characteristic grassy/ minty freshness that apparently comes from that pure sugarcane element. There is a definite sweetness to them which suggests added sugar. I asked about this and Srokowski replied, a little defensively, that they are sweetened as Cognac is. Heres a link to a site that has done tests to ascertain exactly how much sugar has been added to rum brands. Though it is from 2015, before EU laws came in decreeing that rum could not contain more than 20g of added sugar, so its not up to date but does give you some idea of how much sugar might be added. Having got that out of the way, I should say I have no problem with sugar added to rums. I just have to ask, and the Ron Abuelo range is delicious with the sweetness generally really well balanced. But part of me cant help thinking how amazing it would be if Ron Abuelo followed Diplomaticos lead and bottled some unsweetened limited edition expressions. Perhaps Srokowski with his NPD hat on could look into it. Tasting Ron Abuelo Matured entirely in ex-bourbon casks with an average age of 12 years and bottled at 40% ABV Nose: Orange peel, vanilla, toffee, molasses and a hint of mint. Palate: Toffee, muscovado sugar, vanilla, orangey floral notes. Finish: Sweet caramel, not at all cloying though not particularly long. Overall: A great value rum for sipping or mixing in simple cocktails like an Old Fashioned or the Glorious below. Smooth with lots of flavour and the sweetness is really well balanced. This is aged in a mixture of ex-bourbon and re-toasted American oak casks, and bottled at 40% ABV. 12 years is the average age Nose: Tobacco, menthol notes, toffee and dark chocolate, a little smokiness. Palate: Spicy and peppery with lots of aromatic smoky tobacco flavours plus dark chocolate and manuka honey. Finish: Quite a bit of sweetness, and the finish is quite short. Overall: Very enjoyable, richly flavoured if a bit young and sweet. A blend of ex-bourbon casks with an average of 14 years. It then spends one year in ex-Oloroso sherry casks. Its bottled at 40% ABV. Nose: Dried fruit, raisins and dates on the nose, orange peel and massive aromatics tobacco, menthol and some grassy notes. Palate: Tastes quite dry on the palate though there is some added sugar, I think. Citrus and dried fruit and then nuts galore. Walnuts! Brazil nuts! and a touch of honey. Finish: Very long and nutty. Overall: Like a better class of Brandy de Jerez. Classy. This would be great sipped neat with a cigar. Aged in a solera system containing over 7,000 casks and contains rums up to 43 years old with a 30-year-old average. Nose: Fruity nose, peaches, muscovado sugar, prunes and raisins, smells rich and dark. Palate: Lovely fruit on the palate, peaches and apricots, toasted walnuts, woody. Quite a bit of added sugar here, I think. Finish: Rich, complex, long and sweet. Overall: I think the sweetness would make it quite a great Port substitute. How to make a Glorious cocktail Recipe for Glorious Cocktail: 40ml Ron Abuelo 12 year old rum 20ml lime juice 15ml sugar syrup 3 dashes Angostura Bitters Fresh mint leaves Champagne to top up Shake all the ingredients except Champagne with ice, strain into a flute and top up with chilled Champagne. Click here to see the full Ron Abuelo range at Master of Malt. Weather Alert ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma, including the following counties, in Arkansas, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Sebastian and Washington AR. In Oklahoma, Adair, Cherokee, Choctaw, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, Mayes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Nowata, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pittsburg, Pushmataha, Rogers, Sequoyah, Tulsa, Wagoner and Washington OK. * WHEN...Through Thursday afternoon. * IMPACTS...Excessive runoff will likely result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations, especially in areas that have already received heavy rainfall over the past few days. Several main-stem rivers could go into flood. A few locations could see significant flash flooding. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Multiple rounds of thunderstorms are expected today through Thursday afternoon with the potential for very heavy rainfall. Widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected with locally higher amounts of 5 to 6 inches. The heavier rain will begin to shift east of far southeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas Thursday afternoon. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop. && 149 companies based in East Chinas Anhui province launched initial public offerings (IPOs) on the domestic stock market as of the end of 2021, bringing the province to the 9th spot in the country, the provincial government said at a press briefing on Wednesday. The province saw a record high of 23 domestically listed companies last year, ranking 7th in the country. Five out of them launched IPOs on the Beijing Stock Exchange, Chinas newest bourse which started trading in mid-November, bringing the province to the 5th. In 2021, Anhui's financing increment exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($158.2 billion) for the fifth consecutive year. New RMB loans worth 662.8 billion yuan and total direct financing worth 700.8 billion yuan totaled over 1.3 trillion yuan, 132.4 billion yuan more than a year earlier. Deposits and loans grew higher than the national averages. As of the end of 2021, the balance of RMB deposits hit 6.63 trillion yuan, up 10.64 percent year-on-year, higher than the national average of 9.3 percent. Meanwhile, the balance of RMB loans rose 12.87 percent to 5.82 trillion yuan, 1.27 percentage points higher than the national average. The rate of loan-to-deposit ratio stood at 87.75 percent, 4.78 percentage points higher than the national average. Anhui took a number of financial measures to support the development of the real economy, according to the government. The balance of loans of the provinces manufacturing sector reached 508.65 billion yuan at the end of 2021, up 14.4 percent year on year, while that of sci-tech enterprises totaled 217.09 billion yuan, up 42.35 percent from that at the beginning of the year. In addition, the province also beefed up financial support to the rural rejuvenation strategy. The balance of agriculture-related loans reached 1.83 trillion yuan at the end of 2021, up 13.5 percent from the same period a year earlier. Using the Gemini Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS) and the Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) on the 8.1-m Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachon on the edge of the Chilean Andes, astronomers have captured images of two wiggling stellar jets: MHO 2147 and MHO 1502. Stellar jets and molecular outflows are ubiquitous in star-forming regions to such an extent that they are considered to be signposts of newly formed stars, said lead author Dr. Leticia Ferrero, an astronomer at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba and CONICET and her colleagues. Furthermore, they are usually associated with the earliest stages of stellar formation, when the incipient proto-stellar object is deeply embedded within a dense core of dust and molecular gas. In the optical and near-infrared ranges, jets usually consist of a chain of knots with a terminal leading bow shock emanating from the young star and propagating away at high supersonic speeds. Although most jets are straight or collimated, others have curved shapes. Different mechanisms can produce the non-straight jets, such as the interstellar magnetic field, which curves or bends the jet axis. In addition, the stellar magnetosphere or magnetized disc can yield asymmetries in the jet. In other cases, the wiggling profile may indicate that the jet axis wanders (precesses), or that the exciting source of the jet undergoes orbital motion. The shape of a non-straight or wandering jet axis may be related to some characteristics of the central object. For example, reflection-symmetric wiggles may be due to the orbital motion of the jet source that belongs to a binary system, whereas the precession of the jet axis could produce a point-symmetric S-shaped jet induced by a tidal effect caused by a companion star in an orbit not coplanar to the disk. With the aim of investigating the likely cause-effect relation between the wiggling morphology of stellar jets and the central star properties, we present high-resolution images obtained with GSAOI and GeMS of MHO 1502 and MHO 2147. MHO 2147 is roughly 10,000 light-years from Earth, and lies in the Galactic plane, close to the boundary between the constellations of Sagittarius and Ophiuchus. The MHO 1502 jet is located approximately 2,000 light-years away in the constellation of Vela. In the case of MHO 2147, the young central star named IRAS 17527-2439 is embedded in an infrared dark cloud. The sinuous shape of the jet is caused because its direction has changed over time, tracing out a gentle curve on either side of the central star. These almost unbroken curves suggest that MHO 2147 has been sculpted by continuous emission from its central source. We found that the changing direction of the jet may be due to the gravitational influence of nearby stars acting on the central star, the astronomers said. Our observations suggest that IRAS 17527-2439 could belong to a triple star system separated by more than 300 billion km (almost 200 billion miles). MHO 1502, on the other hand, is embedded in a totally different environment an area of star formation known as an HII region. MHO 1502 is composed of a chain of knots delineating the wiggling jet, suggesting that the driving source emitted them in an intermittent manner, the researchers said. Our image of the previously proposed exciting star, IRAC 18064, shows two sources separated by 240 AU (astronomical units), hinting at its binarity. However, as IRAC 18064 is located off the jet axis at 2,064 AU, it is questionable as to whether this source is the true exciting star. Moreover, the orbital model centered on IRAC 18064 suggests a binary companion at a much greater distance (2,200 AU) than the nearby star (at 240 AU). The findings were published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics. _____ L.V. Ferrero et al. 2022. High-resolution images of two wiggling stellar jets, MHO 1502 and MHO 2147, obtained with GSAOI+GeMS. A&A 657, A110; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202142421 The opportunity to comment on this story or opinion piece is offered by the Sri Lanka Guardian subject to the following terms and conditions: All user comments are moderated by the Sri Lanka Guardian which means contributions will be checked before they are posted to the site. Contributions will be updated regularly while the story is open for comment but users should keep in mind that the opportunity to comment on stories may close relatively quickly. 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Editor, Sri Lanka Guardian editor@srilankaguardian.org System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. 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The duo got married in 2012 and parted ways after four years of being together. While the estranged couple has now moved on, several reports suggested that Naga Chaitanya's father and veteran South actor Nagarjuna Akkineni opened up about their separation in a recent interview. Taking to social media, the veteran superstar has slammed the false reports which are being circulated on social media and electronic media. In a tweet, he has revealed that the quote is false. He wrote, "The news in social media and electronic media quoting my statement about Samantha & Nagachaitanya is completely false and absolute nonsense! I request media friends to please refrain from posting rumours as news. #GiveNewsNotRumours". The news in social media and electronic media quoting my statement about Samantha & Nagachaitanya is completely false and absolute nonsense!! I request media friends to please refrain from posting rumours as news. #GiveNewsNotRumours Nagarjuna Akkineni (@iamnagarjuna) January 27, 2022 Earlier several reports had suggested that Nagarjuna had stated that Samantha was the one who wanted divorce from his son Naga Chaitanya. An IndiaGlitz report quoted Nagarjuna, "Naga Chaitanya accepted her decision but he was much worried about me, what I would think and what would happen to family's reputation". The report further added, "Naga Chaitanya consoled me very much as he thought I will be worried. They both have been together for 4 years in the marriage life but no problem like this came between them. Both were so close and I don't know how it came down to this decision. They even celebrated 2021's New Year together, it seems that the problems have arisen after that". Earlier this month, Naga Chaitanya had talked about his split with Samantha during the promotions of Bangarraju. Calling divorce the 'best decision', the Love Story actor shared that they both are happy now. Talking about the rough phase after separation, Samantha had earlier revealed that she thought she was weak and would "crumble and die". Recently, Samantha deleted the divorce statement from her social media account which stirred patch-up rumours. Seems like, she deleted the post just like that as The Family Man 2 actress is yet to react to the speculations. On the career front, Naga Chaitanya will be seen in Aamir Khan & Kareena Kapoor Khan-starrer Laal Singh Chaddha which is slated to release later this year. He also has Vikram Kumar's Thank You (Telugu) in his kitty. Produced by Dil Raju, the film also stars Raashi Khanna and Avika Gor. Samantha was recently seen with Allu Arjun in the hit Pushpa song Oo Antava. She is rumoured to be making her Bollywood debut with a women-centric film produced by Taapsee Pannu. Also, there is a buzz that Yash Raj Films (YRF) has approached the actress with a 3-film deal offer. However, the official announcement is still awaited. On the south front, her lineup includes Kaathu Vaakula Rendu Kaadhal (Tamil), Shaakuntalam (Telugu), and Yashoda (Telugu). Filmmaker Suneel Darshan, who has helmed films like Jaanwar (1999), Ek Rishtaa (2001) and Talaash: The Hunt Begins (2003) starring Akshay Kumar, has filed an FIR against YouTube, Google and its CEO Sundar Pichai. The reason for filing an FIR against the tech giant is copyright infringement. He has alleged that his 2017 film Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha starring his son Shiv Darshan is illegally streaming on YouTube and has garnered millions of views. BCCL Darshan has also stated that he hasnt yet sold the rights of his film to any streaming platform and had written to Google multiple times to take down the movie besides reporting it on the platform but there hasnt been any response from them. Talking to ETimes about the FIR, Suneel stated, My movie, which I have not uploaded anywhere and not sold to anyone in the world, was found on YouTube with millions of views. I kept requesting them (Google) to withdraw and I was just left running from pillar to post. I got so frustrated; left with no choice I had to go to the court. And fortunately, the court gave an order in my favour and instructed the police to file an FIR. There are over a billion infringements and I have a record of each of them. It's about these people who claim that they follow the law and now they have no systems in place. Those monetising my videos are benefitting. I don't want to challenge technology, but the misuse of technology. Shree Krishna International He further added that he is ready for a settlement as well, I'm only fighting for my rights. How can someone use my content, exclusively copyrighted to me, not sold to anyone, not shared with anyone, on the platform? And then they have their own reasons, and they don't even remove it. I have lost the film's entire value and they have done it before also, that's a different case. Suneel Darshans Advocate Aditya Chitale told the website, By their action of uploading the audio-visuals and the audio of his film Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha, YouTube and its officials have not only considerably eroded the marketability and the value of the intellectual property rights of the audio-visuals and audio of the film, but YouTube has also unjustly enriched itself by earning huge revenue through advertisements and other sources through the exhibition of the content. Mr Darshan had complained to YouTube/Google and its officials several times, but they ignored his complaints and continued to earn huge revenue for themselves at Mr Darshan's cost by illegally exploiting his intellectual property rights. Shree Krishna International Sundar Pichai was recently announced to be one of the recipients of Padma Bhushan honour by the government of India. When asked by BollywoodLife if he is ready for social media trolling who may accuse him of doing all this just for publicity, Darshan replied, I am not trying to gain publicity at all. I am only trying to put facts on record. I dont intend anything more than that. As a filmmaker and a copyright owner, I have certain rights and when you mercilessly infringe them, then what should I do? I am a helpless person. As a filmmaker, you invest in a movie and especially a guy like me, I dont come from Bollywood. I am from the Indian film industry. I dont make movies that are sponsored by corporates. So, for me the whole game is very different; its about my livelihood and survival. It has been a huge financial impact on my career and that is the reason I had to approach the legal body. Shree Krishna International Besides direction, Suneel Darshan has also produced films like Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya and Andaaz. In his career, he has mostly worked with Akshay Kumar, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol. A Memorial Service of Christian Burial will begin at 2 p.m., Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Robert Barham Family Funeral Home Chapel. Robert Barham Family Funeral Home is honored to be entrusted with the arrangements. Mrs. Cobb, 68, of Meridian, passed away Sunday, May 1, 2022, at Bedford Care Ce Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Thailand and Permanent Representative to UNESCAP, C.A.Chaminda I. Colonne was re-elected as Vice Chair of the Board of Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC) at the 03rd Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting held in hybrid platform in Bangkok on 25th January 2022.Joining the meeting online as Vice Chair,Ambassador Chaminda Colonne expressed appreciation to Executive Director Hans Guttman and Members of the ADPC for work carried out by the ADPC amidst the challenges of COVID 19 pandemic throughout the past year. The Chairmanship of the ADPC was transferred from Bangladesh to Cambodia at the meeting and Cambodias member to the Board Kim Virak, Advisor to the National Committee for Disaster Management of Cambodia was elected as the Chair for 2022. ADPC was established in 1986, and Sri Lanka is a founding member of ADPC along with Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Thailand. In 2021, ADPC has signed MoUs with International WaterManagementInstitute, Sri Lanka to collaborate on climate adaptation andresilience initiatives with special focus onwater and agriculture sectors as part of CAREfor South Asia Project implementation fundedby the World Bank in Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh for 2021-2025 and with Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) to continue collaboration as an important private sector network from Sri Lanka for the Asian Preparedness Partnership (APP) and strengthen the locally-led actions for disaster preparedness, response and recovery. ADPC has been extending support for disaster risk management to various Ministries and agencies in Sri Lanka including the Ministry of Defence, State Ministry of National Security and Disaster Management, Disaster Management Centre and Department of Meteorology. The statement issued by the Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka,Bangkok, Thailand After a one-year hiatus, the 48th Annual Ag Expo returned Wednesday to the Owensboro Convention Center, showcasing a host of agricultural equipment and offering learning opportunities for attendees. Presented by Grain Day Inc., the trade show brings together area farmers for a day of networking and education. Clint Hardy, agricultural extension agent for the Daviess County Extension Office, said during the event Wednesday that an event like the Ag Expo just makes sense for Daviess County. Agriculture is about a $300 million industry on crop production and livestock production alone, Hardy said of agriculture in the county. It is a huge industry, and then most of those businesses in there serve the tri-state. In addition to a trade show featuring a variety of vendors, the event also has a strong educational component, bringing farmers together to learn about recent issues facing the industry in the area. Speaker topics this year included obtaining the most value from poultry litter, how to profit in carbon markets and increasing use of drones in crop production. Our goal is, number one, networking, number two, a sense of community and relationship growth that we really enjoy and people appreciate here, Hardy said. Education and networking is what we are about. One local business taking advantage of the opportunity to do some networking was Wright Implement. Wright Implement has been around since 1936, Chris Kluck said. We have got 15 locations and cover from basically south of Indianapolis over to Florence, south of Cincinnati, all the way down to Bowling Green. Kluck said the company has customers that range from agrarian to commercial and individual households. It is a big deal for us to be the largest agriculture dealership in Daviess, Henderson and other local communities, he said. We just feel that we need to participate and want to keep our name out there Retired farmer Carroll Wilson of McLean County said that even though hes not actively farming, he still likes to come to the Ag Expo and check out the exhibits. Rae Wagoner of the Kentucky Soybean Board said the board always likes to participate in the Ag Expo. This is one of the places that we can meet and mingle with our farmers and provide information for them, she said. We have an awful lot of high-yielding and high-quality soybeans down in this part of the state. Nathan Havenner, Messenger-Inquirer, nhavenner@messenger-inquirer.com, 270-228-2837 The Owensboro Sisters Cities and Regions Board is planning an official visit from the mayors office of Olomouc, Czech Republic. Board members said Olomouc, which is Owensboros sister city, will send a mayoral delegation either this spring or summer. The dates the board will suggest to Olomouc officials are May 18-24 or June 22-28. The June date was suggested by Mayor Tom Watson, because its the week of the ROMP Festival at Yellow Creek Park. The mayor is a really big fan of having them here the week of ROMP, said co-executive director Adrienne Carrico during Tuesdays board meeting, which was conducted by teleconference. Sister Cities president Michael Vanover said after the meeting that the Olomouc delegation would spend their time meeting with city and county elected officials, as well as representatives from organizations like the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. The last time a mayoral delegation from Olomouc visited Owensboro was in 2018. Most of it is tied to meetings and discussion, Vanover said. We have a great Chamber here, one of the best in the state, so theres some opportunity there to collaborate and work on ideas. Vanover said the Sister Cities role is to facilitate the meetings. We are the hands that bring everyone to the table, he said. The board is working on a high school student exchange that would happen in the fall. The board also discussed hosting the Olomouc Childrens Choir. It is scheduled to tour the U.S. this summer. Childrens Choir officials contacted the board to see if the board members could arrange lodging and food if the choir comes to Owensboro on July 4-5 and performs a concert. Carrico said the board is working on the mayoral delegation visit, as well as the local Sister Cities groups 30th anniversary celebration. I dont know how much we can take in, Carrico said. Possible accommodations were discussed, such as the Camp Pennyroyal Girl Scout camp in Utica. Board member Karen Campbell said the choir directors would be interested in finding host families for the choir, which is made up of teens between the ages of 13 and 19. With the pandemic, this is not the most opportune time to host a childrens group, Carrico said. The issues with COVID and housing are frightening to me. The board didnt make a decision Wednesday night. Board member Kelia West said she would contact the directors of the Kentucky Youth Chorale to see if any local families involved with the group would be interested in hosting Olomouc choir members. Carrico said she would also contact the choir directors to get additional information. James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse They say that a century ago the 20s roared. Heres a look at some of the things that happened here. There are 40,733 of us in Daviess County when the jazz age begins. And fewer than half of us 17,424 live in Owensboro. But by the end of the decade, more than half of Daviess Countys population will be inside the city for the first time. Local boosters are referring to us as The Chicago of Kentucky. But we have a long way to go. Paducah, with 24,735 people, is growing much faster than we are. McHenry native Ray Chapman makes history the hard way on Aug. 17, 1920. The Cleveland Indians shortstop dies of a head injury suffered the day before when hes struck by a pitch thrown by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. For the first time, the national campaign trail leads through Owensboro. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, assistant secretary of the Navy and Democratic nominee for vice president, addresses 1,800 people at the Grand Theatre downtown on Oct. 2, 1920. Tractors are beginning to replace mules in area fields. And tomatoes are becoming a big crop in the southern part of Daviess County. But hemp is still Kentuckys biggest cash crop. In 1921, a Rosine family rushes 10-year-old William Smith Monroe to Owensboro-Daviess County Hospital, where he undergoes emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix. Years later, Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, will tell that story every time he plays a tune called Owensboro. When women win the right to vote in 1920, they also win other rights and responsibilities. In 1921, Daviess County impanels its first all-female jury. Voters in Owensboro agree to sell $300,000 in bonds to build a new Owensboro High School on Frederica Street near the south city limits. Klan rallies In the summer of 1923, the Ku Klux Klan, with nearly 4 million members nationwide, decides to organize a klavern in Owensboro. But city and county officials refuse to allow them to meet on public property. So, the Klan moves to a field just outside town on the Livermore Road property that will later become the Kentucky Wesleyan College campus and erects a large electric cross with bare light bulbs on crossed telephone poles. Newspaper reports say 3,000 people come out to hear the Rev. E.H. Lougher, an Indiana minister, speak. But the Klan is never able to find a foothold in Daviess County. Owensboro changes the name of its first public park Hickman Park to American Legion Park in 1923 to honor of veterans of The World War. In April 1924, construction begins on Lock and Dam 46 in Owensboro to improve navigation on the Ohio River. It will be dynamited when it becomes obsolete in the 1970s. And a city park English Park will take over the land. On April 3, 1924, one of Daviess County native Beulah Sheriff Annans male co-workers is shot to death in her Chicago apartment. The jury acquits Annan. And reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins goes on to write Chicago, a play very loosely based on the case. In western Daviess County, Mount St. Joseph Academy adds a junior college to its offerings. In 1947, the campus will move to Owensboro and will eventually become Brescia University. In 1925, John D. Jughandle Johnny Morrison becomes the only Daviess Countian to pitch in a World Series. Keep all businesses downtown In Owensboro, downtown merchants, concerned about their future, unsuccessfully try to get a law passed forbidding new businesses south of 11th Street. A commercial oil boom begins in 1925 with 10,661 barrels pumped the first year. Soon after, downtown hotels and restaurants are filled with oil men seeking drilling rights across the region. For a time, Owensboro has a shot at becoming an aviation center. Kentucky Aircraft Corp. begins producing airplanes on Daniels Lane in 1926. But Frank Sheehan, the companys president, dies in a plane crash on Valentines Day 1927. And the company dies with him. In December 1928, Lawrence and Bruce Hager, owners of The Inquirer, form Owensboro Publishing Co., buy the Messenger and combine the citys two newspapers into the Messenger-Inquirer, effective Jan. 1. On Jan. 9, 1929, Farmers Bank of West Louisville is held up by two bandits armed with a Thompson machine gun. As they leave the bank, they spray bullets at people down the street. Carl and Grace Browder will eventually be convicted in what remains the countys most famous bank robbery. With Prohibition still in full swing, only seven licensed distilleries are left in the United States, and Owensboros Glenmore Distillery is one of them, producing industrial alcohol and vinegar. In August 1929, the city leases 35 acres on Parrish Avenue from Daviess County Judge E. P. Taylor for a city park. Moreland Park is named for Alexander Moreland, Taylors father-in-law who owned the property earlier. The city takes title to the property after paying $20,000 to Taylor. Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com. Markets do not solve the problem of energy pricing. What is required is planning and long-term investments in infrastructure. by Prabir Purkayastha The current crisis of spiraling gas prices in Europe, coupled with a cold snap in the region, highlights the fact that the transition to green energy in any part of the world is not going to be easy. The high gas prices in Europe also bring to the forefront the complexity involved in transitioning to clean energy sources: that energy is not simply about choosing the right technology, and that transitioning to green energy has economic and geopolitical dimensions that need to be taken into consideration as well. Gas wars in Europe are very much a part of the larger geostrategic battle being waged by the U.S. using the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Ukraine. The problem the U.S. and the EU have is that shifting the EUs energy dependence on Russia will have huge costs for the EU, which is being missed in the current standoff between Russia and NATO. A break with Russia at this point over Ukraine will have huge consequences for the EUs attempt to transition to cleaner energy sources. The European Union has made its problem of a green transition worse by choosing a completely market-based approach toward gas pricing. The blackouts witnessed by people in Texas in February 2021 as a result of freezing temperatures made it apparent that such market-driven policies fail during vagaries of weather, pushing gas prices to levels where the poor may have to simply turn off their heating. In winter, gas prices tend to skyrocket in the European Union, as they did in 2020 and again in 2021. For India and its electricity grid, one lesson from this European experience is clear. Markets do not solve the problem of energy pricing, as they require planning, long-term investments and stability in pricing. The electricity sector will face disastrous consequences if it is handed over to private electricity companies, as is being proposed in India. This is what the move to separate wires from the electricity they carry aims to achieve through Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis governments proposed amendment to the existing Electricity Act of 2003. In order to understand the issues related to transitioning toward green energy, it is important to take a closer look at the current gas supply-related issues being faced by the European Union. The EU has chosen gas as its choice of fuel for electricity production, as it goes off coal and nuclear while also investing heavily in wind and solar. The argument advanced in favor of this choice is that gas would provide the EU with a transitional fuel for its low carbon emission path, as gas tends to produce less emissions than coal. It is another matter that gas is at best a short-term solution, as it still emits half as much greenhouse gas as coal. As I have written earlier, the problem with green energy is that it requires a much larger capacity addition to handle seasonal and daily fluctuations that planners have not accounted for while advocating for switching over to clean energy sources. During winter, days are shorter in higher latitudes, and the world therefore gets fewer hours of sunlight. This seasonal problem with solar energy has been compounded in Europe with low winds in 2021 reducing the electricity output of windmills. The European Union has banked heavily on gas to meet its short- and medium-term goals of cutting down greenhouse emissions. Gas can be stored to meet short-term and seasonal needs, and gas production can even be increased easily from gas fields with requisite pumping capacity. All this, however, requires advance planning and investment in surplus capacity building to meet the requirements of daily or seasonal fluctuations. Unfortunately, the EU is a strong believer that markets magically solve all problems. It has moved away from long-term price contracts for gas and toward spot and short-term contractsunlike China, India and Japan, which all have long-term contracts indexed to their oil prices. Why does the gas price affect the price of electricity in the EU? After all, natural gas accounts only for about 20 percent of the EUs electricity generation. Unfortunately for the people in the EU region, not only the gas market but also the electricity market has been liberalized under the market reforms in the EU. The energy mix in the grid is determined by energy market auctions, in which private electricity producers bid their prices and the quantity they will supply to the electricity grid. These bids are accepted, in order from lowest to highest, until the next days predicted demand is fully met. The last bidders price then becomes the price for all producers. In the language of Milton Friedmans followerswho were known as the Chicago Boysthis price offered by the last bidder is its marginal price discovered through the market auction of electricity and, therefore, is the natural price of electricity. For readers who might have followed the recently concluded elections in Chile, Augusto Pinochetwho was a military dictator in Chile from 1973 to 1990introduced the Constitution of 1980 in Chile and had incorporated the above principle in a constitutional guarantee to the neoliberal reforms in the electricity sector in the country. Hopefully, the victory of the left in the presidential elections in Chile and the earlier referendum on rewriting the Chilean constitution will also address this issue. Interestingly, it was not the former Prime Minister of UK Margaret Thatcheras is commonly thoughtwho started the electricity reforms but Pinochets bloody regime in Chile. At present in the EU, natural gas is the marginal producer, and that is why the price of gas also determines the price of electricity in Europe. This explains the almost 200 percent rise in electricity price in Europe in 2020. In 2021, according to an October 2021 report by the European Commission, Gas prices are increasing globally, but more significantly in net importer regional markets like Asia and the EU. So far in 2021, prices tripled in [the] EU and more than doubled in Asia while only doubling in the U.S. [emphasis added]. The coupling of the gas and the electricity markets by using the marginal price as the price of all producers means that if gas spot prices triple as has been seen recently, so will the electricity prices. No prizes for guessing who gets hit the hardest with such increases. Though there has been criticism from various quarters regarding the use of marginal price as the price of electricity for all suppliers irrespective of their respective costs, the neoliberal belief in the gods of the market has ruled supreme in Europe. Russia has long-term contracts as well as short-term contracts to supply gas to EU countries. Putin has mocked the EUs fascination with spot prices and gas prices and said that Russia is willing to supply more gas via long-term contracts to the region. Meanwhile, in October 2021, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Russia was not doing its part in helping Europe tide over the gas crisis, according to an article in the Economist. The article stated, however, that according to analysts, Russias big continental customers have recently confirmed that it is meeting its contractual obligations, adding that [t]here is little hard evidence that Russia is a big factor in Europes current gas crisis. The question here is that the EU either believes in the efficiency of the markets or it doesnt. The EU cannot argue markets are best when spot prices are low in summer, and lose that belief in winter, asking Russia to supply more in order to control the market price. And if markets indeed are best, why not help the market by expediting the regulatory clearances for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will ship Russian gas to Germany? This brings us to the knotty question of the EU and Russia. The current Ukraine crisis that is roiling the relationship between the EU and Russia is closely linked to gas as well. Pipelines from Russia through Ukraine and Poland, along with the undersea Nord Stream 1, currently supply the bulk of Russian gas to the EU. Russia also has additional capacity via the newly commissioned Nord Stream 2 to supply more gas to Europe if it receives the financial regulatory clearance. There is little doubt that Nord Stream 2 is caught not simply in regulatory issues but also in the geopolitics of gas in Europe. The United States pressured Germany not to allow Nord Stream 2 to be commissioned, and also threatened to impose sanctions on companies involved with the pipeline project. Before stepping down as the chancellor of Germany in September 2021, Angela Merkel, however, resisted pressure from Washington to halt the work on the pipeline and forced the United States to concede to a compromise deal. The Ukraine crisis has created further pressure on Germany to postpone Nord Stream 2 even if it means worsening its twin crises of gas and electricity prices. The net gainer in all of this is the United States, which will get the EU as a buyer for its more expensive fracking gas. Russia currently supplies about 40 percent of the EUs gas. If this stalls, the United States, which supplies about 5 percent of the EUs gas demand (according to 2020 figures), could be a big gainer. The United States interest in sanctioning Russian gas supply and not allowing the commissioning of Nord Stream 2 has as much to do with its support to Ukraine as seeing that Russia does not become too important to the EU. Nord Stream 2 could help form a common pan-European market and a larger Eurasian consolidation. Just as it did in East and Southeast Asia, the United States has a vested interest in stopping trade following geography instead of politics. Interestingly, gas pipelines from the Soviet Union to Western Europe were built during the Cold War as geography and trade got priority over Cold War politics. The United States wants to focus on NATO and the Indo-Pacific region, as its focus is on the oceans. In geographical terms, the oceans are not separate but a continuous body covering more than 70 percent of the worlds surface with three major islands: Eurasia, Africa and the Americas. (Although in the formulation of British geographer Halford Mackinder, the originator of the world island idea, Africa was seen as a part of Eurasia.) Eurasia alone is by far the bigger island, with 70 percent of the worlds population. That is why the United States does not want such a consolidation. The world is passing through perhaps the greatest transition that human civilization has known in meeting the current challenges posed by climate change. To address these challenges, an energy transition is required that cannot be achieved through markets that prioritize immediate profits over long-term societal gains. If gas is indeed the transitional fuel, at least for Europe, it needs long-term policies of integrating its gas grid with gas fields, which have adequate storage. And Europe needs to stop playing games with its energy and the worlds climate future for the benefit of the United States. For India, the lessons are clear. Markets do not work for infrastructure. Long-term planning with state leadership is what India needs to ensure supply of electricity to all Indians and ensure the countrys green transitioninstead of dependence on electricity markets created artificially by a few regulators framing rules to favor the private monopoly of electricity companies. This article was produced in partnership by Newsclick and Globetrotter. Prabir Purkayastha is the founding editor of Newsclick.in, a digital media platform. He is an activist for science and the free software movement. The Mitten State is celebrating the day it became part of the United States of America 185 years ago. On January 26, 1837, Michigan became the 26th state in the union with Detroit as the capital. The state capital wasn't relocated to Lansing until 1847, according to a Tweet by Pure Michigan, an advertising campaign by the State of Michigan. Various state agencies are taking to Twitter to shout out the Mitten state. Although not yet legally established as a separate territory, census data for Michigan are available beginning in 1800, when the population of the Northwest Territory, of which Michigan was a part, was 45,916, according to a press release issued by the U.S. Census Bureau. Today, roughly 10 million people live in Michigan, according to census data. And it is the 22nd largest state by area. Graphic provided/U.S. Census Bureau Census data also revealed that about 35% of the state's population lives in Detroit, making it the largest city in the state. The average age for people living in the state is 40. Besides the Mitten State, the state's official nickname is the Great Lakes State, according to michigan.gov. You can celebrate Michigan by enjoying the state's official muffin: blueberry. Or, by visiting one of Michigan's seven national parks. Per Breiehagen/Getty Images Isle Royale National Park, a small island in the middle of Lake Superior, is one of the least visited national parks in the country because it is isolated. A five-hour boat ride from the Upper Peninsula is the most common way to get to the island. Approving a tax-exempt zone for a new Dow Chemical project was among many decisions made by the Midland City Council Monday. Council met at Midland City Hall to not only discuss the project with Dow, but also a project for an affordable housing complex, new ward boundaries and polling locations, and recreation fee changes. Dow development The Dow Chemical Company and Dow Silicones Corporation submitted a request for a Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF) Designated Renaissance Zone for new development to modernize some of their facilities in the Dow Michigan Operations Industrial Park (I-Park). This zone would last for 15 years if approved, said Midland City Assessor Kayla Ripley. An MSF Designated Renaissance Zone exempts taxpayers who have development agreements with a local government (the city and county of Midland in this case) and the Michigan Strategic Fund, Ripley said. To reduce the impact of the abatement on the city and county, Dow has agreed to annual payments in lieu of tax (PILOT) for existing property within the proposed Renaissance Zone. Property taxes related to new capital investment associated with the project will be fully exempted for 12 years beginning January 1, 2026. Over the following four years, the tax abatement would be reduced by 25% each year, Ripley said. The development and MSF zone will take place over 27 parcels or 642 acres of land in the I-Park, and include multiple upgrades within Dows facilities. This includes upgrading and extending the life of global silicones manufacturing facilities, modernizing research and development facilities, and making manufacturing more sustainable, said Paul Barbeau, senior global director of corporate facilities at Dow. Dow is estimated to invest $150 million into the development by Dec. 31, 2027 and retain 800 employees. The retention of employees garnered many questions from council and the public. Council member Steve Arnosky asked how Dow will keep track of those 800 jobs. Barbeau said it is a state requirement under this agreement to retain those jobs and that Dow conducts annual audits that will show the number of employees. Arnosky said the city wants Dow to succeed, and this partnership works for both Dow and the city. It is good to see investment in the I-Park, it is always good for our community, Arnosky said. For that reason, it is important (and) I can support it. Many notable community members came out to express their approval of the project, including Midland Business Alliance President & CEO Tony Stamas. President & CEO of the Midland Community Foundation Sharon Mortensen thanked Dow for continuing to invest in the city of Midland. The MSF zone was approved in a 4-0 vote, with council member Marty Wazbinski being absent from the meeting. Affordable Housing by Lincoln Park This was not the only PILOT program the council voted on. Previously, council approved site plans for a 50-unit, affordable apartment complex named Lincoln Park Residences, which would be located at 221 E. Patrick Road. Now the DeShano Development Corporation is looking to work with the city on a PILOT program for that apartment complex. Director of Planning & Community Development Grant Murschel said studies have been conducted to see if there is a need for affordable housing, with the results concluding that there is. In 2018, the Midland County Housing Analysis concluded that the city of Midland at the time had a shortage of 1,024 affordable rental units for the income levels of 0-30% Area Median Income (AMI). Since then, no new developments have been made specifically dedicated to affordable housing, although a new complex, Center City Lofts, will fall in that category, with construction beginning in 2022. For apartments to be considered affordable, Murschel said rents have to be between $331 and $913 per month, depending on unit size and the number of bedrooms. Council member Pam Hall said she appreciates that this is being worked on since it is needed for moderate to lower income housing. Some of the other council members expressed concerns because of a fiasco with a previous PILOT apartment complex that deteriorated under its original ownership and eventually cost taxpayer dollars. Mayor Maureen Donker said that any building created needs to be maintained and built to last. If it is not a quality build, with great materials, that is going to stand the test of time and be a great design, it is not of value to us, Donker said Council approved the PILOT request in a 4-0 vote to be sent to the Midland City Housing Commission to review it. Other Council Business: (New York Jewish Week via JTA) A recent fall meant Rose Girone spent her 110th birthday in a Long Island rehab facility. But nothing could stop her friends and family from giving her exactly the right gift: red wool and brand-new knitting needles. Rose cannot imagine her life without knitting, Girones daughter, Reha Bennicasa, 83, told the New York Jewish Week. Advertisement Dina Mor, who owns The Knitting Place in Port Washington, New York, was among the guests to join Girone for the birthday celebration Jan. 13 that turned her dear friend, mentor and former employee into a supercentenarian the official term for someone who lives to 110 and beyond. When Rose turned 105, she turned to me and said, I need to retire, Mor recalled. At 110 and even after a COVID-19 scare, Mor said, Girone still had it. Advertisement Girones passion for knitting has made her well known in the New York-area knitting community in recent decades, but it also played a critical role in her familys survival earlier in her life. Girone (nee Raubvogel) was born in 1912 in Janov, Poland. After a brief move to Vienna, the family settled in Hamburg, Germany, where they ran a theatrical costume shop. She loved playing there especially sliding down the banisters of the two-story building. In Hamburg, Girone learned to knit from an aunt, according to Bennicasa, and she enjoyed it immediately. Rose married Julius Mannheim in an arranged marriage in 1938; later that year, the couple moved to Breslau, Germany (now Wroclaw, Poland), just as the Nazi-run pogrom known as Kristallnacht initiated waves of violence against Germanys Jews. Mannheim was arrested and transported to the Buchenwald concentration camp and Girone, eight months pregnant, briefly fled the city with her mother and uncle to stay out of harms way. Alone and afraid, Girone was determined to get out of Nazi Germany. She found a brief window of opportunity when, in 1939, her cousin, Richard Tand, sent her a paper he said was a visa, written in Chinese. Shanghai was one of the last open ports in the world and Girone presented the visas to the Nazi authorities and was able to get her husband released from Buchenwald. As Bennicasa recalls, They let my father out with the proviso that we pay them and get out of the country within six weeks, and so we did. They were allowed to leave with 10 reichsmarks roughly $40 today and no valuables or jewelry. After a month-long voyage aboard a German liner which required Jews to dine and swim separately from non-Jewish Germans the young family arrived in Shanghai. Conditions in the Chinese city were difficult. The family traded whatever linens and trinkets they brought with them and then needed to depend on aid from relief agencies. Eventually, Mannheim found work as a taxi driver. Girone recalls living on oodles of noodles, according to her 1996 interview with The USC Shoah Foundation. Still, Girone was able to find wool, and she knit clothes for her baby girl. An entrepreneurial Viennese Jewish man saw her creations and thought she could put her talent to use, earning them both money. He invited her to sell her work, saying he would teach her about business. Together, they brought her sample knits to an upscale store in Shanghai where the boutiques owner suggested ways to make the pieces more elegant. Girone took the feedback and began to design and knit sweaters, with help from Chinese women, as a way to make a living. Advertisement Knitting was more than a source of much-needed income: She credited her colleagues with giving her the strength she needed to survive. Girone, according to Bennicasa, lived a sheltered life in Germany. The other women in Shanghai made her stronger. In 1941, Nazi-allied Japan, which occupied parts of China, forced the Jewish refugees into a one-square-mile ghetto in Hongkou, the poorest part of Shanghai. Girones family moved into a tiny room under a staircase that once served as a bathroom. There was a single bed for the three of them; the mattress was infested with roaches and bed bugs. Rats would gnaw their way through the hardwood floors and climb over the family while they slept. There was a bright spot of ghetto life: At one of the Heims, or community homes set up for refugees, a rabbi would give inspirational sermons to the community. He was a fabulous speaker and I would always stand in line to hear him, Girone said in the Shoah Foundation interview. The final years of the war were filled with frequent bombings. It was really horrible, Girone continued. I was panic-stricken. Bennicasa remembers playing with hot shrapnel in the streets once air raids ended. Fortunately, another voyage would provide refuge. In 1947, the family was granted a visa for the United States. Girone insisted on completing her knitting commissions before they set sail. I had to finish what I promised, she said. Again, there were limitations on what the family could take. Each person was only permitted to leave China with $10, but Girone hid $80 cash inside buttons on her hand-knit sweaters, according to a Patch article about her 99th birthday. They traveled by ship to San Francisco, ultimately ending up in New York via train where they were reunited with Girones mother, brother and grandmother, who had all survived the war. Advertisement The couple and Bennicasa, then 9, moved into a hotel as part of a refugee settlement program. Girone was determined to help provide for her family. She found work as a knitting instructor but her husband did not muster the same motivation. After years of Girone urging him to find his footing in America, they divorced. In 1968, she met and married Jack Girone and they moved to Whitestone, Queens. Rose Girone was thriving as a knitting teacher and was cultivating her own knitting community. She soon opened a knitting shop in Rego Park, Queens, with another knitter; after a short while they expanded to a second location in Forest Hills. After a year or two, the partners split and they each kept a store Girones design expertise made her store on Austin Street stand apart. Mother was pretty proud of all her designs, Bennicasa said. People would bring ads from Vogue and the like and say they wanted something just like this particular picture. Some with intricate patterns, Mother would sit, figure it out, lots of times with graph paper. She loved it. When Girone turned 68 in 1980, she sold her business. But she never stopped knitting. She began volunteering at a not-for-profit knitting shop in Great Neck which is where Girone first met Mor. One day, according to The Knitting Place podcast, Mor arrived at the shop; she was struggling with a sweater she was knitting for her husband, Erez. Girone offered to rip out the back panel and urged her to go distract herself at an adjacent cafe so it would hurt less to see her stitches unfurled. Advertisement Girone took great care to help Mor improve her knitting technique, and the two became close. Mother saw that Dina had a knack for knitting, so that when Dina voiced that she would love to open her own store, she was happy to help, Bennicasa said. If you go, I go, Rose said to me, Mor said and subsequently Girone worked at Dinas shop in Port Washington for nearly 15 years. Even after Girones retirement five years ago, the two remained close. During a visit last fall, Mor recalled, the first thing Girone said was: Hows business? Mors affection for Girone runs deep. For her 100th birthday, she commissioned a surprise painting of Girone at the center of a table in The Knitting Place, surrounded by her knitting friends and students. Looking at it gives [my mother] memories and makes her feel good, said Bennicasa. To read more content visit www.jta.org. A final settlement submitted Thursday in the Sheff v. ONeill case is intended to end 33 years of litigation and court oversight over how to redress racial, ethnic and economic segregation in the schools of Hartford and its suburbs. Superior Court Judge Marshall K. Berger gave preliminary approval to a multimillion-dollar plan to continue and expand remedies that evolved in fits and starts over a quarter century, primarily a state investment in magnet schools and the voluntary Open Choice program in suburban districts. The deal was endorsed by Gov. Ned Lamont, the sixth governor confronted with the issue of racial isolation raised by a lawsuit filed in 1989 against Gov. William A. ONeill on behalf of a fourth grader, Milo Sheff, and other children. Ten years old when the case was filed, Milo Sheff celebrated his 43rd birthday on Thursday. He now has a son and grandson, both named Milo, said his mother, Elizabeth Horton Sheff, a former Hartford city councilor. She told the judge, who had greeted her with the familiarity of an old friend after years of court proceedings, that she greeted the prospect of the case ending with a mothers mixed emotions the first time she leaves a child in the care of a school. And I just want to say, Please take care of my baby. Im giving you my baby, she said, smiling. In a 4-3 decision, the state Supreme Court ruled for the plaintiffs in 1996, finding that the racial isolation and unequal resources violated the Connecticut Constitution. The General Assembly responded the following year with the first in a series of laws addressing the courts mandate to equalize educational opportunity and reduce racial isolation. It was followed by a half-dozen court-approved stipulations, a protracted effort reflecting a seemingly intractable problem. If anything, Hartfords schools grew more racially segregated, but the opportunities for attending regional magnet schools as well as suburban schools through the voluntary Open Choice program increased. The new agreement commits $1.24 million in additional magnet school funding in the current fiscal year, increasing to $32 million annually by fiscal year 2032. Costs of renovations of new magnet schools are estimated at $48.7 million. It would be enforced by a permanent injunction. It would erase a waiting list of the hundreds of Hartford students who applied for Open Choice but did not find available seats. It would expand existing magnets, open new ones, expand access to suburban schools through Open Choice and take a more holistic approach to the student experience by enhancing athletics and extracurricular activities. Elizabeth always reminds us its not just about integrated schools. Its about quality integrated schools, said Martha Stone, lead counsel for the plaintiffs. And so weve put in this agreement our initiatives to improve quality. Lamont, who did not attend the virtual court proceeding, issued a statement committing to working with Attorney General William Tong in seeking the necessary ratification by the General Assembly. Every child deserves access to an education that provides them the best opportunity at the starting line of life, regardless of their ZIP code, family income level, race, or creed, he said. MIDDLETOWN The amount of positive COVID-19 cases in the city has begun to decline for the first time since the omicron wave began in December, officials say. From Jan. 19 to Jan. 25, there were 234 new confirmed cases, down from the 538 cases reported the week prior, according to the state Department of Health database. Overall, the city has seen a 64 percent decrease in infections over the last two weeks. Health Director Kevin Elak said the numbers are promising, but admitted its not the best metric to use because not all positive cases are reported since many people have been using at-home tests. We still have to proceed with caution, Elak said. But he said based on the national and statewide trend, it appears a dip in cases is finally taking place. I think we can safely say the trend in cases are going down, he said. One more Middletown resident died from COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing the total to 125. Elak said its too early to tell if the hospitalization and death rates will drop along with the positivity rate. Those can lag behind, so well have to wait and see, he said. The slight downtrend in positive cases, combined with expanded hours for testing clinics in the city, has led to shorter wait times for tests. No ones getting turned away, Elak said. The health department held a drive-thru N95 mask giveaway Saturday at Middletown High School. Approximately 11,000 masks in boxes of eight were distributed, less than Elak expected. With just under 20,000 masks left over, the city has been finding other ways to distribute them, including giving some to apartment complexes for their residents. The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce has also been distributing masks to businesses with a high volume of contact with the public, Vice President Jeff Pugliese said Wednesday at the Downtown Business District meeting. Weve had people call and say they couldnt make it to the giveaway, Elak said. People should know that we can make arrangements for them to get masks. They are also always available in the lobby of City Hall at 245 deKoven Drive or the Russell Library at 123 Broad St., Elak said. The city has not received more test kits from the state, the acting health director said. Schools in Middletown recently began distributing test kits for students and their families. The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to expand several programs that allow senior veterans to age in their homes or live in home-like settings as alternatives to elder care facilities. VA officials announced Monday they will expand the Home-Based Primary Care and Veteran-Directed Care programs, which provide medical care and caregiver services to housebound older veterans, and its Medical Foster Home program, which provides housing and services to veterans who otherwise would be in nursing homes. The expansion is needed, said officials with the VA's Office of Geriatrics and Extended Care, to ensure that the department can support a growing number of veterans eligible for nursing home care. Read Next: After 5 Months, No Answers from the Air Force on Afghans Who Died Clinging to a Kabul Evacuation Flight By 2039, the number of elderly veterans is expected to double from 2 million to 4 million. "These evidence-based programs allow veterans to age-in-place, avoid or delay nursing home placement and choose the care environment that aligns most with their care needs, preferences and goals," said Dr. Scotte Hartronft, the office's executive director, in a press release. Since 1999, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been required to provide nursing home services to veterans who qualify for VA health care and have a service-connected disability rating of 70% or higher, or are considered unemployable and have a disability rating of 60% or higher. This care is provided through short- or long-term nursing home facilities, respite care, VA community living centers, private assisted living facilities, state veterans homes and the Medical Foster Home program. Medical foster homes are places where veterans live full time in a home setting with a caregiver licensed to provide 24-hour support, meals, housing, help with daily living and companionship. The program places veterans in houses belonging to or managed by caregivers that are licensed by their states as assisted-living facilities. To be eligible for the program, veterans must be enrolled in VA health care and have a complex disabling medical condition that requires coordination of care across VA services and is severe enough to need a nursing home level of care. Because medical foster homes are not considered institutional care, the VA cannot pay the cost directly. The veterans can use their VA disability compensation, Social Security income and savings to pay the cost, which covers room and board and support. The VA has faced challenges increasing the number of Medical Foster Homes because of the rigorous regulations and requirements of the facilities and caregivers. The process for becoming a home provider is rigorous: They must pass a federal background check, complete 80 hours of initial training and 20 hours of additional training each year, and maintain certifications in first aid, CPR and administering medications. Home caregivers must live on-site, are required to provide around-the-clock supervision and care for their veterans, and have relief staff for when they go on vacation or need to conduct other business. Veterans in the Medical Foster Care program must also use the VA's Home-Based Primary Care program, which provides a team of health professionals to treat veterans in their homes. A VA study found that this type of home-based care yielded a 31% reduction in hospital admissions for veterans in the program and 59% drop in VA in-patient hospitalization days. VA officials said that more veterans have elected to use the in-home medical care and caregiver programs during the pandemic, as well as the Medical Foster Care program, to reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19 and to have more flexibility in medical treatment. "Veterans using these programs have experienced fewer hospitalizations and emergency department visits, reduced hospital and nursing home days and fewer nursing home readmissions and inpatient complications," Hartronft said. More information on these programs is available at the VA's Office of Geriatrics and Extended Care website. Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime Related: Veterans Choose Medical Foster Home Program Instead of a Nursing Home Sexual harassment will be its own unique crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice following an order by President Joe Biden on Wednesday, marking the latest effort to stamp out sex crimes in the ranks. The president's executive order elevates the offense following an overhaul of military sexual assault prosecutions by Congress. Momentum for that change was bolstered by the outcry over the murder of Fort Hood, Texas, soldier Vanessa Guillen in 2020 after she was harassed. The White House said the order also strengthens military protections against domestic violence and the wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images, though it did not immediately provide details. Service members who commit sexual harassment could already be charged under two sections of the UCMJ, but charges had often been filed as part of other prosecuted crimes. Critics say the military has not done enough to single it out and stop harassment. Read Next: Roughly 100 New Mexico Guardsmen Set to Fill In as Substitute Teachers The Army found that Guillen was harassed by a supervisor but her command didn't take action. "This feels so unreal. My little sister shed light on the epidemic of sexual misconduct in the military," Mayra Guillen, the murdered soldier's sister, wrote in a tweet Wednesday about Biden's executive order. White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday the executive order "honors the memory of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, whose experience with severe sexual harassment was followed by a brutal murder, catalyzing national attention to the scourge of sexual violence in our military." Robert Capovilla, a defense attorney who represented a noncommissioned officer accused of harassing Guillen and a former active-duty judge advocate in the Army JAG Corps, said in an interview with Military.com that the clear message being sent to service branches, commanders and military prosecutors is that such cases need to be taken more seriously. "I think you're going to see an uptick in the number of cases that are actually going to be prosecuted," said Capovilla, the founding partner of the Capovilla & Williams military defense law firm based in Georgia. But Capovilla said he worries about an overreach by the military as it feels pressure to show more sexual harassment convictions under the new stand-alone offense. Sexual harassment cases can now be prosecuted under Article 92 of the UCMJ, which deals with violations of a general order or regulation, Capovilla said. The offenses can also be criminally charged under Article 93, but that part of the UCMJ deals specifically with the relationship between superiors and subordinate troops. Wednesday's executive order on sexual harassment was required by the annual defense policy bill Biden signed into law last month. The bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, required Biden to "prescribe regulations" making sexual harassment a stand-alone crime in the UCMJ within 30 days of signing the legislation. The provision was part of a package of major reforms contained in the NDAA relating to how the military handles sex crimes. Most notably, the NDAA largely removes commanders from prosecutorial decisions on sexual assault and related crimes, and gives that responsibility to newly created "special trial counsel." The NDAA also requires independent investigations into sexual harassment allegations. Though the reforms were considered some of the most significant changes to the UCMJ in its history, they did not go as far as some lawmakers and advocates have pushed for. Those lawmakers and advocates want almost all major crimes to be entirely removed from the chain of command and handled by independent prosecutors. -- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten. -- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel. Related: Army to Overhaul Criminal, Sexual Assault Investigations After Vanessa Guillen Murder Roughly 100 New Mexico National Guard troops are set to deploy to fill critical teacher shortages in public schools in an effort to avoid a return to remote learning. The move marks yet another entry in the Guard's growing portfolio of missions since the pandemic began. This month, at least 60 of the state's 146 school districts have reverted to remote learning, a challenging hurdle for parents to manage and something experts have warned is creating a mental health crisis among students and stifling learning, especially among kids from low-income families. About 44 Guardsmen have been deployed to classrooms already, and plans call for that number to grow to roughly 100 total activations in the coming weeks, Brig. Gen. Miguel Aguilar, New Mexico's assistant adjutant general, told Military.com in an interview Wednesday. Read Next: After 5 Months, No Answers from the Air Force on Afghans Who Died Clinging to a Kabul Evacuation Flight The effort is part of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's initiative to boost the state's teaching force, which has been depleted as the highly contagious omicron variant sweeps through the nation. In addition to the Guard, New Mexico is requesting help from all state employees. "Our schools are a critical source of stability for our kids -- we know they learn better in the classroom and thrive among their peers," Grisham said in a press release last week. "Our kids, our teachers and our parents deserve as much stability as we can provide during this time of uncertainty." The Guard mission will not fall under Title 32 orders -- a mechanism for deploying troops under state orders but backed by federal funding -- as most of the pandemic-related missions have so far. Usually, an emergency declaration by the president is issued ahead of Title 32 orders, with troops earning all the benefits associated with active duty -- such as accruing GI Bill benefits. Instead, troops will fall under state active duty, or SAD, orders. This effectively makes troops state employees. Guardsmen used for the mission are strictly volunteers, Aguilar said. They'll serve as substitute teachers and will go through the same vetting process any other potential substitute would, including a background check and an online orientation for the job, which requires licensing. Computers to facilitate the training have already been set up in at least one National Guard armory. "Everyone on this mission is a volunteer, and they can come off as they need," Aguilar said. "If you are in a classroom and teaching, you should want to be there. We're going to send folks that are able to do it and really want to do it." New Mexico's mission filling in substitute teacher positions highlights the increased role of the National Guard over the past two years. The force has spent the bulk of the past two decades fighting post-9/11 wars, making up a large chunk of combat power in Afghanistan and Iraq. Traditionally, the Guard was seldom used domestically outside of occasionally responding to natural disasters. But with the wars winding down and governors increasingly relying on Guardsmen, the force's mission has slowly morphed away from combat and toward filling in labor gaps and state emergencies. When the pandemic started, governors immediately deployed their troops to run testing sites. Now, troops are staffing hospitals and even driving school vans in Massachusetts. All of the missions were spurred by staffing shortages, mostly due to the toll the virus has taken on the workforce. Beyond pandemic requirements in recent years, a lot of Guardsmen were on frequent rotations tied to civil disturbance missions, mostly connected to protests over police brutality against Black Americans that proliferated after the killing of George Floyd. Those security missions eventually culminated in 26,000 Guardsmen securing the U.S. Capitol for about three months after a pro-Trump mob attempted to subvert the transfer of power to a new president in January 2021. Meanwhile, the Guard is still filling its federal role with deployments abroad. Roughly 20,000 Guardsmen are deployed around the world, including 150 Florida troops in Ukraine amid a dangerous standoff with Russian forces. "All of these [missions] are important," a senior Guard official from another state told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation. "I don't know what you'd remove, but something has got to give at some point. I don't think the Guard is built to fill in for everything a governor might need on top of wars." Unlike federal deployments, which are usually planned far ahead of time, domestic missions are mostly ad hoc -- which some fear is putting a strain on families and civilian employers. In the case of Texas' border mission, soldiers were mobilized with as little as four days' notice. Because of the rushed planning, that mission has been plagued with issues of soldiers going unpaid, alcohol abuse and reported suicides and self harm. "There hasn't been a moment in history in which the state has needed the Guard as much as it has," Aguilar said of the New Mexico Guardsmen. "We've also been cognizant of overusing our folks; we're only using what we need so that we're not placing families and employers in tough situations." Whether troops wear their military uniforms while on teaching duty will be up to the schools. -- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon. Related: Texas Denying Most Guard Troops at Border Chance to Help Families Suffering Hardships at Home SAN DIEGO A U.S. Navy commander admitted in federal court to sending a Malaysian defense contractor classified ship schedules for the Navys 7th Fleet in exchange for extravagant meals, luxury travel, cash and the services of prostitutes. Commander Stephen Shedd is the third member of the 7th Fleet to plead guilty to bribery charges in one of the Navys worst corruption scandals, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement Wednesday. Nine members of the 7th Fleet were indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2017 for conspiring with and receiving bribes from Leonard Francis. Prosecutors said Francis' firm, Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia and its owner, known by his nickname Fat Leonard, bribed Navy officers with fancy gifts, trips and prostitutes to provide classified information in order to beat competitors and overcharge for services. The scheme cost the Navy some $35 million. According to Shedds admissions as set forth in his plea agreement, the defendants informed Francis of planned U.S. Navy ship movements by providing Francis with classified U.S. Navy ship schedules and narrative summaries of those schedules. The defendants provided Francis with internal, proprietary U.S. Navy information, the U.S. Attorney's Office statement said. It was not clear what potential punishment Shedd will face after his plea in the court in San Diego. He is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21. Shedd and his lawyer could not be immediately reached for comment. The case has resulted in federal criminal charges against 34 Navy officials, defense contractors, including Francis, and the Glenn Defense Marine Asia corporation. The trial of the six remaining defendants from the 7th Fleet is scheduled to begin Feb. 28. One of the Holocaust photos that is part of a collection acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The collection of photos were stored in a Miami home for more than 30 years. (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum/Courtesy) For more than 30 years, a collection of Holocaust photos were stored in a Miami home. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. has acquired the collection, which includes more than 100 photos and documents. The collection includes rare photos of imprisoned Jews in a French internment camp. Advertisement During a cleaning spree of her childhood bedroom at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown in 2020, Miami resident Silvia Espinosa-Schrock came across a box that she had not thought about for three decades. As a 19-year-old art student in New York City, Espinosa-Schrock purchased a cardboard box of black-and-white photos on a sidewalk for $5 in January 1990. She used the box of photos in an art installation assignment as a Cooper Union student. When I took the photos to my studio, it dawned on me they were taken around World War II with the way the people were dressed, and I came to realize they were a Jewish family, Espinosa-Schrock said. Advertisement Espinosa-Schrock was determined to find the family, but when she graduated in the early 1990s, she packed up the photos in storage boxes that were sent to her parents home in Miami. She had not seen the photos in approximately 30 years until the 2020 cleaning spree, having forgotten she stored them in storage boxes in the closet. Now that theres internet, I wanted to see if there was someone out there who is related to the family in the photos, she said. When Espinosa-Schrock looked closely at the boxs contents, she found the name Joachim Getter written on one of the photographs. She conducted an online research of the name and found one of Joachim Getters pictures posted on the The Jewish Przemysl Blog, created by David Semmel, a descendant of the family. In April 2020, Espinosa-Schrock reached out to Semmel, who resides in Bloomington, Ind., and wrote: I think I have something that belongs to your family. Semmel, who spends the winter month in Fort Lauderdale, had family members from Przemysl, a town in Poland, who were killed in the Holocaust. When he when he received the photos from Espinosa-Schrock, he was overwhelmed to see pictures of his mother as a teenager, and also of his aunt Chaya and uncle Joachim, whom they called Muni. He donated them to the museum. After piecing together the family trees of the people in the photos using the JRI-Poland database, I realized how valuable this trove would be for Holocaust historians, and I contacted the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, he said. I didnt want the collection to sit in my attic, and I hope someone someday might recognize the other people from the photos when theyre on the museums collection website. Who knows? Another big discovery could happen. Espinosa-Schrock said, Im very delighted that I contacted David Semmel. If he had not had that blog, these photos would still be in a box, in my room, and I would not know what to do with them, she said. Advertisement Semmel said he is grateful to Espinosa-Schrock on several levels. Many in my direct family were not in the Holocaust, as most of my relatives came over to the United States well before the war, but there were some exceptions, he said. My grandfathers sister and his brother were both lost in the Holocaust, and because of that, he knew very little about them. They were always people who were talked about in a sad way as people who didnt get to live full lives. In the case of my aunt Chaya, we only had a single photograph of her when she was 12 years old. Thats all we knew of her. All of a sudden, I open this box, and I can see her whole life. I can see her back in the old country in Przemysl. Suzy Snyder, a museum curator, assessed the collection and provided Semmel with documents to help him better understand the historical context of the collection. According to Snyder, the collection contains never-before-seen photographs of Beaune-la-Rolande, an internment camp in central France located 55 miles south of Paris, which the museum had limited visuals of. She also mentioned that the images belonged to someone named Salomon Abend, These photographs were sent from Salomon Abend to his then wife Paulette [born Perla Rosiner], two Jewish people who were both persecuted during the Holocaust, Snyder said. They are extremely rare because, somehow, these photographs were produced in a place that had extreme deprivation. Also unusual is how the photographs survived once they were sent to Paulette, who, herself, was likely in hiding during the Holocaust. We have no idea how these rare images survived, which, if Paulette had been discovered to possess, would have easily given her away as a Jew. Snyder said, David donated the collection to us, and will we catalogue it, digitalize it and put it online in the next couple of years so that other people can use it as research tool. We keyword everything so that the approbate collection is easy to find, she said. Advertisement Robert Tanen, director for the museums Southeast Regional Office based in Boca Raton, said, Its a great feeling to know that we uncovered yet another piece of history that wouldve potentially been lost. Visit ushmm.org for more information. After decades fighting for recognition of their sacrifices to their country -- to include getting cancer and dying -- veterans exposed to radiation while serving may be eligible for a new medal. Under a law passed by Congress in late December, the Department of Defense must design and create an "Atomic Veterans Commemorative Service Medal" for those who were "instrumental in the development of our nation's atomic and nuclear weapons programs." Exactly who would be eligible for the new award isn't stipulated by the law; the legislation leaves eligibility determination to the secretary of defense, with members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee able to weigh in on any recommendations. Read Next: Navy Boots 23 Sailors for Refusing Vaccines as Leaders Push Rule Changes for Next Stage of Pandemic But at least 225,000 veterans participated in the development and testing of the country's nuclear capability and could be eligible for the award. Advocates say, however, that as many as 400,000 more U.S. veterans should be included, as they were exposed during operations and radiation cleanup efforts over the past 75 years. Keith Kiefer, president of the National Association of Atomic Veterans, said veterans who cleaned up contaminated areas such as Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the late 1970s; Palomares, Spain, in 1966; or those who were living in Japan or involved in the response following the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent partial meltdown at the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant in 2011, should be included. "I'm putting together a list right now about individuals that should be classified or qualified as an atomic veteran; whether [DoD] accepts that or not remains to be seen," Kiefer said during an interview Wednesday. A Pentagon spokesperson said Thursday that the department must go through several steps before it can begin sending medals to eligible veterans, to include establishing eligibility criteria, designing a medal, finding the funding for and procuring the medals, and establishing procedures to apply. "We are working diligently to finalize the medal's design, to develop and coordinate eligibility criteria, and to submit the proposed eligibility criteria to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives for comment pursuant to [the law]," said Pentagon spokesperson Lisa Lawrence. Lawrence did not provide a timeline for the agency's work, but said that "the Department is confident it will meet the statutory requirement for establishing eligibility requirements for the medal." Since 2019, veterans who served between 1945 and 1992 and were part of development of the U.S. nuclear program have been eligible for a certificate recognizing their service in the atomic age. But the National Association of Atomic Veterans has been fighting for broader recognition and legislation that would improve health care and disability benefits for service members and their survivors through the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Justice Department, which oversees the national Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Program. Kiefer said Wednesday the medal, as well as another provision in the NDAA that permanently designates July 16 as National Atomic Veterans Day, are important to the veterans and their families. "The recognition often means a lot more to the spouses and the children of the veterans than the atomic veterans themselves," Kiefer said. "This has been a much tougher battle than it should have been." But, he added, disability benefits and compensation are needed as well. He pointed to the case of Army veteran Paul Laird, who participated in the cleanup at Enewetak and died in 2019 after a long battle with multiple types of cancer. July 16, 1945, marks the day the U.S. detonated the world's first atomic weapon at the Trinity test site, now part of White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. Three weeks later, the U.S. dropped a uranium-fueled device on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and three days after that, a plutonium weapon similar to the Trinity bomb on Nagasaki. The U.S. conducted more than 1,000 nuclear tests afterward, until Sept. 23, 1992, when the last detonation took place during an underground test at the Nevada National Security Site, roughly 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Several bills have been introduced in Congress this year that would expand benefits for veterans exposed to radiation, including one that would extend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Program by 19 years. The program, which provides money to individuals who developed cancer or their survivors who were exposed to atmospheric nuclear testing or, in some cases, mined the uranium needed to make weapons, is set to expire in June. Two proposed pieces of legislation also seek to designate more veterans as eligible for health care and disability compensation through the VA. The $282 billion Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics, or PACT, Act, introduced in the House and the $223 billion Comprehensive and Overdue Support for Troops, or COST, of War Act, in the Senate would designate veterans who cleaned up Enewetak Atoll, site of dozens of nuclear tests in the 1940s and 1950s, and the aftermath of the "Broken Arrow" incident near Palomares in which a B-52 Stratofortress bomber disintegrated, dropping three hydrogen bombs on land and one in the Mediterranean, as eligible. Kiefer fears, however, that the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Program will expire and the two veterans toxic exposure bills are too expensive to get passed. "It seems very disingenuous. Overall, the veterans should be taken care of because it's through no fault of their own they are in this situation and they wound up getting sick," he said. The VA lists 21 types of cancer as presumed to be related to exposure to ionizing radiation, but many veterans don't qualify for disability compensation or health benefits either because the Defense Department has minimized the level of radiation exposure or service records don't reflect they were present during a blast, according to Kiefer. Fewer than 2,000 current veterans receive disability compensation for radiation exposure from the VA. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Monster.com. Follower on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: 75 Years Ago Today, the Trinity A-Bomb Test Ushered in the Era of Nuclear Warfare SEOUL, South Korea North Korea on Thursday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Koreas military said. Experts say North Koreas unusually fast pace in testing activity underscores an intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled negotiations aimed at exchanging a release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against the North and the Norths denuclearization steps. The renewed pressure comes as the pandemic further shakes the Norths economy, which was already battered by crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program and decades of mismanagement by its own government. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons, which were likely short-range, were launched five minutes apart from the eastern coastal town of Hamhung and flew 190 kilometers (118 miles) on an apogee of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) before landing at sea. Aviation authorities issued a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, for pilots operating in South Korean airspace, advising them of a missile launched from North Korea and that they maintain close communication with air traffic controls, according to the website of South Koreas Office of Civil Aviation. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the latest launches, while highlighting the destabilizing impact of North Koreas weapons program, didnt pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies." Japan said the missiles didn't reach its exclusive economic zone and that there were no reports of damage to vessels or aircraft around its coast. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the Norths repeated missile firings were extremely regrettable and violated U.N. Security Council resolutions. Senior South Korean security and military officials gathered for an emergency National Security Council meeting where they expressed strong regret over the Norths continuing launches and urged Pyongyang to recommit to dialogue, Seouls presidential office said. The North also last week issued a veiled threat to resume the testing of nuclear explosives and long-range missiles targeting the American homeland, which leader Kim Jong Un suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with the United States. Kims high-stakes summitry with then-President Donald Trump derailed in 2019 after the Americans rejected North Koreas demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities. Some experts say North Korea could dramatically escalate weapons demonstrations after the Winter Olympics, which begin Feb. 4 in China, the Norths main ally and economic lifeline. They say Pyongyangs leadership likely feels it could use a dramatic provocation to move the needle with the Biden administration, which has been preoccupied with bigger adversaries including China and Russia. The Biden administration has offered open-ended talks but showed no willingness to ease sanctions unless Kim takes real steps to abandon the nuclear weapons and missiles he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. The North has been ramping up its testing activity since last fall, demonstrating various missiles and delivery systems apparently designed to overwhelm missile defense systems in the region. Experts say Kim is trying to apply more pressure on rivals Washington and Seoul to accept it as a nuclear power in hopes of winning relief from economic sanctions and convert the diplomacy with Washington into mutual arms-reduction negotiations. Thursdays launch came two days after South Koreas military detected the North flight-testing two suspected cruise missiles at an unspecified inland area. North Korea opened 2022 with a pair of test-firings of a purported hypersonic missile, which Kim described as an asset that would remarkably bolster his nuclear war deterrent. The North also this month test-fired two different types of short-range ballistic missiles it has developed since 2019 that are designed to be maneuverable and fly at low altitudes, which experts say potentially improve their chances of evading and defeating missile defense systems. In a ruling party meeting attended by Kim last week, the North accused the Biden administration of hostility and threats and said it will consider all temporally-suspended activities it had paused during its diplomacy with the Trump administration, in an apparent threat to resume testing of nuclear explosives and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pyongyangs Foreign Ministry had earlier warned of stronger and certain reaction after the Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions following the Norths second hypersonic test on Jan. 11. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on five North Koreans over their roles in obtaining equipment and technology for the countrys missile programs, while the State Department ordered sanctions against another North Korean, a Russian man and a Russian company for their broader support of North Koreas weapons activities. However, Washingtons efforts to seek new U.N. Security Council sanctions against the five North Koreans sanctioned by the Treasury Department were blocked last week by China and Russia, which have called for the U.N. to end key sanctions against the North, citing its economic difficulties. Despite efforts to strengthen sanctions, Washingtons responses to North Korean launches this month are nowhere near its reaction to Pyongyangs provocations in 2017, when the North staged an unusually provocative run in nuclear and ICBM tests, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. U.S. policy has become more measured and coordinated but is still inadequate for changing North Korean behavior. The Biden administration has other priorities, ranging from pandemic recovery at home to confronting Russia over Ukraine, Iran regarding its nuclear program, and China across the board, he said. Despite international concerns over its weapons activity, North Korea will still get to chair a U.N. disarmament forum during a one-month presidency between May 30 and June 24, according to a U.N. statement. The U.N. Conference on Disarmament, which has 65 member states and focuses on nuclear disarmament issues, says the conferences presidency rotates among member states. U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based activist group, called for the U.S. and European ambassadors to walk out of the conference during North Koreas presidency, saying that the country threatens to attack other U.N. member states with missiles and commits atrocities against its own people. ___ AP writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report. The 8,500 U.S. troops put on heightened alert earlier this week for a potential deployment to Europe if Russia invades Ukraine would come from 10 domestic military bases, the Pentagon said Thursday. The ready force includes members of the 82nd Airborne Division and 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and troops with the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The alert order also included units at bases in Arizona, Texas, Washington state, Louisiana, Georgia and Ohio. "These units, all told, include medical support, aviation support, logistics support and, of course, combat formations," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said during a briefing with reporters. Read Next: Pentagon Pumps the Brakes on Civilian COVID Vaccine Mandate The bulk of the troops could be called up as part of the NATO Response Force -- a multinational land, air, maritime and special operations force of 40,000 that could be activated by the alliance. For now, no deployment has been ordered, and the U.S. and its European allies are still hoping to dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin from any imminent invasion of Ukraine using the 100,000 troops he has amassed near the countrys border. "We still don't believe that there's been a final decision by Mr. Putin to launch another invasion. We still believe here at the department that there is time and space for diplomacy," Kirby said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that he had delivered a written response to Russia that laid out a "serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it." He called on Putin to end his aggression toward Ukraine, stop inflammatory rhetoric and make a serious effort at talks on European security. A resolution to the crisis seems nowhere in sight, as Russia hasn't wavered on its demands for assurances that Ukraine will never be admitted to the NATO alliance and the removal of alliance forces from Europe's eastern flank. The bases that could send troops to Europe for a NATO mission are: Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Fort Carson, Colorado; Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Fort Hood, Texas; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Robins Air Force Base and Fort Stewart, Georgia; and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. On Monday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered units at those bases -- a total of 8,500 troops -- to be on heightened alert for a rapid deployment. Kirby said the total number of troops could grow, depending on the mission and the unfolding crisis. Additional troops and units already based in Europe under Gen. Tod Wolters, head of U.S. European Command, could also be moved east to deter or counter Russia, according to the Pentagon. Putin began his buildup around Ukraine in March 2021 and has continued to add forces along its border and in neighboring Belarus in recent weeks. He ordered the invasion and annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, drawing international condemnation and sparking an increased urgency in the U.S. to bolster forces on the continent. -- Travis Tritten can be reached at travis.tritten@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @Travis_Tritten. Related: 8,500 US Troops Put on Alert for Possible Deployment as Ukraine Crisis Deepens The military-veteran community might not be the first thing we think of when we think of AARP, but AARP was thinking of the military when it launched its Veteran and Military Spouse Job Center in 2022. It's a resource center for veterans and military families intended to bring together all the information necessary not just to land a job that uses the skills and education veterans gained in the military, but also to make a plan that will develop those skills, expand on them and build the framework for a career path. Veteran unemployment as of December 2021 was at 3.2%, low compared to the 3.9% rate of the entire United States, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The problem of underemployment, persons in jobs that dont require their full abilities, remains rampant in the civilian lives of veterans, their spouses and the spouses of active-duty service members. The 2018 Blue Star Families' annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey found that two-thirds of veterans believe their current roles are not using their skills and qualifications. Two-thirds of active-duty spouses reported similar feelings about their employment. Meanwhile, AARP's own research finds that more than half of employers believe the skills acquired in previous positions are very important when looking for new hires. In response, AARP developed its Veteran and Military Spouse Job Center and all the free resources inside. Among them is the Job Search Toolkit, a comprehensive guide that takes vets and family members through the whole process. Topics range from choosing a career path and filling in the gaps to create that path, to more practical things like resume creation, crafting "elevator speeches" -- quick descriptions of what you bring to a job -- and creating a personal brand. AARP offers veterans webinars for how to think about finding a job and adapting to the civilian world or nailing a job interview. AARP advisers will even look at a current resume, so veterans can check their work after adapting it to the website's resume tips. There's an area for veterans looking to start their own business, with tips via webinar from "Shark Tank" investor and FUBU CEO Daymond John. The centerpiece of AARP's job center is the Veterans Career Advantage course, which is free for registered AARP members. The course covers how veterans can translate their military specialty skills to adapt to civilian employment, understand the challenges they face and hear from other veterans who already have made a transition. Everything contained within the AARP Veteran and Military Spouse Job Center is free, although some resources require registering with the AARP website. After registering, all other content is free. No matter where a veteran or spouse is in their job search, be it career planning or even still serving, a tool or resource should help guide them to the next step. -- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on Facebook. Want to Know More About Veteran Jobs? Be sure to get the latest news about post-military careers as well as critical info about veteran jobs and all the benefits of service. Subscribe to Military.com and receive customized updates delivered straight to your inbox. For sale is a bustamite and galena from Broken Hill, NSW. This most desirable bustamite single crystal, is double terminated and has some associated galena. Broken Hill has produced without doubt the world finest specimens of this species,this crystal is an excellent example and I would be surprised to see anything half as good from anywhere else in the world. A fine gemmy top as seen in the pics, the color ranges from pink to brown color. Double terminated crystals of bustamite of this size are uncommon, this crystal has well defined crystal faces, way way finer than the rounded faces seen on many bustamites from this location. Please remember our prices are in Australian dollars. Please compare! BROKEN HILL, NSW. 50 x 38 x 17mm. 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. Abrantie Amakye Dede, one of Ghana's prolific music brands visited today, ahead of my 67th birthday on WEDNESDAY, 9TH FEBRUARY 2022 to reflect on my contributions to the development of the nation's music industry. We discussed the days of the erstwhile ANNUAL LEISURE MUSIC & ARTS AWARDS to honour local talents as well as the hosting and organization of the PAN-AFRICAN ARTS AND MUSIC AWARDS (PAFAM '90) hosted at the Trade Fair Centre in 1990 under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). One of the special guests invited to grace the occasion to receive an award on behalf of his late brother, Michael Jackson, was Jermaine Jackson, who was in the company of Louis Farakhan's son. Amakye Dede was a regular performing artiste at the Leisure AWARDS and performed at my 50th birthday party at the Alisa Hotel in 2005. We, the undersigned concerned citizens of the Republic of Ghana, write to petition the President of the Republic to evoke article 278 (1) of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana to look into the gruesome Bogoso Apiatsa happenings. This law gives the President ultimate authority to set up an independent Commission of Inquiry into matters of Public interest, and the Apiatse Explosion case is no exemption. Indeed, this unforgettable event has spurred public fury due to the magnitude of the explosion. The mournful incident that befell the people of the Bogoso-Apiatse community on the 20th Day of January 2022, is unacceptable and could have been prevented. Surely, accidents do not just happen, they are largely caused by human errors or institutional failures. When asked on the News file on Saturday 22nd January, 2022 by Sampson Lardi Ayenini whether the investigation report for the Apiatse Explosion will be made public, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor could not answer in the affirmative. It is evident that as a country, we have not been faced with such a disaster in the Manufacture, storage, transportation and use of Explosives, hence it is a grey area for most citizens and especially, the Mining communities through which these explosives are transported and used. Preliminary reports and directives, including the interdiction of the Chief Inspector of Mines who is mandated by law to conduct an inquiry into accidents involving explosives and the suspension of Maxam after the incident, presuppose that there is a Prima facie case. It must be put on record that, the tragic incident did not only affect the people of Apiatse and as such, has gained a lot of sympathy from international communities, individuals, and the country at large. For the purposes of satisfying public concern, accountability, and transparency, it would be fair to conduct an impartial inquiry into the matter in the full glare of the Public. The manufacture, storage, transportation and use of Explosives is a properly regulated area which bestow on individuals and institutions certain responsibilities and accountabilities. The Minerals and Mining (Explosives) Regulation, 2012 LI 2177 confer responsibility not only on the transporter, but also the user. Surprisingly, Chirano Mine which happens to be the expected recipient and the final user of the explosives has not been mentioned in any of the directives so far. As a country, we cannot sit down and suffer from the irresponsible actions of an individual or an institution. A press release taking responsibility is not accountability. An impartial and public investigation into the matter must be conducted and persons found guilty prosecuted accordingly. It is not in doubt that, the interim cost of rebuilding the Apiatse community as hinted by the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana will be borne by each taxpaying Ghanaian. This is a public concern that justifies the call for a Public Enquiry into the accident. Transparency and Justice for the People of Apiatse. Cc: Parliament of Ghana Mine's and Energy Committee Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Ghana Chamber of Mines Prestea Hunivalley Municipal Assembly Kwame Kyei Addo Lead Convener HSE Practitioner 0546751008 Sylvester Amoako Medical Doctor Co-Convener 0542861942 Isaac Ananpansah Secretary Co-Convener 0200316691 Ebenezer Somuah Otchere Co-Convener Spokesperson 0249941021 Justice Baffour Gyamfi Social Activist Co-Convener 0554600579 27.01.2022 LISTEN The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) will, on Monday January 31, 2022, confer an Honorary Membership on the District Chief Executive of Dormaa East, Emmanuel Kofi Agyeman, at Wamfie in the Bono region. This is in recognition of Mr. Agyemans contributions in the promotion of media freedom and also being a veritable friend of journalists in the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions over the years. Roland Affail Monney, President of the GJA will lead a high-powered delegation of the Association, including the Bono Regional Chairman, Larry Paa Kwesi Moses, to Wamfie, capital of the Dormaa East district to confer the Honorary GJA Membership on the highly respected DCE. Brief background Education Born on 25th May 1978, Mr. Emmanuel Kofi Agyeman began his education at the Mewefiriwuo D/A primary where he ended in Class 3 and continued at the Roman Catholic Primary at Kyeremasu from class 4 to class 6. He was chosen as the school prefect when he was in Class Six. After successfully completing his Junior Secondary School (JSS as it was then referred to), he progressed to the Berekum Senior High School (BESS) from 1997 to 2000 where he successfully passed his Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) organised by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). Mr. Agyeman then pursued a degree in Physics at the University of Education, Winneba from 2002 to 2005 and became a physics tutor at the Notre Dame Girls Senior High School at Fiapre near Sunyani upon completion. From 2018 to 2019, he gained admission to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to pursue his Masters degree in Industrial Mathematics. He also holds another Masters degree in Theology. Community service From 2011-2015, he was the Assembly member for the Kyeremasu-Ahenboboano Electoral Area. Mr. Agyeman is always remembered for his footprints in raising the fallen standards of education in his Electoral Area during his era as the Assembly member for the area as he mobilized some of his colleague teachers to map-out strategies to improve on the situation. This yielded great results and for the first time, the town of Kyeremasu recorded a 65% pass rate in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) as against their 15% score in the previous ranking. Party Politics Mr. Kofi Agyeman became the Dormaa East Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party from 2013 to 2017 when President Akufo-Addo appointed him as the DCE for Dormaa East, a position he still occupies. Kofi, as he is affectionately called, has contributed his quota in terms of party communication and continues to be a very good friend of the media. He is said to have chosen not to continue his education after Secondary School due to the money he thought he was making out of his photography business. He however heeded to an advice by an elderly person one day and later abandoned his business in exchange of academic laurels. ([email protected]) The West African bloc ECOWAS will meet virtually on Friday to discuss the crisis in Burkina Faso, where army officers have ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore, the group said. The Economic Community of West African States, which includes Burkina, had already condemned Monday's revolt, which came amid deepening anger over Kabore's response to a jihadist insurgency. The extraordinary summit on Burkina will start at 1000 GMT on Friday and be held virtually, ECOWAS said in a note on Wednesday. A source in Kabore's party said earlier that the ousted president "is physically well" and was being held by the army in a villa. Kabore, 64, was elected in 2015 following a popular revolt that forced out strongman Blaise Compaore. He was re-elected in 2020. But since last year he has faced a wave of discontent over jihadist attacks that have claimed some 2,000 lives and forced a million and a half people to flee their homes. On Sunday, mutinies erupted in several army barracks a day after police dispersed banned protests, and on Monday the army rebels moved against Kabore. The former French colony is now controlled by the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration (MPSR) -- a junta led by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, a commander in the jihadist-torn east. The MPSR has announced the suspension of the constitution and dissolution of the government and parliament. Three of ECOWAS' 15 members have now experienced military coups in less than 18 months. In August 2020, army officers ousted Mali's elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who had likewise been facing protests over his handling of the country's jihadist crisis. Guinea underwent a coup in September last year, when officers toppled President Alpha Conde, 83,who had been president since 2010. He sparked mass protests when he changed the constitution to allow himself to seek a third term at the ballot box. Both Guinea and Mali have been suspended from ECOWAS, and the bloc has imposed an array of sanctions against those countries. DEERFIELD BEACH A Coconut Creek man spent five days in jail because he had the same name as a Palm Beach County fugitive with a passing facial resemblance who was born 10 days before him. Leonardo Silva Oliveira, 26, the fugitive, was wanted for violating probation on charges of grand theft and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling in Boca Raton. Police arrested Leonardo Silva Oliveira, 26, the cook, outside a Deerfield Beach restaurant on Jan. 20, shortly after 5 p.m. Advertisement But the fugitive and the cook are not the same person, a fact officials didnt confirm until they compared fingerprints days later, and one that should have been cleared up sooner when officers rolled up the cooks sleeves. Oliveira the fugitive, according to police reports, has tattoos on each arm buildings on the left, a clock on the right. Advertisement Oliveira the cook? I have no tattoos, he said. They checked my arms. They didnt see any. But they still took me in. Leonardo Silva Oliveira, 26, of Coconut Creek at his home on Wednesday. Oliveira is the unfortunate namesake of a wanted fugitive. He was arrested last Thursday on a warrant out of Palm Beach County and was jailed until officials realized the mistake Tuesday morning. (Carline Jean / South Florida Sun Sentinel) Officials are looking into exactly what landed the wrong man in custody, whether it was mistaken identity, identity theft or a combination of both. The Coconut Creek Police Departments arrest report sheds no light on the matter. It merely says the cook was identified as the fugitive in the states driver and vehicle information database, even though the birth dates are off by 10 days. Police spokesman Sgt. Scotty Leamon said Palm Beach County law enforcement asked for help after identifying the cook as the fugitive. It was not clear which agency made the request the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office was not aware of the case and the Florida Department of Corrections, which oversees inmates who are released on probation, referred questions to Coconut Creek. Police were given the cooks drivers license and Social Security number, unaware that there was any question about the identification. Comparing photos didnt help either. It wasnt clear whether the cook was compared to the picture on his drivers license, which would have been a perfect match, or a headshot of the actual fugitive, which bears enough of a resemblance to be explained by the passage of a few years. A PBSO detective confirmed that Oliveira was the subject they had an active warrant on, Leamon said. After confirmation, Oliveira was arrested and transported to the Broward Sheriffs Office Main Jail. Police did not address the issue of the fugitives tattoos. Oliveira, the cook, has no criminal record and had never seen the inside of a jail cell until Thursday night. I was on 24-hour lockdown, he said. I finally got out of the cell for an hour a day Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It was a little window, no TV. Nothing to do but just stare at the walls and try to stay warm. Advertisement Oliveira, who was born in Brazil, where his full name is not uncommon, said he tried to tell anyone who would listen that they had the wrong guy. How could I be wanted on a probation violation when Ive never been arrested for anything? It was a nightmare. At first appearance court, County Court Judge Phoebe Francois said she was powerless to interfere with the case because it originated out of Palm Beach County, and Oliveira had no attorney in Broward to represent him until Monday evening, when he hired lawyer Jose Castaneda. Castaneda filed a motion to have his client released, providing the court with details that, in his view, should have prevented officers from ever breaking out their handcuffs. For one thing, the fugitive Oliveira weighed 213 pounds in 2017, when he was arrested on the burglary charge. The cook weighs less than 150. Then, of course, there was the matter of the missing tattoos. Leonardo Oliveira, a fugitive wanted for violating parole in Palm Beach County. A man with the same name, born 10 days later, was arrested in Broward County last week in a case of mistaken identity. (Florida Department of Correction/Courtesy) Castaneda said he even tracked down the fugitives father in Palm Beach County and confirmed he is still on the run. But the motion never got a hearing. The Broward Sheriffs Office, which runs the jail, obtained the fingerprints for the fugitive and compared them to those of the man in custody, said BSO spokesman Carey Codd. When it was determined that the fingerprints did not match, Oliveira was immediately released from jail, he said. That was Tuesday morning. The cook, who is unmarried and has no children, is considering his next legal move. Advertisement I dont want this to happen to anyone else, he said. I dont want it to happen to me again! Do I have to change my name so that it doesnt? The hunt for the other Oliveira continues. Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4457 or on Twitter @rolmeda France's highest administrative court has suspended a government ban on the sale and consumption of raw CBD flowers and leaves, which come from marijuana plants but do not contain psychoactive compounds. Handing down its decision Monday, the Council of State said the banned products meant for smoking or drinking as tea were "devoid of narcotic properties" and could therefore be marketed in France. The legal development, which does not apply to all cannabis plants, further blurs the rules concerning the sale of products containing marijuana and its derivatives a booming market that has taken off since 2020. When the government brought in the ban by decree on 30 December, 2021, it argued that it was almost impossible for police to visually tell the difference between CBD and real cannabis when carrying out checks. However the Council of State said serious doubt had been cast on the legality of the ban given the amount of THC the active psychotropic molecule contained in the CBD was less than 0.3 percent. The judge said this threshold meant the flowers and leaves in question could legally be sold. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told France Inter radio that he "regretted" the court's decision. "All substances that are related to cannabis, drugs, are very bad for your health," he said. "We have not increased the price of tobacco to 10 euros to accept the legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis." Strict rules remain Despite the suspended ban, French rules surrounding the cultivation, sale and consumption of cannabis remain unchanged. Only hemp growers may cultivate a variety of strictly controlled plants that are listed in an official catalogue. The sale of hemp flowers and leaves is forbidden to people under 18 years old as a precaution because health authorities say they still know little about CBD, or cannabidiol. Meanwhile CBD-based products such as resins, creams, oils, candies and cereal bars remains authorised for sale in France, but under certain conditions. Producers and sellers are forbidden from claiming any therapeutic virtues given the medical use of cannabis is still being examined by the French National Agency for the Safety of Medicines. Cannabis sold on the black market has an average THC content of 11 percent for grass, and 26.5 percent for hashish, according to the latest statements of the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Trends. The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Jean Mensa and her deputies Dr. Eric Bossman Asare and Mr. Samuel Tettey have run to the Supreme Court, over a petition by the #FixTheCountry Movement demanding their removal from office. It comes on the back of the movements petition to the President to have the leadership of the electoral management body relieved of their post over the inability of the residents of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi and Likpe (SALL) to vote for a representative in Parliament. Joined to the suit as first, second and third defendants are: Convener of the #FixTheCountry Movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the Chief Justice and Attorney General. The pressure group petitioned the President to remove from office the EC Chair and her deputies following the inability of the people of SALL to vote in the 2020 parliamentary election. The #FixTheCountry movement contends that the conduct of the EC officials in the matter meets the threshold of stated misbehaviour and, or incompetence as required under Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution for the removal of these officials. The petitioners say the actions and inaction of Madam Jean Mensa caused the people to lose their fundamental human rights. There are 46 signatories to the petition , including residents of SALL. The Petitioners have faith that the normal constitutional processes contemplated by the Constitution to avenge infractions against it and our democracy will be upheld without fear nor favour; and that their standing as mere citizens of this Republic does not disable them from obtaining justice, in the preserve of our Constitution, the group has said. But the Chair of the EC and her two deputies in the writ asked the court to declare the action by the pressure group as unconstitutional. The EC boss and her deputies among other things, want the Supreme Court to stop the movement from pushing through the petition. Below are the reliefs sought by the EC leadership: 1. A declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of article 146(8)of the Constitution 1992, 1st defendants publication in the media (traditional and social) of the contents of Petitioners Petition to His Excellency, The President of the Republic., for the removal of 1st, 2nd & 3rd plaintiffs from office for stated misbehaviour and incompetence sins against article 146(8) of the Constitution 1992, and to that extent unconstitutional. 2. A declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of article 146(8) of the Constitution 1992, 2nd defendant is precluded from establishing a prima facie case or otherwise arising out of the contents of the said Petition lodged by the Petitioners. 3. A declaration that the airing of the contents of the Petition by 1 defendant to the media (traditional and social) has subjected 1st, 2nd& 3rd plaintiffs to public ridicule, hatred, odium and opprobrium and equally exposed them to unfair prejudice. 4. An order of perpetual injunction directed against 2nd defendant from determining, dealing, or having anything to do in any manner whatsoever and/or howsoever, with any issues arising out of the contents of Petitioners Petition or at all. 5. Any further orders and/or directions as this Honourable Court may deem fit to give effect or enable effect to be given to the orders of this court. Background Currently, SALL, which is in the Guan district, has no representation in Parliament after contentions over its inclusion in the Oti Region following its creation. Some residents of Akpafu, then in the Hohoe Municipality, even boycotted the referendum that endorsed the creation of the Oti Region. Oliver Barker-Vormawor, complained about the lack of transparency from the EC since the 2020 election. For over a year now, there has been no attempt to give clarity to why such grievous harm was done to our constitution, he said. Mr. Barker-Vormawor further said the actions of his group were meant to safeguard Ghana's constitution. Our commitment is to restore the constitution and ensure that the constitution continues to survive when it is under attack by persons as high as persons occupying the Office of the Electoral Commission. ---citinewsroom Over the past 10 years, France's leadership in the fight against corruption has stagnated, according to Transparency International, in its annual global report of 180 countries on the perception of graft. And many African countries are failing in the struggle against endemic clientelism and fraud. According to the report France isn't the only country to have rested on its laurels when it comes to tackling corruption. Sub-Saharan Africa - as a region made up of 49 countries on the continent - hasn't made much progress over the past decade either. The Corruption Perceptions Index cited positive measures implemented under previous president Francois Hollande, but has noted worrying signals as President Emmanuel Macron's first term of office comes to an end this April. Coming in at 22nd in the list, France is ahead of the United States at 28th place, but lagging far behind Denmark, Finland and New Zealand, who are the top three when it comes to dealing with corrupt practices. The report also reveals that France has only improved by one point in the past 10 years. According to the president of Transparency International's French chapter, Patrick Lefas, France has a "lack of resources allocated to justice and to the economic and financial police," indicating that fighting corruption "is not a priority, and it is a concern that may explain the relative stagnation in which we find ourselves in." Global apathy in the fight against corruption has been highlighted in the 2022 report, with 131 territories having made little or no progress since 2012, although Angola and South Korea make up two of 30 countries that have made more of a concerted effort in the fight against graft. Sub-Saharan Africa As a whole, Sub-Saharan Africa scores in the lowest third of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) with a 33 rating. While a few countries improved slightly in the group, most have stagnated or dropped. Covid-19 and political upheaval - be it coups d'etat, displacement due to armed conflict, terrorism, or civil war - have skewed the numbers into a less favourable position. The Seychelles usually grabs the best position for the African continent, with a current score of 70 - up 18 points over the last 10 years - but its work as an offshore banking hub and lack of transparency could mar future rankings. Middle class Cabo Verde and Botswana rank in the mid-50s in a distant second and third, although the southern Africa diamond center has notably dropped 10 points. One factor of Botswana's fall in the ratings is how citizens of perceive impunity. According to the 2019 Global Barometer survey conducted by Transparency International, Botswana thought corruption and impunity increased, specifically citing the alleged looting of the National Petroleum Fund. Liberia lowdown Similarly in Liberia, the issues of impunity remain a constant for many Liberians, as allegations of corruption remain unresolved. The country dropped 12 points since 2012, due in part to a weak judiciary, as well as Liberia's anti-corruption agency having seen its credibility "dented". Investigations made by RFI into the wealth of incumbent President George Weah demonstrates a lack of transparency, with an apparent accumulation of assets since coming to power. These factors are in line with the rest of the continent, according to surveys done by Afrobarometer, that show sub-Saharan Africans believe corruption has risen. Unfortunately the countries that continue to languish at the bottom are Somalia, South Sudan and Equatorial Guinea, which are dealing with corruption on a daily basis. Thanks to work by investigative journalists exposing endemic corruption in the Equatorial Guinea, the country's Oil Minister Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima, who is President Teodoro Obiang's son, allegedly took kickbacks and a cut of public funds meant for public projects. The president's other son, vice-president Teodorin, was convicted in French court last year for ill-gotten gains. Still reeling from the graft of previous administrations Meanwhile, South Africa continues to deal with the effects of corruption under the administration of former president Jacob Zuma. Zuma was indicted on corruption charges, but refused give testimony and is currently serving a jail term for contempt of court. High-level corruption was exposed with the Zondo Commission, but many feel that not enough has been done. And a new corruption report on Covid-19 tenders out this month has continued to erode public confidence in the government. A mining scandal from the Democratic Republic of Congo, revealed within the Congo Hold-Up report, indicate that ex-president Joseph Kabila's cronies allegedly embezzled funds from the country's central bank, the state-owned mining company and the tax authority. The investigation, thanks to a consortium of investigative journalists around the world, including RFI's Sonia Rolley, has traced the trail of corruption to the top levels of government. Some Angolan positives The most positive improvement on the anti-corruption chart is Angola, up seven points since 2012 at number 29. President Joao Lourenco, who was elected in 2017, has a hand in this, in an effort to clean up the widespread corruption stemming from the family of the former president. Isabel dos Santos, the ex-president's daughter and the head of state oil company Sonangol, was once considered Africa's richest woman. Thanks to a series of leaks and corruption investigations, dos Santos' asserts were frozen one year ago. European nations pushed back Wednesday against the Malian military government's demands that newly arrived Danish special forces fighting jihadists immediately withdraw from the Sahel state. Task Force Takuba brings together special forces from European countries to advise Malian troops and assist them in combat, with roughly 90 Danes joining earlier this month. The junta on Monday asked Denmark to "immediately" withdraw its contingent, alleging the troops had been deployed without their consent, a position rejected by the Danish government a day later. A statement from nations involved in the French-led Task Force Takuba on Wednesday defended the deployment, saying the partners were acting "within a robust legal framework agreed upon by Mali's sovereign government, including a formal invitation from the Malian authorities to international partners." The European countries called on Mali to "quickly remedy this situation at a critical time for Mali, when solidarity is required more than ever." Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod on Tuesday had said his nation's forces were in Mali "on a clear basis" and his government was seeking to clarify the issue. "There is currently a difficult diplomatic discussion with the transitional government," he added. Mali's junta, which came to power in a 2020 coup, responded late Wednesday it had read Kofod's "inappropriate" comments with "surprise and consternation". Task Force Takuba is the fruit of lengthy French efforts to coax European allies into shouldering some of the burden of fighting jihadists in Mali, the nexus of a nearly decade-old insurgency in the Sahel. Paris has engaged in "in-depth consultations" with its European partners participating in the special forces group, French Defence Minister Florence Parly said Tuesday, stressing that "the junta is multiplying its provocations". This diplomatic spat is the latest obstacle to French and European military action in Mali. Monday's coup in Burkina Faso also complicates the equation for Paris. Of the four Sahel countries where the anti-jihadist Barkhane force is deployed, three -- Chad, Mali, Burkina -- are now ruled by military juntas. 27.01.2022 LISTEN But my greatest annoyance is the face they imposed on the shapeless body crafted to look like His Excellency. In this malpractice, the originators exhibited indiscipline of the highest carelessness. For the body they imposed on the leg is almost drooping, falling languidly out of place and shape. Ghana is indeed a free country. Too free, l sometimes think. How many countries in the world would entertain indecent publications of their president, half naked, apparently locked up with a concubine in a suggestive act of lurid conviviality (meant to bring him public infamy) and would not send soldiers of the night to smoke out the miscreants and punish the rumor mongers of presidential privacy? Try it in Putin's Russia or Xi's China and see if your head remains on top of your neck by sunset. But in this country, our misunderstanding of freedom of speech anoint us with power to spread wild rumors and hearsays freely on people's phones and computers, while the licensed rumor mongers sell their precious wares voraciously on radio and television in a manner that pushes our freedom to its inelastic edge. I myself saw the photos, and l say l doubly doubt their originality, let alone their holiness. For it is questionable how a vibrant man in that rare mood of a lifetime would still leave his pants in its original poise, rigidly tucked under his belt under lock and key while he pretends to be busy away from his sole object of adventure and experimentation. That is not the way of real men! A real man would cast his pants immediately away like Lucifers demons (just like the shirt was hurled away to no mans land) and directly commence proceedings of pleasure without further unnecessary circumlocution or prevarication. And here is another reason for my doubt. In such unnatural moments, which is easier to cast away, is it the shirt or the pants? If for the sake of argumentation the shirt is cast away first, you would expect a follow up motion directed at eradicating the pants too, for after all, that's where the fire burns. Unfortunately, in the scenario described by this fake topples president, the pants remained in their original pose and rigid situation unaffected by the hurly-burly of the fires burning within and that is the chief provoker of the photos dubiosity. And as if to shame the phallic conjecture of this photo, it is contrived and manipulated to look away from the object of its captivation in an embarrassing astonishment, pretending to be attending to some important state assignment at the other end of the room while photos of a waiting woman sitting down in clothes (apparently shocked at his fidgeting at the eleventh hour) completes a scene of complete dullness and incredible boredom. Do the promoters of this fiasco want Ghanaians to believe that their president is a playboy? This photo, lam afraid, is a masterclass of disaster! It fails to achieve its intentions by every serious appraisal. But my greatest annoyance is the face imposed on the shapeless body, made to look like His Excellency. In this malpractice, the originators exhibited indiscipline of the highest temperature. For the body they imposed on the leg is almost drooping, falling languidly out of place and shape. The face itself appeared contorted, disheveled, drowsy, abhorrent, unexcited. No one in such a vantage place or circumstance would ever produce such a nonchalance like the doctors of this disposition pretend. Oh, how l hate this photo! Clearly, this cut and paste farce must be discredited even by social media for all its ruinous accommodations. I am a firm believer in free speech, but sometimes freedom, if it is too free can be clumsy. This photo is clumsy, much to do about nothing. It is a political exaggeration and I would play no part it this malaise. Jihadists in the Sahel are waging an effective war of attrition, experts say, contributing to two military coups in the volatile African region within the last 18 months. Burkina Faso's army seized power on Monday and cited the "manifest incapacity" of the elected government to handle the Islamist insurgency, which it said "threatens the very foundations of our nation". The coup followed a military takeover in neighbouring Mali in August 2020, where the army also pointed to the deposed government's helplessness against jihadists, as well as corruption, as reasons for the putsch. Much of the semi-arid Sahel region has been plagued by a brutal jihadist conflict that first emerged in Mali in 2012, before spreading to Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of people across the region have died and around two million have been displaced by the conflict. The impoverished landlocked countries have struggled to contain the violence, which has also begun to spill over into West African coastal states such as Ivory Coast and Togo. Mahamoudou Savadogo, a Burkinabe security consultant, said that the whole region is suffering the "full force" of a jihadist "strategy of attrition". He explained that this consists of "being patient, sowing the seeds of division, destabilising our political system and destabilising the social order". 'War of all against all' A patchwork of competing Islamist groups -- including affiliates of the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda -- operate in the Sahel. Burkina Faso's army seized power citing the manifest incapacity of the government to handle the Islamist insurgency. By - Radio Tlvision du Burkina RTBAFPFile They are increasingly governing the areas they control as Sahel governments retreat, imposing sharia law and levying taxes. Under-equipped and underfunded state security forces, for their part, are on the back foot. Some bases have been abandoned entirely in the face of sustained attack. Malian researcher Boubacar Haidara told AFP that the precarious military situation combined with poor governance and corruption has driven a wedge between civilians and their leaders, both civilian and military. In Burkina Faso, the most recent major attack is believed to have contributed to frustrations that led to Monday's coup. On November 14, at least 57 people, 53 of them gendarmes, were killed in an assault on a police station at Inata in the north of the country, sparking protests. An internal memo leaked a few days afterwards revealed that the soldiers had not been supplied with food for days. A newspaper boss in Ivory Coast, a country itself threatened by jihadist spill-over, recently summed up the mood in a social media post. "Terrorists are triumphing everywhere in the Sahel," said Tiemoko Assale, pointing to how the shock caused by jihadists massacres was triggering a "war of all against all". 'Patience' The militaries that have seized power in Mali and Burkina Faso have both announced their determination to regain control amid chaos. Amnesty International researcher Ousmane Diallo said that both armies have "all the means to adopt the strategy they deem most effective to reverse the trend" now that they are in charge. But he added: "If they don't succeed, what will happen?" In Mali at least, attacks on security forces appear to have fallen since the August coup. However, the reasons for this are unclear. France, the former colonial power in much of the Sahel, has assassinated several jihadist leaders. It is also difficult to verify the Malian junta's claims of military success. Eventually, both Mali and Burkina Faso will likely have to confront the vexed question of whether to engage the jihadists in dialogue. Many analysts view such talks as one of the few viable options to escape the cycle of violence. But France -- which has thousands of troops deployed in the Sahel -- has long viewed dialogue with jihadists as anathema. Jihadist leaders themselves have stayed relatively silent about the recent coups. They may be biding their time. In a message broadcast after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Iyad Ag Ghaly, the leader of the al-Qaeda-affiliated GSIM group, praised the "patience" of Afghan fighters after two decades of American occupation. He encouraged Sahelian jihadists to follow suit. French prime minister Jean Castex heads a special delegation to the Auschwitz Holocaust memorial in Poland on Thursday to mark the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camp. The visit comes a week after the UN adopted a non-binding resolution to fight against Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism, especially on social media. Castex will travel to the site with Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and Culture minister Roselyne Bachelot, as well as France's chief Rabbi Haim Korsia, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) Francis Kalifat, high school students and some survivors of the Shoah. Nazi Germany built the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp near the town of Oswiecim after occupying Poland during World War II. The site has become a symbol of the regime's genocide of six million European Jews, one million of whom died at the camp between 1940 and 1945 along with more than 100,000 non-Jews. 27 January marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and other camps by Soviet soldiers in 1945. On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron attended a memorial in the French village of Oradour-sur-Glane to honour the memory of the 643 residents massacred by an Nazi SS unit on 10 June 1944. He presented the only survivor of the carnage, 96 year-old Robert Hebras, with the National Order of Merit, warning against forgetting history's atrocities. Macron justified the visit by saying "hate is increasing in France. Racism and anti-Semitism are now being legitimised by a certain political discourse," in a veiled reference to the far-right. The visit comes just four months ahead of presidential elections in France, for which Macron has not yet announced his official candidature. On Wednesday, Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said although reported acts of anti-Semitism in France in 2021 had dropped by 14 percent compared to 2019, he warned that "attacks against the Jewish community remain at a worrying level". Focus on social media Noting the rise in anti-Semitism worldwide, on 20 January, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution calling on all member states to fight against Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism, especially on social media. The Israeli-proposed text was developed with the help of Germany and co-sponsored by several dozen of the 193 states that make up the United Nations. The resolution "rejects and condemns without any reservation any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part," according to the text. The text "commends" countries that preserve sites of former Nazi death camps, concentration camps, forced labor camps, execution sites and prisons during the Holocaust. Anti-Semitism and Covid The rise in anti-Semitic acts on an international scale was also confirmed in a report released on Monday by the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency for Israel. It found an average of more than 10 anti-Semitic incidents occurred around the world every day in 2021, a 10-year high. Despite this, it was noted that "no Jew in the world has been murdered on anti-Semitic grounds" over that one year period, the report said. Most of the anti-Semitic incidents were "vandalism and destruction, graffiti, and desecration of monuments, as well as propaganda," the report said. "Incidents of physical and verbal violence accounted for less than a third of all anti-Semitic incidents." Such episodes and attacks peaked during May, when Jewish and Muslim festivals led to clashes in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, and a war with Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules Gaza, according to the report. In addition, many European countries lifted their pandemic lockdowns that month, which allowed anti-Semitism that spread online "to move around the public space again". "Many demonstrations against the Covid vaccines and restrictions included Holocaust motifs, such as the yellow star, as well as anti-Semitic conspiracy theories accusing Jews as spreaders of the pandemic to control the world," the report indicated, expressing concern over the "trivialisation of the Holocaust". A group calling itself Concerned Citizens of the Republic of Ghana have petitioned the President, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to ensure that all persons found culpable guilty of the explosion at Appiatse, near Bogoso in the Western Region are punished. In a petition to the Office of the President and copied to the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament as well as the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the group is calling for an impartial investigation into the explosion that has claimed 14 lives as of Wednesday, January 26, 2022. We, the undersigned concerned citizens of the Republic of Ghana, write to petition the President of the Republic to evoke article 278 (1) of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana to look into the gruesome Bogoso-Apeatse happenings. An impartial and public investigation into the matter must be conducted and persons found guilty prosecuted accordingly. It is not in doubt that, the interim cost of rebuilding the Bogoso-Apeatse community as hinted by the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana will be borne by each tax paying Ghanaian. This is a public concern that justifies the call for a Public Enquiry into the accident, part of the petition by the Concerned Citizens read. The group consists of Kwame Kyei Addo as its lead convener, three social activists, and a medical practitioner. Find a copy of the petition to the president below: PETITION TO CONDUCT IMPARTIAL PUBLIC INVESTIGATIONS INTO BOGOSO APEATSE EXPLOSION AND PROSECUTE PERSONS FOUND GUILTY ACCORDINGLY Email: [email protected] The President of the Republic of Ghana 26th January, 2022 We, the undersigned concerned citizens of the Republic of Ghana, write to petition the President of the Republic to evoke article 278 (1) of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana to look into the gruesome Bogoso-Apeatse happenings. This law gives the President ultimate authority to set up an independent Commission of Inquiry into matters of public interest, and the Bogoso-Apeatse Explosion Case is no exemption. Indeed, this unforgettable event has spurred public fury due to the magnitude of the explosion. The mournful incident that befell the people of the Bogoso-Apeatse community on the 20th Day of January 2022, is unacceptable and could have been prevented. Surely, accidents do not just happen, they are largely caused by human errors or institutional failures. When asked on the News file on Saturday 22nd January, 2022 by Sampson Lardi Ayenini whether the investigation report for the Apeatse Explosion will be made public, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor could not answer in the affirmative. It is evident that as a country, we have not been faced with such a disaster in the Manufacture, storage, transportation and use of Explosives, hence it is a grey area for most citizens and especially, the Mining communities through which these explosives are transported and used. Preliminary reports and directives, including the interdiction of the Chief Inspector of Mines who is mandated by law to conduct an inquiry into accidents involving explosives and the suspension of Maxam after the incident, presuppose that there is a Prima facie case. It must be put on record that, the tragic incident did not only affect the people of Apeatse and as such, has gained a lot of sympathy from international communities, individuals, and the country at large. For the purposes of satisfying public concern, accountability, and transparency, it would be fair to conduct an impartial inquiry into the matter in the full glare of the Public. The manufacture, storage, transportation and use of Explosives is a properly regulated area which bestow on individuals and institutions certain responsibilities and accountabilities. The Minerals and Mining (Explosives) Regulation, 2012 LI 2177 confer responsibility not only on the transporter, but also the user. As a country, we cannot sit down and suffer from the irresponsible actions of an individual or an institution. A press release taking responsibility is not accountability. An impartial and public investigation into the matter must be conducted and persons found guilty prosecuted accordingly. It is not in doubt that, the interim cost of rebuilding the Bogoso-Apeatse community as hinted by the Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana will be borne by each tax paying Ghanaian. This is a public concern that justifies the call for a Public Enquiry into the accident. Transparency and Justice for the People of Bogoso-Apeatse. SIGNED Kwame Kyei Addo (Lead Convener) HSE Practitioner Ebenezer Somuah Otchere (Spokesperson) Social Activist 0249941021 Sylvester Amoako (Co-Convener) Medical Doctor Isaac Ananpansah (Co-Convener) Social Activist Justice Baffour Gyamfi (Co-Convener) Social Activist Cc: Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources Ghana Chamber of Mines Prestea Hunivalley Municipal Assembly Three final year students of Ejisu Senior High and Technical School are currently battling for their lives at the hospital following multiple stabbing. The stabbing incident followed tension between students and some alleged notorious youth who hang around the school. According to information gathered, the students and the youth clashed following complaints by students that they are often attacked and belongings such as phones snatched. They have been fighting in recent times, the students have been complaining of phone snatching, Samuel Oduro, who is the Municipal Chef Executive (MCE) for Ejisu has confirmed to the media. In the past week, matters went from bad to worse when three different students were attacked and stabbed. All three final years students of Ejisu Senior High and Technical School have been admitted to the Ejisu Government Hospital where they are responding well to treatment. Sources have confirmed that the Police have already arrested five suspects in connection to the stabbing incidents. All five suspects will be arraigned before court today, Thursday, January 27, 2022. The Majority Chief Whip, and Member of Parliament for Nsawam/Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh-Dompreh is blaming a group he calls "the Hawks among the minority Caucus for the stalemate and brawl in Parliament. According to him, the Hawks are some Minority MPs strongly linked to John Dramani Mahama, the former president whose agenda is to frustrate government business hence even when leaders of both sides of the house reach agreement, the hawks still kick against their leadership decision. Speaking on Nsawam based FAWE FM, he explained that There are some people among the Minority Caucus known as hawks. They are on the middle bench. They are very close to their flagbearer to be. They act as liaisons. These hawks kick against decisions of their leadership. Mr Annoh-Dompreh who is worried about the current happenings in Parliament noted that but where we are heading towards, we the MPs are setting the stage for something like this [Military intervention ] to happen. It is very sad. Where we are now in fact, look, if we members of Parliament do not advise ourselves, should something happen, all of us will be affected. And if you look at our history, anytime there has been this military intervention, Parliament stands dissolved first. So that has affected Parliament, Mr Annoh-Dompreh stated. The Majority Chief Whip added that Parliament is not very strong. So we want to build parliamentary democracy but because of military interventions it is not very strong. Frank Annoh-Dompreh further called on former President John Mahama to stop controlling the Minority Caucus in Parliament, like robots rather allow them to work in their willingness to move the country forward. The Nsawam MP, noted that the e-levy will be passed for the interest of the country. On the E-Levy The Majority Chief Whip noted that the Electronic Transaction Levy rate of 1.75% will be reviewed when the house resumes for the second session. Mr. Annoh Dompreh indicated that stakeholders have been extensively engaged and the E-levy would be tabled in a form acceptable to all. I have a feeling that there might be one or two amendments, especially concerns about utility and probably the rates. I am sure there will be some amendments to it. I am not concluding though, but from intelligence, I am picking, the kind of thinking the MPs are showing, I am very sure that there will be some change in form. The e-levy bill which government seeks to use to rake estimated GHC6billioni yearly revenue for debt servicing amortization, job creation, and infrastructural development, is expected to be related before Parliament which reconvenes today. The 1.75% e-levy will be charged on Mobile Money Transfers between accounts on the same electronic money issuer (EMI), Mobile Money transfers from an account on one EMI to a recipient on another EMI, and Transfers from bank accounts to mobile money accounts. The 8th Parliament of Ghana is a hung Parliament hence it has been characterized by confusion and chaos during major decisions. For instance, the election of the speaker of Parliament on January 7, 2022, was characterized by a brawl that forced the military and Police to intrude on the floor of Parliament in an attempt to restore law and order. Another chaos broke out in Parliament on the night of December 21, 2021, during consideration of the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) bill as Members of Parliament (MPs) engaged in a free for all fight. The house failed to approve the bill before the last sitting. ---DGN online Investigators with the Broward Sheriffs Office served a criminal search warrant at the Sheriffs Offices deputies association Thursday not long after announcing that the union boss, a major critic of the sheriff, had been fired. Carey Codd, a spokesman for the Sheriffs Office would not say what the criminal investigation pertained to, but did say it was not related to Jeff Bells termination. Advertisement Im not authorized to make a comment at all. Weve got a lot of stuff happening, said Tony Hierrezuelo, an executive board member for the Broward deputies association of the International Union of Police Association when he was stopped outside the Broward union office after the search warrant was served. Sam Carabral, the president of the international police union, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that he got a call Thursday from an attorney who shares office space with the Sheriffs Office union who voiced concern that people from the Sheriffs Office were going through union leaders offices. Advertisement [ RELATED: Sheriff under probe by state law enforcement agency ] Several calls and text messages to union leaders were not returned Thursday afternoon. Bell, however, did speak with the Sun Sentinel shortly after the announcement that he had been fired Thursday morning. Bell called Sheriff Greg Tony vindictive. He said his firing does not surprise him and he intends to fight to get his job back. Bell, a deputy, makes over $100,000. His job as union leader is full-time. Tony said an Internal Affairs probe found Bell to be corrupt and untruthful. My decision to terminate Deputy Jeff Bell comes after a lengthy and thorough investigation by the Broward Sheriffs Office Division of Internal Affairs. Following the internal investigation, investigators presented the case to the Professional Standards Committee (PSC), which reviewed the evidence, sustained all the allegations against Deputy Bell, and recommended his termination in a unanimous vote. I support the findings in this case and concur that Bells actions rise to the level of termination, Sheriff Tony said in a statement. Jeff Bell has been president of the Broward Sheriffs Office Deputies Association Union, International Union of Police Associations, Local 6020, since 2015. Tony said there is evidence that Bell used corrupt practices to try to prevent Tony from being elected sheriff. He said Bell provided misinformation to the media and created fear and distrust among Sheriffs Office employees and within the community. This type of behavior is egregious at any time but even more harmful and shameful during an unprecedented health crisis. Bells irresponsible comments took time and effort away from the critical public safety demands of BSO, the sheriff said. No employee shall be above the rules and policies of this organization. [ RELATED: Lies and Omissions propelled Tony to the top ] Included in Tonys announcement was the release of a 200-page internal affairs investigation. Sheriffs Office investigators took sworn statements from approximately 200 people. The Internal Affairs report also included text message exchanges, news articles from multiple media organizations, and email, including public record requests sent by email from Sun Sentinel reporters to Sheriffs Office personnel. The report does not reach any findings of fact, which is common for such probes when allegations of wrongdoing are sustained or not sustained. But what is telling is the wide rift between the head of the union and the head of the entire agency. Advertisement Bell and Tony are not even in agreement as to when they first met. Tony, a former police sergeant in Coral Springs turned private business owner, was appointed to the position of sheriff in January 2019 by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The appointment was one of DeSantis firsts acts as governor after he fired Tonys predecessor Scott Israel because of Israels handling of the Parkland massacre. [ RELATED: Sheriff Gregory Tony killed a man when he was 14 ] Tony ran against Israel and other Democrats for the position the following year and won the nomination in August 2020. By then Tony had suspended Bell with pay after Bell tried to draw attention to deputies complaints that there was not enough personal protective gear to combat COVID-19. Although suspended, Bell continued to be a major nemesis to the sheriff. He wrote a letter to the governor claiming Tony was not qualified for the job. Bells termination is effective immediately. Bell, who has been a law enforcement officer for 28 years, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he intends to fight his termination. Advertisement In April 2020, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony disputed union president Jeff Bells claims that the Sheriff's Office was unprepared for the COVID-19 impact on the agency that has reported 36 coronavirus infections including the death of Deputy Shannon Bennett. Tony called it politically motivated at a time when everyone is dealing with a worldwide crisis. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel) He is currently in the middle of a fight with the sheriff over his paid suspension. The Public Employees Relations Commission previously ruled in Bells favor saying he should be allowed back to work and that the Sheriffs Office should no longer investigate Bell for wrongdoings alleged by the sheriff. The Sheriffs Office challenged the ruling at the 1st District Court of Appeals and was told it could investigate the union boss. A judge in that case issued a stay on the matter. The Sheriffs Office then asked the court to expedite the case but no date has been set, Bell said. This is so personal for Greg Tony, Bell said. He cannot separate business from personal. Anything you bring against the Sheriff Office, he looks as a personal attack against him. Bell could retire at any time. He is enrolled in the the states Deferred Retirement Option Program. He said his intensions were to spend two more years in the program and then continue to work without accruing additional retirement benefits for another two years. Eileen Kelley can be reached at 772-925-9193 or ekelley@sunsentinel.com. The President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has indicated that the provision of more jobs and opportunities for the youth of Ghana hinges on the implementation of the controversial Electronical Transaction Levy (E-Levy). In a post on his Twitter page on Wednesday, January 27, 2022, the President emphasised that with the implementation of the levy, his government will be able to generate revenue to build more roads and also reduce the countrys dependence on debt. The e-levy will provide Government with revenue to build more roads, provide more jobs and opportunities for the youth and reduce our dependence on debt, the Tweet from President Akufo-Addo said. Late last year in Parliament, government through the Minister of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta announced plans to roll-out an electronic transaction levy when he presented to parliament the 2022 budget statement and economic policy proposal. When approved by parliament, there will be a 1.75% charge on all financial transactions carried out on electronic platforms that exceed GHS100 per day. Although the Minority has constantly described it as a killer tax and continues to oppose its passing, the Majority in Parliament has this week stressed that it will be passed by all means. The E-Levy has not been discussed in parliament this week since the House resumed sitting on Tuesday. Sources report that it will be big on the agenda of the House next week. Ghana now faces acute financial difficulties due to chronic corruption but the situation wouldnt have been worse if the president has devoted his time to deal with the issues at the Ghana Harbor and Ports Authority, that continue to affect remittances and investments by Ghanaians in the Diaspora. Despite all the rich resources Ghana has as a country, including gold, cocoa, diamond, timber, etc; without the remittances of Ghanaians in the Diaspora, the economy of Ghana would have been in its worst form more than what the country is experiencing today. As a matter of fact, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, cant deny that apart from the countrys resources, the economy of Ghana depends on remittances from Ghanaians in the Diaspora. For example, the money immigrants sent to Saharan Africa in 2017 alone reached a record of 41 billion dollars. Its therefore, unthinkable if the president cant deal with issues affecting Ghanaians in the Diaspora to remit more money to sustain the economy, since the common Ghanaians didnt vote for Akufo Addo just because they wanted him to make his relative a Chief Justice or the Finance Minister. He was chosen because he promised to make life better for the common Ghanaians with the promise of fighting against corruption. Once someone decides to be a president, you must really understand the meaning of that task and the responsibility that lies on your shoulders. Its not easy in Ghana today and the situation will be worse because since the Akufo Addo-led government failed to address the issues affecting Ghanaians in the Diaspora, remittances, businesses, and investments, thousands have stopped sending money through the right channels to Ghana. Nana Akufo Addo is likely the worst president in the political history of Ghana since he has failed to exhibit good leadership and the fight against corruption, taking their toll on the government of the NPP What do I mean by the right channels? They are many ways Ghanaians in the Diaspora remit money to Ghana, especially, through financial institutions such as Western Union, MoneyGram, etc, but those remittances have decreased. I was shocked to find out that in Belgium, Holland, Germany, and other Western European countries, there are Ghanaians that could take as much as 10,000 Euros and call their business partners in the country to deliver the equivalency of the amount in Cedis, to the relative of the payer in Ghana. Does the government of Ghana, especially, Nana Akufo Addo understand how Ghana is now losing millions of Euros through the black market because of the negligence of duties? When we write and give such information about what is happening in Europe doesnt mean someone hates Akufo Addo. I simply want the president to know how Ghana is losing millions through the black market when as a president he can fix the problems at the Ghana Harbors and Ports Authority to receive the genuine flow of foreign exchange into the country. Is it necessary to advise the president to fix the problems at the harbors knowing perfectly well that place is one of the biggest institutions generating foreign exchange in sustaining the economy of the whole country? It might be even too late now if Nana Akufo Addo decides to fix the problems at the Ghana Harbors and Ports Authority because the Ghanaians in Europe are enjoying the black market of remittance to Ghana. How much can Ghana or Akufo Addo get from E-Levy if he has failed to do the right thing to get millions through genuine remittances? Its not only a disgrace but it also warns Ghanaians that the NPP government is not intelligent enough to rule a country. Member of Parliament for North Tongu constituency, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has said in other jurisdictions when disasters of the magnitude of Appiatse occur, authorities do not hurriedly set up a fundraising committee as has been done in the case of Ghana. Instead, Mr Ablakwa said first, they establish an independent, impartial and credible enquiry to conduct thorough investigations. The enquiry, he said, will then lead the state to identify the facts (particularly as in this case there are such varying contradictory accounts); the investigations will also determine if the companies involved have questions to answer; the conduct of policy makers, examine possible regulatory lapses on the part of the Minerals Commission, and the role of the security agencies would all come up for intense scrutiny by the enquiry panel. He noted that It is absolutely possible that when the independent enquiry is completed, there would be no need to raise funds from the general public or use scarce taxpayer resources to assist victims and for reconstructing Appiatse because the entities found out to be responsible would be made to bear the full cost of compensation and rehabilitation/resettlement. In a Facebook post, Mr Ablakwa noted that contrary to what pertains in other jurisdictions here we are being served with an incestuous gobbledygook of the Minerals Commission asked to investigate itself as the security agencies are also requested to look into their own conduct. We love to complicate what is rather straightforward. How long are we going to continue to burden the already stressed Ghanaian taxpayer while we allow the mighty and corporate giants who flout our laws to maximize personal profit get away with their blood-draping loot? he quizzed. According to the lawmaker, the other cardinal advantage of a comprehensive, independent, impartial and credible enquiry is the opportunity it affords to critically appraise the entire spectrum of importing, transporting, transacting and utilization of Ammonium nitrate and other explosive chemicals with the view to improving our collective safety. He cautioned that the state should not take lightly the threat of terrorism not only around us but in close proximity. Mr Ablakwa indicated in his post that The explosive in issue is the most patronized by terrorists all over the world and its been so for many years from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the 1998 East Africa US Embassy attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, 2003 Turkish bombings, all the way to the recent numerous violent extremist onslaughts carried out by Boko Haram and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb in Nigeria, Cameroon, Mali, Algeria, Niger, Togo, Burkina Faso and other places. He added With the extent of international coverage the Appiatse explosion attracted and continues to attract, we must all be deeply worried that if we dont compel our government to act appropriately, the international terrorist ring may just see a soft target in Ghana on how to have easy access to or intercept in transit the dreaded ammonium nitrate God forbid, in the meantime, lets stop the pathetic window dressing and act right in our strategic national interest. This cannot be the time to shield, duck or cover up the death and injuries of so many must not be in vain. Mr Ablakwas statement comes after the government through the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor, on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 launched an Appiatse Support Fund to raise funds to, among others, reconstruct the community. The Appiatse Community, near Bogoso in the Western Region was razed by an explosion that occurred when a truck carrying explosives for mining exploded at the community on Thursday, 20th January 2022. Thirteen people have been confirmed dead while many others suffered were injured. ---Classfmonline.com Attorney General, Godfred Dame, has decried the poor conditions under which some agencies under his ministry work. On a working visit to the offices of the Legal Aid Commission and the Council for Law Reporting on Wednesday, Mr. Dame was devastated to see scores of people lined up in the corridors of the Legal Aid Commission seeking legal support. Their staff strength is very, very low. The building in which they operate is in dilapidation, he said to the media. Mr. Dame, however, said he was working to better the situation. So the tasks and processes to ensure that we have a modern Attorney General's office fit for purpose are what I have undertaken to do to ensure that we complete the facilities at our disposal. He noted that a 10-storey law house that had been under construction for the past 18 years was being worked on. We have committed ourselves to its completion, and we have progressed. Mr. Dame also said consultants had assured him that the law house will be completed by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the Attorney General announced that the Legal Aid Commission will be receiving 14 vehicles, while the Council for Law Reporting will also get four vehicles next week to aid their work. He also said he will focus his attention on getting the two entities a befitting office space after works on the Law House are completed. ---Citi Newsroom The death toll from a storm that struck three southern African countries rose to 70 on Thursday as emergency teams battled to repair damaged infrastructure and help tens of thousands of victims. Packing torrential rains, Tropical Storm Ana made landfall Monday in Madagascar before ploughing into Mozambique and Malawi. Rescue workers and authorities across the three countries were still assessing the full extent of the damage. Madagascar has reported 41 dead, with 18 others killed in Mozambique and 11 in Malawi. Remnants of the storm have passed over Zimbabwe, but no deaths have been reported there. In the three hardest-hit countries, tens of thousands of homes were damaged. Some collapsed under the heavy rain, trapping victims in the rubble. Bridges were washed away by swollen rivers, while livestock drowned and submerged fields, destroying the livelihoods of rural families. In Madagascar, 110,000 had to flee their homes. In the capital Antananarivo, schools and gyms were turned into emergency shelters. "We only brought our most important possessions," Berthine Razafiarisoa, who sheltered in a gym with his family of 10, told AFP. Floods swept through exposed neighbourhoods in Antananarivo. By RIJASOLO AFP In northern and central Mozambique, Ana destroyed 10,000 homes, dozens of schools and hospitals, and downed power lines. Mozambique's weather service expects another storm to form over the Indian Ocean in the coming days. Up to six tropical cyclones are expected before the rainy season ends in March. In neighbouring Malawi, the government declared a state of natural disaster. Most of the country lost electricity early in the week, after flood waters hit generating stations. Power was restored by Thursday in parts of the country, but parts of the electric grid were destroyed. "Our priority now is restoring power to health establishments, water treatment distribution systems, and schools," the national power utility said in a statement. Southern Africa, and especially Mozambique, has suffered repeated destructive storms in recent years. strs-cld/gs/ri 27.01.2022 LISTEN An Accra High Court has admitted into evidence the confession statements of four suspects standing trial for allegedly kidnapping two Canadian ladies in Kumasi in 2019. Sampson Aghalor, Elvis Ojiyorwe, Jeff Omarsa, and Yussif Yakubu are facing three counts of conspiracy, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. The accused persons had confessed to the crime in their respective investigative caution statements when they were interrogated by the police upon their arrest. The prosecution through the case investigator had wanted to tender the confession statements as evidence but the move was opposed by the defence lawyers who argued that the confessions were not made voluntarily and that his clients spoke under duress. The accused persons turned around to claim they did not make the statements and even if they did it was because they were subjected to 'beatings' and 'torture'. The prosecution on the other hand maintained that the confessions were made voluntarily by the accused persons in the presence of independent witnesses. Mini Trial The court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, therefore, held a mini trial to determine the admissibility of the confession statements. The prosecution called three witnesses the investigator and two independent witnesses who all told the court that the accused persons gave their statements voluntarily. The independent witnesses also told the court that the accused persons gave their statements voluntarily in a friendly environment without any torture. The accused persons also opened their defence in the mini trial and maintained that they were tortured to confession and they did so without the presence of any independent witnesses. Court Ruling Justice Marfo in her ruling stated that she was convinced that the accused persons gave their statements to the police voluntarily without any intimidation or torture. She said she found the accused persons' accusations to be a 'well-rehearsed' plan to the extent that in their evidence-in-chief they said no statements were taken by the police but under cross-examination they all said they gave some form of statements to the police. Justice Marfo after finding that the statements were given voluntarily without any intimidation overruled the objections and admitted the confession statements in evidence. Main Trial Sampson Aghalor, 28, computer engineer; Elvis Ojiyorwe, 28, businessman, and Jeff Omarsa, 29, tiller all Nigerians and their Ghanaian counterpart Yussif Yakubu, 29, are facing three counts of conspiracy, kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. An all-Ghanaian security operation led by the National Security on June 12, 2019, rescued the two Canadian ladies who were abducted from the gates of their hostel in a Kumasi suburb the previous month. The suspects allegedly kidnapped their victims and kept them in an uncompleted building on the outskirts of town and demanded a ransom of $800,000. They were said to have also touched the ladies inappropriately and threatened to have sex with them. According to court documents, the accused persons in a bid to get the victims' parents to pay the ransom, smeared the victims with the blood of a fowl, took pictures of them and forwarded them to their parents. ---Daily Guide 27.01.2022 LISTEN In the early 1980s, a generous man invited me to the first Full Gospel Businessmen's International Conference held in Kumasi, Ghana. I was then a student at the University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. While I do not remember the exact year, I do remember that one of the speakers at that conference was Rev. Duncan Williams. This generous man, who sponsored me to attend the inaugural meeting, continued to pay for me to attend the subsequent monthly meetings held at the Kumasi City Hotel, Ghana. The man would buy books by Word of Faith teachers and buy some for me after the meetings. Both of us read these books to the point where we decided not to take any medicine when we were sick. We started reading books by the following Word of Faith writers: Kenneth Hagin Snr., Kenneth Hagin Jr., Fred K.C. Price, Kenneth Copeland, Gloria Copeland, John Osteen (Joel Osteen's father), T.L Osborn, and Morris Cerullo. Later, we turned our attention to E. W. Kenyon and devoured all his books when we realized that all these writers borrowed their theology, especially Kenneth Hagin Snr. from Kenyon. In 1988, before I left Ghana for Canada, I got sick some months before my departure and decided not to take any medication because of my Word of Faith theology. For almost two months, I was in pain and often feverish. At that point, I decided to go to the hospital to get a physical done. When I arrived in Canada, I went to the hospital and had a physical. They told me I had jaundice when the results came, which they could not detect in Ghana. The doctor said, "You are lucky; you could have died." It was then that I decided to take a careful look at the theology of the Word of Faith movement, or Prosperity Preaching. I swallowed the prosperity theology hook line and sinker. I preached and taught it until I began to study the Bible and theology for all they were worth. One can only understand some of the unbiblical teachings of the prosperity preachers against the backdrop of the Word of Faith theology which they espouse. Let me state at the outset that I am a Pentecostal who believes in the power of God to heal and to destroy the work of the devil, but I am against any heretical teaching that can have a deleterious impact on people and undermines the sovereignty of God. The Word of Faith movement's teaching is based on the declaration of Good Health, Long Life, Wealth, and Happiness. God wants his children to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous. The question is: Where did Ghanaian Word of Faith preachers or teachers get these teachings? The simple answer is: From the late Archbishop Benson Idahosa of Nigeria, who also got his theology from the Word of Faith movement in America. We need to trace the streams of thoughts that have saturated the minds of Ghanaian Christians and are part of the culture of the Christian community in Ghana and Nigeria. The prosperity message that has replaced the preaching of the cross of Jesus Christ in some circles of the Ghanaian Christian community has its origin in America with the teaching of E.W. Kenyon. Many Bible scholars and theologians consider him to be the birth father of the modern-day Word of Faith movement. According to McConnell (1988), who wrote his graduate dissertation on faith teachers, Kenyon's theology parallels New Thought metaphysics? Many of the faith teachers who influenced Rev. Idahosa's ministries copied their writings and preaching from Kenyon. Kenyon teaches that "the divine power poured into the container of words could be called only one thing: "Faith." According to Kenyon, "faith-filled words" not only brought the universe into being but also governed the world as an invisible force. For Kenyon, the power of spoken word simply carried the faith to its desired ends." The International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (IDPCM) maintains that the view espoused by E.W. Kenyon can be traced back to his exposure to metaphysical ideas derived from attendance at Emerson College of Oratory in Boston, a breeding ground for New Thought philosophical ideas. Lovett (1979) writes in the IDPCM, "New thought philosophy can be traced to Phineas P. Quimby (1802-1866), whose ideas became popular at the close of the last century. Quimby studied Spiritism, occultism, hypnosis, and other aspects of parapsychology. Quimby, a New England healer and mesmerist, was said to be the mentor of Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science. Mary Baker Eddy shared Quimby's view that disease is rooted in a mental cause." Quimby used hypnosis and suggestion to heal his patients. He believed that all illnesses are usually a matter of the mind and come from the patient's mistaken beliefs. Quimby derived his thoughts and practices from the Austrian physician Franz Anton Mesmer. Mesmer discovered that words strongly spoken were more effective and that through hypnotism, one can control another person by putting the person in a trance. Kenneth E. Hagin Sr., a man, described by Charisma magazine as the father of the modern-day Word of Faith movement, has been accused of plagiarizing from Kenyon. One just has to put Kenyon's book, "The Wonderful Name of Jesus," and Hagin's book, "The Name of Jesus," side-by-side to verify this claim. Archbishop Idahosa of Nigeria, who received a diploma from Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas in 1971, had much contact with faith teachers like T.L. Osborn, Kenneth Hagin Sr., Copeland, and other Word of Faith teachers. After preaching in Nigeria, emphasizing financial success, he established a one-year training institute to train pastors from the West African region. The disciples he trained and ordained include Rev. Nicholas Duncan-Williams of Christian Action Faith Ministry, Rev. Charles Agyin Asare of the World of Miracle Bible Church, and many more. Some of his proteges in Nigeria include Ayo Oritsejafor, David Oyedepo, Felix Omobude, Chris Oyakhilome, and others. Benson Idahosa lived from 1938 to 1998. Some of the popular cliches from Idahosa's preaching and teachings are, "My God is not a poor God"; "Your attitude determines your altitude"; "It is riskier not to take risks"; "I am a possibilitarian" and "If your faith says yes, God cannot say no." In other words, Christians can have whatever they want if they can exercise faith. The thrust of the gospel, according to these preachers, is that the atonement or salvation of Christ is complete. Contrary to the Word of Faith teaching about salvation, the Judaic Christian faith teaches that our salvation is not complete until the second coming of Christ, after which time there will be no sin, no sicknesses, no diseases, and no death. Theologians describe this stage as glorification; we are not there yet, but the Word of Faith teachers want to force that stage of Christians' salvation into the present, resulting in many heretical teachings of the Bible. Orthodox Christianity describes salvation as, we are saved (Justification), we are being saved (Sanctification), and we will be saved (Glorification). We are not at the glorification stage yet: Some Pentecostal theologians like Gordon Fee describe the present stage as "The Already and Not Yet Kingdom." Jesus and his disciples taught their followers to seek supernatural power in their ministries and personal lives through prayers, as he often did. Through prayers, helpless humans petition the all-powerful God who hears their pleas and answers them according to His divine providence: He answers them according to his ways and his time of choosing and not ours. This approach to the Judaic Christian God calls for the penitents to accept their weaknesses and dependence on God. However, the Word of Faith teachers find this approach unpredictable and want a magical way of compelling the supernatural to produce the desired results as magicians do. They manipulate the physical and the spiritual dimensions through what anthropologists describe as mental magic. They also attempt to present a theodicy to absolve God from all things we consider evil: Sicknesses, diseases, wars, poverty, and death. Theodicy is a branch of philosophy that attempts to explain the existence of a loving God in the presence of evil. Since the beginning of the church, no one has provided a neat solution to this dilemma, not even the great Church father, St. Augustine. Nevertheless, the Word of Faith preachers castigate Job for his lack of faith and unbelief even when the Bible explicitly clarifies that it was God's will to prove Job's faithfulness, contrary to Satan's unfounded accusation against him. I think ministers intending to preach the orthodox Christian gospel need to know the root of this movement to prevent their members from abuse. Many people have lost their lives because of these teachings. Some faith teachers mock cripples and the poor in their churches, scorning them for their lack of faith. In some cases, some teachers of the Word of Faith have told bereaved families that their loved ones died because of lack of faith. The Word of Faith teachers must realize that the death rate is one per person: We all have been sentenced to death. The question is, when? The Government of Rwanda through its Ministry of Environment, this morning unveiled three former African Heads of State as patrons for the upcoming inaugural IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC). The three former heads of state include H.E Hailemariam Desalegn former Prime Minister for Ethiopia; H.E Issoufou Mahamadou former President Niger and H.E Festus Mogae former President for Botswana. The APAC Congress which is set to be the first ever continent-wide gathering of African leaders, citizens, and interest groups aims to discuss the role of protected areas in conserving nature, safeguarding Africas iconic wildlife, delivering vital life-supporting ecosystem services, promoting sustainable development while conserving Africas cultural heritage and traditions. In his acceptance speech during the unveiling, H.E Hailemariam Desalegn said: APAC presents an unparalleled opportunity to chart a path that balances economic growth with conservation of Africas natural capital. This will need to be done through strategic choices and investments driven by the best available knowledge and long-term thinking. I am therefore very pleased and honored to be joining my peers in leading this conversation through our patronage. Africas potential is enormous, and we believe that this Congress will be a stepping stone towards achieving our 2063 goals as a continent. The IUCN-APAC is convened by the IUCN-World Commission on Protected Areas in partnership with government agencies and conservation organizations with the support of development partners, corporate business, communities, and the media. In an acceptance video, H.E Issoufou Mahamadou said: The ability of leadership at all levels to be discerning and empowered is critical in shaping decisions that will affect Africas future. APAC seeks to deliberately foster dialogues that build and empower the current and the next generation of leaders to realize an African future where biodiversity is valued as an asset that contributes to development. This is why I am very happy and excited to accept this honorary position as a Patron of the inaugural congress that is intended to change the face of conservation and spearhead climate change mitigation efforts on a large scale. H.E Festus Mogae in his acceptance video reaffirmed that: APAC must be a turning point for the relationship between the global community and African institutions. As Africans, we recognize the pivotal role the global community and international organizations have played over the last 60 years. It is necessary for African communities and institutions to be actively involved in the conservation agenda for ownership and integration within the aspirations and vision for the Africa we want. I am thrilled to accept my role as one of the patrons at the upcoming Africa Protected Areas Congress to ensure the representation of African communities at this crucial time in our African history. An IUCN Member since 2016, Rwanda is proud to take up the global conservation leadership mantle and become the first African country to host the IUCN African Protected Area Congress. Rwanda has over the years demonstrated leadership and vision in defining a vision for growth in Rwanda that sustains people and nature. Speaking at the unveiling of the APAC Patrons, Minister of Environment, Rwanda, Dr Jeanne d'Arc Mujawamariya said that, It is critical that all African nations and leaders walk this journey together. The Africa Protected Areas Congress comes at a time when there is growing global attention on our strained relationship with nature. We are not investing enough in the natural systems we depend on. US$700 billion more is needed for biodiversity each year, less than 1% of global GDP. Africa spends less than 10% of what is needed to protect and restore nature. Protected areas must have access to the financing required for effective management and thus fulfill their role in providing essential biodiversity protection and ecosystem services for people and development. The congress is anchored on three key themes Protected Areas, People and Biodiversity as it seeks to deliberately foster dialogues that build and empower the current and the next generation of leaders to realize an African future where wildlife and wildlands are valued as an asset that contributes to development. Also speaking at the launch, AWF CEO Kaddu Sebunya said: Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame alongside the three Patrons and former Heads of State, we are confident that APAC will provide the best opportunity for elevating the plight of conservation and protected areas across the continents leaders. This is why at AWF, we have made it our primary responsibility to support African governments and people willing to chart futures that embrace wildlife and wild lands, hence our partnership with the Government of Rwanda and numerous governments across the continent. We believe that with our rich biological diversity, Africa plays a critical role in global conservation efforts and biodiversity conservation is most effective when we maintain healthy, functioning, and intact ecosystems. Through the congress, there is renewed hope to achieve African leadership commitment towards creating a unified African voice in conservation that will value African people and nature through effective protected areas. In his address, IUCN Regional Director Eastern and Southern Africa, Luther Anukur said: Building on the IUCN World Conservation Congress Marseille manifesto , the Glasgow COP 26 outcomes - Positioning nature and climate as two sides of the same coin, Protected and Conserved Areas play an important role in securing the resilience of ecosystems for which Africas economies and people depend upon. APAC is a joint effort of African leaders and multiple partners seeking to contribute to African Unions Agenda 2063 of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the international arena. With the commitment from the government of Rwanda to host the event and the leadership of His Excellency Paul Kagame alongside other Africa leaders, there is no doubt that the inaugural African Protected Area Congress will be a success. The overarching objective of the IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (APAC) is to position Africa protected and conserved areas within the broader goals of economic development and community well-being and to increase the understanding of the vital role parks play in conserving biodiversity and delivering the ecosystem services that underpin human welfare and livelihoods. The APAC congress organised jointly by Rwanda government, AWF and IUCN will be held at the Kigali Conference Centre in Kigali, Rwanda from 7th to 12th March 2022. About IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) is the world's premier network of protected area expertise, administered by IUCN's Global Programme on Protected Areas. WCPA works by helping governments and others plan protected areas and integrate them into all sectors; by providing strategic advice to policy makers; by strengthening capacity and investment in protected areas; and by convening the diverse constituency of protected area stakeholders to address challenging issues. About African Wildlife Foundation African Wildlife Foundation launched a series of events in October 2021 celebrating its 60th Anniversary . Founded in 1961 to focus on Africas conservation needs, AWF articulates a uniquely African vision, bridge science and public policy, and demonstrate the benefits of conservation to ensure the survival of the continents wildlife and wild lands. AWF is the primary advocate for the protection of wildlife and wild lands as an essential part of a modern and prosperous Africa. Ghanaians living home and abroad have been challenged to support the Appiatse community near Bogoso in the Western region. The community which has been devastated by an explosion last week has seen many people dead and several others injured. Almost all the buildings in the community have been affected leaving 1,000s of residents displaced. New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Treasurer hopeful, Mary Posch-Oduro has made a passionate appeal for all to support the community in putting smiles on the faces of victims. She indicated that the incident which has affected the people psychologically need psychologists to examine and help them out of trauma. "I'm appealing to all Ghanaians both home and abroad to support our people of Appiate with the little we have so that we can put smile on their faces. Currently, victims need psychologists to help them get out of the pain and fear within them so that they put their lives back," she appealed. Madam Mary Posch-Oduro also urged government to build a monument in recognition of those who died in the incident. She said this on an Accra based Oman FM when commenting on the sad development and the way forward. Government, organisations, institutions and personalities have donated many items and materials to relieve residents of their current situation. Government has also established Appiatse Support Fund through the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources to solicit support for the people to start up their lives again. Government has also commenced plans to rebuild the community. The Peoples National Convention (PNC) has called on Ghanaian judges and lawyers to learn from the Speaker of Parliament Alban Bagbins wardrobe change and also come up with a traditional made in Ghana uniform different from their current one. The party congratulating Mr Bagbins decision to ditch the colonial Speakers cloak for a traditional African wear also encouraged members of parliament and all institutions of state to emulate this fine showing of our culture. The Speaker of Parliament on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 showed up in Parliament in style clad in rich kente and jumper, complete with headgear as worn by a section of the people from the Volta region. Explaining his new dress code, Mr Bagbin said: Hon Members, this is the Parliament of Ghana, a unique made in Ghana product and we must showcase and market it to the world as a brand. We must create a unique set of values and norms that will give a unique character to our Parliament to set it apart from the colonial legacies of the British system. My outfit today, as the Speaker presiding, is to set in motion that agenda. The practice of MPs decently dressed in traditional attire led by the Speaker is long overdue. Ghanaians accept representation of the people to include representation of the full identity of the Ghanaian i. e. culture, tradition and more importantly their dress code. I am glad that this decision accords with some of the propositions of the first President of Ghana, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and the other founding members of the Parliament of the First Republic. The dominant dress code of members of the National Assemblies of independent Ghana was native costume. The Speaker of the first Parliament of the First Republic of the Country 1960 to 1965 - Rt Hon Joseph Richard Asiedu appreciated and practiced it. Hon Members, the robe, i. e the long garment, the headgear and bib, constitute the ceremonial dress of the Speaker. This ceremonial dress is worn to distinguish the Speaker from members and to reflect the pomp and pageantry of special national occasions. It was therefore meant to be worn on only those special occasions. The ceremonial dress is not meant to be a daily apparel of the Speaker. Even the British has long abandoned this dress code. Ghana has long abandoned only the headgear and the bib. Hon Members, I assure you, we are not on a walk in the park in this journey of renaissance and transformation. We will not walk alone in this matter. We have a lot of followers and supporters. It is with this, I happily invite all of you to wear Ghana, grow Ghana, eat Ghana, brand Ghana, and transform Ghana. From now I want to see more Members appear in Parliament decently adorned in traditional dress. Reacting to the Speakers new dress code the PNC in a statement signed by its General Secretary Janet Nabla said the party is of the believe that our economic condition and our ways of life would be improved the moment we decide to patronise our own products and live as Ghanaians and as Africans. Below is the full PNC statement: GREAT MOVE SPEAKER, The PNC commends the Right Honourable Speaker of Parliament for that show of our rich culture. The Speaker was looking too handsome in his regalia and that is a clear representation of the Ghanaian culture other than the usual gown. He is certainly adding to the numerous call, especially by the first gentleman of the land- President Nana Akuffo Addo, that public sector workers can be in African prints. Also President Kuffour in 2006 directed all public institutions to wear local textiles on Fridays to help boost the local industries who are into textiles production. It will also help us as a country to appreciate and patronise our own products and to live as Africans. Not only should members of parliament emulate this fine showing of our culture but this should be emulated by all institutions of state. We only need to add a cultural touch to what we inherited from the Europeans. Our courts could adopt a dress code that will still ensure discipline and at the same time showcase our rich tradition. On the 7th of January 2021, our Supreme court judges wore torn and faded uniform to the inauguration ceremony of President Nana Akufo-Addo and the PNC wondered whether it was due to lack of funds to purchase materials to sew new uniform or they were popping up with the status quo of our colonial masters. Prof. Kofi Awoonor mocked educated Ghanaians in his poem 'We have found a new land'. It was about Africans imitating the dressing of their colonial masters and abandoning their own. The judges and lawyers can also come up with a uniform different from their current one that should have a local touch, and that will be admirable. The PNC is of the belief that our economic condition and our ways of life would be improved the moment we decide to patronise our own products and live as Ghanaians and as Africans. Aside this monumental strides by the speaker, the Party wishes to indulge him to put his feet on the ground by remaining objective and neutral to ensure a healthy debate in the house. His ability to manage the house in the wake of E-levy shall be a test of his ability to remain a good a Speaker who will lead the house to strengthen our democratic credentials. PNC: Service with honesty -signed- Janet Asana Nabla General Secretary ---Classfmonline.com The field of contenders to become Browards next schools superintendent has just dropped to three. Peter Licata, who the School Board chose as one of four semifinalists Tuesday, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel he alerted the search firm Ray and Associates on Thursday morning that he was withdrawing. He wouldnt state a reason. Advertisement I want to thank the School Board of Broward County for their consideration of me for their next leader, he said in a text message. However, at this time I am stepping away from the process. Peter Licata, deputy superintendent for Palm Beach County schools, has removed himself from consideration as Broward's superintendent. (Courtesy Peter Licata) He also congratulated the three remaining finalists, Interim Superintendent Vickie Cartwright; Keith Oswald, chief of equity and wellness for Palm Beach County schools; and Michael Gaal, former deputy chancellor in Washington, D.C. Advertisement I wish them well as the process continues, Licata said. [ RELATED: Did Broward School Board violate state law? It will redo superintendent search meeting just in case. ] The School Board picked their top four finalists during Tuesdays meeting. Licata received support from five school board members to continue as a semifinalist, which was the third-highest of the 15 candidates. Cartwright received support from all nine board members, leading many to believe shes the favorite for the new job. Oswald was second with six votes. Gaal placed fourth with four votes. However, those rankings could change, and the School Board could decide to add a new fourth semifinalist. The meeting will be held over again on Tuesday, after the Sun Sentinel questioned whether the voting method in this weeks meeting violated the state Sunshine Law. Board members wrote their top picks on ballots, and it was never revealed in the meeting how individual board members voted. The school district provided the voting tally on Wednesday. The School Board will do the meeting over again Tuesday of next week to ensure the integrity of the superintendent search process, said a statement from the office of Kathy Koch, chief communications officer. The Bono Regional Minister, Justina Owusu Banahene, has cut the sod for the construction of an 18-unit residential accommodation for medical and para-medical staff of the Holy Family Hospital at Berekum in the Bono region. The minister was joined by the Catholic Bishop of Sunyani, Most Rev Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, the Omanhene of Berekum, Daasebre Amankona Diawuo and the Member of Parliament for Berekum East, Nelson Kyeremeh, to perform the sod-cutting ceremony, which attracted a lot of people from all walks of life. When completed, the project would go a long way to ease the acute shortage of accommodation for key medics and paramedics working at the Berekum Holy Family hospital. Ahead of the sod-cutting ceremony, the Bono Regional Minister inaugurated a newly built Computerized Tomography (CT) Scan and Endoscopy Unit at the Berekum Holy Family Hospital, a health facility owned by the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani. The newly constructed CT Scan and Endoscopy Unit was jointly provided by the MP for Berekum East, Nelson Kyeremeh and Mr. & Mrs. Asomah Hinneh, a philanthropic couple from the area. Following the opening of the unit, residents of Berekum and its surrounding districts and communities would no longer have to travel long distances to Sunyani or Kumasi to access CT scan or for endoscopy services. Madam Owusu Banahene was full of praise for the MP and the couple for their kind gesture and encouraged others to emulate their good example. She was positive that the newly inaugurated unit will obviously boost the provision of good quality health care in the area. She also paid glowing tribute to the Catholic church for their immeasurable contributions towards the development of the country over the years, especially in the areas of health and education. The minister emphasised that government alone cannot meet all the needs of the citizenry and that it is incumbent on religious organisations, corporate bodies and individuals who have the nation at heart to contribute in their own small way towards national development. MTN Group CEO and President Ralph Mupita has paid a days working visit to Ghana to engage some key stakeholders of the business and reiterate MTNs commitment to help grow the telecommunications industry in Ghana. The Group CEO and his team of executives paid courtesy calls on the Bank of Ghana, Ghana Revenue Authority and Ministry of Finance to interact and discuss issues of mutual interest. During the visit to the Bank of Ghana Mr. Mupita expressed his appreciation to the Central Bank for the support given to the business over the years. In his remarks the Governor of The Bank Dr. Ernest Addison congratulated MTN for the work done in the mobile financial services sector and indicated the BOG will count on the business to champion innovation and Financial Inclusion. Dr Addison was joined by the 2nd Deputy Governor Mrs Elsie Addo Awadzi. Ralph Mupita and his delegation then called on the Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority Rev. Amishaddai Owusu-Amoah and his deputies where he commended Ghana for encouraging headline growth last year. Ralph Mupita and MTN Ghana in a pose with the Governor Dr. Ernest Addisson, deputies, WECA VP Eben Asante, MTN Ghana CEO Selorm Adadevoh, CEO of Mobile Money Eli Hini and and other MTN Executives In his engagements with the Ministry for Finance Ralph reiterated MTN Groups commitment to the Ghana market and the companys continuous support to the Government of Ghana in achieving its digital agenda. This is the third visit of the Group CEO to Ghana since he assumed office. The Group CEO is being accompanied by the Vice President for WECA Ebenezer Asante, CEO of MTN Ghana Selorm Adadevoh, CEO of Mobile Money Ltd Eli Hini, Chief Corporate Services Officer Sam Koranteng and Chief Finance Officer Antoinette Kwofie. The visit to Ghana is part of Ralphs commitment to growing MTNs business in the various markets by consistently engaging local authorities to understand their expectations and to foster cordial working relationship. Ralphs next stop is Nigeria where he will also engage key stakeholders. The Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh, has described as worrying the frequent absence of the Speaker of Parliament from the jurisdiction to seek medical attention. After returning from medical leave on the 23rd of January, the Speaker is scheduled to jet off once again over the weekend for another medical review. In the Speaker's absence during the last meeting of Parliament, the split in the numbers in the house degenerated into a physical confrontation in the house. Speaking to Citi News, Frank Annoh Dompreh indicated that while the Speaker is entitled to the best of medical care, the question of the possibility of getting that within the jurisdiction should not be neglected. We have to put our heads together as a people or maybe leadership would have to find a way of helping the Speaker find a solution to this because it is becoming one too many. We also need to give it balance. He is the Speaker, he is taken ill, and he needs treatment. Is it the case that we can get an equally good medical team to have this treatment done here? These are questions we need to ask, vis-a-vis the fact that because of the nature of our Parliament now, one would have thought that we will find an alternative. I am just hoping that we will get to that point and make that conclusion and draw that line that based on the happenings and the matters at stake, we will be happy to have the Speaker sit in the chair. It is something we need to think about but also give a balance. This is the third time the Speaker is traveling to Dubai to undergo a medical review; the first was on November 27, 2022, and the second was on January 7, 2022, During the first medical review, Mr. Bagbin was accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Alice Adjua Yornas, Head of Parliamentary clinic, Dr. Prince Kofi Pambo, the Speaker's Secretary, and his aide. He embarked on his first medical trip a day after he presided over Parliament's chaotic developments that saw the Members of the Majority side of Parliament staging a walkout during processes to approve the 2022 budget and the House's subsequent rejection of same. ---citinewsroom The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), is calling on President Nana Akufo-Addo to intervene in addressing the concerns of the association. As the strike by UTAG enters its third week, UTAG believes the Presidents intervention will help calm matters and make the lecturers return to work. Dr. Eric Kwabena Kyeh Abavare, the UTAG Vice President of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology said the universities are not to blame for the continued refusal of lecturers to return to the classroom. I do not for once blame the employers because we can see genuine efforts on their part, but they don't have the ability [to make us return to the classroom]. There are three people who can solve this issue and one is the government of Ghana; Nana Akufo-Addo [the president], I think a word from him can neutralize all of this, he said. UTAG members on all campuses are on strike to force the government to restore the conditions of service agreed upon in 2012. The 2012 conditions of service pegged the Basic plus Market Premium of a lecturer at $2,084.42. UTAG has complained that the current arrangement has reduced its members' basic premiums to $997.84. The association has been on strike for the past three weeks. Meanwhile, members of the Tertiary Educational Institutions Network under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at KNUST, at a press conference expressed disappointment in the governments handling of the strike by their lecturers. Theophilus Berchie, the President of TEIN KNUST said, we are talking about the future of young people. Students suffer the most during such strikes. After a compromise, why has the government failed to engage UTAG to a reasonable conclusion after the effects of the first strike which disorganized many students across the country? Why are the government officials and communicators being insensitive to the suffering students and their future with their commentaries about the strike, he quizzed. The PRO of the Graduate Students Association of Ghana on the campus of KNUST, Francis Mintah has also reiterated the call for stakeholders to help resolve their concerns. People are stranded. The government together with all stakeholders should try and let cool heads prevail and come to a consensus so that the lectures can resume lectures so that we can benefit from what we have paid for, he said. ---citinewsroom Harrison Kojo Agbovi, from Akatsi Agbaflome and Raphael Hlotse, both 23 years are currently in the custody of the Akatsi Police for engaging in motor snatching. Superintendent Isaac Baah, the Akatsi South Municipal Police Commander, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA), that on Sunday, at about 1500 hours, both suspects narrowly escaped death after they were arrested by a mob at Kpevi, a village near Akatsi in the Akatsi South Municipality. Mr Baah said the two suspects together with one other, who is currently at large, attacked and robbed a commercial motor rider of his Sanya motorbike with registration number M22VR121 at Kpevi. He said on the day of the attack, one of the suspects hired the services of Edro Tobias, a commercial motor rider from Datsiedu near Ziope. He said upon reaching the planned location, the pillion rider attempted to strangle the rider with a rope. He said the rider was overpowered with support from other accomplices who emerged from the bush and they sped off with the Sanya motorbike belonging to the victim. "Luck eluded the suspects as the rider shouted for help and members of the community including other commercial motor riders arrested the two suspects in the neighbouring village, called Kpevi," he added. Mr Baah said the mob, drawn from the adjoining villages, subjected the two suspects to severe beatings before the Police got to the scene, where the suspects were rescued and sent to a health facility at Akatsi for medical attention under Police watch. He added that the third suspect, name unknown, however, managed to escape arrest and fled into the bush. The stolen motorbike was also retrieved. Meanwhile, the two suspects would be arraigned before a Sogakope Circuit Court on Thursday. The Ghana News Agency at Akatsi, also learnt that issues of motorbike snatching were becoming rampant. This incident comes barely four days after a pillion rider was arrested for attempting to rob his rider of his motorbike at Akatsi Agorve. GNA The Central Regional Chairman of the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Alhaji R.S. Artey has been interdicted over allegations of financial malfeasance, autocracy and dictatorship levelled against him. This is contained in an official letter from National Management of the Union copied to the Central Regional Secretariat in Cape Coast and all national officers. The management in the letter explains that the decision was taken after a preliminary investigation conducted into the allegations established a prima facie evidence. The National Management of the Union upon preliminary investigation conducted into the allegations of financial malfeasance, autocracy and dictatorship on the Central Regional Chairman of the Union by your colleague Regional Officers; have arrived at a decision to interdict you for a thorough investigations to be conducted into the whole issue. This is after the National Officers had interrogated you and had established (prima facie) (Preliminary information to support a case) against you in accordance with Article 23 of the Unions constitution sub clause (c), part of the GPRTU letter informing Alhaji R.S. Artey of his interdiction reads. In accordance with the management decision, the Central Regional Chairman of GPRTU will now be on two thirds of his salary allowance until the investigation is completed and decision is taken on the case. This goes in line with Article 23 of the Unions constitution sub clause (d) we says An Officer charge with a criminal offence shall be interdicted on two thirds (2/3) salary or Allowance until he or she is exonerated unquote. Alhaji R.S. Artey is in hot water after some elected regional officers led by vice chairman Ignatius Mensah lodged a complaint to the GPRTU national headquarters. They complained among other things that the chairman does not operate with the constitution. They also accused Alhaji R.S. Artey of selling two Benz buses and pocketing a whopping sum of GHS68,000 from the sales. Below is a copy of the complaint to the national headquarters: The President of the National House of Chiefs, Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II who also doubles as the Paramount Chief of the Sefwi Anhwiaso traditional in the Western North Region area has paid a courtesy call on the leadership of GCB Bank PLC. Mr Kojo Kwarteng, Head of Corporate Affairs who welcomed Nana Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II introduced management and emphasized the monumental role Chiefs played in the establishment of GCB Bank. In an interaction with management, Nana Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II commended GCB Bank for having the national interest at heart and added that theres always the clamour for GCB Bank branches due to the strategic role the Bank plays in national development. The MD of GCB Bank, Mr, Kofi Adomakoh expressed appreciation for the visit and congratulated Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II for his election as President of the National House of Chiefs in November, 2020. He called asked for Gods guidance and the wisdom of King Solomon to discharge his duties with distinction. Mr. Adomakoh stated that the visit was timely since in a few months, GCB Bank will commemorate celebrations for its 70th Anniversary which falls next year by recognizing the cultural and national heritage of the bank. He added that as a strategic national asset, GCB Bank is not only driven by profit motives but by social and economic development considerations and as such, the bank will continue to seek the interest of the Ghanaian. Mr. Odartey Lamptey, DMD Operations who was at the meeting also emphasized that GCB Banks wide branch network is driven by the need to seek the well-being of the Ghanaians. He added that GCB Bank is the first bank to establish a mobile money wallet dubbed G-Money which has a unique advantage of being telco-agnostic and as such it can be used by everyone irrespective of their mobile network. G-Money is currently utilized by many organizations including cocoa-buying firms who use it to pay cocoa farmers in a safe, secure, and speedy manner. Nana Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II called for a closer working relationship between GCB Bank and the National House of Chiefs to help drive Ghanas socio-economic agenda. Nana Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi II and management of GCB Bank also discussed other issues of mutual interest. Also present at the meeting was Mr. Socrates Afram, DMD Finance and the Corporate Affairs team. The National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in the Prestea Huni-Valley area, has started registering displaced residents and victims of the Bogoso-Apiate explosion in the Western Region. This is to make way for the relocation of the affected persons to a new site. The residents were rendered homeless after the explosion ransacked the whole area, leaving 14 dead and about 60 persons injured. NADMOs Deputy Director for Prestea Huni-Valley, Louis Afful, says his outfit will ensure that the displaced residents are taken care of. We have decided to take them to their new place now. What we are doing now is the registration and everything is okay. We went there this morning to check everything we have been doing there. The place was built by a mining company to resettle one of these communities. Since this incident happened, the people have agreed to give us the place. The GPRTU has also provided us with a bus to move the people. We are moving the mothers and children first, and then another vehicle will come for the pregnant women and the youth will be the last batch. Already, the government has begun the process to rebuild the Appiate community. Following the incident, the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, led a government delegation to commiserate with the victims of the tragedy. The Vice President promised that the government will pay in full the medical bills of all the injured, and work with the relevant agencies to reconstruct the Appiate township. On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, the Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel A. Jinapor, launched the Appiate Support Fund to raise funds to, among other things, reconstruct the community. Speaking later in Parliament, the Minister said the government was committed to rebuilding the community into a modern one to bring the necessary relief to the people of the community. Following this, a government delegation which included the Minister and Deputy Ministers for Lands and Natural Resources, the Minister for Works and Housing, the Western Regional Minister, officials of the Minerals Commission, State Housing Company, Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA), Department of Rural Housing and the Ghana Chamber of Mines, visited the community on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. Welcoming the delegation, the Chief of the town, Nana Atta Kwadwo Bremebi, thanked the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for all that he has done since the incident. He said since the tragic incident, the President has shown great concern, constantly sending high-profile government officials, including the Vice President, to visit the community and to ensure that emergency relief items are available. He called on the government to expedite action on investigations to ensure that such incidents do not happen in the future. The Minister for Lands Natural Resources, Mr. Samuel A. Jinapor, who led the delegation said, every tragic incident requires three immediate actions, first is the provision of emergency relief items, second is investigations to determine what went wrong and to punish wrongdoers, and the third is the rebuilding of whatever that is lost. In respect of the first, he said, the President has instructed all the security services and the National Disaster Management Organisation, to mobilise all the requisite resources to provide emergency relief to the victims of the incident. Mr. Jinapor said on the instructions of the President, the security agencies and the Minerals Commission were also conducting thorough investigations into the incident and whoever is found culpable would be made to face the law. He said the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has also formed a committee to undertake independent investigations into the incident and to make recommendations to avert such incidents. Mr. Jinapor disclosed that the purpose of the visit was in respect of the government's third response to the incident, which is to rebuild the community. He said President Akufo-Addo instructed him and the Minister for Works and Housing to visit the community to assess the destruction and to find ways of rebuilding the community. He called on the Chiefs and people to support the government and the committee managing the fund to ensure the rebuilding of the community. The Minister for Works and Housing, Mr. Francis Asenso-Boakye, said the reason for bringing the agencies along is for them to assess the damage and the land and to see how to rebuild the community. He said LUSPA will undertake the planning of the community, while the State Housing Company and the Department for Rural Housing will oversee the rebuilding of the community. He noted that already, the State Housing Company has done a lot of work, and once their reports are ready, the government will take the necessary action to facilitate the rebuilding of the community. The delegation visited the temporary site being built to house the displaced families. Following the visit, Mr. Jinapor said the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources will set up a committee, made up of members from the relevant agencies, to oversee the rebuilding of the community. Sub-Saharan Africa faces some of the biggest challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals . For instance, Nigeria has at least 87 million people in extreme poverty. The country's unemployment rate was over 33.3% , the second highest in the world, at the end of 2020. These kinds of challenges are the business of social science the branch of science concerned with society and human behaviours. Social science research helps in understanding and developing solutions to complex problems including climate change, pandemics, poverty and unemployment. Achieving a country's development agenda requires domestic social science research capacity to produce contextually relevant evidence to inform actions. But little is known about social science research capacity and knowledge gaps in developing countries. Most of them lack reliable system-wide data. We recently undertook a research project to begin to fill in some of the missing picture. The project is connected to the Doing Research Program of the Global Development Network. In addition to providing what we believe is the first comprehensive open-access dataset on social science research production, dissemination and uptake in Nigeria, we analysed the systemic factors that influence its volume and quality. The case of Nigeria is instructive for two reasons. First, it is the continent's largest country, by population and gross domestic product . It is also the second largest producer of social science research publications after South Africa. Secondly, Nigeria has 170 universities which employed more than 60,000 academic staff at the end of 2019. However, the research output does not match this size. While Nigeria had roughly five times as many universities as South Africa in 2019, its aggregate research output from all disciplines was just over a third of South Africa's . Nigeria has 170 universities while South Africa has 26 . We asked why such a large research system produced so little and what could be done about it. The answers seem to lie in quantity and quality of personnel, time available for research, funding, support institutions and policy. Volume and quality We interviewed 17 key informants and surveyed 684 individuals (27% female, 47% PhD holders) including 506 researchers, 117 research administrators and 61 policymakers. They are all involved in the social science research system in Nigeria. A country's research production is commonly measured by counting how many research articles are published by researchers affiliated with an institution located in the country. In our research, we estimated the number of social science research articles with at least one author affiliated to a Nigerian institution from 2005-2009 using data from the first African Innovation Outlook . Our research confirms that Nigeria's production does not match its size. We found a high volume of production in absolute terms but a low rate (0.6) per researcher or when compared with other top countries like South Africa. Although Nigeria was the second largest producer of social science research in Africa between 2005 and 2009, with 1,133 publications, it produced only about 25% of South Africa's 4,111. On the positive side, we found that around 98% of all published social science output in Nigeria is peer-reviewed. This is an encouraging sign. Rigorous peer review helps to improve research quality and reduce unethical practices. The potential for quality is hindered by systemic weaknesses related to inputs and research support. Our findings The quantity and quality of personnel, the amount of time that they are able to spend on research and the availability of funding all influence the rate of production. Personnel: We estimated that in 2017, the number of social science researchers living and working in Nigeria was anywhere between 6,389 and 31,943, around 36% of whom had a PhD. To arrive at these estimates, we used the best available data from the National Universities Commission and the 2009 Survey of Research and Experimental Development in Nigeria done by our organisation . The absence of more recent or precise data shows the problem of poor data on the Nigerian research system. Time spent on research: About 7 out of every 10 researchers that we sampled indicated that they did not have sufficient time for research over the last three years. They spent only 39% of their time on research, on average. Having to do other things limits productivity and encourages unethical behaviour such as poor documentation that limits reproducibility in research. Funding: It came out clearly in our study that social science research is poorly funded in Nigeria. A senior staff member of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund , the government organisation responsible for funding research and infrastructure in universities, told us that funding is not adequate to the level that we can push the economy forward. Foreign funding is not always aligned to local research needs. Weak research support systems The effectiveness of the input factors is in turn conditioned by the system: institutions, policy, organisational support and administration. An active central institution for the management of research helps to set the research agenda in a country and align it to national development priorities. This exists in some countries as a research council, such as the Human Sciences Research Council in South Africa. In Nigeria, however, no such organisation exists. This means there's no coordination; efforts can be duplicated and impact is reduced. Most researchers were dissatisfied with the research support services provided in their institutions. The problems ranged from incompetence of support staff to the absence of relevant services. The way forward The first challenge for policymakers is to acknowledge that the problems are all related. Perhaps the most gaping need that our research has identified is for research coordination. The good news is that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund recently joined the Science Granting Council Initiative, a consortium that seeks to promote research excellence in sub-Saharan Africa. Research organisations and the government also need to create an environment that supports research. For example, better funding could prevent academics from using their research sabbatical time to earn extra income. Competent research management offices are also required in every university. Abiodun Egbetokun received research funding from the Global Development Network. Adedayo Olofinyehun does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. By Abiodun Egbetokun, Assistant Director, Research, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) And Adedayo Olofinyehun, Researcher, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) Youth for Peace and Security Africa (YPS-Africa) has petitioned Chairman for the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS), H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to see to it that sanctions imposed on Mali are revoked. At an extraordinary summit of the leaders of the West African States early this month after the military government demanded a longer transition period following a coup last May, the bloc chose to impose some sanctions on the Republic of Mali. The sanctions include withdrawal of ECOWAS ambassadors from Mali; the closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Mali; and the suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Mali. Although the sanctions were rejected by the United Nations Security Council, they have been enforced. In a petition to ECOWAS chair H.E Akufo-Addo, YPS-Africa has described the sanctions on Mali as draconian, insisting that it is killing thousands of Malians on a daily basis due to the hardship it has brought to families. The People of Mali are literally dying on daily bases in thousands out starvations, suicide, frustrations, depressions, and of lack of vital medicine. This was not what ECOWAS promised the people, part of the petition to ECOWAS chair Akufo-Addo who is also president of Ghana reads. The petition adds, These sanctions are killing people. ECOWAS is killing innocent and poor Malians. This is a genocide. Why should ordinary Malians be punished for something they have no power to control? The poor Malians do not command the military, and do not control the armory of Mali. What is their offense? In an appeal, Youth for Peace and Security Africa wants H.E Akufo-Addo to intervene and have all sanctions against Mali revoked. In view of the above unintended hardships, deaths, and depression these draconian sanctions have brought directly on the innocent Malians, we humbly request an urgent, humanitarian, and passionate actions to revoke all the sanctions on the people of Mali, the petition pleads. Meanwhile, Youth for Peace and Security Africa has urged ECOWAS to continue to explore diplomatic means in dealing with the situations in Mali since any military intervention will kill innocent people. Below is a copy of the petition from YPS-Africa: H.E. PRESIDENT NANA AKUFO ADDO THE CHAIRPERSON ECOWAS AUTHORITY OF HEADS OF STATES AND GOVERNMENT ACCRA H.E. PRESIDENT FELIX-ANTOINE TSHISEKEDI THE CHAIRPERSON AFRICAN UNION ADDIS ABABA Dear Your Excellency, PETITION: ECOWAS SANCTIONS IMPOSED ON MALI- A REVIEW OF THE DRACONIAN PUNISHMENTS THAT ARE KILLING THE POOR AND INNOCENT CITIZENS, PAINFULLY AND SLOWLY Youth for Peace and Security Africa, YPS-Africa is the largest network of African youth being engaged and equiped with skills and responsibilities to prevent and resolve violent and bloody conflicts and crimes in their communities. YPS-Africa was registered in Ghana in 2012 with the vision, A Safe and Developed Africa. It has members and volunteers in 21 African countries who are leading peacebuilding in their communities under the slogan, Making Africa safer for better development. We acknowledge the growing challenges faced by ECOWAS on the continent. We also appreciate the efforts and the interventions of the bloc in addressing some of the challenges. At an extraordinary summit of the leaders of the West African States, after the failure of ECOWAS to reach an agreement with the Transitional Government of Republic of Mali, the bloc chose to impose some draconian sanctions on the Republic of Mali. These sanctions, which were rejected by the United Nations Security Council, details: withdrawal of ECOWAS ambassadors from Mali; the closure of land and air borders between ECOWAS countries and Mali; and the suspension of all commercial and financial transactions between ECOWAS member states and Mali. On paper, these severe sanctions may be intended to punish the leaders of the Transitional Government of the Republic of Mali and force them to submit to the dictates of ECOWAS but in effects, it is the innocent Malians who are being punished by ECOWAS. Sanctions in general, around the world, have only brought severe hardship to poor and innocent citizens. They did little to nothing to the leaders of governments. Sanctions have not forced or achieved any desired compromises anywhere. It still baffles YPS-Africa, why ECOWAS chose sanctions to deal with the complex situation in Mali. The draconian sanctions, in effects in Mali: family members, husbands, brothers and sisters who work in ECOWAS countries cannot send money home to their sick mothers, pregnant wives, and children for medicines, food, education, healthcare and school fees. Petty traders and market women (some single parents) who rely on cross-border goods and services for their businesses are forced to close their trades and are now home. Huge companies are being forced to close down, creating more unemployment. The people of Mali have suffered enough before the imposition of these draconian sanctions by ECOWAS. No country can survive such a blockade, not even Qatar or America. The People of Mali are literally dying on daily bases in thousands out starvations, suicide, frustrations, depressions, and of lack of vital medicine. This was not what ECOWAS promised the people. These sanctions are killing people. ECOWAS is killing innocent and poor Malians. This is a genocide. Why should ordinary Malians be punished for something they have no power to control? The poor Malians do not command the military, and do not control the armory of Mali. What is their offense? If the putting of these severe sanctions on the people of Mali was to force them to remove the military government, then that is unfair. How are sick grandparents, pregnant women, children, petty traders and market women suppose to take guns and bomb against the military government? That is a suicide and impossible mission, no matter how hard ECOWAS punishes these innocent and suffering people. Our humble demands In view of the above unintended hardships, deaths, and depression these draconian sanctions have brought directly on the innocent Malians, we humbly request an urgent, humanitarian, and passionate actions to revoke all the sanctions on the people of Mali. We also ask ECOWAS to continue to explore diplomatic means in dealing with the situations in Mali since any military intervention will kill innocent people. Thank you. Yours Faithfully ... ABRAHAM KORBLA KLUTSEY Executive Director: YPS-Africa and CNPSA Xi calls on businesspeople in nations to expand mutually beneficial cooperation President Xi Jinping has urged farsighted businesspeople from China and the United Kingdom to uphold the "ice-breaking spirit", and keep expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries to help promote bilateral ties. Xi made the remark in a congratulatory message delivered to the "Icebreakers" 2022 Chinese New Year Online Celebration hosted by the 48 Group Club, a London-based nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting trade between China and the UK, on Wednesday. The event was supported by the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK, and the China-Britain Business Council. In his congratulatory message, Xi recollected the "ice-breaking trip" made by Jack Perry, father of Stephen Perry, chairman of the 48 Group Club, together with a group of farsighted people from the British business community, in spite of lots of obstacles in the early 1950s. Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level between China and the UK, Xi said that looking back, China will never forget old friends who made historic contributions to the development of Sino-British ties. Looking forward, Xi expressed his hope that farsighted people from China and Britain's industrial and business communities could adhere to the "ice-breaking spirit" to bolster win-win cooperation in order to give fresh significance to bilateral ties and deliver more benefits to the two countries and their peoples. The 48 Group Club is named after a British trade delegation of 48 businessmen, referred to as the "Icebreakers", who traveled to China in 1954 to establish trading relations between the two countries. The organization's motto is "Equality and Mutual Benefit", and it has been working to promote positive Sino-British relations. Addressing the event, Zheng Zeguang, the Chinese ambassador to the UK, called for the business communities in China and the UK to join hands and leverage their respective strengths, and consolidate their cooperation in the traditional areas of trade, investment, finance, manufacturing and infrastructure. He also suggested they should expand into new areas such as healthcare, fintech, green energy, the digital economy and creative industries, and also explore other markets. "In this way, we can create more highlights of cooperation and bring more benefits to the peoples of the two countries and beyond," Zheng said. Philip Hammond, former British chancellor of the exchequer, talked about the huge Chinese market, and said that as the UK feels its way to a new set of post-Brexit trade relationships across the globe, China will be an important partner. Chinese investors can be confident that the things that have made the UK an attractive destination for Chinese investment in the past will continue to do so in the future, he said. As students and staff members navigate going to school during a pandemic that many say has triggered a community mental health crisis, Palm Beach County schools will beef up mental health training with a $1 million federal grant. The school district will use the grant money to hire two staff members to train district staff to respond to mental health crises in schools and teach students to recognize signs of distress in themselves and their peers. Advertisement The STOP School Violence program has already been implemented in certain high schools in the district, said Keith Oswald, chief of equity and wellness for Palm Beach County schools. Now, with the help of the three-year grant, the district can expand the curriculum to reach 19,000 students and train 1,260 of them as safe school ambassadors. [ RELATED: Mental health course, which teaches how to handle emergency, to be offered in Delray Beach ] The stop school violence grant is going to address the number one concern that Ive heard from constituents and families in Palm Beach County over the last year, which is the mental health and safety of their children, said school board member Alexandria Ayala. If youre actively engaged with young people, with students, with schools... It is highly pressurized right now. Advertisement Ayala said a year of at-home learning has intensified the issues. Students relied on social media as a tool to stay connected with their peers during remote learning. But too much social media can be toxic to young minds, especially young women, Ayala said. Ayala said she receives calls from parents who say they had to hospitalize their kid under Floridas Baker Act because they were in such deep emotional distress after not receiving the ACT test score theyd hoped for. Others have had to put their child in counseling because they brought something to hurt themselves or others on campus. When they are struggling, it is not the students fault, she said. It is our job to support them, to meet them where theyre at and give them the resources to come out of that and be successful. [ RELATED: We are scared every day: Student fights and assaults on teachers trouble schools amid pandemic ] There are currently more than 3,000 students with referrals to mental health services in Palm Beach County, Oswald said. And schools have seen an exponential increase in violence and threats on campus since students returned to schools. The program will train students and staff to identify a problem, de-escalate conflict and learn who to contact in the midst of a mental health crisis. When a classmate is having a panic attack or getting bullied, students whove taken the course can make a quick but educated determination about their risk of suicide or harm to others. Theyll better know how to communicate with the person in distress, who may be irrational or manic. In teen mental health first aid, we teach kids about risk factors and signs and symptoms of mental health distress, Oswald said. It goes further to how do you develop an action plan. Advertisement Kids are referring other kids saying hey, my friend, I think shes having a real hard time. What can we do? he said. So we know kids want to help other kids. Were empowering them with more tools and strategies to address that. Besides Palm Beach County, Lee and Hillsborough are the only other counties in Florida that received the federal grant. U.S. Rep Lois Frankel, D-West Palm Beach, who helped secure the funding for Palm Beach County, said the program could have helped prevent the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Brooke Baitinger can be reached at: bbaitinger@sunsentinel.com, 954-422-0857 or on Twitter: @bybbaitinger Chad announced Thursday that a national forum designed to chart the country's future after a military takeover last year would be postponed by nearly three months. An "inclusive national dialogue" that the ruling junta had declared on New Year's Eve would start on February 15 "is postponed until May 10," the presidency said on Facebook, without further details. Precursor talks in Qatar with armed Chadian rebel groups, aiming at bringing them into the dialogue, are also being postponed. These were previously scheduled to start by the end of January, but will now begin on February 27, a senior official in the dialogue's organisation committee said. The armed groups have yet to agree among themselves on taking part, the official said. An impoverished, volatile nation in the heart of the Sahel, Chad was buffeted last April when its veteran president, Idriss Deby Itno, died fighting rebels in the north of the country. His 37-year-old son, Lieutenant-General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, swiftly took over at the head of a junta called the Transitional Military Council (TMC). He dismissed the government, dissolved the parliament and repealed the constitution. He vowed to hold "free and transparent" elections in 18 months -- a deadline that he said could be postponed once if "certain conditions" were not fulfilled. Chad holds a special position in the jihadist-torn Sahel, with armed forces that analysts say are the strongest in the fragile region, and there was little criticism of the takeover from the international community. The European Union, African Union and former colonial power France have however called for the 18-month deadline to be upheld, which would mean that elections would be staged in late 2022. Deby overtures In August, Deby junior announced that a committee would organise a national dialogue with a view to staging presidential and parliamentary ballots. He also made overtures towards the rebels, including the FACT group which killed his father, and let opposition and civil society groups stage marches and rallies, something that his father had systematically banned during his 30-year rule. On December 31, Deby announced that the forum would start on February 15. At its end, "a new constitution will be adopted by referendum and transparent, free, credible and democratic general elections will be organised," he said. On the presidency's Facebook, Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke -- a civilian appointed to the job by the junta -- said in a video that the "pre-dialogue (with the rebels) has to be held." He said that rebel chiefs were "scattered around the world," and that there were "logistical questions -- many of them do not have travel documents." Qatar, the host country, "has proposed bringing them together in Doha from February 27," he said, adding that the talks there "could last two weeks." President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has sneered at suggestions that his government is to be blamed for Ghanas recent economic turbulence. According to the President, such claims are only from propagandists seeking to capitalize politically to gain public sympathy and to destroy his governance. The Ghanaian leader dismissed such claims from people and described them as political detractors indicating that such comments make them stay relevant. There are some who claim that the difficulties currently confronted by the nation has nothing to do with the effects of the pandemic of Covid-19. They say they are purely Ghanaian phenomenon which is due to economic mismanagement. Im not disturbed by this contestation because the facts of the situation do not bear it out. But I do recognize the political necessity for them to sustain these falsehoods, President Akufo-Addo said. Nana Addo also said COVID-19 has thwarted the economic progress being made not only in Ghana but also in countries big or small in the world. According to him, this is not to look for an excuse but to state the obvious reality. It is unfortunate but it is true. In Ghana, the pandemic has impacted on every sector of the economy, the agriculture sector being the least, thanks to the success of Planting for Food and Jobs, President Akufo-Addo stressed. Minister for Communication and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu Ekuful, says the e-levy will not erode the gains made in digital transactions as some have suggested. Shes of the view that the government will raise adequate revenue from the e-levy for national development. Speaking at the governments first town hall meeting in the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua on the controversial tax, she likened the public reaction to the E-levy to the Communication Services Tax (CST), arguing that despite the many criticisms and opposition to the CST, also known as talk tax, it was passed, and its results have been impressive. She noted that although she was among those against the CST, she has now realized how helpful it has been and strongly believes that the E-levy will follow the same trajectory. Our collective experience shows that despite their initial opposition to many of these interventions [including the CST], theyve proven to be worth the wait, she said. The Ablekuma West legislator appealed to the opposition National Democratic Congress, NDC, and the minority in parliament, to endorse the tax and cooperate with the government in getting it passed. I appeal to them [minority] to cooperate with government and work with us to pass this levy as well because ultimately, the result that we got from the Communication Services Tax, which clearly didnt destroy the industry, will also be evident post-implementation of this levy as we all work collectively to enhance access to and use of digital platforms working with Ministry of Finance to ensure that digital financial services become the norm as we strive to become a cash-lite society. Ursula Owusu Ekuful noted that contrary to suggestions that implementing a tax on mobile money transactions will lead to many people moving to cash-based transactions, evidence from other countries such as Uganda show that after only a few months of reduced digital financial transactions, mobile money transactions bounced back to become the leading means of transactions. When a similar levy was passed in Uganda, transaction values reduced slightly upon the introduction of this levy, but they picked up almost immediately, she said, adding that she is confident that Ghana will do much better. The government has said that it will re-submit the Bill to Parliament, following the conclusion of extensive consultations on the controversial levy. A section of the public including some civil society organizations has kicked against the governments plans to introduce a 1.75% tax on electronic financial transactions of above GHS 100. ---citinewsroom President Nana Akufo-Addo, on Thursday, January 27, 2022, made a personal donation of GHS100,000 to the Appiatse Support Fund which has been established by Government following the Appiatse explosion incident. Launching the Fund at the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the sector minister, and Member of Parliament for Damongo Constituency, Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, said the purpose of the Fund is to, among others, support the victims of the incident and reconstruct the Appiatse community. The Minister has also inaugurated a five-member committee, chaired by a former Minister and Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee, to manage the fund, with the charge to raise sufficient funds, and supervise its disbursement in accordance with the highest standards of integrity and transparency for the benefit of the Appiatse community. The Minister later led a Government delegation to inspect the community to begin the process of reconstruction. With this donation, the President becomes the first person to donate to the Fund. At a short ceremony at Jubilee House where the donation was made, the President said the incident was an unfortunate one which resulted in loss of life and property, injuries, and the destruction of the entire community. He said he was deeply saddened by the incident, and, thus, sent the Vice President, and other senior Government officials, to commiserate with the people. The President expressed his deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wished the injured speedy recovery. He reaffirmed Governments commitment to pay in full the medical bills of all the injured. The President also said Government was committed to supporting the victims and rebuilding the community, and hence the establishment of the Fund. He said the donation was his personal donation, and that Government will support the Fund with the necessary resources to rebuild the community. The President also said he has tasked the security agencies to conduct full and impartial investigations into the matter, and anyone found culpable will be made to face the law. He called on all well-meaning Ghanaians and foreigners, as well as corporate Ghana, to donate generously to the Fund to speed up the reconstruction of the community. Receiving the donation, the Chairperson of the Appiatse Support Fund Committee, Dr. Joyce Aryee thanked the President for the generous gesture. She said she hoped that the donation by the President will encourage more people to donate to the Fund to support the victims and the reconstruction of the community. The Appiatse Support Fund was established following an explosion which occurred when a truck carrying explosives for mining was involved in an accident at the town. Thirteen people died from the incident while over hundred people suffered various degrees of injuries. The community was razed by the explosion. Government established the Fund to support the community. The other members of the Committee that manages the Fund are Tetrete Okuamoah Sakyi II, Omanhene of Wassa Amenfi Traditional Area, Mr. Philip Owiredu, Managing Director of Cal Bank, Dr. Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana and Mr. Sulemanu Koney, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines. Chad's junta announced Thursday that a national forum designed to chart the country's future after it seized power a military takeover last year would be postponed by nearly three months. An "inclusive national dialogue" that the putschists had declared on New Year's Eve would start on February 15 "is postponed until May 10," the presidency said on Facebook, without giving further details. Precursor talks in Qatar with armed Chadian rebel groups, aiming at bringing them into the dialogue, are also being postponed. These were previously scheduled to start by the end of January, but will now begin on February 27, a senior official in the dialogue's organising committee said. The armed groups have yet to agree among themselves on taking part, the official said. An impoverished, volatile nation in the heart of the Sahel, Chad was buffeted last April when its veteran president, Idriss Deby Itno, died fighting rebels in the north of the country. His 37-year-old son, Lieutenant-General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, swiftly took over at the head of a junta called the Transitional Military Council (TMC). After dismissing the government, dissolving the parliament and repealing the constitution, he promised "free and transparent" elections in 18 months -- a deadline that he said could be postponed once if "certain conditions" were not fulfilled. Map of Chad. By AFP Chad holds a special position in the jihadist-torn Sahel, with armed forces that analysts say are the strongest in the fragile region, and there was little criticism of the takeover from the international community. The European Union, African Union and former colonial power France have however called for the 18-month deadline to be upheld, which would mean that elections would be staged in late 2022. Deby overtures In August, Deby junior announced that a committee would organise a national dialogue with a view to staging presidential and parliamentary ballots. He also made overtures towards the rebels, including the FACT group which killed his father, and let opposition and civil society groups stage marches and rallies, something that his father had routinely banned during his 30-year rule. On December 31, Deby announced that the forum would start on February 15. At its end, "a new constitution will be adopted by referendum and transparent, free, credible and democratic general elections will be organised," he said. On the presidency's Facebook page, Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke -- a civilian appointed to the job by the junta -- said in a video that the "pre-dialogue (with the rebels) has to be held." He said that rebel chiefs were "scattered around the world", and that there were "logistical questions -- many of them do not have travel documents." Qatar, the host country, "has proposed bringing them together in Doha from February 27," he said, adding that the talks there "could last two weeks." Deadline question One of the older Deby's fiercest enemies, Timan Erdimi, who heads the powerful Union of Resistance Forces (UFR), told AFP "we are not against this (new) date," but called for a tripartite commission, gathering "politico-military" representatives as well as the Chadian and Qatari government, to prepare for the talks. For his part, Mahamat Assileck Halata, vice president of another rebel group, the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), said: "We don't see any inconvenience with this postponement -- it will give us time to work on our demands." But a rising figure in Chadian opposition politics, Succes Masra, said that postponement could entrench military dominance. "We aren't surprised (by the postponement), because we have always warned that the junta was wasting time in order to delay things and that this would have a repercussion on the 18 months," he said, referring to Deby's timetable. Executive Director of Jatikay Centre for Human Security and Peace Building Adib Saani, has said many democratically elected leaders are more tyrannic than coup makers. According to him, the increase in coups in recent times in the sub-region is a result of dictatorship governance under the cover-up of democratically elected leaders compared to coup makers. In a statement, he said some democratically elected leaders engage in despotic acts such as the manipulation of constitutions to extend their rule. He added that some engage in electoral district gerrymandering to give them an urge over their political opponents whilst others use the cover of COVID 19 to silence opposition groups with some passing regressive laws and policies. Governments that also pass regressive laws and policies without caring about its unpopularity might also be creating disenchantment and anger amongst the people, he stated. He cited the ousting of Omar Al Bashir, former Sudanese President in an uprising as a result of an increase in bread prices. It takes just a slight trigger for hell to break loose, he noted. "They use all sort of questionable tactics such as intimidation, unlawful imprisonment, physical violence, or even assassination to hold on to power. Consequently, we can only expect more coups and instability in countries that have failed to consolidate their democracies and have equally failed to improve the quality of life of their people. He stressed that, according to the world population review, as of 2020, there are 52 nations with a dictator or authoritarian regime ruling the country with 22 in Africa. But interestingly, many of these dictators claim to be elected by the people even if turn out is 20%, and boycott by other parties. In an early interview on Atinka FMs Midday News Tuesday, he advised that Ghanaians pay critical attention to happenings in Burkina Faso as it could cause a trigger in Ghana. The military in Burkina Faso announced on Monday that it had ousted President Roch Kabore, suspended the constitution, dissolved the government and the national assembly, and closed the countrys borders. The government of President Akufo Addo has come under serious attack by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and sections of the public over economic mismanagement resulting in untold hardships. Mali's military regime has taken an "irresponsible" decision by expelling Danish special forces sent to help fight jihadist insurgents, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Thursday. Denmark said the country would withdraw its newly deployed contingent of 90 troops from Mali after repeated demands by the Sahel country's military junta. "This junta is illegitimate and it is taking irresponsible actions [...] It bears all the responsibility for the withdrawal of the Danish forces and is isolating itself even more from its international partners," Le Drian told reporters in Paris. The junta, which came to power in a coup in August 2020, first asked Denmark to withdraw its troops on Monday, following a deployment it said had been undertaken without consent. The next day, Kofod told reporters that Danish forces were in Mali "on a clear basis" following an invitation and that his government was seeking to clarify the issue. Mali's junta late Wednesday responded by repeating its demand while calling Kofod's comments "inappropriate". 'Not welcome' "The coup generals sent out a public statement reiterating that Denmark is not welcome in Mali," Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said, referring to a repeated demand from the Malian leadership. "Of course we do not accept that. That is why we have also decided... to bring our forces home," Kofod told a press conference after a meeting in parliament. "We are there at the invitation of Mali. The coup generals, in a dirty political game, have withdrawn that invitation. Unfortunately, it is a game we see because they do not want a quick way back to democracy," Kofod added. A contingent of around 90 Danish soldiers arrived in Mali to join European special forces supporting the country's anti-jihadist operations earlier this month. Denmark has previously sent troops to participate in military interventions in Mali, some with the UN's MINUSMA peacekeeping force and others with the French-led Operation Barkhane. The new contingent was joining Task Force Takuba -- a 900-troop French-led unit launched in March 2020. Takuba brings together special forces from European nations to advise Malian troops and assist them in combat. (with wires) The Ukraine crisis is intensifying and diplomatic efforts to prevent an all-out conflict have been stepped up. Yesterday, a meeting in Paris on the ongoing hot war in eastern Ukraine yielded some results, but too few to diffuse tensions. The meeting in Paris, between Russian and Ukrainian representatives, resulted in promises about a ceasefire. A French diplomat said that more than eight hours of discussions brokered by France and Germany had been positive, while an Elysee press release confirmed that another round of talks would take place in Berlin in the second week of February. But the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk are not impressed. Commenting on the outcome of the talks, Ukrainian separatist Eduard Basurin told the Donetsk-based DAN News Agency that military assistance from Russia to Republic of Donbass may be necessary given the fact that the EU and US are supplying the Ukraine with weapons. He spoke after Russia's ruling party urged the Kremlin to start arming the separatist-held region as tensions between Moscow and the West continue to rise. Vladimir Vasilyev, head of the United Russia faction in parliament's lower house, the State Duma, is repoted by the Tass News Agency to have appealed "to the leadership of our country to provide assistance to the Lugansk and Donetsk republics in the form of supplies of military products necessary to deter aggression." Pessimism On the other side of the frontline, there is pessimism too. Ukrainian soldiers, talking to French new agency AFP, are sceptical that US sanctions against Moscow and Kyiv's appeal for Nato help will deter Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. Faced with the largest deployment of Russian troops on Ukraine's borders since 2014, President Volodymyr Zelensky has requested more tangible help from the West, but many Ukrainian troops say they know they are on their own. Meanwhile, on top of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, European capitals also fear Kyiv could be lured into a clash with the pro-Russian separatists. According to senior European officials, the Western allies have warned Moscow that any provocation there - even if uniformed Russian troops were not directly involved - would also trigger the list of sanctions they are currently drawing up. They have also urged Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky not to allow his forces to be drawn into more fighting by any Russian-backed actions on the tense frontline Nord Stream 2 Diplomacy still has a long way to go. The United States on Wednesday flatly rejected Russia's key demand to bar Ukraine from Nato but offered what it called a new "diplomatic path" out of the crisis. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he would speak to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov again in the coming days. "It sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it," Blinken told reporters of the US written response, which he said would remain confidential. In the event of a Russian invasion, the immediate propspects for the opening of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will be put in jeopardy. Nord Stream 2 is the project that was designed to enable Germany to act more independently on the energy markets in Europe. Although the natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany is officially completed, it is still not operational. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in an interview with NPR, that "if Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," adding that "it is leverage for us. It is leverage for Germany. It is leverage for the trans-Atlantic community because gas is not flowing. To be clear, it is not leverage for Vladimir Putin." Scaling down Russian gas There are fears too that Moscow will diminish, or even cut, the gas supply that it delivers through existing pipelines. According to an EU study in 2019, almost three quarters of the EU's imports of natural gas came from Russia (41 percent), followed by Norway (16 percent), with smaller amounts from Algeria and Qatar. Some countries have already tried to scale down their use of Russian gas. Overall gas use decreased in France in 2020 because of the overall economic slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, but according to Statista, imports from Russia decreased by 66 percent while the imports from Norway decreased by only 7,3 percent. To counter this, American officials have held in talks with Qatar about supplying European countries with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in case a Russian invasion of Ukraine leads to shortages on the continent. On 31 January, Qatar's emir will hold talks with US President Joe Biden to that effect. However, according to Bloomberg, Qatar is already producing at "full capacity" and most of its cargoes are sent to Asia under long-term contracts that it can't break." Olympic Games Meanwhile, Beijing, scared that a possible war in Ukraine would steal the limelight from the upcoming Olympic Winter Games, has also stepped in. Speaking to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Russia's security concerns over Ukraine should be taken seriously. All parties should completely abandon the Cold War mentality and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiation, China's top diplomat said on Thursday, according to the state-controlled China Daily. Beijing is still traumatized from the events in 2008, when Russia invaded Georgia at the same they the long-awaited Beijing Olympics started. China wants to avoid a repeat of this at all costs as the Olympics give Beijing a chance to showcase China as a well-organized country that managed to overcome Covid and is able to host large international events. (With wires) The death toll from a storm that struck three southern African countries rose to 77 on Thursday as emergency teams battled to repair damaged infrastructure and help tens of thousands of victims. Packing torrential rains, Tropical Storm Ana made landfall Monday in Madagascar before ploughing into Mozambique and Malawi. Rescue workers and authorities across the three countries were still assessing the full extent of the damage. Madagascar has reported 48 dead, with 18 others killed in Mozambique and 11 in Malawi. Remnants of the storm have passed over Zimbabwe, but no deaths have been reported there. In the three hardest-hit countries, tens of thousands of homes were damaged. Some collapsed under the heavy rain, trapping victims in the rubble. Swollen rivers washed away bridges and submerged fields, drowning livestock and destroying the livelihoods of rural families. In Madagascar, 130,000 people fled their homes. In the capital Antananarivo, schools and gyms were turned into emergency shelters. "We only brought our most important possessions," Berthine Razafiarisoa, who sheltered in a gym with his family of 10, told AFP. Floods swept through exposed neighbourhoods in Antananarivo. By RIJASOLO AFP In northern and central Mozambique, Ana destroyed 10,000 homes and dozens of schools and hospitals, while downing power lines. Mozambique's weather service warned that another storm, named Batsirai, has formed over the Indian Ocean and will make landfall in the coming days. It "might evolve into a severe tropical storm in the next few days," the UN said in a statement. Up to six tropical cyclones are expected before the rainy season ends in March. "The situation is of extreme concern" and "vulnerability is very, very high," said UN Resident Coordinator in Mozambique Myrta Kaulard. "The challenge is titanic, the challenge is extreme," she said, noting that the storms are hitting "an already extremely vulnerable" region still trying to recover from cyclones Idai and Kenneth that hit the region in 2019. "Mozambique is responding to a complex crisis in the north which has caused an additional enormous strain on the budget of the country, on the population," Kaulard said. "In addition there is also Covid." In neighbouring Malawi, the government declared a state of natural disaster. Most of the country lost electricity early in the week, after floodwaters hit generating stations. Power was restored by Thursday in parts of the country, but parts of the electric grid were destroyed. "Our priority now is restoring power to health establishments, water treatment distribution systems and schools," the national power utility said in a statement. Southern Africa, and especially Mozambique, has suffered destructive storms repeatedly in recent years. strs-cld/gs-sn/gd The Insurance Brokers' Association of Ghana (IBAG) on Thursday, January 27, 2022, inaugurated Mr. Shaibu Ali as its new President at a colourful investiture ceremony held at the National Insurance Commission (NIC) office in Accra. At the ceremony chaired by the Commissioner of Insurance Dr. Justice Ofori and attended by a number of dignitaries including a representative from the Ministry of Finance, a newly-elected Executive Council was also sworn into office. Delivering his inaugural speech after swearing an oath to assume the office as the 10th president of IBAG, Mr. Shaibu Ali who is Managing Director for KEK Insurance Brokers Ltd pledged to work with his Council to take IBAG to higher heights. I stand before you today overwhelmed and humbled at the opportunity to be of service to a group of very experienced insurance practitioners. Myself and my team do not take this lightly and to that effect want to say thank you for the confidence reposed in us. On behalf of Council, I want to indicate that we accept the opportunity and challenge to be of service to IBAG and we promise to put our best foot forward, Mr. Shaibu Ali assured. Mr. Shaibu Ali Expressing appreciation to outgoing President Mrs. Lena Adu-Kofi, the new President emphasised that he will continue her good works and see to it that all uncompleted projects are done. Mr. Ali disclosed that he will also work with his council to establish a credit union to offer credit and give members the chance to invest while championing digitalisation and working closely with partners for the benefit of IBAG. In his concluding remarks, he extended gratitude to all IBAG staff and members, and thanked GIZ, NIC, GIA, CIIG, GIC, WAICA, and Brown Card Bureau for playing a part in the success story of IBAG. Mounting the podium to also deliver a speech, outgoing president Mrs. Lena Adu-Kofi recounted the numerous successes IBAG chalked under her leadership. She however indicated that her work for the association is not completed. Mrs. Lena Adu-Kofi pledged to continue to provide every help she can to the new President in order for IBAG to achieve its goals. Mr. Chairman, despite all these achievements, we will continue to support my brother Shaibu Ali to pursue these targets among other things. As I conclude, extend my Ayekoo and gratitude to all IBAG Members, especially the Executive Council and the members of the various committees, for supporting me in this journey. I would also like to thank our secretariat staff for their hard work and support over the years, she stated. Mrs. Adu-Kofi further noted that she is confident that Mr. Shaibu Ali will succeed in his new role as IBAG President. Finally, I congratulate you, Mr. Shaibu Ali on the occasion of your investiture as the 10th president of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana. Congratulations to you and your team. Without any iota of doubt I know that you and your team shall excel, the 9th IBAG president added. Having chaired the occasion, Dr. Justice Ofori in his speech congratulated Mr. Shaibu Ali on his election and urged him to continue the exemplary works of his predecessor. I congratulate the newly elected members and urge them to continue the good work of their predecessors, the Commissioner of Insurance said while adding, I am confident that your zeal will make you excel to lead the association to greater heights. I wish you all a fruitful tenure. The investiture ceremony was climaxed with a presentation of awards to honour past president and living president of IBAG. New composition of IBAG Executive Council; Mr. Shaibu Ali - President Mr. Stephen Kwarteng-Yeboah - Vice President Ms. Bianca Noshie - General Secretary Mr. Philip Atinga - Treasurer Mr. Kofi Akoto - Assistant General Secretary Mrs. Sheila Wristberg - Assistant Treasurer Mrs. Lena Adu-Kofi - Ex-officio Member Broward Health will move forward on land it bought in Sunrise to build a hospital, a move that could bring more health care choices to the county. The board of the health system, also known as the North Broward Hospital District, voted Wednesday to allow its CEO to freely pursue the construction of a hospital and spend up to $50 million to get started. In recent months, Broward Health has assembled properties near the 8 acres of land it has owned on Oakland Park Boulevard and Pine Island Road. Advertisement Broward Health plans to build the new hospital in partnership with Memorial Healthcare System, a unique partnership that would bring the two public hospital systems together to service all segments of the population. The move comes as competition has heated up with health care systems in South Florida expanding their footprints. Advertisement The two public hospital systems in Broward County Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare had tried to discourage the city of Sunrise from entering a deal with Baptist Health South Florida. The Miami-Dade-based Baptist Health plans to build its first hospital in Broward County on a 25-acre property in Sunrise, situated by Oakland Park Boulevard and the Sawgrass Expressway. After five hours of discussion on Jan. 11, the city voted to move forward on a deal to sell its land to Baptist Health with the promise it will open with at least 100 beds. [ RELATED: Baptist Health wants to open its first hospital in Broward. But Broward Health and Memorial offer a dueling proposal. ] Now, Broward Health says it has cash ready to spend to pursue the construction of a hospital in Sunrise as well. This is the new Broward Health, said Broward Health Commissioner Jonathan Hage. The key to success is to no longer allow history to define our future. This is our area. We provide the best health care, and we should not concede our area to any other health system. Broward Health Commissioner Ray Berry said Sunrise will realize it should have done a deal with Broward Health and Memorial. We are going to work expeditiously to show we were serious, and we meant what we said. Following the meeting, Berry said that area of the county in Sunrise is considered a health care desert: This is a great day for West Broward as a whole. Broward Health belongs to the people of Broward County and we will serve them. Previously, Broward Health CEO Shane Strum said the new hospital would have about 150 beds and various ancillary medical services including a medical office building. During the Sunrise meeting, Douglas Harrison, chair of Memorial Healthcare Systems board, said the unique partnership of the two taxpayer-funded systems will be good for the community and expand its health care offerings. Advertisement Sunrise City Manager Mark S. Lubelski said with nearly 100,000 residents in the city, there is an opportunity for two hospitals. If both are built, there would be about three miles between them. Were ecstatic that Broward Health chose to move forward, Lubelski said. We need to sit down and understand their vision and help them craft a plan for where they are going. Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at cgoodman@sunsentinel.com. The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has asked Ghanaians to convince their Members of Parliament (MPs) to pass the Electronic Transactions Levy (E-Levy) Bill and hold him accountable for all revenues and expenses. The Minister reiterated that the time had come for the citizenry to burden share in the development of the country with the Government by paying that tax. He said the e-levy would help increase revenue as the country moved into an e-commerce economy, and invest such revenues into debt sustainability, infrastructure development and youth entrepreneurship. Mr Ofori-Atta said this at the closing ceremony of the 73rd University of Ghana Annual New Year School and Conference in Accra on Wednesday. What I was really expecting Parliament was to say, we're going to get 6.9 billion from this new tax revenue measure. So how then do you [Finance Minister] report to me [Parliament] on a quarterly basis on the uses of the fund and its application so that we move on, he said. Mr Ofori-Atta's call on the citizenry to ask their MPs to pass the e-levy comes at a time that the Government has started town hall meetings to explain and get feedback on the Bill. Mr Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader, has asked the Finance Committee of Parliament to also engage in consultations beyond what the government was doing, following a petition to Parliament by the Mobile Money Agents Association over the same issue. Touching on the concerns by some people that the 1.75 percent was high, Mr Ofori-Atta, explained that the Government had engaged telecommunication operators to accept a 0.25 percent absorption to cushion Ghanaians. You go to the issue of 1.75 percent e-levy and people will say that's too high even though we exempted transfers of less than a 100 cedis. The arguments were coming 'fast and furious' and we had to listen and reassess that in terms of the impact of the 1.75 percent. We were able to come down by 0.25 percent [by the telcos], which means that the impact will go down for the average Ghanaian, he said. He added that: We will still be able to retain revenues needed for these three critical areas of debt sustainability, infrastructure build-up and ensuring that our YouStart programme becomes a standard in our socio-economic development. At the end of the Annual New Year School, it was recommended that the Government introduced innovative ways of mobilising domestic revenue and cut down on unnecessary expenditure and wastage in the public sector. GNA The leader of Burkina Faso's new military junta called for international support in his first major public intervention Thursday on the eve of a regional summit that could seek to sanction Ouagadougou. "Burkina Faso more than ever needs its international partners," Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba said in televised comments days after leading the overthrow of president Roch Marc Christian Kabore. "I call on the international community to support our country so it can exit this crisis as soon as possible." Heads of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are to confer on Friday over how to respond to Monday's military coup. Kabore was ousted by mutineering soldiers on the back of public anger at his failure to stem jihadist violence ravaging the vast west African nation. Earlier Thursday, around 20 trade union leaders met for about half an hour with the junta at the presidency in the capital Ouagadougou. Damiba "assured us that we will be consulted and included in what will be put in place," said Marcel Zante, who heads a federation of 130 unions. "Now we are waiting to see what happens on the ground," he added. Damiba, 41, is a rising star in the military who commands an eastern region that has been badly hit by jihadists. On Wednesday, he met ministers of Kabore's government, which like the parliament has been dissolved. The junta has also suspended the constitution, vowing to re-establish "constitutional order" within a "reasonable time". Ministers not to leave Damiba asked ministers not to leave the country without authorisation, and also said he hoped to include all the country in the management of the transitional period, political sources told AFP. Burkina Faso. By AFP The coup is the latest bout of turmoil to strike Burkina Faso, a landlocked and poor state that has suffered chronic instability since gaining independence from France in 1960. On Tuesday, ECOWAS issued a statement to say the bloc "firmly condemns" the coup, accusing the military of forcing Kabore to resign "under threat, intimidation and pressure". Burkina Faso joins two other ECOWAS countries -- Mali and Guinea -- where there have been coups in the past 18 months. Those two countries have been suspended by the 15-nation bloc, which has also imposed an array of sanctions on them, including measures against individuals. Clement Sawadogo, deputy head of Kabore's People's Movement for Progress (MPP) party, said "the junta has to do its utmost to prevent international sanctions on Burkina Faso." He called for a "wise solution, to prevent an ongoing security crisis... from intertwining with a socio-economic crisis". Kabore arrested Kabore, 64, was elected in 2015 following a popular revolt that forced out strongman Blaise Compaore. He was re-elected in 2020, but the following year faced a wave of anger over the mounting toll from a jihadist insurgency that swept in from neighbouring Mali. His well-being and whereabouts have been a key issue since the coup, with the United Nations leading calls for his release. On Wednesday, a source in the MPP told AFP that the army was holding Kabore in a villa under house arrest. "President Kabore is physically well, but I cannot say anything about his state of mind," the source said. "He has a doctor available (and) access to his mobile phone, but under surveillance, obviously." Separately, the military prosecutors' office said the trial of the alleged assassins of revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, gunned down in the 1987 coup that brought Compaore to power, would resume Monday following the unrest. The trial, which began last October, is being closely followed in Burkina, where the aftershocks of the traumatic events of 1987 are still felt. Those on trial include Compaore, who fled to Ivory Coast after being toppled in 2014 and is being tried in absentia, and his former right-hand man, General Gilbert Diendere. Diendere is serving a 20 year jail sentence on separate charges linked to an attempted coup in 2015. The prosecutors, in their statement, denied rumours that Diendere had been freed during the coup. Once upon a time, there was a pandemic outbreak; a deadly virus that threatened to kill many humans and had no cure was ravaging the world. You wonder why this article starts this way- well it is a story that is real but is being recounted as a folktale. This story also shows the power of collaboration and innovation in an information-driven age. So, to continue with the story, the pandemic affected all nations, rich and poor. This prompted governments to institute strict lockdown measures to limit the spread of the virus, which was airborne. Some, therefore, had to roll out financial support schemes to support their poor and needy nationals. One developing country decided to adopt data science technology developed by a university in a developed country to tackle the problem of distributing help in the form of cash to poor citizens affected by the lockdown imposed due to the pandemic. This was a major departure from how it was usually done in the past; previously field teams would have been dispatched to identify and register the poor citizens for the cash distribution to be carried out. In brief, the government based the classification of poverty-prone areas derived from poverty maps based on satellite imagery. Satellite images were used to train a data science model to identify locations in the country as poor or wealthy areas. Features such as the materials used for roofing and road types (bitumen or dirt-road) were identifiable from the satellite images available. These features were used for classifying localities or communities as rich or poor. For instance, thatch roofs indicated poor communities and shiny or colored ones (characteristic of metal roofing materials) depicted wealthy ones. The model could then be used after training to predict poverty in locations that had not been visited before. To complete the analysis, this information acquired through machine learning was then super-posed on user phone records; how often did a user buy airtime or use mobile money to make transactions, and what were the volumes of such transactions? Based on this combined analysis, financial help was sent to 30000 citizens within 2 weeks. Citizens who were in the informal economy and who needed to move each day to make daily wages to take care of their families but whose movements were then restricted by the lockdown benefited from this. You wonder by now which country I am referring to. This does not matter; what matters is the fact that technology has been leveraged to produce a positive outcome within a short period. The use of machine learning and artificial intelligence technology is becoming pervasive in this current era of a data-driven society. Some lessons can therefore be learned from this story for policy development on artificial intelligence research and application in Ghana and Africa at large. Academia-industry-government partnership is required: In the story, there was a problem statement from the government; how could the poor citizens affected by the imposed lockdown be easily identified in the shortest possible time? Through its search for a solution, it identified the work done by the University of Berkeley on poverty maps creation, using artificial intelligence. In this scenario, the problem was identified in one continent and the solution was found in another. This illustrates how solutions to societal problems can be solved with tight collaboration between academia, industry, and government. In the field of artificial intelligence, research is very much required and the best centres of excellence in the domain of research are the universities. For Ghana to make the most of artificial intelligence, its universities need to fill the research gap for the identification of local solutions to local problems. In Africa, some universities have taken the lead in this initiative; the Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda for instance through its centre for artificial intelligence research has produced a lot of work in providing local solutions based on artificial intelligence in agriculture. The University of Cape Coast here in Ghana is also doing some great work in natural language processing (NLP). More is still needed to be done for global recognition as centres of excellence in the field of artificial intelligence research. In this regard, more government support is needed. Government support does not necessarily have to come in the form of financial support; its involvement in the problem statement and adoption of the solutions provided by the local universities go a long way to further encourage innovation in these institutions. Local collaboration is critical: In our story, the details of the financial ramifications of the solution development are not available but such a solution can likely come with a cost. With more local collaboration, a lot of solutions can be optimized in terms of cost to developing nations. We must bear in mind that every technology has a cost, as such importing innovative technologies, in the long run, is akin to the already existing trend of importation of finished products by developing economies. It is no doubt that the Google AI research centre opened in Accra, Ghana was in the same spirit of deepening local collaboration. Leverage on data to solve problems in novel ways: With the plethora of data now available, the sky only is the limit in terms of the solutions that can be provided for the various societal problems facing humanity. However, this starts with clearly defining the problem to be solved and identifying how the existing data can be used to solve such a problem. In our story, the problem was one of quick response to a situation and the solution available was the use of satellite imagery without having to deploy field teams that could take a longer time and are also cost-intensive to collect the same data. To each problem there is a different solution. Sometimes, the wrong identification or statement of the problem contributes to getting stuck in finding the data-driven solution. In conclusion, data science and artificial intelligence technologies can be applied to different sorts of problems once there is enough data to be exploited in the solution development. There are many use cases ranging from vaccination planning to humanitarian response, to disasters that can be implemented using satellite imagery data to speed up implementation. The large amount of such data requires the use of machine learning or artificial intelligence techniques for an effective solution development. Local collaboration ensures that the solution development is done in the same context of the data collection and if done properly can reduce the risk of bias in model development. Local collaboration is also beneficial in the cost management of solutions developed using artificial intelligence techniques. Author: Yayra de Souza Telecommunications Engineer, AI specialist (Member: Institute of ICT Professionals, Ghana) For comments, contact [email protected] / Mobile : +233543758923 Introduction On Friday, 7th January 2022, Ghana observed the 4th Constitution Day throughout the country to commemorate the Fourth Republican Constitution as the longest-serving Constitution in its political history. The Constitution Day was introduced into Ghana's Calendar of holidays in December 2018 following the amendment of the Holidays Act, 2001 (Act 601). This public holiday is observed on the 7th of January each year in Ghana. The first Constitution Day was observed on 7th January 2019. As it has been the custom in the previous Constitution Days, the Hon. Minister for Interior issued a declaration to affirm 7th January 2022 as a statutory public holiday to be observed throughout the country. Apart from this notice and the enjoyment of the day as a non-working day for Ghanaians, not much was felt regarding the highlights on the relevance of the Constitution Day. An interview conducted by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the 7th January 2022 revealed that the majority of Ghanaians were oblivious of the relevance of the Constitution Day as a public holiday. In view of the above, the writers deem it imperative to share their thoughts on the relevance of the Constitution Day and to proffer measures that would make the Constitution Day more relevant and purposeful. Relevance of the Constitution Day The writers take the view that the Constitution Day is the most important public holiday in Ghana. This is hinged on the fact that this public holiday projects the countrys long period of political stability achieved under the Fourth Republican Constitution, which commenced on 7th January 1993. Thus, the Constitution Day is a public holiday that goes to the core of the very existence of our nation as a democratic country. Among the four Republican Constitutions of Ghana, the longest-serving Constitution is the 4th Republic Constitution. Under the 4th Republic Constitution, Ghana has held eight successful Presidential and Parliamentary elections, with the peaceful transfer of political power between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). This achievement has earned the country a credential as the oasis of peace on the African Continent. This feat has been acknowledged both locally and internationally. Measures to make the Constitution Day More Relevant Just like other democratic constitutions, the 1992 Constitution is our manual for good governance and sustainable development. It is, therefore, the fundamental duty of the state to educate the citizenry about the provisions of the 1992 Constitution to equip them to protect, defend and uphold the 1992 Constitution. For the above reason, the writers suggest that the state should use the Constitution Day as the platform to educate Ghanaians on the provisions of the 1992 Constitution. This realization informed the framers of the 1992 Constitution to establish the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE). Sadly, however, the impact of this important Commission remains largely unfelt by many Ghanaians probably due to funding challenges. Accordingly, it is recommended that NCCE must play a leading role in organizing community-based educational campaigns as part of the programme for the celebration of the Constitution Day. The writers further suggest that the state should establish a system for continuous education about the 1992 Constitution in all the second cycle educational institutions in the country. This must be supplemented by promotional activities on the subject including holding inter-school quizzes and distribution of miniature copies of the 1992 Constitution. Conclusion The Constitution Day is the most important public holiday in Ghana as it is fashioned to celebrate the countrys enviable political stability and progress. The 4th Constitution Day, just like the first three holidays, has not been utilized to adequately highlight the relevance of the holiday and to promote the study of the 1992 Constitution among Ghanaians. The writers are hopeful that the 5th Constitution Day to be celebrated on 7th January 2023 would be observed in a way that would adequately highlight the relevance of this auspicious day and promote the study of the 1992 Constitution to guard Ghanas enviable political stability and constitutionalism. AUTHORS Benjamin Tachie Antiedu, Esq., Legal Practitioner & Author & Goodnuff Appiah Larbi, Legal Researcher The Indian government, on Thursday, handed over management control of national carrier Air India to Talace Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary of Tata Sons. With this, Air Indias strategic disinvestment was complete after the government received a consideration of Rs2,700 crore from the strategic partnerTalacewhich is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons. The deal allows the Tata group to reclaim authority over Air India after 68 years. Things have come a full circle for the group since the sudden nationalisation of Air India in 1953, then considered among the best airlines in the world. A heartbroken JRD Tata had been offered the chairmanship of the airlinea consolation by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. Besides the upfront payment, Talace will retain a debt of Rs15,300 crore. Notably, the transaction covered Air India, Air India Express, and Air Indias joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services (AI SATS). In a tweet, Tuhin Kanta Pandey, secretary, department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) says, The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100% shares of Air India to Talace along with management control. A new board, led by the strategic partner, takes charge of Air India. The strategic disinvestment transaction of Air India successfully concluded today with transfer of 100% shares of Air India to M/s Talace Pvt Ltd along with management control. A new Board, led by the Strategic Partner, takes charge of Air India. pic.twitter.com/wd5ZcUFomI Secretary, DIPAM (@SecyDIPAM) January 27, 2022 After historic privatisation of Air India, the government will now start work on monetising its four other subsidiaries, including Alliance Air, and over Rs14,700 crore worth non-core assets like land and buildings, Mr Pandey says. Under the Tata brand, Air India is set for a significant revamp in service standards and the introduction of new passenger-friendly amenities. Sources told IANS that the likely introduction of a flight app developed by TCS for passengers and staff is on the anvil. Besides, implementing new strategies to improve the airlines on-time performance (OTP ) standards is also on the cards. Apart from operational standards, improvements are expected to occur in in-flight services such as more choices of meals. Notably, the aim is to improve the overall passenger experience on at least a few domestic and international flights to begin with. Earlier in the day, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran called on prime minister Narendra Modi in Delhi ahead of the official handover of Air India. Afterwards, at Airlines House, the headquarter (HQ) of Air India, a new board was constituted, which included executives from the Tata group. We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline, Mr Chandrasekaran said. I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India, to our group and look forward to working together. Last month, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had approved the acquisition of Air India, Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace. The acquisition envisaged 100% share capital of Air India and Air India Express, and 50% for that of Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace. The airline, along with AIXL, is primarily engaged in the business of providing domestic and international scheduled air passenger transport service, along with air cargo transport service. Air India SATS Airport Services is engaged in the business of providing ground handling services at Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram airports, and cargo handling services at Bengaluru airport. Tata Sons subsidiary Talace had emerged as the highest bidder for the national carrier under the divestment process. It had quoted an enterprise value of Rs18,000 crore for 100% shareholding of the Centre in Air India along with that of Air India Express and AISATS. On its part, the Union government had stipulated a reserve price of Rs12,906 crore. However, the most interesting part about the Tatas successful bid for Air India is that the conglomerateone of Indias oldesthad ventured into aviation in 1932 with Tata Airlines, which later became Air India. After the nationalisation in 1953, Air India went to the government, but the Tatas were in the driving seat till as late as 1977. For long, the airline has been regarded as a loss-making entity but it does have assets. The winning bidder will get 100% stake in its subsidiary Air India Express and its 50% stake in AISATS the ground handling company, the second largest air fleet in the country, lucrative bilateral routes, slots, and more. The two airlines have a fleet of 144 aircraft, as per data released by the ministry of civil aviation. This does not include the four 4 B747s which are supposed to be transferred on the books of Alliance Air which will remain with the government. Air India operated 2,712 departures in November 2019 and is currently the second largest player at Delhithe largest airport in the country by air traffic and departures. With the international network, Air India holds 2,738 slots across 42 destinations, including some of the most congested airports like London Heathrow, New York JFK, Singapore Changi, and Hong Kong. Air India Express holds 651 weekly slots, including those at congested airports like Singapore and Dubai. Air India has deals in place with Mumbai and Delhi airports for land parcels that host simulators, among other things. While the land parcels will not be transferred to the new owner, the new owner can continue with the simulator and office spacesubject to different deals. With both cities being expensive to operate, having such a facility in the vicinity of the airport is a big plus. While ordinary vehicle owners are made to pay money at every toll plaza on the Mumbai Pune Expressway (renamed Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway), every day more than 10,000 vehicles, including light commercial vehicles (LCV), cars, buses, trucks, multi-axle and three-axle vehicles, are travelling without paying any toll. Information published by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on its website for December 2021, shows 330,797 vehicles passed from the four toll plazas of Khalapur, Talegaon, Kusgaon and Shedung, under the exemption and violation transaction category. Pune-based Right to Information (RTI) activist Vivek Velankar, who is also president of Sajag Nagrik Manch, says, While sharing the information, MSRDC has not specified the number of vehicles under exempted and violation category. I doubt if more than 10,000 vehicles from the exempted category like ambulances, vehicles used for emergency services or owned by members of Parliament (MPs) or members of legislative assembly (MLAs) are travelling daily on the Expressway. Further, does the data published by MSRDC mean that these VIPs and exempted category people are travelling in trucks, buses, LCVs, multi-axle or three-axle vehicles? During December, 1,850 buses, 5,193 trucks, 20,196 LCVs, 5,086 multi-axle and 2,266 three-axle vehicles used the Expressway without paying any toll. How is this possible or how can the Corporation justify it, he asks. (Source: MSRDC) In 2016, Mr Velankar had requested the state chief information commissioner to direct MSRDC to publish all the vehicular traffic and toll collection data on its website. According to MSRDC, the non-tollable count includes reuse of daily, return or monthly passes, exit trips, exemption and violations. However, even considering this, during December alone, 330,797 vehicles were allowed to pass without paying any toll on the Expressway. Since the Corporation did not provide category-wise details, it is difficult to say how many, out of the 330,797 were from the exempted category and how many have actually violated the rules (by not paying toll). Mr Velankar has sent a letter to Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray requesting for direction to MSRDC to publish vehicle numbers separately under the exempted and violation category. As reported by Moneylife in May last year, 1,136 radio frequency identification (RFID) tags have been distributed to 788 members of Parliament (MPs) under the exempted category. Read: FASTag: 788 MPs Obtained 1,136 Free Tags ) Pune-based activist Sanjay Shirodkar, who has been working on the toll issue, had told Moneylife that, As per the weekly report of NHAI, as on 31 January 2021, the Indian Highways Management Company Ltd (IHMCL) had issued 4,204 free FASTags to those in the exempted category. Earlier, just five to seven top office bearers like the President and the prime minister were exempted from paying toll on official duty. Now the list has increased to more than 25 categories. ( FASTag is a device that employs radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for making toll payments directly while the vehicle is in motion. Read: FASTag: Commoners Are Denied Benefit of Return Journey Discounts while VIPs Grab Exempted RFID Tags ) As Moneylife reported, on 8 November 2019, the ministry of road transport and highway (MoRTH) released guidelines and standard operating procedures for issuing FASTag for the exempted category of vehicles. It says all types of vehicles included under the category of exempted from paying user fees should also be encouraged to use FASTag, adding, This will have a good demonstrative effect on all other road users and will encourage them to use FASTag for seamless movement across user fee plazas. ( Here is the information shared by MSRDC on its website Raina Plowright Raina Plowright, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, has won the Charles and Nora L. Wiley Award for Meritorious Research and Creativity, recognizing her extensive research contributions. She will receive a $2,000 honorarium. Plowright is an infectious disease ecologist, epidemiologist and wildlife veterinarian who investigates the dynamics of diseases that connect human and animal populations. Much of her research focuses on understanding spillover the transmission of infectious agents from animals like bats to humans. Since joining MSU in 2014, Dr. Plowright has brought international recognition of zoonotic spillover to our institution, department head Jovanka Voyich stated in a nominating letter. At MSU, Plowright has received more than $20 million in funding as a principal investigator and contributed to nearly 100 peer-reviewed publications. She directs an international cross-disciplinary research program focused on understanding and solving spillover. It is funded by a $12.4 million award through the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Preventing Emerging Pathogenic Threats Program and two major grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation, including a recently awarded Rules of Life grant. Plowrights reputation in the field has made her a sought-out adviser for programs including the National Science Foundation, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the U.S. Geological Survey. She was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science this month and has also used her expertise to assist MSU with its response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Guy Palmer, Regents Professor of Pathology and Infectious Diseases at Washington State University, called Plowrights research both innovative and impactful. She is one of the most highly respected scientists worldwide in the interdisciplinary field of ecology and infectious diseases, Palmer wrote in a letter of support. Dr. Plowright has led the most significant advances in the past decade in the role of land use ecology as a driving force in emerging pathogens obviously highly relevant to understanding how epidemics start and disseminate locally, regionally and globally. Free N95 mask distribution in Florida could begin as early as Thursday at CVS pharmacies, while other mask giveaways will start Friday and more will be held in the coming days. The Biden administration recently announced that it would distribute 400 million of the high-quality face masks free to Americans. The mask will come from the Strategic National Stockpile, which has a supply of more than 750 million. Advertisement The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers guidance on mask types. According to the CDC, cloth masks provide the least protection against the coronavirus, layered finely woven products offer more protection, [and] well-fitting disposable surgical masks and KN95s offer even more protection. Well-fitting N95 masks also called respirators offer the highest level of protection. National and local pharmacy chains that were part of the federal COVID-19 vaccine rollout will be distributing the masks, and distribution has already started in some parts of the country. Each person is limited to three masks and the giveaway is first-come, first-serve. Advertisement Heres what you need to know: CVS A CVS spokeswoman on Wednesday said that the masks will be given away inside both CVS Pharmacy stores and CVS pharmacies located inside Target. Inventory is expected to begin to arrive at these locations as early as Thursday and will continue on a rolling basis as additional supply becomes available, the spokeswoman said. Our Administration is making 400 million N95 masks from the Strategic National Stockpile available for free to Americans. N95 masks will be available for the public to pick up at tens of thousands of local pharmacies and health centers. The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 19, 2022 Walgreens The first stores will get masks Friday and will continue on a rolling basis in the days and weeks following, said spokeswoman Karen May, from the Walgreens Illinois headquarters, in an email statement. Participating stores will have signage indicating mask availability. On Wednesday, just two days before the rollout, the pharmacy giant didnt yet confirm which stores throughout the country will get the masks. Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Mas, and Harveys Supermarket The masks will begin arriving in the grocers pharmacy locations as early as Friday, the chain confirmed Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Southeastern Grocers, the chain that owns Fresco y Mas, Harveys Supermarket and Winn-Dixie, said that all South Florida stores with in-store pharmacies will have a supply of masks. Walmart and Sams Club Most Walmart and Sams Clubs locations throughout the U.S. should have the masks by the second week of February, according to a spokeswoman on Wednesday. Advertisement The masks will be available at the front of the stores. [ RELATED: COVID-19 update: Florida reports 22,818 new cases, lowest daily count since Christmas ] This is a developing story, so check back for updates. Click here to have breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox. Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash. January 27, 2022 ICAO Report - Ryanair Plane That Landed in Minsk Was NOT Forced Down On May 23 2021 anonymous emails were sent to several airports warning that a Ryanair passenger plane on its way from Athens to Vilnius had a bomb on board. The plane was crossing the airspace of Belarus when it was informed of the bomb threat by the Belarusian air controller. The air controller recommended to land the plane in Minsk. After some back and force to gain more information the pilot declared an emergency and decided to land in Minsk. After the plane had landed the passengers de-boarded, were searched and went into the airport building and through passport control. Two of them, Roman Protasevich and his girl friend Sofia Sapega, had outstanding arrest warrants against them. They were part of a group which had previously attempted to launch a color revolution in Minsk. The two were arrested. The plane and all luggage was searched but no bomb was found. The passengers, except the two arrested and three who had Minsk as their final destination, boarded again and safely reached their destination. The case led to accusations that the Belarusian security forces had created the threat against the plane and had forced it to land for the purposes of arresting the two people. There is however no evidence for that. Despite that several countries sanctioned Belarus and its national air carrier Belavia. Belarus had asked the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to investigate the Ryanair incident. A preliminary report is now out and discussed below. Moon of Alabama had followed the case in detail (The June 2 piece is probably the best one to catch up with the case): The ICAO report was recently finished and given to all members. Politico.eu had gained access to it and published it. The official results will be discussed with ICAO members at the end of this months. The president of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko seems to be happy about the report: According to the head of state, the ICAO admitted that there was no interception, forced landing or rerouting of Ryanair aircraft by Belarus. The president called the ICAO investigators heroic people: They deserve some praise. Despite all the pressure (this is a UN organization and you know that we are on our own there) they had to admit that Lukashenko did not open fire at the aircraft, did not scramble a MiG fighter jet to force it to land. They are heroes by just stating these facts. According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, this fact itself is already important for Belarus. The country does not expect anything more from the investigation for the time being. "If they are willing to prove otherwise, then they should present evidence. There is no evidence, and we see this. Now all ICAO member countries see this. You know who's calling the shots there. The best thing for them is to soft-pedal this thing, not to go any farther. Because the farther it goes, the messier it gets. Therefore, they'd better not do it. Nothing good will come out of this," the head of state emphasized. Most important is that the false claim about a military fighter jet making the Ryanair plane land has been fully debunked: When commenting on the report, Director of the Aviation Department of the Belarusian Transport and Communications Ministry Artyom Sikorsky said that the fact-finding team admitted the evidence proving that Belarus did not intercept, force to land or reroute the flight by using a MiG-29 military jet. The ICAO fact-finding team noted that there were no visual signals from the flight and cabin crew and that there was no communication with the aircraft. This is the proof that there was no interception by the MiG-29. According to him, the document emphasizes another important point which Belarus previously drew attention to. The data of the aircraft crew conversations in the cockpit was not saved as the crew did not turn off the recorders after landing in Minsk. Thus, the crew did not save the data, including the moment when they were making the decision to land in Minsk. It looks strange, Artyom Sikorsky stressed. The opposition news site belsat.eu mentions the report but has obviously not read it as it still claims that the plane was 'forced to land'. I have read the report and can confirm that it makes no claims against Belarus and also leaves no basis for such claims. But I also found some curiosities in it. The report says that the pilot did not contact his airline before making the decision to land in Minsk. This is contradicted by the transcript of the radio traffic between the pilot and the Air Traffic Controller: Pilot: 09:34:49: Radar, RYR 1TZ. ATC: RYR 1TZ. Pilot: Could you give us frequency for (unreadable) company so that we would be able to (unreadable). ATC: RYR 1TZ say again what frequency do you need. Pilot: We just need to quawk with the operation of the company, if there any frequency for that (unreadable). ATC. Do you need RYR operation frequency? Pilot: That is correct 1TZ. ATC: Standby please. ... Pilot: 09:39:30: RYR 1TZ Any adverts? ATC: RYR 1TZ Standby, waiting for the information. ... ATC: 09.42.49: RYR 1TZ we have ground stuff frequency for Vilnius 131.750 Pilot: 131.75 and we have contact...(unreadable). It is also contradicted by a report from the Lithuanian police: Those questioned include the captain of the aircraft who "made the decision [to change course to Minsk] after consulting Ryanair's management", according to [Rolandas Kiskis, head of the Criminal Police Bureau]. There was a lot of confusion about the time when the bomb threat email had arrived at Minsk airport. Belarus says it received two emails about half an hour apart. A shady organization in London, financed by the former Russian oligarch and tax evader Mikhail Khodorkovski, had claimed that Minsk had only received the second email which arrived after the plane was diverted. It claims that Belarus must therefore have faked the bomb threat. This seems to be supported by Protonmail, a Swiss provider for anonymous email services, through which the threat emails were sent. But my discussion with Protonmail lets me doubt that the claims as made are truthful. ICAO had asked Belarus about metadata that could have proven that the first email arrived in Minsk at the time Minsk claims it arrived. However the old log files of the receiving mail server had long been overwritten by routine procedures. (Such routines are very common for such servers. I have programmed a number of these.) The only things Minsk could show to ICAO were screenshots of both threat emails it had received. ICAO has however never talked with Protonmail or checked their log-files. It only refers to claims from Protonmail that it had received through the government of Lithuania which had received it through officials in Switzerland. Lithuania is not a friend of Belarus but supports the opposition. The ICAO should have gone to the original source. The current situation leaves a claim by Belarus plus screenshot plus action taken by it against claims by a Protonmail executive, the Lithuanian government and Khodorkovski shady outlet. Is this left so to muddle the case? ICAO also questions why it has taken so long to submit details of the threat email to the pilot. However its own report explains that the threat email was first discovered by a system administrator who had logged into the mail server from his home and informed his superior by mobile phone. That superior then informed air traffic control likewise by phone. As far as is known the ATC never saw the email and its content was provided via a phone chain. In general the information flow between authorities in Minsk and elsewhere was not optimal. ICAO notes that the Air Traffic Controller who had talked with the Ryanair plane has vanished and could not be questioned. The New York Times reported on December 8 2021 that the air traffic controller in question was from Georgia (the country) and had 'defected' to Poland during the summer: Asked about the defection, Stanislaw Zaryn, director of Polands Department of National Security, declined to comment on specifics but said that Polish officials investigating what he described as the Ryanair hijacking had managed to obtain an account of a direct witness of the actions taken at the control tower in Minsk. He added that, according to the witness, an officer of Belaruss intelligence and security agency, the K.G.B., was in the control tower at the time and at a crucial moment took control of the air traffic controller. Throughout the incident, the Belarusian officer maintained ongoing telephone contact with someone to whom he reported on what was currently happening with the plane, Mr. Zaryn said. Poland is housing several of the Belarusian opposition groups including the NEXTA channel, the outlet that directed the color revolution attempt in Belarus and recently tried the same in Kasakhstan. There is no reason to trust Poland's Department of National Security which cooperates with and finances them. Especially not when the 'defection' was made for probably financial reasons and/or to gain a U.S. visa: Nasha Niva, an independent news outlet whose website has been blocked by the Belarusian authorities, reported on its Telegram channel in July that Mr. Galegov had gone on vacation in June and had not been seen since. It quoted a colleague as saying that he had taken a holiday in his home country, Georgia. Ivan Gerlovsky, deputy general director at Belaeronavigatsiya, a state company that manages air traffic control in Belarus, told the outlet that the personnel department had called Mr. Galegovs mother-in-law in Minsk without success and was trying to establish where he was. Belaruss security agency, called the K.G.B., as it was when the country was part of the Soviet Union, in August signed a cooperation agreement with the security service of Georgia, another former Soviet republic which would probably have raised the risks for Mr. Galegov if he had been in Georgia. By then, however, he had arrived in Poland. He has since left, one of the European security officials said. His current whereabouts was unclear. Since disappearing over the summer, the air traffic controller has deleted all his social media accounts. With a view to defection, he initially contacted the U.S. embassy in Warsaw but was steered by the Americans toward the Polish authorities, the European security officials said. The U.S. embassy in Warsaw declined to comment. The man has since vanished without leaving a trace. But wait, says the Times, there is even more secret service nonsense: Suspicions that Belarusian security services had orchestrated the hoax were strengthened by the previously unreported findings of a separate investigation by the police and the prosecutor generals office in Lithuania. Their inquiries found that a passenger who disembarked after the plane landed in Minsk was a Belarusian man believed to have been recruited by his countrys military intelligence service. That man, identified as Siarhei Kulakou by Lithuanian investigators, arrived in Vilnius a day before Mr. Protasevich took an outbound flight to Athens for a vacation, and then joined the dissident on the return flight to Vilnius a week later. To this circumstantial evidence of a secret operation by Mr. Lukashenkos security services, however, has now been added the testimony of the defector and recordings he bought with him to Poland that establish how the operation went down in the Minsk control tower, the security officials said. Circumstantial evidence and a witness that has vanished are not a sound foundation for making a convincing case. The NYT then repeats the false claim that Roman Protasevich was immediately arrested after the plane landed: As soon as the plane landed, Belarusian security agents grabbed Mr. Protasevich and Ms. Sapega. Since then, the two have been seen only at a news briefing staged by the Belarusian authorities in June and in government-issued videos in which they confessed, apparently under duress, to organizing mass unrest. An opposition Russian news outlet, Dozhd, reported on Sunday that Belarus had filed formal criminal charges against Ms. Sapega that mean she could face at least six years in prison. Mr. Protasevichs whereabouts and fate are not known. The TV documentation (scroll down) made about the case includes the CCTV footage from the airport which proves that Protasevich and Sapega were arrested during the passport check. Protasevich, who has since spilled the beans about the opposition, is alive and well and on January 18 was active on Twitter: Well, friends. I decided to slowly return to Twitter after a long break. For a long time, as you noticed, I didn't write anything. And this was due to the fact that I was moving away from news, negativity and information noise. And it helped :) And, in fact, it's a very cool feeling. When, after a long stay (the last couple of years) in the information field (both in tvi and in TG), which is completely saturated with negativity, you return to normal emotions and normal life - the difference becomes noticeable. Well, in the near future in my life there will be some changes, which I will definitely talk about here. In the meantime, write your assumptions in the comments under this post - let's see which of you is closest to the truth :) His most recent tweet is this one: I have so far seen no deeper 'western' reports about the ICAO report. That may well be because it does not support the 'western' narrative that it was Belarus which forced the plane down. A sign for that the report is not welcome is the diversion the U.S. created on December 20 just as the ICAO report was send to all its member states: Federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment Thursday against several Belarusian government officials for allegedly plotting to divert a Lithuania-bound aircraft to a Minsk airport so a dissident and his girlfriend could be arrested there. The international episode that has resulted in an air piracy case was centered on a plan by the officials to report a fake bomb threat to apprehend anti-government media personality Roman Protasevich by forcing his flight to make an emergency landing at an airport within Belaruss jurisdiction on May 23. ... Not only is what took place a reckless violation of U.S. law, its extremely dangerous to the safety of everyone who flies in an airplane, Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll of the FBIs New York Field Office said in a statement. The next pilot who gets a distress call from a tower may doubt the authenticity of the emergency which puts lives at risk. Why the U.S. claims to have jurisdiction in the case is beyond me. How it ever wants to prove its accusation is likewise unexplainable. While the ICAO report leaves a few issues open it does not provide any evidence that Belarus created the bomb threat or has otherwise acted in bad faith. Posted by b on January 27, 2022 at 17:21 UTC | Permalink Comments The mother of the only survivor of a suspected smuggling boat that capsized off the Florida coast told Telemundo in an exclusive interview more details of the hell the passengers endured after they left Bimini, Bahamas. The woman, identified only as Marcia in the Telemundo interview, said that her 18-year-old daughter, who is still missing, was traveling with her 22-year-old son, who is hospitalized. Advertisement He told me, Mom, my sister died, my sister drowned. I dont know Mom, I looked for her as much as I could and couldnt find her. I called her and called her and my sister couldnt take it, Marcia said her son told her. He told me, Ive been through hell, Mom. There were women, him and his sister, babies and he told me that all... many... lost their lives by drowning that same Saturday night, said the woman, who is begging the authorities not to deport her son. The woman has not been able to see her son, who is in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, which is investigating the alleged smuggling. Advertisement [ RELATED: Search-and-rescue mission for 38 missing at sea grows increasingly dire after one body found ] He held on to what was left of the boat, just as you can see in the photo: he held on, he held on to that and to prayer, the mother said. The young man, not yet identified by name or nationality at the request of the family, told her that no one on the boat was wearing a life jacket. The photo of her son on the semi-sunken boat, in the sea at dawn, has become an icon of the tragedy. U.S. Coast Guard crews are still searching for 38 people after a boat they were on capsized on Saturday, the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast said. One person was found on Tuesday clinging to the hull of the capsized vessel. (U.S. Coast Guard/Courtesy) The 25-foot boat capsized when it ran into a storm Saturday night, shortly after it set sail from Bimini in the Bahamas with 40 people on board. In some cases, travel between the island and South Florida is relatively easy. But with 7- to 9-foot seas, a cold front and wind speeds of up to 23 mph that weekend, the 25-foot ship sank in the rough waters, causing it to capsize, Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann F. Burdian said at a news conference. In cases like this, small vessels overloaded, inexperienced operators at night in bad weather, its incredibly dangerous, Burdian said. On Wednesday, Burdian said the situation had turned desperate and that with each passing moment, it became more unlikely to find survivors. The Coast Guard recovered one body off the Florida coast on Wednesday morning. Advertisement The Department of Homeland Security has launched a criminal investigation, said Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge of the agencys Miami office. The effort includes U.S. agents in the Bahamas. Youre dealing with criminal organizations that have no value for human life or safety. Its really victimizing the migrants. Its just about the money, he said. The mother of the apparent lone survivor told Telemundo that she feels blessed because her son is alive to tell the story and honor the memory of hissister. Marcia called on the authorities to release her son. Advertisement Understand this situation, understand a mother who is devastated, wasted for having lost her daughter and with her son at this time still in custody of immigration [authorities], the woman told Noticias Telemundo. [I ask] that they release my son, that with everything he lived through he says he lived through hell that they please leave him free so that I can give him support and he can give me support. I also need my son with me to give me the strength to continue with this loss, this pain, she added. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. A recent spike has given Colquitt County more new COVID-19 cases than ever before, but statistics from the Colquitt County School District offer hope that the numbers are beginning to come down. There are positive trends on the COVID front inside Midland County, according to Midland Health officials and the Midland Health Department. First, the Midland Health Department reported there were 197 positive cases on Tuesday involving Midland County residents. That is the fewest number of cases in one day going back to Jan. 8 and the first time that there have been less than 220 reported on a weekday. The Midland Health Department reports the number of cases across the county dropped to 2,624 last week from 3,214 on Jan. 9-15 (a decrease of 18.3 percent). There are 757 cases through Tuesday of this week a pace that would result in the fewest cases of any full week in January. The Midland Health Department has reported 10,570 cases involving Midland County residents this month. Less nurses out Midland Health COO Stephen Bowerman reported Tuesday there are 39 staff members that were COVID positive on Tuesday. That was down from 56 last week. There are another 50 that were exposed to COVID, down from 70 last week. Bowerman reported the state has sent 27 employees to help the hospital with the high number of COVID patients (94 total on Wednesday) and its 87.5 percent inpatient room occupancy rate. Positivity rate is dropping The Midland Health website is showing that the positivity rate of tests at Midland Health centers is down for the third straight week. Midland Health shows a positivity rate of 42 percent, which follows rates of 52.1 percent on the week ending Jan. 8, 50.7 percent on the week ending Jan. 15 and 47.9 percent last week. The positivity rate has been above 40 percent for five straight weeks (the highest of the pandemic). Not positive: Deaths are up The number of COVID-related deaths in January will be the highest since October, according to Midland Health officials. The 27 deaths in January involving patients at Midland Memorial Hospital more than the 21 in December and 15 in November. There have been 160 since the beginning of August. Most Midland County cases in a week Jan. 9-15: 3,124 Jan. 2-8: 2,895 Jan. 16-22: 2,624 Nov. 15-21, 2020: 1,342 Aug. 22-28: 1,328 Nov. 8-14, 2020: 1,289 Dec. 26-Jan. 1, 2022: 1,170 COVID deaths (through Tuesday morning) January 27 December 21 November 15 October 31 September 36 August 30 Source: Midland Health/Reporter-Telegram articles. Fort Lauderdale When daylight waned Thursday, the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for the dozens of missing people who were on a boat Saturday night that capsized. Crews found four bodies in 24 hours in their search area, in addition to the body found on Wednesday, Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann F. Burdian said at a news conference. Officials planned to suspend their efforts if no additional information to refine the search came before sunset. Advertisement Cutters, aircraft and boat crews have combed a search area the size of Massachusetts since Tuesday. The search spanned throughout the northern Straits of Florida as far north as Port Canaveral in Brevard County, Burdian said. The decision to suspend really is a very, very complicated one, Burdian said Thursday. We have saturated the area over and over and over again. Weve had good visibility, the weather is somewhat deteriorating and we know were searching in the right area ... It does mean that we dont think its likely that anyone else has survived. Advertisement [ RELATED: Search-and-rescue mission for 38 missing at sea grows increasingly dire after one body found ] The boat left Bimini, Bahamas, Saturday with 40 people aboard on what officials have called a suspected human smuggling event. The boat capsized after it headed into turbulent weather that night, and a good Samaritan rescued a lone survivor found clinging to the hull of the vessel Tuesday morning. Homeland Security Investigations Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury said the department is not releasing any information about the nationality of the survivor, the nationality of those on board, or any details about what the survivor has told authorities, citing the ongoing criminal investigation. The goal is to identify, arrest and prosecute any criminal or criminal organization that organized, facilitated or profited from this doomed venture, Salisbury said. [ RELATED: Mother of survivor found clinging to capsized boat begs authorities not to deport her son ] Homeland Security Investigations asks anyone with information on the suspected human smuggling event or anyone who believes they had family members aboard the vessel to contact their tip line at 866-347-2423. The rescued survivor was Juan Esteban Montoya Caicedo, a young Colombian man, who was travelling with his sister, Maria Camila Montoya Caicedo, the Associated Press reported Friday. Colombias foreign ministry wrote in an email to the Associated Press that the siblings mother confirmed her son was found. Their mother told Telemundo in an exclusive interview that her 18-year-old daughter was travelling with her son, who is still in the hospital. He told his mother, identified only as Marcia, that many... lost their lives by drowning that same Saturday night, including women and children. He told me, Mom, my sister died, my sister drowned. I dont know Mom, I looked for her as much as I could and couldnt find her. I called her and called her and my sister couldnt take it, Marcia said her son told her. Advertisement Burdian said at news conference Wednesday the search-and-rescue mission was growing increasingly dire after crews found one body and fields of debris. In some cases, the trip between the island and South Florida is relatively easy. But with seas 7- to 9-feet high, a cold front and wind speeds up to 23 mph that weekend, the 25-foot boat helmed into the rough waters, causing it to capsize, where it remains, Burdian said. In cases like this, small vessels overloaded, inexperienced operators at night in bad weather, its incredibly dangerous, Burdian said. U.S. Coast Guard crews will suspend their search at sunset Thursday for dozens of people still missing after a boat they were on capsized, Five bodies have been recovered, and one man was found clinging to the hull of the capsized vessel on Tuesday after what Homeland Security is investigating as an attempted smuggling case. (U.S. Coast Guard Southeast) The good Samaritan on a commercial ship named the Signet Intruder from the maritime transportation company Signet Maritime Corporation, rescued the one survivor Tuesday morning about 45 miles east of the Fort Pierce Inlet, Coast Guard officials said. Advertisement The survivor reported no one was wearing a life jacket, according to a statement from the Coast Guard. The survivor was taken to a local hospital for symptoms of dehydration and sun exposure, Coast Guard officials said, and was interviewed by Homeland Security Investigations. Advertisement Just days ago, Coast Guard crews intercepted a boat known as a sail freighter with 88 Haitians aboard that left from the Bahamas. Sail freighters are what is commonly seen in trips that leave from the Bahamas, Petty Officer Jose Hernandez said. Ventures that leave from the Bahamas often include people of many nationalities. The Coast Guard has intercepted 559 Haitians since the start of the fiscal year Oct. 1, 2021. In the last fiscal year, authorities intercepted over 1,500 Haitians, according to a news release issued last week. A total of 127 Cubans have been interdicted since the start of this fiscal year, compared to 838 in the previous year. Burdian said the Coast Guard is suspending the search rather than closing it, meaning they wont be dedicating assets specifically to this search. Again, I really just want to express my deepest condolences for anyone who may be grieving a loss or feared loss of a loved one in this particular case, she said. Advertisement Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Muskogee, OK (74401) Today Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 62F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.. Tonight Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 62F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Muskogee, OK (74401) Today Thunderstorms with locally heavy downpours. A few storms may be severe. High 67F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.. Tonight Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 62F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. TALLAHASSEE Gov. Ron DeSantis has made his political brand clear as he heads into his reelection: Leader of the free state of Florida. But his Democratic foes are highlighting one area where Florida is far less free than other states the recreational use of marijuana. Advertisement The three leading Democrats running for governor Charlie Crist, Nikki Fried and Annette Taddeo want Florida to join the growing list of states that have fully legalized marijuana. At a campaign event on Wednesday, DeSantis told reporters he wouldnt back full legalization while leaving the door open for decriminalization, Florida Politics reported. He quipped that he doesnt like the putrid smell of marijuana smoke. Advertisement I could not believe the pungent odor that you would see in some of these places, DeSantis said. I dont want to see that here. I want people to be able to breathe freely. Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters this week he is not a fan of the "putrid" smell of marijuana. (Bob Self/AP) Fried, who is jostling to become the leading pot-friendly candidate in Florida, shot back on Twitter: You can still go to jail for weed in Florida because Ron DeSantis doesnt like the way it smells!?! Sounds like Dictator Karen wasnt having much fun at Yale and Harvard so hes taking it out on the rest of us. Democratic state lawmakers are also pushing legislation this year to legalize or decriminalize the drug, although it has little chance of passing in the GOP-dominated Florida Legislature. State Rep. Yvonne Hinson, who is sponsoring a legalization bill, said Floridas tough marijuana laws particularly hurt Black people who are disproportionately arrested for a largely victimless activity. We are not arresting kingpins here, the Gainesville Democrat said. We are arresting small-scale users and ruining their lives. You can still go to jail for weed in Florida because Ron DeSantis doesnt like the way it smells!?! Sounds like Dictator Karen wasn't having much fun at Yale and Harvard so he's taking it out on the rest of us.https://t.co/vNScBrUsw1 Nikki Fried (@NikkiFried) January 26, 2022 Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana. In Florida, possession of small amounts of marijuana (less than 20 grams) is a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to one year in prison or probation and a $1,000 fine. People convicted of a low-level marijuana offense also face a six-month suspension of their drivers license. Law enforcement made 11,495 arrests for possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana in 2020, despite the pandemic keeping many people at home, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Environment. Supporters of legalization say that number has been as high as 50,000 in recent years. DeSantis who is widely seen as a possible GOP candidate for president in 2024 has gone on record before saying he would not fully legalize marijuana in Florida. Advertisement Not while Im governor, he told Tallahassees News Channel 7 in June 2019. I mean look, when that is introduced with teenagers and young people I think it has a really detrimental effect to their well-being and their maturity. On the pandemic, DeSantis has embraced a libertarian view that government shouldnt mandate that people wear masks or get vaccines. Hes proclaimed Florida an oasis of freedom that lets its residents make their own health decisions without government meddling. Democratic candidates think legalization will be a winning issue with voters with polls showing as many as 67% of Floridians support the idea. Crist is selling green T-shirts on his campaign website that read: We brew beer. Lets grow our own weed! Fried allows her supporters to donate $4.20 to her campaign, a reference to a shorthand for marijuana consumption. Efforts have been underway to legalize marijuana through a ballot initiative. The campaign suffered a setback in April 2021 when the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the initiatives ballot language would be misleading to voters. Activists have now shifted their attention to the 2024 election. The measure would need the support of at least 60% of voters if it makes it onto the ballot. Advertisement sswisher@orlandosentinel.com Horry County police finished their investigation into the 2018 murder of 42-year-old Brian Nunn by charging one person with murder. But the man they arrested, Kevin Stanley of Little River, wasnt the only one involved. In February 2019, police charged Stanley with the murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and obstructing justice. Arrest warrants accused Stanley of shooting the Shallotte, North Carolina, man multiple times with a handgun. The warrants said evidence showed Stanley was the only person at the scene and that he had inquired about reward money offered for Nunns death. The obstruction charge stemmed from false statements Stanley gave police during the investigation. In April 2019, police also charged Robert Walters. His arrest warrant says he offered $5,000 in exchange for the murder. Police charged him with accessory before the fact to a felony, but not murder. Its a common error, but you cant be an accessory before a fact if you are presently aiding and abetting, said Solicitor Jimmy Richardson, pointing out that Walters was heading to the scene of the murder before it occurred. There is nothing that looked like accessory before the fact, either he participated in the shooting or he didnt. You cant be presently involved and participating and be accessory before the fact. Horry County police spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov said in an email that "The most appropriate charges, as determined by law enforcement and the solicitor's office, were brought forward." In June 2021, the 15th Circuit Solicitors office used a grand jury to directly indict Walters on a murder charge in connection to Nunns Dec. 22, 2018, death on James Bellamy Circle in Little River, close to where Walters lived. Rather than stand trial, 40-year-old Stanley and 41-year-old Walters both pled guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter, each receiving a 15-year sentence with credit for time served. But its not clear which man, if either, actually pulled the trigger to shoot Nunn five times while was reclined in the passenger seat of a van with his seatbelt still on. He left behind a loving family. Horry County Council will welcome at least one new member next year. Its just a question of who will be replaced. Councilman Johnny Vaught on Wednesday announced that he would seek the council chairmans seat, putting him in the June Republican Primary with incumbent Johnny Gardner and potentially former chairman Mark Lazarus, who has said hes considering a bid for the seat. Theres been a lack of leadership on council for the last three years, Vaught said, referring to Gardner. We have not looked professional. Weve fought among ourselves. Theres been a lack of communication, a lack of consensus. Strong leadership is what its going to take to fix that. Vaught, 72, is in the final year of his second term on the council. His run for chairman essentially guarantees there will be a new representative in the District 8 seat, which includes the Singleton Ridge Road area and part of the S.C. 544 corridor. Vaught was elected to the post in 2014. During his first term, Vaught said the council worked well together, even when its members disagreed. But for the last three years, Vaught said hes been the person other council members turned to when Gardner was uncommunicative. Every time an issue would come up, I would start getting calls from councilmen, Vaught said, Johnny, what are we going to do about this? How can we fix this? How can we get together and get a solution for this particular problem? And Ive always responded by saying, Let me talk to everybody. Ill see what I can come up with. And so far, Ive been able to pretty much solve all of those problems, but its because theyve reached out to me. Gardner could not immediately be reached for comment. If elected, Vaught said he could rebuild the countys relationships with area municipalities, particularly the City of Myrtle Beach, which has sparred with the county in court in recent years. I can unite the east and the west of the waterway, Vaught said. I can bring the municipalities back into working together with the county. My job will be to represent the whole county from a macro standpoint. In other words, its the responsibility of individual councilmen to take care of their district. Its my job to back them up and to look at the county as a whole. A new burrito restaurant is looking to make every bite count. Adobi Flats Burrito Grill is set to open its first restaurant on S.C. Highway 544 near Coastal Carolina in February. We put the burritos together differently than what you would experience at one of our competitors, said David Collins, franchisee of the Conway location. Collins said the way the burritos are put together is similar to how popular salad concepts, like Chopped, create their meals. All the ingredients are put into a mixing bowl and are then put into a bowl of some kind, Collins said. What makes the burritos at Adobi Flats different is in that first bite, and however many bites follow. Youre not going to have it layered so that if you have a large burrito and you take a bite of it, you get a mouthful of rice, Collins said. Our makeup is every bite counts so every bite is going to have a little bit of exactly [what] the consumer is anticipating and expecting from us. Collins added Adobi Flats was a concept that was developed with multiple purposes in mind, combining the quality and efficiency of some well-known national brands while also putting their own spin on their products. If you would say the quality of a Chipotle and a Moes Southwest Grill burrito style restaurant and then put the speed and efficiency of a Taco Bell, Collins said. "Its going to have those two elements in regard to the quality of service. Collins said there will be some seasonal menu items as well as selections that pay homage to various regions such as the Hawaiian burrito, which will feature ham and pineapple, as well as the Kansas City burrito, which is more catered toward a barbecue flavor. Were going to have a cajun burrito and thats going to be a staple, Collins said. That is just an unbelievable burrito that we make with jambalaya It is just phenomenal. All burritos will include guacamole and sour cream at no additional charge, Collins said. Stayce Herriott doesnt see an upside for her daughter. Should Horry County Schools officials follow through on a proposal to dissolve the K-12 virtual program, Herriott said her daughter would regress from the strides she has made during virtual learning. Horry County has a No Child Left Behind policy, but my child will be left behind if she is forced back into a program where she is not comfortable speaking to her teachers in class and the curriculum is directed towards mass education, Herriott said. On Monday, the curriculum committee of HCS announced that the district may close the HCS K-12 Virtual program, which began in the fall of 2020 after COVID-19 forced the district to offer virtual instruction beyond the part-time Flex program. HCS Chief of Academics Boone Myrick presented data from Dec. 6 that showed 42% of students in the virtual program were failing one or more courses, including 46% of high school seniors. Myrick gave three options to the committee: keep the program the way it is, keep it going but with adjustments to requirements for acceptance or dissolve the program entirely beginning with the 2022-2023 school year. HCS Superintendent Rick Maxey said Monday that his administration recommends dissolving the program, but no official decisions would be made until the next board meeting. According to the district, the HCS numbers were pulled from Dec. 6 as a check on student progress in a combination with information from their grading software Powerschool and the program Genius, where K-12 HCS Virtual teachers log their grades. The end of the semester was Jan. 13. In comparison, the Cyber Academy of South Carolina shared data from the end of their 2020-2021 school year, showing a pass rate of more than 80% for elementary students, over an 87% passing rate for middle schoolers, and more than an 85% passing rate for high school students. Herriott said she originally decided to keep her children in the virtual program because of the pandemic. A woman practiced nursing without a license for more than two months while working at Conway Medical Center, though the state board of nursing had issued a publicly available order temporarily suspending her license before she started working. The hospital, in a statement, said no licensing board told the hospital about the nurse's suspended license. Heidi Bishop Dumm, 35, was booked into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center Wednesday morning and released that afternoon. She also faces multiple drug possession charges stemming from her handling of federally controlled substances while her nursing license was suspended. Documents obtained from Conway Medical Center as well as SC Labor Licensing & Regulation indicate that the defendant did engage in the practice of nursing while her license was suspended, arrest warrants say. On July 16, the state board of nursing issued an order temporarily suspending Dumms nursing license. The temporary suspension order, a public document available on SCLLRs website, did not detail the exact reasons for the suspension, but said the merits of the allegations against Respondent impinge on the publics safety and imperatively requires emergency action to protect the public. SCLLR spokeswoman Lesia Kudelka said state law prevented the board of nursing from discussing ongoing investigations. Meanwhile, warrants say Dumm practiced nursing without a license at Conway Medical Center from Aug. 2 to Oct. 7. In a statement, hospital spokeswoman Allyson Floyd said Dumm had a valid nursing license when she was hired on June 24, 2021. Dumm's employment at the hospital lasted from July 20 through Oct. 8, she added. "CMC takes the credentialing of clinical personnel very seriously and when her license was suspended, CMC was not notified of that suspension by Dumm or any other licensing body," Floyd said. "Dumm is no longer employed by Conway Medical Center." Keiser University in Palm Beach County is one of the 190 campuses among independent colleges and universities in Florida that benefit from state-funded vouchers. (Amy Beth Bennett/Sun Sentinel) The evidence is everywhere. Hiring! Apply now! $5,000 Signing Bonus! Across all sectors of Floridas economy, workers are in high demand. Floridas independent colleges and universities, with the support of the EASE voucher, can help fulfill that need. Floridas independent colleges and universities are market-driven, meaning they respond to the needs of our economy. These higher education institutions are engines of opportunity. They give students the skills, education and experience they need to fulfill the jobs we have available. Advertisement Students in Florida are able to attend independent colleges and universities with the help of the EASE voucher. EASE stands for Effective Access to Student Education, and this voucher gives students access to earn a degree and the option to choose the school that is right for them. Bob Boyd is the President and CEO of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, an association representing 30 accredited, nonprofit institutions that offer more than 190 campuses in Florida. EASE is a voucher funded by our state Legislature. Students who live in Florida and qualify for EASE vouchers receive $2,841 per year from the state to help them pay tuition. This is a great investment that has been reaping benefits to our state for more than four decades. Advertisement Since the program was established in 1979, hundreds of thousands of Floridians have earned their degrees, launched their careers and powered our states economy forward, all with the help of EASE. In addition, the states investment in EASE vouchers has a rippling effect on our states broader economy. According to a recent economic impact study finalized by Regional Economic Consulting Group this year, EASE creates more than 21,000 jobs per year, generates $282 million in tax revenue and contributes $3.5 billion in annual economic impact. In simple terms, for every dollar the state spends on EASE, Floridians get 2.5 times the return. EASE is important to our economy and our workforce. Now more than ever with a dire shortage of workers to fill the jobs advertised from nurses to teachers, to engineers and more we need more graduates to enter the workforce. Currently, 158,000 students across Florida are enrolled in independent colleges and universities. More than 46,000 of them depend on Floridas EASE voucher to help them pay tuition. The Florida Legislature this session, however, may consider cuts to the EASE voucher program that could derail these students pursuit of a degree and tighten the bottleneck of graduates preparing to enter the workforce in the years ahead. Without the EASE voucher, a students college career could come to a screeching halt, leaving them without a degree and without the opportunity to launch a career and provide for their families. Importantly, this measure could clog our states workforce-in-training. These students and future graduates are essential to our workforce and our economy. Consider nursing, for example. According to the Florida Hospital Association, 70% of hospitals in Florida are currently experiencing critical staffing shortages. This is a problem nationwide. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we will need an additional 1.1 million nurses to meet demands by 2022. By 2025, the nursing shortage will be a real crisis. One-quarter of Floridas nursing degrees come from Floridas independent, nonprofit higher education schools. Last year, these institutions produced 3,600 nursing degrees, ranging from associates degrees through doctoral. These registered nurses and nurse practitioners are ready for the workforce. Some of them are professors ready to teach the generations of nurses that follow. Advertisement As market-driven higher education institutions, the independent colleges and universities of Florida can produce more nursing degrees to meet the demand and avert a crisis. Floridas nonprofit, independent colleges and universities are a solution to our states labor shortage. More degrees will produce more workers to support all sectors of our economy. But all this is not possible without the EASE voucher. To fulfill our states workforce needs, the Florida Legislature must maintain and fully fund the EASE program. Students depend on the EASE voucher to help pay tuition, and we need their help to keep our economy moving forward. Bob Boyd is the President and CEO of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida, an association representing 30 accredited, nonprofit institutions that offer more than 190 campuses in Florida. After almost four years, the first day of a murder trial began Wednesday for a Meredosia man charged in a deadly 2018 attack. Dustin A. Finlaw, 22, of Meredosia has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Robert L. Utter, 42, of Rushville on May 24, 2018. Finlaw was arrested shortly after Utter's death. During the trial, interrogation videos were shown to jurors in which Finlaw changed his original story, recorded the afternoon of May 24, in which he said he wasn't at the crime scene to later admitting he was at the scene and witnessed someone else in the car in which Utter's body was found. That other person, he maintained, stabbed Utter to death. State's Attorney Gray Noll said in opening remarks that he and Assistant State's Attorney Chad Turner will be able to provide enough evidence to prove Finlaw is guilty and that the third person is not real. Noll explained there would be three witnesses taking the stand and three, possibly four, interrogation videos shown. Noll went on to tell jurors that Finlaw lied during all of the interrogations three within the first 24 hours after Utter's body was found and the fourth on May 29. During the last interview, Finlaw was shown photos of two people he said were in the car during the stabbing. Noll said one of those in the photos was serving a prison sentence at the time of the killing and the other was miles away, in White Hall, at the time. Finlaw, who is representing himself, contradicted Noll's opening statement and said he will prove he did not kill Utter and that a knife submitted into evidence as the weapon used in the homicide was not his. "This is a little more than a witch hunt," Finlaw said. "Yes, I lied. I didn't want to be involved with the case." The morning of May 24, 2018, Utter and Finlaw had been texting to meet and go back to Finlaw's house to be together, according to court statements. But Finlaw said that when he met Utter, he noticed a third person in the back of the car, so he went to the front passenger side. Finlaw said in one of the interrogations that when he got into the car, he asked "are we going to have a threesome?" Finlaw said he was picked up by Utter at North Washington Street in Meredosia, got in the vehicle and that all three went to the Naples pier. The third man started stabbing Utter and Utter twice told him to run, Finlaw said. Finlaw said he heard the car screeching away from the pier. "He saved my life," Finlaw said tearfully during the interrogation on May 25, 2018, as he was booked into the Morgan County jail. "I was scared. I didn't want my mom to know I was bisexual," Finlaw said. During the first interrogation, Finlaw was questioned about his whereabouts during the attack. He said was at home. He was questioned about using the app Grindr, a social networking app for gay and bisexual people to connect. When asked to surrender his phone so investigators could download information, Finlaw declined, saying they needed a search warrant. Finlaw later broke the phone and was arrested on a charge of obstruction of evidence. Morgan County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Potter said he was called to the 300 block of Montgomery Street in Meredosia and found a silver Ford Escape with a man in his 40s sitting in the driver's seat with blood on his front and back, stab wounds to the neck and his throat slit. Erin Bowers, Illinois State Police trooper and crime scene investigator, recorded her investigation and verified to the jurors that all the photos being submitted to evidence were hers and of the crime scene. Additional evidence that was submitted included the murder weapon, the knife sheath that was connected to the weapon and other items pertaining to the case. Two of the photos submitted were of a text conversation from Utter's phone to Finlaw. Other items that were submitted to evidence were samples of blood and hair from Utter and fingerprints taken from Finlaw. Kyle Chumley, a Jacksonville Police Department detective, testified that he was able to extract information from Finlaw's phone even though it was broken. During the trial, it was verified that Finlaw's profile name on Grindr what Mabus Beast. Investigators were able to identify Finlaw by the pictures Finlaw had on his profile, which were three headshots of himself, and a third of a car. Chumley said they ran the plates on the car and it was registered to Finlaw and were able to verify that the photos were of Finlaw. The trial is scheduled to resume this morning. America's Central Port District in Granite City has been awarded nearly $21 million in state funding for three projects that includes Macoupin County transportation services. Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Wednesday announced an additional $108.3 million for public ports in Illinois. America's Central Port will receive $13 million from the state for sediment reduction in Madison Harbor, as well as $5.5 million for the harbor's truck staging and calling center facilities. Additionally, the site will receive $2.3 million for the Hill Storage Track and other harbor track improvements. Another $125,000 in local funding is also being provide for the project. Pritzker also announced $111.4 million has been awarded to transit providers, such as Madison County Transit and Macoupin County. Pritzker said the funding follows through on the vision of Rebuild Illinois approved three years ago. Our vision wasnt limited to simply updating highways, rails and bridges," he said. "We saw an opportunity to connect jobs and economic development to communities across the state through every mode of transportation. Today were launching funding to support Illinois ports as well as over three dozen transit systems outside Chicago," he said. MCT will receive $3.25 million for a Collinsville Park and Ride facility, as well as $3.1 million for Phase 3 of base improvements in Pontoon Beach. Macoupin County will receive $575,821 for a dispatch building in Carlinville. In East St. Louis, the St. Clair County Mass Transit Districts Emerson Park Operational Control Center will receive $9.9 million for a new building to house county sheriffs deputies, a transit control center, 911 dispatching and a pilot program to help riders with mental health issues and homelessness. These awards to our ports and transit systems will only strengthen our status as the multimodal transportation hub of North America, said Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman. "As far as I'm concerned, there is no such a thing as a highway system, a transit system, a waterway system, and aviation system and so on," he said. "We are all part of an interconnected system of transportation that is only as good as its individual parts." Osman said the state is making infrastructure investments that will keep Illinois "the country's transportation hub" for future generations. America's Central Port was created in 1959 by the state to develop multi-modal transportation, create business expansion opportunities and facilitate and assist in job creation for the Southwest Illinois region. The 1,200-acre site is the third largest inland port in the country. The port has an annual economic impact of $282 million for the area, adding $2.5 million annually in property tax relief. It offers rail, river and road access. Americas Central Port owns and operates 1.9 million square feet of warehouse space, with more than 70 tenants leasing from the district. "I applaud the steps Illinois continues to take to invest in safe and reliable transportation. It's essential to put us back on track and help out our local economy recover from the ongoing pandemic," said state Sen. Christopher Belt, D-Swansea. LionsGate Films Jacksonville Public Library is hosting a free movie for adults on Feb. 12. "The Courier," starring Benedict Cumberbatch, is based on the true story of Greville Wynne, a businessman recruited in the 1960s to deliver messages to and from a Russian spy. The information exchanged is used to prevent a nuclear confrontation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The movie runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and is rated PG-13. Dominic Genetti A partnership between Illinois College and Jacksonville Public Library will provide the community with assistance on employment and social services matters. Community intern Anna Bezler will be available from 9 to 11 a.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the library at 201 W. College Ave. BLUFFS One person died in a crash late Wednesday on Illinois Route 100, authorities said. The driver involved in the single-car crash at Bluffs Street has not been identified, pending notification of family members. Whats up with all the debate lately as to the flow allowed in new showerheads? The shower is a place of rejuvenation and relaxation for many of us, but it is also a big water hog, accounting for roughly 17% of the average U.S. households water use. Of course, we use a lot less water in our showers nowadays thanks to a Clinton-era law mandating that new showerheads sold in the U.S. could not top a flow rate of 2.5 gallons per minute. While some showerhead manufacturers attempted to circumvent these new restrictions by utilizing multiple nozzles, the federal government eventually revised the legislation (in 2013) to limit entire fixtures to 2.5 gallons a minute. During his term in the White House, Donald Trump often complained about his dissatisfaction with the water pressure in his showers. In December 2020, Trump reversed the Obama-era amendment; this restored the federal limit of 2.5 gallons a minute to be applied to individual nozzles instead of the entire fixture. This meant that a shower head with three nozzles would be permitted to use 7.5 gallons a minute. Although Trumps law did not have a significant impact on the market demand for luxury shower heads, the loophole posed detrimental environmental impacts. Americans take about 200 million showers every day. The Alliance of Water Efficiency estimates that under Trumps rule the countrys water usage would increase by 161 billion gallons per year. An increase in water usage also results in more energy use to heat that water, which in turn increases greenhouse gas emissions. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, homes that have switched out older, less efficient showerheads with newer models have realized savings of some 2,700 gallons of water per year. This equates to a savings of 330 kilowatt hours of electricity annually, which is enough to power an entire house for 11 days. The Natural Resources Defense Council estimates that the average American household stands to save $500 per year on utility bills after switching to low-flow shower heads. The group estimates that the nationwide transition to lower flow showerheads now under way can generate annual savings of $2.9 billion in water utilities and $2.5 billion in energy costs. Saving water by using a low-flow shower head is a great start, but if youre looking for more ways to maximize your impact, the EPA has a few suggestions. When it comes to appliances, making sure to fix leaks is one easy way to save water. Additionally, whenever you need to run your dishwasher or washing machine, make sure you are optimizing for water- and energy-efficiency by only running it with a full load. Lastly, landscaping is always a talking point when it comes to reducing residential water use. If you have a lawn, it is recommended to save water by replacing it with native plants that dont require additional watering. If youre not ready to part with your lawn, the EPA suggests keeping the grass 2 to 3 inches high to ensure the soil retains water, reducing the need for frequent watering. The federal minimum wage has stood at $7.25 an hour since 2009. This is by far the longest period that we have gone without an increase in the minimum wage since it was first established in 1938. In the 12 years since the last increase, prices have risen by 29%, which means the minimum wage has lost a bit less than one-third of its value. As a result of the federal governments failure to raise its minimum wage, many states and cities have decided to increase the minimum wage for workers under their jurisdiction. Twenty-one states now have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum. There also have been efforts to raise city minimum wages where states have declined to raise the wage floor statewide, although many states now prohibit this practice. Some have argued that the increases in state and city minimum wages make an increase in the federal minimum wage unnecessary. This is not the case. The idea of setting a national minimum wage is to create a national standard ensuring that every worker in the country has a decent standard of living. We impose national standards all the time, and they are often quite popular. Just to take two obvious examples, Social Security and Medicare are both national programs. People get the same Social Security check (based on their earnings) regardless of where they lived, when they worked, or where they lived when they retired. The same applies to Medicare. The health-care facilities and doctors differ from state to state, but people contribute the same amount and are entitled to the same benefits regardless of where they live. We also apply national standards for workplace safety. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesnt tell employers in Alabama or Wyoming that its OK to have an unsafe workplace. If a particular hazard would lead to a fine or closing in New York or California, it should lead to a fine or closing in any other state. Probably the best example of national standards is civil rights. There were, and possibly are, several states that would rather not be bound by civil rights laws. Their political leadership was fine with discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability. In fact, the politicians of the 1960s didnt argue against civil rights legislation based on their desire to discriminate. Rather, they argued against it based on states rights. It would be ironic if opposition to a federal minimum wage is to be grounded in claims of states rights. A disproportionate share of the workers who would benefit from a higher minimum wage are the same groups that are protected by civil rights laws. It is understandable that employers who profit from paying workers very low wages will be opposed to a higher minimum wage. It is also possible that they can use their political power at the state level to prevent the minimum wage from being raised. This is the same story we saw 60 and 70 years ago as racist politicians prevented the passage of anti-discrimination laws at the state or local level. Blackshear, GA (31516) Today A mix of clouds and sun. High around 90F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Mostly clear. Low near 65F. Winds light and variable. Mariposa Public Health Face Mask tips View Photo Tuolumne County Public Health reports 93 new Covid-19 positive community cases identified since Tuesday and 75 new inmate cases. The newly reported community cases include 38 cases age 17 or younger and 14 cases age 60 or older. Tuolumne Countys active community cases increased 91 to 890 including 11 people who are hospitalized. The state reports the 14-day average for Covid-19 hospitalized patients remains at 20. The state reports one ICU bed available in Tuolumne County out of six. Vaccination details per case are no longer reported, the state vaccination trends are here. The new Covid cases by gender and age: 15 girls and 10 boys age 11 or younger, 8 girls and 5 boys age 12 to 17, 5 women and 6 men age 18 to 29, 10 women and 5 men in their 30s, 8 women and 2 men in their 40s, 4 women and 1 man in their 50s, 3 men in their 60s, 4 women and 4 men in their 70s, and 3 women in their 80s. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports 354 currently active inmate cases. There have been 1,984 inmate cases at the Sierra Conservation Center, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) reports the SCC manages 3,120 inmates with 82% vaccinated including all the southern fire conservation camps. They have tested 59% of the prison population in the past 14 days. There are 83 active staff cases reporting they have Covid out of 1,160. A total of 675 staff members report they are or have been Covid positive with a 56% vaccination rate reported among the staff. The total current case rate, a 14-day average for Tuolumne County decreased to 167.4 from 172.5 per 100,000 population. The case rate reached a low of 15.1 on December 17th. A total of 8,241 have been released from isolation and 61% of the population eligible to get vaccinated has been vaccinated. If you receive a positive test result, you will likely receive a text from a Virtual Agent to make contact and provide some information on what to do next. You can help slow the spread of COVID-19 by responding to texts, calls, or emails, and self-isolating when you have symptoms or a positive test result. Also notify any close contacts youve had from 2 days before you became ill or got tested. Any close contacts should follow current quarantine guidance and get tested 3-5 days after exposure. If you are at high risk of severe disease or hospitalization, you can contact your doctor to discuss potential treatment options. If you are not symptomatic, have not tested positive for COVID-19 recently, and are not in quarantine, get vaccinated or boosted. Calaveras County Public Health reports 103 new cases since Tuesday, January 25. There are 23 more active cases for a total of 113 active cases including five Covid hospitalizations. Calaveras reports positive cases age 17 and under number 1,100 or more, a specific number is no longer provided. There are 10 new cases age 65 and older, in total 951 over 65 have been identified with Covid. There are 80 more counted as recovered for a total of 5,774 and 56.31% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated in the county. According to the state, Calaveras 14-day average for Covid hospitalizations decreased three to five and there are four ICU beds available. COVID-19 Testing Free tests can be ordered at covidtests.gov or at usps.com/covidtest. The first tests will ship by the end of January. Tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering through the U.S. Postal Service. USPS reports shipping times of 1-3 days for its first-class package service in the continental United States. The White House emphasized that the website is in beta testing when it made tests available for ordering for the first time today. Public health recommends scheduling an appointment to get tested 5 days after possible exposure and if you are having any symptoms, to get tested right away. The Tuolumne County State testing site schedule is 7 days a week from 7 AM to 7 PM at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds and will be open on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, Monday, January 17th. Appointments can be made at www.lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888-634-1123. Testing is also available at pharmacies, at Rapid Care, and the hospital emergency department if you are experiencing any symptoms, or contact your healthcare provider. More details are here. COVID-19 Vaccine the CDC recommends people receive a booster shot if they completed a Pfizer series at least five months ago, or the Moderna series at least six months ago, or a J&J vaccine at least two months ago. Vaccine appointments for children ages 5 to 11 can also be made through myturn.ca.gov, or by calling 833-422-4255, or through local pharmacies, more details are here. For ways to manage a fear of needles or a phobia and help others with it, view the CDCs information guide here. Learn more about self-care strategies by visiting namica.org County Date New Active (Hospital) Total 2022 All Cases (All Deaths) Amador 1/24 257 560 (12) 876 5,042 (64) Calaveras 1/26 103 113 (5) 1,349 5,984 (97) Mariposa 1/26 29 86 (16) 739 2,541 (19) Mono 1/26 196 N/A 851 2,826 (7) Stanislaus 1/26 848 11,362 (285) 22,646 107,619 (1,526) Tuolumne 1/26 168 890 (11) 3,271 11,273 (158) Reported cases at end of 2021 and 2020 In the case of Annette McNamara, the wheels on the bus go round and round, all through the country. The 41-year-old, Nashville-based photographer is on a cross-country tour spreading her message of self love and empowerment. Recently, she pulled into San Antonio on a cold Thursday morning when half of the city was shut down due to icy weather, but McNamara's bright pink bus radiated warmth and positivity in the Lone Star district. She welcomed us into Atticus, the 21-year-old Thomas school bus named after To Kill A Mockingbird central character Atticus Finch. The founder/driver/photographer spent about $45,000 to convert the bus into a home-away-from home that doubles as an wheelchair-accessible photography studio. The nomad creative uses the mobile studio to document the stories of strangers-turned-friends along the way as part of her Beautiful Strength photo project. Those interested in lending their time (and pearly whites) to the project stop in for a photo at one of McNamara's pop-ups. The photographer snaps one photo and does very little editing in the post. The guests are then handed an iPad displaying their portrait with a stylus to doodle notes, quotes, or any other advice or reminders to their selves around their shot. Madalyn Mendoza, MySA.com McNamara's project started in 2018 and the bus-bases series launched in April 2021. Since then, she's snapped about 600 photos and estimates another thousand will be taken this year. She ultimately wants to hit every state (though Atticus won't be able to make it to Hawaii) and open a gallery featuring all of the portraits and stories of people she's met along the way. The photographer says she had no clue how to drive a bus when she started (her daily car is a Ford Focus) but she gave it a shot. Less than a year later, she's journeyed throughout the U.S., taking daunting routes through Pacific Northwest and the Cascades and Rocky mountain ranges. She says Atticus had 119,000 miles when she bought it. Her work-live space and vehicle now has 142,000 miles. "It's a challenge every day, but it's also so worth it and worst case scenario, I die," she says. "It would suck, but at least I would die doing something that I absolutely love." Though Atticus has a bold, pink exterior, McNamara's interior design of the bus is neutral and minimalist. The sun-filled inside of the bus is not entirely empty there's plenty of inspiration in the form of uplifting quotes, photos, and personal knickknacks but it does offer somewhat of a blank canvas. Atticus is also strikingly neat. "Where is all of your stuff?" I asked McNamara, who began sliding open drawers and shelves revealing her capsule wardrobe, beauty corner, cooking appliances, desk necessities, photography gear, and supplies for candle-making (her other hobby). I assumed a daybed lining the wall was where McNamara sleeps, but no. The black matte wall at the back of her bus which serves as her studio's backdrop tucks under to reveal a queen-size bed. With the hidden bed, the daybed, and hammock hooks hanging from the roof, the bus is capable of sleeping seven people total. Madalyn Mendoza, MySA.com Thought not many have spent the night, McNamara estimates at least 5,000 have come through Atticus' doors to share their stories of perseverance. She says San Antonio is probably the "friendliest" city she's visited in her national tour. During her week-long stop in the Alamo City, the photographer took in the usual must-see places like the Alamo and River Walk, but also wandered around the Missions, a church, and the Northside. "I've done a lot in this area, but I will say it's a very diverse and it seems like it's a nice melting pot of culture and kindness and everybody's just kind of getting along," she adds. McNamara says getting her photo series rolling after the pandemic-wrought 2020 was the perfect opportunity. After meeting thousands of people, she senses communities everywhere are yearning to share their stories. As difficult and painful as the pandemic has been, she says it's forced everyone to reflect and perhaps reveal a layer of vulnerability. "Everybody has resiliency, whether it's childhood trauma, a bad relationship, being the first in your family to graduate from college," the artist says. "Everybody's story has purpose. Everybody has a chance to be seen, heard, valued, and loved." MBABANE A good deed never goes unnoticed. This best describes Lend a Hand Foundations latest initiative, which constitutes providing free accommodation for a needy student from an underprivileged background. The foundation was formed in 2018 at the UNESWA Luyengo campus, with the aim of assisting vulnerable students as they navigate their way around university life. In a bid to do things differently as they aim to better the lives of students, the foundation has embarked on a venture to assist a vulnerable first or second year student from the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), Luyengo Campus. The foundations Communications Officer, Mihlenhle Mkhwanazi, when reached for comment, said they would be offering this one-room flat to a student who needed it the most. She mentioned that the one-room house was fully furnished and would be paid for the duration of occupancy by the foundation. As part of the foundations commitment to support needy students in their academic journey, we have presented an occupied one-roomed fully-furnished house with bedding, cooking utensils and study table around Luyengo. We are looking for an underprivileged student or an orphan, preferably a first or second year student from the university campus whom the organisation can provide accommodation for, said Mkhwanazi. She further highlighted that they were inviting deserving students to visit the assistant dean of students affairs office in order to stand a chance to be selected. Mkhwanazi mentioned that they would select the students based on reliable information sourced from credible stakeholders such as the administration of the school and the students acquaitances, in order to get accurate background information. We will be working with the institutions psychologist and the administration which commonly has the background information of the students. We will use the information given to compare and ascertain which of the students require assistance the most, she said. Marilyn Nieves/Getty Image ALPINE An Alpine man arrested in March 2021 has been sentenced to two life sentences for aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Texas. Damion Edward Cruz-Benavente, 30, was found guilty by a jury in Pecos in August 2021 of one count of aggravated sexual abuse by force, one count of sexual abuse by threat or fear, and one count of sexual abuse of a minor. It's official: TxDOT still owns a southern portion of Broadway. Though officials with the state agency promise to work with San Antonio to find a solution, it seems more challenges lie ahead for the Broadway revitalization project. The Texas Transportation Commission (TTC) unanimously rescinded 2014 and 2015 orders that effectively ended the process of transferring ownership of a 2.2 mile stretch of State Loop 368, known colloquially as Broadway, to San Antonio. The commission's move effectively halts the city's $42 million plan to revitalize the Broadway corridor, a key component to San Antonio's 2017 bond package passed by 70 percent of voters. It also stops a project that would reduce the number of lanes from six to four. City officials, business owners and community leaders spoke out against the decision. "Broadway belongs to San Antonians," said Kari Kuwamura, executive director of ActivateSA. "Earlier you spoke so passionately about the need for the safety of our loved ones and [lane reductions] is how we attain that." San Antonio officials were stunned by reports earlier this of the TTC's intentions to end the ownership transfer agreement. The commission agreed to transfer approximately 2.2 miles of Broadway, from the Alamo Heights city limit south to I-35, to San Antonio in December 2014. The commission then amended that agreement in February 2015, saying the transfer would be completed only when TxDOT received a project acceptance letter, which it never received. San Antonio Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle said he was under the impression that project acceptance letters were presented at the end of projects. Tom Reel, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer TxDOT, backed by Gov. Greg Abbott, used this technicality to rescind the agreement because of San Antonio's plans to reduce six lanes of Broadway down to four lanes to make way for bike lanes and sidewalk space, something they said would increase congestion. San Antonio Assistant City Manager Jeff Coyle said at the meeting that he was still stunned by commission's actions, and asked that TxDOT delay their decision. "This has stunned all of us in San Antonio," Coyle said. "We can work together on a resolution that preserves the essence of this project and frankly preserves our contract with the voters." TxDOT staff, including San Antonio district engineer Gina Gallegos, and commissioners said at the meeting that they were not aware of plans to reduce lanes especially since that language wasn't present in bond presentations until after it was approved. Coyle still maintained that the project was about safety. J. Bruce Bugg, a San Antonio banker and chair on the commission, reiterated that ultimately San Antonio can't reduce lanes to keep in line with Abbott's Texas Clear Lanes policy to reduce congestion on Texas highways. As it stands now, that portion of Broadway is still a TxDOT highway. Kyle Madsen, director of right of way for TxDOT, says this action shouldn't hinder the projects along Broadway. It's not clear what San Antonio's next step will be but the commission vowed to work together with the city to find a solution. MySA reached out to the city for comment. Since the 1980s, the city has drained the famously green San Antonio River in an effort to keep things clean downtown. Every two years, the commercial stretch of the river is filtered, ridding it of all the sins of the past 24 months. Each time the ritual is carried out, a variety of trash, treasure, and invasive species is uncovered in the process. Contrary to common view, I found that this window is actually the best time to visit the River Walk. This is partially because of the lack of crowds, but also because of the interesting transitional energy in the air. It brings to mind the idea of liminality, which comes from anthropologist Arnold van Gennep. It's a term used to identify the ambiguous and sometimes disorienting period during a rite of passage. The Britney Spears song "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" sums up this concept pretty well. Colloquially a liminal space is characterized by anything ambiguous or in-between, usually with the ability to transform the occupant that dwells within it. The eye of storm can be liminal, and so can a Megabus hurtling from Austin to San Antonio. Or the commercially transitional outpost that is the Wonderland of the America's Mall, filled with anime stores, offices, and a vacant food court, no doubt has the same energy. The River Walk becomes a strange liminal space during the drain a temporary zone in-between the post-card perfect San Antonio of legend and something cleaner. During the filtration process, when for a short while the river is not quite the river and before it becomes the river again, it seems to beckon to everyone who dares to peer down at its shallow nastiness for a little introspective. Or at least, this is the effect it had on me. It's a novel experience to witness the River Walk in a gutted state, especially when we are so used to experiencing it as a crowded tourist center. With a deficit of tourists on a mission to snap River Walk pictures, the path was mostly filled with restaurant hosts waiting for diners that weren't coming, hobbling pigeons, and construction crews wheeling barrows of silt. The drain catches San Antonio in late January, during a post-Christmas, pre-convention season lull. For a brief moment in time, the process renders the River Walk, which is so vital to the city's colorful tourism industry, a grey post-apocalyptic zone. On the second day of the great week-long drain, I immediately spotted a tangle of corroding dollar store parade beads washed up on a mucky embankment. The necklaces appeared next to a line of fresh duck tracks, beside a collection of severed Dos Equis bottlenecks. Further down my stroll, I spotted crushed holiday light bulbs, remnants of critters, something that looked like a floppy disk, and some restaurant supplies. I stared down at the half-empty channel of sludge. What's the human version of getting drained? A haircut? A long and desperate transformative hike? A particularly thorough journal entry? Not sure what I was looking for, I embarked on a long walk along the half-empty River Walk. It was relatively misty outside and the river looked grey and rocky, like a Medieval moat scattered with bits of plastic. It was almost unrecognizable, especially in stark contrast to the colorful Christmas lights hanging from the trees less than a month ago. I sent some pictures to a friend. "Lol, where are you," they asked. I thought it would be the perfect time to have a solitary downtown margarita with chips at a place like Mad Dogs or The River's Edge, though I didn't stop. You may not think twice about it, but the biannual river drain is a significant San Antonio event. Once, a local ghost tour guide told me that bodies of water are energetically powerful. Places defined by a large body of water, like San Antonio which is cut by a prominent river, often draw all sorts of paranormal activity. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, something feels true about the San Antonio River radiating a powerful energy that impacts the rest of us. When they drain the river, it's like the city itself is in a holding pattern, waiting to be cleansed. I'm convinced that seeing the River Walk during the drain is the best time to visit as a local. Not only is it a fascinating to witness, it makes you take a look around at all the forces operating around you. It's a uniting city-wide event with the power to make you take stock of your own life in the Alamo City (this just coincidentally is the name of a store in River Center Mall). Plus, you should have no problem finding a table at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Yves here. This article, apparently reflecting the messaging of various interest groups, doesnt appear to acknowledge the elephant in the room: why the big push to designate pretty obviously not green power sources, here gas and nuclear, as sustainable? Readers can correct me, but it looks as if this is a huge effort of a lack of better solutions to the base load problem. Solar is fickle, particularly given Europes short and often overcast winter days. Hydropower, which is often tidal hydro, and wind arent fully reliable.1 And note that Europe still has a long way to go; the European Environment Agency reported that in 2020, 21.3% of energy came from renewable sources. Again, no one in a position of authority or even with a good media megaphone seems willing to state the obvious: the first line of defense is radical energy conservation. But it needs to include above all the energy hogs, which are the top wealthy, and they seem even less interested than ordinary citizens. By Stella Levantesi, an Italian climate journalist, photographer and author. Her book I bugiardi del clima (Climate Liars), published in Italy with Laterza, investigates climate change denial history and tactics. Her work has been published in The New Republic, Nature Italy, Wired Italy, the Center for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico, Mint India, Internazionale, il manifesto, 7 Corriere della Sera, LifeGate and others. Originally published at DeSmogBlog The European Unions scientific and political communities are locked in a battle over whether gas and nuclear can be considered green investments. The latest development in this years-long fight came on Monday, when the European Commissions scientific expert group, the Platform on Sustainable Finance (PSF), pushed back against including gas and nuclear in the EU taxonomy, an official guide on sustainable investments. The expert group stated that it is deeply concerned about the environmental impacts that may result. In December 2021, after months of lobbying, strong pushback from pro-gas and pro-nuclear supporters, and informal alliances between governments, the Commission asked the Platform on Sustainable Finance to provide feedback on a draft amendment that included gas and nuclear in the taxonomy, thereby recognizing them as sustainable. In July 2020, the European Union established the EU Taxonomy Regulation, a classification system establishing a list of environmentally sustainable economic activities. Its a green investment guidebook, said Henry Eviston, spokesperson on sustainable finance at WWF European Policy Office. In other words, to call an investment green, it needs to be taxonomy compliant. Economic activities comply with the taxonomy if they pass a number of technical screening criteria and meet at least one of six environmental objectives, without harming any of the others: mitigating climate change; adapting to climate change; protecting and sustainably using water and marine resources; transitioning to a circular economy; preventing and controlling pollution; and restoring and protecting biodiversity. The taxonomy separates activities in three categories: green activities, which contribute to one of the environmental objectives in and of themselves; transition activities, which contribute to the energy transition and for which there are no low-carbon alternatives; and enabling activities, for instance, manufacturing a device or part that would help make other activities sustainable. The categories, however, seem to be a mere formality because, once youre in the taxonomy, youre classified as sustainable regardless of what category youre put into, Eviston said. The process of establishing the criteria was relatively open, relatively transparent until mid 2020, he explained. After that, the taxonomy became a huge fight over not what was scientific but the future of certain sources of energy. The Push for Gas and Nuclear Prior to the Platform on Sustainable Finances report, in July 2018, the European Commission established a Technical Expert Group (TEG) to develop the taxonomys screening criteria. In June 2019, the TEG defined a threshold of 100g CO2e/kWh below which energy-generation technologies can be deemed sustainable. This science-based threshold considered necessary to achieve emissions targets by 2050 excluded all fossil fuels from being in the taxonomy. In January 2021, representatives from the clean energy sector sent a joint letter welcoming the criteria recommended by the TEG and stating that the inclusion of power generation with a carbon intensity above this limit would not only deviate from science, but would also harm the EUs decarbonisation trajectory and its 2050 net-zero objectives. But this didnt suit everyone. Initially, 10 member states, mostly in Eastern and Southern Europe, opposed the TEGs criteria. On December 18, 2020, the day when the public consultation came to a close, the gas bloc Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia submitted an unofficial document expressing their concerns to the European Commission. It emphasised the need to recognize the transitional and enabling role of natural gas, referring to two of the taxonomys three categories. The taxonomys enabling and transitional categories have very specific requirements, which the Commissions scientific expert group says gas does not satisfy. But because of the gas blocs pushback, the European commission went back to the drawing table to try to accommodate their demands, Olivier Vardakoulias, finance and subsidies coordinator at Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, explained. These demands were essentially to adjust the technical screening criteria for gas investments to be included in the taxonomy. However, the taxonomy legally requires so-called technological neutrality, the equal treatment of every technology. You cannot create weaker criteria for a certain technology simply because theres a lobbying push behind it, Eviston said. And that is exactly what is happening for fossil gas. A similar pattern has played out with nuclear energy as well. Although it complies with the 100g CO2e/kWh emissions threshold screening criteria, it must also meet the do no significant harm principle, meaning that it substantially contributes to at least one of the six environmental objectives without harming any other objective. Many including the Platform on Sustainable Finance say thats where it falls short. In March 2020, an official document stated that the TEG has not recommended the inclusion of nuclear energy in the Taxonomy at this stage primarily because the waste created by nuclear energy does not comply with the do no significant harm principle. Like with natural gas, pro-nuclear companies and lobbies started to pressure the Commission to change its stance. Between March and July 2020, nuclear lobbies met with EU representatives twice as often as they did in 2018, according to the non-governmental organization Reclaim Finance. In response, the European Commission asked its Joint Research Centre (JRC) to assess the absence of significant environmental harm from nuclear power. In March 2021, the JRC issued a report of its findings, and stated that it didnt find any evidence that nuclear energy does more harm to human health or to the environment than other energy technologies included in the taxonomy. The taxonomys website states that the report aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process. But opponents of nuclear energy questioned the independence of the report. Were very concerned because the JRC has very strong links with the nuclear industry. The Commission should have known better, said Ariadna Rodrigo, a campaigner with Greenpeace European Unit. According to a Greenpeace briefing, the JRC receives funding from the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), founded in 1958 to develop a European common market for atomic energy. Between 2021 and 2025, Euratom agreed to provide 532 million euros to the JRC. The briefing also states that the nuclear lobby Foratom is a JRC partner for training and recruitment structures, technology platforms and joint events. 1/2 FORATOM statement on the EU #taxonomy leak: We welcome the fact that the Commission has come forward with a proposal to include nuclear under the taxonomy. The industry is currently reviewing the conditions of this leaked text in order to identify its impact on the sector. FORATOM (@FORATOM_nuclear) January 4, 2022 Eviston agrees that the JRCs report is problematic, not only because of the groups links to the nuclear lobby but also because there is no conclusive evidence today that there is a solution for the issue of highly radioactive waste, and this, in our view, violates the [taxonomys] requirement for conclusive, scientific evidence and the precautionary principle. Attempts to influence the taxonomy process have been widespread, according to research from several groups. Reclaim Finance investigated how gas and nuclear lobbies are trying to influence the taxonomy. The group foundthat at least 189 lobbyists devoted up to 87 million euros a year to lobbying EU institutions, and that EU officials held an average of 2.36 meetings per week with gas and nuclear players between January 2018 and July 7, 2020. The frequency of these meetings increased to 2.86 times a week between March and July 2020, after the TEGs final report was published. Major fossil fuel companies, including BP, Total and Equinor, also made a direct plea for a more lenient approach to gas in a November 2020 letter, according to a report from InfluenceMap. In a separate report, InfluenceMap found that only a small number of the 50 largest financial groups in Europe have actively and transparently supported the taxonomy. An Unholy Alliance The taxonomy is under assault to include gas and nuclear not only from those industries and their respective lobbies but also from a newly formed unofficial alliance between EU member states. Governments, it turns out, are just as involved as nuclear and gas lobbies. France whose energy mix is largely based on nuclear has been fighting tooth and nail, Vardakoulias said, for nuclear energy to be included in the taxonomy. And what has developed is a so-called gas for nuclear swap in which pro-nuclear governments and pro-gas governments are coming together to push their interests. What weve seen over the past months is that France drifted towards the pro-gas position, although France has absolutely no national stake in gas, Vardakoulias said, and an unholy alliance has formed. France, as a big member state, promised its support on gas to many European countries who dont necessarily have nuclear plans, by the way in exchange for their support on nuclear. In a statement, Pierre Cannet, director of advocacy and campaigns at WWF France, called this an attempt to greenwash fossil gas for so-called national interests and a triple betrayal of science, the taxonomys goals, and increasing support from investors and financial institutions to exclude gas from the regulation. The gas for nuclear swap isnt only limited to France. The Greek prime minister came out and said that we support nuclear in the taxonomy when Greece has never had any connection whatsoever to nuclear, but it does want gas, Vardakoulias said. I think thats the typical example of that political exchange that went on. Similar dynamics have played out in other EU countries, like Italy, where nuclear has long been excluded from the political debate after a clear-cut referendum in 2011 and only recently has started appearing in some politicians public declarations again. Like Greece, Italy has a huge stake in gas. The #EUTaxonomy should stamp out greenwashing, not help it! Nuclear and fossil gas are not green. @vonderleyen, you must exclude these technologies from the taxonomy. Send your own message and call on the EU to #StopFakeGreen! https://t.co/CFkIaM1JNk#MoneyForChange pic.twitter.com/JhoUg5U6cr Greenpeace (@Greenpeace) December 20, 2021 All this pressure from pro-gas and pro-nuclear companies, lobbies, and governments appears to have worked. On December 31, 2021 a time where nobody was watching, the European Consumer Organisation stated the commission published a draft of revisions to the taxonomy. It proposed technical screening criteria for economic activities in the energy sector, including gas and nuclear. Foratom, the voice of the European Nuclear Industry and pro-nuclear factions allied with pro-gas countries, welcomed the decision to weaken criteria for nuclear to be included in the taxonomy, according to information obtained by Greenpeace EU Unit and shared with DeSmog. Austria, Spain, Denmark, and Luxembourg, whose governments have been vocal on multiple occasions against both gas and nuclear, unconditionally rejected including nuclear energy. Germany also strongly opposed nuclear, but has not resisted the inclusion of gas, which makes up part of the countrys energy mix. It Pays to Be Green The taxonomy does not regulate which investments are and arent allowed. It only indicates which investments are considered sustainable. When you go into a shop and you buy a fridge or a washing machine, you have a label that tells you about the performance. You can still buy a fridge thats really bad, or really inefficient, thats up to you. But at least you want that label to give you accurate information, Eviston explained, otherwise youre making purchases or investments, in the case of the taxonomy on the basis of flawed information. So why are certain governments and lobbies pushing so hard to have gas and nuclear energy included in the taxonomy? Perhaps unsurprisingly, the answer often comes down to money: If youre not green, investors arent interested. An InfluenceMap report found that European companies that support regulating CO2 emissions do better in the stock market than companies that oppose these policies. This suggests that investors are increasingly backing companies with business strategies clearly aligned with the Paris Agreement and the EUs net-zero climate ambitions. And some are even calling for it openly: In January, the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, whose members represent 50 trillion euros in assets, sent an open letter to EU politicians, calling for gas to be excluded from the taxonomy. The fossil fuel industry has invested a huge amount of time and energy into framing gas as transitional, so that policymakers will accept the idea that gas is a stepping stone away from coal and towards renewables, Eviston said. In other words, the fossil fuel industry has positioned itself as part of the solution and not part of the problem. Excluding gas from the taxonomy undermines that carefully cultivated image and has the potential to frighten off investors. Nuclears motivation for being included in the taxonomy is different. On January 17, S&P Global issued a research update warning that the credit rating for Electricite de France (EDF), a French multinational utility company with 56 active nuclear reactors in France, might be lowered due to prolonged outages and demands on production from the government. This problem isnt isolated to EDF; the nuclear industry as a whole is unable to prevent cost overrun, to prevent delays, and to address a number of questions, including social acceptability, said Eviston. This is an industry which is in grave trouble. It is clinging onto any lifeline it can get. And including it in the taxonomy will attract more investment. Vladis Dombrovskis, the European Commission vice-president in charge of the economy, said the taxonomy sorts green from greenwash. Except that it wont if it lets in gas and nuclear. Because now it is being greenwashed, there is a very clear risk for the taxonomy to stop being any kind of international standard setter, Vardakoulias said. Its not just that we allow [gas and nuclear] to happen, its that we want to baptize them as sustainable as well. The fight over nuclear and gas hasnt yet reached its final round. The taxonomy amendment including the Platforms new report will be scrutinized by the European Parliament and the Council in the next four months. But there may be a legal battle too. In October 2021, lawyers at the nonprofit ClientEarth called on the European Commission to exclude gas from the taxonomy and warned that including it would be unlawful because it would contradict other EU laws, including the Paris Agreement and European Climate Law, which commits to reducing CO2 by 55 percent by 2030 and a climate-neutral Europe by 2050. The political arm wrestle over the taxonomy confirms one thing: All obstacles to climate action have to do with economic and political interests, not science or technology, and especially not with the lack of grassroots mobilization, considering the uproar from environmental organizations and climate movements on the inclusion of gas and nuclear in the taxonomy. Scientific experts have reiterated what they have been saying since the beginning: gas and nuclear have no place in the taxonomy. And climate scientists have been warning global leaders about the risks of climate change and inaction for decades. Even investors know that the fossil fuel economy, based on environmental exploitation, isnt convenient anymore. The Platforms report is another warning bell that neither fossil gas nor nuclear power must enter the EU green taxonomy, Sebastien Godinot, Senior Economist of WWF European Policy Office, said in a statement. The Commission needs to listen to the science and abandon its proposal to greenwash gas and nuclear. ____ 1 For instance, from the European Environment Agency: Evidence of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed thousands of Tennesseans is scant at the state Capitol. The plastic barriers and rules limiting public access have gone. So too has most of the toxic debate over the disease and its effects on society that consumed the legislature for nearly two years. Zombie hand sanitizer stations forgotten in stairwells, a few rogue mask wearers and Rep. David Byrds electric scooter a remnant of the embattled Waynesboro Republicans monthslong battle with the illness are left to remind visitors. But with a new year comes new battles, and this year, the Tennessee General Assembly seems poised to pivot. The biggest debate of the next few months will almost certainly center on Republican Gov. Bill Lees effort to rewrite the formula by which the state funds public education. (More on that here.) Its an enormous undertaking, and one with a relatively short turnaround time, as lawmakers hurry to finish the legislative session and turn to their reelection campaigns. Given the challenges Lee and Republican leaders faced whipping even Republican votes on their Education Savings Account bill in 2019 representing a tiny fraction of the money being considered as part of the wider formula rewrite the governor and his allies could be setting out in choppy waters. But so far, all thats been released is a high-level draft light on specifics, and even legislative leaders profess to have seen no more of the plan than that. Lee is scheduled to deliver his State of the State address, traditionally an opportunity for the executive to lay out his legislative plans in more detail, on Jan. 31. This is going to be a difficult journey, but its one where if everyone will pull together and genuinely grab a seat at the table, I think we can have a better way to do it than we have now, says House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland). Theres going to be differing opinions, and Im not going to say that everybodys going to be happy at the end of the day, because theres very few bills that pass the legislature that everybody says, Yes thats perfect. But we hope to have a better solution to how we fund schools. Also on the agenda is, as always, criminal justice reform, however one chooses to define it. (More here.) Lamberth wants to establish truth in sentencing a policy under which criminal sentences are standardized and not so subject to variability in the court and parole system. Tori Venable, state director for Americans for Prosperity, wants to end civil asset forfeiture in Tennessee. Its highway robbery, she says. Her group is planning to launch a fund the police campaign to counteract law enforcement complaints that ending civil asset forfeiture would hurt their bottom lines. Im all for tools in the toolkit, except when it violates someones constitutional rights, Venable says. If the property they would take is evidence of a crime, they can still seize it as evidence. Where people really have heartburn about it is when someone has their property taken and theyre not charged with a crime. Democrats in the superminority will be on board for many of the reform efforts that make their way to the floor, according to Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Raumesh Akbari of Memphis. Were trying to see if theres low-hanging fruit that we can get some consensus with our Republican colleagues, and usually that has to do with fines and fees, she says. [Criminal justice reform] was a bipartisan issue, and the last couple of years its seemed to narrow a bit and become less of a bipartisan issue. Donald Trump leaned into criminal justice reform; that was the one thing he did that I agreed with him on. Its very evident: Incarcerating people more does not produce less of a crime rate. Outside of education funding and criminal justice reform, lawmakers will continue working on Ford Motor Co.s new campus in West Tennessee, where the state has promised hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure spending, among other incentives. They will also, as they have for several years running, take up a number of medical marijuana and other cannabis bills, including a likely doomed effort at full legalization. Conservative group Beacon Impact is pushing an end to a so-called innovation tax, which came about as part of Trumps tax bill, that forces companies to write off research and development costs over a five-year period instead of in the year the costs were incurred. Venable and AFP are pushing an end to the professional privilege tax and the enactment of a new requirement that local governments send postcards to constituents before they raise taxes an effort triggered by Metro Nashvilles 2020 property tax increase that AFP unsuccessfully sought to overturn. She isnt confident that her Republican allies will take up the postcard legislation, though, because they may consider it an unfunded mandate on local governments. We dont have high hopes for that one this year, she says. Lamberth says the bulk of lawmakers work will be focused on the budget, the education funding debate, criminal justice reform and lingering COVID-19 questions. (One proposal would codify rules allowing family members to visit patients in hospitals; another would penalize schools that close down due to COVID.) Akbari is one of the leaders of the tiny Democratic caucus at the Capitol, and repeatedly losing is taking its toll, she says. The Memphis Democrat has a warmer outward relationship with Republican colleagues than many Democrats, but the drastic politicization of COVID-19 has hurt that relationship. I have always been able to find something that we can compromise on, she says. The pandemic is something that pushed me to think, What am I really doing here? because it was so scary. I knew people relatives, very close family friends that passed away from it, and then you see this rhetoric that has politicized it, and that to me was really discouraging. Even though its hard, even though you lace up your shoes for fights youre going to lose almost every day, she continues, sometimes you win, sometimes you lean into the third branch of government, the judicial branch, which kind of saves the day a lot of times. They dont need our votes, but at least weve been given some sort of seat at the table, and Im hoping it will actually translate into policy that passes. MBABANE Drama unfolded at the High Court yesterday when Advocate Gareth Leppan demanded that MPs Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube apologise or withdraw their complaint against him to the Law Society of Swaziland (LSS). The advocate was speaking to the members of Parliaments (MPs) advocate, Jacobus Van Vuuren, before the start of the matter, who in turn informed the accused persons. The complaint was about the South African advocates, who represents the Crown, alleged unfitness to prosecute in their trial. A member of the mPs legal team said the advocate was not pleased with the letter that the MPs wrote to the law society, in which they stated that they failed to understand how he was prosecuting in their case. The attorney said the advocate wanted the MPs to apologise and withdraw the complaint they lodged with the law society because it was an attack on his person. Advocate Leppan had previously sent a memorandum to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) before the start of the trial and raised certain concerns pertaining to the MPs case. The MPs refused to withdraw the complaint. In fact, MP Mabuza was overheard saying there was nothing to apologise for or to withdraw. Mabuza said: Lona (advocate) wabhala ngami, mine ngafundza ku media ngingamati. Aka withdrawe loko kucala (I did not know him, and he wrote about me and I read about it in the media. He must withdraw that first) In the MPs letter to the law society, Mabuza and Dube said: We fail to understand how the same advocate who wrote a memorandum to the DPP, stating that they have no case against us, now works on prosecuting the same case. To us this is purely unethical and lacks integrity. As a matter of fact, it should even be criminal. Rainwater At the High Court yesterday, where the trial was scheduled to resume at 9:30am after being postponed in December, the matter did not take off. The MPs arrived at the High Court just after 9:30am but they entered the courtroom at 10:10am. It was reported that there was rainwater along the basement tunnels that are used by accused persons to enter and exit courtrooms. When Mabuza and Dube entered the courtroom, heavily guarded by Correctional and Operational Support Services Unit (OSSU) officers, their representatives and the Crowns were engaged in discussion over the issue of the complaint they lodged with the law society. Judge Mumcy Dlamini was at the time not present in court. Mabuza and Dubes legal team comprises, among others, Advocate Jacobus Van Vuuren and Ben J. Simelane. Others are Michael Tsabedze, Mhleli Mabuza and Sicelo Mngomezulu. The representatives of both parties proceeded to Judge Dlaminis chambers after about 30 minutes of their discussion. At 10:42am, the court orderly collected the case file from the courtroom, raising curiosity among those in court that the matter might not proceed. The attorneys returned at 11:25am and the MPs representatives, together with the accused persons, went to another courtroom for purposes of consulting shortly afterwards. When they came back, everyone was of the belief that the judge would come to court and the matter would continue. However, this was not to be as the legal representatives for both parties left again for the judges chambers at noon. They returned at 12:30pm and five minutes later, Judge Dlamini arrived in the courtroom. Judge Dlamini said the matter ought to have proceeded at 9:30am but that did not happen because both counsel approached her in chambers. She said Advocate Leppan raised a concern following an article that was published in the Times of Eswatini on December 15, 2021, indicating that there was a complaint lodged with the law society. The complaint, according to the judge, among others, was that the advocate was allegedly unfit for the office, according to MPs Mabuza and Dube. Judge Dlamini said both counsel agreed that this affected the progress of the trial at the end of the day. In other words, it becomes an interlocutory matter whether counsel for the Crown (Advocate Leppan) is fit to proceed with the matter. It transpired that this matter is pending before the law society, said the judge. According to Judge Dlamini, the registrar of the High Court contacted the law society on its decision on the complaint raised by Mabuza and Dube regarding the fitness or otherwise of Advocate Leppan. The law society, said the judge, informed the registrar that they would deliberate on the complaint raised by the MPs within the course of this week. Judge Dlamini also stated that she had been advised by the MPs counsel that the legislators themselves were pursuing the complaint with the law society. By consent of both counsel, it became evident that this trial cannot continue pending the decision of the law society as to whether or not the counsel for the Crown is fit to appear in this matter, said Judge Dlamini. The judge mentioned that consequently, the matter was postponed to February 15, 2022. Following that the MPs complaint to the law society infringed on the progress of the trial, said the judge, by consent of both counsel, the law society was to deliberate on the matter and communicate its decision not later than February 4, 2022. Removal In their complaint, MPs Mabuza and Dube stated that they wanted the law society to facilitate the removal of Advocate Leppan, from prosecuting in their matter. The two incarcerated MPs raised a number of concerns about Advocate Leppan. In the letter titled Unethical admission of Advocate Gareth Leppan, they informed the law society that they brought the matter to it as the lawful institution that dealt with the admission of lawyers and advocates who could practise law in the courts of Eswatini. They highlighted that in the memorandum directed to the DPP dated August 10, 2020, Advocate Leppan stated: Having perused available material thus far, it is apparent that there is no source of evidence that proves the case against one or more of the suspects. We are honourable MPs who have little knowledge of the law, but we do from time to time seek clarity from our legal team and others. From where we stand, we understand that for Advocate Leppan to be able to practise in Eswatini, on this case in particular, he must have moved a petition which the Law Society of Swaziland must have not objected to. They informed the law society that in their opinion, the advocate had been unethically and unlawfully admitted. Dube and Mabuza said as members of the august House, they worked and believed ethics were important and played an integral part when one executed his or her own duties. We, therefore, write to seek an inquest by the Law Society of Swaziland in this matter. We are further making means to deliver a similar letter to the Pietermaritzburg Society of Advocates in the Republic of South Africa for an investigation of this matter, reads part of their letter. Mabuza and Dube said they strongly believed that the admission of Advocate Leppan to practise as an advocate in the kingdom should be terminated. They stated that Eswatini could not be a banana country where people practised merely because they were paid big cheques. (Natural News) The Biden regime is banning monoclonal antibodies by removing them from emergency use authorization (EUA). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided out of the blue to cut off Americas supply of Regeneron, a passive vaccine that many Democrats seem to oppose because it was promoted by President Donald Trump. (Related: Sen. Rand Paul called out Joe Biden for killing Americans by denying them access to monoclonal antibodies.) In Florida, where monoclonal antibodies are widely popular, the states department of health released a statement condemning the Biden regimes abrupt decision to eliminate access to monoclonal antibodies, which have been shown to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death in high-risk patients who have contracted or been exposed to the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19). As a result of the EUAs removal, all of Floridas monoclonal antibody administration sites are now closed until further notice, the Florida Department of Health (FDH) tweeted. Unfortunately, as a result of this abrupt decision made by the federal government, all monoclonal antibody sites will be closed until further notice, the announcement reads. Individuals with appointments have been directly contacted regarding cancellations. If you have tested positive for COVID-19, please contact your health care provider for more information and resources on treatment options. Monoclonal antibodies are safer and more effective than covid vaccines The FDH clearly stated in the announcement that Florida disagrees with the decision that blocks access to any available treatments in the absence of clinical evidence. To date, such clinical evidence has not been provided by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency added. The FDA decision applies to the entire country, just to be clear. It is now illegal, technically speaking, for providers to administer monoclonal antibodies in the U.S. The FDA is trying to make it so that people in Florida die of Covid, tweeted Mike Cernovich. Theyll kill people to harm Republicans. Steel yourselves for the evil that is being unleashed. Gov. Ron DeSantis has been a heavy promoter of Regeneron, a company in which he holds stock. The drug is said to help sick patients by giving them a quick fix of synthetic antibodies, which for many alleviates their symptoms quickly, often by the following day. According to the FDA, monoclonal antibodies from both Regeneron and Eli Lilly should no longer be used because they are unlikely to be effective against the omicron (moronic) variant of the Fauci Flu. Rather than allow patients and their doctors to make their own determination and decision, the FDA has decided to just go ahead and prohibit the drugs because they might not (but also might) work. DeSantis, who helped set up infusion sites for Regeneron all across the Sunshine State, slammed the Biden regime over the FDAs decision. The governor has promised to fight for these treatments to return, come hell or high water. According to DeSantis, Biden swept in to cut off access to monoclonal antibodies right as it was becoming obvious that the treatment works better than the vaccines at helping sick patients recover. I believe that ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, chlorine dioxide and many other remedies work to stop Covid-19 in its tracks, wrote a Natural News reader. I also believe that no one needs any more than a high-quality vitamin C combined with vitamin D3, and zinc to overcome even the most severe cases of Covid-19. I personally take 25,000 mg of vitamin C throughout the day when I am ill. I take up to 40,000 international units of vitamin D3 a day when ill, and up to 50mg of zinc. This always seems to do the trick. A shot of fresh squeezed lemon or a shot of apple cider vinegar with the mother to alkalize helps, too. More related news about the Biden regime can be found at Fascism.news. Sources for this article include: ThePostMillennial.com NaturalNews.com WFLA.com (Natural News) Five-time Emmy award-winning journalist Sharyl Attkisson said she has seen an increased effort to manipulate the public to appreciate censorship and disapprove of journalism. One of the strategies that has been employed is the use of third-party fact-checkers, she said. (Article by Masooma Haq and Jan Jekielek republished from TheEpochTimes.com) Nearly every mode of information has been co-opted, if it can be co-opted by some group, [and] fact-checkers are no different, Attkisson told EpochTVs American Thought Leaders. Either theyve been co-opted, in many instances, or created for the purpose of distributing narratives and propaganda, said Attkisson. This is all part of a very well-funded, well-organized landscape that dictates and slants the information they want us to have. Attkisson said she first started to notice news being controlled in the early 2000s when the media company she was working for was actively trying to suppress certain stories. The pushback came to be more about keeping a story from airing or keeping a study from being reported on the news, not just giving the other side, not just making sure it was accurately reported, she said of pharmaceutical company stories she was covering at the time. In 2016 Attkisson heard former President Barack Obama say news needed to be curated, after which mainstream media outlets started to consistently use the term fake news to describe mostly conservative news stories that they deemed untrue. And I remember thinking that was such a strange thing to say, because there was no big movement among the public, that people needed to have their information curated, that someone needed to step in and tell us what to think, curate what was online. But after that, if you look at the media, day after day, there were headlines about fake news and curation of what should and shouldnt be reported. Attkisson was referring to Obamas comment at the White House Frontiers Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in October 2016. Its relevant to our democracy, citizenship. Were going to have to rebuild, within this wild, wild west of information flow, some sort of curating function that people agree to, Obama said. Because Attkisson was curious about this idea of curating news, she researched the topic of misinformation, which led her to a non-profit called First Draft, which was funded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. And if you looked at the nonprofits website when they said fake news, they meant entirely conservative-base fake news and their viewpoint; there was no liberal version of fake news. And then within a matter of weeks, President Obama gives the speech, the media takes off and runs with it. Attkisson said the fake news phrase was actually started by the left but was effectively turned on its head by former President Donald Trump and now most people think he coined the phrase. But its actually well documented as an invention of political activists on the left during the time period I described, Attkisson said. For her book Smear she interviewed people who work to spread misinformation and propaganda with the goal of confusing the public. And they explained to me that, if they do nothing more than confuse the information landscape, maybe you dont totally buy what they say, but theyve done enough to make you not sure of anything. Censorship During the Pandemic Attkisson criticized large news outlets for being a mouthpiece of the government or other special interest groups instead of challenging them or holding them accountable, particularly as it relates to the pandemic. She said that soon after the pandemic began, she spoke to many scientists, government as well as private, about the virus and the course it was taking before she formed an opinion. She asked some of the scientists to speak out but they were afraid. They said they dare not speak out for fear of being controversial, and for fear of being called coronavirus deniers, because that phrase was starting to be used in the media. And secondly, they feared contradicting Dr. Fauci, who they said had been kind of lionized or canonized in the press for reasons that they couldnt understand. Dr. Anthony Fauci has been the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, which allowed him to advise seven presidents on public health issues, including COVID-19. He has been accused of misleading the public about funding gain of function research in China. Attkisson said the National Institutes of Health used taxpayer money to fund gain of function research in partnership with China but media reports were to the contrary. And then the narrative is being managed another way I remember after reviewing the grants themselves to my satisfaction, because I didnt know what was true till I found the documentation and then still hearing, not just public health figures, but reporters claim as if they know the truth, that none of this had happened. She said that another way to confuse the public about the truth is to label something a conspiracy, like the lab leak theory connected to the novel coronavirus. And yet when you hear people say conspiracy theory thats designed to pluck this little part of your brain that says, well, that things not true, said Attkisson. And I always keep an open mind and say, that crazy thing that they say is a conspiracy theory may well have some truth in it. Attkisson believes the reason some people can be manipulated into believing the narrative put out by corporate media is that they live in a box, meaning the Internet is their only source of information. And the people that want to control the information understand that if they can only control really a few basic sourceswere talking about Google and Twitter and Facebook and Wikipediatheyve got a lock on information, because weve all been funneled to those few sources. She said their goal is to make you believe you are in the minority and make you afraid to raise objections to the narrative. You can be made to believe that if you live in the box, so Im constantly telling people, live outside the box. Yes, you can get information there and do what you do online. But certainly, trust your cognitive dissonance. Talk to the people around you. Read more at: TheEpochTimes.com (Natural News) Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has claimed that a fourth dose of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine is entirely conceivable. His assertion of a fourth vaccine shot comes amid the spread of the more infectious B11529 omicron variant. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) made this claim during the Jan. 23 episode of This Week on ABC. We may need to boost again; thats entirely conceivable. But before we make that decision about yet again another boost, we want to determine clearly what the durability of protection is of that regular boost, that third shot, he said. Fauci pointed out that health officials dont know the durability of protection imbued by a third dose of the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, and a second dose of Johnson & Johnsons adenoviral vector vaccine. Certainly, youre going to see the antibody levels go down. Thats natural. The top medical adviser for the Biden administration clarified his use of the term protection. When I say protection, I mean protection against severe disease. You are going to see breakthrough infection as weve seen now even in boosted people, Fauci said. Back in December 2021, Fauci warned that the omicron strain has been better at evading vaccine-induced immunity. He defended the importance of boosters during a White House press briefing at the time, saying that they bring back up that degree of protection to a level that is approximately what it was before. The NIAID director continued: So boosters are critical in getting our approach to omicron to be optimal. Faucis comments during the Jan. 23 edition of This Week followed his earlier appearance on the program, where he called for booster shots every six months. We would hope that the third shot with the mRNA [vaccine] not only will boost you way up, but increases the durability so that you will not necessarily need it every six months or a year, he said at the time. Were hoping it pushes out more. If it doesnt and the data show we do need it more often, then well do it. (Related: Fauci floats the idea of injecting eligible Americans with COVID booster shots every six months.) Fauci parroting Big Pharma bosses Based on his statements, it appears that the NIAID director is echoing the sentiments of pharmaceutical bigwigs. The CEOs of vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer earlier predicted that a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose may be needed against the omicron strain which Fauci now advocates. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla remarked in December 2021 that a fourth dose may be needed in the face of omicrons spread. He put forward two points during his Dec. 8 appearance on the CNBC show Squawk Box. [The first point is] when we see real-world data, [it] will determine if the omicron [variant] is well-covered by the third dose and for how long. [The] second point [is] I think we will need a fourth dose, Bourla said at the time. He earlier predicted the need for a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose 12 months after the third shot. Bourla however changed course, saying: With omicron, we need to wait and see because we have very little information; we may need it faster. Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel also predicted the need for a fourth vaccine dose in early January 2022. He said during a Jan. 6 health conference: I still believe were going to need boosters in the fall of [2022] and forward. The Moderna executive defended his claim by mentioning the likely decline of the immunity induced by the third COVID-19 shots. Bancel added that older people and those with underlying health conditions might need booster doses on a yearly basis. More related stories: Here come the endless COVID booster shots! Fauci says its likely, inevitable theyre never going to end. Moderna CEO claims FOURTH dose needed by Fall, 2022 where does it end? Fauci: Three shots will be the new standard for a full coronavirus vaccination. Pfizer CEO says fourth vaccine dose might be needed sooner than expected. Watch the video below of Fauci talking about the possibility of a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose. This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com. VaccineWars.com has more about the push for frequent COVID-19 boosters. Sources include: NewsPunch.com NYPost.com TheNewAmerican.com CNBC.com TheEpochTimes.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) Canadian author and journalist Kennedy Hall denounced infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci for his penchant for lying to people. Hall criticized Fauci for complaining about disinformation regarding the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), while spouting his own brand of misleading lies. The Ontario-based journalist put down his analysis of Fauci in a Jan. 24 piece for LifeSiteNews. He described the expert as a strange villain possessing an uncanny ability to lie to the public in plain view, without any self-awareness. At any rate, Fauci is a master manipulator and specialized in speaking to the public in a monotone manner without much facial expression or emotion. This allows him to say virtually anything and come off as calm and collected, Hall wrote. Despite Faucis pathological ability to deceive the population, Hall pointed out how the Biden administrations chief medical adviser was worrying about disinformation himself. It seems that one of the most virulent super-spreaders of false information is worried that there is too much disinformation out there, and that a correction is needed, Hall wrote. The Canadian author continued: As the omicron oracle said, the amount of disinformation [is] entirely destructive to a comprehensive public health endeavor. I couldnt agree more. Each and every time this man opens his mouth, it is as if he not only lights the gas, but spews it onto the fire that he has already created with his shameless fibbing. According to Hall, Fauci proposed the use of social media in a positive way to promote the spread of true and correct information as possible. The author pointed out one problem. Fauci and his cronies have worked alongside Big Tech, Big Pharma, Big Media and the federal government for too long. In doing so, they have peddled loads of disinformation to a populace that naively trusted their expert advice. Fauci: A history of disinformation Hall mentioned several instances of Faucis consistent lying over the years, even commenting that the Fauci saga is decades old at this point. He began by first citing the infectious disease experts 1983 remarks about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a year before Fauci was appointed director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). This brings in the implications that there are other ways [of AIDS transmission] just plain close contact, for example, if the close contact of a child was a household contact. Perhaps there will be a certain number of [AIDS] cases in individuals who are just living with and in close contact with someone with AIDS; just the ordinary close contact that one sees in normal interpersonal relationships, Fauci said in a 1983 interview with ABC. It seems like he was already priming the public to accept social distancing almost 40 years ago, wrote Hall. (Related: Watch: An old clip of Fauci from the 1980s has resurfaced and its coming back to bite him.) The author also noted several false claims by Fauci during the COVID-19 pandemic in his LifeSiteNews piece. Hall pointed out the NIAID directors inconsistent advice on face masks, his insistence on COVID-19s asymptomatic transmission and the superiority of vaccine-induced immunity over its natural counterpart. Of course, to call the man out as being uninformed, ineffective or just plain wrong was deemed akin to criticizing science itself. You see, Anthony Fauci is science, or at least strongly identifies as such. Hall shared an interview of the late Kary Mullis, who invented the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test used to identify SARS-CoV-2. Mullis, who died in August 2019, claimed Fauci doesnt understand medicine and should not be in a position like hes in. You know, those guys have got a personal kind of agenda. They make up their own rules as they go, they change them when they want to and they smugly like Tony Fauci [do] not mind going on television in front of the people who pay [their salaries] and lie directly into the camera, said Mullis. More related stories: Whos the Real Anthony Fauci? How Anthony Fauci controls science globally. Fauci now using CULT language to describe his believers. Watch the video below of The Patriot Nurse arguing that Fauci has psychological pathology the reason why he can lie with a straight face. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel onBrighteon.com. FauciTruth.com has more about the NIAID directors consistent and blatant lying. Sources include: LifeSiteNews.com Rumble.com YouTube.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn told host Alex Newman during the Jan. 21 episode of The Sentinel Report that Americans must get involved in politics if they dont want to lose their country. This country is meant to be an experiment in democracy called a constitutional republic. And if we want to sustain this beautiful country, this beautiful experiment, people in this country, every single person must now get involved, said Flynn. He urged Americans to support the candidates they believe in and the organizations that are actually doing something. Get out of the bleachers and get on the field of play and participate in this experiment. Thats what our Founders wanted us to do. And thats what we have to do now, otherwise were going to lose this country. And its going to continue to move towards socialism, or worse, communism. Flynn clarified that the current situation of the country can only be fixed if every American citizen will stop saying that they are not going to get involved in politics. (Related: Michael Flynn tells The Right Side: Americans need to fix election systems and processes Brighteon.TV.) Thats why were here. Because people have allowed the political class in this country to take us to this depth of evil that were up against. So everybody in this country, everybody that listens to this show, you are now dubbed part of the political process in our country. And you must get involved, said Flynn, who is one of the freedom movement leaders in America. The former national security adviser noted that he doesnt like the current political culture in the country. He pointed out that the Democratic Socialist Party of America, the Communist Party of America, the elitist body and the globalist body do exist and they are very real. And these are not conspiracy theories, and so we have to fight against all of these. Weve got to figure out ways to do that. Thats why I use the phrase local action has a national impact. But it only works if people get involved in their communities at the local level, Flynn explained. Thats where its going to be. Thats where the fight is at. And thats how were going to continue to have the country that was created almost 250 years ago. We will retain freedom if we defeat tyranny. Rise of radical Islamism Flynn also took note of the sudden rise of radical Islamism around the world after the death of Osama bin Laden, the founder of the militant Islamist organization al-Qaeda. (Related: Treasonous Joe Biden just fulfilled Osama Bin Ladens prophecy of DEFEAT for America) In a 2016 speech, the former national security adviser called Islamism a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people that has to be excised. He lamented that the U.S. government was accomplishing its strategic foreign policy goals and objectives in an incorrect manner, citing the war in the Middle East, which he said is probably one of the biggest strategic failures for the country in this century. Flynn added that ideologies that are against democracy like communism, fascism, imperialism and Islamism are all an antithesis to the way of life in America. I dont care about Republicans and Democrats, I care about this country, I care about the future for my children, my grandchildren and the generations that come after them. I want this beautiful experiment and democracy called a constitutional republic to continue down this path that we have set for ourselves, Flynn said. He also emphasized the need to rebuild the institutions of the country, particularly at the federal level, and the security state complex, which consists of all the intelligence agencies. (Related: Newly-released documents reveal stunning collusion between FBI, CIA, top Dems and Obama as Trump probe began.) Flynn also cited the 30,000 religious exemptions in the military that were denied, which he said is just flat out wrong. Its going to cause the institution of the United States military to decline. And I have a responsibility as a retired military person to encourage people and to help build the institution of the United States Armed Forces, he said. More related stories: WE NEED AUDITS: General Michael Flynn talks about why audits are necessary following the questionable 2020 elections Brighteon.TV. Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn tweets call for Trump to declare martial law, order new US election. General Flynn urges pastors to defend the Constitution from the pulpit Brighteon.TV. Watch the video below for the full interview of retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn. This video is from the BrighteonTV channel on Brighteon.com. Follow Awakening.news for more stories like this. Sources include: Brighteon.com ABCNews.go.com (Natural News) Enemies of the people. (Article by Jim Hoft republished from TheGatewayPundit.com) In March of 2021, the Biden Department of Justice quietly dismissed charges against 31 violent Antifa terrorists who clashed with federal agents in 2020. Federal prosecutors dismissed more than one-third of cases stemming from violent protests in downtown Portland back in 2020, when Antifa protesters clashed with federal agents. Kyle Iboshi reviewed federal court records and found 31 of the 90 protest cases have been dismissed by the U.S. Department of Justice, including a mix of misdemeanor and felony charges. For months- Ive been tracking dozens of federal cases stemming from last summers protests in downtown Portland. So far, 34 of 90 cases have quietly been dismissed by the U.S. Dept. of Justice- including both misdemeanor and felony charges. https://t.co/L4zdj3axH7 pic.twitter.com/rPQHpMdcQr Kyle Iboshi (@KyleIboshi) March 4, 2021 Black Lives Matter-Antifa mobs caused over one billion dollars in damages in cities across America in 2020. In Minneapolis alone, Black Lives Matter mobs damaged or destroyed over 1,500 businesses or buildings. Over 700 police officers were injured in the BLM riots and that was back in June 2020 at the start of the historic leftist riots! Black Lives Matter was linked to conservatively 91% of the riots that resulted in the most expensive property damage in US insurance history Democrats incited the Black Lives Matter mobs for months as they destroyed communities across the country. Democrats also pushed to defund the police something they finally admit has ruined lives and communities across the country. While terrorists, looters and Antifa demons were given a pass by the Biden regime several conservative Americans continue to languish in prison in Washington DC without any constitutional rights or the humane treatment offered to Gitmo detainees. This is who is leading the country today. What a disgrace. The Biden regime, in just one year, has destroyed Americas place in the world as a beacon for human rights and a home for the victims of political persecution. Read more at: TheGatewayPundit.com (Natural News) The Biden administrations COVID-19 vaccine mandate is problematic for many reasons, but one of the indisputable top concerns is the fact that its putting our nations security at risk, a topic that was recently explored by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet. She outlined some of the abuses that have been brought to light by military whistleblowers and their lawyers in a recent Truth for Health Foundation press conference. Its a disturbing list that includes things like hazing and shaming unvaccinated military service members, physical punishment, denying treatment to unvaccinated military members who get COVID, and purging those who ask for religious or medical accommodations. They are also, not surprisingly, covering up serious vaccine injuries and fatalities in a shadow process of coercion. According to a lead attorney on the lawsuit filed against Department of Defense vaccine mandates, Todd Callender, requests for medical and religious exemptions to the vaccine, which are allowed under military regulations, are regularly denied via cut and paste letters without even being reviewed. Other attorneys took issue with the fact that the vaccine being forced on military members is not approved by the FDA. Experienced military JAG attorneys David Willson and Davis Younts explained: Our service members are being illegally ordered to take an EUA [Emergency Use Authorization] product while being told it is FDA-approved. Only FDA-approved vaccines can be mandated for service members. Comirnaty, the only FDA-approved COVID shot, is not available on any U.S. military installation in the U.S. or overseas, according to military sources. They added that service members who are requesting exemptions are dealing with public humiliation, extra duty and even threats of being dishonorably discharged, while those who dare to discuss the matter are risking discipline that could put an end to their military career. Pilots who experience vaccine side effects could put countless lives at risk Meanwhile, the Air Force is operating at a time of rising global tensions with a shortage of more than 2,000 pilots. Despite that, the Air Force Command is purging highly trained fighter pilots at a concerning rate as a punishment for requesting vaccine exemptions, depriving our military of thousands of hours of experience in combat flight that is extremely difficult to obtain. The Truth for Health Foundation also shared a warning letter written to the FAA, the Department of Defense and all major airline CEOs exposing the serious vaccine injuries that have been grounding pilots. Penned by renowned cardiologist and epidemiologist Dr. Peter McCullough in conjunction with other civilian and military physicians, it highlighted the fact that vaccinated pilots have been flying with medical risks that put public safety at risk. In fact, they warned that if the current FAA regulations were being adhered to correctly right now, everyone who got a COVID-19 vaccine would be barred from flying for 12 months. They wrote: The FAA generally requires at least one year of post-marketing experience with a new drug before consideration for aeromedical certification purposes. This observation period allows time for uncommon, but aeromedically significant, adverse effects to manifest themselves In fact, pilots of both military and commercial planes are not generally being monitored for markers of heart damage, cardiac arrest risk or blood clotting. This not only puts themselves and their passengers at risk but also those on the ground they fly over. Like so many other aspects of these vaccine mandates, its hard to understand the logic of forcing out highly qualified and experienced men and women who are ready and willing to defend our nation simply because they do not accept the demonstrated risks of an unapproved vaccine, especially at a time when the countrys enemies appear to be growing bolder and more aggressive. Sources for this article include: TruthForHealth.org WND.com (Natural News) The FBI is being fiercely hammered for saying the Texas synagogue hostage takers demands were not specifically related to the Jewish community, with some calling for the complete elimination of the bureau. (Article republished from WNDNewsCenter.org) The FBI is now an organization solely focused on destroying the domestic enemies of the Democratic Party, conservative talk radio show Jesse Kelly tweeted Sunday morning. Any Republican Congress or Presidential candidate who doesnt loudly proclaim his intention to massively reform or disband this organization should not be considered. Kelly was responding to a news tweet by the Associated Press indicating the Texas synagogue hostage takers demands were specifically focused on issues not connected to the Jewish community. At a news conference, FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno said: We do believe from our engaging with this subject that he was singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community. But were continuing to work to find motive. The hostage taker, British national Malik Faisal Akram, took four hostages at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. The Jerusalem Post called DeSarnos remarks a truly baffling statement. In an analysis titled, Yes, the Colleyville synagogue attack was specifically targeting Jews, the Post reported: The idea that any attack on a synagogue is not specifically related to the Jewish community is absurd enough. Even with the broadest definition of who is considered Jewish, Jews make up only 2.4% of all American adults and only 0.6% of the population of Texas. It beggars belief, in most cases and in this one in particular, that someone outside the densest Jewish populations in America would have randomly stumbled upon a synagogue while looking for people to hold hostage. Add to that the fact that the gunman entered Congregation Beth Israel on a Saturday morning, when Shabbat services are held. The timing was clearly intentional. We dont know much about the hostage taker since the FBI is not releasing information. But we know that he targeted a synagogue to free a woman who did not hide her hatred of Jews. And we know a leading figure in the same organization that advocated Siddiquis cause put synagogues and other major Jewish organizations on a list of enemies who spark Islamophobia. These seem like directions of inquiry the FBI ought to be taking seriously. What more must it take for a crime to be viewed as specifically related to the Jewish community? What more needs to happen for antisemitic hate crimes to be viewed as such? The gunman allegedly demanded the release of a Pakistani woman currently behind bars in Texas on charges of trying to kill members of the U.S. military in Afghanistan. According to Fox News, The FBI and Justice Department previously described the woman, Aafia Siddiqui, as an al-Qaida operative and facilitator at a May 2004 news conference. She is serving an 86-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2010 on charges that she sought to shoot U.S. military members while in Afghanistan two year earlier. She has a history of anti-Semitism, including demanding that jurors in her case be DNA tested and removed if they have a Zionist or Israeli background. Dr. Sebastian Gorka, host of America First, tweeted: The FBI is a joke. A dangerous joke. Others on Twitter ferociously pummeled the FBI, with comments including: Read more at: WNDNewsCenter.org (Natural News) A marketing manager for sportswear company Nike was terminated for refusing to upload his Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination records. The former employee said he refused to do so due to fears of identity theft that befell him and his wife earlier. Dex Briggs, 53, worked at Nikes corporate headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Having been a victim of identity theft alongside his wife, Briggs found the process of uploading his vaccination record too great of a risk to take. According to Briggs, an unidentified third-party firm was responsible for creating the companys vaccination database. It has access to vaccination records uploaded by employees and has permission to share the information with others to verify the records. Being fully vaccinated himself, Briggs even offered to show his managers his vaccination card as proof. I have my vaccination card [and] Im quite willing to show you that. But Im not willing to give my personal information to this [outside] company, and any other company they want to share it with, without even telling me who they are, he said. According to the former marketing manager, he was not alarmed about the vaccine mandate as he believed a private company such as Nike had a right to set its own vaccine policy. Im already vaccinated, so that doesnt really matter. However, Briggs became frustrated when the Oregon-based sportswear giant moved forward with the verification process without providing details about the third-party platform. He also added that Nike was unwilling to accept his physical vaccination card as proof that he was injected with the COVID-19 vaccine. Why is the policy so restrictive? What are they trying to accomplish with this policy? That should be all that matters. (Related: The vaccine mandate is a hoax, and no entity or person in America is obliged to follow it.) Nike isnt doing it right when it comes to the vaccine mandate According to a Jan. 12, 2022 report by the Oregonian, Nike said it plans to terminate several employees who were unable to meet the deadline for vaccine status verification. Those who have not received medical or religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine are also subject to dismissal. These two groups would be terminated by Jan. 15. The report added that employees under these two categories had received an email in early January. The email read: You failed to complete the verification process and our records show that you do not have an approved exemption. As a result, you are not in compliance with the [vaccination] policy and your employment is scheduled to be terminated on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022. Briggs was among these employees laid off for failing to comply with the policy. He updated his Facebook profile on Jan. 15 to state that he and Nike had parted ways. As a result, my employment will be terminated as of midnight tonight, after 26 years of loyal service. Their loss, Briggs wrote in a Facebook post. Briggs termination came less than a month after he accused Nike of playing political games with peoples lives in a Facebook post. He wrote in Dec. 17, 2021: My employer is playing these political games with the lives of its employees, which is why I chose not to comply with the inflexible vaccination verification policy that goes into effect today. His December 2021 post also came with an article that featured former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson. The piece published by the Epoch Times quoted the former Trump administration official, who said the COVID-19 pandemic could be solved quickly if politics was thrown out. Nike did not respond to requests for comment. The company announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in September 2021, with the goal of returning employees back to the Beaverton site by early January 2022. However, the surge of cases driven by the B11529 omicron variant has pushed Nike employees return to a later time. More related stories: Beloved Michigan weatherman FIRED after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Nurse fired for not getting COVID-19 vaccine speaks about REAL situation in hospitals. Nurses and hospital workers considered heroes during vaccine-less COVID pandemic now being fired by healthcare Nazis over refusal to get the jab. Watch the video below of attorney and Brighteon.TV host Tom Renz talking to Disney employee Nick Caturano about the media companys vaccine mandate on Lawfare with Tom Renz. This video is from the BrighteonTV channel on Brighteon.com. Visit MedicalTyranny.com for more stories on employee terminations connected to COVID-19 vaccines. Sources include: DailyMail.co.uk OregonLive.com Brighteon.com US Navys Ohio-class nuclear-powered strategic submarine USS Nevada struts at the naval base in Guam, January 15. (Source: online materials) By Jia Pingfan The US has been flexing its muscles again in the Indo-Pacific recently. As of January 20, Beijing time, the US Navy had successively deployed five naval formations comprised of aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships on the West Pacific around the South China Sea, and the Ohio-class nuclear-powered strategic submarine USS Nevada also showed itself, rarely, on a high profile at the US naval base in Guam. As the worlds top military power, the US is an old hand at throwing its weight around, but what is it driving at by trying to muddy the waters in the Indo-Pacific as China is about to celebrate the Spring Festival and host the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games? Some experts held that the recent deployment of nuclear submarine and aircraft carrier strike group in the Indo-Pacific region is more to bluff than bear any substantive fruit. Usually the whereabouts of Americas strategic nuclear submarine is the top military secret that wouldnt be divulged to the outside world. Therefore, the US militarys trumpeting of USS Nevadas itinerary is unusual, with an evident intention at strategic deterrence, said Wei Zongyou, a professor at Fudan Universitys Center for American Studies, in an interview. According to Guo Xiaobing, director of the Center for Arms Control Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, (the deployment of the nuclear submarine) indicated two things. On the one hand, the US is speeding up the shift of strategic focus to the Indo-Pacific now that it has pulled itself out of Afghanistan, and has stepped up deployments in the West Pacific. On the other hand, in Americas nuclear strike plan, the sub-plan for attacking East Asia has been further substantiated. Reinforcing strategic deterrence against China The 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in December 2021 adopted the Beijing Winter Olympic Truce Resolution, which, however, was rejected by the US. The worlds only superpower is expected to continue strengthening military exercises in the South and East China Sea this year. The US is dispatching strategic nuclear-powered submarine and aircraft carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific with a view to flexing muscles and exerting military deterrence against China, said Professor Wei. He added that the deployment was a major step taken by the Biden administration to roll out the new Pacific Deterrence Initiative and reassure its regional allies, and also a deterrent move targeted at DPRK,who launched a missile recently, as a pacifier for Asian-Pacific allies such as Japan and ROK. The US is in the habit of sending threatening signals by deploying its nuclear submarine. Its recent move of dispatching the submarine and carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific, which are mere paper tigers, is primarily for bluffing, analyzed Guo Xiaobing. Chinas nuclear policy prevents it from taking the preemptive step in using nuclear weapons, but the US has no such restrictions, reported Russias Sputnik, saying that Americas nuclear posture review of 2018 allowed it to use nuclear weapons even against non-nuclear-weapon rivals. On January 3, leaders of the five nuclear-weapon states China, France, Russia, the UK and the US delivered the Joint Statement on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races. Days later, Washington dispatched on a high profile its strategic nuclear submarine to the Asia Pacific and gathered several aircraft carrier strike groups in the South China Sea to flex muscles. That was in no way conducive to the China-US strategic mutual trust or the regional peace and stability, but only indicated that the US has gone back on its own words, analyzed Wei. Muscle-flexing of little use Americas strategic nuclear submarine is of tremendous destructive power, but that is exactly the reason why it is of little practical use, said Guo. To use nuclear weapons, the US must be prepared to suffer losses itself. Its allies have been doubting whether the US would be willing to sacrifice its homeland security to protect the allies once a nuclear conflict is threatening. In this sense, the strategic nuclear submarine is no more than a paper tiger thatis really only scary in appearance, not in fact. Americas constant muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific region has added to the risk of an armed conflict, said Guo. For one thing, the action has exacerbated regional tension and the risk of conflict, giving more weight to military factors in the international relations in the region. For another, it has intensified underwater arms race. Third, it has increased the risk of a nuclear accident.Fourth, the frequent appearance of US troops has increased the risk of COVID-19 transmission. How to mitigate tension in the Indo-Pacific? The international community and regional countries should make efforts in the following areas. First, they should uphold the new vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and oppose the hegemonic security outlook that is divisive, one-sided, confrontational and short-sighted. Second, they should reinforce crisis prevention and management, not only emphasizing communication and coordination after a crisis broke out, but also highlighting mutual respect for each others core interests and avoiding conflict and confrontation. Third, they should work together to preserve a generally stable security environment and sound development momentum in the Indo-Pacific, focusing on common development and preventing the Middle East chaos from recurring in this region because of the meddling by external forces, said Guo. According to Wei Zongyou, countries in the region should make full use of the East Asia Summit and other multilateral mechanisms to oppose any country conducting military deterrence or intimidation in the Asia Pacific, especially with nuclear weapons. They should also oppose bloc confrontation, arms race and a new Cold War. Moreover, China and the US should continue to engage and consult on how to co-exist peacefully, manage the crisis, ease tension, and prevent an arms race in the Asia Pacific, in a bid to jointly preserve peace and stability in the region. Disclaimer: This article is originally published on the world.people.com.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn. MANZINI Talk about a horrific discovery! Three minors, aged between four and five, who were playing along the road, discovered a decomposed body of a female suspected to have been stuffed into a pit latrine. They made this discovery at about noon yesterday, at Mbikwakhe, Matsapha, which is a community located about 13 kilometres west of Manzini. According to Vusi Dlamini, a community police member in the same area, they were called by family members after a child peeped through a concrete slab used to cover the pit latrine. The pit latrine is on a vacant plot opposite a thicket within the demarcations of Matsapha High School. According to Dlamini, one of the children peeped through a 30-centimetre hole on the block covering the hole. While looking through it, the minor reportedly called upon her peers to tell them that there was a person sitting at the bottom of the pit latrine. As this was happening, a guardian of the children was said to have been approaching them, instructing them to go back to their compound. As this was happening, the children are said to have relayed to her what they had just seen. The guardian also inspected the hole to verify the startling statements that were being made by the children. Upon confirming them, it was said she called upon neighbours to witness the discovery while also informing the community police member. Dlamini said it was at this instance that they were informed and they went to the vacant plot to inspect the discovery. He said subsequent to this, they contacted the police. The community police member relayed that the body was found in a decomposed state. However, he did note that from what was retrieved, the woman had a small body size. Dlamini said what surprised them was that how did the woman get to be at the bottom of the incomplete latrine as the hole in it was about 30cm wide. Retrieved Dlamini said when the police and Eswatini National Fire and Emergency Services (ENFES) personnel retrieved the body; they had to break the concrete slab in order to get into the pit. Inside it, they found that the woman was not robbed as there was a red duffel bag with clothes suspected to be hers and a Samsung cellular phone. His suspicion was that the woman might have been shoved into the hole after she was killed. Based on the state in which she was found, the community police member suspected that the body might have been dumped into the latrine during the festive season. This was also supported by a community member, who requested not to be named. The community member claimed that the extensive rainfall collected in recent weeks could have played a major role in the delay of the discovery. He said this was because if there had been no rains, a strong stench of a decomposing body would have permeated the air, thereby drawing the attention of people. The resident said the discovery by the children had shocked the community and made them start questioning the state of safety. It is worth noting that the area in which the body was discovered is next to the road, but is filled with overgrown vegetation. Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the discovery of the body. She said police were appealing to people who may have family members aged between 24 and 26 to contact the Matsapha police. Mnguni said it was hard to identify the woman, given the state in which she was found. She appealed to the public to also assist them in finding the family of the deceased. The deputy PICO said the public may contact them through their toll-free number 999 or 9999. On the other hand, since the beginning of December 2021, police have posted photos of nine people seeking to locate them. Five of the people reported missing were females. (Natural News) New Yorkers no longer have to wear a face mask while indoors thanks to a decision by the NY Supreme Court striking down Gov. Kathy Hochuls statewide mandate. Congressman Lee Zeldin, a Republican who has been named the presumptive nominee for governor of the state by both the Republican and Conservative Parties, issued a victory statement not long after the ruling: We did it! A New York State Supreme Court Judge just ruled the Hochul Administrations statewide mask mandate as unconstitutional and a violation of New York State law. Honored to have fought side by side with small business owners, parents, elected officials like Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and so many others in fighting for common sense, freedom, and the full science as opposed to just partial science. Zeldin went on to state that despite the Hochul knows best arrogance from the states current governor, actual New Yorkers are happy to see the mandate go away now if only the vaccine mandates would do the same. Just yesterday, I heard a taxpayer funded Public Service Announcement featuring a medical expert telling the public that the CDC no longer recommends the use of cloth masks, Zeldin wrote. However, Governor Kathy Hochul has continued to force New York children as young as 2-years-old to be masked up all day long two years into a pandemic that has harmed kids physically, developmentally, mentally and emotionally. Enough, and its not just in our schools. The overreach of this statewide mask mandate that relies on partial science rather than all of it has been very widely and adversely felt throughout New York. Hochul issues statement of rage against Supreme Court ruling In his ruling, Supreme Court Justice Thomas Rademacher wrote that while the intentions of Hochul and her comrades might be well aimed in the interest of public health (ha!), they have overreached their authority. They must take their case to the state legislature, Rademacher added, suggesting that Hochul et al. violated the law. In a response statement, an angry Hochul expressed her desire to overturn the ruling and force all New Yorkers back into masks as soon as she possibly can. My responsibility as governor is to protect New Yorkers throughout this public health crisis, and these measures help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and save lives, Hochul said. We strongly disagree with this ruling, and we are pursuing every option to reverse this immediately. Syndicated columnist Phil Kerpen tweeted a copy of the ruling, which rules Hochuls school mask mandate illegal and unconstitutional. How Hochul plans to try to override her state Supreme Courts ruling, which is the final say on the matter, is currently unknown. But one thing is for sure: Hochul is really upset about the newfound freedom of New York residents and is probably already concocting some new illegal and unconstitutional scheme of oppression to humiliate and debase them. New Yorkers Oust your incompetents, your scared and fragile, wrote a commenter in response to the news. A new day is dawning and all must be strong. Stand up! Speak out! Another pointed out that technically Hochul could try to overturn the ruling in the NYS Court of Appeals, which supposedly must still arbitrate this matter. In NYS, counties have supreme courts, that person wrote. This decision was from Nassau County. I know, its stupid but such is the Democratic Peoples Republic of NY. Another pointed out that just like always, New Yorkers who want to wear a mask voluntarily still have the right to do so nobody is stopping them. More related news about government mask mandates can be found at Fascism.news. Sources for this article include: CitizenFreePress.com Twitter.com Twitter.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Big Pharma company Pfizer has effectively cornered the vaccine market in the European Union, as it is about to provide the bloc with nearly two billion doses of its Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. Early last year, Pfizer inked a deal with the EU to provide the 27-nation bloc with 1.8 billion doses of its mRNA vaccines. This represents the single largest mass purchase of vaccines in world history and could fully vaccinate the entire population of the EU twice over. If each person gets one of the 1.8 billion doses, that would mean roughly 23 percent of the worlds population will be injected with the COVID vaccine. The EU inked this deal with Pfizer just as the Big Pharma company hiked up the price of its vaccine to $23 per dose. This means the EU paid Pfizer over $41 billion for 1.8 billion doses. Michel Chossudovsky, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Ottawa, asked why the EU would trust a company which has a criminal record like Pfizer, going so far as to call it a reliable partner. These shots are not vaccines, he wrote in Global Research. They are not meant to protect you against the virus. The media has failed to remind us that in 2009, Pfizer Inc. pleaded guilty to criminal charges. It was the largest healthcare fraud settlement in the history of the U.S. Department of Justice The criminality surrounding the 2020-21 mRNA vaccine far surpasses the 2009 fraudulent marketing charges directed against Pfizer, continued Chossudovsky. What is at stake is the outright criminalization of the state apparatus, whereby politicians, members of parliament, senior government officials, are routinely bribed, co-opted or threatened to abide by a diabolical project which is literally destroying peoples lives worldwide. (Related: EU ADMITS repeatedly taking COVID-19 vaccine boosters could destroy the immune system.) Europe to be flooded with more Pfizer vaccines Late last year, as the post-vaccine omicron variant was spreading like wildfire through highly vaccinated Europe, the governments that compose the EU agreed to exercise an option to purchase more than 180 million additional doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer. The vaccine the EU purchased would be a version of the Pfizer vaccine that has been adapted to supposedly better fight against the omicron variant. The Big Pharma company said it began development on a prototype for an omicron-specific vaccine in late November, and it could be ready as early as March. The Member States [of the EU] have agreed to trigger a first tranche of over 180 million extra doses of adapted vaccines, in our third contract with BioNTech-Pfizer, announced European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen during a news conference. A press release from Pfizer a few days later clarified that the deal was for over 200 million additional doses. These 200 million adapted vaccines are in addition to the 450 million regular doses the company already planned to deliver to the EU in 2022. By the end of the year, Pfizer expects to have delivered 650 million vaccine doses to the EU, or just around a third of the 1.8 billion it promised to the bloc. By the end of 2023, this number is expected to jump to 900 million, with the remaining 900 million up for grabs by EU member states upon request. More related articles: Toronto man says Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine KILLED his healthy, athletic 17-year-old son. Investigation proves Pfizer vaccine offers less than 1% protection against COVID-19. EU regulators, WHO call for end to COVID boosters, citing evidence strategy is failing. Watch this heartbreaking testimony from a mother of two as she talks about her adverse reaction to the Pfizer vaccine. This video is from the Take Note TV channel on Brighteon.com. Learn more about Pfizer and its COVID-19 vaccine at Vaccines.news. Sources include: GlobalResearch.ca Reuters.com Pfizer.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) If you believe that Dr. Anthony Fauci should resign from his position as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, youre not alone as a recent poll shows just how popular the sentiment is. The poll was carried out between January 12 and 14 and asked more than 1,000 likely general election voters the question: Do you believe Dr. Fauci should resign his position and role in leading the governments COVID-19 response to allow new leadership? When broken down by party, the responses largely went as expected. However, The Trafalgar Group poll revealed that a surprising percentage of Independent voters believed he should resign, at 58.9 percent, and 53 percent of likely voters overall say the same. Democrats in particular would prefer to see him keep his position, with 82 percent of Democrats saying he should not resign, versus just 23.4 percent of Republicans saying the same. These dismal polling numbers come as Fauci makes headlines for owning a $10.4 million investment profile in 2020 that included some Chinese companies. According to a report of Dr. Faucis 2020 financials by the New York Post and released by Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS), the presidents top medical adviser held investments in Chinese companies through a fund known as Matthews Pacific Tiger Fund. One of these is a pharmaceutical business, the Wuxi Biologics headquartered in China. Several senators have called on dishonest Dr. Fauci to resign He has also been accused by Senator Marshall and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) of lying to Congress about his financial details and National Institutes of Health medical investments. In November, Senator Paul blasted Dr. Fauci in a Senate hearing over gain-of-function research in Wuhan and grilled him about why he denied that virus research had been funded by the National Institutes of Health before the COVID-19 pandemic got underway. Paul said: Gain-of-function could cause a pandemic even worse next time. [It] could endanger civilization as we know it. He went on to tell Dr. Fauci that most Americans do not believe him on this matter. He said: Your repeated denials have worn thin and the majority of Americans, frankly, dont believe you. Your persistent denials are not just a stain on your reputation but are a clear and present danger to the country and to the world. He then said that it appeared that Dr. Fauci had not learned anything from the pandemic and said he felt it was time for him to resign. He also accused him of changing the definition of gain-of-function on his website so that he could deny what had happened. In an opinion piece for Fox News, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) accused Dr. Fauci of telling an outright lie when he claimed that he did not dismiss the lab leak hypothesis on Covids origins despite a National Geographic interview in which he did indeed scoff at the idea. Rubio said that this attitude would be a fireable offense in most science-related jobs, but not only was Fauci allowed to continue without being held accountable, but some of his peers who dared to question the lab leak possibility were silenced. He added: Dr. Anthony Fauci has repeatedly demonstrated a history of moving goal-posts when it comes to public health, withholding facts that dont conform with his own narrative, and issuing inappropriate personal judgments that distort the truth. He went on to say that if Biden wants to keep his promise to choose science over fiction, he should fire Dr. Fauci. Sources for this article include: TheTrafalgarGroup.org NYPost.com FoxNews.com Breitbart.com (Natural News) We are pleased to announce another new addition to the Brighteon.TV lineup: Alex Newman of The Sentinel Report and The Liberty Sentinel. From 4-5pm EST every Friday, Newmans The Sentinel Report airs live at Brighteon.TV, featuring topics related to current events, politics and more. In the following episode of The Sentinel Report, Newman speaks with Vishal Mangalwadi and Gen. Michael Flynn about the fraudulent 2020 election, the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine mandates, the January 6 insurrection, and other pertinent issues. Newman reports the news from his own unique perspective and we are excited to give Brighteon.TV viewers the chance to hear from him every week for the latest rundown of current events and relevant news. This video is from channel BrighteonTV on Brighteon.com. Todays children need to learn economics, Newman says Back in December, Newman also appeared on America Unhinged with Dr. John Diamond, the program that brands itself as fervently patriotic and unapologetically Christian. Newman spoke with Diamond about public education, his work as a teacher in advanced economics, and the lack of proper economics education for todays children. Its one of those essential subjects that doesnt get the respect that it deserves from the public school system, Newman says about economics. And I think thats deliberate, I think thats strategic. I think theyre training the children to be obedient, complaint slaves rather than entrepreneurial and independent. Newman is a big advocate for economics, which he says is essential for children to learn in order to get by in life. Without it, they will remain crippled, which will in effect cripple the country. Newman is also a contributor to The Epoch Times and is aligned with The Foundation for American Christian Education (FACE). Newman also writes for World Net Daily (WND), FreedomProject Media, The New American, Law Enforcement Intelligence Brief, and many other publications. Newman is also a frequent speaker on TV programs and at conferences that all together reach tens of millions of people with his message of faith, family and freedom. Education is Newmans specialty, and Diamond hopes to put together an entire education week to focus more on the subject and explain how parents can be better equipped to pull their children out of public school keep an eye out for this event at Brighteon.TV. As our readers probably well know, public schools are indoctrination centers where children are being inducted into a mindset and lifestyle of perversion and depravity. Reading, writing and arithmetic often get a back seat, if they are even taught at all anymore. Newman and Diamond both recognize this and want to help parents protect their children from falling prey to the system. Even charter schools are less than optimal, Newman explained to Diamond. Many parents believe they are a better option than normal public schools, but the reality is that they are run by the government just the same. They still teach the same garbage standards, you still cant have a Bible in there, you still cant have a prayer, you still cant teach the kids that they didnt come from slime over billions of years because it rained on the rocks as far as Im concerned its useless, Newman says about charter schools. As far as Im concerned, charter schools are poison just like traditional government schools, and to make matters worse, they crowd out genuine, independent, private Christian schools. More of Newmans work can be found at The Liberty Sentinel website be sure to check it out! Be sure to also check out the many other new additions to the Brighteon.TV broadcast lineup at Brighteon.TV. Sources for this article include: LibertySentinel.org Brighteon.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) Remember the first mainstream-concocted fable about the origins of COVID-19? Mainstream fake news outlets around the world claimed it all started because some little wet market in China was serving up infected bat meat. That was before everyone besides Fauci and his cohorts knew that the virus had lab-created gain of function ability to transmit from bats to humans. After a few months, the entire narrative collapsed, and the truth about the man-made, signature novel virus was revealed to the world, and in just two words: Wuhan lab. Now, believe it or not, mainstream media outlets online are pushing the exact same narrative to preempt the next biological weapon release by claiming that bushmeat disguised as fish is being imported into the USA at several ports, and US Customs and Border Patrol are doing their best to stop it before another deadly pandemic is set in motion. Sure. New wet market narrative for next biological weapon release now underway Fake news enthusiasts around the world always go for the bait, hook-line-and-sinker. Yet, even after the biggest lies are debunked, most of the brainwashed sheeple still believe wholeheartedly in the fake narratives, like the Trump-Russia-collusion hoax and the Chinese wet market Covid origins hoax. Now the news media is setting up the narrative for another bioweapon release. According to US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) stations around the nation, agents have identified a trend of passengers returning from Africa who have exotic bushmeat tucked away with their belongings. When the agents question them about it, they say its just fish. Bushmeat is supposedly a combination of monkey, rat and bat meat, and is illegal and very dangerous. According to mainstream news outlets and the CDC, bushmeat is showing up more and more at our nations busiest airports, as of January, 2022. According to customs agents, fish is only a small portion of the meat, and the rest is likely to start the next pandemic should it get distributed around the country. Monkeys, rats and bats, oh my! Bushmeat can be bats, nonhuman primates, cane rats, and antelope, officials claim. Bushmeat is usually dried, salted or smoked, all prepping methods that DO NOT render the meat safe or noninfectious. The meat could spread a new wave of biological terror, including Ebola or Anothercon, so officials are telling all Americans to be on the lookout, whatever that means. If you see something, say something, right? Watch out for the next lab-made bioweapon virus to be released in America that should be named Another-Con Here we go again. The CDC is demanding that all bushmeat found at US ports be destroyed along with any personal items that may have come in contact with the bushmeat. Grab everything those bushmeat smugglers bring on the plane and throw it in the nearest garbage can, so well all be safe from Anothercon. That will teach those exotic meat importers who is boss and who has only Americans safety in mind. Maybe the CDC should run PCR tests on the smugglers luggage bags just to be extra careful. Bushmeat has been discovered by the CBP repeatedly at US port hubs, including Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport, where officers seized over 100 pounds of monkey-bat-rat-antelope-fish burgers just last week. Another traveler from Liberia supposedly had a few raw monkey arms and some rib material in his bag, according to the port director. Agriculture specialists are warning all Americans right now about bushmeat that could have deadly effects and lead to another outbreak of disease. Here are some pictures from CBP in case you dont know what bushmeat looks like (or in case you are experiencing any hesitancy about believing the fake news lies). Please do not bring raw monkey arms in your luggage on airplanes coming to America. The CDC is very concerned. Also avoid making burgers, patties and hotdogs with cane rats and duiker antelope. Stick to the much safer versions in America made with E-coli-infected cow and pig parts, or salmonella-infected fish and eggs. According to customs agents, you will be fined a quarter of a million dollars if youre caught trying to smuggle monkey-bat-rat burgers into the country. The CDC says to take action and tell your friends and family to avoid African bushmeat so we dont start another pandemic on the heels of the first one finally fizzling out. Always wear your gloves and mask while handling bushmeat, and then wash with hot soapy water after. If you do choose to eat a $250,000 illegal bush-burger, make sure its cooked thoroughly. Be sure to bookmark Vaccines.news for updates on experimental vaccines and boosters that can cause blood clots, ADE and other horrific side effects. Sources for this article include: Pandemic.news TruthWiki.org NaturalNews.com CDC.gov/importation MercedSunstar.com (Natural News) As the truth about the anti-human demonic entities running our world today is revealed in the present, it provides us the opportunity to reevaluate the past and gain new understanding from our own first person witnessing of history as it unfolded. For example, we now know that the globalists are, factually speaking, child-trafficking pedophiles. We know they run a global organ harvesting and transplant black market operation. We know they routinely plot to maximize corporate profits by killing any number of human beings in the process (covid vaccines, pharmaceuticals, etc.), and we know they plot false flag operations in order to run psychological terrorism campaigns against the people of the world. With that realization, looking back at events like 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing and even World War II suddenly brings new clarity: We realize the history of the world is actually a history of globalist terrorism against the people of the world. Nearly every crisis weve all lived through was engineered on purpose and unleashed to achieve a globalist goal of profit, power or depopulation. There are almost no acts of actual terrorism committed by individuals or groups that werent directly run by governments or funded by globalist operators. Once we fully understand the past and the present, we can then see the future with much greater clarity. We know, for example, that: Any time humans are on the verge of a mass awakening or freedom wave, globalists unleash another horrific terrorism campaign to keep people enslaved in fear. A key weapon of the globalists is to force the people into isolation so they cannot talk to each other. Covid lockdowns were part of this, but the far more effective strategy is to shut down the power grid so that people cant even communicate electronically. Globalists telegraph their moves ahead of time because they need to set up the appropriate narratives in advance of their next wave of attacks. For example, while they plan to take down the power grid themselves, they are putting out warnings that claim extremist groups want to target the power grid. The real extremist group in the USA is the FBI, of course, and theres nothing more extreme than a fraudulent regime that stole power by rigging elections and staging a hoax insurrection to demonize their political opponents. Knowing this with absolute certainty and having a firsthand experience now of how globalist governments are actively targeting humanity for total extermination we can accurately anticipate their next escalation attack. The next play will be the FINAL play against humanity there wont even be any attempt to hide their real motivations It now appears they are ready to play the end game card against humanity and go for a total civilization takedown. This means disrupting or destroying the food supply chain, the power grid, telecommunications, monetary systems and the rule of law. The goal is absolute chaos resulting in mass death on a global scale, and the more chaos they can unleash in this manner, the more easily they cover up the truth about vaccine deaths. All this confirms what weve suspected for quite some time now. The next attack vector will be one or more of the following: A staged cyber attack on the financial infrastructure to take down the transactional infrastructure and plunge cities into chaos. This will be the opening round of the great reset script. A deliberate takedown of the power grid to achieve a similar outcome. A subsequent telecom kill switch, if needed, to ensure the complete collapse of internet functionality so that people can no longer connect online. A deliberate release of a highly aggressive pathogen with a very high kill rate (Marburg / Ebola, etc.) or a toxic nanoparticle that simulates a pathogen. The panic from this will be used to drive additional vaccine campaigns which are of course simply death shot injections. Domestic terrorism false flag operations that involve nuclear or radiological terrorism. (Could also be the mass aerosolized spraying of populations using drones or chemtrail sprayers.) Provoking war with Russia or China and destroying the remaining US military in the process, making America deliberately vulnerable to foreign invasion. The suspension of fair and free elections, the invocation of medical martial law, mass gun confiscation, domestic checkpoints, covid death camps and similar operations. The timeline for this is obviously approaching very quickly because globalists are being forced to act. Heres why: The awakening is accelerating. The covid narratives are collapsing. Humanity is beginning to rise up against tyranny, and the censorship efforts have failed to stop it. The 2022 mid-term elections are coming and cannot be allowed to take place, or Democrats will be thrown out of power. Vaccine deaths are already accelerating and cant be hidden for much longer. The body bags are stacking up in the morgues and cant be ignored forever. Thus, the almost certain window of opportunity for globalists to unleash their next wave of attacks on humanity is between today and early November. That means we have fewer than 300 days remaining for the semi-reliable functioning of society as we know it. What will you do with these few hundred remaining days? Todays Situation Update podcast helps provide some analysis and answers: (note: My voice is still recovering, so apologies for the low-energy delivery) Brighteon.com/c607a283-dd56-41fb-b7f2-02cce4826cc8 Find my information-packaged podcasts each day, along with special reports and emergency updates, at: https://www.brighteon.com/channels/hrreport 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 Join the free NaturalNews.com email newsletter to stay alerted about new, upcoming audiobooks that you can download for free. Download my current audiobooks including Ghost World, Survival Nutrition, The Global Reset Survival Guide and The Contagious Mind at: https://Audiobooks.NaturalNews.com/ Download the full, free Ghost World audiobook at GhostWorld.co (Natural News) Dr. Anthony Fauci has been royally criticized for his advice and recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since the early 1980s, he has a lot more sickening baggage that he ought to have to answer for. In August 2021, an activist organization, White Coat Waste Project, found that Faucis office greenlit roughly $424,000 in funding to conduct horrific experiments on live beagle puppies that included drugging them and sticking their heads in a covered apparatus filled with hungry sand fleas. BizPac Review reported at the time: According to the organization, dozens of beagles were first infected with parasites that cause disease in order to test an experimental drug. The organization pointed out that the Food and Drug Administration doesnt direct that drugs be tested on dogs, prompting its activists to inquire as to why such experimentation is being conducted and funded by American taxpayers. According to the White Coat Waste Project, 44 beagle pups were utilized for experimentation in a Tunisia lab. Some of the dogs had vocal cords removed, reportedly so scientists could conduct their work without having to listen to constant barking. And while this is bad enough, Fauci has also been accused, quite credibly, of funding dangerous gain of function research of the kind that we know led to the creation of the virus that causes COVID-19 and has killed millions of people around the world. No one has attempted to hold Fauci accountable more than Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has managed to uncover evidence proving not only that Faucis NIAID funded the research, but that Fauci himself and other ranking officials at the National Institutes of Health conspired to keep their involvement a secret while working to discredit anyone who attempted to expose them. In fact, the NIAID has been under scrutiny for gruesome experiments carried out on dogs and on human children, experiments that indicate a troubling lack of concern for life, Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins wrote in the Washington Examiner in November. The public should be asking whether that systemic disregard for life, especially for human life, extended all the way to Wuhan. Did the federal public health bureaucracys disconnection from human dignity lay foundations for the pandemic? Hawkins continued. And while she said that she understood how some animal research could benefit humans, that argument crumbles, however, in the face of the bigger scandal facing Faucis NIAID: revelations that his office funded research on unborn children who are killed, dissected, harvested for organs, and shipped in pieces from a Tissue Hub and Collection Site at the University of Pittsburgh to labs across the country, she continued. She goes on to ask how grafting scalps from babies killed in the womb at 5 months gestation to the backs of rats serves humankind before answering her own question with: It doesnt. But so far, the Biden regime has done nothing to hold Fauci to account. In fact, shortly before taking office, Biden made Fauci is administrations chief medical adviser, though his specialty isnt medicine, per se, its research (and diabolical research at that). Republicans, meanwhile, are asking tough questions and when they win back a congressional majority this fall theyre going to have subpoena power and plan on using it. You appear to have learned nothing from this pandemic, Paul noted during Faucis Senate testimony in early November, according to video clips posted online a few days earlier. Will you, today, finally take some responsibility for funding gain-of-function research at a lab in Wuhan China, he asked. After Fauci demurred, Paul doubled down. Were aware that you changed the definition of gain of function on your [agencys] website, Paul said. So what youre doing is defining away gain of function youre simply saying it doesnt exist cause you changed the definition on the NIH website. And what youve done is change the definition on your website to try to cover your a**, basically, Paul continued. Sources include: WashingtonExaminer.com BizPacReview.com (Natural News) After months of vilifying the non-jabbed and calling the current situation a pandemic of the unvaccinated, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach is backing off and blaming his earlier statements on a software error. Back in November, corporate news outlets were reporting an increase in incident numbers throughout Hamburg. The claim was that in a matter of just a few days, the case rate for the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) grew from 111.6 infected people per 100,000 to 160 people per 100,000. As November progressed, that number grew to 209.2 cases per 100,000 people, only to jump at the end of the month to an all-time high of 223.3 cases per 100,000 people. These erroneous figures, which we now know were basically manufactured out of thin air, were used as an excuse to legitimize a fresh wave of covid tyranny called 2G. That scheme involved requiring people to be either vaccinated or recovered from a positive covid test in order to enter shops, eat at restaurants, or go to clubs. The unvaccinated were also told that they needed to avoid all social contact. Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher helped fuel the hysteria by claiming that only the vaccine would bring Germany out of the covid nightmare. Now, an investigation by the newspapers Sueddeutscher Zeitung and Welt found that the spike in cases touted by Lauterbach and Tschentscher was not actually real. Hamburgs social services departments drastically skewed the numbers to create the illusion of another disease wave among the unvaccinated, when the reality is that these agencies did not even know at the time who was vaccinated and who was not. This, however, did not stop them classifying everyone with an unknown status as unvaccinated, explains Wahagen Khabayan from The National Pulse. Indeed, by the end of November, a whopping 70 percent of the positive cases had unknown status. Covid is a pandemic of lies The mayor of Hamburg held a press conference the second week of November at which he incorrectly claimed that 90 percent of all new covid infections in the city were occurring in the unvaccinated. He further lied about the seven-day infection averages for both the unvaccinated and the vaccinated, claiming they were 605 per 100,000 and 22 per 100,000, respectively. (Related: German government researchers are warning that the fully vaccinated are developing AIDS because of the jabs.) Welt later discovered that the erroneous methods used to calculate these false numbers were also being used throughout the entirety of Germany, making it appear as though there really is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. The truth, of course, is that the world is now suffering through a pandemic of the vaccinated. Covid more than likely would have ended a long time ago had there never been any injections going into peoples arms. The chemical syringes filled with deadly spike proteins or in the case of the mRNA shots, a GMO software template that instructs peoples bodies to produce these spike proteins are what continues to fuel the endless stream of illnesses and hospitalizations. It was not until this past weekend that the truth about how these calculations were made went public. The Hamburg mayor now claims that the misclassifications were a result of different IT systems, whatever that is supposed to mean. With the situation in Hamburg I can claim without a doubt that the problem was in the automatic classifier of the software, added Lauterbach, also trying to save face. The problem is solved now and it was a mistake and was not done on purpose in order to largely blame the unvaccinated for the pandemic. More related news about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) lies can be found at Deception.news. Sources for this article include: TheNationalPulse.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Attorneys general (AGs) from four states sued Google for tracking users without their consent. The bipartisan group of AGs accused the tech giant of monitoring user location data for use in digital advertising. The AGs from the District of Columbia, Texas, Washington and Indiana sued Google in four separate lawsuits. Texas AG Ken Paxton and Indiana AG Todd Rokita made up the Republican half, while Washington AG Bob Ferguson and D.C. AG Karl Racine represented the Democratic Party. Paxton and Racine had already filed suits, with Ferguson and Rokita are expected to follow. Racine said in an interview that Google uses tricks to continuously seek to track a users location. He added that the lawsuit he and the other AGs filed is an overdue enforcement action against a flagrant violator of privacy and [state] laws. These companies have become massive and powerful to an extent where theyre able to forestall reasonable regulation. That time of trickery for profits is over, Racine said. Racines lawsuit, which was filed on Jan. 24, argued that Google has a powerful financial incentive to obscure the details of its location data collection practices and to make it difficult for consumers to opt out of being tracked. Googles ability to amass data about consumers translates to better advertising capabilities and a greater share of the multi-billion-dollar digital advertising market. The companys exhaustive surveillance practices are most effective and therefore most lucrative where consumers have no clear idea how to limit Googles access to their personal information. (Related: How to stop Google Chrome from mining your personal information.) According to the D.C. top attorneys complaint, Google misled users from at least 2014 to 2019 by claiming that turning off location history in settings would stop the unauthorized tracking. However, location tracking still continued for users unless they turned off the web and app activity option. Even when consumers explicitly opted out of location tracking by turning location history off, Google nevertheless recorded consumers locations via other means. Googles illegal tracking revealed in 2018 Google spokesman Jose Castaneda denounced the lawsuits in a statement. The AGs are bringing a case based on inaccurate claims and outdated assertions about our settings. We have always built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data, he said. Castaneda continued that the tech giant has implemented limits on data collection when users do a Google search. Instead of collecting data from a precise location, data is now collected from a general area where someone is located. Aside from this, the Google spokesman said the firm allowed users to automatically delete location data on a regular basis starting June 2019. A year later, this became the default setting for new Google users. We will vigorously defend ourselves and set the record straight, said Castaneda. The suit filed by Racine was not the first time a light was shined on Googles unauthorized location tracking. The Associated Press (AP) pointed this out in an August 2018 article, with the help of computer science researchers from Princeton University. The company lets you pause a setting called location history [which] will prevent the company from remembering where youve been. That isnt true. Even with location history paused, some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking. Its possible, although, laborious, to delete it. Former Federal Communications Commission Chief Technologist and Princeton computer scientist Jonathan Mayer told AP that storing location data in violation of a users preference is wrong. If youre going to allow users to turn off something called location history, then all the places where you maintain location history should be turned off. That seems like a pretty straightforward position to have, he said. Back in 2020, Arizona AG Mark Brnovich filed a similar suit against Google. Racine clarified that his lawsuit and the three others were distinct from Brnovichs case as the recent ones mention so-called dark patterns. These dark patterns design choices for websites to steer users into making a decision include complicated navigation menus, visual misdirection, confusing wording and repeated nudging. Racine said the dark patterns Google uses shows the level of deception and intention that many companies, including Google, engage in to essentially trap the user [and] limit [their] ability to keep certain areas of their life private. They do it all while telling the user, in their policy statements, that the user is in control of how their system operates. That couldnt be farther from the truth. More related stories: Report: Google Android lets apps track you regardless of permissions. Arizona sues Google for illegally tracking location data for Android users. Google caught secretly recording conversations through your mobile device. Google employees listen in on private conversations between users and Google Assistant. Watch the video below of Paul Joseph Watson talking about Googles illegal tracking. This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com. BigTech.news has more about tech giants like Google tracking users and collecting personal data without their permission. Sources include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org CNBC.com APNews.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) Dr. Michael Palmer, an associate professor of biochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, warned people against taking the mRNA Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines because they are designed to poison the recipients. The mRNA vaccine technology is really a technology designed to poison people, said Palmer. (Related: The most detailed evidence yet of the devastating damage COVID jabs can do.) Palmer explained that one of its main components, the messenger RNA, is supposed to enter peoples bodies to recognize the coronavirus and form a response to it. The other major component of the mRNA vaccine, lipid nanoparticles, would encase the messenger RNA to protect it while it is in transport and help it enter the bodys cells. What the proponents of the mRNA vaccines dont talk about are the toxic elements within the vaccine, especially the cationic lipids, or the positively charged lipids. These are crucial for the release of the mRNA. They tend to, once they are inside the cell, disrupt the mitochondrial respiration, said Palmer. In a different interview, he explained that the disruption to mitochondrial respiration can cause mutation and genetic damage. Palmer further explained that the mRNA vaccines tend to cause a period of immunosuppression in people who get vaccinated. We are not really sure what share of this immunosuppression to attribute to the spike protein and what share to attribute to the cationic lipids, but I think it is plausible that there is a contribution by these cationic lipids, he said. Because of the damage the mRNA vaccines do to the body, one of the first victims are the lymphocytes, which form the backbone of your specific immune system, according to Palmer. Each time the immune system recognizes a new virus, the lymphocytes are doing the recognition and also are doing at least some of the fighting against those microbes. And these cells happen to be the most susceptible to genetic damage, he said. It is well known that if you impose genetic damage, these are the first cells to go. mRNA vaccines cause radiation-like toxicity Palmer pointed out that cationic lipids are also known to cause some sort of radiation-like toxicity. The question is how much of this is happening. We dont really know for sure, because there are really no proper toxicity studies, but there are enough indications to conclude that it is significant. Palmer pointed out that none of the research teams working on the mRNA vaccines ever conducted proper toxicity studies before they were released for use by the general public. He called this one of the great scandals associated with mRNA vaccine development. Just like with radiation, the body has a total dose limit for mRNA vaccines, Palmer explained. What that means is the total lifetime dose of these messenger RNA vaccines that you can tolerate before you die is limited, he said. We dont know the exact amount, because there is simply not enough experimental data. According to the doctor, the world is currently at the early stages of this mass toxicity campaign. Many people are already getting hit very badly with acute toxicity. But most others actually get away with it, he said. But even those who are now getting away with it, they are building up their genetic toxicity, their DNA damage, up towards this ultimate level beyond it simply cannot go. More related stories: Dr. Robert Malone: COVID vaccines are permanently damaging children. Dr. Sherri Tenpenny: mRNA COVID vaccines increase hospitalization and death rates Brighteon.TV. Creator of mRNA tech banned on Twitter for warning public about COVID vaccine adverse effects. COVID vaccines most dangerous biological medicinal product rollout in human history, says Dr. Peter McCullough. Listen to Dr. Michael Palmer explain in detail how the mRNA vaccines are toxic, and giving more of them to people will lead to certain death. This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com. Learn more about the dangers of mRNA vaccines at VaccineDamage.news. Sources include: Brighteon.com Covid-Crime.org AdverseReactionReport.com MANZINI There was a stir at the Mankayane Police Station as resigned police officer Sergeant Sabelo Simelane reported for duty in full uniform. According to an impeccable source, when the officer arrived at the police station, other officers wondered what was going on as a few days after he tendered his resignation letter, his Facebook page had a post which suggested that he had chosen the Peoples United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO). According to the source, when the sergeant arrived at the reception and charge office, he found junior officers (constables) and they only saluted him, without saying much as he was senior to them in terms of rank. Shocked However, the source claimed that while he (Simelane) allegedly paid attention to some documents, some of the junior officers who were shocked to see him at work informed superiors of the police station about Simelanes presence. Thereafter, the source said the superiors of the station summoned the sergeant to one of the offices, where they had a discussion with him. He claimed that as they engaged with him, they became worried about his behaviour. In that regard, they ordered him to leave the police station and to take off the police uniform, the source said. After that, the source said the sergeant left the police station. The source added that he had also gathered that yesterday morning, he surrendered the REPS uniform to the superiors at the police station. These developments were confirmed by the Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer, Inspector Nosipho Mnguni. Yes, Sergeant Simelane reported for work yesterday (Tuesday) and was in full police uniform. The superiors ordered him to leave the charge office and to take off the uniform of the police force, the deputy police spokesperson said. Surrendered She said the officer left the police station on the day (Tuesday), but mentioned that new information, which she gathered from the superiors, was to the effect that he had surrendered the police uniform.Worth noting is that according to the officers disciplinary hearing charge sheet, his supposed act of allegedly making a post on Facebook, which read; Against all hate! I am the sergeant of the peoples movement! had the potential of inducing members of the public to identify and or associate him with an organisation or movement of a political character. Through this purported act, the police service said he allegedly contravened Section 59 of the Police Service No. 22 Act. He was slapped with a total of four counts, which included absenting himself from work, causing damage to government property and excusing himself from work without leave for five days within a period of 30 days. However, on Monday, August 12, 2021, Judge Mumcy Dlamini issued an interim order stopping Simelanes disciplinary hearing. This was after he moved an urgent application at the High Court where he contended that the tribunal, which had been put in place to adjudicate over his matter, was unlawful. (Natural News) From Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Pike Creek, Delaware, closed restaurants with for sale/lease signs and foreclosed markings, and those which are open but with empty tables have become a familiar sight. After more than two years of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) ravaging economies worldwide, many local restaurants all over the United States are still fighting for survival. They have been hit hard by the pandemic and theres no sign the pounding on the kitchen, the dining room, outdoor patio or the cash register counter will ever stop. They will have to cope with rising prices of supplies, labor shortages and fewer customers. No wonder over 110,000 eating and drinking establishments in the U.S. shut down temporarily or permanently last year, according to the National Restaurant Association (NRA). This has put the number of jobs lost to nearly 2.5 million. In Tulsa, Tys Hamburger owner Kristina Cushenberry said loyal customers have kept her business afloat, but every day poses new challenges. Cushenberry told News9.com she wanted to hire two more people, but so far no one has responded to the help wanted sign hanging at her window for over a year. Sushi Hana owner Kenny Chan complained of the shortage of essential products like chopsticks or certain sauces, and when he manages to find them, theyre double or triple in price. Everybody is having a hard time right now because everything is so much more expensive beef, chicken, vegetable and then you cant get any guys to work and if they do come to work we have to pay them more to stay, said Chan. The same situation and problems hound local restaurants in Delaware, according to WHYY News. Restaurant industry has taken one of the worst economic beatings The states restaurant industry has taken one of the worst economic beatings with about 10 percent of the 2,000 or so establishments shuttering their doors early on, said Carrie Leishman, head of the Delaware Restaurant Association. If only to console restaurant owners in Oklahoma and Delaware, the majority of their counterparts in the other 48 states are reeling from the prolonged effects of the pandemic. In fact, total national sales in the industry for 2021 was only $659 billion, a huge $240 billion short of the projected $899 billion in sales. According to the NRA, the industry is in a free fall, citing its recent survey which saw 87 percent of full-service restaurants report an average of 36 percent decline in sales revenue. And worse, theres an 83 percent chance sales are going to dip further in the next three months. (Related: Restaurant Industry in Free Fall; 10,000 close in three months.) Firefly, foodservice research firm Datassentials proprietary database, reported that 79,438 restaurants in the United States shut down in 2020, which is 10.2 percent of the total of 778,807 restaurants that were in operation when the pandemic broke out. Food trucks were the hardest hit, with 22.5 percent of them removed from the road. As expected, quick-service restaurants which comprised the industrys largest segment, had the lowest percentage of closures at 9.8 percent. The largest food chains those with more than 501 units did better than independent restaurants and smaller chains. Every restaurant segment has been impacted by the pandemic, but the sales and employment losses have been felt disproportionately by full-service restaurants, which had much more challenging pivots to off-premises service, said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the NRAs research and knowledge group. Lawmakers crossing party lines to help restaurant businesses recover Lawmakers are crossing party lines to help the restaurant business recover. Senators Ben Cardin, a Democrat from Maryland, and Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, had put together a $68 billion stimulus package proposal. Cardin said lawmakers are looking at how much is needed for the second round of the restaurant rehabilitation fund, which should exceed the Restaurant Revitalization Fund of $28.6 billion from the American Rescue Plan offered by the White House in May 2021. So, theres a glimmer of hope after all. Especially, if the COVID-19 scourge subsides. If it does, columnist Emily Newton looks at the restaurant industry optimistically. In a guest opinion for foodsafetynews.com, Newton predicted mask-wearing and social distancing will fade with the virus. She said handwashing stations and regular disinfection will continue, and so will the QR code-based menus and the app-based reservations. Automated service will likely expand while the use of metallic nanoparticle coatings to sterilize kitchen equipment is a probability. Having undergone two years of slump and stagnation, the restaurants will survive and online deliveries will thrive. More related stories: Global supply chain crisis expected to last another TWO YEARS. North American Meat Institute: Labor shortage plays key role in food inflation. BREAKDOWN: Basic services and supply chains are rapidly breaking down all over the globe. Watch the video below about the struggles of local restaurants. This video is from the high impact Flix and more!!! channel on Brighteon.com. Follow Pandemic.news for more news related to the coronavirus pandemic. Sources include: News9.com Fortune.com WHYY.org NRN.com BusinessInsider.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) The Supreme Court has finally decided to hear arguments that could end the race issue in college applications following landmark cases delivered by the Department of Justice accusing colleges of unfair treatment of Asian and White applicants. The Supreme Court, according to an AP report, granted the challenge to the status quo that could bring about the biggest change to the legal framework of college admissions since 2003, when Grutter v. Bollinger concluded that universities may take race into account to develop a racially diverse student body that will benefit all students. Precedents to the said case go all the way back to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. (Related: Harvard, Yale brazenly COMMIT to discriminating against people based on the color of their skin) The court has preferred to hear the appeal of the Students for Fair Admissions (SFA), a nonprofit membership group of more than 20,000 students, parents and others who believe that racial classifications and preferences in college admissions are unfair, unnecessary and unconstitutional. It has also chosen to hear appeals from Harvard University and other prominent universities insisting that the precedent be backed. Grutter is wrong, immoral, and unpersuasive, and has not aged well, argued the SFA, which is seeking to end bias against Asian applicants at top American universities. Biden administration takes side of Harvard, elite schools Unfortunately for the SFA, the Biden administration has taken the side of Harvard and its cadre of elite schools with the administrations lawyers filing appeals favoring the latter. Justice Sandra Day OConnor, a Republican appointed by President Ronald Reagan, in her landmark opinion for the majority, predicted that racial preferences would no longer be essential in 25 years. Harvard, however, contends that these methods are still absolutely needed. Universities across the country have followed this precedent in structuring their admissions processes. And the American public has looked to this precedent for assurance that the nation recognizes and values the benefits of diversity and that the path to leadership is open to all, Harvard argued. Many lower courts have denied SFAs challenge, including the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which backed the Harvard policy in a 2-0 judgment. The case will turn on the Courts interpretation or reinterpretation of the 1964 Civil Rights Acts Title VI, which prohibits racial discrimination by universities that get federal funding. The case will probably be heard during the Court session starting in October. The challenges, which target university admissions policies of both public and private institutions, are currently looking to end affirmative action in college admissions that has been employed at universities to promote diversity among student bodies. At least nine states have prohibited affirmative action at public universities. The composition of the Supreme Court has changed significantly since it last decided on the use of race in university admissions during a 2016 decision involving the University of Texas. The majority opinion in that debate was written by Justice Anthony Kennedy with the high court declaring as lawful the schools race-conscious admissions program. But Kennedy has retired in 2018 and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who sided with Kennedy in the majority, died in 2020. The conservative majority of the Supreme Court has now grown to 6-3 with the inclusions of Justice Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. The initial dispute emanates from a lawsuit a group of students filed against Harvard in 2014, accusing that its admissions process violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by punishing Asian American applicants. Students for Fair Admissions alleged that the Ivy League school intentionally distinguishes against Asian American students during the admissions process by giving them lower ratings than other races and lessening the number of Asian Americans it admits. Harvard has denied the claim of intentional discrimination from the students and argued it recognizes race in its admissions process only in a flexible and nonmechanical way. A federal district court in Massachusetts in a 2019 case sided with Harvard in the lawsuit and spoke that the elite school did not deliberately discriminate against Asian American applicants. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals supported the district courts decree in late 2020. More related articles: The endpoint of critical race theory: Columbia University faces backlash for segregated graduations. University segregates whites into separate room for White privilege indoctrination. WHITES NOT WELCOME: Democrat supporters re-implement segregation at universities to exclude Whites. Universities declare white people can now apply for black scholarships because race, just like gender, is a social construct. Watch the video below about how Harvards affirmative action lawsuit exposes the absurdity of race-based discrimination. This video is from the War Room channel on Brighteon.com. Follow EducationSystem.news to know more about the education system in America. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com StudentsForFairAdmissions.org CBSNews.com (Natural News) If Dr. Anthony Fauci isnt guilty of mass murder then there is no such crime. For nearly two years there have been credible reports that the virus that causes COVID-19 did not occur naturally at some wet market in Wuhan, China that sold live bats as delicacies but rather, the virus was actually created in a lab in that city where the countrys only Level 4 bioresearch facility is located. But for just as long, allegedly men of science like Fauci and other prominent scientists have clung to the natural origins narrative. Now we learn that four of those scientists have essentially been bribed with some $50 million in taxpayer funding from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the agency Fauci has run since early in Ronald Reagans first term, according to The Epoch Times: Three of these scientistsKristian Andersen, Robert Garry, and Michael Farzanwere advisers to a teleconference organized by Fauci held on Feb. 1, 2020, in response to increasing public questions about the origin of the virus. The scientists were also instrumental in the publication of Proximal Origin, a highly influential paper that promoted a natural origins theory for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and has been frequently cited by the government and media. Emails that were released via Freedom of Information Act requests indicate that the same scientists told senior officials on Faucis teleconference that they were between 60 and 80 percent certain that the virus came from a lab where dangerous gain of function research had been conducted (and Faucis NIAID funded that research at a lab in Wuhan, China, as weve already reported). But despite their expressed concerns about the origins of the virus origins, the first draft of the Proximal Origin report was actually completed the same day as the teleconference, with Andersen and Garry serving as co-authors of the report while Farzan was cited in the Nature version of the report for participating in discussions regarding the creation of the article. In addition, Faucis agency also gave a large increase in funding to EcoHealth Alliances Peter Daszak, through which NIAID had also funded the gain of function research at Chinas Wuhan Institute of Virology. Some of the funding has stretched into and through 2021, with one of the newest grants lasting until at least 2025, The Epoch Times reported. Much of the funding increases were funneled through a new NIAID agency, the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases, or CREID. How convenient. The new initiative, described as a global network that involves multidisciplinary investigations into how and where viruses and other pathogens emerge from wildlife and spillover to cause disease in people, provided eleven new grants totaling $17 million of new funding in the first year and $82 million in total funding across five years, the outlet continued. On Jan. 31, 2020, when only a few people around the world knew about the emerging COVID-19 pandemic and nearly no one in the U.S. knew other than Fauci and his crowd, Anderson told the NIAID chief that to him, the virus looked engineered manufactured/developed in a lab, in other words. The Epoch Times then asks the multimillion-dollar question: While it is not known at this point whether there was a connection between the increased funding and the scientists involvement in shaping the public natural origins narrative, these new revelations raise an obvious question: How is it that among the thousands of scientists eligible to participate in the much-desired funding from the eleven grants provided by Faucis new $82 million CREID initiative, three of those chosen happened to be the same individuals who had led the way in promoting Faucis natural origins narrativedespite their private concerns that the virus had been created in a lab? Were not going to hold our breath waiting for an answer but it seems pretty clear: Fauci is rewarding those who are helping him cover up millions of deaths worldwide with American tax dollars. Sources include: NaturalNews.com TheEpochTimes.com (Natural News) The topic of mask-wearing is a pretty divisive one across the board, but its drawing particular ire among parents who are concerned about the effects it could have on the speech development of young children and babies and a recent report is only adding fuel to that fire. Mask mandates are currently in effect in many Democrat-led cities, such as New York City and Washington, D.C., and their effects are only beginning to be understood. The director of the Speech and Learning Institute in North Palm Beach, Florida, speech language pathologist Jaclyn Theek, reported that her clinic has seen a 364 percent rise in patients who were toddlers and babies when the pandemic got underway. Before the pandemic began, just 5 percent of their patients were in this age range; that percentage is now 20 percent. Theek said that there may be a lack of research to support the idea right now, but she firmly believes that mask-wearing is playing a role. She said: Theres no research out there yet saying that this could be causing speech and language delays. But, most definitely, Im sure its a factor. Its very important that kids do see your face to learn, so theyre watching your mouth. Babies begin learning how to speak at around 8 months old by reading lips. Once lip-reading emerges, it then becomes a childs default mode of processing speech when comprehension is difficult, such as when there is background noise during speech or a person is speaking with an accent. Studies also show that babies who lip-read more end up with better language skills when they are older, suggesting masks could hinder babies ability to acquire speech and language. When lips and faces are covered with masks, some kids may be able to simply work around it, but others struggle to form proper speech on the usual timetable. Theek characterized many of these children as being speech-delayed. She added that they are seeing lots of things that look like autism, with kids not making word attempts or communicating with their families at all. And while it may take time, researchers should eventually be able to draw a stronger link between mask wearing and delayed speech. A report by WPBF 25 News, a West Palm Beach ABC affiliate, shared the story of a Diego Santos, a young boy who was born perfectly healthy near the beginning of the pandemic and now attends speech therapy twice a week. His father, Gregg, discussed how they would go out to walk in the neighborhood and not encounter anyone out and about as everyone stayed in due to the pandemic. He believes it is this social isolation, combined with the fact that everyone was wearing masks, that spurred his sons speech delays. He said: He would just ramble, baby ramble. Certain words that are key did not flow, so that began to raise a red flag. Parents should look out for speech milestones, focus on face-to-face communication at home Some of the speech milestones parents should be looking out for in their toddlers include being able to say around five to ten words by their first birthday and 25 to 50 words by 18 months old. By the time they turn 2, kids should be able to say hundreds of words. Its important to get help right away as early intervention can make a big difference when it comes to speech delays in children. You might not be able to get around wearing masks in public, but there is plenty you can do at home to ensure your childs speech gets off to the best start possible. Therapists say its simply a matter of interacting more with your kids. This means turning off the phone or TV when youre at home with your children and reading to them, playing with them, and singing with them to provide them with plenty of opportunities to observe your speech. Sources for this article include: TheNationalPulse.com WPBF.com ScientificAmerican.com (Natural News) Ben Armstrongs message during the January 24 episode of his program The Ben Armstrong Show is loud and clear: The more you vaccinate, the higher the infection rate. A study in Canada, according to Armstrong, showed a 40 to 45 percent increase in deaths worldwide where the shots are given. There are over nine studies showing that the more you vaccinate, the greater the infection rate, and this is like in 145 countries worldwide, he said. Armstrong cited data from the United Kingdom showing the more you vaccinate, the more you damage peoples immune system, and youre actually making them more likely to get the virus. He also bemoaned that the real COVID score is being underreported by the mainstream media and social media platforms. (Related: Big Tech censoring key facts about covid vaccine dangers, warns Sharyl Attkisson.) But people are beginning to see the truth. Armstrong shared an interview by Steve Bannon featuring Steve Kirsch. In the interview, Steve Kirsch told Steve Bannon that nobody from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) outside committees has dared to take his offer of a million dollars just to sit with him and look a the data he has gathered and analyzed about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). Kirsch said that when he analyzed data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting (VAERS), he found that we had a disaster on our hands of epic proportions. He continued: And because [they are] underreported by a factor of around 40, and thats using the CDCs own methodology to determine that underreporting factor, were looking at 40 million adverse events after vaccinating 200 million people. Thats an adverse event rate of 20 percent. Now, thats unprecedented. Armstrong noted that Kirsch and his family used to believe Dr. Anthony Fauci and took the vaccine. To prove that more and more people are waking up and getting fed up with the COVID-19 mandates, Armstrong also showed Bari Weiss guest appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher recently aired on HBO. Liberals are beginning to see the truth Weiss, a journalist, writer and editor, told Maher that shes done with COVID and proceeded to explain why. Im done with COVID. Im done. I went so hard on COVID, said Weiss, narrating the things she did to avoid being infected with the dreaded virus. She then took a jab at the COVID vaccines and the failed promises of a return to normalcy. Weiss said shes not alone in this view. I know that so many of my liberal and progressive friends are with me on this. And they do not want to say it out loud because they are scared to be called anti-vax, or to be called science denier or to be smeared as a Trumper. Unlike two years ago when the pandemic broke out, data is now available for people to verify facts. And you will find out that cloth masks do not do anything. You will realize that you can show your vaccine passport at a restaurant and still be asymptomatic and carrying omicron, she said. Weiss then warned that the government pandemics response is going to be remembered by the younger generation as a catastrophic moral crime. As proof, Weiss cited the case of Flint City, Michigan, which has just announced indefinite virtual schooling, and the 51 percent increase in self-harm among young girls. Weiss, who also does podcasts, pointed out: People are killing themselves. Theyre anxious, they are depressed, they are lonely. That is why we need to end it. The studio audience responded with applause. The video has since gone viral, getting over 552,000 views on YouTube with Weiss drawing praises as well as criticisms. In contrast, the full video of that particular Ben Armstrong Show episode has yet to reach 5,000 views. But Armstrong doesnt mind. Hes just glad that a bigger audience has seen the transformation of Weiss from being an obedient follower to being a truth-seeker. In fact, Armstrong is urging his viewers to share the Weiss interview, by email preferably. Okay, you hear the liberal audience. Clap for truth. That was truth. People are waking up. The reason why I wanted you to see that more than anything is you spreading this stuff. You spreading this show or other information doesnt have to be my stuff. You come across articles then you spread it. Then you email it. I like people emailing. You got to get back to the old school mass email chain because then they cant really bring it down. Keep using social media, but email, you can email hundreds of people directly. Do that. Spread it whatever way you can, but it does make a difference. It does. We are waking people up. Now. think of it this way: Are more people starting to think yeah, the vaccine works even better? Are people starting to become more pro-vaccine? No. Theyre waking up, folks. They are. More related news: Alberta just inadvertently confessed to fiddling the COVID vaccination stats. Majority of hospitalized COVID patients are fully vaccinated, report reveals. The COVID vaccine is causing the COVID variants. Watch the January 24 episode of The Ben Armstrong Show below. This video is from The New American channel on Brighteon.com. Follow Vaccines.news for more news related to the coronavirus vaccines. Sources include: Brighteon.com Twitter.com IoscoNews.com (Natural News) Dragged into the vaccine labyrinth, children and adolescents who have gotten the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine have been given a temporary way out by the World Health Organization (WHO). With no evidence to prove they are at risk from COVID-19, the youngsters will not be administered booster doses like their elders, according to WHO chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan. In a news briefing on January 19, Swaminathan noted that while there appears to be a drop in childrens vaccine immunity against the deadly delta and the highly contagious omicron variants after six months, nothing is conclusive yet. There is no evidence right now that healthy children or healthy adolescents need boosters. No evidence at all, she said, citing the need for deeper research to determine whether the first and second jabs are enough to shield them from COVID. Swaminathans announcement was a huge relief not only for the teenagers but their parents, the majority of whom already have reservations about allowing their children to be vaccinated. (Related: Now its covid booster shots for teenagers (then children, then babies, etc.)) Health agencies shift focus to younger generation After a big portion of the adult population has been vaccinated worldwide, the WHO and other lead agencies dedicated to curbing the spread of COVID-19 have shifted their focus to the younger generation composed of children and teenagers. According to Swaminathan, the WHO think tank group would meet before the month ends to deliberate on whether or not to give boosters to their citizens. The aim is to protect the most vulnerable, to protect those at highest risk of severe disease and death. Those are our elderly populations, immuno-compromised people with underlying conditions, but also healthcare workers, she said. Toward this end, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is urging adults and youngsters, especially those with comorbidities, to avail of the vaccine and booster shots. Already, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized booster shots for children 12 years old and older. Additionally, a third dose is recommended for kids aged 5 to 11 with medical conditions or using medications that tend to weaken the immune system. Children who have been infected should be fully recovered before they get injected with the vaccine. Even if they dont, however, natural immunity usually follows infection with the virus. While the vaccination drive is in high gear, anti-vaccine groups are also working hard to stall or overturn the vaccine mandates for children that vary in each state. Countries respond to omicron-triggered COVID-19 surge The same thing is happening all over the world as countries respond to the upsurge due to omicron based on local transmissions and conditions. Reuters has compiled a list of countries that have allowed or agreed to vaccinate children. Leading the way in Europe are Italy, the Czech Republic, Israel, Germany, Estonia, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Hungary, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, and Britain. Bahrain, Israel, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Guinea, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Egypt are the vaccine advocates in the Middle East and Africa. The Asia-Pacific group includes China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Cuba and Venezuela, both of which are allowing the vaccination of two-year-olds, Costa Rica, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador are heading the drive in the Americas. The growing number of vaccine-bound nations indicates young Americans arent out of danger yet. They may have been excluded from the booster roster for now, but until COVID-19 disappears for good, they will remain in reserve status. Unless they or their parents insist on freedom of choice, vaccination with a third, fourth or even fifth dose is on the fringes. More related stories: EU, WHO both warn that covid booster shots are dangerous. Before your child is injected, watch Dr. Robert Malones statement on child COVID vaccinations. Male teen deaths skyrocket 53% following mass covid vaccination. Watch the video below about Dr. Robert Malones statement on child vaccination. This video is from Wake Up to Reality channel on Brighteon.com. Follow Vaccines.news for more news related to the coronavirus vaccines. Sources include: NTD.com HealthyChildren.org News-Medical.net Reuters.com Brighteon.com Water pollutants on rivers are caused by a mixture of chemical cocktail caused by natural chemical processes related to downstream flow. Researchers of a new study found that hydrogeological and biogeochemical processes are considered as natural processes which affect water quality on rivers. According to a new study published in Water Research, human interaction with its environment is also a determining factor in increasing the stress in bodies of water at an unprecedented rate. The proponents of the study consists of researchers from the Universities of Birmingham, Manchester, Mahavir Cancer Sansthan, and other Indian and UK collaborators. Causes of Water Pollutants Along the Ganges River According to Phys.org, water pollutants can travel at varying speeds and gradually increase in quantities along rivers due to the mixture of 'cocktail' of chemicals. The researchers have discovered river choke points or major breakpoints where chemical cocktail is formed. This phenomenon also drastically change the behavior of some chemical compounds, drastically altering the concentration of chemicals. The researchers used India's River Ganges (Ganga) as the site of their study. The River Ganges is one of the world's largest river system, spanning to more than 2,500 kilometers from the Himalayas to the Bay of Bengal. With its cultural and religious history, the Ganges River is one of the most important water source and livelihood to more than 400 million people. The study reveals that chemical cocktail along the Ganges River consists of various chemicals, including chloride, calcium, nitrate, sulfate, sodium, and strontium. The study highlights a growing global concern about water pollutants as the chemicals within the Ganges River travel from downstream towards the ocean. Environmentalists, scientists, and aid officials stated that clean-up campaigns due to toxic chemical cocktail along the Ganges River have cost hundreds of millions of dollars in more than two decades, as per Financial Times. Also read: India's Ganges and Yamuna Rivers Now Have the Same Legal Rights as a Human Being The Global Challenge of Water Pollution The global challenge against the water pollutants in the Ganges River is highlighted by Stefan Krause, a professor of Ecohydrology and Biogeochemistry at the University of Birmingham. Krause stated, "Large river systems, such as the Ganga, provide crucial water resources with important implications for global water, food and energy security. Understanding the complex dynamics of such systems remains a major challenge." Resolving the challenge of water pollutants along the Ganges River is important because these chemicals cause water pollution along the river and spreads to the Bay of Bengal. Non-containment of this chemical cocktail affects not only aquatic life but also poses a threat to human health. According to Laura Richards, the study's lead author from the University of Manchester, their research is helpful in understanding the chemistry of the River Ganga during downstream transitions. Richards added that the systematic approach used in the study is "environmentally and societally" important. She stated the study's approach in the Ganges River can also be substantial in understanding other large river systems across the world. The systematic approach used by the researchers could provide substantial insights in future studies surrounding the factors controlling key geochemistry in the Ganga River. Related article: River Pollution from Plastic Fishing Gear Threatens Ganges River Wildlife Native animal specialists are mystified by a Pennsylvania woman who spotted and retrieved a frightened and freezing 'mystery animal' just next to her property. Christina Eyth, a lady from Pennsylvania, went outdoors just to see animal tracks out the front of her doorstep, relatively early in the week. Woman Rescues Mystery Animal Eyth, discovered a mysterious critter she couldn't distinguish hiding on the left corner of her front entryway away from her expectation to see her neighbor's dog on the wild, according to The Mirror. According to the woman, she noticed some fresh paw tracks near her door and feared her neighbor's dog had gotten out. She investigated the footprints, only to be brought to the unknown beast. "I peered from outside entrance, and that was when I discovered the creature on my left-hand corner, and it was just so afraid," Eyth said to the NewsWeek media. The creature was also said to be extremely freezing, as well as trembling during that time. Thus, all Eyth could think was the creature requires assistance. Eyth then coaxed the creature down to her house prior to actually contacting a wildlife conservation rehabilitation organization. Wildlife Services specialists were unable to establish the kind of creature following bringing the critter in for examination but they assume it's a canine or a coyote. Whereas canines are often tamed, coyotes exist in the jungle. Coyotes have smoother plumage, a relatively flat face, as well as a slightly pronounced nose than kept as pets canines. In addition, they look to have lengthier limbs, whereas canines tend to have broader chests. The traces of canines and coyotes are generally fairly distinct. Coyote footprints are extended because they move with their front and back claws aligned. Coyotes are abundant across Pennsylvania, and their herds are growing, rendering it impossible to quantify precisely the number of them exist out there. Wilderness Services is now conducting testing to determine the identity of the mysterious creature. Also read: Notorious Rhino Poacher from Mozambique Received Sentence of 30 Years in Prison Unidentified Creature Continues to Leave Experts Puzzled The credentialed wild animal rehabber at Native animals Projects, Morgan Barron also informed NBC News that he genuinely just cannot assume what it really is. However, rather to come down on the side of prudence because the creature can bring virus and because that might be a coyote, experts could perhaps maintain it here, get DNA research accomplished, and kind of go with it. Behavior-wise, the animal was quite tentative, extremely frightened, and not confrontational at all, that either makes experts gravitate to canine. Wilderness Services stated in a Facebook status, which can be viewed here, that it will take 2 to 4 weeks to receive the lab tests. The critter has also been checked for parasites and rabies and will be quarantined until the findings are in. "We will regularly report on his development and notify all once the findings are out," the message stated. Regardless of the outcome, Eyth stated that she will do the same action again. "There was a species in distress, and in any case, I perceive that I made the right decision," she told Reporters. Also read: Experts Warn Beachgoers to Watch Out as Lion's Mane Jellyfish Swarm in Melbourne Beaches Local authorities of the Indian city of Hyderabad are currently launching efforts in bringing back the vanishing lakes and dying bodies of water in southern India's Telangana state. Sputnik International reports about 300 lakes in the capital city are "officially untraceable". "As per the data, there are 3,532 lakes in seven districts under Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) jurisdiction. However, about 300 lakes are non-existent," India Today reports. So far, the dying lakes have not been located as of yet by the irrigation department. Of these 300 lakes missing, around 100 lakes are untraceable in Ranga Reddy district alone, followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri district, where about 50 lakes were also reported missing. "We have the data on all the lakes. Physical verification, especially with respect to their extent, is being taken up," said Arvind Kumar, HMDA Metropolitan Commissioner and Special Chief Secretary. Meanwhile, collectors of these seven districts are still looking into more information from the irrigation department to certify if these lakes are indeed non-existent. Based on the final information, if so, the lakes will be deleted from the list. Disappearing Lakes of Hyderabad City According to the lakes' protection committee formed by the state government, the lakes have been missing due to hundreds of new colonies coming up around them in the last two decades. An article about a 2017 study titled 'Documenting disappearing water bodies of Hyderabad City' published in The Hindu states: "The combined water spread under the basins of three lakes which served as major watersheds for Hyderabad city and surrounding areas, has come down by 40% between 1978 and 2013." The technical report prepared by the Society for Participatory Development and submitted to the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, revealed that a total of 27 lakes and kuntas under Himayat Sagar, Umda Sagar and Miralam Tank systems have totally disappeared during this period, and more than 10 tanks are "on the verge of disappearance." As per the study's findings, the vanishing lakes in and around city are caused by "rapid urbanisation, dumping of garbage, letting of effluents into the water bodies, encroachments and other reasons." Also read: Climate Change May Trigger the Threat of Frequent Disastrous Tsunamis Protection of existing bodies of water than lost ones The 2017 study suggested that focusing on the protection of existing spread of the water bodies is more important than "squabbling over lost area." Reportedly, 19 lakes in Shabad mandal, 17 lakes in Shamshabad, 14 in Balapur mandal, 13 in Maheshwaram, 12 in Abdullapurmet are currently non-existent. However, there were reported discrepancies in the revenue and irrigation records regarding the boundaries and extent of the identified lakes too. "As several lakes are only in revenue records, a joint survey of revenue and irrigation departments was earlier ordered. The officers have to physically visit the place, survey the lake extent and fix up the Full Tank Level (FTL)," a member of the HMDA committee said. "Of these 3,532 lakes, the physical survey has been completed for 3,114 lakes so far. However, the final notification will be issued only after receiving information from revenue and irrigation departments as well as the maps," the officials added. Also read: Modeled Bomb Expected to Explode on Northeast According to 2022 Blizzard Tracking About 200 million years ago, the supercontinent Pangea began to break away, giving birth to the Atlantic Ocean. Oceanic crust replaced the stretched and broken continental crust. Oceanic crust replaced the stretched and broken continental crust. According to recent findings, magmatism may have played a role in this process. Contribution of Magma to the Birth of Atlantic Ocean Scientists can examine the present-day eastern North American margin, where North America and the Atlantic Ocean meet, in order to better understand this rifting process. As a result of their composition, the crust and upper mantle reveal a lot about continental breakup's geological processes. There are large portions of magma-rich igneous rock associated with the eastern portion of the North American margin, for example, which is located near the eastern US. However, the margin offshore of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland contains magma-poor regions. Jian et al. created a high-resolution seismic model to examine the magma-poor Nova Scotia margin using an advanced data analysis approach, according to Phys.org. Seismic waves acquired by 78 ocean bottom seismometers in response to pulses from an array of air weapons were analyzed using a method known as full-wave inversion by this team. Researchers created a high-resolution velocity model from the seismic waveforms, which they then utilized to create a precise graphic showing how seismic waves were reflected at various locations and depths. In light of these findings, Jian and colleagues were able to delineate multiple zones along the margin, each indicating a different stage in the rift's creation. They found evidence that a magmatic event occurred along the Nova Scotia edge during the final split of the continents. The thinning continental crust meets the oceanic crust at this point. In a location off the coast of northeastern Nova Scotia, previously assumed to be amagmatic, these findings offer a different perspective. The findings support evidence that magmatism plays a role in the fracture of continents near magma-poor edges. Also Read: Atlantic Ocean Weakest Drop: Is it Too Late to Save 'Achilles Heel' of Climate Change? The Rifting of Continental Margins During the breakup of Laurentia and Baltica in the Late Cretaceous, rifted continental borders may be underplanted with substantial volumes of mafic magma. Flood basaltic volcanism, intrusive magmatism, extension, uplift, and erosion combine to form rifted volcanic edges. At least 75% of the rifted continental margins in the North Atlantic can be traced back to volcanism that occurred within the last 200 million years, as per Science Direct. Pre- to syn-rift magmatism, the emergence of undersea seaward-dipping seismic reflectors, and up to 15 km of underplated mafic crust along and seaward of the rifting continental margin characterize the shift from continental flood basalt volcanism to ocean ridge volcanism. How Rifted Volcanic Margins Evolve An early flood basaltic volcanism up to 7 kilometers thick is found on the rifted margins, which includes both mafic and felsic components. Volcanism that lasts shorter than 3 Myr is common in the most recent occurrences. When looking at the surface to the Moho level, the typical rifted margin is made up of several wedges of seaward-dipping volcanic rocks that are intruded and stretched continental crust, and large volumes of rocks that are thought to be high-Mg gabbros. Non-volcanic silt and sedimentary rocks are also found in the seaward-dipping seismic reflectors. Related Article: Climate Change May Shut Down Vital Ocean Current, Prompting Severe Consequences For more news, updates about the Atlantic Ocean and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! MANZINI If he is dead, condolences to his family. This was said by Pastor Sikhumbuzo Shongwe following a shooting incident last night. Shongwe allegedly shot dead a businessman he accused of being the cause of the disintegration of his marriage to Nonjabuliso Nkonyane. The man, *Malik, was allegedly shot in the head and other sections of the body. The shooting was said to have happened just after 7pm at Luve, under Mkhiweni Constituency. It is a known fact that Shongwe operates a business in the small town of Luve, which is popularly known as Fish Town. Luve is located 37 kilometres north- east of Manzini. The shooting of Malik happened five months and four days after the pastor allegedly shot his estranged wife five times at their matrimonial home at Tisuka, five kilometres from manzini central business district (CBD). Self-defence Shongwe confirmed that he had fired shots at the businessman in what he termed self-defence. This, he said, after news of the shooting started to circulate. He said while at Luve, he saw the businssman (name deliberately withheld as his family had not been reached at the time of compiling this report) driving into the town and he hid his vehicle by parking next to a kombi. Thereafter, Shongwe claimed that he alighted from the car and stood between two structures. He supposed that this was in fear of interacting with Malik as there had been allegations that he wanted to kill him. Shongwe claimed that these allegations were reported at Mliba Police Station. Furthermore, he supposed that the office of the National Commissioner of Police (NATCOM) was alerted of same.This, he alleged, was done by his father Bishop Nash Shongwe. Shongwe, who is out on bail for the attempted murder of his wife, claimed that the efforts set to draw the attention of the police, to the threats purportedly levelled against him, fell through. In his narration, Shongwe supposed that he lurked in the dark to avoid contact with Malik. However, he alleged that while standing in the dark, Malik walked towards him. According to Shongwe, it was at this instance that he went to his car to get a gun in a quest to defend himself. Shongwe claimed that his belief was that Malik was coming towards him when he fired the shots. When asked if Malik was carrying a gun when he fired the shots, Shongwe said he was not aware. He also claimed not to know how many shots he had fired. Shongwe rhetorically asked who should have died? This was after he made allegations that he had reported his impasse with the deceased several times to the police. At about 8pm, Shongwe had claimed that he would surrender himself to the police this morning. However, at about 9pm, he contacted this publication and claimed to be in consultation with his legal team. This, he said, was in preparation of handing himself to the police at about 10pm. However, when asked about the precise time he would go to the police station, Shongwe said he would spend the night at the Manzini Police Station. Deputy Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Nosipho Mnguni confirmed the shooting. Mnguni also confirmed that the businessman allegedly shot by Shongwe had died. However, the police spokesperson could not confirm the allegations made by Shongwe that he had reported the threats by the businessman. On the other hand, after shooting his wife on August 22, 2021, Shongwe opted to surrender himself a day after the shooting. Wife His wife was at the time admitted to Manzini Clinic, where she was operated on her to retrieve the bullets. Following the attempted murder, upon being discharged from hospital, Shongwes spouse filed for divorce. Meanwhile, Shongwe and the man he allegedly shot had a history of misunderstandings such that a court order was issued against him not to be found in close proximity of Shongwes spouse. On the other hand, Shongwe was ordered not to contact the man or his relatives. During the argument of his initial bail application, the crown, in its opposing papers, annexed a statement by the businessman he had recorded with the police succinctly where he stated that he feared for his life after Shongwe, on diverse occasions, purportedly threatened to shoot him. In the statement, the businessman proceeded to narrate how on different occasions Shongwe accosted him in various places threatening to shoot him for allegedly being in an adulterous relationship with his wife. It is worth noting that about 11 bail conditions were set by the High Court of Eswatini after he allegedly shot his wife several times on August 22, 2021, at their rented flat at Moneni, Manzini. One of the conditions was that he should not be found to have committed a similar offence. Once again, it is worth noting that the gun which he used to shoot his wife is believed to be under police custody as it is kept as an exhibit. The clergyman was admitted to E100 000 bail on August 31, 2021, by Judge Mbutfo Mamba, who ordered him to pay E10 000 cash and provide surety for the balance. On Tuesday, the world experienced a huge loss as the oldest male gorilla in world was found dead by his care team in Atlanta. This holds a great loss for the world as the zoo keeps mourning this historic animal. Ozzie: Third Oldest Gorilla in the World Ozzie, a Western lowland gorilla, was said to have lived for over 61 years. He weighed 350 pounds and arrived at the zoo in 1988, according to NBC News. He was the only surviving member of the original generation of gorillas who arrived at Zoo Atlanta with the opening of the Ford African Rain Forest in 1988. Ozzie fathered around 12 children at the park, he hated loud music and once tasted cabbage and orange. The gorilla played a huge part in historic writings after he became the first to participate in a voluntary blood pressure reading. Ozzie was said to have enjoyed his 60th birthday celebration in June with the staff members at the zoo and a multi-tiered ice cake filled with frozen fruit to compliment the celebration. Also Read: Apes are Being Vaccinated from Covid-19 to Protect Staff, Inhabitants What Could Have Caused the Death of Ozzie? According to People, the gorilla's death is still unknown as a necropsy - the animal equivalent of a human autopsy - is yet to be performed on the body but according to the zoo officials, from their observation hours before Ozzie's death, he was treated for facial swelling, weakness and an inability to eat or drink. The gorilla had also tested positive to covid 19 along with 13 others last year and was believed to have contacted the virus from a worker there at the zoo. Ozzie's necropsy result is being taken care of by the University of Georgia's veterinary college and will be released after it has been completed. In a statement, park CEO Raymond King said: "This is a devastating loss for Zoo Atlanta. While we knew this time would come someday, that inevitability does nothing to stem the deep sadness we feel at losing a legend." Western Lowland Gorillas Face Possible Extinction Ozzie belongs to one of the four subspecies of the great ape, these species according to the World Wildlife Fund, a conservation group are highly endangered due to poaching and disease. As per the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the western lowland gorilla populations have reduced by 60 percent as a result of poaching, unauthorized hunting for the bushmeat trade, loss of habitat and diseases. Some parts of the species range in western Africa have recorded declines of up to 90 percent. Ozzie will forever remain in the heart of many, although death is inevitable, deep sadness still looms around on the death of a legend. "Ozzie's life's contributions are indelible, in the generations of individuals he leaves behind in the gorilla population and in the world's body of knowledge in the care of his species. Our thoughts are with his care team, who have lost a part of their lives and a part of their hearts," Raymond King said. Related Article: Miami Zoo Debuts Two Endangered Silverback Gorillas 'Barney' and 'Shango' For more news, updates about gorillas and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! Temperatures in nearly 4,000 feet below the seafloor may set the limit for the existence of life, but certain microorganisms thrive in this extremely hot subseafloor. The conditions within this "deep biosphere" had been studied by scientists since the mid-1990s, particularly on how life thrived in an environment that is food-deprived and extremely isolated. In 2016, a science expedition joined by international scientists set out to sea on board the Japanese scientific drillship, Chikyu, to study the temperature limit of the deep subseafloor biosphere. They collected sediment samples from a drill hole that cut through the geological subduction zone of the Nankai Trough off Japan. Their findings revealed a subsurface habitat in which microbes were found living at temperatures approaching 250 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Gizmodo. Technically, this level of heat could fry humans. More surprisingly, the scientists found a very small, but very active microbial community that "manages to beat the heat" under these deep and hot conditions. The scientists also determined from the number of cells in the sediment an extraordinarily high metabolic rates per cell for the deep biosphere. The published article in Nature Communications shed light to survival strategies of microbes living in such harsh conditions. How microorganisms survive the extreme conditions The team theorized that high metabolic rates are essential for microorganisms to thrive and live in extreme temperatures as it allows microbes to repair cells damaged by heat. "We propose that the organisms are forced to maintain a high metabolic turnover, which approaches the activity of microbes living in surface sediments and in laboratory cultures, to provide the energy required to repair thermal cell damage," said lead author Felix Beulig from the University of Bayreuth in Science X Network. Study leader, Tina Treude, UCLA professor of marine geomicrobiology, claimed that the energy required to repair thermal damage to cells increases with temperature. Because of this, more energy is needed to counteract the changes in the amino acids, as well as the loss of protein function. Bo Barker Jrgensen from Aarhus University, who is one of the pioneers of deep biosphere research featured in SFam Journals, also found the discovery fascinating "To find life thriving with high metabolic rates at these high temperatures in the deep seabed nourishes our imagination of how life could evolve or survive in similar environments on planetary bodies beyond Earth." Also read: Experts Warn Beachgoers to Watch Out as Lion's Mane Jellyfish Swarm in Melbourne Beaches A very interesting reason for the very high activity New observations also propose that microbes have ample access to nutrients supplied by the heating of organic materials, specifically hydrogen and acetate. Although the findings might seem "counterintuitive to many," geologist Virginia Edgcomb explains that the high activity of the cells are there for a significant reason. Jennifer Biddle, an associate professor at the University of Delaware who's not affiliated with the research, complimented the pre-existing work demonstrating the activities of these microbial communities. "Once cells find their 'happy place' in the subsurface, they have plenty of power to grow," she commented. Although she noted on limitation which is the microbes in question were not identified. Furthermore, the scientists think microbes can survive in even hotter environments, further down the deeper subseafloor. Also read: About 300 Lakes Vanished Without Trace in Indian State Over Last Three Decades Substances called PFAS or commonly known as "forever chemicals" have been detected in otters across England and Wales. A new study currently links pregnancy complications, liver disease, cancer and other illnesses to several otters' deaths. These harmful substances have been contaminating the environment more widely as they leach out from products and get into drains and sewage. They are also in agricultural sludge, which can wash from fields into rivers. Factories and landfill sites are also common sources for the chemicals. Concentrations of these toxic compounds in otters help scientists determine levels of pollution in the environment. The forever chemicals are used to make products grease proof, water-proof, stick-proof, and stain-resistant. They are extremely persistent and lasts for thousands of years. Even people in America who have had themselves tested found PFAS in their blood. CNN reported last year that Denmark just became the first country to ban PFAS 'forever chemicals' from food packaging. PFAS: Cause of deaths? A separate study for a long-term monitoring scheme called the Otter Project used science-based policy to protect watersheds and coastal oceans for the rapid recovery of the threatened California sea otter. According to the study, animals that had died between 2014-2019 all contained two types of restricted PFASs. The team tested 50 otters that died between 2007-09 and detected PFASs in all of them as well. The findings published in ACS Publications showed that 80% of the animals had at least 12 different types of the chemicals in their livers. Lead author Emily O'Rourke, a PhD student at Cardiff University, said that otters were a "sentinel" species, revealing "widespread environmental pollution" of British fresh waters. The research backed up a recent Environmental Audit Committee report confirming the presence of "chemical cocktail" of pollutants in rivers. Although it is unclear whether the concentrations of chemicals found in the otters are high enough to cause the deaths, Ms O'Rourke said it was likely the toxic chemicals having a "sub-lethal" effect. Also read: For the First Time, Nanoplastic Particles Have Contaminated Decades-Old Polar Ice A call of action to the British government PFASs remains in the environment "for years and years to come", when we are washing clothes, or just washing things down the drain. Our ancient sewage works are not designed to remove PFASs and these substances are retained in the sewage sludge. Of the 5,000 and more types of chemicals now in use, Ms. O'Rourke believes they should have been regulated by class, rather than individually. "Denmark recently banned their use in food-contact paper - like in fast-food packaging - and Britain needs to catch up. Now that we are not under the EU chemicals framework, we need to get our own chemicals strategy," Ms. O'Rourke explained in her interview in BBC News. So far, some 27 NGOs have come together to set out the case for a UK Chemicals Strategy, which should include phasing out "all very persistent chemicals, including the whole PFAS family and other halogenated chemicals." Although a series of voluntary industry initiatives has limited their use since 2000, according to the study, concentrations of PFASs are regularly recorded that are above the Environmental Quality Standards for water and fish in England. The dead otters from across Britain serve as an important resource for understanding contamination and health more deeply so we will be saving lives in general. Also read: Brown Bears' Change of Habitat Increased Predation Rates of Vulnerable Prey The USGS reported a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that occurred about 219 kilometers (136.1 miles) west-northwest of Pangai, Tonga. No settlements are within 100 kilometers (62 miles), but a green alert for shaking-related deaths as well as economic losses has been issued. There were no initial reports of the quake being felt in Tonga or Fiji because of a lack of communication. USGS Issued a Green Alert Tsunami warnings have been canceled. There was no warning from the Pacific Tsunami Center in Hawaii to the Fiji Meteorological Service, according to the agency. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted on January 15th, setting off a tsunami alert, and this is the second significant earthquake to strike the Pacific island since then, as per Independent. The massive underwater volcanic eruption was a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima by the United States during World War II. As a result of the eruption and tsunami, three individuals have been killed: two Tongans, a British woman, and a woman from the United Kingdom. Ashfall and tsunami have harmed more than 80 percent of the 105,000 residents of Tonga, the administration announced on Monday. Also Read: 8 Most Disastrous and Deadliest Earthquakes From the Last Decade Devastating Effect of the Earthquake on Residents In satellite photographs, smoke billowed over Tonga, towering 12 miles above the ocean's surface. Residents in Fiji and New Zealand were allegedly able to hear the rumbling of the volcano. It is estimated that 62 residents of the isolated Mango island were displaced and have since been transferred to the neighbouring Nomuka island. Three of the worst-hit islands were Mango, Fonoifua, and Atata, according to Daily Mail. It is estimated that 62 residents of the isolated Mango island were displaced and have since been transferred to the neighbouring Nomuka island. Three of the worst-hit islands were Mango, Fonoifua, and Atata. Nomuka people may have to return to Tongatapu, the administration has warned, due to a scarcity of food and supplies. Efforts to Help Affected Residents Tonga's lone airport, which had been blanketed in a thick layer of ash due to the eruption, has now been cleaned of debris, with planes and ships carrying relief supplies, including freshwater, coming into the area. In order to adhere to the island's Covid standards of contactless delivery, much of the relief has arrived from New Zealand and Australia. Support for the ravaged country has been pledged by the World Bank, Japan, India, China and the United States of America (USA). The devastating effects of the tsunami necessitated aid from around the world. To help those in need, New Zealand has donated $3 million of its own money. As a journalist based in the capital, Nuku'alofa, Mary Fonua believes the earthquake had no effect on her. Tonga has experienced a number of earthquakes of this magnitude in recent years, but she thinks they're not particularly dangerous. Related Article: Ten Earthquakes Struck Puerto Rico, No Tsunami Threat to the Island For more news, updates about earthquakes and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News! When firefighters are called out to battle flames, its important that they have the trucks and equipment they need to get the job done. But theres one thing the trucks and equipment need as well firefighters. CNHI Harrisburg Bureau Eric Scicchitano is the CNHI Pennsylvania state reporter. He is a former CNHI Reporter of the Year and previously worked at The (Sunbury) Daily Item before until he took over the Harrisburg beat in January 2022. Email him at erics@cnhinews.com. Making inventories of computer storage, particularly on severs, is complex due to the number of factors involved. There might be multiple physical media devices each of which contains multiple logical volumes. Volumes could span multiple disks with hardware or software-based RAID configurations. Each volume could be configured with its own drive letter, and folders throughout the file system could be shared on the network. Those inventories are important because gathering data on physical storage media can identify what type of storage is available and what physical storage capacity servers have. PowerShell can help with those inventories, particularly the Get-PhysicalDisk cmdlet, which uses Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) under the covers. Get-PhysicalDisk uses WMI to query the MSFT_PhysicalDisk class, with the WMI class providing numeric values for things like MediaType and BusType, while Get-PhysicalDisk returns descriptive text values. Like most PowerShell cmdlets, Get-PhysicalDisk displays only a very small subset of the information it returns by default. To coax out all the information, Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object * will provide the full story. It gathers many, many properties, but here well focus on just a handful that most people will find useful. Manufacturer, FriendlyName, and SerialNumber are all pretty self-explanatory. MediaType and BusType are both super useful as they will let you know whether youre dealing with platter-based hard-disk drives or SSDs, as well as what type of connection those drives are using such as SCSI, SATA, or NVMe. The Size property is another obvious win, but be aware its returned in bytes, so it makes sense to convert it to GigaBytes to make it more human-friendly (either $_.Size/1024/1024/1024 or $_.Size/1GB as shown in the image). Obviously, the health of your storage is a huge deal as failure can lead to downtime or even data loss if not anticipated and dealt with, which is why the SMART system exists to help predict disk failure. SMART stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology, and there are a lot of factors and telemetry that go into SMART scores. To streamline the return, Get-PhysicalDisk simply returns an overall health value. (How to retrieve more granular SMART details is discussed later.) Evaluating Logical Storage Volumes Logical storage volumes make up the logical storage space available to servers and are roughly the Windows equivalent of partitions with the main technical difference being that volumes can be made to span multiple disks. There is some overlap between physical and logical storage, in particular storage capacity and available space. The Get-Volume cmdlet lists Windows volumes including the drive letter, file system used (FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, etc.), volume label, and capacity details. The cmdlet can easily be leveraged to list volumes with legacy file systems (Get-Volume | Where-Object FileSystem -notin 'NTFS','exFAT'), volumes with no drive letter (Get-Volume | Where-Object DriveLetter -eq $null), or volumes with the remaining space under a particular capacity threshold (Get-Volume | Where-Object {$_.SizeRemaining/$_.Size -lt .25}). File Shares File shares (or network shares) are a common aspect of servers and can indicate a server is functioning as a file server or potentially hosting one or more business applications. Its a good practice to check for file shares every so often. First, file shares tend to be critical to your business, either because of the systems and applications they support or the files the contain are vital to your users. Second, lost corporate knowledge and turnover in general--in terms of personnel and business requirements--can lead to file shares being abandoned in place. In both cases keeping track of them is important, either to better manage availability or to properly decommission shares that are no longer required. The aptly named Get-FileShare cmdlet can retrieve file shares, but it has some limitations that are a bit annoying, specifically when trying to identify the local path that corresponds to a share. Its better to use the Get-SmbShare cmdlet, which includes key functional information like the Name and Path properties, as well as capacity details like ConcurrentUserLimit and CurrentUsers. It can also show the availability of Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS), the set of interfaces for creating bulk, point-in-time backup of data. Get-SmbShare also provides the Special property that indicates whether a share is a built-in Windows share. Each of these details has value for admins and can be listed in the PowerShell console using Get-SmbShare | Format-Table ConcurrentUserLimit, CurrentUsers, Name, Path, Description, ShadowCopy, Special. To focus on a specific share, pass the -Name parameter, as in Get-FileShare -Name 'BusinessFiles'. A key component of business file shares is the share permissions. PowerShell can help dig into share permissions using the Get-SmbShareAccess cmdlet. Get-SmbShareAccess does require naming one or more shares to be evaluated (Get-SmbShareAccess -Name Data,Software) but to get a full list of permissions for all shares use Get-SmbShareAccess -Name (Get-SmbShare | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Name). This one-liner first lists the available shares by name (code within parenthesis is executed first) and then passes the list to the parameter of the Get-SmbShareAccess cmdlet. Disk Health Getting back to SMART telemetry, it can be used to provide telemetry data in detail, and the Get-StorageReliabilityCounter cmdlet is the tool to produce it. We mentioned earlier that SMART telemetry can retrieve an overall health score for a physical disk, but what if you want to dig into this telemetry in detail and form your own opinions based on those metrics? Fortunately, PowerShell offers tooling to acquire these disk metrics in the form of the Get-StorageReliabilityCounter cmdlet. SMART metrics apply to physical disks, and requires specifying which disk to analyze or it will fetch the information about all the disks. The easiest way to do this is using Get-Disk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter which starts with the Get-Disk cmdlet and pipes it to Get-StorageReliabilityCounter. To specify a specific disk, use any of a variety of parameters (Disk ID, friendly name, serial number, etc.). Also, the SMART telemetry for a particular logical volume can be had by chaining together several cmdlets: Get-Volume -DriveLetter C | Get-Partition | Get-Disk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter. This is a lot of hoops to jump through, which has to do with what sort of values each cmdlet accepts as an input parameter. The disk-health information this retrieves includes read and write errors, latency, temperature, and even the number of hours the disk has been powered on. Nvidia may be about to do something it never does: give up. The chip giant is finally ready to throw in the towel on its proposed acquisition of Arm Holdings after vociferous opposition by UK regulators, according to a report from Bloomberg (paywalled). First announced in September 2020, the deal has dragged on due to almost immediate opposition from UK entities. Arm Holdings is a British company but owned by Japanese tech giant Softbank. Laden with debt, Softbank wanted to unload Arm to someone better suited to manage the company, and Nvidia stepped forward. Nvidias critics said the company would play favorites if it had the Arm IP, which would destroy Arms business model and reputation. Arm and Nvidia said as much in a 29-page response to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which was reviewing the deal. An Nvidia spokesperson issued the following statement via e-mail: We continue to hold the views expressed in detail in our latest regulatory filings--that this transaction provides an opportunity to accelerate Arm and boost competition and innovation. Nvidia and Arms letter to the CMA seems to be falling on deaf ears, and there has been no easing of opposition coming from China, either. The word is that smaller tech players there dont object, but larger companies like Huawei and ZTE do. Arm would be the loser Scuttling the merger only harms Arm. Nvidia loses nothing, it has an Arm license already so can keep using Arm architectures in its chips. Softbank wants to unload Arm and will do so one way or another. There is the potential for an IPO, but that wont give Arm the cash infusion an acquisition would give since most of the investment would go to Softbank. In the his response to the CMA, Arm CEO Simon Segars said, We contemplated an IPO but determined that the pressure to deliver short-term revenue growth and profitability would suffocate our ability to invest, expand, move fast, and innovate. And as long as the deal is pending, the acquired companys assets and strategy go into a sort of limbo. The company is limited in what it can do because of the potential impact on its business and hence, valuation. And investors dont want a company stuck in limbo. Meanwhile Arm is being squeezed on the low end by RISC-V and on the high end by Intel and AMD. The enterprise impact would be minimal. Five years ago there was interest in Arm as a server solution because customers wanted an alternative to Intel. Well, they got it: AMD. Revitalized by the Zen architecture, AMD once again became a viable alternative to Intel, and software ports werent required, as they were for Arm. So interest in Arm on the server petered out. The one major fabless chip maker using an Arm architecture license to produce enterprise chips, Ampere, innovates on Arm designs without having to wait for Arm to do it. One analyst theorized that this comes down to the Brits not wanting Arm in the hands of an American company. No problem with a Japanese firm owning it, though. 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. President Joe Biden has nominated one of the top division chiefs in the state Attorney Generals Office to be the next U.S. Attorney for Connecticut. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Vanessa R. Avery, of West Hartford, would be the first Black woman to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. I am tremendously honored to be nominated and I look forward to the confirmation process, Avery, 47, said in a brief statement on Wednesday. Born in New Haven, Avery has served as the chief of the Division of Enforcement and Public Protection at the Connecticut Attorney Generals Office since 2021, and as an associate attorney general there since 2019. Avery is among six nominees the White House announced for U.S. Attorney posts nationwide early Wednesday morning. These individuals were chosen for their devotion to enforcing the law, their professionalism, their experience and credentials in this field, their dedication to pursuing equal justice for all, and their commitment to the independence of the Department of Justice, the White House said in a statement. According to a biography provided by the White House, Avery served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Connecticut from 2014 to 2019. Vanessa Avery is exceptionally qualified, incredibly hardworking, and an excellent choice to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, Attorney General William Tong said in a statement Wednesday. She is universally respected by every colleague she has worked with and has deep connections across the Connecticut legal community. In our work together, Vanessa always leads with integrity and a strong commitment to justice, and she insists on accountability and respect for the rule of law. I will miss her leadership and guidance here in the Office of the Attorney General, but am so proud of this achievement and look forward to working closely with her in this new well-deserved role should she be confirmed. From 2006 to 2014, Avery was a litigation attorney at the firm McCarter & English LLP. She served in 2004 and 2005 as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Civil Division. Avery was an attorney in the Hartford Trial Group at Cummings & Lockwood LLC from 1999 to 2003. Avery received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999 and bachelors degree from Yale University in 1996. Having held this job myself, Im particularly proud of this nomination, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will have the initial review of Averys credentials. Vanessa Avery is a proven prosecutor tough and fair who has deep roots in her community and a lifetime of service. A champion and fighter for Connecticuts people with broad trial experience and solid, good judgment, shell follow the facts and law to deter and punish wrongdoers and fight discrimination. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT Bahrains labour fund Tamkeen has launched new programmes aimed at developing high-potential sectors and creating job opportunities in the kingdom, in line with the National Economic Recovery Program. This was revealed by Tamkeen CEO Husain Mohammed Rajab at Tamkeens annual 2022 Consultation Forum, held virtually yesterday (January 26). The strategy focuses on high-potential sectors that contribute to sustainable economic growth, the creation of high-quality jobs, and the introduction of new income sources. Tamkeen will continue to support both enterprises and individuals, encouraging their growth and adaptability, along with fostering an innovative mindset thus ensuring continuity and contribution to the national economy, he said. Accordingly, a series of new programmes and initiatives designed to deliver this impact have been announced. They will be introduced gradually over the upcoming period, with the first 15 programmes announced during the forum. The 15 programme are an enhancement of Tamkeens offering, adopting a new incentive-based approach that encourages enterprises to grow and expand by motivating them to achieve the best possible results. These programme will allow enterprises to also play a key role in furthering digital transformation by adopting new technologies to improve productivity, flexibility, and increase profits, while also presenting opportunities for creativity and innovation in the face of challenges within the local market. Tamkeen will also continue to incentivise individuals and enterprises that demonstrate the potential to grow, learn new skills, adopt technology, and achieve the high impact results, to become competitive both locally and globally ensuring they remain the employee of choice in the labour market, he said. At the forum, Rajab stressed the importance of Tamkeens strategic approach, which comes as a response to the current economic reality and the rapidly changing global economic climate. This new approach is underpinned by Tamkeens commitment to achieving tangible impact and driving sustainable growth in the national economy, ensuring that Bahrainis are the employees of choice in the labour market, he said. Rajab also highlighted the importance of Tamkeens strategic partnerships with various market segments and groups of individuals and enterprises, and their valuable role in contributing to Tamkeens achievements over the past 15 years, ensuring the continuity of the development process and improving the services, programmes, and initiatives that Tamkeen provides. He stressed the value of ongoing communication with the private sector, given its role as a critical partner in the consultation process. In that regard, Tamkeen hosted a series of consultation meetings held in the lead up to the forum with several of its partners in the private sector. The feedback shared by representatives of various industries helps Tamkeen ensure that the programs and initiatives it develops addresses key challenges or opportunities highlighted. "We are working to provide a model that achieves sustainable economic growth and contributes to building comprehensive development driven by innovative and technological solutions that cater to the requirements of the current market, he said. This years annual consultation forum was held virtually to ensure effective and direct communication with partners and customers. Tamkeen presented some of its key highlights from its activities over the past few years, as well as showcased its strategic direction, which includes a high-level of integration with various parts of the economy and the Economic Recovery Plan. Tamkeen aims to drive economic growth through attracting direct investment, facilitating job creation, diversifying income streams, encouraging productivity, developing the local workforce while also considering local and global market needs, he said. Tamkeen also unveiled its new brand identity which complements the transformational phase the organization is undergoing. The new identity represents the importance of change, a principle that will be reflected in all internal practices and initiatives and is symbolised through a new logo. - TradeArabia News Service Our County Editor Dave Hinton is editor of The News-Gazette's Our County section and former editor of the Rantoul Press. He can be reached at dhinton@news-gazette.com. I heard someone yell, Theres an active shooter, and in the room I was in, everybody went crazy and scrambled. There were a lot of people who rushed out, and got in their cars to drive away." Champaign, IL (61820) Today Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 50F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 50F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. So many of you have showed up to work in person during the worst health crisis in our state that our state has ever seen. I figured the least I could do as your governor was brave a snow storm, to deliver the State of the State address. Longview, TX (75601) Today Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Considerable cloudiness. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. The gastrointestinal hormone secretin- often associated with its role in the pancreas- increases and improves both heart and kidney function, according to a new study. Researchers write that their findings make secretin "an interesting drug candidate for future studies in heart and kidney failure." The study is published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism. It was chosen as an APSselect article for January. Heart failure occurs when the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the body's needs. Kidney failure, also known as end-stage renal disease, is when kidney function has degraded to the point that the patient requires dialysis or a transplant. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly 6.2 million adults in the U.S. are living with heart failure and nearly 786,000 are being treated for kidney failure. As the researchers note, "renal failure exacerbates heart failure and vice versa." The gastrointestinal hormone secretin is best known for its role stimulating pancreatic secretion, which initiates the digestion of nutrients. However, interest has been growing in its potential effects on the heart. Receptors for secretin are present in various locations throughout the body, including both the heart and kidney. A research team at the University of Turku, Finland, conducted a blinded crossover study in 15 healthy men. Each participant was scanned under fasting conditions via positron emission tomography and computed tomography on two separate occasions. One scan was conducted while administering intravenous secretin and the other intravenous saline, as a control. The participants were also injected with glucose labeled with a radioisotope that allowed researchers to monitor how the glucose moved through the body. At different points throughout the interventions, they also took estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR), a common measure of kidney function. The researchers found that the heart muscle had significantly higher glucose uptake with the secretin intervention compared to the control, an indicator of increased heart function. They also found that during the secretin intervention, participants' kidneys filtered out more of the labeled glucose than during the saline intervention. Reinforcing this sign of increased kidney function, eGFR peak paralleled secretin peak. "Based on the present findings, we believe that larger studies are warranted to investigate whether secretin may have a place in the future treatment of heart failure," the team concluded. Ariston, a leader in provision of sustainable solutions utilizing solar panels and heat pumps, said its Middle East division has developed a new brand positioning for 2022 and the years to come. The 90-year-old brand has all along focused on comfort for the family and home with a strong emphasis on advanced technologies to build a sustainable future. This strategy has been more clearly defined with the brand manifesto transitioning to Ariston the home of sustainable comfort - a line that captures the essence of the brands vision combining the importance of home, comfort, and sustainability, it added. "In an increasingly connected world where 'I' is becoming 'we' and 'mine' is becoming "ours", also the concept of home is redefining its boundaries: it extends beyond the idea of a private space to include the whole planet," remarked Said Alberto Torner, Head of Ariston Group in the Middle East, Turkey and Caucasus. "Family", "protection", "comfort" and "wellbeing", values universally recognised as synonymous with home and core values for our brand, today have more diverse and more inclusive nuances that reflect more sustainable ways of living life, working and nurturing relationships of all forms. We at Ariston, who have put the home at the centre of our work from our foundation and used it in our logo, are once again ready to embrace and accompany this change. For many years, the Ariston Group as a global brand has chosen a green path, and to achieve this, it has been constantly investing in the most advanced technologies. Backed by a strong research team, the company has been able to offer highly efficient products capable of heating large amounts of water with extremely low consumption of electricity as they absorb the heat directly from the external air and the sun. Aristons sustainable solutions utilizing solar panels and heat pumps to harness the natural forces of sunlight and air to reduce energy costs have appealed to customers in the commercial as well as residential sectors across the region. Over 5,000 vulnerable people have now enrolled into a world-class study for the chance to receive life-saving antivirals, the government has announced today (Wednesday 26 January 2022). This ground-breaking achievement makes the PANORAMIC study the fastest-recruiting trial of its kind ever in the UK. The significant milestone means the UK is one step closer to rolling out the innovative medicines - which are being evaluated to see if they help to reduce the severity of symptoms and the risk of hospitalization or death - more widely across the country, eventually helping to ease pressures on the NHS. Anyone over the age of 50 or between 18 to 49 with certain underlying health conditions can sign up to the study as soon as they receive a positive PCR or lateral flow test result. They need to be experiencing COVID-19 symptoms that began in the last five days to be eligible to enroll. The UK-wide PANORAMIC study, run by the University of Oxford and supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the devolved administrations, now has 5,171 participants enrolled. The government, through the Antivirals Taskforce, has procured 4.98 million courses of antivirals - including 2.23 million courses of molnupiravir and 2.75 million courses of PF-07321332+ritonavir - more per head than any other country in Europe. The UK is leading the way when it comes to antivirals and this is a landmark milestone for the deployment of these cutting-edge treatments - which will be crucial as we learn to live with the virus by keeping our most vulnerable safe if they catch it. The PANORAMIC study is vital in helping our medical experts to develop plans for rolling these treatments out more widely later this year. If you test positive for COVID-19 and are eligible, please sign up as soon as possible." Sajid Javid, Health and Social Care Secretary Earlier this week, the government, along with leading charities such as Kidney Care UK, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Diabetes UK and the British Liver Trust, put out an urgent call for at least 6,000 more participants to come forward for the treatments. This is so that scientific experts can understand more about how to deploy these treatments in the NHS more widely later in the year - including who would benefit most from them. Antivirals are medicines which can be swallowed as a pill or capsule to help treat people with COVID-19 infections. Molnupiravir, which is currently being deployed through the study, has shown to reduce this for at risk, non-hospitalized adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 by 30% - potentially saving thousands of lives once the drugs are available to the NHS. Professor Chris Butler, co-Chief Investigator of the PANORAMIC study, University of Oxford, said: Despite all the amazing support already given to the PANORAMIC study, we need even more people in the early stages of their COVID illness to urgently share their experiences with us and sign-up directly through the PANORAMIC website. This will help us rapidly find out who will benefit most from the new treatments, so they can be given to the right people when they get sick." It is open to anyone living in the UK who meets the following criteria: Have received a positive PCR or lateral flow test for COVID-19 and feel unwell with symptoms of COVID-19 that started in the last five days; and are aged 50 and over, or 18 to 49 years old with certain underlying medical conditions that can increase the risk of developing severe COVID-19. While vaccines remain the most important first line of defense against the virus, antivirals are used after someone contracts the virus to slow it down, make symptoms less severe and complications less common. The antiviral, molnupiravir, that is part of the PANORAMIC trial, was granted approval for use by the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) in November 2021, and so far no unexpected safety findings have been reported in clinical trials. Alongside the PANORAMIC study, those at highest risk from the virus can access the antivirals and other COVID-19 treatments through the NHS. Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, said: It's very promising to see people sign-up for this important trial and to those who have a huge thank you. But this needs to be a very large study; closer to 20,000 volunteers may be needed to get an accurate answer, so please keep coming forward if you get COVID-19 over the next few days, weeks and months. You can make a real difference in helping us work out how best to use COVID-19 antiviral drugs for many years to come. These drugs are already approved by the MHRA, but we need to see how much benefit they give to already vaccinated patients. If I'm unlucky enough to get COVID-19 and meet the criteria, then I will definitely be taking part." Eddie Gray, Chair of the Antivirals Taskforce, said: Antivirals will form an important part of living with COVID-19 - and could eventually be a big help in stopping hospitals from being overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. This is a fantastic achievement for the PANORAMIC study and for the deployment of antivirals - please sign-up to the study if you test positive for the virus and are eligible." Professor Nick Lemoine, Medical Director of the NIHR Clinical Research Network, said: An estimated 300,000 people in the UK have aortic valve stenosis, a progressive and potentially fatal condition, suggests research published in the open access journal Open Heart. The UK health service will struggle to cope with the sheer number of people needing treatment for this over the next few years, with the number set to rise further as the population ages, warn the researchers. What's more, over half of those with advanced disease will likely die within 5 years without timely, proactive treatment, they add. Aortic stenosis occurs when the aortic valve, the main outflow valve of the heart, stiffens and narrows. This means it can no longer open fully, reducing or blocking blood flow from the heart into the main artery (aorta) and the rest of the body. In a significant portion of people the condition remains silent, with symptoms appearing only when the condition is already advanced. Given the aging of the UK population, it is thought that there may be a large pool of as yet undiagnosed people who might benefit from life-saving treatment. The researchers therefore set out to provide informed estimates of the overall prevalence of severe aortic stenosis across the UK and how many people might benefit from surgery: surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) or transcatheter aortic valve implant (TAVI). To guage the numbers potentially at risk of aortic stenosis, the researchers obtained national age and sex-specific population data for the year 2019, when nearly a third (30%; 20.1 million) of the UK's 66 million population were aged 55 and older. To come up with valid and accurate age specific prevalence estimates, they drew on data from one of the largest ever studies of the condition to date (NEDA study). This had come up with a prevalence of severe disease of 3.5% among the over 75s. Using this as a reference point, they estimated the prevalence of severe aortic stenosis as 1.2% among 70-74 year olds; 0.7% among 65-69 year olds; 0.5% among 60-64 year olds; and 0.4% among 55-59 year olds in 2019. They then estimated the proportions of those with and without symptoms, and of those with symptoms, how many could be managed with drugs and how many would need surgery, based on historical treatment patterns. And they calculated how many people would die, if left untreated, based on the estimated total numbers of people diagnosed with the condition in 2019, and actual 5-year death rates observed among the untreated in the NEDA study. Based on all these figures, the researchers estimate that the overall prevalence of severe aortic stenosis among the over 55s in the UK in 2019 to be almost 1.5%, equal to around 300,000 people living with this potentially deadly condition at any one time. Of the total numbers with aortic stenosis, just under 200,000 (68%) had severe (symptomatic) disease in 2019, prompting the need for around 116,000 SAVR and 51,000 TAVI procedures, the researchers estimate. But the 92,389 people with 'silent' disease, representing nearly a third of all cases (32%), will probably not be diagnosed unless they are being proactively screened for aortic stenosis or undergoing tests for another heart problem, they suggest. Without timely proactive treatment up to 172,859 of those with severe aortic stenosis (59%, overall) in 2019 will die over the next five years to 2024, equal to 35,000 people every year. Nearly 10,000 of these deaths (almost 6% of all cases) will be among 55-64 year olds, with an additional 29,548 deaths (17%) among 65-74 year olds. Most deaths will occur in 75-84 year olds (86,383; 50%) and the over 85s (47,121; 27%), the researchers estimate. Based on their estimates, the researchers question whether the UK health service will be able to cope with the prevalence of aortic disease over the next few years. "Critically, such an indicative burden is far greater than the current capacity within the NHS to screen, detect, triage and treat such cases," with the prevalence increasing further as the population ages, they warn. "There seems little doubt, therefore, that there is a significant shortfall between interventions undertaken for severe [aortic stenosis] and our estimates of potential demand." The researchers acknowledge that they have no way of verifying their estimates, and advise that population data on the incidence and prevalence of aortic stenosis in the UK are inadequate, so their findings should be interpreted cautiously. But their figures are in line with those in the few available previously published studies, they point out. "In conclusion, this study suggests that severe [aortic stenosis] is a common condition affecting many individuals within the UK population aged 55 [and older]. Without appropriate detection and intervention, their survival prospects are likely to be poor." Vaccination against COVID-19 did not affect fertility outcomes in patients undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF), a new study has found. The findings, which were published in Obstetrics & Gynecology (the Green Journal), add to the growing body of evidence providing reassurance that COVID-19 vaccination does not affect fertility. Investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Icahn Mount Sinai), New York City, and Reproductive Medicine Associates of New York (RMA of New York) compared rates of fertilization, pregnancy, and early miscarriage in IVF patients who had received two doses of vaccines manufactured by Pfizer or Moderna with the same outcomes in nonvaccinated patients. This is one of the largest studies to review fertility and IVF cycle outcomes in patients who received COVID-19 vaccinations. The study found no significant differences in response to ovarian stimulation, egg quality, embryo development, or pregnancy outcomes between the vaccinated compared to unvaccinated patients." Devora A. Aharon, MD, Study First Author, The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine Dr. Aharon is a fellow in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Icahn Mount Sinai and RMA of New York. "Our findings that vaccination had no impact on these outcomes should be reassuring to those who are trying to conceive or are in early pregnancy." The study involved patients whose eggs were collected from the ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a laboratory, creating embryos that were frozen and later thawed and transferred to the womb, and patients who underwent medical treatment to stimulate the development of eggs. The two groups of patients who underwent frozen-thawed embryo transfer-;214 vaccinated and 733 unvaccinated-;had similar rates of pregnancy and early pregnancy loss. The two groups of patients who underwent ovarian stimulation-;222 vaccinated and 983 unvaccinated-;had similar rates of eggs retrieved, fertilization, and embryos with normal numbers of chromosomes, among several other measures. The authors of the study anticipate that the findings will ease the anxiety of people considering pregnancy. "By leveraging science and big data, we can help reassure patients of reproductive age and enable them to make the best decisions for themselves. It will give people comfort to know that the COVID-19 vaccine does not affect their reproductive potential," said senior author Alan B. Copperman, MD, FACOG, division director and clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive science at Icahn Mount Sinai and director of RMA of New York, which is recognized internationally as a leading center of reproductive medicine. The patients in the study were treated at RMA of New York between February and September 2021. Patients undergoing IVF treatment are closely tracked, enabling the researchers to capture early data on the implantation of embryos in addition to pregnancy losses that might be undercounted in other studies. The publication of the new study coincides with the surge of the highly contagious Omicron variant. Previous studies have found that COVID-19 vaccination helped protect pregnant people-;for whom COVID-19 substantially increases the risk of severe illness and death-;from severe illness, conferred antibodies to their infants, and did not raise the risk of preterm birth or fetal growth problems. Death rates from ovarian cancer are predicted to fall by 17% in the UK and by 7% in EU countries in 2022 compared to 2017, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology today (Wednesday). Researchers led by Carlo La Vecchia (MD), a professor at the University of Milan (Italy), say that these dramatic falls are due mainly to the use of oral contraceptives, which also account for the differences between countries. The earlier and greater use of oral contraceptives in the UK than in most EU countries for generations of women born since the 1930s has a major role in these trends. In Italy, Spain, Poland etc, oral contraceptives were made available considerably later, and hence the favorable trends in these countries started later and are smaller." La Vecchia, Professor, University of Milan The researchers predict that 26,500 women will die from ovarian cancer in EU countries in 2022 and 4,000 in the UK. After adjusting for differences in age distribution in the population, the age standardised rate (ASR) of deaths will be 4.32 and 4.57 women per 100,000 in the EU and UK respectively [2]. In the 1970s the UK had the highest death rate in Europe at nearly 9 per 100,000, but then showed a steep decline thereafter, whereas death rates in France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain were all lower but showed a rise until the 1980s when they started to decline with the exception of Poland where rates continued to rise until around 2010. "Long-term use of oral contraceptives reduces the risk of ovarian cancer by 40% in middle-aged and elderly women," said Prof La Vecchia. "Other factors may also be partially responsible, such as a reduced use of hormone replacement therapy. Improvements in diagnosis, surgery and the use of better treatments, such as platinum-based drugs in the 1980s, taxanes in the 1990s and more recently, gemcitabine, intra-peritoneal chemotherapy, possibly bevacizumab, and PARP inhibitors for women with BRCA mutations, may all contribute to improved survival. However, these factors are minor compared to the long-term protective effect of oral contraceptives. We expect these favourable trends in ovarian cancer deaths to continue." Prof La Vecchia and his colleagues predict that death rates from the ten most common cancers will continue to fall in most European countries in 2022, although the numbers of people dying will go up due to aging populations. A greater proportion of elderly people in the population means there is a greater number at the age where they are more likely to develop and die from cancer. There will be 1,446,000 deaths from cancer in the EU and the UK in 2022 (1,269,200 in the EU and 176,800 in the UK). This corresponds to a fall of 6% in men (126.9 deaths per 100,000) and 4% in women (80.2 per 100,000) in the EU since 2017, and 7% (113.2 per 100,000) in men and 6% (87.6 per 100,000) in women in the UK. The main exception to the favourable downward trends is pancreatic cancer, where death rates continue to rise in women (up 3.4%) with little change in men (down 0.7%) in the EU, although in the UK they are down 5% in men and 2% in women. It has overtaken breast cancer to become the third most common cause of cancer death in the EU (87,300 deaths, with a death rate of 8.1 and 5.9 per 100,000 in men and women respectively). Lung cancer deaths also continues to rise in EU women (up 2%), although the rate of increase is slowing, and womb and cervical cancers deaths are up 5% in UK women. Prof La Vecchia said: "Tobacco continues to play a key role and is the major cause of deaths from cancer across Europe. Smoking influences death rates from a range of cancers, including pancreatic, lung and bladder cancers. The lack of progress on pancreatic cancer should ring alarm bells with EU health institutions as survival rates are abysmal with less than 5% of patients surviving five years." Co-author, Professor Eva Negri, professor at the University of Bologna (Italy), said: "Besides the decline in smoking prevalence in men, the main determinants of the favourable trends in cancer mortality are advancements in treatment and diagnosis of colorectal, breast and prostate cancer, as well as in several rarer cancers." The researchers analysed cancer death rates in the EU 27 Member States [3] as a whole and separately in the UK in order to be able to compare with previous years when the UK was still a member of the EU. They also looked at the five most populous EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain) and, individually, for stomach, intestines, pancreas, lung, breast, uterus (including cervix), ovary, prostate, bladder and leukaemias for men and women [4]. Prof La Vecchia and his colleagues collected data on deaths from the World Health Organization and Eurostat databases from 1970 to 2017, or to 2016 for the UK. This is the twelfth consecutive year the researchers have published these predictions. Prof La Vecchia and his team are the only group in Europe to publish yearly predictions for all cancers, as well as the ten most common cancers. They estimate that nearly 5.4 million cancer deaths have been avoided between 1989 and 2022 in the EU, 369,000 in 2022 alone, compared to the peak of cancer death rates in 1988. In the UK, just over a million deaths were avoided over the same period, including 73,000 in 2022. The researchers warn that their predictions should be interpreted with caution and that they could be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. Co-author, Professor Paolo Boffetta (MD), Annals of Oncology associate editor for epidemiology, professor and associate director for population sciences at Stony Brook University, New York (USA), and professor at the University of Bologna (Italy), said: "The COVID-19 epidemic can indeed affect the positive trends in cancer mortality that have been observed over the last decade in Europe. We expect that the vaccination campaign that has targeted oncology patients as a priority population will mitigate the adverse impact that has been observed during 2020, even if these patients have a weaker immune response compared to healthy individuals." The development of a protein vaccine candidate for nasal administration has taken another step. Led by the BioMAP research team, from the Infectiology and Public Health (ISP) joint research unit run by INRAE and the Universite de Tours, this project, supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and accompanied by the ANRS | Maladies infectieuses emergentes, is moving up a gear. As new pre-clinical results obtained with the Delta variant this winter demonstrate the robustness of the concept of this vaccine blocking the contagiousness of SARS-CoV-2, the French start-up LoValTech, labelled Deeptech by BPI France, has been created. To accelerate the development of the project and consolidate the investment announcements, this new company now holds an exclusive worldwide licence to exploit the patent on the vaccine, granted by the Universite de Tours and INRAE. Its objective is to manage the project from the development phases of the vaccine formulation through to clinical trials leading to a market launch at the end of 2023, beginning of 2024. Within an ecosystem of academic, hospital and innovation partners, and subject to compliance with a tight schedule and sufficient external investment, this project can contribute to overcoming the pandemic crisis. Since June 2020, the BioMAP research team of the INRAE-Universite de Tours Infectiology and Public Health (ISP) joint research unit, a member of the Carnot Institute's France Futur Elevage network, has been working on the development of a nasal vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with the support of several teams from universities, academia and INRAE. An original and robust vaccine concept, supported by ANRS | Maladies infectieuses emergentes Pre-clinical tests had demonstrated the efficacy of the vaccine candidate after two nasal immunizations delivered three weeks apart, both in terms of the immune response and early neutralization of the original virus and its variants, greatly decreasing the risk of contamination by a vaccinated individual. The results of this non-adjuvanted protein vaccine were confirmed at the end of 2021 by new pre-clinical trials on rodents validating its effectiveness against the Delta variant. The vaccine, consisting of the spike protein and non-mutated viral proteins, would therefore protect against the currently circulating strain of SARS-CoV2 despite multiple mutations. The support of the ANRS | Maladies infectieuses emergentes on this vaccine candidate will allow the consolidation of the design as well as monitoring all the phases to be carried out until market launch. Decisive next steps: fund-raising, production of vaccine batches and first clinical trials Founded by Isabelle Dimier-Poisson from the UMR ISP and head of the BioMAP research team at the origin of the project and Patrick Barillot, former development director at Recipharm, the start-up LoValTech (for Loire Valley Technology) has held an exclusive licence to exploit the vaccine candidate since its creation in January 2022, granted jointly by the Universite de Tours and INRAE. Mathieu Epardaud (INRAE researcher) and Nicolas Aubrey (associate professor at the Universite de Tours), both members of BioMAP, are also part of the adventure as partners and will be scientific consultants for the startup. The ANR and the Centre-Val-de-Loire region provided an initial funding of 500,000 for scientific development. The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation allocated a further 1.5 million and the ANRS | Maladies infectieuses emergentes 0.9 million, for a total of 2.4 million, to the Universite de Tours in order to carry out the production of the vaccine proteins in a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) environment, essential for clinical trials. From the first quarter of 2022, the challenge will be to produce this biomedicine through the Toulouse-based company GTP Bioways and to launch the production of clinical batches for clinical trials in the second quarter. At the same time, the specific installation systems - a novel design - of this vaccine in the nose are the subject of collaborative exchanges with two specialized companies, Resyca and Aptar Pharma. Lastly, discussions on the design of the clinical trials and the drafting of the phase I protocol will be initiated over the next few weeks with the support and expertise of the ANRS | Maladies infectieuses emergentes, sponsor of these future clinical trials. The Clinical Investigation Centre of the CHRU (the Tours Regional University Hospital, a joint structure of the University Hospital, the University and Inserm) has already committed to conducting these clinical trials with other investigators. Non-invasive and requiring minimal logistics, this vaccination system will allow for a wider distribution: The Biden administration announced that 14.5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act for 2022. That's a record, and several states are still enrolling people. But many millions of those newly insured could face significantly higher premiums for 2023 unless Congress extends the temporary subsidies it passed last year. Meanwhile, lawmakers are again working to salvage parts of the president's Build Back Better social spending bill that failed to garner enough votes to pass the Senate. Separately, lawmakers are looking to remake the federal public health apparatus to better prepare for the next pandemic. This week's panelists are Julie Rovner of KHN, Joanne Kenen of Politico and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Anna Edney of Bloomberg News. Among the takeaways from this week's episode: Replacing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced his retirement this week, adds to an already long to-do list in the Senate. Lawmakers must still fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year and find an acceptable compromise on President Joe Biden's big social spending bill. Approving a Supreme Court justice in a 50-50 Senate will not be easy, but the realization that the replacement will not change the ideological balance on the court could take off some of the pressure. As Democrats contemplate advancing a slimmed-down Build Back Better package, health provisions including ones to lower the price of prescription drugs seem near certain to make the cut. One reason: Democrats generally agree on them. Also, though, Democrats are likely to suffer in the midterm elections unless they manage to get something passed. Meanwhile, Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.), members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, have put forth a new framework to upgrade the federal government's public health apparatus for future pandemics. Their plan includes changes such as requiring Senate confirmation for the position of director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ramping up national health-related data collection, and shoring up the strategic national stockpile. In its first full year, the Biden administration has had successes and failures dealing with the covid pandemic. Among the successes is the effective distribution of vaccines. One of its biggest failures, however, has been its inability to communicate to the public how the changing virus necessitated changed behaviors. Anti-vaccine activists who historically have held fringe positions on both the far left and far right increasingly seem to be part of the GOP coalition. The concept is tied up in the movement to promote individual liberties. And it is starting to appear that the strength of the anti-vaccine movement will outlive the pandemic. Also this week, Rovner interviews Diana Greene Foster of the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California-San Francisco. She is the lead researcher of the "Turnaway Study," which followed a thousand women who sought abortions for several years afterward to see how their lives turned out. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too: Julie Rovner: KHN's "After Miscarriages, Workers Have Few Guarantees for Time Off or Job-Based Help," by Bryce Covert Anna Edney: The AP's "How a Kennedy Built an Anti-Vaccine Juggernaut amid COVID-19," by Michelle R. Smith Joanne Kenen: HuffPost's "The Right's War on Government Is Working and It Could Cost Lives," by Jonathan Cohn Sarah Karlin-Smith: The Column's "Covid Isn't a Human Being, It Doesn't Care What You Think About It," by Adam Johnson A boisterous political battle over a proposed expansion by the largest and most expensive hospital system in Massachusetts is spotlighting questions about whether similar expansions by big health systems around the country drive up health care costs. Mass General Brigham, which owns 11 hospitals in the state, has proposed a $2.3 billion expansion including a new 482-bed tower at its flagship Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a 78-bed addition to Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital. The most controversial element, however, is a plan to build three comprehensive ambulatory care centers, offering physician services, surgery, and diagnostic imaging, in three suburbs west of Boston. On Jan. 25, the state's 11-member Health Policy Commission unanimously concluded that these expansions would drive up spending for commercially insured residents by as much as $90 million a year and boost health insurance premiums. The commission also ordered Mass General Brigham to develop an 18-month "performance improvement plan" to slow its cost growth. The action, believed to be the first time in the country a hospital has been ordered to develop a plan to control costs, reflects concern about giant hospitals' role in rising health care costs. Other states, including California, Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington, have created or are considering commissions on health care costs with the authority to analyze the market impact of mergers and expansions. That's happening because the traditional "determination of need" process for approving health facility expansions, which nearly three dozen states still have in place, has not been effective in the current era of health system giants, said Maureen Hensley-Quinn, a senior program director at the National Academy for State Health Policy. The Mass General Brigham health system, which generates $15.7 billion in annual operating revenue, announced that the massive expansion would better serve its existing patients, including 227,000 who live outside Boston. Its leaders said the new facilities would not raise health spending in the state, where policymakers are alarmed that cost growth in 2019 hit 4.3%, exceeding the state's target of 3.1%. The hospitals' cost-analysis report, submitted to the state last month, concluded that the system's existing patients would pay lower prices at the new suburban sites than at its downtown locations. John Fernandez, president of Mass General Brigham Integrated Care, projected that prices at the new centers would be 25% less, and he said patients will not have to pay extra hospital "facility fees" at the new outpatient sites. "We're all going to have a tsunami of patients over the next 20 years given the aging population, and everyone has to step up to meet that demand," he said in explaining the expansion. But a well-funded coalition of competing hospitals, labor unions, and chambers of commerce argues that Mass General Brigham's invasion of the Boston suburbs would spike total spending by drawing in patients from lower-priced physicians and hospitals. They cite the health system's own planning projection, unearthed by the attorney general's office in a November report, that the expansion would boost annual profits by $385 million. "How could you be fooled?" said Dr. Eric Dickson, CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, a safety-net health system serving the towns west of Boston that is part of the coalition of expansion opponents. "If you let the state's most expensive system grow wildly, it will drive up the cost of care." The controversy signals a shift in the concerns about the cause of rapidly escalating health care costs. Up to now, state and federal policymakers examining how hospital system growth affects costs have largely focused on hospital mergers and purchases of physician practices. Studies have found that these deals significantly boost prices to consumers, employers, and insurers. State and federal regulators have stepped up antitrust scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions. Deep-pocketed hospital systems increasingly are turning to solo expansion to gain a bigger share of the market. These expansions fall outside the legal authority of antitrust enforcers. Health systems are building satellite ambulatory care centers to attract more well-insured patients and steer them to their own hospitals and other facilities, said Glenn Melnick, a health economist at the University of Southern California. "The outcome is the same as a merger capturing patients and keeping them," he said. "That's not necessarily good for consumers in terms of access to care or cost efficiency." Critics of Mass General Brigham's plans also warn that the expansion would financially destabilize providers that heavily serve lower-income and minority residents because some of their more affluent patients would move to the new facilities. Those patients' commercial insurance plans pay nearly three times what the state's Medicaid program pays. "It's a very, very good business move for MGB," said Dickson, whose system serves a large percentage of Medicaid patients. "But they know quite well this will impact our ability to care for vulnerable populations." The Health Policy Commission agreed with those opposing the expansion and said it would advise the state Public Health Council which will decide on the three expansion applications by April that the proposals are not consistent with the state's goals for cost containment. "Our strong assessment is this would substantially increase spending," said Stuart Altman, a health policy professor at Brandeis University who chairs the commission. In addition, "there is a clear indication it would reduce revenues to those institutions we count on to provide services to lower-income and historically marginalized communities." In a written statement, Mass General Brigham ripped the commission's findings as flawed. It also disagreed with the commission's decision to require a cost-improvement plan but said it would work with the agency to address the challenge. Under Massachusetts' determination of need process, Mass General Brigham must show the Public Health Council that its expansion proposals would contribute to the state's goals for cost containment, improved public health outcomes, and delivery system transformation. The council has never blocked a project on cost grounds in its nearly 50-year history, said Dr. Paul Hattis, a former member of the Health Policy Commission. He argues that Massachusetts needs more explicit statutory power to decide whether health system expansions are good for the public, because he doesn't think the council understands its own regulation. A bill passed by the Massachusetts House of Representatives last fall would give the commission, which was created in 2012, greater authority to investigate the cost and market impact of such expansions. Its legislative fate is uncertain. Upping the stakes in the Massachusetts expansion fight: Massachusetts General Hospital charges by far the highest prices in the state, and Brigham and Women's Hospital isn't far behind. Patients with a Mass General Brigham primary care physician had the highest total per-member spending in 2019, nearly $700 per month, according to the Health Policy Commission. That was 45% higher than spending for patients served by doctors at Reliant, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group's Optum unit. Average payments for major outpatient surgery at Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's were nearly twice as high as at the state's lowest-paid high-volume hospital. A robot has performed laparoscopic surgery on the soft tissue of a pig without the guiding hand of a human a significant step in robotics toward fully automated surgery on humans. Designed by a team of Johns Hopkins University researchers, the Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot (STAR) is described today in Science Robotics. Our findings show that we can automate one of the most intricate and delicate tasks in surgery: the reconnection of two ends of an intestine. The STAR performed the procedure in four animals and it produced significantly better results than humans performing the same procedure." Axel Krieger, Study Senior Author, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins' Whiting School of Engineering The robot excelled at intestinal anastomosis, a procedure that requires a high level of repetitive motion and precision. Connecting two ends of an intestine is arguably the most challenging step in gastrointestinal surgery, requiring a surgeon to suture with high accuracy and consistency. Even the slightest hand tremor or misplaced stitch can result in a leak that could have catastrophic complications for the patient. Working with collaborators at the Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C. and Jin Kang, a Johns Hopkins professor of electrical and computer engineering, Krieger helped create the robot, a vision-guided system designed specifically to suture soft tissue. Their current iteration advances a 2016 model that repaired a pig's intestines accurately, but required a large incision to access the intestine and more guidance from humans. The team equipped the STAR with new features for enhanced autonomy and improved surgical precision, including specialized suturing tools and state-of-the art imaging systems that provide more accurate visualizations of the surgical field. Soft-tissue surgery is especially hard for robots because of its unpredictability, forcing them to be able to adapt quickly to handle unexpected obstacles, Krieger said. The STAR has a novel control system that can adjust the surgical plan in real time, just as a human surgeon would. "What makes the STAR special is that it is the first robotic system to plan, adapt, and execute a surgical plan in soft tissue with minimal human intervention," Krieger said. A structural-light based three-dimensional endoscope and machine learning-based tracking algorithm developed by Kang and his students guides STAR. "We believe an advanced three-dimensional machine vision system is essential in making intelligent surgical robots smarter and safer," Kang said. As the medical field moves towards more laparoscopic approaches for surgeries, it will be important to have an automated robotic system designed for such procedures to assist, Krieger said. "Robotic anastomosis is one way to ensure that surgical tasks that require high precision and repeatability can be performed with more accuracy and precision in every patient independent of surgeon skill," Krieger said. "We hypothesize that this will result in a democratized surgical approach to patient care with more predictable and consistent patient outcomes." Strict COVID-19 lockdown policies such as workplace closures in European cities reduced levels of air pollution and the number of associated deaths, according to new estimates published in Nature's Scientific Reports. The research, which was funded by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), was led by a team of statistical health and earth observation satellite modellers based at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with colleagues from CAMS. The study compared government policies from 47 European cities from February to July 2020 and estimated the changes in pollution levels and related number of deaths avoided during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Government measures for COVID-19 such as school and workplace closure, cancelling public events, and stay-at-home requirements had the strongest effect on reducing NO 2 levels. This is linked to the reduction in road transport and local mobility which is known to be a contributor to NO 2 air pollution. Spanish, French and Italian cities had the largest decrease in NO 2 of between 50% and 60% during the period. Although strong decreases in NO 2 were observed, levels of fine particulate matter PM 2.5 and PM 10 were reduced more modestly since they are also produced by natural sources (wildfires and dust), and other emission sources like residential activities, that were slightly increased during lockdown. The lockdown during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic created immense health and social costs, however, it has offered unique conditions to investigate potential effects of strict policies to reduce pollution levels in urban areas. This 'natural experiment' has given us a glimpse of how air quality can be improved by drastic public health measures that would be difficult to implement in normal times. The information can be important to design effective policies to tackle the problem of pollution in our cities." Antonio Gasparrini, Study Senior Author and Professor of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine CAMS provided the surface-level data for this research using an ensemble of regional air quality models. This allowed the team to compare the concentrations of the main air pollutants with two emissions scenarios, one corresponding to business-as-usual conditions and the other corresponding to a detailed estimate of emissions resulting from the actual governmental measures taken during the first lockdown, varying for each country, each day and for each of the main activity sectors (road traffic, industry etc.). Based on the estimates for NO 2 , there were 485.5 (confidence interval of 590.9; 377.6) excess deaths avoided associated with the exposure change (lockdown business-as-usual difference), compared to 2,572.9 (confidence interval of 2,042.3; 3,070.9) excess deaths estimated under a business-as-usual scenario. Across all pollutants, a total of more than 800 deaths were avoided with improved air quality resulting from the governmental measures taken to limit the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus. Paris, London, Barcelona, and Milan were among the top six cities with the highest number of avoided deaths. Although all cities experienced a slight increase in air pollution levels after the strong decline in March and April 2020, levels remained below business-as-usual scenario estimates throughout the period studied. Restrictions on internal and international travel showed a minor impact on the local pollution levels. Rochelle Schneider, Honorary Assistant Professor in Geospatial Data Science at LSHTM, Visiting Scientist at ECMWF, and first author of the study said: "Connecting expertise rapidly after and during the COVID-19 pandemic began has allowed us to estimate the health benefits from specific government measures. This, and other similar studies, can help drive the message that we definitely need to improve urban air quality for human health, and for the environment." "Government policies decided during the spring and early summer of 2020 gave us a unique opportunity to study a "real-life" scenario with lower air pollution levels. This paper conveyed strong messages on the potential of replicable, scalable, and collaborative research conducted with complementary expertise and knowledge from public health and tropical medicine universities, Copernicus, and meteorological institutes." Vincent-Henri Peuch, Director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), said: "This research benefits from a unique dataset provided by CAMS, which allows to compare as realistically and accurately as possible European air quality as it was experienced as a result of the COVID-19 measures and what would have happened under normal conditions. This overcomes many limitations of other studies, which compared for instance different years or different periods. The CAMS multi-model ensemble that has been used to generate this dataset has capabilities that have no equivalent in the world." Vincent-Henri Peuch added: "The findings are extremely significant as they consolidate the quantitative evidence that the COVID-related government measures had a direct effect on air pollution levels areas across Europe, particularly for NO 2 . Beyond the analysis of the mortality during the first months of the pandemic, this study could help shape future policy as the public health benefits of reducing pollution in our cities and the effectiveness of certain measures are clear to see". The authors acknowledge limitations of the study, including the use of country's overall response rather than city-specific COVID-19 interventions. The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the European Union. For nearly three decades, John Pierce Wise Sr. has investigated the connection between exposure to metals and cancer, working both in the lab and in the field, reporting significant discoveries about the effects of metals on chromosomes in lung cancer and how those effects differ in humans and in whales. Wise, professor in the University of Louisville's Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, now has received $6.7 million over eight years from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences through the Revolutionizing Innovative, Visionary Environmental health Research (RIVER) program to investigate how chromosome instability resulting from exposure to metals leads to lung cancer. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S., and Kentucky has the highest rates of lung cancer incidence and mortality of any state. Despite the widely held perception that lung cancer is simply attributed to smoking, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 12 men who develop lung cancer never smoked. In addition to high rates of cancer, lung cancer has a five-year survival rate of 21%, one of the lowest of any cancer site. Lung cancer has a substantial impact on human health, particularly here in Kentucky, and it is time the misconception that smoking is the only cause of lung cancer is dispelled. We are grateful for the institute's confidence in Dr. Wise and our university to lead this work in addressing such a significant health concern. I am excited to see this amazing research continue and expand at UofL thanks to this grant." Lori Stewart Gonzalez, Interim President, University of Louisville Metals are some of the top environmental causes of human lung cancer, but scientists do not fully understand how the metals cause cancer. Wise's research has shown that one such metal, hexavalent chromium, causes chromosome instability, in which the chromosomes are increased, deleted or rearranged in inappropriate ways. This chromosome instability can lead to the development of cancer. Wise has studied metals-induced chromosome instability in humans and animals. Through his field work in sampling skin and blubber from whales, Wise has discovered that while the animals are exposed to hexavalent chromium in the ocean, it results in much less chromosome instability and cancer. "What's thought to underlie that is a double-strand break in the DNA helix. In human and whale cells, chromium induces the same number of breaks, so you would expect the same amount of effect on the chromosomes, but you don't see that," Wise said. "One of the things we've found is that chromium also inhibits the repair of these breaks in humans you get the breaks and you can't fix them. In whale cells you get the breaks, but you can fix them. What about whales is protective or corrective? That's what we're digging into." Wise has assembled a team of researchers from around the world to investigate this process further with the hope that this knowledge ultimately will lead to ways of preventing and reversing metals-induced lung cancer in people. The research will include laboratory studies and then translate those findings to wildlife and human populations of workers exposed to metals. In addition to Wise, project researchers include KeJian Liu of the University of New Mexico, who will lead lab studies and Tongzhang Zeng of Brown University, who will lead work with human populations. Doctoral students in Wise's lab and UofL faculty members Sandra Wise, Michael Merchant and Matt Cave also will participate, along with additional researchers in the U.S., Germany, China and Japan. "UofL is one of the top institutions in the country in research and discovery for how human health is influenced by our environment, and preeminent researchers like Dr. Wise are the reason," said Kevin Gardner, UofL executive vice president of research and innovation. "This grant is recognition of the incredible contributions Dr. Wise has made to the field and provides ongoing support for continued discovery for years to come." RIVER grants are awarded to select investigators who have shown a broad vision and potential for impactful research. They allow the investigator increased flexibility and the freedom to set specific research goals toward a given objective, adjusting the research based on new findings, without seeking new funding. Cave received a RIVER grant in 2017 to conduct research into the effects of environmental exposures on fatty liver disease. Zain Cloud, the cloud computing service provided by Zain KSA, has achieved Class (C) classification from the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC). This is the highest Service Provider Registration Class rating awarded by CITC to cloud computing service providers. This endorsement confirms that Zain Cloud has implemented all of the necessary cybersecurity controls for cloud computing, and thereby provides a secure cyberspace for Zain Cloud subscribers, supported by world-class cybersecurity risk management in line with global best practices and local cybersecurity requirements. Commenting on this classification, Chief Business and Wholesale Officer at Zain KSA Eng Saad bin Abdul Rahman Al-Sadhan stated: We are proud to achieve this classification from the Communications and Information Technology Commission, the regulator of this vital sector, because it reflects two important pillars. Firstly, it demonstrates that Zain KSAs strategy is fully aligned with Saudi Vision 2030 and supports all related goals, not only in the fulfillment of the kingdoms digital transformation, but also through ensuring security and reliability, and preserving the privacy of customers and their data. Secondly, it echoes our commitment to our plans to become a leading provider of telecommunications and Internet services through delivering future-proof digital solutions and services, enabling our customers to be ready for the next phase of their business growth and prosperity. 'Zain Cloud' is distinguished as a public cloud provider locally based in Saudi Arabia, which is secure, easy to use and completely, and compatible with the kingdoms data protection requirements. Customers, whether in the government or private sector, can benefit from robust cloud infrastructure services and their outstanding speed, as well as a wide range of programmes in the 'Zain Cloud Market place' to manage their businesses and take appropriate strategic steps in an interactive and digital way without human intervention. Notably, 'Zain Cloud' has recently passed all the ISO quality checks necessary to obtain the highest rating in the field of security and safety of customer data, and received a number of certificates in this area, including: ISO9001, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, and CSA-L2. This is part of the companys implementation of the necessary measures to protect customers personal information and data from cyberthreats at various levels: Public, Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret Data.-- TradeArabia News Service Pell City, AL (35125) Today Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 84F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly to mostly cloudy. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. The zine "MoodRing" features the artwork and writing from local teens. The launch party will be held at the Carnegie Center this Thursday from 6-7:30 p.m. 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 574-583-5121 or email cgrace@thehj.com. (Newser) Update: Kevin Dugar is out of prison for the first time nearly 20 years after a bizarre twist in his case. Dugar was convicted of murder, but he was released from Cook County jail in Chicago on Wednesday because his identical twin brother belatedly confessed to the crime, reports Fox News. Prosecutors say they think the brother, Karl Smith, falsely confessed because he was imprisoned for life anyway in a separate crime. However, Dugar's conviction has been reversed, and it was not immediately clear whether Dugar would be retried. Our original story from 2016 follows: Karl Smith took the witness stand last week in Illinois and dropped a bomb on a Cook County courtroom as the twin brother he hadn't seen in years looked on: "I'm here to confess to a crime I committed that he was wrongly accused of," Smith said. The part of the story that makes it especially dicey, reports the Chicago Tribune, is that Smith's identical twin, Kevin Dugar, has been jailed for the murder of a rival gang member since 2003. (The brothers have different last names because Smith adopted his mother's maiden name.) Authorities are skeptical, however. They say Smith is falsely confessing because he has exhausted his own appeal of a 99-year sentence for a 2008 home invasion and figures he may as well take the fall for his bother. Smith's "got nothing to lose," an assistant state's attorney says, adding that the confession doesn't mesh with eyewitness accounts. Smith, though, says he let his brother sit in prison because "I didn't have the strength to come forward" and because "I thought it was the job of the police to catch me." He contends that he decided to come forward after a religious conversion. A judge will decide if Dugar will get a new trial. Says Smith's mother: "He wouldn't lie about that." The bizarre nature of the case is drawing widespread attention, with coverage in the American Bar Association's ABA Journal and oversesa outlets including ITV News ("shocking") Australia's Perth Now ("stunning"). (In France, authorities struggled to figure out which twin was a rapist.) (Newser) Update: A Virginia man who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 last year wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" shirt has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of "parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building" and will face a maximum sentence of six months when he is sentenced in April. Newport News resident Robert Packer, 57, has also agreed to pay $500 in restitution, the Virginian-Pilot reports. He will remain free on bond before sentencing. Packer's shirt, which also featured a skull and crossbones and the Nazi death camp's "Work Brings Freedom" slogan, made him one of the more recognizable rioters. He was arrested a week after the attack. The FBI said that when they searched his home, they found Nazi imagery including pictures of Hitler, along with a file marked "Whites Only Material," reports CNN. Our story from Jan. 13, 2021 follows: A man who was photographed wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt during the US Capitol riot last week was arrested Wednesday in Virginia, authorities said. Robert Keith Packer, 56, was arrested in Newport News, where he lives. He was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, the AP reports. A law enforcement official said Packer is the man who is seen in a photo inside the Capitol wearing a sweatshirt with the name of the Nazi extermination camp where about 1.1 million people were killed during World War II. The sweatshirt also contained the phrase, "Work brings freedom," a translation of "Arbeit macht frei," the German phrase that appeared on the camps entrance. The photo of the man in the sweatshirt caused an uproar on social media. During a virtual hearing held Wednesday through a federal court in Norfolk, a federal prosecutor said the government would not be seeking detention for Packer. A federal judge said Packer would be released promptly on a personal recognizance bond. One of the conditions of his release includes barring Packer from visiting Washington unless its for a court appearance. His case and others are being prosecuted out of a federal court in the District of Columbia. (The FBI says hundreds more people will be charged for their role in the Capitol riot.) (Newser) Update: There is no evidence of foul play in the 2013 death of Kendrick Johnson, whose body was found upside-down inside a rolled-up gym mat at his Georgia high school, Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk concluded Wednesday. He spoke after conducting a review of an FBI investigation six years ago that came to the same conclusionit was a freak accident. Johnson's parents insist their son was murdered, and they accuse school officials and the previous sheriff of a cover-up. But Paulk says the evidence supports neither claim, per the AP. Mother Jaqueline Johnson now wants another federal investigation, calling Paulk's findings a "lie," per WSB. Our original story from March 2021 follows: On January 11, 2013, 17-year-old Kendrick Johnson was found dead upside-down inside a rolled-up gym mat at his high school in Valdosta, Ga. Authorities have long maintained his death was accidental, caused by positional asphyxia as he got stuck while reaching for a pair of shoes, but his parents continue to insist foul play was involved. On Tuesday they got a victory, as the Lowndes County Sheriff announced the investigation will be reopened five years after it was closed, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Johnson's parents, Kenneth and Jackie, alleged in a 2015 wrongful death lawsuit that brothers Brian and Branden Bell and a friend, Ryan Hall, killed their son, and the superintendent of schools (and his daughter, who discovered Johnson's body) and the sheriff at the time covered up the crime to help the Bells' father, a former FBI agent. A judge ruled against the Johnsons, citing no evidence, and the Bell brothers' parents say FBI video analysis found one brother, and Hall, were in other parts of the school when Johnson died; the other Bell brother was at a wrestling tournament off-campus. Even so, the current sheriff will personally lead the reopened probe, saying, "Im treating it like its a brand new case. Theres still a lot of questions people want answered." The former president of the Valdosta NAACP, who once supported the Johnsons, now says the case should not be reopened: "If there was something there, dont you think the feds wouldve pursued it?" Others at the sheriff's office say the case is not officially back open, but the sheriff has agreed to look into some answers the family wants. But Johnson's mom tells CNN, "It's been eight long years. I'm feeling hopeful." (Read more Kendrick Johnson stories.) Tier, Europe's leading shared micro-mobility provider, has further expanded its fleet in Bahrain after reaching an agreement with the leading real-estate developer Diyar Al Muharraq, which is due to roll out this month. The expansion is in line with the German company's plan to extend its reach to a larger audience in the country and support the demand for e-scooter services, aligning directly with Diyar Al Muharraq's ambition of offering their residents and visitors a sustainable way of transportation within their community. The e-scooters will be available around different areas of interest in the community at various locations, so that they can easily be reached by people in order to support their first-last mile journeys. Tier launched its services in Bahrain over six months ago and has since seen an increase in the demand of shared micro-mobility services. As future plans, the German company is looking to also bring its latest generation of e-bikes to Manama in the coming weeks to even further increase its offering to the residents of the city. The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) has been a critical partner in making this partnership happen between the two entities. Through their support given to international companies to expand and grow their business in the Kingdom of Bahrain, EDB has so far proven to be a great pillar in Tiers efforts to grow their footprint in the country. Tier plans to invest heavily into the growth of the micro-mobility industry in the country in the coming years and EDBs support is critical in this expansion. Eng Ahmed Ali Alammadi, Chief Executive Officer of, Diyar Al Muharraq stated: At its heart, the vision of Diyars Master Plan embraces a commitment to create a fully-developed integrated city with a cohesive infrastructure which engenders wellness and promotes an active lifestyle in order to foster a healthy and thriving community. Tier supports this vision, wherein the e-scooters will enable all residents and visitors increased accessibility and mobility, allowing them to commute with ease. The location has been carefully chosen for optimum use in the near future, this is only the beginning, as Tier plans to further expand. The Berlin-based companys local and regional team has worked closely with MTT to guarantee that Tiers e-scooters will be available in the most accessible places for residents across Bahrain. Amir Melad, General Manager, Middle East of Tier, comments: We are pleased to further expand our fleet in Bahrain, the third country we entered into, in the Middle East. Weve witnessed a positive response from residents across the country and will continue to further expand the fleet to meet our vision and goal to launch e-bikes by 2022. The e-bikes will provide our customers with an additional means of travel, allowing them to cover longer distances. Tier is already established in the area of Manama with further growth taking place in Diyar Al Muharraq, like all areas, riders are able to use the Tier e-scooters by downloading the App, finding an e-scooter on the virtual map, and unlocking it by scanning the QR code. Users can use Tiers hassle-free virtual parking system to finish the ride by simply finding a designated safe parking location and pressing the End Ride button.-- TradeArabia News Service (Newser) Update: A Mexican national who jumped out of a plane at Los Angeles International Airport last summer has found out the consequences of his actions. KTLA reports that a judge on Wednesday sentenced Luis Armando Victoria Dominguez, 34, to 18 months in federal prison for the incident in June, in which Dominguez was said to have opened an emergency door on a United Airlines plane as it was taxiing and jumped onto the tarmac, apparently breaking his leg in the process. A statement from the US Attorney's Office notes that Dominguez also assaulted a flight attendant, per the AP. Dominguez, who pleaded guilty in October to one count of interference with flight crew members, could have seen up to 20 years behind bars. He was also ordered Wednesday to pay $20,000 in restitution. Our original story from July 2021 follows: The man who jumped from a moving plane at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday not only broke his leghe's now facing up to two decades in federal prison. Mexican national Luis Armando Victoria Dominguez allegedly told authorities he'd spent the previous days smoking "a lot" of crystal meth, which might be why he missed two earlier flights to Salt Lake City on Thursday and Friday, reports the Washington Post. The 33-year-old had arrived in Los Angeles on a flight from Cabo San Lucas on Tuesday, initially planning to take a bus to Utah. But after smoking the meth, he decided to fly instead, according to the US attorney's office for the Central District of California. When he finally boarded United Airlines Flight 5365 ahead of its 6:30pm departure time, he "was coming down from all the drugs he had used ... and immediately started to doze off," per the complaint. That's when Dominguez heard passengers behind him "talking about the flight going to a different city than Salt Lake City," per the complaint. He panicked, telling the woman seated next to him that he planned to jump out, per the Post. He "sprinted" to the front of the plane, "began banging on the cockpit door and manipulating the locked doorknob," then opened the front right emergency exit, deploying the emergency slide as the plane was taxiing, according to the complaint and an FBI affidavit, per KCBS. He made it out the door, despite a passenger's attempt to hold him by the collar, but he missed the slide, breaking his right leg in the fall to the tarmac, before attempting to crawl away. Dominguez, who later underwent surgery, is to appear in court this week. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on a charge of interfering with the flight crew. (Read more weird crimes stories.) (Newser) A Chinese teen who'd recently tracked down his biological parents using the power of social media has died, apparently of suicide, after that reunion went soura case now shining a spotlight on everything from cyberbullying to the sale of children in China. Per the Washington Post, Liu Xuezhou, a teacher trainee believed to be between 15 and 17 and who'd been adopted as an infant, was rushed to a hospital in Sanya early Monday. ER workers there told Chinese media that Liu died after overdosing on antidepressants. NBC News details Liu's story, starting with a video he put up in early December asking for help in finding his birth parents. The video went viral, and thanks to that and the help of police, the teen was able to make contact with both his birth father and mother, who'd since separatedand Liu, who posted both reunions on social media, described them as "happy" ones. But things soon went south, as Liu started publicly claiming his birth parents had sold him to his adoptive parents, leading to his birth mother blocking him online and accusing Liu of trying to force her to buy a house for him. Social media posts over the case soon exploded, with some sympathizing with Liu and others slamming him for being selfish. Just hours before he died, Liuwhose adoptive parents died in a fireworks accident when he was a preschooler, leading him to go stay with extended familytook to social media one last time, posting a 7,000-word letter online on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent of Twitter) that addressed his depression, the bullying at school he says he'd experienced, and feelings of childhood loss. "Thanks to all those who cared for me and sorry that I failed you," he wrote, per the Post. "Wish there were fewer dark and malicious people in this world." He also noted he'd effectively been "abandoned twice" by his biological parents, per the BBC. After his death was confirmed by Chinese authorities, the tone online shifted from being accusatory toward Liu to one of "nationwide soul-searching," the Post notes, with many expressing outrage on his Weibo page over his ordeal with his parents and the cyberbullying he'd endured. "I hope in your next life you find parents who protect you, brothers and sisters who love you and live a life without worries," one commenter noted, per the BBC. "Trolls and bullies were his last straw," a Chongqing University media studies expert tells the Post. "He acted tough, but after all he was a teenager." (Read more birth parents China stories.) (Newser) The East Coast is in store for a hefty dose of winter weather this weekend, forecasters say. The National Weather Service says it is "increasingly confident" that a major winter storm will wallop the area from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast starting Friday, reports USA Today "Heavy snow is most likely in parts of New England, but is also possible farther south along the East Coast, including the major I-95 metro areas from New York City to Washington, DC," the NWS said Wednesday. Forecasters say the storm currently forming off the coast of Georgia is likely to meet the criteria for winter hurricane or "bomb cyclone," with pressure readings dropping at least 24 millibars in 24 hours in a process known as bombogenesis. The storm is also expected to qualify as a "nor'easter," with strong northeast winds. CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller says the models show a "nor'easter with blockbuster potential" that will be at its strongest from Friday into Saturday. "This storm is likely to strengthen at a rate, and to an intensity, equivalent to only the most powerful hurricanes, so the high-end potential of this storm cannot be overstated," Miller says. An NWS bulletin issued Wednesday afternoon warned that there could be up to 16 inches of snow in parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and winds of more than 60mph in Cape Cod. The weather service's Boston office also warned that coastal flooding "is a concern thanks to astronomically high tides on Saturday." The office says the exact track of the storm is still uncertain. Axios notes that computer modeling systems differ on how far west heavy snow will reach. The American GFS model predicts that the heaviest snow and blizzard conditions will be confined to eastern New England, while the European model shows heavy snow falling from New Jersey to Maine, with 1 to 2 feet of snow reaching cities including New York City and Boston. (Read more winter weather stories.) (Newser) A man who identified himself as a believer in the QAnon conspiracy theory was sentenced on Wednesday to three years, eight months in prison for assaulting police officers at the Capitol during last year's riot. Nicholas Languerand called himself a patriot, but the judge who sentenced him said the rioters who invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, don't deserve that description. "The patriots were the police officers who were defending the Capitol building and our democratic values," US District Judge John Bates said before handing down one of the longest prison sentences for a Capitol rioter so far, the AP reports. Languerand, 26, also told the judge that he was a QAnon follower. The conspiracy theory centers on the baseless belief that former President Donald Trump was waging a secret fight against a Satan-worshipping, child-sacrificing cabal of "deep state" foes, prominent Democrats and Hollywood elites. Another core belief is that Trump would orchestrate mass arrests, military tribunals, and executions of his enemies. QAnon has been linked to a string of violent crimes. The FBI has warned that conspiracy theory-driven extremists have become a domestic terrorism threat. "It was never meant to be something violent," said Languerand, who pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge in November. Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of four years, three months in prison. Languerand repeatedly assaulted police at the Capitol, throwing wood and an audio speaker at officers, and later bragged about his actions on social media, said Assistant US Attorney Robert Juman. "The defendant was not caught up in the violence. He sought it out," Juman said. After losing his job in fall 2020, Languerand was living in Vermont in a trailer with no vehicle or television. He began spending all of his time consuming information on the internet about QAnon and the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, his lawyer said. Languerand is the fourth rioter to be sentenced for assaulting police. The other three received prison sentences ranging from 41 months to 63 months. (Read more Capitol riot stories.) (Newser) The Biden administration and NATO told Russia on Wednesday there will be no US or NATO concessions on Moscow's main demands to resolve the crisis over Ukraine. In separate written responses delivered to the Russians, the US and NATO held firm to the alliances open-door policy for membership, rejected a demand to permanently ban Ukraine from joining, and said allied deployments of troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe are nonnegotiable, the AP reports. "There is no change, there will be no change," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Also not up for negotiation will be the US and European response to any Russian invasion of Ukraine, he said, repeating the mantra that any such incursion would be met with massive consequences and severe economic costs. The responses were not unexpected and mirrored what senior US and NATO officials have been saying for weeksbut they and the eventual Russian reaction to them could still determine whether Europe will again be plunged into war. Seeking possible off-ramps that would allow Russia to withdraw the estimated 100,000 troops it has deployed near Ukraines border without appearing to have lost a battle of wills, the US response did outline areas in which some of Russias concerns might be addressed, provided it de-escalates tensions with Ukraine. Blinken told reporters that the letter US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivered Wednesday to the Russian Foreign Ministry included "proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground." There was no immediate response from Russia. Blinken said three shipments of military assistance, including Javelin missiles, had been sent to Ukraine this week. "There should be no doubt about our seriousness of purpose when it comes to diplomacy, and we're acting with equal focus and force to bolster Ukraine's defenses and prepare a swift united response to further Russian aggression," he said, per the BBC. He added: "It remains up to Russia to decide how to respond. We're ready either way." (The Pentagon said Monday that 8,500 US troops have been placed on high alert.) (Newser) A Texas man has been arrested in connection with the hostage-taking at a Dallas-area synagoguebut he's not accused of knowing anything about the attack. Henry "Michael" Williams faces a federal gun charge for allegedly selling the pistol British man Malik Faisal Akram used in the attack, the Washington Post reports. Investigators say the 32-year-old sold the semi-automatic Taurus pistol to Akram two days before the Jan. 15 attack. Williams, who was convicted in 2005 of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, has been charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, the AP reports. According to charging documents, Williams told investigators that he had sold a gun to a man with a British accent at an intersection in Dallas for $150. He said Akram told him he planned to use the weapon as "intimidation" to collect an outstanding debt, NBC-DFW reports. "Whether or not he knew of his buyers nefarious intent is largely irrelevantfelons cannot have guns, period, and the Justice Department is committed to prosecuting those who do," US Attorney Chad E. Meacham said in a statement. Authorities say FBI agents tracked Williams through Akram's phone records. Akram, 44, was shot dead when an FBI team stormed the synagogue. Moments earlier, the hostages escaped unharmed after the rabbi threw a chair at the gunman. Two men in Britain were arrested last week in connection with the incident and another two were arrested Wednesday, the BBC reports. Police in Manchester, who have been working closely with their American counterparts, say the men are being held for questioning but have not been charged yet. The two arrested earlier have been released with no further action. Akram, who demanded the release of a jailed terrorist during the standoff, was investigated by British security services in 2020 but was taken off a watchlist last year. (Read more Texas stories.) (Newser) Update: Faced with the possibility of entanglement with a flotilla of small fishing boats off the coast of Ireland, Russia said Saturday it will move its naval exercises. A letter from Ambassador Yuriy Filatov posted on Facebook said the drills, planned for Feb. 3-8, will take place away from the Irish economic zone "with the aim not to hinder fishing activities," the AP reports. Our original story from Wednesday follows: It's not just Ukraine and NATO trying to pressure Russia over its military intentions. Ireland's fishing industry has objected to naval drills planned for early next month off the Irish coast and plans to ask Russia's ambassador to call them off. Patrick Murphy, CEO of the Irish South and West Fish Producers Organization, will meet with Ambassador Yury Filatov on Thursday in Dublin, the Irish Times reports. If Russia goes ahead, Murphy said Irish fishing trawlers will nonetheless keep fishing in the usual grounds in a peaceful protest. That plan has drawn warnings from Russia and Irish officials. Russia reportedly told Ireland that such a move would be reckless and possibly dangerous. Ireland's deputy prime minister also cautioned potential protesters. "This is a major military power with nuclear weapons, with submarines," said Deputy PM Leo Varadkar, per the Times. "Let's not be naive about that." The industry is concerned about damage to the ecosystem, including any effects from missiles being fired, per Politico Europe, saying that resulting seismic shocks could alter the migration pattern of tuna, for example. The war games are planned for a spot southwest of Cork, in international waters but in Ireland's exclusive economic zone. "This is the livelihoods of fishermen and fishing families all around the coastline here," Murphy said. "It's our waters." There's another concern. Under the sea in the area of the exercises run fiber-optic cables connecting North America and Europe. Some analysts say the drills could be cover for cutting the cables, given the possibility of fighting between Russia and NATO over Ukraine by then. And international flights would have to be rerouted because of the firing of missiles. Varadkar said the whole thing could be designed as a show of force to the US and Britain, especially. Giving the growing tensions, Varadkar said it would "demonstrate goodwill" if Russia were to cancel the exercises. Russian warships already have been spotted steaming toward Ireland. Ireland's navy consists of nine ships. (Read more Russian military stories.) (Newser) A Boston hospital is defending itself after a man's family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients chances of survival. The family of DJ Ferguson said in a crowdfunding appeal this week that officials at Brigham and Womens Hospital told the 31-year-old father of two that he was ineligible for the procedure because he hasnt been vaccinated against the coronavirus, a decision he made due to concerns over how any possible vaccine side effects could affect his heart condition. Brigham and Womens Hospital declined to comment on Fergusons case specifically, citing patient privacy laws. But it pointed to a response that it posted on its website in which it said the COVID vaccine is one of several immunizations required by most US transplant programs, including a flu shot and hepatitis B vaccines, the AP reports. The hospital said research has shown that transplant recipients are at higher risk than non-transplant patients of dying from COVID-19, and that its policies are in line with the recommendations of the American Society of Transplantation and other health organizations. Patients also must meet other health and lifestyle criteria to receive donated organs, and it's unknown if Ferguson did or would have met them. Brigham & Womens Hospital also stressed that no patient is placed on an organ waitlist without meeting those criteria, and rejected the notion that a transplant candidate could be considered first on the list for an organa claim Ferguson's family made in its fundraising post. (Newser) He told his family and a few friends. He dropped hints to a couple of colleagues. So hardly anyone knew that the airline pilot could haveshould havebeen on board when SpaceX launched its first tourists into orbit last year. Meet Kyle Hippchen, the real winner of a first-of-its-kind sweepstakes, who gave his seat to his college roommate. Though Hippchens secret is finally out, that doesnt make it any easier knowing he missed his chance to orbit Earth because he exceeded the weight limit. He still hasnt watched the Netflix series on the three-day flight purchased by a tech entrepreneur for himself and three guests last September. "It hurts too much," he said. "Im insanely disappointed. But it is what it is." Hippchen, 43, a Florida-based captain for Delta's regional carrier Endeavor Air, recently shared his story with the AP during his first visit to NASAs Kennedy Space Center since his lost rocket ride. He opened up about his out-of-the-blue, dream-come-true windfall, the letdown when he realized he topped SpaceX's weight restrictions of 250 pounds, and his offer to the one person he knew would treasure the flight as much as himself. His seat went to Chris Sembroski, 42, a data engineer in Everett, Washington. The pair roomed together starting in the late 1990s while attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Theyd pile into cars with other student space geeks and make the hourlong drive south for NASAs shuttle launches. Neither could resist when Shift4 Payments founder and CEO Jared Isaacman raffled off a seat on the flight he purchased from SpaceXs Elon Musk. The beneficiary was St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. Hippchen snapped up $600 worth of entries. Sembroski, about to start a new job at Lockheed Martin, shelled out $50. By early March, Hippchen started receiving vague emails seeking details about himself. Thats when he read the contests small print: The winner had to be under 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds. Hippchen was 5-foot-10 and 330 pounds. He told organizers he was pulling out, figuring he was only one of many finalists. In the flurry of emails and calls that followed, Hippchen was stunned to learn hed won. As an aerospace engineer and pilot, Hippchen knew the weight limit was a safety issue involving the seats, and could not be exceeded. "I was trying to figure how I could drop 80 pounds in six months, which, I mean, its possible, but its not the most healthy thing in the world to do, Hippchen said. Isaacman, the spaceflights sponsor, allowed Hippchen to pick a stand-in. "Kyles willingness to gift his seat to Chris was an incredible act of generosity," Isaacman says. Before climbing into SpaceXs Dragon capsule on Sept. 15, Sembroski followed tradition and used the phone atop the launch tower to make his one allotted call. He called Hippchen and thanked him one more time. "Im forever grateful," Sembroski said. (Read more SpaceX stories.) (Newser) Since November, Americans have had a tough time getting out of Kabul after the Taliban grounded most flights. This week, a chartered flight paid for by the US State Department and run by Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was finally able to depart the Afghan capital for Qatar with more than 30 Americans on board, sources tell NBC News. A government official has confirmed the flight to Doha, though was vague on the number of Americans. Before the evacuation flights were halted, there were about one or two chartered flights each week heading for Qatar, according to US officials and refugee groups. But then the Taliban started demanding seats on those flights for Taliban fighters and loyalists, and Qatar rebuffed that request. That's when the Taliban started nixing flights. It's not clear if the Taliban will now resume clearing other flights to leave Kabul. Earlier this month, State Department spokesman Ned Price told CNN there were about 80 Americans in Afghanistan who still wanted outand about 150 who wanted to stayand suggested that all who wanted to leave would eventually be able to. "Our commitment to Americans is sacrosanct, and we're continuing to work very closely not only with them but also with our partners, including the Qataris, with whom we've worked on these relocation efforts," Price said at the time. The National Review and UPI note there are private organizations that have had some success in getting Americans and Afghans who've helped the US government out of Kabul, though it's been made much more difficult in recent weeks. "We're essentially doing the US government's job alongside our daily day jobswith very little resources and very little money," an organizer for Task Force Argo, a group made up of US veterans and private citizens, tells UPI. More here on that group's efforts, and the logistical challenges underlying them. (Read more Afghanistan stories.) Oman and Colombia have signed an agreement on mutual visa waiver for holders of diplomatic, special and service passports, with the step coming within the framework of promoting bilateral relations between the two countries. The agreement was signed on behalf of the governments of the two countries by Sheikh Khalifa Ali Al Harthy, Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry for Diplomatic Affairs and Ana Munoz de Gaviria, Ambassador of the Republic of Colombia to the Sultanate of Oman, reported Oman News Agency (ONA). (Newser) A Ukraine National Guard soldier who allegedly killed five people at a military factory and wounded five more before going on the run has been captured, authorities. The soldier, identified as 21-year-old conscript Artemiy Ryabchuk, allegedly opened fire for unknown reason after weapons were issued at the start of a shift at the Pivdenmash aerospace and missile plant in Dnipro early Thursday, the Guardian reports. Authorities say four male soldiers and a woman were killed. Reports differ on whether the woman was a soldier or a civilian worker at the plant. Authorities say Ryabchuk, who fled the scene with an AK47 and ammunition, was captured around 12 miles away in the town of Pidhorodne, Deutsche Welle reports. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said a special commission will be set up to investigate the actions of the soldier, "who had been called to defend his country and be responsible for securityand not to shoot his colleagues." While there is no known connection between the shooting and the buildup of forces along Ukraine's border, the site is an extremely sensitive one and Western officials worry that Russia could use any signs of instability in the country as a pretext for invasion, New York Times reports. The Guardian notes that rights groups say the bullying of conscripts in Ukraine and other former Soviet countries has improved over the last 20 years, but murders and suicides are still far from unheard of. (Read more Ukraine stories.) (Newser) Fights over recent Supreme Court nominees have set off political fireworks, but the upcoming one to fill the seat of Stephen Breyer isn't expected to be as dramatic. Much could change, of course, depending on the person selected, but an assessment by Politico suggests that leading conservative groups are largely resigned to what the site terms "implicit acceptance." Coverage: Big reasons: Politico ticks off the reasons this fight has less urgency as, say, the one to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, including the biggest one of all: A "new justice would not shift the courts ideological balance, let alone its majority." Conservatives will continue to hold a 6-3 edge. From the right, Charles CW Cooke at the National Review agrees: "Breyer is a non-originalist who will be replaced by another non-originalist," he writes. "It would, of course, be much better for America were Breyer to be replaced by an originalist, but his retirement will not substantially change the makeup of the Court, and, in all likelihood, it will make things marginally worse for the 'living constitution' brigade." Numbers game: Democrats need only a simple majority to approve President Biden's pick, thanks to a rule change implemented by Republicans several years ago, notes USA Today. Meaning if all 50 Senate Democrats unite, VP Kamala Harris will provide the tie-breaking vote. If Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema break with the party as they've done on recent legislative votes, it's possible Biden could attract GOP moderates such as Lisa Murkowski or Susan Collins. Democrats need only a simple majority to approve President Biden's pick, thanks to a rule change implemented by Republicans several years ago, notes USA Today. Meaning if all 50 Senate Democrats unite, VP Kamala Harris will provide the tie-breaking vote. If Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema break with the party as they've done on recent legislative votes, it's possible Biden could attract GOP moderates such as Lisa Murkowski or Susan Collins. Wild card: Does Mitch McConnell have a legislative maneuver up his sleeve? The Senate minority leader "is generally eager to use any means at his disposal to delay or derail Democrats' best-laid plans, particularly when it comes to the Supreme Court," notes the New York Times. (Just ask Merrick Garland.) Still, as GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham puts it, "If all Democrats hang togetherwhich I expect they willthey have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support." Does Mitch McConnell have a legislative maneuver up his sleeve? The Senate minority leader "is generally eager to use any means at his disposal to delay or derail Democrats' best-laid plans, particularly when it comes to the Supreme Court," notes the New York Times. (Just ask Merrick Garland.) Still, as GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham puts it, "If all Democrats hang togetherwhich I expect they willthey have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support." Top contenders: Biden confirmed Thursday that he intends to nominate the first Black female justice. Two names being floated include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, of the DC Circuit Court, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, 45. "If all other things are equal, the president is more likely to nominate Jackson," writes Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSblog. He digs in: "Although a little older, she still is quite young and has many years of service ahead of her. The near certainty of confirmation would outweigh the age gap. So the question will become: Are all other things equal? Or are the president and his team convinced that Kruger would make a substantially stronger justice because they are more impressed with her intellect, writing, and dynamism?" It's too early to say. Biden confirmed Thursday that he intends to nominate the first Black female justice. Two names being floated include Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, of the DC Circuit Court, and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, 45. "If all other things are equal, the president is more likely to nominate Jackson," writes Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSblog. He digs in: "Although a little older, she still is quite young and has many years of service ahead of her. The near certainty of confirmation would outweigh the age gap. So the question will become: Are all other things equal? Or are the president and his team convinced that Kruger would make a substantially stronger justice because they are more impressed with her intellect, writing, and dynamism?" It's too early to say. Timeline: Democrats are pushing to have a nominee confirmed within 30 days, notes Bloomberg Law. (Read more US Supreme Court stories.) (Newser) Update: A Tennessee school board's decision to keep Art Spiegelman's Maus out of the hands of 8th-graders has fueled a buying spree. Mediaite reports that as of Sunday, the hardcover format of The Complete Maus is the No. 1 best seller on Amazon in the books category. Other editions sit atop other Amazon lists, including the History, Graphic Novels, and Biographies categories. Meanwhile, Knoxville's Nirvana Comics bookstore launched a GoFundMe that originally planned to buy copies that could be loaned to local students. With contributed funds now nearing $80,000, the goal has shifted to buying copies that will be given to students who are both local and live across the US. Our original story from Thursday follows: Art Spiegelman's Maus, which tells the story of his Jewish parents' experiences during the Holocaust, is the only graphic novel ever to have won a Pulitzer Prizebut a Tennessee school board has decided it doesn't belong in the curriculum. At a Jan. 10 meeting, the McMinn County Board of Education voted 10-0 to pull the book, which depicts Jews as mice and Nazis as cats, from the eighth-grade curriculum. Members cited concerns including a depiction of a nude female and "rough, objectionable language" like the words "God damn," CNN reports. Board member Tony Allman also complained about violence. "It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff?" he said. "It is not wise or healthy." Allman said that if he had a child in eighth grade, he would "homeschool him or put him somewhere else" instead of exposing him to the "vulgar and inappropriate" content, per the Guardian. Mike Cochran, another board member, said it might be necessary to "relook at the entire curriculum out of concerns it might have been developed to "normalize nudity and normalize vulgar language." Programs supervisor Melasawn Knight defended the book. "People did hang from trees, people did commit suicide, and people were killed, over 6 million were murdered," she told the meeting. "I think the author is portraying that because it is a true story about his father that lived through that." The board discussed redacting some content but decided to just ban the book instead of creating possible copyright issues. In a tweet, the US Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, said Maus has "played a vital role in educating about the Holocaust through sharing detailed and personal experiences of victims and survivors." Spiegelman found out about the ban after a tweet on it circulated Wednesdaythe day before Holocaust Remembrance Dayand he tells CNBC the decision to ban the book is "Orwellian." "There's something going on very, very haywire there," he said. Author Neil Gaiman also slammed the move. "There's only one kind of people who would vote to ban Maus, whatever they are calling themselves these days," he tweeted. (Read more Holocaust stories.) (Newser) Ukrainian officials aren't thrilled about Germany's underwhelming response to a plea for military assistance. The mayor of Kyiv, the country's capital and biggest city, says he was left "speechless" by Germany's offer to send 5,000 helmets to defend against a possible invasion by 100,000 Russian troops massed at the border. "The defense ministry apparently hasn't realized that we are confronted with perfectly equipped Russian forces that can start another invasion of Ukraine at any time," Vitali Klitschko told Germany's Bild newspaper. The mayor called the offer an "absolute joke." "What kind of support will Germany send next?" he quipped. "Pillows?" Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraines foreign minister, has accused Germany of "encouraging Vladimir Putin" by refusing to send weapons, Al Jazeera reports. Other NATO members, including the US and the UK, have sent arms to Ukraine, but Christine Lambrech, Germany's defense minister, says the country won't send "lethal weapons to crisis areas because we don't want to fuel the situation." She says the helmets will send a "very clear signal" that Germany is standing by Ukraine. Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, tells Reuters that the "symbolic gesture" is welcome, but the country needs to equip hundreds of thousands of soldiersand there are items it needs more urgently than helmets. "We are glad that we can see at least the beginning of a change in thinking," he says. "However, what we need the most are defensive weapons. German officials say they have also offered to send a field hospital. The US Embassy in Kyiv, meanwhile, says a shipment of military hardware including 300 Javelin anti-tank missiles arrived in Ukraine Tuesday, CNBC reports. The embassy says this was the third shipment of nearly $200 million in military aid authorized by President Biden. On Wednesday, NATO and the Biden administration told Russia they were rejecting demands including a permanent ban on Ukraine joining the alliance. A Kremlin spokesman said Thursday that while dialogue is still possible, the Western response leaves "little ground for optimism." (Read more Ukraine stories.) Hong Kong: Police to focus on national security Safeguarding national security and engaging the whole community to counter terrorism will be Polices work focus this year. At a press conference this afternoon, Commissioner of Police Siu Chak-yee said the force will continuously enhance intelligence gathering, and proactively strengthen public readiness and responsiveness towards home-grown terrorism and self-radicalised acts through different media and activities. He encouraged the public to make reports to Police, hoping that the whole community will counter terrorism. Mr Siu also noted that as at January 25, Police arrested a total of 162 people for committing crimes related to the National Security Law and more than 100 people have been charged. As regards the overall situation, the number of crimes reported in 2021 was 64,428 cases, 1.9% more than in the previous year. There were 9,587 violent crime cases, a rise of 2.1% compared with 2020. The overall detection rate in 2021 was 38.5%, with a slight increase of 0.7 percentage points when compared with 2020. Overall crimes registered an increase of 1,196 cases, mainly due to the rise of over 3,000 deception cases. This story has been published on: 2022-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. BEIJING, Jan. 27 -- The Chinese military held defense strategy consultations via video links with its counterparts from the UK and France on January 12 and 13 respectively, said a Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday. The consultations served as the important institutional exchange projects between the Chinese military and the British and French militaries, during which, the participating parties had in-depth exchanges on issues of common concerns, such as military exchanges and cooperation, regional security situation, and national defense and military building, said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense. "It is agreed that the militaries of China, Britain and France should strengthen communication, conduct multi-field cooperation, promote mutual trust and properly deal with divergences, so as to make positive contributions to the sound and stable development of the relations between the countries and the militaries," said Senior Colonel Wu. Senior Colonel Wu added that, during the consultations, China clarified its position on the Taiwan question and the South China Sea issue, requiring all parties concerned to abide by the one-China principle, properly handle the Taiwan-related issues, and respect and support the efforts made by countries in the region to maintain peace and stability in the South China Sea. "China has always attached great significance to the military exchanges and cooperation with European countries. It is hoped that the defense departments of both Chinese and the European countries will continue to strengthen communication and coordination in various fields, jointly safeguard genuine multilateralism, and maintain regional peace and stability," said Senior Colonel Wu. UAE authorities have announced the resumption of all inbound flights for national and international carriers and transit passengers from 12 African countries from January 29, effective 14.30hrs, while adhering to precautionary measures. The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority (NCEMA) announced resumption of travel from Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe in addition to updating the entry measures for travellers coming in from Uganda, Ghana and Rwanda, reported state news agency WAM. Those coming from the above mentioned countries to the UAE have to have a negative Covid-19 test obtained within 48 hours from the approved labs in their respective countries of departure and a Rapid-PCR test at the airports of departure in addition to undertaking PCR test upon arrival while adhering to all relevant precautionary and preventative measures. Those suffering Covid-19 symptoms are advised not to travel. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Three Asians sentenced to jail in Bahrain on kidnapping charges Three Asians sentenced to jail in Bahrain on kidnapping charges TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Court of Cassation upheld a three-year prison sentence for three Asians who are implicated in a kidnapping case. The suspects are said to have abducted a man, also Asian, due to a dispute over borrowed money estimated at around BD700. According to court files, the victim had reported that one of the accused came to him, accompanied by others, and asked him to come with them to an apartment in Hamala. However, the victim refused, and the accused assaulted him by beating him and forcing him to enter a car by threatening him with a knife that the accused had. They took him to an apartment in Hamala and locked him in it for two days after being beaten. After two days, the victim managed to escape through one of the windows and headed to one of the garages to ask for the workers help. At the same time, a police patrol was passing by chance, so the victim went to the police car and told them about the incident. The security forces were able to arrest the suspects. The first accused admitted that he had previous disputes with the victim because he gave him BD700, and the victim did not return the amount. The accused and his accomplices decided to kidnap the victim and keep him locked in the apartment. They took the victims phone and an amount of BD100 that was in his possession, and their purpose was to obtain the full amount from the victim. The second accused admitted the incident, while the third accused denied his participation with the other two. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism has warned retail stores and supermarkets of tough actions if they fail to adhere to food safety standards set by the authorities. The action was taken across Bahrain against many shops and supermarkets for violating the rules as well as engaging in repacking and storing food materials without obtaining the required licence. Ministry official Abdulaziz Al-Ashraf said that the ministry has been carrying out periodic inspections throughout the past week. Action was taken against a shop in the Capital Governorate for stocking expired food materials. He said the shop has only been licensed to sell food products while they were stocking food products, most of them expired ones, illegally. We have seized large quantities of rice, flour, spices, wheat, tea, sugar and other food products from the shop. The shop owners also engaged in repacking activities, which furthered the violations. The Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism earlier urged restaurants, cafes, shisha cafes and other food and beverage establishments to uphold COVID-19 mitigation rules to reduce the spread of the virus. The ministry had reiterated that food service facilities are required to observe seating capacity restrictions and social distancing requirements stipulated by the Ministry of Health. The ministry noted that noncompliance is an act of wrongdoing that undercuts preventative efforts, and may result in legal action against violators consistent with Public Health Law. Adherence to these measures is particularly important considering the recent increase in reported cases as well as the emergence of a new variant. With the view to position India as the Healthcare Destination of the world, The India Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is hosting the Health & Wellness week from January 27. The weeklong event will showcase Indias expertise in the healthcare sector and the contributions of Medical Value Tourism, Medical Devices, Pharmaceutical, Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) as well as Innovations in healthcare. Various sessions around the new innovations, Indias contribution to the global pharmaceutical industry, regulatory environment and the potential collaborations in the sector will be held along with G2G and B2B meetings with healthcare delegations from countries such as the UK, USA, Israel, Ireland and Sweden. The Healthcare & Wellness week is of particular importance at the Expo 2020 Dubai as it would witness a diverse gathering of governments, companies, delegations and individuals discussing their experiences in tackling Covid-19 and exchanging ideas and thoughts on the way forward for different segments of the global healthcare industry. The week will have focused sessions and roundtables on medical devices, pharmaceutical, Ayush, Medical Value Travel (MVT) & Healthcare Innovation, and will commence with a panel discussion on R&D and innovation in the medical devices sector followed by an investment pitching session to showcase start-ups in the medical devices segment. The key strategies for promoting MedTech research and innovation, opportunities for collaborations in R&D and mechanisms through which the Indian government is incentivising investments in R&D will also be discussed on the first day. India has been consistently viewed as one of the preferred destinations for Medical Value Tourism (MVT) and has grown at a CAGR of 17.02% in the last decade. The Medical Value Travel Post Pandemic session on January 28 will highlight the challenges and opportunities in the medical tourism sector. Another roundtable session on export issues with the Gulf countries is slated for the day, given that the Gulf countries play a prominent role in trade for India. A session on initiatives that are being undertaken by the Indian government to create a more favourable environment and ecosystem for foreign tourist arrivals would be held which will also deliberate on further opportunities for collaborations. The second day will also highlight the strong supply chain and production capabilities of the Indian Pharma Industry that were witnessed globally during Covid-19 through the Pharma Roundtable: India- Pharmacy of the World. On January 31, a session to showcase the Healthcare Innovation Partnership and Health Cooperation between India and Sweden through the Healthcare Innovation Centre will be held. This session will have representation from the government as well as innovators from both the countries and would include the launch of Centre of Excellence (CoE), Awards ceremony as well as a Winner Showcase. The same day, there would be focused discussions on Ayush, which has played a very critical role in India during Covid-19. There will be sessions on innovation and scientific validation in Ayush as well as a roundtable with American and European countries to discuss various opportunities for collaboration. Among dignitaries, who will be attending the sessions virtually are S Aparna, Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, GoI; Dr Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, GoI; Dr V G Somani, Drugs Controller General, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, GoI; Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI; S Kishore, Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GoI; Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary (IH), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, GoI; Dr Aman Puri, Consul General of India in Dubai; Shri Anurag Sharma, Member of Parliament & Chair FICCI Ayush Committee & JMD, Baidyanath; Uday Bhaskar, DG, Pharmexcil, Ministry of Commerce, GoI; Dr Manish Diwan, Head Strategy Partnership & Entrepreneurship Development, BIRAC, Department of Biotechnology, GoI; Abhay Sinha, DG, SEPC, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GoI and others will be present physically.-- TradeArabia News Service Through the height of the latest COVID-19 wave, more than a quarter-million Connecticut residents received a booster vaccination, but the state still lags behind others nationwide in getting those fully vaccinated another round of shots, data shows. The latest wave, driven by the omicron variant, appears to be waning, but the daily positive rate of COVID-19 tests and hospitalizations remain higher than previous peaks during the pandemic. Officials have responded by continuing to urge residents to get booster shots to address waning immunity from earlier doses of vaccine. In the states weekly COVID report released Thursday, all major metrics dropped. The daily positivity rate fell to 9.73 percent, the first time it was below 10 percent since Dec. 23. Hospitalizations fell by a net of 76 patients for a total of 1,210. The weekly deaths of 225 were 16 fewer than the 241 reported last Thursday. The state reported Thursday that 1.2 million residents have received boosters, just shy of 50 percent of all those who are fully vaccinated. Despite having one the nations highest fully vaccinated populations, Connecticut trails 12 other states, including several from New England, in percent of those individuals who have gotten a booster, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows. The CDC figures, which are updated daily, show the pace of boosters have mostly slowed, despite the persistent threat of COVID-19. The data shows new doses administered weekly have dropped from highs seen ahead of the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. In the seven days leading up to Christmas, about 129,000 Connecticut residents received a booster, compared with about 83,000 who got a booster during some of the worst seven days of this recent wave between Jan. 3 and Jan. 10. The Connecticut Department of Public Health continues to recommend that all eligible Connecticut residents receive the COVID-19 booster. The number of doses administered has decreased since the peak of omicron, likely because many people were infected during this most recent wave, DPH spokesperson Christopher Boyle said Thursday in a statement. DPH stressed the CDC guidance, which states people do not need to wait after an infection to get a booster shot. DPH continues to stress that the best strategies to combat this virus are vaccination/boosters, masking and testing, Boyle said. Dr. Peter Hotez, a Connecticut native and director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, said it was disappointing to see low uptake of boosters not just in Connecticut, but across the country. I think part of that was self-inflicted," he said. "Clearly, part of it is from the anti-vaccine movement and the fake messages that they're putting out there. But part of it was self-inflicted I think there was a lot of confusion from the CDC, FDA and the federal advisory committees that kept on insisting that we call two doses fully vaccinated, Hotez said during a news conference Thursday with doctors from Hartford HealthCare. While there was growing pressure for state officials to take strict measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 during this latest wave, they opted instead to focus their message on encouraging residents to get a booster shot. Along with a spike in infections and positivity rate, hospitalizations jumped significantly during the latest wave, but doctors from the states major health networks said those with booster shots fared well against the delta and omicron variants. What weve learned and what we are learning, boosters do enhance that vaccine effectiveness, especially against omicron. I think what we saw during the surge being boosted really did decrease the risk of ending up in the hospital with COVID, said Dr. Asha Shah, director of infectious diseases of Stamford Health. During the latest wave, there has been an uptick in the number of breakthrough COVID-19 cases, which are those reported in individuals who have been fully vaccinated for more than two weeks. Over the past week, 9,547 new breakthrough cases were reported. Shah said booster coverage, while lagging in Connecticut, likely led to fewer severe cases amid the latest surge. The unvaccinated have reason to be scared. For people who are vaccinated, we are looking at a better future. ... People who have not been boosted are having more symptomatic disease, state DPH Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said during the height of this wave. With concern growing over waning immunity from the initial course of vaccine, Gov. Ned Lamont issued an executive order this month requiring those working in nursing homes to get a booster by the middle of February. The state worked with Connecticuts hospitals to ensure their staff, who were among the earliest eligible for vaccines in late 2020, were required to get boosters. Thats how we keep our hospitals safe, Lamont said at the time. Thats how we have the capacity to take care of each and every one of you. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate DANBURY - A novel plan for a $99 million high school and middle school in a sprawling westside office complex was unanimously approved by the Zoning Commission, clearing the way for City Hall to finalize a reimbursement commitment with the state. The Zoning Commissions unanimous approval this week of redrawn blueprints at the 1.2 million-square-foot Summit complex is the latest step in Danburys scheme to meet its school overcrowding crisis by building a career academy for 1,400 upper grade students. The career academy, which would be the first condominium-style public school in Connecticut, is expected to open in the fall of 2024, in a city where enrollment has hit a new high of 12,080 students. As much as the city is counting on the additional schools at the Summit, a commitment by the state to reimburse Danbury for 80 percent of the cost is yet to be finalized, officials said during a hearing on Tuesday. To cover all the bases, the Zoning Commissions approval came with a caveat that if Danbury does not buy 200,000-square-feet of office space from the Summit for the schools, that space may be retrofitted by the Summit into apartments. This is a dynamic and vibrant facility, Zoning Commission member Milan David said during Tuesdays hearing. They made a lot of progress in the last three years. It is realty shaping up. David was among the Zoning Commission members who wanted to put off a vote on the Summit two weeks ago to first take a tour of the high-profile project. Summit attorney Tom Beecher told the Zoning Commission on Tuesday that the project speaks for itself. It is certainly nice to see that building is alive and well and thriving as opposed to what it was like just a short three years ago, Beecher said. Beecher was referring to the failed former Matrix Corporate Center at 100 Reserve Road, which lost $46 million and was 15 percent occupied at its low point. The Summit bought Matrix off the foreclosure market for a bargain of $17 million in 2018. The Summit went on to earn city approvals to retrofit the office park with apartments, stores and conference space. Then the city came to the Summit with the novel idea of buying three office park pods to build two badly needed westside schools. That required a new approval, which the Zoning Commission granted this week. I dont know how you could have voted on this with a clear conscience unless you went there and saw this, David said to his colleagues on the Zoning Commission before Tuesdays vote. David raised the only question of the hearing to Summit Project Manager Mike Basile about school bus circulation. The short answer is the buses will enter through the north end of the building and exit to the south. The brevity of the hearing and the lack of discussion before Tuesdays vote contrasted with two weeks ago, when the Zoning Commission came perilously close to a no vote without knowing quite how to get itself off the ropes. In the end, some crafty parliamentary work helped the commission maneuver away from a showdown, and allowed members to take a tour of the facility. I just want to thank everybody for letting us go (on the tour), David said on Tuesday. It was worth the two weeks wait. rryser@newstimes.com 203-731-3342 Contributed /New Fairfield Resident Troopers office NEW FAIRFIELD Police and the resident state troopers office are investigating a vehicle break-in Wednesday afternoon at a business off Cottontail Road. The resident troopers office said cash and credit cards were taken from the car, and later used at several locations in Danbury. Cameroon strengthens Covid-19 measures ahead of AFCON kick-off Yaounde, Jan 5 (UNI/Xinhua) Cameroonian authorities said on Tuesday stricter anti-COVID-19 measures will be applied before, during and after the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which begins in the Central African nation on Sunday. More staff and equipment have been deployed to entry points, lodging facilities, competition sites and fan zones in the country to enforce preventive measures such as the mandatory wearing of masks in public places, maintaining social distancing, and washing or sanitizing of hands frequently, authorities said during a cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. "Concerning access to the stadium you have to be vaccinated and you have to do rapid test every 24 hours or PCR test every two days. This condition should be observed at the fan zone and AFCON Village and other populated places. We have the staff and the equipment," the country's minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie told reporters after the meeting in the capital, Yaounde. KELOWNA, BC, Jan. 26, 2022 /CNW/ - As Canada works towards recovery, investments in our airport infrastructure continue to be crucial to maintain safety, security, and connectivity for travellers, workers and communities. Government of Canada investments also help ensure Canada's aviation industry is well positioned to recover from the impacts of the pandemic. Today, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra and the Minister of International Development and the Minister for Pacific Economic Development Canada, the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, announced more than $18 million in funding to help the Kelowna International Airport recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to support continued air services and important transportation infrastructure projects at the airport. To help ensure safe airport operations for aircraft, passengers and crew, the airport will receive over $15.2 million from Transport Canada's Airport Critical Infrastructure Program to support: the expansion of the airport's combined operations building; the replacement of sections of the terminal building roof; upgrades to airfield lighting infrastructure; the construction of runway end safety areas (RESA); and the establishment of facilities and modified airport infrastructure to facilitate improved flow and management of air travellers and airport employees related to COVID-19 testing and screening. In addition to the funding for the critical infrastructure projects, the Government of Canada also provided the Kelowna International Airport with just over $3 million from Transport Canada's Airport Relief Fund to help it maintain continued airport operations and essential air services for residents and workers in Kelowna and surrounding communities. Quotes "As we move forward with the safe and gradual return of activity in the aviation sector in a way that continues to support the health, safety, and security of all Canadians, it will be imperative that we continue to ensure a vibrant and competitive Canadian air sector. These critical investments will allow the Kelowna International Airport to invest in the infrastructure and tools needed to help re-invigorate the aviation industry and allow Canadians to feel safe and secure when they travel." The Honourable Omar Alghabra Minister of Transport "The Kelowna International Airport keeps British Columbia connected. By investing in critical transportation infrastructure projects we are enhancing airport safety for travellers, air crews, and airport workers. This continued support will fund important upgrades while creating jobs, bolstering the regional economy as we recover from the effects of the pandemic and look to grow economically after a year of extreme weather in British Columbia." The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan Minister of International Development and the Minister for Pacific Economic Development Canada Quick Facts The Government of Canada continues to advise all Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada at this time. continues to advise all Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of at this time. The Airport Critical Infrastructure Program, launched in May 2021 , will distribute $571.2 million in funding over five years to airports for eligible infrastructure projects related to safety, security, and connectivity to mass transit systems. , will distribute in funding over five years to airports for eligible infrastructure projects related to safety, security, and connectivity to mass transit systems. First introduced in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program is part of a federal stimulus recovery plan designed to build a stronger, more inclusive and more resilient economy post-COVID-19. The Airport Relief Fund, launched in May 2021 , provided $64.8 million in funding in 2021-2022 for targeted airports whose 2019 revenues were less than $250 million . , provided in funding in 2021-2022 for targeted airports whose 2019 revenues were less than . In August 2021 , funding in the amount of $81.6 million was announced under the Airport Critical Infrastructure Program to support Canada's major airports with investments in COVID-19 testing and screening infrastructure. Associated Links Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca . Subscribe to e-news or stay connected through Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Instagram to keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada. This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities. SOURCE Transport Canada For further information: Contacts: Laurel Lennox, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Omar Alghabra, Minister of Transport, Ottawa, [email protected], 343-549-7892; Media Relations: Transport Canada, Ottawa, 613-993-0055, [email protected] Ex Vice President Of India Hamid Ansari, on the occasion of 73RD Independence Day, participated in a virtual congressional briefing organised by Indian American Muslim Council on the topic Protecting Indias Pluralist Constitution. Ex Vice President Of India Hamid Ansari, on the occasion of 73RD Republic Day, participated in a virtual congressional briefing organised by Indian American Muslim Council on the topic Protecting Indias Pluralist Constitution. As the country celebrated India on Wednesday, Hamid Ansari went ahead to criticise Indias democracy. In the virtual congressional briefing organised by a rather dubious council, Ansari expressed concern on the rise of Hindu nationalism. Hamid Ansari said that in the recent years, we have experienced the emergence of trends and practises that dispute the well established principle of civic nationalism, and interposes a new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism. Pointing out that almost 20 per cent of Indians belong to religious minorities, he said that the Indian democracy seeks to present an electoral majority in the guise of a religious majority and monopolised political power. It wants to distinguish citizens on the basis of their faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness and promote disquiet and insecurity. Ansari further suggested that these trends need to be contested-legally and politically. Minorities Affairs minister of India Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has slammed Hamid Ansaris remarks at the IAMCs virtual congressional briefing. In response to his comments, Naqvi stated that it is crazy that the bashing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now evolving into a conspiracy for India bashing. He added that people who used to exploit minority votes are now concerned about the countrys current scenario. During his day-long visit, Rahul Gandhi would pay obeisance at around 9 am at Sri Harmandir Sahib along with 117 candidates in Amritsar. Gandhi will then travel to Jalandhar by road where he would address the virtual rally "Navi Soch Nava Punjab" Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a day-long visit to Punjab for campaigning of the upcoming assembly polls, visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar on Thursday. The Congress leader was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and the partys state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. Following his visit to Golden Temple, Rahul Gandhi will pay obeisance at Durgiana Mandir and Bhagwan Valmiki Tirath Sthal along with all the 117 candidates in an apparent show of strength ahead of Assembly elections that are due next month. Gandhi will then travel to Jalandhar by road where he would address the virtual rally Navi Soch Nava Punjab at White Diamond, Mithapur, Jalandhar. Notably, this is the first visit of Rahul Gandhi since the imposition of a ban on physical rallies by the Election Commission of India at the start of the month. Punjab will go to the assembly polls on February 20. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. The F-35C, the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during routine operations on Monday. The race to get back the USD 100 million warplane is an extremely complex operation that experts say will be closely monitored by Beijing. The United States Navy is scrambling to retrieve F-35, its most advanced fighter jet, which crashed in the depths of the South China Sea. This race to get back the USD 100 million warplane is an extremely complex operation that experts say will be closely monitored by Beijing, American news network CNN reported. The F-35C, the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during routine operations on Monday. At least seven persons were injured in a US F-35 jet crash on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in the South China Sea, the Navy said. The US Pacific Fleet said that the pilot of a US F-35 jet was conducting routine flight operations when the crash happened. But he was safely ejected and was recovered by a military helicopter and he is in stable condition. The cause of what the statement called an inflight mishap is under probe, CNN reported. The crash is the first for an F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter, designed for operations off aircraft carriers. Some versions of the F-35 are also flown by US allies and partners, including Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Australia. Mondays crash in the South China Sea was the second of an F-35 this year. Earlier this month, the pilot of a South Korean F-35 made an emergency belly landing at an airbase on Tuesday after its landing gear malfunctioned due to electronic issues, according to the South Korean Air Force. In previous years, F-35s have been involved in at least eight other incidents, CNN reported citing records kept by the crowd-sourced website. Amid the latest military flare-up between Ukraine and Russia, the latter issued a list of demands to NATO. One of the demands made by Russia was to limit NATO expansion and not grant membership to Ukraine. Advisors to the heads of states and governments of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia, met on Wednesday in Paris under the Normandy format and called for an unconditional ceasefire in the Donbas region of Ukraine. The officials reaffirmed that the Minsk agreements signed in 2014 are the basis of the work of the Normandy format, the four-party diplomatic group which was set up to resolve the conflict in the Donbas region. According to an anonymous aide of the French President, cited by AFP, the talks were about resolving the separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014, and not the threat of a Russian invasion. Amid the latest military flare-up between Ukraine and Russia, the latter, in December, issued a list of demands to NATO. One of the demands made by Russia was to limit NATO expansion and not grant membership to Ukraine. At the June 2021 Brussels Summit, NATO leaders reiterated the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance with the Membership Action Plan (MAP). The MAP is akin to a rite of passage that aspiring countries have to go through in order to gain NATO membership. As Kremlin sees it, Ukraine getting a NATO membership will prove to be a strategic failure for Russia. Negotiations for a ceasefire following an imminent threat of invasion may very likely be what Russia desires. The prospects of a ceasefire will act as leverage for Russia and allow it to build pressure against NATO granting partial or full membership to Ukraine. It is noteworthy that key NATO members and parties to the Normandy Format, France and Germany, had strongly opposed the erstwhile US President, George Bushs push for granting MAP status to Ukraine and Georgia in 2008. Both the countries share a land border with Russia. Russia has made constant efforts to keep the existing buffer zone between itself and NATO member states intact. Currently, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Norway are the few nations that share land borders with Russia and are full-fledged NATO members. Finland, despite being an EU member state, has maintained military non-alliance and kept itself out of NATO. In 2009, the US cancelled plans for the deployment of missile defence systems in Poland and the Czech Republic after Russia threatened retaliation with military-technical methods. Russia claimed that the missile system targeted its nuclear arsenal. The latest plans for the deployment of similar weapon systems in eastern Europe have also attracted fierce opposition from Russia. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Fifteen Connecticut companies received 100 percent scores in the Human Rights Campaign Foundations 2022 Corporate Equality Index one of the leading measures of corporate support for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees. AQR Capital Management, BlueTriton Brands, Boehringer Ingelheim USA, Bridgewater Associates, Cigna, Diageo North America, FactSet, Gartner, The Hartford, Otis Worldwide, Pitney Bowes, Stanley Black & Decker, Synchrony, Thomson Reuters and Xerox each received a score of 100, according to results released Thursday. This year, a record 842 businesses, employing a total of more than 14 million workers, earned a score of 100 and the designation of being a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality up from 13 in the CEIs first edition 20 years ago. The Connecticut-based companies that received 100 ratings cited the importance of the recognition from the HRC Foundation, which is the educational arm of the HRC, the countrys largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. Now more than ever, its critical that we continue to grow and sustain a culture that welcomes, values and celebrates all experiences and perspectives, Michael Matthews, chief diversity and corporate responsibility officer at Stamford-based Synchrony, the countrys largest provider of private-label and store-brand credit cards, said in a statement. Equity, diversity and inclusion is central to our culture and its how we operate. We are grateful to be recognized for our ongoing commitment as a best place to work for LGBTQ+ equality. Synchrony has earned a 100 score for seven consecutive years. Bloomfield-headquartered health insurance giant Cigna is another perennial honoree. It has garnered a 100 rating for the 10th-consecutive year. Our company is stronger when our employees bring their whole selves to work. This is why we are so intentional about cultivating a culture where we value and support each other for who we are, Susan Stith, Cignas vice president of diversity, equity, inclusion, and corporate and employee giving, said in a statement. This recognition is an important validation of our work so far, and it motivates us to continue pushing forward every day. The CEO and president of Pitney Bowes, which has earned top marks two years in a row, said the Stamford shipping-and-mailing firm believes diversity makes us better. Pitney Bowes strives to create an environment where each person is able to be themselves regardless of gender, gender identity, gender expression or sexuality. We firmly believe that diversity makes us better and inclusion is essential to drive engagement and deliver value to all our stakeholders, Pitney Bowes CEO and President Marc Lautenbach said. Our commitment to including the voices and value of our global workforce in its collective diversity is something we are proud of. It is part of our companys values of doing the right thing, the right way. Among other companies with headquarters or major offices in Connecticut that HRC evaluated, Henkel received a score of 95; Booking Holdings, Charter Communications and Linde each received a 90; XPO Logistics received an 85; and Ethan Allen received a 75. Amphenol, Frontier Communications and United Rentals received unofficial scores of 20 and W.R. Berkley was given an unofficial rating of 10 because the HRC Foundation said they were among the Fortune 500 companies that have not responded to repeated invitations to the CEI survey. These ratings are based on publicly available information as well as information submitted to HRC from unofficial LGBTQ employee groups or individual employees. United Rentals missed the CEI survey deadline, but subsequently reached out to the HRC Foundation to submit the survey so it can receive an accurate score, United Rentals spokesperson Ted Grace said. Frontier officials said the company received an unofficial score because the HRC Foundation had been contacting an employee who no longer works for the company. We are back in touch with HRC to update our score based on the work were doing on diversity, equity and inclusion, including our year-long celebration campaign, Frontier spokesperson Brigid Smith said. DE&I (diversity, equity and inclusion) is a priority for our new leadership team, and were looking forward to learning more about HRCs 2023 criteria when they unveil it in March. Messages left for Amphenol and W.R. Berkley were not immediately returned on Thursday. The CEI criteria focuses on four areas: non-discrimination policies across businesses; equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; support of an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility. Companies rated in the CEI include the 500 publicly traded firms with the highest revenues, as ranked by Fortune magazine; American Lawyer magazines top 200 revenue-grossing law firms; and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses. When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation created the Corporate Equality Index 20 years ago, we dreamed that LGBTQ+ workers from the factory floor to corporate headquarters, in big cities and small towns could have access to the policies and benefits needed to thrive and live life authentically, Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaigns senior vice president of programs, research and training, said in a statement. We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index paved the way to that reality for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. The 2022 CEI includes 1,271 participants, compared with 319 in the CEIs first year. A record 1,268 businesses have non-discrimination protections specific to gender identity, up from 17 in 2002, the HRC Foundation found. These non-discrimination protections cover nearly 41 million employees in the U.S., and around the world, according to the HRC Foundation. There were 379 Fortune 500 businesses including Cigna, The Hartford, Synchrony, Stanley Black & Decker, Otis and Xerox that received official CEI ratings based on submitted surveys, compared with 366 last year. Actively participating Fortune 500 firms received an average score of 94 percent, up from 92 last year. At the same time, 56 percent of the Fortune 500 and 77 percent of all CEI-rated companies offer comprehensive domestic-partnership benefits, up from 69 percent of companies in 2002. The HRC Foundation also found that 71 percent of the Fortune 500 and 91 percent of all CEI-rated businesses offer transgender-inclusive health insurance, up from 0 in 2002. This recognition from the Human Rights Campaign reaffirms our leaders commitment to policies and actions that reflect our values, Alecia Smith, director of diversity, equity and inclusion at Farmington-based Otis, which has earned a 100 score for the second-consecutive year and operates as one of the largest manufacturers and servicers of elevators, escalators and moving walkways, said in a statement. While we still have work to do in the U.S., and around the world, this recognition inspires us to continue our efforts to create a work environment where all voices feel safe, welcomed and heard, because our diversity is our strength. pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; Twitter: @paulschott UW Student Nadia Dworian to Work on Wyoming Gold-Copper Mine Project Nadia Dworian Nadia Dworian, a University of Wyoming undergraduate student from Anchorage, Alaska, will work with U.S. Gold Corp. on the Copper King (CK) Gold Project, located near Curt Gowdy State Park in southeastern Wyoming. Im really excited and honored to be presented with this opportunity, says Dworian, who is completing her bachelors degree in geology and geophysics. I am interested in this site and look forward to seeing what the project will yield. This also is a tremendous opportunity to take what I have learned in the classroom and apply it to a real-life situation, which will aid my career in geology. Dworian will be tasked with identifying, describing and documenting mineralization and associated alteration assemblages from the CK Mine. The project will then fund a UW graduate student to collect subsequent data and provide supporting analysis over a two-year period. Recognized as an outstanding student, Dworian was the recipient of the Mineralogical Society of Americas Undergraduate Prize and brings knowledge and experience that are distinct to the project. Last summer, she worked directly on the CK Gold Project as a junior geologist for Hard Rock Consulting. She conducted fieldwork including mapping, core logging, core cutting and chip logs. For the current project, Dworian will work with supervisor Simone Runyon, a UW Department of Geology and Geophysics assistant professor, and Fred McLaughlin, the interim director of UWs School of Energy Resources (SER) Center for Economic Geology Research (CEGR). Nadia is a talented, hard-working student, Runyon says. Opportunities like this for interesting research will help continue attracting high-quality students to Wyoming. SER also will play a part in the joint industry project. CEGR research scientists will coordinate with U.S. Gold Corp. to develop mapping and sampling strategies; collect and document critical samples; and process samples for geochemical, geochronological and petrological analysis. The School of Energy Resources plays an important part in bridging the gap between traditional academic research and industry, McLaughlin says. We are pleased that we can help facilitate this collaboration and provide a unique and interesting opportunity for promising UW students to gain some real experience in the field. The CK Mine is part of the Silver Crown Mining District -- a series of historic mines in Wyoming. Originally developed in the late 1800s, operations on the CK Mine ceased before World War II with no further development. The prospect of reopening the hard rock mine -- while employing modern technology and mining methods -- will allow the company to recover more mineral resources, protect the area and stimulate economic growth and revenue for the state. We are excited to advance the CK Gold Project, not only because our studies suggest that restarting mining in this historic mining district will benefit our shareholders and investors, but also to create good and meaningful jobs; contribute to the state through royalty and tax contributions; and set standards for responsible mining -- diversifying the states natural resource sector, says Kevin Francis, vice president of exploration and technical services for U.S. Gold Corp. Francis believes the project could have even greater implications, enhancing the domestic supply of important resources and strengthening U.S. infrastructure. U.S. Gold Corp. contributing to U.S. production of over 248 million pounds of copper and over 1 million ounces of gold -- with the likely beneficial use of our non-gold and copper bearing rock as aggregate -- contributes to the countrys needs at a time of global supply chain insecurity, he adds. A prefeasibility study was completed and released in December 2021. The study indicated favorable conditions for recovering valuable mineral resources, including gold, copper, silver and zinc. The next stage of the project will consist of a feasibility study, where Dworians research will play a vital role characterizing the site. I will be examining thin sections obtained from the site of the potential mine to better understand the formation conditions of the deposit and contribute to a classification of deposit type, Dworian says. By identifying the rock types though mineral assemblages, it is our hope that we can better understand how the system was formed. Dworian will begin preliminary examinations for the mine site this spring before full-scale fieldwork will begin and continue through 2023. If all goes according to plan, the planned open-pit mine will officially break ground in 2025. The U.S. Gold Corp. team and our consultants were impressed by Nadias hard work, positive attitude and self-starter approach to her assignment on the CK Gold Project, Francis says. In fact, we had a very good experience with all of the students who helped us during our field season geological program from the University of Wyoming. We cannot say enough about the quality of the young folks that the university is turning out. To learn more about the proposed project, visit www.ckgoldmine.com. NEW HAVEN The districts School Choice enrollment period opens on Monday, and district officials hope to regain much of the participation in interdistrict magnet schools lost during the pandemic. That is the expectation, said Marquelle Middelton, director of school choice and enrollment for the district. The city has 29 schools of choice, many of which are open to surrounding communities. 1n 2021, more than 5,000 children successfully applied for the choice program and nearly 75 percent got their first choice, officials say. Just over 2,400 seats are held by suburban students in interdistrict magnet schools, Michele Bonanno, the districts magnet school coordinator told the city school board this week. Pre-pandemic, that number hovered around 2,650 suburban students, she said. Total enrollment in the interdistrict schools in this school year stands at 7,197 more than 600 fewer than the 7,816 students the schools had in the 2017-18 school year. The district strives for a 75 percent, 25 percent blend of district and suburban students, respectively. Almost all pre-K students who applied got a spot, Bonanno told the board. That has almost never happened historically. To help turn the tide, the district is holding two online information sessions 5:30 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday for parents to get their questions answered about the enrollment process. Virtual open houses also are scheduled. The district has 14 interdistrict magnet schools open to urban and suburban students, nine citywide magnet schools, 10 neighborhood schools, two comprehensive high schools and six charter schools that participate in the school choice program. Placement is by lottery. Most magnet schools have themes, such as art literacy or STEM. The enrollment period is from Jan. 31 to Feb. 28. Middleton said timing of the application does not affect chances for getting a seat. First day or get in 10 minutes before the application closes, as long as it is submitted, we handle them accordingly, Middleton said. A computerized algorithm places students. Some weight is given to students who live near the desired school and ones whose siblings attend the school. Grades and achievement of the student are not considered. Parents, however, are asked to weigh such things as how far the school is from their house, its hours of operation, services the school provides and after-school programs To get a better understanding of what they are signing up for, Bonanno said. Applicants can change their choices until Feb. 28, then its locked in. Applicants will find out March 31 by email whether they get in, according to the district. New Haven residents can apply at any city school. Non-residents can apply through interdistrict magnet schools. Online applications are also are available. Board of Education member Abie Benitez, a new member of the board, sought assurance that families without Internet access would be able to navigate the process. Bonanno said parents can make appointments with her office, and paper applications are available. The website can be translated into many languages and school counselors are trained to assist in the process. School board member Matt Wilcox asked about the computerized selection system and was told there is no way to game the system. Students should rank schools in the order of preference, district officials said, and they can apply for up to six schools. The goal is to give you your first choice if we can, Bonanno said. Students selected have to accept or reject the placement they are offered. Students not selected are assigned to the school closest to their house with an open seat. That may not necessarily be the one across the street, Bonanno said. Mayor Justin Elicker, a member of the school board, said he has been to school choice expos when they were held in person and said they were filled with energy and enthusiasm. Middleton said he hopes suburban enrollment will increase but said his expectations are tempered by the ongoing pandemic. When you think about suburban students who may reside in towns like Guilford or North Haven or Wallingford, schools there went back (to in-person) learning before New Haven did, Middleton said. I think some parents felt more comfortable having their children in school and not having them home alone doing remote learning. Long bus rides during the pandemic was another deterrent to some, he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEW HAVEN A new partnership between the state Department of Public Health and the SalivaDirect Initiative of the Yale School of Public Health and Yale Pathology Labs will provide additional COVID-19 testing and lab capacity in the city, officials said Thursday. It is vital that we continue to have the testing capacity, said Mayor Justin Elicker, who was joined at the former Gateway Community College site at 60 Sargent Drive by Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3, Director of Health Maritza Bond and state Department of Public Health official Miriam Miller, among others. What an incredible partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, said DeLauro. She pointed out that it will increase testing capacity and there is no insurance required, and for those without insurance, there is no out-of-pocket expense. We all know that early and frequent testing is a cornerstone of our COVID-19 response strategy, DeLauro said. Bysiewicz, DeLauro, Elicker and Bond all filled out paperwork and took the saliva-based COVID tests, which involve spitting into a hand-held vial, immediately after the 11 a.m. press conference. The new partnership takes over for Wren Laboratories running saliva-based testing facilities in the 60 Sargent Drive parking lot and on the New Haven Green. Wren, based in Branford, will continue operating testing facilities elsewhere in the state but we asked these guys to come in so Wren could expend efforts elsewhere, said Miller, the Department of Public Healths special project and policy manager. Near the end of December and in early January, when the demand for testing was at its greatest, there were occasional issues with Wren running out of tests or taking several days to deliver results. The SalivaDirect Initiative will deliver results within 24-48 hours, however, many people could have results earlier than 24-48 hours, said Dr. Chen Liu, chairman of the Pathology Department at Yale School of Medicine and Chief of Pathology at Yale New Haven Hospital. Bysiewicz used to opportunity to remind people to get vaccinated, pointing out that 53 percent of those who are hospitalized in Connecticut are not fully vaccinated. But to help control the spread of COVID-19, we want to make sure that people have access to very convenient testing, she said. Saliva-based tests are proving to be a key way to ensure early detection and at the new facilities, theyre going to be able to administer up to 1,000 tests a day, Bysiewicz said. Bond said the SalivaDirect test is a PCR test that is 98.9 percent effective. She reiterated the importance of getting vaccinated. The Long Wharf facility, which is in the parking lot opposite Jordans Furniture, will be open for tests from 8 a.m.-noon every day except Friday. The testing facility on the New Haven Green will be open from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. those same days, Bond said. Neither facility will be open this weekend, however, because of the forecast major storm, she said. She urged people to get tested if youre symptomatic. Do not wait. Miller, a graduate of the Yale School of Public Health, said that when the highly-contagious omicron variant began to hit Connecticut, the department worked hard to get more testing capacity. Other speakers included Dr. Sten Vermund, dean of the Yale School of Public Health; Dr. Anne Wyllie, a Yale School of Public Health research scientist in epidemiology; Dr. Nancy Brown, dean of the Yale School of Medicine, and Dr. Angelique Levi, vice chair of pathology at the Yale School of Medicine and director of pathology outreach services. Vermund said more than half the schools facilty have pivoted toward work on COVID-19 and weve been tireless in our efforts to assist the city and the state during the pandemic. The SalivaDirect test is cheaper, its faster, its safer, yet its still available within a price range that allows the school to make it widely available. Wyllie, who did her doctoral work on saliva, said the goal in developing the SalivaDirect test was to get saliva-based testing out in the world and make it available. Saliva is even more sensitive for the early detection of omicron, she said. Brown said the Yale schools are part of this community and we are honored to make this testing available. Liu said the Pathology Lab is now proud to offer this test to the city of New Haven. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com Niagara Falls, NY (14301) Today Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 39F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 39F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Dennis Witkop of Sanborn prepares to donate blood with help from phlebotomist Marlene Javier during a special American Red Cross blood drive at the Dale Association this past Thursday. The Dale Association typically hosts a blood drive every second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Gov. Kathy Hochul delivers her first State of the State address in the Assembly Chamber at the state Capitol, Wednesday in Albany. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, Pool, File) The Ekiti state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says the governorship primary election in the state has not been postponed.... The Ekiti state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) says the governorship primary election in the state has not been postponed. The state primary election is slated for today. Earlier in the day, Opeyemi Bamidele, senator representing Ekiti central, asked the APC to cancel the primary election, alleging irregularities, high-handedness, intimidation, and state-induced violence characterising the exercise. Bamidele alleged that those on the election committee are aides of Kayode Fayemi, the governor, who are working to ensure that Biodun Oyebanji, a governorship aspirant, gets the partys ticket. Oyebanji is believed to be backed by Fayemi and Niyi Adebayo, minister of trade. TheCable had also reported that seven governorship aspirants on the platform of the APC withdrew from the primary election over the allegation that the committee is made up of Fayemis loyalists. In a statement, Victor Olabimtan, secretary of the primary election committee, said the exercise will take place as scheduled in all the 177 wards of the state. The committee assured the public of a level-playing field for all aspirants. The Ekiti State APC governorship primary election Committee wishes to assure the general public that a level playing field that will guarantee fairness, openness and transparency has been adopted by the Committee, the statement reads. It is an incontrovertible fact that every member of the appointed Electoral Officers for todays primary election is a bonafide member of Ekiti State APC. You will recall that during the stakeholders meeting between the Committee, aspirants and others yesterday, this issue was raised and exhaustively discussed, and to reinforce confidence in the process, it was agreed that each aspirant should nominate 20 people each to be part of the process. All the aspirants took advantage of this window of opportunity and submitted the list of their nominated electoral officers. All the submitted lists have been added to the existing arrangement, assigned into various wards and local governments. They have all been incorporated. The committee called on APC members in the state to go to their wards and exercise their voting rights without fear or intimidation. The adopted option A4 is the most transparent form of election, it added. President Muhammadu Buhari has again expressed displeasure over the spate of insecurity in the country, especially the north, where incident... President Muhammadu Buhari has again expressed displeasure over the spate of insecurity in the country, especially the north, where incidents of banditary and kidnapping has heightened. Buhari who seized the opportunity of his visit to Sokoto State to commission an indigenously owned cement production factory, told the Sultan of Sokoto Muhammad Saad Abubakar III, whom he also paid a condolence visit, that he has given specific instructions to the Nigerian military to deal decisively with bandits terrorising the region. At the palace of the Sultan of Sokoto, President Buhari said: I gave them specific orders not to spare any bandit or terrorist threatening the lives and property of innocent Nigerians. Recall that in the outgone year 2021, activities of bandits and kidnappers became common in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara, such that a good number of citizens were abducted in demand for ransom payment. In Sokoto State in particular, over 30 travellers were reported to have fallen victims, with many meeting their untimely death and others kidnapped. While commiserating with the Government and people of the state over the recent loss of lives and property as a result of outrageous attacks by bandits and other criminal gangs, Buhari assured the people that he remains unrelenting in his resolve to put an end to the heinous criminal activities in the state and other parts of the country. Before departing for Abuja, Buhari penned down some messages in the condolence register, My condolences to the Sultanate, the Government, and people of Sokoto State over the recent mindless killings by bandits and terrorists. Nigeria shall win the battle over evil, he wrote. The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration has more ach... The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has alleged that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration has more achievements that the United States government, in terms of infrastructure. Fashola stated this in Kano during the APC conversation series, on Thursday. The series is the ruling partys initiative of creating awareness on its achievements in the last seven years. The Minister said, I can assure you that the present APC administration of President Buhari has achieved what even the US government is trying to do in terms of infrastructure. As at December 2021, we have completed 941 kilometers of roads across all states and geopolitical zones. In Kano state here for instance, there are 21 road projects either in, around or in the neighbouring communities. Before APC administration, when last do you remember Federal Government completing 50 kilometer road in any part of the country? So, this is the positive change we promised Nigerians in 2015 and it is already happening. They say we are the same with them, but we are not. They stole money and took it abroad, but we are taking this money back and investing it in the area of infrastructure, Fashola added. He said presently, there are 850 ongoing projects under his ministry, including roads and bridges construction as well as houses in 34 states of the country. United Arab Emirates authorities have lifted the ban it placed on inbound flights from Nigeria and 11 other countries. The travel re... United Arab Emirates authorities have lifted the ban it placed on inbound flights from Nigeria and 11 other countries. The travel restrictions had been placed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the new variant, Omicron. The other countries affected were Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Republic of Congo, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, Entry measures for travellers from Ghana, Rwanda and Uganda have been updated, the General Civil Aviation Authority, and the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Emergency Management Authority announced. They said the measures take effect from January 29 at 2:30pm, adding that a COVID-19 test obtained within 48 hours of departure and a PCR test at the airport in UAE will be required from travellers from the three African countries. A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, on Thursday reacted to a remark that President Muhammadu Buhari would hand over to an All Progres... A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, on Thursday reacted to a remark that President Muhammadu Buhari would hand over to an All Progressives Congress, APC, government in 2023. Omokri said he wonders if Buhari plans to rig the 2023 presidential election. Recall that Buharis aide, Garba Shehu, had claimed the president would hand over to an APC government. Shehu spoke in response to claims that Buhari shifted subsidy removal to the next government. Garba had made the remarks while addressing journalists after the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. Reacting, Omokri, in a tweet, wrote: However, AGarba@GarShehus statement that Buhari would hand over to an APC Government in 2023 is a threat to democracy and free and fair elections. What happens if a non APC wins in 2023? Does Buhari plan to rig? Is that why he wanted another of his spokespersons in INEC? Azeez Adekunle Lawal a.k.a. Kunle Poly will remain in the custody of the Nigeria Police Zonal Monitoring Unit, Zone 2 Headquarters in Onikan... Azeez Adekunle Lawal a.k.a. Kunle Poly will remain in the custody of the Nigeria Police Zonal Monitoring Unit, Zone 2 Headquarters in Onikan, Lagos. A Yaba Chief Magistrates Court ruled on Thursday in the case against him and other National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) chieftains. Chief Magistrate Linda Balogun remanded Lawal, Prince Idowu Onikoyi Johnson and Agboola Akeem Kosoko. A riot broke out last week in Lagos Island areas including Balogun, Kosoko Martins, Idumota, Oluwole. A number of persons were injured and business activities paralyzed. One person died in the bloody fracas which lasted two days. Balogun ordered the remand of the defendants after an application by Police counsel, Morufu Animashaun. The lawyer cited Sections 264(1), (2), (3), (4) and (6) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, 2021 (as amended); Section 4 and 10 of the Police Act, 2020, and Sections 6(c), 35(1)(C)(5) and (7)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The police are investigating the trio for threat to life and property, violence, cultism, mayhem, breach of peace, unlawful possession of firearms, conspiracy and murder. Animashaun supported the remand application with a 14-paragraph affidavit, deposed to by Inspector Monday Ohion. Magistrate Balogun said she found merit in the application and granted it. The three defendants are to be remanded in the facility of the Nigeria Police Zonal Monitoring Unit, Zone 2 Headquarters, Onikan-Lagos, for the next 30 days, to enable the police to conclude investigation, she ruled. Governor Bello Mattawale of Zamfara State has described the postponement of the visit of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to the state as ... Governor Bello Mattawale of Zamfara State has described the postponement of the visit of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, to the state as something destined by God. Matawalle said, As man proposes, God disposes. I am sadly announcing that President Muhammadu Buhari has postponed his condolence visit to Zamfara due to the sharp drop in weather conditions. With poor visibility, the President could not make it to Zamfara. As Muslims, we accepted this as something destined by Allah. The safety of our President is greater than our interest. However, I have spoken with the President who assured me of rescheduling the visit soon. The house of representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the planned implementation of an electronic invoice (e-i... The house of representatives has asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the planned implementation of an electronic invoice (e-invoice) for all import and export operations. The lawmakers also asked the CBN to give 90 days timeline for subsequent new fiscal/monetary policy implementation to allow for adjustment to stabilise the economy. The lower legislative chamber passed the resolution during the plenary session on Thursday following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Leke Abjide, a lawmaker from Kogi state. An e-invoice is a digitally-delivered invoice issued, transmitted, received, processed, and stored in a specific standardised format. Last week, the apex bank had said e-valuator and e-invoice would replace the hard copy final invoice as part of the documentation required for all import and export transactions from February 1. The CBN also said import and export operations would require the submission of an electronic invoice authenticated by the Authorised Dealer Banks (ADBs) on the Nigeria single-window portal Trade Monitoring System, adding that the new regulation is targetted at achieving accurate value from import and export items in and out of the country. Leading the debate on the motion on Thursday, Abejide who is the chairman committee on customs and excise, kicked against the CBN directive, saying it does not provide enough time for stakeholders engagement. Sudden monetary/fiscal circular hurriedly or half-haphazard implemented often leads to policy summersault hence major policy change such as this, Abejide said. The lawmaker said a grace period of 90 days is usually expected for transactions to run its full course to avoid distortion in the economy and also to avoid price distortions of trade. He said the CBN has gradually deviated from its sole function of providing monetary policy measures to concentrating on fiscal policy measures, which is the function of the ministry of finance. Abejide said if the major stakeholders in the ports and the public are not given adequate time to study the policy, it will distort prices of goods and services and create logjams for imports and exports, delay transactions and consequently cause ports congestion. Importers and exporters in the manufacturing, mining and trading sectors would be affected because as the exceptions indicate that all exporters and importers with a cumulative invoicing value equal to or above $500,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency would be affected which is practically impossible to have anyone below this value cumulatively, he added. The motion was unanimously adopted. Following that, the lower chamber asked the CBN to sensitise the public on the workability of the policy in all major ports of entry, including seaports, airports, and border stations. It also invited Godwin Emefiele, governor of the CBN, to appear before its committee and explain if the policy will not affect the revenue generation of the Nigeria Customs. Governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has rejected the scheduled primary el... Governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, has rejected the scheduled primary election, citing irregularities and kangaroo arrangements to arm twist the process to favour a particular candidate. The primary election was scheduled to hold on January 27, 2022. In a statement he personally signed and sent to newsmen on Thursday, the lawmaker alleged that his rejection was as a result of the nomination of Fayemis aides, assembly members as electoral umpires for the primary. He warned the party leadership not to go ahead with the primary election, saying that there would be a legal battle if the APC goes ahead. The Senate Committee Chairman on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, wondered how could Fayemis aides participate in an election process which they have interest, while he further fingered Governor Fayemi, Wife and Minister of Trade and Investment, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, as those behind the shenanigans. According to him, Fayemi and others have perfected plans to foist their anointed aspirant on the people of Ekiti State. The statement reads: I am one of the seven governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who vehemently condemned the parade of functionaries of the Governor Fayemi administration as returning officers for the APC gubernatorial primaries billed to hold in the State on Thursday, 27th January, 2022. We had jointly expressed our utter displeasure against the undemocratic, lopsided and highly manipulative arrangement. I hereby make an additional statement to place on record that it is quite disheartening to realize that some leaders of the party such as Otunba Niyi Adebayo and Governor Kayode Fayemi have anointed a candidate at the detriment of other gubernatorial aspirants whereas they have on several occasions denied the accusation of anointing a candidate ahead of the primary election. Even the blind can see and the deaf can hear that the Fayemi administration is clearly working towards manipulating the primary election inspite of Governor Fayemis promise to create a level playing field for all aspirants during the governorship primary. Let it be on record that contrary to the guidelines for Ekiti State APC Governorship Primary Election as released by the partys National Leadership, Governor Kayode Fayemi is parading officials of his Government, including elected House of Assembly members, local government chairmen and other top functionaries of his administration, as electoral umpires for the governorship primary. How can you expect Fayemis loyalists and cohorts to conduct a free and fair election in the 177 wards across the state? Where is fairness and fairplay in that charade primary election aimed at forcefully foisting an aspirant on party members without recourse to democratic ethos, credibility and decency? To further worsen the sad situation, thousands of political thugs were reportedly brought to Ekiti State in the course of the week by top functionaries of the Governor Fayemi administration in their desperation to impose the anointed candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, against the wishes of APC teeming majority members and leaders in Ekiti State. The lawmaker lamented the harassment, killing and intimidation of loyal party members by thugs, he said, were brought into the state by government officials. The United States Attorneys Office at the Central District of California says that Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi, will be sentenced on Febru... The United States Attorneys Office at the Central District of California says that Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi, will be sentenced on February 14, 2022. The courts Director of Media Relations, Thom Mrozek, said Hushpuppi has been scheduled for sentencing on Valentines Day, according to BBC Pidgin. In a plea agreement document sighted, Hushpuppi had pleaded guilty to various offences bordering on internet scam and money laundering, among others. The document was signed by Hushpuppi; his lawyer, Loius Shapiro; Acting United States Attorney, Tracy Wilkison, amongst others. It stated that Hushpuppi risks 20 years imprisonment; a 3-year period of supervised release; a fine of $500,000 or twice the gross gain or gross loss resulting from the offence. Also, the court had ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to arrest the suspended Head of the Intelligence Response Team, DCP Abba Kyari, for his alleged role in a $1m scam allegedly perpetrated by Hushpuppi and five others. However, in December 2021, Mrozek declined comments on the warrant of arrest the court issued months earlier that the FBI should apprehend Kyari and other defendants in the case. Mrozek, in an earlier email interview with newsmen on December 13, 2021, had said the sentencing of Hushpuppi was still pending. The Dubai Police in the United Arab Emirates had in June 2020 arrested Hushpuppi and his gang. They were later extradited to the US for prosecution by the FBI. The FBI Special Agent, Andrew Innocenti, had alleged that Hushpuppi contracted the services of Kyari after a co-conspirator, Chibuzo Vincent, allegedly threatened to expose the alleged $1.1m fraud committed against a Qatari businessman. Innocenti, who said he obtained voice calls and WhatsApp conversations between Kyari and Hushpuppi, had also alleged that the latter paid the police officer N8m or $20,600 for the arrest and detention of Vincent. Kyari had taken to Facebook on July 29, 2021 to deny the allegations, but he later deleted the post after editing it about 12 times. The IG had recommended the suspension of Kyari, which the PSC carried out on July 31, 2021. The police boss had on August 2, 2021, constituted the Special Investigation Panel headed by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department, Joseph Egbunike, to probe the allegations. Egbunike on August 26, 2021 submitted the panels report, which he said is an outcome of a painstaking, transparent and exhaustive investigative process. He revealed that the report contained the case file of the probe, evidence and findings as well as testimonies from Kyari and other persons and groups linked to the matter. The Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, had on September 14, 2021, during a television interview said the findings and recommendations on Kyari had been submitted to the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), for legal opinion and thereafter for presentation to the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), adding that the final decision would be taken by the PSC. But months later, the PSC spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani, told newsmen that the commission had not received any disciplinary recommendations from the IG through the Force Disciplinary Committee almost four months after the Egbunike panel submitted its report to the police boss. The recommendations of the FDC will inform the commissions decision and also determine Kyaris future in the force, but the matter is now inconclusive. No. The money should go to something that would benefit all citizens of the county, not just Watertown. Yes. The community would benefit from the indoor pools the project would provide. Vote View Results If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit For Alexander Botsay, the American dream came in a cigar box. A lot of cigar boxes, actually. And although Botsay hasnt been able to make his trademark boxes in well over 100 years having been relegated to another kind of box upon his death in 1913 his old factory at 516 Gov. Nicholls St., and the century-old ghost sign painted on its side, offer a whispered testament to his contributions to the New Orleans economy of the late 19th century. The ghost sign at 516 Gov. Nicholls is one of a number of similar former advertising signs painted on various buildings in the French Quarter and Warehouse District. Like most of them, its faded and only partly legible after being painted over multiple times to advertise various products. The word whiskey jumps out. Maybe the word delicious, too (which, incidentally, is the best kind of whiskey). There are other words, too faint to read. But above them all, just beneath a half-moon window at the peak of the roofline of the three-story brick building is an unmistakable name: A. Botsay. This building, which consists of three similarly designed row houses, was constructed around 1836 on a plot of land with a backstory dating to 1726, just eight years after the founding of New Orleans. Back then, the block today bounded by Gov. Nicholls Street, Decatur Street, Chartres Street and Ursulines Avenue was part of a grant by French King Louis XV to the Ursuline Nuns to entice them to establish a hospital and school in the fledgling colony. Back then, however, they werent Gov. Nicholls, Decatur, Chartres and Ursulines. Rather, they were respectively Arsenal, Levee, St. Phillip and Conde. Arsenal, which had been uncreatively but pragmatically named after the munitions stronghold located along it, would first be renamed Hospital, a nod to the nuns work and yet another display of uncreative pragmatism. It wouldnt be until 1909 that it was again renamed to honor Francis T. Nicholls, one of the states former chief executives as well as a Confederate brigadier general. Meanwhile, poor St. Phillip lost his namesake thoroughfare to the new nuns in the neighborhood. At any rate, after rebuilding the original convent, the Ursulines in 1838 sold the property on which present-day 516 Gov. Nicholls sits part of the enclosure of the old convent to the Gurlie family, which set about building those postcard-ready rowhouses. Designed by architect and builder Claude Gurlie, they fit in nicely with their French Quarter neighbors. All three units feature twin first-floor French doors, along with a carriageway on one side leading to a rear courtyard, off of which service buildings and servants quarters would have been located. The second and third floors are highlighted by shuttered French doors and lacy cast-iron balconies. On top: a line of simple dentil work giving way to a peaked, dormered roofline. Although there have apparently been slight alterations over the years, 516 Gov. Nicholls appears today much as it would have in 1856 when Botsay arrived in New Orleans from his native Hungary. There, he had been busy as an insurgent in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. After that uprising failed, Botsay vamoosed to New Orleans, where he married a German woman Margaret Haas and, by 1860, had gone into business for himself. His choice of vocations is evidenced by the words appearing just below his name on that ghost sign: Cigar Box Factory. His timing wasnt great. The year after he founded his business, the Civil War broke out and, soon after, the city was occupied by federal troops. But Botsay was unswayed. During the Civil War, when the Northern blockade cut off the citys supplies, Mr. Botsay bought up old cigar boxes and reworked them in order to supply his trade, read an obituary for Botsay published in The Daily Picayune in December 1913. During the war, he received as much as 50 cent each for these small cigar boxes. Thats the equivalent of about $15 today. He remained in the business until three years ago, the 1913 Picayune article went on to say. For the past 10 months he has been ill. His condition was impaired last July through grief over the death of his wife. Just before Christmas 1913, at the age of 86, he died in the building in which he lived and worked, at 516 Gov. Nicholls St. the same place wife Margaret had died five months earlier. They left behind seven children, which explains why the Botsay name lives on in New Orleans today that, and the ghost sign at 516 Gov. Nicholls, which is today an apartment building. Sources: The Times-Picayune archive; Historic New Orleans Collections Collins C. Diboll Vieux Carre Digital Survey; Frenchmen, Desire, Good Children: . and Other Streets of New Orleans, by John Chase Thanks to reader Judy Rowley for suggesting todays topic. Know of a New Orleans building worth profiling in this column, or just curious about one? Contact Mike Scott at moviegoermike@gmail.com. The fervently awaited New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2022 will probably be a cultural catharsis after a two-year festival drought, caused by the coronavirus pandemic and punctuated by a hurricane. In that spirit, the fest's 2022 souvenir print, titled "We Are Music," is a glowingly colored, high-spirited portrait of superstar native son Jon Batiste, looking like an electric-blue Pied Piper, leading a musical march through a New Orleans neighborhood. On one hand, you might wish the 2022 festival poster somehow nodded to the struggles of the ongoing COVID era and other hardships that fans have endured since the last time we all gathered at the Fair Grounds. Maybe somewhere in the scene, someone could have been wearing a virus-suppressing mask, and maybe there could have been a blue tarp atop a roof, just to memorialize the comeback moment for future generations. On the other hand, you might say, who the heck wants to be reminded of the past two dreary years? You might want to say, Forget it! Lets hit the streets again, and send some long-overdue drumming, piano and tuba sounds echoing through the architecture. Thats the road that New Orleans artist Terrance Osborne took. I think the poster symbolizes that were moving out of those tragic times, Osborne said in a telephone conversation Wednesday. If anything, it symbolizes us getting back to normal. Osborne said that when he first got an inkling that Jazz Fest poster producer Bud Brimberg wanted him to design the 2022 poster, things werent normal at all. He was in Houston with his family, having evacuated during Hurricane Ida. Brimberg simply sent him Batistes popular Freedom video that depicts an energetic, upbeat dance through the streets of New Orleans. Immediately, Osborne said, he understood how his buoyant painting style seemed perfectly compatible with the joyous spirit and choreography of the video. Batiste, who grew up in Kenner, came by his musical talent naturally, having descended from one of the great musical families of the region. He honed his skills at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and the Juilliard School in New York. His two-decade career of international performances, recordings and scores for movies and television cemented his reputation as a brilliant musician, and his role as band leader on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" made him a pop star. As Osborne got to work, sketching Batiste in a neighborhood scene, poster producer Brimberg suggested some subtle changes, including making the musicians keyboard more conspicuous. Doing so had the unexpected consequence of making both of Batistes hands visible. That allowed Osborne to call attention to Batistes showmanship by elevating one of the musicians hands in a finger snapping gesture, while emphasizing his virtuosity by keeping his other hand on the ivories. Osborne said hes never met Batiste, but the two talented men spoke by telephone about the poster design. Mostly, Osborne said, Batiste suggested several details, in the interest of biographical authenticity. He proposed that Osborne include the image of a child drumming on five-gallon bucket Batiste joined his familys band as a percussionist at age 8. Naturally he recommended the inclusion of a band member from his alma mater, St. Augustine High School. And he hoped that Osborne could find room for his lucky number, 11, which refers to his birthday on Nov. 11, and his 11 Grammy awards nominations. To find the magic number, search for a house address. Batiste may be front and center on the 2022 Jazz Fest poster, but he wont be at the 2022 Jazz Fest. The trouble is an apparently insurmountable scheduling conflict. Batistes newly commissioned American Symphony" is slated to premiere at someplace called Carnegie Hall on May 7 the second Saturday of Jazz Fest. Osbornes portrait of Batiste is his sixth poster for Jazz Fest. In 2007, he painted a portrait of the Rebirth Brass Bands tuba player, Phil Frazier, for the Congo Square souvenir poster. He painted another Batiste, the beloved percussionist Uncle Lionel Batiste, in 2010. In 2012, Osborne became the creator of the official Jazz Fest poster with his portrait of Troy Trombone Shorty Andrews, followed by his rendering of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in 2014 and Fats Domino in 2018. The 2022 poster is available online starting at $89 at art4now.com or at the festival, which takes place from April 29 to May 8. Preservation Hall, the venerable traditional New Orleans jazz venue on St. Peter Street in the French Quarter, and clarinetist Doreen Ketchens will be featured in a "CBS Sunday Morning" segment scheduled to air Sunday, Jan. 30, at 8 a.m. The segment was taped in December, when veteran newsman Ted Koppel visited the hall and took in a Ketchens performance with her family band on Royal Street. At Preservation Hall, Koppel interviewed Ben Jaffe, the hall's creative director and sousaophonist in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, as well as the band's 89-year-old saxophonist, Charlie Gabriel. Gabriel will release his debut album under his name, "89," via Sub Pop Records on Feb. 25. The musicians and Koppel, according to a press release, discuss "how the enduring spirit of New Orleans Jazz musicians keep on going through good times and difficult ones." The segment will give viewers a taste of the hall and its music, as Gabriel, Jaffe, Walter Harris, Branden Lewis, and Joshua Starkman perform together for the cameras. The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate may intervene in a federal civil rights lawsuit, under seal for three years, against the Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, a federal magistrate judge ruled Wednesday. A Newman graduate filed the lawsuit against her alma mater and one of her classmates in 2018, the same year that the classmate pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery. Nearly all of the lawsuits contents have been under seal since its filing, though public court filings say the plaintiff alleges negligence and allegations under federal Title IX laws, which prohibit institutions from discriminating based on gender. This newspaper sought to intervene in the lawsuit in late December, asserting "the publics right of access to some or all of the pleadings." +2 Isidore Newman School is the subject of a sealed lawsuit after grads sexual assault claims A former Newman student is pursuing a civil rights lawsuit against the prestigious private school in Uptown New Orleans over a crime in which In a closed hearing Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael North granted the newspapers petition for intervention and said it may report on the development, according to the newspapers attorney, Scott Sternberg. North will let Sternberg review the court record to determine which documents the newspaper seeks to unseal. Newspaper staff are still barred from reviewing the case file. 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 nature of this case is extremely unique because the entire record is sealed, Sternberg said after the court hearing. "By allowing Capital City Press to intervene and review the docket, we can ensure the public's right to know is properly protected." The Newman graduate who is the plaintiff in the case told police in 2017 that a male classmate had digitally penetrated her, fondled her and kissed her without her consent while a group of students were hanging out off campus. He later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor sexual battery in Municipal Court and received a suspended jail sentence of 180 days and inactive probation for a year. +2 The Times-Picayune seeks to unseal federal Title IX lawsuit against Isidore Newman School The Times-Picayune and The Advocate filed a motion Friday in federal court to intervene in a court case involving a graduate of the Isidore Ne The female student initially filed the lawsuit in Orleans Civil District Court before it was removed to U.S. District Court. A loud boom heard across New Orleans late Tuesday was not caused by a meteor, a NASA official says. The mysterious noise was heard at about 11:15 p.m., and some residents said it shook their houses. Bill Cook, a meteor specialist at NASA, said Wednesday the noise did not appear to be caused by a fireball or meteor: "I see nothing substantial over that area last night." Cook leads NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The office administers a Facebook page called NASA Meteor Watch that tracks fireballs across the United States. Earlier this month, a loud boom was heard in part of Pennsylvania, and NASA said it was caused by a meteor exploding in the atmosphere, according to CNN. That appears not to be the case in New Orleans. So what was the cause of Tuesday night's noise: explosion on the ground? sonic boom? earthquake? wild weather? Read on to learn what officials are saying. Sound recorded Nate Laffan's security camera recorded the noise. Here's what it sounded like in the Holy Cross area. Can't see the video? Watch it here. First responders investigate Several 911 calls were received about a "large boom/noise," but first responders could not confirm what caused it, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department said. It remained under investigation. New Orleans Fire Department told the same thing to WWL-TV. 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 Shaken houses The noise was heard across metro New Orleans: Algiers Point, Arabi, Terrytown, Gentilly, Central City, Bywater, Irish Channel, Holy Cross, the lakefront. Some residents said it shook their houses. Tim Erickson, a meteorologist who worked the overnight shift at the National Weather Service office in Slidell, said the agency had no reports of anything happening weather-wise that could make a loud noise like that. "We've got nothing here," he said. Sonic boom? Could it have been a sonic boom from a jet, as social media users speculated? Not from aircraft using Naval Air Station Joint Station Reserve Base New Orleans in Belle Chasse, said Micah Blechner, a mass communication specialist for the base. It had planes in the air earlier in the day, but all had landed by 7:30 p.m. and none was in the air at 11:15 p.m., he said. Could it have been a jet from somewhere else? Maybe, but Erickson at the National Weather Service said those maneuvers are done deep over the Gulf of Mexico and usually can't be heard on shore. Earthquake? Nope. The U.S. Geological Survey, which monitors earthquake data as part of the U.S. Department of the Interior, had no reports of earthquakes near New Orleans late Tuesday. Its online map, which shows quakes of 2.5 magnitude or greater, had the closest one in west Texas near the New Mexico border. Do you have a tip about what it could be? Did you see anything in the sky? Record anything on your security cameras? Email online@theadvocate.com. Fort Polk, LA (71446) Today Sun and clouds mixed. High 88F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low around 70F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Someone shot at New Orleans police then refused to come out of a house near Lakefront Airport, authorities said Wednesday afternoon. Update: Man arrested after long standoff with police, SWAT The house is in the 7700 block of Alabama Street (map). An ambulance took a woman from the scene for treatment of injuries not related to gunfire, police said. Her age and condition were not immediately available. No officers were injured by gunfire, police said. The police SWAT team was sent to the block, and officials asked the public to avoid the area. I've never seen such a police presence in New Orleans East. I've lived here 35 years, said a neighbor who would not give her name. The standoff began around noon when police arrived at the house to investigate a dispute between a woman and her 44-year-old son, both of whom live there. The man fired several shots at the officers, police spokesperson Reese Harper 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 The officers retreated and called for backup. Police negotiators arrived and were preparing at 3 p.m. to make contact with the man inside the house, Harper said. Emergency Medical Services took the man's mother to a hospital. Roads closed These intersections were closed due to the police activity: Downman Road at Morrison Road Downman Road at Hayne Boulevard West Laverne Street at Wales Street. (Update: The roads reopened around midnight Wednesday when the man was arrested. Read more.) Editor's note: The man's age has been updated, based on online jail records. A neighborhood quarrel that began with complaints about barking dogs could result in a new Louisiana law limiting the authority of homeowner associations, if state Rep. Paul Hollis has his way. House Bill 9, which the Mandeville Republican filed for the March 14 regular session of the Legislature, targets residential planned community documents and would nullify any provision that restricts the constitutional rights of a lot owner. Hollis said he's concerned with rules that could prevent someone from protecting themselves and their property. St. Tammany Parish has more than 200 subdivisions managed by homeowner associations, and there are thousands across the state, Hollis said, but they are subject to little oversight. The lawmaker said he drafted the bill after his own run-in with the homeowner association in the subdivision where he lives. Hollis put up an 8-foot fence to block a neighbor's surveillance camera, after a dispute over the neighbor's dogs. The association did nothing when he complained about the barking, he said, but immediately cited him for building a fence taller than 6 feet. He faced $25-a-day fines and a threatened lien on his property. He said his situation isn't unique. +2 Louisiana politician recall would be easier under Rep. Paul Hollis' proposal BATON ROUGE -- After witnessing a "charged public" fall short in its effort to kick St. Tammany Parish Coroner Peter Galvan out of office, sta "The horror stories are typically selective enforcement on what is covered in the covenants and tenants, restrictions and so forth, but even worse, which family/owner complaints will be ignored and which ones will be enforced," Hollis said. "It becomes a scenario of the HOA and their management firms choosing who they think are worthy and not worthy of their efforts and enforcement." Hollis said he's also considering putting forward a companion bill to let homeowners to opt out of existing homeowner associations. But while Hollis said that he's gotten mostly positive feedback, not everyone agrees he's on the right track. State Rep. Paul Hollis frustrated, raises stink over raw sewage in Mandeville area State Rep. Paul Hollis says that raw sewage frequently inundates the yard of his Mandeville-area home, with 13 documented incidents in the las St. Tammany top stories in your inbox A weekly guide to the biggest news in St. Tammany. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up President Robert Phillips of GNO Property Management, a New Orleans-based company that manages homeowner associations, said managed developments are proliferating because people are attracted by gates and rules that they see as a way to protect their investment. "People who buy into HOAs and condos do it with the idea they arent going to have someone with a trailer next door or broken-down cars in the front yard," Phillips said. If they didn't want restrictions, he said, "They'd go to Folsom and buy five acres. They do it to protect their investment and have a neighborhood feel." Since he launched his business in the New Orleans area in 2007, Phillips said the number of such subdivisions has doubled, and that they've exploded on the north shore in particular, where his company manages 62 of them. "The majority of the people appreciate the work we do," he said. "The ones who don't appreciate it are the ones who get letters." But Hollis said there's a problem when one resident is held to account and another isn't. He said he turned to parish government with the noise problem, and his neighbor was ultimately fined $3,200 in administrative court. Since then, the neighbor sent Hollis a photo taken by his surveillance camera, Hollis said. The neighbor has also posted social media taunts that have included statements such as, "The movie is ready, and you are the star." Kris Franklin, Hollis' neighbor, said his dogs don't bark excessively and that Hollis provoked them by ruffling the bushes so he could get video of them barking to use in the court case. Franklin said the case cost him about $10,000 because he hired an attorney. Hollis called animal control and the parish government, Franklin said, describing the legislator's' actions as using "big government" against him. Hollis also wrote letters to the homeowner association, which Franklin described as trying to "weaponize" it. Franklin, who described himself as a health care worker and single father, said the public arena is his only recourse. "Now he's trying to pass a law to negate the HOA because he won't follow the rules," Franklin said. Hollis said he that while some rules make sense, no homeowner association or government entity should "get in the way of property owners protecting what they own, and more importantly, their families." 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. The Oklahoma House has given final approval to a Texas-style abortion ban that prohibits abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy. The bill passed Thursday by the GOP-led House now heads to Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt. He's expected to sign it within days. The bill was immediately challenged in court by abortion rights advocates. The measure prohibits abortions once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo. Experts say thats typically about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. Like Texas, the bill allows private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion for up to $10,000. The U.S. Supreme Court allowed a similar law in Texas to stand. Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters. Harrisburg, Pa. A ballooning corporate tax break in Pennsylvania worth an estimated $280 million annually operates with little accountability and lacks even the most basic data to determine if its actually effective. The failures are not the result of poor oversight but rather an explicit effort by lawmakers to limit the information that is collected about the tax credit program, which funds scholarships for students at private and parochial schools. Among the 19 states that run similar programs, Pennsylvania is an outlier, according to a new report by an independent fiscal watchdog. Even though Pennsylvania has one of the largest tax credits, it collects the least amount of data on the programs outcomes. That basic flaw hasnt deterred Republican lawmakers who control the state legislature from increasing the tax credits while resisting attempts to bring more transparency to the program. Over the last two decades, the program has grown to more than nine times its original size, including a $40 million boost in last years budget the biggest increase in its history. Supporters say the program offers a lifeline to low-income students trapped in failing public schools. In the 2019-20 fiscal year, approximately 68,400 students received scholarships funded by businesses looking to save money on their state taxes. But, under Pennsylvania law, the agency that oversees the program is unable to track whether the scholarship actually allows students to switch from public to private school, how they fare academically, how much tuition the scholarship covers, or their household incomes. The Independent Fiscal Office known for its sober analyses of economic and budgetary issues said the legislature should change state law to collect that information. Without it, a meaningful and thorough evaluation of the program is impossible, the report concluded. The analysis represents a scrupulously neutral assessment of a program that has been the subject of bitter partisan rancor. But its unclear if it will sway Republican leaders in the state legislature. A spokesperson for House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R., Centre) did not respond to a request for comment about the fiscal offices findings. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) was not able to provide a response before publication. State Sen. Pat Browne (R., Lehigh), the longtime chair of the chambers Appropriations Committee, said he would support collecting more information on the programs outcomes in particular, on how many students use the scholarships to switch from public to private schools. Its something we really need to consider building a data set for, Browne said. Asked why previous efforts to do so had failed, he said: Weve never had a very thorough conversation about it before. The lack of transparency has been controversial ever since the tax credit became law in 2001. A year later, Senate Democrats introduced a bill that would have required the state to track how many students were already attending private schools before receiving scholarships, among other data points. The bill did not receive a committee vote, the next step in the legislative process. More recent efforts havent been successful either. In 2021, Democratic lawmakers introduced two bills with similar aims. So far, neither has come up for a committee vote. State Sen. Tim Kearney (D., Delaware), who sponsored one of the bills, said the program almost seems like its deliberately designed to be a black box to literally not tell anyone where this stuff is going. In a statement, a spokesperson for Gov. Tom Wolf said the administration supports the fiscal offices recommendations and anticipates that Democrats will introduce new legislation to require more transparency from the program after Wolfs budget address, scheduled for Feb. 8. The $280 million program consists of four separate parts, including $175 million in tax credits for businesses that donate to nonprofit organizations that, in turn, give private or parochial school scholarships to K-12 students. A family of four with an annual household income of $130,710 would qualify for that scholarship, making it one of the least targeted to students from poor families. Among the 14 states whose programs have an income cutoff for families to qualify for scholarships, Pennsylvanias is the highest, the fiscal office found. A separate, smaller tax credit, created in 2012, is reserved for students living in the boundaries of schools ranked in the bottom 15% statewide for test scores by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The program is capped at $55 million per year, an amount of funding that the legislature has increased at a much slower rate than the larger, less targeted scholarship program. More than three-quarters of the scholarship funds went to low-income recipients in the 2019-20 fiscal year, the report found. The scholarships max out at $8,500 per year for many students, whereas the larger program has no limit. The fiscal office recommended removing that cap, since the children who qualify for the smaller program have most need of alternative school choices. An additional $12.5 million in tax credits pays for pre-K scholarships, while $37.5 million in tax savings goes to businesses that donate to organizations that provide innovative educational programs in public, private, or charter schools. Shortly before the IFO released its report, the Senate Education Committee voted along party lines to advance a bill that would dramatically expand all four aspects of the program, automatically increasing the number of tax credits available each year by 25% so long as at least 90% were claimed in the previous fiscal year. Nearly half of scholarship applicants are turned away each year because of the cap on the tax credits, State Sen. Mike Regan (R., York), the bills sponsor, wrote in a legislative memo. Demand from businesses eligible to receive the tax breaks and students seeking scholarships does outstrip supply, according to the fiscal offices review. In fiscal year 2019-20, for instance, K-12 scholarship organizations received more than 76,000 applications but gave out fewer than 41,000 scholarships. Still, the report cautions, not all students were denied because of a lack of funds some families likely submitted multiple applications or didnt qualify and that its not clear how many students who didnt receive scholarships attended private schools anyway. Regan said at a committee hearing last week that increasing the tax credits would lift children out of poverty. When we force kids to remain in a designated school simply because of their zip code, we are doing them a complete and utter disservice, he said. We would not allow these same children to remain in an abusive home where their basic needs are not being met. Why then do we turn a blind eye to such treatment by failing schools? A spokesperson for Regan did not respond to interview requests from Spotlight PA; nor did committee chair, State Sen. Scott Martin (R., Lancaster). Wolf vetoed a similar bill in 2019, saying the program lacked accountability and oversight, but that years state budget still included a compromise $30 million increase. Even in states that do collect more data on tax-credit scholarship programs, the evidence on how much they help low-income students academically is inconclusive, the IFO report found. Some supporters say the programs success does not hinge on how many students switch from low-performing public schools to private or parochial ones. Its not necessarily to get students out of public school its to help provide for the education of children, said Nathan Benefield, senior vice president at the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank that has pushed for increases to the program. Even if data did exist that showed most students receiving scholarships were already enrolled in private schools beforehand, that would not be a shortcoming, he said. The best measure of accountability is: What do parents want? WHILE YOURE HERE ... If you learned something from this story, pay it forward and become a member of Spotlight PA so someone else can in the future at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundationsand readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results. 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. HealthDay News -- The distribution of free N95 masks for Americans has begun, the Biden administration said Monday. "Last week, masks began shipping and arriving at pharmacies and grocers around [the] country. We expect that throughout the week the number of stores and N95s arriving [will] scale up significantly," an administration official told CNN. Masks already are set up for distribution at some Hy-Vee and Meijer grocery stores in the Midwest, with more coming at Southeastern Grocers stores later this week, CNN reported. The administration announced last week that the program to distribute 400 million free masks to pharmacies and community health centers is expected to be in full swing by early February. The masks are accompanied by flyers in both English and Spanish from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "Mask up and maximize your protection," to "help slow the spread of COVID by protecting yourself and those around you," the flyer states. Every person can have up to three free masks that include a QR code with instructions on proper use of the masks, as well as a link on mask usage from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The free masks -- from the Strategic National Stockpile -- will also start arriving at about 100 to 200 community health centers in the initial phase, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. By mid-February, the agency anticipates that the masks will be available to all health centers, Amy Simmons Farber, a spokesperson for the National Association of Community Health Centers, told CNN. CNN Article 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. HealthDay News -- Although they report difficulty breathing and discomfort while wearing a face mask, most people with asthma still use them in public places during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study finds. University of Illinois Chicago researchers conducted an online survey of more than 500 adults with asthma. They found that 84% reported discomfort and 75% reported trouble breathing or shortness of breath at least occasionally while wearing a face mask to guard against COVID-19. Still, "the majority of those surveyed said about masks, 'Just wear it,'" study co-author Dr. Sharmilee Nyenhuis said in a university news release. Nyenhuis is an associate professor in the College of Medicine. Poorer asthma control and wearing a mask for longer periods of time were associated with more symptoms while wearing a mask, according to the study. The findings were published in the January issue of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. As well as answering survey questions, participants were asked open-ended questions about their experiences wearing masks and their recommendations for other people with asthma. In that part of the study, 45% of participants said they had problems breathing and increased coughing when wearing a mask; 39% said they had no change in their asthma when wearing a mask, and 2% said their asthma symptoms improved when wearing a mask, likely because the mask filtered out pollen and pollutants that trigger respiratory distress, according to the researchers. About 5% of the participants said they don't always wear a mask. The study participants offered suggestions about mask-wearing for others with asthma. They included: Take the time to find a comfortable, well-fitting mask. Keep your inhaler with you. Stay on top of your asthma medications. Make sure your mask is at room temperature if cold triggers your asthma. Take mask breaks. "Taking a mask break is important. It allows for opportunities to take large, deep breaths and do some breathing techniques," said Nyenhuis, who suggested that employers consider making accommodations for those with asthma to take safe mask breaks. There is no reason a person with asthma should not wear a mask, but those who have concerns about wearing a mask should talk with their doctor, Nyenhuis said. More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19 and asthma. SOURCE: University of Illinois Chicago, news release, Jan. 20, 2022 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. Submitted January 26, 2022 The omicron variant and its siblings (BA.2 and BA.3) are doing their thing, evading both natural and especially vaccine-induced immunity, resulting in asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic reinfection in the naturally immune, no matter how far out from primary infection (and even if subsequently vaccinated), and the same in the only vaccinated (i.e., no prior infection) with at least two doses of a vaccine, and no more than three months from the last dose, in whom these breakthrough infections are, most importantly, conferring a measure of broader, stronger, more durable immunity going forward. This all sounds good, doesn't it? The only element of our population at significant risk during this omicron surge are the vulnerable who have not had primary infection and are not vaccinated or are under-vaccinated - and even the majority of those will probably do well, given the lesser virulence of the omicron variant. Nonetheless, the vulnerable need to stay up-to-date with their vaccines. Because everyone is going to run into the omicron family...like it or not. So, this begs the question, "Why are we panicking and trying so hard to prevent it?" And that's where the old paradigm for battling Covid-19 comes into play. What we continue to hear...still, after so much evidence to the contrary has come to light...is that the ONLY way out is vaccination and boosting with vaccines that are ineffective regarding reinfection and spread; that natural immunity is so irrelevant that it is not even mentioned; and that every American simply has to be protected from the omicron variant, to the extent that we now have to take draconian measures never before required in the pandemic, like N95 masks for all. NONE of that makes any sense anymore at this stage of our fight. Although the only authorized vaccines in our country have been essential early on, and saved many lives, they have outlived their purpose, for they have not provided broad and durable immunity. The only valid reason for ongoing use of the mRNA and viral-vector vaccines in our country, at this stage of the pandemic, is to temporarily protect the vulnerable from severe disease and death until better vaccines (like the inactivated whole virus vaccine Covaxin, which has been stuck at the FDA for 3 months now) are authorized. The WHO says as much. And the repeated stimulation of the human immune system with these "robust" mRNA boosters is not benign. We have recently highlighted the science demonstrating just how ineffective the Pfizer mRNA vaccine is against the delta and now omicron variants. I will provide the links again; the first is the MMWR report regarding delta studies in New York and California... cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7104e1.htm The second regards the omicron variant in Hong Kong... nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01704-7_reference.pdf These studies, although not emphasized, both demonstrated the strength of natural immunity against both variants. And, we've written ad nauseum about how children are so well protected against significant disease and mortality from SARS-CoV-2 infection, even before omicron. To me, this aspect of the pandemic has been the most intriguing, for that is not typical of pandemics. Yet, just this past weekend, on ABC's "This Week," Dr. Fauci said not ONE WORD about the role of natural immunity, which is flat out mind-boggling. It's as if he thinks that if he and Dr. Walensky never mention it, people will forget about it, even though it is the main player in controlling the pandemic going forward. You know, as pitiful as these vaccines have turned out to be, they'd look a lot worse if it wasn't for the fact that a significant portion of the vaccinated also have natural immunity. But here's what he had to say... "The more people we get vaccinated; the more people we get boosted," the better off we'll be. And regarding the kids... "You surround the children with people who are vaccinated. For the children who are eligible to be vaccinated, get them vaccinated. nd provide in the schools masks where you can have children protected." And regarding the boosters...Dr. Fauci "hopes" they will provide long-term protection via T cell and memory B cells. Hmm...he's got a lot more faith than I do in these vaccines, which have never been shown to provide durable immunity. But we do KNOW, from the numerous studies we have presented in these writings, that natural immunity DOES provide this sort of immunity, even up to 17 years out, based on the SARS-CoV-1 survivor studies. The T cell and memory B cell stimulation by natural infection, and (hopefully) vaccines based on the natural infection model, is superb, and will serve us well against future variants, if they were to arise. Again, I'm not suggesting that we have "Covid Parties" and purposely try to get our children exposed to omicron...we don't have to. They're going to encounter it anyway; I just want us to stop playing the silly masking/distancing games, and blocking the development of natural immunity with novel, ineffective vaccines in our healthy kids. And I want one more thing, also. I want our CDC to RECOGNIZE the importance of natural immunity in our unvaccinated but still immune nurses and doctors and ancillary healthcare staff, many of which will be out of a job today, simply because of the arrogance and conceit of a powerful few. If the CDC would simply acknowledge that positive serology in the naturally immune does equate with immunity, as it does with EVERY OTHER DISEASE, health care facilities, all of which are desperately short-staffed, would provide medical exemptions from the CMS mandate, and many jobs and careers would be saved, and with no increased risk to patients. There is absolutely no scientific reason to not do this. You know, I don't think it's too late to rectify things, but I do think it will require changes in leadership. We're actually at a good place right now in the pandemic; we just need to embrace the truth. I pray we do soon; our healthcare system is at stake. -- Dr. DeMay is a local pediatrician who writes extensively on the Covid-19 pandemic and our national approach to it, suggesting that we have not been appropriately nuanced regarding the vastly different risk/benefit analysis in children versus vulnerable adults, and have not recognized the importance of natural immunity to SARS-CoV-2. He does not believe this is a "one-size-fits-all" pandemic. His views can be found on Facebook at "Musings of a Christian Physician." -- The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this letter to the editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints of NorthcentralPa.com. 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. Stop us if you have heard this before, but Amity is the new No. 1 team in the GameTimeCT Top 10 Baseball Poll. The Spartans claim the top spot after previous No. 1 Warde dropped a 2-1 decision to... Local featured Bill to boost state employee retirement benefits backed by Kemp Georgia Senate video archives Sen. Chuck Hufstetler (right) explains improvements to the state employee retirement system in SB 343 to the Senate Retirement Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022, as committee chair Sen. Randy Robertson listens. A major update to the state retirement program is among the proposals Gov. Brian Kemp will present at a military roundtable in Warner Robins on Thursday. Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome, is carrying the legislation for Kemp and is slated to be among the local, state and federal leaders joining the governor and First Lady Marty Kemp. The morning roundtable will focus on proposals to support active and retired military service members. Senate Bill 343 will increase the 401(k) match for current employees and give long-excluded retirees cost-of-living adjustments as early as July 1. The pensions have not been updated since 2009, during the big recession, when they were changed drastically, Hufstetler said. Georgia is in a much better shape now to come back and improve things for our employees. He presented the bill to the Senate Retirement Committee on Wednesday and they are expected to vote it out at their meeting next week. Weve got a ways to go, but I think weve got the machine moving now, said committee chair Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, noting that state employees are often underappreciated but are essential to the public welfare. A major component of the legislation will raise the state match to up to 5% for employees 401K plans. Its currently capped at 3%. There also will be a bonus contribution for longevity after five years, increasing incrementally to as much as 9% of an employees pay. The hope is that the change will help with recruitment and retention, Hufstetler said. About 80% of the members are already contributing 5% of their pay, according to Jim Potvin, executive director of the Employees Retirement System of Georgia. The bill also will remove the ban on post-retirement COLAs for state employees hired on or after July 1, 2009. Jim Sommerville, president of Georgia State Retirees Association, told the committee that the median pension payout is about $22,000 a year. Theyve gone since 2009 without a pay raise, Sommerville said, while the cost of essentials such as food and medicine has continued to rise. Kemps budget proposal contains money to prefund COLAs, which Potvin said will allow his board to start providing them. He said they plan to use a model that will react to current economic conditions rather than use a flat rate. The measure also would prefund employee leave, which they often save up to collect on retirement. Hufstetler said thats been a strain on departments to have a large chunk of money pulled out of their budgets. Were going to have to put some money in there, but it will save us money in the long run because were going to make some investment money off that, Hufstetler said. Huawei has revealed the P50 Pocket and P50 Pocket Premium Edition in Europe. The foldable flip phone starts at 1,299, 250 more than the entry-level Galaxy Z Flip3. Both P50 Pocket models have Snapdragon 888 4G SoCs, 120 Hz main displays and run EMUI 12 out of the box. 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 Huawei has unveiled the P50 Pocket outside China, having launched the smartphone last month in its home market. The P50 Pocket is the company's first foldable smartphone since the Mate X2, and its inaugural foldable flip phone. Huawei continues to market the P50 Pocket as two models, a regular edition and a 'Premium Edition'. However, the latter only has more memory than the former and comes in a different colour. As expected, Huawei has brought its Premium Gold and White colourways to global audiences, with the black version left in China. To recap, the P50 Pocket has a 6.9-inch OLED display when unfolded and a 1.04-inch secondary display. The 120 Hz main display sits within a 170 x 75.5 x 7.2 mm chassis and is intersected by a 10.8 MP front-facing camera. The P50 Pocket has a Snapdragon 888 4G SoC too, along with a 40 MP primary camera, a 13 MP ultra-wide and a 32 MP telephoto camera. Additionally, the P50 Pocket has a 4,000 mAh battery and supports 40 W fast charging. Huawei has omitted wireless charging support, for some reason, but it has integrated a fingerprint scanner within the device's power button. Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian (R) touches elbows with Tanzanian Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu during a handover ceremony of COVID-19 vaccines at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Jan. 26, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua) DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The donation was handed over to the Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ummy Mwalimu, by the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Chen Mingjian, at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam. "We very much thank China for the timely donation that will help us to accelerate Tanzania's vaccination campaign against the pandemic," Mwalimu said shortly after she had received the vaccines. She said the 800,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses will be used to fully vaccinate 400,000 people, adding that the first batch of 500,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses which were donated by China in Nov. 2021 had been used to fully vaccinate 250,000 people. For her part, Chen said China has delivered the first batch of 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine donation to Tanzania on November 1, 2021 and another 1 million doses of China-donated Sinovac vaccines will be delivered soon. "We sincerely hope the Chinese vaccines can play an effective role in assisting the Tanzanian government to control the spread of the virus and protect the lives and health of Tanzanian people," said Chen. The Chinese envoy said as virus was still raging in the world, strong confidence and cooperation were needed to defeat the pandemic. Chen said that "we need to strengthen international cooperation, fully leverage vaccines as a powerful weapon, ensure their equitable distribution, quicken vaccination and close the immunization gap, so as to build multiple lines of defense against the virus and speed up efforts to build a global community of health for all." As the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly around the world, China is willing to make continuous contribution to Africa's fight against the pandemic, Chen said. Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian (L) and Tanzanian Minister of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Ummy Mwalimu attend a handover ceremony of COVID-19 vaccines at the Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Jan. 26, 2022. (Photo by Herman Emmanuel/Xinhua) Kevin George, left, of Dayton, works with Matt Knepper, a James Madison University accounting graduate student, to file his tax returns in February 2019. VALPARAISO A 90-year-old man was sentenced Monday to three years in prison and two years on probation for repeatedly molesting a young girl about two years ago, court records show. Harold Ellis, of Elwood, Illinois, was ordered to surrender himself to the Porter County Jail no later than 3 p.m. Jan. 27, according to Porter Superior Court records. Ellis pleaded guilty in November to child molesting, a level 4 felony. In exchange for his plea, the Porter County prosecutor's office agreed to a cap of five years on Ellis' possible prison sentence. Judge Michael Fish weighed aggravating and mitigating factors in sentencing Ellis. Fish found Ellis deserved a harsher sentence because of the girl was in Ellis' care and was just 6 and 7 years old when Ellis sexually abused her. The judge found Ellis deserved some leniency because he had no criminal history and was likely to respond well to short-term imprisonment or probation. Ellis will have to register as a sex offender for life, court records showed. He was never arrested when his charges were filed because of health complications, defense attorney Bob Harper previously said. The case came to light in July 2019 after a relative of Ellis' saw him molesting the girl, Portage police said. 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. HAMMOND Federal prosecutors are accusing a Crown Point man of defrauding the federal governments pandemic aid program of $150,000. The U.S. attorneys office is charging 34-year-old Victor R. Adebisi with wire fraud, a felony punishable by decades in prison. Adebisi appeared Tuesday before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Andrew P. Rodovich via a video teleconference link for an initial hearing. Adebisi requested the court appoint a defense attorney to represent him at public expense. The court released Adebisi on bond, pending a detention hearing Monday on whether he can remain on bond until trial. Prosecutors say Adebisi was born in Nigeria and moved to Crown Point in 2019. Prosecutors allege, in a complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court, that Adebisi used a phony name and other false information to apply for and receive a $150,000 federal loan. They claim he cheated the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program enacted by Congress following the 2020 outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The program grants loans to small businesses under economic lockdown so they dont have to lay off their employees. The complaint states Adebisi applied for such a loan July 8, 2020, for Nimiteck Auto and Transportation, which he said was headquartered at his home in the 1200 block of Center Ross Road, a residential neighborhood on the north side of Crown Point. Prosecutors allege Adebisi did so under the ficititious name Daniel Nimi. He claimed Nimiteck Auto and Transportation was established in 2016, but prosecutors said Indiana business records indicate he only incorporated his business three months before he applied for the loan. Prosecutors say Federal Bureau of Investigation agents tracked the fraudulent loan to Adebisi by viewing security camera video of his transactions at a Merrillville bank where he opened an account. Prosecutors said Adebisi used a fictitious passport from the West African country of Benin with Adebisi's photograph and the alias, Daniel Nimi. The FBI, in cooperation with the Bedford Park, Illinois, police, arrested Adebisi on Oct. 26 once the $150,000 loan was deposited in his bank account and he attempted to cash it a currency exchange in Dolton, Illinois. Love 0 Funny 1 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. Editor's note: This story has been corrected to specify that the alleged assault took place in the basement of the New Chicago police station. NEW CHICAGO A former New Chicago police officer has been arrested on charges he forced a woman to perform a sex act on him while on duty. Charges of rape, official misconduct, criminal confinement, obstruction of justice and sexual battery have been filed against William C. Mulcahy. Mulcahy is accused of forcing the woman to perform oral sex on him in the basement of the New Chicago Police Department in fall 2020, according to documents provided by the Lake County prosecutor's office. The woman told an Indiana State Police officer she first met Mulcahy in May 2019, when her fiance called the police during a dispute. She said she asked Mulcahy for a cigarette, which he gave her. Mulcahy also told her she was beautiful and asked her what she was doing with "this guy," referring to her fiance, according to the court filing. After the initial incident, Mulcahy allegedly called and texted the woman for several months. In September 2019, after crashing her car, she went to the New Chicago Police Station for assistance retrieving her belongings from the house she shared with her fiance. Mulcahy and another officer assisted her, and, according to court documents, Mulcahy rubbed himself against her, both outside the police station and at her house. Their next encounter, according to court documents, was after a Speedway gas station clerk thought the woman was stealing and called the New Chicago police. Mulcahy responded and took the woman to his police car, where he rubbed her shoulders, according to the charging document. The woman said between Sept. 1 and Oct. 3, 2020, Mulcahy asked her to come into the station to discuss her case. Mulcahy allegedly took the woman into the police station basement, blocked the door and forced her to perform oral sex. During the incident, Mulcahy allegedly told the woman he was "working on getting rid of" her fiance. He also told her, "This is between you and I, no one is going to believe you," according to the charging document. A few weeks after the alleged assault, Mulcahy came to the woman's house and told her he was in the process of "getting separated," court documents state. She told Indiana State Police she was arrested by New Chicago police April 4, 2021, and at that time told police personnel she was forced to perform oral sex on Mulcahy, according to the charging document. She was interviewed by state police April 12, 2021. Court documents also include the allegation that Mulcahy stole about $750 worth of evidence from the New Chicago Police Department between December 2018 and August 2020. The stolen evidence included drugs, money, a cellphone and a handgun, police said. Mulcahy had a 40-hour, pre-basic law enforcement certification while he worked for New Chicago, according to court documents. He initially had until March of 2020 to attend the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy to achieve full certification, but was given a one-year extension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Mulcahy was not an Indiana Law Enforcement Academy-trained officer, he "was considered a law enforcement officer by the Indiana Law Enforcement Training Board" at the time of the investigation, according to investigators. New Chicago Police Chief Bill Perry confirmed Mulcahy resigned from the department on Oct. 3, 2020. The woman said Mulcahy stopped contacting her after he left the department. 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. ST. JOHN Lake County Sheriff's Department officers arrested an 18-year-old St. John man for narcotics after a lengthy investigation. Police swooped in to serve a warrant at a house in the Tiburon subdivision at S. Cline Ave. and W. 93rd Avenue on Monday morning. "At approximately 9 a.m., police officers with the Lake County Sheriffs Department Tactical Team conducted a narcotics search warrant at 7910 W. 92nd Court in St. John, Indiana," Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said in a news release. "This was the culmination of a two-month investigation." Police arrested Griffin Spoljoric at the scene. "Confiscated at this residence were items typically used in the sale and/or distribution of narcotics," Martinez said. "This case remains under investigation. No further details will be released at this time." Love 0 Funny 4 Wow 1 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 Town Councilman Don Spann was apparently joking when he said, We hate cops, during a recent meeting, but there are many who arent laughing. Indiana Fraternal Order of Police President William Owensby was surrounded by officers during Tuesdays council meeting while reflecting on the comment Spann made on Jan. 11. He described the comment as rude, insulting, despicable and unprofessional. The comment was a slap in the face to the 13,000 men and women (who serve as police officers in Indiana), and when you make a comment to that degree it demands a public apology, Owensby said. Spann made the comment on Jan. 11 during a discussion about newly acquired police equipment. Councilman Leonard White at that time misunderstood the intent of license plate readers. During the meeting, White said they shouldnt be used as a form of harassment. After White made his comments, Spann said, We hate cops. He laughed and followed up by saying, Thats a joke. As that conversation ended, he also said, Sorry. Council President Rick Bella on Tuesday asked Spann if he wanted to make a comment about the matter, and Spann declined. All we were asking for was a recognition what was said was inappropriate and an apology, Owensby said after Tuesdays meeting. We didnt get either one. Thats fine, thats on him. As to whether Spanns comment was a joke, Owensby said hes giving him the benefit of the doubt. He did chuckle and say it was joke, but there still should be an apology, Owensby said. He still should be on record as to what his feelings are about the law enforcement officers that he as an elected official protects and sees over in this community. Following Tuesdays meeting, Merrillville Police Chief Wiley Luther Cuttino said both Spann and White long have been supportive of the Police Department. I dont think thats going to change, he said. He said he was caught off guard when Spann made his comment, but he believes a person shouldnt be judged by a single moment. Spanns comment also comes while he faces misdemeanor charges of domestic battery, interference with reporting a crime, resisting law enforcement, battery and disorderly conduct in connection to an Oct. 31 incident in the 2600 block of West 63rd Avenue. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for April 20. While Spann faced scrutiny Tuesday, some took the opportunity to resurrect discussions about Councilman Jeff Minchuk wearing blackface at a Halloween party nearly 20 years ago. Photos from the party show Minchuk wearing blackface and a wig of black curly hair and a sweatshirt that says, Kill Whitey. In a photo, Minchuk is standing next to a person dressed in a Ku Klux Klan robe. Minchuk apologized multiple times after the photos were revealed. He also participated in different diversity and inclusion training programs. Ross Township Board Member Curtis Pearson said, We let him slide, referring to Minchuk. Give this man a chance like you gave Mr. Minchuk a chance, Pearson said of Spann. He said he believes many came to Tuesdays meeting with the intention of creating a divide in the town. We want Merrillville to progress, he said. A Crown Point resident, who identified himself as a police officer, said Spanns comment was in bad taste, but he believes he supports police. He said he also knows Minchuk isnt racist. He thinks Merrillville police, Spann and other elected officials need to get in a room and talk about the issues without distractions. The dialogue that Ive heard tonight is very ineffective, he said. The Rev. Dennis Walton, a Merrillville police chaplain, said he believes Spann intended to make a joke, but at the same time, there has to be a standard of integrity when were in leadership positions where theres already hostility and problematic issues in this world. He said hes praying for a peaceful resolution to the situation. May God give us the grace to do things decently and in order so that we can bring proper closure and love everybody the way we should love and forgive, Walton said. "Thats what we must do. Love 1 Funny 1 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. California will require businesses to provide workers who are recovering from the coronavirus, or are caring for infected family members, with as much as two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave, under a deal announced on Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders in the state. The agreement would reinstate a benefit passed by the state in 2021 that expired at the end of September. It was sought by organized labor as the Omicron variant surged, but employers opposed it, saying the benefit would be prohibitively expensive for them. The state legislature is expected to fast-track a bill to turn the agreement into law. If it is approved, the paid leave requirement would apply to eligible absences between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 at companies with more than 25 employees. The bill would also restore some business tax credits to help companies absorb the cost of the additional paid time off. By extending sick leave to frontline workers with Covid and providing support for California businesses, we can help protect the health of our work force, while also ensuring that businesses and our economy are able to thrive, Mr. Newsom said in a joint statement with the president pro tem of the State Senate, Toni Atkins, and the speaker of the Assembly, Anthony Rendon. BEIJING, Jan. 27 -- "China is willing to maintain high-level communication with New Zealand, and promote continuous development of China-New Zealand military relations", Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, said at a regular media briefing on Thursday. Being asked to share the development of China-New Zeeland relations, Senior Colonel Wu confirmed that General Li Zuocheng, chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department, had talks via video link with Andrew Bridgman, secretary of defense and chief executive of the Ministry of Defense of New Zealand on January 19. They had frank and in-depth exchange of views on regional security situation, bilateral state and military relations, as well as other issues of common concerns. Senior Colonel Wu introduced that the year 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of China-New Zealand diplomatic relations and pointed out that the bilateral relations have gained long-term progress in recent years. The Chinese and New Zealand militaries have earnestly implemented the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and achieved fruitful results in high-level communication, consultations and dialogues, professional exchanges, personnel training, and multilateral cooperation, etc. China is willing to maintain high-level communication with New Zealand on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, continuously enhance strategic mutual trust, explore new areas of cooperation, boost coordination on multilateral platforms, and promote continuous development of China-New Zealand military relations, with a view to making positive contributions to maintaining regional peace and prosperity and building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future. Wu said. UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's permanent representative to the United Nations on Wednesday calls for more humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan. "China calls for a stronger sense of urgency from the international community and more humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan, so as to bring warmth and hope to the Afghan people," Zhang Jun told a Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan. "After the hasty withdrawal of foreign troops last August, the Afghan economy has been in free fall and the Afghan population is experiencing a humanitarian crisis of the worst kind," said the ambassador. Noting 95 percent of the Afghan families are without enough food, more than 1 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, and 23 million people are suffering from a severe famine, Zhang said: "At this rate, by the middle of the year, 97 percent of the Afghan population will be impoverished and will not be able to afford to live on 2 U.S. dollars a day." The council adopted Resolution 2615 last month, which affirmed that humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan does not violate the council's sanction measures, and cleared any legal obstacles that may exist, he said, adding, "Unfortunately, there has been no fundamental change in the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan." "Clearly, the key issue is not a legal obstacle, but a political one. It's the politicization of the humanitarian issue," he pointed out. "This is playing games with the lives and well-being of 38 million Afghans, who are in dire need of relief." China welcomes the efforts of the World Bank and other international institutions to explore financing support for Afghanistan, according to Zhang. "But without a full injection of liquidity, the restoration and development of the domestic market and foreign trade, the efforts of international institutions will only be a drop in the bucket in the current situation." "Unilateral sanctions are no less lethal than military intervention," he said, urging "the immediate lifting of the asset freeze and unilateral sanctions against Afghanistan." "Adhering to the principle of Afghan-led and Afghan-owned certainly means respecting Afghan ownership and leadership of economic resources," he added. The U.S. responds to Russias demands The U.S. and NATO gave formal responses yesterday to Russias demands that NATO pull back forces from Eastern Europe and bar Ukraine from ever joining the alliance. The U.S. response sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it, the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said. Russia has insisted for weeks that the U.S. provide written responses before the Kremlin decides on its next course of action and has asserted that it has no plans to invade Ukraine. Blinken said he expected to speak in the coming days with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, once Russian officials are ready to discuss next steps. The document has not been released publicly, but Blinken said it proposed reciprocal transparency measures regarding force posture in Ukraine, as well as measures to increase confidence regarding military exercises and maneuvers in Europe and nuclear arms control in Europe. The U.S. would not rule out future membership in NATO for Ukraine, he added. Sanctions against Putin: President Biden said on Tuesday that economic sanctions against Russia could target Vladimir Putin, the Russian leader, personally, drawing a dismissive response from the Kremlin. Although Putin is believed to have amassed a great deal of personal wealth, its highly unlikely that any of it is in the U.S. A travel ban, experts said, would also have a limited effect. Lesson Overview Featured Article: How the Ukraine Crisis Developed, and Where It Might Be Headed by Dan Bilefsky. Please note: When this article was originally published, it was headlined, Can the West Stop Russia From Invading Ukraine? It has since been updated. In recent weeks, tensions between Russia and the West have heightened as President Vladimir V. Putin has mobilized about 100,000 troops near Russias border with Ukraine. The move signals an attempt to redraw the post-Cold War boundaries of Europe and, potentially, to draw Ukraine back into Moscows orbit by force, if necessary. In this lesson, you will learn the background of the crisis: what Mr. Putin wants, how the United States is responding and what is at stake for Europe and the world. Then you will do your best to explain the situation to a specific audience with a mini-project of your choice: writing a tweet, putting together a presentation, designing a one-pager or making a concept map. Warm-Up Part 1: Understand Key Terms Before reading the featured article, get familiar with some key terms related to the history of international relations among Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Europe: Write down what, if anything, you know about each of these terms. Then click on the link and read at least the first paragraph of each terms entry in the Britannica Encyclopedia. Add any other relevant information to your definition, including how Russia, Ukraine, the United States and Europe are, or are not, involved. But the political moment in New York City, Mr. Adamss focus on guns and crime and the barrage of negative attention Mr. Bragg has received from Fox News and other right-wing outlets have put him at the center of a heated argument about prosecutorial responsibility. The bulk of Mr. Braggs professional experience was prosecutorial, not political. His first weeks in office have been a crash course in straddling the two worlds. Mr. Bragg is meeting with Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday, according to two sources who were familiar with the arrangements but not authorized to discuss the meeting with a reporter. The New York Post, which first reported the meeting, said that the governor had told its editorial board that she would be speaking to Mr. Bragg to make sure that they were in alignment. According to The Post, Ms. Hochul said she was aware that she had the power to remove Mr. Bragg from office but noted he had been on the job a very short time and said she was not prepared to undo the will of the people. Mayor Adamss call to address gun violence coincides with an effort by Mr. Bragg to turn the page on his first weeks on the job: During his first days in office, he released a memo instructing his prosecutors to seek jail or prison time for only the most serious crimes. Gun possession was not mentioned explicitly as one of those serious crimes, meaning that, according to the memo, prosecutors were only to request jail or prison time for possession as a stand-alone charge in extraordinary circumstances. The memo mirrored the proposals that helped Mr. Bragg win the Democratic primary and then the election and was welcomed by some public defender organizations, including the Legal Aid Society. But its release was met with weeks of pushback, and New Yorks police commissioner, Keechant Sewell, said she found it deeply troubling. The controversy marred the opening of Mr. Braggs tenure, and over the past two weeks he has embarked on an explanatory tour, stressing that his prosecutors will have discretion in individual cases and that violent crime will be taken seriously. He and Ms. Sewell met and released a joint statement afterward saying that their conversation had been productive. What Is Public? There is an unfortunate pattern of Jeopardy! alums particularly women being targeted online after their appearances. Former contestants have recounted incidents that included insults, creepy messages and outright threats. To prepare for this, Ms. Schneider followed the guidance offered to all new contestants by the shows producers, including locking down her social media accounts. She also created the public-facing @Jeopardamy Instagram and Twitter accounts. Still, these precautions didnt prevent harassment online. So far, she has mostly ignored the vitriol directed at her, or responded with sarcasm, as she did in a thank you tweet she posted on New Years Eve. Several weeks ago, Ms. Schneider was robbed at gunpoint in the lobby of her apartment building. She was not physically harmed and stressed that she doesnt think the incident was related to her appearance on Jeopardy! Still, its not her favorite thing to talk about. I tweeted about it, and so it was public, and thats on me, she said. But to have people in my life find out about this thing that happened to me by seeing a news article was a slightly unsettling thing to happen. When she was preparing to compete, Ms. Schneider had to decide how she wanted to look. She brought along a favorite pink blazer and made a few trips to Target and Nordstrom Rack. She said she overpacked jewelry, but after she won a few games in the pearls she thought audiences might like it if she continued with a signature accessory. The construction of the joke is perfect: A 60-ish woman in the grungy break room of a metal stamping factory lights a cigarette beneath a sign that says No Smoking Faye the Faye part added by hand in big, angry letters. Naturally, as we soon learn, she is Faye. So begins Skeleton Crew, a play by Dominique Morisseau that in considering the ways we must sometimes break rules, breaks none itself. Its so adroitly built and written and, in the Manhattan Theater Club production that opened on Wednesday, so beautifully staged and acted that you hardly have time to decide, until its brisk two hours have passed, whether its a comedy or a tragedy. Even then, as in life, you may not know for sure. Start with Faye, who has worked at the factory for 29 years; she plans to hang on until, at year 30, her pension bumps up significantly. As played by Phylicia Rashad in a wonderfully ungrand performance, wearing flannel shirts, big jeans, work boots and a look of sour contentment, she would appear to have her life under firm control and, as union rep and auntie of the break room, her co-workers lives as well. Dispensing wisdom and correcting their foolishness, she models candor and self-reliance, even when, as Skeleton Crew in good time reveals, the two come into conflict. You might call Fayes specialty, like the plays, clarity about moral ambiguity. And in Detroit in 2008, with the national economy a dumpster fire (as a TV news snippet tells us) and the auto industry in particular collapsing, theres plenty of moral ambiguity to go around. A full ride, including tuition, room and board, plus a $5,000 award to study abroad and admission to the schools honors program. Thats what 58 high school seniors were told they would receive from Central Michigan University when they were notified over the weekend that they had been awarded the schools prestigious Centralis Scholar Award. But then on Sunday they got horrible news: They had been sent that message by mistake. In fact, they had actually not been awarded the scholarship to the university of about 20,000 students in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Three days later, however, Central Michigan University said in a statement on Wednesday evening that it planned to pay four years of full tuition for the students who had been mistakenly told that they had been awarded full rides. They will not, however, receive other perks of the scholarship, a university spokesman said. It also may ultimately do little to motivate voters in midterm election season sure to be dominated by issues like the economy and the pandemic, which have helped to drag down Mr. Bidens poll numbers and left his party at risk of losing control of the House and possibly the Senate in November. Still, it is a chance for Mr. Biden to add the first woman of color to the court since Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2009, and to remind those who voted for Mr. Biden that he can still make good on the promises he has made to them. I hope that this is a moment for all Democrats to rally around their president and move quickly to show that with power came results, said Faiz Shakir, a close adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Especially when a lot of the legislative agenda is stalemated, this can send the message back to voters who put him in the White House; heres tangible results from the fact that you put us in power. The vacancy could also give Democrats the opportunity to show a united front after a blistering debate over voting rights: Senators Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who voted against changing Senate rules to pass voting rights legislation, have voted for all of Mr. Bidens judicial appointments. Although the makeup of the Supreme Court in the past had been an issue that galvanized voters on the right to a far greater extent than those on the left, several strategists said recent developments including a move by the court to take up a case that challenges Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion had changed that. Fatima Goss Graves, president and chief executive of the National Womens Law Center, said that a refusal by the court to block a Texas law that would prohibit most abortions also awakened voters to what was at stake. People expect the court to be an institution that not only interprets our laws but that actually reflects this country, she said. Mr. Blinken said the United States would not publicly release its written response because we think that diplomacy has the best chance to succeed if we provide space for confidential talks, adding that the United States hopes and expects the Russians will agree. Whether they will abide is unclear: Mr. Lavrov said after a meeting with Mr. Blinken in Geneva last week that he believed the U.S. document should be made public, according to Russias Tass news agency. And on Wednesday, he said that his government would describe the American and NATO responses to the Russian people, even if the details remained confidential. According to officials familiar with the documents, the responses begin with broad principles, including that NATO will not rescind its open door policy that any state that wants to join the alliance can seek to do so. Mr. Biden, however, noted at a news conference last week that Ukraine, which has struggled with democratic governance and corruption, would not qualify for many years. The documents also make clear that Russia will not have veto power over the presence of nuclear weapons, troops or conventional arms in NATO countries. But they open the door to talks on reciprocal restraints on short- and medium-range nuclear weapons, including a revival of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. And they say the United States and its allies are willing to talk about mutual rules to limit the size and locations of military exercises; such limits would assure that the exercises are far from borders and could not be mistaken for a force gathering for an invasion. White House officials estimated that high-level U.S. officials had conducted more than 180 meetings with their European counterparts a statistic meant to signal that they had made sure that the response was developed in full partnership with Americas allies. Ukraines foreign minister said on Wednesday that his country had reviewed and approved the responses dealing with its future. Russia had insisted for weeks that the United States provide written responses to its demands, which were issued in late December, before it would decide on its next course of action. Russia asserts that it does not intend to invade Ukraine, but U.S. officials say the Kremlin has drawn up plans for a ground assault that could come at any time. They caution that Mr. Putin could also attack Ukraine where he has backed a separatist war since 2014 in a more limited fashion. The Kremlin was silent on Wednesday evening, but Russian lawmakers had a largely dismissive initial response. Konstantin I. Kosachev, a deputy chairman of Russias upper house of Parliament, said there were things to discuss with the United States even though he had not seen the written response. With this Supreme Court vacancy, President Biden has the opportunity to nominate someone who will bring diversity, experience and an evenhanded approach to the administration of justice, Mr. Durbin said, promising to expeditiously move the nominee through the committee. Democrats, relieved that Justice Breyer was stepping down while they still controlled the Senate, called on Mr. Biden to follow through on his promise to nominate the first Black woman to the court. I trust President Biden to move forward an exceptional nominee who will uphold all Americans rights and liberties including protecting voting rights and reproductive rights, said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the No. 3 Democrat. I am ready to move as quickly as possible to consider and confirm a highly qualified nominee who will break barriers and make history as the first Black woman on the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Schumer wants the entire process to take weeks, not months, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke about it on the condition of anonymity. Presidents have historically taken anywhere from days to months to make a nomination to the Supreme Court after a vacancy occurs. Justice Breyer is preparing to retire at the end of the Supreme Court term in June, but Democrats plan to begin the process of confirming a nominee to succeed him as soon as Mr. Biden announces a candidate. The new justice could then be seated shortly after Justice Breyer officially steps down, the person familiar with Mr. Schumers thinking said. Given the current level of political polarization, only a handful of Senate Republicans are likely to be in play as potential supporters of the presidents nominee. Many Republicans in the Senate have, as a matter of course, opposed Mr. Bidens nominees for seats on the lower federal courts, portraying them as too progressive. The intense spotlight of a Supreme Court nomination and the importance Republican voters traditionally place on the court will make drawing support from across the aisle even tougher for the president. Beginning only days after the 2020 election, prosecutors say, Mr. Rhodes oversaw a complex plot to oppose the lawful transfer of presidential power by force. Some members of the Oath Keepers a group made up largely of current and former law enforcement officers and members of the military broke into the Capitol in a military-style formation on Jan. 6, 2021, and went in search of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the indictment said. Others, it said, were stationed in a hotel in Arlington, Va., as an armed quick reaction force, ready to rush into Washington if needed. Some of the quick reaction forces weapons came from Mr. Rhodes himself, who bought nearly $40,000 of firearms, ammunition and related accessories in the days leading up to the attack, Judge Johnson wrote. In private communication obtained by the government through search warrants, Mr. Rhodes spoke often about inciting a revolution or civil war that had the potential to be massively bloody, she added. Mr. Rhodess lawyer said he planned to appeal the judges decision. More than 20 members of the Oath Keepers have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack, including at least four who are known to be cooperating with federal prosecutors. Through their lawyers, the Oath Keepers who are facing charges have said they had converged on Washington just before Jan. 6 not to attack the Capitol, but as part of a security detail hired to protect conservative celebrities like Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime ally of former President Donald J. Trump. In an unusual turn of events, Mr. Rhodess estranged former wife, Tasha Adams, reached out to Judge Johnson after his bail hearing on Monday, asking for her permission to offer information about their marriage. After noting that she had filed for divorce in 2018, Ms. Adams told the judge that Mr. Rhodes often brandished weapons in their home to control her behavior and that he physically abused their six children under the guise of participating in martial arts practice. Moldovan President Maia Sandu (R) talks with Chinese Ambassador to Moldova Yan Wenbin in Chisinau, capital of Moldova, Jan. 26, 2022. The president on Wednesday received the Letters of Credence from the new Chinese Ambassador to Moldova. (Xinhua) BUCHAREST, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Moldova looks forward to intensifying exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields to jointly promote bilateral relations to a new level, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in Chisinau, capital of Moldova, on Wednesday. The head of state made the remarks when receiving the Letters of Credence from the new Chinese Ambassador to Moldova Yan Wenbin, who arrived in Chisinau on Dec. 26, 2021. Sandu also thanked China for the long-term assistance for the economic and social development of Moldova. The solar power plant project at the east center district of Criuleni, financed by the Chinese government, has been successfully completed recently, bringing tangible benefits to local residents, she added. Yan said that in the 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, bilateral relations have maintained steady development, while mutual political trust has been continuously strengthened, and practical cooperation has been further deepened. The two sides understand and support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, said the Chinese ambassador. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, China and Moldova have stood together and helped each other, demonstrating the deep friendship between the two peoples, Yan said, stressing that the country is willing to work with Moldova to further deepen mutually beneficial cooperation and to further strengthen the traditional friendship between the two countries. Mr. Bidens political support has been especially strong among Black women. New York Times exit polling data from the 2020 election showed that while they made up just 8 percent of the electorate, they were Mr. Bidens most lopsided supporters: 90 percent of Black female voters cast their ballots for him. And in Georgia, Mr. Bidens win was followed by Democrats sweeping a pair of crucial runoff elections for Senate seats that gave the party razor-thin control of the Senate and with it the ability to confirm judges without needing any Republican support. Several factors went into those narrow wins that flipped the state blue, but one was that a group of Black female organizers most famously Stacey Abrams, the former candidate for governor who founded a voter registration group called the New Georgia Project had been working to register hundreds of thousands new voters and encourage them to turn out. For Democrats, maintaining enthusiastic support among Black voters, and especially Black women, may be critical in Novembers midterm elections. Democratic activists urged Mr. Biden on Wednesday not to back down from his promise. There would be little to no rationale for President Biden to miss this opportunity, Aimee Allison, the president of She the People, a liberal advocacy group, said in a statement. It is and could be a defining moment for his presidency. Polls show Democrats trailing in their efforts to keep control of the House and the Senate, and Mr. Biden has had a rocky first year, in part because the Senate filibuster rule means Republicans can block much of his agenda, like passage of a social spending bill and an expansion of federal protections for voting rights. But since the Senate abolished the filibuster for judges Democrats did so for lower and appellate court judges in 2013, and Republicans did so for Supreme Court justices in 2017 a party that controls both the White House and the Senate by any margin can appoint life-tenured federal judges, including to fill any vacancies among the 179 federal appellate seats. Justice Stephen Breyers retirement is big news for the Supreme Court. Its less clear how much of an effect it will have on the midterm elections though the courts expected rulings on abortion and other hot-button issues could certainly shape the debate going into the midterms. But the timing spoke volumes about the current state of play between the parties. If things go smoothly for the White House President Biden appoints an undisputably qualified nominee, and confirmation proceeds in an orderly way I dont expect it to move the needle much, said the Democratic pollster Molly Murphy of Impact Research, a lead adviser to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. It would likely take an unforced error by Biden appointing a lightning rod evoking reactions on the order of those that Brett Kavanaugh stirred to make his court appointee a divisive issue in November, she said. Still, Justice Breyers retirement, coming during a slump for Biden and his party, could serve to remind apathetic Democratic voters of the stakes of losing the Senate majority. After all, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that he wouldnt hold a confirmation vote in the last stretch of Bidens term, if he became majority leader. A federal judge in Minnesota on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by WinRed, a company that processes online donations for Republicans, that sought to block state attorneys general from investigating fund-raising tactics that have triggered complaints of fraud. The attorneys general from four states New York, Minnesota, Maryland and Connecticut first sent letters to WinRed last April, asking for documents after a New York Times investigation revealed the companys use of prechecked boxes to automatically enroll donors in recurring contribution programs. The boxes resulted in a surge in demands for refunds from supporters of former President Donald J. Trump. WinRed declined to provide the documents and instead went to federal court to argue that federal law should pre-empt any state-level consumer investigations. Chief Judge John R. Tunheim of the U.S. District Court in Minnesota ruled against the company on Wednesday. Judge Tunheim dismissed WinReds attempt to stop the attorneys general investigating outside Minnesota, ruling that he did not have jurisdiction. He ruled in favor of the Minnesota attorney general, Keith Ellison, writing that federal law would not pre-empt a state inquiry. SEOUL North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Thursday in its sixth missile test this month, the South Korean military said. North Korea began the year with a spate of missile tests, raising tensions at a sensitive time: China is gearing up to host the Winter Olympics in Beijing next month, and South Korea is preparing for its presidential election on March 9. The latest launch came two days after North Korea fired what South Korean defense officials said were two cruise missiles. The two missiles flew 118 miles after they were fired from Hamhung, a port city on the Norths east coast, according to the South Korean military, which said its analysts were studying the trajectory and other flight data to help determine the types of missiles launched. For the dancers, it was about using the body in a looser, more three-dimensional way, which meant letting go, to some extent, of their perfectionism. I would ask Jamar, are my knees straight, are my legs crossed, am I pulled up in the right place, Phelan said, and he would say, All I care about is that your body is in the music and that it looks comfortable and fun. For Roberts, the challenge lay in exploring the dynamics of pointe work, not a skill he encounters in his everyday work. (A lot of his experience involves dancing barefoot, and choreographing for barefoot dancers.) Dancing on pointe not only changes the reach and range of motion of the body, but also requires a different sense of timing. I thought it would be easier, Roberts said, but there is actually a time of execution that I had never had to consider before. It takes a certain amount of time for somebody to go from plie, in which the body goes down onto bent legs, to passe releve, in which the body rises up onto one pointe with the other foot raised to the knee. For someone as musically inclined as Roberts, such tiny adjustments matter. Once he had accounted for those shifts, he said, what he was most interested in was encouraging the dancers to allow themselves more freedom and individuality in their response to Shorters music. As he put it, his own choreographic signature was very much in the background. He was more interested in seeing what they were capable of than in imposing his own movement vocabulary. But one section of the dance is unmistakably his, a solo set to a saxophone melody for Shorter that is reminiscent of the opening of Stravinskys Rite of Spring. It could almost be an excerpt from one of the pieces Roberts created for himself over the past two years. Welcome. One night last week, cold and tired after a busy day, I craved a very specific comfort food from childhood for dinner: buttered noodles with cottage cheese. Its cacio e pepe for a toddlers palate, a very simple variation on mac and cheese, the ultimate comfort food. The meal came together in minutes and hit the spot, as it always does. I was musing recently about a fantasy dinner party at which Id serve all the things I loved to eat as a child and realized that most of those foods were unlikely to appeal to guests, whod have few if any of the positive associations I do with the foods in question. Absent the fond memories of my nursery-school lunchbox or the microwave glow of my familys 1970s kitchen, cream cheese and jelly on white bread, SpaghettiOs and even my beloved pasta with cottage cheese might not translate to a grown-up dinner party setting. Of course, not all comfort foods are so personal. Its soup season in the Northeastern U.S., and in my house, that means as much chili as the largest pot will hold. One week of dinners goes in the fridge, the rest frozen for months to come. I asked you a couple of weeks ago what foods youve found comforting lately. Heres what some of you said. Responses have been edited for length and clarity. Image Moon Witch, Spider King, by Marlon James (Riverhead, Feb. 15) The second installment in Jamess fantasy epic trilogy, this book focuses on Sogolon the Moon Witch, one of the main characters in Black Leopard, Red Wolf. She tells her version of what happened in the series first volume as the book dives into her own origin story. Image The Nineties, by Chuck Klosterman (Penguin Press, Feb. 8) Decades are about cultural perception, and culture cant read a clock, writes Klosterman, a journalist and cultural critic who has made pop culture and generational change his beat. In this book, he sets out to explain a decade that feels farther away than it really is, bookended by the fall of the Berlin Wall and Y2K anxiety. HERE COMES THE SCRIBE There was the bride who instructed a makeup artist to make her bridesmaids look like little piggies so they wouldnt steal the spotlight. There was the couple who dreamed of transforming a summer camp in Maine into a luxury venue for their nuptials. There was the wedding where a grandparent suffered a heart attack, prompting a second (impromptu, unrehearsed) procession firefighters followed by the police followed by paramedics. And of course, there were the newlyweds who traded vicious barbs and the divorced parents who refused to find common ground and the many moments of kismet and serendipity one would expect when two people say I do. During the 13 years Xochitl Gonzalez spent as a wedding planner, this was all part of the job and it prepared her to become a novelist. Now a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop and the author of Olga Dies Dreaming, a frothy romp with serious undertones (picture a brainy bride in a lacy hoop skirt), Gonzalez said in a phone interview, We did not plan simple weddings. They were intense and elaborate, and I think what happened is, you get very good at having a Spidey sense. Youre able to manage many, many threads at a time. When youre managing an event, Gonzalez explained, you begin with infrastructure (budget, tent, restrooms) before moving on to the decorative stuff (flowers, finery, music). This approach came in handy as she tackled her multilayered narrative about a high-end wedding planner caught between her own aspirations and the legacy of her Puerto Rican family. I have a problem-solving brain and theres a certain amout of novel-writing that I find to be problem-solving, Gonzalez said. You create this hypothetical world and these circumstances and you work your way through them in a way that feels believable and has a certain logic. Another quality thats useful in both professions: a sense of humor. You have to be able to laugh, to be able to find certain things ridiculous, Gonzalez said. That ability to find humor in moments of gravity or sadness or absurdity is something I really wanted to preserve in the storytelling. Bambis birth launches the story; he is an utterly helpless and guileless fawn, living in a forest filled with adventures and joys, but also dangers, by far the worst of which is He, the hunter who stalks the woods, and the imaginations of all who live within it. Salten is an excellent naturalist. He describes the way Bambi learns to listen and smell, capturing the hyperalertness that is the birthright of prey: He knew when a pheasant was running through the bushes; he could exactly discern the delicate patter that stopped and started again. He could also recognize the field mice by listening to the sound they made whenever they ran back and forth on the short paths. Anyone who has watched a doe on the edge of a field freeze and then turn her ear in the direction of some faint noise will see how right Salten has got it. And anyone who has lived a life below the apex of his or her own society will recognize the coping mechanisms he describes. Theres the hedgehog who rolls into a ball with his barbs sticking out, the hare (the progenitor of Thumper) who becomes everyones friend and, drawn with chilling precision, the collaborator, Gobo (Bambis cousin), proud to wear a collar and wrongly convinced it will protect him. Bambi wanders the forest, learning its paths and inhabitants, and falls in love with Gobos sister Faline. (His crush, his charmed happiness in her company and his eventual withdrawal are described with biological accuracy, and a good deal of humor; in fact, Saltens wit, usually expressed through sidekicks like the garrulous magpie, makes it clear why the story was a natural for Disney to adapt.) Eventually he grows into a great stag, a prince of the forest with a rack of antlers sufficient to intimidate most competitors, though not, of course, the foe with a gun. Bambis strategy for physical and psychological survival was passed down to him by the old prince (the mentor buck who may or may not be his father): Of all his teachings, the most important one was you must learn to live alone, if you want to protect yourself, if you want to grasp the meaning of existence, if you want to attain wisdom. Image and reality Breyer has made it clear that he does not want to be seen as a liberal justice or a Democratic appointee. He would prefer that people think of him as an impartial judge. The courts authority, he said in a speech last year, depends on a trust that the court is guided by legal principle, not politics. Other justices have made similar arguments. We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges, Chief Justice John Roberts said in 2018. Barrett put it bluntly last year: This court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks. That is a fair description of the justices rulings on many cases. Unanimous verdicts and heterodox coalitions of justices are common, especially in technical cases that receive little attention outside legal circles. Sometimes, its also true on high-profile cases, such as recent ones on Obamacare and L.G.B.T.Q. rights. But on many of the closely watched cases that shape daily life in the U.S., the justices do split along ideological lines, especially in recent years. On abortion, guns, labor unions, corporate regulation, gerrymandering, campaign finance and voting rights, the best way to predict the justices votes is to know whether a Democratic or Republican president appointed them. The court can often resemble a kind of super-legislature, despite the protestations of Breyer and his colleagues. For that reason, his retirement is likely to have only a modest effect on major upcoming cases. One Democrat Bill Clinton nominated Breyer, and another Democrat Joe Biden will replace him. Breyers successor may be somewhat more liberal than him, a reflection of the Democratic Partys shift since Clintons presidency. But any such difference will matter little in most cases. The biggest impact of Breyers retirement is the situation that it prevents (assuming, of course, that the Democratic-controlled Senate confirms Bidens nominee). His departure means that Breyer has not followed the pattern of Ginsburg, Brennan, Marshall and Warren. Breyer will never be the liberal icon each of them is, but he has managed to uphold liberal ideals the ideals he and they have shared in the closing chapter of his public life. For more THE LATEST NEWS The Virus Moderna and Pfizer are testing boosters designed to fend off Omicron. We may be nearing a time when the virus is endemic and mild, scientists say, but waning immunity and future variants could change that. Neil Young is removing his music from Spotify, saying it has become the home of life threatening Covid misinformation. Politics The U.S. rejected Russias demands that NATO retreat from Eastern Europe and bar Ukraine from ever joining, but offered other areas of negotiation. The Federal Reserve said it would probably raise interest rates in March to reduce inflation. The Biden administration blocked copper mining near Minnesota wilderness. Other Big Stories Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks with villagers in Duancun Village, Sengnian Township of Fenxi County, north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 26, 2022. Xi on Wednesday began his visit to Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping extended Spring Festival greetings to all Chinese people during his visit to north China's Shanxi Province from Wednesday to Thursday. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, wished Chinese people of all ethnic groups, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese healthier and happier lives in the Year of the Tiger, and expressed his hope that the motherland would increase in prosperity and strength. This year's Spring Festival falls on Feb. 1. Xi, as the Party's top leader, has for 10 consecutive years visited people at the primary level -- especially those from disadvantaged groups -- ahead of the Spring Festival, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar and an occasion for family reunions. Xi on Wednesday visited the people of Fengnanyuan Village in Huozhou City, one of the places hit hard by floods last October. Xi learned about local post-disaster reconstruction, crop replanting, improvements to the local disaster relief and emergency response system, and measures to keep people warm in the winter. When he sat down with a family to hear about their day-to-day lives, Xi said that locals who have been affected by the disaster are often in his thoughts and that he chose the village as his first stop to see the reconstruction and recovery first hand. Xi stressed the need to dovetail reconstruction with rural vitalization, improve integrated river basin management, and improve the capacity for disaster prevention, mitigation and relief. Later that afternoon, Xi went to Duancun Village in Fenxi County. In a villager's home, Xi checked the kitchen, the bedroom and the sheepfold, and asked about the family's income and their life. Xi was pleased to learn that the family, after shaking off poverty in late 2016, has prospered through raising sheep and seeking work in other places. "The CPC's resolve to ensure all Chinese people live happy lives has remained unchanged for more than a century, and it will not falter," Xi said. Speaking in front of villagers at a local square, Xi said that the fundamental purpose of the Party is to strive to ensure people's happy lives. Noting that the goals of modern socialist China cannot be attained without the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, Xi urged efforts to consolidate the achievements of poverty eradication, advance rural vitalization, and improve people's lives. The decade-long pursuit of holding Wall Street accountable for trying to manipulate Libor, the once-prominent interest rate benchmark, suffered another blow Thursday when a federal appeals court overturned the convictions of two former Deutsche Bank traders. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York said federal prosecutors had failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the 2018 convictions of Matthew Connolly and Gavin Black on fraud and conspiracy charges. The unanimous ruling is the latest in a series of defeats for prosecutors in the United States and Britain, as more than a dozen traders have been acquitted at trial or had their convictions overturned. In 2017, another appellate panel from the Second Circuit tossed out the Libor manipulation convictions of two former Rabobank traders. The convictions of some traders who took guilty pleas still stand. But the latest ruling is another indication of the difficulty prosecutors have had making the case that traders at a handful of big banks conspired to profit from manipulating Libor, the benchmark once used by banks to set interest rates on an array of loans. SoftBank announced on Friday that Marcelo Claure, a top deputy to the companys founder, Masayoshi Son, will step down as its chief operating officer. The exit comes after a dispute over roughly $2 billion in possible compensation. The Japanese conglomerate said that Michel Combes, a former chief executive of the communications company Altice who serves as president of SoftBank Group International, would assume Mr. Claures duties running SoftBanks international operations. In a statement, SoftBank said that Mr. Claure and the bank had mutually agreed to part ways after a successful nine-year partnership. Mr. Son said in the same statement, Marcelo has made many contributions to SoftBank during his time here, and we thank him for his dedication and wish him continued success. He added, I have great confidence in Michel Combes and the talented SoftBank team to continue with the great work we have underway at S.B.G.I. Gas stoves leak significant amounts of methane when they are being ignited and even while they are turned off, according to a new report, adding to the growing debate over the effects of gas-powered appliances on human health and climate change. The small study based on measurements from cooktops, ovens and broilers in 53 homes in California estimated that stoves emit between 0.8 and 1.3 percent of the natural gas they consume as unburned methane, a potent greenhouse gas. During the course of a typical year, three-quarters of these emissions occur when the devices are shut off, the study showed, which could suggest leaky fittings and connections with gas service lines. Over a 20-year period, emissions from stoves across the United States could be having the same effect in heating the planet as half a million gas-powered cars, the study estimated. People are so attached to their stoves, said Eric D. Lebel, a senior scientist at the nonprofit research institute PSE Healthy Energy and lead author of the study, which was published on Thursday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Theres something human about cooking on a gas stove, over an open flame. WASHINGTON John Kerry, President Bidens global climate envoy, warned nations Thursday that the world is not on a good track to meet its goal of pivoting away from fossil fuels in order to avoid the most dangerous consequences of climate change. At a virtual meeting of the worlds most polluting countries including China, Russia and Saudi Arabia Mr. Kerry asked ministers to outline what their governments are doing to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to follow through on promises made at a United Nations climate summit last year in Glasgow. The meeting was the first gathering since the Glasgow conference of leaders from major economies as well as small island nations and other countries particularly vulnerable to climate change. Though just over two months have passed since the meeting, Mr. Kerry said change was not happening fast enough. One thing is clear: We all must move faster in this decade to accelerate the transition from coal to renewables, Mr. Kerry said in a statement after the closed-door meeting. For the last couple of months Ive been drinking luxuriously. The bottles have been no different they are the usual mix depending on regions, grapes and producers Im curious about and articles Im working on, with the occasional treat. But Ive been pouring wine into five of the best wine glasses money can buy. Over most of the last decade the top glass among wine lovers was the Zalto DenkArt Universal, which, when I first encountered it in 2011, seemed fundamentally different and radically better than the other leading glasses. But in the last few years several other high-end glasses have been challenging Zaltos supremacy, which brought me to these five lead-free crystal universal glasses, each precisely designed (and marketed) to be the only glass anybody would need to drink every sort of wine. Anybody, that is, willing to pay the roughly $60 to $90 price per glass. Most wine drinkers, admittedly, will neither want nor need such rarefied glasses. Many casual drinkers are happy these days to use inexpensive goblets or even stemless glasses, which I would not seek out, though I am happy enough on occasion to drink wine from a tumbler. In 2016 Zhang Jianmin was on a visit to Milan when he decided to buy an expensive suit. The purchase was something of a flight of fancy: Mr. Zhang, founder and president of CIGA Design, a wristwatch manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China, imagined wearing it to the Grand Prix dHorlogerie de Geneve. The annual awards event, commonly called G.P.H.G. or the Grand Prix, is often described as the Oscars of watchmaking. I told myself, I will only wear this suit on the G.P.H.G. stage when I win the award, Mr. Zhang recalled on a Zoom call earlier this month, speaking through his interpreter, Liu Rensong. On Nov. 4 at least part of Mr. Zhangs ambitious vision came true: CIGA Design became the first Chinese brand to win a Grand Prix prize when its Blue Planet automatic wristwatch, a 46-millimeter titanium model featuring a rotating blue aluminum 3-D globe, beat five other contenders in the Challenge Watch category. (The category is open to timepieces that retail for no more than 3,500 Swiss francs, or $3,800, and was introduced in 2018 to encourage new, value-oriented watchmakers to enter the competition.) But pandemic travel restrictions kept Mr. Zhang from attending the ceremony. The Italian suit continues to hang, unworn, in his closet. She returned home to Switzerland several months ago, and joining Urban Jurgensen rather than Voutilanen was her wish and choice, her father said as was, he added, her decision to become a watchmaker. Ms. Voutilainen said she became interested in watchmaking as a career after attending a school job fair when she was 14 or 15. It wasnt really because of my father, she said, adding that, as a watchmaking student, people sometimes treated her differently because of her well-known family name. You need to learn to deal with it, she said, so it doesnt hurt you or doesnt touch you. Ms. Voutilainen works full time at Urban Jurgensen; her father divides his time between its headquarters and the Voutilainen workshop in Motiers, a Swiss town that is about an hours drive away. He also owns Comblemine, a company in St.-Sulpice, Switzerland, that makes watch dials for luxury brands, and is an owner of Voutilainen & Cattin, in Saignelegier, Switzerland, which makes cases for watch brands. Urban Jurgensen has had numerous owners since it was founded as Larpent & Jurgensen in Copenhagen. (Urban Jurgensen was the co-founders son, and one of many family members who worked at the brand over the years.) By the mid-1800s, the brand had begun manufacturing in Switzerland, and ultimately moved its operations there. Dr. Johan V. Hultin, a pathologist whose discovery of victims of the 1918 flu pandemic buried in Alaskan permafrost led to a critical understanding about the virus that caused the outbreak, died on Saturday at his home in Walnut Creek, Calif. He was 97. The death was confirmed by his wife, Eileen Barbara Hultin. Dr. Hultins discovery was crucial to finding the genetic sequence of the virus, allowing researchers to examine what made it so lethal and how to recognize it if it came again. The virus, which was 25 times more deadly than ordinary flu viruses, killed tens of millions of people and infected 28 percent of Americans, dropping the average life span in the United States by 12 years. Dr. Hultins quest to find victims of the 1918 flu was sparked in 1950 by an offhand remark over lunch with a University of Iowa microbiologist, William Hale. Dr. Hale mentioned that there was just one way to figure out what caused the 1918 pandemic: finding victims buried in permafrost and isolating the virus from lungs that might be still frozen and preserved. Dr. Hultin, a medical student in Sweden who was spending six months at the university, immediately realized that he was uniquely positioned to do just that. The previous summer, he and his first wife, Gunvor, spent weeks assisting a German paleontologist, Otto Geist, on a dig in Alaska. Dr. Geist could help him find villages in areas of permafrost that also had good records of deaths from the 1918 flu. Originally, Mayor Adams envisioned his brother who was most recently employed as a parking administrator at a Virginia university overseeing not only his own security, but that of other high-ranking city officials, too. After The New York Post reported he planned to make his brother a deputy police commissioner, with an expected salary of about $240,000 a year, Mr. Adams said that there was no one he was more willing to trust with his own physical safety than his brother. The Adams administration eventually changed course, saying Bernard Adams would instead serve in a lesser role overseeing only the mayors security, no one elses and for a lesser salary of $210,000. The mayors police detail will not report to Bernard Adams, as had been planned. Instead, the mayors brother will advise him on mayoral security and community engagement matters, and the Police Department will oversee the mayors detail. Its face saving, said Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School and the former chair of the Conflicts of Interest Board. Hes allowed to make the appointment, but hes uncompensated and he has no role in supervising anybody else. Though Mr. Adams became a city employee on Dec. 30, he has yet to receive a salary, according to City Hall officials. Nor will he receive any additional compensation from any public or private entity aside from the pension he earned while working for the Police Department and the attendant health care benefits, according to Mr. Young. The Conflicts of Interest Board did not release the waiver request submitted by Brendan McGuire, Mr. Adamss chief counsel, or any other written correspondence with the mayors office, citing confidentiality provisions of city law. The mayors office is permitted to release the waiver request but did not immediately do so. For decades, La Guardia Airport was one of the most maligned airports in the country leaky ceilings, cramped corridors, regular rodent sightings and broken escalators set a standard for the dreadful travel experience. The old airport was so decrepit that Joe Biden, when he was vice president in 2014, famously likened passing through it to a trip to the third world. Travelers were even less charitable, deeming it disgusting and crappy in social media posts, an embarrassing port of entry to a global capital. But on Thursday, the views and reviews were far different as state and local officials celebrated the airports revival upon the completion of a wholly new main terminal that shares nothing but a name and location with the old La Guardia along the Queens waterfront. The transformation has been so remarkable that the terminal was declared the best new airport building in the world by an international panel of judges. AMMAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Jordan Armed Forces on Thursday dawn killed 27 infiltrators while trying to smuggle large amounts of narcotics from Syria into the country. A source at the army told the state-run Petra news agency that the military would apply "full force" to thwart any infiltration or smuggling attempts, protecting the kingdom's borders, citizens and national security. In mid-January, a Jordanian military officer was killed and three other soldiers were injured in an exchange of fire with smugglers at borders with Syria. Ms. Fieldss daughter, Lauren Smith-Fields, had been found dead the day before. Ms. Fields said the Bridgeport Police Department never informed her family about the death. The landlord gave them the number for a detective, who told her son in a phone call that Ms. Smith-Fields, 23, had been on a Bumble date with an older man before she died. But the detective provided little additional information, Ms. Fields said, and hung up abruptly during a subsequent phone call. The family had to beg the detective to collect evidence found in the apartment, their lawyer said. The detective also told the family not to worry about the man who had been there that night, saying that he was a really nice guy, Ms. Fields said. My daughters laying there dead and he gets to walk away, she said. The man, whom The New York Times is not naming because he has not been charged with a crime, spoke to the authorities when they arrived on the scene on Dec. 12, the day Ms. Smith-Fields was pronounced dead. The police would not say whether he had been taken in for questioning, or if he was considered a person of interest in the case. His lawyer said he cooperated with the police that day and declined to comment further. Stormy Daniels, the pornographic film star whose lawsuit against former President Donald J. Trump was at the center of a 2018 scandal, took the stand as a witness on Thursday in the trial of Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who once represented her but now stands accused of stealing from her. He stole from me and lied to me, Ms. Daniels testified in Federal District Court in Manhattan after being called as a government witness shortly after 11 a.m. By days end, Ms. Daniels was being cross-examined by the man who once was her fierce advocate: Mr. Avenatti, who is serving as his own lawyer. The courtroom spectacle was the culmination of the split between Ms. Daniels and Mr. Avenatti, who gained international prominence as an unlikely pair seeking to take down a sitting president, but whose alliance dissolved as accusations against Mr. Avenatti mounted. Mr. Avenatti said earlier in the day that his cross-examination of Ms. Daniels would take several hours, but in only a few minutes of questioning before Thursdays court session ended, he asked about her claim that she can see and speak to dead people. This, by itself, seems like enough to prove that Harvard created a system for recruitment that certainly gives preference to one race over the other. The testimony given by William Fitzsimmons, the longtime dean of Harvard admissions, only made his office look worse. When asked to explain why Asian students from sparse country needed to score so much higher than white students, Fitzsimmons said, There are people who, lets say, for example, have only lived in the sparse-country state for a year or two. What he seems to be saying is that Harvard believes Asian students from sparse country are Asian before they are Arkansan or Nevadan or Alaskan and that whatever diversity benefit they might bring to the school will be based on their ethnicity, not from the state where they may have spent their whole lives. To Fitzsimmons, evidently, and by extension, the Harvard admissions office, Asian applicants are not citizens with legitimate ties to a community but are instead newcomers who should be thought of by their race. Evidence of this type of reductive racial thinking could be found throughout the trial. Past documents brought to light showed that Harvard would consider your ethnicity a plus only if you wrote your personal essay about its significance in your life or if it led to extracurricular involvement in ethnic community groups. If you were a minority student who did not belong to an affinity group in high school and you did not share a moment of trauma or triumph with strangers on the admissions committee for the most prestigious university in the world, Harvard would withhold the plus on your application. Does anyone really believe in a version of equity and diversity that forces minority students to, in essence, perform their ethnicity for Harvard, of all places? So, if all this is done in the name of diversity, what exactly does it look like at places like Harvard? I am an alumni of Bowdoin College, which at the time I attended, in the late 90s and early 2000s, had a very small percentage of Black, Latino and Asian students. The school has changed quite a bit since then, thanks to strong diversity initiatives. On the occasions Ive returned to campus, Ive come across students of all sorts of ethnic backgrounds who simply would not have been at Bowdoin in my era. This more inclusive atmosphere made me feel excited to be on campus, even as an adult, and undoubtedly would have improved my undergraduate experience. When you read the case law of affirmative action cases or diversity statements from exclusive colleges, they largely speak of the need to make all students feel comfortable and represented on campus. I do not dispute the importance of this. But while the percentage of students of color at Bowdoin has gone up to 35.1 percent in 2021 from an abysmal 7.5 percent in 1988, there has been little meaningful change in socio-economic backgrounds. Twenty percent of Bowdoin students come from families who make $630,000 or more a year. Sixty-nine percent come from families in the top 20 percent of income earners in the country. Only 3.8 percent come from the bottom 20 percent. Increased racial diversity has not changed the fact that exclusive schools cater almost entirely to a wealthy population. To the Editor: Re Breyer to Retire, Giving Biden a Court Pick (front page, Jan. 27): Although I am saddened that a jurist of Justice Stephen Breyers skills and temperament is retiring, I expect that the Democratic majority in the Senate will be able to provide a full hearing and bring President Bidens nominee to a confirmation vote. I hope that Senator Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues will not drum up a flimsy excuse to block the president from carrying out his constitutional duties of filling a vacant seat, as happened with Merrick Garland. Republican senators, be ready with your questions, but put the nation above politics and allow Mr. Biden to fill this seat on the high court. Edwin Andrews Malden, Mass. To the Editor: Re Biden Promised a Black Woman on the Supreme Court, by Charles M. Blow (column, Jan. 27): The Black women mentioned as potential Supreme Court nominees seem eminently qualified. That said, President Bidens promise to appoint a Black woman was as offensive to me as someone promising to appoint a white male would have been. Imagine the outrage. In case of failure, everything could still be up for grabs, I believe, except the decision to build such a telescope in the first case. Building it required the best of humans: cooperation and devotion to knowledge, daring and humility, respect for nature and our own ignorance, and the grit to keep picking up the pieces from failure and start again. And again. This is unbelievable. Were about 600,000 miles from Earth, and we actually have a telescope, Bill Ochs, Webbs project manager at the Goddard Space Flight Center, said when the telescope finally unfolded its golden wings earlier this month. We stagger upward under the weight of our knowledge of our own mortality. In the face of the ultimate abyss that is destiny, we can find honor and dignity in the fact that we played the cosmic game to win, trying to know and feel as much as we can in the brief centuries allotted to us. Once, long ago in another lifetime, I happened to sit next to Riccardo Giacconi, one of the great captains of Big Science and later to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, on a flight to a conference we were both attending in San Diego. At the time he was with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and looking forward to the launch of his dream project, a satellite later named the Einstein Observatory that would record images of X-rays from violent objects like black holes. Dr. Giacconi, however, had proposed naming his satellite Pequod, after the doomed ship Ahab had commanded in pursuit of Moby Dick, much to the amusement and bafflement of his colleagues. So I asked him why he wanted to name his dream creation after a doomed whaler. Dr. Giacconi replied that he liked the connection of the whaling story to New England. Then he began a disquisition about Dante, of all people. During the poets tour of hell in the Inferno section of the Divine Comedy, he finds Odysseus being consumed by flames, as punishment for his sins, schemes and scams during the Trojan War and subsequent wandering trip back home. Odysseus tells the story of his life and voyages, how he got back to Ithaca but was then bored and set off with his men on a voyage through the Pillars of Hercules into the great unknown western sea. When his crew got nervous and wanted to turn back, he told them to buck up. The Federal Communications Commission said on Thursday that a state-owned Chinese telecom operator can no longer operate in the United States for national security reasons, as officials in Washington go further to limit the influence of Chinese companies over American consumers, businesses and communications networks. The agencys four commissioners voted unanimously to revoke the license for the American subsidiary of China Unicom, saying the company could access or reroute American communications and engage in spycraft. The commission also accused China Unicom, one of Chinas largest mobile service providers, of misleading the agency and Congress. China Unicom said in a statement that it has a good record of complying with relevant laws and regulations and providing telecommunication services and solutions as a reliable partner of its customers in the past two decades. It said the F.C.C. hadnt given it the required due process and that it would proactively protect the rights and interests of the company and its customers. The F.C.C.s decision comes amid persistent tensions between Washington and Beijing over Chinas influence in global technology and telecommunications. PARIS When Moliere first presented Tartuffe, in 1664, Louis XIV is said to have laughed his head off at the plays satire of religious zealots. The zealots in question were less amused: Tartuffe was swiftly censored and only re-emerged five years later, in an expanded and softened version. The 1669 Tartuffe, in five acts, is the classic play everyone in France knows, about a pious fraud who weasels his way into a bourgeois familys home and attempts to steal both wife and fortune. Yet this month, 400 years after the birth of Moliere, the original or a reconstruction, at least returned to the stage in a sleek and moody production directed by Ivo van Hove for the Comedie-Francaise. Tartuffe opened Frances yearlong celebration of Molieres quadricentennial, an event that is no small matter for the Comedie-Francaise: The houses permanent ensemble was born in 1680 from the fusion of Molieres own acting troupe and the players of the Hotel de Bourgogne. The Comedie-Francaise considers Moliere its founding father, and ensemble members know their way around his wittiest lines like no one else. Van Hove at least gave them something new. The 1664 version of Tartuffe was recreated a few years ago by two researchers, Georges Forestier and Isabelle Grellet, using Molieres own sources. To understand what the play might have been like in three acts, they went back to commedia dellarte and other 17th-century stories, which the plot of Tartuffe partly mimics. Still, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. They, along with all the other visitors who filled the majority of Punta Canas roughly 42,000 hotel rooms that January weekend, were part of what many consider a rare pandemic tourism success story. In December the Dominican Republic drew 700,000 visitors from abroad, more than it had attracted not only before the pandemic, but in any single month ever, according to the Ministry of Tourism. That pushed 2021 totals to nearly five million visitors, more than any other country in the Caribbean. In December, some financial analysts calculated that the country was having its best year economically in 30 years. And Punta Cana isnt the only getaway thats booming in the Dominican Republic. Las Terrenas, a small seaside town that tends to attract a crowd that despises all-inclusives, has exploded in popularity during the pandemic. The Dominican Republics visitor figures have to do, in part, with its unconventional strategy for gaining a competitive advantage. Unlike most Caribbean beach destinations, the country doesnt require proof of vaccination, a Covid test or quarantine for most incoming travelers. Instead, authorities have chosen to manage Covid by pushing vaccination and mask wearing among those who interact with tourists. Nearly 100 percent of the 174,000 people who work in the tourism sector are vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Tourism. And though all-inclusive resorts require only a reservation to enter, many banks, government institutions and some shopping malls require proof of vaccination or a recent P.C.R. test. I have a mortgage payment, little kids in school and a husband who lost his job. Im the financial backbone of my family, and Im fortunate to make a salary that enables us to cover our bills. I really dont know what else I would do, so I make the best of it. Jenny Burnett, registered nurse, Concord My co-workers and I keep each other going by supporting, finding humor in things, being good listeners. This is a job where you are always needed. Lindsey Stover, registered nurse, Los Angeles My hospital sees very underserved patients who have very little interaction with the health care systems, and these are the patients Ive committed myself to serving. My colleagues and fellow staff keep me going each day. Its always a great time being with them. Seeing how generous my co-workers are watching them give so much of themselves for their work and their community inspires me to keep going alongside them. Dr. Jessica Martin Moreno, emergency medicine resident, Fresno Our nurses need to not feel more abandoned than they already are. I see how hard theyre working, that they keep showing up, and it keeps me showing up. Joanna Mello, assistant nurse manager, Sacramento As an Indigenous woman, Im just trying to do my best to help my people and others like us survive this pandemic. Im doing good work in a community health center that tries to help the most vulnerable. And even if I get death threats or scorn and yelled at by those who misunderstand what were doing, my family sees me. And loves me. And I can come home every night knowing that in my last days, Ill have done everything I could to keep my loved ones, and yours, safe. Dr. Kalamaokaaina Niheu, family medicine, Albany On a cold, sunny November afternoon, Helen Harris dashed through the diamond district. She did not have a deadline, per se, and nothing to rush for scurrying is simply how one maneuvers through this section of Midtown Manhattan, through which so many diamonds that enter the United States eventually pass. Ms. Harris, 40, was doing her rounds, picking up and dropping off pieces of her jewelry to polishers, engravers and diamond setters. Like the intricate mouthpieces of gold and diamonds she makes for clients including the rapper Big Sean, the fashion designer Brandon Blackwood, and the models Indira Scott and Solange Van Doorn Ms. Harris attracts attention. As she walked, with a black Burberry trench draped over her 6-foot-tall frame, heads turned and eyes followed. When she spoke, the trillion-cuts in her gold grills caught the light. Her chains, one with a five-inch Jesus pendant, bounced on her neck to the tempo of her footsteps. If she made me and you the same type of grill, we would still have a personal connection to it, Mr. Blackwood, who also has other pieces of her jewelry, including a Rolex that she outfitted with diamonds, said in a phone interview. Wu Qiuyue peels winter bamboo shoots at a yard in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue looks for winter bamboo shoots at a bamboo forest in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue dries radish at a yard in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue slices cured meat when shooting short videos in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue learns about the feedback of customers in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Aerial photo taken on Jan. 18, 2022 shows a view of Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue's younger brother shoots a video of her grinding tofu at a yard in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue edits video with her younger brother in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue looks for winter bamboo shoots at a bamboo forest in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue and her family shoot a short video about their daily life in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue watches the video shot by her younger brother in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) Wu Qiuyue (2nd L) packs dried radish with workers in Zhuhai Village of Baijie Town of Naxi District, Luzhou, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2022. Years ago, Wu Qiuyue used to work in an electronics factory in south China's Shenzhen. Later, in order to take care of her parents and daughter, she and her husband Huang Zhongping decided to return to her hometown to start a business together. At the beginning of 2020, the couple, with certain experience in e-commerce, began to try short video shooting, and opened an account on the short-video platform Douyin to record farming over the four seasons in the village. She has now become an influencer with more than 10.8 million followers and has received more than 110 million likes. "My videos are all about the original rural life. Many people who work far away from their hometown may feel the warmth of home after watching our videos. Some people live in the city are also happy to learn about life in countryside through the videos we shared." Wu said. As their followers grew, Wu and Huang decided to sell agricultural products. Therefore, they began to make and sell dried pickled radish using radish grown in the mountains in Litang County, Sichuan. In their first live broadcast, they received more than 10,000 orders, and the sales volume has increased steadily since then. In 2021, nearly 40 million kilograms of radish have been sold to all over the country, which has not only opened up the market for more than 100 radish growers, but also provided jobs for more than 200 locals in Luzhou. They planned to build a dried radish processing factory in Litang County in the new year, so as to promote the employment of local farmers in the county. By exploring new forms and applying new technologies, Wu Qiuyue and his husband have made great difference in rural revitalization. "I grew up in the countryside. I want to promote the specialties of my hometown and bring the good things in my hometown out of the mountains." Wu said. (Xinhua/Liu Kun) A school board in Tennessee voted unanimously this month to ban Maus, a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, from being taught in its classrooms because the book contains material that board members said was inappropriate for students. According to minutes of its meeting, the 10-person board, in McMinn County, Tenn., voted on Jan. 10 to remove the book from the eighth-grade curriculum. Members of the board said the book, which portrays Jews as mice and Nazis as cats in recounting the authors parents experience during the Holocaust, contained inappropriate curse words and a depiction of a naked character. There is some rough, objectionable language in this book, said Lee Parkison, the director of schools for McMinn County, in eastern Tennessee, according to minutes of the meeting. Art Spiegelman, the author of Maus, said he was baffled by the decision. This is disturbing imagery, he said in an interview on Thursday, which is Holocaust Remembrance Day. But you know what? Its disturbing history. HOUSTON When Texas authorities began charging migrants who crossed into the state from Mexico with trespassing last year, officials quickly encountered a problem: The two small rural counties tasked with prosecuting the cases became overwhelmed. Among the many issues crowded jails, a lack of defense lawyers there were not enough judges, particularly in Kinney County, a border community about 120 miles west of San Antonio where the states effort has been most aggressively enforced. Three retired judges were brought in by the state to help, starting in the late summer. Then, last month, the county attorney accused the judges of impropriety. The next day, all three were replaced with others handpicked by the top county official, Tully Shahan. WASHINGTON President Biden said on Thursday that he would name a successor for Justice Stephen G. Breyer by the end of February, calling the retiring jurist a model public servant in a time of great division and pledging to take what he called the overdue step of putting a Black woman on the court for the first time in its 232-year history. Justice Breyer, who served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court for nearly 28 years, formally announced his retirement in a letter to Mr. Biden that was delivered Thursday morning. He called it a great honor to have participated in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the rule of law. Justice Breyer plans to stay on the court through the end of the current term this summer, and he said he would not leave until a successor had been confirmed by the Senate. His departure will give Mr. Biden his first opportunity as president to put an imprint on the courts direction, setting off what may be a monthslong confirmation battle in Congress. The president used the ceremonial moment to lament how politically polarized the country had become and to hint at the partisan rancor that he expects to erupt no matter who he chooses to replace Justice Breyer. He recalled a time in the 1970s when the justice, then a Democratic lawyer on Capitol Hill, would regularly meet with his Republican counterparts. President Bidens pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court which appears to be on the verge of being fulfilled has generated howls of criticism from some conservatives. Tucker Carlson, the Fox News host, railed against the idea on his show Wednesday evening, accusing Mr. Biden of forgetting about this law stuff and focusing instead on identity politics as a measuring stick for qualifications to be a justice. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, said that in his search for diversity, Mr. Bidens was using a criterion that the court itself has found unconstitutional for public educational institutions and unlawful for businesses. But it may be that the presidents critics have a short memory. In 1980, Ronald Reagan used a similar demographic promise as he fought for support among female voters in his battle for the White House against Jimmy Carter. WASHINGTON Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, was finally closing in on a hard-fought agreement with Republicans on a gun safety measure, following a string of horrific shootings in 2019, when the talks suddenly collapsed. New plans in the House to impeach President Donald J. Trump meant that Republicans were no longer in the mood to compromise with Democrats on anything, and the emerging accord went the way of so many seemingly promising ones on Capitol Hill in recent years, stymied by Republicans who said they were willing to accept some sort of deal just not that one. The world has become so polarized that our Republican colleagues come so very close to closing a deal, but then they begin staring down the abyss of their base and they recoil, said Mr. Blumenthal, who attributed the Republican recalcitrance to fear of a political backlash for any cooperation with Democrats. The same has been true for other politically charged issues where efforts at compromise have ended up going nowhere in Congress. Republicans initially seemed willing to engage on legislation addressing immigration and police misconduct, for example, only to abruptly pull back, blaming Democrats for what they called unreasonable demands or a refusal to take hard steps that might anger their liberal supporters. WASHINGTON Justice Stephen G. Breyers successor at the Supreme Court may turn out to possess a blazing intellect, infectious charm and fresh liberal perspectives. But there is no reason to think the new justice will be able to slow the courts accelerating drive to the right. Indeed, the courts trajectory may have figured in Justice Breyers retirement calculations, said Kate Shaw, a professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Theres a good chance, she said, that the dynamics on the current court both the speed and magnitude of the change thats coming had some impact on Breyers decision to go now. He may have figured, she suggested, that someone else might as well try to stand in the way of a juggernaut committed to fulfilling, and fast, the conservative legal movements wish list in cases on abortion, guns, race, religion and voting. In a letter to President Biden on Thursday, Justice Breyer, 83, said he would step down at the end of the Supreme Courts current term, in June or July, if his successor has been confirmed by then. But that liberal-for-liberal swap will do nothing to alter the power and ambitions of the courts six-member conservative supermajority. WASHINGTON After North Korea ushered in the new year with four sets of ballistic missile tests this month, the Biden administration turned to a well-thumbed page in the Washington playbook: It called for more United Nations sanctions. China and Russia blocked the proposal last week in the U.N. Security Council. And Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, appears unfazed by the threat of more U.N. and Treasury Department sanctions he fired off two cruise missiles on Tuesday and two more ballistic missiles on Thursday, for a total of six weapons tests this month, equal to the number for all of last year. This is a deeply isolated, autarkic economy, said John Delury, a professor of history at Yonsei University in Seoul. No amount of sanctions could create the pressures that Covid created in the last two years. Yet, do we see North Korea begging and saying, Take our weapons and give us some aid? The North Koreans will eat grass. Heavy sanctions imposed by President Bidens two immediate predecessors have not pushed Mr. Kim any closer to giving up his nuclear weapons program, and a critical element usually coupled with sanctions diplomacy has so far been missing from Mr. Bidens approach, analysts say. Mr. Austin, a former four-star Army general with combat experience, pledged in November to overhaul military procedures and hold top officers responsible for carrying out changes. In his memo, he ordered a standardized reporting process on civilian harm, the creation of a military center of excellence and the completion of a comprehensive new policy on the issue that has been in the works for nearly two years. Mr. Austins directive also follows a decision by Congress to impose restrictions on some military funds until the Pentagon submits that civilian casualty policy. It also comes on the same day that the RAND Corporation published a congressionally mandated report evaluating the militarys processes and procedures on civilian casualties. Congress has been briefed on the directive. While some progress has been made on the Departments response to allegations of civilian harm, it is clear that more must be done, Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. The RAND report found considerable weaknesses in the militarys approach to evaluating the deaths and injuries of innocents, most notably deficiencies in carrying out investigations and identifying root causes or lessons that could allow the military to better prevent civilian harm. In interviews, several members of the military who witnessed civilian casualties said that they repeatedly filed formal reports to the authorities but never received any response, and that airstrike teams rarely spoke about how to avoid future accidents. One Air Force officer said this week that the reports seemed to disappear into the ether. The memo does not state whether longstanding calls for the military to investigate civilian harm on the ground will be a part of the centers work. Israel S. Dresner, a New Jersey rabbi who ventured into the Deep South in the 1960s to champion civil rights, befriended the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was jailed multiple times for demonstrating against racial segregation, died on Jan. 13 in Wayne, N.J. He was 92. His death, at a senior living center, was caused by colon cancer, his son, Avi, said. By the time Rabbi Dresner joined the civil rights movement, he was already a veteran of political protests, having been arrested at 18 in 1947 outside the British Empire Building at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan in a protest against Britains refusal to let the Exodus, a ship loaded with Holocaust survivors, land in British-controlled Palestine, an incident that inspired the novel of the same name by Leon Uris in 1958 and a subsequent film. In 1961, as part of the first Interfaith Clergy Freedom Ride to the South, Rabbi Dresner and nine others, known as the Tallahassee Ten, were charged with unlawful assembly in trying to integrate an airport restaurant in Tallahassee, Fla. NEW DELHI Some children have forgotten the alphabet or what their classrooms look like. Others have dropped out of school entirely, scrounging for work and unlikely to ever resume their studies. For years, India has been counting on its vast pool of young people as a wellspring of future growth, a demographic dividend, as many liked to put it. Now, after two years of the coronavirus pandemic, it is looking more like a lost generation, crushing the middle-class dreams of families looking for better opportunities for their children. Hundreds of millions of students across India have received little to no in-person instruction with schools intermittently shut down since the start of the pandemic. As pandemic restrictions are lifted, then reimposed, schools are often the first places to close and the last to reopen. Mahesh Davar, a farmhand in central India, is pained to see his young sons working beside him. He and his wife toiled in the fields to send their boys, now 12 and 14, to school, hoping it would secure them better jobs and easier lives. Photo taken on Sept. 24, 2015 shows the national flags of China (R) and the United States as well as the flag of Washington D.C. on the Constitution Avenue in Washington, capital of the United States. (Xinhua/Bao Dandan) China and the United States, as the world's two largest economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, should bear in mind the fundamental interests of the people of both countries, follow the trend of global development, and well implement the important consensus reached between the two heads of state, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said. BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday held a phone conversation over China-U.S. relations and the current situation in Ukraine. The top priority for China and the United States at present is to truly implement the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden during their video meeting in November last year, said Wang. During the video meeting, Wang recalled, Xi summarized the experience and lessons of China-U.S. exchanges over past more than half a century, and put forward three principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, charting the course for the healthy development of China-U.S. relations. Biden responded positively by then, and said that the United States neither seeks a "new Cold War" with China, nor pursues a change in China's system, the revitalization of its alliances is not anti-China, and the country does not support "Taiwan independence," and has no intention to have conflict and confrontation with China, sending a positive signal which is different from the previous U.S. administration, said the Chinese foreign minister. However, Wang said, what the world has seen is that there has been no substantive change in the tone of the U.S. policy towards China and Biden's pledges have not been fully delivered. The U.S. side is still making erroneous words and deeds related to China, which have dealt a new blow to bilateral relations, Wang added. Noting that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the "Shanghai Communique," Wang said that China and the United States having no intention of changing each other is the precondition of the normalization of bilateral relations, and should be the guarantee of peaceful coexistence between the two countries in the future. Competition between major countries is not the theme of a post-pandemic world that will encounter new situations and challenges, nor will it address the problems facing the United States and countries worldwide, Wang said. Photo taken on Oct. 28, 2021 shows the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) China and the United States, as the world's two largest economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, should bear in mind the fundamental interests of the people of both countries, follow the trend of global development, and well implement the important consensus reached between the two heads of state, he said. Wang said the two countries must have a good grasp of the general direction of bilateral ties, take concrete actions to fulfill commitments, expand the positive aspects of bilateral cooperation, and manage differences constructively. Pressure will only make the Chinese people more united, and confrontation will not stop China from becoming stronger, he stressed. At present, the top priority for the U.S. side is to stop interfering in the Beijing Winter Olympics, stop playing with fire by playing the "Taiwan card," and stop forming all kinds of small cliques aimed at working against and containing China, he said. For his part, Blinken said it is important for the two sides to maintain regular communication, stressing the position that U.S. President Joe Biden elaborated in the virtual meeting between the two heads of state has not changed. The United States and China have shared interests as well as differences, Blinken said, noting the United States is ready to manage differences responsibly. The U.S. stance on the one-China policy remains unchanged, he said, and the United States will cheer for its athletes who participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics and wish the Chinese people a happy Chinese New Year. U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at the White House in Washington, D.C., the United States on Jan. 24, 2022. Biden reiterated Tuesday that there is no intention in his administration or within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to send troops into Ukraine, but that Russia will face serious economic consequences if it invades the former Soviet republic. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua) Blinken then stated the U.S. position on issues including the issue of Ukraine. The Chinese foreign minister said to address the tensions in Ukraine, it is necessary to return to the 2015 Minsk Agreements approved by the Security Council, which is a fundamental political document recognized by all parties and should be implemented in earnest. China will support any effort that conforms to the direction and spirit of the agreements, he said, adding China calls on all parties to remain calm and refrain from inflaming tensions or hyping up the crisis. Wang stressed that the security of one country should not be at the expense of the security of others, and regional security should not be guaranteed by strengthening or even expanding military blocs. In the 21st century, all parties should completely abandon the Cold War mentality and form a balanced, effective and sustainable European security mechanism through negotiations, he said, adding Russia's legitimate security concerns should be taken seriously and addressed. Follow the latest coverage of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. MOSCOW In the early years of Vladimir V. Putins tenure as Russias leader, the countrys military was a hollowed-out but nuclear-armed shell. It struggled to keep submarines afloat in the Arctic and an outgunned insurgency at bay in Chechnya. Senior officers sometimes lived in moldy, rat-infested tenements. And instead of socks, poorly trained soldiers often wrapped their feet in swaths of cloth, the way their Soviet and Tsarist predecessors had. Two decades later, it is a far different fighting force that has massed near the border with Ukraine. Under Mr. Putins leadership, it has been overhauled into a modern sophisticated army, able to deploy quickly and with lethal effect in conventional conflicts, military analysts said. It features precision-guided weaponry, a newly streamlined command structure and well-fed and professional soldiers. And they still have the nuclear weapons. The modernized military has emerged as a key tool of Mr. Putins foreign policy: capturing Crimea, intervening in Syria, keeping the peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and, just this month, propping up a Russia-friendly leader in Kazakhstan. Now it is in the middle of its most ambitious and most ominous operation yet: using threats and potentially, many fear, force, to bring Ukraine back into Moscows sphere of influence. The gunman fled the scene, leading to a sprawling manhunt that lasted for hours before a suspect was taken into custody, according to the police. The man was identified as Artemiy Ryabchuk, and the authorities said he was born in 2001 but released few other details. Image A picture released on Thursday by Ukraines Interior Ministry was described as the arrest of a man identified as Artemiy Ryabchuk. Credit... Ukraine Interior Ministry, via Agence France-Presse - Getty Images The investigation was taking place against the backdrop of a geopolitical struggle. The Kremlin has been pushing to reduce the Western presence in a region it considers within its sphere of influence, repositioning troops to increase pressure and demanding assurances that NATO will not allow Ukraine to become a member. Earlier this month, the United States said Russia had dispatched intelligence agents and saboteurs into eastern Ukraine to stage a provocation, with industrial infrastructure seen as a potential target. That made the site of Thursdays attack of special interest. The shooting took place at what was once one of the Soviet Unions largest missile factories. American officials have long seen the factory, commonly known as Yuzhmash, as posing a risk of weapons proliferation. The Ukrainian police said that the gunman opened fire shortly before 4 a.m., as soldiers were collecting their weapons in a guard house. There were 22 people in the room at the time, the authorities said. Four of those killed were soldiers, and the fifth was an employee of the factory, the police said. Five other people were wounded. The gunman fled the scene, leading to a sprawling manhunt that lasted for hours before a suspect was taken into custody, according to the police. The man was identified as Artemiy Ryabchuk, and the authorities said he was born in 2001 but released few other details. Image A picture released on Thursday by Ukraines Interior Ministry was described as the arrest of a man identified as Artemiy Ryabchuk. Credit... Ukraine Interior Ministry, via Agence France-Presse - Getty Images Even as the investigation proceeded, the episode was caught in the murkiness of a broader geopolitical struggle between the West and Russia, in which the Kremlin is trying to reduce the Western presence in a region that it considers within its sphere of influence. U.S. officials have warned that Russia could employ disinformation, paramilitary attacks and sabotage. This month, the United States said Russia had dispatched intelligence agents and saboteurs into eastern Ukraine to stage a provocation, with the regions industrial infrastructure seen as a potential target. The site of the shooting was a tightly guarded aerospace and rocket factory commonly known as Yuzhmash, which was once a production site for intercontinental ballistic missiles and which American officials have long viewed as posing a risk of weapons proliferation. It is precisely the kind of strategic location that Western officials are watching intensely. They worry that Russia might point to any sign of instability inside Ukraine as a pretext for a military intervention. Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said this month that the United States believed Russia was potentially seeking to manufacture events that it could cite as a reason to invade, including through sabotage. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android. BNEI BRAK, Israel For the ultra-Orthodox public in Israel, he was a charismatic mix of soul healer, role model and media star. So it came as a great shock when Chaim Walder, a celebrated and prolific author of childrens books, commentator and child and family counselor, was accused of sexual assault and abuse of women and children. Coming months after the exposure of sexual abuse accusations against Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, another prominent, albeit less liked, figure in the ultra-Orthodox community, some have described the Walder affair as a #MeToo moment for Haredim, the Hebrew term for the ultra-Orthodox, which means those who tremble before God. Jordanian troops killed 27 people they described as armed drug smugglers who were trying to cross the border from Syria under cover of a snowstorm Thursday, a spokesman for the Jordanian Army said. The people were killed after they opened fire on Jordanian soldiers as they tried to cross the border in three groups on foot, the army said. They were using the weather to disguise their movement, a common tactic, the army said. Regarding the casualties, this is biggest we have seen, Col. Mustafa Al Hiyari, of the Jordanian Army, said in a phone interview with The New York Times. Several others suspected of being part of the smugglers operation, some whom were injured, retreated back to Syrian territory, Colonel Hiyari said. He said that no Jordanian soldiers were injured. If an ectopic pregnancy grows and causes the fallopian tube or other organ its growing in to rupture or bleed heavily, you might have more intense abdominal pain and bleeding; and also dizziness, light-headedness, pain in your shoulder or low blood pressure. Get diagnosed. If your provider suspects an ectopic pregnancy, shell typically first measure the level of the pregnancy hormone hCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, in your blood. The level will help your doctor figure out if it is a normal pregnancy, as well as if youre pregnant at all, said Dr. Loretta Strachowski, M.D., a clinical professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. Your doctor may repeat the blood test later, to see if the hormone is rising at the expected rate of a normal pregnancy or not. In an early normal pregnancy, the hCG level is expected to double in 48 hours; if its an ectopic, it wont rise at that rate. If youre pregnant, your provider will likely also do an ultrasound at the same time (or refer you to a lab or imaging center that does it) to see if your pregnancy is where it should be in your uterus. Under normal circumstances, doctors can spot a pregnancy in the uterus when your hCG level has reached a certain threshold. If we dont see a pregnancy in the uterus at that level, then we become more concerned about an ectopic pregnancy, said Dr. Diouf. You may need to come in again for more blood tests so your doctor can monitor your hCG level and do another ultrasound. Diagnosis isnt always made on the first visit, explained Dr. Strachowski. Get treated. Because doctors cant move an ectopic pregnancy to the correct location in your uterus, youll most likely need treatment to remove the pregnancy either with medication or with surgery. Medication. The less invasive option is medication, which your doctor will likely try if youre stable and dont have certain medical conditions, such as kidney or liver disease. Methotrexate, a chemotherapeutic drug, is most commonly used and is typically injected into your upper arm or buttocks in one dose (or possibly multiple doses). It basically stops the ectopic pregnancy from growing, explained Dr. Andrew Horne, M.B., Ch.B., a professor of gynecology and reproductive Science at the University of Edinburgh. Common side effects include mouth sores and skin inflammation. Follow-up appointments which are typically scheduled two or three days after treatment, and again a few days after that will ensure your hCG level is dropping and that the drug is working. If it is, youll then have weekly visits until your provider has determined that the hormone level has diminished to the point where youre no longer considered pregnant. In 7 to 14 percent of cases, the ectopic pregnancy will still rupture the organ where it occurs, even with treatment. Its also possible that the drug wont completely resolve the ectopic pregnancy, and you might still end up needing surgery. For these reasons, its important to attend follow-up visits. If you cant, methotrexate may not be the right option for you. Often, Colussi said, patients come in looking for an exercise to do for 10 minutes every day. But the question is not whats a good exercise, she said. Its more about how people move in every one of their daily activities, from getting out of bed to picking up mashed fruit off the floor to lifting babies out of their cribs. The proper way to pick up that mashed fruit or a baby in a car seat is to squat down, keeping your center of gravity over your hips and not tilting forward. Then exhale, engage your abs and straighten up using your leg muscles, not your back. Dont put up with painful sex. Its common to feel discomfort or pain the first few times you have penetrative sex after childbirth, but after that, dont put up with it. The first step is of course to go slowly and be gentle with yourself. Often ob-gyns will advise using an over-the-counter lubrication product, because breastfeeding suppresses estrogen production, and estrogen produces lubrication, explained Dr. Alison Stuebe, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and chair of the taskforce that wrote the newest American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines for postpartum care. But lube is just a beginning, our experts all agreed. In addition to dryness, pain during sex can be caused by pelvic floor dysfunction, other tight or stretched muscles or scar pain from a tear or episiotomy during a vaginal birth. Sex can hurt for patients whove had C-sections as well, because both C-sections and the process of pregnancy can stretch or tighten muscles. Ask your obstetric care provider for a referral to pelvic floor physical therapy. Dr. Stuebe also directs patients to The Parents Guide to Doing It, an episode of The Longest Shortest Time podcast with sex advice columnist Dan Savage as a guest. Savage discusses types of sex other than penetration. Unfortunately, some women experience pain with any kind of sex, usually from increased nerve sensitivity, said Colussi. Seek help if you feel pressure in your vagina. Some women come to Colussi saying they feel pressure in their vagina, like something is obstructing their bowel movements, or like a dry tampon is half falling out of me, she said. Sensations like these could mean a pelvic organ prolapse, when an organ (uterus, bladder or urethra) shifts from its original position or presses against the vaginal wall. Prolapse is probably the thing women are least prepared for, said Colussi. Severe prolapses can be fixed with surgery or alleviated with a pessary (a support in the vagina to prop up the prolapsing organ), but milder prolapses can be managed just by lying down more frequently and avoiding high levels of pressure in your abdomen, Colussi said. Oftentimes for a woman it feels a lot worse than it actually is, she said, but in other cases prolapse can be more severe than it feels, so it makes sense to see a health care provider. To better manage pressure levels in your abdomen, dont bear down when pooping; and exhale instead of inhaling or holding your breath when you exert yourself. If you find yourself grunting and then holding your breath when you lift something heavy, try exhaling instead. Ask your doctor about scar pain. If you feel pain in your C-section scar or scar from a tear or episiotomy, see your medical provider. A doctor may recommend scar massage or scar mobility treatments from a postpartum physical therapist. However, be aware, scientific data on the effectiveness of scar massage is limited because it has barely been studied, Dr. Stuebe said. A 2011 paper concluded that scar massage is anecdotally effective but found that surgical scar massage of any kind had only been studied in a tiny sample size of 30 patients. Scar pain is common. A year after giving birth, a study found, 18 percent of women who had C-sections still had pain at the incision site, and 10 percent of women who had vaginal births still felt pain in the vagina or perineum (the area between the vagina and the anus). This story has been updated. Visit the latest Ukraine map. Russia has continued to mass forces on the Ukrainian border, with troops now surrounding the country on all sides, including in Belarus and Transnistria, a Russian-backed breakaway region of Moldova. 10,000 5,000 Troops Artillery Armored vehicles Tanks Other military or air installations 1,000 Moscow Russia has begun moving troops, armor and advanced antiaircraft systems into Belarus, a close ally. Yelnya Baranovichi POLAND Around 130,000 Russian troops have been deployed near the Ukrainian border. Asipovichy BELARUS Klintsy Pochep Brest Rechytsa Marshala Zhukova Pogonovo RUSSIA Forces deployed north of Ukraine could stretch the countrys forces thin and threaten its capital, Kyiv. Kyiv Soloti Boguchar Volgograd KAZAKHSTAN UKRAINE MOLDOVA Luhansk Donetsk Approximate line separating Ukrainian and Russian-backed forces. Persianovskiy Tiraspol Nearly 20,000 troops are near two breakaway provinces, where Ukraine has been locked in a grinding war with Russian-backed separatists since 2014. ROMANIA Rostov-on-Don SEA OF AZOV CRIMEA Korenovsk CASPIAN SEA BULGARIA BLACK SEA 200 MILES 10,000 5,000 Troops Artillery Armored vehicles Tanks Other military or air installations 1,000 Moscow BELARUS Yelnya Baranovichi Around 130,000 Russian troops have been deployed near the Ukrainian border. POLAND Asipovichy Rechytsa Brest Klintsy Marshala Zhukova RUSSIA Pogonovo Russia has begun moving troops, armor and advanced antiaircraft systems into Belarus, a close ally. Kyiv Soloti Boguchar KAZAKHSTAN UKRAINE MOLDOVA Luhansk Volgograd Donetsk Approximate line separating Ukrainian and Russian-backed forces. Persianovskiy Tiraspol Nearly 20,000 troops are near two breakaway provinces, where Ukraine has been locked in a grinding war with Russian-backed separatists since 2014. ROMANIA Rostov-on-Don SEA OF AZOV CRIMEA Korenovsk CASPIAN SEA BULGARIA BLACK SEA 200 MILES 10,000 5,000 Artillery Armored vehicles Tanks Other installations Troops 1,000 Moscow Yelnya BELARUS POLAND Around 130,000 Russian troops have been deployed near the Ukrainian border. Baranovichi Klintsy Asipovichy Pochep Rechytsa Brest RUSSIA Pogonovo Russia has begun moving troops, armor and advanced antiaircraft systems into Belarus, a close ally. Kyiv Soloti Boguchar UKRAINE KAZAKHSTAN Approximate line separating Ukrainian and Russian-backed forces. Luhansk MOLDOVA Volgograd Donetsk Persianovskiy Tiraspol ROMANIA CASPIAN SEA Rostov-on-Don SEA OF AZOV Korenovsk CRIMEA Nearly 20,000 troops are near two breakaway provinces, where Ukraine has been locked in a grinding war with Russian-backed separatists since 2014. BULGARIA BLACK SEA 200 MILES 10,000 Artillery Other installations 5,000 Troops Armored vehicles 1,000 Tanks Moscow Yelnya BELARUS Around 130,000 Russian troops have been deployed near the Ukrainian border. RUSSIA Russia has begun moving troops, armor and advanced antiaircraft systems into Belarus, a close ally. Kyiv Luhansk UKRAINE Donetsk CRIMEA Nearly 20,000 troops are near two breakaway provinces, where Ukraine has been locked in a grinding war with Russian-backed separatists since 2014. BLACK SEA 200 MILES 10,000 Other installations Artillery Troops 5,000 Armored vehicles 1,000 Tanks Moscow Yelnya BELARUS RUSSIA Kyiv UKRAINE Luhansk Donetsk CRIMEA BLACK SEA 300 MILES Source: Rochan Consulting. The New York Times Note: Numbers for newly arrived troops to Belarus, parts of Crimea, and western Russia are rough estimates. A build-up of Russian forces near the border with Ukraine has raised concerns among Western and Ukrainian officials that the Kremlin might be preparing for significant military action, possibly an invasion. This map, compiled by The New York Times, shows troops, tanks and heavy artillery moving into positions that threaten to widen the conflict in Ukraines east and potentially open a new front on Ukraines northern border, closer to the capital, Kyiv. From there, they can also menace the countries on NATOs eastern flank. Russia currently has about 130,000 troops on the Ukraine border, according to Ukraines military. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the Kremlin has drawn up plans for a military operation involving up to 175,000 troops that could begin in the coming weeks. While it is not clear whether President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia has decided to launch an attack and Moscow has said repeatedly in recent weeks that it has no plans to do so analysts say the country is well on its way toward constructing the architecture needed for a significant military intervention in Ukraine. This map represents a snapshot of current Russian positions, as well as broad estimates of the number of troops and kinds of equipment deployed within striking distance of Ukraine. It is based on information obtained by Ukrainian and Western officials as well as independent military analysts and satellite imagery. Much of the buildup so far, according to officials and military analysts, has involved troops and equipment that take time to deploy, including tanks and heavy armor, some of which have traveled by train from bases as far away as Siberia. Before launching a significant military operation, Russia needs to deploy reserve soldiers and logistical infrastructure, like field hospitals, that until recently appeared to be missing from positions near Ukraine, analysts say. But these elements along with additional troops have been moving into some areas of Russian deployment, Ukrainian and western officials say. Much of the attention so far has been directed at the buildup of forces near two breakaway provinces in eastern Ukraine, Donetsk and Luhansk, where the Ukrainian military has been at war with Russian-backed separatists since 2014. The separatist forces, which include Russian troops and Ukrainian fighters opposed to Kyivs rule, number about 30,000, according to an assessment by the Ukrainian military. Since the start of 2021, Russia has moved an additional five battalion tactical groups into the border area near Luhansk and Donetsk, including about 5,000 soldiers sent to reinforce the 12,000 or so stationed there permanently, according to Ukrainian authorities. Just as significant, according to officials and military analysts, are the forces massing north of Ukraine in areas such as Klintsy, at the point where the Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian borders meet. Russia has also begun ferrying troops, armor, fighter jets and advanced antiaircraft systems into Belarus, a Russian ally and Ukraines northern neighbor, putting a growing force within range of Kyiv. Russias Defense Ministry says the buildup in Belarus is purely for military exercises scheduled to begin Feb. 10. But, American officials and NATO say these exercises could be a pretext for deploying troops meant to threaten Ukraine and put NATO allies on edge. HAMZA SYED Since I pitched this story as my student project, I've always felt that if it was to make any difference what you need is proof. Incontrovertible, unassailable, beyond a doubt proof of who authored the Trojan Horse letter, and we didn't have it. Brian and I had a lot of compelling circumstantial evidence of who might have written the letter, and a sound theory of why it might have been written, but that wasn't going to be enough. The Trojan Horse Affair means something to powerful people in my country, to its political and media class, to our decision makers and mood sayers. When they're looking to justify policies or generate political support, it's part of the infrastructure that allows them to shorthand that Muslims are dangerous. When others have pushed back against a Trojan horse narrative they've done it by calling out the Islamophobia and racism that drove the affair, focused on the damage it's done to Muslims in Birmingham and Britain. But none of that's really worked. And I think it's because that approach requires people to care about Islamophobia, to care about Muslims. And we're a long way from that. That's why I'd focused on the letter. I believed exposing the author of Operation Trojan Horse would give us an agnostic fact, would sidestep the need for people to care, and would force everyone to acknowledge what really happened here, even if it's through gritted teeth. And it's also why we're headed to Perth, Australia, our next and final stop in this investigation. And it wasn't just Brian and me going. We're taking with us to Perth, stay with me now, this is a very multicultural moment, a South African dentist we met in a windswept town on the coast of Wales named Achmad DaCosta. We didn't plan to travel to Australia with Achmad. The adventure we'd end up on together, it started with a visit to his tiny flat in the town of Cardigan. ACHMAD DACOSTA Hello. HAMZA SYED Hi. ACHMAD DACOSTA Nice to meet you. So you are from America. BRIAN REED I'm from America. It's my first time to Wales. ACHMAD DACOSTA Oh my. BRIAN REED We'd driven to Wales to see Ahmed, because we wanted to ask him about Rizvana Darr. Ahmed had moved with his family from South Africa to Birmingham some years back, where he began volunteering as a governor in schools. We'd heard that he and Rizvana Darr had been close once. Before she went to Adderley, Mrs. Darr worked at the school where Achmad was chair of governors, Oldknow Primary School. Achmad stayed friends with Mrs. Darr after she moved on from Oldknow, would go visit her at Adderley, where his wife was also a governor. And then the Trojan Horse Affair happened. Because of the scandal, Achmad was banned from education, labeled an extremist in the newspapers, and ended up shutting down his old dental practice in Birmingham and taking a position here in Cardigan. ACHMAD DACOSTA This used to be the mosque before. HAMZA SYED Oh, really? BRIAN REED Right in this room? ACHMAD DACOSTA This you see on the floor? You see the lines that are behind you? They used to pray in this room. BRIAN REED As we stepped inside his place, Achmad pointed out the faint lines in his carpet, which showed people were to stand for prayer back when his apartment used to be a mosque. Now, the mosque is downstairs in a little storefront space, The Cardigan Islamic Cultural Center. Achmad could live anywhere in town. He makes a fine living as a dentist. But he told us he likes the convenience and familiarity of this place. Easy to pray, easy to get halal takeout at Abdul's Curry Shop next door. Hamza and I were hoping, because Achmad knew Mrs. Darr, he might have some useful information for us about the Adderley dispute or even the Trojan Horse Letter. But Achmad made it clear pretty quickly, he wasn't interested in discussing Rizvana Darr. ACHMAD DACOSTA So I can't speak bad about what happened with the teaching assistants, I don't know. I wasn't there. What happened with the Trojan Horse Letter, I know many of my colleagues say that she wrote it. I don't know. But what I do know is, my relationship with her was extremely good. She was an outstanding teacher. I only love Riz. I only have good to say. BRIAN REED Achmad told us he didn't have much interest in the Trojan horse letter or its origins at all. Still, we ended up staying at Achmad's the whole day. Because being with him, it was like recognizing a far flung relation, someone seemingly as preoccupied as we were with straightening out what had happened during this whole affair. There was plenty Achmad did want to talk about, Adderley aside. What he was prepared to discuss, and when I say prepared, in the middle of the room he had a tripod set up with a projector on it. ACHMAD DACOSTA But let me just -- is this thing, I'm sorry, it's not one. BRIAN REED Was the legal case he was building against the government for what they'd done at Oldknow Primary School during the Trojan Horse Affair. It was pretty similar to what happened at Parkview, a school that was rated outstanding until the Trojan Horse letter broke. This is how we'd spend the next few hours, taking in an exhaustive presentation of volumes of files Achmad saved from Oldknow, which he projected from his laptop on the wall above his bed. BRIAN REED This is like a spreadsheet full of text messages? ACHMAD DACOSTA Yeah, so this is word for word, literally day by day, text. BRIAN REED Also emails, meeting minutes, school paperwork. HAMZA SYED Did you create this timeline yourself? ACHMAD DACOSTA I did. BRIAN REED Achmad is hoping he can convince The Solicitor to build a case out of this material to hold the officials involved accountable. That was Achmad's main reason for talking to us. He was very clear. He doesn't have a high opinion of journalism, but he thought possibly our story could catch the interest of a lawyer willing to help him pro-bono. All this effort Achmad was putting in, it wasn't even to exonerate himself. He was trying to help another person the Department for Education banned, the former head teacher at Oldknow. The guy had only gotten the job a couple of months before the Trojan Horse letter went public. Achmad says any Islamising that the government was concerned about at the school, this new head teacher had little to do with. He'd just taken charge. If anything, Achmad says the changes at Oldknow are on him as chair of Governors. Achmad felt responsible for the head teacher losing his career, still feels responsible. At one point, Achmad got up to stir something delicious smelling on the stove, a South African rice dish. I looked around and I realized it almost seemed like he was camping out. The drafty flat, the twin bed he was apparently stuffing himself into each night. Achmad is a big guy, well over six feet tall. The space heater, the ironing board doubling as a side table. There was no artwork or photos or anything personal in there, apart from piles of red and blue and green document boxes filled with hard copies of Trojan Horse records, which Achmad told me he lugs around every time he moves house. I asked him, where's your family, by the way? Your wife? Kids? ACHMAD DACOSTA Currently, they're in South Africa, yes. BRIAN REED Permanently? And then you're just here? ACHMAD DACOSTA Permanently, yes. But I can't leave until this justice, this Trojan horse. BRIAN REED Oh, that's why you're here? ACHMAD DACOSTA Yes. BRIAN REED Solely because you want to try and get justice for this whole Trojan Horse thing? ACHMAD DACOSTA Yeah, I can't go back permanently until he has at least some form of recourse or justice. Just because I know at some point we're going to go to court, isn't it? Someone will come along. If not you, if your story, someone, somewhere, the truth always come out. And on the side of truth is time. HAMZA SYED Something about Achmad became apparent as the day went on. He was driven to talk at length about the Trojan Horse scandal, and the lies he was sure the whole thing was based on. But when Brian and I would try to bring up the place where it seemed like the whole thing started, Adderley and the Trojan Horse letter, he would pull back. BRIAN REED Do you remember, can you remember when you first heard about the Trojan Horse letter? ACHMAD DACOSTA Oh my word, I can't remember that. BRIAN REED Do you remember when you first read it? ACHMAD DACOSTA I don't think I ever did it. HAMZA SYED You've never read the Trojan Horse letter? ACHMAD DACOSTA No. HAMZA SYED This is the letter that started it all. ACHMAD DACOSTA I know. HAMZA SYED This guy, who is living thousands of miles away from his family to seek justice for the Trojan Horse Affair, had never read the Trojan Horse letter. It beggared belief. We tried to get him to read our copy now. BRIAN REED Five or 10 minutes and just read that, and let us know what you think. ACHMAD DACOSTA Why would you want me to read it? BRIAN REED Because you've never read it, and we want to talk to you about it in detail. ACHMAD DACOSTA Yeah, but I don't read like you read, you see. I like to read with a pen and a highlighter. Do you see on there, the back, there's colored pencils HAMZA SYED Do all of that. While you do that, I'll make a cup of tea. HAMZA SYED He barely looked at it. But later, as Achmad was doing the dishes and plating up a New York style cheesecake he'd bought especially for Brian -- ACHMAD DACOSTA There's some cheesecake in the fridge. HAMZA SYED -- his avoidance of Adderley and the letter started to relent. ACHMAD DACOSTA But the whole Trojan was, I don't know, it's very -- who have you spoken to of Adderley leadership team? BRIAN REED Who have you spoken to from the Adderley leadership team, Achmad asked us. We told him we weren't having much success with that one. Nobody. And that's when Achmad started talking about Mark Walters. Mark Walters, the former deputy head teacher of Adderley Primary School, who had offered that curiously late testimony, saying he was inside the room with Rizvana Darr as she opened the envelopes from the Muslim teaching assistants and pulled out resignation letters. It turned out Achmad knew Mark too, because Mrs. Darr, Mark had also worked at Oldknow. And after Mrs. Darr took the job at Adderley, Mark joined her. ACHMAD DACOSTA I liked Mark, because he was a very good teacher. He was a gentleman, nice man. BRIAN REED Mark had taught Achmad's kids. He'd given special attention to his older son, who'd been having a hard time academically. Achmad and his wife credit Mark with turning their son's whole school career around. Mark had been to Achmad's house. Achmad wrote references for him. He and Mark and Mrs. Darr would see each other at a local tutoring center on Saturdays. They even talked about going to South Africa together to do work in schools there. ACHMAD DACOSTA However, when Trojan Horse happened, Park View was in the front in the newspapers. But I said, look, Oldknow is going to be next. So then I contacted Riz, there is an email there, and I said, the inspector said they're coming to Oldknow. Can you write me, can your email me something that I can present to these people because you were in the school, that there is no extremism in Oldknow. I didn't hear a word from her. I heard nothing from her. BRIAN REED You've never heard from her since? ACHMAD DACOSTA Not a word since then. She was like my sister, almost. Our relationship was very good. I was shocked. For me, that was the biggest shock. BRIAN REED Achmad also wrote to Mark Walters asking for the same support. Mark ignored him too. And then, he'd up and moved to Australia without Achmad ever seeing him again. Achmad told us he was sure Mark had firsthand knowledge about the TA resignations at Adderley, and maybe about the Trojan Horse letter too. He said if we were interested in nailing down who wrote the letter, Mark was definitely someone worth pursuing. ACHMAD DACOSTA But if he's pressured, he will speak. BRIAN REED You really, you think if he was pressured, he would speak? ACHMAD DACOSTA If he was -- I don't doubt. BRIAN REED Because we've contacted him. We've written him and called. ACHMAD DACOSTA Yeah, he will speak. In fact, on my Facebook I put in Mark Walters a million times to try and find him. BRIAN REED Really? ACHMAD DACOSTA The weakness I can tell you is Mark Walters. HAMZA SYED About a week after our visit to Wales I got a message from Achmad. Salaam, Hamza, can you text me Mark Walters phone number, school and home address, please? Thanks. [PHONE RINGING] We gave Achmad the call. [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] And we could tell Mark had been on his mind since we left. ACHMAD DACOSTA I can't believe that he would let us all be accused falsely for so long. HAMZA SYED We told Achmad we're thinking of flying to Australia to try to speak to Mark. We knew it was a little crazy. It's a long way to go for an interview with someone who might or might not help us crack open this mystery, but we're kind of desperate. Over the course of the call, we realized -- ACHMAD DACOSTA I would have liked to have looked him in the eye to talk to him. HAMZA SYED Achmad was considering a trip too. We all decided it made some sort of weird sense for us to go together. BRIAN REED Can you even go to Australia? I don't even know, don't you have a dental practice? HAMZA SYED As a friendly intermediary, Achmad thought he could help us get our meeting with Mark. But also, Achmad could use a trip to try and get something he wanted, which is personal. He wanted Mark to simply say to him I know you're not an extremist. I know you're not some dangerous plotting Muslim. ACHMAD DACOSTA I want him to say it to my face. HAMZA SYED And so, we were off to see Mark Walters in Australia, on a glimmer of hope that he could help us put this letter and the affair it started to bed. From Serial Productions and the New York Times, I'm Hamza Syed. BRIAN REED I'm Brian Reed. ACHMAD DACOSTA I'm Achmad Dacosta. HAMZA SYED This is the Trojan Horse Affair. [MUSIC] We arrived at our hotel near Perth, me from Birmingham, Achmad from Wales Brian from New York, a little worse for wear. Achmad had delayed a foot surgery to accommodate our trip, and being all cramped up on a long haul flight had not been friendly to him. ACHMAD DACOSTA So my feet were really giving me -- were really sore. I bought new trainers last week and my feet have been killing me. My feet was killing me. HAMZA SYED Oh, no. ACHMAD DACOSTA You see the top of my -- you can see. HAMZA SYED Yeah, yeah. HAMZA SYED His foot did look bad, but there's nothing I could do for him. All good, Achmad said. He put his trainers back on. ACHMAD DACOSTA The truth has to come out somehow, isn't it? HAMZA SYED Those were his actual words as he did up his shoes. Swollen feet be damned, Achmad was on a mission. ACHMAD DACOSTA Because we don't solve -- HAMZA SYED We turned up to Australia with the following information. We knew that Mark Walters was a deputy principal in a suburb of Perth. We'd called and emailed him several times over the previous year, but never heard back from him. We'd also found a home address for an M Walters right nearby his school. That's where we decided to approach Mark, at his home rather than at work. Brian and I would knock by ourselves first, without Achmad and no recorders. We figured that would be a little less scary for him. BRIAN REED All right, man, you ready? HAMZA SYED Nervous. BRIAN REED We're walking over. You're nervous? HAMZA SYED A little bit. Around 6:30, we headed to Mark's condo complex. It had just gotten dark. BRIAN REED OK, I feel good. I feel, I'm going to crack jokes. Or I'm just going to be self-aware and say that I know this is surprising. HAMZA SYED Just, yeah, just. BRIAN REED Let's be there for each other. Let's both be involved, OK? HAMZA SYED Yeah, yeah, of course. BRIAN REED All right. I'm turning this off. Ready? HAMZA SYED All right. [MUSIC] [LAUGHTER] BRIAN REED We don't know if it was him showering. BRIAN REED We'd walked up to Mark's condo, and as I was about to knock on the door I heard a shower going through the window beside us. HAMZA SYED I mean, it probably is him showering. BRIAN REED We decided to wait in the car for a roughly shower length amount of time, then headed back to the condo to try again. HAMZA SYED I don't like seeing you nervous, because then you make me nervous. BRIAN REED I wasn't nervous. HAMZA SYED Just mellow out. BRIAN REED Yeah. HAMZA SYED And chill, and then I'll be chilled. BRIAN REED Yeah, I'm not nervous. HAMZA SYED All right. BRIAN REED Fuck, oh, mate. Fuck. HAMZA SYED This way. BRIAN REED Wrong address. The unit was home to a Frenchman blasting club music with his friend and a case of booze. He said he didn't know if a Mark Walters used to live there or not. Our best shot had evaporated like that. It was Friday night, which meant we had two days to try and find Mark at home. HAMZA SYED Were you asleep? ACHMAD DACOSTA No, no, no, I'm just relaxing. HAMZA SYED I'm recording, by the way. BRIAN REED Back at the hotel, we debriefed Achmad. ACHMAD DACOSTA You successful in anything? BRIAN REED I wouldn't use the word "successful," no. ACHMAD DACOSTA Oh, that doesn't sound good. BRIAN REED Wrong address. Some French guy. But anyway, we found another address that looks actually quite nearby, and also likely. ACHMAD DACOSTA You do know what he look like? HAMZA SYED Yeah. BRIAN REED Yeah. But we're going to go in the morning, at 8:30. HAMZA SYED Early the next day, we woke up a woman who was not Mark Walters. Tried another address, another woman, also not Mark Walters. Brian and I joked that Mark might have chosen the greater Perth area as a new home, not only for its remoteness and stunning weather, but also for its noticeably high concentration of M. Walters per capita. And then suddenly, Achmad popped up. He emailed us a file. He'd tapped up a realtor who shared him on a database of property sales to people named Mark Walters all over Western Australia. Over lunch, I started flicking through the attachment, and a woman's name jumped out at me. It was Brazilian sounding. I had a vague memory of somebody in Birmingham saying something about Mark being Brazilian or marrying a Brazilian. I googled her name, and her Pinterest page came up with a picture of her and Mark. HAMZA SYED That's Mark, right? That's Mark. BRIAN REED That's his wife. HAMZA SYED That's Mark, that's his wife. BRIAN REED That's their address. HAMZA SYED That's their address. BRIAN REED Achmad! Now we're, now this is it. HAMZA SYED Yeah, I know. BRIAN REED This isn't crap shoots anymore. HAMZA SYED I'm going to get a double espresso. BRIAN REED Yeah, I'm going to get a nice smoothie for the road. HAMZA SYED Yeah. BRIAN REED All right, texting Achmad. We've located the right house. Headed there now. We'll report back later. HAMZA SYED Yeah. BRIAN REED He's typing. Thumbs up and a heart. Have you prayed today? HAMZA SYED I prayed this morning. BRIAN REED Aren't you supposed to do a prayer right now? HAMZA SYED Yeah, all right, man, let's not bring that in. God, I'm on the road. BRIAN REED We needed all the help we could get. HAMZA SYED I'll pray, I'll pray before we leave this place. BRIAN REED You could pray on the beach. HAMZA SYED I can, actually. BRIAN REED That'd be really nice. HAMZA SYED Yeah. BRIAN REED Hamza wandered over to a grassy knoll, overlooking the Indian Ocean. There was a breeze blowing. He prayed. [MUSIC] BRIAN REED Good prayer? HAMZA SYED Good prayer. BRIAN REED Good spot. HAMZA SYED Felt strong. BRIAN REED Yeah, really nice. HAMZA SYED It really, really was nice. I should put my shoes back on. Should we do it? BRIAN REED I think it'll help to articulate just to get in the right frame of mind. Why should Mark tell us what he knows? What if he's just like, why do you guys care about this? HAMZA SYED Quite honestly, it's like it's about making him realize that something that began so insignificant had such a profound impact on so many lives. Because I'm talking about generally what was happening in those schools, the message that you don't have to strip everything that you stand for, the values that you're born with or you live by, it can all be achieved without you having to lose yourself and become something else. It's not a binary choice. I'm either this or I'm that. In order for me to be successful, I have to be a certain kind of person and be a certain kind of way and believe in a certain kind of thing. If I'm precious about my belief system, if I'm precious about my background, if I'm precious about my culture, all of these things will actually hold me back and there's no success for me, and so I have a choice. No, that's not true. So I don't know how we're going to put all that across on a doorstep of someone who clearly does not want us there. It's going to be difficult. ACHMAD DACOSTA No, but this is helpful. This is why. I needed to get this back in my head because we've been so much in the minutia of the White Pages and Google Maps. This is good. I feel good. HAMZA SYED Ready? BRIAN REED Yeah, let's go. HAMZA SYED All right. BRIAN REED Let's go to his house. [PHONE RINGING] ACHMAD DACOSTA Hello. BRIAN REED Hey, Achmad, it's Brian. ACHMAD DACOSTA Hello. BRIAN REED OK, so it didn't go great. BRIAN REED We're sitting in our rental car in a strip mall parking lot about 100 yards from Mark Walters'S house. BRIAN REED Yeah, we knocked, he answered the door. I said Mark Walters? He said, who's asking? I said I'm Brian Reed. I'm sure this is very surprising. And he said you need to get off the property now, and slammed the door shut. ACHMAD DACOSTA That's not very good, is it? BRIAN REED No. And we stood out there knocking a bit saying we don't mean to cause you distress. We're just doing our job. We think it's really important to talk. Please, hear us out for five minutes. We've come all this way. And then we -- I don't know if I mentioned this to you, but we had written a letter in which we explain that you're here, and how much you respect him and how you're hoping to speak to him. And so anyway, right before we left I said I shouted in I'm leaving you a letter, Mark. Please, read it. We left the letter in the door. And then we kind of sat on the curb across the street for a while. No one's stirring. And now, we're kind of just in a shopping center outside where he lives. ACHMAD DACOSTA Yeah, I will just go speak to him. I'll go to -- I don't think he will shut the door in my face. His first reaction is normal. The first reaction to most journalists is where you want to shut the door in their face. So I don't think you must be surprised about that. BRIAN REED So you've been on the receiving end of this, I see? ACHMAD DACOSTA Yes, I have been, unfortunately. Normal people are just generally scared of journalists. Journalists tend not to write the truth. You see, so this is why people are scared. And if you are a crook, then you also scared of journalists because they might write the truth. So either way, the people that are honest and dishonest, don't like journalists. You have a lot of power over people's lives, and people feel very helpless. And especially, now for him, because this is now his new home. You are going to bring all the bad news back to his new life and he doesn't want that. And I think he's also a victim in all of this nonsense that went on. I don't think he is the bad guy. So no, I'll go speak to him. That's not a problem. BRIAN REED We went back to the hotel and found Achmad in his room. ACHMAD DACOSTA Oh, you horrible man. You went to torture Mark. BRIAN REED By this point it was late. We wanted to give Mark a chance to read the letter we left for him, lodged above the front doorknob. We'd take Achmad over to Mark's first thing in the morning. While we were out all day, Achmad had made friends with the taxi driver at the mosque downtown who'd offered to bring us some curry for dinner. We sat in Achmad's hotel room while we waited. Achmad asked if he could take a look at some of the court files from the Adderley employment case. He hadn't seen them before. I gave him the witness statements from Rizvana Darr and Mark Walters, and he lounged on his bed in a white t-shirt and sweatpants, reading them. And I think he was surprised how much of their narrative struck him as odd. ACHMAD DACOSTA You see, part that I don't understand that makes no sense, Brian, it says here in the first few parts, parents were criticizing and making derogatory remarks about the head teacher in the playground. BRIAN REED There are parts in the statements about conservative Salafi parents hurling abuse at Mrs. Darr on a daily basis, which Achmad had a lot of trouble picturing. ACHMAD DACOSTA Why would you take abuse for years? That makes no sense. BRIAN REED There were protocols for dealing with angry parents at schools. And especially knowing Mrs. Darr, how authoritative she was, Achmad couldn't imagine her just taking it. ACHMAD DACOSTA I'm not saying that there is no unruly behavior, but it's very easy to deal with it. So if this had been going on for years, that make no sense to me. Because no headteacher -- BRIAN REED Unless it was just really a unique kind of beyond situation. ACHMAD DACOSTA No, no, no. BRIAN REED Which is what they're claiming it was really bad. ACHMAD DACOSTA But what I'm saying is, she is a very forceful person. Mrs. Darr is very forceful. And she will allow the parent to abuse her day in, day out. Does it make sense to you? Just think logically. Don't try and be a journalist or don't be -- just use simple minds. BRIAN REED Achmad had started off relaxed on the bed. Now, reading what his old colleagues had sworn to in a tribunal, he was agitated. ACHMAD DACOSTA You see, this is why I don't read these things. It just -- BRIAN REED You asked to read it. ACHMAD DACOSTA Yeah, I know. But I don't want to read this, Brian. BRIAN REED All right. Sleep well, get some rest. Get some rest, OK. Let's be fresh. Thank you for the evening. BRIAN REED We called it a night. I was in my room down the hall about to get in bed when there was a knock at the door. It was Achmad. He said he couldn't sleep. Could I lend him Mark Walters' witness statement for the evening, he asked. [MUSIC] ACHMAD DACOSTA I read this last night, and I read it again this morning. BRIAN REED Hamza and Achmad and I are headed to Mark's early the next day, Sunday. Achmad dressed up for the occasion, a pressed shirt and blazer, and he has Mark's witness statement in his hands. ACHMAD DACOSTA What do you understand by the term overacting? BRIAN REED Overacting. ACHMAD DACOSTA I know my wife sometimes will say, oh, what a terrible actor, or something. They will take she's overacting. And how do you guys understand that? HAMZA SYED You're exaggerating your emotions, like more than a normal person would. BRIAN REED Or you're not being truthful in your performance. You're being a little hokey or fake. ACHMAD DACOSTA That's what I thought of the resignation. BRIAN REED Achmad reads Mark Walters account of the day the envelopes arrived from the three Muslim TAs. ACHMAD DACOSTA I'll start with the first one. "On the 6th of December, 2012, at approximately quarter past 1:00, I was in route to Mrs. Darr's office for a prearranged meeting." I'll come back to the bits that stand out. "As I approached the main school admin office, Mrs. Darr appeared at the doorway. I was accompanied by the other deputy head teacher, Anila Ashraf. I walked the few steps directly into Mrs. Darr's office. Mrs. Darr held the door open for us and I saw she had multiple envelopes in her hand. The three of us entered the office and sat down at a large meeting table, and I recall noting that the envelope looked thicker than usual. As I commenced discussions --" OK, let's stop there. "I recall noting that the envelopes looked thicker than usual." That is something silly to say. That don't fit. BRIAN REED I was actually, when you just read that aloud I noted that too. ACHMAD DACOSTA That doesn't fit, because they come in all the time with envelopes and why would you say that? Just sounds suspicious to me. That's just added for overacting. And the resignation letters, I'm told, are two sheets. How does two sheets make and envelope look thick? BRIAN REED True. ACHMAD DACOSTA It just don't feel right. It's overacting. And then she open it up in front of them every time. It's very convenient with all of these resignations, they're all together. Mark is there, Anila is there, and she's there. She's keeping the door open for them. That's all true, but I've been in the office multiple times. And she's not necessarily -- I just find it -- well, maybe it happened like that. But I just find that strange. BRIAN REED When we first met him a couple of months earlier in Wales, Achmad was very reluctant to accept the possibility that these people he thought highly of, Rizvana Darr and Mark Walters, might have done something untoward regarding the resignation letters. By the time he trekked to Australia, I think it's fair to say he'd concluded that something had gone awry, but he wasn't sure what precisely. And whatever had happened, he seemed to imagine that everyone's motives had been unmalicious, a forgivable mistake. But this morning, on our way to Mark Walters' house, Achmad had come to see Rizvana Darr and Mark Walters' response to the TAs as calculated. ACHMAD DACOSTA I think these people were driving Riz up the wall, and she wanted to get rid of them. That's just what my gut is telling me. And reading this man's response don't make that disappear. It feels choreographed. If it was the truth, she would have had no problem to say I was in my office, I opened it up. I saw these resignation letters. I called in my deputies and assistant, you understand? She would have had no issue. But I don't believe that they were in the room when she opened it. BRIAN REED That's it, right? BRIAN REED We pulled up to Mark's. BRIAN REED Letter's still there. HAMZA SYED The letter's still there. ACHMAD DACOSTA Where do you guys see the letter? BRIAN REED The envelope we'd left for him was still wedged in the front door. ACHMAD DACOSTA Oh, the letter is still there. It's stuck on the door. BRIAN REED And his car, a yellow Toyota, also appeared not to have moved since we were here yesterday. ACHMAD DACOSTA Now, let's go knock. There's no point us hanging around. You came all the way from the UK to meet this man, so let's go meet him. BRIAN REED After the break, Achmad knocks. BRIAN REED All right. ACHMAD DACOSTA I'll see you gentlemen. BRIAN REED All right, good luck. HAMZA SYED All the best. HAMZA SYED Sunday morning, Achmad is walking up to Mark Walters' one story house on the edge of a walled in development near Perth. Brian and I are parked a few houses down. HAMZA SYED This is crazy. BRIAN REED All right, I'm looking through the back. He's at the door. HAMZA SYED He's knocking. BRIAN REED He's knocking. Nothing. HAMZA SYED I'm so nervous for him. He's so brave. BRIAN REED Yeah, I'm nervous too. He's kind of pacing at the door right now. HAMZA SYED He stepped away a bit. Oh, he's knocking quite close to there. BRIAN REED He's pacing in front of the house now. He's doing a wide pace, hands in his pockets, beige blazer, khakis. HAMZA SYED If you do have eyeballs on the front, and you're Mark, and you don't know DaCosta is here now you're going to be like, what fresh hell is this? Two journalists at my door yesterday, now I have a giant ex-colleague pacing around my front lawn. BRIAN REED How long has it been? HAMZA SYED It's been about seven minutes. BRIAN REED It's been that long? I thought it just felt that long. HAMZA SYED No, it's genuinely been long. It's starting to become a scene, isn't it? BRIAN REED I'm aware of the neighbors. HAMZA SYED I know. BRIAN REED Oh, there's a dog. He doesn't like dogs. HAMZA SYED No. BRIAN REED I thought this time would creep, but it's actually flying. I'm so on edge. HAMZA SYED I think the neighbors told him to clear off. BRIAN REED Oh, really? HAMZA SYED I think so. BRIAN REED OK. HAMZA SYED And he's watching him come back to our car. BRIAN REED Oh, he looks a little dejected. ACHMAD DACOSTA Well, the neighbor say why you knocking? Because I'm knocking all the time, it's quite loud. HAMZA SYED Achmad got in the passenger seat. ACHMAD DACOSTA But there's not a word, not a whisper, nothing in the house. BRIAN REED Did you shout? Did you say it's Achmad? ACHMAD DACOSTA All the time. I went to the windows, by each window, and this is what must have frightened the neighbors. I'm knocking loud and. BRIAN REED What did you say? ACHMAD DACOSTA I said Dr. DaCosta, Mark, Achmad, I want to speak a few minutes. Repeated it over and over and over like a lunatic. The neighbors can hear me. So surely he can hear me if he's inside. HAMZA SYED He can definitely hear you. ACHMAD DACOSTA So he must be inside. The letter is still in the door. We were on very good friendly terms. I planned for him and Riz to come to South Africa to come help us with our schools there. And it's very sad that it all ended in such disastrous fashion for everyone. HAMZA SYED We went for lunch and came back. ACHMAD DACOSTA The envelope's gone. HAMZA SYED Finally, some thrilling signs of action. ACHMAD DACOSTA Since we've been here this morning, the light wasn't on. The light is on now. BRIAN REED Maybe he went to stay at a family member's house or a friend's house. HAMZA SYED We sat there idling, unsure what to do. BRIAN REED Now, I'm just bored. HAMZA SYED I was behind the wheel. Suddenly, Achmad and Brian noticed someone behind us. A woman, Mark's next-door neighbor, was coming at the car aggressively with a phone out, photographing us. BRIAN REED This neighbor. ACHMAD DACOSTA There's the young lady taking a picture of the car. BRIAN REED Yeah, I'm going to go talk to her. I'm going to go talk to her. ACHMAD DACOSTA Yes. Take your things with you. Look more like a journalist. BRIAN REED Hi, ma'am. HAMZA SYED Achmad told Brian to take his recorder with him, because he looked more like a journalist. But in his rush to intercept the neighbor, Brian left it in the backseat, running. HAMZA SYED It's better he steps out. HAMZA SYED Brian walked up to the woman and offered her a business card to introduce himself, but she wouldn't take it from him. She kept clutching her phone with a scowl on her face and continued taking pictures. Then a man we assume was her husband came down the driveway. ACHMAD DACOSTA He don't look happy either. Hey, Mark, you could stop all of this. Just open the bloody door. HAMZA SYED Oh, Mark, you could stop all of this. Just open the bloody door, Achmad mumbled. Now, the woman was right outside Achmad's window, with her phone in his face. HAMZA SYED Ma'am, why are you taking pictures of us? SPEAKER Because you're harassing us and you're stalking. HAMZA SYED Harrassing? SPEAKER And we've already told the police. We know exactly who you are. HAMZA SYED Harrassing you? We've got nothing to do with you. SPEAKER This is our neighborhood. This is our neighborhood. Leave. HAMZA SYED But we're not coming to speak to you. HAMZA SYED I could still see Brian in my side mirror, gesticulating and talking to the husband. ACHMAD DACOSTA I would like to know what Brian is saying. He's a bit of a diplomat, isn't he? HAMZA SYED He's just probably trying to explain what he's doing. I don't know what. ACHMAD DACOSTA The husband looked very aggressive. I don't know if he's still. But you see now, it's a natural instinct when you look the same. Birds of a feather flock together. So they will listen to him a bit more than if I to be there. HAMZA SYED Oh, yeah, obviously, they wouldn't give us two minutes. But I mean, the fact that he's managed to keep him talking for this long is good enough. ACHMAD DACOSTA Yeah, I think he's a good decent diplomat. HAMZA SYED Yeah, he's good for this stuff. ACHMAD DACOSTA He can speak. HAMZA SYED He's good for this stuff. I would've lost my patience about 20 minutes ago. ACHMAD DACOSTA I would just ignore them. HAMZA SYED I don't think that went well. ACHMAD DACOSTA I don't think so either. The demeanor is not very good. They don't look happy. Have we upset the neighbors? The neighbors are not very happy. BRIAN REED We got to go. HAMZA SYED I can't believe this shit. BRIAN REED That was crazy. That woman's like we know who you are, we know what's going on. This isn't Birmingham. We know the story. We know what's happening. HAMZA SYED What? BRIAN REED Yeah. HAMZA SYED Birmingham? How did they know that? ACHMAD DACOSTA So you must have spoken to them. BRIAN REED And they said he's not there. They said he's left, he's not even here again. I said that's fine if that's true, that's good to know. The wife was I mean, way more upset than the husband. They said they called the police. I said I'm happy to speak to the police. We're not doing anything wrong. [BEEPING] HAMZA SYED Put your belt on. BRIAN REED They said, why are you filming his house? I said we're not filming. We have a microphone. You're welcome to look at it. We're talking to each other in the car. We've not filmed. He said who are the two cronies who were filming yesterday? I said, I've been here every time. I'm with these guys. HAMZA SYED Basically, the Browns, she's worried about two Browns. ACHMAD DACOSTA She came to the car and said get out of our neighborhood. BRIAN REED Yeah, no, I think there was some undertones there, for sure. HAMZA SYED I sensed an ethnic apprehension in her voice. BRIAN REED Yeah. She just kept saying we know what the story is. We know what it's about. We know who you are. We know who you are. We know who you are. HAMZA SYED But how does she know the story? That's what I'm interested in. BRIAN REED They seemed to know, because I said, well, it's a story about a school that he used to work in. I'm here all the way from New York because as part of my job I need to make sure before I air it that I get a chance to talk to him and give him a chance to respond. He said, well, he's obviously not interested. He's obviously not interested. I said, I understand that. This is a situation where I still need to make sure he responds. It's unpleasant, I'm sorry that I freaked you guys out. He doesn't want to deal with this shit, is what he said. ACHMAD DACOSTA They look so angry. Their physical demeanor looks so aggressive and so angry. BRIAN REED She was very upset. She was like, you're liar, you're a liar, you're a liar. I said I'm a journalist. She said you're a liar. ACHMAD DACOSTA I can understand they may be upset because they feel there's something going on that they're not sure what's going on. HAMZA SYED Right, so come and ask questions. ACHMAD DACOSTA So then yes. HAMZA SYED Yeah, come and ask questions. Just don't charge out. BRIAN REED Well, I think he told them something. BRIAN REED Achmad took in what this could mean. The way the couple was speaking to me, Mark doesn't want to deal with this shit, you're a liar, this isn't Birmingham, it seemed like not only was Mark avoiding him, but he might have said something bad about Achmad or about all of us to his neighbors. ACHMAD DACOSTA OK, get out of our neighborhood. What do you mean, get out of your neighborhood? I'm glad you experienced it a little bit. When you said x, and she said no, you're lying. Because that's what we experience all the time as Muslims. HAMZA SYED But they would have calmed down because you spoke to them, Brian. If I had gone out of the car, I don't think they would have been very calm. ACHMAD DACOSTA For sure. You OK, because you were in their neighborhood and your neighborhood. HAMZA SYED To be honest, it would have ended in minutes, because I would've just stepped out. Just fucking bug the shit out of them. ACHMAD DACOSTA Your colleague is a bit more aggressive than you, Brian? BRIAN REED This guy gets riled up. This has happened before. HAMZA SYED I don't understand like why, honestly, I don't understand why you have to take it. BRIAN REED I wasn't taking it. HAMZA SYED No, not you, I just mean in general. I mean, the royal you. The royal you. You did well, you did really well. ACHMAD DACOSTA For me, there's a bigger picture. Don't let them distract you. If you want to slowly show people the reality of Muslims, then you have to be better than them. It don't take -- HAMZA SYED I don't know -- ACHMAD DACOSTA I know, I don't expect you to agree with me. HAMZA SYED You have to go above and beyond to be treated equally. It's like, forget that. Also, I feel like, all right, so if I walk on tiptoes and eggshells, you might ignore me. But it's like you know what, you're going to think whatever you think of me anyway. ACHMAD DACOSTA What I'm saying is, the Brown person, you will always be seen as the aggressor. BRIAN REED You bummed, Achmad? ACHMAD DACOSTA I'm just disappointed. BRIAN REED You seemed pretty confident that he would talk to you. ACHMAD DACOSTA Yeah, I was. If I could meet him in person, he would speak to me. BRIAN REED Well clearly, you being here hasn't helped, judging from filtered through the osmosis of his neighbors, it sounds like he didn't frame it well. He didn't seem sympathetic to your being here or moved by your being here. I'm sorry, Achmad. ACHMAD DACOSTA No, no, it's not a problem for me. People change. But I don't know, I think he's just scared of me. My gut tells me that he's a pawn in all of this as well. HAMZA SYED We might just have to sit here and accept the fact that we are not going to get the truth. ACHMAD DACOSTA No, no, no, no, no, I believe that we can get the truth. You might not be able to get the truth. We can get the truth in a court of law. HAMZA SYED Right, but then, OK, rephrasing that basically means that the truth is further delayed. ACHMAD DACOSTA But that is this is what I've told. For me, the goal is not the end. My goal is just the struggle. And if you have that vision, then you're never completely defeated. You have to be patient. HAMZA SYED It was somewhere along this aimless car ride that I realized we weren't going to get an answer. We weren't going to know for sure what happened in Rizvana Darr's office that day with the envelopes, or why Mark Walters and Anila Ashraf's testimony about it was delayed for so long. We weren't going to find out whether Mark or Anila Ashfraf gave true accounts of what they saw. We don't know whether they did anything wrong at all. And most disappointingly, we weren't going to get a confession out of anyone involved in crafting the Trojan Horse letter, not the author or authors, or a firsthand witness. Meaning, we have no ability to say for sure who wrote the letter or why. Which is pretty much what Brian told me was going to happen the first night I met him. Standing backstage, as I blurted out my pitch for the story, what he said to me was, it's going to be really hard to figure out who wrote the letter. You're probably not going to prove it. But he also told me that doesn't mean the story isn't worth doing. Because if I was doing it right, I still make revelations along the way that could be meaningful. What we can tell you is this. Once upon a time, a head teacher named Rizvana Darr was in trouble because of four teaching assistants and Birmingham City Council investigators. We can say a strange letter appeared in the nick of time, claiming the TAs and the city council were part of a Muslim plot, and that they had conspired to frame Mrs. Darr. We can say that this letter was very useful to Mrs. Darr, that she brandished it around insisting she was a victim of conspiracy, and ultimately her name was cleared. We can say the police knew the letter was bogus, and that was told to Michael Gove, that Sue Packer raised an alarm, that Peter Clark produced his plot, no plot, maybe plot, but I won't say plot report. And we can tell you about two essential eyewitnesses to the envelope opening, who Adderley Primary School kept puzzlingly hidden for nearly a year. But whether these revelations are meaningful, I doubt it. I believe without someone saying I wrote the letter, or I have proof of who wrote the letter, the Trojan Horse Affair will rumble on and on. At one point in the car, as Achmad was going on again about journalism being useless, Brian asked him a question, which he might as well have been asking me. ACHMAD DACOSTA Because people -- BRIAN REED But wait, can I ask you this? Why are you participating with us? Why are you talking to us? ACHMAD DACOSTA I don't know. It's a good question. Because I trust -- HAMZA SYED Why bother with this at all then, with journalism? Achmad thought about it for a second. ACHMAD DACOSTA In Islam we are taught that when you are oppressed, you have to speak if you can't change it physically. The only alternative is to speak. One of the highest forms of, I don't like to use this word because it's not understood very well, the word is jihad. But one of the highest forms of sacrifice is to speak against the dictator or an oppressor and tell him to his face that he is an oppressor and a dictator. HAMZA SYED I believe in this too, the value of speaking if there's nothing else you can do to change something. I went to journalism on that premise. This series is what that sounds like. But while the implication of that guidance, to me at least, and I'm no scholar, is that speaking truth will lead to change. I don't know if the prophet, peace be upon him, actually said that, actually said where it would lead. He just said speaking truth in the face of oppression was one of the greatest forms of jihad, forms of struggle. And so that's where I'm left, wondering if all of this, what we've told you, is headed towards change, or if this is just another profile of the struggle. HAMZA SYED Can we not lose hope? Just because I don't want to lose hope until you are on a plane. ACHMAD DACOSTA No, no, no, no, even if I go back to the UK, for me, this was positive. Because I came here, I did something. BRIAN REED I did warn Hamza, I knew how these things normally go. Rarely is there one big revelation that undoes years of misinformation and untruth. Most decent journalism is an exercise in incremental understanding. The Trojan Horse letter though, even with my tempered expectations, I was surprised by how willing people have been to let it stand unchallenged. People are depressingly unbothered that this harmful myth about Muslims persists. The mystery of the Trojan Horse letter could be resolved. The person or people who sat down one day to type out that document, or perhaps others who know about it, they're almost certainly out there right now, possibly strolling down Alum Rock Road, maybe even listening to this. But in order for that resolution to happen, government officials or the police, the British public, they would have to decide that this task, determining the perpetrator of a massive nationwide hoax, is their responsibility, and probably should have always been so that it wasn't left to a doctor turned journalism student in search of a school project. Which is to say, a bunch of people would have to care enough. And Hamza's right, we may just be a far away from that. On our last day together with Achmad in Perth, after having emailed Mark again and trying his wife a few times with no response, Hamza and I watched from the car as Achmad strolled through a primary school gate and across the parking lot, and probably passed the CCTV camera into the school's reception area with an envelope in his hand containing a letter which Hamza and I had both witnessed him seal inside. A final written plea for Mark Walters to simply talk to him. Achmad would stand in that primary school reception area, just a few feet away from Mark Walters, who, as the principal let Achmad know, was sitting in his office on the other side of a door, refusing to come out. [MUSIC] The Trojan Horse Affair is produced by Hamza Syed and me, along with Rebecca Laks. The show is edited by Sarah Koenig, additional editing by Ira Glass and by our contributing editor Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi. Fact checking and research by Marika Cronnolly and Ben Phelan. Original score by Thomas Mellor with additional music by Matt McGinley and Steven Jackson. Sound design, mixing, and music supervision by Steven Jackson and Phil Dmochowski at the Audio Non-visual Company. Julie Snyder is our executive editor. Neil Drumming is managing editor. Supervising producer is Ndeye Thioubou. Executive assistant is Alberto de Leon. Sam Dolnick is an assistant managing editor of The New York Times. HAMZA SYED Special thanks to Arun Kundnani, Nathan Brown, forensic linguists, James Fitzgerald and Rob Leondard and his team at Hofstra University. Chris Henry, Simon Bruce, Johnny Baig, Maria Fernanda, Danielle Strolia. BRIAN REED Also, Solange Franklin Reed, Paula and Howard Reed, Adam and Stephanie Reed, Vera Franklin, Chris Alesevich, Abbas Hussein, Momina Shahid, Katie Fuchs, Jordan Cohen, Jonathan Heawood, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Alena Cerro, Susan Wessling, Clifford Levy. HAMZA SYED Legal review and counsel by Dana Green, Al-Amyn Sumar, Martin Soames, Emma Linch, Simon Procas, Gavin Millaar, Constance Pendleton, Allison Schary, Robert Stankey, Selina MacLaren. BRIAN REED The distribution team at the New York Times, Jeffrey Miranda, Jon McNally, Julia Simon and Lauren Jackson. The marketing team at The Times, Lindsay Fischler and Megan Shepard. And thanks also to Renan Borelli, Tara Godvin, Eslah Attar, Peter Rentz, John-Michael Murphy, Aleksa Brown, Sam Posner, Matthew Lewkowicz. HAMZA SYED The brand identity team with the New York Times, Kelly Doe, Jason Fujikuni, Hanah Ho, and Anisha Muni, Lucy Jones, Katherine Roach, Nina Lassam, Matthew Lloyd-Thomas, Stephanie Preiss, Taylor Gandossy, Morgan Jones, and Krystal Plomatos. BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday sent a message of sympathy to Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih over the latter's COVID-19 infection. In his message, Xi said that learning about the infection of President Solih, he extends sincere sympathy to him and wishes him a speedy recovery. Noting that China and Maldives have helped each other to overcome difficulties together since the outbreak of COVID-19, Xi said that China will continue to firmly support Maldives in its fight against the pandemic. Xi said he attaches great importance to the development of China-Maldives relations and stands ready to work with President Solih to drive bilateral relations steadily forward for the benefit of the two countries and their people. Today Showers early with some clearing overnight. Low near 55F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Tonight Showers early with some clearing overnight. Low near 55F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Tomorrow Cloudy. High 59F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Heidi Heitkamp, Mick Mulvaney Former Mercury Public Affairs staffers have launched Actum LLC, a bipartisan shop that opens with about 70 staffers in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Washington and London. Kirill Goncharenko, founding partner of Mercury & managing partner at Actum, said the new firm is targeting clients looking for large, meaningful and measurable outcomes at the intersection of politics, media, business and government. Actum is stocked with California political veterans such as Sen. Barbara Boxer, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez. It also has recruited politicos from beyond the Golden State. Former North Dakota Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp is among the firms six co-chairs. Shes joined by former South Carolina Republican Congressman and Trump White House alum Mick Mulvaney. He served as director of the Office of Management & Budget, acting chief of staff and special envoy to Northern Ireland, a post that Mulvaney quit on Jan. 7 to protest the trashing of the US Capitol. THE long awaited planning decision on the proposed beef plant for Banagher might be made in April, according to An Bord Pleanala. The delay in announcing a ruling on the 40m meat processing facility has been repeatedly condemned by Offaly Fianna Fail TD Barry Cowen. Banagher Chilling Limited received the green light from planners at Offaly County Council in August, 2020 but local residents lodged an appeal with the An Bord Pleanala. Deputy Cowen was so concerned about the lengthy waiting period for the Banagher decision and others that he introduced a Bill to the Dail seeking to establish a new fast-track process. This would be done by amending the Planning and Development Act 2000 and would compel An Bord Pleanala to determine all appeals and referrals within 12 weeks. Deputy Cowen said: The Bills seeks to respond to the need for An Bord Pleanala to be statutorily bound by a defined time period for them to make a decision on planning files, rather than the present situation whereby there are no controls or obligations in place for decisions to be made in a timely fashion. Many delays in proposed developments are putting such proposals in jeopardy because of the prolonged and ridiculous lengths of time for such important decisions to be made. My Bill is aimed to freeing up the logjam which is delaying such key commercial developments. We can no longer preside over an arm of the State footdragging and causing such delay to potential investment which is badly needed, especially in rural areas like my own constituency. It is also inconceivable that residential developments are also being curtailed, delayed, and even lost, owing to there being no statutory time periods for An Bord Pleanala decisions. This should not be tolerated. It is time for an overhaul of judicial review processes which are also far too cumbersome and slow, further delaying and harming our potential to respond adequately to the housing crisis. In a joint submission to Offaly County Council, two Banagher residents said the abattoir is untimely and unsustainable because it will carry a significant carbon footprint at a time when a climate emergency has been declared. The size of Ireland's beef industry is already facing pressure as a key part of the country's climate impact, due to its unsustainable carbon emissions. This proposed facility would require an expansion of the herd for its operation, which is unlikely given the urgency of the climate crisis, the ongoing slump in the price of beef, and the related pressure this would place on feed stocks and subsidies, they say. They said the surrounding area is already well served by abattoirs in Kilbeggan, Roscrea, Ballinasloe and Nenagh and because the company claims cattle will be sourced from the same area, the operational viability of those could be affected, unless the herd has increased. They say that in 2016 the former abattoir at the same location was processing 100-head of cattle each week and the new one will process 140 each day, a 700% increase. Neither is there such a high demand for beef in the catchment area, and the intended export of the beef produced at this proposed facility to China would only increase the carbon emissions involved through sea or air freight. In these circumstances, there would appear to be no justification for approval of this planning application. The submission also referred to the profile of population living around the 55-acre site for the proposed factory and says a nursing home is located nearby. The role of nursing homes in end-of-life care also increases the importance of tranquility and a clean environment in the locality for residents, staff and visiting family members, something which would be at risk were this development to proceed. They also referred to bog woodland in the vicinity of the site and say there would be risks to wildlife, and expressed doubt about the adequacy of the local water supply to meet a demand from the factory of 250,000 litres a day. They said local residents remain unhappy as a result of issues arising from the turbines at the Meenwaun Wind Farm, saying it is less than 2km away. The overriding concern of local residents is... the potential for it to cause huge carbon dioxide emissions at a time of... climate crisis. Independent TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan has said that the failure of Government to bring forward legislation to establish the River Shannon Management Agency Bill must be addressed as a matter of urgency. Deputy Nolan was speaking after Government Chief Whip Jack Chambers included the Bill in the Spring List of Priority Legislation for 2022. Deputy Nolan went on to note that the River Shannon Management Agency Bill had also been included in the Summer List of Priority Legislation for 2021 and the Autumn List of Priority Legislation 2021. Flooding along various parts of the River Shannon has been a constant and disruptive feature of the lives of so many farmers and landowners in Offaly and beyond for many years now, Deputy Nolan stated. Despite this fact, Government and agency levels of responsiveness have been entirely disjointed and effectively unco-ordinated. We know that Irelands Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) Programme has been meeting for the better part of a decade to develop strategies for the reduction of risk, said Deputy Nolan. But we also know that there have been calls for an immediate and critical review on the effectiveness of the strategies adopted by the CFRAM Programme, the Flood Risk Management Plans (FRMPs) and the Shannon Flood Risk State Agency Co-ordination Working Group for the reduction of flood risk. This is a point that even Government Ministers have accepted. That is why we urgently need to see the shape of the legislation that proposes to give effect to a new single authority to address issues on the Shannon. The Bill may be good, it may be what we need. It also might be inadequately responsive and might make the situation worse if enacted. That is why we need to see it and to be able to scrutinise it to ensure that what emerges is good legislation capable of delivering meaningful change to how the Shannon is managed. Unfortunately, all that Government can tell us - yet again - is that the Heads (draft) of the Management Agency Bill is in preparation stage. Currently the OPW and the ESB manages dams and weirs, while the North-South body, Waterways Ireland have responsibility for the rivers. But often it appears as if the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. This approach to managing flood risk along the Shannon has failed. It needs to be far more responsive to the immediate needs of farmers and landowners who are being adversely affected several times a year at this point, concluded Deputy Nolan. British MP and former Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, will deliver the 2022 Bloody Sunday Memorial Lecture during the 50th anniversary of the massacre this Sunday (January 30). A series of events will take place over the weekend in Derry to mark the anniversary of the date when 13 civil rights protesters were shot dead by British soldiers on January 30 1972, in the city. Another man shot by paratroopers on the day died four months later. While many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday, his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour. The lecture by Mr Corbyn - who is a long time supporter of the Bloody Sunday families - will be delivered at Derry's Guildhall on Saturday (January 29). The MP for Islington North in London will speak at the same location where most of the hearings in the Bloody Sunday Inquiry took place. The inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville, replaced the verdict of the Widgery Tribunal which had largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame. Lord Savilles inquiry found that none of the casualties were posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting. It said no warning was given to any civilians before the soldiers opened fire and that none of the soldiers fired in response to attacks by petrol bombers or stone throwers. Saville found there was some firing by republican paramilitaries but that on balance the Army fired first. Former prime minister David Cameron told the House of Commons in 2010 that the killings were unjustified and unjustifiable. On Sunday (January 30), President Michael D. Higgins will deliver a recorded message to the Bloody Sunday families. The presidents message will be shown publicly during the commemorative event Beyond the Silence, which will take place before a limited audience in Guildhall Square. His message will be broadcast on a large screen and the occasion will be livestreamed to an online audience. The event will be hosted by actor Adrian Dunbar and will feature tributes to the victims, as well as music and public performances. Guildhall Square will fall then silent at the precise time when 50 years earlier paratroopers opened fire on civil rights marchers in the Bogside. Earlier on Sunday, relatives of those who were shot and injured will take part in a walk of remembrance which will set out from Creggan Shops and make its way to the Bloody Sunday Monument in Rossville Street for the annual memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony at 11am. The Taoiseach will lay a wreath and is also expected to meet privately with the families of those killed. Bloody Sunday Trust chairperson, Tony Doherty, is asking people to come out in support of the families. He said, This Sunday is January 30. It will be exactly 50 years to the day and the date since Bloody Sunday. The families will be gathering at the Creggan shops at 9:15am and we are going to walk to the Bloody Sunday monument for 11am. We would like all the people of the city and beyond to join us, regardless of your political persuasion, regardless of your beliefs, religious, political or otherwise and stand in solidarity with us on Sunday morning. Green Party Ireland South MEP and Spokesperson for the Marine, Grace OSullivan, says Irish fishers and environmentalists have found common cause in opposing Russian naval drills and missile tests off the Irish coast, recalling her own direct experiences with the Russian military. As someone who has come face-to-face with the Russian military over my time as a Greenpeace activist, I know they would be less than welcoming if our fishers were to square up to them off our shores. I would certainly have concerns for fishers safety under those circumstances. The MEP and ecologist, who hails from Tramore in Co. Waterford has spoken of her experiences with Greenpeace in the past, describing one particular action when she climbed the anchor chain of a Russian nuclear warship in the 1980s: I was barefoot and carrying an anti-nuclear flag in an action aimed at highlighting the presence of Russian military nuclear warships in the Mediterranean Sea, close to densely populated areas. I was greeted with a water cannon and the crew proceeded to drop the anchor chain, attempting to submerge me. In my view, fishers will not be welcomed by the Russian naval personnel, but I am an activist at heart and understand fishers desperation in trying to protect marine life in the area and fight to save their livelihoods and way of life. Russian plans to undertake naval drills and missile tests in our waters are alarming on every front. Some reassurance has been given to fishers today, that their fishing grounds will not be affected by next weeks Russian naval exercises, however, I remain gravely concerned at the potential negative impacts on the general marine environment in the area. With naval drills and missile tests due to take place about 240km off the Irish southwest coast, OSullivan has joined fishers in expressing deep concerns on environmental grounds. Important species such as whales, dolphins, and tuna as well as fragile marine ecosystems are affected by military drills, while the livelihoods and safety of our fishers are also at risk. We know for a fact that beautiful creatures such as the great blue whale, sperm whales, fin whales, and beaked whales are present in those waters, species which are already facing the pressures of climate change and ocean acidification. The outcry from fishers is, OSullivan says, justified. It reflects general opposition amongst the Irish public to the militarisation of our waters, where the navies of Russia and other countries can operate without accountability. As a member of the Fisheries Committee in the European Parliament, I will continue to oppose the militarisation of our seas as I have done for over thirty years and fight to hold militaries accountable for their detrimental impact on the marine environment and the safety of seafarers everywhere. 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. BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A total of 260 million passenger trips were made during the first 10 days of China's Spring Festival travel rush in 2022, a transport official said Thursday. The figure was 46 percent higher than the same period of 2021, Liu Pengfei, spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport, told a press conference. As of Wednesday, the number of railway and road trips reached 54.12 million and 196 million, respectively, while waterway and air passenger trips hit 3.88 million and 8.72 million, Liu said. The pre-holiday passenger flow is expected to peak around Jan. 30, while return trips are likely to peak during Feb. 5 to 8 and Feb. 16 to 17, he added. During the 40-day travel season, also known as chunyun, many Chinese people will travel to reunite with their families for the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 1 this year. 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. Combo photo shows Li Taihong (L) and Li Ke (R) getting onto trains in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong talks with his son and grandson in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong talks with his family members in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong works at the driving cabin of a train in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong uses signal flags to direct the train in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022 Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong prepares for a train to depart in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Combo photo shows Li Taihong (top) and Li Ke (R, bottom) working at the driving cabin of trains in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Combo photo shows Li Ke (L, photo on the left) and Li Taihong (R, photo on the right) preparing for trains to depart in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Ke uses signal flags to direct the train in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Ke (R) works at the driving cabin of a train in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Taihong checks the train before departure in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) Li Ke checks the connection of train carriages in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi Province, on Jan. 25, 2022. Li Taihong, 54, and his son Li Ke are both train drivers of China Railway Taiyuan Bureau Group Co., Ltd. Working in different positions, they spend more time apart than together, especially during the Spring Festival travel rush. Li Ke is proud to talk about his family tradition of working in the railway system. "My father has always been my role model. I will carry on his lifelong commitment to the railway business," he said. (Xinhua/Cao Yang) NEW YORK (AP) New Yorks attorney general wants to put a stop to former President Donald Trump's attempted end-run around a yearslong civil investigation into his business practices, asking a judge Wednesday to dismiss his lawsuit aimed at halting the probe. Attorney General Letitia James argued in court papers that Trump's lawsuit, filed last month in federal court in upstate New York, is a sudden collateral attack on her investigation designed in part to shield him from a recent subpoena. James, a Democrat, said there was no legal basis for Trump's lawsuit and no evidence to support the Republican's claim that the probe is purely political. She also said there's no role for a federal court to intervene in an investigation that's been overseen in part by a state court judge. In a statement responding to Wednesdays court filing, Trump lawyer Alina Habba said, Once again, Letitia James fails to address her egregious and unethical conduct in her weak response to our complaint. Before the subpoena, Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, complied with the investigation and never challenged the underlying legal basis for the investigation or the attorney generals offices legal authority to conduct it, James said in the court papers. James called claims in the lawsuit that her investigation wasn't lawful or justified a complete about-face, after Trump previously agreed to turn over his 2014-2019 income tax returns to her office, while his company provided more than 900,000 documents and testimony from more than a dozen current and former employees. Trump contends in the lawsuit that James' investigation into matters, including his companys valuation of assets, violated his constitutional rights in a thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and... The UK's Prince Andrew wants to face civil charges of sexual assault in front of a jury, his lawyers have said. The prince has been stripped of all military patronages and faces the court as a private person. Boris Johnson's parliamentary assistant contacted a private charter company in the hope of securing a plane to transport animals and staff during the evacuation of Afghanistan, telling them that her boss was keen, Sky News understands. Senator Mitch McConnell is allegedly upset with the backlash over his Black voter comments while he praises Joe Biden's decision on the Ukraine crisis. Lizz Truss has said the UK may issue sanctions against Vladimir Putin if the Russian invasion goes ahead. Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said she expected more resources from the UK Government, an outcome that will lead to the extra cash.. Daily Record 27 Jan 2022 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Predica, Microsoft global partner, enters Germany. Predica, Azure Expert MSP and a Gold Microsoft Partner, establishes its presence in Germany by extending its full-scale operations to drive digital transformation of German companies. 27th January 2022, Hamburg, Germany Predica, Azure Expert MSP and Gold Microsoft Partner, winner of Microsoft Partner of the Year 2020 and Azure 2019 awards, opens a new branch in Germany to support the efforts of Microsoft in LONDON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The British business community hopes that Britain and China will continue efforts to strengthen trade ties to benefit the peoples of both countries, as the two mark the 50th anniversary of ambassadorial diplomatic relations this year. The remarks were made Wednesday during the "Icebreakers" 2022 Chinese New Year celebration jointly hosted online by the 48 Group Club, China Chamber of Commerce in the UK and China-Britain Business Council. In his keynote speech, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang said the two countries should leverage their respective strengths, consolidate cooperation in "traditional" areas including trade, investment, finance, manufacturing and infrastructure, expand into new areas such as health care, FinTech, green energy, digital economy and creative industries, and explore third markets, so as to create more highlights in their business partnership and bring more benefits to the peoples of both countries and beyond. Lord Hammond of Runnymede, former chancellor of the Exchequer, said in his speech that the last two years of the pandemic have been a challenging period for the global economy, especially for international trade and Britain-China relations. He noted that China is the second largest economy in the world and it therefore enjoys an important position in Britain's import and export market, while Britain remains a destination of choice for Chinese businesses investing in Europe. "As China creates huge incremental market demand, it will be an important partner for post-Brexit UK," he said. "We should focus on what we have in common, on cooperating for the mutual benefit of our peoples as well as free and fair trade." John Edwards, British trade commissioner for China, said Britain is determined to strengthen the Britain-China trade relationship and attract more Chinese investment in Britain. "Looking into the future, Britain will be working with Chinese companies to expand electric vehicle manufacturers, renewable supply chains to help Britain build the most exciting green market in the world and to make a joint contribution to the defining thing of our time -- the green economy," he said. Stephen Perry, chair of the 48 Group Club, said China and Britain continue to set new records regarding trade levels, thus building a solid foundation for economic and trade cooperation. "We look forward to China sharing its innovation and development achievements and contribution to the advancement of global economic recovery and the development of relations between Britain and China," he said. In 1954, Jack Perry, founder of the London Export Corporation, led a group of 48 British businessmen on a historic trade mission to Beijing and helped deliver one of the first modern-day trade links with China, effectively breaking the U.S.-led Western embargo on the newly founded People's Republic of China. The 48 men were the precursors of the 48 Group Club. The trip became known as the "Icebreaking Mission," and the club members were called "Icebreakers." Ottumwa, IA (52501) Today Showers this evening becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 50F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Showers this evening becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 50F. Winds E at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. 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. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate FILER TWP. Water is a fundamental component for life, and there are few people who understand its importance quite like Mike Hiller. People dont think nothing of walking over to their faucet to turn the water on or the electrical lights, but a water system isnt like electricity, Hiller said. You can be off electricity for a couple days, you cant go without water our bodies need water every day. For the past seven years, Hiller has managed Filer Townships estimated $15 million water infrastructure. Before that, he worked as a S-2 D-2 certified water serviceman in the city of Manistee. He retired earlier this year, ending his over 40 year career. Filer Township supervisor Terry Walker said that Hiller was instrumental in tackling a number of repairs and improvements to the water system in his time with the township. There were a lot of things that needed to be addressed with our water system, and rightfully so, but it was like all this needs to be done and they need to be done right now or there will be consequences for the township, Walker said. All those kinds of things that needed to be done in previous years that weren't done, and Mike came in and just started knocking them off one at a time. Courtesy photo/Terry Walker This work included having both water towers in the township thoroughly cleaned, painted and renovated, inside and out, Walker said in late 2019. Though not one of the more urgent items on Hillers to-do list, one of his most recent accomplishments came in replacing outdated water meters in the township. Those were put in, in 2019, and I did 450 (water meters) in 58 days, Hiller said. Everybody was pretty happy to get a new water meter but they're really happy about being able to check and see if they have leaks going on. For a cost of $170,000, the new smart meters can provide both residents and the township with a more accurate picture of water consumption. It includes an app that can flag things like hidden water leaks for residents. Walker estimates the potential savings to the township at around $100,000 annually. Filer Township pumps roughly half the amount of water as Manistee, despite its system being one-quarter the size of the citys, according to Walker. A lot of people dont know that not only are we supplying PCA (Packaging Corporation of America) which is a huge user of water in Filer and TES (Filer City Station) but we also supply Martin Marietta in Stronach Township on the other side of the lake, Walker said. Courtesy photo/Terry Walker In addition to the certifications and training required, maintaining a water supply demands an extreme attention to detail, frequent maintenance and testing as well as a willingness on part of the municipal government to make preventative investments. This last point, Hiller says, is essential for a municipality to avoid more costly expenses down the line. When I showed up, (Filer Township) had to take a loan out for well two to repair it, and the day I walked out, you guys had $1,157,285, Hiller said. Hiller attributes 20% of that total to his own work, with the remaining 80% belonging to Filer Township officials who he said were forward-thinking, and progressive, in their stewardship of water assets. They're just great to work with, Hiller said. Its just about mutual respect, and sometimes that's all it takes. Under Hillers management, Walker says that two of the townships three wells are providing water above estimated efficiency levels. "The knowledge and experience that Mike possesses is crucial to keep the water flowing in Filer Township," Walker said in 2020. "With Mike's vast experience with the city and the knowledge of water operations that he possesses, we have been very fortunate to have him in charge of our day-to-day operations." Hillers efforts have also been lauded by water industry organizations such as the Michigan Rural Water Association which named Hiller their Water Operator of the Year in 1995. In 2019, the association selected Filer Township as a municipality with some of the best tasting water in the state. This qualified township officials to represent Michigan at the Great American Water Taste Test held in Washington D.C. The water sample Filer Township provided easily passed lead and copper tests and had some of the lowest PFAS levels recorded in the state, Hiller said in 2020. Since the competition was not held in Michigan since Filer Townships win, Hiller jokes that it remains the defending champion. Hiller also holds the current record for fastest water meter reassembly at the state competition, and has won first place three years in a row. In 2019, Hiller was also the recipient of the Edward Dunbar Rich Service award for completing 25 or more years of faithful and meritorious service in providing and maintaining a safe, dependable and adequate public water supply. Hiller says the work of a water operator is a round the clock commitment, and estimates working over 120,000 hours to reach retirement. Courtesy photo/Terry Walker Its been what Ive worked all my life for, 47 years of working, Hiller said. Nobody sits down and figures out how many hours they work, but I did it took me about 10 minutes. It's insane to think that I've worked 120,000 hours, and I'm 62 and that's 58 years of full time, 40 hour a week work, he continued. An avid outdoorsman, Hiller hopes to enjoy more time spent hunting and fishing in Manistee County and says he is looking for a black lab to join in his retirement. I raised labs and had the same blood line for 38 years, Hiller said. I know a lot about labs and in my opinion theyre the best dog (that) walks on earth. Jeremy McLeod, who trained with Hiller, has replaced him as Filer Township water operator as of Jan. 1. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MANISTEE A change to the definition of lot coverage could negatively impact hundreds of properties as well imperil the opening of the Milwaukee House, according to its owner, Marty Spaulding. At the Jan. 18 Manistee City Council meeting, Spaulding spoke about how the change to the definition of lot coverage negatively affected his ability to continue his plans to turn part of the historic Milwaukee House, located at 259 River St., into a restaurant. Spaulding said, during the public comment portion of the meeting, that the council at a previous meeting on Nov. 3 had adopted as part of its consent agenda, a zoning ordinance amendment, Z-2118, which effectively changed the definition of lot coverage. He noted that the previous definition of lot coverage included "the percentage ratio of a lot and the buildings on the lot. The definition has now been changed to include not only buildings but decks and patios ... paved areas ... pretty much anything that's covered." He said it means now that any property would need to have anywhere from 40% to 60% green space. Spaulding noted that he bought two houses to the west of the Milwaukee House and knocked out the eastern half of both houses in order to build a parking lot. Spaulding said that when he met with city planners early this month, he was no longer allowed to have a parking lot there. He said he spent $250,000 to purchase the two properties. "I'm now going to have a $250,000 lawn that I don't need and no parking lot that I do need. The shorter version of this is that this amendment is going to put the Milwaukee House out of business before it serves its first meal." Spaulding said. "A restaurant without parking is a non-starter." Spaulding also noted that the changes wouldn't just affect him but hundreds of properties that lie outside the central business district. Later in the Jan. 18 meeting, City Manager Bill Gambill noted that he and city planners had been working with Spaulding to address some of the issues he was facing. In an email to the News Advocate, Manistee County Planner/Zoning Administrator Zachary Sompels addressed the issues that Spaulding brought up and tried to clarify the zoning ordinance and what the amendment entails. Sompels started off by explaining the definition of lot coverage. "That portion of a lot that is covered with buildings, structures, patios and anything paved, excluding driveways expressed as a ratio of the horizontal area measured from the exterior surface of the exterior walls of the ground floor of all principal and accessory buildings on a lot to the total lot area. This is the current definition of lot coverage," Sompels wrote. "This only affects new builds, not already existing parking lots, which was the main concern of the citizen who spoke at council." He said the definition was changed "to better coincide with the values of the community and was properly noticed and a public hearing was held. Areas that are completely paved have highly negative impacts on stormwater runoff and ultimately the natural resources that Manistee holds so dear. Sompels said there is an additional amendment that coincides with Z-2118. "It reads as: Section 514 Q. Stormwater infiltration from landscaped islands and buffers resulting in a net reduction in stormwater runoff, as determined by the city engineer, may allow the zoning administrator to waive the requirements of lot coverage for a parking lot." A public hearing will be held on the issue at the Manistee Planning Commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Feb. 3 at Manistee City Hall. Sompels said "the amendment allows for more pavement while also mitigating the negative effects of excess runoff and adding to the natural beauty within the city." Sompels added that no Land Use Permit application has been submitted for the Milwaukee House. "There is also zero parking requirements in the Peninsula District where the Milwaukee House resides, so a parking lot is not required there," he said. Sompels also noted language within the Manistee Master Plan regarding the Peninsula District. "'This district is intended to encourage and promote sustainable, environmentally and aesthetically compatible developments that use or complement the shoreline while promoting the expanded use of the shoreline by the public.' If a parking lot were to be allowed, to align with the master plan, it would need to be environmentally and aesthetically compatible with surrounding developments which includes a lot of single-family homes." Spaulding, in an interview with the News Advocate, continued to emphasize the problems with the Z-2118 amendment and the way things were handled with its approval. "Any property in Manistee that has a house covering more than 40% of the lot can no longer add a patio, deck or anything in their yard. That affects hundreds of properties in town and no one even knew it was taking place," Spaulding said. "It is completely out of line with what other towns in the region are doing. I have checked the ordinances all across northern Michigan, and this is an outlier position to take. And the commission passed it without even considering the ramifications. Forty (percent) to 60%'green space' on these small lots is unreasonable. That text amendment needs to be repealed." MANISTEE The League of Women Voters of Manistee County partnered with the Manistee News Advocate to host a forum on Tuesday breaking down voting processes and voting rights in Michigan. In case you missed the forum, which is available on the News Advocate's website, manisteenews.com and Facebook page. Attendees learned what their rights are when registering to vote in Michigan, including the following: People living in Michigan are eligible to vote if on election day they are: A Michigan resident and a resident of a city/township for at least 30 days; A United States citizen; At least 18 years of age; and Not currently serving a sentence in jail or prison. People can register any time up to 8 p.m. on election day using the following methods: In person at your local city/township with proof of residency; They can register before election day using the following methods: Online at michigan.gov with Michigan driver's license/state ID; Mail-in application; or In person at a state agency providing public assistance/services to people with disabilities. People living in Michigan can show proof of residency with the following: A Michigan drivers license or state ID; A current utility bill; A bank statement; A paycheck or government check; or Other government document. During the forum, League of Women presenters Sandy Nelson and Pam Tompke noted that people who register to vote before election day have more options. Nelson and Tompke are both retired public school teachers and trained election officials. Nelson serves as a member of the Brown Township Planning Commission. Tompke was a township clerk in Manistee County for 27 years. Nancy Behring, the president of the League of Women Voters of Manistee County noted that the purpose of the presentation was to present "accurate information on the mechanics of registering and voting, the safeguards that exist, current legislative initiatives and how to spot mis- or disinformation." She said that the league's funding source for the forum prohibits them from advocating for any action. "We are simply fulfilling our mission by presenting accurate and, to the best of our ability, up-to-date information on the voting process so that you will trust that you know the facts," Behring said. Attendees also learned about voting rights in regards to voting before election day called absentee voting or early voting. Some of those rights include: All registered voters have a right to vote by an absentee ballot; They can request an absentee ballot through an application (signature required); Absentee ballots are available 40 days prior to the election; Return absentee ballots by 8 p.m. on election day; and Military and overseas voters can vote absentee. People who want to vote in person before election day can do up to 40 days prior to election day. It is recommended that people check with their local election clerk for policies on early voting. Attendees learned how to distinguish between misinformation and disinformation. According to the presentation, misinformation is "sharing false information without the intent of harm." Disinformation, on the other hand, is "creating and sharing false information with the intent to harm." In terms of combating misinformation and disinformation the panelists recommended the following: Never quote the bad information; Refer to the bad information without repeating it; and Focus on providing the correct information and include trustworthy sources. Information on election bills also was presented with 139 new election bills in the Michigan Legislature. One hundred bills originated in the house and 39 in the senate. The House bills would: Move the primary election from August to June; Train for election challengers; Flag dead voters; and Require signature verification training. The Senate bills would: Change laws for voting registration; Change how to administer elections; Increase the power of partisan challengers; and Change how elections are certified. A third possible change to Michigan election law comes from a petition called Secure MI Vote. Secure MI Vote is a petition-drive, that was led by Republican voters, according to the Associated Press. The AP also said that if the petition were to go on to the legislature and was passed by the Michigan House and Senate, it could not be vetoed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The petition would do the following: Mandate that people disclose partial Social Security numbers when registering to vote. Currently, that is not required in Michigan voting law. Restrict the options for registered voters to verify their identity. Acceptable forms of photo ID would include a driver's license, state ID card, passport, military ID, tribal ID, or student ID issued by a university, junior college or community college; if not, the voter is given an ID-only provisional ballot. It would also eliminate the use of the affidavit. Require voters applying for an absentee ballot to include their driver's license or state ID number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number, on their application. That is currently not required. Prohibit election officials from sending or providing absentee applications unless asked. Clerks currently can mail applications and have applications available on a website. Ban charitable contributions, including volunteer time, to help administer elections. Michigan law currently allows charitable contributions and volunteers for election administration. Allow the Legislature to adopt the legislation without a vote of the people and block a peoples referendum vote after adoption. It would do this by placing $3 million appropriations in the initiative. When money is attached to an initiative, no referendum is allowed. BEIJING, Jan. 27 Chinese frontier defense troops found an Indian personnel who illegally entered Chinese territory in a recent patrol in Medog County of Chinas Xizang autonomous region, said Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, spokesperson for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Western Theater Command in a statement released on Thursday. According to relevant regulations on border management and control, the Indian personnel received a routine inquiry and observation for epidemic prevention, at the meantime, the Chinese border defense troops provided humanitarian aid to the Indian personnel, Long said. The Indian military sent a request to the Chinese side for assistance in searching for the person through the border defense hotline. The two sides communicated through border defense meeting channels, Long said, noting that the Indian has already been turned over to the Indian side. The Chinese military spokesperson urges in the statement the Indian side to strictly abide by the bilateral protocols and agreements, enhance personnel management and control, and practically maintain the normal order in the border region. BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The more deeply the United States and Japan interfere in the Taiwan question the more acutely they will suffer, a Chinese military spokesperson said Thursday. Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to the two countries' hyping of Taiwan-related matters and their claims that China is a threat and a destroyer of the rule-based international order. Wu said China has expressed strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the gross interference by the United States and Japan in China's internal affairs and the fabrication of disinformation to discredit China, and has lodged solemn representations with relevant countries. The moves by the two countries have abetted the "Taiwan independence" attempts of Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authority, and have brought about the gravest threat to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, the spokesperson said. He reaffirmed the resolve of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The only rule that the world follows is the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, Wu said, adding that the two countries are not qualified to point fingers at China on this matter. The so-called "China threat" is just a lie that is repeated, Wu said. "It is the United States and Japan who have been stepping up targeted and provocative military actions in the East China Sea and the South China Sea," he added. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Compiled by reporter Collin Periatt. Tuesday, Jan. 25 9:22 p.m. Officers conducted a well-being check on Tucker Street. 2:23 p.m. A 64-year-old Ingersoll Township man reported he received a letter from the Census Bureau and a man later stopped by his residence. He made an appointment to speak with the man on the phone and had a lengthy conversation. The caller didn't feel he gave away any private information, but he was suspicious of the interaction. A deputy was able to contact and meet with the Census employee, who appeared to be doing legitimate work. The complainant was still provided with an identity theft checklist. 9:26 a.m. A Larkin Township business called regarding a vehicle left in the parking lot. The owner, a 49-year-old Mills Township woman, was contacted and was advised the vehicle would be removed. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Because a flu shot takes about two weeks to become effective, Midland County Department of Public Health's Dr. Cathy Bodnar said it is not too late to receive a primary dose of the flu vaccine before a potential uptick of flu infections. "It's definitely not too late to get your flu shot," said Bodnar. "If you haven't gotten one, we would urge people to get it." She added that health experts do aim to have a vaccinated population by the end of October each year. A part of this effort will take place from 10 a.m. through 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Midland Mall. As part of an event dubbed "Kids Day," Midland families and individuals will be able to receive flu shots, in addition to Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines. Bodnar said individuals eligible based on age can receive both a flu and COVID shot in the same appointment. The local health department will be located near Claire's store inside of the mall, which is at 6800 Eastman Ave. in Midland. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most flu activity peaks between December and February, although significant activity can last as late as May. "It's better to get it now before we have an uptick," Bodnar said. "We have no way of predicting what the flu season's going to be like." Last year, she added, the flu season basically flat-lined. Bodnar attributes that to the effectiveness of COVID-19 precautions, including masking. "I don't see nearly the number of people wearing a mask that did a year ago," Bodnar said. "So, I can only expect that we'll see some influenza, certainly a higher burden than last year." While seasonal flu viruses are detected year-round nationally, flu viruses are most common during the fall and winter. The timing and duration of flu seasons varies, but influenza activity often begins to increase in October, according to the CDC. This is why, Bodnar said, the Midland County Department of Public Health has encouraged local families and individuals to attend various county-wide clinics throughout this flu season. A part of the participation lag could be caused by some Midland area residents having hesitancy over vaccines. Everyone aged six months and older should get a flu vaccine every flu season with rare exceptions, per the CDC, which also notes vaccination is particularly important for people who are at higher risk of serious complications from influenza. Bodnar said the local health department is here to have conversations in an attempt to inform residents seeking the service. "If we had flu shots as effective as the COVID-19 vaccines, we'd be thrilled," she said, adding residents should stay up-to-date on their vaccines. "We've been able to take away a tremendous amount of morbidity and mortality because of vaccines," Bodnar added. "For whatever reason, there's a lot of misinformation out there because of belief systems that people have that are not based in science. I think the only thing we can do is continue to stick to the science." The state of Michigan has yet to reach its goal of 4 million flu vaccines administered this flu season. As of Saturday, there have been fewer than 3.1 million influenza vaccines given. According to the state's flu dashboard, Midland County has provided 29,384 doses so far this season. Bodnar recommends the following based on an individual's vaccination status: If you haven't been vaccinated for COVID-19: Get your primary series If you only had one dose and you have a two-dose series, finish your primary series If you've gotten your primary series and you're not boosted, get your booster If you've not gotten your flu shot for the 2021-2022 flu season, get your flu shot According to the CDC, COVID-19 spreads more easily than flu and a COVID infection can cause more serious illnesses in some people. For more information on both the similarities and differences between flu and COVID-19, visit the CDC website's section on influenza (flu) symptoms and diagnosis at bit.ly/3rXwfTn. Ongoing COVID-19 Vaccine and Influenza Vaccine Clinics: COVID-19 (Pfizer, Moderna and J&J) shots for ages 5 years & up; flu shots for ages six months & up Midland County Department of Public Health Tuesdays 10 a.m. 4:30 p.m. (through February) By appointment (preferred) or walk-in COVID-19 (Pfizer, Moderna and J&J) ages 5 years & up; flu shots for ages six months & up Midland County Department of Public Health (appointment only) Friday, January 28 & Friday, February 4 Community COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics, in addition to Saturday's event at the Midland Mall Coleman Jr/Sr High School Friday, January 28 3 5 p.m. COVID-19 Vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna) ages 12 and up Red Oak Restaurant, Sanford (closed on Mondays) Monday, January 31 4 6 p.m. COVID-19 Vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna) ages 12 and up Meridian High School Auditorium Wednesday, February 2 3 5:30 p.m. COVID-19 Vaccines (Pfizer & Moderna) ages 12 and up Updates in your inbox The Midland Daily News is providing all COVID-19 news free to all readers as a public service. For more stories like this and others, sign up for our newsletters. Related Content Midland medical director discusses flu season approaching amid pandemic fatigue ArchiVerde Design, LLC and MNM Healthcare, LLC made it past the first step to get approval for a new assisted living facility in the Valley Plaza area in Midland. The Midland City Planning Commission met Tuesday night at City Hall to vote on a concept plan for the Land Mark Assisted Living and Memory Care. It was approved in a 4-3 vote to be sent over to City Council. In a Jan. 11 meeting, the planning commission was first presented this concept that would be located at 800 Rockwell Drive, 5217 Bay City Road and 5221 Bay City Road, by Valley Lanes. This redevelopment would convert existing hotel buildings into the assisted living facility. The plan was submitted by ArchiVerde Design on behalf of MNM Healthcare as a planned unit development (PUD) and a concept plan. A PUD is typically reserved for unique types of developments that otherwise would not be allowed by a certain zoning, said director of planning and community development Grant Murschel. A concept plan is an outline of a project a petitioner is looking to get approved. Since making a full, detailed design can be time consuming and money draining, Murschel said some petitioners will get a concept plan approved to see if a municipality would approve of a final plan. At the Jan. 11 meeting, commissioners asked the petitioners to come back with more examples of other facilities they have created and managed, along with more details on a proposed commercial store on the property. The petitioners gave other examples of facilities they have built or are working on, including Bay Valley Resort in Bay City. They did not give much detail on the store, but did say any store that might move into the space would primarily cater to the residents of the facility. The plan also outlined an area that would include two main buildings. There would also be on-site parking, stormwater management, pedestrian connections, and outdoor community areas. The petitioner has bought a neighboring RV park, but that property and its operations will be left unchanged, Murschel said. However, Christine Rapanos, co-owner of neighboring Valley Plaza Resorts, LLC, insists that the proposed facility would not be a good use for the property and would hurt her business. Commissioner James Bain said that while the project is not consistent with the citys master plan, he worries about not being able to fill the parcel and seeing the vacant buildings deteriorate like the former Holiday Inn building that was recently razed. The commission passed a recommendation for the concept to looked at by the Midland City Council in a 4-3 vote, with commissioners Jeremy Rodgers and Greg Mayville being absent from the meeting. However, even if City Council approves the plan, Murschel said this does not mean redevelopment can begin. The development group would have to then come up with a more detailed site plan and have that approved as well. Director of Content and Operations Spencer McKee is OutThere Colorado's Director of Content and Operations. In his spare time, Spencer loves to hike, rock climb, and trail run. He's on a mission to summit all 58 of Colorado's fourteeners and has already climbed more than half. 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 HEFEI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The birthplace of China's rural reform, Xiaogang Village in east China's Anhui Province, distributed dividends to all its residents for the fifth year on Wednesday. The cumulative dividends of Xiaogang Village have amounted to more than 10 million yuan (about 1.58 million U.S. dollars) over the past five years, thanks to the burgeoning collective economy. More than 4,000 villagers earned 620 yuan in dividends per person this year, a massive leap compared to the 350 yuan five years ago. "The increase of dividends is indispensable from the reforms," said Yan Jinchang, a head person of the stock cooperative of the village's collective economy. In December 1978, 18 villagers in Xiaogang agreed on a secret pact to break the egalitarian agricultural system. The family land contract responsibility system, which derived from Xiaogang, spurred unprecedented growth in production and profit in rural areas of China. Following the land-use reforms, Xiaogang Village continued introducing reforms in multiple sectors. These included rural taxes and fees, land rights, and collective assets. Now, every villager is a shareholder in the village's stock cooperative. In 2021, Xiaogang Village strived to promote rural vitalization by setting up industry funds and village banks, optimizing agriculture infrastructure, and developing food-processing enterprises and village tourism. A signing ceremony for an agricultural science and technology park, involving an investment of about 600 million yuan, was held in Xiaogang Village on Wednesday. "We will build a smart agriculture factory in Xiaogang Village and use artificial intelligence technology to maintain a stable temperature and humidity inside. It will realize continuous planting throughout the year," said Qiu Shaohua, chairman of Chunhe (Guangdong) Modern Agriculture Technology Co., Ltd. In 2021, Xiaogang Village's collective economic income reached a new high of 12.2 million yuan, with the per capita disposable income reaching 30,500 yuan. "The joyful dividends demonstrate that we are living a better life now," said Yan. Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, has reiterated the UN's strong support for efforts to unify military institutions and advance the process of withdrawing mercenaries and foreign forces from Libya Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, has renewed her call to all parties involved in the electoral process to reach an appropriate formula and define a timetable and a clear political line towards the elections Photo: (Photo : Getty images ) "Walking Dead" actress Alicia Witt finally broke her silence after police discovered the bodies of her parents in December following a problem with the heating system in their Massachusetts home. The actress said she placed a welfare call when she could not contact her parents. Later, a detective told her over the phone that her parents were found dead. Robert Witt, 87, and Diane Witt, 75, were found inside their dilapidated Worcester home. Police said that the elderly couple used a space heater to heat their home and had "furnace problems." Authorities found the couple in their home a day before Christmas when temperatures were low. Police suspected that the couple died from hypothermia, a dangerous drop in body temperature due to exposure to cold for long periods. Her parent's health had been on the decline as her father had cancer and her mother had Parkinson's disease. Read Also: Texas Woman Attempting to Buy a Child for $500,000 at Walmart Gets Arrested Parents were stubborn, not penniless Alicia revealed that her parents refused help and would not let her inside their home for "over a decade." Thus, she did not know how bad their place had gotten over the years. "My parents weren't penniless; they were fiercely stubborn," the actress told Daily Mail. On her Facebook, the actress wrote, "They were fiercely stubborn, beautifully original souls, and with that, they made choices - choices that I couldn't talk them out of." She said that she helped them in any way she could, "in all the ways they would let me." "I had no idea that their heat had gone out. I will never understand how or why they made the choice not to tell me this, not to let me help them with this," the actress wrote. My heart is broken Witt also revealed that she was about to petition the court system for taking control of her "very sharp, very independent, very capable adults" who were united and determined to do things their way. She admitted that she "begged, tried to reason with them, tried to convince them to let me help them move," but the couple would become furious with her, not wanting her to tell them how to live their lives. Neighbors report that they rarely saw the elderly couple, and they seldom answered the door. They have had heating problems since 2018 but declined an offer to fix it. Their neighbors said Alicia was present in their lives, and she would send a car to pick them up whenever she was in the area. Witt wrote that there had been several misconceptions surrounding her parent's death. She honored the couple as "brilliant educators, deeply kind, curious, intuitive, wise, young at heart and funny." Her parents also valued their privacy so much. She said that her last words to her parents were, "I love you." Alicia said she traveled to Worcester earlier this month for her parent's beautiful burial service and mourned and celebrated the life of the Witt couple in private. Related Article: Anxious Parents Seek for Day Care Solutions While Dealing With Labor Shortages, Closures Photo: (Photo : RODGER BOSCH/AFP via Getty Images) An unvaccinated dad lost this top spot on the heart transplant list after a Boston hospital removed his name because he refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine. DJ Ferguson, 31, has a hereditary illness that causes blood to build up in his lungs and heart. His family has been hoping for that transplant to extend his life and watch his two young kids and a baby on the way growing up. However, the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston took his name out on the top of the heart transplant list because he refused to get vaccinated. According to the hospital, they are only complying with the policies stipulated for transplants. Read Also: Dad Who Got World's First Pig Heart Transplant Doing Better; Son Hails Miracle of Science On the "Edge of Death" In a video interview, David Ferguson, the father of DJ, said that his son was sticking to his principles as an adult who could make his own decisions. David fears that DJ will be on the "edge of death" now that he's off the heart transplant list. DJ's mom, Tracey Ferguson, said that her son refused to get the vaccine because he could develop some adverse reactions due to his illness. Despite the assurance of DJ's medical team that it was okay for him to get the vaccine, he insisted on having no jabs and told his doctors he could not die over a shot. The unvaccinated dad fears that his already-swollen heart, due to his illness, could swell even further because the vaccine might trigger inflammation. NYU Grossman School of Medicine's Dr. Arthur Caplan told CBS News that transplant candidates need to get the COVID-19 vaccine to help their recovery post-transplant. He said that after the procedure, the body's immune system shuts down completely, making the patient vulnerable to any virus, including colds or flu. "The organs are scarce," Caplan said. "So, we are not going to distribute them to someone who has a poor chance of living when others who are vaccinated have a better chance post-surgery of surviving." The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also highly recommends that immunocompromised patients waiting for an organ transplant get a COVID-19 vaccine. What's Next for DJ? The Fergusons are considering moving DJ to another hospital that might not have a strict vaccination policy. However, this plan could hurt DJ more as he is now too weak to be transported. Though Brigham and Women's Hospital took good care of DJ, his family cannot discount his conviction to refuse the vaccine. The Fergusons have set up a GoFundMe page for the unvaccinated dad's other potentially aggressive treatments sans the heart transplant. They have spoken to other cardiologists who may have other life-saving options for DJ, but everything remains a shot in the dark as they are backed in a corner to save his life. In October 2021, a woman from Colorado was also removed from the transplant list due to her vaccination status. A man from Ohio could not get his kidney transplant because his donor match has not had her COVID-19 shot. Related Article: Lung Transplant Denied for New Mom Battling COVID-19 in Las Vegas Photo: (Photo : Getty images ) On Monday afternoon, six-month-old baby Grayson Fleming was caught in a crossfire near Anderson Park in Atlanta, killing him instantly. Authorities said that the suspect, 22-year old Dequasie Little, was taken into custody in Decatur on Tuesday morning for murder and aggravated assault. Caught in a crossfire According to the police, bullets caught the baby in a crossfire of a shootout between two people. Authorities then took the baby to Grady Memorial Hospital, but he was already pronounced dead. "This was two people involved in gun violence, and the child was an innocent victim," Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said. The shooting happened before 3 PM on Monday near Food Mart on Anderson Avenue, where Kerri Gray frequently shops with her son. She said she heard a noise, so she pulled off to the side. She saw two cars speed past her. When she saw the gun barrel, she checked her son. Gray opened the back door and saw her baby slumped over his car seat. When she noticed a pool of blood on his lap, her heart began to race, the mother said. She said she knew Grayson was dead when she pressed her baby against her. In an interview with a newspaper, Gray said, "I pulled him out of the car seat, and I grabbed him, and when I did that, that's when I felt the pieces - the loose pieces in the back of his head." The bullet had gone through the trunk, his eye, and his back; Gray told reporters. The mother added the bullet hit the trunk, and there was no shattered glass; hence, there was no sound. There was also no crying. The baby died in an instant. Gray said that Grayson is a miracle baby she dreamt of having her whole life. She said she still got up to make her baby's bottle Tuesday morning. Read Also: Hollywood Star Drew Barrymore Recalls News Leak of First Pregnancy, How It Saddened Her Suspect arrested in 24 hours On Tuesday, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens announced the arrest of the suspect, 22-year-old Dequasie Jonathan Little. The authorities arrested him for felony murder and aggravated assault. His first hearing was on Wednesday, but he waived it. He will remain in the Fulton County Jail without bond. Little had a rap sheet dating back to 2019, including child cruelty charges. He was recently released from Houston County Jail after his probation on misdemeanor charges of battery and child cruelty. "I won't cheerlead the fact that we were able to apprehend this person in such a short period of time," Bryant said. He added that it is a tragedy losing any citizen of the country. "But when it's a child, it pulls even more at the heartstrings, not just of the men and women of the Atlanta Police Department, but throughout the community," he added. Grayson is the 12th homicide of the year in Atlanta. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, it is also the second deadly Atlanta shooting of the year involving babies. Related Article: 'Walking Dead' Actress Alicia Witt Finally Breaks Her Silence About Her Parent's Death Photo: (Photo : JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images) Idaho student Ally Orr turned her indignation into positive action and raised over $130,000 to fund a scholarship for women after hearing a professor say in his speech that women should not be recruited to work in the fields of engineering, law, or medicine. Professor Scott Yenor, who teaches political science at Boise State University in Idaho, said during the National Conservatism Conference last November 2021 that recruitment efforts should be made for more men in these fields because women are more suited for jobs in marketing, management, and protection of the environment. He also said that women are "medicated, meddlesome, and quarrelsome," which triggered a strong reaction from the female audience. In an interview with People, Orr said that she could not believe what she heard from the professor in this day and age. She described feeling disheartened and frustrated because many female students and their families have invested in expensive colleges only to have someone say that they are not worth hiring because they are women. Read Also: Boston Hospital Removes Unvaccinated Dad From Heart Transplant List Starting the Scholarship Fund However, instead of letting Yenor's words get to her, Orr organized a fundraiser to help female students secure their college education at Boise State. She emailed the school community about her fundraiser, specifically stating that she plans to put up a scholarship for "medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome women." She also directed them to a GoFundMe page. Her initial goal was to reach $10,000, which she said she quickly achieved with donations from the college professors. In a matter of days, the Boise community also supported her initiative, which reached more than $25,000. The fundraiser has earned $133,978 with more than 850 donations as of press time. Speaking with "Good Morning America," the 22-year-old marketing major said that she got the idea to start the fundraiser after expressing her disappointment against Yenor on Facebook. Someone suggested starting a women's scholarship under the professor's name. "I thought with the little that I can control about the situation, at least I can help the people that he's hurting," Orr said. "And those are the women at Boise State." The Idaho student said that she also received messages from women of different ages who expressed hope for her initiative. Mike Sharp, a spokesperson for Boise State, said that they supported Orr's fundraiser and thanked the donors who want to give more women a chance to succeed in the STEM field. According to the American Association of University Women, only 28 percent of women make up the STEM workforce. Protest Against Yenor Meanwhile, women from various sectors protested against Yenor's controversial comments. Idaho State Representative and Transportation Planner Brooke Green led one of the rallies to let Yenor know that women are not going anywhere and will be critical to finding solutions to the world's problems today. Anna Cousins, a student at Boise State, said that women are so much more than just moms or wives, but society has built this idea that boxed and limited women's abilities. Green said that the rallies are just the start, and there will be more initiatives to help women pursue careers in STEM, aside from what Orr started. Related Article: Child Genius Sawsan Ahmed Graduates From College in Florida at 12 Years Old 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 TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Wednesday started visiting north China's Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. For 10 years in a row, Xi, as the Party's top leader, has made it a tradition to visit people at primary level, especially the disadvantaged groups, ahead of the Spring Festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar and an occasion of family reunions. The Hilla Limann Foundation on Sunday, January 23, donated assorted items to the Tamale Children's Home in the Northern region to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the passing of the late Dr Hilla Limann, president of the 3rd Republic of Ghana. Led by Dr Zilla Limann, a daughter of the late former president, the Foundation presented assorted items including provisions, detergents, stationery and water. Dr Zilla Limann exhorted the inmates and staff of the orphanage to model their lives after the late former president who, being an orphan himself, strived to attain the highest levels of education and eventually the highest office of the land. She was hopeful that the donation would go a long way to help address some of the challenges of the orphanage and the children. The Head of the orphanage, Madam Janet on behalf of the staff and children expressed gratitude for the donation and appealed for further support to fence the foundation and refurbish their playground. The Hilla Limann Foundation, a public nonprofit organisation run on donations, was formed in 2006 but launched in 2018. It has since engaged in a number of educational and philanthropic activities after the character of the late former president a great philanthropist, scholar, statesman and diplomat. Speaking to the media after the donation, Dr Zilla Limann reiterated the resolve of the Hilla Limann Foundation to preserve the legacy of the late former president by pursuing its four simple yet all-encompassing objectives: "To create awareness about true democracy, to raise awareness about human rights, to promote human development for the poor vulnerable, and to eradicate the abuse of human rights through education" She expressed gratitude to all individuals, the Government of Ghana, corporations, and private foundations that have supported and provided funding for the activities of the Foundation, thus helping to achieve the ultimate vision of empowering Ghanaians for excellence. Dr Hilla Limann was President of Ghana from 1979 to 1981. A military junta led by the late former President Jerry John Rawlings toppled his administration. Dr Limann died on January 23, 1998, leaving behind a wife and seven children. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, Governance Lecturer at Central University, has bemoaned the culture where Ghanaians ignore danger just to shoot videos for social media. He expressed worry over this trend which has caught up with lots of Ghanaians that would see them rather walk into a life-threatening incident to be the first to break the news at the expense of protecting their lives. He was commenting on the Apiate explosion that claimed many lives and caused hundreds to sustain serious injuries. A disturbing video showing some residents in the community and nearby places thronging the scene where a mining truck carrying explosives had caught fire with the phones on as they walked right to their death surfaced on the internet, particularly TikTok. The truck driver is reported to have warned the residents against the danger ahead and asked them to run away before the explosion happened, but they refused to heed his warning and intead sped to the scene only to be engulfed in a massive explosion that wiped out the entire Apiate community at Bogoso in the Western Region. To Dr. Otchere-Ankrah, it was somehow stupid of the people to walk into their death when they could have survived. He believed the social media generation is getting out of control, so called on parents and elders to guide the youth stressing ''we should advise them. Let's serve as role models. Let's guide them because the youth of today, it appears the social media platforms are taking too much of their time...when you see danger, you know this is danger''. Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Ag. Managing Director of Ghana Post, Mr. Bice Osei Kuffour aka Obour, has paid a working visit to the chiefs and people of his hometown, Juaso, in the Asante-Akyem South Constituency of the Ashanti Region This was his first official visit as Ghana Post MD following his appointment by President Nana Akufo-Addo recently. The purpose of the visit to Juaso, which formed part of his tour of the Ashanti region, was to inspect and assess the current state of the Juaso Post Office. Since he is from the town, he took the opportunity to visit the palace and seek the support, prayers and blessings of the custodial owners of the land and the people. Mr Osei Kuffuor, in his remarks, thanked the chiefs and people of Juaso for the immense support given him over the past years and used the opportunity to officially introduce his new position as the Ghana Post MD to the people. He urged the chiefs and people to fully make good use of the Ghana Post services in the area to boost the patronage of the Ghana Post in Juaso. He took time to explain all the services rendered by the Ghana Post and appealed to the chiefs and people to be ambassadors of the Ghana Post. We urge everybody to take advantage of the 24hrs service provided by Ghana Post to send and receive items nationwide. I also want to encourage everyone in Juaso to patronise the E-Commerce website and also tell family and friends abroad to use the services of Ghana Post, Mr Osei Kuffour reiterated. Speaking on behalf of the Juaso Chief, Akwamuhene of Juaso Nana Ototoatuo Oduro Mensah Ababio reminded Mr Osei Kuffuor that as one of the youngest MDs ever to be appointed to lead Ghana Post since its establishment. He, therefore, admonished him to work hard, bring innovations, expand the business and further increase the revenue of the Ghana Post Company. The Chief also appealed to Mr Osei Kuffour to give the Juaso Post Office a significant facelift to meet the growing demands of customers. The Ghana Post MDs tour of the Ashanti region, was also meant to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the company, interact with frontline staff, appeal to state agencies, traditional rulers, and corporate institutions to patronise Ghana Post services. While in the Ashanti Region, he paid a courtesy call on the Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah. He appealed to him to encourage all MMDAs to patronise the 24-hour services provided by Ghana Post. Among the Ghana Post delegation were; Mr Johnson Asante (Ashanti Regional Head), Kobi Hemaa Osisiadan-Bekoe (Head, Corporate Communications), Nana Yaw Osei-Darkwa (MDs secretariat), Lydia Melomey (HR Business Partner/Northern Cluster, Francis Kuubertersob (District Manager Konongo-Mampong), Philip Baah (Postmaster Juaso) and other staff. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Southern Africa has been hit by flooding that has left dozens dead across the region in the wake of Tropical Storm Ana. Madagascar has seen at least 41 deaths and 100,000 people have been forced to flee their homes to makeshift shelters. In Malawi, at least 19 people have died. The country has suffered a nationwide power cut and some areas have been declared disaster zones. Mozambique, meanwhile, reports more than a dozen deaths. But officials there say the true number is still unknown, with 20,000 affected by the flooding. Some 3,000 homes in Mozambique are partially destroyed, and more than 600 left in total ruin, Mozambique's national disaster agency estimates. Heavy rain and thunderstorms have continued to hit some regions even after the storm's passage, contributing to the flooding. Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario said that his country was not begging for help - but the challenge was bigger than any one country's ability to tackle it. And he pointed to the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. "We are a country that does not contribute much for climate change, and yet we are one of the countries that suffer the most from its impact," he said. He has called for international aid - and Unicef, the United Nations a children's charity, said it was deploying staff to the country to help the 45,000 people it estimated will need humanitarian aid. In Malawi, the floods hit electricity infrastructure as well as homes, leaving beleaguered towns in darkness as the water rose. Power has started to come back for many, after days of blackouts. Some 44 emergency camps have been set up to deal with thousands of displaced and injured people. "This is devastating. Look, all my maize crop has been buried. I planted one and half acres. All the crop is gone," Roben Mphassa, a farmer in the Chikwawa area in Malawi, told Reuters. "This disaster is the second one I've experienced in my life. But this is the worst." While Noria Kananji said the storm took the roof off her home and four homes nearby had been destroyed. Madagascar was the first nation hit, as the storm made landfall on Monday, and has reported the most confirmed deaths. Schools and gyms in the capital, Antananarivo, have been transformed into emergency shelters for the displaced. "We only brought our most important possessions," Berthine Razafiarisoa, who took shelter in one with his 10-strong family, told Agence France Press. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Five of the six-member car snatching syndicate arrested in connection with a robbery incident in Tamale last Sunday were convicted on their own pleas by the Circuit Court in Tamale on Tuesday, January 25. Yussif Mustapha, 23; Ibrahim Issah, 27; Seram Addo, 34; Adjei Benjamin, 23, and Vivor Christopher, 27, are facing five counts of conspiracy to rob, robbery, possession of fire arms and ammunition without lawful authority and possession of police and military accoutrements. A sixth accused person, Alhassan Mohammed, 29, a teacher who is said to be an informant to the robbery gang, pleaded not guilty to the charges. The court, presided over by Mr Alexandra Oworae, deferred the sentencing of the five to Friday, January 28, 2022, while Mohammed was remanded into prison custody. He is to reappear on February 9, 2022. The court also issued a bench warrant for the arrest of three other suspects said to have been supplying the accused persons with arms and ammunition. Background The six, believed to be members of a syndicate operating in the Tamale Metropolis and its environs, were arrested by the police for allegedly snatching a car from its owner at gunpoint at Jonshegu, a suburb of Tamale last Sunday. Five of the suspects initially bolted with their booty, but were pursued and arrested at Sawaba, near Buipe, in the Savannah Region. The sixth suspect, Mohammed, a teacher of Kanvile R/C Primary School, who is said to be an informant for the robbers, was later picked up at a hideout. The police retrieved a G3 riffle with a magazine loaded with 16 rounds of ammunition, a pistol, a pair of gloves, a military cap, two military scarfs, a catapult, a coil of cellotape and military ID cards from the suspects. Upon interrogation, Mustapha Yussif, who was in military uniform, named a source that provided them with guns and ammunition. The police then proceeded to a house and retrieved a G3 rifle fitted with a magazine loaded with 16 rounds of ammunition. According to the police, while the suspects were being interrogated, a victim of the robbery gang identified a black Toyota Camry robbed in August 2021 on Tamale-Nanton road. The said vehicle was subsequently impounded by the police. 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 An application by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro, Dorcas Afo Toffey, praying a Sekondi High Court for leave to amend her answers to a petition in which she is being challenged to produce evidence of her renounced Ivorian citizenship before contesting and winning the 2020 election, has been granted by the court. The MP has filed some documents she says is evidence of her renunciation, but the document is in French. The court subsequently, ordered the NDC MP to file the amendment of her answers to the petition within seven days. Earlier Ruling It would be recalled that at the last sitting, the court, presided over by Justice Dr. Richmond Osei Hwere, struck out the application on grounds the MP had failed to comply with the courts earlier order to exhibit proof of renunciation certificate as ordered by the court in its June 22, 2021 ruling. The court said the application by the MP was as if there was no order to be obeyed. It said the Applicant has completely disregarded the order to produce documents evidencing her alleged renunciation of her Ivorian citizenship. The court therefore, did not dismiss the MPs application but struck it out and indicated that the applicant was at liberty to reapply. French Issue At the court sitting yesterday, counsel for the MP, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe, told the court that his client has filed an evidence of her renunciation as an Ivorian national. The evidence, which is in a form of a letter and purported to have been written to the Ivorian government about the MPs intention to renounce her Ivorian citizenship, is written in French. Lawyer Tamakloe, therefore, prayed the court to grant their reapplication to amend his clients answers. However, Bright Okyere Agyekum, counsel for the petitioner who wants the MP to vacate her seat, opposed the request by the counsel for the MP and explained that the purported evidence of renunciation should be translated into the English language before the application could be considered. Counsel for the MP, however, appealed to the court to grant the application and stressed that they would be able to file the amendment and the translated version of the evidence of renunciation together to fast track proceedings. The court therefore, granted the request and ordered the respondent to file the amendment within seven days. The Story One Joshua Emuah Kofie from Nuba-Mpataba in the Jomoro Constituency is challenging Dorcas Toffey, to produce evidence of her renounced dual citizenship in court. According to Kofie, the MP was not qualified to contest as the peoples representative in the countrys legislative assembly. The Sekondi High Court on June 22, 2021 subsequently ordered the MP to within 10 days produce for inspection and copying of the renunciation certificate of her Ivorian citizenship or any document evidencing renunciation of her Ivorian citizenship. The MP, the respondent in the case, appealed against the ruling of the court and followed it up with a motion for stay of execution pending appeal before the Court of Appeal in Cape Coast in the Central Region. The Court of Appeal on July 26, 2021, unanimously dismissed the MPs motion for stay of execution pending appeal. With the view to obtaining compliance of the High Court ruling, the Registrar of the court served hearing notices on the parties to appear before him on September 23, 2021 for production, inspection and copying of the documents, as ordered by the High Court. The respondent failed or refused to turn up before the Registrar as summoned and also failed to produce the document at any other forum for any inspection and copying as ordered. On August 10, 2021, the MP filed an application praying the Sekondi High Court for leave to amend her answer to the petition. After a number of adjournments, the application was moved. The MP, who was the applicant in that case, in her affidavit in support averred that per Article 48 of the nationality code and law on identification of persons, once someone who holds an Ivorian nationality expresses an interest in not being an Ivorian national again, in order to become a national of another country, the person forfeits his or her Ivorian nationality. However, Joshua Kofie, the respondent in this case indicated in his affidavit in opposition that unless the applicant complied with the order of the court for production of the documents, the MP is undeserving of any favourable order of the court. He continued that the instant application for amendment by the MP was in bad faith and seeks to circumvent the orders of the court. In his ruling at the last court sitting, the judge, Justice Dr. Osei-Hwere made it clear that what the Appeals Court ruling meant was that the June 22 order of the High Court must be complied with. Justice Dr. Osei-Hwere mentioned that the applicant claimed her said renunciation happened in 2019. Source: Daily Guide 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 Eastern Regional Chief Imam, Alhaji Yussif Amudani Sulemana, has urged Ghanaians, especially the youth, to desist from calling their aged mothers witches. The youth, according to him, should rather accord such women with dignity and respect. He indicated that the practice of tagging old women with witchcraft should be stopped immediately. In an interview with the Daily Graphic at his Koforidua Zongo residence last Saturday, the Chief Imam explained that those who called their mothers' witches did that because their mothers did not allow them to engage in negative activities such as stealing, smoking of harmful substances and prostitution. Disgraceful According to Alhaji Sulemana, those who engaged in such disrespectful acts must stop now since it frowns on most religions, especially Islam. If indeed, old women, as well as our old mothers, are truly witches, they would have killed us at infancy. We will not have even gotten the chance to live or grow, he stated. Alhaji Sulemana therefore appealed to teachers, community leaders, chiefs as well as the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to carry out educational programmes to teach children as well as adults, to refrain from calling old women witches. He also advised women to take good care of their children and urged the police to deal drastically with anybody, particularly the youth, reported to have called an old woman a witch. 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 A resident of Nzema in the Kwadaso Municipality of the Ashanti Region, Frank Mensah, is in the grips of the police for threatening to kill personnel of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for confronting him over power theft. Mensah allegedly pulled a cutlass on the staff of the company and threatened to kill them if they tried to touch the meter or arrest him. Fearing for their lives, the personnel retreated and sought the assistance of the police who later arrested him. He is currently in police custody and would soon be arraigned before court on charges of stealing, interference and threat of death. Illegal connection Briefing Graphic Online, the Ashanti Regional Revenue Protection Manager of ECG, Mr Ishmael Oku, said his men were on their normal revenue mobilisation rounds and went to the house of Mensah to inspect his meter. He said during the inspection, it was discovered that while he (Mensah) had his electrical gadgets including bulbs on, the meter was off and not running. According to Mr Oku, when Mr Mensah realised that the personnel had detected his illegal connection, he went to pick a cutlass and threatened to slash the workers and asked them to leave the house. He said the workers had to lodge a complaint with the police who detailed some of their men to effect his arrest. He said power theft was one of the challenges facing the company in the region. That, he said, was causing the company lots of revenue losses. He gave the assurance that the company would use all legal means possible to ensure those involved in the act face the full rigours of the law and surcharged with the cost of the power stolen. 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 Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has received a financial clearance to commence recruitment of 550 veterinary professionals this year to help combat the highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) disease, otherwise known as bird flu. The Ministry has also received a warrant for the release of GHc20 million to implement key action plan such as the procurement of disposal materials, payment of compensation to farmers whose poultry and livestock were affected by the bird flu as well as public sensitization and stakeholder engagements nationwide. In recent times, the country has been plagued with bird flu in six regions including; Greater Accra, Volta, Eastern, Ashanti, Bono and Central thus killing thousands of poultry and livestock. Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, said this at a media briefing in Accra on Wednesday, to update the public on the management of the outbreak of bird flu and other transboundary animal diseases in Ghana. The Minister stated that a Ministerial Implementation Team would be inaugurated on Friday, January 28, 2022 to coordinate the nationwide sensitization programme and oversee the Ministry's general management programme to stem further spread of the bird flu. The Minister said the Ministry would embark on nationwide public engagement involving traditional authorities, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, poultry and livestock farmers, value chain actors, allied health institutions, the media and security agencies to support government's quest to combat the bird flu. Meanwhile, the Ministry has finalized plans to update the existing 1960 Animal Health Act and present it before Parliament this year to effectively regulate the poultry and livestock industry. Among the proposals of the bill is the regulatory authority to certify poultry and livestock farmers and the enforcement of sanctions such as closure of farms of recalcitrant farmers. 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 WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States has delivered a written letter to Russia addressing Moscow's concerns amid escalating tensions on Ukraine's border. Blinken told a press conference at the State Department that the letter, which was delivered to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the U.S. ambassador to Russia, "sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it." The letter, Blinken said, was in response to Russia recently outlining "its concerns and proposals in writing" to the United States. In addition to concerns of the United States and that of its allies and partners regarding "Russia's actions that undermine our security," what was contained in the letter also included "a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that Russia has raised, and our own proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground," Blinken said. Washington's written response also included proposals for improving "reciprocal transparency" between Russia and the West regarding "force posture in Ukraine," as well as "measures to increase confidence regarding military exercises and maneuvers in Europe," Blinken said. It also included proposals addressing the placement of missile systems in Europe and arms control, such as "our interest in a follow-on agreement to the New START treaty that covers all nuclear weapons," he said. Blinken said "if negotiated in good faith," these proposals have the potential to enhance the security of the United States and that of its allies and partners, "while also addressing Russia's stated concerns through reciprocal commitments." The secretary reiterated that Washington prefers resolving the crisis through diplomacy and is "prepared to move forward where there is the possibility of communication and cooperation, if Russia de-escalates its aggression toward Ukraine, stops the inflammatory rhetoric, and approaches to discussions about the future security in Europe in the spirit of reciprocity." Blinken said the United States will not make the letter public and hopes that Russia will do the same, "because we think diplomacy has the best chance to succeed if we provide space for confidential talks." Star Assurance Company Limited has donated assorted items to support residents of Apiatse, who lost their livelihood and properties through the explosion that occurred on January 20, 2022. Items donated include 50 cartons of bottled water, 100 bags of sachet water, 10 cartons of Milo, 10 cartons of milk and 22 bags of baby diapers. Others include 5 bags of detergents, 5 cartons of mosquito spray, 240 pieces of a toothbrush, two boxes of toothpaste and 300 T-shirts all valued at Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHS 50,000). In brief remarks before the presentation, Mr. Eldon M.A. Otu, Northern Sector Head of Star Assurance said the aim of the donation was to provide immediate relief to the victims whilst the authorities think of a long-term solution. This is just to help alleviate your plight in the immediate term whilst we consider other supportive measures for the medium to long-term, Mr. Otu stated. As our slogan says, we believe in being there for our partners, far and near in times of challenges and disaster, he concluded. Other members of the delegation from Star Assurance were Mr Solomon Aboagye and Ms Benedicta Ghansah-Afful. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Lawyer Godwin Edudzi Kudjo Tamakloe, a Private Legal Practitioner with close ties to former President John Dramani Mahama, has hit back at another stalwart of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over the latter's recent remarks that many considered as an attack on the personality of the former President. He has cautioned Mr Bonsu to be mindful of his utterances as he seeks to make his flagbearer ambitions a reality. Former Chief Executive Officer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Kojo Bonsu, who is seriously pursuing an ambition to be flagbearer of the NDC, is reported to have described Mr Mahama as not fit to lead the party because his opponents have sullied his name with corruption and womens affairs to the extent that he has become unattractive to the floating voter. The former Kumasi Mayor, in an interview, however pointed out that his desire to run for the presidency on the ticket of the NDC should not be misconstrued as hatred for Mr. Mahama because he genuinely does not have anything personal against him. Its so sad...He [Mr. Mahama] is a great gentleman, speaks very well, very affable but he has been put in the mud so much, he bemoaned. They have tagged him with corruption, womens affairs, and we the NDC have not been able to defend it and get him out of it, he complained. But speaking on Okay Fm's "Ade Akye Abia" Programme, Lawyer Tamakloe counseled the NDC capo to refrain from making such comments about his former boss. "When John Mahama appointed you, Kojo Bonsu as a mayor of Kumasi, the opposition from the party, especially in the Ashanti Region; in fact, I remember that even convincing assembly members to even vote for him was a huge task, and JM (John Mahama) was personally involved.... "So why do you want to now bite a hand that once fed you? If you want to contest, do so without attacking the personality of the former president other than that we will return fire if you go that way," he warned. "But in any case why will a man accuse his fellow man of promiscuity when you are equally guilty of the same offence, it is only an unwise man who will say that to his fellow man," he added. He maintained that though Kojo Bonsu has his constitutional right to partake in any NDC internal contest since the party is opened to a democratic, free and fair elections, it should not be at another's expense. "But any attempt to denigrate the former first gentleman of the land for one's parochial pursuit would be met in an equal measure....you must go about your business in a very civil and decorous manner," he advised. Watch Video Below Source: Isaac Kwame Owusu/Peacefmonline/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Former Central Regional Minister and a member of the Communication team of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwamena Duncan is on a crusade to get former President John Dramani Mahama jailed for his bad leadership and corrupt practices. Kwamena Duncan wonders why Mr. Mahama is still walking free after all that he has done to Ghana and the citizenry under his regime. His comments are in relation to a Facebook post by former President John Mahama. Mr. John Dramani Mahama, in the Facebook post, strenghtened the National Democratic Congress(NDC) stance on the controversial e-levy. He noted that the NDC will not back down on their opposition to the e-levy saying the NDC remains opposed to the imposition of the numerous fresh taxes on Ghanaians at a time when Government is living large and unwilling or unable to trim expenditure, cut waste and check corruption. "These burdensome taxes will erode business capital, especially at a time when Government has crowded out the private sector's access to credit by its voracious appetite for borrowing''. "The Ghanaian economy has been collapsed by President Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia. The debt crisis, for which there are very few tangible projects to show for, and worsening economic hardship of Ghanaians amply demonstrate the negative impact of a collapsed economy," he added. Replying Mr. Mahama on Peace FM's ''Kokrokoo'', Kwamena Duncan said; ''It is only here, in our jurisdiction - the part of the world, that a person of this kind who should be doing time in jail who gets that opportunity again to stand on a platform and accuse someone else of corruption and further stating that we are opposed to tax that will seek to see us progress. It's only in our part of the world. Elsewhere he would be doing time in jail!'' Chronicling some corrupt activities that characterized the administration of the former President, Hon. Duncan strongly believed the former President should be imprisoned by now. ''President Mahama who decided to set up what he called SADA (Savannah Accelerated Development Authority) and through that medium, millions and millions and millions of Ghanaian good cedis deprived his own people . . . My goodness! I'm saying that it is only our part of the world that a person of this sort will have the audacity to talk, elsewhere he would be doing time in jail.'' Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Today, Queens:- A voluntary group which is at the forefront of canvassing and mobilizing grassroot support for Hon Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen has responded to the concerns of the Kumasi Central Market women. The group has donated 200 bags of cement and trips of quarry stones to the Kumasi Central Market women to help improve their newly allocated market space for business. You will recall that, not too long ago, the market women at the Kumasi Central market were relocated to some satellite markets to create space for the construction of the phase II of the Kejetia Central Market by the NPP government. The ultramodern market is financed by the Deutsche Bank of Germany, with export credit guarantee from the United Kingdom Export Finance (UKEF). Receiving the materials on behalf of the executives and the market women, Madam Sarkina, the queenmother of the mud fish sellers expressed her appreciation and thanked the voluntary group for the delightful treat. She further extended the appreciation to H.E Nana Akufo-Addo for the free senior high school policy and juxtaposed that to how market women are able to save the school fees of their wards for other profitable ventures. According to Madam Sarkina, although the market women are not certain on who becomes the next leader for the NPP, they wholeheartedly stand with Queens and support the candidate the voluntary group is canvassing support for thus Hon. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen. She added that, all the market women are ready and willing to raise funds for the honourable minister when the NEC of the party finally opens up for nominations because they believe Hon. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen understands the market women and appreciate their industry better with his years of experience at the ministry. It's not the first time Queens has made such a donation. The voluntary group in the not too distant past donated 200 bags of cement and trips of quarry stones to the Kumasi Race Course Market Women. Background On their routine visitations and consultations to mobilizing a stronger support base for the NPP into the 2024 elections, Queens, a women voluntary group met up with the executives of the Kumasi Central Market to preach the great strides chalked by the Trades and Industry Ministry under the able leadership of Hon. Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen and also check up on how the market women are faring since their relocation. The market women shared some of their concerns and challenges and prayed the NPP government to make sure each original shop or store owner gets an allocation upon completion of the new market. The women also made an appeal to the government to support them with some building materials to help improve their current space for their trading activities. The phase II of the Kejetia Central Market is set to be completed in 2023. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video An RCMP officer sits outside a home surrounded by police tape where four people were found dead Tuesday, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says officers were called to the home after receiving a complaint and discovered four bodies in what they describe as a targeted shooting. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck A border marker is shown just outside of Emerson, Man. on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. Mounties say autopsies have begun to identify the four people who were found dead in a frigid Manitoba blizzard near the United States border. The bodies, including those of a baby and a teenager, were located on Jan. 19 in the snow near Emerson, Man., just metres from the international border. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods Protesters of COVID-19 restrictions, and supporters of Canadian truck drivers protesting the COVID-19 vaccine mandate cheer on a convoy of trucks on their way to Ottawa, on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Winnipeg, Man., Tuesday January 25, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski Peoria High School graduate and hip-hop dancer Olivia Orona will present a piece at the Breaking Ground dance festival at the Tempe Center for the Arts. TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has underlined the importance of modernizing agriculture and rural areas amid China's endeavor to build a modern socialist country in an all-round manner. Xi made the remarks on Wednesday while visiting a village in Fenxi County in north China's Shanxi Province. WRANGELL In a break from past practice, the Alaska Department of Revenue this year will provide monthly updates to legislators whenever projected oil prices and state revenues move up or down more than 10%. Several legislators worry that could confuse budget deliberations this session. Revenue staff has updated the states twice-yearly oil-price forecasts internally but not released the numbers to the public, the departments chief economist Dan Stickel told the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 20. Weve decided to go ahead and start releasing them publicly. The dep... 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. FILE - In this Wednesday, March 11, 2020, file photo, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and other House Democrats arrive to meet with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democratic lawmakers are calling out an apparent lack of racial data that they say is needed to monitor and address disparities in the national response to the coronavirus outbreak. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley say in a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar dated Friday, March 27, 2020, that comprehensive demographic data on people who are tested or treated for the coronavirus does not exist. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) A man reads a book while visiting the Cairo International Book Fair in Cairo, Egypt, on Jan. 27, 2022. The 53rd edition of Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), under the slogan of "Egypt's Identity - Culture & the Question of the Future," opened Wednesday with the strict implementation of COVID-19 precautionary measures. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) CAIRO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- The 53rd edition of Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), under the slogan of "Egypt's Identity - Culture & the Question of the Future," opened Wednesday with the strict implementation of COVID-19 precautionary measures. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly inaugurated the CIBF, which is held at Egypt International Exhibitions Center in New Cairo from Jan. 26 to Feb. 7, with the participation of 1,067 publishers from 51 countries, said the cabinet in a statement. Greece will be the guest of honor of the CIBF, the statement added. "Holding the CIBF is a positive message that reflects Egypt's keenness to restore the momentum of local and international events that have been impacted by COVID-19," Madbouly said, noting that it is a necessity to deal with the pandemic and overcome its negative repercussions. "The CIBF is a festival of Egyptian culture," said Culture Minister Inas Abdel-Dayem, adding that this edition will witness the launch of a digital-book project that will focus on screening Egypt's old heritage. Next Stop for RunGood Poker Series February 1-6 at San Diego's Jamul Casino January 27, 2022 Jon Sofen Senior Editor U.S. The RunGood Poker Series is returning to one of its popular destinations next month Jamul Casino in San Diego. From February 1-6, players in Southern California can take a shot at the $575 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament, which features a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool. RunGood San Diego will also feature six additional side events, including a series-opening $125 buy-in Seniors Event for players aged 50 and over. Heading to Southern California Jamul Casino is a regular and favorite stop for RunGood Poker Series players. The card room happens to be one of the top places to play poker in Southern California. Starting February 1, the San Diego casino will host a big series that will attract hundreds of players from the area for both tournaments and cash games. The highlight of the series is the $575 buy-in Main Event, which runs from February 4-6 and includes three Day 1 starting flights, one on February 4 and two on February 5. The final day and table are set for February 6. PokerNews will again be in attendance live reporting the RGPS Main Event. A complete series schedule is below: Date Tournament Guarantee Feb. 1 $125 Seniors NLH N/A Feb. 1 $135 Opening Night Guest Bounty N/A Feb. 2 $185 DeepStack NLH Day 1a (12 p.m.) $20,000 Feb. 2 $185 DeepStack NLH Day 1b (7 p.m.) $20,000 Feb. 3 $185 DeepStack NLH Day 2 $20,000 Feb. 3 $200 Two Green Chip Bounty N/A Feb. 4 $300 Pot-Limit Omaha N/A Feb. 4 $575 RunGood Main Event Day 1a $100,000 Feb. 5 $575 RunGood Main Event Day 1b (12 p.m.) $100,000 Feb. 5 $575 RunGood Main Event Day 1c (7 p.m.) $100,000 Feb. 6 $575 RunGood Main Event Day 2 $100,000 Feb. 6 $240 Black Chip Bounty Closer N/A Players can win their way into the Main Event on the cheap. Satellite tournaments are scheduled for February, 3, 4, and 5, with buy-ins for each at just $140. When the Jamul Casino stop wraps up, the RunGood Poker Series will work its way to the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa from February 15-20, highlighted by a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool Main Event. Sharelines Find out where the next @RGPokerSeries event will take place. The deal to sell the old Aiken County Hospital could be finalized next month. The closing should take place no later than Feb. 21, wrote County Administrator Clay Killian in an email sent to the Aiken Standard on Wednesday. The due diligence period, as extended, ended Jan. 21. I will point out that the contract does allow the closing date to be extended by a written addendum, he continued, so there is still a possibility of a delay, but we have had no contact from the buyer about that as of yet. In April of last year, an agreement was reached for the county to sell the old hospital to 828 Richland Associates LLC for $1.15 million. Under the terms of the contract, either the county or the buyer could request an extension of up to 90 days if the due diligence period concluded before a telecommunication tower on the old hospitals property could be demolished. The old hospitals purchaser asked for the extension prior to the end of the due diligence period, Killian told the Aiken Standard last fall. On Oct. 19, Aiken County Council approved that request in a vote taken in Council Chambers at the Aiken County Government Center after the matter was discussed during an executive session. The registered agent for 828 Richland Associates is Charles I. Small, a Columbia-based real estate developer, according to information posted on the South Carolina Secretary of States website. A site near the Aiken Department of Public Safetys headquarters is being prepared for the construction of a new telecommunication tower. When it is finished and operational, the tower on the old hospitals land will be demolished. The old hospital is on Richland Avenue West in Aiken. After it was closed as a medical facility, the brick structure served for a while as Aiken County governments headquarters. In 2014, the old hospital no longer was needed for that purpose because the $35.7-million Aiken County Government Center on University Parkway in Aiken opened. A 2021 black-and-white film that recites Shakespeare's "Macbeth" largely untrimmed stars Denzel Washington alongside a 16-year-old actor from Charleston. Lucas Barker, a Wando High School student on the robotics team, plays Fleance, the son of Banquo, in "The Tragedy of Macbeth" adaptation by producer, writer and director Joel Coen. Coen is also behind "True Grit," "No Country For Old Men," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" and "The Big Lebowski." This is the first film directed by one of the Coen brothers without the other's involvement. For this film, Coen takes the Shakespearean tragedy in five acts from 1606 and, while repeating the original text almost verbatim, strips down the visuals to their starkest bare bones. The ominous black-and-white tones cleverly demonstrate Macbeth's descent from light into darkness and sanity into madness, eerily depicting the unraveling of a tormented soul. Doing 'Macbeth' without the language seemed to be missing probably the most important part, Coen told Deadline. Its the melody of the piece and, for me, it had to be in the foreground." Barker appears in a few scenes in the film, some in which he directly interacts with Washington, who plays the lead role. "This was my first time learning Shakespeare," said the high school student, who enjoys coding and computer work in his free time. "It's definitely way different from anything I did in the past. The language and plot takes a lot of time to fully understand. ... I think it's a great role for me because I love venturing into new things, and I really spent the time to give Fleance my all." Barker first started acting at age 5. He booked a role in an independent film on one of his first auditions in Los Angeles and fell in love with the art form. "I like it because it's an outlet for creativity, and it's fun to put myself in the shoes of so many different characters," he said. Barker has landed roles in "Criminal Minds," "Ratched," "The Mentalist," "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and "Always Sunny in Philadelphia." (In the latter, he spent two days filming in a waterslide.) For "The Tragedy of Macbeth," he got a callback after his first audition and then attended a directors' session with Coen, which he was "super nervous about." After that, he landed the role. "I was extremely nervous going in," Barker said. "How can you not be going into a room with all these incredible people? I was definitely a bit intimidated and wasn't sure what to expect." Once he met everyone, Barker said his worries faded and he felt very welcomed. He was also ready to learn. "It felt like I belonged there," he said. "I got to watch how these Hollywood legends prepared for a role and observe the steps they take to get ready." In addition to acting alongside some legends and with a famous director, Barker also got to work on one of the biggest soundstages in the United States: Stage 16 at Warner Bros. Studios. It dates back to the mid-1930s and was also the set for "Jurassic Park." "It's shocking at how tall and expansive it is," Barker said. "The thing that surprised me the most about such a huge production was how quiet the set was. Joel runs a very organized set with little noise, and everybody remained extremely focused to deliver results. Its always amazing to see all the people that go into making a film, and seeing everyone on the stage was pretty incredible." Barker described Coen as "hands-on in every scene," which he appreciated as a young actor willing to soak up every moment and ounce of knowledge he could. "All of my roles have given me the opportunity to work with great people, which is always one of my favorite parts of acting," he said. For the film premiere, Barker got to walk the red carpet, get his photos taken, mingle with the cast and crew he had spent so much time with and talk to reporters. It was his first time at such an event and it was also the first time he got to see "The Tragedy of Macbeth" after completion. "The premiere was my first time seeing the movie, so it was all a surprise," he said. For his next go-around, Barker said he'd love to act in a comedy, but he's also open to more period pieces or working again with Coen or anyone in the cast. Until then, life feels fairly normal in the Wando hallways alongside his friends. Hollywood is still beckoning though, and Barker plans to answer the call. COLUMBIA A pandemic might not turn out to be the best time to be in the business of selling men's suits. At least not for Jos. A. Bank Clothiers. The national menswear retailer has closed its store at Trenholm Plaza in Forest Acres in recent weeks. The store has a sign posted sending customers to its location at 201 Harbison Blvd., which becomes its only store in the Midlands. A third location in the Village at Sandhill in Northeast Richland closed in 2020. Jos. A. Banks national parent company Tailored Brands, which also owns the Men's Warehouse chain, went through bankruptcy proceedings in 2020. The company announced plans for up to 500 stores to close over time as it entered bankruptcy in August 2020, according to USA Today. It's not the only clothing store loss for Trenholm Plaza. Another high-end clothier, J.Crew, closed its store there at the beginning of 2021, and that space remains available in the shopping center, as does the former Stein Mart location. Granger Owings, a local store that offers both suits and casual clothing, continues to operate a Trenholm Plaza location as well as its Main Street store. More casual national clothiers such as Anthropologie and lululemon continue to have stores at Trenholm Plaza. According to a Reuters report, clothing sales rebounded in 2021 after the pandemic knocked the industry in 2020, but choices tended toward the casual rather than dressy. The number of companies with a casual dress code rose in 2021 as companies looked to blend work-from-home with in-office hours, according to the Reuters story. You've seen a global casualization thats taking hold right now, so I tell people its not cyclical, this is here to stay. This is how the world is going to look going forward," Scott Baxter, CEO of Kontoor Brands, told CNBC in August 2021. Kontoor's clothing lines include the Lee and Wrangler clothing brands. COLUMBIA No one will face criminal charges in altercations during a Richland County school board meeting that involved the superintendent, his wife and frequent district critics. The Richland County Sheriff's Department said it had investigated confrontations during the Richland Two school board meeting on Jan. 25 and that prosecutors with the 5th Circuit Solicitor's Office will not charge anyone involved. A district employee called deputies to report an argument during the meeting. Two men and student who frequent the board meetings and regularly speak out against district policies were involved in an argument before the meeting began with Superintendent Baron Davis' wife, Pamela. One of the men, Gary Ginn, said that Baron Davis later confronted him before the meeting in a manner Ginn said was threatening. Security guards stepped between the two men. But Baron Davis said he was simply asking Ginn to talk with him if he had questions, that he never threatened or touched Ginn and that he was concerned for his wife's safety. The superintendent said he has regularly fielded threatening messages, some from Ginn, since about the time the school district returned to in-person classes in fall 2021 and required masks in school buildings. Ginn and another man, Gus Philpott, were issued trespass notices and required to leave the meeting and district property. Ginn told The Post and Courier he felt the decision violated his right to free speech. Ginn said he filed a complaint with the sheriff's office Jan. 26 based on his confrontation with the superintendent. In a statement Jan. 27, the school district said parents and community members have a right to ask questions and publicly share concerns but that the men involved had a history of outbursts and disruptive behavior during meetings and that one of the men had sent the superintendent threatening emails. "However, these conversations must be conducted respectfully and through the appropriate channels," the district statement said. "Further, employees nor their families should be subject to emails, comments and encounters of a threatening nature when individuals disagree with a district policy or direction." Monica Scott, a Richland Two board member, asked board chairwoman Teresa Holmes that Baron Davis and his wife, a district employee, to be placed on administrative leave while the incident was investigated. Holmes responded that she would wait for a police report and legal advice from the school district attorney. Baron Davis, who became the Columbia-area district's first Black superintendent in 2017, told The Post and Courier that one of the emails he received from Ginn said that he would face consequences similar to "those of our forefathers." Davis said he perceived the message as a threat. "My forefathers that have done this work have not fared well when there's a group that is agitated against equity and inclusion and diversity," Davis said. "So I don't know how else to interpret that." Ginn said he has consulted an attorney about the altercation and the statement the school district issued Jan. 27. Asked by The Post and Courier about Baron Davis' comments that Ginn had sent threatening messages in recent months, Ginn declined to comment. COLUMBIA A Richland Two school board member has called for the district's top official to be placed on leave following a confrontation before a board meeting Jan. 25. In an email to chairwoman Teresa Holmes Jan. 26, Richland Two board member Monica Scott called for Superintendent Baron Davis and Davis' wife, Pamela, a district employee, to be placed on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into multiple arguments involving the Davises and frequent board critics during the previous night's meeting. Two men were escorted from the meeting and issued trespass notices. One of the men filed a report with the Richland County Sheriff's Department. No arrests were made. Scott also referenced an encounter from the same night during which she said Pamela Davis put a hand in her face. "Unfortunately, the lack of self control shown by our superintendent did not demonstrate premier leadership nor were Richland School District 2 safety protocols in place and most definitely not reinforced," Scott wrote in the email she shared with The Post and Courier. Baron Davis told The Post in Courier that the board would ultimately decide whether the personnel decision was warranted. He said the confrontations came after months of threatening messages to himself and board members over district mask requirements, efforts to promote equity in the district and outcry over critical race theory that Davis said isn't taught in Richland Two schools. The superintendent said he was concerned for the safety of his wife and other district officials. Holmes responded to Scott's request for a special meeting to place the Davises on leave by saying she would first need to Richland County Sheriff's Department reports and to consult with the district's attorney. Holmes told The Post and Courier that the people at the center of the disruption before the meeting have been part of a coordinated effort similar to other areas of the country to disrupt board members and oust those they feel disagree with them politically. "We're supposed to be there for children," Holmes said. "I've been a teacher, administrator and guidance director. I'm here for children and the teachers and the faculty staff, I'm not here for all this silliness." Gus Philpott, a frequent meeting attendee and speaker, said the arguments began after he said "hello" to Pamela Davis before the meeting and that she had responded that she knew who he was and not to speak to her. Philpott was approached by security guards, who separated the them and was told to leave the meeting. Pamela Davis then had a verbal altercation with a student who also was planning to speak at the meeting. Gary Ginn, who along with Philpott and that student have spoken regularly at meetings criticizing district policy, said he asked Pamela Davis to calm down. A security guard told Ginn to return to his seat. Soon after that, Ginn told The Post and Courier that while he was signing up to speak at the meeting, Baron Davis charged at him "like a freight train," asked why Ginn spoken that way to his wife. Ginn said the superintendent had to be held back by security guards. Barron Davis said guards just separated them, and he never threatened Ginn or physically touched him. Ginn was told to leave by security. "They basically violated my first amendment rights, as far as I'm concerned," Ginn said. Scott, the board chair, said she had disagreed with the decision to have two men escorted out of the building by security after an argument with Pamela Davis before the meeting began. If the men were asked to leave, then Pamela Davis should also have had to leave, Scott said. Ginn said he filed a complaint with the sheriff's department Jan. 26. The agency provided copies of Ginn's complaint and an incident report from the board meeting in response to a request from The Post and Courier. Names in the report had been redacted, and a sheriff's office spokeswoman said the information was withheld because no one had been charged. A deputy wrote in their report that school district security told them there was no security footage of the confrontations because there are no security cameras in the board room. Baron Davis, the district's first Black superintendent, said he feels race is a factor in criticism he and board members have faced throughout the school year and that efforts the district has made, including hiring a diversity officer and instituting an equity policy, have drawn the ire of some. "But there are a couple individuals who have been more demonstrative in their disapproval than others," Davis said. "So far that they have, I believe, crossed over from a place of civility and have created a hostile and adversarial environment, mainly with my staff." Nobody has been charged in the confrontations from the meeting. A school district spokeswoman said the district had received copies of the sheriff's reports as a courtesy after they were requested by the media but had not otherwise been contacted as part of a criminal investigation. The confrontation came two weeks after a board meeting Jan. 11 was cut short when Davis experienced an undisclosed medical issue while beginning to introduce a meeting topic. He returned to work a week later. Five bills that would limit what students are taught about U.S. history, civics and current events got their first hearing before S.C. House legislators Jan. 26. At their core, the bills take aim at how or whether students are taught about racism. The bills seek to ban critical race theory, the precise definition of which lawmakers debated, inconclusively, for two-plus hours in a conversation several said was uncomfortable because of how difficult discussions about race can be. But that discomfort, one bill sponsor said, is why people are upset. I think the uncomfortable feelings that we are currently feeling is at the core of what critical race theory is, said Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Aiken. Basically what its saying is one person is better than another, or its your fault that A, B, C or D happened. The debate in Columbia is part of a larger one nationally. In the past year, at least 25 states have considered similar legislation and 14, including South Carolina, have put restrictions in place, according to Education Week. Here, lawmakers put a provision into this years budget banning what they described as partisanship curriculum. That one-time budget rule expires in June, but the legislation being considered in the House would potentially make permanent even more far-reaching restrictions. Critical race theory originated decades ago as an academic, legal theory to explain systemic racism. But in the past three years, conservatives have used the term more broadly to encompass many different types of conversations about race, as well as sex and gender. Its this broader definition thats reflected in the five bills the House is considering. Unusually, the House Committee on Education and Public Works met in full to discuss the bills, rather than hearing them in subcommittee. Chairwoman Rita Allison, R-Spartanburg, who is a co-sponsor of two of the bills, told the members during the hearing she wanted them all to be able to weigh in on legislation thats likely to provoke strong reactions from supporters and detractors alike. Allison said the bills are arising out of complaints lawmakers have heard from teachers, parents and students. She said her goal is to protect the profession of teaching. This committee is not on a witch hunt, she said. While the five bills vary in scope, they all apply to public K-12 schools in some capacity, and a few expand the restrictions to public colleges and universities and other state-funded entities. Some are written to protect students or employees from having to agree with certain concepts, while others prevent discussion on those concepts at all. Some specifically ban The New York Times 1619 Project, which identifies the arrival of enslaved Africans in whats now the United States as the countrys true founding. Sign up for our Education Lab newsletter. Email Sign Up! Beyond their restrictions on controversial topics, the bills before the committee address whats known as action civics, where student participation in advocacy on social issues or events is part of the curriculum. Some of the bills also address transparency, requiring schools to maintain public websites listing all the resources teachers are using. The legal theory isnt taught in K-12 schools in the state. But several legislators shared at the hearing that theyve heard complaints from parents about lessons they believed were inappropriate. The one detailed example given involved a private school, which would not be subject to any of the proposed legislation, where Oremus said a teacher asked her class to wear black after former President Donald Trumps election in 2016. Democrats pressed colleagues on the committee to define CRT and expressed concern about the whitewashing of history. Schools should be teaching a full view of American history, one that includes the struggles of African Americans, women, Native Americans and others, they said. I find it somewhat amusing that people who have always been free, whove always known freedom, are somewhat nervous about other people enjoying the same freedom that theyve been used to enjoying, said Rep. Michael Rivers, D-Beaufort, who is Black. Rep. Annie McDaniel, D-Winnsboro, told the committee the legislation, if passed, would have a chilling effect on teachers. She added that the provisions in some of the bills that would pull funding from districts for violations would hurt public schools. It seems like its just an attack on the public school system, McDaniel said. The committee didnt hear public testimony Wednesday but will on Feb. 8, Allison said. People can sign up to speak by calling 803-734-3053 or emailing gingerlee@schouse.gov. Donate to our Investigative Fund to support journalism like this Our public service and investigative reporting is among the most important work we do. Its also the most expensive reporting we do. We cant do it without your support. Donate Now A person is swabbed at a COVID-19 testing site on Times Square in New York, the United States, Jan. 9, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua) U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for swift action to respond to a growing mental health crisis among youth that has worsened due to stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic. "Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real, and they are widespread. But most importantly, they are treatable, and often preventable," said Murthy. NEW YORK, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Young people around the world are more likely than older people to feel depressed and anxious, said a recent global survey jointly conducted by The United Nations Children's Fund and the polling firm Gallup. About 36 percent of young people said they "often" felt nervous, worried or anxious, compared to 30 percent of older people; youth were also more likely to feel depressed or have little interest in doing things, said the survey over 22,000 people from 21 countries between January and June 2021. People walk past a COVID-19 testing site in Times Square in New York, the United States, Jan. 9, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua) U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has already noticed the worrisome trend. In an advisory last month, Murthy called for swift action to respond to a growing mental health crisis among youth that has worsened due to stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic. "It would be a tragedy if we beat back one public health crisis only to allow another to grow in its place," said Murthy. "Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real, and they are widespread. But most importantly, they are treatable, and often preventable." Concerns about youth mental health have only increased during the pandemic, as months of social isolation, school closures and other pandemic-related difficulties are believed to have fueled increased levels of anxiety and depression, added the surgeon in his advisory. Two bills aiming to solve the South Carolina teacher shortage crisis advanced to the Senate floor, but education experts believe they won't be enough to solve staffing woes. One would allow school districts to employ people without teacher certifications. The other aims to improve teachers' working conditions by requiring elementary schools to offer educators at least 30 minutes of unencumbered break time each day. The S.C. Senate Education Committee passed both bills unanimously Jan. 26. South Carolina started the 2021-22 school year with 1,063 teacher vacancies, according to the annual supply and demand report by the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement. The omicron variant amplified the staffing problems in January when many educators were thrown into quarantine. From Jan. 10 to Jan. 14, 5,580 public school staff members were placed in quarantine or isolation, according to the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control's Jan. 19 report. While the two bills address the shortage by bringing more people into the workforce and improving teacher morale, education committee Chairman Sen. Greg Hambree, R-Myrtle Beach, said they only serve as "a drop in the bucket." The bill allowing districts to hire uncertified teachers says they can hire subject-matter experts to teach in classrooms when districts are unable to find certified teachers to fill vacancies. It would cap the number of uncertified educators at 25 percent. (Charter schools in South Carolina are already given the freedom to hire uncertified teachers, with the same 25 percent limit.) The bill only applies to schools that have received an "excellent" rating from the S.C. Department of Education for at least two years in a row, or schools that are located in geographically underserved areas. The uncertified teachers need to have bachelor's or graduate degree in the subject area they are hired to teach and at least five years of relevant workplace experience. They also must enroll in an alternative educator certification program within two years. When the bill was introduced to the subcommittee the uncertified teacher wouldn't be required to undergo classroom training. Lawmakers added an amendment making classroom training mandatory, a move S.C. educators applauded because they worried that untrained uncertified teachers would do more harm than good. "Teaching is a certified profession for a reason, there are certain unique attributes and skills that a teacher must have in a classroom that are not found in other professions," Patrick Kelly, a high school teacher and director of government affairs at the Palmetto State Teachers Association, said in an interview after the meeting. Without a training requirement, Kelly said the bill is like asking people with bachelor's degrees in biology to work as medical doctors. Sign up for our Education Lab newsletter. Email Sign Up! While the bill loosens staffing qualifications, it is not a final solution to the state's staffing problems. Just 10 percent of the new teachers hired in the 2020-21 school year were uncertified, according to a June 2021 report to the S.C. Education Oversight Committee. The uncertified teachers bill already passed in the House. If the Senate passes the bill and it's signed by Gov. Henry McMaster, it will become law. The committee also added an amendment to the bill requiring elementary schools to give teachers a 30-minute break. The amendment allows teachers to opt into having extra pay instead of break time. The bill had originally explicitly prevented school districts from offering teachers extra pay. "It sort of defeats the whole idea of giving them time for a break," Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Hartsville, said. Kelly sees it differently. Allowing teachers the opportunity to opt out of break time for more pay gives them the chance for adequate compensation on days breaks aren't possible. If the Senate passes the bill, it will then be considered by the House before landing on McMaster's desk. While the two bills do inch South Carolina in the right direction when it comes to teacher recruitment and retention, education experts believe much more needs to be done. Kelly would like to see the state expand alternative certification pathways, implement apprenticeship programs for incoming teachers, reduce standardized testing burdens, lower class sizes and pay teachers more. Donate to our Investigative Fund to support journalism like this Our public service and investigative reporting is among the most important work we do. Its also the most expensive reporting we do. We cant do it without your support. Donate Now Charleston will have much more time than expected before it chooses whether to continue with a federal project to put a sea wall around downtown, city officials said Jan. 26. The announcement, during a morning meeting of an advisory group for the project, came from Dale Morris, the city's chief resiliency officer. Before, it appeared that the City Council would have to vote within weeks on whether to move into the next phase of design for the project, known as Preconstruction Engineering and Design, or PED. But Morris said that Charleston actually has months before it must make that final choice and that first, the Corps has to send the project through its own technical reviews, and Congress has to appropriate funding for the engineering work. That could take until the end of the year or even longer, Morris said. "We were all lining up and getting ready on whether to vote yes or no," said Councilman Mike Seekings, whose historic downtown district would be most impacted by the wall. "It's a different setup than I was expecting." The Army Corps of Engineers has been working with the city for three years now on how to protect the Charleston peninsula from hurricane storm surge. As it stands, the proposed plan would ring the city with about 8 miles of sea wall, including dozens of gates and multiple pumps to drain rainwater from the interior. The wall would rise about 3 feet above the height of the existing High Battery sea wall. In addition to surge, the project has been held up as a way to protect Charleston against rising sea levels from climate change, an existential threat to South Carolina's largest city. But some controversies have lingered through the yearslong feasibility study, including how the plan affects outlying minority communities, whether greener options than the hard, engineered walls the Corps has suggested can be included, and how it interferes with the properties of the State Ports Authority along the Cooper River. The Corps recently released an updated proposal for the wall's alignment that resolves a conflict with the SPA. But the day before it became clear that the city's next decision point had been pushed back, a new group formed and publicly urged City Council to tap the brakes. Former Charleston City Councilwoman Marie Delcioppo helped create the group, called the Charleston Water Coalition, which is advocating for more public engagement on the project. "We owe (the public) a little bit more information, and we owe them that we have put every single opportunity, alternative option, whatever, on the table," she said. "PED is almost kind of being sold as a continuation of the feasibility phase, and it is not, it is moving forward with a wall." Delcioppo resigned from office representing Daniel Island and part of the downtown peninsula in October, citing health issues. She said there are "about a dozen members" in the new coalition, but declined to identify them. Delcioppo also said some members had offered to pay her for her work as spokeswoman of the group, but also declined to say which ones, and said she hasn't received any checks yet. Bank documents provided to The Post and Courier showed that Charleston Water Coalition, LLC had $100 in a business checking account, and that Delcioppo herself had deposited it. "This coalition is a group of concerned residents of the Charleston area. It is not funded as it was just created," Delcioppo wrote in a follow-up email. One member of the group is Morrison Yard, a project between Morrison Drive and the edge of the Cooper River, developer Mike Schwarz confirmed. Schwarz's firm Woodfield Development is one of several partners involved in Morrison Yard, specifically a 380-unit apartment building. Different firms are collaborating on the other part of the project, a $71 million office building just across Johnson Street. As of the most recent update to the Corps' plan, the sea wall's path runs directly along Johnson Street. Morris said that the city is telling the Corps that the wall should be realigned in that area and others, such as Lockwood Drive, a major traffic corridor that's right now crossed four times by the wall. Another member of the coalition, Jamey Goldin, is an attorney who lives on Broad Street. He said he's concerned about how the city would pay for its 35 percent cost share of the $1.1 billion wall project, and whether significant aesthetic changes can be made in PED. He worried that a gray wall would end up blocking off the city from the surrounding water. Goldin said he didn't plan to contribute money to the group. "I've got a 5-year-old daughter who loves nothing more right now than for her father to walk her down (to Broad and Lockwood) and see those dolphins feeding down there. Its a free view," he said. But Morris, who has described PED as a negotiation between the city and the Corps, said that the city will have significant leverage in the design work. The only way to really see if the project will work, he argued, is to see it though the engineering stage. "The opponents, for whatever reason, are saying we can't do anything in PED, that we're going to get a gray wall," he said. "We know that's not the case." And especially along Broad and Lockwood, he added, "If we don't fix that perimeter and improve it, we are going to retreat" from increasing tidal flooding. While a formal vote isn't coming yet, there will be some discussion of the project in a special City Council workshop planned for mid-February. The city does have to send the Corps two largely procedural documents before the end of that month: a financial declaration that Charleston can pay for its part of the project, and a letter of support agreeing that the current feasibility phase can finish. Neither one formally commits Charleston to the project, and both will be discussed at the workshop. A date for the workshop has not been set, but it's expected the week of Feb. 14. The Gullah Farmers Cooperative Association has been providing access and resources to Black farmers in coastal South Carolina since its 2010 formation. After opening its new 10,000-square-foot processing facility, the co-op now has the capacity to help its 13 partner farms bring fresh produce to schools and grocery stores throughout South Carolina. They can grow their produce, bring it to this co-op, we will process it, wash it, pack it and find markets for it, said Gullah Farmers Cooperative Association President Joseph McDomick. The co-op received funding from multiple sources to get the project off the ground. Local churches, Beaufort County, Rural Advancement Foundation International, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the S.C. Department of Agriculture all helped fund the facility, located in the Leroy Browne Center at 6315 Jonathan Francis Senior Road on St. Helena Island. Right now, the facility functions as a packing house. Farmers drop off fruits and vegetables which are sorted, washed, packed and sold to schools, grocery stores and wholesalers like GrowFood Carolina. Produce thats harvested and brought to the facility in the morning is out of the door within 48 hours to maintain peak freshness. Its been in development for many years. Just with some of the co-op farmers, theyre smaller so getting a consistent wholesale buyer has been tricky, said SCDA Market Development Coordinator Katie Pfeiffer. So having them be able to work as a conglomerate at the co-op really helps get their product (to market). Were super glad its been successful and I know that theyll help get more local food in the school system, which is great. Co-op member Joseph Fields of Joseph Fields Farm on Johns Island said he delivers produce to the facility weekly. Getting his collards, kale, broccoli and cabbage into schools was simply not a possibility before the facility opened Dec. 8, he told The Post and Courier. Some grocery stores and wholesalers are even buying produce from the facility in bulk. Gullah Farmers Co-Op Administrative Coordinator Susan Pavlin said some of these orders are for 30 cases of produce, with each case weighing between 10 and 30 pounds. As you start to get into those larger numbers, most farms dont have the capacity, Pavlin said. By working with multiple farmers, were able to consolidate everything here. The facility is currently processing and distributing more than 1,000 pounds of produce each week, and that number should increase every growing season. In the spring, the co-op plans to add a cutting and chopping line, too. That will significantly increase our production and sales as well, Pavlin said. Moving forward, McDomick said he would like to add more farms to the co-op, even though farmers do not have to be members to access the facility. In order to keep growing, the co-op will need to bring in a younger group of farmers that can keep growing its network of Black farmers. We need to have some younger people come in so that we can continue to operate the facility, McDomick said. For the co-op's delivery schedule, call 843-212-6576 or email gullahcoop@gmail.com. Product availability varies, but this list provides a look at fresh produce the co-op distributed in 2021. GREENVILLE Greenville County Schools Board of Trustees will send a letter to the state board of health requesting student COVID-19 quarantine requirements match those for employees. The board of South Carolina's largest school district approved by an 8-1 vote a six-paragraph letter outlining its concerns about current Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) guidance on close-contact quarantines and why Greenville students need to be in school. The letter is addressed to the chair of the South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control, which oversees DHEC, and copied to Gov. Henry McMaster, DHEC Director Edward Simmer and the Greenville state legislative delegation. The final paragraph of the letter asks the state health department and governor to review the districts student quarantine data and relax guidelines to align it with the current guidance for staff (staying home ONLY if symptomatic). Prior to the roll-call vote at the end of the almost 2-hour called meeting on Jan. 27, the board listened to a presentation from the administration on procedures and data for student and teacher quarantines and isolations. It also worked publicly through revisions to the proposed letter. On Jan. 16 when Greenville County was hit with a snowstorm that led to e-learning for a full week DHEC updated its COVID-19 quarantine guidelines for employees. Employees, regardless of vaccination status, can now continue working in-person following a COVID exposure, as long as they are asymptomatic and wear a mask through the 10th day. Employees who are not maximally vaccinated, which includes the initial series and a booster, or present proof of a positive test within the past 90 days must take a COVID test on the fifth day to continue working through the 10th day. The second option for employees is to stay home for up to 10 days following an exposure. They may return to school on the fifth day if they can present a negative test and are asymptomatic. Employees who are maximally vaccinated or can present a positive test from the past 90 days do not have to test to return. If employees return, a mask must be worn through day 10 regardless of vaccination status or previous infection. Currently, students have three options following an exposure but only one which vaguely resembles the employee guidelines to continue in-person learning. The first option for students is to stay home for 10 days. Option two is to stay home for five days and return to in-person learning on day six as long as they are asymptomatic and have a documented note from a parent. A mask must be worn through day 10 for option two. The third option is to continue to attend school following an exposure if they are 18 or older and are maximally vaccinated, or 17 and under and have received the initial series of vaccination or present proof of a positive test for within the last 90 days. Students can only use this option if they are also asymptomatic and wear a mask through day 10. While that option reflects the updated option for employees, it is limited to only a portion of the 77,000-student school district. Since first day of school on Aug. 17, 2021, until Jan. 15, 2,160 employees have isolated and an additional 1,178 employees have quarantined. Of those, 417 employee quarantines turned into isolation after a positive test. For students in the same time frame, 9,755 have isolated and 34,432 have quarantined, with 2,230 quarantines turning into isolations. Of the more than 34,000 student quarantines since the start of the year, a smaller percentage of the figure reflects students who have quarantined more than once due to close-contact exposures, Superintendent Burke Royster said. From the total employee isolations and quarantines, more than half have occurred since Jan. 1 due to the recent omicron variant spike. Between the first of the new year and Jan. 15, 1,185 employees isolated and 635 quarantined. For students in the same timeframe, 4,296 isolated and 11,801 have quarantined. While the isolation and quarantine numbers for employees and students fell from Jan. 10 to Jan. 24, the school district had a week off from in-person instruction, and, unlike other breaks, students still attended e-learning and weather conditions limited travel and in-person gatherings. The DHEC guideline change for employees, which the Greenville County School District adopted immediately, spurred four board members Trustees Angie Mosley, Sarah Dulin, Lynda Leventis-Wells and Carolyn Styles to draft the letter originally addressed directly to the governor and DHEC's director. When discussing the letter, some trustees noted that the avenue the four trustees took to get board approval was unconventional. Such letters would typically first be discussed in an advocacy committee meeting, helmed by Trustee Derek Lewis. The administration has advocated on a state level in the past for changing COVID guidelines. Because of that, Royster said the letter appears to very much align with those things that we have previously communicated. The only exception at this point is the administration has not communicated with DHEC about making student guidelines the same as employees. The biggest change from the draft letter was the decision to address it to the chair of the board for DHEC, with others copied. This suggestion came from Lewis, who insisted that letters such as this should be sent from one body of elected or appointed officials to another rather than to employees of a department. Other minor changes were made to the letter, including the addition of the most recent data and the removal of the term well to describe students who are quarantined without symptoms. After the revisions were added, trustees were given about five minutes to read the updated letter. The board then voted to send. Trustee Pat Sudduth was the lone vote against it. The state health department gave districts a way to limit quarantines in mid-January, but most districts did not implement it. The test-to-stay program is an alternative to the traditional quarantine for exposed but asymptomatic students. To stay in school, students have to take a rapid test and test negative. DHEC recommends students test twice if tests are available, but only one is required. In general, test-to-stay is resource intensive, requiring access to rapid tests as well as staff to track and manage cases. Since the fall, DHEC has provided free BinaxNOW rapid tests to districts that request it, which 34 districts took part. Greenville does not participate in that program. Many districts have said staffing was the bigger hurdle, particularly as omicron cases surged. There are challenges regarding both the capacity to implement such a program and to accessing the necessary testing supplies, Greenville County schools spokesman Tim Waller wrote in an email Jan. 14. Sara Gregory from The Post and Courier Education Lab contributed to this reporting. The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported nearly 10,000 newly confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and 26 more deaths related to the virus Jan. 27. Statewide numbers New cases reported: 7,274 confirmed, 2,660 probable. Total cases in S.C.: 1,056,287 confirmed, 282,097 probable. New deaths reported: 20 confirmed, six probable. Total deaths in S.C.: 13,085 confirmed, 2,096 probable. Percent of ICU beds filled (with COVID-19 and other patients): 79.28 percent. S.C. residents vaccinated In South Carolina, 61.9 percent of people who are eligible for the vaccine have received at least one dose, and 52.9 percent of eligible residents have completed their vaccinations. This number reflects all eligible residents in South Carolina, including young children. The latest data from DHEC shows 16.7 percent of children ages 5-11 have at least one vaccine dose. Hardest-hit areas Greenville (898), Charleston (746) and Lexington (682) counties saw the highest total numbers of new cases. What about tri-county? Charleston County had 746 new cases, while Berkeley had 296 and Dorchester had 237. Deaths DHEC typically releases county-level data regarding COVID-19 deaths and the ages of those who have died from the virus on Tuesdays. According to the latest data released Jan. 26, at least 96 people in South Carolina died from the virus Jan. 16-22, and their ages ranged from young adult (18-34) to elderly (65 and older). Horry County recorded 18 COVID deaths that week the highest number of any county in the state. Hospitalizations Of the 2,648 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of Jan. 27, 435 were in the ICU and 229 were using ventilators. What do experts say? State health officials continue to urge residents to be vigilant about adhering to COVID-19 mitigation strategies like wearing masks in public, getting vaccinated and boosted, and practicing social distancing. Go to https://vaxlocator.dhec.sc.gov to find a vaccine clinic near you. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Isolated thunderstorms this evening. Skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 63F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.. Tonight Isolated thunderstorms this evening. Skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 63F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%. CONWAY South Carolinas fastest-growing county and one of its largest cities are each expected to receive money from pharmaceutical companies stemming from lawsuits that blame them for creating a public health and addiction crisis. In separate votes this week, the Horry County and Myrtle Beach councils voted to settle lawsuits with drug companies including McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen and Johnson & Johnson, clearing the way for financial resources to help combat opioid abuse in the region. Myrtle Beach anticipates getting $4.3 million over the next 17 years, with the money being used to fund ongoing treatment, prevention and educational efforts related to opioid abuse, city spokesman Mark Kruea said. Mayor Brenda Bethune said Jan. 25 the city of 32,700 will extend its partnership with New Directions, a locally-based nonprofit that since 2017 has helped more than 300 people with drug placement and treatment options. The council unanimously voted to partially settle with the pharmaceutical giants. These funds will allow us to continue the work that has been started toward those efforts. We do have an opioid epidemic, Bethune said. Its nationwide, but this is going to greatly help us to address those issues we have right here. Less is known about what kind of financial compensation Horry County may receive, but state Attorney Generals Office spokesman Robert Kittle confirmed the county is among parties included in a 2019 complaint that was rolled into a nationwide claim that may be settled for up to $26 billion. South Carolina is one of 44 states named in the deal, and the state would get 1.58 percent of the total payout. Kittle said once the Jan. 26 deadline passes for interested parties to opt in, the attorneys general and drug companies have two weeks to hammer out the details. By Feb. 25, well know whether theres a deal, Kittle said. The Horry County Council met Jan. 24 with a single agenda item: To vote on proposed settlement of legal claims that were discussed in private. County spokeswoman Kelly Moore said she was unable to provide any more information citing ongoing litigation. Attempts to reach AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson were unsuccessful but all have said on their website theyre committed to the responsible and safe use of opioids. In 2018 McKesson a Texas-based pharmaceutical distributor created the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts with a $100 million donation. We are deeply concerned by the impact the opioid epidemic is having on families and communities across our nation. Thats why we are taking new steps to help combat the epidemic, CEO John Hammergren said in announcing the initiative. Between 2015 and 2019, opioid deaths across South Carolina jumped by 55 percent from 565 to 876, according to state public health data. Horry County alone saw 131 opioid overdose deaths in 2019 the most recent year that statistics are available. State leaders said South Carolina deserves compensation from drug manufacturers and providers for the harm their products have caused to residents, with the 2019 complaint calling the opioid scourge the worst human-made epidemic in modern medical history. State Rep. Russell Fry, R-Surfside Beach, spent two years as chairman of the House Opioid Prevention Study Committee, whose work led to a suite of new legislation and funding to address the issue. Im excited that there is an opportunity to correct a problem that plagues every community in our country, Fry told The Post and Courier Jan. 26. The challenge at this point for Myrtle Beach and Horry County and the state is to wisely use those dollars for education, for treatment, recovery and prevention. Fry, whos mounting a primary against U.S. Rep. Tom Rice in the 7th Congressional District, said the federal government needs to work more closely with states and municipalities. Its important to keep finding ways to address it, because from the state perspective and the local perspective, theres been a tremendous amount of effort, he said. Sara Goldsby, director of the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, said the pending settlements with opioid manufacturers are especially timely as the state emerges from a pandemic. We all recognize the harms that have been done to our state and our communities by things that were done by the pharmaceutical companies, so this settlement is meaningful, Goldsby told The Post and Courier on Jan. 26. MONCKS CORNER Homelessness is frequently associated with metro areas, such as downtown Charleston, where people often sleep under bridges or in city parks. And while the problem might not be as visible in Moncks Corner, which has just above 10,000 people, pastors in the county say homelessness is still prevalent. There is no homeless shelter in Berkeley County a fact religious leaders are trying to raise awareness to and the need for a place to house the unsheltered individuals they interact with often. "We know them," said Pastor Tory Liferidge, who leads Grace Reformed Episcopal Church. "They come to our food pantries. They come to our churches. They work in our local businesses." Liferidge and two other Moncks Corner pastors have slept outside each night since Jan. 24 as part of a three-night campaign to bring attention to homelessness in the county. The Rev. Darien Jones of Moncks Corner AME and the Rev. Shamond Riddy of Wesley United Methodist joined Liferidge in the effort, sleeping at an encampment that church volunteers set up off U.S. Highway 52, across the street from the Berkeley County Administrative Building. The religious leaders began their campaign after addressing Berkeley County Council at the Jan. 24 council meeting where they called on elected officials to dedicate just over $2 million to secure 5 acres in Moncks Corner for a proposed Security Village to house homeless individuals and other vulnerable populations, such as seniors and persons with disabilities. The project would include 35 pods for single individuals and families, and 15 to 20 one-bedroom units for elderly persons. Liferidge said the plan is modeled after similar communities created by Pallet Shelter, a Washington-based company that has established several transitional shelter villages on the West Coast. Pallet communities typically consist of several dozen sleeping cabins, and guests also have access to meals, hygiene products and a case manager to help them chart out paths forward. The religious leaders hope the Moncks Corner Security Village would eventually host similar services for unsheltered persons. A permanent homeless shelter could still be a long-term solution, Liferidge said. But the pods could help elected officials more quickly address the immediate need, Liferidge said. We have a responsibility to take care of the most vulnerable among us," the Rev. Jones said. "Everyone, regardless of their background, deserves safe housing. Liferidge deemed the first night a success. Pastors spent the first part of the day delivering sleeping bags to homeless people throughout the town. That night, after addressing Berkeley County Council, they offered dinner and sleeping bags to a handful of individuals who visited the tent community. Breakfast was served to guests the following morning. Two homeless people slept at the encampment the first night. One of them, Sheila Fuller, was brought to the site by Berkeley County deputies who had heard the pastors' presentation at the council meeting. Fuller, 66, is well-known by officers in the community. She works at a restaurant in town and spends most of her nights sleeping atop park benches beneath a blanket. She is grateful the pastors are bringing attention to homelessness. She is particularly concerned about homeless veterans, who risk their lives overseas only to return home without a place to stay, she said. I think they need to get the veterans off the road," she said. "They fought wars for us." Ministers of the Gospel are often called to dramatize the issues impacting vulnerable people, Liferidge said. Sometimes, these sort of physical actions are necessary when statements and pleas fall on deaf ears, he said. "If our words arent making enough noise, we also have to say it with our bodies," Liferidge said. The 2020 census listed Berkeley County as the second-fastest growing county in the state. As the county continues to grow, so will the number of people in the county without a home, Jones said. An indicator of this uptick is found in the the 2020 South Carolina State of Homelessness Report, which logged 26 unsheltered individuals. Historically, the number of Berkeley County people recorded as homeless in the report has been zero, Liferidge said. The pastors' proposal came several minutes after the county's Finance Committee heard the 2021 financial audit report from Mauldin & Jenkins during the Jan. 24 meeting. David Irwin with the firm noted the county's general fund revenues increased by about $4.4 million from the prior year, an indication of the uptick of the economic activity happening across one of the state's fastest-growing counties. In addition to highlighting the fact that the county dedicates funds to sustain its animal shelter, Liferidge pointed to the county's positive financial position as an opportunity to help those in need. "The answer is always, 'We don't have the money,'" Liferidge said. "We have it." The Charleston tri-county area is in for another weekend of chilly, blustery weather, with forecasters calling for snow flurries as a cold front moves in. The front is expected to swiftly move eastward across the area beginning late Jan. 28, ushering in cold, dry air, according to the National Weather Services Charleston office. Temperatures in the low 30s are anticipated around the Lowcountry, and precipitation could turn from rain showers to snow flurries. The chances of seeing at least snow flurries in the Charleston area is relatively high, meteorologist Jonathan Lamb said. It still does not look like any kind of significant snowfall is expected. Precipitation will likely stop early Jan. 29, meaning any snowfall in the tri-county area would likely occur between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m., Lamb said. But if it does snow, it wouldnt be heavy or long-term enough to accumulate in any appreciable way, he explained. Forecasters also dont anticipate ice accumulation or freezing rain. Even so, residents should expect Jan. 28 to be another chilly day. As clouds begin to clear, temperatures will reach the low to mid 40s about 20 degrees lower than normal for this time of year, forecasters said. Gusty winds will also make for blustery conditions, and the wind chill could cause temperatures to dip to the upper teens in some spots. Jan. 30 will be nicer, with warmer, rain-free skies, according to the forecast. The weather service did not issue any sort of advisory as of Jan. 27. A winter weather advisory would be issued only if snow was expected to accumulate, Lamb said. A chance of snow this weekend is the end-cap to a cold January, and the third consecutive week of wintery weather in South Carolina. A thin layer of ice blanketed the Lowcountry on Jan. 22 after a bout of freezing rain, closing offices, schools and some roadways. The previous weekend, Gov. Henry McMaster issued a state of emergency ahead of a winter storm which knocked out power and dumped as much as 6 inches of snow in the Upstate. Last month, on the other hand, was the second-warmest December ever recorded in Charleston, according to weather records dating back to 1937. BAGHDAD, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- On a cold winter morning, people of different ages begin to gather at the al-Qishla heritage site in Iraqi capital Baghdad's old city center to enjoy music, poetry, drawing, and sculpture. In the Rusafa side of the capital, along the Tigris River, local culture thrives in al-Qishla, an Ottoman-era military barrack, as it has become a venue for art events hosted by Iraqi poets, artists, and art lovers. Ottoman rulers built the two-story building of al-Qishla in 1861 with corridors and halls opening onto an inner courtyard. Seven years later, the clock tower was built to serve military purposes. The compound, now boasting a weathered facade, is part of a cultural heritage site reflecting the characteristics of Baghdad's past political and religious life. Every Friday morning, Karim al-Khazali is keen to meet other art lovers in al-Qishla for a couple of hours on art events and enjoy the one-of-a-kind atmosphere there. Al-Khazali, who heads the al-Mutanabi Poets, Writers and Artists Association, told Xinhua that the cultural and artistic events are usually held in the courtyard and the halls to allow artists and intellectuals to directly interact with the audience. "There are many associations, each of which specializes in a color of literature and art, such as the Association of Writers and the Association of Artists, Poets, Sculptors, and Plastic Artists, and this gathering is held every Friday," al-Khazali said. In Al-Khazali's opinion, such a direct interaction has a positive impact on society as it could evoke a sense of responsibility among the artists to reflect more positively upon various issues and current affairs. The cultural events also give rise to the discovery of aspirational future artists, he said. "Many people have talents, but they just didn't discover them. They need support and encouragement to show their abilities, while here in al-Qishla, many professionals and pioneers are available and ready to do everything they can to help the talented and art lovers," al-Khazali added. "We find that many families, despite the low temperatures, have come to al-Qishla with their children to relax and have fun in this heritage site," he noted. For Hussein Karam, a poet, al-Qishla provides an opportunity to meet with other poets and friends as many people come from northern and southern provinces on Friday. "We meet here to enjoy the beautiful (cultural) atmosphere." Every Friday, sculptor Juma Salman and 20 apprentices gather to display their artworks in one of the halls of al-Qishla, and he has set up a pop-up workshop to teach people of all ages for free. "Here we present to the public a series of exhibitions every Friday, which mainly consist of works of art in stone, thermo stone, and clay. We try to present beautiful things for visitors," Juma said while explaining the sculptor's work to young people, who are touring his hall among the group's artworks. Looking at a painting drawn by his eight-year-old daughter Amani, Alaa Al-Rikabi said "every Friday I take her to the al-Qishla site, where she sits in the free studio with her peers, drawing, having fun and being given advice and directions of the artists supervising the studio." A lawyer for Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis said the sheriff "vehemently" denies that he sexually assaulted a department lieutenant 25 years ago, and that they've asked former U.S. Attorney Peter McCoy from Charleston to do "an independent investigation into this matter." In a brief press conference on Jan. 26, Shaun Kent, the sheriff's personal attorney, said McCoy will have "the full resources of the Sumter County Sheriffs Office at his disposal," The Sumter Item reported. Kent didn't describe the specific goals or costs of the investigation and didn't take any questions. The press conference follows a Jan. 23 report that was part of The Post and Courier-led Uncovered collaboration. The newspaper has partnered with The Sumer Item and 16 other community newspapers to investigate questionable conduct by public officials throughout South Carolina. The story revealed how former Sumter Sheriff's Lt. Melissa Addison told the State Law Enforcement Division that Dennis raped her in his home in 1997 and made sexual advances in 2004. The newspaper report found that Addison reported the assaults to SLED two years ago, but that SLED failed to formally open a case. SLED Chief Mark Keel told the newspaper that the lieutenant's allegations "fell through the cracks," and that the agency would now do a proper investigation. Addison declined to comment Jan. 26 about the sheriff's legal moves. The press conference was in a small room at the department in Sumter. Dennis didn't speak. His wife, Lorriane Dennis, who is the county's assistant administrator, stood next to him, along with several sheriff's office employees. "It must be stated that Sheriff Dennis vehemently denies this allegation, Kent said. As with any individual accused of a crime, the sheriff encourages a thoughtful and thorough investigation into the matter," The Item reported. Kent said Dennis "tasked me to engage an independent agent" to look into the allegations, "and we have engaged Peter McCoy." McCoy served as South Carolina's U.S. Attorney in 2020 for about a year. A Republican, McCoy also represented House District 115 in Charleston for about a decade. McCoy has his own legal practice and has worked alongside Kent in that capacity. The two lawyers recently joined forces to represent a town councilman in nearby Summerton who became the focus of a SLED investigation after an Uncovered article last summer. Kent said McCoy's report will be made public when completed. No tax dollars will be used in this separate investigation, Kent added. He did not specify where funding for the probe will come from. McCoy did not make any statements at the press conference. He could not be reached for comment later in the day. In the Sumter case, Addison alleged to SLED that Dennis assaulted her in his home in 1997, shortly after she joined the department as an evidence technician. She told The Post and Courier she stayed silent for years because she feared losing her job and that she felt ashamed that she hadn't reported the incident immediately. Dennis terminated her from the department in 2017. In a letter to SLED's Keel two weeks ago, the S.C. Attorney Generals Crime Victim Ombudsman described Addison's allegations as very serious and ones that warrant a full investigation. Alaysha Maple of The Sumter Item and Thad Moore of The Post and Courier contributed to this report. The Sumter Item is an Uncovered partner newspaper. Charleston, SC (29403) Today Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm this evening. Then partly cloudy. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Widely scattered showers or a thunderstorm this evening. Then partly cloudy. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. Low 67F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. S.C. Chief Justice Don Beatty couldnt have come up with a better way to illustrate how easily lawyer-legislators can give their clients an unfair advantage in court if he had set out to do just that. By restricting that power and then yanking back that restriction the next day, he simultaneously appeared to demonstrate what inappropriate power lawyer-legislators have over our court system as if we needed another illustration. Now that the chiefs flip-flop has emboldened critics to speak openly and made the miscarriages of justice that result from the 21-year-old special treatment provision more widely known among the general public and non-lawyers in the Legislature, the question is what, if anything, Justice Beatty and the Legislature are going to do about it. Hold that thought while we recap whats been going on in our courts since 2001, when then-Chief Justice Jean Toal issued an order forbidding judges from requiring lawyer-legislators to appear in court during the six months a year the Legislature is generally in session. Her order made an exception for extraordinary circumstances where substantial rights of the parties to the litigation will be defeated or severely abridged by the delay, or where the litigation involves emergency relief and irreparable damage. Its not unreasonable to remove some barriers to lawyers serving in the Legislature, because we need to have people who understand the law writing our laws. But there's a limit to what is reasonable, and nine years after that initial order, Justice Toal probably passed that limit when she replaced the exception with what she called absolute protection from legislators having to appear in court during the legislative session. She also said lawyer-legislators could pick and choose, showing up in court to represent this client but not that one and even to represent that client at one stage of the process and not another. That meant they could represent their clients when it was in their clients' interest to do so like, say, when they were trying to convince the judge to let a client out on bail. And they could insist that hearings be delayed when that was in their clients best interest say, when their clients were out on bail awaiting trial particularly if the client out on bail committed another crime and the prosecutor wanted bail revoked. Justice Beatty took action this past summer to extend that absolute immunity year-round because the Legislature was planning to work through the fall; he rescinded the extension on Jan. 11, the day the Legislature convened the 2022 session. And in an extraordinary move, he attempted to restore some sanity to the special treatment, writing that judges could require lawyer-legislators to appear in court just like any other lawyer in a handful of cases where victims or the public could be put at risk by the delay. Those cases involve bail revocation hearings, emergency family court hearings involving children, criminal cases in magistrate and municipal court where the complaints had been lingering for more than 18 months and circuit court criminal cases that had been lingering for three years. That reform lasted precisely one day. A spokeswoman told The Post and Couriers Avery Wilks and Glenn Smith that the chief justice put the exceptions on hold Jan. 12 because lawyers and court officials complained that it could be dangerous to hold trials during the COVID-19 surge. Thats a strange explanation, given that state courts are open after being closed during the early part of the pandemic and that the order allowed rather than required judges to call lingering cases. It makes even less sense when you consider that one week later, on Wednesday, the spokeswoman told our editorial staff that Justice Beatty had since told judges they could schedule bond revocation hearings involving lawyer-legislators' clients on Mondays and Fridays, the days the Legislature generally does not meet. That might be the most urgent part of the Jan. 11 order, but it's certainly not the only part. Its hard to ignore the fact that lawyer-legislators have ample opportunity to exercise outsize influence over the court because non-attorneys in the Legislature often defer to them on matters involving the court. That means even the most well-meaning chief justice has to consider the possibility that his actions will make some legislators want to exact retribution on the judicial system. Even if that wasn't a factor, the official explanation suggests that lawyer-legislators have been abusing their privilege to a much greater extent than we imagined. It also suggests that before last year, judges had not been routinely doing what they should have been doing when lawyer-legislators demanded delays: immediately scheduling their cases to begin the following August. We respect the court's right to decide for itself how to schedule cases. But the Legislature has a right to insist that the judiciary not carve out a special class of attorneys whose clients automatically receive special treatment, and this month's events suggest that the Legislature has an obligation to do that. The Legislature needs to work with the chief justice to find a way to eliminate or significantly scale back such special treatment. And unless it is eliminated entirely, legislators need to shine perpetual light on it, by requiring lawyer-legislators to publicly report all cases where court action is delayed because of this special protection. Prosecutors and judges should be required to report all those cases as well, as a double-check. We might discover that only a handful of legislators are abusing this privilege or we might discover its a widespread problem. Either way, that will give voters the information they need to determine whether or not their legislators are enriching themselves at the expense of public safety and a fair judicial system. And it will give the Legislature the data it needs to better police how individual lawyer-legislators benefit personally from their positions. COLUMBIA U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn put more pressure on President Joe Biden to favor a South Carolinian for his upcoming Supreme Court pick, saying federal judge J. Michelle Childs would fulfill his election season promise to put a Black female on the court. Since word leaked out Justice Stephen Breyer was retiring, Clyburn has been mentioned on numerous media outlets touting Childs as his successor; she has been included on speculative lists of likely candidates. On Jan. 27, Clyburn, D-S.C., held a conference call with reporters to again pitch Childs, who was recently nominated for a spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Speaking to reporters, Clyburn recalled the feeling of an "undercurrent in the Black community during the 2020 primary season in South Carolina and getting Biden to promise to nominate a Black woman to the court if given the opportunity. Clyburn said during his press conference that Childs is emblematic of the gap that had long been missing on the nations highest court. While most justices hail from the Ivy League, Childs does not, having graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law. While most justices come from haughty backgrounds in elite jurisdictions, Childs has demonstrable life experience, Clyburn said, serving in courts at the state level and within the bureaucracy, as the head of a state agency. She previously was commissioner at the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission. And where many justices come from lives of relative privilege, Childs, a Barack Obama-appointee to the bench, comes from a life of adversity, growing up in a single-parent household, Clyburn said. Biden is familiar with Childs. In December, he named her to the District of Columbia court where she will likely have her nomination heard before the U.S. Senate in February. If nominated, Childs would be the first Black woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court, and just the fourth Supreme Court Justice to hail from South Carolina, following Franklin Delano Roosevelts selection of James Byrnes in 1941. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Clyburn said he has conversed with both members of the states Senate delegation about Childs, Republican U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott. Both of them were very complimentary, Clyburn said of the two senators, whom he met with after writing Biden to recommend Childs for the court last year. And I hope that both of those senators will see their way to support her nomination, he said. Biden has said he wants to make the pick by the end of February. In a statement on his Twitter account Jan. 26, Sen. Lindsey Graham noted that because of the Democrats' slight majority in the Senate they have the power to replace Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support, noting to his followers that elections have consequences. That is most evident when it comes to fulfilling vacancies on the Supreme Court, Graham said. Scott's office declined to comment on the process until a nominee is identified. Biden, speaking at the White House, did not give any hints of where he is leaning. "While I've been studying candidates backgrounds and writings, I've made no decisions except one: The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity, and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court," he said Jan. 27. "Its long overdue, in my view. I made that commitment during the campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment," he said. COLUMBIA Republicans in the S.C. House of Representatives voted to approve congressional lines backed by their Senate counterparts that will realistically solidify the GOP's 6-to-1 seat majority in South Carolina's U.S. House delegation for the next decade. By a party line vote, lawmakers voted Jan. 26 to concur with lines that largely maintain current boundaries and result in minimal changes to who most South Carolinians will call their congressional representative. The measure received Republican Gov. Henry McMaster's signature later that day. The lines were drawn to reflect changes in population documented from the 2020 census, which show the state's population has grown nearly 10.7 percent in the past decade. Most of that growth was concentrated around the Lowcountry, in the Upstate and in the state's northern communities bordering Charlotte. The districts reflect the status quo, with the GOP solidifying their voter advantage in six of the state's seven congressional seats. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Republicans say they drew the boundaries to reflect that population growth without interrupting constituent services. Critics say the plan intentionally carves out large populations of Black voters from a competitive region currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of Charleston, and keeps them in the less competitive 6th Congressional District represented by Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Democrat. Democrats have previously indicated they intend to sue over the maps, saying that they unfairly advantage Republicans and rely on legal precedents that are no longer valid. The current district lines, they argue, were drawn during a time when Black candidates stood little chance of election. By keeping Black voters in the Charleston area in the same district with Black voters from Columbia, Republicans had effectively diluted the Black vote in the Lowcountry, they also contend. House Redistricting Chairman Rep. Jay Jordan, R-Florence, downplayed concerns that a potential lawsuit could delay the state's elections process ahead of the 2022 midterms and June primaries. "Right now we're doing everything we can to stay on track," Jordan told The Post and Courier. "That's one of the main reasons we've worked as hard as we have to move the process along, of checking all the boxes, but at the same time, not wasting any time. At the end of the day, time will tell." COLUMBIA Republicans on a state Senate panel advanced a pair of anti-abortion bills despite criticism from medical and legal experts the legislation could potentially harm patients. One of the measures would charge doctors who perform abortions with murder if there's ever a repeal of federal laws protecting abortion access. The other would require women taking abortion drugs to receive information about a non-FDA approved abortion reversal treatment. Both were advanced by a subcommittee of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee on Jan. 26 after more than two hours of testimony from physicians and advocates representing both sides of the issue. The four Republicans on the committee all men voted in favor of both bills, while Sens. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Walterboro, and Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, opposed them. While several testified against the legislation criminalizing abortions, the brunt of the speeches centered around a proposal requiring abortion providers to promote the use of a controversial non-FDA-approved procedure to use the drug progesterone to reverse a pharmaceutical-induced abortion. Numerous OB-GYNs testified that attempts at clinical trials of the procedure had produced negative results for patients, including increased risk of excessive hemorrhaging. Mandating the promotion of an unproven treatment to reverse an abortion would be tantamount to lying to their patients, they said, and would undermine their ability to provide ethical treatments for those undergoing the procedure. "I've never had any outside entity require I say specific things I know to be untrue," Dr. Carol Alan, an OB-GYN in South Carolina since 2001, said in her testimony on the bill. "That has never been an issue." She added, "I take this very seriously, and patient education is tantamount to understanding what their choices are and what is happening with their bodies." Joshua Malkin, a legal fellow for the American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina, told lawmakers he believed the language of the bill would violate a doctors First Amendment rights, and that similar laws had already been overruled in federal courts. A law implemented in North Dakota was struck down in 2019, while last year a President Donald Trump-appointed judge in Tennessee blocked their version of the bill after ruling the state could not require physicians to state facts that were misleading or untrue. "Senate Bill 907 is a clear violation of doctor's freedom of speech," Malkin said. But others, like Greenwood-based family physician Bryan Casey, described the procedure as pro-choice as it gets, allowing patients an avenue to reverse their abortions if they regretted it. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Republicans on the committee agreed. "I hope our medical professionals listened to the testimony today," Sen. Billy Garrett, R-Greenwood, said. "We have Right to Try laws in South Carolina. And we need to make sure that our citizens have as many options as possible." Lawmakers also weighed legislation to implement a trigger law that would criminalize abortion if the precedent established under the landmark abortion rights ruling Roe v. Wade is overturned by a federal court. While numerous anti-abortion activists praised the intentions of the bill to treat an abortion the same as murder others raised numerous concerns. Pat Forbis, a family attorney from Columbia, shared a story of an 11-year-old client who was raped by her uncle and became pregnant. While that child was able to obtain an abortion under the current law, the proposed bill removes exemptions for those impregnated by rape or incest. Others were concerned about the ambiguous language of the bill, fearing it could criminalize those who use certain fertility drugs or seek to have a child through methods such as in vitro fertilization. Hayden Tomlin, who formerly lived in Ireland, said that while his country outlawed abortions, tens of thousands of women traveled out of the country to receive the procedure. Those who could not leave the country were forced to carry their pregnancies to term despite the risks to their own lives, he said. And while the law had limited exemptions, one woman eventually died, he said, because the government deemed she was not close enough to death to qualify. "How close to death does a patient have to be before they feel safe about the risk of being prosecuted?" he asked. Both bills voted out of subcommittee now move to the full Senate Medical Affairs Committee, where they will likely be amended and then voted up or down. The vote was also not without controversy on who could attend or gain access to the hearing despite immense public interest in both bills. The review was not livestreamed and held in a meeting room with a capacity of 40 people. At least one news outlet, The Greenville News, was turned away from the hearing, while reporters in attendance were permitted only to stand or sit on the floor. Committee staff said it was because of scheduling limitations. And while roughly 100 people had signed up to testify on the bill, Chairman Tom Corbin, R-Travelers Rest, permitted just one dozen individuals to testify on each, drawing rebukes from Democrats and groups like Planned Parenthood. "I am very disappointed the meeting is not held in a room where the Senate could offer livestream capability," Kimpson said ahead of the hearing. "We are in a pandemic, and many South Carolinians do not feel comfortable. This is a very important issue for women across this state and, going forward, I hope we could avoid scheduling meetings like this." COLUMBIA South Carolina public schools Superintendent Molly Spearman urged legislators to put a big chunk of the state's biggest-ever surplus toward substantial pay raises for teachers statewide. "They certainly deserve it," Spearman told a House budget-writing panel Jan. 26. No teacher should start at less than $40,000, the Republican schools chief said. That's $4,000 more than the state currently allows as the minimum for first-year teachers graduating with a bachelor's degree. "And then, to retain teachers, you have to reward folks all along the way," Spearman added. "There's no more important job in the state than this. Every state is struggling with teacher shortages. Salary is a huge piece of that. As much as you can possibly dedicate to that, you should." South Carolina's teacher shortage was growing even before COVID deepened the crisis. More than 1,000 teaching positions remained vacant last fall, a record high since the state Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement at Winthrop University began reporting the data in 2001. Spearman stressed her own official budget request doesn't go far enough. She officially sought a 2 percent raise for teachers, costing $162 million. But she submitted that proposal last fall, before realizing an additional $6 billion is available to legislators this year. While the bulk of that is one-time money, about $900 million of it is meant for ongoing expenses like salaries. "I hope with the additional funding you have, you'll do even more for our teachers," Spearman said. Whatever amount legislators settle on, every teacher should get it, she said. That differs from Gov. Henry McMaster's proposal, which in most districts puts the onus on local school boards to decide whether their teachers see any increase. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! His budget recommendations include raising the minimum pay for all teachers by $2,000 across the entire salary schedule, which pays educators according to their years of experience and college degree. Under his proposal, the starting salary would be at least $38,000. But he also wants to give districts more flexibility with spending their state allotment. Most districts already pay more than the higher floor he proposes. The districts that do would not be required to hike salaries. Statewide, 26 school districts already pay first-year teachers Spearman's higher suggestion of $40,000. That includes Richland One in downtown Columbia, Berkeley County, Richland Two in suburban northeast Columbia and Charleston County. Greenville County pays the most, with first-year teachers making $41,638. If they see no increase, that won't go over well, Spearman said. "Teachers need to get it. Dont give flexibility" for that, she said. "If y'all put the money in for a 2 percent raise, the teachers are expecting it in their pocket. We have to answer to that if they dont get it." Before the pandemic hit, teachers were expecting a $3,000 hike an amount McMaster and legislative leaders agreed on in early 2020 before COVID shut everything down. Instead, their salaries were frozen amid the economic uncertainty. Later, teachers were provided their normal salary step for an additional year of teaching. Last year, legislators provided every teacher a $1,000 boost. Spearman, who is not seeking reelection in the fall, thanked legislators for boosting pay significantly during her tenure. In 2015, the minimum pay for first-year teachers was $29,500. It's risen 22 percent over the last seven years. Keep going, she said. "Well see what we can do," said Rep. Bill Whitmire, R-Walhalla, chairman of the House Ways and Means subcommittee that writes the K-12 budget. Rep. Shannon Erickson, a preschool director and teacher, offered her full support, saying teachers should be applauded. "Its not been easy. Youve got teachers working virtually and face-to-face and doing double loads and trying to do the best they can," said the Beaufort Republican. "It's never been at this height and stress level," Erickson went on to say, getting an "Amen" from Spearman. "We're social workers and nurses and doctors, the list goes on, and now we have all these other tasks, and I really want to say, 'thank you.' We need to do as much as we can on those salaries." COLUMBIA South Carolina senators began their debate on legalizing medical marijuana by hearing an impassioned plea from the bill's sponsor that it will help people in pain. This is going to be a different cannabis bill, Beaufort Republican Tom Davis told his colleagues Jan. 26. I wanted it to be a very tightly regulated medical bill that made it clear in no uncertain terms that it was meant to be medicine and not de facto adult recreational use," he said. Speaking from the floor, Davis laid out the case for his Compassionate Care Act, which he has described as the most conservative medical cannabis bill in the nation. He wants the Palmetto State to join the list of three dozen states to formally sanction its medical use. He addressed questions about the medical efficacy of medical marijuana, and how the drug has had real impacts for patients who needed it. He touched on concerns expressed by law enforcement and the legality of the drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Davis also dressed down concerns that the bill would jeopardize public safety, saying the law was tightly written to ensure that incidental consumption of marijuana by those who did not need it would not take place. The federal government several years ago barred the Department of Justice from enforcing federal restrictions on medical marijuana, opening the door for states to issue their own determinacy on the use of the drug. Theyre acting like this is legal now, Davis said. While 36 states already allow medical cannabis, South Carolina would likely boast the most restrictive legislation in the nation. While some states allow smokable product, Davis would only permit vaporizers or edibles, and only with a prescription. Mississippi, on the other hand, has more than two dozen qualifications for people to receive prescriptions for medical cannabis; South Carolinas has just 13, limited only to conditions where there is solid, peer-reviewed medical evidence that cannabis can be a benefit, including PTSD and autism. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! South Carolinas would also require state-licensed officials on the premises to ensure patients are receiving the correct dosage of the product. Since first introducing the bill in 2015, Davis attempts have been rebuffed by law enforcement and critics like Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Little River, who has blocked the bill from going to the floor. But this year, Senate leadership overruled those objections, allowing Davis for the first time to make his case to the entire Senate. The bills opponents were not absent from the day's events. As Davis prepared his presentation to the Senate, a group of several dozen law enforcement officers organized by the S.C. Republican Party and the conservative Palmetto Family Council gathered on the Statehouse steps to lodge their opposition. They said it could exacerbate the states opioid crisis and establish the infrastructure needed to develop a commercial, recreational cannabis industry in the future. To say its not a gateway drug is foolish, said Hembree. While opponents of the bill said they are not opposed to the use of cannabis to treat certain ailments, those speaking against it have argued that the drug should first be approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration for medical use. And even then, it should be distributed in the same fashion as other pharmaceuticals: with a doctors approval, and fulfilled through a licensed pharmacist. It is not about medicine," Henbree said. "It is not about medical treatment. It is about money. There are going to be a very small number of people that will make a great sum of money on the backs of people that have addictions, that have other drug problems and issues. Davis downplayed critics' concerns, saying that some of the allegations made by opponents of the bill, including potential increases in teen use and opioid addiction, were not based in fact. "This misinformation is ludicrous," Davis said on the Senate floor. The debate and presentation is expected to last multiple days before going up for a vote. YINCHUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region ranked first in terms of export growth among all provincial-level regions across the country in 2021, according to local customs. The region's export volume reached 17.48 billion yuan (about 2.76 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up 101.7 percent year on year, said the customs of Yinchuan, the regional capital. The total volume of imports and exports hit 21.4 billion yuan in 2021, an increase of 73.4 percent from the previous year. Last year, the European Union (EU) was the largest trading partner of Ningxia, accounting for 17.7 percent of the region's total. The region's foreign trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations increased 88.5 percent year on year to 2.84 billion yuan in 2021. COLUMBIA Education majors in South Carolina colleges would get a $7,500 bonus after they graduate under a House proposal that aims to incentivize more students to become teachers. House Education Chairwoman Rita Allison, the bill's main sponsor, said the goal is to "get more teachers into the profession and to stay in the profession." Legislators on one of Allison's subcommittees delayed voting on her measure Jan. 27 so they can work on suggested amendments involving how the checks are doled out and if recipients should be required to teach in South Carolina. It's uncertain when the panel will meet again. But Allison expects the bill co-sponsored by House Speaker Jay Lucas to advance in the not-so-distant future. The state's largest teacher advocacy organization applauded the effort. "This is something that will absolutely move the needle," said Patrick Kelly with the Palmetto State Teachers Association, noting there were more than 1,000 teaching vacancies in K-12 public schools statewide last September. That's an all-time high in an annual survey by the state Center for Educator Recruitment Retention and Advancement, which dates to 2001. The bill offers part of the solution by making the job more financially attractive, he said. "Its a simple math equation. Talented high school students look at a starting teacher salary and look at the cost of tuition and decide, 'Im not going to pay this much for a degree if this is what Ill get on the back end,'" he said, before reading to legislators a text he said came from a high schooler wanting to know the bill's status. "This is something that resonates with our high school students," said Kelly, who teaches at Blythewood High in suburban Richland County. "It will catch their attention and knock down some of the financial barriers." Under state law, first-year teachers must make at least $36,000. While that state minimum is $6,500 more than it was seven years ago, it's still not economically appealing, especially for students who know they'll graduate with debt, he said. Sign up for updates! Get the latest political news from The Post and Courier in your inbox. Email Sign Up! Not only could the bonus make teachers' starting pay look better, if it erases debt, they're less likely to leave the profession rather than take an additional job or two just to pay the bills, Kelly said. To be eligible for the after-college bonus to be paid within 90 days of graduation students must have received a lottery-backed LIFE scholarship for at least one year of their schooling. That's a way to encourage the "best and brightest into teaching," Allison said. LIFE scholarship eligibility is tied to students' high school grade-point average, their score on SAT or ACT college entrance tests and/or their class ranking. The proposed stipend is similar to what the state already offers college students on LIFE scholarships who major in math or science. They qualify for up to $2,500 extra yearly toward their tuition. A bill introduced in the Senate two weeks ago by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, would add education majors to those eligible for that additional tuition aid. That's perhaps a simpler way of accomplishing the same goal that could prevent a student from acquiring debt at all, Kelly said. But Allison believes providing a lump sum instead after graduation will help ensure teachers-in-training stick with their education major instead of switching. Qualifying majors in her bill run the gamut in education, including early childhood; physical education; music, art or dance education; and special education. No one spoke against the idea. But Karen Woodfaulk with the Commission on Higher Education raised concerns that tasking colleges to dole out checks to their graduates could result in the school withholding any to all of the money to satisfy student debt. She also asked legislators to consider making the check conditional to the student teaching in a South Carolina classroom. "I agree we want to keep our teachers here," said Rep. Case Brittain, R-Myrtle Beach, though he questioned the logistics. "We do want to make sure we're protecting our teachers here. Nothing against Georgia or North Carolina, but they have their own legislators who can handle those states." REIDVILLE Sitting on the corner of a four-way stop, a brick building that predates the Civil War presently houses a small-batch, handmade corn whiskey operation. Bob and Kat Jordan moved to Reidville in 2008 with no intentions of opening a moonshine business. But with the area southeast of Greer and between Reidville and Fountain Inn being amusingly nicknamed "Sugar Tit," a potential untapped opportunity awaited them. The Jordans bought the 1,000-square-foot building that perches on half an acre at 330 Main St. in 2011, mostly fixing it up themselves with the help of some handymen. In 2015, the double-wooden doors to the Sugar Tit Moonshine Distillery opened for business to whiskey enthusiasts and tourists peeking behind the scenes at the distillery process. Six-and-a-half years later, the out-of-state demand for the Jordans' whiskey and their desire to extend their national footprint has strained the current six-person business. Over a year ago, the Jordans began construction on an 1,800-square-foot addition. The new space, which is expected to open in March, will accommodate their expanded distillery. 'We went all in' The original building was built in 1857 and owned by a couple that ran a country store and pharmacy. When the Jordans came to own it, Kat Jordan dabbled with the idea of turning it into an antique store. The couple had moved from South Florida for Bobs job at GE Power as a mechanical designer, and they intended to move back once he retired. Then, while hosting some friends who brought over homemade moonshine, Bob Jordan joked that "Sugar Tit Moonshine" would be a great name for an alcohol company. Bob trademarked the name and printed it on hats and shirts. He sold his products at flea markets, deciding that he would sell the trademark once he made some money. The idea of cooking whiskey didn't cross his mind until customers buying his merchandise asked where they could buy the drink. The Jordans were hesitant to undertake an alcohol business with Bob still working full-time, but they decided to go for it and "went all in," Bob said. At the start, the Jordans ran a two-person operation that was open Thursday through Saturday. Bob worked 10-hour shifts at the GE plant and then spent late evenings at the distillery, making, bottling and labeling the whiskey himself. To open other days of the week, the Jordans hired Zeke Shuler, a master distiller, to help. The business makes traditional corn whiskey, or moonshine, from a mix of corn, water, sugar and yeast. There are 12 types: three clears that range from 80 to 120 proof; an aged, light whiskey; seven flavored, 80-proof whiskeys apple pie, pineapple, peach, blueberry, plum, butterscotch and strawberry and one 36-proof, cream-based whiskey called Carolina Cookies and Cream. Tastings cost $5, and customers can try a total of three ounces or six half-ounce cups, which are a little larger than a thimble. For $10, customers can do a tasting and get a distillery tour. The current building is divided into three sections. There are the tasting and merchandise rooms in the front where antique jugs, police patches, regional awards, and animal skulls decorate the walls and floor. In the back, a buck head is mounted on the far yellow wall. On the side wall, colorful pins poke out of a map of the U.S., marking the hometown of tourists and customers. Surrounding the map are Sharpie scribbles of the names of visitors from more than 60 countries. This is where the moonshine is currently made. The distillation process begins in 55-gallon, blue drums where a "mash" mixture will ferment for seven days. The layer of corn that sits at the top of the mix drops down into the containers when the fermentation process stops, indicating it is ready to cook in the 100-gallon, six-chamber still. Only the liquid part of the corn mixture will be pumped into the still with each batch using two of the blue drums, equaling about 70 to 80 gallons of liquid. After being distilled six times, a completed batch yields about 7 to 8 gallons of whiskey. The flavors added into the moonshine are made separate on hot plates and a math formula determines how much is added to get it to 80 proof. Most of the distillation and packing processes are done by hand. The current distillery can produce about 100 jars of moonshine a day. The sudden skyrocket of interest from Mississippian customers has caused the Jordans to undertake an expansion project that aims to more than triple the new daily yield, bringing that number up to about 350 jars. A moonshine boom in Mississippi The company distributes in South Carolina, Mississippi, through Pennsylvanias Liquor Control Board website, and one store in Washington, D.C., where the owner can ship to 37 other states. Sometimes, customers will come into the store and offer to be the Jordans sales representative in their home state, but usually, "it never pans out," Jordan said. The broker who now helps him in Mississippi nudged Jordan for two years until he agreed to expand distribution to the state, which took off in June 2020. "He's been selling the heck out of it," Jordan said. "I have to tell him to stop selling. I have to say, 'take about a two-week break,' because he does other things, too. But, eventually, he wants this to be his full-time job." In South Carolina, 85 liquor stores sell Sugar Tit moonshine. In Mississippi, it is sold in 170 stores. There are 600 stores in Mississippi, so once we get the new building up, we will keep expanding to those stores, Jordan said. A breezeway attaches the tall, red expansion to the original building and will serve as a the distillery. While the inside of the addition still awaits coats of paint and minor construction details, Jordan can easily envision where all his new equipment will be placed. He bought a new 250-gallon still. He said if the business continues to grow, two more stills that size would fit with ease. They will also move the original 100-gallon still into the space. The building will have three five-ton chillers and an 11,000-gallon water tank that will work together to chill the moonshine. These new pieces of equipment will replace the makeshift chiller Sugar Tit currently uses made out of a window air conditioner unit. There will also be storage space, sinks, working tables, a new office for Bob, a utility room and bathroom. The expansion project has been in the works for more than a year, with the expected September and December 2021 opening dates being pushed back by the ongoing pandemic and supply chain issues. Now, they are aiming for a March opening. With the distillery moving into the new building, the front of the original structure will become dedicated to just the merchandise room and the back will be for the tasting room. Right now, the business makes approximately $400,000 annually in sales. Once the expansion is complete, Jordan estimates they could make over a million dollars this year. Jordan, 66 and a Reidville town councilman, retired from GE about four years ago. Two and a half years ago, the couple sold their Florida home they intended to return to post-retirement. This unexpected venture paid off, Jordan said. We went from just an idea out of my head to six employees, maybe up to 10 employees soon, and doing over a million dollars in sales with the opportunity to get into other states. The deaths of two more Guamanians have been linked to COVID-19, according to the Joint Information Center, which also reported 743 new confirmed cases. Both deaths were residents who had underlying conditions, according to the Joint Information Center. The 283rd COVID-19-related fatality was found deceased at a private residence on Nov. 1, 2021, and was pronounced dead at the Chief Medical Examiners morgue on Nov. 3, 2021. The patient was an 63-year-old man was wasn't vaccinated and had underlying conditions, the JIC reported. He tested positive on Oct. 14, 2021. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. The 284th fatality occurred at the Guam Memorial Hospital on Jan. 26. The patient was a 53-year-old female, unvaccinated, with underlying health conditions who tested positive on Jan. 4. Days of sadness are not yet behind us. While we remain steadfast in our effort to combat this virus through public health interventions, so many continue to mourn the loss of loved ones, said acting Gov. Josh Tenorio. To all those who have had to experience grief during this time, Governor Lou, First Gentleman Jeff, and I send our deepest condolences and sympathies. The JIC also reported 34 hospitalizations; that's right about what has been reported for the last week or so, even as new case numbers remain high. One patient is in the intensive care unit at GMH. The Department of Public Health and Social Services reported 743 new cases of COVID-19 from 2,827 specimens analyzed on Jan. 26. Of those, 106 of the cases were reported by the Department of Defense. There currently are 6,653 cases in active isolation. New hotline for isolation facility The JIC also reported new phone numbers for the isolation facility at the Bayview Hotel in Tumon. Individuals who test positive for COVID-19 can call 671-998-4527 or 671-998-4547 daily from 8 a.m.-10 p.m. DPHSS nurses and staff will assist patients in determining whether they may be eligible for endorsement into the ISOFAC. Genome tests for November DPHSS received forty-two (42) new results from virus samples on Wednesday collected on Guam between November 2, 2021 to December 3, 2021, which have undergone genome sequencing by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). DPHSS received the thirteenth set of results from the CDC. All 42 samples were identified as sublineages of the Delta Variant of Concern (VOC). To date, 531 SARS-CoV-2 virus samples have been submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Hawaii Department of Health State Lab Division for genome sequencing and identified 329 COVID-19 cases infected with variants. DPHSS previously reported: 89 - Alpha variant 4 - Beta variant 214 - Delta variant 14 - Epsilon variant 1 - Gamma variant 7 - Omicron variant 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 Tourists visit the China Town of San Francisco, in California, the United States, March 24, 2021. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) "An apology is not enough unless it's met with real action and budget solutions that will truly benefit the community," says Justin Hoover, executive director of the Chinese Historical Society of America. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco is expected to become the next U.S. city to formally apologize for past atrocities against the Chinese community, following Antioch, San Jose and Los Angeles, as more and more cities are reflecting on the country's racist history. Unanimously, the resolution to apologize to Chinese immigrants and their descendants, introduced by Supervisor Matt Haney last year, passed at the Budget and Finance committee on Wednesday. "The Chinese community in San Francisco has a deep and rich history but we have to acknowledge the harmful wrongs that our city has committed against this community," said Haney at a hearing of the Budget and Finance Committee. "Although many of these injustices occurred long ago, it's clear this discrimination continues to happen today. This apology and commitment to budget investments will not erase what has been done, but is a necessary step for us to address the continued violence and discrimination that the Chinese community is still experiencing," he said. The resolution was written in partnership with former students from the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), who brought the resolution to Haney's attention. Many of the policies outlined in the resolution sought to undermine the progress of Chinese immigrants by banning them from schools and the levers of power. For example, in 1860, California's Education Code prohibited Asian students from attending public schools with white students; in 1870, the SFUSD closed the Chinese schools without providing any public school alternatives for Chinese students. Pedestrians and vehicles are seen in the China Town of San Francisco, the United States, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Liu Yilin/Xinhua) Additionally, the 1870 Consolidation Act barred anyone of Chinese descent to be employed in the state, county, municipal governments, or other public work, except as a punishment for crime. These laws prevented the integration of Chinese people in the San Francisco community despite their many contributions, said the resolution. "The Chinese community has a deep history in San Francisco. Additionally, today we are over 23 percent of the city's population. San Francisco must issue an apology for historical wrongdoings in order to make progress in solving the critical problems of discrimination and racism facing America today," said Dennis Casey Wu, one of the three students who initiated the efforts for the resolution, at Wednesday's hearing. "I know some people are going to say that an official apology is a fairly performative activism, but personally, I feel an apology would be notable as it would be an important step in advocating social justice and equity," he said. Other supervisors, including Gordon Mar and Connie Chan, also spoke at the hearing in support of the resolution. "Today's resolution is a positive step in addressing generations of wrongdoings, stemming back to the Chinese Exclusion Act that found its roots in restricting Chinese immigration here in California," said Chan. However, to begin healing from these wrongs, the city needs to commit to funding and investing in the community, she said. A visitor selects paper lanterns during the 31st Mid-Autumn Festival fair in Chinatown in San Francisco, the United States, Sept. 11, 2021. (Photo by Liu Yilin/Xinhua) Similarly, Justin Hoover, executive director of the Chinese Historical Society of America, said the city has to commit to future budget investments. "An apology is not enough unless it's met with real action and budget solutions that will truly benefit the community," he said. The Chinese Apology resolution will be voted on by the full Board of Supervisors next week, followed by budget hearings to occur in the upcoming months at the Budget Appropriations Committee to finalize budget investments for the Asian American community. This legislation follows similar actions taken by the cities of Antioch, San Jose and Los Angeles, which have all passed similar resolutions last year. These apologies come at a time of increased hate and violence against people of Asian descent in the country. During the period from March 2020 to September 2021, Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition aimed at addressing anti-Asian discrimination, received a total of 10,370 reports of hate incidents against Asian Americans across the United States. Its latest data show one in five Asian Americans have experienced a hate incident in the past year. The public acknowledgment of the dark history of systemic racism against Chinese immigrants is "timely" as the nation is called upon to curb the wave of hate speech and violence against Asian Americans, said Mar. "Facing our past mistakes head-on" is an important step towards "healing, safety and justice," he added. What happens when you have an elderly, frail, over the hill president? For one thing, he takes a lot of time off. The Daily Wire has an interesting item on how Joe Biden spent the day yesterday. It starts with a reporter noting that Biden had virtually nothing on his published schedule for the day, and asking Jen Psaki what he is up to. Psaki tap-danced in response, obviously having no idea of any productive work Biden might be accomplishing: Jen Psaki struggles to explain why Bidens schedule is so empty today. pic.twitter.com/Xh00o8jD8G RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 25, 2022 And how did Biden actually spend the day? Shopping and buying ice cream: .@POTUS visits a boutique store on Capitol Hill called Honey Made. pic.twitter.com/cYq3xTiqr7 Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) January 25, 2022 The President made a quick pitstop at the ice cream shop this afternoon after a visit to neighboring boutique Honey Made, where he admired necklaces on the wall for my wife, examined a coaster with a German shepherd on it, and picked up a Kamala Harris mug, The Washingtonian reported. Early pool reports are vague, however, on what Biden ordered at Jenis other than it was a cone with two scoopslight colored flavor on bottom, darker ice cream on top. POTUS waved the cone at pool reporters before heading off in his motorcade. After a strenuous afternoon of shopping and eating ice cream, Biden called it quits at 3:06: Today, Biden went shopping, got ice cream then called a lid at 3:06pm. pic.twitter.com/yup5i8T31u Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) January 25, 2022 Of course, everyone needs a little time off. But Biden is not, ostensibly, on vacation, and yesterday was a Tuesday, not a weekend. I suspect that Biden simply doesnt have it in him to work anything like a 40-hour week. STEVE adds: The figure I heard yesterday is that Biden has spent 31 weekends at his Delaware beach house (and usually from mid-day Friday to mid-day Monday), and only three or four at Camp David, the traditional presidential getaway that is better equipped for conducting normal presidential business, which is 24/7, or needs to be at times. You might start to wonder whether sending him to more familiar surroundings is part of treatment for someone with advancing dementia. Miranda Devine covers the invasion of the United States by illegal aliens in her New York Post column Betraying the American people: Leaked video reveals Joe Bidens hush hush migrant invasion. The column opens this way: While Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi go all out to protect Ukraines national sovereignty, at the same time they are orchestrating a clandestine invasion of America across the southern border. Two million illegal immigrants from dozens of countries crossed over from Mexico last year, and the Biden administration is facilitating the cartels people-smuggling operation at taxpayer expense. Under cover of darkness, every night the federal government is transporting illegal migrants as fast as they can away from the border on secret charter flights into unsuspecting communities around the country. Officials have lied and obstructed the few journalists who have tried to reveal the truth. This is nothing short of a betrayal of the American people. And thats not just me saying it those are exactly the words of one federal-government contractor employed to transport migrants from the southern border to the airport in White Plains. The government is betraying the American people, the contractor told a Westchester County police officer in a conversation that was recorded on the cops bodycam on the tarmac of the county airport on Aug. 13, 2021. The men were standing beside a Boeing 737 flown in from Fort Bliss, Texas by iAero Airways under charter by the federal government. The Washington Post reports that Democratic leaders are excited about the prospect of replacing Justice Breyer, and not just because of the opportunity to put a youngish left-liberal on the Supreme Court. According to the Post, Democrats see a political opportunity. They expect, as I do, that Biden will nominate a black female and that she will face considerable opposition from Republican Senators. Dem leaders apparently believe that in this scenario, their base will be energized for the midterm elections and the electorate as a whole will be put off by GOP opposition to a qualified black woman. The first part is true. A confirmation fight would energize Democrats. But it would also energize Republicans. As to the view that a confirmation fight would benefit Democrats on balance, it strikes me as wishful thinking. First, the Democratic leadership reportedly plans to push for quick confirmation of whomever Biden nominates. If this happens, any battle over the nominee will be a distant memory by November, completely overshadowed by the Supreme Courts decision on abortion and many events that have nothing to do with the Court. For this reason, among others, I doubt that the process of replacing Breyer will have any discernible impact on the midterms. If it does, however, my view is that Republicans are more likely to benefit than Democrats because Biden has set aside a spot on the Supreme Court for a diversity hire. Democratic leaders remain out of touch with the electorate on this sort of thing. Americans have no objection to a black female ascending to the Supreme Court. Other things being equal, a great many would applaud this development. But Americans dont like race/gender-based hiring decisions, and they certainly dont like to see jobs set aside for individuals from a particular group. This is clear from polls and, indeed, elections even in states as left-liberal as California. A set aside excludes people from even being considered for a position because (in this case) they are (1) non-black and (2) male. This is the most blatant form of race/gender discrimination. Even those awful Supreme Court decisions that uphold race-discrimination in college admissions denounce the practice of openly setting aside slots for members of particular racial groups. How, then, should Senate Republicans proceed? Not, in my view, by expressly denouncing the nominee as a diversity hire. Theres no need for that. Biden, Senate Dems, and their media cheerleaders will make it quite clear that this is what has happened. Instead, Republicans should consider questioning the nominees qualifications. Given the weak bench of black female candidates and the desire to appoint someone young, those credentials will probably be relatively thin. If so, this will reinforce the idea that Biden has allowed race and gender to trump qualifications for one of the dozen or so most important jobs in America. Senate Republicans should also highlight any other problems with the nominee that comes to light. It might be something she wrote as a young lawyer or a student. It might be a social media post. It might be a problematic opinion on a hot-button issue like crime. But Republicans should abstain from backing last-minute, weakly substantiated claims of personal misconduct. Its highly probable that Bidens nominee will be confirmed, but you never know. The confirmation process might reveal facts that all Republicans and at least one Democrat view as disqualifying. But even if the nominee has sterling qualifications and no special problems, left-liberalism will be reason enough to oppose her under todays unwritten rules. The Republican base will expect GOP Senators to follow those rules. As final decision time approaches, we should know whether the nominee has the votes to be confirmed. Senators running for reelection will also have a strong sense of how their vote will go down with voters in their state. It will be up to them to weigh these considerations as they decide how to vote. Mitch McConnell will also weigh the impact of a confirmation fight on Republican prospects for regaining a Senate majority. He is far more competent than any outsider to do this calculus. For what its worth, though, my calculation is that (assuming Biden nominates a left-liberal) Republicans should fight this nomination, especially if, as seems almost certain, its a diversity selection. The Nigerian National Petroluem Company Ltd has secured a $5bn corporate finance commitment from the African Export Import Bank to fund major investments in Nigerias Upstream sector. The funding commitment is a fallout of the meeting between the Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the African Export-Import Bank( Afreximbank), Benedict Oramah; and the NNPC Ltd team led by the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer , Mele Kyari, in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday. Mr Kyari was accompanied on the trip by the Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya; the Group Exceutive Director , Upstream, Adokiye Tombomieye; the Group General Manager, NAPIMS, Bala Wunti; the Managing Director, NNPC Trading, Lawal Sade, and others. The move is a major milestone achievement in the quest for the corporation to scale up investments in the oil and gas industry following the commencement of the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act. The PIA was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on 16th August, 2021. Following the assent of the President, the NNPC LTD was incorporated by the Corporate Affairs Commission on September 22 last year after it received application for its registration from the Federal Government. The new legislation has provided business opportunities that will enable the NNPC earn more revenue for the country and attract foreign direct investment into the Nigerian energy sector The PIA has also raised stakeholders expectations on the company, even as it has given it a wide room to stimulate investments in the oil and gas industry. The NNPCs $5bn corporate finance commitment from Afreximbank is seen by oil industry stakeholders as a dividend of the Petroleum Industry Act and the incorporation of the NNPC as a limited liability company. Under the NNPC Ltd funding strategy for selected upstream investments, the Company would be raising between $3.5bn and $5bn as corporate finance to fund major upstream investments. To achieve this objective, the NNPC plans to take over ownership from non-investing partner through acquisition of pre-emption rights in the sample Joint Venture. The NNPCs strategy would also see the company investing in assets to address integrity, bottlenecking and growth issues including rig-less activities, and drilling campaigns in the oil industry. The companys preference is to source lenders that can provide this funding in a ratio based on the capacity of each of the lenders. The funding would also be used to finance part of the NNPCs investment including acquisition of interest in quality upstream oil and gas producing assets. READ ALSO: The acquisition is an integral part of the NNPCs corporate strategy to rebalance its portfolio by divesting from some toxic assets to acquire choice strategic assets that will help support its long term strategic objectives. The repayment of the funding is expected to be done through a Forward Sale Arrangement whereby the funds provided will constitute the payment purchase of 90-120kpd of crude to be delivered to the lender over a period. The repayment of the fund is being projected to be made within a four to eight-year period with an objective to ensure major fiscal obligations and operating expenses are discharged appropriately. The meeting between the NNPC and Afreximbank team agreed to intensify efforts at deepening investment in Nigerias oil sector. Also, the NNPC and the Afreximbank agreed to, among other things, deepen the business collaboration between the two institutions. The bank agreed to enter into a finance advisory and fundraising role to raise $5bn towards the acquire, invest and operate energy producing assets in Nigeria as part of NNPCs growth strategy following its incorporation as a limited liability company. As part of the landmark transaction, Afreximbank will also underwrite $1bn as part of forward sales base trade finance transaction. The NNPC and Afreximbank also explored the innovative idea of establishing a pan-African Energy Transition Bank and agreed to collaborate towards achieving the objective. The National Film and Video Censor Board (NFVCB) has said that it censored over 2000 Nigerian films in 2021. Adedayo Thomas, executive director, NFVCB, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the figure was made possible mainly by the online submission of films adopted amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Thomas said the online submission of films allowed the Board to censor many films during the pandemic, adding that most of the films were not produced in Nigeria. If you ask today that Nigerian should submit 1,000 content, they are ever ready, and probably they have been working on it because they are always in the field. When the online submission opened, they quickly keyed in and sustained the momentum of our products in the world. We can sustain TV and others because they channeled content daily despite the pandemic. Although it affected the production section because people find it difficult to go to a location, utilised new technology,Mr Thomas said. He said film had gone beyond act for artists, but a `vibrant and robust economy aspect Similarly, last week, the NFVCB said it received and censored 382 movies produced by the Nigerian film industry in the last quarter of 2021. Mr Thomas, who revealed this in a statement, said the Boards Film Censorship and Classification Department arrived at the figures and included them in its fourth-quarter report of 2021. Mr Thomas also added that the report was a compilation of a list of all the films submitted to the Board from across the country. He said Lagos State had the highest number of movies produced for the period, with 181, while Onitsha followed with 96 movies and Abuja with 87 movies. Mr Thomas said Nollywood holds the edge regarding content production globally while contributing marginally to Nigerias GDP. (NAN) An uneasy calm has returned to the markets in Lagos Island following a fracas among factional members of the National Union of Road Transport (NURTW) in the state. The ever-busy markets were turned into a ghost town last Thursday as the crisis grounded business activities especially at the Idumota, Kosoko, Tom Jones, and Balogun areas of the market. Video clips of the fracas were circulated on social media. In one of the videos, a young man in blue shorts, who appeared to have machete cuts, was carried in a wheelbarrow. Another showed some cutlass-wielding men facing each other while some traders were seen scampering to safety. Following the clash, two security trucks with operatives including the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) were spotted on Monday around the Idumota and Oke-Arin areas of the market to maintain peace. On Tuesday, the police said they have arrested two principal characters involved in the clash. A few hours later, the Lagos State government announced the suspension of NURTW activities in the Idumota axis of the state. A stray hit Many witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday that the clash gave some robbers the opportunity to rob traders, customers, and commuters. This newspaper gathered that the issue between the union workers started around Sunday but when it could not be contained among themselves they took to the streets the bridge area of Idumota. As a result, several traders quickly locked their shops to avoid being caught up in the melee and robbed. Many of the bus drivers and conductors who ply the Mushin Idumota route pointed this reporter to their colleague, Kayode Sanyaolu, who was caught up in the shootout and hit by a bullet. Mr Sanyaolu, who had just resumed work, explained that he got to Idumota around 6 a.m. on Thursday when the fight started. The driver, who said he has been plying the route for about 30 years, said usually when fights break out among the union workers, they dont extend it beyond the bridge area. He said he was shot while he and his colleagues were talking about how to take their buses and leave the area. He said the bullet came from the bridge area. He told this newspaper that he went to a traditionalist to treat his wounds because the bullets boris came from Shakabula, a locally-made gun. It is not for the hospital. There is a way they will call it out, they will use alcohol and some other things to cure it. The traditional way works better and quicker, he said. Mr Sanyaolu said that the fight almost broke out on Tuesday night and they were uncertain about the following days work. So we started calling our colleagues to know the situation and they said there is no problem, he said. Mr Sanyaolu said he is recovering and has been told by his herbal doctor to mix certain herbs and apply it to the wound area to quicken his recovery process. Oluwafemi Akinloye, a bus driver, said he had to tell the passengers he picked at Mushin to alight on the bridge when he saw the fight around 5 a.m. He said the police came and for some hours they experienced peace but immediately they left, they started again in the evening. He said they could not work on Thursday and Friday adding that someone also got hit by a bullet around the Iga-Kosoko area of the market. A clothes seller in the bridge area of Idumota, Akanni Medigi, popularly called Omojomolo, said the fight started on Tuesday around the flyover area adding that he learned it was between Kunle Poly and the Idumota boys. We close around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Normally we close around 6 p.m. People could not enter the market for fear of being robbed. Advertisements A trader at the Oke-Area market said that the fight was between Kunle Poly, a prominent member of the union, and one Wale Olomi adding that he believes that the union workers didnt steal from people. They only gave the thieves an opportunity to carry out their lawlessness, he said. ALSO READ: Lagos govt suspends NURTW in Idumota clash He noted that the clothes sellers in Kosoko have agreed to march to Alausa in Ikeja to protest on Thursday. However, a drink seller in the Oke-Arin area of the market, who simply identified as Iya Fawas, said they didnt enter the meat butchers area. The mother of four said she has been going to work daily except on Sunday. A bus conductor, Adebayo Sanusi, said they could not complete a trip due to the fight adding that he lost his phone and money on Thursday morning when the fight ensued. Some boys brought a man who had been macheted in a truck in Idumota. In fact, they were even hitting him and he was vomiting blood till he died. They killed another one at Tom Jones. We still dont know the cause of the fight. He said the matter has been ongoing but by Wednesday evening they started bringing out cutlasses and came out on Thursday. The activities of the NURTW have often led to a crisis in the state. However, no lasting solution has been implemented by successive governments to curb their excesses. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks with villagers in Duancun Village, Sengnian Township of Fenxi County, north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 26, 2022. Xi on Wednesday began his visit to Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping extended Spring Festival greetings to all Chinese people during his visit to north China's Shanxi Province from Wednesday to Thursday. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, wished Chinese people of all ethnic groups, compatriots in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese healthier and happier lives in the Year of the Tiger, and expressed his hope that the motherland would increase in prosperity and strength. This year's Spring Festival falls on Feb. 1. Xi, as the Party's top leader, has for 10 consecutive years visited people at the primary level -- especially those from disadvantaged groups -- ahead of the Spring Festival, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar and an occasion for family reunions. Xi on Wednesday visited the people of Fengnanyuan Village in Huozhou City, one of the places hit hard by floods last October. Xi learned about local post-disaster reconstruction, crop replanting, improvements to the local disaster relief and emergency response system, and measures to keep people warm in the winter. When he sat down with a family to hear about their day-to-day lives, Xi said that locals who have been affected by the disaster are often in his thoughts and that he chose the village as his first stop to see the reconstruction and recovery first hand. Xi stressed the need to dovetail reconstruction with rural vitalization, improve integrated river basin management, and improve the capacity for disaster prevention, mitigation and relief. Later that afternoon, Xi went to Duancun Village in Fenxi County. In a villager's home, Xi checked the kitchen, the bedroom and the sheepfold, and asked about the family's income and their life. Xi was pleased to learn that the family, after shaking off poverty in late 2016, has prospered through raising sheep and seeking work in other places. "The CPC's resolve to ensure all Chinese people live happy lives has remained unchanged for more than a century, and it will not falter," Xi said. Speaking in front of villagers at a local square, Xi said that the fundamental purpose of the Party is to strive to ensure people's happy lives. Noting that the goal of building a modern socialist country cannot be attained without the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, Xi urged efforts to consolidate the achievements of poverty eradication, advance rural vitalization, and improve people's lives. Touring Pingyao, one of the best-preserved ancient walled cities in China and a UNESCO world heritage site, on Thursday, Xi called for more efforts to conserve the country's cultural heritage and protect "the valuable treasure left to us by our ancestors." At a museum in Pingyao, he said the unique traditional Chinese culture should be promoted more to contribute to economic and social development and people's quality life. Dropping by souvenir shops inside the ancient walled city, Xi shopped cooked beef and vinegar as festive purchases for his family. People in China usually eat dumplings with vinegar. Xi even took part in vinegar-making in a workshop. He also visited a lacquerware shop and demanded cultural treasures such as the traditional lacquering skill be better protected. "We should promote traditional cultural industries with distinctive Chinese features to the rest of the world," said Xi. On COVID-19 response, Xi warned that the pandemic is still spreading worldwide and new features of transmission have shown. He told local authorities to stay alert, adopt science-based and targeted control measures and ensure people's safety and necessities. With the winter power and heat supply in mind, Xi on Thursday afternoon inspected a company that has made progress in the clean and efficient utilization of coal in recent years. There, he visited an intelligent fuel management center, a laboratory and a coal yard, among other facilities. "Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality are not something asked of us, but something we are doing on our own initiative," Xi said, adding that the goals cannot be achieved easily but efforts must be made immediately. He called for strengthening domestic energy production, ensuring the supply of coal and facilitating the clean and low-carbon development of the coal industry. Efforts should be made to accelerate green and low-carbon technological breakthroughs and continuously upgrade China's industrial structure to achieve the goals of carbon peaking and neutrality proactively and steadily, Xi said. The supply of power and heat is vital to the overall economic development and social stability, Xi said. He urged major enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises, to lead by example in maintaining the stability of supply and prices to ensure that people stay safe and warm in winter. Xi asked Shanxi to actively serve and integrate into the country's new development paradigm, coordinate COVID-19 containment with economic and social development, promote the steady improvement of people's lives, and continuously make breakthroughs in high-quality development. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, talks with villagers in Duancun Village, Sengnian Township of Fenxi County, north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 26, 2022. Xi on Wednesday began his visit to Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Yan Yan) TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has underlined the importance of modernizing agriculture and rural areas amid China's endeavor to build a modern socialist country in an all-round manner. Xi made the remarks on Wednesday while visiting a village in Fenxi County in north China's Shanxi Province. On Wednesday afternoon, Xi inspected a public service center in Duancun Village and visited local residents. Xi said it was a pleasure to see that the villagers were content with their lives. Noting that there is still a long way to go before attaining the goal of modern socialist China, Xi urged efforts to consolidate the achievements of poverty eradication and advance rural vitalization, and to modernize rural life. As of Wednesday evening, almost 40,000 Nigerians have signed a petition calling on the United Kingdom (UK) home office to either remove Nigeria from the list of countries whose citizens are required to take English Proficiency tests or reduce the fees charged for the examination. The UK requires the citizens of any country willing to relocate to the country for work or study opportunities to take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test. But Nigerians are kicking against the policy, describing it as a ripoff. Not the first time This is not the first time Nigerians are raising concerns about the policy and the renewed energy was a result of previous calls falling on deaf ears. The cost of the test, which currently stands between N80,000 and N90,000 in Nigeria, is almost three times the countrys minimum wage of N30,000. Apart from its high cost, the test is only valid for two years and can only be taken in 12 cities across the country. Individuals requiring it for their pursuits would have to take the test again if they fail or did not relocate to the UK after two years of taking the test. Petition The petitioners compared the English Proficiency tests with the French proficiency test which costs half the minimum wage. Using hashtages like #ReformIELTSPolicy, #IELTS, and #TOEFL, many Nigerians who took to the social media handle, Twitter, have accused the UK of commercialising the test. Policy Shapers, which iniated the online petition on Change.org, wondered why none of the over 20 anglophone countries in Africa was on the list of countries exempted from taking the test, despite the fact that these African countries are former British colonies and belong to the Commonwealth. UK Home Office reacts In 2020, the UK Home office, which is said to be primarily in charge of the test, told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) that it did not have evidence that the majority of Nigerians speak English as a first language. We do not have the required evidence that shows the majority of people in Nigeria speak English as their first language, it wrote in a reply to the BBCs enquiry. It added: We must have evidence that at least 51 per cent of the population speaks English as a first language for a country to be included in the Majority English Speaking Country list. PREMIUM TIMES couldnt reach Dean Hurlock, head of communications, British High Commission, on his phone. An email sent to the UK home office has also not been replied as of the time of filing this report. Evidence proved that all victims of the 21-storey building collapse on Gerard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, died before rescue operations began, an official said on Thursday. The Director-General of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Oluwafemi Oke-Osayintolu, made the disclosure during a coroners inquest into the November 1, 2021 building collapse which killed 46 people. PREMIUM TIMES recalls how the building on Gerrard Road in the Ikoyi area of Lagos led to fatalities. One of the survivors had said they were working on a cracked pillar on the first floor of the skyscraper when it crumbled. The survivor, a labourer at the site, was interviewed in one of the hospitals where he was recuperating then. I was working with my colleague. I have been told not to tell anybody. That day, we were working on the first floor, Engineer Kola and Engineer Ola told us there is one pillar on the first floor, the pillar was cracked, the engineers told us to break the pillar so that they could fix another pillar there because the pillar is really big they have confidence that nothing would happen to the pillar if they set another one, he said. Suddenly we heard a noise, the thing (pillar) started to shake, I and Monday (another labourer) ran when we saw that the pillar was starting to shake. When I was running, I fell down I was struggling to come out. He said he managed to move out of the building and a gateman helped him onto a motorcycle that took him to the hospital before the arrival of the governments emergency responders. PREMIUM TIMES also reported how Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, gave the names of survivors in the tragedy and set up a panel to ascertain the cause of the collapse. Inquest The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Oke-Osayintolu was led in evidence by A.S. Odugbemi, counsel to Lagos State Building Control Agency. He testified that rescue operations were carried out by both professionals and non-professionals who assisted with equipment. The official said that LASEMA was confronted with a classical national emergency and that as the Incident Commander mandated by Governor Sanwo-Olu, he gave instructions to the rescue team. The director-general said that the rescue team moved into the scene following a primary assessment, adding that the team partitioned the building into Quadrums 1 to 4 and employed heavy and life-saving equipment. He said that drones and delsa equipment (used for detection of life) enabled both primary and secondary emergency responders to determine that there was no life in the debris before work began. Mr Oke-Osayintolu was asked by Mr Ola Adeosun counsel to Prowess Engineering Nig. Ltd., whether his agencys actions in the course of the rescue operation led to death of some trapped people. My lord, with my medical background, I have attended to a lot of emergencies within the state and federal, I would say, No. Where we put the excavator is the first quadrum. We use the delsa to detect if there is someone alive, and I say this type of collapse building was unique. When it piled on one another, there would not be air going in, it would compress the victims, and the way our response was operated, we divided the place into quadrums. We used a delsa and drone, I can say that probability is close to zero, the direct-general said. Mr Adeosun further asked, Are you telling this court that before moving your equipment, you must have confirmed that there was no person alive? Responding, the LASEMA boss said, Hundred per cent yes, my lord, there was nobody that died in the course of our intervention, to the best of my knowledge. Earlier, Muritala Olawale, a structural engineer and Managing Director of Prowess Engineering Nig. Ltd., tendered a document on soil test conducted at the building site. The document was admitted in evidence and marked Exhibit T by the Coroner, Alexander Komolafe. Advertisements The inquest was adjourned until February 4. (NAN) The Senate Committee on Local Content on Wednesday, grilled the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) over an alleged breach of local content laws by a foreign oil company, Saipem Contracting Nigeria Limited. Saipem, an Italian multinational oil company currently serves as a principal contractor in a $10 billion gas project the Train 7 project. The project, owned by the Nigerian Liquid and Natural Gas (NLNG) Company, is expected to boost the nations gas capacity by 35 per cent. It is a dual-feed project with one consortium made up of three companies, including, Messrs Saipem, Daewoo and Chyonda, all involved in the delivery of one feed. Saipem was accused of not only breaching local content laws but also failing to involve indigenous companies in the processes of awarding contracts on the NLNG Train-7 project. The allegations were contained in a petition to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in June 2021. The petitioner, Messrs Moboluwaduro Abimbola, also claimed that the Nigerian Content Plan for the Train-7 project was approved and that a Certificate of Authorisation had been issued by the NCDMB in March 22, 2019. He explained how Saipem allegedly created a strange system which exclude qualified Nigerian companies in the bidding and award process of contracts against the local content laws. This prompted the Senate, through its committee on Local Content, to begin investigation. Previous hearing Prior to Wednesdays investigative hearing, the panel had invited officials of Saipem, alleging that the oil company undermined Nigerias extant laws by importing steel from manufacturers in South Korea and Italy and overlooking Nigerias manufacturers in the multi-billion dollar contracts and in flagrant violation of the Local Content Act. The Managing Director of Saipem, Guido DAloisio, had said it acted on the instruction of NLNG and also within the scope provided by NLNG which allowed it to source for highly specialised steels not available in Nigeria from abroad. The arrangement, he said, was within the finance export scheme between NLNG, South Korea and Italy. But an unsatisfied panel asked the MD to provide more information about the foreign finance institutions that could aid the investigation. Another query on the award of $1.7 million and another $1.36 million contracts to two foreign companies, Dovan and KAO as sole vendors for the company was laid before Mr DAloisio. After he explained that the two companies were selected based on old existing relations and performance, the panel said it was gross violation of Section 15 of the Local Content Act which emphasises competition and not arbitrary or unilateral selection. Investigative hearing At the hearing on Wednesday, which was done behind closed doors, the panel questioned officials of the NCDMB on the queries raised so far. Chairman of the committee, Teslim Folarin (APC, Oyo Central), had summoned the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Simbi Wabote, for a meeting on the perceived regulatory negligence. Shortly before the executive session, he informed the panel of the reasons for the hearing, expressing disappointment at the outcome of the previous meeting with the MD of Saipem. SAIPEM appeared before this committee in December last year on alleged violations of local content laws in the execution of the $10billion Train 7 Project without any convincing defensive submissions. The management of the construction firm failed to defend any of the allegations made against it by the petitioners as far as adherence to local content laws is concerned. Failure of SAIPEM to speak convincingly on the petitions, led to the appearance of management of NCDMB before us today being the regulatory agency monitoring the implementation of the local content laws, he said. Same was the panels testimony after the executive session which lasted over two hours. The lawmakers said the submissions were unsatisfactory. Addressing journalists after the session, the Deputy Whip of the Senate, Sabi Abdullahi (APC, Niger North), who is also the vice chairman of the committee, said NCDMB is to re-appear before the panel on next Tuesday. Advertisements Submissions made by the Executive Secretary of NCDMB before the committee at the closed door session, were unsatisfactory by grossly lacking in facts and figures. In ensuring thoroughness on investigation of allegations made against SAIPEM and by extension, regulatory negligence on the part of NCDMB, the committee has directed the agency to re-appear before it next Tuesday. We are being cautious in coming up with report on the investigation because issues involved are very sensitive to the nations economy and development, he said. While officials of NCDMB are expected to appear before the panel next week, it is unclear if officials from Saipem will be invited as well. The Governor of Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi, has declared Thursday as a work-free day for public and private schools in the state ahead of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election. This is contained in a statement by O.R Ajayi, the Director of Schools, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. Mr Ajayi said in the statement that all public and private (primary and secondary schools) are to observe the work-free day. He directed all Heads of various Schools to ensure compliance with the directive. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the governorship primary of the APC in Ekiti will hold on Thursday, a day after the Peoples Democratic Party held theirs. NAN reports that the party had adopted direct primaries (Option A4) mode to select the candidate to fly its flag in the June 18 governorship election. The party will be using both primary and secondary school playgrounds as venues for the exercises to select the partys candidate. No fewer than eight aspirants are jostling for the APC governorship ticket, including the National Assembly member, Opeyemi Bamidele; former Minister of Works, Dayo Adeyeye; House of Representatives member, Femi Bamisile. Others are the immediate past Secretary to Ekiti Government, Biodun Oyebanji, who is being touted as the anointed candidate of the state governor; former House of Representatives member, Bamidele Faparusi; former governorship aspirant, Kayode Ojo; an Aviation expert, Demola Popoola and Olusola Afolabi. (NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Sokoto inaugurated a new 3 million metric tonnes per annum BUA Cement Sokoto Line 4 Factory, expressing delight that the federal governments policies on economic diversification, job creation and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive are working. Speaking at the inauguration of the plant, described as the largest private-sector employer of labour in the North-Western part of Nigeria, the president pledged that his administration would continue to support serious investors to set up businesses that will take advantage of huge reserves of resources in different parts of the country. The president recounted that in 1985 as the then Head of State, he was at the same location to commission the 2nd line of the facility. Today, almost thirty-seven years later, to commission the fourth line is a very special day for me personally. As you all know, one of the key economic pillars of our administration has been to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. This is necessary for job creation and indeed, for our economy and national security. In the past few weeks, I visited Ogun and Kaduna States where I observed many private sector investments in action. And today, I am here in Sokoto to commission this multi-billion Naira project. It is therefore very clear for all to see that our policies are working. Progress is gradually being made in all parts of the country, he said. The president thanked the founder of BUA Cement, Abdulsamad Rabiu, and the entire team for the great work they are doing in supporting the governments economic diversification and job creation agenda. He noted the company, which has completed four new cement plants of similar capacity in the last five years in different parts of the country and is set to complete two more plants soon, had shown through these investments that they believe in Nigeria and its potential. Commending BUA and other entrepreneurs for making Nigeria self-sufficient in cement and a net exporter of the strategic product, the president said: I am pleased that through these investments, BUA Cement has created employment opportunities for our citizens. Today, BUA is the largest employer of labour in the North-West region. I always remind Nigerians that every region, indeed every State, in Nigeria sits on huge reserves of resources. For example, in this area, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara can boast of rice production, gold and other precious metals development and of course, heavy industries like cement manufacturing. As a government, we introduced policies and mechanisms to support such investments in a legal, ethical and inclusive manner. For example, we have the National Food Security Council on Food Security Matters and the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative to develop local artisanal gold mining and ensure health and safety of mining workers and protect the environment. We remain prepared to support serious investors to set up businesses that will take advantage of these opportunities through value addition so as to take advantage of the huge market here, as well as in the greater African region and the world at large. Highlighting other efforts to bring even development to all parts of the country, the president expressed confidence that the AjaokutaKadunaKano (AKK) gas project, when completed, will bring gas for domestic and industrial purposes from the South-south region to the South-east, North-central and North-west geopolitical zones. He said the AKK project would significantly reduce the cost of operations for industries in the regions. The president also used the occasion to reassure Nigerians that his government would continue to invest heavily in roads and rails to ease movement of people, goods and services, with a view to facilitating trade while lowering logistics costs associated with the inefficiencies of bad roads and bridges. On security, President Buhari reiterated his commitment to bring peace and stability to all parts of Nigeria, listing a raft of measures undertaken by this administration to ensure that normalcy returns to the country. We continue to recruit and equip security personnel while expanding our social investment programs to support the youth and some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. You should all be reassured that we will win this battle against the criminal elements looking to destabilize our nation by hindering the progress of our economy. I want to now call on all entrepreneurs and businesses to emulate what is being done here. The task of nation-building requires all hands to be on deck. The public and private sectors must collaborate if we are to achieve our aim of collective peace and prosperity across the entire nation. Advertisements Mr Rabiu, Chairman, BUA Cement, who commended the president for creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive, acknowledged the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its governor in setting up the gigantic project. He announced that so far, we have invested over a billion dollars in the past four years and we urge the CBN to continue to support industries like ours that use locally sourced raw materials to add value. He pledged that BUA would continue to invest more in the cement industry until Nigeria is self-sufficient and the commodity is made available, accessible, and affordable for all Nigerians. In the past 6 years, we have completed 4 plants two in Obu, Edo State and two in Sokoto (of which this Sokoto line 4 is the fourth) with BUAs total production capacity now standing at 11.5million tonnes with the completion of this plant. Next year, we intend to complete the construction of two new plants of 3 million metric tonnes each for which construction is ongoing one in Edo and the other, here in Sokoto. The Chairman of BUA said he looked forward to President Buhari commissioning these plants next year which will bring total production capacity to 17.5million metric tonnes. Femi Adesina Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) under the federal ministry of education and the representatives of the ministry have met to resolve some lingering trade issues with the aim of averting industrial action as threatened by the workers. At the meeting, which was held on Wednesday at the ministry, the union, however, insisted that a trade dispute that had been declared on the implementation of the new retirement age without conditions should be allowed to play out. These resolutions were contained in a memorandum of understanding issued by the unions leadership and the representatives of the ministry. The ministrys director of human resources and the overseeing officer in the absence of a substantive permanent secretary, David Gende, and a deputy director, and resident labour desk officer, Okafor Ifeyinwa, signed the resolutions on behalf of the government while ASCSN general secretary, Lawal Bashir, signed on behalf of the workers union. Demands The contentious issues between the union and the ministry include the non-payment of promotion and salary arrears; non-payment of first 28 days allowance in lieu of hotel accommodation; non-capturing of officers recruited since 2018; refusal to sign and implement the agreement reached on the management and ownership of the staff nursery and primary schools (SNAPs); and refusal to implement without any precondition, the directive of the President, Muhammadu Buhari, on the extension of retirement age or service year of education officers in federal unity colleges (FUCs). Resolutions The ministry promised to pay all outstanding promotion and salary arrears of workers for 2018 and 2019 on or before April 30. It also said at least 919 officers of the newly recruited staff already captured and are placed on payroll will receive their December and January salaries next week, while those who are yet to be captured will receive theirs by February. The ministry said it has set aside N10 million for the payment of the first 28 days allowance to deserving staff beginning January 2022, adding that the sum will be reviewed progressively as situation improves. Efforts will be made to give the displaced staff in the North East priority in the payment of their 1st 28 days and the management will liaise with the Principals of affected schools to get any other support, the MoU noted. The ministry added that a committee will be set up to look into the prepared policy guidelines and memorandum of understanding (MoU) on establishment and operation of the staff nursery and primary schools and submit the documents for action within four weeks. Backstory ASCSN had on January 6 after its annual general meeting (AGM) with unit chairmen, zonal coordinators and national executive officers, issued a 14-day ultimatum before a full-blown strike would be declared if there was no positive action from the government. The union had earlier given a 21-day ultimatum which expired on 6 January, for its demands to be addressed. President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Sokoto inaugurated a new 3 million metric tonnes per annum BUA Cement Sokoto Line 4 Factory, expressing delight that the Federal Government policies on economic diversification, job creation and creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive are working. Speaking at the inauguration of the plant, described as the largest private sector employer of labour in the North-western part of Nigeria, the President pledged that his administration would continue to support serious investors to set up businesses that will take advantage of huge reserves of resources in different parts of the country. The President recounted that in 1985 as the then Head of State, he was at the same location to commission the 2nd line of the facility. Today, almost thirty-seven years later, to commission the fourth line is a very special day for me personally. As you all know, one of the key economic pillars of our administration has been to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive. This is necessary for job creation and indeed, for our economy and national security. In the past few weeks, I visited Ogun and Kaduna States where I observed many private sector investments in action. And today, I am here in Sokoto to commission this multi-billion naira project. It is therefore very clear for all to see that our policies are working. Progress is gradually being made in all parts of the country, he said. President @MBuhari has returned to Abuja after his visit to Sokoto to commission BUA Cement plant in the State. pic.twitter.com/QWdh6jtxtJ Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) January 27, 2022 The President thanked the Founder of BUA Cement, Abdul Samad Rabiu, and the entire team for the great work they are doing in supporting the governments economic diversification and job creation agenda. He noted the company, which has completed four new cement plants of similar capacity in the last five years in different parts of the country and is set to complete two more plants soon, had shown through these investments that they believe in Nigeria and its potential. Commending BUA and other entrepreneurs for making Nigeria self-sufficient in cement and a net exporter of the strategic product, the President said: I am pleased that through these investments, BUA Cement has created employment opportunities for our citizens. Today, BUA is the largest employer of labour in the North-West region. I always remind Nigerians that every region, indeed every State, in Nigeria sits on huge reserves of resources. For example, in this area, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara can boast of rice production, gold and other precious metals development and of course, heavy industries like cement manufacturing. As a Government, we introduced policies and mechanisms to support such investments in a legal, ethical and inclusive manner. For example, we have the National Food Security Council on Food Security Matters and the Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative to develop local artisanal gold mining and ensure health and safety of mining workers and protect the environment. We remain prepared to support serious investors to set up businesses that will take advantage of these opportunities through value addition so as to take advantage of the huge market here, as well as in the greater African region and the world at large. Highlighting other efforts to bring even development to all parts of the country, the President expressed confidence that the AjaokutaKadunaKano (AKK) gas project, when completed, will bring gas for domestic and industrial purposes from the South South region to the South East, North Central and North West Geopolitical zones. He said the AKK project would significantly reduce cost of operations for industries in the regions. The President also used the occasion to reassure Nigerians that his government would continue to invest heavily in roads and rails to ease movement of people, goods and services, with a view to facilitating trade while lowering logistics costs associated with the inefficiencies of bad roads and bridges. Security On security, President Buhari reiterated his commitment to bring peace and stability to all parts of Nigeria, listing a raft of measures undertaken by this administration to ensure that normalcy returns to the country. We continue to recruit and equip security personnel while expanding our social investment programs to support the youth and some of the most vulnerable members of our communities. You should all be reassured that we will win this battle against the criminal elements looking to destabilise our nation by hindering the progress of our economy. I want to now call on all entrepreneurs and businesses to emulate what is being done here. The task of nation building requires all hands to be on deck. The public and private sectors must collaborate if we are to achieve our aim of collective peace and prosperity across the entire nation. Advertisements Mr Abdul Samad Rabiu, Chairman, BUA Cement, who commended the President for creating the enabling environment for businesses to thrive, acknowledged the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its Governor in setting up the gigantic project. He announced that, so far, we have invested over a billion dollars in the past four years and we urge the CBN to continue to support industries like ours that use locally sourced raw materials to add value. He pledged that BUA would continue to invest more in the cement industry until Nigeria is self-sufficient and the commodity is made available, accessible, and affordable for all Nigerians. In the past 6 years, we have completed 4 plants two in Obu, Edo State and two in Sokoto (of which this Sokoto line 4 is the fourth) with BUAs total production capacity now standing at 11.5million tonnes with the completion of this plant. Next year, we intend to complete the construction of two new plants of 3 million metric tonnes each for which construction is ongoing one in Edo and the other, here in Sokoto. The Chairman of BUA said he looked forward to President Buhari commissioning these plants next year which will bring total production capacity to 17.5million metric tonnes. The Ogun Assembly has summoned two former local government chairmen and another official over alleged infractions observed during the consideration of Auditor-Generals reports on Odeda, Odogbolu and Remo North council areas. The House Committee Chairman on Public Account, Musefiu Lamidi, listed those summoned to include: a former Chairman of Remo North Local Government, Abayomi Soyemi and his Odogbolu counterpart, Olaniyi Opanuga. Mr Lamidi explained that the invitation, slated for February 3, was to allow the former chairmen to make further clarifications on some grey areas contained in the audit queries on the financial reports of the councils. He said the infractions happened when they were chairmen of the local government councils. Mr Lamidi further stated that the committee was also considering invitation to Tope Oyekan, currently serving in Ikenne local government council, to appear before the lawmakers. The lawmaker said the official had shunned the lawmakers previous invitations and was also alleged of insubordination by the office of the Auditor-General for Local Government. He decried what he called flagrant violation of the financial regulations, including inappropriate retirement of payment vouchers and unrestricted/questionable expenditures, among others, by some past political office holders and council officials. The lawmaker noted that the development had led to the various infractions noticed in the audit report. He tasked local government officials to adhere strictly to the principles of accountability and transparency, especially in the financial records of the councils. Mr Lamidi warned that appropriate sanctions would be meted out on any official found to have engaged in any financial mismanagement. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the committee had considered the audit reports of local government councils from 2014 financial year to 2019 financial year. NAN also reports that other members of the committee include Messrs Sola Adams, Ganiyu Oyedeji, Kunle Sobukanla, Yusuf Amosun, Kemi Oduwole and Yusuf Adejojo . (NAN) The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) on Wednesday appointed a board of trustees to help strengthen the foundations governance by bringing independent and diverse perspectives. The new board of trustees includes Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, Mark Suzman; Zimbabwean billionaire, Strive Masiyiwa; Thomas Tierney, the co-founder of Bridgespan Group, one of the nonprofit industrys most powerful consultants; and Minouche Shafik, a former World Bank official whos now director of the London School of Economics. Mr Suzman announced the board members in the foundations inaugural annual letter according to a statement obtained by PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday. He said the governance change comes after the death of Bill Gates father, an honorary co-chair, as well as the decision by Warren Buffett last year to step down as a trustee after nearly 15 years. He noted that the change also represents an explicit recognition by Gates and French Gates, especially in the wake of their recent divorce, that the foundation will be well served by the addition of independent voices to help shape its work in the future. Mr Suzman noted that the board could include up to nine total members, with conversations ongoing about adding to the initial slate to enhance representation across gender, geography, and expertise.. He said; We are honored that these three deeply knowledgeable and respected individuals have agreed to join the Foundations board. Between them, they bring an incredible track record of impact across global business, philanthropy, and development, and we couldnt be more excited to work with them. Global challenges The Foundation said the announcement comes at a time of unprecedented global challenges. It said the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed, halted, and even reversed hard-won gains in global health and development around the world. After nearly two decades of steady progress, tens of millions of people have been thrown back into poverty, childhood vaccination rates have dropped, and diseases from malaria to tuberculosis have resurged. Since January 2020, the Gates Foundation has committed more than $2 billion to the global COVID-19 response, with a focus on making sure support reaches marginalised communities as quickly and effectively as possible. The pandemic has had devastating impacts on these communities, and it will take many years for them to recover, it said. Priorities with new board Mr Suzman said in its next phase, the foundation will continue to prioritise areas where its resources and expertise will be most catalytic. He said it will invest in higher-risk areas where its more difficult to deploy public resources, from funding innovative treatments for malaria to supporting cutting-edge disease modelling. In her remarks, Melinda Gates, Co-chair of the foundation said the new board members are strong, qualified leaders who will support the foundation and its partners in its work to promote a healthier, safer, more equal world for all. I am deeply proud of all that we have accomplished over the past two decades and energised to work with them to drive progress on some of the most important issues the world faces today, she said. Mr Gates, co-chair of the foundation, said the scale and scope of the foundations work over the past 20 years has evolved to include some of the most complex and urgent challenges the world faces. The statement added: As we look ahead, Im excited to welcome our new board members. Their wide-ranging experience and expertise will have enormous impact on our ability to tackle the complexity of these challenges and bring us closer to realising a world where everyone has the chance to lead a healthy and productive life. Meet new Trustees Mr Masiyiwa said in the statement that hes worked with the foundation for 20 years, beginning with efforts to improve agricultural production for more than 400 million smallholder farmers in Africa, to improving livelihoods for the poorest people across Africa and the world. Ms Shafik, the only other woman on the board aside from French Gates, has worked for the World Bank, the U.K.s Department for International Development and is a former deputy governor of the Bank of England. Ms Shafik, who was born in Egypt, schooled in the U.S. and appointed a U.K. baroness in 2020, is currently director of the LSE. Ive spent my career working in some of the worlds great international and academic institutions because, like Melinda and Bill, I realise that the hardest problems facing humanity are not confined to a single country or sector, but are universal challenges that call for reason, empathy, and cooperation, she said in the statement. Advertisements Tierney, co-chair and co-founder of the Bridgespan Group, said: The Gates Foundation is an extraordinary organisation with over two decades of persistent, pragmatic, and disciplined experience fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. The opportunityand the imperativeto accelerate the foundations impact has never been greater, he said. Mr Suzman, a former journalist and United Nations employee who grew up in apartheid South Africa, joined the organisation in 2007 and was promoted to the top job in February 2020. He said in a letter on Wednesday that he has made diversifying the foundations staff and giving a key goal. Were in active conversations about adding to our initial slate to enhance representation across gender, geography and expertise, Suzman wrote in his first annual letter for the foundation. BMGF Since its establishment 21 years ago, the foundation has provided more than $60 billion in grants, with the annual payout regularly increasing year over year. With a more than $50 billion endowment; Gates and French Gates additional commitment of $15 billion last year; the expectation of future pledges, and the requirement to spend down the endowment after the co-founders deaths, the foundation is uniquely positioned to continue its work of fighting poverty, disease, and inequity in the United States and around the world, while maintaining a major role in the field of philanthropy for decades to come. The House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution has rejected a bill seeking the creation of state police. While 14 members of the committee voted against the amendment to section 214 of the 1999 constitution which sought to establish federal police and state police, 11 others voted in support during a meeting with its consultants on Tuesday to consider the bill. The bill was put to vote by the Deputy Speaker of the House, Idris Wase, who is the Chairman of the Committee, following a call by Fred Agbedi (PDP, Bayelsa) for the bill to be put to proper division. The voting by raising of hands. Luke Onofiok (PDP, Akwa-Ibom) had sponsored the bill and was read the second time in July 2021. It sought to delete police from the exclusive legislative list and put it in the concurrent list. Dakas Dakas, a professor, who is the lead consultant to the committee, said state police could only be created if section 214 was voted on. Section 214 of the bill sought the establishment of federal and state police. Muhammed Wudil (APC, Kano) spoke against the bill and called for caution before giving governors such powers. According to him, the country is in a fragile state. There are a lot of things as regards the creation of state police. There is a lot of apprehension as regardmost especially the nature of the country now, we are almostin some cases divided and any governor can decide to take out whatever security measures against political opponents, he said. With the outcome of the voting, following the vote, the bill will not be presented to the House for consideration. Following in the footsteps of Buhari This rejection is coming in the wake of the expression of opposition to state policing by President Muhammadu Buhari. Mr Buhari, in a recent interview, expressed his opposition to the state police creation despite the deteriorating security in Nigeria. Many have blamed the centralisation of the police for the current insecurity. Governors have resorted to self-help by establishing regional security outfits like Amotekun in the South-west and Ebubeagu in the South-east. Mr Buhari, in an interview with Channels TV, said state security is not an option. He cited the abuse of local governments by the governors as the reason for opposing the establishment of state police. For proponents of true federalism, governors should not just be chief security officers only in name, but to have control over the police in their domains. Separation of the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of justice The committee also deliberated on the bill seeking to split the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice. The bill seeks to amend section 150 of the constitution to create two offices, namely the office of the attorney general of the federation and the minister of justice. The bill, if passed, will give the Attorney General a tenure of five years and subject to renewal for another term. In addition, the qualification of the AG will be increased from 10 years post call to the bar to 15 years and must retire at age 65 years. Tajudeen Abbas (APC, Kaduna) raised concerns on the retirement age proposed in the bill for the Attorney General of the Federation. He said the retirement age for a permanent secretary and other senior civil servants is 60 years, and wondered why that of the AG should be different. We need to be careful about the retirement age if we separate the office of the attorney general and the minister of justice. We are creating an office that will be occupied by a civil servant. It will be dangerous for us to raise his retirement age to 65years. Whereas all other positions are 60, we are raising AG retirement to 65years. We must align it with civil servants. That position will not be a political appointment but civil servants, he said. The deputy speaker, before putting the bill to question, said the issues raised by former President Goodluck Jonathan, who vetoed the bill in the 7th Assembly have been addressed. Workers assemble diesel engines at a workshop of the Weichai Group in Weifang, east China's Shandong Province, April 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Xulei) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Profits of China's major industrial firms surged 34.3 percent year on year in 2021 as industrial production recovered and profit margin improved, official data showed on Thursday. Industrial firms with annual business revenues of at least 20 million yuan (about 3.16 million U.S. dollars) saw their combined profits reach 8.71 trillion yuan last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. The full-year industrial profits were 39.8 percent higher than the 2019 level, putting the average annual growth for 2020 and 2021 at 18.2 percent. In 2021, the combined revenues of those firms went up 19.4 percent from a year ago to 127.92 trillion yuan, and 32 out of 41 industries saw growth in profits. In December alone, major industrial companies raked in profits of 734.2 billion yuan, up 4.2 percent year on year, NBS data showed. "The rapid growth in production and sales has laid a solid foundation for improvement in profits," said Zhu Hong, a senior statistician with the NBS. Zhu said falling production costs have significantly boosted profit margins, partly thanks to the government's financial support measures for the real economy. In 2021, the cost per 100 yuan of industrial revenue was 83.74 yuan, 0.23 yuan lower than a year ago. The operating profit margin increased 0.76 percentage points to 6.81 percent. Zhu emphasized the high-tech manufacturing sector, which played a leading role in the annual profit rise. In 2021, the high-tech manufacturing sector maintained rapid profit growth, rising 48.4 percent from a year earlier. The sectors of pharmaceutical manufacturing and electronic and communication device manufacturing posted exceptionally strong profits, which expanded 77.9 percent and 44 percent from a year ago, respectively. Due to high prices in commodities, the mining sector became another driving force for the broader industrial profit growth. Last year, upstream mining and raw material manufacturing companies saw their profits up 190.7 percent and 70.8 percent, year on year, respectively. Despite the rapid rise in the full-year figure, Zhu cautioned against a growth decline in November and December, noting that the downstream enterprises, especially the small firms, are still under pressure and that challenges remain for industrial development this year. More efforts should boost the core competitiveness of the manufacturing sector, strengthen the real economy, help enterprises tide over difficulties and further stimulate market vitality, Zhu said. On the heels of plans by the federal government to remove subsidy on fuel, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) has accused the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC) of fraud and unclear intentions. The governors said with the NNPC limited, there are raging questions of accountability with regards to subsidy and that until the truth about their plans is made known, many people would be uncomfortable with the subsidy removal. They said this at a meeting with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), on Wednesday, in Abuja. The meeting was held to deliberate on the fuel subsidy removal, which both groups believe is a necessary action that the country must deal with now or in the nearest future. It comes about three days after the federal government decided to suspend plans to remove subsidy on fuel. The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, had said removing fuel subsidy will worsen the situation and impose more difficulties on Nigerians and President Muhammadu Buhari. She also said the federal government is exploring ways of reaching an agreement with civic groups and the labour union to ensure the eventual removal of subsidy will have minimal impact on Nigerians. Plans by the federal government to fully deregulate fuel price by removing subsidy has lingered for a while. The National Economic Council (NEC) had in November 2021 recommended that the government increase the price of petrol to N302 per litre in February 2022. Petrol price is currently between N162 and N165 per litre. While some Nigerians say the policy will help lower the cost of living and support millions who live below the poverty line, others including the labour union believe subsidies constitute an unsustainable drain on public resources needed for critical developmental projects. Administrators with shady plans At Wednesdays meeting, both the NGF and NLC agreed that the lacuna in the subsidy removal agenda was hidden in the untruths bandied by the administrators of the subsidy, particularly NNPC, which they identified to be at the forefront of the mismanagement of the proceeds accrued therein. The Chairman Forum and Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, said it has become necessary for the two groups to carefully verify all of NNPCs estimates to ensure that whatever action is taken on subsidy, would make the people direct beneficiaries and not a few wealthy individuals and their cronies in the country. There are raging questions of accountability associated with subsidy removal in the country, he said, while he noted that the NGF and the NLC can work together to proffer solutions that heal the economy and provide succour to the Nigerian people. While he argued that the pump price of surrounding countries like Niger, Mali, Cameroun and Ghana is equivalent to a US dollar, Mr Fayemi said Nigeria, though with a pump price that is less than a dollar, is uncomfortable with the removal of subsidy until the challenge of what the NNPC is telling the country is confronted frontally. He, therefore, stressed the need for a partnership with the NLC to confront the challenges of what the NNPC is about. Because there is a lot of fraud in the consumption and distribution figures that the country is getting and we can only move forward if the NLC engages all those who are knowledgeable in the field like PENGASSAN to conduct a thorough research into the sector before any further action is taken on subsidy. Only about eight states are benefitting directly from the subsidy while all the others have to contend with the situation on their own. The partnership with the NLC must confront the perennial issue of palliatives for the common man towards cushioning the effects of subsidy removal on the citizenry stating that not tackling the problem now is tantamount to postponing the evil day. Finding succour for the ordinary Nigerian at this time is absolutely imperative and necessary now more than ever, Mr Fayemi said. Other options One other major agenda of the meeting was to also plead with Labour Union to jettison their decision to embark on what they referred to as a mega-strike and collaborate with the governors to consider the dimensions at play on the subsidy removal palaver. In his contribution, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, warned that Nigeria has a choice of continuing to spend or take concrete actions on a permanent problem rather than throwing away N3 trillion on subsidy. He suggested that the nation can, in the interim, increase productivity to reduce imports and create jobs. Advertisements He also emphasised that the country would do well to revamp the power sector, which is virtually comatose because, without power, millions are thrown into unemployment, and ultimately, poverty. And the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, said Nigerian cannot continue with subsidising petroleum products. READ ALSO: We must find options and create opportunities that address the hardships that stare our people in the face. The painstaking work that led to the solutions that the NGF was highlighting took a year to script together. The fact that we are sitting here with Labour to resolve this contending issue does not mean that as we leave the table we should go to sleep. Instead, the teams from the two groups should immediately set out to work to find the light at the end of the tunnel, he said. This meeting was held barely an hour before the NLC announced the suspension of its mega-strike, as they told the governors that their committee had consulted widely and decided to call it off before arriving at the NGF secretariat. Both the NLC chairman, Ayuba Wabba, and the TUC president, Quadri Olaleye, stressed their lack of appreciation of the trust deficit that characterised previous negotiations and wondered why the subsidy issue had always been shrouded in lack of transparency on the part of the government. They also argued that the conflicting figures that always came from the managers of the petroleum sector always tend towards inefficiency, which has remained, to the people and to Labour, completely objectionable. Restriction on flights arriving from Nigeria and 11 other African nations will be lifted on Saturday, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities have said. The countrys National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) said it was lifting the ban initially imposed as part of measures to prevent the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The authorities said flight arrivals can resume from countries like Botswana, Congo Republic, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Namibia. Others are Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the authorities said in a post on Twitter Wednesday. #_ : 29 pic.twitter.com/Gky8MOXgGS NCEMA UAE (@NCEMAUAE) January 26, 2022 The UAE had last December issued a travel restriction on passenger flights from Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. NCEMA and the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said the directive, which took effect December 25, was due to concerns related to the spread of the omicron COVID-19 variant. The excluded categories should present a negative COVID-19 test obtained within 48 hours of departure and a Rapid-PCR test at the airport within six hours of departure whenever possible and another PCR test at the airport upon arrival to UAE, the statement had said. On Wednesday, NCEMA also announced that entry procedures have been updated for flights originating from Ghana, Rwanda and Uganda. Passengers are required to take a PCR test 48 hours before departure, test where possible at the departure airport, test on arrival and adhere to all precautionary measures when visiting the UAE. The new rules come into effect by 2.30pm on Saturday, NCEMA said. The Nigerian government and the UAE authorities have been at loggerheads in recent months. The crisis came against the backdrop of Emirates suspension of its flight to Nigeria indefinitely in response to a restriction by the Nigerian government limiting its flights to the country to just once a week. Aviation authorities in the United Arab Emirates later gave slots to Nigerian airline, Air Peace, backing off from an earlier confrontation that threatened relations between both countries. The authority also permitted it to fly directly to Dubai instead of Sharjah Airport it had earlier suggested. The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffery Onyeama, over allegations of contempt. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was accused by the lawmakers of contravening the provision of the 2022 Appropriations Act on the financing of capital expenditures of embassies. Femi Gbajabimaila, the Speaker of the House, had directed Mr Onyeama and the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Finance to meet with him on Tuesday. The directive by Gbajabiamila was a sequel to a motion of urgent public importance moved by Kassim Maigari (PDP, Taraba) on Thursday during the plenary. Mr Maigari said the lawmakers inserted certain provisions in the 2022 Appropriations Act to address the rot in embassies and missions by allowing them to spend money for approved capital projects in their missions without recourse to the ministry. The lawmaker said the essence of the action by the National Assembly is to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks impeding the effective running of embassies. He stated that officials of the ministry had written letters to all the foreign missions and embassies to ignore the law. Mr Maigari described the action of the ministry as an affront to the National Assembly. If the effrontery and impunity of those officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that are so flagrantly challenging a law signed by the president, using diverse means, including the writing of letters to counter provisions of an existing law, are allowed to go unaddressed, we may wake up one morning, God forbid, to hear that the National Assembly has been sacked by the mere letter of one senior government official in one ministry of government, he said. Buba Yakubu (APC, Adamawa), who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, corroborated the allegation by Mr Maigari. Mr Yakubu said he wrote the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ensure the ministry gives support for the law, but the ministry still instructed embassies not to obey the law. He added that requests for approval from foreign missions could take months or years without a reply from the ministry. When we got to the ministry for oversight, we saw letters in the registry that are up to six months, letters written to the minister or the National Assembly. Embassies like Berlin, Jakarta, Dakar, Beirut and so many of them have funds in their accounts for like four years, while banks are applying charges to these funds. Getting approval from the ministry has become an issue. When we went to Cameroon, where the former Chief of Defence Staff (Abayomi Olonisakin) is serving, in his residence, a fence that is not up to 50 metres, fell but an officer has to be called from Abuja, pay for his flights, estacode to see it before they give approval for the repair. I wrote the minister to allow this law to be implemented. I also wrote the embassies, but on the 20th of January, the ministry wrote a letter to all the embassies, that they should not honour the letter written by the National Assembly. In his contribution, the Speaker said he has also gotten a first-hand experience of the rots at some of the embassies. In addition to summoning the minister, the House resolved that the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should comply with the provision of Section 11 of the 2022 Appropriations Act( Power of Nigerian Embassies and Missions) and report such compliance to the House within one week. It also directed the ministry to rescind contents of the letter countering an earlier letter written by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST), Thursday, added financial inclusion as part of its services to Nigerians, introducing its own e-debit card, agency banking platform and 27 new logistics vehicles for courier services. While unveiling the products, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said they will also help the government in improving transparency and fighting corruption. It is the first of its kind in Nigeria because it works offline and online, and it is the first time that NIPOST has come up with a solution similar to this and it is indeed a multipurpose card for financial transaction, conditional cash transfer, payment of bills and many more, he said. This is commendable and in alignment with our digital economy for achieving a digital Nigeria. Our target in this country by 2030 is to be completely digitalised. He said the NIPOST banking platform will allow NIPOST to conduct financial transactions with most importantly, Universal Postal Union (UPU) member countries. He added that the banking platform is another innovative solution that will improve the financial system, adding that this is also in alignment with the proposal to come up with NIPOST Microfinance Bank. So, this is just like a pilot programme of another subsidiary of NIPOST that will come up soon, that is the NIPOST Micro Finance Bank in which we are to leverage on the existing infrastructure of NIPOST and make sure that our citizens all over the country as long as they have access to the post office, they will be able to conduct their financial transactions, he said. The Postmaster-General of the Federation, Ismail Adewusi, said the innovation is aimed at strengthening the capacity of the nations postal service to live up to its responsibilities amidst the emerging threats of the digital era. He urged Nigerians to maximise utilisation of the services and the values that the new NIPOST electronic card has brought to their doorsteps. I equally recommend that all take advantage of the unique offerings by our e-Commerce and logistics venture for local and globe needs, he said. The debit card is expected to boost financial inclusion nationwide, as the the cards will be given free to Nigerians at every NIPOST outlet. Also, the card will function even without the internet and can be replaced easily if stolen or lost. The banking agency will function similarly like the Point of Sales (POS). The agency said since it has structures in all local governments in Nigeria, it will assist residents of rural areas to improve their financial activities. To boost the morale of our armed forces and ginger their fighting spirit and capacity, the government must learn to prioritise their welfare, provide adequate logistics for them and also ensure that they are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for warfare, as terrorists and bandits are also not relenting in the acquisition of sophisticated weapons. Two critical elements determine the strength of a nation its economy and armed forces. Of course, the citizenry remains the fulcrum and major driver of the aforementioned duo. It is no coincidence that in a lot of cases, the most prosperous nations also have strong and formidable military forces. This implies that the two elements economy and armed forces are inexorably linked, one reinforcing the other, ceteris paribus (all things being equal). Conversely, for struggling economies of developing nations, their military, no matter what the various governments want to do to fortify them, often remain, and sadly so, unequal in capacity, reach and sophistication, in comparison to those of their more prosperous counterparts. Invariably, a strong economy needs a strong military to ward off external aggressors. It is also needed to keep internal rebels and local malcontents who may want to destroy the country, for whatever reasons, at bay. This is a given, taking into cognisance the ever-increasing competitiveness of nations across the globe. In the context of the foregoing, Nigeria, the most populous black nation on earth, is no exception to the aforementioned. Ours is a developing economy whose military is also a modest one, though efforts have been made over the years by successive administrations to make it a truly formidable and competitive one. At the continental level, the countrys military has recorded incredible feats during peacekeeping operations, either through the agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) or the instrumentality of the African Union. At the risk of being immodest, the Nigerian military remains essentially one of the strongest armed forces on the continent, despite the challenges it has been faced with in the last couple of years in the hands of outlaws hell-bent on the disintegration of the country. As stated above, it is public knowledge that the Nigerian armed forces have been facing a lot of strain and stress for over a decade now, starting from 2009 when Boko Haram insurgency birthed in Borno State in Nigerias North-East, before it escalated to the extent that the insurgents almost brought the nation to its knees, coupled with the menace of industrial-scale banditry in the North-West and many other forms of violent and criminal activities across the other geopolitical zones of the country. Perhaps it is safe to say that the Nigerian armed forces the army, navy and airforce remain the most engaged on the continent in the last few years, because of the multiple battles that officers and men of the Forces have had to fight simultaneously, to keep the territorial integrity of the country intact and ward off multiple forces of evil, whose principal ambition is to liquidate the country. But for the sacrifices of the Nigerian military, the country might no longer be in existence as one entity today. In the course of fighting Islamic terrorists, be they of Boko Haram ancestry or that of the Islamic States West Africa Province (ISWAP), as well as cross-border bandits and kidnappers, which is an asymmetric non-conventional warfare, our armed forces have suffered untold losses in human and material forms, which has led to a loss of fighting morale and sometimes occasional weariness. A couple of them have lost lives on the battlefronts, while there is a handful of them suffering from one trauma or the other. Their relatives, families and dependents have also experienced grief from the loss of these gallant men and officers of our armed forces. There is certainly no doubt that the loss of morale will impact negatively on the fighting spirit of the men and officers of our armed forces. It is also a given that a battle-ready military is always high on morale. Therefore, the Nigerian government and the leadership of the armed forces must do everything within their fold to ensure that whatever is required to boost the morale of our military men must be done, because without them standing guard and watching over all of us, it would not take long before the country goes kaput. To boost the morale of our armed forces and ginger their fighting spirit and capacity, the government must learn to prioritise their welfare, provide adequate logistics for them and also ensure that they are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for warfare, as terrorists and bandits are also not relenting in the acquisition of sophisticated weapons. Since the arrival of the Tucano bomber jets, one can tell there has been a significant increase in the onslaught against the murderous marauders. Kudos to the Federal Government in this regard. But like Oliver Twist, the Nigerian armed forces need more of such uber-ballistic missiles to exterminate these terrorists and their cousins the so-called bandits who, on account of their heinous crimes, dont deserve to live. Everything must be done to continue to boost the morale of the military, through prioritisation of their welfare and regular meeting of requirements that will enhance their logistics. In this regard, one must commend the Chief of Defence Staff, General Leo Irabor, whose office has devised other means, beyond the regular, to also provide support for men and officers of the armed forces and the fallen heroes, who have paid the supreme price. The initiative by the CDS, Tribute To Our Troops or TTOT, which debuted last year, is a welcome development and commendable intervention. According to the brains behind it, TTOT, which is similar in concept to the United States of Americas Tributes to the Troops, is meant to honour our fallen heroes, celebrate our serving men and women that fight endlessly to keep the territorial integrity of our dear nation Nigeria intact. More tellingly, TTOT was organised to coincide with the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, which is usually celebrated every January 15 by the Federal Government as a way to pay tribute to officers and men of the armed forces, who have paid the supreme price in the course of their defending the territorial integrity of the country. The most recent celebration, which started on December 18, 2021 and was featured on DSTV channels, ended on January 15. In all honesty, nothing set aside in remembrance of our fallen heroes and celebration of those in the line of battle, fighting to defend our nation, the people and our property can be said to be too much. I will say all Nigerian troops at the frontiers across the length and breadth of the country should be celebrated every day, for they truly deserve it. All that said, while celebrating our men and women and officers of the armed forces and also remembering the fallen ones is good, it is also imperative that public trust be restored between the armed forces and the citizenry. It is disheartening when one reads on social media how Nigerians no longer have confidence in the troops because they do not seem to know about the myriad of exploits by our men at the battlefront as a result of non-factual reportage of their operations. I am of the contention that this public trust, when restored, will help Nigerians to appreciate their armed forces more and also do everything humanly possible to provide the needed support for them. As I have argued elsewhere, one surest way to restore this public trust is for the Defence Headquarters to embed defence correspondents in the theatre of war with full protection, so they can report accurately and factually the operations and activities of our men and officers at the battlefronts. A situation where there is repeated misreporting or underreporting of the gallantry of our troops, with possible setbacks magnified, is a great disservice to them and the nation at large. I enjoin the military authorities to take up this responsibility, as it used to happen in decades gone by when Nigerian journalists like Juliet Ukpabiala and Onuorah Madu, both of The Guardian were on the battlefield with our troops reporting their exploits on the field, as well as providing encouragement and succour to those at home. I am often comforted by one of the lines in the old national anthem which aptly says, Though tribes and tounge may differ/In brotherhood we stand. Ade Adefeko wears three caps and plays in the area of agriculture as Vice President, Corporate and Government Relations, Olam International Nigeria; advocacy as Chairman, Export Group, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA); and diplomacy as the Honorary Consul of Botswana to Nigeria. for a continent projected to double its current growth rate by 2050, only with the free movement of people will there be the needed boost in intra-Africa trade, commerce and tourism; labour mobility, intra-Africa knowledge and skills transfer, social integration and tourism; improved trans-border infrastructure and shared development. The unfortunate story of my friend, Pamela Adie who was turned back at the borders of Mozambique a few days ago isnt new, but it reinforces the horrible and ridiculous travel situations for many Africans within the continent. Adie, an activist, who leads a pro-LGBT group, The Equality Hub, in Nigeria, in a series of tweets, said she was turned back at the Southern African country for not having a visa. For every research she did before her travel, and truly, as confirmed by the Visa Index 2022, only Visa on Arrivals is available for Nigerians into Mozambique. The immigration officers insisted that even though the Visa on Arrival policy is valid and having provided all necessary documents requested; hotel reservation, employers letter, return ticket she still needs to provide a letter of invitation, which has to come from the Mozambican embassy in her country. Like some sort of criminal, she was escorted back to the plane, and returned to Nigeria, forfeiting the purpose of her business trip to the country. Intra-African travel is complicated and fraught with suspicion. To travel in Africa, According to the Visa Openness Index Report 2021, 51 per cent of African countries require citizens of other African countries to obtain visas before setting out. 25 per cent of African countries welcome some or all African visitors, visa-free. 24 per cent of African countries allow some or all African visitors to obtain a visa on arrival. Only Seychelles, Benin and The Gambia offer visa-free access to all Africans. Right now, African countries need to strategically position themselves to make the AfCTA work, and one of such ways to achieve this is by relaxing their visa restrictions for easy entry and exit among Africans. Like the European Union, we need to craft out a working model that will ensure great success in connecting people and economies Interestingly, as a matter of fact, citizens of only 15 African nations can travel to South Africa without a visa, yet holders of 28 different European passports can enter the country freely. And to add: it is also expensive to fly within the continent thanks to the heavy taxes of governments, protectionist policies, poor connectivity and infrastructure, which, sadly, continue to stifle the growth of the aviation industry on the continent. On average, passengers fees and charges are twice as much on the continent than in Europe or the Middle East. While the African Union (AU) has developed ambitious plans for the continental free trade area, the free movement of its people across colonial borders lags behind. Undoubtedly, trade is a force for good, as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, Okonjo-Iweala, rightly mentioned, but the continent needs to review its travel policies that continue to shut the door against its own people from interacting among themselves. Right now, African countries need to strategically position themselves to make the AfCTA work, and one of such ways to achieve this is by relaxing their visa restrictions for easy entry and exit among Africans. Like the European Union, we need to craft out a working model that will ensure great success in connecting people and economies, to which border closure and harsh visa restrictions serve as disservice. Pamelas story is one of too many sad experiences that Africans have been exposed to in commuting across their continent. Her thread is full of testimonials brimming with bile and the harrowing experiences of people in the hands of government officials at borders across many African countries. We need to do better. If the continent is concerned about building a prosperous future for its citizens, it needs to set aside its differences, and ensure people have the joy and ability to travel, work and live within their own continent, otherwise we will keep losing bright young minds (who sometimes undertake precarious trips) to Europe in search of better lives. And especially, for a continent projected to double its current growth rate by 2050, only with the free movement of people will there be the needed boost in intra-Africa trade, commerce and tourism; labour mobility, intra-Africa knowledge and skills transfer, social integration and tourism; improved trans-border infrastructure and shared development. Pamelas story is one of too many sad experiences that Africans have been exposed to in commuting across their continent. Her thread is full of testimonials brimming with bile and the harrowing experiences of people in the hands of government officials at borders across many African countries. We need to do better. Olufemi Ogunjobi is a Commentator with Young Voices; and manages African Programs for Students For Liberty Coordinated regional and global efforts are needed to combat capital flight, corruption, and corporate tax evasion. The courageous work of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and other organisations has shed light on the underground networks of profiteers and enablers. Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, omicron How many more letters of the Greek alphabet, symbolising the variants of COVID-19, will the world have to endure? While southern Africa was once again the victim of an ultimately unnecessary and unfair border closure late last year, a handful of wealthy countries continue to oppose the demand to lift patents on vaccines and treatments for the virus. Of course, this vaccine selfishness is taking its toll on poor countries, but it is also returning like a boomerang to the better-off, with new waves of the virus becoming much more contagious and vaccine resistant. This cynicism and blindness are also reflected in the financial flows between the North and the South. On paper, rich countries multiply development aid and direct investments in Africa. In reality, they turn a blind eye to an international system that systematically plunders the continent for the benefit of an elite and of large corporations. Over the past five decades, sub-Saharan Africa has lost more than US $2 trillion to capital flight. This hemorrhage has accelerated since the turn of the century, averaging $65 billion a year, a sum that exceeds the annual inflows of official development aid. In the imaginary world of a perfect market economy, natural resources would be a blessing and capital would flow to the countries where it is most scarce. Africa would be a net recipient. The Angolan people would prosper from the proceeds of oil extraction; Ivorians would thrive as the worlds top cocoa exporter (45 per cent of global production); and South Africans would enjoy the fruits of mineral abundance. Yet, this is not happening. Natural resources are instead a hunting ground for quick wealth extraction and offshore accumulation. Cross-border capital flows are driven, not by relative scarcity in Africa, but by the relative secrecy available in foreign havens. Foreign loans are often dilapidated and unprofitable even when they do not evaporate into thin air. In Mozambiques hidden debt scandal, for example, a $2 billion loan (equivalent to 12 per cent of GDP) that was structured by government officials, European bankers and Middle Eastern businessmen, never even made it to Mozambique, yet the country is on the hook to repay it with interest. Beyond the numbers, we show how national elites are aided and abetted by external banks, accountants, and consulting firms to orchestrate capital flight from African countries. The politics of the resource curse undermines the fiscal contract between the state and the people. In Angola, oil extraction has only served to enrich the elite and multinational oil companies. From 1986 to 2018, the country lost $103 billion through capital flight, a sum that equals the countrys GDP in 2018. In the meantime, only 7 per cent of rural Angolans have access to electricity, and nearly half the population lacks access to drinking water and basic sanitation services. Similarly, most of Cote dIvoires cocoa farmers live below the poverty line, while the country saw an estimated capital flight of $55 billion between 1970 and 2018. In the same period, some $329 billion vanished in South Africa. There, the systematic underinvoicing of mineral exports accounted for much of the poor performance, in terms of growth, savings, domestic investment and poverty reduction, in what is branded as the worlds most unequal country. We reveal these amounts in our latest book, On the Trail of Capital Flight from Africa: The Takers and the Enablers, recently published by Oxford University Press, through three examples: Angola, Cote dIvoire and South Africa, countries rich in natural resources but with disappointing development outcomes. Beyond the numbers, we show how national elites are aided and abetted by external banks, accountants, and consulting firms to orchestrate capital flight from African countries. The politics of the resource curse undermines the fiscal contract between the state and the people. When a state derives the bulk of its revenue from parastatal monopolies, supplemented by external loans, its foreign collaborators, rather than its own citizens, become its main constituency. it is only by really attacking the plundering of the resources of the South that we will allow countries to develop and avoid a social explosion and forced migrations. It is also the only way to allow them to face the climate emergency, with positive consequences for all. Coordinated regional and global efforts are needed to combat capital flight, corruption, and corporate tax evasion. The courageous work of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and other organisations has shed light on the underground networks of profiteers and enablers. Much remains to be done, and the ambition is not commensurate with the need, as is demonstrated by the adoption of a global tax agreement last October, imposed by the rich countries. Its main measure a global corporate tax of just 15 per cent shows that Northern capitals remain more responsive to the rhetoric of multinationals than to the needs of developing countries. The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT), along with economists such as Thomas Piketty, Gabriel Zucman, Jose Antonio Ocampo, and Jayati Ghosh, advocated a rate of 25 per cent, which would recover most of the $240 billion that is lost each year to what is modestly called tax optimisation. Instead, a 15 per cent rate does not generate more than $150 billion in additional resources per year, most of it being captured by rich countries. As with the COVID-19 vaccine, this is a very short-term calculation. Only vaccine solidarity will stop the variants that will otherwise prolong this pandemic indefinitely. And it is only by really attacking the plundering of the resources of the South that we will allow countries to develop and avoid a social explosion and forced migrations. It is also the only way to allow them to face the climate emergency, with positive consequences for all. James K. Boyce is a Professor Emeritus and senior fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, while Leonce Ndikumana is a Professor of Economics and Director of the African Development Policy Program at the Institute for Economic Research at the University of Massachusetts. He is also a member of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Tax (ICRICT) Migration, both external and internal, will emboss the next 40 years. A 2019 Africa Polling Institute finding indicated that 32 per cent wanted to leave the country if they could. Two years later, that number had skyrocketed to 73 per cent. Now hold your breath: In student seminars held across the six geo-political zones with over a thousand participants, 90 per cent of the youths said that they would leave the country if they could. The initiative Which Way Nigeria Citizen Scenarios to 2060 (CS60) is exploring the critical uncertainties, key drivers and potential outcomes, relating to the countrys future, and most importantly with civil society organisations (CSOs) leading the process. Through a combination of advanced scenario creation software and the analyses of local and international experts, CS60 is providing a glimpse into some disturbing but very real probabilities for Nigerias future. CS60 completed its second workshop just a few days ago, with participants considering Nigerias major uncertainty factors until the countrys 100th year of independence. Climate change, the economy, society and population, and governance, among others, were at the top of mind. Future scenarios considered for Nigeria include business as usual, more of the same, gradual progress and paradigm shifts. Three major areas explored included urbanisation, mitigation and engagement of citizens/trust. Hardly academic, the scenarios laid out the brutal realities, which this generation, and more than likely future ones, will have to face. The scenarios suggest that only concerted action, first and foremost of citizens, and how they choose their elected representatives, will avert the continuing slide into the abyss, with not only great personal implications, but also continental and global ones. Migration to and from everywhere Migration, both external and internal, will emboss the next 40 years. A 2019 Africa Polling Institute finding indicated that 32 per cent wanted to leave the country if they could. Two years later, that number had skyrocketed to 73 per cent. Now hold your breath: In student seminars held across the six geo-political zones with over a thousand participants, 90 per cent of the youths said that they would leave the country if they could. So, where do all of the essential workers doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers come from? Frankly, therein lies the existential question. For without enough of these professions, this house will fall. The only potential economic silver lining to mass migration will be remittances from abroad which could ensure that millions eke out a living. Economic-induced migration is one thing. The other amorphous challenge that has arrived is climate change. Those who ignore it, both citizens who vote and policy makers who should be creating policy, will likely be on the wrong side of history. The North will not only have frequent food shortages, but potentially tens of millions could leave it to settle in more liveable areas. Hardly a surprise, it is impossible to think that the farmer/herder debate will not exacerbate. In the South, the Niger Delta may be producing its own set of catastrophic circumstances for those living there. Again, migration towards the North and the centre is more than likely. Many megacities Looking at urbanisation, Lagos has been Africas lighthouse and is indeed an economic powerhouse. However, with that status comes potential disaster more migrants, slums without end, the privatisation of basic services (private wells and schools, generators, a super elite behind gated communities with their own security). And with that comes not one iota of equity. Social scissors are gapingly open in this scenario, never to be reversed. There is a potential silver lining in rapid urbanisation the economies of scale and the creation of services that do just that serve the public. First and foremost, transport. Then, housing. Next, health; medical staff, essential workers, etc. A city of three or five million, let alone 15 or 30 million, cannot function without these basic services. Nigerias population will likely hit 400 million by 2050. Lagos aside, which may one day hit 30 million, the secondary cities of Jos, Kaduna and Enugu will become the new metropolises. Given climate change and the flight to the cities, government, consisting of experts who are accountable and who lead, needs to play a very pro-active role in shaping a daunting, if not biblical, task into something manageable. First and foremost, climate resilient infrastructure, land reform and proper urban planning, will go long ways in addressing these needs. The alternative is a free for all, where victory goes to the highest bidder (both politician and private persons) and equity is barely an afterthought, indeed, just an interesting policy from once-upon-a-time. There is a potential silver lining in rapid urbanisation the economies of scale and the creation of services that do just that serve the public. First and foremost, transport. Then, housing. Next, health; medical staff, essential workers, etc. A city of three or five million, let alone 15 or 30 million, cannot function without these basic services. With every citizens engagement, a more accountable government is in place, which makes a better future more achievable. What can citizens very practically do to engage their government? Register to vote (dont sell it) and take the long view, if you can. Your children will thank you for this. Citizen engagement too far gone Trust in the government, and indeed many other pillars in countries the private sector and religious institutions are exceedingly low. When a normal, non-connected citizen goes for a stamp or a certificate and that seemingly benign errand turns into a Kafkaesque misadventure down hallways, taking numbers and being flung off to another window or office, citizens trust in government tends to hit negative territory. The concept of public service remains forever to be on the take. This erosion of trust will one day play out in, why should I have anything to do with this experiment known as Nigeria? I am an X (tribe), I am a Y (religion). Nigerians are survivors and have shown their resilience over the decades. Yes, perhaps they may squeeze out an existence in the likely unpleasant future. However, it wont be a life worth living. Denial may feel good, but it accomplishes nothing Which Way Nigeria Citizen Scenarios to 2060 provides citizens the very rare opportunity to create the future that they want, not what officials and barons dictate. The initiative is also geared to spark the entire country to be the change and live the change to create the Nigeria that is a global player, not the hobbling giant of Africa. The scenarios are the first chapter in this initiative, the next task will be loose roadmaps, which CSOs will create, that will serve as the basis for what MUST be done on the way to 2060 to achieve a just, resilient and sustainable Nigeria. With every citizens engagement, a more accountable government is in place, which makes a better future more achievable. What can citizens very practically do to engage their government? Register to vote (dont sell it) and take the long view, if you can. Your children will thank you for this. Signed by: Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri , Executive Director, Spaces for Change; Olamide Udoma-Ejorh , Director, Lagos Urban Development Initiative; Bell Ihua , Executive Director, Africa Polling Institute; Chukwumerije Okereke , Director of Centre for Climate and Development, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike; Odeh Friday , Country Director, Accountability Lab Oluseun Onigbinde , Co-founder/Director, BudgIT Aloysius Bongwa , Lead Specialist in Urban Finance and Infrastructure, Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, The Netherlands Richard Dion, Co-initiator of Which Way Nigeria Citizen Scenarios to 2060 President Muhammadu Buhari has postponed his scheduled visit to Zamfara State. Governor Bello Matawalle said the president called him a few hours to the schedule, to announce the change. Mr Matawalle, while addressing journalists at the Government House in Gusau, Thursday afternoon, said the postponement was necessitated by bad weather. Mr Buhari was scheduled to visit Sokoto State for the commissioning of a cement plant built by BUA Group and proceed from there to Zamfara State for official visit. PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the president landed in Sokoto in the afternoon and commissioned the BUA cement plant. He also made a courtesy call to the Sultan of Sokoto. As man proposes, God disposes, I am sadly announcing that President Muhammadu Buhari has postponed his condolence visit to Zamfara due to the sharp drop in weather condition. With poor visibility, the President could not make it to Zamfara. As Muslims, we accepted this as something destined by Allah. The safety of our President is greater than our interest. However, I have spoken with the President who assured me of rescheduling the visit soon, Mr Matawalle said. While apologising to the people of the state for the postponement, Mr Matawalle said a new date will be announced for the visit. Zamfara State has witnessed renewed bandits activities in the last 20 days, including the killing of at least 200 people in Anka and Bukkuyum local government areas. The attacks drew condemnation from the president and the UN secretary General. The managing director of the state transport authority, Aminu Adamu, and his family were also kidnapped but later rescued while nine people were killed and hundreds of residents displaced in Tsafe local government area. The police in Jigawa State on Thursday paraded suspects in the killing of two police officers in Taura Local Government Area of the state. PREMIUM TIMES reported how suspected bandits invaded Kwalam in Taura LGA, killings two officers and abducting the son-in-law to a government contractor in the state, Haruna Maifata. The kidnappers abducted Maaru Abubakar, the son-in-law of the contractor. At a press conference in Dutse, the police commissioner in the state, Aliyu Tafida, said the police arrested the suspects during raids of three criminal hideouts in Maizuwo forest at Dan Gwanki and Yandamo villages in Sule Tankarkar local government area.. The commissoner said the raid followed intelligence reports and involved a combined operation by the police, the Criminal Investigation Department, State Intelligence Bureau, Medical Department and three Area Commands of Gumel, Ringim and Kafin Hausa. Fourteen suspects, comprising 10 males and four females, including a suspect from Kaduna, were paraded alongside six children. Items recovered from the suspects included 3 AK-47, nine magazines and 308 live ammunition of 7.6mm, one General Purpose Machine Gun, (GPMC), N 2m cash, Cutlass, six phone sets with nine batteries, 12 sim cards and five SD card memories as well as one 28-seater Toyota Hiace Bus, the commissioner said He also confirmed that two of the rifles recovered from the suspects were the same stolen from the two policers killed at Kwalam town. The motorcycle recovered belongs to one Abdu Sajo, a commander of a local security outfit called Yanbulala ,who was also shot and killed by yet-to-be-identified persons in Kirikasamma local government area on Tuesday. The commissioner added that one victim, Hadiza Chadi, 20, was rescued unhurt. He said she was abducted at Marmara village in Kirikasamma local government on January 8. The suspects would be charged to court after investigation. The commissioner said the police would not relent in the efforts to rid the state of crimes. He thanked the people and government of the state for supporting the police and sister security agencies. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a villager's home in Duancun Village, Sengnian Township of Fenxi County, north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 26, 2022. Xi on Wednesday began his visit to Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Li Xueren) TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has underlined the importance of modernizing agriculture and rural areas amid China's endeavor to build a modern socialist country in an all-round manner. Xi made the remarks on Wednesday while visiting a village in Fenxi County in north China's Shanxi Province. On Wednesday afternoon, Xi inspected a public service center in Duancun Village and visited local residents. Xi said it was a pleasure to see that the villagers were content with their lives. Noting that there is still a long way to go before attaining the goal of modern socialist China, Xi urged efforts to consolidate the achievements of poverty eradication and advance rural vitalization, and to modernize rural life. Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a villager's home in Duancun Village, Sengnian Township of Fenxi County, north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 26, 2022. Xi on Wednesday began his visit to Shanxi Province ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi) In an effort to ease poverty and ensure social inclusion among citizens in Kaduna, the state government plans to spend N4 billion this year on two million vulnerable citizens. The support will be for people from urban and rural areas who have been captured in the State Social Register. The state commissioner of Budget and Planning, Mohammed Sani, stated this in a keynote address, titled; The Role of Students in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which he delivered at a summit organised by the Kaduna State Students Union (KADSU), held at the Kaduna State University on Thursday in Kaduna. Mr Sani said the government has provided the funds in the 2022 Budget for pro-poor interventions that seek to support the vulnerable and ensure social inclusion among urban and rural poor citizens across the state. Todays generation of youths is the largest the world has ever known. Young people are changing the landscape with high demand for skilled opportunities. As young people, we can define the trajectory of development. Young people form 80 per cent of the population in Kaduna State and, therefore, are critical in determining the future of the state and represents hope for the attainment of the SDGs. I also urge you the students and young people to become the voice of social transformation and active citizens, while leveraging on creative ideas and technologies and interconnectedness in addition to conducting innovative research that fast-tracks the attainment of the 17 SDGs. The Nasir El-Rufai administration has appointed young people in many key positions since he assumes office in 2015. Among them is Mr Dattijo, who was one-time the chief of staff to the governor before being redeployed to the Ministry of Budget and Planning. Also are the commissioner for internal security, Samuel Aruwan, Hafiz Bayero, and many others. The family of Japhtah Yekorogha, who is reportedly a cousin of former President Goodluck Jonathan, abducted on January 24, have appealed to his abductors to release him unconditionally. The appeal is contained in a statement by Azibaola Robert, younger brother to the victim made available to reporters, on Thursday, in Yenagoa. The statement, signed by Austin Ekeinde, media aide to Mr Robert, founder of Zeetin Engineering Ltd, appealed for support from members of the public that could lead to the quick release of their brother. We appeal to the abductors of our brother to immediately release him unconditionally, without harm; and turn a new leaf for the peace, security and prosperity of Bayelsa State, the statement said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Mr Yekorogha was whisked away on Monday night from his Yenagoa residence by unidentified gunmen. Our elder brother, Mr Jephthah Robert Yekorogha, was kidnapped at about 8:40 p.m. on Monday, 24th January, 2022, in front of his house gate at Biogbolo, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, by four gunmen in black uniform, who, at gunpoint, seized him and forced him into their vehicle and zoomed off. This incident was reported to the law-enforcement agencies immediately it happened and is receiving maximum attention. We want to thank all well-meaning Nigerians, who by way of calls, text messages and visits had stood by us since the incident occurred. We ask for the support of the public on any lead for the quick release of our brother. In particular, we express our appreciation to the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State, and the State Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) for their determined assistance, the statement said. Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Trade, Commerce and Investment, Federal Otokito, who was abducted on January 20, was freed on January 24. (NAN) Budding trees and blooming flowers. The return of robins, loons and other migrating birds. The return of bees, butterflies and frogs. Melting snow and lake ice. Longer days and light in the evening. Shedding the winter garments. The myriad scents of flowering trees and plants. Vote View Results FILE - Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, April 23, 2021. Seated from left are Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Standing from left are Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Breyer is retiring, giving President Joe Biden an opening he has pledged to fill by naming the first Black woman to the high court, two sources told The Associated Press Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool, File) Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, Calif., and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States and Mexico through nearly 700 dealers. Operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at www.mazdausamedia.com. (PRNewsFoto/Mazda North American Operations) (PRNewsfoto/MAZDA NORTH AMERICAN OPERATIONS) BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has urged the United States to "find no more excuses and immediately correct the wrongdoings" in its trade practices after a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling granted China rights to slap tariffs on U.S. goods, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. "We will pay close attention to the follow-up enforcement actions that the United States will take, and reserve the right to take further actions for safeguarding the multilateral trading regime," Gao Feng, a spokesperson with the ministry, told a press briefing. On Jan. 26, the WTO issued the decision that China could impose tariffs on goods imported from the United States totaling up to 645 million U.S. dollars a year, as the U.S. side failed to implement previous recommendations and rulings made by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. "The ruling is of great significance in rectifying U.S. countervailing duties on imported Chinese goods, protecting the legitimate trade interests of Chinese companies and safeguarding multilateral trading systems," a statement posted on the ministry's website noted. Gao said the WTO ruling again proved that the United States had for some time been breaching WTO rules, abusing trade remedy measures and refusing to fulfill its international obligations, which is detrimental to a fair and just international trading environment. It is the second time China has been granted rights to impose retaliatory tariffs on imports from the United States, according to the ministry. China has a faith in the active role of the international rule of law in stabilizing global economic and trade orders, as well as regulating international trade and economic relations, Gao noted. STOCKHOLM, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT Future is proud to announce the appointment of three high-caliber business executives with strong impact expertise to its Mission Board. The purpose of EQT Future's Mission Board is to provide external objectivity to the fund's strategic direction and set the bar high for its commitment to drive positive impact. The Mission Board will be a close sparring partner to EQT Future's Investment Advisory Team and will challenge and support them throughout the fund's investment processes The individuals joining the Mission Board are Ho Ching, recently retired CEO of Temasek; Naina Lal Kidwai, former Country Head of HSBC India; and Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara International. Hedda Pahlson-Moller,Co-founder and CEO of TIIME.org has been appointed Impact Director and will be responsible for coordination of the Mission Board and the development of the EQT Future fund's impact objectives. The new members, each of whom bring a wealth of experience from heading global corporations and NGOs, are joined by the Mission Board's previously announced co-chairs Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, UN Sustainability Ambassador, and co-founder of IMAGINE, and Jacob Wallenberg, Chairperson of Investor AB and vice Chairperson of ABB and Ericsson. EQT Future was launched in October 2021 with the ambition to elevate EQT's platform-wide commitment to making a positive impact. The fund's impact-driven strategy is built on three decades of future-proofing companies and it applies EQT's active ownership model to accelerate sustainable transformation of companies while creating attractive risk adjusted returns. New appointments Ho Ching , board member. Ho is the former CEO of Temasek and is regarded highly for having transformed Temasek from a Singapore -focused firm into a leading global investment organization. In 2007, TIME Magazine named Ho as one of the "100 most influential men and women who shaped the world", and Forbes ranked her third on its annual list of the world's most powerful women. Ho is the the designated Chairperson of Temasek Trust, a philanthropic asset manager, and she also supports numerous community service and charitable organizations within education, healthcare and the welfare and development of children. Ho is a Singaporean native. Naina Lal Kidwai , board member. Naina is the former Country Head of HSBC India, Executive Director on the board of HSBC Asia Pacific, and Head of Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley India. She served as Non-Executive Director of Nestle's board for 12 years until 2018. In 2015, she founded the NGO India Sanitation Coalition, which focuses on behavioral change to promote clean habits, starting with educating school children about safe sanitation and hygiene practices. Naina is also a board member and member of the Health, Safety & Sustainability Committee of Holcim. She was the first Indian woman to graduate from Harvard Business School and today she serves as a Global Advisor to the university. Naina is an Indian native. Svein Tore Holsether , board member. Svein Tore is the President and CEO of Yara International, the world's leading fertilizer company and a provider of environmental solutions. He was in 2021 elected as the President of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO). Svein Tore is a passionate promoter of the SDGs and is a Board member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and former Chairperson of the Food & Nature program for WBCSD. He is a member of the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders at the World Economic Forum, and also serves as the Chair of the International Fertilizer Association (IFA). Svein Tore serves as commissioner or board member in multiple international SDG-related organizations and working groups, including being a co-founder of Generation Africa. Svein Tore is a Norwegian native. Hedda Pahlson-Moller , Impact Director. Hedda is the Co-founder and CEO of TIIME.org, an advocacy, advisory and education provider focused on impact investing, sustainability and diversity. Hedda serves as an advisor within sustainable development and sustainable finance to the Government of Luxembourg . She is also an adjunct Professor of Impact Economy and Social Entrepreneurship at Sacred Heart University , and serves as an independent Board Director to family offices, private and public equity funds that steer their capital to positive impact. Hedda is a Swedish-Canadian, and resident in Luxembourg . Paul Polman, Co-chair of the EQT Future Mission Board, said, "We are at a crossroads where the cost of inaction will be higher than the cost of action, and companies must ask themselves which path they will take. To me, EQT has clearly chosen its route. By placing impact at the focal point of all investment decisions, EQT Future is leveraging the power of private equity to support businesses that can accelerate transformational change for the benefit of the environment and society at large. As co-chair of EQT Future's Mission Board, I am very excited to be joined by our new members who all share this mindset and are committed to help solve societal challenges." Anders Misund, Partner and Head of EQT Future, said, "We are honoured to welcome such seasoned executives to join EQT Future's Mission Board. Their collective experience from leading multinational corporations and ESG-oriented NGOs is highly complementary and will empower the EQT Future fund in making more conscious and impactful investment decisions." Contact EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/eqt/r/eqt-future-strengthens-its-mission-board-with-global-impact-experts,c3493358 The following files are available for download: https://mb.cision.com/Main/87/3493358/1525874.pdf Press release EQT Future Mission Board 220127 https://news.cision.com/eqt/i/eqt-future,c3004409 EQT Future SOURCE EQT KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FinoFy Technologies Pvt. Ltd., is a new age investment advisory platform, today announced a sweeping global expansion of its operations in Malaysia to deliver customized investing intellect to investors. A comprehensive range of investment advisory solutions delivering high-quality signals which include encompassing segments like Equity, Commodities, Currency & Cryptocurrency. The customized products are derived from the risk & financial profile of the clients and are strongly backed up by deep technology and extensive technical research. "We are thrilled to expand our product offerings in the Malaysian market and constantly strive to surpass the expectations of our customers. The world is witnessing an unparalleled incursion of new investors across different asset classes. Perhaps, everyone is following the same investment pattern irrespective of their investment style & Investment goals. The customized products will help the investors align with their investment intellect," said Prem Prakash, CEO at FinoFy Technologies Ltd." The revolutionary investment products like Shariah Pro, Bursa Privilege, and Warrants Prime are not only easy to transact but transform the investment approach. The personalized approach to wealth & the sense of freedom that wealth gives to an individual will help the investors and traders to make better investment choices. About FinoFy FinoFy Technologies Ltd. is a purpose-driven Investment Advisory Company. We serve clients in many high-growth markets around the globe, offering a wide range of investment advisory products. A combination of 15 years of extensive research in the stock market & inheriting a technology-driven process helps aid performance and tailor preferences to ensure delivering the best investing experience to our customers. Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1734797/FinoFy_Technologies_Logo.jpg SOURCE FinoFy Technologies LONDON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewsire/ -- Hakluyt, the strategic advisory firm for corporations and investors, is proud to announce additional support for The Gurkha Welfare Trust, which provides financial, medical and development aid to Gurkha veterans, their families, and communities. Hakluyt has worked with the Trust since 2001, and has employed two Gurkha veterans since 2004, Mahesh Rana and Lok Pun, both of whom have been integral members of the team. Now, Hakluyt will be providing an additional annual donation towards the Trust's palliative care work in Nepal. Varun Chandra, Hakluyt's managing partner, said: "The Gurkha Welfare Trust was one of Hakluyt's first philanthropic partners, and we are delighted to be strengthening the relationship more than two decades after it was established. The Trust does wonderful work supporting veterans in Nepal, and all of us at Hakluyt are extremely grateful to Mahesh and Lok for their huge contributions to the company." Al Howard, CEO of The Gurkha Welfare Trust, commented: "Hakluyt's support has long made a significant difference to our work, helping us repay the debt of honour this country owes the Gurkhas, who have served the British Army with great distinction over many years. Today's announcement will help our expert medical team and home carers provide veterans in Nepal with comprehensive palliative care, and is most welcome. We look forward to continuing to build our association with Hakluyt." Notes to editors Hakluyt is a strategic advisory firm that works with corporate leaders and investors around the world on their most important commercial issues. For more information on the company, please visit www.hakluytandco.com . For more information on The Gurkha Welfare Trust, please visit www.gwt.org.uk . SOURCE Hakluyt SHIJIAZHUANG, China, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In its announcement on Thursday, Yiling Pharmaceutical disclosed that it had received the medicine approval certificate for Lianhua Qingwen Capsules from Liberia Medicines & Health Products Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) as an OTC drug. Liberia becomes the 7th African country that allows domestic circulation of Lianhua Qingwen Capsules. As of now, Lianhua Qingwen has been approved launch in nearly 30 countries and regions and has played a positive role in the prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic. With more and more recognition, Lianhua Qingwen has been recommended as a treatment for COVID-19 patients worldwide. It has been approved COVID-19 indications in Kuwait and Mongolia, and selected on the whitelist of anti-epidemic drugs issued by the Ministry of Health of Uzbekistan; in Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia, it has been applied in designated hospitals for COVID-19 patients; in July 2021, it has been adopted as a treatment in the COVID-19 patients' home self-care protocol by the Cambodian Ministry of Health. SOURCE Yiling Pharmaceutical New Senior Appointments Support Singapore Office Opening GLASGOW, Scotland, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning construction consultancy, Soben, today announced the expansion of its global operations into APAC with the launch of its Singapore office, supported by two new senior appointments. Andrew Murie will take the role of Soben APAC CEO, with Callum Agnew joining as Director Mission Critical. Soben's new APAC team will be focussing on clients in various sectors including mission critical, data centre, infrastructure, life sciences, and renewable energy. Murie brings over 30 years of experience in the construction industry, 20 at senior management level in both commercial and operational roles for organisations in the UK and Australia including AMEC, Laing O'Rourke, and most recently as Business Unit Director at Altrad. His industry experience includes M&E, transport, infrastructure, oil & gas, and nuclear. Agnew, formerly a Director with Turner & Townsend, has over 13 years' experience in construction consultancy managing high-level projects across locations in Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore. His industry experience includes high-tech health, property, transport, and oil & gas. Agnew also specialises in data centres and mission critical projects. UK-headquartered Soben's specialised construction solutions include cost management, estimating, commercial management, project controls, and bills of quantities all of which help industry-leading companies with cost and time-saving efficiencies whilst proactively managing and mitigating risk in their construction investments. To date, Soben has completed commissions on high profile projects such as Vauxhall's One Nine Elms and Aykon Tower, Euston Station and High Speed 2, as well as with confidential clients on data centre projects in the UK, US, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Mexico and Chile. Commenting on the launch of Soben's APAC office, Soben APAC CEO Andrew Murie said: "I am extremely proud and excited to lead the Soben APAC business into 2022 and beyond in this next chapter of our journey. I am also privileged to be supported by some of the best talent in the region, who are an integral part of the Soben family. "Our unique brand of service and delivery will refresh the market with something dynamically different. We will provide our clients, both existing and new, with a best in class offering, individually tailored to their specific requirements, and delivered by passionate professionals the Soben way." Expanding on Soben's further plans for growth, Soben Founder and Group CEO Scott Smyth said: "The launch of our APAC office in Singapore is the next phase of our global expansion plans for Soben, following on our move into North America in April of last year. I am delighted to have both Andrew Murie and Callum Agnew join the business at this time and am confident that they will ensure our success in this next stage of growth. "Soben is a global business with a local presence that brings together industry experience and on-the-ground knowledge to ensure flexibility and attention to detail in every project we work on. "Expanding into APAC will allow us to further support current clients and build new relationships in a region that is experiencing high levels of growth, particularly in mission critical projects." In 2021, Soben began its global expansion with the launch of its North America office. Headquartered in Chicago, the U.S. operation is led by North America CEO Joe Cusick leading a team of consultants serving clients in the United States, Mexico, and Chile. The organisation has further plans for expansion, targeting 1,000 people globally by 2030 to support growth in current locations and expansion into additional territories. Notes to Editors: About Soben Founded in 2011, Soben is a leading quantity surveying and commercial management consultancy. Its clients are blue chip national and international organisations who construct prestigious and complex projects across the high tech, mission critical, construction, civil engineering, rail, utility, and energy sectors. With offices in the United Kingdom, United States, Latin America, Canada, Asia, and Australia, Soben delivers its services globally. To learn more, visit www.sobencc.com. SOURCE Soben REHOVOT, Israel, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FoodTech start-up ChickP, Ltd. names Liat Lachish Levy as the new CEO and has finalized Round A of US$8M in total. This investment round was led by a group of executive investors from Singapore under Genisys Capital Private, Ltd., and backed by strategic partner and plant-based nutrition foodTech company Growthwell Foods, Ltd. with its leading investor, Temasek Holdings. This follows earlier investments totalling US$10M. ChickP Names Liat Lachish Levy as CEO Liat Lachish Levy brings more than 20 years of executive experience in global corporations, specializing in FMCG retail and food service. She has led a number of global business ventures, accelerating growth while building strategic partnerships with top multinational companies including Kraft-Heinz and The Kellogg Company. She has an MSc in Organizational Behavior Studies, and a BA in Criminology & Sociology from Bar-Ilan University, Israel. "I am excited to join ChickP and lead it to global scale-up in an area that is, without a doubt, the most relevant in the food industry today," enthuses Lachish Levy. "Completion of the current round of funding is an expression of confidence from our investors and partners in the company. I am glad to join ChickP at this unique moment, and to lead business expansion into the global market." "Over the past few months, ChickP has been planting the seeds for accelerated growth in the US, Europe, and Asia," adds Lachish Levy. "This investment will bring greater scale-up and commercialization capabilities with our partners for our chickpea isolate ingredient, in multiple territories. Moreover, the expansion of ChickP's team and opening of our new offices, including an R&D center and applications lab, will support local commercial activities." "As ChickP enters the European and the US markets in 'full steam,' it pleases me to welcome Liat as our new CEO, and to bring her leadership and commercial experience to leading the company's strategy for the years to come," states Ram Reifen, MD, founder of ChickP. "ChickP offers an innovative plant-protein ingredient, backed by research and supported by a highly talented team of foodTech, nutrition, and R&D experts. It has all the components for success in meeting the growing demand for plant-based nutrition." "There are many untapped opportunities for ChickP," continues Levy. "Consumers are seeking high protein content, allergen-free properties, and neutral taste. The functional and nutritional characteristics of our IP chickpea isolate are among the key characteristics that drive demand in use for functional products, performance nutrition, dairy alternatives, and snack and cereal segments." ChickP recently doubled the annual production capacity of its concentrated non-GMO, chickpea protein isolate - all crafted in a new, modern BRC-approved facility. Coupled with the latest investment, this will help the company reach it global goals. The company also signed agreements with distribution partners in the US, Asia-Pacific, and South Africa and is exploring further opportunities in other markets to bring its products into new countries and regions in the near future. ChickP was founded in 2016 by Ram Reifen, MD, a pediatric gastroenterologist and professor of human nutrition who was driven by a desire to create a protein that can help feed the world while benefiting consumers and food manufacturers. The company's ingredients are based on patented technology developed at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Reifen devoted years of research to the whole chickpea and to fighting malnutrition in children and mothers. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1734499/Liat_Lachish_Levy_ChickP.jpg For further information, please contact: SOURCE ChickP Protein Ltd. FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, today announced that it has been included in the 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) for the third straight year and has also been named a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality by The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation after receiving a perfect score (100%) on the organization's Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the fifth consecutive year. "BD's track record for supporting women in the workplace and our communities, combined with our policies and practices that promote workforce equality for LGBTQ+ associates have helped us once again achieve this important recognition," said Nicole Thompson, vice president of HR Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Engagement at BD. "Our inclusive culture enables associates to thrive in their careers and promotes the exchange of ideas and perspectives that help us ensure quality, foster innovation and advance our BD 2025 strategy." The 2022 Bloomberg GEI is a modified market capitalization-weighted index that aims to track the performance of public companies committed to transparency in gender-data reporting. This reference index measures gender equality across five pillars: female leadership and talent pipeline; equal pay and gender pay parity; inclusive culture; anti-sexual harassment policies; and pro-women brand. Those included on this year's index scored at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect disclosure and the achievement or adoption of best-in-class statistics and policies. The HRC Foundation's CEI is the nation's foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility. BD's efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria earned the company a 100 percent ranking and the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality. BD was named to these prestigious lists because of its policies and programs that foster an inclusive and equitable environment for associates. It demonstrates the company's ongoing progress in advancing its environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy, and efforts to achieve its 2030+ goals for promoting a healthy workforce and communities. These goals focus on maintaining a healthy and thriving workforce that cultivates the company's culture of inclusion, safety, well-being and also contributes to community and company health. For more information about the company's ID&E programs, visit https://www.bd.com/en-us/company/careers/inclusion-and-diversity. About BD BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of health care by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for health care providers. BD and its 75,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the safety and efficiency of clinicians' care delivery process, enable laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance researchers' capabilities to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every country and partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand access to health care. For more information on BD, please visit bd.com or connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/bd1/ and Twitter @BDandCo. Contacts: Media : Investors : Troy Kirkpatrick Francesca DeMartino VP, Public Relations SVP, Head of Investor Relations 858.617.2361 201.847.5743 [email protected] [email protected] SOURCE BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) HOUSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Benevity Inc., the leading provider of global corporate purpose software, ranked Sewa International among the top of charitable organizations supported by companies and their employees in 2021. In 2020 Sewa International was ranked 375 in Benevity's list, and at 690 in 2019. Sewa International among the top of charitable organizations supported by companies and their employees in 2021 Benevity announced on January 20, 2022, its list of the annual top 10 causes receiving support from companies, including those that offer matching funds to employee contributions, demonstrating that the pandemic and other global events and crises influenced the generous attitude of corporations and their employees. "We are grateful to these companies and their thousands of employees who thought it fit to offer their generous support to Sewa International. They saw in us both our dedication to serving humanity as well as the will, the enterprise, and the commitment to delivering support efficiently, quickly, and professionally in a time of crisis by our volunteers and mission-oriented staff. This recognition of our work and of our standing will energize us to rededicate our efforts to come to the aid of society in times of crises here in the US and around the world," said Arun Kankani, President, Sewa International. According to Benevity, five of the top ten causes from 2020 remained on the list in 2021, while health-focused non-profits, including national and state cancer societies, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and Planned Parenthood, returned to the top 10 in 2021. "When the Delta variant hit India last year, we saw companies and their employees mobilize to help," said Birger Stamperdahl, Give2Asia's President and CEO. "Their generosity made lifesaving projects possible that delivered oxygen concentrators, protective gear for health workers and emergency food rations to those hit hardest by the pandemic." "Non-profits supporting India's COVID-19 crisis received a groundswell of support, including Sewa International. Our earnest thanks to Benevity Inc. for keeping track of these trends and identifying Sewa's increasing support from corporations and their people," said Sandeep Khadkekar, Sewa's Vice President for Marketing and Fund Development. About Sewa International Sewa International (www.sewausa.org) is a 501 (c)(3) Hindu faith-based charitable nonprofit that works in the areas of disaster recovery, education, and development. Sewa has 43 Chapters across the USA and serves regardless of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin. Contact: Vidyasagar Tontalapur 1 - 720-526-9939 Viswanath Koppaka 1- 404-304-0563 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.sewausa.org SOURCE Sewa International NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueMark, a provider of impact verification services for investors and companies, today announced that it had raised $3.75 million in total funding from the Ford Foundation, Radicle Impact, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing, all organizations with a shared commitment and long-standing leadership in building the impact investing field. The funding will be used to help expand BlueMark's verification services across different industries and geographies in continuation of the firm's mission to strengthen trust in impact investing. As part of the capital raise, BlueMark has now closed its seed round with $2.25 million in equity funding with the Ford Foundation as the lead investor and Radicle Impact as a co-investor. BlueMark has also received a combined $1.35 million in recoverable grants from The Rockefeller Foundation to advance the market's understanding of best practices for impact management and impact performance reporting, such as through the publication of research reports based on completed verifications of client alignment with industry standards or frameworks. In July 2021, BlueMark also received a grant from the Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing, a donor collaborative with a mission of scaling the impact investing market with integrity, to support research and development around best practices for impact performance reporting. BlueMark today also announced the appointment of Lauren Booker Allen and Shaun Mays as Independent Directors. Allen is Partner and Head of Impact Advisory at Jordan Park, which provides investment management and financial advice to a distinct community of individuals, families, and institutions. She was previously Senior Manager of Impact Investing at Omidyar Network and began her career at Goldman Sachs. Mays has over 30 years of experience as a Chief Executive and Chief Investment Officer in the investment industry for organizations around the world, including as Head of Aventicum Infrastructure Partners (a joint venture between Credit Suisse and Qatar Investment Authority) in Zurich, CEO of Deutsche Asset Management in Australia, Global Head of Infrastructure Investments for Deutsche Asset Management in New York, and CEO and CIO of Climate Change Capital in London. The latest funding for BlueMark comes at a pivotal time in the maturation of the impact investing industry. In November 2021 at COP26, the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS Foundation) announced the formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) to develop a comprehensive global baseline of high-quality sustainability disclosure standards in an effort to harmonize different ESG and impact reporting practices. However, the market still lacks an accountability mechanism to ensure that reported sustainability and impact information is relevant, accurate, and useful for investment decision-making. The need for stronger accountability mechanisms was specifically highlighted in the December 2021 reports from the Impact Taskforce on "mobilising private capital at scale for people and planet," which included the expansion of external verification and assurance of impact among the list of recommendations. "BlueMark fills an important gap in the impact investment market as an expert, third-party that can look under the hood of investor practices and performance," said Roy Swan, director of Mission Investments for the Ford Foundation. "At the Ford Foundation, we share their desire to improve accountability, discipline and comparability among impact investors so that the field delivers equitable and sustainable outcomes for all." "Even with the continued progress towards harmonization of standards, the impact investing industry still lacks consensus on what constitutes quality and complete impact performance reporting and needs an expert, third-party that can interpret what and how investors are reporting on both their positive and negative impacts," said Maria Kozloski, Senior Vice President of Innovative Finance at The Rockefeller Foundation. "BlueMark fills a big gap in the market and the firm's holistic approach to verification encourages impact investors to reach for a higher bar with their impact performance." "We are grateful for the support from both funders and clients as we continue to build out our verification services and share with the market our data and insights on market gaps and challenges," said Christina Leijonhufvud, CEO of BlueMark. "This funding will allow us to reach a larger share of the impact investing market, which depends on third-party verification to accelerate the maturation of the industry and improve transparency, integrity and comparability among impact investors." BlueMark's verification services are structured around two key pillars of accountability for impact: Impact Management Practice , in which BlueMark verifies the systems and processes used by an investor or company to manage their impact , in which BlueMark verifies the systems and processes used by an investor or company to manage their impact Impact Performance, in which BlueMark verifies the reporting approach used by an investor or company to communicate their impact strategy, goals and results To date, BlueMark has completed more than 60 impact verifications for a wide range of investors, including asset managers (e.g., private equity, private credit, infrastructure, fixed income, public equity, and multi-asset managers) and asset owners (e.g., institutional investors, development finance institutions, foundations, and wealth management firms). BlueMark's verification services also extend to other key aspects of sustainable and impact investing, including impact labeling and classificationfor example in alignment with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) requirements in Europe and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)as well as ESG practices and performance reporting by portfolio companies and fund managers. About BlueMark BlueMark is a leading provider of impact verification with a mission to strengthen trust in impact investing and to increase accountability for impact. BlueMark is an independent subsidiary of Tideline, a certified women-owned advisory firm in impact investing. Learn more at www.BlueMarkTideline.com . About the Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than 85 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. About The Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is a pioneering philanthropy built on collaborative partnerships at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation to enable individuals, families, and communities to flourish. We work to promote the well-being of humanity and make opportunity universal. Our focus is on scaling renewable energy for all, stimulating economic mobility, and ensuring equitable access to healthy and nutritious food. For more information, sign up for our newsletter at rockefellerfoundation.org and follow us on Twitter @RockefellerFdn. About Radicle Impact Partners Radicle Impact is an impact venture fund focused on social justice, environmental resilience and economic sustainability. Radicle invests in early-stage businesses in Good Food, Good Money and Good Climate. The firm has a foundational emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion. Radicle's objective is strong social and environmental impact with attractive financial returns. Founded in 2013, the firm's mission is to change the venture industry for good. http://www.radicleimpact.com About the Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing The Tipping Point Fund on Impact Investing (TPF) is a donor collaborative vehicle developed with the mission of creating and supporting public goods that are critical to the continued growth and fidelity of the impact investing market. The TPF was launched in December 2019 with an initial $14 million in philanthropic capital, which will be used to develop the infrastructure that is needed to mobilize more private capital for impact. The funding will build on existing field building efforts by prioritizing the areas that are chronically underfunded, are best suited for collective action and require additional support beyond that provided by individual grantmakers. Learn more at www.tpfii.org. Media contact: Dmitriy Ioselevich | 17 Communications | [email protected] SOURCE BlueMark "Tim Stinson and Tom Taylor are outstanding professionals and individuals whose contributions to Cetera cannot be overstated," said Adam Antoniades, Chief Executive Officer at Cetera. "Their work will forge an even brighter future for the Cetera Advisor Networks community and the entire Cetera organization. We look forward to their continued leadership and strategic guidance as we grow our business and serve our financial professional communities in 2022 and beyond." Stinson has successfully driven strategy and growth of wealth management across Cetera for seven years, most recently in his role as Head of Wealth Management. In his new role as President of Cetera Advisor Networks, Stinson is responsible for all aspects of the Cetera Advisor Networks community, including growth, technology, sales support and operations. In addition to his overarching duties, he will lead a new Executive Management Committee for Cetera Advisor Networks. He is a founding member of Cetera's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Council and serves on the Financial Services Institute's board of directors. "I'm excited about the opportunity to expand on Cetera's success by leading the Cetera Advisor Networks community in collaboration with one of the most formidable leadership teams in the independent broker-dealer space," Stinson said. "The Cetera Advisor Networks team has an established track record of delivering results, and I am proud to work alongside such passionate individuals to accelerate the positive momentum. We look forward to growing Cetera's business and supporting our financial professionals to achieve their own business success." Taylor has served in multiple leadership roles at Cetera Advisor Networks for nearly 25 years. Earlier in his Cetera career, Taylor led Cetera Advisor Networks' initiatives in technology and operations as Chief Operating Officer for more than 10 years. Founded in 1983, the Cetera Advisor Networks large enterprise community is structured to support super OSJs, producer groups, financial institutions, and networks of professionals. Cetera Advisor Networks is the destination of choice for growth-oriented, entrepreneurial advisors seeking industry-best resources, support and community affiliation. Visit www.Cetera.com for more information. About Cetera Financial Group Cetera Financial Group (Cetera) is a leading financial services firm whose purpose is to enable the delivery of best-in-class financial advice to as many Americans as possible. Cetera empowers its financial professional communities to help clients achieve their version of financial wellbeing through the Advice-Centric Experience. Cetera proudly serves independent financial professionals, tax professionals, banks and credit unions in providing wide-ranging financial planning and wealth management services. Cetera oversees $344 billion in assets under administration and $120 billion in assets under management, as of September 30, 2021. Visit www.cetera.com, and follow Cetera on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. "Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors LLC, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, Cetera Investment Services LLC (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions or Cetera Investors), Cetera Financial Specialists LLC, and First Allied Securities, Inc. All firms are members FINRA/SIPC. 655 W. Broadway, 11th Floor, San Diego, CA 92101. Individuals affiliated with Cetera firms are either Registered Representatives who offer only brokerage services and receive transaction-based compensation (commissions), Investment Adviser Representatives who offer only investment advisory services and receive fees based on assets, or both Registered Representatives and Investment Adviser Representatives, who can offer both types of services. SOURCE Cetera Financial Group YINCHUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) --As the Chinese New Year is just around the corner, 26 international students from 15 countries participated in a special event in Yinchuan, China, to celebrate the upcoming Year of Tiger. Produced by Xinhua Global Service As the founder and CEO of London-based Savage Cabbage, Jade Proudman has become one of the UK's leading CBD advocates, serving an established customer base of over 9,000 wellness seekers in over 44 countries around the world, recently expanding further within Europe. Mrs. Proudman credits Charlotte's Web with "saving her life" and has been helping others access the benefits of cannabinoid therapy through her work ever since. "I really credit Joel Stanley and the brothers with everything. They've transformed so many lives through these products and I just want to help carry the torch as we educate the world on the benefits of cannabinoid therapy to live a better life through nature," said Mrs. Proudman. Savage Cabbage is a Member of EIHA (European Industrial Hemp Association) and has been the official UK distributor of world-famous Charlotte's Web hemp CBD oil since 2016. Savage Cabbage has been an advocate of whole plant, full spectrum products that contain all the beneficial compounds that exist in the hemp plant as well as CBD. Savage Cabbage distributes Charlotte's Web full spectrum CBD oils in the UK in alignment with its three founding pillars: Quality, Consistency and Reliability. "For over six years, Jade has relentlessly focused on helping consumers in the UK and across Europe access the power of Charlotte's Web. She has been a sister in this focus, and I can think of no better person to support our brands around the world than Jade," said Charlotte's Web CEO, Jacques Tortoroli. "We are delighted to have Jade Proudman as the face of the brand in the UK and Europe while she continues her work united with the mission of the Stanley Brothers; providing access to cannabinoid therapy for all that need it." Charlotte's Web was founded by the seven Stanley Brothers in 2013 when they famously developed a unique CBD hemp extract to help a little girl (Charlotte Figi) in need, and forever changed global perceptions around the wellness benefits of hemp. With its storied origins, Colorado-based Charlotte's Web is widely recognized around the world as "The World's Most Trusted Hemp Extract". About Savage Cabbage A trusted provider of hemp, health and wellness, Savage Cabbage CBD is one of the oldest CBD companies in the UK. Savage Cabbage offers full spectrum hemp oils containing a full array of CBD and other beneficial hemp compounds to offer the Entourage Effect and offer one of the best value full spectrum CBD oils in the UK. About Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. (TSX: CWEB) (OTCQX: CWBHF), a Certified B Corporation headquartered in Denver, is the market leader in innovative hemp extract wellness products under a family of brands which includes Charlotte's Web, CBD Medic, CBD Clinic, and Harmony Hemp. Charlotte's Web branded premium quality products start with proprietary hemp genetics that are 100-percent American farm grown and manufactured into hemp extracts containing naturally occurring phytocannabinoids including cannabidiol ("CBD"), CBC, CBG, terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial hemp compounds. The Company's CW Labs R&D division, advances hemp science at two centers of excellence in Louisville, Colorado, and the Hauptmann Woodward Research Institute at the University at Buffalo, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) network. Charlotte's Web product categories include full-spectrum hemp CBD oil tinctures (liquid products), CBD gummies (sleep, stress, exercise recovery), CBD capsules, CBD topical creams and lotions, as well as CBD pet products for dogs. Through its vertically integrated business model, Charlotte's Web maintains stringent control over product quality and consistency. Charlotte's Web products are distributed to more than 14,000 retail, over 8,000 health care practitioners, and online through the Company's website at www.CharlottesWeb.com. Charlotte's Web is a science-driven and a socially and environmentally conscious company. It is committed to using business as a force for good and a catalyst for innovation. Charlotte's Web donates a portion of its pre-tax earnings to numerous charitable organizations in support of the greater good. Charlotte's Web was founded by the seven Stanley Brothers with a mission to unleash the healing powers of botanicals through compassion and science, benefiting the planet and all who live upon it. Charlotte's Web is a socially and environmentally conscious company and is committed to using business as a force for good and a catalyst for innovation. The Company weighs sound business decisions with consideration for how its efforts affect employees, customers, the environment, and diverse communities. The rate the Company pays for agricultural products reflects a fair and sustainable rate driving higher quality yield, encouraging regenerative farming practices, and supporting U.S. farming communities. Management believes that its socially oriented and environmentally responsible actions have a positive impact on its customers, suppliers, employees and stakeholders. Charlotte's Web donates a portion of its pre-tax earnings to charitable organizations. Forward-Looking Information Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking information"). In some cases, but not necessarily in all cases, forward looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends", "assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Specifically, this news release contains forward-looking information relating to the Company's expansion activities and growth strategy; the Company's expectations regarding future cash flow and its financial position; the results of cost saving efforts; the impact and results of the Company's reorganization; market share expectations; and impacts of regulatory changes. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's current expectations, estimates and projections regarding the future of our business, future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Important factors that could cause actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking information include, among others, economic and financial conditions, consumer trends, supply assumptions and the factors discussed throughout the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's most recently filed annual information form available on www.SEDAR.com and in the Company's most recently filed Form 10, as amended, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available on www.SEC.gov. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking information, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. SOURCE Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. TAMPA, Fla., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Checkers & Rally's, an iconic and innovative drive-thru restaurant chain known for bold and flavorful food at an exceptional value and its people-first attitude, today announced its record year-end progress for 2021 and accelerated growth plans for 2022 as the restaurant brand continues to reach new markets and expand nationwide. This past year, the company successfully executed 90 new commitments towards new restaurants, attributing 39 units to existing franchisees and 51 units to new franchisees. The company is expected to open more than 60 new sites in 2022. Earlier this year, Checkers & Rally's announced a successful rollout in the East Coast with a six-unit deal in Rhode Island, marking an entrance into the 26th state for the company, a five-unit deal in Maryland, a five-unit deal in South Carolina and a five-unit deal in Georgia. Further, in Orange County, the company announced a 15-store development agreement and a 6-store development agreement for Maricopa county, and additional West Coast franchise agreements in Texas, Arizona and California markets, with plans to focus on San Diego. With a large focus on nationwide growth and strengthening its multi-unit franchise system, Checkers & Rally's signed 14 multi-unit development deals this past year. Its small real estate footprint, double drive-thru and advanced delivery focused concept has done particularly well as consumer preference continues to shift towards off-premise options, fueling growth for both new and existing franchisees. "We are very pleased with the momentum Checkers & Rally's maintained in 2021 as we successfully rolled out in multiple new markets and saw rapid growth on the East and West Coasts," said Frances Allen, Chief Executive Officer at Checkers & Rally's. "Given the unprecedented challenges within our industry, the company's success is a strong testament to our hardworking employees and franchisees, and I'm very proud of all that we have accomplished this year and have in the pipeline for 2022." Checkers and Rally's expects to see even more growth in the year ahead. The company has already approved 60 new franchisee units scheduled to open this year and is eyeing continued expansion in California, Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts, Connecticut and North and South Carolina to bolster new and existing franchise portfolios. "As we enter a New Year full of new opportunities, our goal is to continue our rapid growth and expansion into new markets that are currently underdeveloped," said Kristen McDonald, Vice President of Development at Checkers and Rally's. "Our smaller store footprint, modern new building design, emphasis on technology implementation and double drive-thru format will help the company remain poised to meet growing customer demand and scale successfully moving forward. We look forward to working closely with new and existing franchisees in 2022." Checkers has 850 locations nationwide and growing. To learn more about its franchising opportunities, please visit CheckersFranchising.com. About Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. Based in Tampa, Fla., Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc., an iconic and innovative drive-thru restaurant chain known for its bold, craveable food, famous fries, exceptional value, and people-first attitude, operates and franchises both Checkers and Rally's restaurants. With 850 restaurants and room to grow, Checkers & Rally's is a proven brand with flexible building formats that is aggressively expanding across the country. Checkers & Rally's is dedicated to being a place where franchisees and employees who work hard can create opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities. In recent years, the brand has earned several of the industry's most prestigious awards including: "#1 Most Craveable Fries" by Restaurant Business 2020 and 2018; Best Franchise Deal and "Best Drive-Thru in America" by QSR Magazine; Top Food and Beverage Franchise by Franchise Business Review; the "Hot! Again" award from Nation's Restaurant News and has consistently been ranked on Entrepreneur's Franchise 500. SOURCE Checkers & Rally's Restaurants, Inc. OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cullan & Cullan, Doctors Practicing Law, has set a record for the highest medical malpractice verdict to be won in the state of Nebraska. The case concerned negligence at Children's Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, from which an injured child was improperly discharged in 2017. As reported by AP News , the child had suffered an accidental fall at daycare. She was promptly admitted to Children's Hospital for treatment. Instead of giving her the care she needed, and the parents the compassion they deserved, a doctor sent the child home early. Further, medical staff insensitively suggested the fall was rooted in physical abuse by a babysitter or the parents themselves. There was zero evidence to support these allegations. Doctor-Lawyers Pat Cullan and Joe Cullan, plaintiff's attorneys in the case, took issue with the negligent discharge and the hospital staff's lack of compassion. As Joe told AP News, the suggestion of physical abuse was a twist of the knife. "There was absolutely no evidence," Joe said to AP News in reference to the groundless suggestion of abuse. Rather, all evidence pointed to an accidental fall: The child had been standing on a toy right when she fell. Within 48 hours of the improper discharge, the child experienced severe seizures and brain trauma. These complications left her blind, unable to communicate, and in need of a wheelchair. She was only five years old at the time. On November 29, 2021, a Sarpy County jury awarded the child compensation in the amount of $21.5 million to help her pay for a life of medical expenses and damages. Her parents were awarded $4.6 million for the damages incurred as they watched their child suffer the consequences of the hospital's negligence. Combined, the jury award sits at $26.1 million. Pat and Joe have plans to fight back against any attempt by Children's Hospital to impose the state's $2.25 million cap for medical malpractice verdicts onto this case. They will go so far as to challenge the cap's constitutionality because, as Joe told AP News, "a lifetime of medical bills will far exceed the cap." Cullan & Cullan, Doctors Practicing Law, is an award-winning law firm that boasts a team of lawyers who are also doctors. With offices in Omaha, Kansas City, and Phoenix, the firm has recovered millions of dollars for clients across the nation. Its doctor-lawyers share over 40 years of legal experience, which has armed them with the practical skills and knowledge needed to successfully litigate complex cases. Learn more about Cullan & Cullan's Omaha practice online at https://www.cullanlaw.com/ . SOURCE Cullan & Cullan SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Firstup, a SaaS leader in the digital employee experience, is pleased to announce that Nicole Alvino, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer, has been appointed CEO. Firstup also welcomes a recent addition to the Firstup Board of Directors, Jialin Zhang. Taking over from Gary Nakamura, Alvino will direct the organization in its mission to transform workforce communications to work for every worker. Nakamura is stepping down after navigating the organization through exceptional growth as SocialChorus and leading the successful merger of SocialChorus and Dynamic Signal to form Firstup. Exiting 2021 with record growth, Firstup serves 40 of the Fortune 100 companies, reaching and connecting more than 15 million employees daily. The business will surpass $100M in revenue in 2022 as a leader in the Workforce Communications & Digital Employee Experience (DEX) space. As a founder of Firstup, Alvino will lead as CEO effective immediately, embracing her vision to give every worker the information and access they need to thrive and every leader the insights to mobilize their workforce. "Gary has been instrumental in helping the business reach key milestones as SocialChorus and now as Firstup," commented John Brennan, chairman of the board. "We respect his decision and are pleased that Nicole - a founder of the company, visionary in the workforce communications market and outstanding leader - is ready to take Firstup to the next level." "People are the foundation to any business, and we've always known the importance of reaching every worker, especially the front line," said Nicole Alvino. "I look forward to continuing to partner with our extraordinary customers and team to deliver the best digital employee experience for every worker." Firstup also welcomes a recent addition to the Firstup Board of Directors, Jialin Zhang. Zhang currently serves as a Vice President at Sumeru Equity Partners and helps lead the firm's investments across enterprise software sectors, including HCM software and IT/DevOPs. Her current investments include Firstup, 360Learning and Tasktop. Zhang will bring her extensive financial and SaaS expertise and commitment to DEI to the Board. About Firstup Firstup is redefining the digital employee experience to put people first and lift companies up. We make communication solutions that build authentic engagement and create two-way conversation between employees and companies. That's why 40% of Fortune 100 companies like Amazon, Boeing, Ford and Pfizer have chosen us to unlock the potential of their workforces. Get started at firstup.io . For more information please contact: EMEA Victoria Melville/Nicola Williamson Melville Communications Limited Tel: +44 (0)1483 489009 [email protected] [email protected] NORTH AMERICA Kathleen Van Gorden IDLAB Tel: 001 (401) 480-1840 [email protected] SOURCE Firstup Racial disparities exist in both the incidence and treatment outcomes for childhood ALL, and there is limited data on the genetic basis for such disparities. This is further exacerbated by the lack of genomic research in ALL populations from Africa, Latin America and Asia, even though these populations make up the bulk of pediatric cancer cases globally. To address this, the researchers created a diverse cohort of 2,428 children and adolescents with ALL treated on front-line clinical trials. The group was drawn from North America, Southeast Asia and Latin America and included individuals of European, African, Native American, East Asian and South Asian descent. The researchers used a genomic technique called RNA-sequencing to comprehensively characterize ALL molecular subtype and genetic ancestry of each child. The results were analyzed for their associations with clinical features and treatment outcomes. "As a field, we really need to put diversity front and center in our research going forward," said corresponding author Jun J. Yang, Ph.D., St. Jude Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Oncology. "We need to stop assuming we can develop therapies focusing on white children and then they can just be extrapolated to others. The world is becoming increasingly diverse, and so are children with cancer. As we look to the next generation of therapies for ALL, it's going to be essential we consider the diversity of this cancer on a global scale." Genetic findings The work underscores the importance of biology-driven treatment individualization, which may play a future role in helping to eliminate disparities in ALL outcomes. The researchers found that of 21 known ALL subtypes, eight were associated with ancestry. East Asian ancestry was positively associated with subtypes with a good prognosis such as DUX4 rearrangements and negatively associated with those with a poor prognosis including BCR-ABL1-like ALL and T-ALL. On the contrary, Native American ancestry was linked to CRLF2 rearrangements, which mark particularly aggressive ALL cases. Children with African ancestry showed the highest incidence of T-ALL cases, seven-fold higher than those of Native American descent (e.g., certain Hispanic groups). African and Native American ancestries were both associated with lower event-free survival and overall survival than other groups. "In terms of ALL biology, there are actually a lot of differences across ancestries which have an impact on survival and treatment outcomes," said first author Shawn Lee, M.D., St. Jude Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. "With this information we can help individualize treatment according to biology and even consider risk stratification according to ancestry to assist in planning biology-driven treatment protocols." A more complete picture of ALL genetics The majority of the research which led to the current treatments for ALL was conducted in the United States and Europe. Thus, clinical and genomic data on children of diverse ancestral descent is limited. This study complements prior research from the Yang laboratory that discovered how genetic variation in NUTD15 explains the excessive risk for thiopurine-related toxicity in Asian children with ALL. These NUDT15 variants are rarely found in children with European ancestry, highlighting how important findings can be missed if studies do not include diversity in genetic ancestry. The research also underscores the need for greater granularity in how genetic ancestry is considered. For example, Asian ancestry includes South Asians, East Asians and Southeast Asians, which are genetically distinct populations, with notable differences in ALL tumor biology and treatment outcomes. "Appropriate research that is inclusive of children from all backgrounds and global regions is important to help us better understand the diversity in patients diagnosed with ALL and other cancers," said Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, M.D., St. Jude Global director. "We recognize and value the need for more international cohorts that are inclusive of children from all global regions." Authors and funding The study's other authors are Federico Antillon and Cesar Najera, National Pediatric Oncology Unit (Guatemala); Allen EJ Yeoh, Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children's Medical Institute and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (Singapore); Hai Peng Lin, Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya (Malaysia); Ah Moy Tan, KK Women's and Children's Hospital (Singapore); Hany Ariffin, University of Malaya Medical Centre (Malaysia); Stephen Hunger, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania; Mignon Loh, Benioff Children's Hospital and University of California, San Francisco; and Deqing Pei, Wenjian Yang, Kathryn Roberts, Zhenhua Li, Meenakshi Devidas, Wentao Yang, Cheng Cheng, William Evans, Sima Jeha, Charles Mullighan and Ching-Hon Pui, all of St. Jude. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (CA21765, CA98543, CA114766, CA98413, CA180886, CA180899, GM92666, GM115279, CA234490 and GM097119), Singapore National Medical Research Council Clinician Research Training Fellowship and Clinician-Scientist Investigator Awards, and ALSAC, the fundraising and awareness organization of St. Jude. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. To learn more, visit stjude.org or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch. SOURCE St. Jude Children's Research Hospital PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, the nation's leading luxury massage and facial spa franchise, announced today that 2021 marked one of the most successful years in its 18-year history, signing 59 new franchise agreements as well as significantly expanding its footprint with 24 new spas. This surge in development doubles the thriving spa concept's year-over-year signings from 2020 and is fueled by the growth and support of existing franchisees, with more than half of the new agreements in 2021 coming from within the brand's system. Hand & Stone's commitment to innovation is a driving force behind its ongoing success. Hand & Stone's advanced and proprietary massage and facial services are at the forefront of the market and have positioned the brand as the authority on skincare and wellness within the personal services segment. "2021 was a successful year of franchise development for Hand & Stone. We welcomed several new franchise partners to the system, including established operators with experience in multiple brands. In addition, we saw significant growth from our existing Hand & Stone franchise owners, who accounted for better than 50% of new territory commitments for the year. Our franchise owner's commitment to the brand and proven success demonstrates the strength of the Hand & Stone model. It is clear that Hand & Stone's industry-leading innovation and unparalleled service offerings translate to thriving businesses for our franchisees," said John Teza, CEO of Hand & Stone. Hand & Stone experienced significant unit growth nationwide throughout 2021, bringing 24 new spas to key markets throughout North America. Hand & Stone expanded the number of markets under development in 2021, adding cities such as El Paso, TX; Mobile, AL; Knoxville, TN; Savannah, GA; Birmingham, AL; and Edmonton, ON to the list of major metros in the brand's growth pipeline. In May of 2021, Hand & Stone acquired the 23-unit Massage Experts brand, providing the company a footprint in Eastern and Western Canada. There are Hand & Stone spas and Massage Expert clinics in thirty-four states and seven provinces in Canada. "We closed out 2021 with tremendous momentum and have no doubt that the best is yet to come. We will continue to build upon the strong foundation of the brand. We will continue to engage new and experienced operators from outside the system and know that existing franchise owner development is key to our brand's overall success. We expect 2022 to be a year of significant growth for Hand & Stone, as we launch Cryoskin body contouring and continue to innovate in both skincare and massage services. We're focused on attracting the most talented operators across the entire enterprise," added Teza. In 2022, Hand & Stone aims to more than double its new spa openings across North America, with the goal of opening 50 locations throughout the U.S. and five in Canada. Additionally, Hand & Stone has aggressive nationwide expansion plans for the year, targeting growth in states like Florida, Texas, Arizona, Ohio and Tennessee. Throughout 2021, Hand & Stone continued to be recognized as a leading massage and facial services concept and outstanding franchise system. The brand received the Zor Award in the beauty and wellness category by Franchise Times as one of the 10 best franchises to buy in 2021. Hand & Stone also ranked #154 on the publication's annual Top 400 list (formerly Top 200+), moving up six spots from the 2020 ranking. Most recently, Hand & Stone ranked #296 on Entrepreneur magazine's highly competitive Franchise 500 ranking of the top franchise brands where it remains one of the leading massage and spa services franchises. With more than 500 spas across 31 states and Canada, Hand & Stone is the massage and facial industry leader and fastest growing spa franchise concept. For more information about franchise opportunities, visit www.handandstonefranchise.com. ABOUT HAND & STONE MASSAGE AND FACIAL SPA Hand & Stone is a 500-plus unit massage and facial spa franchise with a mission to bring massage and facial services to the masses. Launched in 2004, Hand & Stone now has locations in 31 states and Canada. Over the past several years, the brand has garnered noteworthy industry recognition including being named No. 1 in the spa category by Entrepreneur Magazine, ranked No. 8 on Forbes' Best Franchises to Buy list in the high investment category and is the fastest-growing spa concept in the country. For more information on Hand & Stone, visit www.handandstonefranchise.com. Contact: Erin Jacobs Fish Consulting 954-893-9150 [email protected] SOURCE Hand & Stone Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands to serve as the ship's godmother SEATTLE, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Holland America Line's newest ship Rotterdam is set to get the royal treatment at a naming ceremony in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, May 30, 2022. Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands will be the ship's godmother, carrying on a Dutch royal tradition that began in the 1920s. Rotterdam's special seven-day "Rotterdam Naming Celebration" cruise sails roundtrip from Amsterdam, Netherlands, departing May 29 and also visits Kristiansand, Stavanger and Flam, Norway, with scenic cruising in Sognefjord. New ship Rotterdam to be named May 30 in Netherlands by Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands. Tweet this Rotterdam marks the 13th ship for the cruise line to be named by a Dutch royal family member. "Our new Rotterdam is a spectacular ship, and we are thrilled to have its naming ceremony scheduled with a celebratory cruise that allows our guests to join the festivities and officially welcome her to the fleet," said Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line. "Our history is deeply rooted in the Netherlands, and it was only fitting to name our newest Rotterdam in the city of Rotterdam with a royal godmother to honor our Dutch roots. We are deeply grateful that Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet will once again act as godmother to a Holland America Line ship." When the ship arrives at Rotterdam May 30, a private ceremony will be held for invited guests that will be broadcast throughout the ship. During the voyage, guests will enjoy special events exclusive to the naming sailing, including a celebratory Gala Dinner and an opportunity to participate in the blessing of the ship's bell, along with surprises and commemorative gifts. Once the ship departs Rotterdam, guests will spend the remainder of the voyage exploring the ports of Kristiansand, Stavanger and the stunning fjords and charming villages of Norway. A highlight of the itinerary is a day of scenic cruising in Sognefjord. The largest and deepest fjord in Norway, the "King of the Fjords" is one of the world's most beautiful destinations lined with majestic mountains and lush landscapes. In Flam, the famous railway offers an unforgettable experience, climbing from sea level to 2,800 feet, crossing back and forth over rivers and passing through 20 tunnels. Book the 'Rotterdam Naming Celebration' Cruise with Have It All Travelers who want to be a part of the festivities can book Rotterdam's naming voyage and join in the celebrations. For guests who appreciate taking an inclusive vacation with extra amenities factored upfront into the price, Holland America Line's "Have It All" premium package includes shore excursions, beverages, specialty dining and Wi-Fi in one base cruise fare. "Have It All" guests on this cruise will receive one shore excursion up to $100 value or $100 off any one tour; a Signature Beverage Package that includes up to 15 drinks per day; one night specialty dining in Pinnacle Grill, Tamarind or Canaletto; and a Wi-Fi package. "Have it All" fares for the "Rotterdam Naming Celebration" cruise begin at $1,749 per person, single occupancy. Taxes, fees and port expenses are additional. Cruise-only fares begin at $1,399 per person. A Long Royal Relationship Holland America Line's connection to The House of Orange goes back nearly a century to Prince Hendrik launching Statendam III in 1929. Since then, members of the Dutch Royal Family have launched 11 more Holland America Line vessels throughout the years, including Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet who named Prinsendam (1972), Nieuw Amsterdam III (1983), Rotterdam VI (1997) and Oosterdam (2003). Additional members of the Dutch Royal Family who are godmothers include Queen Maxima, who named Koningsdam in 2016 and Nieuw Amsterdam in 2010. Then-Queen Beatrix served as Eurodam's godmother in 2008. Rotterdam V was launched in 1958 by Queen Juliana. Then-Princess Beatrix named Statendam IV in 1957 and Prinses Margriet in 1960. Nieuw Amsterdam II was launched by Queen Wilhelmina in 1937. Rotterdam was delivered by the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy July 30, 2021, and sailed a transatlantic first voyage before spending the fall and winter on its inaugural Caribbean season sailing roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Beginning in May, the ship will explore Europe, heading to Norway, the Baltic, British Isles and Iceland, all sailing roundtrip from Amsterdam. For more information about Holland America Line, consult a travel advisor, call 1-877-SAIL HAL (877-724-5425) or visit hollandamerica.com. Editor's note: Photos are available at https://www.cruiseimagelibrary.com/c/qwhsvxyj. Find Holland America Line on Twitter, Facebook and the Holland America Blog. Access all social media outlets via the home page at hollandamerica.com. About Holland America Line [a division of Carnival Corporation and plc (NYSE: CCL and CUK)] Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873 and was the first cruise line to offer adventures to Alaska and the Yukon nearly 75 years ago. Its fleet of premium ships visits nearly 400 ports in 114 countries around the world, offering an ideal mid-sized ship experience. A third Pinnacle-class ship, Rotterdam, joined the fleet in July 2021. The leader in premium cruising, Holland America Line's ships feature innovative initiatives and a diverse range of enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel. The best live music at sea fills each evening at Music Walk, and dining venues feature exclusive selections from Holland America Line's esteemed Culinary Council of world-famous chefs. CONTACT: Bill Zucker, Erik Elvejord PHONE: 800-637-5029, 206-626-9890 EMAIL: [email protected] SOURCE Holland America Line TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of refugee camps around the world generate huge quantities of organic waste, which not only causes sanitary and environmental problems, but is also expensive to dispose of. HomeBiogas (TASE: HMGS) will be supplying biogas systems for the treatment of organic waste at refugee camps in Africa, after winning a recent UN tender. HomeBiogas developed innovative systems that treat organic waste on-site by converting it into renewable energy used for cooking or heating. The UN's decision to implement these innovative systems in refugee camps is based on the fact that these systems treat waste in a sustainable way, and turn it into energy (bio-fertilizer and cooking gas) which will serve the refugees for cooking / heating / farming. In addition, the systems are built for remote areas and work well in extreme conditions. By converting organic waste into renewable energy on-site, HomeBiogas systems divert waste from landfills, the leading source of methane emissions worldwide. The 2021 UN Climate Change Report highlighted the need to control methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more harmful than Co2. Each HomeBiogas system saves over 6 tons of CO2 emissions per year. This project joins a series of projects and international collaborations in which HomeBiogas partnered with governments, aid agencies and humanitarian organizations, such as: USAID, EU, UN, International Red Cross, The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, WWF and other projects. In addition, the company has distribution partnerships in several countries in Africa, including Zimbabwe, Zambia and Kenya. Oshik Efrati, Co-Founder and CEO of HomeBiogas: "We are proud that the UN selected HomeBiogas to take on this important project that will have an immense impact on the environment in the refugee camps. We seek to treat waste in a sustainable way and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people living in refugee camps around the world." HomeBiogas is a world leader in developing ground-breaking, easy to-use biogas systems. The company's products provide innovative technological solutions to two of the world's biggest problems: the on-site treatment of organic waste and the local production of renewable energy. The company's systems are marketed in 6 continents and in over 110 countries around the world. www.homebiogas.com SOURCE HomeBiogas LOUISVILLE, Ky., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), America's largest grocery retailer, today announced it will offer more Americans delivery through the addition of a spoke facility in Louisville, Kentucky powered by the Ocado Group (LSE: OCDO) and combining vertical integration, machine learning, and robotics to provide an affordable, friendly, and fast fresh food delivery service as part of the company's seamless ecosystem. "We're proud to expand the Kroger fulfillment network to Louisville," said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger's senior vice president and chief supply chain officer. "The new service is an innovative addition to the expanding digital shopping experience available to Kroger customers. The network's delivery spoke facility will provide unmatched customer service and improve access to fresh food in areas eager for the variety and value offered by Kroger direct to their homes." "I want to thank leaders at Kroger not only for this announcement, but also for their continued commitment to the commonwealth over many years," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said. "Kroger has long been a vital part of Kentucky's growing economy, and this new location helps ensure that will continue to be the case for years to come. I'm grateful for the company's expanding presence in our state." The 50,000-square-foot spoke facility located on Robards Lane in Louisville will collaborate with the hub in Monroe, Ohio and serve as a cross-dock to connect customers with fresh food. The facility is expected to become operational later this year and will employ up to 161 full-time associates. Louisville Mayor, Greg Fischer, said of this new investment, "Today's announcement is the latest way that Kroger is showing its commitment to the Louisville market. Kroger has long been a valued partner in our community, providing jobs, reinvesting in our city through continued growth, and giving back through its charity. Thank you to the Kroger team!" Kroger Delivery Explained The expansion in Louisville represents an extension of a partnership between Kroger and Ocado, a world leader in technology for grocery e-commerce. In 2018, the companies announced a collaboration to establish a delivery network that combines artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and automation in a bold new way, bringing first-of-its-kind technology to America. Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said Kroger Delivery "underpins the permanent shift in grocery consumer behavior and elevates our position as one of America's leading e-commerce companies." Through the delivery network, the company now serves customers in Florida, as an example, without traditional brick-and-mortar stores. The delivery network relies on highly automated fulfillment centers. At the "hub" sites, more than 1,000 bots whizz around giant 3D grids, orchestrated by proprietary air-traffic control systems in the unlicensed spectrum. The grid, known as The Hive, contains totes with products and ready-to-deliver customer orders. As customers' orders near their delivery times, the bots retrieve products from The Hive and are presented at pick stations for items to be sorted for delivery, a process governed by algorithms that ensures items are intelligently packed. For example, fragile items are placed on top, bags are evenly weighted, and each order is optimized to fit into the lowest number of bags, reducing plastic use. After being packed, groceries are loaded into a temperature-controlled delivery van, which can store up to 20 orders. Powerful machine learning algorithms optimize delivery routes, considering factors such as road conditions and optimal fuel efficiency. Vans may travel up to 90 miles with orders from the hub and spoke facilities to make deliveries. Associates at the spoke facility will deliver orders within their service area, adding ZIP codes as demand grows. Kroger unveiled the Monroe customer fulfillment center in April of 2021, its first, followed by another in Groveland, FL and Forest Park, GA (Atlanta). The fulfillment network plans additional customer fulfillment centers in California, Dallas, TX, Frederick, MD, Phoenix, AZ, Pleasant Prairie, WI, Romulus, MI (Detroit), as well as South Florida and the Northeast. Media Assets To download Kroger Delivery photography and video, visit here. About Kroger At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner names. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site. About Ocado Group Ocado Group is a UK based technology company admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange (Ticker OCDO). It provides end-to-end online grocery fulfilment solutions to some of the world's largest grocery retailers and holds a 50% share of Ocado Retail Ltd in the UK in a Joint Venture with Marks & Spencer. Ocado has spent two decades innovating for grocery online, investing in a wide technology estate that includes robotics, AI & machine learning, simulation, forecasting, and edge intelligence. SOURCE The Kroger Co. The three-year grant will enable LMU to pursue a robust interdisciplinary scope of work led by the LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts' Theological Studies faculty and the university's Center for Religion and Spirituality, which offers programs for adult learners that strengthen their religious and spiritual formation as ministers, educators, and community leaders. This new effort is being funded through Lilly Endowment's Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative. It is a three-phase initiative designed to help theological schools across the United States and Canada as they prioritize and respond to the most pressing challenges they face as they prepare pastoral leaders both now and into the future. "As a Catholic, Jesuit and Marymount university, we have always been committed to building and growing a new core of leaders who will really help bring the Catholic Church into the future in our country," said John Sebastian, LMU vice president for Mission and Ministry. "This grant provides an opportunity for LMU to be part of the evolution of our Church, the future of which is Latino, and to educate leaders who will help make the Church's presence stronger in our communities." With the Lilly Endowment funding, LMU aims to increase access to theological education and pastoral formation for underserved populations and younger populations, including prospective undergraduates and non-traditional students who have not earned baccalaureate degrees. Additionally, LMU will equip local Catholic pastoral leaders with more tools to address the most challenging aspects of ecclesial life in greater Los Angeles racial and ethnic injustice, disaffiliation, a lack of understanding about growing religious diversity, and leadership transitions due to the retirement of senior pastoral ministers. Professor Amir Hussain, who chairs the Department of Theological Studies, said the university also plans to establish and grow online learning programs, build a pipeline to LMU from religious schools in Los Angeles, better support graduate students without a family history of higher education in the United States, and offer free workshops and resources to faith communities in Southern California, especially to those that are economically challenged. "This grant will allow us to start thinking: Who are we not yet serving? Who are the people who don't get access to this sort of education? Where are the parishes that will benefit from getting some trained educators?" he said. The grant will also provide support for the Center for Religion and Spirituality's Mantener el Camino ("Stay On Track") program, which began in fall 2020. The program, taught by LMU faculty, enrolls Hispanic pastoral ministers who have not yet earned college degrees in courses that are relevant for work in ministry. The program also provides mentorship and aims to assist these students with their educational goals and gives them options, said Robert Hurteau, director of the Center for Religion and Spirituality. Students can earn a professional certificate or matriculate to Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and other community colleges to pursue an associate's degree. Mantener el Camino welcomes church ministers like Citlali Soriano Cruz, who volunteers regularly at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Compton. "I literally never imagined myself setting foot at a university, especially in the United States," said Cruz, a Mexico City native who immigrated to California in 2001 and had not pursued higher education until now. "I am so grateful for the opportunity to be studying and taking courses at LMU." Lilly Endowment in late 2021 awarded 84 grants totaling more than $82 million to help U.S. and Canadian theological schools prioritize and respond to pressing challenges for church leaders. About Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University is an elite, top-ranked national university by U.S. News and World Report, which places LMU among the top five Jesuit universities in the country and in the top six private universities in California. Founded in 1911, LMU is a Catholic, Jesuit, and Marymount university with more than 6,500 undergraduate students and more than 3,000 graduate and law students. LMU offers 60 undergraduate majors and 56 minor programs, along with 49 master's degree programs, three doctorate programs and 14 credential/authorization programs. LMU's intercollegiate athletics teams compete in the West Coast Conference with 20 Division I and varsity sports. SOURCE Loyola Marymount University CAPE TOWN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Western Cape Province on Thursday said over 10 million South African rands (about 660,000 U.S. dollars) have been spent on 14 major wildfires and dozens of smaller fires in the province during this summer, occurring on the fire season. The most prominent fire affected 5,372 hectares of land and most of the major wildfires happened last week throughout the province, provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning Anton Bredell said in a statement. Twenty-four aerial units, ranging from spotter planes to large helicopters, provided support to extinguish the fires, he said, adding that aerial resources, although expensive, often prevent small fires from growing into runaway wildfires which could ultimately result in serious damage to property and loss of life. He urged the public to remain vigilant and responsible with open fires as hot summer weather is expected over the next few months. Unlike other South African provinces which mainly receive rainfall in summer, Western Cape, with a Mediterranean climate, has dry summers and wet winters. WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LUNGevity Foundation, the nation's leading lung cancer-focused nonprofit organization, is pleased to offer a translational research award program to support clinical scientists who work in the Department of Veterans Affairs. LUNGevity is proud to offer this funding mechanism to researchers within the VA system. The Request for Applications for this 2022 award is currently available on the LUNGevity website at LUNGevity.org/apply-for-award and the proposalCENTRAL website at proposalcentral.com . The 2022 LUNGevity Veterans Affairs Research Scholar Award Program supports fellows interested in lung cancer research within the Department of Veterans Affairs. Applicants must hold a doctoral degree and be within their postdoctoral fellow/medical fellowship period or within the first five years of their first faculty appointment and plan to pursue a career in lung cancer research at a Veterans Affairs institution (or an academic institution with an affiliation with a local Veterans Affairs institution). This is a mentored award, which may be for a maximum of $100,000 over two years ($50,000 per year). "Veterans are a high-risk population for lung cancer, due to their exposure to toxic and carcinogenic materials on military bases and on the field of battle," said Drew Moghanaki, MD, MPH. "It's vital to offer optimal care to those who have served our country, many of whom develop lung cancer years after their service." Moghanaki is a co-principal investigator of the Greater Los Angeles VA Lung Precision Oncology Program and the chief of thoracic oncology at the UCLA Department of Radiation Oncology. He is also a member of LUNGevity's Scientific Advisory Board. The translational research projects that will be funded are expected to have a direct impact on veterans at risk of developing or who have developed lung cancer, or to provide a clear conceptual or experimental foundation for the future development of methods of screening/early detection and/or individualized treatments including surgical, radiation, targeted, or immune-based therapies. In addition, the proposed research must have relevance to the veteran population, related to either screening/early detection or treatment of lung cancer. The letter of intent is due on February 23, 2022. About LUNGevity Foundation LUNGevity Foundation is the nation's leading lung cancer organization focused on improving outcomes for people with lung cancer through research, education, policy initiatives, and support and engagement for patients, survivors, and caregivers. LUNGevity seeks to make an immediate impact on quality of life and survivorship for everyone touched by the diseasewhile promoting health equity by addressing disparities throughout the care continuum. LUNGevity works tirelessly to advance research into early detection and more effective treatments, provide information and educational tools to empower patients and their caregivers, promote impactful public policy initiatives, and amplify the patient voice through research and engagement. The organization provides an active community for patients and survivorsand those who help them live longer and better lives. Comprehensive resources include a medically vetted and patient-centric website , a toll-free HELPLine for support, the International Lung Cancer Survivorship Conference , and an easy-to-use Clinical Trial Finder , among other tools. All of these programs are to achieve our visiona world where no one dies of lung cancer. LUNGevity Foundation is proud to be a four-star Charity Navigator organization. Please visit LUNGevity.org to learn more. About Lung Cancer in the US About 1 in 16 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime More than 235,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year About 65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers Lung cancer takes more lives than the next two deadliest cancers (colorectal and pancreatic) combined Only 22% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it's caught before it spreads, the chance of 5-year survival improves dramatically SOURCE LUNGevity Foundation Heirloom seeks to transform the current industry model by partnering with makers and manufacturers to offer high quality, handcrafted furniture designed to last a lifetime. Mantra Inspired Furniture is excited to be a part of Heirloom and support their commitment to change the commercial furniture industry to better our planet. Susan Pilato, President and CEO of Mantra Inspired Furniture shares, "Since launching Mantra Inspired Furniture as an alternative for the architecture and design community in 2018, we have carved out a niche in creating quality solid wood furniture, made for designers by designers. We wanted to become a quiet disruptor in this industry, supported by our years working within the design community." Pilato continues, "We have developed a product line that responds to the needs of the market, rather than us telling the market what they should purchase." Matt Cheadle, Creative Development Manager of Mantra Inspired Furniture states, "The appeal of solid wood in commercial grade furniture is that it has a durability unmatched by veneers and man-made materials. While these products are considered 'investment grade,' we are discovering a population of organizations willing to make this commitment to their employees and staff as they begin to re-enter their on-site workspaces. It is a very exciting time for the industry." Mantra IF's design philosophy includes sustainability practices, specifically creating furniture that will last for generations rather than a few years. In a traditional manufacturing setting, these worn-out furniture pieces would be discarded or go to waste at a rate of 11.8 million tons a year. "We believe it is critical to optimize the use of our natural resources in manufacturing," Pilato says, "and our products will enter into a circular economy rather than the landfills." Mantra IF's line of Heirloom products includes their three core collections: Clayborne, Lowe Loop and Ellis. About Mantra Inspired Furniture Mantra Inspired Furniture (Mantra IF), a SWaM-certified business, was founded in 2018 by Susan Pilato, principal of Norfolk- based PC&A Business Environments. The name is inspired by 8 simple codes, or "mantras" to live by, passed down from Pilato's late father, John Clayborne Compton, Jr. Mantra Inspired Furniture's primary source for lumber is a board member of the Ohio Forestry Association and actively works in creating and executing training programs, ensuring our North American forests are cared for responsibly. The running line of products is designed in-house and fabricated by Amish artisan mills in Ohio. Sustainability, and an "earth to table" approach lead the design and manufacturing strategy for the furniture brand. Mantra Inspired Furniture has collaborated with designers and architects to furnish its commercial collections across Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, New York, and Indiana. About Heirloom Nearly 9 million tons of furniture leave commercial real estate and end up in a landfill every year. Heirloom Design co-founders Dave Bryant, Judd Rosengart, Jason Horvath and Chris Ferrari decided it was time to change that. Heirloom Design seeks to redefine sustainability for the built environment by using block-chain like technology and the power of storytelling to shape our behavior and help solve our most pressing challenge, waste. Heirloom powers the circular economy and creates an infrastructure for our industry by ensuring timelessly designed furniture will never see a landfill. Our community of makers, designers, end-users and furniture specifiers leverage this infrastructure to do better for our environment. When we all take a stand to support a more sustainable platform, we all win. Especially the planet. For more information visit, heirloom.design. Press Contact: Blitzer & Company [email protected] SOURCE Mantra Inspired Furniture In its target markets of US, UK, Germany, Italy, and France, some of Mapp's new clients include well-known brands such as Vivienne Westwood, Doves Farm, OPI, Sensilab, Jelly Belly, West Ham United, The Independent Pharmacy, Design Toscano, Corel, Piquadro, and Prenatal. Other notable customers include Black+Decker, Francesca's, JYSK, PepsiCo, Varelotteriet, Westwing and Witt-Gruppe. Mapp strategically partnered with several new agencies, system integrators, and technology vendors in 2021, eyeing its future expansion into 2022. New international partners include VTEX, Spryker and Shopgate, as well as leading agencies such as Accenture, GroupM, Wavemaker and Kenscio. "We're proud of the huge growth we've achieved in 2021 and welcome on board many new clients, partners and vendors who have joined Mapp past year and became part of our great expansion," said Steve Warren, CEO of Mapp. "Mapp's unique insight-led customer experience platform, Mapp Cloud, proves to be an invaluable tool for many brands we support worldwide. Our goal is to continue the momentum of executing plans for even faster growth in 2022, led by a focus on our sales and marketing efforts. I would also like to highlight that in 2021, Mapp set a record for its lowest churn evidence that our customer-facing teams delivered an outstanding job on a daily basis." Among the 2021 Mapp Cloud platform improvements are the addition of two new marketing channels: direct mail and web push notifications. These join Mapp's network of email, SMS, mobile push, in-app, retargeting and web channels. Marketers can also intelligently track their most important KPIs with Goals & Forecasts. Unifying data can be streamlined, with integrations to eCommerce platforms like Shopify and Shopgate, or data synchronization with relevant external sources thanks to the new Data Feeds functionality. Mapp's Analytics API consolidates different data sources, processes calculations, automates reporting, and enables data visualization in any office application. According to Forrester, "insight-led businesses" are expected to grow 7-10x faster than the global economy. Additionally, "The Forrester Wave: Cross-Channel Campaign Management (Independent Platforms), Q3 2021" report validated Mapp Cloud as a strong performer with 5/5 stars in 13 categories. Mapp's insight-led customer experience platform Mapp Cloud offers unique possibilities for scalable marketing. The Intelligence Module combines data, analytics, and AI to generate actionable insights, allowing brands to engage with their customers along the buying journey. The Engage Module orchestrates and automates seamless, personalized cross-channel campaign management; and the integrated Customer Data Platform (CDP) provides an industry unique 360-degree view of each contact comprised of unified data, which enables advanced segmentation and automation. About Mapp Marketers and data specialists should always be able to focus on their core business instead of spending their time taming the technology behind it. With the insight-based customer experience platform Mapp Cloud, marketing decision-makers have more time for the essentials and can place their brand messages in the best possible way. Through customer intelligence and marketing analytics, companies easily and effectively gain cross-channel customer insights from data, which in turn enable highly personalized marketing activities. Mapp's customers benefit from customized and self-optimizing cross-channel campaigns based on AI-powered predictive models. Automated messages can thus be sent in the ideal marketing channel, at the optimal time and with the right contact frequency. Thanks to powerful one-to-one personalization, maximum engagement as well as long-term customer retention are achieved. More info here . Mapp operates offices in seven countries. Mapp's digital marketing platform helps over 3,000 businesses stand out from the crowd. Mapp's clients include Ella's Kitchen, Expert, Freesat, Francesca's, MyToys, Pepsico, Quint, Vivienne Westwood, and The Entertainer. Press contacts: PR Agency: The PR Network Jonathan Lenz +44 (0)77953 74423 [email protected] www.thepr.network Mapp Harald Oberhofer +49 30 755 415 120 [email protected] www.mapp.com SOURCE Mapp WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Heitman LLC (Heitman), a global real estate investment management firm, indicates that environmental change is prompting migration of people and businesses, movements that may trigger significant shifts in demand for real estate. Just as investors are being forced to recognize and price the physical risks associated with climate change wildfires, hurricanes, excessive heat they need to integrate climate migration risk into their underwriting models. Heitman Climate Migration and Real Estate Investment Decision-Making looks at the future impact of climate migration on real estate and recommends a broader approach for assessing the risk on investment. The report cites the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre that estimates that disasters displaced nearly 31 million people globally in 2020. The same organization also projects that approximately 14 million people could be displaced annually by sudden onset disasters like hurricanes and floods. ULI and Heitman have developed a new two-step framework for assessing climate migration-related risks in the real estate investment decision-making process. Investors can use the framework to identify which markets and submarkets face heightened exposure to climate migration, which place-specific factors are most likely to exacerbate or mitigate those location pressures, and which factors are likely to be material within particular investment horizons. The research further concludes that real estate investors should continue to build their capacity to assess and manage migration-related and broader market-level investment risks and should actively understand the climate change adaptation needs of key markets. This requires shifting from an asset-centric view to a market-level appraisal of risk and resilience drivers. Ultimately, investors are urged to direct their investment to assets and locations that are adaptable to changing environmental conditions and enhance the overall social and ecological resilience of communities. "The real estate sector is reaching a crucial stage in the evolution of its approach to climate risk," said ULI's global CEO, Ed Walter. "We are coming to understand that leadership from the real estate investment industry is essential for society's approaches to climate change to be effective, efficient, and equitable, versus deferring difficult decisions and displacing those who cannot afford to adapt. "While many investors remain focused on short-term and asset-centric views of risks, thinking that they can shift investments before climate risks bite, leading investors are now turning down opportunities despite strong near-term fundamentals," continued Walter. "They are drawing connections between migration, climate risk, and resilience. They are identifying methods and indicators to assess these links and adapting their investment strategies accordingly." "Heitman recognizes that climate migration has the potential to impact investment portfolio performance and the need for our industry to integrate this potential risk into how it assesses prospective investments," said Maury Tognarelli, Heitman CEO. "Migration patterns in reaction to climate change could lead to shifts in demand for real estate and we must begin to prepare for the possibility of societal and economic disruption fueled by this dimension of climate risk. Just as we need to underwrite the impact of physical risks on property value, we need to anticipate the trajectory of climate migration and incorporate it into our investment analysis." "A few years ago, only a handful of forward-thinking real estate investors were assessing and looking to mitigate climate risk in their real estate portfolio," said Billy Grayson, Executive Vice President for Centers and Initiatives at ULI. "Thanks to Heitman's support and partnership with ULI, our work together has helped shape the industry's understanding of both the physical and transition risks of climate change and has allowed us to explore more far-reaching challenges like the long-term migration patterns driven by climate and extreme weather events. Through this report, global investors can begin working these concepts into their long-term investment analyses and capital plans in the near future." "For many in the northern hemisphere, climate migration isn't readily visible in their home markets. In fact, migration toward vulnerable areas is outpacing migration away," said Mary Ludgin, Heitman Head of Global Research. "We can't tell you exactly when that will change; we can tell you that change is coming." As part of ULI and Heitman's framework, investors are advised to rethink conventional market-level research and ask whether an economy is strong enough to absorb and recover from a climate shock. This means looking first at the climate sensitivity of the dominant economic sectors within a market and then at the extent to which climate-sensitive sectors can manage risks. Both the agriculture and energy sectors are identified as examples of sensitive industries, and participants in the report's research cite Singapore and the Netherlands as places with robust climate strategies and which will be better positioned to absorb climate shocks and stressors. The report supports greater engagement with the emerging conversation about receiving communities relatively safer markets that may experience in-migration. Managed retreat can be encouraged, where appropriate, through public investment in infrastructure and amenities that can help steer development and location decisions away from high-risk areas, whether slightly further inland (for coastal risks) or further afield. For example, in the United States climate refuge might be offered by Minnesota; in the Netherlands by the higher elevation east; and in Indonesia, by Borneo. The report warns of property value-driven approaches to adaptation. In prioritizing infrastructure investment in areas where high-value property is concentrated, such approaches exacerbate inequalities and can trigger migration by lower income residents as a default, requiring a careful approach to managing population change. The full report is available on ULI's Knowlege Finder Platform or Heitman's website. For more information, please contact: About Heitman Founded in 1966, Heitman LLC is a global real estate investment management firm with approximately $51 billion in assets under management. Heitman's real estate investment strategies include direct investments in the equity or debt capitalization of a property or in the securities of listed and publicly traded real estate companies. Heitman serves a global client base with clients from North American, European, Middle Eastern and Asia-Pacific institutions, pension plans, foundations and corporations and individual investors. Headquartered in Chicago, with additional offices in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, Heitman's approximately 350 employees offer specialized expertise from a specific discipline to local insight. About the Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 45,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information on ULI, please visit uli.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Media Contact: Brigit Wolf 202-471-4228 ext. 104 [email protected] SOURCE Urban Land Institute BEIJING, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Newlinks Technology Limited ("Newlink" or the "Company"), a leading provider of energy technology platforms in China, today announced that the Company has raised a new investment from CR Capital Management. This investment, in addition to the previously announced investments by China Merchants Capital, CICC Capital, China Shandong Hi-Speed Capital Limited, and the Shandong Green Development Fund, brings the total investments in Newlink's E Round to several hundred million USD. The investment is made by CR Capital Management's investment platform, CR & CNIC Investment Limited. CR Capital Management is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Resources (Holdings) Co., Ltd, and carries out fund operation business closely around the Group's industries and national macro policies, with total assets under management of over USD20 billion. "We've found that Newlink represents an excellent investment opportunity," CR Capital Management's CEO Mr. Carl Qin said. "Newlink's cloud computing capabilities, big data, AI and other technologies can be deeply integrated into the energy value chain, and will continue to pave the digitalization groundwork for the industry, enabling Newlink to become a leader in the development of smart energy technologies. We are very honored to have the opportunity to invest in Newlink, and we look forward to developing together with Newlink, a green, low carbon, safe and efficient modern energy system, and enabling the 'dual-carbon' goals to be achieved." Founded in 2016, Newlink is one of China's leading provider of technology platforms and tech-enabled services to the energy value chain, principally serving gas and EV charging stations. The Company's broad offerings of digital solutions include targeted online marketing tools, cloud-based SaaS systems and supply chain solutions that help merchants drive incremental sales, reduce costs, manage operations, and grow profits, which are all driving towards the goal of a "Carbon Neutral Energy" world. Newlink has already received recognition from the China Quality Certification Center, and the SGS Group's Carbon Reduction report. Newlink provides traditional fueling, new EV charging, and digital solutions and services to over 10,000 corporate customers, including SF Express, ZTO Express, Jitu, and other logistics companies, and also to Huolala, Kuaigou, UCar, Shouqi, and other ride-hailing and logistics platforms, as well as China Merchants Bank, Yonyou Group, Xiaomi, and other similar corporates. Newlink's Founder and CEO Mr. Zhen Dai expressed, "As the energy industry structure transitions under the 'dual carbon' context, Newlink, with our overriding mission of achieving zero carbon energy, will continue to drive the digitalization, branding, and decarbonization of the industry. CR Capital has continuously been a key force in the development of the CR Group's new energy, dual carbon, and other core strategic initiatives, by making the foundational strategic investments. This is consistent with Newlink's vision and strategy, and we share the same goals. I want to thank CR Capital for their support, and I look forward to working together with CR Capital to transform and upgrade the energy sector with systematic solutions, and to enable the decarbonization goals to become a reality." Newlink is one of the Global New Energy 500, and has unicorn status. The Company has attracted a diverse group of investors including China Merchants Capital, Bain Capital, Joy Capital, CMBI, CICC Capital, Xiaomi Corp., Nio Capital, KIP China, SME Development Fund, and Hongtai Alpus. About Newlinks Technology Limited Founded in 2016, Newlinks Technology Limited is one of China's leading provider of technology platforms and tech-enabled services to the energy value chain, principally serving gas and EV charging stations. The Company's broad offerings of digital solutions include targeted online marketing tools, cloud-based SaaS systems and supply chain solutions that help merchants drive incremental sales, reduce costs, manage operations, and grow profits. The Company aims to improve efficiency across the entire value chain and transform the multi-trillion RMB energy industry and help enable and promote China's policy commitments to achieve a carbon-neutral and environmentally friendly society. For more information, see http://www.newlink.com For more information, please contact: Media inquiries: Jing Wang E-mail: [email protected] SOURCE Newlink Group NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Permanente Health Care Ventures (PHCV) and Datos Health (Datos) are pleased to announce the public launch of their turnkey self-service Sidney Navigator Covid 19 solution. This innovative monitoring platform is the product of a collaboration between PHCV and Datos. Datos and PHCV came together at the beginning of the pandemic to respond to requests from employers and universities like Pacific University Oregon. Pacific University wanted a tool to help keep its population safe while continuing in-person learning. "We needed a solution to help us mitigate risk and monitor student and employee COVID protocol compliance across our system. Our main concern was to clearly guide exposed individuals, and those exhibiting symptoms, to appropriate next steps. As new mandates emerged, we needed a platform that could quickly and easily adjust," explained Jennifer Yruegas, Dean College of Business and General Counsel of Pacific University Oregon. The project soon evolved to capture symptoms, illnesses, and vaccine reactions. "Datos Health was the logical partner for this project because of its track record of high-quality care monitoring and adaptive technology infrastructure," said Dr. Micah Thorp, DO, Vice President of Strategy, Northwest Permanente PC, and President, PHCV. "Based on guidance from infectious disease experts, we worked closely with Datos to interpret and maintain CDC-compliant workflows as they evolved." "We are uniquely positioned for projects such as this one because of our platform's flexibility. Unlike other Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) systems that incorporate pre-built workflows, we have no limitations on what can be monitored or automated," said Uri Bettesh, CEO and Founder of Datos Health. "Our initial goal was to keep the workplace and campus populations safe. Now, the platform not only monitors health in relation to COVID, but also helps employers manage the status of each employee regarding vaccine administration and testing." PHCV's high-frequency yet low-touch Sidney Navigator platform ensures employers are aware of employee population status in real-time. Built-in alerts encourage appropriate next steps are taken by employees and create a record of compliance for employers. Datos and PHCV will continue their partnership to ensure the Sidney Navigator Covid 19 solution remains the leading platform for employee compliance with COVID guidelines. About Datos Health Since 2015, Datos Health has supported the growing need to monitor and care for patients remotely with quick and easy deployment of personalized clinical workflows. Our solution facilitates automated assisted self-care across any clinical condition, patient profile, or treatment plans, significantly increasing patient engagement and reducing adverse events. The Datos Health platform replaces today's rigid, pre-built RPM solutions with a powerful open framework. Providers gain unlimited freedom to adapt our out-of-the-box remote care programs to fit their workflows or they can easily design their own programs. Learn more at www.datos-health.com and visit us on LinkedIn. Datos Health contact Farah Parsa, VP Marketing [email protected] About Permanente Health Care Ventures Permanente Health Care Ventures (PHCV) drives innovation in the practice of medicine and the delivery of 21st century healthcare solutions. A subsidiary of Northwest Permanente, PC, the largest independent multi-specialty physician group in Oregon and SW Washington, PHCV is committed to advancing total health of the patients, people and communities they serve. Permanente Health Care Ventures contact [email protected] SOURCE Datos Health PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Power Electronics Market by Device Type (Power Discrete, Power Module, and Power IC), Material (Silicon Carbide, Gallium Nitride, Sapphire, and Other), and Application (Power Management, UPS, Renewable, and Others), and End User (Telecommunication, Industrial, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Military & Defense, Energy & Power, and Other): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 20202027." According to the report published by Allied Market Research, the global power electronics market generated $23.25 billion in 2019, and is estimated to reach $36.64 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 5.7% from 2020 to 2027. Download Sample Report (Get Full Insights in PDF - 334 Pages) @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1785 Key Determinants in the Market Rise in need for power management devices and increase in incorporation of power electronics components in electric vehicles augment the growth of the global power electronics market. Whereas, compound processes of incorporation in advanced electronics devices impede the growth. Nevertheless, increase in demand for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) would offer innumerable opportunities in the future. Covid-19 Scenario Due to the global lockdown, various major market players have held the production of power electronic devices. In addition, the disruptions in supply chain have caused shortage of raw materials including gallium nitride and silicon carbide. The demand for power electronics from the power industry is likely to be dropped. This is due to the shutdown of most of the industrial units. Interested to Procure the Data? Inquire Here @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/1785 The Power Module Segment Dominated the Market in 2019 Based on device type, the power module segment contributed to the largest share in 2019, accounting for nearly half of the global power electronics market, and is estimated to maintain its dominant position during the forecast period. Rise in adoption of power module due to low power consumption and lightweight design, unmatched efficiency and durability, and surge in demand for power electronics in the energy & power sector drive the growth of the segment. However, the power discrete segment is estimated to portray the highest CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period. Rise in demand for power discrete in automotive applications and consumer electronics and increase in demand for power management chips in electronic applications such as air conditioners and refrigerators augment the segment growth. The Silicon Carbide Segment Accounted for Highest Market Share in 2019 Based on material, the silicon carbide segment accounted for the largest share in 2019, holding more than one-fourth of the global power electronics market, and is expected to maintain the largest share throughout the forecast period. Surge in demand for SiC-based photovoltaic cells in the developing countries, such as China, Brazil, and India fuels the growth of the segment. However, the gallium nitride segment is expected to register the highest CAGR of 7.8% from 2020 to 2027. Increase in demand for GaN in radio frequency equipment in telecommunication industry, and surge in demand for AC fast charger, LiDAR, and wireless power drive the segment growth. Enquire for Customization with Detailed Analysis of COVID-19 Impact in Report @ https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/1785?reqfor=covid Asia-Pacific, followed by North America, to rule the Roost Throughout 2027- Based on region, Asia-Pacific, followed by North America, held largest market share, accounting for nearly half of the global power electronics market in 2019, and will maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. Furthermore, this region is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 6.7% from 2020 to 2027. The availability of huge power stations for high voltage power, increase in demand for power modules, and surge in population drive the market in this region. Leading Market Players Mitsubishi STMicroelectronics Rockwell Automation Toshiba Corporation Texas Instruments Incorporated Fuji Electric Co ABB Group Microsemi Corporation Infineon Technologies AG Renesas Electronics Corporation Similar Reports: Active Optical Cable Market Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) Market Power Electronics for Electric Vehicle Market Pre-Book Now with 10% Discount: Power Module Packaging Market Global Opportunities and Forecasts, 2021-2030 High Voltage Amplifiers Market- Global Opportunities and Forecasts, 2021-2030 About us: Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain. We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry. Contact us: David Correa 5933 NE Win Sivers Drive #205, Portland, OR 97220 United States Toll Free: 1-800-792-5285 UK: +44-845-528-1300 Hong Kong: +852-301-84916 India (Pune): +91-20-66346060 Fax: +1-855-550-5975 [email protected] Web: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com Follow us on: LinkedIn Twitter SOURCE Allied Market Research DUBLIN, Ohio, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantum Health, the industry-leading healthcare navigation and care coordination company, announced that Veronica Knuth has been appointed to the newly created position of chief people officer. Knuth brings extensive human resources leadership experience and deep expertise with high-growth companies and teams. As chief people officer, she will drive the Quantum Health dynamic, people-first culture that fuels its continuing growth. Quantum Health, the industry-leading healthcare navigation and care coordination company, announced that Veronica Knuth has been appointed to the newly created position of chief people officer. "Our company is built on a foundation of partnership with and empathy and support for our team members," said Zane Burke, CEO of Quantum Health. "With the addition of Veronica as chief people officer, we are doubling down on this commitment. Veronica brings a strong track record of successfully scaling dynamic, growing workforces and inspiring supportive cultures to meet changing needs. With her expertise, we will continue to leverage our talented teams to meet our strategic goals." In her new role, Knuth will expand on growth and development strategies for more than 1,600 Quantum Health employees who support thousands of consumers navigating complex and challenging healthcare experiences every day. Knuth comes to Quantum Health with more than 20 years of human resources leadership experience and a passion for employee development, diversity, and community engagement. Most recently, Knuth was vice president of human resources at CoverMyMeds, where she grew the team more than 165% while also scaling strong engagement and development. Prior to that, she served as vice president of human resources at L Brands, where she worked with fast-paced, high-profile brands, including Victoria's Secret. "Something magical happens when a company puts its employees first," said Knuth. "Quantum Health is continually investing in its people and culture. To be named a Best Place to Work for 15 years, while simultaneously supporting double-digit annual growth, is impressive. I am excited to join this leadership team and build on that incredibly strong foundation. Together, we will continue to nurture our growing teams and position Quantum Health for a strong and successful future." Knuth believes in the importance of giving back to the community and is deeply involved in the Columbus area. She serves on the Columbus Women's Commission, the Ohio State's Fisher Leadership Initiative Council of Corporate Advisors, and OneColumbus Leadership Circle, among others. Knuth earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Ohio University. About Quantum Health Quantum Health is the industry-leading consumer healthcare navigation and care coordination company that delivers an unparalleled consumer experience to its members and validated claims savings and high satisfaction rates for its self-insured employer clients. Quantum Health's proprietary Real-Time Intercept model identifies opportunities for early intervention in a member's healthcare journey, resulting in better engagement, outcomes, and cost-efficiencies. The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Dublin, Ohio. Since its inception, Quantum Health has earned numerous awards and honors, including being named among the Fastest-Growing Private Companies by Inc. 5000, and a Great Place to Work by FORTUNE Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine. The Women Presidents' Organization has ranked Quantum Health as one of the 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies, and Columbus Business First has honored Quantum Health as a Best Place to Work. To learn more about the company, visit quantum-health.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Media Contact: Susan Simkins Quantum Health, Corporate Communications [email protected] 800-257-2038 x 13494 SOURCE Quantum Health BOZEMAN, Mont. and NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quiq , the AI-powered conversational platform that enables enterprises to engage with customers across the most popular asynchronous messaging channels, today announced the addition of Instagram and WhatsApp , two of the world's premier social media and messaging channels. Built to deliver a consistent customer experience across every customer interaction on any messaging channel, the new channels put brands who use Quiq at the forefront of superior customer experience. Quiq's support for Instagram and WhatsApp gives e-commerce and customer care leaders the tools they need to leverage two very popular channels without demanding a significant investment for training or staffing making the move to these channels both strategic and cost effective for brands. Instagram and WhatsApp are social media and messaging powerhouses, with Instagram alone reaching 126.3 million users . As more consumers expect to be able to interact with their favorite brands on Instagram and WhatsApp, Quiq gives brands an opportunity to leverage these channels as key sales and service tools at enterprise scale. Quiq's Conversational AI provides brands with tremendous efficiency in the management of inbound inquiries and empowers them to drive sales and resolve service inquiries through automation. If a customer's inquiry is unique, Quiq's Next Gen Asynchronous Contact Center seamlessly passes interactions to human agents who efficiently handle many customers at once in Quiq's platform. As consumer buying habits become increasingly digital, the most successful brands will upgrade their online customer experience to be more personalized and conversational on Instagram and WhatsApp, providing the same level of service that previously was associated with in-store experiences. Quiq enables brands to support the full conversational commerce journey from offers to personalized assistance to payments. For example, an online travel agent could promote a trip through an Instagram Story with the call to action leading to a conversational interaction with a chatbot to help narrow down trip preferences followed by a human agent to confirm booking and collect payment. By using Quiq's CRM integration with Salesforce, Zendesk, Microsoft and Oracle, brands are able to utilize existing processes and customer data while modernizing the ways they communicate with their customers. Phone agents working in a CRM can easily transition to serve customers on Instagram and WhatsApp in Quiq embedded in their CRM while continuing to use their existing workflow. "Many consumer brands have already modernized their customer interactions with Quiq's Conversational Platform, but the popularity of Instagram and WhatsApp open up a whole set of possibilities for our clients. I can't wait to see what conversational journeys they build!" said Mike Myer, CEO and co-founder of Quiq. According to a recent report by Forrester "while 69% of US online adults use messaging to communicate with family and friends daily, just 41% do so with brands." Quiq's support for Instagram and WhatsApp helps bridge that gap by enabling brands to safely and securely reach more customers. Quiq also supports customer conversations on SMS/text messaging, Apple Business Chat , Google Business Messages , webchat, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and more in 170+ languages. Contact [email protected] to schedule a product demo or learn more at https://www.quiq.com . Register and join a webinar this Thursday, January 27 at 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT to learn more about the Instagram and WhatsApp integrations. About Quiq Quiq is the AI-powered Conversational Platform enabling businesses to engage with customers across the most popular digital messaging channels. Trusted by leading brands and boasting a 56 NPS score, Quiq's enterprise-grade Conversational Platform supports SMS/text, Apple Business Chat, Google's Business Messages, webchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, call-to-text, and more. Quiq provides the leading solutions for business communications for the world's best commerce and care teams. Quiq for Commerce and Quiq for Customer Care combine Conversational AI and digital contact center to help commerce and service teams increase efficiency, drive revenue, and improve customer satisfaction. Headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, with an office in New York City, Quiq is a privately held company backed by Foundry Group, Venrock and Next Frontier Capital. Follow us on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook and Instagram , or learn more at https://www.quiq.com . All trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. SOURCE Quiq NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Reimagine Care, an innovative provider of technology-enabled services that supports oncologists in delivering high-quality, home-centered, value-based cancer care, today announced it has completed a $25 million capital raise led by Sante Ventures, Martin Ventures, and LRVHealth. The funding will be leveraged to further develop and commercialize the company's first-of-its kind technology-enabled services platform, launch the virtual care center, and expand the patient care team. Several strategic investors joined the financing round including the CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, a strategic healthcare fund affiliated with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; City of Hope, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network; McKesson Ventures; and Sable Investments. "The potential for home-centered cancer care has been obvious for some time, but Reimagine Care is the first company to fully take on this important clinical and business imperative," said Doug French, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sante Ventures, who formerly served as President and CEO of Ascension Health, as well as Founder of Ascension Ventures. "This critical shift is now happening and it's quickly becoming a key indicator of which health systems will lead the new path forward for cancer care and which slow movers will struggle to compete with early adopters who are no longer facilities-bound." The Series A Funding comes as costs for cancer care continue to rise significantly, making up a large and rapidly growing portion of commercial and Medicare costs. In 2020, the total cost of cancer care in the U.S. was $175 billion, and over 1.8 million patients were newly diagnosed with the disease. Those costs are projected to rise to $246 billion by 2030. These cost concerns are elevated by the shift towards delivering more patient-centered care and accommodating patients' increasing interests in home care options. According to a recent survey, 95 percent of patients preferred receiving chemotherapy and supportive cancer treatments at home as opposed to facility-based care. According to Devin Carty, CEO of Martin Ventures and Co-founder of Reimagine Care, the high cost of care isn't the only challenge. "Companies are simply tinkering around the edges of care transformation unless they address healthcare's fundamental design flaw and align providing an exceptional patient experience with achieving lower costs and better outcomes. This isn't an easy problem to solve but Reimagine Care is different in its holistic, tech-driven approach. By partnering with health systems, physician practices, and health plans, Reimagine Care can redesign and reinvent cancer care for the benefit of patients while also financially rewarding providers for delivering high-quality cancer care, in safe and convenient settings, which can include the home." Recent surveys have confirmed not only that patients would prefer to receive cancer care at home, but also that a growing number of health systems support providing home-centered treatment options. A recent survey of healthcare executives found that 66 percent of executives agree that that home-centered oncology care is gaining traction and represents a real opportunity for growth. Even more significantly, 60 percent of surveyed executives expressed concern that their organizations may fall behind if they don't make the shift to home-centered cancer care in the very near future. "We're honored to partner with these experienced financial and strategic investors who share our belief that the time is now to move away from the status quo way of delivering cancer care which hasn't adapted to a virtual, digital world and move towards providing a better experience for the millions of patients who deal with this horrible disease each year," said Aaron Gerber, MD, Co-founder and CEO of Reimagine Care. "We're eager to accelerate the commercialization of our tech-enabled services platform to help health systems to provide high-quality, home-centered care, increase profitability, and enhance the patient experience while also differentiating themselves from competitors who fail to take this important leap forward." Kimberly Muller, Executive Director of CU Innovations echoes these sentiments. "The pandemic has been a catalyst for a shift that was already happening as more healthcare moves into the home and patients and health systems seek out strategies that improve the patient experience while also improving costs and outcomes. We're excited to help Reimagine Care to bring home-centered cancer care to patients and help health systems to see that innovation can make this seemingly daunting change both possible and inevitable," she said. With the Series A funding round, French will continue to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Reimagine Care, alongside board members Gerber, Carty and Keith Figlioli, Partner at LRVHealth. Harlan Levine, MD, President of Strategy and Business Ventures at City of Hope will also be joining the Board of Directors. About Reimagine Care Reimagine Care provides technology-enabled services to support health systems and oncologists in delivering high-quality, home-centered, value-based cancer care. The company's holistic approach addresses the clinical, operational and financial challenges in healthcare today that make it challenging for healthcare providers to make the transition to home-centered, value-based care and empower them to innovate and deliver these important, much-needed services for their patients at scale. Please visit https://www.reimaginecare.com/ to learn more. Media Contact: Lisa Chernikoff Canton & Company for Reimagine Care [email protected] (734) 678-5513 SOURCE Reimagine Care LILONGWE, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has declared state of disaster over 15 districts in the southern and central regions of the country following deaths, loss of property and displacement of thousands of households due to floods and heavy rains. Chakwera's declaration follows preliminary reports on the impact of the heavy rains and floods that were induced by Tropical Cyclone Ana, which passed over Malawi Tuesday. As of Wednesday, at least 19 deaths were confirmed by authorities while over 100 people were reported to have sustained serious injuries in 15 districts. According to the Department of Disaster Management Affairs, DoDMA, over 200,000 people from 48,000 households have been affected and some have been displaced. The Malawi leaders expressed shock over the death toll and loss of property and infrastructure and he appealed for humanitarian support. "I declare all the districts that have been affected by the floods, Disaster Areas, with effect from 26th of January, 2022; I fully appreciate all previous assistance Malawi has received when affected by disasters," said Chakwera in a statement released Thursday through Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Zangazanga Chikhosi. "However, I appeal for humanitarian assistance from the International donor community, relevant United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, the local private sector as well as all fellow citizens of goodwill so that, together, we can contribute in alleviating suffering on the part of people affected by the floods. Tents for shelter, food and non-food items are urgently required," he said. Chakwera has also highlighted rescue operations as priority to complement efforts by the country's security agencies that are already on the ground. Meanwhile, the Malawi Defense Force (MDF), Malawi Police Service (MPS), Department of Marine and Malawi Red Cross Society are conducting surveillance and rescuing people trapped by floods in the Lower Shire, where the disaster has been more severe. The floods have affected all the southern region's 13 districts. The country remains in intermittent power supply as power generation has been heavily reduced due to the damage that the floods have caused to key hydro station. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Restoration Builders, Inc. ("Restoration Builders" or "The Company") today announced that Michael Flores has been promoted to Chief Operations Officer of its residential business. Michael Flores is a respected roofing industry professional who brings over two decades of sales management, business development and entrepreneurial experience to his new position. He founded a highly successful roofing restoration business in the greater Chicago area. He strove to create a company which operated with integrity one that homeowners and employees alike could trust and count on. The company rapidly grew to about 100 employees and contractors, and generated over $20 Million in annual revenue. Mr. Flores joined Restoration Builders in 2019 and most recently served as Central Regional Director. While building the roofing business, Mr. Flores saw a need for workers who wanted to further their careers in the industry. He founded a school to assist workers in passing the state roofing exam. The business has helped over 1400 students pass the state examination and earn their license. He saw the same need for workers who wanted to enter the insurance adjustment field. He founded a school which has helped over 1,000 students pass the state public adjustor examination and earn their license. "I am very proud to welcome Mike into the position of Chief Operations Officer for our residential business. Mike's vision, dedication to excellence, and collaborative approach to operations aligns perfectly with our culture and growth initiatives," said John Lorenz, Chairman and CEO of Restoration Builders. "Mike is a steady leader, with tremendous ability to motivate, energize and mentor each member of our team. He is one of the hardest working people I know, and he will bring ideas and perspectives that will help The Company continue to thrive, as we move forward on our very aggressive plan for growth." About Restoration Builders is the Nations' largest residential roofing contractor, founded in 2017 to meet explosive growth demands in the $210B+ insurance restoration industry. We are committed locally and prepared to serve wide scale for disaster response. The Company has 32 strategically located operations and is creating a multi-channel sales platform that includes a traditional in-home consultation, digital consultation, and commercial services. Our mission is to protect, restore, and build properties, strengthen families and support our communities. For Further Information: Janet Carnell Lorenz Market Tactics [email protected] (425) 620-1800 SOURCE Restoration Builders, Inc. "Rising Phoenix has the ability to purchase royalties ranging in size from $50k to $10mm", continued Graham. "Our team of mineral advisors give each client the same level of respect, expertise, and due diligence whether they're selling thousands of royalty acres or just a few." Ovintiv Inc., one of North America's largest producers of natural gas, oil, and condensate, has a high-quality multi-basin portfolio with core assets in the Montney, Anadarko, and Permian basins. The company's culture, based on efficiency and innovation, amplifies shareholder value, enhances its economic performance, and fortifies its pledge to sustainability in the communities where its employees work and live. The RPR royalty acquisition process begins with a comprehensive reservoir analysis done by a third party geological engineering company with extensive experience in all US Basins. The third party research provides royalty owners transparency and peace of mind knowing the valuation information used to formulate the offer price. RPR clients sell their royalty assets for many life event related reasons like investment portfolio diversification, estate liquidation, immediate financial need, optimizing tax benefits, funding retirement, and estate planning. Rising Phoenix Royalties offers free royalty interest evaluations. Contact our team today at (214) 949-4928 or [email protected] Rising Phoenix Royalties also welcomes mineral asset purchase partnerships with other royalty acquisition companies. Contact our team at 214-949-4928 or email [email protected] for more information. About Rising Phoenix Royalties Rising Phoenix Royalties, Dallas, TX, is a privately held independent mineral and royalty interest acquisition company built on four generations of oil and gas industry expertise. Since 2009, RPR has successfully identified, evaluated, acquired, and managed incoming producing properties of over $140 million in mineral and royalty assets in oil and gas basins nationwide. Learn more at www.risingphoenixroyalties.com. Rising Phoenix Royalties (214) 949-4928 [email protected] Join RPR on Facebook and LinkedIn . Contact: Zach Sodolak Marketing Rising Phoenix Royalties 972-997-5350 [email protected] SOURCE Rising Phoenix Royalties Trading Symbol TSX: SVM NYSE American: SVM VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Silvercorp Metals Inc. ("Silvercorp" or the "Company") (TSX: SVM) (NYSE American: SVM) is pleased to report additional high-grade intercepts from its 2021 exploration program at the TLP mine. Extensive exploration drilling and tunneling are ongoing at the TLP mine and all other mines in the Ying Mining District, Henan Province, China. From June 1 to December 31, 2021, 43,573 metres ("m") from a total of 276 diamond drill holes, including 218 underground holes and 58 surface holes, were completed at the TLP mine. Assay results for 270 holes have been received, with 202 holes intercepting mineralization. The Company also received assay results for 35 holes pending from the previous drilling program at the TLP mine from October 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021 disclosed in the Company's news release dated June 1, 2021. Currently, there are 13 rigs drilling at the TLP mine. The strategy of the drilling program is fourfold: 1) drill above or beneath the stopes that were previously mined but stopped due to more variation in grades, thickness and attitudes of the vein structures than previously modeled to easily obtain ore; 2) drill for high-grade silver-lead-zinc veins within the resource area; 3) drill for silver-lead-zinc veins in the resource area at higher elevations near the surface where there are limited drill holes from previous drilling programs; and 4) drill for high-grade silver-lead-zinc veins at the northwest side of the resource area to expand the resources. Drilling Above or Beneath Previously Mined Stopes Most holes drilled during the period targeted blocks of known silver-lead-zinc veins in production areas that were previously missed due to limited drilling or tunneling, changes in the strikes and dips, and/or pinch-swelling of the pay-zones in the veins. The high-grade intercepts are mainly associated with the southwest-striking T15 series, T16 series, T17W, T11, T20, T21, T30, T3 series, T4 series, T5 series, T1, and T2, and the north-northwest-striking T14 series, T22, T28, and T31 series. Drilling discovered additional splay and parallel vein structures T16E3, T4E, T4W, T5E2, and T5a. This drilling has resulted in a significant amount of upgraded resources for near-term mine planning and production. Since access tunnels are already in place, the upgraded high-grade resource blocks can quickly be converted to reserves and mined. Highlights of the high-grade intercepts at the TLP mine: Underground h ole ZKG0712 intersected a 1.36 m interval ( 1.03 m true width) of vein T11 grading 2,042 grams per tonne ("g/t") silver ("Ag"), 36.86% lead ("Pb"), 6.73% zinc ("Zn"), 0.43 g/t gold ("Au"), and 0.83% copper ("Cu") from 211.32 m depth, at an elevation of 632 m ; intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T11 grading 2,042 grams per tonne ("g/t") silver ("Ag"), 36.86% lead ("Pb"), 6.73% zinc ("Zn"), 0.43 g/t gold ("Au"), and 0.83% copper ("Cu") from depth, at an elevation of ; Underground hole ZKG4T1601 intersected a 4.03 m interval ( 2.27 m true width) of vein T16 grading 1,003 g/t Ag, 8.93% Pb, 0.83% Zn, 0.16 g/t Au, and 0.10% Cu from 79.56 m depth, at an elevation of 762 m ; intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T16 grading 1,003 g/t Ag, 8.93% Pb, 0.83% Zn, 0.16 g/t Au, and 0.10% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; Underground hole ZKG0305 intersected a 1.11 m interval ( 1.11 m true width) of vein T15W grading 1,597 g/t Ag, 14.71% Pb, 0.39% Zn, 0.08 g/t Au, and 0.41% Cu from 44.89 m depth, at an elevation of 782 m ; intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T15W grading 1,597 g/t Ag, 14.71% Pb, 0.39% Zn, 0.08 g/t Au, and 0.41% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; Underground hole ZKT0210 intersected a 3.59 m interval ( 3.57 m true width) of vein T3 grading 581 g/t Ag, 8.83% Pb, 0.63% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.05% Cu from 250.35 m depth, at an elevation of 787 m ; and intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T3 grading 581 g/t Ag, 8.83% Pb, 0.63% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.05% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; and Underground hole ZKG0832 intersected a 1.40 m interval ( 0.95 m true width) of vein T15W grading 994 g/t Ag, 29.33% Pb, 0.77% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.11% Cu from 70.64 m depth, at an elevation of 810 m . Drilling Silver-Lead-Zinc Veins within the Resource Area Intersected Unexpected High-Grade Gold Veins Drilling intersected two types of gold mineralization in gold-silver-lead-zinc veins and gold veins, respectively. The former is thought to be formed by gold mineralization in the vein structures which was then overprinted by silver-lead-zinc mineralization with quartz-sericite alteration. Most of this type of gold mineralization occurs at elevations between 700 m and 760 m. The latter mineralization is predominantly composed of gold with no or low silver-lead-zinc mineralization in shear structures associated with quartz-ankerite alteration at higher elevations above 830 m. Highlights of the high-grade gold and gold-silver-lead-zinc intercepts within the TLP resource area: Surface hole ZKTDB3504 intersected a 1.46 m interval (true width unknown) of an unknown gold vein grading 8 g/t Ag, 0.02% Pb, 0.02% Zn, 13.96 g/t Au, and 0.01% Cu from 91.12 m depth, at an elevation of 909 m ; intersected a interval (true width unknown) of an unknown gold vein grading 8 g/t Ag, 0.02% Pb, 0.02% Zn, 13.96 g/t Au, and 0.01% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; Underground hole ZKT0016 intersected a 1.01 m interval ( 0.79 m true width) of gold vein T1W grading 12 g/t Ag, 0.12% Pb, 0.02% Zn, 13.91 g/t Au, and 0.01% Cu from 95.26 m depth, at an elevation of 861 m ; intersected a interval ( true width) of gold vein T1W grading 12 g/t Ag, 0.12% Pb, 0.02% Zn, 13.91 g/t Au, and 0.01% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; Underground hole ZKT1124 intersected a 2.04 m interval ( 1.70 m true width) of vein T2 grading 281 g/t Ag, 3.32% Pb, 0.52% Zn, 6.83 g/t Au, and 0.59% Cu from 56.78 m depth, at an elevation of 749 m ; and intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T2 grading 281 g/t Ag, 3.32% Pb, 0.52% Zn, 6.83 g/t Au, and 0.59% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; and Underground hole ZKT1351 intersected a 1.31 m interval ( 0.88 m true width) of vein T1W1 grading 7 g/t Ag, 0.02% Pb, 0.03% Zn, 6.09 g/t Au, and 0.01% Cu from 97.95 m depth, at an elevation of 836 m . Near Surface Silver-Lead-Zinc Veins Intersected by Surface and Underground Drilling within the TLP Resource Area Surface and underground diamond drilling tested certain blocks near the surface in the central and northeast parts of the TLP resource area, and intersected high-grade silver-lead-zinc veins T1, T2, T3 series, T4, T5, and T20. The surface holes also intersected thick mineralization in T2 and T3. Surface hole ZKTDB0605, for instance, intersected vein T3 with a true width of 7.44 m. The purpose of this drilling is to extend the resources to higher elevations within the current resource area. The aforementioned drilling also discovered T5E2, a splay and parallel vein to T5. Highlights of the high-grade/thick silver-lead-zinc intercepts near surface at the TLP mine: Surface hole ZKTDB2001 intersected a 0.87 m interval ( 0.82 m true width) of vein T3 grading 2,871 g/t Ag, 2.47% Pb, 0.79% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 1.63% Cu from 157.40 m depth, at an elevation of 1,027 m ; intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T3 grading 2,871 g/t Ag, 2.47% Pb, 0.79% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 1.63% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; Surface hole ZKTDB0608 intersected a 3.38 m interval ( 1.42 m true width) of vein T2W2 grading 1,052 g/t Ag, 4.38% Pb, 0.14% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.10% Cu from 164.11 m depth, at an elevation of 1,075 m ; intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T2W2 grading 1,052 g/t Ag, 4.38% Pb, 0.14% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.10% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; Surface hole ZKTDB0605 intersected a 9.45 m interval ( 7.44 m true width) of vein T3 grading 168 g/t Ag, 1.41% Pb, 0.18% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.02% Cu from 25.96 m depth, at an elevation of 1,144 m ; intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T3 grading 168 g/t Ag, 1.41% Pb, 0.18% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.02% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; Surface hole ZKTDB0601 intersected a 7.23 m interval ( 6.81 m true width) of vein T2 grading 133 g/t Ag, 2.63% Pb, 0.11% Zn, 0.02 g/t Au, and 0.01% Cu from 19.16 m depth, at an elevation of 1,151 m ; and intersected a interval ( true width) of vein T2 grading 133 g/t Ag, 2.63% Pb, 0.11% Zn, 0.02 g/t Au, and 0.01% Cu from depth, at an elevation of ; and Underground hole ZKT0442 intersected a 29.93 m interval ( 24.51 m true width) of vein T1W1 grading 104 g/t Ag, 1.35% Pb, 0.27% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.02% Cu from 26.72 m depth, at an elevation of 862 m . Drilling Intersected High-Grade Silver-Lead-Zinc Veins at the Northwest Side of the Resource Area At the northwest side of the resource area, drilling intersected high-grade silver-lead-zinc vein T33, and its parallel vein T33W3. This drilling is to support the Company's strategy to expand the resources laterally. Table 1: Assay results for 146 drill holes from the TLP mine Hold ID From (m) To (m) Elevation (m) Interval (m) True Width (m) Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) Au (g/t) Cu (%) Vein ZKG0129 66.86 67.74 925 0.88 0.87 405 2.12 1.84 0.03 0.03 T16E ZKG0302 85.58 88.70 730 3.12 2.30 235 2.34 0.28 0.08 0.04 T11 ZKG0303 62.11 62.89 779 0.78 0.72 190 0.49 0.08 0.12 0.02 T11 ZKG0305 44.89 46.00 782 1.11 1.11 1,597 14.71 0.39 0.08 0.41 T15W ZKG0316 100.52 102.76 710 2.24 1.78 337 4.06 1.29 0.27 0.11 T11 ZKG0316 112.42 113.05 699 0.63 0.47 486 0.54 0.09 0.53 0.03 T11E1 ZKG0316 112.42 113.05 699 0.63 0.47 486 0.54 0.09 0.53 0.03 T11E1 ZKG0317 62.54 64.03 752 1.49 1.37 164 1.74 0.26 0.05 0.05 T15W ZKG0334 173.55 174.22 629 0.67 0.66 1,608 8.25 1.41 0.11 0.08 T16 ZKG0335 248.22 249.14 619 0.92 0.70 240 15.94 1.12 0.04 0.16 T15W ZKG0337 285.40 286.16 563 0.76 0.62 75 5.92 0.14 0.02 0.14 T14E ZKG0339 40.05 41.35 623 1.30 1.09 444 0.16 0.09 0.37 0.01 T17W ZKG0341 34.57 35.21 629 0.64 0.56 154 0.45 0.26 0.03 0.02 T17W ZKG0341 110.44 111.18 582 0.74 0.62 81 1.87 0.12 0.27 0.04 T14 ZKG0342 41.58 42.10 624 0.52 0.42 2,369 2.54 1.36 3.37 0.09 T17W ZKG0346 80.47 81.58 610 1.11 0.96 51 2.12 0.14 0.05 0.05 T15W4 ZKG0702 202.87 203.58 635 0.71 0.66 130 8.39 0.94 0.53 0.18 T11 ZKG0703 18.03 19.54 780 1.51 1.50 216 2.08 0.73 0.07 0.02 T16 ZKG0706 164.75 165.27 680 0.52 0.50 126 2.90 0.44 0.10 0.06 T14E ZKG0712 211.32 212.68 632 1.36 1.03 2,042 36.86 6.73 0.43 0.83 T11 ZKG0813 49.46 50.76 789 1.30 1.00 240 1.38 0.58 0.05 0.08 T11 ZKG0715 170.81 171.47 723 0.66 0.53 641 1.51 0.97 0.72 0.10 T11 ZKG0814 35.87 37.12 791 1.25 1.14 154 1.86 0.20 0.05 0.03 T15 ZKG0814 52.19 52.89 787 0.70 0.65 187 0.09 0.05 0.05 0.02 T11 ZKG0828 112.88 113.49 956 0.61 0.33 934 7.81 0.82 0.02 0.33 T4 ZKG0830 86.63 88.33 956 1.70 1.18 328 1.89 0.06 0.05 0.07 T5 ZKG0832 70.64 72.04 810 1.40 0.95 994 29.33 0.77 0.05 0.11 T15W ZKG0833 13.79 14.72 827 0.93 0.72 40 3.24 0.71 0.03 0.01 T11 ZKG0833 78.14 79.18 812 1.04 0.75 695 10.91 1.09 0.03 0.12 T15W3 ZKG0841 24.32 24.86 830 0.54 0.54 308 1.59 0.44 0.05 0.01 T16E3 [1] ZKG0841 88.09 88.63 807 0.54 0.54 100 2.38 0.34 0.05 0.01 T14E ZKG0843 44.97 49.65 823 4.68 4.67 264 3.34 0.16 0.05 0.05 T16E2 ZKG0843 53.68 54.63 820 0.95 0.93 118 0.74 0.08 0.05 0.02 T15W1 ZKG0843 83.02 83.97 809 0.95 0.94 151 0.78 0.30 0.05 0.02 T14E ZKG0845 47.95 48.49 825 0.54 0.53 591 1.10 0.48 0.02 0.06 T15W1 ZKG0943 167.89 169.91 681 2.02 0.41 244 8.54 0.64 0.32 0.09 T14E ZKG0944 172.45 173.04 680 0.59 0.56 87 10.48 1.17 0.12 0.05 T14E ZKG1017 3.46 4.54 955 1.08 0.68 331 0.51 0.35 0.05 0.05 T16E ZKG1018 7.71 8.67 955 0.96 0.96 660 1.24 0.32 0.05 0.05 T16E ZKG1018 57.29 57.91 946 0.62 0.61 171 1.63 0.20 0.05 0.04 T16 ZKG1019 18.36 19.06 954 0.70 0.56 2,744 4.50 0.95 0.03 0.27 T16E ZKG1020 1.86 2.45 955 0.59 0.53 233 0.50 0.63 0.02 0.05 T16E1 ZKG1020 86.85 88.58 915 1.73 1.64 133 1.43 0.23 0.02 0.04 T15W ZKG1021 2.49 3.18 954 0.69 0.67 841 4.07 1.70 0.03 0.14 T16E1 ZKG1021 82.88 83.53 915 0.65 0.65 659 6.69 0.42 0.03 0.04 T15W3 ZKG1416 78.17 79.37 914 1.20 0.96 65 1.77 0.23 0.05 0.02 T15W ZKG1417 75.43 76.89 930 1.46 1.12 459 0.66 0.08 0.14 0.13 T15W ZKG1417 141.45 142.13 906 0.68 0.51 172 1.12 0.62 0.05 0.01 T11E ZKG1425 116.03 117.06 948 1.03 0.53 53 5.60 0.14 0.03 0.01 T15 ZKG1805 13.32 15.06 833 1.74 1.00 118 0.85 0.10 0.05 0.03 T11E4 ZKG1805 202.36 203.05 787 0.69 0.40 172 2.04 0.75 0.05 0.04 T17 ZKG1805 281.67 282.46 768 0.79 0.70 139 0.81 0.32 0.05 0.05 T22Ea ZKG1806 285.68 287.26 715 1.58 0.81 1,898 8.02 2.19 0.05 0.49 T22E ZKG1806 292.38 293.54 712 1.16 1.03 108 2.28 0.27 0.02 0.02 T22E1 ZKG1807 243.27 243.89 773 0.62 0.62 108 1.28 0.43 0.03 0.25 T16 ZKG4T1601 79.56 83.59 762 4.03 2.27 1,003 8.93 0.83 0.16 0.10 T16 incl 80.28 81.54 761 1.26 0.71 2,631 20.80 1.89 0.36 0.26 T16 ZKT0015 65.82 67.35 872 1.53 1.08 77 1.89 0.10 0.07 0.02 T3 ZKT0015 71.25 72.64 870 1.39 0.98 949 0.61 0.17 0.04 0.05 T22 ZKT0016 95.26 96.27 861 1.01 0.79 12 0.12 0.02 13.91 0.01 T1W ZKT0210 77.67 78.45 860 0.78 0.77 725 0.47 0.10 0.33 0.17 T1W1 ZKT0210 250.35 253.94 787 3.59 3.57 581 8.83 0.63 0.05 0.05 T3 ZKT0336 49.08 50.63 1,010 1.55 1.54 108 1.05 0.13 0.05 0.03 T3E ZKT0344 57.18 61.17 981 3.99 0.63 130 0.87 0.05 0.03 0.02 T3E ZKT0424 98.15 99.82 805 1.67 1.32 67 1.72 0.18 0.03 0.16 T1W1 ZKT0427 141.82 142.41 916 0.59 0.51 1,794 0.19 0.06 0.13 0.28 T33 ZKT0431 3.94 4.85 891 0.91 0.85 88 1.02 0.08 0.03 0.01 T23 ZKT0433 36.77 37.67 873 0.90 0.86 134 0.96 0.41 0.05 0.02 T23a ZKT0433 122.92 125.61 829 2.69 2.05 174 0.76 0.47 0.08 0.07 T26 ZKT0442 26.72 56.65 862 29.93 24.51 104 1.35 0.27 0.05 0.02 T1W1 ZKT0443 0.00 2.01 898 2.01 0.49 183 0.72 0.16 0.05 0.03 T28 ZKT04T2801 141.74 143.47 878 1.73 1.72 751 3.36 0.40 0.07 0.25 T28 ZKT04T2802 137.53 138.50 864 0.97 0.73 41 2.80 0.26 0.05 0.01 T28 ZKT04T2803 127.27 128.40 876 1.13 0.85 90 1.35 0.08 0.03 0.04 T1W1 ZKT0811 2.74 3.68 897 0.94 0.88 141 0.12 0.25 0.05 0.02 T1W1 ZKT09C10 199.23 199.74 898 0.51 0.45 393 0.75 0.04 0.02 0.07 T35E1 ZKT1103 97.07 99.09 746 2.02 1.84 154 5.95 0.91 0.27 0.42 T3E incl 97.07 97.58 746 0.51 0.46 467 18.46 3.25 0.88 1.34 T3E ZKT1104 60.32 61.50 751 1.18 1.09 267 0.34 0.13 0.05 0.01 T2 ZKT1107 53.00 59.13 740 6.13 5.69 51 3.75 0.26 0.92 0.56 T2 incl 55.66 56.34 739 0.68 0.63 128 17.94 0.73 4.96 2.01 T2 ZKT1108 59.36 61.67 754 2.31 1.71 153 3.77 0.29 0.65 0.48 T2 ZKT1108 82.28 84.34 752 2.06 1.55 57 16.77 0.10 0.08 0.06 T3 ZKT1108 86.96 88.34 752 1.38 1.04 38 4.26 0.17 0.10 0.19 T3E ZKT1108 112.81 114.02 749 1.21 0.72 287 21.83 0.61 0.99 0.22 T4 ZKT1109 61.36 62.79 773 1.43 0.97 28 2.26 0.08 0.10 0.50 T2 ZKT1110 57.79 59.42 738 1.63 1.40 62 1.18 0.08 0.11 0.75 T2 ZKT1111 68.23 70.58 736 2.35 1.75 89 4.52 0.27 0.43 0.91 T2 ZKT1111 97.17 99.98 727 2.81 2.09 351 7.42 1.90 0.60 0.73 T3E ZKT1111 139.15 140.05 712 0.90 0.66 318 33.03 1.11 0.05 2.19 T5 ZKT1112 44.52 45.50 762 0.98 0.79 178 0.86 0.03 0.70 0.03 T2W ZKT1113 50.36 52.22 735 1.86 1.50 22 3.21 0.07 0.12 0.32 T2 ZKT1113 96.54 97.74 713 1.20 0.97 68 0.08 0.12 0.13 1.43 T3E ZKT1114 89.63 92.52 697 2.89 2.52 56 0.94 0.08 0.46 1.56 T3 ZKT1114 99.92 101.25 691 1.33 1.12 33 6.77 0.75 0.10 0.20 T3E ZKT1122 73.53 74.54 698 1.01 0.85 81 1.28 0.09 0.19 0.98 T2 ZKT1123 95.68 96.79 671 1.11 0.83 25 3.04 0.03 0.21 0.14 T2 ZKT1124 56.78 58.82 749 2.04 1.70 281 3.32 0.52 6.83 0.59 T2 ZKT1124 87.99 88.50 744 0.51 0.42 400 4.05 0.45 0.51 0.13 T3 ZKT1124 93.98 94.89 743 0.91 0.78 64 1.61 0.19 0.10 0.05 T3E ZKT1125 80.24 101.56 730 21.32 13.48 92 1.62 0.64 0.47 0.47 T3 ZKT1309 115.54 116.44 730 0.90 0.86 332 0.39 0.05 0.12 0.03 T2W ZKT1309 130.89 135.14 723 4.25 4.06 126 3.67 0.45 0.32 0.66 T2 incl 131.72 132.76 725 1.04 0.99 814 10.47 0.15 2.41 2.04 T2 ZKT1310 137.12 140.82 724 3.70 3.44 285 6.77 1.07 0.41 0.90 T2 incl 138.96 140.82 724 1.86 1.73 515 12.66 1.90 0.69 1.73 T2 ZKT1310 169.66 170.54 716 0.88 0.82 93 0.95 0.12 0.05 0.03 T4 ZKT1311 141.70 143.34 728 1.64 1.58 172 1.91 0.16 0.48 1.78 T3 ZKT1312 54.90 55.92 742 1.02 1.00 137 0.14 0.28 0.05 0.06 T1 ZKT1312 140.06 142.06 714 2.00 1.60 96 0.65 0.27 0.37 0.60 T3 ZKT1312 169.37 170.91 704 1.54 1.40 58 1.98 0.13 0.08 0.36 T3E ZKT1345 177.09 177.67 803 0.58 0.44 130 2.99 0.05 0.05 0.01 T16 ZKT1346 174.81 175.49 808 0.68 0.55 316 0.57 1.61 0.10 0.03 T16 ZKT1350 87.27 87.87 788 0.60 0.58 160 0.54 0.17 0.03 0.06 T22 ZKT1350 131.91 132.46 780 0.55 0.47 808 1.07 1.27 0.13 0.10 T2W ZKT1351 97.95 99.26 836 1.31 0.88 7 0.02 0.03 6.09 0.01 T1W1 ZKT2102A 139.95 141.31 862 1.36 1.15 281 0.87 0.30 0.03 0.61 T14E ZKT2124 71.74 72.54 820 0.80 0.79 241 2.60 0.18 0.05 0.04 T14 ZKT21T39E01 28.18 28.89 835 0.71 0.57 410 0.65 0.34 0.03 0.12 T38 ZKT2917 152.87 153.41 786 0.54 0.52 640 0.06 0.05 0.05 0.01 T39E2 ZKT2919 184.01 185.72 731 1.71 1.55 180 2.65 0.50 0.07 0.02 T39W ZKT3109 9.32 9.91 797 0.59 0.53 148 1.74 0.08 0.08 0.01 T14E ZKT3109 66.04 66.94 788 0.90 0.85 73 4.44 0.10 0.07 0.10 T21 ZKT3110 27.29 28.18 784 0.89 0.85 29 4.27 0.30 0.03 0.16 T14E ZKT3111 8.69 9.34 797 0.65 0.51 21 14.23 0.63 0.05 0.01 T5 ZKT3112 53.51 54.12 770 0.61 0.40 87 2.33 0.27 0.05 3.45 T21 ZKT3710 29.13 30.64 796 1.51 0.93 105 0.27 0.75 0.69 0.05 T4 ZKT3710 42.45 43.65 795 1.20 0.94 97 1.77 0.22 0.80 0.06 T5 ZKT3712 33.97 34.82 781 0.85 0.59 111 0.19 0.77 0.68 0.02 T30 ZKT3712 79.51 80.27 759 0.76 0.58 71 9.08 0.16 0.21 0.07 T21 ZKT3727 57.25 58.09 768 0.84 0.76 39 3.30 0.11 0.17 0.01 T5 ZKT3727 87.68 88.98 752 1.30 0.87 318 0.93 0.72 4.92 0.09 T21 ZKT3728 25.83 26.43 796 0.60 0.53 298 0.33 0.06 0.14 0.02 T4 ZKT3728 29.79 30.48 796 0.69 0.61 150 0.73 0.20 0.13 0.03 T4E [1] ZKT3728 57.58 59.25 793 1.67 1.55 389 8.98 0.58 0.13 0.03 T5 incl 58.17 59.25 793 1.08 0.89 596 13.23 0.82 0.18 0.04 T5 ZKT3729 0.00 1.08 798 1.08 1.05 323 0.18 0.15 0.10 0.02 N/A [2] ZKT3729 6.54 7.92 795 1.38 1.27 448 0.89 0.86 0.58 0.07 T30 ZKT3729 75.89 79.92 763 4.03 3.92 38 2.19 0.13 0.07 0.02 T21 ZKT3732 0.00 1.68 798 1.68 1.42 389 0.53 0.22 0.10 0.05 T30 ZKT3732 82.75 83.92 741 1.17 0.68 58 2.80 0.17 0.13 0.03 T21 ZKT3733 2.18 2.83 796 0.65 0.61 188 0.27 0.38 0.07 0.03 T30 ZKT3734 34.72 36.55 809 1.83 0.86 108 0.25 0.17 0.99 0.02 T4 ZKT3735 3.90 4.68 798 0.78 0.61 163 0.17 0.38 0.17 0.03 T30 ZKT3736 13.69 16.11 803 2.42 1.33 435 0.31 0.23 0.04 0.01 T4W [1] ZKT3736 43.48 45.01 811 1.53 0.84 164 0.37 0.40 0.92 0.04 T4E ZKT4123 17.16 18.22 741 1.06 0.72 18 6.47 1.05 0.12 0.01 T20 ZKT4123 23.66 24.51 736 0.85 0.58 193 5.47 0.10 1.35 0.22 T3E ZKT4123 51.09 54.44 714 3.35 1.69 27 3.21 0.25 0.21 0.09 T30 ZKT4311 41.66 42.58 737 0.92 0.84 40 4.66 0.26 0.15 0.62 T4 ZKT4313 0.00 4.29 756 4.29 4.06 150 3.25 0.08 0.16 0.13 T2 ZKT4315 5.99 7.07 754 1.08 0.75 70 1.41 0.09 0.20 0.06 T2 ZKT4505 14.56 15.36 752 0.80 0.74 96 2.98 0.06 4.03 0.06 T20 ZKT4505 83.27 84.09 736 0.82 0.60 90 0.66 0.82 0.73 0.04 T5a [1] ZKT4505 87.00 90.95 735 3.95 2.89 45 1.59 0.45 0.77 0.03 T5 ZKT4506 14.60 15.29 745 0.69 0.55 28 7.07 0.03 0.18 0.10 T20 ZKT4506 36.73 38.26 728 1.53 1.21 317 24.24 0.16 0.31 0.91 T3E ZKT4507 0.00 5.55 757 5.55 4.71 114 3.10 0.09 0.12 0.22 T2 ZKT4507 47.23 47.77 766 0.54 0.30 19 0.27 0.09 3.45 0.04 T23W ZKT4507 53.22 57.35 768 4.13 2.31 23 0.37 0.12 2.20 0.02 T1W ZKT4508 1.50 4.79 755 3.29 2.02 51 2.00 0.07 0.10 0.05 T2 ZKT4508 65.17 67.13 737 1.96 0.99 118 4.23 0.05 0.07 0.01 T1W ZKT4518 13.54 14.23 749 0.69 0.65 40 2.33 0.06 0.67 0.05 T20 ZKT4518 41.87 42.79 738 0.92 0.79 16 2.90 0.08 0.04 0.08 T3E ZKT4519 16.30 16.89 755 0.59 0.55 49 3.96 0.61 0.04 0.08 T20 ZKT4519 40.77 41.70 754 0.93 0.65 79 21.48 0.12 0.07 0.06 T31 ZKT4519 81.92 82.67 753 0.75 0.50 87 0.29 0.46 1.32 0.09 T5 ZKT4519 106.80 107.41 752 0.61 0.44 20 9.81 0.14 0.09 0.01 T21 ZKT4520 28.50 31.59 762 3.09 2.16 131 4.92 0.19 0.33 0.05 T3E ZKT4520 77.24 78.09 772 0.85 0.42 111 7.94 0.36 0.15 0.08 T5 ZKT7T1403 118.46 119.83 1,033 1.37 1.11 71 1.65 0.13 0.03 0.02 T14 ZKT7T3E03 94.31 94.97 1,064 0.66 0.31 299 0.41 0.10 0.03 0.14 T3E ZKT7T501 103.63 105.95 1,049 2.32 0.88 328 7.54 0.25 0.06 0.03 T14 incl 104.34 105.02 1,048 0.68 0.26 1,066 23.29 0.51 0.10 0.09 T14 ZKTDB0302 83.23 83.72 1,062 0.49 0.41 441 35.27 0.20 0.06 0.18 T1W1 ZKTDB0302 102.35 103.08 1,047 0.73 0.64 124 6.29 0.07 0.05 0.01 T1W ZKTDB0402 165.97 167.94 1,087 0.82 1.72 476 2.02 0.63 0.03 0.04 T4 ZKTDB0402 169.56 173.35 1,085 1.28 3.66 293 2.22 0.29 0.02 0.09 T2W2 ZKTDB0601 19.16 26.39 1,151 7.23 6.81 133 2.63 0.11 0.02 0.01 T2 ZKTDB0601 42.89 46.49 1,138 3.60 3.40 121 2.28 0.13 0.14 0.04 T3E ZKTDB0601 99.22 99.78 1,103 0.56 0.51 732 1.23 0.17 0.06 0.08 T4 ZKTDB0601 163.64 165.26 1,064 1.62 1.54 124 0.50 0.14 0.03 0.08 T5 ZKTDB0604 25.51 29.66 1,153 4.15 2.79 499 4.38 0.42 0.05 0.12 T2 ZKTDB0604 31.11 34.04 1,150 2.93 1.97 274 2.81 0.39 0.05 0.08 T3 ZKTDB0605 25.96 35.41 1,144 9.45 7.44 168 1.41 0.18 0.05 0.02 T3 ZKTDB0605 49.52 50.51 1,130 0.99 0.78 67 1.81 0.40 0.05 0.02 T3E ZKTDB0605 185.57 186.54 1,036 0.97 0.83 12 3.50 0.07 0.05 0.01 T5 ZKTDB0607 23.50 28.01 1,147 4.51 4.03 107 0.55 0.10 0.05 0.01 T2 ZKTDB0607 30.19 35.44 1,141 5.25 4.70 72 3.08 0.08 0.05 0.02 T3 ZKTDB0607 46.99 47.71 1,130 0.72 0.64 126 0.58 0.16 0.05 0.01 T3E ZKTDB0608 29.90 41.98 1,145 12.08 7.83 119 1.29 0.20 0.05 0.02 T3 ZKTDB0608 143.45 144.06 1,086 0.61 0.39 838 1.70 0.42 0.05 0.11 T4 ZKTDB0608 164.11 167.49 1,075 3.38 1.42 1,052 4.38 0.14 0.05 0.10 T2W2 ZKTDB0610 21.69 27.21 1,153 5.52 4.57 106 2.88 0.24 0.10 0.01 T2 ZKTDB0610 134.93 137.27 1,097 2.34 1.44 754 1.74 0.16 0.03 0.13 T4 ZKTDB0611 16.79 22.36 1,156 5.57 5.32 95 3.97 0.18 0.03 0.01 T2 ZKTDB0611 63.69 64.71 1,135 1.02 0.96 87 2.68 0.91 0.03 0.04 T3E2 ZKTDB1101 23.83 33.19 1,093 9.36 9.17 67 2.02 0.27 0.05 0.05 T3 ZKTDB1103 17.67 18.79 1,088 1.12 0.97 80 3.28 0.34 0.05 0.07 T2 ZKTDB1512 204.80 206.34 990 1.54 0.48 338 0.39 0.15 0.05 0.03 T33W3 ZKTDB1514 185.67 186.23 983 0.56 0.49 188 1.18 0.09 0.03 0.02 T2 ZKTDB2001 157.40 158.27 1,027 0.87 0.82 2,871 2.47 0.79 0.05 1.63 T3 ZKTDB2002 210.99 211.69 953 0.70 0.67 140 1.16 0.12 0.05 0.02 T3 ZKTDB2003 95.80 96.59 1,092 0.79 0.77 277 0.21 0.08 0.02 0.03 T2 ZKTDB2003 139.49 141.59 1,068 0.83 2.09 207 0.74 0.12 0.02 0.03 T3 ZKTDB3101 228.58 231.83 836 3.25 3.15 194 1.44 0.27 0.07 0.03 T5E1 ZKTDB3301 135.35 136.27 893 0.92 0.76 137 1.19 0.19 0.05 0.02 T4 ZKTDB3501 184.29 185.84 851 1.55 1.32 187 1.64 0.19 0.03 0.01 T31W ZKTDB3501 197.22 198.17 841 0.95 0.81 76 3.71 0.81 0.03 0.00 T20 ZKTDB3502 113.29 113.96 873 0.67 0.60 250 0.50 0.08 0.04 0.02 T3E ZKTDB3502 127.31 128.53 863 1.22 1.03 998 1.45 0.78 0.33 0.05 T4 ZKTDB3502 180.59 181.34 823 0.75 0.63 62 3.76 0.15 0.15 0.01 T5E2 [1] ZKTDB3502 195.20 196.10 812 0.90 0.76 112 1.04 0.25 0.03 0.00 N/A ZKTDB3502 199.99 200.85 809 0.86 0.73 154 0.65 0.19 0.45 0.03 N/A ZKTDB3503 195.57 196.75 836 1.18 1.14 290 2.34 0.28 0.02 0.02 T31W1E ZKTDB3503 213.60 214.16 825 0.56 0.52 356 3.69 0.21 0.03 0.01 T20 ZKTDB3504 91.12 92.58 909 1.46 N/A [3] 8 0.02 0.02 13.96 0.01 N/A [2] ZKTDB3701 98.50 99.25 881 0.75 0.70 153 1.41 0.23 0.05 0.01 T2 ZKTDB3701 192.81 194.23 814 1.42 1.22 677 1.75 1.08 0.18 0.04 T20 ZKTDB3702 206.66 207.53 848 0.87 0.82 49 5.25 0.83 0.05 0.01 T20 ZKTDB3901 110.70 112.51 874 1.81 1.55 147 0.39 0.03 0.10 0.04 T2 ZKTDB3901 114.61 117.38 871 2.77 2.68 90 0.51 0.08 0.28 0.01 T3 ZKTDB3901 174.85 177.01 829 2.16 2.01 38 2.63 0.11 0.04 0.03 T4 ZKTDB4101 128.55 133.56 852 5.01 4.75 143 2.09 0.11 0.05 0.07 T1 ZKTDB4101 189.79 192.46 813 2.67 2.35 41 2.28 0.18 0.29 0.03 T20 ZKTDB4102 129.08 137.71 852 8.63 8.20 183 1.20 0.26 0.11 0.07 T1 ZKTDB4103 110.74 111.55 871 0.81 1.59 280 0.72 0.18 0.03 0.01 T3 ZKTDB4301 84.10 85.42 884 1.32 1.23 23 0.12 0.07 3.21 0.01 T31 [1] New veins. [2] New unnamed veins. [3] Thickness unknown. Tunneling Programs at the TLP Mine A total of 6,982 m of exploration tunnels were developed at the TLP mine during this period. The exploration tunneling, comprised of drifting, cross-cutting and raising, was driven along and across major mineralized vein structures to upgrade the drill-defined mineral resources, and to test for new parallel and splay structures (Tables 2 and 3). Table 2: Summary of the tunneling programs at the TLP mine Major Target Veins Elevation (m) Total Tunneling (m) Channel Samples Collected Drift Included Total Mineralization Exposed by Drifts [1] Length (m) True Width (m) Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) T1W1, T2, T2E, T2W1, T5, T11, T14, T14E, T15E, T15W, T15W2, T16, T16E, T16W, T17, T17E, T17W, T22E, T22W, T23, T31W, T33E1, T33E3 500-1050 6,982 3,062 4,932 2,213 0.66 255 3.53 0.47 [1] Mineralization is defined by silver equivalent value (AgEq) greater than or equal to 125 g/t at the TLP mine (Formula used for AgEq calculation: AgEq = Ag g/t + 33.82 * Pb% ). Table 3: Selected mineralized zones exposed by drift tunneling at the TLP mine Tunnel ID Vein Elevation (m) Length (m) Ore Length (m) True Width (m) Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) PD730-T1W1-560-15NYM T1W1 560 120 75 0.41 646 1.57 1.56 PD730-T2E-716-7SYM T2E 716 20 20 0.97 247 3.92 0.37 PD1050-T5-1050-6NYM T5 1050 104 80 0.75 198 2.53 0.36 PD930-T11-930-6NYM T11 930 35 25 0.60 369 3.81 0.19 PD930-T11-930-6SYM T11 930 30 30 0.83 141 2.78 0.23 PD890-T11-890-4SYM T11 890 125 80 0.62 333 3.81 0.35 PD820-T11-755-8CCLJ T11 755 35 20 0.76 468 3.59 0.21 PD820-T11-755-8CCNYM T11 755 32 32 0.76 516 3.16 0.22 PD820-T11-600-3NYM T11 600 280 95 0.87 56 4.78 0.54 PD820-T14-600-1NYM T14 600 160 45 0.89 139 3.99 0.52 PD820XPD-T14-600-16NYM T14 600 25 25 0.74 188 3.21 0.23 PD820XPD-T14-500-15NYM T14 500 85 45 0.54 30 5.60 0.25 PD846-T15-846-12NYM T15E 846 28 28 0.70 426 4.56 0.33 PD930-T15W-930-12CCWM T15W 930 35 15 0.73 481 3.33 0.67 PD820-T15W-820-12SYM T15W 820 50 45 0.53 288 4.79 0.36 PD820-T15W-820-12NYM T15W 820 45 45 0.77 286 5.37 0.44 PD820-T15W-755-8NYM T15W 755 16 16 0.47 883 4.93 0.20 PD820XPD-T15W-550-0NYM T15W 550 75 75 0.53 30 3.92 0.35 PD846-T15W-846-12SYM T15W2 846 125 60 0.49 436 2.92 0.49 PD800-T16-800-23SYM T16 800 76 60 0.83 262 1.37 0.55 PD820XPD-T16-550-4NYM T16 550 250 105 0.75 68 5.23 0.83 PD820-T16W-820-14SYM T16W 820 20 20 0.86 1,011 4.45 1.32 PD890-T17-890-1SYM T17 890 95 65 0.70 251 1.47 0.46 PD820XPD-T17W-550-4SYM T17W 550 125 70 0.77 212 3.86 0.22 PD730-T2-665-23SYM T22E 665 50 40 0.98 51 3.12 0.22 PD820-T22E-650-14SYM T22E 650 95 60 1.04 185 4.20 0.22 PD820XPD-T23-510-11SYM T23 510 45 40 1.44 382 2.70 2.04 PD890-T31W-890-31NYM T31W 890 45 43 0.47 620 1.19 0.44 PD890-T31W-890-31SYM T31W 890 31 31 0.49 1,460 6.95 1.11 PD960-T33E1-990-13SYM T33E1 990 100 50 0.56 369 5.75 0.16 PD730-T33E3-510-19SYM T33E3 510 145 30 0.59 486 2.47 0.26 Quality Control Drill cores are NQ size. Drill core samples, limited by apparent mineralization contacts or shear/alteration contacts, were split into halves by saw cutting. The half cores are stored in the Company's core shacks for future reference and checks, and the other half core samples are shipped in securely sealed bags to the Chengde Huakan 514 Geology and Minerals Test and Research Institute in Chengde, Hebei Province, China, 226 km northeast of Beijing, the Zhengzhou Nonferrous Exploration Institute Lab in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, and SGS in Tianjin, China. All three labs are ISO9000 certified analytical labs. For analysis, the sample is dried and crushed to minus 1 mm and then split into a 200-300 g subsample which is further pulverized to minus 200 mesh. Two subsamples are prepared from the pulverized sample. One is digested with aqua regia for gold analysis with atomic absorption spectroscopy ("AAS"), and the other is digested with two-acids for analysis of silver, lead, zinc and copper with AAS. Channel samples are collected along sample lines perpendicular to the mineralized vein structure in exploration tunnels. Spacing between sampling lines is typically 5 m along strike. Both the mineralized vein and the altered wall rocks are cut by continuous chisel chipping. Sample length ranges from 0.2 m to more than 1 m, depending on the width of the mineralized vein and the mineralization type. Channel samples are prepared and assayed with AAS at Silvercorp's mine laboratory ("Ying Lab") located at the mill complex in Luoning County, Henan Province, China. The Ying lab is officially accredited by the Quality and Technology Monitoring Bureau of Henan Province and is qualified to provide analytical services. The channel samples are dried, crushed and pulverized. A 200 g sample of minus 160 mesh is prepared for assay. A duplicate sample of minus 1 mm is made and kept in the laboratory archives. Gold is analysed by fire assay with AAS finish, while silver, lead, zinc and copper are assayed by two-acid digestion with AAS finish. A routine quality assurance/quality control ("QA/QC") procedure is adopted to monitor the analytical quality at each lab. Certified reference materials (CRMs), pulp duplicates and blanks are inserted into each batch of lab samples. QA/QC data at the lab are attached to the assay certificates for each batch of samples. The Company maintains its own comprehensive QA/QC program to ensure best practices in sample preparation and analysis of the exploration samples. Project geologists regularly insert CRMs, field duplicates and blanks to each batch of 30 core samples to monitor the sample preparation and analysis procedures at the labs. The analytical quality of the labs is further evaluated with external checks by sending approximately 3-5% of the pulp samples to higher level labs to check for lab bias. Data from both the Company's and the labs' QA/QC programs are reviewed on a timely basis by project geologists. Guoliang Ma, P. Geo., Manager of Exploration and Resource of the Company, is the Qualified Person for Silvercorp under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and given consent to the technical information contained in this news release. About Silvercorp Silvercorp is a profitable Canadian mining company producing silver, lead and zinc metals in concentrates from mines in China. The Company's goal is to continuously create healthy returns to shareholders through efficient management, organic growth and the acquisition of profitable projects. Silvercorp balances profitability, social and environmental relationships, employees' wellbeing, and sustainable development. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorp.ca. CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER - FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS Certain of the statements and information in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "is expected", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategies", "targets", "goals", "forecasts", "objectives", "budgets", "schedules", "potential" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information relate to, among other things: the price of silver and other metals; the accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates at the Company's material properties; the sufficiency of the Company's capital to finance the Company's operations; estimates of the Company's revenues and capital expenditures; estimated production from the Company's mines in the Ying Mining District; timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals; availability of funds from production to finance the Company's operations; and access to and availability of funding for future construction, use of proceeds from any financing and development of the Company's properties. Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, social and economic impacts of COVID-19; risks relating to: fluctuating commodity prices; calculation of resources, reserves and mineralization and precious and base metal recovery; interpretations and assumptions of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; exploration and development programs; feasibility and engineering reports; permits and licenses; title to properties; property interests; joint venture partners; acquisition of commercially mineable mineral rights; financing; recent market events and conditions; economic factors affecting the Company; timing, estimated amount, capital and operating expenditures and economic returns of future production; integration of future acquisitions into the Company's existing operations; competition; operations and political conditions; regulatory environment in China and Canada; environmental risks; legislative and regulatory initiatives addressing global climate change or other environmental concerns; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; insurance; risks and hazards of mining operations; key personnel; conflicts of interest; dependence on management; internal control over financial reporting as per the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; and bringing actions and enforcing judgments under U.S. securities laws. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those referred to in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended March 31, 2021 under the heading "Risk Factors". Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The Company's forward-looking statements and information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this press release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or management's assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information. CAUTIONARY NOTE TO US INVESTORS The disclosure in this news release and referred to herein was prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 which differs significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The terms "proven mineral reserve", "probable mineral reserve" and "mineral reserves" used in this news release are in reference to the mining terms defined in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Standards (the "CIM Definition Standards"), which definitions have been adopted by NI 43-101. Accordingly, information contained in this news release providing descriptions of our mineral deposits in accordance with NI 43-101 may not be comparable to similar information made public by other U.S. companies subject to the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral resources will ever be converted into reserves. Pursuant to CIM Definition Standards, "Inferred mineral resources" are that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Such geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological and grade or quality continuity. An inferred mineral resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an indicated mineral resource and must not be converted to a mineral reserve. However, it is reasonably expected that the majority of inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to indicated mineral resources with continued exploration. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Canadian standards, including the CIM Definition Standards and NI 43-101, differ significantly from standards in the SEC Industry Guide 7. Effective February 25, 2019, the SEC adopted new mining disclosure rules under subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "SEC Modernization Rules"), with compliance required for the first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021. The SEC Modernization Rules replace the historical property disclosure requirements included in SEC Industry Guide 7. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC now recognizes estimates of "Measured Mineral Resources", "Indicated Mineral Resources" and "Inferred Mineral Resources". In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of "Proven Mineral Reserves" and "Probable Mineral Reserves" to be substantially similar to corresponding definitions under the CIM Definition Standards. During the period leading up to the compliance date of the SEC Modernization Rules, information regarding mineral resources or reserves contained or referenced in this news release may not be comparable to similar information made public by companies that report according to U.S. standards. While the SEC Modernization Rules are purported to be "substantially similar" to the CIM Definition Standards, readers are cautioned that there are differences between the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definitions Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report as "proven mineral reserves", "probable mineral reserves", "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the reserve or resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. SOURCE Silvercorp Metals Inc DAVENPORT, Iowa, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Davenport, Iowa (January 19, 2022) SkyAMP, an innovative new technology brand, is formally launching the company and announcing its SkyAMP Get AMPed Channel Partner Program . Like most great inventions, SkyAMP was born out of necessity. Our story begins on August 10, 2020, when a calamitous derecho storm tore a path of destruction through Iowa. In the wake of this disaster, we witnessed how the failure of our power and wireless infrastructure hindered the community's response and recovery. "We're a unique new patented unpowered wireless signal boosting technology company that solves some fundamental daily business problems for SMB's, Enterprises and consumers. For a variety of reasons cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals are not maximized in every business, home, indoor and outdoor location. Our new products provide amplification, enhancement and extended signal boosting technology and many desired use case applications," said Jason Howell. SkyAMP is looking to add multi-national distributors and a handful of strategic channel partners in all markets in the USA. SkyAMP is looking for channel partners who work in verticals such Pro-AV, health care, education, real estate, RV, parks & rec, oil, gas and energy, hotels, hospitality, manufacturing & distributing, and infrastructure. We want to immediately authorize 10-15 vertical specific channel partners. Our program includes many important and valuable benefits channel partners require from startup vendors. Our Get AMPed Partner Program benefits include warm and qualified leads, deal registration, gov-ed pricing, NFR products, key account samples and product seeding programs, a dedicated partner portal and support, sales incentive programs, channel partner specific sales promotions and customizable marketing assets. SOURCE SkyAMP, LLC HEFEI, China, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading inverter solution supplier for renewables, announced that the Company ranked first in the 2021 China Top 500 ESG Companies list released jointly by the well-known organization Sina Finance ESG Rating Center and CCTV-1 "Brand of Great Power" program. The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company's operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. It's an evaluation of a company's collective conscientiousness for social and environmental factors. Relying on the ESG rating database, Sina Finance conducted a comprehensive ESG evaluation of outstanding Chinese A-shares, Hong Kong stocks, U.S. stocks. It selected ESG rating data from 6 domestic and overseas rating agencies and related data published by a large number of think tanks as data. Nearly 50 key issues under the three dimensions of E, S, and G and around 450 specific indicators to which they belong are evaluated. "ESG plays an important role in helping Sungrow build trust with our stakeholders and delivering sustained outcomes, and it's an area of focus for us," commented Cao Renxian, Chairman of Sungrow. With a continued commitment to ESG, the Company has been rated AA by MSCI ESG for two consecutive years something few peers have achieved. It has also won the "2020 Corporate Social Responsibility Report AA Rating" awarded by the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as well as the "Social Responsibility Award" from the World Brand Lab. Notably, Sungrow joined China's ESG leaders' organization in mid-January 2022. Sungrow is poised to leverage its comprehensive strengths to pave the way toward a net-zero carbon future. Focusing on renewable energy technologies, Sungrow takes PV and energy storage as its core businesses. It now goes way beyond this and is operating in wind power, the EV sector, and the green hydrogen markets. The solutions it offers achieve environmental sustainability while maintaining prominent product quality and services to realize sustainable operations and development. As of December 2021, the Company's accumulative inverters shipments reached 224 GW -- a number equivalent to generating around 315,200 GWh of clean electricity per year and eliminating 252 million tons of carbon dioxide. As an active player in global decarbonization initiatives, Sungrow is a dedicated member of RE100, pledges to source 100% renewable electricity across its entire global operations by 2028, illustrating its determination to slash its own climate impacts. The Company, being a member of UNGC, always aligns with the UN 17 Sustainable Development goals. "Sungrow is committed to actively promoting ESG initiatives in the future. We'll keep applying our wealth of expertise and skills to deliver sustainable solutions that are competitive, resilient, effective, and deliver joint benefits for all stakeholders," Prof. Cao added. About Sungrow Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. ("Sungrow") is the world's most bankable inverter brand with over 224 GW installed worldwide as of December 2021. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial & industrial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions. With a strong 25-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power installations in over 150 countries. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting: www.sungrowpower.com. SOURCE Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. SAN DIEGO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Synergy One Lending, Inc. is proud to welcome Randy Vance and Team Vance to the family! Based in Bend, OR, Randy and his team rank among the top producers in Oregon after only a few years full-time in production. Asked why he chose Synergy One, Randy said 'We all agree that in order for our team to take it to the next level we needed to align ourselves with a company that is forward-thinking and fully transparent!' President Aaron Nemec added 'It's a true honor to have this A+ team join us. We look forward to serving them as they continue to grow in the years ahead!' Synergy One Lending is based in San Diego, CA, is currently licensed in 45 states and has Operational HUBS in Lake Forest, CA, Denver, CO, Boise, ID and Dallas, TX. To find out why so many elite mortgage professionals are choosing Synergy One, please contact Aaron Nemec or Ben Green, or visit Join Synergy One. Contact: Aaron Nemec, [email protected] SOURCE Synergy One Lending Vendor Landscape The market structure is expected to remain fragmented during the forecast period. Vendors are deploying different organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. Adobe Inc., Articulate Global Inc., Cengage Learning Holdings II Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., City & Guilds Group, Instructure Inc., John Wiley & Sons Inc., Pearson Plc, Providence Equity Partners LLC, and Skillsoft Ltd. are some of the few key vendors competing to maintain their market position in the market. Various players in the market are engaging in strategic partnerships and joint ventures coupled with launching differentiated products to up their game in the e-learning industry. View more about the market's vendor landscape highlights with a comprehensive list of vendors and their offerings. Key Market Segmentation Segmentation by Product: Packaged Content: The packaged content segment will hold the largest e-learning market share in Europe . . The packaged content contains e-books, simulations and videos and other digital education content. Europe has witnessed a rapid shift towards digital content in the past few years. Moreover, institutions and organizations are highly preferring digital content as they are economical and have wider accessibility than the traditional learning material such as printed textbooks. Perhaps, e-learning solutions can be customized and bundled with solutions such as digital services and platforms. Thus, the packaged content segment is estimated to boost the e-learning market growth during the forecast period. has witnessed a rapid shift towards digital content in the past few years. Moreover, institutions and organizations are highly preferring digital content as they are economical and have wider accessibility than the traditional learning material such as printed textbooks. Perhaps, e-learning solutions can be customized and bundled with solutions such as digital services and platforms. Thus, the packaged content segment is estimated to boost the e-learning market growth during the forecast period. Solutions Request a FREE Sample of this report for more highlights into the market segments. Regional Market Outlook Rest of Europe will contribute to 53% of the market growth during the forecast period. The growth of this region can be accredited to the rise in the adoption of social learning along with the benefits of various knowledge-sharing platforms. Apart from regions, if we look at the country-wise market growth, France and Italy are the key markets for the adoption of e-learning in rest of Europe followed by Germany and UK. Download our FREE sample report for more key highlights on the regional market share of most of the above-mentioned countries. Latest Trends, Driving the E-Learning Market in Europe Market Driver: The significant availability of subject proficiency assessment and certifications: The assessment of e-learning courses helps in extracting the level of proficiency of the learners. These also aid in creating learners' awareness for monitoring their learning progress. Moreover, e-learning courses allow the learners to re-study and improve their proficiency in the section of the subjects they are weak. Furthermore, the learners are also provided with certificates as per their grades by the vendors post the completion of their courses. Hence, the consistent assessments on the subject efficiency and certifications are expected to drive the e-learning market growth during the forecast period in Europe. Market Challenge: The development cost associated with e-learning is high: High developments costs are involved in e-learning courses, depending on the instructional model chosen. For example, designing language courses for children involves creating basic words and graphical presentations as compared to that of higher education students which includes short lectures and conversations with tutors. Hence, the costs paid to the developers differ as per the group of target learners. Moreover, the e-learning courses need to be updated regularly to sync with the improving technology and market trends, to survive in the growing e-learning market sector. Furthermore, it takes a prolonged period to meet the break-even point for the new players in the market, in turn, impacting the market growth adversely. Find additional information about various other market drivers & trends mentioned in our FREE sample report. Need More? Are You Looking for Information Not Covered in This Report? Want to understand more about the various research methodology? Evaluate a specific segment or region in detail Identify key suppliers, customers, or other market players Analyze market regulations Tailor this report according to your needs. Get it done with our $1000 worth of free customization. Speak to Our Analyst Now! Related Reports: Corporate E-Learning Market by End-user, Deployment, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025 E-learning Market in UK by Product and End-user - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025 E-learning Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2019 Forecast period 2020-2024 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 13% Market growth 2020-2024 USD 28.36 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 12.29 Regional analysis UK, Germany, and Rest of Europe Performing market contribution Rest of Europe at 53% Key consumer countries UK, Germany, France, and Italy Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Adobe Inc., Articulate Global Inc., Cengage Learning Holdings II Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., City & Guilds Group, Instructure Inc., John Wiley & Sons Inc., Pearson Plc, Providence Equity Partners LLC, and Skillsoft Ltd. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. 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 WESTPORT, Conn., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- There's something extraordinary happening in the suburbs of Connecticut, one-hour outside of New York City. A late night talk show, on which legitimate celebrities come by for 10 minute interviews in host/creator Brian Kelsey's garage set. Built on an obsession, a dream, and a bet, the fun 20 minute program is now being carried by streaming platform MOKO. Brian in the studio. Brian and guest, CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota call Geraldo Rivera for mustache advice. Atlanta-based MOKO features curated uplifting and inspiring content, as well as original shows designed to help viewers live their best lives. 25 percent of their subscription cost goes to multiple charities. "It's a perfect fit," says MOKO CEO and creator Thomas Cantley. "Brian and the show itself are all about positive vibes, fun, and following a dream. We're all so excited to have "Ten Minutes With" on our platform!" As host Brian Kelsey explains it, the show began innocently enough. He challenged himself to build a late-night talk show set in his garage and see who the most famous people would be that he could get to stop by, in person, for a 10-minute interview. "As it turns out, they did show up," Kelsey said. "Celebrities, musicians, actors and the like. I built everything myself from scratch the desk, the set, I even wrote and recorded the theme music." Brian also runs the 6 cameras, audio, in studio P.A. and edits the show himself. "What arose from the sawdust and garage grime was a show that is loose, rough around the edges, and fun reminiscent of early 1980s-era David Letterman," he said. Instead of a velvet curtain, guests enter through the garage door, ceremoniously opened by producer and sidekick, Pete Scifo. Among Kelsey's guests have been comedian Gilbert Gottfried, musicians Chris Frantz of the Talking Heads and Gino Vannelli, actress Stephanie Szostak, CNN anchor and journalist Alisyn Camerota and Today Show host Craig Melvin. But it's not just interviews, Brian and Pete produce other elements and sprinkle them into each episode. Things like reading guest rejection letters, going into businesses with the name 'celebrity' in it in search of celebrities, there is even a model train built into the set, with which Pete delivers drinks to Brian and guest. Kelsey began his career as a radio host and voice actor working with Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, and has made regular appearances on the "Today Show," FOX and HGTV. Kelsey is a licensed contractor and starred in a short-run home renovation television show on NBC called "Kelsey On The House." Contact Pete Scifo: [email protected], 203-650-0206 Follow @TenMinutesWith on Instagram for looks behind the scenes and sign up at StreamMOKO.com to view Ten Minutes With. For more information about the show, watch the promo at youtu.be/qKQgPrOnBaY or visit TenMinutesWith.com. SOURCE Ten Minutes With HERSHEY, Pa., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) announced today that it received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation's foremost benchmarking report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Hershey's top marks recognize the company's efforts to foster a supportive, inclusive workplace and provide equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ employees and their families. "We strive every day to create a more equitable world with a focused effort to create an inclusive culture for LGBTQ+ employees," said Alicia Petross, Chief Diversity Officer of The Hershey Company. "Corporate action including Hershey's efforts in this space is crucial to advancing real change. It's an honor to be recognized by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation alongside such notable honorees. Together, we can work to push the needle in the right direction and be true allies to the LGBTQ+ community." The diversity of Hershey's workforce serves as a foundation of strength, innovation and collaboration. The company's LGBTQ+ business resource group (BRG), PRISM, is one of eight affinity communities within Hershey that play a critical role in attracting and retaining people from different backgrounds, providing business insights and connecting our employees across the company. Empowered by PRISM, Hershey's has made dedicated efforts to continue to support its LGBTQ+ community including: Expanding Pride Day to Pride Month in Hershey, Pa. by proudly flying the rainbow flag atop the Hershey corporate headquarters, and lighting the company's iconic smokestacks and cocoa bushes in rainbow colors to honor employees and the community by proudly flying the rainbow flag atop the Hershey corporate headquarters, and lighting the company's iconic smokestacks and cocoa bushes in rainbow colors to honor employees and the community Increasing the use of pronouns in signature blocks, demonstrating awareness and support for LGBTQ individuals and allies across the company's employee, vendor and key customer bases Ensuring all required U.S. training materials include issues important to the LGBTQ community, such harassment or discrimination scenarios. The CEI rates employers providing crucial protections to over 20 million U.S. workers and an additional 18 million abroad. This year's CEI reflects growth across every measurement category, from the adoption of inclusive non-discrimination policies, including: Non-discrimination policies across business entities; Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; Supporting an inclusive culture; and, Corporate social responsibility. "We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index has paved the way for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. But there is still more to do, which is why we are raising the bar yet again to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow for LGBTQ+ workers everywhere," said Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research and Training. The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. About The Hershey Company The Hershey Company is headquartered in Hershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people, and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 17,000 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 90 brands around the world that drive more than $8.1 billion in annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey's, Reese's, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate's Booty. For more than 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically, and sustainably. Hershey founder, Milton Hershey, created the Milton Hershey School in 1909 and since then the company has focused on helping children succeed. About The Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work. SOURCE The Hershey Company CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- E.E. Ward Moving & Storage Co., the oldest Black-owned business in the country, recently announced that it has expanded its operations to the Carolinas with new offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. In addition, as the country prepares to celebrate Black History Month, E.E. Ward Moving & Storage Companyrecognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce as the oldest continuously Black-owned and operated business in the United Stateswill be the first Black-owned agent to receive the northAmerican Van Lines Agent of the Year award. The award presentation will be held February 7 at the company's new office in Charlotte, North Carolina. E.E. Ward Old Trucks E.E. Ward Owners Columbus, Ohio-based E. E. Ward Moving Company was founded in 1881 as a stop on the Underground Railroad and has grown into one of the most highly trusted moving companies in the country today. From 2014 to 2017 the company experienced a significant demand for moves to and from North Carolina, which aligned with current migration patterns and the growing desire for people on the move to choose North Carolina to live, work and retire. This, combined with a successful partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports, prompted the company to open offices in Charlotte and Raleigh. "With so many pieces aligning and new partnerships forming, it was undeniably time for us to expand to the Carolinas," said Brian Brooks, President and Co-owner of E.E. Ward Moving Company. "Our company was founded on principles of quality service and strong moral character, which has supported our growth from Columbus to Charlotte and most recently Raleigh. We are grateful for this historic recognition from northAmerican Van Lines and remain committed to providing moving and relocation services that our clients and partners can trust." The northAmerican Van Lines Agent of the Year honor is awarded to the agent that receives the best overall scores in service quality, hauling growth, sales growth, and safety performance, as well as demonstrates the "Power of Blue" by supporting fellow agents and customers. "Safety. Quality. Customer Service. Teamwork. These four components have been the foundation of the northAmerican Agent of the Year award since its inception," says Kevin Murphy, Vice President and General Manager of northAmerican Van Lines, Inc. "Winning agents, like E. E. Ward Moving & Storage Company, demonstrate a true commitment to providing our customers with the best service and quality moving experience possible. We are honored to have an agent of their caliber as part of the northAmerican family and welcome them into the Agent of the Year winner's circle, a distinction they richly deserve." In addition to the Agent of the Year Award, E.E. Ward Moving Company has received numerous honors and accolades over the years, including 2020 BBB International Torch Award for Ethics Finalist, 2020 northAmerican Van Lines Overall Quality Agent, 2019 CARTUS Commitment to Excellence Gold Award and the 2017 American Moving and Storage Association Moving and Storage Agent of the Year Service Excellence Award. More recognitions can be found here. About E.E. Ward Moving & Storage Co. E.E. Ward Moving & Storage Co. is a nationally recognized leader in the relocation and transportation industry offering comprehensive services including commercial and household moving, delivery services and logistics. E.E Ward has received numerous awards for its high level of service, including 2020 northAmerican Van Lines Overall Quality Agent, 2020 International BBB Torch Award Finalist, 2019 CARTUS Commitment to Excellence Gold Award, 2019 Medical Mutual Pillar Award, Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio's 2018 Torch Award for Ethical Enterprises, 2017 AMSA Moving & Storage Agent of the Year, and Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council 2017 Minority Business Enterprise Supplier of the Year. E.E. Ward has been recognized as the nation's oldest African American owned businesses. For more information, please visit www.eeward.com and follow the company on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. Media Contact: Nepherterra Best Email: [email protected] Phone: 4147049932 SOURCE E.E. Ward Moving Co. KINSHASA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 33 soldiers have been killed during clashes since Tuesday between the army and rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23) in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a military source told Xinhua Thursday. Since Tuesday, tensions have been on the rise in Rutshuru, north of the city of Goma, capital of the North Kivu province, where clashes have continued between DRC's armed forces (FARDC) and M23 rebels. According to sources of the FARDC in Goma contacted by Xinhua, 33 soldiers, including a colonel battalion commander, have been killed in the clashes. The M23 is a group of former rebels of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). The name came from the March 23, 2009, agreement between the CNDP and the Congolese government, which M23 leaders claimed had not been respected by the government. AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After a four-year legal fight, 15 sexual assault survivors who brought class actions against the Travis County District Attorney's Office and the Austin Police Department have reached a final settlement with the department and the City of Austin. The case against the DA's Office was settled in June 2021 after District Attorney Jose Garza committed to comprehensive change in how sexual assault cases are managed and prosecuted in his office. The City of Austin has now also agreed to sweeping changes in training, staffing, and policy to ensure that survivors of sexual assault receive trauma-informed services from law enforcement from their first contact to the conclusion of their case. The City also agreed to additional staffing and funding for detectives, victim services, technology, and administrative assistance to ensure cases and victims do not fall through the cracks. The Austin Police Department has committed to public and private oversight, community involvement, survivor input at all phases of investigation, and better data collection. The survivors first filed their lawsuit in Travis County in June 2018, alleging police and prosecutors in Austin and Travis County did not adequately investigate or prosecute the sexual assaults they reported. The settlement reached with the City of Austin and approved by Austin's City Council today provides financial remuneration and apologies for the 15 survivor plaintiffs. Combined with the costs of the comprehensive changes to the police department's operations, the settlement includes a $5 million commitment by the City to facilitate meaningful change. "Today is a historic day for survivors of sexual assault," said Jenny Ecklund, a partner with Thompson Coburn LLP who represented the survivors with fellow Thompson Coburn partner Elizabeth Myers. "For the past three years, more than a dozen women have shared the most painful and vulnerable stories in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of sexual assault survivors in Austin. They hope that survivors who come after them will encounter law enforcement in a way that respects their experience and protects them, rather than re-traumatizing them. The settlement represents a momentous agreement by the Austin Police Department to prioritize the emotional and physical experience of survivors by committing to ongoing trauma-informed training and policy changes. The plaintiff survivors are proud to be catalysts for change that will endure in Austin, and hopefully, extend to other communities as well." Ms. Ecklund and Ms. Myers spearheaded the representation, with important assistance from Thompson Coburn attorneys Mackenzie Wallace, John Atkins, Kamran Anwar, and too many other people to name. About Thompson Coburn LLP Thompson Coburn is a full-service law firm with 400 attorneys practicing in more than 50 areas of law, with offices in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. For more information, contact Bruce Vincent at (214) 763-6226 or [email protected]. SOURCE Thompson Coburn, LLP NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The British Consulate-General in New York, and Emma Wade-Smith, Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner for North America and HM Consul General for New York, have announced the participants in the upcoming UK Black Tech Founders Mission taking place February 22nd -24th in New York City. Twelve unique technology firms, set up by Black entrepreneurs in the UK, will take part in the delegation: Aceleron Energy AudioMob Coding Black Females Definely Flair Impact Micro-Fresh Oarbt Ownership Robin AI Syrona Health The Stack World White Label Loyalty The UK's flag carrier, British Airways, has partnered with the British Consulate-General in New York to fly the founders to and from New York in support of this mission. The program offers UK-based, Black-founded companies the opportunity to explore the US tech ecosystem. Recognising the barriers Black tech founders face accessing venture capital, this mission will seek to elevate the founders' profiles to NYC based investors and the wider NYC tech community. The delegates will engage with over 100 US based venture capitalists through networking events, meetings, and a capstone pitch night. The UK founders will also meet with their US counterparts to discuss the differences between scaling a business on each side of the Atlantic and the lived Black entrepreneur experience in the UK & the US. Emma Wade-Smith, Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner for North America and HM Consul-General in New York, said: "I am delighted to welcome this impressive group of Black founders to New York, who represent some of the most innovative emerging tech firms in the UK. According to some research, in 2019 just 2.9 percent of deals that UK VCs made had Black founders, and we must take concrete steps to reduce this disparity. Achieving more equal racial representation in the workplace is a top policy priority for the UK Government, and I am very pleased that this annual trade mission is making great strides in tackling this crucial challenge and we are determined to keep closing the gap." Cornerstone Partners, an angel network focused on investing in exceptional Black and diverse founder led businesses across the UK, found sobering results in recent research. According to their findings, of UK founders who successfully raised VC funding in 2019, only 2.9% of founders identified as Black. Despite the statistics, the selected cohort has collectively raised over $43 million USD, with AudioMob, an audio ad provider for mobile gaming, raising a notable $14million Series A in November 2021. The firms selected for this Mission are well positioned to expand into US markets. From Syrona Health, who have designed an app aimed at engaging and supporting all women in terms of gynaecological health, to Definely, which is demystifying the art of drafting, reviewing and understanding legal documents, the featured innovations in this mission are as diverse as the founders who created them. Sean Doyle, British Airways' Chairman and CEO said: "Transatlantic connectivity is vital for the UK's economic recovery. Part of building back the economy is investing in and supporting entrepreneurial talent, which is why as the UK's national flag carrier, we are delighted to be working alongside the British Consul General in New York to support these talented innovators to develop their networks and elevate their profiles on an international scale." "At British Airways we champion diversity and inclusion and the UK Black Founders Mission aligns with our BA Better World programme and our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive culture, that reflects the global communities we serve." More information on the 2022 UK Black Founders Mission in New York may be found here. About the British Consulate-General in New York: The British Consulate General in New York maintains and develops relations between the UK and the USA. Our services involve handling a wide range of political, commercial, cultural, security and economic interests to the UK and our region. We provide services to British nationals living in and visiting New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Fairfield County in Connecticut. About British Airways: British Airways is a British original; an expert in global aviation offering its customers more than 100 years of expertise. The airline connects Britain with the world and the world with Britain, putting customers and sustainability at its heart and providing service excellence. British Airways offers its customers choice, value and flexibility, with fares and cabins to suit every budget but a premium service for everyone. British Airways is the largest airline operating at London Heathrow and London City airports and with a significant presence at London Gatwick. The airline proudly offers customers flights to more destinations from London than any other airline. The airline has an extensive network to the US, offering customers flights to more destinations in North America than any airline in Europe, flying from London to up to 23 US airports with up to 246 flights a week, more than any other transatlantic carrier. The airline currently operates seven flights a day to New York City. In September 2021, British Airways launched its sustainability program, BA Better World, its commitment to an inclusive, responsible company, a sustainable future and making a meaningful contribution to the communities in which it operates. More details on BA Better World can be found here. More details about British Airways' US routes can be found here. For more information, please contact: British Consulate-General in New York [email protected] British Airways Press Office [email protected] SOURCE BRITISH CONSULATE-GENERAL TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Versapay, a leading provider of cloud-based payments and accounts receivable (AR) automation solutions, announced today the addition of three new members to its Executive Leadership Team. Ward Schultz joins as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Nancy Sansom joins as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), and Alex Hoffmann joins as Executive Vice President of Payments. "After a year of rapid growth, Versapay is at a pivotal inflection point as we cement the company's leadership in collaborative AR and capture the market opportunity for the digital transformation of the business payments lifecycle," said Craig O'Neill, CEO of Versapay. "We are thrilled to bring Ward, Nancy and Alex's expertise to the organization as we continue to innovate B2B payments and AR, and drive adoption of the Versapay Network." Ward Schultz joined the company in December 2021, bringing over 20 years of experience in his pursuit for financial transformation, and increasing revenue. His passion for finance, digital strategy and automation, and data analytics will support Versapay's strategic growth plans. Most recently, Ward served as CFO of SkillSurvey, a cloud-based solutions provider helping organizations find and retain talent. He also served as CFO of several public and private organizations, including Citi Prepaid Services, Processing.com, and ProfitPoint, Inc., developing systems and strategies that enabled strategic revenue growth. Nancy Sansom takes the reins as Versapay's new CMO, officially joining the company in January 2022. She brings nearly 20 years of executive leadership experience within high-growth software as a service (SaaS) companies and extensive experience driving marketing, commercialization strategy and partner development. Prior to Versapay, Nancy served as CMO before being appointed to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at PlanSource, a cloud-based benefits technology provider. At PlanSource, Nancy was responsible for all aspects of marketing and communications as well as the company's strategic partnership programs. Alex Hoffmann joins the company as Executive Vice President of Payments. A proven global business builder with 20 years of executive leadership experience at PayPal, MoneyGram International and ACI Worldwide, Alex is assuming leadership over the company's strategy and product direction on payments while continuing to spearhead Versapay's international expansion efforts. Jayme Moss, co-founder of Solupay and previously responsible for the company's payment strategy, will remain on the Versapay board in a strategic advisor capacity. About Versapay Versapay is focused on driving accounts receivable efficiencies and accelerating companies' cash flow by connecting AR teams with their customers over the cloud. The Versapay Network makes billing and payments easy for buyers and sellers, reducing costs and eliminating paper, checks, and manual processes. Based in Toronto and Atlanta, Versapay is owned by Great Hill Partners, a Boston-based technology investment firm. Learn more at versapay.com. SOURCE VersaPay Corporation BROOMFIELD, Colo. and WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vita Inclinata (Vita), developer and producer of helicopter and crane load stabilization and precision hardware, today revealed the harrowing experience that underscores the need for developing the lifesaving Vita Rescue System Litter Basket Attachment : Occurring in 1992, Ken Bowling experienced a near-death plane crash from engine failure in San Bernadino, California. Hear Ken's perspective and witness the uncontrolled rescue-basket spin as he clings to life and the first responder, who was thrown from the basket into mid-air, manages to hang onrotation after rotation. Trailer: Ken Bowling shares his incredible helicopter rescue story in a short documentary produced by Vita Inclinata Bowling had broken his leg, arm, and both hands in the plane crash. He was strapped in the helicopter's gurney at the chest and thighs, and at the velocities, he was spinning, he was quickly sliding out of the rescue basket. "I was screaming, 'I'm coming out!' It was all I could do not to just blackout," recalls Bowling, former Air Force Colonel and pilot. "Military men and women will risk their own lives to ensure their comrades are safe and return to see their loved ones again. That's what Vita's technology doesit makes this a winnable situation." There was no way the helicopter pilot or crew could stop the spin. It was predetermined based upon a spiraling rotor downwashKen and the first responder were destined to wait until a safe landing could be attempted. "Had this rescue gone very smoothly, the trauma I suffered would have been decreased by orders of magnitude," said Bowling. Rescue baskets spinning underneath helicopters are not isolated eventsthe most famous being the June 2019 viral video of an injured hiker in Arizona, covered by national news. In fact, these spinning incidents are extremely common but rarely caught on camera due to remote and dangerous rescue locations. Unfortunately, between the Ken Bowling video in 1992 and the hiker's video captured in 2019, nothing has been done to fix this problem, less the unsuccessful solution of applying a simple rope in an attempt to stabilize the basket. Recently procured by the U.S. Army , The Vita Rescue System Litter Attachment is a lightweight, quick-attach unit compatible with a variety of rescue kits, such as SKEDCO, Stokes, and other rescue bags. It enables helicopter crews greater speed, safety, and control on hoisting operations, allowing them to complete hoists four times faster than traditional taglines. Additional benefits include: Fly-to-Target capability: fly the basket off-axis from beneath the helicopter to navigate between obstacles or conduct precision insertion on difficult terrain. Control the litter without taglines or ground crews. Stabilizes the litter while dynamically hoisting. Reduced hover time and pilot fatigue. "It is a true blessing to meet Ken and hear his story. For many people caught in similar spinning situations, the outcome is not so favorable," said Caleb Carr, Chief Executive Officer, Vita. "It is Ken's story and the many other people who also had to go through this unnecessary experience, that Vita was founded. We are emboldened by Ken's story to continue building technology that brings anyone who needs basket extraction safely homewithout exacerbating their injuries from the rescue." About Vita Inclinata Vita Inclinata was founded on the belief that lack of technology should never be the difference between life and death for rescue crews, crane operators, and patients. Vita's mission of "Building technology that brings people homeevery time!" drives it to do everything possible to save human lives. It achieves that by creating innovative load stabilization technology, providing safer tools to prevent occupational injuries, and by making a positive impact on the workers, families, and patients in said industries. Based in Broomfield, Colorado, Vita Inclinata Technologies Inc. includes Vita Aerospace and Vita Industrial. Vita Inclinata has additional offices in Washington, DC, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. For more information, please visit www.vitatech.co For more information, contact: Betsey Rogers BridgeView Marketing 603-821-0809 [email protected] SOURCE Vita Inclinata NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- WHP Global ("WHP" or the "Company") announced today the expansion of the Joseph Abboud brand into the rapidly growing self-care market with the launch of a men's grooming line and new fragrance collection. The Company recently entered into a long-term license agreement with A.P. Deauville to design, develop and distribute a full collection of men's bath, body care and grooming products. In addition, WHP signed a worldwide licensing agreement with 3B International LLC to produce and distribute a new line of Joseph Abboud fragrances. Joseph Abboud to Launch Men's Grooming and Fragrance Collections. An iconic American men's fashion brand founded in 1987, Joseph Abboud delivers a modern take on heritage ready-to-wear and customized menswear with timeless designs to fit every man. Joseph Abboud is a top selling brand at Men's Wearhouse with a robust Made in America custom tailored business operated out of the longstanding Joseph Abboud Factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The brand has experienced strong growth within its core collections, including tailored clothing, special occasion, and return to the office, and has a loyal and growing customer base in the U.S. and abroad. Stanley Silverstein, Chief Commercial Officer at WHP Global, owner of the Joseph Abboud brand stated, "We are thrilled to bring Joseph Abboud into the men's beauty market and grow our network of best-in-class partners with the addition of 3B International and A.P. Deauville. With two new collections launching this Spring and a flourishing global men's apparel business, we are demonstrating our commitment to bringing the Joseph Abboud customer an even more personalized brand experience to support their multifaceted lifestyle." The new collections will launch in Spring 2022. Joseph Abboud Grooming products featuring a selection of hair, face and body washes will be carried in select department stores, e-commerce and specialty retailers throughout the United States and Canada. Joseph Abboud fragrance will debut with four eau de parfums in select department stores, e-commerce, and specialty retailers nationwide. "The Joseph Abboud brand holds so much heritage and style that translates seamlessly to the fragrance industry," said 3B International's Execute Vice President, Mike Kewer. "We are excited to work with the WHP Global team to launch four new prestige fragrances and deliver a scent for every man and occasion through this collection." "Joseph Abboud is an iconic American brand with a legacy of leadership in the men's fashion category and we are thrilled to bring more than 20 years of experience in beauty and grooming to launch Joseph Abboud as a leading men's beauty brand," added Fred Horowitz, Chairman & CEO at A.P. Deauville. For more information on Joseph Abboud, please visit www.josephabboud.com or follow @JosephAbboud on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. About WHP Global WHP Global is a leading New York based firm that acquires global consumer brands and invests in high-growth distribution channels including digital commerce platforms and global expansion. WHP owns ANNE KLEIN, JOSEPH ABBOUD, JOE'S JEANS, WILLIAM RAST, LOTTO, TOYS"R"US, BABIES"R"US, Geoffrey the Giraffe and more than 20 additional consumer brands in the toy and baby categories. Collectively the brands generate approximately $4 billion in global retail sales. The company also owns WHP+ (www.whp-plus.com), a turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform for brands, with full in-house operations including technology, data analytics, logistics, creative and digital marketing and WHP SOLUTIONS, a sourcing agency based in Asia. For more information, please visit www.whp-global.com. About 3B International LLC Headquartered in New Jersey, 3B International LLC combines 20+ years of industry insight, cutting-edge research, and operational expertise to yield truly unique products of the highest quality for the beauty industry. 3B is a fully integrated manufacturer, marketer, & distributor of globally recognized brands to private label projects. 3B International LLC is bold in its pursuit of building brands & products with the power to transform their customers' beauty experience. About A.P. Deauville A.P. Deauville is a leading health and beauty company focused on bringing brands with high consumer recognition to the market. AP Deauville is a vertically integrated company with a national sales and marketing staff, internal research and development and its own state of the art manufacturing facility in Easton Pennsylvania. AP Deauville's products are currently available in over 35,000 doors in the United States. For more information, visit the brand on LinkedIn, Facebook, or at apdeauville.com. Media Contact: WHP Global: Jaime Cassavechia 646-701-7041 [email protected] SOURCE WHP Global SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Wyre , a leading cryptocurrency compliance infrastructure provider, is announcing an integration with the Stellar network to effectively onboard local Brazilian and Argentinian currencies into digital assets. Through the integration, Wyre is growing functionality in Latin America and allowing developers and businesses looking to leverage cryptocurrency transactions to easily expand into new regions, and accept new forms of payment. While exchanging various global currencies into cryptocurrency has been historically challenging, Latin America boasts a strong cryptocurrency infrastructure, making it a prime location for businesses and developers to expand. Even further, this integration between Wyre and Stellar will allow for the democratization of finance in one of the largest emerging cryptocurrency markets and provide greater access to digital capital with a more secure system. Wyre will work with, Settle , a digital assets settlement network and Stellar anchor, to provide closer integrations within the Latin American cryptocurrency infrastructure. The Settle network provides the infrastructure needed to process cross-border transactions, payments, and digital assets. "As we bridge the next billions of people into a brave new world, Wyre needs to move fast on making the transition as seamless as possible. This integration gives our partners easy access to some of the largest countries within Latin America and provides millions of people access to the crypto economy - all powered through the safe and powerful Stellar protocol." says Ioannis Giannaros , co-founder and CEO of Wyre. "This first integration will create local fiat on and off ramps and enable individuals and businesses to move local currency seamlessly in and out of cryptocurrency." "Building the cryptocurrency infrastructure to be more accessible is critical, especially as cryptocurrency becomes a more popular form of payment," says Erich Grant , director of business development at Wyre. "This integration with the Stellar network is only the first step and we're hopeful it can be the blueprint for similar infrastructure to be integrated into other local fiat channels in the future." Using Stellar's powerful SEP-24 protocol, this integration will enable easy and safe transfers of value across the network at a fraction of the cost of traditional payment rails and, through Wyre's API and Widget, allow users to access Stellar's network and anchors to convert Brazilian Reals and Argentine Pesos into a variety of digital assets. "The Stellar anchor network is growing developers' ability to securely onboard digital assets through foreign currencies," says Denelle Dixon , CEO and Executive Director of Stellar Development Foundation. "We're looking forward to collaborating with Wyre as they leverage the Stellar network to expand their platform in Latin America." As cryptocurrency continues to become more widely used, creating a more seamless process for converting local currencies into digital assets is critical. The new integration from two leading platforms is the first step in providing an accessible and effective borderless payment solution worldwide. To learn more about Wyre, visit sendwyre.com . ABOUT WYRE Wyre is the leading fiat-to-crypto and payment infrastructure company for the crypto ecosystem. Focusing on developers, the company provides easy-to-integrate APIs which enable thousands of developers to bring crypto to the masses. The company has "on-ramped" over 15 million end users to their partners and has processed over $10B in payments since inception. "Checkout", Wyre's flagship product, is the world's fastest fiat-to-crypto gateway and has helped hundreds of crypto applications better reach their customers. Wyre has been involved in the crypto space since 2013, supporting customers in over 100 countries worldwide, and empowering them with blockchain technology, ensuring the move to Web 3.0 is as smooth as possible. For more information, please visit www.sendwyre.com . SOURCE Wyre HONG KONG, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group Limited (1725)(HKATG) has set several milestones in its commercial aerospace business in 2021, and each of these milestones is a significant achievement. As of today, the Group has successfully launched five satellites for its Golden Bauhinia Constellation project, all of which are currently operating normally in orbits. In 2022, HKATG is expected to stand out as a fast-growing company. According to the Group, another two satellites named ''Golden Bauhinia Satellite No. 3'' and ''Golden Bauhinia Satellite No. 4'' is scheduled to be launched in Q3 2022. Reference is made to the announcement of the Group dated 24 January 2022, its subsidiary, Gang Hang Ke (Shenzhen) Space Technology Co., Ltd.) (''SZ Gang Hang Ke'') has entered the second Confirmation with CGWIC to set out the specific terms for the launch of the two satellites named ''Golden Bauhinia Satellite No. 3'' and ''Golden Bauhinia Satellite No. 4''. According to the second Confirmation, the two satellites are scheduled to launch in 2022 Q3, with the target launch time tentatively being scheduled in July 2022 and will continue to form and constitute part of the ''Golden Bauhinia Constellation. In addition to the second Confirmation with CGWIC, HKATG also plans to launch 25 satellites in 2022, these satellites will provide more as well as will improve the speed of receiving aerospace data. The further launch of satellites will enhance the Group's quantity and quality for satellite data reception and application services for the ''Golden Bauhinia Constellation'' project, which will facilitate the development of various industrial and commercial activities related to remote sensing data processing, software development, and other professional value-added services in Hong Kong and promoting the development of the aerospace industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Commercial Satellites Set to Thrive in 2022 The commercial satellite imaging market is poised to grow in 2022, one of the major reasons is that small satellite networks will drive the demand for low-cost delivery services and satellite launch vehicles; on the other hand, a growing number of commercial aerospace enterprises are sending non-professional astronauts into space for the first time, demonstrating to the world the potential of commercial space tourism. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is increasingly becoming crowded in recent years, countries have announced plans for launching mega-constellations. As satellite spectrum is a global resource, all satellite systems must apply to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) before they can be put into service. Under current rules, satellites operators must launch at least one satellite with its requested frequencies and operate it for 90 days. After those seven years, satellites operators will need to launch 50% in five years and 100% in seven years. As a result, small satellite constellations under the current rules will create a huge demand for future satellite launches. 2021 turned out to be a big news year in space, some are calling the year of space tourism, with billionaires travelling on spacecraft to experience weightlessness in suborbital orbit within 100 kilometres of the ground, people paying high prices to travel to the International Space Station and film crews going into space to make movies. And there is no surprise that 2022 is going to continue that momentum and maybe even amp it up a little bit. An article named " In 2022 a Moonrush will begin in earnest" on the Economist pointed out that the number of self-funded space travellers worldwide is expected to exceed the number of official astronauts for the first time in 2022. Also, in the case of the recent volcanic eruption in Tonga, images captured by weather satellites in the US and Japan were cited by the global mainstream media as first-hand information due to communications breakdown. Using satellite images for new reports may become the norm in the news industry. With its accumulation in the field of the commercial aerospace business, the growth potential of HKATG cannot be underestimated. Based on the new space economy, the Group has continued to strengthen its independent innovation and core technologies to seize the market opportunities of global satellite launches, while promoting the development of the aerospace industry in the region. SOURCE Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group SAN ANGELO, Texas, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A-MAX Auto Insurance, an industry leader specializing in providing low-cost insurance to thousands of residents and businesses, is pleased to announce the opening of its first office in San Angelo, Texas. Located at 3347 Knickerbocker Rd, this addition extends the company's footprint across Texas, now with 196 offices statewide. The new San Angelo office features approximately 1,365 total square feet and will continue to offer excellent service and affordable rates to customers in the surrounding community. A-MAX Auto Insurance Opens First Office in San Angelo A-MAX Auto Insurance Opens First Office in San Angelo WHAT: Join A-MAX representatives and the Chamber of Commerce to celebrate our ribbon cutting ceremony and first open house event at our first San Angelo office. Open to the public, guests will enjoy face painting, music, giveaways, and free tacos from 12 pm - 2 pm. WHEN: Grand opening celebration, Friday, February 11th from 9 pm - 7 pm WHERE: A-MAX office located at 3347 Knickerbocker Rd, San Angelo, TX 76904 "We've worked towards bringing A-MAX to San Angelo for a long while now so finally getting the doors open on our first office is already a big win for our teams," said Director of Sales for North Texas, Jayson Cheves. "Our top priority is offering MAX Savings and MAX Respect to our customers, and we look forward to building those relationships in the San Angelo community." A-MAX is an industry leader in providing excellent service and affordable insurance while keeping each customer's individual needs in mind. Through our customer-focused MAX Respect initiative, it's our ongoing mission to provide a customer experience that keeps our happy customers coming back. About A-MAX Auto Insurance: A-MAX Auto Insurance is headquartered in Dallas and has offices throughout Texas, including the DFW metroplex, Houston area, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Waco, the Rio Grande Valley, and more. A-MAX acts as an independent insurance agency, which provides the ability to shop for the best prices and coverage options from multiple insurance carriers, including auto, renters, homeowners, and more. For more information or a FREE quote, call 800-921-AMAX or visit an office near you. Media Contact: Katie Emerline A-MAX Auto Insurance 972-884-4132 [email protected] SOURCE A-MAX Auto Insurance PINELLAS PARK, Fla., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Reporter Newsletter is a service of Access Ready Inc. The Board of Directors of Access Ready has deemed inaccessible information technology to be a clear, growing, and present danger to the civic, economic, and social welfare of people with disabilities. Access Ready Inc., a nonprofit cross disability advocacy organization promoting a policy of inclusion and accessibility across information technology through education and best practices has partnered with Top Tech Tidbits, the world's #1 online resource for current news and trends in adaptive technology. Adaptive Technology refers to items that are specifically designed for people with disabilities. Adaptive Technology is a subset of Assistive Technology. Adaptive Technology often refers specifically to electronic and information technology access. Founded in 2018, Access Ready publications reach out to over 100,000 professionals in the business, government, nonprofit and media sectors each month. BIG STORY 2021 YEAR END REPORT - APP & WEB ACCESSIBILITY LAWSUITS BREAK RECORDS Read more FORUM SHOPPING FOR A WEBSITE LAWSUIT OVER THE HOLIDAYS? LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THE SDNY. Read more CRYSTAL BALL 2022: MORE AGGRESSIVE DOJ ENFORCEMENT, MORE LAWSUITS, AND MAYBE A NEW RULEMAKING. Read more BUSINESS ACCESSIBILITY WHAT IS SECTION 508 COMPLIANCE Read more WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY PROBLEMS CREATE LEGAL PERIL FOR ONLINE RETAILER Read more INDUSTRY LEADING HR AND PAYROLL COMPANY ADP WORKS WITH LIGHTHOUSE TO ENHANCE ACCESSIBILITY OF PRODUCTS TO BLIND USERS Read more HOW AND WHY WORKPLACE TECH IS BECOMING MORE INCLUSIVE Read more ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS IS ON THE RISE, BUT IS IT TURNING INTO ACTION? Read more THE TECH INDUSTRY'S ACCESSIBILITY REPORT CARD FOR 2021 Across the world, people are using more technology and using it more often, especially at work. This has led to a push from technology companies to make their products more accessible and inclusive. Sanaz Ahari, senior director of product at Google, oversees communications products across Google Workspace and Android, including email, videoconferencing, and collaboration tools. During the pandemic, "we had consumers relying on [our tech], and we had educators relying on it, in addition to people at work," Ahari told Fortune. The products look nothing like they did [compared with] March of last year. Read more CURRENT LEGAL ACTIONS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES OPHTHALMOLOGY PRACTICE WITH 24 FACILITIES FOR DISCRIMINATING AGAINST INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES WHO USE WHEELCHAIRS Read more EDUCATION ACCESSIBILITY DOJ FINDS THAT MANSON YOUTH INSTITUTION VIOLATES THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION ACT Read more BLIND STUDENTS FIGHT FOR ACCESSIBLE COLLEGE CLASSES Read more GOVERNMENT SPOTLIGHT DOJ ALLEGES THAT CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS, HOUSING AUTHORITY AND ITS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DISCRIMINATED AGAINST TENANTS ON THE BASIS OF RACE, NATIONAL ORIGIN AND DISABILITY Read more HEALTHCARE ACCESSIBILITY CDC DIRECTOR APOLOGIZES TO DISABLED COMMUNITY OVER INSENSITIVE REMARKS Read more MEDICARE PLANS TO RESTRICT ACCESS TO CONTROVERSIAL, PRICEY ALZHEIMER'S DRUG ADUHELM TO PATIENTS IN CLINICAL TRIALS Read more TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT TOP TECH TIDBITS The world's #1 online resource for current news and trends in adaptive technology. Read more Sponsored by Commonlook Content Curation sponsored by Microassist Circulation sponsored by eReleases Assistive Technology curation sponsored by Top Tech Tidbits Contact: Douglas Towne 727-531-1000 [email protected] SOURCE Access Ready Inc. TRENTON, N.J., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, on the two-year anniversary of the release of the New Jersey Energy Master Plan (EMP), Affordable Energy for New Jersey is shedding light on another milestone two years the Murphy administration has failed to release how much the EMP will cost New Jersey residents and businesses. Even though the policy will drastically alter how New Jersey receives, pays for, and manages its energy, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has yet to release a public estimate of the proposal's overall cost. And the reason behind their apprehension is clear: The cost is astronomically high. Affordable Energy for New Jersey's research shows that the EMP will cost the average family over $200,000. That means the EMP overall will cost New Jersey roughly $500 billion, which we simply cannot afford especially as our economy continues to recover from the devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while COVID-19 has changed life as we know it, the BPU and Murphy administration have never stopped to reconsider their implementation of this plan and continue to hide its financial toll. "The Energy Master Plan will upend the way New Jersey residents power and heat their homes and businesses at a cost so startling the BPU refuses to release all the figures," said Ron Morano, executive director of AENJ. "The EMP will drive affordable energy sources, such as clean natural gas, out of our state and create a new structure that will spike prices for consumers. Our residents can't afford to pay more for less as they work tirelessly to rebuild our economy." AENJ strongly supports reducing our state's carbon footprint. But, rushing to implement the EMP in its current form will be disastrous for New Jersey's residents and businesses. While commendable in theory, the EMP includes many costly mandates for required electrification, elimination of clean natural gas and other shortsighted policies that will drastically and negatively impact the economy. New Jersey needs to lean on our existing energy sources to keep energy costs down while we begin to implement clean energy, not rely on wishful thinking and government mandates. "We urge the Murphy administration and the BPU to release its cost estimate of the EMP," said Morano. "New Jerseyans deserve to understand how this policy will impact their wallets and balance sheets, and two years is far too long to wait." About AENJ: The Affordable Energy for New Jersey Coalition is a dedicated group of business, labor, industry, civic and community organizations in New Jersey who have come together to ensure that families and businesses maintain access to clean and affordable energy. SOURCE Affordable Energy for New Jersey Coalition BEIRUT, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The government of Japan contributed 1.8 million U.S. dollars to scale up the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) humanitarian assistance and life-saving interventions for 35,000 vulnerable children, youth and families in Lebanon, the UN agency said on Thursday. The donation would enable the agency to distribute blankets, jackets, thermal sets, outwears and socks to vulnerable youth and families living in homes with limited or no access to heating, it said in a statement. The agency will also continue to provide quality water sanitation and hygiene services within the Bekaa region to support vulnerable families who take the brunt of the snowfall, strong winds and flooding during the winter months, it added. SHENZHEN, China, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dorabot, a leading robotics solution provider for logistics, announced the launch of DoraSorter an AI-powered intelligent sorting robot in collaboration with FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and one of the world's largest express transportation companies. The sorting robot represents FedEx Express' latest push in digitizing its operations and building a smart logistics network to handle the ever-growing volumes of e-commerce-related shipments in the region. The first of its kind in China for FedEx, the DoraSorter robot is being deployed at the 5,200m2 FedEx South China E-Commerce Shipment Sorting Center in Guangzhou. DoraSorter is already part of the daily sorting operations and is capable of handling small inbound and outbound packages from e-commerce customers in South China. While FedEx and Dorabot teams continue to fine-tune the robot based on operational requirements, and explore more application scenarios, DoraSorter's core function of sorting parcels based on destination matches the sorting center's operation process. Key features of DoraSorter include: At approximately 40m 2 , the robot can carry up to 10 kilograms of packages, covering up to 100 destinations simultaneously. , the robot can carry up to 10 kilograms of packages, covering up to 100 destinations simultaneously. The robot has a special drawer-shaped gripper that can connect with the conveyor belt seamlessly. Equipped with a barcode reader that scans package s to obtain destination information, the robot uses its gripper to receive a package inward from the conveyor belt and moves it outward to the corresponding destination slot. FedEx investment in this warehouse automation echoes broader industry trends. Triggered by the global pandemic, logistics players are optimizing operational efficiencies, from warehouse management to last-mile delivery, to cater to the soaring demand for e-commerce products,[1] seasonal peaks, and consumers' heightened expectations for fast delivery. According to McKinsey & Company, the global warehouse automation market is projected to reach $51 billion by 2030.[2] By 2025, more than 4 million commercial robots will be installed at more than 50,000 warehouses.[3] "With e-commerce taking center stage in the future of retail in our region, the speed with which a parcel can be picked up and delivered to customers' doorsteps has become a dominant factor in driving the adoption of sorting robots. Bringing DoraSorter to China as a pilot program is a natural choice for us given it's the world's biggest e-commerce market with an expected valuation of $3.3 trillion by 2025,[1] " said Kawal Preet, president of the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region at FedEx Express. "As we look to build a data-driven, smart logistics network to help our customers thrive in the digital economy, this alliance with Dorabot is part of becoming the network for what's next. AI-powered technology will continue to change how we support customers in the region and enhance supply chains for the future." "Innovation is at our core and is a major factor behind FedEx strategy in China," said Robert Chu, vice president, Operations, FedEx China. "To meet customers' changing needs, we have been exploring and investing in new technologies to enhance every key aspect of transportation. The rapid rise in e-commerce has led to higher customer demand for timeliness and flexibility in logistics services, creating new challenges and opportunities for the entire logistics industry. Our collaboration with Dorabot is our latest effort to improve operational efficiencies and build an agile logistics infrastructure through robotics technology that will support the growth of China's e-commerce industry." "The use of DoraSorter helps FedEx sort a higher volume of cross-border e-commerce shipments," said Xiaobai Deng, founder and CEO of Dorabot. "It is the starting point of a global collaboration between Dorabot and FedEx. We hope that we can work together to bring AI and robotics applications to more businesses and consumers." FedEx continues to leverage advanced technologies to streamline its operations and help customers of all sizes in China and beyond seize opportunities in the global market. Last October, FedEx teamed up with Neolix to test an autonomous delivery vehicle in China. The company is also testing FedEx SameDay Bot, Roxo in AMEA to explore the future of contactless, last-mile delivery. In addition, FedEx also launched a sensor-based logistics device SenseAwareID, designed to enhance tracking precision, reliability and timely delivery of critical shipments such as life-saving pharmaceuticals and emergency medical supplies. About FedEx Express FedEx Express is one of the world's largest express transportation companies, providing fast and reliable delivery to more than 220 countries and territories. FedEx Express uses a global air-and-ground network to speed delivery of time-sensitive shipments, by a definite time and date. About Dorabot Dorabot, founded in 2015, supplies automated intelligent warehousing solutions with a strong technical force, using computer vision, motion planning, planning and reasoning, autonomous navigation, multi-machine collaboration, machine learning and other technologies. The company provides customers from logistics and warehousing, retailing and e-commerce, seaports and airports, intelligent manufacturing and other industries with end-to-end solutions using a combination of hardware and software, including part feeding, sorting, transporting, de-palletizing, and accessing, loading and unloading. It helps customers manage labor shortage problems, reduce operating costs, improve operational efficiency and enhance the level of digitalization and intelligence. Dorabot adheres to the strategy of talent diversification and market internationalization. It has established R&D and operation centers in Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Shunde, Hangzhou, Brisbane, Atlanta, Singapore and Tokyo. Dorabot was named a global "Technology Pioneer" by the World Economic Forum in 2019 and a "Carbon Neutral Technology Pioneer" in 2021. For more information, please visit www.dorabot.com. SOURCE Dorabot Inc. PHOENIX, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- CopperPoint Insurance Companies, a western-based super regional commercial insurance company, announced today that AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) for CopperPoint Insurance Company and its subsidiaries with a stable outlook. Alaska National Insurance Company has also been added as a new member to Best's rating for CopperPoint Insurance Group. These ratings reflect the strength of CopperPoint's balance sheet, risk appetite and operating results over the last several years. CopperPoint maintains the strongest level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), supported by a conservative investment portfolio, favorable reserve development and strong reinsurance program. AM Best is a widely recognized provider of insurance industry ratings and financial data. "We're pleased with AM Best's review of our enterprise, the resulting rating affirmation, and the rating agency's inclusion of Alaska National within our rating group. Since its acquisition in 2019, Alaska National has become even more integrated with our family of companies and continues to enhance our already strong balance sheet and operating results," said Marc Schmittlein, President and CEO, CopperPoint Insurance Companies. "The differentiated expertise of our now over 750 employees, enables us to continue offering best-in-class workers' compensation coverage, comprehensive risk management solutions and an expanded commercial property and casualty product offering, while providing exceptional service to policyholders, injured workers and agency partners." About CopperPoint Insurance Companies Founded in 1925, CopperPoint Insurance Companies, www.copperpoint.com, is a leading provider of workers' compensation and commercial property and casualty insurance solutions. With an expanded line of insurance products and a growing 26-state footprint, CopperPoint is in a strong position to meet the evolving needs of its agents, brokers, and customers. It has $5.1 billion in total assets and an enterprise surplus of approximately $1.6 billion. CopperPoint Mutual Insurance Holding Company is the corporate parent of CopperPoint Insurance Companies, Pacific Compensation Insurance Company and Alaska National Insurance Company. All companies are rated A (Excellent) by AM Best. SOURCE CopperPoint Insurance Companies HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- American Air & Water, Inc., headquartered here, has been named the first authorized government supplier of Aura Air purification products in the United States. In making the announcement, Warren Lynn, founder and president of American Air & Water, said he is extremely pleased to have this new association with the Israeli based global leader in air purification solutions. logo "The Aura Air purifier is the highest performing product of its kind at accessible price points. Over time it will prove a valuable solution for a tremendously broad array of facilities and businesses," said Warren Lynn, President, American Air & Water. Lynn said Aura Air's award-winning air purification technology filters indoor air while simultaneously detecting pollutants and destroying 99.9% of viruses and bacteria through its patented 4-stage purification process. It has been effectively tested against air tainted by SARS-CoV-2 particles across different variants. "As more people return to indoor workplaces, children head back to school, and hospitality venues re-open indoors, highest quality air purifiers are now a vital part of keeping public spaces safe," said Lynn. "It's obvious the need for safe indoor air will only intensify as waves of new variants appear, and those responsible for enclosed public spaces who do not take this seriously will fall behind." Aura Air Purifiers use two patented methods, a Sterionizer and a copper-laced, high-efficiency particulate air filter as well as UVC light. The Sterionizer is an improved ionizer which works by circulating negative ions in the air to initiate a process that destroys the sickness-causing viruses. The purifier also includes a patented detection system that allows the air quality of any room where it's installed to be monitored from a central location. Roei Friedberg, Aura Air's Chief Executive Officer, said he is "extremely pleased" about the new supplier relationship with American Air & Water. "Warren shares our commitment to quality and service, and his established network of relationships over the past two decades will help us expand to new markets and customers in the United States." About Aura Air - Aura Air has created the world's smartest data driven air purification system, one that cleanses indoor air while vigilantly monitoring its quality in real time. Aura Air's award-winning and patented technology filters and disinfects indoor air through a unique four stage purification process that captures and kills 99.9% of viruses, bacteria, germs and allergens. Founded in 2018, Aura Air is now helping to purify air in homes, hospitals, schools, businesses hotels, restaurants, busses and nursing homes in more than 50 nations. Aura is headquartered in Israel with global offices in the U.S. and India. For more details, visit: www.auraair.io. About American Air & Water -- American Air & Water has been providing solutions for reducing human exposure to pollutants, and controlling the spread of harmful viruses and micro-organisms since 1999. It is a specialist in the field of air, water and surface disinfection. It has provided significant research, and product development in the field as well as marketing support for several of the disinfection industry's top-rated products. Media Contact: Warren Lynn, American Air & Water 843-306-0074 [email protected] SOURCE American Air & Water SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Premise, the innovative new platform that democratizes the way data is sourced, analyzed, and applied, recently released the results from its voting rights and filibuster survey. This poll found, among other insights, that 51% of Americans believe that the state of democracy in the U.S. is "much weaker" or "somewhat weaker" than ten years ago. When broken down by party, 65% of registered Republicans share this sentiment while 52% of registered Democrats hold this belief. Also of note, 60% of Americans over 60 years old and 58% of white Americans view the state of U.S. democracy as weaker than ten years ago. Respondents shared their thoughts on the state of American democracy, voting rights, and the filibuster. Here are some of the most significant findings: Most Americans feel that the state of U.S. democracy is "much weaker" or "somewhat weaker" than 10 years ago. This sentiment was particularly prevalent amongst registered Republicans. Indeed, 65% of this population share this belief while 52% of registered Democrats feel this. 60% of Americans over 60 years old and 58% of white Americans also believe this. Americans disagree as to what poses the biggest threat to U.S. democracy. While 38% of registered Republicans think the biggest threat to U.S. democracy is voter fraud, 33% of registered Democrats feel that voter suppression, particularly in the form of voter ID laws, is the greatest challenge to our system. Support for abolishing or reforming the filibuster varies significantly by party. 67% of registered Democrats are behind abolishing or reforming this Congressional mechanism. By contrast, only 39% of registered Republicans support this course of action. Finally, approval of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act follows party lines though a large swath of all Americans is simply not familiar with the bill. 68% of registered Democrats support this piece of legislation whereas only 37% of registered Republicans are behind this bill. 47% of registered Republicans are not familiar with the bill while 43% of registered Democrats are unaware of the legislation. Further, the survey found that Black Americans (55%) were more likely to support the bill than white Americans (45%). These results are based on a survey of 6,557 respondents from all 50 states conducted from January 20, 2022 to January 21, 2022 via smartphones. The results were then weighted according to the U.S. census to accurately reflect the gender, age, race, ethnicity, and political party of the general population. About Premise Premise is a crowdsourced insights company. Our technology mobilizes communities of global smartphone users to source actionable data in real-time, cost-effectively, and with the visibility you need. In more than 125 countries and 37 languages, we find Data for Every Decision. To learn more, please visit www.premise.com. Contact: Taylor C. Pearson [email protected] 202-235-3482 SOURCE Premise Data The annual rating is the premier national benchmarking tool on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) employees. This is Andersen's second year participating in the CEI and the first year the company earned the top score of 100 percent. Andersen joins more than 840 major U.S. businesses with the 2022 designation. "At Andersen, we are committed to fostering a more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace to ensure every employee feels respected, valued and able to live their truth openly," said Tracey Gibson, vice president and chief diversity officer. "In 2021, for the first time, we joined the annual Human Rights Campaign foundation rating. With our mindset of continuous improvement, we are creating transparency and working to understand gaps in our policies and practices." Starting January 2022, Andersen expanded benefits eligibility to same- and different-gender domestic partners and their children. Domestic partner benefits enables Andersen to meet the needs of a diverse and dynamic workforce and the expectations of prospective employees. "Our imperative on our inclusion journey is to assess and adjust our practices and policies for equity," said Gibson. "By expanding benefits eligibility, Andersen is showing our commitment to our employees, regardless of partner status, and supporting our LGBTQ+ workforce. Providing domestic partner benefits underscores our vision to make the world a better place by living up to the promise that everyone benefits from their association with Andersen." In 2020, Andersen established an equal employment opportunity policy available to employees and is publicly available on AndersenWindows.com, making it visible to job candidates, customers, vendors and homeowners. The policy was also integrated into training for leaders and new employee orientation. Additionally, Andersen Corporation was named a Forbes Best Employer for Diversity 2021. Andersen has 10 employee resource networks, including PRIDE+ which focuses on supporting employees who identify within the LGBTQ+ community. PRIDE+ employee leaders engage and aid Andersen's workforce in pushing for a fully equitable community by providing awareness, education and business opportunities that develop and empower advocates of social justice for the LGBTQ+ community. "Inclusion ignites creativity, problem solving, collaboration and innovation and our PRIDE+ leadership team has tapped into each, making this top score on the 2022 Corporate Equality Index a reality," said Alan Bernick senior vice president, chief legal officer and corporate secretary, who is also executive sponsor of Andersen's PRIDE+ employee resource network. Recent corporate initiatives also include: Joining a growing coalition of 400-plus companies calling for the urgent passage of the Equality Act, which would finally guarantee explicit, permanent protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people under our existing civil rights laws Participation in the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion within the workplace Adding gender identity language to employee profiles Talent Acquisition training centered on recruiting LGBTQ+ candidates Sponsoring an annual conference through Mossier, a non-profit that focuses on advancing LGBTQ+ employment equity across generations and borders Building alliances with organizations that foster diverse talent, including LGBTQ+ recruitment events and diverse networking programs Efficacy and unconscious bias training including training for human resources professionals and hiring managers to removing bias from our hiring processes and Leading for Inclusion training for people managers The full 2022 Corporate Equality Index report is available online at hrc.org/cei. * 2020 Andersen brand surveys of U.S. homeowners. ABOUT THE HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOUNDATION The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community. ABOUT ANDERSEN WINDOWS & DOORS Andersen was founded in 1903 on the philosophy of working "all together" to deliver on its promise to its customers. Every day, the company's more than 11,000 employees are empowered to imagine what's possible and do what's right. Andersen delivers products for the way people live, unmatched performance for the comfort and security homeowners desire, and endless design options to achieve any style. Headquartered in Bayport, Minn., Andersen Corporation and its subsidiaries manufacture and market window and door products under the Andersen, Renewal by Andersen, EMCO, Weiland and MQ brands. Andersen, a privately held company, operates manufacturing sites across North America and Europe. Andersen has earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2021 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award. Visit us at andersenwindows.com . SOURCE Andersen Corporation SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The global artificial intelligence in healthcare market size is expected to reach USD 208.2 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 38.4% from 2022 to 2030. The growing demand for personalized medicine, rising demand for value-based care, growing datasets of patient health-related digital information, advancements in healthcare IT infrastructure, penetration of smartphones, improved internet connectivity, and shortage of care providers is propelling the growth of the market over the forthcoming years. Key Insights & Findings from the report: The AI in healthcare market size is anticipated to be valued at USD 208.2 billion by 2030, owing to the growing datasets of patient health-related information, advancing healthcare IT infrastructure, and growing need for accurate and early disease diagnosis The software solutions segment dominated the global market in 2021, due to the widespread adoption of AI-based software solutions amongst care providers, payers, and patients. The clinical trials segment dominated the market in 2021, owing to the growing demand for faster and accurate clinical trials with enhanced accuracy and reliability North America dominated in 2021, owing to advancements in healthcare IT infrastructure, readiness to adopt advanced technologies, presence of several key players, growing geriatric population, and rising prevalence of chronic diseases Read 150 page market research report, "Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare Market Size, Share, And Trends Analysis Report By Component (Software Solutions, Hardware, Services), By Application (Virtual Assistants, Connected Machines), By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030", published by Grand View Research. In addition, changing lifestyles, the growing geriatric population, rising prevalence of chronic diseases have contributed to the need for faster and accurate disease detection and improving the understanding of the disease in the early stage, thereby driving the adoption of technologies based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic positively impacted the adoption of AI-based technologies and unearthed the potential they withhold. Healthcare systems began adopting AI-based technologies in faster and early diagnosis & detection of diseases and quicker & accurate clinical trials. Furthermore, AI-based technologies were implemented in virtual assistants, robot-assisted surgeries, claims management, cybersecurity, and patient management. AI algorithms were trained with patient health datasets to optimize the diagnosis and detection of diseases at an early stage, to begin with, an optimum treatment regime. Supportive government initiatives, a growing number of investments from private investors and venture capitalists, and the emergence of AI-specialized startups across the globe are driving the market growth. Software solutions dominated in 2021, owing to the rapidly rising adoption rates of software solutions in healthcare systems and the growing penetration of these technologies in various applications. The clinical trials segment dominated in 2021, owing to the adoption of these technologies in clinical trial designing, study adherence, patient recruitment, and minimized patient dropout. North America region dominated in 2021, owing to the availability of optimum IT infrastructure, technological literacy, presence of key players & local developers, and lucrative funding options. Key players are focusing on devising innovative product development strategies through mergers & acquisitions and collaborations to expand their product portfolio and cater to larger business geographies. Market Segmentation: Grand View Research, Inc. has segmented the artificial intelligence in healthcare market report on the basis of component, application, and region: Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2030) Software Solutions Hardware Services Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2030) Robot-Assisted Surgery Virtual Assistants Administrative Workflow Assistants Connected Machines Diagnosis Clinical Trials Fraud Detection Cybersecurity Dosage Error Reduction Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2030) North America U.S. Canada Europe U.K. Germany France Italy Spain Russia Asia Pacific China India Japan Australia Singapore South Korea Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina MEA South Africa Saudi Arabia UAE List of Key Players of Artificial Intelligence In Healthcare Market Nuance Communications, Inc. IBM Corporation Microsoft NVIDIA Corporation Intel Corporation DeepMind Technologies Limited Check out more studies related to integration of AI into Healthcare practices, published by Grand View Research: Artificial Intelligence In Diagnostics Market The artificial intelligence in diagnostics market size was valued at USD 576.3 million in 2021 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.3% from 2022 to 2030. The healthcare industry is rapidly integrating artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions in various verticals to achieve higher operational & clinical outcomes, which is a key contributing factor to the growth. The artificial intelligence in diagnostics market size was valued at in 2021 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.3% from 2022 to 2030. The healthcare industry is rapidly integrating artificial intelligence (AI)-powered solutions in various verticals to achieve higher operational & clinical outcomes, which is a key contributing factor to the growth. Artificial Intelligence In Medical Imaging Market The global artificial intelligence in the medical imaging market is expected to witness growth from 2020 to 2027 owing to the digital transformation and technological advancements in the healthcare sector. The increasing prevalence of diseases has led to the rise in the number of diagnostic procedures carried out which has fueled the demand for the market. The global artificial intelligence in the medical imaging market is expected to witness growth from 2020 to 2027 owing to the digital transformation and technological advancements in the healthcare sector. The increasing prevalence of diseases has led to the rise in the number of diagnostic procedures carried out which has fueled the demand for the market. Artificial Intelligence In Remote Patient Monitoring Market The healthcare industry is rapidly evolving with large volumes of data and increasing challenges related to healthcare costs and accurate patient outcomes. The rise in prevalence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and chronic respiratory diseases, is increasing the need for real-time data, which in turn, is boosting the demand for AI technology in remote patient monitoring. Browse through Grand View Research's coverage of the Global Healthcare IT Industry. About Grand View Research Grand View Research, U.S.-based market research and consulting company, provides syndicated as well as customized research reports and consulting services. Registered in California and headquartered in San Francisco, the company comprises over 425 analysts and consultants, adding more than 1200 market research reports to its vast database each year. These reports offer in-depth analysis on 46 industries across 25 major countries worldwide. With the help of an interactive market intelligence platform, Grand View Research helps Fortune 500 companies and renowned academic institutes understand the global and regional business environment and gauge the opportunities that lie ahead. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc. Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.grandviewresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc. DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Australia Construction Equipment Market - Strategic Assessment & Forecast 2021-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The Australia construction equipment market size will be valued at USD 567.3 million and to reach a volume of 15,221 units by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.34% by volume during 2021-2027. The report considers the present scenario of the Australia construction equipment market and market dynamics for the forecast period 2021-2027. It covers a detailed overview of several growth enablers, restraints, and trends in the market. The study includes the volume and value sales with a segment analysis of the Australia construction equipment market. The demand for Australia construction equipment in the mining sector is expected to rise consistently during the forecast period due to the high demand for primary mineral commodities. Australia will boost defense with local missile production. This is going to support the mining industry in Australia as minerals such as iron ore, tantalum, etc. are going to be used in the process. The infrastructure programs in Australia led by their government are going to open a great opportunity for the construction equipment market. This is because construction equipment such as Earth Moving, Road Construction & Material Handling will be used in these projects. AUSTRALIA CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT MARKET INSIGHTS Water infrastructure projects to spur the demand for heavy construction equipment market in Australia. Construction equipment powered by green hydrogen fuel is likely to replace the electric construction equipment. KEY HIGHLIGHTS IN THE REPORT The used construction equipment market has a more enormous scope than the new one as small and medium businesses go for the rental or used equipment rather than buying the new one. Australian Construction Equipment Rental Market will see a surge in demand in the forecast period. Australian government invested USD 1 billion to boost defense with local missile production. This will support the mining industry in Australia as minerals such as iron ore, tantalum, etc., are going to be used in the process, thus also propelling the demand of the machinery and equipment manufacturing industry in Australia. AUSTRALIA CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT MARKET SEGMENTATION The demand for earth-moving equipment in Australia is increasing rapidly due to several infrastructure projects. The Australian government introduced the 'Melbourne Intermodal Terminal' (USD 2 billion) because of its excavation feature and carrying large amounts of weight. VENDOR LANDSCAPE Climate change is a hot topic for all countries across the globe. Even construction equipment manufacturers are innovating new technologies for machines to reduce carbon emissions. For instance, Caterpillar has announced to offer 100% green hydrogen fuel-based construction equipment as they are as efficient as gasoline fuel-based construction equipment. Major Vendors Caterpillar Liebherr Komatsu Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group Co., Ltd. (XCMG Kubota Volvo Construction Equipment JCB SANY Hitachi John Deere & Company Other Prominent Vendors Yanmar Aerial Access Dingo Australia Kanga Loaders Modular Cranes Distributor Profiles Construction Equipment Australia Semco Equipment Sales Australian Construction Equipment Sales Tutt Bryant Capital Construction Equipment BPF Equipment WHY SHOULD YOU BUY THIS REPORT? This report is among the few in the market that offers outlook and opportunity analysis forecast in terms of: Volume (Unit sales) Type Application Value (USD) Type Application Gain competitive intelligence about the economic scenario, advantages in Australian countries major projects and investments, dynamics, and market share. Examples of the latest technologies. Get presentation-ready format and easy-to-interpret data. Enable decision-makers to make informed and profitable choices Gain expert quantitative and qualitative analysis on value/volume growth projections of the Australian construction equipment market share Complete supply chain analysis Get COVID-19 impact analysis of the market Company Profile of 10 key vendors and 5 other prominent vendors Key Topics Covered: Section 1 - Introduction Market Snapshot Executive Summary Section 2 - Market Overview Economic Scenario, Foreign Direct Investment, Advantage Australia, Key Economic Regions, Import/Export Trends, Supply Chain Analysis, COVID-19 Impact Section 3 - Technological Development Advent of New Technology Recent Developments in Construction Equipment Market Section 4 - Market Dynamics Market Drivers, Restraints, & Trends Section 5 - Market Landscape 5.1 Australia Construction Equipment Market by Type (Volume & Value) 5.1.1. Earthmoving Equipment Excavator Backhoe Loader Motor Grader Other Earthmoving Equipment (Other Loaders, Bulldozer, Trencher, etc.) 5.1.2. Road Construction Equipment Asphalt Paver Road Roller 5.1.3. Material Handling Equipment Crane Forklift and Telescopic Handler Aerial Platform (Articulated Boom lifts, Telescopic Boom lifts, Scissor Lifts, etc) 5.2 Australia Construction Equipment Market by Application (Volume & Value) Construction Mining Manufacturing Others (Power Generation and Utilities, Municipal Corporation, etc.) Section 6 - Competitive Landscape Competitive Landscape Overview Major Vendors (Caterpillar Of Australia PTY LTD, Liebherr-Australia Pty. Ltd., Komatsu Australia Pty Ltd, XCMG Mining Equipment Australia PTY LTD, Kubota Australia Pty Ltd, Volvo Construction Equipment Australia Pty Limited, JCB Construction Equipment Australia, SANY Australia, Hitachi Construction Machinery ( Australia ) PTY LTD, John Deere Ltd.) ) PTY LTD, John Deere Ltd.) Other Prominent Vendors Distributor Profiles Section 7 - Report Summary Key Insights Abbreviations List of Graphs List of Tables Section 8 - Report Scope & Definition For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gwjpua Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets This latest report makes a case for automotive dealers to optimize their websites to drive greater sales QUEBEC CITY, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - OSF Digital , a leading provider of digital transformation services to companies worldwide, has released a new report titled: The OSF Digital 2022 U.S Automotive Dealership Ecommerce Benchmark Study. The report reveals that consumers want to complete car research online to get direct visibility into inventory at specific dealerships. It also indicates that consumers want the convenience of requesting a meeting to get a quote or book a test drive, and they want access to marketplaces of related products to help streamline their busy lives. Despite this need, many U.S. automotive dealers are behind and not providing online tactical, tangible, and pragmatic solutions to engage customers. Download and read the full benchmark report here. "Customers are digital-first, and automotive dealerships need effective digital transformation," said Gerard (Gerry) Szatvanyi, CEO of OSF Digital. "Car buyers want consistency and speed. The good news is dealerships can now eliminate many consumer pain points they've heard for decades by providing an online portal to bring data together in one place which streamlines the process to help serve customers and drive sales." The State of Online Automotive Dealerships Consumers are Digital-First: The global pandemic accelerated the digitization of the auto buying journey for consumers. The report indicates that U.S. dealerships must provide a compelling digital buying journey to deliver what modern customers want, as 95% of vehicle buyers use digital sources of information and 83% of consumers want to shop online to save time before buying a car. Other key findings include: Automotive consumers visit an average of 4.2 websites in their purchasing process on multiple devices throughout their buying journey More than 60% of auto consumers reported visiting a dealership or dealer website after watching a video of a vehicle they were considering 79% of dealerships lack the critical driver of salessearch functionality that lets consumers find out if a particular dealer has the car they want in inventory Only 5.5% of all dealerships had a 360-degree viewer feature, allowing buyers to see a vehicle from all angles, The prevalence of website capabilities impacts auto sales at dealerships and the ease of finding those web capabilities Business Challenges The report also reveals that a lack of IT support is a common obstacle for dealerships. With a growth mindset, dealerships can find an ecommerce implementation partner to use simple out-of-the-box ecommerce solutions with a managed service option to ensure they don't miss out or drain their resources. As dealerships rethink what a modern-day sales experience should include, the right ecommerce platform can unify data, simplify the product discovery journey, and offer self-service features to resell a car, schedule a test drive or make a dealership visit. Opportunities for Growth The study demonstrates an effective website for dealerships is critical to sales growth. The report shows how a dealership website serves as a significant portal of information for consumers to evaluate during their selection process, helping them narrow their considerations and identify key vehicle features and benefits. Well-designed aspects of website appearance, navigation, and speed enhance a shopper's ability to locate content, ultimately driving traffic to showrooms. The report argues these aspects will continue to be necessary for dealerships to win in the overall strategy of reaching customers across multiple device types, including tablets and smartphones. Research Methodology The OSF Digital 2022 U.S. Automotive Dealership Ecommerce Benchmark Study utilized a secret shopper observational methodology reviewing 488 individual auto dealership websites among the top 150 U.S. dealership groups named by Automotive News Magazine in 2020, in addition to research on each leading 150 U.S. dealership. The purpose was to understand the presence of capabilities/functionalities and the ease of finding these functionalities for the consumer. The research aimed for broad geographical coverage of the United States and data was collected between July 27, 2021, and August 17, 2021, and the research reflects the offerings the dealerships in the study demonstrated on their websites. About OSF Digital OSF Digital is a global commerce and digital transformation leader with expertise in connecting technology and strategy to drive business goals. With expert status in B2C and B2B commerce and several Salesforce awards for multi-cloud innovation, OSF Digital seamlessly guides enterprises through their entire digital transformation journey. With customers in various industries around the globe, OSF Digital provides personal attention and the highest level of connection with a local presence throughout North America, Latin America, APAC, and EMEA. For more information about OSF Digital, visit: osf.digital. All trademarks and trade names mentioned herein are the properties of their respective holders and hereby acknowledged. SOURCE OSF Digital OMAHA, Neb., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LifeStage Wealth is a financial planning firm founded in 1988 by Bruce Kuehl in a suburb of Minneapolis, MN, known as Minnetonka. LifeStage's mission is to partner with its clients to help them achieve their financial goals. The firm has impacted the lives of hundreds of families in their surrounding communities over the past 34 years. But what would happen to those families' financial plans if something catastrophic were to happen to Kuehl? Beyond clients, what would his team and family be left to sort out? These are the sorts of questions that every small business owner faces if they've been able to build a successful company. LifeStage used to have a business continuity plan that was anchored around Kuehl's business partner. When the relationship with Kuehl's former partner ended five years ago, Kuehl knew LifeStage needed a new plan. According to Kuehl, "It has been a two-year quest to find the right firm that LifeStage could strategically align with to create this plan." Ironically, their quest ended with a firm named after the navigational star, Avior. A mutual connection at Schwab pointed them toward Avior Wealth. Interested in partnering with Avior? Reach out here. How This Benefits Clients Kuehl and his fellow advisor, Nate Hahm, hosted a client conference call on October 19th. At the end of the call, Bruce shared how this partnership directly benefits clients. 1. Expanded support for LifeStage Wealth staff and advisors which translates to more time doing what they do best thinking about their clients Avior has specialized teams that focus on investment management, trading, and financial planning. This allows those members to focus their time on becoming subject-matter experts. LifeStage's team now has access to this additional knowledge and expertise. So, many of the tasks that were performed solely by an advisor functioning as a sole proprietor are now shared. Avior also partners with an external IT firm for providing managed IT services and a helpdesk. And Avior's Operations Department provides additional support. This means that LifeStage employees are no longer solving problems on their own. Lastly, LifeStage has recognized that by partnering with a larger firm, Schwab's service team members are providing better service. This translates to faster response times when working to resolve client's issues. 2. Most importantly, the partnership provides peace of mind Should something adverse occur to Kuehl, clients can rest-assured that business will continue as normal. Avior is available to provide support, as needed. This means that a client isn't left scrambling to find a new advisor because their current advisor cared so much, he dedicated 2 years of his life to finding the best firm for them. After Kuehl finished reviewing these benefits, he invited clients to ask any lingering questions. One bravely asked, "All of our accounts are in the Schwab business already. I know you said that you wanted to go with a smaller firm, but why go to a third-party? Why wouldn't we just go with Schwab?" These questions allowed Kuehl to punctuate the most important difference between a broker-dealer like Charles Schwab and a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) like Avior Wealth. Avior is a fiduciary which means, unlike broker-dealers, they are legally bound to make recommendations based on what is in the best interest of the client, not the firm's revenue goals. How This Benefits Avior Avior believes they've developed a firm model that allows them to provide their services in a deeply personalized and meaningful way. Their vision includes sharing their model to improve the lives of people all over the US. Through LifeStage, they can realize their vision by expanding their mission and model to the people of Minnesota. In addition, as the firm continues to grow, its overall value increases which means more capital for investments and greater earnings for its owners. And if that wasn't enough, the continued growth makes Avior a magnet for top talent by signaling that they are a trusted partner. Conclusion Avior and LifeStage look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership. As evidenced above, it paves a way for them to expand into new markets, work collaboratively, and leverage one another's resources, while remaining independent and focused on strengthening each business. This isn't just a win for Avior and LifeStage. It's a win for their clients. About Avior Wealth Management, LLC: Avior Wealth Management, LLC, formerly Nelson, Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group, LLC, is a SEC Registered Investment Advisor that offers financial planning and investment management services to retail and institutional clients across the United States. Avior Wealth Management, LLC and its predecessor was formed in 2008 to offer clients a holistic approach to their investments, financial planning and wealth management. With office currently located in five states, we offer clients a team approach to their financial needs. Please note, investments are not guaranteed and subject to risk, including loss of principal invested. Audrey M. Keel, Marketing Manager AVIOR WEALTH MANAGEMENTTM 210.822.5252 [email protected] SOURCE Avior Wealth Management CENTENNIAL, Colo. and WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon will host a new nightly news show, News Not Noise, on the rapidly-growing Real America's Voice network. Co-hosted by Real America's Voice correspondent Amanda Head, News Not Noise premiers on Monday, January 31 and will air Monday through Friday from 6pm-7pm EST. "I'm absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to share the quality journalism we do at Just The News with the Real America's Voice audience" said Solomon. "Far too many nightly news shows focus on anything but real news, choosing instead to highlight salacious, half-true headlines in pursuit of a political agenda and we're going to change that," he said. "I also couldn't have a better co-host than Amanda. She is a fantastic journalist and demonstrates a true level of professionalism," he continued. News Not Noise will have a unique focus on investigative journalism and highlight important news of the week. The new program will also feature an author's segment highlighting new and upcoming book releases and a weekly, interactive town hall on Fridays in which Solomon and Head will respond to questions live on air. "We are very happy to further our partnership with John Solomon and Just The News," said Real America's Voice CEO Howard Diamond. "News Not Noise promises to be an amazing addition to our evening lineup and delivers on our commitment to provide our viewers with high quality programming and honest, hard-hitting news," he said. "I am so honored to be co-hosting News Not Noise with John Solomon," said Head. "Solomon's reputation for his commitment to real news and authentic journalism is legendary, and the chance to help bring that to the Real America's Voice audience is incredibly exciting," she said. WATCH A PROMO FOR NEWS NOT NOISE HERE . News Not Noise premiers Monday, January 31 at 6:00pm EST. Stream online at http://realamericasvoice.com or on DISH Ch. 219, Pluto TV Ch. 240, Samsung TV Plus Ch. 1029, SelectTV Ch. 106, Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku Ch. 175. ABOUT REAL AMERICA'S VOICE Real America's Voice delivers exciting live-event coverage seven days a week across a growing list of powerful content distribution channels. You can watch all Real America's Voice programming at http://realamericasvoice.com/ or by downloading the app on Apple or Android . Real America's Voice is also available on DISH Network, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Pluto TV, Samsung TV Plus, SelectTV, and Roku. SOURCE Real America's Voice COLOMBO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The global COVID-19 Omicron variant surge has slowed the tourist arrival rate in Sri Lanka, and the Tourism Ministry was unable to achieve its target of 100,000 arrivals in January, local media reported here Thursday. Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga said that Sri Lanka would not be able to meet its ambitious monthly target of 100,000 arrivals owing to the surge of global Omicron infections, local Daily FT reported. Ranatunga said till Wednesday, Sri Lanka had recorded around 65,000 tourists. The maximum arrivals Sri Lanka could expect for the next five days were 10,000, making it altogether 75,000 tourist arrivals for January. According to official figures, Sri Lanka attracted nearly 59,000 tourists during the first 22 days of January, a significant increase from the 1,682 arrivals recorded in January last year. Tourists mostly came from Russia, India, Ukraine, Britain and Germany in January, the ministry said. DETROIT, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Invest Detroit Ventures (IDV) announced an investment from Bank of America to support IDV Fund IV, a newly-established $20 million fund that provides capital investment to Michigan startups during early, critical stages of development. "This investment by Bank of America is significant because there is not enough early-stage capital for Michigan-based startups," said Patti Glaza, managing director of IDV. "Only 10% of Michigan venture capital is currently invested at the seed stage, resulting in entrepreneurs spending too much time fundraising instead of executing in a space where time to market is critical. Founders of color have an even bigger challenge as they try to navigate systemic barriers to funding." IDV IV, the fourth fund managed by Invest Detroit Ventures, will build on the $22 million invested in 175 companies over the past decade. The fund will continue to invest in pre-seed and seed stage high-growth and high-tech companies based in Michigan. The unique fund structure will combine traditional investment capital with philanthropic capital to better serve Michigan's entrepreneurs. Up to half the fund will come from partners in which their investment returns will recycle into IDV's evergreen fund to support innovation in the state long-term. To date, over $1 billion in additional capital has been raised by their investments. The fund will continue to focus on underserved entrepreneurs, including women, minority, and immigrant founders. In addition, capital and support to help bring ideas to early-product release is provided by the organization's FAM (Funding, Access & Mentorship) fund. "Bank of America's equity investment in Invest Detroit Ventures underscores our ongoing efforts to address the persistent gap in access to growth capital for minority-led businesses. Being based in Detroit, Invest Detroit Ventures is well positioned to help more women, minority and immigrant entrepreneurs scale their local business ideas, which will ultimately spur job growth and create more economic opportunities across the state of Michigan," said Matt Elliott, President, Bank of America Detroit. Last year, Bank of America committed more than $6 million in grants to more than 65 metro Detroit organizations. These organizations create pathways to employment and job training, support community development and housing affordability, address the small business eco-system and its entrepreneurs and drive healthy outcomes for communities through innovative health care delivery while supporting basic needs functions. Additionally, Bank of America employees volunteer 20,000 hours and donate over $1 million in matching grants to Detroit each year. In 2019, Bank of America also made a $1 million grant to support Invest Detroit's work in neighborhood development. "We are thrilled to see Bank of America add its support of early-stage companies to the Detroit region as startups are a major driver of economic growth," said Dave Blaszkiewicz, CEO of Invest Detroit. "Though our venture program supports startups across the state, 25% of our founders are from Detroit, and the more we can build the state's ecosystem, the more Detroit becomes a startup destination." About Invest Detroit Ventures Invest Detroit Ventures was created by the nonprofit Invest Detroit in 2009 to enhance its overall mission to support inclusive growth of entrepreneurial ventures. As one of few venture funds located in Detroit, Invest Detroit Ventures is one of the most active early-stage investors in the state and have invested in over 175 Michigan-based companies across multiple sectors including life sciences and healthcare, information technology, fintech, mobility, advanced manufacturing and materials, among others. Invest Detroit Ventures only invests in Michigan-based companies and oversees additional programs designed to grow and support the state's startup ecosystem. Visit investdetroit.vc for more information. SOURCE Invest Detroit Ventures SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, today announced it has been named one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality for the fourth year in a row, receiving a perfect score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI). The annual benchmarking survey and report measures corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality across the United States. "At Bank of the West, we believe being different is a strength, so every employee is encouraged to bring their authentic self to work. It's one of the reasons we're a fundamentally different Bank and a great place to work," said Nandita Bakhshi, President and CEO at Bank of the West. "We are helping to build a more equitable society by advancing sustainability and promoting diversity and inclusion across every level of the industry. I'm inspired by our team who take this responsibility seriously and have and shown up for our customers and each other through the challenging pandemic environment." From its CEO to investments in minority and women-owned businesses, Bank of the West embraces and celebrates different cultures, lifestyles and experiences. The Bank offers competitive benefits for same-sex partners, regardless of marital status, as well as transgender benefits in all health plans offered. All employees are welcome to join any one of the company's nine resource groups, which honor and celebrate cultural, gender and LGBTQ+ diversity at the Bank. The groups actively work in the community by volunteering, participating in employee recruitment fairs and supporting personal and professional development. Learn more about Bank of the West's commitment to diversity and inclusion here . The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: Non-discrimination policies across business entities; Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; Supporting an inclusive culture; and, Corporate social responsibility. "When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation created the Corporate Equality Index 20 years ago, we dreamed that LGBTQ+ workersfrom the factory floor to corporate headquarters, in big cities and small townscould have access to the policies and benefits needed to thrive and live life authentically," said Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research and Training. "We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index paved the way to that reality for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. But there is still more to do, which is why we are raising the bar yet again to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow for LGBTQ+ workers everywhere." The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. About The Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work. About Bank of the West At Bank of the West, we know money deposited in a bank has the power to finance positive change. So we are taking action to ensure our activities help protect the planet, improve people's lives, and strengthen communities. We are redefining banking for a better future by focusing on areas where we believe we can have a real impact: supporting energy transition, helping enable women entrepreneurs, and financing innovative start-ups. As the bank for a changing world, Bank of the West is committed to sustainable finance along with our parent company BNP Paribas. Through Digital Channels and offices across the U.S., Bank of the West provides financial tools and resources to more than 2 million individuals, families and businesses. 2022 Bank of the West. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. Doing business in South Dakota as Bank of the West California. Connect with us SOURCE Bank of the West LAVAL, QC, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) ("Bausch Health" or the "Company") announced today that it has launched an offering of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of new senior secured notes due 2027 (the "Notes"). As previously announced, the Company is also seeking to refinance its existing credit agreement (the "Credit Agreement" and such refinancing, the "Credit Agreement Refinancing"). The refinanced Credit Agreement is expected to consist of approximately $2.5 billion of term B loans (the "New Term B Loans") and a $975 million revolving credit facility. The Credit Agreement Refinancing is expected to occur upon completion of the initial public offering ("IPO") of Bausch + Lomb Corporation ("Bausch + Lomb" and such offering, the "Bausch + Lomb IPO") and a related debt financing by Bausch + Lomb (the "Bausch + Lomb Debt Financing"). The proceeds from the offering of the Notes, along with the expected proceeds from the New Term B Loans, the Bausch + Lomb IPO and the repayment of an intercompany note owed to us by Bausch + Lomb (which repayment is expected to be funded by the Bausch + Lomb Debt Financing), are expected to be used to fund the Company's previously announced conditional redemption in full of its outstanding 6.125% Senior Notes due 2025 (the "6.125% Notes due 2025"), refinance all of the existing Term B Loans, fund the Company's previously announced conditional partial redemption of its outstanding 9.000% Senior Notes due 2025 (the "9.000% Notes due 2025 and, collectively with the 6.125% Senior Notes due 2025, the "Existing Notes") and to pay related fees, premiums and expenses. The Notes will be guaranteed by each of the Company's subsidiaries that are guarantors under the Credit Agreement and existing senior notes and will be secured on a first priority basis by liens on the assets that secure the Credit Agreement and existing senior secured notes. The Notes will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or any state securities law and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. The Notes will be offered in the United States only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act and outside the United States to non-U.S. persons pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes have not been and will not be qualified for sale to the public by prospectus under applicable Canadian securities laws and, accordingly, any offer and sale of the Notes in Canada will be made on a basis, which is exempt from the prospectus requirements of such securities laws. The redemption of the 6.125% Notes due 2025 is conditioned upon the completion of the Credit Agreement Refinancing (the "6.125% Notes Condition"). The Company intends to discharge the indenture governing the 6.125% Notes due 2025 concurrently with satisfying such 6.125% Notes Condition. The partial redemption of the 9.000% Notes due 2025 is conditioned upon the receipt of aggregate gross proceeds from the Bausch + Lomb IPO, the Bausch + Lomb Debt Financing, the Credit Agreement Refinancing and the offering of the Notes of at least $7.0 billion (the "9.000% Notes Condition" and, together with the 6.125% Notes Condition, the "Conditions"). This announcement does not constitute an offer to purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Existing Notes. The foregoing transactions are subject to market and other conditions and are anticipated to close in the first quarter of 2022. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to successfully complete the transactions, on the terms described above, or at all. This news release is being issued pursuant to Rule 135c under the Securities Act and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. About Bausch Health Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) is a global company whose mission is to improve people's lives with our health care products. We develop, manufacture and market a range of pharmaceutical, medical device and over-the-counter products, primarily in the therapeutic areas of eye health, gastroenterology and dermatology. We are delivering on our commitments as we build an innovative company dedicated to advancing global health. Forward-looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, our financing plans and the details thereof, including the proposed use of proceeds therefrom, whether the Conditions to the redemption of the Existing Notes will occur, the expected timing of the Credit Agreement Refinancing (including the New Term B Loans) and our ability to close such transaction, the offering of the Notes and the details thereof, the other expected effects of the Credit Agreement Refinancing, the timing expectations of the Bausch + Lomb IPO, the Bausch + Lomb Debt Financing, the IPO of our Solta aesthetic medical device business through Solta Medical Corporation and the Company's plan to spinoff or separate its eye health business from the remainder of Bausch Health, subject to market conditions and regulatory, stock exchange and other necessary approvals, that the spinoff will occur following the expiry of customary lock-ups and the achievement of our target net leverage ratios, subject to receipt of shareholder and necessary approvals, the capitalization structure of such transaction, the anticipated dis-synergies resulting from such transaction (including the allocation thereof between the separated entity and the remainder of Bausch Health) and the Company's plans and expectations for 2022 and beyond. Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "expects," "predicts," "goals," "intends," "plans," "should," "could," "would," "may," "will," "believes," "estimates," "potential," "target," "commit," "forecast," "tracking," or "continue" and variations or similar expressions, and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, should or will be achieved, received or taken or will occur or result, and similar such expressions also identify forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are provided for the purpose of providing additional information about such expectations and beliefs and readers are cautioned that these statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company's most recent annual and quarterly reports and detailed from time to time in the Company's other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those identified in Bausch + Lomb's filings relating to the Bausch + Lomb IPO, and the Canadian Securities Administrators, which risks and uncertainties are incorporated herein by reference. They also include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties caused by or relating to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the fear of that pandemic, the availability and effectiveness of vaccines for COVID-19 (including with respect to current or future variants), COVID-19 vaccine immunization rates, new lockdowns in certain countries the emergence of variant strains of COVID-19 and the potential effects of that pandemic, the severity, duration and future impact of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, and which may have a material adverse impact on the Company, including but not limited to its supply chain, third-party suppliers, project development timelines, employee base, liquidity, stock price, financial condition and costs (which may increase) and revenue and margins (both of which may decrease). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Bausch Health undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect actual outcomes, unless required by law. SOURCE Bausch Health Companies Inc. LAVAL, QC, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) ("Bausch Health" or the "Company") announced today that it has priced its previously announced offering of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 6.125% senior secured notes due 2027 (the "Notes"). The Notes will be sold to investors at a price of 100% of the principal amount thereof. As previously announced, the Company is also seeking to refinance its existing credit agreement (the "Credit Agreement" and such refinancing, the "Credit Agreement Refinancing"). The refinanced Credit Agreement is expected to consist of approximately $2.5 billion of term B loans (the "New Term B Loans") and a $975 million revolving credit facility. The Credit Agreement Refinancing is expected to occur upon completion of the initial public offering ("IPO") of Bausch + Lomb Corporation ("Bausch + Lomb" and such offering, the "Bausch + Lomb IPO") and a related debt financing by Bausch + Lomb (the "Bausch + Lomb Debt Financing"). The proceeds from the offering of the Notes, along with the expected proceeds from the New Term B Loans, the Bausch + Lomb IPO and the repayment of an intercompany note owed to us by Bausch + Lomb (which repayment is expected to be funded by the Bausch + Lomb Debt Financing), are expected to be used to fund the Company's previously announced conditional redemption in full of its outstanding 6.125% Senior Notes due 2025 (the "6.125% Notes due 2025"), refinance all of the existing Term B Loans, fund the Company's previously announced conditional partial redemption of its outstanding 9.000% Senior Notes due 2025 (the "9.000% Notes due 2025 and, collectively with the 6.125% Senior Notes due 2025, the "Existing Notes") and to pay related fees, premiums and expenses. The Notes will be guaranteed by each of the Company's subsidiaries that are guarantors under the Credit Agreement and existing senior notes and will be secured on a first priority basis by liens on the assets that secure the Credit Agreement and existing senior secured notes. The Notes will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or any state securities law and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws. The Notes will be offered in the United States only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act and outside the United States to non-U.S. persons pursuant to Regulation S under the Securities Act. The Notes have not been and will not be qualified for sale to the public by prospectus under applicable Canadian securities laws and, accordingly, any offer and sale of the Notes in Canada will be made on a basis, which is exempt from the prospectus requirements of such securities laws. The redemption of the 6.125% Notes due 2025 is conditioned upon the completion of the Credit Agreement Refinancing (the "6.125% Notes Condition"). The Company intends to discharge the indenture governing the 6.125% Notes due 2025 concurrently with satisfying such 6.125% Notes Condition. The partial redemption of the 9.000% Notes due 2025 is conditioned upon the receipt of aggregate gross proceeds from the Bausch + Lomb IPO, the Bausch + Lomb Debt Financing, the Credit Agreement Refinancing and the offering of the Notes of at least $7.0 billion (the "9.000% Notes Condition" and, together with the 6.125% Notes Condition, the "Conditions"). This announcement does not constitute an offer to purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Existing Notes. This news release is being issued pursuant to Rule 135c under the Securities Act and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. About Bausch Health Bausch Health Companies Inc. (NYSE/TSX: BHC) is a global company whose mission is to improve people's lives with our health care products. We develop, manufacture and market a range of pharmaceutical, medical device and over-the-counter products, primarily in the therapeutic areas of eye health, gastroenterology and dermatology. We are delivering on our commitments as we build an innovative company dedicated to advancing global health. Forward-looking Statements This news release may contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, our financing plans and the details thereof, including the proposed use of proceeds therefrom, whether the Conditions to the redemption of the Existing Notes will occur, the expected timing of the Credit Agreement Refinancing (including the New Term B Loans) and our ability to close such transaction, the offering of the Notes and the details thereof, and our ability to close such offering, the other expected effects of the Credit Agreement Refinancing, the timing expectations of the Bausch + Lomb IPO, the Bausch + Lomb Debt Financing, the IPO of our Solta aesthetic medical device business through Solta Medical Corporation and the Company's plan to spinoff or separate its eye health business from the remainder of Bausch Health, subject to market conditions and regulatory, stock exchange and other necessary approvals, that the spinoff will occur following the expiry of customary lock-ups and the achievement of our target net leverage ratios, subject to receipt of shareholder and necessary approvals, the capitalization structure of such transaction, the anticipated dis-synergies resulting from such transaction (including the allocation thereof between the separated entity and the remainder of Bausch Health) and the Company's plans and expectations for 2022 and beyond. Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use of the words "anticipates," "expects," "predicts," "goals," "intends," "plans," "should," "could," "would," "may," "will," "believes," "estimates," "potential," "target," "commit," "forecast," "tracking," or "continue" and variations or similar expressions, and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, should or will be achieved, received or taken or will occur or result, and similar such expressions also identify forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of management and are provided for the purpose of providing additional information about such expectations and beliefs and readers are cautioned that these statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. These forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those described in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in the Company's most recent annual and quarterly reports and detailed from time to time in the Company's other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including those identified in Bausch + Lomb's filings relating to the Bausch + Lomb IPO, and the Canadian Securities Administrators, which risks and uncertainties are incorporated herein by reference. They also include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties caused by or relating to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the fear of that pandemic, the availability and effectiveness of vaccines for COVID-19 (including with respect to current or future variants), COVID-19 vaccine immunization rates, new lockdowns in certain countries the emergence of variant strains of COVID-19 and the potential effects of that pandemic, the severity, duration and future impact of which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, and which may have a material adverse impact on the Company, including but not limited to its supply chain, third-party suppliers, project development timelines, employee base, liquidity, stock price, financial condition and costs (which may increase) and revenue and margins (both of which may decrease). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Bausch Health undertakes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect actual outcomes, unless required by law. SOURCE Bausch Health Companies Inc. BERGEN, Norway, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BerGenBio ASA (OSE:BGBIO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, selective AXL inhibitors for severe unmet medical needs and Oslo University Hospital announced today the execution of a collaborative agreement to study the BerGenBio AXL inhibitor bemcentinib, in hospitalised COVID-19 patients. The EU-SolidAct trial - European DisCoVeRy for Solidarity: An Adaptive Pandemic and Emerging Infection Platform Trial - is part of EU-RESPONSE, a pan-European research project involved with the rapid and coordinated investigation of medications to treat COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic. The EU-SolidAct (EudraCT: 2021-000541-41; clinicaltrials.gov ID NCT04891133) is a multi-center, randomized, adaptive Phase 2 and 3 platform trial, the master protocol of which has been developed to evaluate potential treatments in hospitalised patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus (coronavirus). Under the trial, bemcentinib will be studied in up to 500 hospitalised COVID-19 patients. In support of the trial, BerGenBio will provide bemcentinib drug material and incremental funding of costs related to the bemcentinib sub-protocol. The first drug studied under the EU-SolidAct platform was baricitinib, marketed by Eli Lilly and Company, and is now under market authorisation evaluation by the EMA (European Medicines Agency) for use in hospitalised COVID-19 patients. BerGenBio's AXL inhibitor, bemcentinib, has been selected by an international expert group to be the second compound to be studied in the EU-SolidAct platform. EU-SolidAct has established clinical sites in 15 countries. The trial is sponsored by Oslo University Hospital, Norway in collaboration with the Institut National de la Sante Et de la Recherche Medicale (Inserm), France and the not-for-profit intergovernmental organization European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN). The trial through the EU-RESPONSE project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101015736. Individual patient-level data will be made as public as possible while maintaining the integrity and privacy of the trial participants. Martin Olin, Chief Executive Officer of BerGenBio, commented: "As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, it is even more important to identify new therapies for hospitalised patients that have a mechanism of action effective across disease variants. The EU-SolidAct platform provides BerGenBio with a unique opportunity to rapidly study the effectiveness of bemcentinib and to evaluate the promising signals of efficacy that were observed in the hospitalised patients requiring oxygen in earlier studies." Associate professor Marius Trseid, Oslo University Hospital, Chief Investigator of EU-SolidAct, commented: "With new variants and evolving patient populations, it is increasingly important to have more treatment options for preventing need of intensive care and long hospitalisations. We hope that bemcentinib will help reduce disease severity and improve the clinical condition of hospitalized patients." Contacts For the EU-SolidAct: Chief Investigator Marius Trseid, Oslo University Hospital, +4792440240, [email protected] Trseid is Senior consultant and Associate professor. For BerGenBio: Martin Olin, CEO, BerGenBio ASA [email protected] Rune Skeie, CFO, BerGenBio ASA [email protected] International Media Relations Mary-Jane Elliott, Chris Welsh, Lucy Featherstone Consilium Strategic Communications [email protected] +44 20 3709 5700 About BerGenBio ASA BerGenBio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative drugs targeting AXL as a potential cornerstone of therapy for aggressive diseases, including immune-evasive, therapy resistant cancers. The company's proprietary lead candidate, bemcentinib, is a potentially first-in-class selective AXL inhibitor in a broad phase II clinical development programme focused on combination and single agent therapy in cancer and COVID-19. A first-in-class functional blocking anti-AXL antibody, tilvestamab, is undergoing phase I clinical testing. In parallel, BerGenBio is developing companion diagnostic tests to potentially identify patient populations most likely to benefit from AXL inhibition. This is expected to facilitate more efficient registration trials supporting a precision medicine-based commercialisation strategy. BerGenBio is based in Bergen, Norway with a subsidiary in Oxford, UK. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: BGBIO). For more information, visit www.bergenbio.com About Oslo University Hospital Oslo University Hospital is a highly specialized hospital in charge of extensive national, regional and local hospital assignments. As Scandinavia's largest hospital, we carry out more than 1.2 million patient treatments each year. Oslo University Hospital is responsible for approximately 50 percent of all medical and health care research conducted at Norwegian hospitals. We have a leading role in the development of research and innovation, as well as the development of tomorrow's healthcare, precision medicine and treatment. About Inserm Founded in 1964, Inserm is a public science and technology institute. It is dedicated to biomedical research and human health and is involved every step of the way from the research laboratory to patient care. It is one of the most prestigious institutions in the world that is committed to scientific challenges and progress in these fields. Inserm brings together more than 15,000 researchers, engineers, technicians and administrative staff to improve the health of all. www.inserm.fr/en/ Forward looking statements This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, which as such are not historical facts, but are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. These assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this announcement by such forward-looking statements. This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/bergenbio-asa/r/bergenbio-and-oslo-university-hospital-announce-the-axl-inhibitor-bemcentinib-will-be-studied-in-the,c3493232 The following files are available for download: SOURCE BerGenBio ASA Parent Market Analysis Technavio categorizes the global bill splitting apps market as a part of the global application software market within the global information technology (IT) software market. Factors such as increased analytics adoption in organizations, increased software investments by SMEs, and expanding adoption of cloud and subscription-based software will fuel growth in the worldwide application software market. Technavio uses the total revenue generated by manufacturers to estimate the bill-splitting apps' market size. External factors influencing the parent market's growth potential in the coming years have been thoroughly investigated in our research analysis, to know more about the levels of growth of the bill splitting apps market throughout the forecast period, Download a free sample. Bill Splitting Apps Value Chain Analysis To maximize profit margins and evaluate business plans, an end-to-end understanding of the bill-splitting apps market is required. The report will help vendors drive costs and enhance customer services during the forecast period. Inputs Software development Marketing and distribution Post-selling services Innovations To unlock information about vendor drive costs and customer service, download our free sample report. Vendor Insights The bill-splitting apps market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. To make the best of the opportunity, the market vendors should focus more on the fast-growing segment's growth prospect while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the market, including some of the vendors such as Groupee Pty Ltd, Locatable Ltd., Microsoft Corp., paerpay Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc., Splid, Splitwise Inc., Thumbworks Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and Tricount. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the bill splitting apps market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Product Insights and News Groupee Pty Ltd. - Offers instant pay sharing platform which enables people to group money to pay together. Offers instant pay sharing platform which enables people to group money to pay together. Locatable Ltd. - Offers bill splitting app to split expenses equally between the House members and friends. Offers bill splitting app to split expenses equally between the House members and friends. PayPal Holdings Inc. - Offers bill split feature to easily split costs between friends and family. The bill splitting apps market forecast report offers in-depth insights into key vendor profiles and offerings Download Free Sample Report Geographical Highlights The bill splitting apps market share growth in APAC will be significant during the forecast period. China, India, and Japan are the key markets for bill splitting apps in APAC. Market growth in APAC will be faster than the growth of the market in other regions. The growing number of mobile phone subscribers in the region can be linked to individuals in APAC having more discretionary income. This has resulted in increased smartphone adoption in APAC, particularly in China and India, as well as increased investments in communication technology across the region, including telecom companies' spending in constructing advanced mobile communication infrastructure. Furthermore, the US, China, India, Germany, and Japan are APAC's top producers of bill splitting apps market owing to the large customer base of smartphones in the region. To unlock the top strategies practiced by the maximum growth generating region, View Sample Report Key Market Dynamics- Bill Splitting Apps Key Market Drivers: Growing penetration of smartphones The growing use of smartphones around the world has opened up new possibilities for bill splitting apps. In APAC countries such as India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, the proliferation of low-cost smartphones has led to significant demand. The widespread availability of low-cost, affordable smartphones, as well as new high-end smartphone launches, will expand the potential user base for a variety of mobile apps, including expense management apps like bill splitting apps. Bill Splitting Apps Key Market Trends: Development of bill splitting apps for smartwatches Smart devices, particularly smart watches, are becoming increasingly popular around the world. The growing popularity of smartwatches is driving mobile app developers to create programs that are compatible with smartwatches and allow data to be synced with smartphones. Expense management apps, particularly bill splitting apps, are projected to benefit from such trends in the development of integrated applications that can share data across all smart devices. Download a free sample for highlights on market Drivers & Trends affecting the bill splitting apps market. Customize Your Report Don't miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and know more insights into this market report. Our analysts can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time. We offer USD 1,000 worth of FREE customization at the time of purchase. Speak to our Analyst now! Related Reports: Network Security Appliance Market by End-user and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Phone-based Authentication Solutions Market by End-user and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025 Bill Splitting Apps Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 9.56% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 203.43 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 5.45 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution APAC at 45% Key consumer countries US, China, India, Germany, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, Competitive strategies, Consumer engagement scope Key companies profiled ApTap Ltd., Bill.com Holdings Inc., Billr. me, bring10 LLC, DigiGround Pty Ltd., Easyshare Pty Ltd., Groupee Pty Ltd, Kittysplit UG, Locatable Ltd., Microsoft Corp., paerpay Inc., PayPal Holdings Inc., Splid, Splittr, Splitwise Inc., Square Inc., Standy Software, Step Up Labs Inc., Thumbworks Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and Tricount Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, Market condition analysis for the forecast period Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. About Us: Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio WATERTOWN, Mass., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Liaison International , developer of the technology that has helped millions of students apply to academic programs at more than 1,000 colleges and universities over the last 30 years, announced the appointment of David Poole as associate vice president of enrollment management solutions for its Engineering Centralized Application Service (CAS) program. A seasoned enrollment management leader with more than 35 years of higher education experience, Poole will be instrumental in the development and expansion of the company's strategic enrollment partnerships and the delivery of technology and consulting services to graduate and undergraduate engineering schools throughout the United States. "David pairs a unique understanding of the dynamic world of undergraduate and graduate engineering education with the complex needs of enrollment management professionals in this field," said Ron Hyman, executive director of EngineeringCAS at Liaison International, which works with the leadership of more than 31,000 academic programs. "We're excited to welcome David to our team and look forward to the insights and depth of expertise he brings to our work with engineering schools." A veteran of higher education admissions and enrollment management with a focus on program diversity, equity, and inclusion, Poole will specialize in growing the community of engineering program leaders who utilize EngineeringCAS. Used by more than 1,500 programs across nearly 40 U.S. engineering schools, this service enables students to apply to multiple graduate degree programs on one campus, or to multiple programs across multiple campuses, and institutions by submitting a single application for enrollment. Poole previously served as the director of admission at the University of Miami's College of Engineering, where he was responsible for growing enrollment and helping to diversify the school's undergraduate and graduate student pipelines. He was a founding member of the EngineeringCAS Advisory Board and led UM's effort to be one of the first engineering colleges to join the CAS. Throughout his 20-year tenure with the university, he focused on increasing participation of underrepresented populations in STEM fields and careers. During that time, the program increased the percentage of its undergraduate students who are female to 33%nearly double the national average for schools of engineering. "At a time when we are facing a national shortfall of technology and engineering talent, institutions of higher education feel a heightened sense of urgency, not just to meet their enrollment goals, but deepen their focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in engineering education," said Poole. "This new role is an extension of my long-standing professional commitment to increase access to STEM education for underrepresented students." Prior to joining the University of Miami, Poole served in a variety of admissions and enrollment management roles with Barry University and Florida International University. A first-generation college graduate, he is dedicated to providing opportunities to underserved populations and transforming lives through teaching, research, innovation, and service. In 2019, he was selected to join the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools' (NCSSS) Board of Directors, a forum for specialized secondary schools focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines to exchange information and program ideas. In 2003, he served as a founding member of the college Admissions Collaborative Highlighting Engineering and Technology (CACHET) which brings together enrollment managers in higher education with college counselors to increase the pipeline and enrollment of students in STEM. For more than three decades, Liaison International has grown to become one of the largest application services available to both domestic and international students. There are three types of partnerships associated with EngineeringCAS: engineering societies, institutions, and two advisory boards. Additionally, Liaison has strategic partnerships with many engineering societies, including the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), which has made EngineeringCAS available to all their member schools as a member benefit. About Liaison International: Through a powerful combination of technology and services, Liaison helps over 31,000 undergraduate, graduate, and post-bac programs across more than 1,000 campuses achieve their recruitment, admissions, enrollment, and student success goals. Liaison's solutions include its Centralized Application Service (CAS), TargetX, and Othot as well as its Enrollment Marketing services (EMP), SlideRoom, and Time2Track. SOURCE Liaison From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia PepsiCo, the giant food and beverage company, seems to value a positive public image less than profitability. Most recently it has added dismissive treatment of Black farmers to a long list of complaints about its negative environmental impacts (deforestation and pesticide use) exploitation of water resources and global plastic pollution, according to a Wikipedia report. In addition, PepsiCo, which was created in 1965 by Pepsi's merging with the Frito-Lay brand, not only has been repeatedly criticized by environmentalists. Public health advocates have complained about its high-calorie, poor nutrition products along with other snack and drink companies. In 2019, a Johns Hopkins University student group dedicated to food sustainability and human ethics protested the campus dining office's contract with PepsiCo, calling on that unit to reject "socially and ecologically unsustainable practices of profit-hungry corporations." Yet, the multi-billion-dollar leader in its category seems to regard social responsibility, and health standards and environmental concerns as optional values. It has vowed to uphold commitments to those issues, but has declined to release public information documenting progress on changing company practices. Although Coca-Cola, its main competitor, has bigger sales, PepsiCo within the North American market is the largest food and beverage company by net revenue ($70 Billion income reported in 2020). NBFA raised concerns over the gargantuan company's failure to contract with members of the NBFA to provide agricultural products that form the foundation of their firm's processes. Only White farmers have been afforded the opportunity to share in PepsiCo's enormous profits. It prefers the superficial responses to public opinion such as changing the brand image of its stereotyped figure Aunt Jemima. PepsiCo immediately reached out to the NBFA on June 19th 2020 in the face of such controversy. However, as PepsiCo indicated they wanted to do business with NBFA members, the company insisted that our growers share personal information through our national data base. A year and a half later, when NBFA growers met all the required elements for a potato delivery contract, the company's executives apparently had lost interest in keeping its part of the bargain. In an appalling stunt, PepsiCo executives recently notified the President of the NBFA that it would not be moving forward with any contracts for NBFA members. "PepsiCo had decided to "move in a new direction" that would not include NBFA black farmer members, we were told. Our outrage at this kind of bullying discrimination is not just about hurt feelings. Our livelihood and financial stability is at stake when we encounter such blatantly low-level business practices. Some black famers have actually lost their farms amid this unethical and inhumane treatment. The NBFA is seeking legal counsel regarding PepsiCo's verbal commitment for a potato contract. As a shareholder of the PepsiCo Corporation, I am calling on PepsiCo Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ramon Laguarta to meet with NBFA leaders and respond to the hardship and realities his company's latest recent discriminatory act has caused." Boyd's statements follow PepsiCo's announcement that it will no longer use the Aunt Jemima brand, long criticized as a racial stereotype, to sell pancake mix and syrup. For interviews, please contact John Boyd at [email protected] or at 804-691-8528. http://blackfarmers.org http://www.JohnBoydJr.com SOURCE National Black Farmers Association Vacation-inspired fortunes on the front slip, along with a bright-colored Bradenton Area design and QR code on the back slip adds a playful element to the age-old treat. For example, one fortune reads, "Warm weather is closer than you think," while another says, "Soon the only ice you will find will be in your drink." "With tourism back on the rise, these fortune cookies come at a time when many people are finally making travel plans again. We are thrilled to partner with OpenFortune on this unique initiative and look forward to helping people discover the Bradenton Area as the perfect destination for their long-awaited next vacation," said Kelly Clark, Chief Marketing Officer of the Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. Dinner table discussions often include talk of future plans, like travel. The Bradenton Area hopes to join that conversation at the table and encourage people to consider their location when vacation planning is already top-of-mind. "Traditionally, fortune cookie messages focus on the future, many including travel and warmth," said Matt Williams, Co-Founder and Chief Cookie Officer of OpenFortune. "In this partnership, we are informing people who may not know of Bradenton to consider this beautiful destination in their upcoming travel plans." For more information on the partnership, visit OpenFortune.com . About OpenFortune OpenFortune is a media platform that distributes over 1 billion traditional, branded fortune cookies to its network of over 21,000 restaurants across the U.S. OpenFortune partners include Capital One, Coca-Cola, Mondelez, Zelle, Disney, Purple, Grubhub, IL Lottery and more. OpenFortune PR Contact Nicole Christopoul [email protected] SOURCE OpenFortune NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Head quartered in New York, WooStudy, the world's first AI powered Ed-Tech Marketplace, has launched its global operations with presence now in Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Canada, and Bangladesh. Equipped with the latest AI and Big Data technologies, WooStudy is out to disrupt the status quo within the education sector. WooStudy aims to create a self-sustaining community that connects schools with students from around the world directly, thus removing the middle man. Arif Khan and Maryam Khan, the power duo, founded WooStudy in 2019, with the aim to remove barriers to education. Working with Fortune 500 companies coupled with a Master's degree in Education the co-founders had a unique insight into the complications faced by students and schools pertaining to the admission processes. They were further joined in their mission by Dinesh Mittal, a seasoned professional with extensive experience in new business start-ups in Technology and Hospitality industries. WooStudy is a flourishing platform with 10,000+ active international students, and more are joining in every day. The one-of-its-kind AI-enabled platform capitalizes on Big Data and AI to automate the whole admissions to the placement process, making it the pioneering AI platform in the ed-tech industry. WooStudy provides a one-stop interactive platform for all, be it global educational institutes or aspiring students, and directly connects them with a few simple clicks. "Having experienced both ends of spectrum, we realized how difficult and expensive it is for students to apply to colleges internationally. Finding their best-fit is a laborious process requiring intensive research, not to mention the immense broker costs that makes studying abroad virtually inaccessible to most aspiring students," said Ms. Khan when asked about the vision behind WooStudy. The one-of-its-kind AI-enabled platform successfully raised $100K in its pre-seed round in February, 2021. WooStudy's propriety algorithm leverages Big Data and AI to automate the entire admissions to placement process, making it the pioneering AI platform in the ed-tech industry. Now anyone, be it global educational institutes or aspiring students, can join the online community that directly connects best-suited students and universities as per their requirements, with a few simple clicks. With the mission to make the entire recruitment process hassle-free for both students and educational institutions, WooStudy has partnered with more than 25 well-known international academic institutions and is on-boarding more reputable schools every day. University of Waterloo, CUNY, University of the Potomac, Rowan University, Kalamazoo, Walsh, Morehead, Oklahoma City University, Colorado Mesa State, Santa Monica College etc. are a few of WooStudy's partner universities, which have connected with hundreds of prospective students to date. WooStudy believes in constant evolving, and to keep abreast with the digital transformations, team WooStudy participates in international dialogs and conferences. The team recently appeared at global events such as the MACBAA conference held in the USA, WISE Summit, Qatar, and Techstars, Abuja, to propagate its mission to make recruitment processes more accessible and hassle-free. Now with its global launch, the WooStudy team can better serve educational institutions across multiple continents. So, come and join today to become a part of the world's first ed-tech community that offers absolutely zero broker costs. Contact Us Co-founders: Arif Khan, Maryam Khan, Dinesh Mittal Address: 1270 6th Ave Suite 759, New York, NY 10020, United States Contact Number: +1 917-259-1353 Website: https://bit.ly/3rX9elj Social Media: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter SOURCE WooStudy MANILA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 18,191 new COVID-19 infections on Thursday, raising the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 3,493,447. The DOH said the number of active cases dropped to 226,521 from Wednesday's 230,410. The DOH said 74 more people died from COVID-19 complications, pushing the country's death toll to 53,736, with two testing laboratories failing to submit data. The agency added that the country's positivity rate also dipped to 35.2 percent from 35.8 percent the previous day. Meanwhile, the DOH has detected 618 more Omicron coronavirus variants, including its sub-variant BA.2 or the so-called "stealth Omicron," in the latest batch of whole-genome sequencing of samples taken from locals and returning overseas Filipinos, bringing the total to 1,153. The DOH said it has detected both the original Omicron lineage and its sub-lineages, BA.1 and BA.2. The BA.2 sub-lineage, first seen on Dec. 31 last year, was prevalent in the latest samples. However, the DOH sees "no significant difference in BA.1 and BA.2 characteristics in terms of transmissibility or severity of the disease." Nevertheless, the DOH vowed to continue to investigate why BA.2 has become more prevalent than BA.1. "But so far, the detection of BA.2 does not entail any significant change in the COVID-19 response," the DOH added. The DOH also said 35 more Delta variant cases have been detected, pushing the total to 8,647. The Philippines has seen four COVID-19 waves since the pandemic began in January 2020. The country reported the highest single-day tally on Jan. 15 this year, with 39,004 new cases. The Philippines, which has around 110 million population, has tested more than 25 million people since the disease emerged. HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Brennan Investment Group, a private real estate investment firm that acquires, develops, and operates industrial facilities throughout the United States, has announced its acquisition of two land parcels totaling approximately 21 acres along I-90 in Hoffman Estates, IL. The plan is to develop a state-of-the-art, speculative industrial building totaling 201,600 square feet on the larger, 17-acre site and simultaneously pursue build-to-suits on the smaller, 4-acre site. The properties are situated 10 miles northwest of O'Hare International Airport and provide excellent access to the Chicago MSA via key highway systems and transportation infrastructure. "The properties will have I-90 visibility and benefit from convenient access to I-90 at the Barrington Road interchange, and subsequently, to interstates I-290, I-294, and I-355, providing superior transportation routes for the end user, their customers, and their employees," explained Kevin Brennan, Managing Principal for the Midwest Region. "As of Q4 2021, the overall Chicago industrial market contained approximately 1.2 billion square feet of industrial inventory, which equates to a vacancy rate of 3.3%." "This transaction is illustrative of Brennan's preferred method of land acquisition: in-fill parcels in major markets whose submarkets have compelling fundamentals," added Scott McKibben, Brennan's Chief Investment Officer. "Brennan's overall development pipeline will exceed $1 billion in 2022." About Brennan Investment Group Brennan Investment Group, a Chicago-based private real estate investment firm, acquires, develops, and operates industrial properties in select major metropolitan markets throughout the United States. Since 2010, Brennan Investment Group has acquired or developed $5 billion in industrial real estate in 30 states. The company's current portfolio spans 27 states and encompasses approximately 46 million square feet. Brennan Investment Group co-invests with private and institutional capital to achieve outstanding risk-adjusted returns. The company has 11 regional offices throughout the United States, and the firm's management team is among the most accomplished in its industry, having invested in over 5,000 properties covering more than 60 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. For more information on Brennan Investment Group, go to brennanllc.com. MEDIA CONTACT: Brennan Investment Group, LLC 9450 W. Bryn Mawr Suite 750 Rosemont, Illinois 60018 Tel +1 847-813-6800 Fax +1 847-257-8888 www.brennanllc.com SOURCE Brennan Investment Group, LLC In 2012 Bubledon created its first apparel brand Allegra K intending to provide comfortable, casual, and quality clothing for female customers worldwide. Since its launched, Allegra K has rapidly gained a significant segment among the world's top women's clothing brands and is becoming increasingly popular among females who flock to its apparel and accessories lines. After almost ten years of dedication, Bubledon has successfully developed its complete clothing supply chain together with a team of top designers. To complement Allegra K, Bubledon has gone one step further to create a plus-size brand Agnes Orinda catering the needs of curvy women. With Agnes Orinda, all ladies can easily find their desired comfortable, sexy, and beautiful outfits to embrace their curves . Although Bubledon mainly serves the female demographic, it has never stopped expanding its market segment. With its male apparel brand Lars Amadeus Bubledon has been able to consistently line up premium clothing and accessories for prospective male customers. Bubledon has always prioritized the customer experience and reviews. To better engage with its followers, an engaging community has been created to release monthly special giveaways and exclusive offers. For example, "A New Year, New You" giveaway activity was held this January with a winner announced every day for five consecutive days from January 17 to January 21 to fulfill their "New Year, New You" wishes. Each winner was awarded total prizes worth up to US$1,000 and more customers are encouraged to join the engaging community to learn more about continued special offers. Bubledon offers free shipping on any order over US$49. For new customers, Bubledon also offers US$5 off their first order that is over US$49 in total, plus free return and exchange if they are not satisfied with the first shopping experience. About Bubledon Bubledon is the official website to sell Allegra K, Agnes Orinda, and Lars Amadeus, offering high-quality women's and men's clothing, shoes, and other fashion accessories such as bags, scarves, and belts, among others, at reasonable prices. SOURCE Bubledon TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (TSX: CF) is scheduled to release its third quarter results and supplementary financial information after Canadian markets close on Wednesday, February 9, 2022. Interested investors, the media and other stakeholders may review the earnings release and supplementary financial information at www.cgf.com/investor-relations/investor-resources/financial-reports/ QUARTERLY CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST: Interested parties are invited to listen to Canaccord Genuity's third quarter results conference call via live webcast or a toll-free number. The conference call is scheduled for Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, 5:00 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 p.m. UK time, 9:00 p.m. China Standard Time, and midnight Australia EST. During the call, senior executives will comment on the results and respond to questions from analysts and institutional investors. The conference call may be accessed live and will also be archived on a listen-only basis at: www.cgf.com/investor-relations/news-and-events/conference-calls-and-webcasts/ Analysts and institutional investors can call in via telephone at: 416-764-8609 (within Toronto ) ) 888-390-0605 (toll free in North America outside Toronto ) outside ) 0-800-652-2435 (toll free from the United Kingdom ) ) 0-800-916-834 (toll free from France ) ) 10-800-714-1938 (toll free from Northern China ) ) 10-800-140-1973 (toll free from Southern China ) ) 1-800-076-068 (toll free from Australia ) ) 80-003-570-3632 (toll free from United Arab Emirates ) Please ask to participate in the Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. Q3/22 results call. If a passcode is requested, please use 30945650. A replay of the conference call will be made available from approximately two hours after the live call on February 10, 2022 until April 10, 2022 at 416-764-8677 or 1-888-390-0541 by entering passcode 945650 followed by the (#) key. ABOUT CANACCORD GENUITY GROUP INC.: Through its principal subsidiaries, Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (the "Company") is a leading independent, full-service financial services firm, with operations in two principal segments of the securities industry: wealth management and capital markets. Since its establishment in 1950, the Company has been driven by an unwavering commitment to building lasting client relationships. We achieve this by generating value for our individual, institutional and corporate clients through comprehensive investment solutions, brokerage services and investment banking services. The Company has Wealth Management offices located in Canada, the UK, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Australia. The Company's international capital markets division operates in North America, UK & Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is publicly traded under the symbol CF on the TSX. SOURCE Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. In two villages in Linfen City, Xi, also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visited villagers' homes and inspected the post-disaster reconstruction in areas affected by last year's floods as well as local work in restoring farming, ensuring the public's access to heating in winter, consolidating and expanding anti-poverty achievements and advancing rural vitalization. For 10 years in a row, Xi has made it a tradition to visit people at the grass-roots level, especially the disadvantaged groups, ahead of the Spring Festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese lunar calendar and an occasion of family reunions. The Spring Festival falls on Feb 1 this year. Link: https://youtu.be/IhgaxxRcvWg SOURCE CCTV+ BEIJING, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the China Media Group (CMG) Forum, which opened Wednesday night in Beijing. With the Beijing Winter Olympics just around the corner, Xi in his letter said that China will deliver a streamlined, safe and splendid Winter Olympics for the world. Noting the forum is themed "Together for a High-tech Winter Olympics," Xi expressed his hope that participants at the forum could pool wisdom through discussions and contribute to showcasing the unique charm of ice and snow sports, carrying forward the Olympic spirit and speeding up winter sports' development. Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, extended President Xi's congratulations. The congratulatory letter of Chinese President Xi Jinping is a demonstration of China's confidence in hosting a successful Winter Olympics, while expressing his expectation of the media's role in spreading the Olympic Movement and promoting the Olympic spirit, said Huang, who also delivered a speech. China is fully prepared to provide "comprehensive, highly efficient and convenient services" for media outlets from around the world, said Huang, adding that he hopes the staff members of the media outlets report Beijing 2022 with "innovative concepts, methods and means so as to create an objective, fair, positive and healthy international public opinion environment." He emphasized the importance of enhancing media solidarity and cooperation, as well as promoting innovation in the face of the changes unseen for 100 years, overlaid with an unprecedented pandemic. He also hailed the media's role in setting up a bridge for exchanges and mutual learning, as well as in tightening people-to-people bonds. Under the theme "Together for a High-tech Winter Olympics," the forum was hosted by CMG, and co-hosted by the Chinese Olympic Committee and Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games under the support of the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. It was attended online and offline by representatives of 145 media outlets and international organizations from 78 countries and regions. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-01-26/Xi-sends-congratulatory-letter-to-CMG-Forum-178RLEomYZW/index.html SOURCE CGTN Dublin, Jan. 27, 2022 The "Data Center Market in China & Hong Kong - Industry Outlook & Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. China and Hong Kong data center market witnessed investments of USD 30.68 billion in 2021 and will witness investments of USD 35.11 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 2.27% during 2022-2027. The China & Hong Kong data center market is one of the most mature markets worldwide and is led by cloud, telecom services, and BFSI sectors. Most data centers in the region operate in major metros cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. These locations have attracted considerable investments in recent years, and more data centers are planned for the forecast period. Also, high Internet penetration has accelerated the demand for hyperscale data centers with a power capacity of more than 15 MW in China & Hong Kong. OPPORTUNITIES AND TRENDS Sustainable initiatives in the country: The Chinese government has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, and therefore, has invested in initiatives to minimize carbon emissions and improve air quality. In 2021, wind and solar power in China accounted for around 11% of the total power consumption, which is expected to increase to around 16.5% by 2025. This is a huge opportunity for vendors to expand their business in the data centers market in China and Hong Kong by working in favor of sustainable initiatives. For instance, Apple, along with its suppliers in China will invest around USD 300 million in 2022 and develop projects generating around 1 GW of renewable energy in China. 5G deployment to empower the data center market: Till September 2021, 5G operators have deployed around 993,000 5G base stations in China. Around 390 million households have adopted 5G services, and the number is expected to grow during the forecast period. Thus, providing a 5G network has become a significant criterion for offering internet services. In September 2021, China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network (CBN), a national cable operator, partnered to deploy a 700 MHz 5G implementation plan. In Hong Kong, SmarTone Mobile Communications entered the 5G market in 2020 with a fixed wireless network and partnered with Ericsson to deploy 5G in Hong Kong. The significant scope of 5G will propel the demand for edge data centers, especially in Tier II and Tier III cities in the China & Hong Kong region, and boost the internet data center market. SOME RECENT DEVELOPMENTS & INVESTMENTS In 2021, six firms, including telecom operators such as China Mobile, and civil engineering company Shanghai Tunnel Engineering, signed an agreement to provide 5G coverage at tunnels and bridges in Shanghai . . In December 2021 , EdgeConneX invested in Chayora, wherein the two companies have partnered to offer services from Chayora's existing data centers with further expansion plans across China , EdgeConneX invested in Chayora, wherein the two companies have partnered to offer services from Chayora's existing data centers with further expansion plans across In February 2021 , Mapletree acquired a parecel of land of around 43,000 square feet in the region, with an investment of around USD 104 million , and has plans to construct a 50 MW data center, which is expected to be operational by 2023. , Mapletree acquired a parecel of land of around 43,000 square feet in the region, with an investment of around , and has plans to construct a 50 MW data center, which is expected to be operational by 2023. In November 2021 , Digital Realty opened a data center in Hong Kong (HKG11) with around 210,000 square feet and a power capacity of around 24 MW. The following factors are likely to contribute to the growth of the China & Hong Kong data center market: Increased adoption of work from home due to COVID 19 Increased big data & IoT spending Sustainable initiatives in the country 5G to Fuel Demand for Edge Data Centers Rising Investment in AI, Blockchain & Quantum Computing REGIONAL OUTLOOK Beijing : Beijing is one of the major hubs for cloud operators as companies like Alibaba, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Tencent have their presence. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is likely to invest in the region to boost the digital economy of the country : is one of the major hubs for cloud operators as companies like Alibaba, Amazon Web Services (AWS), have their presence. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is likely to invest in the region to boost the digital economy of the country Shanghai : Shanghai is also one of the mature markets with a presence of local and global data center operators investing in the region : is also one of the mature markets with a presence of local and global data center operators investing in the region Other Cities: Around 21% of the total investment in other cities was contributed by Langfang, followed by Foshan and Tibet. VENDOR LANDSCAPE New entrants in the form of global colocation and cloud service providers are investing in the Chinese data center market due to high customer demand to have a physical presence in the China & Hong Kong market such as CapitaLand investing in the region in 2021. & market such as CapitaLand investing in the region in 2021. Global cloud service providers such as AWS, Microsoft, Alibaba, Tencent , IBM, Oracle, and Google are continuing to expand their presence in the region with new cloud regions. , IBM, Oracle, and Google are continuing to expand their presence in the region with new cloud regions. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is a leading vendor in the server market in the region. The average selling price of its server infrastructure increased along with unit shipments due to an increase in demand. Prominent IT Infrastructure Providers Cisco Systems Dell Technologies Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Hitachi Vantara Huawei Technologies IBM Inspur Juniper Networks Lenovo Pure Storage Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT) Wistron Prominent Support Infrastructure Providers ABB AIRSYS Group Caterpillar Cummins Delta Electronics Eaton Fuji Electric HITEC Power Protection Legrand Rittal Rolls-Royce Schneider Electric STULZ Shenzhen KSTAR Science and Technology Vertiv Group Prominent Construction Contractors AECOM Arup Aurecon Group AWP Architects BYME Engineering Chung Hing Engineers Group Corgan DSCO Group Faithful+Gould Studio One Design ISG Gammon Construction NTT Facilities Prominent Data Center Investors 21Vianet (VNET) Apple AirTrunk Operating Big Data Exchange Chayora Chindata Group China Unicom CITIC Telcom International Holdings Digital Realty Equinix GDS Services Global Switch Keppel Data Centres OneAsia Network Princeton Digital Group Shanghai Atrium (AtHub) Qnet Shanghai (Shanghai Qnet Networking Technology) SUNeVison Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Persero) Tencent Holdings Holdings Tenglong Holdings Group Vantage Data Centers New Entrants CapitaLand ESR Mapletree Investments Key Topics Covered: 1 Research Methodology 2 Research Objectives 3 Research Process 4 Scope & Coverage 4.1 Market Definition 4.2 Base Year 4.3 Scope of The Study 5 Report Assumptions & Caveats 5.1 Key Caveats 5.2 Currency Conversion 5.3 Market Derivation 6 Market at a Glance 7 Introduction 7.1 Market Snapshot 7.2 Data Center Site Selection Criteria 7.2.1 Key 7.3 List of Submarine Cables in China 8 Market Opportunities & Trends 8.1 Sustainability Initiatives in China & Hong Kong 8.2 High Demand for Edge Data Centers Due To 5G 8.3 Smart Cities Fuel Data Center Demand 8.4 Increased Investment in Ai-Based Applications 8.5 Rising Investment in Blockchain & Quantum Computing 9 Market Growth Enablers 9.1 Covid-19 Implications for Data Center Investments 9.2 Surge in Adoption of Cloud Services 9.3 Rise in Data Center Investments 9.4 Big Data & IOT Spending to Drive Data Center Investment 10 Market Restraints 10.1 Regulatory Hurdles for Data Center Business 10.2 Growth Impediments Associated with Land Scarcity 10.3 Restrictions on Free Cooling Due to Air Pollution 11 Market Landscape 11.1 Market Overview 11.2 Investment Market Size & Forecast 11.3 Area: Market Size & Forecast 11.4 Power Capacity: Market Size & Forecast 11.5 Five Forces Analysis 12 Facility Type 12.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 12.2 Area: Snapshot & Growth Engine 12.3 Power Capacity: Snapshot & Growth Engine 12.4 Colocation Data Centers 12.5 Hyperscale Data Centers 12.6 Enterprise Data Centers 13 Infrastructure 13.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 13.2 IT Infrastructure 13.3 Electrical Infrastructure 13.4 Mechanical Infrastructure 13.5 General Infrastructure 14 IT Infrastructure 14.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 14.2 Server Infrastructure 14.3 Storage Infrastructure 14.4 Network Infrastructure 15 Electrical Infrastructure 15.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 15.2 UPS Systems 15.3 Generators 15.4 Transfer Switches & Switchgear 15.5 Power Distribution Units 15.6 Other Power Infrastructure 16 Mechanical Infrastructure 16.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 16.2 Cooling Systems 16.3 Racks 17 Cooling Systems 17.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 17.2 CRAC & CRAH Units 17.3 Chiller Units 17.4 Cooling Towers, Condensers, & Dry Coolers 17.5 Economizers & Evaporative Coolers 18 Cooling Technique 18.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 18.2 Air-Based Cooling Techniques 18.3 Liquid-Based Cooling Techniques 19 General Construction 19.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 19.2 Core & Shell Development 19.3 Installation & Commissioning Services 19.4 Engineering & Building Design 19.5 Fire Detection & Suppression 19.6 Physical Security 19.7 DCIM/BMS 20 Tier Standards 20.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 20.2 Market Overview 20.3 Tier I & II 20.4 Tier III 20.5 Tier Iv 21 Geography 21.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine 21.2 Area: Snapshot & Growth Engine 21.3 Power Capacity: Snapshot & Growth Engine For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/1po259 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1904 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets "What we've been doing in the retirement industry is not working. Decades of the 'set it and forget it' approach have led to a retirement crisis. People are so disillusioned with their savings options that they're not saving at all - and if they do manage to save, they are leaving money behind," said Ryan Radloff, CEO of Choice. "Choice is reimagining the retirement process, starting with rewarding people for engaging with their savings." According to research from The Federal Reserve , if you are under 30 you likely have $0 saved for retirement. A recent study conducted by Capitalize found that those who did manage to save have left behind $1.35 trillion in assets in 24.3 million 'zombie' 401(k) accounts. Choice is on a mission to help people reclaim these funds and invest their money how they see fit. Today's news builds on a legacy of firsts for the Choice team - in 2020, Choice became the first company to offer access to digital and traditional assets side-by-side in a single retirement account; and in 2017, Kingdom Trust - the trust that powers Choice, became the first qualified custodian globally to offer custody for bitcoin. Retirement Stats: Across all groups: $1.35 trillion in assets have been left behind in 24.3 million 'zombie' 401k accounts ( Capitalize , 2021) in assets have been left behind in 24.3 million 'zombie' accounts ( , 2021) 29% of Americans aged 30-44 have $0 save for retirement ( The Federal Reserve , 2020) About Choice With its launch in May of 2020 Choice became the first retirement provider to offer a single account for all client retirement assets, physical or digital, legacy or traditional. Today, the platform powers more than 125,000 retirement accounts, custodies more than $18 billion worth of assets across thousands of unique assets. Choice is part of Kingdom Trust Company, an independent qualified custodian regulated by the South Dakota Division of Banking. It specializes in unique and innovative custody solutions for individual investors, investment sponsors, family offices, advisory firms, broker-dealers, and various other investment platforms. CONTACT: Tori Mattei [email protected] SOURCE Choice by Kingdom Trust BLOOMFIELD, Conn., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cigna Corporation earned a perfect 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), making it one of the Best Places to Work for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) Equality. This is the tenth year in a row that Cigna has earned this honor, reflecting the company's continued commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. "Our company is stronger when our employees bring their whole selves to work. This is why we are so intentional about cultivating a culture where we value and support each other for who we are," said Susan Stith, vice president of diversity, equity, inclusion, and corporate and employee giving at Cigna, and executive director of the Cigna Foundation. "This recognition is an important validation of our work so far, and it motivates us to continue pushing forward every day." The results of the 2022 CEI showcase how companies are promoting LGBTQ+-friendly workplace policies and actions both domestically and globally. Key criteria include: Non-discrimination policies across business entities; Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; Supporting an inclusive culture; and, Corporate social responsibility. "When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation created the Corporate Equality Index 20 years ago, we dreamed that LGBTQ+ workersfrom the factory floor to corporate headquarters, in big cities and small townscould have access to the policies and benefits needed to thrive and live life authentically," said Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research and Training. "We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index paved the way to that reality for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. But there is still more to do, which is why we are raising the bar yet again to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow for LGBTQ+ workers everywhere. Congratulations to Cigna for achieving the title of 'best places to work for LGBTQ+ equality' and working to advance inclusion in the workplace." Read more about Cigna's commitment to diversity, inclusivity, and equality. About Cigna Cigna Corporation is a global health service company dedicated to improving the health, well-being and peace of mind of those we serve. Cigna delivers choice, predictability, affordability and access to quality care through integrated capabilities and connected, personalized solutions that advance whole person health. All products and services are provided exclusively by or through operating subsidiaries of Cigna Corporation, including Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, Evernorth companies or their affiliates and Express Scripts companies or their affiliates. Such products and services include an integrated suite of health services, such as medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, vision, supplemental benefits and other related products. Cigna maintains sales capability in over 30 countries and jurisdictions, and has over 190 million customer relationships around the world. To learn more about Cigna, including links to follow us on Facebook or Twitter, visit www.cigna.com. Media Contact Meaghan MacDonald 1 (860) 840-1212 [email protected] SOURCE Cigna "Eric is a successful operating executive with experience in both franchisor and franchisee led companies," said Chief Operating Officer John Dunion. "He is known as a skilled operator with in-depth knowledge of operating procedures, systems, practices and performance. Best of all, he has strong people and communication skills, something that is vital to our organization." Most recently, Wyatt served as chief operating officer of Boston Market Corporation and Corner Bakery Cafe. While there, he restructured the field organization for both brands and created field learning and facilities teams. He was also at the helm navigating a global pandemic, managing labor challenges and building a transformative path forward for the brands. Previously, Wyatt held progressive executive management positions with Taco Bell corporate and franchise groups, Starbucks and American Bread Company, a franchisee of Panera Bread. He has global experience, having led business planning and implementation in the U.S., as well as advised and supported leadership in countries across North and South America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. "I'm incredibly excited to join the Hardee's brand. Hardee's is a world-class franchise organization, plus they have superb company operated restaurants," said Wyatt. "Hardee's iconic brand has a longstanding tradition of quality food served by people who truly care about their guests. I look forward to being part of a great future." Wyatt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech communications from East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. About CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. ("CKE") is a privately held company based in Franklin, Tennessee. CKE, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, owns and operates Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, two beloved regional brands, known for one-of-a-kind premium and innovative menu items such as 100 percent Black Angus Thickburgers, Made from Scratch Biscuits and Hand-Breaded Chicken Tenders. With both a US and international footprint, Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC and Hardee's Restaurants LLC have over 3,800 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 44 states and 43 foreign countries and U.S. territories. For more information about CKE, please visit www.ckr.com or its brand sites at www.carlsjr.com and www.hardees.com SOURCE CKE Restaurants Holdings, Inc. THUNDER BAY, ON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Clean Air Metals Inc. ("Clean Air Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV: AIR) (OTCQB: CLRMF) (FRA: CKU) is pleased to announce the conclusion of a comprehensive review of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors related to its mining exploration and development operations at its Thunder Bay North Project, Ontario, Canada. The ESG report was prepared from data provided by Clean Air Metals to Onyen Corporation, using Onyen's innovative software solution and on-line ESG Platform. The report, titled "Clean Air Metals Inc. 2021 ESG Report" has been filed on the Clean Air Metals' website at www.cleanairmetals.ca at https://onyen.com/published/CAM_2021_Annual_597.html. The Company also announces the resignation of Mr. Carson Phillips, M.Eng. as VP Corporate Development effective January 31, 2022 to pursue other business interests. Carson will remain a Consultant to the Corporation. Clean Air Metals CEO Abraham Drost, stated that "the publication of the Onyen online ESG report is a watershed moment for Clean Air Metals. The Company has a strong policy-driven pursuit of excellence driven by its Board of Directors. The unique on-line platform of Onyen Corporation has established baseline ESG performance of the Company pursuant to economic, environmental and social charters, principles, or other initiatives to which the Company subscribes, or which it endorses, such as PDAC e3-Plus and the UN Global Compact. We also extend our best wishes to Carson Phillips and wish him all success personally and professionally in his new ventures. Carson has made a solid contribution to the startup of the Company which is very much appreciated." For more information about Onyen Corporation, visit http://www.onyen.com/. About Clean Air Metals Inc. Clean Air Metals' flagship asset is the 100% owned, high grade Thunder Bay North Project, a platinum, palladium, copper, nickel project located near the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario and the Lac des Iles Mine owned by Impala Platinum. The Thunder Bay North Project hosts twin magma conduit bodies hosting the Current and Escape deposits, forming the basis for a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) around a ramp access underground mine effective December 1, 2021. Executive Chairman Jim Gallagher and CEO Abraham Drost lead an experienced team of geologists and engineers who are using the Norilsk magma conduit stratigraphic and mineral deposit model to guide ongoing exploration and development studies at Thunder Bay North. As the former CEO of North American Palladium Ltd. which owned the Lac des Iles Mine prior to the sale to Impala Platinum in December 2019, Jim Gallagher and team are credited with the mine turnaround and creation of significant value for shareholders. Social Engagement Clean Air Metals Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary Panoramic PGMs (Canada) Ltd. acknowledge that the Thunder Bay North Project is on the traditional territories of the Fort William First Nation, Red Rock First Nation and Biinjitiwabik Zaaging Anishinabek. The parties together are the Cooperating Participants in a Memorandum of Agreement dated January 9, 2021. The Company appreciates the opportunity to work in these territories and remains committed to the recognition and respect of those who have lived, traveled, and gathered on the lands since time immemorial. Clean Air Metals is committed to stewarding Indigenous heritage and remains committed to building, fostering and encouraging a respectful relationship with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples based upon principles of mutual trust, respect, reciprocity and collaboration in the spirit of reconciliation. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "Abraham Drost" Abraham Drost, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Metals Inc. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including statements regarding the potential of the Thunder Bay North Project and the Escape and Current deposits and timing of technical studies (include the preliminary economic assessment) and mineral resource estimates. Forward-looking statements relate to information that is based on assumptions of management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projection. SOURCE Clean Air Metals Inc. NEW DELHI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Thursday that he tested positive for COVID-19. "Have tested COVID-19 positive. Urge all those who have come in recent contact to take suitable precautions," Jaishankar wrote on Twitter. India is currently battling the third wave of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The federal health ministry on Thursday morning said 286,384 new cases and 573 related deaths were reported during the past 24 hours, with the country's COVID-19 tally rising to 40,371,500. JACKSON, Mich., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of CMS Energy today increased the quarterly dividend on the company's common stock to 46 cents per share, up from 43.50 cents per share. Based on Wednesday's closing price for CMS Energy common stock, $62.35, the dividend represents an annualized yield of 3 percent. The first quarter dividend for the common stock is payable Feb. 28, 2022, to shareholders of record Feb. 11, 2022. Garrick Rochow, CMS Energy's president and chief executive officer, said the board's decision to increase the current dividend to $1.84 per share on an annualized basis reflects the successful execution of the company's strategy. "CMS Energy remains committed to our Triple Bottom Line, which yields consistent industry-leading financial results that reward our investors, while we continue to deliver world class performance for all stakeholders," said Garrick Rochow, CMS Energy's president and chief executive officer. "Our new dividend reflects our confidence that we will continue to deliver on our promises this year." CMS Energy (NYSE: CMS) is a Michigan-based company that has an electric and natural gas utility, Consumers Energy, as its primary business. It also owns and operates independent power generation businesses. For more information on CMS Energy, please visit our website at cmsenergy.com. To sign up for email alert notifications, please visit the Investor Relations section of our website. SOURCE CMS Energy LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer Watchdog called on legislative leaders to enact a Patient Bill of Rights to reform physician oversight and accountability in California. The nonprofit consumer advocacy organization said reform proposals recently floated by the Medical Board of California are good start, but "do not go far enough to prioritize the problems patients, not the Board's regulators, suffer because of California's failed systems of physician oversight." The recommendations follow ongoing revelations by news media, a Medical Board whistleblower, and patient advocates across the state of how state regulators and the legal system fail to hold dangerous doctors accountable and protect patients from harm. "The choices you make this year to demand accountability for dangerous doctors or protect the status quo will determine whether patients are protected or more innocent lives are lost," wrote Consumer Watchdog to legislative leaders. Read Consumer Watchdog's letter to lawmakers: https://consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/LtrLegDoctorOversight1-27-22.pdf The Patient Bill of Rights centers the needs of families who have been harmed by, or lost loved ones to, medical negligence and was developed with a coalition of such families featured at www.PatientsforFairness.org. They faced insurmountable hurdles at the Medical Board of California and in the courts when they sought accountability and to protect future patients from harm. Read the Patient Bill of Rights: https://consumerwatchdog.org/sites/default/files/2022-01/PatientBillOfRights2022.pdf This week the Los Angeles Times editorial board also called on the legislature to prioritize patient safety, writing: "California's system for getting bad doctors out of the profession is obviously not working." Read the editorial: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-25/editorial-california-must-do-more-to-get-bad-doctors-out-of-the-profession Consumer Watchdog urged lawmakers to prioritize three reforms also embraced by the Medical Board this year: Change the composition of the Medical Board to establish a public board member majority. Change the evidentiary standard from "clear and convincing" to "preponderance of evidence" in disciplinary actions to match the standard in 41 other states. Raise physician licensing fees to adequately fund oversight. "Ultimately however, the legislature must do much more to repair the state's dysfunctional physician oversight system and protect patients from harm," wrote Consumer Watchdog. Proposed legislation (AB 1636 by Assembly Member Weber) to ban physicians convicted of sexually abusing their patients from ever again practicing medicine in California is long overdue, said the group, but barely scratches the surface of the problem. Lawmakers must enact a Patient Bill of Rights to ensure transparency and accountability and improve patient care, Consumer Watchdog wrote. The Patient Bill of Rights would, in addition to the reforms above: Ensure public input in the Board's enforcement process: o Board must interview complainant/family member before a complaint is dismissed. o Board must contact complainant/family member following the physician interview to allow them to provide additional information. o Board or the Deputy Attorney General must contact the complainant/family member prior to a settlement offer or give the complainant the opportunity to provide a victim impact statement at the ALJ hearing. Amend AB 1636 to also prohibit a doctor who commits multiple acts of negligence resulting in serious patient injuries or death from practicing in California . . Amend 2018's Patient Right to Know law, which requires disclosure of physician probation for drug abuse or sexual misconduct, to also require doctors to disclose when they are on probation for gross negligence that caused patient harm. Expand disclosure on the Board's website to include pending investigations into a complaint of physician misconduct if that conduct resulted in serious harm to a patient or death, or the physician is a repeat offender. Inform patients of physicians' financial conflicts of interest (payments by drug and device manufacturers) as proposed in Assembly Member Nazarian's AB 1278. Restore patients' ability to seek accountability in court when they are harmed by updating the state's nearly 50-year-old cap on compensation in medical negligence cases. SOURCE Consumer Watchdog To understand more about Market Dynamics. Download our FREE sample report Key Contactless PoS Terminals Market Report Highlights: Market growth 2019-2024: USD 5 .54 billion Growth momentum & CAGR: Accelerate at a CAGR of 15.56% YoY growth (%) in 2020: 8.23% Performing market contribution: APAC at 47% Key consumer countries: the US, China , India , Japan , and Germany Contactless PoS Terminals Market: Segmentation End-user Retail Hospitality Geography APAC North America Europe South America MEA By end-users, the retail industry exhibited significant demand for contactless PoS terminals in 2021. The segment is driven by the increasing acceptance of contactless payments across hypermarkets, supermarkets, drug stores, gas stations, specialty stores, and mass merchandise stores. Besides, increased operational efficiency and customer experience offered by contactless PoS terminals are driving the growth of the segment. With 47% of the growth originating from APAC, this region will record a faster growth rate during 2019-2024. The increased adoption of contactless payment methods in countries such as Australia, China, India, and Indonesia is driving the growth of the contactless PoS terminals market in APAC. Also, the increasing popularity of e-wallets for payments at PoS terminals in the retail and hospitality sectors is contributing to the regional market growth. For Additional Information about the regional market: Request for a free sample report . Key Vendors and Vendor Strategies Some of the major vendors of the contactless pos terminals market include Bluebird Inc., Fiserv Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Ingenico Group SA, NCR Corp., Newland Payment Technology, PAX Global Technology Ltd., Spire Payments Ltd., SZZT Electronics Shenzhen Co. Ltd., and VeriFone Inc. To help businesses improve their market position, Technavio's report provides a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the market. To leverage the current opportunities, market vendors must strengthen their foothold in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. The contactless PoS terminals market is fragmented due to the presence of several regional and international players. Vendors are focusing on introducing new products and collaborating with other players to expand their presence in the market. For instance: In March 2020 , Fiserv Inc. announced that it had completed the acquisition of Bypass Mobile, an independent software vendor (ISV) and leading innovator in enterprise point-of-sale systems. , Fiserv Inc. announced that it had completed the acquisition of Bypass Mobile, an independent software vendor (ISV) and leading innovator in enterprise point-of-sale systems. In December 2019 , Honeywell International Inc. announced its partnership with Charlotte Hornets. In July 2019 , the company and Eleven Inc. announced their partnership for efforts to reduce carbon footprint. , Honeywell International Inc. announced its partnership with Charlotte Hornets. In , the company and Eleven Inc. announced their partnership for efforts to reduce carbon footprint. In January 2019 , Ingenico Group SA announced the acquisition of Paymark, a leading New Zealand payment network. Download our free sample report to get a brief understanding of various other vendors and their strategies. Key Market Drivers Our analysts have extensively outlined the information on the key market drivers and their impact on the contactless PoS terminals market. Increasing adoption of contactless payment software applications: Contactless PoS terminals optimize operational efficiency for retailers and merchants. The value proposition created by them is beneficial for both users as well as the merchants owing to the reduced transaction time. They are also easy to use and ensure highly secure payments compared with traditional PoS systems. Many such benefits are increasing the adoption of contactless payment software applications among merchants, especially at established retail stores such as Walmart. All these factors will fuel the growth of the global contactless PoS terminals market during the forecast period. To know about a few other market drivers, trends, and challenges, Download our free sample report Related Reports: Point of Sale Software Market by End-user and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Selfservice Kiosk Market by End-user and Geography Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Contactless PoS Terminals Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2019 Forecast period 2020-2024 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 15.56% Market growth 2020-2024 USD 5.54 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 8.23 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution APAC at 47% Key consumer countries China, US, India, Japan, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Bluebird Inc., Fiserv Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Ingenico Group SA, NCR Corp., Newland Payment Technology, PAX Global Technology Ltd., Spire Payments Ltd., SZZT Electronics Shenzhen Co. Ltd., and VeriFone Inc. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period. Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio Tom Lasswell, Vice President of IT Operations at Cortavo, was featured in Cobb in Focus Magazine for the latest issue. Tweet this Eventually, Aventis Systems customers also wanted intangible services like migration, on-site help, office IT services, training and warranty support. Over time, a fully managed IT solution had taken shape in their minds leading Aventis Systems to reimagine IT support. Finally, the alignment of company vision with customer demand spawned a new sister company Cortavo. "I wanted to provide people with the very solution they wanted, minus the all-too-common fear of using it." Tom expressed to Cobb in Focus, "My colleagues and I strive to provide real IT solutions and support, versus just being another vendor to call. We also want to be present for IT planning, projects, investment and advice not just when something breaks. Our passion is helping others like us succeed in an area where they might not be the most confident. Folks can focus on their business' core competency while we focus our core competency on their business." Cortavo proudly operates as an IT services provider from within the City of Marietta and Cobb County, but serves small to mid-sized clients well beyond and throughout the Southeast. About Cortavo Cortavo is an all-inclusive managed IT solution created by Aventis Systems. Based in Atlanta, GA, Cortavo provides all the hardware, software, network infrastructure, 24/7/365 tech support and cloud services necessary to address small to medium-sized business technology needs and challenges at a smooth and predictable monthly cost. Cortavo manages technology expansion and supports thousands of small business employees throughout the southeastern United States. For customer service or media inquiries, please call 1-866-267-8286, visit www.Cortavo.com or connect with Cortavo by Aventis Systems on LinkedIn , Twitter or Facebook . About Cobb in Focus Magazine Cobb in Focus considers living and working in Cobb County a privilege as more companies and families make the move to this thriving county. Cobb in Focus Magazine is your way to connect with other Cobb businesses. Each issue celebrates the advantages of the community while giving you the tools you need to flourish in your professional life. For advertising sales, contact Publisher Jamie Ryan at [email protected] , or 770.650.1102, ext. 142 For editorial, contact Editor Cory Sekine-Pettite at [email protected] , or 770.650.1102, ext. 100 Contact Information: Cortavo by Aventis Systems, Inc. Drake Dunaway 1-866-528-9313 x 661 [email protected] SOURCE Cortavo by Aventis Systems HOUSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Coterra Energy Inc. ("Coterra" or the "Company") (NYSE: CTRA) today announced it will host a conference call on Thursday, February 24, 2022, at 9:00 AM CT (10:00 AM ET) to discuss fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 financial and operating results. The Company plans to announce fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 results after the market closes on Wednesday, February 23. Conference Call Information Date: Thursday, February 24, 2022 Time: 10:00 AM ET / 9:00 AM CT Dial-in (for callers in the U.S. and Canada): (888) 550-5424 Int'l dial-in: (646) 960-0819 Conference ID: 3813676 To access the live webcast, visit the "Events & Presentations" page under the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website at www.coterra.com. The replay will be archived and available at the same location after the conclusion of the live event. About Coterra Energy Coterra is a premier exploration and production company based in Houston, Texas with focused operations in the Permian Basin, Marcellus Shale and Anadarko Basin. We strive to be a leading producer, delivering returns with a commitment to sustainability leadership. Learn more about us at www.coterra.com. SOURCE Coterra Energy Inc. With couples swapping a romantic evening out for an at-home celebration, the limited-edition Zacapa Moments Cocktail Kit features a few magical touches to complete the experience including 75% Dark Guatemalan Chocolate, a delicate floral candle, a delightful playlist accessible via QR code, and detailed instructions for a cheese and charcuterie pairing from Zacapa Rum Global Chef Ambassador Chef Grace Ramirez. With passion and patience at its core - from the craft of the liquid and the precision of Master Blender Lorena Vasquez's Sistema Solera method, to the handwoven petate bands that adorn every Zacapa bottle - each piece in the process comes from a place of devotion. This patience and dedication also extend to the way the rum is best enjoyed - over meaningful experiences with the ones you love. "At Zacapa, we believe joyful connections through shared meals, laughter, and warm conversation are some of the best luxuries life has to offer. With our Valentine's Day gift set, you'll be able to create the signature Zacapa experience at home," said Dina Krannich, Brand Manager, Zacapa Rum. "From the craft cocktail ingredients to the playful elements, the kit includes everything you need to slow down long enough to enjoy not only the serve but the person who matters the most to you." The Zacapa Moments Cocktail Kit is available for purchase at ReserveBar for $99 per kit while supplies last. Be sure to follow @ZacapaRumUSA on Instagram for delicious cocktail content and news. RON ZACAPA Rum. 40% Alc/Vol. Imported by The Ron Zacapa Co., New York, NY. Enjoy responsibly. Only share with those 21+. About Zacapa Rum Crafted in Guatemala, Zacapa Rum is a work of art and an expression of patience, richness, quality and master blending. Every step in the Zacapa story embodies the heart and soul of the powerful female artists behind it. Zacapa belongs on the tables of friends and communities, gathered to savor simple pleasures and strengthen connections. Zacapa's Master Blender of 36 years, Lorena Vasquez is one of only a few female leaders in a traditionally male-dominated industry. She brings her expressive character and special approach to blending, harnessing the best ingredients from Guatemala to create one of the world's best-tasting rums. Zacapa has the honor of being the first brand to be inducted into the International Rum Festival's Hall of Fame. Zacapa No. 23, Zacapa Edicion Negra and Zacapa XO are available at fine liquor stores, bars and restaurants around the world. For more information, visit https://www.zacaparum.com/ . About Diageo North America Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos, DeLeon and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness. Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practices. Follow on Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA. About ReserveBar Founded in 2013, ReserveBar is the established e-commerce leader in rare, luxury, and ultra-premium spirits, specializing in customization, personalization, and innovative gifting. In addition to its content-rich, on-brand experience, ReserveBar specializes in new and limited edition products, celebrity brands and is the go-to platform for new launches. ReserveBar is a destination for today's modern, convenience-driven adult shopper, delivering the most curated offerings to enthusiasts across the United States. ReserveBar is a technology platform at its core, utilizing cutting-edge software, analytics, and an exceptional retail network to deploy solutions that simplify the compliant purchase of beverage alcohol on ReserveBar.com, as well as numerous partner sites, including spirits brands, publishers, e-commerce partners, and gifting platforms. For more information, please visit www.reservebar.com. Media Contacts Molly Bailey-Andrade/Jenna Kaplan Bullfrog + Baum [email protected] Jazmine Settles DIAGEO [email protected] Ryan Pachuta ReserveBar [email protected] SOURCE Zacapa Rum WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cruise Lines International Association, the leading voice of the global cruise community, today released the 2022 State of the Cruise Industry Outlook report. The annual report shows how the industry has continued to resume responsibly with proven protocols that are leading the way, underscores the value of cruise tourism to local communities and national economies around the world, and charts the industry's continued progress towards achieving carbon neutrality. "The 2022 State of the Cruise Industry Outlook report provides an opportunity to reflect on how far our industry has come as CLIA ocean-going cruise lines have welcomed more than six million guests onboard since resuming operations in July 2020. While our focus on health and safety remains absolute, our industry is also leading the way in environmental sustainability and destination stewardship," said Kelly Craighead, president and CEO of CLIA. "Coastal and maritime tourism is an important economic driver, and we continue to work in partnership with cruise destinations so that communities thrive from responsible tourism. Our members are also investing in new technologies and new ships and pursuing the goal of net carbon neutral cruising by 2050." The 2022 outlook report also features reflections from cruise industry partners and community members around the world, including from Robert Courts MP, United Kingdom Maritime Minister; Mato Frankovic Mayor of Dubrovnik; Laura McDonnell, shop owner in Juneau, Alaska; Alex Fraile, tour guide in Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Danny Genung, CEO, Harr Travel; and Mandy Goddard, M.Ed., CLIA Elite Cruise Counselor (ECC). Highlights from the report include: Fleet of the Future . By 2027, the CLIA ocean-going cruise line member fleet will reflect significant advancements in the cruise industry's pursuit of a cleaner, more efficient future. . By 2027, the CLIA ocean-going cruise line member fleet will reflect significant advancements in the cruise industry's pursuit of a cleaner, more efficient future. 26 LNG-powered cruise ships LNG-powered cruise ships 81% of global capacity fitted with Advanced Wastewater Treatment Systems of global capacity fitted with Advanced Wastewater Treatment Systems 174 cruise ships with shoreside power connectivity 2020 Global Economic Impact . When compared to 2019, the 2020 economic data illustrates the pandemic's far-reaching effects on the wider cruise community and underscores the importance of cruise tourism to economies around the world. . When compared to 2019, the 2020 economic data illustrates the pandemic's far-reaching effects on the wider cruise community and underscores the importance of cruise tourism to economies around the world. 5.8M passenger embarkations ( -81% ) passenger embarkations ( ) 576K cruise-supported jobs ( -51% ) cruise-supported jobs ( ) $63.4B total economic contribution (-59%) Resumption Progress . Industry-leading protocols are facilitating the resumption of cruise tourism around the world, which is putting people back to work and reinvigorating local and national economies. . Industry-leading protocols are facilitating the resumption of cruise tourism around the world, which is putting people back to work and reinvigorating local and national economies. More than 75% of ocean-going member capacity has returned to service of ocean-going member capacity has returned to service Nearly 100% projected to be in operation by August 2022 Value of Cruise Tourists . Cruise tourists, and the money they spend, create jobs and opportunities for local communities around the world. . Cruise tourists, and the money they spend, create jobs and opportunities for local communities around the world. Every 24 cruisers creates one full-time equivalent job cruisers creates one full-time equivalent job Cruisers spend an average of $750 USD per passenger in port cities over the course of a typical seven-day cruise per passenger in port cities over the course of a typical seven-day cruise 6 in 10 people who have taken a cruise say that they have returned to a destination that they first visited via cruise ship Destination Stewardship. Continued collaboration with local communities in the destinations cruise ships visit remains a critical focus for the cruise industry, including in Dubrovnik, Croatia , the Greek destinations of Corfu and Heraklion, and the City of Palma in the Balearic Islands. Class of 2022. CLIA ocean-going member cruise lines are projected to debut 16 new cruise ships in 2022, including five LNG-powered vessels and nine expedition ships. The class of 2022 will be 100% equipped with Advanced Wastewater Treatment Systems. To view the full 2022 State of the Cruise Industry Outlook report, please click here. For more information, please contact [email protected]. About Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) CLIA is the world's largest cruise industry trade association and the leading authority of the global cruise community. On behalf of its members, affiliates and partners, the organization supports policies and practices that foster a secure, healthy, and sustainable cruise ship environment, promoting positive travel experiences for the more than 30 million passengers who have cruised annually. The CLIA community includes the world's most prestigious ocean, river, and specialty cruise lines; a highly trained and certified travel agent community; and a widespread network of stakeholders, including ports & destinations, ship development, suppliers, and business services. CLIA represents more than 90% of the world's ocean-going cruise capacity, as well as nearly 60,000 travel agents and agencies from around the world. The travel agent and agency members represent the largest network of travel professionals specializing in cruise travel. The organization's global headquarters are in Washington, DC, with regional offices located in North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia. For more information, please visit cruising.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube with our handle @CLIAGlobalor on LinkedIn. SOURCE Cruise Lines International Association STOCKHOLM, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Detectify, the SaaS security company powered by ethical hackers, closed 2021 with significant corporate momentum propelled by its Crowdsource community. In 2021, Detectify detected 44% more unique medium and high severity vulnerabilities in its customers' systems compared to 2020, demonstrating the outsized impact crowdsourced security can have on an organization's security posture. "Crowdsourced security provides a way for security teams to expand their efficiency, especially when it comes to managing their external attack surface," said Rickard Carlsson, Co-founder and CEO of Detectify. "Hackers have eyes and ears all over the web, and they're constantly monitoring attack surfaces for exploitable entry points. Leveraging ethical hackers as part of an overall security program gives organizations the ability to identify and remediate security issues in a wide range of technologies before they risk being exploited by attackers." Handpicked by Detectify, the Crowdsource community is comprised of freelance ethical hackers passionate about making modern technologies and the Internet a safer place. Each ethical hacker is focused on finding web vulnerabilities across the tech stack, i.e. in a CMS, framework, or library. Once flagged and reviewed, accepted vulnerabilities are integrated into Detectify's products as security tests to protect customers from the latest threats. Detectify received 35% more submissions from its ethical hacker community in 2021 compared to 2020. Notable findings from the Detectify Crowdsource community include: Froxlor 0-day - In March 2021 , Detectify Crowdsource hacker Valerio Brussani used a dangling markup technique to discover and report a 0-day in Froxlor - a server administration software - now assigned as CVE-2020 -29653 which could allow attackers to steal login credentials and impersonate a victim user. - In , Detectify Crowdsource hacker Valerio Brussani used a dangling markup technique to discover and report a 0-day in Froxlor - a server administration software - now assigned as -29653 which could allow attackers to steal login credentials and impersonate a victim user. Cloudkit - In September 2021 , Detectify co-founder Frans Rosen identified three bugs in iCrowd+, Apple News, and Apple Shortcuts with different criticality while hacking Cloudkit. All bugs were reported to and fixed by the Apple Security Bounty program. - In , Detectify co-founder identified three bugs in iCrowd+, Apple News, and Apple Shortcuts with different criticality while hacking Cloudkit. All bugs were reported to and fixed by the Apple Security Bounty program. Grafana 0-day - In December 2021 , Grafana released an emergency security patch for critical vulnerability CVE-2021 -43798, after proof-of-concept code to exploit the issue was published online. Grafana was first made aware of the 0-day by a Detectify Crowdsource security researcher, Jordy Versmissen , who found and reported it to Grafana. When critical vulnerabilities become known before a patch is available, the value of crowdsourced security really comes through, said Carlsson. He added: "Companies that rely solely on internal research teams and test against known CVEs are in a much tougher position when incidents like, for example, Log4j happen. We received a proof-of-concept for Log4j from a researcher in our community and were running it as a security test in our customers' systems within hours after it was made public. In the past couple of weeks, we have implemented over 50 test modules for this vulnerability, covering dozens of technologies." Strengthened EASM offering and 60% women in the product team In 2021, Detectify also formalized their evolution from a dynamic application security testing tool to a comprehensive External Attack Surface Management (EASM) solution. Highlighted by Gartner as an emerging category in security, EASM helps organizations identify potential risks coming from internet-facing assets and threats such as shadow IT, exposure management and expanding attack surfaces. Detectify looks to 2022 and beyond to continue the advancement of their EASM solution that excels in the discovery of web-facing assets and assessment of web vulnerabilities and anomalies leveraged by attackers. In addition to the growth seen in the Crowdsource community, Detectify added 30 new team members, 33.3% of which were female. In addition, 50% of executive hires and 33.3% of engineering hires were female. The product team also increased from 42% women in 2020, to 60% in 2021. In comparison, women are reported to represent only 24% of the cybersecurity workforce overall. Supporting Resources Stay connected with Detectify on LinkedIn CONTACT: For more information, please contact: Varsha Saraogi [email protected] +46 (0) 76 774 96 66 or [email protected] Erica Anderson Offleash for Detectify [email protected] This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/detectify/r/detectify-sees-significant-increase-in-detected-vulnerabilities-powered-by-its-crowdsource-community,c3493761 SOURCE Detectify HUDSON, Ohio, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE: DBD), has received a score of 90 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation's foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Diebold Nixdorf joins the ranks of 1,271 major U.S.-based businesses that were also ranked in the 2022 CEI. The company's 90 score on its overall diversity and inclusion practices outpaces the average score of all Fortune 500 companies evaluated by the HRC. The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: Non-discrimination policies across business entities; Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; Supporting an inclusive culture; and, Corporate social responsibility. The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 20 million U.S. workers and an additional 18 million outside of the United States. Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine's 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine's top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses. The full report is available at www.hrc.org/cei. Over the past several years, Diebold Nixdorf has adopted and implemented non-discriminatory policies and provided equitable healthcare and other benefits that are inclusive for all its employees. In 2020, Diebold Nixdorf established the CARE Council, an internal, cross-functional team that works to define and deliver clearly stated, measurable goals and implement them into our operating plan. Their efforts include the establishment of four employee resource groups (ERGs) -- voluntary, self-sustaining employee-led groups based on shared characteristics, social identities or life experiences. The [email protected] group, for example, exists to further the mission and values of the CARE Council, represent the interests of LGBTQ+ employees and support our overall diversity and inclusion goals. Beth Patrick, Diebold Nixdorf executive vice president, chief people officer, said, "The CEI ranking supports Diebold Nixdorf's goal to fully support and implement diversity into the workplace through equity and positive recognition of differences. We are excited to continue improving on this front as we drive diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to further build upon our strong foundation of effective environmental, social and governance programs." Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research and Training, said: "When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation created the Corporate Equality Index 20 years ago, we dreamed that LGBTQ+ workersfrom the factory floor to corporate headquarters, in big cities and small townscould have access to the policies and benefits needed to thrive and live life authentically. We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index paved the way to that reality for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. But there is still more to do, which is why we are raising the bar yet again to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow for LGBTQ+ workers everywhere." About the Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work. About Diebold Nixdorf Diebold Nixdorf, Incorporated (NYSE: DBD) is a world leader in enabling connected commerce. We automate, digitize and transform the way people bank and shop. As a partner to the majority of the world's top 100 financial institutions and top 25 global retailers, our integrated solutions connect digital and physical channels conveniently, securely and efficiently for millions of consumers each day. The company has a presence in more than 100 countries with approximately 22,000 employees worldwide. Visit www.DieboldNixdorf.com for more information. LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/diebold Twitter: twitter.com/dieboldnixdorf Facebook: www.facebook.com/DieboldNixdorf YouTube: www.youtube.com/dieboldnixdorf DN-C SOURCE Diebold Nixdorf No matter the season, Inspiring Vacations ensures travellers that Canada is a stunning location to visit. The country is abundant in natural wonders, from the iconic Niagara Falls to the stunning Canadian Rockies to the breathtaking national parks scattered across the country. In winter, the ski fields are abuzz with excited skiers and snowboarders, while Canadian summers are perfect for hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking and canoeing on the turquoise water at Moraine Lake. On top of its unforgettable landscapes and scenery, Canada is also home to multiple bustling cities. Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and more all boast a lively atmosphere, world class dining, museums and galleries, stunning architecture and exciting nightlife. Inspiring Vacations urges travellers to soak in the heritage touches and nuggets of rich history and culture intertwined with the modern aspects of Canada's big cities. The best way to see everything that Canada has to offer, says Inspiring Vacations, is on one of the country's many exciting tours. Canada is vast and planning a trip can be overwhelming. Guided tours take the stress out of planning a Canadian holiday and allow tourists to relax and simply enjoy their travels. Inspiring Vacations has a vast range of groups and guided tours around Canada for every price point, trip duration and travel preference. Inspiring Vacations is the leading provider of guided tours South Africa to South America and everywhere in between. Contact them today to learn more or start planning a once in a lifetime trip to Canada. SOURCE: Inspiring Vacations This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Inspiring Vacations NEW DELHI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- India's Delhi government decided on Thursday to end the weekend curfew and odd-even curbs for markets in the national capital region, local media reported. The authorities have also decided to open restaurants, bars and cinema halls with 50 percent capacity. The night curfew, however, will remain in force. The decision was made during a meeting between the Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. "The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) also decided to cap the number of people who can attend wedding festivals in the national capital to 200," the report said. The decision has been taken in view of the decline in COVID-19 cases in the capital. Schools will, however, remain shut for now, the report said. The federal health ministry said on Thursday morning that Delhi had recorded 7,498 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said the COVID-19 situation in Delhi is under control and the city is expected to report less than 5,000 cases in the next 24 hours. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- DoControl , the automated Software as a Service (SaaS) security company, today announced the first no-code security workflows to extend Zero Trust beyond the identity, device and network into the SaaS data layer. Triggered by hundreds of SaaS event types, DoControl's security workflows address the shortcomings of inflexible hard-coded and out-of-the-box policies by enabling consistent, granular, and customizable data access controls. This allows IT and security teams to enforce powerful SaaS security policies throughout disparate applications being used by organizations, all from a single platform. By overcoming the fundamental problem associated with applying effective data access security controls to critical SaaS applications, IT and security teams can now address a wide range of use cases driven by over 500 SaaS event types, and select the exact actions, triggers, remediation steps and paths taken in a visual "drag-and-drop" canvas. Workflows are easily customizable to specific applications or use cases via a catalog of playbooks and pre-established templates to help meet organizational security program requirements. Over time, DoControl will intelligently recommend specific policies based on environmental factors and behavioral patterns that present high-levels of risk. "Security teams are becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of visibility and control over all the identities and entities connecting to critical business applications. Addressing this problem via a manual process or through building a custom solution from the ground up is not feasible for modern businesses" said Guy Rosenthal , Vice President of Product. "By creating the first and only workflow engine that truly enforces consistent and secure data access control policies, our customers can extend Zero Trust to the SaaS application data layer and establish a strong security posture throughout their SaaS estate." "DoControl is creating a platform that will help modern businesses like ours strike that perfect balance between security and productivity. We are excited to be able to create secure workflows that address limitless use cases and threat models, across all the different identities that we manage and all the various data and file types that they access" said Ian Mains, Director of Security Assurance at Devo. "The Security Workflows engine is another example of DoControl's ability to innovate and establish the industry standard for securing SaaS applications." DoControl's Security Workflow deliver: Complete Threat Modeling Coverage: Close the gap on existing SaaS application vulnerabilities and risks through automated, self-service remediation. Close the gap on existing SaaS application vulnerabilities and risks through automated, self-service remediation. Limitless Customizations and Use Cases: Trigger workflows based on any SaaS event, which are customizable and can be defined from over 100 pre-established templates. Trigger workflows based on any SaaS event, which are customizable and can be defined from over 100 pre-established templates. Centralized Enforcement: Enforce consistent data access controls across diverse SaaS application environments from a single location. Enforce consistent data access controls across diverse SaaS application environments from a single location. Optimized End-user Experience: Enable citizen developers to streamline secure automated workflows via a no-code, "drag-and-drop" platform. Supporting DoControl Resources: About DoControl Founded in 2020 and headquartered in New York, DoControl is an automated data access controls platform for SaaS applications, improving security and operational efficiency with ease for enterprises. DoControl is backed by investors RTP Global, StageOne Ventures, Cardumen Capital and global cybersecurity leader CrowdStrike's early stage investment fund, the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund. The company's leadership team combines product, engineering and sales experience across cybersecurity, enterprise and SaaS innovators. For more information, please visit https://www.docontrol.io . Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn . CONTACT: Mike Stolyar Lumina Communications 732-213-3553 [email protected] SOURCE DoControl The report also covers the following areas: Vendor Insights The duck meat market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying growth strategies such as promoting their product offerings through a clear and unique value proposition to compete in the market. The report analyzes the market's competitive landscape and offers information on several market vendors, including: AJC International Inc. AMI LLC sp.k BRF SA Cargill Inc. Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc Gressingham Foods LuCanard Maple Leaf Farms Inc. Memphis Meats Pepes Ducks Ltd. Find additional highlights on the growth strategies adopted by vendors and their product offerings, Read Free Sample Report. Geographical Market Analysis APAC will provide maximum growth opportunities in the duck meat market during the forecast period. According to our research report, the region will contribute to 74% of the global market growth and is expected to dominate the market through 2025. China, Japan, and Malaysia are the key countries for the duck meat market in APAC. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in MEA. The increasing health awareness, the convenience offered by processed meats, and the expanding fast-food chains will drive the duck meat market growth in APAC during the forecast period. Know more about this market's geographical distribution along with the detailed analysis of the top regions. View Our Report Snapshot Key Segment Analysis The duck meat market share growth by the fresh duck meat segment will be significant during the forecast period. The increasing availability of fresh duck meat through supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, and other distribution channels will drive the growth of the fresh duck meat market during the forecast period. The high demand for protein-rich food products and increased disposable income levels are also driving the segment. View FREE Sample: to know additional highlights and key points on various market segments and their impact in coming years. Key Market Drivers & Challenges: The duck meat market is primarily driven by the rising awareness about the health benefits associated with the consumption of duck meat. This is leading to an increase in demand for fresh duck meat as well as processed duck meat. Hence, several major vendors are expanding their production capacities to meet the growing demand. This has led to the availability of a wide range of product choices in the market. Download free sample for highlights on market Drivers & Challenges affecting the duck meat market. Customize Your Report Don't miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and know more insights about this market report. Our analysts can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time. We offer USD 1,000 worth of FREE customization at the time of purchase. Speak to our Analyst now! Duck Meat Market 2021-2025: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2021-2025 Detailed information on factors that will assist duck meat market growth during the next five years Estimation of the duck meat market size and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the duck meat market Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of duck meat market vendors Related Reports: Beef Market by Distribution Channel and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Artificial Meat Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025 Duck Meat Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 2.74% Market growth 2021-2025 USD 1.60 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 2.59 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, MEA, North America, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 74% Key consumer countries China, Japan, France, Germany, and Malaysia Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled AJC International Inc., AMI LLC sp.k, BRF SA, Cargill Inc., Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc, Gressingham Foods, LuCanard, Maple Leaf Farms Inc., Memphis Meats, and Pepes Ducks Ltd. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. About Us: Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its efforts to grow renewable energy in North Carolina, Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions, a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), recently began commercial operation of two major solar facilities in the state. The 50-megawatt (MW) Broad River Solar power plant in Cleveland County The 22.6-MW Speedway Solar power plant in Cabarrus County "Even with the 2021 challenges of COVID-19 and supply chain constraints, our team remained focused and delivered these projects on time," said Chris Fallon, president of Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions. "We could not have completed these projects without the support of our vendors and the people of Cleveland and Cabarrus counties." The facility's design, procurement of inverters, balance of plant systems and construction of the project were performed by Swinerton. The solar power generated by both projects will be delivered through 20-year power purchase agreements. Together, the projects can power about 15,000 homes during a year. North Carolina is fourth in the nation for overall solar energy. The outlook is promising for more solar energy in the future with the passage of the Energy Solutions for North Carolina (HB951) law in 2021. "Solar power is a major focus for Duke Energy as we target 70% carbon reduction by 2030 in North Carolina and net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 under HB951," said Stephen De May, Duke Energy's North Carolina president. "We expect solar to play a leading role in our clean energy future." A leader in renewable energy Duke Energy is leading the largest clean-energy transformation in the United States. It maintains more than 4,100 MW of solar power on its energy grid in North Carolina, which could power about 800,000 homes and businesses at peak output. The company also operates more than 40 solar facilities in the state. With nuclear, hydro and renewable energy, more than half of North Carolina's energy mix is carbon-free. Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is a nonregulated commercial brand of Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) a Fortune 150 company and one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions is a leader in sustainable energy, helping large enterprises reduce power costs, lower emissions and increase resiliency. The team provides wind, solar, resilient backup power and managed energy services to over 1,000 projects across the U.S., with a total electric capacity of more than 5,100 megawatts of nonregulated renewable energy. Visit Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions and follow on LinkedIn and YouTube for more information. 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 operate or purchase 16,000 megawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2025. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook. Contact: Randy Wheeless 24-Hour: 800.559.3853 Twitter: @DE_RandyW SOURCE Duke Energy SMITHFIELD, R.I., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- After a unanimous strike authorization and a "just practicing" demonstration, school bus drivers, monitors and aides at Durham School Services of Smithfield, R.I. ratified their first Teamster contract by a vote of 29-1 this week. The new agreement will be in effect for the next three and a half years. "This first contract shows clearly the value of workers coming together to collectively bargain to improve their working conditions," said Matthew Taibi, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 251. "School bus workers have been demanding fair treatment throughout the state. Additional public funding is still necessary to address the short staffing at this location and structural issues in the industry." The agreement provides strong job protections and overall economic improvements. These include retroactive six to seven percent wage increases (compared to wages when the workers first unionized) as well as an overall wage increase of 24 to 27 percent over the lifetime of the agreement. The agreement also includes a clause allowing wages to increase even further, provided that additional ARPA funding from the municipality for school bus workers is allocated prior to the implementation of a statewide prevailing wage law going into effect in 2023 at this location. The contract also includes an increase in guaranteed hours, bonus and retirement improvements, and more. Teamsters Local 251 is based in East Providence, Rhode Island and represents over 6,300 workers in a wide variety of industries throughout Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts. For more information go to https://teamsterslocal251.org/. Contact: Matt Taibi, (401) 434-0454 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 251 ST. LOUIS, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial-services firm Edward Jones scored 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) the nation's foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. The ranking designates Edward Jones as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality. "Our workplace environment is one way we demonstrate how we live our purpose: to partner for positive impact to improve the lives of our clients and colleagues, and together, better our communities and society," said Jennifer Kingston, Edward Jones Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. "We firmly believe that all of our 50,000+ associates across North America should feel free to bring their whole selves to work. When we celebrate all dimensions of diversity, we become that much better at serving the needs of both our clients and our associates." The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: Non-discrimination policies across business entities Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families Supporting an inclusive culture Corporate social responsibility Edward Jones' efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria earned a 100 percent ranking and the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality. This marks the sixth consecutive year the firm has received a perfect score. Edward Jones offers domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive benefits and associate volunteer self-identification. The firm's 800-plus strong LGBT+ and Allies Business Resource Group regularly meets to cultivate relationships, generate ideas and develop strategies to build and retain an inclusive workforce. The group also champions Edward Jones' participation in, and sponsorship of, the St. Louis and Tempe Pride parades, as well as several local Pride events across the country. In the summer of 2020, Edward Jones announced its Five-Point Commitment to inclusion, equity and diversity. "When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation created the Corporate Equality Index 20 years ago, we dreamed that LGBTQ+ workersfrom the factory floor to corporate headquarters, in big cities and small townscould have access to the policies and benefits needed to thrive and live life authentically," said Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research and Training. "We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index paved the way to that reality for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. But there is still more to do, which is why we are raising the bar yet again to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow for LGBTQ+ workers everywhere." The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 20 million U.S. workers and an additional 18 million abroad. Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine's 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine's top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200) and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses. About Edward Jones Edward Jones, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in St. Louis, provides financial services in the U.S. and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the investments its financial advisors offer to the location of branch offices, caters to individual investors and businesses. The firm's nearly 19,000 financial advisors serve more than 7 million clients with a total of $1.7 trillion in assets under care. Visit www.edwardjones.com or the recruiting website is https://careers.edwardjones.com. Member SIPC. About the Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. SOURCE Edward Jones "I will be drawing back the curtain to show you exactly how I do things" Tweet this "During my 10X Ladies Miami event, I will be drawing back the curtain to show you exactly how I do things and how I built my empire," Cardone said. "Plus, you're going to hear from the women in my inner-circle who have built what most would consider unattainable success in all areas of their life. This is the conference for women looking to create and elevate the career and life of their dreams." The keynote speakers for 10X Ladies Miami are: Stormy Wellington (Bestselling Author/Wealth Coach) (Bestselling Author/Wealth Coach) Sharon Lechter (Personal Finance Expert/Co-author, " Rich Dad Poor Dad ") (Personal Finance Expert/Co-author, " ") Adriana Gallardo (Business Coach/Insurance Expert) (Business Coach/Insurance Expert) Barbara Majeski (TV Personality/Lifestyle Expert) (TV Personality/Lifestyle Expert) Nicole Arbour (Comedian/Actress/Singer) (Comedian/Actress/Singer) Lisa Copeland (Sales and Strategy Expert/Top 100 Most Influential Women) (Sales and Strategy Expert/Top 100 Most Influential Women) Danelle Delgado (Serial Entrepreneur) (Serial Entrepreneur) Natalie Dawson (WorkWoman Podcast Host/Team Building Expert) (WorkWoman Podcast Host/Team Building Expert) Gary Brecka (Human Biologist/Anti-Aging Expert) In line with Cardone's belief of giving back, a special donation will be made to the Grant Cardone Foundation to help underserved and at-risk populations, especially those without a father figure. This is a worldwide problem that affects roughly 24 million kids. For more information on 10X Ladies Miami, visit https://10xladies.com/2022 MEDIA CONTACT Bruce Serbin Serbin Media, Inc. 954-821-3434 [email protected] SOURCE Elena Cardone "At Farmers, our longstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion is the foundation of our culture and central to our core values as an organization," said Farmers Insurance Chief People & Diversity Officer Mark Welch. "It's an honor to be recognized by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index for our ongoing efforts to champion LGBTQ+ equality within our workplace and help ensure Farmers remains a great place to work for all." Farmers offers inclusive employee benefits, diversity and inclusion training and a robust network of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to help support employees in bringing their whole selves to work. The Farmers Pride ERG focuses on elevating LGBTQ+ considerations within the workplace, increasing education and awareness, and engaging in the communities Farmers is proud to serve. "When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation created the Corporate Equality Index 20 years ago, we dreamed that LGBTQ+ workersfrom the factory floor to corporate headquarters, in big cities and small townscould have access to the policies and benefits needed to thrive and live life authentically," said Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research and Training. "We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index paved the way to that reality for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. But there is still more to do, which is why we are raising the bar yet again to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow for LGBTQ+ workers everywhere. Congratulations to Farmers Insurance for achieving the title of 'best places to work for LGBTQ+ equality' and working to advance inclusion in the workplace." The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: Non-discrimination policies across business entities; Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; Supporting an inclusive culture; and, Corporate social responsibility. The results of the 2022 CEI showcase how 1,271 U.S.-based companies are not only promoting LGBTQ+-friendly workplace policies in the U.S., but also for the 56% of CEI-rated companies with global operations who are helping advance the cause of LGBTQ+ inclusion in workplaces abroad. Farmers Insurance's efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria earned a 100 percent ranking and the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality. The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 20 million U.S. workers and an additional 18 million abroad. The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. Visit www.farmers.com to learn more about Farmers Insurance. About Farmers Insurance "Farmers Insurance" and "Farmers" are tradenames for a group of insurers providing insurance for automobiles, homes and small businesses and a wide range of other insurance and financial services products. For more information about Farmers Insurance, visit Farmers.com or follow Farmers on Twitter @WeAreFarmers, on Instagram @ThisIsFarmers and Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance. About The Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work. Contact: External Communications Farmers Insurance 818-965-0007 [email protected] SOURCE Farmers Insurance "By prioritizing and embracing the benefits of diversity across our company, FMC has fostered an environment for our employees to grow and contribute to their fullest potential," said Mark Douglas, president and chief executive officer at FMC. "Efforts to strengthen our workforce in these ways have contributed to our company's ability to meet the demands and challenges these past few years have presented." FMC supports LGBTQ+ employees through SPECTRUM, an FMC employee resource group (ERG) for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer employees and their allies. It focuses on increasing the visibility of LGBTQ+ issues within the company through education and awareness initiatives. SPECTRUM is implemented regionally through Regional Inclusion Councils to drive efforts relative to the local needs and challenges of LGBTQ+ employees and their communities. "We're very proud to receive a perfect score for the third year in a row," said ZsaNell Smith, director of global diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at FMC. "This recognition reflects the continued organizational support for DEI, but also the work being done to drive changes across the company to actively demonstrate our commitment to cultivate a workplace culture that allows employees to really see themselves and be themselves at FMC." SPECTRUM is one of six employee resource groups at FMC, which also include The Bridge, a multicultural ERG; Women's Initiative Network (WIN); i-Gen, an intergenerational ERG; Valuing Individuals with Visible and Invisible Disabilities (VIVID); and HONOR, a veterans group open to all employees to promote, raise awareness and support veterans within FMC and our local communities. "A core value at FMC is respect for people," said Karen Totland, vice president and chief sustainability officer for FMC. "Recognition like this confirms the importance of living that value in all that we do, and it reaffirms the impact of our work to achieve the right balance of diversity, equity and inclusion across our entire global organization." The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: Non-discrimination policies across business entities; Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; Supporting an inclusive culture; and, Corporate social responsibility Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine's 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine's top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses. The full CEI report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. About FMC FMC Corporation is a global agricultural sciences company dedicated to helping growers produce food, feed, fiber and fuel for an expanding world population while adapting to a changing environment. FMC's innovative crop protection solutions including biologicals, crop nutrition, digital and precision agriculture enable growers, crop advisers and turf and pest management professionals to address their toughest challenges economically while protecting the environment. With approximately 6,400 employees at more than 100 sites worldwide, FMC is committed to discovering new herbicide, insecticide and fungicide active ingredients, product formulations and pioneering technologies that are consistently better for the planet. Visit fmc.com to learn more and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. About The Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work. Statement under the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking statements, which are based on management's current views and assumptions regarding future events, future business conditions and the outlook for the company based on currently available information. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by any forward-looking statement. These factors include, among other things, the risk factors and other cautionary statements included within FMC's 2020 Form 10-K filed with the SEC as well as other SEC filings and public communications. FMC cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by the above cautionary statement. FMC undertakes no obligation, and specifically disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which they were made, except as otherwise required by law. SOURCE FMC Corporation TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Franco-Nevada Corporation is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has raised its quarterly dividend and declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.32 per share payable on March 31, 2022 to shareholders of record on March 17, 2022 (the "Record Date"). This is a 6.7% increase from the previous US$0.30 per share quarterly dividend and marks the 15th consecutive annual increase for Franco-Nevada shareholders. Canadian investors in Franco-Nevada's IPO in December 2007 are now receiving an effective 10.7% yield on their cost base. The Board of Directors has determined to move its annual dividend reviews earlier in the year than prior practice starting with 2022. The dividend policy will now be reviewed at the beginning of the fiscal year so that any increases to the dividend will be effective for the full fiscal year rather than commencing in Q2 as in prior years. The dividend has been declared in U.S. dollars and the Canadian dollar equivalent will be determined based on the daily average rate posted by the Bank of Canada on the Record Date. Under Canadian tax legislation, Canadian resident individuals who receive "eligible dividends" are entitled to an enhanced gross-up and dividend tax credit on such dividends. The Company has a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (the "DRIP"). Participation in the DRIP is optional. The Company will issue additional common shares through treasury at a 3% discount to the Average Market Price, as defined in the DRIP. However, the Company may, from time to time, in its discretion, change or eliminate the discount applicable to treasury acquisitions or direct that such common shares be purchased in market acquisitions at the prevailing market price, any of which would be publicly announced. The DRIP and enrollment forms are available on the Company's website at www.franco-nevada.com. Canadian and U.S. registered shareholders may also enroll in the DRIP online through the plan agent's self-service web portal at www.investorcentre.com/franco-nevada. Canadian and U.S. beneficial shareholders should contact their financial intermediary to arrange enrollment. Non-Canadian and non-U.S. shareholders may potentially participate in the DRIP, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. Non-Canadian and non-U.S. shareholders should contact the Company to determine whether they satisfy the necessary conditions to participate in the DRIP. This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer for securities. A registration statement relating to the DRIP has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and may be obtained under the Company's profile on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's website at www.sec.gov. Details for Upcoming Release of 2021 Results 2021 Results Release: March 9th after market close Conference Call and Webcast: March 10th 10:00 am ET Dialin Numbers: TollFree: 18883900546 International: 4167648688 Webcast: www.franconevada.com Replay (available until March 17th): TollFree: 18883900541 International: 4167648677 Pass code: 914584 # SOURCE Franco-Nevada Corporation In other instances, though, the IRS may be seeking extensive information about your income and tax situation, leaving you in danger of owing a much higher tax bill with late payment penalties. A tax attorney can help with this extremely scary situation. The attorney has the ability to negotiate with the IRS on your behalf, while helping you prepare a defense against the financial exposure and assist with any subsequent collection action. If the audit does not go your way, a tax lawyer can help with an appeal of the assessment of additional tax, penalties and interest. To schedule a 10-minute call with an experienced tax attorney to discuss a potential IRS audit, contact the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing. Tax Audit Help from a dual licensed Tax Attorney & CPA For many taxpayers, there are few things as concerning and anxiety-inducing as being selected for a tax audit or taking some action that raises red flags and triggers an audit by the IRS. Many taxpayers will suffer through countless sleepless nights before reaching out to a tax attorney for guidance regarding the severity of the situation they face. In some instances, it is indeed an action by the taxpayer that increases their odds of being audited or triggers the audit. For instance, the individual may have forgotten to include one or more sources of income and was identified by the IRS from information matching procedures. The tax lawyers and tax professionals of the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing can taxpayers tax audit help when navigate these difficult scenarios. However, in other cases, certain characteristics of the taxpayer makes the individual an attractive target for an audit. For instance, the IRS is known to audit small business owners, businesses that deal extensively or exclusively in cash, and high-income individuals at higher rates than the general population. If you face audit due to certain characteristics, it is equally important to prepare and protect your assets and business from the IRS. How Far Back Can the IRS Audit? If you are faced with a potential audit by the IRS, rest assured that your entire tax history is likely not under investigation unless they discover fraud in which the statute of limitations becomes open all the way back to the dawn of time. If there are specific issues being examined, your audit might only go back just far enough to when the issues are believed to have arisen. For example, if you are being audited in connection with your business but have only owned the business for the last 2 years, your audit might only go back 2 years. In fact, most audits tend to only go back about 2 years. However, according to the IRS, it is fairly normal for audits to include the last 3 years of your tax history. If your situation is unique, like where the IRS proves a 25% of greater understatement of taxable income, the IRS is permitted to extend how far back your audit may go. Generally, audits do not go back farther than 6 years, although this is not a hard rule. If your audit is still not resolved after examining the last 6 years of your tax history, the IRS can request you to extend the statute of limitations for assessment of tax. Typically, the statute of limitations imposes a 3-year limit on how long the IRS has to assess any additional tax. The statute begins to run after your tax return is filed. You do not have to consent or agree to an extension of the statute of limitations. However, if you challenge the extension, the auditor will decide what to do based on the information you have already provided and quite often will assess based on known income often accompanies by a complete disallowance of all expenses claimed on the returns under audit. IRS Audit Triggers Taxpayers are ordinarily selected for an audit based on statistical computerized analysis of their historical tax returns against a pool of similarly situated taxpayers. Every return analyzed by the IRS supercomputers receives a score. The worst score a return can receive is a 999, the next worse is a 998 etc. The more likely the return is to understate taxable income the higher the score the return receives. The IRS starts off an audit cycle by starting with all the 999's then moves through the 998's then the 997's and so on as time permits until they run out of audit budget for a particular tax year that they are currently working. Facing a high-risk audit with criminal tax exposure will also result where your lifestyle appears excessive in comparison to your history of reported income compared to easily verifiable financial spending habits. For example, if a taxpayer is writing off proportionately large charitable donations as tax deductions, but they have relatively small income streams, this may be a red flag to the IRS, and that taxpayer will often be audited. Paying off very large debts with very low historical reporting of income is also a red flag which ordinarily leads to an IRS eggshell or reverse egg audit. IRS Auditing Procedures An audit might occur in a couple of different ways. Auditing procedures in your case will depend on the complexity of your tax situation and the issue being examined in your audit. Generally, an audit will begin by correspondence through the mail. You should receive a letter from the IRS informing you of the audit and what your next step must be. Note: A criminal tax investigation by the criminal investigation division of the IRS will often begin in complete secrecy and two or more years normally goes by before they surprise you in person while you are half asleep and walking to your car in the morning to go to the office or work site. If this happens to you the most important thing to remember is that they are going to ask you a bunch of questions that they already know the answer too hoping that you will lie to them. It is human nature to try and talk your way out of trouble and CI will often try and encourage you to do so claiming that they are there to help you clear up a misunderstanding. Don't fall for it!!! Politely tell them that you are happy to speak to them but not without your tax counsel being present and then pick up the phone and call our office. If you do happen to fall for their trickery, write down everything you can remember you were asked and truthfully write down what your answers were to aid your criminal tax defense attorney in defending you and perform damage control. In nearly all audits, the IRS may wish to conduct an in-person interview as part of your audit. IRS agents are often required to do this to aid them in identifying which areas of your tax returns are more likely than not to contain misstatements and to help them gain an understanding of your business. The interview process is high risk because lying to a federal agent is a felony by itself. Interviews are more critical in cases where your audit deals with complicated tax issues or if the documentation required is so voluminous it cannot practically be sent by mail. For example, if the IRS wants to conduct a full audit of your business records, it might make more sense for someone from the IRS to meet with you and your accountant to go over the extensive records at your place of business or your home if that is where you keep the records. We generally try and prevent our client's from being interviewed where possible and where it is not, we thoroughly prepare our client's in how to successfully cooperate with the auditor while not creating additional exposure by providing a poor interview or one that is interpreted by the auditor as fraudulent. Once the audit is complete, the IRS will reach a determination about what happens next. This could include assessing additional taxes, penalties, and interest, refunding overpaid taxes, or simply issuing the ever allusive no change audit. You will be given a chance to agree or disagree with the findings of the audit. If you disagree with the audit, speak to our dual California licensed Tax Litigation & Appeal Attorneys and CPAs for assistance. Types of IRS Audits The first type of audit is an audit by correspondence. This type of audit happens entirely through the mail. You are sent a letter from the IRS notifying you of the audit and what kind of documentation, if any, is required of you. Once you send any necessary documents or records to the IRS, the audit will commence, and you will be notified again when it is completed. This is more common for less complex audits. Field audits occur when someone working for the IRS comes to you for a face-to-face interview as part of your audit. A field audit might be necessary for a few different reasons. Field audits are often conducted because the records required for the audit cannot be sent by mail. An office audit is like a field audit because you are meeting with an IRS employee face-to-face in a local IRS office. However, you will go to them in a local IRS office instead of the IRS employee coming to you. The reasons for each type of audit will vary from case to case. Speak with our dual California tax audit representation lawyers and CPAs for more information. What to Do If You Get Audited If you get audited, you should begin by speaking with a lawyer as soon as possible especially where you know for a fact your cheated on the returns under audit. Many taxpayers do not realize the full extent of their rights when it comes to being audited. The IRS can be intimidating, and many people believe you have no rights in an audit. However, you can challenge the results of an audit if you believe they are incorrect or unfair. What Triggers a Tax Audit? Pinpointing all the potential triggers of a tax audit is practically impossible. However, there are indeed some tax audit triggers that are more prevalent than others. If you received a notice from the IRS or a state taxing authority that you will be the subject of an audit, it may be for one of the following reasons. Discriminant Information Function The IRS and many states use various types of software to enforce the many provisions of the tax code. The IRS's Discriminant Information Function (DIF) is one such program that is used to identify statistical anomalies in a taxpayer's annual return. The DIF system additionally looks for several types of questionable and or conflicting data, such as a taxpayer claiming a home office deduction and at the same time deducting rent on an office outside the home. Any red flags that are raised by the DIF will be further analyzed by IRS examiners should your return be selected for audit. Taxpayer's Income Level The IRS primarily performs tax audits on those who have an income level of over $500,000 per year. Alternatively, those that earn between $20,000 and $200,000 were rarely under the audit microscope. Additionally, if you earn more than $500,000 and you attempted to wipe out a large portion of your taxable income through deductions, this may be used as an anomaly to support a tax audit. Depositing Large Sums of Money Another red flag that could trigger a tax audit is when a taxpayer frequently makes deposits of at least $10,000 into their accounts. If a taxpayer does not have a reasonable explanation for why they could make cash deposits of over $10,000, the IRS may use this as evidence the taxpayer is engaged in illegal activity. Additionally, if a person tries to evade triggering an audit by purposely depositing funds less than $10,000, such as $9,999, this will also trigger bank and IRS reporting regulations and possibly a criminal tax prosecution for structuring. Self-Employed Workers Schedule C Self-employed businesses are also typical targets of tax audits. One reason for this is that self-employed workers are known to often incorrectly claim deductions to lower their taxable income. For instance, if a taxpayer frequently uses their vehicle to travel for business, they cannot claim that they only used the vehicle for business purposes to get a larger deduction. Operating a Cash Business For taxpayers who operate businesses that accept payment primarily in cash, there is a universal taxing authority concern that the taxpayer will not completely report all the income they earned. For example, if a taxpayer operates a barbershop as their only source of income and their reported expenses do not proportionality match their income, this may trigger a tax audit and possibly a criminal tax investigation and prosecution. The IRS and state taxing authorities want to ensure that a business owner is not pocketing cash payments to evade taxes on their income. Utilizing or Having Signature Authority Over Foreign Financial Accounts The United States is on a very short list of countries that tax its citizens on worldwide income which includes income that is earned in foreign countries. If you own or control one or multiple foreign financial accounts, the IRS wants to know that you are reporting investment, retirement and business income earned offshore and deposited offshore. They are also interested in funds inherited or received by gift and kept offshore. Taxpayers that have over $10,000 in all their combined foreign financial accounts must report this to the IRS on an FBAR. If the IRS believes that a person is evading offshore taxable income and hiding that fact by not disclosing foreign financial accounts and failing to supply other required foreign information reporting like those that are required for foreign business entities, they may open an offshore financial account and evaded taxable offshore income focused eggshell or reverse eggshell audit. The IRS may decide to begin a civil or potentially criminal tax audit for a myriad of other reasons. As a result, you should be sure to have a dually licensed California Tax Attorney and CPA by your side if you are facing a tax audit to protect your liberty and possibly your very liberty. Moreover, federal and state taxing authorities often view the facts and the law in a manner that benefits the taxing authority to your detriment. There is no better qualified set of credentials to take on the taxing authorities in the appeals process and potentially in litigation that a dually licensed Tax Attorney and CPA. Can Foreign Assets, Trusts, and Accounts Trigger an Audit? Few taxpayers should be surprised at the fact that the IRS, Department of Justice, and entirety of the U.S. government is focused on identifying and halting offshore tax evasion. That is, starting just after the Great Recession the U.S. Congress became increasingly interested in closing the "tax gap." Wealthy Americans who used offshore accounts and trusts to conceal income were identified as a main cause of the difference between expected and actual tax revenues. Therefore, while the Report of Foreign Bank Account (FBAR) obligation has existed since the 1970s, stringent enforcement only began circa 2008. Furthermore, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) was passed in 2010 and more than 100 nations have agreed to provide the IRS with their foreign financial data. If you have undisclosed foreign accounts or assets, the risk of an audit is extremely high. In fact, it is likely more of a matter of when the audit will be conducted rather than if the IRS will audit. Offshore penalties are particularly harsh even when conduct is non-willful and present the potential for felony tax evasion charges. Should I Consult My Original Tax Preparer Prior to an Audit? While it may seem tempting for a taxpayer to ask the person who "broke it" to "fix" their taxes, this is not typically a prudent approach. The fact is that anything you disclose to an accountant or tax preparer is not protected. That is, if the tax preparer or CPA is subpoenaed in a subsequent criminal tax proceeding, they will be compelled to reveal any wrongdoing you admitted. Furthermore, accountants and tax preparers who come under scrutiny often blame their clients to protect their license, reputation and livelihood. Instead, taxpayers should seek out tax audit help from a criminal tax defense lawyer as soon as possible. Only the attorney-client privilege and the attorney work-product rule can protect the disclosures you may make in the course of seeking legal advice. Furthermore, a tax attorney can bring in consulting accountants while providing them with derivative attorney-client privilege through a legal device known as a Kovel letter. Last, the focus of an attorney is advocacy while the focus of an accountant is accuracy. Once matters have moved into questions of tax law and tax controversies, the skill set of a lawyer is more appropriate and likely to be effective. Can California FTB, EDD, or BOE Audit Me After the IRS Is Completed? Yet another reason why it is so important to work with a tax lawyer from the outset is the fact that the IRS and State tax agencies like the California Franchise Tax Board, Board of Equalization, and Employment Development Division are all known to share information. If an IRS or California state agency audit discovers problems or other improprieties, it is highly likely that they will share this information with the sister agency. Thus, it is not uncommon for taxpayers to face a federal and subsequent state tax audit and vice-versa. See the full version of this article here: Public Contact: Dave Klasing Esq. M.S.-Tax CPA, [email protected] SOURCE Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, PC SOURCE Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, PC JAKARTA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Three Indonesian soldiers were killed and a soldier was seriously wounded in an ambush by an armed-guerrilla group in the country's easternmost province of Papua, a military officer said on Thursday. The Papua Cendrawasih Military Command's spokesman Aqsha Erlangga said in a statement that on Thursday morning the National Liberation Army of West Papua (TPNBP) fighters ambushed a military outpost in Gome sub-district, Puncak district, on the region's highlands. During the gunfight, the rebels shot dead three military personnel and seriously injured a soldier who is now in a critical condition, Erlangga said. A TPNBP spokesperson confirmed that the attack was carried out by the group. The Indonesian military and police have frequently been engaged in conflicts with the separatists in Papua, causing casualties from both sides. The TPNBP based in the province has been seeking an independent state through guerrilla wars since decades ago, targeting military and police personnel as well as civilians. Cookies Toronto will become the 12 th dispensary in North America operated by Gage and the first Cookies store in Canada. The flagship dispensary, operated by Gage through an exclusive partnership with Cookies, will carry the entire collection of Cookies products featuring hand-selected strains from rapper, entrepreneur and Co-Founder and CEO of Cookies, Berner, and his renowned breeder and cultivation partner, Jai. These hand-selected strains will include GP20, Georgia Pie, Medellin, Lions Mane, Soap and more. In addition to these iconic Cookies strains, the partnership will introduce additional Cookies brands such as Lemonnade, Minntz, Runtz, Grandiflora, Powerzzzup, RTJ and Collins Ave. to Canadian adult-use consumers. "Some of my favorite strains growing up originated from Canada - the { Nade } and { champagne Aka Pelli } were staples," said Berner, Co-Founder and CEO of Cookies. "It feels good to be in position to diversify the current flavor profile on the Canadian market, with a flagship store in Toronto. I think the Canadian connoisseur will be proud to have Cookies, and Noya already has our standards dialed in as far as cultivation goes, and made a powerful introduction for the Cookies brand in Canada. Introducing our customer journey to the Canadian markets is something I've been wanting to do for a long time now, and we hope Canada appreciates the attention our customers get and deserve while shopping at Cookies." "We are super excited for the iconic launch of the first Cookies store in Canada," said Fabian Monaco, CEO of Gage. "Working with Berner and his team to finally introduce Cookies to the Canadian market validates the painstaking processes we've developed at Gage, and we're eager to provide Canadian audiences with our unique and engaging retail platform. Launching the first Cookies store in Canada will bring an unparalleled experience to our growing consumer community while offering direct access to one of the leading brands in the cannabis industry." About Gage Growth Corp. Gage Growth Corp. is innovating and curating the highest quality cannabis experiences possible for cannabis consumers in the state of Michigan and Canada, and bringing internationally renowned brands to market. Through years of progressive industry experience, the firm's founding partners have successfully built and grown operations with federal and state licenses, including cultivation, processing and retail locations. Gage's portfolio includes three city and state cultivation and processing assets, and 19 provisioning centers (dispensaries). For more information about Gage Growth Corp., visit www.gagecannabis.com or www.gageinvestors.com. Instagram: @gagemichigan, @gagecannabisca, @cookies.canada, @cookies.toronto Facebook: @gageusa Twitter: @gagecannabisco About Cookies Cookies, founded in 2010 by Billboard-charting rapper and entrepreneur Berner and Bay Area breeder and cultivator Jai, is the most globally recognized cannabis company in the world. Cookies values the power of the plant and focuses on creating game-changing genetics. The company offers a collection of over 70 proprietary cannabis strains and more than 2,000 products. Cookies also actively works to enrich communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs through advocacy and social equity initiatives. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company opened its first retail store in 2018 in Los Angeles, and has since expanded to over 40 retail locations in 17 markets across 4 countries. Cookies was named one of America's Hottest Brands of 2021 by AdAge; the first cannabis brand to ever receive this accolade. Learn more at cookies.co. Instagram: @cookiesenterprises Facebook: @cookies_global Twitter: @cookiesglobal About NOYA Founded in Hamilton, Ontario in 2014, NOYA Cannabis Inc. is a licensed producer under the Cannabis Act. The company received its cultivation license in 2017, and its sales license in 2018. The company has positioned itself as a premium white label producer and is working with the biggest and best cannabis brands in the world. The company's mission is to distribute and cultivate premium craft cannabis to match the needs of the market. For more information on NOYA Cannabis Inc. visit www.noyagrow.ca. Instagram: @NoyaGrow Twitter: @NoyaGrow Caution Regarding Cannabis Operations in the United States Investors should note that there are significant legal restrictions and regulations that govern the cannabis industry in the United States. While legal in certain states, cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, making it illegal under federal law in the United States to, among other things, cultivate, distribute or possess cannabis. Financial transactions involving proceeds generated by, or intended to promote, cannabis-related business activities in the United States may form the basis for prosecution under applicable U.S. federal money laundering legislation. Explanatory Note Regarding the Company's Operations References in this news release to the Company and its operations and portfolio are inclusive of the operations and assets of certain licensed cannabis operators that operate under the Gage brand pursuant to contractual arrangements with the Company. For additional information, please refer to the Company's long form prospectus dated March 26, 2021 and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward Looking Information This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as, "may", "would", "could", "will", "likely", "expect", "anticipate", "believe, "intend", "plan", "forecast", "project", "estimate", "outlook" and other similar expressions, and include statements with respect to the opening of the Cookies Toronto store. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management in light of management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, as well as other factors relevant in the circumstances, including assumptions in respect of current and future market conditions, the current and future regulatory environment; and the availability of licenses, approvals and permits. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information including, but not limited to, those risks disclosed in the Company's most recently filed management's discussion and analysis and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE Gage Cannabis Co. DALLAS, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Galaxy Vets launched an initiative to revise the language of the veterinary professional oaths. An open letter was published at change.org and addressed to the American Veterinary Medical Association, the National Association of Veterinary Technicians in America, and the other regulatory authorities in the veterinary domain across the world. The letter suggests including a commitment to attend to personal health and mental well-being, similar to an amendment made by the World Medical Association into the Declaration of Geneva, or "The Modern Hippocratic Oath" taken by physicians. Galaxy Vets calls for an update to the veterinary professional oaths Burnout in the veterinary profession is becoming increasingly widespread. A study by VIS and Galaxy Vets revealed a 9.4% increase in burnout levels over the past year. According to the AVMA, 44% of veterinarians have considered leaving the profession, up from 38% last year. Worse, one in six veterinarians has contemplated suicide. Compared with the U.S. population, female veterinarians were 3.5 times as likely to die by suicide, while male veterinarians were 2.1 times as likely. For veterinary technicians (nurses), the statistics are more shocking. Male and female veterinary technicians are also more likely to take their lives compared with the general population 5 and 2.3 times more likely, respectively. Veterinary medical organizations are doing tremendous work, advancing the profession and promoting emotional wellbeing. The veterinary professional oaths should start promoting it as well. Given the current workforce crisis, these oaths cannot be complete without considering the mental health challenges that modern veterinary professionals face, and the potentially adverse effects these factors can have on their health and their ability to provide high-quality care for their patients. Professional oaths are deeply meaningful and solemn vows. They represent a set of ethical standards and guiding principles that indoctrinate new veterinary graduates into the profession, which they then practice daily. A pledge that has such emotional power should reflect the critical importance of an individual's own health, wellbeing, and work-life balance as basic premises to achieve the professional commitments laid out in the oath. "While I strongly believe that burnout and job-stress prevention should be a management-level strategy since they largely stem from external factors the importance of self-care should also stay focused at the individual level. We need to create a strategy to maintain the balance between realizing the altruistic and noble calling of helping animals, and fostering our own needs as human beings," Dr. Ivan Zak, CEO at Galaxy Vets, said. Sign the open letter: https://links.galaxyvets.com/oaths . About Galaxy Vets Galaxy Vets is a vertically integrated veterinary healthcare system in the U.S. With a mission to give veterinary medicine back to veterinarians, Galaxy Vets allocates equity in the organization to its employees veterinarians, specialists, technicians, administrative staff, and relief workforce making them co-owners of and shareholders in the entire network. Driven by the purpose to make a significant impact on the industry, Galaxy Vets designs its culture around burnout prevention and takes a data-driven approach to foster employee satisfaction and work-life balance. Learn more at https://galaxyvets.com/ . Media Contact: Galyna Danylenko +1 443 254 7567 [email protected] SOURCE Galaxy Vets LONDON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Global marketing agency TEAM LEWIS is completing its first year of a new approach to employee-directed philanthropy. Over the last 12 months, the company and its team has channelled $2,000,000 in cash and creative work to charities across the world. Over the last year, TEAM LEWIS Foundation has given every employee the opportunity to nominate a charity to make a cash donation. To date, over 400 employees have participated. On top of the cash donation, the Foundation works with team members and their nominated causes on creative projects. Be it research, design, media relations, filmmaking, copywriting, or anything in between, TEAM LEWIS Foundation has donated countless hours to help causes achieve their goals. For example, short-form documentaries with charities such as Flint Public Art Project, Julian Campbell Foundation and Music Man Project to help bring their story to a wider audience. Samuel Dean, CEO of TEAM LEWIS Foundation said: "We started this because so many local charities are in trouble right now. They need support. They are the beating heart of our community." "The Foundation has given money to causes our team believes in but, what I am most proud of is the creative work we thrown in for free. So many have worked in collaboration with the causes they nominated. When you have energy, creativity, positivity, and passion, you can make a difference. This is core to our company culture." Already, in 2022 the Foundation is working on creative projects with the likes of Elton John Aids Foundation, HeforShe, The Music Man Project, High Fives Foundation, Umbrella Dementia Cafes, Kolibri Hilfe fur krebskranke Kinder, Coeurs en Scene, CoppaFeel, Refugee Cafe and many more. "We may be over the worst of the pandemic, but its impact on our communities remains. Many of the charities we work with are facing uncertain futures. TEAM LEWIS Foundation will continue to fight for the causes and communities our people cherish. We will support more causes in 2022 and we will build on what we have done in 2021," Dean added. For more information on the TEAM LEWIS Foundation please read our latest Impact Report: https://www.teamlewis.com/Impact2021 About TEAM LEWIS TEAM LEWIS is a global marketing agency built to help and inspire brands to grow. It provides a full spectrum of marketing, communications and digital services to deliver tangible business impact for clients. The company has over 650 staff across 24 offices throughout Asia, Europe and North America. Visit: www.teamlewis.com/. SOURCE TEAM LEWIS AMSTERDAM and NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Software Improvement Group (SIG), an Amsterdam-based technology and IT services institute, recorded exceptional growth of 50% for 2021. The company's first acquisition of EXIN, a leading IT examination platform, and increased demand for SIG independent software analysis solutions, drove record growth for 2021. As a result of the continuous increasing dependence of society on software, combined with the global cyber threats, SIG's client base continues to grow substantially, securing clients from the Asian Pacific region, South America and North America. The value of Sigrid, SIG's software assurance platform, is well reflected in the long-term relationships with many blue-chip customers in virtually any industry and on all continents. Essential to SIG's organic growth is an increase in the number of long-term contracts with both new and existing clients. Now active in over 90 countries, SIG is the globally leading institute for a fact-based and independent view on IT. Luc Brandts, CEO of SIG, said: "We're very happy to see this growth; it's even more important to see how our customers value our Software-with-Service concept, a term we coined. Our customer's success in building sustainable, future-proof software, using our fact-based measurements, certifications and recommendations is what matters most." Brandts added, "In 2022, we will continue our growth strategy, focusing on both organic growth, partnerships, and targeted acquisitions. We're blessed with a strong financial position, a sustainable business, and a solid shareholders base." Chief Commercial Officer, Clarinda Dobbelaar said of SIG's record growth: "Our clients and partners highly value our independent position in the market. Our software and architecture analyses are data-driven, independent, and designed to help our clients to build sustainable, healthy software. We have nothing to lose or gain with our conclusions other than our reputation. Integrity is deeply rooted in our company culture; we want to help create software society can rely on." The same is true for the certification of IT professionals. Michiel Buysing Damste, responsible for SIG's EXIN business, states: "At EXIN, we believe that professional excellence boosts organizational performance. In 2021 we worked with organizations and professionals to improve key competencies that accelerate digital transformations. With our excellent client services we help partners to make the difference. The acquisition by SIG has proven to be a great step forward, fueling the further expansion of our global footprint."" SIG provides an independent view on the quality of People, Processes and Technology. Where 2021 has proven to be a very strong year, we are exceedingly confident that in 2022 SIG will surpass these achievements in continuing to build that healthier digital world. About SIG Software Improvement Group (SIG) helps organizations trust the technology they depend on. We combine our intelligent technology with our human expertise to dig deep into the build quality of enterprise software and architecture measuring, monitoring, and benchmarking it against the world's largest software analysis database. The SIG software analysis laboratory is the only one in the world accredited according to ISO/IEC 17025 for software quality analysis. Founded in 2000, SIG is headquartered in Amsterdam, with offices in New York, Copenhagen, Antwerp and Frankfurt. Learn more: www.softwareimprovementgroup.com SOURCE Software Improvement Group (SIG) Download the Sample Report Now! Key Polyethylene Sourcing and Procurement Report Highlights: Market growth 2021-2025: USD 39.57 Billion Growth momentum & CAGR: Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.27% Top Pricing Models: Volume-based pricing, and Spot pricing Key consumer countries: North America , Europe , and APAC Supplier Selection Criteria: Technical specifications, Operational requirements, Acceptance criteria, and Evaluation criteria Top Suppliers: Reliance Industries Ltd., LOTTE Chemical Corp., and Huntsman Corp Know More About This Market: Request for a Free Sample Report Now! Insights into Suitable Supplier Selection Criteria, Supplier Evaluation Metrics, and SLA that Buyers Should Consider: The Polyethylene procurement market report provides a detailed analysis into various supplier selection criteria, RFX questions, supplier evaluation metrics, and the service level agreements that the buyers should consider adopting to achieve significant cost savings, streamline the procurement process, and reduce category TCO while sourcing for Polyethylene requirements. For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, www.spendedge.com/report/polyethylene-market-procurement-research-report Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Polyethylene Market Growth: The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers. Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. Identify favorable opportunities in Polyethylene TCO (total cost of ownership). Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes. Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities. To know more about various other market drivers, trends and challenges. Download our free sample report Smart Procurement Starts Here SpendEdge's procurement intelligence platform is the go-to tool for companies looking to access latest procurement research insights and supplier data on an easy to use platform. STARTER PACK Get 6 Full Reports, View 800+ report samples, Pre-order upcoming reports, Pre-order upcoming reports. Subscribe Now for FREE Want to know about various other Subscription packs? Click here Get the Details That You Are Looking for: Buy our detailed market analysis report to uncover: Changing Polyethylene market landscape with yearly forecast till 2025. Analyze the Polyethylene market's competitive and vendor landscape. How much marketing budget to set aside for geographical Polyethylene market expansion? Understanding the most adopted procurement strategies by buyers across industries. Download the FREE sample Report Now! Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. Contacts SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us SOURCE SpendEdge Receive FREE Sample Report in Minutes! Key Highlights Offered in the Report: Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices. Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation of the pros and cons of prevalent pricing models. Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers. Fetch actionable market insights on post COVID-19 impact on each product and service segments. Download Now! Some of the Top Smart Electric Meter suppliers listed in this report: This Smart Electric Meter procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies. ABB Ltd Siemens AG Toshiba Corp. Fetch actionable market insights on post COVID-19 impact on each product and service segments: www.spendedge.com/report/smart-electric-meter-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report Top Selling Report: 1. Asset Recovery Services - Forecast and Analysis: The asset recovery services will grow at a CAGR of 9.49% during 2021-2025. Asia Asset Recovery Pte Ltd., TES-Amm Singapore Pte Ltd., and Iron Mountain Inc. are among the prominent suppliers in asset recovery services market. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report. 2. Vulnerability Management Sourcing and Procurement Report: Vulnerability Management Procurement Market, prices will increase by 4%-6% during the forecast period and suppliers will have a Moderate bargaining power in this market. Click the above link to download the free sample of this report. 3. 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SpendEdge's SUBSCRIPTION platform Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. Contacts: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us SOURCE SpendEdge NEW DELHI, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The study undertaken by Astute Analytica foresees a tremendous growth in revenue of the Global Spout Pouch Market from US$ 21,784.2 Mn in 2021 to US$ 40,266.7 Mn by 2030, registering a CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period. In terms of volume, the market was valued at 1,56,448 Mn units in 2021 and is projecting a CAGR of 6.9% during the forecast period. The growth in revenue is attributed to flexible packaging options offered by spout pouches to pack liquid, non-liquid, powdered or granular products. Due to the flexible packaging solutions in spout pouches, products take up less space during dispensing, thereby, eliminating the empty air occupied by a rigid package. However, plastic packaging for spout pouches is hazardous to environment as they lead to increased waste, landfills, marine pollution leading to death of aquatic animals. Request a Sample Report of Global Spout Pouch Market: https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/spout-pouch-market Beverages holds the maximum share in product segment in 2021 In product segment of spout pouch market, beverages hold the maximum market share of 40.5% in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.55% during the forecast period 2022-2030. Spout pouches are ideal for liquid and fluid packaging because they provide convenient and mess-free transportation of liquid products. These are the most dependable sources for liquids such as soft drinks, energy drinks, sauces, liquid soaps, hand wash, pharmaceutical items, and so on. Moreover, spouted stand up pouches are an excellent way to conserve the environment while also saving money on raw materials because they use less plastic than bulky jars and bottles of plastic and glass. Cap component has the highest CAGR during the forecast period In 2021, cap alone is holding 44% of market share in component segment of spout pouch market. The cap component is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.6% during 2022-2030. The increased need for convenience as well as concerns about product safety and security have contributed to this predominance. The caps allow the end-user to re-cap the product, because of which they are being utilized extensively. The fitment of the cap closure extends the shelf life of spouted pouch products while preserving their freshness. It also gives products a sleek, easy-to-open solution. In terms of volume, cap component is expected to rise from 65,393 Mn units in 2021 to 12,7831 Mn units by 2030. Pouches with a capacity of less than 200 ml dominated the market in 2021 In 2021, pouches with a capacity of less than 200 ml dominated the market, with a revenue of US$ 9,232.9 Mn. These little packages are convenient to carry and can be used on the go. Furthermore, small spout pouches use less energy to manufacture and can transport a greater number of units per truck, which is good for the environment. However, spout pouches with a capacity of 200-500 ml have the fastest CAGR during the forecast period. Aluminum spout pouches are expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period In terms of spout pouch material, both plastic and aluminum account for more than half of the market in 2021, with aluminum expected to increase at the highest compound annual growth rate over the projection period. Aluminum spout pouches are anti-leaking and provide an excellent moisture barrier. These provide a great barrier against light rays and external flavors, allowing products to have a longer shelf life. By closure type, screw is dominating the Global Spout Pouch Market Based on closure type, screw is dominating the spout pouch market in 2021. The screw opening of the spout on the upright pouches makes screwing open and then closing the pouch caps extremely user pleasant. In terms of volume, the screw closure type is projected to rise almost double by 2030. Food & Beverage industry holds the maximum share of end user segment Food & beverages industry is holding the maximum share of end user segment for spout pouch market, owing to the demand for compact and lightweight packaging solutions. They are generally used for lightweight products such as coffee, tea, sauces, and candies. Spout bags are simple to fill and empty, and customers can use up to 99.5 % of the contents, reducing waste and maximizing the product's potential. Request Customized Copy of Report @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/ask-for-customization/spout-pouch-market Asia Pacific anticipated to grow at the fastest CAGR during 2022-2030 The Asia Pacific market was valued at US$ 5,862.5 Mn in 2021 and is projected to expected to grow at the fastest CAGR of 8.1% from 2022 to 2030. The rising demand for stand-up pouches from highly populous nations such as India and China can be ascribed to the market's expansion in the Asia Pacific, as this packaging ensures cost savings and aesthetic appeal. Furthermore, the growing use of stand-up pouches in the food & beverage, healthcare, cosmetics & toiletries, oil & lubricants, and agricultural products industries is expected to propel the stand-up pouch market in Asia Pacific. Competitive Insight Dow combines one of the broadest technology sets in the industry with asset integration, focused innovation, and global scale to achieve profitable growth and become the most innovative, customer centric, inclusive, and sustainable materials science company. Amcor Ltd. is a global packaging company, focused in developing and producing responsible packaging for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical, home and personal-care, and other products. Berry Plastic Corporation is involved in innovative packaging and engineered products to make life better for people and the planet. Smurfit Kappa Group provides best packaging solutions involved in producing corrugated packaging, containerboard and 'bag in box', and the company is the only Pan-American producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging. Sealed Air Corporation is a US based company that provides packaging materials, systems, equipment, and services. Color Flex is a privately held company based in India . The company manufactures a variety of packaging material. Segmentation Overview The Global Spout Pouch Market is segmented based on product, component, pouch size, material, closure type, end user, and region. These segments are further sub-divided to get a holist picture of the market. Following are the different segments of the Global Spout Pouch Market: - By Product Segment Beverages Syrups Energy Drinks Cleaning Solutions Oils Liquid soaps Baby food Others By Component Segment Cap Straw Film Others By Pouch Size Segment Less Than 200 ML 200 To 500 ML 500 To 1000 ML More Than 1000 ML By Material Segment Plastic Aluminium Paper Others By Closure Type Segment Screw Flip Top Corner-mounted spouts Top-mounted spouts Push-up drink caps By End user Segment Food and beverages Cosmetics and personal Care Automotive Pharmaceutical Paints Soaps and detergents Others By Region North America The U.S. Canada Mexico Europe Western Europe The UK Germany France Italy Spain Rest of Western Europe Eastern Europe Poland Russia Rest of Eastern Europe Asia Pacific China India Japan South Korea Australia & New Zealand & Rest of APAC Middle East & Africa (MEA) UAE Saudi Arabia South Africa Rest of MEA South America Argentina Brazil Rest of South America Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/spout-pouch-market For Additional Information OR Media Enquiry, Please Mail Us At: [email protected] About Astute Analytica Astute Analytica is a global analytics and advisory company which has built a solid reputation in a short period, thanks to the tangible outcomes we have delivered to our clients. We pride ourselves in generating unparalleled, in depth and uncannily accurate estimates and projections for our very demanding clients spread across different verticals. We have a long list of satisfied and repeat clients from a wide spectrum including technology, healthcare, chemicals, semiconductors, FMCG, and many more. These happy customers come to us from all across the Globe. They are able to make well calibrated decisions and leverage highly lucrative opportunities while surmounting the fierce challenges all because we analyze for them the complex business environment, segment wise existing and emerging possibilities, technology formations, growth estimates, and even the strategic choices available. In short, a complete package. All this is possible because we have a highly qualified, competent, and experienced team of professionals comprising of business analysts, economists, consultants, and technology experts. In our list of priorities, you-our patron-come at the top. You can be sure of best cost-effective, value-added package from us, should you decide to engage with us. Contact us: Aamir Beg BSI Business Park, H-15,Sector-63, Noida- 201301- India Phone: +1-888 429 6757 (US Toll Free); +91-0120- 4251598 (Rest of the World) Email: [email protected] Website: www.astuteanalytica.com Follow US: LinkedIn | Twitter SOURCE Astute Analytica NACAULPAN DE JUAREZ, Mexico, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo Kaltex, S.A. de C.V. (" Grupo Kaltex " or the " Company ") announced today that it has commenced a cash tender offer (the " Tender Offer ") for any and all of the outstanding U.S.$220,000,000 aggregate principal amount of its 8.875% Senior Notes due 2022 (the " Notes "). In conjunction with the Tender Offer, Grupo Kaltex is also soliciting consents (the " Consent Solicitation ") from the holders of the Notes for the adoption of proposed amendments (the " Proposed Amendments ") to the indenture governing the Notes (the " Indenture ") as described below. The Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation are being made pursuant to an Offer to Purchase and Consent Solicitation Statement, dated January 26, 2022 (as amended or supplemented from time to time, the " Offer to Purchase "). Certain information regarding the Notes and the terms of the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation is summarized in the table below. Description of Notes CUSIP/ISIN Outstanding Principal Amount of Notes Tender Offer Consideration(1) + Early Tender Payment(1) = Total Consideration(1)(2) 8.875% Senior Notes due 2022 40054FAA5/ US40054FAA57 P4953VAJ2/ USP4953VAJ28 U.S.$220,000,000 U.S.$970.00 U.S.$30.00 U.S.$1,000.00 ______________________ (1) Per U.S.$1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered (and not withdrawn) (2) Inclusive of Early Tender Payment (as defined below) The deadline for holders to validly tender Notes and deliver consents and be eligible to receive payment of the Total Consideration (as defined below), which includes the Early Tender Payment, will be 5:00 p.m. (New York City time), on February 8, 2022, unless extended or earlier terminated by the Company (such date and time, as the same may be modified, the " Early Tender Payment Deadline "). The Tender Offer will expire at 11:59 p.m. (New York City time), on February 23, 2022, unless extended or earlier terminated by the Company (such date and time, as the same may be modified, the " Expiration Time "). Notes tendered may be withdrawn and consents for the Proposed Amendments delivered may be revoked at any time prior to 5:00 p.m. (New York City time) on February 8, 2022 (the " Withdrawal Deadline "), but not thereafter, unless required by applicable law. The total consideration payable to holders for each U.S.$1,000 principal amount of Notes validly tendered and purchased pursuant to the Tender Offer will be U.S.$1,000.00 (the " Total Consideration "). The Total Consideration includes an early tender payment of U.S.$30.00 per U.S.$1,000 principal amount of Notes (the " Early Tender Payment ") payable only to holders who validly tender (and do not withdraw) their Notes at or prior to the Early Tender Payment Deadline. Holders who validly tender (and do not withdraw) their Notes after the Early Tender Payment Deadline but at or prior to the Expiration Time will be eligible to receive U.S.$970.00 per U.S.$1,000 principal amount of Notes (the " Tender Offer Consideration "), which amount will be equal to the Total Consideration less the Early Tender Payment. In addition, the Company will pay accrued and unpaid interest on the principal amount of Notes accepted for purchase from the most recent interest payment date on the Notes to, but not including, the applicable settlement date for the Notes accepted for purchase (" Accrued Interest "). Additionally, the company will pay additional amounts deemed interest in respect of interest payments (including gains derived from the sale of the Notes in the Tender Offer that are treated as interest and the applicable Accrued Interest), if any (the "Additional Interest") so that the amount received by Holders after withholding tax will be equal to the amount that would have been due had there been no withholding tax. Following the Early Tender Payment Deadline, the Company may, but is not required to, accept for purchase the Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Early Tender Payment Deadline, provided that all conditions, including the financing condition (as described below) have been satisfied or waived by the Company. Assuming such acceptance, payment in cash of an amount equal to the Total Consideration, plus Accrued Interest, and Additional Interest thereon, for such accepted Notes will be made within three business days after the Early Tender Payment Deadline (the " Early Settlement Date "), which is currently expected to be February 11, 2022, or as promptly as practicable thereafter. Assuming acceptance by the Company of Notes tendered pursuant to the Tender Offer, on the Final Settlement Date (as defined below), the Company will settle any Notes validly tendered (and not validly withdrawn) at or prior to the Expiration Time and accepted for purchase not previously settled on the Early Settlement Date. Payment in cash of an amount equal to the Tender Offer Consideration, plus Accrued Interest, and Additional Interest thereon, for such accepted Notes will be within two business days following the Expiration Time (the " Final Settlement Date "), which is currently expected to be February 25, 2022, or as promptly as practicable thereafter. The Proposed Amendments would, among other things, (i) eliminate substantially all of the restrictive covenants, as well as various events of default and related provisions contained in the Indenture and (ii) release the collateral securing the Notes under the Indenture as described in the Offer to Purchase. Holders who tender Notes must also consent to the Proposed Amendments to the Indenture. Holders of Notes may not deliver consents to the Proposed Amendments without validly tendering the Notes in the Tender Offer and may not revoke their consents without withdrawing the previously tendered Notes to which they relate. Adoption of the Proposed Amendments described in clause (i) of the preceding paragraph requires the delivery of consents by holders of Notes of a majority of the aggregate outstanding principal amount of Notes (not including any Notes which are owned by the Company or any of its affiliates) (the " Requisite Majority Consent "), and adoption of the Proposed Amendments described in clause (ii) of the preceding paragraph requires the delivery of consents by holders of Notes of at least 75% of the aggregate outstanding principal amount of the Notes (not including any Notes which are owned by the Company or any of its affiliates) (the " Requisite 75% Consent "). If the Company receives the Requisite Majority Consent, the Company, the note guarantors and the trustee under the Indenture will promptly execute a supplemental indenture (the "Supplemental Indenture") containing the corresponding Proposed Amendments to the Indenture, as described in more detail in the Offer to Purchase. If the Company receives the Requisite 75% Consent, the Company, the note guarantors, the trustee and the collateral agent under the Indenture will promptly execute such documentation as may be necessary to release the collateral securing the Notes under the Indenture, as described in more detail in the Offer to Purchase. The Company's obligation to accept for purchase, and to pay for, Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the Tender Offer is conditioned upon the satisfaction or, when applicable, waiver of certain conditions, which are more fully described in the Offer to Purchase, including, among others, (i) the receipt by the Company of the Requisite Majority Consent, (ii) the execution of the Supplemental Indenture, and (iii) the consummation of an offering by the Company (the " New Notes Offering ") of new senior secured notes (the " New Notes ") and/or the execution by the Company of a Mexican peso denominated secured loan facility (the " Concurrent Loan Facility " and together with the New Notes Offering, the " Concurrent Financing Transactions") at or prior to the earlier of the Early Settlement Date or the Final Settlement Date on terms satisfactory to the Company. The New Notes Offering will be exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the " Securities Act "), and therefore will only be offered and sold to "qualified institutional buyers" (QIBs) in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act and outside the United States to non-U.S. persons in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act. The New Notes Offering is not conditioned on the successful consummation of the Tender Offer. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Concurrent Financing Transactions to pay the consideration payable pursuant to the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation and the related fees and expenses. To the extent the net proceeds from the Concurrent Financing Transactions are not sufficient, Grupo Kaltex may use available cash on hand and/or borrowings under available lines of credit. Following payment for the Notes accepted pursuant to the terms of the Tender Offer, the Company does not currently plan to use the net proceeds from the Concurrent Financing Transactions to redeem any of the Notes that remain outstanding; however, the Company may, in its sole discretion, at any time or from time to time following the settlement of the Tender Offer and Consent Solicitation, purchase any Notes that are not tendered and accepted in the Tender Offer through open market purchases or otherwise. In no event will the information contained in the Offer to Purchase or this press release regarding the New Notes Offering constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any New Notes. Subject to applicable law, the Company reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (i) extend, terminate or withdraw the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation at any time or (ii) otherwise amend the Tender Offer and/or the Consent Solicitation in any respect at any time and from time to time. The Company further reserves the right, in its sole discretion, not to accept any tenders of Notes with respect to the Notes. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is acting as dealer manager for the Tender Offer and as solicitation agent for the Consent Solicitation and can be contacted at the telephone numbers set forth on the back cover page of Offer to Purchase with questions regarding the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation. Copies of the Offer to Purchase are available to holders of Notes from D.F. King & Co., Inc., the information agent and the tender agent for the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation. To contact the information agent and tender agent, banks and brokers may call (212) 269-5550, and others may call U.S. toll-free: (800) 848-3405 or email [email protected]. Additional contact information is set forth below. D.F. KING & CO., INC. By Hand, Overnight Delivery or Mail (Registered or Certified Mail Recommended): 48 Wall Street New York, NY 10005 By Facsimile: (For Eligible Institutions only): (212) 709-3328 Attn: Michael Horthman Confirmation by Telephone: (212) 232-3233 Neither the Offer to Purchase nor any related documents have been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, nor have any such documents been filed with or reviewed by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority of any country. No authority has passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Offer to Purchase or any related documents, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary. The Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation are being made solely on the terms and conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase. Under no circumstances shall this press release constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes or any other securities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries. The Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation are not being made to, nor will the Company accept tenders of Notes or deliveries of consents from, holders in any jurisdiction in which the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation or the acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities of blue sky laws of such jurisdiction. This press release also is not a solicitation of consents to the Proposed Amendments to the Indenture. No recommendation is made as to whether holders should tender their Notes or deliver their consents with respect to the Notes. Holders should carefully read the Offer to Purchase because it contains important information, including the terms and conditions of the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation. About Grupo Kaltex Grupo Kaltex is a sociedad anonima de capital variable, a variable capital corporation organized under the laws of Mexico. Grupo Kaltex is engaged in the design, manufacturing and commercialization of yarn, fabric, apparel and home products and is one of the largest textile companies in Mexico and in the Americas and among the largest textiles in the world, measured by volume. The Company's corporate offices are located at Avenida Ingenieros Militares No. 2, Colonia Industrial Naucalpan, Naucalpan de Juarez, Estado de Mexico C.P. 53370, Mexico. Important Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains statements that constitute estimates and forward-looking statements. These statements appear in a number of places in this press release and include statements regarding the Company's intent, belief or current expectations, and those of the Company's officers, with respect to (among other things) the Company's financial condition. The Company's estimates and forward-looking statements are based mainly on current expectations and estimates of future events and trends, which affect, or may affect, the Company's business and results of operations. Although the Company believes that these estimates and forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, they are subject to several risks and uncertainties and are based on information currently available to the Company. The words "believe," "may," "may have," "would," "estimate," "continues," "anticipates," "intends," "hopes," and similar words are intended to identify estimates and forward-looking statements. Estimates and forward-looking statements refer only to the date when they were made, and neither Grupo Kaltex, the dealer manager and solicitation agent, the information agent and tender agent or any affiliate of any of them undertakes any obligation to update or review any estimate or forward-looking statement due to new information, future events or any other factors. Estimates and forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and do not guarantee future performance, as actual results or developments may be substantially different from the expectations described in the forward-looking statements. In light of the risks and uncertainties described above, the events referred to in the estimates and forward-looking statements included in this press release may or may not occur, and the Company's business performance and results of operation may differ materially from those expressed in its estimates and forward-looking statements, due to factors that include but are not limited to those mentioned above. The Company cautions you not to place undue reliance on any estimates or forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. DISCLAIMER This press release must be read in conjunction with the Offer to Purchase. This announcement and the Offer to Purchase contain important information which must be read carefully before any decision is made with respect to the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation. If any holder of Notes is in any doubt as to the action it should take, it is recommended to seek its own legal, tax, accounting and financial advice, including as to any tax consequences, immediately from its stockbroker, bank manager, attorney, accountant or other independent financial or legal adviser. Any individual or company whose Notes are held on its behalf by a broker, dealer, bank, custodian, trust company or other nominee or intermediary must contact such entity if it wishes to participate in the Tender Offer and the Consent Solicitation. None of Grupo Kaltex, the dealer manager and solicitation agent, the information agent and tender agent and any person who controls, or is a director, officer, employee or agent of such persons, or any affiliate of such persons, makes any recommendation as to whether holders of Notes should participate in the Tender Offer and Consent Solicitation. SOURCE Grupo Kaltex, S.A. de C.V. Lonza to manufacture drug substance for clinical supply of HaemaLogiX's lead multiple myeloma drug candidate, KappaMab, at its new state-of-the-art facility in Guangzhou (CN) (CN) HaemaLogiX will leverage Lonza's regulatory expertise, global manufacturing footprint, and extensive experience in manufacturing monoclonal antibodies BASEL, Switzerland and SYDNEY, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- HaemaLogiX Ltd (HaemaLogiX), the clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel monoclonal antibody therapies for multiple myeloma, and Lonza, a global development and manufacturing partner to the pharma, biotech and nutrition industries, have entered into an agreement to manufacture the next clinical batch (cGMP) of HaemaLogiX's lead multiple myeloma drug candidate, KappaMab. KappaMab is a monoclonal antibody which binds to a cell surface target called kappa myeloma antigen (KMA) that is only found on myeloma cancer cells and not on normal plasma cells. Specific binding of KappaMab to the myeloma cell enables the patient's immune system to recognize the cell as abnormal, triggering the natural response to attack and kill the myeloma cell. As a result, only the cancer cells are depleted and normal healthy plasma cells are spared from the patient's immune system attack. To date, KappaMab has been tested in three clinical trials where it showed a good safety profile with no dose-limiting toxicities following single and multiple doses[1],[2],[3]. In a recent phase 2b clinical trial, KappaMab synergized with the immune modulator drug (IMiD) lenalidomide in combination with dexamethasone to produce more disease responses and improved quality of response versus case-matched lenalidomide plus dexamethasone alone in patients with relapsed, refractory multiple myeloma[2]. Bryce Carmine, Chairman and CEO, HaemaLogiX, commented: "Multiple myeloma is the second most common haematological cancer worldwide, with an estimated 32,000 new cases and over 12,500 deaths annually in the US alone (2019), and a European incidence roughly equivalent. The incurable nature of multiple myeloma makes it necessary to expand treatment options available to patients. We look forward to taking KappaMab back into the clinic alongside standard of care, and this Lonza agreement is an important step toward providing the drug product for our upcoming trial." According to the terms of the agreement, Lonza will manufacture drug substance of KappaMab for clinical supply at Lonza's new state-of-the-art cGMP mammalian manufacturing facility in Guangzhou (CN), which houses two 1,000-liter and two 2,000-liter single-use bioreactors. HaemaLogiX will leverage Lonza's regulatory expertise, global manufacturing footprint, and extensive experience in manufacturing monoclonal antibodies. Jeetendra Vaghjiani, Executive Director, Clinical Development & Strategic Marketing, Lonza, commented: "We are looking forward to building a collaboration with HaemaLogiX to help advance their multiple myeloma candidate towards commercial launch. We will leverage our unique flexible offering and state-of-the-art expertise in manufacturing monoclonal antibodies at our site in Guangzhou (CN)." The target completion date for the drug product is Q4 2022. The drug product will then be used in Australian-based clinical trials, currently scheduled to begin in late 2022. About Lonza Lonza is the preferred global partner to the pharmaceutical, biotech and nutrition markets. We work to enable a healthier world by supporting our customers to deliver new and innovative medicines that help treat a wide range of diseases. We achieve this by combining technological insight with world-class manufacturing, scientific expertise and process excellence. Our unparalleled breadth of offerings enables our customers to commercialize their discoveries and innovations in the healthcare sector. Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, today, Lonza operates across five continents. With approximately 15,000 full-time employees, we comprise high-performing teams and individual talent that make a meaningful difference to our own business, as well as to the communities in which we operate. The company generated sales of CHF 2.5 billion with a CORE EBITDA of CHF 847 million in H1 2021. Find out more at www.lonza.com. Follow @Lonza on LinkedIn Follow @LonzaGroup on Twitter About HaemaLogiX Ltd - www.haemalogix.com: Formed in 2014, HaemaLogiX is a public unlisted biotech company researching antibody therapies for multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is a haematological (blood) cancer of plasma cells (B cells) that can cause focused damage to a patient's bone marrow. Multiple myeloma is considered treatable but generally incurable. The HaemaLogiX team has a wide range and depth of experience in antibody research, nonclinical & clinical development, manufacturing and commercialisation. The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) members are internationally recognised experts in monoclonal antibody therapies and haematology. Our current research and clinical trial partners are global leaders in Multiple Myeloma and AL Amyloidosis therapy. HaemaLogiX is located in Sydney, Australia. Lonza Contact Details Victoria Morgan Head of External Communications Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 2283 [email protected] Dr. Martina Ribar Hestericova Trade Media Lead Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 8982 [email protected] Dirk Oehlers Investor Relations Lonza Group Ltd Tel +41 61 316 8540 [email protected] HaemaLogiX Ltd Contact Details Bryce Carmine CEO HaemaLogiX Ltd Tel +61 (0) 481 344 140 [email protected] Jane Lowe IR Department HaemaLogiX Ltd Tel +61 (0) 411 117 774 [email protected] Additional Information and Disclaimer Lonza Group Ltd has its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland, and is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It has a secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited ("SGX-ST"). Lonza Group Ltd is not subject to the SGX-ST's continuing listing requirements but remains subject to Rules 217 and 751 of the SGX-ST Listing Manual. Certain matters discussed in this news release may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations and estimates of Lonza Group Ltd, although Lonza Group Ltd can give no assurance that these expectations and estimates will be achieved. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainty and are qualified in their entirety. The actual results may differ materially in the future from the forward-looking statements included in this news release due to various factors. Furthermore, except as otherwise required by law, Lonza Group Ltd disclaims any intention or obligation to update the statements contained in this news release. [1] Spencer A, Walker P, Asvadi P, et al. A preliminary study of the anti- myeloma antigen monoclonal antibody KappaMab (MDX-1097) in pretreated patients with -restricted multiple myeloma. Blood Cancer J. 2019; 9(8):58. [2] Kalff A, Shortt J, Yuen F, et al. A Sequential Cohort Study Comparing Kappamab Alone to Kappamab, Lenalidomide and Low Dose Dexamethasone in Kappa-Restricted Relapsed Refractory Multiple Myeloma (AMaRC 01-16). Blood. 2019; 134(Supplement_1): 3144-3144. [3] Spencer A, Augustson B, Mollee P, Copeman M, Asvadi P, Dunn R. Phase 2a, open-label, multi-dose study of the anti-kappa monoclonal antibody, MDX-1097, in relapsed kappa-chain restricted multiple myeloma with stable measurable disease. The European Hematology Association (EHA). Stockholm, Sweden; 2013. SOURCE HaemaLogix Ltd Intracranial pressure monitoring devices are used for the monitoring of increased level of intracranial pressure or the pressure of cerebrospinal fluid. Such devices are widely used in case of certain diseases such as subarachnoid hemorrhage, hydrocephalus, and malignant cerebral infarction (MCI) for providing proper treatment based on the testing. There has been various technological advancements in recent times such as development of wireless ICP monitoring devices. Furthermore, innovation and approval for home-based ICP monitoring devices for patients suffering from hydrocephalus has been rising For instance, the Raumed Home ICP device manufactured by Raumedic in 2019, also adds to the convenience of use of these products from the comfort of homes. The device allows the storing of certain activities on the handheld device, such as eating, sleeping, nausea, etc., with just the touch of a button. This provides better insights for therapy by neurosurgeons, which results in better treatment. Request for sample copy of report: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/5450 Key Takeaways from Market Study Intracranial pressure monitoring devices used for measuring elevated intracranial pressure in the brain held more than 85% market share in 2020. Intraventricular route of intervention held approximately 50% of the global market share in 2020. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the most commonly seen indication for which ICP monitoring devices are used. TBI held a market share of around 37% in 2020. Hospitals are preferred more by patients as they use a variety of techniques to monitor ICP- clinical examination, do brain imaging, and use ICP monitors, with overall easy reimbursement procedures. Hospitals accounted for nearly one-fourth of the global market share in 2020. In 2020, North America dominated the ICP monitoring devices market, accounting for more than 55% of global market share. Know the methodology of report: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/methodology/5450 "Increased cases of neurological diseases and advancements in diagnostics will propel demand for ICP monitoring devices over the coming years," says an analyst of Persistence Market Research. Market Competition Key manufacturers of ICP)monitoring devices are focusing on strategic partnerships with institutes and hospitals for the marketing of their products, getting approvals from various regulatory authorities globally, and expanding their portfolios for gaining market position. In October 2021 , IRRAS collaborated with Aarhus University Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark , one of the world's leading medical institutions. This collaboration helped in the business of IRRAflow. , IRRAS collaborated with Aarhus University Hospital in , one of the world's leading medical institutions. This collaboration helped in the business of IRRAflow. Again, in December 2021 , the company collaborated with the Lovell Government Services to sell IRRAflow and Hummingbird ICP product lines to Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and other U.S. government and military medical facilities. Get full access of report: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/5450 What Does the Report Cover? Persistence Market Research offers a unique perspective and actionable insights on the intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring market in its latest study, presenting historical demand assessment of 2016 2020 and projections for 2021 2031. The research study is based on product (ICP monitoring products and accessories), route of intervention (intraventricular, subdural, epidural, parenchymal, and subarachnoid), indication (traumatic brain injury, intracerebral haemorrhage, subarachnoid haemorrhage, hydrocephalus, malignant cerebral infarction (MCI), cerebral edema, CNS infections, and others), and end user (hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, trauma centers, and neurosurgery centers), across seven key regions of the world. Related Reports: About Persistence Market Research: Persistence Market Research (PMR), as a 3rd-party research organization, does operate through an exclusive amalgamation of market research and data analytics for helping businesses ride high, irrespective of the turbulence faced on the account of financial/natural crunches. Overview: Persistence Market Research is always way ahead of its time. In other words, it tables market solutions by stepping into the companies'/clients' shoes much before they themselves have a sneak pick into the market. The pro-active approach followed by experts at Persistence Market Research helps companies/clients lay their hands on techno-commercial insights beforehand, so that the subsequent course of action could be simplified on their part. Contact Rajendra Singh Persistence Market Research U.S. Sales Office: 305 Broadway, 7th Floor New York City, NY 10007 +1-646-568-7751 United States USA - Canada Toll-Free: 800-961-0353 Email: [email protected] Visit Our Website: https://www.persistencemarketresearch.com SOURCE Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd. COLOMBO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka received applications for investments in tourism amounting to over 1 billion U.S. dollars in the last two years despite challenges from COVID-19, Minister of Tourism Prasanna Ranatunga has said. The government has received 99 proposals for investment in tourism over the last two years, and 59 projects valued at around 300 million U.S. dollars in total have been approved, said Ranatunga, quoted by the state-owned Daily News on Thursday. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), which is the apex regulatory body of the tourism sector, signed memorandums of understanding with eight government institutions on Wednesday in order to speed up the investment approval process. According to Ranatunga, the tourism industry is considered high on the agenda to usher economic recovery and growth in the post-COVID-19 era optimism. The tourism industry is one of Sri Lanka's biggest foreign currency earners, bringing in 3.6 billion U.S. dollars and accounting for 4.3 percent of gross domestic products (GDP) in 2019. SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Media Cause , the mission-driven marketing agency focused on helping nonprofit organizations grow and accelerate their missions, today announced that it is working with the It Gets Better Project , a nonprofit organization with a mission to uplift, empower and connect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth around the globe, to build awareness and activate critical audiences for its "50 States. 50 Grants. 5,000 Voices." campaign. This campaign encourages the submission of ideas for projects designed to promote greater inclusion of LGBTQ+ students, with the opportunity to secure grants of up to $10,000. "The goal of our campaign is to drive the conception and completion of projects that will create and inspire change for LGBTQ+ students at school," says Eboni Munn, Director of Brand Marketing, Content & Creative for the It Gets Better Project. "Whether that's elevating the learning experience at an already inclusive school or helping boost support for LGBTQ+ students from the ground up, we're aiming to empower these students to make their voices heard and help maximize their greatest potential. With their commitment and track record of helping organizations focused on social good missions, Media Cause was an ideal choice to build awareness for this important effort." "We knew it was crucial for the It Gets Better Project to reach their target audiences - not just students, but partners such as schools' Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) chapters and teachers who could support students in the project submission process," says Eric Facas, CEO, Media Cause. "To do this, we looked to understand and leverage the best channels to build awareness and recruitment. We are excited about the many different types of ideas we expect to be submitted, all designed to make U.S. schools more open and inclusive to LGBTQ+ youth." Media Cause's work for the "50 States. 50 Grants. 5,000 Voices." campaign comprises a new microsite ; informative toolkits for teachers and partners in addition to paid and organic social efforts, and influencer marketing, including a TikTok campaign that generated over 60 million impressions in its first day of being live for the hashtag #FavoriteTeacher. Project ideas can be submitted through March 15 and winners will be announced in June, coinciding with Pride Month. At that point, the It Gets Better Project will offer one to two middle and/or high schools in every state a $5,000-$10,000 grant in support of their winning projects. "Statistics show an alarming number of LGBTQ+ students in America's middle and high schools continue to report feeling unsafe at school, and this needs to change," continues Facas. "We applaud the It Gets Better Project for spearheading this ground breaking campaign and we are very excited to help support their mission." Grants are made possible through the It Gets Better Project with support from American Eagle and Aerie. About Media Cause Media Cause is a mission-driven marketing agency that helps nonprofit organizations grow and accelerate their impact. Our data-driven approach connects nonprofits with individuals across their entire supporter journey: from awareness and recruitment, to fundraising and advocacy, and every touchpoint in between. Our noteworthy clients include: HeadCount, American Kennel Club, Parkinson's Foundation and many more. About the It Gets Better Project The It Gets Better Project is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that strives to uplift, empower and connect LGBTQ+ youth around the globe. Created in 2010 as the result of one of the most successful viral video campaigns in YouTube's history, the It Gets Better Project provides critical support and hope to LGBTQ+ youth around the world by leveraging the power of media to reach millions of people each year. The project has expanded its origins in storytelling and media to include educational resources through It Gets Better EDU and reaches 19 countries outside of the U.S. through It Gets Better Global. The project has garnered support from President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with numerous celebrities, including Kelly Clarkson, Gabrielle Union, Zachary Quinto, Mj Rodriguez, Josie Totah, and Gigi Gorgeous. More than 750,000 people have taken the It Gets Better pledge to share messages of hope and speak up against intolerance. Please visit www.itgetsbetter.org for more information, and join the conversation on all major social platforms @itgetsbetter. SOURCE Media Cause LAS VEGAS, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA) , the preeminent provider of public relations (PR), digital marketing and event planning services for telecom, data center and network infrastructure companies, announces the digital infrastructure thought leaders contributing as authors to its book entitled 'GREENER DATA: Insights on Reducing Carbon Emissions from Leaders in Digital Transformation' , which will make its Amazon debut on Earth Day - April 22, 2022. The much-anticipated book will feature over 20 chapters authored by industry thought leaders that include (in alphabetical order by company name): Bob Painter , President, Ascent , President, Ascent Edgar Salas , CEO, AZLOGICA , CEO, AZLOGICA Braham Singh , CEO, BDx Data Centers , CEO, BDx Data Centers Luis Fiallo , Vice President, China Telecom Americas , Vice President, China Telecom Americas Raul Martynek , CEO, DataBank , CEO, DataBank Phillip Marangella , CMO, EdgeConneX , CMO, EdgeConneX Kim Gunnelius, Chief Commercial Officer & Co-Founder, Ficolo Jennifer Von Bismarck , CEO, Galway Sustainable Capital, Inc. , CEO, Galway Sustainable Capital, Inc. Vicki Worden , President & CEO, Green Building Initiative , President & CEO, Green Building Initiative Garry Connolly , Founder, Host In Ireland , Founder, Host In Michael Roark , CEO, iM Data Centers , CEO, iM Data Centers Mary Allen , Chief Content Officer, InsightaaS , Chief Content Officer, InsightaaS Bruce Lehrman , CEO, Involta , CEO, Involta Sean Farney , Director of Data Center Marketing, KOHLER , Director of Data Center Marketing, KOHLER Brad Meissner , Product Manager, Global Large Diesel Generators, KOHLER , Product Manager, Global Large Diesel Generators, KOHLER Patrick Giangrosso , Principal, Mission Critical Facilities International (MCFI) , Principal, Mission Critical Facilities International (MCFI) Lee Kestler , Executive Director, Nextera Energy Resources, DCRBN Ventures , Executive Director, Nextera Energy Resources, DCRBN Ventures Chris Zajic , Senior Director, Nextera Energy Resources , Senior Director, Nextera Energy Resources Wes Swenson , CEO, Founder, Novva Data Centers , CEO, Founder, Novva Data Centers Francois Sterin , Chief Industrial Officer, OVHcloud , Chief Industrial Officer, OVHcloud Lee Kirby , Chairman & Co-Founder, Salute Mission Critical , Chairman & Co-Founder, Salute Mission Critical Avner Papouchado , CEO, Serverfarm , CEO, Serverfarm Erick Contag , President, SubOptic Foundation , President, SubOptic Foundation Dr. Nicole Starosielski , Lead Researcher, SubOptic Foundation and Associate Professor, New York University , Lead Researcher, SubOptic Foundation and Associate Professor, Bill Kleyman , EVP of Digital Solutions, Switch , EVP of Digital Solutions, Switch Dean Nelson , CEO, Virtual Power Systems Powering digital transformation and supporting the rapid growth into IoT and AI-driven platforms, services and innovations, the digital infrastructure community has a unique lens into the latest green initiatives that are under review and in deployment, across multiple countries, languages and leadership teams. GREENER DATA is a series of contributions from independent thought leaders from around the world, sharing latest developments and technologies that are actively working towards a greener tomorrow, particularly focused on drastically reducing carbon emissions. "We are grateful for the support of this incredible group of innovators across the digital infrastructure ecosystem," states JSA Founder and CEO Jaymie Scotto Cutaia . "This collective mindshare will bring us one step closer to creating a more sustainable earth for future generations to come." The book will make its Amazon debut on Earth Day - April 22, 2022. Leading up to the book launch, JSA will host a virtual roundtable featuring several of the contributing authors on April 7 entitled "Learning from the Best: Innovative New Ways to Reduce Carbon Footprints This Year and Beyond". The virtual roundtable is free to attend and is ideal for professionals across all industries who are interested in reducing their carbon footprints through their digital infrastructure. Visit here to register to attend the April 7 virtual roundtable. To learn more about GREENER DATA contributing authors, visit jsa.net/greenerdata . For updates on the book, follow us on JSA's LinkedIn page . About JSA Celebrating over 17 years of success, Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA) is the preeminent provider of Public Relations, Account Based Marketing (ABM), Lead Nurturing and Event Planning services to the telecom, data center and network infrastructure industries. A 2021 Inc. 5000 company, JSA has also been named one of the Top 100 Elite Agencies in the US by PRNEWS, 'Best Industry-Focused Agency' of 2021 by the Bulldog PR Awards and 'Most Outstanding Telecoms PR Agency' by LiveWire for two years in a row. Our success is attributed to our skilled JSA team, innovative tools, and established media and industry relationships. Combined, these allow us to deliver the industry's gold standard in content creation, media outreach, digital marketing and brand strategy services available, orchestrated in a timely, integrated marketing plan customized for each client, to offer optimal and measurable ROI. To learn more about how JSA can elevate your brand, visit www.jsa.net . Join the conversation: Follow JSA on LinkedIn and Twitter . For media inquiries, please contact: Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA) +1 866.695.3629 ext. 6 [email protected] SOURCE Jaymie Scotto & Associates (JSA) SINGAPORE, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaddra, the award-winning Singapore-based tech company, announced today the closing of a US$2.5 million additional seed funding round. This investment brings Kaddra's total seed funding to US$5.5 million and will enable the company to accelerate its growth, to scale its self-service offering and bring further innovations to the market. Kaddra is on a mission to help SMEs realise their full digital potential and be ready for the next generation of mobile, IoT and voice assistants Commerce. In 2021, the rst year of commercialisation of its platform, Kaddra has on-boarded businesses of all sizes in over 20 different sectors across several countries as it prepares to further expand into Europe. "Kaddra has been a driving force in revolutionising the mobile martech sector with its unique approach to sales and marketing. The company has seen a signicant growth in sign-ups during Q4 2021 and continues to gain pace with new market openings and innovations. I am delighted to have the opportunity to increase my stake in the business, providing further support as it enters the next stage of growth," says Pierre Lorinet, one of Kaddra's angel investors. The investment funding round comes amid rapid growth which has seen Kaddra achieve several key milestones, including a partnership with Indonesia's largest payment gateway DOKU, expansion into the Philippines market and over 165% growth in the last quarter alone. The most signicant challenge facing SMEs is their inability to retarget customers which current available solutions are failing to address. Kaddra has proven its capability to improve retargeting through its innovative mobile approach with Clients having achieved up to 57% repeat customers, 18% conversion rates and over 30% incremental sales using the Kaddra solution. "In the face of the increasing difculties to navigate the digital transformation, we have brought to the market a mobile-first, automated sales and remarketing solution so that SMEs can operate like pros and grow with the resources they already have. I am very proud of the trust from our investors to support Kaddra's ambition to become a global market leader in our sector" says Quentin Chiarugi, co-founder and CEO of Kaddra. About Kaddra Kaddra Pte Ltd is an award-winning Singapore-based technology company providing an all-in-one Loyalty, Mobile Commerce and Remarketing solution, powering digital storefronts for businesses in over 20 market sectors. Harnessing the power of mobile, IoT and voice assistant technologies, Kaddra improves retention and engagement, sales, marketing reach and customer service at unprecedented levels. To learn more, visit https://www.kaddra.com SOURCE Kaddra Pte Ltd "Chinese is one of the most spoken languages in the world. Today, approximately 16% of the world's population speak it, which means a huge opportunity for Kahoot! to enhance the learning experience of millions of users worldwide," said Eilert Hanoa, CEO at Kahoot! "With the addition of Simplified and Traditional Chinese, we are making our platform more accessible for educators and students, businesses and lifelong learners who want to unlock their full learning potential through playful learning." In the last 12 months, more than 1 million kahoot sessions were hosted in Chinese language all around the world in different settings, including the classroom, at home, and the workplace. Learn all about the Chinese New Year celebration with dedicated kahoots Every year, approximately 2 billion people around the world celebrate Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. This year, many families will connect for the holiday virtually, as well as celebrating together with loved ones at home. Kahoot! has become a popular platform worldwide to stay connected and bring joy to any gathering, whether in-person or virtual, through the power of friendly competition and playful learning. To help families around the world learn more about Lunar New Year and celebrate together from anywhere, Kahoot! is featuring ready-to-play kahoots from Verified educators dedicated to the holiday, available for free for all Kahoot! users. Families can also add festive flair to any kahoot they want to play using the Chinese New Year theme (Year of the Tiger Edition) that Kahoot! has created especially for this year's celebration, now available on the platform. Kahoot! now available in 13 languages - More to come! The addition of Chinese languages marks a new milestone for Kahoot! with the mobile app and online platform now available in 13 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Norwegian, German, Italian, Dutch, Turkish, Polish and Japanese. This launch is part of the Kahoot! Group's strategy to continue its expansion and organic growth in the Asian market. For more information about Chinese language support in the Kahoot! platform, read our blog post. About Kahoot! Kahoot! is on a mission to make learning awesome! We want to empower everyone, including children, students, and employees to unlock their full learning potential. Our learning platform makes it easy for any individual or corporation to create, share, and host learning sessions that drive compelling engagement. Launched in 2013, Kahoot!'s vision is to build the leading learning platform in the world. In the last 12 months, 300 million sessions have been hosted on the Kahoot! platform by 30+ million active accounts, with 2 billion participants (non-unique) in more than 200 countries and regions. The Kahoot! Group includes Clever, the leading US K-12 EdTech learning platform, together with the learning apps DragonBox, Poio, Drops, Actimo, Motimate, and Whiteboard.fi. The Kahoot! Group is headquartered in Oslo, Norway with offices in the US, the UK, France, Finland, Estonia, Denmark and Spain. Kahoot! is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker KAHOT. Let's play! Media Contact: Alejandro Viquez, [email protected] SOURCE Kahoot! NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kingswood U.S., a network of independent wealth management firms that oversees more than $3 billion in client assets, today announced the strategic alliance with Briarcliffe Credit Partners serving it as a premier Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction ("OSJ") in New York City. As part of this relationship, Briarcliffe, a leading placement agency exclusively dedicated to private credit, will provide access to industry-leading private credit opportunities and vehicles for Kingswood U.S.'s affiliated financial advisors across the country. This partnership reflects the growing demand among retail investors for private credit investments that deliver greater opportunities for durable income, capital appreciation and portfolio risk management outside of traditional equity and fixed income markets. Briarcliffe is one of the largest independent private market placement firms and the industry's only placement agency focused exclusively on private credit. Led by private credit industry veteran Jess Larsen, who founded the firm in 2021 and is its CEO, Briarcliffe serves institutional investors from its headquarters in New York City. Michael Nessim, CEO, President and Managing Partner of Kingswood U.S., said, "Private credit represents a $1.2 trillion market today and is positioned for significant growth in the future, including with retail investors across the country. In the face of turbulent markets and continued economic uncertainty, investors recognize the limitations of traditional public equities and fixed income. Our relationship with Briarcliffe will equip our financial advisors with tools to help their clients build portfolios that meet their financial goals more effectively than ever. We are incredibly pleased that Jess and his team have chosen to affiliate with Kingswood U.S. as its broker-dealer, and we look forward to supporting their continued growth and success." Briarcliffe is an OSJ branch of Kingswood Capital Partners, one of the firm's two FINRA-licensed broker-dealers. Kingswood U.S. also includes the broker-dealer Benchmark Investments and two SEC-registered RIAs, Kingswood Wealth Advisors and Benchmark Advisory Services. Collectively, the New York City-based firm supports more than 200 financial advisors. Mr. Larsen said, "Kingswood U.S. is well respected for its global approach, eye to the future and dedication to enabling those who affiliate with them to grow. We are excited that our relationship with Kingswood U.S. will provide their advisors direct access to the growing world of private credit, an asset class that will only continue expanding over the coming years." Mr. Nessim concluded, "The private market will see substantial expansion and change over the next five years. Working with Briarcliffe will bring private credit strategies to clients seeking meaningful alternative investments." About Briarcliffe Credit Partners Briarcliffe Credit Partners is a placement agency exclusively dedicated to private credit. Headquartered in New York, Briarcliffe seeks to capitalize on the increasing complexity and growth of the private credit market. The firm provides fundraising services to private credit investment firms focusing on niche strategies outside direct lending, with fund sizes up to $1.5 billion and potentially higher. About Kingswood U.S. Kingswood U.S. is a network of wealth management firms that includes two SEC-registered RIAs and two FINRA-licensed broker-dealers collectively overseeing more than $3 billion in assets, offering comprehensive wealth management and business-building services, designed specifically for the independent financial advisor. Together with our parent company, Kingswood Group, we combine the resources and capital of a very large financial services firm with the personalized touch and feel of a boutique company. With over 200 advisors across the United States, Kingswood has earned a reputation as a firm built for advisors by advisors. Media Contacts: Media Contact for Kingswood U.S. Joseph Kuo / Donald C. Cutler Haven Tower Group 424.317.4851 or 424.317.4864 [email protected] or [email protected] Media Contact for Briarcliffe Credit Partners Nicole Dean Prosek Partners 248.836.8851 [email protected] SOURCE Kingswood U.S. NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- NUMA New York a fixture in the New York venture capital ecosystem for the past decade announced new ownership and a new name: WEVE Accelerator. Frances Simowitz who has led the New York office for the Paris-based NUMA, becomes CEO and chairman of the board of WEVE Accelerator with her business partner and company co-founder Giulia Imperatrice as COO. Also, WEVE has announced five new companies participating in the firm's winter cohort program: A/B Smartly (Portugal), a knowledge-based experimentation platform for fast-paced product and development teams; Licel (England), a mobile app security app that protects Android, iOS and Java apps and SDKs against static/dynamic attacks, reverse engineering, malware injection and communication interception; MaxWhere (Hungary), a visualization platform for consolidating all management and operative tools for efficiency and actionability in the enterprise metaverse; Ondato (Lithuania), a complete compliance management suite for KYC procedure, and Vanongo (Ukraine), an AI based last-mile platform that unlocks high-quality, on-demand delivery functions for companies of all sizes. WEVE is a specialist in acceleration programs to support U.S. market entry of early and growth-stage international companies. Among its more than one hundred alumni companies are such global success stories as Zig Zag (U.K.), acquired for $70 million; Locus (India), which raised $79 million; Kompany (Austria), which raised $7.3 million, and Cultura Colectiva (Mexico), which has grown to become one of the largest media brands in Latin America. "Our new corporate brand means a few key things. First, we now have the opportunity to double down and entirely focus on the mission we've been building for the past five years, supporting global innovators with new market entry. It also means the company is now 100 percent women-owned, an achievement we're very proud of," says Simowitz. The new name also represents a new look, feel and brand that will carry the company into the future. As a soft-landing accelerator, WEVE gives foreign companies a conduit into the U.S. market by integrating them into the local ecosystem, providing them with insider knowledge, and providing cultural guidance to help streamline the transition and accelerate their growth in the world's most competitive market. "Our team chose the name WEVE Acceleration to reflect our role in creating connections and weaving our client entrepreneurs into U.S. market ecosystems. If written as a contraction, the brand means 'We have,' and indeed, everything we do is about what we build together, what we have together with our clients," she says. About WEVE Accelerator For the past 5 years, our company has been a key player in the rising of a new generation of entrepreneurs. Our virtual accelerator programs help international startups expand and scale in the U.S. market through expert mentorship, targeted curricula and warm introductions to New York's most influential entrepreneurs, investors and business contacts. More: weveacceleration.com Media Contact: Greg Ptacek Feature PR 323-841-8002 407 N. Maple Dr., Suite GRD 1 Beverly Hills, CA 90210 SOURCE WEVE Now in its 10th edition, the Lexus Design Award continues to evolve since its launch in 2013 with the mission of supporting and nurturing young creators. The Lexus Design Award program identifies promising talent whose fresh ideas receive a high-profile, cross-media introduction on an established platform respected by the global creative community. Finalists were chosen for their original solutions contributing to a better tomorrow, while articulating the Lexus brand's three core principles Anticipate, Innovate and Captivate while seamlessly enhancing the happiness of all. Lexus Design Award 2022 Finalists Chitofoam by Charlotte Bohning & Mary Lempres (Dual USA - Germany and Dual USA - Norway / Based in USA): A biodegradable packaging solution derived from the exoskeletons of mealworms that have digested polystyrene foam waste. (Dual - and Dual - / Based in USA): A biodegradable packaging solution derived from the exoskeletons of mealworms that have digested polystyrene foam waste. Hammock Wheelchair by Wondaleaf ( Malaysia ): A combination wheelchair, forklift and hammock for reducing the manual lifting of patients by caregivers. ): A combination wheelchair, forklift and hammock for reducing the manual lifting of patients by caregivers. Ina Vibe by Team Dunamis ( Nigeria ): A sustainable cooking, charging and lighting product. ): A sustainable cooking, charging and lighting product. Rewind by Poh Yun Ru ( Singapore ): A platform that leverages multi-sensory stimulation to prompt meaningful recollection for seniors with dementia. ): A platform that leverages multi-sensory stimulation to prompt meaningful recollection for seniors with dementia. Sound Eclipse by Kristil & Shamina ( Russia ): A noise-cancelling device that reduces noise from outside when placed near an open window. ): A noise-cancelling device that reduces noise from outside when placed near an open window. Tacomotive by Kou Mikuni ( Japan ): A tangible driving simulator for children with visual and aural challenges. Lexus Design Award 2022 judge Anupama Kundoo said, "I was impressed by the creators' sensitivity to real-life issues faced by individuals with disabilities and the challenges facing society, such as sustainable coexistence with nature. The mentoring process will optimize the impact of the finalists' designs. I greatly enjoyed working with such a diverse jury and finding so much alignment. Where there were different perspectives, those too were complementary and aligned in their core values." Earlier in January, the six finalists participated in a five-day workshop with four mentors: Sam Baron, Joe Doucet, Sabine Marcelis and Yosuke Hayano. Interacting directly with these leading lights, the finalists received professional guidance to explore the potential of their ideas, and help bring them to life. Finalists will continue working with mentors to flesh-out their prototypes throughout the three months or so leading up to the Grand Prix. In spring 2022, the judging panel, comprising renowned creative visionaries Paola Antonelli, Anupama Kundoo, Bruce Mau and Simon Humphries, will select the Grand Prix Winner based on the finalists' presentations of how their prototypes put their design concepts into practice. In exclusive individual follow-up sessions, the six finalists will receive personalized consultations with each of the panel members to explore career paths and give a flying start to their further professional development. *For more information, please visit LexusDesignAward.com . Official Hashtag: #lexusdesignaward LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2022 FINALISTS Title of Work: Chitofoam Name: Charlotte Bohning & Mary Lempres Country: Dual USA Germany (Charlotte Bohning ) | Dual USA Norway (Mary Lempres) Based in USA Chitofoam is a material research project that reuses discarded polystyrene foam as food for mealworms, and then utilizes their exoskeletons such as their discarded shells. It has been found that mealworms can safely digest polystyrene, and biopolymers made from chitosan extracted from their exoskeleton will be used to create an environmentally friendly alternative to polystyrene foam. Charlotte Bohning & Mary Lempres are classmates pursuing their Master's of Industrial Design at the Pratt Institute. They have respective backgrounds in development and behavioral economics, chemistry, and fine art. Their collaborative design practice is centered on material-driven innovation, empathic technologies, and human-centric factors. Title of Work: Hammock Wheelchair Name: Wondaleaf (Alex Wong, Reuben Tang, Louis Tang, Wong Ping Ming, John Tang, Lau Yien Yien and Sii How Sing) Country: Malaysia By combining features of a wheelchair, forklift, and hammock, caregivers can move and transfer patients without having to manually lift them. A cloth with tunnel casings acts as a pallet, while a wheelchair with two prongs acts like a forklift. The team members of Wondaleaf are part of a medical device innovation company. Each member specializes in different aspects of the design and production process. After some team members had difficulty caring for patients after running a nursing home, they partnered to design a device to assist caregivers and patients at these facilities. Title Of Work: Ina Vibe Name: Team Dunamis (Obasogie Okpamen, Obasogie Osasumwen, Anastacia Amadi, Uwague Aizeyosabo and Omolehin Emmanuel) Country: Nigeria Ina Vibe is a lightweight, portable gas-powered cooking burner/stove with a thermoelectric generator that harnesses heat energy to generate sustainable, affordable and clean electricity, making it possible to cook, charge and light in a sustainable and healthy way. Team Dunamis is a group of five graduates of Engineering and Business Management from Landmark University and Rivers State University in Nigeria. They are passionate about creating energy solutions, human-centered products and systems geared towards transforming their continent for the better. They aim to be a beacon for hope in their communities. Title of Work: Rewind Name: Poh Yun Ru Country: Singapore Designed to evoke memories, Rewind uses a motion-tracking tool that guides seniors with dementia in re-enacting familiar gestures. These actions are then reflected as audio-visual feedback on a paired device that triggers recollection. Poh Yun Ru is a socially engaged product designer who seeks to create a positive impact on society by improving the lives of others. Living in a culturally rich and diverse society, she sees design as a methodology to develop intuitive and inclusive solutions for people from all walks of life. Title of Work: Sound Eclipse Name: Kristil & Shamina (Kristina Loginova and Shamil Sahabiev) Country: Russia Installed in front of half-open windows, the microphone on the back of Sound Eclipse captures noise, while speakers emit sound waves of identical amplitude to the original noise but of inverted phase. These waves combine and cancel each other out. Shamil Sahabiev is an industrial designer who has also worked as a concept artist, contributing his designs to multiple video game titles, including games for VR. Kristina Loginova, as a product manager, has helped to turn many creative ideas into profitable businesses. Together they are now focused on industrial design with the goal of creating things that benefit society and bring the future closer. Title of Work: Tacomotive Name: Kou Mikuni Country: Japan The texture of the paper, especially its roughness and softness, changes subtly with pattern cutting. Using this phenomenon, I designed an analog driving game to enjoy tactile exploration, inspired by the concept of co-creating communication in the education of children with visual and aural challenges. Kou Mikuni graduated the Department of Integrated Science (natural science) at the University of Tokyo, and is currently a doctoral student studying design at the School of Engineering (mechanical engineering) of the same university. LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2022 PANEL OF JUDGES PAOLA ANTONELLI SENIOR CURATOR FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN AT MoMA, NY Paola Antonelli is Senior Curator of Architecture & Design at The Museum of Modern Art, as well as MoMA's founding Director of Research & Development. Her goal is to promote design's understanding, until its positive influence on the world is universally acknowledged. Her work investigates design's impact on everyday experience, often including overlooked objects and practices, and combining design, architecture, art, science, and technology. She has curated shows, written books, lectured worldwide, and taught in several schools, including Harvard and UCLA. Among her most recent exhibitions are Broken Nature, devoted to the idea of restorative design (conceived as the XXII Triennale di Milano) and Material Ecology, on the groundbreaking work of architect Neri Oxman. She is currently working on several new sessions of her MoMA R&D Salons; on the exhibition Never Alone, about interactive design and videogames; and on the Instagram series @design.emergency, conceived with design critic Alice Rawsthorn and devoted to the role of design in the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. Alice and Paola's book, Design Emergency, will be published in May 2022. ANUPAMA KUNDOO ARCHITECT / FOUNDER OF ANUPAMA KUNDOO ARCHITECTS Anupama Kundoo graduated from University of Mumbai in 1989 and received her PhD degree from the TU Berlin in 2008. Her research-oriented practice has generated people centric architecture based on spatial and material research for low environmental impact while being socio-economically beneficial. Her body of works was recently exhibited as a solo show 'Taking Time' at Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark in Spring of 2021. She has taught Architecture and Urban Management at various international universities strengthening her expertise in rapid urbanization and climate change related development issues, and was the Davenport Visiting Professor at Yale University in Spring 2020. She is currently Professor at Potsdam School of Architecture, Germany and the winner of the 2021 Auguste Perret Prize for her contribution to architectural technologies and the 2021 recipient of the RIBA Charles Jencks Award. BRUCE MAU CO-FOUNDER & CEO, MASSIVE CHANGE NETWORK Designer, author, educator, artist and entrepreneur Bruce Mau practices a holistic life-centered design approach grounded in empathy and fact-based optimism to help clients and collaborators envision and articulate their purpose and future. Across thirty years of design innovation, he's worked with global brands and companies, leading organizations, heads of state, renowned artists and fellow optimists. He became an international figure with the publication of S,M,L,XL, designed and co-authored with Rem Koolhaas. His most recent book, Mau: MC24 Bruce Mau's 24 Principles for Designing Massive Change in Your Life and Work, offers readers a mindset and toolkit that can be applied to any type of challenge at any scale to create impact and positive transformation. SIMON HUMPHRIES HEAD OF TOYOTA & LEXUS GLOBAL DESIGN Simon Humphries is Head of Toyota & Lexus Global Design. He was appointed to oversee design for both brands in 2018. As Head of Lexus Global Design Humphries seeks to define Lexus' unique values in the form of a brand philosophy, incorporating a clear cultural reference to Lexus' Japanese heritage and building a design direction that is relevant to users around the world. Humphries joined the company in 1994. His many roles in leadership and advanced design include defining the signature spindle grille that has become an icon for the Lexus brand. In 2016 he became President of ED2 (Toyota Europe Design Development) where his team spearheaded development of mobility concepts such as the Toyota e-Palette concept as part of the brand's transition from "automotive company" to "mobility company." Humphries began his career in design in 1988 when he was awarded the Royal Society of Arts Bursary Prize for Product Design in the UK. The award gave him the opportunity to work for Sony, which jumpstarted his passion for living and working in Japan. In his spare time Humphries enjoys carpentry and is restoring a 100-year-old Japanese farmhouse. LEXUS DESIGN AWARD 2022 PANEL OF MENTORS SAM BARON DESIGNER / CREATIVE DIRECTOR, SAM BARON & Co A visionary creative leader, Sam Baron creates products and experiences, giving life to cross-over works mixing art and design that drive innovative ideas from concept to completion. His work touches many fields across hospitality, retail, design, fashion, and culture. From a global perspective, Baron leads sophisticated initiatives that create an experience for some of the world's leading brands. For a decade, he has been a consultant as Design director for Fabrica, an international communication research center based in Italy. In 2009 Baron received the "Grand Prix de la Creation de la Ville de Paris" in the design category, and in 2010 Philippe Starck selected him as one of the ten important designers of the next decade. His work is continuously featured in the international press, and included in international museum collections. Recently Sam has been awarded the special PAD Paris fair prize. Sam Baron currently lives and works between Portugal and France. JOE DOUCET FOUNDER, JOE DOUCET X PARTNERS A designer, entrepreneur, inventor and creative director, Joe Doucet is one of the most sought-after creative talents working in America today. His work deftly hybridizes function and visual appeal while conveying layers of meaning and message. Doucet believes that design and, more importantly, a designer's thought process can play a larger role in innovation and problem solving, as well as aesthetics. He currently holds numerous patents for his designs and inventions. Doucet's work has been exhibited globally and has received numerous international awards, including a World Technology Award for Design Innovation and multiple Good Design Awards. Doucet was named the 2017 Winner of the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award as Product Designerthe highest honor in his field. He is also Designer of the Year 2019 finalist by Dezeen, and a recipient of Fast Company's Most Important Design Companies of 2019. YOSUKE HAYANO PRINCIPAL PARTNER, MAD ARCHITECTS Yosuke Hayano, an architect from Japan, is principal partner of MAD Architects based in Beijing, China. MAD is led by Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, and Yosuke and it is committed to developing futuristic, organic, technologically advanced designs that embody a contemporary interpretation of the Eastern affinity for nature. With a vision for the city of the future based in the spiritual and emotional needs of residents, MAD endeavors to create a balance between humanity, the city, and the environment. Yosuke has been the winner of several high-profile awards, including the Architecture League of New York Young Architects Award (2006), the Design for Asia Award (2011), and the Kumamoto Artpolis Award (2011). He served as a visiting lecturer at the Waseda Art and Architecture School from 2008 to 2012, and at Tokyo University from 2010 to 2012. In addition, he acted as an external examiner at the Architectural Association of London from 2015 to 2019. SABINE MARCELIS DESIGNER / FOUNDER, STUDIO SABINE MARCELIS Sabine Marcelis is a Dutch designer who runs her practice from the harbor of Rotterdam. After graduating from the Design Academy of Eindhoven in 2011, Marcelis began working as an independent designer within the fields of product, installation and spatial design with a strong focus on materiality. Her work is characterized by pure forms which highlight material properties. Marcelis applies a strong aesthetic point of view to her collaborations with industry specialists. This method of working allows her to intervene in the manufacturing process, using material research and experimentation to achieve new and surprising visual effects for projects both showcased in musea and commissioned by commercial clients and fashion houses. Sabine recently won the prestigious Wallpaper awards 'Designer of the year 2020', The Elle Deco International Design award 2019 'Young designer of the year' and 'GQ Men of the year 2019' International Artist of the year. Media Contacts Zachary Reed [email protected] Kimberly Agnello [email protected] ABOUT LEXUS Lexus launched in 1989 with a flagship sedan and a guest experience that helped define the premium automotive industry. In 1998, Lexus introduced the luxury crossover category with the launch of the Lexus RX. The luxury hybrid sales leader, Lexus delivered the world's first luxury hybrid in 2006, and has since sold over 2.02 million hybrid vehicles. A global luxury automotive brand with an unwavering commitment to bold, uncompromising design, exceptional craftsmanship, and exhilarating performance, Lexus has developed its lineup to meet the needs of the next generation of global luxury guests, and is currently available in over 90 countries/regions worldwide. Lexus associates/team members across the world are dedicated to crafting amazing experiences that are uniquely Lexus, and that excite and change the world. ABOUT LEXUS DESIGN AWARD Launched in 2013, the Lexus Design Award is an international competition for up-and-coming creators from around the world. The Award seeks to contribute to society by supporting designers and creators whose work shows potential to shape a better future. Six finalists gain a rare opportunity to prototype their designs under the mentorship of leading designers. The Lexus Design Award provides global media exposure to drive professional career advancement. SOURCE Lexus AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LumApps , a leading Employee Experience Platform, today announced the company has achieved its 6th consecutive year of record-setting revenue growth in FY2021, and is expanding its executive leadership team to position for future success as organizations transition to a hybrid work model. LumApps' notable growth is due to its strong ability to attract new customers in the US, significant license expansions among existing customers in Europe, and the diversification of its solution portfolio with LumApps Play, following its successful first acquisition of Novastream in 2021. "Foundationally, LumApps is a very powerful SaaS solution with comprehensive capabilities that have been purpose-built for its large enterprise customers, and the company is well recognized as a technology leader in the Employee Experience market," said Chris McLaughlin, Chief Marketing Officer. "We believe that we have a very unique vision for the future of the employee experience and a clear strategy to deliver on that vision. In 2022, we will bring to market a number of new capabilities that will enable our customers to better engage, enable, and empower their employees with intelligently orchestrated employee journeys and an entirely new level of personalization." LumApps plans to accelerate its growth by delivering on its strategic vision of an individualized experience for each employee an experience that is orchestrated around key business outcomes, intelligently enabled by personalized recommendations, and which empowers employees to take action without leaving the LumApps platform. In 2022, the company will further diversify its product offerings through its own R&D efforts and through additional acquisitions that will accelerate the realization of its product vision. The company also plans to continue to scale its R&D investment at 45% of revenue. LumApps continues to experience strong momentum for its Employee Experience Platform across various geographies. Global organizations in the financial services, retail, manufacturing, and technology industries are turning to LumApps to empower every employee to do their best work by intelligently connecting them with the tools they use and the information they need, regardless of device or location. New executive leaders in the US and Europe are preparing LumApps for next-level market success in 2022. They include: Alfred Saad , Chief Revenue Officer , Jeremy Robbins , Senior Vice President Sales, US "Our goal is to meet the critical needs of large enterprises around the globe that are struggling with their efforts to align their workforce at scale or to digitally transform," said Sebastien Ricard, CEO at LumApps. "This past year was especially challenging for many people on a personal level and for many organizations from a business continuity and productivity perspective. We're proud to have been a part of making an impact where it counts most being the catalyst for employee engagement by providing an entirely personalized experience for every employee." For additional information about LumApps Employee Experience Platform, please visit www.lumapps.com. About LumApps: LumApps is a leading Employee Experience Platform founded in 2016 to unify the modern workforce through better communication, engagement, and instant access to information. Integrated with Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, LumApps intelligently connects people, information, and business applications to empower employees and enhance productivity. The product tailors each experience to the unique needs of the employee, from executives and managers to frontline workers. LumApps is a true SaaS platform, designed to scale to the needs of today's largest enterprises and is easily accessible across any device or language. With over 250 people in 7 offices located on 3 continents, LumApps serves prominent companies like Veolia, Airbus, Valeo, Air Liquide, The Economist and Electronic Arts, supporting more than 4 million users worldwide. To fuel its continued rapid growth and enhance the capabilities of its platform, LumApps has raised $70M in a Series C round in 2020. Learn more at www.lumapps.com Media Contact: Andrea LePain eMedia Junction [email protected] SOURCE LumApps MagicCube launches i-Accept Cloud, first open cloud-based payment acceptance platform. Shift4 invests in the company. Tweet this Acquiring banks and merchants globally spend $70 billion every year in hardware to keep up with payment innovations and accept new form factors, such as contactless and mobile. i-Accept Cloud aims to positively disrupt this market by offering payments acceptance providers a robust, ready to scale, fully digital ecosystem, creating new options for retailers of all sizes. Whether they already have a legacy system in place and want to more easily expand their POS infrastructure to manage the new use cases brought up by contactless technology, such as large screens; or are micro and small merchants who want to expand their business by accepting digital payments for the first time, i-Accept Cloud offers agility and flexibility previously attainable only by larger merchants with big budgets. Plug-and-Play Integration i-Accept Cloud provides all the needed backend support to deploy software-based POS solutions that are easily scalable, and continuously updated to comply with current and future industry standards. Customers can free up time from integration to refine UX, UI, business logic, and other priorities unique to their merchants and retailers. "MagicCube's unique platform enabled us to deliver on our promise of being fully digital, and significantly expedited the go-to-market of our Diveep sofPOS offering ," said Juan Guruceta, founder and CEO of Spanish neobank Divilo, which has recently signed an agreement to provide Diveep to over half million merchants in the country. "With i-Accept Cloud, we can more easily build on our current productwith all the tools we need at our fingertips, we can test and deploy new features in days and focus our efforts on what really matters to our customers, their own businesses." High Security, Low Complexity A software-based acceptance platform requires building and securing EMV kernelsthe complex code that provides processing logic and data needed to perform a transactionas well as developing secure PIN and other authentication methods on mobile devices without decreasing user friendliness. i-Accept Cloud converts these work-intensive processes into a simple API model, enabling the development teams of acquiring banks, system integrators, and others to create their own payment acceptance platforms using pre-certified components that are maintained to meet the latest specs and standards. "MagicCube's cloud-based platform offers a unique approach to payment acceptance by removing the need for live devices, offering considerably more flexibility and other significant advantages over traditional hardware options," said Michael Isaacman, Chief Commercial Officer at Shift4. "This is one of the reasons why we not only partnered with MagicCube to integrate our end-to-end payment solution with their offering, but also invested in the company's latest funding round." Leading the Way MagicCube's software-based, virtual Trusted Execution Environment (vTEE) is the first and only software solution to be recognized by EMVCothe global consortium in charge of setting interoperability and payment acceptance standardsto deliver comparable levels of protection as hardware-based approaches. The company's unique technology has also landed a seat at the PCI Security Standards Council Board of Advisors, the global industry body focused on regulating payment security standards. A Global Ecosystem Out of The Gate i-Accept Cloud is fully deployed, approved by the four main card networks, and available through a growing global network of processors, acquirers, and device makers: To learn more about i-Accept Cloud, visit www.i-accept.cloud . About MagicCube MagicCube leads the Software Defined Trust (SDT) category with its software-based, virtual Trusted Execution Environment (vTEE) platform. The technology enables secure, large-scale deployment and management of Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile solutions to consumers. MagicCube was awarded the first recognition of a software-based Trusted Execution Environment issued by EMVCo, the global consortium which facilitates worldwide interoperability and acceptance of secure payment transactions. MagicCube has been named by Network World's one of the "10 Hot IoT Startups to Watch", listed as a Cool Vendor in Security and Risk Management by Gartner, and is the only startup to sit on the board of the PCI Security Standards Council. Investors in MagicCube include Mosaik Partners, Shift4, Bold Capital, Epic Ventures, ID Tech, Sony Innovation Fund, and Visa, among others. For more information, visit www.magiccube.co or follow us on Twitter @MAGIC3INC . SOURCE MagicCube "When word spread that we implemented DailyPay, we had several previous team members reach out to us. They originally left for a job that offered weekly paychecks, we pay bi-weekly, but upon learning we have DailyPay - it was the financial benefit they were looking for to return to us. The DailyPay team made the integration to their platform seamless," said Mary Lazzaroni, Vice President of People & Development at Manna Inc. "We truly believe our employees find this to be a valuable benefit. 50% of our employees are enrolled in DailyPay the only benefit we offer with such a high enrollment rate. Also, knowing that food is one of the top reasons to transfer funds we have even changed policy to ensure our team members receive a free meal on each shift, not just discounted food items." DailyPay's research shows that with DailyPay, companies are able to fill open positions 52% faster than those that don't offer a daily payment option while experiencing a 50% reduction in turnover. The research , commissioned by DailyPay, shows that 95% of those who once relied on payday loans or who paid overdraft fees can break the cycle of debt when they have a DailyPay option. As a result, 74% of employees who use DailyPay feel less financial stress. About DailyPay DailyPay, Inc., powered by its industry-leading technology platform, is on a mission to build a new financial system. Partnering with America's best-in-class employers, including Dollar Tree, Berkshire Hathaway and Adecco. DailyPay is the recognized gold standard in on-demand pay. Through its massive data network, proprietary funding model, and connections into over 6,000 endpoints in the banking system, DailyPay works to ensure that money is always in the right place at the right time for employers, merchants, and financial institutions. DailyPay is building technology and the mindset to reimagine the way money moves, from the moment work starts. DailyPay is headquartered in New York City, with operations based in Minneapolis. For more information, visit www.dailypay.com/press . About Manna Inc. Manna Inc. was founded in 1999 in Louisville, Kentucky. Manna and its affiliates are family-owned businesses that pride themselves on service - to their employees, their customers and the local communities in which they operate. Manna is one of the largest minority-owned restaurant operators in the United States which both owns and operates its own brands in addition to serving as a franchisee for multiple national concepts. Media Contacts David Schwarz Email: [email protected] Adriana Ball Email: [email protected] SOURCE DailyPay TOKYO, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The operator of Japan's disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant will be sued by six young people on Thursday over claims that exposure to radiation after the plant's multiple meltdowns caused them to develop thyroid cancer. On March 11, 2011, when a huge earthquake-triggered tsunami led to one of the world's worst nuclear crises at the Fukushima plant, the plaintiffs, who are now aged between 17 and 27, were living in the Fukushima area. The group's lead lawyer Kenichi Ido told local media that they will file a class-action lawsuit against the plant's operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) on Thursday afternoon. According to local reports, the plaintiffs are seeking compensation totaling 616 million yen (5.35 million U.S. dollars). An expert panel compiled by the local government has said there is no causal link between radiation exposure from the disaster and thyroid cancer, while a report by the United Nations has said that the disaster had not directly affected the health of locals a decade after the incident. Meanwhile, the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation concluded that the reason why a higher rate of thyroid cancer was being detected among children was probably due to more advanced diagnostics. Ido maintains, however, that none of his plaintiffs' cancers were inherited and thus it is more than likely that exposure to radiation in the Fukushima region after the meltdowns was the cause of the thyroid cancers. "Some plaintiffs have had difficulties advancing to higher education and finding jobs, and have even given up on their dreams for their future," Ido was quoted as saying. The plaintiffs were aged between six and 16 at the time of the meltdowns and were diagnosed with thyroid cancer between 2012 and 2018. They will file their lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court. But his memories with Dr. Courson go back a little longer27 years to be exactwhen she delivered him at SGMC in Valdosta, Georgia. Clyatt, a Valdosta native, is a third-year medical student at PCOM South Georgia in Moultrie. An important part of his training involves rotating with preceptors in health systems. He was preparing to rotate through OB-GYN at SGMC when he requested Dr. Courson to be the physician who trains him and oversees his time at the hospital. Dr. Courson agreed, saying he would be her last medical student. "I have taught nearly 150 aspiring medical students in 20 years," Dr. Courson said. "One of the main reasons I do so is to lure them to stay and live and practice in Valdosta! What better way to attract young doctors than to host them, teach them and expose them to the quality of life we have." During his time with Dr. Courson, Clyatt assisted in countless cesarean sections, deliveries and circumcisions. "I assisted in my first delivery on my first day of rotations at 7:30am," he said. "It is extremely rare that a medical student is that hands-on during a rotation, especially OB-GYN, but Dr. Courson and I trusted each other." Dr. Courson said she enjoyed her time with Clyatt and being able to teach someone that she delivered when she was just eight years into practicing medicine. Now, she's been practicing for 35 years, and she's closing the chapter of teaching medical students with Clyatt. "Griffin is a very bright young man," she said. "He will make an excellent physician. I am happy to have been able to take part in his education." Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) extended its commitment to the Southeast by establishing PCOM South Georgia, an additional teaching location in Moultrie, Georgia. PCOM South Georgia offers both a full, four-year medical program leading to the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree and a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree. SOURCE Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine STOCKHOLM, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medius, a leading provider of AP Automation and wider spend management solutions, announces the appointment of Matt Rhodus as VP of Business Development & Strategic Initiatives. Rhodus joins from Oracle NetSuite, where he spent eight years in senior leadership, business development and strategy, and solution sales, rising to Senior Director of Go-To-Market & Strategic Initiatives in March 2019. Prior to that, he led Brand Solutions at IBM for Smarter Commerce & Industry Solutions. His expertise includes business development, sales, and marketing, specializing in SaaS and enterprise software. In his new role, Rhodus will be responsible for delivering the Go-To-Market strategy for Medius's cross-functional initiatives to include helping establish and grow Medius's robust ecosystem of partnerships with ERP and technology partners around the world. He will be reporting into CSO Branden Jenkins, who joined Medius in August 2021, after the pair first combined at Oracle NetSuite. Based in St. Louis, Rhodus will work alongside Erik Hammarberg, SVP of Corporate Development & Growth, and Jason Lee, VP of Strategy Operations, who starts at Medius in February. Matt will oversee a team and is immediately looking to hire two Business Development Managers, responsible for EMEA and North America. Rhodus follows a raft of senior leadership hires including CEO Jim Lucier, CSO Branden Jenkins, CMO Kim Albrecht, and CRO Jeff Swan all tasked with growing the business across the globe. Jim Lucier, CEO of Medius, comments: "Medius has built significant momentum reinforcing our leadership position in AP automation, and in wider spend management solutions. Matt's expertise across solutions, sales, and business strategy will be critical as we expand Medius's enhanced service offering across our growing customer base. As we pursue our aggressive growth targets in North America, Matt is the perfect addition to the senior team." Branden Jenkins, CSO of Medius, comments: "Matt's extensive industry knowledge across SaaS and enterprise software is invaluable to us at Medius as we enter the next chapter in the company's growth. Having worked with Matt at Oracle NetSuite, I know he has the right skills, knowledge, and attitude to turn Medius's ambitious vision into reality." Matt Rhodus, VP of Business Development & Strategic Initiatives, comments: "In a fast-moving digital and global economy, companies are under pressure to understand, control and optimize spend. The suite of tools Medius offers and the agility and dynamism of the business offers customers real value. Having worked at large industry players, I am excited to take the shackles off in a fast-paced and innovative business like Medius. "I am relishing the chance to execute the vision that Jim, the management team, and the board have set for the future of the company. I can't wait to drive forward our ambitious go-to-market plans for North America, and to continue to build relationships with strategic partners, while staying laser-focused on our customers' needs." For more information, please contact: Dan Bird, Fight or Flight for Medius [email protected] +44 7885 670798 / [email protected] +44 330 133 0985 This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com https://news.cision.com/medius/r/medius-appoints-matt-rhodus-as-vp-of-business-development---strategic-initiatives,c3493294 SOURCE Cision AB MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Muslim Australians have had limited access to Sharia compliant financial services in the past. Hejaz Financial Services, a leading provider of financial services from Halal loans to superannuation, is on a mission to give Australians access to a suite of Islamic financial services. But first it is crucial to educate the public and increase awareness about what Islam finance means and how it might be the ethical alternative to the financial services offered by traditional banks. Hejaz Financial Services was founded in Melbourne over a decade ago and has been working to spread knowledge about Islamic financial services ever since. According to the Halal home loan provider, Muslim Australians and non-Muslim Australians have been hesitant or unable to access Halal financial services in the past. Recent research undertaken by Hejaz Financial Services has revealed that nearly 50% of Muslim Australians have reluctantly accessed non-Islamic financial services in the past because they were simply unaware that ethical, Sharia compliant options existed. This has largely been due to a distinct lack of educational resources available about what Islamic finance is, how it differs from traditional banking services and what makes it Sharia compliant. With the goal of revolutionising the Islamic financial sector, Hejaz Financial Services is committed to providing such resources. The financial provider's website is home to a learning centre, which is kept up to date with informative, easy to understand articles about the Islamic finance sector, various Halal financial services and even financial tips and advice. Hejaz Financial Services is in the process of applying to become the very first Australian, 100% digital Islamic bank, which will allow them to offer a full suite of financial services. Currently, the financial institution offers Halal home loans, superannuation , investment options, pension, financial advice and more. To find out more about Hejaz Financial Services' mission or range of services, visit their website or contact them today. This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com SOURCE Hejaz Financial Services MEXICO CITY, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mexarrend, Mexico's second-largest independent asset-based lender that offers financing solutions for small and medium businesses, and Zinobe, Colombia's leading digital lender that offers alternative credit products for individuals and small businesses, announced today an agreement to combine and form Tangelo ( www.tangelolatam.com ), a new technology company delivering innovative credit solutions in Latin America. Tangelo brings together Mexarrend's more than twenty five years' credit risk and operational experience, strengthened by deep institutional relationships, with Zinobe's advanced technological and analytics capabilities to provide integrated credit solutions targeting SMEs and consumers across Latin America. The business combination puts Tangelo in a leading competitive position with a combined track record of more than USD 1 billion in funding, 3 million loans granted, and USD 500 million in assets-under-management with a positive net income. The company will continue to grow its existing business lines with a focus on developing embedded solutions through its corporate and institutional partnerships. Tangelo has several important differentiating factors, given its diverse product and risk management capabilities spanning both consumer and business, which will enable more complete offerings. This strategy will open a substantial addressable market across LatAm, which includes not only nearly USD 2 trillion consumer and USD 350 billion SME credit markets per 2019 data, but also the significant underserved sectors in both markets, which Tangelo is able to access through proven experience in alternative risk assessment. The IDB estimates a USD 1.2 trillion gap in LatAm's market; a meaningful opportunity. Tangelo will also strengthen its distribution and risk management capabilities through its newly formed Capital Markets division which will expand financial institution and fund relationships to promote an efficient balance sheet strategy. The company has already applied a variety of funding and de-risking structures working with local and international investors. The new group will focus on optimizing leverage and funding costs through financial structuring and the flexibility brought from the technologically advanced infrastructure. Alejandro Monzo, co-CEO of Tangelo, commented: "This combination has been progressing for almost two years, since our companies began working together on our Mexico joint venture. We realized very quickly that we shared a vision, as well as the capabilities that meaningfully complemented each other. We identified a clear market need for this solution, which we are clearly best positioned to address." Tarek El Sherif, co-CEO of Tangelo, added: "I'm very proud to be working with this talented team that has already begun executing on our business plan. Importantly, we have validated our vision almost immediately, closing several significant partnerships across Latin America spanning multiple products in the consumer and SME space." About Tangelo Tangelo is a Latin American financial technology company specializing in alternative credit and with over 25 years of experience developing bespoke credit solutions for consumers and SMEs in the region. Through a proprietary technology platform and data driven models, Tangelo manages a diverse set of tailor-made products ranging from point-of-sale financing, supply chain financing, asset-based lending, credit scoring as a service, and end-to-end white label digital credit solutions for numerous industries. About Zinobe Zinobe is a leading Fintech company, focused on building alternative lending products for the underserved populations of Colombia and Mexico. The company offers products to clients in the consumer, SME, and Fintech-as-a-service markets. Through its proprietary platform and scoring methodologies, Zinobe has successfully operated its business models across the region with more than 3 million transactions and consistent triple-digit growth throughout its history. About Mexarrend Mexarrend has grown to become one of the largest asset-based lending companies in Mexico over the last 25 years. The company specializes in financing solutions for fast-growing and underserved small and medium enterprises (SMEs), for the acquisition of productive assets and equipment to support their growth. Mexarrend provides competitive and reliable sources of financing through its four main products: capital leases, financing, operating leases, and renting. Forward Looking Statements This document includes "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "forecast," "intend," "seek," "target," "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "estimate," "plan," "outlook," and "project" and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. Such forward looking statements include estimated financial information. Such forward looking statements with respect to revenues, earnings, performance, strategies, prospects, and other aspects of the businesses of Mexarrend, Zinobe or the combined company after completion of the Business Combination are based on current expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Investor Relations [email protected] SOURCE Mexarrend, S.A.P.I. de C.V. MELBOURNE, Fla., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Preeclampsia Foundation announced today that Merck for Mothers has awarded new funding for its program, MoMMA's Voices, a national coalition of patient advocacy organizations and individuals with "lived experience" or those that represent them. Merck for Mothers is Merck's global initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die while giving life. Patient advocates in training With this new grant, MoMMA's Voices is preparing to engage hundreds of new patient and family partners (PFPs) across the U.S. in 2022. This program teaches both advocates and providers how to use the Lived Experience Integration framework to engage as partners wherever maternal health improvements are needed. How the Lived Experience Integration and sharing of personal stories is making an impact: Leads to a more focused commitment by quality improvement teams Creates a culture of trust and acceptance between patients, families and providers Reveals new solutions and insights through patient perspectives Identifies confusing or missing pieces of processes Assists in developing action plans and recommendations Contributes to the content and design of materials Pilots and tests new materials and processes Expands research participation and information collection The U.S. continues to face a maternal mortality crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 60% of these deaths are preventable. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) are disproportionately affected. MoMMA's Voices is providing grant writing, execution, and reporting support specifically for BIPOC led organizations to build capacity to address this head-on. This effort will aim to increase BIPOC representation as patient and family partners nationwide. "MoMMA's Voices breaks down silos between maternal health organizations to amplify lived patient experiences that represent the voices of the women and their families affected by maternal health conditions," said Eleni Tsigas, chief executive officer of the Preeclampsia Foundation. "The continued funding of our patient-centric work ensures patients continue to have a role in addressing the U.S. maternal health crisis." About MoMMA's Voices MoMMA's (Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Advocates) Voices is the first-ever maternal health patient advocacy coalition established in 2018, to amplify the voices of people who have experienced childbirth complications or loss - especially those who have been historically marginalized - ensuring they are equipped and activated as partners with providers and researchers to improve maternal health outcomes. This is a program of the Preeclampsia Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and is supported by a grant through Merck for Mothers. For more information, visit mommasvoices.org and preeclampsia.org. Contact: Laney Poye 321.421.6957 [email protected] SOURCE Preeclampsia Foundation BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Morphoceuticals Inc. hailed the results of a long-term study published by its founders in Science Advances showing the successful regeneration of limbs in Xenopus laevis (African clawed frog). This is the first demonstration of functional limb regeneration in a species that does not show spontaneous regeneration of complex limbs in adulthood. Approximately 185,000 amputations, the surgical removal of a limb, are performed in the United States each year and it is expected that nearly 3.6 million people will be living with the loss of an arm or a leg by 2050. (Amputee Coalition) Michael Levin, Vannevar Bush Professor of Biology at Tufts University and David Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Engineering at Tufts are co-founders of Morphoceuticals Inc., demonstrated along with their team: regrowth, marked tissue repatterning, and functional restoration of an X. laevis hindlimb following a brief, 24-hour exposure to a novel multidrug, pro-regenerative treatment delivered by a wearable bioreactor. Regenerated tissues composed of new skin, bone, vasculature, and nerves significantly exceeded the complexity and sensorimotor capacities of the study's controls. Levin stated that "Organisms such as X. laevis, whose limited regenerative capacities in adulthood mirror some of the key limitations of humans, are important models with which to test interventions and discover triggers that could restore both form and function". Kaplan added "These data demonstrate our ability to successfully 'kickstart' endogenous regenerative pathways in vertebrates; however, translation of these findings to mammals remains to be demonstrated as a next key step in this process". Greg Bailey, MD, CEO at Juvenescence Ltd., the originating funder of Morphocueticals, noted "Drs. Levin and Kaplan are pioneering new approaches to enable the regeneration of functioning limbs, tissues, and organs. These findings herald the first application of a new of new set of tools that will be further developed by Morphoceuticals and will allow us to explore new approaches to regenerative treatment in ways that are truly unique". He added that "The potential applications are aimed at one day helping patients overcome the burden of loss of organs and limbs in ways that traditional medicine cannot,and that was why Juvenescence invested and continues to be so supportive of Morphoceuticals' scientific platform." Publication Reference Murugan et al., Sci. Adv. 8, eabj2164 (2022) 28 January 2022 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj2164 About Morphoceuticals Inc. Based in Massachusetts, Morphoceuticals Inc. is a biotechnology company co-founded by Drs. Levin and Kaplan and funded by Juvenescence Ltd. Morphoceuticals is a biotech company pioneering bioelectric approaches to access anatomical programming that is a core component of our biological operating system. Using proprietary combinations of ion channel and gap junction modulators, we are focused on inducing limb regeneration, improving amputation stump health, promoting organ regeneration, and the treatment of channelopathies. For more information see: www.Morphoceuticals.com About Juvenescence Ltd. Juvenescence Ltd. is a life sciences company developing therapies to modify aging and increase healthy human lifespan. It was founded by Jim Mellon, Dr. Greg Bailey and Dr. Declan Doogan. The Juvenescence team consists of highly experienced drug developers, entrepreneurs, marketers and investors with a significant history of success in the pharmaceutical and consumer health sectors. The company is committed to inspiring and equipping the world to not just reimagine what it means to get older but to help people reimagine their lifetime. Juvenescence has a broad portfolio of products in development and is driving innovation amongst four divisions: JuvRx Focused on traditional prescription medicines to modify aging and prevent diseases; JuvLife Consumer products that manage aging and help increase health span; JuvDataScience Rapidly improving the development of new drugs, artificial intelligence and machine learning to drive incredible efficiency and effectiveness in drug development; and JuvRegeneration Positioned at the frontier of cell and tissue regeneration, to address the ravages of age and disease that require new cells and tissues to be regenerated. For more information: https://www.juvlabs.com Contact Information: Media contact: Jacqueline Jeha, MPH +1.401.374.0955 [email protected] SOURCE Morphoceuticals In conjunction with Change Research, Higher Heights for America, the only national organization exclusively dedicated to harnessing Black women's political power from the voting booth to elected office, conducted a poll this month of 500 Black women voters. When asked about the future of the Supreme Court, 86% of Black women voters say they support prioritizing nominating the first Black woman to the Supreme Court when the next seat becomes available. There is a great deal at stake for this next Supreme Court nomination, and Higher Heights wants to ensure that the voices of Black women are at the forefront of these decisions. "Black women are a pivotal voting bloc, and this polling data lays out why the time is now for a Black woman justice on the Supreme Court," said Glynda C. Carr, President, and CEO of Higher Heights. "Black women have shown how powerful our activism and organizing can be in politics, yet we are still grossly underrepresented in leadership on every level. There are zero Black women on the Supreme Court, zero Black women in the Senate, zero Black women Governors, and zero Black women have ever served as President of this country. There is no doubt that Black women are uniquely qualified to lead in these roles, and we call on President Biden to address this major gap in representation and ensure that our country's leadership is fully reflective of the people it serves, beginning with our nation's highest court." Glynda Carr is available for interview request; please contact [email protected]. Higher Heights for America is the only national organization providing Black women with a political home exclusively dedicated to harnessing their power to expand Black women's elected representation and voting participation, and advance progressive policies from the voting booth to elected office and creating the environment for Black women to run, win and lead. For additional information, visit https://www.higherheightsforamerica.org. Contact: Aprill O. Turner [email protected] (929) 724-0359 (M) SOURCE Higher Heights for America Spinnaker Support sponsored the project through Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), an agnostic technology research and advisory firm, to identify and survey dedicated Salesforce decision-makers, architects, developers, and administrators. The goal was to identify the approaches that are working for organizations looking to optimize their Salesforce ecosystems. The findings from this new research provide undeniable evidence that upfront investment in discovery with users and retaining external experts are integral steps to any successful Salesforce platform implementation. The survey captured a range of opinions and comments that are shared verbatim in the report. The research findings include: Whether your Salesforce implementation is going live in one release or incrementally, user involvement should not be relegated to requirements gathering at the beginning and training at the end. Keep users involved throughout the process. Deliver changes incrementally starting with the biggest business problem and then addressing the next challenge. This will cause less stress for users and mitigate impact to business practices. Businesses that augmented their internal team with an experienced external service vendor rated the best success with Salesforce projects and implementation. Managed services providers achieved the highest scores. "The secret to maximizing your Salesforce ROI as your business grows and changes is to figure out the best way to continually configure and deploy new features and updates," stated Chad Stewart, Vice President of SaaS Global Support Services at Spinnaker Support. "You will know that you have found the right balance of support investment when you are releasing meaningful improvements on a continuous cadence that pushes your business forward. This research includes advice on how to do exactly that." To access the four winning strategies, plus additional insights and quotes from experienced Salesforce professionals, download the paper from the Spinnaker Support web site. About Spinnaker Support Spinnaker Support provides global enterprise software support, managed services, and project-based consulting to many of the world's most recognized and respected brands. Founded in 2008, our customer focus, business integrity, and depth of expertise have earned us the trust and loyalty of over 1,300 organizations located in 100+ countries. Our dedicated international team works closely with every customer to ensure they receive exceptional, customized services that clear the way for their operational success. Today, Spinnaker Support is proud to be the industry's highest-rated provider for software support services for Oracle, SAP, Microsoft, and Salesforce. As a Salesforce Partner, Spinnaker Support offers managed services and consulting to help organizations sustain, grow, and expand their Salesforce ecosystem. Our certified Salesforce administrators, developers, and architects assist organizations to increase the adoption and performance of their platform. For over a decade, we have delivered high return-on-investment support for critical CRM and other enterprise software applications. For more information, visit our website. Media contact: Michelle Wilkinson, [email protected] SOURCE Spinnaker Support SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. and LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Peregrine Market Access, a leading life science commercialization partner, has been selected by Nonagen Bioscience to become its contract commercialization organization for Oncuria, a breakthrough bladder cancer diagnostic test that is being developed to aid in detection, therapy choice, and disease monitoring. Under a multiyear, multimillion dollar agreement, Peregrine Market Access will lead the United States launch of Oncuria. "After an extensive search for the right commercialization partner, we are confident that Peregrine Market Access is the optimal choice to help us succeed in bringing Oncuria to market," explains Nonagen Bioscience CEO Charles Joel Rosser, MD, MBA. "John Guarino and his world-class team not only have the experience and expertise to help us navigate the complexities of launching a novel device in the United States, but they also share our passion to improve the lives of people living with chronic, life-threatening conditions." Nonagen Bioscience's Oncuria is a cutting-edge multiplex immunoassay that measures 10 protein biomarkers associated with bladder cancer using easy-to-collect urine samples. Oncuria is currently being investigated to aid in the diagnosis of bladder cancer and to monitor people with early-stage bladder cancer for cancer recurrence. Additionally, the ability of the Oncuria assay and a proprietary algorithm that uses the 10-biomarker molecular signature is being investigated to predict whether patients with intermediate- to high-risk, early-stage bladder cancer will respond to bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), a first-line treatment for bladder cancer, or whether they should proceed with other treatment options. Oncuria received Breakthrough Device Designation from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in September 2021 for predicting the response to BCG therapy. That designation acknowledges the utility and potential clinical benefit of Oncuria and allows for expedited review with the FDA. "We are excited to become an extension of the team at Nonagen Bioscience to advance a game-changing immunoassay in the fight against bladder cancer," says John Guarino, president and founder of Peregrine Market Access. "This partnership with Nonagen Bioscience will enable Peregrine to showcase the breadth and depth of our capabilities and, most importantly, to contribute to the noble work of saving people's lives through timely intervention." Nonagen Bioscience aims to give physicians and patients an effective diagnostic tool to improve clinical outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. The statistics surrounding bladder cancer demonstrate the unmet needs that exist: Each year, there are an estimated 84,000 new cases of bladder cancer diagnosed and more than 700,000 people living with bladder cancer in the United States.1 It is the fourth most common form of cancer in American men.2 Up to 77% of early-stage bladder tumors treated with current approaches (tumor resection and/or intravesical BCG or chemotherapy) will recur.3 More than half of patients who receive BCG as the first-line treatment for bladder cancer will fail to respond, and in 20% of patients the disease grows and extends during or after BCG treatment.4,5 ABOUT PEREGRINE MARKET ACCESS Peregrine Market Access is a full-service commercialization partner to the life science industry with capabilities in consulting, communication, and execution phases of market access and brand campaigns. Peregrine's business units include Strategy and Consulting, Market Access Communications, Research and Analytics, Value Modeling, Reimbursement Solutions, Value Chain Public Relations, Media Mapping, and Contract Account and Sales Team services. Through its work, Peregrine helps people living with chronic and/or life-threatening conditions to gain access to FDA-approved diagnostics and treatments. Peregrine, which is on a mission to change the way healthcare is valued in the United States, earned national recognition as one of America's fastest-growing private companies in 2021 by Inc. 5000. The company is headquartered in Saratoga Springs, New York, and also has an office in Santa Monica, California. Learn more at PeregrineMarketAccess.com. ABOUT NONAGEN BIOSCIENCE Nonagen Bioscience is an early-stage biotechnology company focused on globally reducing the burden of cancer with innovative diagnostics. The Los Angelesbased company is committed to bringing to the market best-in-class, non-invasive diagnostics for cancer detection, therapy choice, and disease monitoring. Learn more at Nonagen.com. References: 1. National Cancer Institute. Cancer Stat Facts: Bladder Cancer. Accessed January 11, 2022. seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/urinb.html 2. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2021. Atlanta, GA: American Cancer Society; 2021. 3. Ritch CR, Velasquez MC, Kwon D, et al. Use and validation of the AUA/SUO risk grouping for nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer in a contemporary cohort. J Urol. 2020;203(3):505-511. doi:10.1097/JU.0000000000000593 4. Witjes JA. Management of BCG failures in superficial bladder cancer: a review. Eur Urol. 2006;49(5):790-797. doi:10.1016/j.eururo.2006.01.017 5. Matulay JT, Li R, Hensley PJ, et al. Contemporary outcomes of patients with nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer treated with bacillus Calmette-Guerin: implications for clinical trial design. J Urol. 2021;205(6):1612-1621. doi:10.1097/JU.0000000000001633 Media Contact: Jenny Sparano +1-518-832-3034 [email protected] SOURCE Peregrine Market Access BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese military spokesperson on Thursday expressed hopes for the defense departments of China and European countries to enhance communication and coordination in order to jointly safeguard true multilateralism and regional peace and stability. Wu Qian, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a press conference. According to Wu, the Chinese military held strategic consultations with its British and French counterparts over defense affairs via video link on Jan. 12 and 13, respectively. During the talks, the Chinese military and its counterparts shared views on military exchanges and cooperation, regional security, as well as the development of armed forces and national defense. The Chinese side stated its position on and concerns over matters involving Taiwan and the South China Sea, urging relevant parties to strictly adhere to the one-China principle, Wu said. All sides agreed to enhance strategic communication, exchanges and cooperation to increase mutual trust and properly manage differences, according to Wu. HUNTINGTON, Ind., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc., (OTCQB: NIDB), the parent company of First Federal Savings Bank, has announced that the Corporation will hold its twenty seventh annual shareholders' meeting on April 26, 2022 at 1:00 PM local time. The meeting will be held in the boardroom of First Federal Savings Bank at 100 Frontage Road, Huntington Indiana. The holders of record date for the annual meeting will be March 7, 2022. The Company also announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per common share. This cash dividend will be payable on February 24, 2022 to common shareholders of record on February 10, 2022. The book value of NIDB's stock was $40.49 per common share as of December 31, 2021. The last reported trade of the Company's stock at the close of business on January 26, 2022 was $43.76 per common share and the number of outstanding common shares was 1,205,435 as of the same date. The annualized dividend yield is currently 2.7% when annualizing the current quarter cash dividend of $0.30 per common share against the January 26, 2022 closing price of $43.76 per common share. Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc. is headquartered at 648 N. Jefferson Street, Huntington, Indiana. The company offers a full array of banking and financial brokerage services to its customers through its main office in Huntington and five full-service Indiana offices in Huntington (2), Warsaw and Fort Wayne(2). The Company is traded on the OTC Markets Group, Inc. (www.otcmarkets.com) utilizing the OTCQB platform under the symbol "NIDB". Our web site address is www.firstfedindiana.bank. SOURCE Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc. Health Canada list identifies select companies that can supply psilocybin to approved applicants through the Special Access Program for patient treatment VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Numinus Wellness Inc. ("Numinus" or the "Company") (TSX: NUMI), a mental healthcare company advancing innovative treatments and safe, evidence-based psychedelic-assisted therapies, is pleased to announce that its research facility, Numinus Bioscience, has been included on Health Canada's list of federally licensed psilocybin producers. This list is available by request to those seeking access to psilocybin through the Special Access Program (SAP), and clinical researchers. The SAP is a federal program that allows healthcare professionals to apply for access to non-marketed medications that have not yet been approved for sale, when such medications show clinical evidence of safety and efficacy and are intended to treat patients with severe or life-threatening illness. Earlier this month, Health Canada added certain psychedelic compounds to the SAP that were previously available only through clinical trials. "Through our inclusion, we look forward to collaborating with healthcare providers and other groups to ensure people in need receive efficacious treatments," said Sharan Sidhu, Science Officer and General Manager, Numinus Bioscience. At this time, Numinus Bioscience is prepared to supply psilocybin in whole mushroom form, through three packaged doses equivalent to 10, 15 and 25mg of psilocybin. These doses are produced under Good Agricultural and Collection Practices and tested for potency and impurities to support patient safety and practitioner confidence. With sufficient clinical data, Numinus may also make available other products that are currently being developed in its IP pipeline, should those meet the standards identified by Health Canada. With its Dealer's License and research facility, Numinus Bioscience is permitted to conduct several activities in addition to the production of psilocybin, including assembly, sale, export, analytical testing and R&D of ketamine, LSD and MDMA. "Numinus is glad to see Health Canada committing to broadened mental healthcare access, starting with those in most need," said Payton Nyquvest, CEO and Founder, Numinus. "As clinical evidence grows, we look forward to making more treatments available and further advancing the development of psychedelic therapies and mental health innovations." About Numinus Numinus Wellness helps people to heal and be well through the development and delivery of innovative mental health care and access to safe, evidence-based psychedelic-assisted therapies. The Numinus model including psychedelic production, research and clinic care is at the forefront of a transformation aimed at healing rather than managing symptoms for depression, anxiety, trauma, pain and substance use. At Numinus, we are leading the integration of psychedelic-assisted therapies into mainstream clinical practice and building the foundation for a healthier society. Learn more at numinus.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Forward-Looking Statements Statements and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and "intend" and statements that an event "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements even if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. SOURCE Numinus Wellness Inc. EDMESTON, N.Y., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- For the 8th consecutive year, NYCM Insurance has received the Nation's Best and Brightest in Wellness award for its highly successful employee wellness program and other wellness practices. The National Association for Business Resources (NABR) hosts the more than 20-year-old program to highlight companies for promoting employee well-being, worksite health, and wellness. Winning companies were evaluated in areas such as: outcomes, analysis, tracking, participation & incentives, benefits and programs, leadership, employee input, culture, and environment. "The Best and Brightest is a powerful community of elite leaders who share ideas and practices, and have proven they are employers of choice. Best and Brightest winning companies have also been a voice for important action in creating a sustainable culture that works and ensuring the wellbeing of their employees come first," said Jennifer Kluge, President and CEO, NABR and the Best and Brightest Programs. NYCM has emphasized the importance of a balanced, all-encompassing wellness routine for employees through its "365 Passport to Wellness" program. The program encourages employees to live a happy and healthy lifestyle by participating in a well-rounded, sustainable wellness routine 365 days a year. Participation in the wellness program is tracked, and employees are given annual incentive opportunities for taking part. "We are excited and proud to accept this award for the 8th year in a row," said Lexi Wilcox of NYCM's People Development Team. "Our wellness program has continued to grow and thrive during COVID-19. Our employees and leadership team are truly dedicated to this program as we adapt to the ever-changing world around us and focus on staying strong and healthy as a team." To learn more about NYCM's award winning wellness program, click here. Contact : Jeremy Robinson, Senior Vice President of Customer Relations Management [email protected] 800-234-6926 SOURCE NYCM Insurance OKLAHOMA CITY, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Unity Rd., the cannabis dispensary franchise from Item 9 Labs Corp. (OTCQX: INLB), announced today it has signed its first partner through its Local Alliance Program with an Oklahoma City dispensary, Ringside Medical. The shop is located at 14201 N. May Ave. #205 and will be rebranded to Unity Rd. Unity Rd. launched the Local Alliance Program in 2021 to support local dispensary ownership. Through the program, existing cannabis dispensary owners and license holders can partner with Unity Rd. to gain direct access to the buying power, resources and supportive network normally reserved for multi-unit operators. Partners through this program retain 100% ownership of their dispensary license and business and benefit from the tools, expertise and ongoing support necessary to compliantly and successfully operate a dispensary. "The U.S. cannabis landscape is comprised of small, independent entrepreneurs and giant, multi-state operators," said Unity Rd.'s Chief Franchise Officer Mike Weinberger. "With the added layer of complexities that cannabis brings by being federally illegal and so highly regulated, it is challenging for independents to compete with conglomerates that have teams of industry experts who are dedicated to compliance, accounting, marketing, etc. and know how to navigate the intricacies of cannabis." Weinberger continued, "The franchise model gives prospective and existing dispensary owners a fighting chance by empowering them with the knowledge, relationships and ongoing support they need to be compliant and focused on growing their business, rather than stuck in day-to-day management." "Having the supportive network of a franchise will be a tremendous weight off us and our team," said Ringside Medical Co-Owner Robin O'Grady. "Cannabis is complicated. You need to constantly be on your toes and able to pivot at a moment's notice. By joining Unity Rd., we're expanding our team with experts who have operated cannabis businesses in multiple states and gaining several other benefits that will positively impact our future growth." The Local Alliance shop is primed for growth as Oklahoma's medical cannabis market has surpassed $1.5 billion in revenue since legal sales began in 2018. The state has one of the largest medicinal programs in the U.S. with about 10% of the population, nearly four million residents, having obtained a medical card. Further, Oklahoma activists have already filed two ballot measures this year to legalize adult-use cannabis and overhaul the state's medical cannabis system. "We're hopeful this Local Alliance shop will be the first of many Unity Rd. shops across Oklahoma," said the marijuana franchise's Vice President of Franchise Development Justin Livingston. "We're confident that our team can help owners increase their dispensary's value within their local communities." In addition to Oklahoma, the cannabis franchise is actively seeking partnerships with existing dispensary owners across the United States who would benefit from the systems, processes and ongoing support the franchise offers. Unity Rd. also partners with industry newcomers and currently has multiple agreements signed with nearly 20 entrepreneurial groups who are in various stages of development nationwide. The franchise offers one of the safest routes for cannabis entrepreneurs looking to stake their claim in the fast-growing, complex industry. Backed by time-tested Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and an accomplished team boasting more than 200 years of combined experience in cannabis and franchising, franchise partners are guided through every operational function of the business whether it be assisting with cash flow, product selection or changing regulations. To learn more about the Unity Rd. Local Alliance Program, contact [email protected] or call 480-542-9420. For more information about the Unity Rd. Franchise Opportunity, contact [email protected], call 720-923-5262 or visit unityrd.com. About Unity Rd. Unity Rd. is bridging the two previously disconnected worlds of cannabis and franchising. The industry trailblazer is the first to bring the cannabis dispensary franchise model to the United Stateswith duality of prowess in both industries to back it up. Built up from a collective 200 years in the legal cannabis industry and franchising, the company helps eager operators enter the complex industry with ease. The marijuana franchise pioneer offers its partners the knowledge, resources, and ongoing support needed to compliantly and successfully operate a dispensary. Launched in 2018, Unity Rd. has signed multiple agreements with nearly 20 entrepreneurial groups across the country. Recently, it was named one of the top cannabis retail leaders in the nation by MJBizDaily magazine and one of the "Best Cannabis Companies to Work For" in both the dispensary and cultivation categories in Cannabis Business Times' elite 2020 list. The company is also the first cannabis business to earn a Franchise Times Dealmakers award. For more information, visit unityrd.com. About Item 9 Labs Corp. Item 9 Labs Corp. (OTCQX: INLB) is a vertically integrated cannabis operator and dispensary franchisor delivering premium products from its large-scale cultivation and production facilities in the United States. The award-winning Item 9 Labs brand specializes in best-in-class products and user experience across several cannabis categories. The company also offers a unique dispensary franchise model through the national Unity Rd. retail brand. Easing barriers to entry, the franchise provides an opportunity for both new and existing dispensary owners to leverage the knowledge, resources, and ongoing support needed to thrive in their state compliantly and successfully. Item 9 Labs brings the best industry practices to markets nationwide through distinctive retail experience, cultivation capabilities, and product innovation. The veteran management team combines a diverse skill set with deep experience in the cannabis sector, franchising, and the capital markets to lead a new generation of public cannabis companies that provide transparency, consistency, and well-being. Headquartered in Arizona, the company is currently expanding its operations space by 650,000+ square feet on its 50-acre site, one of the largest properties in Arizona zoned to grow and cultivate flower. For additional information, visit item9labscorp.com. Media Contact: Marisa Beaumont Fishman PR [email protected] 847-945-1300 Investor Contact: Item 9 Labs Corp. [email protected] 800-403-1140 SOURCE Unity Rd. The four appointments include internal promotions for key executive positions including Jim Batson and Matt Harrison as Managing Directors and co-Chief Investment Officer(s) US. In their new roles, Jim and Matt oversee all aspects of Omni Bridgeway's investment management, due diligence processes and operations in the US. Jim joined Omni Bridgeway in 2014 as Senior Investment Manager, Director of Business Development and Structuring US and is head of the New York office. Matt joined the company as Senior Investment Manager, Director of Complex Strategies US and head of San Francisco Bay Area operations, which he launched in 2015. While the joint appointment both supports and reflects Omni Bridgeway's progress on its global and US growth strategy, it also ensures seamless business continuity as Allison K. Chock, former Chief Investment Officer US stepped down on December 31, 2021. This planned transition includes Allison continuing as a member of the US Investment Committee and director of the US operating entity. Andrew Saker, Omni Bridgeway's Managing Director & CEO and Chief Strategy Officer, notes "As leaders in our industry, Jim, Matt, and Allison each represent our team's unparalleled experience across legal, risk and funding. I congratulate Jim and Matt on their new roles while thanking Allison for her exceptional business stewardship for the past 8 years including her invaluable contributions through our recent global merger. We could not be better positioned in the US through the leadership of Allison, Jim, and Matt, and our full investment team." C-line Appointments In addition, two C-line appointments have been made in newly established positions. The team welcomes marketing veteran Lindsay Hamilton as Global Chief Marketing Officer. Based in New York, Lindsay brings over 20 years of experience in marketing, business development and industry leadership in AmLaw Global 100 firms and professional and financial services, as an executive and consultant working internationally. Lindsay will lead the expansion of Omni Bridgeway's global brand and marketing strategy and operations. Also in New York we congratulate Tina Young on her promotion to Chief Administrative Officer US. Tina joined the team in 2019 with 25 years of experience in financial services and IT companies including Deloitte, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. Her expertise spans data governance and analytics, compliance, major projects, client solutions, strategic sourcing, vendor management and operations. On these appointments, Andrew Saker notes "Our ability to attract, retain and promote top talent is indicative of Omni Bridgeway's position as the world leader in litigation finance and legal risk management." ABOUT OMNI BRIDGEWAY Omni Bridgeway is the global leader in litigation financing and managing legal risk, with expertise in civil and common law legal and recovery systems. With international operations based in 20 locations, Omni Bridgeway offers dispute finance from case inception through to post-judgment enforcement and recovery. Omni Bridgeway is listed in the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:OBL) and includes dispute funders formerly known as IMF Bentham Limited, Bentham IMF and ROLAND ProzessFinanz, and a joint venture with IFC (Part of the World Bank). For more information visit www.omnibridgeway.com CONTACT: Lindsay Hamilton | Global Chief Marketing Officer | +1 646 357 3529 | [email protected] SOURCE Omni Bridgeway VIENNA, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With a total of US$1.5 billion committed in 2021, the OPEC Fund for International Development made a strong contribution to the global development agenda last year. The OPEC Fund, which marks its 46th anniversary on 28 January, focused on helping its partner countries to increase economic resilience, strengthen economic growth and job creation through support for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), provided much-needed funding for infrastructure investments and responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with the full deployment of its US$1 billion facility. OPEC Fund Director-General Abdulhamid Alkhalifa said: "Thanks to our strong financials and close relationships with our partner countries and clients, the OPEC Fund was able to respond quickly and effectively to the pressing needs in these countries in 2021. Our strong delivery benefited a wide range of projects that aim to address people's needs and improve their livelihoods. While we continue to pursue the Sustainable Development Goals, we have also been able to make a sizeable, swift and effective contribution to the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As we mark our 46th anniversary and start a new year, our 2021 performance inspires us with confidence and ambition to deliver another sizeable contribution to development this year." The OPEC Fund's standing as a multilateral development institution was also recognized in 2021 by Fitch and S&P, two of the world's leading rating agencies. In their inaugural assessment of the OPEC Fund, Fitch awarded a rating of AA+/Outlook Stable, emphasizing the Fund's "excellent capitalization", while S&P assigned a AA/A-1+, Positive Outlook rating and underlined the OPEC Fund's "strong funding and liquidity positions". Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the OPEC Fund established a US$1 billion facility which was fully utilized by the end of 2021. In coordination with partner countries and other donors, the Fund adopted an agile approval process, enabling the rapid deployment of urgently needed financing. Operations under the COVID-19 facility included a US$70.5 million loan to Jordan in support of a government action plan and a US$10.0 million facility to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises in Maldives. A breakdown of operations shows that US$496 million of committed amounts was earmarked for the financial sector, traditionally used for on-lending to MSMEs or women-led businesses. Other sectors included agriculture (US$211 million), transport and storage (US$205 million), energy (US$153 million), commodity aid (US$137 million), water & sanitation (US$20 million) and healthcare (US$15 million). Cross-cutting multisector projects received US$246 million. In the energy sector, the OPEC Fund financed award-winning projects, which will significantly increase access to energy in partner countries and help address energy transition. In cooperation with international partners, the OPEC Fund provided loans to support the construction and operation of the Sirdarya power plant in Uzbekistan, the largest private sector-led project in the country to date, and the Temane gas power plant in Mozambique, which is expected to meet the electricity demand of up to 1.5 million households. OPEC Fund financing was directed to support public sector development initiatives in partner countries with US$686 million (46 percent), while trade finance amounted to US$444 million (30 percent) and private sector loans totaled US$353 million in 2021. In terms of regional distribution, engagements in Africa came to US$770 million (51 percent), followed by Asia with US$536 million (36 percent) and Latin America and the Caribbean with US$177 million (12 percent). The adoption of an enhanced ESG policy in 2021 by the OPEC Fund's Governing Board marked another milestone in the implementation of the institution's Strategic Framework 2030. The Framework is designed to enable the OPEC Fund to expand its operations and deepen its impact to address long-term challenges such as the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic and social impact. An important step towards this goal is leveraging the OPEC Fund's strength by deepening the cooperation with international development institutions and partner organizations. In 2021, the OPEC Fund co-financed projects, among others, with the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, IFAD, the Arab Coordination Group, the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The OPEC Fund also signed an agreement to enhance and promote cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean with the Andean Development Bank (CAF Corporacion Andina de Fomento). About the OPEC Fund The OPEC Fund for International Development (the OPEC Fund) is the only globally mandated development institution that provides financing from member countries to non-member countries exclusively. The organization works in cooperation with developing country partners and the international development community to stimulate economic growth and social progress in low- and middle-income countries around the world. The OPEC Fund was established by the member countries of OPEC in 1976 to drive development, strengthen communities and empower people. Our work is people-centered, focusing on financing projects that meet essential needs, such as food, energy, infrastructure, employment (particularly relating to MSMEs), clean water and sanitation, healthcare and education. To date, the OPEC Fund has committed more than US$22 billion to development projects in over 125 countries with an estimated total project cost of US$187 billion. The OPEC Fund has been rated AA+/Outlook Stable by the rating agency Fitch and AA/A-1+, Positive Outlook by S&P in 2021. Our vision is a world where sustainable development is a reality for all. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1584526/OPEC_Fund_Logo.jpg SOURCE OPEC Fund for International Development Each year, World NTD Day draws attention to the more than 1.7 billion people living with NTDs in some of the most marginalized communities around the globe. One of those NTDs, trachoma, is the world's leading infectious cause of blindness. Globally, an estimated 1.9 million people are blind or have vision impairment due to the disease. Trachoma is highly contagious, but it is easily treatable with antibiotics if it is caught early. In December 2021, Orbis initiated a mass drug administration (MDA) across 102 districts in Ethiopia's Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People's Region (SNNPR), Sidama, and the new Southwest Region. Orbis ultimately administered more than 12.3 million doses of the antibiotic Azithromycin in these regions, where the burden of trachoma remains particularly high. In 2021, Orbis also performed more than 16,000 surgeries in cases where trachoma infections had progressed to trachomatous trichiasis, a painful condition in which scarring causes the eyelid to turn in on itself and the eyelashes to scratch the eye, ultimately leading to blindness. [For photos and case stories from Orbis's December 2021 MDA, please see here.] Prior to the pandemic, MDAs took place in community settings in Ethiopia, but preventing the spread of COVID-19 has required that the Orbis team take a door-to-door approach in all MDAs since 2020. While safer, the process is nearly twice as time-consuming. "This World NTD Day, Orbis is proud to join the WHO and more than 300 other organizations coming together to combat NTDs. We know this work is integral to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 around good health and well-being," says Dr. Alemayehu Sisay, Country Director for Orbis Ethiopia. "Our team has remained committed to continuing to distribute sight-saving antibiotics, even as we've faced hurdles from the pandemic to recent events in Ethiopia because we know how restoring vision changes lives and communities." Over the past 23 years, Orbis has administered over 94.2 million doses of donated Azithromycin to the community residing in the SNNPR, achieving the elimination threshold for trachoma in 38 districts across the region, as of 2021. Orbis has also conducted more than 190,400 trachomatous trichiasis surgeries and has established more than 320 primary eye care units staffed with a total of 336 Integrated Eye Care Workers. Good hygiene practices, such as face- and handwashing, also play a crucial role in combating trachoma because of its highly contagious nature. That is why Orbis has supported the construction of communal and school latrines as well as protected water points in the southern region of Ethiopia. Over the past 23 years, Orbis Ethiopia, in collaboration with local partners, has constructed a total of 130 latrine blocks and installed 36 water points throughout communities and schools. We partner with organizations that have experience and resources in behavioral change, which is an integral part of our trachoma-elimination program. Orbis also leads trachoma-related research, including conducting more than 160 trachoma impact and surveillance surveys across Ethiopia's SNNPR between 2017 and 2021. In collaboration with the Global Trachoma Mapping Project (GTMP), the Federal Ministry of Health, SNNP Regional Health Bureau, and other partners, Orbis helped conduct the surveys that quantified the prevalence of trachoma across the entire SNNPR in 2013. Such work is critical to track progress in eliminating the disease and to target prevention efforts most effectively. Orbis is also working with renowned academic institutions on research that will improve trachomatous trichiasis surgery management to reduce recurrence. About Orbis International Orbis is a leading global non-governmental organization that has been a pioneer in the prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness for four decades. Orbis transforms lives by delivering the skills, resources and knowledge needed to deliver accessible quality eye care. Working in collaboration with local partners, including hospitals, universities, government agencies and ministries of health, Orbis provides hands-on ophthalmology training, strengthens healthcare infrastructure and advocates for the prioritization of eye health on public health agendas. Orbis operates the world's only Flying Eye Hospital, a fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an MD-10 aircraft, and an award-winning telemedicine platform, Cybersight. For the past nine consecutive years, Orbis has achieved Charity Navigator's coveted four-star rating for demonstrating strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency, placing Orbis in the top 3% of U.S. charities. To learn more, please visit orbis.org. MEDIA CONTACT Kristin Taylor Head of Global Communications and Marketing [email protected] SOURCE Orbis International MELBOURNE, Fla., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Orion180, a homeowners insurance provider leveraging advanced technology to serve independent insurance agents in the Southeastern U.S., announces record growth and significant best in the industry milestones. The company is pleased to continue tracking towards growth projections and providing a superior five star rated experience for both retail brokers and homeowners. Since its inception in 2017, Orion180 has prided itself on its two greatest assets. Its best-in-industry team of employees, and the best-in-class technology it provides customers. A key differentiator for Orion180 is its technology. The proprietary system was envisioned and developed to make the lifecycle of a homeowners' policy easy, accurate and manageable for retail brokers and homeowners. On the agent side, simplicity is key. Orion180's technology allows retail brokers to quote and bind a policy quickly and accurately in a no-touch environment within a matter of minutes. To date, the company has achieved an impressive measure of growth YOY and has maintained profitability annually since its inception. Additional notable growth metrics and milestones include: Orion180 became cash flow positive in one year From 2020 to 2021, the organization grew by over 400% Orion180 holds one of the industry-best 46% loss ratio, and expects to continue to drive that ratio down in 2022 In 2021, the company experienced substantial growth in their independent agency base by adding more than 2,000 independent agents, further expanding its distribution base to over 4,300. Orion180 anticipates more than doubling this base again in 2022 Orion180 remains on track to achieve 250% growth in 2022 Orion180 remains on pace to exceed $150 million of direct written premium in only its 5th year of writing business in 2022, while only operating in six states "I'm so proud of this company and what we've accomplished to date," said Ken Gregg, CEO and Founder of Orion180. "We've proven that we really know how to grow in the right way. We're going to keep focusing on what we know best, technology and people. We've shown we know how to make a name for ourselves in this industry, and we're so excited for what the future holds for us. We have several initiatives in our pipeline for the first half of 2022 that we're excited about bringing to our customers. Orion180 has the technology and the focus to change this industry." With over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, Gregg's vision and leadership has proven invaluable to the Orion180 team and its growth. As a Florida native Gregg also feels very strongly about developing a charitable culture in the organization and giving back to the communities where Orion180 operates. In January 2021 the company introduced its Star Outreach Program. For each new policy that the company writes, they allocate a fixed amount towards a charitable fund, which is distributed to local organizations and causes that are important to the company and its agency partners. In 2021, the company donated over $160,000 to nonprofit organizations across the Southeast through the program. Headquartered in Florida, Orion180 operates in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia with plans to continue expanding in 2022. For more information about the Star Outreach Program, please visit https://www.orion180.com/community-involvement/. About Orion180: Orion180 is a homeowners insurance provider leveraging advanced technology to serve independent insurance agents in the Southeastern United States. Providing a combination of human interaction and unsurpassed technology, Orion180 enables real time quoting, binding, and issue functions in a matter of minutes. The company simplifies the homeowners insurance process, providing products that are innovative, fast, and secure. Its product has an A- A.M. Best rating, which means consumers are protected even for the most severe losses. Learn more at https://www.orion180.com/. SOURCE Orion180 Following the Pei Wei acquisition, heavy emphasis was placed on restructuring the company. Part of the restructuring focused on pivoting to digital sales and improving the spirit, culture, and leadership of the organization. Also, the menu was greatly enhanced by Chef Jet's culinary ingenuity. This led to an extraordinary economic turnaround with digital sales of 55%. Just as Pei Wei began to take off with their digital service model during Covid, Chef Jet Tila launched a trio of signature dishes, highlighted by the incredibly craveable, and low-calorie Thai Coconut Curry, along with the Spicy Korean BBQ Steak and Thai Basil Cashew Chicken. Chef Jet's innovative recipes and unique flavors were an instant hit with guests. Rolling into 2021, Chef Jet continued to work with the Pei Wei team on amazing new recipes for House Special Chicken, Mongolian Green Beans, and a Spicy Drunken Noodles dish, which became an instant fan favorite. During Cinco de Mayo, Chef Jet introduced the limited time Asian Nachos with crispy wonton chips drizzled in Sriracha mayo. The biggest launch of the year came over the summer with the Firecracker Chicken and Tofu. Loaded with explosive sweet and spicy flavors, Firecracker Chicken instantly became the top selling item on the Pei Wei menu. All launches were supported by a fun and creative marketing strategy layered throughout digital channels, like the "Intoxicatingly Delicious" campaign for Drunken Noodles or "Witch better have my Pumpkin Spice" ad to introduce a Pumpkin Spice Donut LTO during the Fall. Chef Jet hosted zoom events where he would cook his new recipes to an audience of influencers. Pei Wei has more big plans for 2022! In addition to new restaurants, ghost kitchens and digital kitchens, Pei Wei is launching Grilled Bourbon Chicken in February, which is expected to become one of their most successful launches ever. Stay tuned for more Tila dishes and innovations at Pei Wei throughout the year. Bio: Pei Wei Asian Kitchen is the second largest Chinese fast casual restaurant chain in the US. Our delicious and innovative wok'd to order recipes are prepared with fresh ingredients and bold sauces. Pei Wei currently operates 119 locations in 17 states in the US and licenses 13 nontraditional units in airports and college campuses. SOURCE Pei Wei OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report sponsored by Asset Funders Network (AFN) and produced by the University of California, Berkeley's Urban Displacement Project (UDP), delivers concrete findings from a newly developed mapping tool focused solely on People of Color (POC) small businesses in the Bay Area . The research both confirms that the economic fragility that was exposed by the impacts COVID-19 has its roots in historic, systemic inequities and provides promising policy recommendations to support POC-owned businesses moving forward. POC-owned businesses in the Bay Area In response to poor data availability on the impacts to local People of Color (POC) owned businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area, UDP conducted a multi-stage process throughout 2021 that culminated in the creation of 1) an online mapping tool that identifies vulnerable POC owned-businesses in the Bay Area and 2) a set of reform policies for engaging stakeholders in supporting POC-owned businesses. "This mapping tool provides us with deeper insight into the challenges facing small businesses owned by people of color in the Bay Area and gives us concrete policy solutions to support their longer-term economic resilience," said Manuel J. Santamaria, VP Community Action, Silicon Valley Community Foundation. "If we truly want change, the time is now to invest in the necessary policy reforms." The neighborhood vulnerability mapping identifies concentrations of BIPOC-owned businesses across all ZIP codes in the nine-county Bay Area region. Across all sectors, 29% of businesses are POC-owned. The sectors with an over-representation of POC-ownership include transport and warehousing, accommodation, administration, personal services and food services. Top findings from the mapping analysis: Twenty-nine percent of all businesses in the nine-county Bay Area region are estimated to be POC-owned. There are an estimated 6,238 minority-owned businesses across Oakland , Redwood City , Richmond , San Jose , San Francisco , and South San Francisco . Nearly half of minority-owned small businesses identified across the six study areas are Asian-owned. The majority of minority-owned small businesses are concentrated in San Francisco (37%) followed by Oakland (29%) and San Jose (26%). Approximately one-third of minority-owned businesses identified across the six cities also own their commercial properties. Latinx-owned businesses and Black-owned businesses had lower rates of access to PPP loans compared to Asian-owned businesses. Owner-occupancy rates are higher for child care and arts businesses (at 65% and 46%, respectively). Food and beverage services has the lowest owner-occupancy rate at 30%, which means that 70% of food and beverage services businesses rent their current premises. The map shows that without targeting vulnerable POC-owned businesses, policy interventions may be ineffective. Policy recommendations in the latest report are developed around four themes (1) access to capital, (2) commercial displacement mitigation, (3) small business support systems, (4) data collection and grew out the one-on-one conversations and focus groups UDP held with local stakeholders, including city governments, various ethnic chambers of commerce, economic development directors, CDFIs, and small business associations. The conversations served as ground-truthing exercises, but also helped surface resources such as technical assistance, loans, and marketing to help POC businesses recover. The Urban Displacement Project (UDP) is a research and action initiative of the University of California Berkeley and the University of Toronto. UDP conducts community-centered, data-driven, applied research toward more equitable and inclusive futures for cities. The research aims to understand and describe the nature of gentrification, displacement, and exclusion, and also to generate knowledge on how policy interventions and investment can support more equitable development. Support for this project was provided by Y&H Soda Foundation, Richmond Connects, Friedman Family Foundation, JP Morgan Chase, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, eBay Foundation, and the Walter & Elise Haas Fund. Contact: Jennifer Farland, [email protected] , 202-297-1261 Mona Masri, Senior Director, [email protected] , 415-608-6848 SOURCE Asset Funders Network KIEV, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed and five others wounded in a shooting by a serviceman of the Ukrainian National Guard at an aerospace factory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the interior ministry said Thursday. The incident occurred around 3:00 am local time (0100 GMT), the ministry said, adding that the attacker opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle for unknown reasons and immediately fled the scene. A special police operation has been launched in Dnipropetrovsk and neighboring regions to search for the suspect, local media said. CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Disruption Potential opportunity worth USD 5 Bn is expected to open up for green hydrogen, as hydrogen production using renewables cost heads to USD 1.3/kg. The green hydrogen market is projected to be valued at USD 4,373 Mn by 2026, at a CAGR of 58.0%, owing to the lowering cost of producing renewable energy by all sources, development of electrolysis technologies, and high demand from FCEVs and power industry. More than 200 projects were announced with over USD 70 Bn public funding, with more than 85% of global projects originating in Europe, Asia, and Australia. Hydrogen Council membership grew from 60 to 100 in one year, with more than 16-fold increase expected through 2030. It is expected that there would be a 60% cost reduction in Green H2 production by 2030. According to MarketsandMarkets analysis, There is ~USD 6 Bn potential within the hydrogen ecosystem, more than half of which is contributed by green hydrogen production driven by the need to find clean energy solutions. potential within the hydrogen ecosystem, more than half of which is contributed by green hydrogen production driven by the need to find clean energy solutions. Hydrogen generation market is estimated to grow at a healthy CAGR of 9-10% in the coming 5 years, driven by government regulations for desulphurization and demand for long term renewable energy. Global hydrogen projects involving green hydrogen production will facilitate decarbonization in the coming years, presenting huge growth opportunities to energy companies. Adjacent markets hold potential of over USD 32 Bn in hydrogen economy, majority of which is contributed by methanol production. in hydrogen economy, majority of which is contributed by methanol production. In hydrogen economy market, we are witnessing an increased adoption of electrolyze technology which can disrupt the demand for hydrogen, in turn impacting the growth of the market. Currently, businesses have low access to primary intelligence to clarify some unknowns and adjacencies in these opportunity areas Increased focus on hydrogen-based economy for applications such as power generation or fuelling cars and buses, that during combustion can cause less carbon emissions has led to increased investments in the enhancement of strong hydrogen-based economy. Furthermore, the hydrogen generation market is driven by the increased government regulations for desulphurization and greenhouse gas emissions. The rise in consumption of hydrogen by petroleum refineries has increased recently due to clean-fuel programs, which require refiners to produce low-sulfur gasoline and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. The blue hydrogen segment is expected to grow at the highest growth rate owing to the increasing demand for capturing and reusing carbon emissions. Adjacent markets such as solid oxide fuel cells, solid oxide electrolyzers, flow batteries, and required services to provide immense growth opportunities Some of the growth problems encountered by companies in the EV ecosystem are: Customer prioritization and assessing unmet needs: What are the disruptions in our clients' businesses? How can we support them for our own growth? Who are the most potential customers going forward? Should we prioritize personal mobility or shared mobility? What are the key unmet needs of customers? Who are the key stakeholders in different settings? Do vendor selection criteria differ by settings? Which new product features should be added to the existing products? Where to play: Which technology should we focus on? Should it be green hydrogen, gray hydrogen, or any other? Which regions should we place our bets on? Should we continue with developed countries or do developing countries offer more growth opportunities? Building a compelling Right-to-Win (RTW): Should we enter new markets directly or through partners? How can we differentiate from top players? What is their right-to-win vs ours? Key uncertainties/perspectives which industry leaders seek answers to: For hydrogen companies: How are other peers realizing their diversification goals of shifting from grey hydrogen production to other cleaner forms of production? What are the various Green Hydrogen (GH) technologies that are at different stages of maturity? Which GH technologies should we integrate into our portfolio that offers best RoI, and long-term technology advantage? What are the various innovative technology solution providers that we can acquire, and where? Who can we partner with to offer best customer services e.g., GH combined with Energy storage? What are the customer needs and requirements? What are some of the unmet needs? Rate and rank various purchase criteria: Product/service features Quality Innovation Price Branding For Companies in Adjacent markets: Not able to keep pace with fast evolving hydrogen industry - new technologies are emerging leading to increasing government initiatives. What are the key regulations surrounding fuel cells? Major Market Trends and Dynamic - How is client's current business position and strategy aligned with industry dynamics, disruptions, and opportunities? What are the key components that the clients are keen on? When fuel cells tipping point can be achieved? Competitive Landscape and Market Share Rankings - Assessment of client's competitive position and product offerings vs. major competitors. What should be our key differentiations/ Value Proposition in company's offerings? Many start-ups and emerging companies eating up market share of established companies. Which are the key regions for fuel cells? Therefore, MarketsandMarkets research and analysis focuses on high-growth and niche markets, such as green ammonia, environmental technology, power to gas, solid oxide fuel cells, and related markets, which will become ~80% of the revenues of hydrogen ecosystem in the next 5-10 years. Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/practices/pdfdownload.asp?p=hydrogen-economy About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 7500 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "Knowledge Store" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Aashish Mehra MarketsandMarkets INC. 630 Dundee Road Suite 430 Northbrook, IL 60062 USA: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] SOURCE MarketsandMarkets BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bob Bolduc and ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC ("ArcLight") today announce that the Pride retail chain of stores has been sold to an affiliate of ArcLight for an undisclosed amount. Based in Springfield MA, the Pride chain totals 31 convenience stores and travel centers, 8 vacant parcels for future development, 15 Subway franchises and 15 Chester's Chicken franchises. All are located throughout Western Massachusetts and Northern Connecticut. "The Pride stores are high-quality sites with a history of exceptional performance. Their progress into electrical vehicle charging infrastructure will be a great fit with ArcLight's energy transition focus," said Collin Krehbiel, Vice President at ArcLight. "We look forward to working and growing with the entire Pride team." Founded in 1917 by Bob Bolduc's grandfather as a horse and carriage business, Pride recently celebrated its 100th anniversary. Pride is well known for friendly service, clean and professional facilities, signature fresh and healthy foods, and competitively priced gasoline and diesel fuels. Bob Bolduc is particularly pleased that he found a buyer who would keep the company and their employees intact and continue to provide them with future advancement and growth potential. "Our employees and our community are family," said Bolduc. "They have always been here for us, and I am pleased that Pride will continue to acknowledge and repay that loyalty." ArcLight will continue to use the Pride name. Marsha Medina, Pride's president for the last 10 years, will act as President and Chief Executive Officer of Pride. About Bob Bolduc Bolduc has a reputation as an innovator and was the first in the Commonwealth to offer automatic fire suppression systems, sell diesel at all locations, sell biofuel, and to offer fresh, healthy foods via drive-through windows at the Pride chain of convenience stores. In 2010 he was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year in Western Massachusetts. The Bolduc family, well known for their community support of local nonprofits, has promised to expand their charitable giving through the Bolduc Schuster Family Foundation that has been established. Plans are also underway to begin a second charitable organization, the Hope Foundation for Youth and Families, that will allow additional philanthropic capabilities. All such efforts will continue to concentrate on local charities only. About ArcLight Founded in 2001, ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC is one of the leading energy infrastructure firms, helping pioneer an asset-based approach to investing in the energy sector. ArcLight has invested approximately $25 billion in 113 transactions since inception. Based in Boston, the firm's investment team employs a hands-on value creation strategy utilizing its in-house technical, operational, and commercial specialists, as well as the firm's approximately 1,500-person asset management affiliate. ArcLight has a deep track record of investing in businesses and assets that contribute to a decarbonized future, closing its first renewable power deal in 2003 with over $4 billion invested in renewable power transactions since then. ArcLight believes its two decades of power and renewables experience, along with its deep track record across the energy value chain, provide differentiated insights that will help the firm and its partners contribute to a net zero future. More information about ArcLight can be found at https://www.arclight.com/ . SOURCE ArcLight Capital Partners CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Proliant Settlement Systems, a turnkey title company ownership system, will deploy paymints.io technology among its title agency franchisees. The paymints.io solution is a secure, digital, white-label SaaS platform, designed to simplify the process of sending and receiving payments in real estate transactions. The paymints.io system empowers home buyers to transfer funds for earnest money deposits or cash to close directly from their bank accounts to the Proliant franchisee's escrow account. Using this proprietary technology, the franchisee can also disburse funds to clients or vendors. A disbursement to all clients and vendors can be initiated within 60 seconds, eliminating the cumbersome process of printing and mailing paper checks or multiple phone calls to confirm routing and wiring instructions. Proliant Settlement System will deploy paymints.io technology among its title agency franchisees. Tweet this With the addition of the paymints.io platform, Proliant now offers a number of tools designed to streamline the title and settlement process to its over 30 title franchisees. According to Brooke Sharrard, Operations Manager of Proliant Settlement Systems, enhancing the franchisee and improving their clients' experience is always top of mind. "Unfortunately, the title industry is not always known for its ready adoption of new technologies. We're taking the bold stance of leading with innovation, and paymints.io solves a very real problem facing the industry today." Brooke continued, "Its feature-rich platform and scalability will not only support, but power the growth of our franchisees." The paymints.io platform's multi-purpose application is designed to remove the operational burden of manually dealing with paper checks and also helps to defend against wire fraud. The system not only collects earnest money deposits or cash for closing, but also offers an expansive vendor marketplace featuring real estate agents, mortgage brokers, real estate attorneys, and other service providers who may be due funds or payment at closing. "With a background in title operations, we understand the operational foundation required for success and we applaud the products and services Proliant is offering its franchisees," said Amit Doshi, COO of paymints.io . "We're just glad to be a part of their innovative approach." About Proliant Settlement Systems, LLC: Proliant Settlement Systems is a turnkey title company ownership system that offers qualified entrepreneurs an opportunity to own their own title company, complete with all the financial and operational advantages. Driven to help franchisees take control of their futures, Proliant system effectively eliminates the traditional, and often difficult, barriers to entry. At present, the service is available in Florida and Michigan with planned expansion into other states in 2022. For more information on Proliant Settlement Systems, please visit www.proliantsms.com . About paymints.io On a mission to eliminate paper checks and reduce wire fraud in the real estate industry, paymints.io is the provider of a secure, digital, white-label SaaS platform that allows buyers to transfer funds for many types of real estate transactions. Escrow holders and settlement agents can also disburse funds to clients or vendors using its proprietary platform. In 2021, paymints.io was awarded HousingWire's Tech100 Real Estate Award. For more information on paymints.io, please visit www.paymints.io . Contact: Jason Doshi, CEO, [email protected], 888-921-1090 SOURCE Paymints.io CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The voting public says it's time to strengthen food safety regulations to protect consumers, according to a Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP) poll. This poll comes after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced its intent to strengthen poultry Salmonella standards. Salmonella is a top cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Chicken and turkey are major contributors to Salmonella illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CURRENT POULTRY SAFETY ISSUES, REGULATIONS AND STANDARDS Current USDA rules have failed to reduce Salmonella illness rates from previous decades. Salmonella standards haven't been meaningfully updated for over 25 years, even though scientific knowledge to prevent Salmonella illnesses has advanced. Current regulations do not effectively target the riskiest Salmonella found in poultry, nor do they optimize proven tools to prevent and control the bacteria likeliest to make people sick. STOP CEO Mitzi Baum says, "Current USDA standards are scientifically outdated and not enforceable. Poultry contaminated with Salmonella in violation of USDA's current 'performance standards' can still be sold with USDA's 'mark of inspection.'" STOP POLL RESULTS This national poll , sampling one thousand diverse registered voters, asked if the USDA should impose stricter regulations on poultry production to reduce Salmonella and other illnesses. Key findings include: High awareness of the problem 87% of voters know about Salmonella poisoning and illnesses related to contaminated poultry. poisoning and illnesses related to contaminated poultry. Very broad, bipartisan support for stricter standards 86% of voters favor stricter standards 89% of Democrats, 84% of Independents, and 84% of Republicans. Equally broad support for enforceable standards 86% supporting prohibiting sale of products failing to meet safety standards 88% of Democrats, 82% of Independents, and 86% of Republicans. "Consumers want to trust that the food they eat is safe," adds Baum. "We applaud USDA Secretary Vilsack for initiating this reform process. Leadership now needs to be courageous, focusing on real action that significantly reduces Salmonella illnesses and deaths." PARENTS WANT ACTION "Action can't wait," urges STOP board member Amanda Craten. In 2013, Craten's 18-month-old son Noah was one of the youngest victims of the multi-state Foster Farms Salmonella outbreak. The disease seeded in his brain. A life-saving craniotomy removed large abscesses that would have killed him. His family has since spent years providing intensive therapy for his post-illness issues, including sensory motor deficits and learning, language, and cognitive disorders. He still struggles at age nine. "The USDA must act now to enact enforceable standards to prevent these illnesses and deaths," says Craten. About Stop Foodborne Illness (STOP): STOP is a 28-year-old non-profit collaborating with survivors and victims' families to advocate for and support best practices and continuous improvement in food safety. In addition to constituent support and policy advocacy, STOP facilitates collaboration between illness survivors and food companies to bring these personal experiences into company trainings and food safety culture programs. Media Contact: Nikoleta Morales 773-750-1616 [email protected] SOURCE STOP Foodborne Illness SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Qatar Airways announced it has appointed Discover the World as its General Sales Agent (GSA) for its passenger business in Argentina, Uruguay, Peru and Colombia. This decision will assist Qatar Airways in strengthening its presence and outreach to potential customers in these South American markets and will feed into Qatar Airways' double-daily flights to/from Sao Paulo, Brazil. This partnership includes providing sales, marketing, and overall sales support services to agencies. In addition, this will feed into Qatar Airways more than 100 weekly flights from 12 U.S. gateways. The national carrier of the State of Qatar continues to rebuild its network, which currently stands at more than 140 destinations. With more frequencies being added to key hubs, Qatar Airways offers unrivalled connectivity to passengers, making it easy for them to connect to a destination of their choice. "Qatar Airways continues to strive for excellence in all areas of the business and we seek partners that share similar aspirations," said Craig Thomas, Vice President Sales Americas for Qatar Airways. "We believe we have found such a partner in Discover the World, the leader in global outsource sales, to help us expand our footprint in South America." "We are pleased that Qatar Airways has partnered with Discover to assist them in these markets and hope this will lead to further success for this new partnership," said Charlie Ryan, Vice President Latin Region for Discover the World. "Discover has the experience, industry knowledge and personnel to generate strong growth for this carrier." For more information about Discover the World, visit discovertheworld.com, or call (480) 707-5566 About Qatar Airways A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was recently announced as the 'Airline of the Year' at the 2021 World Airline Awards, managed by the international air transport rating organization, Skytrax. It was also named 'World's Best Business Class', 'World's Best Business Class Airline Lounge', 'World's Best Business Class Airline Seat', 'World's Best Business Class Onboard Catering' and 'Best Airline in the Middle East'. The airline continues to stand alone at the top of the industry having won the main prize for an unprecedented sixth time (2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021). About Discover the World Discover the World has earned a reputation as an innovative global sales representation leader in the travel industry through a worldwide network of 85 offices in more than 60 countries. With a portfolio of over 100 clients utilizing its sales, marketing and business process outsourcing services, the work of Discover the World has a direct positive impact on the growth of our clients and trade industry partners every day. SOURCE Discover the World HOUSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Quanta Services, Inc. (NYSE: PWR) announced today that its Board of Directors has named Redgie Probst, Quanta's President Electric Power Division since March 2019, as the company's Chief Operating Officer (COO). Duke Austin, Quanta's President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), had served as the company's COO since 2013. "I have worked closely with Redgie and admired his reputation in the industry prior to Quanta's acquisition of Probst Electric in 2013. We share the same vision for operations with a focus on safety, operational excellence and culture," said Duke Austin, Quanta's President and CEO. "Redgie has meaningfully contributed to Quanta's success and has assumed increasingly larger roles in the organization, most recently as our President - Electric Power Division. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Redgie in his expanded role as COO and driving long-term value for our employees, customers and stockholders." Redgie Probst commented, "I am humbled by the confidence and trust that Duke and the Board of Directors have in me. I am also honored and excited by the opportunity to help lead Quanta. We have an unmatched workforce of great people who are committed to providing comprehensive infrastructure solutions to meet the needs of our clients." Probst, 45, brings two decades of specialty contracting experience in the electric power infrastructure and other industries as a lineman, entrepreneur and executive. He has served as Quanta's President - Electric Power Division since March 2019. He previously served as our Senior Vice President Electric Power from May 2018 to March 2019 and as Regional Vice President Electric Power from June 2016 until May 2018. He founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Probst Electric, Inc. from 2004 and Summit Line Construction, Inc. from 2008, both of which Quanta acquired in November 2013. Probst attended Utah Valley University for its line workers program and is a certified Journeyman Lineman, Master Electrician and Journeyman Substation Technician. About Quanta Services Quanta Services is a leading specialized contracting services company, delivering comprehensive infrastructure solutions for the utility, renewable energy, communications, pipeline and energy industries. Quanta's comprehensive services include designing, installing, repairing and maintaining energy and communications infrastructure. With operations throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and select other international markets, Quanta has the manpower, resources and expertise to safely complete projects that are local, regional, national or international in scope. For more information, visit www.quantaservices.com. Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements This press release (and any oral statements regarding the subject matter of this press release) contains forward-looking statements intended to qualify for the "safe harbor" from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to expectations regarding Quanta's business or financial outlook and Quanta's ability to deliver increased value or return capital to stockholders; as well as statements reflecting expectations, intentions, assumptions or beliefs about future events and other statements that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, involve or rely on a number of risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict or are beyond our control, and reflect management's beliefs and assumptions based on information available at the time the statements are made. We caution you that actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted by our forward-looking statements and that any or all of our forward-looking statements may turn out to be inaccurate or incorrect. Forward-looking statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions and by known or unknown risks and uncertainties , including, among others, risks and uncertainties detailed in Quanta's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020, Quanta's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended Mar. 31, 2021, Jun. 30, 2021 and Sep. 30, 2021 any other documents that Quanta files with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For a discussion of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, investors are urged to refer to Quanta's documents filed with the SEC that are available through the company's website at www.quantaservices.com or through the SEC's Electronic Data Gathering and Analysis Retrieval System (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov. Should one or more of these risks materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are current only as of this date. Quanta does not undertake and expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Quanta further expressly disclaims any written or oral statements made by any third party regarding the subject matter of this press release. Investors - Kip Rupp, CFA, IRC Media Liz James Quanta Services, Inc. Sard Verbinnen & Co (713) 341-7260 (281) 881-5170 SOURCE Quanta Services, Inc. PARSIPPANY, N.J., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Reckitt, a global consumer products company, has received a score of 95 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index, the foremost benchmarking survey and report in the United States measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Stephanie Huckel, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Lead at Reckitt, North America said: "At Reckitt, we've made it our priority to foster a more diverse, equitable and inclusive culture that provides every individual with a genuine sense of belonging. By participating in the CEI and connecting with our employees, we've gained valuable insights into ways we can evolve to create an even more inclusive and affirming workplace for our employees." Jay Brown, Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Programs, Research and Training added: "When the Human Rights Campaign Foundation created the Corporate Equality Index 20 years ago, we dreamed that LGBTQ+ workersfrom the factory floor to corporate headquarters, in big cities and small townscould have access to the policies and benefits needed to thrive and live life authentically. We are proud that the Corporate Equality Index paved the way to that reality for countless LGBTQ+ workers in America and abroad. But there is still more to do, which is why we are raising the bar yet again to create more equitable workplaces and a better tomorrow for LGBTQ+ workers everywhere." Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine's 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine's top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid- to large-sized businesses. The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: Non-discrimination policies across business entities; Equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ workers and their families; Supporting an inclusive culture; and, Corporate social responsibility. The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. About Reckitt Reckitt* exists to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner, healthier world. We believe that access to the highest-quality hygiene, wellness and nourishment is a right, not a privilege. Reckitt is the company behind some of the world's most recognisable and trusted consumer brands in hygiene, health and nutrition, including Air Wick, Calgon, Cillit Bang, Clearasil, Dettol, Durex, Enfamil, Finish, Gaviscon, Harpic, Lysol, Mortein, Mucinex, Nurofen, Nutramigen, Strepsils, Vanish, Veet, Woolite and more. Every day, more than 20 million Reckitt products are bought globally. We always put consumers and people first, seek out new opportunities, strive for excellence in all that we do and build shared success with all our partners. We aim to do the right thing, always. We are a diverse global team of more than 43,000 colleagues. We draw on our collective energy to meet our ambitions of purpose-led brands, a healthier planet and a fairer society. Find out more or get in touch with us at reckitt.com/us. * Reckitt is the trading name of the Reckitt Benckiser group of companies About Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work. SOURCE Reckitt According to Craig Mason, Chief Executive Officer of Atrium Hospitality, Atrium selected Relay to support innovation in an effort to exceed the requirements of the hotel industry pledge to employee safety. "Innovation is one of Atrium Hospitality's core values, and we encourage Associates' creative thinking and the adoption of new approaches to advance performance and well-being. By collaborating with Relay, we have the opportunity to enhance the safety of our dedicated teams across the United States while also continuing to improve on our commitment to deliver exceptional guest experiences," said Mason. Atrium Hospitality represents widely recognized brands like Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Wyndham. The company operates approximately 21 thousand rooms and 3 million square feet of flexible event space. This agreement will establish Relay's next-generation, voice-first technology as the alert device partner for the operators of dozens of properties across 28 states. The wearable pocket-size device, weighing less than half a pound, will be made available to management, guest services, housekeeping, maintenance, ground transportation and catering. "We are proud to support Atrium to deliver best in class employee safety technology, and further leverage Relay to provide streamlined operations and analytics that drive towards the optimal goal of guest experience," said Barbara Sharnak, Vice President, Business Development & Marketing Strategy at Relay. "We're thrilled that partners like Atrium are actualizing the benefits that come from connecting the entirety of a team through a cloud-connected tool designed for frontline workers." Relay's superior technology will provide the mandated safety protections with customized single button alert features, GPS, and 3D-mapping capabilities that allow for accurate distribution of emergency response teams. The data, analytics, and mapping capabilities of the devices, and their ability to integrate into sophisticated operations systems are recognized for aiding robust operations in finding operational efficiencies. Relay features include: Accountability & verification: Validates employees responsible for delivery or receiving of goods and services via auto-capture. Language translation feature with over 15 available languages for team members to use to communicate more effectively internally and externally. Team communications and notifications via pre-recorded messages for the start and end of shifts. Dashboard: GPS and 3D-mapping capabilities allow logistics to better distribute staff quickly via cloud-connected dashboard features. About Atrium Hospitality Atrium Hospitality is ranked as one of the nation's largest hotel operators. Headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, the company manages a portfolio of 82 hotels in 28 states, representing well-known brands such as: Hilton, Marriott, IHG, and Wyndham, among others. Atrium operates 21,000 guest rooms/suites and approximately 3 million square feet of event space. Atrium Hospitality ranked #1 in customer satisfaction among third-party hotel management companies in the J.D. Power 2021 Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark. Atrium Hospitality's six core values of Service, Perseverance, Inclusion, Respect, Innovation and Teamwork guide the Atrium SPIRIT for creating a welcoming environment for all and encouraging personal growth of the company's Associates. Atrium Hospitality was awarded a Top Workplaces 2020 honor by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atrium supports a range of civic and community activities, and Atrium-managed properties nationwide are proud to take part in Project SEARCH, a school-to-work program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For more information about Atrium, visit www.atriumhospitality.com . About Relay Relay is a communications tool for frontline teams that replaces the smartphone and makes the walkie-talkie obsolete. A product of the team behind Republic Wireless, the push-to-talk, voice-first hand-held Relay device is easier to use than a simple walkie-talkie, has nationwide range with 4G LTE and WiFi, and is built upon a powerful and flexible software platform that can rapidly adapt to the needs of virtually any team. Relay's vision is to empower frontline teams with technology that allows them to safely and quickly connect to the people and information they need to get their jobs done more efficiently. For more information, visit www.relaypro.com . SOURCE Relay FORT WORTH, Texas, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Rent Responsibly and the College of Charleston released the 2022 State of the STR Community Report, a first-of-its-kind nationwide study exploring the impact of short-term rentals on communities, as well as the perspectives of short-term rental operators and local government staff on the management and regulation of short-term rentals. "When we realized that local government staff had largely not been asked important questions about their needs, we began collaborating with the College of Charleston on this important study," said David Krauss, co-founder and CEO of Rent Responsibly . "This research has provided a detailed picture of the STR operator community while simultaneously uncovering opportunities to programmatically improve the ecosystem for all." With a better understanding of the challenges that both cities and operators face as identified through this research and the opportunities for collaboration between the two, communities can design and create informed solutions that improve the experiences of all stakeholders including city personnel, STR operators, and the broader community. Some key findings: The industry is largely individual homeowners and small businesses. Of owners, 70% owned just one STR, and of property managers, 54% managed just 10 or fewer. Many STR owners used their properties flexibly for more than just stays of 30 days or less. Nearly 40% also rented for mid-term stays of 30 days to five months to host non-leisure guests like traveling nurses, hospital patients, and remote workers. On average, STR owners relied on their STR activity for 38.1% of their income. For those who own and manage STRs, that reliance was even higher at an average 56% of their income. Government staff: want to work with the STR community seek collaboration and compliance need help with enforcement Rent Responsibly partnered with the Riley Center for Livable Communities at the College of Charleston on this research. The research was conducted with the financial support of online travel agency Expedia Group , operations platform Futurestay , and other partners. "Bridging the divides between the vacation rental community and local governments is key to our future as an industry," said Philip Minardi, Expedia Group's Director of Public Affairs. "This report is an important step in that effort, highlighting the common concerns and unique opportunities we have to chart a brighter path forward together." "The insights uncovered in this study are promising," said Dr. Brumby McLeod, a Riley Center Research Fellow, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management in the School of Business at the College of Charleston. "For the first time, we're able to see that there is actually a great correlation between STR operators and their local governments, and where there may still be gaps, they are few and easy to bridge." "The foundation of the STR industry continues to be grounded in the homeowners, independent managers, and entrepreneurs and it is amazing to see the data reaffirm that," said Philip Kennard, CEO and co-founder of Futurestay. "We'll continue to see growth in the industry fueled by the emergence of more owners realizing the opportunity to build a life-changing business starts at home. It's critical that we continue to empower these entrepreneurs to succeed and that the local government works in collaboration with its citizens who are actively investing in their community." The research behind the report sought to ask novel questions about short-term rentals (STRs) to two distinct but interdependent audiences. The first was local government staff charged with managing the STR programs in their jurisdictions, interviewed to better understand their unique needs and challenges through questions that had largely not been asked of this audience before. McLeod and his team conducted qualitative interviews with municipal staff members from local governments and destination marketing organizations across South Carolina, Utah, and Colorado. While each focal region represented one of the top tourist destinations in their state, the issues faced in each region were markedly different. The second audience was STR owners and managers who are required to comply with municipal STR regulations. Nearly 4,600 respondents participated in the study via a detailed survey conducted in November 2021. Support for the State of the STR Community research has also been provided by: OwnerRez , Autohost , Ascent Payment Solutions , HostGPO , C2G Advisors , Evolve , and Breezeway . The full report can be downloaded for free here . About Rent Responsibly Founded in 2019, Rent Responsibly is the community building and education platform for local short-term rental alliances. Our tools and alliance management services equip local leaders to build successful, self-sustaining organizations of short-term rental hosts, managers, and all other stakeholders in their communities. We make it easy for leaders and members to connect, collaborate, solve common challenges, advocate for themselves, steward their communities, and rent responsibly. Learn more at RentResponsibly.org. SOURCE Rent Responsibly WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third consecutive year, Reynolds American Inc., the BAT Group's U.S. subsidiary, and its companies (Reynolds) scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation's foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Reynolds' efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria earned a designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality. "Here at Reynolds, we are proud to be among other leading companies promoting LGBTQ+ equality and for us, it's about more than achieving a top score," said Guy Meldrum, Reynolds President & CEO. "Ultimately, we aspire to be an organization with a company culture that is truly representative of the diverse world we live in and consumers we serve." With a long history of participating in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's CEI, 2022 marks the third time Reynolds has scored 100%, which is due, in part, to several policies and actions, including: Inclusive benefits, including parity between same and different-sex spousal and partner benefits and transgender-inclusive health care coverage. A comprehensive parental leave policy with 16 weeks of paid leave for new parents and up to eight months of a reduced work schedule immediately after the paid leave period. Reynolds American Inc. President and CEO, Guy Meldrum's ongoing commitment to the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, pledging, alongside more than 2,000 CEOs, to act on supporting a more inclusive workplace for employees, communities, and society at large. ongoing commitment to the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, pledging, alongside more than 2,000 CEOs, to act on supporting a more inclusive workplace for employees, communities, and society at large. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), including B United, an ERG with a strong mission to foster a sense of inclusivity within the company and celebrate and bring awareness to the LGBTQ+ community. "Our efforts to build on the policies and equitable benefits that are vital to our employees' ability to thrive and live life authentically are never complete," said Anna Dolgikh, Reynolds' Senior Vice President, Human Resources. "We continue to drive change and advance workplace inclusivity at Reynolds." The CEI rates employers providing these crucial protections to over 20 million U.S. workers and an additional 18 million abroad. Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine's 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine's top 200 revenue-grossing law firms (AmLaw 200), and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid-to-large-sized businesses. The full report is available online at www.hrc.org/cei. To learn more about Reynolds' steadfast commitment to diversity and inclusion, visit ReynoldsAmerican.com. About Reynolds American Inc. Reynolds American Inc. is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of the BAT Group, and the U.S. parent company of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company; Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc.; American Snuff Company, LLC; R. J. Reynolds Vapor Company, and Modoral Brands Inc. To learn more about Reynolds American Inc. and its operating companies, please visit www.reynoldsamerican.com. CONTACT: Kaelan Hollon, [email protected] SOURCE Reynolds American Inc. VALLETTA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A series of "Happy Chinese New Year" activities were launched in Malta to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 1 this year. These activities were also staged to celebrate the Beijing Winter Olympics and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Malta. The China Cultural Center in Malta kicked off on Thursday an online Chinese Zodiac cultural and creative exhibition. It will also hold the third Chinese film festival, the Chinese characters exhibition, and the "Imagine China" children's painting competition and exhibition. The center will hold an online Spring Festival gala on Feb. 6 together with the Confucius Institute at the University of Malta, the Mediterranean Traditional Chinese Medicine Center, and the Chinese Medicine Center at the University of Malta. During the Spring Festival, the cultural center will also cooperate with the Chinese Medical Team there to launch online Chinese medicine lectures for Maltese people, according to Yang Xiaolong, director of the China Cultural Center. BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of the sale of River and Mercantile plc (R&M) to AssetCo plc in the UK, its U.S. consulting business has announced a spin-off, creating an independent privately owned investment, actuarial and risk management group. Led by the U.S. management team and rebranded as Agilis, the new entity will remain focused on serving institutional investor clients with the same team in place. The spin-off will reinforce client focus for the organization and better position the team for future growth. Agilis's core business will continue to center around custom solutions delivered through OCIO, actuarial and investment consulting, derivatives management, and pension actuarial and administrative services including annuity buyouts and plan terminations. "This is an exciting opportunity for our business to pursue our growth potential as a strong, independent company," said Tom Cassara, Managing Director. "This milestone builds on our expertise in the industry and allows us to take our services to the next level for our clients." "As we transition our brand, our clients and our people remain our top priorities," commented Michael Clark, Managing Director. "We look forward to creating experiences that are even more intelligent, insightful and interactive. And to find new, innovative and exciting ways to make a difference for our clients and their investment decisions." With approximately 40 professionals across the U.S., Agilis is headquartered in Boston, MA, with other offices in New York, NY; and Denver, CO. The full U.S. consulting team will stay intact, including leadership of the U.S. organization. "While our name is new, we are still committed to the same ideals of how we provide services to our clients," added Cassara. "We've never been more focused on providing exceptional experiences for our clients and raising the bar on the level of service we deliver." About Agilis Agilis is the flexibility to find solutions where others forgot to look. Focused on outsourced CIO (OCIO), actuarial and investment consulting, derivatives management, and pension administrative services including annuity buyouts and plan terminations, we find new, innovative and exciting ways to improve the outcomes for our clients. SOURCE Agilis LINDEN, N.J., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- RNG Energy Solutions, LLC, a New Hampshire-based developer of complex energy infrastructure projects, announced today that it has completed the development phase of the Linden Renewable Energy Project ("LRE" or "LRE Project"), a large organic waste anaerobic digester project located in Linden, New Jersey. The LRE Project has secured all the City of Linden, Union County and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection required permits necessary to start construction. The LRE Project will be constructed on a 21-acre site that is located in a heavily industrialized area on Tremley Point Road. In addition, the LRE Project has received approval from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority for $214 million in Industrial Development Revenue Bonds and is working with Citigroup Global Markets Inc., which is serving as the Bond Underwriter. The Industrial Development Revenue Bonds transaction is expected to close in Q1 of 2022. Starwood Energy Group Global, LLC, a private investment firm that specializes in energy infrastructure investments, and RNG Energy will be committing a total of up to $100 million in equity. James Potter, President of RNG Energy and Linden Renewable Energy, states: "We have developed an exceptional project development and equity ownership team that will take this project to the next phase of completing the bond financing and starting construction shortly thereafter." Himanshu Saxena, CEO of Starwood Energy Group, states: "LRE is a groundbreaking project that will provide an environmentally sustainable path to solving a growing waste disposal problem in the United States. Furthermore, the renewable natural gas produced by LRE will enable decarbonization of the natural gas supply chain. Our investment in LRE reflects our commitment to the sustainable energy transition space and to ESG friendly investments." The LRE Project will use proven advanced anaerobic digesters to convert organic waste into biomethane, which will be upgraded to pipeline quality standards. The renewable natural gas ("RNG") will then be directed via an interconnection to Elizabethtown Gas, a subsidiary of South Jersey Industries system located near the Project site. The LRE Project design was a collaborative effort between RNG Energy, SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions and LRE's EPC provider, Phoenix Power Group. Darrell Jenkins, CEO of Phoenix Power Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quanta Services Inc., states: "We have worked on numerous successful engagements with Jim's team in the past and are enthusiastic about participating as the EPC provider. Renewable fuel production is a strategic area of excellence for Phoenix and we are pleased to put forward our execution capabilities in support of the RNG project." The LRE Project has also executed a long-term Operations and Maintenance Services agreement with SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions, who provides similar services for anaerobic digester projects and waste water treatment projects throughout the world. The LRE Project is designed to receive up to 1,400 tons per day of diverted organic waste which it will process into 3,300 dekatherms per day of renewable natural gas. This is the energy equivalent of 28,400 gallons of gasoline each day. The LRE Project will have a direct interconnection to Elizabethtown Gas, a subsidiary of South Jersey Industries. The Project will also produce 260 cubic yards per day of a high value soil amendment material. Ralph Daley, Senior Vice President of RNG Energy confirms: "Virtually everything we receive would have gone to a landfill and, with this project, will now be converted to a high value renewable natural gas and soil amendment. This project provides the optimized sustainable solution for managing diverted organic waste." The project will also use 3.2 megawatts (MW) of Bloom Energy solid oxide fuel cells to provide primary power for the facility and digester, bolster energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and optimize power generation costs. RNG Energy and Bloom completed a separate 6MW project on Long Island in 2020. Mr. Potter notes: "We are maximizing the application of every possible viable technology to provide the optimized sustainable waste management and RNG production solutions for our partners. This is what our customers expect. The LRE Project will be one of the largest carbon reduction resources in the state of New Jersey." Significant site work has already been completed with the elevation of the site being increased by a remarkable 7 feet and construction of 1,600 feet of new bulkhead along the Arthur Kill and Rahway Rivers. The LRE Project includes development and construction of multiple off-site food waste preprocessing and depackaging operations to be located in New York City, New York state and New Jersey. The LRE Project will provide a sustainable and competitive waste management service within a 40mile metro region with over 18 million residents. The same region has implemented aggressive organic waste diversion regulations that need a sustainable anaerobic digestion project solution. Mr. Potter notes: "We are not aware of any project site within this proximity to NYC that affords the superior capacity to receive barges combined with close proximity to the I-95 transportation corridor. These optimized transportation logistics make the project the preferred low carbon and low-cost provider of organic waste management services." "The City of Linden has been a proud host community for the Project," states Linden Mayor Armstead. "This is another in a long list of renewable energy projects that the City has completed. We have supported the LRE Project throughout the development phase and we definitely appreciate the investment in our City and the hundreds of union construction jobs that come with it. This is a long-term renewable and sustainable solution to waste management and we look forward to our continued association with the Project and its sponsors." About RNG Energy Solutions: RNG Energy Solutions is a successful developer of complex energy infrastructure projects. The RNG Energy Team has completed development of multiple projects using and deploying diverse energy and project solutions. These include gas fired combined cycle, mid merit generation, biomass, biogas (anaerobic digesters), landfill gas and fuel cell projects. About Starwood Energy Group Starwood Energy Group is a private equity investment firm based in Greenwich, Conn., that specializes in energy infrastructure investments. Through its existing general opportunity funds and affiliated investment vehicles, Starwood Energy has raised in excess of $3 billion of equity capital and has executed transactions totaling more than $8 billion in enterprise value. For more information, please visit starwoodenergygroup.com. SOURCE RNG Energy Solutions HOUSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Seven families filed a lawsuit against Treehouse Academy child-care center, alleging repeated neglect and abuse of their children in 2020. Video surveillance obtained by the Crockett Police Department reveals that several employees at Treehouse Academy physically and verbally abused the children, violated the minimum standards for child-care centers required by the State of Texas, and failed to teach the agreed-upon curriculum. Owned and operated by Lindsay McCall Rice, Treehouse Academy was cited by the State of Texas numerous times for failing to meet minimum child-care center standards. The lawsuit alleges additional violations of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission minimum standards, including not only the failure to hire qualified staff and train existing staff, but also negligence in failing to adequately supervise and manage staff. The families also allege Treehouse Academy intentionally or negligently destroyed evidence, including video surveillance of the neglect and abuse suffered by the children. This ordeal shocked the families leaving lasting effects, including diagnoses of PTSD that dramatically affects their everyday lives and leaves them uncertain of the long-term impact. In May 2020, three Treehouse Academy employees were arrested after a parent filed a police report. One employee's background check revealed she had a previous criminal record with charges of assault and family violence. Following the investigation, she was also found responsible for the neglectful supervision of children, among other things. The Treehouse Academy failed to disclose the other two employees' background checks, but further investigation revealed at least one of the other employees had prior instances of criminal conduct as well. "The owner and director of Treehouse Academy made the decision to hire these individuals despite their criminal background," said Leger. "Regarding at least one employee, the State of Texas warned, 'do not let this woman be alone in a classroom with children' but Treehouse Academy ignored this warning. As a result, multiple children were terrorized and repeatedly abused for months. I intend to obtain justice for these victims and to make sure that this facility never abuses another child." The latest development in the case comes from a recent deposition from State of Texas representative Deborah Homman, the childcare coordinator for WorkForce Solutions, Deep East Texas. Homman served as Treehouse Academy's Texas Rising Star mentor, which required her to visit the childcare center and provide advice on how to improve their score for Texas Rising Star program. Homman testified under oath that the abuse that occurred in this case, all while under the care and supervision of Lyndsey Rice, the director/owner of Treehouse Academy, was disgusting and outrageous and could cause lifelong consequences to the children. She also testified that under Texas law, Treehouse Academy is responsible for the abuse and that Lyndsey Rice's actions constituted gross negligence especially the rehiring of one of the abusers without notifying the State of Texas. Ms. Homman further testified that Lyndsey Rice should resign as director or the State of Texas should shut down the Treehouse Academy. Trial is scheduled for April 2022. About Leger Ketchum & Cohoon, PLLC Leger Ketchum & Cohoon, PLLC is a full-service law firm practicing in a wide variety of areas, from personal injury and products liability to most aspects of business transactions and dispute resolution. With offices in The Woodlands, Boerne and Dallas, and a team of thorough and innovative attorneys, the firm is driven to provide high-quality legal services with integrity, professionalism and respect for all. For more information, please visit www.lkclawfirm.com, email [email protected] or call 888.508.6005. SOURCE Leger Ketchum & Cohoon, PLLC NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Volkswagen AG ("Volkswagen" or the "Company") (OTCMKTS: VWAGY) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Alexandria Division, and docketed under 22-cv-00045, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Volkswagen American depositary receipts ("ADRs") between March 29, 2021 and March 30, 2021, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violation of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased or otherwise acquired ADRs of Volkswagen during the Class Period, you have until March 15, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here for information about joining the class action] Volkswagen AG (known internationally as the Volkswagen Group) is one of the world's leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. The Group comprises twelve brands from seven European countries: Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, SEAT, SKODA, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Ducati, Scania, and MAN. Each brand has its own character and operates as an independent entity on the market. The product spectrum ranges from motorcycles to small cars and luxury vehicles. Defendant Volkswagen AG operates 118 production plants in 20 European countries and 10 countries in the Americas, Asia and Africa. Volkswagen AG sells its vehicles in 153 countries. Volkswagen AG is a German corporation with its principal executive offices in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Volkswagen's ADRs trade over-the-counter under the ticker symbol "VWAGY." Defendant Volkswagen AG is the parent corporation and sole owner of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. Volkswagen AG directly controls and directs the actions of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., which acts as its agent in the United States. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. It operates a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee and houses the U.S. operations of Volkswagen's brands including Volkswagen, Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, the company has approximately 8,000 employees in the United States and sells its vehicles through a 1,000-strong dealer network. On March 29, 2021, Volkswagen published a "draft" of a press release on its website for a short time with the incorrect date of "April 29," announcing its purported name change from "Volkswagen" to "Voltswagen." The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding Volkswagen's business and operations. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the name "Voltswagen" was never going to be used by the Company's U.S. subsidiary; (ii) the Company and its spokespeople purposefully misled reporters, even after the reporters' inquiries about whether the name change was an April Fool's joke; and (iii) as a result, Defendants' public statements and statements to journalists were materially false and/or misleading at all relevant times. On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, still two days before April Fool's Day on April 1, The Wall Street Journal ("WSJ") reported that a spokesman for the Company in Wolfsburg, Germany stated that "[t]he whole thing was just a marketing action to get people talking about the ID.4." The WSJ also quoted a Company's official back in Germany: "[t]here will be no name change." On March 31, 2021, Agence France-Presse ("AFP") quoted Volkswagen AG's spokesman, Deputy Head of Corporate Communication, Christoph Ludewig: "Volkswagen of America developed . . . a national US marketing campaign, with a wink, to draw attention to Volkswagen's e-offensive. From the start, the goal was to generate attention for an important corporate and industry topic in the USA. The large amount of positive feedback on social media shows we achieved this goal. At the same time, we regret if in the eyes of some, we overshot the mark of the campaign." AFP also reported that "[r]eporters reacted angrily to the stunt, with some pointing out that it was tone-deaf coming from a company still recovering from the 2015 'dieselgate' scandal, when Volkswagen was forced to admit it had for years used cheating software in cars to dupe emissions tests." Phil Chetwynd, Global News Director of AFP, wrote to the Company to protest against the deception, stating: "We understand when a spokesperson is not in a position to confirm or comment on a piece of information. But we never expect them to make false statements. We strongly think serious journalists and news outlets should not be used by companies like Volkswagen for marketing and advertising purposes. For us it is a very grave breach of trust which must not be repeated." The price of Volkswagen ADRs plummeted on this news, falling 3.84%, or $1.45 per share, to close at $36.3 per share on March 31, 2021 (from a closing price of $37.75 per share on March 30, 2021), damaging investors. On April 1, 2021, Forbes published an article, entitled "Volkswagen's April Fools' Stunt Misses the Markand an Opportunity to Earn Back Trust," which similarly criticized Volkswagen AG's purported name change. The price of Volkswagen ADRs continued to fall as the market continued to process the news about the purported name change. The Company's ADR price fell 1.98%, or $0.72 per share, to close at $35.58 per share on April 1, 2021 (from a closing price of $36.3 per share on March 31, 2021), damaging investors. In total, Volkswagen's ADR price fell by $2.17 per share, or 5.75%, over the course of two trading days from March 31, 2021 through April 1, 2021, damaging investors. Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com. CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP [email protected] 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 SOURCE Pomerantz LLP NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP, a class action law firm dedicated to representing shareholders nationwide, is investigating a potential breach of fiduciary duty claim involving the board of directors of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE: HP). If you are a shareholder of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. and are interested in obtaining additional information regarding this investigation, free of charge, please visit us at: http://pjlfirm.com/helmerich-payne-inc/ You may also contact Robert H. Lefkowitz, Esq. either via email at [email protected] or by telephone at 212-725-1000. One of our attorneys will personally speak with you about the case at no cost or obligation. Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP is a law firm exclusively committed to representing shareholders nationwide who are victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty and other types of corporate misconduct. For more information about the firm and its attorneys, please visit http://pjlfirm.com. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. SOURCE Purcell Julie & Lefkowitz LLP NEW YORK, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Instadose Pharma Corp. f/k/a Mikrocoze, Inc. ("Instadose", "Mikrocoze", or the "Company") (OTCMKTS: INSD; MZKR) and one of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virgina, Norfolk Division, and docketed under 21-cv-00675, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired Instadose securities between December 8, 2020 and November 24, 2021, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and one of its top officials. If you are a shareholder who purchased Instadose securities during the class period, you have until February 28, 2022 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at [email protected] or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here for information about joining the class action] Instadose does not have significant operations and was at all relevant times classified as a "shell" company. Instadose was formerly known as "Mikrocoze, Inc.", which was organized to sell micro-furniture for small spaces via the Internet. The Company has since pivoted its business to focus on growth and acquisition of pharmaceutical grade agricultural products. On December 7, 2020, Instadose (then still known as Mikrocoze) entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Instadose Pharma Corp., a Canadian-based cannabis producer ("Instadose Canada"), and holders of a majority of its outstanding shares for a transaction to acquire 100% of the outstanding common shares of Instadose Canada in exchange for approximately 80% of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of the Company following such exchange (the "Business Combination"). The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Instadose had performed inadequate due diligence into the Business Combination and/or ignored significant red flags associated with Instadose Canada; (ii) Instadose's internal controls and policies were inadequate to detect and/or prevent impermissible trading activity by control persons of the Company; (iii) the foregoing subjected Instadose to a heightened risk of regulatory scrutiny and enforcement action; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On July 9, 2021, the Ontario Securities Commission ("OSC") announced that the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer ("CEO") of Instadose Canada, Grant Ferdinand Sanders ("Sanders"), was charged quasi-criminally with one count of fraud in relation to his role as Chairman and CEO of Instadose Canada, which, since July 2017, had raised more than $9.4 million from investors. The OSC alleged that investor funds were diverted to the benefit of Sanders, his family, and associates, and that Instadose Canada materially misrepresented the nature of its business. Then, on October 15, 2021, Instadose Canada announced that an overwhelming majority of its shareholders voted in favor of the Business Combination, which remains subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by a Canadian court. Following completion of the Business Combination, Instadose expected that its Board of Directors would consist of, among others, Sanders. Then, on November 24, 2021, in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), Instadose disclosed that "[o]n November 23, 2021, the Company was notified by the SEC that it had ordered, pursuant to Section 12(k) of the [Exchange Act], that trading in the securities of [Instadose] is suspended for the period from 9:30 a.m. EDT on November 24, 2021, through 11:59 p.m. EDT on December 8, 2021." Instadose advised investors that the SEC's order specifically stated that "it appears to the [SEC] that the public interest and the protection of investors require a suspension in the trading of [Instadose] securities . . . because of questions and concerns regarding the adequacy and accuracy of information about Instadose . . . in the marketplace, including: (1) significant increases in the stock price and share volume unsupported by the company's assets and financial information; (2) trading that may be associated with individuals related to a control person of Instadose . . .; and (3) the operations of Instadose[]'s Canadian affiliate." On this news, and after Instadose's common stock began publicly trading again on December 9, 2021, the Company's stock price fell $22.61 per share, or 91.87%, to close at $2.00 per share on December 9, 2021. Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com. CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP [email protected] 888-476-6529 ext. 7980 SOURCE Pomerantz LLP GUILDFORD, England, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SiSaf Ltd, a company developing RNA therapeutics for rare genetic skeletal disorders, today announced that it has appointed Professor Michael J. Econs, MD as Clinical Advisor. Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Medical and Molecular Genetics at Indiana University School of Medicine, Professor Econs is director of the division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, and a world leading expert in the area of metabolic bone disease. In addition to his role as Clinical Advisor to the company, Professor Econs has agreed to be Principal Investigator in the planned Phase I clinical study of SiSaf's lead programme, SiS-101-ADO2, being developed for the treatment of autosomal dominant osteopetrosis type 2 (ADO2), a therapeutically neglected rare autosomal dominant disorder. He is supporting the trial design for the IND package with the aim of submitting an application to the U.S. FDA during H2 2022. Mutant gene expressed by osteoclasts and other cell types is responsible for ADO2 in adults. SiS-101-ADO2 is an ADO2-specific siRNA combined with SiSaf's Bio-Courier platform that downregulates the expression of the mutant CLCN7 gene and rescues bone mass and quality to nearly normal levels. Dr Econ's lab is currently performing translational studies in ADO2 using its mouse model of the disease and has initiated a natural history study in ADO2 patients, which will support endpoint design and study evaluation. Given the urgent medical need in ADO2 patients and the lack of any existing therapies, SiSaf intends to file for Orphan Drug Designation for its therapy. Dr Econ's past research led to the discovery of FGF23, which provided the foundation for the first new therapy in over 30 years for X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets (XLH) and tumour induced osteomalacia. His work to describe novel clinical features of autosomal dominant hypophosphatemia rickets (ADHR) led to an understanding of the relationship between iron deficiency and increases in FGF23. SiSaf's CEO Dr Suzanne Saffie-Siebert said, "I am delighted that Michael has agreed to help us realise our goal to develop safe, effective and accessible RNA therapies for bone diseases with very high unmet needs using our silicon stabilized hybrid lipid nanoparticles. Michael brings a wealth of knowledge and highly relevant expertise in translational studies. He previously led the clinical studies of Interferon Gamma-1b for the treatment of ADO2. Although this did not show clinical benefit, the experience gained will be invaluable in guiding SiSaf in its clinical studies." Professor Michael J. Econs, MD said, "SiSaf is founded on transformational science, and I am looking forward to supporting the Company's ADO2 programme and to delivering on the promise of RNA therapeutics to transform the treatment of genetic diseases in bone and more widely." About SiSaf SiSaf is delivering on the promise of RNA therapeutics to transform the treatment of genetic diseases. It has developed the Bio-Courier platform of silicon-based delivery technologies, which include silicon stabilized hybrid lipid nanoparticles (sshLNPTM). SiSaf is using these next-generation lipid nanoparticles to advance an in-house pipeline of RNA therapeutics for rare genetic skeletal disorders. Being a bioabsorbable silicon-lipid hybrid, sshLNP optimize the delivery of gene therapeutics, offering superior stability and protection of its payload and lipids while reducing the potential of adverse immune events. Founded by entrepreneur and leading biomaterials specialist Dr Suzanne Saffie-Siebert, SiSaf is headquartered in Guildford, UK, with fully integrated state-of-the-art research labs, pilot manufacturing and bioanalytical facilities. SiSaf partners with speciality pharmaceutical companies to maximize the potential applications of its Bio-Courier platform. SiSaf is a private company supported by venture capital investors including Vickers Venture Partners & UK Future Fund. To learn more, please visit sisaf.com Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. MEDIA ENQUIRIES Scius Communications Sue Charles [email protected] Katja Stout [email protected] SOURCE SiSaf COLUMBIA, S.C., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, business owners, community organizations, and individual consumers announced the official launch of Cheers! Let South Carolina Decide, a state, grassroots coalition working to pass House Bill 3013, which would allow South Carolinians the right to vote on if liquor stores can open on Sundays in their county. "House Bill 3013 is a sensible solution that gives power to local voters," explains South Carolina Minority Leader Todd Rutherford. "Our coalition isn't asking for a broad, sweeping state-wide change we are supporting this legislation so people in each county can decide if Sunday sales are right for them. That's why I'm sponsoring this bill." Local referendums have been held throughout the state for over 20 years granting voters the right to decide if beer and wine can be sold in stores on Sundays in their county. But oddly, South Carolinians aren't allowed to vote on whether liquor stores can open on Sundays. Why? Because due to outdated prohibition-era laws, beer, wine, and liquor are not regulated the same way. "As an Ambassador, I saw first-hand how outdated South Carolina laws create barriers in business and stand in the way of people investing in our state," says Ed McMullen, chairman of Cheers! Let South Carolina Decide. "We need to create an image that South Carolina is open for business. Let's bring South Carolina into the 21st century." The current law does not reflect modern life as South Carolinians overwhelming support this issue throughout the state and across party lines. An August 2021 poll by RG Strategies shows 73% of South Carolina voters agree beer, wine, and liquor should be regulated the same way, and even more (77%) agree they should be able to vote on this issue. About Cheers! Let South Carolina Decide Cheers! Let South Carolina Decide is a coalition of business owners, community organizations, and individual consumers who believe it's reasonable and fair for stores and their patrons to have a say in how and when they shop. The goal is to pass House Bill 3013, which is currently being debated in the South Carolina Legislature, that would allow South Carolina voters to decide if they want liquor stores to be allowed to open on Sundays in their county. To learn more or join our growing coalition, visit https://www.letscdecide.org/. Media Contact Kaelyn Petrides [email protected] SOURCE Cheers! Let South Carolina Decide LAS VEGAS, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SWX) ("Southwest Gas" or "the Company") today confirmed that an affiliate of Carl Icahn ("Icahn") extended its tender offer to acquire any and all outstanding common shares of the Company for $75.00 per share in cash (the "Offer"). As previously announced, Southwest Gas' Board of Directors rejected Icahn's unsolicited, inadequate, structurally coercive, highly conditional and illusory tender offer. Accordingly, the Board continues to recommend that stockholders not tender any of their shares into the Offer. Southwest Gas issued the following statement: The Southwest Gas Board of Directors continues to believe that Mr. Icahn's Offer is highly illusory and undervalues the Company, has no certainty of completion and is not in the best interests of Southwest Gas stockholders. The Offer remains inadequate and contingent upon a long list of ambiguous conditions, nearly all of which we note are within Mr. Icahn's discretion. Moreover, Mr. Icahn has now amended his Offer so that it would only proceed if he wins control of the Southwest Gas Board, which further reinforces our belief that the Icahn slate has been assembled with one goal in mindto facilitate Mr. Icahn's effort to take control of Southwest Gas without paying a control premium to Southwest Gas stockholders. Mr. Icahn claims to have found a way to circumvent the regulatory approval process. We disagree with Mr. Icahn's apparent assertion that removing voting control from some fraction of the shares he proposes to own satisfies the need for him to obtain regulatory approval. The fact is Mr. Icahn does not have regulatory approval to proceed with his Offer or take control of the Southwest Gas Board through a proxy contest. Further, Mr. Icahn has not waived, nor satisfied, the Regulatory Approval condition to his Offer. The Southwest Gas Board and management team are executing a clear and detailed strategy to create value and will continue to take actions to enhance value for all of our shareholders. Lazard and Moelis & Company LLC are serving as financial advisors to Southwest Gas and Morrison & Foerster LLP and Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP are serving as legal advisors. About Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the business of purchasing, distributing and transporting natural gas, and providing comprehensive utility infrastructure services across North America. Southwest Gas Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary, safely and reliably delivers natural gas to over two million customers in Arizona, California and Nevada. Centuri Group, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, is a comprehensive utility infrastructure services enterprise dedicated to delivering a diverse array of solutions to North America's gas and electric providers. The Company's MountainWest subsidiary provides natural gas storage and interstate pipeline services within the Rocky Mountain region. How to Find Further Information This communication does not constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval in connection with the 2022 annual meeting of stockholders of Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") (the "Annual Meeting"). In connection with the Annual Meeting, the Company will file a proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which the Company will furnish, with any other relevant information or documents, to its stockholders in connection with the Annual Meeting. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, WE URGE STOCKHOLDERS TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT (INCLUDING ALL AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND WHITE PROXY CARD AND OTHER DOCUMENTS WHEN SUCH INFORMATION IS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY AND THE ANNUAL MEETING. The proposals for the Annual Meeting will be made solely through the proxy statement. In addition, a copy of the proxy statement (when it becomes available) may be obtained free of charge from www.swgasholdings.com/proxymaterials. Security holders also will be able to obtain, free of charge, copies of the proxy statement and any other documents filed by Company with the SEC in connection with the Annual Meeting at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov, and at the companies' website at www.swgasholdings.com. Important Information for Investors and Stockholders This communication does not constitute an offer to buy or solicitation of an offer to sell any securities. In response to the tender offer for the shares of the Company commenced by IEP Utility Holdings LLC and Icahn Enterprises Holdings L.P., the Company has filed a solicitation/recommendation statement on Schedule 14D-9 with the SEC. INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS OF SOUTHWEST GAS HOLDINGS ARE URGED TO READ THE SOLICITATION/RECOMMENDATION STATEMENT AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and stockholders may obtain a free copy of these documents free of charge at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov , and at the Company's website at www.swgasholdings.com . In addition, copies of these materials may be requested from the Company's information agent, Innisfree M&A Incorporated, toll-free at (877) 825-8621. Forward-Looking Statements This document contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about, among others, the industry, markets in which Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. (the "Company," "Southwest Gas Holdings," "SWX," or "we") operates, and the matters described in this press release. While the Company's management believes the assumptions underlying its forward-looking statements and information are reasonable, such information is necessarily subject to uncertainties and may involve certain risks, many of which are difficult to predict and are beyond the control of the Company's management. A number of important factors affecting the business and financial results of the Company could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the timing and amount of rate relief, changes in rate design, customer growth rates, the effects of regulation/deregulation, tax reform and related regulatory decisions, the impacts of construction activity at Centuri, future earnings trends, seasonal patterns, and the impacts of stock market volatility. In addition, the Company can provide no assurance that its discussions about future operating margin, operating income, pension costs, COLI results, and capital expenditures of the natural gas segment will occur. Likewise, the Company can provide no assurance that discussions regarding utility infrastructure services segment revenues, operating income as a percentage of revenues, interest expense, and noncontrolling interest amounts will transpire, nor assurance regarding acquisitions or their impacts, including management's plans related thereto, such as that currently planned in regard to Riggs Distler & Company, Inc. and the pending acquisition of Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline, LLC and related entities (the "Questar Pipeline Group"). Additional risks include the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could give rise to the termination of the Sale and Purchase Agreement by and between Dominion Energy Questar Corporation and the Company (the "Questar Purchase Agreement"), the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against the Company and others following announcement of the Questar Purchase Agreement, risks that the proposed transaction disrupts current plans and operations, the risks related to the ability of the Company to integrate the Questar Pipeline Group, the amount of the costs, fees, expenses and charges related to the transaction and the actual terms of certain financings that will be obtained for the transaction, potential negative impacts to the Company's credit ratings as a result of the transaction, the disruption to the Company's stock price and the costs, fees, expenses and charges related to, and the distraction of management's attention in connection with, any proxy contest or other stockholder related or similar matters, as well as other risks that are set forth under "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and September 30, 2021 and in future filings with the SEC. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or any person acting on its behalf are qualified by the cautionary statements in this section. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this press release. Participants in the Solicitation The directors and officers of the Company may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the Annual Meeting. Information regarding the Company's directors and officers and their respective interests in the Company by security holdings or otherwise is available in its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and its most recent definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding the interests of such potential participants is or will be included in the proxy statement for the Annual Meeting and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC, when they become available. Contacts For investor information, contact: Ken Kenny (702) 876-7237 [email protected]; or Innisfree M&A Incorporated, Scott Winter/Jennifer Shotwell/Jon Salzberger, (212) 750-5833 For media information, contact: Sean Corbett (702) 876-7219 [email protected]; or Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher, Dan Katcher / Tim Lynch, (212) 355-4449 SOURCE Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of "low-risk" inmates are leaving federal prisons this month, while fundamental flaws are existing in the U.S. Justice Department's method for deciding who can take the early-release track, the NPR reported on Wednesday. A law called the First Step Act allowed inmates to win early release by participating in programs aimed at easing their return to society. However, only inmates who pose a low or minimal risk of returning to crime can qualify for the programs, with that risk level determined using algorithmic tool, known as Pattern. The biggest flaw is persistent racial disparities, which put Black and brown people at a disadvantage, said the article. "The Justice Department found that only 7 percent of Black people in the sample were classified as minimum level risk compared to 21 percent of white people," Aamra Ahmad, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, was quoted by the article as saying. According to the article, in a report issued in the end of 2021, the department said the algorithmic tool overpredicted the risk that many Black, Hispanic and Asian people would commit new crimes or violate rules after leaving prison, while underpredicted the risk for some inmates of color when it came to possible return to violent crime. CHICAGO, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Spaulding Ridge, leading cloud advisory and implementation firm, today announced it is expanding its Managed Services Practice. This expanded practice provides several solutions for keeping cloud applications up and running efficiently, including Support and Issue Resolution, Administration, Enablement, and Enterprise Connected Application Maintenance, as well as assistance with customizations and upgrades. Spaulding Ridge currently provides managed services solutions to its Anaplan clients; this expansion will include all best-in-cloud applications Spaulding Ridge supports, including Salesforce, DocuSign, Coupa, NetSuite, and OneStream. Jessica Cook, Managed Services Director, will be leading the newly broadened service line. "Organizations of all sizes have invested heavily in identifying and launching cloud applications to stay competitive, reducing manual processes and increasing efficiency. To maximize these investments, though, cloud spend needs to be appropriately managed. Historically, cloud spend is listed as a top challenge for businesses and that's where we come in," says Chad MacKendrick, Spaulding Ridge Partner, "Functioning as an extension of client companies, our managed services team will maintain and scale cloud applications at a pace to stay competitive, sustainably." Jessica Cook, Managed Services Director Jessica Cook's consulting career has spanned HR consulting, e-Discovery, and legal tech, before joining Spaulding Ridge and successfully enabling Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) for enterprise organizations. As Managed Services Director, Jessica will develop standardized structure and methodology to provide clients across all of Spaulding Ridge's best-in-cloud technologies with optimal continued service, with a particular emphasis on visibility and transparency. Her primary goal is to help organizations manage their cloud spend while maximizing the value of their cloud applications. About Spaulding Ridge An award-winning provider of Cloud solutions and advisory services, Spaulding Ridge helps leading companies deploy Best-in-Cloud solutions on a global scale. Spaulding Ridge enables organizations to accelerate operational efficiency, drive digital transformation, and increase competitive advantage. Spaulding Ridge partners with digitally savvy companies to help: Finance gain control: Increase top-line revenue, gross margins, and profits through better insight. Connect financial planning to strategy and automate financial close processes. Increase top-line revenue, gross margins, and profits through better insight. Connect financial planning to strategy and automate financial close processes. Sales increase productivity: Manage quota and territories more consistently and effectively, automate customer contracts and onboarding. Manage quota and territories more consistently and effectively, automate customer contracts and onboarding. Operations drive efficiency: Improve supply chain agility, automate strategic sourcing and purchasing, deliver superior customer service experiences. To learn more, visit spauldingridge.com. SOURCE Spaulding Ridge, LLC SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In its unwavering commitment to create a more equal and inclusive workplace, national homebuilder and developer Taylor Morrison (NYSE: TMHC) has earned a spot on the 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) for the fourth consecutive year. Taylor Morrison is one of 418 companies on this year's list and the only U.S. homebuilder to be included over the past four years, driving accountability through transparency in gender-data reporting. "Collectively, we hold the power to make meaningful strides towards workplace equality, inspire other organizations to do the same, and foster an environment where all team members thrive and feel supported," said Taylor Morrison Chairman and CEO Sheryl Palmer. "Taylor Morrison's nearly equal male-to-female workforce and higher than average female representation in leadership roles, is a meaningful point of pride for the company, particularly in our industry." Of all companies included in the 2022 GEI, only 31 companies or 7.5 percent, including Taylor Morrison, have a female CEO or equivalent.* This year's index is comprised of 60 questions focused on metrics related to female leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and pro-women brand. Taylor Morrison scored above average in many areas of the 2022 GEI including:* Women represent 46 percent of the total workforce, compared to the 43 percent average Women make up 44 percent of the board, compared to the 31 percent average Women hold 64 percent of revenue-producing roles, compared to the 39 percent average Women represent 46 percent of senior management, compared to the 29 percent average 100 percent of employees that return after parental leave remain with the company, based on a twelve-month retention rate, compared to the 86 percent average Based on data from financial year 2020, this year's GEI included questions related to the impact of COVID-19 on the workplace, tracking the disproportionate effects of the pandemic specifically on women and people of color. Many companies, including Taylor Morrison, rose to challenges brought on the by the pandemic with 99 percent of GEI companies maintaining or enhancing flexible working conditions to support the transition to remote work and 94 percent offering support services ranging from personal protective equipment to consultation services supporting mental health. "Over these past nearly two years, we have all adjusted immensely while navigating a new working environment brought on by the pandemic," said Palmer. "I'm impressed by the tenacity and resilient spirit displayed by all our team members and so many others across the workforce. By proving that we can not only withstand, but grow and flourish even during the most difficult times, I'm hopeful we can move forward with renewed confidence and continue to strengthen our workplace culture." The Bloomberg GEI sets the standard for transparent data reporting by giving companies the opportunity to disclose their commitment to gender equality and workplace gender-related practices. Those included on this year's index scored at or above a global threshold established by Bloomberg to reflect disclosure and achievement or adoption of best-in-class statistics and policies. The 2022 GEI consists of 418 companies across 11 sectors headquartered in 45 countries and regions. For more information on the Bloomberg GEI, visit https://www.bloomberg.com/gei. *Represents data submitted by Taylor Morrison for the 2022 GEI for fiscal year 2020 and averages provided by Bloomberg for their 2022 GEI. About Taylor Morrison Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor Morrison is the nation's fifth largest homebuilder and developer. We serve a wide array of consumers from coast to coast, including first-time, move-up, luxury and 55-plus active lifestyle homebuyers under our family of brandsincluding Taylor Morrison, Esplanade, Darling Homes Collection by Taylor Morrison and Christopher Todd Communities built by Taylor Morrison. From 2016-2022, Taylor Morrison has been recognized as America's Most Trusted Builder by Lifestory Research. Our strong commitment to sustainability, our communities and our team is highlighted in our latest annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report. For more information about Taylor Morrison, please visit www.taylormorrison.com. CONTACT: Alice Giedraitis (480) 840-8137 [email protected] SOURCE Taylor Morrison DALLAS, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- A 22-year-old college student from Coppell, Texas, has filed a lawsuit against the owners of two dogs that viciously attacked her and left her permanently disfigured after she was hired to care for the animals last month. Dallas attorney Chip Brooker of Brooker Law, PLLC, represents Jacqueline Durand, a 22-year-old student at the University of Texas at Dallas. She was hired by Dr. Justin Bishop and his wife, Ashley, to care for several animals at their home in Coppell while they were away for the holidays. Ms. Durand had met the couple's mixed-breed Pit Bull and mixed-breed German Shepherd the latter a recent foster pet one time before traveling to the Bishop's home on Dec. 23, which was also one day before her 22nd birthday. As Ms. Durand opened the front door, the two dogs immediately pushed the door open, knocked her down, and brutally attacked her. As a result, she suffered multiple life-threatening injuries, including the loss of both ears, nose, lips, and most of her face, in addition to severe puncture wounds over her entire body. She has since undergone several reconstructive surgeries and will require many more. Ms. Durand remains hospitalized locally. The dogs were captured and placed in the care of the City of Coppell before a municipal judge decided earlier this month that they should be euthanized. "Jacqueline will forever measure her life in terms of before and after opening that door," Mr. Brooker says. "She will be permanently disfigured for the rest of her life, and we filed this lawsuit to make sure all the responsible parties are held accountable." The lawsuit is Durand v. Bishop, et al., No. CC-22-00369-D, in Dallas County Court at Law No. 4. Brooker Law, PLLC, represents individuals and families nationwide in wrongful death and catastrophic personal injury cases involving dangerous and defective products, trucking and transportation crashes, explosions and burns, on-the-job injuries, sexual assault, and professional negligence, among other claims. The firm has experience handling cases involving wrongful deaths, traumatic brain injuries, amputations, burns, and paralysis, including paraplegia and quadriplegia. Brooker Law also represents individuals and businesses in complex business disputes involving claims of fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, and other business torts. Learn more at www.brookerlaw.com. For more information, contact Bruce Vincent at 214-763-6226 or [email protected]. SOURCE Brooker Law, PLLC THC.CSE THCBF - OTC TFHD.F VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - THC BioMed Intl Ltd. ("THC BioMed" or the "Company") announces that it has been granted a licence by an overseas government to cultivate cannabis for medical and scientific use. We are in advanced discussions with the host government to conduct Scientific Research with Cannabis. We intend to conduct scientific research and development on whether Cannabidiol ("CBD") and other compounds from the cannabis plant have the potential to prevent or inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection. We are interested in researching and studying cannabis compounds and their potential effects on SARS-CoV-2 infection. Since March 2020, we have been looking into the possibilities and challenges of carrying out an R&D program in relation to cannabis and SARS-CoV-2. Other scientific research regarding cannabis is also of interest to us. We have made inquiries with different governments regarding licences to conduct cannabis research and development. We are currently in advanced talks with the host government and received, on January 19, 2022, a licence for the production of cannabis for medical and scientific use. We are now seeking amendments or clarification on our new licence regarding whether additional permission is required for the conduct of our planned scientific testing. There is no guarantee that the research and development we intend to conduct will be allowed under the current licence or that a further licence for research and development, if needed, will be granted to us. We are intrigued by the following recent studies discussed in various publications: These studies show that CBD might help prime cells against COVID. Further testing and peer review are required and we intend to be leaders in that effort. The Company is not making any express or implied claims that its product has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain Covid-19 (or SARS-2 Coronavirus) at this time. About THC THC BioMed is one of Canada's oldest active licensed cannabis companies. It was first licensed to deal with cannabis in 2013 under a Health Canada Section 56 exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and has been a Licensed Producer under the current regime since 2016. Its product focus is on high-quality, high-potency beverages and edibles. THC BioMed is a Cannabis Act Licensed Producer of medical and recreational cannabis. It is licensed to cultivate and sell dried, extract, edible and topical cannabis. The Company is on the leading edge of scientific research and the development of products and services in the medical and recreational cannabis industry. Management believes THC BioMed is well-positioned to be in the forefront of this industry. Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of THC BioMed. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of THC BioMed. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements using words such as "will," "may," "would," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "likely," "could" and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this release include that (a) the Company will be a leader in the scientific testing, R&D and peer review effort, (b) the Company will conduct research and development under its new licence, (c) that a further licence for research and development, if needed, will be granted, and (d) the Company well-positioned to be in the forefront of this industry. Forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date of this press release and include that THC BioMed will be on the forefront of this rapidly growing industry. Although THC BioMed believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because THC BioMed can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. THC disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release. SOURCE THC BioMed BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The China Fund, Inc. (NYSE: CHN) (the "Fund") announced today that the Fund's annual stockholder meeting (the "Meeting") will be rescheduled for Wednesday, March 23, 2022 via a virtual forum at 11:00 a.m. Stockholders of record as of January 21, 2022 will be entitled to notice of, and to attend and vote at, the Meeting. The notice for the Meeting will be mailed to shareholders on or about February 16, 2022. The Fund is a closed-end management investment company with the objective of seeking long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities (i) of companies for which the principal securities trading market is the People's Republic of China ("China"), or (ii) of companies for which the principal securities trading market is outside of China, or constituting direct equity investments in companies organized outside of China, that in both cases derive at least 50% of their revenues from goods and services sold or produced, or have at least 50% of their assets, in China. Shares of the Fund are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "CHN." For further information regarding the Fund and the Fund's holdings, please call (888)-CHN-CALL or visit the Fund's website at www.chinafundinc.com. SOURCE The China Fund, Inc. BUSAN, South Korea, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Existing meta-analyses indicate that alcohol consumption leads to an increased risk of epilepsy, but recent cohort studies contradict these findings. Now, scientists conducted an updated meta-analysis to clarify these discrepancies and found an overall positive association between alcohol consumption and epilepsy. However, they advise that further cohort studies in wider settings are required to establish this association. Scientists conduct an updated analysis to clarify if alcohol drinkers may be at higher risk of developing epilepsy and unprovoked seizures Epilepsy, a common neurological disorder associated with stigma, psychiatric comorbidities, and rising healthcare costs, affects approximately 50 million people globally. A common risk factor associated with the development of epilepsy and seizures is alcohol consumption. Various studies have focused on how alcohol consumption leads to provoked seizures, commonly occurring due to alcohol withdrawal, or heavy alcohol intoxication. However, very few of these focus on the link between alcohol consumption and unprovoked seizures. One such study was a meta-analysis conducted in 2010, which analyzed six case-control studies and found that alcohol users were more prone to developing unprovoked seizures. Interestingly, data from recent cohort studies contradict these findings, implying that there is no association between alcohol intake and epilepsy. Now, using more accurate diagnostic methods and recent data, a team of scientists led by Professor Kyoung Nam Woo and including Professor Yun Hak Kim from Pusan National University, South Korea, conducted an updated meta-analysis to conclusively clarify the relationship between alcohol consumption and unprovoked seizures and epilepsy. For this meta-analysis, which was made available online in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal on January 11, 2022, the team included a total of 8 studies, comprising 5 case-control studies and 3 cohort studies. Further, they conducted a cubic spline analysis on data extracted from these studies, to assess the dose-response relationship between alcohol intake and epilepsy. The findings suggested that overall, alcohol drinkers were at a significantly higher risk of developing epilepsy, as compared to non-drinkers. A significant positive dose-response relationship was found upon analysis of case-control studies, implying that the risk of epilepsy increases with an increase in alcohol intake. These findings are consistent with previous meta-analyses. An important finding was that cohort studies did not show a positive association between alcohol intake and epilepsy. In fact, 2 out of 3 cohort studies suggested that alcohol intake reduces the risk of epilepsy. "Further large cohort studies of the general population are required to assert a definite causal relationship between alcohol consumption and epilepsy and to identify a potential threshold", Prof. Kim suggests. Moreover, since cohort studies include more subjects, and are less prone to biases, they comparatively provide more accurate relationships between exposure and development of a disorder. "An assessment of the risk of alcohol consumption in various clinical situations, such as types of CNS insult and the time relation of alcohol consumption with seizures, will be important for primary prevention. To increase the applicability to the general population, future studies should be conducted in which the potential confounders such as age, sex, and smoking have been adjusted", says Prof. Woo, highlighting the long-term implications of this work. Once clarity is achieved, assessment of the risk of alcohol consumption in different clinical situations will be an effective step for the prevention of epilepsy in the general population. Reference Title of original paper: Alcohol consumption on unprovoked seizure and epilepsy: An updated meta-analysis Journal: Drug and Alcohol Dependence DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109305 About Pusan National University Website: https://www.pusan.ac.kr/eng/Main.do Corresponding author's email: [email protected] (Y.H. Kim), [email protected] (H. W. Kim) Lab website: https://yunhak.kim/ ORCID id: 0000 0002-9796-8266 Contact: Na-hyun Lee 82 51 510-7928 [email protected] SOURCE Pusan National University ATLANTA, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Equifax (NYSE: EFX) announced that The Work Number offers instant employment and income verifications service by leveraging the latest Encompass Partner Connect API platform with Encompass by ICE Mortgage Technology, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure. The technology infrastructure and simplified user interface create straightforward yet customizable pathways for loan officers to instantly tap into enhanced mortgage income and employment verification solutions from Equifax. For lenders actively embracing digital processes, the new Encompass integration built on the Partner Connect API platform offers mortgage-specific verification solutions from The Work Number database, including Mortgage Ultimate, Employment Select and All Employers within 24 Months. Designed to help streamline the process for lenders who are originating and pulling secondary verifications, each solution is tailored to help meet specific needs within the mortgage loan origination process. "We are thrilled to be working with ICE Mortgage Technology on this new API-based integration," said Ashley Wood, VP of Mortgage Verification Services at Equifax Workforce Solutions. "Verifications from The Work Number have been available through Encompass for more than a decade, helping loan officers quickly access the income and employment information they need to help consumers close on their mortgages. This new API platform that ICE Mortgage Technology has released for partners offers Encompass loan originators a better experience and will soon include one-click access to the new mortgage-specific verification sets from The Work Number, as well as configurable automated order settings. Encompass is a trusted solution for lenders of all sizes," continued Wood. "Both Equifax and ICE Mortgage Technology focus on user experience and digital efficiency so it was a natural fit to work together on developing, piloting, and launching this new API for Partners." The Work Number database, which was the first designated third-party provider of income and employment verifications for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), gives credentialed mortgage lenders with permissible purpose the ability to quickly and securely tap into more than 500 million employee records, including more than 125 million active records, from over two million employers. By leveraging ICE Mortgage Technology's latest Partner Connect API platform, lenders can continue to build efficiency into their digital originations with Automated Service Ordering (ASO), which offers lenders the ability to build customizable order settings for verifications based on business rules where permissible purpose exists. Prospective homebuyers can also reap the benefits of the new integration, since The Work Number verifications help reduce the amount of documentation they have to pull together for a loan application. The new Encompass Partner Connect platform and verification product's flexibility enable lenders to deliver a seamless, low-friction digital lending experience. Lenders using Encompass can now choose the new API experience and The Work Number mortgage verification solutions. To learn more about mortgage verifications via The Work Number database, please visit here . ICE Mortgage Technology combines technology, data and expertise to help automate the mortgage process, from consumer engagement through loan registration, and every step and task in between. ICE Mortgage Technology is the leading cloud-based loan origination platform provider for the mortgage industry, with solutions that enable lenders to originate more loans, lower origination costs, and reduce the time to close, all while ensuring high levels of compliance, quality and efficiency. Visit icemortgagetechnology.com or call (877) 355-4362 to learn more. ABOUT INTERCONTINENTAL EXCHANGE Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company that designs, builds and operates digital networks to connect people to opportunity. We provide financial technology and data services across major asset classes that offer our customers access to mission-critical workflow tools that increase transparency and operational efficiencies. We operate exchanges , including the New York Stock Exchange , and clearing houses that help people invest, raise capital and manage risk across multiple asset classes. Our comprehensive fixed income data services and execution capabilities provide information, analytics and platforms that help our customers capitalize on opportunities and operate more efficiently. At ICE Mortgage Technology , we are transforming and digitizing the U.S. residential mortgage process, from consumer engagement through loan registration. Together, we transform, streamline and automate industries to connect our customers to opportunity. Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located here . Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading "Key Information Documents (KIDS)." Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as filed with the SEC on February 4, 2021. ABOUT EQUIFAX INC. At Equifax (NYSE: EFX), we believe knowledge drives progress. As a global data, analytics, and technology company, we play an essential role in the global economy by helping financial institutions, companies, employers, and government agencies make critical decisions with greater confidence. Our unique blend of differentiated data, analytics, and cloud technology drives insights to power decisions to move people forward. Headquartered in Atlanta and supported by more than 13,000 employees worldwide, Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit Equifax.com . For more information: [email protected] SOURCE Equifax Inc. CHARLESTON, W.Va., Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- West Virginia students, teachers, and parents many of them decked out in their school colors will rally at the State Capitol to show their support for school choice and celebrate West Virginia's expanding education options next week. The celebration brings together families and educators from all educational backgrounds and will be one of the largest events taking place in the state for West Virginia School Choice Week. WHAT: School choice rally and awards ceremony Celebration of National School Choice Week WHO: Dan Brokke , executive director of WVCEA , executive director of WVCEA Jason Huffman , West Virginia state director of Americans for Prosperity , director of Americans for Prosperity Jamie Buckland , homeschooling parent , homeschooling parent Winners of Educator of the Year, Parent Advocate of the Year, and Student Voice for Choice awards West Virginia students, teachers, and parents WHEN: 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 27 WHERE: Lower Rotunda of the West Virginia State Capitol, located at 1900 Kanawha Blvd E. The rally is being organized by the Cardinal Institute for West Virginia Policy, in partnership with West Virginia Voices for Education Choices. 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 BLUE BELL, Pa., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announced that it will release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 financial results on Monday, February 21, 2021 after the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Following the release, Unisys will host a conference call with the financial community on Tuesday, February 22 from 8:00-9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to discuss the results. The company will offer a live, listen-only Webcast of the conference call on the Unisys Investor Website at www.unisys.com/investor. A replay of the Webcast will be available on the Unisys Investor Website shortly following the conference call. About Unisys Unisys is a global IT solutions company that delivers successful outcomes for the most demanding businesses and governments. Unisys offerings include digital workplace solutions, cloud and infrastructure solutions, enterprise computing solutions, business process solutions and cybersecurity solutions. For more information on how Unisys delivers for its clients across the commercial, financial services and government markets, visit www.unisys.com. Follow Unisys on Twitter and LinkedIn. ### RELEASE NO.: 0127/9861 Unisys and other Unisys products and services mentioned herein, as well as their respective logos, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Unisys Corporation. Any other brand or product referenced herein is acknowledged to be a trademark or registered trademark of its respective holder. UIS-C SOURCE Unisys Corporation PALM BEACH, Fla., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- FinancialNewsMedia.com News Commentary - A recent article in Investing News focused on where will the price of uranium be in 2022. It said that "Uranium prices finally saw some positivity in 2021 after a decade-long trough. Where will they go from here? Uranium is an important fuel source for the nuclear energy industry. But prices have bottomed out in the past decade, with many investors wondering when the market will rebound. Driven by rising demand and massive supply disruptions, uranium prices shot up in 2007 from US$72 per pound at the start of the year to an all-time high of US$136.22 by early June. However, in the years since then, the spot price for uranium has mainly tracked downward on a steady slope. Since 2012 and through much of 2021, uranium prices traded under the key US$50 level, falling as low as US$18. However, in September 2021, the spot price for uranium shot up to a nine year high of US$50.80." It continued: "When will uranium prices go up? Uranium prices are mainly influenced by aboveground mine supply and demand for nuclear energy. Analysts with a bullish lean believe the uranium market cycle has reached its bottom and that a break to the upside for uranium prices is supported by positive supply and demand fundamentals. On the demand side, nuclear energy generated from 445 reactors around the globe supplies about 10 percent of the world's energy requirements. China alone is constructing 16 new reactors, Russia is constructing three with another 11 planned and India has seven nuclear reactors under construction." Active companies in the markets today include: BASIN URANIUM CORP. (OTCPK: BURCF) (CSE: NCLR), Denison Mines Corp. (NYSE: DNN) (TSX: DML), Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE: UEC), Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), NexGen Energy Ltd. (NYSE: NXE) (TSX: NXE). The World Nuclear Association (WNA)'s "Nuclear Fuel Report: Global Scenarios for Demand and Supply Availability 2021-2040" forecasts 2.6 percent annual growth in nuclear generation capacity over the next two decades "UxC estimates that by 2030 about two-thirds of utility nuclear fuel requirements will not be covered by contracts, and this will reach 81 percent in 2035. The lack of new uranium projects coming online is a considerable part of this equation. As utility inventories decline, they will come to market willing to accept higher contract prices to replenish their energy fuel stock, and secure future supply lines may happen sooner than later. Much higher long-term contract prices will in turn bring uranium spot prices along for the ride." BASIN URANIUM CORP. (CSE: NCLR.CN) (OTCPK: BURCF) BREAKING NEWS: BASIN URANIUM TO ACQUIRE WRAY MESA URANIUM PROJECT IN UTAH BASIN URANIUM CORP. ("Basin Uranium" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has entered into a Letter of Intent (the "LOI") to acquire a 100%-interest in the Wray Mesa project (the "Property") in Utah. The Wray Mesa project is comprised of 310 unpatented lode claims totalling 6,219 acres located in San Juan County, Utah. The Property is accessible via Utah State Highway 46 and unpaved Forest Service Roads, with access to power, water and proximal to the town of La Sal. The Property is contiguous to and adjoins Energy Fuel's (EFR-T, UUUU-NYSE) fully-permitted and production-ready La Sal project which includes a number of past-producing uranium and vanadium mines (production of 550,000 lbs U3O8 in 2012). The La Sal project hosts Measured & Indicated resources of 4.1 Mlb of uranium (U 3 O 8 ) plus 21.5 Mlb of vanadium (V 2 O 5 ) plus Inferred resources of 0.4 Mlb of uranium plus 1.9 Mlb of vanadium (source: March 25, 2104 Technical Report on La Sal District Project). "We are excited to acquire the Wray Mesa uranium project which is located in a Tier-1 jurisdiction within the USA, which will benefit from US domestic green energy initiatives." commented Mike Blady, CEO of Basin Uranium. "The project has seen an extensive amount of past exploration, with over 495 holes drilled dating back to the late 1970's, and is located next to one of the premier US-focused uranium producers, Energy Fuels. The extensive past exploration should allow our exploration team to quickly design an exploration program to follow-up on a number of the high-grade historic intercepts." CONTINUED Read the BASIN URANIUM full press release by going to: https://basinuranium.ca/news/ In other news and developments of note in the markets this week: NexGen Energy Ltd. (NYSE: NXE) (TSX: NXE) recently announced that the Company has awarded the engineering, procurement, and construction management ("EPCM") contract for the FEED stage of the Rook I Project to Hatch with work well underway. Hatch is a global leader in project management and engineering with extensive experience delivering mining projects in Saskatchewan and across Canada. The awarding of the EPCM contract comes at the conclusion of a rigorous and competitive tender process involving multiple globally recognized industry firms. Integrating fully into the owner's team, Hatch is responsible for providing NexGen with engineering, procurement, and execution planning services, along with supporting overall project management. Following the successful completion of the Rook I Feasibility Study in February of this year, NexGen is transitioning into the next stage of advanced project development with the commencement of FEED. In line with the optimized project execution strategy, the FEED stage will advance overall engineering to a 40-45% level of completion with associated cost estimate, fully define long-lead procurement actions, and further refine execution planning to prepare the Project for the pending construction stage. This FEED stage is scheduled for completion in Q3 2022 and will be undertaken concurrently with the engagement, Environmental Assessment ("EA") and Licensing workstreams. Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) recently announced the execution of a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Nanoscale Powders LLC ("NSP") for the development of a novel technology (the "Technology") for the production of rare earth element ("REE") metals (the "Project"). We believe this Technology, which was initially developed by NSP, and will be advanced by the Company and NSP working together, has the potential to revolutionize the rare earth metal making industry by reducing costs of production, reducing energy consumption, and significantly reducing greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions. Producing REE metals and alloys ("REE Metals") is a key step in a fully integrated REE supply chain, after production of separated REE oxides ("REE Oxides") and before the manufacture of neodymium iron boron ("NdFeB") magnets used in electric vehicles ("EVs"), wind generation and other clean energy and advanced technologies. Uranium Energy Corp. (NYSE American: UEC) recently announced the Company has completed the transactions contemplated in the definitive share purchase agreement with Uranium One Investments Inc., a subsidiary of Uranium One Inc. ("Uranium One"), and has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Uranium One Americas, Inc. ("U1A") for a total purchase price of $112 million in cash together with an additional $2.9 million in estimated working capital (primarily pre-paid insurance and land payments) and the assumption of $19 million in reclamation bonding (the "Acquisition"). Uranium One is the world's fourth largest uranium producer and part of Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation, Rosatom. The Acquisition was fully funded with UEC's existing cash on hand. Subsequent to closing, UEC holds approximately $120 million of cash and liquid assets. Denison Mines Corp. (NYSE American: DNN) (TSX: DML) recently reported that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission ("CNSC") has approved an amendment to the uranium mine and mill licence for the McClean Lake Operation to allow for the expansion of the JEB Tailings Management Facility ("TMF"). David Cates, Denison's President & CEO, commented "The McClean Lake mill remains a strategically significant asset in the AthabascaBasin region representing the only uranium milling facility currently operating in Canada. The amendment to the operating licence for the McClean Lake Operation allows for the expansion of the TMF, such that the facility will be well positioned to serve as a regional milling centre for current and future uranium mining projects in the eastern portion of the Athabasca Basin for many years to come. 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Contact Information: Media Contact email: [email protected] - +1(561)325-8757 SOURCE FinancialNewsMedia.com LONDON, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- A wide spectrum of Americans have suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic, but Asians in particular have been hurt disproportionately, a Financial Times opinion piece has said. Patti Waldmeir, a North America correspondent for the Financial Times, called Asian Americans and other Asians in the United States a "hidden minority" hit hard by the pandemic in an article published on Monday. "COVID-19 hit those of Asian descent quicker and harder than white Americans. In the first three months of the pandemic, Chinese patients had the highest mortality rate of all racial and ethnic groups in New York City public hospitals," said the article. Asian Americans were at higher risk of infection with "up to 30 percent of Asian Americans living in intergenerational households, and 17.7 percent living in a home with at least one health care worker," said the article quoting a study from the New York University Center for the Study of Asian American Health. Furthermore, Chinese Americans have experienced more racist attacks during the pandemic. "Asian-owned businesses have been hit hard because a quarter of U.S. food and accommodation businesses are owned by Asians, while many poorer Asians are frontline workers like restaurant, grocery or laundry workers," the article added. ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Direct mail advertising leader Valpak is amplifying a message of awareness and education to its audience of over 41 million homes this February. With the support of Crayola, the brand that sparks imagination through color, the company is launching its "Celebrate Our CommUNITY: A Tribute to Black History Month" campaign. Inclusion and expression take center stage in this campaign, with part of the iconic Valpak Blue Envelope transformed into a custom Crayola coloring page. Consumers are invited to "Color their communities" on the inside of the envelope, then share their masterpieces on Valpak's Facebook page with tags #ColorYourCommunity #Entry. Randomly selected winners of four (4) drawings will each receive $500, plus $500 in Crayola product will be donated to their school of choice. To help consumers express themselves, each CommUNITY envelope contains an offer for $.50 off any one (1) pack of 24-count Crayola Colors of the World crayons the lead product from an inclusive coloring tools line designed to represent over 40 global skin tones. Plus, consumers have the chance to win a free Crayola Colors of the World product (crayons, markers, colored pencils, coloring books) instantly, just by looking through their envelope. Advertisers inside the envelope will have the opportunity to display special graphics on their ads to self-identify as Black-owned or show support for the campaign. Valpak will also celebrate important Black history milestones and feature Black-owned businesses on their social media channels, and in other initiatives throughout the year. By seeking out Black-owned businesses in Valpak advertising areas and offering support, they hope to highlight the importance of diversity in their envelope and in the neighborhoods they serve. Finally, Valpak will engage and celebrate their employees by encouraging discussions about cultural appreciation within their workforce. Chris Bilotta, Director of Promotions and Partnerships at Valpak, shared, "At Valpak, we believe in energizing the savings game for all and in connecting all the wonderfully diverse businesses in a community to their ideal audiences. We're grateful for the chance to partner with Crayola to amplify a message of inclusion and expression as we celebrate Black History Month, this February and year-round." Mimi Dixon, Director, Brand Activation and Content at Crayola, added, "The Valpak and Crayola Colors of the World partnership not only continues the goal of inspiring kids to creatively and accurately color themselves into the world they see around them, but also celebrates inclusion with the common goal of increasing representation and fostering a greater sense of belonging and acceptance. This is a first-of-its-kind partnership for Crayola, and we look forward to the colorful consumer engagement and expression." Valpak brings its local-first focus together with the creative potential embodied by Crayola to honor Black History Month in neighborhoods between January 29 and February 28. Consumers can head to www.valpak.com to learn more. About Valpak Valpak is the nation's premier direct mailer, trusted by tens of thousands of local and national businesses to drive sales and brand awareness through easy-to-measure, results-oriented advertising solutions that work. For more than 50 years, Valpak has introduced millions of consumers to exciting offers and opportunities. Our network of nearly 140 local offices provides unparalleled customer service and market knowledge to business owners in thousands of neighborhoods across 42 U.S. states. Each month, our Blue Envelope of savings mails to more than 41 million demographically targeted households in increments of 10,000, enabling us to reach each business's ideal audience every time, big or small. Valpak's suite of customizable solutions includes a variety of formats inside the Blue Envelope, as well as PlusOne postcards, event postcards and digital strategies (SEM, social media and website design), all driven by best-in-class data and targeting capabilities. Contact us today at valpak.com/advertise to see what Valpak Direct Marketing can do for your business. About Crayola Crayola LLC, based in Easton, Pa. and a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, Incorporated, is the worldwide leader in children's creative expression products. Known for the iconic Crayola Crayon first introduced in 1903, the Crayola brand has grown into a portfolio of innovative art tools, crafting activities and creativity toys that offer children innovative new ways to use color to create everything imaginable. Consumers can find the wide array of Crayola products in the "Crayola Aisle" at all major retailers. For more information visit www.crayola.com or join the community at www.facebook.com/crayola . Valpak Media Contact Tanya Creel Director, Marketing & Communications 727-399-3068 [email protected] Crayola Media Contact Erika Merklinger PR & Communications Manager (610) 253-6272 ext. 4625 [email protected] SOURCE Valpak "Our guests are curious explorers, and just as the iconic explorers before them, they choose Egypt as a destination because of its unparalleled access to history and antiquities. This rings as true today as it did a century ago and is what we continue to hear from the guests who are currently sailing with us on the Nile, as well as the many we have hosted in the last year," said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. "We are proud to be the only western company to build, own and operate ships on the Nileand we will always maintain our commitment to creating meaningful experiences that are focused on the destination. Particularly during this milestone year for Egypt, we look forward to welcoming guests on board Viking Osiris and introducing them to the country's many cultural treasures." The traditional float out ceremony took place at Massara shipyard in Cairo yesterday, January 26, 2022, and is significant because it denotes a ship moving into its final stage of construction. The float out of Viking Osiris began at approximately 11:00 a.m. local time when a member of the Viking team pressed the button that signalled to lower the ship-lift of the yard, she will then be moved to a nearby outfitting dock for final construction and interior build-out. Viking Osiris Hosting 82 guests in 41 staterooms, the new, state-of-the-art Viking Osiris is inspired by Viking's award-winning river and ocean ships with the elegant Scandinavian design for which Viking is known. The vessel features several aspects familiar to Viking guests, such as a distinctive square bow and an indoor/outdoor Aquavit Terrace. Viking Osiris will join the company's other ship on the Nile, Viking Ra, which launched in 2018. Additionally, in response to strong demand, Viking Aton, an identical sister ship to Viking Osiris, will join the fleet in 2023. Viking's Pharaohs & Pyramids Itinerary During the 12-day, Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary, guests begin with a three-night stay at a first-class hotel in Cairo, where they can visit iconic sites such as the Great Pyramids of Giza, the necropolis of Sakkara, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, or beginning in late 2022, the new Grand Egyptian Museum. Guests then fly to Luxor, where they visit the Temples of Luxor and Karnak before boarding a Viking river ship for an eight-day roundtrip cruise on the Nile River, featuring Privileged Access to the tomb of Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens and the tomb of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, and excursions to the Temple of Khnum in Esna, the Dendera Temple complex in Qena, the temples at Abu Simbel and the High Dam in Aswan, and a visit to a colorful Nubian village, where guests can experience a traditional elementary school. Finally, the journey concludes with a flight back to Cairo for a final night in the ancient city. For guests looking to extend their journey, Viking also offers Pre and Post Extensions that provide Privileged Access to archives and exhibits. Building on the success of the Oxford & Highclere Castle program one of Viking's highest-rated Pre/Post Extension that visits the filming location of "Downton Abbey"the company has applied the same degree of Privileged Access to a curated Extension that allows guests to retrace the steps of Howard Carter and the 5th Earl of Carnarvon. Guests on the five-day British Collections of Ancient Egypt extension will begin the journey in London, where they will meet their Viking Tour Director, an expert Egyptologist, and experience Privileged Access to two museums: first a private, early morning visit to the Egyptian Collection at the British Museum before it opens to the general public and then a visit to the home and personal museum of world-renowned architect, Sir John Soane, where the tour will be illuminated by candlelight, a re-enactment of how Soane entertained guests and showcased his exquisite collection of Egyptian antiquities, including a 3,000-year-old Egyptian sarcophagus. Guests will also visit London's Petrie Museum, which houses more than 80,000 artifacts from ancient Egypt and Sudan. In Oxford, guests will visit the Ashmolean Museum, one of the oldest in the world, and home to a varied collection of Egyptian mummies and artand go behind the scenes at Oxford University's Griffith Institute, where they will enjoy a Privileged Access visit to see Carter's archives, which detail the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. Lastly, guests will have further Privileged Access with an exclusive visit to Highclere Castlethe country seat of the Earl and Countess of Carnarvonto view the Earl's magnificent private collection of Egyptian artifacts, as well as archives and exhibits not normally accessible to the public. Additional offerings include a Pre Extension in Jerusalem where guests will explore the ancient history and vibrant culture of Israel's fascinating capital and a Post Extension to Jordan Petra, Dead Sea & Amman to view Roman antiquities at Jerash, Crusader-era castles at Kerak or Shobak and experience the lost city of Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Viking Health & Safety Program Guests who sail with Viking experience the company's industry-leading health and safety program. Grounded in scientific research, the Viking Health & Safety Program was developed in partnership with an international team of medical advisors, including Raquel C. Bono, M.D., Viking's Chief Health Officer. Dr. Bono is a board-certified trauma surgeon and retired Vice Admiral of the United States Navy Medical Corpsand in 2020, led Washington State's medical and healthcare systems response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Viking requires all guests and crew to be up to date in their immunization against COVID-19 at least 14 days prior to travel. Furthermore, Viking is the first and only cruise line with full-scale PCR laboratories installed on board its ocean and expedition ships. Utilizing the PCR laboratories on board Viking ocean and expedition shipsand a strong network of dedicated shoreside labs for Viking river ships in Europeall guests and crew receive up to daily quick and easy non-invasive saliva PCR tests. The easy access to robust PCR testing also simplifies guests' travel experience with a final COVID-19 test taken onboard that satisfies the requirement for pre-flight testing before arrival into the U.S. New air purification technology has also been installed on all Viking ships, which have always featured independent air handling units for all guest staterooms. And additional health checks, sanitization and physical distancing measures provide further protection for Viking guests and crew at all points of the journey. A complete overview of the Viking Health & Safety Program can be found at: www.viking.com/health-safety. About Viking Viking was founded in 1997 and provides destination-focused journeys on rivers, oceans and lakes around the world. Designed for experienced travelers with interests in science, history, culture and cuisine, Chairman Torstein Hagen often says Viking offers guests The Thinking Person's Cruise in contrast to mainstream cruises. With more than 250 awards to its name, Viking has been rated the #1 River Cruise Line and #1 Ocean Cruise Line by Conde Nast Traveler in the publication's 2021 Readers' Choice Awards. Viking has also been consistently rated the #1 ocean cruise line and one of the best river cruise lines in Travel + Leisure's "World's Best" Awards. For additional information, contact Viking at 1-800-2-VIKING (1-800-284-5464) or visit www.viking.com. For Viking's award-winning enrichment channel, visit www.viking.tv. SOURCE Viking Air Partner will provide Wheels Up the ability to expand its service offerings internationally, and Wheels Up expects Air Partner to leverage Wheels Up's investments in operations, service and technology on a global basis with an active and engaged customer base. The proposed acquisition will enhance Wheels Up's brand equity and will also add an experienced global team from a company with more than 60 years of continuous operations in private aviation. "Today's announcement marks an important new chapter for Wheels Up as we systematically build the leading global, private aviation company that creates unparalleled value for our customers and shareholders," said Wheels Up Chairman and CEO Kenny Dichter. "This acquisition will allow us to offer existing and future customers even more compelling and seamless options for private travel, expand the reach of our marketplace in key markets around the world, and add important operational capabilities to our network. Air Partner has tremendous heritage, leadership expertise and unique capabilities that will allow us to accelerate our global strategy and credibly expand our offerings in a meaningful way. We look forward to sharing more details on the transaction and our go-to-market plans after the deal formally closes." "This proposed acquisition has a compelling strategic rationale, bringing together two businesses with complementary offerings and values for the benefit of their customers. I am extremely proud of Air Partner, we have built a fantastic team and a highly attractive business and Wheels Up's offer is a clear acknowledgment of this," said Air Partner CEO Mark Briffa. "The Air Partner Board believes that a combination with Wheels Up would give our customers, colleagues and stakeholders the additional resources of one of the largest private aviation companies in the world, enabling us to significantly enhance our technology, customer offer, and international aircraft supply. Air Partner has always placed the customer at the heart of what we do a value that is equally shared by Wheels Up and I am confident this will continue to be the case." Strategic Benefits This acquisition accelerates Wheels Up's long-term vision to be the international leader in private aviation. The proposed combination will provide a global platform to accelerate growth and market expansion. An acquisition of Air Partner immediately extends Wheels Up's international reach with 18 locations across four continents. Wheels Up will be able to leverage its significant investments in brand, operations, service and technology on a global basis with an active and engaged customer base. The acquisition would accelerate the development and growth of Wheels Up's technology-enabled marketplace, supporting expected growth amid accelerating global demand. The transaction would bring an experienced management team well positioned to facilitate integration, drive growth and support further market expansion across new markets. Air Partner will accelerate the expansion of the Wheels Up's marketplace, providing immediate connection to a global network of safety vetted and verified aircraft supply. With more than 60 years in private aviation, Air Partner has longstanding relationships with aircraft operators across the globe. Air Partner's existing "asset-light" structure, with no owned aircraft or operating certificates, brings flexibility to scale Wheels Up's international footprint more quickly and with limited capital investment. Air Partner's safety training, consulting and regulatory compliance services can accelerate the addition of safety-vetted and verified aircraft to the Wheels Up marketplace across all markets. Air Partner's relationship with international operators can extend adoption and penetration of Wheels Up's Flight Management System in North America and beyond. The combination of the two companies will provide significant opportunities for value enhancement for Wheels Up and Air Partner current and prospective customers. Air Partner shares Wheels Up's members-first orientation and commitment to customer experience, service and support. Bringing the two companies together will enable Wheels Up to offer customers an expanded international travel solution, including direct travel options to and from Europe , as well as intra- Europe and intra-U.S. , as well as intra- and intra-U.S. Wheels Up expects these solutions will appeal to individual, family and business customers. The acquisition of Air Partner and its diversified platform expands the Wheels Up portfolio of products and services. Air Partner operates adjacent profitable businesses in group charter and freight in the United States and internationally. and internationally. Air Partner's safety and security consultancies will complement Wheels Up's focus on operational excellence and safety, while also providing additional support and protection for the Wheels Up brand as a global aviation leader. The proposed acquisition of a consistently profitable business represents an opportunity for margin expansion and sustained financial performance. Air Partner brings a strong financial profile with profitable operations, strong free cash flow and no significant debt. Wheels Up expects the integration of Air Partner's historically profitable business to be accretive to Wheels Up's contribution margin and adjusted EBITDA in the first year of acquisition. Jefferies, LLC is acting as the exclusive financial advisor to Wheels Up. About Wheels Up: Wheels Up is the leading provider of "on demand" private aviation in the United States and one of the largest private aviation companies in the world. Powered by a growing marketplace of more than 1,500 safety-vetted and verified aircraft, Wheels Up is the only company in the industry to offer a total private aviation solution that includes a relentless focus on safety and service, with flexibility across all types of aircraft, membership programs, corporate solutions, aircraft management, whole aircraft sales and commercial travel benefits through a strategic partnership with Delta Air Lines. The Wheels Up App enables members and customers to search, book and fly. Wheels Up Connect, Core, and Business memberships provide enhancements such as flight sharing, empty-leg Hot Flights, Shuttle Flights, Shared Flights, signature Wheels Up Down events and exclusive member benefits from preeminent lifestyle brands. Wheels Up's ongoing Wheels Up Cares program aligns with philanthropic organizations and initiatives that affect and matter to the company and its customers, members, stakeholders, families and friends. The Wheels Up Cares fleet comprises five custom-painted Beechcraft King Air 350i aircraft, with each plane serving as a flying symbol for a specific social cause. About Air Partner: Founded in 1961, Air Partner is a world-leading international aviation services group providing aircraft charter, aviation safety and security solutions and managed services to industry, commerce, governments and private individuals, across civil and military organizations. The Air Partner Group has two divisions: Air Partner Charter, comprising group charter, private jets, freight and specialist services; and Air Partner Services (previously Safety & Security), which comprises Baines Simmons, an aviation safety management and fatigue risk management consultancy, Redline Assured Security Ltd, a leading provider of global security solutions, Kenyon International Emergency Services, Inc., a world leader in emergency planning and incident response, and managed services. Air Partner has 18 locations across four continents, with its headquarters located alongside Gatwick airport in the UK. The group employs around 450 professionals globally and operates 24/7. Air Partner is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AIR) and is the only publicly listed air charter broker and aviation safety & security consultancy. It is ISO 9001:2015 compliant for commercial airline and private jet solutions worldwide. More information is available on the company's website www.airpartnergroup.com. Contacts: Wheels Up Media: [email protected] Investors: [email protected] Air Partner Media: TB Cardew Tom Allison / Alycia MacAskill [email protected] +44 7789 998 020 / +44 7876 222 703 Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Wheels Up's and/or Air Partner's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future including, without limitation, statements regarding: (i) the size, demands and growth potential of the markets for Wheels Up's and/or Air Partner's products and services and Wheels Up's and/or Air Partner's ability to serve those markets, (ii) the degree of market acceptance and adoption of Wheels Up's and/or Air Partner's products and services, (iii) Wheels Up's and/or Air Partner's ability to develop innovative products and services and compete with other companies engaged in the private aviation industry and (iv) Wheels Up's and/or Air Partner's ability to attract and retain customers. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "strive," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside Wheels Up's control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements can be found in the registration statement on Form S-1, as amended, filed by Wheels Up, which was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on August 24, 2021, and other documents filed by Wheels Up from time to time with the SEC. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect us. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, and Wheels Up and/or Air Partner undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, changes in expectations, future events or otherwise. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. No assurance is given either that Wheels Up or Air Partner will achieve its expectations. This announcement is for information purposes only and is not intended to and does not constitute or form part of an offer or inducement to sell or an invitation to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, any vote or approval in any jurisdiction pursuant to the acquisition or otherwise. SOURCE Wheels Up AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Two of the most dynamic bands in American rock and roll headline over two nights at the first ever 'Sounds Over Salado' music festival in Salado, Texas in late April. Austin favorites, White Denim headline on Saturday, April 23rd and The Stone Foxes from San Francisco headline on Sunday, April 24th. These electrifying acts are just two of eleven bands being brought together to rock the small Texas town of Salado, which is just forty-five minutes north of Austin. White Denim. Photo by Marc Millman The Stone Foxes. Photo by Marc Fong Saturday's headliners, White Denim, are the powerhouse Austin outfit, well known for tight, intense, eclectic, and experimental rock and roll and exhilarating live shows. The Stone Foxes, who headline on Sunday evening, have risen stratospherically, and are known for their gritty, dirty, swampy, barnstorming blues. - The perfect foot stomping, hell-raising act on which to end the weekend. Apart from headliners White Denim, other artists playing Saturday are Neal Francis, GoFever, Lo Talker, Zach Person. And the day kicks off with Better Strangers, the Miami band featuring Phil Collin's son Nic. The Sunday lineup starts with Sound Bath featuring Walker Lukens, followed by Raze Regal with James Petralli, Moving Panoramas, Walker Lukens, and The Stone Foxes end the show with their gritty, sweaty, electrifying blues. The magical small town of Salado is nestled among the rolling hills of Central Texas along the banks of Salado Creek. Over the last decade it has become known as an artistic and creative enclave, so it provides the perfect setting for this, eclectic, electric and expressive rock and roll festival. Stephen Clarke of Radio Milk, who are producing the event, commented: "Salado is a unique small town driven by an independent spirit, so we wanted to reflect that, by bringing together a surprising line-up of guitar-based rock and roll acts. Rumor has it, a mermaid lives in the creek, I'm hoping that April weekend she picks up a guitar." Sounds Over Salado will take place on the grounds of the Barrow Brewing Company. The brewery is known for some of the most flavorful and original craft beers in Texas including Tipsy Vicar stout, Evil Catfish IPA and Big Bubbly Blonde ale. Multiple foods trucks will be on site, serving up a variety of delicious traditional and exotic fare, all under the sprawling oaks of Barrow's picturesque grounds. The show plans to draw fans from not only Austin, as Salado is only fifteen minutes from the Temple/Belton/Killeen area and forty-five minutes south of Waco. 'Sounds Over Salado' promises to be a unique rock and roll experience. A weekend where rock, space, art, time, psychedelic, and taco trucks collide. Tickets are available through Ticketbud at https://radiomilk.ticketbud.com/sounds-over-salado-2022 Contact: Stephen Clarke 713-222-2200 SOURCE Radio Milk DUBLIN, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Adult Diaper Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global adult diaper market reached a value of US$ 16.7 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 26.1 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.5% during 2022-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, they are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor An adult diaper, also known as adult nappy, is a type of underwear worn by adults so as to urinate or defecate without using a toilet. It absorbs or contains the waste and prevents soiling of the outer clothing. The inner lining that touches the skin is generally made of polypropylene, whereas the outer lining is made of polyethylene. Some manufacturers enhance the quality of the inner lining with vitamin E, aloe vera and other skin-friendly compounds. These diapers can be indispensable for adults with conditions like mobility impairment, incontinence or severe diarrhea As a result of the growing prevalence of urinary incontinence amongst the geriatric population, the demand for adult diapers has increased, particularly for products with improved fluid absorption and retention capacities The rising hygiene consciousness among the consumers has created a positive impact on the demand for adult diapers. The market is also experiencing a high growth in the developing regions on account of increasing awareness and easy product availability Due to technological advancements, multiple adult diaper variants have been introduced in the market which are thinner and more comfortable with enhanced skin friendliness and odor control. This is expected to create a positive impact on the growth of the global adult diaper industry The use of harmful chemicals in diapers can cause the skin to become red, sore, tender and irritated. This represents one of the major factors which can restrain the market growth across the globe Competitive Landscape: The global adult diaper industry is concentrated in nature with only a handful of players sharing the majority of the total global market. Some of the leading players operating in the market are: Unicharm Corporation Kimberly-Clark Corporation Attends Healthcare Group Ltd Paul Hartmann AG Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) This report provides a deep insight into the global adult diaper industry covering all its essential aspects. This ranges from macro overview of the market to micro details of the industry performance, recent trends, key market drivers and challenges, SWOT analysis, Porter's five forces analysis, value chain analysis, etc. This report is a must-read for entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, consultants, business strategists, and all those who have any kind of stake or are planning to foray into the adult diaper market in any manner Key Question Answered in this Report 1. What was the size of the global adult diaper market in 2021? 2. What is the expected growth rate of the global adult diaper market during 2022-2027? 3. What are the key factors driving the global adult diaper market? 4. What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global adult diaper market? 5. What is the breakup of the global adult diaper market based on the type? 6. What is the breakup of the global adult diaper market based on the distribution channel? 7. What are the key regions in the global adult diaper market? 8. Who are the key players/companies in the global adult diaper market? Key Topics Covered: 1 Preface 2 Scope and Methodology 3 Executive Summary 4 Introduction 4.1 Overview 4.2 Key Industry Trends 5 Global Adult Diaper Market 5.1 Market Overview 5.2 Market Performance 5.3 Impact of COVID-19 5.4 Price Analysis 5.4.1 Key Price Indicators 5.4.2 Price Structure 5.4.3 Price Trends 5.5 Market Breakup by Type 5.6 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel 5.7 Market Breakup by Region 5.8 Market Forecast 5.9 SWOT Analysis 5.9.1 Overview 5.9.2 Strengths 5.9.3 Weaknesses 5.9.4 Opportunities 5.9.5 Threats 5.10 Value Chain Analysis 5.11 Porters Five Forces Analysis 6 Market Breakup by Type 6.1 Adult Pad Type Diaper 6.1.1 Market Trends 6.1.2 Market Forecast 6.2 Adult Flat Type Diaper 6.2.1 Market Trends 6.2.2 Market Forecast 6.3 Adult Pant Type Diaper 6.3.1 Market Trends 6.3.2 Market Forecast 7 Market Breakup by Distribution Channel 7.1 Pharmacies 7.1.1 Market Trends 7.1.2 Market Forecast 7.2 Convenience Stores 7.2.1 Market Trends 7.2.2 Market Forecast 7.3 Online Stores 7.3.1 Market Trends 7.3.2 Market Forecast 7.4 Others 7.4.1 Market Trends 7.4.2 Market Forecast 8 Market Breakup by Region 9 Adult Diaper Manufacturing Process 9.1 Product Overview 9.2 Detailed Process Flow 9.3 Various Types of Unit Operations Involved 9.4 Raw Material Requirements 9.5 Key Success and Risk Factors 10 Competitive Landscape 10.1 Market Structure 10.2 Key Players 11 Key Player Profiles 11.1 Unicharm Corporation 11.1.1 Company Overview 11.1.2 Company Description 11.1.3 SWOT Analysis 11.2 Kimberly-Clark Corporation 11.2.1 Company Overview 11.2.2 Company Description 11.2.3 Operations 11.2.4 SWOT Analysis 11.3 Attends Healthcare Group Ltd. 11.3.1 Company Overview 11.3.2 Company Description 11.4 Paul Hartmann AG 11.4.1 Company Overview 11.4.2 Company Description 11.5 Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA) 11.5.1 Company Overview 11.5.2 Company Description For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/i4bl3 Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets "Inclusivity is core to our values, and we respect differences in people, cultures, ideas, and experiences," said Geoffrey A. Ballotti, chief executive officer, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. "We understand that we only succeed by bringing together varying backgrounds and points of view, and we are dedicated to creating welcoming environments both internally for team members and in our hotels for guests." Deeply committed to a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion, Wyndham continuously infuses different perspectives into the workplace that reflect the company's diverse customers and communities around the world and offers enhanced training to address racial inequality, anti-racism, and allyship. The company partners with leading organizations including National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association, and offers affinity groups such as PRIDE, which is sponsored and championed by members of the executive leadership team. In further support of fostering an inclusive environment where team members feel comfortable to be their authentic selves, Wyndham launched a campaign on International Pronouns Day that was dedicated to promoting awareness about pronouns and how team members can self-identify should they choose to do so. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is among 1,271 businesses rated in this year's report. The CEI uses criteria based on equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; non-discrimination policies across business entities; supporting an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility. Wyndham's efforts in satisfying all of the CEI's criteria earned a 100 percent ranking and the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality. Wyndham has also been named to Ethisphere's list of the world's most ethical companies in 2019 and 2020, and in 2021 the company was named one of the best places to work in its home state of New Jersey by NJBIZ and was recognized by Newsweek as one of the Most Loved Workplaces for 2021 and Most Responsible Companies for 2022. For more information on the 2021 Corporate Equality Index, or to download a free copy of the report, visit www.hrc.org/cei. About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with approximately 9,000 hotels across nearly 95 countries on six continents. Through its network of approximately 803,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 22 hotel brands, including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, Microtel, La Quinta, Baymont, Wingate, AmericInn, Hawthorn Suites, Trademark Collection and Wyndham. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is also a leading provider of hotel management services. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers over 90 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit www.wyndhamhotels.com. About Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public's understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work. Media Contact: Scott Carman +1 (973) 753-6590 [email protected] SOURCE Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Tarun Sharma, the founder & CEO of Yodda said, "A lot of senior citizens in top Indian cities are living alone. Unlike the West, Indian families are tightly intertwined with children taking on substantial responsibilities for their parents' well-being. With work commitments spanning across the globe and frequent international travel, these traditions are changing, leaving children feeling helpless when it comes to taking care of their parents. With their increasing age and a widening digital divide, old Indian parents are finding it increasingly difficult to navigate through everyday situations without the physical and logistical support provided by their children. Now these elders require physical & logistical assistance to take care of their daily necessities. They also need a dependable service that can not only look after them when they are facing health problems, but which can also get them out of critical situations in times of emergencies. On the great occasion of Republic Day, Hyderabad becomes the second city where we have established field care operations. This will allow us to cater to the ever-growing demand for elder care services in such a vibrant city." Yodda's technology platform connects children, parents and elder care staff through a strong system-centric & process-driven ISO certified operational framework. Their technology platform is supported on the ground by meticulously trained staff of military veterans. This solution aims to recreate the same emotional, physical and logistical support given by their children with similar commitment, similar trust and better performance. About Yodda: Yodda is a premium parent care company headquartered in Pune, India. It empowers the elderly through a robust network of on-field and on-call staff that is supported by a platform based on the confluence of new age technologies. Yodda caters to a wide range of problems faced by senior citizens from day-to-day errands like grocery shopping to managing life-threatening critical emergencies. With its technology platform and superior service delivery, Yodda aims to improve the quality of life of senior citizens around the world. This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com. SOURCE Yodda Gratomic Inc. (TSX-V:GRAT, OTCQX:CBULF) has announced it has commenced a trenching program on the Jacobina graphite project in Brazil which shows that the property is a highly prospective graphite resource. After signing a definitive agreement to acquire the Jacobina project and the Igrapiuna project, the company said it had begun work on the first trench as part of its due diligence review of the property. Highlights from the first batch of trench assays include an interval of 17 metres (m) at 8.34% total graphitic carbon from 61m to 78m. A second interval of 18m showed total graphitic carbon of 4.58% from 1m to 19m. Proactive is pulling out all the stops to bring you some of Britains most innovative and exciting growth companies in one bumper event. In partnership with Cenkos and sponsored by Primary Bid, the aptly named Growth & Innovation Forum will also feature expert commentary from those deeply ingrained in the sector. So, well hear from Paul Stevens, whose company BGF is at the sharp end of helping finance up-and-coming new businesses. Paul will be joined by Premier Mitons Gervais Williams, one of the Citys best-known fund managers and a small-cap guru. Streamed online from 9 am on Tuesday, February 8 , the event will kick off with a keynote address from Julian Morse, chief executive of the Cenkos. Our companies represent more or less every sector but share these attributes in common they are disruptors and pioneers with impressive growth ambitions. Remember this is one of the very few opportunities this year to see the cream of the crop of Britains small-cap sector. So far, we have 20 confirmed attendees. They are: Brave Bison Brickability Creo Medical Duke Royalty Duke Royalty Intelligent Ultrasound One Media IP OPG Power Ventures Rosslyn Data Technologies RUA Life Sciences XLMedia ValiRx Venture Life 600 Group Inspiration Healthcare Lords Group Eden Research HEIQ Getech FRP Advisory Each company will make a 10-minute presentation followed by a five-minute Q&A session. Dont worry if you miss your favourite company, well have a replay of the entire event ready to go very shortly after its close. For more information, including the event running order, registration details and link to the Growth & Innovation forum click here. Challenger Energy Group PLC (AIM:CEG, OTC:BSHPF) told investors it has raised 5mln as it confirmed the closing of its recently announced equity fund raise which allows the company to complete its financial restructuring and advance low-risk development programmes in Trinidad and Suriname through 2022 and 2023. The company will issue new shares priced at 0.1p to raise 5mln, 4.3mln in a 'firm' placing and a further 700,000 in a conditional share issue. A further 2mln could be raised through an open offer of shares to qualifying existing shareholders. Proceeds will allow the company to make its remaining payments to complete its agreed refinancing in December it announced that through discounted settlement agreements some US$23mln of balance sheet payables, debts and potential liabilities would be reduced to approximately US$2.5mln. The final step required to place the company back on a firm financial footing was a recapitalisation, which we will now embark on via the proposed fundraising, said chief executive Eytan Uliel. The new funds raised will enable final agreed creditor settlement payments to be made, significantly reducing the company's financial liabilities. Even more importantly however, the new funds will allow the company to pursue an identified, production accretive work programme in 2022 and 2023 across the company's asset portfolio. A new production growth programme is planned for Trinidad and Tobago over the course of 2022 and 2023, with the aim of raising production to around 1,000 barrels oil per day from current levels of around 400 bopd. The programmes are planned to comprise low-risk well recompletions and workovers, drilling of new infill production wells and the implementation of enhanced oil recovery In Suriname, the company said it plans to carry out an extended well test on the Weg Naar Zee asset with the aim of demonstrating commerciality. Success would allow that project to move into the development stage and subsequently add production for additional near term cashflows. Alongside the funding, Challenger is enacting a number of boardroom changes. William Schrader will step down from his role as chairperson with Iain McKendrick joining to take over the role. Deputy chairperson James Smith is also stepping down and Simon Potter has indicated the he intends to step down as non-executive director in three months following the fundraise. Tim Eastmond will be appointed as chief financial officer and will join the board as an executive director and Gagan Khurana, the companys existing commercial manager will become chief operating officer. Other members of the current executive team either has or will soon cease employment with the company. Eytan Uliel commented: I welcome Tim Eastmond as CFO designate, and I very much look forward to working closely with him and our new Chairman designate, Iain McKendrick. Together with the rest of the Challenger Energy team, we are single-mindedly focused on the task at hand: growing production, growing cash flow, and restoring shareholder value. An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders is to be convened on or around February 28. ** updated to include placing price and close Blencowe Resources PLC (LSE:BRES) CEO Mike Ralston joined Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with an update on the company's work programme for 2022 as it prepares for an upgraded JORC estimate for its flagship Orom-Cross graphite project in Uganda. Ralston telling Proactive that the revised JORC Standard Resource is expected for completion in the next month. Metallurgical test work is also ongoing in Canada on the graphite recovered in last years drilling and once completed this will kickstart a marketing programme with potential offtake partners. Cenkos Securities PLC (AIM:CNKS) CEO Julian Morse spoke to Proactive London about the genesis of the company. The firm enjoyed a strong start to the year, buoyed by robust corporate finance activity with momentum continuing into the second half. The company helped 16 clients raise 580mln in the six months to June 30, 400mln of which came from AIM. As Morse explains they focus on growth companies (mostly on AIM) and investment companies, with an increasing emphasis on alternative investments such as renewables and music royalties as well as tech and medtech. He highlights their work with Agronomics Limited's (Agronomics Ltd (AIM:ANIC, OTC:AGNMF)) which invests in businesses focused on cultivated meat and alternative protein. They focus mainly on 'clean meat' which is grown in laboratory conditions as well as dairy products, fish and certain materials. The company have a portfolio of 16 companies as well as new opportunities in cultivated meat, which is produced in bioreactors by using animal cells. EasyJet plc (LSE:EZJ) has joined the chorus of travel companies saying they are preparing for a surge in demand from Britons for holidays abroad as Covid travel restrictions are eased. Two-thirds of Brits say an overseas holiday is a top priority this year, according to recent polls, with the low-cost carrier expecting the ending of all Covid tests for double-vaccinated passengers from 11 February to be the catalyst for a rush for seats. The easing of restrictions in other European countries, including France, should provide an additional boost Easyjet will provide more flights than ever before from the UK to beach destinations this summer, it said in a trading update. The airline flew around 50% of the number of 2019 flights in January but expects to be back at pre-pandemic levels by the end of this financial year. We believe testing for travel across our network should soon become a thing of the past, Johan Lundgren, chief executive, said. We see a strong summer ahead, with pent-up demand that will see easyJet returning to near 2019 levels of capacity with UK beach and leisure routes performing particularly well. Rival low-budget airlines Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA) and Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ) have said this month that they will add capacity to meet what they expect with a surge in people wanting to get away from the UK. Wizz Air has bought new slots at Gatwick, which it anticipates will be the centre of a battle for passengers among budget carriers. Easyjet halved losses in the quarter to Christmas to 213mln as revenue soared over 200% to 805mln compared with the comparative 2020 period. Shares in the airline have been battered since the onset of the pandemic but after flirting with a new five-year low in November have bounced 27% to stand at 637p on Thursday afternoon. Other airlines have followed a similar pattern. British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (LSE:IAG) is 27% since December with Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ) up 13% while Jet2 PLC (AIM:JET2) has been the best performer with a 38% rise. Pure Gold Mining has also agreed to a concurrent non-brokered private placement with the companys largest shareholder, AngloGold Ashanti Limited for additional gross proceeds of C$15,996,233 Pure Gold Mining Inc said it has entered into an agreement with National Bank Financial Inc, as lead underwriter on behalf of a syndicate including Clarus Securities Inc and with Tamesis Partners LLP acting as special selling agent in the UK and Europe, under which the underwriters have agreed to purchase, on a bought deal private placement basis, 16,989,000 common shares of the company at a price of C$0.53 per share for gross proceeds of C$9,004,170. The company said it has also granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 9,434,000 common shares under the offering for additional gross proceeds to the company of up to C$5,000,020. Pure Gold Mining also announced that it has agreed to a concurrent non-brokered private placement of 30,181,572 common shares at the offering price with the companys largest shareholder, AngloGold Ashanti (ASX:AGG) Limited for additional gross proceeds of C$15,996,233. Closing of the AngloGold Subscription and the brokered offering are cross conditional upon one another. The company said it intends to use the net proceeds raised from the transactions to complete the ramp-up of operations to design capacity at its 100%-owned PureGold Mine located in Red Lake, Ontario and for general corporate purposes. In a statement, Troy Fierro, president & CEO of PureGold said: We are delighted to announce this financing with the support of our largest shareholder, AngloGold Ashanti. We value the global operational expertise AngloGold Ashanti brings and look forward to working collaboratively with their technical team to continue to unlock the full potential of the PureGold Mine. After giving effect to the transactions, AngloGold Ashanti will own 19.9% of the outstanding common shares of PureGold on a partially diluted basis. Should the underwriters option be exercised, AngloGold Ashanti shall have the option to purchase such additional shares under the AngloGold Subscription as to allow AngloGold Ashanti to maintain approximate 19.9% ownership of PureGold following the exercise. AngloGold Ashanti currently holds 65,653,870 common shares in PureGold which represents a 14.9% interest in the company's outstanding common shares on a non-diluted basis. In addition, AngloGold Ashanti owns 1,653,809 PureGold warrants which if exercised in full would increase AngloGold Ashantis interest in PureGold to 15.2% on a partially diluted basis. Following the implementation of the transactions, AngloGold Ashanti will hold 95,835,442 common shares in PureGold and 1,653,809 warrants which will represent an interest in PureGold of 19.6% on a non-diluted basis and 19.9% on a partially diluted basis, respectively. AngloGold Ashantis current interest in PureGold as well as the interest to be acquired pursuant to the AngloGold Subscription is for investment purposes and its interest may increase or decrease depending on market and other circumstances. In connection with the subscription, PureGold and AngloGold Ashanti will enter into a shareholder rights agreement providing AngloGold Ashanti with certain rights, standard anti-dilution and equity participation rights as well as certain rights to PureGolds technical and scientific data. The transactions are expected to close on February 15, 2022, and are subject to certain conditions including receipt of all applicable regulatory approvals, the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange and, for the AngloGold Subscription, the approval of the South African Reserve Bank. Closing of the AngloGold subscription is subject to execution of definitive documentation. The securities to be issued under the transactions will be issued on a private placement basis and will have a hold period of four months and one day from the applicable closing date in accordance with applicable securities laws. The securities offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended or any US state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act and applicable US state securities laws. PureGold is a Canadian gold mining company, located in the very heart of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada. Its vision is pure and simple - to build a highly profitable, multi-generational growth company in the world-class gold mining district of Red Lake. With its 100%-owned, fully constructed operating PureGold Mine, a multi-million-ounce gold endowment, and significant exploration upside, the company's value-maximizing strategy is to pursue operational excellence today, while investing in systematic exploration and phased expansions to fuel discovery and growth for the future. Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com Arrow said its management continues to evaluate numerous acquisition opportunities in Colombia and other low-risk jurisdictions. Arrow Exploration Corp (TSX-V:AXL, AIM:AXL, OTC:CSTPF) has issued an operational update and outlined the near-term plans for its Colombian and Canadian assets. The company highlighted production as of January 21, 2022, net to Arrow of approximately 1,320 boe/d (barrels of oil equivalent per day), benefiting from rising Brent Crude Oil (LSE:BRENT) prices and strong natural gas prices in Canada, with 453 barrels of oil production from its Colombian portfolio and 868 barrels of gas production from its Canadian portfolio. Arrow said organic growth opportunities are advancing, with the RCE-2 well on the Tapir Block, Colombia is expected to commence drilling in early March and the company is considering tie-in opportunities in Canada, given the success of the West Pepper well. The company also said the acquisition market remains robust, and it is continuing to evaluate numerous opportunities in Colombia. Marshall Abbott, CEO of Arrow, said: "Our production portfolio continues to go from strength to strength, driving significant cash flow generation and placing us very well for a strong 2022 as we evaluate further growth opportunities. We have a number of developments in the pipeline and look forward to providing shareholders with further updates in due course." Arrow noted that as of January 21, 2022, the company's production in Colombia included 137 barrels (net to Arrow) from the RCE-1 well (Tapir Block), 125 barrels per day (bbls/d) from the Oso Pardo Field (Santa Isabel Block), and 191 bbls/d (net to Arrow) from the Capella Field (Ombu Block), for a total of approximately 453 bbls/d (net to Arrow). Based on prevailing Brent Crude Oil (LSE:BRENT) prices, Arrow said it expects its Colombian oil assets to generate approximately US$450,000 in cash flow in January 2022, prior to G&A expenses. The company said it continues to advance towards drilling the RCE-2 well on the Tapir Block. The partners on the Tapir Block - Arrow 50% and PetrolCo 50% - are undertaking the community socialization process, the procurement of supplies and services, as well as tenders for a drilling rig. Site preparations are expected to commence in the coming weeks. Arrow said it expects the RCE-2 well to spud during the second week of March 2022. While preparations for drilling the subsequent RCE-3 well are at an earlier stage, Arrow added that it expects the RCE-3 to spud during April 2022. The company said it expects to provide a further update once more exact dates for the spudding of the RCE-2 and RCE-3 wells are confirmed. Canadian wells advance In Canada, as announced on December 13, 2021, the Dalehurst 06-26-52-23W5 well (West Pepper) located near Edson, Alberta, Canada was brought on stream. Arrow said West Pepper has continued to perform according to the company's expectations, and following natural declines from the initial flush production levels, as of January 21, 2022, the well was producing approximately 775 boe/d. The company said it is benefiting from currently robust natural gas prices in Western Canada. The February 2022 natural gas futures contracts price at the AECO hub - the benchmark for natural gas prices in Canada - was C$4.30/GJ as of January 24, 2022, being approximately 11% higher than the nearest-month futures contract price of C$3.87/GJ as of the first day of production from West Pepper. Based on prevailing AECO natural gas prices Arrow said it expects West Pepper to generate approximately US$298,000 in cash flow in January 2022, prior to G&A expenses, in addition to approximately US$28,000 in cash flow expected from the company's share of production at the Fir natural gas asset (approximately 93 boe/d). As a result of the prevailing robust natural gas prices in Western Canada, the company said it is also evaluating the option of tie-ing in the 14-21-52-22W5 Dalehurst well (East Pepper Well) and is in discussions with potential off-takers, and expects to provide an update on the East Pepper Well in the coming months. Numerous acquisition opportunities being evaluated Arrow said its management continues to evaluate numerous acquisition opportunities in Colombia and other low-risk jurisdictions. The company has formed a dedicated internal team that is working in collaboration with its external advisors to identify and pursue accretive acquisition opportunities that would create additional value for shareholders, above-and-beyond Arrow's existing asset base. The company said it has retained the services of Boury Global Energy Consultants for the preparation of its 2021 year-end reserves report. The report is in progress, and Arrow expects to announce the results by the end of February 2022. Arrow Exploration Corp (TSX-V:AXL, AIM:AXL, OTC:CSTPF), operating in Colombia via a branch of its 100% owned subsidiary Carrao Energy S.A., has a portfolio of premier Colombian oil assets that are under-exploited, under-explored and offer high potential growth. The company's business plan is to expand oil production from some of Colombia's most active basins, including the Llanos, Middle Magdalena Valley (MMV) and Putumayo Basin. The asset base is predominantly operated with high working interests, and the Brent-linked light oil pricing exposure combines with low royalties to yield attractive potential operating margins. Arrow's 50% interest in the Tapir Block is contingent on the assignment by Ecopetrol (NYSE:EC) SA of such interest to Arrow. Arrow's seasoned team is led by a hands-on executive team supported by an experienced board. Arrow is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and on TSX Venture Exchange. Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com Ridgeline Minerals (TSX-V:RDG, OTCQB:RDGMF) Corp said it is pleased with early drilling at its Swift project located in the Cortez mining district in Nevada, which is currently under option to Nevada Gold Mines. Ridgeline CEO Chad Peters said the company was encouraged to see the initial assay results in SW21-001 return a near surface gold intersection in historically poor host rocks of the upper plate. Peters told investors that the results "further support the widespread gold and trace element footprint at Swift and highlight the potential strength of the Carlin-Type gold target at depth." The first hole drilled under the exploration agreement, SW21-001, returned 9.1 metres grading 0.51 grams per tonne gold, starting at 8.5 metres downhole, Ridgeline said in a statement. Great Boulder Resources Ltd (ASX:GBR) has begun a 5,000-metre aircore drilling program at its Whiteheads Gold Project north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. GBR has a portfolio of highly prospective gold and base metals assets ranging from greenfields through to advanced exploration located in WA, but its core focus is advancing the Whiteheads and Side Well gold projects, while progressing initial exploration at the earlier stage Wellington Base Metals Project in an emerging MVT province. At Whiteheads, GBR is testing five regional targets, including Blue Poles South, Tektite and Highbury on the Arsenal Trend. It will also conduct further drilling at Jubilee North and its first drill program at the Eclipse prospect. Drilling is expected to take approximately three weeks. Diamond drilling in February Once the aircore drilling is complete, GBR will send a diamond rig to drill at the Mulga Bill prospect at Side Well expected to start in mid-February. Its good to have our field team back on the ground at Whiteheads while we continue developing drilling programs for Side Well, Great Boulders managing director Andrew Paterson said. Whiteheads is a big project with dozens of priority targets, and this program continues our systematic testing that has been ongoing for the past two years. Were also looking forward to the upcoming diamond program at Side Well next month. By that time we should have the bulk of our 2021 assay data back, which will allow us to plan some big RC and diamond drilling programs in the months ahead. Positive assays GBR recently received assays from a regional aircore program it completed in September/October 2021. Results showed several encouraging anomalous intersections similar to the early-stage drilling at Blue Poles, where thick zones of gold mineralisation were discovered beneath anomalous bottom-of-hole assays in the initial aircore coverage. 122 aircore holes were drilled at Whiteheads for 5,166 metres in September and October 2021 testing a range of regional targets including some that had not previously been drilled. These included: 8 holes (439 metres) at Gunners on the Arsenal Trend; 23 holes (1,127 metres) at Tektite, south of Blue Poles on the Arsenal Trend; 8 holes (518 metres) at Highbury, on the Arsenal Trend southwest of Tektite; 6 holes (226 metres) on a single fence of drilling at Reception Hill; 57 holes (1,919 metres) along strike to the northwest and southeast of Seven Leaders; and 20 holes (937 metres) at Jubilee North. Assay highlights include: 1-metre at 2.55 g/t gold from 41 metres in 21WHAC110 at Tektite; 4 metres at 0.61 g/t from 80 metres in 21WHAC128 at Jubilee North; and 12 metres at 0.23 g/t from 67 metres in WHAC174 at Seven Leaders. The Tektite and Highbury results continue to add to the potential of the Arsenal Trend south of Blue Poles. The company is encouraged by these results in comparison to early-stage drilling at Blue Poles, where thick zones of gold mineralisation were discovered beneath anomalous bottom-of-hole assays in the initial aircore coverage. Jindalee Resources Ltd (ASX:JRL) has signed a binding term sheet with GWR Group (ASX:GWR) Ltd for the sale of a 70% interest in the Prospect Ridge Magnesite Project in Tasmania for A$1 million in cash and shares. Under the deal, Jindalee will retain its 30% interest in the tenement on a free-carry basis until a decision to mine has been made. The arrangement has seen Jindalee's shares rise by as much as 9% this morning to A$2.50 while the company's market cap is approximately A$127.14 million. Terms of the deal Under the deal, Jindalee, which holds a 100% beneficial interest in the project via wholly-owned subsidiary HiTec Minerals Pty Ltd will sell 70% of its interest to Tasmanian Magnesium Pty Ltd (TM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of GWR Group (ASX:GWR) for total consideration valued at A$1 million. Key terms include: Total consideration of $1 million, comprising A$250,000 in cash and A$750,000 in GWR shares; HiTecs 30% free-carried to decision to mine; and TM required to spend a minimum of A$2 million and complete a scoping study within five years or TMs 70% reverts to HiTec and TM has no further interest in the project. GWR to help develop project As part of its decision to maintain focus on key assets which include the McDermitt Lithium Project in the US and the Widgiemooltha Nickel-Gold-Lithium Project in Western Australia, the company had been actively engaged with potential partners seeking to advance Prospect Ridge. GWR has established expertise in the mining and export of bulk commodities and Jindalee is pleased to introduce GWR as a partner to help develop the Project, Jindalee said in the statement. Potential for low capex DSO operation In a separate statement, GWR chairman Gary Lyons said: The GWR team has reviewed a number of projects to that will move the company into the 'green sector', and we believe the advanced Prospect Ridge Magnesite Project provides an excellent opportunity to enter the 'green' global magnesium market whilst enabling GWR to apply our experience in bulk commodity mining and tap into our network of offtake partners and end-users. The Prospect Ridge Magnesite Project has had a substantial amount of work undertaken, including diamond drilling, metallurgical test-work, environmental and Aboriginal heritage surveys and feasibility studies. We believe it may have the potential to be a low capex DSO operation, which is close to a significant deep-water port in Tasmania and the GWR team will be funded to accelerate the project with the aim of adding significant shareholder value. Prospect Ridge Project The Prospect Ridge Project comprises both the Arthur River and Lyons River magnesite deposits. The Arthur River deposit contains an inferred mineral resource of 25 million tonnes at 42.4% magnesium oxide at 40% magnesium oxide cut-off. Lyons River deposit, 6.5 kilometres south along strike of the Arthur River deposit, has a conceptual exploration target range of 40-60 million tonnes at 40-44% magnesium oxide at a 40% magnesium oxide cut-off. Emperor Energy Ltd (ASX:EMP) is buoyed by positive results from amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis on its Judith Gas Project in Victoria. Ultimately, the AVO results, correlated against known gas sands in the Judith-1 and Kipper-1 wells, provide an increased level of confidence in the use of AVO as a direct hydrocarbon indicator (DHI) at the Judith asset. The AVO DHIs extend across the Judith structure, indicating multiple, stacked gas sands. Whats more, an extension of strong DHIs in Judith and underlying Longtom sands across the Judith South Block is encouraging and confirms the presence of substantial resource potential in this block. Emperor maintains its focus on achieving first gas sales from the Judith Gas Field by 2027 or earlier. Judith Gas Project Emperor Energys key objective is to develop the Judith Gas Project, 40 kilometres offshore from the Orbost Gas Plant in Victorias Gippsland Basin. Here, Emperor hopes to establish a sales gas capacity of 80 terajoules per day equivalent to 28 petajoules per year over a minimum production period of 15 years. The value of gas and condensate sales is piqued to exceed $300 million per year, based on AEMO mid-range pricing forecasts. Emperor completed AVO analysis at Judith using final, fully processed 3D PSDM seismic data received from international seismic acquisition company CGG in November 2021. Promisingly, the data has provided the best clarity and definition of AVO response, used as a direct hydrocarbon indicator, yet seen across the Judith structure and gas field. The results are in Results of the AVO analysis indicate very strong AVO Shuey Fluid Factor response for the Judith Gas Sands 1 and 2. In turn, similar strong responses are also observed in Judith Gas Sands 3 and 4. In both cases, AVO analysis shows strong AVO Gas Indication (brightening to orange) extending across the Judith structure, up-dip from Judith-1 to the proposed Judith-2 well site. The extent of the strong AVO response indicates interpreted gas extends over more than 500 metres of vertical relief across the Judith structure, terminated by the Rosedale Fault to the north. This is the strongest evidence to date supporting the 1.226 trillion cubic feet, unrisked, prospective gas resource estimate, previously published for the Judith Gas Field in 2019. Poseidon Nickel Ltd (ASX:POS, OTC:PSDNF) has received promising results from a scoping study assessing the estimated capital and operation expenditure necessary for refurbishment and operation of the Lake Johnston processing plant and associated infrastructure. The study by GR Engineering Services Limited concluded that the Lake Johnston processing circuit and associated infrastructure in Western Australia could be refurbished for an estimated cost of $31 million, a price Poseidon considers a bargain in comparison to the cost of building a new facility. Next nickel sulphide operation The results from the scoping study demonstrate that the Lake Johnston plant could be refurbished for a very modest $31 million over a seven-month period, Poseidon Nickel CEO and managing director Peter Harold said. Similar to the Black Swan Project, the estimated refurbishment costs and time are a fraction of what it would take to build a new processing plant and the associated infrastructure such as the 200-person village, tailings dam, airstrip, etc. We see Lake Johnston as our next nickel sulphide mining and processing operation which could come on stream sometime after we recommence operations at Black Swan. If we can get both Black Swan and Lake Johnston back into production, we could achieve one of our stated corporate objectives of producing at least 15,000 tonnes per annum of nickel in concentrate. The operation cost for the facility was estimated at about $36 per tonne, based on a throughput rate of 900,000 tonnes per annum. Poseidon estimates the refurbishment would take about seven months to complete, but is focused predominately on restarting the Black Swan Project, after which Lake Johnston will be developed into a second processing hub. Next steps Poseidon will now review the previous studies on mining the remaining Maggie Hays resource and start an aggressive exploration program aimed at increasing the resource base at Lake Johnston. With the aid of a newly appointed senior exploration geologist, Poseidon has lodged a program of work with with the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS), for the resumption of exploration activities at Lake Johnston. The initial exploration program will consist of up to 250 holes on 43 lines, drilling up to 15,000 metres targeting the high priority Western Ultramafic unit. About Poseidon Nickel Poseidon Nickel) is a Western Australia-focused nickel sulphide exploration and development company with a resource base of around 400,000 tonnes of nickel and 180,000 ounces of gold. The company's overarching aim is to explore and eventually established nickel operations where project risk capital and operating costs are low. Poseidon is developing the Windarra, Black Swan and the Lake Johnston nickel projects, where exploration upside has been demonstrated within the Abi Rose deposit at Lake Johnston and the discovery of the Golden Swan mineralisation at Black Swan. The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday it will suspend its active search at sunset for survivors of a capsizing off the Florida coast, leaving little hope that any of the remaining 34 missing people from the vessel would be found alive. Capt. Jo-Ann Burdian, commander of Coast Guard Sector Miami, said during a press conference that the search-and-rescue teams have located five bodies of 39 who were suspected to be missing, in a search area roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts. The service plans, however, to call off its "active search" unless it receives additional information to focus its hunt. Read Next: Roughly 100 New Mexico Guardsmen Set to Fill In as Substitute Teachers "Unfortunately, we've come to the most difficult time in any search-and-rescue case ... the point at which we decide when to cease actively searching," Burdian said. "I have made the very difficult decision balancing everything we know about on-scene weather conditions, the number of people who went on the water and how confident we are in our search area." The rescue effort started unfolding Tuesday after a good Samaritan found a man atop a capsized 25-foot boat 45 miles east of the Fort Pierce Inlet on Florida's Atlantic coast and brought him to shore. The survivor said he left Bimini, Bahamas, on Saturday night with 39 other people. When their vessel encountered rough weather, including a cold front that generated waves up to nine feet and 23-mile-per-hour winds, the vessel rolled over. No one was wearing a life jacket, the rescued man told officials. Coast Guard Cutter Ibis' crew searching for 39 people off Fort Pierce Inlet, Florida, Jan. 25, 2022. (U.S. Coast Guard photo) The Coast Guard began searching shortly after the man was rescued. Units taking part in the effort include the Coast Guard coastal patrol boats Ibis and Skipjack, the fast response cutter Etheridge, crews from Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce, and aircraft and aircrews from Coast Guard Air Stations Miami and Clearwater and the Navy's 2nd Fleet. A Coast Guard Auxiliary Grumman Tiger aircrew also participated. Burdian declined to say what nationality the migrants were; in the past several months, the service has intercepted more than 100 persons from Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, as well as Mexico, Central America and Yemen. The press conference was held both in English and Spanish to reach the broad audience of Spanish residents in southeastern Florida and the media outlets that serve them. The suspension of the search does not mean the Coast Guard is "closing the case," Burdian said. Instead, she explained, it will no longer dedicate assets exclusively for the search. The service will continue to investigate the accident, concurrently with a criminal investigation underway by the Department of Homeland Security. Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury said Thursday that Homeland Security will try to identify, arrest and prosecute any criminal organization that facilitated the voyage or is profiting from human trafficking. "As of right now, this is still an ongoing investigation being pursued by Homeland Security Investigation, and its federal, state, local and foreign partners," Salisbury said during the press conference. The agency routinely stresses the dangers of overseas crossings, which migrants often make on overcrowded vessels or those that aren't seaworthy. "The time is never right to attempt migration by sea," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said last July following unrest in Haiti and Cuba. "To those who risk their lives doing so, this risk is not worth taking. Allow me to be clear: If you take to the sea, you will not come to the United States." Despite the risks, thousands still try to reach the U.S. via ship annually. The number of migrants attempting to reach the U.S. has risen steadily since 2017, from 4,760 that year to 7,583 in 2021, according to the Coast Guard. Salisbury urged anyone with information and family members who think they may have had a loved one on the vessel that capsized last weekend to contact the Department of Homeland Security's investigations line at 866-347-2423. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime. Related: Badassery on Display: Coasties Seize Nearly 20 Tons of Cocaine Haranga Resources Ltd (ASX:HAR) may have its eye trained on Africas gold and uranium prospects, but its developing its investor base at home after listing on the ASX under the ticker HAR. The explorer and project developer joined the local share market after completing a $6.5 million initial public offering in November, providing a $12 million market capitalisation post listing. Now, Haranga will take its cash injection to its African project portfolio, with a view to unlock gold and uranium prospects across Cote dIvoire, Burkina Faso and Senegal. Investors were eager to buy in on Harangas debut, with shares up 27.5% on the local bourse to 25.5 cents each in afternoon trade. HAR by the numbers Prior to its ASX listing, Harangas IPO raised $6.5 million to support future operations. The explorer issued 32.5 million shares at $0.20 each, as well as 16.25 million options, exercisable at $0.30 apiece prior to expiry on January 27, 2025. There are now nearly 42 million Haranga shares on issue, as well as 17.5 million options. Haranga has mapped out a two-year exploration and development budget for its projects based on the $6.5 million raise. Roughly half of the capital will go towards exploration activities across the companys cornerstone projects the Issia Gold Project in Cote dIvoire and the Saraya Uranium Project in Senegal. Targeting gold and uranium prospects in Africa Haranga holds interests in a range of gold projects in Cote dIvoire and Burkina Faso, as well as a uranium project in Senegal, with a total of six current or pending permits covering slightly more than 3,000 square kilometres. The company recently commissioned Africa-focused E2M Limited, a division of Sahara Natural Resources, to conduct geological studies across its portfolio. To date, the studies have concluded both the Issia Project and Saraya Project warrant further exploration due to the current geological knowledge, mineralisation and proximity to more advanced projects and proven resources. Although an early-stage exploration project, Issia is in a prolific geological gold province with key similarities to adjacent, well-defined gold deposits. That includes the 3.02-million-ounce Abujar Project, run by ASX-listed Tietto Minerals Ltd (ASX:TIE), which is 50 kilometres to the northeast along the same regional shear structure. The Issia Project features existing extensive geochemical precious metal anomalies, grading up to 853 parts per billion gold. There has been no previous exploration drilling on the property, however, there is evidence of artisanal gold workings. Haranga hopes to kick off a rotary air blast drilling program at Issia in early 2022. Meanwhile, the companys Saraya Uranium Project, in the southeast of Senegal, is considered an advanced-stage exploration project which was partially explored by French Government-owned Areva prior to 2010. An estimated 48,000 metres of historical drilling data is contained in summary reports and there are several other untested uranium anomalies within the Saraya Project area that will be evaluated. Saraya Uranium Project is mainly hosted by granites and pegmatite units, which can be prospective for lithium, tin, tantalum and niobium. Spodumene has been visually reported within the pegmatites. Looking ahead, Haranga plans to validate historical data and undertake systematic follow-up exploration at Saraya in a bid to define significant uranium resources. The Haranga team Haranga joins the ASX with a wealth of exploration and management experience under its belt. The companys collective expertise includes running ASX-listed companies, as well as financing and development experience across mining and exploration projects in Africa, Australia and other parts of the world. Executive chairman Peter Youd is a chartered accountant whos worked across the resources sector. In the last 29 years, Youd has held a number of senior management positions and directorships for publicly listed and private companies in Australia and overseas. The executive chairman was formerly a director of First Graphene Ltd (ASX:FGR, OTCQB:FGPHF). Haranga also has part of its executive team on the ground in Africa. Chief operating officer Jean Kaisin is based in Senegal, bringing more than 23 years experience operating in West Africa to the team. In the past, Kaisins mineral exploration expertise has ranged from greenfield work through to a projects feasibility study stages. He plans to advance Harangas project portfolio from the field. Queensland Pacific Metals Ltd (ASX:QPM) is advancing the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the Townsville Energy Chemicals Hub (TECH) Project in North Queensland, with a focus on value engineering, critical vendor engagement and process optimisation. The DFS, scheduled for mid-2022, is aimed at demonstrating robust financial returns and reducing the technical risk associated with the commercial scale-up of the DNi Process, which is an environmentally friendly process for extracting metals from laterite ores. Overview The TECH Project is envisaged to be a modern and sustainable producer of critical chemicals for the emerging lithium-ion battery and electric vehicle sector. High-grade nickel laterite ore will be imported from New Caledonia from a number of ore supply partners with long-established mining operations. Ore will be unloaded at the Port of Townsville and transported by either road or rail to the TECH Project site at Lansdown. Initially, the ore will be processed in a processing plant that utilises the DNi Process. Korean presidential visit to Australia In December 2021, His Excellency the Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-In, Minister for Trade, Investment and Energy Moon Sung-Wook and other delegates travelled to Australia to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Australia and Korea. As part of the visit, critical mineral supply was a key agenda item and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Cooperation in Critical Mineral Supply Chains was executed between the two countries. This MOU recognised the opportunity where the Australian and Korean governments and investors can work together to deliver an integrated approach to critical mineral supply chain security. As part of discussions on critical minerals, the Australia Korea Business Council (AKBC) hosted a meeting with President Moon Jae-In and three Australian critical mineral companies, one of which was QPM. QPM Managing Director Stephen Grocott was given the opportunity to present QPM and the TECH Project at the meeting. His speech highlighted QPMs partnerships with LG Energy Solution and POSCO, its global leading sustainability credentials and the importance of green nickel and cobalt supply for the electric vehicle sector. Life cycle assessment negative carbon footprint The TECH Project will be a high consumer of energy and QPMs preferred source is waste mine gas. One of the key advantages of the Lansdown site is the largely unutilised North Queensland Gas Pipeline, which transports gas from the Northern Bowen Basin to Townsville and runs past QPMs eastern boundary. The Bowen Basin is home to some of the worlds highest quality hard coking coal (HCC) mines. These HCC mines are extremely gassy and contribute significantly to Australias greenhouse gas emissions, in particular methane which was a key focus of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) held in November 2021. Methane is 25x worse than CO2 for global warming and at COP26, more than 100 countries signed up to the Global Methane Pledge to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. QPMs gas procurement strategy is to target waste gas from existing HCC mines. Under the ISO Life Cycle Analysis standards, by using this waste gas in its processing, QPM receives an offset against its carbon emissions calculation. This offset is very significant when the gas (methane) would have otherwise been a fugitive emission directly into the atmosphere. A$250 million debt funding In December, QPM received conditional finance support from Export Finance Australia (EFA) to secure up to A$250 million in debt funding for the TECH Project. The EFA will now begin detailed due diligence on the TECH Project in line with its mandate to provide financial expertise and solutions to support Australian businesses across a variety of industries, including critical minerals. EFA also administers the Australian Governments A$2 billion Critical Minerals Facility, which helps critical minerals projects to get them off the ground. This marks the second expression of interest from an Australian Government entity, following the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) informing QPM that its TECH Project has progressed through the NAIFs strategic assessment phase. Both NAIF advice and this letter of support from the EFA highlights that the TECH Project is broadly aligned with the objectives of the Australian Governments Critical Minerals Strategy to diversify global critical mineral supply and capture more value from the critical minerals value chain. High purity alumina update During the December 2021 quarter, QPM executed a License Heads of Agreement with Lava Blue relating to the use of their proprietary technology for high purity alumina (HPA) processing. Lava Blues technology is based around the conventional hydrochloric acid leach, which was the base case for QPM. Lava Blues technology centres around the ability to deal with trace impurities, process control and demonstration plant confirmation of designs. The first phase of the partnership involved QPM supplying Lava Blue with aluminium chloride, the precursor to HPA which was produced from aluminium hydroxide yielded from QPMs pilot plant. Lava Blue was successful in producing 4N HPA at a lab-scale, with the product assaying at 99.996% purity. Well-funded In December 2021, QPM completed a capital raising of $30 million by way of a share placement to institutional and sophisticated investors at $0.16 per share. The placement was strongly supported and allowed QPM to introduce new investors to the share register, including those with an ESG focus. Cash at the end of the quarter was $47.1 million. Alien Metals Ltd (AIM:UFO, OTC:ASLRF) has unearthed bonanza silver grades in its inaugural drilling program at the Elizabeth Hill Silver Project in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia. The company, in a statement, said that exceptionally high silver grades have been returned from diamond drill holes as part of a programme that comprised 1,991 metres across 22 holes. Results to date suggest the mineralised envelope at Elizabeth Hill may be larger than work by previous explorers has suggested, Alien Metals said. "These fantastic initial results support the Company's view that the near surface oxide expression of the deposit was never fully tested, nor its potential fully explored for both the silver and the base metals present, said chief executive Bill Brodie Good. Some of these grades have to be some of the highest for a silver project in Australia. Todays bonanza results are in a batch of results for four holes. The highlight intersections featured 9.7 metres of mineralisation that measured 8,326 grams per tonne silver from a depth of 15 metres and a 24.8 metre section that had 829 grams per tonne, of which some 11.7 metres had 1,735 grams per tonne. Significant base metal assays were also measured with copper grades seen at 0.18% along with 0.14% nickel, 0.35 lead, and up to 222 g/t cobalt. We look forward to receiving the outstanding RC drill results which will enable us to further interpret these results along with the historic results to aid in planning the next round of work programmes to advance the heavily endowed Elizabeth Hill and Munni Munni mineralised system, the Alien Metals boss added. Chill Brands Group PLC (LSE:CHLL, OTCQX:CHBRF) appointed former Mars, GlaxoSmithKline and Philip Morris general counsel as an independent non-executive director, saying it shows we are serious about our commitment to corporate governance. Scott E Thompson, who has three times been recognised as one of the top trademark attorneys in the world by the World Trademark Reporter website, lately oversaw global intellectual property/marketing properties for all Mars businesses. At GSK, Philip Morris and Colgate-Palmolive he was responsible for trademark, copyright, unfair competition, and internet matters. Formerly a partner at the global law firm Greenberg Traurig, Thompson is currently a partner and co-chair of the intellectual property team at Lippes Mathias LLP. The appointment follows the recent addition as chief commercial officer of Michael Sandore, formerly of drinks giant Anheuser-Busch InBev and e-cigarette maker Juul. Chill Brands co-chief executive officer Trevor Taylor, said the board is confident in Thompson's ability to guide the company as it becomes a global consumer packaged goods brand". He added: His appointment to the board shows that we are serious about our commitment to corporate governance. When building a world class brand, you must have best in class experience, talent and leadership. We have all three in Scott E. Thompson." Thompson said: Chill is a powerful brand that has the potential to become a household name. It requires a robust strategy to protect its intellectual property and reach its true potential as a CPG company. As a non-executive director, my task now is to keep the team accountable and guide the company as it grows." Chill said the board is considering a share-based compensation package in relation to the appointment, with further details to be announced. Conroy Gold and Natural Resources PLC (AIM:CGNR, OTC:CGDNF) said the necessary regulatory consents have been granted on both sides of the Irish border for licences to be transferred to its new joint venture with Demir Export. Arrangements are still in process for the last of the licences to be transferred, which is the only outstanding condition to completion of the JV. As announced earlier this month, the primary focus of the JV, named Project Inis, is the development of the Clontibret Licence, PL 2194, to construction-ready status and bringing it in to production as a gold mine, with further aims of developing the Northern Ireland licences and the other licences in the Longford-Down Massif to construction-ready status. The company said Demir Export is a long-established Turkish mining company with a strong in-house technical team with mining and exploration expertise. Chairman Richard Conroy said the granting of regulatory consents for transfer is a major step forward in implementing the joint venture and I am especially pleased that in both jurisdictions regulatory consent was granted expeditiously. My colleagues and I look forward very much to working with the Demir Export team on Project Inis, and building a long term, successful relationship. Demir Export has the mining expertise and the financial resources not only to bring the Clontibret gold deposit to construction ready status and into operation as a mine, but also to advance the significant gold potential of the other licences along the gold trend to the same status. Aftermath struck an option to buy a 100% interest in the project, which it is advancing through a pre-feasibility study, through a binding agreement in 2020 with SSR Mining Aftermath Silver (TSX-V:AAG) Ltd told investors that its drill program at the Berenguela silver-copper-manganese project in southern Peru was progressing well and that core samples will be submitted for assay during February this year. "To date, the team has completed 18 diamond core holes for a total of 1,540 metres. Core recoveries have been excellent, averaging approximately 94%," the explorer said in an update. "Ten holes have been completed at HQ diameter for resource infill and possible expansion, and future holes will also test additional targets. Eight holes have been completed at PQ diameter to recover mineralized rock with varying silver-copper content for metallurgical test work which is being supervised by Ausenco. A number of holes will be drilled to twin historic RC holes to compare assay data for RC chips versus core samples." Aftermath struck an option to buy a 100% interest in the project, which it is advancing through a pre-feasibility study, through a binding agreement in 2020 with SSR Mining. In addition, an ongoing metallurgical program is currently underway in Australia, completing pre-concentration magnetic separation test work on low and medium grade composites made from existing core. The work is under the supervision of engineering firm Ausenco. Meanwhile, the company's community relations (CR) field team, led by former World Bank senior social development specialist Victor Grande, is continuing day-to-day engagement with local communities and stakeholders, noted Aftermath. The firm has begun a 'Local Workers Program' to maximize job opportunities at Berenguela and so far, 14 local workers have joined the Aftermath team including a junior geologist. In Chile, the firm has an option to acquire 100% interest in the Challacollo silver-gold project through a binding agreement with Mandalay Resources, and it also owns an 80% interest, with an option to acquire the remaining 20% from SSR Mining, of the Cachinal silver-gold project. Contact the writer at giles@proactiveinvestors.com Copenhagen, Jan 27 : Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has announced that most restrictions introduced to combat Covid-19 will be lifted from February 1. "We are through the critical phase," Frederiksen said at a press conference on Wednesday evening, after meeting with the Epidemic Committee in the Parliament. "Today we can say that we are ready to step out of the shadow of corona. We can say goodbye to restrictions and hello to the life we knew before coronavirus," she was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. As of next Tuesday, it will no longer be required to wear a mask when entering a supermarket or taking public transport, and customers in restaurants and bars will not have to present a corona passport unless the establishment specifically requests it. Although the first month of 2022 saw record-breaking daily infection rates in the country, Frederiksen said that Wednesday's decision meant "coronavirus should no longer be considered a socially critical disease." She added: "The high adherence to vaccines turned out to be ... our super weapon, and it has given us a strong protection against the infection that is still in our society." However, the government will maintain testing and isolation requirements for certain people when entering Denmark, namely those who have not been vaccinated or previously infected. The Prime Minister also emphasised that extra care should be taken around the elderly, vulnerable and chronically ill. "Tonight, a very clear appeal from us is that we continue to show consideration for those who fear infection. Everyone should feel secure in an open Denmark." However, vulnerable groups across the country are concerned by the government's decision, according to the patient association Asthma Allergy Denmark. "The very rapid and unconditional reopening will have a major impact on many of the country's vulnerable groups, including asthmatics and citizens with chronic diseases," the association said. "They will suddenly have to navigate in a society where they cannot avoid coming into contact with infected citizens in the public space." The association called on the authorities to intensify awareness campaigns regarding vulnerable citizens. In the past 24 hours, 46,747 new infections have been registered, and 21 new deaths, bringing the national totals to 1,531,518 cases and 3,656 deaths since the pandemic began. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Rome, Jan 27 : Italy has headed to the fourth round of voting to elect a new president, after the third one on Wednesday proved inconclusive. Italian lawmakers and regional representatives -- which make an assembly of more than 1,000 "grand electors" tasked with the choice of the next head of state -- have so far failed to agree on a single candidature, Xinhua news agency reported. Some 412 blank ballots were cast on Wednesday, which signaled doubts were still strong about who would be the aptest figure to replace President Sergio Mattarella, whose seven-year term will end on February 3. A broader consensus was still the main goal claimed by the two main coalitions in the parliament -- the center-left and the center-right -- thus talks within each alliance and between main leaders of the two groups reportedly intensified on Wednesday. Yet, the path towards solving the deadlock might prove easier from Thursday on. After a two-thirds majority required by the constitution in the first three rounds, a simple majority, or at least 505 votes, will be enough starting from the fourth round. The president in Italy is traditionally a ceremonial figure that plays a balancing role within the institutional landscape. However, the role becomes crucial in cases of broad political instability, such as in the case of major deadlocks between the cabinet and the parliament. Prayagraj, Jan 27 : Two persons have been arrested and a case has been lodged against around 1,000 unidentified persons in connection with the alleged rioting and blocking of the rail track at the local railway station by some job aspirants. Scores of students preparing for competitive exams had made an abortive bid to stop a passenger train. However, alert GRP and RPF personnel foiled their attempt to stop the train. Six policemen have also been suspended with immediate effect for using unnecessary force during the incident which took place on Tuesday. A letter petition has been filed in the Allahabad High Court by five lawyers, seeking a judicial probe in the lathi charge on students. Meanwhile, the search is on for another accused who allegedly made provocative remarks on social media. A senior police official told reporters that it appears that the accused had taken 'money from some political parties' to create unrest. A police team has been constituted to probe the incident from this angle. A video of the incident had surfaced on social media, following which Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had condemned the use of force against job aspirants, who had gathered there in protest against alleged irregularities in a railway recruitment exam. The two people arrested in connection with the case have been identified as Pradeep Yadav and Mukesh Yadav while the search for another suspect, Rajesh Sachin, is on, the police said. Rajesh Sachin had made "inflammatory remarks" on social media. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Kumar said a video of the incident had surfaced on social media, in which some policemen were seen using unnecessary force. Those policemen have been identified as sub inspectors Rakesh Bharti, Shailendra Yadav, Kapil Kumar Chahal and constables Mohammad Arif, Achhe Lal and Durvesh Kumar. They have been suspended with immediate effect and departmental action is being taken against them, he said. The SSP said there is no quarrel between police and students and those who play with students' future will not be spared. He said that they have registered a case against 1,000 unidentified people under 13 serious sections. Meanwhile, a Congress candidate from Prayagraj, Anugrah Narayan Singh, condemned police action against students. Singh said the unemployed youth are demanding their rights and seeking one's rights is not crime. Around 1.24 lakh students had applied for railway jobs under Group D since March, 2019. The government suspended recruitment for three years and in such a situation, their anger is justified, the Congress leader said. A large number of students had gathered on the railway track but were chased down by police. During this, some students allegedly pelted stones on policemen. Washington, Jan 27 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the US has delivered a written letter to Russia addressing Moscow's concerns amid escalating tensions on Ukraine's border. Blinken told a press conference that the letter, which was delivered to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the US ambassador to Russia, "sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it", Xinhua news agency reported. The letter, Blinken said, was in response to Russia recently outlining "its concerns and proposals in writing" to the US. In addition to concerns of the US and that of its allies and partners regarding "Russia's actions that undermine our security", what was contained in the letter also included "a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that Russia has raised, and our own proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground," Blinken said. Washington's written response also included proposals for improving "reciprocal transparency" between Russia and the West regarding "force posture in Ukraine", as well as "measures to increase confidence regarding military exercises and maneuvers in Europe," Blinken said. It also included proposals addressing the placement of missile systems in Europe and arms control, such as "our interest in a follow-on agreement to the New START treaty that covers all nuclear weapons," he said. Blinken said "if negotiated in good faith," these proposals have the potential to enhance the security of the United States and that of its allies and partners, "while also addressing Russia's stated concerns through reciprocal commitments." The secretary reiterated that Washington prefers resolving the crisis through diplomacy and is "prepared to move forward where there is the possibility of communication and cooperation, if Russia de-escalates its aggression toward Ukraine, stops the inflammatory rhetoric, and approaches to discussions about the future security in Europe in the spirit of reciprocity." Blinken said the US will not make the letter public and hopes that Russia will do the same, "because we think diplomacy has the best chance to succeed if we provide space for confidential talks." Major train heists aren't as common now as they were in the Wild West, but railways still carry some highly sensitive cargo that demands heavy-duty, specialized protection. That's why the U.S. Navy, better known for aircraft carriers, submarines and fighter jets, is adding a sleek new armored train caboose to its arsenal, designed to protect shipments of radioactive waste and house mission-relevant security personnel. The slate-blue Rail Escort Vehicle, or REV, a collaboration between the Navy and the U.S. Department of Energy, departed its assembly site at Vigor Industrial in Portland, Oregon this month for a testing location at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. in Pueblo, Colorado, where it will undergo a final slate of tests. When it enters service as soon as 2024, REV will get hooked up to DoE's new Atlas railcar, built to hold hundreds of tons of spent nuclear fuel. For the Navy, the trains will carry spent fuel rods from shipyards and propulsion facilities on the East and West Coasts to the Naval Reactors Facility in Idaho Falls, Idaho, for inspection and temporary storage before final disposal in dry casks underground. Atlas Railcar (Dept. of Energy graphic) Many details about the new caboose are classified, but DoE says it will provide "enhanced security, communication and surveillance capabilities," compared with the smaller yellow escort cabooses currently used for the mission. A spokesman for the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP), Lee Smith, said the final two-year phase of testing will involve multiple train cars and demonstrate compliance with the Association of American Railroads' S-2043 regulation governing the transport of radioactive material. "As part of multiple-car testing, these railcars will be coupled together in a prototypic train setup and tested together. The majority of multiple-car testing will occur on closed test track loops at the Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, CO but will also include testing on commercial rail track, culminating in a DOE demonstration run," Smith said in an email. "The specific sequence and timing of multiple-car testing is currently being finalized." Atlas SNF railcar with test weights on test track. (Dept. of Energy photo) Tests that have already been completed, he said, include demonstrations for each railcar design, including a "cask" car to carry the nuclear waste and a "buffer" car to accompany it. Once the REV hits the rails after testing, it will hold a complement of specially trained security personnel, providing them "a comfortable living and working environment," according to a fact sheet, for rail trips that can span thousands of miles from the Portsmouth, Maine, Naval Shipyard to Idaho, for example. The solid REV, windowless except for small apertures The Drive describes as firing ports, stretches nearly 69 feet long and weighs 185,000 pounds fully loaded. While the total cost of the caboose isn't clear, DoE contributed $10 million to its development. Ultimately, the Navy plans to procure five of the railcars, Smith confirmed. The Department of Energy will buy its own similarly designed escort vehicle for commercial shipments. Smith confirmed that Navy waste shipments would be accompanied by "Navy personnel that are specially trained, armed, and have access to extensive and redundant communications capabilities." He did not specify, however, what job rating these sailors would come from, or what weapons they and the REV would carry. He did note that security regulations limited what he could say about some aspects of the caboose's operation. "The REV is the last piece of the puzzle in completing a railcar system to safely transport the nation's spent nuclear fuel," Patrick Schwab, Atlas project manager for DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, said in a January release. "This project is a prime example of the great collaboration between DOE and the Navy and will further serve the nation's naval nuclear propulsion program, as well as our civilian reactors which currently supply more than half of our nation's clean energy." The Navy has more than 100 nuclear reactors, most of which power its fleet of carriers and submarines. Nuclear reactor cores are a long-lasting, zero-emission fuel source, and the Navy prides itself on its perfect record of safety to date in its employment of nuclear propulsion. But when nuclear fuel is spent, the disposal process is both delicate and laborious. The fuel in a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier lasts about 25 years, about half the carrier's service life. The nuclear core in an attack submarine can last between 20 and 30 years. "The first nuclear-powered submarine, USS NAUTILUS (SSN 571), was refueled after her first two years of operation having steamed about 62,000 miles," a NNPP brief from 2017 stated. "Today's nuclear-powered attack submarine will not require refueling during its 33-year life and will steam over one million miles." Rail transport has been the Navy's go-to option for spent nuclear fuel for over six decades, according to NNPP. The safety requirements for shipping radioactive waste cross-country are so demanding, and the waste containers themselves so massive, that trains are the practical option. The Navy's M-290 Spent Fuel Shipping Container, which looks like a gigantic horizontal Shake Weight, encases its load with 10 to 11 inches of solid stainless steel. Another model, the dome-like M-140, features 14 inches of stainless steel and weighs up to 350,000 pounds when loaded. These containers have to withstand a brutal beating, according to federal regulations. According to NNPP briefing slides, the containers must be able to withstand any combination of the following events: 30-foot drop onto an unyielding surface; 40-inch drop onto a 6-inch diameter vertical metal rod; Fully-engulfing 1475 degree Fahrenheit fire for at least 30 minutes; Immersion in 50 feet of water. Radioactive material is a massive public health hazard, as anyone who watched the HBO miniseries Chernobyl knows. The Navy spends substantial time and resources on shipment accident exercises, conducting mishap drills in 11 locations across the U.S. between 1996 and 2017, according to briefing slides. These exercises simulate various disasters that could threaten the shipment or train, and involve extensive communication with local authorities and civilian emergency personnel. In one 2015 exercise, Navy officials simulated a spent nuclear fuel transport train getting hit by a dump truck in Granger, Wyoming, causing the train to derail and injure the driver. The exercise involved regional radiological surveys that confirmed radiation levels were normal, and the train ultimately was cleared to continue on to its destination. The existence of an escort caboose packed with armed security personnel indicates preparation for a decidedly more nefarious scenario, however. Security experts have speculated about the possibility that terrorists could steal spent fuel rods for use in a radioactive "dirty bomb" or similar weapon. This was a topic of particular concern following the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Is it a realistic concern? Perhaps not. In March 2002, The Brookings Institution's Gwyneth Cravens considered the risks: "Could terrorists steal spent nuclear fuel? First they would have to get past multiple impediments: guards, high double fences with concertina wire, floodlights, motion detectors, and cameras. Fuel rods are so radioactive that anyone coming within a few feet of them would become extremely ill and die within hours if not minutes. The more radioactive something is, the harder it is for someone to stealand survive. Special equipment and thick lead shields are required for handling, and spent fuel for transport must be placed in casks weighing about 90 tons that have been stringently tested (burned with jet fuel, dropped from great heights onto steel spikes, and otherwise assaulted) and have remained impervious." Nonetheless, federal regulations require these aggressive and redundant security measures, an acknowledgment that any unchecked mishap or unanticipated scenario would be a true disaster. So, how much spent nuclear fuel is the Navy shipping around the country, anyway? Not as much as you might think. As of 2017, 850 containers of nuclear waste had been sent via rail from shipyards to the Idaho holding facility since shipping began in March 1957. "The Navy ships on average about 10 containers per year of spent naval nuclear fuel, depending on the ship inactivation and refueling schedule," Smith said. "Containers are typically shipped together and each train could include between 1 and 6 containers." Read the original article on Sandboxx Seoul, Jan 27 : North Korea fired two apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea on Thursday, South Korea's military said, in Pyongyang's sixth such launch this year. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected the launch from in and around Hamhung, a city on its east coast, at around 8 a.m. It did not elaborate further, Yonhap news agency reported. "Our military is keeping close tabs on related North Korean movements and maintaining a readiness posture," the JCS said in a message sent to reporters. Pyongyang apparently test-fired at least two cruise missiles from an inland area on Tuesday following four reported rounds of weapons tests, including hypersonic missile launches on January 5 and 11. It also tested the KN-23 missile -- modeled after Russia's Iskander ballistic missile -- on January 14 and its own version of the US' Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), called the KN-24, three days later. The recent bouts of the North's "saber-rattling" came as the US has been stepping up sanctions pressure amid a protracted deadlock in its nuclear negotiations with the recalcitrant regime. Last Friday, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the North's missile launches this month during their virtual summit, the White House has said, though US officials have continued to signal openness for dialogue. A day ahead of the summit, a defiant Pyongyang made a thinly-veiled threat to lift its yearslong moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, sparking speculation it would engage in more provocative actions down the road. Seoul, Jan 27 : South Korea's daily Covid-19 cases hit over 14,000 on Thursday, breaking the record for a third consecutive day as the highly contagious omicron variant spreads across the country at an unprecedented speed. The country reported 14,518 Covid-19 infections, including 14,301 local infections, bringing the total to 777,497, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). South Korea posted the first five-digit daily tally of 13,012 on Wednesday, following the previous record high of 8,570 on Tuesday. The per day counts have nearly quadrupled since early last week, when the figure had hovered around 3,800. The death toll from Covid-19 came to 6,654, up 34 from Wednesday. The fatality rate stood at 0.86 per cent. The number of critically ill Covid-19 patients was 350, down 35 from the previous day. Health authorities introduced a readjusted virus response system this week to better tackle the highly transmissible variant. Under the regime, rapid antigen self-tests replace polymerase chain reaction tests at testing sites, except for those aged over 60 or high-risk groups. Local hospitals and clinics will administer diagnostic tests and treat patients starting February 3. Vaccinated Covid-19 patients who do not show severe symptoms will need to quarantine and go through treatment at home for seven days, instead of 10. A vaccinated person who comes into close contact with a Covid-19 patient won't need to quarantine but take a PCR test about a week after the initial contact. The KDCA said the revised regime is designed to minimise critical cases and deaths, while preventing an overload and collapse of the medical system. The system, currently being applied in parts of the country, will expand nationwide after the three-day Lunar New Year holiday running till February 2. Of the locally transmitted cases Thursday, Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul reported 4,738 new Covid-19 cases, followed by Seoul with 3,385 and the western port city of Incheon at 1,010. The number of imported cases was tallied at 217, bringing the total to 24,451. As of Thursday, 26.04 million people, or 50.7 per cent of the country's 52 million population, had received booster shots, the KDCA said. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 43.90 million people, accounting for 85.6 per cent. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Seoul, Jan 27 : South Korea held talks Thursday with the three member states of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) to join the world's first plurilateral digital pact. The DEPA, which came into effect in January 2021, is an agreement signed by Singapore, New Zealand and Chile to establish key rules on digital trade issues, such as digital identities, cross-border data flows and artificial intelligence, Yonhap news agency reported. South Korea said the pact could serve as an extensive platform for establishing a global digital cooperation network. South Korea said Canada and China have shown an interest in joining the digital pact. Yang Ghi-wuk, a South Korean chief delegate, met with his counterparts from Singapore, New Zealand and Chile at their first Accession Working Group meeting to discuss Seoul's membership, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. "We will proactively move in establishing a digital trade order" amid an accelerating digital transformation following the Covid-19 pandemic, Yang, director general for free trade agreement policy at the ministry, said in comments released ahead of the meeting. The virtual talks came four months after South Korea submitted an application to join the digital pact. An approval of the DEPA's joint committee is required to become a member. Separately, the US and Japan signed a digital trade agreement in 2019. Sambhal : , Jan 27 (IANS) Yet another BJP candidate was chased away by angry locals while he was campaigning in the Shakarpur village in Asmoli constituency in Sambhal district. In a widely circulated video, BJP candidate Harendra Singh Rinku can be seen being heckled by locals who can be heard purportedly saying that BJP had 'planted spikes at the Ghazipur border to disrupt the peaceful farmers' agitation'. They alleged that the BJP workers 'opened fire' at protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, besides 'using water cannons and tear gas'. One of them is heard saying, "We would not allow any BJP leader to enter the village." Another protester said, "We can't forget what the BJP did to farmers." Sources said that the people who protested against the BJP candidates were from a farmers' union. Meanwhile, Singh told reporters that, "There were a few men who initially talked to me by introducing themselves as farmers. Later, we found that they were SP workers who tried to disrupt peace. I have requested the district panchayati raj officer to look at the condition of the village and complete all the pending work there. The village head is supporting us and I met many locals who promised to vote for BJP. They are unhappy with the SP candidate as no promises were fulfilled by her." The sitting MLA from Asmoli is the SP's Pinki Yadav. She had won the seat in 2012 too. Similar incidents where the BJP candidates have been roughly treated, have been reported from other constituencies as well. Earlier this week, stones were hurled on the convoy of Manindar Pal Singh, BJP candidate from Siwalkhas constituency in the Chur village of Meerut. The attack left the window panes of his car broken. Singh was visiting the Jat-dominated village for campaigning when the attack took place. A video of the incident soon surfaced on social media. The BJP blamed a 'disgruntled RLD' for the attack while the latter blamed the BJP for 'plotting the attack against itself to gain sympathy votes.' BJP candidate in Muzaffarnagar, Vikram Saini, was chased away by the people of Munwarpur village. He was forced to return to his car and leave the venue. The villagers raised slogans against Saini, who had visited the village last week, as part of election campaigning. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also had to beat a hasty retreat from his Sirathu Assembly segment when the local people raised slogans against him. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Taliban government in Afghanistan prevented media outlets from holding a press conference in Kabul over concerns about the status of media in the country, reported media organisations. The conference was supposed to be held on Wednesday in Kabul, reported TOLO News. The Afghanistan Journalist Center in a statement said the conference was to be attended by 11 representatives from different media organisations. "All national and international media outlets were covering it, however, unfortunately, due to the verbal order of the officials of the Islamic Emirate, the conference was cancelled," said Ali Asghar Akbarzada, head of the Afghanistan National Journalists' Union. Members of the Afghanistan National Journalists Union said that the Islamic Emirate instructed them to not hold the conference until they receive permission. "We call on the Islamic Emirate to finalise their decision in the future. They should make the decision as soon as possible and give us a permit so we can hold our conference based on it," Akbarzada said. The Taliban government did not comment over whether it prohibited the conference of the media outlets or not but said that it remains supportive of the media, based on Islamic regulations. Over 43 per cent of media activities have been halted and over 60 per cent of media employees have become jobless since the Taliban swept into power in Afghanistan, say media reports. Seoul, Jan 27 : North Korea fired two short-range projectiles into its eastern waters, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said on Thursday. The JCS said in a statement that the South Korean military detected two projectiles, presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles, which were launched around North Koreas east coastal city of Hamhung toward the East Sea at about 8 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Wednesday). The JCS noted that the South Korean military was monitoring relevant situation and maintaining readiness posture to prepare for the possibly additional launch, Xinhua news agency reported. North Korea said it conducted four missile tests in January, including a hypersonic missile on January 5 and January 11 each, two railway-borne short-range ballistic missiles on January 14, and two tactical guided missiles on January 17. The South Korean military said the North Korea launched two unidentified missiles, believed to be cruise missiles, into the East Sea on January 25. United Nations, Jan 27 : The UN team in Afghanistan has launched a $3.6 billion plan to help reduce new-found suffering and save lives, a UN spokesman said. The overarching One-UN Transitional Engagement Framework, launched on Wednesday, aims to help the Afghan people meet their basic human needs, said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The funding is in addition to the $4.4 billion Humanitarian Response Plan the UN announced on January 11, saying it needed to aid 22.1 million Afghans this year, Xinhua news agency reported citing Dujarric. "It just shows ... the increased needs that we see in Afghanistan as we gain access to more regions." The UN team is working to reduce the suffering of the Afghan people by saving lives, sustaining essential services and preserving basic community systems, he said. "The framework is a way of better managing the resources that we will get and better managing the implementation." The framework calls for additional funding "to sustain essential social services such as health and education; support community systems through maintenance of basic infrastructure ... and promotion of livelihoods and social cohesion, with specific emphasis on socio-economic needs of women and girls." Afghans suffer from a hobbled agricultural economy, sanctions throttling financial liquidity and now severe winter weather following the Taliban takeover of the war-torn country on August 15, 2021. Last month, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a humanitarian exemption to a 1988 sanctions regime. It said humanitarian assistance for basic human needs in Afghanistan is not a violation of the sanctions. Chennai, Jan 27 : Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P.T.R. Thiagarajan, MPs Kanimozhi and Su Venkatesan, and several political parties and social organisations of Tamil Nadu have come out strongly against the Reserve Bank of India staff accusing them of "disrespecting" Tamil state song during Republic Day celebrations. The political leaders have flayed the attitude of the RBI staff for not standing up when Tamil Thai Vazhthu (Tamil state song) was played on the Republic Day. The staff, however, was unfazed and said that the Madras High Court had, in an order, said that standing up while playing the Tamil state song was not mandatory. Video of some RBI staff members defending their action in not standing when Tamil Thai Vazhthu was played has gone viral on social media invoking strong reactions from political leaders. Taking to Twitter, Thiagarajan said: "The video is distressing, we will look into it and eliminate all confusion." Member of Parliament Kanimozhi, tweeting a state Government order mandating everyone to stand up while the state song was played, said: "How come those who cannot read and write a state government order serve as officials." She asked, "Are these officers superior to Tamil Nadu government". Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Madurai Su Venkatesan tweeted: "Is the RBI Chennai not in Tamil Nadu? The G.O Dated December 17, 2021, is applicable to all offices in the state. Take immediate action against those who showed disrespect while Tamizh Thaai vaazthu was played in Reserve Bank of India's Republic Day celebrations." Thamizhaga Vazhvuirmai Katchi founder T. Velmurugan said that he would organise a demonstration in front of the RBI office in Chennai on Thursday. Actor-turned-politician and president of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) Kamal Haasan also strongly came out against the disrespect shown to Tamizh Thaai Vaazthu. He said that appropriate action is to be taken against those who have erred so that this was not repeated in future. DCW chief Swati Maliwal met the Victim who was paraded in the capital after blackening her face and tearing the clothes. Image Source: IANS News DCW chief Swati Maliwal met the Victim who was paraded in the capital after blackening her face and tearing the clothes. Image Source: IANS News DCW chief Swati Maliwal met the Victim who was paraded in the capital after blackening her face and tearing the clothes. Image Source: IANS News DCW chief Swati Maliwal met the Victim who was paraded in the capital after blackening her face and tearing the clothes. Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Jan 27 : In a shocking incident, a woman was allegedly attacked by a group of people, including women, who chopped off her hair, tore her clothes, blackened her face, and then paraded her in the Shahdara area. The woman was also allegedly sexually assaulted. The incident took place on Wednesday and the accused are said to be illicit liquor sellers in the area. It has been alleged that the woman was also gang-raped. A video of the incident showed the woman being attacked. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara, R. Sathiyasundaram said that they have arrested four women in this connection. He said that a case of sexual assault and abuse has been registered with the concerned police station. "All possible help and counselling are being provided to the victim. We are taking the matter seriously. A team of elite officials have been formed to look into it, we will arrest all the accused soon," said the DCP. A source privy to the investigation told IANS that the victim woman has been living in Shahdara area for the past few years. The woman is married and has a child. A man who used to live in her neighborhood was in a one-sided affair with her. She had spurned his advances many times. A few days ago, the man had allegedly committed suicide. His family believed that he committed suicide because of the woman. The family members of the man were angry after the incident and the women of the family were the ones who first attacked the victim. Police are in the process of verifying the facts and allegations. The woman is undergoing treatment in a hospital. Her condition is stated to be stable. Her statement has been recorded by the investigation official of the case. The police are also taking legal opinion in the matter. Meanwhile, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal issued a notice to the Delhi Police in connection with the matter. Maliwal said that it was themost unfortunate incident that was reported from the capital. "A woman was gang-raped by the accused, who deals in illicit liquor business. She was made to wear a garland of shoes. Her face was blackened and she was paraded in the area. Most unfortunate incident. I am writing to Delhi Police to provide security to the woman and her family and take strong action against the accused," said Swati. Swati Maliwal, along with her team, met the victim at the hospital and recorded her statement. She has assured all help to the victim. Jaipur, Jan 27 : The Rajasthan High Court order staying all construction-related activities within 1,000 meters from the boundary of the Kumbhalgarh Forest Reserve has left many industry stakeholders shocked and surprised. "It is hereby directed that all construction activities being undertaken within a distance of 1000 meters from the boundary of the Kumbhalgarh Forest Reserve shall remain stayed....... The Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism and District Collector, Rajsamand and Pali shall be personally responsible for ensuring compliance of this order...," said the court in its order dated January 18. Justices Vinod Kumar Bharvani and Sandeep Mehta, in the Civil Writ Petition issued the order while hearing a petition filed before the Court by one Ritu Raj Singh which said "rampant construction activities are being undertaken in the vicinity of Kumbhalgarh forest boundary by breaching the order of the Government of Rajasthan." He cited an order issued by the department of Forest, Rajasthan, on 31.3.2015. The forest order meant a ban on "all commercial and industrial activities......in a periphery of one kilometer from the protected boundaries of forest which includes Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary." His contention was that activities around Kumbhalgarh Sanctuary breached the forest order. The court's recent order has hence stopped the construction activities within 1000 meters of the "Kumbhalgarh Forest Reserve" while the forest order named it as "Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary." Responses have been sought from three Government offices: Collector, Pali, Collector, Rajsamand, and Additional Chief Secretary, Tourism of Government of Rajasthan. According to the affected businessmen, the petition by Ritu Raj Singh had a motive against some particular construction activities. Against this, all activities now face the axe as per the one-and-a-half page court order. Kumbhalgarh wildlife sanctuary and forest areas around it are located in southern Rajasthan comprising mainly three districts: Pali, Rajsamand, and Udaipur. Close by the forest stand denuded hills of the Aravali system where hundreds of marble mines are in operation. They cover a long stretch of nearly 30 km length and about one km breadth. Several thousand workers are engaged at these sites. Some processing plants have assumed shapes of large scale projects using gang saws to chisel, cut and polish huge marble blocks. Kumbhalgarh forest's environs are spread far and wide with steep slopes at numerous places. A train passes through this forest connecting Udaipur with Marwar Junction. Numerous temples draw streams of people, generally on foot as access via road is not available. Nearly forty hotels and several small guest houses are operating to draw an appreciable number of tourists round the year. It happens to be the second highest hill region in Rajasthan, next to Mount Abu. All such business enterprises now face an indefinite future. Shatrughan Singh Shekhawat, who dealt with marble business for long, said the state authorities ought to realise ramifications of such a petition and present before the Court basic facts as to how development has translated the policies of government, both Central and State. The hoteliers have decided to hand over facts to the state tourism authorities of Rajasthan about tourism as a sustainable business model at Kumbhalgarh. They argue that a big share of tourism revenue goes to the local tribal people. "The forest department has not cared for decades about stake holders, whether business or tribals surviving on grass and leaf collection; it is time they present a sustainable model before the Court so that both business and conservation go hand in hand, the need of modern day development" said Harsh Vardhan, Honorary Secretary of Tourism & Wildlife Society of India. He has been on panels of Environment Ministry as well as State Government for wildlife conservation relatedA programmes. " " Visitors enjoy the beauty of Hozomeen, at the northern end of Ross Lake NRA, in North Cascades National Park, Washington, one of the least-visited national parks. NPS Photo/Deby Dixon Editor's Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of these parks are not completely open. Check the park websites before planning any vacation. At the peak of the summer season, Yellowstone National Park (4.3 million annual visitors) more closely resembles Manhattan gridlock than an oasis of natural solitude. When the autumn leaf colors are at their most vibrant, Great Smoky Mountains National Park (11 million yearly visitors) is jammed with excited peepers, the most visited park in the U.S. But not all of America's 58 national parks are subjected to floods of human beings in fact, some of them see hardly any visitors at all. There are varying reasons that the seven least-visited parks see so few visitors. Some are hard to get to. Others have inhospitable climates part of the year. But they all offer majestic solitude for outdoors lovers who prefer fresh air over car fumes. We've listed the seven least-visited national parks in the U.S., using visitation statistics from the 2017 season. Chelsea Sullivan, spokesperson from the park service's office of communications, gave us the lowdown on these parks and what they have to offer. Advertisement 7. Dry Tortugas National Park: 54,281 recreational visits " " An aerial view of Fort Jefferson at the Dry Tortugas National Park, off Key West, Florida. National Parks Service For a park that has "dry" in the name, it's a bit of misnomer. Dry Tortugas is a park that's totally surrounded by water. Located about 70 miles (112 kilometers) west of Key West, Florida, you can't get there by car or by foot. Instead, it's accessible only by a daily concession ferry, private and charter boats, or by seaplane. Those who make the trip to the seven islands and their coral reefs are rewarded with sightings of abundant wildlife and a chance to explore Fort Jefferson, a massive 19th-century 16-million brick fort that was built to beat back pirates in the Caribbean. The fort is best known as the place of imprisonment for Samuel Mudd, the doctor who set the leg of John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. 6. Katmai National Park and Preserve: 37,818 recreational visits Air taxi or boat are really your only options for reaching Alaska's Katmai National Park and Preserve, which is southwest of Anchorage. That's the primary reason that fewer than 38,000 people visited in 2017, along with the fact that once you arrive, there are only 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) of road or trails. The rest is volcanic remains and rough wilderness filled with massive brown bears, wolves and other Alaskan treasures. 5. North Cascades National Park: 30,326 recreational visits North Cascades National Park is less than 2.5 hours by car from Seattle. But the snows there are so heavy that administrators close a portion of the road between Ross Dam Trailhead and Lone Fir Campground in winter. As those jagged, steep peaks become jammed with snow, avalanches become common, making this 500,000-acre (202,343-hectare) wilderness a no-go zone for most folks until the safety of the summer warmth arrives. Then, it becomes a wonderland of boating and camping and enjoying jaw-dropping beauty (see our main photo). 4. Isle Royale National Park: 28,196 recreational visits Established during World War II, Isle Royale National Park is on an island smack in the middle of Lake Superior, and it's entirely closed during winter, two reasons that visitor numbers are so low. The park encompasses about 210 square miles (543 square kilometers) of land and also includes 685 square miles (1,665 square kilometers) of surrounding waters. Well-known for its isolated moose and wolf populations, the park is also renowned for a 40-mile trail (along with 36 wilderness campgrounds) that hikers from all over the world travel to see. Advertisement 3. Lake Clark National Park and Preserve: 22,755 recreational visits There are no roads to Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, which, like Katmai National Park, is located in the wild lands of the Alaskan Peninsula. And as with Katmai, you'll need a boat or plane to get here. The visitor center is only open in the summer, so you could conceivably have the entire park to yourself if you're courageous enough to tackle this bear-heavy land in the winter which is most of the year. 2. Kobuk Valley National Park: 15,500 recreational visits You can leave the Jeep at home before you head out for Kobuk Valley National Park in Alaska. There are no roads to this park in the virtually deserted north-central part of the state. Instead, you'll need a bush plane pilot to get you to the sprawling sand dunes and caribou migration areas. In winter, the visitor center is shuttered, but you're free to wander the trail-less wilderness on your own. As the website puts it, "Traveling to Kobuk Valley National Park and Kotzebue is very different than visiting a park or town on a road system. This will be a chance to test your moxie and have a great adventure." 1. Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve: 11,177 recreational visits " " A lone hiker takes in the vast landscape of the Gates of the Arctic, the least-visited national park in the U.S. National Parks Service Just northeast of Kobuk Valley you'll find Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, a sprawling landscape (8.4 million acres or 3.4 million hectares) free of roads and trails. As America's northernmost national park, it's appropriately the least visited, with an average of 30 visitors per day and of course, hardly any of them visit in winter. To get here you can hire an air taxi, or if you're truly adventurous, hike in on foot. Because this area is so isolated, you need solid outdoors and survival skills to navigate the area safely, or you can pay for a guided trip and put your life in the hands of truly experienced backcountry types. NOW THAT'S INTERESTING Gates of the Arctic National Park is home to the Brooks Range, the northernmost stretch of the Rocky Mountains. The area is mostly unoccupied but there is a tiny Eskimo village named Anaktuvuk Pass (population of less than 300), and that's where you'll find the park's equally tiny visitor center. Officials ask that you tread carefully the brilliantly-colored lichens in this area may take a century and a half to reach full size. Chennai, Jan 27 : The urban local body elections in Tamil Nadu to be held after a decade will witness a tough fight between the ruling DMK-led alliance and the opposition AIADMK alliance. The urban polls in the state are to be held in a single phase on February 19. The political entity of the powerful Vanniyar community, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) which is contesting the elections on its own, will have to prove the influence it has in the grassroots in north Tamil Nadu. The PMK was an alliance partner of the AIADMK in the 2021 assembly elections and part of the NDA coalition but in the rural local body elections to nine districts held on October 20 and 21, the party fought the polls separately. Small political parties like the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) of actor turned politician Vijayakant, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) of actor, politician Kamal Haasan and Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) of another actor, director turned politician Seeman will have to prove their presence in this election. The MNM and NTK drew blanks in the rural local body polls giving Kamal Haasan a major blow to his political ambitions. Another major factor that political analysts are keenly watching is the entry of Vijay and his fans association. In the rural local body polls, independent candidates supported by Vijay fans had made incredible victories without using even the flag and the symbol of Vijay fans association. The million-dollar question is whether Vijay fans will repeat the same in the urban local body elections. Poll pundits are of the opinion that the DMK alliance will have a cakewalk just like it had swept the rural local body elections of October 2021. The AIADMK which ruled Tamil Nadu for ten years at a stretch from 2011 to 2021 lost the assembly elections leaving the party devastated. The rift among the two top leaders of the party, K. Palaniswami and O. Pannerselvam, both former Chief Ministers and the mainstay of the party, is one of the reasons for the poor show of the AIADMK in the rural local body elections and the one major issue plaguing the party in the run-up to the urban local body polls. Estranged leader of the AIADMK, V.K. Sasikala is also desperately trying for a comeback to the party but she is facing several bottlenecks even though a section of the party leadership wants to bring her into the fold. The urban local body elections are considered a major turning point in the scheme of things for the DMK, AIADMK, and small political parties as well as national parties like the Congress and the BJP. Chennai, Jan 27 : The track 'Polladha Ulagam' from director Karthik Naren's upcoming film, 'Maaran' featuring Dhanush, has garnered over four million views within a day of being released on YouTube. Dhanush's impressive dance moves for the number, which was released on Wednesday night, thrilled fans, with over 73,000 people giving the number a thumbs up sign. Set to tune by G V Prakash Kumar, the song has lyrics by Vivek and has been rendered by Dhanush along with Arivu. Produced by well-known production house Sathyajyothi Films, the film will feature Malavika Mohanan as the female lead. The makers have already announced that 'Maaran' will be released directly on the OTT platform Disney + Hotstar. However, the release date hasn't been announced so far. Rumours doing the rounds in the industry suggest that Dhanush will be playing a journalist in the film which will have Malavika Mohanan essaying the character of a photojournalist. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New Delhi, Jan 27 : Amid restriction by Election Commission on rallies and roadshows, the BJP is using different social media platforms in Uttarakhand to reach out to maximum voters before polling day. Apart from constituency specific groups on social media, the Uttarakhand BJP is also using its pages of district and block units on different social media platforms to reach out to voters. It is learnt that the BJP has made over 10,000 WhatsApp groups in the state and other social media platforms like telegram. The party also actively uses its district and block units on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to reach out to people. Amid restriction of public rallies and roadshows, the BJP is also holding virtual rallies in three to four assembly constituencies every day. "Every day we are organising virtual rallies in three to four assembly constituencies. We have set up a studio in Dehradun from where senior leaders and one of our candidates address voters of a particular constituency. A link is sent to all the voters of that particular assembly seat on their mobile phones to join the rally," Uttarakhand IT department convener Shekhar Verma told IANS. The saffron party is also enrolling social media 'Yodha' (warrior) to spread the achievements of the Pushkar Singh Dhami government and defuse propaganda of opposition parties in the state. The BJP has launched a campaign 'Dev Bhoomi ke Digital Yodha' to enrol volunteers and made an appeal to youth to join the campaign to become cyber 'yodha'. Polling for the 70-member Uttarakhand assembly will be held on February 14 and counting of votes will be held on March 10. The ruling BJP is leaving no stone unturned to retain power in the state. The BJP has set a target of winning over 60 seats. In the last assembly polls in 2017, the BJP won 57 seats. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The management control of national carrier Air India is set to be handed over to a subsidiary of Tata Sons. According to highly placed sources, the Chairman of Tata Group N. Chandrasekaran is in national capital to meet key Central government officials before the formal handing over ceremony. Notably, the process would entail constitution of a new Air India Board with Tata nominees. Earlier this week, in a communication to the airlines employees, a senior Air India official wrote: "The disinvestment of Air India is now decided to be on January 27, 2022. "The closing balance sheet as on January 20 has to be provided today, i.e., January 24, so that it can be reviewed by Tatas and any changes can be effected on Wednesday." The communication, which was reviewed by IANS, was sent to the employees by Director of Finance, Vinod Hejmadi. The communication further read: "The next three days will be hectic for our department and I request all of you to give your best in these last three-four days before we get divested. We may have to work till late in the night to complete the task given to us." Last month, the Competition Commission of India approved the acquisition of Air India, Air India Express and Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons. The acquisition envisaged 100 per cent equity share capital of Air India and Air India Express, and 50 per cent for that of Air India SATS Airport Services by Talace. The airline, along with AIXL, is primarily engaged in the business of providing domestic and international scheduled air passenger transport service, along with air cargo transport service. Air India SATS Airport Services is engaged in the business of providing ground handling services at Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mangaluru and Thiruvananthapuram airports, and cargo handling services at Bengaluru airport. Tata Sons' subsidiary Talace had emerged as the highest bidder for the national carrier under the divestment process. It had quoted an enterprise value of Rs 18,000 crore for 100 per cent equity shareholding of the Centre in Air India along with that of Air India Express and AISATS. On its part, the Centre had stipulated a reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore. United Nations, Jan 27 : India's Permanent Representative T.S. Tirumurti, who heads the Security Council's Taliban Sanctions Committee, has warned that the ties between the Taliban and foreign terrorist fighters "remain close." Briefing the Council on Wednesday as the committee's chair, he said that its monitoring team had reported "that the ties between the Taliban largely through the Haqqani Network, and the al Qaeda and foreign terrorist fighters remain close and are based on ideological alignment and relationships forged through common struggle and intermarriage." "The continued presence of ISIL (Islamic State torror group) and its activities in Afghanistan remains a matter of our concern," he added. "Terrorists attacks have become despicable acts used by this terrorist organisation to demonstrate its power and influence in the country and abroad," he said. Later switching roles and addressing the Council on behalf of India, he said, "Terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to Afghanistan and to the region." The concern was shared by Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who said, "Terrorism remains a constant threat - not only to the security of Afghanistan, but to the entire world." His Special Representative Deborah Lyons, who heads the UN assistance mission in Afghanistan, also in her briefing to the Council voiced concern that the "existence of numerous terrorist groups in Afghanistan remains a broad international and, especially, regional concern." She said that "there must be more meaningful actions behind the Taliban's promise to contain terrorist groups in Afghanistan." The Council resolution adopted in August shortly after the Taliban took control of Kabul requires it to "not to allow the use of the Afghan soil for terrorism" and it noted the Taliban's commitment to it, Tirumurti said speaking in his capacity as India's representatve. "However, we need to see concrete progress in ensuring that such proscribed terrorist entities do not get any support, tacit or direct, either from Afghan soil or from the terrorist sanctuaries based in the region," he said. The mention of sanctuaries was a reference to Pakistan that has been sheltering various terrorist organisations and their leaders operating across the border. Naseer Faiq, a minister counsellor in Afghanistan's UN mission, in his speech to the Council thanked Tirumurti for his role as the head of the Council's Sanctions Committee overseeing the implementation of the sanctions on the Taliban. China's Permanent Representative Zhang Jun in a show of diplomatic courtesy thanked Tirumurti for the briefing. Guterres described the conditions for the Afghan people as a "frozen hell" and said that since the Taliban takeover, "Afghanistan is hanging by a thread." He appealed for aid for Afghanistan separating the humanitarian catastrophe from the political issues of Taliban governance, and said the international community should put its "hands on the wheel of progress, provide resources, and prevent Afghanistan from spiraling any further." Speaking as the chair of the committee that oversees sanctions imposed by the Council, Tirumurti pointed out that the Council has decided that provision of humanitarian assistance is not a violation of the sanctions and neither are processing payment of funds, using other financial assets, and proviiding goods and services necessary to deliver such aid. But he also cautioned that according to the UN over 30 members of the Taliban on the list of sanctioned terrorists now occupy senior cabinet positions in Afghanistan. Therefore, he said, humanitarian aid providers should use reasonable efforts to minimise the chances of aid benefiting them directly or through diversions to sanctioned individuals or entities. And later switching to the role of New Delhi's representative, Tirumurti said, "As Afghanistan's largest regional development partner, India is willing to coordinate with other stakeholders to work towards enabling expeditious provision of much needed humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people." He said that India has already delivered three shipments of medical supplies and Covid-19 medicines to the World Health Organisation and the Indira Gandhi Children Hospital in Kabul. India was also offering 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Afghanistan. He said that India was committed to providing 50,000 tonnes of wheat to that country but did not mention the difficulties it faces in sending the direly needed food supplies. Islamabad has thwarted India's request to send the wheat through through Pakistan, the shortest route to the landlocked country, by putting several conditions that would effectively give it control over the supplies. India reportedly has received an offer from Iran to send the wheat by sea to the Chabahar port, from where it would be sent to Afghanistan as in the past. "We remain steadfast in our commitment towards humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan," Tirumurti said. Both Guterres and Lyons spoke of the dire human rights situation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Lyons said, "Here on the ground there is compelling evidence of an emerging environment of intimidation and a deterioration in respect for human rights." "We continue to receive credible allegations of killings, enforced disappearances, and other violations that are not being addressed by the judiciary. In addition, we are seeing a growing number of detentions of political opponents, civil society representatives and those who voice dissent," she said. Guterres focused on the plight of women and girls, who he said are "once again being denied their rights to education, employment and equal justice." "This is a tragedy for those women and girls who grew up believing that any dream was within reach, and now helplessly watching those dreams slip away," he said. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in and followed @arulouis) Mumbai, Jan 27 : Even as Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the annual Budget on February 1, experts have called for regulation of cryptocurrencies and exhorted the government to treat them as capital assets with a "reasonable" tax regime. While the sector has grown exponentially over the last few years in India with buying, selling of the digital currencies and altcoins and establishing cryptocurrency exchanges being legal, the government is yet to bring in a law that regulates the sector. The government was expected to introduce a Bill titled "The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021" to regulate cryptocurrencies in the Winter session of the Parliament but did not do so. It is now expected to be tabled in the Parliament during the Budget session that starts on January 1 and ends on April 8. Pratik Gauri, CEO, and Founder, 5ire said the government has a responsibility to protect people from investments that are sensationalized, and while risk-taking is every investor's right, a measured hand where investment and holding parties responsible go hand-in-hand. "Laissez-faire has never worked in populations where every rupee is hard-earned and we are a nation of hard-earners. Even in terms of governance, the Indian government is looking long and hard at accountability. So, taxation and regulation of investment falls under its purview and I think, thus far the government has done a remarkable job of balancing the need to encourage investment for innovation and the restriction on gaining from wild speculation," he said. He added that all gains from cryptocurrencies are taxed heavily across the globe and that asking to pay a fair share of taxes on the gains in crypto markets is just part of the puzzle. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while virtually addressing a summit of the World Economic Forum on January 17, had called for a synchronized global action to regulate cryptocurrencies. The Reserve Bank of India has publicly favored a ban on private cryptocurrencies. The crypto assets in India are currently estimated at around Rs 45,000 crore with about 15 million investors. The risk in the widespread adoption of crypto is that poor AML and fraud practices are heavily present in the crypto exchange market. The reasons are multifold: Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) is not required on crypto exchanges or ATMs at this time. Raj Kapoor, Founder - India Blockchain Alliance and Chief Growth Officer at Chainsense LTD, said an alignment with the FATF framework would also provide crypto for a clearer framework on performing AML compliance, and to prepare to use this to inform your risk assessment and procedures. The Customer Due Diligence (CDD) scanner to detect customer identification, especially for scanning high-risk customers would then be in place as well. Ravi S. Raghavan, Partner, Tax and Private Client Group at Majmudar & Partners says cryptos should be treated as capital assets and reasonable tax regime such as a levy of 18 per cent GST on fee collected by exchanges for enabling buying and selling cryptos; and Investor profits to be either taxed as - short term capital gains (for cryptos held for less than 36 months) at 30 per cent; or long term capital gains tax (for cryptos held for more than 36 months) at 20 per cent that is similar to trading and investment in securities. "Reporting procedures in income tax returns and whether tax withholdings are applicable (beyond prescribed thresholds) should be explained in the form of an FAQ by the Central Board of Direct Taxes in due course to avoid any tax litigation," he said. He added that crypto trading should be considered by the government as speculative transactions and no losses arising from crypto sales be allowed to be carried forward and set off against other business profits or salary income of the concerned taxpayer. Regulating cryptocurrencies by bringing it under the IT Act will make it a part of the investment choices and while most investors do not have a problem with taxation, they seek clarity and consistency of taxes. "Anything that is banned never goes away, it just goes underground and the govt misses out on the tax revenues. Also regulating it would ensure that all loopholes are plugged and people don't feel the need to evade taxes," Kunal Verma director and creative head of Yunometa Pte limited said. New Delhi, Jan 27: The recent talks between Armenia and Turkey in Moscow, while surprising, were not totally unexpected. This had been a long time in the offing. The two - it would not be out of place to call them civilisational foes - had long ago met to start a diplomatic dialogue - in fact back in 2010. However, nothing came out of it. Armenia has now appointed a lawmaker from the ruling Civil Contract party, Ruben Rubinyan as special envoy to work on the normalisation of ties with Turkey, while Ankara has appointed former ambassador to the United States Serdar Kilic for the same. They met in Moscow on January 14. Now, after the end of the war for Nagorno-Karabakh, which Azerbaijan has wrested decisively from Armenia's control, it is expected that Turkey and Armenia would begin normalisation of relations. Currently, the two countries do not have any diplomatic relations. The reason goes back to the last millennium where 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered by Ottomans, often thought to be the modern world's first genocide. The ghost of that slaughter lives in the collective consciousness of Armenians the world over. While major powers, including the USA and Russia, have recognised the genocide, Turkey has refused to do so, fearing threats of reparations if it was to do so. The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict remained a reason for Turkey to not engage diplomatically with Armenia. Turkey opposed Armenia's control over the enclave Nagorno-Karabakh, which in Ankara's view was territory of Azerbaijan, a fellow Turkic nation. In 1993, it sealed the border with Armenia, depriving the small landlocked country a transit route through Turkish territory. When war once again broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, most Armenians believed they were fighting the Turks rather than the Azeris. Turkish technology, Turkish arms, Turkish military counsellors won the war for Azerbaijan. After the swashbuckling speeches and promises of victory by Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinian, the defeat was not merely a military or economic or territorial loss for the Armenians; it was a huge psychological setback for them. Riots broke out on the street and there were many calls for Pashinian to resign. To put it mildly, he is not in a strong position today. With the end of the war, with Azeri control over most of the contested territory, and with Russian and Turkish joint peace keeping operations, the equation has changed. Economically backward Armenia has the proverbial carrot dangling before it: normalising relations with Turkey will open up a host of connectivity and therefore economic opportunities for it. On the other hand, having a corridor to Azerbaijan through Armenia - the Zangezur Corridor - would greatly aid both Azerbaijan and Turkey. It would especially benefit Turkey's outreach to both Azerbaijan, Caspian Sea, and the Turkic countries of Central Asia. That would also open up land connectivity for Turkey to South Asia - to Afghanistan where Turkey is keen to play a major role and of course to its ally Pakistan, with major implications for India. Undoubtedly, opening up the corridor would benefit Azerbaijan and Turkey far more. Will Armenia be willing to do so? As such, Armenia may have nothing to lose but much to gain by it. But going by the mood of the people, the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh after two long decades to Azerbaijan because of Turkish intervention, the incomplete rehabilitation and resettlement of its displaced residents, it seems a tough call. Capping all this is the fact that the negotiations have been entered into by the government that lost the war and the deeply unpopular prime minister. For one, Armenians do not want any preconditions attached to the talks. However, one of the preconditions laid down by Turkey is for Armenia to give up its support for international recognition for the Armenian Genocide; yet another is that Armenia recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan; and open up the Zangezur Corridor. The Armenian Genocide remains a deeply emotional issue for Armenians everywhere and a greatly unifying factor, as also a marker of the Armenian identity. While the Republic of Armenia may some day in the future give up this support, to do so right now would add salt to injury. Moreover, there is huge pressure exerted by the Armenians in the diaspora, many of whom have had victims amongst their families. Secondly, suffering defeat in war to arch-rival Azerbaijan after more than two decades is bad enough. And recognising Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan eliminates any further opportunity to work out some kind of mechanism for joint control of the Zangezur corridor to Turkey and arch-rival Azerbaijan would be double humiliation. To that end, Secretary of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan is on record saying that, "The issue of the corridor is a red line for us, everyone is aware of it: Azerbaijan and all the countries that have anything with Armenians are aware of it." Finally, Turkey's announcement that it would be coordinating the matter with Azerbaijan is another red flag to the Armenians. Therefore, while Armenia-Turkey normalisation of ties is neither unexpected nor impossible, it will probably remain improbable in the near future. At least not till passions on both Armenian and Azeri sides have cooled down and till the government of the day is perceived to be more mindful of Armenian sovereignty and security interests. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative New Delhi, Jan 27 : Ahead of the Budget Session, the Congress strategy group is to meet on Friday to discuss and strategise the party's stand during the session. The Congress meeting will be chaired by Sonia Gandhi and attended by floor leaders of both the Houses, chief whips and important functionaries of the party. The Congress is likely to raise the issue of MSP laws, growing unemployment and shifting of Amar Jawan Jyoti. The meeting comes ahead of the all-party meet called by the Centre on January 31. The meeting of the floor leaders will be held virtually at 3 p.m. In the meeting of floor leaders of all parties, the government will deliberate with the opposition on issues that it would like to discuss during the session. The government will discuss the agenda and Legislative business that they would likely follow in the session. The Budget Session will commence on the same day with the Presidential address at 11 a.m. followed by the laying of the Economic Survey. The finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on February 1. In a tweet, Union parliamentary affair minister Pralhad Joshi said, "1st part of the #BudgetSession to commence on 31st January, with the address of the Hon'ble President to both the Houses. On 1st February, Hon'ble FM @nsitharaman ji will present the Union Budget. To ensure Covid safety protocol, the two Houses of Parliament will function in shifts." Palghar : , Jan 27 (IANS) In a shocking development, a tribal couple rode around 40 kms on a motorcycle -- with the wife carrying their dead minor son's body -- to their village, officials said here on Thursday. The chilling incident happened late on Tuesday night when a 6-year-old boy Ajay Y. Pardhi succumbed to acute pneumonia at the government's sub-district facility, Cottage Hospital, Jawhar, around 9 p.m. After completing the hospital formalities, the distraught parents attempted to engage an ambulance to help transport their son's body back home at the remote Sadakwadi village, around 40 kms away. However, at least three ambulances available there refused to help out and the hospital authorities did not have a hearse van, usually deployed for moving bodies. Confirming the development, Cottage Hospital CMO Dr. Ramdas Marad said that ambulances are generally prohibited from transporting the dead. "But, I was prepared to help out the family given the late hour and the very cold weather... I summoned a private ambulance, who demanded a large sum of money which the family could not afford," Dr. Marad told IANS. He admitted that the 142-bed Cottage Hospital has no hearse van and alternative transport was not available despite all efforts. When the hospital authorities suggested they should wait till morning, the couple reportedly refused fearing that their son would be subjected to an autopsy. The medicos assured that since the boy had died of natural causes, there was no need for a post-mortem, but the couple was adamant and insisted on returning despite the numbing chill that night. Finally, just before midnight, the Pardhi couple -- Yuvraj Pardhi and his wife -- carefully wrapped up their deceased son's body in a couple of sheets, donned thick blankets themselves and left for home. They reached their tiny dwelling in the Sadakwadi village home in the wee hours of Wednesday as the 73rd Republic Day dawned all over the country. The last rites of the boy were performed on Wednesday with the entire tribal hamlet in mourning while the nation erupted in celebrations. As the incident sparked huge outrage in the district, the hospital and district health authorities ordered a probe and recommended the immediate dismissal of the three ambulance drivers, hired from a contracting firm in Palghar town, said Dr. Marad. Shramjeevi Sanghatana Founder Vivek Pandit said such incidents are not uncommon in remote tribal areas of Palghar, Nandurbar and other tribal belts which lack health facilities. "This is merely one instance which has come in public glare... The situation in the farflung, forested or hilly areas is very alarming, they have no curative facilities, doctors, gynaecologists, nurses, ambulances, medicines but the government seems to be ignoring it," said Pandit, a former legislator. A health department official said the government will soon order deployment of a hearse van and an ambulance permanently at the sub-district hospital. (Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in) Bengaluru, Jan 27 : Despite the Karnataka government forming a high-level committee to decide on the "hijab" row and uniform code, the stalemate continued in the state with Muslim students refusing to attend classes without veil. Meanwhile, Education Minister B.C. Nagesh and local BJP MLA Raghupathy Bhat on Thursday termed it an "international conspiracy". The Muslim students of the Government Girl's College of Udupi in Karnataka have refused to shun "hijab" and attend classes in uniform until the report of the high-level committee formed in this regard is submitted. They have also flatly refused to attend classes online as suggested by local BJP MLA Raghupathy Bhat. The Government Order in this regard directed the students to maintain status quo with the normal uniform until the further order. The Education Minister questioned that why this kind of problems arise only few pockets of the country these problems arise? The forces against the nation are behind this, he opined. The debate on uniform has been carried out throughout the country. Elders have made uniforms so that no child feels inferior. In Udupi College, School Management and Development Committee (SDMC) has made a rule since 1985. Parents, teachers are conveyed with this message. But, few students are protesting. The government has considered this very seriously and a high-level committee has been formed to decide on the uniform. Till then, no education institute in the state whether government or private can't change rules regarding uniform. The institutions are being given right to continue with their earlier guidelines, he stated. Once the report is submitted, the matter will be discussed with the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and until then status quo has to be maintained, he explained. Raghupathy Bhat, Udupi BJP MLA stated that the matter is being resolved cordially. If the issue is left to the parents and students of the college and Muslims of Udupi, it can be resolved in one hour. It is not a problem at all. The problem is created by outsiders, he said. The uniform problem suddenly surfaced after Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) won three seats in Kapu local elections. There is a big conspiracy, he added. A.H. Almas, the protesting student when asked about attending online classes, stated that they are science students and required to attend lab classes and how will they be able to learn it online. When asked about them being asked to go to the college of their choice where hijab is allowed, she asked why they should go to other college as they are studying in a government college. "We are not being allowed sit outside the classroom and hear lecturing. If we discuss with any of our classmates on studies and get notes, they will be called to chamber and warned not to help us. We are harassed. Those who are now not wearing hijabs will also start wearing if it is allowed. It is a very shameful matter for the government officials to not allow us to attend classes as they are not allowing our fundamental rights," Almas and other protesting students explained. The Campus Front of India issued a statement that it vehemently condemns the government's idea of banning the hijab in colleges that are contrary to the constitution's intent. The government should take necessary steps to address this issue and allow students to wear hijab with uniforms. "Despite the issue being discussed at national and international levels, the silence of the department of undergraduate education, who should have intervened, is causing suspicion towards the department. The minister of Education's irresponsible statement that the hijab is 'indisciplined' results from a sense of religious intolerance too. While looking into these series of events, it is clear that the government and the Department of Undergraduate Education, who should upheld justice have continued to be unjust. Their inaction will be legally questioned," stated State President Athaulla Punjalkatte. " " Grand Canyon National Park is actually designated as both a national park and national monument. This view from Bright Angel Trailhead is from the South Rim of the park. NPS/Michael Quinn America's national parks are places of wonder and natural beauty, playing host to activities as diverse as the people who visit them. In 2019, there were 327.5 million recreational visits across the system. There are actually 20 types of "national parks" that fall under the protection of the National Park Service (NPS). These include battlefields, historical parks, national lakeshores, parkways and other recreational areas. Perhaps the two most popular among tourists are national parks and national monuments. Advertisement National Parks While most of us are familiar with at least some of the 62 sites that include "national park" as part of their name like Grand Canyon National Park, Yellowstone National Park or Yosemite National Park, the National Park System actually contains a total of 423 national park sites. This includes parks in the continental U.S. and the territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Guam. Generally, a national park holds a variety of resources, encompassing large areas of land or water. The National Park Service has dual responsibility of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places it manages, while also making them accessible for public use and enjoyment within restricted guidelines. These tend to be places tourists visit for recreation like hiking, boating and camping. Advertisement National Monuments As we just mentioned, technically a national monument is a type of national park site. National monuments are usually smaller than national parks. Their purpose is to preserve at least one nationally significant resource, such as Aztec Ruins National Monument, which preserves a 900-year-old ancestral Pueblo Great House in New Mexico. National monuments tend to be places to visit for education and historic remembrance. Advertisement So, What's the Difference? An area earns the designation of national park through legislation in Congress. A national monument, however, is created by a U.S. president using the authority granted in the Antiquities Act of 1906. A site, such as the Grand Canyon, can be designated both a national monument (1908) and a national park (1919). All national parks are managed by the National Park Service. Monuments on the other hand can be managed by the NPS as well as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several other agencies. Now That's Interesting Twenty-two states have no national park (21, if you include the part of Yellowstone in Idaho). They include: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho (sorta), Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Mumbai, Jan 27 : The concept of time loop brings along thrill, reconsideration of choices aided by the butterfly effect and looking in the rear view mirror to sketch the roadmap ahead for a desirable outcome. The upcoming Hindi film 'Looop Lapeta' starring Taapsee Pannu and Tahir Raj Bhasin, explores these themes while commanding the undivided attention of the audience through a flawless and gripping narrative. In a recent conversation with IANS, the film's director Aakash Bhatia and its lead actors discussed the technicalities of the film, how they influenced the performances and their approach for the characters. Aakash states that the camera was itself a character in the film. He said: "We have taken a treatment led route (for the photography) which is aesthetic and allows a story like this to be compellingly told." A strong pre-production translated into a rock-solid production with categorical clarity, as the director says, "All the devices and the techniques that we have used are all part of that sort of deliverance of the narrative." "All the editing and design of the film was preconceived, we have created a lot of edits with the editor and the cinematographer together." Further breaking down the process of production, he adds, "The shot division and the storyboarding allowed us to make sure that we knew exactly what we were going for. And when we were on the set we were just improvising with the performances and getting those right. Similarly, on the edit once we cracked the beat and the rhythm it was all about making sure that the performances were at the forefront of it all." Taapsee concurs with her director and explains how such dynamic cinematography adds to the performance as the thought of a camera operating from close quarters plays on the mind. She says, "I anyway don't look at the monitor. You have to be constantly aware of the surroundings when you're performing and I think the awareness should always be there." Tahir, who plays Satya explains his approach to the body language and voice modulation for the character. "I would call him erratic and inconsistent in his body language because he is so reactive to his external circumstances. I actually had to tap into the younger version of myself in school or in college where there was far more energy and body language was all over the place." Talking about his idea of voice - modulation he adds, "Satya is a bundle of energy and as far as the voice is concerned his pitch is slightly higher than my voice and his rhythm is also a lot faster while he speaks especially under high pressure circumstances." Taapsee has earlier explored sprinting with 'Rashmi Rocket'. Ask her did it helped carve her performance of a former athlete in 'Looop Lapeta' and she quips, "It so happened that I had to do Rashmi's sprinting scenes that are the races and immediately after that I had to jump into running portions of 'Looop Lapeta' in Goa." "So it organically aligned itself in a way that my training for 'Rashmi Rocket' was utilised here without injuring myself because I was running on surfaces like footpaths and roads for this film. 'Rashmi Rocket' involved professional running on tracks which is a safer medium to run on. "I am glad that I finished Rashmi's portion of running before I jumped into this. The script was written in a way where Rashmi finished and 'Looop Lapeta' began." The gambling smile of Tahir's character is of the essence in the film. Revealing how long it took for him to crack that smile, he says, "I guess about a week because the challenge really was that there were a lot of smiles and how do you differentiate one from the other." "Most importantly, how do you define or differentiate Satya's smile from your own smile in life, because then there would be a danger of everyone calling any of your smiles a gambling smile." "Through this interview I would like to inform everyone that all the Smiles Are inspired by Aakash Bhatia", he says and the team signs off. (Akshay Acharya can be contacted at akshay.a@ians.in) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text January 27 : On Wednesday, Kareena Kapoor and her BFF Malaika Arora twinned in black while they attended a house party thrown by ace fashion designer Manish Malhotra. Malaika Arora shared a picture of herself with Kareena, wherein both the friends can be seen twinning in black attires. Both of them have donned black tees teamed with black pants. Sharing the picture on her Instagram stories, Malaika wrote, Is there a time we not twinning love. Reposting the picture on her Instagram stories, Kareena reacted to it. The Good Newwz actress added a sticker to the post, which read as, Goals. The picture was originally posted on a paparazzo account, when the two friends were spotted outside Manish Malhotra's house. On Wednesday, Kareena attended a get-together with her friends Amrita Arora, Malaika Arora and Karan Johar at Manish Malhotra's house. On Wednesday, Manish shared a couple of pictures from the afternoon get-together on his Instagram handle, wherein he was seen posing with Karan Johar, Kareena Kapoor, Malaika Arora and Amrita Arora. Sharing the photos, Manish captioned the post as, That perfect afternoon home with friends. He gave a shout-out to Karisma Kapoor and added, Missing you @therealkarismakapoor. Kareena also shared the same pictures on her Instagram stories and wrote, My forever favourites. Missing my Lolo. Karisma, who is always seen in such get-togethers, shared a picture on her Instagram stories, and captioned it as, Missed being there my lovelies. On Wednesday, Malaika also shared a picture of Arjun on her Instagram stories, and captioned it as, Hey handsome. It seemed that Malaika missed him while she attended Mamish Malhotras party. Meanwhile, on the work front, Kareena is waiting for the release of her forthcoming film Laal Singh Chaddha with Aamir Khan. The film is an official Hindi remake of the Hollywood film Forrest Gump. The film also featured Naga Chaitanya and Mona Singh in key roles. Laal Singh Chaddha is slated to release on April 14 this year on the occasion of Baisakhi. Helmed by Advait Chandan, the film is backed by Aamir Khan Productions, Viacom18 Studios and Paramount Pictures. Kareena has also turned a producer and has signed a new film with Hansal Mehta, and will co-produce the venture with Ekta Kapoor. Malaika, on the other hand, was seen judging a reality dance show, which has recently ended on television. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 : The top leaders of the Congress led Opposition in Kerala on Thursday called on State Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and requested him not to give his assent to the Kerala Lokayukta (amendment) ordinance 2021. Apparently, the amendment to the Ordinance was cleared by the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet, last Wednesday, when he appeared online from his hospital bed in the US taking away all its powers and leaving it a mere recommendatory body and following that the Congress opposition has been up in arms and have said this is being done as Vijayan and his cabinet colleague State Higher Education Minister R. Bindhu are facing serious charges before the Kerala Lokayukta. The amendment was sought sensing trouble for the two, they alleged. In 2021 April, soon after the Assembly elections, the Kerala Lokayukta ruled that the then State Higher Education Minister K.T. Jaleel had violated his oath of office and had appointed his relative following which Jaleel had to quit and this is what the Vijayan government fears in the light of two cases before the Lokayukta. After the meeting V.D. Satheesan, the leader of opposition, said the Governor gave them a patient hearing. "We told him that he should not give his assent to it and also pointed out that it was the Left government headed by E.K. Nayanar in 1999 who framed the Lokayukta and at that point all the details in it was discussed and debated in the Kerala Assembly then and cleared. Who doesn't know that this tweaking is taking place to save Vijayan and his cabinet colleague currently caught in a mess due to their own doing," said Satheesan. "We also told him since in 1999 the Lokayukta Bill was given to the President to get his assent, the amendment also should be sent to the President. We are of the firm view that if there is a proper legal scrutiny done, this amendment will not go through and he will not be able to put his signature," added Satheesan. What has come as a shocker for the Vijayan government is that the CPI, the second biggest constituent of the Left Democratic Front had criticised the move of sending an ordinance to the Governor seeking his approval for the amendment of the state Lokayukta Act. CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said the move is being strongly opposed because there was no need to bring it out as an Ordinance when the Assembly session is slated to be held soon and it could have been easily brought as a Bill, besides no discussion took place in the political front also. Now all eyes are on Khan and on Vijayan slated to arrive from the US on Saturday, on what they have to say on this. Houston, Jan 27 : At least six people were injured following an explosion at a chemical plant in Westlake, a city in the southern US state of Louisiana, police sources said. The explosion occurred at Westlake Chemical on Wednesday among its ethylene dichloride storage tanks, Xinhua news agency reported citing the local media outlet KLFY. One worker was treated on-site, while five others were taken to local hospitals. None of the injuries were life-threatening, said plant spokesman Joe Andrepont, adding that investigations into the explosion are underway and will likely take several weeks. Tokyo, Jan 27 : Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Thursday that he was aware of reports from South Korea about projectile launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) earlier in the day. Kishida told a press briefing that the Japanese government will continue to gather information about the situation. The Japanese premier noted it was the DPRK's sixth launch this year, which he described as being extremely regrettable, Xinhua news agency reported. According to Kishida, there have been no immediate reports about damage to ships or aircraft following the latest launches. South Korea's military said on Thursday morning that the DPRK fired two projectiles, believed to be short-range ballistic missiles, into its eastern waters. The projectiles landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), so there is no immediate impact on Japan's national security, a Japanese government official was quoted as telling public broadcaster NHK. Itanagar, Jan 27 : Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has handed over the Arunachal Pradesh teenager Miram Taron to the Indian Army nine days after the youth went missing. Rijiju, who closely monitored the process of the release of Taron since he went missing on January 18, tweeted: "The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to the Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination." An official of the Upper Siang District administration said that they in association with the Army, police, health and the local officials would follow the formalities before handing over the youth to his family. "We have to follow the Covid-19 protocols before handing over the youth to his family," an official of the Upper Siang District administration told the media. A resident of Jido Village in Upper Siang District, Taron, aged 19 years, was reportedly kidnapped by the PLA on January 18 from Shiyung La in Bishing Area of the Indian territory. Rijiju on Wednesday tweeted: "Hotline exchanged on Republic Day by Indian Army with Chinese PLA. PLA responded positively indicating handing over of our national and suggested a place of release. They are likely to have an intimate date and time soon. Delay attributed to bad weather conditions on their side." The Arunachal Pradesh government had also sought the Defence Ministry's intervention to ensure the safe return of Taron. The Chinese Army reportedly abducted Tarom from the Indian territory where China had constructed a 3-4 km road in 2018. Tarom's friend, who managed to escape, reported the matter to the authorities and brought it to the notice of Tapir Gao, a BJP MP from the Arunachal East Parliamentary constituency. Gao had tweeted about the incident last week. In September 2020, the Chinese PLA had reportedly kidnapped five boys from Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri district before releasing them after about a week.The villagers in the region have to trek through the remote mountainous areas due to the lack of proper roads. Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080-km border with China. Kabul, Jan 27 : A total of 700 security personnel receiving military training have been commissioned in the security forces of the Taliban-led caretaker government in Afghanistan, authorities said on Thursday. In eastern Nangarhar province, 500 police personnel graduated from a police training centre after completion of a one-month training in the provincial capital Jalalabad city on Wednesday, Nida Mohammad Nadim, police chief of the province, told Xinhua news agency. The newly graduated police personnel will be deployed in four eastern provinces, including Nangarhar, Xinhua news agency reported. In the northern region, 200 border security soldiers graduated from military, professional and ideological training in the army's 209th Fatah Corps, according to a statement issued by the government. The soldiers will be deployed to provide better security on the country's borders, especially in the border areas of the northern provinces, according to the statement. Qari Fasihuddin, army chief of the Taliban-led caretaker administration, has recently said that the administration was trying to make a capable army to ensure security of the war-torn country. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday decided to lift the weekend curfew and odd-even rule for shops in the market. However, the night curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. will continue in the national capital. The decision to relax the curbs was taken following a DDMA meeting chaired by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal with Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal earlier in the day. The bars & restaurants and cinema will reopen with 50 per cent capacity in the capital city now. However, the academic institution will remain closed for now. The reopening of schools is expected to be discussed in the next DDMA meeting. The Delhi government also said that the government office will open with 50 per cent capacity in the capital city. The DDMA has also capped the number of people attending wedding festivals in the national capital to 200. The decision has been taken following the declining Covid cases in the city. Meanwhile, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said that the Covid situation is under control in the city. He said that the national capital may report below 5,000 cases by this evening. The national capital Delhi on Wednesday reported a marginal rise on Covid cases at 7498, against 6,028 cases reported on Tuesday. The fresh Covid infection has pushed the tally at 18,10,997. In the same time, 29 deaths were also reported, pushing the death toll at 25,710 on Wednesday. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Congress' student wing National Students' Union of India (NSUI) on Thursday organised a protest march here in support of the agitating students in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and burnt the effigy of Union Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. The police tried to stop the protesters from marching to the Rail Bhawan, and were detained and taken to the Mandir Marg Police station. In his address to the protesting students, NSUI president Neeraj Kundan said, "The students were the worst sufferers of the Covid pandemic. The government is totally ignoring the education sector. Before taking vital decisions the government doesn't consult the concerned students. They don't consult the students and instead impose unnecessary new rules on them. If they protest they are beaten." He said more than 1,40,000 posts are vacant in CBT 2 group D since 2019. "First the government doesn't conduct the examination, if they do so the paper gets leaked and if by chance the paper is held, results are awaited. And when the results are declared, they are not getting the appointments." The Union Government's new notification on CBT 2 Group D students saw massive protests in Bihar on January 25, where they set a train on fire. The NSUI urged the government to withdraw the FIRs filed on these protesting students and teachers and should engage in a discussion with these students and listen to their grievances and demands. Canberra, Jan 27 : Australians have been warned to brace for a spike in Covid-19 infections when schools return from the summer holidays. The Premiers and Chief Ministers on Thursday held a National Cabinet meeting with Prime Minister Scott Morrison to discuss Australia's outbreak of the Omicron wave of Covid. According to the Australian Associated Press (AAP), the leaders told the meeting that they are expecting a jump in case numbers when schools reopen from Monday. There were more than 40,000 new cases reported across Australia on Thursday and more than 70 deaths, according to health department figures from states and territories, Xinhua news agency reported. Department of Health data revealed there were 5,227 cases being treated in hospitals in the country on Wednesday, including 372 in intensive care units, 144 of which were on ventilators. In the state of South Australia, Premier Steven Marshall declared the state has passed its Omicron peak, when over 5,000 cases were reported daily in mid-January. The figure on Thursday reached 1,953 new cases and 100 deaths. In Australian Capital Territory, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said in a media release on Thursday that all school-based staff and students will be provided with two Rapid Antigen Tests per week for the first four weeks of Term 1. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Chennai, Jan 27 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case and commenced an investigation after three Sri Lankan nationals were arrested with fake passports. Two were arrested with fake Indian passports while a third was arrested with a fake Spanish passport. The arrests were made by the Tamil Nadu police in October 2021 but the premier investigating agency took over the probe in January 2022 after registering a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), Passports Act, Foreigners Amendment Act, and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The elite 'Q' branch of the Tamil Nadu police had in October 2021 arrested a person, Letchumanan Mary Franciska in Chennai, and another Sri Lankan national was arrested at Madurai airport while he was boarding a Sri Lankan Airlines flight. The Tamil Nadu 'Q' branch had also arrested another Sri Lankan national in the last week of October 2021 after he was trying to board a Sri Lankan airlines flight from Tiruchi airport with a fake Spanish passport. These arrests led to the NIA getting alerted and have now registered a case and commenced an investigation. A special team of officers of the NIA is investigating the case which will have international ramifications. The R&AW and the Central Intelligence Agencies had earlier given inputs of the now-defunct LTTE cadres trying to fan up Tamil nationalism with certain political parties supporting it. The LTTE cadres and leaders spread across the globe are trying to liven up the organization to try and bring up a Tamil Eelam. A lawyer, Rudrakumaran is the Prime Minister in exile of Tamil Eelam that is functioning from the United States of America and the arrest of Sri Lankan nationals with fake passports are taken seriously by the National Investigation Agency. Chandigarh, Jan 27 : The Chandigarh administration on Thursday decided to lift Covid-19 restrictions with the decline in daily positive patients. Administrator Banwarilal Purohit took the decision at a high-level meeting to review the pandemic situation in the city. He expressed his satisfaction over the decline in positivity rate and appreciated the health officials for being proactive in handling the ongoing situation. He also congratulated the administration for administering 100 per cent second doze of vaccination to the eligible population. Now, all gyms and health centres will be allowed to operate till 10 p.m. with 50 per cent of capacity subject to the staff and the users being fully vaccinated. All markets, including apni mandis, will be allowed to operate till 10 p.m. From February 1, the schools will start functioning physically from Class 10-12 and all universities and colleges will be allowed to open normally. Tripoli, Jan 27 : Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Libya Stephanie Williams called on parties in the country to set a clear timeline for the holding of general elections in the country. Williams made her remarks on Wednesday during a meeting with representatives of the municipal council of the southern city of Sabha. Included in the meeting were academics, dignitaries and representatives from youth and women groups, Xinhua news agency reported. "My visit today was an expression of my determination to meet the people of Sabha face-to-face, listen to them firsthand about their concerns and their views, especially about Libya's political future and how the UN can assist them in their quest for peace, stability, unity and democracy," Williams tweeted. "From the city of Sabha, I renewed my call to the House of Representatives, the High Council of State, the Government of National Unity, and other concerned institutions and parties to listen to the will of their people and put the elections firmly back on track, through a consensual path and a clear timeline that can lead to the holding of elections in the shortest possible timeframe," Williams said. Libya was expected to hold presidential elections on December 24 last year. However, the elections were postponed indefinitely due to technical and legal issues, according to the country's elections commission. The elections are part of a roadmap adopted by the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum, with the aim of bringing stability to Libya following years of political division and insecurity. Kiev, Jan 27 : Five people were killed and five injured in firing by a serviceman of the Ukrainian National Guard at an aerospace factory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the interior ministry said Thursday. The incident occurred around 3 a.m. local time (0100 GMT), and the attacker opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle for unknown reasons and immediately fled the scene, Xinhua news agency reported. A special police operation has been launched in Dnipropetrovsk and neighbouring regions to search for the suspect, local media said. New Delhi, Jan 27 : A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in Delhi High Court seeking postponement of the upcoming Assembly elections in five states in view of the rising cases of Omicron, the spiralling variant of Covid-19 virus. The PIL, filed by Congress leader Jagdish Sharma, was listed before a Division bench presided over by Chief Justices D.N. Patel and Jyoti Singh on Thursday. However, the matter could not be heard as the bench did not assemble. Filed through Adv Rudra Vikram Singh and Adv Manish Kumar, the plea also sought the Centre and Delhi government to submit their plans to contain the pandemic during the third wave of the pandemic, including the preparedness for Oxygen and other essential items in this regard. Seeking direction from the Election Commission to postpone the polls for some months, the plea also prayed for a mandatory quarantine of people returning from poll-bound States. Recently, the EC had extended the ban on public rallies and roadshows in the five poll-bound states-- Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur -- by a week, from January 15 to January 22. The campaigning had been restricted after the election notification on January 8 when the EC banned rallies, public meetings, and road shows -- first till January 15 and then till January 31. Seoul, Jan 27 : The leaders of the South Korean military and US Forces Korea (USFK) on Thursday discussed ways to bolster their combined deterrence posture against North Korea following Pyongyang's recent series of missile tests, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. JCS chairman Gen Won In-choul had a closed-door meeting with USFK commander Gen Paul LaCamera, hours after the North fired two apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, the sixth such launch this year, Yonhap news agency reported. They exchanged views on Pyongyang's recent missile tests and reaffirmed the alliance between the two nations, the JCS said. Later in the day, Won visited the Air Force Operational Command at Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, and held a video conference with commanders in charge of anti-missile strategies to stress the robust readiness, it noted. The latest move was seen as part of efforts to assuage public security concerns over Pyongyang's flurry of missile tests at the start of the year. The North apparently test-fired at least two cruise missiles from an inland area on Tuesday following four reported rounds of weapons tests, including hypersonic missile launches on January 5 and 11. It also tested the KN-23 missile, modelled after Russia's Iskander ballistic missile, on January 14 and its own version of the US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), called the KN-24, three days later. Nur-sultan, Jan 27 : The upper house of Kazakhstan's parliament on Thursday decided to cancel former President Nursultan Nazarbayev's lifetime chairmanship of the country's Security Council and the Assembly of People. The lower house made the same decision last week, Xinhua reported citing Kazinform news agency. Deputies of the upper chamber also proposed cancelling of the requirement to consult with Nazarbayev on key foreign and domestic policies, according to the report. If the proposal is approved by the lower house, the amendment will be submitted to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to sign into effect, according to the news outlet. January 27 : Actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani shared glimpses from Mouni Roys wedding today and wished the couple. Mouni was Smriti Iranis co-actor in the iconic TV soap Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Mouni tied the knot with her Dubai-based boyfriend Suraj Nambiar in Goa today with close friends and family in attendance. Mouni's best friend Mandira Bedi, her Naagin co-star Arjun Bijlani, TV actor Aashka Goradia were present at the wedding ceremony. It is, however, not clear, if Smriti Irani has attended the wedding today. Smriti Irani took to her Instagram handle, and shared two pictures from todays morning ceremony. Mouni and Suraj tied the knot in a Malayali wedding ceremony in the morning, which will be followed by Bengali rituals in the evening. In one of the pictures shared by Smriti Irani, Suraj can be seen helping Mouni wear the mangalsutra at the ceremony. In the other picture, Mouni can be seen as a bride. Smriti Irani and Mouni Roy have known each other for 17 years. Sharing the picture, Smriti Irani blessed the couple and said that Suraj is one hell of a lucky man to get Mouni in his life. Smriti Irani wrote, This girl came into my life 17 years ago .. they claimed she was a novice then but such was her wisdom that she brought warmth & much joy along with the life lessons she infused amongst those who are lucky to have her as a friend , as family . Today she begins a new journey. May all the Gods be kind and bless her with happiness, prosperity and good health.. for the boy.. well you are one hell of a lucky man .. God bless @nambiar13 .. love you @imouniroy. Mouni Roy played the role of Krishna in the last two years of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. Krishna was the adopted daughter of Tulsi Virani, played by Smriti Irani for eight yearsfrom 2000 to 2008. Smriti Irani later quit the show to join politics. The show was produced by Ekta Kapoor. For her South Indian wedding, Mouni opted for a white saree with red and Zari border. She teamed it with red blouse and traditional jewellery. Suraj complemented in beige and white kurta-pyjama. For the evening ceremony, Mouni will reportedly don red the bridal wear by ace designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee. She will surely stun in Sabyasachi red Banarasi saree. On the work front, Mouni will next be seen on the big screen in Brahmastra alongside Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan. Seoul, Jan 27 : Top nuclear envoys of South Korea and the US shared their "deep concerns" over North Korea's recent series of missile launches over phone on Thursday, the foreign ministry said. Noh Kyu-duk, special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, had the emergency consultations with his American counterpart, Sung Kim, hours after the North fired two apparent short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea in its sixth such launch this year, Yonhap news agency reported. "The two sides shared consensus that it is urgent to prevent the situation from aggravating and agreed to expand cooperation with related parties to resume talks with North Korea under close consultations between South Korea and the US," the ministry said in a release. The envoys held phone meetings each time after Pyongyang fired missiles this month in a show of the allies' united response, though they used slightly different language. Kim condemned Pyongyang's ballistic missile launches as a violation of UN Security Resolutions, while Noh stressed diplomatic efforts to defuse tension on the peninsula. Tensions on the peninsula have escalated after Pyongyang last week hinted at scrapping its yearslong moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile testing over US "hostile policy." Seoul, Jan 27 : South Korea's Air Force has completed the deployment of 40 F-35A radar-evading fighters, with four of them having arrived earlier this week, military sources informed on Thursday. On Tuesday, the four F-35As arrived at an airfield in Cheongju, 140 kms south of Seoul, ending a years long deployment programme. The deployment of the 40 jets was initially set to end by last year, but it was delayed due the Covid-19 pandemic, Yonhap news agency reported. As a centerpiece of the country's air power, the warplane is expected to boost operational capabilities and strengthen its readiness against potential enemy forces, according to Air Force officers. Despite such expectations, the Air Force has suspended all F-35As since one of them made an emergency landing during a training session earlier this month due to avionic system issues. The F-35A is the fighter's air force variant, while the F-35B and F-35C are for marine and aircraft carrier-based operations, respectively. Chennai, Jan 27 : The Madras High Court on Thursday expressed concern over the movement of vehicles through the Coimbatore-Bangalore National Highway at night leading to death of more than 152 wild animals in accidents. NH 958 passes through the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) and 152 wild animals, including three leopards, were killed in accidents involving vehicles during the night movement. A division bench of Justices V. Bharatidasan and N. Satishkumar, while hearing a writ petition, said that the precious lives of wild animals were lost between 2012 and 2021 due to high vehicular movements. The judges also expressed concern that the drivers of these vehicles did not maintain the speed limit especially in the stretch of Bannari and Dhimbam at night leading to accidents and deaths of wild animals. Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu Shekar Kumar Neeraj said that banning the movement of certain vehicles during night time on the Mysore- Calicut highway in the Nilgris district that passes through Madumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) prevented the accidents and deaths of wild animals. The court directed the standing council for the National Highways Authority of India to get suitable instructions from the authorities on the restriction of vehicular movement between Bannari and Dhimbam in the Coimbatore -Bangalore National Highways 958. It posted the case for further hearing on January 28, Friday, and directed the district collectors of Erode, Coimbatore, and the Nilgiris to appear through video conference during e-hearing. The court also took into consideration that the 25 km road from Bannari to Thengumarahada has 30 per cent of the entire tiger population of the STR and the area is also the breeding area of tigers and other wild animals. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Customs officials on Thursday said an Indian national was held here at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport for trying to smuggle in gold valued at over Rs 50 lakh. A senior Customs official said that the individual was travelling from Sharjah to Delhi. The official said that the Customs officials at the IGI Airport had received specific information about him following which he was intercepted on January 25, and later detained. "During the checking of his bag, two yellow coloured paste pouches appearing to be gold were found. It was seized by the staff," said the official. The official said that the total value of the gold is around Rs 50,78,880, adding the gold has been seized under Section 110 of Customs Act. The official, however, did not reveal the name of the person. He was later taken to a government hospital for a medical check-up. After obtaining his Covid test report which was negative, the Customs officials presented him at the Patiala House Courts. Informing the court that the man's presence was not required for any further questioning, the Customs officials requested the court to send him to judicial custody. He was eventually sent to 14-day judicial custody. An official said that investigation into the matter is underway. Mumbai, Jan 27 : Actress Saiyami Kher, who has collaborated with director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari for the upcoming web series 'Faadu', has praised the director for sketching strong female characters in her projects. The actress feels secure because of Ashwiny's ability to handle and work around strong female characters on screen. Talking about her experience with Ashwiny, Saiyami said, "They say what's meant to be, will always find a way. That's how I feel about 'Faadu'. Collaborating with Ashwiny was on my to-do list. She has done spectacular work with 'Nil Battey Sannata', 'Bareilly ki Barfii', and 'Panga'. I feel assured that I am in safe hands." Shedding light on the setting of the series, the actress said, "The world of this series is poetic and rooted. Ashwiny ma'am always has such strong female characters in her projects. I'm grateful she has given me the responsibility to play Manjiri." Saiyami also applauded the director's sense of music: "She gives a lot of importance to small details and aesthetics. She plays with music a lot on sets, which is interesting." Kiev, Jan 27 : The police detained a Ukrainian National Guard serviceman who shot five people dead and wounded five others at a military factory in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky wrote on Facebook Thursday. The 21-year-old soldier opened fire at people inside a guard house of the Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant at about 4 a.m. local time (GMT 0200) for unknown reasons. Four servicemen and one civilian woman were killed in the incident and five others were severely injured. The Ukrainian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the incident, the minister said. The Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant produces launch vehicles, rocket engines, ballistic missiles and other products for the Ukrainian defense and aerospace sectors. New Delhi, Jan 27 : A distinguished Harvard Business School professor offers a compelling reassessment and defence of purpose as a management ethos, documenting the vast performance gains and social benefits that become possible when firms manage to get their purpose right. Few business topics have aroused more skepticism in recent years than the notion of corporate purpose, and for good reason. Too many companies deploy purpose, or a reason for being, as a promotional vehicle to make themselves feel virtuous and to look good to the outside world. Some have only foggy ideas about what purpose is and conflate it with strategy and other concepts like 'mission', 'vision', and 'values'. Even well-intentioned leaders don't understand the full potential of purpose and engage half-heartedly and superficially with it. Outsiders spot this and become cynical about companies and the broader capitalist endeavour. Having conducted extensive field research, Ranjay Gulati reveals the fatal mistakes leaders unwittingly make when attempting to implement a reason for being. Moreover, he shows how companies can embed purpose much more deeply than they currently do, delivering impressive performance benefits that reward customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and communities alike. To get purpose right, leaders must fundamentally change not only how they execute it but also how they conceive of and relate to it. They must practice what Gulati calls deep purpose, furthering each organization's reason for being more intensely, thoughtfully, and comprehensively than ever before. In his authoritative work "Deep Purpose" (Penguin), Gulati takes readers inside some of the world's most purposeful companies to understand the secrets to their successes. He explores how leaders can pursue purpose more deeply by navigating the inevitable trade-offs more deliberately and effectively to balance between short- and long-term value: Building purpose more systematically into every key organizational function to mobilize stakeholders and enhance performance Updating organizations to foster more autonomy and collaboration, which in turn allow individual employees to work more purposefully Using powerful storytelling to communicate a reason for being, arousing emotions and building a community of inspired and committed stakeholders; and Building cultures that don't merely support purpose, but also allow employees to link the corporate purpose to their own personal reasons for being. As Gulati argues, a deeper engagement with purpose holds the key not merely to the well-being of individual companies but also to humanity's future. With capitalism under siege and relatively low levels of trust in business, purpose can serve as a radically new operating system for the enterprise, enhancing performance while also delivering meaningful benefits to society. It's the kind of inspired thinking that businesses -- and the rest of us -- urgently need. Ranjay Gulati is the Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professor and the former Unit Head of the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. Until recently, he chaired the Advanced Management Program, the flagship senior leader executive program, at the school. Gulati studies how "resilient" organisations -- those that prosper both in good times and bad -- drive growth and profitability. His work bridges strategy (establishing clear strategic pillars for growth), organizational design (re-imagining purposeful and collaborative organizational systems), and leadership (fostering inspired, courageous and caring execution). He is the author of a number of books, and has been a frequent guest on CNBC and other media outlets. He has also served on the advisory boards of several entrepreneurial ventures. Gulati holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University, a Master's Degree in Management from MIT's Sloan School of Management, and two Bachelor's Degrees, in Computer Science and Economics, from Washington State University and St. Stephen's College, New Delhi, respectively. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts. Bengaluru, Jan 27 : Karnataka Education Minister B.C. Nagesh on Thursday hinted at reopening of schools for the students of Class of 1-9 in Bengaluru. "Since Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru are coming down, I will seek an opinion in the cabinet on reopening of schools," he said. The schools for 1 to 9 standard in Bengaluru were closed as a precautionary measure for two reasons. The Covid positivity was higher during the third wave in Bengaluru. The rate was higher than the state average, he said. "We didn't know how the third wave was going to unfold and keeping child safety in mind precaution has been taken," he said. "If 1 to 9 standard classes are open, the education department is ready to conduct classes. The Covid cases have been reported in single to four digits. However, the pattern of the increase in numbers has been fearful," the Minister said. Nagesh said the Covid cases were reported in more numbers in the residential hostels. After the precautions now there also cases have been reduced. Exams are nearing for students, he stated. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Raichur, : , Jan 27 (IANS) Protests broke out in Karnataka's Raichur district on Thursday in wake of District Judge Mallikarjun Gowda getting the photo of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, which was kept along with Mahatma Gandhi's portrait, removed during the 73rd Republic Day celebrations. The video of removal of Ambedkar's photo has gone viral on social media and created outrage in the state. BJP MLA and former minister Shivanagouda Naik on Thursday that the judge's act is a matter of shame and demanded his immediate sacking. The protestors, who blocked arterial roads in the city, demanded that the High Court should take suo moto notice of the issue and sack the judge. They also demanded a public apology from the judge for his action. "The High Court must see to it that such incidents do not occur again," the protestors demanded. SFI state Vice President and advocate Shivakumar Moolimani said that District Judge Gowda refused to unfurl the flag on Republic Day, saying the protocol does not allow him to do so if Ambedkar's photo is kept. The judge also maintained that he will be in trouble if he does so. Later, he had the photo of Ambedkar removed and unfurled the flag. "Ambedkar's photo is being kept in Bengaluru Civil court, Kalaburagi Civil Court, and no judge has objected and raised such an issue. The same judge had objected to placing the photograph of Ambedkar on November 26, which is celebrated as Constitution Day. The advocates had to strongly protest to retain the photo in the function organised by Raichur Bar Council and the District Legal Services Authority," he added. Ayudha Puja was celebrated in the premises of the court and but no objection was raised, said Moolimani. "We are also demanding review of all his judgments," he said. Naik said that the judge had insulted the Architect of the Constitution. "He has displayed a distorted mindset by his act. The judge refusing to unfurl the tricolour until Ambedkar's photo is removed is a matter of shame for civilised society. "This is painful. The act has caused outrage all over the state. The High Court should intervene immediately and sack the judge who still has the mindset of untouchability. I will bring this matter to the notice of the government and Law Department," he said. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Supreme Court will hear, on February 4, a plea challenging the Bombay High Court's circular, reducing its working time to three hours in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. A bench of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud on Thursday listed the matter for next week. According to petitioner Ghanshyam Upadhyay, the principal bench of the High Court has been "functioning only for name's sake" causing hardships to the litigants and advocates due to the court's Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). In view of the spiralling Covid cases in the city, the Bombay High Court on January 10 had decided to limit its working hours to just three hours each weekday until January 28. The timing of the court is from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. without a lunch break from Monday to Friday, as per the schedule. Due to the reduced hours, the fundamental rights of citizens are being jeopardised and violated and it was a matter of great concern and public importance, the plea contended. "The reason seems to reduce the risk for all concerned being infected with new variants, however, it has been forgotten that if all the courts are made functional for three hours in a day, then also such risk is enviable," it read. According to the plea, another SOP has directed that from January 3, subordinate courts in Mumbai, Pune, Raigad, and Alibaug to function between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. with 50 per cent of staff on rotation and to hear remand, bail, and urgent matters through physical hearing. However, there are no requisite infrastructures in these courts for hearing matters through the virtual platform, the plea stated. It also sought direction for the HC to form guidelines and ensure virtual hearing in all courts in Maharashtra in order to increase the disposal rate of cases. Chandigarh, Jan 27 : Former Punjab legislator and Congress candidate Sukhpal Singh Khaira was granted bail by Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday. He was arrested in connection with a money laundering case on November 11. The two-time 57-year-old firebrand legislator is lodged in a Patiala jail. He is contesting from Bholath in Punjab's Kapurthala district. After hearing counsels of both at length, Justice Sureshwar Thakur allowed Khaira's plea, who moved the high court on December 13. Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) special court rejected his bail application, observing that the investigation was going on and the applicant is an influential person who may try to interfere with the investigation. The ED claimed that he was an accomplice of drug case convicts and fake passport racketeers. Responding to granting of bail, Khaira's advocate son Mehtab said: "We have won 50 per cent battle against false case by the ED and the BJP. Other half would be won in people's court on February 20 as he is totally innocent." The ED arrested him on November 11, 2021 under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). On November 19, he was sent to judicial custody. 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 in January 2019 and floated his own outfit, the Punjab Ekta Party. He later re-joined the Congress. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has now pitted Bibi Jagir Kaur as the party candidate against Khaira. Earlier in March last year, 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 supported the farmers' agitation. Hyderabad, Jan 27 : A report has said that the Tamil-dubbed version of "Akhanda" is all set to hit the screens this Friday in Tamil Nadu. Starring popular Telugu actor Balakrishna in the lead role, directed by Boyapati Srinu, "Akhanda" has been streaming in Telugu on Disney+Hotstar. Even though "Akhanda" is available on OTT, the movie is planned to be released in theatres in order to capitalise on the existing buzz. While there is an ambiguity about the dubbed version's release, it is even said that the movie's Telugu version will be released in Tamil Nadu. The makers are yet to clarify the same. There are no straight Tamil films coming out this week due to the pandemic, so Tamil Nadu distributors have shown interest in the movie "Akhanda", which can be called a blockbuster hit in Telugu. There is a possibility that the movie will be dubbed into other languages soon after the Tamil release. Pragya Jaiswal appears as the heroine in the mass entertainer, while Srikanth and other actors are in significant roles. Balakrishna's dynamic role in the movie is lauded by the Telugu audience, while SS Thaman's music still stays as one of the biggest highlights about "Akhanda". Mumbai, Jan 27 : In a major jolt ahead of the upcoming elections, the ruling Congress was practically wiped out in the Malegaon Municipal Corporation with all 28 corporators including the Mayor 'defecting' to the Nationalist Congress Party here on Thursday. Malegaon is a Muslim-dominated town, the hub of powerloom textiles in Nashik district while the NCP-Congress are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi along with Shiv Sena currently ruling the state. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, NCP State President and Minister Jayant Patil, Ministers Nawab Malik and Chhagan Bhujbal, welcomed the new flock from the Congress to the party fold in Mumbai on Thursday afternoon. Malegaon Mayor Tahera Shaikh, her husband and corporator Shaikh Asif, a former MLA, and 26 others entered the NCP, pushing the two parties towards a possible political conflict. Last year, Shaikh Asif had quit as the Malegaon Congress President, triggering widespread speculation, but things settled down. Taken aback by the sudden development, the Congress reacted angrily, but warned that people from NCP would soon defect to the grand old party. "Some persons from Congress have joined the NCP. Similarly, a few people from NCP will also be joining us, but I am not revealing details now. We may be in alliance in MVA, but this is after all politics," Congress State President Nana Patole said. The political arithmetic in the 84-seat MMC has drastically changed with the fresh development, barely weeks ahead of the looming civic elections, along with other important civic bodies in the state. The current tally is Congress 28, NCP 20, Shiv Sena 12, BJP 9, AIMIM 7 and JD(S) 7, but now the NCP has shot upto 48 and the Congress reduced to zero. At the small induction ceremony, Ajit Pawar urged all the newcomers to work for the people without creating ill-will or tarnishing the NCP's image. "From today, you are the soldiers of NCP - Work hard and don't behave in any manner that can discredit or malign the image of the NCP," Pawar said. He lauded Shaikh Asif, with whom he is acquainted since the past 25 years, for his dedicated work in Malegaon, particularly among the powerloom workers and the local industrial sector. Hanumangarh : , Jan 27 (IANS/ 101Reporters) When there was talk of planting some trees at the grounds in the police post at Malarampura in Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, constable Vindo Legha knew exactly what he should do. He planted a sapling each of banyan, neem and peepal in a triangle. The three trees planted together in this fashion is called Triveni; as they grow their branches entwine and the three become one. "Planting Triveni is part of our traditions and associated with our faith," the policeman told 101Reporters. "They emit a lot of oxygen into the environment." Not just in Hanumangarh, but across Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, there are many like Legha who enthusiastically plant Triveni, keeping the tradition alive. In Punjab, Triveni is grown in deras and temples whereas in Haryana and Rajasthan they can be spotted in many common spaces in villages, including schools, temples, dharamshalas and crematoriums. Triveni trees are revered due to the belief that the trinity of Hindu gods - Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - reside in them and are associated with divine, positive energy. Old, full-grown Triveni trees can provide a large canopy under their interlocking branches full of nesting birds for people to gather and are called 'Nature's Dharamshala'. Himtaram Bhambhu, a Padma Shri awardee from Nagaur, Rajasthan popularly known as the 'Tree Man', said, "We believe that these three trees are the abodes of God. They are held in respect. And they are of special importance to the environment because of the long lifespans of these trees. Once we plant them, they give oxygen for hundreds of years. The peepal, or Bodhi tree, can live up to a thousand years." Antaryami Kaushik, Assistant Professor of Botany at Government College, Lunkaransar (Bikaner), said that neem trees have been observed to live up to a maximum of a hundred years, while peepal and banyan trees can thrive for hundreds of years. These two trees also have a special property that gives them the ability to release oxygen throughout all 24 hours of the day, unlike other plants that generally have a 12-hour-cycle where they alternatively release oxygen and carbon-di-oxide. "So they are able to release more oxygen than other trees," he said. "That's why our sages said these trees were holy, the abode of the Gods. And our people have been planting these trees for centuries." The religiously-inclined consider the act of planting and caring for Triveni trees as a yagna, or worship. And because of its significance to the community, a Triveni is never cut down. Pandit Satyapal Parashar, a spiritual orator or bhagwat katha vachak, said, "Peepal, banyan and neem have scientific and spiritual significance. Our ancestors protected them as living forms of God. Planting, watering and nourishing these trees is a great virtue. That is why the tradition of planting the Triveni is still alive, despite the challenges faced by the environment today. I travel around many villages and towns and when I see Triveni everywhere, I feel very happy." Communities who live around Triveni widely believe and know of the many medicinal properties of the three trees. Everyone we spoke to had something to say on the subject. The bark of the peepal is beneficial in curing ulcers and throat inflammation; its roots can be used for easing arthritis, its leaves for setting right constipation, the seeds for removing urinary disorders and ripe fruits for coping with heart diseases. The neem has traditionally been used to cure itching, skin diseases, diabetes, intestinal worms, diseases of teeth and gums etc. The banyan tree's bark, milk, leaves, fruits and roots have the potential of curing hundreds of ailments such as diseases involving ears, stomach, teeth, gums, urinary tracts, skin, cough, cold, blood vomiting, menstrual disorders etc, they said. Satyavan, a government teacher known as 'Triveni Baba', has been campaigning to plant trees in Haryana for the past 27 years. He has planted more than 40 lakh saplings, and among them are 50,000 Triveni. "There is no village in Haryana where the community has not planted the Triveni. People still follow the age-old traditions around the Triveni," he said. "Neem, peepal and banyan are huge trees and a large number of birds take shelter in them. These birds eat their seeds and carry them far and wide. Under favourable circumstances, these seeds can germinate, grow and become giant trees themselves over the years." 'Baba' Satyavan, a resident of Bisalwas village in Haryana's Bhiwani district, said his campaign has been influenced by the philosophies of Swami Vivekananda. In 1994, he planted Triveni saplings in Khejarli village in Rajasthan, famous for being the site of the massacre in 1730 of 363 people of the Bishnoi community. Led by a woman named Amrita Devi, now revered as 'Mother', the hundreds of people sacrificed their lives to protect the felling of Khejri trees for a new royal palace. Recognising the rich folk tradition and scientific merits, the forest departments in Haryana and Rajasthan have been giving importance and priority to Triveni under their plantation programmes. Rajasthan's Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, KC Meena, said, "Our society has been protecting the environment through traditional methods since ancient times. Now, while planting saplings in the state, the Forest Department gives preference to Triveni. There are two factors behind this. One is the common people's reverence towards the Triveni trees. The other is their long lifespan. Peepal and neem live for hundreds of years. There is no limit to the age of the banyan." This article is a part of a 101Reporters' series on The Promise Of Commons. In this series, we will explore how judicious management of shared public resources can help the ecosystem as well as the communities inhabiting it. (The author is a Hanumangarh-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters) New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre and the Delhi government to jointly hold a secretary-level officials' meeting with Prisons DG at Tihar Jail to discuss the recommendations submitted by Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana in a report on prison reforms. The report came after it was found some Tihar jail officials were extending undue assistance to jailed ex-Unitech promoters Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra. Stressing the need to avoid the "passing the buck" between the Centre and the city government, the bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah also directed to submit a joint affidavit including their decisions and implementations and steps taken in view of the jail security. Additional Solicitor General Madhavi Divan, submitted before the top court that the Ministry of Home Affairs, has considered the Commissioner's report and taken decisions accordingly. However, it was noted that the recommendations were actually reiterations of various guidelines contained in the Model Prisons Manual 2016 and other advisories issued by the MHA to the state governments from time to time, the ASG submitted. Divan said prisons is a state subject and the state government alone can make laws and take decisions in matters of prisons in their jurisidiction. On November 10, last year, the Supreme Court expressed its dissatisfaction over the delay by the MHA in taking action on recommendations submitted by Asthana in his report. On October 6, 2021 after a stormy hearing, the Supreme Court had ordered immediate suspension and a full-fledged probe against the Tihar Jail officials, who were identified by the Delhi Police Commissioner in a report for extending undue assistance to the Chandras. On August 26,2021 the top court ordered the shifting of Chandra brothers to jails in Mumbai following a report by the Enforcement Directorate claiming it has found a "secret underground office", which was being operated by their father and Unitech founder Ramesh Chandra, and both his sons Sanjay and Ajay visited the office, when on parole or bail. The agency had alleged that it was done in collusion with the Tihar Jail authorities. New Delhi, Jan 27 : As India begins the journey to popularise the adoption of electric vehicles, leading EV startups said on Thursday that the government should not only introduce standardised EV charging infrastructure across the country but also ease norms for EV manufacturing under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme so that startups can meet the criteria with ease. Currently, most of the EV makers in the country are startups like Ather Energy, Bounce, Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech and others. To be eligible for the Rs 26,058 crore incentives under the PLI scheme for the EV industry, an automaker must have a global revenue of at least Rs 10,000 crore and have a minimum investment of Rs 3,000 crore in fixed assets. According to Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and CEO, Ather Energy, while the startups form the majority of the EV ecosystem in India and have led the EV revolution from the front, a majority of them are ineligible for the PLI scheme. "There is a need to be inclusive in this approach as startups would help open up more opportunities for the industry to help drive growth and innovation in the sector. Similarly, EV manufacturers have highlighted concerns around GST inverted structure and have requested reducing taxes on input costs," Mehta told IANS. The PLI scheme will be effective from FY2023 for five years and the base year for eligibility criteria would be FY2020. A total of 10 OEMs, 50 auto component makers and five new non-automotive investors will benefit from the scheme. According to Vivekanada Hallekere, CEO and Co-founder, Bounce, they have high expectations from the Union Budget. "In order to facilitate faster adoption of EVs, the government had introduced section 80EEB, granting an exemption of Rs 150,000 towards interest on EV loans. However we urge the government to extend the benefit to retrofit bikes (Internal Combustion engine- ICE bikes converted to EV)," Hallekere told IANS. "The capital outlay under this option is modest comparatively and a complete exemption on the conversion cost will provide the much-needed impetus to EV adaption. Additionally, if mass transition to EV is to become a reality, then subsidy benefits under FAME should be extended to retrofit bikes as well," he elaborated. The government this week announced the extension of the second phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicle (FAME) scheme by two years to March 31, 2024. Started in 2019, the scheme was supposed to end this year. Jeetender Sharma, Managing Director and Founder of Okinawa Autotech, said that the government should introduce standardised EV charging infrastructure across the country to ensure far better availability and wider acceptance, hence mass penetration of EVs. "The nationwide use of EVs, especially for last-mile deliveries, should be made mandatory. It will help businesses save costs and at the same time, contribute to the environment. While the Delhi government has placed the stepping stone for this, other state governments should also be encouraged to take similar initiatives," Sharma said. In order to increase the share of EVs in the overall vehicle market, an improved duty structure would certainly help, said the EV players. "The current setup of GST on EVs (5 per cent vs 28 per cent on ICE vehicles) is a welcome move, however the GST rates on charging infrastructure services, batteries and all related inputs needs to be aligned, as it currently stands at 18 per cent," said Hallekere. Another key aspect to drive faster EV adoption is the charging infrastructure development to boost consumer confidence. "Incentivising setting up EV charging stations in existing residential areas, housing complexes and commercial establishments will go a long way in setting up the infrastructure," Mehta added. Another biggest roadblock to the adoption of EVs is the lack of consumer awareness and trust. The government must introduce and invest in awareness programmes through a variety of channels, the EV players said. Yogesh Bhatia, Managing Director and CEO of LML Electric said that they foresee the government to support battery cell manufacturing which can further reduce the import dependency. "Moreover, due to the pandemic and other geopolitical conflicts, the world is already going through turbulent times especially when it comes to global manufacturing of components such as the shortage of semiconductor chips and other related parts," he stressed. (Nishant Arora cane be reached at nishant.a@ians.in) New Delhi, Jan 27 : China has gradually decided to scale back its involvement in Africa and lessened its investment in infrastructure and loans. While many equate this to the Covid-19 pandemic, others see it as China's gradual exit from Africa after depleting its resources and profiting from its trade there, Makram Rabah wrote in a recent article. Rabah is a lecturer in the Department of History at the American University of Beirut. "Undoubtedly, China can be the true superpower it aspires to become. Yet, these aspirations should not come at the expense of weak or desperate nations. Nor should they be a gateway to further chaos and instability," Rabah wrote in Al Arabiya. China's Africa exodus means that it will look for new grounds, perhaps shifting to the Middle East, starting in the supposed rebuilding of Syria. While, as a whole, China has adopted a policy of non-interference, many of its gestures or lack of only end up empowering the forces of chaos that Iran leads in the region, he said. As it stands, it's estimated that Africa owes over $153bn to China, which Beijing coincidently insists on keeping the content of the monies secret and, in some cases, has gone as far as to deny their existence. Keeping such loans secretive reflects negatively on these nations' young citizens, who will discover the exuberant debt they owe late in the day. Some of these loans include the loanee relinquishing national assets and resources in case of default, Rabah said. This lack of transparency is enough to doubt China's sincere approach to development and best business practices, he added. Overall, these policies do not help develop the democracies of these nations that, for many, were caught up in civil wars for decades and governed by authoritarian regimes. China's relationship with Africa isn't limited to its production capacity and comparative prices to the West; Beijing is structuring partnerships for these infrastructure projects as loans and not grants. These countries have placed on themselves, entering into many claims debt traps that won't end well for them, the article said. Chinese companies have had the most significant share of these African infrastructure projects, with as much as 40 percent involving Beijing in some way. China's role in Africa has visibly increased over the last few decades, mainly looking for resources, crude oil, investments and trade partners, and even going into security and the military sector. Accused by foes and some allies, they claim that China is a resource hunter currently plundering Africa, Rabah said. (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in) China has increased investment in Zimbabwe but locals are losing jobs. Image Source: IANS News Mission Rojgar: Govt moves towards providing 50 L jobs to the youth in UP Image Source: IANS News New Delhi, Jan 27: Trouble is brewing for the Chinese in Zimbabwe. With Beijing being one of the primary investors in the country, Chinese influence has been rapidly rising leading to discontent among the locals, many of whom continue to remain jobless. Nairobi based news organisation, the East African said in a recent report the investors have poured in more than $2.5 billion into the country. Despite this, Zimbabwe's economic situation continues to remain grim and the unemployment rate has only gone up. The African nation's economy took a beating even before the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic. Its economy contracted by 6.0 per cent in 2019. The pandemic has only made the going tougher for Harare. The pandemic coupled with a continued drought led to a 10 per cent contraction in real GDP in 2020. According to the African Development Bank Group, poverty in Zimbabwe stood at 70.5 per cent in 2019 while unemployment at over 21 per cent. Zimbabweans have also accused the Chinese companies dealing with mining of gold, coal, diamonds besides other minerals of violation of labour rights and damaging the environment. That apart, the local people have been rampantly displaced from their native homes without being adequately rehabilitated. Anxiety and concerns have naturally risen among the displaced locals who blamed the Zimbabwean government as well. Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS International told India Narrative that the problem has multiplied due to lack of leadership talent and governance deficit. "More than the Chinese, the deficit in terms of both leadership and governance is playing a part. This has also led to widespread corruption," Mehta said. Recently, the non governmental organisations (NGOs) in a statement asked the Chinese companies to address the issue. "A number of disputes have been reported between Chinese companies and villagers, who accuse investors of not consulting them before embarking on projects, prompting protests from NGOs," the East African said. Despite an increase in Chinese investments, wages have remained stagnant. "Many Zimbabweans are now unable to afford even the basic essential items including food as their prices have surged steadily..the poor are even more at risk," an expatriate living in the country said. Rajen Harshe, expert in African and international relations studies in India told India Narrative that for the Chinese, the focus is less on capacity building. "It is more about seizing power and exploiting the resources," Harshe added. Zimbabwe and China relations strengthened after economic sanctions were slapped on Robert Mugabe's government. Financial assistance from China poured in at a time when credit access shrunk. In 2018, relations between the two countries were elevated to strategic partners from "all-weather friends" allowing easier norms to Chinese investors. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative Chandigarh, Jan 27 : In an obvious sign of differences, at least five Congress MPs were conspicuously absent from Rahul Gandhi's maiden visit to the holy city Amritsar on Thursday to launch the party's poll campaign for the February 20 assembly elections. However, party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal dismissed the reports. Flanked by Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and party's state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rahul Gandhi kicked off the campaign after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple, Durgiana Mandir and Bhagwan Valmiki temple in Amritsar. The Members of Parliament -- Manish Tewari, Jasbir Singh Gill, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Preneet Kaur and Mohammad Sadiq -- who did not find Rahul Gandhi's leadership "acceptable", were not present at the day-long visit, party sources told IANS. Clarifying about the reports of the MPs' 'boycott', Venugopal said in Delhi that these were just baseless rumours and "not true". Justifying his absence, Gill tweeted, "Only Congress candidates from 117 assembly constituencies were invited not MPs, so no boycott was there, media should verify before running stories." In his earlier tweet, he wrote, "Due to my personal obligation I was not able to attend Amritsar function and for this I had already informed my leadership, no assumptions please." After partaking 'Langar' with both Sidhu and Channi, Rahul held a meeting with party candidates with a message 'Navi Soch, Nava Punjab'. When Sidhu was asked in Amritsar about the party's chief ministerial face, he told the media, "Our boss is here, you can ask him about this." Later, Rahul started the campaign by addressing a virtual rally from Jalandhar town. The Congress has so far fielded 109 candidates for the 117-member Assembly. The names of the remaining candidates are yet to be announced. Hyderabad, Jan 27 : Just when it seemed that the dust had settled on the Naga Chaitanya-Samantha Ruth Prabhu divorce, Telugu superstar Nagarjuna had to go public on Thursday to clear the air on his stand on the matter. In recent media reports, Nagarjuna had been quoted as saying that it was Samantha who had pushed for the divorce and not Naga Chaitanya, who's the superstar's son. A number of Telugu publications even claimed that Nagarjuna had discussed the issue with them. The reports are said to have upset both Samantha and Naga Chaitanya, which provoked Nagarjuna to make his displeasure with the media known to all. Requesting the media to stop spreading "rumours", Nagarjuna said: "The news in social media and electronic media quoting my statement about Samantha and Naga Chaitanya is completely false and absolute nonsense! I request media friends to please refrain from posting rumours as news." He concluded his message with the hashtag: "#GiveNewsNotRumours." Chennai, Jan 27 : S. Damodaran and his organization 'Gramalaya' are names that reverberate in several villages of South India that are now free of open defecation. The villagers consider him as their messiah who has saved them single-handedly from the trauma of open defecation. Much before the NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi commenced campaigning against open defecation, Damodaran, an M.Com, the first graduate from a family of sculptors in Tamil Nadu's Maruthur in Tiruchi district, has been into it. The Central Government has recognized Damodaran with the Padma Shri award for his untiring efforts to end open defecation, forming open defecation-free villages, and educating village girls about menstrual hygiene. The 59-year-old had opened 'Gramalaya' in 1987 and was at first drawn to helping villagers move out of poverty but soon found that open defecation, lack of drinking water, and proper education about hygiene were more important areas. He developed the first open defecation-free village in Thandavampatty in Tiruchi in 2003, the first such village in the country. He has already worked towards making 600 villages and 200 slums free of open defecation in South India. Gramalaya and Damodaran have chipped in to build around 500 toilets in schools across South India and he is being honoured from across the country and abroad for his tireless efforts in ensuring that people don't defecate in the open. Damodaran told IANS, "It is a process and I have been into this since 1987 and we have created the first open defecation-free village at Thandavampatty in Tiruchi district of Tamil Nadu in 2003. This is the first such village in the entire country. We have already educated more than 2 lakh girl students in villages across Tamil Nadu and other South Indian states on the importance of menstrual hygiene." He is also into providing drinking water to the poor villagers through rainwater harvesting as well as recharging of wells and tanks that were lying unused in the villages of Tamil Nadu. Damodaran said that he and Gramalaya have increased their focus on creating awareness about menstrual hygiene as well as on the need for nutritious food among the people. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The prevalence of Omicron sub-lineage BA.2 is gradually increasing in India, said Sujeet Kumar Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), here on Thursday. Addressing a Health Ministry press briefing, Singh said that Omicron sub-variant BA.2 is more prevalent in comparison to the BA.1 variant in India now, adding that the BA.3 sub-variant has not been detected in India yet. "Earlier, the BA.1 variant was dominant among the samples collected from the travellers. Now in community settings, we have found that the BA.2 sub-variant is gradually increasing," he said. Talking about increasing cases of Omicron, Singh said that out of the total genome sequencing reports received so far, increasing cases of Omicron have been found in the month of January. Of the total reports received, 1,292 Omicron cases were found in December last year, whereas the number of Delta cases was over 17,000, he said. In January so far, 9,672 Omicron cases have been found against 4,779 Delta cases, which includes 3,201 AYC variant and 1,578 Delta variant, Singh said. Mainly three states - Maharashtra, Odisa, and West Bengal - have reported the Delta variant on the basis of genome sequencing, said Singh, adding that it does not mean that only the Omicron variant is being reported everywhere. He emphasised that the Delta variant has not gone yet. Talking about Covid fatalities, he said that those unvaccinated and people with comorbidities are in the high-risk group. "Around 64 per cent of those who died in Delhi were from the unvaccinated group with major comorbid population," he added. ICMR chief Balram Bhargava said that vaccines have remained beneficial for India. "Vaccine reduces deaths considerably in the vaccinated population compared to the unvaccinated individuals. Around 95 per cent adult population in the country have received the first vaccine dose, while 74 per cent have been fully vaccinated," said Bhargava, as he urged the states lagging behind in vaccination to ramp up the drive. Jerusalem, Jan 27 : People who have both been vaccinated and had Covid-19 are less likely to report fatigue and other health problems seen post Covid, than unvaccinated people, according to a study based in Israel. The study, not yet peer reviewed, showed that vaccinated people were no more likely to report symptoms than people who have never caught SARS-CoV-2, Nature reported. The findings showed that fully vaccinated participants who also had Covid-19 were 54 per cent less likely to report headaches, 64 per cent less likely to report fatigue, and 68 per cent less likely to report muscle pain than were their unvaccinated counterparts. "Here is another reason to get vaccinated, if you needed one," co-author Michael Edelstein, an epidemiologist at Bar-Ilan University in Safed, Israel was quoted as saying. People with the debilitating condition called long Covid continue to experience symptoms -- such as fatigue, shortness of breath and even trouble concentrating -- weeks, months or years after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Some estimate that up to 30 per cent of infected people, including many who were never hospitalised, have persistent symptoms. Vaccination reduces long Covid's incidence by preventing people from getting infected in the first place. In theory, the shots could also protect against the condition by minimising the length of time the virus has free rein in the body during breakthrough infections. In the study, the team between July and November 2021, asked more than 3,000 people whether they were experiencing the most common symptoms of long Covid. All had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 between March 2020 and the study period. The researchers compared the prevalence of each symptom to self-reported vaccination status. According to Edelstein, his team's study is the most "comprehensive and precise" to date on vaccination and long Covid. He added that the results echo those of other research, including a UK-based study from last September that found that vaccination halved the risk of long Covid, the report said. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vijayawada, Jan 27 : Breaking its silence on the decision of Andhra Pradesh's YSRCP government to name one of the proposed new districts after TDP founder and former chief minister N. T. Rama Rao, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Thursday said that it welcomes the move to honour its founder. In its first official reaction to the decision of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government to carve out a new district out of Krishna and name it after NTR, TDP dismissed the allegation of ruling party that TDP was opposed to the decision. During a virtual meeting of strategy committee chaired by TDP national president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the party wondered why they would oppose the naming of a new district as NTR district. The TDP leaders said they welcome any move to honour the late leader no matter who makes it. They, however, felt that NTR was not leader of just one region and hence they had been demanding Bharat Ratna for him. The TDP leaders recalled that though then chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy dropped NTR from the name of Hyderabad Airport, they did not oppose the decision to name Kadapa district after him. They claimed that TDP never adopted double standards. The opposition party leaders said people would not believe YSRCP government's so-called love for NTR as the same party is involved in destroying statues of NTR and it stopped worked on a memorial for NTR in Amaravati. They said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy even changed the name of NTR canteens. The state government on Wednesday decided to create 13 new districts, taking the total number of districts to 26. The new districts will come into being from Ugadi, the Telugu New Year. As per the notification issued by the government, NTR district will be carved out of present Krishna district with Vijayawada as the district headquarters. Legendary actor NTR had had created a record by coming to power in then undivided Andhra Pradesh within nine months after floating TDP in 1982 on the plank of Telugu self-respect. The mass leader was chief minister till 1989. He had led TDP back to power with a landslide victory in 1995. NTR died at the age of 72 on January 18, 1996, a few months after party leader and son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu led a revolt to throw him out of power. The TDP and its leader had come under attack for its silence on the government's decision. Several YSRCP leaders have questioned the silence of Chandrababu Naidu and other top leaders of TDP and said this raised questions about their love for the late leader. Among NTR's children, only his daughter Daggubati Purandeswari, a leader of BJP, has welcomed the move of Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government. Purandeswari, also a former union minister, hailed the decision. "As the daughter of great leder NTR, I welcome the decision to name the district where he was born after him. In fact this had been the wish of every person in the district. The wish is getting fulfilled now," she said. NTR's son, TDP legislator and popular actor N. Balakrishna, on Thursday demanded that Hindupur should be the headquarters of proposed Sri Satya Sai district. He, however, was tight-lipped on the decision to create NTR district. The TDP MLA from Hindupur said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy should fulfill his poll promise to make every parliamentary constituency a district. Balakrishna said Hindupur has seen all-round development and has all the advantages to be the district headquarters. The government has announced that Sri Satya Sai district will be carved out of Anantapur with Puttaparthy as its headquarters. The new district is named after spiritual leader Satya Sai Baba. Some TDP leaders in Krishna district welcomed the decision of YSRCP government to name a new district after NTR. They, however, demanded that Machilipatnam parliamentary constituency should be named as NTR Krishna district as Nimmakuru village where he was born falls under this constituency. During his 'padyatra' before 2019 elections, Jagan Mohan Reddy had promised that Krishna district will be renamed as NTR district. In an unusual development, some YSRCP workers on Thursday washed NTR's statue and Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy's portrait with milk to hail the government's decision. Holding YSRCP flags, the ruling party functionaries did 'pala abhishekham' of NTR's statue and the chief minister's photograph in Vijayawada. New Delhi, Jan 27 : After successfully taking over the managerial control of Air India, conglomerate Tata Group has emerged as one of the largest aviation player globally. It now has over 200 aircraft and over 80 domestic and international destinations. Notably, the group has two full-service carriers -- Vistara and Air India -- along with two low-cost airlines -- Air India Express and AirAsia India -- and a ground and cargo handling company, AISATS. According to sources, it plans to pilot synergies between all its airlines to compete in various market segments. On Thursday, a new Board which included Tata's nominees took-charge of Air India. Accordingly, with the new board in place, Air India's strategic disinvestment was completed. In the process, the Centre received a consideration of Rs 2,700 crore from the 'Strategic Partner' -- Talace -- which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons. Besides the upfront payment, Talace will retain a debt of Rs 15,300 crore. Notably, the transaction covered three entities -- Air India, Air India Express and AI SATS. Post the transaction, plans are afoot to run all these brands as independent entities under one vertical for sometime. Nonetheless, the group intends to drive-in major synergies between the airlines in terms of fleet management, route deployment, flight timings and airport slot planning. In terms of USPs, Vistara is expected to retain the premium services tag, while Air India will predominantly focus on key international and metro routes. The domestic feeder traffic is expected to be driven by AirAsia India which may get few aircraft from Air India's fleet. Furthermore, mergers will depend on profitability, performance and market situation apart from each airline's unique culture and suitability of brand. All in all, Tata Sons' subsidiary Talace will, among other assets such as human resources, get more 140 aircraft as well as 8 logos. In terms of fleet, Tatas will get Air India's 117 wide-body and narrow body aircrafts and Air India Express's 24. A significant number of these aircrafts are owned by Air India. It will also operate these aircraft on over 4,000 domestic and 1,800 international routes. Additionally, it will get access to Air India's frequent flyer programme which has more than three million members. Furthermore, eight brand logos would be transferable to the Tatas which they have to retail for a period of five years. In terms of financials, Tatas will need to take care of the Rs 20 crore loss per day that the company suffers. There is also a three-year business continuity clause in the agreement. Tatas would also need to maintain 51 per cent stake in the airline for atleast one-year. Nonetheless, Tatas will be given full operational control of the divested entities. On the other hand, the transaction does not include non-core assets including land and building, valued at Rs 14,718 crore, which are to be transferred to GoI's Air India Asset Holding Limited (AIAHL). (Rohit Vaid can be contacted at rohit.v@ians.in) Kochi, Jan 27 : The Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC) on Thursday urged the Kerala government to reduce the "exorbitantly high" commission under the new tender conditions. It has asked the state government to review the tender conditions in order to create an excise policy ecosystem which works for the benefit of all stakeholders. "Under the new tender conditions, brands are being asked to pay up to 33 per cent commission to KSBC (Kerala State Beverages Corporation Ltd), consisting of up to 25 per cent of CD (cash discount) and 8 per cent of wholesaler's margin. Is a total margin of 33 per cent for the wholesaler justifiable?" CIABC, the apex body of Indian liquor manufacturers, said in its letter to the KSBC. It pointed out that the cash discount was introduced as an incentive for faster payments, meaning companies willing to give up that amount would be paid immediately and ahead of the due payment cycle. The KSBC initially started with a CD of 2 per cent which is a common practice all over, but later increased it to 7.75 per cent without any justification or discussion with suppliers. "It may be noted that the cost of carrying inventory for 2 months, which is the time it takes for fast moving products to sell out, is 1.5-2 per cent. Hence 7.75 per cent to begin with, was far too excessive," the letter said. The CIABC has also raised concern on the KSBC taking a cash discount but still paying the supplier only after stocks are sold out. "Is it fair to charge a cash discount when the KSBC pays back the supplier a couple of months later and only after the stock is sold out? If the CD is being charged for providing wholesaling services, then what is the wholesaler commission of 8 per cent for?" Stating that the role of the KSBC is to be a neutral channel for wholesaling services, CIABC Director General Vinod Giri said that by offering to sell all stock of a product if it pays a CD of 25 per cent, the KSBC seems to be promoting certain products at the expense of the others. "Is this not depriving consumers of their preferred brand choice and forcing them to choose unknown brands? Further, by promoting unknown and new products if they pay higher CD, is the KSBC actively promoting products of unknown quality and poor provenance, thus putting consumer health at risk for small commercial gain?" he asked. Giri also said that the wholesale margin in the state is also highest in the country, be it for government-owned or privately-owned wholesale. San Francisco, Jan 27 : E-commerce giant Amazon has shut down a controversial influence campaign in which it paid its employees to tweet nice things about the company, Financial Times reported on Thursday. Employees at the retailer's warehouses were paid to share positive impressions about the company and to deny widely-reported workplace failings, the report mentioned. As per internal documents shared by The Intercept in 2021, the scheme was launched in 2018 in response to waves of criticism of the company's safety standards and working conditions. Workers were selected for their "great sense of humour" and told to respond "in a polite -- but blunt -- way" to the company's critics, including policymakers and politicians, according to the report "I have worked at Amazon filling orders for two years now. Do you think if I was not being paid enough that I would still be here? Full (and generous) benefits package. OH! AND I like the people I work with! Yeah - I'm doing just fine partner!" an employee had responded to a critic by saying in one such tweet. The employees were recognisable on Twitter due to the "Amazon FC Ambassador" moniker appended to the end of their names. But the exact identity or number of "ambassadors" was never clear, the report said. A Bellingcat investigation found at least 53 accounts active on Twitter, but noted that the users tended to deploy similar language, tweeted the same pictures, and even swapped ownership of accounts creating a blur of overlapping identities. To many, this set-up looked too artificial to be taken seriously, and the accounts quickly became a target of criticism and mockery. This was not helped by the fact that anyone could call themselves an "Amazon FC Ambassador" on Twitter, and several parodies soon appeared. "It was so bizarre to me that Amazon was making their employees sit on the clock and be sycophants for the people hiring them. Also, their strategy was so chaotic that this wasn't even effective," the operator of one popular parody account was quoted as saying by The Verge. The employees were recognisable on Twitter thanks to the "Amazon FC Ambassador" moniker appended to the end of their names, it added. Panaji, Jan 27 : The Congress has fielded 80 per cent new and young faces for the February 14 assembly elections, out of which 18 are first time contestants, Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Panaji, Chodankar also said that the party had stuck to its promise to the people of Goa of having no truck of any kind with defecting legislators who have switched from the Congress to the ruling BJP since 2017. "Our list of candidates has 70 to 80 per cent new and young faces. Only six percent candidates are former MLAs. 31 candidates are new and young faces. 18 of them are first time contestants," Chodankar told reporters. The state Congress president also said that the party was contesting around 37 out of the 40 state assembly constituencies, adding that the party had far made the names of 34 candidates public. "The other names of candidates will be released soon," Chodankar said. He also said that only six candidates declared so far are former MLAs. "Four candidates are in the age group of 30 to 40 years. 18 candidates are in the age group of 40 to 50 years and 10 candidates are between the ages of 50 and 60 years. We have fielded only five candidates who are above the age of sixty years. The average of Congress candidates is 48 years, which is young," Chodankar said. The state Congress president also said that as announced by the party two years ago, no defector has been given a ticket by the Congress. "People wanted the Congress not give tickets to defectors and the party should field new, young faces. Congress took a firm decision on the demands of the people that Congress will not give tickets to defectors," he said. "We will not allow defectors any support even if they are fielded by our alliance partners," he added. Seventeen Congress MLAs were elected to the state assembly in 2017, out of which 13 defected to the Congress by 2021. Other Congress MLAs like former Chief Ministers Ravi Naik and Luizinho Faleiro joined the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, respectively. Patna, Jan 27 : A special Pocso court in Bihar's Araria has handed death penalty to a person accused of raping a 6-year-old minor girl in December last year. The accused has been identified as Mohammad Mejar, said to be a notorious criminal of Araria. The death sentence was announced in less than two months by Additional Session Judge Shashi Kant Rai. Mejar had allegedly kidnapped a 6-year-old girl of a Dalit community on December 1, 2021. The child was playing outside her house when he spotted her, kidnapped and later raped at a secluded place. Following the incident, the victim's mother lodged an FIR in the women police station against Mejar. The police said that Mejar was trying to flee to Nepal but failed. He was arrested by district police on December 13. Then SP Hriday Kant of Araria had said that the accused was involved in three rape cases in the past apart from other criminal cases. "Following his arrest, district police proceeded for speedy trial in the court. The investigators have submitted vital evidence including swab and skin tissues reports in the court. The court held him guilty of crime under IPC sections of 376. It has also kept his past criminal record. He was considered as sexual predator of Araria," said Special public prosecutor of the case. Mumbai, Jan 27 : In a significant decision, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra on Thursday permitted all supermarkets to sell wine manufactured in the state as part of the new wine policy, officials said. The decision was taken by the state Cabinet presided over by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray - and it immediately attracted flak from the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Interestingly, the move comes a week after neighbouring Madhya Pradesh permitted liquor sales at all its airports, select supermarkets in four major cities and also allowed issuing home bar licences to those earning Rs 1 crore or more annually. Briefing the media, Nationalist Congress Party Minister Nawab Malik said that supermarkets with a minimum area of 1,000 sq ft or more shall be allowed to sell wine - as opposed to beers and other liquors - under the new policy enacted last year after the earlier 20-year-old policy lapsed. The state has around four-dozen wineries, most centred in Nashik district which accounts for 80 per cent of the wine produced in India, besides small wineries in other districts like Ahmednagar, Sangli, Pune, Solapur and Buldhana. The country's fledgling wine industry is worth around Rs 1,000 crore with Maharashtra, a pioneering state in this sector, contributing nearly two-third to the revenue. BJP Leader of Opposition, Devendra Fadnavis, and others slammed the government move, terming it as the MVA's special love for the liquor industry, just like its decisions to lift the prohibition in Chandrapur, cut in excise duty on imported liquor from 300 per cent to 150 per cent etc. "We shall not allow Maharashtra to become a 'madya-rashtra'," said Fadnavis, even as other leaders and women's groups criticised the decision. The MVA government defended the move by saying that it will benefit the fruit farmers who supply their produce to wineries for making wines, besides generating some revenue for the state exchequer. Most wines have very low alcohol content as compared to hard liquor and many restaurants and bakeries also use wine in certain food-making processes, notably the popular wine or rum cakes. New Delhi, Jan 27 : Even as the national capital is seeing a dip in Covid cases, it may be time to reopen and get back to life, but with adequate precautions, said experts here on Thursday. Delhi on Thursday reported 4,291 Covid cases, taking the active toll to 33,175. The state has also witnessed 34 deaths. The daily positivity rate has declined to 9.56 per cent from 10.59 per cent. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday also decided to lift the weekend curfew and odd-even rule for shops in the market. However, the night curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. will continue in the national capital. "Now that cases are falling in Delhi, weekend curfew, odd even rule has also been lifted, it is time to get back to our normal lives but with precautions like using mask in closed spaces, following social distancing and hand sanitisation," Dr Ashutosh Sinha, HOD and Additional Director, Paediatrics, Fortis Hospital, Noida, told IANS. Last week, Covid-19 cases also saw a decline in seven states and Union territories in the country. In the week January 17-23, Delhi and West Bengal recorded the sharpest falls in cases. The national capital reported 81,741, down 96 per cent from the previous week's tally of 1,60,240. West Bengal logged a sharper drop, with numbers down 111 per cent in the week. Jharkhand reported an 83 per cent dip in cases in the week, follwed by Bihar (71 per cent), Goa (8.5 per cent) and Chandigarh (14 per cent). Chhattisgarh reported a nominal dip of 1 per cent. The Chandigarh administration has also on Thursday decided to lift Covid-19 restrictions with the decline in daily positive patients. However, with Covid virus, it is difficult to predict when normalcy will return, according to Navneet Sood, Pulmonary Consultant, Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital. "Nobody can say which variant will infect people and when. But, there is a bit of satisfaction that Omicron is not as fatal as Delta. Thus, the third wave is less dangerous in comparison to the second. "We should hope that normalcy should return by the end of this year but not sure," Sood told IANS. The experts are also in favour of reopening schools and colleges, but with due precautions. The third wave was expected to be much severe for children, particularly since there was no vaccines approved for them. "Even though the number of children who got Covid are more than that compared to second wave, still the hospitalisation and deaths have been very less," Sinha said. India has also rolled out Covid vaccinations for teenagers aged 15-18. "Since everything is open apart from schools and we are still seeing infections in children, I feel schools should not be considered as a potential place for the spread of infection. We are not helping kids by closing the schools and opening every other thing," Sinha said. He noted that most infections among children were from their parents who have been going out and bringing the infection home. The other sources has been from function and parties they have been attending as well as going out for shoppings etc. "Upto intermediate level colleges and universities should be open. Along with that a vaccination drive is must for school, colleges and universities. We cannot wait more because students have already suffered a lot in their education," Sood told IANS. The experts opined that the government should allow the schools to open as children are facing adverse effects of staying at home. Their education is severely affected, and they are also lagging behind severely in their vocabularies and learning skills. There is also loss of social skills, cognitive functions and language development. There is no discipline in eating habits, sleep and wake time. Lots of children are also showing signs of withdrawal, apprehension on seeing strangers, panic and anxiety disorders. "If we don't open schools very soon, I am afraid we may cause irreparable damage to our children which would have a very long lasting effect, much longer and worse that what Covid is doing to kids," Sinha said. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that it has seized assets worth Rs 3.19 crore of Karusala Venkat Subba Rao, Tejesh K. Kodali and Kadiyala Venkateswara Rao of Hyderabad based 3K Technologies Limited, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The ED officials said that the seized assets are in the form of 15 immovable properties in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The ED initiated an investigation on the basis of information received from the office of the Development Commissioner, Visakhapatnam Special Economic Zone. The ED was told that 3K Technologies Limited had reported abnormal exports. The ED initiated a money laundering probe on the basis of this information. The ED investigation revealed that 3K Technologies Limited transferred foreign exchange to the tune of US$ 1,15,32,000 (equivalent to Rs 52,47,02,935) to 3K Technologies Inc, USA in 2010 in the guise of Overseas Direct Investment (ODI). The official said that 3K Technologies Inc. USA was incorporated on 23 February 2007 and Tejesh K. Kodali was made director of the USA company. It was learnt that 3K Technologies Inc USA was dissolved on 28 January 2011 within 3 months after receipt of the final ODI tranche. No shares were issued by the US company and no Annual Reports were filed with the RBI. After the transfer of these funds, Karusala Venkat Subba Rao, Tejesh K. Kodali and Kadiyala Venkateswara Rao left India and started residing in the USA. The ED sent them several summons but they never responded to the summons. "The above funds are still being held outside India in contravention of section 4 of FEMA," the official said. During the investigation, it was also learnt that Tejash K. Kodali is presently working in the US and recently a news article reported the arrest of Tejesh K. Kodali by the FBI in New Jersey for orchestrating an immigration fraud to fraudulently maintain immigration status and obtain work authorization for foreign clients through a bogus 'Pay to Stay' New Jersey college. The official said that they have found in the investigation that Tejesh Kodali was also convicted and awarded a 5-year jail term and a fine of $2,50,000 was imposed on him in the student visa fraud case. The 15 immovable properties of Karusala Venkat Subba Rao, Tejesh Kodali and Kadiyala Venkateswara Rao worth Rs. 3,19,58,410 have been seized as per the provisions of FEMA. New Delhi, Jan 27 : A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been moved in Delhi High Court challenging the guidelines issued by the government, in which it was directed that all international travellers will have to undergo a seven-day home quarantine on their arrival in India. As per the guidelines, incoming travellers are required to upload their Covid-19 RT PCR test results on a government portal to be monitored by regional authorities on the eighth day, while continually monitoring their health for another week. According to the petition filed by the Pravasi Legal Cell, through advocate M.P. Srivignesh, it was submitted that the guideline has affected the international passengers, especially NRIs and other Indians working abroad, to make a short visit to India for various reasons. As per the petition, those passengers found symptomatic during the screening will be isolated and taken to a medical facility. If positive, their samples would be sent for genome sequencing to confirm if it is the Omicron strain. All other passengers have to observe seven days mandatory home quarantine. Countries all over the world have made it mandatory for travellers to provide 72-hours pre-departure RT-PCR test results which are sufficient to show the person is not infected, the plea said, adding the mandatory quarantine made difficulties for all the Indians travelling back. Chandigarh, Jan 27 : The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday demanded a judicial probe into reports that the peace of the sensitive border state as well as the security of the country have been compromised by the ruling Congress by virtually placing the most crucial intelligence wing of the police at the disposal of a private company. Harcharan Bains, Principal Advisor to SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal, shared documents pertaining to the reported abuse of the state intelligence wing by a private company, Movedek Politico. Bains said there are credible reports that the highest-ranked police officers of the state were asked to collaborate with the private company in intelligence gathering. The intelligence officers were asked to report not to the state Home Minister, the Home Secretary or the Director General of Police, but to Movedek Politco, Bains claimed. Bains also told the media here that this has brought about "the most unprecedented and dangerous collapse of the law and order machinery" in the state. When the police, especially its intelligence wing, get bogged down to gather information to blackmail and arm-twist the workers and potential candidates opposed to the Chief Minister and the ruling party in Punjab, peace and communal harmony in the state is left at the mercy of God, he said. "During this time, the state witnessed a sudden upsurge in shocking incidents of sacrilege, bomb blasts and other incidents of violence. The breach of the Prime Minister's security also happened during this period only," Bains said. He claimed that a proforma was circulated among intelligence officials, right from the highest to the lowest ranks, by the said company in which they were asked to share intelligence on the website of the company. This, he said, was a shocking compromise of the Constitutional and legal processes. Bains said the party demands a judicial probe by a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court into this 'sordid' and 'dangerous' saga which put peace in Punjab and security of the country at stake. He said the party would also take the matter to the Election Commission as this is a grave violation of the process of free and fair polls in the state. The 117-member Punjab Assembly will go to the polls on February 20, while the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10. New Delhi, Jan 27 : "It is clear that cooperation between India and Central Asia is essential for regional security and prosperity. From an Indian point of view, I would like to emphasize that Central Asia is central to Indias vision of an integrated and stable extended neighbourhood. The second objective is to give an effective structure to our cooperation. This will establish a framework of regular interactions at different levels and among various stakeholders. And, the third objective is to create an ambitious roadmap for our cooperation. Through this, we will be able to adopt an integrated approach for regional connectivity and cooperation for the next 30 years," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the first India-Central Asia Summit. The ministry of external affairs organised the summit virtually on Thursday which was attended by the heads of all five Central Asian countries -- Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan. It is an extension of the 3rd meeting of the India-Central Asia Dialogue which was held in New Delhi on 19 December 2021 under the chairmanship of the External Affairs Minister of India and attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of these countries. Talking about the specific areas of cooperation with these five countries, Modi said that Kazakhstan has become a vital partner for India's energy security. Our state governments are also active partners in our growing cooperation with Uzbekistan. This includes my home state of Gujarat as well. We have an active partnership with Kyrgyzstan in the field of education and high-altitude research. Thousands of Indian students are studying there, the PM added. With Tajikistan, we have longstanding security cooperation. And we are continuously strengthening it. Turkmenistan is an important part of the Indian vision in the field of regional connectivity, which is evident from our participation in the Ashgabat Agreement, he said. London, Jan 27 : The European Commission on Thursday told Meta-owned WhatsApp that it has to inform consumers about the use of their personal data in a much better and transparent way. In a letter to WhatsApp, the European Commission and the network of national consumer authorities (CPC) asked the company to clarify the changes it made in 2021 to its terms of service and privacy policy and ensure their compliance with EU consumer protection law. "WhatsApp must ensure that users understand what they agree to and how their personal data is used, in particular where it is shared with business partners. I expect from WhatsApp to fully comply with EU rules that protect consumers and their privacy," said Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice. WhatsApp has been given time until the end of February to come back to the commission with concrete commitments on how they will address its concerns. A formal complaint against WhatsApp's updated terms and conditions was filed by several EU-based consumer protection organisations in July last year. Following an alert from the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the Commission and national consumer authorities, under the lead of the Swedish Consumer Agency, are requesting WhatsApp to explain how it complies with its obligations under EU consumer protection law. The questions concern whether sufficiently clear information is given to consumers on the consequences of their decision to accept or decline the company's new terms of servic and the fairness of WhatsApp's in-app notifications prompting consumers to accept the new terms and privacy policy. Other concern is whether consumers have an adequate opportunity to become acquainted with the new terms before accepting them. "The Commission and consumer authorities are also concerned about the exchange of users' personal data between WhatsApp and third parties or other Facebook/Meta companies". Itanagar, Jan 27 : The Indian Army on Thursday thanked the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) for handing over Arunachal Pradesh teenager Miram Taron to the Army nine days after the youth went missing. A defence statement said that the Indian Army thanked China's PLA for upholding the Border Defence Cooperation Agreements between the two countries, leading to the return of the Indian teenager, furthering maintenance of peace and tranquillity. "Indian Army, true to its ethos, remains committed to work tirelessly for the well being of the people of northeast and the entire nation," the statement said. The Army statement said that in a positive manifestation of the efforts of the Indian Army along with all government agencies, the Chinese PLA handed over Taron at Damai, Border Personnel Meeting Point, in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh. A resident of Jido Village in Upper Siang District, Taron, aged 19 years, went missing while hunting since January 18 from Shiyung La in Bishing Area in Indian territory. The statement said that the Indian Army immediately approached the PLA on a hotline to trace and secure the safe return of the boy and shared the identity details of Miram with the PLA. On January 26, the PLA confirmed that Taron would be handed back to the Indian Army at Damai Border Personnel Meeting Point. The Indian Army took over Taron at the meeting point after completing all the formalities. He is being handed over to his parents at the earliest. Taron is in high spirits and is elated to be back in his country. He and his family expressed gratitude for the sincere efforts by the Indian Army and the government to ensure his safe return. Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday afternoon first announced that the PLA has handed over Taron to the Indian Army nine days after the youth went missing. Rijiju, who closely monitored the process of the release of Taron, tweeted: "The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to the Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination." Rijiju on Wednesday tweeted: "Hotline exchanged on Republic Day by Indian Army with Chinese PLA. PLA responded positively indicating handing over of our national and suggested a place of release. They are likely to have an intimate date and time soon. Delay attributed to bad weather conditions on their side." The Arunachal Pradesh government had also sought the Defence Ministry's intervention to ensure the safe return of Taron. The Chinese Army allegedly abducted Taron from Indian territory where China had constructed a 3-4 km road in 2018. Taron's friend, who managed to escape, reported the matter to the authorities and brought it to the notice of Tapir Gao, a BJP MP from the Arunachal East Parliamentary constituency. Gao had tweeted about the incident last week. In September 2020, the Chinese PLA had reportedly kidnapped five boys from Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri district before releasing them after about a week. The villagers in the region have to trek through the remote mountainous areas due to the lack of proper roads. Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080-km border with China. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, has tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. Taking to Twitter, the minister said: "Have tested Covid positive. Urge all those who have come in recent contact to take suitable precautions." Earlier in the day, Jaishankar had met his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian virtually to discuss the opportunities for India in the French Presidency of the European Union. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Hyderabad, Jan 27 : Telangana's minister for municipal administration and urban development K.T. Rama Rao has urged the Centre to introduce MGNREGS like scheme for urban poor to strengthen social security measures in urban areas. In a letter to union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the state minister requested her to announce National Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme (NUEGS) in the ensuing budget speech on the lines of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to help urban poor in the country. He believes with the support of the employee guarantee scheme in urban areas, the government can provide job cards like in rural areas and take their services in urban environment protection by engaging them in city level green action plan and in basic infra works like laying pavements and other repair and maintenance works. Stating that urbanisation is a global trend and India is no exception, the Telangana minister pointed out that urbanisation in India is mostly the result of absence of livelihood in rural areas, that results in exodus or in-migration to urban areas. "The unavoidable outcome is increased slums and urbanisation of poverty. As per 2011 Census, 31 per cent of the Indian population or about 380 million people live in urban areas. This is a six fold increase from mere 62 million in 1951. This number is estimated to increase to about 600 million by the year 2030, by which time 40 per cent of the Indian population will live in urban areas. Some states like Telangana are witnessing an even faster pace of urbanisation and the urban population in these states is poised to cross the 50 per cent mark in near future," wrote KTR, as the minister is popularly known. According to him, the nature of urban poverty poses distinct challenges for housing, water, sanitation, health, education, social security, livelihoods, and the special needs of vulnerable groups such as women, children and the ageing. KTR mentioned that Covid-19 pandemic has brought to fore the sufferings of urban poor, especially the migrant labour, who constitute a major chunk of urban poor. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the unemployment rate in urban India is 9.4 per cent and among the urban youth of the 15-29 years age group, it has rose to 19.2 per cent and 21.1 per cent, respectively, in the pre-lockdown periods of October-December, 2019 and January-March, 2021 respectively. The pandemic and the resultant lockdowns have impacted the urban poor, especially the migrant labour more than any other segment in terms of loss of livelihoods. He cited the report of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which says that 90 per cent of workers were in the informal sector, which is 419 million of the 465 million workers. Its quarterly bulletin for April-June 2020 says that the unemployment rate in urban areas for those above 15 years jumped to 20.8 percent from 9.1 percent in January-March 2020. The majority urban poor in the country work in the unorganised (informal) sector of the economy with irregular salaries, no written job contracts, often get their jobs through job contractors and subcontractors with no social protection. It was evident during the lockdown imposed in the country. Numerous reports and surveys have revealed that urban informal sector workers were the worst hit by loss of employment during the lockdown, he added. Morang : , Jan 27 (IANS) Nepali civil society group Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan on Thursday held a demonstration against China in Biratnagar, Morang, Khabarhub reported. The demonstrators protested against excessive Chinese interference in Nepal's internal affairs, encroachment of Nepali territory at various places along the northern border, China-imposed unofficial blockade at border points affecting Nepali traders, and the apathy shown towards Nepali students who are yet to complete their medical degrees from Chinese universities, among others, the report said. The demonstrators marched from Mahendra Chowk to Bhatta Chowk in Biratnagar, raising slogans against Chinese expansion and undue interference in the top political circle of the country. The protesters also burnt pictures of Chinese President Xi Jinping during the course of the demonstration. Morang coordinator of the civil society group, Jitendra Yadav, said that the protest was held to draw attention to China's overarching interference in Nepal's internal affairs. Binay Yadav, coordinator of Rastriya Ekata Abhiyan, said they were compelled to take to the streets as the Chinese intelligence agency, Ministry of State Security (MSS), was intensifying its influence in the country. He also decried China's unofficial blockade at border points, and the northern neighbour not allowing Nepali medical students, whose future hangs in the balance, to return, among other issues, the report said. Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 : Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Thursday said 94 per cent of the Covid cases in the state are now the Omicron variant, with Delta variant accounting for 6 per cent. The 14 districts in the state have been classified into three categories which includes Category C as worst-affected and on Thursday, Kottayam, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, and Idukki districts were added to the list which earlier had only Thiruvananthapuram. In these districts, no public functions are allowed and gyms, theatres, and swimming pools should not open. Meanwhile, on Thursday, 51,739 people turned Covid positive and the test positivity rate stood at 44.60 per cent. At present there are 3,09,489 active patients, of which 3.6 per cent are admitted at hospitals. George told the media that cases in the coming weeks can go up and for about three weeks, things will remain high, after which it is expected to taper off. "The utilisation of ICU beds at the state-run colleges on Thursday was less by 2 per cent and stood at 40.2 per cent of all beds for both Covid and non-Covid cases, likewise ICU ventilator use was just 13.5 per cent. At the private hospitals, ICU beds occupancy was just 8.22 per cent while the ventilator usage was 8.96 per cent," said George. State Education Minister V. Sivankutty told the media that offline classes will be there only for Class 10 to 12, while all the other classes will be held in the online mode. He also said teachers and non-teaching staff should come to the school everyday. State Local Self Government Minister M.V. Govindan asked the local body officials to ensure that all measures should be taken to see that all the help should be provided to Covid-affected. In a related incident, a major goof up occurred at Thrissur when the dead bodies of two Covid patients were wrongly handed over by the wardens in charge of the mortuary and when it became an issue, two wardens were suspended. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New Delhi, Jan 27 : Tata Group Chairman, N. Chandrasekaran, on Thursday called upon Air India employees to work together to build 'the airline our country needs'. In a communication to the employees, Chandrasekaran said: "Now is the time to look ahead." The communication to Air India employees came on a day when Tata Group subsidiary, Talace Private Limited, formally took over the managerial control of the airline. "I, like many others, have enjoyed reflecting on stories from the airline's brilliant past. My first flight was with Air India in December 1986, and I will never forget how special it felt to be onboard, or the exhilaration as we soared into the sky," the letter read. "Today is the beginning of a new chapter. The entire nation's eyes are on us, waiting to see what we will achieve together. To build the airline our country needs, we need to look to the future," it added. Notably, the purpose of the letter was to welcome the employees into the Tata Group "family". "Our group has its own storied past. I have learned that to preserve what is best about the past, requires constant change. It is by evolving, adapting and embracing the future that we best honour a glorious history," Chandrasekaran said in the letter. It added that the "golden age" of Air India lies ahead and the "journey towards it starts now". The Centre on Thursday handed over the management control of Air India to Tata Group subsidiary Talace. With this, Air India's strategic disinvestment was complete after the Centre received a consideration of Rs 2,700 crore from the 'Strategic Partner' -- Talace -- which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons. Besides the upfront payment, Talace will retain a debt of Rs 15,300 crore. The transaction covered three entities - Air India, Air India Express and AI SATS. Post the formal take over, a new board was constituted which included Tata Group's executives. New Delhi, Jan 27 : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr Jitendra Singh hosted a lunch for the Jammu & Kashmir Tableau team members who had performed at the Republic Day celebrations on Rajpath in the national capital and interacted with them about their experiences. The team of artists, along with choreographers and musicians, have also been given an appointment to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Interacting with the tableau team here, he said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a conscious effort has been made to provide equitable development and equitable attention to every region of Jammu and Kashmir in the last nearly eight years,. This has given confidence and self-esteem to every section of society and every region. Complimenting the members of the team on their performance, Singh said he would like the people back home to understand the amount of effort, hard work and focused preparation for several months, which had been put in for this performance. He appreciated the perseverance and difficult competitive trial through which the team members had gone for getting their tableau included in the Republic Day programme at the national level. The Minister said that very few people are aware that the entry of any State or UT Tableau in a Republic Day programme at the national level has to go through different stages of competition and trial, and many States and UTs get excluded in the process and lose the opportunity to be included in the Republic Day programme. The team expressed happiness at the support and encouragement offered by Singh and also the hospitality extended by him. They said this was the first-of-its-kind experience they had gone through and they were absolutely excited about it. Patna, Jan 27 : Amid the ongoing students' agitation in Bihar, the Railway Ministry on Thursday considered their "two key demands". Sushil Kumar Modi, the Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy chief minister of Bihar has asked Bihar police to withdraw FIRs against students and teachers. "The entire agitation has taken place due to the clarification not given by RRB officials on time. This had led to confusion among students. Bihar police should withdraw the FIRs against students and teachers. They are not criminals," Modi said. "I had a meeting with Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday and he assured me that only one examination will take place in Group D category of RRB.... RRB and Indian railway will also announce the results of 3.5 lakh students who had appeared in the examination earlier and their result is pending till now," Modi said. "The Railway Ministry has constituted a committee of 5 members to address the issue followed by submitting the reports in the time bound manner," he added. The RRB issued a notification of 35,000 jobs of various posts in the Indian Railway and NTPC in 2019 and also conducted an examination. Many students have passed the examinations and are waiting for their posting. However, the RRB issued fresh notification for another examination last week and also said that the students have to appear in two examinations in the form of preliminary and mains in future. Chennai, Jan 27 : Two seventeen-year-old boys were killed when the roof of a dilapidated building collapses in Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu on Thursday. The deceased have been identified as Verasekar and Sathishkumar from Vandikuppam near Cuddalore. Another injured teen, Bhuvanesh (16), has been admitted to the Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry. The police said that around 130 tenements were constructed for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees near Samathuvupuram in Vandikuppam 10 years ago. They were not occupied due to poor amenities, and the deceased along with the injured were playing inside when the roof gave away in one of the buildings, killing the two boys on the spot. The police have registered a case and investigation is underway. Imphal, Jan 27 : Ahead of the Manipur Assembly election, the main opposition Congress on Thursday announced a pre-poll alliance with four Left parties and Janata Dal-Secular. Manipur Pradesh Congress President Nameirakpam Loken Singh said that the six parties would fight the elections together and were confident of defeating the ruling BJP. Congress legislature party leader Okram Ibobi Singh, who was the Chief Minister for a record 15 years (2002-17), told the media that the 6-party alliance will have a common minimum programme unlike the BJP-led alliance in Manipur. As per the understanding of the six parties so far, the CPI would nominate its candidate only in Khurai constituency, and in most of the other seats, Congress would field its nominees. However, as the Congress as well as the CPI has already announced their candidates at Kakching Assembly constituency, the parties would have a friendly fight in the seat. The CPI had announced two candidates and the Congress on Saturday announced its first list of 40 candidates. Ibobi Singh, his son Surjakumar Okram, Loken Singh, former Congress Presidents Gaikhangam, T.N Haokip and 11 sitting MLAs also featured in the Congress list. Though the BJP has yet to announce its candidates, its ally, the National People's Party (NPP), on Monday announced the first list of 20 candidates. The BJP, which had bagged 21 seats in 2017, came to power for the first time, stitching together a coalition government with the support of four NPP MLAs, four Naga People's Front (NPF) members, the lone Trinamool Congress MLA and an Independent member. The Congress, despite emerging as the single-largest party with 28 seats, which was ousted from power after 15 years The elections to the 60-member Manipur Assembly would be held in two phases on February 27 and March 3 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10. New Delhi, Jan 27 : Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu will chair the meeting of the Rajya Sabha floor leaders on January 31, ahead of Budget Session of the Parliament. This meeting will take place virtually as precautionary measure against the Covid-19 spread. In the customary meeting ahead of the important session, the Chairman will ask for the co-operation of all political parties for the smooth running of the House. Recently, the Rajya Sabha Chairman also tested positive for Covid-19 and now he has been recovering, sources said. The government has called an all-party meeting on January 31 to discuss issues and legislative business for the budget session. The all-party meeting of floor leaders will be held virtually. Floor leaders of all the political parties in both the Houses of Parliament are invited for the meeting to discuss issues and legislative business in the ensuing smooth functioning of the Budget Session. The meeting will be held virtually at 3 p.m. The Budget session of parliament will be held in two parts. First part will be held from January 31 till February 11, and the second part will be held from March 14 to April 8. Kolkata, Jan 27 : The ongoing tussle between West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the Trinamool Congress is likely to turn murkier as the ruling party is mulling to move a 'substantive motion' in the Parliament during the upcoming Budget Session against the 'interference of Dhankhar in the running of state affairs. The ruling party might demand the removal of the Governor in the Parliament during the Budget Session starting January 31. "We have unanimously agreed that the role of the Governor in Bengal has reached unprecedented lows. He is even questioning the Chief Minister's decision to appoint a chairperson for the Human Rights Commission. "Unlike the President, the Governor is a nominated individual and the way he is attacking and questioning every move by an elected government with two-third majority in the Assembly, it seems he has been given a mandate to keep disturbing this government," said Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy after the party's Members of Parliament met Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her residence to discuss Trinamool's policies for the upcoming Budget session. "The nature of a substantive motion is like a resolution. Our Parliamentary party is yet to decide if we will move this only in the Rajya Sabha or in both the Houses of Parliament. But the motion can call for removal of the Governor and there can be a division on it. Depending on which way the MPs vote and if the motion is passed by the Parliament, the process of removal will have to begin," Roy said. According to party insiders, Banerjee, who presided over the meeting on Thursday, was reportedly unhappy and asked all the MPs to raise their voice in the Parliament against the Governor, who has been continuously attacking the state government over several issues. Dhankhar has accused the ruling party of "trampling" democracy and keeping the Governor's office "in the dark" about the state government's policies and its public expenditure. The conflict between the Governor and the state government reached a flashpoint after Dhankhar openly criticised the Trinamool regime and Assembly Speaker Biman Banerjee on Tuesday. After paying tribute to B.R. Ambedkar at the Assembly premises on the occasion of National Voters' Day on Tuesday, Dhankhar had said: "The Speaker thinks he has the licence to speak anything about the Governor. Has he become a law unto himself? I will not tolerate such indiscretion. The Speaker should not henceforth blackout the address of the Governor. If he does it, he will face the music." "He thinks he is above the Governor. Who is the Constitutional head? Does he not know Article 168 -- the Governor is number one in the legislature, second in the House. I hope good sense prevails," Dhankhar added. The Governor also didn't spare the Chief Minister and the ruling party, saying: "For the last two years, the Chief Minister has not replied to any information sought. The bureaucracy has to be held accountable. The bureaucracy is politically committed. Are they to follow the diktats of an individual?" On the same day, Dhankhar also wrote to the Trinamool supremo alleging that the failure of the government to furnish all the documents sought by the Governor indicates that "the state government is unable to function according to the Constitutional provisions". In the letter dated January 25 which surfaced on Thursday after the Governor uploaded it on his Twitter handle, Dhankhar called upon Mamata Banerjee to make available at the earliest information regarding Pegasus notification and also relating to Pandemic Purchase Enquiry, Bengal Global Business Summit, Bengal Aerotropolis Project, GTA, MAA Canteen and State Finance Commission. New Delhi, Jan 27 : The Union Health Ministry is likely to issue an advisory to the states and UTs to reopen the schools with Covid norms amid declining trends of new cases. A source said that the Ministry may issue advisory soon to the states and UTs in this regard to reopen schools with protocols. As per the source, the government is working on a model to reopen the schools as being demanded by parents. The source said that the Ministry has already asked the experts to explore all the options to reopen the schools for students amid the Covid crisis. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who holds the Education portfolio, on Wednesday said that a generation of children will be left behind if we do not open schools now and that excessive caution is now harming our children. A delegation of parents had submitted a memorandum signed by more than 1,600 parents for reopening of schools in the national capital on Wednesday. Meanwhile, 95 per cent of eligible population has been administered with first dose of Covid-19 vaccine in the country. India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 164.35 crore as per the Health Ministry report on Thursday evening, with over 49 lakh doses administered during the day till 7 p.m. So far, over 1 crore precaution doses for identified categories have been administered since the beginning of the drive. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Bengaluru, Jan 27 : The joint session of the Karnataka state legislature would be held from February 14-25 and the Budget session would be held in the first week of March, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said. Speaking to the media persons after the cabinet meeting, Bommai said many vital issues were discussed after the cabinet meeting. "Covid situation and management, problems being faced by schools and colleges... the petitions from schools, colleges and organisations have been placed before the expert committee. Suitable decision would be taken based on the report from the experts," Bommai said. The Chief Minister said that BBMP elections too came up for discussion. A handbook on the six months' achievements of the government would be released at a function on Friday as it completes 6 months in office. Instructions have been issued to ministers to present the achievements of their respective ministries through print and electronic media by holding media conferences so that the performance could get wide publicity to reach the people, Bommai said. The BJP state president would soon convene a meeting to brainstorm on the issues related to party organisation and foster better coordination in the days ahead between the party and the government, Bommai said. Reacting to objections raised by Congress leaders about huge gatherings at the Derby races violating Covid guidelines, Bommai said: "There is no permission for large gatherings Covid guidelines should be strictly followed. Suitable action will be taken if the guidelines have been violated." Replying to a question about Congress' allegations of discrimination in allocation of funds and the BBMP meetings being held with a motive to help BJP in BBMP polls, Bommai said: "The very purpose of Congress is to make allegations. Let them recall what they did when they were in power." Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Chennai, Jan 28 : Tamil Nadu Forest Department officials on Thursday captured a male leopard after tranquilising it with sedatives at Ammapalayam near Tirumuruganpoondi municipality in Tiruppur district. Forest officials said that the leopard would be translocated to the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR). The forest officials of Coimbatore had captured another leopard from a godown at B.K. Pudur area a few days ago. The officials of the Forest Department were camping at Pongupalayam near Perumnallur on Wednesday after the leopard was found in the city. On Thursday morning, the leopard attacked two persons including a garment factory worker and a forest watcher at a godown of a private garment company at Ammapalayam near Thirumuruganpoondi municipality. A veterinary surgeon with the Tamil Nadu Animal husbandry department Vijayaraghavan later shot darts at the leopard, tranquilising the animal. S. Ramasubramanian, field director, ATR told IANS: "The male leopard is about 4 year old, and it attacked three Anti-Poaching Watchers and a forest range officer. It might have come from the Bhavanisagar forest area in Erode district and travelled more than 35 km to reach the Thiumuruganpoondi area in Tiruppur district. The leopard has no external injuries and it will be released at Kadamparai reserve forest near Valparai in Coimbatore district." The CHPSE credential signifies that Omar Khan is an expert in overall HIPAA compliance. He is able to evaluate whether policies and procedures are HIPAA-compliant and ensure that Vertrical is taking every possible step to protect the privacy and security of protected health information. Vertrical announces its increased focus on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the federal law that protects patient health information. By providing in-depth HIPAA training and subsequent certification to several employees who play a key role in HIPAA compliance, Vertrical is well-equipped to address the intricacies and ever-changing requirements of HIPAA. In particular, Omar Khan, Head of Risk and Compliance underwent and successfully completed an intensive 17-hour HIPAA training course through http://www.hipaatraining.net, a leading provider of HIPAA compliance solutions. After course completion, Omar Khan successfully passed a two-hour timed exam to validate his knowledge and become a Certified HIPAA Security Expert (CHSE). As a CHSE, Omar Khan fully understands the HIPAA privacy and security rules as well as new changes to the regulation in light of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. HITECH mandated new requirements for sharing protected health information with business associates, ensuring identity theft protection, using and disclosing protected health information for marketing purposes, and for reporting breaches of protected health information. The CHSE credential denotes that Omar Khan has an in-depth knowledge of the application of the HIPAA privacy rule as it relates to the uses and disclosures of protected health information (PHI). This includes using and disclosing PHI for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations as well as disclosure for public purposes. As a CHSE, Omar Khan also has an in-depth knowledge of the application of the HIPAA security rule as it relates to the security of PHI. Omar Khan can identify technical or electronic threats to the healthcare enterprise and explain the technology available to reduce or prevent those threats. He has received advanced training in the topics of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards and is able to develop policies and procedures to describe those safeguards and address larger risk management strategies. The CHPSE credential signifies that Omar Khan is an expert in overall HIPAA compliance. He is able to evaluate whether policies and procedures are HIPAA-compliant and ensure that Vertrical is taking every possible step to protect the privacy and security of protected health information. About Vertrical Our digital health developers, compliance experts, analysts, and project managers seamlessly integrate with your team to meet your development goals. We focus on the challenges that digital health development offers: from patient data and electronic health records to wearable devices and online pharmacy development. MFGx, a Michigan-based software integration and development company serving the manufacturing industry, today announced three new partnerships to support the growth of Fuuz, its no-code, low-code and pro-code SaaS hybrid cloud solution. Fuuz helps companies of all sizes connect the software and hardware they already have with the databases, machines and established processes to grow their businesseswithout the expense of new enterprise software. The new partners are: Castor Engineering & Consulting, a turnkey automation integrator and services provider that offers robotic automation integration; PLC and robot programming; electrical panel design and build; and mechanical end-of-arm tooling design and build for manufacturers. Endurium, a business transformation consulting company with the sole purpose of helping businesses transform to achieve their strategic goals. Mr. IIoT, an integrator and services provider specializing in guiding companies through data infrastructure and digital transformation strategies. We value the expertise and capabilities that Castor Engineering & Consulting, Endurium and Mr.IIoT bring to our growing network of integration and referral partners, said Craig Scott, founder, MFGx. Since its launch in 2019, Fuuz has helped more than 100 companies in diverse industries reduce costs and identify new opportunities with a single source of integrated, real-time information. These partnerships will help us bring proven solutions to even more manufacturing organizations. Fuuz diagnoses and fixes inefficiencies that arise when multiple, disconnected software systems fail to integrate with the people, processes and machines they are meant to connect. The platform is built on more than 20 years of first-hand, hands-on experience in diagnosing and solving software integration problems across discrete and process manufacturers in multiple industries. Fuuz has been instrumental in reducing internal technical debt and highly specialized skills for large and small manufacturing companies alike. Since it is no longer necessary to stitch systems together, a resemblance of a digital thread begins to emerge, said Chris Misztur, founder of Mr.IIoT. This is a key concept to master toward harnessing true business value from data. Unlike other major brand options, Fuuz integrates and augments any open source of data, allowing companies to leverage current solutions, industrial equipment and operating systems. Any open source of data can relate to Fuuz, according to Scott. Fuuz leverages its connectors to most major ERP systems to extend ERP capabilities with MES, IIoT, WMS, TMS and iPaaS solutions out of the box. One of the primary attractions to the MFGx platform is its unique cloud multi-tenant approach to solving challenges on the shop floor that we have not found with any other platform to date, said Christopher Bommarito, president of Castor Engineering & Consulting. Fuuz makes it simple for us to not only connect to the shop floor equipment, but also ensures a seamless connection to our clients ERP system, no matter what it happens to be. The Fuuz platform also features friendly and intuitive mobile applications that automate the collection of real-time shop floor data, increasing visibility into critical information so companies have time to react, make adjustments, resolve issues and continuously improve operations. We are excited about our partnership with MFGx and believe there are many opportunities for the Fuuz platform in adjacent industries, said Jeremiah Worthington, founding partner for Endurium. The platforms ease of use and versatility can bring tremendous value to all types of businesses. For more information about Fuuz powered by MFGx, visit the companys website at https://www.fuuzplatform.com/. About MFGx and FuuzTM Fuuz is a no-code, low-code, pro-code hybrid cloud SaaS solution that helps companies of all sizes connect the software and hardware they already have with the databases, machines and established processes they need to grow their businesseswithout the expense of new enterprise software. Fuuz was developed by MFGx, a Michigan-based software integration company with more than 20 years of first-hand, hands-on experience in diagnosing and solving software integration problems for discrete and process manufacturers in multiple industries. MFGx and its Fuuz application deliver flexible and robust solutions in complex IT environments. For more, visit http://www.fuuzplatform.com/. The Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS), a CeriFi Company, today announced that financial crime industry expert, Casey Nelson, has joined ACFCS as Senior Director of Business Solutions reporting to Joseph Yerant, President ACFCS. We are very lucky to have Casey join the ACFCS team, said Yerant. His deep-rooted experience in the banking world tackling training challenges will further the mission of ACFCS. Building our in-house team of subject matter experts is a testament to how we serve the financial crime community more effectively. I know that with his background and expertise, ACFCS will continue its path of building world-class solutions to combat the evolving challenges presented by financial criminals and expand our ability to deliver valued education around the world. Nelson comes to ACFCS with over 14 years of experience in financial crime prevention and risk management. He spent most of his career working with Citi where he held several different positions within the anti-money laundering compliance department, from performing investigations and filing on suspicious activity to training compliance officers around the world on the various components of financial crime compliance, including knowing your customer requirements, fraud prevention, sanctions compliance, anti-bribery, and anti-corruption. Ive always been passionate about training because I like to help people achieve their goals, said Nelson. Through my experience in financial crime risk management, I have learned the best way to achieve the goal of an effective financial crime compliance program is to have skilled staff and measurable outcomes. Training and certification can be two of the most practical and measurable ways to demonstrate to regulators your institutions ability to stay compliant with laws and regulations, and ultimately help prevent financial crimes. Nelsons passion for training grew as he spent many hours providing in-person and virtual instruction to compliance officers around the world including traveling to Warsaw, Poland where he spent four weeks providing hands-on training to AML professionals. With the ever-changing financial services industry and emerging risks, such as crypto-currency and cyber-security, he believes the opportunities for education in financial crime are greater than ever. About ACFCS: ACFCS, a CeriFi company, founded in 2013, is a leader in broad-based financial crime prevention training and exam prep. ACFCS provides online, and live training guided by top worldwide experts on the latest industry developments in preparation for the CFCS certification exams. The CFCS certification affirms the competence of public and private-sector financial crime specialists who work in such areas as fraud, money laundering, corruption, and global asset recovery. "RSRT rigorously evaluates the science and funds comprehensive programs our leading scientific staff and advisors believe can work to accelerate a cure for Rett syndrome." The Rett Syndrome Research Trust (RSRT) is dedicating a further $3.1 million to drive forward the Cure 360 agenda aimed to cure Rett syndrome by continuing to fund the most promising research and investing in a new potentially curative strategy in 2022. RSRTs Cure 360 plan focuses on translating laboratory discoveries about the reversibility of Rett symptoms in mice into clinical successes by incentivizing and attracting biopharmaceutical companies to work on a cure. After rigorous evaluation by RSRTs board and scientific advisors, the most recent awards reflect the organizations commitment to rigorous science and promising business development. Rett syndrome is a rare, devastating neurological disorder characterized by loss of language, hand skills, and motor function that primarily affects females. As the disorder progresses it brings breathing difficulties, seizures, anxiety, tremors, and gastrointestinal and muscular skeletal problems. Most people with Rett syndrome live into adulthood, requiring round-the-clock care. Rett syndrome results from a mutation in the MECP2 gene on the X chromosome. RSRT will continue its investment in MECP2 reactivation efforts by Antonio Bedalov, MD, PhD, and Kyle Fink, PhD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute and University of California, Davis, respectively, with an award of more than $1 million. MECP2 reactivation attempts to awaken the dormant, healthy MECP2 gene on the X chromosome in enough cells to reverse Rett symptoms. This funding deepens RSRTs investment in MECP2 reactivation, one of six genetic-based strategies for a cure, by adding Dr. Fink, who brings expertise from success reactivating a different gene on the X chromosome, to the work and knowledge that Dr. Bedalov has been generating with long-standing RSRT funding. RSRT will continue to look for ways to expand investment in MECP2 reactivation. Victor Faundez, PhD, of Emory University, has been awarded more than $500,000 for the second phase of his research to identify a Rett syndrome biomarker in spinal fluid. Previous RSRT funding identified differences in certain molecules in the spinal fluid of healthy individuals compared to spinal fluid from people with Rett, and in Rett mouse models compared to normal mice. In this next phase of study Dr. Faundez will determine if these potential biomarkers respond to gene replacement therapy. Through an RSRT-facilitated collaboration between Dr. Faundez and Stuart Cobb, PhD, of the University of Edinburgh, this second phase will also correlate the potential biomarkers with varying levels of MECP2 protein. Having biomarkers that correlate with protein levels and disease severity could be a game-changer for designing and interpreting Rett clinical trials and for attracting increased biopharmaceutical interest. RSRT has awarded $444,000 to Ciitizen, a technology company that collects, digitizes, and summarizes patient medical records, to create a comprehensive digital natural history study of Rett syndrome. Existing medical records constitute a treasure trove of untapped longitudinal data, which provides a valuable resource for biopharmaceutical companies with Rett drug development programs. This award will gather and analyze medical records for an initial cohort of 120 Rett individuals, however RSRT intends to extend beyond this cohort and collect medical records for Rett families who join RSRTs Rett Syndrome Global Registry. The digitized medical records will be combined with parent-reported data solicited through the registry and together will create a powerful, integrated dataset that will fuel research and drug development programs. RSRT is investing more than $186,000 in a new strategy to tackle Rett. Joseph Anderson, PhD, of the University of California Davis Medical Center, will remove hematopoietic stem cells from Rett mice, introduce a modified MECP2 gene into the cells with a lentivirus, and transplant the cells back into the mice. Some of these cells naturally migrate to the brain, where they will secrete the modified MECP2 protein to supply nearby cells. This approach has resulted in surprising and encouraging preclinical data for Angelman syndrome, another single-gene neurological disorder with similarities to Rett syndrome. A clinical trial using this type of cell therapy for Angelman syndrome is poised to begin shortly. In 2022 RSRT will also launch the Rett Syndrome Global Registry, a virtual, caregiver-driven registry that will revolutionize what is known about Rett syndrome by bringing together previously disparate clinical data and tapping into the knowledge of Rett caregivers. The Global Registry will provide a comprehensive view of the disorder by aggregating data from caregivers, digitized medical records, patient cell lines, biosensors, and clinical trials. Access to the Global Registry will be available to the Rett community in early 2022, and caregivers will be able to centralize, track, and share data about their loved one in a clinical trial-quality database built in partnership with clinical trial database developer DSG. As the only organization dedicated solely to identifying and accelerating a cure for Rett syndrome, RSRT rigorously evaluates the science and funds comprehensive programs our leading scientific staff and advisors believe can work, said RSRT CEO Monica Coenraads. These exciting research awards would not be possible without our loyal and generous donors, and the affected families that take action and fundraise. Im profoundly grateful to every one of them. RSRT bridges the divide between academic labs and biopharmaceutical companies through its prodigious scientific and business connections, and drug development experience. As a result of RSRT-led collaborations, and scientific and clinical resources funded by RSRT, today there are seven biopharmaceutical companies pursuing a cure for Rett. LIST OF 2021 AWARDS FOR PROJECTS TO BE CONDUCTED IN 2022 AND BEYOND: MECP2 REACTIVATION: $1,090,919 Antonio Bedalov / Kyle Fink Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute / University of California Davis Reactivation of MECP2 CELL THERAPY: $186,254 Joseph Anderson, PhD University of California Davis Medical Center Feasibility of a stem cell approach for the treatment of Rett Syndrome CLINICAL INITIATIVES: $1,394,914 Victor Faundez, PhD Emory University Biomarker Development - Genetic Analysis of the Rett Syndrome Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteome $584,304 Stuart Cobb, PhD University of Edinburgh Biomarker Development - Genetic Analysis of the Rett Syndrome Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteome $47,014 Ciitizen Digital Natural History Study $444,000 Joni N. Saby, PhD / Eric D. Marsh, MD, PhD Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Electrophysiological (EEG) Outcome Measures for Rett Syndrome Clinical Trials $115,906 David Lieberman, MD, PhD Boston Childrens Hospital Biosensor Development $67,821 Sasha Djukic, MD, PhD Albert Einstein College of Medicine Support for continuing work at the Rett Syndrome Center $25,000 Bryce Reeve, PhD Duke University School of Medicine Development of the Observer-Reported Communication Ability (ORCA) for Rett Syndrome $15,294 (additional funding) Coriell Institute Rett Syndrome biorepository $53,612 (additional funding) Harvard Stem Cell Institute Development of patient derived induced pluripotent stem cell lines $36,343 (additional funding) The Jackson Laboratory Generation and phenotypic assessment of mouse models for Rett Syndrome $5,620 (additional funding) MECP2 DUPLICATION: $487,930 The Jackson Laboratory Testing of siRNA compounds from Khvorova lab for MECP2 Duplication Syndrome $362,930 Davut Pehlivan, MD Texas Childrens Hospital Clinical studies in MECP2 Duplication Syndrome as foundation for antisense oligonucleotide drug trials $125,000 2021 AWARDS TOTAL: $3,160,017 ABOUT THE RETT SYNDROME RESEARCH TRUST The Rett Syndrome Research Trust is a nonprofit organization with a highly personal and urgent mission: achieving a cure for Rett syndrome and related disorders caused by defects in the MECP2 gene. Since its founding in 2008, RSRT has awarded $64 million, more than any other Rett organization in the world, to leading scientists pursuing targeted research on Rett. RSRT funds and spearheads global scientific and clinical activities advancing the most promising curative approaches. To date, every biopharmaceutical company pursuing a cure for Rett syndrome is doing so because they leveraged discoveries and resources incubated with RSRT funding. A highly efficient nonprofit, RSRT has spent an average of 95 percent of every dollar on its research program. To learn more, visit http://www.reverserett.org. New York Women in Communications releases comprehensive study on how the pandemic affected women in the industry A comprehensive new report commissioned by New York Women in Communications (NYWICI) exposes the disruption the pandemic is inflicting on the industry. Findings show that women in the industry were twice as likely as the general population to have lost their jobs, gotten furloughed or suffered a pay reduction during the pandemic. Plus, 23% indicated they looked for a new job with an additional 12% of women in communications that identified as parents choosing to quit their jobs entirely. NYWICI commissioned the U.S. survey of women and men in communications fielded by FCB and its research partner ENGINE. Bloomberg Media contributed nationwide research on the media conversation around how the pandemic has affected women in the workforce. In addition, Meredith Corporation (now known as Dotdash Meredith) contributed nationwide research on the impact of COVID-19 on women in the workforce. The report builds on research conducted in the latter half of 2021 and serves as a valuable resource to organizational leadership to help understand what it is going to take to rebound from the massive loss of women in the workforce over the past year. We needed a comprehensive study about how COVID-19 has affected our main constituency - women working in communications, said Georgia Galanoudis, NYWICI President-elect and Chief Experience Officer, HIMSS. Galanoudis launched the NYWICI #WomenHeard initiative prior to the pandemic with the express intent of listening to the needs of women in the field of communications and has played an integral role in the creation and development of the white paper. This report gives us the insight needed to focus on whats going to be most impactful to support women from all backgrounds so they continue to bring their talents to the workplace. she adds. A once-in-a-lifetime occurrence like the pandemic shows how devastating it can be to finances, family and mental health; unfortunately working women are most affected by these circumstances, said Dustee Jenkins, President of NYWICI and Global Head of Communications and Public Relations at Spotify. The goal of NYWICI is to advocate for women in our industry and highlight the contributions and leadership we bring to our profession every day, she adds. "The inequities that women face in gender, race, pay and mobility have been amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, and everyone is looking for credible sources on how to measure and address them," said Anne Kawalerski, Global Chief Marketing Officer at Bloomberg Media. "This research brings the current facts to light as well as solutions we can use to create better working environments and livelihoods for women moving forward." The NYWICI #WomenHeard research conducted with support from FCB and ENGINE, was developed to uncover the extent of the financial, mental and familial impacts of COVID-19 on women in the communications field. Together with input from Bloomberg Media and additional, nationwide research provided by Meredith Corporation (prior to the companys acquisition by Dotdash in December 2021), the study revealed: JOB LOSS & THE GREAT RESIGNATION: Compared to the general work population, those in the communications field have been almost two times as likely to have lost their job, been furloughed, or experienced a pay reduction during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among women in communications (WIC), one in five lost their job, were furloughed, or experienced a pay reduction. The study revealed that a higher percentage of underrepresented groups experienced negative job impacts. And Hispanic WIC were laid off, furloughed, or faced a reduction in pay 1.4 times more even than Black or Asian WIC. FINANCIAL IMPACTS: The WomenHeard study found that WIC feel that they need more support from employers. Even WIC who kept their jobs were two times more likely to not be receiving any support compared to Men in Communications (MIC). During the pandemic, WIC were 1.3 times more likely to not receive any support from employers versus MIC. The gap is even greater between moms and dads in the communications industry, at 1.9 times. The types of support that employees in communications need include longer maternity leave, mental support, good benefits (e.g., longer maternity and paternity leave), and a good management team. MENTAL HEALTH: For communications professionals, mental health support is key for the job satisfaction of parents, particularly moms. Moms in communications are 1.5 times more likely to experience harder work-life balance versus WIC who arent parents. Mental health support from an employer is expected 28% more by moms in communication than general WIC and 31% more by MIC who are parents versus MIC who arent. THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF COVID-19: Among WIC, ethnic groups identified different activities at the top of their lists that they found harder to maintain during the COVID-19 pandemic. For Black WIC, the top response for things that felt harder was staying active (43%); 49% of Asian American/Pacific Islanders named connecting with family/significant others/friends as the top concern; for Caucasian and Hispanic WIC, maintaining focus was cited as the most challenging issue (by 45% and 42%, respectively). THE PANDEMIC & WORKING MOTHERS: Survey data from Meredith (now known as Dotdash Meredith) focused on the impact of the pandemic on working mothers. According to Merediths November 2020 Consumer Pulse Tracker, already one in three working moms had experienced or considered a job change during the pandemic, with one in four driven by a desire to scale back their hours. CHILDCARE IN THE NEWS: Bloomberg Media shared results from BloombergAiQa Bloomberg proprietary data analysis tool powered by AI that analyzes 30K+ publishers globally to identify media trends. Bloomberg observed that childcare was a leading issue in the women in the workforce conversation, disproportionately to men in the workforce. Over the last year, globally, in news coverage of workforce AND women, 13,293 total articles were found, and childcare appeared in 25% of them. The NYWICI WomenHeard survey results included insights from over 1200 executives (women and men) ages 21+ across the communications industry and within the general population. Findings are published in the WomenHeard white paper together with perspectives from industry leaders on how to foster a supportive work environment while building a more diverse, inclusive and intergenerational workforce of women. Looking beyond the communications industry, findings by Meredith focused on the mental and social impact of the pandemic on working mothers, while Bloomberg Media analyzed the top trending news stories directly affecting women in the workplace. The WomenHeard white paper will also culminate in an event in February 2022 featuring all of the research partners involved in the initiative. In March 2021, NYWICI kicked off a robust research and programming initiative developed to support women at all stages of their communications careers. Through its survey data and digital symposium events with leading executives in the Communications industry, NYWICI sought to identify strategies that can be implemented within organizations to retain existing employees, while re-engaging those who have prematurely left the industry as a result of the pandemic. ABOUT NEW YORK WOMEN IN COMMUNICATIONS New York Women in Communications is dedicated to promoting the highest standards throughout the industry and to providing education and leadership for the next generation. Founded in 1929, the not-for-profit association has more than 2,500 members from senior executives to students and entrepreneurs to young professionals representing a variety of communications disciplines. NYWICIs mission is to support women at all levels of their communications careers, to help define the future of communications and stay ahead of the industrys ever-changing landscape. The organizations membership encompasses senior executives and other experienced communicators from a wide range of enterprises, as well as young professionals and students. NYWICI empowers women across communications disciplines to reach their full potential by promoting their professional growth, inspiring them to achieve and share their successes and helping them navigate the evolving and converging world of communications. For more information, visit NYWICI.org. ABOUT BLOOMBERG MEDIA Bloomberg Media is a leading, global, multi-platform brand that provides decision-makers with timely news, analysis and intelligence on business, finance, technology, climate change, politics and more. Powered by a newsroom of over 2,700 journalists and analysts, it reaches influential audiences worldwide across every platform including digital, social, TV, radio, print and live events. Bloomberg Media is a division of Bloomberg LP. Visit BloombergMedia.com for more information. The Atlantic Honda dealership is offering a wide selection of used vehicles for sale in Bay Shore, New York. Interested buyers are encouraged to contact or visit the dealership in person to avail of money-saving offers. There are many pre-owned vehicles from different brands like Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Buick, and a few more available at the dealership. Customers can take these certified used cars for test drives. For information about the availability of a particular model or exploring finance options offered on a car, buyers are urged to visit the dealerships website or drop in at the dealership in person to get the details from the sales representative. Buyers who wish to learn more about the offers available on pre-owned vehicles available at the lot can explore the website, contact the sales team, or visit the dealership in person. The Atlantic Honda staff can be reached by dialing the number 631-665-0005. Other means of communication include online messages and on-site visits to the store. The Atlantic Honda dealership is located at 1375 Sunshine Hwy., Bay Shore, New York 11706. Bryan Ballew, Senior Associate Attorney, Beal Law Firm, PLLC Beal Law Firm is incredibly fortunate to have Bryan as a member of the Team. This new recognition is nothing surprising Bryan IS a Texas Family Law Expert. Bryan Ballew, a Senior Associate Attorney with Beal Law Firm, PLLC, is now Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. This designation means that Ballew is recognized by the State Bar of Texas as an expert in Family Law. Family Law includes divorce, child custody, child support, alimony, grandparent rights, and much more. To test for Board Certification in Family Law, an applicant must meet complex criteria. They must practice for a matter of several years, substantially in the areas of divorce, property division, and child custody. Additionally, they must complete a specific number of cases in certain key areas, handle a large volume of cases through various stages of litigation and settlement, take a substantial amount of Continuing Legal Education courses, submit references that will attest to the applicants character and ability, and complete a lengthy application process. Once the application is submitted, the Family Law Advisory Commission of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization screens the applicant. If the applicant makes it through that, they must sit for a rigorous all-day written exam to prove their mastery of the subject area. As stated on the Texas Board of Legal Specialization (TBLS) website, TBLS certifies lawyers and paralegals that have substantial, relevant experience in select areas of law, completed continuing legal education hours in the specialty area, and passed a rigorous exam. Consumers and organizations get the highest quality of legal services when working with Board Certified lawyers and paralegals. Ballew has been a lawyer with Beal Law Firm for almost ten years. Before that time, he worked on major Federal Litigation involving pharmaceuticals and other State-related claims, including family law. Ballew attended law school at Texas Wesleyan School of Law, which is now known as Texas A&M School of Law. He graduated with his Juris Doctorate in 2006 and began his legal career as a researcher and editor of noteworthy legal publications. Prior to law school, Ballew obtained two bachelors degrees, one in 1992 from Stephen F. Austin University in 1992 and one from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2004. Between those years, Ballew served for eight years in the United States Navy aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and was instrumental in the nuclear power program. While at Beal Law Firm, Ballew has been involved in appellate work, including Mandamus proceedings and oral argument before the Texas Supreme Court, and maintains an active motion and trial docket. Along with that, Ballew received the State Bar of Texas Star of Achievement Award as a part of the Best Substantive Law Series - Dallas Bar Associate Headnotes for his work on an article entitled, Recent Trends and questions in Family Law Settlements. The publication focused on the complex area of resolving divorce and custody litigation through written agreements and the ability to enforce or revoke those documents. In addition to being a Board-Certified Specialist in Family Law, divorce, custody and all that includes, Ballew is a long-standing member of the College of the State Bar of Texas. The College is a professional society of legal scholars. The Colleges website states that its members are leaders in the Texas legal community and champions of legal education. Our members are committed to high ethical standards and improved training for all legal professionals. Beal Law Firm, PLLC, is a Texas law practice that exclusively handles family law, divorce, child custody, spousal support, child support, grandparent rights, property division, relocation, and other related matters. The firm has thirteen divorce, custody, and family law attorneys located in five offices in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and San Antonio and handles cases state-wide. Beal Law Firm has represented clients in family law matters throughout Texas for almost thirty years. Beal Law Firm has Southlake, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, and San Antonio offices. Its family law attorneys can meet remotely or in person virtually anywhere in Texas. Ballew can be reached through the Beal Law Firm website located at http://www.dfwdivorce.com Thoughts of Worship and Praise: an enjoyable opportunity for reflection and spiritual nourishment. Thoughts of Worship and Praise is the creation of published author Beryl Henry, a loving mother from Dallas, Texas, who graduated from Baylor University with a music degree, with an emphasis on the organ. In 1954, she married James W. Jim Henry, also a Baylor graduate, and together they shared a passion for music and lived a full life up to Jims passing in October 2020. Henrys daughter, Sherry Henry Kujala, shares Thoughts of Worship and Praise is a collection of daily devotionals by Beryl G. Henry. A confluence of challenges, opportunities, and talents have inspired Beryl to commit her thoughts to paper, offering a glimpse into the heart of one of Gods better messengers of faith. Beryl has been a church organist since the age of fourteen. Born in 1931 in Dallas, Texas, she was child of the Great Depression, World War II, and on occasion, the target of criticism reflecting an unfortunate stigma at that time associated with adoption as an infant." Her loving parents instilled in Beryl a thorough schooling of the Bible. Through her work as a church organist, which merges music and text quite effectively, Beryls ability to express her grasp of faith through her music is evident in Thoughts of Worship and Praise." Some of Beryls devotionals are based on scripture, while others grow from her interpretation of the words to hymns. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Beryl Henrys new book will encourage and inspire as readers discover several years of thoughtful consideration of Gods word. Henry shares in hopes of helping others to find the strength and peace that she has enjoyed through dedicated faith. Consumers can purchase Thoughts of Worship and Praise at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Thoughts of Worship and Praise, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. Capital Property Group Independent brokerage Capital Property Group is proud to announce that Investment Advisor, Bryan Rodriguez, and Principal of Sales, Zach Hansen, recently closed the sale of the Hotel Elegante in Colorado Springs for $25 million. The hotel is among the largest in Colorado and was sold to Texas investors SHIR Capital. Hotel Elegante has 496 rooms that SHIR will be converting into 500 apartments over the next two to three years. The apartments, which average 365 square feet, will provide affordable housing for entry-level workers and add a significant number of apartment units in Colorado Springs. Rodriguez represented both the buyer and seller in the off-market real estate transaction. "This transaction demonstrates that Colorado Springs is an attractive option for investment. In addition, it provides a case study for public and private entities to work together in providing creative housing solutions," said Rodriquez. "I am honored to have served my clients as well as Colorado Springs in such a historical and game-changing moment." Capital Property Group ("CPG") is a commercial brokerage based in Denver, Colorado, that services the Denver Metro, Colorado Springs, and Oklahoma City areas. Capital Property Group employs an experienced team of brokers in commercial and residential real estate. The team embraces a solution-driven mindset along with a customer-service orientation. CPGs leadership has a detailed knowledge of all the markets in which it operates and leverages that knowledge to position its clients well throughout the commercial transaction process. It is CPGs mission to help its clients achieve their real estate goals and desired outcomes. The Catoctin Furnace Historical Society (CFHS) announces that it has received generous funding from the Rural Maryland Council to reconstruct the village smithy in Catoctin Furnace, where blacksmithing began with African American ironworkers and blacksmiths in 1776. Historical sources confirm the presence of a blacksmith shop on the main thoroughfare of the village, and in 1850, Jacob L. Wolf, aged 21, was the village blacksmith. Mr. Wolf likely apprenticed for several years, beginning with making nails. Research has revealed that Wolfs blacksmith shop made repairs for travelers as well as tools for local farmers. The reconstructed smithy will be adjacent to the historic Miller House, one of the original 200+ year-old worker houses in Catoctin Furnace and to the newly opened Museum of the Ironworker. The blacksmiths shop will serve as a site for a hands-on learning and blacksmithing demonstrations and will also be utilized as a display space for some of the larger, disarticulated iron objects in the societys collection. The reconstruction of the blacksmithing shop will allow Catoctin Furnace to add blacksmithing to our educational and hands-on programming, including our successful 9-year-old leadership-focused "Heritage at Work" program, offered in partnership with Silver Oak Academy. Elizabeth A. Comer, President, CFHS, Inc. About the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society (CFHS) CFHS commemorates, studies, interprets, and preserves the rich history of the early the American industrial village through the architecture, cultural traditions, and lifeways of the diverse workers. CHFSs newly opened Museum of the Ironworker is located at 12610 Catoctin Furnace Road, Thurmont, MD 21788. The museum explores the history of ironmaking and tells the stories of the familiesblack and white, enslaved and free-- who lived and worked in the village. It is open from 10am-2pm on weekends. Learn more at http://www.catoctinfurnace.org About the Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund and the Rural Maryland Council The Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF) provides grants to rural-serving nonprofit organizations that promote statewide and regional planning, economic and community development, and agricultural and forestry education. Also eligible are rural community colleges that provide enhanced training and technical assistance to support agricultural and small businesses. The Funds goal is to increase the overall capacity of rural-serving nonprofit organizations and community colleges to meet a multitude of rural development challenges and to help them establish new public/private partnerships for leveraging non-state sources of funding. The Rural Maryland Council (RMC) serves as the administrative agency in receiving the applications and disbursing the grants to the successful applicants. In addition to the non-toxic properties of PENETRON ADMIX SB, the ease of dosing the concrete mix with the pre-measured soluble bags of PENETRON ADMIX SB eliminated the need to pre-weigh the admixture before adding it to the concrete mix. The $30 million Citizens Reservoir was completed in January 2021 to secure a sufficient drinking water supply for the Indianapolis metropolitan area (Indiana). PENETRON ADMIX SB was specified to ensure a waterproof and non-toxic (NSF-61-certified) solution for the project's new drinking water treatment plant. The Indianapolis metropolitan area comprises the urban conglomeration of IndianapolisCarmelAnderson and the 11 counties of Central Indiana. The population of the metropolitan area is just over 2 million inhabitants, with Indianapolis as its largest city and the state capital. The Indiana Chamber of Commerce recently estimated demand for drinking water for Central Indiana is set to increase by 50 million gallons per day by 2050. To create a more robust and drought-resilient water supply for Central Indiana, the Citizens Energy Group, a public utility service company based in Indianapolis, was tasked by the state government to build an additional water storage facility and a new water treatment plant to bolster the water output of the Geist Reservoir, the main source of drinking water for the region. Located in the northeastern part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area, the Geist Reservoir was constructed in 1943 and is the second-largest man-made lake in Indiana, with a capacity of about 6.9 billion US gallons of water. Repurposing a Stone Quarry for Water Storage Instead of constructing a conventional reservoir from scratch, the Citizens Energy Group repurposed a nearby limestone quarry to store excess water, explains Christopher Chen, Director of The Penetron Group. What was once a stone quarry is now the Citizens Reservoir, which provides additional capacity of over three billion gallons of water. Directly adjacent to the Geist Reservoir, the Citizens Reservoir stores captured rainwater. The 90-acre and 230-foot-deep reservoir provides 3.2 billion gallons of additional water storage, about half of the 1,800-acre Geist Reservoir, which is much shallower. Pumping 25-Million Gallons of Water Daily The Citizens Reservoir will help provide drinking water for the Indianapolis metropolitan area, pumping 25 million gallons of water into the adjacent Geist Reservoir every day, adds Christopher Chen. From there, the water is sent to Fall Creek and the Citizens Energy water treatment plants in Indianapolis. Shelby Materials, the concrete ready-mix supplier, worked with Penetron to develop an optimal concrete mix for the new water treatment plant, which was part of the $30 million project. PENETRON ADMIX SB was recommended to ensure a robust waterproofing solution for the concrete structures of the new water treatment plant. Because all PENETRON crystalline waterproofing products are NSF-61 certified, PENETRON ADMIX SB is completely non-toxic and contains no VOCs ideal for the concrete structures of water treatment plants in constant contact with drinking water resources. Permanently Sealing Microcracks Once added to concrete, the proprietary chemicals in Penetron crystalline products react in a catalytic reaction to generate a non-soluble crystalline formation throughout the pores and capillary tracts of the concrete. These crystals permanently seal micro-cracks, pores, and capillaries against the penetration of water or liquids from any direction making the concrete impermeable. In addition to the non-toxic properties of PENETRON ADMIX SB, the ease of dosing the concrete mix with the pre-measured soluble bags of PENETRON ADMIX SB eliminated the need to pre-weigh the admixture before adding it to the concrete mix," concludes Christopher Chen. "In addition to the ease of use, the durability and self-healing properties of the concrete virtually eliminates any downstream maintenance costs. The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs, and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives, and distribution channels. For more information on Penetron crystalline technology solutions, please visit http://www.penetron.com, email: CRDept@penetron.com or contact our Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700. NXTs online, mobile and digital banking capabilities under a single product umbrella afford us a streamlined but flexible approach to achieving our goals today and into the future as trends and demands change," said Clint Summers, Chief Operations Officer, Clearwater Credit Union Alogent (@AlogentCorp), a global software leader in end-to-end payment processing, content and information management, and digital banking solutions, announced today Clearwater Credit Union has selected NXT, Alogents digital banking platform with integrated consumer and business banking functionality. Clearwater, the largest community development financial institution (CDFI) and second largest credit union in Montana with more than $854 million in assets, will also add Alogent Mobile Deposit and Alogent Merchant Capture to their solution mix for a more complete user experience and digital ecosystem of capabilities. Digital transformation is a strategic focus for our credit union as we look to modernize our platforms and ensure an intuitive member experience with engaging solutions across every digital touch-point, said Clint Summers, Chief Operations Officer, Clearwater Credit Union. NXTs online, mobile and digital banking capabilities under a single product umbrella afford us a streamlined but flexible approach to achieving our goals today and into the future as trends and demands change. Built from the ground up on the most-modern tech stack, NXTs open and API-based platform, along with its SDK for added customization, is scalable and configurable, paired with hundreds of pre-build configurations to leading industry solutions. We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Clearwater Credit Union and partner with their team on achieving member experience goals, said Jason Schwabline, Alogents Chief Strategy Officer. As a one-stop-shop for all things digital banking, NXT keeps members engaged and in-solution with complementary capabilities at their fingertips, like personal financial management (PFM), spending insights, gamification, SMB tools and more. Clearwater Credit Union will leverage the secure Alogent Cloud to deploy all new Alogent solutions, as well as migrate existing points of capture under the Alogent suite of solutions, to gain added scalability and flexibility across the institution. ### About Alogent Alogent provides proven, end-to-end payment processing, content and information management, digital banking, and data analytics software solutions to financial institutions, including over 2,400 credit unions, community and regional banks, and some of the largest national and international institutions. Our unique approach spans the entire transaction ecosystem: digitizing transaction data, automating workflows, making enterprise data actionable, and boosting user engagement with AI and predictive analytics. Versatile, scalable, and user-friendly, Alogents solutions are stable and enable our clients to consistently exceed their productivity, financial, and customer experience goals. Learn more about Alogent at http://www.alogent.com. Media Inquiries Alogent Wendi Klein VP Marketing & Communications pr@alogent.com +1-678-966-0844 Clifford Law Offices Clifford Law Offices, a nationally renowned personal injury and wrongful death firm in Chicago, is hosting its 15th annual two-hour continuing legal education program at 2:30-4:30 p.m., on Thursday, February 17, 2022. Already more than 3,500 lawyers have registered for this event. The first hour, Mind, Body & Soul: Defining Well-Being in the Law, will discuss how the six components of well-being emotional, intellectual, occupational, physical, spiritual, and social have evolved since a culture shift from the 2017 National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being issued its Report & Recommendations. Robert A. Clifford, founder, and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices will moderate the program. Speakers are Erin Clifford, Partner, Clifford Law Offices and Founder/CEO of Erin Clifford Wellness; Brian Cuban, Lawyer, and Author of The Addicted Lawyer; Tracy Kepler, CNA Risk Control Director, Adjunct Law Professor and former Director of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility; Judge David Shaheed (ret.), Associate Professor at Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism approved the program for one hour of professional responsibility credit (Mental Health and Substance Abuse). The Missouri Bar has approved the Wellness course for 1.2 hours of ethics credit. The State Bar of Texas has approved the program for one (1.0) hour in ethics credits for lawyers attending from that state. All have been approved for live attendance only. The second hour entitled, Mind, Body & Soul of Diverse Lawyers: The Weathering Effect, addresses a relatively new term that deals with ones experiences and reactions as a lawyer in a diverse community that are different because of ones race, gender, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic status, and other diverse factors and how it can create an erosion of professional, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health from unconscious bias and daily microaggressions. Clifford will once again moderate the program of speakers: Lea Gutierrez, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Director at the Cook County States Attorneys Office; Leslie Davis, CEO, National Association of Minority & Women Owner Law Firms (NAMWOLF); Judge Lindsey Draper (ret.), Former Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney, Assistant Public Defender, and Judicial Court Commissioner primarily with the Childrens Court; Vice President of DEI for the Institute of Well-Being in Law. The Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism approved this program for one hour of professional responsibility credit (Diversity and Inclusion). The Missouri Bar has approved the program for 1.2 total hours, including 1.2 ethics hours and 1.2 elimination of bias hours. The State Bar of Texas has approved the program for one (1.0) hour in ethics for lawyers attending from that state. All have been approved for live attendance only. For questions, please call Clifford Law Offices at 312-756-7575 or email programs@cliffordlaw.com. To register, go to: https://cliffordlawcle.com/ After a successful 2021, Taste the Difference: Quality Wines From the Heart of Europe, a campaign co-financed by the European Union and managed by Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) and the Spanish state-owned company PRODECA, will continue its mission of increasing the awareness of European PDOs (Protected Denomination of Origin) and PGIs (Protected Geographical Indication), shining the spotlight on some of the best wine producing territories of Italy and Spain. To be classified as PDO, a wine must be made in a specific region and all the production, processing, and preparation process must occur within the same limited territory. Therefore, products registered as PDOs are those that have the strongest links to the place where they come from. For wines, this means that the grapes must come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is produced. To be registered as PGI, a product must have at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation taking place in a specific region. PGIs emphasize the relationship between a specific territory and the name of the product, where a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin. In the case of wine, this means that at least 85% of the grapes used must come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is made. The Taste the Difference campaign aims to expose US consumers, media and trade professionals to the most celebrated and historical Spanish wine regions of Catalonia such as Allella DO, Cava DO, Conca de Barbera DO, Costers del Segre DO, Emporda DO, Montsant DO, Penedes DO, Pla de Bages DO, Priorat DOQ and Terra Alta DO, and will elevate the tradition of Italian wines along with their ancient native grapes and historical appellations such as Prosecco DOC, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo DOC, Chiaretto di Bardolino DOC, Custoza DOC, Trento DOC, Franciacorta DOCG, Barbera d'Asti DOCG, Vermentino di Sardegna DOC , Terre Siciliane IGT and many more. This year, numerous will be the occasions, in person and online, to dive in and explore these European wine jewels with planned activities such as educational seminars, road shows, participation in industry events such as TEXSOM, press and trade trips and a media relations campaign, all supported by an informative website and social media content amplification. First on the activities calendar are masterclasses in New York and San Francisco in March and a study trip to Barcelona in April. Wine professionals willing to deepen their knowledge of a great selection of Spanish quality wines from the region of Catalunya are invited to apply and be considered for exclusive wine tasting experiences and visits to the most evocative villages and wineries in Catalonia. For more information about the campaign visit tastethedifference.wine or email info@tastethedifference.wine. Pages dedicated to the Taste the Difference project can be found on Facebook and Instagram About TASTE THE DIFFERENCE PROGRAM: The program: European quality wines: taste the difference is a project financed by the European Union and managed by Unione Italiana Vini and PRODECA for the promotion of PDO and PGI European wines abroad in China and US. In order to achieve this objective, the TTD.EU program will organize wine seminars, workshops and b2b meetings both in these countries and in Spain and Italy, inviting wine professionals to join study trips to Europe. The program, realized in the span of three years (2021-2023) aims at creating awareness about European quality wines, in particular Italian and Spanish, which share a long tradition and a high standard of quality. The beneficiaries: Unione Italiana Vini is the oldest and most commissioned Association of the Italian wine market. It represents cooperative, private and agricultural wine-companies, bottlers, consortia, associations and wine-making machines or wine cellars / laboratory manufacturers, located throughout the Italian territory. Promotora dExportacions Catalanes (PRODECA) is a public company established in 1986 and part of the Ministry of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda of the Government of Catalonia. It supports the agri-food sector and its companies with the knowledge, tools and experience to increase their products in Catalunya and worldwide. Egnyte, a leader in cloud content security and governance, today announced a record-breaking year of growth in 2021. The company also announced the appointment of Alexa King, the former Executive Vice President for Corporate & Legal Affairs at FireEye, to its Board of Directors. The record year included rapid growth in customers, partnerships, solution offerings, and personnel. The company ended 2021 with more than $150 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), and added more than 200 new employees, bringing its total headcount to more than 900 employees globally. Other highlights included the opening of a new office in India, the reseller channel ARR growing by 30%, and doubling ARR for biotech customers following the successful launch of Egnyte for Life Sciences. Businesses face unprecedented IT and security challenges in todays hybrid work environments, driving up demand for Egnytes cloud content management and protection solutions like we have never seen before, said Vineet Jain, CEO and Co-Founder, Egnyte. Alexa brings extensive experience helping technology companies navigate through periods of rapid growth, and were thrilled to have her join our Board at this time. King is an accomplished Silicon Valley leader with experience as both an executive and a board member of public and private companies. She has helped to grow and scale businesses from early-stage to multibillion-dollar companies, including the IPOs of FireEye and Aruba Networks, the sale of Siebel Systems to Oracle, and the rebranding of Mandiant. She is also a member of the board of directors of Vocera Communications, where she serves as Chair of the Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee. Digital content collaboration is an essential part of modern work, and, if not properly managed, all of these digital files and communications can pose a myriad of risks, said King. Having spent more than 25 years in the legal profession, and the last decade in cybersecurity, I was amazed to see how easy and turnkey Egnytes platform makes it to conduct e-discovery, prevent unlawful data deletion, and comply with highly-nuanced industry regulations, as well as privacy mandates at the local, national, and international levels. This is a game-changer for IT security, legal, privacy and risk management teams at companies of all types and sizes. I am thrilled to be joining Egnytes Board at such an exciting time for the company. In 2021, Egnyte retained its leadership positions in G2 for Data Security, Data Governance, Cloud Content Collaboration, and Encryption Key Management categories for the entirety of the year, with a 97% satisfaction rating. Additionally, the company was honored with the InfoSec Awards for Next-Gen Data Security and Most Innovation in Data Governance. About Egnyte Egnyte provides a unified content security and governance solution for collaboration, data security, compliance, and threat detection for multicloud businesses. More than 16,000 organizations trust Egnyte to reduce risks and IT complexity, prevent ransomware and IP theft, and boost employee productivity on any app, any cloud, anywhere. Investors include GV (formerly Google Ventures), Kleiner Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Goldman Sachs. For more information, visit http://www.egnyte.com. "Understanding China is increasingly vital to U.S. national security and, through this new research center, FPRI will examine Chinas decision-making and policies" The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is pleased to announce the launch of the FPRI China Center. This new research center will feature a dedicated team of experts focused exclusively on China's impact on geoeconomics and great power competition in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. The China Center was made possible through the generous support of James and Janet Averill. In February 2022, FPRI will mark the launch of the new China Center with a virtual event examining the current U.S. strategy toward China and the Indo-Pacific. More details about the launch event will be announced in the coming weeks. Throughout the year, the China Center will sponsor a series of events, articles, and reports that examine key dynamics in the Indo-Pacific region, analyze their impact on U.S.-China competition, and explore possible policy solutions for U.S. decisionmakers. The Center will focus on two broad research initiatives: The Geoeconomics Initiative and The Technology Initiative. Together, these initiatives will address the complex, often-interlinked economic and technological issues shaping great power competition. Understanding China is increasingly vital to U.S. national security and, through this new research center, FPRI will examine Chinas decision-making and policies, said Dr. Aaron Stein, FPRIs Director of Research. "At FPRI, we are dedicated to producing superior, nonpartisan research and analysis on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the United States, added Carol Rollie Flynn, FPRIs President. This new Center will focus on China just as it has become the focus of our nations foreign policy. As China's influence in the Indo-Pacific grows and as U.S. policy toward China grapples with the post-'constructive engagement era,' the issues in the multifaceted U.S.-China relationship that FPRI's new China Center will address are especially and, indeed, unprecedentedly timely and important," said Jacques deLisle, the Director of FPRIs Asia Program. We look forward to exploring these topics with you throughout the year. Be sure to subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates on the China Center launch and upcoming events. For media inquiries, please contact press@fpri.org. About the Foreign Policy Research Institute The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) is an independent nonpartisan 501(c)(3) non-profit think tank based in Philadelphia, PA. FPRI was founded in 1955 by Robert Strausz-Hupe, a former U.S. ambassador. Today, FPRIs work continues to support Strausz-Hupes belief that a nation must think before it acts through our five regional and topical research programs, education initiatives, and public engagement both locally and nationally. FPRI is dedicated to producing the highest quality scholarship and nonpartisan policy analysis focused on crucial foreign policy and national security challenges facing the United States. Find out more at http://www.fpri.org. Mike Gatto, former California Assembly Member, has joined The A-Mark Foundation's Board of Directors. The A-Mark Foundation announces the appointment of Mike Gatto to its Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2022, to help govern the foundations strategic decision-making. Mike Gatto is a Senior Managing Partner at Actium LLP, a full-service law and consulting firm specializing in government-related representations. Mr. Gatto previously served four terms in the California State Assembly, where he presided over Assembly sessions as Assistant Speaker, chaired the Appropriations, Consumer Protection & Privacy, and Utilities & Commerce committees, and was a member of the Banking & Finance committee for seven years. He graduated magna cum laude from Loyola Law School while working full-time as a congressional Chief of Staff. As a member of the California State Assembly, Mr. Gatto authored several landmark pieces of legislation and was consistently ranked among the most independent and bipartisan members of the state legislature. Mr. Gatto demonstrated his commitment to critical thinking and informed citizenship by taking a leading role on the board of ProCon.org, a nonpartisan nonprofit, from 2017 until June 2020, when ProCon.org was acquired by Encyclopedia Britannica. The Foundation is pleased to welcome Mike Gatto as a new member of the Board of Directors in 2022, said Steven C. Markoff, founder and CEO of The A-Mark Foundation. Mikes leadership skills and enthusiasm for public service make him an asset to our organization as we prepare to celebrate 25 years of providing unbiased research on social and political issues. Were fortunate to have him lend his expertise as we continue to grow. For years, Ive admired the work The A-Mark Foundation does, to bring much-needed factual reports into the public discourse, said Mr. Gatto. It is a great privilege for me to join the Board and to help with A-Marks mission. The A-Mark Foundation is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) private operating foundation that has researched, funded, and disseminated factual reports to advance education, discussion, and debate since 1997. A full roster of the Foundations research may be found at amarkfoundation.org. The Frederick Arts Council announces the Hood College Ceramic Arts MFA Faculty and Student Exhibition, a show featuring ceramic works by eight artists, including faculty and graduate students of Frederick Countys ceramics graduate program at Hood College. Artists include faculty members Chaz Martinsen, Jenna Gianni, Jason Laney as well as graduate students Clarissa Yeap, Asma Waheed, Shari Jacobs, Faith Ku, Leslie King, Amnah Abdulsalam, and Catalina Chiquillo. The exhibition will run through May. Artist bios: Chaz Martinsen, Faculty - Chaz Martinsen, MFA, is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics and the Interim Director of the Graduate Ceramic Arts program at Hood College, Frederick, MD. Jenna Gianni, Faculty - Jenna Gianni, MFA, is an Adjunct Instructor of Ceramics at Hood College and is a part-owner and Education Director at Washington Street Studios in Harpers Ferry, WV. Instagram: @jennagianni; Website: jennalynnstudios.com Jason Laney, Faculty - Jason Laney, MFA, is an Adjunct Instructor of Ceramics at Hood College, Frederick, MD. Clarissa Yeap, Graduate Student - Clarissa Yeap is presently pursuing an MFA in Ceramic Arts at Hood College, after many years developing skills and interests at community studios in the Washington, DC area. Clarissa received a liberal arts BA from Dartmouth College. Instagram: @clarissamakespottery Asma Wahed, Graduate Student - Asma is a Pakistani-born American artist and a mother of four living in Ellicott City, Maryland and is currently pursuing an MFA in ceramics at Hood College. Instagram: @asmawaheedart Shari Jacobs, Graduate Student - Shari Jacobs has taught ceramics at the Arts Center in Orange, Washington Street Studios in Harpers Ferry, and Woodberry Forest School. Shari is a member of the Charlottesville-area Artisans Studio Tour and the Potters Guild of Frederick. Website: TheMuddyRabbit.com; Instagram: @TheMuddyRabbit Faith Ku, Graduate Student - Faith Kus ceramic artworks often draw inspiration from the intricate structures of flora and fauna. Faith is currently pursuing her MFA in Ceramic Arts at Hood College. Instagram: @sunnydaytomorrowpottery Leslie King, Graduate Student - Leslies sculptures are about moments in time, about stories or parts of a story. Website: leslieking.online; Instagram: @lesliekingonline Amnah Abdulsalam, Graduate Student - Amnahs work focuses on the history of functional wares and re-creates immortal memories and practices from Amnahs memories of Makkah. Amnah recently received her MFA in Ceramic Arts at Hood College. Instagram: @amnah_abdulsalam Catalina Chiquillo, Graduate Student - Catalina is currently a student in the graduate Ceramic Arts Program at Hood College. Website: ceramiccreationsbycat.com; Instagram: @catachiquillo The 11 W Patrick St Gallery is made possible with support from the Ausherman Family Foundation. About the Frederick Arts Council The Frederick Arts Council invests in a vibrant and cohesive arts community for the people of Frederick County. The organization fosters an environment where the arts flourish in the community through grants and scholarships, arts advocacy, and links to essential resources. FAC is responsible for large-scale programming such as the Frederick Festival of the Arts, Sky Stage, Frederick Public Art Initiative, Art in the Park, and Frederick Countys Arts in Education grants. For more information about the Frederick Arts Council, visit,http://www.frederickartscouncil.org Hood College Ceramic Arts MFA Hoods MFA program prepares students to contribute original knowledge and creativity to the field of ceramics.Courses are designed to guide artists far beyond the hobbyist stage, becoming visual communicators of ideas, concepts and passion through art. Students explore the subtle nuances and details of aesthetic expression as they refine the practical application of science and technology in their work, conduct advanced thesis research and prepare for a solo gallery exhibition. About Hood College Hood College is an independent, liberal arts college, offering more than 25 bachelors degrees, four pre-professional programs, 19 masters degrees programs, two doctorates and 10 post-baccalaureate certificates. Located in historic Frederick, near Washington, D.C., Baltimore and the I-270 technology corridor, Hood gives students access to countless internships and research opportunities. Fulcrum Equity Partners, an Atlanta-based growth equity fund, announces their investment in My Pets Vet Group (MPVG), a Birmingham, AL veterinary medicine platform with hospitals in Ohio, Texas and Georgia. Fulcrums investment will be used to further accelerate de novo growth and strategic M&A into contiguous markets across the Southeast. The veterinary services industry benefits from strong fundamentals, consistent growth and recession resilient characteristics. Almost one in five households acquired a cat or dog since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. Because an increasing number of pet owners view pets as an important part of their family, this upswing in pet care expenditure is expected to provide an upthrust to the market. The American Pet Products Association estimates that $109.6 billion, a historic high, was spent in 2021 on pets in the US. Were pleased to partner with Fulcrum Equity Partners, which has a long track record of helping companies like ours successfully grow and scale their multi-site healthcare businesses, said Bob Singleton, Founder and CEO of MPVG. With the support of Fulcrums deep operational and financial resources, we look forward to expanding our network of veterinarian hospitals and accelerating growth across our core geographies. We have been deeply impressed by MPVGs management team, culture, commitment to clinical excellence and track record of developing and acquiring top tier practices, said Chad Hooker, Principal at Fulcrum Equity Partners. We are thrilled to support this next phase of growth and leverage our healthcare expertise to support the MPVG team as they further scale the business. About Fulcrum Equity Partners Fulcrum Equity Partners is an Atlanta-based growth equity firm that manages over $600 million and provides expansion capital to rapidly growing companies led by strong entrepreneurs and management teams. Fulcrum targets companies within healthcare services, healthcare IT, B2B software, and technology-enabled services. Fulcrums initial target investment is $5 million - $25 million to provide financing to meet a wide range of needs, including internal growth initiatives, acquisitions, divestitures, shareholder liquidity and recapitalizations. The partners have over 140 years of relevant experience in Fulcrums target markets, including significant operating experience in senior executive positions at companies that grew rapidly and enjoyed successful exits. Additionally, Fulcrums limited partners include over 100 current or former business owners/CEOs of leading companies in a wide variety of industries that provide a rich resource for the firm and portfolio companies. Learn more at http://www.fulcrumep.com. About My Pets Vet Group MPVGs mission is to deliver quality lifelong veterinary care to cats and dogs, and helping puppies and rescues find homes and lead healthy lives. Their motto is Healthy Pets and Happy Parents, reflecting their dedication to ensuring the utmost care for their furry patients and humans alike. MPVG aims to be the single point of medical care for animals throughout their lifetime, and provides services such as general medicine, dental care, diagnostic tests, surgeries, emergency and critical care, and pharmacy as well as preventative medicine through a variety of Wellness Plans. Learn more about their locations and services at https://www.mypetsvetgroup.com/. Mark Willoughby Were delighted to welcome Mark as Head of Life Sciences. His extensive experience gained from working within Regulatory Operations will help define the ongoing enhancements to our CARA Life Science Platform, while deepening the subject-matter expertise we bring to customer implementations. Generis, the creator of CARA, the data and content management platform that helps life sciences companies transform their complex business processes, has created a new Head of Life Sciences role and appointed Mark Willoughby, a deeply experienced Regulatory and Quality expert. He will direct both onward platform and application development and drive new growth for Generiss CARA Life Science platform. Mark brings to the role a long and impressive track record in Regulatory and Quality, most recently as Head of Systems and Data Management in the Quality function at ADVANZ PHARMA, where he worked for five years, with a remit spanning submissions management, XEVMPD and systems strategy. During that time he oversaw a move to the cloud, systems consolidation and integration, and initiation of their master data management strategy. Of his move to Generis, Mark said, Generis has been on my radar for some time: theyre a very exciting company doing some really interesting things. Their understanding of the role between data and documents, and of the potential for structured content management and authoring, is way ahead of other software companies. These developments will have a significant impact on Regulatory Affairs and how companies manage their information and activities - especially as IDMP becomes established in Europe, and as DADI [digital application dataset integration] takes over from electronic application forms in Europe as a first major step in IDMP implementation. Whats different about Generiss CARA Life Science Platform is that its truly integrated and supports Quality, Regulatory, Safety and Clinical data and document use cases from the same single platform, he continued. Other companies may offer different systems on a common platform, but typically they cant talk to each other which creates new barriers for companies. CARA can transform everything from change control, regulatory submissions, safety label updates and clinical trial management by allowing everything to be coordinated across a single platform out of the box. Before joining ADVANZ PHARMA, Mark spent four years at Indivior, as Manager for Regulatory Operations. He previously ran his own consulting company, which was responsible for setting up Boots eCTD publishing system. Before that, he worked for ISI (formerly CSC), on the client side, supporting regulatory submissions, product feedback and staff training, and spent three years in Regulatory Operations at Pfizers Global Research and Development centre in Sandwich. Commenting on Marks appointment, James Kelleher, CEO and founder of Generis, said, Were delighted to welcome Mark as Head of Life Sciences. His extensive experience gained from working within Regulatory Operations will help define the ongoing enhancements to our CARA Life Science Platform, while deepening the subject-matter expertise we bring to customer implementations. In addition to fast-growing sales of the CARA Life Science Platform, Generis has seen soaring cases of companies extending their use of the platform across their operations. In December, ambitious German biotech Affimed confirmed that it had selected CARA to support R&D teams across its entire product development lifecycle beginning with CTMS, eTMF and DMS capabilities, to be followed by RIM, Labelling, QMS, SOP and learning management use cases in due course. Generiss Life Sciences business has grown rapidly over the last year, in Europe, the US, Japan and beyond, fuelled by a series of strategic company appointments and new partnerships. About Generis Generis is the creator of CARA, a data and content management platform that helps companies in regulated industries, like Life Sciences, transform their complex business processes. Eight of the top 10 global life sciences companies rely on Generis for critical data and content management, including AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Biogen, Gilead, Bayer, Pfizer, and Merck KGaA. Today Generis serves more than half a million users worldwide, across use cases ranging from Regulatory, Quality, Clinical & Legal to Safety. More at generiscorp.com Press Contact for Generis Carina Birt, Sarum PR +44 7970 006624 carina@sarumpr.com Green Turtle Kava Bar Daytona Beach logo We are so excited to have this opportunity to bring kava to the Daytona Beach area and be able to share in this experience with the community. Green Turtle Kava Bar is excited to be expanding their community to the Volusia County area, bringing forth a sense of connectedness and relaxation. The second location opens this Friday, January 28th, in Daytona Beach. The Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting will be at 4:00pm, where afterwards there will be complementary snacks and beverages for all who attend. Kava is a drink that has been utilized by the native people of the South Pacific to connect, relax and for traditional ceremonies. Research has shown the effectiveness of kava in reducing anxiety and stress and in promoting positive well-being. In addition to kava products, the Green Turtle Kava Bar menu will highlight a variety of herbal teas, coffees and an assortment of snacks. Ms. Candace Gipson, one of the co-owners and operators, spoke to this expansion, We are so excited to have this opportunity to bring kava to the Daytona Beach area and be able to share in this experience with the community. She went on to note how this second location is Going to bring the same relaxing vibe to Daytona Beach as has been established in St. Augustine. Ms. Gipson further noted, Since our opening in St. Augustine, we have expanded partnerships with distributors in the South Pacific to provide our customers with even more variety of premium kava and tea products that we are excited to bring to this new location. At the heart of Green Turtle Kava Bars mission is connectedness, creativity, and service. That said, the company as a whole has pledged a portion of all kava proceeds to sea turtle conservation efforts. Ms. Gipson reported, "With our Shells for Shells program, we have partnered with the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center (NBSTCC), where we are able to give back directly to the community through ocean conservation efforts. To learn more about Green Turtle Kava, LLC, products, benefits and mission, call (386) 272-4790 or visit https://greenturtlekava.co/about-us/ About Green Turtle Kava Bar Green Turtle Kava, LLC is a Woman Owned Minority Business that works with a variety of organizations across industries that support the companys mission for delivering superior quality while promoting connectedness, creativity and service. Furthermore, it is within this lens of service that Green Turtle has pledged to donate a portion of their proceeds towards ocean conservation, sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation efforts through their partnership with the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center (NBSTCC). Green Turtles kava products are imported directly from Fiji and other South Pacific Islands. Other products are sourced around the US and Asia. Co-founder and operator, Candance Gipson, has served in hospitality and management for the last four years. She holds a juris doctorate from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and has practiced in the civil legal field for the past ten years. Her commitment to service can be seen in her work with a variety of non-profit organizations. For more information, visit https://www.greenturtlekava.co. David Navarro, Senior Director of Data Science I welcome the opportunity to join a leader in data management and storage that is advocating for universal interoperability. Harmony Healthcare IT today announced the appointment of David Navarro as Senior Director of Data Science to contribute to the continued success of Harmony Healthcare IT as a data lifecycle solutions innovator for healthcare organizations. In his role, Navarro will refine interoperability offerings, further artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives, and augment complex Cerner Millennium migration and integration projects. With the 21st Century Cures Act adding enforceable rules to guide interoperability, integration and true data liquidity is realistically within reach for our industry, says Jim Hammer, SVP at Harmony Healthcare IT. Adding Davids industry experience and technical capabilities to our team will accelerate and further strengthen our clients ability to provide consumers and other care stakeholders with critical access to records. For the past 22 years, Navarro has provided vision and leadership for the design, development, and execution of information technology initiatives related to Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Cerner Millennium integration. Prior to serving as Solution Architect Director at Indiana Health Information Network, Navarro held roles of Chief Architect at Michiana Health Information Network and of Integration Support Engineer and Senior Systems Analyst at Cerner Corporation. I welcome the opportunity to join a leader in data management and storage that is advocating for universal interoperability, says Navarro. With data discretely archived by Harmony at many of our nations largest health systems, its enablement for use cases applying USCDI, FHIR, CCDA, HL7, XML, Direct, or other standards-based protocols will be my focus. Navarro will significantly influence data modeling strategies as well as the roadmap for HealthData Integrator, which is the component of Harmony Healthcare ITs HealthData Platform responsible for activating data for interoperability. HealthData Integrator enables data stored within cloud-based active archives such as HealthData Archiver and HealthData AR Manager to be available for integration with electronic health records, master patient indexes, third-party auditing software, business intelligence tools, and other outside applications or entities. About Harmony Healthcare IT - Harmony Healthcare IT is a data management firm that moves and stores patient, employee, and business records for healthcare organizations. To strengthen care delivery and improve lives, vital information is preserved and managed in a way that keeps it accessible, usable, interoperable, secure, and compliant. Since 2006, its US-based team of experts has worked with over 500 unique clinical, financial, and administrative software brands used in U.S. and Canadian healthcare delivery organizations. Harmony Healthcare IT has been consistently ranked as the #1 data extraction, migration, and archival healthcare IT company according to Black Book Market Research for three years (2019-2021) as well as ranked #1 in the 2020 Best in KLAS Software & Services Report as a Category Leader in Data Archiving. For more information about Harmony Healthcare IT, visit: http://harmonyhit.com Rugged Warehouse Logistics Mount: MD-501 The Rugged Warehouse Logistics Mount provides multiple mounting configurations with incredible flexibility and versatility for warehouse applications, said Sam Barall, Havis National Sales Manager for Enterprise. Havis, Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of mobile office solutions, is excited to release a new Rugged Warehouse Logistics Mount, MD-501, which offers a versatile, heavy-duty mounting option that is ideal for Material Handling and many other demanding applications. The Rugged Warehouse Logistics Mount provides multiple mounting configurations with incredible flexibility and versatility for warehouse applications, said Sam Barall, Havis National Sales Manager for Enterprise. With a weight capacity of up to eight pounds and options for AMPS, VESA 75 and VESA 100 mounting patterns, the MD-501 is an ideal solution for a wide variety of applications including forklifts, work carts and work stations. The Rugged Warehouse Logistics Mount features thermoplastic polyurethane over-molded steel clamps that ensure a robust connection and vibration dampening. It securely fastens to any square, rectangular or round pole from one to four inches, and it permits independent adjustment of the rotation angle at both ends. Made with the latest advancements in engineered composite materials, the MD-501 thrives in any environment. From direct exposure to the elements to chilled freezer rooms, the MD-501 will not rust or crack under pressure. Its durability and ease of installation aid the workflow of fast-paced warehouse and distribution lines. ABOUT HAVIS Havis, Inc. is a privately held, ISO 9001 certified company that manufactures in-vehicle mobile solutions for public safety, public works, government agencies, and mobile professionals. For more than 90 years, our mission has been to increase mobile worker productivity with industry-leading products built to the highest safety and quality standards. The Havis patent and trademark portfolio demonstrates a commitment to developing innovative products and solutions for mobile industries worldwide. Havis currently employs more than 300 people, with headquarters in Warminster, PA, and additional locations in Plymouth, MI, and across the globe. For more information on Havis, please call 1-800-524-9900 or visit http://www.havis.com. "I am honored to be included in this esteemed group of dentists. Helping my patients achieve the beautiful smiles that they deserve is my passion," says Dr. Neil Uffner. Dr. Neil Uffner, a well-respected Philadelphia orthodontist and owner of Broad Street Braces, has been named one of the 2021 40 Under 40 by Benco Dentals Incisal Edge dental lifestyle magazine in the Dental Specialist category. For the 11th consecutive year, the magazine celebrates honorees through a series of profiles in its Fall "40 Under 40" editorial coverage. Hundreds of individuals are nominated by industry experts and vetted by an independent panel to select the final honorees. The final 40 Under 40 list includes innovative and passionate young professionals in dentistry across the United States. Whether recognized for their medical innovations, volunteer work and philanthropy, or simply a commitment to outstanding patient care, Dr. Uffner and the other recipients represent the very best in dentistry today. Dr. Neil Uffner is a top orthodontist and dentofacial orthopedist in Philadelphia, PA, with specialized training and skill in the diagnosis, prevention, interception and correction of malocclusion and other abnormalities of the developing or mature orofacial structures. Dr. Uffner has helped countless patients with his skill and talent to fix conditions such as dental overbites, underbites and crowded or misaligned teeth. He treats patients young and old at his thriving clinic, Broad Street Braces and sister practice, The Pediatric Dental Team, in Philadelphia, PA. For a complete list of the 2021 40 Under 40 please click on the following link- https://blog.benco.com/2021/09/30/fall-issue-of-incisal-edge-profiles-40-under-40-young-dentists-2021-recipients-of-the-dental-magazines-signature-award/ "I am honored to be included in this esteemed group of dentists. Helping my patients achieve the beautiful smiles that they deserve is my passion," says Dr. Neil Uffner More about Dr. Neil Uffner: Dr. Uffner completed his undergraduate studies with a degree in neurobiology from Cornell University. He moved to Philadelphia and attended dental school at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated at the top of his class. He completed his formal professional training in orthodontics at the Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry. For more information on Dr. Neil Uffner and the services he provides, please call (215) 234-3030 or visit http://www.broadstbraces.com and http://www.thepediatricdentalteam.com. Kenny Barron at Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club "National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master Kenny Barron is a highly acclaimed and celebrated jazz pianist and composer who will present a remarkable and wonderful evening of jazz music at Jimmy's." Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club Features NEA Jazz Master & 12x-GRAMMY Award Nominated Pianist & Composer KENNY BARRON on Friday February 11 at 7:30 P.M. Honored by The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as a 2010 Jazz Master, Kenny Barron has an unmatched ability to mesmerize audiences with his elegant playing, sensitive melodies and infectious rhythms. Kenny Barron is recognized as a master of performance and composition. Kenny Barron's GRAMMY Award Nominations include 5x-Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, 3x-Best Jazz Instrumental Performance & 2x-Best Jazz Instrumental Album." Kenny Barron is also a 6x-Jazz Journalist Association Pianist of the Year Award-Winner. Most recently, Barron was also nominated for a GRAMMY in 2021 for Best Improvised Jazz Solo for the song Kick Those Feet. One of the top jazz pianists in the world," hails the THE LOS ANGELES TIMES. The most lyrical piano player of our time," claims JAZZ WEEKLY. Among the dozen or so most admired pianists in jazz today, Kenny Barron strikes me as the one who wears his mastery most comfortably," praises THE GUARDIAN the album of course features one of the iconic pianists of our time, Barron states GLIDE MAGAZINE. More than half a century later, Barron is still writing original music that touches listeners soul," extols DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE. "We are honored to have another world-renowned Jazz Master at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master Kenny Barron is a highly acclaimed and celebrated jazz pianist and composer who will present a remarkable and wonderful evening of jazz music at Jimmy's," says Suzanne Bresette, Managing Director of Programming at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club. Tickets for NEA Jazz Master & 12x-GRAMMY Award Nominated Pianist & Composer KENNY BARRON on Friday February 11 at 7:30 P.M. are available on Ticketmaster. Jimmys Jazz & Blues Clubs initial 2022 Schedule of Shows includes 5 NEA Jazz Masters, 20 GRAMMY Award-Winning Artists, 18 Blues Music Award-Winners, and a comprehensive list of talented musicians with 250+ GRAMMY Award Nominations amongst them. Visit Jimmys Online Event Calendar for Jimmys Jazz & Blues Clubs current 2022 Schedule of Shows now on-sale. Subscribe to Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club's Email Newsletter to stay informed on new jazz and blues artist announcements, tickets, special offers, Jimmys Sunday Jazz Brunch, and much more. ABOUT JIMMYS JAZZ & BLUES CLUB The mission of Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club is to provide guests a one-of-a-kind, world-class experience featuring serious jazz and blues music served with exceptional southern-inspired cuisine. Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club features a spectacular and visually breathtaking environment engineered to deliver the highest quality acoustics while utilizing state-of-the-art production, sound and lighting technologies. Jimmys Jazz & Blues Club is located within a beautifully restored 1905 building at 135 Congress Street in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For more information visit http://www.jimmysoncongress.com or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JimmysJazzBlues. Sara Brown, TopSpot's Director of Marketing It has been an honor and a joy to have been TopSpots Director of Marketing for the last 6 years. I am looking forward to seeing Sara continue to move TopSpot forward as our next Marketing Director. Houston-based integrated digital agency, TopSpot, has movement on the Leadership Team that supports Client and Team goals as they head into 2022. With a newly minted role for Director of Paid Media, Beth Shockley will be leading at the helm of 22 SEM Specialists with almost 14 years of paid search knowledge. This change also creates a wonderful opportunity for TopSpot veteran, Sara Brown, to flex her 7 years of digital experience by becoming the agencys Director of Marketing. Both women have an in-depth understanding of the B2B/Industrial search landscape and a passion for helping businesses of all sizes through online marketing. Beth Shockley has been with TopSpot since 2008 and was the first Director of Marketing for the company. She started with the company in Paid Search as an Account Manager and is returning to her roots by taking on the newly established role of Director of Paid Media. "It has been an honor and a joy to have been TopSpots Director of Marketing for the last 6 years. I am looking forward to seeing Sara continue to move TopSpot forward as our next Marketing Director." When looking ahead to her new role, Beth also added, "Helping businesses grow through Paid Search has been a passion of mine. Throughout my different roles here at TopSpot, Ive always been an advocate for the importance of utilizing PPC within any integrated digital strategy. Im looking forward to working with our talented Paid Search Team Members as we drive results for our Clients." Sara Brown knows TopSpot and their Clients well through her previous 6 year tenure with the company. Her work ethic, approach to customer service and stellar results for her Clients give her the perfect background needed to take on this new position. Her incredible depth of knowledge, people skills, and passion will shine through as TopSpots Director of Marketing. TopSpot allowed me to find my passion for industrial marketing almost 7 years ago. I am looking forward to using this passion and my love for working with others to continue evolving and growing TopSpots presence, says Sara. At TopSpot, we are privileged to work with such phenomenal people on a daily basis. We are also extremely lucky to find such talent within our family and to watch them grow into these new roles is exciting. These women bring so much heart, talent, and energy to TopSpot. About TopSpot: TopSpot is a search marketing firm in Houston, Texas. Their online marketing services include search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising that can be provided as a single service, or an integrated digital marketing strategy. TopSpot also offers web design and development, video production and analytics solutions to track your internet marketing ROI. H&M Bay Celebrates 40 Years We are grateful to have such committed, hardworking employees at H&M Bay, said COO Walt Messick III. The relationships we develop here go beyond work hours. Its a second family for us. H&M Bay, Inc., a premier logistics provider for less than truckload (LTL) frozen and refrigerated commodities, is celebrating its 40th anniversary in business this year. For four decades, H&M Bay has stood out among temperature-controlled LTL transportation companies. Their dispatch team moves 20 million pounds of freight per week in more than 7,000 weekly shipments, and the companys success story largely stems from the big family culture that thrives among its employees. Since its humble beginnings back in 1982 when the company was co-founded by former truckers Lawrence Hayman and Walter Messick Jr., engrained in the roots of H&M Bay is a family-first culture that lives on today. That mindset runs throughout the company, and as a result, H&M Bay has grown exponentially over the past four decades while also winning numerous logistics provider awards such as being named a Top 3PL provider for 10 consecutive years in a row. The company has also seen many changes throughout the decades, but what remains the same is the family-like bond among its employees. Today, the company is led by COO Walt Messick III, son of co-founder Walter Messick Jr. We are grateful to have such committed, hardworking employees at H&M Bay, said Messick III. The relationships we develop here go beyond work hours. Its a second family for us. We also have many multigenerational family members working here today - husbands, wives, brothers - which speaks volumes about the loyalty of our employees. With 230 full-time employees and more than 500 part-time employees, H&M Bay operations now span coast to coast, and from dispatch to warehouse to IT to accounting to their large network of independent truckers, the team works seamlessly to succeed together. Founded in 1982, H&M Bay has built a reputation as the countrys premier logistics provider for LTL frozen and refrigerated commodities. Headquartered in Federalsburg, Maryland, H&M Bay also has operations in California, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Washington. For 40 years, H&M Bays commitment to operational excellence, new technology and superior customer service remain unwavering as they efficiently consolidate, store and deliver through their expansive network of independent truckers. To learn more about H&M Bay or experience first-hand their award-winning logistics and operations, connect with them at: https://www.hmbayinc.com/, and follow them on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This book will appeal to those who can read English because it deals with cool facts and practices that are part of our lives today. Hadara Carol wants to uncover some very fascinating little-known facts that she used to share with her students and to show how they are related to ones life and current time. It is for these reasons she now releases Fascinating Little-Known Facts From Around The World (published by iUniverse). The book deals with unusual contributions, inventions and customs from many different cultures and peoples throughout the ages. For example, what is the story behind giving someone the middle finger flip, or where did the custom of wearing a cap and gown for graduation came from? Additionally, why did people adopt the seven-day week as well as the 60 second in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour? Or what is the story behind the red carpet treatment when celebrities or important officials come to visit? In this book, readers will learn about the origin of these practices from the Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites, Phoenicians, Lydians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Persians and Indians (from India) that resonate even today as well as the unusual contributions and ideas that came from the Chinese, Greeks, and Romans. This book will appeal to those who can read English because it deals with cool facts and practices that are part of our lives today. It covers an extensive amount of fascinating and amazing little-known facts that took me 30 years to research and find, Carol says. When asked what she wants readers to take away from the book, she answers, I want readers to learn and be aware and not take everything for granted, as to why we follow certain traditions customs and habits today. For more details about the book, please visit https://www.iuniverse.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/837314-fascinating-little-known-facts-from-around-the-world Fascinating Little-Known Facts From Around The World By Hadara Carol Softcover | 6 x 9in | 340 pages | ISBN 9781663231932 E-Book | 340 pages | ISBN 9781663232076 Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble About the Author Hadara Carol has taught history on many levels of education, including as a lecturing professor at the college level, and has been an educator for over 30 years. She has an MA in liberal Studies, with emphasis on history and education, from Stony Brook University. Her teaching has been enhanced by the knowledge she gathered during her extensive travels to the Middle East, Europe, East Asia, former Soviet Union and across the United States. iUniverse, an Author Solutions, LLC, self-publishing imprint, is the leading book marketing, editorial services, and supported self-publishing provider. iUniverse recognizes excellence in book publishing through the Star, Rising Star and Editors Choice designationsself-publishings only such awards program. iUniverse is headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana. For more information or to publish a book, please visit iuniverse.com or call 1-800-AUTHORS. "Together with BloomBoard, we're able to provide a much-needed incentive to keep talented teachers in the classroom through convenient and affordable access to a quality masters degree program," said John deSteiguer, President of Oklahoma Christian University. Today, Oklahoma Christian University (OC) and BloomBoard announced the availability of their first two online master's degree programs, Technology & Computer Science Education (TCS) and Curriculum & Instruction (C&I), supported BloomBoards micro-credential-based learning approach. The programs are powerful ways that districts can build professionally rewarding environments for outstanding educators and develop stronger learning communities for students and families, in a financially accessible way. COVID, and the resulting mix of remote and in-class learning, has been trying for educators and families across the country. The C&I degree program provides educators with the pragmatic skills, knowledge, and classroom experience they need to excel in today's complex education systems, and allows them to select a program concentration aligned to their professional needs. The TCS degree enables districts to build high-quality technology and computer science programs through support of their own teaching staff, initially offering a specialization for K-8 computer science. The micro-credential learning experience differs from most traditional graduate degree programs, as teachers learn-by-doing within their own classroom practices, working with their own students. Teachers can put their new knowledge to work immediately, while demonstrating their skills to earn their micro-credentials. By supporting these affordable programs, school districts put in place the kinds of tangible and rewarding benefits that attract and retain the best teaching talent. They can leverage federal relief funding to subsidize teacher enrollment. "These new on-the-job learning programs deliver on our goal to make modern instruction accessible," said John deSteiguer, President of Oklahoma Christian University. "Together with BloomBoard, we're able to provide a much needed incentive to keep talented teachers in the classroom through convenient and affordable access to quality masters degree programs." Curriculum & Instruction Degree: Teacher burnout is a major concern for school districts; a recent survey from the University of Arkansas found that 42% of teachers considered leaving during the most recent school year. According to a 2020 Illinois Educator Shortage Study conducted by the ILARS, the top reasons for leaving include inadequate pay, burnout, and not feeling valued. By supporting the C&I micro-credential-based degree program, districts can show teachers that they are honoring their current expertise and respecting their time as the program helps teachers advance professionally while they are teaching. The C&I program focuses on the practical skills needed for instruction, such as creating a positive classroom culture, leveraging effective student-centered instructional practices, and supporting all students towards grade-level mastery. Educators can then tailor the degree by selecting a program concentration such as Social Emotional Learning, English Language Learning, or Teaching Students with Disabilities. The master's program is composed of ten micro-credential-based courses (30 credit hours). Any classroom educators teaching grades K-12 are eligible to enroll. Technology & Computer Science Education Degree: Twenty-three states, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas, have adopted a policy requiring all high schools to offer CS courses. Meanwhile, only 11 states give access to K-12 CS education.Oklahoma's new law sets the requirement to be met by all middle and elementary schools by the 2024-25 school year. Currently, only 11% of elementary schools and 14% of middle schools offer CS curriculum in the Sooner State. A CS education in K-12 can help students prepare for life after graduation. STEM graduates who major in the field can earn 40% more than the typical college graduate. In addition, fewer than 20% of CS bachelor's degree recipients are women, while 10.1% are Latino and 8.9% are Black. Exposing students to computing before college is one step that could help build the STEM career pipeline and diversify STEM professions. But these programs demand highly trained educators. The virtually-facilitated TCS masters program is designed to enable teachers to deliver top instruction in the foundations of computer science, and computational thinking across all content areas. All coursework is aligned with the Computer Science Teachers Associations (CSTA) standards and the ISTE Standards for Computer Science Educators. We are proud to partner with Oklahoma Christian University to make quality instruction and our unique learning model accessible and affordable to school districts and great teachers hoping to stay in the classroom, said Sanford Kenyon, CEO of BloomBoard. Our partnership with OC can provide tangible career growth and compensation opportunities for talented teachers who can excel through our learn-by-doing programs. Additional program information is available at http://www.bloomboard.com/oc-masters-degree-programs. About Oklahoma Christian University Oklahoma Christian University is a higher learning community that transforms lives for Christian faith, scholarship and service. OC is defined by the collective impact of many incredible individuals. OC students learn alongside masterful teachers and world-class experts. They are Oxford trained theologians, NASA scientists and best-selling authors. OC is driven by missions not just majors and believes everyone has an important significance to this world. For more information, visit http://www.oc.edu. About BloomBoard BloomBoard offers micro-credential advancement pathways for educators to meaningfully improve their instructional practice and accelerate both their careers and their compensation. Their learn-by-doing process allows teachers to demonstrate their abilities within their own classroom practices. BloomBoard partners with states, universities and districts to create planned roadmaps for advancing educators based on a systems uniquely identified needs and gaps. They also offer programs directly to teachers, including the National Board Pre-Candidacy Program. For more information, visit http://www.bloomboard.com Our collaborative partnership with BloomBoard allows us to offer school districts a meaningful way to both develop teachers and hold on to them,'' said John deSteiguer, President of Oklahoma Christian University. Today, Oklahoma Christian University (OC) and BloomBoard announced the availability of their first two fully accredited masters degrees, Technology & Computer Science Education (TCS) and Curriculum & Instruction for K12 educators nationwide. These innovative programs are supported by BloomBoards micro-credential-based learning approach. Districts nationwide are scrambling to offer high-quality technology and computer science education at all grade levels. A shortage of qualified teachers is slowing those plans. This masters program enables districts to support and promote their own teachers who want to build expertise in these instructional areas. Our collaborative partnership with BloomBoard allows us to offer school districts a meaningful way to both develop teachers and hold on to them,'' said John deSteiguer, President of Oklahoma Christian University. Giving educators access to highly relevant graduate-level instruction at an affordable price also delivers on the mission of serving more students with quality teaching in the critical areas of technology and computer science. The online program focuses on the foundations of computer science, and computational thinking across content areas. Initially the program will offer a specialization in K8th grade computer science instruction. Concentrations in grades 612 computer science instruction, STEM education, and Robotics are in development. All coursework is aligned with the Computer Science Teachers Associations (CSTA) standards and the ISTE Standards for Computer Science Educators. This programs micro-credential-based learning approach differs from most traditional graduate degree programs, as teachers learn-by-doing within their own classroom practices, working with their own students. Teachers can put their new knowledge to work immediately while they demonstrate their skills to earn the micro-credentials. Because micro-credentials have equivalency with semester hours of graduate level credit, teachers can advance on their districts salary schedule as they progress in these programs. By subsidizing these programs, districts show how much they value the quality and professionalism of trained educatorsbuilding the kind of environment where top talent flourishes. Research suggests that integrating CS into K12 education can help students better prepare for life after graduation. STEM graduates can earn 40% more than the typical college graduate. However, access to CS education remains restricted throughout the country. Twenty-three states have adopted a policy to give all high school students access to CS courses, and of those, only 11 states offer all K12 students access. In addition, fewer than 20% of CS bachelors degree recipients are women, while 10.1% are Latino and 8.9% are Black. Exposing students to computing before college is one step that could help diversify STEM professions. Computer science education shouldnt be a luxury, but an essential part of every school districts plan to prepare all students for the workforce, said Pat Yongpradit, Chief Academic Officer for Code.org. By teaching these skills to students, schools can work to fill a shortage of CS graduates and workers, increase the professions focus on equity and build skills that are expected of workers in nearly any profession. Our partnership with Oklahoma Christian is an exciting opportunity to develop educators and impact students in a unique way, while addressing a broader economic need, said Sanford Kenyon, CEO of BloomBoard. Greater access to technology and computer science education in K12 schools should facilitate a more diverse and skilled workforce. To get to that point, we need to start with developing teachers. The masters program is composed of ten micro-credential-based courses (30 credit hours). Schools and school districts in the United States may leverage federal relief funding to pay for teacher enrollment. Oklahoma Christian University now welcomes nationwide application for the program. Additional program and enrollment information is available at https://bloomboard.com/oc-masters-technology-computer-science-education. About Oklahoma Christian University Oklahoma Christian University is a higher learning community that transforms lives for Christian faith, scholarship and service. OC is defined by the collective impact of many incredible individuals. OC students learn alongside masterful teachers and world-class experts. They are Oxford trained theologians, NASA scientists and best-selling authors. OC is driven by missions not just majors and believes everyone has an important significance to this world. For more information, visit http://www.oc.edu. About BloomBoard BloomBoard offers micro-credential advancement pathways for educators to meaningfully improve their instructional practice and accelerate both their careers and their compensation. Their learn-by-doing process allows teachers to demonstrate their abilities within their own classroom practices. BloomBoard partners with states, universities and districts to create planned roadmaps for advancing educators based on a systems uniquely identified needs and gaps. They also offer programs directly to teachers, including the National Board Pre-Candidacy Program. For more information, visit http://www.bloomboard.com. Appointing engineers like Julia and Thierry shows that our community is special in that it values the contributions of open source developers in leadership positions across the organization, not just the technical roles. In its Wednesday meeting, the Board of the Open Infrastructure (OpenInfra) Foundation laid the groundwork for the next ten years of open infrastructure growth by seating its most diverse board leadership panel and appointing Thierry Carrez as the foundations first general manager. The board chairs and vice chairs who were also appointed, based in the United States, India and China, join Carrez, based in Europe, in representing the fastest growing markets for open infrastructure. The board also elected Amy Marrich to chair the Compensation Committee and Allison Randal to chair the Finance Committee. Randal previously served as board chair and now serves as vice chair. Julia Kreger of Red Hat, elected by the board as chair, commented, The board has made a strong statement about the future of the Open Infrastructure Foundation by creating a general manager position for the foundation and naming Thierry Carrez to that position. His continued leadership and vision will help guide the Foundation, its communities, and its projects for years to come. New board members taking their seats for the first time in Wednesdays meeting include Ghanshyam Mann (NEC), Belmiro Moreira (CERN), Vipin Rath (University of Delhi), Pengju Jiao (China Mobile), Edward Lee (EasyStack), Xin Zhong (China Unicom) and Phil Robb (Ericsson). Read about the full slate of OpenInfra Foundation board directors: https://openinfra.dev/about/board/. Thierry Carrez is a highly visible and respected technical advocate and engineering leader who has served on the foundation staff since 2014. Previously, he served in a variety of elected community roles since the early days of the OpenStack project. Most recently, he has served as vice president of engineering at the foundation, helping guide the foundation and community through the process of adding new projects and rebranding to reflect the foundations widened mission to build the next decade of open infrastructure. Last year, Carrez took on a more broad operational role at the foundation as part of a comprehensive reorganization. Also, Carrez is a board member at the Open Source Initiative. Thierrys contributions to our community embody the Four Opens, said Jonathan Bryce, executive director of the OpenInfra Foundation. Thierry, with his depth of experience and technical knowledge, is the perfect choice for GM as the community works to build the next decade of open infrastructure. For almost a year, hes essentially functioned in the GM capacity, as weve worked with the board to organize our team for success in carrying out the expanded mission it has tasked us with achieving. Appointing engineers like Julia and Thierry shows that our community is special in that it values the contributions of open source developers in leadership positions across the organization, not just the technical roles. Ildiko Vancsa, senior manager, community and ecosystem at the OpenInfra Foundation, has taken on an elevated community management role in support of the OpenInfra projects and will expand her community leadership role across other projects as part of Carrez taking on the GM role. *OpenInfra Summit Berlin 2022* The OpenInfra community plans its return to in-person events with the 2022 Summit, to be held in Berlin June 7-9 at the bcc Berlin Congress Center. Learn more about attendance and sponsorships: https://openinfra.dev/summit/ Share your open infrastructure story with the community by submitting your presentation submission by February 9: https://cfp.openinfra.dev/app/berlin-2022 *About the Open Infrastructure Foundation* The OpenInfra Foundation builds communities that write open source infrastructure software that runs in production. With the support of over 110,000 individuals in 187 countries, the OpenInfra Foundation hosts open source projects and communities of practice, including infrastructure for AI, container native apps, edge computing and datacenter clouds. Join the OpenInfra movement: http://www.openinfra.dev ### This is the first demonstration of a probiotic increasing butyrate levels accompanied by a lowering of A1C and blood-glucose spikes in people with Type 2 diabetes. Pendulum Therapeutics, a leader in harnessing evidence-based microbiome science and DNA sequencing to develop novel medical probiotics, is announcing the publication of its study in the January 8, 2022 issue of BMC Microbiology. The peer-reviewed paper, entitled "Increased Circulating Butyrate and Ursodeoxycholate During Probiotic Intervention in Humans with Type 2 Diabetes demonstrated that people with Type 2 diabetes participating in a 12-week placebo-controlled, double blinded, randomized trial of Pendulum Glucose Control showed increased levels of (1) the short-chain fatty acid butyrate and (2) the secondary bile acid ursodeoxycholate (UDCA). Pendulum Glucose Control is [a proprietary blend of 5 microbial strains and a prebiotic (inulin), which was designed to improve blood-glucose control by targeting specific functions in the gut microbiome. This research indicates compelling links between the clinical improvements in glycated hemoglobin (A1C) and elevated levels of butyrate and UDCA, which is produced by bacteria metabolizing bile acids by the liver. This is the first demonstration of a probiotic increasing butyrate levels accompanied by a lowering of A1C and blood-glucose spikes in people with Type 2 diabetes, says John Eid, PhD, CSO and Co-Founder at Pendulum. We demonstrated this mechanism of action in the lab and now in humans, showing that our novel Pendulum Glucose Control strains produce substantial amounts of butyrate and also produce the bile acid UDCA. Numerous peer-reviewed publications have shown that butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that is key to a healthy gut microbiome and healthy metabolism. (1, 2, 3, 4) Pendulum Glucose Control's ability to produce butyrate which stimulates GLP1 release is one of the mechanisms by which Pendulum exerts its beneficial effects in people with diabetes. Over the past decade, it has been demonstrated that the gut microbiome plays an important role in keeping blood-glucose levels within the normal range, says Orville Kolterman, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Pendulum. Production of butyrate and UDCA creates molecules that serve as signals which participate in the control of metabolic processes throughout the body. The confirmation that these changes result in improved glucose control in people with Type 2 diabetes is welcome news. Colleen Cutcliffe, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder at Pendulum, shared excitement about the companys leadership in microbiome research, stating, This research will enable us to create improved products, and it also further advances the clinical and scientific foundation of a microbiome-based approach to health. About Pendulum Therapeutics Pendulum Therapeutics believes products developed using evidence-based microbiome science and DNA sequencing can help support a healthy body from within. Armed with 13 patents and 42 pending, the company introduced its flagship product Pendulum Glucose Control, a medical probiotic, in 2020 and demonstrated its efficacy in lowering blood sugar spikes and reducing A1C in individuals with T2D taking metformin in a published clinical trial. Founded in 2012 by a diverse team of scientists with deep microbiology, biochemistry, computational, and clinical expertise, Pendulum has raised $111 million to date from Meritech Capital, Sequoia Capital, True Ventures, Khosla Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, and Mayo Clinic among others. Pendulum Therapeutics is headquartered in San Francisco. Media Contact: press@pendulumlife.com _______________________________ (1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3323649/ (2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32860943/ (3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29231905/ (4) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5476343/ These sixteen individuals are exemplary of the best our Firm has to offer, and I congratulate each of them on their well-deserved promotions, said Kevin J. Keane, Executive Chairman at PKF OConnor Davies. PKF OConnor Davies, LLP, one of the nations largest accounting and tax firms, and PKF OConnor Davies Advisory announced today that 16 employees have been elevated to key leadership positions within the Firm. Vincent Abbruzzese, Samuel Botta, Anthony Capellupo, Phillip Elefonte, Joseph Farrenkopf, Christopher Johnson, Ronald Martinez, Christopher McPhee, Christopher Migliaccio, Kathleen OToole, Dawn Perri, Erika Peterson, Robert Provost, Brenda Russell, Melissa Szot and Katherine Zech have each been promoted to the role of Partner. This years sizeable cohort of promoted team members reflects a new chapter in the Firms strategic growth plan and underscores its sustained commitment to recognizing and developing top-tier internal talent. Each individual will apply their specialized expertise as the Firm continues to grow its operational footprint and expand into new markets. These sixteen individuals are exemplary of the best our Firm has to offer, and I congratulate each of them on their well-deserved promotions, said Kevin J. Keane, Executive Chairman at PKF OConnor Davies. Promoting from within remains a foundational pillar of our culture, and I look forward to watching these recognized leaders embrace their expanded roles, enhance the work they accomplish for our clients and elevate our organization to even greater heights. Vincent Abbruzzese possesses nearly 20 years of experience providing audit and business advisory services to clients in the health care industry. His expertise is in providing auditing and advisory services to large physician multi-specialty practices, as well as to ambulatory service centers, dialysis centers and home health agencies. Abbruzzese also has experience assisting clients with the preparation of Medicare/Medicaid third-party cost reports and providing clients with guidance related to the Provider Relief Fund. He is a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants (NYSSCPA) Health Care Committee. Samuel Botta has more than 15 years of experience working with clients in the nonprofit and real estate sectors, including co-operative housing corporations and condominium entities. He is responsible for drafting, preparing and reviewing financial statements, ascertaining compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), preparing management letters and serving as the Firms representative at client board meetings. Botta is the vice chairman of the NYSSCPAs Real Estate Committee and is a speaker on real estate accounting and audit topics. He also is an instructor in the Firms Continuing Professional Education program and authors accounting and auditing articles for the Firms thought leadership series. Anthony Capellupo is the Firms Chief Financial Officer and possesses more than 30 years of accounting and finance experience across several different industries in both the public and private accounting sectors. A graduate of Fordham University and Pace University, Capellupo is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York and remains involved with both The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the NYSSCPA. Phillip Elefonte has over 20 years of experience in accounting, auditing, taxation and planning for partnerships, corporations, consolidated groups and S corporations. His clients range from small, privately held companies to large, complex, multi-state and multi-national organizations in the hospitality, real estate, wholesale, retail, manufacturing and service industries. Elefonte has appeared in various business publications, serves as a mentor to staff, is a frequent speaker at Firm training sessions and is charged with leading software implementation and technology solutions for taxation within the Firm. Joseph Farrenkopf specializes in audits of employee benefit plans and has assisted in developing the Firms streamlined approach to ensure efficient and effective employee benefit plan audits. He attends and speaks at various training sessions held by the Firm each year and contributes articles to the Firms thought leadership series. Farrenkopf has over 12 years of experience in public accounting and currently serves as the vice chair of the NYSSCPAs Employee Benefit Plan Committee. Christopher Johnson brings over 15 years of professional tax and consulting experience to his work with the Firms Financial Services group, where he specializes in the taxation of private equity, hedge funds, venture capital and other financial services clients. Johnson provides additional expertise in the areas of structuring and planning compliance for cannabis and real estate businesses, investment entities, qualified opportunity zone funds, partnerships and international clients. He is also experienced in cross-border tax planning, wealth transfer strategies and transaction structuring. Ronald Martinez is the leader of the Firms hospitality practice, with more than 15 years of experience serving both privately and publicly held companies with domestic and international locations. He works with clients in a variety of industry sectors, including hotels, clubs, restaurants and real estate. In addition, Martinez provides accounting and consulting services to purchasers and sellers with respect to hotel and real estate sales and merger transactions, due diligence, and business combinations and consolidations. He works with overseas affiliates of clients, as well as with other accounting firms on group audits. In addition to serving as the Firms joint venture liaison with PKF Hospitality, Martinez works with member firms of PKF International Limited to service clients in addressing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), International Standards on Auditing (ISA), U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP) and U.S. Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (US GAAS) issues. Christopher McPhee is the Firms Chief Information Officer. He is responsible for leading the Firms global IT strategy and operations, including infrastructure, services and applications that enable the Firms employees to work anytime, anywhere. McPhee has more than 30 years of experience in technology service management, project management and consulting focused on systems implementation of business solutions. He has been recognized for achievements in IT service management, portfolio and project management, full systems implementation lifecycle and delivery, systems administration, support desk management and networking. Christopher Migliaccio is an attorney and serves in the Firms international tax practice. He has more than 10 years of experience providing consultation on international tax matters, including cross-border transactions, business restructurings and complex compliance issues for multinational corporations, partnerships, private equity funds and high-net-worth individuals. In addition, Migliaccio regularly leads due diligence and structuring for M&A transactions. He is the Firms Employee Retention Credit (ERC) leader, having assisted clients with receiving millions in credits. As one of the Firms most prolific thought leaders, Migliaccio has also written extensively on a wide range of tax topics and spoken at industry and tax-related conferences. Kathleen OToole, the Firms Chief Marketing Officer, is a multifaceted marketing and communications professional with extensive experience in driving market share and revenue increases at leading financial and professional services companies. Throughout her career, she has initiated creative marketing, communications and business development programs delivering immediate results. OToole has enjoyed proven success in the areas of B2B and B2C strategy and analysis, product/program development and management, client experience, branding, communications, advertising, client development and retention, promotions, event management, public and media relations, digital marketing and social media, thought leadership and ultra-high-net-worth marketing. The recipient of numerous industry awards, OToole is a graduate of Villanova University and was most recently an advisory board member of the Seton Hall University CX School. Dawn Perri is the Firms Chief Human Resources Officer, overseeing all of the human resources operations on a daily basis that benefit the Firms 1,400-plus team members. Perri brings more than 25 years of experience to her comprehensive management of the Firms HR activities, which include employee relations, integration of acquisitions, talent management, benefits administration, policy development and implementation, performance management, compliance and risk management, compensation planning and assessment, culture and values development. Perri currently serves as a board member of the White Plains Youth Bureau and is a graduate of Fordham University. She is also the winner of the 2021 Ovation Award for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion from the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants (NJCPA). Erika Peterson leverages her 20 years of experience in public accounting in her work consulting on all aspects of taxation and tax compliance for low-income housing partnerships and corporations, multi-national corporate groups, and individual clients. She has represented corporate and individual clients before the IRS and several state departments of taxation in respect to examination and appeals. In addition, she has assisted the management of key clients from diverse industries to implement their strategic goals. Robert Provost has spent the past 15-plus years serving a variety of clients in a range of industry sectors, including government, food, manufacturing and distribution. In addition to being a CPA, he is a licensed Registered Municipal Accountant (RMA) and a Public School Accountant (PSA). Provost currently specializes in public sector entities, including public school districts, municipalities and counties. He regularly performs financial statement audits in accordance with Government Auditing Standards and is proficient in performance audits and federal and state single audits under the Federal Uniform Grant Guidance and NJ Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular 15-08. Brenda Russell has over 25 years of experience in both public and private accounting. Russell specializes in tax planning, compliance and tax strategy development for franchisee, manufacturing, real estate, private clubs and not-for-profit clients. Her clients range from individuals to large corporations, but much of her time is focused on closely held businesses and their owners. She also supports the Firms Center for Private Business Owners in developing customized strategic advisory plans for clients and prospects. Russell serves as a member of both the Rhode Island Society of Certified Public Accountants (RISCPA) Tax and Social Activities Committees, as well as a treasurer for St. Francis Episcopal Church. She is an instructor in the Firms Continuing Professional Education program and presents at its Annual Tax Update. She is also active with the Firms Womens Initiative Network. Melissa Szot possesses 15 years of experience providing accounting and auditing services to public sector clients, including cities, towns, villages, counties, school districts and local authorities. In addition to her extensive local government knowledge, she also has experience performing financial audits of costs incurred to determine if grantees are in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). As a member of the Special Review Committee for the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), Szot reviews applications for the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) Award. She is an instructor in the Firms Continuing Professional Education program, teaching courses specific to the Public Sector, and has spoken at the New York State Government Finance Officers Association (NYGFOA). She serves as a member of both the NYSSCPAs Public Schools and Government Accounting & Auditing Committees, as well as the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). Katherine Zech is involved in accounting, tax and consulting services for closely held businesses, including those in the wholesale, manufacturing, medical and professional services fields. With over 15 years of experience in public accounting, she specializes in business consulting and advisory services, in addition to individual, partnership and corporate tax planning and accounting services for privately held and family-owned businesses. Zech has been honored by a number of industry and civic organizations, including the Gateway Chamber of Commerce, the NJCPA and the Commerce & Industry Association of New Jersey (CIANJ). A past president of the Union County Chapter of the NJCPA and a past chair of its Emerging Leaders Council, she currently serves as a trustee on the NJCPA State Board. PKF OConnor Davies continues to expand through organic growth and acquisitions on the East Coast. It has supported this growth with a strategic combination of promoting from within coupled with an ongoing focus on top-tier external hires. About PKF OConnor Davies, LLP PKF OConnor Davies, LLP is a full-service certified public accounting and advisory firm with a long history of serving clients both domestically and internationally. With roots tracing to 1891, the Firm has 16 offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Florida and Rhode Island and more than 1,400 professionals providing a complete range of accounting, auditing, tax and management advisory services. PKF OConnor Davies is led by over 135 partners who are closely involved in the day-to-day management of engagements, ensuring a high degree of client service and cost effectiveness. The Firm is a top-ranked firm, according to Accounting Todays 2021 Top 100 Firms list and was recently recognized as one of Americas Best Tax and Accounting Firms by Forbes. PKF O'Connor Davies was named one of Vault's 2022 Accounting 50, a ranking of the 50 best accounting employers to work for in North America and ranked among the top 50 most prestigious accounting firms in America in a complementary Vault survey. PKF OConnor Davies is the lead North American representative of the international association of PKF member firms. PKF International is a network of legally independent member firms providing accounting, tax and business advisory services in over 400 locations in 150 countries around the world. With its tradition, experience and focus on the future, PKF OConnor Davies is ready to help clients meet todays ever-changing economic conditions and manage the growing complexities of the regulatory environment. For more information, visit http://www.PKFOD.com. Evaluation Research: Retaining New Converts: an intriguing discussion of what is causing believers to fade from serving God. Evaluation Research: Retaining New Converts is the creation of published author Raymond Williams Jr., a loving husband and father who retired from the Air Force after serving for twenty-one years. Williams Jr. shares, In Ezekiel 18:4, the Bible teaches that all souls belong to God. He sent Jesus to pay the debt for the sin of all mankind. God is not willing that any should perish. He wants all souls to be saved, not just some or a certain group of people. Retaining Christians is important because the soul never dies. It will enjoy the pleasures of heaven for eternity or suffer the pains and agony of hell forever. The beauty of this fact is, we all get to choose our own destiny. Jesus said, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father in heaven. One must come to Christ and remain faithful unto death. Retaining New Converts: Lets Think Souls versus Bodies can be used to help set up an outreach program for congregations and keep the saved safe. It can also be shared with other church families to enhance the retention of their members and new converts. Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Raymond Williams Jr.s new book will encourage and challenge believers to help retain their connection with God. Williams Jr. draws from years of ministerial experience in hopes of helping others to expand the kingdom of God. Consumers can purchase Evaluation Research: Retaining New Converts at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble. For additional information or inquiries about Evaluation Research: Retaining New Converts, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919. We are always ready to meet people where they are and carve a path forward that keeps their goals front and center, all the while providing hope and encouragement through a team of caring professionals. Shady Grove Fertility (SGF), one of the largest fertility practices in the nation, hit a record-breaking number of retrievals seeing a 32.5% increase compared to 2020, in addition to a 21.2% increase in IVF cycles from the previous year, further demonstrating that fertility treatment is a time-sensitive priority for people who want to fulfill their dreams of having a baby. Additionally, SGF expanded its footprint with five new offices and 12 new physicians. Among other awards and recognitions, SGF celebrated its proudest achievement to date, 100,000 babies born from 30 years of continuous innovation. The demand for fertility services from our physicians and care teams has never been greater. However, while we continue to grow rapidly, one thing that will always remain central to who we are is a belief that personalized care is best, shares Eric Widra, M.D., medical director of SGF. While we use our size to our advantage as more experience adds to how precisely we fine tune our methodologies, patients deserve the most individualized approach. New regions in 2021 for SGF included SGF Colorado and SGF Jones Institute in Norfolk, VA. New offices included Brooklyn, NY, and Allentown, PA, with a practice expansion in their existing Wesley Chapel, FL, office. By adding more convenient locations, we are able to expand access to care and better serve people during their family-building journeys, shares Alex Polotsky, M.D., medical director of SGF Colorado and REI fellowship director at University of Colorado. We are always ready to meet people where they are and carve a path forward that keeps their goals front and center, all the while providing hope and encouragement through a team of caring professionals. The SGF physician team welcomed 12 new physicians in 2021: One of most attractive qualities about SGF is its brain trust of physicians and highly specialized team of clinical and business operators, shares Dr. Banks, who provides patient care at SGF Jones Institute, and is the associate director of the EVMS REI fellowship program. Im able to contribute, learn, and innovate alongside like-minded care teams who believe what I believe in putting the needs of our patients first which is extremely rewarding. Because of SGFs reputation for providing innovative and compassionate fertility care to patients, 35 SGF physicians received a Top Doctors recognition from publications throughout the country. The Cade Foundation honored SGF physician Howard McClamrock, M.D., with the Dr. Frank Chang Physician Leadership Family Building Champion for his contributions to the field of reproductive medicine. Dr. Chang has served as a physician and now physician mentor with SGF since 2005. In line with SGFs commitment to research, SGF physician scientists presented 26 abstracts and received three prestigious awards for their research in reproductive medicine at the 2021 American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Scientific Congress & Expo. SGF physicians remain respected researchers and experts in fertility care. In 2021, a few prestigious media outlets sought SGF physicians to shed much needed light onto infertility, which affects one in eight couples who are trying to conceive. 2022 is already looking bright for SGF, as US Fertility, the largest partnership of fertility practices in the U.S., announced on January 4 a partnership with Center of Reproductive Medicine (CORM), currently a four-physician practice with locations in Beaumont, Clear Lake, and Houston, Texas, which will become SGF Houston come Summer 2022. The new year marks new beginnings, and for people struggling to conceive, it may be time to consult a fertility specialist. Contact the SGF New Patient Center at 1-888-761-1967 or complete a brief online request form to schedule a virtual fertility consult with an SGF physician. A virtual consult is the first step toward pursuing a pregnancy with the help of SGF. About Shady Grove Fertility (SGF) SGF is a leading fertility and IVF center of excellence with more than 100,000 babies born. With 47 locations, including new locations in Colorado and Norfolk, VA, as well as throughout CO, FL, GA, MD, NY, PA, TX, VA, D.C., and Santiago, Chile, SGF offers patients virtual physician consults, delivers individualized care, accepts most insurance plans, and makes treatment more affordable through innovative financial options, including 100% refund guarantees. More physicians refer their patients to SGF than any other center. SGF is among the founding partner practices of US Fertility, the largest physician-led partnership of top-tier fertility practices in the U.S. Call 1-888-761-1967 or visit ShadyGroveFertility.com. French Blue is introducing a new Red Blend, the 2019 French Blue Bordeaux Rouge, Appellation Bordeaux Controlee (AOC). Creating a Bordeaux Rouge has been a dream since I moved here, and we were able to work with some excellent, estate-grown fruit. The Bordeaux Rouge rounds out our line, complementing our Appellation Bordeaux Controlee Rose and Sauvignon Blanc. - Stephanie Rivin, winemaker, French Blue Bringing a touch of romance just in time for Valentines Day, French Blue winery today announced the introduction of its first Red Blend, the 2019 French Blue Bordeaux Rouge, Appellation Bordeaux Controlee (AOC). A collaboration with C. Mondavi & Family and American winemaker Stephanie Rivin, who set out to honor the terroir and traditions of the region while bringing her own fresh perspective, French Blue unites the best of old world and new world flavors. Creating a Bordeaux Rouge has been a dream since I moved here, and we were able to work with some excellent, estate-grown fruit for this new offering. The Bordeaux Rouge rounds out our line, complementing our Appellation Bordeaux Controlee Rose and Sauvignon Blanc, exclaimed Stephanie Rivin, winemaker, French Blue. Its rich and layered, with the powerful structure of the Cabernet Sauvignon balancing the soft fruit of the Merlot. Above all, I hope our fans will find it to be a simply delicious wine it pairs well with cold-weather comfort foods like beef bourguignon or rich onion soup, or just with a roaring fireplace. Sourced from a single 60-hectare estate in Perissac, in Bordeauxs Right Bank region, the AOC wine is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. Intensely aromatic, it is fruity and spicy, with a brilliant deep ruby red color. Aromas of black currants and cherries mingle with hints of vanilla. On the palate, the balanced and full-bodied wine offers deep structure and elegant tannins. The wine aged for 12 months in 50% French and 50% American Oak, 50% new. With its approachability, quality, and charming personality all combined with the proven market success of our Rose, French Blue already has a passionate following. The new Bordeaux Rouge is a natural addition to the line, giving us the chance to showcase the varietals for which the region is perhaps most well-known, said Pam Novak, Senior Marketing Director, C. Mondavi & Family. With strong growth in the category, French Blue Bordeaux Rouge is poised to become a new consumer favorite. There is momentum in the French Bordeaux Red Blend market, with both sales volume and dollars for the category showing double digit increases over one-year ago (1). French Blue also has an established consumer base, with the French Blue Rose currently ranked as the number one French Rose among all Bordeaux offerings in the Super Premium price category (2). Also new are 2021 vintages of the much-loved French Blue Rose and Sauvignon Blanc. For these wines, Rivin worked with premium growers in the Entre-Deux-Mers region. Delicate and floral, the Rose is Merlot- and Cabernet Franc-based, bursting with flavors of ripe strawberries. The 100% Sauvignon Blanc is crisp and citrusy with balanced herbal notes Riven noted it is the shining star of the 2021 vintage. The full French Blue line is available nationwide at a suggested price of $14.99 per 750ml bottle. Visit http://www.FrenchBlueWine.com to learn more. About French Blue French Blue wines have set out to do something new, put an American twist on Bordeaux wines, while making deliciously intriguing, yet accessible French offerings for all. The line of Appellation Bordeaux Controlee (AOC) wines is sourced from specific vineyard sites in Perissac, on Bordeauxs Right Bank, and the Entre-Deux-Mers region. Made with great respect for the land and vineyards, each of the wines has a modest charm that beckons to be enjoyed with friends. For more information visit FrenchBlueWine.com and follow along on Instagram @French_Blue_Wine and Facebook @FrenchBlueWines. 1 Nielsen, Total US CONV, TOTAL US XAOC data, 52 Weeks, for the period ending 11.6.21 2 Nielsen, Total US CONV, TOTAL US XAOC data, 52 Weeks, for the period ending 6.19.21 Spiros Georgiadis, Vice President of Global Sales at Powerside (https://powerside.com/ ) a leading solution provider in power quality, analytics, & intelligence, has been accepted into Newsweek Expert Forum, an invitation-only community for pioneering thinkers and industry leaders. Spiros was hand-selected to join the community based on his proven expertise in the SaaS & IoT industry. As a member, Spiros is part of a curated network of thought leaders from a broad range of influential industries and professions who share unique insights and analysis with one another and publish thought-provoking content. Scott Gerber, founder of Newsweek Expert Forum, says, "We are honored to accept Spiros into the Newsweek Expert Forum. When experts gather in curated, private settings, they can share advice and build trusted relationships that further their mutual success. Spiros brings important insights about the technology & services industry to this community. Spiros mentioned, I am honored & humbled to join the Newsweek Experts Forum. A community of talented professionals who share ideas & experiences from their industries and at the same time contributes innovative counseling for the global business, political and economic ecosystem. My business journey took me twenty-five long years, and I am proud to share my experiences and advice in such areas. Members of Newsweek Expert Forum have opportunities to connect with peers in a private online forum and to publish thought leadership articles on Newsweek.com. Benefits also include access to Newsweek Premium, personal brand-building opportunities, discounts on business services, and invitations to VIP experiences. Newsweek Expert Forum, which launched early in 2021, provides a unique industry-leading peer group to members selected for their accomplished minds and expertise. Members of the Newsweek Expert Forum are top thinkers and professionals in business, culture/arts, health, lifestyle, money, science, sports, technology, and travel. Newsweek is a premier news magazine and website that has been bringing high-quality journalism to readers around the globe for over 80 years. Newsweek provides the latest news, in-depth analysis, and ideas about international issues, technology, business, culture, and politics. Powerside As a power monitoring and correction pioneer, Powerside proudly boasts the smartest minds in the industry. Our people are visionaries, independent thinkers, collectively working towards a brighter future. We are passionate about solving problems innovatively and leading the power quality market into the next frontier. Email: sales@powerside.com Web site: https://powerside.com/ The Stonebridge team added tremendous value leading our business through a comprehensive evaluation for production accounting, SCADA and field data capture Stonebridge Consulting (Stonebridge), an operations optimization consultancy dedicated to the energy industry, today announced the launch of EnBalance, the culmination of years of energy volumetrics experience that provides producers with a proven playbook of volumetric best practices and business optimization accelerators. For energy companies who face ever increasing data volumes and measurement complexity without the specialized skillsets to continuously manage it, EnBalance provides an all-inclusive opportunity to orchestrate the flow of production accounting data, balance sales volumes, maximize revenue, and optimize asset performance. In the digital oilfield, custody transfer and the multitude of volume measurement points, SCADA, and production accounting data collectively represent an operator's cash register, so if any of this is out of balance the producer is losing a lot of money, said Amy Moore, Vice President at Stonebridge. All of this digital accounting infrastructure requires continuous balancing, calibration, and validation to accurately book revenue, yet the vast majority of E&P companies lack the specialized skillsets and resources, which is where Stonebridge adds such tremendous value by solving volumetric data management challenges at any scale, she stated. Liquids and natural gas volumes measured at the wellsite are directly linked to an energy company's revenue, making it imperative for accurate, timely, and reliable measurement and reporting. However, accompanying the digital transformation of the oilfield are increasing numbers of flow meters, lease automated custody transfer (LACT) units, and production volumes that must be validated and calibrated, yet many energy companies struggle to keep pace, putting revenue at risk and preventing a clear view of lease operating expenses. Joshua Hicks, Stonebridges lead EnBalance consultant, commented, we have been assisting oil & gas companies for years in building volumetric operational excellence and our new EnBalance service line is the latest evolution that underscores the growing need to ensure accurate oil, gas, and NGL production accounting in an expanding digital oilfield as well as ensure measurement data integrity wherever volume data is collected in the broader energy mix, including wind and solar. Leveraging Stonebridges extensive knowledge of production optimization, volumetric data management, and software solutions available in the market, EnBalance enables a proactive approach to volume monitoring and creates new operational efficiencies by aligning production processes in the field and back office. This approach enables operators to maximize market prices, enforce consistent volumetric measurements and composition analysis procedures, eliminate overpayment of third-party purchasers, ensure SOX and AGA compliance with auditable data, and reduce nomination and imbalance penalties through more accurate daily production projections. What's more, by assisting energy companies with volumetric technology implementation, business process optimization, and ongoing support, EnBalance reduces asset downtime from shut-ins or catastrophic equipment failure while enabling field staff to optimize daily well routes and prioritize asset improvement activities. Founded by former Parsley Energy executives with a track record of successfully starting and scaling oil & gas operations, Greenlake Energy set out from day one to become a digital operator of the future that leverages data and automation to monitor assets by exception, prioritize production optimization opportunities, and sustainably grow with a lean and nimble team. Even as the company drilled its first well, Greenlake Energy wanted to future proof operations with cloud-based, best-of-breed field operations technology for capturing field data and managing production accounting at scale. Greenlake Energy selected Stonebridge's EnBalance advisory to guide its technology selection and position the company to meet its growth objectives. Greenlake has embraced a unique greenfield opportunity in our industry to establish a net new digital ecosystem built on best of breed solutions. The Stonebridge team added tremendous value leading our business through a comprehensive evaluation for production accounting, SCADA and field data capture. The process framework, collaboration and vendor communication struck the perfect balance for our organization. Greenlake has adopted a modern operator, 100% cloud first strategy intending to avoid many legacy E&P technology challenges. Stonebridge immediately aligned toward our vision and became an invaluable partner guiding us through a critical vendor selection process. The outcome was on target and directly supported our intelligent operations strategy. - Rob Hembree, VP of Technology at Greenlake Energy A case study is available detailing Stonebridge's volumetric software vendor selection process at Greenlake Energy. To view the report, please visit https://www.sbconsulting.com/case-studies/volumetric-software-vendor-selection-at-greenlake-energy. About Stonebridge Consulting Stonebridge Consulting, a Sierra Digital company, delivers operational excellence to the energy industry, backed by 100% domain focus, deep expertise, and reusable project IP and solution accelerators. The firm helps customers deliver projects faster, generating measurable improvements in operational efficiency, and saving delivery time and costs by as much as 50%. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the firm maintains offices in Houston, Denver, Tulsa, and Sydney, Australia. With the introduction of tabbed panes, Microsoft has streamlined pane management, decluttering the screen. Messaging Architects, an eMazzanti Technologies Company and Microsoft 365 expert, explains how to manage tabbed task panes in Microsoft 365 apps in a new article. The informative article first describes how some of the powerful Microsoft 365 tools such as Editor, Design Ideas, and Help can cause screen clutter. The author then discusses the difference between Task Panes and Dialog Boxes. He continues to share how the new tabbed Task Panes free up screen real estate. He concludes by explaining how individual users customize the pane layout by resizing a Task Pane and creating a floating Task Pane and re-docking it. With the introduction of tabbed panes, Microsoft has streamlined pane management, decluttering the screen, stated Greg Smith, Vice President of Services Delivery at Messaging Architects. With this and other customization options, users gain control over their workspace, placing the focus back on the content. Below are a few excerpts from the article, Tabbed Task Panes in Microsoft 365 Reduce Clutter, Free up Screen Real Estate. Task Panes vs. Dialog Boxes Microsoft uses task panes instead of dialog boxes for features that offer more complex options or that need to remain open. For example, a Word user may search Help for instructions on creating a custom table of contents. The Help task pane remains open on the screen, allowing the user to reference the instructions while completing the steps. Tabbed Task Panes Free Up Screen Real Estate However, task panes occupy significant space on the screen. And with two or more task panes open at once, the panes may obscure a large part of the slide or document page. Tabbed panes solve this problem. For instance, when a Word user opens the Editor to check grammar, the Editor task pane appears on the right edge of the window. If the user also opens the Help pane, it displays in place of the Editor pane. However, two icons now appear near the upper right corner, one for Editor and one for Help. The user can click the icons to toggle between the panes. Customizing Pane Layout Resize a task pane Users can make a task pane wider or narrower to display more text or free up more space. Hover the cursor over the inside left margin of the pane until the pointer becomes a double arrow. Then click the double arrow and drag it to the desired size. Get the Most Out of Microsoft Products Microsoft constantly updates its products, adding new features to improve productivity, strengthen security and promote creativity. The Microsoft experts at Messaging Architects have spent years helping customers tap into the possibilities. They help organizations configure Microsoft for optimal use, from navigating email migrations to tailoring data security to meet specific needs. Have you read? Office Mobile: Voice Notes with Real-time Transcription Enhance Work Productivity Microsoft Editor in Outlook Promotes More Inclusive and Professional Email About Messaging Architects Messaging Architects specializes in effectively managing and securing an organizations most precious asset, its information. With over 20 years of information management and technology consulting experience, the Messaging Architects team has provided corporations, educational intuitions, health care facilities and nonprofits with methodologies, procedures, and technology to keep their data organized, compliant and secure. About eMazzanti Technologies eMazzantis team of trained, certified IT experts rapidly deliver increased revenue growth, data security and productivity for clients ranging from law firms to high-end global retailers, expertly providing advanced retail and payment technology, digital marketing services, cloud and mobile solutions, multi-site implementations, 247 outsourced network management, remote monitoring, and support. eMazzanti has made the Inc. 5000 list 9X, is a 4X Microsoft Partner of the Year, the #1 ranked NYC area MSP, NJ Business of the Year and 5X WatchGuard Partner of the Year! Contact: 1-866-362-9926, info@emazzanti.net or http://www.emazzanti.net Twitter: @emazzanti Facebook: Facebook.com/emazzantitechnologies. According to Hermosa, Although it may sound simple to call the police when you notice your gun is missing, it is not that straightforward. If you say the wrong thing, or make a report at the wrong time, you could end up in a nightmare. U.S. LawShield, industry leader and America's largest provider of Legal Defense for Self Defense coverage, delivers the critical information Colorado gun owners need to know about Senate Bill 21-078, which requires gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms within five days of becoming aware the gun was missing. When the bill became law on September 7, 2021, U.S. LawShield was on the ground in Colorado with our Independent Program Attorneys, said P.J. Hermosa, CEO of U.S. LawShield. Through in-person seminars across the state, our lawyers informed Colorado gun owners on the risks they face if they fail to report the theft or loss of a firearm." According to Hermosa, Although it may sound simple to call the police when you notice your gun is missing, it is not that straightforward. If you say the wrong thing, or make a report at the wrong time, you could end up in a nightmare, he said. Because U.S. LawShield is dedicated to protecting the rights and freedom of responsible gun owners, we developed a guide filled with what you need to know about the new lost or stolen firearms law. U.S. LawShield: How to Avoid Legal Trouble with Colorados New Gun Law https://cdn.brandfolder.io/UQ735LH6/at/bwc3pk9tgz7hmgz3vfrgfj4/CO-New-Gun-Law-Guide.pdf This resource is specific to Colorado and provides the critical information gun owners need to know about SB21-078, the Isabella Joy Thallas Act. The guide is available online as a free download and features: Potential penalties and other risks, including details about the legal duty to report, reporting requirements, requirements for other family members or persons residing with the gun owner, the obligation to report if the firearm is later found, CBI reporting requirements, information on limited criminal immunity, and more. Best practices for communicating with law enforcement and contacting an attorney. Frequently asked questions regarding what happens if a loss is not reported in the statutory time, the consequences of a lost or stolen firearm recovered at a crime scene, and whether a firearm will be returned if police later find it. Colorado statistics related to lost or stolen firearms. Uncover the nuances of the new law and find out how to avoid the legal pitfalls it holds with our guide, How to Avoid Legal Trouble with Colorados New Gun Law, said Hermosa. Gunowner Identity Theft In addition, U.S. LawShield supports its Colorado members by providing the added protection of its comprehensive Gunowner Identity Theft program that protects U.S. LawShield members from the potential legal fallout of stolen or lost guns. Gunowner Identity Theft is an add-on to the popular Legal Defense for Self Defense Program and costs an additional $83.40 annually or $6.95 monthly. The same tenacious Independent Program Attorneys our members trust to be there for them after a self-defense incident will help navigate the sea of requirements associated with a missing or stolen gun, Hermosa added. History of SB21-078, the Isabella Joy Thallas Act In 2020, state representatives of the Colorado Legislature proposed HB20-1356. This bill would have required firearm owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within 48 hours of discovering that their firearm was missing. However, the progress of that bill was derailed by the pandemic as government offices shut down across the state. Shortly after, in June 2020, a gunman used a stolen firearm to fatally shoot Isabella Thallas and severely injure her boyfriend in downtown Denver. This tragic event reignited the debate regarding mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms. Upon resuming hearings in early 2021, the Colorado Legislature wasted no time in proposing a similar bill, SB21-078. Though hotly contested through the legislative process, SB21-078 (officially the Isabella Joy Thallas Act) was passed and signed into law by Governor Jared Polis on April 19, 2021, and became effective on September 7, 2021. Before the passage of SB21-078, there were no mandatory reporting requirements related to lost or stolen firearms under Colorado law. This new Colorado law can be found in Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-12-113. About U.S. LawShield Since 2009, the mission of U.S. LawShield remains unchanged. We believe in Preserving Freedom for Good by educating our 700,000+ members and 6,000+ industry 2A Partners in self-defense law; empowering them to handle critical, life-threatening situations with confidence; protecting them from potential injustices in the legal system after acts of self-defense; and challenging the status quo regarding the affordability of legal defense. Our higher purpose is to create a united community of responsible individuals who believe in liberty and the inalienable right of self-defense. For more information on U.S. LawShield and its Legal Defense for Self Defense Program, visit the website at http://www.uslawshield.com. Matthew Hepburn, MD, Senior Advisor to the Director, Pandemic Prevention, U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive Office of the President The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) announced Matthew Hepburn, MD, Senior Advisor to the Director, Pandemic Prevention, U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Executive Office of the President, as a confirmed keynote for the 2022 ISPE Facilities of the Future Conference, taking place on 12 February in North Bethesda, Maryland and virtually. The opening keynote session COVID's Impact on Pharma Facilities of the Future will take a high-level look ahead at global pharmaceutical manufacturing and related regulatory systems. Hepburn will discuss Lessons Learned from Operation Warp Speed for Rapid Vaccine Development at the opening plenary session and the executive forum dinner. The mission of OSTP is to maximize the benefits of science and technology to advance health, prosperity, security, environmental quality, and justice for all Americans. At the OSTP, Hepburn works on preparing the country for future pandemics, with a spotlight on the acceleration of vaccines, therapies, and test development. Previously, Hepburn was the Director of Vaccine Development at Countermeasures Acceleration Group, formerly known as Operation Warp Speed, which is an effort between the Defense Department and the Department of Health and Human Services. During the Obama administration, he was the Director of Medical Preparedness for the White House National Security Council. Additionally, he served as an infectious disease doctor for the U.S. Army for over two decades. Representatives from Bristol-Myers Squibb, CRB, and Merck will round out a compelling line-up of expert speakers at the opening plenary session. Featuring technical presentations from regulatory authorities and industry leaders already planning and building facilities of the future, the 2022 ISPE Facilities of the Future Conference will explore topics such as patient-specific cell and gene therapy facilities, new developments in the use of artificial intelligence, innovations in treatment and the transforming technologies that produce them, and moving forward from the COVID-19 era. To ensure this experience is accessible to all, this conference will be in North Bethesda, Maryland, with virtual componentsdelivering thought-provoking learning and global networking opportunities whether attendees choose to join us in-person or virtually. Explore the agenda and register at ISPE.org/FOF22. About ISPE The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) is a not-for-profit association serving its Members through leading scientific, technical, and regulatory advancement across the entire pharmaceutical lifecycle. The 18,000 Members of ISPE are building solutions in the development and manufacture of safe, effective pharmaceutical and biologic medicines, and medical delivery devices in more than 90 countries around the world. Founded in 1980, ISPE has its worldwide headquarters and training center in North Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and its operations center in Tampa, Florida, USA. Visit ISPE.org for more information. Senior Male Veteran According to BoomersHub findings, up to 44% of US male seniors over 75 are veterans who can seek assisted living veteran benefits. From November 30, 2021, a veteran could have a maximum net worth of $130,773 to qualify for the A&A pension. Assisted living communities are places where veterans can reside in an apartment or a house room. There are many benefits available for veterans. According to a recent research by BoomersHub, up to 44% of US male seniors over 75 are veterans who can seek assisted living veteran benefits. The US veteran population makes up to about 19 million brave men and women who have actively served in the army, navy, air force, coast guard, or marine corps. Each veteran has served during the war and in peacetime for different periods. Unfortunately, these veterans experience a decline in mental health and physical capabilities after retiring from duty. Luckily, there are plenty of assisted living options available for such veterans. These facilities offer veteran benefits for those who cannot live independently in their later years. According to BoomersHub researcher and writer, You can obtain assisted living benefits from the VA or apply for a veterans home residency. Here, you can live out the rest of your days surrounded by veterans such as yourself. These options are perfect! Assisted Living Benefits That Veterans Can Enjoy: The veteran administration (VA) offers a series of advantages for all its veterans. Some of these may include an increase in pensions to pay for assisted living care. In addition, veterans living in assisted living might still have more financial requirements. BoomersHub research found that the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), a division of the VA, provides tax-free monthly financial benefits to veterans and their spouses who are in financial need. This Aid and Attendance is a pension benefit for them even if they do not have any service-connected disability. Veterans need to be eligible to receive the VA Aid and Attendance benefits by meeting any of the 3 requirements: 1. Require aid from another person for personal functions such as bathing, feeding, dressing, etc. Require a nurse to look after them. 2. Unable to move out of bed except for prescribed physical therapy. 3. Eyesight is limited to corrected 5/200 visual acuity or less in both eyes. The monthly aid payment depends on the veteran's needs and how much money is needed to keep hospital bills and medical expenses in check. From November 30, 2021, a veteran could have a maximum net worth of $130,773 to qualify for the A&A pension. Medicare Benefits for Veterans: According to BoomersHub findings, Medicare coverage has significantly increased over the last 5 years. Currently, 18.4% of the US veterans are covered by Medicare benefits, from 16.7% in 2016. Medicare is a federal insurance program in the United States that assists seniors aged 65 and above with their medical needs. Medicare enrollees will also have premiums and deductibles, just like private insurance. Although Medicare does not cover assisted living costs, veterans can receive benefits for nursing care provided in assisted living communities. If veterans decide to move to an Assisted Living Facility (ALF) after receiving treatment from any service-related injuries, Medicare will cover for the doctors prescriptions, appointments, and further surgeries. BoomersHub suggests that veterans hire a veteran benefit planner to make the process easier. These planners are here to accommodate you with your needs and what you expect. The planners can make disability and pension claims less complicated as they can negotiate it all. Accreditation is necessary if you want an advisor to represent you when you file a claim. To access all statistics collected by BoomersHub and for detailed instructions on how veterans can claim specific benefits on assisted living or other forms of senior living available to them, visit: https://www.boomershub.com/blog/assisted-living-benefits-for-veterans/ About BoomersHub: Founded in 2019, BoomersHub helps connect seniors to qualified care providers through their network of Senior Advisors who are experienced, qualified, and vetted. BoomersHub believes that all people deserve to live well in their later years - no matter what type of living arrangement they choose. Our goal is to ensure aging family members get all the support to find the most suitable home and live a fulfilling life. Our dream is to build a channel that addresses the issues that our elders face every day from housing to healthcare, financial management, property, and legal matters. BoomersHub aspires to be the one-stop solution for providing services from home care to guiding for all types of senior living, senior moving, and much more. "As UPSTACK continues its explosive growth, ensuring that we are able to support tens of thousands of transactions is paramount to our success, and Samanthas track record of success is exactly what we have been seeking over the last several months." UPSTACK, a profitable, fast-growing platform that transforms the way businesses design and select cloud and internet infrastructure solutions, announced today that Samantha Jacks has joined the companys leadership team as Vice President of Commissions Operations. In her new role, Jacks will lead UPSTACK's commissions team, supporting the revenue lifecycle for advisors, technology suppliers and their shared business customers. Jacks will oversee the continual development of best practices while working to optimize the advisor experience at each stage of the sales lifecycle, including onboarding suppliers, reporting, reconciliation, inquiries, and escalations. "We're thrilled to welcome Samantha to UPSTACK as her specialized experience with advisor compensation is invaluable," said Christopher Trapp, CEO at UPSTACK. "As UPSTACK continues its explosive growth, ensuring that we are able to support tens of thousands of transactions is paramount to our success, and Samanthas track record of success is exactly what we have been seeking over the last several months. Jacks has been working in the commissions space for the last 15 years. She spent the majority of her career at Technology Services Broker Intelisys, where she held various leadership roles within commissions operations. Jacks has collaborated extensively with sales operations and enablement, and by working across several disciplines within the industry, she has gained the ability to build and manage successful and diligent revenue support teams, contributing directly to Advisor success and growth. "Im looking forward to being able to use my channel revenue experience to scale a reliable and efficient commissions process, said Jacks. "Nothings more important to my team than ensuring our advisors are paid accurately and on time." About UPSTACK Launched in 2017 in New York, N.Y., UPSTACK is transforming the way cloud and internet infrastructure is sourced and sold. Through a powerful combination of the industrys leading advisors, advanced technology, and dedicated customer support resourcesUPSTACK uses actionable business intelligence to architect and source customized technology solutions for businesses of all sizes. With UPSTACK, business buyers streamline IT procurement by tapping into a single source for mission-critical technology services from hundreds of proven providers along with the professional guidance to identify and evaluate the best solutions. UPSTACK's service portfolio includes colocation and data center, network connectivity, SD-WAN, unified communications, cloud contact center, private and public cloud, security, mobile, business continuity and IoT. For more information, visit us at upstack.com. A radio drama set in a fictional city might seem a whimsical tool for countering a challenge as grave as violent extremism, but a field experiment in Burkina Faso, in West Africa, suggests that narrative interventions using storytelling may provide impactful solutions for shifting behavioral intentions, beliefs, and attitudes. In a recent article in Psychological Science, Rezarta Bilali (New York University) described a cluster-randomized controlled trial conducted in 132 villages in the Sahell region of Burkina Faso, where violent attacks by groups affiliated with Al Qaeda have doubled every year since 2015. Although much of the extremist threat is thought to come from neighboring countries, at least one group is homegrown, founded by a local preacher whose sermons were disseminated by radio. The government responded to the increased violence by increasing the presence of security forces, but mutual mistrust between the population and these forces undermined the collaboration essential to this strategy. In Bilalis study, 2,904 individuals gathered with others from their village for 12 weekly listening sessions involving a radio drama set in a fictional city with high levels of corruption, low employment, frequent terror attacks by armed groups, and a difficult relationship between community members and police. Each session lasted about an hour, and facilitators played four to five episodes in each session, or 52 episodes in all. The plot consisted of three intertwined storylines, including one highlighting the dangers and consequences of violent extremism and one emphasizing the importance of policecommunity collaboration as a pathway to address violent extremism. The storylines goals were to denounce and reduce support for violent extremism and to raise awareness about the importance of policecommunity collaboration for fighting violent extremism, as well as about issues that prevent collaboration. Compared with a radio-as-usual control condition, the narrative intervention reduced participants justification of violence, increased their intentions to collaborate with the police, and made them more likely to identify addressing violent extremism as a government priority. Results involving the latter two outcomes were particularly promising: On average, participants in the intervention condition were 9% more likely to freely recommend collaboration with security forces for combating violent extremism and 17% more likely to name violent extremism as a priority for the government to address. The intervention did not address all beliefs about or attitudes toward addressing violence; it did not make participants more likely to see the police as fair or trustworthy, for example. But it suggested that narratives can be used for social change, which can be good but also harmful. That is, extremist narratives can help people make sense of their reality, gain power and prestige, fulfill the need for significance and meaning, and become part of something larger than themselves, Bilali wrote. But these needs can also be attained through narratives that promote prosocial behaviors and values rather than violence, especially if those alternative narratives resonate with and acknowledge peoples grievances. What explains the potential power of narrative interventions, and how can they be used more broadly to change beliefs and behavior for the better? Reviewing previous studies, Bilali noted that inserting fictional prescriptive messages into entertaining stories has been shown to help people understand existing realities, imagine new realities, and take critical stances on sensitive issues and social challenges. However, it is not known whether such awareness-raising narratives can influence attitudes and behaviors. One goal of her study was to examine that possibility by extending on prior research. Analyses of participants self-reports, facilitator reports, and group discussions converged on a few key processes that may help explain the results, including the simple fact that in most group discussions, participants condemned violence and approved of actions that promote peace. These discussions also underscored the power of social norms; for example, participants reactions during and after the group listening sessions reinforced a social norm that approves of police collaboration, which likely increased collaboration intentions, Bilali wrote. Bilali noted limitations of her study, including the fact that it did not assess long-term effects (e.g., the persistence of intentions to collaborate) or whether intentions transformed into actual behaviors in real-world scenarios. More research is needed to investigate the power of narratives in countering violent extremism, as well whether narrative interventions could influence groups in power positions, such as police. Reference Bilali, R. (2022). Fighting violent extremism with narrative intervention: Evidence from a field experiment in West Africa. Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211031895 If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here. Submit New York City, NY (11385) Today Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low around 55F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low around 55F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Congestion pricing means drivers exiting the lower deck of the Queensboro-Ed Koch Bridge in Manhattan will be paying for the privilege at some point in 2023. A rendering of passenger and freight cars peacefully coexisting just south of Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights on the proposed Interborough Express line. The site is three blocks from the 74th Street-Broadway subway and bus hub. New York City, NY (11385) Today Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low around 55F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low around 55F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Bachelor alum Jen Saviano is going to be a mom. ADVERTISEMENT The television personality is expecting her first child with her boyfriend, Landon Ricker. Saviano shared the news Tuesday on Instagram alongside a video of herself showing off her baby bump while wearing a bikini on a beach. "surpriseee! we can't wait to meet you, little B," she captioned the post. Fellow Bachelor alum Leah Block and Bachelor producer Lindsey Liles were among those to congratulate Saviano in the comments. "WHAT!!!!!!! Omg Jen congratulations!!!!!!!" Block wrote. "Congrats! So exciting!" Liles said. Saviano appeared in Ben Higgins' season of The Bachelor, which aired in 2016. She later appeared as a contestant in Seasons 3 and 6 of Bachelor in Paradise. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! Fellow Bachelor Nation stars Raven Gates and Adam Gottschalk welcomed their first child earlier this month. Gates gave birth to a baby boy via an emergency C-section last week. In addition, Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise alum Jordan Kimball married his girlfriend, Christina Creedon, in Texas last week. Paris Hilton says "everything is all good" between her and Lindsay Lohan today. ADVERTISEMENT The 40-year-old socialite and businesswoman gave an update on her friendship with Lohan, 35, during Wednesday's episode of Watch What Happens Live. Hilton and Lohan had a highly-publicized falling out in the 2000s. The feud was still alive in 2019 when Hilton called Lohan "beyond," "lame" and "embarrassing" on WWHL. On Wednesday, Hilton said she and Lohan have moved past their issues. "I just feel that we're grownups now -- I just got married, she just got engaged -- we're not in high school," she said. "I just think it was just very immature and now everything is all good." Hilton said she was the first one to reach out. "I saw that she got engaged when I was on my honeymoon and I just said "congratulations" and then that was that," she said. Hilton married Carter Reum at a star-studded wedding in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, while Lohan announced her engagement to Bader Shammas on Nov. 28. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! On WWHL, Hilton and her mom, Kathy Hilton , learned for the first time from host Andy Cohen that Euphoria actor Lukas Gage crashed her wedding. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 01/26/2022 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. alum Ryan Sutter has revealed he's back to work at the firehouse in Colorado after undergoing two major surgeries and enduring months of sickness.Ryan, who won Trista Rehn 's final rose on 's first season, took to Instagram on Tuesday to reveal that he's in a good place after having to take almost six months off from work to deal with his health crisis.The 47-year-old firefighter wrote, "I took a walk today. After two major surgeries and nearly six months, yesterday was my first day back in the firehouse. So I walked and I reflected. It was a good day back on the job."In August 2021, Ryan underwent a knee replacement surgery on his right knee, and one month later, he went under the knife again for an ankle replacement surgery on his left ankle."At one point a wide-eyed young boy and his parents stopped by to see the firetruck. At another, a young adult purposefully spit on our engine as he drove by on his scooter," Ryan continued in his post."We were stopped at an intersection after returning from a car accident and apparently he doesn't like firefighters? Both instances made me proud of what we do."Prior to his two major surgeries, Ryan revealed in May 2021 he had been diagnosed with Lyme disease Ryan had been desperate for answers after undergoing tests for nearly a year to find out why he had been feeling so ill and fatigued. Ryan explained on Trista's "Better, Etc." podcast how doctors said his body had been weakened from exposure to mold toxins and so he was unable to fight Lyme disease.Ryan had also reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic in 2020 as well as Epstein-Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis."This job isn't easy -- not these days and not in this climate. But it's a tremendous opportunity, an opportunity to be challenged, to be humbled and to be taught that, despite our differences, we are all humans in this life -- together in at least that much," Ryan wrote on Instagram."So we get to meet, inspire and render speechless young children (and sometimes their parents too). We also get to respond repeatedly to people who need help -- for any reason and at any time -- even if they just spit on our fire engine from their scooter."Ryan concluded, "What a job! It's great to be back... Still the #bestjobever."Trista wrote to her husband in the comments section, "Love your perspective. Love you."While Ryan has served as a firefighter in Colorado for several years, he transferred to the city of Denver in 2020 and therefore had to re-train for one year, according to Us Weekly.Ryan graduated from firefighter training in June 2021, just weeks after revealing his Lyme disease diagnosis in Spring 2021.Although Ryan has been through a lot in the last year, he managed to have fun and let loose with his beloved family in December 2021.Ryan, Trista and their children -- son Maxwell Alston, 14, and daughter Blakesley Grace, 12 -- took a family vacation to Florida for some warm weather and a good "escape.""This week has been different -- a fortuitous opportunity to escape, to be together as a family, to participate," Ryan shared on Instagram from the beach on December 31."I missed taking pictures I actually want to look at. I missed capturing moments I know I'll look back on fondly. I missed feeling a part of my family. I missed my life. But this week it was all there. A glimpse of the past and, I know, a glimpse into the future."Trista -- who found fame when she competed on Alex Michel's season of The Bachelor in 2002 -- chose Ryan at the final Rose Ceremony of her season over runner-up Charlie Maher.Ryan proposed marriage to Trista on 's first-season finale, which aired on ABC in February 2003 and drew over 30 million viewers Trista, a former Dancing with the Stars and Fear Factor contestant, changed her last name from Rehn to Sutter when she married Ryan in December 2003 Trista & Ryan's Wedding's two-hour finale -- which featured the couple's wedding ceremony and reception at the Lodge in Rancho Mirage resort in Palm Springs, CA -- drew over 17 million viewers when it aired on ABC on December 10, 2003.Trista and Ryan welcomed Maxwell in July 2007 followed by Blakesley in April 2009.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group TRAVERSE CITY As the Jan. 27 deadline for health care personnel to be vaccinated approached, about 20 percent of unvaccinated holdouts at Grandvue Medical Facility in Charlevoix chose to comply. The rest said theyd rather resign. 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 In total, north of 35 employees have resigned because of the vaccination mandate, said Joe Taylor, administrator for the East Jordan long-term care facility. I worked the night shift Sunday night as a nurse because we didnt have anybody, said Taylor. All my leadership are working as whatever theyre leading. On the listserv to which he belongs, Taylor said other facility administrators are staring down the same challenge. Federal data show vaccination rates in nursing homes have gone up as the deadline approached. But the rise doesnt necessarily reflect compliance with the mandate, but rather a new, harsh reality for the American health care system: non-compliant staff would rather resign than comply with the federal vaccination order. Its your basic math. You can increase your numerator and decrease the denominator. Unfortunately, the number has only gone up because of attrition, said Taylor on Wednesday. Its not because people got the shot. A handful of them did, but most of it is just folks leaving. Grand Traverse Pavilions may face a similar exodus. A federal vaccination tracking system for nursing homes shows 30 employees have declined the vaccine for non-medical purposes. Deb Allen, a spokesperson for the Pavilions, confirmed the number. Allen said the Pavilions nursing staff is ready to vaccinate any staff member that chooses to get the vaccine. Certainly, we in the senior care industry have to be more strict on vaccine exemptions, because of the highly vulnerable population that we are entrusted to care for, Allen said. Many elderly in skilled nursing homes have multiple conditions that make them more susceptible to infections and diseases. Unlike a separate mandate originally issued by OSHA, the federal mandate for health care workers has no testing opt-out clause. Workers must be vaccinated or provide a medical or religious exemption. While the OSHA mandate was struck down this month by the Supreme Court, a separate ruling found that it was legal for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to mandate vaccination in the facilities the agency regulates. That includes nursing homes, long-term care facilities and hospitals. It does not include assisted living facilities, group homes, or in-home providers who arent CMS-certified. At Grandvue, Taylor said replacing those whod left has been incredibly difficult, despite hiring temp staff and offering what he called aggressive incentives. That included sign-on bonuses, as well as bonuses each time another 10 percent of his staff became vaccinated. Im not sure what else we can do about hiring, Taylor said. For every one person we hire weve lost 10. As far as reasoning, Taylor said his impression was that employees didnt like the government telling them what to do. Last May, the facility reported having 205 employees. As of Jan. 9, that number is down to 169. The Pavilions has weathered a similar staffing decline. In the same timeframe, the 373-employee nursing home dropped to 317. Heidi Gustine, executive director of the regional Area Agency on Aging, said that the mandate was breaking a system that was already fragile. What we had not taken into account was the unexpected consequences of having that mandate and what to do about it from a policy perspective, said Gustine. The policy did not entertain the consequences of the mandate. One result has been that her agency, which is not subject to the mandate, has been receiving resumes from health care workers looking to avoid vaccination. In other nursing homes, vaccination rates have trended upward in recent weeks. Nathan Loop, administrator for the Maples in Benzie County, said the facility was approaching a 95 percent vaccination rate, with just 5 percent opting out by religious exemption. Other facilities have avoided layoffs in part thanks to CMS allowance for a religious exemption. For example, Kalkaska Memorial Health Center operates a 104-bed long-term care unit which is in 100 percent compliance with the CMS mandate, according to Jeremy Cannon, the facilitys chief nursing officer. However, the actual vaccination rate there is 74 percent. As of Jan. 9, 52 staff members there had not been vaccinated, the CMS data show, although Cannon said he could not confirm that number offhand. None have cited what CMS calls a medical contraindication to a COVID-19 vaccine. We respect peoples decisions and were meeting them where theyre at, but obviously were going to advocate for vaccination, said Cannon, who also noted a bump in job applications recently. Cannon said the facility would face fewer layoffs than initially expected, and credited an aggressive process of educating and encouraging staff to get vaccinated. The mandate deadline comes as Michigan experiences record-high cases of COVID-19 among long-term care facility employees. On the week of Jan. 19, MDHHS reported more than 2,000 weekly cases in the category. Resident deaths have bumped up as well, although they remain nowhere near the high death tolls reported in the spring of 2020, when vaccines were unavailable. In total, 93 deaths have occurred in nursing homes within Leelanau, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Emmet, Antrim, Benzie and Charlevoix counties out of a total of 515 COVID-19 deaths. The high death rate which may still be an undercount has informed a nationwide concern over protocols in long-term care facilities, where older residents face much worse odds contending with COVID-19. More Information Classes. Both Streamside Orvis (231-933-9300, streamsideorvis.com) and The Northern Angler (231-933-4730, thenorthernangler.com) offer in-person winter tying classes, already underway. With COVID, however, details change quickly and seating is extremely limited, so call the shops directly for information. Classes do build upon the previous ones, but you can discuss the opportunity of jumping in mid-stream with the shop. The Northern Angler offers a February class, in addition to free, live YouTube tying events on their channel, which can simply be a viewing and learning event. Streamside will post videos of their class flies being tied in the Forum on their website. At both, your class fee will get you use of tools and materials to tie all of the flies in the lesson plan, and a discount for purchasing your own during the class. Kits. This is how I learned to tie, and although it eventually proved effective, it appeared daunting when I cracked open the box all by my lonesome. If youre not taking a class but would like to try it out, Streamside owner Dave Leonhard recommends coming into the shop and discussing a type of fly to try tying, and then purchasing the materials for that specific fly. Many materials included in mass-produced kits are lower quality, turning out those badly proportioned flies Leonhard spoke of. If you want to buy a kit, Leonhard suggested buying a complete tool kit first. More to learn. Thirty years into this obsession, and Im still learning. Additionally, both shops offer many other fly-fishing classes from casting to reading a river to knot-tying and everything in between to immerse you in the sport and make you a fly angler for life. Visit their websites to learn more or ask at the store; theyll be happy to have you join them. Athens, GA (30605) Today Clear to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 61F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. 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 With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, a Brattleboro woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Vermont attorney general and the Windham County state's attorney, challenging the state's disturbing-the-peace statute. Isabel Vinson was cited with that charge after encouraging an anti-racist social media response from advocacy groups on Facebook. Brattleboro, VT (05301) Today Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Low 46F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. The northern Taconics and Mount Equinox as seen from Bacon Hill, New York, late 1970s. At the end of the far hayfield was where I found my deer path to the Hudson River. Beckley, WV (25801) Today Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. Low near 50F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. HAMDEN Acting Chief Assessor David Stannard was terminated Tuesday after serving the town in an interim capacity for more than a year. Mayor Lauren Garrett has tapped Sajida Farooqui to fill the position. Assessors have important credentials that they need, so in order to sign the grand list you have to have your CCMA I - she has her CCMA II, which is the next step above, Garrett said, adding that Farooqui is leaving a job in New Haven to take the post. Shes a Hamden resident and I think that coming to Hamden just gives her more opportunity for growth, Garrett said. Meanwhile, Stannard, who according to a state list of certified assessors also holds a CCMA II, found his time at Government Center frustrating. It was marked by months of uncertainty about his job security, he said, also contending his ousting was unfair. But Garrett said the town needed a leadership change in order to successfully hire into its assessors office. Its been a little bit of a challenge hiring into that office so thats part of the reason we had to make some changes, she said. There are a lot of municipalities that are down assessors, and its very challenging to hire assessors. We were facing more challenges because of personality conflicts. If there were personality conflicts, Stannard said, he was not the cause. I tried to field those, you know, between others, he said. There were no conflicts between me and any of the staff. Garrett said the town recently rehired Steven Porcaro, a real estate appraiser who left Government Center last year. Porcaro did not immediately return a request for comment. While the town only has four positions budgeted, Garrett said, a leadership change could enable future growth and help upgrade existing positions. But Stannard, who said the assessors office has multiple empty desks he would have liked to have filled, believes the department historically has had a troubled reputation. He named that as the likely cause for any hiring difficulties. He also said Hamden assessors salaries are lower than in other Connecticut towns. The town has not had an assessor serving under a permanent appointment since Ross Murray left in 2017, according to Stannard. John Gelati took the job in early 2018 but also only served in an interim capacity, according to a New Haven Independent report, which indicates Gelati left the position in late 2019. Stannard was brought in as a consultant in 2020 and subsequently appointed acting chief assessor, he said. Under Mayor Curt Balzano Leng, Stannard said, his interim period was extended twice, but the mayor never forwarded his appointment to the Legislative Council for approval. I do not think it would be proper for me to comment on internal personnel matters, Leng wrote the New Haven Register when asked for comment. I would just say that Im thankful for his service to the Town. The latest extension to Stannards temporary appointment expired in November, he said, but he kept working. The anxietys been there for a long time, not knowing, he said. It takes a little bit of time to get a team in place, which weve been working diligently at doing, and I feel badly that his experience was not a good one, Garrett commented. But the extensions were given under the previous administration, and we did not grant the last extension that was requested, which was an indication of the direction we were moving in. Stannard learned of his termination Tuesday, he said, and does not understand why it occurred. He said he worked hard for the town over the last 15 months and brought 32 years of experience in the field. They did not give me any reason, he said. Further, with the town currently working to finalize its grand list by the end of February, Stannard feels replacing the assessor is risky, he said. Weve had to hire consultants to come in and finish the work on the grand list, Garrett said when asked about meeting the deadline. Farooqui, who was not immediately available for comment, will start the job mid-February, Garrett said. meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com But an observer says Cambodias prime minister is trying to save face after failed visit. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday urged Myanmars Snr. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing to uphold an agreement he made with fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members to end the political crisis in his country, but observers say the entreaty had likely fallen on deaf ears. Hun Sen, who recently assumed the rotating chair of ASEAN, made the request to Min Aung Hlaing during a video conference, a day after he confirmed plans to invite the junta chief to an upcoming summit of the bloc even though he has yet to implement the so-called Five-Point Consensus, a plan he agreed to last April to end violence in Myanmar. The call was billed as a follow up to Hun Sens Jan. 7-8 trip to Myanmar the first by a foreign leader since the militarys Feb. 1, 2021, coup which drew widespread criticism for conferring legitimacy on a regime that has detained nearly 8,800 civilians and killed some 1,500 others, mostly during nonviolent protests of its rule, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. In addition to discussing how to further advance implementation of the consensus, the two leaders shared the view on the need to make more efforts to improve the situation in Myanmar, according to a statement by Cambodias Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hun Sen stressed to Min Aung Hlaing that he is deeply concerned over the persistent violence in the country. The statement said that Min Aung Hlaing told Hun Sen that Myanmar is committed to work with Cambodia as the ASEAN chair, and that the two sides agreed to continue to hold candid discussions on matters of mutual interests, but did not clarify whether he planned to honor his promises to the bloc. Speaking to RFAs Khmer Service, Cambodian political analyst Em Sovannara said he expects there is little chance that Min Aung Hlaing will follow through on his promises to ASEAN, despite the rosy portrayal of Wednesdays video conference offered by Hun Sens foreign ministry. If the status quo remains in effect, he said, the political crisis in Myanmar will continue and likely result in further bloodshed. [The talks took place because] Hun Sen wanted to restore face after he was criticized over his recent trip to Myanmar being a waste of time, he said. In the statement, Hun Sen noted that the Five-Point Consensus represents ASEANs shared resolve to bring normalcy and should therefore remain a priority. As part of that process, he called on Min Aung Hlaing to facilitate a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy of the ASEAN chair as soon as possible. He asked that all parties including [the junta] exercise with utmost restraint, cease violence, and endeavor to achieve a ceasefire to set the stage for dialogue, and requested full cooperation from the military in support of ASEAN relief efforts. Other statements on Hun Sens Facebook page referred to Min Aung Hlaing as the senior leader of Myanmar or chairman of the countrys State Administration Council, using the official name of the junta noticeably different than the more deferential tone that followed the Jan. 7-8 visit in which Cambodias Foreign Ministry called him the Myanmars prime minister. Myanmar's junta spokesman did not respond to RFA telephone calls for comment, but state media released a brief statement on the conversation. "At the talks, they frankly discussed the participation of Myanmar in ASEAN, implementation of the five-point ASEAN consensus, needs for cooperation in ASEAN with a constructive attitude, the plan of Myanmar to make the best cooperation with the ASEAN, sending of the special envoy of the ASEAN Chair to Myanmar, efforts to restore internal peace in Myanmar, endeavours being made to eradicate terror acts in the country, humanitarian aid, and the issue of the special envoy of the UN Secretary-General," the statement said. Earlier statements prompt concern As recently as Jan. 20, Cambodias Foreign Ministry had issued a press release condemning clashes between the military and anti-junta forces in Myanmars Kayah state for jeopardizing what it characterized as progress made in the aftermath of Hun Sens visit. Such statements, as well as Hun Sens failure during his visit to meet with any of Myanmars prodemocracy leaders, including jailed National League for Democracy chief Aung San Suu Kyi another condition of the five-points had prompted concern from observers, who said they suggest the prime minister intends to treat the junta with kid gloves as chair of ASEAN. In the weeks since Hun Sens visit, Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced to four years in detention and the military has deployed air strikes during clashes that have displaced thousands of civilians. On Tuesday, Hun Sen told Dato Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob his counterpart in fellow ASEAN member state Malaysia that he had invited Min Aung Hlaing to an upcoming ASEAN summit, provided he implements conditions to end the political crisis in his country. If Myanmar fails to do so, he said, the junta will have to send non-political representatives to the meeting. Hun Sen warned that ASEAN has a lot of work to do and cannot allow itself to become a slave to Myanmar by becoming too focused on the latters internal politics, Cambodias Foreign Ministry said. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Elections for the city's leader are 'meaningless,' as the winner will be dictated by Beijing, an analyst says. Hong Kong's Electoral Affairs Commission announces guidelines for election of the city's next chief executive in a Jan. 27, 2022 photo. Hong Kong's national security police arrested 160 people during 2021 under a draconian law that launched a citywide crackdown on political opposition and public dissent, charging more than 100 of them, Hong Kong's chief of police said on Thursday. And the crackdown will continue this year, with a focus on "anti-terrorism," police commissioner Raymond Siu told a news briefing. "We have now gotten public order back to stability, but there are still a small number of anti-China and anti-Hong Kong rioters who have gone underground," Siu said. "Police will continue to take the initiative to launch investigations based on intelligence," he said. He dismissed concerns that the national security raid that led to the closure of the pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper had damaged press freedom. "Press freedom is guaranteed under the Basic Law, but it is not absolute; it is based on legal responsibilities and obligations," Siu said. "Many of the people making noises about a political crackdown on the media are sitting in the same boat [as the pro-democracy outlets that have been denounced in pro-Beijing media]," Siu said. "Young people are getting innocently embroiled in all of that." Police have arrested more than 10,270 people in connection with the 2019 protest movement, more than 4,000 of whom are students, and 1,754 are under 18, of whom 496 have been charged, Siu said. Siu accused protesters and pro-democracy activists of "harming young people and destroying many families." Electing a new chief executive His warnings of an ongoing crackdown came as the city started the process to select the new chief executive under tightened electoral rules designed to ensure that only "patriots" approved by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can run in elections or hold public office. Candidates must garner more than 750 votes, more than the 689 won by former chief executive Leung Chun-ying in 2012, to win, and nominations are limited to one per member of the 1,500-member Election Committee. A poll must be held even if there is only one validly nominated candidate, and the nomination period has been shortened to two weeks, Electoral Affairs Commission chairman Barnabas Fung told a news briefing. "We ensure that the election is conducted openly, fairly and honestly. It's legal [to have a shorter, 14-day nomination period], so we don't think there's anything wrong with it," he said. Incumbent Carrie Lam has so far avoided commenting on whether her name will be on the slate. "I haven't thought about it; I am having to fight the pandemic on a daily basis, so haven't thought about anything else much," she told reporters on Thursday. Opinion pollster Chung Kim-wah said the elections is really there for show, a question of "going through the motions." "There used to be small number of people on the Election Committee, but now that it's been revised, there's nobody," Chung told RFA. "Everyone understands that this election is pretty meaningless." "It will be whoever Beijing wants it to be." Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. The $100-million, state-of-the-art stealth aircraft crashed in the South China Sea on Monday. An F-35C Lightning II carrier variant joint strike fighter is prepared for launch aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68). The F-35 Lightning II is undergoing initial at-sea trials aboard Nimitz. China denied Thursday that it has any interest in recovering the wreckage of the crashed U.S. F-35C fighter jet that may contain sensitive technological information. We have no interest in their aircraft, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters, adding that Beijing urged the country concerned to do things that are conducive to regional peace and stability, rather than flex muscles in the region. The U.S. Navy said earlier that it was working to recover the F-35C Lightning II fighter jet, a $100-million, state-of-the-art stealth aircraft, which crashed in the South China Sea on Monday. The single-engine fighter skidded over the side while attempting to land on the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during a training session and tumbled into the sea. The pilot safely ejected and was recovered by a U.S. military helicopter. Seven servicemen were injured in the accident that happened during a joint operation conducted by the USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln strike groups in the South China Sea. All the injured are in a stable condition. The U.S. Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft. A former U.S. Navy officer told RFA it could take anything from three weeks to four months to locate and haul the plane from the depths of the ocean. China is likely to be watching closely. They are interested but the announcement suggests they will not attempt to recover it if the U.S. chooses to do so, said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the U.S. Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center in Hawaii. They dont want to risk a confrontation or increase the already extensive Sino-U.S. frictions. Challenging task However, they will monitor the U.S. recovery and if they can do it surreptitiously, they will examine it with a submersible to gather what information they can, said Schuster, who is also a former U.S. Navy captain. It is my belief that they have about 30-60 percent of what they need to know about the F-35 from their cyber-espionage efforts. A good thorough survey would add to that, he said. Some Chinese analysts believe that theres another dimension to the crash. While China, and any other country, would certainly be interested in a closer look at the F-35 there is another issue that must be considered. That question is whether the plane was lost in Chinas territorial waters, asked Andy Mok, a well-known, Beijing-based commentator. If so, the U.S. will be in an awkward position as China would be entirely within its rights to not return it, said Mok. China insists that it holds historical rights to most of the South China Sea, and draws straight baselines around four groups of islands there to claim expansive territorial seas that are deemed illegal by international law. Schuster said the recovery process could be protracted. I would think 20-60 days, depending on weather, currents, underwater conditions and PRC (Chinas) activity. Under ideal conditions, you are looking at 10-20 days from finding to lifting. Strong and unpredictable underwater currents, bad weather and other challenges or work interruptions add to the time. Worse case, 90-120 days, if the monsoon hits, he told RFA. The U.S. has demonstrated the capability to recover aircraft from 15,000 feet (4,572 meters) and the South China Seas deepest point is 16,000-feet (4,876-meters) deep. So, the challenge is to find it, then send the equipment to lift it off the bottom and bring it to the surface, Schuster explained. China will be watching in any case, to learn what they can; about the plane perhaps but definitely about how to recover a 70,000-pound (35-ton) aircraft from several thousand feet. From Beijing, the views are more dismissive. This incident is only the latest in a string of mishaps that only raise more questions about U.S. military readiness, said Mok, the security analyst. The 7th Fleet spokeswoman Cmdr. Hayley Sims told the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes on Wednesday that the U.S. Navy is currently investigating the F-35C crash together with four other serious Class A mishaps involving aircraft assigned to the USS Carl Vinson carrier that occurred between Nov. 22 and Dec. 31. A Class A mishap is an incident either involving loss of life or permanent disability, or the complete loss of an aircraft or property damage of $2.5 million or more, according to the U.S. Navy. All five incidents remain under investigation, said Sims. Lao workers with children are shown under arrest at Ubon Rachathani in Thailand after crossing into the country illegally on Jan. 14, 2022. Lao workers can now officially return to Thailand after a pause due to COVID-19, but pre-employment approvals and steep fees may force many laborers to continue to try to enter the country illegally, according to sources in both countries. The Thai government announced Thursday that it will reopen its borders, starting next week, to migrant workers from neighboring countries for the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Cambodians will be the first Southeast Asian laborers to return, followed by those from Laos and Myanmar, Bangkok said. Although the Lao-Thai border has been closed, many workers still move across it in hopes of finding work that pays more than they can make in Laos. Lao authorities watch the border closely, but they cant catch all migrants, as some get help from traffickers and employers in Thailand, said an official with the Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Services. Thai employers sometimes call former workers on the telephone, asking them to return to Thailand, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. But if Lao workers want to go to Thailand without the consent of those employers, they wont be able to go. Middlemen are also sometimes hired to take Lao workers to Thailand. They know all the ways to get them in, he said. Many Lao workers now try to enter without permission because of the high costs involved in obtaining visas and paying for the two required COVID-19 tests, a Lao man working for a job recruiting company said. The 7 to 14-day quarantine periods required before they can cross the border are another deterrent, the man said. The fees they are charged to go to Thailand legally are very high, with the offices that find work for them charging around 30,000 baht (U.S. $900) each, so the money they can make in one month by working in Thailand is less than what they will have paid to go there, he said. By contrast, entering illegally with the help of middlemen costs each worker only around 7,000 to 9,000 bhat, he said. They are both male and female, mostly aged around 17, who are trying to find jobs, said an official in Thailands Ubon Rachathani province, bordering Laos. They are going in and out illegally, because Thailand has not officially opened its border gates yet. On Dec. 23, Lao authorities proposed to authorities in Thailand that the cost of two-year visa fees for Lao workers be reduced from 2,000 baht ($60) to 500 baht ($15), and that Lao workers testing negative for COVID-19 be allowed to begin work without entering quarantine. They also urged Thai authorities to strictly patrol the two countries common border to deter illegal entry and prevent migrants from becoming the victims of human trafficking or violence. Thailand Labor Minister Suchart Chomklin said that 446 workers from Cambodia will be the first batch to be allowed in for employers in Chon Buri and Ayudhya province on Feb.1. Late last year, the government signed a memorandum of understanding with private employers to import about 400,000 workers from Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to fix labor shortages. The 446 will travel to Thailands Sakaeo province [opposite to Cambodias Poi Pet] and will be quarantined at the companies' centers at least 7 days, Suchart told reporters Thursday. Unvaccinated workers or those with incomplete jabs will be administered the vaccine, another official at the department of employment said, adding that the fee for quarantine, including transportation costs, is 8,500 baht ($255) for each worker. We are still working on the arrangement with Laos and Myanmar. When finished, we will allow [labor] imports from those countries, Suchart said. Reported by RFAs Lao Service, with additional reporting by BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service. Translated by Sidney Khotpanya. Written in English by Richard Finney. Experts say the law is being used to target opponents of the military regime. Myanmar junta officials are stopping people to see if their mobile phones use privacy software to access websites like Facebook that regime opponents have used to coordinate protests, including an upcoming Silent Strike marking the one-year anniversary of the coup that brought the military in power, sources said. The junta earlier this month ordered all ministries and internet service providers to comment by Jan. 28 on a proposed cybersecurity law that carries a sentence of up to three years in prison and 500,000 kyats (U.S. $280) for any resident of Yangon found in possession of unauthorized Virtual Private Network (VPN) software. But residents said officials have already begun stopping passersby and demanding access to their phones, even though the legislation has not been approved. VPNs, which anonymize a users Internet Protocol (IP) address, can be used to bypass location-specific firewalls that would otherwise block access to certain websites. Since seizing power in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, the junta has restricted the countrys internet. Residents of Yangon told RFAs Myanmar Service that authorities recently began targeting VPNs because people are using them to organize the strike scheduled for next week. They stopped our motorcycle and asked for our phones to check if we were using VPN software, a woman who spoke on condition of anonymity said of an encounter with police in Yangons Thanlyin township on Wednesday morning. Luckily, there was no VPN on my phone. I deleted it some time ago because I didn't use it much. When they didnt find it on my phone, we were allowed to leave, but they took away the phones of those who had the software. There were so many people stuck there, but I dont know what happened [to them]. Other sources cited similar surprise checks by authorities in townships throughout Yangon, both day and night. When asked about the searches and detentions, junta Deputy Information Minister Zaw Min Tun told RFA that under the proposed law, those in custody of VPNs or any other banned software face prosecution for the sake of security. More than 50 pages of the bill do not refer to VPNs alone, he said, rejecting claims that the legislation was aimed at clamping down on organizers of the Silent Strike. The bill is still only in a draft stage. It wasnt drafted recently it was drafted in the past. An earlier version of the bill was distributed by the government for comment on Feb. 9 last year including to the Myanmar News Media Council, Myanmar Chamber of Commerce and the Myanmar Computer Association. Civil society groups have strongly protested the bill as a vague and a violation of human rights. A high court lawyer in Yangon told RFA that regardless of the bills scope, using it to detain and search residents of the region is illegal because it is still in the draft stage. The bill just came out and hasnt been approved yet, said the lawyer, who also declined to be named. For example, if the bill is enacted on Feb. 1, action can only be taken after Feb. 1. No action can be undertaken using a backdate. And legal action cannot be taken with a bill, it has to be a law. Used as needed Myint Kyaw, a veteran journalist, slammed the draft law as a way for the military regime to take action against whoever opposes it. There were similar laws in the days of former military regimes, when they threatened people with prison terms for using email, until the Electronics Law was enacted, he said. It can be used as needed, when needed, and the law can be used to prosecute the opposition. The military enacts such laws that dont make sense in practice. However, they can always take legal action against people like journalists and activists even though the laws don't make sense. An online vendor in Yangon told RFA that the law would indiscriminately target those who use the internet for their livelihoods. The internet we can access is not good enough. Sales and transactions dont go smoothly, she said. If we had to rely on the internet for our sales, we wouldnt have enough money to make ends meet. Using a VPN means that when the server in our country is not working properly, we can appear to be in another country through the VPN where the server as well as the access is better. Nay Thamaing, a member of the Naypyidaw Students' Union, said that he had used VPN software as a proxy and received a lot of information through social media and would continue to do so even if laws were passed. They do not want us to use Facebook, Instagram and other social media applications using a VPN. They were saying that using VPNs is harmful. Right now, Facebook is the most powerful social media platform, and people are getting a lot of information through it. We have no reason to change anything about this. Myanmar Center for Responsible Business founder Vicky Bowman, who is the former U.K. ambassador to Myanmar, said that if the proposed legislation changes are approved and the bill becomes law, it will have a significant impact on the rights of Internet users. Reported by RFAs Myanmar Service. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Trustworthy and loyal citizens must also pledge allegiance to the Communist Party. Tibetans looking for work in their regions state sector must first renounce all ties to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as a condition of employment, an official Chinese announcement says. The directive sent on Tuesday to all provinces and municipalities of the Tibet Autonomous Region says that workers employed in Tibetan government offices, schools or hospitals must be trustworthy and reliable citizens and remain loyal to the ruling Chinese Communist Party. They must also renounce the Dalai Lama and his followers, the directive says, referring to the group of supporters that has formed around the exiled spiritual leader over the years as a clique. Speaking to RFA, a source in Tibet said that Chinas new order further restricts the rights of Tibetans living under rule by Beijing and violates Chinas own laws. Whether its for new employment, admission to schools, or promotion in your current job, your basic rights are denied if you dont fulfill the conditions mandated by the Chinese government, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for reasons of security. The Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China clearly states that all citizens are equal before the law, so this new announcement denies Tibetans their basic rights. It is sad that the Chinese governments need to control Tibetans living in Tibet is based on the strength of Tibetans loyalty and devotion to the Dalai Lama, he said. Tenzin Lekshey, spokesperson for Tibets India-based exile government, the Central Tibetan Administration, called Chinas new order a futile attempt by the Chinese government to force Tibetans inside Tibet to renounce the Dalai Lama and not respect their faith. Instead, the Chinese government should fulfill the aspirations of the Tibetan people to resolve the issue of Tibet, Lekshey said. The Chinese government has implemented many such strategies in the past, added Gonpo Dhondup, president of the India-based Tibetan Youth Congress. However, the loyalty and devotion felt by the Tibetans for the Dalai Lama has never faded. The Tibetan Youth Congress strongly condemns these policies imposed by the Chinese Communist Party, he said. Tibets exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is widely reviled by Chinese leaders as a separatist intent on splitting Tibet, a formerly independent nation that was invaded and incorporated into China by force in 1950, from Beijings control. The Dalai Lama, who now lives in exile in India, says only that he seeks a greater autonomy for Tibet as a part of China, with guaranteed protections for Tibets language, culture and religion. Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on Tibet and Tibetan regions of western China, restricting Tibetans political activities and peaceful expression of ethnic and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment and extrajudicial killings. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi for RFAs Tibetan Service. Written in English by Richard Finney. The policy is a precaution against COVID, but the plant has been rated as a low infection risk. Around 300 Vietnamese workers have been held in isolation for the last eight months at a China-backed power plant amid COVID-19 concerns and have been refused permission to return home for the Lunar New Year, sources in the country say. The workers have been held at the Vinh Tan 1 Thermal Power Plant in the Tuy Phong district of Vietnams southeastern Binh Thuan province, with anyone caught leaving the plant immediately fired, one worker told RFA this week. We have been isolated in this plant since June 1. We all work, eat and sleep here and have no contact with the outside world, the worker said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. There are around 300 Vietnamese people working at this plant, and though we are being provided with food and accommodation, we always wish we could be living there in the outside community, he said. Two other Vinh Tan power plants in the area are managed by the Vietnam Electricity Corporation and released their workers a month ago, the worker said. However, Vinh Tan Power Plant 1 is managed by Chinese investors and has kept its workers inside. No announcement has been made about when the isolation will end, the worker said. The company hasnt responded to many local workers wish to be able to return home each day after work to prepare for the Lunar New Year and celebrate with their families. We tried to raise this issue with company managers but were immediately told to stop, he said. Workers at the plant are frustrated and angry but dont dare to speak up, the worker said. If only some of us stood up, we would be fired right away or be targeted by managers for retaliation later on, and this would affect our ability to support our families, he said. Union representatives have collected workers opinions to present to the company and have met with company managers, but no response has been received, the worker said. A Jan. 13 document sent by the Tuy Phong District Peoples Committee and seen by RFA designates the Vinh Tan 1 Plant as a low-risk green zone with no infections reported for more than 28 days, and urges company managers to let workers leave the plant. As of Jan. 24, no workers had been allowed to leave, however. Calls seeking comment from the Tuy Phong District Peoples Committee this week were not picked up. Reported by RFAs Vietnamese Service. Translated by Anna Vu. Written in English by Richard Finney TASHKENT -- Police in Uzbekistan's capital, Tashkent, have detained a group of alleged members of a banned Islamic movement. The Tashkent city police department said in a statement on January 26 that officers apprehended nearly 30 people suspected of being members of Katiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (Brigade of Monotheism and the Holy War), a group that was labeled as terrorist and banned in the Central Asian state in 2016. The statement did not reveal when exactly the group was taken into custody. According to the statement, the individuals were allegedly involved in propagating the teachings of the banned group to youth in Tashkent and other regions of the country. They are also accused of recruiting Uzbek nationals to the group's illegal armed units in Syria. Authorities in the predominantly Muslim former Soviet republic have said that thousands of Uzbek citizens have joined different Islamist militant groups in Syria and Iraq in recent years. KYIV -- Russia faces massive consequences if it chooses the path of aggression with Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, as he called on Moscow to engage in diplomacy to end a crisis brewing with Ukraine and the West. In an interview with RFE/RL on January 27, Blinken said Washington still doesn't know what the Kremlin's endgame is for Ukraine, or for its demands to rewrite Europes existing security structure. I maintain that the only person who can tell you what the Kremlin endgame is is [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin. I don't think anyone else knows. And he may not even know at this point because what he's done in the past, and what I believe animates the way he approaches things, is to create as many options as possible. And they run the gamut, Blinken said. The top U.S. diplomat spoke one day after the United States formally presented its written response to Russias ultimatums, released last month in the form of two draft treaties. The Russian demands have been accompanied by the deployment of more than 100,000 Russian troops to regions near Ukraines borders, along with some of Russias most sophisticated military hardware. The two documents amount to a wholesale restructuring of Europes security structure, calling for a moratorium on NATO expansion into former Soviet republics like Georgia and Ukraine, and a pullback of troops and weaponry in Eastern Europe to locations before NATO made its first major post-Cold War expansion in 1999. The proposals, which also call for new restrictions on the deployment of nuclear weaponry in Europe and other related issues, have been met largely with disapproval by the United States and its European allies. High Stakes Talks U.S., NATO, Russian, and other European diplomats met for three rounds of high stakes talks in Geneva, Brussels, and Vienna earlier this month, to try avert a new full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia. In addition to presenting the two draft proposals, Russian diplomats demanded a written response from the United States and NATO. On January 26, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow presented Washington's written response to the Russian Foreign Ministry. It wasnt immediately clear what the contents of the response contained. However, Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, appeared downbeat in his comments to Russian news agencies. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had the written remarks and would look at them. Of course, it will take some time to analyze them. Let's not rush to any conclusions," Peskov was quoted by the TASS news agency as saying. "I repeat once again, let's not rush into assessments, he told TASS. It takes time to analyze, and, in the end, for our president to formulate the appropriate position. Let's see how it will be. 'Two Paths' For Moscow In the interview, conducted via Skype from Washington, Blinken downplayed any divergence of opinion or conclusion between the United States and Ukraine over the seriousness of the Russian threat. In recent weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appeared to chafe over the tenor or dire nature of the U.S. warnings, and he has released two Ukrainian videos in which he called on people not to panic. Earlier this week, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that invasion was imminent. President Zelenskiy is right. No one should panic, and no one is, Blinken said. We will do everything we can to make clear to Moscow that it has two paths before it: the path of diplomacy and dialogue, to resolve differences peacefully, or the path of aggression, if that's what it chooses, and the massive consequences that will flow from that. We can see a massing of Russian forces on Ukraine borders-- the south, east, the north-- that is larger than at any time since 2014. And we're aware of plans to double the size of those forces on very, very short notice as well as efforts to destabilize Ukraine from within, he said. So we have to do everything that we're doing based on the facts, based on what we're seeing to make sure that we're prepared either way, he said. We're doing that in very close consultation and coordination with the government in Ukraine as well as with allies and partners. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia erupted in February 2014, when months of street protests culminated in violent clashes in Kyiv and the ouster of the countrys pro-Russian president. Shortly after, Russia moved to annex Ukraines Crimea Peninsula and began stoking a war in the eastern region known broadly as the Donbas. More than 13,200 people have been killed, and more than 1 million displaced. U.S. officials have given some signals about what possible punitive measures against Moscow are under consideration: for example, disconnecting Russia from the SWIFT system of global bank transfers or imposing an expanded ban on high-tech exports to Russia. The White House has also reportedly discussed increasing U.S. troops deployments to NATO allies close to the Russian border. Blinken declined to give details about what massive consequences would entail. And he declined to go into detail about the written U.S. response, saying: we have listened to the concerns that they've raised. We have shared very profound concerns of our own as well as those of allies and partners, throughout Europe. Diplomats have also tried to breathe new life into the Minsk Accords, the cease-fire deal that contains the groundwork for a final settlement in the Donbas. The deal has long been hamstrung by differing interpretations of its contents, and the process for implementing them. On January 26, diplomats from France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine met in Paris, and in a small, but positive step, agreed to meet again in mid-February in Berlin. Blinken endorsed the Minsk Accords, and the Normandy format of talks involving France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine, but he also suggested that Moscow was not negotiating in good faith. I don't think there's actually any real mystery: the requirements elaborated through basically three iterations are clear, he said. There are portions of sequencing in some cases where it's not spelled out, that has to be worked out. I think it's fair to say that, while neither side has implemented everything, or started to implement everything required, I think its fair to say by far Russia reneged on its agreements to a much greater extent than Ukraine has, Blinken said. Its implemented virtually nothing required of it in the agreements. Amid grumblings in Kyiv about whether U.S. rhetoric was sending jitters through Ukraines economy the currency, the hryvnya, is down more than 7 percent since December, and dipped further this week -- the U.S. State Department announced the evacuation of some relatives of its diplomats at the embassy in Kyiv while also urging U.S. citizens to make plans to leave the country. That appeared to catch Ukrainian officials caught off-guard. Ukraines Foreign Ministry called the evacuation premature. In a virtual town hall hosted by the U.S. Embassy on January 25, hundreds of U.S. citizens joined the call, with some angrily criticizing the embassy for what they said was a lack of information, and support in the face of the Russian threat. In the interview, Blinken defended the evacuation order. The vast majority of the people we asked to come home were family members, children, he said. I did that as a prudent step just to make sure that, if conflict happens, and it could happen on short notice, with little warning, that people were out of the way and protected, Blinken said. KYIV -- Five people have died and five more were wounded in a shooting spree at Ukraine's Yuzhmash machine-building factory in the eastern city of Dnipro. The Interior Ministry said on January 27 that a conscript, Artemiy Ryabchuk, opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle at a group of National Guard personnel before fleeing the site. Volodymyr Shylo of the State Bureau of Investigation told RFE/RL that Ryabchuk was eventually detained near a village in the Dnipro region, adding that the motive for the shooting was still unclear. Yuzhmash is a state facility that among other things produces spacecraft, rockets, and rocket-launching vehicles. Germany and the United States have warned they could target the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline running under the Baltic Sea should Russia invade Ukraine. A crisis that has arisen around a buildup of tens of thousands of Russian troops near its border with Ukraine, seen as a possible prelude to an invasion of the former Soviet republic, has put renewed focus on the new gas pipeline, with the United States and its Western allies vowing to impose crushing economic sanctions on Russia if it invades its neighbor. The 1,225-kilometer link from Russia to Germany is ready to start operations but still awaiting regulatory approval. The energy project would double gas flow to Germany while bypassing traditional transit nation Ukraine, which relies on existing pipelines for income. "We are working on a strong package of sanctions" with Western allies, and it covers several aspects "including Nord Stream 2," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told parliament on January 27, promising serious consequences for Russia if it were to attack. The warning came after the German ambassador to Washington, Emily Haber, tweeted that "nothing will be off the table, including Nord Stream 2" if Russia uses energy as a weapon or if there is another violation of Ukraines sovereignty." The matter is expected to be high on the agenda of a planned meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the White House on February 7. Scholz's visit will provide "an opportunity to affirm the deep and enduring ties between the United States and Germany," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on January 27, adding that the two leaders will discuss "their shared commitment to both ongoing diplomacy and joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine." Major European businesses have invested heavily in the $11-billion energy project, which has faced resistance within the European Union, from the United States, as well as Ukraine on the grounds it would increase Europe's energy dependence on Russia -- roughly half the EU's gas currently comes from Russia -- and deny Ukraine transit fees, at a time of heightened tension with the West. Environmentalists have also questioned how Nord Stream 2 would fit in with Berlin's efforts to cut emissions and tackle man-made climate change. "If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward," U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland later told reporters. "We are unified, unified in our preference for diplomacy. But we are also unified in our resolve that if Moscow rejects our offer of dialogue, the costs must be swift and severe," said Nuland, the State Department's number three official. On January 26, the United States rejected Russia's key demand to bar Ukraine and Georgia from joining NATO at some point, while offering instead a "serious diplomatic path" out of a crisis. The Kremlin, which denies any plan to attack Ukraine, said it would not "rush into assessments" while it was still assessing the proposals. Russia has said it sees NATO as a security threat and is demanding legal guarantees that the Western military alliance will not further expand eastward. With reporting by AFP and Reuters Hackers gained access to several Iranian state television channels and broadcast pictures of an exiled dissident group, as well as a message saying Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should be executed. According to the state TV reports on January 27, the faces of Masud Rajavi and his wife, Maryam, were suddenly superimposed on a regular 3 p.m. news broadcast as a male voice chanted, Salute to Rajavi, death to Khamenei." The Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) is the main faction within the exiled opposition umbrella organization, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The opposition group, which has not taken responsibility for the attack, seeks to overthrow Iran's theocratic regime. Masud Rajavi has not been seen in public in almost two decades and is presumed to have died. His wife, Maryam, now runs the MEK. State broadcaster IRIB said in a statement that the hack lasted about 10 seconds. "Our colleagues are investigating the incident. This is an extremely complex attack and only the owners of this technology could exploit and damage the back doors and features that are installed on the systems," IRIB Deputy Chief Ali Dadi told the state TV channel IRINN. "Similar disruptions happened to the Koran Channel, Radio Javan and Radio Payam," he added, referring to other state-affiliated broadcast channels. Iran has been targeted in the past by a series of cyberattacks such as one in October that disrupted the sale of heavily subsidized gasoline. Iran has blamed such attacks on the United States and Israel. The Islamic republic is due to kick off official celebrations early next month to mark the 43rd anniversary of the revolution that toppled U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. With reporting by Reuters and AP Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned any direct talks with the United States in 2018, soon after then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed crippling sanctions against Tehran. But earlier this month, Khamenei seemed to give tacit approval for possible direct talks with the United States, saying that negotiating with the enemy did not mean surrendering. Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on January 24 appeared to confirm Tehrans openness to face-to-face talks. He said Iran would do so if it meant reaching "good agreement to salvage the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Irans Supreme National Security Council, echoed Amir-Abdollahians comments by leaving the door open for direct negotiations with Washington. Contact with the American delegation in Vienna has been through informal written exchanges, and there was no need, and will be no need, for more contact, so far, Shamkhani said on Twitter on January 25. This communication method can only be replaced by other methods when a good agreement is available." Multiple rounds of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in the Austrian capital, Vienna, to revive the deal have been marred by delays and disputes. Washington has repeatedly said it is ready to hold direct talks with Iranian officials, saying it would be more productive. But the suggestion of direct talks with Washington has provoked a backlash from some hard-liners in Iran, where many officials refer to the United States as the Great Satan and warn that it cannot be trusted. In a statement published on January 26, a group of clerics and students in the holy Shiite city of Qom, a center of power in Iran, blasted Amir-Abdollahians strange comments. The statement said the minister had upset the supporters of the establishment and the revolution. It is a blessed phenomenon that the countrys officials have finally [realized] the need for direct negotiations and prefer peoples interests over revolutionary gesture." The statement warned Amir-Abdollahian not to repeat the naivety and mistakes of former President Hassan Rohani, a relative moderate, and his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who negotiated the nuclear deal with the United States. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. The statement said the "revolutionary government" of ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi "was not supposed to repeat the same mistakes. Unfortunately, we are surprised to see that you are following the same wrong path, and youre officially playing ball with the United States," it said. You are expected to correct this irrational statement as soon as possible, the statement added, suggesting that parliament should act. Unfortunately, we are surprised to see that you are following the same wrong path, and youre officially playing ball with the United States." The ultra-hard-line Iranian daily Kayhan also blasted Amir-Abdollahian. On January 26, its front page read: Direct negotiations with the U.S. is the enemys trick to escape lifting sanctions. Kayhan said the foreign ministers comments could give the impression that Tehran has backed down, insisting that the the Islamic republic has the upper hand in the negotiations. Ali Vaez, the director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, said it was not clear if Tehran has decided to negotiate directly with the United States. It appears that the Iranian establishment is reaching the conclusion that indirect talks are not the solution, but it is not clear if they have made a decision and are willing to take this step now or whether theyre preparing the ground for such a step in the future, Vaez said in an interview with the BBC. Inside Iran, others were supportive of Amir-Abdollahians comments, saying direct talks with the United States were long overdue. It is a blessed phenomenon that the countrys officials have finally [realized] the need for direct negotiations and prefer peoples interests over revolutionary gesture, former lawmaker Ali Motahari said on Twitter on January 26. Amid the backlash, Amir-Abdollahian briefed lawmakers on the nuclear talks on January 26. He said there has so far been no direct contact with U.S. negotiators. The minister was quoted as saying that some progress had been made in the talks. Iran is currently negotiating directly with the nuclear deal's other signatories: Germany, France, Britain, China, and Russia. Trumps decision to withdraw Washington from the nuclear deal and reimpose harsh sanctions devastated the Iranian economy. Tehran responded by gradually exceeding the limits imposed by the pact on its nuclear activities. After assuming office in January 2020, President Joe Biden said he was willing to rejoin the pact if Iran returned to full compliance. But negotiations between Tehran and world powers that started in April in Vienna were put on hold in June after the Islamic republic elected Raisi as president. Since the talks resumed in early December after a five-month hiatus, the negotiations have been protracted and inconclusive. Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russian envoy at the talks, said on January 24 that direct talks between Tehran and Washington at an advanced stage of the negotiations could be useful. Last month, the U.S. envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, said that U.S. negotiators are willing to meet their Iranian counterparts at any time and any place. We think its far superior to indirect negotiations. And were dealing with something this complex, with so much mistrust, with so much potential for misunderstanding, Malley said in an interview with Al-Jazeera. Mohammad Fazeli, a prominent Iranian sociologist, had taught at Tehrans Shahid Beheshti university for seven years before he was dismissed in September. Fazelis dismissal only became public in recent days when reports emerged of two other academics being fired. The firings have raised fears of a new purge of dissenting academics in Iran, where the clerical establishment has dismissed and even imprisoned prominent university professors on political grounds. Academics working in the field of humanities and the social sciences have been particularly targeted. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has previously accused professors working in those fields of promoting doubts and uncertainty. After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, authorities instigated a mass purge of Irans universities, firing hundreds of professors and altering curriculums to promote Islamic values. Under former hard-line President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, who was in office from 2005-13, dozens of professors were forced to retire. In recent years, academics with dissenting views and those attending events outside the country have been pressured by authorities and sentenced to prison. The dismissal of three prominent professors has led to a barrage of criticism, with Iranians taking to social media and issuing open letters and online statements to vent their anger. Some described the dismissals as political, blaming the moves on Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. Other Iranians said their sackings would aggravate the countrys brain drain. A huge brain drain took place after the revolution and a wave of emigration followed the controversial 2009 presidential election, which was accompanied by increased state repression of the political opposition. Evidence suggests that those forces who are opposed to the humanities and social sciences and who believe the country can be run without these sciences have re-emerged, Seyed Hossein Serajzadeh, the president of Irans Sociological Association, told the Shargh daily on January 22. Serajzadeh described Fazeli as a hard-working individual and lauded what he said was his exceptional work. Fazeli worked at the Center for Strategic Studies, the research arm of the presidents office, under former President Hassan Rohani, a relative moderate. Tehran-based based sociologist Saeed Madani, who was recently banned from traveling outside the country, told RFE/RLs Radio Farda that the elimination process of academics was as old as the Islamic republic. [During] the cultural revolution, some of the professors who were members of universities scientific boards were fired solely because of their views and despite their outstanding knowledge and abilities, Madani said, adding that clerics have often viewed academics as their rivals. Fazeli posted a cryptic message on social media in which he appeared to criticize his dismissal. One of the worst moments in the history of a nation is a moment or period in which nothing is surprising, he said in a January 10 post on Twitter. In the face of surprise or wrongdoing, people ask: Did you expect anything else? Two other professors who have been widely praised for their work were also fired recently. Arash Abazari, a philosopher who received his doctoral degree from Johns Hopkins University, was sacked from Tehrans Sharif University. Meanwhile, Reza Omidi, a social policy expert, lost his job at Tehran University. Both have not commented publicly about their dismissals. It was unclear when Abazari and Omidi were removed from their positions, although their dismissals were only made public in recent days. Ebrahim Azadegan, the head of Sharif Universitys philosophy department, told Ensafnews on January 22 that Abazari was apparently fired over an open letter he allegedly signed in 2010. Azadegan did not provide any details about the letter, but he said Abazari had not signed it. Azadegan said he believes pressure from a former member of Irans Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, a state body that makes decisions about academic and cultural issues, was behind Abazari's dismissal. The reason for Omidis firing was not clear. Fazeli praised him as one of the top three experts in his field and called on authorities to transparently explain why he had been removed. Bijan Abdolkarimi, a philosophy professor, was dismissed from Azad University in Tehran in September. Abdolkarimi said he was removed from his position over a 2019 speech that university staff interpreted as supportive of the mass street protests that followed Ahmadinejads disputed reelection in 2009. Widespread criticism of his dismissal led the university to review its decision to fire him. But it was not clear if he would be allowed to teach again. Prominent journalist Abbas Abdi said Iranian authorities were firing academics to rid educational facilities of their views. But he said such moves were likely to backfire. Thinkers are more influential in the public sphere than in universities, said Abdi, adding that sacking academics only added to the legitimacy of their ideas. Radio Farda reporter Mehdi Tahbaz contributed to this story. NUR-SULTAN -- Lawmakers in Kazakhstan have proposed stripping former President Nursultan Nazarbaev of more of his lifetime privileges after deadly protests swept across the country, in part fueled by anger over the accumulation of vast wealth by the former leader's family. The Kazakh parliament's upper chamber, the Senate, on January 27 approved a motion by the lower house to deprive the former president of his right to be lifetime chairman of the influential Security Council and the Assembly of Kazakhstan's People. It also added a proposal to revoke Nazarbaev's lifetime right to "coordinate the main direction of Kazakhstan's domestic and foreign policies." After announcing his resignation in March 2019 and leaving Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev in his stead, Nazarbaev retained most of his political influence in the oil-rich, Central Asian country by enjoying his almost limitless powers as "elbasy," or leader of the nation. But protests earlier this month in the remote town of Zhanaozen over a sudden fuel-price hike quickly spread across Kazakhstan, with much of the protesters' anger directed at Nazarbaev, who had ruled Kazakhstan since 1989. In his first-ever public criticism of Nazarbaev on January 11, Toqaev said that under his predecessor's leadership, many lucrative businesses and extremely rich people had appeared in Kazakhstan and it was now time for the ordinary people to receive what they deserved. Since then, a growing number of Nazarbaev's close relatives have lost their official posts as the government moved to purge or squeeze members of the ex-president's extended family. In the wake of the protests, Toqaev, Nazarbaev's handpicked successor, claimed that Almaty was attacked by "20,000 terrorists," issued a shoot-to-kill-without-warning order, and invited troops from the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization to enter the country. No officials have given direct evidence of any "terrorists" being involved in the unrest, nor have they commented on what exactly their demands were. Kazakh authorities say that 227 people were killed during the unrest, including 19 law enforcement officers, and 12,000 others were detained. Human rights groups insist that the number of people killed during the violence may be much bigger, as scores of people remain missing, and claiming that many peaceful demonstrators and persons who had nothing to do with the protesters were killed by police and military personnel following Toqaev's "shoot-to-kill-without-warning" order. The European Union has unveiled a proposal to ban Russian oil imports by the end of the year, impose more banking sanctions against Moscow, and cut off some Russian broadcasters in Europe saying that the Kremlin has to pay dearly for its aggression Ukraine. With Russia intensifying its attacks on eastern Ukraine on May 4, the EU said that its sixth round of sanctions against Moscow will comprise phasing out the importation of Russian crude and refined oil products by the end of the year despite pushback from some of the bloc's members, including Slovakia and Hungary. "We will phase out Russian supply of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year," the head of the bloc's executive European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. "This will be a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined," she said, adding that "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin must pay a high price for his brutal aggression." Von der Leyen, however, conceded that getting unanimity on oil sanctions will not be easy. The commission chief, however, conceded that getting unanimity on oil sanctions will not be easy. The measures require approval from all 27 EU countries to take effect and soon after von der Leyen's announcement, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria announced that they would seek exemptions from the embargo voicing concerns about energy security. Hungary and Slovakia are heavily dependent on Russian energy imports. The Czech Republic, meanwhile, said it would seek a temporary exemption period of two or three years in order for pipeline capacities to be increased. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said EU countries blocking an oil embargo would be "complicit" in Russia's crimes in Ukraine. Whatever their arguments are, if they oppose (the) oil embargo, it means one thing: they play on the Russian side. They share responsibility for everything Russia does in Ukraine, full stop, Kuleba said in a video posted on Twitter. Von der Leyen also proposed that Sberbank, Russias largest bank, and two other major banks be disconnected from the SWIFT international banking payment system. The EU will also ban three Russian state-owned broadcasters, she said, without naming the channels directly. "They will not be allowed to distribute their content anymore in the European Union, in whatever shape or form, be it on cable, via satellite, on the Internet or via smartphone apps," von der Leyen told EU lawmakers. According to a document seen by RFE/RL, the package also contains a list of 58 individuals sanctioned over Russia's military action in Ukraine that includes the Patriarch of Russia's Orthodox Church, a close ally of Putin's. Von der Leyen also proposed launching a recovery package for Ukraine to help it rebuild after the war. "This package should bring massive investment to meet the needs and the necessary reforms," von der Leyen said. "Eventually, it will pave the way for Ukraine's future inside the European Union." The European Union accounts for nearly a half of Russia's crude and refined oil products. But the Kremlin, in a first reaction to Brussels' announcement, put on a brave face, warning that the embargo is a "double-edged sword" and that EU consumers will pay the price. "The cost of these sanctions to the citizens of Europe will grow by the day," spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on May 4. Peskov said the Kremlin was looking at "various options" for its response to the new sanctions. In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden said he was "open" to imposing more sanctions on Russia and would be discussing measures with allies from the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations in the coming days. On the battlefront, Moscow deployed 22 battalions near Izyum, an eastern city, in a bid to push into the Donbas region, the British Defense Ministry said in its daily bulletin on May 4, adding that Russia's apparent goal is capturing the cities of Kramatorsk and Severodonetsk in the east, "despite struggling to break through Ukrainian defenses." A Russian battalion usually consists of 700-800 soldiers. According to the British intelligence bulletin, capturing the two cities "would consolidate Russian military control" of northeastern Ukraine. In neighboring Belarus, the armed forces began "surprise" large-scale drills on May 4 to test their combat readiness, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said. Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said there was "heavy fighting" at the Azovstal plant on May 4 and said city officials had lost contact with Ukrainian forces inside. Boychenko told Ukrainian television that Russian forces were attacking with heavy artillery, tanks, and warplanes, and said warships off the coast were also involved. Russian troops are on the territory of the plant, according to David Arakhamia, a member of the Ukrainian delegation that has held now-stalled peace talks with Russia. "Attempts to storm the plant continue for the second day. Russian troops are already on the territory of Azovstal," Arakhamia said, citing the commander of the Azov Regiment, which is defending the plant with other Ukrainian troops. He contradicted Boychenko, saying Ukrainian authorities have contact with the defenders at the plant. The commander announced the storming of the plant by Russian troops the day before and called again for the evacuation of civilians. Boychenko said on May 3 that more than 200 civilians were still holed up with fighters in the sprawling plant. In his video address, Kuleba denied that Azovstal was under Russian control. On May 4, Peskov denied Ukrainian reports that Russian troops had stormed the Avozstal steel plant soon after the latest group of civilians made it out of the sprawling complex. "There is no storming," Peskov told reporters, contradicting claims by Ukrainian soldiers inside the steelworks. "The order was publicly given by the supreme commander-in-chief to cancel the assault," Peskov said, referring to a statement Putin made on April 21 that called off a direct assault on Azovstal because it would result in too many Russian casualties. Instead, forces should seal off Azovstal so tightly that "even a fly can't get out," Putin said. With reporting by RFE/RL's Rikard Jozwiak, Reuters, AP, and AFP Russia's Supreme Court has shortened the sentence of one of two former neo-Nazi activists convicted and jailed for their involvement in the killing of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in 2009. The court on January 27 said it had dropped charges of illegal weapon trafficking and document forgery against Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgenia Khasis and cut Khasis's 18-year prison term for assisting in the murder by one year. Tikhonov's life sentence was left unchanged. In December, the Supreme Court annulled its previous decision to uphold the sentences after the European Court of Human Rights ruled in February that the 2011 trial of the two former members of the neo-Nazi group known as Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists (BORN), was not fair. The court ordered a review of the case. Khasis's lawyer, Dmitry Agranovsky, said on January 27 that the Supreme Court's ruling will be appealed at the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Markelov and Baburova, who were known for crusading against ultranationalist violence, were shot dead in broad daylight near the Kremlin in 2009. In 2011, Tikhonov was found guilty of murdering Markelov and Baburova and sentenced to life in prison. Khasis was handed an 18-year prison term for assisting Tikhonov. Markelov had represented investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was murdered in 2006, as well as civilians in the North Caucasus region of Chechnya who were abused by Russian troops. The killings sparked accusations that the Kremlin was not doing enough to hunt down the attackers of activists and journalists at the time. Based on reporting by Meduza, TASS, Novaya Gazeta, and Interfax German prosecutors say they have arrested a Russian scientist accused of spying for Moscow, alleging he passed on classified information about Europe's Ariane rocket program while working at a German university. Federal prosecutors said on January 27 that the suspect, identified only as Ilnur N., was a scientific researcher at an unnamed university in the state of Bavaria and held "regular meetings" with a senior Russian intelligence officer stationed in Germany. He was arrested in June 2021, they added. The suspect "passed on information on research projects in the field of aerospace technology, in particular the various development stages of the European launcher Ariane," prosecutors said, referring to the Ariane program, which consists of a series of transportation rockets designed to shuttle heavy loads, including satellites, into space. The announcement of the arrest comes amid heightened tensions between Moscow and the West over the buildup of troops at Russia's border with Ukraine. It is also the latest in a series of alleged cases of Russian spy activity in Germany, which is considered a major center for Russian intelligence operations. In December, a court in Berlin convicted a Russian man of fatally shooting a former Chechen militant in Berlin on the Kremlin's orders in 2019. The court ruled that the murder was an act of "retaliation" against the 40-year-old victim, an ethnic Chechen of Georgian nationality, for being a Kremlin opponent. The verdict sparked a diplomatic tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats by both countries. With reporting by Der Spiegel, Reuters, and AFP When asked about a possible Russian military invasion of Ukraine, residents in the southern port city of Odesa expressed a mixture of views -- from skepticism to anger and defiance. In interviews on January 26, some said they were ready to fight, while others believe there will be no war. Russia has said that it received "no positive response" from the United States over its main security concerns in a standoff over Ukraine, though room exists to continue dialogue over several issues. As expected, the United States and NATO on January 26 rejected Moscow's demand to permanently shut the door on Ukraine ever joining the alliance and said allied deployments of troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe are nonnegotiable. However, in a letter to Moscow the United States laid out what it called a serious diplomatic path" to resolve the Ukraine crisis, while repeating threats of unprecedented economic sanctions should Russian further invade Ukraine. The focus is now on how President Vladimir Putin will respond to the U.S. offer for more diplomacy at a time Russias military continues to build up its capabilities near Ukraine and in its ally, Belarus, creating growing concern of a possible attack. Russia denies it is planning to attack. Several rounds of diplomacy in European capitals this month between the West and Moscow failed to reach a breakthrough, although the sides have shown a willingness to continue talks. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the West was committed to maintaining NATO's "open-door" policy while offering a "principled and pragmatic" evaluation of the concerns that Moscow has raised. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on January 27 that the U.S. response showed no "willingness" to accommodate Russia's concerns and left "little ground for optimism." But he added that there always are prospects for continuing a dialogue, its in the interests of both us and the Americans. In separate comments, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia's main demand -- that Ukraine will not join NATO -- had been ignored, but that it would be possible to move forward on other issues. "There was no positive response to the main question," Lavrov said in a statement, but "there is a response which gives hope for the start of a serious conversation on secondary questions." Although the contents of the U.S. letter were not made public, Lavrov was possibly referring to previous U.S. suggestions that the sides engage on issues such as arms control, confidence-building measures, and limits on the size and scope of military exercises. Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden held a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to again reaffirm the readiness of the United States along with its allies to respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine. Biden also told Zelenskiy the United States is exploring additional macroeconomic support to help Ukraines financial situation, which has been battered by concerns over an outbreak of war, the White House said. "Had a long phone conversation with POTUS," Zelenskiy tweeted. "Discussed recent diplomatic efforts on de-escalation and agreed on joint actions for the future. Thanked President Joe Biden for the ongoing military assistance. Possibilities for financial support to Ukraine were also discussed." In another development, the United States has called for a public meeting of the UN Security Council on January 31 to discuss Russia's military buildup as "a matter of crucial importance to international peace and security." More than 100,000 Russian troops are deployed on the Ukrainian border and Russia is engaging in other destabilizing acts aimed at Ukraine, posing a clear threat to international peace and security and the UN Charter, U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said in a statement on January 27. Moscow's reaction to the U.S. letter came as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the number of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine continues to grow. Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops, according to Western intelligence, near the border with Ukraine and has been holding a series of land and sea military exercises. Last week Ukrainian intelligence officials put the number at 127,000. NATO this week said it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea and Eastern European region, and the U.S. ordered 8,500 troops on high alert for potential deployment to Europe to reassure NATO allies on the eastern flank. Meanwhile, the United States and several of its NATO allies have been sending military supplies and weaponry to Ukraine, including anti-tank missiles, to help Kyiv blunt any Russian incursion. Moscow has been backing separatist fighters in an ongoing war in eastern Ukraine that has claimed more than 13,200 lives since 2014, the same year Russian illegally annexed Crimea. After meeting in Paris on January 27, advisers to the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany reaffirmed in a joint statement their commitment to uphold a cease-fire agreed in the Minsk accords aimed at putting an end to the conflict in the east. Although there was no breakthrough in the talks, held under the so-called Normandy format, the countries promised to meet for new talks in two weeks in Berlin. Kuleba said it was a sign Russia is likely to remain on a diplomatic path at least for the short term. "The good news is that advisers agreed to meet in Berlin in two weeks, which means that Russia for the next two weeks is likely to remain on the diplomatic track," he said following a meeting with his Danish counterpart Jeppe Kofod. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to hold a phone call with Putin on January 28 in which he is expected to seek clarification over Russia's intentions. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa The United States is calling for the immediate release of all people who are being unjustly detained in Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, citing dozens of reported abductions and arbitrary detentions in recent weeks. "In addition to cases within Chechnya, there have been numerous instances of individuals being detained in other parts of the Russian Federation and forcibly transferred to Chechnya, State Department's spokesman Ned Price said in a statement on January 27. Price cited the case Zarema Yangulbayeva, aka Zarema Musayeva, the mother of human rights lawyer Abubakar Yangulbayev, who was taken from her apartment in Nizhny Novgorod on the evening of January 20 by masked men who introduced themselves as Chechen police officers. Russian and international human rights groups have for years accused Chechnya's Kremlin-backed authoritarian ruler Ramzan Kadyrov of overseeing grave human rights abuses including abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and the persecution of the LGBT community. Kremlin critics say Putin has turned a blind eye to the abuses and violations carried out in Chechnya because he relies on the former rebel commander to control separatist sentiment and violence in a region that went through two devastating post-Soviet wars and an Islamist insurgency. Price said the United States was troubled by continuing reports of abductions and arbitrary detentions carried out by authorities in Chechnya, including dozens of such cases reported in recent weeks targeting the relatives of Chechen human rights defenders and dissidents. On January 21, Kadyrov said Yangulbayeva, 52, faces a "real prison sentence for attacking a law enforcement officer" and that Chechen authorities "will take care of" her son, while her entire family could find themselves "either in jail or underground." Amnesty International described Yangulbayeva's detention as a "kidnapping" and urged Russia's federal authorities to act on the "lawlessness" that had "spilled out" of Russia's North Caucasus region. Abubakar Yangulbayev told RFE/RL that his mother's lawyer has been unable to visit her and was not allowed to be present at a court hearing in Chechnya that decided on her pretrial arrest. TASHKENT -- Uzbek Muslim blogger Fozilxoja Orifxojaev, known for his articles criticizing the Central Asian state's government for its restrictive religious policies, has been sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison over a post on Facebook. The judiciary press service in Tashkent said the 41-year-old blogger was sentenced on January 26 after the Olmazor district court found him guilty of "distributing or displaying materials containing a threat to public security and public order using mass media, telecommunications, or the Internet." Orifxojaev was arrested in June 2021 on petty-hooliganism charges over a heated confrontation in public with a pro-government blogger and cleric. Orifxojaev was sentenced to 15 days in jail for that but he was not released from custody after serving his time and instead was charged additionally with threatening public security over a Facebook post in early March 2021 in which Orifxojaev discussed whether it was appropriate for a Muslim to congratulate non-Muslims on their religious holidays. Human rights groups have urged the Uzbek authorities to drop all charges against Orifxojaev and release him, calling the case against him politically motivated. Last week, the Mirobod district court in Tashkent sentenced another government critic, blogger Miraziz Bazarov, to three years of parole-like restricted freedom for slander. Administrator Christian Salviejo, pictured left, with some of the other staff at Bella Sera. Roanoke Rapids, NC (27870) Today Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 59F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low 59F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Rutland, VT (05701) Today Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Danvers, MA (01923) Today Cloudy and damp with rain early...then becoming partly cloudy. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Cloudy and damp with rain early...then becoming partly cloudy. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. Low 47F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Sanford, NC (27330) Today Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 60F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. A new study by Stanford University recently revealed the methane that leaks from natural-gas burning stoves within the United States homes has a climate impact compared to the carbon dioxide released from approximately 500,000 gasoline-powered vehicles. As indicated in a Phys.org report, humans for millennia, humans have cooked with fire, although "it may be time for a change." Appliances run by natural gas are warming the planet in two ways. First, it generates carbon dioxide by burning natural gas as a fuel, and second, leaking unburned methane into the atmosphere. Essentially, the extra warming coming from home methane leaks contributes approximately a third as much warming as the CO2 produced by combustion of the natural gas of the stove, and at times, exposes users to respiratory disease-stimulating contaminants. ALSO READ: Sea Ice in Labrador Sea is Thinning Fast: Should We Worry? Impact on Indoor and Climate Air Quality Findings of the study, published in Environmental Science & Technology, come as legislators in several municipalities in the US, as well as at least one state, New York, in particular, weigh prohibiting natural gas hookups from the new structure. According to the study's lead author Eric Lebel, who performed the research as a graduate student in the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences at Stanford, surprisingly, "There are very few measurements" of the manner natural gas is escaping into the air from inside homes and buildings through leaks, as well as incomplete combustion from appliances. Perhaps, he explained, it is the part of natural gas emissions they understand the least about, and it can have a huge effect on both indoor and climate air quality. He added this is an overlooked contributor to a growing problem. Methane's Global Warming Potential CO2 may have been more abundant in the atmosphere, the global warming potential of methane is roughly 86 times as great over a two-decade period and at least 25 times as great as a hundred years following its release. In addition, methane is threatening air quality as well, by increasing the tropospheric ozone's concentration, exposure to which is causing approximately one million premature fatalities each year globally because of respiratory diseases. The relative concentration of Methane has grown more than double as quickly as that of CO2 since the start of the Industrial Revolution due to human human-driven emissions. Whereas pipeline leaks of natural gas, which is over 90 percent methane, have been examined thoroughly, natural gas-burning cooking appliances have been given somewhat little attention. Use of Hood and Ventilation Helps A similar report from The Washington Post via the MSN News specified that over 40 million households, or more than one-third of the American homes, cook using gas. Unlike other gas appliances like space and water heaters usually placed away from living quarters, this study revealed cooking appliances are directly exposing people to their emissions, including formaldehyde, nitric oxides, and carbon monoxide, among others that can trigger coughs, wheezing, difficulty breathing and asthma, occasionally leading to hospitalization. Essentially, the use of hood and ventilation can help lessen concentrations of nitrogen oxides, as well as other co-produced pollutants in the kitchen atmosphere, although studies reveal that home cooks on average are using hoods for kitchen ventilation only 25 to 40 percent of the time. Related information about the impact of the gas stoves on climate change is shown on GlobalWitness's YouTube video below: RELATED ARTICLES: Increased Arctic Lightning Strikes Sets Off More Wildfires, Carbon Emissions Check out more news and information on Environment & Climate on Science Times. A national gun advocacy group sued the city of San Jose over a new ordinance requiring firearm owners to purchase liability insurance and pay an annual fee, calling it a tax intended to suppress gun ownership. The City Council passed its first-in-the-nation measure on Tuesday, saying that fee revenues would be invested in strategies to reduce gun violence. In a statement, Mayor Sam Liccardo described the ordinance as a constitutionally compliant path to mitigate the unnecessary suffering from gun harm in our community. But representatives of the National Association for Gun Rights whose legal arm, the National Foundation for Gun Rights, filed the lawsuit denounced the new rule for placing an undue burden on roughly 55,000 gun owners in San Jose. Since the ordinance applies to firearms kept at home, it would charge all law-abiding owners of guns for home and self-defense to pay for the harms caused by criminals who use unregistered guns to commit acts of violence, attorneys for the gun rights group said in their lawsuit, filed the day the ordinance passed. It seeks an injunction to bar the San Jose officials from enforcing the ordinance, a declaratory judgment that the rule violates the U.S. and California Constitutions and San Joses City Charter. We promised we would sue the city of San Jose if they actually passed this ridiculous tax on the right to keep and bear arms, and now were fulfilling that promise, Dudley Brown, president of the National Association for Gun Rights, said in statement. The associations policy director, Hannah Hill, called the ordinance tyrannical and said it would set an ugly precedent for gun control laws all across the nation. Addressing reporters on Wednesday, Liccardo seemed unfazed by the lawsuit. 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. Weve reviewed the complaint, he said. Theres certainly nothing surprising in it. He expressed confidence the city would emerge from this litigation with an ordinance that survives constitutional scrutiny. Tamarah Prevost, a partner at the legal firm Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy working pro bono to represent the city, said that although the Second Amendment protects individuals rights to own guns, it does not require the public to pay the cost of gun violence. Gunfire kills or wounds more than 200 people each year in San Jose, according to a report published by the Maryland-based Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in November, a time when city officials were still weighing the gun fee proposal. The report presented a grim snapshot, indicating that on average, the city sees 58 deaths a year from firearms, 28 of them self-inflicted. Nearly a third of people who are injured by gunshots die, the report said. The wrenching human toll comes with an economic cost, as well: annually, the city spends nearly $8 million responding to shootings. Rachel Swan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rswan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rachelswan The Supreme Court appears ready to narrow the scope of the Clean Water Act, eliminating protections for many inland streams and wetlands that feed rivers, lakes and bays. But California is also ready, thanks to former President Donald Trump. When Trump tried to roll back federal regulation of inland waterways toward the end of his term, California stepped in with new pollution controls designed to protect those waters within the states borders regulations that would largely fill the gap the Supreme Court seems poised to create by mid-2023. The state has regulatory authority to protect its own waters, even if there is a reduction in federal protection, said Rachel Zwillinger, water policy adviser for the advocacy group Defenders of Wildlife. California is really well-positioned to continue to protect its resources. The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear the case of an Idaho couple, Chantell and Michael Sackett, who first sought in 2007 to build a home on their property but were told they needed a Clean Water Act permit because part of the property rested on wetlands that fed nearby Priest Lake. At issue in the case is whether the 1972 federal anti-pollution law covers the plentiful wetlands and seasonal waterways that flow into standing waters such as rivers and lakes. The Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that the Clean Water Act protected all waters, including intermittently flowing streams and wetlands, that had a significant connection to navigable waterways. But four justices, led by the late Antonin Scalia, endorsed a narrower interpretation covering only waters with a continuous surface connection to a river, lake or bay. The current court, which will hear the case in the term that starts in October, appears more closely aligned to Scalias views on the limits of government regulatory powers. For 50 years, the Clean Water Act has helped to ensure that waters like those in the 75,000-square-mile San Francisco Bay-delta watershed are cleaner, safer and healthier, said Eric Buescher, an attorney with San Francisco Baykeeper. The majority on the Supreme Court now seems poised to wipe away the federal protections that currently exist for large portions of those wetlands and tributaries. Thats how the law should be interpreted, said attorney Damien Schiff of the Pacific Legal Foundation, the property rights organization that represents the Sacketts. Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle 2019 The scope of the federal law, according to its text, is limited to waters of the United States and does not expressly or directly grant any authority to regulate wetlands, much less nearly all wetlands, Schiff said by email. That interpretation, he added, would preserve traditional state and local authority over water quality and land use and allow California to regulate all waters within the state as it sees fit. The state moved in that direction after Trumps Environmental Protection Agency announced plans in February 2019 to limit clean-water regulation along the lines of Scalias 2006 opinion. The U.S. Geological Survey said the action would have eliminated federal protection for more than half of all wetlands in the United States. The rollback was halted by federal courts, including a judge in San Francisco who blocked proposed development in more than 1,300 acres of salt ponds in Redwood City. And the California Water Resources Control Board adopted regulations, in the works for the previous decade, that applied the federal standards to all waters in the state, while maintaining controls over groundwaters that are not covered by federal law. A long-standing state law, the Porter-Cologne Act, authorizes the state water board and nine regional boards to protect all of Californias waters and wetlands, regardless of navigability or their connection to navigability, said Edward Ortiz, a state board spokesperson. Among the waterways protected by the states rules, said Zwillinger of Defenders of Wildlife, are ephemeral headwater streams that originate in mountain areas, driven by rain and snowfalls, and ultimately flow into rivers and the bay-delta watershed, providing what she described as an important source of water. She said the regulations also cover vernal pools, ponds that fill up in the rainy season and serve wildlife in the Central Valley. These resources supply water for drinking water systems, serve hundreds of millions of people (nationwide), provide opportunities for fishing and swimming, help filter pollution, and absorb flood waters so communities are safer, said Jon Devine, a lawyer with the Natural Resources Defense Council. But there are limits to Californias ability to police its waterways. Even if a state seeks to protect its own waters, Devine said, all of the lower 48 states share waters with their neighbors, and many do not allow regulation beyond federal controls. If their neighbors want to encourage a big polluting industry in their state and are willing to let them discharge into newly deregulated waters, that can put downstream states at risk. 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. Zwillinger expressed similar concerns. Millions of birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway stop over in California each year, she said, referring to the north-south path for migratory fowl. Destruction of wetlands and waterways in other states can impact the entire flyway and create problems for the shorebirds and waterfowl that stop in California. The state also needs resources to oversee waters now regulated by the federal government, said S.F. Baykeepers Buescher. While the Clean Water Act allows suits by private citizens such as the suit his group filed to preserve the Redwood City salt ponds no such suits are authorized by California law, he said. Legislation that would have allowed individuals to sue for enforcement of the state water laws, and sought to increase environmental and labor protections in California that the Trump administration had removed nationwide, was approved by state lawmakers in 2019 but vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. While rejecting the legislative mandate in SB1 by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, Newsom said California has been deploying every tool at the states disposal to safeguard our natural resources, environmental protections and workers and would continue to do so. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When the notice that he owed $860 to San Mateo County came in the mail in August 2021, Anthony McCree, 28, had no idea what it was about. Hed finally gotten housing and some temporary work after a period of being unhoused, and was working to rebuild his life and his credit. How am I gonna pay this on top of all my other responsibilities? he remembers thinking about the hefty bill more than half his monthly rent. This is going to put me in the hole even more and keep me from getting financially stable. Eventually McCree discovered that the bill dated back to April 2019 when he was on the way to a job interview at San Francisco International Airport. He had exited BART at the airport station through the emergency gate so he could use the Add Fare machine to put more money on his Clipper card. A police officer had detained him but let him go. He says the officer didnt hand him a ticket for fare evasion, and because McCree was homeless at the time, he didnt get one in the mail either. The maximum base fine for fare evasion is $250. But the original fine had ballooned because of a policy in San Mateo Superior Court that automatically adds a $300 surcharge onto traffic infractions if the defendant misses the deadline to pay the fine or contest the ticket. (McCrees ticket had other fees added as well.) Much of that money goes to court operating expenses. Now McCree is a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed Thursday against San Mateo Superior Court, saying that this policy to levy a civil assessment fee on minor traffic infractions violates peoples right to due process and displays a blatant conflict of interest. Essentially its a hidden tax on those that can least afford it, the case says. Moreover, because people of color are disproportionately stopped for traffic violations, it discriminates against them, the case says. McCree, who is Black, said hes acutely aware that there is an element of racial profiling when it comes to fare evasion. Neal Taniguchi, court executive officer for San Mateo Superior Court, said in an email that it does not comment on pending litigation. Manuel Galindo, an organizer with the nonprofit Debt Collective, another plaintiff in the case, sees the courts policy as another step in the criminalization of poverty, since people who cant afford their original tickets often are socked with the extra fees. Recent studies show one-fifth of Bay Area residents have less than $400 in savings. Individuals fall into this financial trap the courts create, of charging them more for being unable to pay for something in the first place, he said. Ive met people who went hungry to pay their fees because they were afraid of what it meant if they didnt pay them. It is devastating to communities. Even a $25 base fine for jaywalking can trigger the $300 surcharge, said Zal Shroff, senior racial justice attorney at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is bringing the case along with the ACLU Foundation of Northern California, Bay Area Legal Aid, and Fenwick & West LLP. In the past three years, San Mateo Superior Court has brought in $9 million from the surcharges, reaping $3.4 million in net revenue, the case says. Courts send the surcharge money to a statewide trial court fund, and then can keep everything above $2.1 million a year after collection expenses. During the past three years, San Mateo charged the full $300 in more than 80,000 cases, and sent more than 100,000 to debt collection (including cases that predated the past three years), the case said. San Mateo isnt the only court where this happens, but it is among the most egregious, Shroff said. No judge or other human weighs in on its surcharges; they are automatically added by computer, he said. Its notices about them dont tell people that they can challenge the surcharges or give information about potential grounds for doing so, he said. They do mention that people can say that they cant afford a ticket, but dont explain that the $300 can be challenged separately. 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. California lawmakers created the surcharge system as a way to help fund courts in the 1990s, shortly after the states three strikes law led to a huge increase in judicial caseloads. Rather than allocating more money in the budget, the legislature authorized courts to upcharge people when they miss deadlines for traffic citations, the case said. With 5 million traffic citations annually, it proved to be lucrative. Statewide, courts have generated more than $750 million in the past decade through civil assessments on traffic citations, the case said. But the effect on low-income people has spurred some action. Gov. Gavin Newsoms 2022-23 budget proposes cutting the maximum civil assessment fee in half, to $150 and allocates $50 million to backfill the loss in revenue for the courts. Galindo, from the Debt Collective, said hes encouraged that the governor recognizes the toll that surcharges take on marginalized people. This says how grave this civil assessment is, he said of the budgets addressing of the issue. It hurts families and communities. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid Santa Clara County officials on Wednesday announced plans to better respond to fentanyl-related deaths and the growing use of fentanyl in the county, in part by refocusing efforts to target large-scale traffickers of fentanyl and other narcotics like cartels, and boost education in the community. Officials said they will also call on the county Board of Supervisors to create a group of experts in fentanyl and addiction and treatment to ramp up the countys existing efforts against the fentanyl crisis. The county also announced the launch of a narcotics unit in the district attorneys office that aims to investigate and prosecute drug cartels and traffickers of fentanyl and other drugs. And county officials said they will embark on a wide-spread social media campaign to educate young people about the dangers of counterfeit pills made of fentanyl. The unveiling of the countys plans came a day after the district attorneys office announced it charged a 16-year-old with the murder of a 12-year-old San Jose girl who died in 2020 after snorting a counterfeit Percocet pill made of fentanyl. Were here today facing multiple tragedies. One is that a 12-year-old girl is dead after ingesting less than a single pill of fentanyl. Let that sink in for a second, District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, pausing outside the county government building on West Hedding Street in San Jose. Another tragedy is that a minor is the one who is responsible for the toxic drug that killed her within just a few minutes. This case is not an isolated incident, Rosen said. The district attorneys office is prosecuting two cases of drug dealers whose illegal chemical products turned out to be just as lethal as loaded guns, Rosen said, adding that it is part of a horrible scourge that must be countered with a comprehensive plan. Supervisor (Cindy) Chavez and I ... have gone out into San Jose in recent weeks and spoke with addicts and service providers and others who are on the front lines of fentanyl. What we saw and heard was devastating, Rosen said, adding that the pair will be working over the next few months to organize better coordination among officials in law enforcement, public safety, public health and nonprofits in response to the fentanyl crisis. Nina Riggio/Special to The Chronicle 2020 On Feb. 8, County Supervisor Chavez said, she and Rosen will ask the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to create the fentanyl working group comprised of people with expertise in fentanyl and in drug education, treatment and prevention to ramp up what the county is already doing with the opioid crisis. County officials said the countys plan is a call to action on fentanyl use in the county, pointing to the rising deaths of people particularly those aged 18 to 25 who die after ingesting counterfeit pills manufactured to look like prescription medication. Middle- and high-school-aged children have been impacted, too, Chavez said. People from all socioeconomic backgrounds are using it, from Gilroy to Palo Alto, Chavez said of fentanyl. Its been an equal-opportunity threat to our community. The most common type of counterfeit pills made of fentanyl that are flooding the county are known as M-30s, officials said. Many people who consume counterfeit pills made of fentanyl a synthetic opioid that is 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine are unaware that what they were ingesting was actually fentanyl, county officials said. In 2018, there were 11 fentanyl overdose deaths in Santa Clara County. In 2019, there were 27 deaths. In 2020, there were 88 deaths, two of whom are the 12-year-old San Jose girl and a Stanford University student who ingested counterfeit Percocet pills. In 2021, 106 people died. Thats more than two every week, Rosen said. In 2019, Santa Clara County district attorneys officials wrote a health warning alerting county residents of the major uptick in fatal fentanyl overdoses. Several deaths in 2019 were tied to round blue counterfeit pills engraved with a large M on one side and a smaller 30 on the other. 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 district attorneys office has already disbanded its traditional narcotics unit to better deal with the scope and seriousness of the fentanyl plague, Rosen said. He described the traditional way of handling illegal narcotics cases as being costly, ineffective and as having a destructive and disproportionate effect on communities of color. The new unit which will work with local, state and federal law enforcement officials will look to enhance and increase prosecutions against the organizations and people who bring in large amounts of narcotics into Santa Clara County, where those narcotics can end up in the hands of children or tragically as the case of this 12-year-old child, in an autopsy report, Rosen said. Edward Liang, a veteran prosecutor who has been named as the leader of the new unit, said it will prioritize the fentanyl epidemic by targeting traffickers of fentanyl and other drugs, as well as investigating and prosecuting deaths related to fentanyl out on our streets. Ultimately, its our mothers and fathers, our brothers and sisters, and really our daughters and sons that are really being affected by all of these deaths, Liang said. We want to make sure that we take each and every one of those cases seriously, and prosecute them and investigate them as they deserve to be. Lauren Hernandez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: lauren.hernandez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ByLHernandez Evacuation orders for areas threatened by the Colorado Fire in Monterey County were lifted Wednesday as fire crews continued to make progress on containment efforts, officials said. The winter blaze sparked Friday night in the Palo Colorado Canyon after embers from a burn pile were swept into nearby vegetation by coastal gusts, officials said. Spurred by high winds and an exceptionally dry landscape, the fire jumped Highway 1 near the famous Bixby Bridge in Big Sur, forcing the closure of a segment of the roadway. Residents of about 500 homes in the area had been ordered to evacuate until crews could get a better handle on the fire, officials said. Cal Fire officials said Wednesday afternoon that the evacuation orders were lifted at noon and that all roads that had been affected, including Highway 1, were open again. Emergency vehicles are still working, please use extreme caution when driving through the area, Cal Fire said in a news release. There will be periodic traffic controls to allow emergency vehicles access to the fire area. By Wednesday, the fire was measured at 700 acres and was 55% contained, according to Cal Fire. Fire Tracker Follow wildfires across the state Latest updates on wildfires burning across Northern and Southern California The fire had threatened 225 structures and destroyed one, according to Cal Fire. More than 450 firefighters and other personnel were working to extinguish the flames, officials said. Andy Picon is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: andy.picon@hearst.com Twitter: @andpicon This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Californias Employment Development Department is confronting two new massive backlogs that could leave thousands of claimants either without income or in a state of heightened anxiety. The agency, which admits it paid at least $20 billion over the past two years to criminals who figured out ways to game the system, is now trying to crack down on fraud with two new initiatives. It froze about 345,000 disability accounts that appear suspicious, and it is requiring about 1.4 million self-employed people who received benefits during the pandemic to prove they were entitled to them or else have to pay them back, possibly plus a 30% penalty. The problem is that EDD, which struggled throughout the pandemic to handle a deluge of unemployment applications, still appears ill-equipped to deal with the enormous volume of claims it is now trying to vet. As part of pandemic relief, Congress created Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or PUA, temporary benefits for freelancers, self-employed people and gig workers, who previously werent eligible for unemployment. Fraudsters took advantage of PUA to hijack money by claiming they were self-employed. So Congress is requiring states retroactively to verify PUA recipients work histories. EDD alert: federal rules require you to provide documents or risk repaying benefits, EDD wrote electronically to about 1.4 million Californians in November, following up with reminders. Log in to upload the required documents. Christopher Hall, 67, a freelance travel writer in San Francisco, got one of those messages. After more than 20 years in the profession, he figured it would be easy to prove he qualified for PUA. I hopped on it right away; I wanted to be ahead of the mass of people who were going to do this, he said. I very quickly submitted pertinent portions of my last years tax return. Instead of hearing back that his self-employed status was confirmed, he got a notice from EDD that he was deemed ineligible. There was no indication why this decision was made, no request for further information or clarification of my documentation, and no office/person/telephone/email dedicated to the resolution of these issues, he said. The only option was to request an appeal, which I did. I then tried to get information by calling the EDD but was told that my case is now out of their hands and into those of the appeals office, and that they were forbidden to tell me anything. The appeals office told him it would take six months before his case is heard, meaning Ive got a half-year of this hanging over my head, he said. And still no one will tell me why this is happening. If this is happening to me, someone with years of tax returns showing my exclusive reliance on self-employment income, I can only imagine its happening to many others. In fact, it is happening to many others, said Daniela Urban, executive director of the Center for Workers Rights, a nonprofit that helps workers caught in EDD quagmires. Were seeing rejections for documentation submitted that is clearly sufficient to establish what is necessary, she said. Weve seen inconsistencies in how EDD has handled the same type of info submitted by two different claimants. Case in point: husband-and-wife street vendors, who submitted identical information to EDD. The wifes documents were accepted, while the husbands were rejected, she said. Its clear EDD does not have a standardized process of reviewing these documents, Urban said. EDD said in an email that its heard back from about 280,000 people who were sent notices about submitting more documents meaning there are more than 1 million who havent responded. About 10% of those who replied did not provide documents that validated what they said when they applied for PUA benefits, such as that they had lost their job of self-employment, or their potential for employment or self-employment, as a direct result of the pandemic impacts, EDD said. Next, the agency plans to send postal mail notices to the million-plus Californians who havent replied. Those will provide them their last chance to respond, it said. People who still dont reply could be found ineligible for the PUA benefits received and would face a potential overpayment and possibly repaying the benefits they received if they dont qualify for a waiver, EDD said. So far, EDD has been sending notices of determination its decision about whether people were eligible or not. The next step is to send notices of potential overpayment telling people how much money EDD wants them to repay if it found them ineligible. Overpayments can be retroactive only to December 2020 under the provisions of the federal Continued Assistance Act. Advocates like Urban are expecting lots and lots of notices of overpayment issues, she said. Those notices of potential overpayment will include a form for the claimants personal finances. People who lack financial resources can use that form to request a waiver on some or all repayments. EDD bases that decision on gross family income. For instance, a family of four must make less than $3,377 a month before taxes and deductions, according to the EDD website. There is no variability for higher-cost regions like the Bay Area. Throughout the process, Claimants will always have the opportunity to appeal a disqualification or an overpayment before any collection effort begins, EDD said. If EDD thinks someone collected PUA fraudulently, it can require repayment of benefits plus a 30% penalty. People are pretty scared, Urban said. EDD says the latest wave of fraud comes from criminals filing fake disability claims. Its seen an unusual spike in such claims, along with a surge of entities registering as new medical or health providers. Disability insurance, which covers temporary conditions that prevent people from working, requires documents from medical providers. So EDD froze 345,000 disability claims while it tries to figure out which ones are attempts to steal money. As has happened with past EDD account freezes, some legitimate claimants got swept up in the dragnet. Erick Robles, 35, of Hollister (San Benito County) is a father of four, including a son with skeletal dysplasia. As a longtime contractor specializing in drywall, he made good money working union jobs from Monterey to San Francisco. After being diagnosed with Mortons neuroma, which causes inflammation and severe pain in his foot, Robles went on disability over the fall. In December his payments stopped. When he finally reached someone at EDD, he was told he was part of the statewide freeze. I said, Is there anything you can do because Im a real person? he recalled. They said, Theres nothing we can do. He had to sell his Chevy Silverado truck to put food on the table. He borrowed money from his wifes grandmother to make the mortgage payment. His wife, Nicole Robles, is also caught up in EDD issues. A self-employed makeup consultant, she received PUA during the pandemic. Now shes stressing out over the need to produce documents, although the couple is confident that she can prove she qualified. Meanwhile, her part-time work as a substitute teacher has dried up because the local school system keeps shutting down classes as students or teachers test positive for the coronavirus and their classmates must quarantine. This is like an unfair science experiment, and it feels like we are looming in the Great Depression, Erick Robles said. Its so frustrating and sad that I cry at times because even with my skilled crafts of painting, taping, framing, drywall and tile, I cannot make ends meet anymore so we can be comfortable. EDD said its first step in probing suspected disability fraud was to contact 27,000 medical providers that appeared bogus, presumably created as fronts to provide doctors notes for criminals falsely signing up for disability benefits. Only 485 had verified their identities as of Thursday, it said. The agency is sending notices this week to claimants whose accounts were suspended, asking them to verify their identities, either with the ID.me system or in other ways. To avoid tipping off fraudsters, further details about the various verification procedures will not be released, EDD said. Progress continues on the (disability insurance) fraud issue on a daily basis, EDD said. On Friday, EDD Director Rita Saenz resigned after just 13 months in the role. She is being replaced by Nancy Farias, who has been chief deputy director of external affairs, legislation and policy at the agency since 2020. Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Famed San Francisco chef and restaurateur Mourad Lahlou, the man behind acclaimed spots Aziza and Mourad, is gearing up to open his first wine country restaurant this summer. Moro Napa, located inside the citys Oxbow Public Market, will be a casual spot dedicated to Moroccan street food. Lahlou modeled the restaurant on the food stalls at Jemaa el-Fnaa, a popular night market he frequented growing up in Marrakesh. The hustle, the energy, the smoke up in the air. Its theatre, its comedy, there are bands playing music every night. I want to recreate that vibe, said Lahlou. Lahlou hasnt finalized the menu, but said it will focus on grilled meats served alongside flatbreads, fresh salads, wraps and spreads, like those served at Aziza (white bean with vadouvan oil, piquillo peppers and almond and dill-lebni with smoked trout roe). Its food that people can enjoy multiple times a week, he said. I dont want people to come just once a month. Lahlou decided to open Moro following a temporary relocation to Napa during the pandemic. He regularly visited Oxbow and wanted to retain some type of connection to the city following his move back to San Francisco. When a space opened up at the market last spring, Lahlou jumped at the opportunity. Patrons of the counter-service restaurant will be able to dine at the Oxbows indoor and outdoor communal seating, which is shared by multiple vendors. Jorge Velazquez, a former butcher at Charter Oak and Lahlous friend, will be running the show at Moro alongside Lahlou. The new restaurant is taking over the space left vacant by C Casa, a taqueria thats graduating into the larger space previously occupied by the globally inspired Kitchen Door for the past decade. The latter restaurant will reopen in a new space downtown later this year. Moro now joins another high profile restaurant thats set to open at Oxbow in the coming months. Meadowoods Christopher Kostow is planning to debut Loveski, a Jewish-inspired deli serving fresh bagels and sandwiches, soon. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. I think itll be a different kind of experience than anything Ive done before, Lahlou said. I want to make sure it has a lot of soul. A pioneer of modern Moroccan cuisine, Lahlou shot to fame with Aziza, a cozy, neighborhood restaurant that serves Cal-Moroccan food in the Outer Richmond. In 2010, it became the first Moroccan restaurant in the U.S. to be awarded a Michelin Star and Lahlous eponymous downtown S.F. restaurant, Mourad, received a Michelin Star in 2015, its opening year. Moro Napa. Opening early summer 2022. 601 1st St., Napa, Jess Lander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jess.lander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesslander This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Sterling Vineyards, one of Napa Valleys most visited vineyards that was significantly damaged in the 2020 Glass Fire, is in the midst of a major renovation that would allow it to reopen for the first time since the fire. The renovations are focused on Sterlings 40-year-old tram, arguably the biggest draw at the winery due to the stunning views from the hilltop destination. The trams underground workings and a storage facility with some of its historic parts were damaged in the fire. As a result, the owners decided to modernize it and make it fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The revamped winery is set to reopen in the summer of 2023. That experience on the property is just ubiquitous with Sterling, said Tracy Sweeney, a vice president at Treasury Wine Estates, which acquired Sterling in 2016, on prioritizing the tram. The first impression at Sterling should be via the tram and we felt that was important to protect. Provided by Charles Cooley, Treasury Wine Estates Doppelmayr, the company hired to build the original tram, is also in charge of the remodel. The 13 tram cars will be larger and able to seat eight people instead of four, enabling most parties to ride together. The system will also be faster and automated to cut down on lines. The most noticeable changes, though, will affect the trams views. The remodeled cars will follow a different and slightly longer journey up the northern side of the property (topping out at about 540 feet) to maximize the panoramic scenery over the craggy palisades of the Mayacamas Mountains. Much of the rest of the renovation efforts are focused on visitor spaces since the wine production facilities suffered only minor damage and the vineyards were spared entirely. The interior of all the hospitality spaces, landscaping and offices, many of which were significantly damaged during the fire, will all be new when customers return in 2023. Sterling was founded in 1964 by English expatriate and former London Financial Times journalist Peter Newton. He built the winery and gondola in the early 1970s but moved on to start Newton Vineyards on Napa Valleys Spring Mountain in 1977. The winery changed hands over the years from the Coca-Cola Co. to Seagram to Diageo and eventually Treasury, although its popularity has endured. Roughly 160,000 to 200,000 people visited the winery annually during the five years before the 2020 closure. Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more. Sterling produces an array of wine varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and rose. Outside of the popular tram experience, the winery is best known for its under-$10 supermarket offerings, though it does sell some reserve bottlings that top $200. Its really exciting for us to get Sterling back online and its important for Napa, too, said Vice President Sweeney. People want Sterling back; were such an anchor, especially in the upper valley. Jess Lander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jess.lander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesslander This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A new subvariant of the omicron variant of the coronavirus BA.2, or stealth omicron has been detected in the Bay Area, health officials said. Little is known so far about how contagious the sub-variant is, experts said, but people who are vaccinated and boosted shouldnt be worried. If youre vaccinated, and particularly if youre boosted, I wouldnt be worried about anything at this moment, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF. You wont get super sick, no matter if pi or ro or sigma or whatever new variant comes. Two cases of the BA.2 variant were identified in Santa Clara County last week, Dr. Sara Cody, the public health director for Santa Clara County, said Tuesday. But what that means for the county is still unknown, she added. So far we dont really know how it behaves. My guess is its probably going to behave like the dominant omicron variant, Cody said. But well see, adding that she expects to learn more in the coming days and weeks. California has identified 13 cases of BA.2 so far, state officials said Wednesday. Early data analysis on BA.2 in Denmark from the Pandemic Prevention Institute suggests that the sub-variant may be able to outcompete the original omicron strain. Still, there is no evidence that the sub-variant is able to evade immunity from omicron or that it causes more severe disease. There is no evidence that the BA.2 variant causes more disease, but it must be more contagious, Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said at a news conference Wednesday. Dr. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at UCSF, said he doesnt think that BA.2 will overtake the original omicron and drive another huge wave of cases. The bottom line is, viruses mutate, and were going to be dealing with variants all the time, he said. I think were in good shape. If there was some wholesale change, then thats another question. But for right now, I think were just watching viral evolution in action. Many are referring to the sub-variant as stealth omicron not because the variant cannot be detected by coronavirus tests, but because its not always recognized as omicron, experts said. Variant sequences of the original version of omicron include a deletion in the S gene, according to the World Health Organization, a genetic feature used to quickly differentiate the omicron variant from delta. The BA.2 sub-variant, however, does not have this deletion, the WHO said in a brief on the sub-variant. That means that systems screening for omicron could miss BA.2, WHO said. Additional sequencing is needed to determine if you have the sub-variant, Chin-Hong explained. The test will still say its positive if you have COVID, but that its not omicron, Chin-Hong explained. Its not that you have COVID and you dont know you have COVID. 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. For now, the presence of the sub-variant locally is another curveball during a pandemic replete with them. Cody said that the greatest challenge of the pandemic may be learning to cope with the unknown and adapt when necessary. The reality is, we have to continue to live with quite a bit of uncertainty, because we just dont know, she said. We cant quite see around every corner. We dont know whats going to come, and were quite tired, Cody said. And so this is when we have to pull together and rededicate ourselves to be adaptable and flexible and prepared. Danielle Echeverria is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: danielle.echeverria@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @DanielleEchev In 1938, only days after Kristallnacht, a night when the Nazis destroyed synagogues and stores and murdered Jews, my mother and grandfather fled Germany for the safety of the United States. Other family members and friends were not so lucky. My mother already had U.S. visas in place that made her escape possible. Those who didnt have permission to travel stayed behind and were killed in the Holocaust. Thursday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a time that prompts many Jews to feel grief and anger about how the Nazis slaughtered 6 million of us. I share those feelings on many levels. And yet as somber as I find Holocaust Remembrance Day, I also feel hopeful. Thats because I know that in Germany, more than a few people insist that their fellow citizens learn about what happened during the horrific Nazi era and are willing do the work to make sure it never ever happens again. America can take a lesson from them. Indeed, those in the U.S. who are trying to stop schools from examining the ongoing legacy of Americas racist history could learn a lot from a German friend of our family, Josef Wisskirchen. Since the 1980s, Wisskirchen has been collecting and telling the stories of Jews in small towns in the Rhineland that were decimated by the Nazis, including towns where my mothers extended family once lived. A schoolteacher and prolific writer, he tells his students and neighbors about the lives of Jews who once lived down the street and around the corner and what the Nazis did to them. He also tries to make amends for his countrys history by helping descendants of German Jews find their roots. In 2014, out of the blue, Wisskirchen wrote to my mother with detailed information about our family. He included stories wed never heard before. A few years later, he acted as our personal guide when I accompanied my mother and three generations of the Straus family on a tour of our ancestral hometowns. Wisskirchen also helped to initiate a memorial that commemorates local Jews who perished in the Holocaust and led efforts to restore a synagogue. In contrast, here in America, too many oppose the efforts to prompt people in this country especially young people to face up to our own history of brutal racism, slavery and segregation. The recent furor over teaching critical race theory in schools doesnt stem from disagreements over how best to guide students through this history and its continued impact on contemporary American life. Rather, at the heart of the matter is a refusal to face the wrongs of the past and a desire to suppress discussion of whether Americans today have any obligation to rectify those wrongs. Even in liberal California, new curriculum guidelines adopted by some school districts ban courses that teach critical race theory. These guidelines explicitly prevent teaching that an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex. But just as Germans bear responsibility to rectify the wrongs committed against my ancestors, it is white Americans who should bear responsibility to rectify the wrongs of slavery and the racist systems from which we have benefited and continue to benefit. When announcing support of a statewide ban against teaching critical race theory in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he found it unthinkable that there are other people in positions of leadership ... who believe that we should teach kids to hate our country. In the same spirit, the Texas Senate recently passed a law that says public schools would no longer be required to teach students about the Ku Klux Klan or learn that the group is morally wrong. This see-no-evil-hear-no evil approach to Americas past is not just wrong; it is dangerous. Wisskirchen and others in Germanys remembrance community are not teaching kids to hate their country. But they insist that young Germans learn about the acts of their grandparents and great grandparents to ensure that Never Again is not just an empty promise. That was why, during our visit to the town of Stommeln where there are no Jews left we heard a bell ringing in the town square to announce the start of the three traditional daily Jewish prayer services. This bell is rung 365 days a year to remind people that there was once a vibrant Jewish community there that was wiped out under the Nazi regime. On Tuesday, my family and I watched a livestream of a ceremony in the Berlin Parliament, where Wisskirchen and five other German individuals and organizations received Obermayer Awards. For the past 22 years, those awards administered by the U.S.-based Widen the Circle organization have been given to Germans who have fought against antisemitism and kept alive the memory of once-thriving Jewish communities. I wish those who dont want our kids to learn and think hard about the history of American racism would have watched this ceremony. Perhaps instead of being fearful over how their children will internalize the true history of this country, they could find in Wisskirchen and his fellow awardees heroes and role models fit for young Americans to emulate. Andrew Straus is president of the Northern California Board of Rabbis and Northwest regional director of J Street. With the search for the next superintendent of San Francisco Unified now under way, the firm hired to help find the next schools chief surveyed nearly 2,000 people in the city to get feedback on the district and what they want in their next leader. The search is urgent, with current Superintendent Vince Matthews set to retire in June. The poll asked families, students, teachers, administrators, staff and community members to describe whats working, whats not working and what their priorities are. Here are some top takeaways from the report on the poll conducted by Hazard, Young, Attea Associates: 1: The good Theres a great deal of pride in the districts commitment to social justice and diversity, as well as a belief that the strong staffing at the school level is the main factor for success in student learning, graduation rates, and a culture of caring and support at many SFUSD schools. Respondents also cited the benefit of wellness centers and community schools, where students have access to a range of resources, including mental health. They also noted that the district offers a range of educational choices, including dual language and ethnic studies. 2: The bad The general view, according to the survey, was that the district is in need of significant improvement. Students are not at the center of conversations, according to the search firm survey. Many, if not most, of the challenges and issues comments made by all stakeholder groups focused on working conditions, political interactions, and interpersonal aspects of the adult interactions, rather than on meeting the needs of students, according to the report. The health of adult relationships appears to consume an extraordinary amount of the working energy within the system. A lack of consistent and effective communication was also a great frustration among staff and parents. The survey also found that all racial groups expressed concern about their needs, despite the school boards adoption of resolutions that create isolated efforts to support various racial and ethnic groups, which is actually contributing to greater division among communities of color, according to the report. The approach may be unintentionally reinforcing a view that improvement efforts are a zero-sum game, where providing increased services and resources to one group is taking away from other groups. Respondents also expressed frustration at declining staff morale and the budget deficit. 3: The school board The survey found that many respondents have a deep concern about the behavior and focus of the current school board. By getting down in the weeds on issues that some view as politically motivated, the Board is functioning more in an advocacy role, rather than in its governance role for the entirety of the student population in San Francisco, according to the report. Others noted that the board members partake in public shaming and criticism of employees, which is highly demoralizing and counterproductive. Many constituents also acknowledged that a very strained relationship between the city and school district is not in the best interest of students. The city unsuccessfully sued the district over reopening schools during the pandemic. 4: The next superintendent 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. Those participating in the survey offered characteristics they would like to see in the next superintendent, with a few areas highlighted. The next school chief should be laser-focused on student learning, making sure all aspects of the organization are aligned with this goal. He or she should also be committed to social justice, be an effective communicator while expanding and rebuilding relationships between the district and the community. Whoever is chosen should also be an engaged manager who will question current practices, address the budget issue and create a culture that can attract and retain quality staff. 5: The poll In addition to open-ended survey questions, the search firm also polled the community, asking respondents to rank the districts performance across 19 categories. In only one case, whether technology was integrated into classroom, did a majority of respondents agree or strongly agree that this was true. Just 14% of those surveyed agreed the district was headed in the right direction, while 10% believe the district is fiscally responsible and 19% believe the facilities are well-maintained. The school board reviewed the search firms report Tuesday and will consider applicants for the job in the coming months, with a selection expected to be made by the end of June. Matthews announced his retirement nearly a year ago, saying he would leave by the summer of 2021, a decision he then deferred for a year after the school board agreed to act in a more professional manner. Jill Tucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker Mayor London Breeds third attempt to ask voters to streamline housing production through a charter amendment failed Wednesday after a Board of Supervisors committee killed the proposal. Breed hoped the charter amendment would be considered by voters on the June 7 ballot. Her proposal sought to streamline new housing construction by letting some qualified projects circumvent the citys discretionary review process, cutting a year or two from a timeline that can take two years or more for developers to complete. San Francisco had a chance to make the most significant change in decades to how we build housing in this City, Breed said on Twitter after the vote. But it was rejected by the Board of Supervisors. Addressing the high cost of housing requires real solutions, not more obstructionism. The amendment would have applied to housing projects with more than 25 units, requiring market-rate developers to build 15% more affordable homes than San Francisco normally requires. All 100% affordable housing projects would have been subjected to the amendments provisions. But Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan, who make up a majority of the boards rules committee, voted not to send the proposal to the full Board of Supervisors, which would have decided whether to send the measure to voters. Peskin, the committees chair, said that the proposal had not been vetted properly with the various community stakeholders it would affect and that after hearing strong concerns from a chorus of opponents, it would be futile to advance the amendment. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the committees third member, was the only one who opposed the vote to table the amendment and prevent it from reaching the full board. But even Mandelman had concerns, including that the amendment would have supervisors sacrifice too much of their authority over housing projects. The defeat underscores the ongoing conflict between the board and the mayor about San Franciscos protracted housing crisis and how to address it. This is yet another example of why housing costs are so high in San Francisco, Breed said in a statement after the vote. Its shameful this got strangled in committee by two Supervisors and that they didnt even allow a vote by the full Board, let alone the voters who are the ones who suffer from our lack of housing. Supervisor Ahsha Safai, the amendments sponsor, said on Twitter after the committee meeting that he was dismayed that other supervisors wouldnt let the debate move forward. Breed has tried to advance housing-related charter amendments twice before. The first time was in 2019, when she proposed an amendment to streamline affordable housing for teachers, but it was shot down in committee. Then, in 2020, Breed planned to avoid getting approval from supervisors by collecting voter signatures to put a charter amendment on the ballot, but the effort stopped due to the pandemic. 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. Asked whether Breed would again try to bring the charter amendment to voters by collecting signatures, the mayors spokesperson, Jeff Cretan, said everything is on the table. Some of the amendments opponents were concerned that it targeted families with incomes up to 140% of area median income, or $186,000 for a family of four, rather than lower-income families. The Race & Equity in All Planning Coalition told supervisors in a letter dated Jan. 20 that the amendment was masquerading as an affordable housing measure and would provide nothing of value for San Francisco. If this moves forward and a campaign is waged, it will generate so much confusion and cynicism for voters around what is truly affordable housing that all of the decades of advocacy that put San Francisco and its communities in the forefront of affordable housing development nationally will be thoroughly undone, the coalitions letter said. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris San Francisco landlords will have to provide tenants with a 10-day warning period before trying to evict them under a law passed by city supervisors this week. Currently, landlords can begin the formal process of removing tenants who havent paid rent or are otherwise considered at fault by filing a three-day eviction notice, after which the property owner can go to court. The new law requires landlords to first send a written 10-day warning before they have legal justification to file the three-day notice, thereby giving renters more time to fix problems and stave off displacement. The Board of Supervisors approved the law unanimously Tuesday and its expected to take effect in March, after the board takes a required second vote and Mayor London Breed signs off on the measure. But a major landlord group may take legal action to prevent the law from being implemented. Supervisor Dean Preston, who authored the law, said this would be the first time a California city has imposed such a broad warning mandate before evictions can commence. He said he wanted to prevent evictions from rising too much as pandemic-motivated protections end. Government eviction bans related to rent nonpayment because of COVID-19 expired last year, and supporters of the new warning period are concerned that displacements could skyrocket now. They hope the warning period gives renters another tool to stay in their homes before property owners can initiate legal removal proceedings. We need to build in a period of time where landlords and tenants resolve the issue without it going to court as an eviction, Preston said. City officials said the 10-day warning period is not required in cases where the tenant is creating a serious and imminent risk of injury or property damage or not paying COVID-19 rental debt, which is governed by state law. Prestons office said its review of court filings showed that San Francisco evictions for nonpayment of rent plummeted during the pandemic from 127 per month to three per month. But the figures have begun to climb again. Supporters of the warning period hope an additional 10 days will give people at risk of eviction more time to connect with tenants lawyers and avail themselves of city or nonprofit rental aid. This law is a game-changer, Ora Prochovnick, director of litigation and policy at the Eviction Defense Collaborative, said in a news release. The laws passage was opposed by the San Francisco Apartment Association, which represents about 3,000 landlords in the city. The associations complaints have so far not focused on the merits of adding a 10-day warning period but rather on whether San Francisco has the right to impose one at all. The association has argued that the city cant enact the waiting period because it was preempted by state law. Executive Director Janan New told The Chronicle the association would likely sue to try to stop the new city law. 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. Eviction law is governed by the state of California, not by the Board of Supervisors, New said. We believe that a lot of times, the Board of Supervisors overreaches their power, and we would like to see that stopped. Just days ago, the association lost the latest legal round in a lawsuit over a different city anti-eviction measure. Preston said landlords generally dont have a very good record of challenging these kinds of protections in court. And he did not think the law would harm many property owners. Most decent landlords wont be affected in any way by this, Preston said. Most landlords who are acting in good faith give a warning to tenants and try to solve things. Its the landlords who are acting in bad faith and just trying to get out long-term tenants who will be affected by this. J.D. Morris is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jd.morris@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thejdmorris The San Francisco Police Department released its crime data for 2021, indicating an uptick in crime from 2020, but overall lower crime rates than pre-pandemic levels. In San Francisco overall, property crimes went up 11% and violent crimes went up by 1% in 2021 compared to 2020, according to San Francisco polices Compstat data. (Compstat, or computer statistics, is a program used mainly by U.S. police to track and analyze crime statistics.) But these numbers, as a whole, were lower than crime from 2019 and years past. From 2014 to 2019, between 56,000 and 63,000 total violent and property crimes were recorded. In 2021, there were a total of 49,685 recorded crimes. Burglaries are also still at high rates, with 7,217 recorded in 2021, just a few hundred fewer than the year before but more than 40% higher than 2019 levels. That number is particularly notable, given the Louis Vuitton smash-and-grab that reached national headlines late last year. Larceny theft is perhaps the crime with the most significant uptick from 2020, with a 21% increase and a 39% increase of theft from vehicle. That said, these numbers are still lower than 2019s. In 2019, 42,022 larceny thefts were recorded by San Francisco police last year, there were 31,139. (Larceny theft and property theft in general is one of the more underreported crimes in the city, especially among business owners who say that it is not worth reporting them to police.) One concerning note: Homicides are the one crime continuing to rise from pre-pandemic levels. Fifty-six were reported in 2021, eight more than in 2020 and 15 more than in 2019; 2017 was the last year with that many homicides reported. But some violent crimes primarily rape and robberies are at their lowest since 2014, the last year of publicly available Compstat data on the San Francisco Police Departments website. The one San Francisco police district with more crimes reported across all types in 2021 is the Mission. All violent and property crimes increased in the district, according to police data, except for human sex trafficking. Those numbers, however, are still lower than 2019s. Earlier this week, San Francisco police also released data on hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, with 60 victims reporting to the police in 2021, up from nine the year before. These statistics come as Mayor London Breed reiterated her plans to get more overtime funding for police and fire departments Wednesday. Breed has ramped up efforts to crack down on crime in recent months. In December 2021, she announced a massive campaign over San Francisco crime, including launching an emergency intervention plan in the Tenderloin, altering the citys surveillance ordinance and increasing police funding. In a public address Wednesday, she cautioned that without this emergency funding, police will face staff shortages and delayed police academy classes. Weve invested in a number of alternative response teams including our Street Crisis Response Teams, weve invested in mental health reform and programs like the Dream Keeper Initiative, to transform our communities but we also need to invest in our officers, Breed said in a tweet. Passing this measure means we keep our public safety departments and ensure they can keep providing critical services. SFGATE reporter Ariana Bindman contributed to this report. While multiple indicators suggest COVID-19 cases are on the decline across the San Francisco Bay Area, wastewater analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 in four counties by researchers at UC Berkeleys Nelson Lab suggests that three areas of the region may have yet to peak. Kara Nelson, a UC Berkeley professor of environmental engineering who helps manage the universitys wastewater monitoring program, said her team is keeping an eye on data at wastewater plants serving two areas of Contra Costa County: El Sobrante and San Pablo (West County plant) and Antioch, Martinez and Pittsburg (Delta Diablo plant). The team is also concerned about San Rafaels Canal District (West Railroad plant). While data at some of the other Bay Area wastewater treatment plants showed a downward trend, the most recent data from these three plants has suggested increasing concentrations of COVID, though Nelson said more data is needed to identify overall trends. The UC Berkeley program monitors wastewater from 14 plants across the state, including nine across four Bay Area counties Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Francisco. It has been in operation since summer 2020 but only started sharing the data with the public online in December 2021. UC Berkeley / https://data.covid-web.org/ Wastewater monitoring can offer a more complete picture of COVID-19s presence in the community, as it captures people who are asymptomatic and never get tested as well as people who use at-home tests and dont report positive results. It can also identify a surge or decline before clinical testing data, which lags several days because it takes time to process tests. UC Berkeley / https://data.covid-web.org/ Nelson said the data is most effective at revealing trends across several weeks. Youll notice from the data, it tends to bounce around quite a bit, she said. Some of that could be due to real variability in the wastewater we collect. We try to not overinterpret one or two data points. When graphs tracking the amount of COVID in San Francisco wastewater started to trend downward in early January, many on social media posted screenshots. Data from the Oceanside Treatment plant dipped down dramatically on Jan. 9 and 10 and rose back up on Jan. 16. Nelson said her team is uncertain whether there was an error in the collection in January. In San Francisco, that dip could be an error related to something unusual that happened in the way samples were collected that week, Nelson said. Were still looking into it. Its a good learning opportunity for people to learn how to interpret wastewater data. No data are perfect. Nelson said there also could have been an error in methodology in the data collected from the plant serving San Rafaels Canal District in Marin. We cant say conclusively that West Railroad is higher with just one data point, but we are concerned, she said. We are eager to get more data this week. Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis said that while there could have been an error in the sample collection, hes taking the data point seriously, as the Canal District has seen rates of transmission that are generally higher than other areas of the county since the start of the pandemic. Willis said the neighborhood is home to a large Latino population that has less control over their risk based on economic circumstances and living conditions. He also noted that while the Latino population is highly vaccinated with the first series, more so than any other population, its rates for the booster shot are lower. The booster dose is important, he said. There was so much promotion around the first two shots. The effort has been softer in terms of promoting booster doses. Theres potentially a vulnerability there for infections. The city of San Francisco is softening its mask rules ahead of the state of California. Beginning Feb. 1, office workers, gym members and so-called stable cohorts of vaccinated and boosted (if eligible) individuals may remove their face coverings indoors again, officials said in a statement released Thursday. This change to the city's mandate reinstates the exemption to California's mask indoor mandate that was in place before the omicron surge, and allowed to remain in place by the state. The city voluntarily removed this exemption at the end of December. Stable cohorts are groups of people who get together again and again in the same places, such as a yoga class, college class or religious gathering, for example. These stable groups must be fully vaccinated and boosted in order to take off their masks indoors, which is a change from the previous health order where boosters were not required for unmasking. In accordance with the state's mask rules, the city's mask mandate remains in effect for most other public settings regardless of vaccination status. Children in schools, transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, are required to continue wearing masks indoors. Masks are also still required in retail stores, bars and restaurants or other places that are open to the public. People can continue to remove their masks temporarily in restaurants and bars to eat or drink. The city also said it's taking steps to align its health order with the California Department of Public Health's order. Beginning Feb. 1, you can enter indoor mega-events of 500 people or more with a negative COVID-19 test as an alternative to being fully vaccinated. The city will begin allowing religious and medical exemptions to vaccination requirements with a negative COVID-19 test for entry to indoor locations such as, restaurants, bars, gyms and fitness centers. With these changes coming, the city warned, "The public should be mindful that people in some settings may not be fully vaccinated or boosted and so should use good judgment when attending gatherings or events." For a rundown of all the changes made to the health order visit the San Francisco Department of Public Health website. These changes come as cases are on the decline. The city reported a seven-day average of 1,370 new cases on Jan. 19, compared with 2,244 at the peak on Jan. 8. As we come out of this latest surge and face a future in which COVID-19 will remain among us, San Francisco will take a balanced approach in our response to COVID-19 by aligning with state requirements and guidelines where we can do so safely, Health Officer Dr. Susan Philip said in a statement. We also acknowledge areas where we can be further ahead in easing restrictions, such as the indoor mask exemption for stable cohorts, given our highly vaccinated and boosted population. We will do so carefully and by following our local data and the science, as there are still San Franciscans who are medically vulnerable to the disease and communities that remain highly impacted when case rates are high. California issued a mandate requiring masks in indoor public spaces and workplaces on Dec. 15, 2021. It is in effect through Feb. 15, 2022. Workers at the Amys Kitchen factory in Santa Rosa have filed a complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, with allegations that have put the beloved Bay Area food brands feel-good credo to share in the love into question. The Cal/OSHA complaint, filed Jan. 20, follows an NBC News investigation in which Amys workers at the Santa Rosa plant allege unrelenting managers, poor working conditions and demanding production mandates. One worker told NBC News that workers on the production line are expected to produce more than 25,000 plates of food in a single 8-hour shift. The complaint alleged that workers were not given time for water or bathroom breaks because of the expectation to meet these demands. Another worker said working at Amys felt like shes in a cage because theyre always checking us and there are cameras. The OSHA complaint, according to NBC News, listed locked fire exits and hostility from managers when safety concerns are raised. Some even reported injuries that were left untreated or ignored by supervisors, resulting in chronic pain. Ines De la Luz, an employee interviewed by the outlet, said she was forced to remove an arm brace to go back to work despite being unable to move her hand. We shouldnt be living in pain, working in pain and constantly having pain, she told NBC News. We dont want to be treated like donkeys anymore. Injured workers, according to the report, were put to work cleaning cafeterias in what was allegedly called the corral internally. The brand has been headquartered in Petaluma since 1987 and was valued at nearly $500 million as of 2017. Beyond its initial frozen food products, the Bay Area company has four Amy's Drive-Thru locations with plans to expand beyond California. Within the past five years, Amys California operations, according to an OSHA database of workplace misconduct, have been hit with eight separate labor violations deemed serious by OSHA. The company is required to pay nearly $90,000 in fines; all these violations have been contested by the company. The working conditions have spurred a unionization effort led by the Teamsters Local 665 union. Flyers passed outside of the Amys Drive-Thru location in Rohnert Park demanded that Amys Kitchen founders Andy and Rachel Berliner meet with staff and the union to improve working conditions and compensation. (A company spokesperson told SFGATE that "many dont seem to be interested" in joining the union.) The Berliners denied the claims made in the NBC News report. In a letter addressed to "our friends and family" posted on the Amys website, they said the allegations do not reflect who we are as a company and the values we uphold. "We are deeply committed to listening to all our employees and to turning their feedback into action," an Amy's spokesperson told SFGATE in a statement. "That is our personal promise to our employees and to our entire Amys family." SFGATE food reporter Susy Guerrero contributed to this report. Bill Gray was tracking a SpaceX rocket orbiting near the moon from his home in Maine when his computer software gave him a reading he didn't expect. Gray said he had kept track of the "chaotic orbit" of the Falcon 9 booster, which launched in 2015 as part of a mission to send a space weather satellite on a million-mile journey. The rocket's derelict second stage has since hurtled through space for years. This month Gray, an independent researcher in orbital dynamics, figured out why he couldn't get readings on the booster to show up on his Project Pluto software after early March: The SpaceX rocket is on a collision course with the moon, he said. "I realized that my software complained because it couldn't project the orbit past March 4," Gray, who has tracked space junk, asteroids and objects near Earth for about 25 years, told The Washington Post. "And it couldn't do it because the rocket had hit the moon." Since his blog post this month, other space observers have confirmed the data and agreed that the rocket, which weighs about 4 metric tons, is set to crash into the far side of the moon in March, in what Gray believes might be "the first unintentional case" of space junk hitting the moon. The expected crash will create a new crater, but it will not significantly damage the moon, Gray said, noting that it's "built to take this sort of abuse." The rocket is projected to touch down at a velocity of about 2.58 km a second, or about 5,770 mph. While some astronomers have noted that the news of the rocket hitting the moon is interesting but "not a big deal," Gray's finding has shined new light on the potential rising issues surrounding space junk floating in deep space. "As more players get into deep space, we need to have more attention paid to the junk that we're leaving out there," said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who confirmed Gray's findings. "It's not as much about what SpaceX does now because it's a perfectly standard practice to leave your junk in deep Earth orbit and just abandon it." A spokesman with SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. SpaceX launched its first interplanetary mission in February 2015 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Falcon 9 traveled 1 million miles - a distance nearly four times farther than the moon - to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Deep Space Climate Observatory start its journey to Lagrange Point 2, a gravitationally stable solar orbit on the opposite side of the sun from our planet. But after the rocket's second stage completed a long burn to reach a transfer orbit, it was so high that the booster did not have enough fuel to return to Earth's atmosphere. Meteorologist Eric Berger explained in Ars Technica that the rocket also "lacked the energy to escape the gravity of the Earth-Moon system," which resulted in the booster's chaotic orbit for nearly seven years. "For launches of spacecraft intended to orbit the Earth, the best practice is to reserve enough fuel in a rocket's upper stage to return it to Earth's atmosphere, where it will burn up. This is what SpaceX and most Western rocket companies customarily do to help control debris in low Earth orbit," Berger wrote. "The moon, of course, has no atmosphere for the stage to burn up in." Gray, 57, said there are at any given time dozens of objects in high orbits around the moon that move slowly enough for him and colleagues to take a short series of observations. He's been tracking the SpaceX rocket every few weeks or months and updating its orbit using his software. The expert, whose Project Pluto astronomical software provides commercial and freeware data research to amateur and professional astronomers, knew there were three possibilities for an object traveling in such a chaotic orbit: The rocket could hit the moon, hit Earth or pick up enough energy so that it goes past the moon and is thrown around the sun. "I've always been hopeful for one to hit the moon because we really don't learn anything from the other cases," he said. Once he saw Jan. 14 that the rocket was expected to crash into the moon, Gray reached out to a group of astronomers to confirm that the data was correct. He noted the group consisted of several amateur-level astronomers in the United States and Europe who "do professional-level work" - and that their observations matched with his. "When a couple of them sent in their results, they confirmed the initial data and made the actual impact time and location considerably more certain," Gray said. Space junk and debris has long been an issue. The Associated Press reported last fall that NASA tracks about 20,000 pieces of space junk, including old and broken satellites. NASA abruptly called off a spacewalk shortly before it was set to begin in November after receiving a notification that space junk could threaten the astronauts outside the International Space Station. The notice came weeks after Russia fired a missile that destroyed a dead satellite, polluting low Earth orbit with more than 1,500 pieces of debris that forced the astronauts and cosmonauts to evacuate the space station and board their spacecraft in case they had to flee. A NASA spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment. Private space companies have had other notable instances of space junk hitting the moon. In April 2019, Beresheet, the lunar lander for Israel Aerospace Industries, became the first private spacecraft to land on the moon. But when Beresheet crashed, the lunar lander spilled thousands of tardigrades - microscopic animals also known as water bears that are regarded as the toughest animals on the planet - onto the moon, according to Wired. McDowell said he hopes lawmakers will give the same amount of attention to space junk in deep orbit as they have in recent years for space junk floating near the planet. "It's a big space out there, and if something ends up hitting the moon or ends up reentering the Earth's atmosphere or going into orbit around the sun, the attitude has kind of been, 'So be it.' That may change as we get busier on the moon," he said. "Deep-space junk is by no means a threat or a crisis at the moment, but it is something that we're in the early stages now. "This SpaceX case is a marker that deep space is just starting to get busier, and it's time to start thinking about our policies for deep space," he said. Gray said the rocket's collision with the moon will probably go unobserved from Earth. He and McDowell highlighted how the booster's crash would result in a fresh lunar crater caused by an object whose properties researchers understand and can learn from. What astronomers learn from the crash is likely to be incremental, Gray said, but the March 4 collision could offer a fresh look below the lunar surface. Gray said he wonders if the expected crash could increase interest in learning about space junk in deep space. "People are understandably concerned about the amount of space junk that's out there," he said. "But when it comes to tracking stuff going around the moon, I have not heard of anyone else paying attention to it." Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of this session, according to sources. The 83-year-old has been a consistent liberal vote on the court. Now, President Joe Biden will have a chance to nominate his first Supreme Court Justice pick of his presidency. McGeorge School of Law Professor Leslie Jacobs joined Sacramento sister station KCRA to discuss one of Biden's top candidates from California Justice Leondra Kruger. Biden is eyeing at least three judges for the expected vacancy, and each of them would fulfill his campaign pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the nations highest court, according to aides and allies. Kruger is currently a justice on the California Supreme Court. She is a graduate of Harvard and Yales law school and was previously a Supreme Court clerk. Kruger has argued a dozen cases before the justices as a lawyer for the federal government. "She brings excellent qualifications; she has an excellent law school education; she has private law firm experience, government experience and now she has experience being a judge on the California Supreme Court," Jacobs said on Wednesday. "She has shown herself to be reasoned and deliberate in her opinions. Not wild or ideological." Jacobs said Kruger is comparable to Breyer because her rulings are practical. "One thing is the stakes are not as high as they have been because the lineup on the court is set. So, that is not on the table. At the same time, we can expect there will be posturing and opposition, but the question would be 'Will there be such opposition that Republicans, for example, would try to stop this?' But they actually do not have the power to do so unless some Democratic senators were to defect," Jacobs said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom remarked on Breyer stepping down Wednesday. The San Francisco native "has brought core California values to our nations highest court throughout his distinguished tenure, shaping impactful decisions to strengthen our democracy and change lives for the better," Newsom said. Justice Breyer will retire at the end of the summer, according to two sources who confirmed the news to The Associated Press on Wednesday. The Senate can confirm a successor before there is a formal vacancy, so the White House was getting to work and it was expected to take at least a few weeks before a nomination was formalized. Other successors Biden is considering include U.S. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, and U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs. The Associated Press contributed to this report. By Eli Wolfe San Jose Spotlight A new strain of the omicron variant of COVID-19 has been detected in Santa Clara County, but details about its transmissibility are scarce. Santa Clara County officials confirmed a strain known as BA.2 has been found in two people in the county. In a video shared with San Jose Spotlight, Deputy Public Health Officer Dr. George Han said BA.2 is considered a sub-variant of omicron. "Because it's so much less common, we don't know that much about it," Han said. "From what we can tell, early indications show it behaves just like the BA.1 omicron (variant)." Han did not have any information about how the individuals got infected or where in the county the infections were found. He said it's also unclear if this new strain will be labeled a variant of concern, which is how the World Health Organization generally labels viruses considered more infectious or severe. He said the county will continue monitoring the BA.2 sub-variant. State officials have reportedly identified 11 BA.2 infections as of Tuesday. Santa Clara County's most recent seven-day rolling average is 3,903 infections, down from previous weeks. To date, 1,976 people have died from COVID-19 in the county. Approximately 83.3 percent of residents of all ages are fully vaccinated and 62.8 percent of people over the age of 12 have received a booster dose. Over the past few weeks, Santa Clara County has tried to cope with the surge in cases caused by omicron, which exploded in early January following a spike in holiday travel. Public health officials have warned emergency rooms and COVID testing sites are struggling to meet the surge in demand for tests. Lawmakers want to expand testing options for residents, and county workers started distributing tens of thousands of rapid antigen test kits last week. The county also recently mandated booster doses for its employees who work in high-risk settings. George Rutherford, a UC San Francisco professor of epidemiology, told San Jose Spotlight there's nothing to immediately indicate the BA.2 sub-variant is concerning. "We obviously have to do studies, but right now it's just a part of the (omicron) lineage," he said. "Nothing to get particularly excited about." Copyright 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. Copyright 2022 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman proposed legislation Tuesday that would curb the construction of luxury "monster homes" in select residential neighborhoods. Mandelman's proposed ordinance would only apply to his supervisorial District 8 and create a new Central Neighborhoods Large Residence Special Use District, which would comprise of the neighborhoods Glen Park, Noe Valley, Dolores Heights, Mission Dolores, Diamond Heights, Twins Peaks and Eureka Valley. Under the proposed legislation, new construction and residential expansion projects within those neighborhoods would be subject to new requirements, including a Conditional Use approval from the San Francisco Planning Commission for residential units that are over 3,000 gross square feet. Also, the legislation bans any construction project that would result in a single-family home exceeding 4,000 square feet. San Jose gun owners will soon be required to purchase insurance for their weapons and pay an annual fee to the city under an ordinance approved Tuesday night by the San Jose City Council. The ordinance, which still faces a second vote next month to be ratified and go into effect, will require gun owners to pay an annual fee of roughly $25 as well as administrative costs to the city. Under the ordinance, revenue from the fees would go toward a not-yet-created nonprofit foundation, which will subsequently dole out funds to private organizations that seek to reduce domestic and gun violence. Gun owners will also be required to maintain liability insurance in the event their gun is used in accidental and unintentional shootings. A Colorado man suspected in the 1978 slaying of a 15-year-old girl visiting San Francisco will be arraigned on murder charges Thursday, San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin said Wednesday. Mark Stanley Personette, 76, was arrested in December in connection with the sexual assault and killing of 15-year-old Marissa Harvey. Marissa had traveled from New York to San Francisco to visit her sister in 1978, and went to Golden Gate Park on March 27 with plans for renting a horse but didn't return, police said. She was reported missing and her body was found in nearby Sutro Heights Park the next day. The case went cold for 43 years until last fall, when a DNA hit in a genealogy database linked DNA taken from the crime scene to Personette, authorities said. Containment of the Colorado Fire burning in Big Sur edged up to 60 percent on Wednesday evening and fire officials said Thursday's weather conditions are expected to be favorable for fighting the blaze. The fire has scorched 700 acres since it started Jan. 21 in Big Sur's Palo Colorado Canyon. One structure has been destroyed by the fire, but no injuries have been reported. All evacuation orders have been lifted, Cal Fire officials said Wednesday morning. Authorities have also reopened all roads, including state Highway 1. Embers from a pile burning operation are believed to have sparked the fire. Full containment is expected by Feb. 2, Cal Fire said. The Concord City Council on Tuesday approved a cannabis storefront retail operation planning to move into the Park & Shop center. Santa Barbara-based Coastal Retail wants to be up and running at 1847 Willow Pass Road by August. It would be the third retail cannabis storefront operation in Concord. The city adopted an ordinance in 2020 to allow three such adult-use only establishments in the city, along with manufacturers, non-storefront retail, distributors, and microbusinesses. The council technically approved two items, The first, which was approved unanimously, was for an administrative permit and design and site review for a cannabis storefront retail business. The second was for the development agreement between the city and Coastal, which passed 4-1. Vice Mayor Laura Hoffmeister dissented over language in the resolution she said gave cannabis providers the ability to skirt future rules involving vaping. The Salvation Army's Hope Harbor Shelter, the largest shelter in Lodi, helped with a count Wednesday to determine how many homeless people are living in San Joaquin County. The Point-in-Time Count in Lodi is the second of four counts happening in the county. The Hope Harbor Shelter is a place that provides families and people who are sober from drugs and alcohol a bed to sleep in at night as well as food and services to help their living situation. In 2019, the Point-in-Time count found that out of 2,629 homeless people living in San Joaquin County, 9 percent of them were living in the streets of Lodi. San Francisco police released crime data Wednesday from 2021, showing that murders across the city are up compared to previous years. According to the numbers, the city had 56 homicides in 2021, up from 48 in 2020, and 41 in 2019. Of those homicides, police solved 77 percent, according to Police Chief Bill Scott. The data also revealed that citywide gun violence is on the rise, with 222 victims of gun violence in 2021, which includes murder victims killed in shootings. That number is up from 167 victims of gun violence in 2020, and 137 in 2019. Concord police evicted the last dozen or so residents of an encampment along San Miguel Road in a field under BART tracks Wednesday, after a year and hundreds of complaints to the city about unsanitary conditions, fires and drug use at the site. The city gave notice to the residents 10 days earlier. At its peak there were an estimated 25 unhoused people at the site. BART owns the property, but the city is responsible for maintaining the site, said Concord Police Lt. Tamra Roberts. She said there were no problems on Wednesday, as everyone was cooperative. City maintenance workers will clean up what's left of the camp. Roberts said the city was able to offer spots at a county-run shelter in Concord to those who were still there Wednesday, but no one accepted. She said she realized these people, many of whom suffer from mental illness, would just move their belongings to other sites nearby. The Sundance Film Festival erupted again with Bay Area talent this year. As the fest wraps up its online-only program this weekend, we take a look back at recent interviews with three high-profile filmmakers who had their buzzed-about projects premiere there. Here's what they had to say. A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. ruled Tuesday in favor of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission in a case against both PG&E and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission over basic power hookups for public projects. Attorneys for the city have argued that PG&E for years has demanded the city purchase extremely expensive equipment to connect public facilities across the city to PG&E's electrical power grid in an attempt to hinder competition by the SFPUC, which also offers power service. The demands have resulted in delays for dozens of city projects, including the construction of a homeless shelter, schools, libraries, and transit projects, according to the SFPUC. A man who was shot Tuesday night in East Palo Alto remains in critical condition, police said Wednesday. Police responded to a Shot Spotter activation shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 2300 block of Palo Verde Avenue. No victims were found but a short time later police were notified that a gunshot victim had arrived at a local hospital, according to a release from East Palo Alto police. The 20-year-old man, a resident of East Palo Alto, was in critical condition on Wednesday evening. His name has not been released. About five hours after a fatal collision shut down the eastbound lanes of Interstate Highway 580 on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge on Wednesday night, the California Highway Patrol tweeted early Thursday that two of the three eastbound lanes will remain closed overnight for previously scheduled road work. The crash was first reported shortly after 7 p.m., when a sedan and a big-rig truck collided midspan on the bridge, according to the CHP. The big-rig caught fire and the driver was able to get out, but the driver of the sedan was trapped and died, according to the CHP. A 39-year-old Royal Oaks man was sentenced this week to 23 years in prison for forcible child molestation, according to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office. Eloy Santiago Lopez was sentenced Tuesday on three counts of forcible child molestation. In August 2020, a victim reported that Lopez had molested her on several occasions when she was under 18 years of age and there were no other adults around. According to the DA, Lopez threatened to separate the child from her family if she told anyone, so she said nothing, "for many years." California Highway Patrol officers arrested a man suspected of firing at them from a vehicle during a pursuit Tuesday evening. A second suspect remains outstanding, police said. CHP officers said that they were stopped on southbound State Route 17 just north of Greenwood Road on Tuesday night, when they spotted a black GMC Yukon parked on the side of the road at approximately 9:51 p.m. Officers allege that the female driver of the vehicle sped off as they attempted to approach the vehicle, so they pursued the car. The GMC failed to yield to the emergency lights and siren and continued to drive, exiting at Scotts Valley Drive and into the city of Scotts Valley, according to the CHP. At this point, CHP alleges that the male passenger in the car began shooting at them, so they called off their pursuit. On Wednesday morning at approximately 7:06 a.m., CHP received "multiple" calls of a pedestrian, walking along SR-17 near Laurel Road, who they allege matched the description of the male suspect. Officers arrested the man, who they allege was connected to the GMC Yukon. A weapon was also recovered during a search of the area, police said. Seven people were displaced by a fire that burned a Daly City home on Wednesday afternoon. The blaze was reported about 2:15 p.m. at a two-story house in the first block of Huntington Drive, fire officials said. When they arrived, fire crews found smoke coming from the back of the home. They entered through a garage to search for anyone who might still be inside but didn't find anyone, according to the North County Fire Authority. Firefighters encountered smoke and flames coming from a rear bedroom on the first-floor and managed to contain the blaze to that area. The remainder of the first floor, however, was damaged by smoke, fire officials said. No injuries were reported, but seven residents were displaced and received housing assistance through the Red Cross. A 21-year-old man was arrested Monday in connection with the 2020 slaying of a young mother in Berkeley. Sereinat'e Henderson, 19, was killed on Oct. 21, 2020, when the car she was traveling in was shot at multiple times near Prince and Ellis Streets in central Berkeley. In the vehicle at the time were Henderson's family members and her 1-year-old son. Henderson, who was pregnant at the time, was taken to a hospital where both she and her unborn child died. Palo Alto police are looking for a man who tried to carjack a vehicle that had two young children inside near the Stanford Arboretum Children's Center on Tuesday. Officers responded to a 5:25 p.m. report of the incident from the mother of the children, who said her caregiver was approached about an hour earlier by a man moments after she picked up the preschool age children near the center. Police said the caregiver told them a man in his 20s or 30s stepped out in front of her vehicle as she began to pull away from the curb and demanded she give him the car with the children in it. The frightened caregiver immediately drove away and returned home to the mother of the children. The National Weather Service forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area calls for sunny skies Thursday. After patchy morning fog, daytime highs are expected in the low to mid 60s, with overnight lows for most areas in the low to mid 40s and dipping into the high 30s in the East Bay's interior valleys. Dry and mild weather will persist through the weekend, with slightly cooler conditions beginning Friday. A slight chance of rain arrives Monday. Copyright 2022 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area. Copyright 2022 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Six months into a moratorium that halted short-term rentals permits in North Lake Tahoe, Placer County is considering a new set of rules to rein in the proliferation of vacation rentals and protect what little housing inventory remains for locals. The new ordinance would cap the number of short-term rentals in eastern Placer County, permitting about 25% of current housing stock on Tahoes North Shore and West Shore, from Kings Beach to Homewood, and Olympic Valley and Northstar, to operate as short-term rentals. Local residents say the new rules dont go nearly far enough. Many want the county to crack down on short-term rentals even more. Nearly 200 people, in person and via Zoom, attended the public hearing for the new short-term rental ordinance, held at a Placer County Board of Supervisors meeting in Tahoe City on Tuesday. Dozens of commenters, most full-time Tahoe residents who have been in the area anywhere from a couple of years to several decades, spoke up at the meeting, urging the board to take stronger action. Instead of granting more short-term rental permits, as the proposed ordinance would do, local residents pleaded with the board to reduce the number of permits, bring balance back to neighborhoods that are overwhelmed by vacationers and alleviate pressure on a housing crisis that is displacing the workforce, disrupting businesses and sinking the quality of life for local residents. I know so many contributors to this community teachers, people who work in hospitals, people who work in utilities, people who work in restaurants that are not able to either rent here or buy homes, and it is absolutely heartbreaking, said Ellie Perry, a North Tahoe resident, at the meeting. Every time one of those houses is turned into, essentially, another hotel, thats one less home for somebody whos actually contributing to this community. Lake Tahoe has been trying to regulate and enforce the proliferation of Airbnbs across the basin for years, and the rules are anything but consistent. There are five separate counties in the basin, each with their own jurisdiction and philosophies. Last year, the city of South Lake Tahoe prohibited short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. The town of Truckee is also in the midst of its own moratorium and debate on how to reign in short-term rentals. The stakes are high. The need to regulate short-term rentals began as a nuisance issue, responding to noise, parking and trash violations. Then the pandemic hit, and Lake Tahoe experienced a surge of visitors unlike anything else in its history, as people heeded doctors recommendations to go outdoors while COVID raged. The fallout has transformed the way of life for most local residents, and it's easy to see how that happened by looking at the real estate numbers. In April 2020, the median price of a single family home in North Tahoe was $660,000, according to a report compiled by Placer County staff. By November of 2021, that figure jumped 178% to a $1.175 million median sale price. Of all the homes sold in 2021, nearly 40% were cash offers, according to the Sierra Board of Realtors. The mass arrival of Bay Area residents with Silicon Valley salaries drove up the cost of living, which pushed Tahoe into a devastating housing crisis that is displacing local residents and straining businesses that cannot find people to hire. The cost of rent or a mortgage eclipses local wages. Today, a two-person household in North Tahoe must earn 425% of the area median income to afford a median priced home, according to a report from Placer County staff. Studies show that short-term rentals correlate with the rising cost of housing, both on rentals and for sale properties. With the hot real estate market, longtime property owners seized the opportunity to sell. A new round of second homeowners has settled in, thinking they could subsidize the high cost of housing by listing their property on Airbnb. About 80% of the housing stock in North Tahoe is second homes. Within a short period of years, Lake Tahoe, California, went from a rural ski town with plenty of affordable long-term rentals to Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach home values and it will never go down unless it burns, said Pat Dillon, a 42-year North Tahoe resident. My opinion is that short-term rentals are a commercial operation being permitted in a residential area by my county representatives. For the tax dollars. In 2021, Tahoe witnessed the chaos that ensued when a natural disaster and an emergency collided with visitors who had previous, nonrefundable Airbnb reservations not once, but twice. During the Caldor Fire, when air quality in the Tahoe Basin was quite literally the worst in the world, visitors with Airbnb reservations still showed up. Over Christmas, as a historic snowstorm descended on the area, Tahoe was still overwhelmed with tourists coming and going, despite emergency declarations and road closures. On Tuesday, the board settled on a cap of 3,900 permits, down from the originally proposed 4,300. Thats about 25% of the regions 15,000 homes. Before the moratorium was implemented, just over 2,500 short-term rentals in North Tahoe were permitted, though, according to Transient Occupancy Tax data, Placer County staff estimates the actual number of short-term rentals is closer to 3,900. The discrepancy likely stems from homes that were exempt under the old set of rules and, with the new ordinance, would be required to get a permit. Other rentals may be operating illegally without a permit. In theory, the cap would contain the number of short-term rentals to current levels, but most people who spoke up at the meeting saw the move differently. The vast majority of attendees who spoke during the public comment period vehemently opposed any action that would increase the number of short-term rentals in North Tahoe. Commenters painted a clear picture of how the quality of life in Lake Tahoe has deteriorated in recent years, due to the ceaseless wave of visitors and Airbnb pushing the basins capacity beyond its limits. Theres the gridlocked traffic, the dog poop that doesnt get picked up, the all-night parties full of college kids, booming music that can be heard blocks away and the extended-family barbecues that take over the street. Cars spill out of driveways when 10 people show up to a four-bedroom house. City drivers speed past homes, while children play in the driveway. One commenter described people riding snowmobiles through his yard. Im sick and tired of seeing dogs poop in my yard and not have it picked up, said Chris Hager, a Tahoe City resident, at the meeting. No ordinance will cover every possible violation and no ordinance will be perfectly enforced. The only way to minimize some of these problems is to minimize the number of short-term rentals in residential neighborhoods. A petition that circulated in early January protesting Airbnb and short-term rentals collected more than 1,600 signatures from Tahoe residents. I live next door to a five-bedroom one, so it impacts my life immensely, said Danielle Hankinson, a Kings Beach resident. Others oppose the cap on short-term rentals, namely real estate agents and second homeowners. John Falk, a representative from the Tahoe Sierra Board of Realtors, expressed sympathy for the nuisance concerns raised by his neighbors and the workforce housing shortage. However, his organization advocated against any attempt to limit the number of short-term rentals. We have to look at what drives our local economy, Falk said. And frankly, our local economy is, by and large, driven as a tourism-based outdoor recreation economy. And as such, we need heads in beds. A few second homeowners and Airbnb hosts stepped up to the podium at the hearing, too. Im just here to let you know that not every short-term rental owner is a bad person, said Maren Pagliaso, a short-term rental operator and second homeowner. Some of us care about the community. Right? Not all of us are evil. Not all of us are investors. I have two small children, 6 and about to be 8. I get up here as much as I can. But it's an asset that's sitting there. Pagliaso said he has notices all over his listing on Airbnb that say no parties. I work really hard with my neighbors, who I think have all trained their dogs to poop in my yard and on my driveway Im not lying, he said. But I've worked with them over the years to say, I hear your concerns. There is also a small group of local homeowners who rent out rooms in their primary house on Airbnb to subsidize their mortgage, making it possible for them to afford the extraordinarily high cost of housing. About 3% of short-term rentals in North Tahoe are owner-occupied. This group will not be included in the cap, making it possible for local residents to continue to earn money through this revenue stream. They will still need a permit, and will be subject to other aspects of the new ordinance, including fire and defensible space inspections. The moratorium expires March 31, and the ordinance must be in effect by that date, giving the Board of Supervisors a narrow time frame to make any revisions and respond to public feedback. On April 1, the county is expected to start accepting applications for permits. Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, who is the chair of the board and represents North Tahoe, expected this amount of feedback on the ordinance. She and her staff have been engaged in numerous meetings with other boards and committees in the Tahoe region, as well as town halls, one-on-ones. Multiple surveys went out to various stakeholder groups to get feedback. We're not going to get it right, Gustafson said. We're not going to be able to address all the issues that we heard. And throughout this process, we know we need to continually refine what we've done. So many of these may come back for future suggestions and revisions. But how far can we go right now within our current timeline? The cap was originally set at 4,300 with the intention of bringing every short-term rental operator into compliance with the ordinance. But after the days hearing, Gustafson suggested they reduce the figure by 10%, setting the cap at 3,900. We really felt at the time there's probably that many [rentals] operating currently that aren't permitted and arent being tracked and we were trying to bring everybody into compliance, Gustafson said. It was never my intent to say let's have more. The board approved the ordinance, with the lowered cap, in a unanimous vote. A second reading is scheduled for the next board meeting on Feb. 8. After the ordinance goes into effect 30 days later, a task force would be established to continue to monitor short-term rentals in North Tahoe so that regulations can continue to adapt to local needs. The last time downtown San Francisco saw rain was 20 days ago on Jan. 7, and long-term weather forecast models show dry conditions in coming days, the National Weather Service said. "I hate to say it, but there's no hint of rain looking 14 days out," Ryan Walbrun, a forecaster with the weather service, said. If this forecast holds, the San Francisco Bay Area will record no significant rain for more than a month in the middle of what's usually the wettest time of the year. Since Jan. 1, the city has recorded 0.61 inch of rain. If there's no more rain through Jan. 31, Walbrun said San Francisco would end the month around 15% of normal for January. "We should be somewhere around 4.25 inches," said Walbrun, noting the average January rainfall in SF. Earlier forecasts hinted at a chance for rain on Monday and into early February, but the chances have since diminished. "Theres definitely no rain today through Sunday, and then theres a very weak system Monday, but I think quite frankly thats not going to impact the Bay Area," Walbrun said. "It could bring a snow shower to the Sierra. Beyond that, at least through the first week of February, theres no signal of rain. It never looked like a really wet set up, but if it came to fruition, it would have brought at least some precipitation." Walbrun said the trough of low-pressure that was forecast to sweep the Bay Area is now expected to impact Montana, Wyoming and Colorado. The system "shifted east and that makes all the difference in the world," he said. It's not only the Bay Area that looks dry. Long-term forecast models that had hinted at rain in California at the start of February are now suggesting dry conditions. "Ensembles have now trended even drier for early-mid Feb, so it's now looking like this won't represent a meaningful pattern change for CA," Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, wrote on Twitter. "Probably cooler for few days w/perhaps a few showers (especially Sierra), but no hydrologically significant precip on horizon." The dry conditions are the result of a ridge of high pressure that's stretched across California. The ridge blocks the jet stream and prevents storm activity over the Pacific Ocean from reaching California. "This ridge unfortunately looks to keep the region drier for the foreseeable future," the weather service said in its forecast. "Assuming no more rain for the month San Francisco Downtown will end up with the tenth driest January on record." Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. The recent rezoning of office parks, which allows small-scale multifamily homes (14 units an acre) in underused commercial property, is a good forward-looking policy that helps marginally alleviate the housing shortage by incrementally allowing more development in an unobtrusive fashion. Stamford, as the most important city in the region, should be looking for more ways to grow its housing stock. Unfortunately, a vocal group of anti-development NIMBYs seems intent on overturning this change with the cooperation of some members of the Board of Representatives. In the midst of a massive regional housing shortage that is impoverishing the middle class and driving people away from the state, it is fundamentally undemocratic and unjust that we allow a vocal minority of incumbent homeowners to block progress for the next generation. Stepping back, we are in the midst of a national and regional housing crisis caused by decades of underbuilding homes as evidenced by rising rents, a shortage of homes for sale, and low apartment vacancy rates. This has been recognized by the Biden Administration, regional planning associations, and local Stamford-specific studies. As a result, the middle and working class are burdened with high housing costs and many younger people and new families are moving away from the region. There is no way to get around that Stamford (along with neighboring towns) need to allow a significant number of more homes to be built over many years to alleviate supply pressures and create more spaces for the next generation to live in. Without enough new homes to go around, new demand from younger families and job-seekers is overwhelming the existing housing supply, leading to displacement, rising rents, and homelessness. At the state level, the Desegregate Connecticut coalition is pushing the state legislature to pass laws to ensure that the exclusionary towns surrounding Stamford do their part to ensure enough production of homes. But Stamford, as the most important city in the region, must also step up. While Stamford has admirably grown its housing stock more than the surrounding exclusionary suburbs, the bulk of development has been concentrated in downtown and the South End. The vast majority of Stamfords residential neighborhoods are frozen in amber by a restrictive zoning code that disallows any incremental changes, such as backyard cottages, duplexes, and other missing middle forms of housing that could allow for more living spaces. While the voices of existing residents should indeed be considered in land use matters, living in a place first should not give someone a veto over every new person moving in. The vocal protests of a minority of homeowners averse to change are being allowed to outweigh what is good for the whole community. The housing crisis is the single most important issue facing Stamfords future. If we cannot get housing costs under control, Stamford will lose its workforce and vibrancy, and become like many high-cost Californian cities with high rates of homelessness and inequality. Stamford needs to choose whether it wants to be an exclusionary country club suburb with expensive homes that keeps out the working class and new families by blocking new homes, or a welcoming, growing city that works for all. The mayor, elected representatives, and city board members must consider the voices of newcomers, immigrants, and new families who would benefit from new homes in Stamford, many of whom are not vocally present when these matters are being discussed. People dont live forever, the city must change with the times, and we must build more homes for the next generation. Dice Oh has lived in Stamford for 16 years and has a strong interest in urban design, sustainable transportation, and housing affordability. Wood chips flew through the air over the weekend as woodcarvers from near and far descended upon the Shippensburg Fairgrounds to showcase thei 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. Even as Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to present the annual Budget on February 1, experts have called for regulation of cryptocurrencies and exhorted the government to treat them as capital assets with a "reasonable" tax regime. While the sector has grown exponentially over the last few years in India with buying, selling of the digital currencies and altcoins and establishing cryptocurrency exchanges being legal, the government is yet to bring in a law that regulates the sector. The government was expected to introduce a Bill titled "The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021" to regulate cryptocurrencies in the Winter session of the Parliament but did not do so. It is now expected to be tabled in the Parliament during the Budget session that starts on January 1 and ends on April 8. Pratik Gauri, CEO, and Founder, 5ire said the government has a responsibility to protect people from investments that are sensationalized, and while risk-taking is every investor's right, a measured hand where investment and holding parties responsible go hand-in-hand. "Laissez-faire has never worked in populations where every rupee is hard-earned and we are a nation of hard-earners. Even in terms of governance, the Indian government is looking long and hard at accountability. So, taxation and regulation of investment falls under its purview and I think, thus far the government has done a remarkable job of balancing the need to encourage investment for innovation and the restriction on gaining from wild speculation," he said. He added that all gains from cryptocurrencies are taxed heavily across the globe and that asking to pay a fair share of taxes on the gains in crypto markets is just part of the puzzle. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while virtually addressing a summit of the World Economic Forum on January 17, had called for a synchronized global action to regulate cryptocurrencies. The Reserve Bank of India has publicly favored a ban on private cryptocurrencies. The crypto assets in India are currently estimated at around Rs 45,000 crore with about 15 million investors. The risk in the widespread adoption of crypto is that poor AML and fraud practices are heavily present in the crypto exchange market. The reasons are multifold: Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) is not required on crypto exchanges or ATMs at this time. Raj Kapoor, Founder - India Blockchain Alliance and Chief Growth Officer at Chainsense LTD, said an alignment with the FATF framework would also provide crypto for a clearer framework on performing AML compliance, and to prepare to use this to inform your risk assessment and procedures. The Customer Due Diligence (CDD) scanner to detect customer identification, especially for scanning high-risk customers would then be in place as well. Ravi S. Raghavan, Partner, Tax and Private Client Group at Majmudar & Partners says cryptos should be treated as capital assets and reasonable tax regime such as a levy of 18 per cent GST on fee collected by exchanges for enabling buying and selling cryptos; and Investor profits to be either taxed as - short term capital gains (for cryptos held for less than 36 months) at 30 per cent; or long term capital gains tax (for cryptos held for more than 36 months) at 20 per cent that is similar to trading and investment in securities. "Reporting procedures in income tax returns and whether tax withholdings are applicable (beyond prescribed thresholds) should be explained in the form of an FAQ by the Central Board of Direct Taxes in due course to avoid any tax litigation," he said. He added that crypto trading should be considered by the government as speculative transactions and no losses arising from crypto sales be allowed to be carried forward and set off against other business profits or salary income of the concerned taxpayer. Regulating cryptocurrencies by bringing it under the IT Act will make it a part of the investment choices and while most investors do not have a problem with taxation, they seek clarity and consistency of taxes. "Anything that is banned never goes away, it just goes underground and the govt misses out on the tax revenues. Also regulating it would ensure that all loopholes are plugged and people don't feel the need to evade taxes," Kunal Verma director and creative head of Yunometa Pte limited said. Extending the penetration of social media and increasing the utilization of smart devices are the primary drivers of rising data consumption and internet network capacity in the country. With more Indian firms likely to engage in digital transformation objectives, McKinsey has named India the second-fastest-growing digital economy globally, predicting that the IT and communications industry will double in scale by 2025, contributing $ 355-435 billion to GDP. The COVID-19-led shutdown has boosted data consumption, resulting in increased demand for network bandwidth and data storage capacity. Among the other cities, the technical developments in Bengaluru have transformed the city into a hub of all IT giants, as enterprises and start-ups alike shift bases and invest more and more capital in Southern India for revenue generation. Apart from a steady rise of data centres in Bangalore, the city also saw huge names in the software industry flocking together, resulting in the emergence of BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) firms and further enhancing the technology boom. Hailed as the city of start-ups and famously called the Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru forms the central core of a $200 billion tech industry. It is also estimated that data centres in India will grow by over 4% CAGR between 2019-2025 because of a variety of factors like: Rapid shift to cloud-based operations 5G and IoT industry would bring hefty data centre investments Support of government policies for the growth of the digital economy Migration to advanced infrastructure platforms According to statistics, it has been noticed that using social media, downloading apps, holding multiple digital accounts, and surfacing of cryptocurrency, all these data-heavy transactions witnessed the most traffic from India, which means that the country is digitalizing rapidly. Fast Forward to The Future: Rise of Data Centres in Bangalore It is fascinating to see how multi-billion-dollar tech industries like Infosys and Wipro Technologies started from small warehouses in the city, and today, of the $160 billion IT revenue generated in India, Karnataka contributes 25% of it. With the highest number of R&D centres in India and celebrated as the fourth largest technological cluster, Bengalurus present strengths in the tech sector is evident, and it is further predicted to further grow in the future. It is no surprise that sectors like BFSI, e-commerce, transportation, and government agencies have resorted to seeking colocation services to establish physical data centres. This has, in turn, provided an impetus for global colocation service providers sharing an interest in the Indian data centre markets. Technology First Innovations with STT GDC India India has seen an increase in advanced technology, and consumers have adapted to these changes well. As a result, businesses are looking for channels to broaden their functionalities and accept new ways of using sophisticated technologies like AI, robotic automation, AR/VR, ML, etc., for maximizing productivity, achieving business objectives, and contributing to an innovative world. The current business models and data centres in Bangalore have joined hands in creating different tech strategies to deal with margin stress on their conventional businesses. Businesses pursuing such new models of services expect lower costs of building, managing, and operating their data centre facilities, improved revenue generations, a workforce that is empowered and strives for excellence in delivering the best customer experience. The goals that these businesses want to achieve require trusted partners for their digital journeys to become a success. They want the service provider to support mission-critical applications with reliable strategies thatll multiply the organizations efficiency by many folds. As Indias leading colocation and data centre services provider, STT GDC India offers a competitive advantage with reliable and scalable infrastructure. With three main state-of-the-art facilities in Bangalore and 18 data hubs in eight other cities, STT GDC India operates to keep you ahead of the crowd with innovation that complies with industry regulations and provides the industry highest uptime. Serving as the backbone of all internet service enterprises, STT Bengaluru DC 3 is the largest facility in Bengaluru that encompasses greater connectivity and lower risks along with STT Bengaluru DC 1 and STT Bengaluru Dc 2 operating in Sanjay Nagar & KIADB and Whitefield, respectively to ensure all-rounded colocation services with carrier-neutral advancements. To initiate your technologically driven business goals, head straight to STT GDC Indias website and check out their services! Widening the scope for cooperation in health research, India and France have signed an MoU aimed at joint research and focus on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and inherited disorders, an official statement said on Wednesday. The MoU, signed on Tuesday between India's CSIR and France's Institut Pasteur, would enable delivery of effective and affordable healthcare solutions not only for the people of India and France but for the global good, a Science and Technology Ministry statement said. The MoU provides for developing potential scientific and technological cooperation and networking in advanced and emerging areas of human health between scientists and institutes/laboratories of CSIR and Institut Pasteur and its international network. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Director General Dr Shekhar C. Mande and Institut Pasteur President, Professor Stewart Cole signed the MoU. French Ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain commended this effort and underscored its importance and impact in the overall India-France S&T relations. Extending full support to this collaboration, Ambassador of India to France and the Embassy of India, represented by Deputy Chief of Mission, Dr Praphulla Chandra Sharma termed it as a need of the hour, particularly in the age of the pandemic. The path ahead for execution of collaboration activities under the MoU was presented by Director CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), Hyderabad, Dr Vinay K Nandicoori in discussion with Senior Executive Scientific Vice-President, Scientific Affairs Department, Institut Pasteur, Professor Christophe d'Enfert. Emphasising the commonalities of interest and expertise of the two institutions, Director General for Research and Innovation at the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, France, Dr Claire Giry appreciated the initiative. The senior leadership in the health care domain from CSIR and Pasteur, a 14-member delegation from CSIR and DST and 15-member delegation from Institut Pasteur and over 10 representatives from the Indian and French Missions and Indian External Affairs ministry attended the meeting, which was a hybrid event on the Indian side. The gathering of the scientific fraternity appreciated the intellectual young enthusiastic workforce on both sides and indicated enormous opportunities for working together for identifying and developing new mechanisms and models, in cell biology, virology, vaccine development, infectious diseases, and working on computational biology and human evolutionary genetics studies, the release said. Dr. Saha earned a Bachelors degree in Science at the Presidency University, a Master's degree in Science at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and a Ph.D. at the University of Florida. FREMONT, CA : Dr. Arpita Saha, an Indian-American professor at the Georgia Southern University, was recently awarded the universitys Hall of Fame award and honored at a gala attended by the Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp. The award, Felton Jenkis, Jr. Hall of Fame Award, is the highest academic faculty honor in the state of Georgia that is presented by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. Dr. Saha was also amongst the preeminent honorees at the 17th Annual Regents Scholarship Gala, which raised over $625,000 to provide need-based scholarships to University System of Georgia (USG) students across the state. The gala was hosted by the USG Foundation, where Governor Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp, supporters, donors, legislators, alumnus, and members of the Board of Regents were present, along with the presidents of USGs 26 public universities and colleges. Dr. Arpita Saha is an associate professor of organic chemistry at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Statesboro campus of Georgia Southern University. She is one of the six USG faculties awarded the 2021 Hall of Fame award. Dr. Saha was selected for her contribution towards the school and the field of study, as well as her strong commitment to teaching the students. In a press release, Dr. Saha said that she deeply values the challenges associated with STEM disciplines for underserved communities, and she would focus on equity, inclusion, and excellence in her department. According to her profile on the universitys website, Dr. Saha earned a Bachelors degree in Science at the Presidency University, a Master's degree in Science at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and a Ph.D. at the University of Florida. Dr. Saha has been the co-leader of the colleges Diversity & Inclusion Collaborative since its foundation in 2019, co-leader of the GS Alliances of Women in STEM, and member of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence. Aftab Karma Singh Pureval was born in Xenia, Ohio, where he lived with his Indian immigrant father and Tibetan refugee mother. FREMONT, CA : Aftab Pureval created history as he was sworn in as the first Asian-American Mayor of Cincinnati. Son to an Indian father and a Tibetian mother, Pureval became the 70th Mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. Local Tibetians and Indian-Americans attended the ceremony, and the Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana Tibetan Association presented Aftab Pureval with a letter from Dalai Lama, the Tibetian spiritual leader, wishing him prosperity and health. Through interactions with Tibetian communities, Pureval witnessed that despite living under new, unfamiliar circumstances, the communities' children were able to maintain their sense of identity while contributing to the development of their new home country. In the letter Dalai Lama wrote to Pureval, the spiritual leader wished that Pureval could offer services to the less fortunate members of their constituencies. On Twitter, Pureval shows his excitement in the Dalai Lama's recognition and said that the leaders concerns for the most vulnerable have always inspired him. Shortly after his sworn-in ceremony, Aftab tweeted that Cincinnati has a great chapter ahead of it, and even though there will be challenges and harsh decisions, he will ensure his commitment to the welfare of the city. Pureval defeated city councilor and fellow Democrat David Mann in the November election, acquiring 64% votes. Aftab Karma Singh Pureval was born in Xenia, Ohio, where he lived with his Indian immigrant father and Tibetan refugee mother. After attending the Beavercreek High School, Pureval graduated from the Ohio State University with a Bachelor in Arts degree in Political Science. He later enrolled at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where he worked as an editor of the colleges law review journal, ultimately earning his Juris Doctor in 2008. While some countries begin to relax their coronavirus travel restrictions, others continue with theirs. For example, suppose you're planning a business trip overseas. In that case, the requirements for travel may differ depending on your vaccination status and the nations you'll be visiting. Is now a good time to go overseas for a business trip in 2022, with the situation still possibly precarious? For the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has dominated our lives, and now that Omicron has been named as a variant of concern, this may continue. As a result, it's understandable that COVID-19 is generating a lot of buzz. The last two years have also been a time of reflection, with a refocus on new future priorities as a result. This year, global corporate travel spending is predicted to grow by more than 37% to more than $1 trillion. However, the ordinarily lucrative industry will not fully recover until 2024. Last year's recovery was hampered despite companies like Express Test offering rapid testing to help the business industry stay connected. Things like an increase in Covid cases, novel variations, unequal vaccination rates, and supply chain issues contributed to the industry's decline. Today, we live in both a COVID and a post-COVID world. Businesses owe a different responsibility of care to their traveling employees than they did previously. Your roles and obligations as the person in charge of handling business travel at your firm will have changed dramatically. Travel arrangements and how they are booked and managed are changing to reflect our new reality. As restrictions are easing and the government is advising us to get back to the office, we wanted to offer some advice and guidance. So here are a few tips for businesses to consider when thinking about business travel. Duty of Care - Businesses are responsible for taking the appropriate precautions to safeguard their employees' physical and emotional well-being and safety. In various respects, a global health crisis has made this challenging, and it's critical always to prioritize team member well-being. Research - Check out the travel tips for the places you want to visit on the internet. This will tell you if they accept tourists from the United Kingdom and if you need to get vaccinated. You may be required to provide proof of immunization or a negative COVID-19 test. Remember that the UK still has restrictions in place for persons entering the nation, so consider what you'll need to return. Travel Policy - It's a terrific moment to sit down and review your company's travel policy, updating and perfecting it as new information becomes available. The preceding two years have supplied a wealth of knowledge that will aid in the development of a business travel strategy. Flexibility - Massive cancellations and interruptions in almost every industry have underlined the significance of flexibility, not just in business but in all aspects of life. For future-proofing against unforeseen catastrophes, make sure your processes and plans are as adaptable as they are feasible. Budgets - Many businesses have faced financial challenges due to decreased consumer spending and municipal lockout restrictions following COVID-19. Sticking to your travel budget is more important than ever. Insurance - Almost every travel expert we spoke with stressed the significance of purchasing travel insurance. However, not all insurance policies are created equal, and not all provide blanket coverage, so how can you know which one is suitable for you? The most important thing for travelers is to purchase travel insurance that includes cancellation coverage if they contract COVID. With the goal of allowing people to reconnect with their passion for travel, 2022 will see not only people reuniting but also the preparation of a trip become as significant as the journey itself. As a result, the 2022 traveler's considerations, needs, and wishes have evolved, with concerns not in our language before the pandemic, such as travel corridors, quarantine, PCR tests, and digital health passes. India celebrated its 73rd Republic Day as a part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav commemorating 75 years of independence. The Republic Day parade showcased India's military might, cultural diversity, and many unique initiatives to celebrate the 75th year of independence. The celebration was commenced on January 23 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On Netaji's 125th birth anniversary, PM unveiled the hologram statue of the freedom fighter at India Gate in Delhi on Sunday. The parade started at 10:30 am amid foggy weather. According to the tradition, the national flag was unfurled, followed by the National Anthem with a booming 21-gun salute, presented by the Ceremonial Battery of 871 Field Regiment. As many as 75 aircraft of the Indian Air Force performed a flypast showcasing India's military prowess at the event. The defence ministry presented videos from the cockpit as the helicopters and aircraft flew over Rajpath for the first time. The Centre also installed ten large LED screens, five on each side of Rajpath, for spectators at the location. On the eve of Republic Day celebrations, President Ram Nath Kovind approved awards of 384 gallantry and other defence decorations to armed forces personnel and others. The centre also announced the Padma awards on Tuesday. The President approved the conferment of 128 Padma awards this year, including two duo cases, in which the award is counted as one. The list comprises four Padma Vibhushan, 17 Padma Bhushan, and 107 Padma Shri awards. This year's list of guests was shortened to ensure necessary Covid protocols. Cultural diversity and Dark horse steals the show at the Republic Day parade As India is an independent nation, the culture played a vital role in the Republic Day parade. As the nodal ministry for Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, it organized Vande Bharatam in collaboration with the MoD as a countrywide dance competition, the winners of which got to perform at Rajpath as part of the main parade. The parade held under the aegis of the Ministry of Defence every year also had the active participation of the Ministry of Culture this time. Out of 3,870, 480 dancers were selected from the all-India dance competition. The Vande Bharatam Nritya Utsav saw four categories: classical, folk, tribal, and fusion/contemporary. The 12-minute musical piece performance was composed by Grammy Award-winning musician Ricky Kej, associated with Oscar contender tabla player Bickram Ghosh. As Republic Day celebrations close to the end at Delhi's Rajpath, one of the President's Bodyguards (PBG) was the Centre of attention. The guard was an honored dark-bay colored horse named Virat, who retired soon after the parade. President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh offer farewell to the horse, who has attended 13 Republic Day parades, and has been at the top of the PBG team, considered the most senior regiment of the Indian Army. Chhattisgarh allows government employees to work five days a week On 73rd Republic Day, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel took to Twitter to announce major policy decisions, including a five-day working week for government employees. "In a bid to increase efficiency and productivity of government employees, Chhattisgarh government is implementing five-day working week. In a tweet, the state government's contribution in a pension scheme will also be increased from 10 percent to 14 percent," said Baghel. The state government will also introduce legislation that will provide legitimacy to small Commercial activities undertaken in Residential Areas. This shall benefit thousands of small business people who otherwise live in a cloud of uncertainty. All irregular constructions on private land shall be regularised subject to public safety norms. This is considered a game-changer because many households have inadvertently violated the otherwise stringent provisions of the building code. The chief minister also announced similar provisions for planning and fringe areas in line with the one-second building permission scheme running successfully in municipal corporations. To generate employment and ensure that the transport department is accessible to the public, the CM announced that a large number of transport facilitation centers would be opened across the state. In addition to this, he announced that the rules for issuing learning driver's licenses would be simplified. As a vital step for women's safety, the chief minister announced that women's safety cells would be established in all districts. Chhattisgarh being a densely forested state, the livelihood of a majority of the tribal population is dependent on forests. The chief minister today announced rules for these forest dwellers would be simplified. A paradigm shift in the state's industrial policy was announced wherein 10 percent of the plots in industrial parks shall be reserved for citizens belonging to the OBC category. The chief minister announced that the premium for the land would also be subsidized. As a major announcement for the farmers, the CM announced that from FY 2022-23, pulses should also be procured at MSP. Also, a sum of Rupees Twenty thousand each shall be deposited in the bank accounts of registered laborers for the first two girl children. Bhupesh Baghel unfurled the national flag at Lalbagh Maidan of Bastar district on the occasion of Republic Day. 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! Renewable energy is squeezing fossil fuels further out of Australias power mix, accounting for a record-high share of average electricity generation in the final three months of 2021 and threatening the viability of coal-fired power plants. The influx of large-scale wind and solar farms coupled with an ongoing boom in the uptake of rooftop solar panels have been radically reshaping the national electricity market and slashing daytime wholesale prices to levels at which the dominant sources of power coal and gas struggle to compete. In the final three months of 2021, power generation from black coal fell to its lowest seasonal level since 1998. Credit:Louise Kennerley In a report to be released on Friday, figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) reveal renewable energy accounted for a record-high average of 34.9 per cent of generation across the three months to December 31, beating the previous record of 31 per cent set in the prior quarter. While coal still makes up most of the nations power, black coal fell to its lowest seasonal average share for the December quarter since the east coast electricity market was created in 1998, while gas recorded its lowest since 2003. The cost of providing essential workers automatic compensation for COVID-19 infection would be $315 million, according to new analysis, which is less than half the $638 million the state government estimated as the reason to repeal the cover. University of NSW Professor of Economics Richard Holden has found the governments cost of the presumption that frontline workers were infected on the job instead of in the community is outdated and more than double (103 per cent) of what he calculated. Essential workers in health, transport, hospitality, retail, education, construction, disability and aged care would need to prove they contracted COVID-19 at work. Credit:Chris Hopkins The figures are included in a submission by public policy organisation, the McKell Institute, to a NSW parliamentary inquiry into the governments decision to repeal section 19B of the Workers Compensation Act which was introduced last year to provide automatic protection for COVID-19 infection. Hearings for the upper house inquiry will be held next week. The repeal would mean essential workers in health, transport, hospitality, retail, education, construction, disability and aged care would need to prove they contracted COVID-19 at work and not at the shops or in the community. After arrival, and with rather limited success in getting jobs related to their areas of study and experience, many skilled professionals lose hope and end up in jobs that may be easy to get, but do not provide growth opportunities. It is traumatic for many professionals who have invested money in education, have gained years of work experience and upon arrival and despite relentless efforts are still unable to gain employment. We tend to recognise graduates who complete university study in Australia with limited work experience, however we dont recognise professionals with overseas qualifications and experience. There seems to be a demand by employers for workers from overseas, but their recruitment practices eliminate thousands of qualified and experienced professionals especially in professions that require local accreditation and licensing. A recent migrant who arrived in Australia from Fiji, who completed a bachelor of nursing, a graduate diploma of public health, and a postgraduate degree in management, was told that he does not have local experience. He has 17 years of experience as a registered nurse in Fiji and has worked in other Pacific Island countries. He has worked in public hospitals and for the World Health Organisation in Fiji, and completed his primary and high school education in English and is fluent in other languages. We need employers to educate employment agencies about providing a fair chance to skilled migrants and to recognise their education and work experience. Employment agencies need to change their mindset and practise equality in their recruitment of professionals. On-the-job training and mentoring could easily bridge the gap and bring workers up to speed. We also need professional bodies and tertiary education institutions to develop innovative short courses that bridge the gap between overseas qualification and local registration requirements. The Kerstin Thompson-designed bridge contains accommodation for overnight stays, a new cafe, and function and learning spaces ready for an influx of visitors Kent hopes will follow this Saturdays reopening. You have the history and legacy of the Boyd family, Kent says. But Bundanons new chapter is also very much about the present, its about creating a conversation across time, having contemporary artists - and visitors too - respond to the collection and the surrounding landscape. Bushfire resilience and flood mitigation are driving forces in the architectural design of the site. Kent has come from the Museum of Contemporary Art where she was its chief curator for most of her 20 years there. She and her teenage son have swapped their inner-city Sydney terrace and the MCAs killer harbour views for the Shoalhaven tree change. Hanging the inaugural exhibition in the subterranean Bundanon Art Museum. Credit:Rhett Wyman I work with gut instinct, and for me, it felt like the right thing, the right moment, she says. Kent is drawn to the idea of developing Bundanon as an arts destination, in the same way, that the Dia Beacon Museum on the banks of New Yorks Hudson River, and Japans art islands are institutions inseparable from their landscape. Upstream from the new art museum is Boyds historic homestead and original studio where he painted. Kent says she wants visitors to Boyds studio to experience the sense of the person, the practice, the actual physicality of it. You can see his cardigan on the chair, she says. There are his tubes or paint and rag bins under the bench. Its almost as though he has stepped out for a cup of tea. The Bridge for Creative Learning, designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects, is across from the museum and is a stunning 160-metre, low-slung breezeway structure built across a flood gully. Credit:Rhett Wyman Kent studied art history, medieval arts being her favourite subject. I did photography classes for fun which I enjoyed, and life drawing, but I was never any good at it and never particularly interested vocationally, she says. I like to understand how art is done. But actually, my strength is something different. Im much more interested in the ideas between the space of a museum and the viewing public. Loading Kent first visited Bundanon after the 1999 opening of the Glenn Murcutt, Wendy Lewin and Reg Lark designed Arthur and Yvonne Boyd Education Centre which has also been spruced up. I remember walking down to the river with friends, looking at the Shoalhaven River, looking at the rocky escarpment, the eucalypts, and seeing immediately what it was that Boyd had painted, Kent says. And in that moment understanding something of what this place was, what Arthur had seen in it and how extraordinarily ancient it was. The Boyds had returned to Bundanon after spending a decade in London, and Arthur had frequently compared this dramatic landscape of Bundanon to a Wagner opera, with its tumult of seasonal flood and bushfire. Its true to say it also lit a fire in him. People dont realise how big Bundanon is, Kent says. As well as an art museum its a wildlife sanctuary, a pristine landscape with all these layers of history through millennia with all these deep First Nations connections. It was always part of the deed that it be kept a working farm. From across the river comes the lowing of cattle. Bundanon comes with 36 hectares of pasture with its own agistment herd. Its also home to 20 threatened species, including the glossy black cockatoo, hence, Bundanons bush regeneration program. This new vision for Bundanon was made possible by the former NSW arts minister, Don Harwin, in 2018 when he allocated $10.3 million to the project. The Federal Government followed with $22.5 million for the build, and $3 million to support the national collecting institution over the next two years. Kent is planning three exhibitions annually. The first From Impulse to Action, features Boyds drawings in ink, brightly coloured and monochrome, as the starting point for 12 new commissions by Australian contemporary artists. The irreplaceable Boyd collection will be stored inside the museum, the racks visible to gallery visitors. It numbers almost 4000 works by Boyd, the Boyd family works and by Boyds contemporaries, such as brother-in-law Sidney Nolan. Credit:Rhett Wyman One of three curtain backdrops created for the Royal Ballets performance of Elektra has been reproduced. Boyd was living in London, curator Sophie OBrien says. He was collaborating with the Elektra Ballet and Robert Helpmann but also on operas, on tapestries, on lots of different things, and he brought that fresh energy back to Bundanon and Australia. When you see him on the river beach in the video, hes got paint dripping out of his hands. Hes very physical, its very visceral. Hes pushing the paint around, but its spontaneous, its immediate and its bodily, and I think that energy is in this suite of drawings. Upstream from the new art museum is Boyds historic homestead and original studio where he painted. Credit:Rhett Wyman. The irreplaceable collection will also be stored inside the museum, the racks visible to gallery visitors. It numbers almost 4000 works by Boyd, the Boyd family and Boyds contemporaries, such as brother-in-law Sidney Nolan. Boyds famous open-door hospitality and philosophical position that no landscape can be owned by a single person is why Kent believes the artist would have approved of the expansion. The likes of Nolan, Guy Warren, John Olsen, Peter Kingston and Brett Whiteley visited. Businessman Charles Lloyd Jones once famously arrived in his Rolls Royce by punt from across the Shoalhaven. Loading Kent joined the MCA in 2000, when the institution was in such a perilous financial state a board director quietly advised Kent to request six months salary upfront. She curated Californian artist Doug Aitkens MCA survey and is keen to see international artists working alongside local peers in Bundanons residency program post-COVID-19. In five or even 10 years time Kent would like to see Bundanon really widely known, loved, embraced at the local community level, nationally and ultimately internationally. Thats going to take some time of course because you need to build visibility and momentum and we are opening in unusual times, Kent says. A lot has changed with COVID-19. But then again it feels strangely like an appropriate time for a place like Bundanon to step forward and shine. It shouldnt come as a surprise, should it? To see a tailored suit, nipped-in of waist and sharp of shoulder, on the catwalk of a mens fashion brand, during the annual menswear fashion weeks that occur in January? This is, after all, clothing for men (I think we can still gender our wardrobes?) But it did, because so much of mens dressing in the past decade, and certainly since we plunged into the pandemic, has been the exact opposite of what suiting is - upright, proper, polished, sophisticated. Instead, an unholy triumvirate of sporty athleisurewear, Gen Z slouchiness and the work-at-home edicts that rendered smart clothing redundant caused a shift in mens wardrobes towards the casual and dress-down. Hoodies spiked in sales as shirts died a death, pyjamas were booming instead of suits. Autumn/Winter 2022/2023 ready-to-wear collections from Prada, Hermes, Paul Smith and Prada. Credit:Getty But, if were going by what the autumn/winter 2022 catwalks forecast for us fellows for whom a bucket hat is style anathema, that era is over. Its time to grow up (and get back to the office). Its telling that Dior Men, steered by Britains fashion supernova Kim Jones, looked to the classical codes of Monsieur Dior himself for its winter show. Last time around, it was a collaboration with Travis Scott, the catnip-to-Gen-Z rapper who subsequently became mired in controversy. A four-day working week. Its a sensible, exciting and well-established idea whose time has finally come, COVID-19 shows us. The pandemic has not only triggered agility, resilience and effectiveness in our response; wed readily manage the transition to a four-day working week. It has also caused many to reassess priorities which is leading to mass resignations amid rising burnout. The pandemic has caused many workers to reassess priorities. Credit:E+ Recent research suggests as many as four in 10 workers from blue-collar to C-suite are mulling quitting their jobs. The Great Reassessment is leading to The Big Quit. This fuels the compelling case for change, that here is a light in the COVID-19 gloom, for there is clearly need and scope for getting the work/life trade-off in better shape. It was a bittersweet send-off when Santa Sabina College mother Daniella Di Santo waved her eldest daughter Sienna through the school gates for her first day of year seven on Thursday. Not getting in to walk her in is a bit sad, especially since I wasnt there to experience the last day of year six, said Ms Di Santo, as she lingered outside the Strathfield school with her younger daughter Verona. The proper parent farewell was one of a few back to school traditions missing this week, as some private school students became the first to return for 2022. We were supposed to hold a morning tea with the community, Ms Di Santo said. Instead weve prepared welcome envelopes with a welcome card, prayer and tea. But otherwise I think everyone is really positive. Daniella Di Santo accompanied her eldest daughter, Sienna, to her first day of high school with Verona, year 5, in tow. Credit:Kate Geraghty As vice-president of the schools parents and friends association, she has been attuned to families concerns as the back to school period approached while NSW was still recording thousands of new COVID-19 cases each day. I think the anxiety is around the testing twice a week and also the children being among friends and passing it on, Ms Di Santo said. Otherwise were pretty happy for them to be able to go to school. My girls have been home for eight weeks and we havent been able to do their usual activities. It impacts their mental health. In the school environment at least theyre having contact outside the household to form their own little personalities again. I know were heading towards a cashless society but a local St Vincent de Paul shop wont accept cash after 3.30pm. Card only, notes Peter Riley of Penrith. The first rule of retailing is know thy customer. Old Vince must be a bit flummoxed. Judy Jones of Thornleigh has a bloody good addition to the leech (C8) discussion which brings back memories of being shown the spot at Murwillumbah where Elioth Gruner painted Valley of the Tweed in 1921, even the log remaining from the tree he depicted was there. Unbeknown to me, the area was also alive with leeches. We arrived at our accommodation on the Gold Coast later, and the biggest, fattest leech fell off from under my long pants. My husband valiantly dropped a rock on it, and you can guess the rest. I got my blood back, so did he, and the car. The moral of the story is to never drop a rock on an engorged leech. Chris Yates of North Narrabeen thinks that the reason we dont feel leeches is either because their saliva contains an anticoagulant called hirudin or that they have 32 brains and outsmart us. Joy Cooksey of Harrington thinks 2022 may see a resurgence of leeches to mop up the bloodletting, and to palliate the shortage of nursing staff. Try this one, suggests David Davies of Drummoyne. Hey Siri (C8), is there a law against the Prime Minister lying to the country? Australian aerial skier Brittany George has been found dead in Brisbane after police had issued an urgent appeal following her disappearance on Friday. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding her death. Former Australian aerial skier Brittany George. Credit:Instagram The 24-year-old was reported missing from Ascot in Brisbanes north since January 21. Ms George, who was with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia from 2017 to 2020, had competed in several global aerial skier competitions, and placed fifth in the European Cup in Finland and fifth in the Nor-Am Cup in Canada in 2018, and fourth in the Nor-Am cup in Utah, US, in 2019. Queensland has reported 15 more COVID deaths and 11,600 new infections as the number of hospitalised patients in some south-east hospitals begins to stabilise. Health Minister Yvette DAth said the new known infections came from 3986 self-reported rapid tests and 26,290 PCR swabs. Those who died with the virus on Wednesday were aged between their 60s and 90s. Queensland Health Minister Yvette DAth described the hospital figures as very positive news. Credit:Matt Dennien A total of 829 patients were now in hospitals across the state, 48 of whom were in intensive care. Fifteen of these were also on ventilators. What we are seeing, and what we have seen since Wednesday, is a decline each day of the number of patients at the Gold Coast hospitals, Ms DAth said. Putting armed guards on train stations and removing level crossings might not be very similar from a policy perspective. But there are some strong political parallels. First, both announcements were made almost exactly one year before polling day, helping to set the tone for the coming 12 months. Protective services officers in Melbourne during the pandemic. Credit:Jason South Second, both policies were tangible, easily understandable and offered solutions to real problems faced by voters daily. The Coalitions policy focused on personal safety, Labors on frustration over traffic snarls and crowded trains costing people leisure time. Third, both policy announcements worked on micro and macro levels. Not only did each policy suit localised campaigning, but there was also a bigger picture. Premier Daniel Andrews visits a level crossing removal site in Dandenong South. Credit:AAP In the case of level crossings, this was about making both the train and road networks work more efficiently. In the case of the PSO plan, it addressed a perception that Melbourne was not as safe as it once was. This flexibility allowed both parties in opposition to zoom in and zoom out as needed, focusing both on city or statewide benefits, and on the benefits in individual seats. There are, of course, other reasons why the Coalition won in 2010, and Labor four years later in 2014. In the lead-up to the 2010 election, Labor was seen as arrogant, and the Brumby government had also been dogged by concerns over the cost of the Victorian desalination plant and the performance of the Myki ticketing system. Serious problems on the Frankston train line greatly added to Labors polling day woes. The Brumby government had also been dogged by concerns over the cost of the Victorian desalination plant and the performance of the Myki ticketing system. Credit:Steve Lightfoot The Coalition also quickly ran into trouble during its term, with a messy leadership change, revelations of internal plots against the Police Commissioner, leaked secret recordings and criticism from the business community over the governments glacial pace, among other things. In each case, the conditions were there for a change of government. But it was smart policy announcements a year out that provided a catalyst, convincing just enough voters to switch. Even then, in each case it was a line ball win. Which brings us to Opposition Leader Matthew Guy. The Coalition has very little time left to cut through. The lack of time has partly been beyond its control, given the amount of political oxygen the pandemic has consumed. But the clock is ticking. For the next few months, the focus is going to be on the federal election, which will almost certainly be held in May. The wash-up will probably last until June. The Coalition has very little time left to cut through. Credit:Eddie Jim There is also a good possibility the state budget will be delayed until after the federal election, which will also dominate the agenda for a few more weeks beyond federal polling day. Add in school holidays, the Spring Racing Carnival and the AFL grand final, and it becomes clear that Guy has only about four or five months to needle his way into voters minds as a viable alternative. We all panicked because it could have been really bad. It could have been a fatality, he said. Hailstones with a diameter larger than a 20 coin was seen in Melbournes inner east on Friday afternoon, while Springvale recorded 35 millimetres of rain in 30 minutes. The front is expected to travel east on Friday afternoon, drenching Gippslands south-west. Heavy rain and flooding caused difficulties on Melbournes roads and public transport networks, with Burke Road inbound on the Monash Freeway closed and parts of the Mernda line out of service until mid-evening due to the extreme weather. BOM duty forecaster Miriam Bradbury said Melbourne would experience rain and thunderstorms late into the evening. Large parts of Victoria are still very much the hotspot for storms, she said on Friday afternoon. Heavy rain hitting the Melbourne CBD at 3pm on Friday. Credit:Chris Hopkins Were gradually seeing a little bit of easing of storms in the south-west behind the trough, but its still definitely very active at the moment. The metro area may see heavy to intense rainfall out of these storms, which could produce flash flooding, a lot of damaging winds and possibly also large hail as well. The State Emergency Service said it had received over 1600 calls for help from across the state in the 48 hours to 5pm on Friday, including over 900 in western Victoria and another 650 in Melbourne. The SES said 1100 jobs had been cleared and about 480 active jobs remained outstanding. Around 13,500 Powercor customers were still without power at 5pm on Friday, while another 3500 households connected to United Energy in Melbournes south-eastern suburbs could not access the grid. More than 6000 AusNet customers had their supply affected due to Fridays storm. Hailstones came down on the rooftops of Melbournes inner north including in Collingwood and Fitzroy North about 2.30pm on Friday. Boonah, north of Lorne and inland from Victorias surf coast, received 70 millimetres of rain in three hours, while areas west of Werribee were hit with 45 millimetres of rain in under an hour. Ms Bradbury said much of Victoria could expect storms to ease overnight, with the trough which carried the storm activity moving towards the states east. Flooding on the Nepean Highway near St Kilda on Friday. Credit:Simon Schluter With an overnight low of 18 degrees and a top of 25 expected on Saturday, she said the cool change would be short-lived. In the city the temperature began to drop just after 1.30pm from 27.7 degrees, and by 2pm the temperature was 22 degrees, she said. The air behind the trough is not that cold, and it will be a brief break with a maximum of 28 on Sunday. We can expect a proper cold front to come through on Tuesday. Staff at the Butchers Club at Chadstone shopping centre said loading bays were flooded underneath the complex in Melbournes east. Passengers make their way through the rain at Moorabbin station on Friday afternoon. Credit:Penny Stephens I was just packing up the van ready to leave and there was a downpour, manager Dave told BC Melbournes Drive. Theres a fair bit of drainage in there so it didnt last too long. A spokesperson for Vicinity, the company that operates the shopping centre, told The Age isolated parts of the centre had been impacted by storm water. The current storm warning comes after a massive storm front tore through the state on Thursday, bringing flash flooding to communities from Mildura to Geelong. More than 4000 houses across the state remained without power on Friday afternoon, down from 20,000 on Thursday night, as crews began the clean-up process. Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula bore the brunt of the storm on Thursday night with torrential rain causing widespread flooding in the area. Barwon Health confirmed several patients had sought treatment with head injuries and limb wounds from flying debris in the storm. Greater Geelong Council received hundreds of calls from residents seeking help with flooding, drainage issues, building damage and fallen trees. Deputy mayor Trent Sullivan said several childrens centres experienced minor flooding while a power outage forced the closure of the Lara Aquatic Centre. Geelong resident Peter Mitchell said the rain gauge in his backyard showed he received 30 millimetres of rain in 20 minutes on Thursday. It was like standing in a shower, he said. Mr Mitchell said on Friday some roads had been covered with water and hed heard heavy rain had leaked into some houses. Nearby in the Geelong suburb of Highton Nick Rance was bracing for another downpour on Friday after losing power for several hours the day before. He said roads were flooded in his neighbourhood and a nearby bus stop was also covered with water. Mr Rance was preparing to lay down towels against the doors of his home on Friday to protect against the rain after doing the same thing on Thursday. Loading We had about 20 towels at each door, he said. On Friday Surf Coast Shire councillor Gary Allen, who is based in Lorne, said loud thunderclaps and heavy rain began about 9am sending people into cafes and shops for cover. Weve had continuous storms for most of the day, he said. Although it had been wet, Cr Allen said he was unaware of any flooding or large trees coming down. Emergency services said the downpour had inundated ambulance depots and police stations and caused the roof of a 10-pin bowling centre to collapse. No one was injured in the incident. State Emergency Services commander Jackson Bell told Melbourne radio station 3AW crews received 300 calls for assistance and rescued 19 drivers trapped in their cars in the area overnight. It was quite a significant event last night in Geelong, and we are planning for similar conditions this afternoon, Mr Bell said. Its probably going to kick off around lunchtime and move eastward throughout the day, so were starting to put planning preparations in place to make sure that we can respond accordingly. Since thunderstorms first hit north-eastern Victoria on Wednesday evening, SES volunteers have responded to 900 calls for assistance, including 100 in Mildura. Most call-outs related to flooding, building damage and fallen trees. Images shared on social media showed floodwater up to the bumpers of cars parked in the southern suburb of Belmont and parts of Geelongs Shannon Avenue underwater. Residents in Geelong West reported rushing to move their cars to higher ground to avoid getting caught in floodwaters as the cloudburst happened after 8pm. Weather stations in Geelong recorded falls of 38 millimetres in an hour, while the suburb of Moolap was drenched with almost 29 millimetres of rain in 30 minutes. Emergency services issued a watch and act alert for the states western and central regions and parts of metropolitan Melbourne just before 8pm on Thursday, amid fears thunderstorms across those areas could produce destructive winds and large hail through the evening. Torrential rain pummels Melbourne on Friday. Credit:Chris Hopkins A watch and act alert for flash flooding was also issued for Geelong about 9.20pm, urging people to stay indoors. Geelong Racecourse recorded nearly 39 millimetres of rain between about 7pm and 9pm. Swan Hill, in the states north, was lashed with gusts of up to 133 kilometres per hour about 4.45pm on Thursday, with gusts of 139 kilometres per hour recorded in Horsham 20 minutes later. Loading Mildura, in the states north-west, recorded 80 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours to Thursday morning, with 69 millimetres falling in just two hours, after thunderstorms developed near the border of South Australia and Victoria on Wednesday night. The weather bureau said this made Thursday the wettest January day on record for the city. The thunderstorms are the result of high levels of moisture in the air created by a tropical air mass from northern Australia, which has brought muggy weather conditions to Melbourne more akin to those in far north Queensland than Victoria. With Cassandra Morgan The West Australian government has announced expanded exemption criteria for travel into the state after long-awaited reopening plans were pushed back due to spiking COVID-19 cases over east. From February 5, eastern states residents will be allowed to visit direct relatives, providing they are fully vaccinated and complete 14 days of self-quarantine. WA Premier Mark McGowan announced some restrictions preventing travel into the state would be eased, but the the hard border would remain in place after February 5. Credit:Peter de Kruijff WA residents will also be allowed to visit relatives over east and return home again, providing they follow the same requirements. As far as WAtoday can ascertain, a direct relative means immediate family such as parents or children, but does not include extended family. Home buyers in some parts of regional Victoria will have to find as much as $421,000 extra to buy a home after house prices surged to record highs in 2021. New data shows that 24 regional local government areas had median house price rises of at least 20 per cent, and some higher than 40 per cent, as tree- and sea-changers packed up and moved away from the city during coronavirus lockdowns last year. Sea and tree changers sent prices in regional Victoria up by as much as $421,000 in 2021 Domains latest House Price Report also revealed that regional Victorias house prices grew at their highest rate on record over the December quarter, more than double the previous quarter. Popular regional holiday spots led the house price gains, including alpine towns Bogong, Bright and Harrietville, where the median price rose 46.2 per cent in 12 months. House prices in pockets of regional NSW are rising at a faster rate than in Sydney, as ongoing demand from sea and tree changers pushes prices to record heights. Prices across a string of local government areas have jumped by more than a third year-on-year, new Domain figures for the December quarter reveal. The median house price in Kiama has jumped almost 50 per cent year-on-year. Credit: lleerogers/iStock The Snowy Monaro Regional Council area recorded the largest gain, with the median house price climbing 50.8 per cent to $585,000. It was closely followed by the Kiama and Byron local government areas, where house prices rose about 48 per cent, to respective medians of $1.495 million and $1.7 million. The Byron areas median was up $550,000, the largest price hike in dollar terms and topping Sydneys record $1.6 million median up 33.1 per cent last year. Beverley Hills: A black diamond weighing a staggering 555.55 carats is going up for auction at Sothebys and living up to its name the Enigma. Bidding opens at 1am February 4 AEDT and closes on February 10, Sothebys said, adding cryptocurrency will be accepted for payment of the diamond. An employee of Sothebys Dubai presents a 555.55 carat black diamond the Enigma. Credit:AP Sothebys said it is the largest faceted fancy black diamond known to ever appear at auction and was listed as the largest cut diamond in the world in the 2006 Guinness Book of World Records. Also known as a carbonado diamond, it is possible the black diamond came from outer space. Carbonados of this structure have only been found in Brazil and the Central African Republic and scientists have long theorised about their origins. Wirtz, VA (24184) Today Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 55F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 55F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. PHILIPSBURG:--- On January 26, 2022, Customs organizations all over the world join in celebrating International Customs Day under the theme Customs bolstering Recovery, Renewal, and Resilience. The Honorable Minister of Justice Anna E. Richardson commemorated this day by inviting Customs St. Maarten to the Government Administration Building so that they could be duly celebrated as well. This is a special day where we celebrate and recognize the role of our customs officers and highlight the working conditions and challenges that they face on the job. On this memorable day, I thank all our customs officers for the work that they have been carrying out on behalf of the country and reiterate my commitment to the continual improvement of this department, stated Minister Richardson. During the ceremony, Minister Richardson took the opportunity to recognize some members of the customs team for their outstanding qualities, performance and commitment. Customs officer Gabriela Cathalina-Garcia, who recently joined the Customs Department, was recognized for her dedication, performance, and involvement in the PCS committee where she has proven herself to be a dedicated worker, also scoring the maximum on the National Decree on the Import, Export and Transit test. Customs officer Isha Marlin-Brown, who has been working at the department since 2013, was recognized for the efficiency shown in her work. During the past three years, she has worked in a supervisory role where she has not only exceeded expectations as shift leader but also encourages her colleagues to be the best that they can be by remaining up to date on laws pertaining to customs. Among the recipients recognized was customs officer Franklin Bernadina. Minister Richardson expressed her appreciation for the passion that officer Bernadina has and continues to display when it comes to the department. She stated, Officer Bernadina is a leader at heart. He shows up to the call of duty and goes above and beyond to ensure the customs department is well-represented at any given moment. I am truly grateful for his attentiveness and dedication to the staff, the department, the wellness and growth of the Ministry and the overall country. During todays ceremony, I introduced the newly instated Management Team for the Customs Department consisting of Mr. A. Doran, Mr. F. Bernadina, Ms. J. La Paix and Mr. J.S.R. Romney. I remain faithful that this team will continue to enhance the department further and foster an environment in which all our customs officers are given the opportunity and resources to grow and excel, thereby ensuring the safety and security of our borders where the in and out-flow of goods are concerned. On behalf of the Government of St. Maarten, I hereby extend congratulations to our local customs officers, regionally and around the world, concluded Minister Richardson. SABA:--- Children on Saba between the age of 5 and 11 will be receiving a COVID-19 vaccination next Tuesday, February 1. The vaccines arrived from the Netherlands on Tuesday, January 25. Children will receive an age-appropriate dose of the vaccine made by Pfizer/BioNTech. The vaccine is the same as the one that has been given to adults, but children 5-11 years receive one-third of the active ingredients given to adults. The immune response of young children at a lower dose is just as good as the immune response of adolescents and adults to the normal dose. In total, 140 children between the ages 5 and 11 on Saba are eligible to receive the vaccine. Each child was given a letter to take home to their parents. Parents need to return this consent letter to the childs class teacher by January 27. After receiving the consent letters through the school, the Public Health Department will give each child an appointment time. The vaccines will be administered on February 1 at Saba Cares. Eight weeks later, the children will receive the second dose. Adults 18+ on Saba have already received two COVID-19 vaccinations and a booster. Adolescents (12-17) received the two regular doses. With the assistance of the Ministry of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sport (VWS) and the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the vaccines were transported from the Netherlands to St. Maarten on Royal Dutch Airlines KLM and then taken to Saba with Windward Islands Airways International Winair. Edith (Edi) Marie Smith, daughter of the late Glen Lester and Dorothy Jane Allison, was born in Youngstown, OH on Friday, October 11th, 1963, and she departed this life on Saturday, April 30th, 2022, having attained the age of 59 years. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death b Happy Groundhog Day. It is an ironic juxtaposition that the State of the Union address by the president and Groundhog Day occur on the same day. One involves a meaningless ritual in which a doddering octogenarian who is as outdated as the State of the Union event stumbles through some scripted predictions. The sun is a big ball of gas and plasma, but what is the sun made of exactly? Most of the gas around 92% is hydrogen, according to NASA. It is converted into energy in the sun's core. The energy moves outward through the interior layers, into the sun's atmosphere, and is released into the solar system as heat and light. Nuclear fusion In the sun's core, gravitational forces create tremendous pressure and temperatures. The temperature of the sun in this layer is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). Hydrogen atoms are compressed and fuse together, creating helium. This process is called nuclear fusion. As the gases heat up, atoms break apart into charged particles, turning the gas into plasma. The energy, mostly in the form of gamma-ray photons and neutrinos, is carried into the radiative zone. Photons can bounce around at random in this zone from somewhere between a few thousand to about a million years before traveling to the surface, according to Sten Odenwald on NASA's Ask the Space Scientist page. Why don't we know how long it takes for a photon to travel outward from the center of the sun? For one thing, scientists can't see into the core to track a photon from its birth. Instead, they must rely on models that follow the infamous "drunkard's walk" problem. According to this scenario, the distance a drunken person travels while making random left and right turns is their typical step size times the square root of the number of steps taken. For a randomly traveling photon in the solar center, this depends on what is used for the mean free path (or average distance travel) of radiation. These numbers range from 4,000 years to millions of years, though most solar scientists tend to rely on 170,000 years, according to the book Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour. Four hydrogen nuclei combine to release a helium nucleus. (Image credit: Getty Images) "Photons go on a random walk within the sun," space scientist Lucie Green, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Space.com. "I would say 170,000 years for photon to escape." "Most astronomers are not too interested in this number and forgo trying to pin it down exactly because it does not impact any phenomena we measure with the exception of the properties of the core region right now," Odenwald said. Scientists think the sun's magnetic field is generated by a magnetic dynamo in the radiative zone. The convection zone (also known as the convective region) is the outermost layer of the sun's interior. It extends from about 125,000 miles (200,000 km) deep up to the visible surface or the sun's atmosphere, according to NASA. The temperature drops below 3.5 million degrees F (2 million degrees C) in the convective zone, where hot plasma bubbles up toward the surface. This image shows the sun's three major zones (convective zone, radiative zone and core). (Image credit: ESA&NASA/SOHO) The convective motions carry heat quite rapidly to the surface, which is the bottom layer of the sun's atmosphere, or photosphere. This is the layer where the energy is released as sunlight. The light passes through the outer layers of the sun's atmosphere the chromosphere and the corona. We usually can't see these layers, but during a total solar eclipse, the chromosphere looks like a red rim around the sun, and the corona forms a white crown with plasma streamers spreading outward. The chromosphere gets its red color from the abundance of hydrogen, according to the National Solar Observatory. Abundance of elements Astronomers who have studied the composition of the sun have catalogued 67 chemical elements in the sun. There may be more, but in amounts too small for instruments to detect. Here is a table of the 10 most common elements in the sun, according to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Element Abundance (pct. of total number of atoms) Abundance (pct. of total mass) Hydrogen 91.2 71.0 Helium 8.7 27.1 Oxygen 0.078 0.97 Carbon 0.043 0.40 Nitrogen 0.0088 0.096 Silicon 0.0045 0.099 Magnesium 0.0038 0.076 Neon 0.0035 0.058 Iron 0.030 0.014 Sulfur 0.015 0.040 Additional resources For more information about the sun, read NASA Science's Solar System Exploration page. Additionally, you can find the answers to more questions about the sun at the Natural History Museum UK website. Bibliography "On the photon diffusion time scale for the sun". Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (1992). https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1992ApJ...401..759M "On the time scale of energy transport in the sun". Solar Physics (2003). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226250698_On_the_time_scale_of_energy_transport_in_the_Sun "The random walk of radiation from the sun". Walker, L. M. (2006). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238080819_The_random_walk_of_radiation_from_the_sun "Welcome to the universe: an astrophysical tour". Tyson, N. D., Strauss, M. A., & Gott, J. R. (2016). Princeton University Press. https://books.google.co.uk/books is entirely personal, almost to a fault. It feels like a recreation of Kenneth Branaghs childhood, taking us back to the Troubles after an all-colour musical montage set to a Van Morrison song, the film transforms into an all-black and white approach, switching gears to deliver an innocent street in Belfast itself kids are playing, and a boy Buddy is wielding a bin lid as a shield. Hes called home for tea whilst his neighbours joke about what he could be eating people are outside on the streets, talking to each other completely innocent, completely normal and then the mood changes in an instant, the blink of an eye the streets turn into violence and the Catholic houses in the street are brutally attacked by Protestant gangs. The next day; a barricade is installed to protect the street and Buddy must navigate it to get to school.Branagh himself grew up during this time in Ireland before moving and the film feels like a recreation. Shot entirely in black and white and ala Taika Waititi and, shows a horrific event depicted entirely through the eyes of a child. We hear whispered conversations between Buddys older brother and his dad behind a windowsill that Buddy is listening in on, and we see his personal life change as he develops on a girl whos top of her class in Maths so he turns to his grandad for advice, who teaches him to make his numbers look messier so he gets a better shot at getting the answers right - only for when he improves in his class, he moves ahead of the girl he likes, unable to sit next to her. These little glimpses of both his grandparents and his parents a perfectly idealised view of his dad; who has to spend time working between London and England, feels like a love letter to the past especially when Buddy himself feels incredibly threatened by the idea of moving away from his home, the only place hes ever known.There are moments of magic in the love of cinema that Buddy shares represents Branaghs own interest in film he watcheson television, whilst his parents take him to the cinema to seeand duck with the flying car as its about to go off the cliff before it becomes airborne. The magic of cinema feels tailored towards the Oscar voters every thing aboutfeels like its laying on its emotions a bit too thick. For every strength a weakness we get to see his parents played by Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe dance in a moving, uplifting way but the main weakness is that Dornan and Balfe feel a bit too Hollywood for this whole thing to come off like theyve stepped in from a different movie. Branagh idealising his parents is an understandable choice; but it takes you out of the movie.Furthermore, he crafts a film about The Troubles that doesnt have anything political to say. Its personal vs. political, almost to a fault and the end result robs it of any social realism that it tries to achieve, feeling entirely hollow theres nothing of the Ken Loach staying power here (for a much better film about Ireland, watchinstead) feels entirely light and a breeze, going into no more depth than what its trailer suggested everything is entirely surface level. The editing is poor and the film feels entirely ugly to watch, never convincing as an actual street always feeling like a set, in part because it actually is a set the street was constructed for the film and it takes a while for you to get hooked into the world.Whilst Kenneth Branagh is a director who I keep wanting to like his films over the years have been consistently laboured and hollow; perhaps the rare exception being his 2015or maybe even, referenced here by Buddy reading a Thor comic outside his home and for all its personal touches thats what Belfast feels empty and hollow if youre going to reference films such asso heavily youd better make me not wish I was watching High Noon instead, whichcompletely failed to do at every level. Hong Kong: Sophia Chan visits vaccination event Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan visited a COVID-19 vaccination event organised by a private healthcare institution in Kowloon Bay today. The District Health Centres (DHCs) and DHC Expresses had actively assisted citizens in need to make appointments for the event in order to get their jabs. Prof Chan said the Government has set up additional service points to facilitate people to get vaccinated in response to the surging public demand for COVID-19 vaccination. The DHCs and DHC Expresses have also been promoting vaccination at the district level by organising related education activities and outreach vaccination services, as well as assisting those in need, especially the elderly, in making appointments for vaccination at community vaccination centres and mobile vaccination stations or through private doctors and clinics. In the past two weeks, the DHCs and DHC Expresses helped about 170 people make bookings for seven vaccination sessions conducted by three private healthcare institutions. They also collaborated with medical practitioners in the community to provide nine outreach vaccination services, involving around 700 participants. Additionally, staff of the DHCs and DHC Expresses will call people who got their jabs in one or two days to check their condition and assist those in need to arrange for receiving the second or third dose. Prof Chan expressed appreciation to those staff for their caring efforts. The health chief noted that in the face of imminent threats of a new wave of the epidemic, the Government will continue to implement the most stringent measures to prevent the mutant strains from spreading in the local community. She strongly appealed to the public, especially senior citizens, to get vaccinated so as to protect themselves and others and fight the epidemic together. This story has been published on: 2022-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Woburn, MA (01801) Today Rain. Expect mist and reduced visibilities at times. High 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.. Tonight Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 48F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. 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According to the report, approximately 360 million Christians are suffering a high degree of persecution and discrimination worldwide. Given the numbers, one out of seven Christians was a victim of persecution and discrimination for their faith in Christ: one out of six in Africa, two out of five in Asia, and one out of twelve in Latin America, according to basilica.ro. For the second consecutive year, each country on the Open Doors watchlist has been classified as having a high or extreme degree of persecution. In 2021, the first three locations where Christians have suffered the harshest conditions were Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia. The statistics show that 5,898 Christians were killed, 5,110 churches were attacked, 6,175 Christians were imprisoned, and 3,829 were kidnapped. Compared to the previous year, persecuted Christians increased by approximately 20 million. The data used to draft the report was collected between October 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021. The criteria used for the Open Doors index include: Private life: if Christians can hold religious objects Family life: if Christians can express their faith in their own families or celebrate religious holidays. Community life: if they can live without being discriminated in their own communities. National life: if the government allows Christians to express their faith publicly. Church life: if Christians can celebrate holidays together and build churches. Violence: if they are or are not victims of community violence. Open Doors Organization is a worldwide network of Christian NGOs that observe Christians situations worldwide. The Metropolis of Bessarabia is following with concern the situation on the borders of Ukraine, where peace is fragile, His Eminence Metropolitan Petru said. Tensions in the immediate vicinity of the Republic of Moldova threaten not only Ukraine but also the whole of Europe, which has only recently broken the iron curtain drawn after World War II, Metropolitan Petru noted in a message posted on the official website of the Metropolis of Bessarabia, according to basilica.ro. The power of weapons shakes and frightens us today that they can do much harm to men, while the Compassionate God always urges them all: Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14). Therefore, peace is the only option for people if they want to live in harmony with God. The Metropolitan of Bessarabia emphasized that to avoid war, it is necessary to eliminate its causes, which start from injustice, violence, disregard, deprivation of liberty and dignity, oppression and the desire to become stronger than others. All these vices have always led to wars between peoples and even between brothers of one blood, the Metropolitan of Bessarabia cautioned. His Eminence urged all the priests of the Metropolis of Bessarabia to offer prayers for peace. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Lucian Bode, announced on Thursday that the report of the Gendarmerie Control Corps into the protest at the Parliament Palace, where several people entered the courtyard of the institution, was finalized, mentioning that all the findings and documents will be forwarded to the Military Prosecutor's Office and that a review of measures to strengthen the security of this objective is required. Bode mentioned that the security of the Parliament Palace needs to be strengthened and that steps have already been taken in this regard, Agerpres.ro informs. He said that the third direction established in the report is "the drawing up of a plan of measures at the level of the General Directorate of the Bucharest Gendarmerie, which should aim at an analysis of the way of documenting, planning, organizing and carrying out public order missions, especially those in which it operates in an integrated system." "This plan will be sent for monitoring to the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie. Any dysfunction of a tactical nature must be thoroughly analyzed and quickly remedied. Their persistence, regardless of the area in which it manifests itself, weakens the institutions and weakens the trust of the citizens in the authority of the state," Bode underlined. On December 21, a protest was organized in front of the Parliament Palace, attended by Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) parliamentarians, against mandating the green certificate at work. Several people managed to break into the institution. The Bucharest Police are investigating an instance of anti-Semitism involving an incident that took place on Thursday at the Holocaust Memorial in the city. "Following pictures carried in the public space of an incident during an event held at the Holocaust Monument, the Bucharest Police General Directorate - Precinct 17 Police is now conducting its own investigations into an instance of violation of measures to prevent and combat anti-Semitism (the act of promoting in public, in any way, anti-Semitic ideas, concepts or doctrines is a crime punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 3 years and the abolition of certain rights), in order to enforce the relevant measures," according to a Police press statement. A ceremony to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust took place on Thursday morning at the monument in Bucharest, Agerpres.ro informs. "On a day in which we talk about memory, on the International Day of Commemoration of the Holocaust Victims, at the Holocaust Memorial in Bucharest there are anti-Semitic demonstrations under the eyes of the Gendarmerie. The best way to go!," reads a post published on the Facebook account of the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust. A photo accompanying the post shows a wreath with a ribbon reading: "Romania a salvat 400.000 evrei in timpul Holocaustului " (Romania saved 400,000 Jews during the Holocaust ) and "Holocaust, don't forget: half of the truth is a lie." The national news agencies from Romania and Bulgaria, AGERPRES and BTA, on Thursday signed a cooperation agreement, in the context in which the two countries celebrate, on January 27, 30 years since the signing of the Treaty of friendship, cooperation, and good neighbourliness. The agreement was signed by the general managers of the two media institutions, Claudia Nicolae and Kiril Valcev, and allows mutual access to the two agencies' news wires, as well as exchanges of experience between the AGERPRES and BTA journalists. "The Treaty of friendship, cooperation and good neighbourliness between Romania and Bulgaria was signed in Sofia thirty years ago. Today, the two national news agencies have renewed their collaboration through an agreement signed on January 27 as well, as a symbolic gesture, meant to mark the friendship between the two countries. The agreement between AGERPRES and BTA has been signed in the confidence that together, through the experience exchange between the two institutions, we can bring plus value to the media space in both countries. The pandemic crisis, as well as the cyber security issues we are confronted with worldwide have made disinformation and fake news win increasingly more ground. That is precisely why the collaboration among news agencies is essential in combating disinformation and the fake news phenomenon," Claudia Nicolae said, Agerpres.ro informs. In his turn, the BTA general manager said that the two news agencies will celebrate together the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Treaty through the opening of exhibitions in Sofia and Bucharest to include 30 photographs from the major events organized during the three decades. "It is ridiculous that over these past 30 years the national news agencies of Bulgaria and Romania haven't had an agreement to exchange information, and the Bulgarian and Romanian people have had to learn the news about each other mainly from the big world agencies," said Valcev, who confirmed that this year BTA will also have a permanent correspondent in Bucharest as well. Established in 1889, the National News Agency - AGERPRES provides balanced, impartial information, as the main source of information for the citizens and institutions in Romania, and also as the main source of news from abroad, in Romania. Ever since 1921, the agency has transmitted news and provided information incessantly. Among the services provided by AGERPRES are the thematic news wires, the news photography service and archive, the news monitoring service, the video and multimedia services, the documentary wire as well as printing services. In 1990, AGERPRES adhered to the European Alliance of News Agencies (EANA) and became a member of the Association of the Balkan News Agencies (ABNA-SE). Currently, the National News Agency is partnering with more than 40 news agencies from around the world. Romania is currently planning a strategic reserve that includes an important stock of places where thousands of potential refugees could be housed, National Defense Minister Vasile Dincu told private television broadcaster Antena3 on Wednesday evening. The answer came in reply to a question about Romania's accommodation capacity and the number of refugees that our country could shelter, in the event of an armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. "At the moment there is a fairly significant stock, so to speak, of places where we could house thousands of possible refugees. Obviously we also have a reserve area where we could multiply or bring three, four times more places, even up to tens of thousand. So far, the strategic reserve we have is for a few thousand possible refugees, for food, for good living conditions, and obviously we can bring in more things. We will be able to prove, if this happens, we do not want it to happen, but if it does, we will be able to show our NATO partners that we are ready, at least if we do not have an endowment as we would like, at the last level, we have very good management of our capacities in these fields, of the defensive preparation for the conflict," said Vasile Dincu. Minister of National Defense Vasile Dincu told private television broadcaster Antena3 that the topics to be discussed on Thursday with his French counterpart, Florence Parly, are related to military and geostrategic planning, but also on the endowment of the armed forces. Florence Parly is conducting a visit to Bucharest on Wednesday and Thursday, as France has also announced that it will contribute troops to the strengthening of the eastern flank. "I am glad that very soon after my meeting in Paris, Madame Minister Florence Parly has taken action to come to Romania and discuss a more complex topic than the possible presence of troops, which was announced at the same time by President Biden, and also by President Macron. Thus, we will also discuss concrete elements related to France's participation, but on the other hand France assumes and is willing to assume far stronger partnerships with Romania, so as to have a more active presence in this region of the Black Sea. France wishes to become an important partner both for NATO and us, NATO member country, but At the same time, we will discuss concrete elements related to France's participation, but you know that there are also discussions about the Strategic Compass and our vision is that the European strategy document should be complementary or in any case, it should be included under NATO's, that strategic concept that we will establish in June, in Madrid," said Dincu. "We will also discuss issues related to military planning, geostrategic planning, we will discuss with Ms Parly, who is an active element, given France's current position at the helm of the European Union, we will also discuss other things, in relation to endowment, to our complex relations with France. I am sure that a visit on such a short notice and in this situation will bring us good news from the French state and from my French counterpart, Mrs. Parly," said Vasile Dincu. Romania currently has over 4,000 bears, this number being mentioned by specialists, the Environment, Waters and Forestry Minister Tanczos Barna said on Thursday in Brasov, who added that in the coming months an assessment of the bear population will be made. "Today I heard an opinion expressed by specialists - around 4,000 bears nationwide. We do not have an updated assessment, we will make one in the spring. As the population grows, the bear has spread to counties where it has never been seen before, there was no more damage, it reached the south of the country, in Galati, Craiova. (...) We are analyzing together with the specialists to find a solution," said the minister during the presentation of the project "Life for bear - Conservation of the brown bear population in Romania." According to the project manager, Raul Jurj, the collaboration of specialists with the local authorities on this issue has improved in recent years, Agerpres.ro informs. "In Romania, at the moment there are problems with bears, both at social and administrative levels. We have the support of the authorities to solve them. (...) The collaboration with Brasov has improved, but two years ago we did not have credibility towards the local authorities," said the Brasov specialist. According to him, the highest density of bear population at the county level is in Covasna - over 18 bears per 100 square kilometers. From the point of view of habitats, the highest density is in Brasov municipality and in the area around it, of one bear per square kilometer. French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly, on an official visit to Bucharest, gave assurances on Thursday, during a meeting with Minister of National Defense Vasile Dincu, that her country will never abandon its allies and friends and that it will stand alongside Romania. "France, as a founding member of NATO and the EU, has a role to play in reassuring and protecting its allies and close partners. That is why we have been present in Estonia and Lithuania since 2017 and since 2007 in Poland, Estonia and Lithuania to conduct regular air police missions. We are now patrolling this region, as planned. Mr. Minister, we are living in a difficult time and in this difficult time France stands alongside Romania. France assumes its responsibilities, as it has always done. France will never abandon its allies and friends," said Florence Parly. The French minister added that the situation is "worrying" on Europe's Eastern Flank and that Romanians "are entitled to strengthen" their own security in the context of tensions in Ukraine. "I know that the current security situation is worrying on Europe's Eastern Flank. In this context, Romanians are entitled to strengthen their own security, given that tensions in Ukraine are steadily worsening. As ally and as Europeans, we understand your situation and we would like to bring our support. As the President of the Republic, Mr Macron, reminded us last week, we have made a significant contribution to the security of our European partners in NATO missions, and we will continue to do so in the long term. In the same spirit, he also indicated our willingness to go further and still within NATO to engage in new enhanced forward presence missions, especially in Romania, if these missions are decided by NATO," the French minister said. Florence Parly mentioned that an expert mission will arrive in Romania on Thursday to study the parameters of such a possible development. "An expert mission with my ministry is arriving in Romania today to study the parameters of this possible development. Such a commitment would be perfectly in line with our current commitments. Our air forces, as well as our navy, are regularly conducting exercises alongside the Romanian navy. This was also the case last year, when the frigate Auvergne patrolled the Black Sea for several weeks and made a stopover in Constanta, and it will also be the case in the future, because we are considering other deployments through 2022. I would like to add that we have seconded officers among the NATO staffs in Bucharest and Sibiu. Thus, the hand extended by the President of the French Republic recalls our commitment to Europe's security," Florence Parly said. The French official highlighted it is her first visit to an EU member state since France took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January. "Since 2008, France and Romania have been linked by a strategic partnership that was reaffirmed ten years later, in 2018, during President Iohannis' visit to Paris. But France and Romania are more than just partners. Our countries are friends and they share a long history. I remember one name, that of General Berthelot, who made a decisive contribution to the modernization of the Romanian Army a century ago. I like to believe that today our cooperation is the continuation of this beautiful legacy," she said. According to the French minister, France also supports the Romanian Army in the modernization process, mentioning in this sense the corvette program. "France and its industry are fully engaged, involved in helping the Romanian armed forces to move to a new stage in their modernization, especially in the case of corvettes. Our operational cooperation is very strong as well. We have a long history of common commitments. We will soon be deployed alongside side by side, to fight terrorism, because your Parliament has authorized the deployment of a Romanian contingent in the midst of the European Takuba Task Force," Florence Parly specified, Agerpres informs. A panel of the Supreme Court for settling legal issues has established that, in the case of a person who commits theft with a sanitary mask, in a space where the wearing of a mask is mandatory, the courts will apply to conviction the aggravating form of the crime. The Supreme Court was notified by the Bucharest Court of Appeal - Criminal Section II for a preliminary ruling in order to settle the following issue of law: "In the situation where the crime of theft is committed by a person wearing a mask, in a space where the wearing of a mask is mandatory, is the aggravating form of the crime of theft provided by the provisions of art. 228 paragraph (1) - art. 229 paragraph (1) letter c) of the Criminal Code considered?", Agerpres.ro informs. The complaint was made in a case under appeal, in which a man, Marius Frangolea, a repeat offender, was sentenced in September 2021 by the District 3 Court to one year in prison for theft. On appeal, the thief requested through his lawyer that the judges change the legal classification of the deeds, from the crime of aggravated theft to simple aggravated theft, on the grounds that the aggravating form of the crime cannot be retained because he was forced to wear a protective mask in the store. Finally, the High Court of Cassation and Justice admitted the referral to the Bucharest Court of Appeal and established that the wearing of a protective mask by a person committing a theft entails the application of the aggravating form of the crime. The decision of the High Court is binding and will be enforced by all courts in Romania. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, had a telephone conversation with his Bulgarian counterpart, Teodora Genchovska, on Thursday, in which context they had an exchange of views on the regional security situation. The two ministers stressed the importance of continuing the dialogue and diplomatic efforts at the international level in order to achieve a rapid de-escalation on the ground and to continue coordination at all levels between partners and allies, for this purpose, according to a Foreign Ministry (MAE) release sent to AGERPRES. They also discussed the prospects and concrete measures to strengthen NATO's Eastern Flank deterrence and defence stance. In this context, Bogdan Aurescu and Teodora Genchovska appreciated the added value of the Bucharest 9 Format for coordinating the allies on the Eastern Flank, Agerpres.ro informs. Officials reiterated their support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and in this context, Minister Genchovska welcomed Minister Bogdan Aurescu's proposal, which was put forward on January 24, at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the EU Member States - Foreign Affairs Council (CAE) on the organization of a CAE meeting in Kiev, as an expression of the EU's solidarity with Ukraine, emphasizing that Bulgaria supports such an approach. The talks also focused on the process of enlarging the European Union in the Western Balkans, with Minister Aurescu reiterating Romania's support for it. The two heads of diplomacy welcomed and highlighted the special significance of the moment in which the conversation took place, namely the date of the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborhood between Romania and the Republic of Bulgaria. *** The Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Good Neighborhood between Romania and the Republic of Bulgaria was signed in Sofia on January 27, 1992, by the presidents of the two states. The basic political treaty between Romania and the Republic of Bulgaria confirmed the constructive spirit and the upward direction of the bilateral relations between the two states and represented an important pillar in the process of their European and Euro-Atlantic integration. The treaty provided the two countries with the optimal framework for analyzing ways to consolidate and diversify all areas of bilateral cooperation, as well as for their effective coordination in order to promote common interests on the European, Euro-Atlantic, regional and international agendas, according to the MAE. In a message on the occasion of St. Sava's, or Spirituality Day, the holiday of the Serbian minority in Romania, Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca states that in contemporary Romania, belonging to an ethnic minority entails natural recognition like it should be in a democratic society, through the equality of rights and opportunities stipulated by the Constitution; the Premier adds that the wellbeing of any minority means the wellbeing of the entire society as well. "The holiday of Romania's Serbian minority, Sveti Sava Day, although marked this year again in full pandemic swing, which puts a certain limitation on the dedicated events, remains just as important for our Serbian ethnic compatriots and for the Romanian society. The centuries-old history of the Serbian minority on Romanian soil is a chapter with multiple valences, through numerous examples of representatives of the Serbian ethnics who have distinguished themselves in the fields of culture, education, literature, spirituality, science and sports, or who fought like heroes, side by side with the Romanians, in the two world conflagrations of the first half of the last century. Born on Romanian soil, they have preserved their language, culture and faith identity to this day, but they feel part of this space of good interethnic and interreligious coexistence," Nicolae Ciuca said. "The Days of Serbian Culture in Timisoara - a large-scale cultural project dedicated to the Banat Serbians that saw its 16th edition last year - or the appearance of an album with monuments dedicated by local communities to WWI and WWII heroes, including ethnic Serbians, also make a direct contribution to strengthening cultural and interpersonal bridges with our fellow nationals of Serbian ethnicity. On the occasion of the celebration of their spiritual patron, St. Sava, I wish the Serbian minority in Romania and all the Serbians 'Many Happy Returns!'," the Prime Minister wrote, Agerpres informs. Chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Florin Citu, stated, on Thursday, that a renegotiation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is impossible. "We told international partners when we negotiated the PNRR that this is the final form, we all agreed, we signed a final form and said we won't come back to it and when we made this coalition I said that we will not go back over the PNRR, because that means redoing the entire negotiation procedure for the PNRR, and that means throwing away 30 billion euro. I will never allow such a thing. The PNRR was negotiated, it was negotiated very well, it was among the best results and you saw the marks that this PNRR received. PNL remains focused on big reforms, on reforms that would pus Romania to the future, not on small disputes, on small topics, bellicose statements in public space. We are interested in pension reform, all pensions being moved to the contributive principle and be sustainable, not have issues in 2030 paying pensions, for example, we are interested in wage reform, income being tied to performance. The reform of the public administration, again, is an important matter and of course Educated Romania, the implementation of this program and territorial-administrative reorganization," said Citu, in a press conference at the PNL headquarters. He emphasized that there is a parliamentary majority for these reforms to be accomplished. Furthermore, Citu mentioned that a renegotiation of the PNRR would be done through the Ministry of Investments and European Projects and not through the Ministry of Labor, but drew attention that this would mean restarting everything. Recently, the Minister of Labor, Marius Budai, claimed that he still supports a renegotiation of the target of 9.4% of the GDP provided for in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for expenses with pensions, Agerpres informs. President Klaus Iohannis met at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Thursday France's Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, who is paying an official visit to Romania. The Presidential Administration shows in a release that, during the meeting, the two approached topics on the stage of the Strategic Partnership between Romania and France and its development prospects, with a focus on the defence component, the NATO and the EU agenda, as well as the recent developments in the Black Sea region security area. President Iohannis appreciated the evolution and very good results of the bilateral cooperation between Romania and France in the defence area, including during the missions carried out jointly under the aegis of NATO, EU, UN and OSCE, as well as within the multinational exercises, Agerpres.ro informs. Iohannis pointed out, about the security crisis in the area, that it does not only produce effects in the Black Sea region, but also affects the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic space, also underscoring the importance of unity and solidarity inside the EU and NATO. In context, President Iohannis conveyed gratitude to France for the availability to participate in the NATO advanced military presence in Romania, as part of the allied response to the deterioration of the security environment in Eastern Europe. In respect to the European Agenda, Iohannis voiced appreciated for the very ambitious goals set by France for the EU Council Presidency term, goals that will contribute to the continuation of the progress made in the security and defence area, and gave guarantees on Romania's support for their becoming reality. "In the context of the diversification of the security challenges, Romania's President highlighted that the partnership between NATO and the European Union is essential for the European security and stressed the need to further consolidate it, in the spirit of complementarity and synergy of efforts," the Presidential Administration shows. The French Minister of Armed Forces appreciated the bilateral cooperation relations with Romania and underscored France's interest in continuing their development and diversification. Florence Parly presented the priorities of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, with a focus on the Strategic Compass, the projects under the Permanent Structured Cooperation and the Common Security and Defence Policy, the space policy and the cooperation in the area of cyber security. The French official also highlighted the significant contribution Romania brought within the EU and NATO on the defence component, underscoring the vert good collaboration between the two states in the missions in the theatres of operations, with a focus on the participation in the joint missions on combating terrorism in the Sahel region. The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, announced that, starting next week, the COVID-19 test centers in Bucharest will operate only at weekends, noting that during the week the testing can be done in family doctors' offices. "We will expand the test centers that we started in Bucharest last weekend, we will expand them country-wide, so that patients can get tested at weekends, when they do not have family doctors. It is about only about symptomatic patients who register on the platform of the Public Health Directorates," Rafila said before the Government meeting, Agerpres.ro informs. He said that in Bucharest about 4,000 tests a day have been reached, noting that the centers will operate only at weekends. Senator Titus Corlatean was designated chair of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the Election of Judges to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). According to a release of the Senate, sent on Thursday, the election of Senator Titus Corlatean took place during the first part-session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, event taking place in Strasbourg and online, in the January 24 - 28 period. "The mandate of this committee is described as interviewing and examining each of the three candidates presented by member-states of the Council of Europe on the national list for the position of ECHR judge. Following the evaluation process of candidates and their hearing, the members of the committee have a final debate, with closed doors, and decide by vote on the most qualified candidate to fulfill the responsibility of ECHR judge. Consequently, the Committee sends a recommendation to the Assembly, on the basis of which the ECHR plenum chooses, according to art. 22 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the ECHR judge of the three candidate list submitted by that state," the release shows, Agerpres informs. Great Lent begins on Monday, March 7, 2022. Also called Quadragesima or Tessaracoste, Great Lent is a 40-day season of spiritual preparation that comes before the Feast of Holy Pascha or the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, which falls on April 24. Two of the three hesychast saints commemorated by the Romanian Patriarchate in 2022 will be honoured during Great Lent: St Symeon the New Theologian on March 12 and St Gregory Palamas on March 20 (2nd Sunday of Lent). The Lenten liturgical program was synthesized throughout time. As part of the Triodion, Lent is dedicated to spiritual uplift and liberation of passions. In the first four days of Lent, the Church officiates the Great Canon of Saint Andrew of Crete, a liturgical hymn of repentance, remembering the history of salvation. At the same time, to reiterate the need for a conscience free of passions, the Church decided that the Great Canon should be read in its entirety in the fifth week of Great Lent. Another specificity is the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, celebrated only during Lent. Great Lent is the longest and strictest of the four fasting periods of the Orthodox Church. General rules of the Lenten fast The Lenten Fast rules that we observe today were established within the monasteries of the Orthodox Church during the sixth through eleventh centuries. Therefore, these rules are intended for all Orthodox Christians, not just monks and nuns. The first week of Lent is especially strict. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, a total fast is kept. In practice, very few people are able to do this. Some find it necessary to eat a little each day after sunset. Many Faithful do fast completely on Monday and then eat only uncooked food (bread, fruit, nuts) on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, the fast is kept until after the Presanctified Liturgy. From the second through the sixth weeks of Lent, the general rules for fasting are practised. Meat, animal products (cheese, milk, butter, eggs, lard), fish (meaning fish with backbones), olive oil and wine (all alcoholic drinks) are not consumed during the weekdays of Great Lent. Octopus and shellfish are allowed, as is vegetable oil. On weekends, olive oil and wine are permitted. According to what was done in the monasteries, one meal a day is eaten on weekdays and two meals on weekends of Great Lent. No restriction is placed on the amount of food during the meal, though moderation is always encouraged in all areas of ones life at all times. Fish, oil and wine are allowed on the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) and Palm Sunday (one week before Easter). On other feast days, such as the First and Second Finding of the Head of Saint John the Baptist (February 24), the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste (March 9), the Forefeast of the Annunciation (March 24) and the Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel (March 26), wine and oil are permitted. ST. LOUIS Anheuser-Busch announced Thursday that new zero-carb beer Bud Light Next will be available nationwide Feb. 7 just in time for the Super Bowl. A-B is counting on the new beer, which will also have 30 fewer calories than its namesake, to help it draw in the younger, more health-conscious drinkers increasingly buying seltzer and spirits. Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev, which has its North American headquarters here, is also planning to sell more than 12,000 Bud Light Next-themed nonfungible tokens essentially tradable digital artwork to customers of drinking age. The tokens will go on sale Feb. 6 for $399 each. Buyers will be able to vote on merchandise for the new beer and get access to brand events. That effort marks only the companys latest push into selling digital assets. InBev-owned Stella Artois sold an NFT of a fried chicken recipe this summer to support struggling restaurants, and Budweiser put nearly 2,000 digital designs of beer cans up for sale in November. They sold out in an hour. 'We're evolving': How Anheuser-Busch's new logo fits in its transformation The differences offer a visual shorthand for how the world's largest brewer is trying to shake off years of flat sales and declining revenues. 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. Ian Froeb Ian Froeb is the restaurant critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Ian Froeb 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 I will open this review of Loaded Elevated Nachos in St. Charles by stipulating that nachos need no elevation, disruption, evolution or any other -tion you can throw at them. Whether you prefer the ingredients strategically layered across a sheet pan or sloshed together in a miniature replica batting helmet, the perfect nachos already exist. Which makes the challenge this year-old restaurant has undertaken and the payoff when its creations succeed all the more impressive. Its guiding question isnt Why cant this dish be nachos? but a more thoughtful How can we capture the essence of this dish as nachos? Buffalo chicken, already a star of sandwiches and dips, is a natural candidate for nachos. Loaded doesnt overthink it, topping a bed of potato chips with pulled thigh meat in a piquant sauce. There are the expected notes of ranch and bleu cheese, but there is also a surprising, snapping vibrancy courtesy of ripe cherry tomatoes. It mimics the cool crispness of the celery sticks served with your wings, with the notable addition of flavor. Toasted ravioli nachos present a higher degree of difficulty especially when you dont simply use literal T-ravs as the chip. Loaded instead turns the dish inside-out. A hearty pork Bolognese with a sneaky but eventually potent zing sauces nubbly, neutral-flavored breaded pasta chips. The nachos might have worked with nothing more than the modest accent of shaved Parmesan, but Loaded also adds herb-whipped ricotta. Its silky elegance provides the creaminess you want from nachos but doesnt douse the dish with a second sauce. The finished product vaguely resembles its inspiration, but it just might convert you to the restaurants vision. Loaded debuted in February of last year at the Streets of St. Charles, the mixed-use development just off Interstate 70 that, in addition to national chain restaurants, has attracted locations of such local operations as Mission Taco Joint, Sauce on the Side and the Cafe Napoli spinoff Napoli III. In 2019, Loaded owners Brad Merten and Brandon Holzhueter opened a satellite of their Central West End frozen-drink bar Narwhals Crafted here, and Loaded occupies a smaller next-door space, with a pass-through window behind Loadeds counter bridging the two concepts. Merten and Holzhueter have been talking about nachos since the early days of Narwhals. The dish has name-brand recognition, Merten told me in an interview last year, but we felt like they werent being fully utilized. Their concept is counter-service, with your nachos either a single style or two styles served side-by-side assembled in front of you. (Daniel Sammons was Loadeds inaugural chef; he has since left the restaurant.) For this review, I ordered takeout online. To try to capture the immediacy of dine-in service, I ate my nachos while sitting in my car in the Streets of St. Charles parking lot. Loaded of course offers what you might consider typical Tex-Mex or ballpark nachos, tortilla chips garnished with pico de gallo and pickled jalapeno and striped with sour cream. Listed as Top Nacho on the menu, the dish packs a simmering, smoky heat from both its blend of ground beef and chorizo and its chipotle-cheddar sauce. The Hawaiian nachos with pulled chicken, a (relatively) restrained variation, opts for a milder, poblano-tinged queso blanco. The heat comes from fresh rather than pickled jalapeno, and you need that heat to counter the zig-zagging tropical sweetness of a tangy barbecue sauce, a pineapple salsa and an avocado puree. The first time I ordered these Hawaiian nachos, the kitchen forgot the chicken and barbecue sauce. I didnt realize the error at first because even with the pineapple and avocado, this arrangement of chips, cheese and jalapeno made for my ideal nachos. I realize ideal is a personal preference, but in my defense, Ill point you to a terrific October 2020 article from the New York Times by the Mexican chef Pati Jinich. She notes that the original nachos were not Tex-Mex as most Americans mean the term, but the creation of the maitre dhotel of the Victory Club in the Mexican border town of Piedras Negras. The ingredients were chips, Colby cheese and pickled jalapenos. I had hoped my visits to Loaded would fuel some grand unified theory of what does or doesnt work in nacho form, but the restaurant frustrated my attempts. The Crab Rangoon nachos follow the same principle as the toasted ravioli, with crab meat, a cream-cheese sauce and a sweet-chili sauce atop wonton chips. Here, though, the pop of sweetness couched inside traditional crab Rangoon becomes an overwhelming flood that the accents of chile oil and chives cant staunch. The Korean BBQ nachos cant capture the immediate sizzle of tableside grilling, but the dish served over wonton chips works. Kimchi and a Sriracha aioli punch up the savory seared beef and Korean-style barbecue sauce, and the chipotle-cheddar sauce ties everything together. Cajun nachos venture even further from their inspiration etouffee? gumbo? all of the above? but the combination of crawfish and andouille over tortilla chips with remoulade and some sweet pepper and green onion makes for a sprightly bite. The Banh Mi nachos, with chili-ginger pork over wonton chips, approximate the Vietnamese sandwichs flavor thanks to garnishes of cucumber, jalapeno, cilantro, and pickled carrot and daikon. What it misses is the banh mi dac biets crackling lightness. Only the Smashburger nachos whiff completely. The trio of potato chips, the chipotle-cheddar sauce and crumbles of nicely seared ground beef seems sensible, but theres a reason a Big Mac gives you two all-beef patties to stand up to the special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles and onions. Broken up as nachos, its just weirdly, aggressively tangy. Yes, you can even order nachos for dessert. The Toasted Smores nachos criss-cross cinnamon-sugar chips with Nutella and a marshmallow creme and tops them off with dark-chocolate curls and toasted mini-marshmallows. It evokes both the flavor of smores and the pleasure of eating your favorite sugar-bomb breakfast cereal straight from the box. We are currently not assigning star ratings to restaurants. This review is based on takeout. Where Loaded Elevated Nachos, 1450 Beale Street #130, St. Charles More info 636-202-0841; loadednachos.com Menu Nachos, traditional and not Hours 10:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday How much Solo nachos (any variety) $12 Side-by-side nachos (any two varieties) $18 Dessert nachos (any variety) $7 Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in 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. THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 is changing medicine in yet another way: A new study finds that patients with COVID-related lung damage now account for nearly one in 10 lung transplants in the United States. The researchers analyzed data on more than 3,000 lung transplants nationwide between Aug. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. They found that 7% of them were performed to treat severe, irreversible lung damage caused by COVID-19. The average age of the 214 COVID lung transplant patients was 52, and the rate of three-month survival was nearly 96%. The findings showed that 140 patients had COVID-19 acute respiratory distress syndrome, and 74 patients had COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis. "Acute respiratory distress syndrome involves an acute inflammation of the lungs, resulting in decreased ability for the lungs to oxygenate and ventilate," said study co-author Dr. Amy Roach. She's a general surgery resident and research fellow at Smidt Heart Institute of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "In some patients this progresses to COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis, which causes scarring in the lung and is generally irreversible," Roach said in a medical center news release. More than half of the 214 patients required ventilators or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) before their transplant, according to the study. The results were published Jan. 26 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Study co-author Dr. Joanna Chikwe said, "Our experience treating COVID-19 has shown us that ECMO can be used in carefully selected patients, either as a bridge to lung transplantation, or to allow a patient's own lungs to heal." Chikwe is chair of the heart institute's department of cardiac surgery. "Most of these COVID-19 patients would have been considered too ill to transplant a few years ago, and the surprising finding of our research was how well they did after lung transplantation," she added. ECMO involves pumping a patient's blood from the body and through an artificial lung before being returned to the body. Between July 2020 and June 30, 2021, Cedars-Sinai provided more than 30,000 hours of ECMO care to patients. Of those, 21,000 hours were for patients with severe lung disease due to COVID-19. More information For more on how COVID-19 affects the lungs, visit the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. SOURCE: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, news release, Jan. 26, 2022 Originally published on the TownNews Content Exchange. THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It's frightening to see your child have a fever-related (febrile) seizure, but researchers are learning more about who's more susceptible. An international study has identified seven new genes associated with febrile seizures, or febrile convulsions, in young children. Febrile seizures are defined as seizures in children younger than age 5 who have a fever above 101.3 F (38.5 C). They affect up to 5% of children, making them the most common form of abnormal brain activity in childhood. While the seizures typically occur only once or a few times, about 7% of children with febrile seizures later develop epilepsy. The study results "are important in our attempt to explain why some children experience febrile convulsions, while others do not. Some children are particularly susceptible to fever and we have now shown that this susceptibility is associated with the genes that the children are born with," study co-author Julie Werenberg Dreier said in a news release from Aarhus University, Denmark. She's a senior researcher there. The study found that children with more febrile seizure-related genes are younger at the time of their first seizure, and more likely to be hospitalized with febrile convulsions than children with fewer of these genes. "This suggests that the overall risk of suffering febrile convulsions is determined by several different genes, each of which carries a small risk, but when these genes appear together in the same child, this will result in a higher risk of febrile convulsions," said researcher Jakob Christensen, a clinical associate professor at Aarhus University. The researchers also found a link between febrile convulsions and epilepsy. "We found that some of the genes associated with febrile convulsions are also associated with epilepsy, and this may explain why children with febrile convulsions have an increased risk of epilepsy later in life. Understanding the genetic similarities and differences between febrile convulsions and epilepsy is a fascinating research area which we are planning to investigate in future studies" Christensen said. In the study, researchers from the iPSYCH and Statens Serum Institut in Denmark analyzed DNA variants in more than 7,600 children from Denmark and Australia who'd had one or more febrile seizures and nearly 84,000 children with no history of febrile seizures. These genes play a role in mechanisms that influence how children react to fever and how brain cells work, according to the study authors. The findings were published recently in the journal Brain. Unlike previous research, this study didn't find an association between genes associated with mental disorders and genes connected with an increased risk of febrile seizures. More information There's more on febrile seizures at the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. SOURCE: Aarhus University, news release, Jan. 24, 2022 Originally published on the TownNews Content Exchange. THURSDAY, Jan. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- It sounds like the stuff sci-fi films are made of, but the successful regrowth of lost limbs in frogs could point the way to helping human amputees, researchers say. Some creatures -- including salamanders, starfish, crabs and lizards -- can fully regenerate at least some lost limbs. But like humans, adult frogs don't have that ability. However, a team of scientists regrew lost legs in adult African clawed frogs through the use of a five-drug cocktail. The cocktail was in a wearable silicone cap that was placed over the stump for 24 hours. That brief use of what the researchers call a BioDome triggered an 18-month period of regrowth that restored an almost functional leg, according to the study. Its exciting to see that the drugs we selected were helping to create an almost complete limb, said study co-author Nirosha Murugan, a research affiliate in the Tufts University Allen Discovery Center in Boston. The fact that it required only a brief exposure to the drugs to set in motion a months-long regeneration process suggests that frogs and perhaps other animals may have dormant regenerative capabilities that can be triggered into action," Murugan added in a school news release. The results were published Jan. 26 in the journal Science Advances. The regrown limbs moved and responded to stimuli such as a touch, and the frogs were able to make use of the limbs for swimming, moving much like a normal frog. Each of the five drugs had a different purpose, including reducing inflammation, inhibiting the production of collagen which would lead to scarring, and encouraging the new growth of nerve fibers, blood vessels and muscle, the researchers explained. Mammals and other regenerating animals will usually have their injuries exposed to air or making contact with the ground, and they can take days to weeks to close up with scar tissue, said study co-author David Kaplan, a professor of engineering at Tufts. Using the BioDome cap in the first 24 hours helps mimic an amniotic-like environment which, along with the right drugs, allows the rebuilding process to proceed without the interference of scar tissue," Kaplan explained. The next step is to assess how this treatment applies to mammals, the researchers said, as animal research doesn't always pan out in humans. More information There's more on limb loss at the U.S. National Library of Medicine. SOURCE: Tufts University, news release, Jan. 26, 2022 Originally published on the TownNews Content Exchange. On Jan. 27, 1977, a St. Louis judge issued an order closing the Stardust Club, 309 DaBaliviere Ave. The closing was not contested by owner Al Charles or his wife, Aimee, who under the name Evelyn West performed as a stripper known for her $50,000 "treasure chest." When a police officer climbed through a rear bedroom window of a cream-colored duplex at 708 Columbus Parkway on Nov. 14, 2004, he found the body of a St. Louis legend. Amy Charles had not been seen for several days. Friends from Tampa, Fla. -- those who had known her in her heyday -- had called and e-mailed repeatedly but got no response. They called the police, who found the door locked and no one to answer the knock. As it turned out, Charles had died in her sleep. Nearby were medications for thyroid and heart problems. Officer William Comeford filed his report -- death apparently from natural causes -- and returned to business as usual. He ignored the clues that this 83-year-old woman once had been famous. They could be found in the stacks of provocative photographs all about her quarters; three bedrooms stacked with boxes that made it impossible to walk through the rooms. Some contained the outfits she donned backstage and then discarded onstage to the cheers of hundreds each night. Amy Charles was known in St. Louis as Evelyn "$50,000 treasure chest" West. Her chief claim to fame: her 39 1/2-inch bust that Lloyds of London insured for the $50K. She performed twice nightly in a striptease act at the Stardust Club on the old DeBaliviere Strip, just north of Forest Park and its Jefferson Memorial. In St. Louis in the '50s and '60s, her name was as familiar to male adolescents and young adults as that of Stan Musial, though, of course, the two inspired different forms of adulation. Evelyn West performed before as many as 1,500 customers a week at the Stardust, earning 90 cents for each patron. She enjoyed a national reputation, appearing in clubs from Los Angeles to Miami Beach and in 50-cent magazines with names like Blush, Wolf Bait and Fever for Men. She starred in a movie, "A Night at the Follies," and you could find her posing on a deck of playing cards and in color photos suitable for a barracks or a frat house wall. She may be best remembered for the ads that appeared in this newspaper and the old Globe-Democrat, touting her treasures and their ties to that very dignified London insurance agency. And yet, Evelyn West's death went unnoticed for months. She had no next of kin to make her funeral arrangements or to call the newspapers. Her body was cremated, and the disposition of her remains is still a bit of a mystery. Evelyn West was born Amy May Coomer in Adair, Ky., and grew up on a farm in Petersburg, Ill., (population 2,400) just northwest of Springfield, Ill. When it comes to performers like West, it can be difficult to separate truth from legend. One story has it that her husband and promoter, Al Charles, discovered her in a farm field in Petersburg, immediately appreciated her potential and put her on the circuit. Another story has it that the two met much later in the San Francisco Bay area when West was already in the business. Raymond Montgomery, a longtime Petersburg resident and contemporary of West's -- they both went to the one-room Brush School -- recalled that she lived with her family for a time in a three-room house and that "she had a sad life as a child." He remembers Amy's mom taking a stick and "switching her all the way" from school to her house. No one was particularly surprised to learn that Amy got into the profession. Petersburg was home to circuses and people who worked in the carnival business. Soon enough she was performing in a sideshow at the Illinois State Fair. Her career was first recognized in newspaper clippings in the 1940s when she performed in Calumet City, south of Chicago. That was back when it was a mob-controlled striptease town with steamy B-girl joints up and down the main street. In many respects, West was a kind of crossover artist. Burlesque, in the words of Francine du Plessix Gray writing in The New Yorker, was a "venerable American genre." It included music, dance and comedy, with the stripping just one aspect. Jimmy Durante, Milton Berle, Lenny Bruce and Rodney Dangerfield all honed their acts in burlesque theaters. West embraced the comedic aspects, too. But at some point, burlesque as art form began to veer off into what many consider pornography and an increasing focus on the female anatomy, lust and prostitution. Over the years, West would get in and out of trouble with the law. But it was her bust that drew the most attention and became a part of her legacy. In fact, she went to the Menard County Circuit Court in Petersburg in 1953 to have her name changed to Evelyn "$50,000 Treasure Chest" West. "Evelyn is the girl generally credited with making burlesque bust-conscious," wrote Lou Felice, a writer for Sir!, a men's magazine from the 1950s. "Before she entered the strip picture, burlesque movements emphasized a sexy walk with the bumps and grinds. Relatively little importance had been attached to an eye-stopping bosom." As West's fame increased, she began to market her wares. "The Post Office Department banned her pin-up pictures from the mails," Felice wrote. "Postal examiners ruled that 22 of her photos, which were advertised for sale at one dollar, had a 'lewd' aspect. They also charged that other pictures of Miss West were being offered at rates that went up as the exposure increased. This is probably the first time a dancer has been accused of performing a striptease by mail." West starred in a "A Night at the Follies," an hour-long black-and-white movie, apparently filmed shortly after the end of World War II, although the video box says 1956. Coming out in a skimpy dress and a fur, she opened by saying: "I know you're looking at my shoes." By the 1950s, West had married Al Charles, the club promoter, and the two found their way to St. Louis and the Stardust Club on the old DeBaliviere Strip. The DeBaliviere area had as many as five strip clubs -- including the Stardust, Tic-Toc and Little Las Vegas -- the Apollo Theater, bookie and gambling joints, and a famous old Garavelli's restaurant. They are all gone now. The old strip district is now a strip mall. Police raids and arrests were frequent occurrences on the strip, and West was occasionally taken to the pokey. Her longtime bondsman, Bob Block, said they never put her in a holdover. "We went to a judge and got the bond. I got her out six or eight times," said Block. Even given the numerous police raids, former Deputy Police Chief James Hackett, a St. Louis police legend, admired West's moxie and her moves. He once called her "the Babe Ruth of stripteasing." The Stardust Club thrived in the '60s, when hundreds of young men flocked to see West and a bevy of other dancers entertain in pasties and g-strings. Rodney Dangerfield performed there once. Briefly. Pete Johnstone, then a drummer at the Stardust and now a jeweler in Crestwood, remembers it this way: "Al Charles was operating the green spotlight, and Dangerfield said, 'The green spotlight makes me look dead.' And Charles said, 'Why don't you take your junk and get out of here?'" The Stardust remained open until 1977, but business had fallen off well before then. West and Charles left St. Louis in 1977, with the headline reading: "Stardust's End Brings Strip Down To Nothing." The club had been declared a "bawdy house," and St. Louis Circuit Judge Gary M. Gaertner ordered it padlocked. Charles later admitted that the club was used for prostitution. (An ironic footnote: The judge acted on a complaint filed by Circuit Attorney George Peach. In April 1992, after 16 years as a vigorous opponent of prostitution and pornography, Peach was arrested at a hotel near Lambert Field after offering a woman he thought was a prostitute $150 for sex. She was a St. Louis County decoy detective.) West and Charles moved to Florida, and West gradually retired from the stage. After Charles died at age 95 in 2001, acquaintances said, West led a rather reclusive life. But she kept in touch with old friends in the burlesque business through e-mail. Among them was Eugene Hanlon of Tampa, whose wife was a stripper named "Candy Baby" Caramelo. It was he who called the Hollywood police when he hadn't heard from West for several days. "The last time I talked to her on the phone, she said, 'I'm pooped,' and that was the last I heard from her," said Hanlon. A Vietnam War veteran, named Terry Klasek had caught West's act many times in his youth and established a brief online relationship with West the months before her death. The two exchanged memories. Klasek sent her some brassieres (size 42D); she sent back pictures and warm thoughts. West wanted to know what had become of the DeBaliviere Strip. She said she still kept up with the Cardinals and told Klasek, "You are tops on my list!" Now Klasek has only his pictures and his memories. "I learned that all fame is fleeting as I mourn my friend," Klasek wrote in an e-mail to STLtoday after West's death. "The end of an era for sure." Or as her Florida landlady, Muriel Kirschner, said: "I have to tell you, she was a beautiful woman. The strip-geezers were right -- she was quite an attraction." JEFFERSON CITY Missouri lawmakers are again taking aim at people who shoot guns in the air in celebration of Fourth of July or New Years Eve. In emotional testimony Thursday, Michele Shanahan-DeMoss, the mother of an 11-year-old Kansas City girl who died from a stray bullet, called for a change in state law that would address so-called celebratory gunfire. She described the July 4, 2011, incident that killed her daughter, Blair. It lifted her off the ground, and I could hear her body hitting the ground. A bullet doesnt leave the gun for fun. It maims and it kills, Shanahan-DeMoss said. Its been more than a decade. Ive been here year after year. Can we please make this happen? she said. The testimony about random gunfire brought tears to some members of the House Rural Community Development Committee, who said the proposed law needs to get across the finish line after the effort failed to advance last year. Rep. LaKeySha Bosley, D-St. Louis, said shes grown up dreading July 4 and New Years Eve in north St. Louis because of the annual hail of bullets that fall from the sky. We would expect rounds, hearing it as lullabies going to bed, Bosley said. Ive had friends who have perished because of something like this. This should have been done 10 years ago. This year, St. Louis police received 736 reports of gunshots across the city as people celebrated the New Year. At least four people were wounded by stray bullets. The number of shootings increased this year over previous years. In 2021, police received 542 such reports between 6 p.m. New Years Eve and 2 a.m. New Years Day. In 2019, a St. Louis firefighter was almost hit by what was apparently a stray bullet that shattered a fire station window. At the time, fire Capt. Garon Mosby said, What goes up, must come down. This is a very dangerous way to celebrate. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Rodger Reedy, R-Windsor, would make it a felony for a person to discharge a firearm within or into the limits of any municipality. When people are celebratory shooting or just randomly shooting and they cause death or injuries, we need to do something against that, Reedy said. Weve had deaths in Missouri because of this. A similar bill fell short in the Legislatures 2021 session after lawmakers added a series of amendments to the proposal that would have expanded peoples ability to carry and sell firearms. The chairman of the committee, Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, said he wants to avoid what happened last year when the bill became overloaded with amendments. I would like to see this bill without amendments so we can do the right thing, Pollitt said. Im sorry we havent taken care of this, Pollitt told Shanahan-DeMoss. I cant imagine what youve gone through. The legislation is House Bill 1696. Originally posted at 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27. 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 former police chief of a southeast Missouri town pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor Thursday and admitted forcing a woman to turn over her children to someone without custody rights. Marc F. Tragesser, 54, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis via Zoom to a civil rights charge, deprivation of rights under color of law. On Nov. 25, 2018, Tragesser was chief of police in Marble Hill, in Bollinger County, west of Cape Girardeau. Tragesser went to a home and demanded to speak to a woman identified in court documents only as K.N.C. Tragesser was accompanied by the paternal grandmother of K.N.C.s children. The homeowners said K.N.C. was not there, and Tragesser responded by threatening to arrest them, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sirena Wissler said during the hearing. The grandmother went inside the home over the homeowners objections and took property, only some of which belonged to her son, Wissler said. Tragesser later returned, saying he was there to get K.N.C.s children and falsely claiming to have a court order allowing him to take them, Wissler said. When K.N.C. asked for a copy of the court order, he slammed her against the wall, causing her minor injuries, and then handcuffed her, Wissler said. He also arrested K.N.C.s boyfriend, accusing him of kidnapping the children. K.N.C. spent 90 minutes in Tragessers police vehicle and was released only when she agreed to turn over her children to their grandmother, who did not have custody or visitation rights, Wissler said. K.N.C. did not see her children again until March of 2019, Wissler said. Tragesser, who lives near Sikeston, had originally been indicted Feb. 10, 2021, on a felony civil rights charge. The misdemeanor carries a potential prison term of up to one year. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 24. His lawyer, Charles J. Banks, said in an email that Tragesser "made a terrible error in judgement while attempting to enforce a child custody agreement. He now recognizes he tried to do the right thing in the worst possible way." Banks said Tragesser "was so wrong about the scope of his authority that his conduct veered into criminal liability." Tragesser served in the U.S. Navy for 12 years and spent 20 years in law enforcement, Banks said during the hearing. UPDATED Jan. 28 with comment from Tragesser's defense lawyer. 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. UPDATED to correct information about mother's claim JENNINGS Police canceled an endangered-person advisory Thursday after a Jennings girl who went missing under strange circumstances turned up safe. An initial report to police said the 12-year-old girl was taken from her home on Hamilton Avenue on Wednesday afternoon by a woman posing as a child welfare worker. St. Louis County police Officer Adrian Washington said the report about the Department of Family Services worker came from the child's mother. Police checked with the state's DFS and found that that agency didn't take custody of the girl. Washington said the girl returned home Thursday morning. 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 Two St. Louis police officers were shot and hospitalized and a man was shot and killed Wednesday after a police chase led to gunfire in a Ferguson neighborhood that continued a devastating month for city first responders. The officers got a call around 1:15 p.m. that a white Toyota 4Runner connected to a recent homicide had been spotted in the city, said St. Louis County police, who are investigating the incident. Police found the 4Runner and pursued it into Ferguson, where the SUV driver lost control and crashed near West Florissant Avenue and Lang Drive. There, at least one of three occupants, running away, opened fire on the officers, and the officers returned fire, police said. One officer was struck in the leg. The other was shot in the abdomen and was in critical condition, undergoing emergency surgery Wednesday afternoon, St. Louis police Chief John Hayden told reporters outside Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Im asking the public to pray for our officers, Hayden said. This is a very rough time for law enforcement and for the fire department as well. By days end Wednesday, police arrested two passengers of the 4Runner. The other, who had been shot, died at Barnes-Jewish, police said. Police found a long gun and pistol at the scene, they said. The scene of the shooting had quickly grown tense earlier that afternoon. The two officers were shot just blocks from where Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson officer, fatally shot Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man, in 2014, setting off months of unrest. On Wednesday, officers from across the region descended on the intersection. By 2 p.m., the street was full of squad cars and crime scene vans. Several residents gathered. Two women screamed. It follows several recent injuries and deaths for area public safety workers. Less than two weeks ago, St. Louis firefighter Benjamin Polson was killed in the line of duty. This week, two other St. Louis police officers were struck by a vehicle while responding to a crash on Interstate 64. One is still in the hospital, Hayden said on Wednesday. The officers are out here working hard, doing everything that they can to keep people safe and we keep having these critical incidents, Hayden said. Authorities did not identify the homicide that led to Wednesdays chase. But there was just one killing reported overnight by police, about 1 a.m. Wednesday outside Dianas Royal Palace, a bar at 4266 Natural Bridge Avenue in the Greater Ville neighborhood. In that shooting, police said four men approached another group of four people sitting in a car, announced a robbery and took some of their property. A security guard at the business then fired shots at the group. Wednesdays chase started in the 800 block of River Trail Court, off Riverview Drive in far north St. Louis. The officers, in full uniform and marked squad cars, spotted the 4Runner around 1 p.m. and tried to stop it, but it sped off, police said. The officers followed until the SUV crashed in Ferguson. By 2 p.m., the streets were full of police, and the SUV was sitting on the west side of West Florissant at Lang, with both drivers-side tires blown out. By 3 p.m., at least two dozen police cars had arrived at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital emergency room, lining South Kingshighway for at least a block. Police at the hospital were directing pedestrians across the street and away from the emergency entrance to the building. Dozens of officers, in uniform and in plainclothes, were at the entrance. Around 3:05 p.m., Mayor Tishaura O. Jones arrived, and, soon thereafter, a police chaplain said a prayer. Hayden thanked doctors and nurses who treated the injured officers at Barnes. If you had been there, you could have seen how feverishly they were working, Hayden said. They clearly were in desperation trying to make sure our officer is safe. The critically injured officer is 25, police said, and has been with the department for about 3 years; the other officer is 28, and has been with the department for 2 years. Several aldermen who heard about the shooting during a meeting of the public safety committee reacted viscerally to the news. Alderman Marlene Davis, whos served on the board since 2007, called for prayers for the officers who were shot, as well as the two officers who were struck and injured Monday night on Interstate 64. Our city is under siege, Davis said. We are in a position where people believe they can do anything they want to do. ... I am just, again, so sorry that we are in the predicament that we are in, but we must do better and God have mercy on all of us. Alderman Jeffrey Boyd echoed Davis comments. Over the past several years, it just seems like the community has been so hard against our police officers, Boyd said. And they deserve a lot more respect and they deserve a lot more support. Joel Currier, Robert Patrick and Austin Huguelet of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report. 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. Katie Kull Katie Kull covers public safety for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She previously wrote about local government for the Springfield News-Leader. In her spare time, you can find her cooking, riding horses or spending time outdoors. Follow Katie Kull 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 Gary D. Primm Jr. owned and operated United Auto Defense LLC, which had taxable income in excess of $620,000 in 2014. Primm failed to file an income tax return for the company, prosecutors said. In total, he received over $1 million in income from the company in 2014 and 2015, but did not pay any personal income taxes on it, they said. He also filed false forms with the IRS and diverted company money into another account to dodge taxes, they said. ST. LOUIS Jurors on Wednesday convicted a St. Louis man of assault and other crimes during what authorities said was an attack involving ATV and dirt bike stunt riders three years ago. The jury found Dzened Muhic guilty of second-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and four other felonies, rejecting his claim that he was defending himself when he shot and wounded the 55-year-old driver of a pickup in the Bevo Mill neighborhood in February 2019. Muhic was originally charged with first-degree assault and the other counts. Police and prosecutors said Muhic, 27, was among a crew that surrounded a Ford F-150 while going south in the 4700 block of Gravois Avenue and that its driver swerved to avoid being boxed in, charges said. One of the stunt drivers kicked out the pickup's passenger-side mirror. Muhic fired shots at the pickup as it rear-ended Muhic's ATV at Gravois and Delor Street. Surveillance video showed several ATVs and motorbikes following the pickup down Gravois and then Muhic firing shots at the truck as it rear-ended him in the intersection. Prosecutors said the pickup driver was scared and struck Muhic while trying to drive away. Muhic's lawyers argued the driver intentionally tried to ram Muhic, putting him in reasonable fear of his life. The Circuit Attorney's Office initially declined charges against Muhic, citing self-defense claims by both parties but filed the case in May 2019 amid a police crackdown on ATV stunt drivers in the city. Sentencing is set for March 11 before Judge Elizabeth Hogan. 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. JEFFERSON CITY State ethics regulators have taken an unsuccessful candidate for St. Louis mayor to court seeking more than $15,000 after he failed to file fundraising reports. Johnathan McFarland, 43, is accused of either missing the filing date or not filing campaign finance reports during his 2017 bid for mayor as a Green Party candidate. McFarland said Thursday he was unaware of the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Cole County Circuit Court by the Missouri Attorney Generals office. I have not been served so I dont exactly know what to do right now, McFarland said. As a candidate for mayor in 2017, he called for directing tax incentives to low-income areas of the city and the creation of city-sponsored after-school programs. He came in fourth in the general election with 2.1% of the vote in an election that saw former Mayor Lyda Krewson elected to her first and only term as the citys leader. McFarland, who also ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate and St. Louis alderman in Ward 6 said he has no plans to seek office in 2022. The lawsuit cites numerous examples of attempts by the MEC to collect late fees related to his failure to file reports detailing how much money he was raising and spending in his mayoral bid. McFarland failed to avail himself of his administrative remedies, the lawsuit said. 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. The superintendent of the Wentzville School District, a finalist for national superintendent of the year, will move to the Rockwood School District for the 2022-23 school year. Both districts have seen heated protests during the pandemic over public health and racism in schools. Curtis Cain has led Wentzville for nearly a decade, overseeing a massive expansion amid steady population growth. During the pandemic, the Wentzville School Board has repeatedly rejected Cains recommendations on mitigation measures including masks. Last week, the board voted to ban The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison from high school libraries, drawing national criticism. Cain has fought on behalf of the students, educators and staff of the district in spite of lack of collaboration from the board of education, said Dr. Julie Scott, a candidate for the Wentzville School Board. Its unfortunate that his gift of leadership fell on deaf ears. Several teachers spoke at the last board meeting and said they were considering leaving the district because of the boards decisions. After Cains announcement, the reaction from Wentzville parents and teachers on social media was largely dismay at losing their superintendent to Rockwood. Julia Luetkenhaus, president of the Wentzville teachers union, told the board at its Jan. 20 meeting that she was ashamed to work in the district for the first time in 22 years. The board had declined to vote on Cains recommendation to require masks in any schools that reached a 3% positivity rate for the coronavirus among students and staff. We have to ask ourselves: Have we done all that we can to move this district forward? Luetkenhaus asked. The Wentzville School District has not released any plans for a new superintendent search. Cain will replace Rockwood interim Superintendent Tim Ricker, who took on the role in July. The previous superintendent, Mark Miles, retired last spring after two years and acknowledged feeling pressure from heated protests and threatening emails that led to added security for administrators. Brittany Hogan, the districts director of educational equity and diversity, also stepped down after one year in the position and said she was subjected to racist taunts and threats. The climate in Rockwood has been tense with regular protests at board meetings since the decision to start school virtually in fall 2020. The uproar continued over the districts diversity and equity initiatives and curriculum, earning national media attention as a flashpoint in the debate over so-called critical race theory in schools. Last May, the Rockwood teachers union called on the school board and administrators to protect teachers from personal attacks and outright threats of violence over reading lists and curriculum aimed at inclusion and narrowing racial disparities in test scores. Cain said he plans to move his family, including wife, Tori, and two children, into the St. Louis County district. Tori Cain is director of student services in the Pattonville School District. We are extremely fortunate to have someone with his credentials, experience and integrity to lead our district going forward, Rockwood School Board President Jaime Bayes said in a statement. A Milwaukee native, Cain earned a bachelors degree from the University of Arkansas and masters and doctorate degrees from Iowa State. Before coming to Wentzville in 2013, he was an associate superintendent in Overland Park, Kansas. Cains salary will be $255,000 in the first year in Rockwood with raises bringing his pay up to $275,000 by the third year of the contract. His current salary in Wentzville is $217,350. Cain is the 2022 Missouri superintendent of the year and one of four finalists for national superintendent of the year. The winner will be announced Feb. 17 in Nashville at the School Superintendents Associations annual conference. ACLU readies for possible lawsuit over Wentzville school library book ban "It appears to be a serious First Amendment violation," said Tony Rothert, director of integrated advocacy at ACLU of Missouri. What's the fastest-growing school district in Missouri? Wentzville School District enrollment increased from 6,000 in 2000 to more than 16,400 today. Stay up to date on life and culture in St. Louis. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. JEFFERSON CITY Conservative hard-liners on Wednesday stalled traffic in the Missouri Senate in anticipation of debate over a proposed congressional map that they said doesnt do enough to slash Democratic representation in the state. Led by St. Charles County Republican Sens. Bill Eigel and Bob Onder, the self-styled Conservative Caucus has been rallying Republican Party activists behind a so-called 7-1 congressional map that would eliminate one of two safe Democratic seats in Missouri Kansas City U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleavers 5th District. But with GOP leadership, other rank-and-file Republicans and at least some Democrats backing a 6-2 map that preserves Cleavers seat and avoids pairing urban voters with rural ones, it was unclear Wednesday whether the conservative hard-liners would alter the course of the once-every-decade redistricting debate. Although the map legislation was not formally brought up before the entire Senate for discussion, the hard-liners spent nearly five hours holding the floor during the morning and early afternoon Wednesday, hoping to force negotiations. The Senate was in recess Wednesday evening and adjourned for the day after 7 p.m. Eigel, around 6 p.m., said negotiations were continuing. No commitments have been made, Eigel told the Post-Dispatch. Conversations are still ongoing. I had a good conversation with (Senate GOP leadership) a couple hours ago, Eigel said. I think theyre having conversations with the House, so were going to see what kind of result is there. Asked if there had been a breakthrough in negotiations, Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, texted back not yet about 9 p.m. Wednesday. Missouri for the last decade has had eight seats in the U.S. House, and voters for the past 10 years have sent six Republicans and two Democrats to the lower chamber in Washington. Evidence suggests most of Missouris GOP congressional delegation favors a status quo-style map that includes two urban and heavily Democratic districts on either side of the state, one Republican-leaning district in the St. Louis suburbs that U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner can win, and five safe Republican seats covering mostly rural Missouri. The Politico Playbook reported in October that while Wagner and Texas U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul were attending an event at the Sonoma Restaurant and Wine Bar in Washington, another person in their group commented that they hoped Wagners district became more conservative after redistricting. Then you get those wacko birds, she reportedly said. Arthur Bryant, spokesman for Wagner, didnt deny the five-term congresswoman said that. I wont comment on any rumors from a DC swamp rag, he told the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday. Asked about Wagners thoughts on redistricting, Bryant said, I wont be able to comment on redistricting; thats the job of the state Legislature. The political newsletter Missouri Scout has published an apparently stray briefing memo from Sen. Josh Hawleys office that says the congressional delegation opposes the 7-1 map, because in a down cycle one/some may have to campaign. Debate over the 2nd While the map being debated shores up Wagners district for the Republicans, according to an analysis by the 538 redistricting tracker, the district remains somewhat competitive, keeping much of suburban St. Louis and St. Charles counties together. Plans floated by Republicans pushing 7-1 maps have included dividing St. Louis County between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd districts, sending the 2nd north into Pike County and west into Boone County; as well as a second map placing all of Jefferson County in the 2nd with much of St. Louis County. Both 7-1 plans proposed in the House would have kept St. Charles County whole or nearly entirely whole. The House approved the 6-2 map last week with only Republican support. On Wednesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said Onder wanted a 2nd District more favorable for his political aspirations. I know you want a St. Charles district so that you can run for Congress, Rowden said. Nonsense, nonsense, Onder responded. Meanwhile, Onders campaign, Onder for Missouri, this week was running ads on social media referencing the redistricting fight. Onder has said he is eyeing a run for St. Charles County executive this year. Eigel, who is closely allied with Onder, has argued the 2nd District isnt drawn Republican enough under the House plan and will flip to the Democrats this decade. He has pointed to statistics he said he received from Senate researchers showing 2018 election results overlaid onto the proposed 2nd District. The numbers show Hawley beating incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill by 1 percentage point. But other Republicans have said Eigels analysis fails to recognize Wagners overperformance relative to other GOP candidates in the 2nd District. While former President Donald Trump won the 2nd by less than a percentage point in the last election, Wagner defeated her Democratic opponent, state Sen. Jill Schupp of Creve Coeur, by more than 6 percentage points, according to a 2020 Post-Dispatch analysis of precinct-level election results. I think you have a very good member of Congress who has a great track record of representing the members of the 2nd Congressional District, Rep. Dan Shaul, R-Imperial, the sponsor of the House plan, said during a Senate hearing Tuesday. And I dont see a reason that or any vote shes taken recently that would change the outcome in CD2. 1st and 2nd With Republicans in disagreement, a separate discussion between Democrats and Republicans on the contours of the 1st District, represented by Democratic Rep. Cori Bush of St. Louis, has been simmering. Protected as a majority-minority district under the Voting Rights Act, no Republicans have proposed dividing up heavily Democratic St. Louis voters. The 1st already extends into mid-St. Louis County to take in Maplewood, as well as parts of Rock Hill and Webster Groves, three majority-white communities that vote Democratic. The Republican 6-2 plan would increase the 1sts footprint in this area, so that the 1st takes in all of Webster Groves and Shrewsbury, as well as most of Democratic-leaning Brentwood, and parts of Crestwood and Kirkwood. While Democrats on the House floor said shifting these voters to the 1st would harm the districts majority-minority status, placing these voters in the 2nd would also increase that districts competitiveness this decade, another goal for the party. The map originally proposed by House Democrats removed the mid-to-south St. Louis County finger and instead extended the 1st into rural eastern St. Charles County and favorable precincts in St. Charles. A subsequent proposal scrapped the St. Charles County extension and confined the 1st entirely within St. Louis County and the city of St. Louis, moving it to cover most of Maryland Heights. But Republicans voted that map down on the House floor. Updated at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26. 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. ST. LOUIS A preliminary investigation indicates some unique circumstances were involved in the release of a domestic assault suspect by police before he was charged by prosecutors, city aldermen were told Wednesday. We dont see it as a widespread issue right now but if the investigation reveals that, we will deal with it, Interim Public Safety Director Dan Isom said. Isom, speaking to the aldermanic Public Safety Committee, didnt elaborate on why the suspect, Mac Payne, 36, was released Jan. 4 after testing positive for COVID-19. Payne was charged later that day with two felony counts of domestic assault by prosecutors. He was rearrested Friday and released Monday after a judge allowed him to post bail. He pleaded not guilty. Isom reiterated that the citys policy on booking people suspected of violent crimes into the citys downtown jail hadnt changed in recent weeks, as has been alleged by a police union attorney. Isom said when someone arrested is taken to the jail and tests positive for COVID-19, the person is taken to a hospital to determine whether he or she is fit for confinement. He said thats how people arrested with various ailments have been handled for years. Committee chairman Joe Vaccaro, 23rd Ward, said he had been told by upwards of about 10 police officers that the procedure for dealing with people testing positive with COVID had changed in the last two or three weeks. Isom said whats changed because of COVID has been the volume of people arrested who need to get fit for confinement orders, not the policy. So it is taxing on our system to do it, he said. In that sense, Isom said, I think what the officers are saying is true. Isom also said Corrections Commissioner Jennifer Clemons-Abdullah and Police Chief John Hayden had met recently to discuss how we can make sure that everybody is on the same page. Clemons-Abdullah also took part in Wednesdays teleconference meeting. Vaccaro expressed concern about the female victim in the case, who opposed Paynes release at a hearing Monday. According to a probable cause statement, she said Payne had pushed and struck her and thrown a pot of hot soup on her, resulting in burns. Isom said we all feel for what she has gone through. He repeated that the initial release was a poor decision. Jane Dueker, the lawyer for the St. Louis Police Officers Association, has said Isom is trying to shift blame for Paynes initial release from the leadership of the police and jail and Mayor Tishaura O. Jones to individual officers. On another issue, committee members Wednesday heard a plea from a longtime city corrections employee, Direll Alexander, for better treatment and hazard pay for guards at the jail. He said city corrections officers are paid less than their counterparts in St. Louis County and St. Charles County and often have to work overtime because of extreme staff shortages. He also said they need improved benefits and training. Moreover, he said, some guards quit after they were assaulted during riots and disturbances at the jail last year and others have had feces and urine thrown on them by inmates. Jeff Haantz, an official with the Carpenters union which represents the corrections workers said requests to the city civil-service system for increased pay have gone nowhere so far. Originally posted at 7:10 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26. 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. UPDATED at 9:45 p.m. Wednesday with patrol changing its account of crash ST. LOUIS COUNTY A woman was killed on Interstate 255 when her car rolled backward into the path of a tractor-trailer Tuesday night, police said. The Missouri Highway Patrol identified the woman as Linda S. Hemenway, 62, of Columbia, Illinois. The crash happened just after 7:45 p.m. Tuesday on eastbound I-255, east of Telegraph Road, as Hemenway apparently was trying to switch drivers. Hemenway, driving a 2002 Jeep Wrangler, pulled over along the right shoulder of the interstate to let her passenger drive the vehicle instead. The passenger, Edwin Hemenway, got out to walk around to the driver's side. But Linda Hemenway thinking she had put the Jeep into park crawled into the passenger seat as the Jeep inadvertently was in reverse, the patrol said. Edwin Hemenway was knocked over by the Jeep as it moved backward. The Jeep continued traveling in reverse across the interstate and was struck by a tractor-trailer. Linda Hemenway died at the scene. Edwin Hemenway had moderate injuries and was taken to Mercy Hospital South. The truck driver, a 60-year-old man from Taylorsville, North Carolina, was not injured, the patrol said. The eastbound trucker, in a 2019 Volvo VNL tractor-trailer, had tried to avoid hitting the Jeep but struck its left side, the patrol said. The patrol originally reported that Linda Hemenway was backing up on purpose to get to a shoulder on the far left of I-255, and that both she and Edwin Hemenway were thrown from the Jeep when the truck hit it. However, after more investigation, the patrol switched its account late Wednesday night to explain how the Hemenways had been trying to change drivers. Traffic on the highway was diverted at Telegraph Road for several hours as police investigated the crash. Staff writer Kim Bell of the Post-Dispatch can be reached at kbell@post-dispatch.com 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. Regarding St. Louis-area school districts defy attorney general and keep mask mandates (Jan. 24): As a retiree and caring grandfather, I believe Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt deserves thanks for leading us away from scientific reasoning and plunging us into misinformation. I also want to thank him for making the jobs of public health and medical staffs exponentially harder and for harassing and bullying public schools by forcing them to direct their educational tax dollars towards litigating his anti-mask mandate lawsuits against them. No doubt those monies could have been spent on educational needs, or heaven forbid, N95 masks for faculty and students. Because of Schmitts legal threats, many public school districts chose not to fully implement masking requirements out of fear of reprisals from him. As a senior citizen, I also want thank him for exposing me to this virus. Earlier this week, the school nurse called me to pick up my grandson from school. He began to have a slight temperature, headache and nausea. Schmitt should be happy to know he has tested positive for the coronavirus, and now his sister has it as well. As for me, five days later, I havent shown any symptoms yet. He may be disappointed to know that I was properly wearing a N95 mask when I picked my grandson up. Ron Ochu St. Peters Imagine sitting in your private hot tub overlooking the jungle, listening to howler monkeys and birds. Consider a hilltop alfresco couples massage or bespoke just-for-you cocktails under the stars made from a variety of infused spirits (perhaps strawberry pineapple rum or cucumber gin?). Follow that up with a four-course dinner by candlelight. Lets not forget the gorgeous Blue Morpho butterfly that has hatched in a clear box left for us to release, making a wish as we do so. Romantic? Absolutely! Welcome to The Lodge at Chaa Creek. This resort and spa in western Belize is spread out on a 400-acre nature preserve on the Macal River (about two hours from Belize City). Ready for a sunset canoe? Weve signed on for a mostly inclusive combination Naia Beach and Jungle Adventure Package with The Lodge at Chaa Creek and the equally romantic Naia Resort and Spa. Naia sits on a 200-acre private beach-front preserve with just 35 houses outside of the laid-back beach town of Placencia in southeastern Belize. We step off our bungalow porch to the sand where beach chairs and hammocks await, we eat local dishes on an open terrace and enjoy nature-inspired spa treatments in a unique setting. Think bridges over freshwater lagoons, palm trees and tropical plants many used in signature treatments with indigenous ingredients made by traditional healers. How about a coconut scrub? Accommodations range from studios to five-bedroom cottages, many with their own pools and upscale kitchens. You can hire a chef to teach you to prepare a traditional Belizean stewed chicken or cook your catch after a successful days fishing. This was the rare trip, I thought, that would work equally well for families or couples seeking romance. We thought Belize would be more authentic and less busy than Mexico, said Nikki Depew, here from St. Louis with her husband and two young sons. The boys, she said, were stunned there were no McDonalds, adding that they adjusted quickly, putting down gadgets to hunt coconuts on the beach. We met on a Monkey River boat ride where we trekked into the jungle, saw manatees, iguana and enjoyed a local lunch of fish, rice and beans in Monkey River (population 200). The best meal of the trip, declared one happy diner. The trip was made all the easier by Frontier Airlines (their motto is low fares done right) and Alaska Airlines. Frontier has just started nonstop service from Denver, as well as Orlando, Florida two top cities for visitors from the U.S., according to Anthony Mahler, Belizes minister of Tourism & Diaspora Relations. Alaska Air has added nonstop flights from Los Angeles and Seattle. (An inexpensive flight on Maya Air from Belize City to Placencia saved us three hours of driving. Another plus: English is the official language and U.S. dollars are accepted everywhere. Especially during the pandemic, vacationers are seeking nonstop flights to destinations where they have private accommodations, open-air dining, and plenty to do outdoors. Tiny Belize, just about the size of Massachusetts with fewer than 500,000 residents, certainly fits the bill. From Chaa Creek you can see Mayan ruins, explore caves, go tubing, horseback ride or bird watch (there are some 500 species here more than 300 at Chaa Creek we learned on an early-morning bird watching walk). Kids love the horseback riding, jungle treasure hunts, the butterfly farm, where Blue Morphos and owl butterflies land on your arms, Treasures of the Night walks and more. Have you ever seen a bug that glows? Then after all that activity, theres time to kick back on the beach. Take out a kayak or paddle board at Naia! Go snorkeling or diving. Belize boasts the second-longest reef in the world. Sample local seafood dishes like conch fritters, Caribbean lobster and shrimp ceviche. Take an Open Hearth cooking class at Chaa Creek, cooking over a traditional wood stove. The dishes spotlight different Belizean cultures, including Maya and Mestizo, which comes from the Spanish word for mixed, those who share Spanish and Maya ancestry and now number half the Belizean population. This iconic eco resort, widely considered one of the worlds best, actually started with a romance nearly a half century ago. Lucy and Mick Fleming, then in their 20s, met picking apples in Britain and decided to travel together to South America. They stopped in Belize and in a bar, met a man with an overgrown 140-acre farm to sell. We never made it to South America, said Lucy Fleming, now a grandmother who is about to celebrate her 75th birthday. They bought the farm there were no roads, hot water or electricity and began growing vegetables, bringing them to market in a dugout canoe, as the Maya had done 1,000 years earlier. (Mayan ruins have been found on the property.) Backpackers found their way there offering to help with chores in return for lodging. The Flemings built cottages and bought more land, raised two kids, added an organic farm, goats, cattle and horses, added a butterfly farm, upgraded the thatched-roof cottages and built luxury villas (with the private hot tubs and outdoor showers). Daughter Bryony now oversees the resort. From the beginning, giving back to the local community has been a priority. While we were there, some 70 pounds of school supplies were distributed through a Pack-a-Pound program that invites guests to make room in their bags for much-needed crayons, pencils, notebooks and more. People always say they wish they had more time, said Lucy Fleming. There is so much to do in Belize! But with remote work, one Californian at Naia Resort, laptop in hand, told me, theres really no reason to rush home. (For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow TakingTheKids on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments. The Kids Guide to Philadelphia, the 13th in the kids guide series, was published in 2020, with The Kids Guide to Camping coming in 2021.) The Israeli Commando Brigade has created a special field hospital unit that can be quickly flown in and set up wherever the brigade is operating, be it peacetime or during a major war. A Field Hospital can handle critical injuries that can be fatal if major surgery is not available. The new Commando Brigade mobile hospital includes critical care facilities and two operating rooms so 24/7 treatment is available. Need for such a portable Field Hospital came because over the last century medical advances and combat experience greatly increased the percentage of wounded troops who survive their wounds. A decade ago, this survival rate reached 90 percent and kept increasing. That's the highest rate in history. This became possible because of many new advances in emergency medicine and use of emergency medical equipment that combat medics and medical troops who serve on medical evacuation helicopters can use to keep critically wounded troops alive long enough to reach an operating room, which is what makes field hospitals so important. During World War II, the first war where antibiotics were widely available, at least to Western forces, the concept of the Golden Hour became a standard. This meant that if a badly wounded soldier could reach an operating room in an hour he would probably survive. This also involved the introduction of helicopters, whose first combat mission, in 1944 Burma, were to recover injured troops. Over the last two decades the Golden Hour shrank to the Platinum Ten Minutes. It wasnt enough to have new treatments that could stop heavy bleeding and handle other usually fatal wounds. Medics had to be trained to provide more complex and effective first aid immediately. Medics have been equipped and trained to perform procedures previously done only by physicians, while troops are trained to do some procedures previously handled only by medics. The critical care medics increase the number of special procedures available on the battlefield. This skill upgrade is made possible by a number of factors. Putting highly trained medics on medical evacuation helicopters was discovered because the U.S. Army collected a lot of statistics. One discovery in Iraq and Afghanistan was that it was noted that that medevac medics belonging to National Guard (reserve) units had a 66 percent higher survival rate among the casualties they accompanied from the battlefield to the field hospitals. Taking a closer look, it was found this was because the National Guard medics tended to be more highly trained, many of them being critical care emergency medical technicians in civilian life. This made the army realize that critical care trained medics on the medevac helicopters would make a difference. A year after this was noted in 2011 the army trained 1,200 new critical care medics, which took eight months, in addition to the basic four months for new combat medics. The critical care medics can perform a lot more procedures and recognize a much longer list of problems. Thus existing, experienced medics are being given additional training. Many other Western nations implemented similar policies. Since the Vietnam War ended in the 1970s there has been continuous development in methods and equipment for civilian "emergency medicine" personnel on ambulance crews and in emergency rooms. This stuff had slowly been coming over to the military, but with the fighting in Iraq, it was soon adopted by most military medical personnel. Another factor is the higher intelligence and skill levels of the volunteer military. High enlistment standards have largely gone unnoticed by most people, but within the military, it meant that combat troops, who are much brighter than at any time in the past, can handle more complex equipment and techniques. Getting the combat troops to learn these techniques was no problem, because for them, it could be a matter of life and death. Another advance has been that medical teams capable of performing complex surgery were now closer to combat. These teams, like the medics and troops, have more powerful tools and techniques. This includes things like "telemedicine," where you do a video conference with more expert doctors back in the U.S., to help save a patient. Israel was been a major innovator in emergency medical treatment and has been under constant attack by enemy armies and terrorists since the 1940s. Israeli medical treatment is considered world class, and one of the many reasons for the 2020 Abraham Accords between Arab states and Israel was that it made Israeli medical centers available to Arabs who were critically ill and otherwise had to travel to Europe or the United States for such care. It was noted during the current Syrian Civil War that Israel provided such care to thousands of wounded Syrian civilians when fighting reached the Israeli border for a few years. Many Arabs living in the Israeli Golan Heights Druze community had kin on the other side of the border, and the Syrian Druze knew of the seemingly miraculous medical care available in Israel. Druze are considered heretics by many mainstream Shia and Sunni Moslems and for that reason Druze are the only Arab group in Israel that regularly serve in the military, including commando units. Some of those Druze soldiers had survived seemingly lethal wounds because Israel had also developed the Platinum Ten Minutes capability. Until the Abraham Accords, it was not possible for seriously ill or injured Arabs to seek medical care in Israel. Now that is politically acceptable when it is medically necessary. In late 2021 Japan approved another record defense budget, which makes it the 8th year in a row that defense spending increased, at least in terms of yen, the local currency. The value of yen in dollars varies from year to year. The 2022 budget is for 5.4 trillion yen. A record $51.5 billion (5.3 trillion yen) was spent during 2021. Thats an increase of three percent over 2020. A more stable and accurate measure of defense spending is as a percentage of GDP. Japan has hovered around 1 percent of GDP since the 1960s. This meant Japanese defense spending, at one percent of GDP, increased enormously since 1965, when GDP was $105 billion, until 1995 when GDP was 52 times larger, at $5.5 trillion. For the next two decades GDP growth stopped, and even declined in some years. The problem was a real-estate speculation bubble. The banks had lent too much money to many newly affluent Japanese seeking to upgrade their housing faster than new homes could be built. Prices kept rising until many were artificially high and home buyers realized it. Rather than risk an extended economic depression, the Japanese government adopted a series of rules and laws that made possible a manageable reduction of the bubble. This meant there was no GDP growth for nearly two decades. In 2012 that new growth was represented by a record GDP of $6.2 trillion. The growth stagnated again because since the 1990s two other factors had developed. Japanese were having fewer children and the consumer culture that had fueled the real-estate bubble was gone and not returning. Now the Japanese population is shrinking because not enough babies are being born to replace the elderly who die. This is a worldwide phenomenon. In more affluent nations the birth rates have declined to below replacement rate. meaning the population is shrinking. The most obvious example of that in Asia is Japan, the first Asian nation to modernize and achieve a Western level of affluence. The Japanese government has been providing all manner of incentives for women to marry and have children but that is not working. The growing population shortage has made it more difficult to get anyone to join the military and with the growing threat from China, Japanese efforts to expand its armed forces are crippled by the fact that there are not enough Japanese for that, as well as much else in the country. There is a similar situation in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Even China is now suffering from low birth rates among the several hundred million well educated and highly skilled people in its new (and growing) middle class. China is now facing, for the first time in its history, a declining population caused by low birth rates, rather than war or pandemic disease. South Korea also went through decades of explosive growth and managed to avoid the real-estate bubble. China tried to avoid the bubble but failed. Worse, China accelerated the population decline by implementing a one-child policy in the 1980s to halt growth in one of the largest populations of any nation. The 1980s was also when China began decades of unprecedented economic growth, which created the largest middle-class of affluent (by Chinese standards) and well educated (by any standard) Chinese who, like newly affluent people everywhere, want fewer children. The government thought canceling the one-child policy five years ago would change things, but it didnt. As a result, whatever problems Japan and South Korea are having with birth rates and a lack of military recruits, it is much worse in China. Ironically the most immediate threat to Japan is North Korea, the nation with the lowest GDP per capita in the region. Both Japan and South Korea have GDP per capita that is more than 20 times higher than North Koreas. What North Korea does have to spend on defense has concentrated on nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and these are currently aimed at Japan. North Korea really wants to develop missiles that will reach the United States. To deal with threats from North Korea and China, Japan is concentrating on its navy and air force. These two contain 40 percent of military personnel and are the easiest to recruit and train to high standards that make the most of the ability of Japan to purchase or build modern and effective weapons. Obviously, Japan has the money and technical talent to build, maintain and operate naval and air force systems. All Japanese realize that as an island nation, Japan can, and historically has, defeated invaders at sea. Japan is a sea-going nation and joining the navy is seen as a prestigious and rewarding career. Japanese ships and weapons are among the most advanced and effective in the world, and Japan constantly upgrades them. That is why Japan continues to replace older ships with new ones. The Japanese fleet is getting more Aegis equipped ships and F-35B stealth fighters for small aircraft carriers. Aegis is the most advanced naval radar and fire control system available. Japan has eight Aegis destroyers, four of them displacing more than 10,000 tons each and more heavily armed than their American counterparts. Smaller Japanese warships are equally advanced and capable. Japan has four small aircraft carriers which operate 42 F-35Bs and dozens of helicopters. Japan has 21 modern diesel-electric submarines that are the most advanced in the world, containing AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) and safe lithium batteries that enable these subs to operate submerged for up to three weeks at a time. This makes these subs superior to nuclear boats because the AIP boats are smaller and quieter. Japan also develops and makes most of its own missiles and fire control systems for its ships and aircraft. In 2014 the Japanese constitution was changed to allow Japanese firms to export weapons, including warships and aircraft. While the vertical take-off and landing F-35B comes from the United States, the air force is getting a force of over 200 stealth fighters, nearly half of them F-35s and the rest Japanese made. Japan built its own, slightly larger, version of the American F-16 and currently manufactures F-35 components for the U.S. as well as Japan. Japanese naval and air forces frequently train with American units, which makes cooperation easier and keeps the United States and the world aware of Japans high-standards in personnel and equipment. The army gets 60 percent of the personnel and less lavish procurement budgets. Japan is spending more money on robotic systems so they can do more with fewer troops. Japan is motivated by external threats and its declining population. Japan has some of the strictest immigration and naturalization (granting citizenship) laws in the world. There are lots of east Asians who have the educational skills and willingness to learn Japanese, and there is growing pressure inside Japan to allow more immigrants in and make it easier for them to become citizens. MOSCOW--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- B2Broker, a leading liquidity and technology provider of solutions to the Forex and financial services industry, has secured a licence from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) Mauritius, the company has announced. The licence has been acquired under the name of B2B Prime Services Limited, a member of the B2Broker Group of Companies, which as of 12th November, 2021, possesses an Investment Dealer licence (Full Service Dealer excluding underwriting /code SEC-2.1, Licence # C117017139). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220125005241/en/ Under Mauritius regulation, the company will operate as a Prime of Prime (PoP) Multi-Asset Liquidity Provider, focusing on institutional and professional clients across the whole spectrum of the financial markets. Its core investment services consist of leveraged derivative products in CFDs (e.g. Forex, metals, commodities, shares, indices). (Graphic: Business Wire) Description of Authorised Activity As an authorised Dealer in Securities, B2B Prime Services is permitted to act as intermediary in the execution of securities transactions for clients in accordance with the countrys local legislation. Under Mauritius regulation, the company will operate as a Prime of Prime (PoP) Multi-Asset Liquidity Provider, focusing on institutional and professional clients across the whole spectrum of the financial markets. Its core investment services consist of leveraged derivative products in CFDs (e.g. Forex, metals, commodities, shares, indices). About the FSC The FSC is the integrated regulator in Mauritius for the financial services sector and was established in 2001 to licence, regulate, monitor and supervise the conduct of business activities in these sectors in accordance with local legislation. The regulator is committed to the sustained development of Mauritius as a sound and competitive Financial Services Centre with the aim of promoting the development, fairness, efficiency and transparency of financial institutions and capital markets, suppressing crime and malpractices so as to provide protection to members of the public investing in non-banking financial products, and ensuring the soundness and stability of the financial system in Mauritius. About B2Broker Group of Companies B2Broker is a global brand with a solid reputation in the B2B sphere as one of the most in-demand technology and liquidity providers for Forex and crypto brokers, crypto exchanges and other financial services entities. The group helps these firms empower their businesses through building a successful, transparent and ethical environment and connecting them to the markets in a short space of time and at a reasonable cost. B2Broker offers a broad range of services including Crypto/Forex/CFD liquidity, Crypto/Forex Broker turnkey solutions, crypto payment processing (B2BinPay), MT4/5 white label solutions, B2Core (Traders Room), B2Trader (Matching Engine) and liquidity on over 800 trading instruments across the entire spectrum of assets. Headquartered in Moscow, B2Broker has several years of operational experience with 10 offices in 8 countries across Russia, Europe, Asia and MENA. A total of 7 licences so far to its name including FCA, AEMI, Central Bank of Russia, and now FSC, allows B2Broker to serve clients across more than 50 countries, offering Forex liquidity distribution and a range of other services to the Forex, Crypto and Securities industries. The company has secured a large portfolio of well-known global clients in the financial services industry with plans to further increase company representation and visibility across the globe. CEO and Founder of B2Broker Group, Arthur Azizov, commented, We are pleased to have added another prestigious licence to our growing portfolio. The licence ensures the reliability and transparency of all operations in accordance with the strict supervision of the FSC and adds further credibility to us as a leading global fintech player. Industry regulation is undoubtedly the best way to achieve total legitimisation of the Forex and financial services industry and our latest licence acquisition means that even more clients across the world will be able to benefit from the highest level of protection offered by one of the worlds leading, multi-regulated technology and liquidity providers. The acquisition of the latest FSC licence broadens B2Brokers horizons enabling the company to secure further business in its quest to expand its global reach. Aside from this latest licence acquisition, the company currently has several other licence applications with established regulators in process which are expected to be concluded during 2022. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220125005241/en/ Rosemary Barnes Head of PR [email protected] www.b2broker.com Source: B2Broker NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Greenbacker Capital Management, LLC (Greenbacker Capital or Greenbacker), a leader in sustainable infrastructure investment, announced today that, through an affiliated fund (the Fund), it has made an equity investment in Noria Energy (Noria), a California-based solar developer. Greenbackers growth investment will enable Noria to scale its platform, while executing on and expanding its existing pipeline of solar projects. This pipeline includes both ground-mounted arrays and solar installations that float atop bodies of water. With this investment, Greenbacker enters the floating solar space, or floatovoltaics, an emerging area of the renewable energy asset class with unique environmental and power production advantages. Floating solar projects do not require valuable land area, instead making use of space otherwise left idle, like the surfaces of hydroelectric dam reservoirs, wastewater treatment ponds, or other calm bodies of water. They can also reduce algae growth and slow evaporation for the bodies of water they are installed upon. Floatovoltaic panels also experience a cooling effect from the water beneath, leading to greater and more efficient clean energy generation. The nascent floating solar industry in the United States has significant opportunity for growth. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated that installing floating solar on the 24,000+ manmade reservoirs in the US could meet about 10% of the countrys annual electricity needs.1 With Greenbackers investment, Noria is poised to expand in the space, having already designed, engineered, and co-developed the nations largest floating solar array, a 4.8-MW installation at the water reclamation facility in Healdsburg, CA. Noria also offers behind-the-meter solar projectsbuilt on land or waterwhich are systems that provide solar power directly to consumers without involvement from a utility. These systems can help customers reduce power bills, capitalize on renewable energy incentives, and meet their clean energy goals, while also offering insulation from grid disruption. Greenbacker is thrilled to partner with Noria to build our presence in the floating solar market, said Ben Baker, Managing Director and Principal of the Fund. The Noria teams track record and innovation in the space, along with their overall solar development expertise, position them well to continue expanding and contributing to a clean energy future. Founded in 2018, Noria has operations in both the United States and Latin America. Collaborating with the Greenbacker team will allow us to scale and deliver creative solutions to our solar customers, said Jonathan Wank, CEO of Noria. Our mission at Noria Energy is to develop projects and solutions that lower barriers to solar adoption. Were also driving innovation by working with the Department of Energy, municipalities, and commercial/industrial customers on solar projects that can improve water quality. Greenbacker established the Fund in 2020 to invest in companies focused on sustainable infrastructure development serving high-value markets across the United States. 1 News Release: NREL Details Great Potential for Floating PV Systems | News | NREL, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, December 27, 2018. About Greenbacker Capital ManagementGreenbacker Capital Management LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser that provides advisory and oversight services related to project development, acquisition, and operations in the renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainability industries. For more information, please visit www.greenbackercapital.com. About Noria EnergyNoria has been dedicated to optimizing the design of solar PV systems guaranteeing affordable long-term power to customers while enabling them to transition to clean, renewable energy. Noria is currently developing 200+ MW of floating solar and ground-mount solar projects serving wastewater treatment plants, commercial/industrial customers, and hydroelectric power plants, among others. For more information, please visit www.noriaenergy.com. Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. Although Greenbacker believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. Greenbacker undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement contained herein to conform to actual results or changes in its expectations. Media Contacts: Greenbacker Noria Energy Chris Larson Jairo Criollo Senior Writer & Media Communications Director of Business Development 847.313.9035 646.671.1502 [email protected] [email protected] A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e61fe2dd-5259-43d4-99f8-b05f12d21542 Solar on water The countrys largest floating solar array (4.8 MW) in Healdsburg, CA, designed, engineered, and co-developed by Noria Energy. Source: Greenbacker Capital Management LLC China Unicom's company logo is seen at its branch office in Beijing, China, April 21, 2016.REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo GLOBAL BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD PACKAGE SEARCH BUSINESS WEEK AHEAD 17 OCT FOR ALL IMAGES By David Shepardson and Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday voted to revoke the authorization for China Unicom's U.S. unit to operate in the United States, citing national security concerns. The 4-0 vote to revoke the authority that had been granted in 2002 is the latest move by the American regulator to bar Chinese telecommunications carriers from the United States because of national security concerns. The order requires China Unicom Americas to end domestic interstate and international telecommunications services in the United States within 60 days of the order's publication. The Chinese Embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comments. A lawyer for the company released a statement from China Unicom that said the FCC decision was "without any justifiable grounds and without affording the required due process. It added that China Unicom "will proactively protect the rights and interests of the company and its customers." The FCC said China Unicom Americas is ultimately owned and controlled by the Chinese government and provides mobile virtual network operator services and international private leased circuit and Ethernet private line services along with IP transit, cloud and resold services in the United States. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said since the approval "the national security landscape has shifted and there has been mounting evidence - and with it, a growing concern - that Chinese state-owned carriers pose a real threat to the security of our telecommunications networks." The FCC said China Unicom's "responses were incomplete, misleading, or incorrect." Rosenworcel noted that last year the FCC published the first-ever list of communications equipment and services that pose an unacceptable risk to national security. This month, she wrote to the Commerce Department, the FBI, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and other agencies in order to update that list. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said China Unicom "can continue to offer data center services to American consumers" despite the revocation. He said the FCC and Congress should examine this issue and determine whether the commission needed broader authority to address security concerns posed by the centers. The FCC began making efforts in March to revoke the authorization for China Unicom, Pacific Networks and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet. In October, the FCC revoked the U.S. authorization for China Telecom (Americas), saying it "is subject to exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government." The Chinese failed to win an appeal of the decision. In 2019, the FCC rejected China Mobile Ltd's bid to provide U.S. telecommunications services, citing national security risks. (Reporting by David Shepardson and Diane Bartz; Editing by Edmund Blair, Mark Porter, Jonathan Oatis and Bernard Orr) DALLAS, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE: EAT) has scheduled its earnings conference call at 10 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022 to review second quarter fiscal 2022 earnings, which will be announced before the market opens on Feb. 2, 2022. The company may also provide other business updates. The live audio webcast can be accessed through Brinker's investor relations website at http://investors.brinker.com/events/event-details/q2-2022-brinker-international-earnings-conference-call. A replay of the conference call will be available on the website for two weeks after the event and via Thomson StreetEvents for their service subscribers. ABOUT BRINKERBrinker International, Inc. is one of the world's leading casual dining restaurant companies and home of Chili's Grill & Bar, Maggiano's Little Italy and two virtual brands: It's Just Wings and Maggiano's Italian Classics. Founded by Norman Brinker in Dallas, Texas, we've ventured far from home, but stayed true to our roots. Brinker owns, operates or franchises more than 1,600 restaurants in 29 countries and two U.S. territories. Our passion is making people feel special, and we hope you feel that passion each time you visit one of our restaurants or invite us into your home through takeout or delivery. Learn more about Brinker and its brands at brinker.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/brinker-international-inc-to-host-second-quarter-fiscal-2022-earnings-call-301467942.html SOURCE Brinker International Payroll Company, L.P. 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. Top Army leaders are directing service officials to pause enforcement of President Joe Bidens coronavirus vaccination mandate for civilian workers after a federal judge on Friday ordered the U.S. government to temporarily halt the policy. The Army issued preliminary guidance this week to commanders, managers and supervisors across the service to pause ongoing formal or informal disciplinary or enforcement actions against civilian employees who remain unvaccinated, Lt. Col. Terry Kelley, an Army spokesman, said Wednesday. The directives come as top Pentagon and Biden administration officials review their options after U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Brown of Texas ordered a pause in the policy in response to a lawsuit brought by the new Feds for Medical Freedom group, which was formed to challenge the mandate. The Justice Department issued an appeal of the ruling shortly after Browns temporary injunction was ordered on Friday, said Danielle Blevins, a department spokeswoman. Jen Psaki, Bidens press secretary, said the administration believes the order requiring the coronavirus vaccines for civilian federal workers was legal. Browns order does not impact uniformed military service members, who remain required to receive the vaccines, Pentagon officials said. In addition to shielding civilians from potential punishment, the Army guidance also halted officials from considering civilian workers requests for religious- or medical-based exemptions from the coronavirus inoculation, according to service documents. Kelley declined further comment on the policy change, citing the ongoing litigation in the case. The Air Force issued similar guidance in response to the judges ruling, a service official said Tuesday on the condition of anonymity. An Air Force spokesperson declined to comment, referring questions to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins office. Navy and Marine Corps spokespersons also declined comment and referred questions to Austins office and the federal Office of Personnel Management, respectively. Spokespersons for Austin did not provide comment on changes to the Pentagons policy for civilian workers as of Wednesday afternoon. They said the Defense Department was aware of Browns ruling but could not comment because of the ongoing court case. OPM did not respond to requests for comment. However, Biden administration officials told Government Executive, a news organization for federal workers, that OPM would pause nearly all enforcement of the presidents mandate for civilian employees while the injunction is in place. Some 98% of federal workers were either vaccinated against the virus or had filed a request for an exemption, Psaki said Friday. A preliminary injunction is a temporary ruling by a judge to pause a defendant from action while a case is under consideration. The injunction is not a final order. In Browns 20-page ruling, he wrote he issued the injunction because he believed Biden might have overstepped his authority in ordering on Sept. 9 that all federal workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus. He cited as precedent the Supreme Courts Jan. 13 ruling striking down Bidens order directing large U.S. companies to mandate vaccination or require regular testing for their employees. The case is about whether the president can, with the stroke of a pen and without the input of Congress, require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment, Brown wrote. That, under the current state of the law as just recently expressed by the Supreme Court, is a bridge too far. Brown also wrote in his ruling that the injunctions timing was necessary because Justice Department lawyers had indicated that some federal agencies planned to start disciplining some unvaccinated civilian workers who could face being fired from their jobs. To date, the federal government has not fired civilian employees for failing to comply with the vaccine mandate, those lawyers told Brown. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said last week that no Defense Department civilians had been punished for vaccine refusal. Pentagon officials this week declined to say when the Defense Department planned to begin enforcing its mandate for civilian workers. The former commander of a U.S. Navy destroyer pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to bribery, admitting he accepted lavish meals, hotel stays and the services of prostitutes from defense contractor Leonard Glenn Francis in exchange for classified information. Stephen Shedd, who once commanded the USS Milius, admitted in Southern District Court of California that he and eight other indicted officers from the Navys 7th Fleet received bribes from Fat Leonard worth more than $250,000, the Department of Justice said in a news release Wednesday. The defendant has admitted he was one of the many whose allegiance was switched from the Navy to Leonard Francis, U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in the release. This abdication of the defendants duties to the Navy and the United States comes with heavy consequences. Shedd, 48, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery, which carries a maximum term of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and to bribery of a public official, with a maximum sentence of 15 years and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for July. All nine officers were indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2017 for allegedly taking bribes from Francis, who was owner and CEO of the Singapore-based Glenn Defense Marine Asia, the DOJ said. Francis began recruiting Navy personnel to direct contracts toward his company around 2006. He pleaded guilty in federal court in January 2015 and began cooperating with investigators. He has not yet been sentenced. His firm provided goods and services for U.S. Navy ships while in port, such as security, food, water and waste removal. Shedd is the third defendant to plead guilty, the DOJ said. The remaining six Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless; Captains David Newland, James Dolan, David Lausman and Donald Hornbeck; and Cmdr. Mario Herrera are scheduled for trial next month. They are accused of conspiring to trade military secrets and influence for sex parties with prostitutes, luxurious dinners and travel, and other extravagances, the DOJ said. Shedd served as 7th Fleets South Asia policy and planning officer from 2006 to 2008, duties that included identifying ports Navy ships would visit, the DOJ said. He served as executive officer and then commander of the Milius from 2011 to 2014. Mr. Shedd's disgraceful actions while serving in a sensitive position with the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet betrayed the standards and expectations of all members of the Armed Forces and jeopardized the Fleet's safety and security, Kelly Mayo, director of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, said in the news release. PASCAGOULA, Miss. (Tribune News Service) Twenty years before he was appointed U.S. Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro was stationed in Pascagoula and helped build the USS Bulkeley (DDG-84) at Ingalls Shipyard. He returned to the shipyard Wednesday, five months after becoming the Navy Secretary and overseeing a budget of $210 billion. The first shift of 11,500 employees continued working on several ships while Del Toro and members of the Coast delegation in Washington Sen. Roger Wicker, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Rep. Steven Palazzo went aboard ships and toured parts of the 800-acre site. They spoke to the media in front of the recently-launched USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD-29). Del Toro served in the Navy for 22 years and was at Ingalls from 1999, when construction of the Bulkeley began, to about 2001. "I built the USS Bulkeley in this shipyard," he said, "and I actually spent a year and a half living in one of these buildings here on the shipyard and working with my crew building it from the time it was just an empty hole, basically, to the time we sailed off." Returning to see the advances Del Toro said it's important to return to Pascagoula and see the investments made and the advances in technology to build the ships faster and better, and to have them delivered on schedule and on budget. The shipyard hired 3,000 workers last year and plans to hire another 3,000 this year, said Danny Hernandez, director of corporate public affairs for Huntington Ingalls Industries. It's also seen $800 million in renovation projects and upgrades over the past five years, he said. Ingalls Shipyard has about a dozen ships under construction and more on order. It is the only shipyard in the country building under four military programs, Hernandez said. Construction projects at Ingalls Under construction are: Five DDG destroyers for the U.S. Navy. Two National Security Cutters for the Coast Guard. Three LPD amphibious ships used to transport troops. One LHA amphibious ship that is larger than the LPDs and can land helicopters. In addition, the DDG 1002 that was built in Maine just arrived at Ingalls Shipbuilding for installation of the combat system. Since Dec. 1, more than $165 million in contracts were awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding. They include: $70.9 million for long lead time material in support of one amphibious assault ship replacement (LHA(R)) Flight 1 Ship (LHA 9). $60.4 million for integration of four Joint Strike Fighter engineering change proposals in support of one amphibious assault ship replacement (LHA(R)) Flight 1 Ship (LHA 8). $24.3 million 2443 for life cycle engineering and support for the LPD 17 Class Amphibious Transport Dock Ship Program. $10.6 million for for temporary dock services and maintenance to prepare for the combat system availability for DDG 1002. Importance to south Mississippi When Congress is voting on appropriations for new ships, Palazzo said, "People don't understand how important that is to our way of life here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast but also provide for our common defense." Wicker said legislation passed under the previous administration to build a fleet of 355 ships to defend the U.S. "That's a figure that the admirals and generals around the world gave us," he said. "And they didn't say that was the optimal requirement. They said that is the minimum requirement to keep the United States safe and secure." Hyde-Smith said it is so important that the Navy Secretary knows where Pascagoula, Miss., is and that the country is a strong force. "We need to be a strong threat so that people know the United States is not to be taken lightly," she said. (c)2022 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) Visit The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) at www.sunherald.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Tribune News Service) Isaak Tartakovsky was at the post office in Ukraine in 1953 when he spotted a woman he immediately recognized. Her name was Lidiya Savchuk, and her family had saved his life in German-occupied Ukraine during World War II by hiding his identity as a Jewish soldier in the Soviet army who escaped a German prison camp. The pair were reunited after nine years of not knowing what happened to the other as the war came to an end. They immediately rekindled the bond they had formed when Lidiya's family risked their lives to help Isaak. Soon after, "the story develops almost like it would be shown in Hollywood," the couple's son, Anatoly Tartakovsky, said in an interview with USA TODAY. He and his sister, Elena, recounted their family's story with their mother by their side to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday. Savchuk and her family are among the roughly 28,000 people recognized as the "Righteous Among the Nations," an honor awarded by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Israel, for non-Jews who risked their lives to aid Jews during the genocide. "When they were presented with a situation that was really impossible, they didn't turn their head the other way. They did remarkable things," said Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem. "When we talk about the Holocaust, there are not many happy endings to personal stories. Most end with death," Dayan said. "We should celebrate those occasions that are the opposite." Isaak Tartakovsky grew up poor in the small town of Volochysk in Ukraine's Khmelnytskyi region, Anatoly and Elena said through an interpreter. His mother died when he was 5 years old. To escape the pogroms of Jews in the area, his father took the family to Kyiv. There, Tartakovsky began studying art but was drafted into the Soviet Army to fight in World War II. Lidiya Savchuk grew up in Vinnytsia, and her family had many close Jewish friends, though they were not Jewish themselves. When the Nazis occupied Ukraine, her family feared for their safety but stayed in the city. Savchuk's brother joined the Soviet military, but as the war went on, the family knew nothing about where he was or whether he was alive. Meanwhile, Isaak Tartakovsky was on the front lines and was captured by the Germans and taken to a concentration camp as a POW. Tartakovsky knew he could not reveal he was Jewish, Anatoly said. He escaped through a small hole in the wall of the camp, Anatoly said. On the other side, Germans were allowing some Ukrainians to work for them in nearby occupied areas. Tartakovsky gave a fake name and said he was from Vinnytsia. Once he made it to Vinnytsia, Tartakovsky feared he would be found out, Elena said, so he lived in abandoned houses and tried to survive. One day in 1942, he saw an older woman, who also appeared poor, sitting in front of her house. Starving, Tartakovsky asked for whatever food she could spare, Anatoly said. That woman was Lidiya's mother. Tartakovsky and the woman started talking, and soon her family invited him inside. They talked about their background and struggles. The family eventually revealed to him that they had a son in the Soviet Army and that they had helped one of his Jewish friends. Hearing that story gave Tartakovsky the confidence to reveal his true identity, Anatoly said, and he asked whether he could live with the family. Despite the risk, the Savchuk family agreed. "They just felt empathetic," Anatoly said. Tartakovsky lived with the family for more than a year, until Vinnytsia was liberated in March 1944. Throughout that period, Tartakovsky and the Savchuks risked death if they were caught. At one point, the family was forced to flee their home to the nearby suburbs amid the German occupation, but they allowed Tartakovsky to stay with them, pretending he was a distant relative. Anatoly and Elena said their mother and father were close during that period given that her family was helping protect him, but the relationship was not romantic. Years later, when they reconnected, Savchuk in her late 20s and Tartakovsky in his early 40s, it was their shared bond of such difficult experiences during the war that drew them close, Anatoly and Elena said. The couple were married within a year. Tartakovsky became a well-known artist in Ukraine, and Anatoly attributed that success to the support of his mother. Tartakovsky died in 2002 at age 90. Lidiya, almost 97, lives in Ukraine. An estimated 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine were killed during the Holocaust, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. About 6 million Jews overall were killed. Ukraine had been home to the largest Jewish population in Europe before the war, which was largely decimated by mobile killing units called Einsatzgruppen and their collaborators. The units shot Jews near their homes rather than send them to concentration camps. The family's story which is also being shared as part of a campaign called "Don't Be a Bystander" from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany to highlight those who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust has taken on a special meaning in 2022 given today's uncertainty and tensions in Ukraine, Anatoly said. "It wasn't something which happened to some abstract person," he said, describing why he thought his mother's family took the risk to help his father. "It was a person who was standing in their kitchen, who was talking to them and asking for help. So they helped." (c)2022 USA Today Visit USA Today at www.usatoday.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Frankfurt, West Germany, October 1968: Author and columnist William F. Buckley Jr., founder of the National Review and a leader of American conservatives for decades, talks with reporters in his suite at a Frankfurt hotel. The Japanese government wants to see wealthy foreign tourists spending more money in provincial areas and plans to hammer out a new tourism strategy to get them to go there. Under the plan, about 10 locations will be selected as "model tourist sites," and the central government will provide support to local entities and businesses for building and renovating luxury accommodations, and developing tourism resources that highlight the local natural environment and culture. With the pandemic making it difficult to woo tourists from overseas, the new strategy aims to get a jump-start on efforts that revitalize local economies in the future by targeting the affluent overseas. The plan is to help local economies bring in tourists through their own power through measures like preparing accommodations that will satisfy big-spending tourists. Currently, luxury hotels are concentrated in the big cities and there are concerns that few benefits of an increase in wealthy foreign tourists to Japan will flow to provincial areas. The central government will soon set up an advisory panel to discuss the criteria for selecting the model tourism sites. Even in regions that have no famous tourist spots to speak of, it is necessary to determine if the local governments are eager - with the backing of residents - to attract wealthy foreign tourists. In areas that earn the designation, financial help will be provided for the building or renovating of luxury accommodations, under the assumption that it will result in facilities and services that provide higher satisfaction. The state will also get behind development of tourism resources that provide experiences unique to the area, such as pottery-making classes. The plan also calls for support in securing human resources, such as "travel designers" who formulate trip itineraries in accordance with tourists' interests and wants. If a place visited by a wealthy foreigner or celebrity is featured on social media, it could lead to an increase in foreign tourists there. There are also plans to foster bilingual guides who can provide the gracious style of hospitality for which Japan is known. The central government will add funding for the project to its draft budget requests to be submitted this summer. In addition, easing regulations at local airports will be considered to increase use of the business jets used by the wealthy. The rapid spread of coronavirus infections worldwide has made it difficult to aggressively woo foreign tourists. Still, the government plans to raise its target of aggregate spending in Japan by foreign tourists from a pre-pandemic 4.8 trillion yen in 2019 to 15 trillion yen in 2030. "To recover and increase foreign tourism after the pandemic ends, it is important to start making firm preparations now," said Koichi Wada, commissioner of the Japan Tourism Agency. He sees the new strategy as a foothold for future promotion of the tourism industry. Japan can accommodate more wealthy tourists. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, 31.88 million foreign tourists visited in 2019, spending a total of 4.8 trillion yen in the country. Of the visitors, 290,000 spent over 1 million yen per person, accounting for less than 1% of the total, although their total spending was 550 billion yen, more than 10% of the aggregate. The task at hand is how to get wealthy tourists to spend their money in provincial areas. The Japan Tourism Agency conducted a survey of foreign tourists who spent more than 3 million yen with credit cards in 2019 to determine which business sectors attracted the most money. Most of the spending went to purchasing goods. The largest portion, at 25.6%, was spent on precious metals and watches, followed by 20.9% for shopping at department stores and 6.5% for hotels and inns. Only 1.4% was spent for leisure-time activities. Among areas, big cities benefited the most, as 67.2% of the total was spent in Tokyo, 18.1% in Osaka Prefecture and 5.6% in Kanagawa Prefecture. The amounts in those three prefectures alone accounted for more than 90% of the total. The central government views provincial areas, blessed with such factors as changing seasons, traditional culture and unique cuisines, as having great potential to be attractive tourist spots. CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea North Korea fired another pair of projectiles believed to be ballistic missiles on Thursday in its sixth round of tests so far this month. The communist regime is believed to have launched the short-range ballistic missiles off its eastern coast at around 8 a.m., according to a text message from South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff. North Korea last fired a pair of cruise missiles on Tuesday, according to the military. Our troops are currently maintaining readiness posture, tracking and monitoring relevant moves in preparation for the Norths additional launch, the joint chiefs said. The missiles are estimated to have traveled a maximum distance of 118 miles at an altitude of 12 miles. The missiles estimated flight distance is shorter than the previous pair of ballistic missiles fired by North Korea on Jan. 17. Those missiles, believed by experts to be KN-24s, were pegged at 174 miles with a peak altitude of 26 miles, according to South Koreas military. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described the latest test as greatly regrettable, according to a statement from his office Thursday. Japans Ministry of Defense issued its own statement: North Koreas repeated launches of missiles, including ballistic missiles recently, are a serious issue for the international community as a whole, including our country. North Korea is prohibited from testing ballistic missiles by the U.N. Security Council and is subjected to sanctions, including penalties unilaterally imposed by the United States. Following a missile test earlier this month, the U.S. Treasury Department on Jan. 12 slapped sanctions against six North Koreans, a Russian, and a Russian firm. Earlier this month, the Norths state-run Korean Central News Agency called for the immediate bolstering of its capabilities to curb the U.S.s hostile moves. North Korea claims its weapons tests are purely defensive in nature, precautions against the U.S. and its allies, who continue to conduct joint military exercises near its border. The U.S. viciously slurred our state and committed the foolish act of taking over 20 independent sanctions measures, KCNA said Jan. 20. Especially the present U.S. administration persists in maneuvers to deprive [North Korea] of its right to self-defense. U.S. diplomats from President Joe Bidens administration have stressed they are open to talks with their North Korean counterparts without preconditions. We have made it very clear to Pyongyang: We will go anywhere, we will talk about anything, there are no reservations we have, Mark Lambert, deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and South Korea, said during a panel discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. We have to have a serious discussion about the denuclearization of North Korea, and if North Korea is willing to do that, all sorts of promising things can happen. Sue Mi Terry, director of the Center for Korean History and Public Policy, said during the panel that she was not too optimistic on North Korea turning a corner, given its rate of missile tests and signaling a break from its five-year moratorium on nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. They usually do what they say theyre going to do, she said. Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report. Chinas military is stepping up its airborne challenges to Japanese airspace, according to recent data from Japans Ministry of Defense. Japan has already scrambled more fighter jets to intercept approaching Chinese aircraft in the past nine months than it did during all of fiscal year 2020, according to statistics the ministry released Tuesday. Since April 1, when the current fiscal year began, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force has launched fighters 571 times to intercept approaching Chinese drones, fighters, bombers and surveillance planes, according to that data. That includes 290 sorties between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, the third quarter of fiscal 2021. Japan has already mounted 113 more intercepts of Chinese aircraft this fiscal year, with three months remaining, than last fiscal year. Add 199 sorties to intercept Russian military aircraft and 15 for miscellaneous aircraft, and Japan has flown 785 sorties, so far this fiscal year. The Air Self-Defense Force flew 725 sorties in all of fiscal 2020. A sortie is a single mission by a single plane. The quarterly report comes as China and the United States continue testing one another for dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. The U.S. conducted freedom-of-navigation patrols and drills with two carrier strike groups in the South China Sea last week. China responded by flying 39 warplanes toward Taiwan on Jan. 23. The upward trend in Chinese activities is worrying, said security expert Toshiyuki Shikata, a former lieutenant general in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Chinese President Xi Jinping is frustrated because President Joe Biden wont back down on the Taiwan issue, Shikata told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday. He has to show his people that he wont back down either, Shikata said. The U.S. supports Taiwan, a self-governing democracy. But China regards the island as a renegade province that must eventually be brought back in line, by force, if necessary. Recent military exercises by the Japanese with the U.S., the United Kingdom and Germany also annoys China, Shikata said. Students at Defense Department schools more than held their own against their stateside peers, achieving some of the highest scores in the federal governments last national assessment before the pandemic. Department of Defense Education Activity fourth graders and eighth graders excelled in reading and math in 2019, and improved significantly compared to students tested earlier in the decade, the Government Accountability Office said in a report to Congress last week. The congressional watchdog agency reviewed results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nations Report Card, between 2011 and 2019. The test is administered every two years and DODEA is scored alongside the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It was postponed in 2021 while many schools conducted remote instruction because of the pandemic. The 2019 results show that in math, 54% of DODEA fourth graders scored as proficient or higher, while in reading, 49% were proficient or better. The math scores were higher than 98% of their state counterparts. Only Massachusetts scores were considered significantly higher, according to the administrators of the assessment. In 2011, DODEA fourth graders scored higher than just 37% of their peers in math, compared to the states. On the 2019 reading assessment, DODEA fourth graders outscored everyone else. That result built on competitive success dating back to 2011, when they performed better than 88% of their peers stateside. DODEA eighth graders, meanwhile, were better than 94% of their stateside peers in math in 2019, compared with just 57% in 2011. In reading, they were at the top in 2019, compared with 82% in 2011. Greater achievement among certain categories of students was just as stark. In 2011, for example, only 37% of states had lower scores than DODEA for Black students in fourth-grade math. In 2019, however, that number skyrocketed to 96%. Among students with disabilities, DODEA scored higher than 98% of the states versus just 31% in 2011 in fourth-grade math. GAO auditors did not offer their interpretation of why the DODEA school system saw such marked gains. Proficiency on the assessment means competency over challenging subject matter and is not the same thing as being on grade level, which pertains to performance as measured by local curriculum and standards, according to administrators of the federal testing. Some experts regard proficiency on the assessment as being significantly above grade level. The testing is slated to be administered again this year. WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) The escalating tensions between the United States and Russia over Ukraine are worrying supporters of Michigans Paul Whelan, who fear the standoff will set back diplomatic efforts to secure his release after more than three years in Russian custody. Whelans family and his advocates are watching developments closely amid Russias buildup of over 100,000 troops along Ukraines borders, sparking concerns of an imminent invasion. The Biden administration has stepped up military aid to Ukraine and drafted a set of economic sanctions in response, sending lethal weapons and putting over 8,500 troops stationed in Europe on high alert. Some U.S. lawmakers worry that a Russian move to invade, countered by aggressive U.S. sanctions, could complicate negotiations over Whelan between the two governments, or that the former security executive from Novi could be used as leverage by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Im not going to sugarcoat this at all. This gives me great concern about Paul, whos in a difficult situation three years in, said Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, who represents Whelans parents in Congress. You never trust Putin to stay within the lines, and the fear would be that we would lose all diplomacy opportunity. Whelan, 51, of Novi has been in custody in Russia since his arrest at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 and later conviction on espionage charges that hes vehemently denied. Whelan is now serving a 16-year sentence of hard labor at a prison camp in Mordovia. U.S. officials have long pressed for his release, as well as that of Trevor Reed of Texas. Both men are former Marines who traveled to Russia as tourists. Whelans sister, Elizabeth, said that based on her brothers occasional calls to their parents in Michigan, he also is sensing the escalation of problems tied to a potential second invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This is extremely worrying. It will put Paul and Trevor basically behind enemy lines more so than they are already, and we have no idea what is going to happen next, Elizabeth said on a podcast posted Wednesday. So were very concerned that some type of solution should be found to bring them home before the situation gets any worse than it already has been. The Whelan family was pleased to learn that Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday again called out the Russians for holding Paul and Reed during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. But we need some action to add to that, Elizabeth said. Were at the point where we are staring down the barrel of a horrific situation that is unfolding with this potential second invasion of Ukraine, and this is making the horror of Pauls situation even worse. Acute layer of urgency State Department spokesman Ned Price was asked Monday whether the current standoff with Russia would make the situation better or worse for Paul Whelan and Reed. Thats really up to the Russian Federation, replied Price, adding both men have been held unjustly for far too long. Blinken in his meeting with Lavrov made the point that it is long past time to see them returned safely to their families, Price said. And well continue to work on that. Michigan lawmakers including Walberg and Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Waterford Township are concerned about the possibility of losing contact with embassy officials in Moscow who have served as a lifeline to Whelan by providing him with resources and communications when possible. U.S. Ambassador John Sullivan has even taken the hours-long bus ride to visit Whelan in person at his prison camp. The precarious diplomatic position we find ourselves in now presents us with a new, acute layer of urgency, said Stevens, whose district includes Whelans hometown of Novi. Paul has shown unparalleled fortitude over the last three years of his wrongful detention, but he cannot be expected to withstand this nightmare any longer, she added in a statement. There is no perfect solution when dealing with an adversary operating in bad faith, especially during a time of increased tension, but I pray that Pauls case will continue to be considered in all forthcoming negotiations. We need him home in Novi. U.S. Rep. Andy Levin of Bloomfield Township, a Democratic member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Ukraine Caucus, also called on the Biden administration to include the safe release of Whelan and Reed in its high-level talks with Russia. Experts: Release less likely But some experts doubted that Whelan would be a top priority in the short term and suggested the crisis over Ukraine made the potential for his release less likely at a precarious moment in the geopolitical context. Unfortunately, the Ukraine situation puts any action on Paul Whelan further back on the back burner, said Melvyn Levitsky, a professor of international policy at the University of Michigan and a former diplomat who spent three years in Moscow during the Cold War. Given further tension resulting from Russias troop buildup near Ukraines border, I dont think there is much of a chance that a deal or a (prisoner) swap could be developed. Even before the Ukraine situation, there were few indications that efforts to free Paul Whelan might be successful. Whelans brother, David, said his family is not worried that his case will be pushed to the back burner, saying the U.S. government can handle many irons in the fire. And even when they appear to be in conflict, even if one is insoluble, it doesnt mean the others are, he said. Events like Secretary Blinkens preliminary statement in Geneva last Friday, where he specifically called for Paul and Trevor Reeds freedom, give us some confidence that the U.S. continues to press where it can. He noted the two countries continue to collaborate on things like cybersecurity and the nuclear agreement with Iran, even though the prospect of another invasion of Ukraine overshadows other aspects of the U.S.-Russia relationship. There are many contacts going on in relation to Ukraine and other matters, David Whelan said. If anything, it is this continued engagement that is likely to lead to some positive result for Paul and Trevor. Javed Ali, a former senior U.S. counterterrorism official who teaches national security courses at UMs Ford School of Public Policy, noted that its not known at what point, if any, U.S. officials might have been close to securing Whelans release. Clearly, whatever offers made by two administrations both Trump and now Biden to bring him home havent worked, Ali said. With whats at stake in this escalating tension among all the parties involved, I have to imagine that his circumstance however terrible it is for him and his family may not be the No. 1 policy priority for the administration, Ali added. They are going to have to balance that with how much effort they continue to put toward his release. The best-case outcome for Whelan could be that U.S. and Russian officials make a good-faith effort to talk about him as an individual, independent of the broader conflict over Ukraine, Ali said. Because we are dealing with someone as Machiavellian and ruthless as Putin, I think thats, unfortunately, less likely, Ali said. Sanctions on Putin feared Michigan U.S. Rep. Peter Meijer, a Republican who sits on the Foreign Affairs panel, said negotiators ideally want to disconnect cases like Whelans from larger geopolitical issues so that an individual prisoner or hostage doesnt become a pawn in a complex game of chess. Theres no chance that the Russian courts will somehow free themselves of political influence or corruption, and with war on the horizon, its hard to see Putin paying much attention here. Thats a sad reality, Meijer said. We have to hold out hope that the separate channel can be maintained, but now amidst the potential for open warfare, its a struggle. It has been a struggle, and it will continue to be one. David Whelan is concerned about the ominous possibility that the U.S. imposes sanctions personally on Putin, which the Kremlin has indicated would result in a rupture. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he would be willing to impose personal sanctions against Putin if Russian troops invaded Ukraine. A proposal in the U.S. Senate also takes this path. David is worried that, were this to happen, not only would the U.S. ambassador be expected to leave Russia, as he had to last year, but that the American Citizens Services and other embassy staff would also depart. This would isolate Paul entirely, he said. We rely completely on the U.S. Embassy staff to get him financial and other support in prison and to look out for his welfare. 2022 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Russias chief negotiator at the Iran nuclear talks said it could take weeks longer than he previously thought to reach an agreement, revising expectations as European and U.S. diplomats warn that the window to save the accord is closing. If the talks continue at the pace theyre currently going, in principle its quite realistic to reach agreement by the end of February, Mikhail Ulyanov told Rossiya-24 on Wednesday night, adding that a deal could be implemented by April. Last month, he said it would be possible to conclude talks to reactivate the 2015 pact by early February. The Russian envoy said in a Twitter statement on Thursday, however, that he doesnt rule out the possibility that the negotiations can be expedited to meet the original forecast. The talks are already at an advanced stage, he wrote. The comments come as diplomats remain locked in an eighth round of negotiations in Vienna, with U.S. officials showing increasing signs of frustration at the pace of talks to revive the accord that lifted sanctions on the Islamic Republic in return for strict limits on its nuclear program. Iran has gradually rolled back its compliance since the Trump administration abandoned the accord in 2018 and reimposed tight sanctions. Iran and world powers have been struggling to resolve some key differences over how to restore the accord, whose disintegration provoked Tehran to significantly advance its atomic activities. If they manage to resurrect the agreement, the U.S. would be expected to lift its sanctions on Iran, making it easier for it to sell oil on global markets, a key source of income. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that negotiations cannot be allowed to drag on too much longer. In an apparent effort to keep the talks alive, Irans foreign minister and a top security official dangled the prospect earlier this week of direct talks with the U.S. if Tehran senses that a good deal is within reach. Negotiations have so far taken place through the Europeans, Russians and Chinese, who remain party to agreement. Ulyanov said Iran may start direct talks with the U.S. rather soon and that a restored deal would lift Washingtons sanctions on the Islamic Republics oil exports. He didnt specify whether that meant a new accord would restore sanctions waivers for Iranian oil, or lift the penalties altogether. In Tehran, however, hardliners close to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to reject the notion of direct talks with the U.S. The ultraconservative Kayhan newspaper admonished the powerful Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, for leaving open the possibility. WASHINGTON (Tribune News Service) This time, it won't be so easy. Russia had no problem getting past Ukraine's military forces when it orchestrated a bloodless takeover of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin even boasted that not a single shot was fired during the assault. But Russian troops will face a far more formidable adversary if Putin invades Ukraine again now. Ukraine's military is better trained, better equipped and more battle tested than it was eight years ago, experts say. "They are not what they were in 2014," said Jim Townsend, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense. While Russia is still the superior military power and would almost certainly prevail, Ukraine's defense forces could inflict significant damage on Russian troops, according to an analysis by the Atlantic Council, a non-partisan think tank based in Washington. "In collaboration with reservists, civil society, and volunteers, they can make any attempted invasion a miserable experience for Russia," the group concluded in a report last month. How big is Ukraine's military? Ukraine has 250,000 active-duty troops, plus another 290,000 reserve personnel and 50,000 paramilitary units that could be activated in a conflict with Russia. In 2014, by comparison, Ukraine had just 140,000 troops, and only 6,000 of those were ready for combat. How big is Russia's military? Russia has more than 1 million active-duty personnel, more than four times Ukraine's force strength. Russia also has 378,000 reserve personnel and 250,000 paramilitary troops that it could call up in a conflict with its neighbor. Who has the most weapons? Russia, hands down. In terms of land power, Russia prevails, with more than 12,000 tanks (compared to 2,500 for Ukraine), 30,000 armored vehicles (Ukraine has 12,000) and 12,000 self-propelled artillery (Ukraine has just a little over 1,000). Russia also dominates in air power, with more than 700 fighter aircraft (compared to around 70 for Ukraine), more than 700 attack aircraft (Ukraine has fewer than 30), more than 500 attack helicopters (Ukraine has 34) and 1,500 helicopters (Ukraine has a little over 100). At sea, Russia rules with 15 destroyers, 70 submarines, 11 frigates and nearly 50 mine warfare vessels. Ukraine has no destroyers or submarines, just one frigate and one mine warfare vessel. Who is sending weapons to Ukraine? The U.S. has already spent billions of dollars to help Ukraine build up its military defenses, an investment that's likely to escalate dramatically if Russia invades. Though President Joe Biden has said the U.S. would not send troops to help defend Ukraine against Russian forces, he said the U.S. probably would send more American forces to other European countries, including Poland and Romania. The Pentagon announced on Monday it is putting 8,500 U.S. troops on "heightened alert" for possible deployment to Eastern Europe amid the crisis. And last week, the White House said it will give an additional $200 million in defensive military equipment to Ukraine. The package reportedly includes anti-armor missiles, ammunition and other items. The U.S. is sending weapons to Ukraine through third-party transfers, in which NATO members provide U.S.-made weapons. The transfers include javelin anti-tank weapons from Estonia, stinger air defense systems from Lithuania and Latvia and anti-tank missiles from the United Kingdom. How is Ukraine's military different from 2014? Ukraine was completely unprepared for war when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. Its armed forces were not manned, equipped or trained to meet Russian aggression, and its logistic stockpiles were essentially non-existent, with the exception of weapons and ammunition mostly from the Soviet period, according to the Atlantic Council. Ukraine has made modernizing its military a priority over the past seven years, but decades of neglect have been difficult to overcome, the council reported. Ukraine's military still has several strategic vulnerabilities, including gaps in key operational and combat capabilities. Corruption remains a problem, funding is limited because of the general economic conditions in the country, and many important weapons purchases have been placed on the back burner not because of a lack of will but because of a lack of funding, the council's analysis concluded. So how long could Ukraine hold Russia off? It's hard to say. Russia would probably attack Ukraine from different directions, forcing Ukraine to split up its forces to confront the advancing troops, Townsend said. "They're going to have to defend Ukraine from a number of different avenues of approach," he said, "so it just makes their inferiority even worse because they're going to be thin." On top of that, Russia would likely engage in cyberattacks against Ukraine's military and civilian society, which from the outset could degrade the country's electrical grid and telecommunications systems, Townsend said. "I don't think you're going to see the Ukraine being able to stop the Russians for a long period of time," he said. Contributing: Karina Zaiets, Stephen J. Beard, Javier Zarracina and George Petras (c)2022 USA Today Visit USA Today at www.usatoday.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. WASHINGTON Soldiers from the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions along with troops from other units are among the roughly 8,500 service members who have been placed on heightened alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe should NATO allies request help deterring Russia from invading Ukraine, the Pentagon said Thursday. In addition to elements of the 82nd Airborne from Fort Bragg, N.C., and 101st Airborne from Fort Campbell, Ky., other troops from the 18th Airborne Corps at Fort Bragg and units from the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo., have been put on heightened alert, chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. He also said unspecified units from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Fort Hood, Texas, Robbins Air Force Base, Ga., Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., Fort Polk, La., Fort Stewart, Ga., and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, have been placed on heightened alert. "These units, all told, include medical support, aviation support, logistics support, and of course, combat formations," Kirby said. "These forces are on a heightened preparedness to deploy -- they have not been activated. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the units to be ready to deploy within five days should the alliance activate its NATO Response Force, Kirby said earlier this week. This will ensure the United States would be in a position to rapidly deploy additional brigade combat teams, logistics, medical, aviation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, transportation and additional capabilities into Europe, he has said. The NATO Response Force consists of about 40,000 troops from multiple countries in the alliance, Kirby said. It includes land, air, sea and special operations forces that the alliance can deploy on short notice, wherever needed. Pentagon officials announced Monday that troops were placed on alert without saying which units had been tapped for the mission. Kirby had said the Defense Department had to wait for all troops to be notified and allow time for them to inform their family members before announcing the units. The announcement is a response to increasing tensions with Russia since the country began amassing more than 100,000 troops along its border with Ukraine last month. Russian forces are also flanking Ukraines entire Belarus border after sending its military to the country last week for what it claims are joint exercises, President Joe Biden said Tuesday. American officials have said the U.S. supports Ukraines right to sovereignty but has no requirement to come to its aid without a NATO request should Russia invade the country. However, its commitments to NATO members in the region such as Romania and Bulgaria allow the U.S. to respond should their sovereignty and security be threatened, Biden has said. The 18th Airborne Corps is considered Americas contingency corps and has a range of rapid-deploy forces specializing in forcible entry by air, land or sea, according to its website. These forces include the 101st and 82nd airborne divisions. The 101st Airborne is noted for its expeditionary air-assault capability to conduct forcible entry and other worldwide unified land operations in support of combatant commanders, according to the Army. The 82nd Airborne also specializes in joint forcible entry operations and is capable of rapidly deploying within 18 hours of notification. The 4th Infantry Division includes combat-ready expeditionary forces specialized in deploying with joint, interagency, intergovernmental or multinational teams, according to its website. The U.S. also has not ruled out tapping into some its forces already in Europe to assist in challenging the Russians, Kirby said. Some of the units are already on accelerated readiness posture due to the nature of their capabilities and location, he said. Mondays heightened alert order applied only to the roughly 8,500 troops in the U.S., though Kirby said Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, the commander of U.S. European Command and NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, is taking prudent steps to make sure that if we need to move forces from inside Europe to other places in Europe and allied territory, that he's ready to do that. We take our NATO commitments seriously and we're going to be consulting with allies as we have been certainly in coming days, he said. If there's ways in which we can help bolster their capabilities to help their defensive postures, we're going to take a serious look at that. What Russia wants Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he wants NATO to bar Ukraine from membership in the alliance and for the West to withdraw troops and military equipment from countries added to the alliance in the past 25 years, such as Romania and Bulgaria. The U.S. on Wednesday sent a written response to Russias demands, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Without specifying its contents, he said the document did not bend to Russias central demand to deny Ukraine future entry to NATO. We make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend including Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances, Blinken said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday criticized the response: We cant say that they took our concerns into account or showed any readiness to take our concerns into consideration, according to the Russian government-owned Tass news agency. However, the response also offered room for negotiation, Blinken said Wednesday, including arms control related to missiles in Europe and nuclear weapons management. Weve addressed the possibility of reciprocal transparency measures regarding force posture in Ukraine, as well as measures to increase confidence regarding military exercises and maneuvers in Europe, Blinken said. Though the U.S. will not bend on Russias demands regarding NATO membership, the Biden administration has been willing to negotiate other actions. For example, the U.S. was open two weeks ago to discussing scaling back the size and scope of its military exercise in the region, but Russia was unwilling to make complementary concessions, Kirby has said. Were open to dialogue, we prefer diplomacy, and were prepared to move forward where there is the possibility of communication and cooperation if Russia de-escalates its aggression toward Ukraine, stops the inflammatory rhetoric, and approaches discussions about the future of security in Europe in a spirit of reciprocity, Blinken said. As Russia steadily increases its troops along the Ukrainian border, it also deployed about 20 warships on Wednesday for what it said are exercises in the Black Sea, which borders Ukraine to the south, according to Russian state media. Kirby on Thursday said the U.S. is watching the naval activity, which also leads to our concern over Russian intensions here, which remain opaque. There's lots of things that we would like to dissuade them from doing, what they clearly have the capability to do but the United States has been nothing but clear about the importance of Russia not conducting another incursion into Ukraine, and the consequences that would come from that, he said. In 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed its Crimean Peninsula after deadly protests toppled the countrys former pro-Russian government. The White House has said a new Russian invasion into the country could be imminent as NATO watches what Kirby described as a consistent not dramatic increase in Russian forces along Ukraines eastern and norther borders. However, Biden on Tuesday said predicting whether Russia will invade Ukraine is a little bit like reading tea leaves. Ordinarily, if it were a different leader the fact that he continues to build forces along Ukraines border from Belarus all the way around youd say, Well, that means that he is looking like hes going to do something, Biden said. But then you look at what his past behavior is and what everyone is saying in his team, as well as everyone else, as to what is likely to happen: It all comes down to his decision. Where to deploy While little has been said about possible deployment locations, Biden said Tuesday that he has no intention of putting American forces or NATO forces in Ukraine. However, he noted the U.S. has a responsibility to reassure its Eastern Europe allies of its commitment to their security. In Eastern Europe, theres reason for concern. [Russian troops are] along the Russian border. Theyre on the Belarus border, Biden told reporters. So, everyone from Poland on has reason to be concerned about what would happen and what spillover effects could occur. Poland is one of four NATO-member countries that flank Ukraine to the west, including Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Austin on Wednesday spoke with Polish Minister of National Defense Mariusz Blaszczak about enhancing deterrence along NATOs eastern flank, highlighted the importance of maintaining NATO unity and agreed to continue their close cooperation at this critical time, Kirby said in a statement. While the Biden administration has not targeted any specific actions that would trigger a deployment, officials have said the U.S. wouldnt necessarily have to wait for a Russian incursion to deploy to the region. I may be moving some of those troops in the nearer term [to Eastern Europe], just because it takes time, Biden said. Kirby also said Tuesday that he couldnt rule out the possibility that additional troops beyond the 8,500 already tapped could be placed on high alert to deploy. You'll see a range of capabilities logistics, sustainment, medical, aviation [and] certainly brigade combat teams so there's a ground element, he said. But it's not based on a cap of a number it's based on what capabilities we have agreed to contribute to the NATO Response Force. These are combat credible forces. That's the idea that's what the NATO Response Force is all about, Kirby added. Though Biden has no plans to send troops into Ukraine, more than 100 Florida National Guard special operators have been in the country since December on an advise-and-assist mission to help train Ukrainian troops. The Biden administration has also sent the country about $650 million worth of security assistance and equipment in the past year, about $200 million of which was approved in December. The U.S. on Wednesday delivered part of that package in a 79-ton shipment that included 300 Javelin anti-tank missiles, according to the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, which is the capital of Ukraine. The Pentagon on Tuesday said the $200 million also includes other anti-armor systems, grenade launchers, munitions, and non-lethal equipment essential to Ukraines frontline defenders. The Pentagon also plans to supply the Ukrainian air force with navigational systems, according to the Defense Department. Other NATO members have recently announced upcoming deployments to the region. Denmark, Spain and the Netherlands each plan to send sea and air support to the region, while France "has expressed its readiness to send troops to Romania under NATO command," according to a NATO statement earlier in the week. While the 8,500 troops await a decision on whether they will deploy, the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier strike group is participating in a NATO exercise in the Mediterranean Sea until Feb. 4. It marks the first time since the Cold War that a full U.S. carrier group has come under NATO command, the alliance said Monday. Still, Kirby said the U.S. continues to hope for a diplomatic resolution without an armed conflict as officials do not believe Putin has yet decided whether Russia will invade Ukraine. We still think there's time and space for diplomacy, he said. I think obviously that's the preferred path here to de-escalate in a peaceful, calm way and destabilize without any shots being fired, but we're watching it every single day. KYIV, Ukraine - Every weekend for the past three years, the reservists of Ukraines 130th territorial defense battalion have gathered in forests and parks on the edge of Kyiv to train for the worst: a possible full-scale invasion from Russia. At times, this seemed an unlikely prospect. That has suddenly changed with Moscows troops massed on the border and Ukrainians wondering what they will do - fight, flee, hide, adapt - if Russian forces roll across it. Kyivs 130th battalion is one of many such units across Ukraine. In the case of an attack, Ukraines government plans to provide weapons. But, for the moment, most members have obtained their own. Those who dont have weapons train with wooden replicas. The Washington Post got to know some of the batallions approximately 500 members during their recent drills in military tactics and defending strategic installations. Oleksiy Bida, 47 Bida is from the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk. In 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula, Kremlin-backed insurgents took over parts of the Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk regions. They seized Bida, who was a pro-Ukrainian activist, and held him in a cellar, where they tortured him, he said. Soon afterward, he and his wife, Yulia, fled to Kyiv. Seven months ago, the two had their first child, Simon. Bida said that after his experiences in Luhansk and move to Kyiv, he had trouble sleeping. I had no sense of security, he said. Two years ago, he met a member of the 130th defense battalion at a New Years party and decided to join. In the battalion, he said, he worked with people who were ready to defend their families, homes and cities. This restored his sense of well-being. I dont have difficulty sleeping, said Bida, now a unit leader in the 130th who oversees up to 12 fighters. Bida was trained as a graphic designer and for a long time was a committed pacifist. I thought that any conflict could be resolved through peaceful means, he said. But I dont believe that anymore - not with Russia. Maryana Zhaglo, 52 Zhaglo, a market researcher, said the defense battalion is an opportunity not to sit on the sidelines. Like many of the volunteers, she took part in the countrys 2014 protests that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and his government, which were seen as corrupt and pro-Russian. Yanukovych and a number of his ministers later fled to Russia. During the 2014 revolution, protesters built a tent city on Kyivs central Maidan square with soup kitchens, first-aid points and even a chapel. They also organized into self-defense units in case officials tried to clear the square by force. After Russias seizure of Crimea and the beginning of the war in eastern Ukraine, Zhaglo looked for a way to get involved. When the Russian aggression began, it was impossible to go out like we went to the Maidan - to put on a helmet and come to the Maidan, right? she said, remembering the ease with which she joined the protests. Two years ago, a friend who had joined the battalion brought her to one of its training exercises. It happened by accident, she said. Zhaglo, who has two grown daughters with their own families and a son still in school, said she thinks its possible that Russian President Vladimir Putin will decide not to launch an attack against Ukraine. The situation is changing every day, she said. Specialists are arriving, the world community is supplying us with weapons, and everything is possible. I think that now this help that Ukraine receives from all over the world, it will still play its role and Russia, perhaps, will not dare, she said. Iaroslav Brezytskyi, 44 Brezytskyi, a business consultant who helps companies upgrade their management methods, joined the territorial defense battalion three years ago after visiting the unit when members were practicing with weapons on one of the designated days of drills with live ammunition. I realized that this is exactly what I need. I can be a civilian and earn money for my family, pay taxes, [and at the same time] help as a volunteer in the army and gain military knowledge, he said. That was the day when I joined the territorial defense mentally. The battalion also offered Brezytskyi a way not to feel sidelined. Prior to [joining], I could not get rid of the feeling that I am not involved in Ukraines war of liberation against Russia, he said. Now, throughout these three years, we have training on a weekly basis, we obtain new knowledge and know-how. I hope [these] will become useful, if Russia keeps escalating the events in Ukraine, he said. Brezytskyi said he bought his own weapon, a U.S.-made AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle, for about $800. Each fighter tries to provide himself with his own weapon, but it is not cheap and not everyone can afford it, he said. In all, he said, he has spent very roughly between $1,700 and $2,100 on weapons and equipment. But some items, such as body armor with ceramic plates instead of the less-effective metal ones that he has, are a dream more than reality. It is very difficult, of course. The priority is the health of parents, loved ones, your wife and children, their needs, he said. If there is a war, then we will fight it with what we have. A 20-year-old Army petroleum supply specialist died in an accident while on duty Monday in Alaska, the Army said Wednesday. Spc. Karolina Ferrer-Padilla was assigned to the 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, the Army said in a news release. The Army did not provide details on the circumstances or location of the accident, which is being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Division and U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center. Ferrer-Padilla was from Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico, and joined the Army in September 2019. She trained at Fort Jackson, S.C., and Fort Lee, Va., before completing the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Ga., the Army said. She reported to Alaska in August 2020. Spc. Ferrer-Padilla was a dedicated professional, loving wife, and faithful friend, Lt. Col. Justin Pritchard, her battalion commander, said in the release. An aspiring leader, she brought joy and inspiration to all her fellow paratroopers. Her awards and decorations include the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon and the Parachutist Badge, the Army said. The U.S. Coast Guard plans to suspend the search for dozens of migrants reported missing off the coast of Florida after finding four additional bodies, authorities said Thursday, concluding they are unlikely to find any more survivors. Capt. Jo-Ann F. Burdian, who commands the U.S. Coast Guards Miami sector, said officials will stop actively searching at sunset for the remaining 34 people thought to be on the ship unless they receive any new information. It does mean that we dont think it is likely anyone else has survived, Burdian said. The halt to the massive search - which involved combing an area the size of Massachusetts by air and sea - comes two days after a tugboat stumbled across a man clinging to an overturned boat 45 miles off Floridas southeast coast. He told authorities 40 people departed from Bimini in the Bahamas on Saturday aboard the ship, and that it capsized amid rough weather shortly after casting off. If all but one of the passengers believed to be aboard perished, it would be one of the worst migrant sea tragedies in the Caribbean in recent years. The decision to suspend is really a very complicated one, Burdian said adding officers have saturated the area over and over again and exhausted every possible resource to determine if there were additional places they could explore for survivors. That unfortunate answer is no, she said. The U.S. Coast Guard, authorities and immigration advocates have been warning of a rising number of migrants from countries including Haiti and Cuba making perilous voyages by sea amid economic hardship, the coronavirus pandemic and political instability. Increasingly restrictive migration policies in the United States and across Latin America have also pushed people to look for alternative routes into the country, experts say. Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Miami, said there is an ongoing criminal investigation to identify, arrest and prosecute anyone that organized or profited from the doomed venture. He asked anyone with additional information to contact the authorities. Help us bring criminals who prey on and victimize the vulnerable migrant community to justice, he said. We dont want anyone doing this again, this is dangerous stuff. In recent months, officers have come across makeshift vessels carrying upward of 200 people en route to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the United States. On Tuesday, the Coast Guard intercepted 191 Haitians aboard an overloaded vessel, about 40 miles southwest of Great Inagua, the southernmost island in the Bahamas. The trek is perilous: The boats often sail through channels such as the Mona Passage, which lies between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and is filled with tidal currents and sand banks, making it one of the most dangerous straits in the Caribbean. Migrants often travel in overloaded, poorly maintained and constructed vessels. The weather can change rapidly, and if you are traveling in a makeshift vessel, it is very easy to capsize and can result in people losing their lives, Petty Officer Jose Hernandez said. Especially if you are not wearing any proper safety equipment. Since 2014, at least 967 migrants have reportedly disappeared during the voyages in the Caribbean, according to the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM). Since Oct. 1, the Coast Guard reported it has already rescued 802 Haitians and 586 Cubans attempting to migrate by sea. The numbers are significant compared with totals from the fiscal year in 2021, when they rescued 1,527 Haitians and 838 Cuban migrants. (Tribune News Service) A Florida man pleaded guilty to stealing his brothers identity to receive veteran benefits. Wayne Bowen, 64, of Jacksonville made his guilty plea for aggravated identity theft Thursday morning, according to the Department of Justice. Bowen told authorities that in 2014 he used his brothers name, Social Security card, and military discharge papers to apply for subsidized housing benefits. The subsidy was intended for indigent military veterans, according to the DOJ. The VA provided Bowen with $32,434 in medical services, $18,905 in housing subsidies, and $12,434 in nutritional benefits. When federal agents interviewed Bowen, he initially told them he served in the military and received a dishonorable discharge. He later told authorities that was a lie. In addition to identity theft, Bowen had been convicted of multiple felonies under his brothers name. His twin brother told officials he did not permit Bowen to apply for any benefits or to use his name, according to the DOJ. As part of his plea agreement, Bowen has agreed to reimburse various federal agencies a total of $63,773 for the government benefits he received in connection with his identity theft scheme. 2022 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Tribune News Service) NASAs most tragic events happened 55 years ago, 36 years ago and 19 years ago with the deaths of 17 men and women in the Apollo 1 fire, Space Shuttle Challenger explosion on liftoff and Space Shuttle Columbia destruction on re-entry. NASA will honor their memory as well as others who died in the pursuit of space exploration during the annual Day of Remembrance events in Washington, D.C., Kennedy Space Center, Houston and other NASA locations. The event is set for Thursday, Jan. 27, the anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire that killed Virgil I. Gus Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee during a launch pad test at what was then Cape Kennedy Air Force Station. NASAs Day of Remembrance is an opportunity to honor members of the NASA family who lost their lives in our shared endeavor to advance exploration and discovery for the good of all humanity, said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson this week. Every day, we have an opportunity to further uplift the legacies of those who gave their lives in pursuit of discovery by taking the next giant leap, meeting every challenge head-on, as they did. In doing so, we also must never forget the lessons learned from each tragedy, and embrace our core value of safety. The Apollo 1 accident happened in the early evening of Friday, Jan. 27, 1967. The three astronauts set to be the first manned mission of the Apollo lunar landing program were testing ahead of their planned February launch when fire broke out at 6:31 p.m. during a simulation on Launch Complex 34. NASAs next major blow came 19 years and one day later, just before noon on Tuesday Jan. 28, 1986, when Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Central Florida, after an O-ring seal failed. People all over the country viewed the disaster live because the shuttle was carrying Christa McAuliffe, who would have been the first teacher in space. Also killed were astronauts Michael J. Smith, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis and Judith Resnick. NASA last saw major tragedy in the morning hours of Saturday, Feb. 1, 2003, when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry on the shuttles 28th mission, killing its seven-member crew. The crew of STS-107 included Rick Husband, Kalpana Chawla, William McCool, David Brown, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson and Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon. Nelson will participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia at 10 a.m. Later, he will join NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy and Associate Administrator Bob Cabana for a panel discussion on NASA safety and lessons learned from the tragedies that will air on NASAs website at 3:30 p.m. At Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, a ceremony will be held at the Space Mirror Memorial with Astronauts Memorial Foundation President and state Rep. Thad Altman as well as Kennedy Space Center Deputy Director Kelvin Manning. In attendance will be family members of the fallen astronauts including Sheryl Chaffee, the daughter of Roger Chaffee; Lowell Grissom, the brother of Gus Grissom; Kathie Scobee Fulgham, the daughter of Space Shuttle Challenger Commander Dick Scobee; and Evelyn Husband Thompson, the widow of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband. The ceremony will livestream at 10 a.m. on Kennedy Space Centers Facebook channel. Other ceremonies will be held at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. 2022 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.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. The Pentagon is no longer enforcing President Joe Bidens coronavirus vaccine mandate for its civilian workers, a Defense Department spokeswoman said Thursday, days after a federal judge ordered the U.S. government to temporarily halt the policy. Top Pentagon leaders this week directed officials across the Defense Department, including its military services, to cease taking any further actions to implement or enforce the civilian employee vaccination mandate, said Lisa Lawrence, a Pentagon spokeswoman. The directive comes in response to Texas-based U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Browns order on Jan. 21 to pause the policy in response to a lawsuit brought by the new Feds for Medical Freedom group, which was formed to challenge the mandate. The Justice Department issued an appeal of the ruling shortly after Browns temporary injunction was ordered on Friday, said Danielle Blevins, a department spokeswoman. Jen Psaki, Bidens press secretary, said the administration believes the order requiring the coronavirus vaccines for civilian federal workers was legal. Browns order does not impact uniformed military service members, who remain required to receive the vaccines, Pentagon officials said. The new Pentagon guidance directs DOD officials to pause the processing of vaccination exemption requests for medical or religious reasons, Lawrence said. It also halts Pentagon officials from taking any disciplinary actions, including firings, against civilian workers who remain unvaccinated, she said. Lawrence said she could provide no further information Thursday about the policy change, citing the ongoing litigation. The Pentagon guidance was issued after at least some of the military services took initial steps to halt enforcement of Bidens vaccine mandate for civilians while they awaited guidance from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austins office, military officials said this week. The Army and Air Force issued guidance halting enforcement of the mandate shortly after Browns ruling, officials from those services said. Like the Pentagon guidance, the services moved to shield civilians from any potential punishment and halted officials from considering civilian workers requests for religious- or medical-based exemptions from the coronavirus inoculation, officials said. The Navy and Marine Corps declined to comment about the issue this week. Some 98% of federal workers were either vaccinated against the virus or had filed a request for an exemption, Psaki said Friday. It was not clear Thursday precisely how many of the Defense Department's about 950,000 civilian workers were vaccinated against the coronavirus. DOD data shows the Pentagon had administered vaccines to some 350,000 civilian employees through November, when it stopped publicly publishing information about civilian vaccinations. That figure does not include civilian workers who were vaccinated outside of DOD facilities, officials said. As of Wednesday, 404 DOD civilians had died of coronavirus complications since the pandemic began in March 2020, Pentagon data showed. A preliminary injunction is a temporary ruling by a judge to pause a defendant from action while a case is under consideration. The injunction is not a final order. In Browns 20-page ruling, he wrote he issued the injunction because he believed Biden might have overstepped his authority in ordering on Sept. 9 that all federal workers be vaccinated against the coronavirus. He cited as precedent the Supreme Courts Jan. 13 ruling striking down Bidens order directing large U.S. companies to mandate vaccination or require regular testing for their employees. The case is about whether the president can, with the stroke of a pen and without the input of Congress, require millions of federal employees to undergo a medical procedure as a condition of their employment, Brown wrote. That, under the current state of the law as just recently expressed by the Supreme Court, is a bridge too far. Brown also wrote in his ruling that the injunctions timing was necessary because Justice Department lawyers had indicated that some federal agencies planned to start disciplining some unvaccinated civilian workers who could face being fired from their jobs. To date, the federal government has not fired civilian employees for failing to comply with the vaccine mandate, those lawyers told Brown. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said last week that no Defense Department civilians had yet been punished for refusing the vaccine. BILOXI, Miss. (Tribune News Service) John Russelman was getting ready for his early-morning shift at work when heard a noise in the backyard of his apartment complex. He drew the curtains at 2 a.m. on Nov. 15, but didn't see anything outside. Five minutes later, because the curtains were already drawn, he saw a bright light through the window and realized a fire was raging. It had already engulfed part of his building on Rodenberg Avenue in Biloxi. "I could reach out and touch the flames when I walked out of the front door," Russelman, who worked the morning shift on a cleaning crew at Keesler Air Force base, told the Sun Herald. He said the flames could have been 25 feet high and got into the branches of an old oak tree. "It was a hell of a sight," he said. He didn't know it then, but he was the victim of a deliberate arson attack. The fire would destroy the building and upend the lives of the three disabled veterans living at Rodenberg Apartments, who lost virtually all their worldly possessions. More than two months later, the three men still have no idea when they'll have a place to call home again. The night of the arson When Russelman, 55, saw the flames coming toward his home, he put his shoes on and rushed out of his ground floor apartment but then ran back in "three or four times" for important possessions, like his phone, and also to try and wake the building's other residents before calling 911. Meanwhile, in another of the building's four apartment units, Mike King had not yet fallen asleep. King, too, saw the flames, smelled smoke, and ran outside with a few possessions. King and Russelman tried to wake their 84-year-old neighbor in the apartment below King's by pounding on his door, but to no avail. When firefighters arrived, King says, they had to break down his door to get him out of the building. After the three occupants were safely evacuated, the fire was extinguished, with no injuries reported. Biloxi police determined in their investigation that the fire had been started deliberately. "After finding no natural ignition source, it was determined that the cause of fire was believed to be arson," said Captain Milton Houseman. "It is now an open investigation with both the police department and the Biloxi Fire Department." The police have not named any suspects. A fire department report lists the cause of ignition as "intentional" and tallied the damages to the building and its contents to $400,000. Russelman estimates he lost between $2,500 and $5,000 worth of possessions, including two televisions. "Everything was ruined," Russelman said. He also lost his birth certificate but does have his social security card and state ID. He believes he would have been dead within 10 minutes had he not been awake for work. A former officer in the Marines, Russelman said he now realizes "just how stupid I was to be running back in and out of there" for his possessions. Disabled veterans left homeless Like Russelman, King ran back into his second-floor unit during the raging fire for a few valuables left behind. The two men's desperation to retrieve their possessions are partly explained by the circumstances of their residence at Rodenberg Apartments. Both Russelman and King were homeless before they were placed at the apartment complex through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, which provides rental assistance to homeless veterans. The third Rodenberg Apartments resident was also a disabled veteran receiving support from HUD-VASH. None of the residents had rental insurance, which meant they could not receive compensation for the damage from the fire. At the time of the fire, Russelman was employed part-time through Goodwill's "Goodworks" program, which contracts with Keesler AFB and other employers to give jobs to disadvantaged and disabled people. Before the fire, Russelman's hours on the cleaning crew had been cut by about half due to a COVID-19 outbreak. King, who is 51, was living at Rodenberg Apartments with his 17-year-old daughter, a high school student in Biloxi. Her mother, King's ex-wife, had recently moved back home to Illinois in order to care for her older daughter, who is autistic and would not have been able to finish high school in person had they stayed in Mississippi due to local COVID-19 policies. "Not only did I lose all my stuff, but I lost all my daughter's stuff," King said.. His daughter was not in the apartment at the time, but her clothes, shoes, and school supplies were destroyed. "She's a budding artist, she likes to paint and all her paintings on the walls were all ruined," King said. King's stepson later set up a GoFundMe online fundraiser to help him recover financially. It raised $126. Before the fire, HUD-VASH had been paying $500 of King's $600 monthly rent. King contacted a Biloxi attorney specializing in insurance claims, but was told he most likely had no legal grounds to claim liability. The owner of the property, Gulfport resident Judy Carter, did not respond to requests for comment. What's next for Coast veterans After the fire, the Red Cross gave the three displaced residents bank cards loaded with $500 each, and the VA temporarily housed them for less than a week in an extended-stay hotel in D'Iberville. After that, they were offered indefinite "bridge housing" at a Salvation Army shelter in downtown Mobile, where Russelman lives today. After staying there for a few days, King departed for the Midwest. The third displaced veteran couldn't stay at the Salvation Army due to its lack of wheelchair accessibility, so HUD-VASH moved him to another transitional housing facility, Eagle's Landing in Mobile, where he stayed until he left voluntarily on Jan. 19, according to Vernon Stewart of the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System. At the Salvation Army shelter, Russelman shares a room with three other former Marines. "I just love the neighborhood because of the old houses and stuff, walking around," he said, adding that the food is good. But the facility houses around 30 long-term residents and admits as many as an additional 30 for a one-night stay on a cold night. "Everybody here got COVID, except for five of us. I'm one of five people that have yet to get COVID," Russelman said. King has moved back to Illinois and is staying with his ex-wife and their two daughters. He is now two hours' driving distance from the nearest VA facility. At the Rodenberg Apartments, he was just a mile from the Biloxi VA and could catch an Uber or a ride with a friend when he needed medical assistance. King is diabetic and has had 12 stents put into his heart, among other health issues. He does not own a car and has difficulty walking. Russelman now gets by mainly on the $150 monthly disability checks he receives for the leg injury that led to his 2013 honorable discharge from the Mississippi National Guard. He did a tour in Iraq. For now, Russelman is waiting for news from the VA about a new apartment. "And then I'll be able to go out and get another job, maybe go back to Goodworks, and hopefully the pandemic will loosen up a little bit and everything will be a lot better for everyone," he said. (c)2022 The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) Visit The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.) at www.sunherald.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (Tribune News Service) Tears rolled from Dona Re' Shute's eyes Wednesday as she laid her hand atop her brother's flag-draped casket in the cold morning air on the tarmac at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. It's been more than 50 years since Shute and her sister Lorraine Charvet saw their brother. U.S. Naval Reserve Cmdr. Paul Charvet, 26, disappeared in 1967 while piloting a plane for the Navy during the Vietnam War. Although he was eventually presumed by the military to have been killed in action, his body was never found. But in May, Lorraine Charvet got a call out of the blue from Navy officials telling her that Paul's remains had finally been identified. In 2020, the Vietnamese government returned preserved human remains and other material evidence to the United States, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Everything was taken to a laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. After her sister broke the news to her, "we just cried together," Shute said. "It was just so out of our realm of thinking, even. It was just so wonderful to think he was coming home and we have something tangible that we can finally put him to rest." Lorraine Charvet visited her 101-year-old mother, Blanche Charvet, at her assisted living home in Anchorage to tell her what had happened. Although Blanche Charvet now struggles with her memory, her daughter showed her a photo of Paul and told her that he'd be coming home. "And Mother said, clear as a bell, 'That is wonderful news.' So she got it," Shute said. Paul Charvet was the oldest of the three siblings. Growing up, Shute said, he was hardworking and full of energy. The family lived on a farm in Grandview, Wash., where the kids learned to drive tractors and tend to the animals. "We had chickens and his job was to go out and collect the eggs," Shute said. "He hated that job because the roosters would come pecking at him. I would laugh, but I was so glad I did not have to go out there." Lorraine Charvet remembers accompanying their father, Raymond Paul Charvet, to a river where he taught them to waterski behind the boat he'd made. He also took the kids flying in the plane he owned with friends, which Shute said is likely what influenced Paul to become a pilot. "I think Paul just got a real love of flying and figured the best route was to do it through ROTC, which he did through Gonzaga (University)," Shute said. Paul Charvet planned to retire from the Navy after his last tour in Vietnam. Shute said he had served two previous tours there. On March 21, 1967, he was flying a single seat A-1H Skyraider assigned to Attack Squadron 215 aboard the USS Bon Homme Richard. His plane disappeared in an area of low cloud cover during a three-plane flight to support a naval gunfire mission northeast of Hon Me island. A news report the next day stated that an American plane had been shot down in the area, and Charvet's plane was the only one lost there that day. The flight was intended to be his last before he flew home the next day, Shute said. "It was his very last day and he was retiring, and then he and his wife were going to raise a family and he was going to be a private pilot for an airline," Shute said. "And that never did happen." The news of his disappearance came as a shock to his family. "We were expecting a phone call from him that day saying he had arrived and all was well because he's back in the States," Shute said. Because Paul Charvet's body was not recovered, it was difficult for the family to feel closure, Shute said. Ten years later, he was officially presumed killed in action and they were allowed to hold a funeral. "That kind of gave us all closure to a point because that was as much as we thought we'd ever get," she said. It wasn't until Paul Charvet's body was recovered that Shute realized there was still more healing left to be done, she said. The family plans to cremate the remains and will bury him alongside his mother in Washington when the time comes, Shute said. A grave marker for Paul Charvet has been placed next to his father's grave. It made sense to have him returned to Anchorage, even though he didn't live here, because his mother and Lorraine Charvet live here, Shute said. On Wednesday morning, the sisters arrived at the airport accompanied by a procession of military members, family and a hearse. A plane's blinking lights came into view in the dawn sky as it approached for landing. The sisters held hands and walked toward it as it taxied up to Gate C2. They pulled cellphones from their winter coats to take photos that they planned to show to their mother Wednesday afternoon. A group of six young Navy honor guard members marched forward as the flag-draped casket was loaded onto a conveyor belt. As they carried it to the hearse, Shute's hand covered her black face mask and her glasses clouded from the warmth of her tears. And for the first time in more than 50 years, she stepped forward to hug her big brother this time pressing her body against his casket. "It's just surreal," she said. "It's hard to even put into words the feeling that you have that he's truly here after all these years." "Even when I saw the casket, it was just like, 'That's really you, Paul,'" Lorraine Charvet said. "After all these years welcome home." (c)2022 the Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage, Alaska) Visit the Alaska Dispatch News (Anchorage, Alaska) at www.adn.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Stillwater, OK (74074) Today Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low near 60F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 3 to 5 inches of rain expected.. Tonight Variable clouds with strong thunderstorms. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low near 60F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 3 to 5 inches of rain expected. 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. Waikato We understand that Christmas can Be a hard time, having to spend money here, there and everywhere. But also it has be a great... View or Apply on GoodWork.co.nz Tomatoes are a staple summer food but this year things are far more expensive. The price is leaving a sour taste in plenty of people's mouths nearly doubling to more than $7 a kilogram. With that price at the checkout lots of people are turning to grow your own but now even the plants are hard to come by. Checkpoint went looking to see how much a few tomatoes would cost. First up was Pak'n Save Royal Oak at $5.99/kg then Countdown Greenlane at $7.49. United Fresh president Jerry Prendergast explains why it has become so expensive. "With the pepino mosaic virus that's been plaguing the tomato industry since about May last year, that's really affected the crop quite significantly as we've gone into summer with many growers pulling out crops, getting back into their crop rotation, and sterilising their facilities. "There just simply hasn't been as many tomatoes growing this year as we've seen in the past years." Growers are facing many struggles due to the disease, Prendergast says. "So any grower that's got that in their glasshouse or in their operation, they've gotta make some pretty swift decisions to pull their crop out and during that period they've gotta stand down period so there's no production going on for them, which is really affecting their yields, it's affecting their income." The tomatoes that are grown on plants with the disease are okay to eat but pose a biosecurity risk for some overseas countries, so exports are down too. As for when the price might drop down again he said it could be a lot longer. "I wish I did have a crystal ball on this one. I haven't got an exact time frame - a whole growing cycle and the process can take a 12 months. "We saw the start of this in May last year. If we were looking towards what that means in the future, I'd like to see things settle down as we go into winter." -RNZ/Louise Ternouth. This Bike Month Council is challenging riders to explore one of the Western Bays great cycleways, they havent tried before. Each February Aotearoa, New Zealand celebrates Bike Month, and riders from around the motu challenge themselves to get back on their bikes in the name of health, wellbeing and getting around in an environmentally friendly fashion. There are more than 90km of cycle trails in the Western Bay, says Scott Parker, Western Bay of Plenty District Councils Reserves and Facilities Projects and Assets Manager. Bike Month is the perfect excuse for people to hop back in the saddle and try out one thats new to them. Weve got something for everyone to enjoy, from mountain bike trails to tamariki-friendly shared paths. There are scenic cycling and walking trails around many of WBOP towns such as Te Ara Kahikatea, a 4km loop in Te Puke, and trails that connect our communities, including the 3km path from Waihi Beach / Island View to Bowentown. Fit riders wanting a longer ride can connect trails from our District across to our Bay of Plenty neighbours, for example, from Papamoa you can ride 20km to Paengaroa, then carry on cycling 31km to Okere Falls. Theres even trails for our mountain bikers at TECT Park, half way between Tauranga and Rotorua. Scott says cycleways contribute to our communities in many ways. Cycleways can help our communities safely commute to work and school, provide recreational opportunities, and they support economic development in our towns. Councils long-term vision is to create a network of cycle/walkways connecting all our communities - from Waihi Beach all the way to Pukehina. The Western Bay of Plenty has so much to offer, says Scott. Its easy to forget how lucky we are. We have colourful towns, beautiful beaches, stunning native forest and the rugged Kaimai Ranges all in our backyard. The latest cycleway/walkway to open in the Western Bay is the Omokoroa golf-course foreshore cycleway. This trail connects the Precious Family Reserve trails to Kayelene Place, skirting around the golf-course coastline, including sea views and a boardwalk section. To start exploring some of our Western Bay cycleways visit westernbay.govt.nz/cycleways For more information on the Aotearoa Bike Challenge visit lovetoride.net/nz The Ministry of Health is reporting three new Covid-19 cases in the Bay of Plenty today. One of these cases is part of a Tauranga household with two other cases, reported earlier this week. Whole genome sequencing has now linked these two earlier cases to the January Omicron cluster, and the new case is being treated as Omicron. The remaining two cases from today are in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and are being investigated for links to previously reported cases. "In addition, we are announcing three more cases which have tested positive for Covid-19. Theyre linked to an exposure event at the early childhood centre BestStart Pyes Pa on 19 January. All three are being treated as Omicron. "These three cases will be included officially in tomorrows numbers" Toi Te Ora Public Health is expecting further exposure events arising from these cases and locations of interest will be published on the Ministry of Health website when they are identified. Details of testing centres in Tauranga The Ministry says public health teams are continuing to manage Omicron cases in the community through rapidly isolating cases and contacts, contact tracing, and testing to slow the spread. To date, there are 90 community cases of Covid-19 that are either confirmed as Omicron variant or have been linked to previously reported Omicron case, an increase of 34. There are active cases being treated as Omicron in Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Palmerston North, and Nelson Tasman. "Many of these additional cases have previously been reported as Covid-19 cases and linked retrospectively either through whole genome sequencing or epidemiologically. "Therefore, many are not included in todays reported new Covid-19 community cases." The Ministry says the number of cases and contacts are expected to grow given the highly transmissible nature of Omicron and as we learn more from case interviews. "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. "We also continue to urge anyone with symptoms, or anyone who has been to a location of interest at the times notified, to take health advice, isolate immediately and get tested promptly. "Being prepared also means remembering the basics - wash your hands, stay at home if youre unwell, wear a mask when you cant physically distance and get vaccinated, including a booster." Regional updates The Ministry is 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. Auckland There are 22 cases to report in Auckland today. To date, Whole Genome Sequencing has identified that at least one of these cases is linked to known or suspected Omicron cases, and the others remain under investigation. Health and welfare providers are now supporting 619 people in the region to isolate at home, including 176 cases. Waikato There are two new cases in the Waikato today, with one linked to previous cases and one under investigation. Both are from Hamilton. Public Health staff, primary care and manaaki providers in Waikato are supporting 18 cases to isolate at home. Lakes DHB The Ministry is reporting seven new cases in Rotorua today. Six are household contacts of previously reported cases, and one remains under investigation. Tairawhiti Today, the Ministry is announcing a case in Gisborne. The result was received after the reporting cut-off time and it will be officially included in tomorrows case numbers. Investigations are currently underway to determine a link to other known cases in the current outbreak. "However, at this stage it is likely that this person became infected during travel outside of the region. "The case is currently in isolation and any locations of interest will be published on the Ministry of Health's website." Taranaki One new case is beng reported in Taranaki. This was the case the Ministry reported initially yesterday. "In addition, we are reporting a second case of Covid-19 in the region linked to the January Omicron cluster. "The person is a household contact of the case we reported yesterday and they are in isolation. This case was notified after the Ministrys reporting deadline and will be included in the case count tomorrow. "Investigations are underway to identify any exposure events or locations of interest associated with this case and will be published on the Ministry of Health website as they are identified." Hawkes Bay Today, the Ministry is reporting eight new cases of Covid-19 in Hawkes Bay, all expected and linked to the known Hastings Delta cluster. The cases had all been isolating and therefore there are no new, associated locations of interest to add. Nelson Marlborough "We are announcing two new cases in the region today. "These cases were first announced yesterday and are included in todays reported numbers. "In addition, were reporting two cases which will be officially added to tomorrows case numbers. These two cases are part of one of the households which has been epidemiologically linked to the January Omicron cluster." Whole genome sequencing is underway but both are being treated as Omicron at this stage Details of testing centres in Nelson Canterbury Four community cases have been notified in Canterbury today all in Christchurch. Two are in the same household. All four cases remain under investigation to establish any links to previous cases. These cases were reported after the cut-off time and it will be officially included in tomorrows case numbers The Ministry says people should continue to get tested if they have any symptoms of Covid-19, and regularly check the Ministry of Health website for Locations of Interest in Canterbury. Events around the region have been cancelled or are facing uncertainty with the country now at the red traffic light setting. As a part of the red setting, gatherings can go ahead with different restrictions depending on the requirement of a vaccine pass. Gatherings are limited to 100 people for events that require a vaccine pass, and for those that dont the limit is 25. One of the biggest blows is the cancellation of the Classics of the Sky, Tauranga City Air Show, which was due to happen on Sunday. Organisers were expecting thousands of people to turn out for the aviation event. Classic Flyers sales and marketing manager Cory Tyler says everyones gutted, especially as the show is biennial. Our last show was just before the pandemic started in January 2020, but we will be coming back in 2024 in another two years to hopefully do another one. Cory says the air show is too big an event to organise to try and postpone. Elsewhere in the region, the One Love Festival would have filled Tauranga Domain with around 20,000 people this weekend, but has been postponed until April 2-3. Festival-goers were set to enjoy two days of reggae, hip-hop, soul and R&B from the likes of L.A.B, Kora, Stan Walker and Katchafire. The good news is the full line-up of local artists will move to our new date, as well as one of our internationals, Fiji, says organiser Glenn Meikle. There is a silver lining to the cancellation of the 2021 National Bridge Congress, as it will now move online enabling players from Australia to take part, says congress organiser Richard Solomon. The 2021 congress was postponed last September until February this year because of level four lockdown. Up to 650 people were expected at the event at Mount Maunganuis Bay Park from February 10-17. Its not just the competitive side, its the social side of the congress as well, says Richard. Obviously we lose some of that online. The congress will return to Bay Park in October for the 2022 nationals. Other events are waiting for more advice from government before firming up plans. Armageddon Expo will likely postpone the Tauranga pop culture exhibition that was planned for February 26-27. Well be making the official announcement on Monday, but it looks like well have to postpone the Tauranga Armageddon Expo to later in the year, says founder William Geradts. Were gutted, but we understand and fully support the governments decision. The cancellation and postponement of events has a wide reaching economic impact on the Bay of Plenty. Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Oscar Nathan says: The timing of this higher traffic light setting change is really unfortunate, given the two long weekends that are coming up and all the exciting events that were planned for our region over the next few weeks. The hugely successful weekend just gone which featured the Mount Festival of Multisport, Black Clash and Polo in the Bay drew in around 34,000 visitors to the Western Bay of Plenty region. Oscar says the One Love Festival and airshow had the potential to help draw in an average of 49,000 visitors per day to the region. When big events like these get cancelled, it creates a negative flow-on effect for accommodation providers, hospitality and tourism activity operators. Its hard to estimate the financial impact this will have on our local economy, coming on the back of the hardships caused by the Auckland and Waikato lockdowns at the end of last year, but it will likely be significant, says Oscar. Accommodation providers are facing large cancellations, and hospitality businesses are required to have guests seated with 100 person limits. Hotels are negatively affected by the red setting and Tauranga hotels have seen high levels of cancellations, consistent with other destinations around New Zealand, says Hotel Council Aotearoa strategic director James Doolan. Leisure travellers are understandably worried about the risk of being forced to self-isolate away from home if they are caught up in an Omicron cluster. Restaurant Association CEO Marisa Bidois says: Large summer events which are now being cancelled bring people into the area who spend money on dining out and other tourism activities, so the loss of these is another blow to local hospitality businesses. Oscar says: "The threat of Omicron is real, and we all have a responsibility to follow the health guidelines to reduce its impact as much as possible". "That said, Tourism Bay of Plenty will continue to work hard to support our region as we navigate our way through these complicated times. 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. Do you already have a paid subscription to any of the SWNewsMedia newspapers? 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Weather Alert ...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON... * WHAT...Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible. * WHERE...Portions of Arkansas and Oklahoma, including the following counties, in Arkansas, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Madison, Sebastian and Washington AR. In Oklahoma, Adair, Cherokee, Choctaw, Craig, Creek, Delaware, Haskell, Latimer, Le Flore, Mayes, McIntosh, Muskogee, Nowata, Okfuskee, Okmulgee, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pittsburg, Pushmataha, Rogers, Sequoyah, Tulsa, Wagoner and Washington OK. * WHEN...Through Thursday afternoon. * IMPACTS...Main-stem river flooding is expected in several locations. Extensive low land flooding will be likely in some areas, especially where the heavier rain has already occurred. Many low-water crossings will likely become flooded. Area creeks and streams are already running high and will likely flood with more heavy rain. * ADDITIONAL DETAILS... - Additional rounds of thunderstorms with very heavy rain are expected this evening through the overnight hours. Widespread 2 to 3 inches of rain is expected with locally higher amounts of 5 to 6 inches. The heavier rain will begin to shift east of far southeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas Thursday afternoon. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... You should monitor the latest forecast and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action quickly should flooding develop. Be especially cautious while driving at night. Do not drive through water of unknown depth. && The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime. Seminole, FL (33772) Today Mostly clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. NNW winds shifting to SE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Mostly clear. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. NNW winds shifting to SE at 10 to 15 mph. Thank you for Reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and Purchase a Subscription to continue reading. Aravind_M92 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: MAA-BOM-DEL-THN Posts: 172 Thanked: 477 Times Re: Airbus cancels A321neo order from Qatar Airways! I support Airbus' cause in this. As far as I remember, Qatar chose to paint their aircrafts at their facilities rather than at Airbus. Both B787 and A350 are constructed using composite materials and have their own limitations when it comes to painting. No other airline operator, using A350 has reported a similar issue. Maybe the hot and dry climate is to be attributed to the paint flaking up. Most A350 operators are based out of areas with humid climatic conditions. Qatar Airways then went to Airbus for solutions for which Airbus remained clueless and there were some internal issues ( corruption and internal politics). Further to escalate issues, Qatar dragged Airbus to court as they denied any kind of settlement and failed to provide an explanation for the same. Airbus retaliated to these allegations by cancelling their A321 neo orders. I remember Boeing offered a new paint scheme for Air India's 788. The cheat lines were gone, engines were white with minimal design. This was to avoid paint issues on early deliveries of 787 with newly developed composite surface. As far as I recall, all 787s with GE engines have white nacelles. Only the RR engines (eg British and Virgin Atlantic) had painted nacelles. There was a common comment, ' You can have a 787 in any colour as long as it's white in colour!' Qatar Airways is now in a state of slump. They had been operating cargo using their existing fleet and opened up new African and Asian routes. Further these routes now have passenger demand for which Qatar doesn't have aircrafts for. They now have brought back their A330s, A380s and B772 for operations. These old aircrafts have their outdated cabins which might me a let down for travelers looking for the fine Qatari product. The 321 neos were to serve the thin African and European airports which which were to replace their existing A320 fleet. The Boeing aircrafts; the 787 is now in a huge backlog, 777x not yet certified and with 737 max still undergoing Retrofit for the MCAS issue, Boeing is unable to provide a solution to Qatar in the near future. With World Cup around the corner and Qatar developing new airport infrastructures based on the Qatar's hub and spoke model have put the airline in a dire status. Qatar now has turned to its partner airlines for leasing options and using those aircrafts for cargo operations and it's aircraft for passenger services. Qatar had already blamed and humiliated Airbus earlier with the A380 calling it a financial failure and disaster. Why should a customer blame a manufacturer for their loses when it was them who chose to purchase the aircraft! It's like blaming a car company because I purchased the car and it has become a financial liability for me. That's plain stupid. They haven't sold them a lemon! The product was in perfect condition when sold! Qatar's CEO Akbar Al Baker sure is a quick witted and hot headed person. But certain decisions can result in unwanted delays and losses. And Qatar's current situation is a good example. His race to be the launch customer for new aircrafts might sure isn't healthy. In a way Emirates are much more mature. Al Maktoum and Sir Tim Clark do understand the market dynamics much better that Qatar who are trying to grab every opportunity without a proper assesment. In a way Emirates follows a low cost airline strategy! They have only 2 types of aircraft in their fleet, they operate a hub and spoke model. In a way, they are the LCC of the Elite!, Unlike other legacy carriers with much diverse fleets. Qatar sure is in a soup. Hopefully they go for a out of court settlement with Airbus and try and make up before FIFA starts. Let's see how the events unfold! As the U.S. trade war heats up with China, Treasury regulators are insisting on new, tighter provisions to better clamp down on foreign trade. A piece published earlier this week on China's "little giants" program proves how the East is expanding on technological innovation, specifically in regards to combatting the United States. Now, the U.S. is taking the fight to a whole new digital realm with the nearly 3,000 page-long America Competes Act of 2022. This aforementioned provision sees an enhanced effort on regulating cryptocurrency exchanges, specifically that of words found on page 1482. Herein, heightened outlawing of both cryptocurrency and internal Bank Secrecy Act measures take hold, giving the Treasury Secretary far more control over digital banking than one might prefer. For starters, the new language viewed within this document would allow the Treasury Department almost free reign over cryptocurrency networks, disallowing certain consumers the ability even to access exchanges, as well as other various financial institutions. These so-called unchecked discretionary allowances may not, however, be utilized in such a way by the Secretary, yet their very existence opens a nasty doorway to potential calamity for crypto enthusiasts. Sure, the provision may on the surface appear as a combatant to China's ever-growing foothold in technological innovation, but at what cost does the B.S.A.'s new parameters serve for domestic crypto holders? The Bank Secrecy Act holds within it five "special measures," the first four of which gives the Treasury almost unlimited access to data filed by the everyday consumer. These first four parameters under the 31 U.S.C. Code 5318A ensures the Secretary a metadata record of nearly every U.S. citizen's transactional history, putting private information into a criminal investigation file for further use when needed. The fifth term on the docket outright hands the Secretary full power over domestic transactions, disallowing a person or company to transact at all via financial institutions they operate under. Coupled with the America Competes Act, these endeavors would thus become far more metastasized given the limited input consumers have on said regulation. As it stands currently, those pitted with any potential stopgap are required at least notification before the measure is set in place or up to 120 days within the timetable. This newly-inducted form would strip these considerations and give the Secretary the ability to impose regulation without public notice. Essentially, America Competes Act ensures the Treasury Secretary's extreme power over domestic customer activities, bequeathing surveillance permissions and prohibitive measures without public discourse or administrative process to back decisions up. It will also expand said "special measures," allotting the Secretary unlimited purveyance over transactions that can be screened as "transmittal of funds." Related Article: Top 10 Crypto Projects Under $300 Million Market Cap | Potential for Growth? So long as any transaction is faced with the potential of money laundering or another nefarious transactional endeavor, the Secretary of the Treasury can hold full reign over the affair. These alterations aid in reducing administrative processes while also only expanding the abilities the Treasury can uphold, but it goes even deeper. The sixth newly-inducted "special measures" provision under America Competes Act is highlighted as the Treasury's newfound ability to consider anything it sees fit as "transmittal of funds," effectively gifting the Department a prohibition permit upon financial institutions, disallowing them any action if the Secretary deems any of their transactions as a money laundering concern. Underlying this "special measure" is the note on even foreign jurisdiction becoming an open play. In other words, the Secretary can (and most probably will when necessary) prohibit crypto transactions without the need for any due processes. The process can, in theory, go completely unnoticed by consumers, who now aren't required to be informed about a potential stopgap in funds allocation. This directly endangers the already diminishing crypto arena on a global scale. With the Department having almost full reign over potential digital transitions made between financial intermediaries, foreign or domestic, regulation will only deter newcomers and sour enthusiasts who could see a random pause in any number of transactions made. While the bill is set to redefine our approach to China and money laundering in general, it lowers our dependability in the cryptocurrency space. If left unchecked, this could damage future transactions, and the overall cryptocurrency market as regulation pushes into this supposed decentralized space. Those interested and fearful can reach out to Congressional members in order to ensure said language is revoked from the Act and more due process realities are set in place for the Secretary of the Treasury. Read Also: Crypto Watch: Cardano Needs to 450x for Price to Reach $5 | Whale Defends with Staked A.D.A. as Opposed to TVL 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The Tesla Cybertruck 2022 EV is here, and a prototype is being driven around in the area by none other than its CEO, Elon Musk. The teaser came from the CEO, saying that a Cybertruck prototype is up and running from the Gigafactory Texas, which may mean it is coming soon. Now, it asks if it is already ready for its preorders and deliveries after a long delay. Tesla Cybertruck Prototype: Now Available in Giga Texas The CEO is now teasing the public about a vehicle that is not yet coming until next year, all up and running over on Giga Texas right at this moment. The Tesla Cybertruck prototype is coming closer to reality and the hands of the consumers, as the teaser by the CEO brings a lot to the table than just the vehicle being present in the gigafactory. Musk said that the latest version of the Cybertruck is a good one, and it might mean that it is the final version that will finally go into mass production for its soon distribution. No other mentions of the progress from Tesla are available, and this limited information from the CEO is all of what Cybertruck fans have for now. Read Also: Tesla Bot To Become Most Powerful AI Development Platform? Kaparthy Now Looks for More Experts Been driving latest Cybertruck prototype around Giga Texas. Its awesome! Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 26, 2022 Tesla Cybertruck: Production Done Already? Currently, the Cybetruck production is not yet done, and it remains that the release date for the electric vehicle is by 2023, a delay that extended to almost three years. The Tesla website still does not have a landing page for the Cybertruck as of this moment, and preorders are not yet available for the public. If 2023 will be the release date, it may be so that in the latter part of 2022, Tesla will open a preorder platform for all interested parties. However, it may not push through and fully take up orders by next year. Tesla Cybertruck: Coming this 2022? The existence of the Tesla Cybertruck is always under questioning by its fans and enthusiast. It faced delays over the past year that was supposedly coming by 2020. However, since its 2018 announcement, it faced many challenges, and by 2020, the pandemic hindered its focus on the vehicle. The famous pickup truck was supposed to be the first electric pickup in existence, but since it failed to release last year, the Rivian R1T took its place and throne. It was also coming from rumors that it would be the recipient of the Tesla 4680 batteries from the 2020 Battery Day, powering the massive vehicle and its 4x4 power. Earlier in 2021, Tesla bragged about the casting machine that will help in creating the Cybertruck's chassis and produce the vehicle in an immense timeline by 2022. However, it still faced delays for a 2023 release due to unknown reasons. Now, the Tesla Cybertruck prototype running "awesome" may indicate an earlier release date from the clean energy company, which may be good news for all. Related Article: Tesla Cybertruck Production is Reportedly Pushed to 2023-Delaying it Once Again This article is owned by TechTimes Written by Isaiah Richard 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. NASA's New Supersonic Jet has completed its wind tunnel tests for the scaled-down version of the X-59 QueSST, which also aptly goes by the name "son of Concorde." NASA's Supersonic Jet: 'Son of Concorde' However, unlike its predecessor, the Concorde, the new supersonic jet of NASA or the National Aeronautics Space Administration is tamer than ever as it is a quieter version, as per a news story by DailyMail. It is worth noting that the previous supersonic jet, Concorde, which retired way back in 2003, produces a loud and scandalous sonic boom. This time around, though, NASA's new superfast aircraft only produce soft "thump," making the "son of Concorde" a quieter version of the supersonic jet. For now, the new version of the "Concorde" is only limited to its small-scale version, which is only meant to be used for testing. The full-blown version of the X-59 QueSST is still in the works and will only see the light of day later in 2022, which will kick off its initial tests. To be precise, NASA, along with a private space company, Lockheed Martin, is working to develop the full-sized "son of Concord" in Palmdale, California. Both Lockheed Martin and NASA will also work hand in hand to test the full-size version of the supersonic aircraft before 2022 comes to an end. NASA Supersonic Jet and Wind Tunnel Tests The small-scale version of the new NASA supersonic jet has already completed its tests in a supersonic wind tunnel that the engineers of the United States space agency from the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio developed. The test seeks to prove that the new supersonic jet is much quieter than its predecessor. The deputy project manager of the project, Clayton Meyers, said that "this is the team's opportunity to get data at the low sound levels produced in the tunnel." The engineers of the Commercial Supersonic Technology of NASA are attempting to measure that "thump" that the small-scale aircraft is producing. The tests have been using special cameras in various parts of the tunnel, which carry sensors that give a visualization of shock waves. Read Also: NASA to Pay $1 Million for People Who Can Find 'Innovative' Ways to Feed Astronauts in Space Supersonic Jet Some Gen Zs may have not heard of supersonic jets, but once upon a time, it attempted to lessen travel time by flying faster than the speed of light. Now, it appears that NASA is working to bring back the extremely fast aircraft to life. On top of that, last Nov. 21, NASA also worked with startups and United to kick off the return of supersonic commercial flights, which ended nearly a decade ago due to safety concerns. In fact, even the United States President has a supersonic jet for himself. Related Article: NASA Buys Planet-Themed Comics From a Singaporean Student for $1,000! What Will the Space Agency Do With It? This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Teejay Boris 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Four people were reportedly involved in the case. They now faced a fine totaling $300,000 due to their violation in accordance with the country's anti-spam law. CRTC Shuts Down Canadian HQ Marketplace According to a report by IT World Canada, CRTC, the governing regulatory agency for telecommunications in the country, announced that it successfully stopped the ongoing operations of the notorious people behind the dark web marketplace. CRTC regarded it as one of the biggest dark web networks that it took down recently. Following a report on Wednesday afternoon, the site administrator has reportedly closed the page, according to the regulator. Since dangerous cybercrimes are still widespread across Canada, the authorities doubled their time to search for these criminals hiding behind the illegal sites. The decision to execute warrants for the suspects was made possible through the CRTC staff. The culprits in the incident involve Souial Amarak, Moustapha Sabir, Marc Anthony Younes, and Chris Tyrone Dracos. The first three people were sanctioned with a $50,000 fine while Dracos was punished with a $150,000 fine. Related Article: Dark Web's Largest Illegal Marketplace Has Shut Down, 150 People Arrested by Police Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation For their violation with regards to the anti-spam policy, the Canadian officials accused them of delivering phishing emails. The reason why Dracos received the highest fine among the four is that he was accused of being Canadian HQ's admin. "Some Canadians are being drawn into malicious cyber activity, lured by the potential for easy money and social recognition among their peers. This case shows that anonymity is not absolute online and there are real-world consequences when engaging in these activities," Steve Harroun, the chief compliance and enforcement officer of CRTC said. He added that their encounter with the Canadian Headquarters was by far one of the most ambiguous cases that they handled because CASL participated in the pursuit. Harroun commended the efforts from Flare Systems, the National Division (RCMP), and the Surete du Quebec which led to the arrest of the cybercriminals. Dark Web Fraudster Sentenced to Federal Prison In another report, ZDNet wrote that the US Department of Justice put a final verdict for the Canadian citizen Slava Dmitriev. He was sentenced to federal prison for fraudulent access to the dark web. Moreover, he had reportedly sold over 1,700 stolen identities on the illicit platform. The authorities in Greece arrested him while he was on vacation. Around January 2021, he was handed to the US officials for further proceedings. Dmitriev used the "GoldenAce" moniker to carry out the crime. On AlphaBay, he managed to sell 1,764 items which amount to nearly $100,000. This information includes social security numbers, names, and other confidential data from the customers. Last year, Tech Times reported that Europol succeeded in dismantling the DarkMarket site, the largest dark web marketplace in the globe. At that time, 500,000 people were reportedly engaging in illegal transactions. Read Also: MoonBounce Malware Can Survive Computer Antivirus, Says Kaspersky; Chinese-Linked Espionage Group Believed To Be Behind it This article is owned by Tech Times Written by Joseph Henry 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. A U.S. laboratory achieved a new nuclear fusion stage called the "burning plasma." This is currently a big deal for science since various experts across the globe are still trying to crack the mystery of this thermonuclear reaction since it can offer a massive amount of power. As of the moment, the use of nuclear fusion is still not possible on Earth since this atomic nuclei activity usually happens on the surface of the sun or a star. Right now, most power plants rely on nuclear fission, which is still not comparable to actual nuclear fusion. However, this may soon change, thanks to the efforts made by physicists at NIF (National Ignition Facility). US Lab Achieves New Nuclear Fusion Stage According to the latest BBC News report, the new nuclear fusion stage achieved by NIF generates more energy than the recent stages. Also Read: China's 'Artificial Sun' is Now Five Times Hotter Than the Real Sun-Here's Everything We Know So Far Involved U.S. scientists explained that the new burning plasma only happens when the fusion reactions become the dominant source of heat. This means that the atomic activity doesn't involve external energy. "Our experiments use a laser-generated radiation-filled cavity (a hohlraum) to spherically implode capsules containing deuterium and tritium fuel in a central hot spot where the fusion reactions occur," said NIF researchers. Other Details of NIF's Findings In the new study titled "Design of inertial fusion implosions reaching the burning plasma regime," which was published by the Nature Physics journal, NIF experts explained that the burning plasma hadn't been achieved yet by other researchers. Since this nuclear fusion stage is difficult to pull off, they decided to use capsules that absorb more energy and hold more fuel. However, they added that the energy still disappears even after achieving burning plasma. As of the moment, they are still working on the new study until they perfect the process. In other news, the space race between NASA and China is now becoming a nuclear competition. Meanwhile, Israel recently used a remote-controlled AI-powered gun to assassinate the top Iranian nuclear scientist. For more news updates about nuclear fusion and other energy topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes. Related Article: New Strange Metal Can Help Experts Better Understand Quantum World! Here are Its Unusual Behavior This article is owned by TechTimes Written by: Griffin Davis 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Countdown to Data Privacy Day Guest blog: Matthew Peake, Global Director for Public Policy at Onfido discusses the importance of Data Privacy Day 2022. In 2006, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe established European Data Protection Day to be celebrated each year on 28 January. Why this date? It marks the anniversary of the opening for the signature of the Council of Europe's Convention 108, which regulated the automatic processing of personal data. This was a pioneering convention that has been a cornerstone of data protection law for over 30 years. Now a globally recognised event, it is known as Data Privacy Day outside Europe and is recognised in the United States, Canada, Nigeria and Israel among other countries. Now 16 years later, data privacy continues to be incredibly important. Why Data Privacy Is Still the Most Important Question for the Internet Over the past two years, pandemic related lockdowns and restrictions have forced millions worldwide to rapidly shift to digital services. With face-to-face interactions significantly reduced, consumers needed to use online services more than ever before. Users and businesses have embraced the vast benefits of digital services like never before, and digital-first has become the new normal. This has meant that organisations have had to re-evaluate how to establish and maintain trust online, especially as digital fraud has become increasingly widespread. Our research shows that sophisticated identity fraud, which often involves the theft of troves of personal data, has increased by 57% over 2021. Organisations cannot do this alone. Regulators need to set clear standards and frameworks to help individuals trust that their data will be protected when they go online. At the same time, these standards mustnt chill the incentives for companies to innovate and invest; otherwise, it will hinder the next wave of products and services for consumers. In the US, a new report found compliance costs with the patchwork of state privacy laws could exceed $1 trillion over 10 years, with $200 billion hitting small businesses. Furthermore, there needs to be a clear recognition that digital technologies work across borders. Frictionless data flows and interoperable regulatory regimes are not a luxury but a necessity. Therefore an agile and joined-up international approach is exactly what citizens need to protect their privacy, especially in the wake of the pandemic. 16 years after the Council of Europe first conceived Data Protection Day, we still need to talk about protecting personal data in a digital world and Data Privacy Day is the perfect opportunity to do it. How Onfido Protects Your Data Onfidos services incorporate stringent procedures to protect consumer privacy. We put privacy at the heart of everything we do and work closely with key regulators such as the Information Commissioners Office in the UK (ICO) to ensure our innovative technologies and uses of data remain in compliance with applicable privacy law. An example of this is our work with the ICOs Regulatory Sandbox, which has enabled Onfido to effectively reduce algorithmic bias in our models and ensure they operate fairly for all individuals whilst upholding and respecting privacy. Onfidos recent research with Okta found that biometric verification and authentication is popular among consumers who trust in its security. It also gives users what they want: speed and convenience. We repay that trust by implementing strict rules around how we process applicant data, and have created policy principles that explain how we use data in building our products and services. And users recognise the speed and convenience of the service. The research also found that 91% whove had their identity verified by submitting a photo of an identity document would like to use this option again. Plus: 57% say their use of biometrics increased over the past year, 64% are open to biometrics over documents in branches, 59% prefer digital biometrics to dialling a call centre and revealing their memorable question or answer, 70% are open to biometrics instead of a password. The good news in all of this is that biometrics, once implemented, are faster, less expensive, much more convenient, and more secure than any other authentication system. Find out more about how you as a business can achieve improved security and usability with biometric verification without compromising privacy here. This blog is part of a series exploring the UK's upcoming reform to its data protection regime. Learn more here. Global tensions escalated this week after Russian troops made their way to the Ukrainian border, with some world leaders speculating the country could be ready for an outright invasion. The severity of this situation increased further after the United States government revealed minimal diplomatic progress has been made after meeting with Russian officials. To make matters worse, Ukrainian government websites were recently hit by an aggressive cyber attack campaign, which may be a warning sign for things to come. The cyber attack targeted Ukraines ministry of foreign affairs and education ministry, completely overthrowing control of both websites. Reports also claim the hackers left an ominous message on the foreign ministry website, reading Ukrainians! All information about you has become public. Be afraid and expect worse. Its your past, present and future. Additionally, the message included vague, ominous references to Soviet era conflicts, as well as a crossed out picture of the Ukrainian map and flag crossed out. Unfortunately, this is not a new problem. After Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, the Ukrainian government reported a massive influx of cyber attacks from various sources, Some of these attacks were quite devastating, especially the 2015 power grid hack, causing outages for around 230,000 citizens. The previous success of Russias cyber warfare has many world leaders on edge, especially now with digital infrastructure becoming more ingrained in everyday activities. These ongoing attacks highlight the globe's growing dependence on digital technology for essential functions, as well as the need for a collective effort from world leaders to mitigate cyber threats and viral campaigns. Although this recent attack was less severe than previous situations, it does demonstrate these hackers may be capable enough to take down more vital services, such as banks, power grids, and hospitals. As the Ukraine-Russia conflict continues, we will likely hear of more instances of cyber attacks across the nation in the near future. Hopefully, Ukrainian leaders will seek out technological support from global allies, in order to prevent these attacks from causing mayhem for uninvolved citizens. Edited by Luke Bellos Zach Chance, left, and Jonathan Clay of Jamestown Revival perform at the 2021 Telluride Blues & Brews Festival. The duo is playing Club Red Friday night. (Photo by Eva Thomas/The Daily Planet) Ada, OK (74820) Today Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch.. Tonight Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 62F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near an inch. An LSU professor is probing the mysteries of suicide specifically why so many people have active thoughts of killing themselves but don't act on them. Suicidal thoughts happen in too great a frequency to be really great predictors of suicidal behavior, said Raymond Tucker, an assistant professor of psychology at LSU. At least 15 million people in this country seriously considered killing themselves in 2020, according to the latest data. Yet far fewer Americans each year attempt suicide 2 million and even fewer succeed 47,500. Close to half of those experiencing suicidal thoughts, about 7 million, are 25 years old or younger. About 1.2 million of them attempt suicide each year and 6,500 succeed. The desire for death can be extremely high but it doesnt mean that it will reach such a high that it actually results in a fatal suicide attempt, Tucker said. The suicide data for men and women vary greatly. It results in what Tucker calls a gender paradox where women are three times more likely to attempt suicide than men, but three times less likely to manage to kill themselves. Men are more likely to use fatal means, things like firearms, Tucker explained. Traditional suicide treatment has focused mostly on those who try to commit suicide and less on those who think about it but dont necessarily harm themselves, Tucker says. To the extent suicidal thinking comes into play its usually in an often elusive effort to nail down what thoughts will lead to suicide attempts. So when people seek help for suicidal thoughts, they instead are subjected to long questionnaires that aim to figure out whether they might soon try to kill themselves. Why dont we just do the intervention instead? Tucker asked. He said medical professionals have a few treatments that can help curb suicidal impulses which now have strong research to support them. Some of those approaches appear to work among young people, though suicide research for the young lags years behind adult research. Despite all this, too often such interventions are left on the shelf, he said. We could be accidentally shifting away from supporting such a large portion of our population, Tucker argued. Teen vaping still dangerous, despite recent decline, say health professionals Despite a recent decline nationally, educators locally continue to worry about vaping among teenagers and the possibility that without adult v Tucker shared his research and analysis Tuesday at the annual I Care Prevention Summit organized by the East Baton Rouge Parish school system, which was held virtually this year. Tucker entitled his hour-long session, The Science Behind the Phenomenology and Treatment of Suicidal Thoughts. A growing problem Tucker started by going over federal data showing that suicide has trended steadily upwards across all categories measured. We are losing more people each year, he said. 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 For instance, in 2008, about 12 out of every 100,000 Americans killed themselves. A decade later, that had increased to almost 15 out of every 100,000 Americans. Meanwhile, the percentage of adults having suicidal thoughts grew during that same time frame went from 3.7% to 4.9%, an increase of nearly 4 million people. Among 15-to-24-year-olds, the number of suicides increased by 47% from 2008 to 2018. Indeed, suicides are the second leading cause of death among that age range. Even among five to 14-year-olds, while suicides are still rare, the annual rate tripled over that same time frame. Suicidal thoughts are common for students in high school about 16% having serious thoughts of suicide at some point in their life, Tucker said, Federal suicide data covering the pandemic is still coming in and what has been released has suggested that, while interest in suicide has increased, actually suicide attempts may be down. I wont go too deeply into those data because they are pretty fresh, Tucker said. Stopping misconceptions Tucker spent a lot of time in his session explaining and clearing up misconceptions about suicidal thoughts. For instance, its commonly assumed that when people have suicidal thoughts they are consciously mulling the idea, like folks debating internally whether to buy a car. In truth, they are often non-conscious thoughts, Tucker said. These thoughts of suicide just pop up, he said. At the same time, these thoughts can pop into peoples heads for several years before those individuals might try anything. Tucker said he thinks about that phenomenon when he hears claims that someone attempted suicide on impulse. Actually most people are thinking about suicide for years before their first suicide attempt, he said. Meanwhile, the link between suicidal thoughts and depression is not as strong as people think there are many with suicidal ideas who are not depressed at all. Consequently. modern antidepressant drugs are good at curbing depression, but the evidence that they do much to limit suicidal impulses is limited, Tucker said. Suicidal thoughts are not just a bad case of depression, Tucker said. To get a better handle on peoples thought processes, researchers have asked people to track their suicidal thoughts over time one study they did it three times a day for 28 days to look for patterns. Unfortunately, those thought patterns arent predictable; they vary greatly in frequency and intensity. One early takeaway, though, is these rapid-fire shifts in thoughts are in and of themselves likely predictors of whether hospital patients will engage again in suicidal behavior once they check out of the hospital. Citing a recent study, Tucker said those experiencing frequent, but intermittent thoughts of suicide are more likely to try again to kill themselves than those with the strongest individual suicidal impulse. That was not as good a predictor of eventual suicidal behavior as was how much were your suicidal thoughts popping up and down over these couple of days, Tucker explained. The state has begun accepting voluntary buyout applications from certain residents of a Denham Springs neighborhood prone to flooding. Applications are open for residents of the Priority 1 Zone of the Spring Park neighborhood that backs up to the Amite River and received some of the worst damage in the 2016 flood. Their application deadline is Feb. 25. The state awarded Denham Springs $10 million through the Louisiana Watershed Initiative to participate in voluntary buyouts of homes that have repeatedly flooded in the city. Denham Springs is one of seven locations statewide chosen to participate in the $87 million buyout program, which ideally will benefit low- to moderate-income residents, according to the LWI website. A Denham Springs neighborhood floods frequently. Government buyouts could help residents leave. A government buyout program will pay some Denham Springs residents to move away from their flood-prone neighborhood if they choose, potentiall Depending on growing participation, buyout opportunities could expand to other priority zones as funding allows. Priority zones were determined using flood maps and computer modeling. This buyout program presents an opportunity for residents to relocate their families to safer areas, while also providing long-term benefits for the resilience of our community, Denham Springs Mayor Gerard Landry said. We will continue working closely with the Louisiana Watershed Initiative and the residents and landlords in this area to provide resources, information and support as this program progresses. Spring Park property owners and residents can contact a buyout program representative at (866) 735.2001 or email watershed@la.gov. Following a record-breaking year of gun violence in East Baton Rouge Parish local leaders are turning to the federal government to help stop the bloodshed. Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome at Wednesdays Metro Council meeting outlined an effort with all levels of the government to curb the surge in gun violence. Using the Public Safety Partnership, a nationwide Department of Justice crime-reduction initiative, local law enforcement will work with their state and federal counterparts on a three-year strategic plan to combat violent crime. The agencies will work together, beginning in February, to create the plan over the course of eight weeks. Local law enforcement will also receive training and resources from the federal government to better implement the strategy, Broome said. It is past time for us to wake up and understand the reality of the situation we are in, Broome said. We cant afford to sit back and let the weight of violence fall on one person, one agency or one organization. The parish marked 149 killings in 2021, a sobering record that surpassed an all-time high set the preceding year. Already there have been seven homicides recorded in January in 2022, with a particularly violent Martin Luther King Jr. day leaving three people dead and at least six others wounded in five separate shootings. Broome was joined by Baton Rouge Police Department Chief Murphy Paul, parish District Attorney Hillar Moore and representatives from the East Baton Rouge Sheriffs Office. The remarks capped several days of meetings and press conferences that involved local, state and federal law enforcement officials aimed at addressing the killings. The agency representatives all committed to working together to imprison violent offenders by targeting resources to high-crime areas and using new intelligence gathering systems to track down the source of violence. My phone rings every time theres a homicide, Paul said. The mayors phone rings every time theres a homicide. So, when we say it keeps us up at night, it does. Paul and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry alluded to the partnership at a Wednesday morning press conference that brought together local and federal law enforcement leaders after a roundtable discussion on violent crime in the city-parish. "When you bring the weight of the federal government into a city thats having a problem, with the way that the federal laws are structured, if the federal judges actually do their job then that system starts to work," Landry said. "And then, of course, we hope that thats a trickle down, right?" The discussion, which was closed to the public, was held to address potential gaps in the criminal justice system amid the city's prolonged surge in gun violence, Landry said. "When you see the level of violence increase as it does, it means that something in the system is not working," Landry said. "Its important for those stakeholders who are in charge of public safety to get together and say, 'Hey, are we missing something?'" Authorities have said time and again they are focused on stopping repeat offenders, whom they believe are largely responsible for the city's spike in violence. 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 "Youre going to see a heavy, heavy focus from all of our partners and building cases against those individuals both on a state and federal level, Paul said Wednesday morning. U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana Ronald C. Gathe Jr., who was also a part of the conversation Wednesday, emphasized that leaders collectively must find an answer to the problem. "I am new to my position, but I am not new to the crime situation here in our district and our community," he said. "(A solution is) not going to happen in one meeting, its not going to happen in two meetings. Obviously, this is a problem that didnt happen overnight and its not going to just go away tomorrow." This would not be the first time local leaders have sought help from the federal government to curb violent crime. A local-federal program titled "Project Exile" was implemented in Baton Rouge in the late 1990s. It was modeled on a similar program from Richmond, Virginia, credited with a dramatic reduction in the city's homicide rates, according to an Advocate article from the time. Under the program, certain gun arrests were prosecuted in federal instead of state court. If prosecuted in federal court, the program's backers said the cases would move faster and result in longer prison terms because of federal sentencing guidelines. The program's name was inspired by the fact that those convicted of federal gun violations serve their sentences in out-of-state prisons and are subsequently "exiled" from their community. Several council members and citizens alluded to crime reduction efforts from the 1980s and 1990s following the remarks by Broome and local law enforcement. They raised concerns that an overly aggressive approach to reducing crime could lead to a repeat of mistakes from the past that allowed for the rise of mass incarceration across the country. Resources should be directed to keeping drugs and guns from being transported into the community in the first place, rather than using aggressive policing to find them when theyre already in Baton Rouge, said Rev. Alexis Anderson, who is a member of the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Reform Coalition. We are talking about the communities where they are shooting, we are not talking about where those guns are coming from, Anderson said. Paul seemingly acknowledged these concerns during his remarks, telling the council members you will receive complaints as law enforcement begins to increase patrols in high crime areas. Funding should also be directed to education, after school programs and job creation in order to prevent people from falling into a life of crime in the first place, District 6 Councilman Cleve Dunn Jr. said. Were still building more prisons, were still locking more people up, Dunn said. Crime is a poverty issue. Its a lack-of-opportunity issue. With Louisiana festival queens and princesses gathered around, first lady Donna Edwards, left, the queen's mom, Marilyn Smith, right, watch as Gov. John Bel Edwards officially crowns Madison Smith queen of the Mystick Krewe of Louisianians in front of the Governor's Mansion. It was part of a Jan. 26 breakfast reception at the Mansion for the krewe. Tesla said that its profit leapt more than sixfold last year to $US5.5 billion ($7.7 billion), the highest total in its 19-year history, as sales continued to surge, especially in Europe and China. But the automaker warned that supply chain troubles stemming from the pandemic would continue to constrain production through this year. The automaker reported that its revenue rose to $US53.8 billion in 2021, from $US31.5 billion a year earlier. Credit:Bloomberg Our own factories have been running below capacity for several quarters as supply chain became the main limiting factor, which is likely to continue through 2022, the company said. The automaker reported that its revenue rose to $US53.8 billion in 2021, from $US31.5 billion a year earlier. Deliveries increased 87 per cent, to 936,000 cars. Visconti, meanwhile, was experimenting with the latest technology. A new machine called an Eventide Harmoniser let him capture sound samples and repeat them at different pitches throughout a song (the machine f---s with the fabric of time, Visconti said at the time). The Harmoniser created Lows oft-imitated snare-drum sound, which can be best described as a spacey splat. The Low chateau sessions were upbeat and relaxed, according to Bowie biographer Seabrook, and the musicians would spend the evenings watching tapes of Fawlty Towers. Lows second side is an altogether different beast. Its a series of largely lyric-free, free-form instrumentals. Atmosphere replaces structure, layers replace melody. This is, to simplify, Enos side of the album. The tracks were recorded as the band were decamping from France to Berlin (Bowie and others believed the chateaus master bedroom was haunted by the ghost of Frederic Chopin). Eno crafted two ambient tracks, Warszawa and Art Decade, while Bowie was away meeting lawyers due to a legal spat with a former manager. The other two tracks, Weeping Wall and Subterraneans, were Bowies babies. The man was still frail he looked, Bowie himself admitted, like hed just stepped out of a grave on the cover of 1974s album David Live and this was reflected in the music: spectral, unsettling and weird. On top of this, Enos approach in the studio confused his fellow musicians. Eno was famously interested in abstract methodologies. Hed record tracks by counting out the required number of bars onto a tape and using this as a metronomic framework into which to record, says Seabrook. Alomar describes Enos approach as dismantling a songs structure, forming a little chaos and reassembling it. For Alomar, who cut his teeth playing guitar for James Brown at Harlems Apollo Theater, this was initially baffling. He recalls Eno counting to a thousand and telling him to come in between the numbers 27 and 32. Im, like, play what? He says, Anything you want. And then there was Enos studio game of Oblique Strategies, in which cards printed with seemingly random instructions were shown to musicians (such as Try faking it). Alomar didnt get it. I found that my methodology and his methodology, in the beginning, clashed, he says. Because I couldnt wrap my mind around the absurdity of randomness. [The cards] are so damn disjointed and theyre so stupid. So were like, Dude, man this sucks. It sounds horrible. Its not even a song. From left, Robert Fripp, Brian Eno and David Bowie in the Berlin studio in 1977. Low, the first of the Berlin Trilogy, turns 45 this month. Credit:Getty Images But Alomar came round once he started seeing the tracks as classical pieces played by electronic instruments. Alomar says Eno taught him that pop music didnt simply have to be about groove and repetition; it could be symphonic. It all made sense when the tracks were played back. You have to rise to the occasion and meet the challenge, Alomar says, before demonstrating his point by playing a round of Oblique Strategies with me over Zoom. (I approached Eno for this piece, but he didnt respond.) Despite all the big characters in the studio Bowie, Visconti, Eno and Alomar the guitarist insists that everyone had a defined role. Bowie co-ordinated and co-produced with Visconti, Alomar arranged, and Eno experimented. The strangeness of life in the Berlin studio was mirrored by life outside. Hansa stood next to the citys dividing wall, with Soviet-run East Berlin in the distance. It was unsettling. Out of the studio window, Alomar says, was the wall, then sand. Everything had been removed. Then, for about a mile, was rolled-up barbed wire. Then you saw the shadowy silhouette of houses in the background. It was pretty much a battle environment. That is solely depressing. Theyd record with the blinds down to block out the views of gunners and watchtowers. The landscape got under the skin of the musicians, Alomar remembers; Low is at times bleak. Levity was found in West Berlins nightlife, which sounds as decadent and furtive as that depicted in Cabaret, set in 1929 Berlin. Bowies entourage included Iggy Pop, whose 1977 album The Idiot he had just produced. David took us to the underground places, the speakeasies, Alomar says. It was like the German movies you see on television we were there. I wasnt wearing a tuxedo like they do in the movies, but you got the air of the forbidden underground. I couldnt wrap my mind around the absurdity of randomness. Carlos Alomar Low was finished in October 1976 and was immediately rejected by Bowies label, RCA, who pleaded for another commercial album like Young Americans. Bowie refused. Low was released three months later, but with little promotion. The album existed entirely apart from the eras prevailing trends, as if occupying a musical no mans land itself. Bowie himself didnt promote Low either instead, he joined Pops live band as keyboardist but he was aware that it challenged people. He was also aware that some fans didnt think his heart was in it (presumably because he only sang on five of the 11 tracks). He told Melody Maker in October 1977, however, that he believed in Low and its follow-up, Heroes, more than anything Ive done before. He also countered criticism that his new music was cold compared to his earlier work. Theres a lot more heart and emotion in Low, and especially [Heroes]. And if I can convince people of that, Im prepared to be stuck in this room on the end of a conveyor-belt of questions that Ill do my best to answer, he told Melody Maker. Loading Low confounded many critics, some of whom found it banal, uncommercial, pretentious and depressing. But it wasnt universally panned. NME described it as the sound of Sinatra reproduced by Martian computers. Low did, as Bowie hoped, forge a new musical language. For a while this language was so fresh it remained uncodified. That didnt last long. In November 1977, Sounds magazine journalist Jane Suck wrote that Low was the watershed of an emerging movement that she dubbed New Musick. Addressing Bowie by his real surname, Suck ended her piece: Check out the charts and youll see that something is happening, Mr Jones, even if you dont know what it is. New Musick became known as post-punk, and Lows influence was soon everywhere. Joy Division were initially called Warsaw, after the albums song Warszawa. Long soundscapey tracts became acceptable on mainstream albums. Meanwhile, that distinctive spacey-splat became the defining drum sound of the 1980s; it was best replicated in Phil Collins mega-hit In the Air Tonight, although Collins himself was already part of the New Musick movement, having played drums on Enos Another Green World, along with future Bowie collaborator Robert Fripp. Speaking in 1983 and describing the percussion effect with typically idiosyncratic language, Bowie lamented its popularity: That depressive gorilla effect was something I wish wed never created, having had to live through four years of it with other English bands. With his back to the wall, in the shadow of the Berlin Wall, deploying recording techniques that were decidedly off-the wall, the pioneering Bowie redefined what it was to make a modern album. Low remains arguably his career high. Disgraced former television host Andrew OKeefe will face court on Friday after he allegedly punched, kicked and attempted to choke a potential business partner. Police say the one-time White Ribbon ambassador met the woman at his home on Kent Street in the Sydney CBD on Tuesday afternoon. Andrew OKeefe. Credit:Simon Schluter A verbal argument ensued between the pair, before the man allegedly assaulted the woman grabbing her by the throat, pushing her to the ground and punching her, police said. The man allegedly assaulted the woman a second time punching and kicking her before she left the unit. NSW has recorded 17,316 new COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths as admissions to hospital continue to fall. There are 2722 people in hospital with the virus, of whom 181 are in intensive care, down on the 2794 recorded on Wednesday and Tuesdays pandemic high of 2943. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet provided a COVID-19 update on Thursday morning. Credit:Brook Mitchell The days new infections are a decrease on the 21,030 recorded on Wednesday when NSW exceeded 1 million COVID-19 cases over the course of the pandemic. Of Thursdays cases, 7382 were detected from rapid antigen kits and 9934 were from PCR tests. One of the countrys most powerful Aboriginal land councils has accused the Northern Territory government of failing Central Australia as COVID-19 spreads through communities and the local Health Minister raised the alarm over low testing rates in the region. The Central Land Council has called for a lockdown in the area to reduce the spread of the virus in vulnerable communities where many people live with complex health issues and in overcrowded housing. The Northern Territorys Chief Minister, Michael Gunner. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The calls came as the NT recorded 626 new cases on Thursday, and Wednesdays numbers were revised from 492 to 778 after additional rapid antigen tests were processed by authorities. The plan was to evacuate people who had tested positive, this isnt happening and we need a viable alternative to save lives, CLC chief executive Les Turner told ABC Radio National. We need a rapid response team in our communities who can go door-to-door with testing, vaccinating, health care and advice. Australias shipment of aid to Tonga has been delivered without personnel leaving the navy ship, as the Pacific island nation deals with food and water shortages following the undersea earthquake and tsunami this month. Navy ship HMAS Adelaide, which departed last week, transported equipment and personnel to help repair damage from the tsunami that hit the Tongan archipelago on January 15 and covered the ground in ash after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haapai volcano erupted 65 kilometres from the capital, Nukualofa. Three people died. The Australian navy ship docks in Tonga to unload aid supplies. Credit:ADF A COVID-19 outbreak on the ship, which affected at least 23 crew, meant the aid was delivered contactless, the Defence Department said. Tonga is yet to have a COVID-19 outbreak. On Sunday, the Victorian government announced its back-to-school plan balancing the competing needs of getting children back in the classroom without overwhelming the healthcare system. Following the announcement, telling my children, aged four, eight and 10, that they would be returning to school and kinder next week seemed a bit of a tough gig to sell. My 10-year-old was quick to highlight the high case numbers and argue that homeschooling should be an option until he has had the opportunity to be double vaccinated. Telling my children that they would be returning to school and kinder next week seemed a bit of a tough gig to sell. Credit:Sup Despite my own concerns, I dug deep, mustering all the enthusiasm and reassurance I could. The medical consensus is that most children dont become that unwell when exposed to COVID-19 (unless they are immunocompromised or have an underlying health condition) and that any delay in returning to school poses a further risk to their wellbeing. It has been well publicised that the mental health of children has suffered throughout the pandemic, and this must be at the forefront of any decision-making. Alamanda K-9 College principal Lyn Jobson has so many students enrolled at her school that even she struggles to pinpoint the precise number. Its about 3300 this year, she said. Wyndham mum Eliza Berry with her children, Zoe, 12, Amelie, 13, and Edward, 6, who know all about the overcrowding of schools in the rapidly growing region. Credit:Simon Schluter Alamanda opened in 2013 with a few hundred students and has rapidly grown into one of the biggest single-campus schools in Victoria. The extraordinary demand for a place at the government school in the south-western suburb of Point Cook has forced Ms Jobson to go to unusual lengths to keep it running in an orderly way. Victorians will be encouraged to spend up at businesses suffering lockdown-lite conditions and staff scarcity could be alleviated under an economic support package being prepared by the Andrews government. Ailing businesses and industry bodies have been lobbying the government for aid throughout January as people stayed home due to widespread transmission of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 that also sparked workforce shortages. Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer Paul Guerra. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui The government will announce a stimulus package as early as next week, according to several government sources speaking confidentially because the plan is yet to be finalised. Options being considered include another round of vouchers for restaurants or accommodation; government support to train workers; and using the Jobs Victoria program to rapidly funnel new staff into hard-to-fill roles in sectors like hospitality. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has praised outgoing Australian of the Year Grace Tame for the work shes done for sexual assault victims, as he brushed off questions about a frosty reception between the pair. Ms Tame was pictured arriving at The Lodge for a morning tea with the 2022 Australian of the Year nominees on Tuesday, where she met Mr Morrison and his wife Jenny on the way in the door. She barely acknowledged him as he shook her hand, and she maintained a stern gaze as they posed for pictures. She gave a quick smile to Mrs Morrison before walking inside to the morning tea event. Grace Tame and Scott Morrison. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The images went viral and sparked a wave of commentary from people who supported Ms Tames decision not to smile and those who opposed her. But Mr Morrison dismissed a question on radio about whether he felt disrespected by the interaction. Oh look, Ive seen all that. When anyone comes to our home, when Jenny and I, we invite someone to our home we greet them with a smile and theyre always welcome. And that day was actually about all the finalists that we came to celebrate, Mr Morrison told 4BC in Brisbane on Friday. This would mean a person overseas wanting to get home via Sydney would likely need Western Australian approval, which Abrams said would be unworkable for airline staff to administer at check-in as had proven to be the case for other states when they had home quarantine. This situation is shaping up as chaotic for Western Australians overseas, he said. How can an international passenger be deemed eligible for home quarantine if they fly to Perth via Sydney but not if they took a direct international flight into Perth? Abrams said it would take airlines 75 weeks to clear the backlog of passengers that had booked tickets in anticipation of the February 5 reopening. A state government spokeswoman did not commit the government to selecting which Australians could fly directly into WA and instead said that they looked forward to the construction of a permanent quarantine centre by the federal government to house international arrivals. Once complete, WA can operate it and ensure the States hotel quarantine system can operate as safely as possible, she said. Its so vital this can be done sooner rather than later given the risk Omicron currently poses in the WA community. Professor Greg Dore, an infectious diseases expert at the Kirby Institute, told this masthead that WAs indefinite border closure was futile, given the small outbreak of Omicron in Bunbury, which Mr McGowan has conceded the government will not be able to contain. Loading The current outbreak in Western Australia demonstrates the difficulties with maintenance of an elimination strategy, Professor Dore said. Its extremely unlikely that control will be maintained to allow 80 per cent booster coverage. The continued stranding of many thousands of Australians overseas and interstate is an ongoing factor that needs to be considered in the overall public health response. Its time to revert to the previously proposed opening date of February 5. Kim Brown gave birth to her premature daughter in March last year and has surgery scheduled on February 9. Her parents and mother-in-law, all triple vaccinated, were due to arrive on February 7 to help the family as she recovered from her operation. But having already missed the birth of their granddaughter, they cannot now come because even in the unlikely event that they secured a seat, they would not be out of hotel quarantine in time for the surgery. Families not holidays These werent just holiday plans, Ms Brown said. These were grandparents meeting grandchildren for the first time, these were parents being present to support and help their children and their families. I am in pieces and emotionally spent having endured one of the toughest years of our life without our parents here to help and support us. And now we have nothing no plan, no date, no target I see no light at the end of this tunnel. Rebecca, 42, a Perth mother who lives in Canada with her husband and their two sons, said her worst fears came true when she watched Mr McGowans press conference in which he reneged on his promise to reunite the state with the rest of the country and the world. Perth mother Kim Brown with her daughter, who was born prematurely, pictured in Perth Childrens Hospital in May 2021. We havent booked anything, I want to see the first plane go off, the wheels reach the tarmac of the first plane before I book anything because its too hard for our boys, she said. The idea of trying to explain to them that theyre going home and see nanna and grandpa and uncle and aunty and cousins and then to tell them cant itd be too devastating for them to have that expectation and then it not happen. Loading The family have not been home since the pandemic started because the costs of the flights and quarantine would be more than $20,000. Australias medicines regulator has granted provisional approval for Pfizer as a booster shot for older teenagers, leaving one last hurdle before they will be available to administer. Under the changes announced by the Therapeutic Goods Administration this morning, Australians aged 16 and 17 will be able to get a third dose three to four months after their second jab. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Health Minister Greg Hunt said boosters would be available as soon as the decision clears the final regulatory hurdle (i.e., the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation gives its tick of approval). We are hoping to get advice from them early next week, the Health Minister said on Channel Sevens Sunrise program on Friday. London: Charity worker Pixie Shmigel has no regrets about leaving the safety of Sydney to move to Ukraine last year with partner Blake Badman. None, definitely none, she said. No regrets. At the moment the mood here in Ukraine is people are calm. Mostly, they are resolute in their stance that they want a free and democratic and independent Ukraine. Pixie Shmigel in her new home in Lviv, Ukraine. Credit: You can feel that in the energy of the people, what they say to you. Honestly, the way that they portray themselves as Ukrainians is very passionate and patriotic and it gives us a lot of security actually. Both her sets of grandparents emigrated from Ukraine after World War II, one set to the United States and the other to Australia, where she was born. After days of fighting, the battle for the prison, in the city of Hasaka, focussed on one three-story building that houses the kitchen, clothing workshop, clinic and barbershop, said Farhad Shami, an SDF spokesperson. The upper floors of that building are the childrens ward, where the 700 boys were detained. Loading Shami said he did not know how many of the boys had been killed or wounded. But Letta Tayler, a director with Human Rights Watch who tracks the Syria detentions, wrote on Twitter that she had spoken with two men and one boy inside the surrounded building, and they said they had seen many dead and wounded boys. They also said they had run out of food and water and had burned their mattresses to cook before the food ran out. The detention crisis in northeastern Syria has its roots in the collapse of the Islamic States so-called caliphate, which at its height was about the size of Britain and stretched into Syria and Iraq. An international military coalition led by the United States partnered with the SDF to fight the jihadis in Syria, pushing them from their last patch of territory in March 2019. The SDF detained those who survived in an ad hoc network of prisons for the men and camps for the women and children, expecting that the countries the fighters and their families had come from would take them back. But most countries have refused, leaving the detainees languishing for years in squalid, dangerous camps and makeshift prisons, with no legal recourse. A fighter with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces mans a checkpoint in Hasaka, Syria, Credit:AP Tens of thousands of children, most of them Syrians and Iraqis, live in the areas two main camps, along with thousands of children of other nationalities, said Ardian Shajkovci, director of the American Counterterrorism Targeting and Resilience Institute, which has researched the issue. Some 200-220 children are believed to be in two rehabilitation centres run by the SDF-affiliated administration that governs the area. The SDF has long resisted providing information about the number of boys in its prisons, but Shajkovci said there are about 700 in the Hasaka facility and about 35 in another lockup in the city of Qamishli. Most are Syrians and Iraqis, but about 150 are foreigners. Save the Children believes that the 17-year-old Australian who released a voice message from the prison earlier this week is now in the custody of the SDF. Suspected Islamic State fighters, at a makeshift prison in Hasaka, Syria. Credit:New York Times In 2019, when The New York Times first reported on the presence of children in the Hasaka prison, they were dressed in orange jumpsuits and crammed in normal cells near the adult prisoners. Since then, their conditions have marginally improved, according to aid workers. They were segregated from the adults and moved to their own building on the north side of the compound, where there are three floors with about 15 cells each. Aid groups have brought them blankets, mattresses, hygiene supplies and clothes. They have communal bathrooms and their own yard where they get regular recreation time. Over the last 15 months, their number increased to 700 from about 550, aid workers said, when the SDF moved some adolescents from the camps to the prison. In some cases, that meant separating them from their mothers, who remained in the camps. They were removed for a variety of reasons: some after security incidents, some because the SDF thought they had reached a dangerous age, or because of worries they would impregnate women in the camps, according to aid workers and Shajkovci, the researcher. Loading Shami, the SDF spokesperson, denied that any boys had been moved from the camps to the prison but said some had been taken to rehabilitation centres because they were at risk of getting radicalised in the camps, where many detainees remain steadfast supporters of the caliphate. He called all the boys in the prison cubs of the caliphate, the name the Islamic State used for children trained to fight, and said they had been captured in Islamic State bases and could have been trained to carry out suicide bombings. Nylund of UNICEF acknowledged that some of the boys could have played roles in combat but said it was difficult to determine each childs background and that some had clearly been too young to fight. None of the boys have been charged with a crime or seen a judge. And none of those circumstances mitigated the danger to the boys now, Nylund said. These children are at very close risk of falling both as targets in the crossfire and potentially being re-recruited or recruited for the first time and ending up in the hands of ISIS, he said. We are calling on all parties to save the lives of these children, with a cease-fire, with negotiations, whatever it takes, said Mehmet Balci, founder and co-director of Fight for Humanity, a human rights group, who visited the prison three times. Balcis organisation began a project last year to do individual assessments of the boys to provide them with educational, recreational and psychological support, he said in an interview. His group had hired staff, purchased equipment, made plans for TV rooms for the boys and conducted two training sessions with the prison staff about child protection. The Islamic State attack had put everything on hold. Balci said the project could have made a bad situation for the boys a little better, but without changing what he saw as the fundamental injustice. These children should not have been there, he said. This is not their place. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Washington: US President Joe Biden says he will nominate the first black woman to the US Supreme Court by the end of February, describing the move as long overdue as he set a tight deadline to fulfil his election promise. A day after news leaked that liberal justice Stephen Breyer was planning to retire after almost three decades on the bench, the President and the veteran judge appeared together at the White House on Friday (AEST) to make the announcement official. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer announces his retirement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. Credit:AP Speaking during a small ceremony in the Roosevelt Room, Biden said he had been studying the backgrounds and writings of various candidates but had not yet made any decisions on who his nominee should be - except one. The person I will nominate is someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. That person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. Its long overdue in my view, he said. Some plays never really feel out of date. Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew takes place as the American economy was crumbling in 2008 and Detroit's auto plants were going under one by one. Now more than a decade later the same blue-collar workers who suffered disproportionately then are suffering now as the Covid pandemic upends livelihoods. Morisseau's play premiered off-Broadway in 2016 at Atlantic Theatre Company with Ruben Santiago-Hudson directing, but the play resonates perhaps even more now than it originally did. Santiago-Hudson helms the production again in its Broadway outing with a phenomenal cast led by Phylicia Rashad and Brandon J. Dirden. With hard times facing blue-collar workers around the country, Morisseau's play feels more than anything like a tribute to the workers who get far too little recognition for what they do. The play unfolds during a bone-chilling winter in Detroit just as the economy is about to take the big nosedive that would become known as the Great Recession. In the break room of a stamping plant, Faye (Rashad) smokes her Marlboros despite the No Smoking signs directed specifically at her. She's been there a long time and she's a union rep, so signs be damned; but she'll put out her smoke for the sake of Shanita (Chante Adams), a young pregnant worker who grudgingly puts up with the persistent flirting of Dez (Joshua Boone). Dez is young, but he knows what's up, and he has a strong hunch that the plant is about to shut down and leave them in the lurch and he thinks Faye is holding back on that info. Joshua Boone as Dez and Chante Adams as Shanita in Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew on Broadway. ( Matthew Murphy) Turns out, he's right. Their boss, Reggie (Brandon J. Dirden), has let her know in strict confidence that the plant will shut down within the year. But Reggie cares about his people, so he's stuck between management and his loyal team. He knows Dez has dreams of owning his own auto garage, Shanita has a baby on the way, and Faye needs help that she's too proud to ask for. Does he come down hard on them with a new stack of rules designed to weed out the "dead weight," or does he stick by them when they need him most? How do you fight for what's right, he wonders, without jumping on a grenade? Santiago-Hudson lets Reggie's and the others' lives and secrets quietly bubble to the surface as we sit on the edge of our seats, and Morisseau's conversational language makes us feel like we know them too. Rashad gives a hilarious portrayal of Faye, who stoically maintains her strength and dignity even after she loses her home. Boone gives an eminently smooth, at times intense performance at Dez, a man who knows that in this world he's always got to be looking over his shoulder. Adesola Osakalumi plays the Performer in Skeleton Crew. ( Matthew Murphy) As Shanita, Adams plays the kind of worker who cares deeply about her job and feels that what she does at the plant is important, not just for her but for the person who's going to get into a car she helped make. And Dirden does a fine job conveying the conflict of a man caught between the job he's worked long and hard for, and the people he's come to consider family rather than just cogs in a machine. Adesola Osakalumi, who originated the role of the Performer in the off-Broadway production, does self-choreographed popping routines in musical interludes (with original music and lyrics by Jimmy Keys, and music by sound designer Rob Kaplowitz) to show us how the team members are, in fact, often considered to be mechanical and easily replaceable -- parts of factory assembly lines. Nicholas Hussong's projections during these interludes drive that idea home. Joshua Boone, Brandon J. Dirden, Phylicia Rashad, and Chante Adams in Skeleton Crew on Broadway. ( Matthew Murphy) Along with Morisseau's spot-on dialogue, the creative team captures the workers' reality in the break room with a meticulously detailed set designed by Michael Carnahan, complete with Obama-Biden sticker on the fridge. Emilio Sosa's costumes are working-class casual complemented by hard-hats worn with pride. It's that pride that Morisseau wants to pay tribute to, and in a play that might have nothing but bad awaiting its characters as the huge thumb of capitalism hovers over their heads, we're left with a little bit of hope. When you can't depend on the higher-ups to have your back, you've gotta have each other's. That's how you get through times like these. Making Electric Vehicle Leap of Faith is Highly Satisfactory to New Owners, J.D. Power Finds TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As automakers continue to build excitement with new electric vehicle (EV)1 launches, first-time owners who have made the switch to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are discovering that it is a positive experience. Satisfaction among owners who are new to BEVs averages 754 (on a 1,000-point scale), which is comparable to 766 among BEV veterans (those who have owned a BEV prior to their current one), according to the J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study,SM released today. Additionally, factor satisfaction among first-time BEV owners is higher for service experience (+48), driving enjoyment (+15) and styling (+8) than among BEV veterans. At the same time, while first-time BEV owners have a learning curve to become familiar with driving range, BEV veterans have experience and knowledge with real-world vehicle range that results in higher levels of satisfaction with battery range (+78 points) and accuracy of stated battery range (+49). The overall EVX ownership index score measures electric vehicle owner satisfaction in both premium and mass market segments. The 2022 study has been expanded to include 10 factors from seven in 2021. Those 10 factors are (in alphabetical order): accuracy of stated battery range; availability of public charging stations; battery range; cost of ownership; driving enjoyment; ease of charging at home; interior and exterior styling (new in 2022); safety and technology features (new); service experience (new); and vehicle quality and reliability. Making the initial leap of faith into owning a BEV is proving to be very satisfying, said Brent Gruber, senior director of global automotive at J.D. Power. We know from our research that many consumers have concerns during the purchase consideration process with aspects like battery range and vehicle charging. However, once someone has purchased a BEV, theyre pretty much hooked. What will keep first-time owners coming back to buy another BEV is the compelling experience with the safety and technology features, lower service and maintenance costs, and pure driving enjoyment. The new BEVs from traditional brands are helping to attract even more first-time buyers. The study finds that 96% of BEV owners whose overall ownership satisfaction exceeds 900 points say they will purchase another BEV in the future. More than half (62%) of these owners say they definitely will repurchase from the same brand. However, likelihood to repurchase the same brand lessens considerably as satisfaction declines. Among BEV owners whose overall ownership satisfaction is below 600 points, 78% of first-time owners and 89% of veteran owners indicate they definitely will consider purchasing another BEV, but the likelihood to repurchase the same brand drops to 6%. Following are key findings of the 2022 study: Range satisfaction is key purchase reason: As EV batteries and driving ranges continue to improve, veteran BEV owners cite this aspect of ownership as the top purchase reason in both the premium and mass market segments, 86% and 87%, respectively. Further, when owners say BEV range never affects driving habits compared with range regularly affecting driving habits, satisfaction improves 119 points in the premium segment and 107 points in the mass market segment. Incentiveswhen easy to getimprove satisfaction: More than two-thirds (68%) of EV owners received a purchase incentive. Overall satisfaction is higher among owners who say incentives are very easy to get (760) vs. among owners who say incentives are somewhat/very difficult to get (712). Among owners who cite incentives as a key purchase driver, 79% received a federal tax credit/rebate, but only 59% of that group say it was very easy to receive. Many EV incentives and rebates have to be handled by owners, Gruber said. Dealers can facilitate the process for first-time owners by providing necessary links and forms and then walk the customer through the steps for claiming the federal and state tax credits. Quality and reliability vary in premium and mass market segments: While infotainment is the most problematic category for owners of mass market BEVs (26.2 problems experienced per 100 vehicles, or PP100), the leading problems in the premium BEV segment are exterior (14.6 PP100) and squeaks and rattles (13.4 PP100). Quality and reliability are extremely important factors to which manufacturers will have to pay close attention, Gruber said. As the EV market matures, EV owners will compare the build quality to internal combustion engine (ICE) models. Our research finds that, in general, EVs arent problematic because of the model type, but problems experienced are often related to technology- and feature-laden models, which present some challenges for minimizing quality issues. Theres essentially more to go wrong. Study Rankings Tesla Model 3 ranks highest overall and highest in the premium BEV segment with a score of 777. Tesla Model Y (770) ranks second. Overall satisfaction in the premium segment averages 770. Kia Niro EV ranks highest in the mass market BEV segment for a second consecutive year with a score of 744. Ford Mustang Mach-E (741) ranks second. Overall satisfaction in the mass market segment averages 709. The U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study is driven by a collaboration with PlugShare, the leading EV driver app maker and research firm. This study sets the standard for benchmarking satisfaction with the critical attributes that affect the total or overall EV ownership experience for both BEV and PHEV vehicles. Survey respondents for the study include 8,122 owners of 2016-2022 model-year BEVs and PHEVs. The study was fielded in October-November 2021. For more information about the U.S. Electric Vehicle Experience (EVX) Ownership Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/business/automotive/electric-vehicle-experience-evx-ownership-study. See the online press release at http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2022006. About PlugShare Based in El Segundo, Calif., PlugShare maintains the most comprehensive census of EV infrastructure in the world. They make the PlugShare app for iOS, Android and the Web, the most popular EV driver app globally, in use by most drivers in North America and over one million EV drivers worldwide. PlugShare also provides sophisticated data tools, reports, custom consulting and comprehensive research on EVs for automakers, utilities, charging networks, government and the rest of the EV industry. It operates the worlds largest EV driver survey research panel, PlugInsights, now with over 63,000 members. About J.D. Power J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 50 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies. J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the companys business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com. About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: http://www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info 1 The electric vehicle (EV) category includes battery electric vehicles (BEVs); plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs); and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Staff Reporter Nyamekye Daniel has been a journalist for five years. She was the managing editor for the South Florida Media Network and a staff writer for The Miami Times. Daniel's work has also appeared in the Sun-Sentinel, Miami Herald and The New York Times. News Updates Would you like to receive our newsletter? Get local, Wyoming, and national news, the weather forecast, and more, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. 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. Follow Froma Harrop on Twitter @FromaHarrop. She can be reached at fharrop@gmail.com. To find out more about Froma Harrop and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com. A man from Florida fought off a bear with his own hands to protect his dogs! Earlier this week, a full-grown black bear charged into Walter Hickox' porch and attempted to attack his small weiner dogs... and he caught it all on doorbell video. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, when the bear started to break in, Hickox just assumed it was another dog. The FWC, who originally posted the video, said: "Thinking the animal was another dog and not a bear, the man moved towards it to protect his dogs and the bear reacted. "The man was able to get the bear to leave by making loud noises and quickly moving a bench in front of his porch door. "Luckily the mans injuries were not life-threatening and his dogs were not injured." Watch the video below. 13 Fun Facts About Walt Disney World: A $3.50 Ticket, Walts Secret Plan, Closures, First Visitor, And More Walt Disney World opened to the public on Oct. 1, 1971, after years of construction. The theme park owned by the Walt Disney Co is now the most visited theme park in the world. The park celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021. Here is a look at some fun facts you may not know about Disney World. 1. Opened Oct. 1 Five years after Walt Disney announced plans to open a theme park in Florida, the Walt Disney World Resort opened Oct. 1, 1971. The date was selected by the Disney Company as it was the slowest day in a slow month for the Orlando area. The company saw huge demand when they opened Disneyland and were trying to not repeat issues with food, attractions and guest satisfaction. Plans from Walt Disney were to build a theme park bigger and better than Disneyland. Epcot opened on Oct. 1, 1982, with an additional 305 acres as part of the Disney World theme parks. 2. Visitor Stats On opening day, 10,422 people visited Walt Disney World, paying $3.50 per ticket. Visitors enjoyed 26 attractions throughout the park. In three months, the park had over 400,000 visitors. Today, Disney World is the most visited theme park in the world with over 55 million annual visitors. 3. Walt Disney Didnt Get To See Park Open The vision for Walt Disney World came from Walt himself. Sadly, Disney did not get to see the park open as he passed away in December 1966. Walts brother Roy Disney, who co-founded the company, passed away three months after the park opened. Roy oversaw the construction of the park. 4. Walt Disneys Secret Plan In the 1960s, Walt Disney bought swampland in Florida for $5 million. The purchase was for 43 square miles, an area the size of the city of San Francisco. Disney knew the majority of the U.S. population lives east of the Mississippi, creating an opportunity to cater to additional visitors with a second theme park. Disney wanted to find cheap land without getting noticed, to prevent a bidding war. Disney paid $182 an acre for the purchase. Nearby land went to $80,000 an acre after Disney World opened. In October 1965, a journalist for the Orlando Sentinel named Emily Bavar questioned Disney on if he was the buyer of land in Florida. Walt Disney is a good actor, but hes a terrible liar, Bavar said at the time. The Orlando Sentinel reported that it was Disney buying the land in Florida with plans for a theme park. 5. Park Slogan Disney World has the trademarked phrase The Most Magical Place on Earth. Sister park Disneyland uses The Happiest Place On Earth. After years of another slogan Where Dreams Comes True being the greeting to guests at Disney World, the company made a change. In 2020, the company put the official slogan on its entrance gates. 6. Park Closures Disney World has closed a total of eight times in its park history. The closures were for Hurricane Floyd (September 1999), Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (2001), Hurricane Charley (August 2004), Hurricane Frances (September 2004), Hurricane Jeanne (2004), Hurricane Matthew (October 2016), Hurricane Irma (September 2017) and the COVID-19 pandemic. 7. First Visitor William Windsor Jr. from Lakeland, Florida was the first visitor to Disney World. Windsor Jr. brought his wife and two sons Jay (3 years old) and Lee (19 months old) to the theme park. The family slept in their car overnight at a roadside rest area. As the first guests, the Windsor family was part of postcards and photographs that were used and part of the first Disney World parade. This is better than Christmas, Jay Windsor said at the time. 8. Animal Kingdom Largest Section In 1998, Animal Kingdom opened to park visitors as part of Walt Disney World. The park is the largest theme park area in the world by acreage at 580 acres. Animal Kingdom is 100 acres larger than the entire Disneyland theme park. 9. Park Costs and Expansions Disney World cost $400 million to build. Disney has now spent over $3.5 billion on the massive theme park with continued upgrades and additional theme parks opened nearby. Some of the most recent expansion includes the 11-acre Toy Story Land and the 1- acre Star Wars Galaxys Edge area. 10. Its A Small World Ride One of the most popular rides at Disney World is the Its A Small World ride, which opened on day one. The ride is similar to one at Disneyland and a staple at other Disney theme parks around the world. More than 250 million people have ridden the theme park ride at Disney World, featuring the well-known song and exploring cultures from around the world. 11. Space Mountain Ride Located in the Tomorrowland section of Walt Disney World is the Space Mountain ride. The popular ride was opened in 1975 and was the first computer-controlled thrill ride in the world. 12. No Gum Sold The guest might be surprised to learn that no gum is sold inside Disney World or other Disney theme parks. The rule is an effort to cut down on waste and cleaning. 13. Hidden Mickeys There are over 1,100 Hidden Mickeys inside Disney World, according to a popular Disney blog. The history of Hidden Mickeys dates to the construction of Epcot. With alcohol being sold at this theme park, Disney decided its popular costumed characters like Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse wouldnt appear. Instead, the construction team placed Hidden Mickey profiles inside the park. All Disney theme parks now feature Hidden Mickeys and enjoy visitors who search endlessly to find new ones. By Chris Katje 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. 3 People You Need in Your Corner When Starting a Business Starting a business is not easy, especially when you are on your own Starting a business is not easy, especially when you are on your own, and to be successful there are three people that you need by your side as you work towards building your business. Mentor A mentor is an amazing asset for an entrepreneur to have. A mentor is someone who is in a similar field as you and knows a lot about the industry. They are a person you know well and can trust. Find a mentor who has been where you are and someone who had similar dreams and aspirations that you have. Since they have already accomplished the dream, they can help you along the way. There are only so many books, podcasts and other media that you can consume; however, a mentor has years of tangible, relatable experience that can be tapped into. Stock photo of a compass. (Jamie Street/Unsplash) Mentors know how business works, and whom to connect with to get ahead. Networking helps create a name for yourself and makes it easier to build professional relationships that may come in handy later for more opportunities. Mentors are great for providing support when things get tough. They know how to ride out the ups and downs of business. Starting a business can be stressfulbut less so when you have someone in your corner cheering you on. Related: 4 Benefits of Finding a Mentor Accountant Accountants are laser-focused, by the book, meticulous people that will keep your financials under control. One major advantage to hiring an accountant is the amount of time it will save you. Instead of focusing on what is being spent and where it is being spent, you have more availability to focus on other aspects of the business. Accountants can be your bookkeepers; they can monitor all financial records to ensure taxes are being filed correctly and prevent audits for the company. Accountants are also beneficial when keeping track of the budget and creating financial plans for optimum profit. Accountants will keep all your money in the right place and alert you if something is wrong. With all the new technology we have, it is easy for accountants to monitor finances effectively and efficiently. Without an accountant, it is very easy for a new business to lose track of its finances and spiral out of control. Related: Why Accounting Skills Are Indispensable for Entrepreneurs Lawyer Hiring a lawyer should be a priority when starting a business. They can help you with everything from drawing up contracts to protecting intellectual property and preventing lawsuits. Your lawyer can help you find a business structure that not only fits your companys needs but also is both financially fair and legal. All businesses require some sort of contract to be drawn up, whether it is with vendors, customers or employees. A lawyer can assist in drawing up a contract that fits with the businesss needs and requirements in a legal structure. Having a lawyer can also help create patents, copyright designs, trademark logos, and patenting secrets, preventing competitors from having access to them. Lawyers ensure that every action within the company is legal and follows standard policies to prevent lawsuits and negative attention from the public. Mentors, accountants, and lawyers all bring special qualifications and experience that are essential to make your company a success. Make sure all three are in your corner. Related: Ask a Startup Lawyer: How Should You Manage Co-Founder Equity? A sign outside the Canada Revenue Agency in Ottawa on May 10, 2021. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) 86% of Middle-Class Families Pay Higher Income Taxes Under Liberals: Report The vast majority of middle-income families are paying higher personal income taxes due to tax changes made by the Liberal government, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute. The study finds that 86 percent of families with combined incomes between $84,625 and $118,007what the authors defines as middle-incomeare paying $800 more on average. Defining families as couples or single parents with children under the age of 18, the study adds that for the subset of middle-income families consisting of couples with children, an even greater share (89 percent) pays higher income taxes ($902 on average). While the Liberals noted in their first budget, in March 2016, that the government cut taxes for middle-class Canadians everywhere, the study says the reality of federal personal income tax changes for middle-income families is more complicated than [what] the government suggests. The federal government has repeatedly asserted that it lowered personal income taxes for the middle class when in fact it increased the personal income tax burden on most middle-class families, said study co-author Jake Fuss, senior economist at the Fraser Institute, in a Jan. 20 media release. The study noted that, although the Liberals reduced the second-lowest federal personal income tax rate from 22 percent to 20.5 percent when they took office in October 2015, they also scrapped several tax credits that more than offset the savings from the tax rate reduction. One of those tax credits, whose elimination caused most of the increase in overall income taxes, was income splitting. The so-called Family Tax Cut, introduced by the Conservatives in 2014, allowed couples with children under age 18 to split their income to reduce their tax bill, potentially saving up to $2,000 in taxes each year. The rest included the childrens fitness tax credit, childrens arts tax credit, education tax credit, textbook tax credit, and public transit tax credit. The study, however, excluded a number of other reforms, such as higher payroll taxes to fund expansion of the Canada Pension Plan, which is beyond the scope of the analysis, the authors said. To illustrate the effects of the various tax changes on middle-income families, the study presented a breakdown of the $800 average increase in their federal personal income taxes. The breakdown shows an increase of $989 due to elimination of income splitting and another $81 due to removal of the tax credits. These increases, amounting to $1,070, more than offset the reductions totalling $270, which consist of $243 resulting from the lowered tax rate and another $27 resulting from indirect effects. The indirect effects include effects from other tax credits as well as the Quebec Abatement. The latter reduces the amount of federal tax that Quebecers pay and is the main driver of the indirect effects. Fuss said that while the federal governments tax-cutting claim focuses on middle-class families, many details are not clearly spelled out to them. By promoting one income tax change and downplaying others, Ottawa paints an incomplete picture of the overall impact of their tax changes, which have imposed a higher personal income tax bill on the vast majority of middle-class families, he said. The study compared federal personal income taxes for families with children in 2015 versus 2019. It uses a Statistics Canada modelling tool and includes information for more than 1 million Canadians in over 300,000 households with about 600 variables for each individual. The COVID-19 pandemic was the reason 2019 was used as the year for comparison instead of 2020. Simply put, the effects of COVID and governments responses to it in 2020 introduce a host of anomalies that make any comparison using 2020 very difficult to interpret, the authors said. Moreover, sufficient data for 2021 is not yet available and there remain some anomalies from the ongoing responses to COVID. John Lee, lawyer for Qing Quentin Huang, who is accused of plotting to send sensitive information to China, speaks outside the courthouse in Toronto after Huang's bail hearing on Dec. 4, 2013. (The Canadian Press/Mark Blinch) A History of Being Infiltrated: Why Is Canada Not Catching Any Chinese Spies? News Analysis Security expert Julian Spencer-Churchill questions why Canada cant convict any Chinese spies. We have a history of being infiltrated. We have no one convicted. And based upon rates of whats going on in America [regarding convicting spies], we should have done it, Spencer-Churchill, an associate professor of international relations at Concordia University, said in an interview. His comments come after a recent case where a man accused of offering to provide Canadian military secrets to China was allowed, due to delays, to walk free without facing trial. In December, the Ontario Superior Court stayed criminal proceedings against Hamilton resident Qing Quentin Huang, citing unreasonable delays by the prosecution in bringing the matter to trial. Huang was arrested in 2013 for allegedly plotting to send classified information on Canadas shipbuilding strategy to China. In a recent iPolitics commentary, Spencer-Churchill explores some potential underlying reasons for the lack of convictions, including the concern that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the RCMP may be ill-equipped to deal with industrial espionage, and the question of whether political sensitivities are interfering with their functions. Referencing Wilful Blindness, a recent book by investigative journalist Sam Cooper that details money-laundering activities in Vancouvers casinos, Spencer-Churchill writes: Theres even fear that China has infiltrated different levels of government, allowing it to influence Canadian public opinion, public policy, and elections. CSIS and the RCMP clearly havent succeeded in infiltrating or gathering informants. Or perhaps theres not much to infiltrate. He notes that FBI Director Christopher Wray said in 2020 that his agency opens a new China-related counter-intelligence case about every 10 hours, and that half of the agencys 5,000 active counter-intelligence cases involve China. Americans have achieved much higher levels of convictions. So theyre actually actively out there looking, and theyre creating laws that make it illegal for Chinese to fail to identify their military links, Spencer-Churchill told The Epoch Times. Theres no political will [in Canada]. The government is not pressuring the intelligence agencies to do anything. He said similar issues were also at play during the Cold War, with Canada not putting much effort into catching spies, saying that its a structural issue. A sign for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service building is seen in Ottawa in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick) The issue of Chinese agents and the depth to which they are able to infiltrate institutions and different levels of government was highlighted earlier this month when Britains MI5 security agency took the unusual step of warning that a Chinese agent was active in Parliament. The agency said Christine Ching Kui Lee, who runs a law firm in London, was working in coordination with Chinas United Front Work Department (UFWD) and had established links with British MPs for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The UFWD is an organization of the Chinese regime charged with extending Beijings influence operations. In the wake of the revelation, British Home Secretary Priti Patel said her government will introduce new legislation to counter foreign interference. Spencer-Churchill notes in his commentary that Australia and the United States have enacted laws to compel the registration of foreign agents, including journalists working for Chinese state media, to help confront the issue of Chinese espionage. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Canada is currently considering providing membership to the CCPs state-owned Xinhua. In 2011, eyebrows were raised when it was revealed that Bob Dechert, a Conservative MP and parliamentary secretary to then-foreign affairs minister John Baird, had been engaging in flirtatious emails with Xinhua reporter Shi Rong. A government report recently obtained by Global News said that Beijing has been engaging a systematic campaign of intelligence-gathering, persuasion, influence, and manipulation against Canadas Chinese community. Legal and Political Systems In the case of Huang, a main factor causing delays was the lag time to provide information sought by his defence team that was under national security protection. The federal prosecution service is currently reviewing the case to decide whether to appeal. Huang maintains he is innocent. The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick) Toronto-based criminal lawyer Ari Goldkind says the way this case unfolded sends a bad message. It sends a message to every person who does these sorts of crimes: Youre probably not going to get caught, and if you get caught, get excellent lawyers, spend enough money, drag it out, or take even reasonable steps that will have the effect of dragging it out, let the Canadian government drag its heels, and then see if a court will sanction the delay, he said in an interview. According to Goldkind, Canada is not confronting the issue of Chinese espionage effectively for multiple reasons. The first is the lack of resources to devote to true, complete, comprehensive police attention to the thousands and thousands of Chinese spies in Canada, he said. While Canada is having a net flow of money going to China through trade imbalance and China-linked criminal operations, among other means, Goldkind says that we dont spend the same kind of money to protect Canadian jobs, Canadian businesses, Canadian intellectual property, and perhaps just as importantly, Canadian political secrets and other top-secret security issues. Other factors, he says, include lack of specialized prosecutors who can process these espionage cases with expertise in a timely fashion, as well as delays when national security issues are involved. He says the government should address these delays to ensure such cases dont take too long to get prosecuted. But beyond the challenges in the legal system, there are major issues within the political system that lead to espionage cases not being effectively followed up on, Goldkind says. Both sets of obstacles [legal and political] could be changed quickly, probably the political system even quicker, but [its different] for the influence of triad money into the system by way of influence peddling, greasing the wheels of politicians, and for anybody who drives around Vancouver or Toronto and wonders why they see so many 21-year-olds driving Lamborghinis, he says. We dont kowtow to Namibia because we dont need anything from Namibia. We are not a slave to Luxembourg, he says. But its different when a politician relies on Chinese influence, Chinese votes, and Chinese dollars to remain in office. Compounding the problem, he says, is that in 20212022 woke moments, any criticism of these issues gets attacked with anti-Chinese or xenophobic labelling. Politicians look at how the media report on those who call out such issues and how they get portrayed as anti-Asian, and decide against taking a stance to avoid being labelled, Goldkind says, even though the issue has nothing to do with the people of China, but rather the ruling regime. Politicians are content to let their middle-class voters continue to drive 2008 Ford Broncos and to live in middle-class homes with significant mortgages, while theyre driving down the same taxpayer-funded roads paid for by the middle classnot paid for by the billionaire organized crime syndicates, he says. Priorities Retired RCMP officer Andy Brooke notes that Canadas security agencies are actively conducting investigations into espionage and foreign interference cases. This was demonstrated in a case in December when the RCMP charged a Quebec man who allegedly used his status as an engineer with the Canadian Space Agency to negotiate satellite technology agreements with Iceland on behalf of a Chinese company. But Brooke, who had been involved in investigating counter-terrorism and anti-money-laundering cases, wonders how well the case will be followed up. Will that case be followed, or will it quietly [like in the Huang case] fall off the radar when it too is dismissed, because a few months down the road, everybodys forgotten unless some journalist takes it upon themselves to follow that, Brooke said in an interview. The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police E Division Headquarters in Surrey, B.C., in a file photo. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck) At the grassroots level, he says, the RCMP has very capable investigators, but there is an issue of priorities. When you look at the RCMP business plan for this year, and you see the language used, theres very little about actually fighting crime. Its more about diversity and inclusion than it is about crime-fighting, Brooke says. The government message is permeating even the RCMP business plan, so its not a stretch of the imagination to presume that that government message is also affecting the operations. But theres been an even more concerning change in recent years, he says, where there has been political interference in some cases. Brooke, who is helping families of the Ukraine International Flight 752 shot down by Iran in 2020 seek justice, says there is very little the Canadian government is doing on that file, and even uses language that softens Irans culpability. He says he doesnt know the reason behind that, given that Canada has very few dealings with Iran, but notes that Iran is a close China ally. We see there that behind Iran is China, he says. Another case Brooke mentions in terms of politicization of investigations is the 2020 Nova Scotia attacks, in which a man killed 22 people and injured three others using illegal firearms. He says the official communication early on after the tragedy was very poor on the status of how the guns where obtained and whether they were legal. The impression I got from the messaging was that it was being played down [because] politically it would have not fit the narrative for gun control, he said. If that shooter had been a licensed, security-cleared, law-abiding gun owner who used his own licensed weapons, that would have been released immediately. Yet another example he cites is when RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki in 2020 flip-flopped from initially rejecting the claim that there is systemic racism within the force to saying it is indeed a problem. She was simply caving into political pressure, Brooke says. It was so bad because the public looks to her statement as a reflection on all the good members of the RCMP. The Epoch Times reached out to Public Safety Canada and the Department of Justice for comment but didnt hear back by publication time. Col. J. Paul de B. Taillon, an adjunct professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, says the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, similar to that of his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, has been looking at China as an alternative trading partner to the United Stateseven at one point pursuing a free-trade option with the communist regime in 2017. But Beijing presents a threat to the West, Taillon says. Chinese soldiers stand guard near Tiananmen Square in Beijing on March 5, 2021. (Nicolas Asfouri/AFP via Getty Images) Were looking at elite-capture, entrepreneurial crime. There are numerous open-source indicators that theyre involved in opioid issues in the West, to the extent that between January 2016 and March 2021, according to Canadian documentation, 22,828 Canadians died from opioids, he said in an interview, citing data captured in parliamentary research. Taillon says that, in its confrontation with the West, communist China is following a strategy outlined in a 1999 book by two Chinese military officers titled Unrestricted Warfare. The strategy involves use of military as well as non-military tactics to subvert targets, including drug warfare, media warfare, virtual warfare, and ideological warfare. Were in a non-kinetic war with China, where they are using financial and diplomatic and network and trade as vehicles, he said. I think were waking up to the threat. Its 20 years too late. Editors note: This story was revised on Jan. 27 to update a comment on legal proceeding delays. Absolutely Critical: Victoria Premier Pushes to Redefine Full Vaccination as Three Doses Australians might be mandated to get their third shot of the COVID-19 before being considered fully vaccinated, as Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he was pushing for a redefinition of the term. Speaking ahead of a meeting of the National Cabinet on Thursday, the premier said only three doses could help people be properly protected against serious illness and prepared for whatevers next to hit us, whether variants coming down the track. This is not a two-dose thing (or) two doses and a bonusit is absolutely critical and essential, he told reporters. International evidence, our own experience, the views of experts and hopefully confirmation of both ATAGI (Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation) and national cabinet today will mean everyone knows and understands this is a three-dose project. Andrews said he hoped the confirmation to be made today. However, according to Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutewin, the ATAGI advice had not been provided to leaders. A researcher works on a vaccine against the new coronavirus COVID-19 at the Copenhagens University research lab in Copenhagen, Denmark, on March 23, 2020. (Thibault Savary/AFP via Getty Images) If a change in ATAGIs advice were to be made, it would be up to states and territories to amend their respective public health orders. Under the Andrews government, Australians working in health and aged care, emergency services, disability, quarantine accommodation, food distribution and corrections must get their booster shot to continue working on site. Andrews said he expected to add more groups of workers to the list if the national cabinet decided to redefine the meaning of being fully vaccinated. The change could also affect visitors to hospitality venues and major events, who would need to have three doses, rather than the current two. If it was logical to mandate in certain settings for dose one and dose two, I dont see that theres any reason why wouldnt, the premier argued. His opinion was echoed by Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, who said in early January that the ATAGI has been holding weekly meetings to discuss potential changes to the vaccine program. Theres a number of implementation issues that would need to be considered, but the third dose is clearly an important thing, Kelly told reporters. If you have Omicron or Omicron is present, we know that does increase the protection against severe disease and against transmission and against infection. According to Victorias health department, reported by The Australian on Jan. 27, unvaccinated people made up more than a third of ICU patients who were hospitalised due to COVID-19 despite representing six percent of the states population. By Jan. 27, 93.1 percent of people over 16 are fully vaccinated, with over 7 million Australian adults having been triple vaccinated. However, a booster shot is currently only available to those over 18. I have a suggestion, particularly for those unfamiliar with Roger Scrutons voice: Use your Duck Duck Go browser to find his award-winning documentary Why Beauty Matters. In the cadences and rhythms of that voice, we discover a thinker and an attentive listener. He speaks gently for the most part, his words tempered by tolerance for the viewpoints of others, and in him we find a man who clearly honors and loves the English language as well as virtues like truth and beauty. Follow him along for a few minutes, and then open your copy of Against the Tide, and you will hear that voice speaking to you from the printed page. Sir Roger Scruton (shakko CC BY-SA 3.0) Scruton (19442020) wore many hats in his career as a writer, teacher, and philosopher. He served in a number of educational institutions and think tanks, received numerous awards, and was knighted in 2016 for services to philosophy, teaching and public education. He lives on today in his books. There are over 50 of them, most on philosophy or contemporary affairsa feast of thought and rumination seasoned by novels, two operas, and his book on wine, I Drink Therefore I Am. In his Preface to Against the Tide, professor, philosopher, and Scrutons literary executor, Mark Dooley, writes: This book honors Rogers wishes to have his journalism collected for posterity. Moreover, I am confident it will give readers a clear sense of Scrutons power as a writer and columnist, one whose view of the world was controversial yet so cleverly articulated that it often won praise even from his opponents. Lets take a look. Against the Tide, collected writings of Roger Scruton, edited by Mark Dooley. A Philosopher of the Right Scruton was knownand reviled by someas an articulate and principled spokesman for conservatism, and no matter what the topic, he never strayed far from those principles. An example: In his 2018 piece in The New York Times, What Trump Doesnt Get About Conservatism, which Dooley includes in Against the Tide, Scruton praises Trump for some of his actions. In particular, he writes, Mr. Trump has shown himself to belong to the wider conservative tradition, seeking a Supreme Court that applies the Constitution. He then proceeds, however, to criticize Trump as a politician who uses social media to bypass the realm of ideas entirely, addressing the sentiments of his followers without a filter of educated argument Scruton concludes the essay by writing that Trump is a product of a cultural decline that is rapidly consigning our artistic and philosophical inheritance to oblivion. He has lost the sense that there is a civilization out there that stands above his deals and his tweets. This consideration and defense of civilization is a theme that runs throughout this book and, for that matter, through all of Scrutons work. Whether he is discussing Eastern European communism, the state of the university, the ideas of Ayn Rand, or screw-top wine bottles (thumbs down), his main concern is for the well-being and care of culture and civilization. Like a physician, Scruton not only tells us how ill civilization has become, but he also offers prescriptions that, if followed, might well restore it to good health. America: Some Compliments Scruton may surprise some readers by his judicious and often affectionate remarks on the United States. He can be critical of America, but he almost always leavens that critique with praise. In his 2002 article, A Question of Temperament, he praises American conservatism for its vibrancy, using as evidence both ordinary people and thriving conservative journals. Roger Scrutons home in the United States, Montpelier, Va. (shakko/CC BY-SA 3.0) Near the end of this piece, Scruton observes: For the conservative temperament, the future is the past. Hence, like the past, it is knowable and loveable. It follows that by studying the past of Americaits traditions of enterprise, risk-taking, fortitude, piety, and responsible citizenshipyou can derive the best case for its future. In one previously unpublished essay, he describes a visit to Rappahannock County, Virginia, which is about 35 minutes from where I live. Scruton, who loved horses and hunting, tells us of the huge gathering at a horse race there, the tailgating, feasting, and drinking, where all distinctions of class, learning, calling, and politics are forgotten, and one thing alone is important, which is that we are here together now. He notes, For the sheer joy of being alive no place compares with rural America. Now theres a statement youll find in short shrift among certain Americans. A Smorgasbord of Subjects Dooley has divided Scrutons essays under general headings, and these titles alone give examples of their scope and diversity: Who Are We? Intimations of Infinity, The End of Education, Animal Rights, Pulpit Politics and Sex. In some of these essays in Against the Tide, Scruton addresses political issues: The Meaning of Margaret Thatcher, Who Is a Fascist? The Wrong Way to Treat President Putin, and Why Iraq Is a Write-Off. The points he makes in these pieces remain relevant to todays headlines, but even more, he gives us insight into history and the consequences of personalities and events. In the case of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, for example, he runs through her accomplishments and controversies and then compares her to the ancient Greek Themistocles, who saved Athens from the Persians at Salamis but who was then ostracized and sent into exile. Scruton then writes of Thatcher that she will surely be acknowledged, even by those who conspired to remove her, as the greatest woman in British politics since Queen Elizabeth I. On the other end of the spectrum are topics like art and aesthetics. The Modern Cult of Ugliness tackles the lack of beauty in so much of our modern arts: painting, music, literature, and architecture. Once we start to celebrate ugliness, Scruton warns, then we become ugly too. Just as art and architecture have uglified themselves, so have our manners, our relationships and our language become crude. Scruton blames this transformation on ivory-towered elites, but as he so often does, he offers common sense and hope: What they forget is that ordinary people hunger for beauty as they have always hungered, for beauty is the voice of comfort, the voice of home. Annus Horribilis Dooley uses that Latin tagThe horrible yearto describe the last year of Scrutons life. He is referring less to the cancer that killed Scruton than to a journalistic hit job that brought out the cancel culture crew, journalists and public figures all too eager to whip out their knives and slice up Scrutons reputation. Because selective edits to one of his interviews intentionally made Scruton appear a racist, he was dismissed from his position as chair of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission. Thanks to help from several friends and to the discovery of the full interview, Scruton was exonerated of the medias charges against him. His reputation restored, he was given back his post. Yet the wounds left by this ugly incident ran deep. Writing in 2019 for The Daily Telegraph, he describes what was done to him: Reading the outrageous articles in the New Statesman, The Times, the Sun, and elsewhere, in which things I have never said and attitudes that I have never entertained are unscrupulously pinned on me, seeing all my work as a writer and a philosopher scribbled over with ignorant and groundless accusations, I have had to take stock of my life, and for a moment it seemed that it amounted to nothing. It was as though I had been ceremonially stripped of all my assets and shut away in a box. Less than 10 months later, Sir Roger died of cancer. Legacy That so intelligent a man with so noble a soul should have to endure such abuse at the end of his days is sad and disgusting. Though the truth about the doctored interview eventually came limping out of the darkness, the agony that Scruton clearly suffered from these unwarranted attacks must have been terrible. But heres the good news. As noted above, Scruton had written of his life after the smear campaign against him that it seemed that it amounted to nothing. Not so, not even in the slightest way. His books and essays, and articles like the ones found in Against the Tide remain with us. This is inspirational thought delivered by graceful language about politics and aesthetics that will continue to attract and influence readers. Scrutopia was Sir Rogers playful way of describing his English country home and his life there. For a few years, he and others operated the Scrutopia Summer School, in which attendees discussed ideas, took hikes around the property, and rode horses. Fortunately, we also have Scrutons books and the videos, meaning that we too can pay a visit to Scrutopia. To get a feel for the man and his lagniappe (an unexpected gift), go to YouTube, enter Roger Scruton, select one of the videos featuring him, and listen to the man speaking. Then take a look at Against the Tide. Rest in Peace, Sir Roger. And thank you. Against the Tide: The Best of Roger Scrutons Columns, Commentaries and Criticism Edited by Mark Dooley Bloomsbury Continuum, Feb. 8, 2022 Hardback: 256 pages Analysis: Could Disney Really Cause Netflix to Lose 750,000 UK Subscribers? A media research analyst is warning that Netflix Inc. could see the defection of as many 750,000 subscribers in the U.K. with the loss of several older U.S. sitcoms and action shows that are owned by Walt Disney Co.. But is this warning accurate in its severity, or is it overlooking several key elements regarding both companies? What Was Claimed In an interview with the British media out The Guardian, Ali Vahdait, founder and CEO of Digital i, observed that Netflix has lost the streaming rights to five series that are owned by DisneyHow I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, New Girl, Prison Break and Sons of Anarchyand will soon be losing the rights to Homeland. The viewing to these six titles, five of which have already left Netflix, was significant in the U.K., said Vahdati. This means a significant number of subscribers will begin to question their Netflix subscription and look to the new home of their favorite content, Disney+. Vahdati added that Modern Family was the most streamed Netflix show in Europe during 2020 and estimated that nearly 270,000 subscribers could be considered hardcore fans of that series. Our previous research showed that over half of Netflixs top viewing was to major [Hollywood] studio content, he said. What Was Left Out Vahdatis analysis seemed to overlook several important elements related to Netflix and Disney+s programming. 1) The eighth and final season of Homeland is scheduled to premiere on Netflix in February, so its unclear why Vahdati stated the streamer was losing that series. 2) None of the six series cited by Vahdati are Disney-specific productions. All of them are legacy properties the company inherited through its 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox. And as Netflixs rights to these properties are mostly expiring at once, it was clear Netflix licensed them to build content. Unlike other streaming services tied to film and television libraries, Netflix started its operations without a legacy library. 3) Netflix is not lacking content. U.K. subscribers have four new English-language series to explore in FebruaryThe Crew, Behind Her Eyes, Tribes of Europa and the anime production Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohanalong with non-English-language programming from across Europe and new film titles. Netflix is expected to spend more than $17 billion on content this year as it seeks out new audiences. 4) Disney isnt going out of its way to celebrate the reclamation of the older shows. And in the case of How I Met Your Mother, which is now exclusive to Hulu, the company is spending its marketing dollars trumpeting a reboot of that property with How I Met Your Father, which is being released internationally on Disney+ and Star+. And for whatever popularity Modern Family had with European Netflix viewers in 2020, it paled when compared to the response to Squid Game in 2021. 5) Netflix has 14 million U.K. subscribers, the highest number for that markets streaming sector, with Amazon.com, Inc. following at 12.3 million and Disney+ further back with 4.7 million. 6) U.K. viewers are not limited to subscribing to a single streaming service. That nations residents can have Netflix, Disney and as many services as they want. Thus, Modern Family fans with dual subscriptions will not miss a moment of Sofia Vergaras curvaceous antics. Thus, is Netflix at risk of losing 750,000 viewers with the loss of several older series? Probably not. By Phil Hall 2021 The Epoch Times. The Epoch Times does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Appeals Court Paves the Way for 2 More Oklahoma Executions OKLAHOMA CITYA federal appeals court rejected a request from two Oklahoma death row inmates to temporarily halt their upcoming lethal injections. A three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver denied the inmates motion in a ruling on Monday. The decision paves the way for the state to carry out the executions of Donald Grant, 46, on Thursday and Gilbert Postelle, 35, on Feb. 17. The two have argued that the states current three-drug lethal injection protocol that uses midazolam as the first drug will expose them to a constitutionally unacceptable risk of severe pain. But after a daylong hearing on that issue earlier this month, a federal judge in Oklahoma City determined the inmates were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their case and denied their request for a temporary stay of execution. This photo shows Gilbert Postelle, taken on Feb. 5, 2021. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP) The judge also determined that Grant and Postelle selected an alternative method of execution, firing squad, too late to be included in a separate lawsuit challenging Oklahomas lethal injection protocol as unconstitutional. Attorneys for the two inmates filed an appeal Tuesday with the U.S. Supreme Court, urging the high court to grant them a temporary stay of execution. The public will be ill-served if applicants are executed before a full opportunity to test the protocols legality, attorneys wrote in the application for a stay. Grant was convicted and sentenced to die for killing two Del City hotel workers during a 2001 robbery. Postelle received the death penalty for his role in the Memorial Day 2005 shooting deaths of four people at a home in southeast Oklahoma City. A man walks past an Alibaba sign outside the company's office in Beijing on April 13, 2021. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images) Are Big Chinese Tech Firms in Trouble? Beijing prioritizing smaller technology firms in state-sensitive industries Commentary When Icarus flew too close to the sun, he got burned, tumbled out of the sky, and fell into the ocean. Chinas tech giants have certainly been flying high. Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and other platform companies have become household names, made their founders billionaires, run apps that Chinese people use on a daily basis, and altogether hold immense powereconomically, politically, and socially. Were not predicting their demise here. But recent developments suggest that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) may be gunning for these companies, their executives, and their business dealings. The official communique issued after the recent Central Commission for Discipline Inspections (CCDI) Sixth Plenum included some strong words, vowing to investigate and punish any corruption behind the runaway expansion of capital and the monopoly of platform enterprises in order to sever the connections between power and capital, according to the English version of Chinas state-run Xinhua News Agency. Those word choices from Chinas top anti-graft organization, specifically runaway expansion of capital and monopoly of platform enterprises, suggest that investigations into Chinese big tech firms are underway. Regarding the expansion of capital and alleged monopoly activities, CCP regulators fined Alibaba and Tencent in January for failing to disclose a series of acquisitions that date back several years. The new round of fines follows several fines already extended to Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu in 2021. And investigations are extending beyond the corporate level. Concurrent to the CCDI announcement in January, CCTV aired a series of documentaries detailing cases of former local officials ensnared for corruption. One such example was that of Zhou Jiangyong, the former party secretary in Zhejiang Provincehome to Jack Mas Alibabawho allegedly gave certain companies preferential treatment in exchange for financial and economic assistance for his family. While no specific companies were named by the CCTV documentaries, Financial Times noted that Jack Mas Ant Group was one of the companies that purchased land at a discount in Hangzhou, China, after buying ownership stakes in a company run by Zhous brother. On Jan. 26, Zhou was officially expelled from the CCP by the CCDI for corruption. These ongoing investigations could spell more headaches for Ma, who has already come under intense CCP scrutiny over the past two years. More to come on this front, but CCPs clampdown machines are revving their engines. After decades of allowing Chinese entrepreneurs free rein to build their businesses with minimal oversightby Chinese standardsBeijings regulatory winds are shifting. In a series of regulatory actions that started in 2021, the CCP has made it clear that technology companies must work for the Party and directly support the Partys goals. The CCPs favors appear to be shifting away from the tech giants and toward smaller tech companies. Premier Li Keqiang recently called for more Beijing support for the countrys smaller tech companies and retailers. It has been a recurring policy theme for China, with small- to medium-sized businesses increasingly being prioritized by Beijing. CCP regime boss Xi Jinping has touted Chinas so-called little giants for more than two years. Beijing even created a national program to divert funding to small to medium-sized enterprises involved in the science and technology sectors. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has identified almost 5,000 little giants across the country, granting them financial incentives and tax cuts. Many of these companies align directly with the CCPs goals of dominating in semiconductors, health care, and automation/robotics. Its a way to support Chinas ambitions of growing an independent domestic technology sector, which was severely crippled by the Trump administrations sanctions on firms such as Huawei. With major tech giants falling out of favor, the hope of CCPs global technology dominance increasingly rests on these small companies. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is seen during a hearing in Washington on July 16, 2019. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo) Arizona Republicans Sound Off On Sinema Censure by Democrats Republican lawmakers in Arizona voiced support for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who was censured by her own party last week for voting to preserve a Senate filibuster on voting rights legislation. Sen. Sinema has chosen to protect the Constitution over party loyalty, Arizona Rep. Mark Finchem (R) told The Epoch Times. I am impressed that she took that path, as for the Democrats they care more about grabbing absolute power than anything else. Its great to see a Democrat legislator back away from their party on what to do, said Arizona Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R). This is an important issue to vote with Republicans and she did, he told The Epoch Times. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) is seen at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 30, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images) Arizona House Majority Whip Leo Biasiucci (R) echoed Chapliks remarks, saying the filibuster has been used for years by both parties. Now that the Democrats cant get what they want, they are throwing a tantrum like a 2-year-old who was denied chocolate cake for breakfast. Its refreshing to see that some people in D.C., actually have the intelligence to understand why ending the filibuster would be a disaster for both parties, Biasiucci told The Epoch Times. At some point, Republicans will take back the House and Senate and the Democrats will be praising Senator Sinema for what she did. I would suggest that those Democrats who are realizing that their party is run like a dictatorship come join the party of freedom and liberty before its too late, he added. Since 1789 the U.S. Senate has censured nine of its members, according to the Senate website, noting that censure is less severe than expulsion and does not remove a senator from office. It is, however, a formal statement of disapproval that can impact a members relationships in the Senate. Sinema, 45, has served as a U.S. Senator from Arizona since 2019. Prior to that she served as an Arizona state representative and senator from 2005 to 2019. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema during a hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 14, 2019. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Arizona Rep. Judy Burges (R) said she served with Sinema in the state house for a number of years and praised her dedication to her constituency. I think Kyrsten is a little more concerned about the state and taking care of her constituents rather than politics, Burges told The Epoch Times. She added that any political fallout for Sinema will be short-lived. Kyrsten has been true. She really says what she means. She was going to do this [filibuster] right, Burges said. The thing about Kyrsten is she knows who she is and what she stands for. People may be mad at her right now, but shes been in Washington to know who she is. You just have to do what you think is right. On Jan. 22, 2022, the Arizona Democratic executive board voted to censure Sinema three days after she voted with Republicans in favor of a Senate filibuster blocking passage of a Democratic voting rights bill. While we take no pleasure in this announcement, the ADP executive board has decided to formally censure Senator Sinema as a result of her failure to do whatever it takes to ensure the health of our democracy, Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Raquel Teran said in a statement. Arizona Rep. Shawnna Bolick (R) said both Democrats and Republicans through the party apparatus have the ability to censure their members. It is not a surprise to see the Arizona Democrat Party censure Senator Sinema over her support to keep the filibuster. It was the right thing to do as to not blow up the process of the U.S. Senate, Bolick told The Epoch Times. I have seen in my involvement with the GOP move to censure [late former Arizona Sen John] McCain for voting a certain way or opposing [Arizona Governor Doug] Ducey for his positions on policy. The current Democratic socialists are moving [the] party so far to the left I believe in Arizona we will see a seismic shift from Independents to the ranks of the GOP, she said. Sinema could not be reached for comment. An artist's impression of what the object might look like if it's a magnetar. (ICRAR) Astronomers Discover Spooky Object in Space That Converts Magnetic Energy to Radio Waves A team of astronomers mapping radio waves in the universe has discovered something kind of spooky spinning around in space that converts magnetic energy to radio waves much more effectively than anything theyve ever witnessed before. In a press release on Wednesday, researchers at the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) said the strange object is 4,000 light-years away from Earth and releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour. Extremely bright and smaller than the Sun, the object, known as GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504.3, emits highly-polarized radio waves, which suggests that it has an extremely strong magnetic field. Spinning around in space, the strange object sends out a beam of radiation that crosses our line of sight, and for a minute in every 20, is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky, researchers said. Astronomers believe the new discovery may be a neutron star (the collapsed core of a massive supergiant star that has run out of fuel) or a white dwarf (stars that have burned up all of the hydrogen they previously used as nuclear fuel)and has an extremely powerful magnetic field. It was first discovered by Curtin University honors student Tyrone ODoherty who used the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), a low-frequency radio telescope in Western Australia. ODoherty utilized a new technique he has developed to unearth the discovery. Its exciting that the source I identified last year has turned out to be such a peculiar object, ODoherty said. The MWAs wide field of view and extreme sensitivity are perfect for surveying the entire sky and detecting the unexpected. Astrophysicist Natasha Hurley-Walker, who led the team that made the discovery said, This object was appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations. That was completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because theres nothing known in the sky that does that, Hurley-Walker said, adding that the object is in our galactic backyard. Objects that turn on and off in space are relatively common and referred to as transients by scientists. Slow transients such as supernovae, can appear within a few days and disappear after a few months, while fast transients such as the pulsar neutron star flash on and off multiple times within milliseconds. However, transients in between those two speeds are extremely rare. ICRAR-Curtin astrophysicist and co-author Gemma Anderson said that when studying transients, youre watching the death of a massive star or the activity of the remnants it leaves behind but that finding a transient that turned on for a minute was really weird. Hurley-Walker said researchers believe the object might be something known as an ultra-long period magnetar, a predicted astrophysical object that it was previously thought was impossible to detect. Its a type of slowly spinning neutron star that has been predicted to exist theoretically, she said. But nobody expected to directly detect one like this because we didnt expect them to be so bright. Somehow its converting magnetic energy to radio waves much more effectively than anything weve seen before. Astronomers are monitoring the newly-discovered object to see if it switches back on again and will use scientific telescopes across the Southern Hemisphere as well as those in orbit to get a good look at it. In the meantime, researchers will continue to look for more unusual objects in the archives of the Murchison Widefield Array telescope. More detections will tell astronomers whether this was a rare one-off event or a vast new population wed never noticed before, Hurley-Walker said. A satellite image of the underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga reaching into the stratosphere on Jan. 15, 2022. (AAP Image/Tonga Meteorological Services, Government of Tonga) Australia Expands Relief Support to Tonga After Tsunami The HMAS Adelaide has delivered helicopters and engineering equipment from Australia to Tonga to help with logistics and distribution of humanitarian and medical supplies after the Jan. 15 eruption of a volcano, and subsequent tsunami devastated the Pacific island country. Australia has sent 40 tonnes worth of relief supplies to Tonga, including shelter materials, water and sanitation supplies, equipment to restore communications, and personal protective equipment for people clearing ash. Telecommunications have been hampered after the tsunami damaged undersea fibre optic cables. The New Zealand government has said that phone connections for Digicel customers continue to improve but can still be difficult at times. A supplied image shows the HMAS Adelaide approaching the port of Nukualofa in Tonga, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. (AAP Image/Supplied by the Department of Defence, Robert Whitmore) Foreign Minister Marise Payne announced that Australia would be widening its support with a further $2 million ($3.2 million) to help restore power and communications, and through the storage and delivery of relief supplies, as well as further recovery efforts on the outer islands most affected. We appreciate the decision of the Government of Tonga to enable HMAS Adelaide to dock and offload the humanitarian and medical supplies and the high priority it has placed on COVID safety throughout the recovery process, Payne said in a release on Jan. 26. The Hunga Tonga-Hunga-Haapai volcano had been spewing ash and smoke for weeks, but the usual east-south-easterly winds carried them away from Tonga until the wind changed direction on Jan. 14, the day before the eruption. This photo provided by Broadcom Broadcasting shows a damaged area in Nukualofa, Tonga, on Jan. 20, 2022. (Marian Kupu/Broadcom Broadcasting via AP) On Saturday, at around 5 p.m. in the afternoon, the first of the now very loud explosions were heard. Its like the heavens were about to rip into pieces, local veteran journalist and security analyst Tevita Motulalo told The Sunday Guardian via text messages during a brief window of stable communications. There were very loud cracks not experienced in our lived experiences since antiquityand the elders have lived through a few eruptions and national evacuations of their own. Glass and curtains were blown off the windows in places. The explosion was loud enough for even the deaf to hear, and although the early warning system failed, a tsunami warning the day before had people on alert, and they quickly sought shelter at higher ground. In this handout image provided by the Australian Defence Force, members of the Australian Defence Force board the HMAS Adelaide as they prepare to depart for an aid mission at the Port of Brisbane in Nukualofa, Tonga, on Jan. 20, 2022. (CPL Robert Whitmore/Australian Defence Force via Getty Images) The plume of smoke shot straight up from the horizon into the sky until it couldnt be seen anymore. Its almost as if it was erupting into space itself. Then the huge, vague shadow of dust mushroomed behind the heavens and covered half the sky, Motulalo said. The first waves arrived shortly after the shockwaves, overrunning the western shore, about two miles wide, and rushing overland and out to sea on the other side. An hour or so after the eruption, small volcanic pumice and pebbles, around half a centimetre, made landfall, followed by the ash and gusty winds that picked up and threw debris everywhere. This forced cars full of women and children to close their windows, which made the insides of cars like small ovens, Motulalo said. The internet, communications, and power soon went out after the piling ash caused the electricity grids transformers to short. And so we were in a darkness with an orange-reddish hue, at the hilltops and evacuation centers inland, he said. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief stores are prepared for offloading as HMAS Adelaide sails into Tonga during OP TONGA ASSIST 22, on Jan. 26, 2022. (CPL Robert Whitmore/ADF) U.S. cable company SubCom has advised that it will take several weeks for Tongas cable connection to be repaired, according to the New Zealand government. It was almost Biblical: the strong gusts, the stinging, falling pebbles and the blinding ash were accompanied by the wailing of women and the screeching cries of babies and infantsand the whispers among fathers and sons standing guard outside their vehicles that the waves have wiped out part of the island and are now heading their way. The fear and hot weather reminded Motulalo of a picture of Sheol, described in the Hebrew Bible as a place of darkness to which all the dead go. If there was a picture of Sheol where theres crying and gnashing of teeth, that would probably be the closest Id get, he said. But after a couple of hours the ash clouds waned and reduced to sprinkles and a few more hours later, it became apparent to those sheltering that the waters had receded. Two Tongan nationals and one British national died in the disaster. A Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft from No. 2 Squadron taxiing at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam after returning from a mission providing battlespace management to coalition aircraft over the skies of the western Pacific Ocean during Exercise Cope North 2021. (Squadron Leader Lino Schewenke/ADF) Australia, Japan, US Prepare for Cope North 22 Air Force Drills The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the United States Air Force (USAF) will come together with Japans air self-defence force for Cope North 2022 military exercises in Guam in February. The trilateral drills are set to run from Feb. 2 to 18 and will focus on enhancing interoperability between the RAAF, the USAF, and Japans Koku-Jieitai air self-defence force. This will be the first joint military exercises between Australia and Japan since the two signed a historic defence agreement at the start of January. The reciprocal agreementJapans only such pactincreases the interoperability between the Australian Defence Force and Japans Self-Defence Force, including for humanitarian response purposes. Royal Australian Air Force Air Battle Manager, Squadron Leader Nathan Yabsley is the Executive Officer of Surveillance and Control Training Unit (SACTU) based at RAAF Base Williamtown, near Newcastle, in New South Wales Sept. 27, 2021. (LACW Catherine Kelly/ADF) During Cope North 22, the allies will work to increase interoperability through combined tactics, techniques, and procedures for providing humanitarian and disaster relief. It will also provide an opportunity for pilots from the trilateral forces to practice in environments with a large number of aircraft operating at once. We are very pleased to be heading back to Guam for Cope North 22, which will provide invaluable experience for our personnel and enhances the effectiveness of the RAAF, said Group Captain Andrew McHugh, the RAAF Task Unit Commander. Through Cope North 22, we are focused on deepening relationships and strengthening engagement with the USAFs Pacific Air Force and the Koku-Jieitai, to contribute to our shared vision of an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific. C-27J Spartan aircraft on the hardstand at No. 35 Squadron, RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, on Oct. 19, 2021. (CPL Jesse Kane/ADF) A Royal Australian Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft taxies out for a sortie during Exercise Lightning Storm, Queensland, on Aug. 19, 2020. (CPL Melina Young/ADF) The RAAF will deploy its early warning control aircraft, the E-7A Wedgetail, transport aircraft the C-27J Spartan, the KC-30A multi-role tanker transport, and F-35A Lightning II stealth combat aircraft, alongside a contingency response squadron focused on humanitarian and disaster relief training. Cope North 22 will enhance the tri-lateral forces capability for HADR in the Indo-Pacific, ensuring a highly effective and professional response, when needed, McHugh said. We are committed to developing an intelligent and skilled workforce with exercises such as Cope North providing the opportunity to operate as a combined force with the United States and Japan, and ensure our people can deliver airpower when required. Federal Labor and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese speaks at the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia, on Jan. 25, 2022. (Rohan Thomson/Getty Images) Australian Opposition Leader Pledges to Increase Wages Through Productivity Initiative Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has pledged to tackle stuttering wage growth, claiming the government is not doing enough to increase productivity. The Labor leader said that, if elected, he would convene a Jobs Summit to bring together the government, business, and trade unions to hammer out a new productivity program that could, in turn, spur wage growth. Co-operation and collaboration work, he wrote in an op-ed in the Australian Financial Review on Jan. 27. In the 1980s and 1990s the Hawke and Keating Labor governments extracted real productivity gains by encouraging employers and unions to work together. Profits went up. So did wages. Since the Coalition took office in 2013, wages have increased by 18 percent. But the price of beef has increased 64 percent. Fruit and vegetable prices rose 22 percent, childcare 44 percent, and health costs 33 percent, he added. The cost of a leg of lamb for a Sunday roast is up 49 percent since the Coalition took over. And if you want to wash it down with a cold beer, the price of your favourite brew has climbed by 26 percent, he said. It shouldnt be like this. Albanese also called for more investment in infrastructure to ease congestion that would also streamline the cost of conducting business. Campbell Newman, former Queensland premier and now-federal Senate candidate, said that while Albaneses goals were worth pursuing, it would require major reforms to workplace law in Australia. One of the biggest problems I see in the way he is suggesting it be dealt with is the union movement which has spent the last 10 years restarting a class warfare narrative, the Liberal Democrat candidate told The Epoch Times. Its a big jump to expect them to sit down and acknowledge that for businesses to get productivity improvements there need to be real changes to industrial relations, the complexity of awards, and the way that penalty rates are applied, he said. Ive been involved as a member of staff on a number of start-up businesses, and I have seen several instances now where the moment someone doesnt like the fact theyre on the way outits off to the (Fair Work) Tribunal, he added. And usually theres like $20-$30,000 worth of go-away money being paid. Employers need to be able to fire people just as much as they need to hire people. In recent weeks, the federal opposition leader has hit the campaign trail and begun to outline his partys policy initiatives. On Jan. 25, Albanese pledged $440 million to upgrade school facilities and improve student welfare if he is elected. He has vowed to improve Medicare and reform the federal model. Exact details were scant however and the Labor leader has yet to fully cost his initiatives. Austria to Lift Lockdown for Unvaccinated Residents BERLINAustria will end its lockdown for unvaccinated residents next Mondayone day before a COVID-19 vaccine mandate takes effect in the country, the countrys chancellor announced Wednesday. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said the measure, which was introduced in November, was no longer needed because there were no threat of hospital intensive care units being overstretched. For weeks, the lockdown for the unvaccinated has been a measure that many people complained about, but that was unavoidable for health policy reasons, Nehammer said, according to Austrian news agency APA. People scream at the police officers as they stop the demonstration march against the countrys coronavirus restrictions around the Vienna Ring in Vienna, on Jan. 8, 2022. (Lisa Leutner/AP Photo) On Feb. 1, a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for adultsthe first of its kind in Europewill take effect in the small Alpine country. Officials have said the mandate is necessary because vaccination rates remain too low. They say it will ensure that Austrias hospitals are not overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. So far, 75.4 percent of the countrys residents have been fully vaccinated. Despite relaxations, caution is still required: I appeal to all 1.5 million unvaccinated to get vaccinated and not wait for mandatory vaccination to take effect, the chancellor tweeted. Once the mandate goes into effect, authorities will write to every household to inform them of the new rules. From mid-March, police will start checking peoples vaccination status during routine checks; people who cant produce proof of vaccination will be asked to do so in writing, and will be fined up to 600 euros ($676) if they dont. If authorities judge the countrys vaccination progress still to be insufficient, Nehammer said earlier this month, they would then send reminders to people who remain unvaccinated. If even that doesnt work, people would be sent a vaccination appointment and fined if they dont keep it. Officials hope they wont need to use the last measure. Fines could reach 3,600 euros if people contest their punishment and full proceedings are opened. Laura Ziemer and her daughter, who was denied an appointment with her eye doctor at West Coast Vision for being unvaccinated. (Handout) BC Doctor Refuses to Treat Unvaccinated Children Two Chilliwack mothers speak out about the difficulty of getting medical care for their children after doctors rejection An ophthalmologist in British Columbia refused to treat two young children with serious eye conditions because they hadnt been vaccinated for COVID-19, a decision that appears to go against the position of the provinces college of physicians. Two B.C. mothersLaura Ziemer and Sandra Scrimessaid they were devastated on Jan. 13 when the office of Dr. Ross Kennedy asked to see their childrens vaccination status just days before their appointments that had been booked months before. In light of the rising Omicron cases, we are only able to see vaccinated patients in clinic during this time, read an email from West Coast Vision in Surrey, B.C., that Ziemer shared with The Epoch Times. Both mothers said they were left scrambling to find new ophthalmologists for their children, as Scrimes said it was critical for her son to see a specialist because he was losing his vision. They say their goal now is to shed light on the incident to protect other families and warn other doctors considering similar vaccine policies. A statement by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC) issued last summer says its considered indefensible from an ethical point of view for a physician to require proof of vaccination prior to attending their office. The CPSBC, which regulates individual doctors in the province, told The Epoch Times that this policy remains intact, and patients who have concerns about being denied care due to their vaccination status, should contact the college directly to file a formal complaint. Physicians cannot refuse to provide care to unvaccinated patients and must make accommodations in their office to ensure patients who need to be seen in person are, a spokesperson wrote in an email. Ziemer says she filed a formal complaint with the college against Dr. Kennedy and recently read on social media that his office has removed its proof of vaccination policy. Repeated inquiries to West Coast Vision to address both the mothers concerns and to confirm whether its vaccine policy has been lifted remained unanswered as of publication time. Gutted and Disappointed Ziemer and Scrimes, who both live in Chilliwack, an hour away from the clinic, say the ordeal added major stress on their families because of long delays in getting appointments with ophthalmologists in B.C. Scrimes says the appointment was critical for her nine-year-old son. He has a condition called optic nerve hypoplasia, which has left him legally blind in his right eye, while his left eye is at risk to further vision loss. I was shocked, she said. I thought it was ridiculous considering that I made the appointment in November when I first realized that my son was losing his vision in his left eye and he needed to see a specialist right away. Scrimes said she contacted West Coast Vision citing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. She said she told them that if the situation didnt get resolved she would pursue further action. The office called her within an hour and said that they could register her son with a different doctor, Scrimes said. Ziemers six-year-old daughter was born with a condition called pediatric strabismus, which occurs when the eyes dont line up. She underwent her first surgery at two years old after getting glasses at 10 months old. I was gutted and disappointed to receive a phone call and email earlier today regarding the decision to only see double vaccinated individuals, Ziemer said in an email in a response to West Coast Visions vaccination policy. Ziemer added that her daughters health was her priority and she wasnt sure how to proceed. Dr. Kennedy responded to Ziemer in an email, Covid has introduced massive stress in the medical system and the lives of many people, but that the deferral of the office visit represents a reasonable compromise. Dr. Kennedy added that his office would return to normal visitation when the Omicron wave passes and that he would support Ziemer to find another doctor. Despite the offer, both Ziemer and Scrimes said they had to sign their children up on their own with an ophthalmologist at the same office. However, theyre concerned because their new doctor is pregnant and will have to go on maternity leave by the summer, leaving them to search for a new physician yet again. For Ziemer, the whole issue could have been avoided if Dr. Kennedy provided patients COVID-19 rapid tests. Its really, really upsetting to see our medical system start fraying at its ends when kids are turned away from their doctor because of their vaccination status, Ziemer said. While Ziemer says her priority is her daughters health, she questioned the validity of the vaccine policy because of how highly transmissible the Omicron strain is. A recent British study showed that two doses of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines were zero to 20 percent effective in preventing infection against Omicron. The research also suggests that natural immunity from a prior infection provided a 19 percent protection against an Omicron infection. Ziemer said that her entire family had already recovered from COVID-19 and thought it wasnt right that Dr. Kennedy never considered natural immunity. Both Ziemer and Scrimes said they arent the type to raise concerns publicly, but in this case they felt it was their moral duty to do so. If I can make a difference for just a couple of other kids, it makes me very happy because I dont want to see any kids struggle to get the care that they need, Scrimes said. An aerial view shows cars sitting in floodwaters at the entrance of Jingguang Expressway tunnel after heavy rains hit the city of Zhengzhou in China's central Henan province on July 22, 2021. (Noel Celis / AFP) Beijing Blames Weather and Local Officials for Henans July Flooding Disaster in Investigative Report Beijing announced in an online report a revised total death and missing persons toll after it reviewed an investigation of the devastating flooding that hit a central Chinese province last July. In its 46-page report, Chinas top government body the State Council elaborated on the severity of the rainstorms, calling them torrential rains that are rare in history, while concluding that the flooding was caused by both the extreme weather and negligence of local officials and construction staffers. Heavy rains hit Henan Province from July 17 to 23 last year, causing reservoirs to overflow. Floodwaters inundated cities and rural areas, submerged subways and tunnels, and swept away people and their property. According to the local meteorological authority, a record-breaking downpour of more than 201 millimeters (8 inches) was recorded between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on July 20, 2021. Zhengzhou, the capital city of the province, was soon flooded, with the water level rising to waist height by the afternoon. Despite the flooding, the subway system and underground tunnels remained in operation. There were videos and messages online of desperate passengers and drivers trapped in Subway Line 5 and Jingguang Highway Tunnel, begging for help. Both local and central government reports gave a final death toll of 14 people in the subway Line 5 and six people in the tunnel. People look out at cars sitting at the entrance of a tunnel in floodwaters after heavy rains hit the city of Zhengzhou in Chinas central Henan Province on July 21, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) According to the State Council report, top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, gave important instructions and 16 other state leaders also gave instructions and made express demands for flood control and disaster relief during the crisis last year. It went on to blame local officials for their negligence and dereliction of duty when they failed to act with awareness to the risks, which Beijing said was in part responsible for to the casualties in the subway and the tunnel that were not supposed to take place. It went further to say that local officials at different levels delayed to report and concealed death tolls and missing people at different stages, with a total of 139 deaths or missing persons being concealed or delayed for reporting. The city of Zhengzhou concealed 75 cases, county-level authorities concealed 49, and township or neighborhood communities concealed 15, the report said. The report did not give details of the names of the victims of the flood, nor did it explain how many cases were newly found in the central governments investigation, which reported a death and missing persons toll of 398. Death Toll Questioned In July 2021, an article was published on Secret China, an independent overseas Chinese language media, which analyzed the daily operation data of Zhengzhous subway company. According to the article, like the tunnel company, the subway company had advanced surveillance technology and equipment. In addition, passengers had to swipe their metro cards to enter or exit the subway station, giving the subway company a detailed database of the number of passengers. The report noted from Chinese media that over 1.2 million passengers traveled by subway on July 20, with Line 5 being the busiest line, transporting over 374,000 passengers on the day. There were 91 trains submerged by flood waters on that disastrous day. The State Councils final death toll for subway Line 5 and the tunnel remain the same as that reported by local governments last year14 deaths in the subway and six deaths in the tunnel. The regime blocked people mourning dead or missing loved ones, and detained a photographer and a mourner outside a subway station in Zhengzhou after the subway tragedy last year. People are placing flowers in front of a subway station as they mourn victims killed in flooding in Zhengzhou, central Chinas Henan Province on July 26, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) China current affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan said on Jan. 22 that it was unrealistic to expect Li Keqiang [the premier] to release the true data. If the real data, which could be huge, is to be released, those who are to be held accountable will not be limited to the CCPs secretary of Zhengzhou City, Tang said. Henan provincial leaders and even the Chinese premier himself will most likely be held accountable [for the disaster]. It has been common practice for the CCP to cover up death tolls of man-made disasters. According to the press release on the councils official website, eight people, including staffers in charge of construction at the subway line and the highway tunnel, have been arrested by the police suspected of violations of law and crimes over the Henan flooding disaster. Meanwhile, 89 government officials are being investigated by the CCPs disciplinary committee. Gu Qinger contributed to the report. President Joe Biden, with retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 27, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Biden Says He Will Appoint Black Woman to SCOTUS by End of February President Joe Biden announced Thursday he will appoint the first-ever black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court by the end of February. Biden made the announcement alongside retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer who officially announced his intention to step down at the end of the high courts term this summer. While Ive been studying candidates backgrounds and writings, Ive made no decision but one, said Biden. The person I nominate will be somebody with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity, and that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. Its long overdue in my opinion. Biden made the promise on the campaign trail last year to appoint a black woman to the Supreme Court in the event of a vacancy. Biden said Thursday that appointing a Supreme Court justice is one of the most serious constitutional responsibilities a president has. He added that his administrations selection process will be rigorous, and that he will seek the advice and consent of Senators from both parties as well as outside constitutional scholars and lawyers. When asked later in the day to state the Biden administrations message to those who would suggest that race is an inappropriate prerequisite for a Supreme Court nominee, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: The fact that no black woman has been nominated shows a deficiency of the past selection processes, not a lack of qualified candidates to be nominated to the Supreme Court. Biden said that Vice President Kamala Harris will play an advisory role in the selection process as wellciting her background as Californias attorney general and as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Some have speculated that Harris could potentially be tapped for the seat on the Supreme Court. But Psaki on Wednesday repeated her previous statement saying that Biden intends to run again in 2024 with Harris on the ticket. Another name reportedly being considered is Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51. She is a former Breyer clerk who worked at the U.S. Sentencing Commission and has been a federal trial court judge since 2013 in the District of Columbia. Biden met Jackson personally when he interviewed her for her current post as an appeals court judge in the D.C. circuit. Another is U.S. District of South Carolina Judge J. Michelle Childs. She has been nominated but not yet confirmed to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Another is California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger. She is a graduate of Harvard and of Yales law school, was previously a Supreme Court clerk, and has argued a dozen cases before the justices as a lawyer for the federal government. Biden has overseen several Supreme Court nominations during his time on the Senate Judiciary Committee. But this will be his first Supreme Court nomination as president. Jared Carter, an assistant professor at Vermont Law School posited that it may be his only one, in an interview with The Epoch Times on Wednesday. This is going to be, probably, Bidens only opportunity, so my guess is they are going to be looking for someone younger because remember U.S. Supreme Court Justice is for life, said Carter. So, you know, if you appoint somebody on the older side, that person isnt going to be there that long. Breyer, 83, has served as a Supreme Court justice for more than 30 years. As part of his retirement announcement, he spoke of the American experiment and expressed his optimism that it will continue to work. Its that next generation and the one after thatmy grandchildren and their childrentheyll determine whether the experiment still works, said Breyer. And of course, I am an optimist and Im pretty sure it will. Does it surprise you that thats the thought that comes into my mind today? Breyer was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and is considered to be part of the high courts liberal-leaning wing. Supreme Court appointments have been highly contentious political events in recent years, with nearly all Democrats voting to block former President Donald Trumps three picks. Republican members of Congress have expressed concerns that Biden will select a candidate that will be meant to appease the progressive branch of the Democratic Party. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made the initial announcement of Breyers retirement Wednesday and said Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story has been updated. President Joe Biden delivers remarks in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 6, 2022. (Greg Nash/Pool/Getty Images) Biden Signs Order Criminalizing Sexual Harassment, Pornography in the Military President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order making sexual harassment a crime for members of the military. Under the order, the president made sexual harassment an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and also strengthened the military justice systems response to prosecuting cases of domestic violence. The order, effective Jan. 26, also adjusts the military justice code to criminalize the wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images, also known as revenge porn. This afternoon, Im signing an Executive Order to make sexual harassment an offense in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and to strengthen the militarys response to domestic violence and the wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images, the president announced on Twitter. A press release from the White House states that the changes come in response to key recommendations from the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military (IRC) launched by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in March last year. We honor the courage and leadership of the many survivors and advocates who long fought for these critical changes, the White House said. Making sexual harassment a crime in the military was a part of the I Am Vanessa Guillen Act, which was included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen was brutally murdered at the age of 20 in April 2020, and her remains found in June 2020. Family members at the time had told Army leaders that Guillen said that superiors had sexually harassed her prior to her death. A report by the U.S. Army said that her sexual harassment complaints had been ignored by Fort Hood officers. Dawn Gomez holds her 3-year-old granddaughter who waves at Vanessa Guillens mural painted by Alejandro Donkeeboy Roman Jr. on the side of Taqueria Del Sol in Houston, Texas, on July 2, 2020. (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP) The order now makes it possible for defense personnel to report incidents of sexual harassment to a third part instead of up their chain of command. Before, when somebody like Vanessa would be sexually harassed or sexually assaulted, she would have to report it to her command, Guillen family lawyer Natalie Khawam told NewsNation. The problem with that is studies show that the majority of sexual harassment, sexual assault actually occur within the chain of command. The White House thanked the family for their efforts in reforming the military code. The Guillen familys leadership and determination in advocating for change underscored the need for military justice reform, including how the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) addresses sexual harassment, it said in a statement. Sexual assault and harassment has more than doubled in the past 10 years, according to the The Wall Street Journal. The White House also cited the COVID-19 pandemic as linked to an increase in domestic violence and sexual assault in the United States and around the world. The changes comes more than four months after the Pentagon said it would take action on key recommendations from the IRC on countering sexual assault in the military. In July last year, the IRC made 82 recommendations after meeting with more than 600 people, including military leadership, service members, and sexual assault survivors. In response to the commissions recommendations, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen H. Hicks in September outlined a strategy to thwart sexual assault in the military. To date, sexual harassment and sexual assault have been serious problems in our force with lethal consequences for service members and harmful effects on our combat readiness, Hicks said. Countering sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military remains a priority for Secretary Austin, for President Biden, and for me. We continue to move quickly and deliberately, and [we] are committed to the path that I have outlined, Hicks added at the time. Biden in July last year also emphasized the need for countering sexual harassment and assault in the military. We need concrete actions that fundamentally change the way we handle military sexual assault and that make it clear that these crimes will not be minimized or dismissed, Biden said. An artist's sketch of Nathan Smith during a manslaughter trial at Bristol Crown Court which found him not guilty on Jan. 26, 2022. (Elizabeth Cook/PA) British Carer Who Suffocated Thief During Citizens Arrest Cleared of Manslaughter A carer who suffocated a suspected burglar while performing a citizens arrest has been cleared of manslaughter. Nathan Smith, 38, knelt on 43-year-old Craig Wiltshires back for nine minutes in the early hours of November 20 2019 after tackling him in the street. He refused to ease off even when the victim twice told him he could not breathe, telling him I dont give a shit what you can and cant do. Wiltshire died in hospital two weeks later on December 4. Smith denied wrongdoing, claiming he believed Wiltshire was pretending to be in distress so he would release him and he could escape. Wiltshire was believed to have been behind a string of thefts and break-ins in the Bristol suburb where Smith was employed as a live-in carer. Despite repeated complaints to the police, the thief was never caught and there was no active police investigation into the break-ins. A post-mortem found the victim had the sedative diazepam and the heroin-substitute methadone in his system and a pre-existing heart condition. Smith said he did not know that Wiltshire was vulnerable to cardiorespiratory arrest, and that he did not know leaving someone in the prone position for a prolonged period of time was dangerous. On Wednesday, a jury at Bristol Crown Court cleared Smith of manslaughter after four hours and seven minutes of deliberations. The prosecution had claimed Smith was angry with Wiltshire, and that he took the opportunity to punish him for his alleged crimes. Prosecutor James Ward cited insults hurled by Smith at the victim including swearing at him as proof he wanted to hurt him. I was being loud so other people would come, I didnt want to shout help so he knew I needed help, and I wanted to make him think I was more in control than I was, Smith replied. He insisted he wasnt angry or trying to punish the victim, adding: I just wanted the police to come and get him. Smith said Wiltshire had been reaching for his pockets, adding he feared he had a weapon on him. Kimberly Lock, a neighbour, said the community had been terrorised by the break-ins, and had extra locks fitted to her house, including a sliding bolt to her bedroom. An artists sketch of Nathan Smith during a trial at. Bristol Crown Court which found him not guilty on Jan. 26, 2022. (Elizabeth Cook/PA) An expert in forensic and legal medicine told the court he did not think that Smiths method of restraint, as a member of the public with no training, was inappropriate. Professor Jason Payne-James added: In terms of the persistence of the prone restraint, I believe that would have been inappropriate if police personnel had continued that for that length of time without moving or monitoring (Wiltshire). But Prof Payne-James agreed it was likely the victim would have survived if he had been sat up or rolled on to his back at the point he told Smith he could not breathe. Smiths employer Michael Crooks is also seen in the CCTV footage adding his weight to Wiltshire for a few minutes, while his son Ben Crooks is seen kicking the prone man twice. They have both admitted a charge of common assault and were not charged with manslaughter. The jury was told to assume that Wiltshire was the man suspected of committing burglaries in the neighbourhood over the previous weeks, and that the arrest was not a case of mistaken identity. Canada Extends, Expands Mission to Train Ukraine Soldiers but Wont Arm Them OTTAWACanada is extending and expanding its mission to train Ukrainian soldiers but it is not, so far, prepared to help arm them with lethal defensive weapons as Ukraine has requested. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not, however, categorically ruling out sending weapons in future. Asked repeatedly Wednesday why Canada is not sending weapons, he did not specifically answer but left the door open. We continue to look for ways to be helpful to the Ukrainian people as they stand up for their rights to live in a democracy, to choose the course of their country, to defend their territorial integrity. This is something we are unequivocal on, Trudeau told a news conference at the end of a threeday cabinet retreat. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and stand by our Ukrainian friends as we look to give them the support that they need. Trudeau announced a $340million commitment to extend the training mission, known as Operation Unifier, for three years. He said hes also authorized the Canadian Armed Forces to deploy 60 additional personnel to join the 200 troops already on the ground, with further capacity to increase that number to 400. The price tag includes the provision of nonlethal equipment such as scopes and body armour intelligencesharing and support to fight cyberattacks, Trudeau said. He stressed that this is not a combat mission but is intended to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. This is the way that Canada can best help and its an extension of our firm belief that standing up for Ukraine means being there so they can speak and defend themselves, while at the same time continuing to pursue a diplomatic solution at all levels, he said. Russia has positioned about 100,000 troops across Ukraines border along with tanks and other heavy artillery, raising fears across Europe and the NATO military alliance of an invasion, something Russia has denied. Trudeau also committed Wednesday $50 million in development and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, on top of a $120million loan offered last week to help stabilize its economy. And he said Defence Minister Anita Anand will travel to Latvia and Ukraine to visit with Canadas troops there in the coming days. While the NDP welcomed the extension of the training mission, Conservatives accused Trudeau of letting Ukraine down. Ukraine has been clear in its request to the Trudeau government of what it needs to defend itself: Lethal defensive weapons, a trio of Conservative MPs said in a statement. The governments of the U.S., U.K., Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, and others have already provided lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine The time for halfmeasures has long passed. Ukraine needs Canadas support and today Mr. Trudeau let them down. Asked how he expects to deter Russian aggression without arming Ukraines military, Trudeau argued the united front among NATO allies and western democracies against Russias conduct is a significant deterrence in itself. We have been clear on the steep economic sanctions and measures that will be brought in if Russia invades Ukraine to any further degree. Trudeau said he discussed the possibility of a new round of coordinated sanctions in a Wednesday telephone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Were agreed that strong, cohesive and aligned sanctions on individuals, on financial institutions, on other areas and sectors of the economy are going to be extremely important, he said. And Russia needs to be under no illusions that the concerted approach by western democracies will be clear and forceful in terms of economic impact on Russia. Melita Gabric, the European Union ambassador to Canada, said the EU has a history of imposing coordinated sanctions with Canada against Russia in the years following the Kremlins 2014 annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and that has not changed in the current crisis. The EU as a global economic bloc has an array of options available to deploy, and while its too early to go into any detail, I would just like to really reiterate and emphasize that weve been working on sanctions in the past with Canada since the annexation, Gabric said in an interview. We have been coordinating our actions and coordinating what we are preparing in terms of deterrence. And we really see eye to eye. We appreciate Canadas role in support of European security. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is of Ukrainian descent, stressed that Canadas actions in support of Ukraine are not simply a show of political support for the large Ukrainian diaspora in this country. The stakes in this conflict are stark and directly relevant to Canada, and the Canadian national interests, she said at the news conference with Trudeau. This is a struggle between democracy and authoritarianism. This is a direct challenge to the rulesbased international order and an attempt to replace it with a world in which might makes right, and where the great powers, the nucleararmed powers, have the authority to redraw the borders, dictate the foreign policies and even rewrite the constitutions of sovereign democracies whose only fault is that they are smaller and their militaries are not as powerful. She warned that the worlds dictators are watching to see if democracies have the will and the capacity to stand up for the rulesbased international order. Trudeau echoed that, saying Russias threat to invade Ukraine is a threat to all of us who cherish democracy. By Joan Bryden Brian Peckford holds a press conference to highlight previously unpublished documents dealing with the patriation of the Constitution on Sept.19, 2012 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. (The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld) Charters Last Surviving Signatory and Former Premier Sues Ottawa Over Travel Vaccine Mandates Brian Peckford, former premier of Newfoundland and the last surviving architect of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, has filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Jan. 26. Alongside five other applicants, Peckfords team is challenging the Constitutional merits of the Trudeau administrations mandates restricting travel for Canadians without a COVID-19 vaccination. And with his experience and bond with the Charter he helped craft, Peckford says he is determined to preserve itand the rights and freedoms for Canadians he said formed the fabric of its purpose. This is a culmination of my work to oppose, what I believe is the potential destruction of a very large part of our democracy, he said in an interview with The Epoch Times. If the Charter is not honoured at the end of the day, I think we will have witnessed the degradation of its power. This is a crucial, historic moment for everybody, to determine whether the Charter of Rights and Freedoms really mean something. David Leis agrees. Leis is the Vice President of Development and Engagement with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. While he believes the federal government breached the Charter, he says judges may nevertheless side with personal translation instead of judicial interpretation. The bottom line is that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is not like any other federal law, it is the Constitution, Leis told The Epoch Times. Any judge with any knowledge of basic jurisprudence will have to address this claim, and its one that cannot be avoided. For some reason, some of our courts and judges are missing in action, theyre not doing their job. So this is good. I think this is a seminal moment as this lawsuit is tabled and it represents a legal showdown for our country. Eight provincial premiers attend a news conference in Ottawa on April 16, 1981, on the federal governments proposed constitutional changes. (L-R) Brian Peckford of Newfoundland, Allan Blakeney of Saskatchewan, William Bennett of British Columbia, Rene Levesque of Quebec, Sterling Lyon of Manitoba, John Buchanan of Nova Scotia, Angus MacLean of PEI, and Peter Lougheed of Alberta. (The Canadian Press/Peter Bregg) In recent months, Peckford has been touring primarily Vancouver Island, giving interviews and writing a personal blog warning Canadians of the potential fracturing of the Constitution. Yet, when he was ready to announce the lawsuit publicly, he said he was reluctant to trust the majority of Canadas media outlets with the news. So he called a high profile Canadian who immediately agreed to interview him and post it on his social media. After speaking to Jordan Peterson, the interview was uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 26 and had more than 125,000 views in the first nine hours. Peckford then had the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, who filed the lawsuit on his behalf, make the official announcement through a press release shortly afterwards. Keith Wilson Q.C. is the lead counsel for Peckfords legal team. He told The Epoch Times the federal government stepped outside its lawful boundaries with the travel restrictions, and they will prove it using the Charter. Through this case, we will be defining the limits of government overreach into the lives of Canadians, Wilson said. The real fight on this case is likely to occur under section one (of the Charter), where the government will have to acknowledge the breaches because theyre all real, theyre depressing, but theyll have to seek to justify it. And its absolutely clear to me from the statements of the Prime Minister and other government officials that theyre restricting Canadians freedom of movement in an effort to coerce them into getting vaccinated. Thats not a proper exercise of a legal, lawmaking function in a parliamentary democracy that has a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And when youre faced with that, you take the government to court and thats exactly what were doing. Brian Giesbrecht is a retired judge from the Provincial Court of Manitoba. In an interview with The Epoch Times, he echoed Wilsons assessment that banning travellers based on vaccination status was government overreach. Therefore, he thinks Peckford and his team should focus on this mandate for legal action. All in all, I think that Brian Peckfords case definitely has merit, and it will be very interesting to see what the Supreme Court decides, Giesbrecht said in an interview. If they dont allow this one, I would be pessimistic about the meaning of civil rights in Canada because the ability to move from one province to another is just a basic right and its being restricted on what I think are very questionable grounds. The federal government has not lifted a finger to prove that they needed to do this, Peckford added. If we win, of course, we will see the reaffirmation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to be what it was supposed to be when it was written and passed in the House of Commons. An office worker is seen wearing a face mask while getting on a tram at Collins Street in Melbourne, Australia, on April 15, 2021. (AAP Image/Diego Fedele) Chief Medical Officer: Pandemic Fatigue Is Impacting Mental Health Deputy Chief Medical Officer for mental health, Ruth Vines has stated that pandemic fatigue is contributing to the stress Australians are experiencing during the pandemic. We have seen significant levels of distress and Im sure people are now enduring what we call pandemic fatigue and feeling at times increasingly irritable and frustrated, Vines said on ABC News Breakfast on Jan. 25. She said that the last two years of the pandemic have been very difficult with elevated levels of psychological distress and demand on mental health services. Lifeline, one of Australias leading suicide prevention services, recorded the highest volume of daily calls in the organisations 58-year history in Aug. 2021 during the peak of the Delta lockdowns. However, she noted that the demand for mental health helplines have decreased compared to 2021 but demands are still higher than it was in 2019, prior to the pandemic. Vines said besides maintaining mask-wearing and vaccinations, it was important for Australians to stay engaged with their lives. When you are feeling trapped and stuck and you cant get there, to reach out for help, and there are lots of avenues for help now. The helplines have got increased capacity; the services there- new services- or not new now, but extra services in Sydney and Victoria that are being very well used, she said on Sunrise. Additionally, the federal government has made a $26.8 million investment in Yourtowns Kids Helpline, a free, 24/7 telephone and webchat counselling support, for young people aged 5 to 25 years in May. 19, 2021 as well as investing $7.8 million in funding for perinatal helplines for expectant parents in Dec. 6, 2021. Vines however celebrated school reopening, stating that returning to face-to-face learning is important for restoring normality in childrens lives. I think one of the things that is increasingly recognised around the globe is just how important it is to get that degree of normality back into young peoples lives, that sort of social engagement and social learning, and the exposure to all the things that happen in schools and school environments. It is an arguement supported by research with a study conducted by the University of Washington demonstrating the significant associations between school closures and poorer mental health outcomes. Research conducted by the Royal Childrens Hospital and the University of Melbourne also indicated a decreased learning engagement for children that had to learn remotely with almost half of the Australian student population risks having their learning severely compromised due to COVID-19-related school closures, either because they are an early years student or are experiencing adversity. Vines encouraged those stressed from pandemic fatigue to take time for themselves and stay socially connected for their mental health. It is 2022, we are now entering the third year of this so were into the sort of chronic stress rather than an acute stress, Vines said. She also warned against focusing on case numbers and the incessant media coverage of the pandemic. Its also important I think not to become too preoccupied with the numbers and with the almost incessant news and media information about the pandemic and about the situation across our states and territories, she said. A security guard walks past a company logo at the headquarters of the world's largest semiconductor maker TSMC in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Jan. 29, 2021. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images) China Relies on Taiwan, Australia for Chips, Minerals, Despite Political Friction News Analysis China banned the import of pineapples from Taiwan and beef and cotton from Australia for political reasons. However, Chinas overall reliance on goods from the two countries continues to expand, with its increasing import of chips and minerals. According to Chinas General Administration of Customs on Jan. 14, imports in 2021 from Taiwan increased by 24.7 percent year-on-year, which kept Taiwan as first among importing countries (regions). Similarly, Chinas imports from Australia increased by 40 percent year-on-year, despite Chinas restrictions on some goods. Official statistics show that in 2021, the highest total amount of goods China imported was from Taiwan at about $249 billion, followed by Korea at $213 billion, and Japan at $205 billion. The United States at $179 billion, and Australia at $164 billion ranked fourth and fifth, respectively. The trade deficit between China and Taiwan was $171.6 billion, which also ranks first, meaning Taiwan has the most foreign exchange with China of all countries. The trade deficit between China and Australia was about $98.4 billion. China Restricts Taiwans Fruits, but Needs Chips Farmers harvest pineapples in Pingtung county, Taiwan, on March 16, 2021. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images) In February 2021, China banned the import of Taiwan pineapples on the grounds that harmful organisms had been found in quarantine; in September of the same year, China suspended the import of Taiwans sugar apples (Annona squamosa) and wax apples (Syzygium samarangense) with the same excuse. This move dropped the rate to one-tenth of the pineapples that Taiwan exported to China in 2020 when 90 percent of Taiwans pineapple crop was exported to mainland China. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen expressed condemnation of the Chinese authoritys sudden unilateral suspension of importing Taiwans pineapples, this is obviously not a normal trade consideration, citing the Council of Agricultures data that 6,200 batches of pineapples sold to China in 2020 had a pass rate of 99.79 percent. Taiwans ruling Democratic Progressive Party has also said that the Chinese Communist regime is not only using word assaults and military threats against Taiwan but is also applying political maneuvers to ban agricultural imports and exert economic pressure on the island country. Meanwhile, the Chinese communist regime was hoarding a large number of chips made in Taiwan, especially those from TSMC, the worlds leading chip company, despite a global chip shortage. Data released on January 18 by the General Administration of Customs show that the highest value of imports from Taiwan in 2021 was in the category of electrical and mechanical goods, which covers chips, as well as audio-visual equipment, parts, and accessories, reaching $1,986 billion, much higher than the second-highest rate of optical, photographic, medical, and other equipment and accessories valued at $16.8 million. According to independent writer Zhuge Mingyang, the Chinese Communist Party is threatening Taiwan by force on the one hand but relying heavily on imports from Taiwan on the other. This reflects the bluff of the regimes war-wolf diplomacy. China Bans Coal From Australia, yet Imports Other Minerals A bucket-wheel for dumping soil and sand was removed from another area of a mine in Newcastle, Australia, the worlds largest coal exporting port, on Nov. 5, 2021. (Seed Khan/AFP via Getty Images) Diplomatic relations between the two countries first deteriorated in 2018 when Australia banned Chinas Huawei from participating in the construction of its 5G broadband network. Then in April 2020 the Australian government called for an independent international investigation into the source of the COVID-19 outbreak. The first case emerged in Chinas central city of Wuhan. China took retaliatory actions, by banning Australian coal imports in October 2020 and imposing an 80.5 percent anti-dumping and countervailing duty on barley in 2021. Australian beef, cotton, sugar, and lobster have also been targeted. China was the largest importer of Australian coal, as 27 percent of Australian metallurgical coal and 20 percent of thermal coal exports went to China by June 2020, according to a 2020 report by Deutsche Welle. Although China has stopped importing Australian coal, the regime has a strong need for its other minerals. In 2021, China imported more than $137 billion of mineral products from Australia. Chinas imports from Australia increased by 40 percent in 2021, outpacing its exports to Australia by 24.2 percent year on year. Australia is one of the Five Eyes Coalition countries (United States, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), and in 2021, the Coalition has strengthened its efforts to counter the Chinese Communist Partys aggressive expansion that affects regional stability, such as organizing joint military exercises, issuing a joint statement condemning the lack of democracy in the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections, and joining forces to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics. Chinese official media has been attacking the Five Eyes Alliance, but economically, China cannot break away from its dependence on the five countries. According to Free Radio Asia on Jan. 18, Chinas total imports and exports in 2021 reached $6,051 billion, of which $1,206 billion or 19.9 percent, were exports to the five countries based on data by Chinas General Administration of Customs. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. The U.S. embassy in Beijing could be evacuating as the virus surges in the city. Concerns over Beijing locking down have U.S. personnel worried, but the Chinese state media calls it a plot by the United States. I spoke with a senior aviation analyst about the arms war and exportsthe Russia-U.S.-China export of their fifth generation fighters. We discuss how geopolitics affects who they can sell toand in particular, as the U.S.China relationship worsens, whats at stake? Cars lined up next to shipping containers (top) at a BMW factory in Shenyang in northeastern China's Liaoning Province on Nov. 17, 2021. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Chinas COVID-19 Outbreaks Further Disrupt Global Supply Chains Chinas COVID-19 zero-tolerance approach has locked down one city after another, hence workers of the worlds factory are blocked at home and cant get to work, trucks cant ship non-pandemic-related goods, and ports cant take care of ships. Lockdowns in China are already causing disruptions [in global supply chain], economists at Japanese financial holding company Nomura said in a report on Jan. 7. As a manufacturer for the global market, China imports raw materials from all around the world and exports labor intensive products. In 2021, over 22 percent of global trade was shipped into or out of China. Chinas trade in 2021 was 39.1 trillion yuan ($6.185 trillion). Statista reported data from the United Nations Statistics Division in May 2021: China accounted for 28.7 percent of global manufacturing output in 2019. No Production The lockdown and quarantine policies launched by the Chinese regime in the cities that announced COVID-19 outbreaks have forced factories to be shut down. In the cities where no pandemic was reported, many factories were shut down anyway because they couldnt receive raw materials due to lockdowns in other cities or didnt have enough orders. Xian, the largest city and business center in northwestern China, with a population of 13 million, was locked down for weeks in December 2021 and January 2022. American Micron and South Korean Samsung have factories in the city to produce the processor chips used in smartphones, personal computers, auto parts, and services. Both of the companies warned in early January that the sudden lockdown could affect these factories operation, and would intensify the global chip shortage. Samsungs Xian factories manufacture about 42 percent of the companys NAND, which is equal to 15 percent of global NAND production, Associated Press quoted Shelly Jang of Fitch Ratings. NAND (Not AND) is a non-volatile storage technology that doesnt require power to retain data. Electronic products use NAND memory chips to store data files. Residents are swabbed for COVID-19 testing in Ningbo in eastern Chinas Zhejiang Province on Jan. 16. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Tianjin, the largest coastal city in northern China and home to 13.87 million people, followed Xians step and locked the city down in January. On Jan. 13, German vehicle manufacturer Volkswagen confirmed that it shut down two factories in the cityFAW-VW vehicle plant and VW Automatic Transmission Tianjin component factoryon Jan. 10 due to the regimes COVID-19 policies. On Jan. 12, Japanese vehicle manufacturer Toyota stated that it shut its vehicle manufacturing base in Tianjin on Jan. 10 and all employees had to take COVID-19 tests regularly according to the regimes standards. Chinese media Caixin reported on Jan. 6 that factories all around China were shutting down to prepare for the upcoming Chinese New Year that is on Feb. 1. The shut down is weeks early [than previous years] due to a combination of sluggish orders and supply disruptions caused by strict measures to contain regional COVID-19 flare-ups, Caixin reported. Employees wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) work at a port in Qingdao in eastern Chinas Shandong Province on Jan. 14, 2022. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Transportation The regimes COVID-zero approach has slowed down processing at ports across the country, and pushed up the freight shipping costs for shipments via sea, air, and land. Although ports are still open, current restrictionslike mandatory quarantines and testingcontinue to slow down transport and cause delays, CNBC quoted Atul Vashistha, founder and chairman of supply chain consultancy Supply Wisdom, on Jan. 24. The same report quoted Judah Levine, head of research at freight booking platform Freightos Group, as saying that the price of air freight shipping increased as much as 50 percent in some cases, and sea shipping rates crept up four percent from Asia to the U.S. West Coast. Operations at Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in eastern Chinas Zhejiang Province, the worlds third busiest container port, have slowed down since December 2021 when the regime locked down the Beilun district of Ningbo city. The Loadstart quoted local people on Jan. 5 saying its difficult to access the port because of the zero-tolerance policy and a large number of truckers live in Beilun, a district that is locked down. Its extremely difficult to bring containers in or out, the report quoted an insider. We recommend shipping as early as possible from alternative ports instead of queuing for Beilun. Tianjin, northern Chinas largest port, is facing more challenges because the whole city was under lockdown. On Jan. 27, the Chinese regime announced new COVID-19 infections in Zhejiang, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Hebei, Henan, and Xinjiang. The regime immediately locked down any neighborhood that identified an infected resident. The flag pole of the Australian Parliament is seen behind the roof of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra, on Sept. 17, 2021. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) Chinas New Ambassador to Australia Strikes Conciliatory Tone Beijings new ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, has struck a conciliatory tone in his first official statement upon arrival to the country. The former Chinese envoy to Indonesia landed on Jan. 26Australia Daysaying he was on a noble mission. Xiao said in a statement on the official embassy website that he would work to increase engagement, eliminate misunderstanding and suspicion, and jointly push Australia-China relations back on track. Xiaos time comes after the former ambassador, Cheng Jingye, vacated his post in October 2021. Cheng was the face of Beijings wolf-warrior diplomacy, which saw the official adopt more confrontational rhetoric against Australia while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) instigated an ongoing economic coercion campaign in response to Foreign Minister Marise Paynes calls for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Coercion measures against Australian exports included arbitrary border testing and inspections, the imposition of tariffs, and unwarranted delays in listing export establishments and issuing of import licenses. While Xiao has hinted at a softer approach to diplomacy, the new ambassador has not shied from exercising stern rhetoric in his previous post. In September 2021, he wrote in the Jakarta Post that Washington D.C.s renewed push for an investigation into COVID-19 was a political farce. The so-called origin tracing investigation of the U.S. government by its intelligence community is clearly politicising the issue of origin tracing, he wrote in an op-ed. Such a practice disturbs and sabotages international cooperation on origin tracing and on the global fight against the pandemic. Chin Jin, chair of the Federation for a Democratic China, warned in 2007 that regardless of who the ambassador was, under the CCP regime, their personal views would be sidelined for the interests of the communist regime. The incoming ambassador will continue the policy of consistent persuasion and seduction to undermine the U.S.-Australia alliance in particular and to consolidate Australia-China relations, he wrote in an op-ed. Chinas huge purchasing capacity for Australias raw materials and its seemingly enormous domestic markets will be used as effective tools to lure Australia closer to China in dealings with future international or regional relationships and conflicts of interest, he said. In the process, Chinas total lack of democracy and its appalling record on human rights are completely overlooked. Trade and money are thought to be more important. A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. (Kacper Pempel/Illustration/Reuters) Chinese Hackers Target German Pharma and Tech Firms BERLINChinese hacker group APT 27, long suspected of launching attacks on Western government agencies, has started targeting German companies in sectors such as pharmaceuticals and technology, Germanys Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) said on Wednesday. In addition to stealing trade secrets and intellectual property, the hackers may be trying to penetrate customers and service providers networks to infiltrate several companies at once, the BfV said in a circular to companies. In its annual constitutional protection report from 2019, the BfV had pointed out the groups acronym APT 27 is an alias for a Chinese hacker group also known as the Emissary Panda, which is believed to target foreign embassies and critical sectors. Last year, the United States and its allies accused the Chinese regime of a carrying out a global cyberespionage campaign. Sloan Rachmuth, Deb Fillman, and Nancy Andersen discuss screenshots found on the NC Early Learning Network on Rachmuth's podcast. (Courtesy of Nancy Andersen) Contract Halted After Two Watchdog Groups Spotlight CRT Content Found in North Carolina Teacher Training Program for Disabled Children After content promoting critical race theory (CRT) found within a professional development program for pre-kindergarten teachers of disabled children was reported by two education watchdog groups in North Carolina, the state board of education-approved contract for the program has come to a halt. Overarching themes of decentering whiteness and centering children of color that surfaced were alleged to be a part of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) collaboration with the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hills Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute (FPG), and the Office of Early Learning (OEL) through a program called the NC Early Learning Network (ELN). NCDPI Superintendent Catherine Truitt said in a statement on Jan. 14 that she will not sign the proposal to extend the previously amended pre-K contract. Instead, I will create a new contract proposal that has strict guardrails and new accountability measures to ensure the true needs of our youngest and most vulnerable learners are met, Truitt said. Both Dr. Nancy Andersen with No Left Turn in Education, and Sloan Rachmuth, an investigative reporter and president of Education First Alliance NCtwo organizations that investigate CRT ideologies in the K-12 public school system in North Carolinatold The Epoch Times that the program harbors racist content that violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, in addition to its prohibition on discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, and national origin, it prohibits the use of federal funds to facilitate such discrimination. Andersen found the material, then reported it to Rachmuth who brought the issue to the attention of a wider audience, such as the NC Citizens for Constitutional Rights, through her articles and podcasts. This prompted what Rachmuth said to be up to 600 people calling the General Assembly in protest. Decentering Whiteness; Recentering Children of Color The $7 million to fund the program comes from the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Preschool Handicapped Grant awarded to the NCDPI. The funds will be used to develop training programs with a webinar titled Equity and Cultural Responsiveness in the Early Childhood Classroom, according to the contract. Andersen said she found the material on the ELN website. Screenshot Nancy Andersen with No Left Turn in Education took on the NC Early Learning Network website before they were removed. (Courtesy of Nancy Andersen and Sloan Rachmuth) According to Andersen, on Jan. 5, the night after the state board of educations meeting during which the renewal of the contract was presented, the CRT content was removed from ELNs website. On each document Andersen screenshot, the imprimatur at the bottom of the page stated the ELN is a joint project with NCDPI, the OEL, and the FPG. Not Approved by NCDPI However, when reached for comment on Jan. 25, a spokesperson for NCDPI told The Epoch Times that the content was a part of an FPG summer seminar that was not connected to the contract. Those materials were not shared, vettedlet alone approvedby DPI, the spokesperson said. Further, those materials in question featured an outdated logo of the Departments that was used without consent from the Department itself. The NCDPI spokesperson said the content was removed because the NCDPI logo was used at the bottom of the pages without permission and because they exceeded the scope of the contract. FPG itself has had a relationship with social justice theories and theorists, such as its own Iheoma U. Iruka, a research professor at UNC whose work centers around CRT, and she has advocated for mandatory CRT training. The UNC FPG describes itself as an institute of scientists that research beneficial educational methods for children for the purpose of improving childrens lives and informing public policy, however, like UNC itself, it has been charged by some with concocting far-left leaning ideological programming rooted in Marxist theory under the guise of social justice. FPG did not respond to The Epoch Times request for comment. Deconstructing Whiteness Whiteness affects everything we bring to our interactions inside and outside the classroom, content pulled from the ELN website reads, which later goes on to deconstruct and challenge whiteness. A screenshot Nancy Andersen with No Left Turn in Education took before it was removed from the NC Early Learning Network Website. (Courtesy of Nancy Andersen and Sloan Rachmuth) Among the ways to center children of color, according to the pages, are to ensure nursery rhymes, charts, etc. do not show animals with human characteristics, and making sure that people are not used as alphabet letters or objects. The Webinar In addition to the content, Andersen said the ELN website contained the March 2021 webinar in which one consultant stated that she wants to position myself as a white woman and acknowledge my own privilege and experiential lens or way of knowing the world is that of a white woman in the United States. I continue to examine my own internalized racism and socialization, and I embrace and am grateful for this journey of learning to be anti-racist, the consultant said. The webinar, which was also pulled, and the two consultants speaking in it are listed and funded in the contract. On page 30 of the contract, the salary for the two consultants in the webinar is listed as $113,000. Andersen also said there was a Buzzfeed link to a How Privileged Are You quiz. A screenshot Nancy Andersen with No Left Turn in Education took before it was removed from the NC Early Learning Network Website. (Courtesy of Nancy Andersen and Sloan Rachmuth) CRT in North Carolina North Carolina Republican legislators have spoken out against CRT despite Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper vetoing a bill in September 2021 that would have prohibited teaching CRT in the classroom. Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, formed a task force to allow for teachers to anonymously submit evidence of CRT, though it was ignored by Democrats, with Cooper referring to CRT as conspiracy-laden politics. CRT is based on the Marxist philosophy that describes society as a class struggle between oppressors and the oppressed; it labels white people as the oppressors, and all other races as the oppressed. Debate continues into 2022 over whether CRT is a fact-based examination of history leading up to present society or a manufactured worldview magnified through a lens that fictionalizes racism as the structural component of all facets of life for the purpose of fostering division. Though CRT has appeared to be a party-line issue, both Andersen and Rachmuth argue that Truitt, a Republican who has spoken out against CRT, brought the renewal of the contract to the state board of educations table, which is comprised of seven Democrats and five Republicans, leading to the vote approving the contract. Though Truitt doesnt have a vote, state statute and board policy give Truitt authority to choose contracts, vendors, and make recommendations to the board. Andersen emailed Truitt her concerns a week before the boards session, including screenshots of CRT content she found on ELNs website that Andersen said Truitt acknowledged as horrific. Despite Truitts awareness of the material, Andersen said she remained silent before the vote. If shes presenting it to get approved, and she says shes anti-CRT, why would she not say anything? Andersen asked. In a Jan. 5 email response to Andersens concerns that the NCDPI was becoming infiltrated with what Andersen said were FPG and Irukas Marxist ideologies masked as equity, Truitt said, In my opinion, it is a big leap from equity and cultural responsiveness to communism and CRT and there is no proof that this contract is going to lead to either of those things. In my experience, whether or not an equity initiative and/or culturally responsive teaching devolves into CRT depends on the people involved. For Rachmuth, the move to bring a contract with CRT content up for renewal ignited distrust. Its not a surprise, Rachmuth said, as Republicans have remained dormant on educational policies, citing school choice. They have ceded control of the education system to leftists for years, and now we are supposed to believe they have awakened to this great problem, Rachmuth said. As we approach the midterms, we need to pump the brakes here on trusting either side. When one board member brought up the concern that the material contained CRT based on emails she had received from constituents, Truitt said, This is wholly separate from anything that they are doing, adding that the material is subject to an NCDPI review process. Though Truitts announcement that she would not sign the contract brought some hope for Andersen and Rachmuth, they said they remain skeptical. How does she intend to legally not sign a contract she put forth and recommended to the board to approve? Andersen asked. The state board of education meets again in February. When asked, the NCDPI spokesperson said there would be more information coming out on the issue in the coming week. Sloan Rachmuth, president of Education First Alliance. (Courtesy of Sloan Rachmuth) A judge dismissed the appeal of a Chinese couple who had applied for permanent residency in Canada due to the husbands former employment with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, on Jan. 19, 2022. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck) Couple Denied Canadian Residency Due to Former Connection to Chinese Organization That Engaged in Acts of Espionage Two Chinese nationals with a previous connection to a Chinese organization that allegedly engaged in acts of espionage were denied permanent residency in Canada when their appeal was dismissed by the Federal Court on Jan. 19. According to Justice Vanessa Rochesters decision, the principal applicant, Yuxia Gao, and her spouse, Yong Zhang, were being sponsored by their daughter who is a naturalized citizen. However, a Canadian immigration officer in Hong Kong had deemed them inadmissible due to Zhangs previous employment with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office (OCAO). The Officer determined that there were reasonable grounds to believe that OCAO had engaged in acts of espionage that are contrary to Canadas interests, Rochester wrote. A scholarly article by Dr. James To cited by the court refers to qiaowu, or overseas Chinese affairs work, as ostensibly a comprehensive effort that seeks to maintain, protect, and enhance the rights and interests of the OC [overseas Chinese], but in practice works to legitimise and protect the [Chinese Communist Party] CCPs hold on power, uphold Chinas international image, and retain influence over important channels of access to social, economic and political resources both domestically and abroad. Along with these power and propaganda aims, the article says the OCAO drafts qiaowu policy and engages in intelligence gathering and dissemination by conducting research on domestic and external [overseas Chinese] affairs, and delivering this information to the CCP. The applicants told Immigration Canada that Zhang worked for nearly 20 years for OCAO, primarily as a computer technician until 2002, and then in an administrative position until his retirement in 2004. They tried to make the case that the OCAO does not work against Canada or its interests, but the immigration officer concluded otherwise. Based on information from open credible sources, OCAO is known to have engaged in covert actions against overseas Chinese communities around the world and thus, it is reasonable to believe this includes overseas Chinese communities in Canada and allied countries which can be considered contrary to Canadas interests, the officer wrote. In the applicants request for a judicial review, they argued that OCAOs information-gathering is not covert in any way, since that is stated in its mission on its website. The court disagreed, saying it is reasonable to conclude that the manner in which the OCAO engages in information gathering is covert and that the information gathered, and the intended use of the gathered information is surreptitious. The applicants also contested the immigration officers assertion, backed by a Toronto Star article, that China infiltrates overseas Chinese communities to put pressure on dissidents and groups such as Falun Gong. They argued that the article didnt mention the OCAO was involved in these activities specifically. The court responded by quoting the previous leader of the OCAO, Guo Dongpo, who urged cadres to strik[e] against overseas Falun Gong adherents to eliminate their bad influence. Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline that has been banned and persecuted in China since 1999. Given the evidence in the record that links OCAO to the activities described by the Officer, it was reasonable for the Officer to conclude that there were reasonable grounds to believe that OCAO had infiltrated overseas Chinese communities in Canada and other countries and engaged in covert action and intelligence gathering, Rochesters decision says, noting that such acts by the OCAO fall within the definition of espionage. Zhangs lawyer, Jacqueline Bonisteel told Global News that her client was never alleged to have engaged in spying for China; he was just a low-level member of an organization Canada accuses of espionage. He had no personal involvement, he is not a spy, she said. On Jan. 26, Global News reported that it had obtained a report on the OCAO authored by the Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) in March 2020. According to the report, some of the OCAOs coercive tactics include the intimidation of OC (Overseas Chinese) at every level of society. The report also says the CCP seeks to eliminate any perceived overseas threats to its power, such as from Taiwan independence advocates and Falun Gong adherents, and relies on the OCAO which is established in almost every country to personally liaise with local OC communities. The CBSA report appears to be based on open sources and not classified reporting, per the description given by Global. One of the quotes in the report is from Richard Fisher, a senior fellow on Asian military affairs at the Washington-based International Assessment and Strategy Center, and appeared in an article published in The Diplomat in September 2011. Fisher said that when assessing the Chinese regimes intelligence sector, any Chinese, especially those from China, from student to CEO, are potential active intelligence assets. A supplied image shows the HMAS Adelaide approaching the port of Nuku'alofa in Tonga, Wednesday, January 26, 2022. (AAP Image/Supplied by the Department of Defence, Robert Whitmore) COVID-19 Infected Australian Ship Forced to Make Contactless Delivery of Much Needed Supplies to Tonga Australias navy ship HMAS Adelaide, which has been hit with an outbreak of COVID-19, has arrived in Tonga on Wednesday to offload more humanitarian and medical supplies as the country recovers from a devastating volcano and tsunami disaster. As Tonga has no COVID-19 cases currently, the authorities have insisted that all foreign aid be delivered without any person-to-person contact. Additionally, goods delivered by aid flights are left for 72 hours before being unpacked to reduce any infection risk. After negotiations with the Tongan government, HMAS Adelaide, with 23 people on board who tested positive for the CCP Virus, was permitted to dock and deliver supplies through a contactless process. The ship will berth, and no contacts will be made Australians from the ship will unload their cargoes and sail from port, Tongas health minister, Saia Piukala, told Broadcom Broadcasting radio. We appreciate the decision of the Government of Tonga to enable HMAS Adelaide to dock and offload the humanitarian and medical supplies, and the high priority it has placed on COVID safety throughout the recovery process, reads a joint statement from Australias foreign affairs, defence, and international development ministers. A satellite image of the underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga reaching into the stratosphere on Jan. 15, 2022. (AAP Image/Tonga Meteorological Services, Government of Tonga) To date, Australia has delivered to Tonga more than 40 tonnes of emergency relief supplies, including shelter materials, water and sanitation supplies, equipment to restore communications and personal protective equipment for people clearing ash. The Morrison government has committed an additional $2 million (US$1.4 million) in humanitarian funding to assist Tonga, which brings the total commitment to $3 million (US$2.1 million) so far. We stand ready to provide further assistance to meet Tongas needs, the joint statement of Australian ministers said. We are also coordinating our assistance closely with other partners, including France and New Zealand under the FRANZ Pacific humanitarian response partnership, as well as Fiji, Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and non-government organisations. The island country in the Pacific experienced an underwater eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga-Haapai volcano and subsequent tsunami on Jan. 15, which has severed its fibre-optic communication cable connecting the country to the outside world. An entire village on one of Tongas islands has been wiped out by the tsunami following the volcanic eruption, which killed at least three people. This photo provided by Broadcom Broadcasting shows a damaged area in Nukualofa, Tonga, on Jan. 20, 2022. (Marian Kupu/Broadcom Broadcasting via AP) Australia also promised to widen its support, including helping restore power and communications, storing and effectively delivering relief supplies, and further recovery efforts on the outer islands most affected. HMAS Adelaide has also delivered engineering equipment and helicopters to support logistics and distribution on Wednesday. Protesters take part in an "Invasion Day" demonstration on Australia Day in Sydney on January 26, 2022. (Photo by Steven Saphore/AFP via Getty Images) DFAT Says Australia Day Inclusivity Memo Was Not Official The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has said that a memo sent to the staff prior to Australia Day encouraging them to act inclusively towards Indigenous Australians was not an official document and that it should not have been disseminated. It comes after the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and other media outlets reported on Jan. 26 about an internal email from an acting DFAT staffer working on Pacific issues that told employees to educate themselves about the history of Australia during colonial times. It should not be left solely to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to acknowledge the realities of their histories and what this date means, the email said, reported the SMH. Some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have mixed feelings about celebrating this day. Some consider it a day of mourning, and others use the day to mark the survival of their ongoing traditions and cultures. It has also been revealed that DFAT staff said they felt embarrassed by the contents of the email which they believed was an insult to their intelligence. Protesters take part in an Invasion Day demonstration on Australia Day in Sydney, Australia, on Jan. 26, 2022. (Steven Saphore / AFP) In response to the reports, DFAT published a clarification note on Wednesday saying: This was not an official or authorised document of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and should not have been distributed. On Thursday, thousands of people took part in Invasion Day rallies across the country and gathered in Canberra in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. In Melbourne, protesters vandalised a statue of British explorer Captain Cook with red paint. Protesters take part in an Invasion Day demonstration on Australia Day in Sydney on January 26, 2022. (Steven Saphore / AFP) But despite media coverage amplifying the message of change the date advocates, polling on the matter has shown that a growing majority of Australians do not think a change is necessary. A Roy Morgan poll has shown that 65 percent of Australians believe Jan. 26, the current date, should remain as Australia Day. This is an increase of six percent from 2021. However, amongst those under the age of 30, the figures were reversed with 64 percent viewing it as Invasion Day. Marina Zhang contributed to the report. Does Loss of Smell in COVID Patients Mean the Virus Has Infected Their Brain? Loss of smell = brain infection? Not so fast It is now well-established that one of the most frequent symptoms of COVID-19 is the loss of smell. When the new coronavirus infects the nasal epithelium, does that mean that the virus can travel along the olfactory nerve into the brain? Recent publications make it sound as if this has been proven: Olfactory transmucosal SARS-CoV-2 invasion as a port of central nervous system entry in individuals with COVID-19 and The olfactory route is a potential way for SARS-CoV-2 to invade the central nervous system in Rhesus monkeys. Such publications and the attention they have been getting in the media are sufficient grounds to instill fear in COVID-19 patients who have lost their sense of smell. If the virus has impaired their sense of smell, does that mean that the virus is also present in their brains just waiting to cause brain fog, spread throughout the brain and kill the patient or, if they recover, greatly increase their chance to develop a neurodegenerative disease? Olfaction a Portal to Brain Infection? Our team of investigators from Poland, France and the USA examined the evidence that the new coronavirus infects olfactory neurons and travels along the olfactory nerve axons from the nose to the brain. There is a wide consensus that the obligatory virus entry proteins are absent in olfactory receptor neurons. Such entry proteins are expressed abundantly in the support cells, which become infected and die, thereby reducing the function of the adjacent olfactory receptor neurons. This is generally thought to cause the loss of the sense of smell in COVID-19. Within days, the support cells regenerate, the neurons resume their function, and smell returns in most patients within 1-2 weeks. Finding the new coronavirus in olfactory nerve axons is extremely rare, making this an ineffective route to brain infection. The Evidence Just Doesnt Add Up So why do many reports advocate an olfactory route to brain infection? One reason is that neurons and their support cells are closely intertwined, and they can easily be confused in confocal microscopy. Another reason is that the virus can indeed reach the brain, especially in genetically engineered mice where the virus entry proteins are abnormally expressed. But a careful analysis shows that the time course and itinerary of virus progression in animal models is inconsistent with a transfer from olfactory neurons in the nose to second- and third-order neurons in the brain. Instead, the data show a rare, but fulminant appearance of the virus in the brain which suggests a route through blood vessels, the cerebrospinal fluid, or by traveling along a shortcut of nerve fibers that bypass the olfactory bulb and project directly to targets in the forebrain. We are fortunate that the lack of virus entry proteins in olfactory neurons creates an effective barrier that prevents brain infection through the olfactory pathway. Does the Virus Replicate in the Brain? It should be emphasized that in contrast to some animal models, the virus is rarely found in the human brain. Furthermore, many studies relied on methods that do not prove a replicating virus, but rather detect virus RNA or viral proteins that can be shed and circulate systemically, without providing conclusive proof of brain infection. The significance of viral presence in the brain is yet unclear. Some investigators believe that infection of the brainstem and respiratory centers can contribute to fatal outcomes in COVID-19, while others note that there is no correlation between evidence of virus in the brain or cerebrospinal fluid and the severity of COVID-19. COVID patients who have lost their sense of smell can breathe a sigh of relief. Just because their support cells in the nose have been infected does not mean that the virus has found an easy route from the nose to the brain. Our analysis of the current evidence indicates that the vast majority of COVID-19 patients will not have brain infection, even if they temporarily lose their sense of smell. This story originally published in BioMedCentral. Children receive a dose of COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty vaccine for children at the children's section of the Lanxess Arena vaccination center in Cologne, Germany, on Dec. 18, 2021. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) Dont See Any Clear Benefit: Sweden Doesnt Recommend Vaccinating Kids Under 12 The Swedish government on Thursday declined to recommend giving COVID-19 vaccines to children under 12 years old after determining there would be a little medical benefit in doing so. The Public Health Agency of Sweden, in a news release, said the medical benefit for an individual child aged 5 to 11 who receives a COVID-19 vaccine is currently small. Therefore, the authority for the spring term 2022 does not recommend a general vaccination of children under 12 years of age in Sweden, the release said. We will continue to follow the issue. The agency further said that general COVID-19 vaccines for children aged 5 and older are not expected to have a major effect on the spread of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus in Sweden. As before during the pandemic, children are at a significantly lower risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease compared with adults, the agency said. In general, the younger the child, the lower the risk. Sweden registered more than 40,000 new cases on Jan. 26, one of the highest daily numbers during the pandemic, despite limited testing. On Thursday, 101 patients with COVID required intensive care, well below the more than 400 patients during spring 2021. With the knowledge we have today, with a low risk for serious disease for kids, we dont see any clear benefit with vaccinating them, Health Agency official Britta Bjorkholm told a news conference Thursday. Swedens government on Wednesday extended restrictions, which included limited opening hours for restaurants and an attendance cap for indoor venues, for two weeks but said it hoped to remove them on Feb. 9. The recommendation comes as top White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci told a briefing Wednesday that he believes children aged 2 to 5 will receive at least three doses of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine. It turned out that the other dose, namely the other group, from 24 months to four years did not yet reach the level of non-inferiority, so the studies are continued, said Fauci, adding that it looks like it will be a three-dose regimen. I dont think we can predict when we will see an [emergency use authorization] with that because the company is still putting the data before the FDA. Despite the proclamation, Fauci admitted that he doesnt want to anticipate what the [Food and Drug Administration] would do. In the United States, children under the age of 5 are the only cohort of the population thats not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Currently, Pfizer is carrying on trials to evaluate its vaccines on younger children. Pfizer has not immediately returned a request for comment. Reuters contributed to this report. The logo of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is seen in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Feb. 19, 2019. (Amir Cohen/Reuters) Drugmaker Teva Fueled Opioid Addiction in New York, Jury Finds NEW YORKTeva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd fueled opioid addiction in New York state, a jury found on Thursday, a setback for a company still facing thousands of other opioid-related lawsuits around the United States. The verdict, which followed a nearly six-month New York state court trial in a case brought by the state and two of its counties, does not include damages, which will be determined later. The jury deliberated more than eight days before reaching a verdict. Teva shares, which had been trading higher, fell more than 7 percentage points in New York following the decision. In afternoon trading they were down 40 cents, or 4.7 percent, at $8.03. New York Attorney General Letitia James called the outcome a significant day for the state and for every family and community torn apart by opioids. Jayne Conroy and Hunter Shkolnik, who represent Suffolk and Nassau counties respectively, also hailed it as a massive victory. In a statement, the company said: Teva Pharmaceuticals strongly disagrees with todays outcome and will prepare for a swift appeal as well as continue to pursue a mistrial. It said the state and counties presented no evidence of medically unnecessary prescriptions, suspicious or diverted orders. New York and the counties had accused the Israel-based drugmaker of engaging in misleading marketing practices that fueled opioid addiction in the state, including by pushing drugs for off-label use. They focused on Actiq and Fentora, cancer pain drugs made by Cephalon Inc., a company Teva bought in 2011, as well as generic opioids sold by Teva. One of 3,300 Lawsuits The New York lawsuit is one of more than 3,300 filed by state, local, and Native American tribal governments across the country accusing drugmakers of minimizing the addictiveness of opioid pain medications, and distributors and pharmacies of ignoring red flags that they were being diverted into illegal channels. The judge in the case is still considering a request Teva made for a mistrial after a lawyer for the state cited an inaccurate statistic about opioid prescriptions in his closing argument. If the verdict stands, it could put pressure on Teva to reach a nationwide settlement with other states and local governments over opioid claims. The evidence at trial included a parody video made for a Cephalon sales meeting in 2006 in which the villain, Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers films, talks about promoting the drugs for non-cancer pain, and another video, based on a courtroom scene in the film A Few Good Men, in which a Cephalon employee tells a lawyer played by Tom Cruise that he cant handle the truth about what sales representatives need to do to meet quotas. Teva at trial attributed a surge in opioid prescriptions to a change in medical standards of care emphasizing pain treatment beginning in the 1990s. It also said that its opioid sales complied with federal and New York state regulations. The jury found the state partly to blame, assigning it 10 percent responsibility. U.S. officials have said that by 2019, the health crisis had led to nearly 500,000 opioid overdose deaths over two decades. More than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses during the 12-month period ending April 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report in November, a record driven in large part by deaths from opioids like fentanyl. Other defendants in the case settled before or during trialmajor pharmacies, distributors McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen Corp., and Cardinal Health Inc., and drugmakers Johnson & Johnson, Endo International Plc, and AbbVie Inc. AbbVies settlement, for $200 million, came at the very end of the trial, on the day of closing arguments. The settlement with J&J and the distributors was part of a nationwide deal worth up to $26 billion. Teva did not take part in that deal. Teva previously prevailed in a similar case when a California judge on Nov. 2 ruled that it and other drugmakers were not liable in a lawsuit brought by several counties in the state. OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and had hoped to resolve a flood of lawsuits over the painkiller through a deal in which the companys former owners, the Sackler family, would pay $4.5 billion in exchange for immunity from future lawsuits. However, a federal judge on Dec. 17 scrapped the deal, a decision the company was expected to appeal. By Brendan Pierson Team leader for housebound vaccinations, Julie Fletcher, prepares to administer a dose of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine to housebound patient, Gillian Marriott, at her home in Hasland, near Chesterfield, central England, on April 14, 2021. (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images) England to Lift Omicron Curbs on Care Homes The restriction measures to prevent Omicron infections in Englands care homes will be lifted on Monday, 47 days after they were brought in. The government made the announcement on Thursday, as most society-wide legal restrictions are no longer in place. From Jan. 31, the limit on the number of visitors allowed into care homes will be removed, self-isolation periods will be shortened, and the duration care homes have to follow outbreak management rules will be halved to 14 days. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) hailed a vaccination booster success as the reason that the measures can be lifted. Since Dec. 15, 2021, care home residents have been limited to having one nominated essential caregiver and up to three regular visitors. All staff and essential caregivers had to take weekly PCR tests and at least three lateral flow device (LFD) tests, and other visitors were required to take an LFD test on the day of visiting and report the result to the care home theyre visiting. The measures were imposed as protection against the Omicron variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19. On Monday, the limitation on the number of visitors will be removed, and by Feb. 16, care home workers will be asked to take LFD tests before their shifts instead of taking weekly PCR tests. All frontline care home workers are fully vaccinated as the group has been subject to a vaccination mandate since November. A 14-day isolation period is currently required for care home residents who test positive for the CCP virus, or return from an emergency hospital visit or other high-risk visits, and for unvaccinated residents who return from a normal day out. Vaccinated residents and residents exempt from vaccination can follow a testing regime instead of isolating. On Monday, the self-isolation period for positive cases will be cut to 10 days, with the option of ending on day six if people test negative twice on days five and six. This will be in line with the self-isolation period for the general public. Following an emergency hospital visit or other high-risk visits, care home residents will have to isolate for 10 days instead of 14 days. And the isolation or testing rule is being scrapped for those having a normal day out. In addition, after a CCP virus outbreak, defined as two or more cases, care homes will only be required to follow outbreak management rules for 14 days after the last positive case instead of 28 days, as Omicron is no longer considered a particular variant which requires additional mitigations. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: I know how vital companionship is to those living in care homes and the positive difference visits make, which is why we continued to allow three named visitors and an essential care giver under Plan B measures. Thanks to the progress we have made, I am delighted that care home restrictions can now be eased further, allowing residents to see more of their loved ones. Care minister Gillian Keegan said she attributed the progress to the continued success of the vaccine rollout. According to the DHSC, 86.5 percent of all care home residents have now received a booster dose of a CCP virus vaccine. A booster shot provides maximum protection against Omicron, with the latest data from the UK Health Security Agency showing it is 92 percent effective in preventing hospitalisation two weeks after it is administered, the DHSC said in a statement. The UK government is set to publish a living with COVID plan in spring as it pivots to booster vaccines and antiviral drugs, and away from lockdowns. Two antibody and antiviral treatments, sotrovimab and molnupiravir, have been approved recently and are available for people in high-risk groups. But no other early treatment for COVID-19 has yet been recommended by the NHS, except for taking paracetamol or ibuprofen to treat high temperatures and honey for coughs. A Taliban fighter stands guard as the group's Higher Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani speaks on the Taliban's higher education policies at the Loya Jirga Hall in Kabul on Aug. 29, 2021. (Aamir Qureshi/AFP via Getty Images) Ernst Blasts Bidens Release of US Tax Dollars to Aid Talibans Endangered Species Efforts Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) says President Joe Biden is compounding the tragedy of the bungled U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan by approving unspecified amounts of U.S. foreign aid for endangered species programs through the Taliban and Haqqani terrorist networks that now control the war-torn country. After ordering a hasty and disastrous retreat from Afghanistan last August, the Biden administration has now authorized the flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars back into the country through the Taliban and the Haqqani Islamic Terrorist Network, Ernst said in a Jan. 25 statement. Among the activities these tax dollars are intended to support is the preservation and protection of threatened or endangered species, which include four plants, a salamander, and one insect in Afghanistan, Ernst said. There is no question the people of Afghanistan are suffering terribly from widespread famine and human rights abuses and desperately need help. But, the Biden administration has not put protections in place to prevent this new U.S. assistance from ending up in the hands of terrorists, just like when billions of dollars of weapons and supplies were handed over to the Taliban following Bidens poorly planned and mishandled withdrawal. The Biden authorizations were issued by the U.S. Treasury Department. A White House spokesman didnt respond to a request by The Epoch Times for comment. No dollar amounts are mentioned in the authorizations. Earlier this month, however, White House National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Emily Horne said the authorizations would include $308 million to be distributed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through independent humanitarian groups. Such groups working in Afghanistan must do so with the approval of the Taliban-dominated government. The new aid is to include protection and shelter, essential health care, winterization assistance, emergency food aid, water, sanitation, and hygiene services in response to the growing humanitarian needs exacerbated by COVID-19 and healthcare shortages, drought, malnutrition, and the winter season, Horne said. In addition, the United States is providing the people of Afghanistan one million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses through COVAX, bringing our total to 4.3 million doses. Notably absent from Hornes statement was any mention of the aid for endangered species activities. Ernst pointed to a 2009 media report concerning Afghanistans first listing of endangered species, including snow leopards, wolves, and brown bears, but also lesser-known species such as the paghman salamander, goitered gazelle, and Himalayan elm tree, as well as the unnamed insect. Horne said the latest authorizations bring total U.S. humanitarian assistance provided to Afghanistan following the U.S. withdrawal in August to $782 million since October 2021. The U.S. also left behind more than $80 billion worth of sophisticated military equipment, including helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, munitions, rifles and firearms, artillery, night-vision equipment, uniforms, and sophisticated electronic gear. U.S. aid to Afghanistan has long been the subject of criticism due to that countrys historic corruption and the massive inflow of American dollars, with too little accountability for who received it and how it was spent. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko said in an Aug. 16, 2021, reporttitled What We Need to Learn from the 20-year U.S. effortthat the costly program failed. Effectively rebuilding Afghanistan required a detailed understanding of the countrys social, economic, and political dynamics. However, U.S. officials were consistently operating in the dark, often because of the difficulty of collecting the necessary information, Sopko said. The U.S. government also clumsily forced Western technocratic models onto Afghan economic institutions; trained security forces in advanced weapon systems they could not understand, much less maintain; imposed formal rule of law on a country that addressed 80 to 90 percent of its disputes through informal means; and often struggled to understand or mitigate the cultural and social barriers to supporting women and girls. Without this background knowledge, U.S. officials often empowered powerbrokers who preyed on the population or diverted U.S. assistance away from its intended recipients to enrich and empower themselves and their allies. Lack of knowledge at the local level meant projects intended to mitigate conflict often exacerbated it, and even inadvertently funded insurgents. Ernst said she was awarding her latest Squeal Award to the Biden administration whose carelessness is once again putting taxpayers dollars within the grasp of terrorists in Afghanistan. The Iowa Republican also joined a group of 16 GOP senators in a Jan. 16 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen seeking a complete accounting of all U.S. financial assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021. The Biden authorizations prompted concern from Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the ranking Republican member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, who told The Epoch Times on Jan. 26 that the administration claims the actions are based on language that is routinely used by U.S. officials dealing with foreign crisis situations. The administration will tell you they picked this language because it is standard OFAC [Office of Foreign Assets Control] licensing language used in other similar crisis contexts, he said. But the situation in Afghanistan is distinct and has a long-tortured history of foreign aid oversight challenges. Failure to recognize this raises even more concerns with how these decisions are being made. A worker pushes a cart in front of a sign showing Evergrande Group's China operation at a housing complex by the property developer in Beijing on Dec. 8, 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images) Evergrande Shares Fall After Restructuring Roadmap Fails Creditors Shares of China Evergrande Group tumbled on Jan. 27, a day after the debt-saddled developer announced a six-month preliminary restructuring proposal in a bid to quell its uneasy bondholders. Evergrande, wrestling with liabilities of over $300 billion at home and aboard, will continue to listen carefully to the opinions and suggestions of the creditors, Chairman Hui Ka Yan said in a Jan. 26 filing (pdf) to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It aims to come up with a preliminary restructuring proposal in the next six months, the filing reads. Earlier that day, executives told creditors in a long-awaited call that the company hoped to work with them to achieve a risk management solution. The latest moves hardly pleased investors as the companys shares dropped as much as 9.6 percent on Jan. 27 to a nearly two-week low to HK$1.70 ($0.2182). That compared to a 2.6 percent drop in the benchmark Hang Seng Index and a 3.2 percent decline in the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index by noon. Although promising the opposite, the deeply-indebted developer came under fire for alleged lack of urgency and effectual engagement with bondholders for months. Last week, a group of international bondholders threatened to roll out all necessary actions to defend their rights if the troubled developer fails to resolve its default in good faith. Other property companies suffered losses as well. Shares of Times China Holdings plunged 28.5 percent to HK$2.93 ($0.38) after the Guangzhou-based developer said it would raise HK$400.2 million ($51.38 million) by placing shares at HK$3.4 apiece ($0.44), a 17.1 percent discount to the closing price the previous day. The company sold 117.7 million shares, representing 5.6 percent of enlarged capital, for debt repayment and working capital, it said in a filing. Shenzhen-based rival Logan Group also said the same day that it raised HK$1.95 million ($250,000) by 6.95 percent equity-linked securities due August 2026, to refinance debt. Reuters contributed to this report. A nurse administers a monoclonal antibody treatment to a COVID-19 patient at the Children's Hospital of Georgia in Augusta, Ga., on Jan. 15, 2022. (Hannah Beier/Reuters) Experts Divided on US Drug Regulators Revoking Authorization of Key COVID-19 Treatments The Food and Drug Administrations decision to effectively revoke emergency use authorization for two monoclonal antibody treatments has left experts divided, with some calling it the right move and others asserting it shouldnt have been done. The agency, of the FDA, on Jan. 24 announced it was barring use of treatments from Eli Lilly and Regeneron anywhere in the country because of federal data that indicate the Omicron virus variant is behind the vast majority of COVID-19 cases. The regulator cited the most recent information and data available but did not link to any studies or real-world evidence. Instead, the agency pointed to how a National Institutes of Health (NIH) advisory panel recently recommended against administration of the drugs. The panel used a non-peer-reviewed paper and an unedited manuscript to support its advice. The regulator also relied on internal experiments, which found they did not perform well against Omicron, according to updated fact sheets for health care providers. These monoclonal antibodies, certain of themparticularly the Regeneron one and the Lilly monoclonals did not neutralize the virus, so that would mean it wouldnt work against this strain, Dr. Janet Woodock, the FDAs acting commissioner, said during a podcast appearance. Top officials in Florida, shortly after the move, shut down all state-run monoclonal antibody treatment sites, said they were caught off guard by the move, and alleged the decision lacked strong scientific data. Federal officials have defended the action. An FDA official in an email to The Epoch Times noted the Department of Health and Human Services notified administrators last month that the two monoclonals, or mAbs, were not expected to be effective in patients infected with the Omicron variant, and other therapeutic options are available. We have a really robust amount of scientific data, including from the companies themselves. Dont forget, they discovered these monocolonals, and they set up assays to monitor them, and they also say these monoclonals dont neutralize Omicron, Woodcock said. A Lilly spokesperson told The Epoch Times earlier this week that the company backed the FDAs decision, while both companies have said theyre working on revamped monoclonals that work against the variant. Some outside experts have also said the revocation made sense in light of the emerging evidence. Studies A sign advises the public that a site administering monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19 at Tropical Park has been closed in compliance with federal regulations, in Miami, Fla., on Jan. 25, 2022. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo) Apart from the data the FDA generated, the agency indirectly cited two studies that were utilized by the NIH panel. Neither have been peer-reviewed. One was published on the preprint server biorxiv and later as an unedited manuscript by Nature. It found, using pseudoviruses, that most monoclonal antibodies lost effectiveness against Omicron, a variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The CCP virus causes the disease COVID-19. The corresponding authors didnt respond to requests for comment. The other was also published as an unedited manuscript by Nature. Researchers tested Omicron against nine monoclonal antibodies and found the variant partially or totally resisted all nine, in addition to easily bypassing the neutralizing activity from Pfizers primary vaccine regimen. It is clear from our work and from that of other teams that bamlanivimab/etesevimab and REGEN-COV lost any neutralization activity against Omicron in cell culture systems. It is thus highly unlikely that they might have any protective role in patients, Olivier Schwartz, one of the authors, told The Epoch Times in an email, referring to the two treatments the FDA banned for now. A third study, which was peer-reviewed and which U.S. officials didnt reference, found certain monoclonal antibodies didnt perform well against a cell isolate of Omicron, including the Regeneron and Eli Lilly treatments. Dr. Michael Diamond, one of the authors, who consults for Vir Biotechnology and is on the scientific advisory board of Moderna, a COVID-19 vaccine maker, said he agreed with the FDAs decision. The antibodies in all likelihood will not workthey lose all neutralizing activity (our data) and binding activity (others), he told The Epoch Times via email. The researchers wrote in the paper that despite observing differences in neutralizing activity with certain mAbs, it remains to be determined how this finding translates into effects on clinical protection against B.1.1.529. Critics have pointed out that many of the authors of two of the studies either work for Vir Biotechnology, which has partnered with GlaxoSmithKline to make a monoclonal treatment called sotrovimab, or have other links to the company. The GlaxoSmithKline monoclonal was said to be one of the only treatments of its kind to retain strong effectiveness against Omicron and has not had its emergency use authorization changed or revoked. Youre knocking out your competitors here. No ones really talking about that, but its right there in the disclosures, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, said this week. Diamond responded to the criticism, noting that he and other researchers with or linked to Vir have in the past published studies showing the effectiveness of the drugs. Our findings are now supported by work of SEVERAL other groups who found essentially the same thing, Diamond wrote, REGN and LILLY completely lose activity; AZ loses a lot but still retains some; VIR is much less affected. AZ refers to AstraZeneca. Dr. Benjamin Wilfond, professor and chief of the Division of Bioethics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine, told The Epoch Times that research often involves a range of conflicts of interests, making disclosures important. People reading the papers can make their own assessment of what to do with the information, he said. Companies often fund studies of their products and, less often, study their own product in comparison with rival products, he added. A vial of Regenerons monoclonal antibody treatment sits on a medical table next to a patient at the Sarasota Memorial Urgent Care Center in Sarasota, Fla., on Sept. 23, 2021. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters) Pushback Some other experts disagree, saying the handful of studies werent enough to pull treatments that have, prior to Omicron, shown high effectiveness against hospitalization. On the one hand, the studies on cells suggest the treatments might not perform as well against Omicron, Dr. Kenneth Sheppke, the Florida Department of Healths deputy secretary, told a roundtable in Miami on Jan. 26. On the other hand, we have real-world experience in humans, where we see really excellent outcomes, he said. Those two pieces of data conflict. And rather than saying, well, then lets just stop doing it, I think we need a third piece of data as the tiebreaker, which is, lets do a formal study on humans to see if it works or not. Maybe it will, maybe it wont work on humans, but I think thats been a missing data piece, he added. Dr. David Farcy, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center, said he and others at the center administered the Regeneron treatment to 1,000 high-risk patients in recent weeks, and less than 5 percent required hospitalization. Farcy said the center has trials underway to verify whether the monoclonals work against Omicron. Dr. Dwight Reynolds, medical director and owner of Centers for Health Promotion, said he was upset when he heard of the FDAs action because hes used Regenerons drug on 200 patients in the past two weeks and none reported any problems afterward. While federal data indicates the overwhelming majority of current COVID-19 cases are caused by Omicron, a percentage are still caused by Delta, the previous dominant strain, roundtable participants noted. Theres no quick way at present to determine which strain has infected people. I think the FDA, it was a premature decision to remove it, Farcy said. Recently, the British Medical Journal, which is the oldest medical journal in the world, began to demand the immediate release of all COVID vaccine data, including the raw data from the clinical trialssomething which has, until this very day, not been made public. Meanwhile, as we common folk have to use our drivers licenses and our passports in order to board airplanesthe TSA just publicly acknowledged that they have been allowing illegal immigrants to use their arrest warrants as a valid form of ID. Stock up on the essentials over at My Patriot Supply https://ept.ms/3l9ebCq Resources: Illegal Immigrants: https://ept.ms/3fZhx8O https://ept.ms/3KP7LEq British Medical Journal: https://ept.ms/3g2YZ7I CDC Lawsuit: https://ept.ms/3H6INOQ https://ept.ms/3IJ0GDw Stay tuned for our newsletter so you wont miss out on our exclusive videos and private events. Facts Matter is an Epoch Times show available on YouTube. Follow Roman on Instagram: @epoch.times.roman Listen to Podcasts: https://blubrry.com/factsmatterwithromanbalmakov/ Follow EpochTV on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EpochTVus Twitter: https://twitter.com/EpochTVus Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/EpochTV Gettr: https://gettr.com/user/epochtv Gab: https://gab.com/EpochTV Telegram: https://t.me/EpochTV Parler: https://parler.com/#/user/EpochTV Actor Alec Baldwin attends the 2019 PEN America Literary Gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, on May 21, 2019. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Family of Fallen US Marine Suing Alec Baldwin for $25 Million The family of a fallen U.S. Marine filed a lawsuit against Alec Baldwin for $25 million for allegedly mislabeling his sister as a participant in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. Baldwin, 63, is named in the lawsuit that alleged he defamed the sister of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, one of several soldiers who were killed during a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan in August 2021. Baldwin initially reached out to McCollums sister, Roice, asking her to give a check for $5,000 to Rylees widow, according to court papers (pdf). After the two made contact, Roice posted a photo of herself at the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., during protests on Jan. 6, 2021. According to the court documents, Baldwin sent several direct messages to Roice and accused her of being a rioter and partaking in the unlawful destruction of government property. When I sent the $ for your late brother, out of real respect for his service to this country, I didnt know you were a January 6th rioter, Baldwin allegedly wrote to Roice on Instagram on Jan. 3 of this year, the documents said. Protesting is perfectly legal in the country and Ive already had my sit down with the FBI. Thanks, have a nice day! Roice allegedly responded. I dont think so. Your activities resulted in the unlawful destruction of government property, the death of a law enforcement officer, an assault on the certification of the presidential election, Baldwin allegedly said in his response to her. I reposted your photo. Good luck. The actor then posted the photo to his 2.4 million Instagram followers, referring to Roice as an insurrectionist. The lawsuit said that she was nowhere near the Capitol breach on Jan. 6 and was stuck in place outside the Capitol Building next to multiple police officers for hours after the rioting began due to the fact that so many people were around her and the area had been locked down. Baldwin also wrote in a post: I did some research. I found, on [Instagram], that this woman is the brother [sic] of one of the men who was killed. I offered to send her [sister-in-law] some [money] as a tribute to her late brother, his widow, and their child. Which I did. As a tribute to a fallen soldier. Then I find this. Truth is stranger than fiction. The documents further said that a neighbor reported Roice to the FBI. The federal law enforcement agency cleared her of wrongdoing, the court filing, dated Jan. 19, further said. According to the court filing, Roice and her family claim they were bombarded by hateful messages after Baldwin made the post. The court filing further stipulated that Baldwin continued to call Roice a rioter and insurrectionist in comments on Instagram. Baldwins conduct was negligent and reckless as he should have known that making the allegations he did against plaintiffs to his millions of followers would cause plaintiffs harm, the court documents, which were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. Baldwin also made note of the online vitriol against Roice McCollum, the lawsuit further said. There are hateful things toward you that are wrong, the actor allegedly wrote. Irony was my point. The irony of sincerely wanting to honor your brother and the fact you are an insurrectionist. Baldwins representatives have not issued a public response to the lawsuit. The Epoch Times has contacted a spokesperson for comment. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director at the National Institute Of Allergy and Infectious Diseases during a hearing, with the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, on the COVID-19 response, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on March 18, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images) Fauci Predicts Children Aged 4 and Younger Will Get a Three-Dose Vaccine Regimen White House COVID-19 advisor Anthony Fauci said that he believes children aged 2 to 5 will need to get three doses of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine. It turned out that the other dose, namely the other group, from 24 months to four years did not yet reach the level of non-inferiority, so the studies are continued, said Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, during a COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday. Fauci continued to say that for children, it looks like it will be a three-dose regimen. I dont think we can predict when we will see an [emergency use authorization] with that because the company is still putting the data before the FDA. Clinical trials of the vaccine in children under the age of 5 are underway, including a trial that tests the efficacy and safety of the shots in children aged 6 months to 2 years. Despite the proclamation, Fauci admitted that he doesnt want to anticipate what the [Food and Drug Administration] would do. I think we just need to be patient and know one thing for sure that thats why the system works because the FDA is very scrupulous in their ability to investigate the drugs and vaccines, he added. Children under the age of 5 are the only cohort of the population thats not eligible for COVID-19 vaccines. Numerous studies have shown that children have an exceptionally low chance of hospitalization or death from COVID-19, the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network Open on Jan. 11 found children aged 17 and younger are at a low risk of developing severe health complications. In contrast with some other studies, we did not find that very young infants were at a higher risk for severe outcomes, the authors also wrote. In some studies where very young infants were identified as being at higher risk, the outcome of interest was hospitalization or ICU admission, whereas we required specific intensive care interventions or complications. In a study published last summer, researchers found that five times more children committed suicide than died from COVID-19 during the initial lockdown in the United Kingdom. At the same time, data show that some highly-vaccinated regions and countries have seen record numbers of COVID-19 cases in recent days, in part fueled by the Omicron variant. Earlier in January, for example, Israeli health officials announced a new COVID-19 case record despite Israel being one of the most vaccinated countries in the world. It comes as health officials around the world recently said they are monitoring a potentially more contagious sub-variant of Omicron, known as BA. 2, that has been found in at least 40 countries. Several health agencies in the United States announced the presence of the sub-variant in their respective states. China Unicom's company logo is seen at its branch office in Beijing, China, on April 21, 2016. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters) FCC Orders Shutdown of US Arm of China Unicom, Primary Telecom Provider for Beijing Olympics The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has voted to block state-owned China Unicom from the U.S. market, adding to a growing list of Chinese telecommunication carriers ejected from operating on U.S. soil over national security concerns. The bodys 40 vote on Jan. 27 means that all three of Chinas leading wireless carriers are now barred, following the FCCs action in 2021 to ban China Telecom Americas and its refusal to let China Mobile access the U.S. market two years earlier. The FCC decision gives the firm 60 days to cease domestic and international services. The agency first granted China Unicom Americas operating authority two decades ago. But the national security landscape has shifted since then, according to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. There has been mounting evidenceand with it, a growing concernthat Chinese state-owned carriers pose a real threat to the security of our telecommunications networks, she said in a statement. Rosenworcel noted that the FCC has begun similar proceedings against Chinese telecom providers Pacific Networks Corp and ComNet, its wholly-owned subsidiary. The order, which was issued in April 2020, required the firms to show proof that they were free from Chinese state influence in order to continue operating in the country. China Unicoms Beijing operation is the official and only communication service partner for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, which are set to open on Feb. 4. Over the past year, it has partnered with Huaweianother Chinese telecom provider that the FCC has labeled as a security threat and is subject to U.S. sanctionsto build 5G networks in preparation for the Beijing games. A general view of a service hall of China Unicom inside the athletes village for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing on Dec. 24, 2021. (Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images) The FCC flagged China Unicoms state ownership and its compliance with Chinese cybersecurity law, which it stated could allow the company to be used as an espionage tool and give Beijing opportunities to access, store, disrupt, and/or misroute U.S. communications. Over the course of the investigation, China Unicom Americas had multiple opportunities to make its case, but its responses have consistently been incomplete, misleading, or incorrect, Rosenworcel said. The company is highly likely to be forced to comply with Chinese government requestsincluding the disclosure of communications by American citizenswithout sufficient legal protections and independent judicial oversight, FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said in a statement, noting that the companys failure to provide accurate and truthful information to the commission has demonstrated that it simply cannot be trusted to provide services in the United States. China Telecom Americas didnt respond to a request from The Epoch Times for comment. In a June 2020 filing to the FCC, it stated that the company had a two-decade track record as a valuable contributor to U.S. telecommunications markets, a good record of compliance with its FCC regulatory obligations, and a demonstrated willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies. A cybersecurity report from December 2020 shows that China Unicom was behind a state-directed mass surveillance effort on the phones of U.S. citizens in 2018. By exploiting existing network vulnerabilities, the regime was able to monitor and intercept communications of U.S. mobile users while they traveled abroad. The number of individuals targeted is in the tens of thousands, according to the report. China Unicom refuted the report findings. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who led the effort on a 2018 bipartisan congressional report warning about Chinese intelligence collection efforts through telecom suppliers such as China Unicom, said he was pleased to see the FCC action. Revoking China Unicom Americas license marks another step forward in ensuring our communications networks are secure for all Americans, he wrote on Twitter. In November, another provider China Telecom America had sought to block an FCC ban by challenging the order at a federal appeals court, which the court dismissed. Despite this, China Telecom told the FCC that it would continue most of its U.S. operations, arguing that its business-focused services were not caught under the order. Rosenworcel, in response, told the companys lawyer that the commission will pursue all available remedies to ensure its exit, according to a Dec. 30 letter. Starks said China Unicom Americas can still offer data center services to U.S. customers even after the loss of license. The commission is planning to issue a consumer guide in English, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese on its website to alert users of alternatives, the agency stated. Federal Charges Against Brian Laundrie Dropped by Wyoming US Attorney The Wyoming U.S. Attorneys office dismissed an indictment against Brian Laundrie in the wake of the FBIs announcement that it is closing its investigation into his case. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Scott Skavdahl granted a motion to dismiss bank fraud charges against Laundrie for the reason that the Defendant is deceased, according to a Wednesday court filing. Steve Bertolino, Laundries familys attorney, provided no comment on Thursday. The US Attorneys Office in Wyoming on Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss the charges after prosecutors secured Brian Laundries certified death certificate. Officials said that Laundrie, 23, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park near North Port, Florida. Laundrie was wanted as a person of interest in the disappearance and murder of Gabby Petito, his girlfriend, while they were on a cross-country sightseeing trip. Laundrie was named as the only person of interest in the death of Petito, who was found dead at a campsite in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming. Laundrie was wanted on a federal warrant for allegedly using Petitos debit cards after her death. In a statement on Jan. 21, the FBI said a notebook that was recorded near Laundries remains contained a passage that was written by Laundrie in which he allegedly admitted to killing Petito. A review of the notebook revealed written statements by Mr. Laundrie claiming responsibility for Ms. Petitos death, the FBI said in a statement. The Petito family thanked the FBI for its support last week after the FBIs revelation. We truly appreciate the FBIs diligent and painstaking efforts in this extremely complicated case. The quality and quantity of the facts and information collected by the FBI leave no doubt (that) Brian Laundrie murdered Gabby, said a family lawyer to CNN. Steven Bertolino, a lawyer for the Laundrie family, told the outlet that Gabby and Brian are no longer with their families and this tragedy has caused enormous emotional pain and suffering to all who loved either or both of them. We can only hope that with todays closure of the case each family can begin to heal and move forward and find peace in and with the memories of their children. May Gabby and Brian both rest in peace, he said. Before Laundries remains were discovered, a massive manhunt was initiated by the FBI and local law enforcement. Meanwhile, there were dozens of reported sightings around the country. Laundries remains were found at the 25,000-acre reserve just miles from his parents home in North Port on Oct. 20. The trading symbol for BlackRock is displayed at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, on July 14, 2017. (Bryan R. Smith/AFP/Getty Images) For BlackRock, Stakeholder Capitalism Should Reject Partisan Rent Seeking and China Subservience Commentary I was amused to read the Annual Letter to CEOs from BlackRocks Larry Fink, his yearly missive to companies in which the investment manager has a stake. Fink seems to marvel that Its been two years since I wrote that climate risk is investment risk. And in that short period, we have seen a tectonic shift of capital. Sustainable investments have now reached $4 trillion. The pronouncement he cites from two years prior (February 2020) that triggered the tectonic shift, says: The past year has seen a marked shift in societys attitudes toward sustainability. This shift is spurring political pressure, a regulatory push and technological advancements to create the foundations of a more sustainable world, leading to a change in investor behavior and setting in motion a major yet gradual capital reallocation. Well, duh! He caused it! Fink is a classic rent-seeker, and his estimated $9.5 trillion (with a T) under management allows him considerable influence in companies in which BlackRock has an investment, as well as government. As business journalist Charlie Gasparino put it, Fink [is] a key player in the Democratic Party. And he hasnt been bashful in deploying BlackRocks clout to advance Democratic economic causes in ways that happen to support its bottom line. Finks feigned surprise at the tectonic shift of capital toward Environmental, Social, and Government (ESG) investing and the shift in societys attitudes toward sustainability is rather like Pope Francis expressing surprise at Catholics attitudes toward some act he has deemed to be a mortal sin. Forgive me if I am skeptical of Mr. Finks sincerity. Hes certainly not putting his money where his mouth is. As the first foreign fund manager to have 100 percent control of an equity fund in communist China, Fink and BlackRock are investing in the worlds largest carbon polluterone that pumped out 10,065 million tons of CO2 in 2019, nearly twice what the United States exudes. And while America has reduced its carbon emissions in the last 20 years, Chinas emissions have skyrocketed. And skepticism should trigger inquiry. BlackRock investors, including a number of government employee pension funds, shouldnt hesitate to ask Fink just how high a priority he gives his climate sustainability program. Thats because among U.S. adults surveyed by the Pew Research Center, climate change ranked fifth from last, with just 38 percent of respondents giving it their highest priority for 2021. And that low priority came along a deep 45 percentage point partisan divide between Republicans and Democratswith only 14 percent of Republicans believing that climate change should be the first priority for Congress and the president to address, while 59 percent of Democrats think it should be. Given Finks stated concerns about climate, the pension fund managers for industrial unions, like the Teamsters, the United Auto Workers, and the United Mine Workerswhose plan participants have all suffered from the kind of globalization Fink and BlackRock have long supportedshould ask Fink whether he might subscribe to something akin to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The CBAM would apply a carbon levy, or tariff, on imports of certain goods from countries, like China, that tend to be less concerned with reducing carbon emissions. A CBAM proposal is before the European Parliament to address the same concerns as Finks and would incentivize foreign governments to address carbon emissions more aggressively to boost exports. Perhaps Fink could advocate for a similar proposal in Washington among his many friends in Congress and the White House? Somehow, Im afraid Finks statements about stakeholder capitalism and carbon neutrality ring hollow when one considers his vested financial interest in President Joe Bidens Green New Deal, which his people helped write, and his big bet on Chinaone which triggered a warning from Consumers Research. Consumers Research said, BlackRocks unabashed gusto for Chinese markets flies in the face of concerns about Chinas ascendant standing in the world, its authoritarian model of government, and its ambitions to supplant the U.S. as the pre-eminent world power. Stakeholder capitalism, the phrase Fink aspires as a model for his portfolio model, would hopefully acknowledge the need to reject authoritarian government and U.S. subsidiarity to a communist, dictatorial regime as societal issues intrinsic to our companies long-term success, and one on which Fink thinks stakeholders should hear from CEOs, according to his letter. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Guns Among Items Stolen in LA Train Thefts, California the Top Target for Cargo Thieves LOS ANGELESAt the commission meeting on Jan. 25, Los Angele Police Department (LAPD) Chief Michel Moore confirmed that a number of firearms have also been stolen from cargo containers on rail tracks in Los Angeles. After the arrest of an individual possessing a firearm, the LAPD discovered that tens of firearms are among the items stolen by cargo thieves in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood. Our attention was first drawn to these instances effects by what we later determined through an arrest of an individual in possession of a firearm. People were looting and breaking these containers and stealing firearms, tens of firearms, Moore said at the meeting. An LAPD spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that approximately 82 guns were stolen, and only two have been recovered so far, which concerns LAPD as the unrecovered firearms may be used inappropriately and result in negative consequences in the city. That gave us the great concern as a source again of further violence in the city as people were capitalizing on the transport of these containers with having little or no policing or security services there, Moore told the commissioners. As of Jan. 26, a total of 122 individuals have been arrested by various agencies in relation to cargo theft. To prevent more cargo container break-ins at the rail track, more resources are being deployed to the area, and law enforcement agencies are maintaining high visibility, according to the LAPD. Cargo theft has been a long-existing problem in Californiathe most targeted state in the countrywith over 250 cases recorded in 2021, and the top five cities in the state with the most incidents are Fontana, followed by Los Angeles, Dinuba, Compton, and Ontario, according to Verisks CargoNet, a data-sharing system dedicated to the prevention of cargo theft by generating crime analytics. An infographic shows California cargo theft locations based on recorded incidents in 2021. (Courtesy of Verisks CargoNet) Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at Verisks CargoNet, told The Epoch Times that railroad cars, containers, and trailers often do not have any security devices other than a plastic or metal seal on the rear door, which makes it easy for thieves to target high-end goods, especially electronics. When the seals are compromised and the goods are stolen, more costs will be incurred throughout the supply chain, and ultimately the price of the commodities will increase, which directly affects consumers, according to Lewis. Think about the remanufacturing of all these goods that get stolen and that have to be shipped again. The cost. Thats what I call the cost below the iceberg. Its the cost that we dont see, but its passed on to the consumers, Lewis said. [With] any disruption in the supply chain, there is a cost to the end consumer. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) asks questions during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing to discuss election security and the 2020 election process in Washington on Dec. 16, 2020. (Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images) Hawley Warns Dems to Expect a Major Battle If Biden Nominates Woke Activist to SCOTUS Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) is warning Democrats to expect a major battle in the Senate if President Joe Biden tries to nominate a woke activist to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyers soon-to-be-vacant seat. Breyer was nominated to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) by President Bill Clinton nearly three decades ago. On the court, Breyer has generally leaned to the left in his decisions, though he has rejected recent proposals among Democrats to pack the court. In April 2021, Breyer warned against any such scheme, arguing that it could erode public trust in the judicial system. More recently, Breyer wrote in his book, The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics, that advocates of adding seats to the court should think long and hard before embodying those changes in law. A slew of retirements and deaths during President Donald Trumps term allowed Republicans to gain a substantial edge in the nations highest court, and many liberals have long been anxious to avoid the same happening to Breyers seat. Breyer, now an octogenarian, has been pressured for some time to step down and allow a younger liberal appointee to take his place. On Jan. 25, Breyer acceded to the request and announced that he would step down at the end of the courts term this summer. Breyers announcement kicked off a flurry of speculation about who might be chosen to take the seat. During the 2020 election season, Biden vowed to appoint a black woman to SCOTUS if elected. Following Breyers announcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden was standing by the pledge. But Republicans are warning Biden that he will face a tough confirmation fight if his pick is radical. On Twitter, Hawley urged Biden not to pick a woke activist to replace Breyer. Moment of truth for Joe Biden, Hawley wrote in a Twitter thread. Will this deeply unpopular and divisive president finally reject the radical elements of his party and nominate someone who loves America and believes in the Constitution? Or will he continue to tear apart this country with a woke activist? If he chooses to nominate a left wing activist who will bless his campaign against parents, his abuse of the FBI, his refusal to enforce our immigration laws, and his lawless vaccine mandates, expect a major battle in the Senate. In recent years, Senate battles over SCOTUS nominees have become increasingly heated and ever more partisan. When Breyer was nominated in 1994, 87 lawmakers voted in favor of his confirmation while only nine opposed it. This bipartisanship continued into President Barack Obamas tenure in office. After Justice David Souter announced his retirement in 2009, Obama nominated Sonia Sotomayor to take his place. Though Sotomayors nomination was more controversial than others had been in the past, she still managed to win confirmation by a bipartisan 6831 vote. But by the Trump era, this bipartisan attitude toward SCOTUS nominees had all but vanished. During the Senates confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, whom Trump nominated to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, Democrats painted the Yale Law graduate as a rapist on the basis of unsubstantiated claims made by a California professor. According to his accuser, Dr. Christine Ford, Kavanaugh and friends raped Ford during a party in the 1980s. Despite a dearth of evidence to back it up, Democrats accepted the claim wholeheartedly, turning Kavanaughs confirmation into one of the most controversial and heated in U.S. history. Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed by a paper-thin 5048 margin. Two Republicans, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.), didnt vote for the nominee while only one Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) did. The confirmation hearings of Amy Coney Barrett, whom Trump nominated following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, were less personal but her nomination still caused an outcry among Democrats and their liberal allies. Barrett was confirmed by a party-line vote of 5248. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) joined every Senate Democrat in voting against her, making Barrett the first SCOTUS nominee in history to be confirmed with no support from the minority party. This trend toward increasingly partisan SCOTUS battles is unlikely to change in the near future, whoever Biden nominates. One recent Biden nominee gives some indication of Bidens attitude toward judicial appointments. In early December 2021, the Democratic Senate voted along party lines to confirm Biden-nominated Rachael Rollins, whom Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) described as a left-wing prosecutor, to the position of U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. Before being nominated as U.S. attorney, Rollins served as the district attorney (DA) for Suffolk County, Massachusetts. As DA, Rollins refused to enforce a laundry list of laws. These un-enforced laws included larceny, shoplifting, trespassing, disorderly conduct, driving with a suspended license, and even possession of hard drugs with intent to distribute. Cruz revealed these findings on the Senate floor before Rollinss confirmation vote, urging Democrats to oppose the nomination. Nevertheless, all 50 Democratsincluding moderates Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.)voted to confirm Rollins, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to use her tie-breaking vote and confirm Rollins with no Republican support. It isnt yet clear who Biden will nominate to take Breyers place. However, if Biden tries to nominate someone considered too radical to the high court, he could find himself blocked by swing-voting Manchin. In any event, Hawleys warning on Twitter makes clear that Biden will certainly face opposition from Republicans if his final pick is too radical, setting the stage for a tough fight in the Senate later this year. U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, speaks during a press conference at the U.N. Headquarters in New York on March 1, 2021. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images) House Republicans Demand Answers on Iran and Israel Expressing grave concern over the Biden administrations handling of foreign policy matters in Iran and Israel, more than 30 House Republicans signed two stern letters this week, demanding action from President Joe Biden and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. The American people expect this administration to live up to its word; number one, keep us safe, and keep American interests safe. It seems in both these cases thats not occurring at any level, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.), author of the letters, told The Epoch Times. Thats not occurring at the U.N. with the with ambassador Greenfield, regarding the Human Rights Council and this never-ending investigation and condemnation of Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, and its certainly not happening with Irans nuclear intentions. The letter to Biden (pdf) requests a definition of Bidens contingency plans if nuclear negotiations with Iran fail to produce an acceptable outcome for U.S. security interests. Biden said last week its not time to give up on talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal from which the United States withdrew in 2018 under former President Donald Trump. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated last week that the deal is on shaky ground and the United States is ready to look at other options. Last month, Blinken said the Biden administration is preparing alternatives if the talks fail. Given your stated proclivity for contingency planning, we implore your complete dissolution of talks with Iran, the letter to Biden says. Your administrations puzzling insistence on forging a nuclear agreement with a state sponsor of terrorism, which has used the past year to develop its own nuclear program as a result, is perhaps an indication that there is no Plan B for when discussions inevitably fall apart. Iran is governed by a radical Islamic terrorist organization, the foremost goal of which is the establishment of regional hegemony, and it will use whatever resources at its disposal and employ whatever policies are needed to meet that objective. Notwithstanding Secretary Blinkens pronouncements that America is seeking a longer, stronger deal with Iran, it is clear to anyone living in reality that the Iranians have absolutely no intention of negotiating a new nuclear agreement. Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) on Capitol Hill on March 10, 2021. (Ting Shen-Pool/Getty Images) Separately, a letter to Thomas-Greenfield (pdf) urged the ambassador to use the vote, voice, and influence of the United States to dissolve the United Nations Human Rights Councils (UNHRC) Commission of Inquiry. The commission was formed in May during a Human Rights Council special session. UNHRC directed the commission to investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial, or religious identity, a statement from the U.N. said at the time. The investigation was in response to the sudden, violent conflict that started in April 2021 between Islamist terrorist group Hamas in Gaza and Israel. Given (UNHRCs) extensive record of thinly disguised anti-Semitism and anti-Israel animus, it is clear that this commission is intended permanently to assault and delegitimize the Jewish state, the letter says. On May 27, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution calling for an investigation of Israels conduct as they defended against more than 4,300 missiles and rockets from Hamas terrorists. Despite its passage, not a single Western democracy voted in favor of this farcical resolution. An ambiguously defined investigation into underlying root causes, could lead to rewriting history and produce anti-Israel policy, the letter warns. The councils latest action will further empower terrorist groups and encourage the commissioning of terrorist activity, it says. Following last Mays war, Hamas Ministry of Information estimated that the Palestinians needed $323 million in aid to recover. They received four to five times that amount in international assistance, with Egypt and Qatar offering approximately $500 million, respectively. If groups like Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad can instigate conflict, isolate Israel at prominent international forums, and receive far more in assistance than the damage they cause, they have every incentive to do so again. We urge the Human Rights Council to abandon its singular anti-Israel focus and investigate the very real human rights practices of some of its own members, particularly the Peoples Republic of China, which has not yet been formally condemned by the council for their ongoing genocidal campaign against the Uyghurs. While 33 House Republicans signed Perrys letters, no Democrats signed. Perry said he believes many Americans are losing faith in Bidens leadership, citing the administrations botched handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal while questioning the effectiveness of its directives to the U.S. military. He also cited the lack of a valid and effective response from the administration toward efforts by the Chinese regime to displace the liberal democratic model of international governance historically lead by America with the communist partys socialist model. That is why Republicans want to know the plan for Iran, he said. We dont want to tip off our enemies for sure, but the American people have no confidence based on recent events in this administration. He also noted that under Bidens policies, the United States is again more dependent on the Middle East for energy, so conflict there would be felt at home. The current administrations policies disallow us from access to our own resources here in America, he said. Thats going to imperil our economy and impact every single thing we do, every day in our life. Whether you care about what happens in the Middle East or not, if you dont want to pay more for the products you buy, if you dont want to pay more to grocery stores to feed your family, if you dont want to pay more every single day to go to work, then you need to be concerned about these things. A woman looks at a NFT by Ryoji Ikeda titled "A Single Number That Has 10,000,086 Digits" during a media preview at Sotheby's in New York on June 4, 2021. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images) Internal Revenue Service Seeing Mountains of Fraud in Cryptocurrencies, NFTs: Special Agent A special agent from the Internal Revenue Service has warned that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies are highly susceptible to fraud and manipulation as they grow in popularity. Speaking at a virtual event held on Tuesday by the USC Gould School of Law, Ryan Korner from the IRS Criminal Investigations Los Angeles field, said that both NFTs and cryptocurrencies are becoming a growing area of concern for regulators and tax collectors as theyve steadily become more mainstream. Were just seeing mountains and mountains of fraud in this area, Korner said, according to Bloomberg. An NFT is a digital asset that uses blockchain technology to record the ownership status of digital objects like artwork, music, and even memes. They are non-fungible, meaning they are one-of-a-kind and are generally purchased using the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. Interest in the global NFT market has surged in recent years, hitting $22 billion in 2021 compared to just $100 million in 2020, according to data from DappRadar. Due to their rising popularity, regulators are struggling to police how the tokens are used and prevent them from being utilized for criminal activity such as fraud, money laundering, market manipulation, and tax evasion. In December, former First Lady Melania Trump released her first NFT and launched a new platform that will release NFTs regularly, called Melanias Vision. The venture combines her passion for art and commitment to helping our Nations children fulfill their own unique American Dream, the former first lady said, noting that some of the proceeds will go to help children in the foster care community. With the move, the former first lady joined a growing list of celebrities who have launched their own NFT collections, including award-winning director Quentin Tarantino and electronic music artist Deadmau5. However, Korner warned Tuesday that celebrities, who are capable of swaying the price of digital assets given their huge following, arent immune to the IRSs criminal probes. Were not necessarily out there looking for celebrities, but when they make a blatant or open comment that says Hey, IRS, you should probably come look at me, thats what we do, he said. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it had settled charges against boxer Floyd Mayweather and music producer DJ Khaled over allegations that they had failed to disclose payments they received for promoting investments in initial coin offeringsa method whereby a company sells a new cryptocurrency to raise capitalon social media. The IRS Criminal Investigation Unit seized $3.5 billion in cryptocurrency during fiscal year 2021, which accounted for 93 percent of its criminal investigation seizures, according to the agencys annual criminal investigation report published in November (pdf). Korner said the unit ended the year with active 80 cases in its inventory where the primary violation was tied to cryptocurrencies, and that the unit is working to train all of its staff on the issues surrounding cryptocurrencies and NFTs, acknowledging that this space is the future. The agency also hopes to increase its collaboration and information sharing with other federal agencies, including the Justice Department, to ensure that officials can stay one step ahead of criminals. Judge Orders Oath Keepers Founder Stewart Rhodes Jailed Until Trial Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, founder of the Oath Keepers, will remain jailed until trial on a host of federal charges stemming from the U.S. Capitol incident on Jan. 6, 2021, a federal magistrate in Plano, Texas, ruled on Jan. 26. Magistrate Judge Kimberly Priest Johnson agreed with federal prosecutors, who argued that there are no conditions of bail that would guarantee Rhodess appearance for trial and protect the public from a man charged with seditious conspiracy to disrupt the federal government and the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 elections. The weight of the evidence against defendant is strong and reveals defendants participation in a coordinated attack on government officials within the United States Capitol and that defendant put in place and controlled armed groups to support and/or further escalate the planned attack, the judge wrote in a 17-page ruling. Johnson cited Rhodess lack of ties to any community, a large-scale purchase of arms, disdain for the federal government, failure to file income taxes since 2007, and reports of domestic violence as factors weighing in favor of his pretrial detention. Rhodes, 56, of Granbury, Texas, and 10 others were charged on Jan. 12 with seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and other charges stemming from the Oath Keepers presence at the U.S. Capitol breach. Rhodes was arrested by FBI agents in Texas on Jan. 13. A detention hearing was held on Jan. 24 after federal prosecutors filed a memorandum seeking to keep Rhodes in federal custody pending trial. The magistrate issued her order on Jan. 26. During the hearing, Rhodess estranged wife Tasha Adams testified by telephone that she fears for her safety and that of the six Rhodes children if her husband is released. Ms. Adams testified that defendants violence toward the family became more frequent in 2016 and that her greatest fear was that defendant would murder Ms. Adams and the children before committing suicide, the judge wrote in her ruling. Ms. Adams admitted that she never filed a police report or reported the incidents to friends or family. Rhodes is the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, a nationwide group of current and former military, law enforcement, and first responders who say they seek to defend and preserve constitutional rights based on the oath they took to defend the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Attorney Phillip Linder told reporters in Dallas that he would appeal the detention order. Attorney Eric Dubin (L) and Attorney Anne Della Donna (2nd L), stand with the family and a friend of Nerissa Regnier, who died of COVID-19, during a press conference in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2022. (Brandon Drey/The Epoch Times) Kaiser Permanente Faces Potential Lawsuit for Alleged Wrongful COVID-19 Death IRVINE, Calif.The family of Nerissa Regnier, a mother of three, announced on Jan. 26 at a press conference that they planned to sue Kaiser Permanente for causing wrongful death after refusing her the COVID-19 vaccine and monoclonal antibody treatment. Regnier, of Mission Viejo, had been suffering from multiple sclerosis before she was tested positive for COVID-19 last August and died from the disease at the age of 45 in December 2021. She desperately wanted the COVID-19 vaccine, and Kaiser said nonot once, not twice, but seven timesyou are not eligible, Annee Della Donna, the familys attorney, told reporters during the press conference. Della Donna said Regnier was told the vaccine contained a live virus and could put her at severe risk of catching the disease. It didnt make any sense, Della Donna said. The COVID-19 vaccine does not have a live virus and should be given to every patient who is immunocompromised. Kaiser Permanente officials, while declining to comment on the circumstances of Regniers death, insisted they are committed to providing the best care available to all patients. They also rejected allegations that Regnier was told she could not have a COVID-19 vaccine because it contained a live virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated on its website that everyone over five years old, especially immunocompromised individuals, should get vaccinated as soon as possible. For months, Regnier pleaded with her doctors to get inoculated after starting a new medication regimen for her multiple sclerosis last February. Last August, she contacted her neurologist, who told her to get vaccinated. She rushed over to the Sand Canyon Kaiser Permanente facility two days later to get the jab while feeling COVID-19 symptoms, only to test positive. And then what happens is disastrous, Della Donna said. Instead of giving Regnier monoclonal antibodies, Kaiser refused to admit her into the hospital and gave her antibiotics and steroids. After failing to get admitted by Kaiser, her husband transferred her to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where she was told it was too late for her to get the treatment, according to Eric Dubin, the familys second attorney. Regnier fought for her life for nearly 100 days as her family watched and waited for her to return home. A family picture of Nerissa Regnier (L), who died of COVID-19, is shown during a press conference in Irvine, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2022. (Brandon Drey/The Epoch Times) She never let us see how sick she was, Regniers 16-year-old daughter, Isabelle, told reporters. She always said, Dont worry, Ill be home for Christmas, or Im coming home next week. Regnier was later transported back to Kaiser, where she eventually died. She trusted her doctors to death, but they were dead wrong, Dubin said. Family and friends described Regnier as the life of the party who loved spending time with them going out for dinner, snowboarding, and making everyone laugh. If they had just treated her as if her life mattered, she would not have died, Della Donna said. We believe based upon this case Kaiser has refused to give the COVID vaccine to hundreds of their immunocompromised patients. Kaiser Permanente issued a statement saying it had not been served with a lawsuit and added, We are investigating these allegations, but we are not able to comment due to privacy considerations. Correction: A previous version of this article did not include the official statement issued by Kaiser Permanente. The Epoch Times regrets the error. In this satellite photo, the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery is seen on Jan. 12, 2021. (Planet Labs PBC via AP) Kuwait Death Toll Raised to 4 in Oil Refinery Fire DUBAI, United Arab EmiratesThe death toll from a fire at a major oil refinery in Kuwait has been raised to four after two critically injured workers died of their wounds, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company said in a statement Wednesday. The fire, which erupted Jan. 14 during maintenance work at the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery, initially killed two Asian workers, whose bodies were found on site, and had left five others in critical condition. The state-owned company said that two of the critically injured workers have since died in the hospital while receiving treatment, raising the death toll to four. The companys top executive issued a statement in the days after the blaze saying such incidents, while very painful for us, are very likely in a complex industry. Kuwaits Oil Minister Mohammed al-Fares and other top executives of the state-owned oil company visited the refinery immediately after the fire. They were seen fist-bumping members of the fire brigade and standing in front of the site of the blast for photos that were shared by the Kuwait National Petroleum Companys Twitter account. It was the second fire in a month at the site. A smaller fire erupted last week at separate petrochemical line run by the company, though no injuries were reported in that blaze. The Mina al-Ahmadi refinery was built to handle 25,000 barrels of oil a day to supply Kuwaits domestic market primarily with gasoline and diesel. The facility recently underwent an expansion to reduce its emissions and boost capacity to 346,000 barrels a day. Kuwait, a nation home to 4.1 million people, has the worlds sixth-largest known oil reserves. LA City Councilman Mike Bonin Wont Seek Re-election LOS ANGELESLos Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin will not be running for re-election in the upcoming race for Council District 11. Bonin announced on Jan. 26 he will not seek a third term in the June primary elections and will shift his focus to his health and wellness instead. He said his position in the city council has forced [him] to focus much more of [his] time and energy on battling the negative instead of creating the positive. Ive struggled for years with depression, Bonin wrote on Twitter on Jan. 26. Its a constant companion, and often a heavy one. There are times when this job has made that easier, and times when it has made it more challenging. Instead of seeking another term, its time for me to focus on health and wellness. Bonin was first elected to District 11s council seat in 2013, and in 2017 he was reelected by winning 71 percent of the vote. Last year, he announced he would seek re-election in the upcoming race for his seat in 2022. In a video message posted on the same day, Bonin touted his work advocating for homeless housing and services, rental protections, and environmental protections during his time in office. Bonin was an early supporter of the citys efforts to transition the Department of Water and Power to 100 percent renewable energy by 2035 and co-introduced a 2017 motion to ban oil and gas drilling in the citya motion that will likely materialize very soon as the city council just voted on Jan. 26 to draft an ordinance banning new oil and gas wells. Over the last summer, Bonin conducted a housing program that housed 213 homeless people originally living on the Venice Beach Boardwalk; the program focused on building a pathway to permanent housing over enforcement of the encampment ban. However, Bonins approach to housing came under fire when the boardwalk, as well as other places in his district, became overcrowded with encampments after Bonin refused to enforce the citys encampment ban for public spaces. Bonin was the subject of a recall campaign launched in 2021 by Venice Beach residents Nico Ruderman and Katrina Schmitt. Under Mike Bonins watch, the humanitarian crisis of the homeless population is growing exponentially. Tax-payer money is squandered. Fires. Struggling local businesses. Crime is rampant and rising. Neighborhoods and schools are unsafe. We feel afraid to visit public beaches and community parks, the recall campaigns website stated. After seven years of this self-serving incumbent career politician, we have had enough, and we cant wait any longer. The campaign began in June, and in November submitted 39,188 signatureswell over 27,317, the number required to trigger a recall election. The campaign ended on Jan. 18, however, when City Clerk Holly Wolcott said in a press release that the petition was found to have a total of 25,965 valid signatures1,352 fewer than the 27,317 required. This means that about 13,223 signatures were not verified by the city clerk. Despite the recall efforts, Bonin maintained that he would have won a third term if he ran. I know this decision is surprising, Bonin said in the video, Im pretty damn confident I could have won a third term on the city council. So why am I not running? The decision is not political. My decision is deeply personal. Those running for the District 11 seat in the upcoming race include Venice Neighborhood Council President James Murez, educator Allison Holdorff Polhill, and public law attorney Traci Park. A student wears a facemask at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, Calif. on March 11, 2020. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) Long Beach Community College, USC Partner on Higher Education Program for Gang Youths LONG BEACH, Calif.Gang-associated youths in the Long Beach area will get a helping hand to pursue higher education thanks to a nearly $1 million federal grant to Long Beach City College (LBCC) and the University of Southern California (USC) Rossier School of Educations Pullias Center, it was announced Jan. 25. The schools will receive $990,000 over the next three years to collaborate on the LBCC Phoenix Scholars program, aimed at promoting higher education for kids caught in the gang grip, LBCC announced. The programaimed at youths and adults ages 16 to 24was the only recipient in the country for the competitive U.S. Department of Education grant, according to the LBCC announcement. Together, LBCC and USC will change the narrative for gang-affiliated youth who otherwise hadnt considered a college education as part of their future, said Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk. Studies indicate bleak numbers for gang youth to attend collegeoften due to high school experiences that foster a school-to-prison-pipeline. This new program is going to expand the high school-to-college mentality across Long Beach, Ntuk added. Participants will be referred to the scholars program by local education and nonprofit agencies. It will encompass an array of student services and support systems, including early college experiences, LBCC enrollment assistance, mentorships, internships, and specialized counseling. There will also be a community advisory council, assistance with university transfer and post-graduate employment. This is a holistic, asset-based approach to gang-involved youth, said Adrian Huerta of USCs Pullias Center, who will serve as co-principal investigator. LBCC Phoenix Scholars aims to contribute to dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, provide a pathway for jobs and a college education and support for families of the youth impacted by gangs. Pedro Noguera, dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, said the program has the potential to extend beyond the community. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute and provide a new horizon for youth, who did not initially have college in their sight, Noguera said. LBCC District Superintendent-President Mike Munoz said the programs outreach can connect marginalized kids to positive opportunities and trustful relationships they might otherwise not have imagined. There are young people out there who have been criminalized and stigmatized prematurely, he said. The Phoenix Scholars program will create an experience that will establish a college-going identity for those that didnt think their future was safe, all the way to them obtaining employment. Los Angeles City, County Ordered to Come Up With Solutions to Homeless Crisis LOS ANGELESThe city and county of Los Angeles have been ordered by a federal judge to come up with a feasible strategy to address the homeless crisis that has been decried by local residents, activists, and business owners alike. The LA Alliance for Human Rights, a diverse group of community representatives, sued the county and city in March 2020 over the lack of adequate shelters and services available to the homeless. U.S. District Judge David Carter then issued a 110-page injunction in April 2021 ordering the city and county to place $1 billion into escrow to move Skid Rows thousands of homeless individuals into housing. After the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that injunction in September, the alliance filed an amended lawsuit, and Los Angeles County then filed a motion for the judge to dismiss the case. On Jan. 24, Carter ordered a mandatory settlement conference for Feb. 15 for city and county officials to come up with a solution to house the homeless. If an agreement is not reached at the conference, the case is expected to go to trial. Carter has repeatedly expressed frustration with how officials have dealt with the squalor on the streets. There has to be some kind of settlement eventually, Carter said during the 90-minute court hearing on Zoom. According to the most recent homeless count from 2020, there are approximately 66,000 homeless people living in the county and 41,000 in the city of Los Angeles. The next homeless count is slated to begin in February. Unhoused individuals live out of cars and RVs in Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan. 20, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) Outside counsel for Los Angeles County, Skip Miller, told the court the county shouldnt be cited in the lawsuit since no laws were broken by county officials. They [the plaintiffs] say the county has not done enough, Miller said. Thats not a constitutional violation. We dont belong in this lawsuit as a defendant. We didnt do anything wrong. Were trying to fix the problem. We think the lawsuit should be dismissed. LA Alliance attorney Elizabeth Mitchell said the gridlock between city and county officials reflects continued systemic failure in which local government is failing in statutory and constitutional obligations to protect citizens. This ever-worsening public health and safety emergency demands immediate, life-saving action, Carter said last year. The city and county of Los Angeles have shown themselves to be unable or unwilling to devise effective solutions to L.A.s homelessness crisis. Much of the crisis has been blamed on the failures of Prop. HHHa $1.2 billion bond passed in 2016which was supposed to build 10,000 permanent supportive housing units. A 2021 audit by Los Angeles City Controller Ron Galperin found only 489 of those units had been built since the measure passed six years ago. He suggested the focus should shift to temporary solutions while the housing projects remain stuck in development pipelines. Daniel Conway of the LA Alliance told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that Los Angeles County is not good at producing housing because its done very slowly and very expensively. So, for a decade plus now, weve had this commitment to permanent supportive housing as kind of the answer to homelessness. But weve never actually been able to figure out how to turn that into like an actual operational scalable model, he said. A man walks past a homeless encampment in Los Angeles, Calif., on Jan 6, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) The ruling Monday comes as homelessness is a top issue in the minds of local voters gearing up for the primaries in June. A recent survey by the LA Business Council found that homelessness is the most severe problem facing Angelenos, with 94 percent of voters considering it a very serious problem. The study interviewed 906 eligible voters in LA. To quell sprawling encampments near neighborhoods and schools, the city council voted to restrict camping, lying, or sleeping in 54 specified areas across three districts last October. The vote was a result of fed-up community members who feared their neighborhoods were becoming hot spots for crime, drug dealing, and litter. Many residents have told The Epoch Times the problem has worsened in recent years, but the pandemic exacerbated the issue even further as the city rolled back restrictions that prohibited camping between certain hours. The famed Venice Beach Boardwalk became a hub for crime, encampments, and fires last summer as Councilmember Mike Bonin said the beach would become a sanctuary zone for those seeking shelter during the pandemic. Months after the boardwalk was cleaned up by outreach workers and the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department Homeless Outreach Team, residents report that tents have begun popping back up on the beach. Bonin has opted out of enforcing the ban on encampments in his district. A homeless encampment near the popular boardwalk area of Venice Beach, Calif., on June 9, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times) The state adopted a Housing First model in 2016 through SB 1380, which required all housing programs to adopt the approach to solve the homelessness crisis. Prop. HHH, also passed in 2016, was the states first effort to embrace this new strategy. Under the Housing First approach, anyone experiencing homelessness should be connected to a permanent home as quickly as possible, and programs should remove barriers to accessing the housing, like requirements for sobriety or absence of criminal history, a state government memo reads (pdf). Critics of the Housing First model argue it takes too long and costs too much to build permanent supportive housing units while homeless people remain suffering on the streets. Additionally, they argue the best way to treat the homeless is through drug rehabilitation, mental health programs, and an emphasis on emergency shelters over expensive housing. In a pivot to address the urgent needs affecting the homeless, Los Angeles has begun utilizing Prop. HHH funds toward interim shelters and tiny home villages. One of the citys most recent pilot programs, called the Safe Sleep Village, ran from April 2021 to December 2021. The program in Councilmember Mitch OFarrells district used an empty parking lot to pitch tents in 72 empty spots, with a cost of $2,600 per spot. Residents of the lot had 24/7 management, outreach services, and security through the San Francisco-based nonprofit Urban Alchemy. The total price tag of the pilot was $1.5 million. According to Kirkpatrick Tyler, deputy chief of governmental and community affairs for Urban Alchemy, the program was a success because it provided services to help 35 people transition into one of the tiny home villages within OFarrells district when the program ended. A tiny home village in Los Angeles on Oct. 20, 2021. (Jamie Joseph/The Epoch Times) Even though the program used over a million dollars, Tyler said the cost of construction and level of care are not always factored into the conversation. Theres a whole bunch of things that were not counting into the numbers, Tyler told The Epoch Times. When we say this cost a million dollars we are not taking into account whats necessary to that person to maintain their housing, to continue to work on the places where they still need help and to help to guide them to sustainability. Tyler said the homelessness crisis has grown out of control in part because of the dismantling of the mental health system in California in the 1980s. Some of that was exacerbated by the depopulation of our jails and prisons without the proper support to support those folks who were being released, he said. Now, the parking lot used for the Safe Sleep program will break ground this year to become a 400-unit permanent supportive housing project. This is the way to make progress on the homelessness crisis: providing a range of comprehensive housing options, including everything from low-barrier interim housing to permanent units, that are managed by dedicated service professionals. In my district, we are thinking holistically, creatively, and comprehensively. The same approach should be followed all across the city, OFarrells office told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. Earlier this month, Galperin identified 26 locations for city officials to potentially use for homeless housing to align with Carters request after reviewing 8,000 city-owned properties. Although the injunction was later vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Controllers Office followed through with the request because of the urgent need to provide unhoused Angelenos with assistance and to improve the quality of life for everyone in local neighborhoods, his report reads. Pumpjacks in an oil well near Hilltop Park overlooking the city of Signal Hill, south of Los Angeles, on Sept. 25, 2019. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images) Los Angeles to Ban Oil and Gas Wells Gas and oil wells could be obsolete in the city of Los Angeles by 2027, after the city council unanimously approved a motion to draft an ordinance that bans new and existing wells over the next five years. The motion was first introduced in December 2020 by Council President Nury Martinez and Councilman Paul Krekorian amid complaints from residents who live near the wells. From Wilmington to the San Fernando Valley, gas, drilling, and oil wells have disproportionately affected the health of our working-class neighborhoods, Martinez said during the Jan. 26 meeting. This is yet another example of how frontline communities bear the impacts of pollution and climate change, whether its a power plant, freeways, or an airport. There are 26 oil and gas fields and more than 5,000 oil and gas wells in the city, according to the Department of City Planning. Councilman Joe Buscaino said before the meeting that the wells particularly disrupt life for residents in his District 15particularly in the Wilmington area. To say that the issue before us hits close to home for my district would be a serious understatement, colleagues, Buscaino said. My district had the highest concentration of oil and gas wells in the city, with nearly 400 active well sites. In my district, were at home to over 55 percent of the active sites citywide you can imagine the disruption that this would cause on a daily basis. Some Angelenos, particularly Wilmington residents, have advocated for the ban of oil wells near residential neighborhoods. One resident, who gave her name as Wendy, called into the city council meeting, saying her Wilmington neighborhood was heavily impacted by the oil wells. Wendy said she lived about a mile from the nearest active oil well and that she, as well as her family members and neighbors, developed asthma, headaches, nosebleeds, and more because of the wells. I grew up watching [my mother] using her nebulizer every night just so she can breathe properly, Wendy said. We as frontline residents cannot wait any longer. Our health and our communities are not disposable. Another Wilmington resident, Ashley Hernandez, spoke alongside Martinez, Krekorian, and other LA officials at a news conference outside City Hall on Jan. 26. Hernandez, a youth organizer for environmental organization STANDLA, said she and her community have experienced everything from nosebleeds to eye infections, and she has even seen some of her teachers fall sick due to pollution from the nearby wells. Ive lived in the front lines of neighborhood oil drilling my entire life and cant begin to express what Im feeling inside being here in this moment after all of the years of work front-line residents, partners, and allies have fought for, Hernandez said. Not all Angelenos approve of the citys efforts to move away from fossil energy, however. California Independent Petroleum Association has opposed the citys efforts to ban oil wells for years. In 2019, its CEO sent a letter to Martinez expressing concern for the thousands who will lose their jobs if the city bans oil wells. Increased setbacks and additional restrictions will devastate the vitality of the city of Los Angeles, the letter reads, and argues that the ban on oil wells would eliminate thousands of jobs, lose tens of millions of dollars in local tax revenues, raise the cost of living for Angelenos, and threaten the economy and the livelihoods of residents by increasing dependence on unreliable foreign sources of oil. In anticipation of displaced oil and gas workers, the motion instructs the citys Economic and Workforce Development Department to prepare a report on the job impacts associated with the ordinance prohibiting oil and gas extraction. During the meeting, Martinez also called for a new office of job quality stabilization to ensure our workers are able to transition into a new clean energy economy while retaining their wages and benefits. The Los Angeles motion reflects a larger movement away from oil and gas drilling by nearby counties, as well as the state. Last year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors banned new oil and gas wells and voted to phase out existing wells in unincorporated areas. After an Oct. 1 oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach, California, the state assembly created a committee to probe the spill and discuss the possibility of retiring offshore drilling. This week, the state assembly underwent hearings with workers groups on the workforce effects of decommissioning offshore oil. On Oct. 21, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed new rules that would ban new oil wells or drilling facilities closer than 3,200 feet from residential areas or other sensitive locations such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, citing negative health impacts on surrounding communities. Newsoms proposal is undergoing economic analysis and public comment before taking effect. Newsom has also called to phase out oil wells in the state by 2045. Jonathan Chew covers up as he arrives at Westminster Magistrates Court in London, on Jan. 27, 2022. (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Man Jailed for Accosting Englands Chief Medical Officer A man has been jailed after accosting Professor Sir Chris Whitty in a central London park. Jonathan Chew, 24, approached Englands chief medical officer as he walked through St Jamess Park in Westminster on June 27 last year. Footage of the incident, lasting around 20 seconds and showing Chew alongside former estate agent Lewis Hughes, was widely shared on social media. Appearing at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday, Chew, of Chelmsford, Essex, admitted a charge of intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress to Sir Chris. Britains Chief Medical Officer for England Chris Whitty addresses the nation during a COVID-19 Update at Downing Street in London, on Dec. 15, 2021. (Tolga Akmen WPA Pool/Getty Images) He also admitted obstructing Pc Steven Ozden. District judge Paul Goldspring jailed Chew for eight weeks and ordered him to pay 1,058 in costs and compensation. He said: You chose at that point to make a very conscious decision, I have no doubt in an effort to avoid being prosecuted for your offending. Unfortunately that wasnt something you put right immediately. Goldspring added that Sir Chris has responded to an unprecedented crisis over the last few years with great dignity and great professionalism. He didnt choose be in the public eye. He is entitled to go about his work. He is entitled to go about his daily life, Goldspring added. You targeted him, in the sense that you recognised him from the TV, he said. Although you did not upload the video, you were complicit in sharing it. You had a significant, I go as far as to say, an appalling criminal record, he added. Goldspring said he also wanted to create a deterrent to stop people accosting those who do not choose to be in the public eye. The district justice said he gave Chew full credit for pleading guilty at the first opportunity to the charge of intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress. He also said he accepted Chew did not initially intend to be hostile and suffered from learning difficulties, mental health issues and autism. As he was sentencing Chew, Goldspring interrupted proceedings to ask him to stop vaping. Chew also responded to the costs announcement by saying: Thats peanuts. Your contempt for these proceedings and this court have been breathtaking throughout the process, Goldspring said. But as Chew was lead out of the dock, he began to sing West Ham til I die loudly. During the hearing, prosecutor Iestyn Morgan said that Chew started filming Sir Chris on his phone while Hughes grabbed him in a headlock. In the footage, shown to the court, the pair can be seen jeering as Sir Chris attempted to break free. The court then heard how Chew gave the name and old address of his brother Aaron Chew to the police officer. Morgan said: This did cause a waste of police resources. He said police attended the address on July 1 to discover a man called Harry now lived at the address. Officers were then able to identify that Jonathan Chew was the suspect after he provided comments about the incident to The Sun newspaper. The prosecutor added that Sir Chris suffered the added humiliation of the recording being forwarded and uploaded. Rabah Kherbane, defending, argued that Chew had learning difficulties, intellectual difficulties and delayed maturity and often becomes frustrated when trying to communicate with others. Hughes, 24, of Romford in Essex, earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of assault by beating and was sentenced last July. He was handed an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to pay a total of 307 in fines and compensation. He was labelled yobbish by the Goldspring and was criticised for leaving Sir Chris humiliated after putting him in a headlock. Chew was handed an eight week custodial sentence for intent to cause harassment, alarm and distress and two weeks for wilful obstruction of a police office for two weeks to run co-currently. He was also ordered to pay 1,058 in costs and compensation. Man Rescued After 3 Days Stranded, Sheltering in Rail Tunnel SAN DIEGOAn Italian man, who was stranded in the San Diego County mountains for three days after a hiking trip, has been rescued with minor injuries, officials said Jan. 27. On Jan. 19, the unidentified man from Italy took to the Jacumba Mountains from the Goat Canyon Trestle trailhead deep in East County, north of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the San Diego County Sheriffs Department. The man was reported missing on Friday. https://vimeo.com/669645764 The next day, the departments helicopter unit located and retrieved the man from an area near Carrizo Gorge, according to a video released by the department. The man could be seen in the video walking with emergency personnel. First responders learned that the man got lost, and had taken shelter in nearby decommission rail tunnels. The hiker told his rescuers that he found water in small pools at the bottom of the gorge. No other information was released. This undated photo shows Constable Cpl. Charles Galloway, who was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Houston, Texas, on Jan. 23, 2022. (Harris County Constable Precinct 5 via AP) Man Sought in Fatal Shooting of Houston-Area Deputy Arrested HOUSTONA 51-year-old man who had been on the run after being accused of fatally shooting a Houston-area deputy during a traffic stop this past weekend has been arrested in Mexico, authorities announced Wednesday. Oscar Rosales was taken into custody by Mexican law enforcement early Wednesday morning, Houston police said on Twitter. We are working with our law enforcement partners to begin the process of returning Rosales to Harris County, Houston police said. Rosales was found in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, located across the U.S.-Mexico border from Del Rio, Texas, according to the U.S. Marshals Service. A reward of $60,000 had been offered for information leading to his arrest. Harris County Precinct 5 Cpl. Charles Galloway, 47, was shot and killed around 12:45 a.m. on Sunday after pulling over a Toyota Avalon. Authorities allege Rosales got out of his vehicle, fired multiple shots at Galloway with some type of assault rifle and then got back in his car and drove away. Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap said Galloway had no time to respond or defend himself. Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at a news conference earlier this week that authorities had video evidence of Rosales shooting Galloway. Prosecutors have filed a charge of capital murder against Rosales. Authorities said that Rosales common law wife, Reina Marquez, 40, and her brother, Henri Marquez, 42, have each been charged with tampering with evidence in connection with the case. Both are accused of tampering with Rosales car in an attempt to cover up his involvement in Galloways shooting death, according to Finner and court records. Court records dont list an attorney for Reina Marquez or her brother. Galloway had been with the constables office for about 12 and a half years, Heap said. The deputy mentored and trained numerous younger officers, who Heap said were broken up over the death. Galloway is survived by a daughter and a sister, Heap said. By Juan A. Lozano Police stand in front of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, in Colleyville, Texas, on Jan. 16, 2022. (Brandon Wade/AP Photo) Man Who Allegedly Sold Gun Used in Texas Synagogue Attack Arrested The man who is accused of selling a firearm to the British national who took four hostages at a Texas synagogue earlier in January has been arrested. Henry Dwight Williams, 32, was taken into custody on Jan. 24 and was ordered held until his next court appearance on Jan. 31, according to court documents. Authorities say Williams admitted to selling a black semi-automatic handgun to Malik Faisal Akram, who went on to take hostages after being let inside Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville on Jan. 15. Upon being shown photos of Akram, and the handgun seized during the search of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, Williams confirmed that Akram was the person to whom Williams sold the handgun, an arrest warrant states. Williams said Akram told him when purchasing the gun that it would be used to intimidate somebody who owed him money. Williams got the gun, which was manufactured in Brazil, and handed it over to Akram in Dallas in exchange for $150, according to investigators citing Williams. Telephone numbers linked with Williams and Akram suggest they were in close proximity with each other on Jan. 13. A lawyer representing Williams did not respond to a request for comment. This undated booking photograph shows Henry Dwight Williams. (Dallas County Sheriffs Office via AP) Williams, a convicted felon, allegedly told authorities he knew he was not allowed to possess a firearm or sell a gun to Akram, who was reportedly probed as a possible terrorist in England. Federal firearm laws are designed to keep guns from falling into dangerous hands. As a convicted felon, Mr. Williams was prohibited from carrying, acquiring, or selling firearms. Whether or not he knew of his buyers nefarious intent is largely irrelevantfelons cannot have guns, period, and the Justice Department is committed to prosecuting those who do, Chad Meacham, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said in a statement. The Dallas FBI Field Office and our partners have worked around the clock since January 15, 2022 to determine how Malik Faisal Akram acquired the weapon he used to terrorize worshipers at Colleyvilles Congregation Beth Israel synagogue, added Dallas FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno. Prosecutors are pushing the court to keep Williams detained until trial, arguing there is a serious risk he will flee or otherwise obstruct justice. Williamss lawyer has not yet entered a filing in response. Akram was killed when federal agents barged into the synagogue. Federal officials have said the incident is being investigated. Passengers pull their luggage outside Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) as a plane comes in for a landing at dusk in Los Angeles on Nov. 1, 2013. (Robyn BeckAFP/Getty Images) Man Who Jumped from Plane at LAX Sentenced to Prison LOS ANGELESA passenger who tried to break into an airplane cockpit, then jumped from the moving plane on a runway at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), was sentenced Jan. 26 to 18 months in federal prison. Luis Antonio Victoria Dominguez of La Paz, Mexico who broke his leg when he landed on the tarmac on June 25 last yearwas also ordered to pay $20,132 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. Dominguez, 34, pleaded guilty in October in Los Angeles federal court to one count of interference with flight crew members and flight attendants. Dominguez was a passenger on United Airlines flight 5365, operated by SkyWest Airlines, that was scheduled to fly from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. Soon after the plane pushed back from the gate, Dominguez sprinted to the front of the aircraft past a seated flight attendant and began banging on the cockpit door and manipulating the locked doorknob, according to an FBI affidavit that was filed with a criminal complaint in this case. When he failed to gain entry to the cockpit, Dominguez pushed past the flight attendant and went to the emergency exit on the right side of the plane, where he managed to partially open the door, causing the emergency slide to partially deploy, the affidavit states. While a nearby passenger attempted to restrain him, Dominguez managed to get away and jump from the aircraft, missing the emergency slide. Once Dominguez landed on the tarmac, he began crawling away from the aircraft, and his right leg appeared broken, the affidavit states. Dominguez assaulted a flight attendant and endangered the lives of countless others when he attempted to breach the cockpit of the plane and then partially deployed a slide while the plane was taxiing, causing the pilot to immediately shut off the engine to avoid having the slide sucked into the engine, federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. His unruly conduct damaged the plane, taking it out of commission for four days, prosecutors wrote. Vehicles attempt to drive through a flooded section of Batman Avenue in Melbourne, Australia, on March 6, 2010. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Melbourne Braces for Dangerous Thunderstorms; Authorities Exercise Caution Victorian authorities have issued a warning for very dangerous thunderstorms which could unleash flash flooding in parts of the state after the weather turned wild on Wednesday night. The Bureau of Meteorology sent out a red alert warning for northern and western Melbourne, as well as the southern Macedon Ranges, for severe thunderstorms just before 7 a.m. on Jan. 27. Meteorologists expect that heavy rainfall will impact people living in the following areas: the citys inner-eastern, central, northern, southeastern, outer-eastern, northern and western suburbs. Victorias emergency services have also released a Watch and Act alert, cautioning people in Greater Melbourne against hazards such as floodwater, debris, damaged building, and fallen trees and power lines. The alert also warns people to take shelter if necessary. Very dangerous thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Gisborne and Woodend. These thunderstorms are moving from the north of Melbourne towards the south to southeast, the emergency alert said. Severe weather causing intense rainfall that may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is likely. A view of the city is seen as massive storms hit Melbourne city, Australia, on March 6, 2010. (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Malmsbury Headwall witnessed 56.2mm of rainfall one hour to 5:15 a.m. Meanwhile, meteorologists recorded 38.6mm of rain in Trentham Reservoir 60 minutes to 6 a.m. The Bureau of Meteorology warns that at 7:05 a.m., severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Craigieburn, Footscray, Greensborough, Melton, Preston, St Albans and Sunbury, the bureau said in the warning. These thunderstorms are moving towards the southeast. They are forecast to affect Caulfield, Glen Waverley, Melbourne City, Ringwood and Werribee by 7:35 a.m. and Dandenong, Frankston and Pakenham by 8:05 a.m. Residents with respiratory health issues are also urged to take care as a condition called thunderstorm asthma may occur during thunderstorms. People with asthma or hay fever symptoms are advised to stay inside to protect their health and consult their GPs if necessary. HOTLINE National Home Doctor ServiceTel. 13 SICK (13 74 25) Asthma Australia HelplineTel. 1800 ASTHMA (1800 278 462) National Asthma Council of Australia Tel. 1800 032 495 Moderna Vaccinates First Participant in Trial of Omicron-Specific COVID-19 Booster The first person has received Modernas COVID-19 vaccine booster that targets the Omicron virus variant, the company announced Wednesday. The Phase 2 study is expected to enroll approximately 600 adults 18 or older, half of whom have received two doses of Modernas original vaccine and half of whom have received both the primary two-dose series and a booster that doesnt target Omicron. Both cohorts will receive a single additional shot thats aimed at Omicron, a variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus that became dominant in the United States last month. The CCP virus causes COVID-19. It wasnt clear where the trial will take place and a Moderna spokeswoman didnt immediately return emailed questions. The announcement came hours after scientists with Moderna, the National Institutes of Health, and other institutions had a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that found Modernas original regimen elicited 25 times fewer neutralizing antibodies against Omicron than the D614G variant, which was dominant worldwide early in the pandemic. Scientists also discovered the original booster boosted protection against Omicron to 20 times higher when compared to the antibodies detected following the second dose, but that the protection waned by 6.3 times over the following months. The decline in neutralization of the omicron variant 6 months after the booster injection was similar to the decline in neutralization titers against the D614G variant 7 months after the second dose, they said, referring to the reduction that prompted the widespread push for the booster in the first place. The study examined blood samples from people who were vaccinated with Modernas jab. Modernas CEO, Stephane Bancel, said in a statement that company executives were reassured by the antibody persistence against Omicron at six months after the currently authorized 50 g booster but that due to Omicrons better evading vaccine protection, we are advancing our Omicron-specific variant vaccine booster candidate and we are pleased to begin this part of our Phase 2 study. Pfizer this week launched a similar study to examine the safety and effectiveness of a reformulated vaccine candidate that specifically targets the Omicron variant. According to federal data updated through Jan. 22, Omicron was behind approximately 99.9 percent of the COVID-19 cases in the United States. Delta, the previous dominant variant, caused the other 0.1 percent. Researchers with Pfizer and other institutions said in a preprint study published on Jan. 22 that protection from Pfizers two-dose primary regimen and from three doses of the vaccine went down over time against the Omicron variant, similar to the drop seen against the wild-type CCP virus variant, indicating the booster will eventually provide little shielding against infection. Still, the scientists said the data suggest boosters will protect against severe disease, pointing to analyses from the United Kingdom that showed the boosters protection against infection dropped quickly but remained relatively high against hospitalization. A Navy member gets a COVID-19 vaccine on Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va., in a file image. (U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jackson Adkins via The Epoch Times) More Sailors Discharged for Refusing COVID-19 Vaccine, Bringing Total to 45: Navy The U.S. Navy announced Wednesday that over 40 service members have been discharged from the force for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, including 23 active-duty sailors. Members of the Navy had until Nov. 28, 2021, to be fully vaccinated against the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, while Ready Reserve Navy service members had until Dec. 28, 2021, after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memorandum in August stipulating that all military members get the shots. Service members are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after getting two shots of a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Booster shots are still under evaluation, officials said. In a statement on Wednesday, the Navy said there have been a total of 45 separations, a general term used to describe a sailor leaving his or her position, either voluntarily or involuntarily, for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine. There have been 23 Active Component and zero Reserve Component Sailors separated, all with an honorable characterization of service, the Navy said. There have been 22 Entry Level Separations (ELS), which is the first round of discharges. As of Jan. 26, 5,035 active component and 2,960 Ready Reserve service members within the Navy are yet to be vaccinated. A total of 3,258 active-duty members have requested religious exemptions to the vaccine mandate, none of which have been granted so far, according to the Navy. The service has granted 10 permanent medical exemptions, 259 temporary medical exemptions, 59 administrative exemptions to active-duty sailors, seven temporary medical exemptions, and 24 administrative exemptions to reservists, as of Jan. 26, 2022. In November, Navy officials said 95 percent of the active-duty navy force had been fully vaccinated and over 99 percent had received at least one shot of the vaccination, while warning that members who refuse to get vaccinated risk being discharged, meaning they could lose some of their veteran benefits. In order to ensure a fully vaccinated force, it is U.S. Navy policy to separate all Navy service members who refuse the lawful order to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, Vice Adm. John B. Nowell, Jr., the chief of naval personnel wrote, in the message. The least favorable characterization of service for Navy service members refusing the vaccine, without extenuating circumstances, will be GENERAL (under honorable conditions). Sailors who were denied a medical or religious exemption for any reason were informed that they would need to start vaccination within five days of receiving the disapproval or risk being discharged. Decisions on whether to suspend or go ahead with separation after that deadline will be made by the Navys Consolidated Disposition Authority (CCDA), officials said. While the Biden administration has been pushing to increase vaccination rates among Americans, the presidents vaccine mandates have faced fierce criticism and have been challenged in the Supreme court. Following the Navys announcement regarding discharges on Wednesday, Sen. Jim Inhofe, (R-Okla) said, Ive long had concerns that @DeptofDefense didnt fully understand the costs & effects of its vaccine mandate. These early indications show millions of taxpayer $ will be spent discharging unvaccinated troops & recruiting replacements because the Biden admin didnt have a plan, he wrote on Twitter. Read More Army Offers Largest Ever Bonus at $50,000 to Entice New Recruits But Vice Adm. Bill Merz, deputy chief of naval operations for Operations, Plans, and Strategy, touted the vaccine mandates for helping the force fend off severe COVID-19 cases. He said that the vaccine mandate had not had significant financial implications on the service. We have not had to medevac a single sailor due to COVID-19, he told Military.com. When you weigh [the cost of retraining a new sailor] with the operational cost of having to tie up a ship due to, you know, medevac, or whatever, it dwarfs it, he said. We have become very consistent at sea again, and I would tell you, if I had to put a dollar value on it, its probably lower than it was a year ago because of the ability to be able to manage [COVID-19] at sea [and] return to normal operations. A view of the U.S. Capitol on the west front January 06, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) More Than $6.4 Billion in US Pandemic Aid Sent Abroad, Including China Some 2,000 foreign contractors and nonprofits in 177 countries received more than $6.4 billion in United States federal pandemic response assistance between the spring of 2020 and the fall of 2021, according to a report by the U.S. Office of Inspector Generals (OIG) Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC). Most of the prime recipients are based in the United States and distributed the funds overseas. The $6.4 billion in foreign payments came from two pandemic relief packages passed by Congress in March 2020 and March 2021 totaling $4.1 trillion. Those prime recipients include federal agencies, including the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Health & Human Services, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and nonprofits, such as North Carolina-based Family Health International and Boston-based JSI Research & Training Institute. Collectively between spring 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021, these federal agencies and nonprofits have approved more than 4,000 contracts and issued 1,000 grants from pandemic relief funds to sub-recipients across the globe, including foreign contractors that provide services for the U.S. government and international development and health care organizations. The largest single international prime recipient is the United Nations, which received $831.4 million in direct pandemic funding, according to the report. The United Nations, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the U.N.s High Commissioner for Refugees received 43 percent of U.S. pandemic relief funding spent overseas, according to the report. The other top nine prime recipients which spend the relief funds overseas included were: UNICEF ($224 million); FHI ($99.945 million); General Dynamics Global Force LLC ($96.5 million); United Kingdom-based Acrow Global Ltd. ($83.5 million); International Red Cross/Red Crescent ($73.667 million); International Organization for Migration ($68.242 million); JSI ($64.32 million); the African Field Epidemiology Network ($62.5 million) and miscellaneous foreign contractors ($366.5 million). About $2.132 billion of the $6.4 billion in internationally distributed U.S. pandemic relief funds was deposited and distributed through banks in Switzerland because many international nonprofits and organizations are headquartered in Geneva. According to PRAC, those Geneva-based recipients include $1.5 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; $401 million for the U.N. High Commission; $87.856 million for the International Organization for Migration; $78.688 million for the World Health Organization; and $61.4 million for Le Comite International de La Croix-Rouge (Red Cross). The recipient mix varies from nation to nation. For instance, sub-recipients in Kuwait received the second-highest allocation by nation after Switzerland, $411 million, with most providing services for U.S. information technology and defense contractors, such as Colorado-based Vectrus Systems Corp., which distributed $339 million in pandemic relief funds on contractors and organizations in Kuwait. The pandemic relief funds that went to non-domestic recipients are in addition, or supplementary, to existing U.S. foreign aid programs, which totaled $51 billion in aid obligations to 11,000 recipients across the globe in 2020. In 2021, while pandemic relief funds were distributed through USAID, its direct allocation actually declined to $36 billion, which was committed to 8,000 activities in 181 countries. Since spring 2020, USAID maintains it has supported more than 120 countries in their fight to contain and combat the virus by providing $5.7 billion for vaccinations, including $700 million to strengthen vaccination programs and to purchase 1 billion Pfizer vaccines for distributions around the world. During fiscal year 2022, USAID reports it had $4.7 billion obligated$502 million in contracts, $4.2 million in grantsand dispersed $3.1 billion in 781 pandemic relief awards to 287 recipients, including many in Africa. Phone calls and emails left with officials listed as USAID media contacts did not to elicit a response over a two-week period. PRAC was created within the OIGs independent Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity & Efficiency (CIGIE) in spring 2020 to track the $2.2 trillion in CARES Act allocations to state and local governments, nonprofits, contractors, and individuals. With the subsequent adoption of additional federal COVID-19 relief and stimulus packages, including the March 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, PRACs 22 inspector generals are now tracking more than $5 trillion in federal pandemic allocations and documenting what is reported by prime recipients on its webpage that is accessible to the public on the committees website. But accessibility and transparency doesnt always translate into comprehensive accounting; there are 21 million rows of data on one of PRACs dashboards. OpenTheBooks.com founder Adam Andrzejewski told Epoch Times that while doing a deep dive August analysis of the $282.6 billion the U.S. distributed in foreign aid between 2013-18, researchers found discrepancies between the numbers posted by PRAC, USAID, the Department of Treasury, the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Congressional Research Service. Many of the discrepancies across the varied tracking and oversight programs are related to specific agency reporting requirements, the type of recipients they deal with, and can mix in assorted federal allocations from different times and programs that are not related to the COVID-19 response. The bottom line, Andrzejewski said, is it can be daunting to find the bottom line when there are nearly as many haystacks as needles. It takes hard work to ferret through and comprehend the data, he said. They dont make it easy. According to the Treasury, in 2020 Congress appropriated $3.8 billion for international COVID-19 relief efforts and by April 2021, had added another $10.8 billion in COVID-19 foreign-aid funding, totaling $14.6 billion. OpenTheBooks maintains the $6.4 billion figure cited by PRAC, and even the $14,6 billion cited by Treasury, does not include all foreign-related COVID-19 spending, such as allocations for the U.S. Health & Human Services global vaccine program, the $9.6 billion in total COVID-19 budgetary resources earmarked for USAID, or the American subsidiaries of foreign companies, According to OpenTheBooks.com, that includes 125 Chinese firmswith strong ties to the Communist Chinese Party (CCP)that received forgivable loans from the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in 2020, which is also not included in the foreign aid outlays. PRACs Award Details Report lists 27 allocations totaling $14.539 million in pandemic assistance on its webpage to contractors in China through U.S.-based organizations and businesses with the largest $5.18 millionallocated by DHS to U.S. Tactical Supply, Inc., based in Post Falls, Idaho. According to USASpending, the May 18, 2020 allocation was for U.S. Tactical Supplys procurement of 5.396 million face masks made in China. FHI of Durham, N.C., distributed $99.945 million and the JSI Research & Training Institute, based in Boston, dispersed $64.32 million to contractors and organizations overseas. Both are public health management consulting and research organizations that provide technical and managerial assistance to public health programs worldwide in tandem with contributions from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union, European Investment Bank, and corporate donors. FHI fields a staff of 4,000 across the U.S. and in more than 60 countries. JSI Research & Training Institute, a nonprofit subsidiary of John Snow International, has 135 staff members engaged in 75 projects in 40 countries, seven technical core competency centers and corporate services teams. Officials at JSI did not respond to repeated emails and phone calls. An FHI representative who requested not to be cited for attribution explained COVID-19 assistance was channeled by U.S.-based nonprofits to international groups and contractors using existing contracting vehicles and funding mechanisms established through the Epidemic Control (EpiC) project funded by the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). When COVID hit, (the federal government) used a lot of nonprofits like FHI and JSI because they were experienced and they had the pipelines in place to support COVID-19 response in countries where were already working, she said, providing a fact sheet outlining how FHI allocated pandemic relief money by modifying EpiC in early 2020 to respond to COVID-19 and to bolster health systems to address the pandemic. A resident receives food at the entrance of a residental area closed off and restricted due to an outbreak of COVID-19 in Anyang, Henan Province on Jan. 12, 2022. (STR/AFP via Getty Images) Mother and Daughter Stand in Snow Overnight Due to Chinas Harsh Pandemic Control Measures The harsh measures of the Chinese communist regimes zero COVID policy continue to cause suffering for the countrys citizens. Recently, a mother and her daughter in Xuchang City, Henan Province, had to spend the night outdoors in the snow as the checkpoint staff wouldnt allow them to return home, despite their negative test results. On Chinese social media last Sunday, a woman surnamed Dong uploaded a video showing her and her high school daughters plight on a cold winter night, which caused an uproar on the internet. She complained in the video that on the evening of Jan. 22, when her daughter returned home from school with negative COVID-19 tests results, the neighborhood epidemic prevention checkpoint stopped her from entering. The staff refused Dongs offer to keep her whole family in self-quarantine at home in exchange for letting her daughter come home. Dong said that her daughters teacher told the students they had passed 18 rounds of nucleic acid tests, all of which were negative. The children could go home for the holidays. Her daughter had both a nucleic acid test certificate and a pass issued by her school. But the staff at her neighborhood checkpoint said that the daughter was not allowed to enter because where they live is a high-risk area. It was after 6 p.m. by then, and they had been negotiating with staff back and forth, but were still not allowed to enter their residential complex. The mother and daughter then walked to their relatives, but were blocked at the checkpoint there as well, and had no choice but to return to their own neighborhood. Dong described the situation, It was snowing and freezing cold. Later, a bystander suggested see if your relatives or friends live in a low-risk area, and send your daughter there.' She and her daughter walked from the city to her grandmothers house in the suburbs. But the checkpoint there didnt allow them to go in either, so she and her daughter went back to the checkpoint in the city. Dong and her daughter walked from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. while she dialed emergency number 110. The police on the phone told the checkpoint staff to let them go back home first and then put a seal on their door, but the staff did not agree to it. Then she called Yuzhou City (under Xuchang City) Epidemic Prevention and Control Command Center, but still had no resolution, by then it was 2 a.m. Dong said to the checkpoint staff, Can you let us go home first, then you can put a seal on our door. If we need to go to the isolation center for centralized isolation, even if it is at our own expense, we are willing. But the staff said that is not possible, you have to contact the school. I called the teacher, but there was no answer. Medical workers in protective suits collect swabs from residents during citywide nucleic acid testing following cases of COVID-19 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, on Jan. 5, 2022. (cnsphoto via Reuters) Dong choked on tears many times as she recounted what happened. She said, There was no other way, so I stood outside with my daughter until 5 a.m. The child said, Mom, Im very cold, can you let me rest? I went over and said to the checkpoint staff that I wanted to get my car out and let the child sit in the car for a rest, he said that was okay. Dong said: We stood in the wind and snow all night. I thought if every lesson has to be paid with the price of a human life, isnt it too heavy. In such a harsh environment, if anything happened to my daughter, it would be the worst result that no one wants to see. They are the law enforcers, they cant be accommodating, but shouldnt the law put people first? At 10 a.m. on Jan. 23, Dong contacted her daughters school again. Afterwards, the school sent a car to take her daughter back to school to stay there. Mainland netizens criticized how the authorities treated the mother and daughter: The epidemic is not scary, what is scary is peoples hearts. I cant go back to my own home to quarantine at home, what kind of logic is that? Does it have to take some lives for them to change? A border marker is shown just outside of Emerson, Man. on Jan. 20, 2022. (The Canadian Press/John Woods) Mounties Say Autopsies Have Begun to Identify Four Found Dead Near US Border WINNIPEGMounties say autopsies have begun to try to identify four people who were found dead in a frigid Manitoba blizzard near the United States border. The bodies of a man, a woman, a teen and a baby were discovered Jan. 19 in the snow near Emerson, Man. RCMP have said its believed they froze to death. U.S. officials have said the four are believed to be family members who became separated from a larger group of Indian migrants trying to enter the U.S. from Canada. Steve Shand, 47, from Florida, has been charged in the U.S. with human smuggling. He appeared in court in St. Paul, Minn., earlier this week and was released on an appearance bond. Police in Gujarat, a state in western India, said officers there are investigating whether those who died are a missing family from that region. A relative of that family in India told The Canadian Press that authorities there have collected DNA to try to confirm the connection. Amritbhai Vakil said four of his relativesa man and a woman in their 30s, a teen girl and a young boyleft for Canada more than 10 days ago from the village of Dingucha. They have not been heard from since, he said. Mounties said Wednesday that identification is still pending. Indian consular officials arrived in Manitoba last week to help. In India, Ashish Bhatia, director general of police in Gujarat, said investigators are looking at how the four who died travelled and who may have helped them. Bhatia said authorities in India are aware of people travelling to Canada and other countries in an effort to get to the U.S. This has been going on (for) years, he said. Its a very old phenomenon. U.S. authorities have said in court documents that the four deaths are thought to be linked to a larger human smuggling operation. U.S. border agents were tipped off to a group of Indian nationals crossing the border last week after a large passenger van was pulled over. Court documents allege Shand was behind the wheel and two Indian nationals were passengers. Around the same time, the documents say, a group was spotted by law enforcement walking in the snow toward the van. The five, also Indian nationals, told officers they had been walking for more than 11 hours in the cold and a family had become separated from the larger group overnight. Mounties were alerted and began searching on the Canadian side of the border. By Kelly Geraldine Malone My Beliefs Wont Prohibit Me From Supporting More Liberal SCOTUS Nominee: Manchin Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) suggested on Jan. 27 that hes open to supporting a Supreme Court nominee whos more liberal than him, a good sign for President Joe Biden, who will likely need Manchins vote to replace Justice Stephen Breyer. Breyer was nominated to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) by President Bill Clinton nearly three decades ago. On the court, Breyer has generally leaned to the left in his decisions, although he has struck out against some recent proposals among Democrats to pack the court. In April 2021, Breyer warned against any such actions, arguing that it could erode public trust in the judicial system. More recently, Breyer said in his book, The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics, that advocates of adding new seats to the court should think long and hard before embodying those changes in law. A slew of retirements and deaths during President Donald Trumps term allowed Republicans to gain a substantial edge in the nations highest court, and many liberals have long been anxious to avoid the same happening to Breyers seat. Breyer, now an octogenarian, has been pressured for some time to step down and allow a younger liberal appointee to take his place. On Jan. 26, Breyer acceded to the request and announced that he would step down at the end of the courts term this summer. Breyers announcement was immediately followed by speculation about who Biden might pick, especially given Democrats thin control of the Senate. During the 2020 election season, Biden vowed to appoint a black woman to SCOTUS if elected. Following Breyers announcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that Biden was standing by the pledge; Biden announced on Jan. 27 that he would announce his pick by the end of February. As has often been the case during the 117th Congress, all eyes are on Manchin, who has the power to make or break any appointment. On Twitter, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) warned that Democrats would face a major battle from Republicans if Biden chose a woke activist as Breyers successor. Manchin, however, indicated during an interview with West Virginia-based MetroNews that hes open to a pick thats further to the left than he is. Even as Supreme Court nominee battles have grown more and more partisan, Manchin has remained moderate in his approach to these presidential picks. During Justice Neil Gorsuchs confirmation vote, Manchin was one of only three Democrats who supported him; later, Manchin was the only Democrat to vote for Brett Kavanaugh in one of the most heated and controversial confirmation battles in Senate history. In view of that, Manchin was asked on MetroNews Talkline whether he expected he would support Bidens SCOTUS pick. Manchin refused to give a commitment, indicating he would make his decision after the nominee had gone through the normal confirmation process. He then noted that he had supported two of President Donald Trumps three SCOTUS nominees, who he said were all competent and qualified. He voted against the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett over concerns about the proximity of the vote to the election and felt that it was inappropriate to confirm a pick so close to the election. But the bottom line [is], you look at the qualificationsif the persons competent enough to do the job, he said. Im looking forward to whoever [Bidens pick] is going to be, make sure the rule of law is the bible they go by and make sure to make a good decision. Manchin was then asked how he would react to a more liberal pick with substantial philosophical differences. Would that be enough for you to cast a no vote? the host asked. If they were qualified, would you still support the nomination? Its not too hard to get more liberal than me, the self-described conservative Democrat said. [Philosophical differences] would not bother me, Manchin said, adding that he was more interested in the nominees character and whether the pick was sound in their thought process and in their disbursement of justice and law. Manchins statement may come as a relief to Bidens White House, which has been faced with defeat after defeat over the past year due in part to the West Virginia maverick. Still, Manchin gave no commitment that he would vote for any nominee that Biden sends to the Senate, and potential objections by Manchin are sure to be at the forefront of the presidents mind as he goes down the roster of potential candidates. Navy SEALs perform Advanced Cold Weather training to experience the physical stress of the environment and how their equipment will operate, or even sound, in adverse conditions in Kodiak, Alaska on December 14, 2003. (Photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Eric S. Logsdon/U.S. Navy via Getty Images) Navy SEALs No Longer Using Washington State Parks for Training Amid Lawsuit U.S. Navy SEALs will not be permitted to train in Washington state parks, pending a lawsuit that arose after residents raised concerns over seeing armed men. The decision comes after attorneys for the Whidbey Environmental Action Network, who filed a lawsuit against the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission in March 2021, argued in a legal brief last month that residents may feel on edge if Navy SEALs continue to use parks for training. It is difficult to find peace in the woods when armed frogmen might be lurking behind every tree, they wrote, according to Coffee or Die magazine. State parkland for military training had been used by the Navy since 2015 after the approval of a right-of-entry permit. That agreement to use five state parks expired in 2020, and when the Navy attempted to renew the contract, it asked to increase the number of state parks SEALs could train in to 28. In response, local residents complained about the presence of the military in the areas. I object to the Navys proposal to use our State Parks for training. There are serious problems with the proposal. Allowing the Navy to use our State Parks for training would further militarize our society, taking over a large number of parks (29) for military training, a resident wrote to state regulators while the Navy and the state sought to renew its agreement. We use our parks for peace, solitude, getting back to nature, getting in tune with our family and ourselves. There is no need to use these spaces. Stop, just stop. This is a terrible idea, the resident wrote during the public comment period (pdf). In these days of great division in our civil society, we dont need stealthy men in camo uniforms toting toy guns around our State and County Parks, another wrote. People frequent parks to escape tension, not to encounter more. Keep the Navy commando training out of our parks! Navy spokesman Joe Overton told Coffee or Die that the areas provide an environment that aids military training. This area provides a unique environment of cold water, extreme tidal changes, multi-variant currents, low visibility, complex underwater terrain, climate, and rigorous land terrain, which provides an advanced training environment, Overton said. The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission then voted to reduce the number of hours that Navy SEALs could train, and said some areas were off-limits. The Whidbey Environmental Action Networks March 2021 lawsuit cites residents fears, stating that they may avoid parks in the state in case they encounter the proposed war games or being spied upon by Navy personnel. A hearing in the case has been scheduled for April 1 in Thurston County Superior Court. The Epoch Times has reached out to the U.S. Navy for comment. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced efforts to temporarily employ National Guard troops and state bureaucrats as substitute teachers and child care workers during a briefing at Sante Fe High School in Santa Fe, N.M., on Jan. 19, 2022. (Morgan Lee/AP Photo) New Mexico National Guard Members Filling in as Substitute Teachers New Mexico National Guard members this week started volunteering as substitute teachers amid teacher shortages in the state. Fifty Guard personnel have received teaching licenses, a spokeswoman for the New Mexico Public Education Department told The Epoch Times in an email. They were among the 108 who applied for substitute teacher applications after New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, on Jan. 19 urged Guard members to get licenses to work as substitute teachers or child care workers. Grisham noted that many child care facilities have temporarily closed, while some schools have stopped teaching in-person classes in recent weeks after staff members tested positive for COVID-19 or were identified as close contacts, forcing them to isolate for five days. Since winter break, 60 school districts and charter schools have shut down in-person learning and 75 child care facilities have partially or completely closed due to staffing shortages. New Mexico officials asked for volunteers from the state National Guard and state agencies, a move that drew support from the Santa Fe Public Schools superintendent, the New Mexico Parent Teacher Association, and American Federation of Teachers New Mexico. Targeted use of state workers and National Guard members will help ease the dire need for substitute teachers in our schools, Whitney Holland, president of the latter, said in a statement. To help promote the effort, the governor herself plans to substitute teach, a spokeswoman told Reuters. The office of the governor, which said about 800 substitute teachers and child care workers were needed, did not respond to a request for more details. Hobbs Municipal Schools said two National Guard members, specialist Cassandra Sierra and Sgt. 1st Class Clarence Galassini, subbed for keyboarding and veterinary science classes this week. Photographs from the district showed the members teaching in classes while in uniform. Members started teaching on Monday, according to the education department spokeswoman. The New Mexico National Guard was asked whether it supported the initiative. It did not respond. National Guard members have helped with various tasks during the COVID-19 pandemic such as manning testing sites but have not appeared to help fill teaching positions until now. A recent request for Maryland National Guard members to fill in for sick bus drivers was rejected by the Guard, which said it was focused on supporting hospitals, nursing homes, and testing sites. Kim Skaggs, the Republican Party of New Mexicos executive director, decried the governors effort. Once again the Governor isnt putting New Mexico students first. Our children are now being taught by people who are not certified educators. Its clear that students are not the Governors priority when it comes to education. You need quality teachers in our schools. Our education system remains the worst in the nation. This is an act of desperation and poor government leadership. New Mexicos National Guard shouldnt be put into this position. Its unfair to them and its unfair to our students, Skaggs said in a statement. She also called the governor going to teach a publicity stunt. But Mary Parr-Sanchez, president of the National Education Association New Mexico, a teachers union, said the Guard is doing what it always has. NM Schools are in crisis. Governors deploy the National Guard when there is a crisis, so I think it makes sense to send the National Guard, especially if we want to keep schools open. Schools have staff that need to quarantine, or the staff are sick with COVID themselvesmany for the 2nd or 3rd time. Parents depend on schools being opened to go to work. The National Guard can help keep schools staffed to keep them open, but it is a very short-term solution, she told The Epoch Times in an email. Parr-Sanchez also called for searching for solutions to the extreme childhood poverty rates in the state instead of teacher blame as one longer-term solution to what she described as an extreme educator shortage. Men work at the construction site of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Lubmin, northeastern Germany, on March 26, 2019. (Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images) Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline Wont Go Ahead If Russia Invades Ukraine: US State Department The major Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany wont go ahead if Russian troops invade Ukraine, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told NPR on Wednesday. Construction of Nord Stream 2 began in 2018, and by 2019, it was complete in Russian, Finnish, and Swedish waters, with the majority of the work also complete in German and Danish waters. The pipeline stretches about 760 miles through the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and would double Nord Streams capacity to ship Russian natural gas directly to the European country. However, Germanys energy market regulator announced in November that it had temporarily suspended the certification process for the pipeline after ruling that its operator within Germany doesnt comply with conditions set by German law. Nordstream has also been opposed by Ukrainian officials over fears it could be used by Russia as a weapon against it. While gas is not currently flowing through the pipeline and it is not operational, Price told NPR that Nord Stream serves as leverage for both the United States and Germany as well as the trans-Atlantic community. To be clear, it is not leverage for [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, Price said. I want to be very clear: If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward, and we want to be very clear about that. Prices comments come amid growing concern among Western nations after Putin has reportedly amassed more than 100,000 soldiers near the Ukrainian border, sparking concerns of a possible invasion. Russia has repeatedly denied the accusation. In December 2021, Russia demanded NATO deny Ukraine and other former Soviet nations membership of the alliance, and also demanded NATO members scale back troop deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. Washington and NATO allies have rejected Russias demands but have put forth a number of proposals and have repeatedly said they are open to dialogue with Moscow. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also placed 8,500 troops on heightened alert to assist with the defense of NATO allies but noted that no decision has been made to deploy any troops at this time. When asked whether the United States actually has enough leverage and whether its actions are likely to deter Russia during Wednesdays interview with NPR, Price pointed to Putin as the only person who can decide whether this is the path of dialogue and diplomacy that we pursue or its the path of defense and deterrence. We have done everything we can to signal in meaningful and sincere ways that dialogue and diplomacy is what we prefer just as we continue down that path of defense and deterrence, Price said. We have provided in the last year more than $650 million in defensive security assistance. Thats almost 300 tons in defensive security assistance to the Ukrainians. More deliveries are on their way as we speak, he added, and we have talked extensively about the swift, the severe, the united response that the United States and our allies would enact were Russia to go forward with their aggressions. The United States and NATO Western security alliance provided Russia with written proposals on Wednesday to address Russias concerns while also enhancing the security of NATO member nations. Meanwhile, Emily Haber, Germanys ambassador to the United States on Wednesday said on Twitter that, The US and Germany jointly declared last summer: if Russia uses energy as a weapon or if there is another violation of Ukraines sovereignty, Russia will have to pay a high price. She added that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stated clearly: nothing will be off the table, including Nord Stream 2. People watch a TV showing a file image of North Korea's missile launch shown during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, on Jan. 20, 2022. (Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo) North Korea Fires 2 Suspected Ballistic Missiles, Sixth Launch This Month: Officials North Korea on Thursday morning launched what appeared to be two ballistic missiles off its east coast, the militaries of South Korea and Japan said, marking the nuclear-armed regimes sixth round of weapons launches this month. Two likely ballistic missiles were launched at about 8 a.m. local time from near Hamhung, North Koreas second largest city on its east coast, and travelled for about 190 kilometers (118 miles) to a maximum altitude of 20 kilometers (12 miles), South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. The suspected ballistic missiles appeared to have landed outside of Japans exclusive economic zone, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the government was still investigating launches, but that any tests of ballistic missiles are deeply regrettable and violate United Nations Security Council resolutions. Just two days earlier, South Koreas military said North Korea fired two cruise missiles off its east coast and into the sea. Cruise missiles are not banned by the U.N. resolutions. And on Jan. 11, the militaries of South Korea and Japan said, North Korea launched an unidentified projectile off its east coast. That report came less than a week after North Korea fired what it claimed to be a hypersonic missile. The launches by nuclear-armed North Korea this month follow a series of weapons tests last year that underscored how the Kim Jong Un regime continues to expand its military capabilities amid a self-imposed pandemic lockdown and deadlocked nuclear talks with the United States. Earlier this month, the U.S. mission to the United Nations, alongside France, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Albania, denounced a missile launch from North Korea in a joint statement. These actions increase the risk of miscalculation and escalation and pose a significant threat to regional stability, U.S. ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Jan. 10, adding that such tests expands what North Korea can provide to illicit arms dealers globally. [North Korea] makes these military investments at the expense of the well-being of the North Korean people, Thomas-Greenfield said. In a speech to the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, North Koreas Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Han Tae Song, accused the United States of staging hundreds of joint war drills while shipping high-tech offensive military equipment into South Korea and nuclear strategic weapons into the region. [This] is seriously threatening the security of our state, Han said of the nuclear-armed North. North Korea has not launched additional long-range intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) or tested nuclear weapons since 2017, but began testing a slew of shorter-range missiles after denuclearisation talks stalled following a failed summit with the United States in 2019. Read More With Xi Visit to North Korea, Communist Regimes Assist Each Other in Negotiations With US Mark Lambert, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and Korea, on Wednesday said Washington has made it very clear to Pyongyang the need to have serious discussions on the banned arms tests. We will go anywhere. We will talk about anything. There are no reservations we have, Lambert said. We have to have a serious discussion about the denuclearization of North Korea, and if North Korea is willing to do that, all sorts of promising things can happen. Reuters contributed to this report. NTD Evening News Full Broadcast (Jan. 26) Reports say that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire by summer, the United States gives a formal response to Russias demands, and demonstrators rally in front of the Manhattan District Attorneys office after two NYPD officers were shot and killed in the line of duty. Ohio National Guard members assisting in hospitals with COVID-19-related patients in Northeast Ohio have been shifted to some throughout Southwest Ohio. Some of the Guard members are helping in medical facilities in Cincinnati, Dayton and Springfield. (Courtesy of the Ohio National Guard) Ohio Expands National Guard Help Into Southwest Hospitals, Medical Facilities As the number of new COVID-19 cases remains high in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine has shifted members of the state National Guard to assist at hospitals and medical facilities throughout the Southwestern part of the state. DeWine announced his decision on Jan. 24 as resources from closed testing locations in Northeast Ohio are being shifted to support area hospitals or Guard missions in Southwest Ohio that include the Dayton and Cincinnati areas. The Guard is offering support in every region of Ohio, whether for testing sites or assistance in hospitals, effective Jan. 26. DeWine first deployed members of the Ohio National Guard to assist in hospitals in mid-December 2021 and increased the numbers a few weeks later. There are slightly more than 2,000 Guard members throughout Ohios medical facilities to help alleviate the workload of health care workers. The Guard and State Defense Force have nearly 2,500 service members executing 10 active missions including vaccinations, and in warehouses, and prisons. Changes in deployment include new support for testing locations in Cincinnati and Springfield. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has shifted some of the members of the National Guard from medical facilities in Northeast Ohio to the states Southwest. For the first time members of the Guard are helping at Premier Healths Miami Valley Hospital in downtown Dayton. (Courtesy of Premier Health) For the first time, Guard deployment has been implemented at Premier Healths Miami Valley Hospital in downtown Dayton and at Dayton Childrens Hospitals facility in Springfield. For the second consecutive week daily COVID-19 patient counts in Ohio hospitalsincluding those in intensive carefell, an encouraging sign that the Omicron surge is coming to an end at least in the states Northeast corner. Although the state has not been seeing the record-setting new cases and hospitalizations it did a few weeks ago, the Omicron variant continued to remain high in the state (2,154 cases per 100,000 residents), except in Northeast Ohio where it has dropped. The daily count of Ohio hospitalizations fell every day this past week. State health officials and hospital management have expressed optimism that the Omicron variant has peaked in Cuyahoga County, which on Dec. 30, 2021, led the state in cases with 3,023 per 100,000 residents, according to the health department. Cuyahoga County, covering the Greater Cleveland area, had 939.5 cases per 100,000 compared to the previous weeks 1,551 cases. Week-over-week, the count was lower on Jan. 22 (5,376) than it was on Jan. 15 (6,285); thats a decrease of 909 patients. On Jan. 20, the department reported an average of 2,154.8 cases per 100,000 people, up from the previous weeks 1,883.8 cases. Cuyahoga County, covering the Greater Cleveland area, had 939.5 cases per 100,000 compared to the previous weeks 1,551 cases. The Guard continues its mission to support the states hardest-hit hospitals as COVID-19 case rates have surged, driving hospitalizations and ICU admissions this month to their highest levels throughout the pandemic, DeWine said in a statement. As a result of decreasing demand, testing sites at the Stark County Fairgrounds in Canton and the Walker Center in Cleveland closed the weekend of Jan. 22 and 23. Summit Countys drive-through testing location in Akron closed on Jan. 16. Ohios death toll since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020 now stands at 31,987 as of Jan. 23, according to health department numbers. This figure comes after a comparatively large number reported last week, 1,065. In the prior three weeks, Ohio reported 850, 625, and 727 COVID-19 deaths, respectively. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer kicked off his re-election campaign in La Palma, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2022. (Drew Van Voorhis/The Epoch Times) Orange County DA Todd Spitzer Kicks Off Re-Election Campaign LA PALMA, Calif.Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer kicked off his re-election campaign Jan. 26 in a conference where he slammed woke DAs, his opponent, and Los Angeles-style policies he says have been contributing to a major uptick in crime. The news conference was held at the border of Orange and Los Angeles counties in El Rancho Verde Park, a symbol of Spitzers testament to the political divide between the counties due to how they prosecute criminals. Various speakers were featured at the event, all of whom were victims or families of victims of violent crime, mostly from Los Angeles County. The overwhelming message of the speakers, including Spitzer himself, was this: Do not allow woke prosecutors to turn safe Orange County into dangerous Los Angeles. Even the DAs campaign slogan No LA in OC was printed on large banners and pasted around the press conference. One mother, Imelda Hernandez, who lost her son, Christian, in 2020 in Los Angeles County due to gang violence, said she felt so strongly about supporting Spitzer that she decided to attend his conference over going to a court hearing with her sons suspected murderers. I decided I needed to be here not only to support District Attorney Todd Spitzer, but to also warn the residents of Orange County. Do not let what happened in Los Angeles happen to you or to us or to our communities, Hernandez said at the conference. My son was a Latino murdered by Latinos. Murder has no color and justice must be served for all people. With [Los Angeles District Attorney] George Gascon in office, he has made the journey for families of children a living hell. Gascon was not immediately available for comment. Imelda Hernandez speaks at Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzers re-election campaign in La Palma, Calif., on Jan. 26, 2022. (Drew Van Voorhis/The Epoch Times) Gascon was routinely criticized during the event, as well as Spitzers opponent Peter Hardin, with Spitzer regularly comparing the two due to their policies. Similar to Gascon, Hardin has expressed his desire to end cash bail, prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, never charge teenagers as adults, and end sentencing enhancements, Spitzer said. Spitzer said his opponents initiatives are those of a woke DA candidate in order to attract money and special interests across the nation. Its so simple. Do you want to remain the safest county in America? Or do you want to trade that off and take a risk with somebody whos never been elected, has no track record, no voting record, got kicked out of the military, and had to resign from the district attorneys office, Spitzer said. Hardin responded that crime has gotten worse under Spitzers watch. I protected this country as a Marine, and I protected Orange County as a local and federal prosecutor, Hardin said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times. My opponent is a lifetime politician who will say anything to get reelected. Homicides and homelessness have soared since Todd Spitzer took office in Orange County. About 10 protestors came to the event, holding signs and shouting during Spitzers speech, claiming his administration has been embroiled in scandal and that Spitzer has not achieved justice for all crime victims as he promised. Spitzer said he demanded the event would be in a public place so that both his supporters and opponents could be present. A mother and her children at a Long Island Loud Majority protest against state-mandated masks for school children on January 26, 2022, at the Suffolk County government offices. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times) Unconstitutional Mandates: New York Parents Protest School Mask Mandates SUFFOLK COUNTY, NYBraving a windchill factor of 13 degrees hundreds of parents, some with their children, protested outside the Suffolk County government offices on Long Island on Jan. 26, in an attempt to reverse the state-issued mask mandate at their schools. The protest was organized by Long Island Loud Majority, a grassroots group founded in September 2020. We truly believe that there are more patriots in the country than there are non-patriots, than there are folks radical left, pro-communism, pro-socialism, anti-capitalism, anti-freedom, anti-liberty, Shawn Farash, one of the groups founders, told The Epoch Times. Farash believes the radical left has been in a position to broadcast its agenda unincumbered and unimpeded for too long. We have stepped in and as conservatives said, You know what? If we believe theres more of us, if we are the majority, why must we be the silent majority?' The protest comes on the heels of a flip-flop from the courts regarding the issue. On Jan. 24, a judge ruled New York Gov. Kathy Hochuls administration lacked the constitutional authority to mandate masks, but on Jan. 25 it was reversed on appeal. We believe that the courts are going to hold the governor accountable, said Farash. A member of Long Island Loud Majority at a protest against state-mandated masks for school children on Jan. 26, 2022, at the Suffolk County government offices. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times) Several speakers addressed the crowd, including Suffolk County Legislator Nicholas J. Caracappa. Im not just supporting these people; Im supporting my own children, Caracappa told The Epoch Times after his speech. Im supporting the right for choices, the right for our freedoms. he said. We can no longer allow thoseespecially the power of one person with the stroke of a pento dictate how we should live our lives, Caracappa said. While Long Island Loud Majority organized the event, other organizations were there as well. Amanda Ascher belongs to East Islip Parents for Choice. Were a group of parents who have been fighting for two years now against these unethical and unconstitutional mandates, Ascher told The Epoch Times. Ascher, a mother of three, has spoken at school board meetings and feels her group is making progress. Theres a change happening. Theres a turn in the tide. Theres a lot more people who are fed up. Theres a lot more people who are starting to realize that this is not going to go away unless we actually demand it, she said. Ascher feels if they dont achieve success, it may be time to remove her children from the public school system. Suffolk County Legislator Nicholas J. Caracappa speaks to the crowd at a Long Island Loud Majority protest against state-mandated masks for school children, on January 26, 2022, at the Suffolk County government offices. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times) Mike Cefalo of Levittown brought his three daughters to the protest. The other day when they were told they didnt have to wear masks it was like Christmas morning, Cefalo told The Epoch Times. They were so happy they were able to breath in gym class, see friends smiles, he said. Cefalo is an FDNY firefighter and feels he was forced to take a vaccination he didnt want. I can actually feel the difference when I go to firesin my heart, in my lungsIm fatigued way more [quickly] than I ever was before I put this poison in my body, he said. David Balistreri is a parent of two students in the Harbor Fields school district. They were denied education yesterday, he told The Epoch Times. I brought my son to school without the mask due to the Supreme Court ruling and they wouldnt let him attend class. The seventh-grader was sent to the office and Balistreri picked him up from school. Harbor Fields broke the law yesterday, he said. Balistreri said later in the day, after phone calls from several parents, students were allowed to remove their masks. Parents demonstrate at a Long Island Loud Majority protest against state-mandated masks for school children on Jan. 26, 2022, at the Suffolk County government offices. (Dave Paone/The Epoch Times) The first location for the protest was at the Korean War memorial on the grounds of the county office buildings, but after about 40 minutes the protestors moved to the edge of the property on Veterans Memorial Highway. The crowd chanted, No more masks! No more masks! and passing drivers often honked their horns in support. Caracappa called the event a movement and the will of the people. Look whats happening here today, he said. You cant stop progress. This is progress. Pennsylvanians hold a rally in front of the Arch of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pa., on Jan. 23, 2022. (William Huang/The Epoch Times) Pennsylvanians Rally to Voice Concerns Over COVID Mandates, Restrictions A group of Pennsylvanians rallied to raise concerns about the loss of liberties amid ongoing restrictions to curb the pandemic as a larger similar event was being held in Washington on Jan. 23. The Pennsylvanian rallyheld in front of the Arch at the Valley Forge National Historical Parkwas part of the Worldwide Rally for Freedom demonstrations that took place in more than 40 countries and 150 cities around the world. According to the movements website, the demonstrations advocate for five important objectives, including the end of lockdowns, an end of mask mandates, and the end of vaccine mandates and coercion. Pennsylvanians rally in front of the Arch of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pa., on Jan. 23, 2022. (William Huang/The Epoch Times) The rally in front of the arch started with the singing of the national anthem and the national flag being held high. Over 10 people then gave speeches, talking about basic human rights, individual freedom, and non-compliance with vaccine mandates. John and Sara Castelluccio, with their three children, attended the event. Mr. Castelluccio works in the logistics industry while his wife is a teacher. Were here to stand for freedom, freedom to choose what to put in our body and to defeat the unlawful mandates, he said. John and Sara Castelluccio, with their three children, attend a rally held in front of the Arch of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pa., on Jan. 23, 2022. (William Huang/The Epoch Times) Mrs. Castelluccio also explained why she attended the event. Were here because we value the integrity of our country and what it was founded on, Mrs. Castelluccio said. She expressed that the government should be more transparent about the risks involved with getting the vaccine. Edward, a former health care worker, attends the rally held in front of the Arch of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pa., on Jan. 23, 2022. (Screenshot via NTD) Edward, a retired health worker, recalled his experience after contracting COVID-19. He said he was denied hospitalization for not being vaccinated. That was my choice not to get vaccinated. But the thing is, the hospitals werent treating me as a COVID-positive patient. They were treating me as an unvaccinated patient, he said. He said he believes that as a U.S. citizen, a person should be treated in the hospital properly, no matter what the persons status, race, ethnic group is, or whatever the person stands for. Janelle Sullivan, the founder of the non-profit foundation Heartline, was also at the event. She said her son experienced adverse reactions to a vaccine and now her organization helps families find treatment for children who have also had adverse vaccine reactions. Janelle Sullivan, the founder of the non-profit foundation Heartline, attends the rally held in front of the Arch of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pa., on Jan. 23, 2022. (Screenshot via NTD) Sullivan said she was concerned over what has been occurring in relation to vaccination pressures in society and gave an example of a friend who took her children to a roller-skating rink where one of the kids was denied water to drink due to their vaccine status. This is criminal. Its not health care, Sullivan stated. William Adair Bonner, an attorney in Delaware County, Pennsylvania for over 50 years, expressed three significant concerns he had with the first being that he feels the law has lost its moral foundations. American law began founded in natural law, which was the theology that justice was a revelation of God, he said. However, right now, the law is based on neutral principles. William Adair Bonner, a former attorney, attends the rally held in front of the Arch of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pa., on Jan. 23, 2022. (William Huang/The Epoch Times) Bonners second concern was that we live in an era of unimaginable censorship. He offered an example of how doctors are being fired due to different attitudes or beliefs about the use of certain medications. This is destructive of democracy, he said. Bonners third concern is that the United States is undergoing an extraordinary and very rapid growth in the governments executive power. America has now reached a point where we function outside of or beyond the realm of the rule of law, he added. Jane Taylor Toal, a former senior marketing research analyst, is the president of Citizens for Liberty, a grassroots political organization. During the pandemic, we went in a downward spiral; we live in a godless society, she said. Theyre trying to take the Lord away from us. And we have to realize that God trumps all of our mandates. She said that the vaccine mandate is unconstitutional, and the government has no right to tell people what to do with their bodies. Jane Talyor Toal, president of Citizens for Liberty, gives a speech at the rally held in front of the Arch of the Valley Forge National Historical Park, Pa., on Jan. 23, 2022. (William Huang/The Epoch Times) Barbara Murphy, a special education teacher at a public school, said that she came to the rally because she saw that children have been silenced. The children are being taught communist principles in school, Murphy said. Weve lost our freedoms, and we cant give them (the government) an inch, she said. Theyre going to take a mile, and pretty soon, were not going to have any rights at all. Murphy also expressed her concerns over the safety of the COVID vaccines, since in her opinion, they are not administered with true informed consent, and there are no long-term studies on the vaccines safety. Barb, a retired school teacher, said she participated in the rally to take a stand for medical freedom. Our constitution upholds our freedom and liberty, she said. And a mandate is just a recommendation from government and entities, so I dont adhere to them. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 3, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Pentagon: More US Troop Deployments Possible The Pentagon says it continues to consult with NATO allies about their military needs and desires, and its not ruling out additional U.S. troop overseas deployments in response to heightened tensions over Russias military presence on the Ukrainian border. The other thing Id say is Im not going to rule out the possibility that there will be more such direction given to additional units at home or even abroad in terms of their readiness posture, said Pentagon Spokesman John Kirby. Moscow has denied it is planning to invade Ukraine, but it has massed an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine in recent weeks and is holding military drills at multiple locations in Russia. That has led the United States and its NATO allies to rush to prepare for a possible war. Kirby said the Pentagon has not ordered the 8,500 U.S. troops it put on heightened alert to deploy. However, if and when the deployment occurs, the troops will come from a number of different services and will have a number of different capabilities. Logistics, sustainment, medical, aviation, certainly brigade combat teams, he said. These are combat credible forces. Thats the idea, thats what the NATO Response Force is all about. PG-13 | 2h 9m | Medical Detective-Drama, True Story | January 29, 1992 Lorenzos Oil (1992) is a true story about a married couples (Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon) refusal to wait for doctors and sciences snail-like progress to save their son (Zack OMalley Greenburg) from the rare disease adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Released during the early 90s when the AIDS epidemic was at the height of its reign of terror, the film more than subtly commented on sciences slow response to that epidemic. It attempts to portray how modern Western medicine and its foot-dragging is inextricably linked to Big Pharma, to the vast detriment of sufferers around the globe. Michaela Odone (Susan Sarandon) and Augusto Odone (Nick Nolte), in Lorenzos Oil. (Universal Pictures) Given all that, Lorenzos Oil is suddenly current again, with the COVID-19 pandemic oras this publication chooses to label itthe Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus. Dr. Fauci has been revealed to have lied abundantly. Like Sherlock Holmes with a big magnifying glass, we can see the tracks leading to Big Pharma, and famed UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogans publicizing of Ivermectin as a CCP virus cure makes it basically the Lorenzos Oil of the 2020s. What Is ALD? The year is 1983, and 5-year-old Lorenzo Odones worsening tantrums at school are initially misdiagnosed. As time passes, his mood swings and self-destructive behavior intensify, and it becomes apparent that the Odone family is dealing with an illness that doctors cant figure out. (LR) Jake Gimble (Colin Ward), Wendy Gimble (Margo Martindale), a fellow parent with an ALD child, pictured here with her healthy son, and Michaela Odone (Susan Sarandon), in Lorenzos Oil. (Universal Pictures) Adrenoleukodystrophy is basically inherited by young boys from their mothers, who function as unwitting carriers with a 5050 chance of passing on the disease. The disease causes a gradual and fairly horrible degeneration until death, which takes about two years following diagnosis. Lorenzo Odone (Zack OMalley Greenburg) is a young boy suffering from ALD, in Lorenzos Oil. (Universal Pictures) Augusto and Michaela (Nolte, Sarandon) confer with a medical professor (Peter Ustinov), an ALD specialist, but rapidly tire of his dot-all-the-Is-and-cross-all-the-Ts-in-the-name-of-science approach. However, they do opt to allow Lorenzo to become a subject in an ALD experimental treatment. Soon, though, with doctors and nurses bandying about time frames like seven years to expect results, the Odones jettison their passive approach and roll up their own sleeves. Lorenzo Odone (Zack OMalley Greenburg, L) and Professor Nikolais (Peter Ustinov), in Lorenzos Oil. (Universal Pictures) Lorenzos Oil Augusto gets neck-deep in the local library, medical journals spread everywhere, tracking down a cure. Michaela joins him in study. She also tends to Lorenzos deteriorating ability to swallow, learning to keep his trachea clear of moisture so as to avoid horrendously debilitating coughing attacks. They end up in an ongoing battle with both the medical establishment and other parents of ALD children. But after a few years, they make some progress by helping to develop the titular oil that lessens symptoms and brings hope. The actual Lorenzos oil being poured on a salad, in a scene from Lorenzos Oil. (Universal Pictures) The Right Director Lorenzos Oil was directed and co-written by George Miller of the Mad Max films, who previously directed Sarandon in The Witches of Eastwick. Miller was uniquely qualified to direct Lorenzos Oil, being a medical doctor himself, with the ability to break the stultifying medical jargon and science down into a layman friendly narrative. The performances are all very fine, which includes the six child actors who play Lorenzo at various life stages. The casting of the exceedingly Scots-Irish-German Nick Nolte as an Italian is a bit flabbergasting; it results in Nolte speaking fairly quietly early on, because as an actor, trying to pull off a strong Italian accent with the requisite hand gesticulations when thats not your bread and butter is rather daunting. Eventually, though, he sheds his caution to portray a man passionate about rescuing his son, and the slightly jarring discord of miscasting is swept aside. Augusto Odone (Nick Nolte) makes an impromptu medical diagram, in Lorenzos Oil. (Universal Pictures) Susan Sarandon dominates Lorenzos Oil with a fearless performance as a roused mother lioness with a cub in danger, without becoming too off-putting. Sarandon should have won the Oscar but did get a nomination. Science and Human Disease The Western world realizes more and more the limitations of Western science and its devotion to glacially paced, minuscule steps in the name of measuring-measuring-measuring, while ignoring common sense. The fact that all this is driven solely by technological competition becomes ever more apparent. To quote Henry Gee, a senior editor of Nature, One thing that never gets emphasized enough in science, or in schools, or anywhere else, is that no matter how fancy-schmancy your statistical technique, the output is always a probability level (a P-value), the significance of which is left for you to judge Statistics, and therefore science, can only advise on probabilitythey cannot determine The Truth. None of this gets through to the news pages. When pitching a science story to a news editor, a science correspondent soon learns that the answer that gets airtime is either yes, or no. Either the Voyager space probe has left the solar system, or it hasnt. To say that it might have done and attach statistical caveats is a guaranteed turn-off. Augusto Odone (Nick Nolte) and Michaela Odone (Susan Sarandon) are husband and wife, in Lorenzos Oil. (Universal Pictures) This is all to say, in this time of the CCP virus, get inspired by watching Lorenzos Oil. Observe the true story of a couple of lay people rolling up their sleeves and coming up with a common sense cureLorenzos Oil for little Lorenzo Odonethat stymied medical professionals. America used to be a proud nation of bootstrappers and do-it-yourselfers. Probably best not to leave our health up to the experts. Now, it must be said that one problem with the current mandated vaccine is that it was handled in exactly the opposite method than what those who worship at the altar of science demand from scienceit was rushed through with no testing for long-term effects. And there have been cases reported of problems due to the vaccine. So, slow and steady science has its place. But that was all thrown out the window and not in the name of common sense. As the detectives say, Follow the money. Examine Big Pharmas involvement. Lorenzos Oil foreshadowed our current global health situation. Heres a fine example of someone noticing what the doctor prescribed was way off, and doing their own research: View this post on Instagram A post shared by Candace Owens (@realcandaceowens) Lorenzos Oil Director: George Miller Starring: Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Margo Martindale, Peter Ustinov, Zack OMalley Greenburg Running Time: 2 hours, 9 minutes MPAA Rating: PG-13 Release Date: Jan. 29, 1993 Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars The logos of car manufacturers Renault and Nissan are seen in front of dealerships of the companies in Reims, France, on July 9, 2019. (Christian Hartmann/Reuters) Renault-Nissan to Do More Together in $26 Billion Electric Bet TOKYO/PARISRenault and Nissan will work more closely together to make electric cars, they said on Thursday, as they detailed a $26 billion investment plan over the next five years to stay competitive in the switch to cleaner driving. The two-decade old alliance, which also includes Mitsubishi Motors, said it would increase the number of common platforms for electric vehicles (EV) to five from four. They will build a combined EV line-up of 35 vehicles by 2030, the companies said, adding that by 2026 four fifths of their models would share common platforms, up from 60 percent now. The alliance will hold its place among the world automotive leaders, Alliance Operating Board Chairman, Jean-Dominique Senard, said during an online presentation. But it faces competition from bigger carmakers with deeper pockets, such as Toyota Motor, which in December pledged to spend $70 billion to electrify its fleet, as well as EV specialists such as Tesla Inc. Now the worlds most valuable automaker, Tesla forecast on Wednesday its deliveries in 2022 would grow 50 percent year on year. Asked whether the EV spending plan was enough, given it is only around half what Germanys Volkswagen AG plans to invest in the technology, Renault Chief Financial Officer Clotilde Delbos said it was sufficient, given the alliances past experience in making EVs. We are not a second division player when we come together, Renault CEO Luca de Meo said during the presentation. Scale To power the new EVs, the partners said they planned to secure 220 gigawatt (GWh) hours of battery production capacity by 2030, providing greater scale that would allow them to halve battery costs by 2026 and reduce them by 65 percent by 2028. They did not give details on how the capacity would be secured. A woman walks past the global headquarters of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. in Yokohama near Tokyo, on May 27, 2020. (Koji Sasahara/AP Photo) The money promised on Thursday comes from funding announced last year. In June, Renault unveiled a five-year 10 billion euro EV strategy with a plan to launch 10 models and to have EVs account for 90 percent of all models by 2030. Nissan said in November it would spend 2 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) over five years to accelerate vehicle electrification, including on EVs and hybrid gasoline-electric cars. Japans No. 3 carmaker plans to launch 23 electrified vehicles by 2030, including 15 pure EVs. It has also said it wants to reduce lithium-ion battery costs by 65 percent within eight years and introduce potentially game-changing all solid-state batteries by March 2029. Nissan said on Thursday it planned to replace its Micra car in Europe with a new EV using one of the common platforms. Holding the three-way alliance together is a cross-shareholding relationship, with Renault owning 43.4 percent of Nissan, which in turn has a 15 percent non-voting stake in the French car company and a third of Mitsubishi Motors stock. Senard declined to comment when asked whether the partners might rebalance the relationship by changing those holdings. A new structure has been expected by financial markets. Renault has been in the dominant position since it bailed out Nissan two decades ago, but is now smaller by sales than its Japanese partner. Life is long and we should never be impatient on that kind of subject, said Senard ($1 = 0.8929 euros) By Tim Kelly and Gilles Guillaume Congresswoman Cori Bush speaks during her election-night watch party on November 3, 2020 at campaign headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. With tonight's victory, the Democrat Bush becomes the first African-American woman to be elected to Congress from the state of Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images) Rep. Cori Bushs Vehicle Struck by Gunfire in Missouri: Office After a vehicle belonging to Squad member Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) was recently hit by gunfire, the lawmaker confirmed she was unharmed. Bush wrote on Twitter on Thursday: Im touched by everyone who has reached out. Thankfully no one was harmed. The Democrat lawmaker then added that any act of gun violence shakes your soul and then claimed thats why our movement is working to invest in our communities, eradicate the root causes of gun violence, and keep everyone safe. Bush was not in the parked car when the gunfire struck it Saturday morning in the St. Louis area, her office told local media outlets. She is not believed to have been targeted during the incident, according to local reports. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and St. Louis County Police Department told Fox News that neither agency had a record of the shooting incident. The location of where the shots were fired is not clear. In 2021, St. Louis saw a 25 percent decline in its homicide rate compared with 2020s figures, police data show (pdf). Last year, 196 murders were recorded, whereas in 2020, 263 homicides were reported, the data shows. Despite the drop, St. Louis has still one of the highest homicide rates in the country, with 65 murders per 100,000 people in 2021. The United States homicide rate for 2020 was 7.8 per 100,000 people. Bush has drawn criticism from Republicans for her support of the defund the police movement that erupted in 2020, while she also confirmed that she hired private security after allegedly receiving death threats during her time in Congress. Filings with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) filings show her campaign spent more than $54,000 on security between April 15 and June 28 of last year. In response to the criticism, Bush said her intention is not to remove funds from police departments but instead, she wants to redirect the money to social services programs. Meanwhile, in late December, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.) was carjacked at gunpoint in Philadelphia, according to her office. A suspect, 19-year-old Josiah Brown of Delaware, was arrested in connection with the incident, police said. Around the same time, Illinois Democratic state Senate majority leader Sen. Kimberly Lightford and her husband were carjacked in Chicago. Authorities told CBS Chicago in late December that the couple was approached by three masked individuals as Lightford and her husband were driving a Mercedes SUV. The carjackers fired shots during the incident, said officials at the time. The Epoch Times has contacted Bushs office for comment. Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart in Sochi, Russia, on Sept. 29, 2021. (Vladimir Smirnov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images) Russia Responds After US State Department Sends Letter Amid Ukraine Crisis Russian officials on Jan. 27 said Moscow doesnt see many reasons for the United States and NATO to accept its demands amid heightened tensions near the Ukrainian border, coming after the Department of State provided a series of proposals to the Kremlin. Both the United States and NATO sent written responses to Russia over its security demands that would bar Ukraine from joining NATO or hosting U.S. military bases. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula and began supporting separatist rebel groups in the Donbas. There is not much reason for optimism, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to the State Department and NATO responses. It cannot be said that our considerations were taken into account or that any willingness to take into account our concerns was demonstrated. Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said, would spend time analyzing the State Departments responses. No matter how diametrically opposed our views sometimes are, dialogue is always needed, he said. The written U.S. and NATO responses were not made public, but both rejected Moscows demands while expressing willingness to engage on other issues such as arms control, confidence-building measures, and limits on the size and scope of military exercises. Western countries have warned of economic sanctions on Russia if it invades Ukraine, building on measures imposed since 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea and Russian-backed separatists began fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine. Nonetheless, Russia considers the idea of an armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia unacceptable, said Alexey Zaytsev, deputy spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, on Jan. 27. We have repeatedly stated that our country is not going to attack anyone, Zaytsev said. We consider unacceptable even the idea of a war between our peoples. However, the overseas superiors of Ukraine think differently. It seems they intend to currently adhere to the scenario they invented. Zaytsev said the best way to reduce tensions is for NATO to withdraw forces from eastern Europe, but he also sought to quash fears of a looming invasion. The TASS news agency cited a senior Russian foreign ministry official, Vladimir Ermakov, as saying a nuclear missile crisis between Moscow and Washington is unavoidable without measures to ensure restraint and predictability. Ermakov said Moscow believed Washington was preparing to deploy short- and intermediate-range missiles to Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has said he wont send U.S. or allied troops to fight Russia in Ukraine, but NATO has said its putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets. Reuters contributed to this report. Safety Data for Simultaneously Administering COVID-19 Vaccines With Other Vaccines for Children Unavailable Parents are being told that it is safe for their child to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and other childhood vaccines concomitantly, yet no such safety data on the simultaneous administration of COVID-19 vaccines and other vaccines are available for them to read. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that COVID-19 vaccines may be administered without regard to timing of other vaccines, including the simultaneous administration of COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines on the same day. The health agency did not cite any research for its recommendation. The Epoch Times reached out to the CDC four different times inquiring which safety studies the agency based its co-administration recommendation on but have yet to receive a response. A spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration told The Epoch Times in an email that the facts sheets for each authorized vaccine state there is no information on the co-administration of the specific COVID-19 vaccine with other vaccines but did not respond to follow-up questions. According to the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), such safety information on co-administration of COVID-19 vaccines with other vaccines is not available but that should not be a concern. Although data are not available for COVID-19 vaccines administered simultaneously with other vaccines, extensive experience with non-COVID-19 vaccines has demonstrated that immunogenicity and adverse event profiles are generally similar when vaccines are administered simultaneously as when they are administered alone, the Wisconsin Chapter wrote on its webpage. The organization also admits that it does not know what type of adverse reactions will occur with the co-administration of these vaccines at the same time. It is unknown whether reactogenicity of COVID-19 vaccine is increased with coadministration, including with other vaccines known to be more reactogenic, such as adjuvanted vaccines or live vaccines, the AAP chapter said. Dr. James Johnston, a family practice doctor, said that the CDC has been recommending that people receive different vaccines concurrently but have yet to study its effects. Its something the CDC has been recommending for years, lumping vaccines together and yet never studying their side effect profile or their benefits in concert, Johnston told The Epoch Times. Johnston says that there has never been a concerted effort to put together a reference book that lists the interactions between the various vaccines being co-administered like it is done for all FDA-approved drugs in the Physicians Desk Reference (PDR). The PDR, widely used among doctors, tells you the interactions for almost every other medicines out there, Johnston says. It provides guidance on how to safely and effectively use every prescription drug in the United States, and yet, no such thing has been done for vaccines. The interactions between vaccines are assumed to be negligible but its effect on the immune system is you know huge. We are forcing the immune system to try to create antibodies to several different antigens at the same time, Johnston added. Should Parents Space Out Vaccines? Owen Morrison, 15, receives a COVID-19 vaccine from student nurse Anthony McLaughlin at the Glasgow Central Mosque. (Jane Barlow/PA) Parents concerned about their child receiving several shots during a doctors visit have the option to space out the vaccines. Johnston says parents should consider doing so and be aware that not all vaccines have the same benefit or risk. I am for patient choice. I think patients, parents should look at the risk and the benefits of each vaccine, look at the disease and its prevalence and its treatability, and space out those vaccines that they consent to, so as to give the immune system the maximum chance to recover from that fake war, Johnston said. In vaccine speak, youre trying to induce immunity without the actual infection, he added. Youre creating a fake war to trick the immune system into producing immunity, so space out those wars as much as possible and youre going to have less untoward side effects in my opinion. The CDC encourages pediatricians to offer all of the vaccines at the same time if a patient is due for several vaccines because it increases the probability that people will be fully vaccinated and is an important part of immunization practice if a healthcare provider is uncertain that a patient will return for additional doses of vaccine. COVID-19 Vaccine and Children Johnston, similar to several other doctors and scientists like Dr. Robert Malone and Dr. Peter McCullough, says that children should not be given the COVID-19 vaccine, claiming that the risk of this vaccine is far greater in a healthy population. COVID is a dangerous pathogen, but its danger is largely concentrated around patients that are at high risk with multiple comorbidities greater than 65 years of age. But for an 18-year-old to have a vaccine that has a far greater side effect profile than does COVID is inhumane, Johnston said. Now, the argument is well, lets give all the 18-year-olds and other kids these shots so that their grandmas wont get COVID from them. But the problem is were not having informed consent because patients are not being told this isnt in your 18-year-olds best interests. When the science shows theyre far more likely to suffer a heart side effect like myocarditis, or palsy, which is nerve damage from the vaccine than they are to have any benefit, he added. And so the vaccine should be curtailed to those that are at greatest risk for negative consequence. Johnston is an advocate of early treatment for COVID-19 and prescribes the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance protocol. He was a shift supervisor at a FEMA-constructed COVID-19 hospital built inside the Atlanta Georgia World Congress Center providing care to severely ill COVID-19 patients in April 2020. He continues to treat COVID-19 patients and said in the past four months alone, he has treated close to 3,000 COVID-19 patients. Many of the patients Im taking care of with acute COVID are vaccinated, Johnston said, adding that the vaccinated doctors at the medical facility where he works part-time were also coming down with COVID-19. As a result, the facility backed off their requirement to have all of their staff vaccinated. And you consider how ineffective it is in preventing against COVID, in my opinion, it should be pulled from the market. According to the AAP (pdf), of the more than 28 million children ages 5 to 11, 8 million (28 percent) have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, and 5.3 million (19 percent) are fully vaccinated as of Jan. 19. While 16.2 million (65 percent) of children ages 12 to 17 have gotten the initial jab and 13.6 million (54 percent) are fully vaccinated. There are over 25 million children in the latter age group. The CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) says that there were 5,277 reports of adverse reactions made to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) from Nov. 3 to Dec. 19, but 1,028 reports were excluded from the analysis since vaccination was administered prior to authorization for use in this age group or date of vaccination was unknown. Of the 4,249 VAERS reports, 100 (2.4 percent) were for serious events that occurred in 61 males with a median age of 9 years. Of the serious events, 15 were reports of myocarditis, or heart inflammation, 12 of seizure, and two deaths in 5 and 6 years old girls that were still under review. None of the data suggested a causal association between death and vaccination, the CDC wrote. Only the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is authorized for children aged 5 to 17 in the United States. The late U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson (at left), with his wife, Jeri Thompson in an undated photograph. (Photo courtesy of Jeri Thompson) Sen. Fred Thompsons Widow Sues Tennessee Governor Over Pandemic Overreach A former U.S. senators widow is suing the Republican governor of Tennessee in state court, claiming that his various COVID-19-related emergency policies restrict personal freedom, violate state law, and trample on constitutional rights. The petitioner is former conservative talk radio host and activist Jeri Thompson, widow of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, who died in 2015 at age 73. Thompson, an attorney who was minority counsel assisting Republicans on the Senate Watergate Committee, achieved notoriety not only for his work in law and as a lawmaker, but also as a radio commentator and a high-profile movie and television actor. In an interview with The Epoch Times, Jeri Thompson said she filed the suit because she felt it was both the right thing to do and because it was what her late husband would have wanted. Mrs. Thompson said she was distressed that so many courts have taken a hands-off approach to emergency pandemic-related powers. Look at the legal help you need to get to get in to see your loved one in a hospital, she said. Thompson also recalled her son asking what his father would have to say about mask-wearing mandates. Your dad didnt believe in motorcycle helmet laws, she said she told him. There is no way in heck he would have ever worn a mask. Thompson said she was inspired by lawsuits brought by citizens in other states against emergency pandemic provisions that they consider to be overreaching. The case at hand, filed with the Davidson County Circuit Court is known as Tennessee ex rel. Thompson v. Lee, docket number 21C1613. Thompson seeks a writ of mandamus against Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, which is an order from a court to a government official directing the official to properly carry out his official duties. Lee has acknowledged through his attorneys the legal concerns raised by Thompson, but is opposing her application to the court. Presiding over the case is Judge Amanda McClendon, a Democrat who was reelected in August 2014, according to Ballotpedia. Her term of office expires later this year. The lawsuit survived a motion to dismiss brought by the governor. The court was scheduled to consider Thompsons motion for summary judgment, but the hearing has been postponed. Thompson said she expects that the court will hear her motion in early February. The petition filed by Thompson, whos representing herself in the legal proceeding, states that Lee has been violating the Tennessee Health Freedom Act and the Ninth and 10th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by exercising powers beyond his authority. Thompson is what the courts call a pro se applicant or plaintiff, meaning that shes acting without an attorney. There are numerous other pro se legal proceedings underway in various states aimed at striking down or curbing pandemic-related gubernatorial executive orders. As in this case, other governors are accused of seizing emergency power that they arent legally entitled to exercise. The two constitutional amendments cited in Thompsons lawsuit direct power away from the federal government. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people, the Ninth Amendment reads. The 10th Amendment reads, The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Lee has become a lightning rod for criticism in his home state. The left has attacked him for not going far enough in imposing limits on individual behavior in an effort to stem the spread of the virus that causes the disease COVID-19. At the same time, the right has gone after him for overstepping the bounds of his emergency orders. In mid-December 2020, in response to surging reported infection rates in the state, Lee unveiled a 10-person public gathering restriction. For Christmas 2020, he encouraged people to gather only with others from their own household and asked that employers allow employees to work from home for a month. The gathering limit didnt include at-home events or churches. Limits on church attendance have been struck down by courts in some states. Dealing with public backlash against pandemic restrictions in November 2021, Lee signed into law a measure limiting employers and businesses ability to require proof of COVID-19 vaccination and take adverse actions against employees for refusing to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, according to a trade publication. The law prohibits public employers and public schools from mandating vaccination or requiring masks on premises, unless certain conditions are met. Additionally, the new lawcreating Title 14 of the Tennessee Codeprovides that employees may collect unemployment benefits if they are separated from employment as a result of refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, the publication reads. On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Biden administrations sweeping private-sector vaccination mandate by a 63 vote, but allowed the mandate requiring health care workers to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by a 54 vote, as The Epoch Times reported. Lee offered justifications for his actions. We tried to be as targeted and specific to what we think the actual problem is and not go beyond that, Lee told Republican members of the General Assembly, The Tennessean reported in late 2020. In a separate public address at the time, Lee said the state was ground zero for a surge in sickness. We are in a cold, cruel phase of this pandemic, he said. It will get worse before it gets better. I know you are tired. But we have got to double down. Lees first pandemic-related executive order, No. 14, came on March 12, 2020. Of the 95 executive orders Lee has issued since he became governor in January 2019, at least 54 of them have been related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an analysis by The Epoch Times. The Davidson County Circuit Court is being asked to compel Lee to enforce the Tennessee Health Freedom Act, which states that every person within this state shall be free to choose, or to decline to choose, any mode of securing health care services without penalty or threat of penalty. Tennesseans were forced against their will, without due process of law, which requires notice and a hearing before a persons liberty is deprived, to surrender certain freedoms, the petition reads. State residents have been compelled to receive vaccinations, wear masks, give DNA samples, submit to having their temperatures taken, participate in contact tracing, and have their health care information collected by way of compulsion, according to the document. In the so-called prayer for relief at the end of the document, Thompson doesnt single out specific policies. She asks the court to order that Governor Lee be compelled to uphold the Constitution of Tennessee that the Governor swore to uphold. Thompson also requested that Governor Lee be compelled to charge the Attorney General with the duties vested in him to enforce and uphold the Constitution of the State of Tennessee by immediately ceasing any federal or state, public or private, entity within the jurisdiction and/or operating in State of Tennessee compelling citizens of Tennessee directly or indirectly to participate in modes of securing health care services, and force to provide health care information by mandamus from this court. South Australian Opposition Leader Calls for a Ban on Political Donations South Australian Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas has called for a ban on what he calls the arms race of political donations. Speaking to the ABC this week, Malinauskas said hes been on the record for over a decade expressing his concern that political parties and candidates, not only in Australia but right across the Western liberal democracy, have been in a permanent race for greater resources to fight ever more expensive election campaigns. I think the best example of that is of course in U.S. politics, where we now see over 90 percent of successful electoral candidates being the one with the most money, he said. So, the more money you get, the more likely you are to win, and I just dont believe our democracy is enhanced if the people who are winning election battles are those with the deepest pockets. It should be those with the deepest ideas, he said, adding that by removing donations altogether, politicians will spend less time trying to raise funds for their own campaign and more time doing their job of engaging with constituents and thinking about the future. According to a report by the Centre for Public Integrity, the Australian Labor Party and Liberal-National coalition collected more than $100 million (US$70.8 million) in donations over the 2019-2020 financial year. Examples of contributions that year include Pratt Holdings, owned by billionaire Anthony Pratt, who handed $1.3 million to the Liberal Party, $250,000 to the Nationals, and $20,000 to Labor. Gas company Woodside Energy donated $110,000 each to Labor and Liberal, as well as $55,000 to the Nationals, while the Macquarie Group and the Australian Hotels Association contributed around $251,000 and $232,000 respectively, divided between Labor and Liberal. Meanwhile, mining giant Clive Palmer topped the list of donors, funnelling $5.9 million into his United Australia Party. When pressed about Labors history of fundraising, including their business arm, SA Progressive, Malinauskas said that all major political parties accept donations and have business fund-raising arms. Malinauskas admitted that certain fundraising efforts undermines peoples perception of democracy, which undermines democracy, he said. He emphasised that the ban should not only be on business donations but apply equally to unions and everybody. In addition, he wants to see a total ban on political donations, not just at election time. I think that it would be better if our major political parties didnt have to engage in substantial periods of fundraising in order to fund election campaigns, and I think there are ways you can achieve that objective, and thats what I want to pursue if we form Government, Malinauskas said. He said that he first advocated for this long before he was in parliament and now hes putting up his hand to be premier. Im not going to abandon my principles if we get there. If we get there, I want to use the authority invested in that position to achieve what I think is a good outcome for democracy more broadly, he said. The SA premiers office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they viewed a ban of political donations as necessary or if they would be considering implementing a one on political donations if returned to power after the state election. A Spanish maritime rescue vessel arrives with a wooden boat in tow at the port of Los Cristianos on the island of Tenerife, after it was found drifting off the coast of the Spanish Canary Islands, on April 28, 2021. (Desiree Martin/AFP via Getty Images) Spain Rescues 319 Migrants at Sea, 18 More Feared Drowned MADRIDEmergency services on Spains Canary Islands say 319 people, including 59 women and 24 children, were rescued from seven different boats trying to reach the archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, while activists say at least 18 migrants have died. Spanish rescue vessels reached the boats in different locations late Tuesday and early Wednesday, a Maritime Rescue Service spokeswoman told The Associated Press, adding that rescuers didnt find any bodies on or near the boats. Walking Borders, a non-governmental organization working with migrants in the region that is often contacted by people in distress or their relatives, said at least 18 people traveling on one of the boats had died. Rescue means were activated too late, despite having the boats location, Helena Maleno, the NGOs founder, wrote in a tweet. The maritime rescue service spokeswoman, who was not authorized to be named in media reports, said during one of the operations late Tuesday, rescuers found nine people clinging to a capsized boat 45 nautical miles off the island of Lanzarote, but that no bodies or people adrift were found. She said the rescue boat had to tend another distress call immediately after. The archipelagos emergency service, 112, said that nine adults and one baby among the 319 survivors were transferred to local health facilities on Lanzarote and Gran Canaria, another nearby island. Most of the rescued were believed to be from northern and central Africa, which at the closest point is only 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of the Spanish islands. Migrant rescues, boat arrivals and tragedies involving drowning or dehydration at sea are almost constant on this dangerous migration route favored by many Africans fleeing violence or poverty. Official figures show that more than 22,000 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands last year, roughly half of the total arrivals by sea recorded by Spain. At least 384 died in 2021 trying in the Western Mediterranean route to the Spanish mainland or its islands, according to the International Organization for Migration. But Walking Borders, which gathers testimonies from survivors and victims relatives, says because boats are often not found and bodies never retrieved, the more accurate estimation is 4,404 deaths in 2021. By Aritz Parra Student Stabbed at High School in Los Angeles LOS ANGELESA student was stabbed by another student at a high school in Westlake on Jan. 26, prompting a lockdown as police searched for the suspect. Los Angeles School Police Department officers responded at about 1:10 p.m. to the stabbing, which was reported at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex at 322 Lucas Avenue, according to the department. The 17-year-old student was found suffering at least one stab wound at the scene and was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Miguel Contreras Learning Complex was locked down and a perimeter was established in the surrounding area as police searched for the suspect, who was initially described only as a male who fled the scene following the stabbing. The school police department announced just after 3:15 p.m. that the suspect had been found and taken into custody, and later confirmed he was also a student at the high school. However, his name and age were not immediately released. The events leading up to the stabbing were under investigation. Miguel Contreras Learning Complex remained on lockdown as of 3:15 p.m., and the school police department units were set to remain at the campus as the school released students in a modified dismissal. Supersonic Airliner Factory Coming to North Carolina A Colorado-based aviation company has selected North Carolina for its state-of-the-art supersonic airliner manufacturing facility, in a venture that seeks to bring faster-than-sound Concorde-type flights back into commercial usage. Boom Supersonic has selected the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, to build the worlds fastest and most sustainable supersonic airliner, the Overture, according to a Jan. 26 announcement. The Overture will carry 65 to 88 passengers and fly at Mach 1.7 speeds with a cruising altitude of 60,000 feet, while the average commercial flight cruises at 30,000 feet to 42,000 feet. Its aiming at net-zero carbon emissions with a range of 4,250 nautical miles (4,888 miles). The first supersonic jet is expected to roll out in 2025 with tests following in 2026. The 400,000-square-foot factory will be located inside a 65-acre plot in Greensboro and will employ more than 2,400 workers through 2032. Based on data from the company, it will bring in an additional $32.3 billion to the states economy over the next two decades. Selecting the site for Overture manufacturing is a significant step forward in bringing sustainable supersonic air travel to passengers and airlines, Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic, said in a statement. With some of the countrys best and brightest aviation talent, key suppliers, and the state of North Carolinas continued support, Boom is confident that Greensboro will emerge as the worlds supersonic manufacturing hub. Speed is the most exciting factor with supersonic jets. The Overture claims that it can reach Tokyo from Seattle in 4 1/2 hours, which cuts down significantly on the 8 1/2 hours the trip currently takes to complete. Paris to Montreal will take 3 3/4 hours, compared to the current 7 1/4 hours, and Los Angeles to Sydney will take 8 1/2 hours, despite currently taking 14 1/2 hours. State and local governments have offered financial incentives to the tune of $230 million for bringing the supersonic startup to their doorstep. The incentives are predicated on the understanding that Boom Supersonic will provide thousands of new job opportunities and reach investment goals. North Carolina beat out competing bids from Jacksonville, Florida, and Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, for the $500 million flagship superfactory. The facility will deliver, test, and service jets on-premises. In a company presentation, Boom said that it will offer a base level of employment that starts at 1,761 jobs with an average pay of $68,792 during a five-year period from 2026 to 2030. The company will also provide 200 internships for students from publicly funded North Carolina universities, community colleges, or technical schools. Boom expects to break ground later this year on the Overture Superfactory and will begin production in 2024. The first Overture aircraft is slated to roll out in 2025, fly in 2026, and carry its first passengers by 2029, the company said. Airline companies from the United States and Japan have reportedly made orders of $14 billion for Booms supersonic flight option. The company is also working with the U.S. Air Force to develop applications for government use. United Airlines has agreed to purchase 15 Overture aircraft with an option for 35 more. Critics have said that Concorde was grounded because of unreasonable airfares and sonic booms that created issues when flying over land. Scholl said new technologies will overcome these hurdles and ensure affordable supersonic travel. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer holds up a copy of the United States Constitution as he announces his retirement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 27, 2022. (Andrew Harnik/AP Photo) Supreme Court Justice Breyer Officially Announces Retirement Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer officially announced his retirement on Jan. 27, a day after the news was leaked and widely reported. Breyer, 83, told President Joe Biden in a letter that he has decided to retire and that he wants the decision to take effect when the court takes its summer recess, which typically happens in late June or early July. Breyer said he assumes his successor will be nominated by Biden and confirmed by the Senate by then. I enormously appreciate the privilege of serving as part of the federal judicial systemnearly 14 years as a Court of Appeals Judge and nearly 28 years as a Member of the Supreme Court, the Clinton nominee wrote in the two-paragraph document. I have found the work challenging and meaningful. My relations with each of my colleagues have been warm and friendly. Throughout, I have been aware of the great honor of participating as a judge in the effort to maintain our Constitution and the rule of law. Biden, a Democrat, who as a senator helped get Breyer confirmed in the 1990s, called the day bittersweet, while championing what he called Breyers distinguished career. Breyer gave faith to the notion that the law exists to help the people, he said in prepared remarks in front of a crowd in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. President Joe Biden, with retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, on Jan. 27, 2022. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images) Breyer said hes found it meaningful sitting on the bench and hearing cases presented by all sorts of people, calling it a kind of miracle when you sit there and see all those people in front of you, people that are so different in what they think and yet they have decided to solve their major differences under law. Recalling talks to classes, he said when students get too cynical, hell tell them to go look at what happens in countries that dont do that. People have come to accept this Constitution and have come to accept the rule of law, he said in remarks delivered after Biden spoke, holding up a copy of the U.S. Constitution. Breyers retirement announcement was upstaged a day earlier by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who told reporters of the plans. Schumer was one of many Democrats who directly or indirectly pressured Breyer, the courts oldest justice, to step down. As always, Senate Democrats stand ready to expeditiously fill any potential vacancies on the Supreme Court should they arise, Schumer wrote in a letter to colleagues last year. Schumer presides over a divided Senate, comprising 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats or nominal independents who often vote with the Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, can break ties as president of the upper chamber. A majority vote would confirm the nominee. Schumer has promised to hold a prompt hearing on whomever Biden picks and confirm the nominee with all deliberate speed. Some Republicans have called for a slower process. I felt that the timetable for the last nominee was too compressed. This time, there is no need for any rush. We can take our time, have hearings, go through the process, which is a very important one. It is a lifetime appointment, after all, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters in Washington. While campaigning for president, Biden vowed to nominate a black woman should a Supreme Court vacancy arise during his presidency and reiterated that position at the White House. He said the woman will be somebody with extraordinary qualifications. He said he hasnt made a choice yet. Breyer, who joined the court on Aug. 3, 1994, has seen the number of judges nominated by Democratic presidents dwindle in recent years. Former President Donald Trump got three SCOTUS nominations, filling seats left open by the deaths of justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy. A group of illegal aliens is apprehended by law enforcement on a ranch in Kinney County, Texas, on Jan. 14, 2022. (Courtesy of Kinney County Sheriff's Office) Texas AG Informs Citizens About Use of Force in Border-Related Situations DEL RIO, TexasAfter receiving a deluge of calls from concerned citizens, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) issued an information sheet outlining the laws regarding use of force and illegal immigration for citizens, private property owners, and law enforcement. Hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens are pouring over our border, Paxton said in a statement on Jan. 25. They are temporarily detainedif at allbefore being released, and then make their way through your counties, cities, and property. They bring with them property destruction, theft, financial costs, risks of disease, crime, and the cartels. Border Patrol agents apprehended 1.3 million illegal aliens at the Texas-Mexico border in 2021. Hundreds of thousands more are estimated to have evaded capture. These individuals end up being smuggled in vehicles or walking through ranchland to evade law enforcement. Ranchers and citizens have expressed frustration during the past year about being left to fend for themselves as their properties are damaged and their families are placed in danger. They often want to know what they can do, including using force. We sympathize with the fears and desperation that Texans feel during these unprecedented times, but the use of force is a serious response that will likely lead to the actor being subjected to the criminal justice system, with very little predictability of the outcome, Paxtons document states. Paxton said he prepared the information to help arm Texans with the basic legal concepts to consider as Texans face these unprecedented challenges, but makes the caveat that its not formal legal advice. A border citizen in Del Rio, Texas, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 26 that eight illegal aliens with huge backpacks similar to the traditional bundles of marijuana, were seen, but not caught, on their property recently. Traffic here hasnt slowed down at allit just continues to get worse with illegal aliens, the property owner, who has three young children, said. They know there is literally no law enforcement working in our area and that they have a good chance of getting away every single time. We are now considered a hotspot.' Paxton advises local officials to declare a state of local disaster, if required, which provides the authority to bring more assistance to the area. Four Texas counties declared local disasters in April 2021. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of emergency in about two dozen border counties more than six months ago and has deployed extra National Guard troops and state police to the border. The number of Border Patrol apprehensions in Texas hasnt dropped below 100,000 per month since last February, but local areas have started to prosecute illegal aliens for trespassing on private property. Kinney County, which shares 16 miles of border with Mexico, has prosecuted the most, with more than 2,000 cases either resolved or in process. The sheriff last week said the groups of illegal aliens traversing the county are getting larger. Its extremely organized, Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe said. I still dont think were touching more than 5 percent of the illegal aliens coming through Kinney County. Paxton has sued the Biden administration six times over the border crisis, including for its narrowing of Immigration and Customs Enforcement priorities that allowed criminal aliens to be free, the stoppage of the Remain in Mexico program, and for disregarding its own COVID-19 rules while handling the surge of illegal immigrants.. The federal government caused this crisis. Texans pay the price, Paxton said. Local law enforcement, governmental officials, and Texans are left searching for answers and help. Solutions are difficult to come by. Paxton is meeting with 12 other attorneys general for a border summit in McAllen, Texas, this week. The attorneys general are from Arkansas, Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and West Virginia. (L-R) Actor Woody Harrelson, Relativity Media's Ryan Kavanaugh, and actor Owen Wilson arrive at the premiere of Relativity Media's "Free Birds" at the Westwood Village Theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on Oct. 13, 2013. (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Relativity Media) Top Hollywood Producer Fleeing LA Over Crime, High Taxes: Its Not the Pandemic Top-flight Hollywood producer Ryan Kavanaugh said hes fleeing Los Angeles due to a litany of issues, including crime, high taxes, and homelessness, he admitted in a recent interview. Kavanaughwho has produced The Social Network, Hancock, Limitless, and dozens of otherstold TheWrap that while hes a lifelong Los Angeles resident, hes picking up his family and moving his business headquarters to Florida. I grew up here, I grew up in Brentwood, and I was allowed to be on the streets, Kavanaugh said. I would never let my kids walk (alone) in Brentwoodhow many times do you have to be out in Los Angeles and see feces in the streets before you just dont want to be here anymore? Kavanaugh said he doesnt believe COVID-19 restrictions are the reason why. Its not the pandemic, its policy, he said. Some have speculated that the murder of Jacqueline Avant, the wife of music executive Clarence Avant, by a home intruder in her Beverly Hills home may serve as a catalyst for some Hollywood elites desire to move out of Southern California. A new tipping point emerged late last year with the murder of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant in her Beverly Hills home, Gene Del Vecchio, who is an adjunct professor of marketing at USCs Marshall School of Business, told the publication. It so shocked the protected community that even the liberal Beverly Hills city council voted to recall the liberal Los Angeles district attorney George Gascon, Del Vecchio continued, referring to the left-wing district attorney who has been panned for what critics have said are soft-on-crime policies. When crime hits home, it becomes personal, and people act by either fighting, as with the Gascon recall, or by leaving. Other than Kavanaugh, notably, UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan moved from the Los Angeles area to Texas in 2021. Before moving, Rogan similarly cited citywide policies that appear to exacerbate crime, homelessness, drug use, and recidivism. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, toured the Union Pacific railroad tracks in Los Angeles in mid-January after thousands of goods were stolen from shipping containers. The images looked like a Third World country, Newsom told reporters on Jan. 21. What you saw here in the last week is just not acceptable. So, I took off the suit and tie and said Im coming because I couldnt take it. I cant turn on the news anymore. What the hell is going on? Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on Feb. 19, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) Poilievre Rebukes Media for Portraying Trucker Convoy as Extremist in Nature Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre pushed back today against reporting that portrays the truckers Freedom Convoy against the governments vaccine mandate as extremist in nature based on some comments from individuals who dont represent the group. Poilievre made the remarks in response to a question from a reporter in Ottawa who asked what he thought about the extreme elements latching on to the protest. He said the question itself spoke to a larger problem with how what he characterized as liberal media portray protests organized by conservative groups. What I think is interesting is that when theres a left-wing protest on Parliament Hill, we dont see the liberal media going through every single name of the people who attend, to try and find one person that they can disparage the whole group with, he said in response to the reporters question on Jan. 27. The Tory finance critic says its normal with such a large group of people that some could say unacceptable things, but those individuals should be held responsible rather than the whole group. That doesnt mean we disparage the thousands of hard-working, law-abiding, and peaceful truckers, who quite frankly, have kept all of you alive for the last two years by filling your grocery shelves with the food that you eat, and filling your homes with the products that you rely upon, he told reporters. Poilievre cited the example of CBC employees who have accused the public broadcaster of being systemically racist, yet he said, we dont see the media here generalize that everyone who works at the CBC is a racist. So I think that it is possible to hold individually responsible anyone who says or does anything unacceptable, while showing support for the hard-working, law-abiding, peace-loving truckers who are fighting for their freedom and their livelihoods, and on whom we have depended for our very existence over the last two years. Poilievres comments come on the heel of some media reporting individuals with far-right ties are supporting the trucker convoy. The Ottawa police have warned of parallel groups or counter-protesters who could be intent on using violence in the capital on Jan. 29 when the various convoys arrive at the destination and morph into a protest. This could mean that the threat could stem come from far-left groups with an ANTIFA-type ideology who could see an opportunity to attack people they view as patriotic, conservative, or far-right. Such incidents have occurred in the U.S. in recent months, with ANTIFA communists and anarchists attempting to break up anti-mandate rallies with ensuing violent confrontations. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the reports of alleged extreme elements supporting the convoy in a Jan. 26 press conference. The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa, or who are holding unacceptable views that theyre expressing, do not represent the views of Canadians who have been there for each other, who know that following the science, and stepping up to protect each other is the best way to continue to ensure our freedoms, our rights, our values as a country, he said. The convoys organizers, Canada Unity, contested this type of labelling in a Jan. 26 statement. Any statements made indicating that we are in some way separatists or terrorists are categorically false and an attempt to smear this movement. It is saddening that this kind of rhetoric is coming from Prime Minister Trudeau and his government, it says. Signatories Tamara Lich and Benjamin Dichter said the convoy has received overwhelming support from Canadians and others around the world, countering that their protest movement has attracted unprecedented levels of Canadians uniting. Conservative Leader Erin OToole expressed his support for the truckers in a commentary in the Toronto Sun on Jan. 26. Thousands of Canadians have spent their hard-earned money to come to Ottawa. Any reasonable concerns must be heard. They have a right to be heard, he wrote, before cautioning against any extremist groups that seek to co-opt the protest. OToole condemned anyone who would take advantage of the plight of the truckers to advance their misguided agenda, saying no one should be making threats of political violence and hate and bigotry. He added that those who oppose the convoy protest should avoid demonizing your fellow citizens, and should be respectful and support peaceful protest. Meanwhile, several other Conservative MPs have come out in support of the convoy. Conservative Deputy Leader Candice Bergen issued a statement on Jan. 25 saying she supports peaceful demonstrations against these mandates. Conservatives have been opposed to federally mandated vaccines since Trudeau introduced them; and we oppose the mandatory vaccine on Canadian truckers, her statement says. Christopher Ray Grider (at right with yellow flag tied around his neck) just before he hands a black helmet to rioter Zachary Alam at the Speaker's Lobby on Jan. 6, 2021. (Video Still/Sam Montoya for The Epoch Times) 2 More Witnesses at Ashli Babbitt Shooting Identified Family seeks identities of five others present at U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6 Two men sought by the family of Ashli Babbitt as witnesses to her death at the U.S. Capitol have been identified as previously arrested by the FBI and indicted on federal charges from the Jan. 6, 2021, riots. The family of Babbitt, 35, has been seeking to identify key participants in the hallway unrest that afternoon. The identification of Christopher Ray Grider and Chad Barrett Jones reduces by two the number of unknowns who witnessed the riotous behavior at the entry to the Speakers Lobby. Grider, 40, of Eddy, Texas, was indicted in January 2021 on seven federal counts, including destruction of government property, disorderly or disruptive behavior in a restricted building, an act of violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings, disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, obstruction of an official proceeding, and other charges. Grider, the owner of Kissing Tree Vineyards in Eddy, is the Gadsden Flag Man who was in the center of the Speakers Lobby hallway just feet away when Babbitt was shot to death at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Christopher Ray Grider (at left) ducks for cover immediately after the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 (Video Still/Sam Montoya for The Epoch Times) Grider was dressed in a black coat, red Donald Trump cap, and a yellow Dont Tread on Me flag draped around his neck. Video footage shows Grider was one of the first to arrive in the hallway after Babbitt and journalist Tayler Hansen. He is seen conversing with police officers during the increasingly boisterous assembly. Grider is seen on video footage handing a black riot helmet to Zachary J. Alam, which Alam uses to smash two door windows and the side window that Babbitt eventually climbed through and was fatally shot, video shows. Grider also is charged with trying to gain access through the doors by kicking and pushing on them with his shoulder. Five of the six witnesses sought by the family of Ashli Babbitt remain unidentified. (Graphic by The Epoch Times) The defendant remained and could be seen minutes after the shooting, leaning over the railing to get a better glimpse of Babbitt bleeding on the floor, prosecutors wrote in a court filing. The defendant was holding his phone over the stairway, appearing to capture a video or pictures of Babbitt. Griders case was unlike those of many Jan. 6 defendants. No FBI SWAT team visited his home, and he voluntarily surrendered. Did they show up at his home in Chilton, Texas, in SWAT gear with assault weapons drawn? No. Did they make forced entry into his home to arrest him in the middle of the night? No. What did they do? They called him up and asked him to come to Austin, Texas. And that is exactly what Mr. Grider did, his attorney wrote in a February 2021 court filing. Grider was released on bond in February 2021. He is next due in court on Feb. 10. Messages left for Grider and his attorney werent returned by press time. Jones, 42, of Mount Washington, Kentucky, was arrested in January 2021 after acquaintances saw him on television and reported him to the FBI. He is charged with eight counts, including civil disorder, engaging in physical violence, destruction of government property, obstruction of an official proceeding, entering/remaining in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct in a restricted building with a dangerous weapon, and other charges. Chad Barrett Jones (in the red jacket and gray cap) uses a wooden flagpole to break a window outside the Speakers Lobby at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Video Still/Jayden X) Jones, seen on video in an orange-red jacket and gray cap, is seen allegedly using a wooden flagpole to punch a hole in the glass of the left door leading to the Speakers Lobby. Jones is due in court on March 10 for a status conference. Jones was released on bond pending trial. His attorney declined an interview request from The Epoch Times. Most of the violence against the doors and windows outside the Speakers Lobby happened after three police officers guarding the doors left their post about 2:42 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021. Babbitt was shot and fatally wounded when she climbed into a window broken out by Alam, who faces 11 federal charges, including assaulting, impeding or resisting police, assaulting, impeding or resisting police with a dangerous weapon, civil disorder, destruction of government property, and other counts. New video footage discovered by The Epoch Times shows Babbitt punched Alam in the nose shortly before she climbs through the window. She grows increasingly frustrated watching rioters escalate their attacks on the doors and windows. She tries to intervene between Alam and a police officer, but he brushes her aside and punches a window. She made other unsuccessful attempts to deter the violence. Alam, 29, also is charged in a Pennsylvania court with burglary. When FBI agents raided Alams hotel room on Jan. 30, 2021, they found nearly $5,700 in goods stolen from an area antique mall, according to a statement by the Ephrata, Pennsylvania, police department. Alam was hiding at a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, motel when he was arrested by federal agents. Alam, who is in federal custody, faces trial in March on the charges of burglary and theft by the unlawful taking of moveable property. Bail in that case was set at $75,000, court records show. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace speaking during the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, England, on Oct. 5, 2021. (Stefan Rousseau/PA) UK Defence Chief Not Optimistic Russian Invasion of Ukraine Can Be Stopped Britains Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said he is not optimistic a Russian invasion of Ukraine can be stopped. Wallace, who is currently in Germany, told the BBC that he would soon meet with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu in Moscow. He said there was still a chance an invasion could be halted, but added, Im not optimistic. A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea on Jan. 18, 2022. (AP Photo) Wallace told MPs on Tuesday that there were individuals already in Ukraine linked to the Russian state in ways that are not conventional and that should give cause for concern. We are becoming aware of a significant number of individuals that are assessed to be associated with Russian military advance force operations that currently are located in Ukraine, he told Parliaments Foreign Affairs Committee. Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons that the UK is prepared to send troops to support NATO deployment and protect the alliances east flank if Russia invades Ukraine. He told MPs that more than 100,000 Russian troops are arrayed at Ukraines eastern borderfar bigger than anything Russia has deployed against Ukraine before. Johnson said the UK will not hesitate to ramp up sanctions against Russia in response to whatever President [Vladimir] Putin may do. A Ukrainian soldier stands at the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Jan. 10, 2022. (Andriy Dubchak/AP) On Wednesday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK is not ruling out support for personal sanctions against Putin in the event Russia invades Ukraine. Truss made the comments after U.S. President Joe Biden suggested moving to penalise the Russian president could be an option in the case of an invasion. Asked if the UK would support personal sanctions against Putin, Truss told BBC Radio 4s Today programme that the government had ruled nothing out. We have ruled nothing out in terms of sanctions, and in fact well be legislating to toughen up our sanctions regime and make sure we are fully able to hit both individuals and companies, and banks, in Russia in the event of an incursion, she said. Whats important is that all of our allies do the same, because its by collective action, by showing Vladimir Putin we are united, that we will help deter a Russian incursion. Lily Zhou and PA Media contributed to this report. Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, train in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 22, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo) Ukraine Concerned Premature Withdrawal of Australian, US, UK Citizens Will Increase Tensions A spokesperson for the Ukrainian government has said that it was unnecessary for Germany and the AUKUS alliesAustralia, the United States, and the United Kingdomto tell their citizens to withdraw from Ukraine and that it could be used by enemies against the European nation. Oleg Nikolenko, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Twitter that it was extremely important to avoid activity that could be used in the information space to increase tensions in society and destabilize the economic and financial security of Ukraine. There are 129 diplomatic missions in Ukraine. Of these, only 4 have declared the departure of the family members of personnel: US, UK, Australia and Germany. The rest, including EU, OSCE, CoE, NATO and UN have not expressed their intention to follow such premature steps. Oleg Nikolenko (@OlegNikolenko_) January 24, 2022 The comments come as Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said on Jan. 25 that the decision to pull citizens out was an important step in protecting Australians and the families of its diplomatic staff in Ukraine. We have taken the cautious and prudent decision to return dependants to Australia. And that is understandable, I think, in the circumstances, Payne said. Its one which we have discussed with our likemindeds, particularly the United States, Canada, the UK, many European representatives who also have diplomatic posts in Ukraine, she said, adding that she spoke to Ukraine Foreign Minister Kubela Dmytro about it last week. Payne noted the decision to withdraw the family of diplomatic staff in no way changed Australias commitment to Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty. We have called on Russia to deescalate, Payne said. We have called on Russia to continue engagement in those diplomatic discussions which have been occurring, and we will continue to do that. This is a matter of prudence and caution to protect the safety of Australians and particularly the dependants of diplomatic staff, but it in no way detracts from our absolute commitment to Ukraines territorial integrity and sovereignty. Payne has said that Australia will not send in any direct military aid to Ukraine in the event of an invasion. However, the country will provide Ukraine with cyber security assistance. In an email to The Epoch Times, the Ukrainian Charge d`Affaires in Australia, Volodymyr Shalkivskyi, noted that the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Australia had an extensive discussion over the security situation along Ukraines borders and in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. They also discussed efforts by the Ukrainian partners to elaborate a comprehensive package of measures to deter Russia from further aggression. These include political support, sanctions towards Russia and security assistance. Given the successful experience in providing Australian cyber security assistance to Ukraine in 2021, officials of both countries will discuss available possibilities for strengthening defence cyber capabilities in Ukraine, Shalkivskyi said. Australias Ambassador for Cyber Affairs and Critical Technology, Dr. Toby Feakin, has been engaging with the Ukrainian system to discuss the issues they are currently facing after Ukraine has been the target of significant cyberattacks in the past year. Payne noted that Australia had previously worked with Ukraine in cyber affairs and cybersecurity including providing training in 2021. Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the armed Forces, train in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Jan. 22, 2022. (Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo) Ukraine Says Destabilization Worse Than a Potential Invasion, Benefits Russia Internal destabilization is a bigger issue for Ukraine at present than a potential Moscow-led invasion, Ukraines national security secretary said on Tuesday. According to state media outlet Ukrinform, Ukraines National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov told reporters that Russia is benefiting from internal destabilization as tensions mount over a possible Moscow-led invasion. Today, according to all intelligence reports that coincide with those of the United States, Britain, and other partners, internal destabilization is No. 1 issue, said Danilov, at a briefing after a National Security and Defense Council meeting, according to the news outlet. Without internal destabilization, the Russians have nothing to do here. They bet on the issue of internal destabilization, said Danilov, according to the news outlet. Destabilization within the country serves to sow panic among the population, which in turn, causes the national currency to plungefurther damaging Ukraines economy, he said. Danilovs comments come as tensions escalate over a potential invasion by Russia. Western officials estimate Russia has amassed about 100,000 troops near the Ukraine border, while Ukrainian officials have estimated as many as 127,000 Russian troops are stationed at the border. On Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said U.S. citizens in Ukraine should leave the country immediately, noting that there are no plans for a departure or an evacuation for American citizens and diplomats from Ukraine in the event of an invasion. We are conveying very clearly now that now is the time to leave and that there are means to do that, Psaki said. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday set out a diplomatic path to address sweeping Russian demands in Eastern Europe, as Moscow held security talks with Western countries and carried out military drills. In a written response to Russias demands delivered in person by its ambassador in Moscow, the United States repeated its commitment to upholding NATOs open-door policy, while offering a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the Kremlins concerns, Blinken said. Blinken spoke to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi about Ukraine on Wednesday, highlighting the global security and economic risks that could stem from Russian aggression, the State Department said. Russia has denied it is planning an invasion, but has demanded NATO pull back troops and weapons from Eastern Europe and bar its neighbor Ukraine, a former Soviet state, from ever joining the alliance. Washington and its NATO allies reject that position but say they are ready to discuss other topics such as arms control and confidence-building measures. Russia seized control of Ukraines Crimea Peninsula in 2014 and Ukraines Donbas region has since seen violence that has taken more than 14,000 lives. The region is now under de facto control by Russia-backed separatists. Servicemen of the National Guard of Ukraine and members of the SBU security service are seen in this file photo taken in eastern Ukraine on Oct. 13, 2020. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images) Ukrainian Police Detain Soldier Accused of Killing 4 Fellow Servicemen, 1 Civilian A soldier with the Ukrainian National Guard on Thursday turned himself in to police after opening fire on his fellow soldiers, killing four servicemen and one civilian while also wounding five others, Ukraines Interior Ministry said. Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky confirmed that police arrested the suspect shortly after the incident. Officials have identified him as 21-year-old Artemiy Ryabchuk of Odesa, a port city in southern Ukraine. The interior ministry released pictures of the suspect wearing his military uniform while he was being pinned to the ground as officials took him into custody, news agency AFP reported. According to a police statement, the incident took place on Jan. 27 at about 3:40 a.m. local time at a missile factory in the center of the country. The soldier, who was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, killed four servicemen and one civilian female while injuring five others. Five other individuals who sustained injuries in the gunfire are reportedly hospitalized in critical condition. Monastyrsky said that doctors are currently fighting to save their lives. Monastyrskiy also said a special commission would be set up to investigate all circumstances that could have led to the crime. Deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko said the inquiry would focus on the shooters motive. First of all, the question of whether the serviceman faced psychological pressure in [his] team will be studied, Gerashchenko said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday offered his condolences to friends of family of everyone involved, describing the shooting in the industrial city of Dnipro as terrible and demanding investigators thoroughly investigate the incident. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen at the Chancellery in Berlin, July 12, 2021. (Pool Photo via AP/Stefanie Loos) I expect law enforcement to fully inform the public about all the circumstances of the crime. Motives of the killer, how [the shooting] became possibleeverything should be analyzed as thoroughly as possible, Zelensky said. The shooting comes as Ukraine and Eastern Europe are on high alert after tens of thousands of Russian troops have massed on the Russia-Ukraine border. The incident doesnt appear to be linked to the looming conflict. The Pentagon has put on alert about 8,500 U.S. troops in Europe and the United States ready to be deployed to NATOs eastern flank if needed, while another U.S. plane carrying military equipment and munitions landed in Kyiv on Tuesday, the third installment of a $200 million package to shore up Ukraines defenses. Russia said it was watching with great concern and accused Washington of fueling tensions over Ukraine, repeating its line that the crisis was being driven by U.S. and NATO actions rather than by its own build-up of forces on its border with Ukraine. Reuters contributed to this report. From NTD News Delaware State Senator Dave Lawson was shocked after watching the film "Unsilenced" at the Cinemark Christiana and XD in Delaware on Jan. 24, 2022. (Lily Sun/The Epoch Times) Unsilenced Film Shows Strength That We Dont See Today: State Senator Delaware state Senator Dave Lawson was shocked and amazed after watching the Austin Film Festival award-winning film Unsilenced at the Cinemark Christiana and XD in Newark, Delaware, on Jan. 24. I certainly felt that I was way behind what was going on when this started in 1999. And now 23 years later, this is just coming out. Im embarrassed I didnt know more, he told The Epoch Times. Unsilenced, an award-winning film from Peabody Award-winning Chinese-American director Leon Lee, recently released in 30 cities in the United States and is bringing audiences to tears across the country. It captures the story of a jaded American reporter and a team of innocent students as they risk their careersand even their livesto expose the Chinese Communist Partys deadly propaganda. Based on true events, the movie follows the story of Wang, a student at a top university in China. Wang practices Falun Gong, a spiritual meditation discipline that teaches the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. But overnight, Wang found himself an enemy of the state after the Chinese regime launched a national suppression campaign against the practice in 1999. After watching the movie, Lawson said he felt speechless. I learned that there are some very, very vicious people, he said. I learned from this video of how innocent people simply because of a practice of making their lives better, became a victim of a tyrant state. According to the Falun Dafa Information Center, its one of the largest campaigns of religious persecution happening in the world over the past 20 years. Millions of innocent people in China have been fired from their jobs, expelled from school, jailed, tortured, or killed simply for practicing Falun Gong. Lawson said the most touching part of the movie is the strength of Wang that he stayed. And at the end, he knew he had to do what he had to do to make his life for his wife and daughter better. He knew if he didnt do that, it just wasnt right, he wasnt following his belief. That is a strength that we dont see today. Lawson thinks the director did a great job: It was very well done. Lawson would recommend the film to all his legislator colleagues. I want to be a voice and put this out, he said. If you want to see how bad rulers can be, and how vicious theyll be, to step on people to get their own power to maintain their own power, you need to see this. Lawson feels that the wave of communism depicted in the movie that wants to control peoples minds has infiltrated America. Lawson said, We have people making rules and regulations that have no idea what communist, Marx, or anything else is. They never had to fight for this country, they never had the education, and they lose it. He added: You cant mandate things on free people unless they agree to be mandated. Finally, Lawson suggested people should come to see Unsilenced. Please come see the movie. It is very important. I think that its worth your time. Its worth everyones time to understand what is happening in other parts of the world. And we think that were isolated from and we are not. May Lin contributed to this report. Crates holding live monkeys are collected next to the trailer they were being transported in along state Route 54 at the intersection with Interstate 80 near Danville, Pa., on Jan. 21, 2022. (Jimmy May/Bloomsburg Press Enterprise via AP) Update on Pennsylvania Woman Who Came Into Contact With Escaped Monkeys A woman who said she came into contact with escaped monkeys in Pennsylvania several days ago said that shes not sick. I want people to know I am not sick, I found out I was at a birthday party Friday night and people there had COVID-19, Michelle Fallon told local news outlet the Daily Item. I was exposed to the monkeys and exposed to people with COVID. It was the worst day of my life. Fallon, meanwhile, said she was only taking precautions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state health officials. I explained what happened and they said I was at very low risk of anything but I went to get checked out anyway because I started to not feel well, Fallon told the newspaper. I want people to know I am not sick regardless of what they are reading that has been put out there in the media, she continued. I only spoke to a few media outlets but I have been talking to PETA. Pennsylvania State Police said on Jan. 21 that a trailer collided with a dump truck causing crates of monkeys to be dumped near Route 54 and Interstate 80 in Danville, Pennsylvania. Three of the animals escaped but were eventually captured and euthanized, officials said. In a Facebook post and in interviews with local media, Fallon said she came into close contact with the monkeys after believing they were cats. She said she developed pink-eye and other symptoms after coming into close contact with one of the primates. I was behind the truck that was in the accident and I saw when the truck veered off the road and saw the incident, she said. When approaching the crates that fell from the truck, Fallon recalled, So I was like well let me make sure these cats are OK so I approached a crate and saw the fur and heard a grunting sound. I was confused about what kind of cats they were until I picked up the green cloth. When I picked up the cloth a monkey popped up and hissed at me, she added. I said, oh, my God its a monkey and I backed away and the driver told me to not go near them because they were not quarantined and he had to get back to Missouri. The monkey escape incident is being investigated by the U.S Department of Agriculture, or USDA, following a complaint that was filed by the activist group the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The Epoch Times has contacted Fallon for comment. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about Russia and Ukraine during a briefing at the State Department in Washington, on Jan. 26, 2022. (Brendan Smialowski/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) US, NATO Respond to Russias Demands After Moscow Warns of Retaliatory Measures No concessions but seeks dialogue The United States and the NATO Western security alliance have responded to Russias security demands in separate written statements amid continued diplomatic efforts to reach a resolution over the situation in Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. Russia in December 2021 demanded NATO to never add Ukraine and other ex-Soviet nations as members, and also demanded NATO members to pull back troop deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. Moscow has since also sent an estimated 100,000 troops with tanks and other heavy weapons to its borders with Ukraines northeast but denies it is planning an attack. Washington and NATO allies have rejected Russias demands but have put forth a number of proposals and are seeking dialogue with Moscow. Blinken told reporters at the White House on Wednesday that U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation John Sullivan delivered the Biden administrations written responses to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow in person. He said the proposals the United States have put forward can address Russias concerns while enhancing the security of NATO member nations. U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan enters the Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) The Biden administration, in the document delivered to Moscow, made clear the core principles it is committed to defending, which includes Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances, Blinken told reporters. Weve addressed the possibility of reciprocal transparency measures regarding force posture in Ukraine, as well as measures to increase confidence regarding military exercises and maneuvers in Europe, Blinken said. And we address other areas where we see potential for progress, including arms control related to missiles in Europe, our interest in a follow-on agreement to the New START treaty that covers all nuclear weapons, and ways to increase transparency and stability, he added. Under the New START treaty, the United States and Russia are limited to an equal number of deployed strategic warheads and weapons carrying them. Blinken said the U.S. responses to Moscow were fully coordinated with Ukraine and our European allies and partners. I expect to speak to [Russian] Foreign Minister Lavrov in the coming days after Moscow has had a chance to read the paper and is ready to discuss next steps, Blinken said. There should be no doubt about our seriousness of purpose when it comes to diplomacy, and were acting with equal focus and force to bolster Ukraines defenses and prepare a swift, united response to further Russian aggression. Shortly after Blinkens press conference, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at an online briefing that the alliance had sent a separate reply to Russia. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks during a joint pressconference at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Jan. 24, 2022. (John Thys/AFP via Getty Images) Stoltenberg told reporters there were three main areas where NATO sees room for progressNATO-Russia relations; European security; and risk reduction, transparency, and arms control. He called to re-establish communications and diplomatic ties between Russia and the 30-member alliance to help improve relations and prevent military incidents or accidents. He also said that NATO is prepared to engage with Moscow in a real conversation on how to uphold and strengthen the fundamental principles of European security. This includes the right of each nation to choose its own security arrangements, he noted, calling on Moscow to refrain from coercive force posturing, aggressive rhetoric, and malign activities directed against Allies and other nations. Russia should also withdraw its forces from Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, where they are deployed without these countries consent, he added. Stoltenberg also offered a series of approaches to increase military transparency and discuss arms controlincluding on nuclear weapons and missiles. These areas represent an agenda for meaningful dialogue, and I have invited Allies and Russia to a series of meetings to address all of these issues in greater detail in the NATO-Russia Council, he said. A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea on Jan. 18, 2022. (AP Photo) Stoltenberg said NATO rejected any attempt to block memberships, like the United States. We cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which the security of our alliance, and security in Europe and North America rest, he said, adding later: This is about respecting nations and their right to choose their own path. Stoltenberg said NATO allies have in recent days increased military presence with more ships and planes in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea region, to surveil the area in and around Ukraine and provide reassurance to allies. He said NATO some weeks ago also increased the readiness of its Response Force. This response force [is] composed of different elements and the lead element of the NATO Response Force consists of around 5000 troops. Its currently led by France. But also other Allies contribute troops to this lead element, and it can be deployed within days. Russias Response Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Interfax news agency on Wednesday that Russia will study the NATO proposal. We will read it. Study it. The partners studied our project for almost a month and a half, he said. Prior to the responses to Russias demands, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russian lawmakers on Wednesday that he and other top officials will advise President Vladimir Putin on the next steps, reported The Associated Press. If the West continues its aggressive course, Moscow will take the necessary retaliatory measures, Lavrov said, adding, We wont allow our proposals to be drowned in endless discussions. US Tells Americans to Strongly Consider Leaving Ukraine The U.S. State Department on Jan. 23 ordered the evacuation of family members of staff from its Kyiv embassy in Ukraine and urged for all Americans in Ukraine to consider departing now using commercial or other privately available transportation options. Blinken on Wednesday reiterated that Americans should strongly consider leaving Ukraine, adding that the embassy may extend loans to those who cant afford the cost of a commercial ticket. If Russia invades, civiliansincluding Americans still in Ukrainecould be caught in a conflict zone between combatant forces, he warned. The U.S. Government may not be in a position to aid individuals in these circumstances. This has long been the case in conflict zones around the world. Read More Ukraine War Necessary If Russia Recognizes Breakaway Regions: Former Donetsk Separatist Leader Turned Russian Lawmaker Separately, Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraines Minister of Defense, told Ukrainian citizens on Jan. 24 that, at the current time, there are no grounds to believe that Moscow is preparing an invasion in the near future, and there is no need for citizens to have [their] bags packed. President Joe Biden is considering whether to deploy U.S. troops to Eastern Europe to join efforts to defend Ukraine and allied countries. The Pentagon announced on Jan. 24 that, should the situation warrant, 8,500 American troops are at a heightened readiness to deploy. US Supreme Court Declines to Halt Pending Oklahoma Execution OKLAHOMA CITYThe U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a request from a death row inmate in Oklahoma to stop his upcoming lethal injection. In a brief order, the court indicated 46-year-old Donald Grants application for a temporary stay of execution was denied. The decision paves the way for Grant to receive a lethal injection at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Grants attorneys had argued that Oklahomas three-drug protocol exposes him to a constitutionally unacceptable risk of severe pain, and they had asked the court to reinstate him as a plaintiff in a separate lawsuit challenging Oklahomas protocol. But a federal judge denied that request, a decision that was upheld by both an appellate court and now the U.S. Supreme Court. Grant was convicted and sentenced to die for killing two Del City hotel workers during a robbery in 2001. Dr. Pierre Kory in an interview with NTD's "Capitol Report" during the "Defeat the Mandate" rally in Washington on Jan. 23. (Screenshot via The Epoch Times) Were Fighting a War of Information: Dr. Pierre Kory Doctors who have developed effective protocols treating COVID-19 patients have difficulty getting their voices heard because information has been suppressed, according to Dr. Pierre Kory, a pulmonary and critical care specialist. We have combination protocols for every phase of the illness: from prevention to early treatment, to hospital, and even long haul COVID. That information is present. Its on our website. We are having difficulty disseminating that because were fighting a war of information, Kory told NTDs Capitol Report program during the Defeat the Mandates rally in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 23. Kory is the founder and president of the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care (FLCCC) Alliance, a non-profit organization focused on developing effective treatment protocols to prevent the transmission of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus and treat infected patients. Its website also lists doctors and pharmacies that are willing to provide early treatments or related medicines. The powerful interests that are seeking to suppress that information, theyre using widespread censorship, as well as propaganda to try to discredit the science and suppress the science, Kory continued. There has been incredible amounts of that misinformation and it takes many forms, Kory said. Some of it is just the outright censoring or suppression of it. The agencies dont talk about it. They dont disseminate or give guidance to the population. And then youre seeing activewhat I would call disinformation, which is information to dissuade the use and really distort the science. Since the start of the pandemic, federal health agencies have been under fire for inconsistent messages about COVID-19 and their handling of related data. For example, the COVID-19 death or hospitalization numbers could be inflated because those who were hospitalized or died from COVID-19 were not distinguished from those with COVID-19. White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky have also been criticized for flip-flopping on opinions regarding masks, school closures, vaccines, and boosters. Doctors and other experts have also raised concerns that the CDC, from May 2021, has not been investigating all COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough cases, but only those among patients who are hospitalized or die. And so youre seeing medical journals that only will publish studies that dont show the great benefits. All of the really positive studies are not being published, Kory said. The media does not mention any evidence of the numerous studies. We have 73 controlled trials showing that ivermectin works. Weve known for two years that hydroxychloroquine works. Now even the new drugfluvoxamine, an antidepressanthas a huge trial done by a major academic medical center. It shows incredible efficacy. They dont talk about it. The newspapers particularly avoid mentioning it. Kory was referring to a double-blind, randomized controlled trial published in The Lancet in October 2021 and another study about the use of antidepressants against COVID-19 published by the Journal of the American Medical Association last November. The first study showed that fluvoxamine, an FDA-approved drug, reduced COVID-19 mortality rates by up to 91 percent and hospitalizations by two-thirds. The second study showed similar benefits. However, according to the latest COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), There is insufficient evidence for the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel to recommend either for or against the use of fluvoxamine for the treatment of COVID-19. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of NIH told The Epoch Times that studies funded by or conducted at NIH are published by scientific journals, and NIH has no control over what the journals choose to publish. I have to say, again, the pervasive and pernicious influence of the pharmaceutical industry is so fearsome, they literally can control the medical journals, the media outlets, as well as the health care agencies, Kory said. And so theyre really good at what they do. Theyve been doing this for decades. And theyre doing it harder and more effectively than they ever had. But were fighting back. Thats what my organization is trying to do, Kory said. Kory understands its not easy. Those of us who spoke out and have any scientific opinion that diverges from the official recommended one, were losing our jobs, were being attacked. Our reputations are attacked. Our credibility is attacked. I cant get access to life-saving medicines for my patients because theyre not profitable medicines. Theyre being discredited. The loss of those freedoms has really affected me the most as a physician. I cant care for my patients anymore, Kory said. Talking about the recent abolition of vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions by the UK and Ireland, Kory said the United States should follow in their footsteps. The science around these vaccines and the mandates and all these, the science is there to show they dont work. They have failed, Kory said. Theres no more sense in being in a constant state of a public health emergency. That public health emergency is over. And when it ends, all of those policies have to end, and I cant wait till that happens. The CDC hasnt responded to a request from The Epoch Times for comment. Harry Lee Follow Harry Lee is a New York-based reporter for The Epoch Times. Contact Harry at harry.lee@epochtimes.com Students wearing face masks as they return to school at Fairvale High School in Sydney, Australia on Oct. 25, 2021. (AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi) West Australian Schools Use Masks, Air Purifiers To Combat Omicron A flood of nearly 477,000 students will return to schools in Western Australia (WA) on Monday, Jan. 31, bringing with it a slew of new requirements aimed at controlling the spread of the Omicron variant of the CCP virus. High school students and all staff in WA will be required to wear masks upon returning to class, with all 900 public education facilities now retrofitted with a total 12,000 high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) air purifiers and 1,500 carbon dioxide (CO2) monitors. Mask requirements for students in WA follow similar measures implemented in Victoria this week, but which was already a requirement in New South Wales in October. Masks will also need to be worn by primary school children in Year 3 and above if the state experiences a spike in Omicron cases. Despite promising to open the interstate borders on Feb. 5 once the states 12-and-over population reached 90 percent fully vaccinated, the rise of Omicron in other parts of the country has prompted the WA government to reverse its decision. As of Jan. 26, the state recorded 132 active cases. In addition to air filters, enhanced cleaning services, and access to masks and hand sanitiser, WAs Safe Return to School Plan requires all staff to submit their proof of vaccination before Jan. 31. The Epoch Times reached out to the WA Department of Education who were unable to provide the number of staff yet to submit their proof of vaccination. WA Education Minister Sue Ellery said the state was doing its best to keep schools open, including a pool of more than 5,000 fully vaccinated casual teachers available on standby. Western Australia Minister for Education and Training Sue Ellery speaks to the media during a press conference in Perth, Australia on May 1, 2020. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright) Keeping schools open is important to childrens learning, social and emotional development, wellbeing, physical and mental health, Ellery said. Schools have contingency plans in place to minimise disruption to student learning, including hardcopy learning packages, access to online learning resources and arrangements to temporarily replace teachers and other school staff required to isolate due to COVID-19. Education is one of many industries falling under sweeping vaccination mandates that cover 75 percent of the states workforceequivalent to over one million people. A survey from December estimated the state could lose 39,000 workers due to the mandate, costing the states economy around $2.9 billion. WA Premier Mark McGowan has outlined he believes that vaccination was key in helping fight the Omicron variant. Vaccinations for staff are vital to help ensure the safety of their colleagues and students, and to allow student learning to continue, McGowan said. While students have not been specifically required to be vaccinated, WA has put pressure on children to get vaccinated in order to reach its 90 percent target and made it easier to do so, including opening up vaccination clinics within schools and bussing students to state-run vaccination clinics. McGowan has also encouraged as many parents as possible to take their children to get the vaccine, with all children aged 5 and over now eligible. WA Premier Mark McGowan speaks to media at Dumas House in Perth, Australia on Apr. 23, 2021. (Matt Jelonek/Getty Images) Its also important students get vaccinated, McGowan said. Vaccines are safe and effectiveand offer the best protection for our children. However, there is currently no international consensus on whether children need to be vaccinated as children, on average, have recorded low rates of illness and death from COVID-19. Dr. Robert Malone, a virologist and immunologist who contributed to the development of the technology behind mRNA vaccines, has previously said that said parents should think twice before vaccinating their children. Malone noted that while children can effectively clear out the vaccine from their bodies there was also a very small chance of them dying from COVID-19 with the majority of COVID-19 deaths being kids who were already suffering from underlying or chronic diseases. He said that with regard to the chance of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart, theres a good chance that if your child takes the vaccine, they wont be damaged, they wont show clinical symptoms. But the question is, do you want to take that chance with your child? Because if you draw the short straw and your child was damaged, most of these things, if not all of them, are irreversible. There is no way to fix it, Malone told EpochTVs American Thought Leaders program in an interview. Malone, whose work has been cited 12,832 times according to Google Scholars, is regarded as a controversial figure, after publicly criticising the safety and efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines. 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, 2022. (AP Photo) Whats Behind the Troop Buildup on the UkraineRussia Border? Commentary The Washington foreign policy establishment says the hundreds of thousands of Russian troops on Ukraines border threaten NATO and European security. Maybe so, but its also possible the Russian forces deployed shortly after Joe Biden took office represent Moscows defensive posture. For all the theories the media and Beltway experts have advanced to explain the perhaps imminent Eastern European conflict, theyve hidden one big piece of the puzzlethe political faction that Biden leads sees Ukraine as an instrument to advance its narrow partisan interests, foreign and domestic. In 2013, the Obama administration saw a Ukrainian protest movement as an opportunity to topple a Kyiv government aligned with Moscow. A few short years later, Hillary Clintons presidential campaign used Ukrainian officials and activists to push an intelligence operation targeting her rival, Donald Trump. And in 2019, pro-Ukrainian U.S. policymakers conspired to impeach Trump in order to provide cover for Biden after he had publicly boasted of interfering in Ukraines political and judicial system for alleged personal gain. This is essential context for understanding Russian President Vladimir Putins demands for security guarantees that NATO wont move eastwardthat is, wont enlist Ukraine. From Moscows perspective, no matter how weak Biden appears, hes head of a reckless and dangerous political bloc. The Democrats used Ukraine to destabilize the U.S. government, and its possible they will try again to use it to destabilize Russia. As I discuss in the latest episode of Over the Target, the Democrats dangerous actions regarding Ukraine date back nearly a decade. After Putin compelled Ukraines then-President Viktor Yanukovych to reject a 2013 trade deal with the European Union that would have weakened the Russian economy, Ukrainian activists took to the streets of Kyiv in protest. As violence erupted in the Ukrainian capital, senior Obama administration officials seized the opportunity to remold the government to their own liking. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt were famously caught on tape discussing the prime minister they were planning to install. The tape was allegedly leaked by the Russians to show how the United States was interfering in the internal political dynamics of a foreign country. In February 2014, Yanukovych fled Kyiv for Moscow, and a handful of top Obama officials visited Ukraine for what seemed to many observers like a victory lap. CIA Director John Brennans April visit fueled speculation that Americas clandestine service had engineered the coup. A week later, then-Vice President Joe Biden arrived, advising the new government to root out corruption. And yet only a month after Bidens visit, a Ukrainian energy company, Burisma, under investigation by international, and later Ukrainian, authorities, appointed his son Hunter to a board seat that paid more than $50,000 a month. It appears that Burisma was buying protection from the U.S. official in charge of Ukraine policyHunter Bidens father. With the 2016 presidential election in the offing, the Democrats urged their new friends in Ukraine to contribute to Hillary Clintons election efforts by supporting her campaigns allegations that Trump had been compromised by Moscow. A Financial Times article from August 2016 documented the many former and acting Ukrainian officials who claimed the GOP candidate was pro-Putin. In Washington, a Democratic National Committee contractor, Ukrainian American activist Alexandra Chalupa, sought help from the Ukrainian embassy in smearing Trump as a Russian agent. The Ukrainian ambassador to Washington pitched in with an anti-Trump op-ed in The Hill. At the same time, Clinton campaign contractor Fusion GPS was sourcing reports of TrumpRussia collusion from Ukrainian parliamentarian Serhiy Leshchenko. Indeed, the infamous anti-Trump dossier is fundamentally about Russia and Ukraine. The salacious bits may be the most notorious parts of the dossier, but the overarching collusion narrative hinges on allegations of a quid pro quo regarding Ukraine. In exchange for Putins help winning the 2016 race, the dossier alleges, Trump would remove sanctions that Barack Obama had imposed on Russia for its 2014 incursion into Ukraine and annexation of Crimea. Just weeks before the Obama-Biden administration finished its term in January 2017, Biden told the Department of Justice that Trumps national security adviser Michael Flynn should be prosecuted for discussing sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington. With the help of the press, the Obama-Biden team forced Flynn from the White House, the first move in a more than two-year operation combining the Democratic Party, U.S. spy services, and the media to topple the Trump administration. When Russiagate did eventually wind down in the summer of 2019, another anti-Trump operation was already in motion. This one, too, turned on Ukraine. On July 24, Robert Mueller appeared on Capitol Hill to say that his special counsel investigation found no evidence of any quid pro quo or collusion. The next day, Trump spoke on the phone with the new Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and asked for Kyivs help in getting to the bottom of Ukraines role in Russiagate. He also asked Zelensky for information regarding the Bidens activities in Ukraine. Trump had heard of Joe Bidens public admission that he made the Ukrainians fire the prosecutor investigating the company paying his son Hunter. The former vice president told a New York audience that hed demanded a quid pro quo from the Kyiv government. If they didnt get rid of the prosecutor, hed withhold a $1 billion loan guarantee. Well, son of a [expletive], said Biden, he got fired. Trump told Zelensky that Bidens role sounds horrible to me. A Ukrainian American official working in the White House named Alex Vindman was listening to Trumps call with Zelensky and relayed its contents to a whistleblower, who was identified by RealClearInvestigations as former Biden aide Eric Ciaramella, a CIA analyst. As a key staffer to the former vice president on Ukraine, Ciaramella must have known as well as anyone that an investigation into the Bidens Ukraine-related activities could cause trouble for the Democratic Partys potential 2020 presidential candidate. And so, based on Vindmans account, it was alleged that Trump threatened to withhold lethal defensive aid from Ukraine unless Kyiv helped find dirt on the Bidens. In reality, Bidens quid pro quo was simply hung on Trumpit was Biden, after all, whod used U.S. taxpayer money as leverage to allegedly benefit his family. As commander-in-chief, Trump had an obligation to find out whether the Bidens activities in Ukraine had compromised U.S. national security. Nonetheless, the media, Democratic Party operatives, and U.S. officials whod worked on the Ukraine file, such as Ciaramella and Vindman, White House aide Fiona Hill, and former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, partnered to impeach Trump. They destabilized the American government to protect Joe Biden. Americans know how the four-year anti-Trump campaign tore at our domestic political fabric. But it was destined to affect our standing abroad as well. After all, the entire world was watching, including the foreign leader the Democrats made the bogeyman in order to destroy a U.S. presidentPutin. The truth of the Biden factions Ukraine-related activities has been obscured by the U.S. media or described falsely as Russian disinformation. But with a clear view of the facts, it isnt hard to see the current situation through Russian eyes: America is now governed by corrupt officials who squandered their prestige and forfeited the national interest for the purpose of undermining their own political system. Because Ukraine was their instrument, a Biden administration is dangerous to Russia on Russias border. Thus, there are real-world consequences to the machinations of the Democratic Party over the past decade. For the Ukrainians, its a lesson that smaller powers should never allow themselves to be dragged into the internal conflicts of a great power. For Americans, theres the long work of sorting through the wreckage caused by a political faction that sees foreign policy as a tool to advance its domestic agenda. And so theres the very real possibility, however slight, that Biden will drag America into a conflict that he and his party have used over the last 10 years for personal and political gain. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. White House Renews Biden Promise to Appoint Black Woman to SCOTUS Amid News of Breyer Retirement At the White House press briefing on Wednesday, press secretary Jen Psaki refused to answer speculative questions about the future of the Supreme Court but did say that President Joe Biden remains committed to his campaign promise to appoint the first ever black woman to the high court in the event of a vacancy. This after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) issued a statement Jan. 26 saying that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire at the end of the courts term this summer. Several Democratic congressional members then followed with calls on Biden to nominate a black woman. The president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a black woman to the Supreme Court and certainly stands by that, Psaki said. For today, again, Im just not going to be able to say anything about any specifics until, of course, Justice Breyer makes any announcement, should he decide to make an announcement. Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington on April 23, 2021. Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett. (Erin Schaff/Pool/Getty Images) At a campaign event last summer, Biden said that he is putting together a list of African-American women who are qualified and have the experience to be on the court, and added that hes not going to release that until we go further down the line in vetting them as well. Breyer, 83, has served as a Supreme Court justice for more than 30 years. He was appointed by former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and is considered to be part of the high courts liberal-leaning wing. Were he to step down, it would pave the way for Biden to appoint his first Supreme Court justice. Some have speculated that Vice President Kamala Harriswho previously served as attorney general for the state of Californiacould be a potential choice for a vacant seat. Psaki on Wednesday repeated her previous statement saying that Biden intends to run again in 2024 with Harris on the ticket. Supreme Court appointments have been highly contentious political events in recent years, with nearly all Democrats voting to block former President Donald Trumps three picks. Jared Carter, an assistant professor at Vermont Law School, told The Epoch Times on Wednesday that he expects Republicans to fight a Biden nomination as aggressively as Democrats did the Trump nominations. But he noted that the Democrats hold a slim majority in the Senate and that Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have both voted independent of Bidens agenda in the past. My sense is certainly that Biden recognizes that hes going to have to appease every Democrat, and that includes Sens. Sinema and Manchin, and so I think that means were going to see, certainly, not a far-left nominee, Carter said. Were much more likely to see a centrist juristsomeone who doesnt have a reputation one way or the other. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said of the pending retirement, There will be immense pressure from the radical left to replace Justice Breyer with a partisan who will legislate from the bench, and I hope President Biden will not cave to their demands the way he has on nearly everything else the past year. Schumer said Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed. If Breyer does decide to retire at the end of the Supreme Court term this summer, he will likely vote on Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organizationa case that examines the constitutionality of a law from Mississippi that would ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incestbefore he vacates his seat. Why Jordan Peterson Quit Academia Commentary Woke supremacy has been taking a toll on Western civilization. The casualties of wokeness are too many and sundry to track. But we shouldnt forget that wokeness was first germinated in higher education, from whence it metastasized to the wider social body. The academy is the cathedral pulpit from which the ideological dictates of the elite flow downward to the hoi polloi. According to David Acevedo of the National Association of Scholars, hundreds of North American academics have been subjected to cancel culture to date, including yours truly. And the number continues to grow. This is to say nothing about the curriculum, which has suffered excisions of canonical works from literature and philosophy and the denunciation of correct answers in math, among many other abominations. Now woke ideology has led to the resignation of the most famous academic alive: the psychologist, best-selling author, and public intellectual Jordan Peterson, who announced in the National Post his decision to retire from his position as tenured full professor at the University of Toronto. Peterson cites two main reasons for his resignation. The first involves his otherwise bad conscience regarding graduate students. For one, his white cis-hetero grad students are unlikely to land academic jobs due to the explicit discrimination that white males face in the academic job market. I can attest to this fact, having served on hiring committees that set aside top-notch candidates who happened to be white males in favor of far less qualified and sometimes utterly unqualified comers whose membership in marginalized identity categories was their most distinguishing qualification. Adding insult to injury, academic job applicants must now submit diversity statements in which they swear allegiance to so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), or diversity, inclusion, and equity (DIE), despite the ideologys discriminatory function and, in the case of those from dominant identity categories, the likelihood that it diminishes their own prospects. Furthermore, given Petersons association with the alt-right and white nationalism by hysterics in the media and the academic left, his graduate students face even more discrimination than usual. Basically, any intellectual that opposes communism and third-wave feminism is dubbed a Nazi and a misogynist by academic leftists, and Peterson is no exception. Yet the public mischaracterizations and libelous accusations have been particularly egregious in his case. The second reason Peterson gives for his retirement is generalized disgust with the DIE ideology and its erosion of academic standards. Peterson simply wants nothing further to do with the woke hegemony and has come to regard continued association with the university as tantamount to complicity with the woke regime. In addition to academia, Peterson also pans Hollywood and the corporate world. The selection of actors in Hollywood is based on identity rather than excellence. The same goes for screenplays and the granting of awards. In every respect, the criteria for success have been utterly corrupted by DIE ideology. Peterson also calls out the corporate world for its compliance with wokeness. Why, he asks, do capitalist companies accede to woke dictates? Ive given my own explanation for this elsewhere. Wokeness serves as a demarcation device, a shibboleth for identifying cartel members and distinguishing them from the nonwoke competitors, who are to be starved of capital investments. Peterson rightly calls the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) index a Chinese-style social credit score for corporations, a characterization I drew several months ago and most recently in an essay on the Great Reset published in November 2021. The collectivist planners use the ESG index to squeeze nonwoke players out of the market and to drive ownership and control of production away from the noncompliant. The ESG score is an admissions ticket for entry into the woke cartels. In addition to these objects of Petersons ire, we might also bemoan the woke infiltration of the media, professional sports, the music business, the fashion industry, advertising, book publishing, live theater, museum curation, and even religious belief and expression. Wokeness, in fact, is a religion in its own right. It has pervaded nearly every aspect of culture and society, subverting, displacing, and rendering obsolete and anathema the once cherished values of nearly all our institutions. Where academia is concerned, the water has long since gone under the bridge. The West has been undergoing a ghoulish cultural revolution for several years, replete with struggle meetings and self-criticism sessions. Academia not only generated this cultural revolution, but was the site first ravaged by it. Higher education is long gone, and Petersons retirement from it is somewhat anticlimactic. Nevertheless, given his intellectual prominence, Petersons resignation represents a high-water mark for the ravages wrought by DIE ideology on our society. From Mises.org Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence after a meeting with his Turkish counterpart in Sochi, Russia, on Sept. 29, 2021. (Vladimir Smirnov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images) Why Putin Hasnt Been Deterred Commentary Americans want an autonomous Ukraine to survive. They hope the West can stop Russian President Vladimir Putins strangulation of both Ukraine and NATO. Yet Americans dont want their troops to venture across the world to Europes backyard in order to fight nuclear Russia to ensure that Ukraine stays independent. Most Americans oppose the notion that Russia can simply dictate the future of Ukraine. Yet Americans also grudgingly accept that Ukraine was often historically part of Russia. During World War II, it was the bloody scene of joint RussianUkrainian sacrificesmore than 5 million killedthat defeated the Nazi German invasion. Americans publicly support NATO. Yet most Americas privately worry that NATO has become diplomatically impotent and a military miragea modern League of Nations. NATO members have a collective gross domestic profit (GDP) thats seven times larger than Russias. Their aggregate population is 1 billion. Yet the majority wont spend enough on defense to deter their weaker enemies. The second-largest NATO member, Turkey, is closer with Russia than it is with the United States. Its people poll anti-American. Germany is NATOs richest European member and the power behind the EU. Yet Germany will soon be dependent on imported Russian natural gas for much of its energy needs. In a recent Pew Research Center poll, 70 percent of Germans voiced a desire for more cooperation with Russia. Most Americans poll the exact opposite. Worse, 60 percent of Germans oppose going to the aid of any NATO country in a time of war. More than 70 percent of Germans term their countrys relationship with the United States as bad. We can translate all of these disturbing results in the following manner: The German and Turkish people like or trust Russia more than they do their own NATO patron, the United States. They wouldnt support participating in any NATO joint military effort, even against an invading Russiaeven, or especially, if spearheaded by an unpopular United States. So, assume that NATOs key two members are either indifferent to the fate of nearby Ukraine or sympathetic to Russias professed grievancesor both. Indeed, most Americans fear that if Ukraine ever became a NATO member, Putin might be even more eager to test its sovereignty. He assumes that not all NATO members would intervene to help in the event of an attack on Ukraine, as required by their mutual defense obligations under Article 5. If they didnt, he could then both absorb Ukraine and unravel the NATO alliance all at once. There are more complications in the Ukrainian mess. President Joe Biden, in wacky statements, has confirmed Putins assumption that the United States is currently divided, confused, weakened, and poorly led. Putin knows that the secretary of defense and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appear more worried about white privilege and climate change than they are about enhancing military readiness to deter enemies such as himself. He sees polls that show that only 45 percent of Americans have confidence in their new politicized military. He further assumes that the flight from Afghanistan has made the United States both less feared by enemies and less trusted by allies. The prior failed U.S. policy of Russian reset, the appeasement of Putins aggressions during the President Barack Obama years, together with the concocted hoax of Russian collusion, have all variously emboldenedand angeredthe Russian president. He knows that President Donald Trump is no longer in office. So he assumes that with Trump gone, U.S. deterrence against Russia has also vanished. Trumps now rejected agenda was to increase U.S. and NATO defenses and pump oil and gas to crash the global price of Russias chief source of foreign exchange. Putin was once furious that Trump unilaterally left an asymmetrical U.S.Russia missile accord. Trump ordered lethal force to be used against large numbers of Russian mercenaries who attacked a U.S. installation in Syria. He sold offensive weapons to Ukraine. He acted forcibly in taking out terrorist enemies such as Irans General Qasem Soleimani, the Islamicist Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and ISIS itself. With Trump gone, Russia assumes that the appeasement years of the ObamaBiden administration are back again. As in 2014, once more Putin is moving against his neighbors. Finally, theres the unfortunate role of recent Ukrainian government officials. Some were deeply involved in greenlighting the Biden family grifting and profiteering to ensure massive U.S. foreign aid. Some Ukrainian expatriates and current government members worked with the American left to ensure the first impeachment of Trump. Now Ukrainians are exasperated that their prior intrusions into domestic U.S. politics have backfired with the disastrous Biden presidencyand his apparent de facto acceptance of an inevitable Russian annexation. Where does this entire mess leave the United States? In trouble. Putin is undermining a sovereign nation and fissuring NATO, and if successful, he might continue the Ukraine slow-squeeze model in the Baltic states and elsewhere. Meanwhile, China smiles, hoping the Ukraine blueprint can be used against Taiwan. Exasperated Americans fear that Putin will be deterred neither by sanctions nor by arms sales, but only by his own sense of cost-to-benefit self-interest. Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Subscribe for free news alerts Click the button below to sign up for any of our available e-mailed news alerts. Sign up NORWALK In the event of an emergency, the citys middle and high school health offices are equipped to administer Narcan to anyone experiencing an opioid overdose on school grounds. Our School Medical Advisor Dr. Norman Weinberger has completed a standing medical order for NPS nurses to be able to administer Naloxone/Narcan if necessary, said Brenda Wilcox Williams, chief of staff and communications for Norwalk Public Schools. All 24 school nurses and substitute nurses in the school district are trained in the administration of naloxone, also known as Narcan. A renewed urgency for the availability of Narcan in schools comes after the death of a 13-year-old boy in Hartford who possibly overdosed on fentanyl, according to the Associated Press. The incident occurred during a gym class at the Sport and Medical Sciences Academy, the Hartford Police Department told Hearst Connecticut Media. The seventh-grade student was taken to Connecticut Childrens Medical Center and died two days later. The academy did not have naloxone on hand and a opioid overdose was not immediately considered by the school nurse and first responders, who did have naloxone, due to the students young age, according to the AP. Naloxone is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. It is an opioid antagonist, which means it attaches to opioid receptors and reverses and blocks the effects of other opioids. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose. But, naloxone has no effect on someone who does not have opioids in their system, and it is not a treatment for opioid use disorder, according to NIDA. Narcan is the nasal spray application of naloxone. It is a needle-free device that requires no assembly and is sprayed into one nostril while the person experiencing the overdose lays on their back. Naloxone can also be administered via injection. emily.morgan@hearstmediact.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Norwalk Police Department Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Norwalk Police Department Show More Show Less 3 of 3 NORWALK Two Brooklyn, N.Y., residents accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of perfume from a city store were arrested Tuesday with the help of a tracking device, according to police. Kerina Semervil, 24, and Davon Sejourne, 23, were each charged with third-degree larceny after the pair allegedly raided the Ulta Beauty store at 650 Main Ave. shortly after 1 p.m. on Jan. 25. 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. 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. Sunday, Jan. 30 Scams and Frauds You Encounter Every Day 1-3 p.m. at the Maryville Community Center, 500 East Division St. Presented by Steve Baker, an International Investigations Specialist for the BBB. In-person and virtual sessions available. Attendees are asked to social distance and wear masks. The Zoom session can be opened with Zoom ID: 850 8666 4733; Pass Code: 236771 or mobile number: +131262667799. Part of the Maryville Parks & Rec 16th annual Discovery Sunday Series, check the Village of Maryville website for changes. Tuesday, Feb. 1 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. 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. (Jan 18-Apr 26) Pasta Dinner Every Tuesday 3-8 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, Feb. 2 Blood Drive at St. Johns 1-6 p.m. at St. Johns United Methodist Church, 7372 Marine Road, Edwardsville. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decline in donor turnout, the cancellation of blood drives and staffing challenges, leading to the worst blood shortage in more than a decade. To schedule, go to redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROS (1-800-733-2767) Thursday, Feb. 3 PFLAG Edwardsville Meeting 7-8:30 p.m. online. Contact Amy for a link, 618-977-5078 or pflagedwardsville@outlook.com. PFLAG Edwardsville offers support, education, and advocacy for LGBTQ people and their allies. There will be a speaker from Alton Pride to discuss their new youth group. 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 NAMI Meeting 7-8:30 p.m via Zoom. The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southwestern Illinois (NAMI SWI) family support meetings may also be in person. To receive the link for a Zoom meeting or address for an in-person meeting contact Pat Rudloff, silverlining6@charter.net. Friday, Feb. 4 Book Sale 9 a.m.-noon at the Tri Township Library, 209 South Main, Troy. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Book donations are accepted during the book sale and on Tues. from 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. If the Triad Unit 2 School District is closed on the day of the book sake then the book sale will be canceled. Fish Fry Every Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South 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 Sunday, Feb. 6 Discover Bees and Beekeeping 1-3 p.m. at Maryville Community Center, 500 East Division St. Available in-person and online as part of the Maryville Park & Rec Discovery Sunday Sessions. Dennis Hessel of the St. Clair Beekeepers Association will be presenting. Attendees are asked to social distance and wear masks. The Zoom session can be opened with Zoom ID: 850 8666 4733; Pass Code: 236771 or by mobile number: +131262667799. Check the Village of Maryville website for any changes. Tuesday, Feb. 8 Exploring Ancient New River Gorge National Park and Preserve 6-7:30 p.m. online via Zoom. Zoom registration is available on the Sierra Club Piasa Palisades Group Events tab at www.sierraclub.org/illinois/piasa-palisades. Join this presentation of the February Speaker Series to hear more about the interesting story from long-time Piasa Palisades Group member Dr. Rich Keating. For questions contact Chris Krusa 410-490-5024. 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. 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. (Jan 18-Apr 26) Pasta Dinner Every Tuesday 3-8 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 American Legion Post 199 meeting 6:30 p.m. at the American Legion Post 199 at 58 S. State Rt. 157. All legion members are encouraged to attend the meetings. Non-member visitors are welcome. Thursday, Feb. 10 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. (Jan 20 -April 28 2022) 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 Friday, Feb. 11 Fish Fry Every Friday 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Dine-in or Carryout at the Edwardsville American Legion Post 199, 58 South 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 Glo-Bingo 6 p.m. at the Edwardsville Moose Lodge, 7371 Marine Road. Bring your own snacks. Saturday, Feb. 12 Galentine's Party 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. at The Ink House, 117 North Second St., Edwardsville. Presented by Opal & Lace. Over 25 vendors, cash bar, photo mini shoots, music and makeup and eyebrow tint and waxing. Vendors interested in participating can email kemiller2014@gmail.com 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. GLEN CARBON As the next step toward its water independence, village trustees unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for someone to possibly buy its water and sewer systems. As weve been discussing, one of the issues we are facing is our water source, said Village Administrator Jamie Bowden. Currently, we purchase our water from Illinois-American Water (IAW). The village has just engaged WHKS, which will research options for our own [water] source and the cost. He said the other option is looking at a joint project with Maryville. There is an initial cost estimate, but they are still working through the details with Mayor Craig Short and other Maryville officials on that idea. Another option would be to sell the villages water distribution system and the RFP is the first step in that process, he said, however, the village is not obligated to sell either of its systems. Village Attorney James Schrempf provided other details. This is the process of asking IAW what [it] would be willing to pay, what rates [it] would be willing to commit to and find out their interest, Schrempf said. They cannot give us a solid proposal unless we go through this process. He said it was structured to be multiple choice water system only, sewer system only or both, combined. In addition, we will, at a later date, try to get from IAW a concept of what [it] would charge to continue to provide us with wholesale water for our distribution system, so there will actually be four options to later consider. Bowden said later, they will lay out the advantages and disadvantages of each option are plus the cost impact to the village and users. Trustee Ben Maliszewski asked Schrempf if any other entity could bid on this. There was a time when Aqua Water Company was aggressively seeking new customers, Schrempf replied. [It] ran into some problems more than a year ago. My experience is that lately, only IAW is likely to be a qualified bidder on this. He conceded they may get a "dark horse" or long-shot candidate but he did not see that as likely. Proposals for either or both systems will be accepted by the village clerk until 4 p.m. on March 7, 2022. Proposals can be delivered to: Village Board, Village of Glen Carbon, Illinois, c/o Jamie Bowden, 151 N. Main St., Glen Carbon IL 62034. Heights-area residents have donated more than $55,000 to the family of Tarfin Micu, the owner and auto technician at Fixers Tire & Automotive, 147 E. 11th St. The 65-year-old Micu was significantly injured and hospitalized after attempting to thwart the theft of a customer's Cadillac last week. You can find your client key on your subscription renewal statement or call us at the Mountain Mail at 719-539-6691. That release could not be found. How long should Nigerian judges and magistrates hide how they spend public money? According to a recent report by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences (ICPC), the Nigerian judiciary tops the corruption index across the public sector with a N9.4 billion bribe from lawyers. This is the same court system that hides its financial books and expenditure from the people. Incredible! Some days ago, Prof. Sani Adam, a lawyer and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Administration, at the University of Abuja, in a media report said, "I must admit that there is so much corruption in the judiciary and all lawyers must work to revamp the judiciary because if the judiciary is doing what it is supposed to do, there will be timely dispensation of justice without delay." "All the problems we are having today are because the judiciary has failed, and it has failed woefully. It is our collective responsibility to reform our laws to ensure that cases are dispensed immediately, with all honesty and sincerity. " Now we hear from the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, apparently overwhelmed by the dishonorable approach to public service and judicial practices, that he is publicly raising concerns about why the judiciary has not been transparent on how it is spending the funds allocated to it in its annual budgets. Up till now, this issue has not been raised openly by any higher up in the government. As such, the AG deserves our thanks for saying an institution like the Judiciary cannot continue to operate with impunity. The judges, magistrates, registers, and other court personnel are funded by the legislature, which appropriates funds for the judiciary to carry out its constitutional duties, execute administrative services, and engage in courthouse construction and maintenance. As such, doesnt the public have the right to know if the judiciary is spending public funds in an impartial, responsible, and cost-efficient way? In a democracy, it is essential that the chief justice and two or three of his deputies come physically before the legislative committee on appropriation on an annual basis to present the judiciary budget with details of their requests such as staffing, salaries, renovation, maintenance, buildings and grounds, research, education, and development, equipment, technology, accommodation, and other items. They are expected to also comment on other issues relating to law schools, prison legal services, contracting, scholarship, publications, entrainments, insurance, travel, security, and electronic documentation, as well as the budget impacts of workload and caseload. For generations, the judiciary, meaning the chief judge or his or her deputies, has for the most part not directly appeared before the legislature to give testimony on the detailed usage of the funds they request annually. Yet, they keep requesting as if the people are stupid and therefore should not ask questions because the spenders are lords, judges, and magistrates. Well, see this link for reality education: https://www.c-span.org/video/?181010-1/supreme-court-budget No matter how troubled our democracy is, the judiciary must always ensure high ethical standards and transparency when it comes to judicial budgets. Henceforth, this present government and successive ones should, by way of executive order or law, make the judiciary account for all the money appropriated to them and various fees paid to the courts. The Nigerian judiciary must begin to move away from pre-historic times by taking advantage of new technologies. It must take a futurist view, which includes maintaining court records electronically, enabling electronic filing of pleadings and orders, and constructing high-tech courtrooms for evidence presentation. To save time and money, the courts should learn to electronically zoom in and out. Court lawyers should learn to use tablets to present evidence in the courtroom, so the judges can see an exhibit on a TV monitor. We cannot continue with the old way of doing business because of personal convenience and a refusal to engage in new learning. To maintain the publics trust in the judiciary, and as part of updated judicial practices and mechanisms, there is a need for strong counsel to the laissez-faire attitude of the National Judicial Council (NJC). Yes, we need to spend money on the judiciary, but it must commit to spending public funds in a responsible and cost-efficient way. Court audits by the office of Auditor-General and legislative oversight mechanisms always work together to hold judges and judicial staff responsible for their financial conduct as government officials and for efficient management of public funds. These notations should equally apply to others like the military, customs service, immigration service, the Nigerian Police Force, DSS, prisons, the National Intelligence Agency, and others. Institutional accountability and integrity are crucial if the place called Nigeria is to grow into a democracy. John Egbeazien Oshodi who was born in Uromi, Edo State in Nigeria, is an American based Police/Prison Scientist and Forensic/Clinical/Legal Psychologist. A government Consultant on matters of forensic-clinical adult/child psychological services in the USA; Chief Educator and Clinician at the Transatlantic Enrichment and Refresher Institute, an Online Lifelong Center for Personal, Professional and Career Development. A former Interim Associate Dean/Assistant Professor at the Broward College, Florida. The Founder of the Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological Health and Behavioral Change in African settings. In 2011, he introduced the State-of-the-Art Forensic Psychology into Nigeria through N.U.C and the Nasarawa State University where he served in the Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. A Virtual behavioral Leadership Professor at the ISCOM University, Republic of Benin. Founder of the Proposed Transatlantic Egbeazien Open University (TEU) of Values and Ethics, a digital project of Truth, Ethics, Openness. Author of over forty academic publications/creations, at least 200 public opinion writeups on African issues, and various books. He specializes in psycho-prescriptive writings regarding African institutional and governance issues. Prof Oshodi wrote in via [email protected] The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB)said on Thursday that an helicopter belonging to the Nigerian Police Force which took off from Abuja has crashed at the Bauchi Airport. The AIB noted that the NPF helicopter had departed Abuja at 16:54 UTC for Bauchi with six persons on board maintaining 5,500ft According to the bureau, no loss of life was recorded in the incident. On 26th January, 2022, Accident Investigation Bureau, Nigeria was notified by Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) about an accident involving a Bell 429 helicopter with Registration Marks 5N-MDA owned and operated by Nigerian Police Force (NPF), the statement said. The accident occurred on 26th January, 2022 around 7:30pm (Local Time) at Bauchi Airport. The NPF helicopter had departed Abuja at 16:54 UTC for Bauchi with Six persons on board maintaining 5,500ft There were some injuries but no fatality. The investigating agency, AIB-N needs and hereby solicits for your assistance. We want the public to know that we would be amenable to receiving any video clips, evidences, or information any member of the public may have of the accident that can assist us with this investigation. The Bureau will appreciate that the general public and press respect the privacy of the people involved and NOT assume the cause of the accident until a formal report is released.It statement. New chapter with Saudis feted RIYADH: Thailand and Saudi Arabia have agreed to fully restore diplomatic relations, opening a new chapter in their relations and creating opportunities for bilateral cooperation and development between the two kingdoms. tourism By Bangkok Post Thursday 27 January 2022, 09:27AM Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha (fourth from right) and Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai (sixth from left) join an ardah sword dance while touring the cultural heritage town of Diriyah during their visit to Saudi Arabia yesterday (Jan 26). Photo: Government House Upon his return from a one-day official visit to Riyadh, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hailed the visit as a tremendous success, marking an end to three decades of strained relations and a beginning of cooperation for mutual benefit, reports the Bangkok Post. Both countries have agreed to fully restore diplomatic ties including the appointment of ambassadors and will consider setting up mechanisms to strengthen bilateral cooperation, he said. Saudi Arabia downgraded diplomatic ties with Thailand and adopted a number of measures after the murder of Saudi diplomats and the disappearance of a Saudi businessman in Bangkok following the theft of Saudi state gems in 1989. These included replacing the head of its diplomatic mission with a charge daffaires, prohibiting Saudi Arabian nationals from travelling to Thailand, and stopping Thai workers from being employed in the Middle East nation. There have been a number of attempts to repair relations between the countries over the years. Prayuts visit at the invitation of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, crown prince, this week has been heralded as a historic breakthrough. Im overwhelmed with the vast opportunities that both nations are likely to gain from normalising relations, he said on his Facebook page. He said Thailand and Saudi Arabia can expect to benefit in nine key areas, namely: tourism, energy, labour, food, healthcare, security, education and religion, trade and investment, and sports. Tourism will promote more contact between the two nations and is expected to generate at least B5 billion in income for Thailand, he added. On energy, both nations are expected to pursue joint research and investment in conventional, clean and renewable energy in line with strategic goals. Thailands bio-circular and green (BCG) economy model also corresponds with the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative, Prayut said. The full restoration of diplomatic ties will also create job opportunities for the countrys skilled and semi-skilled workers as Saudi Arabia proceeds with infrastructure schemes, he added. In 1987, Thailand sent about 300,000 workers to Saudi Arabia who generated more than B9bn for the country. Those labour cooperation arrangements will be brought back with Thai workers expected to contribute to Saudi Vision 2030, a strategic framework for economic and social development, Prayut said. He said restored relations will also help expand the countrys medical tourism sector. On security, Saudi Arabia, a core member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), can promote the Thai governments efforts to restore peace to the deep South. The two countries can also intensify bilateral cooperation in religious education and exchanges of knowledge in other fields. Prayut said restoration of diplomatic ties will also open doors to trade and investment. While Thai investors and SMEs can pursue business opportunities and partnerships in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia can seek to invest in Thailands special economic schemes such as the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) via its Saudi Wealth Fund. Prayut said Thailand is ready to elevate bilateral relations to new heights and expand this to multilateral cooperation. Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin, part of Prayuts delegation, said Saudi Arabia welcomes labour cooperation as it seeks 8 million skilled workers in services, hospitality, healthcare and construction projects. Mr Suchart said he asked the Thai labour office in Riyadh to coordinate with Saudi authorities on forms of labour cooperation. As of December, there were 1,345 Thais working in Saudi Arabia. Phuket hotel isolation measures issued in English PHUKET: Officials have released English-language versions of the official guidelines for hotel isolation and quarantine for tourists who test positive on landing in Phuket or contract the virus while on the island. COVID-19Coronavirustourismhealth By The Phuket News Thursday 27 January 2022, 11:25AM A tourist waits to be approved to enter hotel quarantine in Patong. Photo: Patong Municipality The three notices have yet to be publicly posted by Phuket officials through the official channels, but were provided to The Phuket News late yesterday (Jan 26). The notices address several critical issues, including whether or not a parent can choose to stay in isolation with a child who had tested positive for COVID-19. Of note, the notices are the first hotel isolation guidelines published in English since the Test & Go tourist entry scheme began on Nov 1. The Test & Go entry scheme, suspended late last month due to the rising number of Omicron infections, will ropen to bookings this coming Tuesday (Feb 1). The three notices read as follows: Hotel Room Isolation Mandate Phuket Provincial Public Health Office would like to announce the Hotel Room Isolation Mandate as follows. All travelers who have tested positive for Covid-19 during their stay in Phuket will be required to either be admitted to a local hospital/hospitel, or conduct a mandatory Hotel Room Isolation for a period of ten <10> days at the hotel at which they are staying. Travelers who are suitable for the mandatory ten <10> day Hotel Room Isolation are required to follow these instructions: 1. A mandatory ten <10> days isolation period in order to record and observe any symptoms from Day one <1> until Day ten <10>. (Example: if you tested positive on the 10th January this is considered Day 1 with Day 10 being the 20th January) 2. Travelers are required to fill out a Health Declaration & Consent Form prior to being allowed to conduct Hotel Room Isolation. 3. Travelers have the following medical package options to select from: PACKAGE A = 1,000thb (First screening + Medical Certificate only) Provided by a Government Hospital PACKAGE B = 2,000thb (First screening + Medical Certificate + Equipment) Provided by a Government Hospital PACKAGE C-D = 12,000 -15,000thb (First screening + Medical Certificate + Equipment + Medical Consultant) Provided by a Government and Private Hospital 4. Travelers under Hotel Room Isolation are not allowed nor permitted to leave their hotel room / villa. 5. Once the ten <10> day isolation period is completed, travelers will receive a medical certificate from the hospital stating you have completed the mandatory Hotel Room Isolation and are free to leave the room; however, they must follow the release requirements as stated by the Doctor assigned to their case. After you are released: 2.1: You are required to stay away from crowded areas. 2.2: You must continue to follow Covid-19 free rules & regulations, especially wearing masks in public areas. Remark: For hotels participating in Hotel Room Isolation Program Only Person of High Risk Contact The Phuket Provincial Public Health Office would like to announce the mandatory requirements for the Person of High Risk Contact as follows. Who is a High Risk Contact person? A person is considered High Risk when they have occupied the same room, or have been in close contact with a person who is known to have tested positive for Covid-19. HRC Requirements: Relocate to an alternative room if staying in the same room as the infected person. Must conduct a seven <7> day self-quarantine and then three <3> days of self monitor. During this time, you will be required to conduct TWO PCR/ATK tests on day five <5> or six <6> and another on day ten <10> Throughout the quarantine period you will be required to remain in the room or villa until the seventh <7> day has been completed. During the last three <3> days of self monitoring, you must avoid crowded areas and wear a mask at all times outside of the room or villa. If either PCR test returns positive you will be required to enter the Hotel Room Isolation as stated above. If your ATK test returns positive, you could conduct a PCR test to confirm the result or immediately begin your hotel room isolation for ten <10> days. The required tests On the first test of HRC on day five <5> or six , if you have your appointment for an PCR test, you must attend. If the HRC person refuses to relocate to alternative room: In case an HRC person wishes to stay with a guest having tested POSITIVE for Covid-19, you must agree to remain in self isolation for a period of ten <10> days. During which you are recommended to conduct a daily ATK test. In the event the HRC person who tested NEGATIVE contracts the virus during this time and tests POSITIVE, they will then be required to self-isolate for ten <10> days from the date of receiving the test result. In the event the HRC person tests NEGATIVE, they are free to return to their home country anytime. However, if this person wishes to continue their journey in Thailand, they must self-isolate for another seven <7> days and conduct an ATK test on day five <5> and ten <10>. After you are released: 2.1: You are required to stay away from crowded areas. 2.2: You must continue to follow Covid-19 free rules & regulations, especially wearing masks in public areas. RT-PCR Re-swab Criteria Phuket Provincial Public Health Office would like to announce the RT-PCR re-swab criteria as follows. If you have tested positive and wish to conduct a re-swab, you will be required to meet the following requirements: Re-swab criteria 1: 1.1: Must be asymptomatic 1.2: CT levels (Cycle Threshold) above or equal to 30. 1.3: The re-swab must be conducted within 24hrs of the positive swab test 1.4: If results return positive you must conduct room isolation 1.5: In the event the results come back as negative you are able to leave the room but must follow the strict restrictions imposed. Re-swab criteria 2: 2.1: CT levels (Cycle Threshold) below 30. 2.2: The re-swab must be conducted within 24hrs of the prior test. 2.3: If the 2nd re-swab returns positive you will be required to continue to remain in Hotel Room Isolation. 2.4: If the 2nd re-swab results return as negative you must conduct a 3rd re-swab within 24hrs to ensure the result is conclusive. As soon as the traveler receives TWO definitive results stating either a Positive or a Negative result, then they will be required to follow the requirements of Hotel Room Isolation or the following Release restrictions: After you are released: 2.1: You are required to stay away from crowded areas. 2.2: You must continue to follow Covid-19 free rules & regulations, especially wearing masks in public areas. Scathing Phuket hospitel report spurs action PHUKET: Phuket officials have launched a public relations offensive after a scathing report about the state of the Hotel Isolation quarantine in effect in Phuket was published by journalist Jonathan Miller, famous for being the first foreign correspondent to interview King Vajiralongkorn after he was crowned King of Thailand. tourismCOVID-19 By The Phuket News Thursday 27 January 2022, 10:00AM The report, published by the Sunday Times last Saturday (Jan 22), gave a detailed description of the experience tourists are subjected to after being ordered to quarantine in a hospitel. Living like a prisoner who pays for himself, Mr Miller wrote. Impromptu parties were organised at the three-star hotel, which Mr Miller said had long been closed before being hastily reopened to serve as a quarantine facility. None of the tourists at the hospitel wore masks, Mr Miller reported. He also gave a critical report on the quality of care provided at the hospital where he stayed after he contracted COVID-19 while staying at the hospitel. Even under the supervision of the Phuket Provincial Hospital and the Thai Ministry of Public Health, the standard of health care and quality of life of those infected who were quarantined is quite poor, he wrote. Mr Miller tested negative for COVID-19 on landing in Phuket, arriving for the New Year holidays, but was declared a high-risk contact after his female partner tested positive. The hospitel he chose presented his least-bad option. Back then I wasnt to know that I was stepping out of the blistering Siamese sunshine into a Kafkaesque parallel universe, he wrote. THE REACTION Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew yesterday led a press conference broadcast live online to assure tourists that all the bugs in the hotel quarantine system have been resolved and that Phuket was ready to welcome tourists. The announcement yesterday came just six days before the Test & Go scheme is to resume (on Feb 1), allowing vaccinated tourists from selected countries to enter Thailand without quarantine if they test negative for the virus on arrival. Governor Narong yesterday was joined by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office Director Nanthasiri Ronnasiri and Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, President of the Phuket Tourist Association. Along for the ride was Dr Weerasak Lorthongkham, Director of Vachira Phuket Hospital. Of note, while the aim of the press conference was to assure tourists that Phuket was ready to welcome tourists, the press conference was held in Thai. After learning of negative news about the treatment of foreign tourists at hospitels and hospitals, a team of officials was dispatched to investigate the claims, Governor Narong said. The aim was to use the crisis as an opportunity, he said. We are ready to improve and correct the defects. At the same time, if any information is incorrect It has been clarified for the public to be informed. by the province itself. Im ready to do everything better in the part of Phuket, he said. With registration under the Test & Go entry scheme to resume on Feb 1, officials expect the number of tourists arriving in Phuket to increase with each passing day, Governor Narong noted. We guarantee that tourists can have confidence in the management of Phuket, he said. ALLOWED OUT Tourists who test positive but are designated Green patients will still have to observe quarantine at a hospital or hospitel, Ms Nanthasiri noted. Green group asymptomatic tourists do not need to be hospitalised. They are able to choose to be treated at a hospitel, which will take care of tourists in a relaxed manner, she added. However, tourists at hospitels will no longer be required to remain confined to their rooms, Ms Nanthasiri revealed. They can come out of the room to walk, exercise or go to eat. This is considered a relaxing activity under the measures set by the Ministry of Public Health, she said. The Tourism Authority of Thailand, together with the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office, contracted hospitals and related agencies will pay closer attention to the measures being enforced and lay down strict guidelines for tourists and the hospitel operators to follow, she added. From now on, more measures will be put in place to take better care of tourists, to have the same practice in terms of defining activities and duration of activities, Ms Nanthasiri said. HOTEL ISSUES Mr Bhummikitti recognised the issue of hotels not accepting tourists who test positive for COVID after arriving in Phuket. Most of them are Green patients, whose symptoms are not worrying. The Hotel Room Isolation system is asking for cooperation from hotels to accept tourists, he said. The hotels will be able to allocate areas that are specific areas for caring for tourists who are asymptomatic or have minor symptoms, he added. Mr Bhummikitti claimed that the party reported in the Sunday Times article was not a party. The picture that came out of tourists who came out to do activities was not a party, he said. Tourists staying in their rooms for long durations causes stress. It was an activity to allow tourists to relax. What the tourists did was up to them, he said. Regarding the internet TV being out of order or the pool not being clean, this is a matter for that particular hotel and does not apply to all hotels, Mr Bhummikitti added. Regardless, the Phuket Tourist Association will contact the contracted hospital with this hotel in order for the hotel to improve [its facilities and services] because whether it is a journalist or an ordinary person, I would not want to be in such conditions, Mr Bhummikitti said plainly. These hotel basics facilitate the quality of service. In this regard, the Phuket Tourist Association understands and accepts the comments in order to make improvements. Finally, I would like to leave a message to tourists: no matter where you travel, to Phuket, to Bangkok, or abroad, being careful is the best thing. As for Phuket, you are welcome to come and we will do our best to provide the best impression for both Thai and foreign tourists traveling to Phuket, Mr Bhummikitti concluded. Traffic law backers call for sterner charges BANGKOK: Advocates have called on the government to seek changes in the law to also impose manslaughter charges against those who violate pedestrian crossing safety rules. deathaccidents By Bangkok Post Thursday 27 January 2022, 09:13AM Phra Norawich, or Pol L/C Norawich Buadok, lays a floral offering at the funeral of Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul. He and his father, left, were ordained as monks to make merit for the doctor. Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb Thirty members of road safety and anti-drink-driving networks gathered at Government House and lodged a petition with Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon in his capacity as chairman of the national committee on road safety policy and prevention, reports the Bangkok Post. Theerapat Prayoonsit, permanent secretary at the office of the prime minister, was on hand to receive the petition. The networks put forth the petition in response to the recent death of a doctor at a pedestrian crossing. Dr Waraluck Supawatjariyakul, an ophthalmologist with the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, was killed on Friday after being struck by a motorcycle ridden by an off-duty police lance corporal, Norawich Buadok. His Ducati collided with Dr Waraluck at the pedestrian crossing on Phaya Thai Road in Ratchathewi district. The networks said the incident, which has triggered a public uproar, hammered home the long-neglected issue of safety at pedestrian crossings. Kruemas Srichan, coordinator of the Life Quality Development Network, said a study by the Road Safety Policy Foundation estimates about 500 people are killed in Thailand each year due to accidents at such crossings. The figure accounts for 6% of road accident-related deaths. One-third of that number occur in Bangkok, according to the study. She said it was important that all sides, especially motorists, respect traffic laws. The networks have vowed to keep an eye on the police investigation into the fatal motorcycle accident. Ms Kruemas said wrongdoers who violate traffic laws often end up being given suspended jail terms. Meanwhile, Jessada Yaemsabai, head of a network affiliated with the Dont Drive Drunk Foundation, said people have the right to cross the road safely at marked crossings. The law should be amended to make it possible to impose a manslaughter charge against any motorist responsible for the death of a pedestrian while using a zebra crossing, Mr Jessada said. He added the existing traffic law must be enforced strictly and swiftly, and violators must face the maximum punishment under the law. He also recommended the speed limit in city areas should be capped at 30k/ph. The death of Dr Waraluck last Friday also prompted officials in Phuket to give the pedestrian crossing in front of Vachira Phuket Hospital a makeover in the hope of avoiding any similar incidents in Phuket Town. Phuket City Municipality has had the pedestrian crossing in front of the hospital, the main government hospital on the island, coloured red with fresh white paint for the zebra crossing stripes. Woman questions hospital after x-ray fails to find button in 2-year-olds nose PHUKET: A local woman has questioned the capabilities of medical staff at Vachira Phuket Hospital, the main government hospital on the island, after even taking an x-ray they failed to find a button in her 2-year-olds nose. health By Eakkapop Thongtub Thursday 27 January 2022, 04:30PM Mission Hospital confirmed they had found and removed teh button, and returned it to Ms Phichittra. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub The Vachira hospital medical certificate confiming they had not found the button. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Ms Phichittra questioned the capabilities of Vachira Phuket Hospital after a doctor there had failed to find a button stuck in her 2-year-old daughters nose. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub Phichittra Oyama yesterday told reporters that she took her 2-year-old daughter to Vachira Phuket Hospital at about 7:20pm on Monday (Jan 24). A doctor was available to check her daughter at 8pm, but the doctor said she was unable to locate the button. The doctor said there is no button in the nose and asked my child where she hurt, and my child said on the right side. The doctor pressed on the right side and my child said it hurt. The doctor pressed on the left side, and my child said it hurt, but the doctor said that my girl didnt have a button in her nose, Ms Phichittra explained. The doctor told Ms Phichittra to bring her daughter back the next day if the pain persisted. The doctor dismissed Ms Phichittras fears if anything happened to her daughter during the night, saying the girls symptoms were not severe. The doctor agreed to have an x-ray taken in case the button had become lodged elsewhere, but the male nurse who had taken her daughter for the x-ray said they were unable to find it. The male nurse also dismissed Ms Phichittras concerns that the button may have moved to her daughters windpipe or stomach, saying that in that case the button was most likely in her daughters stomach and hence not a serious medical concern. Before leaving, Ms Phichittra had the hospital issue a medical certificate confirming they had not found a button in her daughters nose. However, after returning home Ms Phichittras nanny used a household torch to look in the girls nose, and saw the button still lodged in there, Ms Phichittra said. It was just a torch in the house, she said. Ms Phichittra took her daughter to Mission Hospital Phuket, a private hospital in Rassada, north of Phuket Town, where she waited less than 20 minutes and a doctor quickly confirmed the button was indeed still in her daughters nose. The doctor used a normal torch as well. What x-ray machine was the public hospital using? A doctor at Mission Hospital is a normal doctor, not a specialist, Ms Phichittra said. Ms Phichittra asked for the doctor to return the button to her and issue a medical certificate confirming that he had found, and removed, it. She then returned to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town. I went to the front of the emergency room and asked to see a doctor who issued the certificate because I went to Mission Hospital and got the button out, she said. The doctor who had examined her daughter didnt come out, but two nurses came out saying they were the heads of duty shift, Ms Phichittra said. She explained the situation to the nurses and presented the certificate issued by Mission Hospital. The nurses said that if I am not okay, I can write a complaint, but writing a complaint here does not mean that the hospital is not good. Only the doctor made a mistake, Ms Phichittra said. I am a normal person, and I have to believe what doctors say. But if I didnt go back and check my childs nose again, it could have been dangerous since it was stuck in the nose for a long time, she added. I just want to remind people that sometimes we have to take steps to look after our children regardless of what other people say, Ms Phichittra said. From an office in the Press Corps of the Indiana Statehouse, 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 daily content for this website and 35 professional media partners around the state. GODFREY Lewis and Clark Community College Associate Professor of Mathematics Brandon Huff has earned the schools 2022 nomination for the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) Outstanding Full-Time Faculty Member Award. I was certainly surprised, he said. With so many outstanding faculty on this campus, it was definitely an honor to be selected. Although Huff has taught many math-related subjects at L&C, his most recent classes include General Education Statistics, General Education Mathematics, College Algebra, Trigonometry and Business Mathematics. In his department, Huff exceeds expectations by developing supplemental resources and documents for his students and sharing them with other instructors. Hes known for stepping up to teach classes when an instructor is difficult to find. He is patient, compassionate and generous to both students and peers, Mathematics Professor Stephanie Hawk Killion said. He demonstrates cooperation, dedication and teamwork, all of which are invaluable commodities in education. A native of Bluford, Illinois, Huff is a 2002 graduate of Webber Township High School. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and a Master of Science degree in Mathematics from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Huff has taught full-time at L&C for 11 years. Previously, he taught math for five years at Edwardsville High School. Hes a member of the Illinois Mathematics Association of Community Colleges and the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges. Because math is a general education requirement, his department serves most students coming through L&Cs campus at one time or another, representing a variety of backgrounds, abilities, and programs of study. Still, Huff takes his time to connect with everyone in his classroom. I try to connect with them by learning their names and talking to them before and after class, he said. I try to check in on them through e-mail if they havent been in class. Ive found that this can be the most important and impactful thing that I do as a teacher. If students know that we see them and that we care about their success, I believe they will be more motivated to work and succeed because they know we are in their corner. "The best part of my job is seeing students succeed, both in my class and in pursuit of their educational goals, he said. Each spring, L&C announces an ICCTA Award nominee, chosen by their teaching peers to be honored for high achievements. Nominees from each of the states community colleges attend an annual ceremony in June, where an overall winner will be announced. For more information on L&C mathematics department, contact Huff at 618-468-4851 or bhuff@lc.edu. SPRINGFIELD Illinois lawmakers will return to the Statehouse next week for their first in-person sessions since Jan. 4. House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, D-Hillside, said Thursday that the recent decline in COVID-19 cases makes returning to the Capitol possible. Our goal is to be productive while also keeping everyone safe, so masking and social distancing policies will still be in place, Welch said in a news release. I want to encourage everyone to get their vaccine and booster, and take advantage of the SHIELD testing opportunity on the Capitol complex. A spokesman for Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, confirmed that the Senate will meet in-person next week as well. Cases began surging in December with the spread of the omicron variant, reaching a one-day high of 44,089 cases on Jan. 6. But there has been a steady decline in new cases in the past two weeks, falling to fewer than 10,000 new cases on Jan. 25. Hospitalizations and intensive care unit utilization have also been declining. On Monday, Jan. 24, there were just 377 new hospital admissions for COVID-19, the lowest daily total in a month. Lawmakers are scheduled to meet Tuesday through Thursday next week, Feb. 1-3. At a separate event in Chicago on Thursday, Gov. JB Pritzker said he plans to deliver his annual budget and State of the State address in person on Wednesday, Feb. 2. And I'm excited about that, Pritzker told reporters at a news conference. And I don't want to give any previews. You'll certainly hear about it in the 24 hours or so before the speech and then, of course, a few surprises in the speech. But we want to make sure and keep that for next week. Pritzker will deliver the speech from the House chamber. For safety reasons, Welchs office said capacity limits will be in place and the gallery above the House floor will remain closed to the public. WOOD RIVER Unemployment in Madison County in December was nearly half the rate as in December 2020, according to data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment in the St. Louis MSA which includes Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties dropped to 3.5 percent in November, down from 3.8 percent in November and 6.1 percent in December 2020. The Metro East labor force decreased by 1,316 in December to 327,699, down from 329,015 in December 2020. The number of employed individuals increased by 7,120 to 316,109 in December 2021 from 308,989 in December 2020. In December 2021, there were 11,590 unemployed people in the labor force, a decrease of 8,436 compared to the 20,026 unemployed in December 2020. Statewide, unemployment rates dropped to 4.3 percent in December, down from 4.5 percent in November and 7.9 percent in December 2020. The unemployment rate decreased over-the-year in all 14 Illinois metropolitan areas in December for the ninth consecutive month We are pleased to see continued positive economic trends across Illinois, said Deputy Gov. Andy Manar of Bunker Hill. The Pritzker administration and IDES are committed to sustaining this growth, and connecting employers and job seekers across all sectors of the states economy. Locally, unemployment rates continued to show decreases in most counties for December. Madison County was at 3.3 percent, down from 3.6 percent in November and 6 percent in December 2020. Calhoun County down .1 percent to 3.4 percent. Macoupin County was down to 3.3 percent. Bond County was down to 3.2 percent. Jersey County remained the same at 3.1 percent. Greene County remained the same at 3.4 percent. Unemployment in Alton for December was 4.8 percent, down from 5.5 percent in November and 8.9 percent in December 2020. Unemployment in Collinsville for December was 3.6 percent, down from 3.9 percent in November. Unemployment in Edwardsville in December was at 2.3 percent, down from 2.4 percent in November. And unemployment in Granite City in December was 4 percent, down from 4.6 percent in November. The unemployment rate decreased over-the-year in all 14 Illinois metropolitan areas in December for the ninth consecutive month, according to the BLS and the IDES. Madison County Employment and Training offers services ranging from job postings and help with resumes or job searches, to paying for up to two years of training for high-value jobs. For information about employment and workforce training opportunities, call 618-296-4301, visit the Madison County website at https://www.co.madison.il.us/ or visit the departments Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MCETD. Macoupin County Sheriff's Department PALMYRA Authorities are investigating the theft of a school van early Wednesday morning. According to the Madison County Sheriff's Department, the white 2009 Chevy van was reported stolen around 2:35 a.m. Thursday from the Northwestern School District building in Palmyra. FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS United Ironworkers, D&K Welding Services, and Kim Rasnick and Dorrie Wise-Harris have agreed to pay the United States and the state of Illinois $440,000 to resolve a civil False Claims Act investigation relating to fraud on the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) programs, U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft announced Thursday. United and D&K are steel construction companies operating on highway and bridge projects in Illinois and other midwestern states. The DBE program reflects Congresss intent to combat discrimination against minority and women-owned businesses on federally-assisted surface transportation work. Under the DBE regulations, only businesses independently owned and operated by a minority or woman may be certified as a DBE. The government alleged that, as a non-DBE, United and its president, Rasnick, conspired with a DBE, D&K, and its president, Dorrie Wise-Harris, to provide materially false representations and information regarding ownership and control of D&K for DBE certification and recertification purposes. The allegations were investigated by the U.S. Department of Transportations Office of Inspector General and culminated in this settlement. The DBE program is designed to provide business opportunities to minority and women owned businesses," said Weinhoeft. "Funds designated for that purpose should not be misallocated to businesses masquerading as legitimate DBEs. Karl and Diana Jefferson, owners of a steel construction firm, brought the allegations to light and will receive $79,200 from the settlement. The False Claims Act permits private individuals to sue on behalf of the government for false claims and to share in any recovery. The civil lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of Illinois and is captioned United States et al. v. United Ironworkers, Inc., et al., 17-cv-1402. This matter was handled by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Illinois and the Illinois Attorney Generals Office. Quincy, the county seat of Adams County in downstate Illinois, is a quiet town. Here residents vote conservative, prize neighborliness and dont raise voices. Controversy isnt courted. But that changed when a judge reversed his guilty judgment in a sexual assault trial that has raised a loud outcry. National media took notice when Quincy Area Network Against Domestic Abuse (Quanada), whose board I sit on, expressed its outrage over the verdict. Quanada provides services to victims of domestic and sexual violence in west central Illinois. At a sentencing hearing Jan. 3, Adams County Judge Robert Adrian overturned his October decision that found 18-year-old Drew Clinton guilty. He declared the states mandatory minimum sentence of four years for rape was too much. By this time, Clinton had served 148 days in the county jail. For what happened in this case, that is plenty of punishment, he said. The case involves a 16-year-old high school student who attended a graduation party, where she said she got drunk and swam in the pool in her underwear. She fell asleep on a friends couch and woke up to find a pillow over her head and Clinton on top of her. After overturning his verdict, the judge chastised the victim, the victims parents and the parents whose house hosted the party. He blamed everyone except Clinton. 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. And, no, underwear is not the same as swimming suits, he said, according to court transcripts. It might have ended there except Quanadas director, Megan Duesterhaus, was alerted to the verdict and issued a statement signed by all organization board members. The judgment reinforces the fact that standards for women have always been impossibly high while they are impossibly low for men. Shame the victims, free the rapists, the statement said. The penalty for underage drinking isnt sexual assault, Duesterhaus has added. The message went viral, and was picked up by news organizations, talk shows and legal pundits internationally. Lawyer and TV commentator Greta Van Susteren said in an interview with WGEM-TV that the judge stepped way outside his authority. ... Theyre going to have to straighten this out because obviously this has become a huge mess. A Facebook group #StandwithCammy and an online petition calling for the judges removal have attracted support from tens of thousands of people. Meanwhile Adrian, in a fit of pique, kicked a trial attorney with the states attorneys office out of his courtroom for liking a Quanada Facebook post. I cant be fair with you. Get out, he said. That got Adrian reassigned by Chief Judge Frank McCartney. He is no longer presiding over criminal cases and will handle civil court matters. Thats not enough for Quanada or the victim, Cameron Vaughan, who went public to speak out against the verdict and to support other women. What drew Clinton did to me was not okay. But what judge Adrian did on January 3rd is even worse, Vaughan wrote in a Facebook post. Although approximately 1 in 6 women experience sexual violence, most rapes go unreported because justice for sexual assault is an uphill battle for the victims. Recall the case of the Stanford University swimmer who raped an unconscious woman in 2015. Brock Turner was found guilty and sentenced to six months, yet walked after three months. I think he will not be a danger to others, California Judge Aaron Persky said. (Voters later ousted Persky as a result of that sentence.) What needs to be done? Quanada and national victim advocacy groups are calling for Adrians January decision to be reversed, the judge forced off the bench and courts to mandate comprehensive training for judges on domestic and sexual violence dynamics. Judges need to know rape truths and myths. And they should be forced to confront sexist thinking. Even Adrians language words such as coed and female people signals misogyny. Since the verdict, other victims have called Quanada with stories about their sexual assault trials and the justice they didnt receive. The attention this case has received could bring judicial reform and additional funding for organizations such as Quanada. Thirty rape crisis centers statewide belong to the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault. Most run on a shoestring budget funded by government grants and local contributions. If you are motivated to support their effort, consider donating to sustain them. Because of Quanada, Vaughan may eventually get her due process. The countys states attorney, Gary Farha, is seeking to get the original verdict reinstated. A small womens shelter run in downstate Illinois and a 16-year-old traumatized girl raised their voices so loud they inspired worldwide support. That gives hope that someday survivors will get the justice they deserve. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 John Badman Show More Show Less 2 of 3 John Badman Show More Show Less 3 of 3 WOOD RIVER Work has begun on the East End Detention Project along Illinois 143 east of the Kia dealership in Wood River. Long flexible pipe is stretched out along Illinois 143 that will help with construction efforts to remove the area from the flood zone. Job Title: Programme Area Coordinator Organisation: Share An Opportunity (SAO) Uganda Duty Station: Uganda About US: Share An Opportunity (SAO) Uganda is a Christian child centered Nongovernment organization. It envisions a holistically developed child within the community. Job Summary: The organization is seeking a dynamic and self-motivated individual for the position of Programme Area Cordinator Eastern Region to be based in Kaberamaido. The ideal candidate should have worked at least as a middle Manager or Programme Cordinator for not less than four years. He/she should be familiar with Children and Youth programming, disability inclusion, economic empowerment, community development, education, womens empowerment environmental management and other related technical sectors. The Programme Area Coordinator will be responsible for ensuring that project teams are supported to carry out their planning, implementation, reporting and learning on time. This position will based in Kaberamaido but will require frequent travel to other project areas in the region specifically in Mbale and Sironko. The Programme Area Coordinator will report to the Programmes Manager Qualifications, Skills and Experience: The applicant must hold a Bachelors degree in Social Work, Development studies and Programme Development with at least three years of relevant professional work experience. At least four years experience in either an international or National NGO in similar role/with similar responsibilities. Demonstrated understanding of working with children and youth. Demonstrated understanding of working with community groups. Demonstrated experience in staff supervision. Knowledge of monitoring and evaluation methodologies, including logical models, conceptual frameworks, and assessment/evaluation. Demonstrated experience of implementing beneficiary complaint and feedback mechanisms. Demonstrated experience of working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Effective, high-quality communication, writing, and interpersonal skills are essential. Capacity to work efficiently within a multidisciplinary team. How to Apply: All candidates should send their applications, resume and recommendation letter from either your pastor or reverend to: info@saouganda.org These should be addressed to: The Human Resource and Administration Manager Share an Opportunity Uganda P.O. Box 75013 Kampala. Deadline: 28th January 2022 For more of the latest jobs, please visit https://www.theugandanjobline.com or find us on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/UgandanJobline Electric car owners face a 'postcode lottery' for charging costs when using council-owned devices, according to new research. Research by British Gas found that just 21 councils across England and Wales allow motorists to top up their batteries for free when other authorities are charging EV drivers up to 4 per kilowatt hour (kWh). To charge a typical electric vehicle from flat to 100 per cent at that rate would cost 240, the analysis found. While the same charging session at home using a dedicated off-peak EV tariff would be around 3.90. Electric car owners face a 'postcode lottery' for charging costs when using council-owned devices, according to new research by British Gas The staggering difference in charging costs at public devices will make difficult reading for those with plug-in cars who do not have driveways or off-street parking at their property, which represents a third of UK households. These drivers are therefore reliant on public charging points. British Gas found that drivers in the South generally have access to more devices but have to pay more to use them. 21 councils that provide free EV charging 1. Arun 2. Bracknell Forest 3. Bradford 4. Bridgend County Borough Council 5. Crawley 6. Daventry 7. East Riding of Yorkshire 8. Hambleton 9. Lancaster 10. Leeds 11. Lichfield 12. Lincoln 13. Oadby and Wigston 14. Southampton 15. Staffordshire 16. Stevenage 17. Stockport 18. Swindon 19. Tunbridge Wells 20. Warrington 21. Woking Source: British Gas The average cost per kWh at the cheapest charging points across East Anglia, London, the South East and the South West is 32p, compared with 25p in the Midlands, the North East, the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and Wales. The figures were obtained following Freedom of Information requests to more than 400 councils. Those offering free charging include Bridgend, Leeds and Woking. The most expensive fees are charged by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council on the south coast, and Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire, at 4 per kWh. The figures do not take into account the speed of the charging points. British Gas issued a warning over the 'postcode lottery' of fees after commissioning a survey of 2,000 motorists, which indicated one in three are nervous about switching to EVs due to charging costs. The most expensive fees are charged by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council on the south coast, and Cotswold District Council, Gloucestershire, at a staggering 4 per kWh The energy firm's head of EV enablement, Lucy Simpson, said: 'The latest figures released today demonstrate the need for all UK councils to play their part in supporting the transition to electric vehicles. 'Currently, we have 21 progressive councils that have decided to support local EV adoption, so we would expect a greater uptake of EVs to come through in these areas than in councils where it is expensive to charge. 'If charging doesn't become more accessible in these areas, we could see a slower rate of adoption. 'Whilst the Government does offer certain financial incentives at the point of purchase, charging costs are still a barrier to electric vehicle adoption.' She added: 'It's unfair that those who don't live in areas with either free or low-cost charging are being discriminated against based on their address. 'If this continues, we risk leaving a huge number of drivers behind in the transition to electric cars.' The British Gas investigation comes after official figures released by the Government a week ago suggested a growing North-South divide in terms of charging availability. Records for 2021 showed that 7,600 new public charge points were installed last year, taking the total to 28,375 plug-in points across the country. However, the data shows that London has benefitted from a much faster expansion of its charging infrastructure than any other region, with 102 devices per 100,000 of its population, while areas like the North West have just 24 per 100,000 people. It also raised fresh concerns that infrastructure is failing to keep pace with the number of electric cars entering the road, with one new public device added for every 24 zero-emission vehicle registered last year. Mike Lynchs long legal and media campaign, to avoid extradition to the US over fraud allegations arising from the 7.6billion sale of his software group Autonomy to Hewlett Packard, is running out of rope. The software tycoon is more than aware that American regulators, prosecutors and courts are far less forgiving of white collar and financial misdeeds than their British counterparts. Watchers of financial fiction, from The Wolf of Wall Street to Billions and Succession, will be familiar with the cold chills of the principals when windcheater-clad FBI teams arrive on the trading floor. Wanted: Software tycoon Mike Lynch is aware that American regulators, prosecutors and courts take a far less forgiving approach to white collar crime than their British counterparts US financial justice recently was seen in action with the conviction of well-connected Silicon Valley entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes over the implosion of her biotech start-up Theranos. Lynchs fate now rests with Home Secretary Priti Patel. The Autonomy founders case against extradition is based on legal niceties as well as substance. Britains extradition treaty with the US was designed to bring terrorists to justice not financial offenders. It was used in similar circumstances with the Natwest Three. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) declined to prosecute in the UK and the Three were eventually convicted in the US as part of the fallout from the Enron scandal. Lynchs substantive point is that his former colleague and Autonomy financial officer Sushovan Hussain, who was convicted in the US in 2019, was not fairly tried. Defence witnesses failed to appear because they feared arrest. It would be much better if the trial was held in Britain trying the case in the UK would serve as a deterrent to others. That horse bolted in 2015 when the SFO said that its Autonomy/HP investigation was closed. The barriers to successful fraud and accounting cases brought against individuals in Britain are inordinately high even if the company is found wanting as in the accounting debacle at Tesco in 2014. There needs to be no reminder of how slowly the wheels of UK City justice move. The drawn-out saga over management culpability for the HBOS failure in 2008 goes on, and the slow-motion probe of the implosion in Neil Woodfords financial empire in 2019 has yet to reach first base. Sending Mike Lynch off to the US may seem extreme. But it may be the only way of seeing justice done. Nuclear winter Never has the need for new nuclear been more obvious. Surging wholesale gas and oil prices and the confrontation between Russia and Nato have underlined why Britains just-in-time energy supply chain, with virtually no gas storage, has left the nation vulnerable to brown-outs and turbulent prices. New nuclear isnt going to happen quickly. EDFs Hinkley Point wont be finished until at least 2025 and if previous, less complex big infrastructure projects are a clue, much later. Nevertheless, the Government has recognised the importance of developing a nuclear baseload, hence the 210million put into Rolls-Royces small modular reactors. Now, a further 100million has been paid towards a new reactor at Sizewell C. The dragon from the past of the Government refusing to use its balance sheet to back valuable projects has been slain with backing for Sizewell and British Volt. Nuclear eventually will assist the UK in hitting Cop26 carbon emission targets but does not address current energy needs. Granting new North Sea licences to BP and backing the new Cambo field in Shetland would deliver more quickly, and storage needs to be bolstered. Waiting for new nuclear is not enough. House Wizard The great challenge for publisher Bloomsbury is what to do when its one-person creative industry, aka JK Rowling, loses special powers. Harry Potter has been its mainstay but there is some concern that the authors failure to follow the woke agenda over transgender rights might affect her hold over teenage readers. It doesnt seem to have done the Potter brand any harm at theme parks or on Broadway. Currently supportive at Bloomsbury is Tanzanian Nobel prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah. A tilt towards online academic publishing through the recent purchase of California-based Abc-Clio also helps. An upbeat projection for future sales sent the shares sharply higher. There is still magic to be conjured. A British tech entrepreneur could be extradited to the US within days after he lost a key court battle. Mike Lynch, who was once dubbed Britains answer to Bill Gates, faces fraud charges in America over the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2011. The US has accused him of cooking the books at his former firm before it was sold to HP for 8billion. Extradition: Mike Lynch, who was once dubbed Britains answer to Bill Gates, faces fraud charges in America over the sale of his software company Autonomy to Hewlett-Packard The 56-year-old, who denies the allegations, could spend a decade behind bars if he is found guilty. Lynch had asked a High Court judge to overturn a previous ruling in which another judge refused Priti Patels request to delay making a decision on his case. The Home Secretary has the final say on whether he is extradited. Patel wanted to push back delivering her verdict until March in order to see the outcome of a civil lawsuit brought against Lynch, which is expected to be released within weeks. The multi-millionaire argues that this could clear his name. Patel will now have to make a final decision by the end of this week after the latest ruling. However, lawyers said Lynch would appeal if the Home Secretary agrees to extradite him, leading to another lengthy court process in the UK. Lynch, a married father-of-two, would be among the most high-profile businessmen to be sent to the US since the so-called Natwest Three were extradited in 2006 as part of the Enron scandal. Bankers Giles Darby, David Bermingham and Gary Mulgrew were each sentenced to 37 months in prison after reaching a plea deal. Lynch hired Alex Bailin, the star QC who successfully defended Pentagon hacker Lauri Love from extradition, to spearhead his legal fight. The tech tycoons team has called for the extradition to be blocked on grounds that the claims against him mostly concern actions in the UK and must be dealt with by the British justice system. Lawyers for the US government say he aimed dishonest activities at the USA on a monumental scale and should not be immune from the American justice system. Lynch has been accused of inflating the value of Autonomy and making misleading statements about its performance before it was sold to HP. Within months of the sale completing HP was forced to write down its value by 6.8billion. The Cambridge graduate founded Autonomy in 1996 and grew it into a FTSE 100-listed software developer. US authorities have charged him with more than a dozen counts of wire and securities conspiracy. He denies all the charges against him and claims that HP failed to do proper research when it bought Autonomy. His lawyers have claimed he faces degrading treatment in a US prison if he is extradited warning that he suffers from unspecified complex health problems and that if he was forced to share a jail cell with other inmates without private space he risks developing infections. In the separate civil action Lynch is fighting a High Court battle with HP Enterprise, a company that was formed when it split from HP in 2015. HP Enterprise has launched a 3.7billion damages claim against him. Oil rush: Brent crude rose as high as $90.38 as Western leaders threatened to impose sanctions on Moscow Oil hit $90 a barrel for the first time in more than seven years as mounting tensions in Europe and the Middle East raised supply concerns. Brent crude rose as high as $90.47 a level last seen in October 2014. US president Joe Biden and other Western leaders have threatened to impose crippling sanctions on Moscow after Russia began building up troops on the Ukrainian border. The Middle East is on edge after Yemens Houthi movement launched missiles at a United Arab Emirates base. In an already tight market, the US is more than 1m barrels short of its record level of daily output, and major oil producer network OPEC+ is having trouble meeting monthly production targets. OPEC+ meets on February 2 to consider another output rise. Instant unlimited access to all of our content on tillamookheadlightherald.com. The Headlight Herald 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) remaining of SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM! 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. Kingsport, TN (37660) Today Mainly clear. Low 51F. N winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.. Tonight Mainly clear. Low 51F. N winds at 10 to 15 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph. Webster Groves, MO (63119) Today Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 55F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 55F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Picture this: You were on your way to work when you suddenly took a spill down the stairs. You were able to move but felt a pain in your pelvis. When the ambulance arrived, you were advised to go to the hospital to get checked out. Putting your trust in medical professionals, you obliged. While being seen at the hospital, you're given a pelvic MRI scan. Lucky for you, there's no major damage and you'll heal. You go home to start your recovery and don't think twice about the hospital bill because you're insured and figure you won't have to dole out a nickel for the care you received because it's covered. But later you find out that a pelvic MRI can cost around $4,200 at the Albany Medical Center. At nearby St. Peter's Hospital, a similar scan costs about $4,700, but that depends on your insurance. If you're uninsured, the price is less and the health plan you have can be difference between paying $339 for the scan or over $3,000. This strange difference in prices is emblematic of the health care system's convoluted financial and billing processes. Roughly one year ago the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) obligated hospitals to publish specific price lists online with the aim of being more transparent with consumers. Hospitals complied with the federal agencys demand, but the lists meant to help patients understand how much a hospital visit would cost dont spell out the full prices for those medical services as the law intended. And more often than ever, patients see steep charges but aren't actually paying the thousands of dollars in fees they accumulate for procedures, their insurers are. Under the CMS mandate, hospitals were required to make accessible to patients a list of 300 of what the agency calls "shoppable" services outlining their procedure and treatment charges, as well as what they receive from insurance companies as reimbursement. Of the 300 services, 70 were required by CMS; hospitals picked the other 230. CMS required that the lists include payment rates agreed upon between the hospital and insurers for the services. Where hospital price lists fall short Yet, the required lists dont encompass the thousands of services hospitals render. Navigating a hospital online price list can be a confusing process for prospective patients looking to price out their medical needs. The lists are teeming with medical jargon, codes and differentiating prices for the same procedure based on insurance plans. Ellis Hospital's "chargemaster" list, for instance, lists thousands of prices for supplies, professional fees, emergency room or clinic costs and more. Many of the charges are nearly indecipherable, with descriptions such as "Rep-Comp Face/Hnd" or "11770P Removal of pilonidal lesion." Someone searching St. Peter's Hospital's chargemaster list using the keyword "knee replacement" or "knee surgery" will yield zero results. But looking up the term "knee" turns up 92 different results, including everything from "removal of one knee cartilage using an endoscope" to X-rays and "revision of hip or knee replacement with comorbidity." The transparency rules are a bit like lipstick on a pig, Elisabeth Benjamin, vice president of health initiatives at the Community Service Society of New York said. It's not reflective of what's truly shoppable. Those diligent enough to find their desired procedure in the labyrinth of lists even then may find the sticker price displayed isnt entirely accurate, but rather a portion of the overall cost. Price Check Third-party hospital associates bill separately Hospitals operate as sort of nonprofit shell institutions, Benjamin said, providing a place for third-party, for-profit entities to perform various services, such as anesthesiology or radiology. Benjamin called the system a sick joke. If you go to a hospital, 70 percent of your costs or over 50 percent of your costs could actually be based on (charges from) other entities ... that are operating within the four walls of the hospital, she said. Take this scenario for example. You go to the hospital for a knee replacement. When all the slicing and stitching is done, you receive a bill from the hospital and shortly thereafter another bill for anesthesiology or an orthopedic doctor, at which point youre trying to recover from the procedure and scratching your head wondering why these other bills are popping up in your mailbox. Its because you are being billed by third-party associates who worked under the hospitals roof, but werent employed by the hospital. They are not required to publish their prices and can charge you separately for their role in the surgery. Rather than making costs transparent, Benjamin said a hospital price list often kind of misrepresents what a patient can expect to pay. Marc Mesick, Ellis Hospitals chief financial officer, concurred. Comparing hospital price lists to the sticker price on a car, he said the estimated prices may not include charges from external partners involved or a patients deductible or coinsurance. If you look on our website, you'll see what our negotiated rate is with CDPHP or MVP (insurers), that's the rate the insurance company pays us for that service, he said, adding, that does not mean that the patient pays us that amount. Insured patients may pay nothing or only part of the quoted prices. Prices vary and create sticker shock Mesick said Ellis Hospital doesnt have access to the details of rate structures negotiated between external providers and insurance companies, which is why third-party rates aren't accessible online. Third-party providers aren't required to post them publicly either. On a St. Peter's price list, a search for "knee" resulted in numerous entries, some duplicated. A procedure labeled "repair of a knee joint" was listed four different times with two different medical codes and gross charges ranging from $6,083.05 to $25,937.66. Prospective patients find varying prices among insurers for the same procedure at the same hospital. For example, the cost listed by MVP Select Care for a hip and knee joint replacement at Albany Medical Center is $43,713.59 while the cost listed by Beech Street is $21,191.16. Insurance companies will be subject to similar price transparency rules by CMS starting in July 2022. Mesick said the biggest factors driving listed costs are labor, facilities and supplies. He noted that Medicare and Medicaid payments often do not cover the listed costs of care provided. He said hospitals transfer or subsidize those losses while negotiating costs with insurance companies. Generally, we try to keep the rates as consistent as possible and work from that kind of base concept. But when you go through negotiations, you're trying to maximize the opportunity for the hospital in terms of revenue to support the operation, Mesick said. Ricardo Azziz, a University at Albany research professor in health policy, said the majority of hospitals dont accurately price procedures incorporating overhead costs because it would be too cumbersome. Hes found that hospitals ballpark the cost taking into consideration what they think it would come out to and what the market will bear. Hospitals use this relatively subjective information to set prices and then go on to negotiate prices with insurers. Sticker shock is very real for the uninsured, but hospital prices are almost meaningless to those who fall under a health plan and are covered, Azziz mentioned. Combating price lists deficiencies To make its price list more useful, Ellis Hospital has a hotline patients can call for a written cost estimate for a procedure based on their coverage. St. Peters Health Partners and Albany Med have similar help-lines available to patients navigating care expenses. A St. Peter's spokesperson told the Times Union its price estimate webpage has had over 12,000 page views since its launch in January 2021 with 112 requests for estimates. St. Peter's estimates do not assess insurance or out-of-pocket costs to patients, the spokesperson noted. About 98% of Ellis Hospitals patients are insured in some capacity, according to Mesick. Uninsured patients are wholly responsible for their cost of care. If a consumer finds themselves on the hook for charges insurance wont cover, Benjamin said theyre left to appeal, which can be a long process. New York hospitals are obligated to provide financial assistance, deemed charity care, to the underinsured and uninsured. Eligible individuals who meet the income requirements qualify for discounted rates for care. Cristina Batt, vice president of federal relations for the Healthcare Association of New York State (HANYS), said price lists were not meant to capture the universe, just as much of it as possible. The association has had concerns over how meaningful the information in price lists is to consumers. Batt said the sheer amount of information available can be confusing and doesnt give patients what they need to determine out-of-pocket costs or the financial assistance they qualify for. Benjamin said this is why so many people are calling for a single-payer health care system regulated by the federal government. These chargemasters just show the irrationality of a market-based health care system, a free-market health care system, she said. ALBANY Declining to speak ill of the dead is probably a good rule of thumb and, generally speaking, the honorable path. But different standards have to apply when a major public figure dies, especially one who, for better and worse, helped shape the rules under which millions of people live. The obligation, particularly for journalists and others charged with shaping an accurate historical record, has to be to the truth. And so we come to the topic of former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who died on Monday at the age of 77 while serving a prison sentence for bribery and corruption. If I pore through the obituaries, I can find aspects of Silver's life that were admirable. For example, it's impressive that a child of a modest background and Russian-immigrant parents could climb to such heights. He was not, it's fair to say, another one of those politicians born to privilege. I'll note, too, that I didn't experience Silver's private side. For all I know, he may have cuddled kittens and spent spare hours knitting socks for the homeless. I can only judge the Manhattan Democrat by how he behaved in public, the man he was while wielding his considerable power over state government. By that measure, Silver was awful. I'll start with his handling of J. Michael Boxley, a top Silver associate who in 2001 was accused of rape by Elizabeth Crothers, then a 24-year-old legislative aide. Crothers reported the crime to Silver, but he refused to take it seriously, conducting a sham investigation that seemed intent on obscuring, rather than uncovering, the truth. Silver publicly declared that Boxley was "a man of integrity" words proven misguided, at best, when Boxley was subsequently taken from the Capitol in handcuffs and charged with raping another legislative staffer who remembered feeling disoriented in a bar and woke up to find the attorney having sex with her. "On that evening, I had sexual intercourse and there was not consent," Boxley later admitted while pleading guilty to misdemeanor sexual misconduct. We can forgive people who make terrible errors if they resolve to be better and follow through. So, it would be nice to say Silver learned lessons from the Boxley case and was thereafter a champion for victims of abusive men. It would be nice to say he used his considerable influence to transform the Capitol's toxic atmosphere. But Silver's subsequent cover-up of sexual harassment accusations against Assemblyman Vito Lopez in 2012 show that he remained willing to protect an abuser at the expense of victims, especially if doing so helped Silver retain political power. At the end of the day, it was power that mattered most to Silver. Yes, in some cases that power led to legislative achievements such as the 2011 legalization of same-sex marriage and other credits to his 38 years in the Assembly. But more often, Silver used his power to benefit ... who else? ... Silver. In 2015, Silver was arrested and convicted for accepting roughly $4 million in illicit payments tied to his government work and influence. Essentially, Silver was guilty of a corruption scheme that filled his bank account with bribes and kickbacks hidden as legal fees. That sleaze was one more black eye for a Capitol tarnished often by corruption, and it leaves a legacy that lingers in the distrust many New Yorkers have for their government. Silver took from us all. He abused the public trust for personal benefit. There's no way that any honest accounting of Silver's public life can paper over his corruption or calculating callousness toward victimized women, no matter how much we might want to cut him some slack now that he's gone. We are all judged, in the end, by how we lived. On Wednesday, I spoke with Crothers. Two decades have passed since she came to work at the Capitol and found herself caught within Silver's orbit. His indifference toward her then, his refusal to treat her accusation against Boxley with the gravity it demanded, left her profoundly disillusioned. Crothers told me she'd been surprised by how much difficulty she was having with Silver's passing. His existence, she said, had played such a large role in shaping her life that it was hard to comprehend the void. She wanted to mark the moment with grace, but that was also a struggle. "I don't think I need to forgive him," Crothers said. She doesn't, of course. And neither does anybody else. cchurchill@timesunion.com 518-454-5442 @chris_churchill A 42-year-old Rhinebeck man continues to be held in Dutchess County Jail after appearing for a hearing in Rhinebeck Town Court on Thursday. William Dicke stands accused of murdering Danielle Distefano, 35, who was found dead inside her Rhinebeck home on Saturday, Jan. 22. New York State Police say they arrived at the Mill Road residence at 12:24 p.m. last Saturday, after being dispatched for an emergency medical response. They discovered Distefanos lifeless body inside. Police say they found evidence of suspicious circumstances surrounding her death, and the continuing investigation led to the arrest on Monday of Dicke, also of Rhinebeck, on charges of second-degree murder. He was arraigned on Monday, Jan. 24 before the Milan Town Court. Dicke and Distefano were dating for two years but did not live together, Dickes attorney Ryanne Konan said. According to the felony complaint, state police believe the couple engaged in a domestic dispute which escalated to a physical altercation at Distefanos home on Friday at around 11:45 p.m. Police allege that the confrontation ended with Dicke running her over with his car, murdering her and leaving her alone in a gravely injured state displaying an utter disregard for the value of human life, according to the complaint. Konan disputes the police narrative of events. My client has absolutely no knowledge of that, he said. If he did, he would have provided assistance to his beloved girlfriend. According to Konan, Distefano and Dicke went out Friday night and then Dicke drove her home and dropped her off in her driveway. When they came to her house, she lost her key, he said. There was no key, so he had to climb through the window to open the door for her. Related: Danielle did not deserve such a terrible end: Community mourns Danielle Distefano Konan said the couple got into an argument and Dicke left that night, then returned to Distefanos home on Saturday when he did not hear from her. Dicke called 911 after finding her dead inside, according to Konan. My client is innocent and remains innocent until proven guilty in court, said Konan. Downtime is the best time Make the most of your Hudson Valley weekend, every week with our newsletter. The New York State Police said they had no further comment on the investigation Visiting hours for friends and family of Distefano will be held at Red Hooks Burnett & White Funeral Homes on Feb. 4 from 2 to 6 p.m. A funeral service will begin at 6 p.m. and will also be livestreamed. Distefanos family asked in her obituary that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Grace Smith House in Poughkeepsie, which is a nonprofit that provides services to victims of domestic violence and their families, or to the Humane Society in her name. Next Wednesday is Feb. 2, or put another way, its 02/02/2022. Thats a lot of twos. In honor of that primary number, lets think about first sequels, or movies that come second in their respective series, and are considered by many to be better than the original. The Godfather Part II and Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back are the most recognizable examples, but there are plenty of others. 1. This 1993 comedy sequel was considered a step up from its 1991 predecessor. It was also part of a legacy that began as a series of magazine cartoons originating in 1938, became a 1960s live-action sitcom, an animated series in 1973, and a big-screen animated revival starting in 2019. Name the film. 2. True or false: The 2017 live-action and animation hybrid Paddington 2 was for a time the highest-rated film of all time on the movie review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. 3. 1982s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is considered the highwater mark of the films based on the original series. It was also the big-screen debut for what actress, whose only other uncredited credit at the time was in an episode of the short-lived sci-fi sitcom Quark, and who later found her greatest fame again on TV, first by replacing an original cast member in one of the most successful comedies of all time and then by playing a heightened version of herself on a cable series? 4. James Bond aficionados still debate which is the greatest entry in the spy film franchise, the second, From Russia with Love, or the third, Goldfinger. And while the latter does introduce many of the elements now considered essential in the 007 canon, Russia was the first to feature this now-obligatory and eventually two-time Oscar-winning component. What is it? 5. While making The Evil Dead in 1981, writer-director Sam Raimi met Joel Coen, who was working as an assistant editor on the low-budget horror film. The two collaborated, along with Joels brother Ethan, on the 1985 cult classic flop Crimewave. The failure of that movie led directly to Raimi making the critically acclaimed sequel, Evil Dead II. That film opened on March 13, 1987, the exact same day as what turning-point crime comedy from the Coen Brothers? 6. Longtime friends Patrick Stewart and Brian Cox played adversaries in 2003s X-2: X-Men United, a leap in quality from 2000s X-Men. Both later played the most portrayed fictional character in history (or at least the real-life figure who inspired it) on screen, as did future Marvel Cinematic Universe members Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch? Who is it? 7. For many, The Bride of Frankenstein from 1935 surpasses in quality the near-equally lauded 1931 Frankenstein. Elsa Lanchester plays two parts in the sequel, the title character and what historical person? 8. Although its not overtly mentioned in 2004s Spider-Man 2, Tobey Maguires second outing in the Spidey suit and considered the best live-action outing for the webslinger, arch nemesis Dr. Otto Octavius (AKA Doctor Octopus, or Doc Ock), according to Marvel mythology, was born in what Capital Region municipality? 9. Among the many improvements 2014s How to Train Your Dragon 2 has over the highly praised first film from 2010 is the addition of Cate Blanchett. The two-time Oscar winner joined a voice cast already heavy with Academy Award nominees. Which one of her co-stars was NOT among them: Gerard Butler, Jonah Hill, Djimon Hounsou or Kristen Wiig? 10. Heath Ledger posthumously won practically every award for his performance in 2008s The Dark Knight, the second in Christopher Nolans Batman trilogy after 2005s Batman Begins. What Oscar history was made in 2020 connected to his previous win? ANSWERS 1. Addams Family Values 2. True. It had a 100 percent fresh rating with 245 positive reviews until one negative one knocked it down. 3. Kirstie Alley 4. An original theme song. Matt Monro, sometimes called Englands answer to Frank Sinatra, performed the vocals. 5. Raising Arizona 6. Sherlock Holmes 7. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of the novel, Frankenstein 8. Schenectady 9. Gerard Butler 10. Joaquin Phoenixs best actor win for 2019s Joker put he and Ledger into the exclusive group of actors who won Academy Awards for playing the same character. SARATOGA SPRINGS Last July 14, as about 40 social justice advocates prepared to gather in Congress Park, 27 city police officers, a dozen Saratoga County sheriff's deputies and seven undercover officers from both agencies assembled at the Weibel Avenue ice rink. The police were there to be briefed on a detailed operational plan to respond to the protest. Some of that plan, obtained by the Times Union, included standard measures such as making traffic control and de-escalation top priorities, with "lawful police action" to be assessed as needed. But the plan also included discussion about "riot control equipment," deployment of tear gas, instructions on when officers could make arrests, and the display of photographs of two leaders of the local Black Lives Matter movement, Lexis Figuereo and Chandler Hickenbottom, whom police said were actively recruiting participants and have held civil disturbance training. The operational plan also painted civil rights protests nationwide as often chaotic and violent, adding "assaults on civilians" and "arson" can happen, and that protesters might be carrying "clubs" and "edged weapons." The plan said plainclothes investigators would be dispersed on the streets, officers should be "prepared for a worst case scenario," and that "the armory should be secured and prisoners should be taken care of." The plan came to light as state Attorney General Letitia James is investigating Saratoga Springs police's overall treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters, and as the Saratoga County District Attorney's Office prosecuted 13 activists five arrested during the July protest and another eight arrested seven weeks later in connection with the march. The Times Union is not sharing all the pages it received because some contained handwritten notes that were illegible, or lists of officers' names involved in the plan. In addition to the dozens of city officers and deputies at the July protest, eight state troopers were included to manage traffic, and three State Park Police officers were standing by to process arrests. This should be alarming to every citizen of Saratoga Springs, said attorney Mark Mishler, who represents Figuereo, one of the protesters charged weeks after the rally. This is a violation of the protesters First Amendment rights. Its extremely disturbing and raising concerns that they planned on violating and infringing on the lawful activity to peacefully protest. This gets into historical patterns of Black activists around the country being surveilled by the government for decades. The multi-tiered plan, devised by now-Assistant Police Chief Robert Jillson, described BLM organizers as being involved at other protests in violence, property damage, arrests and known weapons possession. The plan noted that past protests have been confrontational and antagonistic with the police detail. It noted that police were especially concerned as the protest coincided with the opening of the Saratoga Race Course, a time when city streets are busy with tourist traffic and pedestrians. A dispersal plan also advised how many times the police could demand for the crowd to leave the area within a certain number of minutes before they could start arresting people. The operational plan was devised two weeks after then-Assistant Police Chief John Catone promised in a press conference that he would use his familys 130-year history in the city to take back the narrative that city police are racists. The rally was designed as a counter to Catone's statements. He was named the operations chief financial administrator. Figuereo said he found the operational plan disgusting and the characterization of him and the protesters as all lies. The BLM leader contends all protests in Saratoga have been peaceful, and have not resulted in property damage. Based on videos shot at past events, protesters often shouted insults at the responding officers. In another instance, a protester shouted at diners eating outside a Phila Street restaurant. The protesters have also blocked traffic. One protest in November 2020 blocked the busy Broadway and Lake Avenue intersection for several hours. However, physical escalation often appeared to come solely from police. A July 2020 Saratoga protest ended with sheriff's deputies shooting protesters with pepper spray pellets. On the night of the July 2021 protest, officers ran at protesters to tackle them as the crowd complied with a police line that was forcing the march down Broadway. During former Mayor Meg Kelly's tenure in office, police also heavily patrolled City Council meetings and removed BLM activists when they protested there. Police, at one point last fall, blocked supporters of the arrested BLM members from entering City Court to witness hearings. And the September arrests involved pulling activists off the street on warrants, hours-long detentions and arraignments, in some cases, in shackles. The police plan also noted that activists handed out water bottles that they didn't drink, theorizing that protesters might be engaged in counter-surveillance of officers, and positing that marchers might be carrying "improvised weapons." "It's all part of criminalizing legitimate peaceful protest," Mishler said. "It's not what we are supposed to be doing in this country. ... It's not OK. They are making it into something it's not. People are just expressing their opinions." Figuereo disputes that his group carried weapons. He said some activists wore body armor and gas masks to protect themselves from police. He said they train for civil disobedience, not civil disturbance. He said it's also important for protesters to know how to protect themselves in case they are arrested. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. They are fear-mongering us into not protesting any more especially during track season, Figuereo said. We heard what Catone said at the press conference: They were going to stop the narrative. We see that was what their plan was. Jillson disputed activists' characterizations of the plan. We have done operational plans for different events, Jillson said, including ChowderFest and parades. The protesters named it Take Back the Narrative, and our operation correlated to theirs. That July evening, a video shows, the arrests were made after police tackled dispersing protesters. Activist Alexus Brown said she and her boyfriend were followed and stopped by police in their cars after they left the protests. Brown said their car was also searched, but the police gave no reason for the stop or the search. Since the arrests, most of the protesters charged have taken plea deals or had their charges dismissed. Figuereo's case is pending. Mishler also questions why it took so long to get the information on the police plan as part of the legal discovery package that would be handed over to him from the district attorneys office to defend his client. He said he should have received it weeks after Figuereo was arrested on Sept. 7; he received the plan only last week. Its quite clear that the Saratoga Springs police department has failed to provide information over the course of a criminal prosecution for over a dozen people, Mishler said. Anybody whose case was resolved out of the July 14 protest might be in a position to reopen their cases to obtain a better disposition. Jillson admitted it was his oversight that the plan wasnt shared. For what it is worth, it is my fault that it didnt make it into the discovery, he said, adding that he did send it to the state attorney general's office in the fall. Jillson also said he understands why the protesters may think they are being surveilled, but said city police are not doing that. We dont have people who infiltrate BLM, Jillson said. We dont have cops embedded. We have plainclothes officers who are there to look for actions by protesters, traffic concerns, problems with citizens. They are there for observation. Figuereo, who has been protesting in Saratoga Springs since June 2020, said he finds the whole thing "un-American." "We are just exercising our right, and we are not breaking laws," he said. "What really troubles us (is) how long have they been doing it? We are FOILing for those records. We want to know everything that has been going on since 2020." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Renowned jockeys Johnny Velazquez and Mike Smith, as well as a former New York Gaming Commission steward, took the stand at an administrative hearing Wednesday to testify in support of legendary horse trainer Bob Baffert in his battle against the New York Racing Association, which is seeking to suspend his right to continue racing at their tracks. Former steward Steve Lewandowski, who left the Gaming Commission in 2019, said that he called Baffert after NYRA announced it would suspend him last year following his horse's positive drug test in the Kentucky Derby. Stewards are race officials who help oversee and enforce state rules at race tracks. I did call him when this whole process started up, and I offered my support because I feel he is being unfairly taken advantage of, Lewandowski said during testimony Wednesday. "Why?" Baffert's attorney Craig Robertson asked. "Because hes never had any problems in New York until now, Lewandowski said. NYRA is attempting to suspend Baffert over a positive drug test his horse Medina Spirit received after winning the Kentucky Derby last May, as well as for six other out-of-state drug violations issued against Baffert in 2019 and 2020. Baffert has never had a documented drug violation in New York. NYRA has alleged Baffert's behavior threatens the integrity of horse racing and poses a threat to the health of horses, jockeys and NYRA's business. Baffert's legal counsel says NYRA's efforts to suspend him are unfair and the association has a "personal vendetta" against him because its board members, who race horses, are tired of losing to the successful trainer. On Wednesday, the third day of the hearing, witnesses called by both NYRA and Baffert's attorneys took the stand to testify. NYRA's witnesses provided details on how Baffert's violations produced complaints among their customers and unfavorable press for the sport, influencing their brand. Jockeys who worked with Baffert countered in their testimony that they had no direct knowledge of Baffert administering medications or drugs that were not permitted to his horses and defended him as an excellent trainer. Velazquez, who rode Medina Spirit in the Derby for Baffert, said the trainer told him he did not administer the horse betamethasone, a steroid, prior to the race. "I believed him, the jockey testified. Betamethasone cannot be administered to a horse via injection within 14 days of a race, according to Kentucky rules. Baffert has insisted the drug must have entered the horse's system via an ointment. Velazquez also rode another Baffert horse, Gamine, that received a post-race positive. In that case, Baffert called Velazquez to report the positive test result and said their team had administered a medication to the horse, but they believed it was enough time in advance of the race to be compliance with the rules, Velazaquez said. They never spoke about the matter again. The most heated moments of the proceedings came when NYRA's attorneys cross-examined Lewandowski. "NYRA just decides to suspend Bob Baffert and not even talk to him? Do you think thats right?" Lewandowski shouted at NYRA's counsel. "Thats what youre doing to Baffert! You suspended him without even speaking to him!" NYRA issued a temporary suspension to Baffert after the drug test results came back following Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby win. Baffert sued, and a judge ordered NYRA to stop its suspension because he ruled Baffert had not been given an opportunity for due process. NYRA then established procedures for holding an administrative hearing to suspend Baffert. Hearings on the matter began Monday. The results are in See the winners of each category of the 2022 Best of the Capital Region contest, as determined by popular vote. This is not the first time that Lewandowski has emerged as a defender of a trainer facing consequences for drug violations. In 2019, he wrote a letter to the New York Gaming Commission alleging that syringes used as evidence to slap thoroughbred trainer Rick Dutrow with a 10-year license revocation and $50,000 fine were planted by another state steward, Braulio Baeza. The Gaming Commission and Baeza have said that's not true. When NYRA's attorneys brought up the Dutrow case on Wednesday, Lewandowsi's frustrations mounted. "One of us is lying. Its either Braulio Baeza or me, Lewandowski yelled at NYRA attorney Henry Greenberg. Are you accusing me of lying? NYRA's attorneys also pressed Lewandowski about a controversy in 2018 over whether a horse trained by Baffert was strategically used to block the field and enable a Triple Crown victory by Justify at the Belmont Stakes held in New York. Lewandowski said he did not recall the matter and described Baffert as having no previous issues in New York. Two witnesses called by NYRA the general manager for NYRA's online wagering platform, NYRA Bets, and NYRA's vice president of marketing both testified that the Kentucky Derby positive drug test for Baffert's horse had detrimental effects on NYRA's business. After that test result disqualified Baffert from winning the Kentucky Derby, bettors called NYRA Bets demanding their wagers back, Matthew Fieg, the general manager said. NYRA's lead veterinarian and top equine safety investigator also described their efforts to ensure horses do not race when injured or impaired by performance enhancing substances. NYRA is seeking a "lengthy" suspension for Baffert, but the duration of the ban, if one is imposed, will be determined by the hearing officer. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ALBANY Over the past six months, coordination among law enforcement agencies working to curtail gun violence has "stepped up exponentially," State Police Superintendent Kevin P. Bruen said in an interview following Wednesday's first meeting of New York's Interstate Task Force on Illegal Guns. Among the goals of the task force are to work with law enforcement agencies from other states, the federal government and within New York by sharing data and techniques to help stanch the flow of illegal guns into New York, which remains under a state of emergency because of gun violence. With success, State Police and elected officials said, the new efforts can better address the dealers and distributors of these guns. "What about partners in the other states where the guns are originating? That is what has not been tackled successfully in my judgment in the past," Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference at the New York State Intelligence Center in East Greenbush, where she introduced the task force. State Police believe they've developed a better understanding of new techniques employed by those bringing illicit guns into New York. Bruen said the efforts first began to take shape under former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who declared the state of emergency in July. At that time, State Police's specialized investigators unit added a high-level gun unit, which he said has shown results right away. "We're going to dramatically expand our capability," Bruen said, noting that Hochul's proposed budget includes funding for a team of analysts to investigate gun crimes. It also includes resources for two classes of state troopers, with about 250 recruits in each, whose service would enable more experienced troopers to be dedicated to targeted illegal gun interdiction. The efforts have ramped up in recent days, as Hochul has offered plans in her State of the State and proposed budget, which also includes $215,000 to triple the states gun violence intelligence resources by staffing the Intelligence Center with a team of analysts to process and investigate crime guns across the state, and budgets $15 million toward crime analysis centers, including the establishment of gun crime intelligence centers. The task force's inaugural meeting came just days after two New York Police Department officers died after being allegedly shot by an apparently disturbed man with an illegal gun, which was traced to Baltimore in 2017; the shooter also died. Wednesday's meeting included representatives of the State Police, NYPD, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and law enforcement from eight other states Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. Without going into detail, Bruen described it as a "hardcore" police intelligence meeting. The ATF showcased its relationship with State Police and NYPD, Bruen said, and its hope to get other states similarly involved. Recently, Bruen said, State Police received a call from the Rochester Police Department, seeking help. They closed out cases relating to 35 arrest warrants for individuals who were wanted for shootings, he said, which led to additional investigations. Troopers also worked with the U.S. Marshals Service on the issue. "We're looking to expands those efforts and partnerships around the state," Bruen said, "but also do it from a data-driven point of view identify hotspots, identify the problems, which may be unique to each community, so that we can adjust a response." AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File ALBANY State Attorney General Letitia James' office issued a warning letter this week to a COVID-19 testing lab, PacGenomics, that she said was among other labs that have misled customers about "promised turnaround times for COVID-19 test results." The attorney general's office said several consumers waited more than 10 days to receive their results from the lab after being promised results in 24 hours. Others received results with incorrect dates listed for their test. Over 500 people are waiting for beds in hospitals across Ireland today (Thursday January 27), in a situation the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) are calling "out of control". The INMO have called on the HSE and the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly this week to directly intervene and deal with the spiraling trolley numbers. The call comes as 532 patients are reported as waiting on beds across Irish hospitals this morning, with 549 recorded yesterday (Wednesday January 26). Minister Donnelly tweeted yesterday evening to welcome news of a reduced number of patients with Covid in hospital. He said, "Covid numbers continue to trend in the right direction. The number of patients with Covid in hospitals has fallen below 700 this evening. Our high vaccine and booster uptake is making a huge difference." However, he made no mention of patients waiting on trolleys across hospitals. INMO General Secretary, Phil Ni Sheaghdha, said, "The situation in our hospitals, particularly University Hospital Limerick is now out of control. It is unacceptable to our members that this level of overcrowding is allowed to continue while Covid is still a very real feature in our hospitals. Time and time again, our members have called for real and meaningful action to curb the overcrowding crisis in our hospitals." The INMO has also called for HIQA to investigate the situation in University Hospital Limerick, which recorded 111 patients on trolleys yesterday (Wednesday January 26), marking two days in a row where a national record has been broken. Today's numbers across Ireland include 400 patients waiting in emergency departments around the country as well as 132 in wards elsewhere. University Hospital Limerick is the most overcrowded in the country with 70 people waiting today, followed by Letterkenny University Hospital with 57 patients waiting on trolleys, and University Hospital Galway with 48. Just four out of thirty two hospitals have adequate space for admitted patients; Nenagh General Hospital, Bantry General Hospital, Beaumont Hospital and Connelly Hospital in Blanchardstown. Ni Sheaghdha concluded: "We cannot go back to business as usual in our hospitals as society begins to reopen. Non-emergency care must be curtailed in our hospitals until the end of February to allow nurses and midwives to have some chance of doing their jobs safely." The Kansas City homicide count now hits double digits and keep pace with the record setting upward trajectory over the past few years. Here's tonight's report . . . Homicide 10th and Olive Tonight around 8:30 PM officers were dispatched on a medical nature unknown at 10th and Olive. Upon arrival they were flagged down by a female next to a vehicle. She stated that she and the victim were in a vehicle at an unknown location when someone shot at them, striking the victim. Officers observed an unresponsive adult male in the vehicle suffering from gunshot wounds. EMS responded and pronounced him deceased. Detectives and crime scene personnel have responded to the scene and are actively canvassing for witnesses and processing the scene for evidence. If you have any information please call the Homicide unit at 234-5043. If you wish to remain anonymous you can call the TIPS hotline at 474-TIPS, with up to a $25,000 reward for an arrest in this case. ####################### Updated with local MSM coverage . . . KCPD: Man fatally shot Wednesday night Kansas City police said a man was fatally shot Wednesday night.Police said officers were called at 8:34 p.m. to 10th and Olive streets on a medical nature unknown. When they arrived, officers were flagged down by a woman next to a vehicle. Man dies in Wednesday night shooting near 10th, Olive Streets KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A man died in a shooting in Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday evening. Officers responded to an unknown medical nature call at around 8:30 p.m. near east 10th and Olive Streets. When they arrived, officers saw a vehicle in a street and a woman flagged them down. KCPD investigating homicide in area of 10th & Olive KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- One person is dead following a shooting Wednesday night in Kansas City. The shooting happened around 8:30 p.m. in the area of 10th Street and Olive. There's no immediate suspect information at this time. Stay with KCTV5 News for updates. Developing . . . The current economy is busted and so the NEXTGEN is hoping that the Internets will bring them fame & fortune. What's the plan? Mostly selling worthless stuff to suckers . . . Which is actually an integral component of the old economy. Here's a peek at the digital trend . . . It really wasnt about the money. The time investment that I put into this art piece far outweighed the monetary gain, he explained, painting a picture of the piece which plays heavily on his interest in exploring the intersection between shape and texture juxtaposed by simple geometric forms and natural surfaces. What Im really excited about and I think this applies to any business or entity is the credibility it builds. A new foundation within what people are coining Web3. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Tees to NFTs: Why the designer behind of one KC's most iconic young brands is testing the waters of crypto Blockchain's rise is sending a wave of change crashing over far-ranging industries - and a Kansas City-based design and branding studio is ready to hang ten, its founder said. "I saw it as an emerging market of opportunity," Ocean and Sea's Brendan O'Shaughnessy told Startland News, detailing the popular design firm and clothing brand's nose dive into the world of crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Just for laughs, here's an even funnier NFT skit . . . You decide . . . In this quick compilation we take a peek at court cases, police report and all manner of ALLEGED local misdeeds as crime continues to ramp up this year. And of course we always try to finish these compilations with a bit of hope . . . Check the TKC collection . . . Rash of car break-ins and thefts is targeting area teachers LEE'S SUMMIT, MO (KCTV) -- As if teachers aren't having a hard enough time these days, a thief is targeting school parking lots in Missouri and traveling the nation to do it. Local law enforcement has identified three teachers victimized and want to hear from any school staff who have recently had their cars broken into and their purses or wallets stolen. Suspect taken into custody for targeting, stealing from teachers KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -- Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop A is looking to speak with teachers who have had items stolen from their vehicles while at work recently. According to a tweet from MSHP Troop A, a suspect has been taken into custody who has been targeting teachers at school. Former Overland Park nursing home worker charged with raping resident OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - An Overland Park nursing home employee is in the Johnson County jail Wednesday night after being arrested and charged with raping a resident. "Thinking about an older woman who likely was not able to protect herself being sexually assaulted is just heartbreaking," said Mitzi McFatrich, interim director of Kansas Advocates for Better Care. Independence police investigate shooting on East 23rd Street KMBC file image SOURCE: KMBC file image Police in Independence said they are investigating a shooting Wednesday afternoon in the 9400 block of East 23rd Street.Authorities said officers were called about 3:15 p.m. on a report of a person shot in the leg at a home.When officers arrived, police said they found a man suffering a gunshot wound. KCPD announces new South Patrol major By John Sharp Highly decorated KCMO police veteran James Buck who has served the last two years as a watch commander for the South Patrol Division since being transferred there following his promotion from sergeant to captain in January 2020 was named the new South Patrol Commander and promoted to major on January 16. Rally held outside the Jackson County Courthouse for Keith Carnes There is new support for a Kansas City man who says he was wrongly convicted of murder. Reports of celebratory gun fire are down Pleas by community and faith leaders, elected officials and police to not engage in celebratory gunfire appeared to have had some effect this New Year's holiday since 911 calls about shots fired in KCMO the evening of New Year's Eve and the early morning of New Year's Day were down from 303 last year to 259. Developing . . . Right now Kansas City hosts one of the best exhibits in the nation that remembers a horrific moment in world history. About the exhibit that's worth checking out . . . Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away This groundbreaking exhibition brings together more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs from over 20 institutions and museums around the world. Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. is the most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz and its role in the Holocaust ever presented in North America, and an unparalleled opportunity to confront the singular face of human evilone that arose not long ago and not far away. ################ A quick collection of MSM news items on the topic . . . Holocaust Remembrance Day - why we must never forget January 27 has been designated by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The date was chosen because, on January 27, 1945, the infamous Nazi German slave labor and death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, was liberated by the Soviet army. Holocaust Remembrance Day: There must never be another Auschwitz | DW The horror of Auschwitz is part of Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt's family history. In an interview with DW, the 58-year-old described the fate of his ancestors and gave his advice for the generations to come. DW: Rabbi Goldschmidt, seven years ago we met at the commemoration of the liberation on January 27 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp memorial. Holocaust survivors demand that Tucker Carlson, GOP lawmakers, and anti-vaccine activists stop comparing their ordeal to COVID-19 mandates and restrictions Anti-vaccine activists are comparing the Holocaust to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions. Holocaust survivors say they want the "trivialization" of the their suffering to stop. Three survivors spoke to Insider in advance of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday. Just days before Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is on Thursday, Robert F Kennedy Jr. Holocaust Remembrance: KC survivor lends mother's scarf and family story to Union Station exhibit KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For years, Sonia Warshawski has spent her days at her Overland Park tailoring shop. It's good to be around people, she said. She's surrounded by clothes, too, but one precious piece has had a special place for years: her mother's scarf. World remembers the Holocaust as antisemitism rises during the pandemic BRUSSELS (AP) - Holocaust survivors and politicians warned about the resurgence of antisemitism and Holocaust denial as the world remembered Nazi atrocities and commemorated the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on Thursday. Credit to local news for FINALLY reporting that city hall is on permanent lockdown. The wall sends a horrible message to Kansas City voters and provides yet another sign that they're out of touch. Even worse, remember that our mayor is very much against walls as a matter of public policy. He talks a great game about immigrant rights, speaks fluent Spanish AND at one point he even promised one of those freebie "municipal ID cards" that are intended thwart immigration protocols . . . To be fair, that move isn't needed now that US borders are basically open . . . Worse than all of this is that the public no longer has faith in 12th & Oalk talking points . . . The fencing replaces the more temporary-looking fencing that had been in place since last summer shortly after a collapse of a Florida building. Inspections revealed an aging and damaged parking garage below City Hall's plaza may not be able to support the load of crowds gathering above. "The initial fence that was put out was just sort of a chain link fence it was what was available at the time and the inspection was done and we determined out of an abundance of caution to close the South Plaza lawn," Maggie Green, Kansas City media relations manager, said. "No I don't believe that, I think it's probably to keep the homeless off of the grass," one woman said walking past the fence today. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . . Very much like hottie Kate . . . This police effort offers hope . . . Three full-time detectives will staff the unit and review all cold cases, prioritizing them based on solvability. Missing person cases that possibly involve foul play will also be reviewed. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . . KCKPD announces launch of new 'Cold Case Unit' KANSAS CITY, KS (KCTV) -- The KCK police department is creating a new unit to help review unsolved cases. Police Chief Karl Oakman announced Thursday that the department has launched "the metro's only" unit dedicated to reviewing cold cases. "We have assembled a unit of highly motivated and experienced detectives," Oakman said. Kansas City, Kanas, Police Department launches Cold Case Unit KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Kansas Police Department is launching the department's first police investigative unit dedicated to cold cases. According to KCKPD, the unit will review all unsolved criminal investigations awaiting the discovery of new evidence, and will prioritize them by solvability. Developing . . . Local MSM note an inevitable outcome of a controversial police shooting. What's unsettling is that most of the stations didn't pick up the story but the two that did offered their reporting with glee. Here's a quote . . . The detectives last day with the police department was Monday. Capt. Leslie Foreman said under Missouris Sunshine Law, the department cannot say whether DeValkenaere retired, resigned or was terminated. Police previously said the department was in the process of terminating DeValkenaere following the November bench trial before Jackson County Circuit Court Judge J. Dale Youngs. Laurie Bey, the mother of Lamb, said Wednesday that DeValkenaere should have been terminated immediately after being convicted. Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . . Kansas City police detective convicted in fatal shooting no longer with the department Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere, who was convicted in the 2019 shooting death of Cameron Lamb, is no longer with the police department, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. DeValkenaere was found guilty of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the shooting that took place as Lamb, 26, backed his pickup truck into the garage of his home at 4154 College Ave. Developing . . . TKC isn't really interested in listening to white dudes talk about the evils of outdated phrases like affirmative action . . . But Kietzman is one of the good ones so we'll hear him out. Check the talker articulating the rage of your dad or grandpa . . . "If it's against the law to hire a person based on their skin color or gender how can Joe Biden get away with limiting his talent pool for VP and Supreme Court Justice to only black women?" Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com news links . . . Biden pledged to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court-meet 5 who could be up for the job During a press conference in Delaware in June 2020, President Joe Biden said that he hoped to appoint a Black woman to the Supreme Court if the opportunity presented itself. Now, in wake of the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer, Biden intends on fulfilling his pledge. Fox News panel reacts to Breyer retirement with immediate backlash to Biden picking a Black woman: 'What you're talking about is discrimination' 46th and current president of the United States Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States American newscaster and television host who joined Fox News in 2005 A Fox News panel reacted strongly to news of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's plans to retire. Who is on Biden's shortlist to replace retiring Justice Breyer? With Justice Stephen Breyer's reportedretirement opening a seat on the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden has a chance to fulfill a campaign promise to name a Black woman to the Court for the first time. Breyer's retirement from Supreme Court prompts 'Squad' to call for Black woman nominee: Biden, 'you promised' Members of the progressive "Squad" have quickly responded to news of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement by calling for a Black woman to take his place. "It is past time for a Black woman to be named to the Supreme Court," Rep. Cori Bush, R-Mo., tweeted on Wednesday. Tucker Sneers That George Floyd's Sister Is 'The Obvious Choice' for Biden's Supreme Court Nominee Tucker Carlson hit another low mark on Wednesday night when he said that President Joe Biden only cares about race and gender when it comes to nominating a Supreme Court justice and thus should select the sister of George Floyd, the Black man murdered by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. You decide . . . Brevard, NC (28712) Today Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. 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: Dorsett Automotive This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TRUMBULL After multiple delays, the new Italian restaurant Ecco finally opened for business Tuesday. And, while the eatery is still in its infancy, Dan Camporeale, a partner in Ecco, said hes optimistic about the new spot. Its been one day, Camporeale said when interviewed Wednesday, but added People have been pretty positive so far. Ecco, which is at 6540 Main St., in the new Long Hill Market shopping plaza, was supposed to open around Christmas time. But when the omicron variant of COVID-19 hit Connecticut, causing a new surge in COVID cases, the opening was delayed. Further complicating matters, many people associated with the project became ill, and there were some supply chain issues that also pushed things back. On Sunday, the restaurant was finally able to open for a small friends and family night and officially opened to the public on Tuesday. Camporeale who is a partner in other local restaurants, including Molto in Fairfield and Spiga in New Canaan said he isnt sure if Ecco will have a big grand opening. Thats undecided, he said. I think weve only done it in one of our other places, after we were open a month. We just got bombarded and slammed. It was too much for the kitchen. I wouldnt want to do that again to the kitchen. Eccos offerings include a mozzarella bar, brick oven pizzas, fresh-made pastas and a bevy of Italian favorites, such as lasagna and chicken parmesan. Right now, the restaurant is only open for dinner service. Camporeale said the plan is for the restaurant to add lunch service soon, but they wanted to ease into it. Its easier for us for kitchen purposes, he said of the temporary dinner-only model. Rina Bakalar, Trumbulls director of economic and community development, said she attended the friends and family night at Ecco and hopes to return to the restaurant soon. The friends and family night was wonderful and the food was outstanding, Bakalar said. She also praised the decor, and said she was told that the restaurant was purposely decorated mostly in black and gold, which are Trumbull High Schools colors. I think its going to be great for the plaza obviously, but also great for the region and the town, Bakalar said of the restaurant. For more information on Ecco, visit https://eccowinebar.com/. Gov. Doug Ducey gives a briefing on the states handling of COVID-19 during a news conference in Phoenix July 16, 2020. (BPT) - A significant majority of parents want to be home every night to tuck their children into bed (based on a OnePoll and Amazon Glow survey of 2,000 American parents*). Thats not always possible if you work long hours or are among the more than six million Americans who have a job that It's been two weeks since the hike of fuel prices took effect , yesterday fishermen of the G Over the past day, the Russian-occupation troops did not open fire on Ukrainian positions in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area. Over the past day, January 26, and as of 07:00, January 27, the Russian-occupation troops did not violate ceasefire, the Defense Ministry of Ukraine informs. The Joint Forces members control the situation and continue to repel and deter the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. ol Canada will extend and significantly expand UNIFIER, its military training mission in Ukraine, for another three years. "Today, Ive made a decision to extend Operation UNIFIER for another three years, expand this training operation, and provide immediate assistance to Ukraine," Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau announced during a press conference in Ottawa on January 26, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. He said it would cost Canada CAD 340 million (about USD 280 million). "I authorized the Canadian Armed Forces to deploy 60 personnel within days to join the approximate 200 women and men already on the ground with further capacity to increase the number of people on the ground up to 400," the Prime Minister stressed. He added that Canada would also "provide non-lethal equipment to Ukraine, share intelligence data, and help counter cyberattacks." "Our commitment to Operation UNIFIER ensures that the Canadian Armed Forces will continue to support Ukraine's security forces so that Ukraine can defend its sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity," Trudeau said. About 200 Canadian servicemembers are currently deployed in central and western Ukraine, headquartered at Yavoriv, Lviv region, as part of Operation UNIFIER. Since the mission began in 2015, more than 33,000 Ukrainian servicemembers have been trained. ol The European Union intends to provide Ukraine with the first tranche of macro-financial assistance as soon as possible. "The macro-financial assistance we put on the table is an emergency assistance, it's very similar to what we did during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then we simplified the process and paid the first tranche very quickly. We will do the same in this case," EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said at a briefing after the meeting of the Commission for coordination of the implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement on January 26, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. According to him, the EU wants to make the first payments as soon as possible. "It will, of course, depend on how quickly we can complete the work on the memorandum, but we are ready to move on with the payments within weeks," he said. EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi makes a visit to Ukraine on January 26-27. On January 24, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Commission would provide Ukraine with a new package of financial assistance worth 1.2 billion euros. According to her, the package will help Ukraine "meet its financial needs amid a possible armed conflict and support Ukraine's efforts to strengthen its resilience." Photo credit: Getty Images ol The construction and launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's plan in his war against Ukraine. Yuriy Vitrenko, CEO of Ukraine's state energy company Naftogaz, said this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. "The construction and launch of Nord Stream 2 is nothing but part of Putin's plan to wage war against Ukraine. By doing so, he wanted to give up transit through our country so that any further invasion would not affect Russian gas sales to Europe," Vitrenko wrote. He stressed that Putin had used gas as a weapon before and continued to do so even more after a joint statement by the United States and Germany in July 2021. According to Vitrenko, such behavior requires a reaction from the West, punishment. "We are ready for any scenario and continue to do everything in our power to ensure that the situation in Ukraine is stable, including in the energy sector as one of the key areas of national security," Vitrenko said. He recalled that Ukraine had already won a victory over Russia in gas issues, winning billions in trial with Gazprom. "I have personally been involved in this trial and thus know that the only recipe for success in negotiations with Russia is the ability to oppose it, the ability to say a firm 'no,' to have other decision options. Therefore, the international community should not be afraid to oppose Putin and show their strength," Vitrenko said. Nord Stream 2 AG earlier founded a German subsidiary, Gas for Europe GmbH. Nord Stream AG on September 6, 2021 submitted an application to Germany's Federal Network Agency for the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. However, in November, the regulator suspended the certification procedure due to non-compliance with European gas legislation. The operating company Nord Stream AG, headquartered in Switzerland, was to set up a company in Germany to share functions. The regulator noted that the certification process will remain suspended until the transfer of the main assets and human resources to the subsidiary has been completed and the Federal Network Agency will be in a position to check the unit's documents for completeness. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was built in early September. The pipeline is designed to double the amount of gas flowing from Russia to Germany, bypassing Ukraine, on the bed of the Baltic Sea. The only shareholder in the project is Gazprom. op Ukraine and Germany have agreed to continue deepening cooperation in decarbonizing energy sector. The relevant issue was discussed at a meeting of Deputy Energy Minister of Ukraine for European Integration Yaroslav Demchenkov with Jurgen Keinhorst, a representative of the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Ukrinform reports, referring to the Energy Ministrys press service. The parties discussed the continuation of cooperation between Ukraine and Germany as part of the Ukrainian-German energy partnership. During the meeting, the parties agreed to continue deepening cooperation, in particular in the field of decarbonizing energy and implementing the project Low Carbon Ukraine, reads the report. It is noted that for the Energy Ministry, it is important to accelerate the energy transition and achieve success in decarbonization of the energy sector within 10-15 years. We have already launched projects that will help reduce carbon emissions, and we appreciate the support of the German government in implementing such projects and look forward to effective cooperation, said Demchenkov. As reported, in November 2021, Ukraine joined the Net Zero World initiative, which will help get access to the expertise of the U.S. Department of Energy for the possible implementation of pilot projects on decarbonization. iy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has assured Danish business that there are currently no reasons to reduce or curtail investment projects in Ukraine as the security situation remains under control. Kuleba made a corresponding statement at a meeting with members of the Confederation of Danish Industry, Ukrinform reports with reference to the Foreign Ministry's press service. Dmytro Kuleba informed Danish business in detail about the implementation of a number of important reforms in Ukraine and the positive dynamics of economic indicators. He assured that today there were no reasons to reduce or curtail investment projects in our country as the security situation remained under control," the statement reads. The minister pointed out a significant increase in bilateral trade between Ukraine and Denmark in recent years despite the negative effects of the pandemic. He welcomed the intention of Danish investors to increase investment in Ukraine's economy, which will help strengthen economic and financial stability in our country. In this context, he mentioned the decision of Hjort Knudsen, the Danish manufacturer of designer furniture, to build a modern production facility near Rivne with a total cost of more than 12 million euros. This project will create about 1,000 new jobs. Kuleba presented Ukraine's great investment opportunities, in particular in the fields of infrastructure, shipbuilding, food industry, agriculture, IT services, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and aerospace industry. The Ukrainian foreign minister invited Danish IT companies to take part in the Diia Summit in Kyiv on February 8 to get acquainted with the new e-services and special legal regime for IT industry created by Diia.City. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Confederation of Danish Industry is the most influential business association in Denmark as it represents the interests of more than 19,000 medium-sized and large Danish companies. Among others, the meeting was attended by senior management of such international Danish companies as A.P. Moller Maersk (container shipping), Vestas (wind turbine production), Novo-Nordisk (pharmaceuticals). ol NATO has responded in writing to Russia's proposals for "security guarantees," calling on Russia to de-escalate and withdraw troops from Ukraine's borders. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during an urgent press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, January 26, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "We face a critical moment for Euro-Atlantic security. Russias military build-up in and around Ukraine continues, with more than 100,000 troops in position, and more on the way, including significant deployments in Belarus. We call on Russia once again to immediately de-escalate the situation. NATO firmly believes that tensions and disagreements must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy. Not through force or the threat of force. So today, NATO has conveyed our written proposals to Russia. We have done so in parallel with the United States," Stoltenberg said. The secretary general outlined the three main areas where NATO sees room for progress. In particular, the first is NATO-Russia relations. The secretary general recalled that Russia had cut diplomatic ties with the Alliance, making dialogue much more difficult. He called for re-establishing the respective offices in Moscow and Brussels. He said the parties should also make full use of existing military-to-military channels to promote transparency and reduce risks. The Alliance is also considering setting up a civilian hotline for emergency use. "Second, European security, including the situation in and around Ukraine. We are prepared to listen to Russias concerns, and engage in a real conversation on how to uphold and strengthen the fundamental principles of European security that we have all signed up to, starting with the Helsinki Final Act. This includes the right of each nation to choose its own security arrangements. Russia should refrain from coercive force posturing, aggressive rhetoric, and malign activities directed against Allies and other nations," said the NATO secretary general. He stressed that Russia must withdraw its forces from Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, where they are deployed without these countries consent. All parties should engage constructively in conflict settlement efforts, including in the Normandy format. According to Stoltenberg, the third area is risk reduction, transparency, and arms control. "History has shown that engagement on these issues can provide real security for everyone. So we need practical measures that will make a real difference. As a first step, we are proposing mutual briefings on exercises and nuclear policies in the NATO-Russia Council. We should also modernize the Vienna Document on military transparency, and work to reduce space and cyber threats. We should consult on ways to prevent incidents in the air and at sea and recommit to full compliance with international commitments on chemical and biological weapons," said the Alliance leader. NATO is also proposing to start a "serious conversation" on arms control, including nuclear weapons and ground-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles. These areas, the NATO Secretary General stressed, are on the agenda for a meaningful dialogue. He invited allies and Russia to hold a series of meetings to address all these issues in more detail within the NATO-Russia Council, and expressed the Alliance's readiness to hold such a meeting "as soon as possible." "In all of our efforts, we continue to coordinate closely with Ukraine, as well as with other NATO partners, including Finland, Sweden, Georgia, and of course, the European Union. NATO is a defensive Alliance, and we do not seek confrontation. But we cannot and will not compromise on the principles on which the security of our Alliance and security in Europe and North America rest. We remain fully committed to our founding treaty, and our collective defense pledge enshrined in Article 5. We will take all necessary measures to defend and protect all Allies," Stoltenberg concluded. Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had conveyed to Russia a written response to proposals for "security guarantees" in Europe. In December 2021, the Russian Federation made public its "security guarantees" proposals in the form of draft treaties with the United States and NATO, which contain ultimate demands to reduce the Alliance's activity and abandon the open-door policy, in particular as regards Ukraine and Georgia. Intensive diplomatic contacts with Russia, the United States, NATO, and the OSCE have been underway over the past week. im At the latest meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group, neither Ukraine nor Russia changed their negotiation strategies under the influence of external factors. Such an opinion was expressed by Ukraines delegate representing certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions (CADLR) in the TCG, Serhiy Harmash. "Today's TCG meeting was one of the calmest I can recall. And probably the shortest one only three hours ... nothing serious was agreed. It is not observed that the negotiating strategy of Russia or Ukraine has changed under the influence of external factors," Harmash wrote on Facebook. He added that the issues of held persons, the opening of the crossing checkpoints, and the observance of ceasefire remain in limbo due to Moscows position. "Russia is still acting as a mediator, while Russia's representatives from the CADLR are posing as delegations. Ukraine still doesnt recognize the CADLR as a party to the conflict and a subject of negotiations," Harmash wrote. According to the Ukrainian delegate, when discussing Istanbul as a possible venue for offline meetings, "LPR minister" Deynego demanded from Turkey "official documents laying down security guarantees" and, in fact, Turkey's recognition of "DPR/LPR" passports, as not all of their delegation members hold Ukrainian or even Russian passports. "In turn, Russias representative, without waiting for Turkish guarantees, said that for the Russians, "Istanbul is logistically inconvenient." They prefer Minsk or even cities in Russia or Ukraine, such as Moscow, Donetsk, or Luhansk," added the representative of the CADLR in the Ukrainian delegation. He noted that the issue of venue, as well as the very possibility of TCG offline meetings, remains open. As previously reported, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had invited Ukrainian and Russian Presidents, Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, to meet in Turkey to discuss differences and resolve the existing issues. im The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine continues to work closely with partners to assess the threats of Russian aggression, calling on them to refrain from steps that could lead to "hyping up the information space." This is stated in a commentary on the operations of foreign diplomatic missions in Ukraine, posted on the ministrys website, Ukrinform reports. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes the decision of the vast majority of foreign partners not to change the operational regime of their diplomatic missions in Ukraine, including in respect to the evacuation of staff and their families. We reaffirm the position that such steps are premature at this stage," the statement said. The Foreign Ministry stressed that it continued to work closely with partners to assess further risks and threats of Russian aggression. "We urge foreign partners to refrain from taking steps in public space that would raise tensions in the information field and destabilize public opinion. We are confident that the current challenges can be overcome only through unity and coordination of joint action," the Foreign Ministry said. As Ukrinform reported earlier, on January 26, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine urged American citizens in the country to consider departing using commercial or other private transportation options, warning that the security situation can deteriorate with little notice. On January 24, the U.S. State Department authorized the voluntary departure of government employees and ordered the departure of their family members from Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called such a step "premature, seeing it as a manifestation of excessive caution." As of January 26, most American diplomats have decided to stay in Kyiv. The United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Canada have also announced their intention to evacuate some embassy employees and their family members or authorize their voluntary departure from the country. im Ukraine has already implemented the items laid down in the Association Agreement with the European Union by 63%. This was stated by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who spoke at a meeting of the Commission for coordination of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement implementation on Wednesday, January 26, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "Overall progress in implementing the Association Agreement with the European Union has increased to 63%. It was 54% in 2020 and 60% in 2021, while at the beginning of this year, we have 63%. In fact, in 2020, the increase was 10% and in 2021, it was 9%. So its up 15% over the past two years," Shmyhal said. According to the head of government, the most dynamic European integration processes were observed in the areas of financial services (+26% of target), taxation (+24%), public health (+17%), energy (+13%), transportation (+12%). ), ecology (+11%), and agriculture (+10%). Shmyhal added that the Cabinet of Ministers last year had approved 61 European integration documents, while the Verkhovna Rada passed 37 bills, including 20 as a whole. "Of course, this year wed like to perform much better and more ambitiously," said the prime minister. The members of the Commission for coordination of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement implementation approved the plan and schedule for submitting to the Cabinet draft documents on European integration.` At the beginning of the sitting, the prime minister stated that his Cabinet intended to file with the Verkhovna Rada in 2022 a total of 92 legal acts related to Ukraines European integration efforts. im The United States does not rule out the possibility of impacting the personal business and economic interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his entourage in the event of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said this at a press briefing in Washington on Wednesday, January 26, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "Any [new potential] sanctions package would be far beyond what was done in 2014, and that includes impacting business and economic interests of President Putin and the leadership of the Russian government," she said. Psaki also stressed that U.S. policy on this issue remains unchanged, with the United States not ruling out any options to deter Russian aggression. The United States has repeatedly stated that it has agreed with Western allies and partners on "unprecedented" sanctions for Russia, which will form the basis of a "swift, severe and united" Western response if Russia launches a new invasion of Ukraine. op The political advisors of the Normandy format have agreed to hold their next meeting in Berlin in about two weeks. Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said this at a briefing in Paris on Wednesday, January 26, according to an Ukrinform correspondent. "The next meeting will take place soon, I think, in two weeks. It will take place in Berlin," he said. He explained that at the meeting in Paris, the parties reviewed the previously adopted agreements and their status. According to Yermak, all parties have made their own conclusions in order to probably put forward new proposals in two weeks. At the same time, he said there was a clear understanding of the differences that need to be addressed. "I think everyone is definitely interested in us having a productive discussion in two weeks and achieving some results," Yermak said. Paris on January 26 hosted a meeting of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy format countries - Ukraine, France, Germany, and Russia. op Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, discussed Ukraine's initiatives to strengthen security in the Black Sea with Luminita-Teodora Odobescu, European Affairs Adviser to the President of Romania. As the press service of the Head of State informs, Zhovkva briefed the interlocutor on the current security situation in eastern Ukraine and along the country's borders, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a balanced and coordinated position of international partners. He also praised Romania's strong support for Ukraine. "I sincerely thank the official authorities of Romania for their strong statements in support of Ukraine and the corresponding active efforts of our Romanian partners within the EU and NATO," said the Deputy Head of the Presidents Office. The parties also discussed the security situation in the Black Sea and Ukraine's initiatives aimed at intensifying practical cooperation to strengthen security in the region. Particular attention was paid to the implementation of Ukraine's European integration strategy. As noted, the diplomatic advisers exchanged views on the importance of granting Ukraine a European prospect and enshrining Romania's support for this idea. Zhovkva lauded Bucharest's effective support for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations. The importance of inviting Ukraine to the NATO Madrid Summit and taking concrete steps for Ukraine's further accession to the North Atlantic Alliance was underscored. The officials discussed the progress of the development of a number of bilateral projects, in particular in the field of infrastructure and cross-border cooperation. In addition, they praised the mutual steps of Ukraine and Romania aimed at reviving bilateral cooperation in areas of common interest. As a reminder, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania called Russia's demand to withdraw NATO forces from the countries that joined the Alliance after 1997, including Romania and Bulgaria, inappropriate and unfounded. Photo credit: Presidents Office ol Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has stated during his visit to Copenhagen (Denmark) that the future of Euro-Atlantic security is currently being decided in Ukraine. According to Ukrinform, Kuleba said this in a post on Twitter. "Great to meet my Danish counterpart and friend Jeppe Kofod in Copenhagen today. The future of the Euro-Atlantic security is being decided in Ukraine now. Denmark demonstrates a true leadership by standing with Ukraine at this time of elevated Russian threats," Kuleba said. Earlier reports said that Swiss Ambassador Claude Wild at a meeting with Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine Ivan Bakanov on January 27 expressed support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. op Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has had an audience with Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in Copenhagen today. He wrote this on his Twitter account, Ukrinform reports. Honored to have an audience with HM Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in Copenhagen today. Highly appreciate Her Majestys unwavering support for Ukraine as our country counters Russian aggression. Looking forward to the Royal Familys visit to Ukraine, reads the tweet, Ukrinform reports. As Ukrinform reported, Kuleba is paying an official visit to the Kingdom of Denmark at the invitation of his Danish counterpart Jeppe Kofod. iy On January 27, 1992, diplomatic relations between the two countries were officially established Ukraine and Canada mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Although since the arrival of the first migrants from Ukraine in 1891, the two countries have been in close contact, it was after Ukraine regained independence that we became incredibly close. Ukrinform recalls what has been achieved in Ukrainian-Canadian relations throughout this period. DEMOGRAPHIC ASPECT According to the 1991 Canadian census, with a total population of just under 27 million, 406,645 residents were of Ukrainian descent. The 2016 census recorded 1,359,655 Canadian Ukrainians with a total population of 34,460,065. That is, the number of Ukrainians increased proportionally from 1.5% to almost 4% of the total population. Of course, migration is not the only reason for such a significant rise this is also about some Canadians recognizing their Ukrainian roots. However, it is undeniable that there have become more Ukrainians living in Canada. Over time, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, founded in 1940, has grown stronger, uniting most Ukrainian organizations across the country. It has been a mouthpiece for an influential Ukrainian community for over 80 years. The leadership of the Congress is trying to keep up with the times and involve younger diaspora members in its activities as much as possible. MIGRATION POLICY After addressing demographics, we cant but mention the visa aspects. Ukraine abolished visas for Canadian citizens back in 2005, while Canada is yet to mutually lift visa requirements. However, the Canadian visa regime is gradually becoming more liberal. Now Ukrainians willing to travel to Canada on a tourist visa obtain it for the term of passport validity. If they re-apply within ten years from the time the previous visa expires, they dont even have to provide financial paperwork. Although a Canadian visa remains quite expensive (about $150), the visa regime cant be referred to as strict. At the same time, it should be noted that, despite fairly liberal demands, almost one in three applicants is rejected a visa. The Canadian Foreign Ministry is silent on such a large number of denials, regularly emphasizing that all documents filed must be authentic. Ukraine is making efforts to ensure actual visa-free travel, but it will take years of hard work to achieve this. A step in the right direction was the signing of a memorandum of intent to resume the youth mobility program. After completing all formalities, young Ukrainians will be able to legally work, study, and travel across Canada for a year to gain valuable life experience. In addition, direct flights between Kyiv and Toronto were restored in 2018. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has forced UIA to temporarily cut this route, the air carrier is scheduled to resume regular flights as early as this summer. DIPLOMATIC PRESENCE Our mutual diplomatic presence has also expanded significantly since the onset of Ukraines independence. In addition to the embassy in Kyiv, Canada also operates a consulate general in Lviv. In turn, Ukraine's interests in Canada are represented by the embassy in Ottawa and two consulates general in Toronto and Edmonton. Honorary consuls of Ukraine in Vancouver and Montreal also perform their valuable work. It is important to note that the local diaspora has made a great contribution to the development of the network of Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Canada. Thus, the first building of the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada (which then served as both a consulate and the ambassador's residence) was purchased by a Canadian philanthropist of Ukrainian descent Erast Gutsulyak. The diaspora later raised money for the ambassador's residence, which is located in Ottawas prestigious district near the residence of the Mexican ambassador. The current premises of the Embassy of Ukraine in Canada were also paid for with the financial support of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. MILITARY SUPPORT Although Canadian-Ukrainian defense cooperation has not been active for a long time, after Russia's insidious invasion of Ukraine, Canada has become one of Ukraine's main security partners. Since 2015, the Canadian military has been deployed in Ukraine, training Ukrainian counterparts in modern combat skills as part of Operation UNIFIER. More than 33,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already passed the Canadian training sessions, giving very positive feedback about their practical benefits. The mission's mandate expires in March, so PM Justin Trudeau announced yesterday that it would be prolonged and significantly expanded. Canada was also one of the first nations to provide Ukraine with military equipment back in 2014, when Ukrainian fighters at the front line lacked it desperately. However, since the start of the latest Russian escalation, Canada has been justly criticized for its unwillingness to offer Ukraine even defensive weapons. Unfortunately, Justin Trudeau refused to supply any weaponry to Ukraine, despite many appeals from both the Ukrainian government and the diaspora. However, it should be noted that in 2017, Canada officially lifted the ban on the sale of weapons to Ukraine, while the procurement process was dragged into either a bureaucratic or financial quagmire, and so far Ukraine has not received any Canadian arms. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND PROMOTION OF DEVELOPMENT Since 2014, Canada has provided Ukraine with about half a billion dollars in soft loans. Ukraine has received more than $200 million in grants for reform and civil society development. Last week alone, Canada announced $120 million in support for economic stability and governance reform. In line with its foreign policy priorities, Canada is focusing its assistance on inclusive governance, women's empowerment, peace-building, and extensive economic growth. Canada is also helping to reform Ukraine's law enforcement sector. In addition to major financial infusions, several dozen Canadian police officers share their experiences with their Ukrainian counterparts. TRADE Significant rapprochement is being observed in the trade and economic sphere. In 2018, the trade turnover between the two countries approached a record $300 million. This was greatly facilitated by the Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force in 2017. Since then, Ukraine and Canada have held a series of talks to extend the agreement to services and investment. As Canada remains an important market for Ukrainian IT firms, these changes would be truly beneficial to them. Details of the future agreement are yet to be disclosed, but the current deal provides for the complete lifting of import duties by Canada on most Ukrainian goods. Interestingly, Ukraine is one of the largest consumers of Canadian seafood, while about a quarter of all apple juice sold in Canada is produced in Ukraine. This suggests that the most profitable areas of interstate trade are yet to be found. CULTURAL EXCHANGE Despite the language barrier, cultural exchange between the two nations is constantly gaining momentum. For several years already, Ukraine has been regularly participating in the Toronto International Film Festival, and the year before, the Agreement on Joint Audiovisual Production came into force. Ukrainian filmmakers can now take advantage of Canadian tax rebates and other preferences. There are several museums dedicated to Ukraine and Ukrainians in Canada, while Ukrainian culture festivals are held in almost all major cities during the summer period. Ukrainian bands performed in Canada regularly in the pre-pandemic period, while Canadian violin virtuoso Vasyl Popadyuk would come to Ukraine every year. SANCTIONS AND POLITICAL SUPPORT Since the onset of Russian aggression against Ukraine, Canada has imposed sanctions on about half a thousand Russian and Ukrainian individuals and legal entities associated with it. Canada has also passed the so-called Magnitsky Act, which allows sanctions to be imposed on human rights violators around the world. Thirty Russians have already been designated. Thus, the Canadian sanctions list related to Russian aggression is one of the worlds longest. In general, the topic of support for Ukraine always receives all-party support in the Canadian Parliament. A clear example is a recognition at the state level of the Holodomor as genocide, voted in 2008. Since then, Canadians have commemorated the victims of the tragedy every November. Another indicator of Canada's considerable focus on Ukraine is the huge number of mutual official visits at various levels. It is eloquent that for President Leonid Kuchma, the trip to Canada was the first after he won the election, while Leonid Kravchuk, then chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, paid a visit to Canada less than a month after the country regained independence. TRUE FRIENDSHIP AND PROXIMITY OF VALUES As is known, on December 2, 1991, Canada became the first Western power to recognize Ukraine's independence, and on January 27, 1992, diplomatic relations were officially established. Over the three decades that have passed since then, the two countries have walked a long way, coming significantly closer to each other. Whether it's military, diplomatic, or trade cooperation, cultural or interpersonal exchanges, we really have a lot in common. We have also become closer in terms of values, as almost 60% of Ukrainians aspire to NATO and increasingly consider Canada to be our closest ally in the international arena. There are a lot more of various aspects of Canada-Ukraine cooperation that can be described, but even the mentioned ones offer a clue of how much we have in common. However, as true friends, we should also speak openly about our differences. Ukraine would like to achieve visa-free travel in the foreseeable future and looks forward to more decisive support in its standoff with Russia. At the same time, Canada doesnt hide its dissatisfaction with the pace of reforms, investor protection, and rule of law in Ukraine. However, these misunderstandings should not distract the two countries from the main thing: Ukraine and Canada are now closer than ever and confidently moving towards mutual success. Maksym Nalyvaiko, Ottawa im Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi have discussed measures to ensure the energy security of Ukraine and the EU, the presidential press service has said. "Specific measures to ensure the energy security of Ukraine and the EU in the context of modern security challenges were discussed separately during the meeting," the statement said. Zelensky also praised the results of the Eastern Partnership summit held in Brussels last December, especially the approval of an ambitious Economic and Investment Plan for partner countries. According to the statement, the plan provides for the financing of reforms in a number of important areas by allocating funds for the implementation of specific projects. In this regard, the head of state noted that one of the highest priorities for Ukraine is to ensure energy efficiency, because in 2022, the country is launching the program "Great Thermal Modernization," which will help insulate high-rise buildings, schools and hospitals across the country. "Despite the current security challenges, Ukraine continues to implement important economic projects. Therefore, the EU's decision to allocate almost 2 billion euros for the implementation of investment projects in Ukraine is a concrete expression of support from our European partners. Along with the previously adopted decision of the European Commission to provide macro-financial assistance in the amount of 1.2 billion euros, this is an important contribution to the sustainable development of the Ukrainian economy," Zelensky said. He thanked the European Union for its firm support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and called for the preservation of the unity of all EU member states in these difficult conditions. Varhelyi is on a visit to Ukraine on January 26-27. On January 24, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Commission would provide Ukraine with a new package of financial assistance worth EUR 1.2 billion. According to her, this support will help Ukraine "to address financing needs due to the conflict and support the country's resilience-building efforts." op During a meeting in Copenhagen, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Denmark Jeppe Kofod discussed the preparation of the EUs package of tough economic sanctions against the Russian Federation. During the talks, Kuleba briefed his Danish counterpart on the security situation near Ukraines state border and in the territories occupied by Russia, as well as on the results of the meeting of advisers to the Normandy format leaders in Paris on January 26. "The Russian Federation is trying to undermine the security not only of Ukraine but of the whole of Europe. We are actively working to consolidate the international community in order to effectively counter Russia's aggressive actions, as this will determine the future of the security architecture in the entire Euro-Atlantic region," Kuleba said, the Ministrys press service informs. The minister thanked Kofod for Denmark's solidarity with Ukraine against the background of Russia's aggression, his personal contribution to consolidating international support and implementing a comprehensive deterrence package against Russia, which discourages it from aggressive plans in Europe. Read also: Kuleba had audience with Queen of Denmark "Denmark is showing real leadership, standing side by side with Ukraine at this time of heightened threats from Russia," Kuleba said. The minister added that Ukraine greatly appreciates Denmark's unwavering support for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, both bilaterally and within the EU and NATO. According to Kuleba, Denmark's allocation of an additional EUR 22 million for the security sector of Ukraine is an important contribution to the stability and safety of our country. The ministers also discussed the preparation of the EUs package of tough economic sanctions against Russia, as well as strengthening cooperation to bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities and cybersecurity. Kofod reaffirmed his country's readiness to further enhance Ukraine's resilience amid Russia's aggressive actions. At Kuleba's request, Denmark agreed to consider additional support options to ensure Ukraine's financial and economic stability. The officials also discussed the implementation of joint investment projects. According to the decision of the Danish government, Ukraine will be a key recipient of technical assistance under the next phase of the Danish Neighbourhood Programme (DANEP) in 2022-2026 with a total budget of EUR 170 million. Of this sum, EUR 73 million will be directed to projects in Ukraine. "We appreciate the Danish government's desire to increase economic and investment cooperation with Ukraine. This sends a clear signal to foreign investors that despite security challenges, the situation remains under control, our country is showing economic growth, it is attractive for investment and successful commercial projects," Kuleba said. The Ukrainian minister also met with leading experts and representatives of Danish NGOs and informed them about Ukraine's efforts to protect peace, justice, and security in Europe, finding ways for political and diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. As reported, Kuleba makes a visit to the Kingdom of Denmark on January 26-27. ol Germany supports Ukraine in the military sphere as evidenced by the decision to supply 5,000 protective helmets. "And Germany also supports Ukraine militarily. In particular, I would like to state this clearly here, we are now supplying protective helmets," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at the debate on Russian military threats to Ukraine at the Bundestag on Thursday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. She added that the same applied to the issue of a "protective bunker near Odesa." "A few days ago, we were urged to support its restoration. Tomorrow, the first on-the-spot visit will be made," the minister added. Baerbock also pointed out that Ukrainian officers had participated in military education programs at the Federal Ministry of Defense of Germany, and "Germany's support for Ukraine under the NATO Trust Fund has totaled more than 8 million euros since 2014." At the same time, the chief German diplomat noted that official Berlin still adhered to the stance on non-supply of lethal weapons to Ukraine. As reported, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Wednesday that Germany would provide Ukraine with 5,000 military helmets, which should be a "clear signal" that Berlin is on the Ukrainian side. ol Canada will provide an additional CAD 50 million (about $39.5 million) in humanitarian and development aid to Ukraine. Canada provides up to 50 million in humanitarian and development aid to Ukraine. Of course, adding to a loan of up to 120 million we announced last week, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau announced during a press conference in Ottawa on January 26, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. He also called on Russia to "reduce tensions and engage in a meaningful dialogue to reach a peaceful diplomatic solution to the situation." Canada remains a firm friend of Ukraine and will continue to work closely with the Government of Ukraine and partners in the region, the Prime Minister said. Trudeau added that Canadas national defense minister Anita Anand would soon pay a visit to Latvia and Ukraine to visit Canadian units stationed there. As reported, Canada announced the extension and expansion of the UNIFIER military training mission in Ukraine and non-lethal equipment supplies to Ukraine. Last week, Canada pledged a CAD 120 million (about USD 92 million) loan to Ukraine to strengthen its economy and implement governance reforms. ol In 2021, 4.27 million foreigners arrived in Ukraine, which is 26% more than in 2020, Ukrinform reports, referring to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. The State Border Guard Service summarizes the volume of traffic operations in 2021. We are pointing out the figures that reflect the top ten countries in terms of the number of citizens who entered Ukraine last year, the report reads. Thus, the largest number of visitors arrived in Ukraine last year from the Republic of Moldova - 1.05 million people (up 13%), the Russian Federation 518 thousand people (up 33%), and Poland 310 thousand people (up 14%). The Republic of Belarus ranks fourth in the number of tourists visiting Ukraine last year - 272 thousand people (down 41%), Romania ranks fifth - 264 thousand people (up 15%). These countries are followed by Turkey, Hungary, Germany, Israel and the United States. It is quite interesting that the number of Saudi citizens visiting Ukraine mostly for tourism purposes has grown 103 times over the past year, which is an absolute record," the report says. As Ukrinform reported, Poland became the most popular destination among Ukrainian citizens - more than 4.4 million trips. iy Image above: SEA awareness workshops at the Integrated Assistance Centre in Maicao, Colombia, are an opportunity to learn in a safe space. UNHCR/Ruben Salgado Escudero In 2021, UNHCR received 19 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving its personnel. Additional information on the number of allegations in previous years, their status and the related investigations can be found here. In 2021, UNHCR has dismissed five personnel on grounds of sexual exploitation and abuse. In one other case, sexual exploitation and abuse was established, and the individual separated prior to completion of the disciplinary process; the individual has been recorded in the UN Clear check database to prevent their re-hire in any UN entity. In 2020, UNHCR dismissed two personnel on grounds of sexual exploitation and abuse. In two other cases, SEA was established, and the individuals left the organization prior to completion of the disciplinary process; they have both been recorded in the UN Clear check database to prevent their re-hire in any UN entity. In 2019, one case was substantiated but the disciplinary process was not completed as the contract of the UNHCR personnel expired. This case was registered in the UN Clear check database to avoid this person being rehired in any UN entity. In addition, three members of our workforce left the organization before the allegations were received, and therefore an investigation was not possible. A note has been placed in their personnel file. In 2021 UNHCR has received 87 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving its implementing partner personnel. Additional information on previous years, the status of various SEA allegations and the investigations involving the personnel or implementing partners can be found here. Note: these statistics change on a regular basis as the investigative and disciplinary processes continue. WARNING the video above may be considered disturbing by some viewers and may trigger emotional distress. This video contains testimonies of victims and was developed under one of the initiatives undertaken by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi as an IASC Champion on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse and Sexual Harassment. Putting victims first Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) represent a grave breach of trust and of the right to safety, security and dignity of refugees. Sexual harassment (SH) undermines the right of personnel to be safe and treated with dignity and respect in the workplace and in connection with work. UNHCR is committed to take all necessary action to prevent and respond decisively to sexual misconduct and to put the protection, rights and dignity of refugee-victims and staff-victims at the forefront. Victim-Centred Approach is a way of engaging with victims that prioritizes listening, avoids re-traumatization, and systematically focuses on their safety, rights, well-being, expressed needs and choices. The purpose is to give back as much control to victims as feasible and ensure empathetic delivery of services in a non-judgmental manner. Victim care in action Victims of sexual harassment are supported by UNHCRs Victim Care Officer. This support is automatically provided to victims unless they choose otherwise, shifting the onus from the individual to the organization. The Victim Care Officer, a Clinical Psychologist, provides psychosocial support, confidential guidance on processes and services, supports decision making, accompanies victims through the process, coordinates action on their behalf, and assesses risks and individual needs. This service also provides guidance to witnesses and advice to managers on support and risk mitigation for sexual harassment. UNHCRs global network of 400 peer advisors also provides critical support in the context of harassment, particularly in preventing and mitigating tensions and grievances, supporting colleagues, and promoting better workplaces. UNHCR has another network of 400 PSEA focal points with specific responsibilities related to the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse, including helping refugee-victims access support resources as well as through carrying out training and awareness-raising activities. Their presence across 132 countries is a key factor in helping identify and support victims. UNHCR's Senior Coordinator on PSEA/SH meets with the organization We Are Alight who prevent and respond to Gender-Based-Violence, Sudan. In line with the Victim-Centred Approach, victims of SEA receive multi-sectoral support through gender-based violence and child protection programmes. Standard operating procedures are in place at the field level, in camps and urban settings, to ensure the safety of victims who report abuse and to guide their safe referral to services such as legal, medical and psychosocial support. Like all great things, the 2021-22 editorial boards term has come to an end. Read more If trade between Britain and the EU didn't seize up after Brexit, the volume of commercial exchanges was considerably lower last year in comparison with 2019, the French economy ministry said Thursday Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :If trade between Britain and the EU didn't seize up after Brexit, the volume of commercial exchanges was considerably lower last year in comparison with 2019, the French economy ministry said Thursday. Over the first 10 months of last year, European Union exports to Britain fell by 15 percent by value. Meanwhile, EU imports of goods from Britain fell by 30 percent over the same period, according to data provided on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting on Brexit one year after a new trade deal between the UK and the bloc came into force. The automotive, textile and aeronautics sectors were the worst hit. The figures must be considered with caution, however, as the Covid-19 pandemic had a major effect on trade flows. Nevertheless, the EU's imports and exports exceeded 2019 levels during the first ten months of last year, according to Eurostat data. The new trade deal between Britain and the EU that took affect at the beginning of 2021 re-established customs checks at the border, creating an administrative burden for transport firms. It also created delays and added complexity for firms that relied on prompt, regular shipments. British retailer Marks & Spencer closed many of its Paris shops after struggling to keep perishables on the shelves. Speakers at a seminar said that by observing India's republic day as a black day, the people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have yet again given their verdict which serves as a silent referendum against India's illegal and forcible occupation of their motherland ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :Speakers at a seminar said that by observing India's republic day as a black day, the people of the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) have yet again given their verdict which serves as a silent referendum against India's illegal and forcible occupation of their motherland. The speakers made these remarks while addressing a seminar, titled ""India! Blood Strained and tainted Democracy", organized by Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR). The seminar was held in connection with Kashmir black day being observed annually by Kashmiris on both sides of the line of control and the world over as a mark of their resentment against India's unlawful rule over the territory. Besides Federal Minister Ali Muhammad Khan, the seminar was attended and addressed by Senator Raja Muhammad Zaffar-ul-haq, Former president AJK Sardar Muhammad Yaqoob Khan, President PPP AJK Ch. Muhammad Yasin, former Ameer JI AJK Abdul Rashid Turabi, PTI AJK information Secretary Ershad Mahmud, Mrs. Gazala Habib President Friends of Kashmir, APHC leaders Syed Yousaf Naseem, Syed Faiz Naqashbandi, Mrs Shamim Shawl, Abdul Majeed Mir, Abdul Hameed Lone and others. Whereas the KIIR chairman Altaf Hussain Wani was present on the occasion and imitated the discussion Voicing their grave concerns over the rising incidents of state sponsored terrorism in occupied territory they said the India's racist regime whose hands were soaked with blood of innocent Kashmiris have no justification to celebrate republic day. "The fascist country, which is responsible for the ruthless killing of hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians, forced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and massive human rights violations in Kashmir, has no moral reason to celebrate the day", the speakers said adding that India, under the Modi's authoritarian regime, was fast turning into fascist state where there was no place for the political dissent. Reminding world community particularly the United Nations of its legal and moral responsibilities towards the settlement of Kashmir dispute, they said that it was unfortunate that the world remained blithely unconcerned over the plight of Kashmiris whose fundamental political and democratic rights were being trampled down by the Indian forces under their jackboots. Denouncing the Modi's government's repressive policies towards Kashmir and the Kashmiris, they said that it was high time that the international community realizes the deepening crisis in the region and take effective measures to hold the Indian government accountable for the crimes its forces have been committing against Kashmir. Terming India's belligerent occupation as an existential threat to Kashmiris, they said that the racist regime was hell bent upon erasing the political, cultural, and religious identity of Kashmiris through Machiavellian machinations. Speaking on the occasion the federal minister while reiterating his country's principled stand on the issue of Kashmir said that the government would continue its political, moral and diplomatic support to their brethren in Kashmir to achieve their cherished goal of freedom from Indian occupation. Senator Zaffar-ul-Haq while appreciating the sacrifices, resilience and perseverance of the Kashmiri nation expressed the hope that the day was not far when people of Kashmir would be free from the Indian bondage. Referring to Pakistan's commitment to the Kashmir cause, the PML-N leader said that every Pakistani regardless of his/her political affiliation stands shoulder to shoulder with Kashmiris in their just struggle for right to self-determination. "There is absolute unanimity on the issue of Kashmir amongst all the political stakeholders", Haq said. The PML-N stalwart, secretary General World Muslim Congress (WMC) on the occasion announced that his party in collaboration with the KIIR would soon convene a national level as well as an international conference on Kashmir. Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :European nations pushed back Wednesday against the Malian military government's demands that newly arrived Danish special forces fighting militants immediately withdraw from the Sahel state. Task Force Takuba brings together special forces from European countries to advise Malian troops and assist them in combat, with roughly 90 Danes joining earlier this month. The junta on Monday asked Denmark to "immediately" withdraw its contingent, alleging the troops had been deployed without their consent, a position rejected by the Danish government a day later. A statement from nations involved in the French-led Task Force Takuba on Wednesday defended the deployment, saying the partners were acting "within a robust legal framework agreed upon by Mali's sovereign government, including a formal invitation from the Malian authorities to international partners." The European countries called on Mali to "quickly remedy this situation at a critical time for Mali, when solidarity is required more than ever." Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod on Tuesday had said his nation's forces were in Mali "on a clear basis" and his government was seeking to clarify the issue. "There is currently a difficult diplomatic discussion with the transitional government," he added. Mali's junta, which came to power in a 2020 coup, responded late Wednesday it had read Kofod's "inappropriate" comments with "surprise and consternation". Task Force Takuba is the fruit of lengthy French efforts to coax European allies into shouldering some of the burden of fighting militants in Mali, the nexus of a nearly decade-old insurgency in the Sahel. Paris has engaged in "in-depth consultations" with its European partners participating in the special forces group, French Defence Minister Florence Parly said Tuesday, stressing that "the junta is multiplying its provocations". This diplomatic spat is the latest obstacle to French and European military action in Mali. Monday's coup in Burkina Faso also complicates the equation for Paris. Of the four Sahel countries where the anti-militant Barkhane force is deployed, three -- Chad, Mali, Burkina -- are now ruled by military juntas. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Sydney, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :Australian energy firm Woodside announced its withdrawal from Myanmar Thursday, the latest company to head for the exit nearly a year after a military coup. "Woodside has decided to withdraw from its interests in Myanmar," the petroleum company said in a statement, after nine years of operations in the country. (@ChaudhryMAli88) Seoul, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles Thursday, Seoul said, its sixth weapons test this month in one of the most intense spates of launches on record that has delivered an emphatic rejection of Washington's offers for talks on its nuclear programme. Pyongyang has not fired this many missiles in a Calendar month in decades, according to data compiled by the Center for Strategic and International Studies -- a Washington-based think tank. The last time they came close was in 2019, after high-profile negotiations between leader Kim Jong Un and then-United States president Donald Trump collapsed. With US talks stalled since then, Pyongyang has doubled down on Kim's pledges of military modernisation, embarking on a string of sanctions-busting launches this month, including hypersonic missiles. The sabre-rattling comes at a delicate time in the region, with Kim's sole major ally China hosting Winter Olympics next month and South Korea gearing up for a presidential election in March. Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected two suspected short-range ballistic missiles fired from the Hamhung city area towards the East Sea from around 8 am (2300 GMT). "The projectiles flew 190 kilometers (118 miles) at an altitude of 20km," they said. Pyongyang fired two suspected cruise missiles on Tuesday, and tested ballistic missiles on January 14 and 17. It also fired what it said were hypersonic missiles on January 5 and 11. "I believe, if we include the two cruise missiles, this is now the most recorded North Korean missile launches in any month ever," analyst Ankit Panda wrote on Twitter. The barrage could be part of North Korea's regular military training, or linked to ongoing celebrations of Kim's decade in power or upcoming domestic anniversaries, he added. The country is preparing to mark the 80th anniversary of the birth of Kim's father, late leader Kim Jong Il, in February, as well as the 110th birthday of the its founding leader Kim Il Sung in April. - 'New capabilities' - North Korea is reeling economically from international sanctions and a two-year-long pandemic blockade, but has managed to develop an "impressive" array of offensive weaponry. Some of the recent tests aim "to develop new capabilities, especially for evading missile defenses," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Seoul's Ewha University. "Other launches are intended to demonstrate the readiness and versatility of missile forces that North Korea has already deployed." "Pyongyang is running hard in what it perceives as an arms race with Seoul," Easley added. The distances and altitude of the Thursday tests indicate the launches are part of North Korea's regular military training, said Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. Such tests are "aimed at thwarting the deployment of US-South Korea strategic maritime assets such as an aircraft fleet," he said. "It also reflects Pyongyang's message to the global community that such training is part of its exercise of sovereignty and that the outside world has no business talking about it," he added. Pyongyang has repeatedly defended its weapons programs as part of the "legitimate exercise of the right to self-defence". It has not tested intercontinental ballistic missiles or nukes since 2017, but last week hinted it could restart such launches, blaming US "hostile" policy for forcing its hand. The diplomatic cost to Kim of the recent tests is minimal thanks to strong backing from Beijing, which has blocked efforts to impose new sanctions over short-range missile tests. China's ambassador to South Korea, Xing Haiming, told local radio station MBC on Wednesday that North Korea felt it was not being given sufficient credit for its four-year moratorium on long-range and nuclear testing. "They feel that such measures are not taken seriously and that no answers have been given" he said, speaking in Korean. The EU on Thursday cleared Facebook's acquisition of Kustomer, a customer service technology, under the condition that rivals maintain unfettered access to the platform Brussels, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :The EU on Thursday cleared Facebook's acquisition of Kustomer, a customer service technology, under the condition that rivals maintain unfettered access to the platform. Facebook, now known as Meta, in 2020 announced its purchase of Kustomer, a then five-year-old US company that provides special software that allows businesses to manage within one tool customer interactions by phone, email, text messages, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. The commission, which runs the EU's powerful antitrust authority, was asked by 10 national authorities to carry out the investigation, with Austria making the original demand. The commission on Thursday gave its approval but with strict demands, including the nomination of an outside trustee who would ensure that Meta sticks to its promises. "Our decision today will ensure that innovative rivals and new entrants in the customer relationship management (CRM) software market can effectively compete," said EU Competition Chief Margrethe Vestager in a statement. "The commitments offered by Meta ensure that its rivals will continue to have free and comparable access to Meta's important messaging channels," she said. The transaction was below the EU's usual financial threshold for merger investigations, but the commission has become extra vigilant over Big Tech's appetite for startups and how it could harm competition. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The acquisition of Kustomer raised red flags, coming as Meta continues a major push to link e-commerce services to its platforms, particularly its WhatsApp and Messenger messaging services. Of particular concern was Kustomer's popular "chat bot" technology, a customer dialogue channel used by banks, medical offices and airlines where users pump in sensitive information. "We are pleased with the European Commission's Kustomer merger clearance. It shows that our acquisition of Kustomer will create more choice in the competitive CRM market," a Meta spokesperson said. Google recently also saw unusually close scrutiny for its purchase of wearables company Fitbit and was forced to make assurances on data use in order to win the green light from Brussels. The Chinese border defense troops have turned over an Indian who illegally entered Chinese territory to Indian side after providing humanitarian aid, the Chinese military said on Thursday BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :The Chinese border defense troops have turned over an Indian who illegally entered Chinese territory to Indian side after providing humanitarian aid, the Chinese military said on Thursday. The Indian personnel was found by the Chinese border defense troops in a recent patrol in Medog County of Xizang, China, a spokesperson at the Chinese People's Liberation Army Western Theater Command, Senior Colonel Long Shaohua said in a statement released on Thursday. According to relevant regulations on border management and control, the Chinese border defense troops carried out a routine inquiry and an epidemic prevention quarantine, and provided humanitarian aid, Long said. The Indian military sent a request to the Chinese side for assistance in searching for the person through the border defense hotline. The two sides communicated through border defense meeting channels, Long said, noting that the Indian has already been turned over to the Indian side. "We urge the Indian side to strictly abide by the bilateral protocols and agreements, enhance personnel management and control, and practically safeguard the normal order in the border region," Long said. While commenting release and handing over of the Indian to the Indian side, Cheng Xizhong, a visiting Professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, and former Defence Attache in South Asian countries said, India creates border tensions from time to time, mainly to ease domestic contradictions. "Throughout decades of history, whenever domestic contradictions develop to an uncontrollable extent, India will provoke tensions with its neighbors, or even conflict and war," he concluded in a statement issued here. Prof. Cheng said, this Indian, who had illegally entered the Chinese territory, was caught when the Chinese border troops were patrolling along the China-India border areas. He was routinely interrogated, kept in quarantine for pandemic prevention and given humanitarian treatment, Cheng said. Prof. Cheng remarked that on this issue, the Indian media made a lot of hype. Indian television unilaterally claimed that the Chinese people's Liberation Army kidnapped a 17-year-old Indian boy in "Arunachal Pradesh" on January 18. He insisted that, "Arunachal Pradesh" mentioned by Indian media is China's southern Tibet illegally occupied by India. It is very normal for the Chinese border troops to control the border and crackdown on illegal activities in its own territory according to law. Therefore, there is no such thing as "kidnapping". Indian media often "act as demons" and do not play a good role on the issue of the China-India relations. The credibility of Indian media, whether mainstream media or social media, is very low. Of course, the Indian media spread rumors from time to time, sometimes under the influence of the authorities, or even directly instructed by the authorities, he added. Athens inched back to normal on Thursday after a snowstorm paralysed roads for days as recriminations raged over closures and outages that left up to 200,000 homes and businesses without power Athens, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :Athens inched back to normal on Thursday after a snowstorm paralysed roads for days as recriminations raged over closures and outages that left up to 200,000 homes and businesses without power. Shops and the capital's main ring road reopened early Thursday after what officials described as a "super-human" effort to clear some 3,000 vehicles trapped in the snow since Monday. But state offices and schools remained closed, operating remotely, following a two-day public holiday called in Athens and other badly hit regions of Greece on Tuesday and Wednesday to keep people indoors. Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas said fewer than 1,000 homes in the greater Athens area remained without power on Thursday, compared to 200,000 homes and businesses that experienced blackouts from Monday, when the snow first struck. Municipal crews were clearing snow and fallen tree branches from side streets in neighbourhoods of Athens, home to nearly four million people, on Thursday. Greeks have expressed outrage and disbelief at authorities' inability to clear roads and restore power earlier in more than a dozen Athens districts. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday offered a "personal and sincere apology" and said "lessons" would be drawn from the snowstorm, rare in Greek cities. On Tuesday, a homeless man died of heart failure attributed to sub-zero temperatures in the northern city of Thessaloniki. On Thursday, residents in semi-rural suburbs east of Athens battled blackouts and supply shortages for a fourth straight day. "Do they want to find us frozen stiff? We have no heating, no food. Shame on them. If they had any decency, they should all resign," a woman in the suburb of Peania told state tv ERT. On Tuesday, the chief executive officer of the private-run Attiki Odos ring road resigned, and the company has offered 2,000 Euros in compensation for each stranded vehicle. The Jordanian army killed 27 drug smugglers in a clash early Thursday as they tried to enter the kingdom from Syria, it said in a statement Amman, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :The Jordanian army killed 27 drug smugglers in a clash early Thursday as they tried to enter the kingdom from Syria, it said in a statement. The traffickers were supported by an armed group, the army said, adding that "a preliminary search was conducted in the area, and large quantities of narcotics were found". The military operation at dawn "thwarted attempts to infiltrate and smuggle large quantities of narcotics from Syrian territory into Jordanian territory," it said. "The smugglers were supported by other armed groups," added the army, which said its troops also wounded an unknown number of traffickers while others fled back into Syrian territory. On January 17, the army announced that an officer had been killed and three border guards wounded in a clash with drug smugglers on the Syrian border. Several days later, one of the wounded soldiers died of his injuries. Jordan, which has been hosting about 1.6 million Syrian refugees since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, has in recent years tightened controls along its border with Syria, which stretches for more than 350 kilometres. One person died and another four were wounded Thursday in a shooting at a hotel in Washington, local police said Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :One person died and another four were wounded Thursday in a shooting at a hotel in Washington, local police said. Five people were struck by bullets and transported to a hospital after shots were fired at a chain hotel in a residential neighborhood early Thursday, the DC Police Department wrote on Twitter. "MPD has located four adult female shooting victims related to this incident at the Days Inn," the department tweeted. Another female victim "in grave condition has been pronounced deceased." The Washington police cordoned off the area for several hours and have opened an investigation. Officers were called to the scene around 3:30 am local time (0830 GMT) when gunshots rang out during a party in a hotel room in a prime Washington neighborhood, where many embassies are located, several news outlets reported. Police commander Duncan Bedlion told a local news channel they had received "complaints from the community" about the hotel in the past. "We receive complaints related to drug activity and that's something we actively work to address with the community," he said. A suspect has not yet been identified. Unemployment dropped sharply in Spain in 2021, falling almost three percentage points to a rate not seen since before the pandemic, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Thursday Madrid, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :Unemployment dropped sharply in Spain in 2021, falling almost three percentage points to a rate not seen since before the pandemic, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Thursday. The rate fell to 13.3 percent at the end of December, down from 16.13 percent a year earlier, with a total of 3.1 million people registered as unemployed in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy. At the end of 2020, that figure stood at nearly 3.7 million. The latest jobless rate is slightly lower than that recorded before the Covid crisis took hold. Some 3.19 million people were out of work in December 2019, or 13.8 percent of the workforce The latest figure does not, however, include people registered as partially unemployed under a furlough scheme introduced to help companies during the pandemic. As of last month, 102,000 people were still registered on the scheme, the social security ministry said. The figures "confirm the extraordinary recovery in the Spanish jobs market since the pandemic", Economy Minister Nadia Calvino told public radio RNE. "The unemployment rate is at its lowest since 2008," tweeted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, referring to the global financial crisis of that year. The INE said job rates were up across the board, with tourism-dependent Spain's services sector proving particularly buoyant. The upbeat results came despite an economic recovery that has been less robust than expected, due to the continuation of Covid restrictions and global supply shortages. Spain was one of the western economies worst affected by the Covid crisis. GDP plummeted by 10.8% in 2020 and half a million people lost their jobs, many of them in tourism and the hotel sector. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday hailed the outcome of talks between senior Russian and Ukrainian officials in Paris earlier this week aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict Kyiv, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday hailed the outcome of talks between senior Russian and Ukrainian officials in Paris earlier this week aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict. Zelensky "positively assesses the fact of the meeting, its constructive nature, as well as the intention to continue meaningful negotiations in two weeks in Berlin," his press service said in a statement. (@FahadShabbir) Ukraine on Thursday welcomed Russia's plans to continue talks in early February as "good news" and a sign that Moscow was intent on finding a diplomatic solution to the current crisis Copenhagen, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Jan, 2022 ) :Ukraine on Thursday welcomed Russia's plans to continue talks in early February as "good news" and a sign that Moscow was intent on finding a diplomatic solution to the current crisis. Global concerns are growing over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, as tens of thousands of Russian troops have been stationed at the border in recent weeks. Senior Russian and Ukrainian officials met on Wednesday in Paris with representatives of France and Germany. "The good news is that advisors agreed to meet in Berlin in two weeks, which means that at least for the next two weeks, Russia is likely to remain on a diplomatic track," Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters in Copenhagen after talks with his Danish counterpart. He noted that while there were "no big changes" after Wednesday's meeting, "the agreement to continue discussions is good". Nonetheless, he called for the West to strengthen its military and defence cooperation with Kyiv. "While I am a big fan of soft power, I'm afraid that this is really the time for hard power to be used". "A strong Ukraine is the best deterrence measure in itself". He also commended the US administration for "consulting with us before they speak with the Russians". But he recalled that Kyiv "will not allow anyone, even our friends, to impose any concessions on us" and insisted it was up to Russia to make UNICEF said on Thursday it is sending emergency teams and much-needed supplies to help children and families affected by a tropical storm that hit Mozambique earlier in the month WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2022) UNICEF said on Thursday it is sending emergency teams and much-needed supplies to help children and families affected by a tropical storm that hit Mozambique earlier in the month. "UNICEF is deploying staff and preparing medical and nutrition supplies, water, sanitation and hygiene kits, as well as setting up temporary learning spaces to support children and families affected by Tropical Storm Ana, which made landfall on central and northern Mozambique on 24 January," the UN Children's Fund said. The UN agency estimates that more than 45,000 people, including 23,000 women and children, across six provinces are likely in need of humanitarian assistance. The storm caused floods and damaged about 10,500 homes as well as public infrastructure, including bridges, powerlines, schools, water systems, and health facilities. UNICEF needs $3.5 million to address the immediate needs of those affected by the disaster, the statement said. US President Joe Biden will host German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on February 7, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed on Thursday WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2022) US President Joe Biden will host German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington on February 7, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed on Thursday. "President Biden looks forward to welcoming Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany to the White House on February 7, 2022. Chancellor Scholz' visit provides an opportunity to affirm the deep and enduring ties between the United States and Germany," she said. The leaders are to discuss their shared commitment to joint efforts to "deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine," according to the statement. "They will also discuss the importance of continued close cooperation on a range of common challenges, including ending the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing the threat of climate change, and promoting economic prosperity and international security based on our shared democratic values," Psaki concluded. The University of South Florida reached an important milestone this week, as the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) unanimously approved the universitys new five-year strategic plan, titled In Pursuit of Excellence. The BOGs approval is the culmination of an extensive process that included outreach to many stakeholder groups, including faculty, students, staff, alumni, business and community leaders throughout the Tampa Bay region and Florida. Our strategic plan serves as a roadmap to advance the University of South Floridas mission over the next five years and positions the university as a powerful engine of prosperity for the future, USF President Rhea Law said. Our plan will further strengthen USFs position within the ranks of the top public universities in the nation while serving our students and addressing critical challenges within our communities. We are confident it will guide our institution to new heights. The strategic plan builds on USFs momentum as Americas fasting-rising university and charts a course toward the pursuit of becoming a top-25 public university, and it strengthens USFs profile consistent with membership in the Association of American Universities. The strategic plan details USFs institutional mission, vision, aspirations and values, and leverages the distinctive qualities of USFs campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee to focus on five strategic goals centered on student success at USF and beyond; faculty excellence in research and innovation; partnerships and engagement with local, national and global impact; a diverse and inclusive community for learning; and a strong, sustainable and adaptable financial base. I am pleased to see that USFs strategic plan for the next five years sets a course to continue their trajectory of excellence, and commitment to the success of their students, faculty, staff and the entire Tampa Bay Region, said BOG Chair Brian Lamb. The plan raises the bar on performance and accountability goals, and aligns closely with our strategic vision for the State University System. The plan aims to strengthen USFs position as a catalyst for economic growth, including an annual economic impact of over $6 billion, and maximizes the universitys unique position and proximity to strategic partners and industries in the Tampa Bay region and the state, building a prosperous and sustainable future. It sets a blueprint for USF to make an even greater impact by fueling a pipeline of talent into high-paying jobs in high-demand fields, conducting research that addresses Floridas challenges, solving global problems and improving lives. Emphasizing mutually beneficial partnerships with businesses, industry, non-profit organizations and government agencies, the plan supports Floridas goal of becoming a top-10 global economy by 2030. Guided by our new strategic plan, the University of South Florida is well-positioned to build on its momentum and serve as a magnet that draws top talent and innovation to the Tampa Bay region and the state of Florida, USF Board of Trustees Chair Will Weatherford said. The future of this region and our university is very bright and very connected. I believe our best days are ahead. In preparation to implement the plan on July 1, 2022, in the coming months, USF leadership will work with deans, academic and administrative leaders to design targeted strategies and unit-based plans to support USFs institutional goals. Members of the USF community and beyond can learn more through a new website launched to support the strategic plan. When senior Mahmoud Youssef decided last fall to volunteer as a mentor in a pilot program designed to improve outcomes for male students, he realized how much such a program might have helped him during his first year at USF. Youssef, a finance and economics major from Alexandria, Egypt, recalls the challenges he faced as a new college student registering for classes, finding study resources, discovering clubs to join and even expanding his social circle. One of the reasons I wanted to help is because something like this would have made life much easier for me when I was a freshman, said Youssef, who is working with four mentees this spring as part of an effort to address lagging male graduation rates. I would have learned about things a lot more quickly and would not have made some of the mistakes I made. The mentoring program launched in October and is administered through a partnership between the USF Office of Student Success and Mentor Collective, which matches mentee students one-on-one with peer mentors to support their transition to college life and enhance their sense of belonging both in and out of the classroom. USFs mentoring program currently includes 67 mentors and 190 mentees and represents one of the first steps in a broader USF initiative that reflects a growing problem throughout higher education. Four-year graduation rates for men admitted to college in 2013 were 10 percent lower than those for women, according to a Brookings Institute study using data from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Center for Education Statistics. Six-year graduation rates for men were six percent lower than for women. Men also are enrolling in and completing college at lower rates than women, the study notes. At USF, women graduate at substantially higher rates than men 18 percent at the four-year mark and 10 percent at the six-year mark. A study of USF summer and fall admits from 2014 to 2016 also identified the following gaps: Male students are 36 percent more likely than women to have a high school GPA below the average of peers within the same incoming class. Male students are 62 percent more likely than women to receive more than one D or F grade at USF. Male students are 76 percent more likely than women to have a 2.0 or lower USF GPA. "USF has a long-demonstrated commitment to our students' success and, through various initiatives, we have been able to close achievement gaps among numerous populations, including those based on ethnicity and income," said Paul Dosal, vice president for Student Success. "Now we are turning our attention to the gender gap, and I anticipate that efforts will pay off for our students over the next few years." The reasons for the gender achievement gaps are complex, and some research shows male students begin to fall behind even in elementary school. Student Success leaders at USF are focused on providing immediate help for what they see as the most important issue many college men arrive behind academically with lower high school GPAs and having completed less advanced coursework than women, and they have trouble making up ground. I think the approach were taking is what makes us a little different, said William Cummings, a professor of humanities and cultural studies who chairs the Status of Men Presidential Advisory Committee initiated by former USF President Judy Genshaft. We know there are 15 or 20 different reasons social, biological, cultural that help explain why men are struggling by the time they reach college, Cummings said. Most of the things on that list are beyond our control and we cant change them. We need to focus on the core result: Men are not as successful because they dont complete enough credit hours as quickly as they should. Thats where we need to direct our effort and resources. USF looked both externally and internally to learn more about what is affecting male student outcomes and how to improve them. Partnerships with other institutions provided opportunities to compare experiences and share data. The results of that work confirmed that things are the same everywhere, and there is no silver-bullet solution, Cummings said. Carmen Goldsmith, executive liaison to the vice president for Student Success and program manager for USFs male student success initiative, led internal focus groups with more than 100 students, from freshmen to upperclassmen. The consensus: Men said they needed to connect with peers and connect with faculty and staff to better adjust to college expectations, Goldsmith said. We believe the mentorship program can have the most immediate impact, said Goldsmith, who oversees the program and says early feedback has been promising. While most engagement in the invitation-only program is virtual through text messages, social media or video calls, many mentors have met with mentees at least once in person. The majority of mentorships have included at least two or three conversations since the program launched last fall. The ones who have signed up have been really engaged in the process, and I think it shows that this program has great potential, Goldsmith said. We recognize that our men are graduating at a rate that is significantly behind our women. Im excited that we have made a commitment to address this completion gap at USF. Jeremiah Wolfe, a senior chemical engineering major from Tampa, is working with 10 mentees this semester. Wolfe said most of the conversations are around the transition to college life, along with discussion about finances, housing, degree progression and immigration. Most of the time they werent seeking resources, just bouncing ideas off of me, Wolfe said. But a few times I referred them to sources that they may need. I definitely think its a beneficial program. The current group of mentees was selected through invitations to members of summer and fall cohorts from 2020 and 2021. Goldsmith said another round of invitations recently went out to students, with hopes of increasing participation. She added that Mentor Collective is able to support up to 3,000 mentorships. Whether through the mentorship program or other initiatives, USF leaders say its critical to reach male students with information and resources sooner rather than later. Thomas E. Miller, an associate professor of education who researches male completion and chairs the USF Persistence Committee, said that includes improving the onboarding process for new male students. Theyve told us that if we want to help them, we need get to them early, Miller said. As soon as they hit campus they say they need to know what good study habits look like and what kinds of behaviors lead to success. The mentor pilot program is a significant step in addressing those needs through a relatable peer with shared experiences. From left to right: Jay Stroman, CEO of the USF Foundation; Connie Leung, Tony Leung, donors; Irene Hurst, director of operations, USF Center for Analytics and Creativity. The University of South Florida today announced a $1 million gift from Connie and Tony Leung, founders of Sanwa Food Group, to establish the Leung Family Scholarships. The gift, made through the USF Foundation, will support students who graduated from high schools in southern Hillsborough County, including the areas of Ruskin, Apollo Beach and Wimauma. Beginning with the 2022-2023 academic year, the scholarship will have a minimum of four recipients with annual awards of $10,000 each. We are grateful to the Leungs for their foresight and generosity in establishing this scholarship, said USF President Rhea Law. The Leung Family Scholarship will make the dream of a college education possible for students who may not otherwise be able to afford one. The Leungs were inspired to give back to the community that supported their business, Sanwa Food Group, which was founded in Ruskin in 1981. At the time, the area was mostly farmland and Interstate 75 had yet to be completed. Today, it is one of the fastest-growing areas in the county. We did all our business for the first 30 years in south Hillsborough County, farming in the area, said Tony Leung, who started out growing Chinese cabbages and melons. Sanwa has since grown and evolved into a regional food distribution company with warehouses in Tampa and Atlanta. We wanted to give back to the area that invested in us. The Leungs particularly hope to help students from low-income and migrant families. Tony, one of eight children, was the first in his family to finish college. Both of Connie Leungs parents were educators, so it has always been important to her. I think the best investment anybody can give to their children is education, not money, she said. This is the Leungs second USF scholarship. In 2009, they established the Leung Global Experience Scholarship, which they endowed in 2011 and then earmarked for students in the Muma College of Business in 2016. The scholarship subsidizes a study abroad experience, which is significant to the Leungs. Both natives of Hong Kong, the couple met while attending Guelph University in Ontario, Canada. Sanwa Food Group has grown alongside the University of South Florida in the Tampa Bay region, said USF Foundation CEO Jay Stroman. We are thankful to the Leungs for investing in the community and especially the students in the community they have called home all these years. Lincoln, RI (02865) Today Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 49F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Victoria, TX (77901) Today Cloudy. Gusty winds this evening. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 75F. SE winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. Gusty winds this evening. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low near 75F. SE winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph. Vietnams FDI and GDP figures suffered and dropped slightly in 2021, due to stringent lockdowns and movement restrictions caused by the pandemic. Nevertheless, Vietnam still recorded a positive GDP, and with the country slowly reopening, economic prospects are bright for 2022. Vietnam Briefing looks at FDI figures for 2021, which industries were impacted, and the outlook for 2022. Vietnam suffered a challenging and trying 2021, due to strict lockdowns and movement restrictions for almost half the year in 2021. This resulted in a significant economic downturn, causing job losses and businesses closures. It furthered added to supply chain snarls, affecting global MNCs as demand in western markets peaked due to factory closures and strict quarantine requirements. Nevertheless, Vietnam still recorded a positive GDP growth rate of 2.58 percent and now seems poised to return to its typical 6 percent annual growth rate in 2022 as the government gradually reopens the country. Vietnams government abandoned its zero covid approach last year, moving to a live with the virus approach allowing businesses and production plants to resume operations. FDI maintains positive scorecard but pandemic dampened high scores The latest figures by Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) give an overview of Vietnams FDI for 2021. As of December 20, 2021, foreign investment projects disbursed US$19.74 billion a slight decrease by 1.2 percent over the same period in 2020. However, the total newly registered, adjusted, and paid-in capital for share purchase by foreign investors reached US$31.15 billion or 9.2 percent higher than the same period last year. Out of this, there were 1,738 new projects which were granted investment registration certificates, a year-on-year increase of 31.1 percent. Thus, total registered capital reached over US$15.2 billion. As with previous years, manufacturing and processing led with total investment capital of US$18.1 billion and accounted for 58.2 percent of total registered investment capital. While electricity production and distribution attracted a small number of new projects, they were large-scale, and thus ranked second with an investment capital of US$5.7 billion and accounting for 18.3 percent of total registered investment capital. This was followed by real estate and wholesale and retail at US$2.6 billion and US$1.4 billion respectively. Asian countries lead FDI 106 countries invested in Vietnam in 2021. Similar to last year, Asian countries represented the lions share of FDI into Vietnam. Singapore led, accounting for more than 34.4 percent of total investment capital, and up 19.1 percent compared to the same period. This was followed by South Korea at US$5 billion, Japan with US$3.9 billion, followed by China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Japan piped China to third place increasing its investment in 2021. This could also be in part due to recent government incentives by Japan to diversify its supply chains and also bring back manufacturing to the country. Vietnam remains a favorable destination for Japanese manufacturers. Apart from investment from firms such as Toyota, Honda, Canon, Suzuki, Marubeni, and Mitsui, Japanese companies are also eyeing the retail sector with Meji keen on expanding operations. Muji, Matsumoto Kiyoshi, and Miki House have also opened stores in major cities in Vietnam. In terms of the number of FDI projects, South Korea topped the list, followed by Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. This wide range of sectors indicates a wide range of possible sources of Vietnams FDI competitiveness. The domination of the manufacturing and processing sector reflects the efficiency gains offered by Vietnam to foreign firms. An increasing number of firms have shifted their manufacturing operations to Vietnam or have adopted a China+1 model. Hai Phong tops FDI list Hai Phong topped the list with total registered investment capital of US$5.26 billion surpassing Long An province from last year and accounting for 16.8 percent of the total investment capital. Long An thereby came in second with US$3.84 billion followed by Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Bac Ninh, and the capital Hanoi. This year Hai Phong led the list in part due to the LG Display Project by South Korean investors with investment capital adjusted to increase by about US$2.15 billion. Hai Phong has also granted investment licenses to five projects including three foreign-invested ones worth US$140 million. Other major FDI projects across the country include the LNG Power Plant Project in Long An by Singaporean investors, a thermal power plant project in Can Tho, and a paper factory in Vinh Phuc by Japanese investors. Important to note that foreign investors are still focused on investing in bigger cities that have good infrastructure as shown by the number of projects. While Hanoi didnt make it in the top five, it still ranked second in the number of new projects. Import and exports showed strong resilience despite factory shutdowns and lockdowns Exports in 2021 increased in the first 11 months of the year. Exports reached around US$246.7 billion, up 20.7 percent compared to the same period last year and accounting for 73.6 percent of export turnover. The US remained Vietnams largest importer in 2021 with an import value of over US$96.2 billion up 24.9 percent year on year. As we saw, demand for electronics such as computers and mobile phones skyrocketed during the pandemic helping Vietnams exports. The US imported smartphones and accessories from Vietnam worth around US$96.2 billion rising by 10 percent year on year. The US was also Vietnams largest importer of computers and electronic products with a value of US$12.7 billion. Apart from this, the US imported machinery and equipment and also took the lead in apparel imports from Vietnam at US$16.1 billion contributing to Vietnams GDP. Imports of the foreign investment sector were over US$218.3 billion up by 29.2 percent over the same period last year. The FDI sector had a trade surplus of around US$28.5 billion. Manufacturing likely to attract FDI, aid economy in 2022 After recording a negative GDP in Q3 of 2021 and experiencing a contraction in manufacturing, Vietnams manufacturing rebounded and expanded from Q4 2021. As per IHS Markit, Vietnams Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) increased to 52.5, a slight increase from 52.2 in November, but nevertheless, showing improved business conditions. A score of 50 or more indicates expansion in manufacturing. New orders continued to increase at the end of the year, while exports orders also increased in December to an eight-month high. While a lack of labor and the pandemic stunted the industry, manufacturing output continued to increase as Vietnam further opened its economy. This underlines Vietnams position as a manufacturing hub. Despite restrictions and factory closures, foreign investors continue to remain positive on Vietnams future prospects. 2022 Outlook Vietnam is expected to continue to main robust FDI investment in 2022. The government has forecast a GDP of 6 to 6.5 percent for 2022. While the country has been attracting FDI in virtually all sectors the government is pushing for investment in high-tech and digital economy sectors. In addition, the government has also launched incentives to help businesses affected by the pandemic. These include tax breaks, delayed tax payments, land fee rentals, and support policies for employers and employees. While future variants and pandemics are difficult to predict, Vietnam has fully vaccinated 76.6 percent of its population, while around 25.5 percent have also been given a third dose or booster shots as of January 26, 2022. While Vietnam has faced challenges, its economy remains resilient. While the current crisis is far from over, as Vietnam further opens up and the government works on business reforms, foreign investors are likely to continue their expansions and production shifts as they diversify supply chains and look at new markets. In this context, Vietnam is likely to continue to gain from supply chain restructuring aided by its network of free trade agreements and business environment. You must be logged in to react. Click any reaction to login. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Violence, arrests and unclear media laws are adding to a difficult environment for Afghan journalists. Several journalists have been attacked or detained, and some who were beaten say the Taliban have done nothing to hold those responsible accountable. Media experts say a lack of laws and state institutions is exacerbating the problem. Since the start of the year, at least four journalists have been detained, including three who were arrested on January 6 after covering protests against the Taliban in Panjshir province, where a Taliban fighter killed a civilian. The journalists work for a YouTube-based media outlet called Kabul Lovers, which has 244,000 subscribers. Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused the journalists of manufacturing stories. Referring to the news team as so-called journalists, Mujahid told VOA they were arrested after traveling to Panjshir in the northeast, where they made an uproar and shot videos without doing any investigation into the case. The spokesperson said the journalists were detained by the Talibans intelligence to punish them. They were made to understand that this can harm public and national security, he said. Separately, the Taliban also arrested Faizullah Jalal, a professor of law and political science at Kabul University, on January 8. Jalal was detained for four days on accusations of making nonsensical statements and inciting people against the Taliban. After his release, Jalal told VOAs sister network Radio Azadi that his arrest was connected to a televised debate in which he took part with a Taliban spokesperson in November. Part of the problem is that the Taliban issued guidelines for journalists, but there is no media law, said Hujatullah Mujadadi, vice president of the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association. I am not sure if there is a plan for something like that, but we have not seen it yet. In the early days of the Taliban takeover, Mujadadi represented the independent journalists association on a three-person committee set up by the Talban to address media issues. The Taliban issued a series of directives to the media in September, including a ban on content deemed to go against Islam or national figures, and said the media should coordinate with authorities on reporting. But journalists and media analysts say the Taliban have not said whether media laws that existed under the previous government were still in force. Abdul Subhan Misbah, former deputy of the Lawyers Union of Afghanistan, also believes an absence of state institutions is the problem. A commission cannot deal with criminal cases. Killings and beatings of journalists are cases that police, attorneys and judges should deal with. The Taliban have to have formal government institutions, Misbah said. Climate of impunity Mujadadi said violence against journalists has increased under the Taliban. No investigation has been conducted or the perpetrators brought to justice yet, he said. Sadaqat Ghorzang, a freelance reporter who contributes to Afghan media outlet Tolo News, is still waiting for the Taliban to investigate an attack from October 2021. Members of the Taliban beat Ghorzang and threw his equipment into a river when he was reporting from Torkham, a town in eastern Nangarhar province, where Afghans were trying to cross into neighboring Pakistan. Just after the incident, the Taliban apologized. But when I went out, other Taliban fighters started threatening me, Ghorzang told VOA. The Taliban promised to look into his complaint, but nothing has come of it, he said. Mujahid and Qari Mohammad Hanif, head of the Nangarhar provincial department of information and culture, both said they would investigate, Ghorzang said, but nothing happened. It is difficult to live and work here in Afghanistan, Ghorzang told VOA. The lack of accountability is increasing fear among media members. In mid-January, images of Kabul journalist Zaki Qais circulated on news and media rights websites showing cuts and wounds to his face and neck after an attack in his home. Qais is also a filmmaker who covered human rights issues. On January 15, two people claiming to be local police knocked on the journalists door and then hit and stabbed him, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported. He said he had been threatened because of his social media posts and whipped by the Taliban while filming a womens rights protest in Kabul last year. Such cases add to the unease among journalists. We are very afraid, said one Kabul-based journalist. Any Taliban soldier can harass, beat or detain a journalist without any reason. The journalist, who did not want to disclose his identity for fear of reprisal, said the intimidation and jailings were concerning. It is becoming impossible to work as a journalist under the Taliban, the unnamed journalist said. The journalist, who worked with local and international media for about 15 years, said reporters are stopped and questioned at checkpoints and that it is getting harder to find people willing to speak. Whenever we go to report, they ask us many times, Where have you been? Where are you coming from? Where do you go? Who do you work for? the journalist said. There is fear everywhere. Everyone is afraid. Common people do not want to talk to us. Experts are threatened. You know what happened to Professor Jalal? the journalist said, referring to the university teacher detained earlier in January. No justice The International Federation of Journalists has condemned the repressive environment and called for the Taliban to free any detained journalists and secure justice for those attacked or threatened. The disturbing trend of arrests and attacks against journalists and media workers in Afghanistan continues to grow under the Taliban regime, the IFJ said in a statement. The Taliban must cease its harassment of the media and display a tangible commitment to safeguarding press freedom. Misbah, of the Lawyers Union of Afghanistan, said the Taliban should guarantee access to justice to journalists in the country. They should work at least on a mechanism to address the worries that journalists have. They feel that there is no justice for them under the Taliban, he said. Najiba Khalil contributed to this report, which originated in VOAs Afghan Service. Dozens of people were killed during coordinated jihadi attacks in Palma in northern Mozambique, the defense ministry said Sunday, four days after the raids were launched. "Last Wednesday, a group of terrorists sneaked intoPalma and launched actions that resulted in the cowardly murder of dozens of defenseless people," defense ministry spokesman Omar Saranga told a news conference Sunday. Seven of those were killed in an ambush during an operation to evacuate them from a hotel where they had sought refuge, Saranga said. In the last three days, government security forces have prioritized "the rescue of hundreds of citizens, nationals and foreigners," he said, without giving a breakdown of the numbers. The unknown number of militants began attacking the town, a gas hub in the province of Cabo Delgado, on Wednesday, forcing nearly 200 people to take refuge at the Amarula hotel with others taking cover in the nearby tropical forest. The 200 civilians were temporarily taken to the heavily guarded gas plant on the Afungi Peninsula on the Indian Ocean coast south of the Tanzanian border before being moved to Pemba. Some residents of the city of about 75,000 people also fled to the peninsula, home of a multi-billion-dollar gas project being built by France's Total and other energy companies. A ship that left Afungi on Saturday landed in Pemba around midday, according to police patrolling the city port. According to a source close to the rescue operation, about 1,400 people were on board. The evacuees included non-essential staff of Total and Palma residents who had sought refuge at the gas plant. Several small boats packed with displaced people were on their way to Pemba and expected to arrive overnight or Monday morning, according to humanitarian aid agencies. Airport officials in Pemba said humanitarian aid flights had been suspended to free up space for military operations. Caritas, a Catholic aid agency that is active in the province, also reported new arrivals to Pemba, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) south of Palma. Shot in their homes "Now we await the arrival of people who are most vulnerable so that we can provide assistance," the local head of Caritas, Manuel Nota, told AFP. Human Rights Watch said the militants indiscriminately shot civilians in their homes and on the streets. "A rescue operation is currently under way. An unknown number of people died as they tried to flee Amarula hotel," Human Rights Watch regional director Dewa Mavhinga told AFP, adding their rescue convoy "was attacked by the insurgents." The militant attack on Palma is the closest yet to the major gas project during a three-year Islamist insurgency across Mozambique's north. Since October 2017, extremist fighters have raided villages and towns in the region, prompting nearly 700,000 to flee their homes. The violence has left at least 2,600 people dead, half of them civilians, according to the U.S.-based data-collecting agency Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED). A South African worker was killed in the Palma violence, according to a government source in his native country. 'Appalling violence' Martin Ewi, a senior researcher with the Pretoria-based think tank, the Institute for Security Studies, said that more than 100 people were unaccounted for. "That's what we know so far, but it so confusing," Ewi said. While local media reports said British workers may also have been caught in the attack, Britain's Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said its embassy in Maputo was in "direct contact with authorities in Cabo Delgado to urgently seek further information on these reports." "The UK wholeheartedly condemns the appalling violence in Cabo Delgado. It must stop," Minister for Africa, James Duddridge, tweeted. The U.S., whose troops are helping to train Mozambican troops to fight the insurgency, said Sunday it "continues to monitor the horrific situation in Palma," adding one American citizen who was in Palma had been safely evacuated. The embassy announced earlier this month that American military personnel will spend two months training soldiers in Mozambique. Australia has offered to provide additional liquefied natural gas to Europe, should Russia decide to cut off energy supplies as tensions rise over Ukraine. As tensions over Ukraine grow between Russia and the West, there are mounting fears that Moscow could reduce or shut down the gas it supplies to Europe. The European Union is already short of gas after the easing of COVID-19 restrictions put huge demands on depleted stocks. The EU depends on Russia for around a third of its gas supplies and could need alternative sources as fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine escalate. Australia is one of the worlds leading producers of liquefied natural gas or LNG and is prepared to boost its exports to European countries. Trade Minister Dan Tehan said in a statement Thursday that Australia was ready to support our friends and allies in the current challenging and complex, geostrategic environment. Tony Wood, Energy Program director at the Grattan Institute, an Australian research organization, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Australia was well-placed to help. Australia, the United States and Qatar together supply about 50% of the worlds LNG as shipped natural gas, whereas what Russia provides, obviously, is via pipeline, he said. But there is some flexibility there. So, what is happening now is that they are looking to see if they can get supplies from elsewhere. The U.S. is trying to coordinate some of that, and some Australian gas has already been used to help supplement the problem at the moment, and, of course, it could get worse if the situation in Ukraine gets worse. Russias gas exports to Europe are mostly pumped through pipelines that go through Ukraine or other Eastern European nations. Moscow has insisted that the Ukrainian system was dilapidated and has accused its neighbor of stealing gas. Analysts have said that Russia could be using tensions over Ukraine to promote its plan for a new gas pipeline to Germany that bypasses Poland and Ukraine. The Australian government has also urged its citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, as Russian troops gather on the border and the threat of an invasion grows. The government has estimated there are about 1,400 Australians in Ukraine. Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne, said Tuesday the advice to leave was a cautious and prudent step because the security situation is unpredictable. A California city voted Tuesday night to require gun owners to carry liability insurance in what's believed to be the first measure of its kind in the United States. The San Jose City Council overwhelmingly approved the measure despite opposition from gun owners who said it would violate their Second Amendment rights and promised to sue. The Silicon Valley city of about 1 million followed a trend of other Democratic-led cities that have sought to rein in violence through stricter rules. But while similar laws have been proposed, San Jose is the first city to pass one, according to Brady United, a national nonprofit that advocates against gun violence. Council members, including several who had lost friends to gun violence, said it was a step toward dealing with gun violence, which Councilman Sergio Jimenez described as "a scourge on our society." Having liability insurance would encourage people in the 55,000 households in San Jose who legally own at least one registered gun to have gun safes, install trigger locks and take gun safety classes, Mayor Sam Liccardo said. The liability insurance would cover losses or damages resulting from any accidental use of the firearm, including death, injury, and property damage, according to the ordinance. If a gun is stolen or lost, the owner of the firearm would be considered liable until the theft or loss is reported to authorities. However, gun owners who don't have insurance won't lose their guns or face any criminal charges, the mayor said. The council also voted to require gun owners to pay an estimated $25 fee, which would be collected by a yet-to-be-named nonprofit and doled out to community groups to be used for firearm safety education and training, suicide prevention, domestic violence, and mental health services. The proposed ordinance is part of a broad gun control plan that Liccardo announced following the May 26 mass shooting at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority rail yard that left nine people dead, including the employee who opened fire on his colleagues and then killed himself. At an hourslong meeting, critics argued that the fee and liability requirements violated their right to bear arms and would do nothing to stop gun crimes, including the use of untraceable build-it-yourself "ghost guns." "You cannot tax a constitutional right. This does nothing to reduce crime," one speaker said. The measure didn't address the massive problem of illegally obtained weapons that are stolen or purchased without background checks. Liccardo acknowledged those concerns. "This won't stop mass shootings and keep bad people from committing violent crime," the mayor said, but he added that most gun deaths nationally are from suicide, accidental shootings or other causes and that many homicides stem from domestic violence. Liccardo also said gun violence costs San Jose taxpayers $40 million a year in emergency response services. Some speakers argued that the law would face costly and lengthy court challenges. Before the vote, Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, said his group would sue if the proposal took effect, calling it "totally unconstitutional in any configuration." However, Liccardo said some attorneys had already offered to defend the city pro bono. Cuban sailors working on luxury cruises are reduced to 'slaves' who only get paid 20% of their wages while the rest of their salaries go to the Cuban government, according to a report by human rights groups. MSC Cruises, one of the world's biggest cruise line companies, was named in the report released Wednesday by Prisoners Defenders and accused of keeping the passports of Cuban sailors. Both the cruise line and the Cuban government deny any wrongdoing. Sailors, along with doctors, engineers, architects and musicians, are among about 100,000 Cuban professionals who work abroad as part of an international outreach program launched by Cuba in the 1960s. The programs aim is to expand the communist governments influence in the world, and in recent years it has become an important source of revenue for the Cuban regime. Prisoners Defenders, a Spain-based human rights group linked to the Cuban opposition, Human Rights Watch and lawmakers from the European Parliament accuse the Cuban government of exploiting its own citizens by taking an 80% cut from their wages. Doctors contend they have been sexually abused, posted to dangerous places and face an eight-year ban from Cuba if they decide to leave the government service. These international missions are a lucrative source of income for the Cuban government, bringing Havana $8.5 billion every year, according to the Prisoners Defenders report, compared with tourism, which brings in $2.9 billion in annual income. About 41% of Cubans working abroad say they have suffered sexual assault during their posts, the report said. In a complaint to the International Criminal Court and the United Nations, human rights groups allege that Cuba breaches the basic rights of the professionals who form part of Cubas international missions. The Cuban government has defended its record on its foreign health workers. The Cuban Embassy in Madrid did not reply to requests by VOA for comment on the report. 'Slave plantation' A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said in a statement that any shipping company employing Cuban staff had to deal with the Selecmar state agency in Havana and added that storing crew members' passports centrally on board was standard practice. However, Jordi Canas, a European lawmaker from the Spanish centrist Citizens party and part of the Euro Latin American Parliamentary Assembly, which is linked to the European Parliament, said at a press conference Wednesday: Cuba is more like a slave plantation than a free country. Free Cuba treats its people like slaves to generate money. Dayami Gonzalez, a Cuban doctor who has worked in Ecuador for eight years, said she received threats after she said she wanted to leave the Cuban government mission. An estimated 30,000 Cuban doctors work in 60 countries around the world, mainly in Latin America and Africa, and the Cuban authorities draw up strict rules to stop them from defecting once they are abroad. Medics and other Cubans working abroad who refuse to continue to work for the international mission can be barred from seeing their families back home for years, according to Cuban government laws. Prisoners Defenders has taken testimony from 1,111 Cuban professionals who have been working abroad and says it has evidence of systematic human rights violations. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday called for a federal task force to deal with human trafficking in Cuba, North Korea and other countries. Our commitment to combat #HumanTrafficking is backed by action and engagement from across the federal government, he tweeted. 'Dece Cuban officials reacted angrily. The deceitful allegations by US Secretary of State linking Cuba to trafficking in persons seek to tarnish the fraternal effort of Cuba's medical cooperation that saves lives, whose unquestionable merits have received international recognition, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez tweeted. In 2019, Prisoners Defenders issued a report saying Cuban doctors suffered abuses when they were sent abroad. Its latest report has broadened the scope of this complaint to include Cuban sailors and other professionals. The latest allegations came as Cuba rejected accusations by rights groups and diplomats that its courts system had unfairly jailed protesters following widespread protests in July on the island. In the largest protests in decades, thousands took to the streets to voice their anger over shortages of food, medicine and electricity when COVID-19 cases soared. The Cuban state prosecutor said it had charged 710 people with crimes including vandalism, assault and grave public disorder. Human rights groups, the U.S. government and the European Union have condemned the trials of the protesters, saying they lacked transparency. However, the Cuban state prosecutor's office said these accusations were manipulations of public opinion and it had verified compliance with the rights and constitutional guarantees of due process under Cuban law. Some information for this report came from Reuters. As an unprecedented number of Afghan refugees are placed in U.S. cities, resettlement agencies struggle to keep up. Deana Mitchell talked to several Afghan families new to Austin, Texas who said they arent getting the help they need. Russian officials have said they don't need peace at any cost, but what price are they prepared to pay for war? The answer to that question would help Western policymakers determine what they must do to deter Russian leader Vladimir Putin as he seeks to remake Europes post-Cold War security order to his liking. Western leaders say the Russian leader is prepared to invade Ukraine if he fails to secure the concessions he wants from the United States and NATO that in effect would carve out for Russia a Soviet-era-like sphere of influence across eastern Europe. Russian officials deny they have any intentions to invade their neighbor, despite an unprecedented massive military buildup along the borders of Ukraine. Dmitri Trenin, a longtime Kremlin-watcher and director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, a think tank, worries the lack so far of a diplomatic solution will logically lead to a further escalation of the crisis, and increase the chances the only way out of it will be through the use of what Russian officials call military-technical means. Washington consistently has rejected Putins demand that Ukraine never to be allowed to join NATO, as well as his insistence the Western alliance remove any military presence in other former Soviet bloc nations which are now NATO members. Trenin doubts a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine is likely, though he concedes in a commentary the situation remains volatile and unpredictable. By escalating tensions with the West to a boiling point, Moscow may consider it already has achieved some wins, including forcing the U.S. to discuss European strategic issues for the first time since the end of the Cold War, he says. Trenin also contends Putin most likely has squelched any chance of NATO admitting Ukraine as a member. Others, though, are reading the geopolitical confrontation differently. Timothy Ash, a risk analyst at Bluebay Asset Management in London, fears Putin is a gambler who may have gone too far to back down. He agrees the Russian leader already has notched up some accomplishments. Putin has enhanced his image as the guy who calls the shots and the poker player with all the cards. More than ever, he is seen as a leader who everyone has to contend with if they want solutions to the geopolitical problems that he typically creates himself, Ash says. But Ash cautions: If the Russian leader does not proceed with some form of military action in the weeks ahead, his bluff will have been called and he would risk emerging from the current crisis as a net loser unless he proceeds further. Does he see it the same way? If so, will he escalate from here? At this point, he may feel that he has little choice. Risk-taker Putin appears to relish courting, calculating and taking risks. In 2019, the editors of Britains Financial Times newspaper conducted a 90-minute interview with the Russian leader. They noted: Just before midnight, Vladimir Putin perks up at the mention of the word risk. It encapsulates the man and his 20 years in power. His interviewers talked with him near a bronze statue of Russias legendary and expansionist Tsar Peter the Great, one of Putins heroes who carved out a Russian empire in the 18th century. They tried to explore whether the Russian president is a rash gambler or a calculating, and more cautious, risk-taker. But he was elusive and teasing. They asked him if his appetite for risk-taking had increased with each passing year. He responded: It did not increase or decrease. Risk must always be well-justified. But then Putin cited a popular Russian phrase: He who doesnt take risks, never drinks champagne. Some risks, Putin clearly thinks, are beneath leaders of great powers to fret over. Asked about the attempted assassination in 2018 in England of the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, which the British government has blamed on the Kremlin, Putin bristled. Listen, all this fuss about spies and counterspies, it is not worth serious interstate relations. This spy story, as we say, is not worth five kopecks. A kopeck is worth a hundredth of a ruble. Invading Ukraine would cost Russia a lot more, and the risks would be massive in terms of loss of life (Russian, as well as Ukrainian) along with treasure. Putin and his aides have made no secret that a key domestic goal is to upgrade and modernize Russias economy. In his Financial Times interview, Putin highlighted that, saying, The most important task we need to achieve is to change the structure of the economy and secure a substantial growth of labor productivity through modern technologies. One of his aides emphasized that in an interview, too, with VOA a few months earlier. Wars downsides War in Ukraine possibly may be too big of a risk for Putin to take, reckon some longtime Putin-watchers. Economically for Russia, it likely would result in capital flight, with many foreign investors fleeing the country or reducing their investments and would mean much slower economic growth. All of that would lead to declining living standards of ordinary Russians, which in turn could trigger the kind of major social unrest that rocked Kazakhstan this month and which the Kremlin always fears. Russians already are complaining about feeling an economic pinch and Putins popularity and trust ratings in opinion polls have been slumping for months. Modernization of the economy would be set back by years and possibly decades by a further wave of tough sanctions especially if Washington includes in them, as it has threatened to do, novel export controls that would bar the export to Russia of products that are fitted with electronic components and software designed and/or manufactured in the United States. The export controls would disrupt strategic Russian industries, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing and civilian aerospace sectors, Biden administration officials say. They note there is hardly a semiconductor on the planet that is not made with American tools or designed with American software. Despite being described as reckless, Putin is anything but, notes Eugene Rumer, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the U.S. National Intelligence Council. Now an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, a Washington-based think tank. Putin surely is not blind to the risks of war, he has argued. Cost of war Some Western diplomats tell VOA that Putin will stay his hand this time and continue with hybrid warfare and cycles of escalation and de-escalation, which present him with more opportunities to roil and divide Western allies. They note the foreign risks hes courted to date have been limited. His military foray in Libya has been disguised by using mercenaries, and in Syria he mainly restricted Russian intervention to airstrikes, deploying ground forces sparingly, thereby minimizing Russian casualties. Other diplomats worry Putin may see this as his best chance to rectify what he sees as historical slights by the West and to restore Russias dominant role in central and eastern Europe. It will all come down to whether he is a rash gambler, who wants to wager on one big win, or a calculated risk-taker prepared to notch up incremental wins, they say. Western leaders are trying to increase the price of war for Russia economically and in terms of Russian casualties. Some of Washingtons European NATO partners are joining in supplying Ukraine with more lethal weaponry that could be used in an insurgency, if Russia invades. Putin was in his 30s and 40s when Russia waged a costly and ultimately unsuccessful nine-year counter-insurgency war in Afghanistan in the 1990s, seen by many scholars as a contributing factor to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. This week, Britains Boris Johnson cited what befell Russia in Afghanistan, warning publicly that an invasion of Ukraine would be disastrous for Russia. Traffic and drug overdose deaths have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a result of extended stress that is prompting more Americans to engage in risky behavior, according to Shannon Frattaroli, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. Were living in a time when there's great uncertainty and big questions about our society and our democracy, Frattaroli says. A lot of what the pandemic has revealed is our weaknesses and problems in our society, and they've been tremendously exacerbated over the past couple of years. So, all of these factors are coming together and making life very difficult for everyone. Dangerous roads Even though fewer people were driving during the first year of the pandemic, more than 38,000 people died on U.S. roads during that time the highest number since 2007. Fatal vehicle crashes are the epidemic within the pandemic, Mark Chung, a vice president at the National Safety Council, told VOA in an email. This increase is a deadly trend that started during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and negates more than 15 years of progress in preventing death on U.S. roads. WATCH: Why US Traffic Deaths, Drug Overdoses Skyrocketed During the Pandemic In 2020, the number of kilometers driven dropped 13%, but fatalities involving people not wearing seat belts increased 15%, and alcohol-related traffic deaths were up 9%, according to the NSC. "Think about what life is like now. There's a lot of stressors that we're facing. There's a lot of uncertainty that we're facing. So, that impacts how we approach the road, how we drive, Frattaroli says. [They think], Does it matter as much that I'm diligent about buckling my seat belt every time I get into the car? Does it matter if I'm drinking and driving when there seems to be so much wrong with the world right now? The traffic death rate for Black people is the most dire, rising more than three times faster than the death rate overall. The NSC says drivers are less likely to yield to Black pedestrians and cyclists than they are to white pedestrians and cyclists. Black pedestrians also wait longer for cars to yield to them than white pedestrians. Overdose deaths About 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses between May 2020 and April 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Thats a record high for a single year and a 30% jump over the previous year. COVID-19 exacerbated many issues that impact mental health and substance use, including isolation, anxiety, uncertainty loss of employment, stress caused by financial, food, housing or child/family care instabilities and more, Jenny Burke, a senior director at the NSC, told VOA in an email. Trauma increases risk for developing mental health issues and substance use disorders. Drug overdose fatalities also might be higher because people have had less access to treatment and other assistance during the pandemic. Meanwhile, the stigma related to drug use might have prevented some people from seeking whatever help might be available. We know that substance abuse increased during the pandemic, says clinical psychologist Maria Espinola. A lot of people use alcohol and drugs to cope with the stress that we're experiencing. So, some people were already having issues prior to the pandemic that got worse. And then some people who had no issues before experienced such high levels of stress that they used substances to cope. Getting back on track There are steps that can be taken to mitigate traffic and overdose fatalities, according to the experts. For example, funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act could be used to create transportation systems designed for the future, rather than the last century, that take human error into consideration. Systems that take into account the fact that humans will be driving cars, riding bicycles, walking down the street distracted, Frattaroli says. And we need to make sure that we design our roadways and our communities in a way to minimize the harm that can come from predictable human mistakes. This could include replacing accident-prone, four-way intersections with circles, or roundabouts, which make drivers slow down and reduce the likelihood of the most serious types of intersection crashes, like head-on collisions. Other options include making certain that highways have dividers that prevent head-on collisions, and finding ways to separate pedestrians and cyclists from vehicles. Regarding drug overdoses, the NSC is looking to employers to fill the gap by extending job benefits to include increased treatment and recovery services. The quarantines and shutdowns provided more opportunities for drug misuse, but we will not know the full impact the pandemic has had on drug misuse until past its end, Burke says. NSC implores employers to work with us to seek training and implement programs to identify and combat opioid misuse and other forms of impairment in the workplace. Jordanian troops killed 27 drug smugglers early Thursday as they tried to enter Jordan from neighboring Syria, Jordans military said. The killings occurred when a group of alleged smugglers, supported by an armed group, clashed with Jordanian troops along the border, according to Jordans military. Others carrying drugs fled back into Syria during the fighting, it said. A preliminary search was conducted in the area and large quantities of narcotics were found, the Jordanian military said. The attempt to smuggle drugs from Syria to Jordan is one of a growing number of such attempts over the past year, the military said, leading the military to strengthen its rules of engagement with smugglers. Jordans military said that it was applying the newly established rules of engagement and will strike with an iron fist and deal with force and firmness with any infiltration or smuggling attempts to protect the borders. Jordanian officials have accused Lebanons Hezbollah group and militias that control large areas in southern Syria of being behind the rise in smuggling. Hezbollah, supported by Iran, has denied the accusations. The Jordanian military also said it found large quantities of an amphetamine known as Captagon concealed in Syrian trucks crossing Jordans main border into the Gulf region. The Gulf region is a lucrative market for Captagon. United Nations drug experts say Syria, wrecked by a decade-long civil war, has become the region's primary production site for drugs also bound for Jordan, Iraq and Europe. The Center for Operational Analysis and Research said in a report funded by the European Union that the market value of Captagon exported from Syria in 2020 was nearly $4.5 billion. Last September, Jordan fully reopened its main border seperating it from Syria, a move that raised concerns of increased drug smuggling that appear to have been realized. Information from Reuters and AFP was used in this report Nations throughout Europe on Thursday marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a global event to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. The annual commemoration was established by the U.N. General Assembly in November 2005.January 27 was chosen because it was the day in 1945 that the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland was liberated by Soviet troops. French Prime Minister Jean Castex was among those taking part in ceremonies at the former World War II German Nazi concentration camp remembering the 1.1 million Jewish people the Nazis put to death there. In Berlin, the speaker of Israels parliament or Knesset, Mickey Levy, joined German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in laying wreaths at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Later, Levy addressed the lower house of Germanys parliament, the Bundestag, during ceremonies there. He broke down in tears while reciting the Jewish mourners prayer from a prayer book that belonged to a German Jewish boy who celebrated his bar mitzvah on the eve of Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass), when German Nazi paramilitary forces attacked Jewish people and property on the nights of November 9-10, 1938. Shortly after, some 30,000 Jewish men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Levy said Israel and Germany experienced an exceptional journey on the way to reconciliation and establishing relations and brave friendship. Speaking during the same ceremony, Bundestag President Baerbel Bas noted the recent rise of anti-Semitism that she says has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Her comments echoed a report issued this week by the Israeli government that said many of the people protesting COVID-19 measures have likened themselves to Jews under Nazi persecution, which the study said distorts and trivializes the Holocaust. The authors of the study say such trivializations show that factual knowledge of the genocide is fading and can put Jews today in actual danger. They urged world leaders and educators to be proactive in combating this behavior. About 6 million European Jews and millions of other people were killed by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Holocaust. Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. Malawi has declared a national disaster in areas hit this week by Cyclone Ana, which killed at least 19 people in the country and also caused scores of casualties in Madagascar, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera appealed Wednesday for urgent assistance for an estimated 50,000 families left homeless by the storm's heavy floods. The situation is set to worsen with more rain expected Thursday. In a statement, President Chakwera appealed for humanitarian assistance from U.N. agencies, NGOs, the international donor community, the local private sector and individual well-wishers. The declaration follows a preliminary assessment Wednesday from the Department of Disaster Management indicating that more than half of the countrys 28 districts have been affected. The hardest hit districts include Chikwawa, Nsanje, Mulanje and Phalombe, where roads have been cut off and bridges washed away. Chipiliro Khamula is spokesperson for Department of Disaster Management Affairs. For Chikwawa, the M1 Road has been cut off at Thabwa and Nchalo, and a number of TAs [Traditional Authorities] have been heavily affected, he said. For instance, Ngowe, Mlirima, Lundu, Kasisi and Maseya. With respect to Nsanje, a number of households are feared to be trapped by floods. The government has deployed soldiers and police and engaged Malawis Red Cross Society to undertake search-and-rescue operations. The government says although some humanitarian partners already have started providing relief, more assistance is needed to meet the increasing number of affected people. The thousands of displaced say they lack food, clothes and shelter. Paul Turnbull, country director for the World Food Program (WFP) in Malawi, told VOA the WFP is getting ready to start providing aid to flood victims. We will be helping with DODMA, the disaster management administration, to provide food or cash to people that are in need. We will be able to provide some logistical support we have; some vehicles that can work even some of the muddier road conditions, he said. Turnbull says currently, the WFP is making its own assessment of the situation. We expect the results of those assessments to be coming out early next week. At the moment, we have provided a boat, and UNICEF has also provided a boat to help with search and rescue, he said. Malawis Meteorological Department warns the situation is set to worsen with more rain expected Thursday. Pakistans military confirmed Thursday that a militant raid against a security base in southwestern Baluchistan province has killed at least 10 soldiers. The deadly terrorist assault took place late Tuesday in Kech, a remote Pakistani district next to the border with Iran, according to the militarys media wing. It said that security forces in the ensuing intense shootout had killed at least one assailant and injured several others. While repulsing terrorists fire ... 10 soldiers embraced martyrdom, the statement said, adding that security forces had captured three terrorists in a follow-up clearance operation underway in the area. An outlawed militant group known as the Baluchistan Liberation Front (BLF) took credit for what is apparently one of the deadliest attacks against Pakistani security forces in the sparsely populated province in recent months. Several ethnic Baluch armed separatist organizations, including BLF, are active in natural-resource-rich Baluchistan and routinely claim attacks against government forces. The banned Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, has a presence in the province, which also borders Afghanistan. In recent years, some of the attacks against security forces and civilians in Baluchistan have been claimed by Islamic State terrorists. Pakistan has experienced an upsurge in militant attacks in its southwestern and northwestern districts, which used to host TTP strongholds until a few years ago, when a military-led offensive dismantled the militant infrastructure, killing thousands of militants and forcing others to flee across the Afghan border. North Korea fired two more ballistic missiles Thursday, according to South Korea, making January the busiest month ever for North Korean missile launches. South Korea's military said the North launched what were presumed to be two short-range ballistic missiles toward the sea off its east coast around 8 a.m. local time. It said the missiles were launched from the area near Hamhung, a city on North Korea's east coast, and traveled about 190 kilometers at an altitude of 20 kilometers. So far this month, North Korea has conducted six rounds of tests, firing at least 10 missiles into the sea. According to analysts, that is the most North Korean missile launches in a single month, if cruise missiles are included in the count. North Korea's missile frenzy appears at least partly aimed at pressuring the United States and South Korea, which have called for the North to return to nuclear talks. Mark Lambert, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Japan and Korea, said Wednesday the United States will "go anywhere" and "talk about anything" with North Korea. "We have to have a serious discussion about the denuclearization of North Korea, and if North Korea is willing to do that, all sorts of promising things can happen," Lambert said at an online event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. North Korea has refused to engage in talks, saying the United States should first make military and economic concessions. North Korea has several other possible motivations for testing missiles, including shoring up domestic political support for leader Kim Jong Un, ensuring the performance of new weapons and demonstrating deterrence. "Some observers have suggested that the Kim regime's frequent launches are a cry for attention, but Pyongyang is running hard in what it perceives as an arms race with Seoul," said Leif-Eric Easley, associate professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. "The Kim regime is developing an impressive diversity of offensive weapons despite limited resources and serious economic challenges," Easley said. "Certain North Korean tests aim to develop new capabilities, especially for evading missile defenses. Other launches are intended to demonstrate the readiness and versatility of missile forces that North Korea has already deployed." Earlier this week, North Korea launched a pair of cruise missiles. This month, it has also conducted two tests of what it described as a hypersonic missile, launched a pair of ballistic missiles from a train, and fired a pair of tactical guided missiles from an airport in Pyongyang. The U.S. State Department on Wednesday condemned the launches, saying they violate multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to North Koreas neighbors and the international community. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida called the tests very regrettable. South Koreas National Security Council also expressed strong regret, saying the launches go against peace and stability in the region. The North's latest test comes after U.S. President Joe Bidens administration reportedly decided on a new ambassador to South Korea. According to several media reports, Philip Goldberg, a career ambassador now serving as U.S. ambassador to Colombia, has been chosen for the position. The White House has not formally announced the move. South Korean media reports have focused on Goldberg's experience from 2009-10 as coordinator for the implementation of United Nations sanctions on North Korea. The U.S. earlier this month tightened sanctions against Pyongyang, imposing them on five North Koreans it alleged were helping procure supplies for North Korea's weapons program. Experts say North Korea has not abandoned its Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Facility, with satellite images suggesting Pyongyang has been maintaining the site that was partially sealed by detonations in 2018 before international witnesses. All evidence points to the fact that North Korea has not abandoned the site and that the site is in caretaker status, said Joseph Bermudez, senior fellow for imagery analysis and North Korean defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Bermudez said satellite imagery over the past year continues to show activities such as vehicle movements, road maintenance, and a security presence around the site, suggesting Pyongyang has been maintaining the facility. The last image Bermudez said he examined was from Jan. 16. Pyongyang demolished tunnels at the nuclear test facility in May 2018 as invited foreign journalists watched the detonation. According to Frank Pabian, a former nuclear chief inspector for the IAEA and currently a satellite imagery analyst at Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISC) at Stanford University, The time necessary to reactivate is a few months or less if they reopen the previously unused tunnels. If they were to open a new tunnel, it could take at least a year or more. The site and its tunnels were used for underground nuclear tests. Blowing up the sites tunnels, sealing the entrances and removing test site facilities and equipment, was never irreversible, although it was a serious step toward denuclearization, according to a Washington Post op-ed written soon after the detonations by the American metallurgist and nuclear scientist Siegfried S. Hecker. Activities at the site The only known nuclear test site in North Korea is drawing renewed attention. Last week, the regime announced it will consider ending a self-imposed moratorium placed on testing its nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles, according to KCNA, the official state news outlet. North Korea has intensified tension on the Korean Peninsula this month by conducting six missile tests. South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff announced the most recent, a Thursday morning launch, via a text message to reporters, according to Yonhap News Agency in Seoul. North Korea has not tested its nuclear weapons since 2017, but all of its six nuclear tests conducted between 2006 and 2017 were done at the Punggye-ri facility in North Koreas northeast. Experts said while there are no indications that North Korea is trying to reconstruct the facility, it appears to maintain the site to allow for possible future use. Theyre kind of maintaining the site in such a way that you see trails of cars, cleaning of snow, and things like that, so theyre kind of maintaining the building in some kind of conditions, said Olli Heinonen, former deputy director-general for safeguards at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Its more than just simple monitoring. You dont need to have this kind of continuous procedure, he added. They probably maintain the site so that they [could] make a decision at a later date to do tests. They might use some tunnels which were not destroyed in 2018. Heinonen said that aside from maintaining the site for possible future use, North Korea may be keeping it up to prevent the spread of radioactive material from previous nuclear weapons tests. The U.S. State Department responded to VOA's Korean Service report on North Korea's continued activities around the site and told the service on Tuesday that the U.S. is "aware of the reports" and committed to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and remains open to diplomacy. Reservations about irreversibility Experts said North Korea could reactivate the site by repairing the destroyed entrance or building a new one to get to the tunnels that they believe were not completely demolished. They claimed to have blown up the inner tunnels, but one wonders if that was really the case, said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS). And if only the entrances were blown up, within a few weeks, few months, they certainly could dig back in and have the site up and running. Michelle Kae, deputy director of the Stimson Centers 38 North Program which focuses on North Korea, said, If the bulk of the test tunnels were left untouched, then the entrances could potentially be re-excavated, especially at the West and South Portals, where tests were never conducted. Pabian, of CISC, said that several buildings that were not destroyed suggest Pyongyang could reactivate the site. The two main buildings at the Command Center, a two-story Headquarters Building and a one-story building adjacent to it remain intact, said Pabian in an email to VOAs Korean Service. The fact that these key buildings were never demolished has always suggested that reopening the test site for future additional nuclear testing was one intended option, Pabian added. According to a report by the U.N. Panel of Experts that monitor implementation of U.N. sanctions on North Korea dated August 2020, two to three months would be sufficient to reconstitute one of the tunnels, reinstall the infrastructure required to support a test. The panels report dated March 2021 said there is continued presence of personnel that this site has not been abandoned. Bermudez said construction work to reactivate the site would be visible by satellite imagery. At the same time, however, Bermudez said intelligence communities might have a hard time detecting locations for other potential nuclear test sites. Ive looked at every square meter in North Korea in my life, hundreds of mining sites that are active or abandoned, and telling one from another is really challenging, Bermudez said. Unless North Korea does an actual test, we wont know if there are any where those locations are. VOA Korean Service reporters Sungwon Baik and Jiha Ham contributed to this report which originated with the service. As he faced the multitude of news cameras and reporters during a 2015 press conference grappling with a potentially fatal cancer diagnosis, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, then 90, said he had one more goal to fulfill. "I'd like the last Guinea worm to die before I do," he told a reporter, referring to the waterborne parasite that can grow up to 80 centimeters long inside the body, eventually erupting painfully out of the hosts skin and sometimes taking days to extract. More than six years later, Carter, now 97, has battled through brain cancer and other health setbacks to see his Carter Center mark a milestone in the fight to rid the world of the once-neglected tropical disease the global nonprofit began dedicating resources to fighting in 1986. "We are pleased to mention that there are only 14 human cases in the world through the end of 2021, and none logged so far in 2022," said Adam Weiss, director of the Carter Centers Guinea Worm Eradication Program. During a recent Skype interview with VOA, he said it was the lowest number of recorded cases in human history. Victory is close The milestone places the effort tantalizingly close to eradication of the disease. Only one other disease has been eliminated: smallpox. "Every year, more than 3 million people were suffering from Guinea worm," Weiss told VOA. "Today, to be able to say it is in only 14 human beings on a planet of almost 8 billion people is remarkable." Remarkable in part, said Weiss, because the 14 cases in 2021 were also a 48% drop from the previous year a time when the world has been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. "The national programs that operate the Guinea worm program have remained almost entirely operational throughout the pandemic, he told VOA. Much of the Guinea worm eradication effort in endemic countries isn't staffed by foreign nationals, but instead relies on local villagers and community members to manage education and prevention efforts at local water sources. "We built a formidable force at the community level," said Makoy Logora, director of the Guinea worm eradication effort with the Ministry of Health in South Sudan. "We ensured that we have a program that was anchored within the structure of a community. We work every day to ensure that there is ownership at the community level." South Sudan at one point accounted for almost 80% of global infections. The effort to fight Guinea worm prevailed over civil war and sporadic unrest in South Sudan to reach the point of only four recorded cases in 2021. "I want to believe if we can do it in South Sudan, it can be done anywhere," Logora told VOA during a recent Skype interview from his office in South Sudans capital, Juba. Last strongholds Mali, Ethiopia, Chad and parts of its border area with Cameroon are among the last strongholds of Guinea worm on the planet. If the remaining endemic countries can get rid the parasite completely, Guinea worm disease would become the first disease in human history eradicated through prevention and not vaccination. While the effort has met dramatic success in recent years, Weiss said it has also experienced setbacks. "What we've seen in the last 10 years or so is infections occurring in domestic animals, so weve experienced a setback in the global campaign in 2012 when we started to see that occurring," he said. But only a small number of cases were recorded in animals in 2021, and the fight against the worm seems to be nearing the finish line. As the number of Guinea worm cases globally dwindles, Carters age is also advancing, and Weiss said everyone involved in the effort would like to see the goal of zero cases reached soon. "You know, President Carter as our big boss but also as our North Star, trying to keep us focused it adds a layer of pressure and also a layer of responsibility that we all have," said Weiss. "I would like nothing more than to see it happen in his lifetime." The Philippines' telecoms regulator has awarded television frequencies held by former top broadcaster ABS-CBN Corp to firms run by two allies of President Rodrigo Duterte, a move critics warned could undermine media freedom. Shares in ABS-CBN sank 10% on Wednesday, its biggest daily decline in 18 months, after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) announced the transfer of ABS-CBN's assets to other media entities. The announcement was the latest in a series of setbacks for ABS-CBN, whose franchise extension Duterte threatened repeatedly to block. In 2020, a lower house dominated by the president's allies rejected the renewal of ABS-CBN's 25-year license, alarming media freedom groups. The regulator on Tuesday said it had allowed a firm controlled by billionaire politician and businessman Manuel Villar, a Duterte supporter whose son served in the cabinet, to operate two assets previously held by ABS-CBN. On Wednesday, NTC awarded another ABS-CBN-held frequency to a media company owned by influential evangelist and Apollo Quiboloy, Duterte's longtime friend and spiritual adviser, whose church group has six million members. Another channel was awarded to a domestic media group. NTC said the companies were next in line for the channels, having applied back in 2006 and 2007. However, Marichu Lambino, lawyer and mass communication professor at the University of the Philippines, said the NTC might have committed errors in assigning the assets and reviving old applications. Vergel Santos, a journalist, commentator and trustee of media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, said the channels were rewards for loyalty to Duterte, and clear conflicts of interest. "It's difficult to believe that the Villars and the self-styled evangelist Apollo Quiboloy got their broadcast franchises other than as a favour from President Duterte, given their long and open symbiotic relationship." Villar's camp declined to comment, while Duterte's office, Quiboloy's group and ABS-CBN did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ABS-CBN, which carries in-depth news coverage, is among several media groups that have angered Duterte and later experienced legal or licensing problems. Duterte's office has repeatedly denied his involvement. His hostility towards ABS-CBN stems from its initial failure to reimburse him for paid election campaign commercials that it decided not to air. It has since apologized and refunded Duterte. After the loss of its franchise, ABS-CBN had to cut jobs and stop its free-to-air television and radio shows watched by tens of millions of Filipinos. Since then, ABS-CBN has turned to buying airtime from other television networks and broadcasting online. Allegations have surfaced that the Israeli police have used NSO Groups Pegasus spyware on Israeli citizens. NSO was already under fire internationally over claims that authoritarian governments used Pegasus to spy on opponents, including diplomats and journalists. The United States recently imposed sanctions on the company after finding the spyware on the phones of State Department officials in Africa. Now reports that NSO technology was being used in its home turf, Israel, are rocking the country. Linda Gradstein and Ricki Rosen report from Jerusalem. Here's a look at what U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top diplomats have been doing this week: US, Russia, Ukraine Following consultations with various European partners as well as Ukraine, the United States and NATO provided written responses to Moscow addressing Russia's renewed security demands the latest moves in diplomatic maneuvering aimed at heading off armed conflict. U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan delivered the document in person Wednesday to Russia's Foreign Ministry. Separately, NATO transmitted to Russia its own responses regarding European security in a document described by officials as a few pages in length. US Responds to Russia's Security Demands, Renewing Call for Diplomacy Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman assessed that China's hosting of the Winter Olympics early next month was a factor in Russian President Vladimir Putin's calculation of military actions against Ukraine. "We all are aware that the Beijing Olympics begin on February 4 the opening ceremony and Putin is expected to be there," Sherman said. "I think that probably President Xi Jinping would not be ecstatic if Putin chose that moment to invade Ukraine. So, that may affect his timing and his thinking." On Sunday, the State Department ordered the departure of eligible family members from the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv and authorized the voluntary departure of U.S. direct-hire employees amid the continued threat of Russian military action against Ukraine. The State Department also asked U.S. citizens in Ukraine to consider departing the country via commercial or other privately available transportation options. US Orders Departure of Family Members of Ukraine Embassy Staff Burkina Faso The State Department said it was watching closely "the fluid situation" in Burkina Faso, where a military junta ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. But the U.S. said it was "too soon" to officially characterize the events in Burkina Faso as a coup. "We call for the immediate release of President Kabore and other government officials, and for members of the security forces to respect Burkina Faso's constitution and civilian leadership. We urge all sides in this fluid situation to remain calm and to seek dialogue as a means to resolve grievances," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said this week during a press briefing. Burkina Faso Soldiers Say They Deposed President US-Iran The United States warned Iran was just weeks from developing the capacity to make a nuclear weapon. The alarm came amid indirect negotiations between the two countries seeking a mutual return to compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal. "[Iran] is getting to the point where its breakout time, the time it would take to produce fissile material for a bomb, is getting down to a matter of a few weeks," said Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a virtual event Monday. How the U.S. and its allies would deal with the risks will be decided soon, Blinken said, adding that "given what Iran is doing, we can't allow this to go on." As Iran Nears Uranium Breakout Capacity, US Mulls Bomb-Making Scenarios Human trafficking On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department released its annual "Trafficking in Persons Report." Blinken called for other countries to improve "collective efforts to comprehensively address human trafficking," as the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem. State Department Releases Annual Trafficking in Persons Report New studies in Israel and Britain suggest COVID-19 vaccines can reduce the risk of people suffering from long COVID. Preliminary results of a study in Israel which has not been peer reviewed show that people who received the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and tested positive for the virus were much less likely to report any lingering symptoms than people who were unvaccinated when they were infected. In Britain, an observational study of 6,000 adults conducted by the Office for National Statistics revealed that those who were double-vaccinated were 41% less likely to report COVID-19 symptoms three months after testing positive. The study said that, overall, only 9.5% of the double-vaccinated group experienced long COVID, compared to nearly 15% of a similar group who were unvaccinated. Two separate studies released earlier this week revealed who may be most susceptible to long COVID. Scientists at several U.S.-based research centers, including the University of Washington and the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, studied more than 200 patients who were infected in 2020 and 2021. They discovered four factors that may increase the chances of long COVID, including how much of the coronavirus is in a persons system, the presence of certain antibodies that mistakenly attack the bodys healthy tissues, a reactivation of a common human virus that triggers mononucleosis, and the presence of Type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, researchers at University Hospital Zurich discovered that low levels of certain antibodies were more common in coronavirus patients who went on to develop long COVID. Both studies concluded that treating long COVID patients with antiviral medications could help in alleviating its debilitating symptoms, such as fatigue and brain fog, which involves the inability to focus, and memory loss. Taiwanese Vice President William Lai will attend the inauguration of the first female president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, on Thursday in a move to shore up the relationship between Taipei and Honduras, one of Taiwans few remaining diplomatic allies. Honduras is one of only 14 countries that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Last month, its neighboring country, Nicaragua, severed ties with Taiwan and re-established relations with Beijing, which considers Taiwan a breakaway province that someday will be reunified with the mainland. Taipei views itself as a self-governing state. Speaking at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport before his departure, Lai said he would take medical supplies to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Honduras. According to Reuters, since 2006 Taiwan has loaned Honduras around $205 million and given another $27 million in donations. During a layover in Los Angeles on Tuesday, he held an online meeting with U.S. lawmakers to discuss bilateral trade relations and the threats posed by China, according to the Taipei Times. Honduras is an important ally of Taiwan in Central America, he said Tuesday. On this trip, we will bring a variety of Taiwan-made disease prevention equipment to give to the people of Honduras, taking concrete action to demonstrate our strong support for the Taiwan-Honduras alliance and the new Honduran administration on the first day of President Castro's term. Less than 50% of the Honduran population is fully vaccinated, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. During her campaign, Castro, a member of the left-wing Liberty and Refoundation Party (Libre), said she would re-establish diplomatic relations with China if elected, according to the Taiwan News. After a November trip by high-level officials from the U.S. State Department, who expressed the hope that Honduras would maintain its relationship with Taiwan, Castro backtracked and signaled support for Taiwan by retweeting congratulations from its president, Tsai Ing-wen. US ties valued Gerardo Torres, Libre Party secretary of international relations, said after Castro was elected on November 28 that the incoming administration would not sever ties with Taipei. Nobody in the party wants to enter government distancing ourselves from the United States, he said on December 10, according to the Taipei Times. I believe that we have a responsibility to [Taiwan] as someone with whom we have had a good relationship, said Rodolfo Pastor, a foreign policy adviser to Castro, according to the website Dialogo Chino. But I do believe that we also have a responsibility to our own population to be realistic, to be pragmatic and to understand that mainland China today plays a determining role that we cannot let go unnoticed, Pastor said. Analysts told VOA Mandarin that Castro was unlikely to cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan after the U.S. intervention. It's not really about what we have done to consolidate the bilateral relationship with Honduras, its more about the U.S. factor, Ko Yu-Chih, an associate professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei, told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview. Chang Kuang-Chiu, an associate professor at Chihlee University of Technology in Taipei, agreed. He said that because the U.S. is the largest trade partner of Honduras, and the U.S. military maintains the Soto Cano Air Base in the Central American country, Honduras will likely make their relations with the U.S. as a priority. Meeting possible? Meanwhile, there was speculation that Lai will meet unofficially with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who also is attending the inauguration. A White House official on Wednesday told VOA Mandarin that there are no plans for her [Harris] to meet with VP Lai while in Honduras. While there is no official diplomatic relationship between the United States and Taiwan, informal meetings between U.S. officials and Taiwan leaders on stopovers in the U.S. have become an institutionalized part of bilateral relations. Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for Chinas State Council Office on Taiwan Affairs, said on Wednesday at a daily briefing that China strongly opposed any form of official contact between Taipei and Washington. The DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] authorities are using the so-called 'transit trip' to seek official contact with the United States and opportunities for independence, she said. No matter what trick they use, it will not change the fact that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is a part of China. Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told VOA Mandarin that observers who follow relations between China and Taiwan are keeping an eye on whether Harris and Lai will have any meaningful interaction on the margins of the inauguration, and if so, what messages are shared. Traditionally, international inaugurations, funerals and multilateral events, such as APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation] conferences, are the venues where senior U.S. and Taiwan officials have opportunities to be in direct, personal contact. If the U.S. has a message it would like to convey to VP Lai, this inauguration presents a unique opportunity to do so, he told VOA Mandarin in an email. Avoiding 'great disturbance' Ko, of the National Chengchi University, argued that its possible the two leaders might have an opportunity to exchange a few words, but that the U.S. was unlikely to arrange a talk on the sidelines because it would anger China. If there is such an arrangement, it will cause a great disturbance in Sino-U.S. relations, which is also not beneficial for the stability of Taiwan, she said. The Biden administration is now dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic at home and Ukraine crisis abroad. Taiwan is not really a priority for the U.S. at this time. Hass, of Brookings, said Lais layovers in the U.S. follow long-standing American policy in consideration for the safety, comfort, convenience and dignity of Taiwanese officials. It reflects the Biden administrations efforts to maintain a steady, principled approach to its Taiwan policy, he said. I do not expect the transit to deviate in any significant way from established practice. Russia said Thursday there was "little ground for optimism" that tensions would ease in Eastern Europe after the United States rejected its demand that Ukraine be banned from NATO membership and that the West pull back its troop deployment and weaponry from countries bordering Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the U.S.'s reply to its demands "contains no positive response," but that some elements of it could lead to "the start of a serious talk on secondary issues." The U.S. and its European allies have rejected the key Moscow demands as non-starters. The top Kremlin diplomat said officials will submit proposals to President Vladimir Putin. His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Russian reaction would come soon, adding that "there always are prospects for continuing a dialogue. It's in the interests of both us and the Americans." Officials from Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany held talks Wednesday in Paris and agreed to another round of talks in Berlin in the second week of February. The sides agreed to maintain an official cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, according to Dmitry Kozak, the Kremlin's envoy. "We need a supplementary pause. We hope that this process will have results in two weeks," he said. The February talks will take place at the same diplomatic level as the Paris talks. Not on the agenda is a summit with heads of state. "Nothing has changed, this is the bad news," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. "The good news is that advisers agreed to meet in Berlin in two weeks, which means that Russia for the next two weeks is likely to remain on the diplomatic track." The U.S. has called for a meeting Monday of the United Nations Security Council on Ukraine. "More than 100,000 Russian troops are deployed on the Ukrainian border and Russia is engaging in other destabilizing acts aimed at Ukraine, posing a clear threat to international peace and security and the U.N. Charter," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Thursday in a statement. Russia is one of the five permanent members of the security council and therefore has veto power of any resolution. The meeting, Thomas-Greenfield said, will be about exposing Russia for its actions and isolating the Kremlin for its aggressive posture regarding Ukraine, according to Agence France-Presse. The U.S. and its European allies, fearing an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, continue to protest Russia's massing of more than 100,000 troops along its border with its one-time Soviet republic, although Moscow says it has no intention of attacking. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the document the U.S. handed Russia "includes concerns of the United States and our allies and partners about Russia's actions that undermine security a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that Russia has raised, and our own proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground." U.S. President Joe Biden, while ruling out sending U.S. troops to Ukraine, repeatedly has warned Russia that the West will impose crippling economic sanctions against it if it crosses the border and attacks Ukraine. Peskov said Putin and Biden will decide whether they need to talk again about the diplomatic standoff following two calls last month. Kuleba said the Kyiv government had seen the U.S. response to Russia before it was handed to Moscow. "No objections on the Ukrainian side," Kuleba said. "Important that the U.S. remains in close contact with Ukraine before and after all contacts with Russia. No decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine. Golden rule." Blinken agreed on Twitter, saying, "Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine." While Russia and the U.S. and its allies trade demands, both sides have ramped up military preparations. Russia has launched military drills involving motorized infantry and artillery units in southwestern Russia, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, dozens of warships in the Black Sea and the Arctic, and Russian fighter jets and paratroopers in Belarus. NATO, the 30-nation Western military alliance, said it was boosting its presence in the Baltic Sea region, and the U.S. has put 8,500 troops on heightened alert for deployment to Europe as part of a NATO operation. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said American forces currently in Europe, some already on heightened alert, could likewise be mobilized "to also bolster our NATO allies if they need that. "We continue to see, including in the last 24 hours, more accumulation of credible combat forces arrayed by the Russians in, again, the western part of their country and in Belarus," he told reporters Thursday. Kirby also said the U.S. is preparing additional assistance, lethal and nonlethal, for Ukraine's military, in addition to that sent during the past several days. "We are just at the beginning of a whole new package of assistance material," he said, declining to share specifics about the contents. "We're trying to see if we can accelerate them." Kuleba said Ukraine is not planning any offensive actions, and he expects diplomatic efforts to address the crisis along the Russia-Ukraine border to continue. "We are committed to (a) diplomatic track, and we are ready to engage with Russia at different levels in order to find (a) diplomatic solution to the conflict," Kuleba said at a news conference. "However, if Russia decides to fight, we will fight back. This is our country, and we will defend it." VOA's Jeff Seldin contributed to this report. Some material in this report came from The Associated Press, Deutsche Welle and France 24. The United Nations and press freedom advocates Thursday criticized Afghanistans Taliban for allegedly banning a journalist organization from holding news conferences without permission from the ruling Islamist group. Blocking the media from holding a press conference is a disturbing restriction on free expression, the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan tweeted. The Taliban are urged to support dialogue among Afghans and not to try and gag those they think may have different views. Officials at the Afghanistan Federation of Journalists and Media said they had organized a press conference in Kabul on Wednesday to share findings of a survey on the status of journalists and media workers in the country, but they were forced by Taliban authorities to cancel the event. Ali Asghar Akbarzada, a senior member of the federation, told local media the Taliban also verbally instructed his group not to hold any future press conferences without permission from the Ministry of Information and Culture. Amnesty International denounced attempts by the Taliban to limit access to information and suppress free media were a blatant attack on journalism. Media plays a pivotal role in informing the world about the situation in Afghanistan. Media workers & journalists must be allowed to work freely & protected, Amnesty said on Twitter. A local media monitor, known as Free Speech Hub, denounced the Talibans action as a violation of the groups pledges that they would respect free speech. Bilal Karimi, a Taliban government spokesman, rejected allegations they were imposing restrictions on freedom of media. Without directly commenting on whether the Taliban blocked the press conference by the media advocacy group, Karimi told VOA that a federation of journalists and media is already actively working in Kabul. Islamic Emirate (the Taliban) is supportive of it and all media organizations are represented in it, Karimi said. He alleged that certain individuals who quit their jobs or left Afghanistan were misusing the name of journalism to create problems for the mainstream media. Obviously, they are not allowed to undertake such activities under the existing laws and regulations. They need to comply with the legal requirements to bring themselves in line with the existing (media) federation, he said. The Taliban pledged to protect media freedom after seizing power last August. But critics allege media and freedom of speech have worsened under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, citing growing incidents of violence, harassment and torture against media workers. In December, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released a survey, showing that at least 40 percent of media outlets in Afghanistan have disappeared and more than 80 percent of women journalists lost their jobs since the Taliban takeover of the country. The research, conducted in partnership with the local Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA), found that the environment for journalists in the capital, Kabul, and the rest of the country has become extremely fraught. Hundreds of journalists have also left Afghanistan since August for fear of Taliban reprisals or because of problems associated with practicing their profession under the new rulers. The Taliban have issued a set of journalism rules, including media compliance with the Taliban interpretation of Islamic doctrine on enjoying good and forbidding wrong. More than 6,400 journalists and media employees have lost their jobs since August 15 when the Taliban seized control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to the survey. Taliban harassment alone is not blamed for the shrinking Afghan media landscape. Observers say many media outlets were receiving national as well as international funding that ended when the Islamist group seized control and the United States-led Western troops left Afghanistan. Their economic troubles have been exacerbated by a loss of advertising revenue. Reports that Russia is connected to this week's coup in Burkina Faso have made their way to the Pentagon, though U.S. defense officials decline to say whether the allegations have merit. Burkinabe soldiers went on national television late Monday, announcing they had deposed President Roch Kabore due to "the continuous deterioration of the security situation which threatens the very foundations of our nation." A day later, Alexander Ivanov, the official representative of Russian military trainers in the Central African Republic, issued a statement offering training to the Burkinabe military. The CAR has been employing mercenaries with Russia's Wagner Group to help with security since 2017. "The Department of Defense is aware of the allegations that the Russian-backed Wagner Group may have been a force behind the military takeover in Burkina Faso," Cindi King, a Defense Department spokesperson, told VOA Thursday. But the Pentagon stopped short of saying whether the allegations are true. "We cannot speak to these reports or any potential factors that led to this event," King said of Monday's coup. "We support the State Department's call for the Burkinabe armed forces to respect Burkina Faso's constitution and civilian leadership," she said. "We encourage the restoration of safety and security for the Burkinabe people and for legitimate, constitutional rule in Burkina Faso." Questions emailed to the Russian Embassy in Washington and the Burkinabe Embassy in Washington seeking comment have not been answered. The Daily Beast first reported the allegations that Wagner was tied to the coup in Burkina Faso earlier this week, citing sources close to the deposed president as saying his final acts in office were to oppose requests by the Burkinabe military to hire Wagner. "The president quickly rejected the idea," one official told The Daily Beast. "Kabore didn't want to run into any problems with the West for aligning with Russia." U.S. military and intelligence officials have been increasingly wary of the presence of mercenaries with Russia's Wagner Group in Africa, which was initially limited to the CAR and Libya. The head of U.S. Africa Command confirmed to VOA last week allegations by France and other European nations that Wagner personnel are now in Mali, brought in by that country's military junta despite multiple pleas and warnings from the U.S. and others. "Wagner [Group] is in Mali. They are there, we think, numbering several hundred now," said General Stephen Townsend, the commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). "Russian air force airplanes are delivering them." Whether Wagner mercenaries are destined for Burkina Faso, U.S. officials are wary. "We've been watching this for years," said Major General Andrew Rohling, the commander of the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, during an online seminar late Wednesday. "It is a way that Russia of course is able to influence [a] military without actually putting a Russian flag on it," he said, calling the situation in Burkina Faso "a little bit of an unknown right now." As in Mali, though, where demonstrators have repeatedly voiced support for Russian assistance, there seems to be at least some support among Burkinabes for turning to Moscow. Speakers at a rally of about 1,000 people earlier this week in Ouagadougou, the capital, repeatedly called for Russian military intervention. U.S. forces have been supporting Burkinabe forces through several initiatives over the past several years as the country has battled extremists aligned both with al-Qaida and the Islamic State terror group. Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it was reviewing the situation in Burkina Faso and the impact on relations with the U.S. military going forward. Separately, U.S. Ambassador to Burkina Faso Sandra Clark told VOA that should the Burkinabe military install its own leader, Washington could cut support to the country. VOA's Henry Wilkins contributed to this report. Xiomara Castro was sworn in as the first female president of Honduras on Thursday, a ceremony witnessed by thousands of people amid a sea of waving flags in the national stadium in the country's capital, Tegucigalpa. Castro immediately faces multiple challenges: high unemployment, persistent violence, corruption, and troubled health care and educational systems, along with pressure from the United States to make life better for Hondurans in order to curb their desire to make the long overland trek north through Mexico to try to migrate to the United States. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, tasked by President Joe Biden to mitigate the root causes of migration to the U.S. from the Central American nations of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, attended the inauguration and met with Castro afterward. They discussed "the root causes of migration, combating corruption and expanding economic opportunity," according to a statement from Harris' office. "Vice President Harris welcomed President Castro's focus on countering corruption and impunity, including her intent to request the assistance of the United Nations in establishing an international anti-corruption commission and commitment to advancing necessary legislative reforms to enable such a commission to succeed," the statement said. Chief among the concerns of many in the region are crime, poverty and official corruption, which have led thousands over recent years to decide that the dangerous trip north and the uncertainty of getting into the U.S. are, nonetheless, worth the risk. Castro has said she plans to formally invite the United Nations to set up an anti-corruption mission in Honduras. The U.S., looking to gain an ally in the region, has strongly supported Castro. Biden pledged to adopt a more humane stance on migration than that of his immediate predecessor, Donald Trump, who sent migrants back to their home countries and separated children from their families. But Biden's eased migration policies have led thousands in Central America to view it as an invitation to migrate to the U.S., although the outcome once they reach the U.S.-Mexican border is uncertain. Castro won on her third try for the presidency. She was previously first lady during the presidency of her husband, Manuel Zelaya, who was deposed in a military coup in 2009. Some information for this report came from The Associated Press. Here is a summary of Uyghur-related news around the world in the past week. French lawmakers: Condemn China's treatment of Uyghurs Reuters reported that the French parliament passed a motion asking its government to recognize China's treatment of Uyghurs as crimes against humanity and genocide. Five Uyghur women jailed for attending sermon An RFA investigation of a Chinese court verdict revealed that five Uyghur women from the same family were sentenced to between seven and 20 years in prison for attending a sermon. Uyghur bombing suspects complain of treatment in Thai custody RFA reported that two Uyghur men arrested in Thailand in 2015 and accused of involvement in the bombing of a Hindu shrine in Bangkok said they were not allowed to see the sky and sometimes were fed pork despite their Muslim faith. Uyghur activists in Turkey call for boycott of Beijing Olympics Dozens of Uyghurs protested outside the Turkish Olympic Committee building calling for a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics over Beijing's treatment of Uyghurs. Two Uyghur sisters sentenced for religious activities An RFA investigation confirmed that two Uyghur sisters were sentenced to seven and 20 years in prison in 2019 for attending a religious gathering in 2013. Group wants blacklist of entities involved in Uyghur rights abuses A group of 35 legislators from different countries called on their governments to set up a blacklist of entities related to "perpetrating atrocities in the Uyghur region" of China. News in brief Through an investigation with Chinese local officials, RFA confirmed that a 78-year-old Uyghur widow has been sentenced to 17 years in prison. She was convicted of inciting ethnic discrimination and disturbing the public order for allegedly attending and providing the venue for a religious gathering. The woman was serving her jail term with her two daughters, who also had been convicted of the same crime, in a prison in northern Xinjiang, RFA was able to confirm with interviews with Chinese prison officials. Quote of note "China does not have the right to host the Olympics while committing all the torture, cruelty and genocide against Uyghurs." Munevver Ozuygur, a Uyghur housewife who said she had relatives in camps in China The URL has been copied to your clipboard The code has been copied to your clipboard. Russia says it is watching "with great concern" a U.S. move to put 8,500 troops on alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe, amid fears a Russian invasion of Ukraine could be imminent. As VOA's senior diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine reports, diplomatic efforts continue. A member of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) has pulled out of a council by-election in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, following the double-fielding of candidates by the party on Wednesday at the Nomination Court ahead of the March poll. According to local party leader, Swithern Chiroodza, CCCs candidate Bekithemba Nyathi wrote a letter Thursday to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) informing the electoral body that he has pulled out of the election. "Nyathi wrote the letter to ZEC without coercion noting that he is no longer interested in contesting the Ward 9 by-election." Chiroodza said the party's remaining candidate, Donaldson Mabutho, is now expected to battle for the vacant seat against representatives of the ruling ZANU PF party, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance led by Douglas Mwonzora and others. "We are confident that we will win this election," he said. Chiroodza further noted that his party is now addressing a similar problem in Ward 26 where two CCC candidates - Norman Hlabano and Mpikelelo Moyo - filed papers at the Nomination Court seeking to land the vacant seat. "We are trying by all means to sort out this issue and hopefully we will manage to do this so that our party can win in the council seat." Some council and parliamentary seats fell vacant when Douglas Mwonzora's MDC-T recalled councillors and lawmakers who were linked to Chamisa's MDC Alliance. Chamisa formed a new party a few days ago. Correspondent Annastaciah Ndlovu contributed to this article The ruling Zanu PF and opposition Movement for Democratic Change are expected to receive ZW$500 million, which will be disbursed soon in compliance with some provisions of Zimbabwes Political Parties (Finance) Act. Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi announced in a government gazette that the ruling party is expected to get over ZW$350 million and the MDC led by Douglas Mwonzora almost ZW$150 million. The gazette reads in part, It is hereby notified, in terms of section 3(2) of the Political Parties (Finance) Act (Chapter 2:11), that the total amount of moneys payable to political parties in respect of the year beginning 1st January, 2022, and ending 31st December, 2022, is five hundred million Zimbabwean dollars. The money shall be disbursed to political parties that qualify in terms of Section 3(2) of the Act as follows: Three hundred and fifty million, one hundred and fifty thousand Zimbabwean dollars (ZW$350,150.000) shall be paid to the Zimbabwe African Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF), which received 70.03% of the total votes casted; and one hundred and forty-nine million, eight hundred and fifty thousand Zimbabwean dollars (ZW$149,850.000) shall be paid to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which received 29.97% of the total votes casted. Mwonzoras MDC formation is already fighting for the control of the funds with the other group led by Thokozani Khupe claiming that they are now the legitimate MDC-T after the vice president booted out Mwonzora for aligning himself with the MDC Alliance, once led by Nelson Chamisa. Witness Dube, publicity secretary of Mwonzoras MDC-T, says the Khupe faction should forget about getting this money because she is not the leader of the party. But Ntando Ndlovu, one of Khupes advisers, said, Khupe announced on last Friday that the MDC-T has split and therefore this money should be split equally among these two groups. In Malawi, nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, only 7% of the population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, one of the lowest rates in Africa. Village chiefs are trying to change that by urging people to take the jab from mobile vaccination clinics. Lameck Masina reports (Washington, DC) U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D) has once again teamed up with Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) of Alaska to address mental health. On Tuesday the senators introduced two bipartisan bills to address behavioral health needs and substance use disorders during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Stopping the Mental Health Pandemic Act would authorize federal grant funding for States, Tribes, Tribal organizations, and community-based entities to address behavioral health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) would administer these grants for training, technology upgrades, surge capacity needs, emergency crisis intervention, suicide prevention, and outreach to underserved communities. U.S. Representative Katie Porter (D-CA 45) introduced the House companion earlier this year. The senators also introduced their bipartisan Emergency Support for Substance Use Disorders Act, which aims to address substance use disorders through harm reduction services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would help administer these grants and would prioritize resources for areas with higher drug overdose death rates, telemedicine and workforce needs, prevention and recovery supports, and efforts to reduce stigma. U.S. Representative Annie Kuster (D-NH 2) introduced the House companion Tuesday. Senator Smith first introduced the bill in June of 2020. Both bills would prioritize awards for grantees that are culturally specific and intentional about serving populations where COVID-19 has had the most impact. I hold the seat that Senator Paul Wellstone once held and take his legacy of voicing the importance of mental health care very seriously. Thats why Im glad to be leading bipartisan efforts with Senator Murkowski to expand access to mental health and substance use disorder services, said Sen. Smith, a member of the Senate Health Committee. During this deeply challenging time, we must ensure people get the health care they need. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a drastic toll on the mental health of Americans, with the CDC reporting that 40% of adults in the U.S. struggled with mental health or substance abuse during 2020. It is clear we must continue to bolster the nation's mental health system to address existing behavioral health and substance abuse concerns that have only been exacerbated by COVID. Senator Smith and I are introducing two bills to address this issue head-on. The Stopping the Mental Health Pandemic Act provides significant grant funding to States, political subdivisions of States, Tribes, community-based entities, and primary care and behavioral health organizations to provide mental health assistance for those in need. To help counteract the unprecedented number of overdose deaths that have occurred during the pandemic, our bill the Emergency Support for Substance Use Disorders Act will provide grant funding to the same groups to combat substance misuse. This is a significant step toward increasing access to behavioral health resources at a time when Americans need them the most, said Sen. Murkowski. At the Aliveness Project, we see firsthand the devastating, and life threatening, impacts COVID-19 has wrought on the mental, and chemical health of our communities, said Matt Toburen, Executive Director of the Aliveness Project of Minnesota. Increased substance abuse and homelessness have created a massive increase in new HIV infections this past year. We strongly support Senator Tina Smiths leadership to address the unmet needs for mental health and chemical health treatments and supports for the most vulnerable in our society and urge quick passage of the Stopping the Mental Health Pandemic Act and the Emergency Support for Substance Use Disorders Act. You can access summaries of the Stopping the Mental Health Pandemic Act and the Emergency Support for Substance Use Disorders Actas well as a list of supporting organizationshere. Senator Smith talks with Voice of Alexandria's Joe Korkowski about the bills on February 3rd. (AUDIO BELOW) Sens. Smith and Murkowski have been working across the aisle to expand mental health services since Sen. Smith first came to the Senate. In fact, their Improving Access to Mental Health Services Act was the first bipartisan bill Sen. Smith introduced. President Trump signed the bipartisan measurewritten by Sens. Smith and Murkowski to expand mental health services for students and communities in Minnesota and across the countryinto law. That provision was part of a sweeping package that also provided $1.5 billion in fundingsupported by Sen. Smithto deal with the nations opioid crisis. Additionally, Sens. Smith and Murkowski introduced their Tele-Mental Health Improvement Act, which would improve access to tele-mental health during the length of the COVID-19 public health emergency. Id like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of this land the Gadigal people and by paying my respects to Elders past and present. Its great to be back in Sydney and at the Lowy Institute with my friend Marise Payne. As the UK sets out on its future as global Britain, we now have full use of our trade, our defence, our diplomacy, and our development policies, to be able to work with friends and partners across the world. And I see Australia as a real inspiration in that, in it with the work you do to promote free trade, freedom of speech, human rights, and rights for women and girls as a leading nation. And our close bonds now are more important than theyve ever been. And we are doing more and more together. And its vital because of the growing threats we face. The Kremlin hasnt learned the lessons of history. They dream of recreating the Soviet Union, or a kind of Greater Russia carving up territory based on ethnicity, and language. They claim they want stability, while they work to threaten and destabilise others. We know what lies down that path, and the terrible toll in lives lost and human suffering it brings. Thats why we urge President Putin to desist and step back from Ukraine before he makes a massive strategic mistake. Ukraine is a proud country with a long history. They have known invading forces before from the Mongols to the Tatars. They suffered through the state-sponsored famine. Their resilience runs deep. If they have to, Ukrainians will fight to defend their country. Invasion will only lead to a quagmire, as we know from the Soviet-Afghan war or the conflict in Chechnya. Last week, at the NATO-Russia Council we sent a clear message to Moscow that any further incursion into Ukraine would bring massive consequences, including through coordinated sanctions hitting the financial sector, and individuals. This week, the United Kingdom announced a new package of training, support and defensive weapons for Ukraine to boost their defensive capabilities. And were working with our partners on high impact measures targeting the Russian financial sector, and individuals. Were also strengthening our bilateral partnership following high-level talks in London in December and were fostering new trilateral ties with Poland and Ukraine. Were also pushing for alternatives in energy supply, so that nations are less reliant on Russia for their gas. We need everyone to step up. Together with our allies, we will continue to stand with Ukraine and urge Russia to de-escalate. What happens in Eastern Europe matters for the world. Threats to freedom, democracy and the rule of law are not just regional theyre global. And thats why we have to respond together. Irans nuclear programme has never been more advanced. China has been conducting military flights near Taiwan. And it is using its economic muscle to attempt to coerce democracies like Australia and Lithuania. Russia and China are working together more and more, as they strive to set the standards in technologies like artificial intelligence, assert their dominance over the Western Pacific through joint military exercises and in space through closer ties. The International Institute for Strategic Studies argues we are now seeing the strongest, closest and best relationship the 2 countries have had for 70 years. And we are seeing an alignment of authoritarian regimes across the world. It is no surprise that regimes like Belarus, North Korea or Myanmar find their closest allies in Moscow and Beijing. They dont look to these nations as partners but as puppets. Moscow wants them to promote their propaganda and destabilise free democracies on their doorstep. At the same time, Beijing has forged a so-called iron brotherhood with Belarus. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil and Pyongyangs largest trading partner. China and Russia have spotted an ideological vacuum and theyre rushing to fill it. They are emboldened in a way we havent seen since the Cold War. As freedom-loving democracies we must rise up to face down these threats. As well as NATO we are working with partners like Australia, India, Japan, Indonesia and Israel to build a global network of liberty. Aggressors are reneging on their commitments and obligations. Theyre destabilising the rules-based international order and theyre chipping away at the values that underpin it. But they have nothing to offer in its place. The free world is different. Were not defined by what were against but by what were for. We believe in freedom and democracy. We believe in individual liberty as the greatest transformative force on earth. When people have agency over their own lives, when they have freedom and opportunity, they achieve incredible things. As Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, we know from the evidence of human history that democracies are the engine room of change. We see this in the ideas and innovations that fuelled our fightback against COVID from the University of Sydneys Edward Holmes publishing the COVID genome, to Oxfords Sarah Gilbert and her life-saving vaccine, to our shared efforts to distribute vaccines to those in need around the world. We want to work together to tackle the big problems we face. That does include working with countries like China and Russia where its necessary on trade, tackling climate change, or bringing Iran to the negotiating table. But in doing so, we will stand up for what we believe in. In December, I welcomed G7 Foreign Ministers to Liverpool, together with Marise Payne and some of our other closest friends and allies. We expressed our concern about Chinas economic coercive policies and we united to condemn Russias aggression. Together, we showed our determination to stand shoulder to shoulder for freedom and democracy around the world. We are continuing that vital work this week with our AUKMIN, our Australia-UK Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting, the first that weve had since 2018. And were determined to act together in 3 key areas. First, we will stand up for our economic security. That means calling out China when it blocks products from Lithuania or imposes punitive tariffs on Australian barley and wine. It means cutting strategic dependence on authoritarian regimes, starting with Europes dependence on Russian gas. It means helping countries avoiding having their balance sheets loaded with debt. It is estimated that 44 low to middle income countries have debts to Beijing in excess of 10% of their GDP. Were responding on all of these fronts. And were strengthening our supply chains by taking our economic ties with like-minded nations to new heights. We took a huge step forward by signing our Free Trade Agreement with Australia in December. This is a world-class deal that will remove all of the tariffs on goods, both ways. It will be easier for our people to live and work in each others countries, particularly those under 35. We are building on this by working with Australia to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership reinforcing the reliability of supply through one of the largest free trade areas on earth. Were also working together to provide low and middle income countries with honest and reliable alternative sources of investment. In November, I launched British International Investment, helping to mobilise up to 8 billion a year of public and private financing to these countries by 2025, leveraging the firepower of the City of London. Yesterday, Marise Payne and I agreed on closer UK-Australia cooperation to boost opportunities for investment across the Indo-Pacific particularly in areas like energy, climate change, adaptation and technology. And we are working together to impose sanctions on human rights abuses and to keep those using forced labour out of our supply chains. Second, freedom must be defended and thats why we are deepening our security ties. Last year in our Integrated Review, the UK we set out a new deterrence posture including the biggest increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War. We need to see everyone stepping up in this way. Too few of our NATO allies are meeting the 2% spending target. So its great to see that Australia is also increasing its commitments to our collective security. The power of our partnership has been demonstrated time and time again. We will forever remember those from Australia and New Zealand who gave their lives for freedom on the historic battlefields of Europe, the Mediterranean, North Africa and the Pacific. The depth of our commitment remains plain to see today, from the 5 Eyes intelligence partnership, to the Five Power Defence Arrangements with our friends Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand, to the Carrier Strike Group which visited the region last year, led by HMS Queen Elizabeth. Our forces exercised in the South China Sea with ships and aircraft from Australia and other partners standing up for our mutual interests, and supporting regional stability. And of course last year we finalised our landmark AUKUS partnership. With this deal, weve opened a bold new era in our long history together. By joining forces with the US we are showing our determination to protect security and stability across the region. We are helping Australia acquire a nuclear powered submarine, and also means deeper cooperation between our three nations on advanced capabilities like cyber, AI and quantum. We want to use this deeper expertise to help support stability with partners right across the Indo Pacific. Im looking forward tomorrow to visiting the shipyard in Adelaide, where the UK and Australia are building new Type 26 Frigates. And Adelaide will of course play an important role in developing the new AUKUS submarines. This is a truly formidable and cutting edge partnership and we are determined to continue strengthening it for the benefit of us all. Finally, we are boosting our cooperation on technology. Technology has empowered people by enabling incredible freedom, but we know it can be seized upon by others to promote fear. We cannot allow the technologies of the future to be hijacked for malign ends whether its cyber attacks, or building high-tech surveillance states through facial recognition software and AI. Global technology standards must be shaped by the free world. Thats why we want to go further and faster by deepening our science and tech collaboration. Just as Australia has banned Huawei from its 5G network, we are stripping high-risk vendors out of our infrastructure. And we are embracing Australian expertise for example to bring the state-of-the-art 5G to the London Underground. Delivering our strategic advantage in science and technology is an absolutely vital objective of the integrated review. And so I am pleased that this week were launching our new Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership with Australia aimed at tackling malign actors, strengthening supply chains and harnessing tech to support freedom and democracy. Building these partnerships and drawing other countries closer to the orbit of free-market democracies, will ultimately make us all safer and freer in the years to come. That is why it is time for the free world to stand its ground. We need to face down global aggressors. We should be proud of our ideas and our ideals clear about what they have brought to mankind, and even more ambitious for what we can do together in the future. Forty years ago Margaret Thatcher gave the Sir Robert Menzies lecture in Melbourne. She said: Where freedomexists, I seek to expand it; where it is under attack, I shall defend it; where it does not exist, I shall try to create it. I cannot think of a better friend than Australia to work with on this vital endeavour. We can make great things happen. Thank you. Local news is important. It's the information that will directly impact your life because its going on around you, every day. Join our group of dedicated readers today ... Subscribe Photo: Niko Tavernise/20th Century Studios Upon its release in 1961, the original West Side Story film was almost instantly heralded as a classic. But the story about young lovers from rival gangs also famously featured white actors in brownface portraying Puerto Rican characters. While director Steven Spielbergs long-delayed remake has a Latinx-led cast, the 2021 adaptation of West Side Story has not escaped a casting controversy of its own. Existing allegations against actor Ansel Elgort have resurfaced ahead of the release of West Side Story on December 10. Elgort, who starred as Tony, was accused in 2020 of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old in 2014. He denied the allegation on social media and instead described their relationship as entirely consensual. At the time of the alleged assault, Elgort was 20 and having an eventful year; in 2014, he starred in the blockbusters The Fault in Our Stars and Divergent, and reportedly broke up with his high-school sweetheart, Violetta Komyshan, for a brief period. At 27, Elgort was on the brink of his biggest role yet. Spielbergs retelling, led by 20-year-old rising star Rachel Zegler in her first movie role ever, raked in seven Oscar nominations in 2022 all with little mention of the past allegations against Elgort. Elgort was also absent from the ceremony. His new show, Tokyo Vice, based on crime reporter Jake Adelsteins memoir, premiered on HBO Max April 7. Heres everything we know about the allegations, his response, his co-stars statements on the matter, and where all of this falls on the West Side Story timeline. What was Elgort accused of, and when? On June 19, 2020, a Twitter user accused Elgort of sexually assaulting her in 2014 when she was 17 and he was 20. I didnt think hed ever see my dm I was just a kid and was a fan of him, she wrote in a since-deleted statement. She said she was sobbing in pain and did not want to have sex. Allegedly, Elgort had known it was her first time having sex. The user further alleged that Elgort told her she would be a beautiful young lady once she was older, and said he asked her for nudes and proposed a threesome with a friend of hers who was allegedly also underage. She added that she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and panic attacks and is in therapy. Finally Im ready to talk about it and finally heal, she said in 2020, adding that she wanted other girls who had gone through the same experience with Elgort to know they were not alone. Along with her written statement, she shared a photo of herself with Elgort and a screenshot of DMs from 2014 that allegedly shows Elgort giving her his personal Snapchat username, itsansolo. (Ansolo is Elgorts DJ moniker.) She later deleted the tweets along with her Twitter account, but screenshots of her posts continued to gain traction and support online. On the same day, June 19, two other women tweeted screenshots that appeared to link Elgort to the same private username, itsansolo. User @Caelyn_Brooke wrote that Elgort told her to Snapchat him when she was 15, and that she didnt think anything of it until now. In a since-deleted tweet, another user shared screenshots of Elgort allegedly messaging her from his private Snapchat account to tell her he had never hooked up with a fan before. She claimed that Elgort had known that the age of consent in Georgia was 16, which was how old she was when she went on two dates with him. She added that she felt lucky that she met him in public and not alone. At the age of 16, I was not aware how predatory and creepy this behavior was. Now as a woman in her 20s, I see this for what it is, she said in a since-deleted thread about the actors alleged behavior. Also on June 19, another user shared allegations in a now-deleted tweet that Elgort sent her dick pics on Twitter when she was an eighth-grader in 2014. Describing his actions as predatory, she claimed that their interactions had become sexual soon after he followed her fan account. I was 14, I had NO idea what was going on, and I was terrified, she wrote. Meanwhile, an allegation initially posted on April 1, 2020 months before the sexual-assault accusation went viral also began recirculating as people translated the originally French tweet into English. The tweet was directed at Elgort because user @steeeeerr said she knew he still followed her. In it, she asked if he remembered sending her messages when she was 15 and he was 21. The attached screenshots allegedly showed Elgort telling her over Snapchat that he wanted her to come to his hotel room the next time he was in London, and that he could get in trouble if she told people he wanted to kiss her. She also posted a screenshot allegedly of Elgort asking if she wanted to send him something sexy. How did Elgort respond to the allegations? One day after the stories and allegations surfaced in June, Elgort posted a since-deleted statement on Instagram. In it, he said he was distressed by the social-media posts about him. In his denial, Elgort addressed his first accuser directly, claiming that her description of events is simply not what happened. I have never and would never assault anyone. He said that they had a brief, legal, and entirely consensual relationship in New York. (The age of consent in New York is 17.) Elgort added that he did want to apologize for how he handled the breakup. According to Elgort, he ghosted her and completely stopped responding to her. As I look back at my attitude, I am disgusted and deeply ashamed of the way I acted, he said. He did not specifically reference the other women who made claims about him on Twitter. Elgort would later clear his Instagram feed of all posts, including his June 20 response. The actor, once known for frequent social-media posts, would remain inactive for over a year. How much of West Side Story was done when the allegations were made? When the accusations were leveled against Elgort, it had already been about eight months since West Side Story wrapped. Heres a timeline of the films production process, up until the last day of filming: March 2014: Deadline reports that Steven Spielberg has expressed interest in remaking a West Side Story movie, prompting Fox to unlock the remake rights to the film (which itself was inspired by Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet). June 2016: Spielbergs frequent collaborator, playwright Tony Kushner, is said to be working on a script for the remake. January 2018: An extensive, worldwide casting search for the main roles of Tony, Maria, Anita, and Bernardo begins. Open casting notices confirm that Spielberg will direct the movie. October 2018: 24-year-old Elgort, who starred in Baby Driver the previous year, is officially cast as Tony, the male lead. According to Elgort, Spielberg personally calls to tell him he got the part. The director later discussed the casting decision with BBC Music Magazine. Sometimes on camera [Elgort] looks even younger than he is, then in the next second he looks like Marlon Brando, Spielberg said. He has great power, and also vulnerability. He is boy and man and so facile at how often these qualities are interchangeable. November 2018: Rita Moreno, who gave an Oscar-winning performance as Anita in the 1961 film, is cast as Doc. The new character was created specifically for her. January 2019: 17-year-old Rachel Zegler is cast as Maria, the female lead. April 2019: 25-year-old Elgort surprises Zegler and comes to see her perform in her high-school production of Shrek: The Musical, per W Magazine. June 2019: West Side Story releases a first-look image of the cast. It is set to release in theaters on December 18, 2020. July 2019: Gothamist reports that the remake is shooting around New York under the code name San Juan Hill (a reference to the nickname for the neighborhood where West Side Story is set). Filming continues in New Jersey for the next two months. September 2019: On September 27, 18-year-old Zegler tweets praise for Elgorts growth and literal magic onscreen and off. Falling in love with him was easy, she writes. Happy wrap mi amor; catch ya on a fire escape sometime soon. Zegler later deletes the tweet after some people interpret her statement as proof that she is a homewrecker in Elgorts relationship with his girlfriend Komyshan. Ten minutes after midnight on September 28, West Side Story officially wraps production. In a letter shared by 20th Century Studios on Twitter, Spielberg praises his brilliantly talented, fiercely committed, generous, and apparently inexhaustible cast and crew of hundreds. The tweet also included a photo of Spielberg in a group hug with the four leads. Did West Side Story respond to the allegations against its lead? Other than Elgorts now-deleted statement, neither Spielberg nor Elgorts co-stars had commented on the troubling allegations as the film hit theaters. Since then, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose, and Rita Moreno addressed the claims against Elgort in a Hollywood Reporter cover story published on January 26, over a month after the movies premiere. Zegler, who stars opposite Elgort as Maria, said a lot has gone on in the world since shooting the movie in summer 2019. A lot has changed very publicly, and privately as well, she continued. Theres been a lot of awakening. You just hope that the people involved are okay, that they are asked in a respectful manner and that they are given the opportunity to answer for themselves. While the Hollywood Reporter noted the trio do not shy from the Elgort question, DeBose and Moreno stayed more indirect in their answers. Only the people who were involved in that situation know what actually went down, DeBose said. Moreno added that its not for me to have opinions on the situation. I think it would have been absolutely horrendous and wrong for anyone to take sides in that matter, she said. In an Elle interview from April 19, Zegler questioned why the women in the cast had to account for her co-stars alleged actions. It was a real gut punch, honestly, she said. I was sitting there having just turned 19, on the precipice of what was promised to be the biggest moment in my life, and was being held accountable [by the public] for accusations that not only had nothing to do with me but were made about a situation that was said to have occurred [five] years prior to when I had met and worked with this person. With no thought to the fact that I was also 17 when I met this person, 17 when I worked with them, 17 and 18 when I had to do love scenes. Zegler also discussed conversations with other women in the cast who have encountered sexism in the industry, before mentioning a very iconic woman in Hollywood who has spoken about her experience with sexual assault. The actress was likely referring to Rita Moreno, who played Anita in the 1961 West Side Story. I really dont have anything to do with this conversation, she added. And Im looking forward to moving past it. Whats happened with West Side Story since then? The films release was delayed one year due to the pandemic. Heres a timeline of events tied to Elgort and West Side Story that occurred after the June 2020 allegations: September 2020: Disney announces delays to several films due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes West Side Story, which is pushed to a December 10, 2021 release. April 2021: A teaser trailer for West Side Story premieres during the Oscars. It barely features Elgort. September 2021: The official trailer for West Side Story drops on September 15. Elgort is featured more prominently and shares the video on Instagram. Since he has removed other posts from his profile, this is currently the first post on his feed since January 2018. November 2021: West Side Story has its world premiere in New York City on November 29. People reports that he attends the event with his girlfriend Komyshan. After the event, he posts an Instagram photo of himself with Zegler, Spielberg, Rita Moreno, Ariana DeBose, and David Alvarez. They are all holding hands. I couldnt be more proud to be standing alongside these extraordinary people, he captions the picture. Zegler did not post any photos with Elgort from the night. As Elgorts red-carpet interviews from the premiere begin to circulate online, the allegations against Elgort from June 2020 resurface on Twitter. People express anger and disappointment that he is seemingly back to regularly scheduled programming, attending red carpets and doing press. December 2021: Elgort appears in some press interviews, mostly on his own or grouped together with co-stars Mike Faist and David Alvarez. He appears on The Drew Barrymore Show on December 6, revisiting the theater where he performed West Side Story as a 12-year-old. On December 7, he walked the red carpet at West Side Storys Los Angeles premiere. March 13, 2022: After a year of keeping a low profile, Elgort made a rare appearance on the red carpet for the Critics Choice Awards. West Side Story and Belfast tied for the lead with 11 nominations each. March 27, 2022: Zegler voiced her disappointment after she initially failed to secure a seat at the Oscars even though West Side Story was up for seven nominations. Elgort, on the other hand, seemed content to cheer on the cast from the sidelines after he was not invited. In a now-deleted Instagram post, he wrote, Im so proud to be a part of this West Side Story family. Im so grateful for the times I have been able to go to the Oscars! its always so much fun. The reason for Elgorts absence has not been confirmed. What are critics saying about West Side Story? While some have singled out Elgorts performance as not up to par with the rest of the cast, reviews for Spielbergs remake have mostly been extremely positive. Zegler received high praise for her film debut, and the film was an Oscar contender for Best Picture. Yet with West Side Storys critical acclaim and the new release Tokyo Vice, it remains to be seen how big a part the past allegations against Elgort will play in conversations around his projects. This post has been updated throughout. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Stand Up To Cancer Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song, one of Hollywoods lowest-key couples, are engaged. People broke the news, citing insider sources and a big honker of a rock that Song was wearing around Beverly Hills this week. Song and Culkin welcomed their first child, Dakota Song Culkin, in April of last year. Dakota was named after Culkins sister, who died in 2008. Culkin and Song met while filming Changeland in Thailand. They were first spotted together at Craigs in Los Angeles, a restaurant known for its celebrity sightings. The couple has kept a mostly low profile, mentioning each other in interviews or (in Songs case) Instagram birthday posts. My unicorn that I never thought could exist, Song wrote in her 40th-birthday post to her now fiance. I am luckiest person in the world because I am loved by you. Recently, the pair attended a LA Rams game. Very few things can get us out of the house and away from our son, Song wrote in her Instagram post of the event. US President Joe Biden, with retiring US Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 27, 2022. The exit of Breyer, who is 83, gives Biden a likely smooth opportunity to name a replacement to the lifelong seat on the Supreme Court while his Democratic Party retains control of the Senate. Naselle resident pormoted area's Finnish culture Introduction by Karen Bertroch For Naselle's Finns, Wilho Saari has always been one of the most valued citizens. A fifth generation Finn, he was not only a good husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather, he was the prime example of a fine son of Finland and its traditions. Wilho taught music in the school for many years. The tradition bearer of the Finnish Kantele from Naselle, Washington, is Wilho Saari. He can trace the love of kantele playing back five generations in his family. His great-great grandmother, Kreeta Haapasalo, is one of Finland's notable kantele matriarchs, a kantele-heroine, as she is often called. Saari's degree in music has helped him to develop outstanding skill in teaching himself to play kantele later in life. At age 50 Wilho started to teach himself the kantele. And his career as a performer with the kantele started from there. Saari received a Washington State Governor's Heritage Award for his work popularizing and teaching kantele. In 2006, Saari was honored with a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellowship, the country's highest honor in folk and traditional arts. He was also a very productive composer of kantele music with over 2,400 pieces written. In 2010, Dr. Arja Kastinen from Finland published 365 of Saari's compositions in a collection called "Tune-a-Day." Saari recorded two CDs on the kantele. - Adapted from Finlandia Foundation National's tribute to Wilho Saari The following is a tribute to Wilho, as written by Kylie Updike, his granddaughter, just before he died. By Kylie Updike As I anticipate the passing of my dear Ukki, I can't help but stare at my own quirky fingers and how they curve and lean in the same odd directions as his. My memories of Wilho Saari are countless, and yet, every image has completely revolved around his iconic crooked hands. I've thought a lot about how his hands tickled whimsical music on the kantele, piano, organ, and baritone. And how he was given both state and presidential awards for his kantele playing. He spent retirement writing hundreds, if not thousands of simple songs in what he referred to as a "tune-a-day." But what always impressed me most were the unpretentious kantele concerts he'd give on late summer afternoons in front of his house. Sometimes, we'd find stray neighborhood children sitting to listen. He'd nod gently and proudly when they'd clap for him, only to dabble yet another friendly tune at their encore. His gentle playing nearly mirrored the way he'd pat our shoulders upon greeting and leaving. His touch was friendly, light, and brief, like a bubble popping. Always short, but never without warmth. "Come again!" he'd say as we left, and he'd wave us off pretending to cry with a handkerchief. He gave many people, family and strangers alike, the opportunity to come and come again. His home, beds, and sauna were always open. He once even let a traveling homeless man use his sauna, gesturing excitedly towards the door with, again, those hospitable crooked hands. Ukki's crooked hands were nearly always comfortably folded across his soft belly. He did this while taking quick power naps that were always accompanied by very specific breathing patterns that our family can imitate perfectly. His hands were also folded while he'd tell one of his many go-to stories or jokes, always using the same words and timing and inflections, like clockwork. We never could decide what was funnier - the actual joke, or that each of us knew the punchline before it was ever said. Growing up, Ukki's hands were often paired with money for the movies, or vanilla ice cream for a grandchild on a hot summer's day. He seemed to grow younger as he grew older - developing a child-like awe for every simple part of life. Apple juice, brown sugar, 500 piece puzzles and sudoku... or even learning and relearning that he has great-grandchildren, as he waved enthusiastically at my daughter, Kaisa, through the Pig-n-pancake window. "My great-granddaughter? How about that!" Ukki was open-minded, open-hearted, and open-handed, always meeting anything new with total delight. My Ukki's crooked hands gave generously to those he loved - but who didn't he love? We couldn't take him anywhere without his coming across old friends, or talking to a stranger like they were already old friends. Either way, they always left as friends. Even with the decline of his own memory, people always knew his name. Even though he had forgotten theirs, they never forgot his. He was a friend to all, always. But I will say, my most distinct memories of his crooked hands, were the way he'd place them on his forehead, when he'd bow to pray. His prayers were always simple and sincere, and often said in Finnish. I am the most grateful for these hands. These prayerful hands gave our family a strong foundation for our own faith. And I hope to one day, imitate the gentleness, playfulness, generosity, and faith that Ukki's crooked hands showed during his long and most-fulfilling life. I do have his hands, after all. Nahdaan myohemmin, Ukki. Decatur, IL (62521) Today Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 52F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then off and on rain showers overnight. Low 52F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Italy remembers victims of the Holocaust 77 years after the liberation of Auschwitz. Italy marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January with hundreds of commemorative events on the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. Established in 2005 by the UN to commemorate the day in 1945 that the survivors of Auschwitz were liberated by the Russian army, the initiative honours the memory of the millions of Jews but also homosexuals, Romany people and others who suffered persecution, deportation, imprisonment and genocide. Ahead of the Giorno della Memoria, new stolpersteine Holocaust memorial stones were unveiled in Rome as well as other Italian cities including Milan, Venice, Florence, Trieste and Genoa. The bronze-capped cobblestones, whose name translates as "stumbling stones", are part of a major European-wide project begun by German artist Gunter Demnig in 1997. The memorials are installed outside the last chosen place of residence of victims of the Holocaust, listing their names, date of birth, date and place of deportation, and - in most cases - their date of death in a Nazi extermination camp. Milan In Milan 24 new stolpersteine were laid, bringing the total in the city to 145, reports Italian newspaper La Repubblica. This year's Giorno della Memoria programme was presented by the mayor Beppe Sala in the company of the Milan-born Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre. Gunter Demnig, Liliana Segre and Beppe Sala several years ago. Photo La Repubblica. One of the few Italian Jewish children to survive deportation to a Nazi death camp, Segre was made a senator for life in 2018, an honour in tribute to her years of speaking about the horrors of the Holocaust. During last week's presentation in Milan, Segre chose to tell a little story about Ermanno Fontanella, who was commemorated with a memorial stone outside his former home on Corso Venezia 39. When the 13-year-old Segre and her father Alberto were imprisoned in Milan's S. Vittore jail, in December 1943, they met their friend Fontanella inside. As soon as we arrived he said: 'Alberto, thank goodness you have been arrested now because until recently there was a German commander much worse than the current one, who forced us to lick the latrines. Segre recalled: "I still remember today, at 91 years old, that thing I heard when I was 13." After 40 days in jail, the young girl and her father was shoved onto a carriage on Platform 21 in Milan Central Station, today the site of a Holocaust Memorial. Those on the train did not realise their destination was the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. On arrival Liliana was separated from her beloved father. She never saw him again. Alberto Segre was murdered in Auschwitz on 27 April 1944. Rome The 18 new stolpersteine in Rome, which have been added to the 336 already present on the streets of the capital, are dedicated to those who were either deported to Auschwitz or killed in the Fosse Ardeatine massacre. Two new memorial stones were installed on Viale delle Milizie 11, in the city's Prati district, where Enzo and Luciano Camerino were dragged out of their home by the Nazis on 16 October 1943. The brothers were among the 1,024 Roman Jews, including 200 children, rounded up at dawn before being sent to Auschwitz on a sealed train from Tiburtina station two days later. Only 16 were to make it back alive: 15 men and one woman, Settimia Spizzichino from the Garbatella quarter, whose white steel bridge is named in her honour. Also among the 16 survivors were Enzo and Luciano Camerino who returned to Rome in July 1945. Luciano died in Florence in 1966 and Enzo passed away in Canada in 2014. The men's daughters were present at the memorial ceremony in Rome. Two other new stolpersteine were dedicated to David and Settimio Limentani, a Jewish father and son, outside their former home on Via dei Giubbonari 30, near Campo de' Fiori. New stolpersteine on Via dei Giubbonari, Rome. Photo Shalom. David Limentani had escaped the mass round-up in October 1943 by chance: he went out early to buy cigarettes and sensed danger when he saw the Nazi trucks, getting home in time to save his family. However from that day on the situation for Jews who had managed to escape deteriorated even more. It was necessary to hide, but also to continue somehow with daily life, to get food, to go to work using false names. David did just so, helped by his many friends in the neighbourhood. However, on 16 March 1944, he was betrayed by some acquaintances who handed him over to the Nazi prison on Via Tasso where detainees were tortured and interrogated. Today it is a museum. Fosse Ardeatine Just over a week later David Limentani was killed by Nazi troops at the Fosse Ardeatine, on 24 March 1944. The Fosse Ardeatine massacre was one of the most horrific atrocities carried out by the occupying Nazi forces against civilians in Italy. A disused quarry near Via Appia Antica was chosen as the site for the mass killing of 335 people, in retaliation for a partisan attack on a column of marching German military police on Via Rasella the day before. The SS command in Rome under Herbert Kappler called for a swift and brutal retaliation, apparently approved by Hitler himself, by which 10 Italians would be killed for every German police officer. One of the SS officers in charge of carrying out the Fosse Ardeatine massacre, Nazi war criminal Erich Preibke, was extradited to Italy from Argentina in 1995. Priebke died in Rome in 2013, under house arrest, aged 100, without ever expressing any remorse. David's son Settimio Limentani was arrested and deported to Auschwitz on 8 May 1944, along with his brother Angelo and their friend Angelo Tagliacozzo, who lived in the same building. The Nazis discovered them hiding in the roofspace, after being tipped off by an informant. The boys surrendered, under threat of their mother and younger sisters being deported, and they were subsequently sent to Auschwitz. Settimio survived. His brother died in Auschwitz. Their friend Angelo died in Dachau. After the liberation of Auschwitz, Settimio eventually made his way back to Rome, travelling much of the way by foot, along with another Italian Jewish teenager called Samuele Modiano, known to all as Sami. Sami Modiano. Photo La Repubblica. Among those present at last week's unveiling of the stolpersteine on Via Giubbonari last week was Sami Modiano, now aged 91. It was the first time I arrived in Rome, I was 14 years old - Modiano said as he recalled the homecoming, his voice cracked with emotion. Settimio hoped to receive good news about his father David and his brother Angelo. We arrived at Via dei Giubbonari 30. He whistled so his family would hear him. They did not answer the first time, but they did the third time. Then the windows were flung open: ''Settimio, Settimio!' Sami Modiano Born in 1930 on the island of Rhodes, when it was under Italian occupation, Modiano was deported with his father Jacob and his sister Lucia to Auschwitz in 1944. He was the only one of his family to survive. Modiano returned to Auschwitz for the first time in 2005 and since then he has dedicated himself to educating others, including school children, with his testimony. On his 90th birthday he was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, the highest honour for an Italian citizen. Speaking at the unveiling of the stolpersteine at Via dei Giubbonari 30 - where he lived for a short period - Modiano thanked "all those who make sure to remember these people. Thank God, Settimio has left a beautiful family, life goes on" - Modiano said - "May the new generations ensure that what happened to us never happens again." Statements from leaders in Italy Italy's outgoing president Sergio Mattarella said that International Holocaust Memorial Day "does not only mean that we should remember the millions of dead, the grief and suffering of so many innocent victims, including many Italians. Rather it urges us to prevent and combat, today and in the future, all germs of racism, antisemitism, discrimination and intolerance." Italian premier Mario Draghi stated: "Today we remember the horror of antisemitism and we renew our collective commitment to combat all attempts to cancel its memory." In his general audience on Wednesday Pope Francis urged families to remind younger generations about the millions of people, particularly Jews, killed at the hands of the Nazi regime, saying: This unspeakable cruelty must never be repeated. For Rome events commemorating International Holocaust Day / Giorno della Memoria see Culture Roma website, and for Milan events see Comune di Milano website. Cover photo Wanted in Rome. Placeholder while article actions load The current conventional wisdom, echoed by U.S. President Joe Biden, among others, is that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin intends to re-invade Ukraine in the near future. Military experts who have weighed in on the matter notably Rob Lee at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Michael Kofman of the Center for Naval Analyses have speculated that the Russian military posture points to plans for a ground invasion toward Kyiv, meant to compel Ukraine toward a pro-Russian course or a change in government. All these predictions are premised on the same foundation: the Russian troops massed on Ukraines border. Why would they be there if Putin wasnt planning some kind of assault? Let me lay out a scenario that defies this seemingly unshakable logic and plays out as a media phenomenon rather than a hot war. It doesnt exclude a re-invasion since 2014, that possibility can never be ruled out. It does, however, allow more leeway for a de-escalation than the professional wargamers predictions. Advertisement One of the reports that got the world worrying about Russian troops and equipment parked near the border with Ukraine last fall appeared in the New York Times on Sept. 1. Citing senior Biden administration officials, it said that Russia had only withdrawn a few thousand troops since the previous invasion scare, which had spread in the spring of 2021. The article in the NYT put the number of troops in the border regions at some 80,000. Since those early days of September, warnings coming from the U.S. and often echoed by official Kyiv have grown louder and more urgent, with bigger and bigger numbers of Russian troops named in media reports sourced to the Biden administration and the U.S. intelligence community. In early December, the Washington Post reported that Russia was preparing to attack with 175,000 troops. This would assume massive reinforcements: The most frequent number bandied about these days is 100,000 or more than 100,000. If that latest number is correct, the Russian military presence on the border, heavier than usual throughout last year, hasnt changed dramatically at least not in terms of troop numbers since last spring, growing again in the fall after ebbing slightly during the summer. Some heavy equipment, including various missile launchers, was shifted toward Ukraine back in the spring of 2021, although the movements have intensified in recent months since Ukraine has been boasting about buying, and using, Turkish-made TB2 drones against Russian-backed forces in the east of the country. Russia, in other words, appears to have gradually shifted its military might toward Ukraine in 2021 and is carrying out more exercises near the border as it did near Georgia in the years preceding the Russo-Georgian war of 2008. Then, Putin and his strategists successfully baited a trap for hotheaded Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili, who finally made a disastrous first move. Conceivably, Putin has been hoping for a similar development that would give him what he considers a legitimate casus belli. Like Saakashvilis Georgia, Ukraine has been rearming and restructuring its military, gaining confidence that it wont be routed as painfully as it was in 2014. If Ukraine moved to recapture lost territory in the east, Putin could take advantage of such a moment. Advertisement The Biden administration, however, has managed to turn the tables with its wolf-crying campaign. It has succeeded in whipping up a media frenzy. According to Google Trends, news search interest in Ukraine now is the highest it has been since 2015, although not as high as it was during the 2014 Revolution of Dignity. Suddenly, Putin was in the hot seat. He couldnt simply wave off Washingtons alarmist messaging, since his troops were demonstrably massed on the border. His knee-jerk reaction was a burst of angry U.S.-trolling, including the rollout of a spate of impossible demands like a NATO withdrawal from Eastern Europe. If this was meant as an attention-grabber, it only worked to a degree. The unproductive diplomatic meetings that followed can be spun as Russian successes only with difficulty (the Carnegie Endowments Dmitri Trenin attempted that in a recent interview, saying the meetings signified the first discussion of European security involving Russia since German reunification). As an attention-deflector, it failed miserably. The U.S. had enough media firepower, far more than Russia, to maintain a focus on the re-invasion possibility. Advertisement Meanwhile, the expectation of a big war and the hellish sanctions that would accompany it has crashed Russian stocks: The MOEX Russia Index hit the last 12 months low on Jan. 24 and is down more than 20% from its October high. The ruble has lost 10% of its value versus the U.S. dollar over the same period, despite Russias impressive currency reserves. At the same time, the publicity campaign has provided justification for increased Western arms supplies to Ukraine. The U.K. has stepped up deliveries as its embattled prime minister, Boris Johnson, seized on the Russian invasion threat to distract voters from his scandals. Putin, who had publicly singled out the weapons shipments as an irritant, suddenly found himself facing a version of the Saakashvili trap himself. He has to do something, Biden said of Putin. You could read this statement as an assessment that Putin the macho man cannot back down now or as a sign of White House anticipation that Putin has been pushed into a corner where hes likely to make a stupid move. Advertisement The latter is, of course, a possibility. Putin is known to be emotional about Ukraine. He is, however, also experienced and crafty; he hasnt made a statement on the crisis in weeks. Its almost as if hes decided to wait out the invasion hysteria and then go on calmly weighing his options and waiting for pro-Western Ukrainian governments to run out of rope as they struggle ineffectively with the countrys seemingly incurable corruption. If Putin needed a way out, he could play a card hes long held up his sleeve: the recognition or even inclusion in Russia of the puppet Peoples Republics of eastern Ukraine. These gray areas are already integrated into Russia in many ways. Their residents have been supplied with Russian passports, many of them work in Russia or send children to Russian universities. Links to Ukraine are more tenuous and revolve around smuggling. The Russian military presence along the border would likely deter any Ukrainian kinetic response, and in a practical sense, a Russian takeover of the regions would remove a problem for Ukraine rather than create one: The Minsk agreements of 2015 would finally be off the table and Ukraines victimhood would not be marred by any broken promises made under those deals. The idea of the takeover recently has been aired in the docile Russian parliament by the nominal Communist opposition and the Kremlin publicly asked its proponents not to rock the boat. But once diplomacy with the U.S. and NATO runs its course, Putin could easily say that no better solution has been found. In that case, hell hardly lose face at home: Inviting the Russian-speaking population of the Peoples Republics into the motherlands fold likely would be a popular move. Advertisement In this scenario, theres no massive invasion not in the near future. Waiting out this crisis would have the extra advantage for the Kremlin of undermining U.S. credibility. Will the world believe it a year from now if it turns on its invasion sirens again? Im not saying the military experts are wrong. Putin can launch the strike they expect, and he has strategic reasons to do it at some point. Ukraine has been living on a powder keg since 2014. Its strange, however, that Western observers of the crisis arent paying more attention to the calm behavior of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his closest aides. You could write it off to fatalism but, more likely, it stems from a different reading of the situation than one can pick up from Western media. Zelenskiy appears to be betting that Putin wont be manipulated into an angry, careless move. Im not a betting man, but I hope so too. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Leonid Bershidsky is a member of the Bloomberg News Automation team based in Berlin. He was previously Bloomberg Opinions Europe columnist. He recently authored a Russian translation of George Orwells 1984. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load A White House that could use a just break got one, with Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer planning to officially announce his upcoming retirement on Thursday and giving President Joe Biden the opportunity to nominate a replacement. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The odds are that the process of choosing a successor to Breyer will go well for the president. Vetting judicial nominees has been a strength for this White House, which has been nominating judges and getting them confirmed at near-record numbers and without significant controversy. The change of topic in the national media from the omicron wave and inflation and from Bidens low approval numbers will be welcome as far as it goes, although that part of it wont last long. More helpful will be the opportunity to add a new accomplishment for the president to talk about and for Democratic party actors and Democratic voters to be happy about. Bidens pick for the court is likely to be one that the party will unite behind, which will be a nice change for party actors, including the president, from the internal squabbling that has marked the last few months in Congress, and especially in the Senate. Advertisement Theres always the possibility that the selection could go awry, but the prospects for confirmation should be good. The Democrats who have been causing the mainstream of the party so much trouble in the Senate, West Virginias Joe Manchin and Arizonas Kyrsten Sinema, have been reliable votes for Bidens judicial nominations so far. And if Biden chooses the woman perceived as the front-runner for the job, federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, hell be picking someone already confirmed by this Congress for her current seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia with the votes of all 50 Democrats and three Republicans: Maines Susan Collins, Alaskas Lisa Murkowski and South Carolinas Lindsey Graham. That means that all the other Republicans voted against Jackson, and Ill be surprised if as many as three Republicans support Bidens Supreme Court nominee, whoever she may be. Thats just how these confirmations go, and with good reason: Theres a lot at stake, and theres an enormous gulf between the views of Democratic and Republican nominees to the Supreme Court. Advertisement There are already Republicans complaining about Bidens promise to nominate the Courts first Black woman, so expect to hear a lot from Democrats about President Ronald Reagans promise to put the first woman on that bench and his subsequent selection of Sandra Day OConnor. Theres a long tradition in both parties of using judicial picks, including for the High Court, to achieve descriptive representation that is, to deliberately choose from certain demographic groups. Sometimes, as with Reagan and Biden, that involves an explicit campaign promise. Sometimes, as with President Bill Clintons choice of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the first woman chosen by a Democrat or with President George H.W. Bushs selection of Clarence Thomas to replace Thurgood Marshall and keep a Black justice on the court, the president doesnt say what hes doing. The same things happened earlier with representation for various ethnic and religious groups. And presidents have been correct to do so. Without deliberate efforts to expand the pool of judges it would never have happened, and most Americans would have felt locked out of that high office. Ill add that theres a bit of ugly history here. Im fairly sure that every woman and every Black nominee (including Thomas) has at some point been falsely smeared as an intellectual lightweight or worse. (Granted, Harriet Meiers, President George W. Bushs failed 2005 nominee, really was underqualified for the job). Perhaps weve progressed beyond that, but dont count on it. Advertisement So replacing Breyer is a welcome task for Biden, and Democrats will be happy to solidify their hold on a third of the Courts seats, which is all they have despite having held the presidency for the majority of the last 30 years. Still, dont expect the Democrats positive moment to change the challenging math of the Senate. Most voters will forget about a spring confirmation vote long before the midterm elections in November, and the course of the pandemic and of the economy will surely be far more important politically than the Supreme Court. As large as the court looms as the arbiter of laws that affect all Americans, the people who deeply care about it are almost all strong partisans whose votes are already locked in. None of this is to minimize the importance of Breyers retirement and Bidens opportunity to replace him. Supreme Court nominations are among a presidents most consequential decisions. Just dont expect it to have lasting impact on the rest of Bidens presidency. Advertisement This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics and policy. He taught political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio and DePauw University and wrote A Plain Blog About Politics. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Emmanuel Macron has spent much of his presidency trying to get the European Union to speak the language of hard power in a more hostile world. A smorgasbord of EU defense plans, including a 5,000-strong deployment force by 2025, have accompanied visions of a bloc less dependent on the U.S. and NATO which he once derided as brain-dead. In 2019, when trying to engineer a rapprochement with Vladimir Putins Russia on a host of issues including the Ukraine conflict, Macron evoked Charles de Gaulles call for a Europe stretching from the Atlantic to the Urals. The reality is that such a sweeping Eurasian vision built on French grandeur has failed to bear fruit. Today, more than 100,000 Russian troops have massed on the Ukrainian border, the U.S. is on high alert and European leaders are struggling to have their voice heard, let alone find common ground about what to do. Advertisement Rather than a power bloc, Europe looks more like a fractured archipelago, with some parts calling for dialogue and others sending weapons to Ukraine. Distractions abound: France is entering election season, Germany has just exited it, and both are conscious of spillover costs to energy prices one of many crises (including refugees) that an invasion would bring, says Marie Dumoulin of the European Council on Foreign Relations. This is in many ways a nightmare scenario for Macron, the standard-bearer for a more autonomous European Union. But its also an opportunity to make up for past failures. As the EUs only nuclear power and pre-eminent military power after Brexit, France can play a more productive role. The starting point for this weeks dialogue with Russia including multi-country talks with Ukraine and a phone call with Putin on Friday is to admit the need for change. In the past, dialogue has gone in one direction, as Macron pushed for a reset with Moscow to the point of accusing his own diplomats of going too slowly. The result emboldened Russia, sidelined Europe and lengthened the list of tensions from Belarus to Africa. East-West divides inside the EU ran deeper, as Baltic states also part of NATO viewed Macron with increased distrust. Advertisement That distrust is what Macron should seek to dispel in his dealings with Putin. France and its allies are under pressure to find paths to de-escalation, but expectations are low that any great strides will be achieved beyond buying time. Macron should at least focus on making clear that France will uphold NATO commitments to reassure Eastern allies as seen recently with the presidents announcement of a possible troop deployment to Romania, part of what Joseph de Weck of advisory firm Greenmantle calls a pivot on Russia. There needs to be unity behind a European defense that complements, not competes with, NATO. The threat of sanctions against Russia can also be strengthened by Macron. France has already warned of a very high cost for Russia in case of aggression; this should include targeting Putins entourage and cracking down on corruption. Germany has in general been aligned with France in the past, but the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has displayed Russias leverage as Berlin leads efforts to exempt energy from sanctions. Paris could do better at putting Berlin on the spot reliance on Russian gas risks undermining European security and the energy transition at the same time and organize a plan for alternative emergency gas supplies and stockpiles if the crisis keeps escalating. Finally, given even the best-case scenario remains a conflict thats frozen rather than hot, France should take the lead on long-term support for Ukraine. The blocs policy towards its Eastern neighbor has failed to avert crisis, and its proposal for over 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in funding for Kyiv doesnt change that. If appetite for expanding further eastward is at rock bottom Kyiv will wait until hell freezes over to join NATO, its former secretary-general says other paths need to be found. Macron could visit Kyiv as a first step, suggests Nicolas Tenzer, of the Center for European Policy Analysis; France should also deepen ties with civil society and opposition groups in Russia and Belarus. Advertisement This all might seem wishful thinking in the current environment. Macron has less room for maneuver with electoral rivals swarming, as Sciences Pos Cyrille Bret points out, and a romantic view of the Putin regime crops up across Frances political spectrum. Yet Macron can take heart that a stronger stance against Russia might be more popular than the heated presidential race suggests. Recent polling suggests French public opinion views the U.S. as a clear ally, unlike Russia and China. Europe may very well stretch to the Urals one day. All the more reason for Macrons rhetoric to match Russian reality. More From Bloomberg Opinion: Putins Wealth May Be Unreachable, But Russias Isnt: Timothy L. OBrien Gas Will Stay High Even After the Spat With Russia: Javier Blas The Worlds Next Big Health Emergency Is Already Here: Therese Raphael This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the European Union and France. He worked previously at Reuters and Forbes. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Russian President Vladimir Putins massing of troops on Ukraines border has sparked a standoff with the West and raised fears of an invasion. At the heart of the dispute are Russian concerns about the eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the security alliance founded in 1949 to protect Europe against Soviet attack during the Cold War. Of the 14 countries bordering Russia, five are in NATO, and Ukraine is among the countries also hoping to get in. But thats not as fast or easy as it sounds. 1. Has Ukraine formally requested admission to NATO? Yes. Ukraine applied to join in 2008. That was just before a summit in Bucharest, when NATO said that Ukraine and Georgia would join the alliance -- but without setting a specific date. Georgia has also applied for admission. So has Bosnia-Herzegovina, though there is too much domestic division there to make this a realistic prospect in the near future. Advertisement 2. How many countries are in NATO? Its membership has grown from 12 to 30 nations, with North Macedonia the most recent to join, in 2020. That increase reflects the fact that, since the end of the Cold War, NATO has come to represent an underlying partnership between North America and Europe based on shared political and economic values. 3. What does it take to join? NATO countries have to be unanimous in welcoming a new member. Approval is pretty much a political decision, though NATO does spell out criteria that prospective new members should meet. These include a functioning democracy based on a market economy, fair treatment of minority populations and a commitment to resolve conflicts peacefully. The applicant needs to have an ability and willingness to make a military contribution to NATO operations. NATO has also made clear that having unresolved external territorial disputes weighs against being admitted, a consideration that gives Putin an edge, since Russian forces occupy internationally recognized parts of Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) and Ukraine (Crimea). Advertisement 4. Whats the status of Ukraines request? Officially, NATO stands by its 2008 pledge to admit Georgia and Ukraine once they meet the criteria, with no consensus on when that might be. Some NATO members, including Poland and Baltic states Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, would sign up Ukraine tomorrow if they could. But Germany and France in particular insist that as long as Russian troops are in Ukraine, membership is not going to happen. For now, Ukraine is one of NATOs enhanced opportunity partners, a status afforded non-member nations that have made significant contributions to NATO-led operations and missions. NATO says it aims to maintain and deepen cooperation with such partners. Other nations with this status are Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden. 5. What is Russias concern? Advertisement Putin and his government see NATO expanding into what it considers its sphere of influence, which diminished after the Cold War, and which Putin aims to restore. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, three former Soviet republics, are now NATO members; citing its own security, Russia insists that NATO must never let additional ex-Soviet states, such as Ukraine and Georgia, join. Russia also rejects NATOs claims that its a defensive alliance, accusing the bloc of seeking to contain Moscow and sowing instability with interventions in places like the Middle East and the Balkans. Russia denies it plans to invade Ukraine but insists the U.S. and its allies must force Ukraines leaders to implement the terms of a 2015 peace deal. 6. What does NATO say? Two weeks after stating that Russia does not have a veto on whether Ukraine can join, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Jan. 27 delivered a more detailed response to Russias demands. He said NATO was prepared to listen to Russias concerns and discuss how to uphold and strengthen fundamental principles of European security that we have all signed up to. Yet he also emphasized this is about respecting nations and their right to choose their own path. Two of NATOs non-member partners, Finland and Sweden, have urged the bloc not to give in to Russias demands. Advertisement 7. Whats the point of NATO, anyway? NATO says its open door policy on enlargement has helped increase stability and prosperity in Europe. Its role since the collapse of the Soviet Union has expanded to include bombing Serb forces during the Bosnia and Kosovo wars of the 1990s, enforcing an arms embargo on Libya in 2011, helping Europe deal with an influx of Middle Eastern refugees that began in 2015, stepping up cyber defense -- and, since 2014, deploying multinational battle groups in eastern Europe in response to Russias encroachment in Ukraine. NATO is also trying to define its role in addressing Chinas expanding influence. A 2019 summit expanded NATOs remit to make outer space an operational domain along with air, land, sea and cyberspace. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Islamist militants have wrought havoc in West Africa. An insurgency that began in northern Mali in 2012 spread to Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, and threatens coastal states including Benin, Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast. Military juntas have toppled governments in Mali and Burkina Faso, accusing them of failing to provide security. Jihadists killed more than 1,300 civilians in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in 2021, bringing the toll since 2015 to more than 3,500, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. Gold-mining operations, a key source of income, have also been targeted. 1. How did the trouble start? It was triggered by instability in Mali and, further afield, in Libya, where a power vacuum opened up smuggling routes and access to weapons. A French military intervention in 2013 dealt a heavy blow to jihadist groups that partnered with ethnic Tuareg rebels to seize control of northern Mali a year earlier. Deprived of their urban bases, the jihadists resorted to bombings and hit-and-run attacks, targeting army posts and a United Nations peacekeeping mission that currently comprises more than 15,000 soldiers and police. They extended their operations to Burkina Faso, where a state of emergency in border regions did little to improve security. Advertisement 2. Whats happened more recently? The deadliest strike there occurred in June 2021, when militants killed at least 132 civilians and injured dozens more in the northern village of Solhan. There have also been intermittent attacks in Niger, including a 2017 ambush that claimed the lives of four American and four Nigerien soldiers. The jihadists have exploited and fueled age-old tensions between farmers and cattle herders who compete for land and scarce resources in Mali, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, recruiting members of aggrieved communities to their cause. 3. Which jihadist groups are involved? There are numerous militants in the region and the line between jihadist and non-jihadist groups is often unclear. One of the biggest jihadist organizations is the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, which is known by the acronym JNIM, has a stronghold in Mali and operates in the Sahel, a semi-arid region on the southern fringe of the Sahara. Advertisement 4. What were its origins? JNIM was created in 2017 through an amalgamation of four groups. One of them, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, is the oldest and best-known jihadist organization in the region and is known as AQIM. Others are Ansar Dine, an offshoot called the Macina Liberation Front and Al-Mourabitoune. Originally formed under a different name to fight Algerias secular government in the 1990s, AQIM aligned with al-Qaeda in the 2000s and helped Tuareg rebels capture northern Mali in 2012. 5. Does Islamic State have a presence? Yes, and its influence has grown. Islamic State in the Greater Sahara, which was formed after a split in the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, claimed responsibility for the attack in 2017 on U.S. and Nigerien troops. In August 2020, the groups leader, Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi, personally ordered the killing of six French aid workers and guides and drivers in Niger. In 2021, France said it had neutralized Al-Sahrawi in an airstrike. While Islamic State and al-Qaeda have different strategies, fighters are believed to often pass back and forth between their coalitions. Advertisement 6. Why is it so hard to stop the jihadists? The Sahel is a vast region with a hostile climate, making it difficult to control. Analysts say jihadists have gained influence because state institutions are weak and have little reach beyond the cities. Some jihadist groups provide services to isolated communities, while others use social media to portray government neglect and fuel discontent over the failure of foreign troops to tackle security lapses. They also exploit ethnic differences and discontent among the young, who have slim job and marriage prospects. Radicalization is fueled by resentment against the state. 7. How have governments responded? They have shared intelligence and cooperated more closely. Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Niger and Mauritania set up a regional force of 5,000 soldiers to fight terrorism and organized crime in border zones. It has worked alongside UN peacekeepers in Mali and a 5,000-strong mobile French force, which is being scaled back and replaced by a multinational European presence. Malis government was ousted in August 2020 and again in May 2021, while Burkina Faso President Roch Marc Christian Kabore was ousted in early 2022. Military officers in both countries have justified seizing power on the grounds that national security was under threat. The New York Times reported support among crowds in Burkina Faso in January for potential help from Russia to quell the insurgency, following its intervention in the Central African Republic. Advertisement 8. What problems does that create? Many Malians hailed French troops as liberators, but now view them with suspicion. Reports of extrajudicial killings and torture during security crackdowns by troops in Mali and Burkina Faso stoked distrust among local populations that are already under pressure from militants, and the putsches garnered some support. Defense spending has ballooned in several nations at the expense of health and education. Experts agree alienation felt by young West Africans must be reversed, by strengthening tackling corruption and creating jobs. In late 2021, Malis government repeated that it was prepared to negotiate with the jihadists, an initiative many citizens support. 9. How has gold mining been affected? A boom in small-scale gold mining in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger has provided armed groups with new sources of funding. They smuggle gold, provide security to operations in areas where the states presence is thin or, alternatively, extort miners. Gold production, the main driver of exports in Burkina Faso and Mali, also provides targets for armed groups. Two attacks in 2019 on gold mines in Burkina Faso, one artisanal and the other operated by Canadian miner Semafo Inc., left more than 60 people dead. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load In the wake of Justice Stephen Breyers rumored retirement, an odd controversy has swirled around President Joe Bidens campaign pledge to appoint a Black woman to the first vacancy. Critics have compared the promise to college admission quotas; supporters have pointed out that President Ronald Reagan fulfilled his own campaign vow to appoint the first female justice when he nominated Sandra Day OConnor. The supporters have the better case. From the earliest days of the republic, presidents have always sought to craft a Supreme Court that looks like America. All thats changed is what they think America looks like. Presidents have long sought diversity on the bench. It just used to be geographic diversity. In a book published in 1928, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes made the case for taking into explicit account the nominees state of origin: The confidence of the country should be maintained by selections which so far as practicable will represent all parts of the United States. Advertisement Hughes knew what he was talking about. At that time, the need for geographic representation was central to public debate over the proper composition of the Supreme Court. In 1923, for example, President Warren Hardings nomination of Edward Sanford was sharply criticized because it would give the Supreme Court a second Tennessean. And the problem wasnt just two justices from the same state. Shortly before Sanfords nomination was officially announced, the press reported a different geographic objection: New York republicans protested on the ground that their state, having the largest population of any in the union, was without representation on the nations highest tribunal. But of course. President Theodore Roosevelts 1902 selection of Oliver Wendell Holmes was motivated in large part by the need to keep electoral-vote-rich Massachusetts happy. Ditto with President Herbert Hoovers 1930 nomination of Owen Roberts of Pennsylvania. Advertisement Then theres the case of Justice Benjamin Cardozo. In 1932, under enormous pressure to put Cardozo on the court, Hoover told a visiting senator that he couldnt nominate the prominent New York jurist ... on account of geography. Hoover favored William Mitchell, his attorney general, who hailed from Minnesota. The president changed his mind but only after receiving assurances from Western senators that regional jealousies would not lead them to oppose the nominee. Then theres President Franklin Roosevelts appointment of Hugo Black in 1937. What we tend to remember nowadays is Blacks earlier membership in the Ku Klux Klan. What we too often forget is that FDR planned all along to appoint a Southerner, his way of placating powerful congressional Democrats from the region who had fought so hard for his doomed court-packing plan. The president was expected to nominate Joseph T. Robinson, the Senates majority leader. Senate Democrats, who in the words of one historian had by that time all but usurped the power of appointment, were swift to adopt a resolution endorsing Robinsons candidacy. Blacks path to the high court was cleared only by the majority leaders sudden and unexpected death before his name could be placed in nomination. With Robinson gone, FDR still needed a Southerner. In the 1950s, Senator William Langer of North Dakota, a member of the Judiciary Committee, waged what legal scholar Henry Abraham called a perverse six-year campaign of opposing any and all nominees to the Court until someone from his home state (which had never been so honored) received an appointment.(1) Yet few at the time few seemed to find it peculiar. Advertisement Small wonder, then, that when Lyndon Johnson chose Thurgoood Marshall in 1967, some critics argued with straight faces that although they had no objection to the nominees race, the president trod dangerous waters by selecting a New Yorker to replace a Texan. All of which brings us back to Justice OConnor. As Biden supporters have been noting, President Reagan appointed her in 1981 to fulfill a campaign pledge to appoint the first female justice. Fair enough. But heres the interesting part. After her first visit with Reagan, OConnor expressed doubts that she would be chosen. Why? Because the Supreme Court already included a justice William Rehnquist who hailed from OConnors home state of Arizona. To add another, she said, would be politically inopportune. But Reagan wisely nominated her anyway, recognizing that there are a lot of different ways to look like America. Advertisement More From Bloomberg Opinion: Meet Joe Bidens Likeliest Supreme Court Nominees: Noah Feldman Once Again, the Most Important Supreme Court Term Ever: Stephen L. Carter Breyers Supreme Court Pragmatism Will Be Missed: Noah Feldman (1) In 1950, Langer had given a speech on the Senate floorlamenting that no major executive branch appointment had ever gone to a North Dakotan. This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Stephen L. Carter is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is a professor of law at Yale University and was a clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. His novels include The Emperor of Ocean Park, and his latest nonfiction book is Invisible: The Forgotten Story of the Black Woman Lawyer Who Took Down Americas Most Powerful Mobster. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load The first Google hit that surfaces when you search Vladimir Putins net worth is from something called Wealthy Gorilla, which bills itself as one of the leading self-improvement blogs on the web. It pegs the Russian presidents wealth at $70 billion a figure that, like much else on the site, is offered without evidence. Bill Browder, a U.S. investor who made a fortune in Russia before becoming a prominent Kremlin critic, told the U.S. Senate in 2017 that Putin was worth $200 billion. Browder is more credible than Wealthy Gorilla, which may not be saying much, but he didnt share his math, either. Putin keeps his money in the West and all of his money in the West is potentially exposed to asset freezes and confiscation, Browder said. Then there are the numbers from the Russian government, which said last year that Putin took home a $131,900 salary in 2020 and listed some modest assets: a 77-square-meter apartment, an 18-square-meter garage, two vintage Volga GAZ M21 cars, a Lada Niva SUV and a trailer. All these items are in Russia, the Kremlin added. One missing item: a lavish Black Sea palace that supporters of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny say Putin owns. Advertisement The reality is that there are probably few people other than Putin who know how much loot he has and where he keeps it. That will make it difficult to figure out which financial switch to flip to deter Russia from invading Ukraine, or to penalize Putin personally if it does. Difficult, maybe even impossible but definitely worthwhile. Theres precedent for using the global banking system to crack down on rogue states Iran was successfully cut off a decade ago. International financial transactions are funneled through a digital network called the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or Swift. Banks, brokerages and about 11,000 other financial institutions in 200 countries use Swift to transfer money across borders or settle securities trades, often in minutes. Its based in Belgium; member banks control it and central banks from the Group of 10 supervise it. No single member can tell Swift what to do. But the U.S. is its most influential constituent. If the U.S. wants to lock a country out of the system, it can. So why not close the door on Russia, an autocracy and kleptocracy with a currency and economy that would seize up if it were denied access to Swift? Advertisement Some critics say that, overall, economic sanctions havent been effective deterrents. They also say that denying Russia access to Swift would spur it to hasten development of its own global payments system (something China has pursued as well). Besides, they say, Russia has been stockpiling reserves of gold and dollars, and can wait out any economic storm. That argument doesnt hold water. Yes, Russia has developed its own payment system, but it appears to handle only about 20% of the countrys domestic transfers. Global partners, including China, have been hesitant to use it. And its not clear that its prospects will brighten; Russia doesnt exactly have a stellar reputation when it comes to honoring the security and reliability of digital transactions, particularly when money is involved. Its also not clear how long Russia can rely on hard currency reserves if its isolated from the banking system. The financial pain and inconvenience would quickly become debilitating. Thats the reason that cutting off access to Swift is so threatening. Advertisement But heres the rub: Putin and the coterie of advisers who have grown wealthy alongside him, as well as Russias military may be quite content to put their country through intense economic pain if it serves their interests. Its also uncertain how much financial pain can be visited upon Putin himself. Oligarchs beholden to him have divided Russias spoils among themselves, as shown by the Pandora and Panama Papers, and reporting from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Novaya Gazeta and Bloomberg News. That reporting indicates that Putin stashes his wealth, and his shares in state-owned enterprises, in networks controlled by family members and close advisers. To make Putin feel the same financial pain as his fellow Russians if the country is locked out of Swift, the West would have to identify his networks and freeze accounts located outside of Russia. Advertisement Even then, Putin may have an out. As Stephen Kotkin, a historian and Russia expert at Princeton University once told me, the entire country is Putins piggy bank. He can reach into any company or account he wants whenever he needs something. He probably doesnt need to hide money outside of Russia at all. So maybe Putins own wealth is not only unknowable but also untouchable. Either way, that shouldnt keep the White House from sanctioning those closest to Putin and, if necessary, cutting Russia off from Swift. More From Bloomberg Opinion: How Vladimir Putin Keeps Everyone Guessing: Bobby Ghosh Putin Wins So Long as Schrodingers Cat Lives: Andreas Kluth Bidens Diplomacy With Putin Is Dangerous: Eli Lake This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Timothy L. OBrien is a senior columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load The omicron variant may be infecting people whove already had Covid, as well as those who have been fully vaccinated, at a far higher rate than previously thought. But does that mean an omicron-specific vaccine is warranted? After all, the strain has been shown to be much milder and such a targeted vaccine might not work against some new post-omicron variant. Who to vaccinate further and with what kind of jab are two major decisions facing public health authorities this year. Bloomberg Opinion columnist Therese Raphael and Bloomberg Intelligence senior pharmaceutical analyst Sam Fazeli discuss why an omicron vaccine might be desirable, provided certain conditions are met. Therese Raphael: We are now getting more data including in the U.K. REACT study that suggests not only does the omicron variant spread faster, but that there are also more reinfections with omicron. What explains those higher levels of reinfection? Advertisement Sam Fazeli: Its all to do with this variants ability to bypass antibody protection in vaccinated individuals, especially those with just two doses. Data from the U.K. Health Security Agency has shown that just a few months after the second dose, the level of protection against infection with omicron is no more than about 10%. This happens because the virus has amassed so many changes in its spike protein that lower levels of antibodies cannot stop it from infecting cells. While some of this protection is restored after a third shot of the same vaccine, it is still only at about 50% at 10 or more weeks after the shot compared with 90% versus a delta infection. Its important to note, however, that all we are talking about here is protection against an infection. Vaccinated people, particularly those with three doses, have a very high level of protection against severe disease requiring hospitalization. Therese Raphael: Do the number of breakthrough infections suggest that an omicron-specific shot now makes sense? Advertisement Sam Fazeli: As I noted, protection against hospitalization after an omicron infection still remains high, though there are some signs of decline over time. But it may be desirable to vaccinate people with an omicron-specific shot if it provides a broader immunity that includes the parts of the virus that have undergone substantial change versus the delta or alpha variants. This idea is supported by the finding that an omicron infection in vaccinated individuals can activate antibody producing B-cells that better target omicron. Whether the same happens with T-cells, which are thought to provide longer-lasting immunity, is not yet known. Therese Raphael: Pfizer-BioNTech has begun a trial on 1,420 subjects to test omicron-specific shots. Is it really necessary to have a variant-specific shot though, given that we are seeing such low levels of severe disease with omicron? Would this be mainly for older or more vulnerable populations? Sam Fazeli: Thats a great question and one that the vaccine companies need to answer. With Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna having already started their trials, they need to answer several critical questions. Advertisement First, is a third or fourth omicron shot better than a standard shot when it comes to the omicron variant? Second, how does that immunity work against delta and other variants, which is important as they have not been eradicated? And third, we need to understand how two omicron shots would work in unvaccinated people. Do these shots broaden the immune reaction, both for antibodies and T-cells? How do they affect immune memory and longevity of immune response? Therese Raphael: There is already work on developing a so-called polyvalent vaccine that targets different parts of the virus and would be effective against different variants. Is there a case for just holding out for a vaccine that has those broad powers? Sam Fazeli: A polyvalent vaccine can, in theory, provide broader, longer-lasting immunity than existing vaccines, but that has yet to be tested. While neutralizing antibodies most often target the spike protein, there are antibodies to other antigens on the surface of the virus which would be targeted by a polyvalent vaccine that can help eliminate the virus through other processes. There is also the likelihood that broader T-cell reactivity will help manage disease severity further. Advertisement But the issue is determining who should receive such a vaccine and whether it indeed provides that added benefit. To reduce the risk of hospitalization by 95%, instead of the current 89% risk reduction against omicron 10 weeks or more after a third shot, would require a massive trial, especially as we will soon have relatively broad access to antiviral drugs. So a lot of thought needs to go into this. Englands Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has also said such vaccines are probably five years away. If so, well need to make decisions about the vaccines we have for now. Therese Raphael: Finally, are there supply constraints and distribution issues to consider here? And given what we now know about omicron, whats your thinking about whether and when the majority of people would need a fourth shot? Sam Fazeli: It all depends on the trial results. If the trial shows that third or fourth shots of an omicron-specific vaccine improve the depth and breadth of the immune response versus vaccination with the current vaccine, then some billion or so doses in 2022 may be required for boosters in high income countries. This still leaves many billions available for low- to middle-income countries. Advertisement As regards the timing of omicron boosters, it may be best to save this for next autumn. Many people have already been infected with omicron, though we dont know how good the immune reaction to the infection is. We also dont know how long protection lasts. But what governments do will be driven by the desire to keep their economies open, which may mean fourth shots starting as early as April or May, at least for older and more vulnerable segments of the population. Israel has already done this and is now recommending (though not mandating) them for anyone over 18. More From Bloomberg Opinion: The Worlds Next Big Health Emergency Is Already Here: Therese Raphael Macrons Bid for Power Europe Runs Into Putins Russia: Lionel Laurent What Does Endemic Covid Mean? The Experts Dont Agree: Faye Flam Advertisement This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe. Sam Fazeli is senior pharmaceuticals analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence and director of research for EMEA. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Amid one of the most consequential Supreme Court terms in decades, word leaked Wednesday that Justice Stephen Breyer will soon be retiring. No doubt, hell be missed. Over nearly 28 years on high court, Breyer has earned a reputation as an amiable colleague, a thoughtful justice and a thoroughgoing pragmatist. He has been protective of the courts integrity and modest about its role in public life. A jurist of the old school, hes been serious and sober, charitable and optimistic, an institutionalist to the end. In an age of crusading ideology and relentless partisanship, hes championed reason and restraint, principle and prudence. Filling his shoes would be a challenge for anyone. In appointing his first justice to the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden could do worse than to seek a nominee as conscientious and levelheaded as the one headed out the door. Advertisement Biden has pledged to select a Black woman for the role, which would be a historic first. Theres no shortage of worthy candidates. Current frontrunners include Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, a judge of long distinction who now sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; Leondra Kruger, a 45-year-old justice on the California Supreme Court; and J. Michelle Childs, 55, a South Carolina district-court judge with experience in both government and private practice. Biden will need to consult widely and beyond activist circles in making his choice. Whoever the candidate is, the administration should be ready to move fast once Breyer is out. As a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden surely understands how much work confirming nominees requires typically two or three months worth and how easily such efforts can go awry. He should also bear in mind the precariousness of the Democrats Senate majority and prioritize moderation. Progressives would be wise to rethink their strategy of shaming and scapegoating their centrist colleagues for the stall-out of their legislative agenda. Every vote will count. Some Democrats are already lamenting that the new justice will have little to do. Outnumbered 6-3 by the courts conservatives, liberals may not wield significant power for many years. As Breyer has showed, though, persuasion and pragmatism can still go a long way in shaping the courts direction, even from the minority. His long service is testament to the persistent power of decency a lesson as valuable today as when he was first nominated. Editorials are written by the Bloomberg Opinion editorial board. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load If we look on the bright side of the past two years, Covid should at least mean well be ready for the next major threat from infectious disease. We know how to prepare, we have more advanced technology, weve strengthened public-health protocols. And governments have learned just how quickly science can move when offered the right incentives. All of these learnings are needed already in the fight against growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or infections that dont respond to drugs. Antimicrobials is the catch-all term for the many antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and other drugs that prevent infections in humans, animals and plants. Pathogens naturally develop resistance to antimicrobials as they evolve, but thanks to an overuse of antibiotics and other conditions, the speed of such resistance has become a major global health issue. Advertisement Common ailments such as urinary-tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases and sepsis are increasingly able to tough out the drugs developed against them. Some infections develop into superbugs that defy treatment. They cost lives and also impose huge costs on health-care systems and broader economies. Even at a time when were all a bit saturated with health risk news, its hard to overstate the urgency of the challenge. Covid-19 has resulted in some 5.6 million deaths, but previous estimates have said AMR will claim 10 million lives annually by 2050 and that figure already looks low. So much of modern medicine from surgeries to chemotherapy and organ transplants requires effective antibiotics. And now there are concerns that hospitalizations from Covid-19 have led to further overuse of antibiotics, which could increase drug resistance. Drug-resistant infections are already killing more people globally than malaria and HIV combined. Though concentrated in low-income countries, the problem is by no means confined there. In the U.S., there are some 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections annually and over 35,000 people die as a result. Resistance to Escherichia coli (E. coli), which causes kidney infections, and Staphylococcus aureus (or staph), which is often picked up in hospitals and the cause of blood infections, has reached high levels around the world. Advertisement The more drug-resistant pathogens become, the more they will spread, making ordinary infections potentially deadly and compromising the success of advances in surgery and cancer therapy. A new study published last week in the Lancet presents the first global estimates of the burden of antimicrobial resistance and they confirm the worst fears. The authors estimate that in 2019, nearly 1.3 million deaths were directly attributed to infections that were drug-resistant and more than 4.9 million deaths were associated with drug resistance. One in five AMR deaths occurred in a child under the age of five. The vast majority of the deaths, nearly 79%, were attributed to three syndromes: lower respiratory and thorax infections, bloodstream infections and intra-abdominal infections. Six pathogens were responsible for more than a quarter-million deaths globally. Advertisement Its hard to imagine these numbers shrinking without immediate intervention. Better education, sanitation, surveillance and innovation in diagnostics are all urgent and our experience with Covid should help us in all of these areas. If fewer people get infections in the first place, fewer antibiotics are needed and theres a lower prospect for drug-resistance. But new drugs also need to be part of the solution, and that will take nudges from governments to turbo-charge both innovation and launches. While there are science challenges here too, its the warped incentives when it comes to developing commercializing new drugs that explain why there have been no truly new antibiotics in the past 30 years. Drugs are commercially successful if pharma companies can make enough money on them to recoup their development. But the cost of developing an antibiotic has been estimated at around $1.5 billion, while average revenue is estimated at around $46 million a year. (By one estimate cited in Nature, a new antibiotic needs to make at least $300 million a year to keep going). Indeed, the net present value of a new arthritis drug is estimated at $1 billion at discovery, while a new antibiotic can often deliver negative value to the developer or a modest value of up to $37 million, according to one study. Advertisement An ironic twist is that doctors are discouraged from prescribing new antibiotics unless absolutely necessary (to cut down on AMR), and this drives down sales and discourages investment. The price of new antibiotics also looks uncompetitive when compared to existing generics. Of 15 new antibiotics that earned FDA approval in the decade to 2020, five were shelved as companies applied for bankruptcy or were sold. Researchers last year noted that while 18 antibacterials had been approved and launched in the G7 and other high-income European countries between 2010 and 2020, the majority were accessible in only three nations Britain, the U.S. and Sweden. There are also often long delays before a drug is launched. Many companies have decided to delay or give up commercialization altogether, especially considering oncology and other areas provide incomparably higher returns. Switzerlands Novartis AG pulled the plug on its antibiotics research in 2018, saying it preferred to focus on cancer treatment. Frances Sanofi and the U.K.s AstraZeneca Plc have as well. Advertisement The OECD estimated in 2017 that it would take an extra $500 million per year over 10 years to bring to market four new first-in-class antibiotics in the next 10 years. A major U.K. government report in 2016 led by former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim ONeill concluded that it would cost $16 billion to overhaul the antibiotic pipeline to bring 15 new antibiotics to market over the next decade. Given the poor market incentives, a problem on this scale requires a coordinated multilateral approach. How many decades of work went into mRNA vaccines; how many scientists around the world, how much money from governments? This wasnt a miracle; it was built on clever funding, says Kevin Outterson, a law professor at Boston University and the executive director of CARB-X, a non-profit that is a major investor in antimicrobials. With vaccine development, the U.S. government took all the commercial questions off the table. Antimicrobials deserve similar and with a better funding model, investors will come too, he says. A combination of what health economists call push incentives and pull incentives are needed. Governments could offer push incentives tax credits or direct R&D funding to subsidize developments costs, as well as pull incentives, which reward companies that make it through regulatory approval and launch products. Advertisement The challenge is designing a system that ensures access to medicines without encouraging overprescription. Slowly, a number of countries are trying to address the issue. A U.K. pilot program pays companies for antimicrobials on a subscription basis, not on volumes used. (Its referred to as a Netflix model.) In the U.S., the bipartisan Pasteur Act also uses a delinking system to fund subscription contracts. But the U.K. pilot is too limited at present to incentivize new development, and the U.S. legislation has yet to pass Congress. France, Germany and Sweden all have initiatives too, but a more coordinated approach is missing. There may be glimmers of hope on the scientific front. Earlier this week, a group of Australian scientists said they found a way to defeat superbugs that had developed a resistance to antibiotics. Their approach was using treatments combining nanoparticles (ultrafine particles) with antibiotics. The use of nanotechnology to reduce the dose of antibiotics could help reduce the need for new antibiotic treatments, the authors said. The pandemic has taught us about the high cost of delayed action to global health crises as well as the enormous gains to be made when governments ensure that scientific innovation is incentivized. Our next test is to see whether we can remember those lessons. Advertisement More From Bloomberg Opinion: What Does Endemic Covid Mean? The Experts Dont Agree: Faye Flam Biden May Catch Putin in His Own Ukraine Trap: Leonid Bershidsky Gas Will Stay High Even After the Spat With Russia: Javier Blas This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. She was editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal Europe. More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion 2022 Bloomberg L.P. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load When Russian forces rolled into neighboring Georgia in 2008, they carried the baggage of an outdated Soviet-era military: subpar communications, old equipment and poor coordination. They even accidentally shot down their own planes. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight Nearly a decade and a half later, as the Kremlin considers mounting an equally overt invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the Russian military has advanced significantly and Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown a willingness to use it to get his way in global affairs. While we may see that Russias economic power is stagnant and global economic influence is in relative decline, Russian military power is not only not in decline but it has increased, said Michael Kofman, a Russian military analyst at the Virginia-based research group CNA. There is no evidence that Russia will become a lessened military threat in the future. Advertisement Nowhere is this more palpable than in Ukraine. If the worst of scenarios materializes, Kyiv could soon confront the full power of a Russian military that has changed markedly, even in the eight years since Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine and started a separatist war in the countrys east. On a Jan. 26 train ride from Kyiv to Kharkiv, in the east of the country, Ukrainians gave voice to their anxiety over a possible conflict with Russia. (Video: Whitney Shefte, James Cornsilk/The Washington Post) These days, the Russian force is steeled with recent combat experience in Syria, modernized equipment, improved coordination and management, and a more sophisticated ability to strike targets from the air and from afar, according to military analysts. It also has reorganized its units specifically to prosecute a possible new war in Ukraine and rehearsed scenarios that U.S. officials now fear could become real, all while cultivating an industry of private military contractors. Ukraine has made major military enhancements of its own. The United States has committed some $2.75 billion in military aid to Kyiv since 2014 and helped Ukraine reform its defense sector and expand its force structure. U.S. troops have rotated through the nation to train Ukrainian forces, and warfare against separatists on the front lines in eastern Ukraine has given Ukrainian soldiers significant combat experience. Advertisement But despite those advances, military analysts say the Ukrainian force has critical gaps and probably would be overwhelmed if Russia decided to mount a full-scale assault. On nearly every battlefield metric fighter jets, tanks, missiles, troop numbers Ukraine would find itself outmatched. Ukraine lacks significant naval or air power. Its paucity of modern air defenses means an initial air and missile campaign by Moscow could wipe out much of Ukraines military power and infrastructure off the bat. Already, Russia has moved Iskander missiles close to Ukraine, which could contribute to a shock and awe campaign before any Russian troops even cross the border. Apparently Ukraine will have to use these old, Soviet [air defense] systems, which will be very susceptible to all electronic warfare systems, and Russia will be able to control the airspace and, more or less, do whatever it wants there, said Kirill Mikhailov, an analyst at the Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent Russian open-source investigative organization that monitors Russias military. Advertisement Ukrainian forces have learned to fight from trenches in largely fixed front lines against the separatists in the eastern Ukraine region of Donbas but havent needed to maneuver nimbly across the country, as a broader Russian invasion could require. Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the former commander of U.S. Army Europe, said the Ukrainians can look to match the Russians on the ground, but its a different story when you talk about the air, maritime and long-range [weapons] fires. Despite some Russian soldiers posting on TikTok and other social media, Hodges said, overall the Russian force looks more professional. In 2019, Russia passed a law banning military personnel from using smartphones and posting to social media. In 2014, we could track almost every unit because some young sergeant was sending pictures to his girlfriend and saying, Here we are going across the border, Hodges said. I have seen little of that sort of indiscipline over the past months. A permanent buildup Not long after invading Ukraine in 2014, Russia set about reshaping its military to prepare for the possibility of fighting a far bigger, more traditional ground war with its western neighbor. Advertisement The result is formations like the 8th Guards Combined Arms Army, headquartered an hours drive from the Ukrainian border, in the Russian city of Novocherkassk. The 8th Guards helped turn the tides at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942-43, pushed the Nazis back through Ukraine and Poland and descended on Berlin in the final days of World War II, before standing the line across from NATO troops at Germanys tense Fulda Gap during the Cold War. The unit disbanded in the late 1990s. In 2017, Putin brought it back. Its revival fraught with intentional symbolism for a Kremlin that has demonized Ukrainians as Nazis and sought a new faceoff with the West is a key element in a broader buildup of large-scale Russian forces now permanently based by Ukraines border. According to the Ukrainian military, the 8th Guards oversee Russias separatist proxy fighters in Ukraines eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and the units commander entered the occupied Ukrainian territory last summer to conduct operations and combat training. Advertisement It was very much intentionally stood up after the Donbas conflict and the annexation of Crimea heated up, and they thought they might need to do something like this in the future and have a large-scale maneuver army to conduct operations against Ukraine, said Mason Clark, the lead Russia analyst at the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. The five-year-old unit, which has about 18,500 troops, could be used to push further into Ukraine from separatist territory or help occupy the coastline along the Sea of Azov, Clark said. Russia also revived another unit of World War II renown the 1st Guards Tank Army. The once-prestigious unit outside Moscow has been receiving some of the best new equipment and maintains a high level of readiness, and in recent months has been moving elements closer to Ukraine, primarily outside the Russian city of Voronezh. Advertisement The logistics of the current mass buildup are already demonstrating some of Moscows new skills. They absolutely did not have the capacity in 2014 to mobilize many elements of combined arms armies from the Eastern and Central military districts and send them all across the country to positions in Belarus and on the border, said Fred Kagan, director of the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute. They have been rehearsing that capability for years. Syria a 'live-fire training area' Russias intervention in Syria upended the Middle East but also changed the Russian military itself, particularly the Russian air force. Moscow deliberately rotated as many forces as possible through Syria, at times on extremely short deployments. According to the Kremlin, all Russian ground troop commanders now have combat experience, as do 92 percent of military pilots. Advertisement They made a point of treating Syria as their sort of live-fire training area, said Scott Boston, a senior defense analyst at the Rand Corp. There is certainly training value to giving a large portion of your force combat experience. Its just a completely different mind-set. Russias military is traditionally a land-based artillery army, capable of executing complicated logistics by rail. But during the Syria intervention, Moscow sought to refine its missile and airstrike capabilities and tested its capacity to coordinate airstrikes with ground offensives. Every weapons system that can fly, they tried in Syria, Kagan said. Part of that was so it could be a good weapons expo for them, but part of it was so they could figure out how to set up a command post, how to operate outside Russia, how to do medevac in a complicated environment, how to do strikes while having spetsnaz [special forces] guys run around with nasty dudes on the ground and how to coordinate with allies. They went to school on the lessons learned from Syria. At the end of 2014, the Russian military created a centralized war room in Moscow called the National Defense Management Center, tasked with coordinating forces and weapons in complex combat. The creation of the center signaled a broader focus that has been the subject of many Russian exercises: how Russian forces from different parts of the military can coordinate and take orders in combat, in part to avoid the problems of the short-lived 2008 Georgia war. The military has tried to push down expertise on using drones and electronic warfare to a more tactical level and embed those skills in Russian units, Boston said, and the force steadily has modernized its kit, in part by upgrading rather than replacing old equipment. Potential vulnerabilities Despite the Russian militarys many advances, questions persist about how the force would fare in an unprecedented full-scale invasion of a large country such as Ukraine, and there are indications that in some ways Russia miscalculated in 2014 thinking that a separatist uprising would be welcomed in a larger part of eastern Ukraine. Advertisement Boston said the Russian military has thought a lot about how to be less predictable and steer clear of easily templated operations in combat, but its not clear whether the force would be able to do that at scale in the sort of tank-war combat that hasnt really existed in decades. The Russian military still retains a sizable portion of conscripts about 30 percent as opposed to professional contract soldiers. Mikhailov, the Conflict Intelligence Team analyst, said the Russian government would be sensitive about sending conscripts into battle due to potential public outcry. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, said in a recent interview that despite the roughly 127,000 Russian forces encircling the nation, Moscow would need a million troops to occupy and hold a country as big as Ukraine. Hodges said he was skeptical of the Russian militarys ability to sustain operations in a full-blown war against Ukraine, with the demands of fuel and ammunition, and a possible insurgent pushback by large numbers of Ukrainians. Despite recent advances, the Russian militarys modernization is far from complete, and Moscow would also face the uncertainties of any war. History is awash with examples of strong militaries finding themselves in quagmires with lesser foes thanks to incorrect assumptions or fuzzy political aims. The Ukrainian military is overmatched, but its not nothing, Clark said. There are enough unknowns for the Russians there that could cause a lot of this to go haywire for them. GiftOutline Gift Article Placeholder while article actions load Man accused of selling gun to hostage-taker Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight A Texas felon who allegedly sold a pistol used to take hostages at a synagogue outside Dallas this month has been hit with a federal firearms charge, officials said Wednesday. According to a criminal complaint, Henry Williams, 32, sold the weapon used in the attack, a Taurus pistol, on Jan. 13 two days before Malik Faisal Akram used the gun to take four hostages at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Tex., a suburb of Dallas. Over the course of the 11-hour standoff, one hostage was released, and the other three ran for their lives at a moment when the gunman let his guard down. Seconds later, members of the FBIs Hostage Rescue Team rushed in and fatally shot Akram, officials have said. The complaint against Williams, filed in federal court in Texas, says it is illegal for him to possess a gun because he has a prior felony conviction for aggravated assault. Advertisement The complaint says FBI agents traced Williams from Akrams phone records. When FBI agents interviewed Williams on Monday, he allegedly admitted to selling Akram the gun on a street in Dallas, the complaint says. Williams allegedly told law enforcement officers that Akram said he would use the gun for intimidation to get money he was owed. Williams is not accused of knowing that Akram planned to take hostages. Akram, 44, interrupted Saturday services at the synagogue Jan. 15, demanding U.S. officials release Aafia Siddiqui, a convicted terrorist serving an 86-year sentence in a nearby federal prison. Devlin Barrett Appeals court blocks execution of inmate A federal appeals court on Wednesday blocked the state from executing an inmate convicted of killing a driver who gave him a ride, upholding a lower-court ruling that he cant be put to death unless the state uses an untested, new method. Advertisement A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit refused to lift a lower court order blocking the execution of Matthew Reeves, which originally was set for Thursday. The state attorney generals office said it would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, so its possible the execution still proceeds. Reeves, 43, was sentenced to die for the murder of Willie Johnson, who was killed by a shotgun blast to the neck during a robbery in Selma on Nov. 27, 1996, after picking up Reeves and others on the side of a rural highway. Reeves was 18 at the time. The dying man was robbed of $360, and then Reeves danced and mimicked Johnsons death convulsions at a party soon afterward, evidence showed. Alabama inmates had a chance to sign a form choosing either lethal inject or hypoxia as an execution method in 2018 after legislators approved the use of hydrogen, but Reeves was among the inmates who didnt fill out the form stating a preference. A poor reader, Reeves is intellectually disabled and wasnt capable of making such a decision without assistance that should have provided under the American With Disabilities Act, his lawyers argued. Advertisement With Reeves contending he would have chosen hydrogen hypoxia over lethal injection had he understood the form, the defense filed suit asking a court to halt the lethal injection citing the lack of assistance from prison officials under the law. U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. blocked the execution, ruling that Reeves had a good chance of winning the claim. Associated Press Man, teen charged in death of Chicago girl, 8 A teenage boy and a man were charged Wednesday with murder in last weekends death of an 8-year-old Chicago girl who was shot in the head by a gunman targeting someone else on the citys southwest side. Melissa Ortega of Chicago was walking on the street with her mother Saturday afternoon when someone fired shots at a 29-year-old alleged gang member who was leaving a nearby store, Police Superintendent David Brown said. The girl was pronounced dead Saturday at a hospital. Advertisement The man police believe was the intended target was shot in the back and was hospitalized. Melissa was a student at Emiliano Zapata Academy, an elementary school in the citys heavily-Mexican Little Village neighborhood, according to the Chicago Teachers Union. The girl and her mother moved to Chicago from Mexico last year, according to family members organizing an online effort to pay for a funeral expected to be held in Mexico. Associated Press GiftOutline Gift Article People look at cars abandoned in the Bronx borough of New York City after a night of extremely heavy rain last September. (Getty Images) Researchers say individuals should respond to the hazard most pressing at the time and be prepared to move locations if necessary. 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. Biotech giant CSL makes countless life-saving therapies, but theres one medicine it hopes gets thrown out before it ever has to be used. Each year the companys vaccine division, Seqirus, co-ordinates with venom suppliers across the country to collect poisons from Australias deadliest creatures and generate antivenoms. CSLs vaccine arm Seqirus collects venom from suppliers across Australia to make antivenom products. Antivenoms are generally an insurance policy. The preference is we stock the shelves, and then you throw it out because its expired and people havent had to need it, says executive director of manufacturing at Seqirus, Jonah Smith. The products are a small part of the companys overall portfolio, but obviously very critical, Smith says. Woodside is withdrawing from strife-torn Myanmar a year after then chief executive Peter Coleman drew flak for sympathising with the generals who staged a coup in February 2021. Chief executive Meg ONeill said there was no longer a viable option to develop gas from its 40 per cent owned joint venture in the country, known as the A-6 block. Woodside CEO Meg ONeill said it had been a responsible investor in Myanmar since 2013. Credit:Trevor Collens Given the ongoing situation in Myanmar, we can no longer contemplate Woodsides participation in the development of the A-6 gas resources, nor other future activities in-country, she said. The decision to end nine years of activity off the Myanmar cost will be expensive for Woodside. Labor leader Anthony Albanese has fired the first shot in a contest over the key federal seat of Gilmore, promising to rebuild an emergency services centre while signalling plans for local road projects closer to the election. With the NSW South Coast also crucial to a state byelection on February 12, federal and state Labor joined forces on Thursday to promise more help for bushfire brigades and communities still suffering from the black summer fires two years ago. Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Albanese said a Labor government would back more projects on the Princes Highway that runs through the electorates south of Sydney, as locals seek pledges to duplicate the main road in the way the Pacific Highway has been duplicated for most of its route in the states north. Well make a range of specific commitments during the campaign, he said. London: The European Union is suing China in the World Trade Organisation over what it says is Beijings economic coercion against member state Lithuania. The tiny eastern Baltic state angered Beijing when it said that the Taiwanese office in Vilnius would bear the name Taiwan instead of Chinese Taipei, which is used by nations to avoid offending China. Beijing has retaliated, expelling Lithuanias ambassador and withdrawing its own ambassador from the country, which has a population of fewer than 3 million. The Lithuanian Embassy is seen in Beijing. Credit:AP Lithuania and the EU are accusing Beijing of holding up Lithuanian exports as well as goods from European companies which use Lithuanian-made parts and of cutting exports to Lithuania. A new lawsuit was filed in Michigan on Thursday over shooting at Oxford High School that killed four students and wounded six other students and a teacher. Ethan Crumbley is being held without bond on two dozen counts, including murder. Credit: The lawsuit was announced by Detroit-area attorney Ven Johnson on behalf of the parents of one student who was slain on November 30 and others who witnessed the shootings. A fellow student, Ethan Crumbley, 15, is charged as an adult with murder and other crimes. His parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, later were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors have said the gun used in the shooting was bought days before by James Crumbley and their son had full access to it. Salisbury, MD (21801) Today Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 57F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Low 57F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%. Kye Parsons is the editor of WBOC.com. He came to WBOC with several years experience as an award-winning journalist on Delmarva. Prior to entering the world of multimedia, he worked as a newspaper editor and reporter. E-mail him at kparsons@wboc.com . Follow Kye Parsons 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 Wilmington, DE (19810) Today Some clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph. FILE - In this Friday, March 22, 2019, file photo, a marijuana plant is seen at Compassionate Care Foundation's medical marijuana dispensary in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. On Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, New Jersey lawmakers advanced legislation to establish a new recreational marijuana marketplace, which voters overwhelmingly approved on the ballot earlier in the month, but differed on key details. A bill released from the state Senate's Health and Social Services Committee Wednesday looks to ensure Delawareans never again have to make the choice of going to work sick or staying home and missing out on a paycheck. On January 26, 2022, SS1 for SB1, Sen. Sarah McBride's "Healthy Delaware Families Act," was released with four committee members in favor, one abstention, and one unfavorable. The bill creates a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program that would pay a weekly benefit of 80% of the covered individual's average weekly wages during the previous 12 months--the minimum length of time an individual would need to be employed at a company to qualify. The bill has undergone significant revisions since its appearance in session last year before it stalled. While McBride (D-Wilmington) said she could defend every component of the original bill, she understood compromise was necessary to get anything done legislatively. Part of that compromise was delaying implementation until 2025, should the bill makes its way all the way through the General Assembly. "What we know in other states is that paid family and medical leave is good for businesses, but as part of ongoing conversations, that was a request from various stakeholders, and that has been incorporated into the bill," McBride told WDEL Wednesday. "It's both a logistical compromise, to provide the state more time to build out the program, and a compromise with the business community to ensure that they have ample time to prepare for implementation and adoption of this benefit." Another adjustment included leave only being provided for immediate family members, including parents, spouses, or children. Others were maintaining 12 weeks of parental leave, but slashing in half leave for medical care, leave to care for a seriously ill family member, and leave to "address the impact of a family member's military deployment," to six weeks. Businesses with fewer than 25 employees would have to opt in to coverage for family caregiving and medical leave, while businesses with less than 10 would additionally have to opt in for parental leave. Businesses where two parents of a child work at the organization, they may be limited to a total of 12 weeks combined. "Every single compromise is difficult," McBride said. "I could absolutely defend every single component of the original bill. I believe that the original Senate Bill 1 was a good policy, and would be a good policy for Delaware workers and businesses alike. So every compromise was was difficult. Every compromise was painful." On the eve of Gov. John Carney's budget presentation Thursday, McBride was excited to see her legislation advance out of committee after having heard his very public support of SS1 for SB1 during his State of the State address the week prior. "Supporting businesses also means supporting the employees who work there. We know workers are not just looking for a job today. They're looking for a way of life, especially as they start a young family. They believe that good jobs should also support their families when they need that support the most, and I agree," Carney said on January 20, 2022. "Senator McBride has introduced legislation that would build on the work we've done for state employees and extend paid leave into the private sector. It's the right thing to do and it will make Delaware more attractive for younger workers for whom we are competing every day. I'd like to thank Senator McBride and Representative [Debra] Heffernan (D-Bellefonte) for their leadership on this very important issue." McBride said she'd "thoughtfully engaged" with Carney's with the governor's office on the issue after he displayed reluctance the previous session to sign off on the legislation if it made its way to his desk. "It deserved conversation with stakeholders across the state, which is what I did over the last year, meeting with business groups, meeting with labor, meeting with healthcare providers, meeting with workers, meeting with Delawareans who would be impacted by paid family medical leave," she said. "Governor Carney's support in the State of the State was an incredibly exciting addition to the momentum that this legislation has right now as we head into March, and hopefully we have a vote on the floor of the Senate." While both other lawmakers and members of the general public were largely supportive of the bill and called for its passage during Wednesday's committee hearing, there remained some reluctance, particularly among business-oriented groups, like Mike O'Halloran, representing National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)-Delaware. He took particular umbrage with the fund taking up to 1% of a paycheck, matched by both employee and employer, to fund the program. "Unfortunately, even with these changes, SS1 for SB1 is out of reach for Delaware small businesses. NFIB's jobs report for December shows nearly half--48% of all small business owners--are raising their compensation, up four points from November's jobs report, and a 48-year record-high reading," he said. "That means our job creators are doing what they can to attract and retain employees, but they're doing so within their means. In fact, when surveyed, 74% of Delaware members oppose the creation of a paid leave insurance fund that is paid for by a payroll tax, such as this." Scott Kidner, of the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce, and Joseph Fitzgerald, of the Ne Castle County Chamber of Commerce, both expressed thanks to the senator for her continued work finding compromise to the various portions of the edited bill, but maintained trepidation even in its current form. "A number of concerns remain among our membership," Fitzgerald said. "Many small businesses and nonprofits will find it exceedingly difficult to temporarily replace employees while out on leave. A few examples include companies using skilled trades people, educational institutions, medical practices, mobile practices, tech startups, etc. The payroll contribution required of employers will constitute a considerable expense for many small businesses and nonprofits." On the other side of the coin, many groups focused on workers or the betterment of humanity expressed support for how the implementation of such a bill would contribute to the betterment of society for individuals, like Charito Calvachi-Mateyko, coordinator of the Delaware Civil Rights Coalition. She told the story of two working mothers who both had to step away from their jobs after contracting COVID-19. "These two mothers who contribute tremendously to the economy became even more impoverished," she said. "And the industry lost two workers. A paid leave law will made a difference." McBride said that's all she wants to accomplish. "This is an important step forward to provide as much help as possible to as many Delawareans as possible," the senator said. "As we've seen over the last three years of this pandemic, no one should be forced to sacrifice their income in the face of an illness. And whether someone's dealing with COVID or cancer, whether it's a global public health crisis or an individual health crisis, the same principle and the same need applies." Read the full bill here: Louisville-based Texas Roadhouse has more than 600 restaurants across the United States. Louisville health officials say residents shouldn't let their guard down yet as omicron reaches peak Digital Producer Sam Draut is an award winning journalist from Louisville, Ky. with honors from SPJ and KPA. Prior to his time at WDRB, he served as editor of The Oldham Era. He graduated from the University of Louisville's College of Business School. Weatherford, TX (76086) Today Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 67F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEW HAVEN Nicole Donzello has battled a form of leukemia for nearly seven years now and is alive at least in part because of the 155 units of blood and blood products available to her during that time because of the generosity of others willing to donate. But right now, in the midst of a global pandemic, is a tough time to keep up with blood donations. If it were not for you giving all that blood, I would not be here, Donzello said Tuesday in a conference room adjacent to Yale New Haven Hospitals Smilow Cancer Hospital, flanked by Gov. Ned Lamont, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz and top Yale New Haven Health and American Red Cross officials. For about three weeks each time Donzello had chemotherapy, the Woodbridge woman was entirely dependent on donated blood platelets until her bone marrow began once again producing her own, she said. Donzello, who also has had two stem cell transplants, said the common denominator in all of my treatments for leukemia is the need for donated blood products. So it is particularly worrisome to her that the nation is in the midst of its worst national blood shortage in more than a decade and she, along with several other speakers, want people to consider donating. Were comfortable when theres a five-day supply of blood, said Richard Branigan, chief operating officer for the American Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island region. But we dont have that comfort level right now and there currently is just a one- or two-day supply, Branigan said. Its the worst blood shortage he has seen in his 10 years with the American Red Cross, he said. Branigan urged healthy people to consider donating and said there is particular need for O-positive and O-negative blood. People can make an appointment to give blood by going online to RedCrossBlood.org, or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). The Red Cross also has a dedicated blood donor app available for download. Nicoles just reminded us us that whatevers happened these past two years, life didnt stop, said Lamont, who also urged people to consider donating blood. When treating severed medical issues, theres not a lot of room for error, Lamont said. We need to make sure we have all the tools we need, and donated blood is one of them, he said. Having an adequate supply of blood products is critical, and for various reasons, fewer people are giving now than have in the past, said Yale New Haven Health Chief Executive Officer Marna Borgstrom. We believe that the risks of giving are quite low and the rewards are quite high, Borgstrom said. Bysiewicz pointed out that January is National Blood Donor Month. I ask people to come forward at this time when we have a national blood shortage because donating blood is really donating life to someone who has a major illness or injury, she said. In her own family, Bysiewicz said her mother-in-law, who lived with her family and helped she and her husband raise their children, had lymphoma and donated blood was something that was life-saving to her. Dr. Thomas Balcezak, Yale New Haven Healths chief clinical officer, said, This is a very important issue. The hospital uses 80 to 100 units of donated blood a day and we are very careful stewards of these resources. But there still is a greater need than there is a supply particularly when it comes to Type O blood, Balcezak said. About 40 percent of the population is Type O, he said. This is not just a one-and-done thing and there will continue to be a need for more blood for months to come, Balcezak said. In fact, we sometimes have to hold back on surgeries in order to make sure we have enough blood for those surgeries. mark.zaretsky@hearstmediact.com Contributed / Connecticut State Police GRISWOLD State police are asking for the publics help identifying a suspect in a bank robbery Tuesday afternoon. State police troopers were called to the Eastern Connecticut Savings Bank on Slater Avenue around 3 p.m. Tuesday, after a man walked in and handed the teller a note demanding money. Screenshot from the Town of Westport feed of the Board of Selectmen meeting. WESTPORT TEAM Westport, the towns diversity engagement committee, has announced the topic for its 2022 Teen Diversity Essay Contest. Now in its ninth year, the contest asks teens to address Why it can be so difficult to talk about race. Prior years challenges, which tackled topics from white privilege and Black Lives Matter to micro-aggressions and stereotypes have drawn widespread attention and engagement in Westport and beyond. From individuals to governments, on local, state and national levels, the discussion of race in the U.S. persists as a kind of national conundrum, stated TEAM Westport Chair Harold Bailey, Jr. Now in our ninth year of the Teen Diversity Essay Contest, TEAM Westport welcomes the opportunity for Westport youth to weigh in on the question as to why. The Westport Library is co-sponsoring the event and winners will be announced at a ceremony at the library targeted for 6 p.m. on April 4. The date is subject to COVID restrictions. The entry deadline for the essay contest is Feb. 25. Up to three cash prizes will be awarded, subject to the volume and caliber of entries received and at the discretion of the judges. The first prize is $1,000, second prize is $750, and third prize is $500. This years prompt is available, along with contest entry rules online at www.teamwestport.org. It is as follows: Why can it be so difficult to talk about race? Trevor Noah. award winning comedian, writer, and television host from South Africa says ... the first thing we have to do in any conversation is figure out what the words mean in the conversation that were having. In 1000 words or fewer describe what you would like to explain to people in your community who avoid or struggle with talking about race or acknowledging systemic racism or who apply a colorblind approach to issues. First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker encouraged teens to submit essays. I encourage the youth of our town to participate in discussions and programs that will enhance their experience in Westport, and ultimately, in the world beyond, she said. I am confident that through their words, they will demonstrate that Westport is a community that welcomes conversation. Westport Library Executive Director Bill Harmer said the library is pleased to continue to co-sponsor the event. The essay contest inspires students to challenge themselves and their assumptions about race and racism, Harmer said. We recognize that learning is a process and the essay contest is a valuable component in that process. 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. It is no surprise that early on in his career Mark Rylance portrayed Peter Pan for the RSC. When thinking of his great roles over the past fifteen years or so, the sense of the ultimate lost boy isn't far from the surface. When you think of Robert in Boeing Boeing, a deer in the headlights, or Rooster in Jerusalem, calling for the Gods, even Cromwell from Wolf Hall, a man whose background is far from the world he commands, Rylance is a master of the outsider who is not quite of the world he finds himself in. He adds another outsider now in the form of Ignaz Semmelweis, a pioneering Hungarian physician who in the discovery of the importance of washing your hands, not only seems a pioneer of the COVID age but also took childbirth from a horrific 9 per cent mortality rate down to under 1 per cent during his experimentation. Ignored by a profession who did not want to countenance the fact that it might be their own working practices that were putting their patients at risk, Semmelweis died without his findings being fully put into place. It is said that revolutionary ideas take 40 years to become readily accepted. There was no celebration of his ideas in his lifetime, instead, a breakdown and a stay in an institution brought his time to a shortened end. This leaves Stephen Brown's slightly overlong play, in collaboration with Rylance, with plenty of action to show, though with a slightly challenging protagonist at his centre. For it was said the man struggled to communicate and Rylance takes this creed to the max. He stumbles across almost every line, as though words can't quite communicate the depths of what he is getting at. His eyes appeal for understanding, even if his communication blocks rather than enlightens. It's a highly skilled piece of work, though one that unfortunately provides resonances of actors not being quite on top of his lines. It's a fascinating paradigm and part of the high-flying balancing act that makes any encounter with Rylance one to saviour. But I'm not sure it fully flies in quite the same way his best work does. Deciding to make it a time play (most of its action happens in the past) allows its creative team to create a dreamscape of a production. Violinists and dancers patrol the stage and the auditorium, stretching time in the way dreams often can- at 160 minutes it could do with a trim- and lit by Richard Howell with ethereal magic. It often looks beautiful, Antonia Franceschi's choreography, underscored by Adrian Sutton's score for live violins, bleeds into Ti Green's imposing mid-19th-century set, an oculus above appearing to be an ever-present voyeur into the dangers women in childbirth faced. In a production that you expect will be seen in London once Rylance has got Jerusalem out of the way, there is high-end support. Thalissa Teixeira is a sympathetic presence as Semmelweis' wife trying to make sense of her husband's past, though the play does not have much time for showing him as a loving family man which makes her devotion a bit wearying, while Jackie Clune is particularly powerful as a career Nurse who tragically proves the thesis around washing hands correct. As friends, allies, and enemies Sandy Grierson, Felix Hayes, Enyi Okoronkwo, Daniel York Loh, and Alan Williams provide plenty of variety. It's a classy production with plenty of artists working at the top of their game and the ideas seem even more resonant in a Covid world. Yet it lacks the frisson you feel when theatre really strikes a light. It drifts like those long nights of winter dreams and so lacks an urgency as a result. Writer, comedian and actor Barry Cryer has died. Known principally for his mammoth 50 years on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, Cryer cultivated a following after appearing in a variety of revues in London, at locations like the Windmill Theatre. He appeared alongside Susan Hampshire, Millicent Martin and Paul Scofield in comedy musical Expresso Bongo in the 1950s, with stage appearances peppered across an incredible career writing and reciting on radio, television and film. He acted as a guest narrator at the 2007 revue Side By Side By Sondheim, and toured frequently one of the foremost being alongside Willie Rushton in Two Old Farts in the Night Stephen Fry paid tribute to Cryer on social media, saying "One of the absolute greats of British comedy, Barry Cryer, is no more. A glorious, gorgeous, hilarious and gifted writer and performer who straddled all the comic traditions. Universally beloved farewell, Baz." Paul Miller, the artistic director of Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, will step down from his role. Miller said this morning: "After eight wonderful years at the Orange Tree Theatre, now is the right time for me to step down as artistic director and for a new person to lead the organisation into the future. "I couldn't be prouder of all the work that has been achieved in my time, with so many brilliantly talented colleagues and artists. We have produced over 70 shows and each one has had something special about them. Now is the perfect time for the OT to look to the future with renewed vision and purpose. It's a unique theatre and I shall miss it very much. I am enormously grateful to the many colleagues, audiences and supporters who have made my OT experience the highlight of my life. As I leave to seek new challenges, I shall watch with excitement as the OT continues to develop." Miller's time at the venue has been defined by a period of growth and development. Famously on his first day in office, Arts Council England announced their decision to remove the venue from the National Portfolio, which did not stop Miller and current executive director Hanna Streeter in their push towards making the space economically viable before the pandemic the space was projected to make its first significant surplus. Streeter added: "I am truly honoured to have worked alongside Paul over the last three years. Navigating the pandemic with no core funding has been a seismic challenge, though with Paul's tenacious leadership, artistic brilliance and overwhelming kindness, I never doubted that the OT would survive. Thanks also to our dedicated staff, freelancers and supporters we are in a stable position to recruit for a new artistic director, and what an exciting opportunity for someone exceptional to join us, we have huge amounts to look forward to." Notable productions across the Orange Tree's last eight years include Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon, which transferred to the National Theatre and the world premiere of Ali McDowall's Pomona. Richard Humphreys, OT Chair commented: "It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to work with Paul. Through inspirational creative direction and far-sighted strategic leadership his time at the Orange Tree has been transformative. "Paul leaves a strong and resilient company with a stellar artistic reputation and a first-class team in place to take the theatre forward and build on his legacy". Technical Officer, Geneva, Switzerland Organization: World Health Organization (WHO) Country: Switzerland City: Geneva Office: WHO Geneva, Switzerland Grade: P-4 Closing date: Monday, 14 February 2022 Technical Officer ( 2200503 ) Grade : P4 Contractual Arrangement : Temporary appointment under Staff Rule 420.4 Contract Duration (Years, Months, Days) : 1 year Job Posting: Jan 25, 2022, 10:59:29 AM The COVID-19 pandemic is showcasing the centrality of the (public) health sector as a (co)guarantor of countries security. Within this framework, EXO/WHE is taking the lead in a series of initiatives and programmes that will reinforce WHOs role in the public health space while strengthening the relationship with other national and international stakeholders. The WHO BRWG Secretariat has a programmatic and enablement role, fulfilling WHOs mandate vis-a-vis UN BRWG as well as facilitating and harmonize WHOs work on biorisk. It will be led by EXD/WHE, across relevant divisions/departments and ROs (with representatives/focal points) and will follow the UNCMT-model. It will be hosted by EXO/WHE. This programme aims to bring together emergency actors, research and academic institutions, international and national partners to design, develop and test technical solutions that will contribute to public health, individual care, and operational field research. DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES Within the framework of the delegated authority, the incumbent is assigned all or part of the following responsibilities: Coordinating the overall management functions as well as the operational and financial management of the assigned programmes, including the management of the timely implementation of workplans ensuring timely submission of financial and progress reports as required. Coordinating WHOs engagement with partners across the assigned programmes, by preparing presentations, and drafting talking points, policy and technical briefings, and notes for the record. Updating the development and packaging of evidence-based tools and resources for partner-led advocacy, including policy briefs, advocacy toolkits, meeting programmes, speeches, media advisories, reports and/or peer-reviewed journal articles. Leads and conducts research on best practices in implementing programmes and activities and dissemination of information for capacity building in the respective areaof work. Conducting the project planning and management including preparing technical reports, draft concept notes, briefings and information products. Coordinating the WHO Biorisk Working Group Secretariat; supporting the organization, conducting and following up on meetings of the WHO BRWG Secretariat; coordinating the collection of quarterly reports on biorisk activities. Coordinating interagency initiatives between WFP and WHO for the development of standardized technical solutions for health emergency response. Perform other related responsibilities, including replacing and/or backstopping. Provide support the WHO COVID-19 Mass Gathering Cell when and if needed. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS Education Essential: An advanced university degree in any of the following disciplines: Project Management, Business Administration, International Relations, Public Administration, Law, Economics, Public Health or other relevant fields. Desirable: Knowledge of health security, mass gatherings and/or International Health Regulations. Knowledge of PRINCE2 or other project management methodology. Experience Essential: Aminimum of 7 years of progressive professional experience in project development and project management, including in emergency contexts. Experience in managing multiple stakeholders in complex settings is required, including interagency coordination and working with government authorities. Experience in defining reporting systems and in preparing progress and final reports for stakeholders as well as other key products to inform decision making. Desirable: Experience in the health emergency preparedness; experience with coordinating and/or running technical projects; experience of working with the UN or international organizations; working experience in developing countries. Fundraising experience including the ability to prepare funding proposals. Skills Ability to translate complex contents into easy-to-digest visual presentations and briefs. Ability to work and produce results under pressure and meet deadlines, especially within the context of rapidly changing priorities. Ability to conduct research and to develop of guidance and tools. Understanding of WHO research, guidance and/or guidelines development processes. Knowledge of project planning and management including experience in preparing technical reports, draft concept notes, technical documents and information management products. c5iRlF5 Dh7qKS Excellent written and oral communication skills. Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, communication, consultative and diplomatic skills in liaising with multiple internal and external stakeholders. Expertise in editing/proofreading and familiarity with UN and/or WHO style is a plus. WHO Competencies Teamwork Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences Communication Producing results Driving the Organizations Position in Health Leadership Use of Language Skills Essential: Expert knowledge of English. Intermediate knowledge of French. Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of WHO Language. REMUNERATION WHO salaries for staff in the Professional category are calculated in US dollars. The remuneration for the above position comprises an annual base salary starting at USD 74,913 (subject to mandatory deductions for pension contributions and health insurance, as applicable), a variable post adjustment, which reflects the cost of living in a particular duty station, and currently amounts to USD 5225 per month for the duty station indicated above. Other benefits include 30 days of annual leave, allowances for dependent family members, home leave, and an education grant for dependent children. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This vacancy notice may be used to fill other similar positions at the same grade level Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. A written test may be used as a form of screening. In the event that your candidature is retained for an interview, you will be required to provide, in advance, a scanned copy of the degree(s)/diploma(s)/certificate(s) required for this position. WHO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU)/United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed through the link: http://www.whed.net/. Some professional certificates may not appear in the WHED and will require individual review. Any appointment/extension of appointment is subject to WHO Staff Regulations, Staff Rules and Manual. Staff members in other duty stations are encouraged to apply. For information on WHOs operations please visit: http://www.who.int. WHO is committed to workforce diversity. WHO prides itself on a workforce that adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards and that is committed to put the WHO Values Charter into practice. WHO has zero tolerance towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct (i.e., discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment). All members of the WHO workforce have a role to play in promoting a safe and respectful workplace and should report to WHO any actual or suspected cases of SEA, sexual harassment and other types of abusive conduct. To ensure that individuals with a substantiated history of SEA, sexual harassment or other types of abusive conduct are not hired by the Organization, WHO will conduct a background verification of final candidates. WHO has a smoke-free environment and does not recruit smokers or users of any form of tobacco. WHO has a mobility policy which can be found at the following link: http://www.who.int/employment/en/. Candidates appointed to an international post with WHO are subject to mobility and may be assigned to any activity or duty station of the Organization throughout the world. Applications from women and from nationals of non and underrepresented Member States are particularly encouraged. Link to the organizations job posting: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1643132757371 Willmar, MN (56201) Today Cloudy. Low near 45F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. Low near 45F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Winchester, VA (22601) Today A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight A few passing clouds, otherwise generally clear. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph. Ejecting Zoom bombers, co-ordinating acts from as far away as the Philippines and cracking puns; its all in a nights work for Angeline Schellenberg, the host of Winnipegs longest-running poetry open-mic reading series. Ejecting Zoom "bombers," co-ordinating acts from as far away as the Philippines and cracking puns; its all in a nights work for Angeline Schellenberg, the host of Winnipegs longest-running poetry open-mic reading series. "Im there to make every Speaking Crow event look and feel great: I guess that makes me an accessory to murder," Schellenberg says drily. She started hosting duties in March 2020 but with COVID-19 , the event, previously held at the Carol Shields Auditorium in the Millennium Library, shifted online and into the homes of the attendees. Speaking Crow Click to Expand Find Speaking Crow on Facebook @SpeakingCrow. Gatherings take place every first Tuesday of the month. The next event is on Feb. 1. Entry is free for both performers and audience members. "I only hosted in person one more time at the library; most of my work as been on Zoom," says Schellenberg, who had twice subbed for former host Steve Locke. Speaking Crow evenings kick off with poem about a crow (a group of crows is called a murder) and a 15-minute performance by an accomplished Manitoba poet or spoken word artist, followed by an open mic. "I work hard to bring in a diverse mix of featured readers," Schellenberg says. "I call on some poetry superstars like Dennis Cooley, Di Brandt and Duncan Mercredi, but I also love introducing the community to new artists like first-time author Tamar Rubin and young slam poet Victoria Redsun." For Schellenberg the move from real life to virtual brings its own challenges. As the host, there are more things to think about when running an online reading, and its also harder to soak in the poems, she says. "Im sure Im not the only writer who misses hearing the audiences reactions as I read," she says. "The laughs, gasps, sighs and claps were valuable feedback on which lines hit home." RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Angeline Schellenberg moderates Speaking Crow, Winnipegs longest-running poetry open mic series. Although the library was a convenient location for people living downtown, Zoom is more accessible in some ways, but less so in other ways. "Weve lost a few regulars who may be uncomfortable on camera, lack reliable access to the internet, or feel all Zoomed-out from work or school by the end of the day," Schellenberg says. Teacher Ted Landrum began attending Speaking Crow at Aqua Books in the summer of 2008 and has continued to participate since its moved online. "I have missed a few, but try to join every month if I can. Poetry is all the more urgent when people are isolated, and society is even more fragmented than usual," Landrum says. "We might be connecting online, but the exchange is real-life, because language is real-life, and so is poetry."The benefits of moving online outweigh the disadvantages of virtual events, they say. "Weve widened our reach. Writers who found it difficult to attend due to distance or disability can now come," Schellenberg says. Ive heard from grateful attendees whove wanted to come for years but didnt have the health or confidence to do so in person." Weve widened our reach. Writers who found it difficult to attend due to distance or disability can now come. Angeline Schellenberg Being online has made poetry more inclusive, Landrum adds. "The space and place of a live, in-person poetry reading, is never reducible to the single place where the people participating have physically assembled; a poem read, whether aloud or silently, has many places in it, just as a poem has many voices in it, some muted, others not," Landrum says. "A poem happens wherever people hear it, see it, or project it." Fiona Smith, who read at Speaking Crow for the first time last February, credits the experience for "opening up her world." Following her performance, Smith was inspired to attend a virtual writing workshop, which culminated in her reading at last years online international World Poetry Day event. "Joining led me to consider other possibilities. Who knew that showing up for a virtual night of poetry could have such big ripples! Clearly, there is magic in Speaking Crow," Smith says. Landrum has also benefited from the regular gatherings. "The opportunity to exchange poetry sustained on a regular basis has led to a book of poems I might not otherwise have been able to publish," he says. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ENT "We want to make it safe for everybody so they can say what they want without fear of being hurt," Schellenberg said. The Zoom events unfold in the same way they did pre-pandemic with one big exception: the online audience is muted while performers read. "To make sure there are no Zoom bombers, everyone stays muted. Zoom bombers are people who somehow find our link and come into the meeting," she explains, adding that on one occasion a young reader was interrupted by a "bomber" yelling insults. "It was upsetting," she says. "We want to make it safe for everybody so they can say what they want without fear of being hurt." Poetry themes range from heavy-hitting topics such as politics and religion to odes to Star Trek and paeans to pelicans. Loss has also been a common theme during the pandemic, while others have written about walks in nature and concern with environmental issues. Schellenberg is happy with the breadth of writers who now read at Speaking Crow. Its rare to find a community so inclusive, where things like class, religion or politics that often divide people dont matter, she adds. "Since going digital, weve been enriched by voices from Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia, the U.K., California and the Yukon. "A poet from the Philippines performed to the accompaniment of crowing roosters outside his window since his time zone is 14 hours ahead, it was already morning," she says enthusiastically. Since going digital, weve been enriched by voices from Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia, the U.K., California and the Yukon." Angeline Schellenberg "Retired professors read alongside high school students, new parents perform with their children on their laps. "A few have read poems about their work as teachers, cooks, architects or editors, or about the challenges of being unemployed or on disability, but I dont know what most of them do, because its not important: were all there because we love poetry." With all these advantages that the online platform brings, will Speaking Crow ever return to the Millennium Library? "I hope someday we can return to meeting face-to-face but at this point we dont have plans to do it in person," she says. "We are just waiting to see what happens. We all really hope that if and when we go back to going in person we wont lose our online presence and the people who perform online. "I dont want to exclude anybody." Twitter: @nuchablue NEW YORK (AP) Hopes that a few of last year's biggest box-office hits, Spider-Man: No Way Home and No Time to Die, might join the best-picture Oscar race were dealt a blow on Thursday when several of Hollywood's top guilds announced their film nominations. This image released by 20th Century Studios shows, from left, Ilda Mason as Luz, Ariana DeBose as Anita, and Ana Isabelle as Rosalia in "West Side Story." (Niko Tavernise/20th Century Studios via AP) NEW YORK (AP) Hopes that a few of last year's biggest box-office hits, Spider-Man: No Way Home and No Time to Die, might join the best-picture Oscar race were dealt a blow on Thursday when several of Hollywood's top guilds announced their film nominations. The Producers Guild nominations are considered one of the strongest predictors for what films are most likely to make the Academy Awards best-picture field. Both the PGA Awards and the film academy use a preferential voting ballot and choose 10 nominees, and their picks often closely overlap. The 10 films up for the producers' top prize, the Darryl F. Zanuck Award, are: Being the Ricardos," Belfast, CODA, Don't Look Up, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, The Power of the Dog, tick, tick ... BOOM! and West Side Story. Not every PGA nominee always makes it to a best picture nomination, but in the past three years only one film ("The Father," last year) joined the Oscar field after missing out with the PGA. The producers, who have nominated films like The Dark Knight," Deadpool" and Skyfall, are also more likely to nominate big-budget successes than the academy. So that the PGA overlooked No Time To Die and Spider-Man: No Way Home both of which harbor outside Oscar hopes suggests their chances are slim at the Academy Awards. While the producers nominated a number of starry, bigger-budget films in Dune (which sold the most tickets of the bunch) and West Side Story, five of the nominees came from streamers. Netflix released The Power of the Dog, tick, tick ... BOOM! and Don't Look Up. Apple backed CODA, and Amazon Prime Video put out Being the Ricardos. Warner Bros.' Dune and King Richard were also released simultaneously on HBO Max. Later Thursday, the Directors Guild followed up with their nominations. The nominees for the DGA Awards' top honor are: Paul Thomas Anderson ("Licorice Pizza"), Kenneth Branagh ("Belfast"), Jane Campion ("The Power of the Dog"), Steven Spielberg ("West Side Story") and Denis Villeneuve ("Dune"). Those nominees not only give a snapshot of the most likely Oscar nominees for directing, but also suggest those five films are favorites for a best picture nomination. In the last decade, every DGA nominated film has scored a best-picture nod at the Academy Awards. Campion, a DGA nominee for 1993's The Piano," is only the second woman to be nominated twice for the guild's top award. It's Spielberg's 12th nomination from the Directors Guild, not including the lifetime achievement award he was given in 2000. He's won three times before. Four women were among the guild's nominees for best first feature for directing. The nominees are: Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter), Rebecca Hall (Passing), Tatiana Huezo (Prayers for the Stolen), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Tick, Tick BOOM!), Michael Sarnoski (Pig) and Emma Seligman (Shiva Baby"). Voting for Oscar nominations began Thursday as the guild nominations were rolling in. That timing could be the guild awards could have a greater influence on this year's thus-far largely virtual awards season due the pandemic. It's also a lengthier one, with the Oscars set for March 27. Nominations for the 94th Academy Awards will be announced Feb. 8. The Writers Guild turned to many of the same films in their nominations Thursday. Up for best original screenplay at the WGA Awards are: Being the Ricardos, Don't Look Up, The French Dispatch, King Richard and Licorice Pizza. The nominees for best adapted screenplay are: CODA, Dune, Nightmare Alley, tick, tick ... BOOM! and West Side Story. 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. A handful of notable contenders weren't eligible for WGA Awards, including Belfast, The Power of the Dog" and The Lost Daughter. A full list of the PGA Awards nominees is available at: https://www.producersguild.org/. They will be handed out March 19. The Directors Guild Awards, which are listed at https://www.dga.org/awards/annual.aspx, will take place March 12. The Writers Guild Awards, to take place March 20, are listed at: https://awards.wga.org/awards/nominees-winners. ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP The version of the annual Winnipeg New Music Festival that kicked off Tuesday night was a shadow of its typically buzzing former self, but you wouldnt have known it from the reaction of the small but mighty in-person audience. The version of the annual Winnipeg New Music Festival that kicked off Tuesday night was a shadow of its typically buzzing former self, but you wouldnt have known it from the reaction of the small but mighty in-person audience. Provincial public health orders limit house capacity to a maximum of 250 listeners, with each WNMF concert also being streamed live. Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra music director Daniel Raiskin, who co-curates the WNMF with WSO composer-in-residence Harry Stafylakis both appeared onstage Tuesday for the first of the the fests three programs, Digital Landscapes noted this years event is a step closer to greater normalcy. Last years festival was presented wholly via digital technology to an empty Centennial Concert Hall. Originally billed as a full lineup of six nightly shows plus satellite events slated for Jan. 22-28, the WSO performed its own pandemic pivot mere weeks ago to reimagine and recreate this years WNMF, which has now morphed into a compact series of three contemporary concerts that wraps up Friday. Manitoba-born, Toronto-based composer Eliot Brittons highly evocative Hyperscale Landscape performed by guest percussionist/drummer Ben Reimer and WSO assistant conductor Naomi Woo on piano, and juxtaposed with an electronic soundscape quickly belied its high-tech trappings to reveal a deeply poetic, often mesmerizing beating heart. The immediately engaging work included a projection on a large upstage screen that featured microscopic images of dandelion fluffs and blades of grass paired, courtesy of artificial information technology, with mirrored close-ups of parts of musical instruments. Brittons drawing together of these parallels between the naturalistic and private studio worlds of professional musicians offered its own special magic. The digitally infused program also (wisely) included an unplugged offering. WSO concertmaster Gwen Hoebig who has performed in virtually every festival since its inception by its co-founders, former WSO maestro Bramwell Tovey and composer-in-residence Glenn Buhr appeared alongside associate concertmaster Karl Stobbe in German-born composer Michael Oesterles Eulerian Dances. Daniel Crump / Winnipeg Free Press Pianist (and WSO assistant conductor) Naomi Woo plays Eliot Brittons Hyperscale Landscape. The four-movement piece from 2013 is based on 18th-century mathematician Leonard Eulers work in graph theory and its a thoughtful, musically complex work in which the two string instruments interweave their polyphonic, linear lines and trade off each other. The sudden rhythmic outbursts, cascading runs and ethereal harmonics were performed admirably by these two pillars of the orchestra. Canadian composer Nicole Lizees Juno-nominated Katana of Choice once again featuring percussionist Reimer with filmed visuals is a wonderfully imaginative, quirky and at times downright disturbing work. It includes flashing images of tiny toy skeletons, a smoking gun and the drummer appearing onscreen in a gaping-eyed, white face mask, taking listeners/viewers into a surreal world where anything can happen. Kudos to Reimer for his virtuosic performance, including woozy tempo changes against Lizees highly textural electronic score, punctuated by Morse-code rat-a-tat rhythms that gradually build to a climax. However, there must still be meaning to a work, and Katanas kaleidoscopic, dizzying, fragmented nature perhaps reflecting a postmodern ideology countered its own admittedly enthralling visual/aural romp on the wild side. 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. Finally, the Canadian premiere of Stafylakiss Therein Lies the Enemy, which included a language, content, and noise warning, bellowed like a cry from the depths. The work was composed in his New York City hometown, which was a pandemic epicentre during those earliest, terrifying days of the first-wave lockdown in 2020. Billed as a plea for personal accountability and nuance in todays social-media steeped world, Stafylakiss self-described angry work, performed once again by Reimer doing yeomans duty, is a timely look at the indeterminably increasing scale of vitriol, ranging from anti-vaccine sentiment to personal vendettas. Theres no denying this pieces rawness, its strong ethos in keeping with the composer/guitarists loud n proud prog metal roots. He also wisely builds in necessary moments of respite. However, its accompanying text narration, which helped unify the compositionally dense work, often became buried in the overall mix, diluting its sonic impact. And the shock of those promised F-bombs would have been heightened by a final, extended explosive outburst by Reimer; instead, it was strangely anti-climatic as the work pulled its punches rather than ending literally with a bigger, more powerful bang. The Winnipeg New Music Festival continues tonight with the local debut of New York City-based pianist Steven Beck in WNMF2, and wraps up Friday with WNMF3: The Last Word, featuring WSO players led by Daniel Raiskin. For tickets, or further information, visit wnmf.ca. holly.harris@shaw.ca TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo moved closer to Senate confirmation Wednesday after a tense hearing where Democrats accused the state's top doctor of evading questions on his coronavirus policies and stormed out before casting their votes. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with his son, Mason, listen as Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida surgeon general, addresses the media during a news conference in Jacksonville, Fla., on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022 to discuss COVID-19 testing policy and monoclonal antibody treatment availability. The event was relocated from the Department of Children and Families office building to the adjacent FDLE building after protesters, wanting to address the governor, refused to leave the initial news conference site. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP) TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo moved closer to Senate confirmation Wednesday after a tense hearing where Democrats accused the state's top doctor of evading questions on his coronavirus policies and stormed out before casting their votes. Ladapo, appointed in September by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, has drawn national scrutiny over his alignment with the governor in resisting COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other virus polices embraced by the White House and federal health officials. At the hearing Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Health Policy, Democrats tried to pin Ladapo down with "yes or no" questions on whether he believed vaccines and masks work against coronavirus and other topics, but were often met with lengthy answers from Ladapo. "What I hear is arrogance and polite avoidance," said Sen. Janet Cruz, a Democrat. "So if you wouldn't mind all of this fond rhetoric that you are applying, can we just get straight answers so that more people can hear more information." 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. In one exchange, Democratic Sen. Lauren Book repeatedly pressed Ladapo on whether he found coronavirus vaccines to be effective. Ladapo responded: "yes or no questions are not that easy to find in science." Florida Surgeon Gen. Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, left, speaks at a news conference with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) He continued, "The most commonly used vaccines in the United States, which would be the Pfizer product and the product that was developed by Moderna, have been shown to have relatively high effectiveness for the prevention of hospitalization and death, and over time, relatively low protection from infection," he said. In another exchange, Book grilled the surgeon general on whether he regretted his decision to refuse a face mask when meeting with a Democratic state lawmaker in October who told him she had a serious medical issue and later revealed a breast cancer diagnosis. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says cancer patients are at a higher risk to get severely ill from COVID-19 and may not build the same immunity to vaccines. "Consistent with my approach to clinical care and my approach to health policy issues, I think it's very important to respect people's personal preferences and I think that's a mutual issue," Ladapo said. "So it's important to respect people's preferences and I think that when people's preferences may differ, the goal ought to be to find a way where those individuals can achieve whatever outcome they're aiming to achieve in a way that leaves everyone mutually comfortable." After several more rounds of back and forth, Book told the committee "we don't feel that we're getting any answers" and said Democrats would leave the room, refusing to vote on Ladapo's confirmation. After the walkout, Republicans, who control the committee, quickly voted to move the surgeon general's confirmation forward. Ladapo must receive an additional approval from a separate committee and the full Senate before he is officially confirmed. OTTAWA - Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says nobody wants a planned anti-vaccination protest on Parliament Hill this weekend to turn into a violent attempt to overthrow the government and warned people not to dismiss the protesters as simple freedom fighters. The front lawn of the Parliament buildings is shown in Ottawa, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Parliament Hill security is preparing for up to 10,000 protesters to set up camp in downtown Ottawa this weekend pushing back against lockdowns and vaccination mandates.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says nobody wants a planned anti-vaccination protest on Parliament Hill this weekend to turn into a violent attempt to overthrow the government and warned people not to dismiss the protesters as simple freedom fighters. Several thousand people are expected in Ottawa as early as Friday as part of the Canada Unity group demanding an end to vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions. Some of the group's leaders are calling for a peaceful event, but statements from some associated with the group have included threats of violence. Mendicino said multiple police forces including the Ottawa Police Service, RCMP and Parliamentary Protective Service are co-ordinating the response and are making decisions independent of any government involvement. Ottawa police warned Thursday they won't tolerate criminal behaviour. "Police and our partners are focused on providing a safe environment for the community and demonstrators," the Ottawa Police Service said in a statement on Twitter. "We are aware of inappropriate and threatening language on social media related to this event. We welcome peaceful demonstrations. That said, public safety is paramount there will be consequences for persons engaging in criminal conduct, violence and/or activities promoting hate." The road in front of Parliament Hill is to be closed to general traffic, with two lanes reserved for the convoy and two for emergency vehicles. Buildings in the Parliamentary district are being closed and locked except for essential staff as of Friday and workers warned of threats of physical damage. Christian Laplante, an asset manager at Public Services and Procurement Canada, also said "vulnerable areas on Crown sites are being secured as a precautionary measure." "There are some security concerns regarding the anticipated energy and disruptive goals of this convoy," he wrote Friday to people with offices in government buildings in the area. "Please be prepared to secure your operations as you see fit." Patrick McDonell, the sergeant-at-arms in charge of House of Commons security, wrote to MPs Thursday warning of reports some demonstrators were seeking out home addresses for MPs in the Ottawa area. He said if their homes or constituency offices are targeted they should not engage, but close and lock all exterior doors and get somewhere safe. "If the situation becomes volatile and your security is at risk, call 911 and consider evacuating your location," he said. Kim Ayotte, the City of Ottawa's general manager of emergency and protective services, said in a statement Thursday that "impacts are anticipated to be felt" from Friday to Sunday as demonstrators arriveinthe downtown core. The city is working with the Ottawa Police Service to develop traffic and parking management plans, and updates will be shared throughout the weekend, said Ayotte. He said the city is working with police and other partners to ensure the safety of the public is maintained, and that dedicated lanes are kept clear for emergency vehicles. Devin Froislie, general manager of the Villagia in The Glebe retirement home, said the facility has already begun to brace itself for potential disruptions. Froislie said the home's partner agencies, which provide government-subsidized care for residents, have indicated their staff may have difficulty coming to the building over the next day or so. The agencies have asked Villagia to havebackupplans to step in and provide that care to residents. "It's an extreme inconvenience," he said. "It doesnt make things easier for us, and we do more with less. If we're short-staffed then it's a lot of extra work for the team." He said at an event held for residents Wednesday, the convoy was a topic of conversation at most tables. Louann Sayeau, general manager of Governors Walk Retirement Residence in New Edinburgh, said she does not expect the potential traffic disruptions to affect them very much, though she has personally reached out to her staff to ensure they are able to come in if something happens. The protest was spawned after truckers stopped being exempted from the vaccine mandate at the Canadian border on Jan. 15. It means non-Canadian truckers won't be allowed in unless they are vaccinated and unvaccinated Canadians need to quarantine for two weeks after delivering their load. The United States policy preventing unvaccinated Canadian truckers from entering the U.S. took effect Jan. 22. A GoFundMe page set up by organizers has garnered $6.4 million in donations. The money is to go toward the cost of fuel, food, and accommodations for participating protesters, according to the fundraising campaign page. A spokesperson for GoFundMe said in a statement Thursday that it is following its "standard verification process" and working with the campaign organizer to ensure funds are distributed as the organizer has stated, in compliance with the law and its terms of service. An initial $1 million has been withdrawn by the organizer to cover fuel costs of participants "who are peacefully protesting," the spokesperson said. Canada Unity's website includes a "memorandum of understanding" demanding Gov. Gen. Mary Simon and the Senate join with them to order the federal and all provincial and territorial governments to lift any remaining COVID-19 restrictions, waive all fines and cancel "illegal" vaccine passports. There is nothing in the Constitution allowing for such orders to occur and Mendicino said nobody should "trivialize the organizers' distorted claims that this is a protest about freedom." "It's not," he said Thursday in an interview. "It's about a fringe group, many of whom are not truckers, who are spreading lies, about vaccines, about health workers, and frankly, about the media. And the vast majority of Canadians reject those extremist views. And they understand that if we really want to safeguard our freedoms and vaccines and vaccine mandates are the best way to get ourselves out of the pandemic." Canada Unity organizer Tamara Lich, a member of the Maverick Party, which advocates for greater autonomy for Western Canada or its separation from the country, has urged people to remain peaceful and asked convoy participants to report anyone inciting violence or spouting hatred. But there are links between some convoy participants and white supremacist ideology, and in one YouTube video, that has since been taken down, one man pushed for the protest to become a repeat of the riot that overtook the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., a year ago. In another video posted Thursday on the group's Facebook page, one supporter said "failure is not an option. Surrender is not an option." Mendicino said there are bright lines around hate speech, lies and calls for violence that cannot be measured as free speech or legitimate protest. "I think there has to be a very clear point of departure from what is free speech and expression and the kind of incitement to encourage others to take up arms, to create a Jan. 6 riot type event here in Canada," he said. "And there needs to be a very bright line of condemnation and denunciation around that." Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre warned against painting all the convoy participants as extremists just because some in the ranks may be expressing those views. "Whenever you have five or ten-thousand people who are part of any group, you're bound to have a number who have or say unacceptable things and they should be individually responsible for the things they say and do," he said. "But that doesn't mean we disparage the thousands of hard-working, law-abiding, and peaceful truckers, who quite frankly, have kept all of you alive the last two years by filling your grocery shelves with the food that you eat, and filling your homes with the products that you rely upon." 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. Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said Thursday that he would meet with some of the truckers from the convoy, only days after initially refusing to say whether he supported their efforts. O'Toole said he and his MPs support the truckers and have long stood against the vaccine mandate they now face. In the same breath, O'Toole also denounced people involved in the convoy who are espousing racist and extremist ideas. "This convoy is really about Mr. Trudeau and the fact that people are tired, there's a fatigue in this country, there's division and there aremillions of people who feel they're no longer being heard," he said. "There are other groups using the plight of truckers to bring division, hatred, and we need to call that out and stamp it out because it's also depriving people's ability to have their voice heard in Ottawa." The Canadian Trucking Alliance has disavowed the protest and said more than 85 per cent of truckers are vaccinated. Many truckers have also posted on social media they continue to do their jobs and that the convoy doesn't speak for them. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2021. REGINA - Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer says the province is considering whether to lift some COVID-19 measures but emphasized that booster shots will remain critical in reducing serious illness and preserving the health-care system. Saskatchewan Chief Medical Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab speaks at a COVID-19 media update at the Legislative Building in Regina on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Shahab says Saskatchewan is considering lifting some of its COVID-19 measures as spring nears. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell REGINA - Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer says the province is considering whether to lift some COVID-19 measures but emphasized that booster shots will remain critical in reducing serious illness and preserving the health-care system. Dr. Saqib Shahab said conversations are ongoing with the Saskatchewan Party government about which public health orders will be needed as society learns to live with the virus. He said there needs to be a long-term plan as the pandemic will soon enter its third year in Canada. The World Health Organization declared the pandemic on March 11, 2019. "As we see our cases crest and come down, Saskatchewan, just like many other jurisdictions, will have to see what is the optimum way to navigate out from this," Shahab said Wednesday. "We have to change our policies and orders to adjust for our changing realities." Premier Scott Moe told the John Gormley radio show Wednesday that some restrictions have run their course and his government's goal is to remove all restrictions when it is able to. Moe declined to provide any details but more information is expected in the coming days. The province's current public health orders include a mask mandate, a requirement to self isolate for five days after testing positive for COVID-19 and proof of vaccination or a negative test to get into most establishments. The public health orders are in place until the end of February. Shahab said booster shots are key to limiting the effects of the pandemic. Data from the Saskatchewan government shows 47 per cent of eligible adults have received their booster shot, a figure which Shahab said is beginning to lag. "There has been data from throughout Canada that shows the benefit of boosters in terms of preventing hospitalizations and death, even with Omicron, which is more transmissible, but less severe (than Delta)," he 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. Earlier this week, Dr. Joseph Dahine, an intensive care specialist at Cite-de-la-Sante in Laval, Que., said the hospital he works at has yet to see someone with three doses of vaccine being hospitalized in its ICU. This includes people who have chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes, he said. "Vaccines remain something that may not protect you from testing positive, but it will definitely protect you towards requiring ICU care," Dahine said in an interview. Dahine said he often hears complaints from people who don't want a third shot but added they would not make such comments if it was a pill. Saskatchewan reported 315 people in hospital with COVID-19 Wednesday, including 33 in intensive care. The province had a test positivity rate of 33 per cent. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2022. TORONTO - Uber Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with a private sector union that will provide representation to Canadian drivers and couriers, but does not unionize workers. People make their way into the building that houses the headquarters of Uber, Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in San Francisco. Uber Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with a private sector union that will provide representation to Canadian drivers and couriers, but the deal stops short of unionizing workers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Eric Risberg TORONTO - Uber Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with a private sector union that will provide representation to Canadian drivers and couriers, but does not unionize workers. The San Francisco, Calif-based tech giant said Thursday it is partnering with United Food and Commercial Workers Canada, a union representing at least 250,000 workers at companies including Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Molson Coors Beverage Co. The partnership allows UFCW Canada to provide representation to about 100,000 Canadian drivers and couriers, if requested by the workers, when they are facing account deactivations and other disputes with Uber. Workers will not be charged for the representation, which will be jointly covered by Uber and UFCW Canada. "Weve come together to find common ground and blaze a new trail towards a better future for app-based workers, said Andrew Macdonald, Uber's senior vice-president of global rides and platform, in a release. Through this agreement, were prioritizing what drivers and delivery people tell us they want: enhancing their flexibility to work if, when, and where they want with a stronger voice and new benefits and protections. Uber drivers and couriers are considered to be independent contractors because they can choose when, where and how often they work, but in exchange, they have no job security, vacation pay or other benefits. Gig Workers United, a delivery workers advocacy group, was disappointed couriers had not been consulted. "This is the illusion of a union. This is the illusion of workers representation, but it is not," said Brice Sopher, a Toronto UberEats courier representing the group. "It is more so to give Uber the protection, the veneer of being progressive, while they will continue probably to push for the regressive rolling back of worker's rights." His comments come as Uber faces increasing global pressure to recognize couriers and drivers as employees and to, at least, better compensate and give them more rights. Samfiru Tumarkin lawyer Samara Belitzky, for example, is representing Uber Eats courier David Heller in a class action arguing those working for Uber should be entitled to minimum wage, vacation pay and other protections because they meet the definition of employees under Ontario's Employment Standards Act. Belitzky doesn't think the agreement Thursday will impact workers much. "On paper, it looks like it may be giving some very limited additional rights or benefits to the drivers, but practically speaking, it doesn't give them very much," she said. The agreement also raises conflict-of-interest concerns because Uber will be paying for representation going up against the company. "If I was a driver for Uber... I'd be a bit worried about where their interests may lie," she said. Belitzky also noted UFCW previously outlined several issues it had with Uber on its website, but has since replaced that content with details of the agreement. "This may be Uber's way of trying to quell the concerns of the union," she said. UFCW Canada's page previously said drivers often spent more than 100 hours logged onto the Uber app awaiting work weekly, leaving them paid well below minimum wage. It has also complained drivers are subject to deactivation if their ratings scores offered as feedback by consumers drop below a certain threshold. UFCW Canada has said this practice can force a driver out of work, if they refuse customer demands to ignore traffic rules or city bylaws. The union has also raised concerns about what little recourse Uber workers have when they face harassment and abuse on the job because they are not eligible for workers' compensation and other protections. As part of UFCW Canada's agreement with Uber, both groups will work to encourage provinces to mandate policies providing gig workers with new benefits and other rights. "This is just a starting point for the many issues we need to address," said Paul Meinema, UFCW Canada's national president, in a video announcing the agreement. "Uber Canada and UFCW Canada will jointly advocate for industry-wide legislative standards like minimum wage guarantees, a benefits fund, a path to organizing, and other rights for workers in the app-based sector." Uber has been pitching Canadians on a model it calls Flexible Work+. The model asks provinces and territories to force app-based companies to create a self-directed benefit fund to disperse to workers for prescriptions, dental and vision care, RRSPs or tuition. 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. Workers have said the model still won't offer all the protections they desire and accused Uber of using the pitch to avoid treating drivers and couriers as employees. Jim Stanford, an economist and director with the Centre for Future Work, said the Uber-UFCW partnership is an attempt to bring an "air of legitimacy" to Flexible Work+. "Uber is looking for allies in its strong lobbying effort to create a customized labour law that fits its business model," he said. "Uber is worried that courts and labour boards are going to find that their workers are entitled to the regular things, including minimum wage... and for Uber, it's a huge coup to have a union supporting its effort." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2022. Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI) OTTAWA - An intelligence expert said the federal government's decision not to conduct a formal national security review on the takeover of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese state-owned company was a "mistake." The Peace tower is seen through rushes in Ottawa, Oct. 18. 2021. An intelligence expert says the Canadian government's decision not to conduct a formal national security review on the takeover of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese state-owned company was a "mistake." THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld OTTAWA - An intelligence expert said the federal government's decision not to conduct a formal national security review on the takeover of a Canadian lithium mining company by a Chinese state-owned company was a "mistake." The government misjudged the takeover's significance to Canada's economic and national security both in the present and future, said Wesley Wark, a visiting professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in international affairs and intelligence gathering. "The kinds of explanations that have been offered by the government to date I find wholly unsatisfactory and very narrowly focused," he told a House of Commons committee Wednesday. Wark delivered his remarks at the first of two Commons committee meetings to explore the takeover of Neo Lithium Corp. by China's Zijin Mining Group Ltd. and whether a formal national security review should have occurred. Liberal MP Andy Fillmore, parliamentary secretary to Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, told the committee last week that the Industry Department reviewed the proposed takeover last fall. The department concluded that Neo Lithium is "really not a Canadian company," Fillmore said, describing it as an Argentine company with directors in the United Kingdom and only three Canadian employees "on paper." Wark noted that the government had the option to extend the review by an additional 45 days, which it did not take. "To be honest, I'm dumbfounded by the fact that the government was so confident about its conclusions within that 45-day period from the original announcement of the acquisition in October through to early December that it felt it didn't even have to do any more," said Wark. He said he believes the postelection political transition period had an impact on the attention the case should have been given. 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. While the decision "cannot be undone," it offers important lessons for similar reviews in the future, such as considering economic strategy in the review, and performing these reviews more often, Wark said. He also said in fairness to officials involved, reviews of investments like these are resource-intensive and highly complex. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2022. --- This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. Note to readers: The headline on this story has been clarified. A previous headline may have left the impression that an intelligence expert told the House of Commons industry committee that the federal government did not review a Canadian lithium company takeover. In fact, a review did take place but the government did not opt to conduct an extended national security review. CHERAN, Mexico (AP) Regular citizens have taken the fight against illegal logging into their own hands in the pine-covered mountains of western Mexico, where loggers clear entire hillsides for avocado plantations that drain local water supplies and draw drug cartels hungry for extortion money. A communal police forest officer inspects a vehicle loaded with dried wood the driver had legally collected from the forest floor, on the outskirts of the Indigenous township of Cheran, Michoacan state, Mexico, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. Forest rangers and volunteer forestry patrols ride through the woods looking for illegal logging and avocado planting. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) CHERAN, Mexico (AP) Regular citizens have taken the fight against illegal logging into their own hands in the pine-covered mountains of western Mexico, where loggers clear entire hillsides for avocado plantations that drain local water supplies and draw drug cartels hungry for extortion money. In some places, like the Indigenous township of Cheran in Michoacan state , the fight against illegal logging and planting has been so successful its as if a line had been drawn across the mountains: avocados and cleared land on one side, pine forest on the other. But it has required a decade-long political revolt in which Cherans townspeople declared themselves autonomous and formed their own government. Other towns, bullied by growers and drug cartel gunmen, struggle on but are often cowed by violence. David Ramos Guerrero, a member of the self-governing farmers board, says farmers here have agreed on a total ban on commercial avocado orchards, which he contends only bring "violence, bloodshed. "People are allowed to have three, four or five, or at most 10 avocado plants to supply food, but commercial planting isnt allowed, he said. The reason is clear. On a patrol, Ramos Guerrero looks out across an almost deforested valley in a neighboring township. Rows of young avocado trees stand in lines up the denuded slopes that once held pine and fir trees. This is an island, all around Cheran there has been an invasion of avocados, he notes. Anyone who has walked through the cool mountain forest of pine and fir trees in Michoacan knows that the pine canopy protects against heat and evaporation; the thick mat of fallen pine needles acts like a sponge, soaking up and storing humidity; the roots of the pines prevent water and soil from running off the slopes. But the first thing avocado growers do is dig retaining ponds to water their orchards, draining streams that once were used by people further down the mountain. And then drug cartels extort money from the avocado growers. We have realized the only thing avocados do is soak up all the water that our forests produce," Ramos Guerrero said. Cheran, which began its experiment in self-rule in 2011 by blocking roads used by illegal loggers, now digs trenches across logging roads with backhoes. As far as avocados, Ramos Guerrero says: We start in a friendly way, by talking (to farmers). If we dont reach an agreement, then we use force, we tear up or cut down the avocado trees. The moon rises over the pine-covered mountains surrounding the Indigenous township of Cheran, Michoacan state, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Avocados have been nothing short of a miracle crop for thousands of small farmers in Michoacan; with a few acres of well-tended avocado trees, small landholders can send their kids to college or buy a pickup truck, something no other crop allows them to do. But because of the immense amount of water they need, the expansion of avocados has come by moving into humid pine forests. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) If farmers still dont agree to stop logging or planting avocados, thats when Cherans forestry patrols swing into action. Riding a pair of pickups through the woods, a community patrol of men armed with AR-15 rifles stop and seize an axe, and then a chainsaw from two men cutting up trees. The men will probably get them back with a caution to seek permission next time. The patrols find already cut pine logs hidden in the brush along the road and seize them, heaving them onto one of the trucks. Salvador Avila Magana, 65, remembers how it was before the Cheran uprising in 2011. He was scared off his land by threats from loggers, who then clear-cut his land. The last threat was that if we showed up there (at his land) again, they were going to kidnap us, we were going to be found in bags, Avila Magana said. Several people were killed and they were found in pieces, burned. But even though his 45-acre (18 hectare) plot had been completely logged, Avila Magana decided to plant back pine trees, hoping to leave something for my children or grandchildren, who he hopes can resume what had once been a sustainable forestry practice of extracting pine resin for turpentine or cosmetics. We reached an agreement among the communal farmers that we weren't going to plant avocados, we were going to only plant trees that produce good oxygen, he said. Avocados have been nothing short of a miracle crop for thousands of small farmers in Michoacan. With a few acres of well-tended avocado trees, small landholders can send their kids to college or buy a pickup truck, something no other crop allows them to do. But because of the immense amount of water they need, the expansion of avocados has come by moving into humid pine forests, rather than disused corn fields. Neither the growers nor exporters have made any serious effort to ensure their avocados come from sustainable orchards. The Mexican Avocado Growers Association did not respond to requests for an interview. If the battle has been temporarily won in Cheran, it is still being fought in other towns in Michoacan that havent had a citizen takeover of local government. About 60 miles away in the town of Villa Madero, activist Guillermo Saucedo tried to institute the kind of farmers patrols used in Cheran to detect illegal logging and unauthorized avocado orchards. He got as many as 60 or 70 people to participate in the patrols, starting in May 2021. But by Dec. 6, Saucedo says he had perhaps spoken too forcefully at meetings or angered the powerful allies of the loggers and avocado growers: he ran up against drug cartel gunmen. A white SUV with tinted windows cut me off, Saucedo recalled a month later. Three people got out with pistols and rifles and they cocked their guns and pointed them at me ... they started hitting me and forced me into the vehicle. Along the ride, they tossed a jacket and a ski mask over his head and kept hitting him in the head with the rifle stocks and the butts of their pistols. Later at a safe house, they repeatedly asked him about a detained cartel boss, but Saucedo thinks that was a cover for their real interest his community organizing. They kept beating me until they got tired, he said. Hours later, they abandoned him on a dirt path in a distant township, and instructed him to blame a rival cartel for his abduction. The patrols ceased and Saucedo has been forced to lay low in his home village of Zangarro. His requests to the federal government for protection have so far gone unheeded, in a country where, over the last three years, 96 community, environmental or rights activists have been murdered. Saucedo and environmentalist Julio Santoyo are unsure what the exact links between the drug cartel and the loggers and avocado growers in Villa Madero are. Santoyo believes the gangs could be directly investing in avocado plantations. It would not be beyond belief in Michoacan, where in 2010 another cartel, The Knights Templar, actually took over the business of mining iron ore and exporting it to China. Saucedo thinks the cartels are protecting the loggers and growers. 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 are acting as Godfathers for them, protecting them, Saucedo said. Certainly, avocado growers in other parts of the state have often complained that drug cartels were demanding payment for each shipment of fruit, and it's easy to see why the gangs would want more production. In Villa Madero, which was once surrounded by solid pine forests, Santoyo recently used Google Earth to count about 360 retention ponds that avocado growers have dug to feed their thirsty groves. Saucedo says now that many of the pine forests have been cut down, avocado growers are resorting to deep wells, further depleting the water table. Santoyo says he has also received indirect threats from a cartel to tone it down with his activism. But he says local farm families are already being affected by the avocado plantations. People in this area have traditionally been able to get water from the streams for their animals, goats, cows or sheep, Santoyo said. They can't find water anymore, sometimes even for themselves, and now they have to haul it in pickup trucks or on foot or with horses. __ AP journalist Fernanda Pesce contributed to this report BENSON, Minn. (AP) The newspaper hit the front porches of the wind-scarred prairie town on a Thursday afternoon: Coronavirus numbers were spiking in the farming communities of western Minnesota. A worker polishes a marquee at a theater under renovation in Benson, Minn., Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. It can be easy, looking around Benson, to think it is a land that time forgot. Bartenders often greet customers by name. Many farms and businesses have been owned by the same families for decades: through the droughts of the 1930s; through the thriving years around World War II; to the population decline that began in the 1950s. But plenty has changed. (AP Photo/David Goldman) BENSON, Minn. (AP) The newspaper hit the front porches of the wind-scarred prairie town on a Thursday afternoon: Coronavirus numbers were spiking in the farming communities of western Minnesota. "Covid-19 cases straining rural clinics, hospitals, staff," read the front-page headline. Vaccinate to protect yourselves, health officials urged. But ask around Benson, stroll its three-block business district, and some would tell a different story: The Swift County Monitor-News, the tiny newspaper thats reported the news here since 1886, is not telling the truth. The vaccine is untested, they say, dangerous. And some will go further: People, theyll tell you, are being killed by COVID-19 vaccinations. One little town. Three thousand people. Two starkly different realities. Its another measure of how, in an America increasingly split by warring visions of itself, division doesnt just play out on cable television, or in mayhem at the U.S. Capitol. It has seeped into the American fabric, all the way to Bensons 12th Street, where two neighbors -- each in his own well-kept, century-old home -- can live in different worlds. In one house is Reed Anfinson, publisher, editor, photographer and reporter for the Monitor-News. Most weeks, he writes every story on the papers front page. He wrote that story on clinics struggling with COVID-19. Hes not the most popular man in the county. Lots of people disagree with his politics. He deals with the occasional veiled threat. Sometimes, he grudgingly worries about his safety. While his editorials lean left, he works hard to report the news straight. But in an America of competing visions, some here say he has taken sides. Nowhere in the Monitor-News, for example, will you find reports that local people are dying because theyve been inoculated. "There are no alternative facts," Anfinson says. "There is just the truth." But whose truth? His neighbor, Jason Wolter, is a thoughtful, broad-shouldered Lutheran pastor who reads widely and measures his words carefully. He also suspects Democrats are using the coronavirus pandemic as a political tool, doubts President Joe Biden was legitimately elected and is certain that COVID-19 vaccines kill people. He hasnt seen the death certificates and hasnt contacted health authorities, but hes sure the vaccine deaths occurred: "I just know that Im doing their funerals." Hes also certain that information "will never make it into the newspaper." Wolters frustration boils over during a late breakfast in a town cafe. Seated with a reporter, he starts talking as if Anfinson is there. "Youre lying to people," he says. "You flat-out lie about things." ____ "In rural Minnesota we still have a work ethic, and Ill call them Christian values, and thats not reflected in our local newspaper," said Al Saunders, a farmer and friend of Wolters who graduated from Benson High School a couple years after Anfinson. "I just cant stomach it anymore," said Saunders, whose family settled on part of his sprawling farm more than a century ago, and who speaks almost lovingly about the rich brown soil. Anfinsons editorials on farm subsidies and politics leave him fuming. "Trash gets thrown at you so many times and eventually you just give up." He grudgingly subscribes to the Monitor-News, which has a circulation of roughly 2,000. But just to follow local politics. Anfinson does cover Swift County intensely -- the city council, the county commissioners, the school board and nearly every other gathering of consequence. Hes there for school concerts, community fund-raisers, elections and livestock judging at the county fair. His white Jeep is often spattered with mud from the countys dirt roads. He works relentlessly. Wednesday afternoons, after he gets that weeks edition ready for printing the next morning, often count as his weekend. Anfinson is 67 but looks at least a decade younger. A contemplative man who casually quotes Voltaire, he loves newspapers deeply, and mourns the hundreds of small-town papers that have gone under in recent years. Still, Anfinson sometimes is surprised to find himself in Benson. Family is a powerful force here, and this town is knitted together in ways that few Americans understand anymore. His grandfather, a poetry-loving plumber and child of Norwegian immigrants, came to Benson as a child. His father came home from World War II, became a reporter at the Monitor-News and eventually bought the newspaper with a partner. Anfinson grew up planning on a journalism career somewhere beyond small-town Minnesota. But he found those plans upended when his fathers health began declining in the late 1970s. "I thought Id come back here just for a little while," he said. "It turned into the rest of my life." Not that he regrets it. Hes proud that his reporting means something here, whether its a high-school student getting an award or an expensive building project the community rejected after he wrote about it. Still, there are times when its exhausting. And expensive. With declining circulation and ads, he estimates his three little local newspapers are worth at least $1 million less than a decade ago. "The easy part is speaking truth to power. The hard part is speaking truth to your community. That can cost you advertisers. That can cost you subscribers," he said. ___ It can be easy, looking around Benson, to think it is a land that time forgot. Bartenders often greet customers by name. The towns cafes feel like high school lunchrooms, with people wandering between tables to say hello. Those in search of solitude go to the Burger King, where they sit alone at plastic tables, staring out the windows. Benson was built in the 1870s as railways reached this part of the prairies, and trains remain the towns background music. In the cafes, people barely look up when mile-long trains roar through downtown. Few people stop talking. Theyve been hearing those trains for generations. Many farms and businesses have been owned by the same families for decades: through the droughts of the 1930s; through the thriving years around World War II; to the population decline that began in the 1950s. But plenty has changed. Stores closed. Little farms were bought up by more successful farmers. Families left. Swift Countys population has dropped about 30 percent since 1960, and now has about 10,000 residents. Meanwhile, a county that was 98% white in 1990 has seen a stream of new minority residents, particularly Latinos. The county is now 87% white - far whiter than much of America, but far more diverse than a generation ago. Today, longtime locals can sometimes feel unmoored. "There are a lot of people coming through that I dont recognize," said Terri Collins, Bensons cheerful mayor, whose family has been in Benson for five generations. "I used to know all of my neighbors and now thats different. And I dont know what to blame for that." Once, neighborliness and good manners were near-commandments here. Now anger is on the rise. Neighborhood shouting matches are more common, a local officials car was vandalized, and a "F--- Biden" flag now flies along a school bus route. Collins and the town police chief both say they sometimes worry about Anfinsons safety. "Ten years ago I dont think anything like this would happen," she said. But that was then. Travel across the plains of western Minnesota and youll find plenty of people who are bestirred by a new and often dark vision of America. They are not on the fringes, at least by current standards. They are, for the most part, mainstream conservatives who see a nation that barely exists in traditional newspapers and mainstream TV news broadcasts. People like the store manager, sitting at an American Legion bar drinking $3 cocktails, who calls the billionaire financier George Soros, a Jewish survivor of the Nazis and a powerful backer of liberal causes, "one of the most evil men Ive ever heard of." And the semi-retired nurse who fears teams of sex traffickers she says operate freely in countless small towns. But it would be a mistake to think they can be categorized easily. Some desperately want Trump to run again; others pray he wont. One farmer quietly admits he worries about the growing numbers of racial minorities; another enjoys hearing new accents at the grocery store. Many are nearly as dismissive of conservative media as they are of traditional news outlets. While social conservatism has long run deep in Swift County -- even the former, longtime Democratic congressman was anti-abortion and pro-gun rights -- many say the presidency of Barack Obama marked a change. Gay marriage was legalized and identity politics took hold. Growing calls for transgender rights seemed like an issue from another planet. The sometimes-violent racial justice protests that followed police killings of Black men had some here stocking up on ammunition. Trumps cries that he loved America resonated in an area where new approaches to teaching U.S. history, with an increased focus on race, were confounding. So in a county where Obama won with 55% of the vote in 2008, Trump won with 64% percent in 2020. "Weve seen a shift here in Swift County," said Al Saunders. "But you wont see that in the newspaper." ____ Anfinsons weekly column, where he writes about everything from political divisions to rural housing shortages, is a local lightning rod. He sighed: "That editorial page will have people hate me." Across the U.S., many smaller newspapers, already facing economic decline with the rise of the internet, have cut back or completely stopped running editorials, trying to hold onto conservative readers who increasingly see them as local arms of a fake news universe. But Anfinson wont consider that, even if sometimes he feels like hes tilting at angry, small-town windmills. He says its his duty to expose people to new ideas, even unpopular ideas like stricter gun control. The editorial page is, he says "the soul of a newspaper in a way." "I would be a traitor to the cause of journalism, of community newspapers," by giving up on editorials, he said. "I would be cowardly." Some would call him stubborn, and his wife and business partner, Shelly, would not disagree. It can be complicated being married to Reed Anfinson. Like the day last spring, when Anfinson was in the bar next to the office and a man loudly told a friend that Anfinson was a communist and "somebody should do something about that guy." Anfinson knows the man. So does Shelly. A longtime dental hygienist, she cleaned his teeth for 20 years. She still says hello when she passes the man on the street. "I try not to create a bigger divide," said Shelly, who, after a series of intensive classes on the newspaper business, began running another of the couples weekly papers two years ago. "Ive definitely lost sleep over some confrontations that hes had," she said. "But do you let that stand in the way of reporting the facts?" Shelly is warm and gregarious and easy to like. And when it comes to politics, shes not who youd expect to be married to the man often tagged as Bensons best-known liberal. Shes a pro-life Republican who voted for Trump, at least the first time. It annoys her when news outlets talk down to conservatives. She worries that there are too few Republican journalists. She and Reed married 20 years ago, after both had been divorced. She moved in across the street and soon he was walking her home. She is often torn between support for Reed and worries over subscriber loss. Still, shes been pressing him to tone down the politics. "It is a struggle. I can tell these things to my business partner. Its harder to tell them to my husband." ___ In the custom of small-town Minnesota, the Anfinson and Wolter families get along, at least outwardly. They wave when they see each other. When one family is out of town, the other will sometimes watch their home. "Were still personable," Wolter says. "I just dont trust him." "Hes not going to come to church and Im not going to buy his newspaper. But we can still treat each other as neighbors." While he believes Anfinson is sincere in what he publishes, he does not believe his neighbor has a monopoly on truth. Wolter also knows that plenty of people would write him off as just another conspiracy monger. But hes far more complicated. He worries his conservative opinions color what he believes: "There are times when Ive thought: Well, what if all my angst over this is misplaced?" he said. "Maybe everyone else is right?" But he worries more about America: "This is a dark time." He criticizes conservative politicians for trying to make it illegal to burn the American flag, but worries about far-right accusations that that U.S. soldiers are hunting down American conservatives. "Maybe five or 10 years ago, I would have said Thats crazy!" he said. "Now I acknowledge it might be possible. Im not saying I think its happening, but at least I dont dismiss it the way that I would have." Wolter, whose home library includes everything from Sophocles to "The Grapes of Wrath," is a careful reader, in his own way. Hes wary of conservative news sites like Breitbart, believing it shapes its reporting to please conservative readers. Instead, he finds his news farther off the beaten path, like on Gab, a Twitter-like social media platform that has become home to many on Americas far right. "For better or for worse I dont really trust anything I read," he says. The answer, he said, is research, probing the farthest corners of the internet. The answers are not to be found, he insists, in the Swift Country Monitor-News. 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. Anfinson, for his part, doesnt want to talk about Wolter, at least not directly. Hes watched Bensons fragile web of community fray too much. Instead, he talks proudly about the Monitor-News: how it prints letters to the editor that are harshly critical of it; how he reports the truth even if it costs him; how his coverage of the pandemic goes to the heart of journalists responsibility to keep their communities safe. He mourns how some people see him as an enemy. His newspaper should bind people together, he says. Instead, America and Benson are growing angrier. Contentious midterm elections loom. "Its kind of sad," he said. "But it would be foolish of me not to be aware of (my safety) with the sentiments out there." Does he carry a weapon? This soft-spoken man says he does not. "But I know where one is if I need it." NEW YORK (AP) Michael Avenatti jumped at the chance to represent porn star Stormy Daniels in 2018, saying hed do it for a dollar, another California attorney testified Wednesday at Avenatti's criminal trial. In this courtroom sketch, Michael Avenatti, left, cross examines his former assistant, Judy Regnier, who testifies virtually via video, at right. Judge Jesse Furman is seated on the bench, in federal court, in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. Avenatti took over representation of himself Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2022, at his latest criminal trial, setting the stage for him to directly confront former client and porn star Stormy Daniels over her claims that he stole some of the money she was owed for her autobiography. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams) NEW YORK (AP) Michael Avenatti jumped at the chance to represent porn star Stormy Daniels in 2018, saying hed do it for a dollar, another California attorney testified Wednesday at Avenatti's criminal trial. The testimony by the lawyer, Sean Ernesto Macias, was expected to set the stage for Daniels to take the witness stand on Thursday. Avenatti took over representation of himself from other lawyers on Tuesday as he asserts his innocence against wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges filed by prosecutors who claim Avenatti cheated Daniels of nearly $300,000 she was owed from a book deal. Avenatti, 50, denies it, saying it was always understood that he would share in the proceeds of some of Daniels projects, including the writing of her autobiography, particularly because an agreement the pair signed only required Daniels to pay him $100. Macias, who peppered his hour of testimony with colorful answers, drew laughter throughout the Manhattan courtroom when he identified Avenatti by saying: He's the handsome fellow with the shaved head. But, at other times, he seemed so emotional that he paused before answering to collect himself, saying at one point: I still feel bad for him in a weird way. Macias said he'd known Daniels for several years when she reached out to him in 2018 to seek legal representation to change the terms of her $130,000 deal made shortly before the 2016 presidential election to be silent about her claims that she'd had a sexual tryst with then-President Donald Trump a decade earlier. Trump has denied it. Macias said he was with Avenatti one day when he mentioned that Daniels was blowing up my phone over the subject. I might be interested in this, he recalled Avenatti telling him. He said he believed that Daniels just wanted to alter her deal so she could speak publicly about her encounter with Trump and receive more money, but Avenatti wanted to go big with an appearance on CBS's 60 Minutes." He told her: Ill charge you a dollar,'" Macias recalled. A prosecutor, Mathew Podolsky, asked Macias if Avenatti thanked him for introducing him to Daniels. The lawyer said Avenatti gave him a Cartier watch in the summer of 2018. But by Labor Day weekend, Avenatti appeared deflated and melancholy at a Las Vegas convention for lawyers. He seemed a little more agitated than he normally was and he seemed a little needy, Macias said. I said: What happened to you? Macias recalled. Avenatti responded: She's going crazy, referring to Daniels, Macias said. He said Avenatti claimed the book publisher hadn't paid her as scheduled on her $800,000 advance, that Daniels was considering speaking publicly about her complaints and she's going to blow this deal up. Prosecutors have told jurors that Avenatti was pocketing payments destined for her, funneling some of the money into his law practice's payroll expenses and personal expenses. He wanted me to represent her to sue the book publishing company, Macias said. Then, days later, Avenatti showed up at his office saying he was jammed up and needed help because he was about to be evicted from his law office space and needed help meeting his payroll, he said. I was shocked he needed money, Macias said, noting that Avenatti was appearing regularly at the time on cable television news programs. 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. Avenatti said he needed someone to loan him $250,000, Macias said. Macias said he located a lawyer, Mark Geragos, willing to loan Avenatti that amount. He referred to him as El Presidente and said, Why not? Macias said. Geragos did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. When Avenatti cross examined Macias, he asked him if he'd had alcohol or drugs in the day before his testimony and if he was incredibly excited when Avenatti was considering running for president. Macias recalled that he drank a glass of champagne on Tuesday. And, of the quest for the presidency, he testified: You wanted me to be chief of staff. I said: Make me ambassador to France. Thatd be awesome!'" According to a Leger survey on Canadian economic confidence released on Wednesday, Manitobans remain true to form in terms of our modest expectations for the future and our relative contentment with how things are today. According to a Leger survey on Canadian economic confidence released on Wednesday, Manitobans remain true to form in terms of our modest expectations for the future and our relative contentment with how things are today. In general, Manitoba was pretty closely synched with national sentiments that show more optimism this year compared to last year but still not at pre-pandemic levels. But the Manitoba results Leger has been producing this kind of survey nationally for a few years and for the first time hived off results from Manitoba (as well as B.C. and Alberta) veer off slightly when it comes to predicted household income trends. Manitobans are seven per cent less optimistic than the national average and are more worried than the national average regarding six different areas of personal finance issues. Andrew Enns, the Winnipeg-based executive vice-president of Leger, points out that in most respects Manitoba follows the national trends, but tend to be less than exuberantly bullish about economic expectations when it comes to personal finance issues. "The one area that I saw Manitoba a little more starkly out of step is on the predicted household income trends," he said. When asked, "In 2022, do you expect your total household income to go up, down or stay about the same compared to 2021?" 32 per cent of respondents nationally said they expect it to be up a little or a lot, but only 25 per cent felt that way in Manitoba. That manifests itself in terms of a slightly higher degree of concern when asked how often folks worry about personal finance issues like the value of investments, security of savings, paying the bills. A slightly higher percentage of Manitobans say they worry about these things versus the national average. "It makes sense," Enns said. "Its hard to put your finger on why that is the case in Manitoba but I think part of it is that people think, If it happens at the end of the year that Im doing better then good for me. Ill be happy to be surprised but I am not going to bank on it." Enns believes that mindset is at least partially due to the fact that Manitobans are used to a fairly stable economic history. "Unlike some other parts of the country where they have a bit more of a boom/bust cycle Manitobans tend not to experience that and it translates to our expectations that things will never be so terribly bad but also things will never be terribly good," Enns said. According to Legers tracking, confidence in the national economy has improved from February 2021 from 32 per cent feeling good or very good about the economy to 39 per cent in January but remains softer than pre-pandemic when it was as 57 per cent. Chuck Davidson, the president and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, said the lagging optimism in Manitoba shown in the survey is in some contrast to a survey of business people the chamber did just before Christmas prior to the arrival of the Omicron variant. 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. "In comparison with the survey we did specifically with regards to optimism, the general public is a lot more pessimistic than the business community is," Davidson said. "When we asked the question in our survey in the fall regarding optimism, almost 90 per cent of businesses were optimistic about the future." Davidson said the fact that the public has more concerns about their personal finances will mean a drag on consumer confidence. "If you have public concerns about savings and investment and 55 per cent are concerned about their ability to pay their bills that does not bode well for the business community when you have a public thats nervous about their own personal finances," he said. Davidson also makes the point that sentiments regarding economic confidence will vary depending on the economic sector the respondent is engaged in. "When you talk to people most will tell me it is either the worst year for their business or it was the best," he said. "If you are in certain sector like hospitality or retail or others that have been really getting hammered for two years, absolutely I get you would be nervous because those business simply dont have the ability to make investments." martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: TORONTO - Some of the most active companies traded Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange: Toronto Stock Exchange (20,595.89, up 4.91 points.) Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU). Energy. Up 50 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to $35.36 on 11.9 million shares. Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Energy. Down one cent, or 0.1 per cent, to $18.37 on 9.2 million shares. Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB). Energy. Up 56 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $52.30 on 7.9 million shares. Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE). Energy. Down three cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $4.43 on 7.7 million shares. 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. Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Industrials. Down two cents, or 1.2 per cent, to $1.68 on 6.4 million shares. Manulife Financial Corp. (TSX:MFC). Financials. Up 45 cents, or 1.8 per cent, to $25.73 on 6.3 million shares. Companies in the news: Brookfield Renewable. (TSX:BEPC). Up $1 or 2.5 per cent to $41.34. Brookfield Renewable has purchased clean power developer Urban Grid for US$650 million, making it one of the largest renewable energy developers in the United States. The company says the addition of Urban Grids projects roughly triples its U.S. development pipeline to about 31,000 megawatts of capacity. Mitch Davidson, chief executive officer of Brookfield Renewables U.S. business, says the acquisition provides the company with strategic access to key U.S. markets, deepening its development capabilities and accelerating its growth. Brookfield Renewable operates one of the worlds largest publicly traded, pure-play renewable power platforms, with a portfolio of hydroelectric, wind, solar and storage facilities in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Urban Grid has utility-scale solar and energy storage projects totalling about 20,000 megawatts of planned capacity across 12 U.S. states. The company says it has nearly 2,000 megawatts of under-construction or ready-to-build solar projects, with an additional 4,000 megawatts of derisked advanced stage buildout opportunities. Frank DePew, president and CEO of Urban Grid, says the acquisition by Brookfield Renewable will enable Urban Grid to enter the next phase of growth. The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD). Up 35 cents to $100.22. TD Bank Group says it plans to hire more than 2,000 people to fill new technology roles this year as it pushes further into areas like artificial intelligence and cloud-based operations. The bank says the new positions will focus on technologies and processes to drive investments and power "the future of banking." The hiring plans mark a jump from last year when it says it hired about 300 into technology roles, while overall the bank says the wave of hiring will boost its tech-focused employee base by some 15 to 20 per cent. TD's hiring plans come amid an industry-wide focus on attracting and retaining technology skills. The bank says attracting skilled workers is critical to the company's technology transformation and development of new capabilities, including engineering, automation tools, artificial intelligence, cloud technology and advancing cybersecurity defences. On Wednesday, the bank also announced it was ramping up its partnership with Microsoft's Azure cloud with plans to establish a broader database on the platform. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2022. LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) For the second time in as many months, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has fined the owners of a former New Jersey nuclear power plant for security-related violations. FILE - This photo shows the Oyster Creek nuclear plant and the large square structure that houses the reactor in Lacey Township, N.J., Feb. 25, 2010. For the second time in as many months, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has fined the owners of the former New Jersey nuclear power plant for security-related violations. The agency on Wednesday, jan. 26, 2022 said it fined Holtec Decommissioning International $50,000 for security violations at the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey Township. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File) LACEY TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) For the second time in as many months, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has fined the owners of a former New Jersey nuclear power plant for security-related violations. The agency said Wednesday it fined Jupiter, Florida-based Holtec Decommissioning International $50,000 for security violations at the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in the Forked River section of Lacey Township. The plant was one of the oldest in the U.S. when it shut down in 2018. The fine involved a company employee working as an armorer at the plant. In an investigation that concluded in March 2021, the NRC determined the armorer deliberately failed to properly perform required annual material-condition inspections of response unit rifles, and falsified related records. The plant has several fortified bunkers from which armed security staff can fight off attackers. The NRC said the violation was the work of a now-former security superintendent. The fine is separate from a $150,000 penalty the NRC imposed on Holtec in December for different security-related violations that neither the NRC nor the company would detail, citing the sensitivity of the matter. Asked for comment by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Holtec issued the same statement it issued in December for the previous fine. Protecting the security and safety of the public is the number one priority of Holtec International at all our facilities, both statements read. "We have taken steps to address the concerns and overall security performance at Oyster Creek and shared those learnings with our fleet to prevent a reoccurrence. The NRC has determined that the overall security program at the plant remains effective, it read. We take these issues very seriously and reviewed and acted on the NRCs violation findings. 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. Company spokesperson Joe Delmar said Holtec could not comment beyond its statement. Corrective actions agreed to by Holtec include making the corporate security director a standalone position; the use of external experts to conduct independent assessments of security at Oyster Creek and other Holtec-owned decommissioning nuclear power plants; and the implementation of training and communications related to the issue, the NRC said. Jeff Tittel, the retired president of the Sierra Club's New Jersey chapter, faulted the agency for failing to impose a more severe penalty. NRC really stands for no real consequences, he said. NRC is supposed to be the cop on the beat, and when you catch someone doing violations that could lead to catastrophic consequences and you let them off with a slap on the wrist, it sends the message that you can continue to break the rules almost with impunity. ___ Follow Wayne Parry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/WayneParryAC. TOKYO (AP) The French-Japanese auto alliance of Renault and Nissan plans to invest 23 billion euros ($26 billion) in electric vehicle technology over the next five years, the companies said Thursday. FILE - A woman walks past the global headquarters of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. in Yokohama near Tokyo, Wednesday, May 27, 2020. The French-Japanese auto alliance of Renault and Nissan plans to invest 23 billion euros ($26 billion) in electric vehicle technology over the next five years, the companies said Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File) TOKYO (AP) The French-Japanese auto alliance of Renault and Nissan plans to invest 23 billion euros ($26 billion) in electric vehicle technology over the next five years, the companies said Thursday. The alliance, which also includes smaller Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp., will share research, auto parts and technology to bring down costs and produce 35 new electric vehicle models by 2030, aiming at markets around the world. The vehicles will use one of five common platforms, the main parts on which vehicles are built. Nissan Motor Co. will lead in developing a next-generation battery for the electric vehicles, while Renault will lead in developing electronics and software to connect millions of vehicles and provide digital services and features. Today we are lifting the hoods of the alliance together, Jean-Dominique Senard, the alliances chairman, said in an online presentation. Automakers around the world are trying to save costs and forge alliances. Recent COVID-related supply problems that are crimping production and growing concerns about climate change have made such coordination more urgent than ever. Tesla has emerged as a powerful and extremely profitable competitor. Other newcomers are entering the market. Sony Corp., which makes the PlayStation video game machine, recently showed a prototype of an electric car. Japans top automaker Toyota Motor Corp. also has announced an aggressive EV plan. Sharing components, production facilities and research will benefit the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, said Nissan Chief Executive Makoto Uchida. More than anything, we also benefit from the shared experience and expertise of our people, said Uchida. Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan, while Nissan owns 15% of Renault. Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, owns 34% of Tokyo-based Mitsubishi. The French government owns 15% of Renault. The alliance is the brainchild of Carlos Ghosn, sent in by Renault in 1999 to turn around a near-bankrupt Nissan. Ghosn made it one of the most successful auto groups in the world. But he was arrested in Japan in 2018 on financial misconduct charges. 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. He jumped bail and fled to Lebanon in late 2019. Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan. Ghosn says he is innocent. Ghosn's arrest and related developments strained the alliance, and Senard referred to a crisis, without going into details. He blamed a lack of trust, which he said was getting fixed. This period belongs to the past, Senard said. ___ Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) Nearly 1,500 people died of malnutrition in just part of Ethiopias blockaded Tigray region over a four-month period last year, including more than 350 young children, a new report by the regions health bureau says. It cites more than 5,000 blockade-related deaths in all from hunger and disease in the largest official death toll yet associated with the countrys war. FILE - An Ethiopian woman scoops up portions of yellow split peas to be allocated to waiting families after it was distributed by the Relief Society of Tigray in the town of Agula, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, on May 8, 2021. Nearly 1,500 people died of malnutrition in just part of Ethiopia's blockaded Tigray region over a four-month period between July and October 2021, according to a new report published in Jan. 2022 by the region's health bureau. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) Nearly 1,500 people died of malnutrition in just part of Ethiopias blockaded Tigray region over a four-month period last year, including more than 350 young children, a new report by the regions health bureau says. It cites more than 5,000 blockade-related deaths in all from hunger and disease in the largest official death toll yet associated with the countrys war. Deaths are alarmingly increasing, including from easily preventable diseases like rabies as medicines run out or expire, the head of Tigrays health bureau, Hagos Godefay, told The Associated Press late last year as the findings were being compiled. This is one of the worst times of my life, I can tell you. His report on the findings, published Wednesday by the independent Ethiopia Insight, says 5,421 deaths were confirmed in Tigray between July and October in an assessment by his bureau and some international aid groups. It was the first such assessment since the war between Tigray and Ethiopian forces began in November 2020, he said. The deaths were overwhelmingly from malnutrition, infectious disease and noncommunicable diseases as the health bureau and partners sought to gauge the effects on Tigrays population of its health system being largely destroyed by combatants. The deaths do not reflect people killed in combat, Hagos told the AP on Thursday in a call from the Tigray capital, Mekele, though the report reflects a small percentage of deaths from airstrikes. The mortality assessment covered just roughly 40% of Tigray, he said, since occupation of some areas by combatants and the lack of fuel caused by the blockade has limited data-gathering and aid delivery. Since the magnitude of the destruction and health crisis in the inaccessible areas is undoubtedly high, the survey is bound to underreport the real extent of the crisis, Hagos wrote. Severe acute malnutrition in children under 5, at less than 2% in Tigray before the war, was now above 7%, he said. The assessment found at least 369 children under 5 had died of malnutrition, part of 1,479 people in all. The AP last year confirmed the first starvation deaths under the blockade along with the government's ban on humanitarian workers bringing medicines. even personal ones, into Tigray, Hagos told the AP that without medical supplies or vaccines, easily preventable disease like measles were emerging in Tigray and COVID-19 has begun to spread. HIV patients are coming all the time to my office to ask if drugs are coming or not. But my hands are tied, he said. Earlier this month, the United Nations said Ethiopia's government had released over 850,000 measles vaccines to Tigray. Ethiopias government cut off almost all access to food aid, medical supplies, cash and fuel in June last year when the Tigray forces regained control of the region. Since then, the United Nations has repeatedly warned that less than 15% of the needed supplies have been entering Tigray under what it called a de facto humanitarian blockade. Ethiopia's government has expressed concern about aid falling into the hands of fighters. But under a new wave of pressure this month after Tigray forces retreated back into their region amid a military offensive, Ethiopias foreign ministry in a statement on Sunday said it was working with aid partners to facilitate daily cargo flights to Tigray to transport much-needed medicines and supplies. The government in part has blamed issues with aid delivery on insecurity it says is caused by Tigray forces. It is not clear when the daily flights will begin, though the International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday announced that it had made its first delivery of medical supplies to Tigray since September, calling it a huge relief. 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. An ICRC spokeswoman told the AP that the cargo of surgical supplies and essential drugs would help to treat at least 200 injured people, and that the group intends to send more supplies in the coming days and weeks. Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to questions on Thursday about the daily flights and when the governments blockade would be lifted completely to allow full access to the region. Ethiopia's health minister, Lia Tadesse, in a message to the AP said the increase in flights is due to the challenge of delivering by land because of the conflict, not a blockade. Additionally, critically needed medicines and supplies including vaccines and emergency drugs that partners do not have at hand but (the ministry) has are on process to be sent through partners," she said. The U.N. has indicated that time is running out. Aid organizations have warned that operations could cease completely by the end of February in Tigray, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday. Ethiopias government has sought to restrict reporting on the war and detained some journalists under the state of emergency, including a video freelancer accredited to the AP, Amir Aman Kiyaro. Gas stoves are contributing more to global warming than previously thought because of constant tiny methane leaks while theyre off, a new study found. In this photo provided by climate scientist Rob Jackson, researcher Eric Lebel attaches sensors to a stove to measure how often it is used in Stanford, Calif., in 2020. According to a study published Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, gas stoves are worse for the climate than previously thought because of constant tiny methane leaks even while theyre off. (Rob Jackson via AP) Gas stoves are contributing more to global warming than previously thought because of constant tiny methane leaks while theyre off, a new study found. The same study that tested emissions around stoves in homes raised new concerns about indoor air quality and health because of levels of nitrogen oxides measured. Even when they are not running, U.S. gas stoves are putting 2.6 million tons (2.4 million metric tons) of methane in carbon dioxide equivalent units into the air each year, a team of California researchers found in a study published in Thursdays journal Environmental Science & Technology. Thats equivalent to the annual amount of greenhouse gases from 500,000 cars or what the United States puts into the air every three-and-a-half hours. "Theyre constantly bleeding a little bit of methane into the atmosphere all the time," said the study's co-author Rob Jackson, a Stanford University climate scientist. That methane is on top of the 6.8 million tons (6.2 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide that gas stoves emit into the air when they are in use and the gas is burned, the study said. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is dozens of times more potent than carbon dioxide but doesnt stay in the atmosphere nearly as long and isnt as plentiful in the air. The researchers examined 53 home kitchens in California many in bed and breakfasts they rented. They sealed most of the rooms in plastic tarps and then measured emissions when the stoves were working and when they were not. And what was surprising was that three-quarters of the methane released happened while the stoves were off, Jackson said. Those are emissions releases that the government doesnt account for, he said. "Thats a big deal because were trying to really reduce our carbon footprint and we claim that gas is cleaner than coal, which it is," said study lead author Eric Lebel, a scientist at PSE Healthy Energy, an Oakland nonprofit. But he said much of the benefit disappears when leaks are taken into account. Many communities have bans on gas stove use in future new construction that will take effect in future years, including New York City and the Bay Area cities of San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Berkeley, Jackson said. "People can already choose electric appliances if they want," said Frank Maisano, a Washington policy and public relations expert who represents gas and appliance interests. "People just like gas appliances because they perform better, especially in colder climates." "Natural gas appliances are generally more energy- and cost-effective than their electric counterparts," Maisano said. Jackson estimated that when all natural gas use and extraction is taken into account, about 100 million tons (91 million metric tons) of gas leaks into the atmosphere. And the couple million tons from gas stoves "is meaningful. Thats a substantial part and its a part that we havent included accurately in the past." The leakage finding is "a very important takeaway" and fits with other work that found there are often big leaks that account for much of the emissions, said Zachary Merrin, a research engineer with the Illinois Applied Research Institutes Indoor Climate Research & Training group. Merrin, who wasn't part of the study, said the emission of un-combusted methane is "clearly bad. From an emissions standpoint, cooking directly with gas is better than using a fossil fuel powered electric stove but worse than using a solar powered electric stove." 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. The methane leak isnt dangerous to human health or as a possible explosive, Jackson said. But when conducting the tests, researchers found high levels of nitrogen oxides, greater than 100 parts per billion. Jackson said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency doesnt have indoor air quality standards for that gas, but the measurements they took exceed its outdoor air quality standards. While methane doesnt include nitrogen, the nitrogen oxides are byproducts of the combustion in natural gas ovens, he said. Maisano said people should always use hood ranges and make sure they have proper ventilation. Jackson, who has a gas stove that he plans to replace, said he never used ventilation before this study, but that he now does so every time. ___ Follow APs climate coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate and follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at https://twitter.com/borenbears. ___ 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. OTTAWA - The European Union remains staunchly united in the face of a possible Russian invasion despite concern that some countries in Europe may be waffling due to economic self-interest, says the Canadian envoy of the 27-country bloc. OTTAWA - The European Union remains staunchly united in the face of a possible Russian invasion despite concern that some countries in Europe may be waffling due to economic self-interest, says the Canadian envoy of the 27-country bloc. Melita Gabric, the EU ambassador to Canada, rejected reports that the EU is divided on its possible response to a Russian invasion because some of its countries are more economically dependent on Russia than others, especially for energy. Gabric said the EU is coming together to show true solidarity in the face of Russia's military buildup on Ukraine's borders, though she allowed that its 27 member countries often have vigorous discussions. She suggested that's not a lot different from political differences between provinces in Canada. "On the contrary, what we've seen is a show of unity," Gabric told The Canadian Press in an interview this week. "It's only natural that there would be discussions. We are 27 member states and European Union institutions. I'm sure that your readers appreciate this point, as you know, you have a confederate system." Russia has positioned 100,000 troops across Ukraine's borders along with tanks, sparking invasion fears across Europe and in the NATO military alliance, but Russia has denied it has a hostile intent. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and a host of others have repeated the mantra that Europe and its political and military allies need to speak with one voice in standing up to Russia in order to keep President Vladimir Putin from exploiting any perceived or real divisions. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly added her voice to that chorus on Wednesday when she reflected on her recent meetings in Brussels with EU and NATO leaders. "We're united and speaking with one voice in support of Ukraine and its people, and we're working in lockstep." Nonetheless, the EU has always been an unwieldy collection of political, bureaucratic and business interests, and its 27 member states have often held competing and differing views towards the Kremlin. One of the compounding factors is that about 40 per cent of Europe is dependent on natural gas from Russia that flows from pipelines, some of it through Ukraine. This makes many Europeans shudder at the memories of cold nights from the Kremlin cutting off supplies in the recent past to exert leverage. As a result, there are regular pronouncements of a divided Europe in media reports and various analyses. One of the latest pronouncements came this week from the European Council on Foreign Relations, which blamed a host of factors for contributing to disunity on the content. It cited rising U.S. influence, Britain's exit and internal national politics, along with French President Emmanuel Macron's desire to get re-elected and internal squabbling within Germany's new governing coalition. "Overall, the EU has become ever more divided and less capable of speaking with one voice," wrote the council's research director Jeremy Shapiro. Gabric countered by pointing to Monday's meeting of the EU's foreign affairs council that she said emerged with a strong, united consensus that declared Russia would face severe consequences if it invades. "They reiterated, in no uncertain terms, that they are willing to take such measures that will be massively consequential and will inflict severe costs on Russia in case it decides to go ahead with further aggression," she said. 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. Gabric also said that EU countries are trying to find new sources of energy, so it is less dependent on Russian supplies. "We've seen in the past that Russia uses its energy as a weapon," she said. "We are working on contingency plans." Gabric also rejected Russian claims that new sanctions from the West would have no effect, saying they would have massive economic consequences for the Kremlin. Gabric said Canada and the EU are co-ordinating closely on imposing fresh sanctions on Russia in the event it invades Ukraine. "We have been co-ordinating our actions and co-ordinating what we are preparing in terms of deterrence. And we really see eye to eye. We appreciate Canada's role in support of European security." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2022. Police in a western state of India have begun delving deeper into the deaths of four Indian migrants whose bodies were found in Manitoba just short of the Canada-U. S. border. A border marker is shown just outside of Emerson, Man., on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. Police in a western state of India have begun delving deeper into the deaths of four Indian migrants whose bodies were found in Manitoba just short of the Canada-U. S. border. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods Police in a western state of India have begun delving deeper into the deaths of four Indian migrants whose bodies were found in Manitoba just short of the Canada-U. S. border. Ashish Bhatia, director general of police in Gujarat, says investigators are trying to determine whether there was a travel agent in India who helped the group. "It's very clear that these people went to Canada and they were illegally trying to enter the U.S.A., so ... we are looking into that," Bhatia said in an interview with The Canadian Press. RCMP found the bodies of a man, a woman, a teen and a baby last week near Emerson, Man. Police believe they had tried to cross into the United States during a heavy snowstorm in freezing temperatures. Investigators have said they believe the deaths are linked to a human smuggling scheme. Seven people did make it across the border. Two were found in a van with a man who now faces charges. The others were picked up by border patrol officers a short distance away. Steve Shand of Deltona, Fla., faces counts of transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens. He was released from custody on Monday. Bhatia said Indian authorities are aware that people leaving for other countries don't always have proper documents to enter the United States. "This has been going on (for) years. Legally people go; illegally also people go." Two immigration experts and an investigator want anyone considering illegal channels to understand the harsh reality of human smuggling. "A lot of smugglers will give the false pretence that it's safe and easy to cross unlawfully," said Jamie Holt, acting special agent in charge of U.S. Homeland Security investigations into the illegal movement of people. "The smugglers have a very specific way of doing things. It's a business for them. "It's about money, not about people." Court documents state one of the individuals who was picked up told officers his group had been walking for 11 hours through the bitter cold. One woman was taken to hospital because one of her hands was to be partially amputated. The man said he had paid a large amount of money to get a fake student visa in Canada and was expecting a ride to a relative in Chicago after he crossed, the documents say. Deepak Ahluwalia, a Canadian immigration lawyer working with asylum seekers in California, said the Emerson crossing is frequented by smugglers and migrants who know its remoteness makes it inaccessible to patrol officers. Yvon Dandurand, a criminologist at the University of the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, said people turn to smugglers for help because they would not qualify under immigration law. Documents can also take years to process. People migrate for two main reasons: to seek out better economic opportunities or to be reunited with family, he said. It's a lucrative business. Dandurand said some smugglers charge US$10,000 to US$50,000 per person. Smuggling operations can be as small as five to 10 people working together in different countries, he added. "They make a lot of money out of people's despair (and) sometimes ignorance. They're easily duped," said Dandurand, who has been studying migrant smuggling for 25 years. Ahluwalia said he has helped a lot of Indian asylum seekers coming to the U.S. through Canada. Investigators are still piecing together the latest group's motive for crossing, but Ahluwalia said in many cases he's handled migrants have been scammed in Canada by a lawyer who promised false documents. "We see that a lot." Once migrants have made contact with a smuggler through an ad or word of mouth and provided payment they usually receive general instructions about their journey, Ahluwalia said. "It's so common for a smuggling agent to just say, 'Oh, the border is right there,' but the agent neglects to tell you that you have to walk for two days." Holt said cellphones typically don't work because the migrants have been dropped off in the middle of nowhere and told to walk in a specific direction, regardless of bad weather or lack of food and 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. "They know that once they put you across, their job is done. They don't really have any incentive to make sure that you end up safe," Ahluwalia added. "In this case, I don't know anyone who could be in their right mind to tell them to make this journey knowing that the mom had an infant in her hands," he said. "It's just sad that four people died, and they died so brutally and so tragically." This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2022. ___ This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. Hymns played as they stood next to the open casket in the funeral home on Logan Avenue where their kin lay embalmed, his body ready to be sent north for burial in his home community of Pukatawagan. Hymns played as they stood next to the open casket in the funeral home on Logan Avenue where their kin lay embalmed, his body ready to be sent north for burial in his home community of Pukatawagan. They wailed in the Winnipeg chapel where the others who loved him came to see him for the last time. They wailed, tears in their eyes, sometimes softly, sometimes with shrieks. "Why would you take my baby brother? Oh my God, Matthew," family member Michelle Myran shouted Wednesday over the casket of 36-year-old Joseph Matthew Myran. He was slain Jan. 17 in a Main Street apartment a place his family said is a known methamphetamine and crack cocaine den. ERIK PINDERA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Joseph Matthew Myran was killed in a Main Street apartment earlier this month. The Winnipeg Police are still investigating the case. On Wednesday, Winnipeg police said they had no further details to provide on the homicide investigation. Last week, police said general patrol officers went to the apartment on the 800 block of Main Street for a report of "suspicious circumstances," where they found Myran seriously injured. He was taken to hospital in critical condition, and later pronounced dead. "I cant live this life without him. I dont know what Im going to do when I wake up tomorrow," Michelle, 36, told the Free Press. She grew up with Myran and considered him a brother, although they were cousins. A slow stream of mourners came to pay their respects Wednesday; some brought children who looked wide-eyed at the coffin. I cant live this life without him. I dont know what Im going to do when I wake up tomorrow." Michelle Myran, sister Myrans mother, 58-year-old Brenda Myran, held court over the wake, greeting family and friends next to the casket laden with flowers and ribbons of red, silver and gold. Brenda said her son, who was raised by her sister but had spent time in foster care, was a good guy gentle and kept to himself. At one time, he worked at a wooden pallet manufacturer on Nairn Avenue, and he cared deeply for his nieces and nephews. But he fell hard into a meth addiction and started running with gangs thats what got him killed, family said. "He was living in the gang life, the meth life but he didnt ever try to hurt anybody. It was just to get high," Michelle said. "I know it was all gangster s-, it was all bad, I knew, eventually, right, but you dont want to think it. "You see how addiction just ruins peoples lives." MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Michelle Myran at the casket of her foster brother Joseph Matthew Myran during his memorial service at Eternal Grace Funerals. Myran used to live at the dingy two-storey apartment where he was slain a known flop for heavy drug users, Michelle said. He was either going there to buy or sell methamphetamine the night he died, the family believes. His drug use worsened amid the COVID-19 pandemic and he used federal worker relief funds to feed his habit, Michelle said. "Just in the end of his life, he got into that meth... I was like Smarten up, youre going to be dead one day. I knew this was going to happen," she said, adding Myran had planned to go home to Pukatawagan to "save his life." "I said, When you go there, you got to wean yourself off that s- or youre going to be crazy. Hes like, Im ready to do it, Im ready to go up there and just wean myself off it, come back," she said. "He had a job, he was the foreman." He had a job, he was the foreman. Michelle Myran, sister Michelle broke into tears, telling the Free Press the victim was a good man, who was kind to his family and others. Myrans mother said she wants police to make an arrest so she can face her sons killer in court. She doesnt want revenge: "Matthew wouldnt want that." Instead, she wants to pray. "No revenge, no revenge. I just hope (police) find him. Im going to feel sorry for him." On the wall beside Brenda was a painting of a mother loon floating on a lake with its offspring, framed between pine forest as the sun sets. In the chapel on Logan Avenue, a mother watched over her child, too standing over the casket, as tears fell. erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @erik_pindera 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. As of Friday, existing COVID-19 case notification requirements will be a thing of the past in Manitoba daycares and early-childhood learning centres. As of Friday, existing COVID-19 case notification requirements will be a thing of the past in Manitoba daycares and early-childhood learning centres. Child care centres wont have to notify member families about individual cases within their facilities, and they wont be required to identify or notify close contacts of a positive case. The change follows a similar public health decision to remove case-notification requirements in Manitoba schools earlier this month. Children whove been exposed to COVID-19 will still be allowed to attend daycare, as long as they dont have any symptoms. Public health is now instead recommending child care centres inform families about the number of positive cases connected to the facility every two weeks. The centres will still have to monitor absenteeism and the number of positive test results staff and families report to them. Chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin announced the changes Wednesday, saying theyre being made because of the much more contagious Omicron variant. Its so much more infectious, has such a shorter incubation period, that case and contact management is just not effective. So we have to change our approach to it, he said, later adding: The nature of this virus is not conducive to widespread contact tracing. He described the decision to stop requiring individual case notifications as a prudent move, citing lower risk of severe COVID-19 infections in young children and the toll it takes on families when they have to miss school or daycare. The change reduces the administrative burden on child care centres that are already dealing with workforce shortages and high absenteeism rates, said Manitoba Child Care Association executive director Jodie Kehl. They were fighting a losing battle trying to keep up with exponentially rising case counts, she said. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba chief public health officer, announced the changes Wednesday, saying theyre being made because of the much more contagious Omicron variant. Its one more element of fear for families, and I worry for families who now are maybe feeling that theyre not going to have the information that they need. But clearly the transmission rates of Omicron are so great, that I think prior to todays announcement, child care facilities were trying to contact trace, and it was just really a futile effort for them. Kehl said the sector needs investments and more widely available operating grants to survive in the long term. While it has announced active outbreaks, the province has never released detailed public data about the spread of COVID-19 within daycares and child care facilities. A group of professors at the University of Manitoba has now taken on the task of tracking. Last week, Lauren Kelly and Aleeza Gerstein launched their first early learning and child care survey, seeking responses from sector staff. Since then, four more professors have signed on to help. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, 23 Manitoba child care facilities responded to the online survey, indicating about 12 per cent of staff had either tested positive or were isolating as close contacts, Gerstein said. 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. Given the impact on staff and on children who become sick, she questioned the decision to remove notification requirements. I dont understand how child care facilities are going to continue to be staffed, let alone how this is safe for the people working in the sector whove still not been provided with rapid tests, still not been provided with N95 masks, still dont have access to better ventilation, work with children who are not vaccinated, cant wear masks properly and cant physically distance, Gerstein said. I dont understand what is driving these policies. Opposition politicians criticized the decision Wednesday. In a statement, Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont described the move as the latest in a string of failures by this government, especially when children under five cannot be vaccinated. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca A Winnipeg man ensnared in an interprovincial police sting that targeted high-volume cocaine traffickers has been sentenced to 7 years in prison. A Winnipeg man ensnared in an interprovincial police sting that targeted high-volume cocaine traffickers has been sentenced to 7 years in prison. Nyke Thorpe, 41, was one of seven Manitobans and four Ontario residents arrested in October 2020 following a joint Winnipeg Police Service and Ontario Provincial Police investigation dubbed Project Wonders. The crime groups core activities involved moving multiple kilograms of cocaine from southern Ontario to Winnipeg using traditional parcel and courier services and delivering millions of dollars in proceeds back to Ontario the same way. Thorpe, who pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking cocaine, came to the attention of investigators in February 2020 after he was spotted completing a suspected drug deal with one of Project Wonders primary targets, Crown attorney Matthew Sinclair told court Wednesday. Thorpe was placed under surveillance. Over several months, he received at least 27 kilograms of cocaine and couriered more than $2 million in drug proceeds to Ontario. Mr. Thorpe was continually receiving and distributing cocaine at a high level and collecting and remitting the proceeds of sales back to Ontario, Sinclair told Queens Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg. Thorpe was arrested October 21, 2020, after police executed co-ordinated search warrants at five Winnipeg residences, including Thorpes Hargrave Street apartment, and four residences in southern Ontario. This organization would not have functioned without (Thorpe) and drained a significant amount of wealth from Manitoba, Sinclair said. Thorpe turned to drug dealing to support his six children in Ontario after an automobile injury left him unable to work as a carpenter, defence lawyer Billy Marks told court. 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. It was basically go on assistance and this came up and he ultimately made the unfortunate decision to get involved, Marks said. Thorpe is the first of the 11 accused to enter a guilty plea. His sentence was jointly recommended by the Crown and defence and is expected to be in line with sentences recommended for a number of other accused, court heard. But for those factors, Thorpe would have faced a much stiffer sentence, Greenberg said. People who do what you have done are considered to be a scourge on society, she said. You are getting an incredible break, as far as Im concerned. Thorpe received credit for time served, reducing his remaining sentence to just over 5 years. dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca An online fundraiser for the Headingley jail guard charged in the death of an Indigenous inmate quickly racked up tens of thousands of dollars in donations from across the country before it was abruptly cancelled by GoFundMe. An online fundraiser for the Headingley jail guard charged in the death of an Indigenous inmate quickly racked up tens of thousands of dollars in donations from across the country before it was abruptly cancelled by GoFundMe. RCMP arrested Robert Jeffrey Morden, 43, on Friday and charged him with criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessities of life in the death of William Walter Ahmo, 45, last year. Shortly after Mordens arrest, a GoFundMe fundraiser was launched for his legal defence by a man named Jeff Sutherland. Attempts to reach Sutherland were unsuccessful. By Tuesday, more than $50,000 had been donated by guards nationwide, including from members of critical emergency response units. On Feb. 7, 2021, Ahmo was rushed to hospital following an altercation with the Headingley Correctional Centres critical emergency response unit. Morden worked on the unit, which was called in following a lengthy standoff between Ahmo and staff. Ahmo died seven days later. Manitobas chief medical examiner determined the death was homicide. Ahmo had been in custody pending on charges of aggravated assault and robbery. By Wednesday, the fundraiser for Morden had been pulled from the website, and a spokesperson for GoFundMe said its "trust and safety team" determined the fundraiser violated its rules. "GoFundMe prohibits raising money for the legal defence of a violent crime All donors have been refunded," the spokesperson said. SUPPLIED / FREE PRESS FILES Will Ahmo with son Emory. A fundraiser organized by the Ahmo family for funeral costs and legal expenses was launched shortly after Ahmos death. As of Wednesday, the GoFundMe, which sought $50,000, had raised $6,625. Since the Ahmo familys fundraiser doesnt seek financial support for the "legal defence of a violent crime," it does not violate GoFundMes terms of services. In addition to the financial support from correctional officers across Canada, Morden has also received backing from Greg Skelly, head of corrections for Manitoba Justice. Shortly after news broke that Morden had been arrested, Skelly sent an email to staff stating that Ahmo had been "armed" and had posed a "significant threat," adding the guards who responded to the incident were "acting in good faith." Once the charges against Morden have been dealt with in court, the chief medical examiner is expected to call an inquest. The revelation that GoFundMe pulled the fundraiser for Mordens legal defence isnt the first time the online platform has been in the news this week. WAYNE GLOWACKI / FREE PRESS FILES On Feb. 7, 2021, Will Ahmo was rushed to hospital following an altercation with the Headingley Correctional Centres critical emergency response unit. On Tuesday, it was reported that GoFundMe had frozen access to more than $4.7 million raised for the "Freedom Convoy" the parade of truckers thats driving to Ottawa this week to protest against vaccine mandates. A GoFundMe spokesperson told The Canadian Press that organizers of fundraisers must be "transparent about the flow of funds and have a clear plan for how those funds will be spent." "Funds will be safely held until the organizer is able to provide the documentation to our team about how funds will be properly distributed," the spokesperson said. ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca Twitter:@rk_thorpe One day, two stories, one bottom line. On Tuesday, we published a fantastic story about how a physician and a cleric were using facts and compassion to slowly change attitudes about COVID-19 vaccines in the Southern Heath region, which has the lowest immunization rates in the province. Written by Free Press reporter Chris Kitching, it describes the efforts of Dr. Ganesan Abbu from Boundary Trails Health Centre, and Kyle Penner, pastor of Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach, to win over the vaccine-hesitant, one person at a time. Its a hopeful story that proves not everyone who resists a shot is an anti-vaxxer. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Boundary Trails Health Centre. Dr. Ganesan Abbu from Boundary Trails Health Centre, and Kyle Penner, pastor of Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach, are winning over the vaccine-hesitant, one person at a time. Then, we have our second story: a cross-country truck convoy that passed through Winnipeg Tuesday. In an effort to get the federal Liberal government to abandon its vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers and travellers, long-haul drivers and their supporters are making their way from Vancouver to Ottawa. Tamara Lich, an Alberta woman active in a separatist political party, raised $4.7 million through GoFundMe to support the convoy. This is a much-less hopeful story about a protest movement that is full of anger but short on common sense. TIM SMITH / THE BRANDON SUN GoFundMe announced it was holding back the money raised for the Freedom Convoy until it could get more details on exactly who would be receiving the money. Requiring truckers and all other travellers crossing the Canada-U.S. border to be fully vaccinated is a policy embraced by governments in both countries. As a result, even if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could be persuaded to back down and, to date, hes said thats not going to happen there would still be a mandate that could not be ignored. It doesnt help the convoys reputation that it has also been struck by controversy. First, GoFundMe announced it was holding back the money raised until it could get more details from Lich on exactly who would be receiving the money. And then on Tuesday, she acknowledged the convoy was being co-opted by some people with rather ugly and dangerous ideas. DAVID LIPNOWSKI - THE CANADIAN PRESS Protesters of COVID-19 restrictions, and supporters of Canadian truck drivers protesting the COVID-19 vaccine mandate cheer on a convoy of trucks on their way to Ottawa. In a video posted to Facebook, Lich expressed concern about those urging truckers to use the convoy to damage property, threaten politicians and mount an insurrection in Ottawa similar to the attack by far-right protesters on the U.S. Capitol in Washington just over a year ago. Shes asked anyone participating in the convoy to register with "road captains" and for anyone who sees or hears anything designed to "incite violence or hatred" to call police. Notwithstanding those efforts to keep things peaceful, this protest is based on some pretty dangerous rhetoric. Lich and many of her supporters have accused the Liberals of being "tyrannical," a gross exaggeration of whats happening here and a horrendous insult to anyone in the world who is forced to suffer under a genuine tyrant. Tamara Lich and many of her supporters have accused the Liberals of being tyrannical, a gross exaggeration of whats happening here and a horrendous insult to anyone in the world who is forced to suffer under a genuine tyrant. The Freedom Convoy also seems blissfully ignorant that trucking-industry advocacy groups have condemned the protest and, at last count, more than 85 per cent of the drivers report being vaccinated. So, what if we were to combine the narratives of the two stories? What if we put our compassionate physician and cleric in the same room with the protesting truckers? Could facts and compassion convince the Freedom Convoy organizers to abandon their concerns and join the overwhelming majority of Canadians who know vaccines offer the only real way out of the pandemic? It is highly ironic that many of the hardcore antivax types in this country are applauding the arrival of Paxlovid, the first oral antiviral medication many hope will prove to be the first truly effective treatment for the virus. Its never a good idea to underestimate an optimistic activist, but there is little evidence that even the most informed, personal appeals are going to make much difference. And that brings us to the issue that underlines both stories: vaccine mandates. The Freedom Convoy participants may find them to be offensive, but they are effective. Current research confirms that, in spades. A new study released this month by economists at Simon Fraser University found that just the announcement of an impending mandate restricting public-venue entry to the fully vaccinated increased first-shot uptake by 66 per cent. The study noted the results are consistent with research in other countries on mandate efficacy. EUGENE HOSHIKO / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES A new study released this month found that just the announcement of an impending mandate restricting public-venue entry to the fully vaccinated increased first-shot uptake by 66 per cent. With that data in hand, we can see now how these two stories give us a more complete picture of what we must do to contain COVID-19. We must never, ever abandon efforts to educate and otherwise persuade the hesitant to get their shots, even if that means waging the war for vaccines on a case-by-case basis. At the same time, however, the second story is a bracing reminder that the best practices in the first story cannot be a replacement for mandates. It is highly ironic that many of the hardcore anti-vax types in this country are applauding the arrival of Paxlovid, the first oral anti-viral medication many hope will prove to be the first truly effective treatment for the virus. How, you may ask, can someone who attacks the safety and efficacy of vaccines also celebrate the arrival of a new drug made by one of the same companies that makes vaccines? What if we put our compassionate physician (Dr. Ganesan Abbu) and cleric (Kyle Penner) in the same room with the protesting truckers? Why ask why? The two stories confirm that our path out of this crisis involves both strategies: we should continue efforts to persuade the people who are open-minded enough to be persuaded, while applying harsher measures for those who are not. Thats not tyrannical. Its practical. dan.lett@winnipegfreepress.com Want more great journalism? Get our best news and features delivered in your inbox every evening. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement. Manitoba RCMP are trying to track the final movements of a family of four who froze to death while attempting to walk across the Canada-U.S. border in a -35C blizzard. Manitoba RCMP are trying to track the final movements of a family of four who froze to death while attempting to walk across the Canada-U.S. border in a -35C blizzard. The identities of the Indian nationals Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39; his wife, Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, 37; their daughter, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, 11; and three-year-old son, Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel were confirmed Thursday. Officers found their bodies just metres from the border while searching a field about 10 kilometres east of Emerson on the afternoon of Jan. 19. It is some 11,000 kilometres from their village of Dingucha in the Indian state of Gujarat. @HIRSHAH1/TWITTER Jagdish Patel, his wife, Vaishali, daughter Vihanga, and three-year-old son, Dharmik were found 10 kilometres east of Emerson, Man. Chief Supt. Rob Hill, who is in charge of criminal operations for Manitoba RCMP, said the Patels arrived in Toronto on Jan. 12 and made their way to the Emerson area on or about Jan. 18. Police believe they were dropped off as part of a human smuggling operation, which is being investigated by authorities in at least three countries. "There was no abandoned vehicle located on the Canadian side of the border. This clearly indicates that someone drove the family to the border and then left the scene," Hill said at a press conference. The Patels were attempting to make the perilous crossing with seven undocumented Indian nationals, who were detained by U.S. border patrol agents after walking into Minnesota on the morning of Jan. 19, according to a court document. The U.s. has started deportation proceedings against the seven Indians. RCMP are trying to find out how the Patels, who were unfamiliar with Canada, entered and travelled across the country, where they stayed, who transported them and why they were attempting to go to the U.S. JESSE BOILY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Chief Supt. Rob Hill said the extensive and complex investigation, involving law enforcement and government agencies in Canada, the U.S. and India, will go on for months. "A part of the investigation is determining whether this travel was facilitated in some way by an individual or individuals," said Hill. Police were unaware if the Patels had obtained visas or had family in the U.S. Investigators believe people such as hotel, restaurant or gas station workers may have spoken to or seen the Patels. "We need anyone who had interaction with the Patel family or has information about their journey to the border to think about what they went through and to step forward," said Hill. "Any information about their time in Canada will be incredibly helpful to our investigators." Hill said the "extensive" and "complex" investigation, involving law enforcement and government agencies in Canada, the U.S. and India, will go on for months. The Patels were carrying their passports, and investigators used those documents and fingerprints to positively identify the family, said RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Julie Courchaine. All four died of exposure, police said, after the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner completed autopsies. All four died of exposure, police said, after the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner completed autopsies. In its initial assessment of the frozen bodies, the RCMP believed the children were an infant and a teenage boy. The older child turned out to be a girl. "We apologize for that error, but please understand the frozen state in which the bodies were found, and the clothing worn by the family, made the initial identification difficult," said Hill. "It is also why the process to confirm the names took an extended period of time." The RCMP worked with officials from Indias high commission in Ottawa and its consulate in Toronto to notify relatives in India on Thursday. A Free Press reporter spoke to Jagdish Patels cousin, Jaswant Patel, on Thursday morning before the victims identities were confirmed. Jaswant Patel expressed frustration as relatives in Dingucha waited days to find out if the bodies belonged to their loved ones. "Why are the police taking so long?" he asked in a WhatsApp message. Relatives lost contact with the Patels a few days after they arrived in Canada. They alerted Indian officials after seeing online news reports about the bodies discovered near Emerson, sparking the anxious wait for answers. JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Police believe the group of people was dropped off as part of a human smuggling operation, which is being investigated by authorities in at least three countries. Jagdish Patel had told relatives his family had obtained visitor visas for Canada. The Patels hailed from a farming community, home to about 3,000 people, in the western state of Gujarat. The seven who made it across the border are believed to be from the same state. Heartbroken members of Manitobas Gujarati community are prepared to offer support to Patel relatives in India, said Ash Patel, a Winnipegger who co-organized a virtual prayer service on Monday. "It is terrible for the family. It is unbearable for the parents (of Jagdish and Vaishaliben Patel)," said Ash Patel. In a news release, the Consulate General of India in Toronto said it is offering support to relatives in India. The tragedy that befell the Patel family "has brought into focus the need to ensure that migration and mobility are made safe and legal and that such tragedies do not recur," the release stated. In the U.S., Steve Shand of Deltona, Fla., faces counts of transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens. A Minnesota judge agreed to release him from custody on Monday. FACEBOOK In the U.S., Steve Shand of Deltona, Fla., faces counts of transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens. A court document claims Shand, driving a rented van, was supposed to pick up the 11 Indian nationals on a rural road just over the border near St. Vincent, Minn. Two were with the 47-year-old when he was arrested Jan. 19, the affidavit stated. Five others were found nearby. All seven, who were wearing new winter clothing, had varying degrees of frostbite and hypothermia. Aged in their late teens and early 20s, they have been released from custody pending removal proceedings, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman said. The search for the Patels began after a survivor told U.S. border agents the family had become separated from the larger group as it walked for more than 11 hours overnight. The search for the Patels began after a survivor told U.S. border agents the family had become separated from the larger group as it walked for more than 11 hours overnight. That man was carrying a backpack belonging to the family. It contained childrens clothing and medication, a diaper and toys. According to the affidavit, he told agents the drop-off spot in Manitoba was about a kilometre north of the border. Another survivor told agents he paid a significant amount of money to obtain a fraudulent student visa to enter Canada, and was on his way to meet family in Chicago. Police in Gujarat have begun delving deeper into the deaths and the smuggling scheme. Ashish Bhatia, director general of police in the state, said investigators are trying to determine whether there was a travel agent in India who helped the group. Ashish Bhatia, director general of police in the state, said investigators are trying to determine whether there was a travel agent in India who helped the group. 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 official A.K. Jhala, based in the state capital Gandhinagar, told Reuters six people who allegedly ran a travel and tourism company had been detained. "We are now trying to nab the human traffickers who managed to send this family and others abroad via illegal channels," said Jhala. Anyone with information for Manitoba RCMP is asked to call 431-489-8551, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com. with files from Carol Sanders and The Canadian Press chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @chriskitching Jaswant Patel is waiting for a knock on his door or a phone call that will confirm his worst fears or deepen a mystery that has consumed a village in India. Jaswant Patel is waiting for a knock on his door or a phone call that will confirm his worst fears or deepen a mystery that has consumed a village in India. His cousins family, including two young children, is missing almost two weeks after saying they would use visitor visas to travel to Canada from their hometown of Dingucha earlier this month. Relatives stopped hearing from the family identified as Jagdish Patel, 35, his wife, Vaishali, 33, daughter Vihanga, 12, and three-year-old son, Dharmik days later. Loved ones became worried when they read online news reports from Canada about 11 Indian nationals who made a tragic bid to illegally walk across the border into the U.S. in a -35 C blizzard at night. Winter weather, vast expanse make patrolling Canada-U.S. border a challenge U.S. Border Patrol agents Katy Siemer (left) and David Marcus stand outside the Customs and Border Protection facility in Pembina, N.D., on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 not far from where agents intercepted a group of undocumented Indian nationals Jan. 19. The incident prompted the discovery north of the border of the bodies of four other Indian migrants who were believed to be trying to enter the U.S. with the rest of the group.THE CANADIAN PRESS/James McCarten Posted: 10:47 AM Jan. 26, 2022 SAINT VINCENT, Minn. - A bleak panorama of frozen, windblown prairie extends in every direction behind Katy Siemer as she points north, past a barren stand of trees to a pipeline compressor station a few hundred metres away in Manitoba. The U.S. Border Patrol agent is standing alongside a similar facility in Minnesota that she says undocumented migrants use as a meeting spot when sneaking over from Canada, usually under cover of darkness. Read Full Story The frozen bodies of a family of four were found 10 kilometres east of Emerson, Man., on the afternoon of Jan. 19 after seven undocumented survivors, all suffering varying degrees of frostbite and hypothermia, were picked up by U.S. border patrol agents just across the boundary in Minnesota. The bodies had not been formally identified as of Wednesday. Jaswant Patel told the Free Press he doesnt know if his cousins family is among the migrants who made the perilous journey in a human smuggling operation. After asking Indian government officials to trace the vanished family, relatives are waiting for diplomats from the high commission in Ottawa to relay information. "My cousin is missing, but I have not received any official confirmation," Jaswant Patel, who lives in Dingucha, wrote in a WhatsApp message. A photo published by Indian media shows a bespectacled Jagdish Patel standing next to his smiling wife, who is cradling their son in her arms. The boy clutches a mobile phone, while his older sister smiles as she stares into the camera. Desperate for answers, Jaswant Patel wanted to know when Manitoba RCMP will confirm the identities of the four victims. "Can you help me or is it really my family or someone else?" he asked a reporter. "Please help me find the right information." If it isnt his family, his search will continue. RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Julie Courchaine said autopsies began Wednesday and it could be days before the results are revealed. "Formal identification is still pending. When we have further information to share we will advise," she wrote in an email. The RCMP is working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and officials from Indias consulate in Toronto to identify the bodies and notify next of kin. When the deaths were announced last week, the RCMP said the victims were a man, woman, infant and teenage boy, according to an initial assessment. The information does not match the makeup of the Patel family, whose oldest child is a girl and youngest is not a baby. The RCMP acknowledged details about the gender and age of the victims could change once autopsies are finished. Police refused to be drawn into Indian media speculation the Patels are among the migrants involved in the tragedy. Jagdish Patel, wife Vaishali, daughter Vihanga, 12, and son Dharmik, 3, have not been heard from for nearly two weeks. (Photo courtesy of Amrut Patel) "We are aware that some media outlets are publishing the possible identities of the four victims," a news release stated Monday. "As a law enforcement organization, we will not be in a position to confirm these names until we have 100 per cent certainty of their identities and next of kin notification is completed." Dingucha resident Amrut Patel, who knows Jagdish Patels father, said the missing man told loved ones he had obtained visitor visas to enter Canada. There was no mention of plans to travel to the U.S. "After that, he was lost. His father did not get information from him," Amrut Patel told the Free Press in a phone interview. "The family is in deep worry because they dont have the full information." He doesnt think Jagdish or Vaishali have relatives in Canada. Journalists from Indias national media have descended on Dingucha to speak to relatives and find out why the Patel family left. Located in the western state of Gujarat, the quiet village is home to more than 3,000 people, many of whom work in farming, according to Indian census data. The surviving migrants speak Gujarati, a language native to the state. One of the migrants told border agents the family of four became separated in the darkness and brutal winter conditions, as the larger group walked for more than 11 hours. Along with an alleged human smuggler, the seven were arrested by U.S. border patrol agents near St. Vincent, Minn., on the morning of Jan. 19. The migrants were wearing new winter clothing. A woman who was hospitalized with severe frostbite was at risk of having part of her hand amputated, according to a court document. One of the migrants told border agents the family of four became separated in the darkness and brutal winter conditions, as the larger group walked for more than 11 hours, an affidavit stated. That sparked the search which came to a tragic end hours later. The migrant was carrying a backpack belonging to the family. It contained childrens clothes and medication, a diaper and toys. Another migrant said he entered Canada on a fraudulent student visa, and was on his way to meet family in Chicago. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has started deportation proceedings. "All seven migrants who illegally entered the United States last week were administratively processed for removal and/or placed into removal proceedings as per the Immigration and Nationality Act," spokesman Kris Grogan wrote in an email. Steve Shand is charged with transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens. (Facebook) Steve Shand, 47, a resident of Deltona, Fla., was allegedly tasked with picking up the migrants. Two were with him in a rented van when he was arrested, the affidavit stated. A judge on Monday agreed to release him from custody. He is charged with transporting or attempting to transport illegal aliens. No one has been charged in the four deaths in Manitoba. More than 125 people from Canada and India took part in a virtual prayer service for the four victims Monday. It was co-organized by Winnipegger Ash Patel, who moved to Canada from Gujarat about 18 years ago. "We prayed for them to rest in peace and for God to give strength to their family members," he said. "Everybody was in shock hearing this news (about the deaths)." chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @chriskitching DEVELOPERS hope a new six-storey building with 90 apartments and space for seven ground-floor businesses could soon help rejuvenate a key piece of Osborne Village. DEVELOPERS hope a new six-storey building with 90 apartments and space for seven ground-floor businesses could soon help rejuvenate a key piece of Osborne Village. The proposed project for the southwest corner of Osborne Street and Gertrude Avenue, a highly visible spot next to Confusion Corner, is pending Winnipeg city council approval. The ground-floor commercial units would face Osborne Street, while the proposal also includes 77 vehicle parking spaces, a 40-stall indoor bike parking facility, a dedicated car-share vehicle space, roof terraces and balconies. A proponent for the project said it should help the area recover from its COVID-19 pandemic losses while building upon its walkable nature and proximity to downtown. "We do really see this not only as kind of a shot in the arm to the Osborne Village area, but also revitalizing the southern end of the strip We see this as serving as a bit of an anchor at the south end of Osborne Village, as we get close to the rapid transit line and Confusion Corner," said Brendan Salakoh, a partner at Landmark Planning & Design Inc. The proposal from developer Adam Sharfe, vice-president of operations for Seekville Inc., seeks to create a pedestrian friendly design that would stretch from 197 to 213 Osborne St. Salakoh said its expected to include smaller local shops at the street level, with five floors of apartments above. "Its a high-quality design that we feel actually matches the character and the context for mixed-use development in Osborne Village We just think that increased residential density, foot traffic and retail spaces would really kind of bolster the pedestrian activity," he said. Despite the pandemic dealing blows to the economy, Salakoh said clear demand still exists for housing and retail in Osborne Village. In a report, city staff recommend council approve the plan, predicting it would enhance the pedestrian experience, complement the commercial streetscape and add residential density to an existing neighbourhood. "(The development would) help strengthen the walkable neighbourhood main street tradition of the village," the report notes. While a development this size would normally require 85 parking stalls, the report notes 77 are deemed sufficient, due to the car-share vehicle plans and access to rapid transit. The Osborne Village Business Improvement Zone welcomed the proposal as a great fit for the site. "It is a real gateway to the village, so to have this as youre coming from South Osborne, entering Osborne Village from Confusion Corner, its a real opportunity to have a real welcome to the neighbourhood to show weve got this density, weve got these businesses," said Lindsay Somers, executive director. 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. While COVID-19 is still wreaking havoc with many local businesses, Somers said the general vibe of the village is already improving, partly because pedestrian traffic remained more consistent than in other areas. "We still have a lot of people on our streets throughout the pandemic because we still have a population of 11,000 people in 1.44 square kilometres. We do have people walking to go out for lunch and checking out the stores. The streets havent been empty in Osborne Village (compared) to other spaces," said Somers. The report notes the developer completed three rounds of public consultation between November 2020 and June 2021. Salakoh said the feedback led the proposed buildings height to shrink to six storeys. Earlier concepts were based on eight. City planners do not expect the building to have any major adverse effects on traffic or parking, the report notes. joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga A caravan of vehicles participated in a protest in Winnipeg this week as part of the Freedom Convoy, protesting changes made to vaccination policies at the border as of Jan. 15. Opinion A caravan of vehicles participated in a protest in Winnipeg this week as part of the Freedom Convoy, protesting changes made to vaccination policies at the border as of Jan. 15. Hundreds of truckers set out from B.C. last weekend en route to Ottawa after the federal government declared that unvaccinated or partially vaccinated Canadian truck drivers, among others, entering the country must get a PCR molecular test outside of Canada within 72 hours of planned entry, get tested when they arrive and then self-test on the eighth day of a mandatory 14-day quarantine period. No credible political party in Canada should affiliate themselves with this protest. The Canadian Trucking Alliance, which represents the sector, has made it clear that it does not support the protest. On its website, the CTA stated the majority of those who work in the industry are vaccinated and that most of our nations hard-working truck drivers are continuing to move cross-border and domestic freight to ensure our economy continues to function. The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers says photos of empty store shelves predate the vaccination mandate and have more to do with weather, which disrupted the supply chain for certain products like chicken. Other materials like packaging have also been in short supply for some time now, making manufacturing difficult. Empty store shelves have nothing to do with a vaccination mandate at the borders. But its hard not to take the convoy seriously. So far it has raised more than $4.7 million in a GoFundMe page organized by Tamara Lich, who has Manitoba roots. According to her website, she worked in this province in 2006 before moving back to southern Alberta to continue to work in the oil and gas sector. Shes now a member of the Maverick party, which wants Western provinces to separate from Canada. Lich was also a key organizer in Alberta for the yellow-vest caravan in 2019, which called for the building of pipelines and a clampdown on illegal immigration and decried Canadas signing the United Nations Migration Pact, a non-binding treaty that aims to improve global co-operation on international migration. Some yellow-vest protesters used Facebook to post death threats against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family. Those posts were eventually removed. These groups should not be written off as mere protests in the heat of the pandemic moment. In the United States and in Canada, researchers are concerned that far-right extremists are seizing on the anti-vaccination movement as a way to exploit their own agenda. In the U.S., the movement gained steam politically, aligning itself with the Tea Party and other far-right activists as part of a political action committee, pushing for religious exemptions and other legislation to hamper the spread of vaccines. With COVID-19 and the rise of public health measures, including mandatory vaccination requirements for employment and travel, the anti-vaccination movement in the United States has new momentum. It is becoming a political movement with outspoken champions like anti-immigration blogger Nick Fuentes, one-time Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. In Canada, many of those now protesting vaccination mandates have been part of earlier anti-government and anti-immigration campaigns that predate the pandemic. As researchers Amarnath Amarasingam, Stephanie Carvin and Kurt Phillips have determined, these include Yellow Vests Canada (a pro-oil and pipeline group that quickly adopted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories concerning world government, the United Nations and immigration), the legacy and remnant groupings of the Canadian chapter of the Islamophobic and anti-immigrant Soldiers of Odin, as well as individuals inspired by far-right extremist narratives. The issue becomes this: what underlies the anti-vaccination stance, and where does the anger go, once the pandemic is over? 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. In the last federal election, the Peoples Party of Canada saw an upswing in support, taking advantage of the anti-vax, anti-Trudeau, anti-immigration sentiments. As Amarasingam, Carvin and Phillips discuss in their research, alt-right political parties like the PPC are now being joined by far-right parties at the provincial level. In Ontario, there are now three alternative parties vying for votes in the upcoming provincial election. In Alberta, the Maverick party, the Wild Rose Independence Party and the Alberta Statehood Party are also looking to gain supporters. Amarasingam, Carvin and Phillips point out that new grievances will likely be along the lines of previous far-right extremist preoccupations, such as the promotion of anti-immigration, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views, policies and violence. Any credible political party, particularly at the federal level, should be denouncing the Freedom Convoy and standing on the side of the CTA and the majority of professional truck drivers who are doing the right thing: working hard and ensuring that they keep themselves and others safe in doing so. Canada is still waiting for Conservative Leader Erin OToole to prove he wants to be credible. Shannon Sampert holds the Eakin Visiting Fellowship in Canadian Studies at McGill University and is the former politics and perspectives editor of the Winnipeg Free Press. Shannon@mediadiva.ca ON Dec. 13, 2021, as Omicron cases started to spike, the Manitoba government extended its pandemic paid sick leave program to March 31, 2022. The program provides up to $600 for a total of five work days to workers who do not currently have paid sick days through their employer. Opinion ON Dec. 13, 2021, as Omicron cases started to spike, the Manitoba government extended its pandemic paid sick leave program to March 31, 2022. The program provides up to $600 for a total of five work days to workers who do not currently have paid sick days through their employer. This is the majority of workers in Manitoba, according to pre-pandemic statistics. The pandemic sick leave program comes with significant hurdles. Its voluntary and employer-driven, which means employers need not inform their workers about the program, let alone provide it if they become sick. In workplaces where there is a culture of working sick, or where workers fear job loss or reprisals if they take time off, the program is not meaningfully accessible. The Winnipeg Free Press has highlighted several examples of such workplaces in Manitoba. Meanwhile, the province has done precious little to enforce COVID-19 measures and policies, such as the sick leave program, to prevent workplace spread. In June 2021, more than a month after the program was announced, doctors and unions continued to hear from workers who contracted COVID-19 on the job and felt unable to quarantine. Despite thousands of workplace health and safety inspections, zero employers were fined. Even during lockdowns, workplaces that are not public-facing, such as factories, are largely allowed to continue operations, despite risks to workers. Unsurprisingly, the list of outbreaks in workplaces continues to grow. The province reports that more than 16,000 workers have benefited from the program, yet the job sector and characteristics of these workers are not disclosed. This raises questions around which workers benefit from a program that relies on the green light from employers, and how many eligible workers lack meaningful access. Stories from migrant-worker advocates reveal that eight months into the program, many migrant workers are either unaware of the program or unsure how to access it. In a recent conversation with Karen Hamilton, program co-ordinator with the MFL Occupational Health Centre, she explains: "The provinces program is convoluted for workers. Its pretty unrealistic for precarious migrant workers to inform their employers about the program so they can access it." Migrant workers who are under intense pressure to send remittances to family abroad have an especially hard time taking time off. Migrant justice advocates also point to financial insecurity that requires workers to tolerate unsafe workplaces, carpool and live in multi-family homes as central factors in the disproportionately high COVID-19 rates in these communities. In the first year of the pandemic, outbreaks in factories and plants that employ large numbers of precarious migrant workers were identified, despite patchy provincial reporting. The pandemic has taught us that workplace health is public health. The program is far from universal, and ultimately fails the vulnerable, and often essential, workers who need paid sick days most. Its effectiveness in curbing community spread from the workplace outward is limited. Right now, with virus transmission at its highest, we need measures that protect all workers, especially those most vulnerable on the frontlines of the pandemic. 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. Researchers and unions are calling for legislated, employer-provided sick days. A recent research report on paid sick days, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Nova Scotia office, outlines direct benefits to employers. Employer-provided paid sick days are correlated with higher worker productivity, fewer workplace injuries and enhanced worker retention. Broadbent Institute researchers have also argued that such legislation prevents interruptions in workers pay, incentivizes employers to comply with workplace and public-health policies and, like vacation days, enshrines paid sick days as employment standards rather than emergency measures. Increasing the number of paid sick days from five to 10 is widely recommended, as well. According to the CCPA-Nova Scotia report, this allows workers to access health services, recover from illness, comply with public-health directives and support family or loved ones to do the same. Its time for Manitoba to do the right thing by vulnerable workers, by investing in the long-term safety and well-being of all Manitoba residents. Other jurisdictions in Canada set the precedent: Quebec and Prince Edward Island already legislate employer-provided paid sick days. The Canada Labour Code is currently being amended to provide 10 paid sick days to all federally regulated private-sector workers. Legislating universal, employer-paid, adequate, permanent and accessible sick days is an essential piece of an equitable pandemic recovery. Mary Jean Hande is a CCPA - Nova Scotia senior researcher and a postdoctoral fellow at Mount Saint Vincent University. She currently leads a research project on immigrant home-care workers in Manitoba. To understand the importance of adult education, imagine a day in the life of a Manitoban who is illiterate. Shopping for groceries offers a baffling array of cans and containers with incomprehensible labels. They cant read a bank statement, or bills from utilities, or notes from their childrens teachers. They cant fill out a job application. They cant read bedtime stories to their children. To understand the importance of adult education, imagine a day in the life of a Manitoban who is illiterate. Shopping for groceries offers a baffling array of cans and containers with incomprehensible labels. They cant read a bank statement, or bills from utilities, or notes from their childrens teachers. They cant fill out a job application. They cant read bedtime stories to their children. Added to such routine hardships, they are likely poor. Repeated studies have pinpointed academic failure as a main cause of a low-income life with scant prospect for betterment. A key to hope in this bleak scenario is adult education, giving people an opportunity to obtain skills including literacy and numeracy that fit them for a better job and a richer life. The need is great. About 192,600 Manitobans between the ages of 16 and 65 have literacy levels too low to let them participate fully in society, according to provincial government statistics. About 192,600 Manitobans between the ages of 16 and 65 have literacy levels too low to let them participate fully in society, according to provincial government statistics. Unfortunately, the challenge surmounts available resources. Manitobas patchwork of education options is unable to cope with the large number of residents who want to return to school and obtain a high-school diploma to improve their lives, a commendable achievement that could also improve the lives of their children and, in the larger picture, improve Manitoba. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives-Manitoba released Tuesday an alarming report called Unearth this Buried Treasure: Adult Education in Manitoba, which is based on interviews with directors of 30 schools. The report chronicles how the number of adult literacy programs in Manitoba have decreased by about 29 per cent over the past 10 years. "We do zero advertising and we are flooded" with potential students, said one Winnipeg-based adult educator. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files) Report author Jim Silver The demand from adults who want to improve their lives includes a disproportionate number of Indigenous people. About 38 per cent of students enrolled in adult education identify as Indigenous, despite making up about 18 per cent of the provinces population. The report notes such a service can be a pillar of reconciliation. "Adult education seems a fair way to try to make up for some of the damage done by the residential schools in the past," said the reports author, University of Winnipeg professor emeritus Jim Silver. If the province would increase the current $20 million it allots to the adult-education sector, the benefits would also accrue to the children of the adult learners. Studies by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy have documented that children growing up in families in which parents have low levels of education are likely to do poorly in schools. Adult education can break the cycle. Studies confirm that when adult learners graduate, their children are more likely to stay in school and graduate as well. It often helps the families lift themselves off government assistance and move into the paid labour force. Manitoba currently has the highest rate of child poverty in Canada, according to a 2021 publication of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg. Manitoba currently has the highest rate of child poverty in Canada, according to a 2021 publication of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg. When politicians are challenged about the many effects of Manitobas poverty a high rate of crime is among the consequences their go-to refrain is the need to address "root causes." Adult education does that. It directly addresses a root cause of poverty and offer strong roots for success. The benefits of adult learning spread exponentially, inspiring the learners families to a higher level of achievement and contributing to a more prosperous future for the province. If adult Manitobans are motivated to return to school, classroom doors should open for them. It all started with a sneeze. A few days later, Mariam Yide had tested positive for the novel coronavirus and was placed in a coma as physicians worked frantically to save the pregnant Winnipeg womans life. Two months later, when Yide opened her eyes again, she had already given birth to her son, who died soon after. Shortly after, surgeons began amputating parts of her body. The 41-year-old wife and mother of two young children considers herself lucky and thanks God she is alive. Now, Yide wants to use her own body, so anyone with doubts that COVID-19 is simply a cold or a flu can see with their own eyes what the virus is capable of doing. COVID survivor Mariam Yide with her husband Moses Tabe and their sons, Dani, 5, and Golyam, 3. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press) "I show my hands to people and I tell them this is COVID," she said, sitting in a wheelchair in her St. James neighbourhood home. "They say, What? Ive never heard of that, but people have to know how hard it can be. "This is what can happen with COVID." Yide, who came to Canada from South Sudan with her husband in 2011, was working as a health-care aide at Deer Lodge Centre when her COVID journey began in January 2021. After almost a year-long feverish race, scientists had come up with not just one, but three effective vaccines to protect against the virus COVID-19 and reduce the chances of hospitalization and death. However, scarcity of doses at first meant the earliest ones were jabbed into the arms of the people who needed it most: vulnerable seniors in long-term care homes and front-line health-care workers. Yides turn hadnt come yet. Mariam Yide in the ICU at St. Boniface Hospital. Yide tested positive for COVID while pregnant and was placed in a coma. (Supplied) When she went to work one day that January, she was sneezing, but that wasnt believed to be a symptom of COVID at the time and, otherwise, Yide felt fine. After she was tested, her test results came back positive. "I couldnt believe it, but I figured I would isolate for ten days and then go back to work like others had," Yide said. "I locked myself in my room for three days with no symptoms, but then on the fourth day, oh my God. I found it hard to breathe." Yide called for an ambulance and was taken to hospital. After she was assessed by doctors, she was deemed well enough to be sent home. Three days later, on Jan. 14, she again was taken by ambulance to hospital, where doctors found her oxygen levels so low they admitted her. Yide's son, Noah, was born on Jan. 29 but died the next day. (Supplied) Yide was scheduled for a cesarean delivery a few days later. At the time, she was in the sixth month of pregnancy. "The doctors said: your situation is not getting better it is time to remove the baby." As Yide was being prepared for surgery, her condition worsened and the procedure was cancelled. "I developed pneumonia. I went into a coma. My kidneys were failing. They talked to my husband and said theyre not going to do a C-section because (I) could die and the baby would, too," she said. "I had no idea what was going to happen to me. When they injected the medication, I thought Id wake up to see my beautiful baby." While Yide was in a coma her son, Noah, was born Jan. 29. He died the next day. Half of Yide's fingers were amputated. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press) She has photographs of the infant on her chest after he was born and, a day later, on her chest after he died. "I was in a coma until March 15. Thats when they said I opened my eyes. I put my hands down to my (abdomen) and it was flat. There was no scar. I couldnt talk for weeks because of the ventilator but I used hand signs to ask them: where is my baby? "But they didnt want to say because I was still recovering." Yide wasnt told what happened for more than a month. By then, the amputations had started. (SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a risk of clotting complications that can cause a sudden decrease in blood flow to a limb.) "My left leg below the knee and half of my other foot," she said. "On my left hand, I lost three fingers. My right hand, the two fingers in the middle. Mariam Yide feels she survived COVID to show people what happened to her so they know what the coronavirus can do. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press) "But by the grace of God I survived. They call me Miracle Mariam at St. Bonifaces ICU." Yide is also thankful for something else. While her two boys, now ages five and three, got COVID and recovered, her husband, Moses Tabe, never got it. Both she and her husband are now fully vaccinated. "Hes a miracle, too. If he had got COVID, it would have been hard with our children," she said. 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. With everything Yide has been through, she feels she has survived for a purpose and part of it is to show people what happened to her, so they know what the coronavirus can do, especially to the unvaccinated. Yide said she met one such person recently, while getting therapy at the Rehabilitation Hospital. "His body is paralyzed a little. The man was not vaccinated," she said. "Im still on medication. Im not back at work. Im on workers compensation, but I know I cannot do what I did before. "Its very important to get the vaccine and to be safe." kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital has dropped slightly, but Manitobas hospitalization rates remain high. The number of COVID-19 patients in hospital has dropped slightly, but Manitobas hospitalization rates remain high. On Wednesday, chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin described the numbers as high but stable, adding theres no doubt the health-care system is still under significant strain. He said officials will announce more information in the coming days about provincial public health orders that are set to expire Feb. 1, but didnt offer any details about what Manitobans can expect. Roussin was asked if he felt the government was listening to the advice of public health officials; he responded that he does. Public health works quite closely with government on this, so certainly, weve always been at the table providing our advice and have always felt that our advice has been listened to, the doctor said. As of Wednesday morning, there were 720 patients with COVID-19 in hospital (including 49 in intensive care) a decrease of nine COVID-related hospitalizations over the previous 24 hours. The province also announced three additional COVID-related deaths. The true scope of COVID-19 transmission in the province is unknown, and Roussin indicated there are no immediate plans to expand PCR test availability. Only a select group of Manitobans are currently eligible to receive a PCR test, and theres no ability to publicly report rapid test kit results. The number of PCR tests conducted per day in Manitoba has declined; only about 2,000 are now completed daily. Roussin suggested thats down due to demand, that fewer eligible people are showing up for PCR testing. He said Manitoba intends to continue reserving PCR tests for high-risk groups instead of reopening availability to the public. Meanwhile, children ages five to 11 are lagging a bit behind in vaccine uptake and are only just starting to get their second doses, said vaccine taskforce medical lead Dr. Joss Reimer. 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. We need to get the numbers higher in this group. We really want to protect all of the children in Manitoba, Reimer said. Five- to 11-year-olds are eligible for second doses eight weeks after the first dose, or three weeks after if they live in a First Nations community. Between September and January, in-school immunization clinics administered more than 15,000 doses, Reimer said. Nearly 60 in-school vaccine clinics and more than a dozen afterschool clinics are scheduled for this week. Also, as of this week, the COVID-19 treatment pill Paxlovid is now available in Manitoba, after an initial shipment of 11,000 doses arrived. The antiviral pill must be taken within five days of symptom onset, and eligibility for the treatment was expanded to include some fully vaccinated Manitobans who received their second shot more than four months ago. katie.may@freepress.mb.ca OTTAWA Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is isolating at home but says he has no symptoms after coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19. OTTAWA Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is isolating at home but says he has no symptoms after coming into contact with someone who has COVID-19. In a tweet, Trudeau said Thursday he learned of the contact after a three-day cabinet retreat. Last night, I learned that I have been exposed to COVID-19. My rapid test result was negative, he wrote. The prime minister said he is following Ottawa public health guidance and isolating for five days. I feel fine and will be working from home. Stay safe, everyone and please get vaccinated. After the retreat, Trudeau stood near three of his top cabinet ministers, masked and distanced, to unveil his governments response to the unfolding crisis in Ukraine. He addressed the truckers protest against vaccination mandates, saying vaccination is the way out of the pandemic and urging the remaining minority of truckers to get a jab. Trudeaus wife Sophie had COVID-19 at the outset of the pandemic, but Trudeau has not contracted it even as members of his staff and protective RCMP detail did in December when the highly transmissible Omicron variant began its sprint through Canada. Defence Minister Anita Anand is slated to go to Ukraine in the coming days after announcing a military training mission is to be extended in the embattled country. Her office said that trip is still going ahead. Trudeaus exposure came Wednesday following a news conference on Ukraine, a spokesperson for the Prime Ministers Office told the Star, and a rapid test Wednesday night showed a negative result. Its not clear whether the person he was exposed to was a family member or staff member. 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. The PMO does not believe other ministers had any high-risk contact with Trudeau or the same contact, whom it declined to identify. It also would not say whether Trudeau has had a PCR test, which is more accurate than a rapid test. The PMO spokesperson said Trudeau is following public health rules to isolate for five days. Ottawa Public Health has restricted PCR tests to essential workers, and caregivers to vulnerable people and those in high-risk settings. Symptomatic people are presumed to have COVID and required to isolate. If asymptomatic as Trudeau says is true in his case testing is further restricted. In this circumstance, self-isolation is not required unless an individual is isolating because of a close contact, such as a symptomatic household member, according to Ottawa Public Health. The PMO would not say whether the prime minister is considered an essential worker for the purposes of establishing whether he has an infection, referring queries back to his tweet. Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea on Thursday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Koreas military said. FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea on Jan. 19, 2022. North Korea on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022 test-fired two suspected cruise missiles in its fifth round of weapons launches this month, South Korean military officials said, as it attempts to display its military might amid pandemic-related difficulties and a prolonged freeze in nuclear negotiations with the United States.Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP) SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korea on Thursday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Koreas military said. Experts say North Koreas unusually fast pace in testing activity underscores an intent to pressure the Biden administration over long-stalled negotiations aimed at exchanging a release of crippling U.S.-led sanctions against the North and the Norths denuclearization steps. The renewed pressure comes as the pandemic further shakes the Norths economy, which was already battered by crippling U.S.-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons program and decades of mismanagement by its own government. FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, in December 2021. North Korea on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Koreas military said. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File) South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said the weapons, which were likely short-range, were launched five minutes apart from the eastern coastal town of Hamhung and flew 190 kilometers (118 miles) on an apogee of 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) before landing at sea. Aviation authorities issued a Notice to Airmen, or NOTAM, for pilots operating in South Korean airspace, advising them of a missile launched from North Korea and that they maintain close communication with air traffic controls, according to the website of South Koreas Office of Civil Aviation. The U.S. Indo Pacific Command said the latest launches, while highlighting the destabilizing impact of North Koreas weapons program, didnt pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed there were no reports of damage to vessel and aircraft around the Japanese coast. He called the Norths repeated missile firings as extremely regrettable and violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions. South Korean army soldiers are seen in Paju, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. North Korea on Thursday fired at least two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Korea's military said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) Senior South Korean security and military officials gathered for an emergency National Security Council meeting where they expressed strong regret over the Norths continuing launches and urged Pyongyang to recommit to dialogue, Seouls presidential office said. The North also last week issued a veiled threat to resume the testing of nuclear explosives and long-range missiles targeting the American homeland, which leader Kim Jong Un suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with the United States. Kims high-stakes summitry with then-President Donald Trump derailed in 2019 after the Americans rejected North Koreas demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a partial surrender of its nuclear capabilities. Some experts say North Korea could dramatically escalate weapons demonstrations after the Winter Olympics, which begin Feb. 4 in China, the Norths main ally and economic lifeline. People watch a TV screen showing a news program reporting about North Korea's missile launch with a file image, at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. North Korea on Thursday fired at least two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Korea's military said. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) They say Pyongyangs leadership likely feels it could use a dramatic provocation to move the needle with the Biden administration, which has been preoccupied with bigger adversaries including China and Russia. The Biden administration has offered open-ended talks but showed no willingness to ease sanctions unless Kim takes real steps to abandon the nuclear weapons and missiles he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. The North has been ramping up its testing activity since last fall, demonstrating various missiles and delivery systems apparently designed to overwhelm missile defense systems in the region. Experts say Kim is trying to apply more pressure on rivals Washington and Seoul to accept it as a nuclear power in hopes of winning relief from economic sanctions and convert the diplomacy with Washington into mutual arms-reduction negotiations. South Korean army tanks are seen in Paju, near the border with North Korea, South Korea, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. North Korea on Thursday fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of weapons launches this month, South Korea's military said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) Thursdays launch came two days after South Koreas military detected the North flight-testing two suspected cruise missile at an unspecified inland area. North Korea opened 2022 with a pair of test-firings of a purported hypersonic missile, which Kim described as an asset that would remarkably bolster his nuclear war deterrent. The North also this month test-fired two different types of short-range ballistic missiles it has developed since 2019 that are designed to be maneuverable and fly at low altitudes, which experts say potentially improve their chances of evading and defeating missile defense systems. In a ruling party meeting attended by Kim last week, the North accused the Biden administration of hostility and threats and said it will consider all temporally-suspended activities it had paused during its diplomacy with the Trump administration, in an apparent threat to resume testing of nuclear explosives and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pyongyangs Foreign Ministry had earlier warned of stronger and certain reaction after the Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions following the Norths second hypersonic test on Jan. 11. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on five North Koreans over their roles in obtaining equipment and technology for the countrys missile programs, while the State Department ordered sanctions against another North Korean, a Russian man and a Russian company for their broader support of North Koreas weapons activities. However, Washingtons efforts to seek new U.N. Security Council sanctions against the five North Koreans sanctioned by the Treasury Department were blocked last week by China and Russia, which have called for the U.N. to end key sanctions against the North, citing its economic difficulties. Despite efforts to strengthen sanctions, Washingtons responses to North Korean launches this month are nowhere near its reaction to Pyongyangs provocations in 2017, when the North staged an unusually provocative run in nuclear and ICBM tests, said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. 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. U.S. policy has become more measured and coordinated but is still inadequate for changing North Korean behavior. The Biden administration has other priorities, ranging from pandemic recovery at home to confronting Russia over Ukraine, Iran regarding its nuclear program, and China across the board, he said. Despite international concerns over its weapons activity, North Korea will still get to chair a U.N. disarmament forum during a one-month presidency between May 30 to June 24, according to a U.N. statement. The U.N. Conference on Disarmament, which has 65 member states and focuses on nuclear disarmament issues, says the conferences presidency rotates among member states. U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based activist group, called for the U.S. and European ambassadors to walk out of the conference during North Koreas presidency, saying that the country threatens to attack other U.N. member states with missiles and commits atrocities against its own people. ___ AP writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report. Heres a guide to whats going on this weekend in Winona: Meet the New MMAM Executive Director Visitors to the Minnesota Marine Art Museum will have the opportunity to meet the museums new executive director Scott Pollock Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon. Attendees of all ages will be able to enjoy a smore and a fire, while greeting Pollock. Additionally, as usual, visitors will be able to enjoy the museums art from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit mmam.org. Events Winona Film Society: True Mothers, 7 p.m. Friday at Winona Arts Center Live Music Friday Amanda Grace, 6 to 8 p.m. at Blooming Grounds Coffee House Clams w/ Sugar Lads, 9 p.m. at No Name Bar Saturday Curt Glenna, 2 to 5 p.m. at Elmaro Vineyard Texas Toast and Sheep For Wheat, 9:30 p.m. at No Name Bar Sunday Jamin Barth, 1 to 4 p.m. at Elmaro Vineyard 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. As the two-year mark passes, staff at Winona County Public Health and Emergency Management continue to lead the mission to enhance the health of the community and minimize the impact of COVID-19 through vaccination clinics. In one year, Winona County has hosted 267 clinics stretching across the county from Dakota to Saint Charles. The county could not have given out over 31,606 shots without the partnership of local organizations and tireless individuals. On Tuesday, the Winona County Community Health Board proclaimed their thanks to all who have given time to accomplish activities such as preparing vaccinations, giving shots, registering for appointments, completing contact tracing early on in the pandemic, providing education and outreach, and providing comforting activities for children. Two volunteers, Dan Goltz and Janet Nitti, were recognized for their extraordinary service. Dan Goltzs volunteering in public safety began in the 1970s. As a licensed pharmacist his knowledge was instrumental in being able to start clinics so quickly and do them on the scale we did, states Ben Klinger, Winona Countys Emergency Management Coordinator. Goltzs contribution totals over 300 hours at Winona County vaccination clinics while also volunteering for clinics at Winona Health. Janet Nitti, a retired Public Health Nurse, continues to provide public service to Winona County. Many times, over the course of the pandemic, I have called her up when shorthanded, and she never hesitated to provide a helping hand, says Betsy Zeller, Winona Countys Public Health nurse vaccine coordinator. Nitti has given over 250 hours to Winona County vaccination clinics. The participation of many organizations contributes to the scale and success of the vaccination clinics. Winona Fire Department partners with Winona County allowing firefighters to give 2,716 hours to staffing clinics. Additional volunteers and their hours to date include: Winona State University students with 1,790 Hours; Public Health volunteers including many retired nurses with 604 hours; and Emergency Management volunteers with 400 hours. Members of the following institutions also volunteer their time at COVID-19 vaccination clinics: Winona Park and Recreation, Winona Senior Friendship Center, Gundersen Health, Winona Health, Southeastern Minnesota Center for Independent Living,Winona County Sheriffs Office transport officers, Public Health interns/practicum students, Emergency Management interns/practicum students, Winona Area Ambulance, Project FINE and Saint Marys University of Minnesota. As the pandemic continues, these organizations and individuals further Winona County Health and Human Services vision of fostering a healthy and stable community. Overall, health care facilities, the publics health, the economy and the greater community benefit from residents having easy access to life-saving vaccinations. JUNEAU The case against a 31-year-old Beaver Dam man accused of the false imprisonment of his former girlfriend took a step closer to trial on Wednesday. Christopher French, currently residing in the Dodge County Jail, faces a felony charge of threats to injure or accuse of a crime with use of a dangerous weapon along with misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct. He could face up to 13 years in prison if convicted of all the charges. French pleaded not guilty to the charges in the courtroom of Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Martin De Vries on Wednesday. According to the criminal complaint, the womans grandfather contacted police Dec. 3 for a check welfare on his granddaughter. The man said the woman was trying to leave a relationship with French. When police arrived, the woman was in the home that she shared with French. Family members who were helping her move out also were there. The woman said she had moved in with French in October. The two became engaged in mid-November. According to the criminal complaint, the woman said French had gotten upset at her when she was apprehensive about moving in with him and agreed to do so because she felt guilty about getting him upset. While living together, French became upset about messages on her phone and physically assaulted her while questioning her about the messages. According to the complaint, French put a knife to her throat at one point in late November before getting up and retrieving a revolver. The woman said French straddled her and pointed the gun at her left temple and said if she left him he would kill her. The woman said, he also said If I dont get a chance to kill you, I will hunt you for the rest of my life. The woman said she was too scared to get help because she thought French would kill her. The woman said she was not allowed to say no when French wanted sex, according to the complaint. Around Dec. 2, the woman said French hit her about 20 times. On Dec. 3, the womans grandfather told her to call the police, because if she waited another day it might be too late. According to the complaint, French displayed odd behavior including believing he was speaking directly to God and getting energy from God. He told the woman she could not see her grandmother because the grandmothers husband was black. The woman said he insisted on having her social media password, because he allegedly considered her property. A telephone scheduling hearing is scheduled for Feb. 28. Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760. 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. JUNEAU A Fox Lake man faces a felony charge for having a gun while on school grounds after he allegedly carried a gun at the Fox Lake Spooktacular Oct. 23. Jesse Denruiter is charged with possession of a firearm on grounds of a school. He could face up to 3 years in prison if convicted of the charge. According to the criminal complaint, Fox Lake Police were notified around 4 p.m., Oct. 23, that Denruiter was on the property of the school and appeared to be open carrying a handgun in a holster. Denruiter was at the trunk or treat event in the parking lot with about 100 people including parents and children getting treats. According to the complaint, Denruiter was in line with two children. According to the complaint, and officer spoke to Denruiter. Denruiter said he was allowed to open carry and was not aware he could not carry in the parking lot. He was asked to leave and did so without incident. The officer went to Denruiters home and seized the firearm. He was also told he would be charged with a felony count for possessing a firearm on school property. Denruiter allegedly said it was harassment and said he had forgotten he had the gun when he entered the school property. An initial appearance is scheduled Feb. 14. The charges came less than a week after the Wisconsin Assembly passed a series of gun bills. The Wisconsin Assembly passed legislation on voice votes last week that would allow people with concealed carry licenses to go armed on school grounds and in churches attached to private schools; lower the minimum age for obtaining a concealed carry license from 21 to 18; allow high schools to offer a firearm course; and allow anyone with a concealed carry license from any state to go armed in Wisconsin. Right now only people with licenses from states that conducts background checks on applicants can carry concealed in Wisconsin. With the Assembly approval, the bills are headed to the Senate. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has pushed for stricter gun laws rather than more lenient measures, said Thursday he will review the concealed carry bills if they reach his desk, but came short of saying he would veto the measures. At an Assembly Democratic press conference ahead of the floor session, Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison, said, Let me be crystal clear that these bills are not about making our schools safer, they are not about making our churches or synagogues or mosques or other places of worship safer. These are about appealing to the big gun lobby. The bills supporters have long argued that under current law gun owners who forget their weapons in their cars could be charged with a felony if they drive onto school grounds to drop off or pick up their children. The National Rifle Association has registered in support of every gun bill on the Assembly floor Thursday besides the high school gun class, whose only registered supporter is Wisconsin Gun Owners Inc. An array of organizations have registered in opposition of the bills, including the city of Milwaukee, the Wisconsin Council of Churches, the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators and the Wisconsin Association of School Boards and End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin: the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Follow Terri Pederson on Twitter @tlp53916 or contact her at 920-356-6760. 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. The Fire Chief of the Endeavor Moundville Fire Department has been placed on administrative leave. Michael Bourdeau, who has served as fire chief of the Endeavor Moundville Volunteer Fire Department for over six years had been placed on administrative leave. Village officials provided no information about why Bourdeau is on leave. City Clerk Brandi Wendt confirmed Bourdeau is currently on administrative leave but could not provide any other information. The village will not comment on personal matters at this time, Wendt said. Endeavor Village President Steve Bibi did not respond to attempts to reach him. Bourdeaus wife, Elizabeth Bourdeau, is the former clerk for the village. She pleaded no contest and was found guilty of misconduct in office as a public employee, a class I felony, in August 2021. Court records show she received a withheld sentence with three years of probation. She was also ordered to pay $9,634 in restitution to the village. The Daily Register reported in June 2019 that Bourdeau had been let go for an unspecified reason. 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. MADISON The second of two men indicted for the gunpoint robberies of two Lake Delton stores in 2020, pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to aiding and abetting. Deon Brown, 28, of Zion, Illinois, told U.S. District Judge James Peterson that he participated in the July 28, 2020, robbery of the Gifts of the World store. Co-defendant, Cortez Thurmond, of North Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this month to robbery and is to be sentenced on March 1 before Peterson. During July and August 2020, the two men took part in series of robberies in southeast Wisconsin and Illinois, including the Alpha Red Studio in Lake Delton, before their arrest in Kenosha in September 2020. According to court documents: Brown and Thurmond robbed the Alpha Red Studio on July 28, 2002, and a few minutes later robbed the Gifts of the World. The stores video surveillance showed the two men taking money from the store, its employees and customers. In all, $3,069 was taken during the robbery. Brown carried a firearm in both robberies in the Dells and, for no apparent reason, used it at the Gifts of the World to strike an individual, identified by the initials R.G., on the head. He also punched a customer in the face after she refused to hand over her purse. Such a display of senseless violence truly shocks the conscience, Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner wrote the court in seeking a nine-year sentence for Thurmond. Brown was charged separately with the Alpha Red Studio and Gifts of the World robberies but he only pleaded guilty in connection with the latter. However, Peterson can factor both offenses in his sentence. At sentencing, Brown faces maximum penalties of 20 years in prison, three years supervised release and restitution. He remains in custody at the Dane County Jail. MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) The Coast Guard said Thursday that it had found four additional bodies in its search for dozens of migrants lost at sea off Florida but would suspend its rescue operations at sunset if it doesn't receive any new information. Homeland Security Investigations officials said they were actively investigating the case as a human smuggling operation. Authorities have now found a total of five bodies, leaving 34 missing five days after the vessel capsized on the way to Florida from Bimini, a chain of islands in the Bahamas about 55 miles (88 kilometers) east of Miami. Coast Guard Capt. Jo-Ann F. Burdian said the decision to suspend the search at sunset Thursday, pending any new discoveries, was not an easy one. "We have saturated the area over and over again," she told a news conference. "We've had good visibility. ... We've overflown the vessel a number of times. ... It does mean we don't think it's likely that anyone else has survived." The Miami office of Homeland Security Investigations has launched an inquiry, saying the migrants' journey was most certainly part of a human smuggling operation. Under federal law, a smuggler convicted of causing a death is eligible for execution. "The goal of this investigation is to identify, arrest and prosecute any criminal or criminal organization that organized, facilitated or profited from this doomed venture," said HSI Miami Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury. Salisbury declined to give any information on the nationalities of the boat passengers but said investigators consider the lone survivor "a victim right now," not a suspect. Salisbury appealed to the public for tips to help identify who organized the boat crossing. "Please help us bring criminals who prey on and victimize the vulnerable migrant community to justice," he said. "We don't want anybody doing this again. ... This is dangerous stuff." The lone survivor was found hanging onto the 25-foot (7-meter) vessel about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off Fort Pierce, Florida. He told a good Samaritan and authorities that the boat capsized late Saturday after he and 39 others had set out for Florida from Bimini. Authorities said the boat was found about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of where it capsized, apparently pushed by the Gulf Stream, a warm, swift current that wraps around the Florida peninsula and flows along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. No one was wearing a life jacket, the rescued man told authorities. The Gulf Stream can be treacherous even on a calm, sunny day. Throw in an overloaded boat, inexperienced mariners, stormy weather and the dark of night, and they can become deadly. A small craft advisory had been issued on Saturday and Sunday as a severe cold front with winds up to 23 mph (37 kph) blew through the dangerous passage, creating swells up to 9 feet (3 meters). A conservative law firm on Wednesday asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to bypass a recent state appeals court decision and prohibit the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the Feb. 15 spring primary. The motion was filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty just two days after the District 4 Court of Appeals issued a stay against an earlier ruling by Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Bohren, which barred the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the state. The appeals court said in an order Monday that the lower courts ruling creates the potential for voter confusion and uncertainty in the Feb. 15 primary. The court also temporarily halted Bohrens order that voters cannot have anyone else return their ballot for them. WILL deputy counsel Luke Berg in an emergency motion asked the states high court to rule on the matter as soon as possible. While absentee voting has already begun in next months primary, an order vacating the appeals courts stay will not cause significant problems, Berg wrote. Few primaries in Dane County While there are many contested races for local office in the April 5 election, the only offices in Dane County for which a primary must be held to narrow the list of candidates are the races for school board in Barneveld, Columbus, Lodi, Mount Horeb and New Glarus. A primary for those races will be held Feb. 15. The state Supreme Court on Wednesday told all parties in the case to file a response on the matter by 5 p.m. Thursday. The court has the ability to take up the matter immediately or leave it with the court of appeals, which is still considering future action. In a 4-3 ruling last summer, the Supreme Court turned back a separate attempt by a major Republican donor to ban the boxes. Even if this Court concludes that it is too late at this point to vacate the stay for the February 15 primary, it should nevertheless grant the Petition for Bypass, Berg wrote. The issues in this case need to be resolved, if not immediately, then certainly in time for the spring election in April, and they ultimately need to be resolved by this Court. As of about 8 a.m. Monday, nearly 8,400 absentee ballots had already been sent out by local clerks and at least 1,845 ballots have already been delivered or are currently out for delivery, according to court records. After this Court issues an order vacating the stay, clerks can easily remove or cover any illegal drop boxes, and post signs on them and notices on websites that ballots must be mailed or delivered in person to the clerk, and by the elector, Berg wrote. This Court can even give clerks a few days to make that change. State statutes do not address the use of ballot drop boxes, though the Wisconsin Elections Commission issued guidance in early 2020 to allow election clerks to make use of them. WILL and some Republicans have alleged the lack of statutory language makes the use of the boxes illegal. Proponents of drop boxes have said local election clerks should have discretion over their use and have targeted GOP efforts to limit or ban the boxes as an attempt to suppress votes. The boxes were widely used in 2020 as an alternative for voters worried that, with the crush of absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic and potential delays in mail delivery, their ballots might not make it back before Election Day. At least 34 states used or planned to use ballot drop boxes in the 2020 election and about 16% of voters nationwide in the 2016 general election made use of the boxes, according to the Elections Commission. Only four states prohibited the use of the boxes when the commission issued its guidance for their use in Wisconsin in 2020. In testimony in the circuit court case last year, commission administrator Meagan Wolfe said at least 528 drop boxes were set up in 430 communities throughout the state in the November 2020 election. In Madison, 13 of the citys 14 drop boxes are located at city fire stations, with one additional box near Elver Park. While the city will not be holding a vote until the April 5 election, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said Wednesday the ongoing back and forth surrounding the legality of the boxes only adds to confusion for voters. It just continues to raise the question of what is the point here? What are you afraid of? Rhodes-Conway said. People use ballot drop boxes all over the country and all over the state, in red areas and blue areas and everything in between. ... The impact of all of this is it creates confusion, it sows doubt. The state Supreme Court also could take up the topic of drop boxes in a lawsuit filed last year by Republican gubernatorial candidate and former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch challenging the commissions guidance on drop boxes. The states high court has not said if it would take up the case before it goes through lower courts. Another lawsuit was filed earlier this month by a Waukesha County resident represented by WILL. The voter is suing the Elections Commission for rejecting a complaint he filed last year regarding ballot drop boxes. The limits of lawfare as a political tool Covid-19 in South Africa shows the limits of using courts to fight political battles. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of our daily lives. Some of these changes are immediately visible in the everyday wearing of face masks, in the bottles of hand sanitiser found on shop counters, and in the careful spacing of long queues. Others, though, are less obvious. They take place in the structures of the legal system that shapes our relationships to one another and to the state. In the recent past, as Ive argued in my book, South Africas Insurgent Citizens the post-apartheid constitutions emphasis on the need for state action to be both rational (in the legal sense) and grounded in the fundamentals of the Bill of Rights, has meant that the law and legal activism have become political tools. These tools have often been used by poor communities and civil society bodies to pursue their goals. Attempts such as these to pursue political ends through legal means have been described as lawfare, and have become common in South Africa. In the current pandemic, this history of lawfare has inspired a new series of legal challenges to the new legal rules and structures that govern the country. The mechanism through which these new rules are implemented is the Disaster Management Act of 2002. This Act enables the President and the executive to declare a national state of disaster and so long as the disaster persists to bypass some of the legal constraints ordinarily placed on the exercise of government powers. The Act gives the President the power to govern by making regulations that then have legal and binding force on the nation. The President can do so without following the slow processes of passing new legislation. On 15 March 2020, following the Presidents lead, the Minister of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs declared such a state of disaster and, shortly afterwards, published the first of several sets of regulations. These regulations established the framework within which South Africa has since been governed. They were almost immediately challenged in the countrys courts. These challenges took several forms. Some of the first cases disputed the legality of the initial declaration, while others questioned specific aspects of the new regulations such as the decision to ban the sale of alcohol, or the sale of tobacco. I wrote about these challenges in a recent paper in the South African Journal on Human Rights, and considered what the successes and failures of these cases might mean for civil society politics during the Covid-19 pandemic. In essence, I argued that the relative failure of these cases has shown the limits of lawfare as a political strategy in the context of a widely-recognised disaster. In a time of uncertainty, the courts are more likely to give the executive branch of the state more discretion, reducing the possibility of public oversight of its actions. Covid-19 response and lawfare In the first six months after the declaration of a state of disaster, a wide range of civil society organisations and political parties challenged the legality of the declaration itself, of the regulations that governed trade, and human movement through curfews and restrictions on national travel. Although some of these challenges achieved limited success in the courts, the majority failed. The courts proved themselves reluctant to interfere in the exercise of the executives power to promulgate and enforce regulations in terms of the Act. In doing so, the courts tacitly accepted that standards of judicial oversight that mark the separation of powers in ordinary times might not be appropriate during the exceptional circumstances of a state of disaster. It is tempting to explain at least part of this trend by reference to the inept way in which some of the early challenges were argued. The very first case, for example, argued that the state of disaster should not have been declared because Covid-19 cannot be harmful to Africans. But comparable statements were also made in another case - De Beer v Minister of Cooperative Affairs that was partially successful. In this case, the Liberty Fighters Network, a relatively-unknown civil society organisation, argued that the President should not have declared a state of disaster to respond to Covid-19 because a number of other serious diseases were already endemic in South Africa. The successes and failures of this case and other cases revolved around the standard of legal rationality that could be required of the government. The applicants were successful because the judge held that each of the specific regulations had to be justified as rational and that he could therefore strike down isolated aspects of the regulations piecemeal. But in the majority of the other cases the executive was held to a different standard: most other judges were reluctant to pick apart the threads of the regulations to determine the individual rationality of each one. Instead, they held that the regulations ought to be examined as a whole. If the entire scheme was rationally connected to the purpose of containing and managing the Covid-19 disaster, then the regulations would withstand scrutiny as a whole. The limits of lawfare Although the De Beer judgment received a great deal of press attention at the time, the standard it applied did not persist. It is the other standard of overall rather than specific rationality that went on the shape the jurisprudence. And it is the regular use of this standard that best explains the failures of pandemic lawfare. It is obvious that it is much harder to argue that the entire fabric of the regulations is wholly irrational than it is to argue that a specific thread within that fabric the decision to ban the sale of alcohol, for example should not have been taken. It is thus unsurprising that the prospects of lawfare by civil society organisations during the first six months of the disaster were bleak. And in the almost 18 months since, little has happened to change that assessment. Indeed, the willingness of the executive to pre-empt criticism by amending the regulations has arguably strengthened its position. The overall rationality of the links between the regulations, their amendment, and the changing events of the pandemic seems clear even if a court might be persuaded to doubt the logic of a specific ban or requirement. The regulations are almost immune to challenge. Overall, this has meant a reduction in the effectiveness of civil society politics. Even as many of the physical spaces in which public gatherings and activism could take place were being closed, the grounds on which organisations could challenge the legal regimes under which South Africa is governed were being steadily narrowed. I do not know how this will affect the ways in which politics will continue to develop once the pandemic ends. But I think it is fair to suggest that the past two years have shown the limits of lawfare as a political tool in this context. Julian Brown, Associate Professor of Political Studies, University of the Witwatersrand. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. The Gender Commission has failed women Scientists say the Commissions statement against mandatory vaccinations is offensive, irresponsible and misleading. Scientists call on the Gender Commission to withdraw its statement, engage with the relevant institutions, societies and experts and replace it with one that truly addresses Covid-19 reproductive health concerns. On 16 January, the Commission for Gender Equality issued a statement titled Gender Commission on imposing mandatory Covid-19 vaccination, in which it noted a study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology earlier in the month that found vaccines cause a small, but temporary change in menstrual cycle length. In the article, the commission misinterprets the paper and also fails to consider the many other harmful impacts associated with Covid-19 disease and reproductive health that make immunisation a priority for women of childbearing age. In the Obstetrics and Gynaecology article (online here) cited by the Gender Commission, the authors found that in women using Pfizer-BioNTech (55%), Moderna (35%) or Johnson & Johnson/Janssen (7%), Covid-19 vaccination was associated with a less than a one-day change in cycle length for both vaccine-dose cycles compared with pre-vaccine cycles (first dose 0.71 day-increase, second dose 0.91 day-increase). The overall conclusion of the study was that their findings were reassuring in that there was no population-level clinically meaningful change in menstrual cycle length associated with Covid-19 vaccination and that Covid-19 vaccination was not associated with changes in menses length. Using this study as justification and ignoring the studys reassuring conclusions, the Gender Commission cautioned businesses and institutions against forcing employees to vaccinate and recommended against imposing sanctions against them if they did not vaccinate against Covid-19. It further warned that mandatory vaccination mandates do not supersede South Africas Constitution and its provisions and that Maintaining public health, reaching herd immunity, and preventing mutating Covid-19 variants are noble acts but should not be achieved by trampling the basic human rights that are enshrined in the Constitution. The commission specifically noted that the large numbers of young females employed as cashiers and cleaners in South Africas retail sector were unable to negotiate with their employers, should they not wish to vaccinate. In addition, it called for institutions of higher learning to afford the same respect to students and workers who may not wish to vaccinate. It further stated that many students and workers were not empowered to negotiate with big corporates and institutions and attributed this shortcoming to the countrys legacy of oppression, economic inequality and limited access to information. The commission underscored that section 12 (2) of the Constitution on the rights to bodily and psychological integrity, which include the rights to make decisions concerning reproduction; to security in and control over their body; and not to be subjected to medical or scientific experiments without informed consent could not be infringed. However, the Gender Commission, in its misunderstanding and hence misrepresentation of the studys findings, asserts that due to possible long-term effects from what it describes more broadly as a scientifically established connection between Covid-19 vaccinations and womens reproductive health, many women may not be comfortable taking vaccines. In so doing, the Commission ignores the fact that, as explained below, Covid-19 itself poses an enormous threat to womens reproductive health, and that addressing the low vaccine uptake among women of child-bearing age is both ethically imperative and a human rights obligation for the protection of their reproductive health in the ongoing pandemic. Unfortunately, such messaging compounds young peoples concerns regarding fertility and Covid-19 vaccination, which is unfounded in published literature and undermines vaccination efforts. Low uptake of Covid-19 vaccination in pregnant and breastfeeding women in public health facilities remains a concern and frequently stems from healthcare workers themselves not following recommended guidance due to their own beliefs and misperceptions. In publishing an article like this, the Gender Commission seems oblivious of the danger of the assertions made in its statement that the enthusiasm of women of reproductive age for receiving a Covid-19 vaccine may be negatively curbed especially in light of currently circulating anecdotal claims of the vaccines adversely affecting fertility and pregnancy. Rather than debunking these contentions and reassuring the women, it claims that there is no available scientific evidence to support such assertions, it causes further harm to them by issuing cautions and warnings based on false information and a misreading of the science. It is unclear how the commission has come to the conclusion that reproductive health is negatively affected with regard to a less than one-day change in cycle length that corrects itself the following cycle. While some studies have noted menstrual changes after mRNA and adenovirus vectored Covid-19 vaccinations, menstrual lengths return to normal with the following cycle. Moreover, in a study of menstruating women, it was found that a quarter of those that had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 experienced menstrual disturbances. There is no evidence that the use of Covid-19 vaccines adversely affects womens long-term reproductive health. Of note, there is currently no evidence that Covid-19 vaccinations cause infertility (see Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists, British Fertility Society, Covid-19 vaccines and fertility, 2021 here, an article in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology here) and in clinical trials, unintended pregnancies occurred at the same rate in both the vaccinated and unvaccinated women. Studies (see here and here) have also found that being unvaccinated is a huge risk to women in the reproductive age group as being infected with Covid-19 starkly increased pregnancy complications, including stillbirths and critical care admissions among the unvaccinated groups. It is the mandate of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) rather than the Gender Commission, to evaluate the balance of any possible risk resulting from vaccine use against proven clinical benefits. Sahpras current guidance is that Covid-19 vaccines for women of childbearing age and pregnant women are recommended. Using evidence generated by robust scientific studies, the CDC (US), WHO, NHS (UK), other internationally recognised authorities and the SA Vaccine Ministerial Advisory Committee have issued guidelines and advisories emphasising the importance of Covid-19 vaccination for women in this age group. It is disconcerting that the Gender Commission, a Chapter 9 Institution of the SA Constitution and an organ of state, would stray from its constitutional mandate as set out in section 187(2). The commission must promote respect for gender equality and protect, develop and attain gender equality. In realising its mandate, it has the power to monitor, research, educate, lobby, advise and report on issues concerning gender equality as regulated by the Commission for Gender Equality Act 39 of 1996. The drafters of the Constitution judged it to be necessary to create a separate independent institution to deal with the distinctive needs of women, considering the unfair discrimination South African women were subjected to during the colonial and apartheid eras, and the patriarchal nature of society in our country. Given the history of South Africa and the reason the commission was established, it is unfortunate and unacceptable that the commission seems to have lost its way and muddled the issues emanating from the mandatory vaccination debates with womens reproductive health and rights. In addition, similar to the initial utterances from the Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) (also a Chapter 9 Institution), it is clutching at the wrong end of the stick and missed the point on individual rights versus public health needs when it uses section 12 of the Constitution to admonish employers and institutions regarding the trampling of human rights. Notwithstanding the entitlements to rights, most rights in the Constitution may be limited, provided the limitation is of general application, and is reasonable and justifiable which means that it is rational, proportional and the least restrictive in terms of achieving its objective (section 36). It is argued that, where backed by scientific evidence and the rights of all people to a safe environment, (both at work and educational institutions), it would be reasonable and justifiable to compel workers and students to take a vaccine that is available and approved for use by the Sahpra. Fortunately, the SAHRC reviewed its communication and in September last year, while strongly encouraging voluntary vaccinations, recognised that the existential crisis caused by the pandemic affected all human beings and also that there were implications on both rights and responsibilities. It stated, therefore, that it was highly likely that a general law mandating vaccination would pass constitutional muster. The purpose of Chapter 9 Institutions is to support and protect our constitutional democracy. It is essential that they monitor the government and assist us in holding the government accountable. They need to ensure that South Africa transforms into a society in which social justice prevails. Social justice includes gender justice. The Gender Commission has failed the women it is mandated to protect by failing in its responsibility to make certain that prior to communicating with the public, its statement was well researched and based on robust scientific evidence. On the contrary, its statement is offensive and diametrically against womens education and empowerment, and an impediment to attaining gender equality. We call on the Gender Commission to withdraw its statement, engage with the relevant institutions, societies and experts and replace it with one that truly addresses Covid-19 reproductive health concerns. Instead of misconstruing science to justify a stance against mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations, it would bode well for it to use the available evidence to build up and strengthen vaccine confidence among women. Surely, in this way, its mandate to promote and protect reproductive health and rights of women will be realised. This article was first published in the Daily Maverick. Ames Dhai is Chairperson Bioethics Advisory Panel (SAMRC) and Unesco International Bioethics Committee, Visiting Professor Bioethics, Wits School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences. Helen Rees, Executive Director Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences and Chairperson, Board of the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority. Glenda Gray, president and CEO, SAMRC. Aslam Dasoo, Progressive Health Forum. Mike Sathekge, professor and head of the Nuclear Medicine Department, University of Pretoria and Steve Biko Academic Hospital. Angelique Coetzee, chairperson, South African Medical Association Priya Soma-Pillay, head of department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Pretoria and Steve Biko Academic Hospital, president of The College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of South Africa. Yasmin Adam, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, University of the Witwatersrand. Lee Fairlie is director of Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute. The cornerstone of good science Covid-19: Scientists without quality data are like unarmed soldiers in a war zone. Some of the most important lessons for public health from the COVID pandemic are about how the government should share data with the public, how updates about responses should be clearly articulated, and how important the sharing of the insight, the information, and the full relevant data are to the public. The pandemic brought these issues into focus. But the challenge extends beyond the boundaries of COVID-19 to all diseases. Mistakes made during the pandemic when it came to the collection, management and distribution of data must be recognised. And lessons must be learned and shared about efficiently navigating public health data. We looked at the effectiveness of lockdown in South Africa and how data were used during the pandemic. We concluded that data collection and dissemination could have been much more efficient. And that if it had been it would have determined better outcomes. For example, if more detailed, localised data had been publicly available throughout the country it would have been possible to quantify and contrast the spread of the disease between cities, towns and rural areas. In turn, this would have meant that those making policy decisions were better informed. Our analysis and findings underscored that quality data is the cornerstone of good science. Without it, scientists given the job of informing the public about vital public health issues are like unarmed soldiers in a war zone. We cannot emphasise enough the importance of epidemiological data, and how relevant it is in managing the early stages of a disease outbreak. However, as a disease progresses, so too must the underlying data and reporting improve to manage the progression of the outbreak. About more than just data Sharing information is not just about sharing any data with the public. Take the issue of aggregate reporting. Limited inferences can perpetuate public bias. Aggregate reporting presents data in a way that illustrates a cumulative number or a time series progression of the total sum of data. These World Health Organisation graphs are a good example of both good and bad practice. Good because data are shared, bad because only one variable perspective is shared at a time. Another challenge is that underlying data arent made available for other scientists to use easily. So even though comprehensive and well presented epidemiological reports are released by South Africas National Institute of Communicable Disease (NICD) and it now has a very usable dashboard, the underlying data are not available for any other visualisations or analyses by others. A further problem with aggregate reporting is that it abstracts the nuances and public healthcare interventions and changes over time. This includes things like modification in patient follow-up guidelines, introduction of a new treatment regimen (as was the case with HIV/TB) and innovative clinical surveillance strategies. Members of the public need to have comparisons of the state of the current outbreak in relation to previous outbreaks of a similar nature. This would be contextually relevant and can help people to assess the insight as well as the data and move toward evidence-based decision making. The time frames can be adjusted from these dashboards. But the way the data are presented means that its hard to contextually compare different infectious disease surges (or clusters of outbreaks of a specific disease) and the impact on the healthcare system. Reflecting changing realities Disease outbreaks arent static. A disease can lose epidemic-status and become endemic, as it becomes a constant and more predictable presence at a particular location. For example, both the contagiousness and harmfulness of a disease can change as a result of an actual intervention, such as an effective vaccine or effective non-pharmaceutical interventions. In the initial stages of an outbreak, three primary data points are useful to everyone and should be shared routinely: time, place, and number. Typically, after any outbreak, government or health authorities take steps to share basic data and infographics with the public that purport to justify any interventions they may recommend. This was the case during COVID. But we identified some immediate problems with this approach. Firstly, much of the information is released only in formats like infographics that are not computer readable. This makes further analysis impossible without research groups and members of society manually transcribing, collecting, and sharing data. This causes a trust issue with the data: there might be multiple sources of the same information and the process is error-prone. Secondly, data shared over time and subsequent visualisations became less frequent (in the case of data sharing) and remained aggregate (in the case of dashboards and infographics). An unfortunate consequence was that there wasnt transparency or a clear correlation between the underlying evidence and decisions being taken. So how can public health decision making stop being treated like a state secret? Arent there simply ways for the required data to be openly shared, and platforms created that enable engagement with the numbers? We think it is indeed possible. The way forward Disaggregated data. In a country with inequities such as South Africa, aggregated data can hide disproportionate effects of an event on specific communities. Making the raw disaggregated data available can enable evidence-based advocacy and interventions to meet the needs of marginalised communities more effectively. Accessible data. Information should be shared with the inclusion of indices, metrics, and simplified computer readable data types. This would allow wider use and add a layer of transparency. It would also create an opportunity for community-led monitoring and evaluation outside the government. Choosing appropriate visualisations. We strongly recommend representing the data as a relative number (in other words such as percentages or per population size) in addition to absolute numbers. This would make it more accessible. Ordinary citizens would be able to understand better where things stand and how they are changing. It would also help inform changes they may choose to implement to keep themselves safe. Also, previous outbreaks of a similar or the same pathogen should also be displayed. This would enable people to contextually assess the similarities and differences at a glance. Heres a good example. Flaws to overcome COVID-19 exposed the fragmented way in which data is released, and how insufficient data sharing can be if its not done at a local area level. In some instances, data quality issues also compromise the trust the public has in the system. Trust is also affected by the frequency with which data are shared. Inconsistencies in terms of time and date for data sharing seems to be a universal problem. This breeds public distrust. Finally, information shared should not only support good news. Negative data such as side effects of a particular treatment regimen or medical intervention should also be shared. From COVID-19 we learned that there are multiple opinions around a specific issue. Some of these opinions have been badly informed. But one cannot blame people who are uninformed when important decision-making information is not freely and easily accessible. Without the required supporting information, citizens will continue to make assumptions or believe misinformation and disinformation that are not evidence-based. Their spread may be unavoidable. But the lack of access to quality data is not. Nompumelelo Mtsweni, data visualisation developer, Elizabeth Cornelia Greyling, strategy manager at Columbus Stainless, and Emmanuel A. Simon, digital strategic consultant, also contributed to this article. Herkulaas MvE Combrink, Lecturer, University of the Free State; Benjamin T H Smart, Associate Professor, University of Johannesburg; Scott Hazelhurst, Professor of Bioinformatics, University of the Witwatersrand, and Vukosi Marivate, Chair of Data Science, University of Pretoria This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2021 file photo, Sarah Gonzalez of New York, a Nurse Practitioner, displays a COVID-19 vaccine card at a New York Health and Hospitals vaccine clinic in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Workers in New York City-run hospitals and health clinics will have to get vaccinated or get tested weekly under a policy announced Wednesday, July 21, to battle a rise in COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly contagious delta variant. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) Police vehicles sit outside of Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, on January 16, a day after the hostage situation. Chinese President Xi Jinping (3rd, L) makes ciba, a kind of food made of sticky rice, with villagers while visiting Shenshan Village in Jinggangshan, east China's Jiangxi Province, Feb. 2, 2016. [Xinhua/Lan Hongguang] BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) As Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, draws near, life is made sweeter thanks to blessings, family reunions, and, of course, festive dishes. Around this time of year, residents of Shenshan Village in Jiangxi Province, east China, busy themselves with making "ciba." This festive snack is made by pounding cooked glutinous rice into a paste. The resultant sweet and round treat symbolizes family gatherings and good luck for a new year. In 2016, the ciba team were joined by an unexpected helper President Xi Jinping, who visited Jiangxi ahead of the Spring Festival. At that time, Shenshan villagers were still struggling to make ends meet, and poverty cast a long shadow over their lives. Xi joined villagers in making ciba and quipped that it is good for health by pounding the glutinous paste. Xi assured the villagers that "not a single family or an individual living in poverty is to be left behind on the path to poverty alleviation." Chinese President Xi Jinping visits residents' homes in Qianmen area in central Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 1, 2019. [Xinhua/Ju Peng] Thanks to the development of poverty alleviation industries and rural tourism, Shenshan Village bid farewell to poverty in early 2017. The average annual income of villagers per capita grew 9 folds in five years to reach 28,000 yuan (about 4,430 U.S. dollars) in 2020. The changes in Shenshan epitomize what has happened across the country. It was announced earlier in 2021 that China had scored a "complete victory" in its fight against absolute poverty, with the final 98.99 million impoverished rural residents living under the current poverty line all lifted out of poverty over the previous eight years. "Now my dream of becoming well-off has come true, and life is sweeter, just like ciba," said Peng Xiaying, a villager in Shenshan. (Source: Xinhua) Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits a villager's home in Fengnanyuan Village, Shizhuang Township of Huozhou City, north China's Shanxi Province, Jan. 26, 2022. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi] TAIYUAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Wednesday visited a village in north China's Shanxi Province that was affected by severe floods last year. Braving the snow, Xi went to Fengnanyuan Village of Huozhou City, where he visited the disaster-affected people and learned about local post-disaster reconstruction. "I came to Shanxi today primarily out of the concern for people whose work and lives were affected by last year's disaster," Xi told the villagers. "I am glad to observe that despite the severity of the disaster, you did a good job in reconstruction and replanting crops with the help of the Party and government," Xi said. "I feel assured." Xi also extended his greetings to the villagers for the Chinese New Year. (Source: Xinhua) Bordering Canada, the scenic northern state of Montana is rich in history and opportunities to engage in explorative outings. The mountainous region is full of natural escapes that are easily accessible from the vantage points of these beautiful small towns, each shining brightly with their own personalities. Livingston Historic centre of Livingston near Yellowstone National Park. Editorial credit: Nick Fox / Shutterstock.com This small town is big on adventures, whether one chooses to spend a beautiful day out relaxing at the lake of the Sacajawea Park, or engage in a scenic hike along the Pine Creek to a rushing waterfall. Nestled in south-western Montana, there are many ranches around calling to out to visitors, as well as the famed lush tree canopies-lined roadways for scenic bike rides. The town is also bliss for culture and art fans, with the Yellowstone Gateway Museum as an attraction for the whole family, or viewing concerts and shows from the grassy plains around. Big Timber Big Timber, a small Montana town located off of I-90, has a sign welcoming visitors and residents to town. Located in southeast Montana, the deep history of Big Timber, roots back to the Northern Pacific Railway. From the namesake creek, to the Boulder River that is great for fishing and relaxing, to the scenic Crazy Mountains that define the backdrop of the town, nature is definitely its biggest attribute. The Custer Gallatin National Forest, the Natural Bridge Falls and Recreation Area with the roaring Big Timber Falls, and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness provide a perfect opportunity for adventure hikes, explorative outings, and relaxation. Big Sky Big Sky, Montana. The tri-composition of Big Sky is unique to other small towns in the region, with each area having its own beautiful terrain on display. The meadow is part of a scenic alpine valley slowly transitioning into the mountain area with the Big Sky Resort and the Nordic trails of the Lone Mountain Ranch. The Gallatin River flows through the third section of the town, the craggy canyon, where people head for kayaking, white water rafting, and the ample of trout to catch. The Gallatin National Forest with numerous campsites allows one to observe wildlife, such as elk and deer, with the Yellowstone National Park just 15 miles away. Anaconda Anaconda Smelter Stack in Montana is the tallest survivng masonry building in the world. Not only does the town of Anaconda make the perfect postcard for the state, but cradled by Mother Nature, its downtown has a soothing aura, with calming trails around, for a truly relaxing visit. There are many outdoor excursions offered for an organized trip, but one cannot go wrong spending days-on at the beloved, shimmering Georgetown Lake while picnicking on the banks, or viewing lovely sunsets, graced by mountains in the background. The town's unique character also shines with many festivals, and the Washoe Theater with concerts and shows. Choteau The Teton River with Ear Mountain in autumn at sunrise near Choteau, Montana, USA. The atmospheric mountain town of Chateau within the Rockies seems to have done the impossible by having all of the big city draws in its tiny perimeter, but void of hassle, for a calming experience with a charming exterior. Affectionately named the "Front Porch of the Rockies", the beautiful landscape spread from the Flathead National Forest, to the Glacier National Park. More extraordinary sights can be obtained at the Dropstone Outfitting and the Freezeout Lake Choteau, while archaeology types would love to view the maiasaura-type fossil discovered in the nearby Egg Mountain, in a 3D display at the Old Trail Museum. Fort Benton Set on the western bank of the Missouri River in the Chouteau County, the humble and authentic town is big on the American Western Frontier history, presenting it in a beautifully memorable way. Considered the birthplace of Montana as a fur trade center in Upper Missouri in 1846, one can become immersed in the old charms by walking along the steamboat levee, the streets lined with old buildings, and the ruins of Historic Fort Benton. The Museum of the Northern Great Plains also offers fine exhibits, while the Missouri Breaks Interpretive Center is set by the river for a cool history lesson of the local nature and culture. Hamilton Hamilton, Montana, USA. The large town of Hamilton is set within a beautiful adventure corridor of the region. Part of the lovely Bitterroot Valley, right off Highway 93 between Missoula and Idaho, tourists love to make a pit stop in this atmospheric town, or wander in, while based at one of the many campgrounds in the vicinity. Many hikers along the forest line, or those conquering major hiking trails, such as the Trapper Trail, one of the state's best, also like to visit the unique downtown area with character and historic charm, or get the insights into the culture at the Daly Mansion. Helena Drone view of the Montana State Capitol, in Helena, on a sunny afternoon. Part of the Lewis and Clark County set on the Missouri River, Helena is situated at the eastern foot of the Continental Divide at an elevation of 3,955 feet (1,205 metres), scenically back-dropped by two giants, Mount Helena at 5,462 feet (1,665 metres) and Mount Ascension at 5,360 feet 1,634 metres). The town benefits magnificently from its Prickly Pear Valley location, with the virile soils, and the surrounding rolling hills and lofty mountains attracting countless tourists. As a former ground for occasional hunting parties for the Natives, Helena today, is a mecca of agriculture and livestock, and the headquarters of the Helena National Forest, with the capitol building surmounted by a reproduction of the Statue of Liberty. Libby Kootenai River near Libby. Part of the Lincoln County, Libby is a laid-back country town sitting within an unbelievable mountain terrain, with the jugged banks of the meandering Kootenay River in the backdrop that also passes through town for a quick dip on a hot summer's day. The Kootenai National Forest is great for hikers, with the Kootenai Falls just outside of town and a suspension bridge to linger on. Those in search for epic adventures would find one in the 94,000 acres of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area to go exploring or backpacking. Philipsburg Philipsburg, Montana. Sat alongside the Pintler Veteran's Memorial Scenic Highway in southwest Montana, Phillipsburg is fifteen minutes away from the sparkling waters of Georgetown Lake to the south. Surrounded on all sides by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, there are hiking trails, ski areas, and hot springs. The town is a must stop-over not only for the memorable vistas, but for being a harvest ground with unique resources. Having aided in establishing the town in the 1800s, the sapphire-embedded lodes are still abundant today, with visitors stocking-up on their own beauty charms at gem shops, and learning about the history of the Sapphire Country's prosperity. Polson Polson on a sunny day. Set in the Lake County of northern Montana, Polson is the best place to see the beautiful rugged nature, as well as explore bits of Native American history, being part of the Flathead Indian Reservation. As a small lakeside town overlooking the south shore of the Flathead Lake, it has also become a base for recreational activities, such as diving, swimming, and any types of watercraft, with mesmerizing vistas. Its fertile ground makes it a trade center for cherries, also on the stands at its cute farmer's market, while the Wild Horse Island State Park is a fun place to explore with the whole family. West Yellowstone West Yellowstone. Editorial credit: Matthew Thomas Allen / Shutterstock.co The closest small town to the Yellowstone National Park, bordering it alongside the Madison River, it attains some of the magnificent natural features of the latter. As a basecamp to visitors, the town is made beautiful by the locals that also developed tons of amenities for a memorable pastime, including art galleries, and events like bluegrass festivals and farmers markets. The active would revel in the easy access to some of the best white water in Montana, for rafting and kayaking. During winter, the town's Rendezvous Ski Trails offers 35 kilometers of well-groomed cross-country ski trails. Whitefish Whitefish, Montana. Set in the far north of Montana, Whitefish is the west entrance to the Glacier National Park, and is a town with a lot of vivre for some 8,000 residents, but times as many tourists that head its way to experience the rugged beauty of the northern state. The town's biggest appeal is the acclaimed Whitefish Mountain Resort, with over 3,000 acres of skiable terrain. For outdoorsy types, there is also an easy access to Flathead Lake to the south, as well as the surrounding Flathead National Forest. It is no wonder, that so many of these smaller towns have such dominating names, well-representative of their grandeur vistas. Back-dropped by gorgeous peaks, these towns have successfully preserved their roots, while advancing towards modernity, to provide its visitors the best of the both worlds in the most unbelievable settings of the country. A view from Wrexhams Member of Parliament This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jan 27th, 2022 Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Members of Parliament and Assembly Members to write a monthly article with updates on their work in their respective Parliaments and closer to home you can find them all here. Today, Wrexhams MP Sarah Atherton writes Recently, I was out in Acton delivering leaflets about my ongoing healthcare campaign, which I have stepped up a notch by calling on the Welsh Government to launch an inquiry into healthcare services in Wrexham. The aim of this inquiry would be to highlight where the health service is not delivering, so that when the Welsh Governments investment into the service reaches Wrexham it is spend where it is needed. Alongside, this I am also calling on the health board to establish a walk-in centre in Wrexham. Doing so will alleviate pressure on the GPs and A&E at the Maelor, which will be welcomed by many. Finally, the health board must reform its management structure, bringing clinicians back into senior management positions. This month, I have also raised my healthcare campaign in the House of Commons. Firstly, I asked the Leader of the House of Commons about how the issues Wrexham residents face can be raised most effectively in Parliament and at the Welsh Grand Committee, which met for the first time since 2018. I also met with the Secretary of State for Health, Sajid Javid, to discuss my concerns about healthcare in Wrexham. Whilst healthcare is devolved to the Welsh Government, the Secretary of State was clear that the UK Government want to ensure that Welsh patients have the same access to excellent healthcare as those in England. This month, I also went down to the River Gwenfro to see first-hand the excellent work that volunteers are doing cleaning up the river. The Wrexham Litter Pickers really are a credit to the community over the past year they have cleaned litter of all shapes and sizes from the River Gwenfro, and from other areas of our town, making a real difference! Well done to all that have been involved in this truly grassroots initiative. If you would like to get involved, you can find out more on their Facebook site: Wrexham Litter Pickers. I have also welcomed the work of Wrexham Town Police and their Safer Streets campaign. Supported by 339,000 of UK Government funding, the Safer Streets project will see new CCTV installed throughout the town, increased patrols and the opening of a welfare centre on Fridays and Saturdays to support those enjoying our towns night-time economy. This week, I am out with the Police to see the new project in action which I am looking forward to! Last week, the UK Government launched the Veterans Strategy Action Plan for the UK, with the aim of making our nation the best place to be a veteran by 2028. With lots of excellent commitments, I was particularly pleased that the strategy incorporates some of the suggestions I made in my recent Parliamentary inquiry into the experiences of women in the Armed Forces. At the same time, the UK Government also opened applications for the Veterans Commissioner for Wales. Until now, Wales had been the only devolved nation without a commissioner because the Welsh Government refused to appoint one, leaving Welsh veterans worse off. Having campaigned on this matter with Welsh Conservative colleagues in Westminster, I am thrilled that the UK Government have stepped in to establish this post. As always, if there is anything I can do to help, please dont hesitate to contact me by email on sarah.atherton.mp@parliament.uk or by telephone on 01978 291742. Wrexham.com has invited Wrexham & Clwyd South Welsh and UK Parliament representatives to write a monthly article with updates on their work and closer to home you can find them all here. Clwyd South MP commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day by signing the remembrance book of commitment This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jan 27th, 2022 The MP for Clwyd South has signed in Parliament the Holocaust Educational Trusts Book of Commitment, pledging his commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day and honouring those who were murdered during the Holocaust. This year marks 77 years since the liberation of the concentration camps of Europe and the end of the Second World War. On the 27th January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, people across the globe are marking Holocaust Memorial Day. Simon Baynes MP met with the Holocaust Memorial Trust within Parliament and pledged his commitment to remembering the Holocaust, and paid tribute to the extraordinary Holocaust survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people today. In the lead up to Holocaust Memorial Day, thousands of commemorative events have been arranged by schools, faith groups and community organisations across the country, remembering all of the victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. After signing the Book of Commitment, Simon Baynes MP said: It is vital that we all take the opportunity this week, and on Holocaust Memorial Day, to reflect on one of the darkest times in world history and remember those who suffered and were murdered in the Holocaust, under Nazi Persecution, and in the genocides which followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Darfur. As time passes, it becomes ever more important that we take the time to remember the six million Jewish victims and also pay tribute to the incredible survivors. It is our responsibility to ensure they are never forgotten. Residents across Wrexham are being asked to pause and pay tribute tonight to those persecuted and killed during the Holocaust and other genocides throughout the world. Each year Holocaust Memorial Day in the UK centres on a theme, this year its One Day. At 8pm households across the UK will be lighting candles and safely putting them in their windows to remember those who were murdered for who they were and stand against prejudice and hatred today. Wrexham Council is also lighting up the Guildhall to mark the event. New air quality monitoring site installed in Chirk This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jan 27th, 2022 A second Air Quality Monitoring site has been now been installed in the Chirk area. The device, which is at the Chirk Community Hospital, will continually monitor for Nitrogen Dioxide, Volatile Organic Compounds and Particulate Matter (both 2.5 m and 10 m). Residents in Chirk can check the air quality for themselves and all the results are available on a Welsh Government run website. The site also collects wind direction and speed and this data is available on www.airqweb.co.uk. A spokesperson for the local authority said: This new site forms an important addition to Wrexham Councils ongoing Air Quality monitoring program with the results being independently assessed annually and reported to the Welsh Government. Over 4.5m announced to investigate hospital-acquired Covid-19 infections in Wales This article is old - Published: Thursday, Jan 27th, 2022 Over 4.5 million is to be invested into a programme investigating hospital-acquired Covid-19 infections in Wales. The funding will go towards supporting a framework used by health boards to report and investigate hospital-acquired infections. Health Minister Eluned Morgan has pledged that all incidents of Covid-19 caught in hospitals will be investigated and lessons will be learnt to reduce the chances of it happening to anyone else. The investment over two years will support health boards and the NHS Delivery Unit to take forward an important and complex programme of investigation work into cases of hospital-acquired Covid-19. Throughout the pandemic the NHS in Wales has worked hard to do all it can to keep the virus out of hospitals and to protect people being cared for, often in very difficult circumstances. This has included infection control procedures in place in all NHS settings, including hospitals; free PPE available to all NHS and social care services; extensive guidance issued about social distancing, bed spacing, staff and patient testing, ventilation and mask wearing; and multiple checks undertaken by health boards, Healthcare Inspectorate Wales and the Health and Safety Executive. However, despite the best efforts of healthcare staff and all these measures being in place combined with prioritised testing of healthcare workers, Covid-19 infections have been contracted in hospitals. They account for around one per cent of all Covid-19 infection and in some cases, some people have come to harm or died after acquiring Covid-19 in hospitals. NHS Wales has been committed to investigating hospital-acquired Covid infections throughout the pandemic, with families affected encouraged to contribute to the Putting Things Right process and The Nosocomial Transmission Group set up in May 2020 to help prevent infections through learning and publishing a national framework in relation to patient safety incidents of hospital acquired Covid-19. Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: Our NHS in Wales has worked incredibly hard to keep the virus out of hospital settings, but unfortunately it has been impossible to achieve this. With high rates of community transmission outside of hospitals during various periods of the pandemic, it has been a monumental task to prevent Covid-19 entering our healthcare settings and spreading to those receiving care in them. We know that in some cases patients have experienced harm or died after catching Covid-19 in hospital settings, and we are deeply saddened by all those who have been affected by this. We are investing in this framework as we are determined to not only investigate into every case of hospital-acquired Covid-19 infection, but learn why it happened so we can do everything in our powers to prevent it from happening again. It will also be reviewed in two years due to the evolving nature of the pandemic. Yesterday Wrexham.com reported that the Welsh Conservatives had reiterated their calls for a Wales-wide inquiry into the Welsh Governments handling of coronavirus. During First Ministers Questions on Tuesday Paul Davies MS highlighted a damning hospital inspection report into Prince Charles Hospital last month, which found that the arrangements for the prevention and control of infection within the emergency department and clinical decisions unit did not protect patients, members of the public and staff. Commenting on the funding announcement, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said: It is about time ministers provided funding to investigate this: Wales has the UKs highest Covid mortality-rate, and given a quarter of these deaths originated in hospitals, it is essential they are investigated with frameworks in place to reduce transmission going forward. There will be cases of significant breaches of the infection control measures the minister boasts about, like that of Sharon Jones who was moved to an amber ward in Neville Hall Hospital rather than the promised Covid-free green ward. She subsequently caught Covid and died in hospital. But this is the least the minister can do. If the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay were serious about identifying and addressing faults in infection control during the pandemic, then they would cease to block the Wales-specific Covid inquiry for which we and bereaved families have long called. The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (UK) met Saturday amid a massive global surge of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the average number of daily cases at their highest ever. Tania Kent, the committees chairperson and a special needs teacher, quoted from two World Socialist Web Site editorials of the previous weekThree million dead from the coronavirus pandemic and India ravaged by COVID-19 pandemic - a global catastropheto illustrate the unprecedented catastrophe facing the international working class. The pandemic was a global crisis that required a global solution, she explained. Kent pointed to the timely character of the educators meeting, taking place on the same day as the publication of a powerful statement issued by the International Committee of the Fourth International'Forward to the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees! She said the call for an International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) being issued at this Saturdays International Online May Day Rally of the ICFI, was the logical extension of the fight by the ICFI and the Socialist Equality Parties worldwide for the formation of independent rank-and-file safety committees among key sections of the working class during the pandemic. Concentrating her remarks on the role of the education unions, Kent quoted from the ICFIs statement: While the corporatist degeneration of the unions and their complete integration into the framework of management and the state is perhaps most grotesque in the United States, the same conditions prevail in every country. There has not been a single struggle waged by the unions against the ruling class policy of herd immunity and massive handouts to the rich. She reviewed the criminal role of the trade unions in Britain, which had sabotaged the struggles of workers during the past year, resulting in the highest per head of population death toll from COVID-19 (in a country with a population higher than 20 million) in the world. Despite schools being officially recognised as a key vector for the transmission of the virus, resulting in over 80,000 additional deaths since they were reopened in September, the unions repeatedly opposed efforts by their members to keep schools closed, said Kent. How degenerate and moribund the trade unions have become was graphically exposed in the annual union conferences held over the Easter break by both the NASUWT and the NEU, with Conservative Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer invited to speak: There are no two people in the UK more closely associated with the drive to reopen schools. Zac Corrigan, a writer for the World Socialist Web Site and a member of the Socialist Equality Party (US) spoke to the meeting from the state of Michigan in the United States. Corrigan explained that Michigan has become the worst pandemic hotspot in the US, with the contagious B.1.1.7 variant (which originated in Britain) now rampant in every part of the state and with daily case rates above 70 per 100,000 for two weeks. Graphic showing Michigan top sources of Covid-19 outbreaks Schools in Michigan have accounted for more outbreaks than any other setting since the new surge began in late February, he said. Significantly, there was a sharp reduction in outbreaks at K-12 schools and school sporting events (illustrated by Corrigan with the slide below) during and after the spring break, when schools across Michigan closed on either the last week of March or the first week of April on a district-by-district basis. The Biden administration, Corrigan explained, had continued seamlessly from the policies of Trump, prioritising the interests of corporate America and allowing the pandemic to spread out of control. Gregor Link from the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) spoke about the situation in Germany, After politicians suggested that people should light candles in their windows to commemorate the dead, workers and youth replied on social media that government ministers should light the candles themselves, since they have the dead on their consciences. Link explained that Germany demonstrated the role of pseudo-left parties in enforcing the herd immunity policy of the ruling class, At the state level, the Left Party is already implementing the profits before lives policy in partnership with the Social Democratic Party and Greensin Thuringia their leader Bodo Ramelow is premier. The Left Party oversees a state-wide COVID-19 incidence of 246 in Thuringia, the highest of any German state. Frankie, from the IYSSE in the UK, spoke of conditions facing students as universities prepare to reopen. Authorities had consistently attempted to blame students for spreading the virus, to deflect from their own role. Lucia, from the Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee, reported on the absence of safe ventilation in UK schools and the governments deliberate breaching of safety rules. A lively discussion ensued with international speakers asked about education funding, homelessness and poverty and what support is available for neuro-diverse (special educational needs) students. In her concluding remarks, Kent returned to the immense social crisis facing the international working class, Look at the horrendous situation in India, with the prospect of millions of deathsand they know it, they acknowledge it, and they are allowing it to happen. Weve seen poverty in India and other oppressed countries for a very long time, but even those acute situations are being exacerbated to intolerable levels. There is no health system to protect the lives of these people. Thousands are dying daily, and we are just expected to say, well thats India, they dont have better conditions and we do. Well, thats not true as the working class is facing social devastation the world over. The resources necessary do exist and our position fundamentally is that none of these questions can be resolved unless the working class takes control of the productive forces and all of the resources that exist are in the hands of workers to distribute wealth equally and in the interests of society. The meeting concluded with a call for all listeners to get involved in the work of the committee, to donate and attend the International Online May Day Rally of the ICFI, on Saturday May 1, 4pm British Summer Time (please check your time-zone here ). Demonstrators march on in Paulista Avenue to demand that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro resign, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, July 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Nelson Antoine) Over the past month, Brazil has seen three days of nationwide demonstrations that have brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets against President Jair Bolsonaros administration and its criminal response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The scale of the demonstrations and the persistence of the protesters express the growing discontent among broad layers of the Brazilian population with the existing social order and point to the urgency of the fight for genuine socialist politics in Brazil. Alongside similar demonstrations in Paraguay and Colombia in recent months, the protests in Brazil represent the initial development of mass opposition in the streets against the homicidal policies adopted by the ruling classes across the globe in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are part of a global wave of working class radicalization, which has seen strikes in Europe and North America that have confronted previously accepted conditions of exploitation and challenged the domination of corporatist unions. These events are a vindication of the Marxist prognosis of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), which has analyzed the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic as a trigger event that is provoking a revolutionary response by the working class internationally. The crimes of Bolsonaro and his accomplices In Brazil, in addition to the more than half a million lives unnecessarily lost to the coronavirus, the capitalist response to the pandemic has worsened the deplorable conditions of life of the working masses, the already grotesque levels of social inequality and the brutality of bourgeois rule in the country. The homicidal policy of the Brazilian bourgeoisie found in the figure of fascistic President Bolsonaro is its most radical and virulent expression. Bolsonaro insisted that the pandemic should be faced by the ruling class as a war, demanding the suspension of the social and democratic rights of the working class. Consistently following the principle that no effort to save lives should be allowed to conflict with profit interests, Bolsonaro repeatedly attacked policies advanced by scientists and public health experts. He has discouraged the wearing of masks and social distancing, promoted drugswithout any scientific basisas miracle cures for the disease, encouraged the disobedience of lockdown decrees and sabotaged the vaccination campaign in the country. During the pandemic, Bolsonaro has deepened his systematic efforts to install a military dictatorship in Brazil. He brought military officers into every department of his government, entrusted an active duty general with the coordination of his criminal response to the coronavirus and fought to draw the Armed Forces into his governments war on lockdowns policy. While Bolsonaro has been the most visible protagonist of the attacks against the Brazilian population over the past year, the entire ruling class and its political superstructure are implicated in these barbaric crimes. The representatives of the different industrial and commercial associations of the Brazilian bourgeoisie even marched alongside the fascistic president to Brazils Supreme Court to proclaim Enough! and demand the lifting of the meager measures to promote social distancing that were advanced when Brazil had not yet reached 10,000 COVID-19 deaths. This ruthless order was slavishly obeyed (without even the need for a court order) by all the parties of the bourgeois establishment, from the governors of the Workers Party (PT) to those of the right-wing Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). All of them promoted the general reopening of the economy and schools, indifferent to the devastating consequences. The bourgeois state channels for social opposition Fearing that the growth of social opposition will develop into an open struggle of the working class against the capitalist system, Bolsonaros rivals within the ruling class are trying to dissipate popular anger by channeling it behind the bourgeois state. The political forces that called for the recent demonstrationsthe PT, its political satellites, and the unions and social movements they controlare actively working to suppress any class content in the political opposition to the Bolsonaro administration. Their efforts are aimed at creating narrow political limits for the protests, framing them as a form of pressure on the bourgeoisie and its state. According to this political perspective, the action of the masses should serve to legitimatize and lend a democratic or even progressive veneer to the reactionary political maneuvers and deals being worked out by capitalist interests behind the backs of the people. The demonstrations were politically subordinated to the forging of a reactionary alliance between the PT and its allies and the most right-wing forces of the Brazilian political establishment. And their agenda was tied to the work of the COVID Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) and the schedule for congressional votes on calls for the impeachment of Bolsonaro. The genuine anger of those who joined the protests over the brutal sacrifice of lives to the coronavirus, the attacks against democracy and the mass impoverishment of the Brazilian population under the Bolsonaro government is thus being driven into a political swamp. The CPI, to which the demonstrations are being subordinated, is turning into a cover-up of the crimes committed by the Brazilian state in the furtherance of the capitalist herd immunity policy. The investigation is being focused on the governments corruption in the purchase of vaccines, which treats Bolsonaros denialism regarding the pandemic (that is, his refusal to take any action that would interfere with the capitalist economy) as mere window-dressing for his pursuit of private financial interests. The calls for the impeachment by Bolsonaros opposition within the state are based on a reactionary defense of the stability of bourgeois rule in Brazil against the threats posed by Bolsonaros provocations. The overthrow of Bolsonaro based upon these bourgeois methods and political perspective has no progressive content. None of the fundamental problems faced by the working class under the current government would be solved. Such an outcome, on the contrary, would pave the way for the continuation of the policy of criminal neglect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the deepening of social inequality under capitalism and the ruling classs turn to authoritarian forms of government. The pseudo-left apologists for bourgeois politics The attempt to legitimize such a reactionary political outcome requires a division of labor between the political forces committed to the defense of capitalism, in which the pseudo-left organizations, reflecting the interests of privileged layers of the middle class, play a central role. Political parties and groups originating in Stalinism, Pabloism and its Latin American Morenoite variant, as well as in academic identity politics, are all working to provide a left cover for the demoralized bourgeois opposition to Bolsonaro. The PSOL, which was founded as a purported left-wing alternative to the dirty bourgeois deals that underpinned the PT governments, has become the leading apologist for an open alliance with the right and the far right, painting these forces as progressive sections of the national bourgeoisie. This grotesque political alliance took shape in the PSOLs joint filing of a super impeachment petition of Bolsonaro together with far-right figures who played dominant roles in the election of the fascistic president in the first place, and then broke with his administration for opportunistic reasons. In the wake of the signing of this document, PSOL leaders enthusiastically promoted the participation of the right-wing parties in the demonstrations against Bolsonaro. PSOL president Juliano Medeiros attacked any sectarian voices that will say that it is absurd to be on the same platform as the Tucanos [a nickname for the right-wing PSDB], insisting that any party that wants the impeachment is welcome. The Morenoite faction of the PSOL, Resistencia, declared that it was necessary to invite all sections that claim to be in opposition to the government, even segments of the right, to join the demonstrations for ousting Bolsonaro. Seeking to justify this dirty policy with pseudo-radical phraseology, the leader of Resistencia, Valerio Arcary, opposed the tactic of a slow attrition [of Bolsonaro] with the assertion that unity in action with the bourgeoisie is essential and progressive. Few sections of the pseudo-left present their opportunism as openly as Transicao Socialista. The group has (justifiably) claimed to have pioneered the policy of joint action with the far right and the bourgeoisie, now advocated by the entire Brazilian pseudo-left. It promoted the reactionary middle-class protests that served as a popular cover for the impeachment of PT President Dilma Rousseff. The TS once again argues in favor of unity with every sector ... even the liberals, based on the demoralized claim that one must be realistic, and accept that what is posed as a possibility on the horizon is not a general strike. In other words, they shamelessly claim that the working class should not be taken as the subject of historical transformation and, instead, one should adapt oneself to what exists, i.e., capitalism. The reactionary response of these pseudo-left groups to the profound political crisis gripping the Brazilian ruling class is unmasking them as the bitterest enemies of the working class. For an independent political movement of the working class! The Brazilian Socialist Equality Group, in solidarity with the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI), stands in irreconcilable opposition to the maneuvers of the bourgeoisie and its pseudo-left agents to derail the growing social opposition to Bolsonaro and the entire capitalist system. We call on the hundreds of thousands of youth and workers who joined the recent protests with the genuine desire to overthrow Bolsonaros fascistic government and fight for the social and democratic rights of the Brazilian population to turn to the only social force capable of realizing these demands: the working class mobilized independently based upon its own methods of struggle and political program. Over the past year, the working class has demonstrated its objectively revolutionary social character by responding with a wave of strikes and militant opposition to the capitalist attacks carried out in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The spread of the coronavirus across Europe and North America provoked a wave of wildcat industrial strikes that forced the ruling class to adopt lockdown policies. In Brazil, a similar wave of wildcat strikes broke out in March 2020 among workers in call centers across the country opposing the deadly risks they faced at their workplaces. The militant response of Brazilian workers was continued in a series of strikes against unsafe conditions in the workplaces and the assault on living standards by health care workers, bus drivers and other transportation workers, app delivery workers, oil workers at Petrobras, auto workers, workers at meat processing plants and those in other industrial sectors. Dozens of teachers strikes have been and continue to be called against the criminal reopening of schools across Brazil. All these movements have faced the active opposition of the union federations and local trade unions, which acted consciously to isolate and break the strikes, guaranteeing the operation of the corporations and schools at the expense of the mass death of the workers. The struggle of the Brazilian working class can advance only through a definitive political break with the PT, its pseudo-leftist satellites and the corporatist unions controlled by them, which represent the police forces of capitalism. Brazilian workers and youth must appeal not to the supposedly progressive sections of the bourgeoisie, but to their fellow workers around the world, who face the same dangers of the uncontrolled spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the massive advance of social inequality and the destruction of democratic forms of government. With the perspective of unifying the powerful emerging struggles of the global working class and directing them against capitalism, last May Day the ICFI launched a call for the formation of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC). Brazilian workers should join this initiative, forming rank-and-file committees in every workplace and coordinating their struggles with their colleagues in different industries and across national borders. As the statement of the ICFI made clear, the IWA-RFC should raise the banner of socialism, orienting the working class toward the seizure of political power, the expropriation of capitalist banks and corporations and the redirection of the vast fortunes accumulated by the financial and corporate oligarchy to meet the social needs of the worlds masses. The fate of this struggle depends upon the construction of a revolutionary party in the Brazilian working class, a section of the ICFI. Over decades, the ICFI has single-handedly defended the socialist and internationalist principles of Marxism betrayed by Social Democracy, Stalinism and Pabloite revisionism. Today, the gains of this historic struggle are merging with the objective movement of the working class, opening the path for the construction of the Socialist Equality Parties as the leadership of the working class in struggle for the international socialist revolution. On Sunday, August 22, the World Socialist Web Site hosted an online event featuring leading scientists from around the world. It discussed the realistic and achievable measures that must be taken to eradicate the coronavirus, stop the wave of death and end the pandemic. Its aim was to provide the public with the information and knowledge it needs to initiate a broad-based and determined world-wide popular movement to end the pandemic and reclaim the future. For a global strategy to stop the pandemic and save lives! This event featured distinguished scientists who have been in the forefront of the global fight for eradication: Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam, Professor Michael Baker and Dr. Malgorzata Gasperowicz. It was moderated by World Socialist Web Site Editor David North. More information about the event is available here. Steven Brust is the son of veteran Trotskyists and founding members of the Workers League, Jean Brust and Bill Brust. August 31 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Jean Brust, who died on November 24, 1997. Steven, a novelist currently living in the Twin Cities, Minnesota, sent the following reminiscences on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of his mother, Jean. To mark this anniversary, the WSWS has published an exhibit featuring essays on Jean Brust's life and political work. (See 100 years since the birth of veteran Trotskyist Jean Brust.) During one of the packinghouse strikes that happened between 1946 and 1948, in which my parents participated (they literally started dating on the picket line), the Farmer-Labor governor, Floyd B. Olson, called out the National Guard against the strikers. There was a mass protest at the state Capitol, and Governor Olson appeared and addressed them. My mother was in the back, telling people that someone should answer him. She kept getting pushed forward, until she was in the front, and so she did. Id love to know what she said. Ive never found the article, but the story is that in one of the Twin Cities newspapers that reported the event, she was referred to as Little Mount Vesuvius. Yeah, that was her. Jean in Minneapolis, July, 1991 (WSWS Media) My mother was one of few people Ive ever met who, when she got angry, became clearer and more precise in her arguments. One day, it must have been late in 1968 or early in 1969, there was a meeting of students and faculty at St. Olaf College to discuss the Vietnam War. She was quiet, listening, as people spoke against the war. At that time, to my perception, she was more or less in the background; a solid party worker, but, except for her history with the Twin Cities labor movement, she didnt really stand out. Some professorand Id love to know his name so I could thank himgot up and explained that we were in a small college in the Midwest, and, whatever we thought of the war, we had to accept that there was nothing we could do, students should concentrate on getting an education, and And Mom blew up. It was the first time since Id known her. She stood up and destroyed that poor guy. She gave that room a talking-to, about how the suffering in Vietnam and the conditions of the poor and the working class here at home were connected. She discussed the massive outrage against the war, and how it was a question of where this outrage was directed, and the role each individual could play in building a revolutionary party to take on the system responsible. Wed never seen her like that. From that day on, we had a solid cadre at that small, isolated Midwestern college, especially among students who had managed to win scholarships from impoverished regions of the South; and from that day on, Mom was in the forefront of all discussions. In that instant, she became the leader the members of the SEP now remember her as. It was breathtaking. It was the early 1970s, probably 71 in the midst of the Vietnam War, and before the complete collapse of union militancy. The immediate task was to draw the connection between the fight against imperialism and the issues being faced by the working classmost particularly, the packinghouse workers at the Armour Packing Plant in South St. Paul. We would show up, every Wednesday, and sell the Bulletin (the precursor to the World Socialist Web Site) to the workers as their shift ended. Over time, we got more and more positive responses, selling more copies every week. This response attracted the attention of the South St. Paul police, who began to show up and harass us. There was a long private road leading from the Armour plant across a set of railroad tracks and onto a two-lane highway. One week the cops would tell us we couldnt be on the highway because it was a public road; the next week theyd tell us we couldnt be in the road because it was private property, and so on. The day Mom got fed up with it, there were four of us: Mom, me, and two black students from the Deep South, Louis (Louie) and Terry, who Mom had recruited from St. Olaf College in Northfield. So, there we were, and as the workers started driving out, the cops showed up. The smaller of the two must have been about 64. They came out and started their spiel about how this was a public highway, and Mom broke in. Every week you tell us something different, she said. Make up your mind. Well be on either side of the tracks you want, but we arent leaving. We can arrest you, they said. All right, said Mom. Well discuss that. She pulled us together into a group to talk about whether we wanted to be arrested. The bigger of the two cops followed us, and Moma little 51 womanstopped and held her palm out. No, she said. You wait there. Well tell you what we decide. The cops eyes widened, and he stopped like hed run into a wall, his mouth open. We talked, and Mom reminded us we had a meeting on Friday, and it would be inconvenient to be in jail. We agreed that wed be arrested next week. Mom walked up to the cop and said, Okay, were leaving. Well be back here in one week, and you can arrest us then. That was the last time the cops showed up. When my sister Cynthia passed away, I was asked to write something about her for the WSWS, and, as I mentioned there, I struggled to say something purely personal and not at all political about her life, and eventually gave up. With the relationship between my parents, and with the entire family, it is a thousand times more difficult. The interrelationship between our personal lives and political lives was so fundamental to Mom and Dad that we never questioned it. (See A remembrance of my sister, Cynthia Brust Moore.) We sat down one evening to play a game. I dont remember what it was; I think it was a gift from some relative. It was one of those games where you draw a card with a question, and you have to guess how the other players will answer. The question was something like, How important is what you do for a living in defining who you are? I dont remember who answered it, or who guessed what, but I remember the discussion about it. Because for Dad, it was very important; he told us that one reason he was a socialist is because of how criminal it is that the greater part of humanity is forced to spend 40 hours a week for 40 or more years doing things they hate just to survive. Mom had the opposite answer. What I do for a living doesnt matter, what matters is the struggle for socialism, thats what my life is about. For my mother, the fight for a better world was what gave her life meaning. Left: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (AP Photo/Francisco Seco), Top-right: Protest against BC's reopening plan (Facebook), Bottom-right: Sudbury Vale miners' picket line (USW Local 6500) The Socialist Equality Party (Canada) will hold an online meetingCanadas pandemic election, the resurgence of working class struggle, and the fight for socialismon Saturday, September 18 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. To attend, please register here. The meeting, which will be held in English and French, will advance a fighting program for the working class to eradicate the COVID-19 pandemic, and oppose the intensified assault on workers social and democratic rights that Canadas next government will mount, whichever party or combination of parties leads it. All the parties vying for office after September 20th agree that the working class must bear the cost of the pandemic, which they view as an opportunity to reorganize Canadian capitalism to make it more competitive against its international rivals. All support the ruling elites profits before lives strategy, and the gutting of the remaining anti-COVID-19 social distancing measures amid a Delta variant-driven fourth wave of the pandemic that threatens to have catastrophic consequences for children and young people. While this criminal policy is advocated most aggressively by the hard-right Conservatives and the big business Liberals, the prioritization of corporate money-making over the protection of human lives is fully endorsed by the nominally left New Democrats and the Quebec first Bloc Quebecois. The NDP began the election campaign by appealing to the Governor General to use her authoritarian powers to prevent the calling of an election on the grounds that the outgoing parliament, which oversaw a $650 billion bailout of the rich and super-rich, was working well. The election campaign has starkly laid bare the vast gulf that exists between the official capitalist parties and the broad masses of working people. The political establishment is focused on rearming Canadian imperialism for war, aligning Ottawa with US imperialisms aggressive diplomatic, economic, and military-strategic offensive against China, and stepping up the exploitation of working people while gutting social spending to ensure corporate Canadas profitability. The working class, on the other hand, is entering ever more openly into direct struggle to claw back the concessions given up over the past four decades and secure decent-paying, secure jobs. While this growing militancy and opposition to the status quo finds no expression in the official election campaign, recent months have witnessed a resurgence of strikes across Canada and internationally. A key feature of these actions is that they have increasingly developed in open rebellion against the nationalist and pro-capitalist trade unions. The Socialist Equality Party (Canada) is intervening in the election campaign to provide this developing class anger a voice and political perspective. The SEP insists that none of the burning problems confronting working peoplethe combatting of the deadly pandemic, the threat of war, mounting social inequality, or environmental devastationcan be answered without mobilizing the working class on a socialist-internationalist program to break the stranglehold the capitalist elite exercises over all aspects of political, social, and economic life. We encourage all WSWS readers, workers, and young people, who want to join this fight or learn about the socialist perspective to register here to attend. The Berlin state public prosecutors office is proceeding with house searches and substantial charges against the artists collective Centre for Political Beauty (ZPS) for carrying out an art action against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Responsibility for the public prosecutors office lies with Left Party politician Lena Kreck, who replaced the Greens Dirk Behrendt as Berlin Justice Senator (state minister) in December. The ZPS had used the fictitious company Flyerservice Hahn to provide the AfD with purported distribution services for its campaign flyers in last years Bundestag (federal) election campaign. A limited company without an address, trade register entry or tax number, the artists reported, made all the AfD regional associations an offer they could not refuse. The AfD accepted. The artists collected the material, stored it and finally destroyed ita total of 5 million flyers, 72 tonnes. They later justified the action saying they had wanted to become the world market leader in not distributing Nazi flyers. Anti-AfD action by the 'Center for Political Beauty' (Image: ZPS / Patryk Witt) Two days after the Bundestag elections on September 26, 2021, the ZPS claimed responsibility for the action. Even then, it emphasised that it had not stolen any campaign material from the AfD. They had merely offered to take over the distribution. Flyerservice Hahn had also not issued any invoices and had even offered to return the flyers to the AfD shortly before the Bundestag elections. The AfD immediately filed a criminal complaint against ZPS, which the Berlin public prosecutors office is now pursuing. According to Tagesspiegel, 10 officers from the State Protection Service at the State Criminal Police Office (LKA), responsible for politically motivated crimes, searched a flat and a studio starting at 7 a.m. on January 13. The raid lasted for two hours. According to a police spokesperson, the investigators seized devices which held data. In email correspondence, the ZPS had allegedly given the untruthful impression of the existence of a company that never existedwith the aim of getting hold of the flyers, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Attorney Generals Office told Der Spiegel . To justify their brutal raid, the public prosecutors office used a criminal offence that probably hardly anyone has ever heard of: Falsification of evidentiary data. This reads: Whoever, for the purpose of deception in legal transactions, stores or alters evidentiary data in such a way that, if it were perceived, a false or falsified document would exist, or uses data stored or altered in such a way, shall be punished with imprisonment for not more than five years or with a fine. This penal rule was introduced in 1986 to combat computer crime, to close gaps in criminal liability in the area of document forgery. But even in fraudulent online trading, it is disputed whether the mere creation of fake accounts using false personal data, for example, on eBay and the subsequent sale of goods under this account fulfils the offence in law. The Hamm Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) had denied this, the Berlin Court of Appeal later affirmed it. However, it is undisputed that ZPS neither made nor wanted to make a profit, and criminal fraud was not in question when the house search was conducted. Nevertheless, the Berlin Attorney Generals Office justified the searches on this ground. In the case of classic acts of fraud on the internet, which go hand in hand with this statute (Section 269), searches are not unusual, a spokeswoman explained. In case law, so far there have only been convictions for violations of Section 269 if some form of fraud was involved, i.e., the perpetrators wanted to obtain money or assets by deception. In the case of false statements without the intention of enrichment, on the other hand, there is already an absence of deception in legal transactions due to the lack of legal relevance. The protection of the trust of a right-wing extremist partywhether someone actually wanted to distribute its leafletsis hardly covered by the protective purpose of Section 269 of the Criminal Code but could at most be clarified under civil law. ZPS spokesperson Pelzer told netzpolitik.org the suspicion was that the investigations could also be a pretext: With this procedure, the State Protection Service can screen our structures and at the same time try to intimidate us. The ZPS has filed a complaint against the search warrant and called on the whole of civil society to repel this attack on artistic freedom. Their call is fully justified. If the view of the Berlin public prosecutors office prevails, artistic freedom, even freedom of the press, is massively threatened. Working with fake identities has been common among artists, comedians and journalists for decades. Journalists often depend on working for someone using a false identity for undercover research so they can expose wrongdoing. In Germany, for example, Gunter Wallraff falsely posed as an arms dealer, and under the pseudonym Hans Esser, worked for several months as an editor for the tabloid Bild. He did not do this to write articles in the interest of the newspaper, but to expose its retrograde brand of pseudo-journalism. So-called telephone pranks for radio and television, in which companies, authorities, politicians and celebrities are called and made fun of using false identities and under false pretences, also have a decades-long tradition in Germany. Erich Kastner (author of Emil and the Detectives) had dedicated the poem Das verhexte Telefon (The bewitched telephone) to the prank call in 1932. The new Berlin Interior Senator, Iris Spranger (Social Democratic Party, SPD), did not want to say whether she had been informed about the raid on ZPS. Her press office responded to netzpolitik.orgs enquiry saying that the senator did not interfere and did not react to specific queries. In response to a press enquiry from netzpolitik.org, Berlin Culture Senator Klaus Lederer (Left Party) said he did not want to comment on what he thought about house searches of known artist groups. A spokeswoman for the Senate Department of Justice, led by Left Party politician and law professor Lena Kreck, who is authorised to give instructions to and supervise the public prosecutors office, refused to comment on the matter when asked by junge Welt. The fact that the SPD-Left Party-Green Berlin Senate (state executive) under Franziska Giffey (SPD), which has only been in office for a month, as one of its first official acts, is taking police action against a group of artists who have carried out an art action against a far-right outfit, shows what can also be expected from these parties in the future: they will not take action against right-wingers, but against their opponents. The World Socialist Web Site urges BNSF workers to contact us with your comments. On Tuesday, a Fort Worth, Texas, federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of BNSF Railway, one of the largest freight companies in the United States, stopping nearly 17,000 railway employees from going on strike against the companys new draconian attendance policy called Hi-Viz. The workers voted overwhelmingly to strike against the hated policy, which is set to go into effect on February 1. Under its terms, workers will be charged points for any time they take off from their exhausting schedules even if they are sick. After losing a certain number of points, the worker will face discipline, including termination, no matter how long they have worked for the railroad. BNSF 5262 leads a stack train pulling out of the siding at Oregon, Illinois (Flickr/contemplative imaging) Ignoring the health effects on workers in the midst of a raging pandemic, Judge Mark Pittman prohibited the two unions at the railroadthe International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation unionTransportation Division (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)from authorizing, encouraging, permitting, calling, or otherwise engaging in any strikes, work stoppages, picketing, slowdowns, sickouts, or other self-help against BNSF or its operating rail subsidiaries over any dispute relating to BNSFs new Hi Viz attendance policy and the standards in the policy. In his ruling, the judge completely sided with BNSF, claiming a strike, no matter how limited, would exacerbate our current supply-chain crisisharming the public at large, not just BNSF. A temporary restraining order will thus serve, rather than disserve, the public interest. Judge Pittman said a strike would violate the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which has long been used to block walkouts by railroad and airline workers. Under the high hurdles contained in the federal law, railway workers are only allowed to strike over what a judge considers major disputes, understood as concerning the drafting or changing of the collective bargaining agreement between the unions and company. The judge arrogantly ruled that the imposition of an oppressive and dangerous attendance policy, which is widely hated by workers, only involved a minor dispute. [W]ithout a temporary restraining order barring an illegal strike over a minor dispute, BNSF would suffer substantial, immediate, and irreparable harm. The Unions, however, will not suffer any harm as a result of a temporary restraining order that this Court, or an arbitrator, cannot remedy, ... the judge said in a court document. In letter to the World Socialist Web Site, a BNSF worker with 17 years of service explained the issues at stake. With the policy we have for attendance right now I can go anywhere from 4 to 6 days at a time without seeing my family while they are awake. With the new policy this will happen way more often. The BNSF says this new policy will make my work schedule more predictable because people wont be able to take off work. Probably fifty percent of the time I have to take off now is due to the bad train line ups they give us [which means] I cant be rested to go to work. All the time my schedule shows me not going to work until say 8am the next day. Then as soon as I lay down in bed at 10pm they call me to go to work. Then I have to pull an all-nighter with no sleep because they cant give me an accurate train schedule. They blame this on people calling in sick, but it has nothing to do with that. It is because the company wont keep accurate train schedules. Also, what they arent telling you about the 30-point system is that you really dont have 30 points. If you get called to work and get in a wreck on the way, you will lose either 17 or 20 points. That means you always have to save that many points because you never know when you will get in an accident. You would think a company would make an exception for a situation like that but they dont. Under the current system I personally know a guy who was punished for taking off work when his wife had a grand mal seizure. The company had no sympathy for him at all! We are currently working without a contract. My quality of life is so horrible I would gladly give up a raise in payif I could just be treated like a human! The two unions at BNSF immediately bowed before the federal judges trampling over workers democratic rights. The national leaders immediately ordered their subordinates to post the court order and attached instructions to their membership through every means available, including all Union managed social media outlets. In addition, as this is an ongoing legal matter, all BLET officers and members should refrain from participating in media interviews until advised otherwise, BLET President Dennis Pierce wrote in a January 25 letter to local union chairmen. In fact, the highly paid officials who run BLET, a division of the Teamsters, and SMART-TD welcomed the judges intervention to block a strike, because they fear that they could lose control of a revolt by the rank and file. Both unions have accepted decades of concessions, which have destroyed thousands of jobs and reduced the number of workers on increasingly longer trains to dangerously low levels. BLET President Pierce (2020 salary, $273,766) said workers must NOT engage in any strikes, work stoppages, picketing, slowdowns, sickouts, or any other activity intended to disrupt the operations of the railroad in response to BNSFs Hi Viz attendance policy. It continued, stating workers should not even engage in protesting online on Facebook or any social media outlets, warning workers would be disciplined, This means that any member who continues to encourage other employees on social media, or in any other forum, to engage in a strike, work stoppages, picketing, slowdowns, sickouts, or any other activity intended to disrupt the operations of the railroad MUST immediately stop doing so. Members who continue to do so risk fines, suspension, or other sanctions by BLET. But the struggle is far from over, and workers are refusing to be gagged. Workers speaking to theWorld Socialist Web Site, not only at BNSF, but at CSX, Canadian National and other railroads, have denounced the unsafe and oppressive conditions being imposed by all the railways and their billionaire owners like Warren Buffett (BNSF) and CN (Bill Gates). To develop this fight, rail workers need to form rank-and-file committees, independent of the corporatist unions, to unite with the broadest sections of the working class to fight the continuous sacrifice of workers health and safety to corporate profit. The World Socialist Web Site urges BNSF workers to contact us with your comments. Expectations are that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will soon be handed the report by leading civil servant Sue Gray into the numerous drinks parties held at Downing Street and other venues during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. How his Conservative Partys MPs react to its findings will determine whether Johnson faces a leadership challenge. Events in parliament yesterday were fraught, as the expected release of Grays report to Johnson that morning did not happen. Hours before parliamentary business finished at around 5pm, Speaker of the Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle told MPs during points of order that he was committed to ensuring that they would have the necessary time to read the report before Johnson took questions on it. Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds a virtual Cabinet meeting in 10 Downing Street. January 5, 2022 (Picture by Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street) He suggested reconvening parliament last night if Johnson received the report into what has inevitably become known as partygate for the prime minister to make a statement. Any timetable today depends on when Johnson finally receives the report, with a debate possible either today or even Friday. Yesterday Johnson again took the hard line in the debate while his supporters argued with backbenchers to delay sending letters calling for a leadership contest at least until after the Metropolitan Police investigation made public Tuesday is completed to finally determine any wrongdoing. Publicly Johnson stood his ground on his ability to deliver the policies dearest to the heart of the Tory right-wing, historically Brexit and today the reopening of the economy and assuming a leading role in US-led military provocations against Russia, based on allegations that President Vladimir Putin is planning an invasion. On Tuesday, Johnson told a parliament made up of fellow warmongers that Britain is prepared to deploy troops to protect NATO allies in Europe if Russia invades Ukraine. He threatened that Putin would face ferocious Ukrainian resistance, raising the spectre of bloodshed comparable to the first war in Chechnya or Bosnia If Russia pursues this path, many Russian mothers sons will not be coming home. The UK and its allies would respond swiftly and in unison with severe economic sanctions. Speaking just hours before the Met investigation was announced, something he was aware of since last weekend, and with NATO members including Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Bulgaria announcing military deployments to Eastern Europe, Johnson boasted, The British Army leads the NATO battle group in Estonia and, if Russia invades Ukraine, we would look to contribute to any new NATO deployments to protect our allies in Europe. The government was considering helping to strengthen the NATO south-eastern flank, including questions about what we might do in Hungary. Tory chairman of the defence committee Tobias Ellwood said it was not too late to mobilise a sizeable NATO presence in Ukraine, a prospect Johnson was forced to deny was likely in the near term and warn could constitute a pretext for Putin to invade. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer rushed immediately to declare his partys resolute support for Ukraines independence and sovereignty. The Labour Party supports the steps that the government has taken to bolster Ukraines ability to properly defend itself, he said. This shared militarist agenda above all ensured that Starmer and other Labour MPs interventions against Johnson during yesterdays Prime Ministers Questions were feeble. Johnson said Starmer was in ignorance of the crisis on the borders of Ukraine, whereas his government was busy bringing the West together in a bid to deter Russia from a reckless and catastrophic invasion. On partygate, Starmer asked whether, given the code that ministers who knowingly mislead Parliament will be expected to offer their resignation, Does the Prime Minister believe that applies to him? Johnson replied that Starmer knew that he could not comment on police matters and that he was acting as a lawyer not a leader. Johnson also accused Starmer of being relentlessly opportunistic throughout the pandemic, declaring that he would have kept us in lockdown in the summer, he would have taken us back into lockdown at Christmas. This is not territory that Starmer would want to contest, given that Labour is in lockstep with the Tories on the need to end all anti-COVID mitigation measures and for the economy to fully reopen. Today, venues and events will no longer be required to use the NHS COVID pass and face masks are no longer required by law in any setting. The requirement to work from home where possible was dropped last week, along with mandated mask wearing in secondary school classrooms. Labours ten-point alternative to Johnsons let it rip herd immunity drive is made up of minimal measures such as expanding the availability of COVID tests, future proofing the test-and-trace system, publishing a roadmap for decision making, transforming the National Health Service and similar meaningless phrases. Its call to prioritise childrens education, i.e., to keep schools open in the face of mass infections, is the real indicator of Labours priorities, along with its description of the ten points as a plan to live with the virus. Johnsons appeal to his backbenches finally included a promise to announce a plan to get half a million people off welfare into work today. Many people may want me out of the way, he said. But he was getting on with the job. According to ITVs deputy political editor Anushka Asthana, the prime minister is meeting with something like 15 MPs a day. Their message to him? According to one source the overwhelming message is we need you to be more Conservative, meaning tax cuts, continued opposition to COVID public health measures and cracking down on migration across the Channel. Johnsons other trump card was to threaten his MPs with a possible general electiona message delivered by Jacob Rees-Mogg, a hardened reactionary known as the Member for the 18th Century. Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, said on Newsnight Tuesday what Johnsons supporters are telling potential dissidents in privatethat if he loses a leadership contest then any new prime minister must call a general election. It is my view that weve moved, for better or worse, to essentially a presidential system, and therefore the mandate is personal rather than entirely party, and any PM would be very well advised to seek a fresh mandate, he said. This threat was broadly dismissed as not constitutionally required at all and not followed previously by Tory PM John Major, Labours Gordon Brown or Johnsons predecessor Theresa May. As grotesque and indecisive as yesterdays debates were, they confirm that the fight waged in parliament over Johnsons fate is between rival right-wing factions which, whether nominally loyal to the Tory or Labour party, belong to a single de facto entitythe party of herd-immunity, social reaction, militarism and war. Edward O. Wilson, known as E.O. Wilson, who died last month at the age of 92, was a major figure in the field of evolutionary biology. He made significant contributions to the study of animal behavior, biodiversity, and environmental conservation. However, he is perhaps best known for the controversies stemming from his attempt to found a field of study he called sociobiology, which places great emphasis on the genetic determination of animal and human behavior. During his career, Wilson wrote, cowrote, or edited over 30 books. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize twiceonce for On Human Nature (1979) and, as coauthor, for The Ants (1991). Born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1929, Wilson earned bachelors and masters degrees at the University of Alabama. He went on to receive his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1950, and joined the faculty there in 1956, where he remained for a remarkable 46 years. Edward O. Wilson His early research was focused on insects, ants in particularhow they communicated chemically using pheromones and how they diversified and spread geographically. Through studying the distribution of ant species across islands, he developed mathematical models to predict their spread and differentiationechoing and expanding on Darwins study of species diversity in the Galapagos Islands. He has been dubbed by some, Darwins natural heir. Wilson tested his model in the Florida Keys by eradicating all insects from small, uninhabited islands and then documenting how immigrants re-established themselves and achieved stable ecosystems. He also conducted extensive field research in the Caribbean and South Pacific during the 1940s and 1950s. During his career, he is credited with having identified and described over 450 species of ants. Based on this research, Wilson, in collaboration with biologist Robert MacArthur, wrote The Theory of Island Biogeography in 1967, which became a seminal work in the field of ecology. In turn, this approach has been applied to the understanding of biodiversity and the interactions between species, enabling predictions regarding how many species a variety of environments could hold, the impact of habitat destruction on species extinctions and the stability of ecosystems. Wilsons attention then turned to the study of how natural selection molded animal social behavior, including that of humans. He found that classical evolutionary theory had difficulty explaining the behavior of social animals such as ants. Instead, he drew on the work of William Hamilton, who had proposed the concept of inclusive fitness. According to classical evolutionary theory, reproductive success, the passing on of ones genes to offspring, defines the concept of fitness of an individual in its environment. The more offspring an individual produces who themselves survive to reproduce, the more that individuals genes increase in its species gene pool (the individual is more fit), compared to other individuals who are less successful in a given environment. This was the standard understanding of natural selection. In effect, organisms are merely mechanisms for the reproduction of genes (i.e., DNA). Genes that promote the survival of those individuals which bear them tend to be perpetuated themselves and increase in frequency within a population or species. Those genes that are less successful in promoting the survival and reproduction of their bearers in a given environment diminish and eventually disappear. Thus, evolution occurs. Under this model, the effective entity subject to natural selection is the individual organism, which is either successful or not in passing on its genetic material. Hamilton proposed that among social animals, genes may perpetuate themselves and spread by promoting individual behaviors that benefit not only the individual, but the group to which they belong. In this model, genes that promote the survival and reproductive success of close relatives, or the group as a whole, can spread if an individual with those genes promotes the reproduction (fitness) of others who carry the same genes. Thus, among relatives, an individuals fitness may be inclusive: it may refer not only to their own reproductive success, but to the success of others. In a 1963 paper, Hamilton described his conception as inclusive fitness, under which the unit of natural selection is the gene, not the individual. According to this model, if an individuals actions, even to the point of that individuals own demise, and consequent failure to reproduce, promote the propagation of the groups genetic information (e.g., altruistic behavior, such as giving an alarm call that alerts other members of the group to the presence of a predator), that fulfills the evolutionary imperative of reproductive success of that set of genes, even if that particular individual does not reproduce. Wilson sought to interpret the behavior of ants as gene bearers for such a group, and not merely as autonomous, individually reproducing individuals. Lemon ants farming honeydew from mealybugs (Credit: Mat Reinbold via Wikimedia Commons) Most ants live in highly structured colonies, with a well-defined division of labor. Each colony is composed of a queen, whose primary function is reproduction. The female offspring, the workers, are normally sterile, performing all the tasks necessary for maintenance of the colony, including the collective raising of offspring. Males have only one function, fertilizing future queens. Species in which members of a group have genetically and/or developmentally determined differential reproductive capacities and other highly defined tasks are termed eusocial. This is mostly seen in ants, bees, wasps, termites, and a very limited number of mammals (naked mole-rats). From a reproductive perspective, colonies of ants and other eusocial animals may be viewed as the equivalent of a single, multi-cellular organism, rather than a collection of autonomously reproducing individuals. It should be noted that, in the overwhelming majority of cases, any single gene is not expressed individually but in combination with many other genes to produce the whole organism, greatly reducing the exposure of single genes to direct selective pressure. The controversy over Sociobiology Nevertheless, Wilson sought to apply a gene-centric model, which gained acceptance among biologists in the context of a burgeoning genetic revolution, to understand the behaviors of all animals. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, published in 1975, presented Wilsons view that The organism is only DNAs way of making more DNA. Based on this understanding, he argued that social behavior, including that of humans, could be explained as a product of natural selection differentially acting on the variety of genetic material in a species. The publication of Sociobiology initiated a great deal of controversy. So much so that its review in the New York Times was placed on the papers front page. While its proposals regarding social behavior in animals have had an impact on subsequent research, those regarding that of humans have also drawn criticism. Many viewed Wilsons arguments as a form of biological determinism, or reductionism: the attitude that simple processes may explain complex phenomena that in fact require more sophisticated explanation. Wilson proposed that humans have a weak form of eusociality, such that the behavior of individuals and their roles in the social group is partly controlled by genetics. Some critics, including his Harvard colleagues, Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin, accused Wilson of biological determinism, Social Darwinism, and even alleged that his ideas logically supported eugenics and genocide. In his preface to the 2000 edition of Sociobiology, Wilson pushes back against critics who accuse him of reductionism. Specifically referring to Gould and Lewontin, whom he describes as the last of the Marxist intellectuals, Wilson characterizes these critics as advocating a tabula rasa view of human behaviorthat there is no genetic influence at all, which he says suits their aim for socialism to be fitted to the human mind, apparently implying indoctrination. He goes on to reject the position of other critics, associated with the New Left, who opposed sociobiology on the grounds that it could lead to the conclusion that behaviors such as racism, sexism, class oppression, colonialism, andperhaps worst of allcapitalism! could be genetically based. In one notorious incident, a protester doused Wilson with water, yelling Wilson, you are all wet! A review of Wilsons discussion of human behavior in Sociobiology reveals that while he seems to take a more nuanced view than some critics suggest, fundamentally, despite protestations to the contrary, he fails to appreciate the qualitative difference between human behavior, based on abstract, symbolic thought, and a huge store of culture, and that of other animals. He states, Human societies have effloresced to levels of extreme complexity because their members have the intelligence and flexibility to play roles of virtually any degree of specification, and to switch them as the occasion demands. And, furthermore, Roles in human societies are fundamentally different from the castes of social insects. In his preface to the second edition of Sociobiology (2000), Wilson states, in the creation of human nature, genetic evolution and cultural evolution have together produced a closely interwoven product. And as well: The exact process of gene-culture coevolution is the central problem of the social sciences and much of the humanities, and it is one of the great remaining problems of the natural sciences. Some of his discussion involves behaviors that are so basic as to be likely to have a substantial genetic component. For example, he proposes that there are epigenetic rules (i.e., in which non-genetic factors, such as environment or learned behavior, modify genetic expression) which provide general frameworks for such things as classification of color, aesthetic evaluation of shapes, acquisition of fears and phobias, communication via facial expression and body language, and so on across a wide spread of categories in behavior and thought. Most of these rules are evidently very ancient, dating back millions of years in mammalian ancestry. Others, like the ontogenetic steps of linguistic development in children, are uniquely human and probably only hundreds of thousands of years old. Culture, class and evolution However, Wilsons discussion of more complex aspects of human behavior fails to make clear the overwhelming predominance of culture over biology. An important topic raised by Wilson is that of social class in human societies. A key question of human biology is whether there exists a genetic predisposition to enter certain classes and to play certain roles. At first, he states, A strong initial bias toward such stratification is created when one human population conquers and subjugates another, a common enough event in human history. Genetic differences in mental traits, however slight, tend to be preserved by the raising of class barriers, racial and cultural discrimination, and physical ghettos. But then, Yet despite the plausibility of the general argument, there is little evidence of any hereditary solidification of status. And further, Powerful forces can be identified that work against the genetic fixation of caste differences. First, cultural evolution is too fluid. Scientific research has demonstrated time and time again that there is absolutely no basis for the proposition that there are any differences in intelligence or any other significant behavioral characteristic within or between various modern human populations. Nevertheless, Wilson, leaves the door open to the possibility that such differences may exist. Is this merely a prudent scientists caution or does it betray underlying reservations? With regard to cultural evolution, again Wilson provides contradictory statements. Ethnographic detail [i.e., different cultures] is genetically underprescribed [i.e., has relatively weak genetic influence], resulting in great amounts of diversity among societies. Underprescription does not mean that culture has been freed from the genes. What has evolved is the capacity for culture, indeed the overwhelming tendency to develop one culture or another. Few would dispute the first part of this last sentence. However, does this latter statement mean that the humans are somehow genetically driven to cultural diversity? How could that genetic influence be expressed? Again, Wilson is attempting to suggest some degree of genetic influence without providing any evidence to support his contention. In an even more puzzling statement, Wilson is of the opinion that Human beings are absurdly easy to indoctrinatethey seek it. If we assume for argument that indoctrinability evolves, at what level does natural selection take place? One extreme possibility is that the group is the unit of selection. This suggests that he believes humans capacity for independent thought is somehow genetically limited and that some populations may be more susceptible to indoctrination than others. There are numerous other examples of Wilsons attempt to have it both ways. One of the more troubling is his contention that warfare promoted a number of what he feels are important human traits: including team play, altruism, patriotism, bravery on the field of battle, and so forth, as the genetic product of warfare. He goes on to suggest that groups with genes for aggressiveness would conquer and replace those that did not, thus creating a positive feedback loop for the spread of aggressive genetics. But warfare is a recent development in human evolution, a product of class society. To imply that it is somehow a key influencer of human genetics has no scientific basis. Elsewhere, he rejects the contentions of such popular authors as Konrad Lorenz ( On Aggression ) and Robert Ardrey ( African Genesis ) who claim that aggressive behavior was key to early human evolution. Wilson rejected accusations that he was promoting a right-wing agenda, labeling them as academic vigilantism and criticized Gould and Lewontin in particular for what he labels as their Marxism, which he employs as a derogatory epithet without specific content. There is no indication that he personally held reactionary views. It appears rather that he was led astray by an excessively mechanical view of human development, and as has happened all too frequently, tried to apply the laws of motion of one sphere of the natural world to another and more complicated sphere. Thus, in Sociobiology, he argued that ethics should be taken out of the hands of philosophers and, instead, biologicized. And, in his later work, On Human Nature (1978), he proposed that in the future, with a much deeper understanding of genetics, a democratically contrived eugenics could be implemented, indicating, at best, a political naivete with regard to its implications within class society. This clearly goes beyond medical interventions for physical ailments, implying behavioral modification through genetic manipulation. In a more recent work, The Social Conquest of Earth (2012), Wilson appears to step back from rigid determinism. He characterizes humans as the first truly free species, and one which can, based on simple decency combined with the unrelenting application of reason, turn the earth into a permanent paradise. This, apparently, is to be accomplished by somehow freeing humans from the otherwise imperious domination of genetics. However, at the same time, he continued to contend that free will is an illusion. Wilsons conception of human social organization is a gross oversimplification, betraying a lack of knowledge of anthropology and sociology. Firstly, all members of a human social group can, at least potentially, reproduce (barring illness, etc.), contrary to the condition in eusocial species. There are certainly constraints on reproductive success in class-based societies. However, these are the product of social factors, not on any inherent genetically controlled differentiation. The same is true of all productive tasks, which are based on learned behavior. Fundamentally, Wilson was unable to bridge the contradiction between a genetically constructed brain that evolved under natural selection and its unique capacity for abstract, symbolic thought, whose content is not genetically programmed. In fact, humans have long since evolved beyond behavior that is primarily controlled by their DNA. The problems facing humanity are social and political, not biological. In retirement, Wilson devoted his energy to environmental conservation, producing many publications on the subject, including his 1992 book, The Diversity of Life, which became a best seller. He was an advocate of Half Earth which proposed that half of the earths surface, both land and water, be devoted to species conservation. In sum, E.O. Wilson made historic contributions in the fields of ecology, biodiversity, animal behavior, and evolutionary biology. However, his attempt to explain at least a portion of human behavior as significantly controlled by genetics demonstrates a failure to understand that the development of culture as humanitys primary mode of adaptation has created a qualitatively new level of organization. Just as biology cannot be explained simply by physics and chemistry, human behavior cannot be reduced to biology. The rapid spread of Omicron across Canada is taking an especially terrible toll on the homeless population, with major outbreaks reported in shelters in Toronto and British Columbia in recent weeks. Two years into the pandemic, the refusal of governments at all levels to adopt any measures to overcome the long-standing social and economic problems plaguing Canadas urban centers continues to have devastating consequences for those forced to live on the streets, in shelters, or other forms of temporary accommodation. As temperatures dropped to deadly levels during a severe winter cold snap earlier this month, the Omicron variant ran rampant through Torontos homeless shelter system. Fifty shelters reported outbreaks and over four hundred people tested positive by Friday, January 14. Toronto city authorities have brutally attacked and dismantled homeless camps, as picture above from last summer (Credit: Mark McAllister, @McAllister_Mark/Twitter) The drop of outside temperatures to injurious and deadly depths pushed up shelter occupancy rates and accelerated COVID-19 transmission. With only 65 beds for people to isolate available system-wide, shelter staff were directed to keep infected residents on site. While the isolation sites aim during previous waves was to prevent infection spread, outbreaks across the system are now seen as entirely unavoidable. Andrew Bond, medical director of Inner City Health Associates, told the Toronto Star, Theres no amount of dedicated isolation space away from the shelter system that can be created to move every single person who gets COVID or is in contact with COVID. As the extreme cold weather increased demand for already inadequate services, COVID-19 infections continued to thin out available staff. This convergence of challenges led to dropped calls on shelter intake phone lines and an overall decrease in cleanliness and social distancing practices. A lot of people have experienced what are called courtesy hang-ups. And consistently, people spend inordinate amounts of time on hold. Between the two, folks cannot get through to even find out if there is shelter space, said housing advocate and York University adjunct faculty A.J. Withers. Getting people out of the cold so they dont die or lose fingers and toes is paramount at this moment. Ultimately though, Torontos unhoused population needs more non-congregate settings, single-room housing where isolation is possible, to avoid outbreaks. Throughout the pandemic more people have been infected by COVID-19 in Torontos homeless shelter system than all cases in Manitoba and New Brunswick, which have a combined population of about 2 million people. The consequences of these outbreaks for homeless people, many of whom suffer from multiple health problems, have been and will be catastrophic. A study by researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute published on the Canadian Medical Association Journal Open website examined COVID-19 testing in Ontario. With data on close to thirty thousand people who had recently experienced homelessness, the study found the homeless are far more likely to become infected, be hospitalized, experience complications, and die from the novel coronavirus. Individuals recently homeless were over 20 times more likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19, over 10 times more likely to receive intensive care, and they were over five times more likely to die within 21 days of a positive test, said principal author Lucie Richard in an interview with CBC Toronto. Decades of public policy decisions aimed at slashing budgets and making billions available to big business and the super-rich have created a situation where every year over 235,000 Canadians are homeless at some point. Another 1.7 million working people live in precarious housing, which in simple terms means they are one pay cheque, one accident, or one illness away from sleeping on the street. All of the established political parties, from the New Democrats on the left to the right-wing Tories, are responsible for this state of affairs. They abolished social housing programs in the late 1980s and 1990s, enforced massive attacks on wages and working conditions, and gutted social programs that helped keep low-income earners off the street. In a recent Nanos Research poll commissioned by the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, seven out of 10 Canadians indicated that they want urgent action on homelessness. A staggering number reported having experienced homelessness themselves (5 percent) or knowing a family member (10 percent), or a friend/acquaintance (21 percent) who had been homeless. These results suggest as many as 1.6 million Canadians have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. COVID-19 has compounded the everyday struggles and indignities that people experiencing homelessness endure, as park washrooms have been closed, water fountains drained, and services and community spaces crucial to the homeless community disappeared. The conditions and services available at homeless shelters experiencing outbreaks are significantly worse than the bare minimum provided in normal times. As one housing advocate reported, Im in touch with a man staying at a shelter with an outbreak of about 30 cases who has COVID-19 for the second time. He tells me some [external] services that would normally go in, like healthcare, wont go in when theres an outbreak. The absence of health care is of particular concern given that shelter staff are ill-equipped to deal with health issues. Shelter workers have zero training in terms of providing nursing or infirmary care support, the advocate continued. Its just horrific. Every shelter should have a (registered practical nurse) or health worker in it. If you even just had flu-like symptoms, and youre in a shelter, it would be hell. Toronto shelter resident Jacqueline Hillier had to be isolated for four days after testing positive with COVID-19. After my boyfriend and I were put in isolation, nobody came to check on us for 18 hours, she said. I had to use a plastic bag to urinate in. Nobody came. I didnt get a drink of water until the next day. The horrendous conditions facing homeless people as the pandemic enters its third year were entirely predictable. In March 2020, street nurse Cathy Crowe, who has been advocating on homeless issues for decades, described Torontos homeless shelters as a petri dish waiting for COVID-19 to arrive. Neither Justin Trudeaus federal Liberal government nor Doug Fords hard-right Progressive Conservative provincial government did anything to avoid the foreseeable and foreseen disaster that then followed (See: Coronavirus threatens to ravage Torontos swelling homeless population). Even after the pandemics first three waves, no precautionary measures were implemented during the summer of 2021 to bolster protection for the homeless population in the coming fall and winter. We knew that COVID-19 was going to be coming. We knew that winter was coming. Its not like any of this should have been a surprise, said Lorraine Lam, an outreach worker with Sanctuary Toronto. In 2019, a total of 7,300 people were counted as homeless in the Greater Toronto Area. Currently, there are over 7,400 people sleeping at shelters alone, indicating that the entire homeless population has risen considerably during the pandemic. Torontos shelter system is at a boiling point, advocates say, and is nearing collapse. The scrapping of eviction moratoriums under Bill 184, which came into force in July 2020 and was dubbed the eviction bill, has made it much easier for landlords to force tenants out. A collection of pro-landlord amendments to the Residential Tenancy Act of 2006, Bill 184 has increased housing insecurity in Ontario, driven up rents and hastened the loss of affordable housing units. The purpose of Bill 184 is to allow corporate landlords to more easily remove the greatest obstacle to increasing their already massive profits: working class tenants, stated Cole Webber of Parkdale Community Legal Services. The Toronto-based Federation of Metro Tenants Associations (FMTA) noted that Bill 184 deprives tenants of a key safety net that protects them from eviction and called it a cruel attack on vulnerable tenants in a time of historic need. Do you work at a meatpacking plant? Contact us and share information about working conditions in your plant and learn how to build a rank-and-file factory committee. A worker at a JBS USA beef plant in Grand Island, Nebraska, died on Friday, January 14, after being struck in the head by a piece of falling machinery. The worker was identified as Esteban Mantilla, a 48-year-old Cuban immigrant and Grand Island resident. The Grand Island Police and emergency services were called to the scene at 3:26 p.m., and CPR was provided to Mantilla, who had been struck in the head by a piece of machinery. He was then taken to CHI Health St. Francis where he was pronounced dead. A JBS meatpacking facility. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) The Grand Island JBS beef plant is one of the largest employers in the region and currently employs nearly 3,000 workers. The plant has a 6,000-head capacity and can average nearly 5 percent of the daily feed cattle slaughter for the US market. JBS Grand Island is the primary producer of the Swift Black Angus brands, which JBS exports to more than 30 countries. In a statement, JBS spokesperson Nikki Richardson said: On Friday, a tragic accident occurred at our Grand Island production facility resulting in the death of one of our team members. We are deeply saddened, and our thoughts and prayers are with our team members family, co-workers and friends. We are working closely with local officials and OSHA to investigate the incident, and we are grateful to the emergency personnel for their quick response. We will be providing support to the family during this difficult time. Out of respect to our team member and the family, we will not provide further comment. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced that it is investigating Mantillas death. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 293, for its part, has yet to issue a statement concerning the death. Over the past four years the Grand Island JBS facility has been investigated and cited by OSHA for numerous high-risk safety violations but has been leveled wrist-slap fines totaling just $30,064. As is standard even with severe industrial accidents, JBS has contested each fine, succeeding in reducing even these token amounts. In the spring of 2020, a series of COVID-19-related employee fatalities was investigated by OSHA at the Grand Island facility. Over the same period a massive outbreak of the virus was raging throughout the meatpacking industry. At least 59,000 workers were infected with COVID-19, and 269 died between March 1, 2020 and February 1, 2021 at Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods, JBS, Cargill and National, according to a report issued by the U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee investigating the impact of the COVID-19. These numbers, while far higher than earlier estimates, still only provide a partial accounting of the full toll on meatpacking workers. The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, which has conducted its own tracking of cases and deaths, has pegged total cases at 86,000 and deaths at 423. Despite the official acknowledgement of the four reported COVID-19-related deaths at the Grand Island facility following OSHA investigations, each case was closed with no financial penalty. In this Oct. 12, 2020 photo, a worker heads into the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) OSHA has long served to whitewash corporate negligence and cover up managements responsibility for unsafe working conditions. At the same time, successive Democratic and Republican administrations have largely gutted the agency. In 2020, as unprecedented workplace-related dangers unfolded with the first emergence of the pandemic, OSHA carried out only half as many on-site inspections as the year before, despite a substantial rise in complaints related to the lack of COVID-19 safety measures. The UFCW, on the other hand, has stood by as the coronavirus has ravaged its membership, refusing to call strikes and collaborating with management to keep workers on the job. However, workers have sought to fight back against low pay and the abysmal conditions they face, as at the JBS in Greeley, Colorado, where they launched a wildcat strike in 2020 after six of their coworkers died. More recently, thousands of King Soopers grocery workers in Colorado struck against low wages and grueling working conditions, before the UFCW shut down the walkout and rammed through a contract on managements terms earlier this week. Throughout the pandemic JBS has only halted production at the Grand Island facility on two occasions. The plant was closed for a day in May 2021 following a ransomware cyberattack that affected the companys IT infrastructure in the US and Australia. Later in September 2021, the Grand Island plant operations were halted following a fire in the rendering area which affected the roof. Production resumed the following day. Speaking amid an ongoing tidal wave of COVID-19 infections as well as mounting hospitalisations and deaths, Australian Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese delivered an address to the National Press Club this week in which he made not a single mention of this toll, which is particularly being suffered by the working class. Instead, with a federal election looming, Albanese, who is opposition leader, backed the profit-driven live with the virus drive that has let loose this disaster. In fact, he doubled down on his bid for the support of big business by declaring that a Labor government would use the once-in-a-century crisis to implement a further wave of economic restructuring. Albaneses speech underscored the deepening political crisis of the entire parliamentary establishment. Media polls show that the pandemic has intensified the widespread disgust for the Liberal-National Coalition government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. But support for Labor is still languishing near the historic lows that saw Labor lose the last election in 2019 despite falling Coalition support. Anthony Albanese addressing National Press Club [Source: ABC] The anger and discontent produced by the pandemic, which is already causing a record number of deaths in its third year, has only intensified Labors response to that debacle under Albaneses leadership: To drop its phoney fair go rhetoric of 2019 and appeal for the backing of the wealthiest layers of society. In his first high-profile speech after becoming Labor leader in 2019, Albanese vowed that his party would be first and foremost in the business of creating wealth. Proposals for limited tax imposts on wealthy investors were quickly repudiated. Albanese used this weeks address to go further. He called for the pandemic to be exploited to restructure the economy for the benefit of the corporate elite. He outlined a vision of working in unity with the employers and the trade unionswhich are seeking to continue stifling working-class oppositionwhile paying lip service to improving the chronically under-funded and besieged health and education systems. My argument to you today is that if we get this moment right, Australia can emerge from this once-in-a-century crisis better, stronger, more fair, and more prosperous, the Labor leader declared. Despite the passing reference to fairness, the essential thrust was to again to present Labor as the best force to impose a new pro-business economic reform offensive. Answering a question from the Australian Financial Review, Albanese said: We need to get back to the growth agenda and the microeconomic reform and productivity agenda. That is the agenda spearheaded by the Hawke and Keating Labor governments of 1983 to 1996 and the Rudd and Gillard Labor governments of 2007 to 2013, working closely with the unions. Far from delivering fairness, this program has boosted corporate profits at the expense of workers jobs, wages and conditions, producing unprecedented levels of social inequality. In so far as Albanese referred to the impact of the pandemic it was to portray Australians as exhausted and worn-down by bad news, uncertainty, inconvenience, disruption and separation from loved ones. This dovetails with the corporate-government demand for the full reopening of schools, universities and workplaces, even as the Omicron mutation rages across the country. In reality, there is rising public resistance to the let it rip offensive, in which state and territory Labor governments have played a key role via the National Cabinet. Just the day before Albanese spoke, South Australian teachers voted by a two-thirds majority for strike action against the planned resumption of in-person schooling on February 2. The greatest nightmare for the Labor and union leaders is that such actions could develop and spread, breaking out of the control of the unions, which have collaborated with employers throughout the pandemic to keep workers on the job, regardless of COVID outbreaks. That is why a feature of Albaneses speech was to pledge to spend $440 million by the end of 2023 to supposedly make schools COVID-safe by improving air quality and ventilation systems, and providing children with mental health services. These amounts are totally inadequate and will do nothing to fix the immediate exposure of students and teachers to infection in crowded classrooms. The real purpose of this announcement to stifle the opposition among teachers, school staff, parents and students. As Albanese and shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek admitted in an accompanying media release: Parents are worried sick about sending their kids back to school. More broadly, revealing the ruling elites fear of the rising discontent, Albanese warned against the threat of polarisation and cynicism, and said he wanted people to have greater faith in the integrity of our parliament and its representatives. This is from a party that joined hands with the Coalition last August to ram laws through parliament designed to deregister parties, including the Socialist Equality Party, that have no parliamentary representatives. By setting a three-month deadline, in the middle of the pandemic, for these parties to treble their membership lists from 500 to 1,500, Labor and the Coalition launched a naked bid to shore up their discredited two-party system and stifle the voice of disaffected voters. Albanese accused the Morrison government of a grand slam of pandemic failure on testing, tracing, vaccinations and quarantine, but only from the standpoint that these breakdowns were impeding the operations of employers and the reopening of the economy. Albanese claimed that Labor governments would always be better for public health. Yet his only concrete proposal was to make rapid antigen tests available free. The provision of these less-reliable tests aims to help slash isolation periods in order to push workers back into production for the sake of profit. In any case, with millions of people unable to find any tests due to a global shortage, Albanese could not say how Labor would supply the tests! Albaneses performance was again saturated with nationalism, promoting schemes such as Labors Buy Australian Plan to back our businesses. This is an attempt to divert working class discontent in divisive anti-foreigner directions, which also dovetail with preparations for involvement in US-led wars. Answering journalists questions, Albanese emphasised Labors backing for the Morrison governments active role in the intensifying US confrontation with both Russia and China and reiterated Labors unconditional support for the US military alliance, on which Australian capitalism has depended since World War II. Albaneses pitch to big business at the National Press Club was a desperate attempt to gain its backing as Labor continues to slump in the polls despite the Coalition government lurching from one crisis to the next. This is another warning that the next government, whether Labor or Coalition, will pursue a program of class war at home and militarism abroad. As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise exponentially throughout the world, the toll that the disease is having on children finds expression in increasing numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths. According to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), for the week ending January 20, 2022, child COVID infections surpassed 1.15 million, in the worst week of the pandemic, while the death toll of 27 children was the second-worst week. In addition to these tragic figures, thousands of children are suffering crippling outcomes, as COVID-19 infections cause Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome-Children, or MIS-C, a condition characterized by inflammation of vital organs such as the heart, lungs and brain. As of January 3, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 6,431 children have developed MIS-C, and 55 have died. This means that the number of children with MIS-C has more than doubled in the past nine months from the 3,185 cases reported as of last April. Child with COVID-19 in hospital bed (Medical University of South Carolina) Even this is likely an undercount. The state of Virginia reported its first MIS-C death last November, the day after Thanksgiving. The child, who was between the ages of 10 and 19, lived in Prince William County in the Washington D.C. suburbs. No other details have been released regarding the child or the family. At that time, the CDC had reported 48 child deaths from MIS-C. Seven more children have died from the sickness since that time, yet the media has been silent on this tragic syndrome. MIS-C develops two to six weeks after initial exposure or infection. Children who develop MIS-C experience symptoms such as fever, heart palpitations, rapid breathing, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, enlarged lymph nodes or redness and/or swelling of the eyes, lips, tongue, hands, or feet. Perhaps the most problematic of these conditions is inflammation of the heart. In some cases, the progression of the condition can cause heart dysfunction, and cardiogenic shock. This effectively impedes the hearts ability to circulate enough blood to the entire body. Additionally, children can develop cardiomyopathy, a stiffening of the heart muscle, or experience an abnormal heartbeat. Dr. Sophie Katz of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee and an assistant professor of pediatric infectious diseases told U.S. News: Whenever that happens, usually we see children who are pretty seriously illkind of in shockand their heart doesnt pump quite as well as it normally should. Last April, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics reported that the vast majority of young children and adolescents who went on to develop MIS-C had suffered only mild or asymptomatic forms of COVID-19. Of the 1,000 cases studied, 75 percent of children did not display symptoms, demonstrating COVID-19s sinister ability to wreak havoc on the youngest of its victims despite their cases presenting as asymptomatic. Parents often dont connect their childs symptoms of MIS-C to their previous infection of COVID-19 and some families are even unaware that their child contracted the coronavirus until a diagnosis of MIS-C is made. On January 6, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published updated guidelines, which will no longer require hospitals to report deaths of COVID- 19 to the federal government. States such as Nebraska, South Dakota, Maine, Michigan and Alaska have stopped reporting or have altered the days they report COVID-19 cases and related deaths. The lack of reporting coincides with a general movement by states and the federal government to minimize the health impact of COVID-19. According to the AAP, for the week ending January 13, 21.4 percent of all positive cases were those for children under 18. This represented over 981,000 positive child cases, a 69 percent increase over the week ending January 6. This alarming upward trend will no doubt lead to many more cases of MIS-C, with debilitating medical conditions and even death. In the aftermath of a record-breaking holiday travel season and the reopening of schools closely after, a crushing new wave of infections has devastated already overwhelmed hospitals and other health care facilities In Atlanta last Thursday, several representatives of the local health care systems met to issue a statement about the dire situation facing their medical facilities, announcing that care would be rationed to treat only the most ill patients. Dr. Andrea Shane of the Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta told WSB-TV2 Atlanta that there was an alarming spike in the number of child hospitalizations, stating, In the past three, four weeks, weve seen more than 100 children with post-COVID complications. She added that the way to prevent MIS-C is to prevent COVID-19. The horrific toll of MIS-C on children and their families is a damning indictment of the ruling class and its murderous herd immunity strategy. The CDC, in concert with the Biden administration, continues to peddle the lie that the pandemic can be fought by immunizations only, with a secondary emphasis on masking. Likewise, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), have followed suit by pushing for the forced reopening of schools across the country in order for parents to return to work. Both organizations have echoed the claim that schools are the safest place for children to be, feigning concern over the consequences of remote learning for students mental health. This despite the evidence to the contrary that schools are a main driver of COVID-19 transmission. Between the Biden administration, the CDC and the openly right-wing, fascistic elements in the Republican Party, the barbarism of American capitalism is on full display. The ruling class has decided that it will not intervene to save the lives of working people or their children, but will continue to bear down upon them to ensure the uninterrupted flow of profits to the ultra-wealthy. Opposition to these deadly policies is finding expression through walkouts, sickouts and strikes from students, teachers and other workers, alike. Last week, 1,000 students in Montgomery County, Maryland walked out over unsafe conditions, as did students in Texas and Colorado, while 500 students and teachers in Oakland held an online Zoom meeting to discuss COVID-19 safety concerns. Graduate students at the University of Oregon organized a walkout due to insufficient COVID- 19 measures. Students at Pasadena City College have gathered at least 1,800 signatures to demand the continuation of online instruction. Internationally, thousands of educators and students around the world have joined together to oppose in-person instruction. In Greece, France, Austria, the United Kingdom and in Manitoba, Canada demonstrations took place in the form of strikes and walkouts. These mass demonstrations are proof that workers in the US and throughout the world will not remain passive as they continue to watch their loved ones get sick and die or live with debilitating conditions. However, they require political direction. At every school site and workplace parents and teachers must organize rank-and-file safety committees, independent of the unions and both big business parties, to fight not just to close the schools but to put an end to the pandemic through the fight for a strategy of eliminating the virus on a global scale. The Global Workers Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic initiated by the World Socialist Web Site is receiving growing support from workers in India and around the world. The Inquest has been called to uncover the social, economic, and political forces behind the criminal policies of mass infection and death pursued by the ruling elites of almost every country, and document workers experiences during the pandemic. In response to the campaign Indian supporters of the WSWS have mounted to publicize the Inquest, Balakrishnan, a victimized auto parts worker, has spoken out strongly in favour of it. He was formerly employed at a Motherson Automotive Technologies and Engineering (MATE) plant in the Sriperumbudur and Oragadam industrial belt, which is located on the outskirts of Chennai, Tamil Nadus capital and principal city. Discussing his bitter experience at the Motherson plant, Balakrishnan provided a vivid picture of how Indian big business is placing profit before workers lives. He also exposed the hypocrisy of the Narendra Modi-led central governments claims to be fighting the pandemic. Striking Motherson workers hold food plates to symbolize their plight. (WSWS) Balakrishnan and 48 other Motherson workers who had been in the forefront of organising a 140-day strike for wage hikes and better working conditions were arbitrarily dismissed from their jobs in 2020. Balakrishnan is now doing painting work for a living, earning just 300 rupees ($US4) per day. He described the impossible choice he faced when he was employed at the plant. If I went to work I would face the risk of coronavirus infection and death. But if I stayed home without any income my family (of a wife and four children) and I would face the risk of starvation deaths, he said. Balakrishnan detailed conditions inside the Motherson factory. On the shop floor, social distance was never taken care of, he said. It was the same situation in the company canteen. If anything was done, it was at the company gate, where workers were strictly told to wear masks, and they had to buy the mask and wear it. Coronavirus infections and related deaths of workers in the company are completely hidden by the management. I know of an incident where a worker got infected. He informed the management and was told to get treatment and the company would pay for it. But he was ordered not to reveal this to his fellow workers at Motherson, as it would create fear and panic among the workers. He explained how the other factories in the Sriperumbudur-Oragadam industrial belt also grossly violated the official COVID-19 protocols, counting on government officials to look the other way as they do with other health and safety violations. The industries are running with 100 percent capacity mostly in violation of COVID-19 protocols and the company buses used to transport workers in and out of the industrial area are also running at more than 100 percent capacity, he recalled. The authorities turn a blind eye to that. I never hear an incident where the industrialists were fined for these violations. All industries in Sriperumbudur and Oragadam, including Motherson, were allowed to continue production during lockdown time. Even during the initial lockdown in March-April, 2020 when a countrywide lock down was implemented, Motherson never stopped production. Workers were brought-in by company buses in violation of COVID-19 protocols. The Tamil Nadu state government turned a blind eye to these violations. The dismissed Motherson worker scoffed at the deceptive speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, state Chief Ministers like Tamil Nadus M.K. Stalin, and their minions. Seriously, there is no government enforced social distancing, he stated. Their anti-COVID speeches are all hollow statements. They allowed 100 percent seating in public transport services, opened restaurants, cinema theatres, churches and temples. Even during the peak coronavirus surges, when the authorities announced certain restrictions, they too were not implemented with the seriousness that they warranted. While government officials demagogically declaim about the need to wear masks, they refuse to carry out mass testing, as it involves huge sums of money to pay for medical staff and medical equipment. So, they simply drop the idea and blame the people for not maintaining COVID-19 protocols. The corporations and the governments are only concerned about accumulating profit, not the well-being and safety of the people. They show up on TV channels and talk about the need for wearing face masks, keeping social distance, and washing hands frequently with sanitizer. Yet even these basic protocols are not maintained by them. For instance, the authorities dont provide free masks to people. When they fine people 200 rupees for not wearing a mask, even at that point, the authorities dont give them a mask. It shows they are interested only in collecting money, not the safety of people. For most people, especially poor people spending for masks is not so easy as they live hand-to-mouth. When it comes to frequent cleaning of hands with soaps or sanitisers, for poor working people it is another burden of spending money that they cannot afford. Declaring his full agreement with the WSWSs call for the Workers Inquest, Balakrishnan said: There is no party, whether in government or the opposition, that is concerned about the safety of the people. All of them must be held responsible for the mass infections and deaths that could have been prevented. These irresponsible criminal actions of the governments continue for a third year as the new Omicron variant begins to devastate hundreds of thousands of people on a daily basis. There is no safety for working people under this government and the capitalist system. Workers are being used like use-and-throw products for their profit interests. The corporates are handing out handsome donations to political parties, especially to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and in turn they serve the interests of the corporates. There is only one solution for the working people and that is to get rid of the present profit-motivated system and fight to establish a workers government that is run by the workers themselves in the interests of the workers. On Tuesday night, Oakland student leaders announced a pause to their strike demanding virtual instruction unless the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) could be made safe. On their social media pages, the strike leaders announced their support for a tentative agreement reached by the Oakland Educators Association (OEA) and the OUSD. The leaders stated that their demands had been met by the district and urged teachers to vote yes on the agreement. Students and teachers must be warned: The tentative agreement reached by the OEA and OUSD will not stop the spread of COVID-19, and, in particular, the highly infectious Omicron variant. N95 masks, weekly testing and outdoor eating structuresthe three demands of studentsare insufficient to stop continued infection and save lives. Teachers at United for Success Academy Middle School walk out in support of Oakland, California students. (WSWS Media, January 18, 2021) COVID-19 is an airborne virus that lingers in the air for hours. Talking and other vocal activity, for a sustained period of time in an enclosed area like a classroom, virtually ensures infection with a contagious individual present. N95 masks, when properly fitted and worn, can reduce the rate of infection, but even in the most ideal cases they are not bulletproof, especially with prolonged contact in an enclosed space. Given that masks are frequently not fitted or worn properly, let alone in school settings, this further reduces their effectiveness at stopping mass spread. Volunteer weekly testing, if it is actually offered consistently, is also entirely insufficient to halt viral transmission. An infectious student who comes to a class on Monday would have ample time to infect dozens of people before being tested on a Friday. Moreover, OUSD, following local Alameda County regulations, no longer quarantines classrooms that have had an infected student. The Oakland student strike is just one manifestation of a global rebellion by students and teachers to the dangerous learning conditions forced upon them. Capitalist governments across the world, particularly in the United States and Europe, have in the face of Omicron abandoned all pretense of trying to mitigate the spread of the virus. The population is effectively being told you will get sick and you must now permanently live with the virus. This position, which has more than a whiff of eugenics, is being broadcast unquestioningly by all the major corporate media outlets. The consequences of this policy of deliberate mass infection are unacceptable. It would mean the death of many more individuals, particularly vulnerable, immunocompromised people, and severe long-term health consequences for broad sections of the population. There is currently no long lasting immunity to SARS-CoV-2. With one-third of the worlds population having had no access to a vaccine and with the rampant spread of the virus globally, it is only a matter of time before new variants develop, further threatening the efficacy of already limited, constantly waning immunity. Schools are being kept open, and a policy of mass infection advocated, because Wall Street and its representatives in the Democratic and Republican parties will not tolerate any more encroachment on profit making. Oakland high school students took a courageous stand against these policies of mass infection dictated, ultimately, by corporate interests. However, the fight to stop the spread of the virus and keep children and the community safe cuts across the interest of the school district and the teacher unions, including the OEA, which have all vowed to keep schools in-person. At every turn, the OEA has sought to stunt opposition and facilitate the reopening of schools. Just last week they issued a draft memorandum of understanding (MOU) proposing assigning central office administrators to fill in for sick teachers in order to paper over the lack of substitute teachers. No student can learn effectively with a revolving door of emergency substitutes. No teacher can effectively teach with 20 percent or more of the class out sick or in quarantine. The way forward for high school students, teachers and other workers is to break out of the parochialism of their local struggles and recognize that they are part of a global resistance of the working class to these homicidal policies. In the US alone, there have been struggles in Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Oakland and Portland to oppose unsafe schools. Globally, opposition has occurred in France, Germany, Australia and Canada in the last two weeks alone. All of these struggles represent attempts to stop the reckless policy of mass infection, but in order to be successful, those participating must realize the necessarily global character of the opposition emerging. Moreover, students and teachers alike must understand that this struggle is a political battle between classes. What stands in the way of implementing a rational public health policy is not the epidemiological limits of the situation or the necessary resources but the political and economic interests of the capitalist class, which subordinates all life to the accumulation of vast sums of wealth for a small elite. Consider the following fact: A new billionaire has been created every 26 hours since the pandemic began. The worlds 10 richest men have doubled their fortunes, while over 160 million people are projected to have been pushed into poverty. Meanwhile, an estimated 17 million people have died from COVID-19a scale of loss not seen since the Second World War. The financial oligarchy has piled up unimaginable fortunes amidst mass death. Indeed, the more people die, the higher the stock market soars. The Democrats and Republicans, big business and the corporate-controlled media insist that the policies necessary to end the pandemic are impossible to implement. The truth is that they are achievable; the resources do exist. For example, China, with its massive population, has been able to reduce COVID-19 deaths to nearly zero last year due to its flexible Zero COVID policy. The implementation of the necessary policies and the allocation of the resources, however, are incompatible with the existing capitalist system. Capitalism can offer no solution to a crisis that threatens the lives and well-being of the vast majority of the population. The only solution offered by capitalism is one of mass death and long-term illness. The IYSSE, in conjunction with the West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees, calls on teachers and students to vote no to the tentative agreement and in doing so to take up the fight for a different solution: the elimination of the virus. The policies implemented to stop viral transmission must be determined by the needs of public health. The protection of human life and safety must take absolute and unconditional priority over all corporate-financial interests. In order for the necessary change to come about, appeals must be made, not to this or that ruling class politician or trade union bureaucrat, who are tied by a thousand threads to the capitalist system, but to workers across all industries to build a united movement of the working class against the pandemic and against the capitalist system. Most importantly, we urge those looking to fight for safe schools to form rank-and-file safety committees at your school site or workplace. On Sunday, the West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees will meet at noon to explain further the science of elimination and the need to shut schools until they can be made safe. We urge you to attend this meeting and get in touch with us today. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) also encourages high school youth to contact us to organize opposition to the deadly school reopening. A federal judge issued a ruling Tuesday barring 17,000 BNSF railway workers from striking against a new attendance policy in the latest use of legal compulsion by the state to prevent resistance by the working class. While the United States never tires of lecturing other countries about their violation of human rights and democracy, the US government runs roughshod over the rights of workers, including their right to strike and their right to a safe and healthy work environment. The degree to which all social decisions in the United States are subordinated to the profit interests of a tiny wealthy minority is incompatible with democratic forms of rule. Workers at BNSF, the largest freight railway in the United States, voted nearly unanimously to strike against the unilateral imposition by management of a new points-based attendance system, which is due to take effect on February 1. BNSF, formerly known as Burlington Northern Santa Fe, is a wholly owned subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway. A BNSF rail terminal worker monitors the departure of a freight train, on June 15, 2021, in Galesburg, Ill. BNSF railroad wants a federal judge to prevent two of its unions from going on strike next month over a new attendance policy that would penalize employees for missing work. (AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar, File) Workers at the railway face brutal scheduling made worse by constant uncertainty and short turnarounds between shifts, leaving them unable to take time off to spend with their families or to make doctors appointments. These conditions have worsened under the pandemic, creating a dangerous safety environment for both workers and their communities as a whole. The new system, if implemented, would bind workers even more closely to the whims of management, reducing them to the level of industrial slaves with no lives outside of work. Employees with years of experience could also face dismissal under the new terms by accumulating only a few missed days of work. But in his four-page written statement, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Pittman of the district of northern Texas granted a temporary restraining order against a strike. He accepted the companys argument that the new points system is only a minor issue over which federal law prohibits strikes in the railroad and airline industries. Pittmans ruling was a politically motivated decision, not a legal or technical one. In it he declared, The record further establishes that a strike would exacerbate our current supply-chain crisisharming the public at large, not just BNSF. A temporary restraining order will thus serve, rather than disserve, the public interest. By the public interest is meant, in fact, the interests of a tiny corporate elite. The question of the new system is hardly minor for workers. It affects their entire livelihood. Even with the current system, workers hardly have a moment to spend with their families, and their entire existence is subordinated to the whims of management. Nor is attendance minor for the capitalist class. The global supply chain is teetering on the edge of collapse. The US auto industry, for example, has only a five-day supply of critical microchips on hand, and any disruption to the flow of these components from Eastern Asia, either through the shutdown of production or logistics problems in delivering them to US plants, would cause production stoppages throughout the country. Similar conditions prevail in virtually every other industry. At issue for the corporate elite is the continuing flow of profits from the labor of the working class in order to pay for the massive run-up in the stock market. They have used the pandemic, which has been allowed to spread under the murderous strategy of herd immunity, to massively enrich themselves and increase the exploitation of workers even further. BNSF itself has taken advantage of loosened federal regulations during the pandemic to increase the length of trains and cut the number of engineers working on them. Meanwhile, the near-complete absence of any COVID-19 safety measures on the network means that its trains are not only delivering freight across the country, but the deadly virus as well. Connected to these motives are the preparations of American capitalism for new and catastrophic wars with its chief rivals, Russia and China. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo called solving the microchip shortage a national security imperative. This is a reference to the reliance of American industry on suppliers located in China, where robust public health measures such as targeted lockdowns and contact tracing have saved millions of lives but are deemed intolerable because they have impacted the bottom line of American manufacturing, where no comparable measures were ever taken. In the opening months of the pandemic, Trump invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to order meatpacking plants open, where tens of thousands of workers have been infected and nearly 300 have died. This executive order was kept in place by Biden following his inauguration. Last October, Biden threatened to use the National Guard to keep the ports operating in Southern California and brokered a deal with industry executives and the unions to keep them running 24/7. At the same time, corporations are reviving the strikebreaking methods of the 1980s in order to break the resistance of workers. Injunctions against picketing were obtained by management in recent strikes at Kelloggs and at grocery chain King Soopers. Kelloggs management also publicly threatened to fire and replace its entire cereal workforce en masse to end a strike, which they did not pursue only because the BCTGM union conspired with them to ram through a concessions contract. Local and state governments controlled by both major parties are responding aggressively to the opposition of teachers and students to the reopening of schools. In Chicago, Democratic Party Mayor Lori Lightfoot angrily denounced teachers for refusing to teach in-person and retaliated by locking them out. In Jacksonville, Florida, local officials prevented a student walkout to demand shutdowns by increasing the police presence in schools. In Oklahoma, police officers are even being employed as substitute teachers. In one of the most outrageous incidents, a Wisconsin judge recently issued an injunction preventing health care workers from leaving their jobs at a local hospital for another hospital paying higher wages, again in the name of public interest. This ruling, which was later reversed on appeal, raises the specter of industrial serfdom, with workers tied to their jobs and unable to leave without permission from their corporate masters. The ongoing assault on workers rights builds upon decades of anti-strike legislation, including the reactionary Railway Labor Act passed in 1926. The effect of this law, which was later expanded to cover the airline industry in 1936, was to all but outlaw strikes in the railroad industry, which had been the center of some of the most powerful industrial struggles by the American working class, including the Great Railway Strike of 1877 and the Pullman Strike of 1894. In these strikes, workers went beyond the immediate questions of wages and working conditions and began to challenge the capitalist profit system itself. In St. Louis, the center of the 1877 strike, socialist workers briefly established a commune after the example of the Paris Commune of 1871. The leader of the Pullman Strike was Eugene Debs, who, after reading the works of Marx and Engels during his imprisonment following the crushing of the strike by the federal government, became the most well-known and popular socialist leader in the United States. Significantly, Judge Pittman refers favorably to a quote by President Harry Truman in an extended footnote in his ruling. Truman, who took office upon the death of Franklin Roosevelt in 1945, regularly invoked the new Defense Production Act to ban strikes on the grounds that work stoppages would hamper the imperialist war in Korea. Tuesdays ruling is a fresh confirmation that the state is not a neutral arena but an instrument of class rule. The trade unions, which are based on a nationalist and pro-capitalist program, offer no way forward. The unions will no doubt pliantly abide with whatever pro-company ruling the courts hand down. The unions have long ago been transformed into little more than adjuncts of management, ruled by privileged bureaucrats with six-figure salaries who enforce concessions on the workers. They frustrate workers initiatives through the farce of negotiations and fruitless appeals to the Democratic Party, which is jointly responsible for the attack on workers rights. This means that the way forward is by workers taking matters into their own hands. BNSF workers should organize themselves into a rank-and-file committee, independent of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the other unions and develop their own independent initiative and appeal for the broadest possible support among other railway workers and workers in other industries. But this fight is not only an economic struggle against the company but a political struggle against the capitalist political establishment. It requires the development of a socialist movement in the working class, to fight for the democratic use of societys infrastructure to meet human needs, not to sacrifice health and safety for private profit. Ahead of tomorrows reopening of schools in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, to be followed by other states over the next fortnight, school guidelines for managing COVID-19 infections have been issued to principals and teachers. The documents underscore the unsafe conditions that await school workers and studentsunless opposed, the return to face-to-face teaching will inflict entirely preventable mass infection and serious illness and death. Most of the key details have previously been announced by the state Liberal government in NSW and its Labor counterpart in Victoria. The two administrations, governing the worst COVID-affected states, have worked closely together to devise near-identical school reopening plans. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor Premier Daniel Andrews have agreed there will be no consideration of any delay to the beginning of the school year, and under no circumstances will there be state-wide returns to remote learning. Inner-west Sydney COVID-19 testing station [Photo: WSWS Media] Under conditions where tens of thousands of positive COVID cases are being reported daily, and countless more are going undetected and unreported, reopening schools is an inherently dangerous measure. There is no way that 20 to 30 or more students, plus their teacher and education aides, can spend most of the day within an enclosed room without large-scale spread of the virus. State governments across the country are nevertheless boasting of their COVID safe plans for the schools. The centrepiece of this in NSW and Victoria is the promotion of rapid antigen tests (RATs) to be used twice a week by students and staff, and daily for those in special schools. Governments and the teacher unions have promoted the provision of RATs as a significant step towards minimising in-school COVID infections. In reality, however, the measure is primarily aimed at creating the illusion of safety in order to get school staff and families through the school gates at the start of term. The clearest indication of this is the four week limit that has been imposed for the provision of RATs. After the first month, COVID infections will continue but state governments hope that by then sufficient numbers of people will be acclimatised to regular mass COVID outbreaks. Even within the first four weeks of term, the twice weekly testing of students is entirely voluntary for families to administer, with schools having no ability to require a negative test as a condition of entry to the school. For those who do test positive, isolation is required for just seven days. Epidemiologists know that in order to prevent asymptomatic people spreading the virus, isolation of 1421 days is required. The shortened period now in operation is dictated not by medical science but by the drive to minimise worker shortages, both within schools and across the economy. Both students and school workers who contract COVID are expected to return after seven days, without requiring any form of negative test. There is no provision whatsoever for positive cases detected within a classroom to trigger quarantining and contact tracing for that persons close contacts. Students and teachers are expected to keep turning up to their classrooms until they test positive. An unmitigated disaster is unfolding. Authorities anticipate that up to 20 percent of teachers will be off work with COVID at any point this term. International experience points to the likely impact on studentsin the American city of Los Angeles, to take just one example, one quarter of all school students were absent last week due to the pandemic, a staggering average of 107,000 students each day. The Victorian school operations guide advises principals to cover staff absences by first using normal available staffing arrangements, adding: Where necessary as a temporary measure, classes can by [sic] combined in a large spacefor example, a hall, where supervision requirements can be maintained by teachers and support staff. Combining multiple classes within shared indoor spaces will further exacerbate the risk of infection. This recommendation also exposes the lie that the return to school has anything to do with childrens learningthere will be little or no teaching carried out within crowded halls. Staff can also be covered by teachers who ought to be isolating as close contacts of a COVID infected person, but who are now eligible for a so-called critical worker exemption. This means that the teacher needs to isolate at home, not going grocery shopping or seeing friends or family, except in order to work in school. Underscoring the risk this poses to the entire community, the Victorian operations guide advised that when travelling to school, those given critical worker exempt status should, where possible, avoid public transport. Several of the mitigation measures in place have numerous loopholes. Mask wearing is only required in NSW for those in Year 7 and above and in Victoria for Year 3 and above. Any parent or caregiver, however, can gain an exemption for their child merely by claiming one in writing, without any corroborating medical evidence required. Authorities are exerting enormous pressure on both principals and parents. Principals can switch to short term remote learning only in the event that the school workforce collapses and that they receive both endorsement from the Department of Health and approval from the Department of Educations regional director. Principals are being discouraged from permitting any staff, even those with serious underlying health problems, from working remotely. The World Socialist Web Site knows of at least one case in which a principal dismissed a doctors certificate recommending remote work for one severely immuno-compromised teacher, and insisted they either attend school or use up their personal leave entitlements. Parents and families are being denied the right to temporarily keep their children at home, including those with serious underlying health issues. The Victorian Department of Education has issued schools with numerous internal documents and letter templates aimed at coaxing reluctant families into the schools. The recommended key talking points include, were excited to welcome your child back into the classroom, and being at school is critical for your childs learning and for their mental, physical, and social wellbeing. State and federal governments are only able to proceed with the school reopening drive because of the lockstep support being provided by the Australian Education Union (AEU) and its state affiliates. AEU Victorian President Meredith Peace spoke on ABC Radio (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) yesterday. Sounding indistinguishable from a government spokesperson, she declared: I think the measures are reasonable, I think they do place health and safety at the forefront. But we have to recognise, as exists in the broader community, there is risk regardless of the measures that have been put in place, and this plan, from our perspective, does put those health and safety issues at the forefront. The ABC, like every section of the establishment media, has promoted the lie that reopening the schools is both safe and necessary. The AEU presidents statements, however, proved even too much for her interviewer who responded, Youve said that [this is] putting health and safety first, although isnt part of the plan really lowering the health and safety threshold, for example, teachers who are close contacts are still going to be able to work? Peace claimed she disagreed with that specific measurethough the union is doing nothing to oppose it. The Committee for Public Education is the only organisation fighting to halt the dangerous drive to reopen the schools. Its latest statement, issued yesterday, explained: The CFPE issues an urgent appeal to all educators, students, parents, and working peopleaction must be taken prior to the emergence of mass COVID outbreaks in the schools! This includes taking strike action to force an immediate return to remote learning. [] In this third year of the global pandemic, a rational and scientifically based approach to the virus is more urgent than ever. The protection of human life and safety must take unconditional priority over all corporate-financial interests. The CFPE recognises that the only viable strategy is to work towards the elimination of the virus through the adoption of the necessary measures as advised by leading epidemiologists and scientists. Contact the CFPE: Email: cfpe.aus@gmail.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/commforpubliceducation Twitter: @CFPE_Australia Rising numbers of Omicron infections are being reported throughout Sri Lanka indicating that the country is on the edge of a massive surge of the highly-infectious coronavirus variant. Hospital authorities are reporting increased hospitalisations and greater demand for intensive care beds and oxygen. On Tuesday, Health Promotion Bureau Director Dr. Ranjith Batuwanthudawa told a privately-owned television network that over 95 percent of COVID-19 samples sequenced at two research institutions were Omicron. The new outbreak in Sri Lanka is occurring alongside a massive global surge of Omicron with the US, EU, Australia and India recording some of the highest rates. School classes conducted without social distancing in Kandy school [WSWS Media] While Sri Lankas daily infection rate was over 480 in the first week of January, it climbed to almost 900 in the fourth week. The islands total number of COVID-19 deaths is currently over 15,330 and more than 603,650 infections. Sri Lankas official COVID-19 figures, however, have been understated and inaccurate. Since the beginning of the pandemic President Gotabhaya Rajapakses government has deliberately kept PCR testing low in an attempt to claim the situation was under control. Despite rising Omicron infections and repeated warnings about the new variant by health experts, PCR testing remains at a daily average of just 7,443 tests over the past two weeks. COVID-19 health ministry coordinator Dr. Anwar Hamdani has revealed that 40 percent of total bed capacity at government hospitalsapproximately 5,400is occupied by the COVID-19 patients. Dr. Hasitha Ekanayake, director of the Infectious Disease Hospital, the countrys premier infectious disease treatment facility, revealed on Tuesday that coronavirus case admissions had increased by 50 percent in the past week. He also said that COVID-19 PCR testing positivity was 50 to 60 percent and that there would be a major outbreak throughout Sri Lanka in next two weeks. Colombos National Hospital has reported a major rise in oxygen use in dedicated coronavirus treatment wards. The hospital director also said there had been reduced priority for routine surgery because of increased numbers of COVID-19 patients. Deputy director of health services, Dr. G. Wijesuriya, has reported rising numbers of coronavirus-infected children, with 40 being treated at Lady Ridgeway, Sri Lankas main childrens hospital. Schools, which were fully reopened this year, are likely to be hot beds of Omicron infection. This follows last Octobers betrayal of a teachers wage struggle by the education unions and their agreement to allow the systematic reopening of all schools. Parts of some schools in cities like Kandy, Panadura and Kalutara have been closed because of coronavirus infections. The teachers training college at Meerigama re-opened in the second week of January and after that 50 infections were reported at the facility. According to state health and education authorities, if infected students and teachers are identified, only those individuals and a few close associates, are required to quarantine. Increasing numbers of infections are occurring in factories, particularly at the garment plants in the free trade zones and elsewhere. An infected worker from the Smart Shirt plant in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone told the World Socialist Web Site last week that many workers in the zone, including at her factory, have been infected. While hundreds of hospital employees are being infected, they are being directed to keep working if their symptoms are mild. Last week, 62 nurses, including three pregnant nurses, were infected at the National Hospital in Colombo. Despite the surging number of coronavirus cases, President Rajapakse is maintaining a criminal silence, indicating that his government will do nothing to prevent the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant. Delivering his policy statement to the parliament last week, he declared: We have been able to resume normal community life having vaccinated more than 85 percent of the targeted population and brought the disease situation under control Rajapakse blamed the brief and highly limited lockdowns reluctantly imposed by his government in the last two years as the main source of all the countrys economic ills, and indicated that such measures would be avoided. In line with the profit-driven herd immunity policies being pursued by the major capitalist powers, Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told the media on Monday that no preparations were being made for lockdowns because they would severely affect the economy. Rambukwella said that the government plans to make three vaccine doses mandatory for people visiting public places. This is to promote the illusion that vaccinations alone can prevent the spread of the pandemic. Health ministry officials are also placing the onus on individuals, urging the public to act responsibly, wear masks and maintain social distancing. The government continues to downplay the dangers, repeating the reactionary claim that people should live with virus in the so-called new normal situation. Sri Lankan workers are being forced to keep working in unsafe, dangerously-congested factories, plants and offices and use jam-packed public transport. While factories continue operating as usual, with minimal or no health guidelines, overstretched government hospitals are avoiding conducting tests on patients with COVID-19 symptoms, preferring to send them home with some prescriptions and medicine. Last weekend, the Sunday Times revealed that home-based treatment was thriving in Sri Lanka. The newspaper reported that there are about 130,000 patients being treated at home, claiming only 1.5 percent of infections needed hospitalisation. So-called home-based treatment is being promoted because the government refuses to spend the billions of rupees required to upgrade the public health system which has systematically run down by successive governments. This includes the Rajapakse regime, which has reduced health funding since the pandemic began. Workers must reject the Rajapakse regimes reactionary policy of sacrificing the masses to the pandemic and oppose all attempts to normalise mass infections and the resultant deaths. As medical science has revealed, those who recover from the disease face the danger of the debilitating effects of Long COVID. The emergence of Omicron in Sri Lanka has exploded Rajapakses claim that his regime brought the pandemic under control and created the conditions for the resumption of normal community life. Not surprisingly, the parliamentary opposition parties and the trade unions have not uttered a word about the Omicron outbreak and the governments ongoing live with the virus mantra. Workers must demand comprehensive public health measures to protect lives, including mass testing, tracing, isolating, the lockdown of unnecessary production, closure of schools, immediate funding measures to expand and develop public health infrastructure and a globally-coordinated scientific program to eliminate the pandemic. This requires the independent mobilisation of the working class against the profit system and the building of action committees at every workplace, as part of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees. Workers and young people should also support for the Global Workers Inquest launched by the WSWS to expose the criminal handling of the pandemic by the capitalist governments around the world and to arm the working class with the necessary scientific knowledge to fight for the elimination of the virus. The Pentagons proxy ground force in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia, claimed to have retaken a jail in the northeastern city of Hasaka Wednesday following a week-long siege that saw extensive US bombing and the deployment of hundreds of American troops. In announcing their purported victory, neither the predominantly Kurdish SDF nor their controllers in the US military offered any information on the fate of between 700 and 850 children held at the detention facility together with alleged supporters of the Islamic State (ISIS). Reports from the city indicated that hundreds were killed in the fighting, which began last Thursday after ISIS fighters seized control of the prison following an inmate riot and the demolishing of its gates with explosive-rigged vehicles. Many more have been wounded, and thousands of families were forced to flee the fighting and the US bombing raids carried out against urban neighborhoods. Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Humvee patrols in Hasaka, northeast Syria, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad) The World Health Organization reported that as many as 5,000 families had fled their homes under bitter winter conditions to government-held areas. Syrias state media agency Sana quoted the countrys Foreign Ministry as denouncing the actions of the US and its puppet Kurdish-led militia as tantamount to war crimes. It demanded the immediate withdrawal of both US troops from northeastern Syria and the Turkish military from the northwest of the country. Sana reported Wednesday that SDF forces had brought in heavy equipment to demolish at least 10 houses in the Ghweiran neighborhood of Hasaka city near the prison, while airstrikes by Apache attack helicopters and other US warplanes demolished other homes and public buildings. Approximately 200 US troops were reportedly deployed in the fighting, backed by American tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. The aid agency Save the Children said it had received reports that children were among the hundreds killed and wounded in the siege. The SDF had charged that ISIS fighters were using the child detainees as human shields, a time-worn alibi of the Pentagon for the slaughter of unarmed civilians. Letta Taylor, from Human Rights Watch, told the Washington Post that she had spoken directly to inmates from Canada and Australia during the siege. They sound desperate, she said. They say theyve had no food or water for days; describe dead and wounded everywhere. A similar account was provided by a 17-year-old boy from Australia, who was able to send out messages to his family. Theres a lot of people dead in front of me, Im scared I might die any time because Im bleeding, please help me, he said. His voice notes to his family, obtained by the Telegraph, continued: Ive seen a lot of bodies of kids, eight years, 10 years, 12 years. My friends got killed here. Im by myself, Im very scared, theres a lot of people dead, a lot of people injured People are screaming next to me, people are scared. I really need help, I really want to come back home. Please help me. The boy said he had been wounded in the head and the hand during a US Apache helicopter attack on the prison. This grossly disproportionate armed violencethe use of Apache helicopters and heavy bombardments to pursue fugitive prisonersis of a piece with the entire criminal enterprise carried out by US imperialism in Syria under the pretext of combatting ISIS. The scope of these crimes has been partially uncovered with publication of the so-called Civilian Causality Files obtained by Azmat Khan, an assistant professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, exposing the killing of thousands of civilians in US airstrikes and the systematic coverups conducted by the Pentagon. Among the latest of these revelations, published in the New York Times last week, concerns a March 2017 Special Operations bombing of a Syrian dam on the Euphrates River in eastern Syria, which had been on a Pentagon no-strike list. Only the failure of a bunker-buster bomb to explode and the desperate intervention of Syrian engineers prevented the collapse of the dam, which would have unleashed a wall of water killing tens of thousands downstream. Workers involved in this rescue effort were then assassinated in a follow-up drone strike. The siege of the Hasaka detention center has called attention to the barbaric treatment meted out by Washington and its local allies to thousands of men, women and children who survived the massive bombing campaign unleashed by the US military to crush the last ISIS strongholds in Syria in 2019. A report issued last May by the United Nations human rights office condemned the traumatic and illegal culling of boys over the age of 12and some youngerfrom their mothers and their imprisonment at the Hasaka facility under conditions that the UN defined as tantamount to torture. A UN Special Rapporteur denounced the abhorrent conditions including inadequate shelter, no bedding provision, unmanaged overcrowding, no access to sunlight, insufficient latrine access and virtually no shower access. The report added: Malnourishment is rife. Boys held in these facilities suffer from scabies and other skin conditions, they are vulnerable to HIV, Tuberculosis and COVID-19 exposure. Boys in these detention facilities endure untreated war injuries, missing limbs, and severe trauma. These conditions meet the threshold for torture, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law, and no child should have to endure them. The report also indicted the governments of Western Europe, the United States and Australia, which have rejected all appeals for the repatriation of their citizens, including the child prisoners who were brought to Syria by their parents. In addition to the child prisoners at the Hasaka detention facility, tens of thousands of others captured during the US-led war are held elsewhere in make-shift jails in Syria, while an estimated 60,000 women and children are held in squalid camps, suffering from hunger, disease and routine violence. The US has approximately 900 Special Operations troops deployed in northeastern Syria, with supplementary forces brought in periodically from among the 30,000 US military personnel based throughout the Middle East. Under an order issued by the Trump administration and continued under Biden, these troops have seized control of key Syrian oil fields, where crude is being pumped out under barrels of guns and then shipped via military convoys into neighboring Iraq. The principal aim of this theftitself a war crimeis to deny the Assad government critical resources needed for Syrias recovery from more than a decade of war. Washington is continuing its illegal occupation of Syria not to combat ISISits own Frankensteins monsteror terrorism, but to counter the influence of Russia and Iran, which provided crucial military support to the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad against US-backed Islamist militias, and China, which is cementing economic ties with Damascus. It is more than a coincidence that the eruption of the biggest US military operations in Syria since 2019 coincided with the rabidly aggressive war provocations against Russia over Ukraine. Moreover, they follow by barely a week the signing of an agreement between Damascus and Beijing to incorporate Syria into Chinas Belt and Road Initiative. Even as it shifts the focus of US militarism toward the preparation of war with Russia and China, Washington continues its strategic aim of asserting US imperialist hegemony over the oil-rich Middle East. This finds expression in not only the fighting in Syria, but also the turn toward greater US involvement in the near-genocidal Saudi-led war in Yemen, which, according to UN estimates, had killed upwards of 377,000 people, both directly and indirectly, by the end of 2021. The Pentagon revealed that its forces participated Monday in the defense of the United Arab Emirates against a missile attack in retaliation for a Saudi bombing raid against a prison that killed nearly 100 and wounded hundreds more last week. The UAE joined Saudi Arabia in the bloody onslaught launched in 2015 with the aim of suppressing Yemens Houthi rebels and installing a puppet regime controlled by Riyadh. The Biden administration recently approved a $650 million sale of missiles to Saudi Arabialike the Raytheon-made weapon used in last weeks massacrewhile signing off on a $24 billion arms package for the UAE. Meanwhile, Biden has signaled that he may reimpose the US designation of the Houthi rebels as a terrorist organization, a move that has bipartisan support in the US Congress. The effect would be to further starve the majority of Yemenis living in Houthi-controlled areas, triggering a mass famine that could kill millions. The United States saw an additional 2,611 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the death toll from the virus to 894,880, according to Worldometer. The US leads the world in pandemic deaths as it fast approaches 1 million lives lost from the disease. Compared to last winters peak, US cases of COVID-19 are dramatically higher, up 266 percent, hospitalizations have just surpassed the previous record, while deaths, a lagging indicator, are at 62 percent of last Januarys worst days, according to New York Times data. There has been a 35 percent increase in COVID-19 deaths over the past two weeks. New York registered the highest number of deaths from COVID-19 of any state on Wednesday, at 387, with 2,189,795 active cases. Other northeastern states continued to rank near the top in new deaths, with Pennsylvania reporting 189 deaths; Massachusetts, 155; and New Jersey, 151. An unidentified COVID-19 patient is attached to life-support systems in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, in Lebanon, N.H., Jan. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) While cases per 100,000 residents have fallen in the Northeast since January 10, cases in the Midwest and South have declined only marginally in this period. Cases in the West have remained steady, although in California cases are up 358 percent compared to last winters surge. Locations with the highest hospitalization increases since last winter include Washington D.C., up 224 percent; Nevada, 161 percent; Alabama, 152 percent; West Virginia, 151 percent; and Missouri, 150 percent. The devastation wrought by the pandemic has also led to an unprecedented situation in which deaths exceeded births in half of all US states in 2020. A study in May 2021 by the University of New Hampshires Carsey School of Public Policy found, In 2020, the impact of COVID-19 contributed to a record 3,376,000 deaths in the United States: 18 percent more than in 2019, and that births diminished by 4 percent to 3,605,000 in 2020. The surplus of births over deaths added just 229,000 to the US population in 2020, a decline of 74 percent compared to 2019. Combined with a decrease in immigration, this decline produced the smallest annual percentage population gain in at least a century. In five statesMaine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and West Virginiathe decline in births compared to deaths began in 2019 and continued this trend in 2020. It is not coincidental that New England and Appalachia have been hard hit by the opioid crisis and deaths of despair in addition to pandemic. In 2020, deaths exceeded births in 20 additional states. These states are all over the map, from New England, to the Midwest, South, Southwest and Northwest. As deaths rose, fertility declined sharply as women delayed pregnancies as the pandemic took hold. In December 2020 there were 8 percent fewer births than in December 2019. Researchers suggest a similar reduction in the birth rate in January 2020. Michigan, which Tuesday added 17,639 COVID-19 cases and 223 deaths, is one of the states that actually saw more people die than were born in 2020, the first that this has happened since at least 1900. To date, Michigan has lost 31,762 lives to COVID-19. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reports in preliminary data that 104,166 people were born in the state in 2020 while 117,087 people died, for a net decline of 12,921. The pandemic has brought to the tipping point a situation that has existed for decades in which the birthrate has declined while deaths have risen. This is not a shock, Kurt Metzger, demographer and director emeritus of Data Driven Detroit, told the Detroit News. Weve been talking about this coming for some time now. With the decimation of industrial jobs, particularly in the auto industry, people have been leaving Michigan in droves in search of jobs. Even with a net gain in population numbers from 2010 to 2020, Michigan lost a seat in the US House of Representatives because other states, including Montana, Oregon and Florida, grew faster in numbers. Estimates from the US Census Bureau indicate that there were about 17,000 fewer people in July 2021 than in July 2020. A decline in population will translate into fewer federal dollars for social programs and schools. It is, overall, this aging population in Michigan and the inability to attract young, educated workers that has been a characteristic of the state for quite a while and it doesnt seem to be changing at all, Metzger told the DetroitFree Press . Hospitalizations in Michigan have risen 117 percent since last winters peak. Like states across the US, hospital staff are burned out, leaving the profession and succumbing to COVID-19 themselves after two years of battling COVID-19. Sparrow Hospital in Lansing is the sixth hospital in the state to receive a federal medical team. A 25-member team from the Department of Defense will be brought in on February 7 for 30 days to provide support in the surge brought on by the Omicron variant. Teams have already been brought in at Beaumont Hospital, Dearborn; Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids; Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw; Mercy Health Muskegon; and Henry Ford Hospital in Wyandotte. Like other states, instead of shutting down nonessential businesses and schools to stop the spread of the coronavirus and put an end to the pandemic, Michigan officials have allowed the virus to proliferate, sicken and kill. In an interview with the Free Press, Michigan Health Department Director Elizabeth Hertel repeated the call for ineffectual mitigations, urging Michiganders to do their part to support our states health care workers by getting vaccinated and boosted, if eligible, wearing a mask in public indoor settings regardless of vaccination status, social distancing and staying home and getting tested regularly. Mississippi is another state that saw a decline in the birth-to-death ratio in 2020. World Nation News reports on the situation at Singing River Health System, a county-owned network of three small hospitals on Mississippis Gulf Coast, where 106 coronavirus patients were being treated on Sunday. In Pascagoula, 40 percent of all COVID-19 tests came back positive over the weekend. The latest wave of Omicron has kept almost every emergency hospital in Mississippi full to overflowing. Patients seeking treatment for COVID-19 will find a similar situation at hospitals across the country. Pascagoula is home to the states largest private, single-site employer, Ingalls Shipbuilding, owned by Huntington Ingalls Industries. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers rammed through a sellout four-year contract extension at the Ingalls shipyard in December. An exodus of registered nurses at Pascagoula Hospital, the citys only emergency care facility, has left a third of all beds unavailable. Recovering COVID-19 patients have been unable to leave the ICU because there are no other beds available for them, while critically ill patients in the emergency room could not be moved to the ICU. The shortage of health care workers has been particularly severe at small, non-profit hospital systems like Singing River. Kelly Cambest, a registered nurse in the ER, said he had received only one application for 24 positions in his department in the recent period. On Sunday, the West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees held an online meeting, Stop the Spread: Pause In-Person Learning Now! Teachers, students, nurses and other workers discussed what is needed to stop the surge of the COVID-19 pandemic and oppose the ruling class drive to keep schools open amid the spread of the Omicron variant. David Moore, a California teacher and member of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), led the discussion. In his opening remarks, he stated that the situation in the US is increasingly dire, noting, Teachers and staff are so sick that they are bringing in anyone to watch students. Schools are in a state of collapse due to COVID. Moore commented that in response, theres a massive upsurge of students and teachers around the world who are against the deliberate policy of mass infections at schools. Kindergarten students sit in their classroom on the first day of in-person learning at Maurice Sendak Elementary School in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) Moore highlighted the recent walkout of high school students in Oakland and other school districts around the country. He then stressed the importance of connecting them to other struggles of workers nationally and internationally in order to completely eradicate COVID-19. Moore addressed major myths of the propaganda campaign waged by the Biden administration used to justify their refusal to contain the spread of Omicron. The myth that COVID-19 is becoming endemic like a seasonal flu so we cant do much about it is false, Moore said. He explained that a virus is endemic if it is seasonal and does not, as in a pandemic, grow exponentially, potentially infecting everyone around the globe. The second myth Moore exposed is that Omicron is mild and does not put kids at serious risk. He stated, Pediatric [children] hospitalizations are increasing due to in-person learning at schools, and mitigation methods are inadequate with 30-plus class sizes, no ventilation, poor masks, no contact tracing and a positivity percent at 20 percent. Schools are super-spreader events. Moore then addressed the myth that COVID-19 should be allowed to spread unhindered since it only kills those who are in bad health. The claim that the only people who are dying are those in bad health, and that normal, healthy people need to move on is a eugenicists claim, Moore stated. He emphasized that up to 30 million Americans, 10 percent of the population, have four or more comorbidities, and that COVID-19 itself can actually cause comorbidities such as diabetes or asthma. The last myth that Moore took on is that it is impossible to stop Omicrons transmission since it spreads so easily that almost everyone will get it. Moore pointed out that China has successfully contained and eliminated transmission of COVID-19 within its borders by applying common medical practices that have been developed over centuries. Those practices are not applied in the US and other countries because they would interfere with corporate profits. Katy, a San Francisco Bayarea nurse, described the state of collapse of the health care system, which is increasingly unable to handle the influx of new patients. She stated, Stretchers are lining the halls in emergency rooms, overwhelmed hospitals that cant accept any more patients have to issue a state of emergency, and patients experience 20 hour wait times just to be seen. Non-elective surgeries were routinely being canceled given the overload. Katy also described the effect of these conditions on health care workers and their ability to care for patients, saying, Theres a slow emotional drain from being unable to take care of patients in dangerous conditions. This bears down on you on an emotional basis. To be put in a position where you cannot efficiently perform your role has a demoralizing effect on workers. Katy ended her remarks by emphasizing that workers need to understand that they can no longer live with the virus, and that the governments indifference to human life is bringing mounting opposition from the working class. The fight for better working conditions is the fight for the elimination of COVID, she concluded. Michael, a senior from Redondo High School in the Los Angeles area, who helped organize a student walkout to protest the implementation of herd immunity policies, described the conditions at his school, where 40 to 50 students are being infected daily, and the schools indifference to them. Students are not being notified by their school district if they are attending a class with a positive student even if they sit right next to them in class, Michael said. Schools give students a green light to attend school if they are positive just as long as they are asymptomatic. Despite these conditions, the pressures of schoolwork and finals are causing students to come back to school, even if they are ill. Michael reported that even though he faces harassment from a vocal right-wing minority of students on campus that oppose vaccines, mask mandates and other mitigation methods, and from parents online, given the importance of closing schools down, he would continue his struggle. Cassidy, an Oakland charter school student, shared the dismal conditions at her school and its inability to safely and effectively teach students. Theres no way to make school safe, we have people out every day, Cassidy said. Everyone is anxious. Without large-scale changes, we need schools and everything else to shut down. Just one or two schools closing is not going to be enough, every school needs to be shut down. Alfonso, a San Diegoarea public school teacher, stated that workers must look to themselves for leadership and initiative because the institutions of the ruling class are hostile to the needs of workers. You need to understand the science of COVID in order to keep others safe, but the government is preventing this info from being disseminated. Teachers unions have already made their peace with COVID. We cant turn to the teachers unions, we can only turn to ourselves. You cant look to the CDC for help, Alfonso continued. Turn to teachers, scientists, and others. Build within your own workplace. Alfonso further stressed the importance of rank-and-file committees, and how workers can use them to change the dire conditions found at schools and worksites. Theres a lot of anger out there, but the workers dont know how to organize, Alfonso said. A lot of teachers feel like they have their hands tied, but theres a way out of this. Jasmin, a middle school teacher in Oakland, expressed solidarity with striking students. She explained the urgency of the current situation, saying, People are at a breaking point. Teachers are overworked and tired and are feeling demoralized. Jasmin described the urgency to move and organize for the needs of the students and teachers. They cannot wait for the unions to advocate, because the unions have always put weak policies in place to supposedly protect teachers. In closing the meeting, David Moore stressed the need to develop these workers struggles into a conscious fight for socialism. To that end, he explained the specific call by the West Coast Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committees to educate broad layers of parents, teachers, students and other workers. He concluded, These meetings are only a foot in the door. We need to organize local meetings to teach parents and teachers about the science of the pandemic. Lets not accept the unions demands that only masks and testing will stop the pandemic. The longer this goes on, the more people will be sick, hospitalized and dead. It is up to us to fight against this. On Monday, a county judge in Wisconsin lifted a previous order that blocked seven employees at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center in Neenah from leaving their jobs to go to work for another health care provider in the area. In response to a request from ThedaCare, Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge Mark McGinnis had imposed the injunction on the workers last Friday, barring them from starting new positions at Ascension Northeast Wisconsin in nearby Appleton, Wisconsin. One day earlier, ThedaCare filed a lawsuit to prevent Ascension from adding the workersfour technicians and three nurses who were part of an eleven-member interventional radiology and cardiovascular teamto its staff. The workers had accepted the offerswhich included better payin December and were planning to start on Monday. Entrance to ThedaCare Medical Center Shawano (thedacare.org) The conflict in the Fox River Valley over hospital workers is the result of decades of chronic understaffing, which has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. With staff shortages in every area and existing hospital employees strained to the limits while caring for COVID-19 patients, the ability of hospitals to maintain essential services, including standard life-saving emergency procedures, has been severely and tragically undermined. The ThedaCare lawsuit said that it was seeking the injunction to protect the community and that the 11-member team provides vital care for critically ill patients. The suit also said that Ascension should have known that this action would decimate ThedaCares ability to provide critical care to trauma and stroke victims in the Fox River Valley, a three-county area in Wisconsin from Oshkosh to Green Bay. Lynn Detterman, a senior vice president for ThedaCare, issued a statement on Monday which said, We know this situation has put the team members who decided to leave ThedaCare in the middle of a difficult situation. Our goal was always to create a short-term orderly transition, not to force team members to continue working at ThedaCare. In fact, that is exactly what the health care corporation was trying to do. The initial action by the court essentially reduced these workers to the status of slaves who have no rights to escape from the clutches of their corporate masters. The ThedaCare lawsuit states that the loss of the specialist workerswho perform procedures to stop bleeding in targeted areas during a traumatic injury or restore blood flow to the brain in the case of a strokewould mean the hospital would lose its Level II trauma center status, the second-highest category a hospital can achieve. To maintain this lucrative status, the hospital must be able to perform interventional radiology 24-hours per day and, without the seven employees, this would become impossible to sustain. For its part, Ascension issued a statement before the Monday hearing at which the injunction was lifted that said ThedaCare had an opportunity but declined to make competitive counter offers to retain its former employees. Ascension representatives also said that the employment of the workers at ThedaCare was at-will, and they were not contractually obligated to stay there for any fixed time period. David Muth, a lawyer representing Ascension, filed a motion in county court on Monday that said ThedaCare was blaming others for its own mistakes and that it had attempted to turn its poor management into a disruptive personal emergency for everyoneanyonebut itself. Initially, Judge McGinnis granted ThedaCares request for a temporary restraining order and instructed the two sides to work out an agreement between them to settle the matter. In the end, however, the judge sided with Ascension and lifted the injunction on Monday afternoon. The crisis over critical emergency staff is also a manifestation of the battle for health care market share between competing groups of private hospital chains. In this instance, the St. Louis-based Ascension is one of the largest health care systems in the US with 151 hospitals, 165,000 employees and annual revenues of approximately $23 billion. It has facilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Kansas, New York, Maryland, Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas and Florida. According to a report in the New York Times in May 2020, Ascension received $211 million in federal pandemic relief funds and the corporation operates a venture capital fund with $15.5 billion in cash. The total compensation of the current CEO of Ascension, Joseph R. Impicciche, is not published. However, the previous president and CEO, Anthony Tersigni, was paid approximately $18 million in 2014. By contrast, ThedaCare is a health care system that covers 14 northeast counties in Wisconsin. It has seven hospitals and 35 physician clinics and community health programs, and operates long-term care and assisted living facilities. ThedaCare has 7,000 employees and annual revenues of approximately $1 billion. According to a report in the Appleton Post Crescent, Ascension made the employees an offer that included a benefits package that ThedaCare would not match. One of the hospital workers said that they received an offer from Ascension that was attractive not just in pay but also a better work/life balance, which caused others on his team to apply. The crisis of hospital staffing and the unprecedented legal conflict in the Fox River Valley over emergency specialists is rooted in for-profit health care and the response of the entire capitalist system to the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic is being used by the health care giants and other corporations to further cut costs and establish new precedents for the exploitation of workers, including dangerously high workloads and mandatory overtime, and the elimination of health and safety protections. VINCENNES, Ind. (WTHI) - The Indiana National Guard arrived at Good Samaritan Hospital early Monday morning. The members are part of the guard's hospital recovery support teams. But don't expect to see any troops marching through the halls of the hospital. The six members arrived ready to work in scrubs. Two members are combat medic specialists. The other four are there for general support. According to Good Samaritan COO Adam Thacker, the biggest help has been to boost health workers' morale. Many folks at Good Samaritan have been in the thick of the fight against covid-19 for almost two years now. With the most recent surge setting in the hospital was having a hard time. This is due to not just the surge but also shortages in staff in all areas of the hospital. Thacker says they were on the edge of having to temporarily stop some services. But with help from the National Guard, those cuts won't have to happen. Thacker says, "They've been here a few days and it's been as much as a moral support to our team as it has what the six individuals can truly do from a workload standpoint." Weather Alert ...The Flood Warning is extended for the following rivers in Indiana... White River at Edwardsport. White River at Elliston. Wabash River at Montezuma. .Multiple rounds of rain over the last few days 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. Additional information is available at www.weather.gov/ind. This statement will be updated within the next 12 to 24 hours. && ...FLOOD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL MONDAY EVENING... * WHAT...Minor flooding is forecast. * WHERE...Wabash River at Montezuma. * WHEN...Until Monday 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 Wednesday the stage was 13.0 feet. - Forecast...The river will rise to 13.4 feet just after midnight tonight. It will then fall to 13.3 feet and begin rising again early tomorrow afternoon. It will rise above flood stage early Friday morning and continue to rise to 17.1 feet early Saturday afternoon. It will then fall below flood stage Monday morning. - Flood stage is 14.0 feet. - http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood && TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI)- As both vaccinations and case numbers continue to rise, more health experts are talking about the possibility of herd immunity. According to the Mayo Clinic, herd immunity occurs when a large portion of the community becomes immune to a disease. It can be achieved in two ways. Natural Infection If enough people have recovered from COVID-19 and developed antibodies it could halt the pandemic. Herd immunity can be reached when enough people in the population have recovered from a disease and have developed protective antibodies against future infection. However, there are some major problems with relying on community infection to create herd immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 : Reinfection. Its not clear how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering from COVID-19 . Even if you have antibodies, you could get COVID-19 again. Its not clear how long you are protected from getting sick again after recovering from . Even if you have antibodies, you could get again. Health impact. Experts estimate that in the U.S., 70% of the population more than 200 million people would have to recover from COVID-19 to halt the pandemic. This number of infections could lead to serious complications and millions of deaths, especially among older people and those who have existing health conditions. The health care system could quickly become overwhelmed. Vaccination Reaching herd immunity for coronavirus has been increasingly difficult due to variants, vaccine hesitancy, and uneven roll-outs. Herd immunity makes it possible to protect the population from a disease, including those who can't be vaccinated, such as newborns or those who have compromised immune systems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved one COVID-19 vaccine and given emergency use authorization to a handful of COVID-19 vaccines. But reaching herd immunity through vaccination against COVID-19 might be difficult for many reasons. For example: Vaccine hesitancy. Some people may object to getting a COVID-19 vaccine because of religious objections, fears about the possible risks or skepticism about the benefits. If the proportion of vaccinated people in a community is below the herd immunity threshold, a contagious disease could continue to spread. Some people may object to getting a vaccine because of religious objections, fears about the possible risks or skepticism about the benefits. If the proportion of vaccinated people in a community is below the herd immunity threshold, a contagious disease could continue to spread. Protection questions. Its not clear how long the COVID-19 vaccines will protect you from COVID-19 . Further research is needed to see how much the COVID-19 vaccines reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Also, research suggests that COVID-19 vaccines may have lower efficacy against some of the variants of the COVID-19 virus. New variants, which could be more resistant to vaccines, are regularly emerging. Its not clear how long the vaccines will protect you from . Further research is needed to see how much the vaccines reduce transmission of the virus. Also, research suggests that vaccines may have lower efficacy against some of the variants of the virus. New variants, which could be more resistant to vaccines, are regularly emerging. Uneven vaccine roll-out. The distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has greatly varied among and within countries. If one community achieves a high COVID-19 vaccination rate and surrounding areas dont, outbreaks can occur if the populations mix. The director for the Illinois Department of Public Health, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, encourages people to get vaccinated to help achieve herd immunity. "The best way to protect everyone is not just counting on other people to get vaccinated it's really to get vaccinated yourself" says Dr. Ezike. CLARK COUNTY, Ill. (WTHI) - A local sheriff is speaking out about Illinois prisons. Clark County Sheriff Bill Brown penned a letter to the Illinois Department of Corrections about the recent pause on inmate intake. Sheriff Bill Brown wrote a letter to the IDOC, more specifically to Director Jeffreys. Brown says he is placing a big burden on county jails in Illinois. News 10 talked to other sheriffs in Illinois who say they're frustrated with the new policy as well. The Illinois Department of Corrections recently decided to temporarily pause intakes from county jails. This was a response to the recent COVID outbreaks at correctional facilities. Back in December Sheriff Brown says he was supposed to be reimbursed for those inmates but still hasn't seen that money. "They offered $35 a day versus what it cost about $70 a day to house an inmate. Would they like it if we sent in half our taxes? Probably not but they want to pay us half of what it cost to house an inmate." He spoke on what he would like to see done to rectify this issue. "I would like to see the director of the department of corrections join with all 102 county sheriffs and go to the general assembly this year and say what we're doing is not right. We need to make the sheriffs the counties financially whole." Statement sent to News 10 from IDOC: Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to be part of this event launching a very important study by Dr Amrita Bahri, a WTO Chair, which explores how gender is mainstreamed in free trade agreements. As an old Mexican saying goes, A house does not rest upon the ground, but upon a woman. Indeed, evidence from governments, international organizations, academia, and women entrepreneurs' associations suggests that giving an equal chance to women is not only economically efficient; it results in beneficial outcomes for families and society as a whole. It can unlock the kind of development potential that economies need so badly. Making trade more inclusive by supporting the integration of women in international trade is a way to achieve this. And it is at the heart of the WTO's work today. We are seeing the proliferation of gender-related provisions or gender mainstreaming in free trade agreements. This is an important tool for promoting inclusive trade, gender equality, and sustainable development. And since free trade agreements often serve as laboratories of innovations that later get implemented at the multilateral level, in the future, we may see some of these provisions making their way into the WTO rule book. I am happy to share that the WTO has prepared and will soon publish a comprehensive database detailing gender provisions included in all trade agreements since the Treaty of Rome of 1957. This was the first trade agreement that introduced the principle of equal pay for men and women. Out of 500 trade agreements reviewed by the Secretariat, 104 include gender provisions, and some even full chapters, like the one signed by Australia and the UK last year. As Dr Bahri's study observes, most of gender provisions focus on information sharing and collaboration, and few of them are legally binding. But there is a notable exception: most gender provisions in free trade agreements concluded by African countries contain mandatory language and are enforceable, making the region a trailblazer in this area. Let me now turn to the trade and gender-related actions in the WTO. Since the WTO started working on these issues six years ago, it has turned from a gender-blind Organization into a gender-aware one. With the establishment of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender in 2020, and the prospective adoption of the Declaration on Trade and Gender Equality, we are now on a path to become a gender-responsive Organization. Through the creation of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender, more than 120 WTO Members made the trade and gender issue part of the WTO agenda. The Group serves as a platform to strengthen Members' efforts to increase women's participation in global trade. With this aim, WTO Members have discussed various trade instruments, policies, and programmes in support of women. They have now decided to take a step further and adopt the new Declaration on Trade and Gender Equality their plan had been to do so at our 12th Ministerial Conference in December, which was postponed due to the deteriorating Covid situation. This will be the first formal Joint Ministerial Declaration fully devoted to supporting gender equality. It focuses on 4 key areas that are fundamental to make trade work for women: data collection, trade policy making, applying a gender lens to WTO work, and Aid for Trade. Another positive development is the inclusion of a non-discrimination provision into the Services Domestic Regulation plurilateral agreement, which was concluded last year. This is the first gender equality provision in a WTO-negotiated outcome. The WTO Secretariat, for its part, actively supports Members in their work on trade and gender. As Anoush explained, we have launched several initiatives, such as the Gender Research Hub. Research can be a powerful tool for governments to use when designing gender-responsive trade policies, and this is the Hub's primary function. The Secretariat also supports Members by offering trainings on trade and gender, collecting data, and suggesting policy tools to help them integrate gender in their policies. The database I mentioned before is an example of such work. I would like to conclude by quoting from one of the first slogans the suffragettes used, early in the last century, to gain their right to vote: Deeds Not Words. We seek to abide by this slogan as we are transforming the WTO into a gender-responsive Organization, taking action to make women visible and foster their empowerment. Thank you. At UW-Madison's AIDS Vaccine Research Lab, thousands of samples from across Wisconsin are sequenced or analyzed for their genetic code. Schroeder named new state superintendent Following an order from a federal judge Thursday denying a motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to halt Gov. Mark Gordon's appointment of a new state superintendent of public instruction, the governor was free to name his choice for the position. Gordon announced Thursday afternoon that he'd appointed Brian Schroeder to replace former Superintendent Jillian Balow, who resigned earlier this month to take a similar position in Virginia. Schroeder has worked as a teacher and administrator in private schools in California, Wisconsin, Michigan and Wyoming, and as a family and youth counselor. He most recently served as Head of School at Veritas Academy, a private Christian school in Cody, according to a news release from the governor's office. Schroeder earned his bachelors degree from Maranatha Baptist University and holds a master's degree in professional counseling from Liberty University. I reviewed application materials and conducted interviews with all the candidates that came through the selection process, and after much prayer and careful consideration, I have determined that Brian Schroeder is best suited to fill the superintendent's position, Gordon said in the release. Brian demonstrated his commitment to ensuring that parents are intricately involved in their childrens education, just as it should be. I will work to ensure a smooth transition in leadership for the Wyoming Department of Education. I am honored and humbled beyond words at this incredible opportunity to serve the students, teachers and parents of Wyoming, Schroeder said in the release. Ill do my best to help strengthen education for the future of our state. Schroeder will serve as superintendent for the remainder of Balows term, which ends in January 2023. The state superintendent oversees K-12 education in the state as the director of the Wyoming Department of Education; makes rules and regulations; enforces the provisions of the Wyoming Education Code; prepares and maintains a list of accredited schools; gathers reports and statistics as required by law; inspects schools; and appoints members to the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board. As one of the state's top five elected officials, the state superintendent also serves on numerous boards and commissions, and is required to make a biennial report to the governor and Legislature. The first volume of the official series soundtrack from 1883 will be released on Friday, Jan. 28 but you can listen to the shows main theme exclusively on TheWrap right now. In the video above, you can stream the 8-minute 1883 theme by composers Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian, who collaborated on the score for the first season of the Yellowstone prequel series. Set in the late 19th century and starring Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, the Paramount+ original series follows the Dutton family as they embark on a journey westward through the Great Plains, eventually settling in Montana the setting of the hit Paramount Network series Yellowstone. Scoring 1883 was one of the greatest experiences of my career, Tyler said in a statement. Taylor Sheridan has directed an absolutely brilliant work of art and it is an honor to be a part of it. I wanted to compose music that could capture the emotionally powerful story and characters of 1883. The music needed to convey struggle, heartbreak, beauty, pain, love, stoicism, sorrow, and resilience. The journey of these characters is an echo of all of us and the music had to have a sense of timelessness. The score is symphonic with a layer of choir to give it an emotionally powerful feel alongside solo fiddles, hurdy gurdy, various stringed instruments from early America, and Native American percussion. The main themes feel ancient and mystical to convey the feeling of the characters continuously entering the unknown. Tyler first worked with Sheridan on Yellowstone and furthered their partnership on the 2021 Warner Bros. feature film Those Who Wish Me Dead. For 1883, Tyler united with another familiar face. Collaborating with Breton Vivian has been an amazing continuation from our work on Yellowstone, Tyler continued. I am so grateful for this opportunity to work on Yellowstone. I am so grateful for this opportunity to work with Taylor on our third and most ambitious project yet. Tyler and Vivian worked together on the scores for Yellowstone Seasons 3 and 4, after Tyler handled the score for the first two seasons solo. 1883: Season 1, Vol. 1 will be released by Milan Records on Jan. 28. Liverpool have rejected initial approaches from Monaco and Leeds for forward Takumi Minamino. The Japan international has made 18 appearances this season but only six of those have been starts and four of those came in the Carabao Cup. However, in spite of the expression of interest from the Ligue 1 club and fellow Premier League side the PA news agency understands Liverpool have turned down both. Takumi Minamino becomes the first player since Vladimir Smicer in 2000-01 to score for the club in 3 successive League Cup games. He loves the @Carabao_Cup pic.twitter.com/C8ojIc1C5O Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 22, 2021 While Minamino is well behind Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota in the pecking order Jurgen Klopps side are still in four competitions they have a League Cup final against Chelsea in a months time is it believed there is no real desire to offload the 27-year-old. It would take a considerable offer for them to be persuaded to consider allowing the player, signed from RB Salzburg in January 2020 for 7.25million, to leave. Atalanta are also understood to be considering striker Divock Origi as a serious option should their Newcastle-linked Colombia international Duvan Zapata move to the Premier League. There has not yet been a formal approach to Liverpool but it could be a move which appeals to the Belgium forward, in a World Cup year, who has scored five goals in 11 appearances this season despite struggling for pitch time. Liverpools Divock Origi has attracted interest from Atalanta (Peter Byrne/PA) Goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros has joined National League side Notts County on a loan deal until the end of the season. The 20-year-old Czech recently returned from a nine-month spell with St Patricks Athletic, where he lifted the FAI Cup and was named the clubs Player of the Year. The former Jaime Lannister is a different kind of ruthless in A Taste of Hunger, a foodie film whose protagonists ambition is summarized by the opening epigraph: If you ask me what I want, Ill tell you I want everything. Everything, in this case, is the restaurant worlds crowning achievement: a Michelin star, which since 1926 has designated the best of the best around the world. Only 2,817 eateries have been so honored, and director Christoffer Boes drama focuses on a restaurateurs quest to become the 2,818th. The result certainly isnt fast food, but neither is it fine dining. While it would be wrong to say that Game of Thrones didnt allow Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to display his increasingly impressive range as a performer, we certainly never saw the kingslayer obsessing over wild apples, French vinaigrettes or other mouthwatering delicacies. Not that this relationship is any less complicated here: Carsten and Maggie (Katrine Greis-Rosenthal) are partners in life as well as in business, and Malus, the restaurant they open together in Copenhagen, takes up most of their time so much so, in fact, that one of them eventually looks beyond the marriage to fulfill their needs. More from Variety Denmark may seem like an odd setting for a narrative of this kind until you remember that Noma, a three-Michelin-star restaurant based in Copenhagen, has been named the worlds best restaurant on five different occasions. And while the films fictional establishment probably doesnt serve them, theres no denying the hygge-like joys that come with Danish staples like frikadeller, brndende krlighed and flskesteg. Thats something Maggie is more likely to remember than Carsten, whose single-minded focus on attaining the elusive Michelin star occasionally has him missing the forest for the trees. His outbursts when things dont go perfectly are reminiscent of Gordon Ramsays, only they dont feel like an affectation for the cameras more frightening than funny, theyre reminders of how cutthroat this industry is. Story continues You can hardly browse a streaming service for 30 seconds without coming across a food-centric docuseries these days, but few of them are as willing to delve into that worlds soft, dark underbelly as A Taste of Hunger. At its best which is to say, when focusing on this aspect rather than Carsten and Maggies increasingly torrid entanglements Boes film has the effect of an intriguing appetizer that has you eagerly awaiting the main course. Its back-and-forth flashback structure, however, feels unnecessary the present-day plot is compelling enough on its own without sequences showing the early days of the not-so-happy couples relationship and how they went from aspiring restaurateurs to disillusioned spouses. The subplots likewise come across as poor complements, like white wine with steak one half of the couples infidelity leads to an overwrought blackmail scheme, while another sequence involves one of their children going missing. Co-written by Tobias Lindholm (the filmmaker behind A Hijacking and A War, in addition to co-writing Another Round and The Hunt with frequent collaborator Thomas Vinterberg), A Taste of Hunger is broken into chapters named after different cooking elements: Sweet, Fat, Heat. In these more literary moments, were reminded of the films ambitions as much as the characters. To paraphrase one of the scripts more vulgar ruminations, however, the world doesnt care about our good intentions, dreams and hopes. All that matters is whats on the plate. In this case, theres plenty just not as much as there could or should have been. 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. The rich and famous in Los Angeles are increasingly relying on private security to help protect their families and their homes amid rising violent crime in the Los Angeles area, security professionals say. Weve been getting calls left and right from Beverly Hills, Calabasas, Woodland Hills all these nice high-premiere areas, nice neighborhoods. Individuals that say, Can I get a security guard to stay overnight from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. just to make sure theyre parked in my driveway in a marked vehicle to deter trespassers and burglars? Ray Nomair, CEO of Los Angeles-based OnGuard Inc., told TheWrap. Nomair noted his security agency has been busier than usual following a spate of well-publicized home invasion robberies and burglaries in recent months, including the shocking murder of Jacqueline Avant, the wife of music mogul Clarence Avant and a pillar of the Los Angeles philanthropic community who was gunned down by an intruder in her Beverly Hills home last month. A string of celebrities have become victims of home invasions. The Hidden Hills home of Full House actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, was broken into earlier this month while the couple was away, with a million dollars in jewelry reportedly taken. Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Dorit Kemsley was held up at gunpoint and robbed at her Encino home in October 2021. And hip-hop mogul Dr. Dres Brentwood home was targeted in an attempted burglary in January 2021, while the rapper was hospitalized. Because the whereabouts of celebrities and influencers are often publicized in tabloids and on social media, they and their property can be at greater risk, security experts say. With high-profile crimes making national headlines, Nomair said hes seeing more people hire private security to protect their homes while theyre out of town. OnGuard offers both armed and unarmed guards as well as marked vehicle patrols. A couple has gone on vacation for four months. One of our guards is literally house-sitting in Beverly Hills, he said. Story continues David Chandler, president of the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates, noted that many clients want more security coverage now than before. Theres more people in the gated communities (in Southern California) that are more affluent or are of celebrity status who may have not thought too much of security, only using security part-time, that are now looking to go full time, he said. Lori Loughlin, Dr. Dre and Dorit Kemsley have all been reported victims of home invasions or attempted burglaries in recent months (Photos: Getty Images) Chandlers Palm Desert-based private security firm, The Company, has seen an uptick in interest in his services for executive and celebrity protection via undercover bodyguards. A lot of companies are taking on more executive protection work than they have in the past, he said. Between the pandemic, the growing homelessness crisis and breathless news coverage of high-profile crimes, he said people are scared and feel that local police departments are overtasked. Theres no more proactive policing. They just dont have the time or money for it, Chandler said. You have to hire private security if you want to protect yourself or protect your property. According to Chandler, some Hollywood stars and social media influencers hire friends, acquaintances or unlicensed guards to accompany them, something he warns can potentially put them at risk. A security officers role is to both prevent crime and to observe and report crime. You want someone who knows what they can and cant do, how they can operate within the law, Chandler said, noting that there are slightly more unlicensed security guards than licensed security officers in the state. You always have to be worried of a civil lawsuit or criminal lawsuit, which will cost you more money. This growing interest in private security comes as Los Angeles leaders confirm crime is on the rise. Earlier this month, city officials reported that violent crime increased in 2021 for the second year in a row. While burglaries and sexual assaults were down, overall violent crime rose 3.9% citywide. Most notably, homicides jumped 11.8% and shootings increased 13%. Property crimes in the city were up 4.2%. The LAPD has fewer officers on the force than in prior years due to budget constraints and a hiring freeze. However, it has shifted its personnel to focus more on violent crime, particularly shooting violence and robberies, the department said in its 2021 annual report. The good work of this department, of our strategies to address violence helped bring what was looking to be a 25% or 30% increase in homicides (earlier in 2021) down to just 11.8%, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters at a Jan. 13 news conference. LAPD Mounted Unit officers patrol Hollywood Boulevard outside the Jimmy Kimmel Live studio (Getty Images) LAPD also removed nearly 9,000 firearms from the streets last year, which is a record for the department since statistics have been tabulated, according to the report. Despite the seizures, Garcetti admitted, Guns are everywhere much more than we have seen in past years. In a study of 2021 homicide rates in 22 top U.S. cities, Los Angeles tied with Louisville, Kentucky, for the fifth highest percent increase, according to Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. While many U.S. cities saw increases in homicides, the good news is the rate of growth of homicides in L.A. and other cities appears to be slowing, Rosenfeld said. The bad news, he said, is that Los Angeles 12 or 13 percent increase is still worrisome. While the 397 homicides recorded last year are the highest the city has seen since 2006, the figures are still far below what the city experienced in the mid-1980s and 90s, when homicides climbed as high as 1,100 or 1,200 per year, according to Jorja Leap, professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Leap also stressed that violent crime still tends to occur in poorer neighborhoods rather than in affluent ones. While homicides like that of 81-year-old philanthropist Avant in December garnered widespread media attention, there are far more violent deaths in South Los Angeles. Among them, a Taco Bell employee who was shot dead at a drive-thru after he refused to accept a counterfeit bill earlier this month, she noted. For every one Jacqueline Avant, there are probably 50 to 100 (homicides) in poor areas, Leap said. The city of Beverly Hills has reportedly hired private security companies to help police with patrols following a slew of attempted retail crimes during the pandemic. Ahmad Hamidi, owner of the Irvine-based Secure Guard Security Services, said the company saw an uptick in demand for residential, warehousing and distribution center security shortly after the pandemic began due to criminal activity. His company leased a lot more patrol vehicles to show the community and any possible criminals that there is a good security presence, he said. Alejandro Garcia-Galicia was killed by a customer while working the drive-thru at a Taco Bell in South L.A. on Jan. 8 (GoFundMe) Our biggest issue with residential security in the L.A. area is mostly transients breaking in trying to either sleep the night or get a bite to eat or try to cause trouble, he said, adding that they also sometimes break into shipping yards to open containers. Theyre just trying to make a couple of bucks so they can survive a couple more days. Its not maliciousTheyre more of a nuisance than a threat to our clients. Crime does historically ebb and flow, UCLAs Leap noted. However, the ongoing pandemic and resulting uncertainty, the 2020 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody and subsequent civil unrest, plus the easy availability of guns have all contributed to people feeling more anxious. Thats why crime is out of control, she said. Its this socio-emotional setting we find ourselves in. Its a steady drumbeat of uncertainty. Read Part One of this series: Crime, Homelessness, High Taxes: Why Hollywood Big Shots Like Ryan Kavanaugh Are Fleeing L.A. You are reading a WrapPRO exclusive article that has been made available (for free) today. If you would like to have access to all of our member-only stories and virtual events, please CLICK HERE to receive 7 free days of WrapPRO > The Essential Source for Entertainment Insiders. Read Part 1 of Los Angeles at a Crossroads: Crime, Homelessness, High Taxes: Why Hollywood Big Shots Like Ryan Kavanaugh Are Fleeing L.A. Alex Assouline, 29, grew up watching parents Prosper and Martine turn their publishing house into the gold standard for luxury fashion and lifestyle books, chronicling the history of everything from the house of Chanel to Coca-Cola to the Carlyle Hotel. He also grew up playing video games more than his parents probably would have liked, he admits. Well, now that screen time may be paying off. In his new role as chief of operations, brand and strategy, the next-gen Assouline is being charged with bringing his family business into the digital age and cultivating a new generation of customers. More from WWD In his first six years at the brand, which was founded in 1994 and arrived in New York in 1999, he has already made a mark on the business by introducing a service to design private libraries. More product design collaborations are also in the works, and NFTs perhaps, he said, discussing his plans during a Zoom interview from Paris. But no digital versions of books, because Assouline considers its beautifully illustrated tomes luxury objects as precious as the coffee tables they sit on. In addition to wholesaling to boutiques and e-tailers, Assouline has 12 stores, including the Assouline maison and Swans Bar in London and the book shop at The Plaza hotel in New York, as well as dozens of branded corners at cultural hot spots worldwide, from St. Josephs Arts Society in San Francisco to El Palacio de Hierro department store in Mexico City. The most recent is a pop-up at the new La Samaritaine in Paris, which sits in the center of the ground floor, surrounded by Dior, Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent and Gucci boutiques. Its good company, he said. Assouline produces more than 100 titles a year by insider authors on the topics of travel (Gstaad Glam was written by restaurateur Geoffrey Moore, actor Roger Moores son); cities and countries (Dubai Wonder ships Feb. 9); art, design and photography (Art Deco Style is new); impossible collections of yachts, watches and more. Story continues It is also an instrument for luxury fashion and jewelry brands to celebrate and perpetuate their heritage, even as they race to conquer the metaverse. Coming Feb. 1, Louis Vuitton Manufactures offers a different angle on the luxury house by spotlighting its artisans. Out Feb. 14, Dior by John Galliano chronicles the designers collections in the 90s and early 2000s, notably and incredibly making no mention of his firing and fall from grace after making racially insensitive and anti-Semitic remarks. The cover of Dior John Galliano 1997-2011 published by Assouline. - Credit: Courtesy of Assouline Courtesy of Assouline Thats no surprise considering LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton which owns Dior, Vuitton, Givenchy and La Samaritaine, to name a few is a minority investor in Assouline, which often partners with brands on books. (Dior by John Galliano is the latest in a series Dior and Assouline are doing on couturiers at the house, and the 14th book the publisher has done with the house.) We work regularly with brands who understand the impact [a book] can have as a gift for their clients or something that can live in their own space as part of their branding, said Assouline. We are very excited about this book because weve been working on it for three-and-a-half years with Andrew Bolton and Dior, he said, noting that the first print run will be limited to 5,000. Assouline at La Samaritaine in Paris. - Credit: Courtesy Courtesy Whats been particularly successful for Assouline are style books with an unusual take, he said, naming 2014s Valentino: At the Emperors Table, with an introduction by the late Andre Leon Talley, as an example. It brought that aspect of art de la table and cooking and lifestyle through Valentino, who is a fashion icon, he said, adding: Were working on a few like that in the next few months. The emphasis is always on stylish covers and lush photography, and he said, as much as 95 percent of the time, its really an object. As in, the book may not even be read. Thats what Proper understood a few years ago, to spend our time and invest all of our efforts on the packaging, creating those beautiful covers in vibrant colorsThats why we started the travel series because this is not something you see from other groups, and to have them as collections for shelves or a coffee table. Armchair escapism aside, when it comes to cultivating young customers, he has his work cut out for him. A 2020 Library Journal study found that Gen Z makes less time for reading than previous generations, with 28 percent saying they rarely read for pleasure, compared to 6 percent for Gen X. People my age, they really appreciate books, and the tactile experience, Assouline said, speaking as a Millennial. But Gen Z is differentAre they our customer? Not yet. Its important to understand how to speak to that new audience. To make them understand all these references is going to be important to convey through books, and in other mediums I am working on and developing. Adding a digital component to the physical is top of mind, he said, perhaps through NFTs to bring that whole aspect of storytelling, and belonging to our brand rather than just having a transactional aspect, he said. They could be a natural add-on for such over-the-top tomes as the $4,900 edition of Versailles: From Louis XIV to Jeff Koons. There could also be an Assouline storefront in the metaverse one day. Since I was a kid who played video games, the metaverse is something I understand more, said Assouline, who splits his time between New York and Paris, with a personal collection of 1,000 books in the mix. Every brand three years from now will need to have a digital component in the metaverse to be able to speak to another audience and portray their brand the way they want. Designing IRL libraries is the another aspect of the business hes looking to expand for private and commercial clients. Im hiring a team, he said. Beyond just being a book curator, we want to be interior designers, to bring the carpet, couch and coffee table. Thats what really excites me. Ive started working on brand partnerships, he said, mentioning the perfect reading chair and step stool, as well as vintage objects and perhaps more apparel as opportunities. (In 2021, Assouline and Zara partnered on a summer mens wear capsule collection inspired by the travel titles Capri Dolce Vita, St. Tropez Soleil and Provence Glory.) Every day in the company and my work, I learn something new, he said. In the same day, I can be working with a country, a luxury brand, a restaurant and working on a new destination. It gets me going. A look from Zaras collaboration with Assouline. - Credit: Courtesy of Assouline. Courtesy of Assouline. Best of WWD Sign up for WWD's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Photo: Kena Betanur/VIEWpress (Getty Images) Corrections officer David Conners has sued a Walmart in Georgia for racially profiling him as a shoplifter, according to NBC News. While shopping around, The stores chief loss prevention officer falsely identified Conners as a suspect who had continuously stolen from the store. Conners said he was arrested for just being big and Black. Conners lawyer, Terance Madden, told NBC officials had a photo and name to the suspect in question as well as an active warrant. Madden also said one of the officers told Conners he was about the same build as the suspect which was apparently enough evidence for them to find him guilty. Read more From NBC News: Conners was on the phone when police approached him and asked his name, according to his lawyer. He said his name and identified himself as law enforcement, producing his drivers license and his work ID. The loss prevention officer contacted the Fayetteville Police Department, who arrived at the store, surrounded him, embarrassed him and escorted him, in full view of other shoppers, into the stores Loss Prevention Office, the lawsuit says. He was then put in handcuffs with his hands behind his back, according to the lawsuit. Conners repeatedly denied the allegations after being shown a picture of the suspect (who was wearing a mask) as well as pointing out identifying factors he did not share with the real shoplifter including tattoos. Madden said Conners told the staff to check his identification and insisted the suspect was not him, reported NBC. Conners was un-cuffed after the lead investigator confirmed in a lineup (which was literally a FaceTime call) that he was not the suspect, according to NBC. Madden told NBC this was an obvious case of racial profiling and could happen to anyone. NBC reported the lawsuit states Conners sustained physical injury from being handcuffed and sought professional counseling to deal with the mental trauma from the incident. Walmart spokesperson Randy Hargrove told NBC the company does not tolerate discrimination and will take this allegation seriously. Edwin Rigoberto Hernandez-Ventura, a refugee from Honduras, with a painting he and other immigrants created as part of The Samaritas Youth Refugee Art exhibit on display at Casa de Rosado in Lansing Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Edwin, now 22, started his journey to the United States when he was 14 and now has a green card. LANSING Okemos resident Edwin Rigoberto Hernandez-Ventura still has the scars. When he lived in Honduras with his mother, her boyfriend at the time didnt like the young man, who identifies himself as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The boyfriend would hit the then 13-year-old and Hernandez-Ventura recalled one incident where the man screamed at him while intoxicated. And then he takes out a revolver, tries to shoot me, the 22-year-old said. The boyfriend said he was going to kill the teen, but couldnt make the gun work and left. Afterward, Hernandez-Venturas mother told her son none of it would have happened if he had kept himself silent, he recalled. This domestic violence and personal reasons prompted Hernandez-Ventura to leave Honduras and travel to the United States at 14 as an unaccompanied minor and refugee youth. He made it to the country in 2014, he said. Hernandez-Ventura shares his experience through his work as the Michigan delegate for Refugee Congress, a national organization that promotes the wellbeing and dignity of vulnerable migrants, and is participating in the Samaritas Youth Refugee Art exhibit at Casa de Rosado at 204 E. Mt. Hope Ave. in Lansing. The Samaritas Youth Refugee Art exhibit on display at Casa de Rosado will be coming down soon but is available for viewing online through the gallery. Tuesday, Jan. 2022. The exhibit The exhibit, which can be viewed by one-on-one virtual tours until Sunday, converges multiple journeys as unaccompanied youth from homelands torn by violence and finding temporary refuge at Samaritas and envisioning new lives in the community. "Casa de Rosado has always had a focus of social justice in the arts, art gallery owner Theresa Rosado said. And this just exemplifies the importance to have a voice, in that goal, and having a safe opportunity and place to share that story is what we seek to do here. Rosado said there are 51 pieces in the gallery. These are just some of over 100 paintings youth have been creating to raise awareness since 2015, said Kayla Park, Samaritas community outreach team lead for refugee youth services. Samaritas provides refugee services and resettles families from all over the world. The organization is based in Lansing but works around the state to connect unaccompanied refugee minors with foster care and more, Park said. Story continues She said youth come from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Ghana, Afghanistan and other countries. All of their stories are different except theyre all fleeing violence and persecution of some kind. "What I want them (people) to know, how amazing these kids are, especially the kids who are coming here truly are fleeing danger," she said. "The one thing I want to press on people is that the kids who come here fleeing violence, fleeing gangs, that's because they're the kind of kids who do not want to be a part of that. Edwin Rigoberto Hernandez-Ventura, a refugee from Honduras, talks openly about his immigrant journey to the United States Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, at Casa de Rosado in Lansing. Part of the community Park said she has seen kids leave the Samaritas program who have started businesses, started families and have become incredible community members. The Samaritas Youth Refugee Art exhibit helps connect people with refugee minors and unaccompanied children through their voices, their words, their dreams and expressions instead of just statistics people read in the news, she said. As of Oct. 31, 2021, there were approximately 10,680 unaccompanied children in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services care. The Department of Homeland Security referred 15,381 unaccompanied children to the Office of Refugee Resettlement in 2020 and in 2019 there were 69,488 unaccompanied children referred, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Its important to remember these youth are here, Park said. "They're not just overseas in refugee camps, she said. They're not just in government shelters, they're here, a part of our community. And because they're here, we have the opportunity to step into their story. The Samaritas Youth Refugee Art exhibit on display at Casa de Rosado will be coming down soon but is available for viewing online through the gallery. Tuesday, Jan. 2022. Making the connection Those stories include Hernandez-Venturas. Since moving to the Lansing area he's graduated from Charlotte High School, studied at Lansing Community College for two years and received his green card. He wants to study social work so he can help others, he said. His piece in the art exhibit is Follow Your Dreams and shows a night scene with a road leading into the distance. The road can look empty, but you never know how it will clear for you later and he's following it, he said. Hernandez-Ventura said he shares his story because he wants to give people a real picture of what its like to be an immigrant to the United States. He wants to have those uncomfortable conversations with people who might be afraid or hateful, try to get them to understand and tell them, hey, we are not bad people. Have empathy type of thing, he said. Like try to connect to them. The Samaritas Youth Refugee Art exhibit also will be available from 3 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 30 at Resurrection Parish at 48755 Warren Road in Canton Township. People can support the Samaritas Refugee Foster Care program, unaccompanied refugee minors and other unaccompanied children in its care by purchasing from its online Youth Art Shop. For more information people can contact Park at rfcinfo@samaritas.org. People interested in learning more about the current exhibit can contact Casa de Rosado by messaging its Facebook page. Contact Bryce Airgood at 517-267-0448 or bairgood@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @bairgood123. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Refugees share stories of coming to U.S. as minors at Lansing gallery For the second consecutive year, low-income Illinois taxpayers who have outstanding fines from the city of Chicago and other municipalities across the state wont have money taken from their state income tax returns, officials said. Comptroller Susana Mendoza announced the extension of the deferral program on Thursday as an acknowledgment that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated financial hardships for the working poor. People who qualify for the program will still have to pay those fines and fees off to the comptrollers office whenever the program ends. People still have a legal obligation to pay traffic and parking tickets and other fines. Cities can hire private collectors to collect these unpaid obligations, Mendozas office said in a statement. At this point, the Comptrollers Office does not expect to extend the suspension beyond this year. Before the pandemic, the office would automatically take fines or fees out of residents tax refunds or other state-provided funding. The deferral program includes a moratorium on parking and traffic fines and court dues. The moratorium affected about 50,000 taxpayers last year, and about $18 million in overdue fees and fines that would have otherwise been collected was not taken out of tax refunds, Mendozas office said. A year ago, we had hoped the world would be further along in the fight against COVID-19. Unfortunately, we all know that is not the case, Mendoza said in a statement. Again this year, families on the financial edge are counting on their state income tax refunds to pay bills they have been putting off as COVID causes hardships. She also said the program has been championed by public interest groups who advocate for families considered low or moderate income by the federal earned income tax credit program. This year, a family of four earning $57,414 a year or less would qualify for the credit, the comptrollers office said. Also qualifying would be a single person earning $21,430 a year or less, the office said. Story continues The state legislature more than a decade ago gave Illinois municipalities the right to contract with the comptrollers office to withhold unpaid traffic and parking ticket fines, as well as court judgments, from state income tax returns. The comptrollers office then sends those collections to municipalities, a function that the office already had performed for various state agencies. Two years ago, Mendoza announced her office would no longer withhold unpaid red-light camera ticket fines from taxpayers income tax refunds. That decision was made due to corruption that was uncovered in the right-light camera industry resulting in indictments and other nefarious disclosures. jgorner@chicagotribune.com Ka-Boom. Boom Supersonic is taking another step towards turning its Overture business jet from concept to reality. The Colorado-based aerospace company said that it would be building an Overture Superfactory at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, N.C. It expects to break ground later this year. Boom made the announcement during a live press conference on Wednesday, with company Kathy Savitt, president and chief business officer, speaking alongside local and state officials, including North Carolina governor Roy Cooper. Savitt said the area offered a strong pool of talent, with other aircraft manufacturers and tier-1 aircraft suppliers. More from Robb Report The 205-foot Overture is designed to carry 65 to 88 passengers, and is capable of flying on sustainable aviation fuel. It will have a cruising altitude of 60,000 feet, with a range of 4,888 miles. Boom said it will break ground later this year on the 65-acre lot adjoining the airport. - Credit: Courtesy Boom Courtesy Boom The speed of Mach 1.7 (1304 mph) is roughly double that of many commercial airliners. It said that a typical flight from Tokyo to Seattle would take 4.5 hours, compared to 8.5 hours on a commercial jet. Paris to Montreal would be 3.75 hours instead of 7.25 hours on a jet. Boom expects to start building the Overture in 2024, with the first aircraft completed by 2025 and entering service in 2029. It said the new facility will be about 400,000 square feet on a 65-acre campus at the airport. The company said it has 70 orders for the Overture and will employ 1,750 by 2030. It said United Airlines and Japan Airlines accounts for $14 billion in orders. The Boom XB-1 demonstrator aircraft, nicknamed Baby Boom, rolled out in 2020. The Overture has a business-jet interior capable of seating up to 88 passengers. - Credit: Courtesy Boom Courtesy Boom Boom is currently the frontrunner in the supersonic race after Aerion abruptly shut down its operations in May 2021. That Reno-based company had been in business since 2005 and had planned a manufacturing facility near Sebastian, Florida. When shutting down the facility, it announced a lack of investor appetite in supersonics future. Story continues Best of Robb Report Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. A New Hanover man serving time for attempted murder was found dead in his cell after an apparent suicide at Tabor Correctional Institution on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022. A New Hanover man serving time for attempted murder was found dead by apparent suicide in his cell at Tabor Correctional Institution in Tabor City on Wednesday. Robert Walker, 56, was convicted of first-degree murder in New Hanover County court in 2016 and was serving a sentence of 13 years and six months. Walker was found unresponsive in his cell shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday and was later pronounced dead by local paramedics, according to a news release from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Crime news: Vermont man pleads guilty to decades-old Wilmington sex crimes Local law enforcement and the Department of Public Safety are investigating the death. Walker was projected to be released from prison in December 2026. This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: New Hanover man in prison for attempted murder found dead in cell MENDON, Mass. (AP) A Boston hospital is defending itself after a man's family claimed he was denied a new heart for refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19, saying most transplant programs around the country set similar requirements to improve patients chances of survival. The family of D.J. Ferguson said in a crowdfunding appeal this week that officials at Brigham and Womens Hospital told the 31-year-old father of two that he was ineligible for the procedure because he hasnt been vaccinated against the coronavirus. We are literally in a corner right now. This is extremely time sensitive, the family said in its fundraising appeal, which has raised tens of thousands of dollars. This is not just a political issue. People need to have a choice! D.J.'s mother, Tracey Ferguson, insists that her son isn't against vaccinations, noting he's had other immunizations in the past. But the trained nurse said Wednesday that hes been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation an irregular and often rapid heart rhythm and that he has concerns about the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine. D.J. is an informed patient, Tracey Ferguson said in a brief interview at her home in Mendon, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Boston. He wants to be assured by his doctors that his condition would not be worse or fatal with this COVID vaccine. Brigham and Womens Hospital declined to comment on D.J. Fergusons case, citing patient privacy laws. But it pointed to a response that it posted on its website in which it said the COVID-19 vaccine is one of several immunizations required by most U.S. transplant programs, including a flu shot and hepatitis B vaccines. The hospital said research has shown that transplant recipients are at higher risk than non-transplant patients of dying from COVID-19, and that its policies are in line with the recommendations of the American Society of Transplantation and other health organizations. Story continues Patients also must meet other health and lifestyle criteria to receive donated organs, and it's unknown if D.J. Ferguson did or would have met them. Brigham & Womens Hospital also stressed that no patient is placed on an organ waitlist without meeting those criteria, and rejected the notion that a transplant candidate could be considered first on the list for an organ a claim Ferguson's family made in its fundraising post. There are currently more than 100,000 candidates on waitlists for organ transplantation and a shortage of available organs around half of people on waiting lists will not receive an organ within five years, the hospital said. Hospitals in other states have faced similar criticism for denying transplants to patients who weren't vaccinated against COVID-19. In Colorado last year, a woman suffering from late-stage kidney disease said she was denied a transplant by her hospital because she was unvaccinated. Leilani Lutali, a born-again Christian, said she opposed immunization because of the role that fetal cell lines play in some vaccines' development. There is a scarcity of donor organs, so transplant centers only place patients on the waiting list whom they deem the most likely to survive with a new organ. A donor heart is a precious and scarce gift which must be cared for well, said Dr. Howard Eisen, medical director for the advanced heart failure program at Penn State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Our goal is to preserve patient survival and good outcomes post-transplant. The United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit that manages the countrys organ transplant system, doesnt track how many patients refusing to get a COVID-19 vaccine have been denied transplants, said Anne Paschke, an organization spokesperson. She said patients who are denied organ transplants still have the right to go elsewhere, though individual hospitals ultimately decide which patients to add to the national waitlist. According to the online fundraiser, D.J. Ferguson was hospitalized in late November for a heart ailment that caused his lungs to fill with blood and fluid. He was then transferred to Brigham and Womens, where doctors inserted an emergency heart pump that the family says is only meant to be a temporary stopgap. Its devastating, Tracey Ferguson said. No one ever wants to see their child go through something like this. ___ Marcelo reported from Stoneham, Massachusetts. McALESTER Oklahoma is set to carry out the nation's first execution of 2022 at a time opposition to the death penalty continues to grow. Admitted double murderer Donald Anthony Grant faces execution at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday denied his request for an emergency stay. Alabama also planned to carry out an execution Thursday but an appeals court upheld a stay. A dozen other executions are set this year across the country. The majority are in Texas and Ohio. Donald Grant Most states no longer carry out executions 23 have abolished the death penalty and three more have governor-imposed moratoriums. Utah could be next. A repeal bill was filed there in January. "It has Republican sponsors in both houses," the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center said Wednesday. "Abolition bills were introduced in 14 states last year," Robert Dunham said. More: Judge refuses to stay Oklahoma executions of Donald Grant and Gilbert Ray Postelle "Abolition bills are expected to be introduced in about half of the states that have the death penalty," he said of 2022. "And they'll be serious in a number of the states. "The pattern we're seeing is that every year, or every two years, another state is abolishing the death penalty." Virginia abolished the death penalty last year, Colorado abolished it in 2020 and New Hampshire abolished it in 2019. In Oklahoma, voters in 2016 overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment stating the death penalty is not a cruel or unusual punishment. The execution table is shown in this image from a video released by the Oklahoma Corrections Department. A state legislator, though, wants to put the issue before voters again. We have seen a growing movement, in the last year especially, of people calling for Oklahoma to abolish the death penalty. And I want to give people a chance to express that on the ballot, Rep. Mauree Turner, D-Oklahoma City, said earlier this month. Turner filed legislation to put on the ballot a proposed constitutional prohibition of capital punishment. The legislation is unlikely to get enough support to advance. Story continues Nearly 200,000 more Oklahomans voted in the last election than in 2016, Turner said. "With more information, views around this issue are changing, and we should give people a chance to express those new beliefs. What did Donald Grant do? Grant, 46, was sentenced to death for murdering two workers at a LaQuinta Inn in Del City during a 2001 robbery. He confessed to committing the robbery to bail his girlfriend out of jail. He also admitted he killed manager Brenda McElyea and front desk clerk Suzette Smith so they couldn't identify him. Oklahoma carried out two executions by lethal injection last year and has one more scheduled this year. Gilbert Ray Postelle faces execution Feb.17. The Supreme Court also refused Wednesday to block Postelle's execution. Their attorneys had complained that they face a substantial risk of severe suffering and pain because of issues with the first drug, the sedative midazolam. "Oklahomas track record now includes the October ... execution of John Grant where he repeatedly vomited, heaved and gasped for air," the attorneys told justices. Attorney General John O'Connor and his assistants opposed the stay request. They told justices an Oklahoma City federal judge had determined that John Grant was already unconscious and insensate to pain when he vomited and could no longer breathe. An anesthesiologist who witnessed the October execution testified as an expert for the state at a hearing that the inmate appeared to be unconscious 30 to 45 seconds after the midazolam began to flow. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma set to carry out first execution of 2022 with Donald Grant Retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer speaks alongside President Joe Biden, during a retirement ceremony at the White House on Jan. 27, 2022, in Washington. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, Breyer has been on the court since 1994. His retirement creates an opportunity for President Joe Biden, who has promised to nominate a Black woman for his first pick to the highest court in the country. Happy Thursday, OnPolitics readers! President Joe Biden officially announced the retirement of long-serving Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, later this year. The president said he's been considering potential candidates since last year. During a White House event, Biden called Breyer, the second-most senior associate justice, "a model public servant, in a time of great division in this country" and vowed to nominate a "historic candidate" who is "worthy of Justice Breyer's legacy." "We all had high hopes for the mark he would leave on the history of law and the Constitution," Biden said. "And he's exceeded those hopes in every possible way." It's Amy and Chelsey with today's top stories out of Washington. Breyer's most notable cases and dissents Breyer, who took his seat on the Supreme Court in 1994, wrote on some of the most consequential cases brought before the bench in history, from the First Amendment to voting rights. Some of his most memorable dissents include Clinton v. New York (1998), which struck down the "line item veto," or a president's ability to veto certain provisions of legislation approved by Congress. Breyer that the decision "skirts a constitutional edge. But that edge has to do with means, not ends." In his dissent to Glossip v. Gross (2015), which held that Oklahoma could use midazolam as an initial drug to administer a death sentence despite possibly subjecting an inmate to pain, Breyer questioned the constitutionality of the death penalty. He wrote that "Rather than try to patch up the death penaltys legal wounds one at a time, I would ask for full briefing on a more basic question: Whether the death penalty violates the Constitution." And in his majority opinion for Stenberg v. Carhart (2000), which struck down a Nebraska law banning late-term abortions, Breyer determined the law was unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade. Story continues "All those who perform abortion procedures using that method must fear prosecution, conviction, and imprisonment," he wrote. "The result is an undue burden upon a woman's right to make an abortion decision." When will we hear more? Biden announced Thursday that he planned to name Breyer's successor by late February and pledged to nominate a Black woman to the highest court. Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for OnPolitics newsletter here. Real Quick: stories you'll want to read Ukraine: The U.S. and Russia are still in talks to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict even as Russian troops exercise in the region and the U.S. sends heavy weaponry to Kyiv. Presidents and the press: President Joe Biden labeled Fox News' Peter Doocy as a son-of-a-you-know-what the latest dust-up in the rocky relationship between presidents and reporters. Here are some of the most historic president-reporters smack-downs. What to know about Russia and Ukraine's militaries: While Russia is still the superior military power and would almost certainly prevail, Ukraines defense forces could inflict significant damage on Russian troops, according to some experts. Kellyanne Conway memoir coming in May: Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has a memoir out May 24: "Here's the Deal" is billed by her publisher as a look beyond the headlines of the Trump administration and her family life, including her husband and prominent Trump detractor, George Conway. The Army has an alarming suicide problem in Alaska The Army's mental health emergency in Alaska spiked in 2021 with 17 suspected suicide deaths more suicides than in the previous two years combined. The crisis has deepened in recent months: Eight soldiers have died in cases of suspected suicide since October, according to figures released by the Army to USA TODAY. The deaths have rattled soldiers there and seized the attention of the Pentagon's top civilian and military leadership as well as lawmakers on Capitol Hill. The Army is rushing resources and focusing attention on Alaska during the dark, frigid winter to prevent more suicides. The issue has defied conventional solutions, including more than $200 million spent in recent years to improve working conditions and barracks for soldiers in a far-away state where temperatures can drop to 60 degrees below zero and endless summer days disrupt sleep. The 17 confirmed and suspected suicides the Army classifies deaths as suicide after completing its investigation eclipse the seven cases in 2020 and eight in 2019. Figures released by the Army to Congress, and obtained by USA TODAY, show that Alaska had averaged about six suicide deaths a year from 2016 to 2020. Among those who died by suicide in 2020 and 2021, almost all were men, according to the data. Two-thirds were white and about half were married and ages 21 to 25. Gunshot wounds were the primary cause of death. Struggling to get prompt professional help: The Army's suicide deaths in Alaska, which have been devastating for families, also have deeply affected soldiers serving there. Soldiers cite horrific encounters and complain of long waits to see behavioral health counselors. Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Read about how one woman's family saved a man during the Holocaust. Years later, the two reunited and fell in love. Amy and Chelsey This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: President Biden announces SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement Members of Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service in Anbar province during a major assault to retake the city of Fallujah, May 28, 2016. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images The US military has been winding down its operations in Iraq after years of battling ISIS. Iraqi special-operations forces are continuing that fight against the remnants of the terrorist group. Those Iraqi forces have been working closely with their US counterparts for nearly 20 years. At its height after sweeping across Syria and Iraq in 2014, ISIS commanded 40,000 fighters and controlled 8 million people in an area the size of Virginia. After years of fighting, a US-led international coalition has worn down ISIS's so-called caliphate, a campaign capped off with the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a raid by US Army special operators in 2019. For the US, large-scale operations against ISIS have ended. There are still US troops in Iraq and Syria under the Combined Joint Task Force-Inherent Resolve, but in December they shifted from direct combat operations to a non-combat mission that advises and assists Iraq's military. The Iraqi military is still fighting remnants of the terrorist group that once wreaked havoc in the region and even threatened to topple the Iraqi government. Nowadays, that fight is a law-enforcement operation as much as it is a military mission, requiring warrants and solid intelligence, but Iraqi commandos are still at the tip of the spear, led by special-operations forces that still have a very close relationship with the US special-operations community. Iraq's special operators Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service members advance in the Old City of Mosul, July 6, 2017 AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images Iraqi special-operations forces have a tiered structure, with the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) headquarters on the top, followed by the Counter Terrorism Command (CTC) at the operational level, and finally by the three Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) brigades on the tactical level. Importantly, the Iraqi special-operations forces are separate from the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior, giving them more flexibility and credibility as independent actors. The Iraqi military has other special-operations units, such as the Qwat Khasah, a light infantry special-operations unit based on the US Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, but the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service is the national mission force reserved for the most important missions. Story continues When Iraqi forces began operations to recapture Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in October 2016, CTS units were the first in and struck the final blows in July 2017, after nine months of brutal fighting in which the CTS suffered 40% casualties. Members of Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service celebrate with an upside-down ISIS flag in the Old City of Mosul, July 2, 2017. AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images The CTS has been trained, equipped, and supported by the US government. US special-operations forces began developing official and unofficial relationships with Iraqi troops still loyal to their government soon after the Iraq War began in 2003, a former US Army Special Forces officer told Insider. Before the US withdrew from Iraq in 2011, US special operators trained their Iraqi counterparts in a variety of mission sets that the Iraqis brought to bear against ISIS after it emerged in 2014, according to the former officer, who requested anonymity for personal security reasons. "In reality our fight against ISIS began even before the troop pullout" in 2011, the former officer said. "As with any organization, ISOF's capabilities vary by unit. The most capable are battle-hardened and experienced. Their campaign against ISIS, and the battle of Mosul specifically, created lots of lessons-learned that should have become institutional knowledge," the former Green Beret officer added. Created in adversity An Iraqi tactical attack controller, left, from the Counter-Terrorism Services practices calling in an airstrike near Iraq's Al Asad Air Base, October 19, 2021. US Army/Staff Sgt. Jose A. Torres Jr. In the months following the defeat of the Iraqi military in spring 2003, US and Coalition troops started working with Iraqi forces against what was fast becoming a full-blown insurgency. In November 2003, Green Berets stood up a battalion-size counterterrorism unit with Iraqis from varied ethnic, political, and religious backgrounds. The rationale behind this inclusivity was to create a unit that could operate anywhere and, more importantly, wouldn't appear aligned with a specific segment of the Iraqi population. The new unit was able to conduct operations alongside Green Berets. It was successful enough to merit an upgrade. The first official Iraqi operator training course took place in Jordan the next year, with a mix of American and Jordanian special operators as instructors. In April 2004, it produced the first 100 official Iraqi commandos. Shortly thereafter, these commandos merged with the battalion-sized unit to create the first Iraqi Special Operations Force Brigade. The unit had direct-action, counterterrorism, intelligence-gathering, and close-target-reconnaissance capabilities and worked closely with US special operators. US Army medics demonstrate a rapid field trauma assessment for members of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service at a training site near Baghdad, December 20, 2016. US Army/Capt. Erick Thronson US Green Berets "trained most of the ISOF, but other units helped too," though it was not a popular mission among American commandos, the former Green Beret officer said. With a "never-ending" list of targets and constant pressure from above to conduct operations against them, "staying behind and teaching Iraqis how to shoot rifles or how to clear a room was boring for many," the former officer said. "That changed later with ISIS because suddenly FID [foreign internal defense] became a way for units to get a deployment in a war zone," the former officer added. Army Green Berets are ideally suited for such missions because of the extensive cultural and language training they receive. That enables them to recruit, train, and advise foreign units key components of their foreign internal defense mission. FID allows Green Berets to be a true force-multiplier: A small operational detachment can link up and lead hundreds if not thousands of local forces into battle. Among the many forces that US special-operators have trained, Iraq's CTS has distinguished itself for its bravery and effectiveness. In 2021, it conducted 404 operations and 431 air-support operations, killed 125 militants, made 303 arrests, and destroyed 334 ISIS hideouts and caves, a spokesman said this month. Stavros Atlamazoglou is a defense journalist specializing in special operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins University graduate. Read the original article on Business Insider Jan. 26ANDERSON Two education bills, Senate Bill 167 and House Bill 1134, that were introduced during the 2022 Indiana General Assembly have sparked concerns with educators across the state. "I think it's (HB 1134) going to do immeasurable harm to public education," said Paul Partezana, language arts teacher at Anderson High School. Although SB 167 has since been struck down, HB 1134 shares similar structure and concepts. HB 1134 would outlaw teachers from teaching certain concepts, including "that any sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or political affiliation is inherently superior or inferior to another sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or political affiliation." Additionally, it would prohibit teachers from teaching students "that any individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, responsibility, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's sex, race, ethnicity, religion, color, national origin, or political affiliation." In Partezana's English class, he has his students read "Mexican WhiteBoy." The book depicts scenarios involving race, culture and identity. Partezana does not tell his students which characters are "bad." "They're the ones who pick out the good characters from the bad ones," he said. In another instance, Partezana's class was assigned "The Road to Memphis." The book is based on the author's family's experiences in 1940s America. One student had mentioned that their family said the book was racist, so Partezana used this as an opportunity for a class discussion. They determined that the book itself is not racist, but it does have some racist characters. "The whole class, everybody agreed on that. They didn't think the book was racist... there were some racist moments," Partezana said. He went on to explain that you can't teach about Jim Crow without racism, as it played a large part in the Jim Crow South. Story continues If teachers or schools are believed to violate these rules, the bill would allow for the district in question to be sued. Teachers also risk losing their teaching license. If passed, the bill will also require schools to post certain educational activities and materials to the school's website. ACS uses Canvas, a learning management system that aids in online learning. Partezana said that all course materials are already posted online, via Canvas. "All my parents can go in right now and see the assignments," he said, as parents have their own Canvas logins. In addition to posting curriculum online, the bill will require districts to have a curriculum review committee that is made up of parents, teachers, school administrator and local community members. Randy Harrison, social studies teacher at AHS and Anderson Federation of Teachers president, noted that most curriculum that is taught in schools is guided and established by the state. "When we do curriculum revisions and things, many times local school districts will include parent input," he said, as parents already serve on local curriculum review committees. While the bill is meant to give parents more transparency, Harrison said that it could potentially cause more problems. Harrison provided an example that occurred in Tennessee after a similar bill was passed. "Several groups of parents sought to have books about Martin Luther King be banned from being taught (and) sought to have book about Ruby Bridges banned from being taught," he said. Parents or guardians will also be able to opt students out of certain lessons and teachers must then provide an alternate lesson for that student. Harrison explained that if parents are able to opt their student out of certain lessons, it puts added strain onto teachers. "What is counterproductive is you're forced to change and/or adapt and add to your work load to accommodate a few," he said. HB 1134 would also require written parental consent before schools are able to provide mental, social-emotional or psychological services to a student, unless the student is an adult or emancipated minor. Harrison said, for example, if there was an LGBTQ+ student that was not supported by their peers or guardians, they might contemplate committing self-harm. "Would that not be our calling as educators to make sure they don't?" he said. Partezana said that if this bill passes, there will be an "exodus of teachers." He explained that while we are already seeing an abundance of teachers leaving the profession, it will only get worse if this bill is passed. Harrison expounded on this and said we need to create policies that move us forward as a society, not backwards. Follow Kylee Mullikin on Twitter @kyleemullikinhb or call 765-640-4250. Jan. 26The quickest and fairest response to Indiana House Bill 1041, which would bar transgender women those who are biologically male but do not identify as such from participating in girls' sports is simple. Wait until more research tells us how transitioning affects a teenage athlete's body. Though the issue of transitioning has been a public discussion since at least the 1960s, medical research is in its infancy. Studies show that reducing testosterone as would occur in therapy for a male transitioning to a female reduces hemoglobin, which carries oxygen-rich red blood cells through the body. With less hemoglobin, athletes are slower. Research is ongoing. Yet, led by State Rep. Michelle Davis, R-Whiteland, HB 1041 passed 8-4 out of the House Education Committee on Monday. Davis, who was named in 2012 to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame's Silver Anniversary Team, said her legislation is intended to "maintain fairness and equality in female athletics." She cited no medical studies, noting only that, during an unspecified year, 275 high school boys ran faster than the lifetime best of world champion sprinter Allyson Felix. The evidence needs to be stronger than acknowledging that many boys run faster than girls. During the hearing, the bill received favor from an Idaho state representative whose similar legislation is facing a court challenge. Also, support came from a spokesperson with USA Powerlifting, which is under a one-year suspension from the International Powerlifting Federation for noncompliance with anti-doping mandates. Charles Powell, an associate professor of urology at the Indiana University School of Medicine, cited an analysis of 24 research articles saying, "Based on the available literature, the values for strength and lean body mass and muscle area in trans-women did decrease but they remained above that of cisgender women even after 36 months of androgen-suppressing therapy." (Anti-androgen treatment suppresses masculine features.) Story continues Powell's testimony was critical though showing again that more reviews are necessary even if to break down the analysis he offered. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana guaranteed it would file a lawsuit against Davis' bill, so such legislation must be based on solid medical and legal footing. Yes, the bill does aim to guarantee that biologically-born girls and women receive equal opportunities in sports. It also reeks of oppression to many in the LGBTQ community. Currently, there is no rampant threat that transgender women will take away spots on girls' interscholastic teams in Indiana. So there's time to wait. All young Hoosiers should be coached along the lines of fair play, not only in sports but in life. Such a building block requires integrity, tolerance and respect by those controlling the rules. And all that takes time. The Indiana General Assembly might be teaching a valuable lesson in fair play by waiting for more research before legislating transgender involvement in sports. The European Union has launched a World Trade Organization (WTO) case against China, having completed its own investigation into Beijing's alleged coercion of Lithuania. The EU filed a request for consultation with China in Geneva on Thursday, having gathered what it sees as ample evidence from interviews with affected Lithuanian business over the past month. Brussels says it has evidence of Beijing's refusal to clear Lithuanian goods through customs, rejection of import applications from Lithuania and pressuring companies operating from other EU member states to remove Lithuanian inputs from their supply chains when exporting to China. 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. "Launching a WTO case is not a step we take lightly. However, after repeated failed attempts to resolve the issue bilaterally, we see no other way forward than to request WTO dispute settlement consultations with China," the EU's trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said. He added that the EU still sought to reach a "diplomatic solution" with China, but after "reaching out through many channels to discuss the solution ... China's coercive practices" continued. "If we find a solution, and of course practices are being discontinued, of course we do not have a reason to pursue the case further," he added. The blockade began after Lithuania permitted the opening of a controversially named Taiwanese diplomatic presence in the capital of Vilnius. Lithuania's exports to China dropped by more than 90 per cent in December compared to both the previous December and the prior month of November. Beijing has denied there is an embargo, telling EU officials that Chinese businesses have simply decided not to buy goods from countries that have "attacked China's sovereignty". Story continues In response to the filing, China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the dispute with Lithuania was a "political one, not an economic one". He said it was not an issue between China and the EU, adding that Brussels should be "wary of Lithuania's attempt to kidnap China-EU relations". Dombrovskis disputed Zhao's statement, pointing out that the trade issues were "an EU competency", meaning Brussels manages the trade policy of its 27 member states. The move comes with the Lithuanian government under pressure to reconsider renaming the Taiwanese Representative Office, following a domestic backlash. The country's president, Gitanas Nauseda, described the naming as a "mistake", while businesses have been lobbying the government after losing their Chinese market access, despite the fact that only a relatively small number of Lithuanian companies export to China. With a foreign ministry-commissioned poll showing an overwhelming lack of support for the hawkish China policy, the ministry has sought ways to take some steam out of the affair. Two sources confirmed a Reuters report that the government had discussed the possibility of changing the office's Chinese name, which translates into English as "Taiwan Representative Office", to refer to "Taiwanese people" rather than to Taiwan. One source said the suggestion was made to placate some EU member states who had suggested Lithuania was being stubborn and unwilling to compromise. There has been anger in some European capitals after China blocked goods from the likes of France, Germany and Sweden that contained components made in Lithuania. But Vilnius is aware that a rename would not defuse the situation. Beijing has already said a simple name change would not help soothe ties. Nor was the plan raised directly with the Taiwanese government, which said on Wednesday it had not received any such request from Vilnius. Instead, it was raised and then swiftly abandoned during consultations with the United States, the sources said. Contrary to other media reports, the US has not asked Lithuania to compromise on the naming of the office, according to senior sources in Vilnius, following informal canvassing. In fact, it actively discouraged the government from making any change. Gabrielius Landsbergis, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, speaks to journalists at the Nato foreign ministers' meeting in Riga, Latvia on November 30, 2021. Photo: AFP alt=Gabrielius Landsbergis, Foreign Minister of Lithuania, speaks to journalists at the Nato foreign ministers' meeting in Riga, Latvia on November 30, 2021. Photo: AFP> On Wednesday, Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said there were "no such intentions" still on the table. "There are no plans for the official name. I have said this more than once," local media reported Landsbergis as saying. Lithuanian analysts said that the fiasco showed the government airing its dirty laundry in public, with no love lost between the president and foreign minister, but also showed that Vilnius was ill-prepared to deal with consequences of taking on Beijing. "This situation showed us that we are quite resilient when it comes to the Russian hybrid war, but absolutely vulnerable to a Chinese version," said Marius Laurinavicius, an international affairs expert at the Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis. Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Lithuania, Eric Huang, told the South China Morning Post that he would not wade into the row over the naming of the office. "We are not like other countries, which criticise other countries' domestic affairs. We refrain ourselves from commenting on other countries' domestic political development, this is our principal. So I will not comment on the internal discussions of our Lithuanian friends," Huang said. "But I can assure you that we will keep on doing what we are doing right now. The most important issue is for us to strengthen the trade and economic relationship." The EU's request is the first formal step towards a WTO case that is likely to drag on for years. China has the right to accept or reject the consultation, designed to resolve grievances without the need for a long dispute settlement procedure. Zygimantas Pavilionis (left), head of the Lithuanian legislature's foreign affairs committee, and Lithuanian lawmaker Emanuelis Zingeris (right) congratulate Eric Huang, head of Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, on the opening of the de facto embassy in Vilnius on November 18. Photo: Finbarr Bermingham alt=Zygimantas Pavilionis (left), head of the Lithuanian legislature's foreign affairs committee, and Lithuanian lawmaker Emanuelis Zingeris (right) congratulate Eric Huang, head of Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, on the opening of the de facto embassy in Vilnius on November 18. Photo: Finbarr Bermingham> Should the consultations be unsuccessful or fail to get under way, the EU would request that the WTO form a panel of judges to hear the dispute. The WTO option has been actively explored by the EU since reports of Chinese economic coercion emerged late last year. While many recent cases brought to the global trade authority have become deadlocked due to the US-led demise of its appellate body, both the EU and China are signatories to the multiparty interim appeal arrangement, which means a dispute can be heard and appealed. The EU is also processing an anti-coercion instrument that would allow it to retaliate against perceived economic bullying, and which would appear to be tailor-made for such a situation. On Thursday, Dombrovskis said he was "hopeful" the legislative process for the instrument "would be concluded during the course of this year". At a testimony to the European Parliament on Tuesday, the bloc's trade enforcement officer Denis Redonnet, described China's treatment of Lithuania as a "a combination of disguised or silent coercion". The EU currently has a paucity of short-term options available for tackling such aggression. "A lot of what China does is in this unofficial zone and it denies anything officially. It's very hard to hold them accountable and when you do, it's years down the track and is cold comfort for the exporter," said Bryan Mercurio, a professor of trade law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 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. Businessman Kevin Nicholson has joined the Republican field in the Wisconsin governor's race. MADISON Republican U.S. Marine veteran Kevin Nicholson launched a campaign for governor on Thursday that is as much against Wisconsin Republicans as it is about unseating Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers. Nicholson, a former candidate for U.S. Senate, spent an hour with two conservative radio talk show hosts condemning the state's Republican "machine" and accusing his GOP primary opponent former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch of being a "broken record" who would continue a Democratic string of victories in statewide races. The 44-year-old Delafield business consultant compared himself to former President Donald Trump in making his announcement, noting the state party he's at odds with in Wisconsin wouldn't support the former president in his first run either instead throwing support behind U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz who ultimately won Wisconsin's 2016 GOP presidential primary. "We're all in a different spot right now. We understand that the Emperor has got no clothes and the people that are running society are not good at it," Nicholson said about Republicans leading the party, like Kleefisch and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. "And so me being nice about that or just pretending and going along and getting along, that's what's gonna lose the faith of those people that we need to get out to vote." Subscribe to our On Wisconsin Politics newsletter for the week's political news explained. On the same day as Nicholson's announcement, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson pushed back against his assessment of the party, and said whichever candidate isn't endorsed by the state GOP should leave the race an idea Nicholson has rejected. "What I would encourage candidates to do is try and win that endorsement of the party. And then recognize if you can't do that your chances of winning the primary are quite slim. And a divisive primary is going to reduce our chance of winning the governorship which is quite important in this state," Johnson told reporters in Waukesha County Thursday afternoon. Story continues "What I see as I travel around the state and talk to the party faithful they don't seem very establishment to me," Johnson said. "They seem more like a bunch of rabble rousers like myself. So I don't view the Republican Party as the establishment." Nicholson's strategy will all but assure a costly Republican primary contest, with billionaire GOP mega donor Richard Uihlein of Illinois promising to spend heavily on behalf of Nicholson. And it threatens to alienate party leaders who would be tasked with helping elect him in a general election and the Republican legislative leaders Nicholson would have to work with to accomplish his goals. "I know he may be very angry that he can't run for United States Senate. But the rest of us are angry too. It's just that our anger is focused on Tony Evers failed leadership," Kleefisch told reporters in La Crosse in response to Nicholson's comments, according to WDJT-TV (Channel 58). Nicholson wants all school curriculum posted online Nicholson said in the pair of radio interviews on WTAQ and WISN that he wants to enact policy changes that would require schools to post all curriculum materials online in an effort to root out lessons that teach children about systemic racism. He also said he would seek legal action against schools that violate civil rights laws, and would aggressively pursue trade policies to benefit Wisconsin industries. His campaign did not register with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission before Nicholson's announcement, or before launching his campaign website that includes donation links. State law requires candidates to file a registration statement as soon as practicable "when they either file nomination papers, receive a contribution, make a disbursement, or give consent to another to receive contributions and make disbursements," according to the state Ethics Commission. Nicholson said in a statement on his website that he was running for governor "to use my leadership skills and business experience to build a better future for the children, families, and businesses of our state." "I joined the Marine Corps in the middle of two wars because I believe America is worth fighting for. And now, Im fighting for Wisconsins future. I was born in Wisconsin, and Im proud to raise my family here," he said in a statement on his campaign website. "I hope youll join us as we build a better future." Sam Roecker, a spokesman for Evers, said Nicholson is as divisive as Kleefisch. "Wisconsinites dont need another divisive politician like Kevin Nicholson or Rebecca Kleefisch we need to focus on improving the quality of our schools, helping our small businesses succeed, and growing our economy," Roecker said. "Governor Evers is doing the right thing to keep Wisconsin moving forward, whoever wins the Republican primary will do everything they can to divide us and undo his progress." A spokesman for Kleefisch did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More: Robin Vos to Kevin Nicholson: 'You need to not run for governor.' Assembly speaker's comments spark intraparty spat in GOP More: Tommy Thompson isn't ruling out campaign for Wisconsin governor after stint at UW Nicholson looks for outsider status in Republican Party Nicholson, who lost a primary for U.S. Senate four years ago, is seeking to establish himself as an outsider to state Republican politics, announcing his campaign days after dressing down the chairman of the state Republican Party at a county party event and often criticizing the "political class" in the state a veiled reference to Kleefisch and established party leaders like Vos. "Our political class has allowed law and order and society to slip away. Sure, the Left has championed the policies that led to this destruction, but the establishment Republican political class has proven incapable of stopping them," Nicholson tweeted Monday. And Nicholson enters the race despite pushback from Vos, whom Nicholson criticized by name more than Evers or Kleefisch on Thursday. Vos, R-Rochester, has publicly urged him not to run, saying a GOP primary could hurt Republicans' chances of taking the governor's office from Evers. "That's like taking political advice from Scooby-Doo except Scooby-Doo actually gets the guy in the end," Nicholson said Thursday about the comment. Nicholson joined the governor's race after waiting for months to see whether Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson would seek a third term. When Johnson announced earlier this month he would run again in 2022, Nicholson decided to run for governor instead of launching a second campaign for U.S. Senate. His announcement shifts the governor's race into a new phase. The winner of the Aug. 9 GOP primary will take on first-term Evers in the Nov. 8 general election. Kleefisch, who served for eight years alongside Gov. Scott Walker, launched her campaign for governor in September and raised $3.3 million over four months. Evers raised $10 million in the last six months of 2021 and has $10.5 million on hand. Uihlein released a statement this week suggesting he would spend as much as necessary to elect Nicholson if he chooses to run for governor. Uihlein, CEO of Pleasant Prairie-based supply giant Uline, backed Nicholson in 2018 during his unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate against former Republican state Sen. Leah Vukmir. In all, Uihlein spent about $11 million on Nicholson's campaign. Meanwhile, Liz Uihlein, Richard Uihlein's wife, has spent $220,000 on behalf of Kleefisch. Nicholson is running as a Republican decades after leading the College Democrats of America as a student at the University of Minnesota, a tie Kleefisch is surely going to highlight in the primary race. He worked for the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party in Minnesota through 2002, according to Federal Election Commission records. Also in the GOP primary race is political newcomer Jonathan Wichmann, who has questioned the need for COVID-19 vaccines and touted an endorsement of Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser to then-President Trump. Madison businessman Eric Hovde is also considering a run. Hovde, who lost a 2012 Senate primary, recently said his decision would not be influenced by whatever Nicholson decided to do. Bill Glauber and Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com and follower her on Twitter at @mollybeck. 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: Kevin Nicholson joins Wisconsin Republican primary for governor Jan. 26State lawmakers on Wednesday failed to override Gov. Janet Mills' veto of a bill that would have allowed farmworkers to form unions. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Thom Harnett, D-Gardiner, would have allowed workers at farms with five or more employees to unionize and collectively bargain wages and working conditions, even if those workers are seasonal or part-time. Harnett referred frequently during a floor debate Wednesday to the closing lines of the Pledge of Allegiance, emphasizing "liberty and justice for all." He pushed back against criticism that the bill would harm small farms in Maine, saying it gives farmworkers the right to discuss pay and working conditions without fear of losing their jobs. "This is not an attack on Maine farms," Harnett said. "These are hardly radical concepts. But the chief executive's veto effectively denies those very rights to farmworkers and keeps in place a system of laws that has historically given those rights to some and not all." Rep. Jeff Evangelos, I-Friendship, said he understands how labor intensive farming is, because he grows his own food. Last May, while working a 10-hour day to prepare for a rainstorm, he ended up in the hospital for dehydration and other injuries. He said he was fortunate to have insurance. "We know that people are going to get sick and hurt doing this kind of work," said Evangelos, who acknowledges that most small farms do the right thing. "There's going to be a lot of good people in Maine, but there's always a few that aren't." Evangelos said farmworkers ought to have say in their working conditions. "I don't see the irreparable harm in allowing people to sit down and talk," Evangelos said. Mills vetoed the bill on Jan. 7, saying it would require many small farms to engage in a complicated and costly process of collective bargaining. She noted how farmers, whose longstanding financial struggles have been exacerbated by the pandemic, are now contending with droughts and soil that may be contaminated with pollutants known as forever chemicals. Story continues "Maine's farms are confronting a series of significant challenges, some of which are longstanding in nature while others have been worsened by the pandemic, but all of which present dire threats to the livelihoods of our farmers," Mills said, noting she generally supports collective bargaining. "While this bill is well-intended, I fear its unintended consequence would discourage the growth of farms in Maine." The Maine AFL-CIO criticized the veto, arguing that the bill would have allowed Maine farmworkers to push back against wage theft, sexual harassment and other abuses they face. Farmworkers, the union said, are barred by law from forming unions and bargaining collectively, a prohibition that the AFL-CIO said is rooted in racism and excludes workers of color from labor protections. "We are greatly dismayed that Gov. Mills vetoed legislation to grant farmworkers the fundamental human right to join together and form unions for fair treatment and a better life," Matt Schlobohm, executive director of the Maine AFL-CIO, said in a statement. "This bill would have advanced racial justice and corrected a long-standing injustice." During the floor debate, several Republicans who own farms or represent farmers, spoke against overriding the veto. Rep. MaryAnn Kinney, R-Knox, said the bill appeared to be aimed at the labor issues that arise in large-scale corporate farms that don't exist in Maine. Kinney described her farm employees as family, with one worker having been there for over 30 years. And she gives them time off when it needed, with few exceptions, she said. Kinney said Maine has a short growing season and farmers can ill-afford to have workers refuse to work on hot days, which is the only time that she can harvest hay. "We can't have them walk away in the middle of putting in that crop," Kinney said. "That would be detrimental to our production. So we need to make sure our farms are protected, and they are. Maine farmers just aren't doing the things this bill was trying to fix. We fixed these problems over the years." CONCERN FOR FARMERS Rep. Randall Hall, R-Wilton, said hundreds of farms have closed in recent years and those that remain are already struggling with rising costs for fuel, livestock feed and fertilizer costs that are passed on to consumers. "It will drive even more farms out of business, increase unemployment and make basic food items unaffordable for families already struggling to put food on the table and heat their homes," he said. The House voted 67-66 in support of overturning the veto well-short of the two-thirds majority needed to force a vote in the Senate. Thursday's session was only the second time lawmakers have met in person this year. All of their committee work is being conducted remotely through video conferencing. Harnett said in an interview that he was "disappointed but not surprised" the veto was sustained. While several opponents argued that farmworkers are already protected under the law, Harnett said that's not the case, saying they're exempt from state minimum wage and overtime laws. Migrant workers, who may struggle with English, are more likely to be exploited and less likely to speak out, he said. "Maine suffers from this delusion that we're different from the rest of the country, that everyone here is good-hearted and a wonderful employer," he said. "Wonderful employers need not be concerned. The reality is you can be fired for talking about the conditions at your workplace and that firing is legal." "This notion that we are somehow different is not only silly, it's dangerous," he said. Secretly and quietly, the Biden administration has continued to use the killing machine crafted by President George W. Bush, expanded by President Barack Obama and employed from time to time by President Donald Trump. These presidents have used drones and other unmanned missiles and projectiles to target persons in foreign countries with which the United States is not at war. They have done this notwithstanding the prohibition of taking life, liberty or property from any person not just any American, but any person in the Constitution each has sworn to uphold, and they have done so pursuant to secret rules that they themselves have established for these killings. Last week, 11 senators and 39 members of the House of Representatives Democrats all to their credit sent a harshly worded letter to President Joseph R. Biden asking him to stop the killings. As of this writing, he has not publicly replied. Here is the backstory. The purpose of the Bill of Rights the first 10 amendments to the Constitution is to protect personal liberty by restraining the government. The Fifth Amendment prohibits killing persons, restraining liberty and taking property without due process; that means a jury trial at which the government must prove fault. Until President Abraham Lincoln waged war on half the country, the operative clause in the Fifth Amendment was understood to prohibit all federal killing without a declaration of war or due process. If the country is at war lawfully and constitutionally declared by Congress obviously the president can use the U.S. military to kill the military of the opposing country. And if an attack on the U.S. is imminent, the president can strike the first blow against the military of the entity whose attack is just about to occur. There are no other constitutional circumstances under which a president may kill. All this changed culturally, not constitutionally when President Harry Truman targeted Japanese civilians in Japan as the Japanese government was within days of surrendering in World War II. Truman was, of course, not the first American president to target civilians, as Lincoln criminally targeted American civilians during the War between the States. Story continues Relatives and neighbors of the Ahmadi family gathered around the incinerated husk of a vehicle that the family says was hit by a U.S. drone strike, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/TNS) Notwithstanding his unprosecuted war crimes, and with the government's version of Pearl Harbor still fresh in many Americans' minds, Truman was regarded as heroic for ordering the profoundly immoral, militarily useless, criminal mass killings against the hated Japanese using atomic bombs. Fast-forward to the 9/11 era, and Bush had precedent to begin his own presidential killings of people the government wanted Americans to hate. While Congress did authorize him to use force against those who caused or aided the 9/11 attacks, we all know that his thirst for Middle Eastern blood knew no regard for the Constitution, evidence, proportionality, civilian lives, morality or human decency. Julian Assange sits in a British dungeon awaiting decisions on his extradition to the U.S. because he courageously, lawfully and constitutionally published documents and videos demonstrating conclusively that Bush's use of drones targeted and murdered Afghan and Iraqi civilians, and his administration covered it up. Obama took this to another level when he targeted and killed Anwar al-Awlaki and his 16-year-old son, both of whom were born in the U.S. Obama's attorney general, Eric Holder, advised Obama that the killings were lawful, as al-Awlaki had encouraged folks in the Middle East to fight against American soldiers there. Holder likened killing al-Awlaki to a shooting at a bank robber who is being chased by police and shooting at them. Holder forgot that al-Awlaki was not charged or indicted for any crime, was never accused of violence and was not even the subject of an arrest warrant when a drone evaporated him while sitting at an outdoor cafe in Yemen. The exercise of power by the federal government is largely based on precedent and politics. Whenever a president wants to kill secretly, he need only find an example of a predecessor having killed secretly with impunity without due process, without a declaration of war and without an imminent attack. And then he needs only to calculate what he thinks he can politically get away with. Afghans inspect damage after a U.S. drone strike in Kabul, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021 in the final days of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Pentagon had said the drone strike hit an Islamic State target. But this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged on Capitol Hill he did not know if the man targeted in the strike was an IS operative or an aid worker and said the matter was under review. Stated differently, Joe Biden whose drones in 2021 targeted innocent civilians in Afghanistan, killing dozens is using unlawful powers that his modern predecessors used and got away with to target and kill unsympathetic persons. The nature of political power is to expand so that it fills a perceived need, unless there are mechanisms in place to restrain its expansion. The founding generation believed that British monarchs had no limits on their power and that was a good enough reason for the 13 colonies to secede. They also believed that they had crafted founding documents the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for the new nation that imposed sufficient restraints on the federal government. After all, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Its language is clear that only Congress writes laws and declares war, and presidents can kill only troops in wartime or civilians consistent with due process. Andrew P. Napolitano Moreover, every president takes an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as it was written, not as they may wish it to be. Sadly, the Founders were wrong. Today, the president writes laws and rules that let him restrain personal liberty and kill with impunity, and Congress and the American people let him get away with it. Formally, we still have a Constitution. Functionally, it has utterly failed to restrain the government. Ultimately, we have ourselves to blame for these killings. Why do we repose the Constitution for safekeeping into the hands of those who subvert it? If a future president uses Bush's lust and Obama's logic and Biden's stealth to kill Americans in America, no one's life, liberty or property will be secure. Andrew P. Napolitano, a former New Jersey Superior Court Judge, has published nine books on the U.S. Constitution. This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Andrew P. Napolitano: More presidential killings defy Constitution Join me in damning to hell Barry Levinsons 1997 black comedy Wag the Dog, but not because its a bad movie. To the contrary, its inventive, entertaining and eminently rewatchable. It deserves our damnation because its addled our brains with the alluring wag the dog meme. In the movie, the president boosts his droopy approval ratings by, among other things, concocting a foreign conflict. Since the movies release, practically anytime a national leader needs to improve his ratings, critics are quick to accuse him of devising military action to divert the publics attention from his problems. Hes said to be wagging the dog, that is, using the small part to move the big part. Today, both Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin face charges of dog-wagging. Biden, whose approval ratings have cellared, is getting it from the hard right of the Federalist and Michael Savage. They fear he is scheming to rally the country around him by threatening Putin with military and diplomatic retaliation over Ukraine. Putin is using wag-the-dog politics in Ukraine, says New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, to take his countrymens eyes off Russias economic stagnation. Thats a kennel full of wagging! Its also completely implausible that the two presidents have decided to square off over Ukraine to increase their popularity. World politics are too unpredictable and too dangerous for a leader to saber-rattle and wage war just to improve their approval ratings. Life is not the movies, even though it should be. Wag the Dog was a terrific film, but its explanatory power over geopolitics is close to zero. Recent presidents have gotten little in the way of a popularity kick from their foreign interventions, so please stop invoking it. Thats not an absolute position. If Biden were, say, making noises about invading Grenada again or toppling Panama, it might make sense to say that hes wagging the dog. But you dont have to understand game theory on the level of a John von Neumann to appreciate the foolishness of Biden confronting Russia over Ukraine and maybe igniting World War III in the process, just to ascend a few rungs in the Gallup Poll. Likewise, Putins willingness to cause trouble to distract Russia is huge. But in the case of Ukraine, preparing for war as a publicity stunt makes no sense. A simpler explanationtrafficked by professional Russia watchers, that Putins Ukraine encroachment is about restoring the Russian empiresuffices. Who needs the dog? Biden isnt the only contemporary president to be reproached for allegedly wagging the dog. President Bill Clinton got the wag-the-dog scolding from several corners when he launched a missile strike (unsuccessful) on Osama bin Laden in August 1998, said by some to distract the public from his sex scandal. President Donald Trump got it from Senator Elizabeth Warren and others in January 2020 when he had Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani killed. But these theories dont hold up. Clintons approval ratings were high to begin with in 1998, ranging from 59 percent approval to 73 percent, and the strike made no real ripple. Trumps ratings were low at the time and though they inched up a few points after the strike, there was no lasting effect. Ronald Reagan got almost nothing for his Grenada intervention and George H.W. Bush, already riding high in the polls got only a temporary boost for his Panama adventurism. George W. Bushs solid approval ratings of 55 percent soared after 9/11, but that definitionally didnt qualify as wagging-the-dog. Story continues Even if presidents could establish that wagging the dog made political sense in the short term, its not apparent that the practice makes sense in the long run. The public tires of war. It tired of Afghanistan, Iran, Vietnam and Korea, where military adventurism became a political liability. The only long-term war that enjoyed longitudinal support in the United States during the past century was World War II, and that was not an elective military operation. We were attacked. There are a thousand less-fraught schemes that Biden could attempt short of warring on Putin that would improve his Gallup Poll performance. Could Biden even muster national support for a war with Russia, given our wariness of foreign interventions after the Afghanistan and Iraq debacles? Is there anybody left alive in the country who despises Russia the way we did when it was our Cold War Enemy No. 1? The right wing alone, led by Tucker Carlson and Trump, has done plenty to rehabilitate Russias reputation, meaning a plurality of Americans probably wouldnt respond well to a Biden-sponsored military gambit there. But what of Putin? In 2018, Washington Post reporter Adam Taylor reviewed the history of Putins popularity and political provocations to determine if he had succeeded in translating belligerence into higher ratings. Taylor found that Putin got a little bump in 2008 after invading Georgia but discounts it; Putins number was high before the invasion, and post-invasion his numbers fell hard. But in 2014, as Putin seized Crimea, he got a 20-percentage-point lift. But in the eight years since the Crimea annexation, Putins numbers have returned to their previous levels. Its guesswork predicting how a Ukraine invasion might affect his numbers, especially if Ukraine resists. Will it be a replay of Georgia or Crimea? Finally, if poll numbers inform Bidens Ukraine strategy, he has recruited some very strange political partners in his Russia resistance. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has lined up on the presidents side, approving the administrations plan to send Ukraine weapons and the deployment of NATO troops. It appears to me that the administration is moving in the right direction, McConnell said Tuesday. If you believe that Biden is really wagging the dog in Ukraine, you will now have to also believe that he has transformed the obstructionist McConnell into his political lap dog. Fat chance of either. ****** I Wanna Be Your Dogremains the Stooges greatest hit. Roll over and send canine news to Shafer.Politico@gmail.com. My email alerts preach peace in our time. My Twitter feed plugs for peace with honor. The motto painted on the fuselage of my RSS feed A-10 Warthog is Small Wars and Demolitions. Photo credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY - Getty Images You may not be familiar with the name Anna Sorokin, but you'll likely know her alter ego: Anna Delvey, the fraudulent, self-styled German 'heiress' whose true story inspired the new Netflix show, Inventing Anna. The programme, starring Ozark's Julia Garner, details how Anna led a jet set lifestyle while claiming to be a wealthy socialite with dreams of starting an art foundation, and conned friends, businesses and banks out of hundreds of thousands of pounds in the process. She chartered private jets, stayed in some of the plushest hotels imaginable and regularly indulged in designer labels and fine dining. But what is the real story behind Anna's web of lies? How accurate (and true to life) is Inventing Anna? And where is Anna Delvey/Sorokin now, after being ordered to serve jail time having been found guilty of grand larceny and theft of services? Who is Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin)? Anna Delvey is the fictional name used by Anna Sorokin, a Russian-born woman who moved to Germany with her family at the age of 16. She came from a modest background, with her father working as a truck driver and her mother as a homemaker (having previously owned a small shop). It's reported that Anna has one much younger brother, who close former friends have described as being one of her emotional 'weak spots' despite their ten-year-plus age gap. After dropping out of her degree in London's Central Saint Martin's art and design college, Anna moved to Paris in 2013 and undertook an internship at Purple magazine, which is when she began adopting the surname Delvey, over her real one, Sorokin. Her parents have since said on record they're unsure why she chose the name Delvey, whereas Anna has previously claimed it to be her mother's maiden name. Photo credit: TIMOTHY A. CLARY During the summer of 2013, in her early twenties, Anna spent time in New York and quickly embedded herself in the artistic social scene there, befriending art collector Michael Xufu Huang, who told her of his plans to open a private museum. Anna asked to accompany Huang to an exhibition in Italy and promised she would pay back the cost of flights and a hotel stay at a later date, which Huang said only materialised much later on [he was eventually wired money from an unfamiliar account]. Story continues He says he grew even more suspicious of his 'friend' Anna after attending her birthday dinner and receiving a call from the restaurant asking for her details, as the card numbers she'd given had bounced. This pattern of behaviour from Anna continued and wasn't limited to just Huang either; she also befriended former Vanity Fair photography editor Rachel DeLoache Williams, who claims she was conned out of her life savings during a trip to Marrakech, Morocco, when the hotel Anna had booked them into (for an 'all expenses paid' trip) demanded payment and Anna said she was having trouble obtaining money from her trust fund. DeLoache Williams later wrote a book detailing her experience, My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress, and says she was put on the spot to pay and maximised a large overdraft to do so. It wasn't only friends that Anna scammed either, the then-twenty-something woman also duped banks into loaning her hundreds of thousands of dollars, after forging paperwork to make it appear as though she genuinely did have an overseas trust fund worth around $60 million. She also managed to convince a private jet company to allow her to charter a plane which she later couldn't pay for and was reported to the police over and had a habit of moving from five-star hotel to five-star hotel, paying the bills only when pressed (with money obtained by depositing fraudulent cheques). Photo credit: Dave Kotinsky - Getty Images Following multiple police tip-offs and an expose published by The Cut, Anna's double-life eventually caught up with her and she was arrested following a set-up dinner with former friend DeLoache Williams. She appeared in court in the spring of 2019 (allegedly hiring a stylist to beautify her beforehand), where she was found guilty of grand larceny and theft of services, and sentenced to between four and 12 years in prison, but only served three. At her sentencing she said, "I apologise for the mistakes I made." Later, she told journalists [via The New York Times] that she had no regrets over her actions and even stressed that given the chance of a do-over, she'd make the same decisions again. "The thing is, Im not sorry. Id be lying to you and to everyone else and to myself if I said I was sorry for anything. I regret the way I went about certain things." She later added during an interview with the BBC's Emily Maitlis. "[Others] portrayed me as someone very manipulative, which I don't think I am. I was never too nice of a person. I was never trying to talk my way into anything. I just told people what I wanted and they [either] gave it to me, or I would move on." She also said she "didn't ask" Netflix to buy in her story, but quipped that she guesses 'crime does pay' after all. Where is Anna Delvey now? Is she still in jail? Anna was released from prison on 11 February 2021, after serving just three years of her four-to-twelve-year sentence and she appeared to quickly go back to her old ways of luxury, checking into NoMad, a swanky NY hotel, using the money she obtained from Netflix in exchange for the rights to her story (the streaming service allegedly paid Anna 230,000 a portion of which went to repaying her bank debts and victims). It's also believed that she used her newly-obtained income to hire a film crew to follow her around and document her early days of readapting into society, saying during an Insider interview, "I did what I did. And I was, I don't know, 23, 24, 25. I'm just trying to fix things and move on [...] I'm just kind of filming everything Im doing right now and Im going to see what to do with it later. I just got out of prison, like two days ago. So it's me like getting all this stuff from Sephora, me opening a bank account as soon as I get permission from my parole officer." Just a month after her release, in late March 2021, Anna was taken into ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody for overstaying her visa in the US. It was later claimed by The New York Post that she was being detained at a facility in New Jersey. But on Monday, 14th March 2022, two sources told Insider that Anna was set to be deported to Germany that evening. Manny Arora, one of Sorokin's lawyers, explained to Insider that she is still within a 30-day period in which she can appeal the decision. Arora said it is "not legally appropriate" for her to be deported before March 17 and that a paperwork error may have occurred, but "in the end, [ICE] can do whatever they want." Arora told NBC, "I haven't heard from Miss Sorokin this afternoon, and so I am working under the presumption that she is being deported." Does Anna Delvey have Instagram? Yes, Anna Sorokin's Instagram account @theannadelvey is still active, although her posts are infrequent. She most recently uploaded a clip from a podcast appearance, and press clips about Inventing Anna. Previous posts also include a black and white image of her curled up on the back seat of a vehicle, possibly taken shortly after leaving jail, along with the words "30 days out, over this shit already". Anna has also shared screenshots of articles written about her, complete with scathing captions, and selfies, sometimes using animal filters. Her social media profile also still bears evidence of her previous glitzy life, showing Anna partying around the world, staying in plush hotel rooms and wearing designer outfits. The convicted scammer also has a Twitter account and on the day of her release from jail in February, she tweeted saying, "Someone from Fortress Investment Group I need $720m by the end of next week, DM me" clearly indicating that she has little desire to change the public's preconception of her. She has not tweeted since March of last year. Read more about Anna and Rachel's friendship in My Friend Anna (out now): You Might Also Like You are the owner of this article. Authorities have exhumed the remains of a woman found in the Lower Yakima Valley in 1988 to obtain her DNA in hopes of identifying her and ret Ricky Heater, right, helps his son Samuel, 6, swab the inside of his nose while his daughter Isabella, 5, eats a lollipop after testing for COVID-19 at the Yakima Valley College site in Yakima, Wash. on Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. Video showing Selah City Administrator Don Wayman removing signs put on South First Street in Selah by Selah Alliance For Equality members on Submit An Obituary 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. Go to form Russia has created a crisis by deploying more than 100,000 troops on Ukraines eastern, northern and southern borders. Talks to defuse the tension have included multiple Russian demands, including that NATO forces retreat to mid-1990s status before eastern expansion of the alliance. Not only is that a nonstarter with allied leaders, but the opposite could and should happen, with several countries considering bolstering forces in Poland, the Baltics and elsewhere. Among these nations are the United States, which on Monday put 8,500 troops on alert that they may soon be quickly deployed to Eastern Europe, with some of them perhaps part of a special 40,000 multinational-member unit called the NATO Response Force. Other members are also taking action, including sending naval vessels and aircraft. President Joe Biden has already stated that no American forces would be sent to Ukraine, which is not a member of the alliance. So no U.S. troops would directly fight any Russian troops if they invade Ukraine and attempt to build on its 2014 illegal cleaving of Crimea and backing of a separatist movement in eastern portions of the country. Instead, this would be a defensive deployment, meant to shore up nations that could be the next target of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. and NATO not only have every right, but the responsibility, to prepare for further Russian aggression. Indeed, doing so lowers the likelihood of such an escalation. Were not talking about fighting in Ukraine against Russian forces, were talking about strengthening our NATO allies who were pledged to defend, John E. Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, told an editorial writer. Herbst, now the senior director of the Atlantic Councils Eurasia Center, added that putting more forces there reduces the risk of Moscow attacking our Baltic, our Polish, our Romanian allies. And it also demonstrates to the Kremlin that their aggression in Ukraine weakens their geopolitical position. Thats the trap that Putin, ever the aggressor, may create revitalizing NATO, which former President Donald Trump once labeled obsolete but now seems more important than ever. To be sure, there still are divisions within the alliance, on its direction generally and its Ukraine policy in particular, but for the most part there has been appropriate alacrity and necessary cohesion on responding to this latest crisis of Russian revanchism. Theres also been U.S. and European unanimity on diplomacy as the best method out of this crisis. Efforts at defusing the tensions and giving Putin an off-ramp should continue. But when as expected the Biden administration gives a written response to Russian demands later this week, it should not yield on the sovereign right of countries like Ukraine and Georgia to join the alliance, or for eastern members to have a substantial NATO presence. Putin himself is making the justifications more obvious by the day with his threat to Ukraine and by reasserting of influence in Belarus and Kazakhstan, whose authoritarian leaders both turned to him to help crush legitimate dissent. Troop deployments arent the only methods being pursued. The administration has laid out three elements to responding to the criminal buildup; all are good, said Herbst. One, serious sanctions; two, weapons to Ukraine; and three, the buildup of NATO in the east. The Kremlin absurdly blames the West for the tensions. But its protective, not provocative, to prepare, and such prudent measures should actually reduce the risk of U.S. troops ever engaging with Russian ones. American strength leads to American peace, Herbst said, reflecting a sentiment that should guide the Biden administrations measured response to this Russian-made crisis. A student walks to class on the campus of Gogebic Community College in Ironwood as snow falls Thursday morning. The region was at 95.8 inches of snow, measured at 7 a.m. Thursday, before the morning's snow quall began. IRONWOOD - The Gogebic Community College Board of Trustees heard Tuesday a report from six students that attended the National Council on Student Leadership through the college's TRiO Student Support Services program in Orlando, Florida, this past November. The participants included Alyssa Knight, Amber Dwyer, Brianne Bastman, Emaleah Niemi, Corrin Kelly and Adelya Maxinoski. They were chosen to go through an essay competition. "The essay winners each wrote compelling pieces on the qualities and characteristics of great leaders," according to a release from the college. TRiO Director Jessica Leinon-Novascone and Career Counselor Jackie Franzoi accompanied the students on the trip. The board also heard a marketing update from Director of Admissions, Marketing and Community Relations Kim Zeckovich and Marketing Strategist Kari Klemme. They told the board about a continuing contract the college has with Interact Communications, a marketing firm in La Crosse, Wisconsin, which assists with video production, photography and some graphic design. "A team from Interact came on site in late September to capture over 500 photographs to be used in our marketing materials and took video footage for two new commercials that will soon be airing and streaming both locally and regionally on TV and mobile devices," said Zeckovich. The board also heard that a billboard on U.S. 2 near Jackson Road in Ironwood Township will be updated to feature the Ski Area Management program. The college continues to utilize other billboards in central Wisconsin and Minnesota near the Twin Cities. Klemme presented comparison data of the college's social media reach within a three-month period from August to December 2021. Facebook reach has increased by 89% with a 32% increase in Instagram. The college continues to use other social media outlets to market various programs to a wide range of audiences, Klemme said. The board also heard the marketing department is working on the redesign of the website, a new mascot image for the Samsons, along with continually exploring new opportunities to create awareness of college programs and increase enrollment. Kelly Marczak, director of the GCC Foundation, also provided an update. "The annual fund drive is going well. Compared to this time last year, we're up about $10,000 and have received $68,700 in unrestricted and restricted funds," said Marczak. Marczak mentioned that instructor Maria Sokol has joined the Foundation Board of Directors as the faculty representative. Two new annual scholarships have been established - the Philip "Bud" and Angeline Nelson Scholarship and the Dean Pearson Memorial Scholarship. Also, a new endowed scholarship was established by Ashland Industries in memory of Bob Eder. The foundation recently sponsored prizes for students entering the creative writing contest through the statewide Liberals Arts Network for Development, according to Marczak. "Two of our students went on to win prizes at the state level - Micaela Camp, of Calumet, won first place in the creative nonfiction category and Charlotte Jones, of Chassell, won second place in poetry. Special thanks were given to Cynthia Brandon-Slocum, English instructor, for spearheading the writing contest for the students," said Marczak. The trustees approved the resignation of Ashley Paquette, director of Human Resources, effective Feb. 4. "Paquette has been employed at GCC for over 10 years and has provided exemplary service during her tenure," said college president George McNulty. The board wished Paquette well in her future endeavors and extended their gratitude for her service to GCC. The college will seek a full-time replacement for this position immediately, said the release. The board holds its regular monthly meetings on the last Tuesday of the month, but has moved the meeting time from 6:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. It meets in the upper level of the Lindquist Student and Conference Center on the Ironwood campus. The July and December meetings will be earlier in the month to avoid holidays and scheduling conflicts. In other action, the board approved: -the amended contract with RNA Janitorial Services. -Forslund Building Supply for the materials for the building trades home. -the Spring 2022 adjunct faculty list. -Daily Globe By ZACHARY MARANO [email protected] BESSEMER Erin Ross, a 4-H supervisor from Michigan State University Extension-Gogebic County, attended the Gogebic County Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday to request $76,000 of the 2021-2022 budget allocation for their programs, which led to criticism from some committee members about the offices services. Chair Jim Lorenson said the board said $68,000 would be enough. He said that he was not opposed to allocating this amount, but he wants the Gogebic County office to show them the programs that are being offered, how they can be exp... 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. YORK -- York College History Professor Dr. Tim McNeeses new book includes something old and something new. Titled Time in the Wilderness: The Formative Years of John Black Jack Pershing in the American West, the biography was released in December through the University of Nebraska Presss Potomac Books imprint. It is not McNeeses first time writing about the U.S. army general who led American forces during World War I. Back in the early 2000s, I wrote a short biography of Pershing for younger readers, explains McNeese, now in his 30th year of teaching at York College. Then, in 2015, I was included as an on-screen historian for a film documentary on Pershing produced by Professor Barney McCoy at UNL. That relit my interest in returning to a fuller study of Pershings life a few years later, which resulted in this new book. The book covers the first full-length biography of General Pershings life published in more than 40 years, but with one purposeful limitation. McNeese focuses on Pershings military service, not in the European theater during the Great War, but rather on the 30 years he spent as a cavalry officer prior to the war, years the history professor considers crucial in forming Pershing into the commander he would one day need to become to lead two million men in European combat, the largest number of U.S. servicemen in uniform to that date. I cut off my study short of Pershings World War I experiences for a reason, says McNeese. There are dozens of books that focus on Pershing during the war. That is a base completely covered. But there are few books that deal with the years he spent as a young cavalry officer in the American West, and I believe those years represent a crucial cauldron of preparation for Pershing. McNeese first presented the concept for his book to the UNL Press editors nearly three years ago. It was actually my wife, Bev, who suggested I approach the university press with the idea, says McNeese. After months of contact with the Nebraska publisher, McNeese finally received the green light for the project. He says he wrote the book largely during the first six months of 2020, just about the time COVID hit. Work on the manuscript continued through the summer as McNeese gained access to research archives that were initially closed to him due to COVID. By the fall of 2020, the work went into production and was released finally in December of last year. Publishing something of this length and level can take a long time to turn around, says McNeese. If youre an impatient person, writing and publishing may not be for you. The result is a 400-plus page book, the longest McNeese has written, one spanning Pershings life from his birth through his leadership of the Punitive Expedition against the Mexican pistolero Pancho Villa in 1916. The story of Pershing forms a sort of American western. Born in northern Missouri in 1860, Pershing had childhood memories of the Civil War, including a guerrilla raid on his home town of Laclede. He graduated from West Point in 1886 and was then assigned to the first of many posts out west at a time with the frontier was not yet completely closed. Over the next several years, he was a cavalry officer in New Mexico, South Dakota and Montana, dealing with Native Americans from the Apache to the Lakota. In the midst of those years he also came to Nebraska where he served as commandant of the cadet program think todays ROTC at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Pershing came to identify himself as a Nebraska man over time, says McNeese. He served at the university from 1891 through 1895 and managed to turn around a lackluster program on campus. The cadet program gained national recognition through Pershings efforts. And through those years, he was the darling of the university. His family moved to Lincoln in time, and he eventually bought a house in the Nebraska capital for his two grown sisters who lived there for many years. Pershing visited Lincoln on many occasions through the decades. A part of his story is a Nebraska story. Today, Pershing is a member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame, along with Buffalo Bill Cody and Willa Cather, both of whom Pershing knew. Pershings western experiences continued following his service in the Spanish-American War and several prolonged assignments in the Philippines, an American acquisition following the defeat of the Spanish. McNeese considers these activities yet another extension of his western service, as the Philippines became a new frontier for Americans. Whether serving in the American West or the Philippines, Pershing dealt with many different indigenous peoples, says McNeese. And his experiences with American Indians helped set his strategies for working with the native peoples of the Philippines. During these decades of military service, Pershing managed to find love, marry and have four children. Tragically, his wife and three daughters died in a fire at the Presidio in San Francisco in 1915 while Pershing was stationed in Texas guarding the U.S. border against raiders. When Pershing was chasing Villa across northern Mexico on the Punitive Expedition, says McNeese, he was struggling with the recent loss of four members of his family. Only his young son survived the fire out in California. It represented a personal tragedy from which he never fully recovered. McNeese says his study of Pershing provided him many new insights into this historical figure whom many know so little about. His relationship with his wife, Frankie, who was 20 years younger, is a passionate story in itself, the YC historian notes. McNeeses new book can be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites as well as through the Potomac Books website. He has written many other previous books over the years and appeared on television programs on the History Channel, the American Heroes Channel, and Discoverys CuriosityStream. The YC professor has already completed his next book which is now in process of publication. This work is being published by Two Dot Books, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield and focuses on another American figure whose story is largely unknown. Titled William Henry Jacksons Lens: How Yellowstones Famous Photographer Captured the American West, the book is a biography of the nineteenth century photographer who took the first photos of several places in the American West, including Yellowstone, the Tetons, Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon and Colorados Mount of the Holy Cross. The book is slated for publication in late 2022 or early 2023. Were on the cusp of a historic moment in America. After 49 years, the Supreme Court is set to revisit the infamous Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973. This year, they have an opportunity to undo one of the worst decisions ever made by our nations highest court. The National Right to Life Committee estimates that over 63 million abortions have taken place in America since Roe v. Wade. Thats more than 50 times the number of Americans who have died in all U.S. wars combined. The sheer number of unborn babies whove lost their lives through abortion is staggering. As a nation, we must put an end to the lie that one persons so-called right to privacy trumps the right of another to live. Nebraska is a pro-life state. State law declares the will of the people of the State of Nebraska and the members of the Legislature to provide protection for the life of the unborn child whenever possible. We are always looking for ways to cultivate greater respect for the dignity of unborn human life. Nebraskans consistently speak out and stand up in defense of the unborn. Each January, thousands of pro-life supporters gather on the steps of the Nebraska State Capitolregardless of the weatherfor the annual Walk for Life. Churches hold vigils to pray for the protection of unborn children. Every October, Nebraskans peacefully demonstrate their support for human dignity by forming a Life Chain on sidewalks of main streets. Nebraskans show their pro-life convictions on license plates and roadside signs. They volunteer time at crisis pregnancy centers to serve expectant mothers. They generously give to help new parents prepare to welcome a child into their home. Nebraskans do all this, and more, because we recognize that the right to life is one of the most basic truths. Theres a reason its the first right affirmed in the Declaration of Independence. Over the years, weve enacted pro-life policies in Nebraska to protect the sacredness of life from the moment it begins. In 2002 and 2004, Lt. Governor Mike Foley, a state senator at the time, helped enact laws making fetal homicide and fetal assault crimes. In 2010, then-Speaker Mike Flood of Norfolk successfully championed a bill to make Nebraska the first state in the nation to ban abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. In 2011, Senator Lydia Brasch of Bancroft led efforts to require parental consent before a minor receives an abortion. During my time in office, weve continued to affirm the dignity of life. In 2017, Senator Joni Albrecht championed the Compassionate Care for Medically Challenging Pregnancies Act. It ensures that doctors equip women with information on perinatal hospice care after an unborn child is diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly. This gives mothers and their families immediate awareness of resources to help them cope with this heartbreaking challenge. In 2018, the Legislature approved another bill sponsored by Senator Albrecht to provide commemorative certificates to mothers who miscarry. It affirms the dignity of life and humanely acknowledges the loss that a mother undergoes through miscarriage. In 2019, Senator Albrecht successfully secured passage of a bill to bolster the states informed consent protections. It requires doctors to direct women to information on how to reverse the abortion pill when the drug is prescribed. In 2020, Senator Geist put forward LB 814 to end the barbaric practice of dismemberment abortion in Nebraska. In 2021, State Senators worked together to pass a new tax credit for families who have a stillborn baby to help offset medical bills, burial expenses, and costs of preparing for the babys arrival. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, it would likely restore authority to the 50 states to decide how to regulate abortion. This means our state senators have important work to do to prepare for the possibility of the Court doing away with Roe v. Wade. There are three main bills in the Legislature this session to limit abortion: LB 933: Senators Joni Albrecht and Mike Flood have introduced the Nebraska Human Life Protection Act. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, it would criminalize the performance of abortion procedures in Nebraska. LB 781: Senator Julie Slama is sponsoring the Heartbeat Act. It requires a physician to perform an ultrasound prior to performing an abortion. If a heartbeat is detected, the bill would make it unlawful for a physician to perform an abortion. LB 1086: Senator Suzanne Geist has put forward the Chemical Abortion Safety Protocol Act. It requires abortion-inducing drugs to be provided by a physician. It prohibits physicians from providing any abortion-inducing drug to a woman whose pregnancy is more than forty-nine days of gestational age. As these bills are debated, I ask that you encourage your state senator to protect the unborn. You can find their contact information at www.NebraskaLegislature.gov. Each life is a precious gift from God. This year, we could see a new birth of freedom in America if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Whatever happens in federal court, lets work to give every baby boy and girl in Nebraska the opportunity to live the Good Life. If youd like to learn more about the pro-life policies of my administration, please write me at pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or call 402-471-2244. The Indian government is likely to hand over Air India to the Tata Group on January 27, nearly 69 years after it was taken from the conglomerate. As per sources, Air India flights will not be flying under the banner of the Tata Group from today itself. The Tata Group has taken its first step at Air India by introducing "enhanced meal service" in four flights that will operate from Mumbai on January 27, officials said. The "enhanced meal service" will be provided on four flights - AI864 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI687 (Mumbai-Delhi), AI945 (Mumbai-Abu Dhabi), and AI639 (Mumbai-Bengaluru) - on January 27. The "enhanced meal service" will be served on the Mumbai-Newark flight and five Mumbai-Delhi flights on Friday, they noted. The meal service - devised by the Tata Group officials - will be expanded to more flights in a staggered and phased manner, the officials added. Read also: Airbus Beluga can now be leased by private companies for big cargo missions, read to know more! The Indian government is likely to hand over Air India to the Tata Group nearly 69 years after it was taken from the conglomerate. After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited - a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company - for Rs 18,000 crore. The officials said the new date from which all Air India flights will fly under "Tata Group's banner or aegis" will be told to the employees later. Three days after Air India's sale was announced on October 8 last year, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was issued to the Tata Group confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 percent stake in the airline. On October 25, the Centre signed the share purchase agreement (SPA) for this deal. Officials said all the formalities for handover are close to completion. As a part of the deal, the Tata group will also be handed over Air India Express and a 50 percent stake in ground handling arm Air India SATS. Tata had on October 8 beat the Rs 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore set by the government for the sale of its 100 percent stake in the loss-making carrier. While this will be the Centre's first privatization since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tatas' stable as it holds a majority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd. With inputs from PTI Live TV #mute The Indian government handed over Air India to the Tata Group on January 27, nearly 69 years after it was taken from the conglomerate. The Chairman of Tata Group N. Chandrasekaran was in the national capital to meet key Central government officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the formal handing over ceremony. Notably, the process entailed the constitution of a new Air India Board with Tata nominees. Also read: Air India handed over to Tata Group, Maharaja comes home after 69 years Air India's sale to Tata Group was announced on October 8 last year and a Letter of Intent (LoI) was issued to the Tata Group confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 percent stake in the airline. On October 25, the Centre signed the share purchase agreement (SPA) for this deal. Joyous Ratan Tata, on October 8, shared his views on Twitter stating 'Welcome Back, Air India'. Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (JRD) Tata founded the airline in 1932 and it was called Tata Airlines then. In 1946, the aviation division of Tata Sons was listed as Air India. In the same year, the airline adopts its widely recognised 'Maharaja' mascot. In 1948, Air India International was launched with flights to Europe. Welcome back, Air India pic.twitter.com/euIREDIzkV Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) October 8, 2021 The international service was among the first public-private partnerships in India, with the government holding 49 per cent, the Tatas keeping 25 per cent and the public owning the rest. In 1953, Air India was nationalised and was split into two - a domestic airline and an international carrier. When the Jawaharlal Nehru nationalised Air India, JRD fought vehemently against it. "It is said that Tata group executives used to complain in private that JRD -- the pioneer of the Indian aviation industry -- spent more time worrying about Air India than the Tata group when he was heading both the entities. Nevertheless, they also knew heading Air India as Chairman was never just a job but was a labour of love to him," PTI reported on the founder's passion for Air India. "Considering the respect for legacy that the group has, it is therefore not a surprise that the Tatas shelled out so much (Rs 18,000 crore) to take back Air India. This is a group that didn't mind investing Rs 2 lakh back then in 1932 to start Tata Aviation Service, the precursor of Tata Airlines and Air India. From the first airmail service flight from Karachi to Bombay in October 1932 with JRD steering a Puss Moth aircraft to wresting control of Air India 89 years later, the conglomerate has had a roller coaster ride in the Indian civil aviation history," writes the news agency. With inputs from agencies New Delhi: Making his country proud at the global level, Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri feels honoured and privileged that his highly-anticipated movie The Kashmir Files has become the first one to dominate the prestigious Times Square tower in New York on the auspicious occasion of Indias Republic Day. Sharing this news on social media, proud filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri tweeted, HISTORIC. #TheKashmirFiles at Times Square, Manhattan. A matter of honour and pride as for the first time any film has been advertised at the worlds most expensive site by the fans and supporters led by @kp_global. HISTORIC.#TheKashmirFiles at Times Square, Manhattan. A matter of honour & pride as for the first time any film has been advertised at the worlds most expensive site by the fans & supporters led by @kp_global pic.twitter.com/cte7vsJ1jd Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) January 27, 2022 Vivek informs, The film was supposed to release on 26th January on Republic Day but it got postponed because of Covid. But the fans and supporters of this film decided that they must advertise it on Times Square Worlds most expensive and prestigious advertising site and they raised their own funds and did it, led by global Kashmiri pandits diaspora. Its a matter of honour and pride for India and every single Indian because the issue of Kashmir genocide is now being mainstreamed just by the fans and supporters. Both Vivek and his actor wife Pallavi Joshi were stationed in the USA for over a month-long schedule for the special screenings of The Kashmir Files across different cities. From being a part of The Peace March (that started from Mahatma Gandhi statue to Martin Luthers memorial) to delivering impactful speeches at various prestigious institutes across the USA, Vivek and Pallavi are elated about the humongous and heartfelt response coming their way during the movie screenings. After garnering praises for his last critically-acclaimed film The Tashkent Files that went on to win the prestigious National Award beginning this year, Zee Studios and writer-director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri have collaborated again to present yet another hard-hitting film, The Kashmir Files. Living up to its title, The Kashmir Files is a true story, based on video interviews of the first generation victims of The Kashmir Genocide of Kashmiri Pandit Community. Its a heart-wrenching narrative of the pain, suffering, struggle and trauma of Kashmiri pandits and questions eye-opening facts about democracy, religion, politics and humanity. Written and directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, the exodus drama features a stellar cast of actors including Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Darshan Kumaar, Pallavi Joshi and Chinmay Mandlekar. Produced by Zee Studios and Tej Narayan Agarwal, Abhishek Agarwal, Pallavi Joshi and Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, The Kashmir Files is written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri. New Delhi: Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Thursday reported a two-fold jump in standalone net profit to Rs 1,126.78 crore for the third quarter ended December, as bad loans marginally declined. The country's second-largest public sector lender had earned a net profit of Rs 506.03 crore in the year-ago period. However, total income during October-December 2021 declined to Rs 22,026.02 crore as against Rs 23,298.53 crore a year ago, PNB said in a regulatory filing. On the asset quality front, the bank witnessed slight improvement by cutting its gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances to 12.88 per cent from 12.99 per cent by the same period a year ago. In absolute value, gross NPAs stood at Rs 97,258.67 crore by the end of December 2021 as against Rs 94,479.33 crore by the year-ago same period. However, the net NPA ratio rose to 4.90 per cent (Rs 33,878.56 crore) from 4.03 per cent (Rs 26,598.13 crore). The provisions other than tax and contingencies declined to Rs 3,353.55 crore from the year-ago period's Rs 5,175.99 crore. The capital-to-risk weighted assets ratio (CRAR) as per Basel-III rose to 14.91 per cent at the end of the December 2021 quarter. Out of this, CET-I stood at 10.99 per cent. On a consolidated basis, the bank recorded a profit of Rs 1,150.49 crore during the latest quarter as against a profit of Rs 585.77 crore in the same quarter a year ago. The total income on a consolidated basis declined to Rs 22,275.40 crore, from Rs 23,639.41 crore in the October-December quarter of the previous fiscal. The consolidated financial results of the Group include financial results of five subsidiaries and 15 associates, it said. The lender further said the situation continues to be uncertain due to new coronavirus variants and the bank is evaluating the situation on an ongoing basis. "The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the bank's results will depend on future developments. Also Read: Budget 2022 Halwa Ceremony: Sweets distributed in FinMin, core staff to undergo lock-in "The major identified challenges for the bank would arise from eroding cash flows and extended working capital cycles. The bank is gearing itself on all the fronts to meet these challenges," it said. Also Read: Vivo Y75 5G with 5000 mAh battery launched in India: Price, specs, features Live TV #mute New Delhi: The Delhi government on Thursday announced that schools in the national capital will remain shut till further orders but allowed the restaurant, bars and cinema halls to operate with 50 per cent capacity as Covid-19 cases dropped significantly. The decision to this effect was taken during a high-level meeting by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) which was called to review the Covid-19 situation in the national capital. The meeting also discussed the lifting of restrictions in the national capital in view of the improving Covid-19 situation. The DDMA meeting was chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, which was held virtually and attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other top officials. During the DDMA meeting, a decision to lift restrictions like weekend curfew and the odd-even system in the markets was also taken in view of the decreasing COVID cases in Delhi. The government offices have also been allowed to reopen with 50 per cent staff, the DDMA said. Another decision taken at the meeting was to allow marriage ceremonies with a maximum of 200 guests in open areas and up to 50 per cent capacity at indoor venues. So far, only 20 people were allowed to attend these events at home. The night curfew imposed on weekdays from 10 pm to 5 am will continue, it said. Night curfew to continue. Schools' opening to be taken up in next DDMA meet. Weddings to be held with max 200 people or 50% capacity. 50% capacity for bars, restaurants & cinema halls," the DDMA order said as reported by news agency ANI. Delhi | Weekend curfew,odd-even for shops to go. Night curfew to continue.Schools' opening to be taken up in next DDMA meet.Weddings to be held with max 200 people or 50% capacity. 50% capacity for bars, restaurants&cinema halls. Govt offices to operate with 50% capacity: Sources ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 Last week, the Delhi government allowed all private offices in the National Capital Territory of Delhi, outside of Containment Zones, to function with upto 50 per cent attendance. The DDMA had, however, advised the private offices to stagger office timing, presence and quantum of staff. Earlier in the month, DDMA decided to impose a curfew in Delhi on Saturdays and Sundays to curb the COVID-19 surge. Meanwhile, Delhi reported 7,498 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, said the state government on Wednesday. As per the bulletin provided by the Health Department, the positivity rate for the day has gone to 10.59 per cent. A total of 70,804 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. During the last 24 hours, 11,164 patients recovered from the infection, taking the total recoveries in the national capital to 17,46,972. As many as 29 people lost their lives to the deadly virus during the last 24 hours. The death toll in Delhi due to the disease currently stands at 25,710. The covid death rate stands at 1.42 per cent. There are currently 38,315 active COVID-19 cases in Delhi. Live TV New Delhi: Sweets were distributed in the Finance Ministry on Thursday (January 27) to mark the Halwa Ceremony before Budget 2022. For the unversed, the Halwa Ceremony marks the final stage of the Union Budget making process. In the pre-Covid times, Indias Finance Minister, every year, used to serve halwa prepared in a large vessel to the staff involved in the making of the Budget. But due to the Covid-19 pandemic fears, the ministry decided to distribute sweets instead. Following the Halwa ceremony, core staff will undergo lock-in at their workplaces. The step is taken to maintain the secrecy of the Union Budget. From the day Halwa Ceremony is celebrated till the presentation on the Budget, the key staff will stay at Budget Press, situated inside North Block. Moreover, the officers and related staff members will come in contact with their near and dear ones only after the Budget is presented by the Union Finance Minister in the Parliament. They are not even allowed to use their smartphones. The Union Budget 2022-23 will to presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on 1st February 2022 in paperless form. The Union Budget 2022-23 will also be made available on the mobile application once the Budget presentation process is completed on 1st February 2022. Using the mobile app, users can get access to 14 Union Budget documents, including the Budget Speech, Annual Financial Statement (commonly known as Budget), Demand for Grants (DG), Finance Bill etc. as prescribed by the Constitution. Also Read: US economy grew 5.7% in 2021 in a rebound from the 2020 recession The mobile app is available in English and Hindi and can be downloaded on both Android and iOS platforms. Users can download the App from the official Union Budget Web Portal (www.indiabudget.gov.in). Also Read: Union Budget 2022 goes green, to be presented on February 1 in paperless form Live TV #mute New Delhi: More than two decades after its release, cult film 'Fight Club' has been given a very different ending in China -- and this time, the authorities win, CNN reported. Chinese fans of David Fincher's cult classic were enraged over the weekend when they noticed a version of the movie available on popular Chinese streaming platform Tencent Video completely removing its iconic ending, the report said. The finale of 'Fight Club' had shocked audiences when the film hit theatres in 1999. In a massive twist, the narrator, played by Edward Norton, realises that Brad Pitt's slick-talking Tyler Durden character is his imaginary alter ego, and kills him off. In the final scene, the narrator stands with his girlfriend, played by Helena Bonham Carter, as they watch explosives blow up a cluster of skyscrapers -- all part of what was originally presented to the audience as Durden's plan to destroy consumerism by erasing bank and debt records, the report said. CNN reported that the amount of anarchy -- and the government's inability to stop it -- doesn't appear to have passed muster with China's notoriously strict censorship rules, though. In the version available on Tencent Video, which CNN Business was able to view on the platform, the entire scene featuring the explosions has been cut out. Instead, it has been replaced with a caption explaining to audiences that the authorities arrived just in time to save the day. "Through the clue provided by Tyler, the police rapidly figured out the whole plan and arrested all the criminals, successfully preventing the bomb from exploding," the caption read, adding: "After the trial, Tyler was sent to [a] lunatic asylum receiving psychological treatment. He was discharged from the hospital in 2012." New Delhi: The Delhi police on Thursday (January 27) have arrested seven women while two minors were apprehended in the alleged sexual assault case of a 20-year-old in Delhis Shahdra, ANI reported quoting DCP Shahdara. The police also confirmed the sexual assault on the victim due to personal enmity. The victim has been sent for medical examination and counselling. Delhi | An unfortunate incident of sexual assault on a woman due to personal enmity happened in Shahdara District. Police has nabbed four accused and the probe is on. All possible help and counseling are being provided to the victim: DCP, Shahdara, R Sathiyasundaram ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 An unfortunate incident of sexual assault on a woman due to personal enmity happened in Shahdara District. Police have nabbed four accused and the probe is on. All possible help and counselling are being provided to the victim, ANI quoted the DCP as saying. The police further informed that they received intel yesterday that some women abducted a woman, thrashed and threatened her. Later, raids were conducted based on the inputs and some accused, who were the victims neighbours in the past, were nabbed. Yesterday, we received info that some women have abducted a woman, thrashed and threatened her. We rescued the victim from the accused's house; counselling and medical of the victim was conducted. We've arrested 4 accused yesterday and apprehended an accused today: According to the police, the incident took place on Wednesday afternoon. The woman was at her husband's home in Anand Vihar when the accused who lived near her mother's place in Kasturba Nagar abducted her describing the incident as the result of personal enmity. Preliminary investigations indicate the woman and a boy belonging to the family of the accused were friends. "The boy committed suicide in November last year and his family is now blaming the victim. They have alleged that it was because of her he took the extreme step. To extract revenge from her, they allegedly abducted her. They wanted to teach her a lesson," a senior police officer said. Condemning the attack on the woman, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was really shameful. Live TV New Delhi: In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases, the Union Home Secretary has written to the chief secretaries of all States/UTs, asking them to issues necessary directions to authorities concerned for effective management of the disease. "All States/UTs must observe all precautions and not let the guard down," Ajay Kumar Bhalla, the Home Secretary wrote, cautioning the states against being lax when it comes to following Covid protocols. The Home ministry extended Covid-19 guidelines and the following containment measures till February 28. In wake of rising COVID cases, Union Home Secretary writes to chief secretaries all States/UTs, asking to issues necessary directions to authorities concerned for effective management of the disease "All States/UTs must observe all precautions let the guard down,"he writes pic.twitter.com/2sXdPEbWUw ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 Meanwhile, on Thursday (January 27), the government said that while early indications of Covid infections plateauing have been reported in some places, but the trend needs to be observed. It also noted that 400 districts have logged weekly Covid positivity of over 10%. Stressing the need to continue with precautions to curb the surge in infections, it noted that Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan were recording a high number of Covid cases. However, a decrease in Covid cases and positivity rate have been observed in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Haryana, and West Bengal, the government stated. Warning against any lax in observing Covid-appropriate behaviour, Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary in the Health Ministry said 400 districts have reported over 10% weekly Covid positivity while in 141 districts it was between five to 10 % in the week ending January 26. The top 10 states in terms of active Covid cases were contributing over 77% of total active infections in the country, Agarwal said, adding 11 states have over 50,000 active Covid cases while Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala have over 3 lakh active infections. Live TV New Delhi: Amid a decline in the number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday (January 27, 2022) lifted the weekend curfew and odd-even rule for shops in the city. However, the night curfew will remain in place in the national capital. The bars and restaurants can now operate with 50 per cent of seating capacity. Cinema hall, theaters can also reopen with 50 percent capacity. The changes will come into effect only after DDMA releases its order. Delhi | Weekend curfew,odd-even for shops to go. Night curfew to continue.Schools' opening to be taken up in next DDMA meet.Weddings to be held with max 200 people or 50% capacity. 50% capacity for bars, restaurants&cinema halls. Govt offices to operate with 50% capacity: Sources ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 DDMA also directed officials to ensure strict enforcement of Covid-19 protocols like wearing of mask and following social distancing in the capital city. Delhis apex Covid-19 management body meeting was chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal at 12:30 pm today. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also present in the meeting. Check new guidelines here: - No more weekend curfew in the national capital. - The night curfew will remain in place in the capital city. - DDMA lifts the odd-even rule for shops. - The bars and restaurants can now operate with 50 per cent of seating capacity. - Cinema hall, theaters can also reopen with 50 percent capacity. - The DDMA has capped the number of people who can attend wedding festivals in the national capital to 200. - Government offices to operate with 50 percent capacity. Additionally, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain today asserted that the Covid-19 situation in the national capital is in control and said that Delhi will report less than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases today while the positivity rate will also come down below the existing 10 per cent. Earlier in the month, DDMA decided to impose a curfew in Delhi on Saturdays and Sundays to curb the Covid-19 surge. Last Friday, the Delhi government had proposed lifting the weekend curfew and ending the odd-even scheme for opening shops in the city as the Covid-19 situation improved but Lieutenant Governor Baijal suggested maintaining the status quo on the restrictions till the situation improved further. The LG office, however, had approved the governments proposal to allow private offices to function with 50 percent staff strength. Meanwhile, Delhi reported 7,498 new Covid-19 cases during the last 24 hours, said the state government on Wednesday. As per the bulletin provided by the Health Department, the positivity rate for the day has gone to 10.59 per cent. A total of 70,804 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. During the last 24 hours, 11,164 patients recovered from the infection, taking the total recoveries in the national capital to 17,46,972. As many as 29 people lost their lives to the deadly virus during the last 24 hours. The death toll in Delhi due to the disease currently stands at 25,710. The covid death rate stands at 1.42 per cent. There are currently 38,315 active Covid-19 cases in Delhi. Live TV New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday (January 27, 2022) said that Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia who faces a drugs case cannot be arrested till Monday. The apex court orally asked the Punjab government not to take any coercive step against SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia till January 31 when it hears his pre-arrest bail plea in a drugs case. SC grants protection till Monday, 31st Jan from arrest to SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia after Punjab & Haryana HC had dismissed his anticipatory bail plea. SC asks the Punjab govt not to take any coercive steps until Monday, the day when it'll hear his anticipatory bail plea. pic.twitter.com/AnJqI3tByf ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli took note of the submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Majithia, that the plea seeking anticipatory bail plea needed urgent hearing as the accused has been facing "political vendetta". The pre-arrest bail plea of Majithia, who has been booked under the NDPS Act, was dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on January 24. Majithia (46) was booked in a drug case and has ever since maintained that the FIR against him was "politically motivated" and must be seen in the context of the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections. Live TV Chennai: Tamil Nadu has eased Covid-19 restrictions as the pandemic situation improves. On Thursday (January 27), the state government decided to do away with the night curfew and Sunday lockdown. Schools from classes 1-12 and colleges will also reopen from February 1. On Thursday, Tamil Nadu reported 28,515 fresh Covid cases and 53 deaths. Active cases stand at 2,13,534. Following a spate of infections, the government had ordered schools to close while permitting classes for higher secondary students till Pongal (mid-January). Later, all the higher secondary schools were asked to remain shut till this month-end. Reviewing the pandemic situation with health officials and senior bureaucrats on Thursday, Chief Minister M K Stalin announced that there will be no night curfew from January 28. Further, there would not be a complete lockdown this Sunday (January 30), as it is being withdrawn. Restaurants, cinema theatres, clubs, amusement parks, bakeries, lodges, gyms, garment and jewellery shops, spas and salons are allowed to function with 50% occupancy. The restriction on the number of persons (up to 100) for marriage and (50) for funerals will however continue. All colleges and universities, other than those that are temporarily functioning as Covid Care Centres, would resume classes on February 1, strictly complying with the government guidelines on Covid safety. The restriction on social, cultural and political gatherings will continue. The polls to the urban civic bodies will be held on February 19 with stringent enforcement of the SoPs issued by the State Election Commission, a release from the government said. Earlier, addressing a press conference in Delhi, Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary in the Health Ministry said, "A clear trend in terms of fewer Covid cases requiring oxygen-supported beds or ICU beds has been observed. Also, active Covid-19 cases and corresponding deaths are much lower during the present wave compared to earlier surges," he said. Meanwhile, amid the improving Covid-19 scenario in Bengaluru, Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh on Thursday (January 27) hinted at the reopening of schools for the students of Classes 1-9 (which are now closed) in the city. "Since Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru are coming down, I will seek an opinion in the cabinet on reopening of schools," IANS quoted Nagesh as saying. In Chandigarh, schools for students of Classes 10 to 12 are set to reopen from February 1. In capital Delhi, while the DDMA lifted several curbs, schools continue to remain closed till further notice. Live TV New Delhi: Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla has convened an all-party meeting on January 30 ahead of the commencement of the Budget Session of the Parliament. The purpose of the meeting is to seek support from all the parties for the smooth conduct of the Budget session. This comes after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi on Wednesday called for an all-party virtual meeting on January 31. "It is my pleasure to invite you for a meeting of floor leaders of political parties in Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha to discuss important issues and legislative business in the ensuing Budget Session of the Parliament," said Joshi in a letter accessed by ANI. The budget session of Parliament Part 1 will begin from January 31 and will continue to February 11. The Budget will be presented on February 1 in Lok Sabha. The budget session of Part 2 will begin from March 14 and continue till April 8. The budget session of Parliament will function in two shifts. In the first shift, Rajya Sabha will function from 10 am to 3 pm and Lok Sabha will function from 4 pm to 9 pm except for Budget day February 1. On Budget day Lok Sabha will function from 11 am. Live TV New Delhi: As he hosted the first India-Central Asia Summit in a virtual format, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday (January 27) that Central Asia is central to India's vision of an integrated and stable extended neighbourhood. "Today's summit has three goals. First, to emphasise that mutual cooperation between India and Central Asia is necessary for regional security and prosperity. I want to make it clear that Central Asia is central to India's vision of an integrated and stable neighbourhood. The second goal of today's meeting is to give an effective structure to our cooperation, which will pave the way for the establishment of a platform for regular interaction among all stakeholders. The third goal is to prepare an ambitious roadmap for our cooperation, which will enable us to adopt an integrated approach for regional connectivity and cooperation," PM Modi said at the summit. In his initial remarks at the summit, Modi said, "We all are concerned about the Afghan situation and this makes cooperation between India and Central Asia all the more important for regional stability and security." The virtual summit saw the participation of five presidents - Kazakhstan's Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan's Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan's Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyz Republic. The Prime Minister called for defining an ambitious vision for cooperation between India and Central Asia in the coming years. Mutual cooperation between India and Central Asia is essential for regional security and prosperity, Modi said. This is the first engagement of its kind between India and the Central Asian countries at the level of leaders. The first India-Central Asia Summit, the MEA had said, is a reflection of the country's growing engagement with the Central Asian countries, which are a part of India's "extended neighbourhood". Modi had paid a visit to all Central Asian countries in 2015. Subsequently, there have been exchanges at high levels at bilateral and multilateral forums. (With Agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: A 20-year-old woman was allegedly abducted, sexually assaulted and paraded by her attackers on the streets of east Delhi's Kasturba Nagar with her hair chopped, face blackened and a shoe garland around her neck, police said on Thursday. Four people have been arrested. The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon. The woman was at her husband's home in Anand Vihar when the accused who lived near her mother's place in Kasturba Nagar abducted her, police said, describing the incident as the result of personal enmity. Preliminary investigations indicate the woman and a boy belonging to the family of the accused were friends. "The boy committed suicide in November last year and his family is now blaming the victim. They have alleged that it was because of her he took the extreme step. To extract revenge from her, they allegedly abducted her. They wanted to teach her a lesson," a senior police officer said. "We have registered the FIR under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code. We have arrested four accused persons who all are from the same family. The victim was given counselling and medical aid as well," added R. Sathiyasundaram, DCP (Shahdara). Condemning the attack on the woman, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was really shameful. "How did the criminals get so much courage? I request the Union Home minister and the LG to direct police to take strict action and pay attention to the law and order situation. Delhiites won't tolerate such heinous crimes and criminals at any cost," he tweeted in Hindi. The Delhi Commission for Women said it has sent a notice to Delhi Police seeking strict action against the accused after several videos of the woman being paraded were circulated on social media platforms. "A 20-year-old woman was gang-raped by illegal liquor sellers who shaved her head, garlanded her with slippers and blackened her face. I am issuing a notice to Delhi Police. All criminals, including women, should be arrested and the woman and her family should be given security," DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said in a Twitter post in Hindi. Maliwal also met the young woman and said she has wounds all over her body. The police has denied allegations of gang-rape but said the woman was sexually assaulted by her acquaintances who are also her neighbours. Police said they received a call at 1:18 pm on Wednesday about the incident. She was taken from Anand Vihar to Kasturba Nagar. Police rescued her from the home of the accused. In her complaint to the police, the woman alleged that she was abducted by her acquaintances who live near her mother's place. They took her to their house where they allegedly thrashed her. She also alleged that they sexually assaulted her, chopped her hair and forcefully made her wear a garland of slippers. They then humiliated her in public by parading her, a senior police officer said. "Teams were rushed to the spot after we found out that a group of people were parading a woman on the streets and also beating her up. The woman was forced to wear a garland of slippers and had black stains on her face. We rescued the woman, took her to the police station where she is being counselled. We contacted her family members as well. They alleged that she was abducted from her house," he said. In the purported video of the incident, the woman can be seen being paraded by a group of people, including women who are abusing her. While she is being paraded on the street, people can also heard whistling in the background. All the allegations levelled by both the parties are being verified and investigation is underway in the matter, said DCP Sathiyasundaram. The DCP also tweeted about the incident saying, "An unfortunate incident of sexual assualt on a woman due to personal enmity happened in Shahdara District." Live TV New Delhi: Amid demands of lifting weekend curfew and odd-even rule for shops, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will meet on Thursday (January 27, 2022) to review the pandemic situation in the city. Delhis apex Covid-19 management body DDMAs meeting is going to be chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal and is going to take place at 12:30 pm today. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is also likely to attend the meeting that will discuss relaxations that may be allowed in view of improvement in the Covid-19 situation in the Capital. Last Friday, the Delhi government had proposed lifting the weekend curfew and ending the odd-even scheme for opening shops in the city as the Covid-19 situation improved but Lieutenant Governor Baijal suggested maintaining the status quo on the restrictions till the situation improved further. The LG office, however, had approved the governments proposal to allow private offices to function with 50 percent staff strength. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said the decision to ease the restrictions was taken in view of the declining number of Covid cases in the city and also to ensure that the livelihood of the public is not affected. "Now since the cases are going down and it also seems that the peak has gone, we want to ensure that the publics livelihood continues smoothly. We have proposed to do away with weekend curfew and also with the odd-even arrangement of the opening of shops in markets," Sisodia had said. Will schools in Delhi reopen soon? Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said the matter of reopening of schools will be discussed with the DDMA. The Delhi government will recommend the reopening of schools in the national capital in the DDMA meeting as it has now become necessary to prevent further damage to the social and emotional well-being of children, said Sisodia. Delhis Deputy CM also emphasised that online education can never replace offline education, adding that the government had closed schools when it was not safe for children, but excessive caution is now harming students. Sisodia further stated that the Covid-19 pandemic-induced school closures have not only affected their studies but also their mental health. During COVID, our priority was childrens safety. But since various researches have now found that COVID is not so harmful for kids, it is important to reopen the schools, as now is the time for exams and related preparations, Sisodia said. Delhi traders protest for removal of curbs Meanwhile, traders in many parts of the national capital have also been protesting against the restrictions and demanded the curbs be lifted, including those imposed on shops selling non-essential items being permitted to open on alternate days based on the odd-even system. Covid-19 curbs and cases in Delhi The capital city witnesses weekend curfew from 10 pm on Friday to Monday 5 am. The decision to impose a weekend curfew was taken by the DDMA on January 1 due to the rise in COVID-19 cases in the city. The DDMA had also imposed other restrictions including the closure of all private offices dealing with non-essential services. A night curfew during weekdays is already in place from 10 pm to 5 am. The national capital reported 7,498 fresh COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths in a day as the positivity rate rose marginally to 10.59 per cent, according to the health department's data on Wednesday. Live TV New Delhi: At United Nations Security Council meeting on Afghanistan, India has reiterated its commitment to humanitarian aid for Afghanistan. Indian envoy to United Nations TS Tirumurti said, "We remain steadfast in our commitment towards humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan." India has so far sent 3 shipments of aid that includes medicines and covid vaccines which have been handed over to WHO and Indira Gandhi Children Hospital in Kabul. Tirumurti cited New Delhi's commitment to providing 50000 MT of wheat and lifesaving medicines and one million doses of COVID vaccines to the Afghan people. The delivery of the wheat is expected to be started next month as India and Pakistan agree on the modalities on the use of Afghan trucks to transfer the assistance. The Indian envoy to UN pointed, "as a contiguous neighbour and long-standing partner of Afghanistan, recent developments in Afghanistan, particularly the deteriorating humanitarian situation continues to be of concern". Last year, under India's chairmanship of the UNSC in August, resolution 2593 was passed that called for an inclusive government in Kabul, one that also upholds the human rights of women, children and minorities. The resolution was adopted days after the Taliban takeover of Kabul in the same month. Envoy Tirumurti called on the council to ensure against any "possible diversion of funds and misuse of exemptions from sanctions" while pointing out that the "humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan should be direct and without any hindrance." With the onset of winters, fears are growing of a humanitarian disaster. The international community has been rushing to support the Afghan people but also worries over Taliban leadership in the country, which might try to divert the support for itself. Envoy highlighted, "humanitarian assistance should be based on principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence" and "disbursement of the aid should be non-discriminatory and accessible to all, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or political belief" and should reach the "most vulnerable first including women, children, and minorities." Live TV New Delhi: China's People's Liberation Army has handed over the missing teenager from Arunachal Pradesh to the Indian Army, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Thursday. The 19-year-old Miram Taron of Jido Village in Upper Siang District of Arunachal Pradesh was found missing on January 18. In a tweet, the minister said due procedures are being followed including the boy's medical examination. "The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Miram Taron to Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination," he wrote. The Chinese PLA has handed over the young boy from Arunachal Pradesh Shri Miram Taron to Indian Army. Due procedures are being followed including the medical examination. https://t.co/xErrEnix2h Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) January 27, 2022 On Tuesday, the Union minister, who represents the state in Lok Sabha, had said the Chinese side had conveyed to the Indian Army on January 20 that they had found a boy on their side and requested for further details to establish the identity. "To assist Chinese side in corroborating the identity, personal details and photo of the individual has been shared with the Chinese side by the Indian Army. Response from the Chinese side is awaited," Rijiju had said in a the statement put out on social media. "Some people reported that Chinese PLA had taken him into their custody, it said. Rijiju said that since the individual was missing from an area close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Indian Army immediately approached the Chinese side on January 19, asking for assistance in tracing and return of the individual, in case he had strayed into the Chinese territory or PLA has taken him in their custody. The Chinese side had given an assurance that they would search for the individual and return him as per established protocol, the minister had said. Live TV Amritsar: Ahead of Punjab Assembly polls, Amritsar East assembly constituency has come under focus after SAD (B) announced to field former Akali minister Bikram Singh Majithia against state Congress Committee president Navjot Singh Sidhu from the seat. Party has already announced to field Majithia from Majitha assembly constituency but given the stakes and make Sidhu concentrate more in Amritsar East assembly constituency instead of focusing on pan-state poll campaign for Congress, the SAD (B) think tanks deemed it fit to field Majithia against Sidhu. After announcing Majithias name, SAD(B) president Sukhbir Singh Badal had stated Navjot Sidhus arrogance will be his downfall. He has been harping on his voice to have support among the masses but now his support will be tested with Majha da sher taking him on in his home constituency, Badal said adding that Akalis would not only break his arrogance but also ensure that his security deposit was forfeited. A senior Akali leader informed that party had convened a meeting on Thursday before officially beginning the poll campaigning in the Amritsar East assembly constituency. Talking about the local issues of the constituency, Sukhbir Badal claimed that Sidhu had done nothing for the constituency. He did not do anything in his constituency even as local bodies minister. Amritsar East has drinking water and even sewerage issues which have not been addressed by Sidhu. Now the people of his constituency will hold him to count, said Badal. After the announcement of his name, Bikram Singh Majitha expressed gratitude towards his brother-in-law Sukhbir Singh Badal and tweeted, I express my gratitude to Akali Dal Chief Sukhbir S Badal ji for giving me the opportunity to contest from Amritsar East constituency. Akali have a brave history of fighting to safeguard the rights of Punjab and protecting them from anti-Punjab elements like @sherryontopp. It is learnt that Majithia had long ago started preparations to contest from Amritsar East assembly constituency and his poll strategists and an army of Personal Assistants (PA), media advisors have already made an elaborate plan to contest elections after minutely studying the details of the constituency. If sources are to believed Akalis had also conducted an online and offline pre-poll survey in the constituency and has set up an exclusive media management cell and after the official announcement of Majithias candidature from the Amritsar East assembly constituency, SAD(B) president Sukhbir Singh has appointed Gurpreet Randhawa as the election in-charge for Majithia. Going by history, Navjot Singh Sidhus wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu had won the assembly seat from Amritsar East in 2012 when she was fielded by BJP. Kaur had won 33,406 votes while her closest candidate was an independent Simarpreet Kaur who polled 26,307. Before the next assembly elections in 2017, the Sidhu couple had shifted loyalty to Congress and Navjot Singh Sidhu was fielded by Congress to contest from Amritsar East assembly constituency and had bagged a whopping 60,477 votes against his nearest rival BJP-SAD(B) candidate Rajesh Kumar Honey who was polled only 17,668 votes. Live TV New Delhi: A nematode infestation has resulted in the mortality of over 150 spot-billed pelicans at Telineelapuram Important Bird Area (IBA) in Naupada swamp of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh. The forest officials said that the deaths of spot-billed pelicans started in December and at least 21 birds succumbed to the infestation in the past 72 hours alone. According to a report in The Hindu, nearly 200 adult spot-billed pelicans are surviving in the habitat, as of Wednesday. The report also stated that if the mortality rate continues unchecked, the species is likely to disappear completely from the swamp in a matter of days. The officials said that till now, only adult birds have succumbed to the infestation. Preliminary inquiry suggests that nematode infestation is the cause for the death of the spot-billed pelicans that prey on nearby water bodies. The nematode parasite is suspected to be transferred through fish and snails in particular, when the birds prey in the aqua ponds. At Telineelapuram IBA, the death rate is a case of mass mortality, The Hindu quoted Wildlife Institute of India (WII-Dehradun) expert, Dr. R. Suresh Kumar as saying. Additionally, Srikakulam In-Charge District Forest Officer S. Venkatesh said, Until now, the mortality of spot-billed pelican has been reported in groups. There is no impact on painted stork which breeds in the same habitat. The post-mortem reports have certified parasitic (nematode) infestation as the cause of death. Aquaculture management practices surrounding the habitat are said to be the source for the parasite. We have alerted the locals and steps are being taken to prevent further death toll of the migrant bird species, he added. The experts have revealed that spot-billed pelicans are vulnerable to infestation as it is capable of hunting huge fish from the water bodies and swamps. Live TV New Delhi: The last date to register for the fifth edition of Prime Minister Narendra Modis Pariksha Pe Charcha is today (January 27, 2022). The interested students can register themselves for the fifth edition of "Pariksha pe Charcha" with PM Modi on the official website or mygov.in. The registration process was started on December 28, 2021. It may be noted that this year PM Modi has made a call for interested parents and teachers to register for the event as well. Earlier the last date to apply was till January 20, which was later extended till January 27, 2022 by the Ministry of Education. Pariksha Pe Charcha 2022: How to register Step 1. Visit the official website of Pariksha pe Charcha or mygov.in Step 2. On the homepage, click on the Participate Now button Step 3. Enter required details and register yourself under the suitable category Student/Parent/Teacher Step 4. Enter the details and click on submit. Step 5. Keep a hard copy of the same for future reference. Pariksha Pe Charcha 2022: Direct link to register here The first edition of the prime minister's interactive programme with school and college students, "Pariksha Pe Charcha 1.0", was held at the Talkatora Stadium here on February 16, 2018. "The format of this programme is proposed to be in the online mode like in 2021. An online creative writing competition is being conducted on various topics from December 28 to January 20 to select the participants. The questions asked by the selected winners will be featured in the Pariksha Pe Charcha programme," the official said. The topics for creative writing for students include exam stress management strategies during Covid-19, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahostav, self-reliant schools for a self-reliant India, Clean India, Green India, digital collaboration in the classrooms, environmental conservation and climate change resilience. Similarly, the theme for the teachers is "National Education Policy (NEP) for Naya Bharat" while the themes for the parents are "Beti Padhao, Desh Badhao", "Local to Global - Vocal for Local", "Lifelong Students' Yearning for Learning". Live TV New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to host the first India-Central Asia Summit on Thursday (January 27, 2022) in a virtual format. During the Summit, the leaders are expected to deliberate on steps to take forward relations to newer heights as well as the evolving regional security situation. The India-Central Asia Summit is going to witness the participation of the five presidents -- Kazakhstan's Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbekistan's Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan's Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyz Republic. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, this summit will be the first engagement of its kind between India and the Central Asian countries at the level of leaders. The summit is symbolic of the importance attached by the leaders of India and the Central Asian countries to a comprehensive and enduring India-Central Asia partnership. The participation of the secretaries of National Security Councils of Central Asian countries in the Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan held in New Delhi in November last year outlined a common regional approach on Afghanistan. Additionally, the summit is being held a day after Republic Day which saw no foreign head of state or government as the chief guest. The leaders of the five central Asian countries were likely to be the chief guest but the country saw a rise in COVID-19 cases which led to curtailed Republic Day celebrations. As per the Ministry of External Affairs, the first India-Central Asia Summit is a reflection of the country's growing engagement with the Central Asian countries, which are a part of India's "extended neighbourhood". Earlier in 2015, PM Narendra Modi had paid a visit to all Central Asian countries. Subsequently, there have been exchanges at high levels at bilateral and multilateral forums. During this summit, the leaders are expected to discuss steps to take forward India-Central Asia relations to newer heights, the MEA had said. They are also expected to exchange views on regional and international issues of interest, especially the evolving regional security situation. The inception of the India-Central Asia Dialogue at the Foreign Ministers' level, the third meeting of which was held in New Delhi from December 18-20, 2021, has provided an impetus to India-Central Asia relations. (With PTI inputs) Live TV Three persons have been arrested and two minors detained for allegedly beating up a 20-year-old man and forcing him to eat biscuits thrown on the ground in Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune district, police said on Thursday. A video of a person purportedly assaulting the victim with a belt and later others joining him in the attack and then forcing him to eat biscuits thrown on the ground went viral on social media on Thursday. The incident took place on Tuesday in Thergaon, a suburb of Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial township. As per the Wakad police, one of the accused was angry with the victim for calling him by his name and not using the word 'bhai' .This led to the entire episode. "He was made to eat biscuits thrown on the ground and beaten up. We have registered a case against five accused. Three accused are adults, while two are juveniles," he said. Live TV New Delhi: Addressing the issue of Punjab chief ministerial face in the upcoming state Assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday (January 27) said that a candidate for the top post will be announced after consulting Congress workers. Speaking at 'Punjab Fateh' virtual rally in Jalandhars Mithapur, Gandhi as quoted by ANI said, We will ask Congress workers to decide Punjab Chief Ministerial candidate. Gandhi also said that incumbent Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and party's state chief Navjot Singh Sidhu have assured him to work together despite which of them will lead the government if Congress is elected. Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and State Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu assured me that whoever will lead (CM face) Punjab the other person will support him. Party workers will decide (name of CM face), Gandhi added. The demand for declaring CM face will be met as soon as possible, the Congress MP stated. Channi also claimed there is no feud between him and Sidhu over the CM post in the upcoming election. There is no fight between us. Announce chief minister face for Punjab polls, we (Punjab Congress) will stand united: Punjab CM said. We will ask Congress workers to decide Punjab Chief Ministerial candidate: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a virtual rally pic.twitter.com/NYDsoMRTic ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 Last week, the Punjab Congress chief had said that party high command will decide the chief ministerial face in the state. Earlier, Channi had favoured announcing the CM face before the polls. Rahul Gandhi who was in Punjab today also visited Golden Temple in Amritsar earlier and ate langar there along with Congress candidates. Gandhi also visited Jallianwala Bagh after arriving in the poll-bound state. This is Gandhi's first visit to Punjab after the election dates were announced on January 8 by the Election Commission of India. Punjab will go to polls in a single phase on February 20 to elect 117 members. (With agency inputs) Live TV New Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has alleged that the micro-blogging platform Twitter was restricting his followers under pressure by the government to silence his voice. In a letter addressed to Twitter CEO Parag Aggarwal in December last year, the Congress MP reportedly said that his followers on the social media platform were being restricted by Twitter under direct pressure from the Centre. It may be noted that Twitter recently banned one of Rahul Gandhis tweets for allegedly violating the companys content guidelines. I want to bring your attention to what I believe is Twitters unwitting complicity in curbing free and fair speech in India, Rahul Gandhi wrote in his letter to Twitters CEO. The Gandhi scion also sent an analysis of data from his Twitter account showing that the number of followers, which currently stands at 19.5 million, had barely increased for several months following an eight-day suspension in August last year. However, responding to Rahul Gandhis letter, Twitter said, Follower counts are a visible feature and we want everyone to have confidence that numbers are meaningful and accurate. The social media company said, Twitter has a zero-tolerance approach to platform manipulation and spam. Follower counts are a visible feature&we want everyone to have confidence that numbers are meaningful&accurate. Twitter has zero-tolerance approach to platform manipulation&spam: Twitter spox on Rahul Gandhi's letter to Twitter stating that no.of his followers seeing a drop (1/3) pic.twitter.com/HiU0QORYcR ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 The social media company added, We remove millions of accounts each week for violating our policies on platform manipulation & spam. You can take a look at the latest Twitter Transparency Center update for more context. While some accounts notice a minor difference, in certain cases no could be higher. The Twitter spokesperson further said, We fight spam and malicious automation strategically and at scale with machine learning tools, and as part of those consistent and ongoing efforts to ensure a healthy service and credible accounts, follower counts can and do fluctuate. Gandhi, who is a Congress Member of Parliament from Kerala's Wayanad, has been an active user of Twitter since 2015 and has been a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and its various policies and decisions. The development comes weeks before five states go to assembly polls starting from February 10. Due to the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Election Commission has curbed on-ground campaigning and parties are increasingly trying to woo voters online. Live TV Social media giant Twitter has a policy of detecting and removing fake user profiles. The company, at regular intervals, deletes the accounts that seem non-genuine, fake or in technical terms - Bots. It's a basic social media exercise that's known to everyone. However, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is worried over the issue of fall in his Twitter followers. The former Congress president has written a letter to Twitter's India chief and asked for probing the matter. In today's DNA exclusive, Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary analyses the shift in priorities of India's grand old party and its leaders - who seem to be more worried about the fall in the number of social media followers instead of their support base and voters. Rahul Gandhi, in his letter to Twitter, has said that his followers have not gone up after August 2021, which according to him is an unusual trend. The Congress leader also says that social media has come up as an important source for dissemination of information for Opposition parties, as, according to him, the mainstream media doesn't represent their views judiciously these days. Here, Rahul Gandhi fails to understand one point - he should be worried more about the fall in the number of his actual voters and supporters, than the number of people who follow him on social media. It is interesting to know that Twitter has no dedicated staff to add or remove fake followers. And, interestingly, no actual person has ever turned up complaining that he used to follow Rahul Gandhi and his account has been deleted by Twitter. The Congress and Rahul Gandhi should ideally be worried on two accounts - 1) Why their leaders are leaving the party 2) Why is their vote share keep falling in the elections. Between the year 2014 - 2021, 222 leaders left the Congress party. This included 177 MPs/MLAs. In 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Congress bagged a massive 28 per cent votes share, this fell down to 20 per cent in the year 2014 and situation remained almost the same in the year 2019. But, have you ever seen Rahul Gandhi worried about this? No, he is worried about the Twitter followers. Live TV New Delhi: The Examination Regulatory Authority of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday (January 27) released the provisional answer key for the Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET 2021) at the official website - updeled.gov.in. Candidates who appeared for the exam can download the official answer key of UPTET 2021 in pdf format from the website. Heres a step by step guide to download the UPTET 2021 answer key: Visit the official site of the Examination Regulatory Authority of Uttar Pradesh on updeled.gov.in. Now go on Home Page and click on UPTET Answer Key 2021 link. Then, enter the login details and click on submit. The answer key will be displayed on the screen. Download the answer key and keep a hard copy of the same for further need. The UPTET examination was conducted on January 23, 2022, across Uttar Pradesh. The preliminary answer key was released today and the last date to raise objections is February 1, 2022. Candidates who want to register an objection will be required to pay Rs 500 per question, as per the latest release. After the answer key, a special committee will go through the objections on February 21 and publish the final answer keys on February 23. After evaluation of the answer sheet based on the amended answer keys, the result will be out on February 25. Live TV Lucknow: The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday released its manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections promising free bus service for women, 300 units of free electricity and round-the-clock power supply in the state. The manifesto, named 'Kejriwal Guarantee Card', was released by Sanjay Singh, AAP's Uttar Pradesh in-charge at a press conference. The party has promised free bus services for women across the state, 300 units of free electricity and round-the-clock availability of power. It also promised to bring a law to guarantee minimum support price (MSP) for farmers' produce. "We will waive off all farm loans and provide farmers the cost of their produce within 24 hours. The (MSP) prices of sugarcane will be increased every year and payments will be provided to a farmer the moment he unloads the sugarcane in the mills," Singh, according to a statement, said. Pending payments of sugarcane farmers and low support price has been an issue in the western parts of the state. The AAP has also promised compensation at a rate of Rs 50,000 per hectare in case of loss of produce of farmers due to adverse weather conditions like drought or floods, Singh said. The party promised 10 lakh government jobs, recruitment of 97,000 teachers and guaranteed 80 percent reservation for local youths in state government jobs. For government employees, it promised to reinstate the old pension scheme and resolve the issues of over 45,000 constables of Prantiya Raksha Dal (PRD), a voluntary force. The AAP also promised to provide chambers for lawyers and life insurance of up to 10 Lakh. "Monetary compensation of Rs 1 crore will be given to the next of kin of a soldier who dies in the line of duty as well as a job to a member of his family. Compensation of Rs 1 Cr each will also be provided to the family of Covid warriors who have lost their lives," Singh said. The party also promised to introduce curriculum on the Constitution of India in primary schools across the state. "We will fulfill all the promises made in the Kejriwal Guarantee card after coming to power. I will urge the people of the state to give us a chance in this election," Singh said. The AAP also promised Rs 10 lakh insurance for journalists, the statement said. Live TV New Delhi: Hundreds turned up on the streets of poll-bound Uttar Pradeshs Gautam Buddha Nagar on Thursday (January 27) as BJP leader Amit Shah reached the district to conduct the door-to-door campaign for the upcoming assembly elections. #WATCH | Union Home Minister Amit Shah holds door-to-door campaign in Dadri, Gautam Buddha Nagar in support of BJP candidate for Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls pic.twitter.com/pWyzCBP9PW ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 27, 2022 Visuals from news agency ANI shows hundreds greeting the home minister as he meets voters in the Gautam Buddha Nagar district as he distributes party pamphlets. Uttar Pradesh polls: Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah conducts door-to-door campaign in Dadri, Gautam Buddha Nagar pic.twitter.com/0Rp2g45w7E ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 27, 2022 Earlier in the day, the Union home minister offered prayers at Banke Bihari Temple in Vrindavan city of Uttar Pradesh`s Mathura. Shah also attended various events in Mathura and Gautam Buddh Nagar including door to door visits as part of campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The BJP leader also attended effective voter communication in Mathura and Greater Noida. The Home Minister`s public engagements are significant as elections on 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases starting from February 10. The second phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections will be held on February 14, the third phase on February 20, the fourth phase on February 23, the fifth phase on February 27, the sixth phase on March 3 and the seventh and the last phase will be conducted on March 7. The counting of votes will take place on March 10. New Delhi: Amid improving Covid-19 scenario in Bengaluru, Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh on Thursday (January 27) hinted at reopening of schools for the students of Classes 1-9 in the city. "Since Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru are coming down, I will seek an opinion in the cabinet on reopening of schools," IANS quoted Nagesh as saying. He explained that the schools for standard 1-9 students in Bengaluru were closed as a precautionary measure due to two reasons: One, the Covid positivity was higher during the third wave in the city, and secondly, the rate was higher than the state average. Further, he said that the education department is ready to conduct physical classes. "If 1 to 9 standard classes are open, the education department is ready to conduct classes. The Covid cases have been reported in single to four digits. However, the pattern of the increase in numbers has been fearful," the minister said. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday said the state government will review the Covid-19 situation and take a call regarding the curbs soon. "We (Ministers) have discussed several issues including COVID situation, how to manage it in the days to come, representations given by various organisations (for relaxations), regarding the functioning of schools and colleges among others. We have referred it to the experts' committee," Bommai was quoted as saying by PTI. The CM said that once the experts' committee submits its report, a meeting will be held in about three or four days and certain decisions will be taken. After dip in daily infections a day before, Karnataka on Wednesday logged 48,905 new Covid-19 cases and 39 fatalities, which pushed the coronavirus tally to 36,54,413, and death toll to 38,705 in the state. (With agency inputs) Live TV MUMBAI: The Supreme Court on Thursday granted 10 days protection from arrest to Maharashtra BJP MLA Nitesh Rane in connection with an attempt to murder case lodged in Sindhudurg district last month. Supreme Court grants 10 days protection from arrest to Maharashtra BJP MLA Nitesh Rane and directs him to surrender before the trial court and seek regular bail in connection with an attempt to murder case lodged in Sindhudurg district last month. (File pic) pic.twitter.com/i3uCUSCnAb ANI (@ANI) January 27, 2022 The apex court also directed Nitesh Rane, who is the son of Union Minister Narayan Rane, to surrender before the trial court and seek regular bail in connection with the case. The top court, while refusing to entertain a pre-arrest bail plea of Nitesh, directed the Maharashtra Police not to arrest him for 10 days in an attempt-to-murder case. The order was passed by the top court bench led by CJI NV Ramana, which came in response to a petition filed by Rane challenging the January 17 Bombay High Court order rejecting his anticipatory bail plea in an attempt to murder case. The SC bench had on Tuesday agreed to hear his petition after senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi alleged on his behalf that it was a case of political rivalry. On Thursday, Rohatgi reiterated his allegation that the case was a result of ''political vendetta.'' Rane is accused of being the mastermind behind the attempt on the life of a Shiv Sena member on December 18 last year in the Kankavli area of Maharashtra. The Sindhudurg Sessions Court and the Bombay High Court had rejected his anticipatory bail plea. The Maharashtra government had earlier assured that no coercive action would be taken against Rane till January 27 in order to enable him to approach the Supreme Court. Live TV New Delhi: Passengers who will be travelling on Air India flights on Friday (January 28) will be hearing about the Tata Group's takeover of the airline during in-flight announcements, according to an official order. The Indian government handed over Air India to the Tata Group on Thursday afternoon, after approximately 69 years when it was taken from the conglomerate. In an order, the operations department told the airline's pilots to make a specific announcement after door closure on every flight departing on Friday. As per the order, the announcement will be as follows: "Dear Guests, This is your Captain (Name) speaking........Welcome aboard this historic flight, which marks a special event." "Today, Air India officially becomes a part of the Tata Group again, after seven decades. We look forward to serving you on this and every Air India flight with renewed commitment and passion," the announcement will state, as per the order. "Welcome to the future of Air India! We hope you enjoy the journey. Thank you," the announcement will further state. After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited - a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company - for Rs 18,000 crore. Sources said that smart and well-groomed cabin crew members, better on-time performance of flights, calling passengers as "guests" and enhanced in-flight meal service are some of the measures the Tata Group is focusing on at Air India immediately after taking over the airline on Thursday. Employees have been told by the Tata Group that there will be a change in "image, attitude and perception" of Air India, sources said. Cabin crew members have been instructed to address all passengers as "guests" and the cabin crew supervisor will have to monitor safety and service standards provided to the guests, they noted. The crew members will have to be smartly dressed and well-groomed, and there will be grooming executives who will be conducting checks at the airports. Since on-time performance is extremely important, all endeavours will have to be made by the crew members to ensure that the doors are closed 10 minutes before the flight's departure. (With PTI inputs) Live TV New Delhi: Actress Kareena Kapoor was known for her alleged feud with several actresses in the industry, one of who was Ameesha Patel. The two actresses have been pitted against each other several times in the past. However, after almost two decades, Ameesha finally decided to address the issue and made it clear that there was never any bad blood between the two. Ameesha made her debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in 1999 blockbuster 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai'. Reportedly, Kareena was the first choice as the female lead opposite Hrithik, however, things couldn't materialise between them and she opted out of the project, despite shooting for a portion of the film. Later, Kareena reportedly called Ameesha a bad actor and even passed remarks on her role in the film. Speaking to Pinkvilla, Ameesha said that she was asked by certain media to respond to Kareena's remarks on her. "I said I have no comments. I will only have positive things to say about her because I dont know her enough to talk ill. All I know of her is her work and I think its great. She has certain opinions about me? Its fine, let her be entitled to them and I dont even know whether she said it or the media escalated it, she said. "I have no enemies. In fact when Kareena looks stunning in some song or some film and delivers a great performance, I actually tell my closest friends that wow, she has done a brilliant job. I think she is a tremendously beautiful woman, amazing actress and I have nothing against her," Ameesha added. Ameesha added that she shares a bond with Kareena's father and veteran actor Randhir Kapoor. According to Ameesha, the Kapoor senior often checks in one her. She added that she doesn't share any enmity with Kareena and even asked her if they should star together in a film, putting an end to rumours about them. Ameesha will be seen next in 'Gadar 2' with Sunny Deol while Kareena is awaiting the release of 'Laal Singh Chaddha' alongside Aamir Khan. Both films are slated to release this year. Live TV MUMBAI: A complaint was filed against filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar in a court here on Thursday (Jan 27) for allegedly portraying women and children in an objectionable manner his latest Marathi film. The Kshatriya Maratha Seva Sanstha filed a complaint before the Bandra metropolitan magistrate court seeking action against Manjrekar under sections 292 (sale etc of obscene content), 295 (punishment for obscene acts or words in public), 34 (common intention) of the IPC and Indecent Representation of the Women Prohibition Act. Apart from Manjrekar, the complainant has also named Narendra and Shreyans Hirawat and NH Studioz, who are producers of the film "Nay Varan Bhat Loncha Kon Nay Koncha", as accused in the case. The complaint, filed through advocate D V Saroj, states that the Marathi film, which was released in cinema halls and OTT platforms on January 14, shows sexually explicit content depicting women and children in highly objectionable ways. The complainant claimed that the content had caused disharmony in the society, resulting in protests throughout Maharashtra. The movie features actors Prem Dharmadhikari, Chhaya Kadam, Shashank Shende and Kashmera Shah. As per the complaint, the movie is based on a story written by late Jayant Pawar and revolves around two teenage boys who grow up facing deprivation and brutality and become hardcore criminals. The matter will be heard on February 28. Live TV Washington: After dating each other for four years, actors Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song are heading to the altar. As per People Magazine, `The Suite Life of Zack & Cody` actor was recently photographed sporting a diamond ring on her left hand in Beverly Hills, California. Culkin and Song met on the set of `Changeland` in Thailand and were first romantically linked when they were spotted out in July 2017 grabbing dinner at Craig`s, an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. The next month, Song posted a group photo to Instagram in which she posed alongside Culkin. The couple welcomed their first child, son Dakota, in April of last year. They named their son after Culkin`s late sister Dakota. "We`re overjoyed," Culkin and Song said in a brief statement about the arrival of their first child. Song and Culkin keep their relationship private on social media, although the `Dollface` actor shared a special Instagram message to her beau in August 2020 on his 40th birthday. "Happy 40th birthday to this magical being," she wrote in the caption. "I could sit here and write endlessly about how wonderful, kind, loving, genuine, loyal, honest, brilliant and hilarious you are, and how grateful I am that I get to share and do this life thing with you."But firstly, that would take me an eternity and secondly, you won`t even see this because you don`t ever use Instagram. Hahaha," she added. "My unicorn that I never thought could exist, I am luckiest person in the world because I am loved by you."In 2018, Culkin spoke about his intentions of building a family with Song during an appearance on 'The Joe Rogan Experience' podcast, saying that he wanted to "make some babies." "This one`s a good one, so I`m probably going to put some babies in her in a little bit," he said, laughing. "I mean, we`ve definitely been practising."The `Home Alone` actor continued, saying he and Song have "a good life." "I have a pretty little family -- a pretty girl, a pretty dog, a pretty cat and all that stuff. We`re gonna move," he said at the time. "We`re doing the house thing and all that kind of stuff."The marriage will be the first for Song, while Culkin was previously married to Rachel Miner, from 1998 to 2002. Washington: After dating each other for four years, actors Macaulay Culkin and Brenda Song are heading to the altar. As per People Magazine, 'The Suite Life of Zack & Cody' actor was recently photographed sporting a diamond ring on her left hand in Beverly Hills, California. Culkin, 41, and Song, 33, met on the set of 'Changeland' in Thailand and were first romantically linked when they were spotted out in July 2017 grabbing dinner at Craig's, an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles. The next month, Song posted a group photo to Instagram in which she posed alongside Culkin. The couple welcomed their first child, son Dakota, in April of last year. They named their son after Culkin`s late sister Dakota. "We're overjoyed," Culkin and Song said in a brief statement about the arrival of their first child. Song and Culkin keep their relationship private on social media, although the 'Dollface' actor shared a special Instagram message to her beau in August 2020 on his 40th birthday. "Happy 40th birthday to this magical being," she wrote in the caption. "I could sit here and write endlessly about how wonderful, kind, loving, genuine, loyal, honest, brilliant and hilarious you are, and how grateful I am that I get to share and do this life thing with you." "But firstly, that would take me an eternity and secondly, you won't even see this because you don't ever use instagram. Hahaha," she added. "My unicorn that I never thought could exist, I am luckiest person in the world because I am loved by you." In 2018, Culkin spoke about his intentions of building a family with Song during an appearance on `The Joe Rogan Experience` podcast, saying that he wanted to "make some babies." "This one's a good one, so I'm probably going to put some babies in her in a little bit," he said, laughing. "I mean, we've definitely been practising." The 'Home Alone' actor continued, saying he and Song have "a good life." "I have a pretty little family -- a pretty girl, a pretty dog, a pretty cat and all that stuff. We're gonna move," he said at the time. "We're doing the house thing and all that kind of stuff." The marriage will be the first for Song, while Culkin was previously married to Rachel Miner, from 1998 to 2002. NEW DELHI: Television actor Shweta Tiwari has landed in a controversy for allegedly referring to God while making a statement about her innerwear. Her controversial remark on God led to sharp rections from people and further prompted Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra to direct the police to investigate her statement and seek a report within 24 hours. Shweta made the statement in Bhopal on Wednesday during the promotion of her web series 'Show Stopper'. Her co-actors were also present when she made the remark during an interaction with media persons. The actress reportedly made the 'derogatory' remark referring to her co-star Sourabh Raaj Jain, who played the role of Lord Krishna in the TV series 'Mahabharata'. Sourabh plays the role of a bra-fitter in the new web series. A video of Shweta's statement has gone viral on social media, in which she purportedly referred to God while speaking about her innerwear. When asked about the actor's statement, minister Mishra condemned her remark and told reporters on Thursday, "I have heard it and I strongly condemn it. I have directed the police commissioner of Bhopal to probe it and give a report within 24 hours. After that, we will see what action can be taken in the matter." Shweta Tiwari was last seen as a contestant in reality game show 'Khatron Ke Khiladi 11'. She was earlier married to Raja Chaudhary and have a daughter Palak with him. However, she filed for divorce in 2007, accusing him of physical violence. In 2013, she married Abhinav Kohli after dating him for three years, and gave birth to a boy in 2016. In 2019, Shweta accused Kohli of domestic violence and harassment against her and her daughter Palak. Live TV New Delhi: 7th Pay Commission latest update: Central government employees eagerly waiting for the official update on 18 months DA arrears might be in for some good next week, as the union cabinet may take some decision regarding the same, media reports have said. The Dearness Allowance and Dearness Relief of Central government employees and pensioners were restored to 31% from 17% from October 2021, however the arrears have not been deposited as yet. It has been speculated in the media that the employees will now get the arrears at one go --meaning that the amount could reach a whopping Rs 2 lakh for some band of employees. Several media reports are now stating that the Union Cabinet is contemplating to take the matter for discussion in the next week, where the quantum of the DA will be decided. Although there is no official word on the issue, we can only keep it as speculation. Previously, a Zee Hindi report, quoting Shiv Gopal Mishra of the National Council of JCM, had previously mentioned that the DA arrears of Level-1 employees range from Rs 11,880 to Rs 37,554. Whereas, for Level-13 (7th CPC basic pay scale Rs 1,23,100 to Rs 2,15,900) or Level-14 (pay scale), the DA arrears in the hands of an employee will be Rs 1,44,200-2,18,200 that will be paid, quoted the reports. The report further adds that issues related to arrears were discussed between the National Council of JCM, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and the Finance Minister. However, no concrete answer was received. The employees are still adamant on the demand and talks are on with the government reportedly. However, it is expected that soon this can be discussed with the Cabinet Secretary. According to the annual report of the Department of Expenditure, there are a total of 48 lakh central employees in the country and about 60 lakh pensioners. Live TV #mute New Delhi: EPFO Subscribers who have activated their UAN number are allowed to carry out numerous changes and updates that pertain to their personal details --one such being rectification of date of birth. The retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) allows subscribers to change or rectify their date of birth. Although, date of Birth/Age once given is not normally changed, however it can be changed with proper documentary evidence. Here are the list of documents you will be required to submit as proof for date of birth: If difference in date of birth is less than 3 years, submit Aadhaar/e-Aadhaar on Unified Member Portal. If difference in date of birth is more than 3 years, submit Aadhaar/e-Aadhaar along with any of the following documents on Unified Member Portal: - Any school/education related certificate - Birth certificate issued by Registrar of Birth and Deaths - Passport - Certificate based on service records of Central/State government organisations - Any reliable documents issued by Government Departments like Driving License, ESIC card etc - Medical Certificate issued by Civil Surgeon after examining the member How to rectify date of birth on EPFO website? EPFO subscribers can follow these steps - Visit EPFO UAN Portal - Punch your Login details, password and the captcha code - From the drop down menu, select Manage and Modify Basic Details - You will be headed for Request for Change - Here you will have to feed in your Aadhaar details, your name, your date of birth and selection for your gender - Make the required changes Once the process of rectification is done from the subscribers' end, a joint request has to be submitted by the employee and the employer to the concerned EPF office along with documents like Aadhaar, PAN etc. Live TV #mute New Delhi: Megastar Rajinikanth's daughter Aishwaryaa and actor Dhanush's separation news has hit hard not just the fans but also the family. The couple decided to end their 18 years of marriage and issued a joint statement on social media, a few days back. However, looks like Aishwaryaa and Dhanush's families want the duo to reconcile and sort the differences. According to a report in WION, Rajinikanth is trying hard to make peace between the two. WION quotes Subhash K Jha's report as saying, "Rajini Sir has taken his daughters break up very badly. He keeps insisting that the separation is temporary. He has been urging his daughter to mend her marriage, says a source from Chennai. And who knows? It just may happen. Families of both Aishwarya and Dhunsh are pressurizing the couple to reconcile." In a shocking announcement, Aishwaryaa and Dhanush announced split on social media. "Eighteen years of togetherness as friends, couple, as parents and well-wishers to each other. The journey has been of growth, understanding, adjusting, and adapting. Today we stand at a place where our paths separate. Aishwaryaa and I have decided to part ways as a couple and take time to understand us as individuals for the better. Please do Respect our decision and give us the needed privacy to deal with this. Om Namashivaaya! Spread love, D," Dhanush shared in a note on Twitter. Megastar Rajinikanth's elder daughter Aishwaryaa tied the knot with Dhanush in 2004. The couple has two kids together - Yatra and Linga. Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday adjourned till February 2 the hearing in the anticipatory bail plea moved by Malayalam film actor Dileep in a case against him and five others for allegedly threatening officials probing into the sexual assault of an actress in 2017. Justice Gopinath P adjourned the case considering the prosecution submission seeking time for analysing the digital evidence in connection with the probe. Counsel for Dileep then submitted that the interim order preventing his arrest may continue till the date of the next hearing. The court, after taking the views of the prosecution, extended the validity of the interim order till February 2. Last Saturday, the court had granted interim protection to Dileep from arrest. As per the court's directive, Dileep and the other accused had appeared before the investigating officers on January 23, 24 and 25 for interrogation. The accused was directed to fully cooperate with the investigation. The court had said director Balachandra Kumar, who had recently made some startling revelations against the actor, was an acquaintance of Dileep and has submitted some relevant material to the crime branch which led to the registering of the case. Besides Dileep, his younger brother P Sivakumar and brother-in-law T N Suraj have also moved the court seeking the same relief. On January 9, the Crime Branch registered the case on a complaint filed by an investigating officer based on a purported audio clip of Dileep, which was telecast by a TV channel in which the actor was allegedly heard conspiring to attack the official. The actor and five others were booked under various provisions of the IPC, including Sections 116 (abetment), 118 (concealing design to commit offense), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (criminal act done by several people). This apprehension is borne out of the past conduct of the complainant officer who from the start has been trying to falsely implicate the actor in the sexual assault case, the petition alleged. The actress-victim who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some of the accused, who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017, and later escaped in a busy area. The entire act was filmed by some of the accused to blackmail the actress. There are 10 accused in the case and police arrested seven. Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail. New Delhi: Google on Thursday announced the launch of an India-first feature on Google Maps where users can access their current location to find the 'plus codes' address for their home. Plus codes are free, open-sourced, digital addresses that provide accurate addresses for locations, including for places that don't have accurate formal addresses. Instead of street and locality names, plus codes are based on latitude and longitude and are displayed as a short sequence of numbers and letters, providing accuracy right up to the doorstep and ease the discovery of and navigation to businesses. Since its launch in 2018, plus codes have been adopted at scale by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India and governments. "In addition to community-led efforts, we are also committed to empowering users to directly use 'plus code' addresses for their daily needs. "We piloted this feature in India a month ago, and are thrilled to share that over three lakh users in India have already found their home's address using plus codes," Google Maps Product Manager Amanda Bishop said. Bishop added that the company is actively looking for opportunities to partner with e-commerce, logistics and delivery companies to scale up the experience to more people across the world. When saving a 'Home' location on Google Maps, users in India will see a new 'Use your current location' that uses their phone's location to generate a plus code (if the location precision meets minimum thresholds) that they can then use as their Home address. There is also a new section at the top of the 'Saved' tab to make it easier to retrieve, copy and share these home addresses. Also Read: Uber, Ola among taxi apps collecting extensive user data; THIS Indian app collects least info Currently, the feature is available on Android only with iOS to follow soon, the statement said. Also Read: FMCG firm Colgate-Palmolive India net profit rises 1.6% to Rs 252.3 crore Live TV #mute Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to close schools across the state till February 15 in view of increasing Covid-19 cases. However, online classes will continue, the state government order said. This decision to close schools has been taken after reviewing the Covid-19 situation in the state. According to an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Avanish Awasthi, the date of school closure has been extended from earlier January 30 to February 15. Awasthi said that online classes will continue in view of the upcoming secondary board examinations. Though Covid cases in Uttar Pradesh have shown a declining trend, the state reported 10,937 new cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of active cases to 80,342. Lucknow alone has reported 2096 new cases on Wednesday. Live TV Seoul: South Korea's military says North Korea has fired at least one unidentified projectile into the sea in its sixth weapons launch this month. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff on Thursday did not immediately say whether the projectile was a ballistic missile or how far it flew. North Korea has upped its testing activity recently in an apparent effort to pressure the Biden administration in the US amid long-stalled nuclear talks. The renewed pressure comes as the pandemic further shakes North Korea's economy, which was already battered by crippling US-led sanctions over its nuclear weapons programme and decades of mismanagement by its own government. North Korea issued a veiled threat last week to resume the testing of nuclear explosives and long-range missiles targeting the American homeland, which leader Kim Jong Un suspended in 2018 while initiating diplomacy with the United States. Kim's high-stakes summitry with former US President Donald Trump derailed in 2019 due to disagreements over sanctions relief and denuclearisation. Some experts say North Korea could dramatically escalate weapons demonstrations after the Winter Olympics, which begin February 4 in China, North Korea's main ally and economic lifeline. They say Pyongyang's leadership likely feels it could use a dramatic provocation to move the needle with the Biden administration, which has offered open-ended talks but showed no willingness to ease sanctions unless Kim takes real steps to abandon the nuclear weapons and missiles he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. Live TV Hong Kong: CE explains vaccine pass plan (To watch the full media session with sign language interpretation, click here.) The Government will make sure that there is sufficient lead time for those who have not received COVID-19 vaccination to get the jab when it introduces measures relating to the vaccine pass, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said today. Meeting the media this afternoon, Mrs Lam outlined the Governments preparatory work on expanding the vaccine pass arrangements from February 24. The term replaces the former vaccine bubble to clearly illustrate what the Government aims to achieve. The vaccine pass is to help encourage more people to be vaccinated because the effect of vaccine pass is (that) if you have not been vaccinated, you will not be able to enter a lot of premises or engage in a lot of activities. Currently, the Prevention & Control of Disease (Requirements & Directions) (Business & Premises) Regulation (Cap 599F) covers about 15 categories of premises, such as restaurants, gyms and beauty parlours. We are planning to amend Cap 599F to expand the ambit so that more indoor premises will be included in the scheduled premises for us to impose this requirement. And beyond the statutory schedule, we can also do it for government premises. So entry into the Central Government Offices in Tamar and Leisure & Cultural Services Department libraries will, from a date onwards, be subject to a vaccine pass. Mrs Lam also addressed concerns that people may not have enough time to get vaccinated before such measures are introduced. In future, we will make sure that when we announce something new, there will be sufficient lead time for those who have not been vaccinated to get vaccinated. Just for arguments sake, we will probably, in time to come, expand this vaccine pass requirement from one dose to two doses, and (then) to three doses. So every time, we will allow sufficient time for those who have not taken the second dose or the third dose to be able to (get vaccinated) - (so) at least they have a chance. If the duration is too short, they (will not) have (enough) time, then that is not fair. So every time, we will make sure that they have enough time to get vaccinated. This story has been published on: 2022-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Press Release January 27, 2022 Food security should be the next admin's top priority - De Lima As the country faces high incidences of hunger and food insecurity, Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima stressed that achieving food security should be the top priority of the next administration. De Lima said the current pandemic is a great reminder that a strong nation promotes, prioritizes and encourages investments in local domestic production and supply chains of essential goods, particularly food, which is the basic human need. Given the persistent threats of lockdowns and limitations on movements of goods and persons due to the pandemic, the government ought to include establishing and strengthening production and supply sufficient to secure the food needs of a given locality. "The government has to make food security its number one priority," said De Lima, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development. "'Local domestic production" has to mean more than just 'national' food supply and security; it ought to mean 'local' on the local government level," she emphasized, lamenting the lack of foresight in the exceedingly expansive transformation of agricultural lands, which are fit for food production, into commercial and residential areas. "This has led to the rise of real estate billionaires, while the ordinary people are left food-insecure and perpetually locked in a losing battle against rising food prices." "Kailangang mamuhunan sa pagpapalago ng lokal na supply ng pagkain, lalo na sa pamamagitan ng pag-aangat sa kakayahan at pagsusulong ng makabagong teknolohiya na makatutulong sa produksyon ng ating mga mangingisda, magsasaka at manggagawa sa industriya," she added. In 2019, close to 750 million - or nearly one in ten people in the world - were reportedly exposed to severe levels of food insecurity. In the Philippines, food insecurity was highest between April and May 2020, or when the country was placed under enhanced community quarantine. In a Nutrition Assessment Survey conducted from Nov. 3 to Dec. 3, 2020, the Department of Science and Technology found that of the 5,717 households surveyed composed of 7,240 individuals, 62.1% or six out of 10 reported they experienced moderate to severe food insecurity. These statistics are on top of those gathered by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), which found that poverty incidence among the Philippine population increased to 23.7 percent during the first half of 2021 from 21.1 percent in the same period of 2018. This translates to 3.9 million more Filipinos living in poverty, out of which regions with stricter quarantines, such as Regions III, IV-A, and VII, tended to see larger increases in poverty compared to regions under less stringent quarantines. It is not unreasonable to conclude that food insecurity follows the same trend across regions, which is why the lady Senator from Bicol stressed the need to review the current laws on food security and enact a Right to Adequate Food law which ensures the protection of food production and sources of food. "The right to adequate food is a human right which all governments must address. Aside from enacting a Right to Adequate Food law, we need to review and revise our food security laws in light of the experience with their implementation or non-implementation, as the case may be," De Lima said. "This includes protection for farmers and intensified efforts in helping them bring their produce to the market at fair and competitive pricing," she added. Notably, agriculture is among the hard-hit sectors as the economy struggles to recover from the effects brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, noting how farmers, whose lack of means to transport raw materials and manufactured goods, extremely disrupted farm and business operations. In line with this, De Lima said the Department of Agriculture must also expand any existing program to provide logistical support to farmers to ensure that the produce reach the market. "More than any 'farm-to-market roads' which is many times code for corruption project of congressmen, a program which helps transport the goods will be very helpful to our farmers," she stressed. "Food production should also be made profitable at all levels, with farmers, traders and retailers getting just returns," she added. Likewise, De Lima underscored the need to increase the country's border control to prevent food smuggling, which endangers not only the consumers but also the livelihood of farmers. For De Lima, the way to protect farmlands and food-producing areas is by enacting a Comprehensive Land Use Act which would prevent destructive developments and exploitation of land areas to the point of endangering our food security. "This also means reviewing the achievements as well as the unintended negative consequences of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law and make sure that genuine land reform is finally achieved in this decade," she said. Finally, De Lima also underscored the need to protect the country's fisheries and aquatic resources. "We must mandate our government to enter into international alliances that would prevent intrusions in our exclusive economic zones, stop overfishing, and protect the marine habitats from environmental degradation," she said. Nor has it carried out work to contain and recover the hydrocarbon in the affected areas, or completed the tasks consisting of segregation, transportation, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. "Yesterday (last Tuesday), the deadline of the first measure dictated on January 18 on the company for the imposition of the coercive fine expired. Repsol has not complied with identifying the areas affected by the oil spill," Alegria indicated. In the same way, the official reported that the deadline established by OEFA for Repsol to carry out the conservation, custody, and rescue of the marine fauna affected in the protected natural areas such as Isla Pescadores (Fishermen's Island) and Zona Reservada de Ancon (Ancon Reserved Zone) has expired. "The deadline expires today (Wednesday), and tomorrow (Thursday) we will be carrying out field inspections. If we verify that the company has not met (the obligations), we will also initiate the requirement to impose the coercive fine," she explained. The deadlines set by OEFA for Repsol to comply with are short due to the urgency of providing an adequate treatment to the area affected by the oil spill, Alegria indicated. The official added that failure to comply with the measures imposed by OEFA entails an administrative sanctioning process. OEFA continues to monitor the beaches where it has identified the impact of the oil spill. In the next hours, it will notify the company of its responsibility for failing to comply with a preventive measure. "The fines go up to 4,000 tax units just for failing to comply with a preventive measure. Each measure has an independent path," she noted. Oil spill On January 15, an oil spill was reported in Ventanilla district's sea area , at La Pampilla refinery, run by Repsol company. After meeting with Repsol representatives, Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez pointed out that around 6,000 barrels of oil were spilled. The oil slick has spread along the coast of Ventanilla, reaching Ancon and Chancay, where a negative impact on marine flora and fauna is registered. (END) SMS/RRC/MVB The Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement (OEFA) will issue a fine of 4,000 tax units (S/18.4 million = US$4.78 million) to the Repsol company for failing to comply with one of the measures ordered by the institution in light of the oil spill that occurred in Lima district's Vetanilla sea area. Publicado: 27/1/2022 In remarks to Andina news agency, Minister Ramirez reported that Mare Doricum tanker Captain Giacomo Pisani has delivered valuable material to Peruvian authorities. Said material proves his disagreement with how the multinational company has operated. "Definitely, we won't give up on these sanctions that are to be issued, and we are analyzing the possibility of coercive measures so that the company directors fulfill their obligation, initially of cleanup and decontamination and later of remediation," he explained. The Minam head said Repsol assumed that it had failed to provide correct information on the oil spill. However, it hides behind a sudden heavy swell as a consequence of the Tonga volcano eruption. Nonetheless, the port authority has ruled out that argument, the Cabinet member stressed. "At that time, related activities were being carried out; there was no type of anomaly in the sea. On the contrary, the tanker's captain indicates that he had not felt any type of heavy swell that could have denaturalized the course of the ship," he specified. Minister Ramirez emphasized that what happened in the Peruvian sea area should be a milestone to mark a severe response from the Peruvian State, which is why he indicated civil and criminal measures are being proposed. The suspension of the company is even being analyzed, he added. Moreover, the government official underlined that the Peruvian State cannot allow a company to operate while damaging the environment and humanity. "I deduce that it (Repsol) has only had a contingency plan on paper; it has never thought that this event would happen," he noted. The Cabinet member emphasized that in the case of ecological disaster, the assessment is not only environmental but also social. "This damage is environmental, social, and even moral to the country," he concluded. Presidente @PedroCastilloTe: "La aspiracion del Peru por ingresar a la @OECD constituye una politica de Estado que se fundamenta en la defensa de la democracia, la proteccion de las libertades individuales, los derechos humanos, una economia abierta, inclusiva y competitiva". pic.twitter.com/M63YzaYs2C In statements to TV Peru on Wednesday, Menacho mentioned that this spill has been classified as a minor one, given that the quantity of spilled crude oil amounted between 6 and 7 barrels, which would be equivalent to 44 gallons of hydrocarbon. According to the International Federation of Tanker Ship Owners, he explained, hydrocarbon spills are classified as minor (when the amount spilled into the sea is less than 7 tons), medium (between 7 and 700 tons), and major (more than 700 tons, which is equivalent to 5,000 barrels). "That is why the January 15 spill was classified as major because more than 6,000 barrels were spilled into the sea," the chief of staff remarked. "A far smaller amount of crude oil was poured into the sea, but it was rapidly contained and recovered by the company. We have verified that the slick has not reached the coast or beach area. The containment barriers that have been limiting the movement of the stain can be seen in recently released photos," he stated. The official commented that after the incident, the Peruvian Navy through its General Directorate of Captaincies and Coast Guard requested a meeting with the company's executives, who reported that a small spill occurred during the pipeline repair. Thus, containment booms were placed around the spill site. "They told us that the spill occurred while replacing a section of the PLEN pipeline 4 km long from the point of the terminal to the land point. They had to empty the remaining fuel in the pipeline first and, while doing so, between 6 and 7 barrels of fuel were spilled," he explained. After acknowledging that, although the amount of spilled oil is minor, this spill also affects marine fauna, Menacho commented that minor spills during loading and unloading procedures are frequent in hydrocarbon operations. "Ideally, nothing should ever happen, but some issues usually arise, especially those associated with operational matters," he added. (END) RRC/RMB/MVB The second oil spill which occurred at Multi-buoy Terminal No. 2 of La Pampilla refinery , operated by Repsol, has already been contained and has not reached the beach area, said Jesus Menacho, the Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard Operations Command at the Peruvian Navy.Publicado: 27/1/2022 Hemos finalizado el encuentro de la XVI #CumbreAlianzaDelPacifico, hoy, en el pais hermano de Colombia. Estoy convencido que esta integracion latinoamericana representa una prioridad que contribuira al desarrollo economico y sostenible de nuestros paises. pic.twitter.com/PMZ6E8KDHP #CumbreAlianzaDelPacifico | Fotografia oficial de los Jefes de Estado, junto a los Cancilleres y ministros de Comercio, quienes participan en la @A_delPacifico, en Colombia. pic.twitter.com/jfoyPfCv1o Press Release January 27, 2022 Gordon meets with agri sector in Batangas Re-electionist Sen. Richard J. Gordon headed to Lipa, Batangas today to tackle the scourge of problems affecting the agriculture sector along with the Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines, Inc. (AGAP) partylist. Gordon, the chairman of three Senate committees, namely the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (Blue Ribbon), Committee on Government Corporations and Public Enterprises, and Committee on Justice and Human Rights, is pushing for out-of-the box solutions to improve the state of agriculture. "We must have a strategic platform and unify the public and private sector in helping craft innovations for the country's farmers, because the status quo is not working," said Gordon. "We should liberate the farmers from poverty. Poverty is the absence of choice. Kahit magbungkal ng lupa maghapon ang ating farmers, kung walang siguradong bibili ng mga produkto nila, talagang talo ang ating magsasaka," he added. Gordon pushed for the passage of the Regional Investment and Infrastructure Coordinating Hub (RICH) bill, which will create a one-stop shop where farmers could head to in order to sell their products or talk with government agencies to discuss plantation. The senator also wants to push to strengthen agricultural cooperatives and undergo cluster farming to encourage the concept of "strength in numbers" where small farmers could be empowered by an umbrella group. Government and private sector must also cooperate for a common cause in order to help people break the cycle of disaster and poverty, which destroys billions of pesos worth of crops and property due to the 20 typhoons passing on average annually. Gordon also underscored the proper implementation of the Mandanas ruling, which was spearheaded by Batangas Gov. Hermilando Mandanas and ratified by the Supreme Court recently. "Ang Mandanas money, pupunta ngayon sa local government iyan, tataas ang share ng local government mula sa national treasury. Gamitin natin ito para palakasin ang agrikultura at fishery sa bawat locality," remarked Gordon. "Closer is better. Makikita ng farmer na may pera ang local government, matutulungan silang palakasin ang kanilang mga negosyo," he continued. As chairman of the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), Batangas has been a recipient of the PRC's help numerous times in the past years. Gordon responded immediately to the victims of the Taal Volcano eruption last Jan. 2020, feeding almost 21,000 individuals, doling out cash grants to almost 10,000 families, distributing 325,800 liters of water, and over 400 households with livelihood assistance. It also has established a Molecular Laboratory in order to cater COVID-19 testing to Regions IV-A and B, examining thousands of samples since July 2020. The PRC also maintains four branches in addition to a blood center in the province. La prueba molecular me confirma diagnostico de COVID-19. Gracias a las vacunas (3) son sintomas leves. Como corresponde, mis actividades presenciales se suspendieron y mi trabajo continua de forma remota desde la prueba antigena de ayer. Gracias por los buenos deseos Vacunense! 10:45 | Washington D.C. (U.S.), Jan. 27. The conversation took place recently in the midst of intense efforts by the diplomatic representation to inform the White House about the ecological consequences of said disaster. "The aid offered has been declared by President Biden as a priority for his administration, and it is the outcome of an assessment of the ecological damage caused to the coastal ecosystem, namely to marine and wildlife in the affected areas," Ambassador De Rivero said. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Prime Minister Hambardzum Matevosyan received on January 26 acting UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia Lila Pieters Yahia, the deputy PMs Office said. Hambardzum Matevosyan congratulated Mrs. Lila Pieters Yahia on appointment and expressed readiness for close cooperation in the context of implementing targeted programs aimed at promoting democracy, security, peace and stability. The deputy PM highly valued the support and efforts of the UN Office aimed at the fight against COVID-19 in Armenia, the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and the solution of the humanitarian problems caused by the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Lila Pieters Yahia said despite the challenges of 2020, Armenia continues moving forward, and the UN is ready to support the Armenian governments development agenda within its mandate. During the meeting the sides discussed a broad range of issues of bilateral interest and agreed to make the cooperation in e-governance and other areas more effective. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Armenians and Iranians - two neighbors and friendly nations having millennia-old historical ties - are marking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between their modern states the Republic of Armenia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. On the occasion of this important anniversary, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Armenia H.E. Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri gave an interview to ARMENPRESS, noting that the historical relations between the peoples of Iran and Armenia are a very good foundation for the further expansion of the bilateral interstate ties. Ambassador Zohouri underscored that especially in the economic sector the partnership should reach the excellent level of the political relations. Its been almost two years that I am in Armenia, and it is my impression that we should raise the level of our awareness about each other, Ambassador Zohouri said, stating that relations can be improved in all areas because there are no big obstacles for doing so. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Armenia H.E. Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri gives an interview to ARMENPRESS journalist Aram Sargsyan at the Embassy of Iran, Yerevan. Among a number of issues, the Ambassador attaches importance to the intensification of contacts between Armenian and Iranian business communities and the completion of the renovation projects of interstate roads. The Persian Gulf-Black Sea International Transport Corridor Project (the North-South road in Armenia being part of it) initiated by Tehran can greatly contribute to the development of transport connection. We are speaking about a situation when the huge population of the Indian ocean and Persian Gulf basin is acquiring a convenient route for transporting shipments to the Black Sea and Europe, and as a rule all countries located at the entire length of this route will mostly benefit from it, the Iranian Ambassador said. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Armenia H.E. Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri According to Ambassador Zohouri, one of the most influential and important sections of the project is a section of the Tranche 4 of North-South, which would connect Kajaran and Sisian through a number of bridges and tunnels. The main transit route viewed by Iran is the Norduz-Syunik-Yerevan road. Iran welcomes the negotiations process between Armenia and Azerbaijan on unblocking transport and economic connections which is carried out in adherence to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the countries. The Iranian Ambassador said that if the Nakhijevan roads were to be opened, Iran and Armenia would get a shorter railway connection by the Julfa-Nakhijevan route. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Republic of Armenia H.E. Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri At the same time, Ambassador Zohouri underscored that the newly proposed options cannot be a reason for ignoring the importance of the road through Syunik province and the North-South project. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Human Rights Academy will be established at the Office of the Ombudsman of Armenia in the upcoming two years, Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan said in a statement on social media. He informed that the initiative has been proposed by him and will be funded by the European Union. On January 25 Tatoyan attended the launch of a new international program, which, among other events, also envisages creation of a Human Rights Academy, new divisions of the Office of the Ombudsman in provinces, creation of teenagers and youth councils, introduction of new, electronic tools of jobs and digital technologies, strengthening of control on implementation of Armenias international commitments and many other events. He informed that these programs will be implemented by the funding of the European Union and within the frames of the UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA and the OSCE program. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will debate a draft resolution on the functioning of democratic institutions in Armenia on January 27. The authors of the resolution are MP representing Finland Kimmo Kiljunen and MP representing Sweden Boriana Aberg. The lawmakers have also presented a report adjacent to the draft resolution, stating that the Monitoring Committee welcomes the fact that Armenia has made marked progress in its democratic development since the change of political leadership in 2018 and has successfully emerged from the serious political crisis triggered by the outcome in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which was overcome by parliamentary elections in June 2021. The committee assesses the achievements made, and challenges remaining, with regard to, inter alia, electoral reform, the balance of institutional power, the political environment, judicial reform and the media environment, and makes a number of concrete recommendations, the report says. The Assembly also welcomes the pursuit of reforms, the launch of new projects since the change of political leadership in 2018 and the degree to which Armenia has co-operated with the Council of Europe, including at the level of its parliamentary delegation, the report added. The Assembly calls on the Armenian authorities to complete the reform of the electoral framework by taking on board the recommendations of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR, in particular as regards providing a precise legal definition of campaign expenditure, abolishing the ban on bi-nationals standing for election, enabling voters to challenge voting results in their constituency. The report also made a reference to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict where PACE calls on to achieve the fair and stable settlement of the conflict within the OSCE Minsk Group. PACE also calls on to return all Armenian prisoners of war. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) will allocate a 1 million 719 thousand USD grant to Armenia from its Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development. The Armenian government approved the respective agreement at the January 27 Cabinet meeting. The Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures Gnel Sanosyan said the goal of the program is to increase the level of energy saving in buildings of public significance. The measures will lead to 50% energy saving in about 20 buildings. Sanosyan said the programs first phase has already been implemented with rather good results. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Omicron cases are sharply growing both in Armenia, in the region and all over the world, Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan said during the Cabinet meeting today, adding that this week Armenia is in the period of a progressive growth in terms of confirmed COVID-19 cases. As for the hospitalization percentages among the infected people, it is within 5-6%. It means that 5-6% of the infected people needs hospitalization. This is the only good news in this period, and both the already large number of vaccinated people and the certain characteristics of this strain contribute to this, the minister said. The minister informed that there is already the plan of expanding the hospital capacities, the beds. We have not fully launched it yet and will do it as required. Currently, six hospitals deal with the treatment of COVID-19. We will expand the hospital beds as needed, she said. Avanesyan also informed that vaccinations against coronavirus continue actively in the country. 37% are fully vaccinated. The minister assured that vaccinated citizens show mainly no symptoms or mild symptoms if infected with COVID-19. The minister said all types of vaccines are available in Armenia, and the Pfizer vaccine will be delivered soon. Most read of the week YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The Civil Contract faction has no decision yet over the nomination of a candidate for the president of Armenia, faction MP Eduard Aghajanyan told reporters at a briefing, asked whether the rumors, according to which chief of staff at the Prime Ministers Office Arayik Harutyunyan will be nominated for the president, are true or not. The possibilities of different candidates are being discussed, and as I said, there is no decision at the moment. The discussions continue. The decision will be made within the set timeframes, he said. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian announced his resignation on January 23. Press Release January 27, 2022 Gordon pushes for measure that will create special court to handle cases committed by policemen Senator Richard J. Gordon underscored having the ability to hold erring members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) accountable through the passage of Senate Bill (SB) 2331, which seeks to establish a specialized court handling cases involving its members. Gordon, the Senate Justice and Human Rights Co mmittee chairman, described accountability as the hallmark of modern democratic governance through the Police Law Enforcement Court. "There exists a significant and overarching constitutional and fiduciary principle that those entrusted with public power are accountable to the public for the exercise of their trust," said Gordon during his sponsorship speech. "Our institutions must be seen as an instrument which signals competence and organizational trustworthiness. What we see and hear nowadays foster fear of the law enforcers. Kaliwa't kanan na batikos ang inaabot ng PNP," he added. It may be recalled that several PNP officers were involved in numerous cases of incompetence and dereliction of their mandated duty. PO3 Arnel Oares, PO1 Jeremias Pereda and PO1 Jerwin Cruz were convicted of murder charges committed against 17-year-old Kian delos Santos in Aug. 2017. Police Senior Master Sergeant Jonel Nuezca was also convicted after murdering Sonya and Frank Gregorio in a well-documented incident last Dec. 2020. Meanwhile, Police Corporal Oliver Ferrer pulled out his service firearm allegedly as a joke, toyed his gun, and accidentally killed a drinking buddy during a drunken stupor last Sept. 2021. Gordon, a lawyer by profession, said that the 1987 Constitution mandates measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy, equality, accountability, and due process, but is not being currently fulfilled. "What we need is to restore the trust of the people in the PNP by having a special system that will expeditiously solve cases that involve the members of the PNP," remarked Gordon. "This bill is in no way a form of punishment, but a guarantee of efficiency in handling decisions and resolutions of cases. This will provide the public fair, impartial and speedy disposition of complaints for violations of constitutional rights, PNP operational procedures and code of ethical standards," he continued. Under the proposed law, the Supreme Court shall designate a special court as the Police Law Enforcement Court among existing Regional Trial Courts which will all handle civil and criminal cases committed by PNP members, whether on or off duty. It will also designate an appellate police court among the divisions of the Court of Appeals to handle all appeals stemming from the police courts. Per figures from the Supreme Court, there are 398 criminal cases pending which involve police officers as defendants as of June 2021. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. The venue and timeframes of the next meeting between the Armenian and Turkish special representatives for dialogue is not clearly decided at this moment, a senior lawmaker from the ruling Civil Contract party said. Our public will certainly be informed as soon as there will be clarity, including on the location of the next meeting another details, MP Eduard Aghajanyan, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of Foreign Relations told reporters. YEREVAN, JANUARY 27, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Spain are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. On this occasion, Armenias Foreign Ministry reaffirmed Yerevans readiness to develop and strengthen the relations with Spain. Today we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Spain. We reaffirm our firm will to continue strengthening both our bilateral relations and international cooperation, as well as the friendly ties of our nations, the Armenian MFA tweeted. YEREVAN, 27 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. NATO considers the possibility of sending a military contingent to Slovakia as a response to the situation related to Ukraine, ARMENPRESS reports, ''RIA Novosti'' informs Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia Ivan Korcok said on January 27, commenting on the information of Sky News that 1000 servicemen of the alliance can be deployed in the eastern part, including in Slovakia. Sky News TV channel reported on January 27 that members of NATO consider the possibility of creating new military units consisting of one thousand servicemen in Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia. It is mentioned that the new units will be similar to units present in the Baltic countries and Poland. ''NATO considers the deployment of the reinforcement forces, including in Slovakia. No decision has been made yet. This is not the request of the Slovak side, it is an inseparable part of normal defense as a response to the situation around Ukraine'', said Ivan Korcok. YEREVAN, 27 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. The US administration is committed to continuing to work closely with the Republic of Armenia in the areas of justice, the rule of law, and the strengthening of democratic institutions, ARMENPRESS reports Ambassador of the USA to Armenia Lynne Tracy said during the meeting with President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Arman Dilanyan. Dilanyan received Lynne Tracy on January 27. The Ambassador was accompanied by Kelly Strickland, USAID Deputy Director, Office of Democratic and Decentralized Governance, Alexis Haftvani, Head of the U.S. Embassy's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Welcoming the American colleagues, Arman Dilanyan highly valued the US-American cooperation, the continuous work on the implementation of the bilateral agenda in the judicial sphere. Arman Dilanyan noted that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia has an ambitious agenda of internal reforms, is determined to implement it, and the assistance of international partners, including the United States, will further promote their successful implementation. Ambassador Tracey thanked for the opportunity of the meeting, noting that the US administration is committed to continuing close cooperation with the Republic of Armenia in the areas of justice, the rule of law, and the strengthening of democratic institutions. In this context, Ambassador Tracey highlighted the internal reform process launched in the Constitutional Court. During the meeting, the interlocutors exchanged views on the prospects of implementing joint programs. British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has confirmed his intention to pay a visit to Russia and to meet with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Times daily reported. January 27, 2022, 15:22 British defense chief confirms plans to meet with Russian counterpart Shoigu STEPANAKERT, JANUARY 27, ARTSAKHPRESS: "I want the Russians to understand the Ukrainians will fight and Russia risks its economy, it risks being isolated, and that is not a legacy Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to be remembered for," the daily quoted Wallace as saying. "There is a chance it could be stopped but Im not optimistic," the British top military official added. Wallace also said that considering tensions in regard to Ukraine the United Kingdom in cooperation with NATO "could definitely deploy more forces in land, sea or air." On January 17, UK Secretary of State for Defense Wallace announced that he had sent an invitation to Russian Defense Minister Shoigu to visit London. Wallace expressed readiness to discuss issues related to mutual security concerns and engage in a meaningful dialogue in the spirit of goodwill. The Russian Defense Ministry reported on January 21 that Shoigu extended an invitation to Wallace to visit Moscow. According to the ministry, Shoigu "assured his British counterpart that he was ready to discuss all pressing security issues and suggested holding talks in Moscow based on the principles of reciprocity at any time that is convenient for the British defense secretary." Recently, Ukraine and some Western countries have been spreading allegations about Russias preparations for aggression in Donbass, where Kiev has been engaged in an internal armed confrontation with the self-proclaimed Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk since 2014. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov castigated these claims as "empty and unfounded," serving as a ploy to escalate tensions, pointing out that Russia did not pose any threat whatsoever to anyone. However, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of provocations aimed at justifying such allegations and warned that attempts to use military force to resolve the crisis in southeastern Ukraine would have very serious consequences. The Tata Group is expected to take full control of the airline, it founded in 1932, on Thursday Of the 141 Air India aircraft that Tatas would get, 42 are leased planes while the remaining 99 are owned. (Representational image: AFP) New Delhi: The government has notified the agreement between Air India and special purpose vehicle AIAHL for the transfer of non-core assets, ahead of the national airline's takeover by the Tata Group. The government had in October last year, inked the share purchase agreement with the Tata Group for the sale of national carrier Air India for Rs 18,000 crore. The Tata Group is expected to take full control of the airline, it founded in 1932, on Thursday. The cash component of the deal would come once the handover process is completed. The Tata Group would pay Rs 2,700 crore cash and take over Rs 15,300 crore of the airline's debt. The deal also includes sale of Air India Express and ground handling arm AISATS. The transaction was to be completed by December 2021, but the deadline was later extended till January 2022, owing to longer-than-expected time taken to complete procedural work. This will mark the return of Air India to the Tata fold after 67 years. The Tata Group had founded Air India as Tata Airlines in October 1932. The government nationalised the airline in 1953. As a precursor to the handover process, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) on January 24, notified the framework agreement entered into by and between Air India Ltd and AI Assets Holding Ltd (AIAHL) for transfer of assets of the national carrier post it ceasing to be a public sector company. AIAHL was set up in 2019, by the government for holding debt and non-core assets of the Air India group. Four Air India subsidiaries -- Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL), Airline Allied Services Ltd (AASL), Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd (HCI) -- along with non-core assets, painting and artefacts, and other non-operational assets, was transferred to the SPV. In October last year, Tatas beat the Rs 15,100-crore offer by a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh and the reserve price of Rs 12,906 crore set by the government for the sale of its 100 per cent stake in the loss-making carrier. As on August 31, 2021, Air India had a total debt of Rs 61,562 crore. Around 75 per cent of this debt or Rs 46,262 crore will be transferred to the special purpose vehicle, AIAHL, before handing over the loss-making airline to the Tata Group. Besides, non-core assets of Air India, including land and building, valued at Rs 14,718 crore are also being transferred to AIAHL. Tatas would not get to retain non-core assets such as the Vasant Vihar Housing colony of Air India, Air India Building at Nariman Point, Mumbai, and Air India Building in New Delhi. Of the 141 Air India aircraft that Tatas would get, 42 are leased planes while the remaining 99 are owned. While this will be the first privatisation since 2003-04, Air India will be the third airline brand in the Tatas' stable - it holds a majority interest in AirAsia India and Vistara, a joint venture with Singapore Airlines Ltd. Air India will give it access to a fleet of 117 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft and Air India Express Ltd another 24 narrow-body aircraft besides control of 4,400 domestic and 1,800 international landing and parking slots at domestic airports, as well as 900 slots at airports overseas such as London's Heathrow. Air India started suffering losses every year since its merger with Indian Airlines in 2007-08. A Turnaround Plan (TAP) as well as a Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) were approved for Air India by the previous UPA regime in 2012. However, the TAP did not work out and Air India continued to reel under losses with the government giving Rs 20 crore/day to keep the airline afloat. Over the last decade more than Rs 1.10 lakh crore was infused by way of cash support and loan guarantee in the loss making airline to keep it afloat. The airline is suffering losses of Rs 20 crore/day currently. On a standalone basis, Air India reported a net loss of Rs 5,422.6 crore during the April-September period of the current fiscal ending March 2022. FILE PHOTO: The Johnson & Johnson logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the NYSE in New York By Nate Raymond (Reuters) -Nevada has agreed to back a proposed nationwide settlement worth up to $26 billion resolving lawsuits against three large drug distributors and the drugmaker Johnson & Johnson over the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic, the state's attorney general said on Tuesday. Nevada was among a handful of states that until now was not participating in the landmark agreements to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits against J&J, McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc. The settlement's backers had agreed to extend to Jan. 26 a deadline for cities and counties in states that backed the proposal to opt-in to the settlements, citing the potential for more states to join. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said he was optimistic the state's local governments would join the settlements, allowing Nevada to receive more than $285 million. "There is no question that the opioid epidemic has devastated Nevada and money is needed now to address comprehensive statewide remediation," he said in a statement. J&J said it agreed to a $63 million settlement with Nevada consistent with its proposal to pay up to $5 billion to resolve cases against it nationally. AmerisourceBergen and McKesson declined to comment. Cardinal Health did not respond to requests for comment. 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 over two decades. The companies deny wrongdoing. The distributors said in September that 42 states, five territories and Washington, D.C., had agreed to participate in their $21 billion settlement. A similar number backed J&J's proposal. The extent state and local governments participate will shape how much the companies ultimately must pay and how much outstanding litigation they face. New Mexico, another holdout state, on Dec. 7 signed on. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler, Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio) Despite Mr Kwarteng reportedly seeking to reassure oil industry executives, Shell pulled out of the controversial Cambo project weeks later (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Wire) The government has said it will "make no apology for meeting major energy suppliers", after it emerged the business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng attended a private dinner with oil executives days after the Cop26 climate summit. According to a report in The Times the purpose of the meeting was to encourage fossil fuel companies to keep drilling for gas and oil in the North Sea. In a statement to The Independent the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), confirmed such a meeting took place, and said abandoning activity in the North Sea would put energy security and jobs at risk. Three days after the conference in Glasgow ended, Mr Kwarteng dined with senior executives from companies including Shell and BP in a "charm offensive" to reassure them of continuing British government support for fossil fuels, The Times report said. The meeting suggests that while publicly pledging at the Cop26 summit to move away from dependence on fossil fuels and encouraging other countries to do the same, behind closed doors the government has sought to do the opposite. In the statement, BEIS suggested the current energy crisis, which is expected to push household bills up significantly in 2022, was a key reason for meeting fossil fuel company executives, despite Mr Kwarteng previously describing fossil fuels as a "diminishing, highly volatile resource". The spokesperson said: We make no apology for meeting major energy suppliers during a period of high global gas prices. While we are working hard to drive down demand for fossil fuels, there will be ongoing demand for oil and gas as the UK transitions to low carbon alternatives, as recognised by the independent Climate Change Committee." The statement added: "Abandoning North Sea oil and gas overnight would put energy security, British jobs and industries at risk and leave the UK more reliant on foreign imports. An influential report from the worlds energy watchdog released in May said there can be no further fossil fuel expansion anywhere on Earth if global climate targets are to be met, and at Cop26, the final text called for accelerating the phaseout of unabated coal power and of inefficient subsidies for fossil fuels. Story continues During the summit the UK government also failed to join an international alliance aiming to end new oil and gas projects, leaving a small group of countries led by Costa Rica and Denmark, and including France, Greenland, Ireland and Sweden to forge a path away from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the UK government was under pressure to stop plans for new drilling activity at the Cambo oil field in the North Sea, and to explain how a new deep coal mine planned for Cumbria would also fit into its plans to hit net zero emissions by 2050. According to The Times, the dinner with Mr Kwarteng and Tim Eggar, the chairman of the Oil and Gas Authority, took place in London on 16 November, just three days after the signing of the Glasgow climate pact which aims to keep in reach the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C. But despite the governments wooing of the firms, there remains uncertainty over the UKs commitment to fossil fuel expansion, as well as Labour in England and Wales, and the SNP in Scotland voicing their increasingly hostile attitude to fossil fuels, the Tories are also sending mixed messages. Not least Mr Kwartang himself, who wrote in The Telegraph in October: Dont believe anyone who tells you the answer to a global gas crisis is simply drilling for more fossil fuels. The whole world is racing to move away from this diminishing, highly volatile resource. The meeting does not appear to have been enough to stop Shell from walking away from the Cambo oil field. On 2 December the company announced it was pulling out of the controversial project. At the time, a spokesperson for Shell said: After comprehensive screening of the proposed Cambo development, we have concluded the economic case for investment in this project is not strong enough at this time, as well as having the potential for delays. The Democratic-controlled state Legislature will draw congressional and state legislative district maps after the state Independent Redistricting Commission failed to submit a second proposal by Tuesday's deadline. In a joint statement, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Wednesday that it is now the state Legislature's responsibility to "consider fair maps that ensure all New Yorkers have equitable representation in their government." "That is a duty we take very seriously," Heastie and Stewart-Cousins said. "Given the expedited nature of the political calendar, we fully expect the Senate and Assembly to consider new fair maps in a timely manner. The plan is to vote on these maps next week." The state Legislature is taking over the redistricting process after the 10-member state Independent Redistricting Commission could not reach a consensus on new maps for congressional and state legislative districts. The commission, the product of a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2014, submitted two proposals to the Legislature one plan drawn by Democratic commissioners and another submitted by Republican members. The state Legislature rejected both plans. After the Assembly and Senate voted, the commission had 15 days Tuesday was the deadline to submit a second proposal. But in competing statements this week, the Democratic and GOP commissioners blamed each other for the impasse. Neither side submitted a second plan for the Legislature to consider, which means lawmakers will take over the redistricting process. State legislators will be tasked with drawing 26 congressional districts, 150 Assembly districts and 63 state Senate districts. Given the makeup of the Legislature, it's expected that the maps will give Democrats an electoral advantage, especially in House races across the state. State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt blasted Democrats for advancing "partisan redistricting" and thinks there should be a 10-day public review of any plan. "We have been assured that public input was collected and now it is time to make sure that input is considered," Ortt said. What happens in New York could have national ramifications. Both major parties will battle for control of the House of Representatives. Democrats hold 19 of New York's 27 House seats the state is losing a congressional district based on the census numbers but could add to their ranks depending on how the new districts are drawn. That could help the party's chances of retaining the House majority in November. Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. 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. Poe on BSP warning on fake ATM bills: Reminders by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to be alert of fake bills from ATMs are disquieting and raise the question on how the bogus money can find its way into the banks' machines. The burden of distinguishing counterfeit bills emanating from banks from genuine ones should not be placed on depositors. ATMs dispensing fake bills is unacceptable and must have no place in the banking system. As keepers of the people's money, banks must ensure state-of-the-art defenses against security breaches. It is our financial institutions that carry the responsibility to steadfastly guard against vulnerabilities and keenly upgrade their systems amidst the changing times to keep our people's unflinching trust in the banking industry. Members of the public will have an opportunity to share their thoughts on a proposed natural gas project in Cayuga County. The New York State Public Service Commission recently announced that a virtual public statement hearing has been scheduled concerning a petition by Bluebird Renewable Energy seeking a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and lightened regulation from the commission to construct, own and operate a renewable natural gas project. The proposed project will consist of facilities for the processing and transportation of biogas from anaerobic digesters located at the Aurora Ridge Dairy in Aurora and Sunnyside Farm in Scipio Center to a processing facility located at Sunnyside Farm. The processed gas will be compressed for loading into U.S. Department of Transportation-approved carbon fiber tube trailers and trucked to a receipt point where it will be injected into an interstate pipeline, which Bluebird currently anticipates will be the Corning Natural Gas Corporation system near the Town of Caton in Steuben County. The project will include the construction of two pipelines. One, approximately 5.5 miles long, will run from the anaerobic digester at the Aurora Ridge Dairy to the Sunnyside Farm processing facility and cross publicly owned rights-of-way in the towns of Ledyard and Venice. The second, approximately 1,500 feet long, will transport raw biogas from the Sunnyside Farms digester to the processing facility. The processing facility will consist of systems that will purify, compress, meter and ensure the quality of the processed gas. A public statement hearing will be held virtually before Administrative Law Judge James A. Costello at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2, at www.webex.com. The event number is 2343 110 5660 and the password is Feb2-4pm. Phone-only access will be available at (518) 549-0500. The access code will be 2343 110 5660. Those wishing to comment on any aspect of this proceeding will have the opportunity to make a statement on the record at the virtual public statement hearing. Any person wishing to provide a public statement must pre-register in advance of the hearing. To pre-register electronically, participants who would like to provide a statement and will log in to the hearing electronically must register to do so by visiting www.webex.com by 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 1. From the Webex homepage, registrants should click Join at the top right-hand corner of the screen, enter the appropriate event number listed above, and provide all requested information. When logging in to participate in the hearing, participants should visit www.webex.com, click Join at the top right-hand corner of the screen, and input the event number for the hearing. You may need to refresh the webex home page if the Join button does not at first appear. Participants will be asked to select audio system. It is recommended that participants opt to have the system call me or call using computer. The call me option will require participants to enter their phone numbers. Any participant who is not able to log in to the hearing electronically may participate by phone. Call-in participants wishing to provide a statement must register to do so by calling (800) 342-3330 by 3 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, where they should follow prompts to the appropriate hearing and provide the following information: first and last name, address, and phone number. On the date and time of a hearing, all call-in users should dial (518) 549-0500 and enter the access code listed above. Pre-registration is not required to listen to the hearing without making a statement. The hearing will be livestreamed on the internet and available for viewing on the Department of Public Service YouTube channel at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2. To access that YouTube channel, visit the Departments website, www.dps.ny.gov, and click on the YouTube icon at the bottom of the homepage. In addition, any person without internet access may listen to the hearing by phone by calling (518) 549-0500 and entering the access code. Written comments by internet or mail are requested by Friday, Feb. 11, and may be made at www.dps.ny.gov, click on Search, search using 21-G-0576 in the Search by Case Number field, and then click on Post Comments at the top right of the page; or by sending comments by email to the Secretary to the Commission at secretary@dps.ny.gov. Alternatively, comments may be mailed to the Hon. Michelle L. Phillips, Secretary, Public Service Commission, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 One statistic could be a sign that the post-holiday COVID-19 surge in Cayuga County is over. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the county's seven-day case rate was 839.69 per 100,000 people, down 32.03% in one week. The CDC reported a seven-day average of 91.2857 new cases, a drop from 128.714 on Jan. 18. The data is an indication that the county is past its COVID spike. Before the Cayuga County Health Department stopped reporting numbers of new daily cases, there were 3,402 new cases in January the most in any month since the pandemic began in March 2020. The county set a new daily case record with 387 on Jan. 14. Although there are positive developments, COVID-19 maintains a presence in the county. The health department said Wednesday that there are 469 active cases, up from 448 on Tuesday. The active case count during the winter surge reached a high of 850 on Jan. 9, but has been on the decline over the last few weeks. Hospitalizations increased by one, from 18 to 19, in 24 hours. A majority of the hospitalized patients (11 of 19) are unvaccinated, according to the health department. The patients range in age from two in their 30s, both of whom are unvaccinated, to one in their 90s who is vaccinated. Most of the hospitalized residents (13 of 19) are ages 60 or older. Six are under 60, including four in their 50s. Cayuga County's vaccination rate is 60.7% among eligible residents ages 5 and older and 57.6% among the entire population. About half of all residents who are fully vaccinated have received a booster shot, according to the CDC. Online producer Robert Harding can be reached at (315) 282-2220 or robert.harding@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @robertharding. 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. With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information. SAIC Motor sets up joint fund for local automotive chip SAIC Motor will cooperate with Shanghai Industrial Technology Research Institute (SITRI) to set up a special fund with billions of RMB for the development of local automotive chip segment. Hainan has 122,400 new energy vehicles by end of 2021 In 2021, Hainan added 58,700 new energy vehicles, representing an increase of 88% from a year ago. By the end of 2021, the province had a total of 122,400 new energy vehicles. Hozon registers new firm in Shanghai A wholly-owned subsidiary of Hozon New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd., new energy vehicle brand NETAs parent company, incorporated a new company with a registered capital of RMB5 million. The companys business covers insurance agency business. 10,000th ZEEKR 001 rolled off production line The 10,000th ZEEKR 001 rolled off production line on January 26, 99 days after the first ZEEKR 001 went off the production line. Photo credit: ZEEKR CATL expects 2021s net profit to soar up to 195.52% YoY CATL said on Jan. 27 its full-year net profit attributable to shareholders in 2021 is forecasted to reach 14 billion yuan ($2.206 billion) to 16.5 billion yuan ($2.6 billion), surging 150.75% to 195.52% from the previous year. Horizon Robotics cooperates with Holomatic Chinas edge AI chip developer, Horizon Robotics, joined hands with local autonomous driving company, Holomatic, for autonomous driving commercialization. Beijing completes nearly 4 million km autonomous driving test mileage in 2021 On January 26th, Beijing released a report demonstrating the citys achievements in the autonomous driving road test field in 2021, with nearly 4 million km of mileage. BYD to build industrial park in Hubeis Xiangyang BYD signed a framework agreement earlier this week with the municipal government of Xiangyang city, Hubei province to promote the construction of an industrial park that works on production of power batteries and other businesses, according to a post on the WeChat account "Hubei Fabu", which is owned by Hubei provincial government. Sokon Group initiates private placement to develop EV models Chongqing Sokon Industry Group Stock Co., Ltd. (Sokon Group), the holding company of the auto brand, SERES, is planning to raise RMB7.13 billion ($1.125 billion) through private placement. CALB to build 100GWh power battery, energy storage system bases in Guangzhou, Jiangmen China Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd. (CALB) signed two investment agreements this week for the plans to build power battery and energy storage system manufacturing bases in Guangzhou and Jiangmen cities of Guangdong provinces, which will add 100GWh per year of total production capacity for the battery maker. Beijing (Gasgoo)- On January 26th, Beijing released a report demonstrating the citys achievements in the autonomous driving road test field in 2021, with nearly 4 million km of mileage. Baidu Apollo Robotaxi According to the report, by the end of 2021, the city accommodated 170 autonomous driving vehicles from 16 entities, accumulating 3.912 million km of safe autonomous driving road test mileage, growing consecutively for three years. Additionally, 124 of the testing vehicles were with safety drivers, accumulating 2.51 million km of road test mileage, with over 300,000 people participating in the manned pilot operation. The report specifies that in order to realize high-level autonomous driving and achieve genuine industrialization of the technologies in the future, an autonomous driving product and service assessment system is required. In 2021, the specific road tests for driverless autonomous driving technology had entered phase two, accumulating 75,933 km of open road testing mileage. Meanwhile, the manned autonomous driving tests were in phase three in 2021. Moreover, the city has issued nighttime test notices to 43 vehicles. In April 2021, Beijing established an intelligent connected vehicle policy pilot zone, further promoting the commercial operation of autonomous driving vehicles in the city. Currently, the city has established a comprehensive autonomous driving vehicle technology test and assessment system, consisting of a closed test field, simulation test platform, autonomous driving vehicle technology evaluation, testing road requirement, data collection functions. In 2021, Beijing opened up 27 testing roads in Daxing District and Tongzhou District and added 51 more testing roads in Shunyi District. The total testing road mileage expanded 46.9% from a year ago. Furthermore, the city opened up 82 driverless technology testing roads in 3 districts, covering a total of 423.26 km. Beijing also homes 190.92 km of 31 special weather testing roads in 2 districts. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd. (CALB) signed two investment agreements this week for the plans to build power battery and energy storage system manufacturing bases in Guangzhou and Jiangmen cities of Guangdong provinces, which will add 100GWh per year of total production capacity for the battery maker. Under the agreement signed with the government of Huadu district of Guangzhou city, CALB's Guangzhou base is designed to feature a yearly manufacturing capacity of 50GWh with main products including power batteries and energy storage system. It will be the megacitys first large-scale power battery manufacturing project. CALB, Jiangmen municipal government; photo credit: CALB CALB's Jiangmen manufacturing base will have 50GWh of annual capacity as well. The company said the Jiangmen facility will help the city develop a full industrial chain for new energy and intelligent vehicles and build a professional lithium power battery industrial park. Prior to the latest signing ceremonies, CALB had deployed six battery manufacturing bases in China, which locate in Changzhou, Luoyang, Xiamen, Chengdu, Wuhan, and Hefei. The power battery manufacturer is ambitious to hit an annual power battery production capacity of 500GWh by 2025 and 1TWh by 2030, the company's Chairman Liu Jingyu said in last November at a corporate strategy launching ceremony. For the year of 2021, CALB recorded an annual power battery installed capacity of 9.05GWh, accounting for 5.9% of the countrys totals and ranking third among Chinese power battery makers, according to the China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (CAPBIIA). Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chongqing Sokon Industry Group Stock Co., Ltd. (Sokon Group), the holding company of the auto brand, SERES, is planning to raise RMB7.13 billion ($1.125 billion) through private placement. AITO M5; photo credit: AITO According to its announcement, Sokon Group intends to use the funds to upgrade its electric vehicle and product platform R&D, facilitating intellectualization on its factory, initiating electric motor production line projects, constructing user centers, and supplementing the groups working capital. Sokon Group said that the private placement represents the groups determination in the new energy transformation. The company aims to enhance its core competitiveness within the industry, improving its production technique, and process quality. Moreover, Sokon Group intends to develop six new electric vehicle models and upgrade its DE-i platform. The vehicle models include three high-end intelligent electric vehicles and three practical electric vehicle models. The project will cost the company roughly RMB4.75 billion ($479.43 million), with RMB4.31 billion ($680 million) from this private placement round. In fact, Sokon Group was fairly active in financial plans in the past year. In June 2021, the group raised RMB2.59 billion ($40.86 million) through private placement. In October 2021, Sokon Group initiated an IPO at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. However, according to another announcement made on January 26th 2022, Sokon Group has put the IPO plan on hold. Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese automaker BYD signed a framework agreement earlier this week with the municipal government of Xiangyang city, Hubei province to promote the construction of an industrial park that works on production of power batteries and other businesses, according to a post on the WeChat account "Hubei Fabu", which is owned by Hubei provincial government. BYD, Xiangyang municipal government signing agreement; Hubei Fabu The agreement was signed only three months after BYD contacted with local authority for the project. The industrial park will have facilities like power battery production lines, and gather suppliers and resources for the production of core components. The Xiangyang-based industrial park will be built in three phases. Involving a total investment of 10 billion yuan ($1.576 billion), the first phase is set to work on the R&D and production of power battery cells, modules and other core components with an annual production capacity of 30GWh. The second phase is planned for a zero-carbon-themed industrial park, where suppliers of cathode and anode materials, copper foils, aluminum foils, separators, electrolyte, and structural parts for battery packs will be introduced. The third phase will focus on attracting projects related to NEV components, including electric motors, electric control units, air conditioning system, wiring harness, and gears. We expect BYD to further strengthen its investment deployment in Hubei province, and step up the partnerships with local players in ICV (intelligent-connected vehicle) and NEV (new energy vehicles) industries, said Ying Yong, secretary of the Hubei Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. During Tuesdays Flagstaff City Council meeting, residents, business owners and councilmembers deliberated over the need for an enforceable noise ordinance. In recent years, the Flagstaff Police Department (FPD) has received an increasing number of noise complaints that are difficult to address within the ambiguity of the current unreasonable noise standard, said Deputy Chief Paul Lasiewicki. The majority of complaints that weve received have been from the Southside, where there are residents that have lived there for a very long time, said Lasiewicki. The residential area is very well-established, as is the business area. They are truly incompatible. But that has not always been the case, said Southside resident Candace Ryan, who testified that persistent and intrusive noise from a nearby business has impeded the sleep, work performance, and general quality of life for her and her neighbors. Were struggling over here, Ryan said. When we first moved here, we could enjoy our house. Now we cannot enjoy our house. For Ryan, the change came with new ownership of an unnamed tavern adjacent to her Southside home. The previous business was reasonable, Ryan said, and she and her neighbors had no problem coexisting with the general operation, including live music, of the business. But under new ownership, the business was turned into a nightclub, a thumping college bar, that she said has become intolerable as a neighbor. The noise is not just heard, its felt, Ryan said. Multiple times a week, weekdays not excluded. Malisa Szalkiewicz, who owns commercial space on the Southside that houses the Northern Arizona Yoga Center, Morning Glory Cafe, and Evans Fish and Chips, voiced similar concerns. This is an emotional issue because it involves sleep for individuals, she said. I definitely think there needs to be strong consideration for what is not only healthy for me as a business owner, but for my neighbors. Craig Bouchard, owner of the Southside Tavern, said he had been subjected to multiple visits from FPD and a nonsensical interpretation of the nuisance party ordinance. Unsettled by the numerous times his neighbors complained about his business, Bouchard went as far as hiring a private investigator to collect data on decibel levels throughout the city, and urged Council to take a similar data-driven approach before adopting any sort of noise ordinance. I think that change is necessary, Bouchard said. But that change must be done with more research and input. As part of the discussion, FPD presented numerous ordinance options based on other Arizona municipalities, but all came with a price tag exceeding $18,000 for the training and equipment necessary to objectively enforce noise limits. That is the bulk of what our training budget is right now, said Senior Assistant City Attorney Marianne Sullivan. We would need oncoming and recurring funds to support any type of ordinance like this. Sticker shock and the generally complicated nature of the issue elicited differing responses from members of city council. Councilmember Adam Shimoni said he would rather avoid an ordinance in favor of messaging that would encourage offending businesses to be a good neighbor, but he conceded that change might not be enough. Sometimes you need that backing [of an ordinance] to see a change, he added. City council decided to move forward with the process of crafting an ordinance by convening leadership and initiating town hall meetings to solicit public input. Such community outreach should take place in February and March. The stance was more or less shared by Councilmember Regina Salas, who emphasized the need for community buy-in. It will be about taking ownership of our own businesses, our own homes and being respectful to everyone in our community, she said. Councilmember Jim McCarthy suggested that there should be ways to pursue an ordinance without spending the large sum quoted by FPD, and leaned upon the idea that the discussion was complicated by our value system. The basic issue here is freedom, Councilmember McCarthy said. There are two kinds of freedom. Theres freedom to go out and raise hell, make a whole bunch of noise and not give a damn about anybody else. Thats freedom, and thats wonderful. But theres also ... if someones trying to sleep, they need freedom from noise. If people cannot have peace and quiet in their own home, where can they go? Theres a big difference between a special event and living with consistent noise that keeps you from sleeping, said Vice Mayor Becky Daggett. This is more than a surface-level quality-of-life issue, this is a health-and-safety issue. I, too, would like a little more outreach, then Id be ready to adopt an ordinance. Mayor Paul Deasy expressed concerns that the optional ordinances, as presented by FPD, contained decibel limits that were unreasonable even for residential activity, citing figures that would put the noise of laughter and hot tubs above the allowed limits. Are we going to outlaw hot tubs? he asked. Theres real concerns with me that with that low of level of decibels, it is going to take the rights away of people wanting to be in their backyards. Deasy also noted that the limits outlined in the presented ordinances would allow more noise from passing vehicles than they would from residents and private property owners. Councilmember Miranda Sweet drew attention to the fact that this is not the first time the city has had to mediate relationships between residents and noisy neighbors. In 2018, complaints over the noise produced by events in Wheeler Park spurred the city to create a special event noise ordinance for the area. The solution was largely successful, Sweet said. I feel like we can do that again. We can come up with a compromise," she said. She added her sympathy for Southside residents. I cant imagine being home and not being able to relax, she said. However, I feel that we should not do this right away. We have a lot of businesses to communicate with, a lot of residences to communicate with. I think that just dropping this tonight might not be the way to go on this. Love 0 Funny 9 Wow 1 Sad 2 Angry 4 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 police officer with Northern Arizona University is receiving an outpouring of support after she was involved in an off-duty crash last week. NAUPD Officer Daisy Romero was driving on Highway 89 on Monday, Jan. 17, with her girlfriend and two dogs when another vehicle crossed the roadway and struck their car head-on, NAUPD Sgt. Eric Greenwald confirmed. Romero was seriously injured and airlifted to the Flagstaff Medical Center, while her girlfriend was transported to the hospital in an ambulance. Romero, who is still in the hospital recovering, sustained severe injuries to her legs, arm and head, requiring multiple surgeries. Her long-term condition isnt clear, but she could move to a local rehabilitation facility in the coming days to continue her recovery. Greenwald, Romeros supervisor and friend, told the Arizona Daily Sun that Romero's condition is improving, but shes still extremely exhausted following the crash. We dont know with the severity of her injuries how this will play out, he said. We dont know when she might go back to work or if shell ever go back to full duty as a police officer. Romero is originally from Colorado and attended NAU. She joined the department in March 2020. She was recently awarded officer of the year honors for her work in DUI enforcement and commitment to serving the community. Luckily, both dogs were OK and Romeros girlfriend was released from the hospital shortly after. Romeros car, which she had just purchased a few weeks earlier, was totaled in the collision. Her friends and family felt especially helpless following the accident, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when hospital visitors are limited. Wanting to help Romero, Greenwald started a GoFundMe page on her behalf. Its too early to know the long-term effects Romero might face or how long she will be out of work. The money raised will assist with her medical costs, rehab expenses and other needs stemming from her injuries. As of Wednesday, the GoFundMe page Help support Officer Daisy Romero has raised $7,605 and been shared online dozens of times between local law enforcement, businesses and residents. Shes got a long road ahead, but she is a fighter, Greenwald said. Anything we can do to relieve her so shes not worrying about paying rent or replacing her car -- just to give her a few months of security to not have to worry about those things. The fundraiser goal is set for $10,000, and Greenwald said they will continue to raise money to help support Romero and her family through her recovery. Donations can be made at https://gofund.me/187802f2 or dropped off at NAUPD headquarters, located on the NAU campus at 550 E. Pine Knoll Drive. Reporter Bree Burkitt can be reached at 928-556-2250 or bburkitt@azdailysun.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 8 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. Arizona once again ranked near the bottom of states on a national report card on highway safety laws, earning a danger rating as a state with just five of 16 recommended laws and no primary enforcement for seat belts. It was at least the 10th straight year that Arizona has ranked near the bottom of the annual Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety report. But one state highway official said the report continues to ignore key information about traffic safety in the state, by focusing on laws on the books instead of Arizonas aggressive enforcement of those policies. All they like to do is look at laws. Laws are great to have, but enforcement is what makes the laws work, said Alberto Gutier, the director of the Governors Office of Highway Safety. He pointed to new data on the enforcement of the distracted driving law that took effect on Jan. 1, 2021, which allows police to fine motorists who are caught holding and using their mobile device while driving. Police handed out about 12,000 citations for distracted driving in 2021, Gutier said Tuesday. This is the 19th year the advocacy group has released its report, Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws. The latest report, released Tuesday, rates states by the number of highway safety laws they have from a list of 16 recommended policies. They range from drunken-driving laws to motorcycle helmet requirements, from graduated drivers licenses for teens to primary enforcement of seat belt laws, among others. States in the report are rated from top to bottom as green, yellow or red. Arizona was one of 11 states to finish in the red category, edging out only Wyoming, Missouri and Montana, which had each four recommended laws or fewer. Eight states and the District of Columbia were rated green and 31 were in the yellow category. Arizona has received credit since 2020 for the distracted driving law, which passed in 2019, even though enforcement did not begin until last year. Oro Valley Police Lt. Carmen Trevizo, who participated in Tuesdays release of the safety report, said distracted driving is one of two major issues that often cause serious injuries or death on roadways. While fatalities are the worst-case scenario, the effects of a serious collision because of something as silly as being on your phone can also devastate somebodys life, Trevizo said in an interview after the release of the report. But Arizona did not get credit for a law banning cellphone use by novice drivers because it only allows for secondary, not primary enforcement. A primary enforcement law allows police to stop a vehicle if there is a suspected violation of the law, while secondary enforcement only applies to infractions that are discovered after a driver has been stopped for a different offense. Gutier said secondary laws should not be dismissed so easily, using the states seat belt laws as an example. We have between 88 to 90% seat-belt use in Arizona with secondary law, he said. We have more people wearing seat belts over the states with a primary law. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from 2019 said Arizona had a 90.6% seat belt usage, which is higher than 16 states that have a primary enforcement seat belt law and 14 states with a secondary enforcement law. Trevizo said the other major traffic issue is driving under the influence. While she did not have hard numbers, she said that anecdotally she has noticed more collisions involving polydrug use, with marijuana as the most common drug involved, since Arizona allowed recreational use of marijuana last year. Again, Gutier pointed to enforcement, noting that DUI drug arrests rose from 7,123 in 2019 to 8,843 in 2021. The report does not include drug laws in its rating, but it does give Arizona credit for three important impaired driving laws, covering ignition interlock devices, child endangerment and open alcohol containers in vehicles. Gutier said Arizona has additional impaired driving laws that put the state ahead of others, including the nations first DUI phlebotomy program and an electronic search warrant system that allows officers to get a search warrant within 10 minutes of requesting it and draw blood on the scene from drunken driving suspects. Its good to brag about your state when you know youre doing the right thing, he said. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 [January 27, 2022] Quadrant Knowledge Solutions Recognizes Majesco as a Technology Leader in Their SPARK Matrix: P&C Core Insurance Platform, 2021 Majesco, a global leader of cloud insurance software solutions for insurance business transformation, today announced that it has been recognized as a Technology Leader in Quadrant Knowledge Solutions "SPARK Matrix: P&C Core Insurance Platform, 2021". The report, which includes 12 solution providers states, "Quadrant Knowledge Solutions' P&C Core Insurance (PAS- P&C) market research includes a detailed analysis of the global market regarding short-term and long-term growth opportunities, emerging technology trends, market trends, and future market outlook. The study provides a comprehensive market forecast analysis of the global market and the overall market adoption rate as well. This research provides strategic information for technology vendors to better understand the existing market, supporting their growth strategies; and for users to evaluate different vendors' capabilities, competitive differentiation, and market position." According to Pradnya Gugale, Analyst at Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, "Majesco's robust cloud-based P&C core insurance suite offers full lifecycle processing capabilities for all lines of P&C insurance including policy, billing and claims. The company's P&C portfolio has the ability to combine core applications with complex and ML-based advanced data analytics, offer pre-loaded templates & ready to use content with powerful configuration tools to enable quick product launch, and focus on creating next generation of digital insurance platform with robust digital experience tools. With its strong vision to offer a completely cloud-native SaaS offering, the company has received strong ratings across the parameters of technology excellence and customer impact and has been placed as a technology leader in the 2021 SPARK Matrix: P&C Core Insurance Platform," adds Pradnya. "Tremendous changes are on the horizon for insurance," said Manish Shah, Chief Product Officer and President of Majesco. "Leaders within our industry are replacing their legacy and on-premise modern core with next-gen SaaS core platforms that are cloud and API-enabled highlighting a new major technology shift that requires carriers to rethink their core once again. These next gen "intelligent" platforms, like our P&C Core Suite, have comprehensive capabilities that meet the ever-changing needs of insurance customers all while providing broader digital, data, and functional capabilities that enable innovation for carriers. It is an honor to be recognized as a technology leader by Quadrant Knowledge Solutions and we look forward to continuing to add value to our industry and help carriers build the future of insurnce." Majesco P&C Core Suite, is a powerful suite core suite for P&C personal, commercial, workers compensation, specialty, and new products such as parametric and on-demand empowering accelerated business growth and innovation that includes a distinct, yet fully integrated, set of solutions that together provide the flexibility and speed to innovate while driving significant and sustainable growth, putting the power in the insurer's hands. Majesco Policy for P&C is a market-leading, comprehensive, and advanced policy management system that provides full lifecycle processing capabilities for all lines of P&C insurance, including new innovative products. Majesco Billing for P&C is the most widely adopted, award winning solution that enables insurers to support risk products and value-added service to enhance customer experience, improve cash flow, reduce daily sales outstanding, and increase operational efficiencies Majesco Claims for P&C supports the entire claims process and settlement cycle with all-encompassing functionality including: FNOL setup, claims setup, processing, fraud assessment, cat management and settlement. "Our industry has undergone a decade of changes and innovation in less than two years," said Adam Elster, CEO of Majesco. "Over that time, we have continued to demonstrate the strength of our P&C Core Suite by empowering insurers to extend the scale and effectiveness of their digital transformation strategic initiatives. We believe our customer-first philosophy coupled with our need to push innovation within our industry continues to position us at the forefront of the market and we are thrilled to be recognized as a Technology Leader by Quadrant Knowledge Solutions." About Majesco Majesco is the leading software partner to both the P&C and L&A insurance markets to modernize, optimize and innovate their businesses at speed and scale. Over 330 insurers, from greenfields, start-ups and MGAs to the largest insurers, reinsurers and brokers use Majesco's next generation SaaS platform solutions of core, data and analytics, digital, distribution, absence management and a rich ecosystem marketplace of established and InsurTech partners to build the future of insurance. Our technology, expertise and leadership help insurers innovate and connect to build the future of their business. With over 825 successful implementations and over 65% of our customers on Cloud with Majesco platform solutions, together we have an amazing track record of innovation and real-world results. For more details on Majesco, please visit www.majesco.com. About Quadrant Knowledge Solutions Quadrant Knowledge Solutions is a global advisory and consulting firm focused on helping clients in achieving business transformation goals with Strategic Business and Growth advisory services. At Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, our vision is to become an integral part of our client's business as a strategic knowledge partner. Our research and consulting deliverables are designed to provide comprehensive information and strategic insights for helping clients formulate growth strategies to survive and thrive in ever-changing business environments. For more available research, please visit https://quadrant-solutions.com/market-research/. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005218/en/ [ Back to the Next Generation Communications Community's Homepage ] KEARNEY Two Kearney residents who were wanted for information in connection to a Jan. 16 homicide were arrested Tuesday. Joshua J. Morris, 18, and Mariah C. Chamberlin, 19, were booked in the Buffalo County Jail on suspicion of drug and weapons violations in connection to the death of Jared M. Shinpaugh, 31, of Lexington. Joseph L. Garcia, 29, of Lexington, was also shot in the incident. He was treated at a Kearney hospital for his injuries and was released. Morris and Chamberlin are each charged with possession of a defaced firearm, possession of a stolen firearm, possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute while in possession of a firearm and possession of more than 1 pound of marijuana all felonies. Court records detailing the cases against them are sealed because it is an ongoing investigation. Chamberlin also was wanted on a Buffalo County warrant for failing to appear in court Jan. 17 for a trial for driving under revocation, a misdemeanor. The two were expected to appear in court on Thursday. At about 8:38 p.m. on Jan. 16 Kearney Police Department officers responded to 823 W. 23rd St. for a report of gunshots in the area. Multiple witnesses heard several gunshots fired and saw one person possibly struck, according to police. Witnesses reported seeing other subjects running away from the area and getting into a car and leaving the area. Shortly after the initial call, two adult males arrived at a Kearney hospital with apparent gunshot wounds. Shinpaugh died from his injuries. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact KPD at 308-237-2104, Buffalo County Crimestoppers at 308-237-3424 or through the See It Say It Send It App. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 In northern Wyoming, English traditionally has been the dominant language. But now the ranges and plains of this rugged region are alive with the sounds of Japanese, Mandarin and Korean, thanks to the efforts of Amanda Enriquez, intercultural program manager at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, and her colleagues at two nearby universities. The intercultural program at Northwest works to bring foreign students to Wyoming. Enriquez and intercultural program coordinator Kara Ryf help incoming students with everything from recruitment, admissions and immigration to academic advising, orientation and enrolling in the departments program. Students study abroad for cultural and language immersion Until recently, the college lacked the resources to send Northwest students abroad to study. That changed in the fall of 2020, when Northwest partnered with Montana State University in nearby Billings, Montana, in applying for an International and Foreign Language Education grant to strengthen undergraduate classes in international studies and foreign languages at both schools. Under the terms of the three-year grant, Northwest students can take classes in three languages, then apply for a scholarship to study for a full semester in Japan, China or South Korea. Yet the expanded program does more than help make students fluent in those languages. Part of my goal has always been not just bringing students to the U.S. and our campus, says Enriquez, but building cultural awareness and helping all our students get those global skills that are so valuable in todays competitive world to transcend cultural barriers. A partnership to foster students international experiences Northwest College, a longtime regional leader in internationalization efforts, is the key partner in the grant. Both it and Montana State will develop programs to support their students and faculty. A third partner, the University of Wyoming in Laramie, has a study abroad program thats open to Montana and Northwest students. One barrier has simply been a lack of awareness about opportunities for diversity and inclusion. This is a small college in a town of 6,000 people in the middle of nowhere, says Enriquez. Not a lot of people realize that you can come to Northwest, study these languages and get to go on field studies, study abroad and meet international students. I think thats pretty phenomenal. Students can turn to a supportive staff with overseas expertise The intercultural program staff at Northwest exemplifies diversity and an openness to new cultures and experiences. Enriquez was born in Zurich, Switzerland, grew up in Santiago de Chile, and lived in New Jersey before her family moved to Cody, Wyoming, when she was a teenager. Ryf, who studied abroad in Italy and Mexico and has visited more than 25 countries for work and the love of travel, is well-qualified to help foreign students engage in campus life and become immersed in Wyomings culture. Some 1,400 students attend Northwest College, which is located in Powell, Wyoming, about 70 miles south of the Montana border. To learn more about the intercultural programs at Northwest College, visit nwc.edu/intercultural. Or contact Amanda Enriquez at amanda.enriquez@nwc.edu or 307.754.6424. This content was produced by Brand Ave. Studios. The news and editorial departments had no role in its creation or display. Brand Ave. Studios connects advertisers with a targeted audience through compelling content programs, from concept to production and distribution. For more information contact sales@brandavestudios.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A Montana man has been accused of stealing a car in Billings and leading law enforcement on a chase into Big Horn County. Joseph Wayne Cantrell is facing federal charges of carjacking and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, according to documents filed in United States District Court for the District of Montana. Billings police responded to a report of a car theft early Jan. 8 on Rosebud Drive in Southwest Billings. A man told police that he was sitting in his Subaru when Cantrell walked up and knocked on the window. The man motioned for Cantrell to go away and allegedly pulled out a firearm. The man got out of the vehicle and Cantrell drove off in the Subaru, documents say. About an hour later, a Yellowstone County deputy spotted the vehicle and attempted to stop him, but Cantrell drove off at a high rate of speed with the deputy in pursuit. Members of the Big Horn County Sheriffs Office were told about the chase heading in their direction, and they laid out spikes that the Subaru eventually ran over. The vehicle crashed and came to a stop. Documents allege Cantrell ran about 150 yards into an open field. Deputies saw that he was armed with a handgun. During a subsequent standoff that lasted several hours, Cantrell threatened to shoot himself before he threw the 9mm gun away from him. Deputies arrested him, and he is currently in custody at Big Horn County Jail. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives headed the investigation into the case. Prior to his arrest earlier this month, Cantrell had been sentenced for attempted robbery and burglary in Silver Bow and Missoula counties, respectively. Love 0 Funny 2 Wow 3 Sad 0 Angry 8 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. See scenes of remembrance at the crash site on the two-year anniversary of the tragedy that killed Kobe, Gianna Bryant and seven others. Decrease Font Size Font Size Increase Font Size Notice body Immediately following the last day of the fall semester, groups of Auburn students dispersed across the Southeast to volunteer and learn with Alternative Student Breaks, or ASB, which fully engages students in an affordable, educational experience focusing on pressing social and environmental issues to promote active citizenship. During the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, ASB collaborated with Auburns Black Student Union and visited Selma, Alabama where students learned about Civil Rights history, walked the Edmund Pettus Bridge and participated in volunteer work throughout the city. Next, ASB will host spring break trips, March 6-11, across three Southeast locations including Greenville Free Medical Clinic in Greenville, South Carolina, Serve 901 in Memphis, Tennessee and St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve in Port St. Joe, Florida. Additionally, ASB is working to finalize details for two spring semester weekend trips. According to Emerson Barret and Caroline Condon, ASB executive board members, ASB provides students the opportunity to become educated on differing topics and then use that knowledge to serve them no matter where they are. Condon, a biomedical sciences major, became involved with ASB during her sophomore year after hearing about an opportunity to serve in a free medical clinic located in Greenville, South Carolina. I was looking for opportunities to learn about healthcare and the opportunities that would come after graduation if I continued to pursue a medical degree, Condon said. What I found with ASB was so much more than I anticipated. I learned from many different physicians, saw the consistent need for healthcare professionals and volunteers, and I learned the importance of serving the community. Volunteering with ASB has changed the way that I view my role in the community, and now I am constantly looking for ways that I can give back but also for ways that I can learn from the people around me. This past December, ASB locations included Matthews, North Carolina, where students volunteered at the Matthews Free Medical Clinic, Nashville, Tennessee, where students volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club of Middle Tennessee and New Orleans, where students volunteered at the Animal Rescue of New Orleans. One student who served at the Animal Rescue of New Orleans was so touched by their experience that they adopted one of the rescue dogs, Blaze, and brought him to his forever home here on the Plains. For ASB to be successful, Trip Advisors are needed. Barrett and Condon shared that these advisors play an integral role in supporting the student leader and participants while also actively participating in the service experience. From listening to Taylor Swifts entire Red album in the minivan to group grocery shopping to learning about students fears, dreams and life plans, I got to connect with students in a unique way, Charlotte Brown, recent Trip Advisor and Student Involvement assistant director, said. Learning about a new nonprofit was a great benefit too. ASB is currently seeking Trip Advisors for their spring break trips. Advisor roles are open to staff, faculty and graduate assistants. If you are interested in becoming a Trip Advisor, email Brown at ceb0162@auburn.edu. All full-time Auburn students, including graduate students, can attend ASB trips. To learn more, click here. A federal judge ruled Thursday that Gov. Mark Gordon is free to select a state schools superintendent. The governor is expected to do so before Thursday night. Gordon was temporarily barred from appointing a superintendent after a lawsuit was brought alleging that the process for nominating superintendent candidates was unconstitutional because it did not comply with the "one man-one vote" principle that is present in both the U.S. and Wyoming constitutions. In a ruling, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl wrote that the plaintiffs could not "demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits because the case law does not support their position. Additionally, Plaintiffs have failed to establish irreparable injury." The ruling is the most recent development in the lawsuit filed by former Wyoming Speaker of the House Tom Lubnau and 15 others against Gordon, the Wyoming Republican Party, the partys chairman and the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee over the state superintendent selection process. Because each county, regardless of population, has three votes in the matter, the plaintiffs argued that the process violates the one man-one vote principle. More specifically, the number of votes each county gets in the process is not proportional to its population, meaning Laramie County, population 99,500, has the same number of votes as Niobrara County, population 2,400, even though its roughly 41 times the size. That, according to the plaintiffs, is unconstitutional. The defendants' lawyers countered by arguing, among other things, that even under the plaintiffs' selection approach, the outcome of the selection process was unlikely to change, given that the three nominees won by overwhelming margins in the central committee's vote. Ultimately, Skavdahl ruled against the plaintiffs. "Plaintiffs argue they have a likelihood of success on the merits but ignore Supreme Court precedent relevant to their case," the judge wrote in his decision. Now, Pat Crank, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, has a decision to make: Dismiss the lawsuit or go on with it despite the fact that Gordon will fill the vacancy in the meantime. He plans to talk to the plaintiffs in the coming days before deciding. Crank said he thinks the future is bright'' because a federal judge acknowledged the issues that arise when all counties get the same number of votes in these matters. But theres also a route outside of the courts. if this is to be fixed, the citizens need to petition their legislature and the legislature needs to take action to solve this election integrity problem, Crank said. Gordon has the decision between former state lawmaker Marti Halverson, Thomas Kelly the current chair of the Political and Military Science Department at American Military University and Brian Schroeder, a recent Wyoming resident with experience in school administration, K-12 teaching and as a youth counseling. These three candidates beat out a number of others who posses doctorates in the education field and extensive experience in the Wyoming Department of Education or the Wyoming public schooling system. The attorney general told the governor's office that it has until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday to decide on one of the three candidates, but a spokesman for the governor said he doesn't expect the decision to come that late. For the time being, Kari Eakins will serve as the interim superintendent. I am willing to serve in the interim capacity for the time needed, Eakins said. Everyone at the Wyoming Department of Education is committed to continuing to serve students and support schools during this transition. We know that this is a temporary situation and will continue to implement the law as required by state education agencies. This saga kicked off when former superintendent, Jillian Balow, resigned her post earlier this month to take the same role in Virginia. Balow's term was set to end in January 2023, so Gordon's choice will serve until then at the minimum. That said, the chosen candidate can run for reelection this year. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Former Wyoming Speaker of the House Tom Lubnau and 15 others are suing Gov. Mark Gordon, the Wyoming Republican Party, the partys chairman and the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee over the recent state superintendent selection process. The complaint, filed Tuesday in federal court, claims that the process of selecting the superintendent spot left vacant by Jillian Balows resignation is unconstitutional because a political partys central committee which is made up of one county chairman, one county committeeman and one county committeewoman is responsible for nominating replacements, thereby defying the one man-one vote principle in both the Wyoming and U.S. constitutions. More specifically, the number of votes each county gets in the process is not proportional to its population, meaning Laramie County, population 99,500, has the same number of votes as Niobrara County, population 2,400, even though its roughly 41 times the size. That, according to the plaintiffs, is unconstitutional. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs request that the court temporarily and permanently prohibit Gordon from making a decision on one of the three candidates, which he is statutorily required to do within the next few days. The suit, however, extends its focus beyond the superintendent vacancy alone, and asks that the court disallow the defendants from taking any actions to select candidates for vacancies in Statewide or federal offices in any way that violates the one man-one vote principle. Gordon intends to make a decision on a candidate by Thursday, his spokesman told the Star-Tribune. [The governor] will carry out his duty within the five-day window according to the law, said Michael Pearlman, director of communications for Gordon. Lubnau, whos a practicing attorney and the current Campbell County state committeeman, is joined by 15 other plaintiffs. They include Dave Northrup, a former state lawmaker and an unsuccessful candidate for the superintendent position, Doug Camblin, the Campbell County GOP committeeman, Rex Arney, a former state lawmaker as well as a dozen voters from all across the political spectrum. Lubnau sent a letter detailing his concerns over the constitutionality to Frank Eathorne, the party chairman, and Brian Shuck, the partys lawyer, on Thursday, two days before the meeting in which the central committee selected the superintendent. Considering the extreme differences in population among Wyomings 23 counties, any vote on a county basis would disenfranchise voters in the more populated counties and would constitute a violation of constitutional principles, the letter read. Party counsel didnt mince words when asked about the letter Saturday. Tom Lubnaus position is absolutely preposterous, Shuck said. Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan also took office in this manner, as did U.S. Sen. John Barrasso. Buchanan told the Star-Tribune on Monday that when he was going through the selection process, he was not approached about the constitutionality of the situation. According to state statute, when the position of state superintendent is vacated, the central committee of the political party that person is affiliated with is responsible for nominating three candidates. The governor is then responsible for choosing one of the three. At the end of the day we all need to follow the Constitution, Crank said. Lubnau was not present at the Saturday meeting when the GOP officials voted on the three candidates, but the issue was raised at the meeting. This is not an election, its a selection process, Joey Correnti, the Carbon County GOP chairman, told the Star-Tribune. Why didnt he address it when he was Speaker of the House? Eathorne later echoed those sentiments to the entire body. Eathorne also told the Star-Tribune that he was advised by two party lawyers, Mitch Edwards and Shuck, that he should go ahead with the process. If it gets challenged in court, it gets challenged in court, he said Saturday. Because Lubnau was the Speaker of the House, the most powerful position in the House, Republican party leadership questioned why Lubnau was bringing up the issue now as opposed to years ago. I think everybody in the room is asking, Why now? Eathorne said. Crank argued that if something is unconstitutional, its not always ruled unconstitutional right off the bat, like being read your Miranda Rights when youre arrested. As we have more and more of these types of selections, thats why its coming up now and it didnt come up later. It has reached a boiling point, Crank said. The state superintendent of public instruction is the chief education officer in the state and sits on a number of other important state boards. The superintendent of public instruction sets education policy and funding, Crank said. Its a real critical office. The candidate who is ultimately chosen by Gordon will serve out the remainder of Balows term, which ends in January 2023. But theyll also have a head start if they choose to run to keep the office. Incumbency offers benefits like name recognition. Three out of 11 candidates were selected in a landslide vote Saturday. The committee chose Thomas Kelly, with 67 votes, Marti Halverson, with 56 votes, and Brian Schroeder, with 52. The fourth-place candidate, Megan Degenfelder, the former chief policy officer for the Wyoming Department of Education, received only 19 votes. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Gov. Mark Gordon not to appoint a state schools superintendent until the court issues a ruling Thursday. In a brief ruling, U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl ordered Gordon not to act on any of the three nominees for schools superintendent until the court decides on a motion for a temporary restraining order, which is being sought by the former Wyoming Speaker of the House and others, who contend the selection process was unconstitutional. Skavdahl wrote that he would issue his order no later than noon Thursday. "The Governor will comply with the court order and has not made a decision on a candidate," said Michael Pearlman, director of communications for Gordon. This temporary halt is the most recent development in a lawsuit filed by former Wyoming Speaker of the House Tom Lubnau and 15 others against Gordon, the Wyoming Republican Party, the partys chairman and the Wyoming Republican State Central Committee over Saturday's state superintendent selection process. The plaintiffs and their lawyer, former Wyoming Attorney General Pat Crank, allege that the process for filling the vacancy violates the Wyoming and U.S. constitutions. To select a new superintendent, the Republican State Central Committee -- which is made up of three people from each county -- is responsible for nominating three candidates. The governor is then tasked with choosing one of the three. Under state late, Gordon is required to make the decision by Thursday. Because each county, regardless of population, has three votes in the matter, the plaintiffs argue that the process violates the "one man-one vote" principle laid out in both the state and federal constitutions. More specifically, the number of votes each county gets in the process is not proportional to its population, meaning Laramie County, population 99,500, has the same number of votes as Niobrara County, population 2,400, even though its roughly 41 times the size. That, according to the plaintiffs, is unconstitutional. "I think it's positive not for one side or the other, but it's positive that [Skavdahl] is taking the time to examine what people believe is an important issue," Crank said. The post of state superintendent of public instruction is open due to the resignation of Jillian Balow, who left with a year on her term to take a job in Virginia. Follow state politics reporter Victoria Eavis on Twitter @Victoria_Eavis Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Oregon Court of Appeals for a second time has upheld a ruling by the state civil rights division that found that an Oregon bakery illegally discriminated against a same-sex couple by refusing to sell them a wedding cake in 2013. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports, however, the court on Wednesday also found the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries did not exhibit religious neutrality in issuing an $135,000 fine to Sweet Cakes by Melissa for illegal discrimination and returned the case to the civil rights division to reassess its fine. The case began nine years ago, when Laurel and Rachel Bowman-Cryer filed a complaint against Sweet Cakes by Melissa owners Melissa and Aaron Klein, saying the bakery refused to bake them a wedding cake. The Bureau of Labor and Industries found in their investigation that the bakery had violated the couple's civil rights. The Kleins appealed that decision, contending that baking a cake for a same-sex wedding went against their Christian beliefs. The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed the civil right division's ruling in 2015, but the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the ruling four years later. It directed the state appellate court to review its decision in the context of the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling in a similar case in Colorado. In the Colorado case, the Supreme Court ruled on narrow grounds in favor of a baker who refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple, finding that a Colorado Civil Rights commissioner was openly hostile to religion in violation of the First Amendment's requirement for governmental religious neutrality. In its ruling Wednesday, the Oregon Court of Appeals found the state civil rights division issued the fine to Sweet Cakes by Melissa partly based on a statement Aaron Klein made to Rachel Bowman-Cryer's mother, in which he quoted a Biblical verse. The court found the statement had been incorrectly relayed to the couple and could have led to bias in the fine amount. An attorney who represented the Kleins did not respond to a message from Oregon Public Broadcasting requesting comment. The media outlet reported that the couple has moved their bakery to Montana. The Montana Secretary of State website shows the business is registered in Ronan. "The court was right five years ago and is still right today," attorney Jennifer Pizer, who represented the Bowman-Cryers, said in a statement. "The Kleins' faith does not give them a pass to ignore Oregon's Public Accommodation Law." Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 A Casper mans murder conviction was affirmed by the Wyoming Supreme Court on Wednesday, but the court ruled that his sentence was illegal and will need to be corrected. Andrew Steplock had appealed to the high court on claims that he was unprepared for trial since he wasnt given funding to complete a second mental evaluation in order to plead not guilty by reason of mental illness. The court ruled Wednesday that Steplock did not show that the second evaluation would have changed the trials outcome. The sentence in his case, life in prison with several shorter sentences running at the same time, will be sent back to district court. According to the Supreme Courts ruling, adding a 10- to 15-year sentence for aggravated burglary on top of the life sentence for murder was improper. Steplock, who was convicted of breaking into his parents house in Casper and murdering his mother in 2019, also said in his appeal that his defense attorney was ineffective by not securing the second evaluation. He asked for a new trial in Natrona County District Court in December 2020, but a judge denied the motion the following month. At trial, Steplock admitted to breaking into the home and killing his mother, Deborah, because he was hallucinating that a demon had convinced him to do it. However, the court states, Steplock had told police following the incident that he broke in to steal money from the cellar, and did not mention any hallucinations or a demon at that time. According to court filings, Steplock first mentioned the demon during his mental evaluation at the Wyoming State Hospital. The Wyoming Supreme Court said that these inconsistent versions of the events weakened his NGMI (mental illness) defense, and reiterated that the second evaluation would not have likely changed the ruling in his case. A jury found Steplock guilty of felony murder, second-degree murder, aggravated burglary and possession of a deadly weapon. He is now serving his sentence at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Authorities have arrested a Bismarck man they say possessed more than 800 fentanyl pills he allegedly purchased online. Lazeric Shumpert, 24, was arrested Tuesday when Bismarck police assisted North Dakota Parole and Probation officials in a search of Shumperts West Divide Avenue apartment, according to an affidavit. Police say they found 819 fentanyl pills worth more than $32,000. Shumpert allegedly admitted that he ordered the pills online, had them delivered to a local address, and sold them for profit. They also found scales, drug paraphernalia, marijuana and an undisclosed amount of cash, the affidavit states. Fentanyl pills sell for $40 or $50 each in the Bismarck area. Shumpert paid about $8 each, police say. Authorities did not detail where Shumpert allegedly purchased them online or how he paid for them. Shumpert in August was placed on 1 years probation after pleading guilty to two counts of drug possession with the intent to deliver. A three-year prison term was suspended. Court records dont list an attorney for Shumpert. He made his initial court appearance Wednesday on a Class A felony drug charge that carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. Love 2 Funny 2 Wow 1 Sad 1 Angry 7 Ejaz Khan has made a feature film that he hopes will help save the Nokota horses in North Dakota. The film Vanishing Knowledge evolved out of a fine art photography project featuring the horses. Because most of the Nokotas are in a herd of about 300 owned by Frank Kuntz, a rancher near Linton, Khan got to know Kuntz -- and learned the perils faced by the horses, who confront an uncertain future once the 70-year-old Kuntz is gone. On his first day of shooting for the film, Khan asked Kuntz if he could be left alone with the horses on a remote 6,000-acre pasture. Alone with the horses, Khan let out an anguished shout, venting his frustration that his wife wasnt able to make the trip on what was to be a unique celebration of her birthday. Instead of backing away in alarm, as hed expected, the horses came closer and formed a circle around him. They were kind of accepting me into the herd, Khan said. I sat down on a rock and they were all around me and looking at me. Why did they do that? I dont know. But they knew I wasnt doing well. That moment stayed with Khan, and helped to sustain a lengthy project that required countless trips from New York, where he lives and maintains his fashion photography studio, to the North Dakota prairie. After two years of filming, Vanishing Knowledge is premiering in three showings in Bismarck on Jan. 28, 29 and 30. Admission is free, but Khan is hoping those who attend will tell their friends and family, so word of the film and its mission spreads. The story is based on Kuntzs struggles to maintain the herd. Kuntz is battling cancer that he traces to his exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange during army service in the Vietnam War, and deals with constant financial challenges. Actors, including Kuntz, play themselves in the film, which can be rented for $9.99 or purchased for $19.99 on the Vimeo platform, with 49% of the proceeds going to support the horses. Khan, Kuntz and others in the film will be on hand at the premiere showings at the North Dakota Heritage Center and St. Marys High School and will answer questions from the audience after each screening. Kuntz hasnt yet seen the movie. I want to see it in a theater-type atmosphere for the first time, with an audience, he said. Im not an actor. Im nervous about how Im going to come across, but Im excited. Im not sure Im going to like seeing myself on a screen. Together with his late brother, Leo, Kuntz has been working since the early 1980s to save the Nokota horses, which stem from the wild horses in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The nonprofit Nokota Horse Conservancy is also working to save the breed. Kuntz is eager to see what comes of the awareness of the horses as a result of Vanishing Knowledge. Will it help? I know itll help the horses. When he started the film, Khans goal was that someone with the financial means to support the horses would be moved by the story to come to their aid. Hes still hoping that might happen, but hes also hoping that many who see it will be motivated to do what they can. If that prince doesnt show up, what can we do? he said. Either or would be good. So far, pre-orders for the film have come in from the United States as well as Germany, France, Norway, Canada and Spain. Our marketing has reached all over, Khan said. Weve done quite a bit of marketing. Vanishing Knowledge was chosen as the best narrative feature in the Los Angeles Monthly Film Competition and is a 2022 critical selection for the Equus Film & Arts Fest. Khan has tried without success to get the film streamed on Netflix and Hulu. The film will be available on Apple TV, Google Play and Amazon Prime, but that process will take at least four or five months. Khan hopes it will be available on those platforms in June or July. The films tagline is A true story of human resilience, which could apply to the films production as well. I dont know how the film got made, Khan said. I cant believe the movies done. I enjoyed the project. In fact, Khan already is gearing up to make another movie in North Dakota. Trapped will be about sexual trafficking, a story inspired by a conversation Khan had with a girl in North Dakota. He plans to shoot the movie in six weeks in December 2022 and January 2023, a period to take advantage of North Dakotas snowy winter landscapes. This film will use professional actors, but Khan plans to cast Kuntz in a role. Im not leaving North Dakota yet, Khan said. A screening of Vanishing Knowledge will be at 6 p.m. Friday at St. Marys Central High School, 5802 Ridgeland Drive in Bismarck. To reserve a seat at the Heritage Center, with screenings at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30, go to https://vanishingknowledge.com/premiere-event/. The Heritage Center is at 612 E. Boulevard Ave., on the state Capitol grounds. Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Thank goodness its Friday. There are likely mighty few school students who havent uttered that phrase as they looked forward to a weekend free from the rigors of classroom work and homework assignments. Last week the tables turned and it was a North Dakota school superintendent who uttered the words. Its a good thing its Friday, said Divide County School District Superintendent Sherlock Hirning, because staffing levels wouldnt have supported keeping the schools open the next day. Friday was the day that both Divide County and North Dakota set new records, records that didnt have anything to do with the weather. But these records were just as dubious as those 40 below zero temperature recordings. There were more positive cases of COVID-19 Friday in both jurisdictions than there have been since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of cases reported statewide Saturday after testing processed Friday was 11,991, surpassing the record of 11,656 set in November of 2020. Its particularly telling that the previous record was set before any coronavirus vaccines were available. Its clear by now that these burgeoning numbers mean different things to different people. On one end of the spectrum, folks see this disease as just another flu that wont really make them that sick. On the other, folks see that even if some people dont get that sick, they can still spread the disease to friends and neighbors who may be more vulnerable to serious illness or even death. In between, there are undeniable consequences. Schools like Divide County have faced staffing shortages because teachers and substitutes have tested positive, have been close contacts or their kids go to day care centers that have been closed. Statewide -- nationally, actually -- hundreds of staff at long-term care centers have tested positive and left nursing homes critically short of workers. Worse, many of those workers are throwing up their hands and deciding not to come back to work. Burnout levels among staff at medical centers are reaching all-time highs, leaving patients, COVID-19 or otherwise, at risk of substandard care just as hospital beds are reaching toward capacity. Food banks are finding increasing need for their services, but COVID-19 has resulted in critical shortages of volunteers to provide them. Sporting events, from high school to college to professional, have been postponed or canceled. All of this appears to be exacerbated by a phenomenon that keeps people at each others throats over vaccine hesitancy, mask shaming, and the collision of individual rights versus the common good. That phenomenon was quantified recently by an international study that suggests we are now living in the post truth era. It bears repeating. The post truth era. In The Rise and Fall of Rationality in Language, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from Indiana University and Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands concluded that "Our public debate seems increasingly driven by what people want to be true rather than what is actually true. If youre inclined to believe this phenomenon took hold in the Trump years, youd be wrong. The researchers found that the change from facts to feelings has been under way for 40 years, though they report the fact vs. fiction divide widened during the Trump era. The divide, researchers learned in a particularly large and detailed study, clearly impacts our politics and public policy, deepening the divisions between political parties and growing the polarization that afflicts our government systems. Thats a problem, but not nearly as much of a problem as it is in the areas of health and science. When feelings and beliefs become more important in pandemics and other health crises than science and facts, the spread of misinformation and falsehoods can become a matter of life and death. A Medscape report on the study says public health experts believe the embrace of believing what we want to be true rather than what is true has kept many Americans from being vaccinated against COVID-19. It could also be why North Dakota continues to set dubious records. Steve Andrist, Bismarck, is former executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 Editors note: This article mentions and discusses racist comments. A UBC professor is reportedly under investigation after students accused them of making racist remarks while instructing. According to social media posts and videos reportedly shared by UBC students, Dr. John Sherman with UBCs Department of Chemistry was talking about race and IQ when they made the statements. In a clip of the reported lesson, Dr. Sherman is heard saying, Ill give you a fact Black people do poorer on IQ tests than white people. Is that racist? Thats a fact. Is it racist to say it? I dont know. Asians do better than white people on IQ tests; thats a fact. Now, you can make judgements from that. Does that mean Asians are smarter than white? White are smarter than Black? A discussion regarding the racial comments was posted to the UBC subreddit, where students weighed in on their thoughts about the professors comments. We are aware of the concerns students have expressed, said Director of University Affairs Matthew Ramsey in a statement. While we cannot comment on the specifics of human resources matters, the university takes matters such as this very seriously and has a variety of measures and policies in place with which to address them. The IQ Test, purported to be a measure of intelligence, is not generally used extensively or officially in Canada. The history of the test itself is steeped in racism. It was often used as evidence of the lesser intelligence of people of colour and immigrants. Thats a fact. Art Spiegelman's Maus: A Survivor's Tale, the Pulitzer prize-winning, historical graphic novel about Auschwitz during the Holocaust, has been banned in Tennessee schools. The school board in Mcminn county was offended by the "objectionable language," including "God damn," as well as a "naked picture" a cartoon drawing of an undressed mouse. The ten members of the school board were unanimous in their decision, according to The Guardian, which isn't surprising during a time when many US states in the South no longer allow teachers to discuss racism. Spiegelman, who based the book on his parents' survival of Auschwitz, drawing Holocaust survivors as mice and Nazis as cats, called the school board "Orwellian." From The Guardian: The graphic memoir elevated a pulp mass medium to high art when it nabbed a slew of literary awards in 1992 but appears not to have impressed educators in Mcminn county. Board member Tony Allman supported the move to remove the "vulgar and inappropriate" content, arguing: "We don't need to enable or somewhat promote this stuff." "I am not denying it was horrible, brutal, and cruel," Allman said in reference to the genocide and murder of six million European Jews during the second world war. "It shows people hanging, it shows them killing kids, why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff? It is not wise or healthy," he added. Allman also took aim at Spiegelman himself, alleging: "I may be wrong, but this guy that created the artwork used to do the graphics for Playboy." Mike Cochran, another school board member, described parts of the book as "completely unnecessary". Cochran proposed revisiting the entire curriculum over concerns it was developed to "normalise sexuality, normalise nudity and normalise vulgar language." "If I was trying to indoctrinate somebody's kids, this is how I would do it," he added. "You put this stuff just enough on the edges, so the parents don't catch it but the kids, they soak it in. I think we need to relook at the entire curriculum." Spiegelman said he was "baffled" by the outcome in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. "It's leaving me with my jaw open, like, 'What?'" the 73-year-old author said, adding he thought the school board was "Orwellian" for approving the ban. Rich Products is facing more than $145,000 in penalties from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, stemming from a worker's fatal accident at an Illinois plant last July. OSHA said the 42-year-old worker suffered a fatal injury at a frozen pizza manufacturing plant while cleaning a machine. OSHA said its inspection "determined that Rich Products Corp.s failure to implement energy control procedures commonly known as lockout/tagout exposed its third-shift sanitation workers to serious hazards." This preventable tragedy is another example of why employers must ensure lockout/tagout procedures are in place before allowing workers to clean or operate machinery, said OSHA Chicago South Area Director James Martineck. Employers who fail to follow safety standards and train workers in operating procedures will be held accountable. Local media reports identified the employee of the Crest Hill, Ill., plant as Adewale Ogunyemi, and said he was a sanitation worker. OSHA issued a "willful violation" to Rich Products and placed the company in its "severe violator program," for a willful violation leading to an employee fatality. Buffalo-based Rich Products has 15 business days from receiving its citations and penalties from OSHA to either comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director in Illinois, or contest the findings before an independent commission. The company said it has not yet decided whether to challenge OSHA's citations. Since the accident occurred in July 2021, Richs changed plant leadership, reinforced training protocols and met repeatedly with associates to explain the importance of safe and careful operations of equipment in the Crest Hill plant," the company said in a statement. OSHA said Rich Products "has an extensive history of OSHA violations nationwide." Rich Products said its "incident rate is well below the food industry average" and that the incident at Crest Hill was "not representative of our culture of safety throughout our company of 40-plus manufacturing sites across the globe." Matt Glynn Buffalo Next Must-read local business coverage that exposes the trends, connects the dots and contextualizes the impact to Buffalo's economy. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The rear-end crash that left two men paralyzed, costing New York taxpayers more than $20 million so far, wasnt the first wreck that Trooper Stephen C. Barker caused while on his cellphone with his girlfriend. Records show that eight months before the crash in July 2019, Barker was talking with the girlfriend when his state-issued Dodge Charger approached a stop sign. The car blew past it at almost 60 mph, went airborne and had its oil pan sheared off when it returned to the road. Barkers claim that an ordinary pothole on a dirt road damaged the patrol car didnt ring true to his bosses. Soon, internal investigators accused him of lying. They obtained phone records showing that, despite Barkers conflicting answers, he had been on his personal phone with his girlfriend when he missed the stop sign on Nov. 19, 2018. Records obtained by The Buffalo News through the Freedom of Information Law show Barker underwent a "clinical driver evaluation," in which Troop A's safety officer reminded him that that even hands-free phone use Barker had used a Bluetooth can distract a driver. But the records also show he was not suspended, reprimanded, stripped of vacation days or disciplined in any way in the months that passed before the sunny afternoon of July 15, 2019. Driving to a non-emergency call, Barker was texting his girlfriend and checking a Facebook page, investigators found, when he plowed into the rear of a minivan on the Thruway. Five men were injured, with two left paralyzed for life. The state has agreed to pay the two $21.5 million, and more claims are pending. George Cole of Farmington, a Navy veteran and church treasurer, was sitting in the minivan's middle row of seats. He was left paralyzed from the waist down. The state will pay $12 million to settle his case. "It is unfortunate that Mr. Barker did not learn from his past indiscretions and so many have suffered as a result," Cole said through his lawyer, Michael P. Stuermer, when asked to comment on the revelation that Barker caused a previous distracted-driving accident. The records show that though Barkers supervisors were immediately suspicious of his story after the first crash, in November 2018, the internal review was still underway when the minivan was sent spinning 238 days later. The section of New Yorks Code, Rules and Regulations that governs how accusations against members of the State Police are to be investigated and dealt with goes on for seven pages. For Barker, different command levels agreed the key allegations had been founded and moved the matter along for administrative action. But the lives of five men were changed forever before anything happened to him. Similar to criminal investigations, our administrative investigations are very thorough and take time to complete, State Police spokesman William Duffy said. Roughly a year after the second crash, a formal disciplinary hearing began. It focused on the two distracted driving accidents and allegations of dishonesty. A State Police lawyer opened the proceeding by calling the first wreck a precursor. Of the second, the lawyer said that shortly before impact, Barker was not only texting one woman, but he was also checking the Facebook page of another. Days later, Barker was dismissed from the force. He had been found guilty of 17 administrative charges. Barker, who is 35, was hired as a trooper in August 2014. In the roughly five years he was on patrol, he was in at least six accidents, according to his testimony during an interrogation. But he also drove some of Western New Yorks rural roads, and three or four of those accidents involved deer, he testified. He has not responded to The News attempts to contact him, and a union attorney did not respond to a request for comment on his behalf. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving following the Thruway crash and paid no fine. Nov. 19, 2018 accident The internal investigation turned up these facts: Barker was in the Allegany County Town of Allen and headed to check on the welfare of a person not an emergency matter when his personal phone rang. He took the call as he drove along Old State Road, a dirt and stone surface. He was headed downhill toward a paved road, County Route 15. When interviewed by internal investigators, Barker later revealed that he and the girlfriend had been arguing. He also gave conflicting answers as to whether they were talking at the moment the car left the road. But he also said their call went dead as he headed toward the intersection. Investigators concluded at the very least he had been distracted by his attempt to call the woman back as he barreled toward the crossing without braking. The investigators retrieved data showing the Dodge Charger passed the stop sign at 58 mph. The change in grade between the dirt road and the paved county road acted as a ramp that shot the car into the air. The internal documents show Barker then dug a deeper hole for himself with what he did once the car landed. The investigators, their memos reveal, contended Barker assessed the damage, and kept driving on County Road 15. About 4 miles later the Charger died. Rather than first call his supervisor to tell him of the wreck as troopers are instructed to do Barker called for a tow truck, according to the internal documents. When he did report the wreck to a sergeant, Barker said the oil pan was torn off by a pothole on the dirt road, documents say. An internal memo says he continued to fabricate the circumstances when questioned the next day. Says a synopsis: Trooper Barker lied about the cause of the accident, the location of the accident, Trooper Barkers use of his personal cellphone at the time of the accident and his actions of checking for damage to the vehicle after impact. July 15, 2019 crash The State Police compiled a 12-page narrative of the crash on the Thruway near Dunkirk. They retrieved data from the air-bag module in Barkers car, talked to witnesses and charted the paths of Barkers Dodge Charger and the minivan after impact. The officials learned Barker drove at more than 80 mph as he headed toward a knot of traffic slowed by road construction. He braked an instant before impact but was still at 73 mph when his Charger slammed into the rear of the minivan. Barkers Charger plowed on for 76 feet. The minivan, a Dodge Caravan, was launched into a full 360-degree rotation and came to rest 155 feet from the point of impact. Barkers personal cellphone records revealed he had exchanged hundreds of emails during his shift and had opened a Facebook page seconds before the crash. The more than 600 pages of internal documents provided to The News revealed new details: He had been texting his girlfriend. They had been arguing. While texting the girlfriend, he accessed another womans Facebook page before the crash, said the State Police lawyer pressing the case against him. And, the State Police pointed out, he should have known about the slow-moving traffic because he had already passed through the work zone that day. In the minutes following the crash, Barker ran to check on the minivans passengers and summoned help promptly. He told one of the responding troopers that he had looked down to retrieve an item just before impact, according to a statement. After the first crash, Barker answered investigators questions. Not so the second time. He told the internal investigators he could not remember anything from the day because of the concussion he suffered. Still, the investigators tried. What was the purpose for the exorbitant amount of text messages between you and her? Capt. Brian J. Ratajczak of the Professional Standards Bureau asked him. I dont know, said Barker. Do you acknowledge that 349 texts is an exorbitant, excessively large amount of texts to be exchanged?... I dont know Do you acknowledge text messages were exchanged while on duty? I dont remember. You dont remember. Youre telling me that they were. It went like this for questions about road conditions, Barker's actions immediately after the accident and what he told the troopers who responded that he was distracted when he looked down to retrieve something. He didnt know what it might have been. Could you have been sending a text message at the time? Ratajczak asked. I could've, but I dont know, Barker said. His hearing When members of the State Police are disciplined, they can challenge the penalties laid down by requesting a formal hearing. For Barker, the organization decided to go straight to a hearing before three high-ranking police officials to decide his case. Presiding on July 20, 2020, was Scott A. Wilcox, an assistant deputy superintendent. Two majors served as hearing officers, Paul E. Hogan and Louis J. Weber Jr. They heard a lawyer for the State Police allege Barker violated 19 regulations. The violations stemmed from the two crashes and a third matter that arose in October 2019: A new girlfriend broke up with him and obtained an order of protection because, she told Town of Tonawanda police, Barker persisted in trying to contact her. The hearing panel found Barker guilty of administrative charges that he harassed the woman and brought discredit upon the State Police while he was recovering from the Thruway crash and unable to work. As for Barkers first distracted-driving accident in November 2018, he admitted to nearly everything alleged. He had lied to his supervisors after the wreck because he feared the consequences if he told the truth. I was very nervous, he told the room. He admitted he was distracted by his phone in Allegany County but didnt think he had been on the phone at the very moment the car went airborne. I had a phone call that dropped, he said. I tried to contact her back but couldnt because of cell service. I went through the intersection, bottomed out and continued through the intersection. As for the Thruway crash, he shed no new light on it. His PBA lawyer, Maria B. Morris, asked: As we sit here today, do you have any personal knowledge or any memory of anything that has to do with the accident of July 15th of 2019? No, maam. 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. CREEDMOOR, N.C., January 27, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ontic, the aerospace industrys leading provider of Extended Life Solutions for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) established products has reached an agreement with M7 Aerospace LLC related to the transfer of Type Certificates for the Fairchild Merlin, Metro II/III/IV, C-26 aircrafts that are currently supported at M7s facility in San Antonio, TX. This is the first agreement between Ontic and M7 Aerospace LLC, a division of Elbit Systems of America, LLC. This acquisition adds to Ontics existing Type certificate with the Twin Commander acquired in 2018. Along with all of the product lines, equipment, intellectual property Ontic will also be welcoming new employees from the San Antonio, Texas facility. Ontic will maintain the complete life-cycle support for the family of aircraft including engineering, technical, repairs and spare parts. The products will be transitioned to Ontics Creedmoor, North Carolina facility. Gareth Hall, President and CEO of Ontic, said, "This is our first agreement with M7 Aerospace, and we are looking forward to growing our partnership. Ontic is excited to add the Fairchild Merlin, Metro II/III/IV, DOD C-26 certificates. We have had success with our initial Twin Commander acquisition, and we feel this will fit perfectly with our capabilities and our growth initiatives. We are investing in our infrastructure and our people to grow all of our facilities. Our Creedmoor facility is growing, and this is the ideal fit for the team." Christopher Hickey, VP & GM of Sustainment and Support Solutions for Elbit Systems of America, said, "ONTIC is well positioned to ensure a robust future for the Metro/Merlin. We are happy to be working with them to provide a seamless transition and continued excellent support to Metro/Merlin customers and the employees who service the fleet." Ontic maintains a global focus by supporting customers and licensing partners from manufacturing and MRO facilities in Chatsworth, California; Creedmoor, North Carolina; Plainview, New York; Cheltenham, Bolton and Staverton in the United Kingdom, and Singapore. Story continues About Ontic With over 47 years of aerospace product manufacturing and aftermarket support experience, Ontic provides FAA, CAAS, CAAC, TCCA, DCA, EASA Part 21 and 145 OEM support, including new and serviceable spares and repairs for over 7,000 established aircraft parts. Ontics portfolio of products, licensed or acquired from major OEMs such as Honeywell, Collins Aerospace, Safran, Thales and GE Aviation, span all major aircraft systems in both civil and military markets. For more information, please visit www.ontic.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005120/en/ Contacts Susan Carpenter Marketing Manager susan.carpenter@ontic.com With legislation and court challenges stalled, Wisconsin regulators have deadlocked on the legality of a financing mechanism that could expand access to clean energy. Two Public Service Commissioners disagreed Thursday on whether the states largest utility acted legally when it blocked an Iowa solar company from leasing solar panels to the city of Milwaukee. Eagle Point Solar won a contract in 2018 to install 1.1 megawatts of solar panels on municipal buildings to help the city meet its clean energy goals. But We Energies refused to allow the panels to be connected to its system, saying Eagle Point would be selling electricity to one of its customers in violation of its monopoly agreement. The utility later agreed to hook up panels on three of the seven sites after the city decided to buy rather than lease the panels. Eagle Point appealed the denial and asked the PSC to clarify whether a financing arrangement would make it a public utility. Commissioner Ellen Nowak agreed with We Energies position that the arrangement is illegal under current law. Eagle Point seeks permission to operate as a public utility ... in another public utilitys exclusive area, she said. Chair Rebecca Valcq said We Energies had no legal basis to deny the connection, which would allow electricity from the panels to flow onto the grid. What were talking about here are purely financial arrangements, Valcq said. These are scare tactics of a monopoly trying to hold on to the very last scraps of their monopoly. Citing his advocacy for third-party financing prior to joining the PSC, Commissioner Tyler Huebner recused himself from the decision, and the split vote resulted in no action on Eagle Points appeal. Representatives of Eagle Point and the city of Milwaukee did not respond to requests for comment Thursday. Follow the law We Energies spokesperson Brendan Conway said policies like third-party financing favor wealthy customers at the expense of those who cant afford solar. He said the utility will continue to urge the commission to follow the law. We Energies and other utilities have developed their own programs to lease customer rooftop space for utility-owned solar panels, recovering the costs with a 10% profit from all ratepayers. Clean energy and consumer advocates say utilities are standing in the way of a financing mechanism that could make solar energy available to more people, including residents who dont have thousands of dollars to pay up front and local governments, schools and nonprofits that cant benefit from federal tax credits. (We Energies) supports renewables that it can build itself and for which it can recover a return on equity, solar advocates wrote. And at the same time, (the company) seeks to block third-party financing that could open the door to affordable and accessible distributed self-generation by customers. A hot potato Thursdays vote marked a turning point in the commissions willingness to engage on the issue. In 2019, Nowak and then-commissioner Mike Huebsch voted to deny Eagle Points request to rule on the legality of third-party financing, arguing that was a job for the Legislature. But the commission did agree to take up the narrower issue of the interconnection denial. Eagle Point then asked the courts to weigh in. A Dane County judge dismissed the case, throwing the issue back to the PSC, and Eagle Points appeal was also rejected. The commission is facing a separate lawsuit from clean energy advocates seeking to force it to allow third-party financing. Last year a pair of Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to allow third-party financing for solar, wind and other renewable energy sources. But the bills have yet to receive a hearing. Theyre not moving at this point, said one of the sponsors, Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay. Valcq said the commission has an obligation to evaluate connection agreements based on the existing law. Clearly to me the Legislature has not demonstrated an interest in taking this up. It has become a hot potato, Valcq said. We already have a statute in front of us that we have the expertise and experience interpreting. Nowak agreed that the commission can evaluate individual agreements on a case-by-case basis, but said this one was not legal. If Eagle Point wants the law changed ... they must petition the Legislature for a change in the law, she said. The Legislature has had the opportunity to modify it and they have chosen not to. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Presidential hopeful and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said his rivals Bongbong Marcos and Vice President Leni Robredo would only seek revenge against their political enemies if they win in the May elections. In the "political fast talk" portion of Boy Abunda's interview aired on Thursday, Moreno was given 60 seconds to share his thoughts on why Filipinos should not vote for the other contenders. When Abunda mentioned the names of Marcos and Robredo, this was how the mayor responded: On Robredo: "Maghihiganti sa mga Marcos at Duterte." [Translation: She'll take revenge on the Marcoses and Duterte.] On Marcos: "Maghihiganti sa mga 'Dilawan' at 'Pinklawan'." [Translation: He'll take revenge on "Dilawan" and "Pinklawan."] Before announcing her presidential bid, the Vice President previously said one of her driving factors was not just to prevent a government similar to the Duterte administration, but also to block the Marcoses from returning to Malacanang. RELATED: Robredo: Filipinos should not allow another Marcos to reign This was criticized by Moreno, stressing Robredo should pursue her candidacy for Filipinos suffering from poverty. Marcos, the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, earlier expressed confidence he could beat Robredo in a one-on-one fight in the 2022 elections. Robredo defeated the former senator in the 2016 vice presidential race. Meanwhile, Moreno was also asked about the other aspirants and these were his remarks: On Sen. Panfilo Lacson: "Pwede naman iboto." [Translation: They can also vote for him.] On Sen. Manny Pacquiao: "Mabait naman siya, okay naman." [Translation: He's kind and okay.] Asked why Filipinos should vote for him, Moreno said he "will not take revenge on anyone," but will focus on the country's mounting problems. "Kailangan natin ng mga tunay na solution at mabilis na action (We need real solutions and quick action) - that I can do in my own little way," he said. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) The public wont be seeing polymer bills in denominations other than 1,000, at least for this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday. Were only producing the polymer version of the 1,000 banknote this year. The shift to polymer of other denominations will be based on the result of the circulation of the 1,000 polymer banknote, said BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno during his weekly virtual briefing. The central bank earlier said the countrys first-ever bills made of the more durable material will arrive this April. It chose the 1,000 denomination because its the one most used in automated teller machines. Research shows bills made of polymer have a lifespan 2.5 to 4 times longer than paper banknotes. They can also be melted and reused once declared unfit and sanitized without getting damaged -- a handy feature amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Should results of the circulation be positive, the proposal would be for a continued and more expanded use of polymer to include other denominations, said the BSP chief. The 1,000 polymer bill earlier drew flak for its approved design, which does away with Filipino heroes Jose Abad Santos, Josefa Llanes-Escoda, and Gen. Vicente Lim and features national flora and fauna instead. No demonetization of 20 bill Diokno also assured that the 20 bill is here to stay, even with its coin counterpart already being used widely. RELATED: 20 coin among intl Best New Coin award finalists The 20 banknotes and coins continue to co-exist until the banknotes become unfit for circulation. There is no demonetization of the 20 banknotes, he said. The BSP continues to print these bills in-house, added Diokno. (CNN) Some are calling it the "nuclear option." As Western governments threaten Russia with a package of unprecedented sanctions aimed at deterring President Vladimir Putin from ordering an invasion of Ukraine, there's one measure in particular that appears to strike fear at the heart of the Kremlin: cutting the country off from the global banking system. US lawmakers have suggested in recent weeks that Russia could be removed from SWIFT, a high security network that connect thousands of financial institutions around the world. Senior Russian lawmakers have responded by saying that shipments of oil, gas and metals to Europe would stop if that happened. "If Russia is disconnected from SWIFT, then we will not receive [foreign] currency, but buyers, European countries in the first place, will not receive our goods oil, gas, metals and other important components," Nikolai Zhuravlev, vice speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, said Tuesday, according to state media outlet TASS. What is SWIFT? The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication was founded in 1973 to replace the telex and is now used by over 11,000 financial institutions to send secure messages and payment orders. With no globally accepted alternative, it is essential plumbing for global finance. Removing Russia from SWIFT would make it nearly impossible for financial institutions to send money in or out of the country, delivering a sudden shock to Russian companies and their foreign customers especially buyers of oil and gas exports denominated in US dollars. "The cutoff would terminate all international transactions, trigger currency volatility, and cause massive capital outflows," Maria Shagina, a visiting fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, wrote in a paper last year for Carnegie Moscow Center. Excluding Russia from SWIFT would cause its economy to shrink by 5%, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin estimated in 2014. SWIFT is based in Belgium and governed by a board consisting of 25 people, including Eddie Astanin, chairman of the management board at Russia's Central Counterparty Clearing Centre. SWIFT, which describes itself as a "neutral utility," is incorporated under Belgian law and must comply with EU regulations. What happens if Russia is removed? There is precedent for removing a country from SWIFT. SWIFT unplugged Iranian banks in 2012 after they were sanctioned by the European Union over the country's nuclear program. Iran lost almost half of its oil export revenue and 30% of foreign trade following the disconnection, according to Shagina. "SWIFT is a neutral global cooperative set up and operated for the collective benefit of its community," the organization said in a statement Wednesday. "Any decision to impose sanctions on countries or individual entities rests solely with the competent government bodies and applicable legislators," it added. It's not clear how much support there is among US allies for taking similar action against Russia. The United States and Germany have the most to lose if Russia is disconnected, because their banks are the most frequent SWIFT users to communicate with Russian banks, according to Shagina. The European Union is ready to respond to a Russian invasion of Ukraine with "comprehensive sanctions never seen before," Danish foreign minister Jeppe Kofod said on Monday. EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said Tuesday that sanctions would be "the most consequential leverage that the West, or at least the European Union, has." British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told lawmakers on Tuesday that his government was discussing the possibility of banning Russia from SWIFT with the United States. "There is no doubt that that would be a very potent weapon [against Russia]. I'm afraid it can only really be deployed with the assistance of the United States though. We are in discussions about that," Johnson said. Russia's countermeasures Russia has taken steps in recent years to blunt the trauma should it be removed from SWIFT. Moscow established its own payment system, SPFS, after it was hit by Western sanctions in 2014 following its annexation of Crimea early that year. SPFS now has around 400 users, according to Russia's central bank. Twenty percent of domestic transfers are currently done through SPFS, according to Shagina, but the size of messages are limited and operations are limited to weekday hours. China's fledgling Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, or CIPS, may provide another alternative to SWIFT. Moscow could also be forced to resort to using cryptocurrencies. But these are not appealing alternatives. "SWIFT is an European company, an association of many participating countries. To make a decision on disconnection, a united decision of all participating countries is needed. The decisions of the United States and Great Britain are definitely not enough," Zhuravlev said, according to TASS. "I'm not sure that other countries, especially those whose share of trade with Russia is large in balance, will support the shutdown," he added. This story was first published on CNN.com "What is SWIFT and why it might be the weapon Russia fears most" Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) It's going to be a prosperous 2022 as SM Supermalls celebrates the Year of the Tiger with fun-filled events and activities for shoppers! Whether you choose to stay home or safely shop at SM Supermalls, there are exclusive CNY deals for everyone to enjoy! SM Megamall. Photo from SM Supermalls Lucky dining deals Kick-off the festivities with an abundant gastronomic feast with discounts and promos from Jan. 16 to Feb. 2. Shoppers can enjoy Lucky Eats Deals of as much as a 22% discount from participating tenants. For your convenience, you can easily shop via the SM Malls Online app where you can arrange for delivery or pick-up, or by calling the SM Customer Care hotline at (02) 8876-111, 0917-876-111 or 0908-876-1111. You can also have your fill of your favorite food while safely dining at Chinese New Year-themed indoor and outdoor Lucky Eats Dining Spots. Lucky Red Finds Bazaar Boost your luck and find all the lucky red items from SM Supermalls' partner tenants and affiliates in the Chinese New Year-themed pop-up market. SM City North EDSA. Photo from SM Supermalls Lucky Tiger Park Families will be treated to a dazzling Chinese New Year experience featuring an outdoor set-up with lighted 3D tiger art installations, Chinese lanterns, and Drive-Thru Lion and Dragon Dances and Fireworks Displays to welcome the year of the Tiger! Lucky Paws Show off your pet's best CNY-themed costume and get a chance to win pawsome prizes when you submit photos of your pets online or take them to select SM Supermalls Paw Parks. Lucky forecasts When it comes to ushering in good fortune, SM Supermalls knows how to help prepare shoppers for the positive energy this new year brings. By scanning the QR codes, you can check out your 2022 Chinese zodiac brought to you by Feng Shui expert Marites Allen. Plus, you can also get a chance to win exciting prizes and SM vouchers! SM City Fairview. Photo from SM Supermalls SM Supermalls has also prepared other activities and promos for everyone to enjoy until February: Lucky plants. Attract good luck all year round with lucky plants in your home! This Chinese New Year-themed green market in select SM malls features floras that are considered lucky like the lucky bamboo, money tree, Jade plant, mandarin orange tree, orchid, bamboo, and bonsai. Lucky finds on SM Deals. Check out CNY exclusive offers from SM Supermalls' tenant partners and affiliates from "Buy 1 Get 1" deals and 50% discounts. Lucky22 vouchers. If you opt to stay at home during these festivities, don't worry about missing out on these exciting deals because SM Supermalls has got you covered. SM Malls Online will be having Lucky22 vouchers a special voucher offering a 22% discount on food and non-food items for stay-at-home shoppers like you! Lucky in Red Pick-up at Curbside promo. When you pick up your order at SM via SM Customer Care Hotline, SM will be giving away 200 worth of SM GCs on Feb. 1 for those decked in red! So wear something red or drive by to pick up the items you've ordered in your flashy red car! This promo is for the first 22 customers only, so be sure to get there as early as you can. SM Aura Premier. Photo from SM Supermalls SM City Manila. Photo from SM Supermalls SM City Marikina. Photo from SM Supermalls SM Mall of Asia. Photo from SM Supermalls SM City San Lazaro. Photo from SM Supermalls SM City Sta. Mesa. Photo from SM Supermalls SM Southmall. Photo from SM Supermalls Previous Next Enjoy all these and more when you celebrate your #LuckyDaysAtSM this Chinese New Year. So, increase your luck and safely celebrate with SM Supermalls as it welcomes the Year of the Tiger with wishes of prosperity, health, abundance, and continuous good fortune! For #SafeMallingAtSM, you can follow @smsupermalls on all social media platforms. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon on Thursday revealed she voted to disqualify Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos from the 2022 presidential race. Guanzon the presiding officer of the First Division handling the consolidated petitions against Marcos disclosed her vote in an interview with CNN Philippines. "Ang desisyon ko, ang boto ko, disqualified talaga siya. Kasi convicted siya of a crime involving moral turpitude," Guanzon told News.PH. "Apat na taon siyang hindi nag file ng income tax return, hindi siya nagbayad ng buwis. At hindi siya nagbayad ng multa sa Regional Trial Court," she added. [Translation: My decision, my vote, is that he is really disqualified. Because he's convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude. He did not file his income tax return, he did not pay taxes. He did not pay fines in the Regional Trial Court.] Guanzon also argued that Marcos camp has not produced a certified copy of its claim that the former senator already settled his tax deficiencies. Nung sinuri po ng mga abogado, doon sa xerox copy, nakalagay doon payment of lease rental. Ano ba yan, pinapalusutan niyo pa kami? Siyempre susuriin namin yang mga ebidensiya. Bakit niyo fine-fake? she continued. [Translation: When our lawyers examined it, the xerox copy showed payment of lease rental. Whats this, youre trying to put one over on us? Of course, were going to look at the evidence. Why did you fake it?] The votes of two other commissioners in the First Division have not yet been revealed. At least one more member must have a similar vote to formalize the division's decision. The ponente Commissioner Aimee Ferolino earlier said she cannot comment on the matter as it "might be against the sub judice rule." CNN Philippines has also reached out to Commissioner Marlon Casquejo but has yet to receive a response. Powerful politician behind the delay? The division had targeted to release the decision on the three disqualification cases against Marcos by Jan. 17. But it faced delays as the ponente was not yet ready due to COVID-related issues. READ: Guanzon explains delayed Marcos DQ case decision, eyes release in a week Guanzon labeled the excuse as unreasonable. This has never happened before, in a disqualification case involving a presidential aspirant. The resolution is hijacked by the ponente, the commissioner said, arguing that such decision can be written in a matter of hours. She also said that Ferolino cannot be contacted for three to four days already. Pressed further about the delay, Guanzon said she has a strong feeling that a politician may have interfered in the case. Powerful politician, Guanzon said, but did not drop names. Ayan lang ang appeal ko sa kanya, umatras na kayo. Huwag na kayo makialam dito. Ang presidente nga hindi nakikialam eh, kayo pa? [Translation: Thats my only appeal, back off. Dont intervene. Even the president is not interfering.] Marcos is facing a string of petitions challenging his presidential bid in the May elections. Last week, the Comelec Second Division junked for lack of merit a petition of civic leaders which sought to cancel his certificate of candidacy. A plea looking to declare the son and namesake of the late dictator a nuisance bet was also earlier dismissed. LIST: Petitions against Bongbong Marcos' 2022 presidential bid CNN Philippines' Melissa Lopez and Alyssa Rola contributed to this report. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Private individuals can file complaints to help authorities catch political candidates who violate health protocols during the campaign period, the Interior Department said Thursday. Interior spokesperson Jonathan Malaya told CNN Philippines' The Source that the Philippine National Police will serve as "deputies" of the Commission on Elections in ensuring that minimum public health standards are enforced when the campaign period starts. "There are specific things that must be followed depending on alert level," Malaya said. He added: "We will need evidences, photos, affidavits of individuals. And cases can be filed by either by the PNP or private complainants with the Comelec, because these are technically election offenses." Comelec has listed down specific restrictions on election activities under Resolution 10732: For in-person campaigns Section 12 sets the following guidelines: Areas under Alert Level 1 - No limits Level 2 - A candidate or campaign leader may be accompanied by a maximum of five campaign support staff Level 3 - A candidate or campaign leader may be accompanied by a maximum of three campaign support staff Levels 4 and 5 - Not allowed For caucuses, meetings, convention, rallies, and miting de avance Areas under Alert Level 1 - Allowed up to 70% operational capacity of the venue, whether indoor or outdoor Level 2 - Up to 50% of the operational capacity of the venue, whether indoor or outdoor Level 3 - Up to 50% of the operational capacity of the venue for enclosed outdoor only Level 4 - Allowed up to 30% of the operational capacity of the venue for enclosed outdoor only Level 5 - Not allowed Prohibited activities with physical contact Section 15 prohibits any physical contact during conventions, miting de avance, and rallies in ALL alert levels. This includes the following activities: - Handshakes, hugs, going arm-in-arm or any action that involves physical contact among the candidate, their companions, and the public - Taking selfies, photographs and other activities that require close proximity - Distribution of food, drinks, and all other goods The same activities are also prohibited during in-person campaigns, including entering any private dwelling in house-to-house campaigns, and crowding around the candidate and his or her companions. National candidates (president, vice president, senator, party-list groups) may officially start campaigning on February 8, while local candidates(members of House of Representatives, elective provincial, city, and municipal officials) may start on March 25. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) The Philippine Genome Center (PGC) on Thursday said it has noticed an uptick in Omicron variant cases in the country since December last year. Dr. Cynthia Saloma, executive director of PGC, said almost all of the samples sequenced in January are positive for the Omicron variant. Starting on the third week of December, nakikita natin yung (we could see a) very sharp rise in the number of sequenced cases with Omicron lineage," Saloma told a public briefing. "But by the time we entered 2022, starting the first week of January, almost 100% of the sequenced cases we have, particularly in the National Capital Region as well as in the Calabarzon area, are already Omicron, she said. Kung may Delta man doon, pangilanngilan lang (If there is any Delta detected, there are only a few)," Saloma added. "Its really just essentially Omicron starting 2022. The country has started to log over 1,000 new daily cases starting Dec. 30 last year. But since Jan. 5, daily figures rose again to five-digits. On Jan. 15, the country recorded its highest daily count with 39,004 fresh cases. The Department of Health on Thursday reported 618 new Omicron cases, pushing the total cases of the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant to 1,153, with the number of deaths now at five. There are 497 cases recorded from various communities, mostly located in Metro Manila, while 121 were returning overseas Filipinos. Meanwhile, the DOH also recorded another 35 Delta variant cases, 26 of which are local cases and nine are returning overseas Filipinos. The World Health Organization earlier warned that while Omicron appears to be less severe than Delta, it should not be dismissed as mild. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) Confidence in COVID-19 vaccine among Filipinos improved even before the Omicron surge, an independent pandemic monitoring group said Thursday. The most recent "Tugon ng Masa" survey by the OCTA Research Group showed vaccine hesitancy substantially dropped to 11% in January from 40% in September. The number is broken down into 5% unwilling to get inoculated and 6% who "cannot say" if they would take the doses. Majority of the vaccine-hesitant were from the Visayas and Mindanao, with 9% each. Metro Manila and Balance Luzon both had 3% of respondents refusing to take the COVID-19 shots. Of those unsure to get the vaccine, 10% were from Balance Luzon, 4% from Mindanao, and 3% from Visayas. Only 1% were from among Metro Manila respondents. OCTA fellow Guido David said vaccine safety is still the top concern among the hesitant. The survey was done on Dec. 7 to 12 last year, when daily infections averaged between 300 and 600. It was conducted among 1,200 respondents, with a 3 margin of error. The study also showed only 2% of adults caught the virus after getting their full dose. "This is incontrovertible evidence that COVID-19 vaccines protect us, our loved ones, and our communities from the virus," acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a statement. "It also emphasized that vaccination is a step towards the right direction in our efforts to restore normalcy." A survey by the Social Weather Stations on Dec. 12 to 16 but released only this month showed 8% of adults are vaccine-hesitant, down from 18% in September. The country has so far administered more than 125 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, according to government data. Over 58.1 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee cited for contempt and issued an arrest order against five individuals connected to the alleged anomalous government purchase of COVID-19 medical supplies. The five persons cited in the arrest order snubbed Thursday's hearing. The committee reiterated its standing arrest order against former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao. Lao is the former head of DBM's Procurement Service (PS-DBM) office, which dealt with controversial firm Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation in the procurement of allegedly overpriced personal protective equipment and COVID-19 testing kits. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee failed to arrest Lao when they first issued the arrest order in November last year. The body also rejected Lao's motion for reconsideration on the arrest order and contempt citation. The Senate panel also ordered the arrest of other individuals connected to the controversial Pharmally deal, including former Pharmally Biological executive Rose Nono Lin, Gerald Cruz, Jayson Uson, Sophia Custodio, and Dennis Manalastas. Lin failed to appear in the Senate hearing on Thursday. According to a letter from her lawyer and a medical certificate, she was being tested for COVID-19 and other ailments. Lin is associated with alleged Pharmally financier and former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang. Cruz and Uson are alleged former Pharmally Pharmaceutical officials. Custodio, the girlfriend of embattled Pharmally executive Mohit Dargani, is the president of a firm named Business Beyond Limits OPC that is incorporated with the controversial company. Manalastas is an official of the Philippine United Technic Corporation, which is involved in the purchase of COVID-19 test kits by PS-DBM. "This is not a punishment. This is just asserting and requiring that people respect the processes of the Senate. Otherwise, we would become a paper tiger," said committee chairperson Sen. Richard Gordon. The Senate earlier ordered to detain Dargani and Linconn Ong, another Pharmally official, for their refusal to directly answer the senators' questions during past hearings. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 27) The "stealth Omicron" or BA.2 sub-lineage can behave like the original Omicron variant but can be slightly more transmissible and contagious, infectious diseases expert Dr. Rontgene Solante explained on Thursday. He added the 'stealth Omicron' has more mutations compared to the BA.1 sub-lineage. "The BA.1 has like 60 mutations. This one has more or less 85 mutations and with these numbers of mutations, it is expected that it can behave just like your Omicron," he told CNN Philippines. "The occurrence of these mutations are more or less in the spike of protein. So it can be as transmissible or a little bit highly transmissible than the original variant." Solante, a member of the country's vaccine experts panel, however said there isn't enough data yet to say that BA.2, like the original Omicron strain, will also elude some of the protection provided by the primary vaccination series. The expert urged the public to get vaccinated and receive their booster dose as soon as possible to increase their protection against the highly mutated variant. "It's important that we still need to follow the health protocols because the way we deal with the Omicron BA.1 will still be the same with the BA.2. Aside from that, we need to ramp up vaccination. We need to build that wall of immunity by vaccinating as much as everyone that are eligible for vaccination," he said. Solante also assured the public the RT-PCR tests available in the country can detect this sub-lineage. The Department of Health on Tuesday said stealth Omicron is now the predominant sub lineage in most regions based on the latest genome sequencing run. DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said this sub-lineage is more common in local Omicron cases detected in the country, as compared to the BA.1 which is more commonly found in travelers entering the country. DOH said there seems to be no difference when it comes to the severity of illness. BA.1 is the more dominant sub-lineage worldwide, but cases of the BA.2 are quickly increasing. Metro Manila (CNN Philippines January 27) The Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested eight of its personnel who were involved in a robbery incident in a subdivision in Angeles City, Pampanga. In a statement, CIDG Regional Field Unit III said they received on Wednesday at around 1 a.m. a report about an ongoing robbery allegedly perpetrated by a group of armed men all in civilian clothes who identified themselves as CIDG personnel. Authorities intercepted three men with firearms moving out of the victims house as well as five others inside the property. They also rescued seven Chinese nationals and a Filipino helper. The arrested CIDG personnel claimed they were conducting a buy-bust operation, but investigators found some of the victims' belongings, including cash amounting to P300,000 and some US dollar bills, inside the vehicle of the suspects. Authorities also seized other pieces of evidence, including a caliber .45 pistol, during the arrest. Investigators then found out that the suspects were members of the CIDG assigned to the Anti-Organized Crime Unit. In a press conference, CIDG Director Major General Ignatius Ferro said the arrested CIDG personnel are detained at the CIDG Angeles City Filed Unit while a complaint for robbery is being prepared for filing. He also assured the arrested CIDG personnel will be disciplined and face administrative charges. (CNN) The White House signaled Wednesday that President Joe Biden remains committed to nominating the first Black woman to the Supreme Court after a well-placed source familiar with the matter told CNN that Justice Stephen Breyer plans to retire. "The President has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court and certainly stands by that," White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters during the White House press briefing. Psaki had no additional details or statement about the news of Breyer's retirement. Earlier Wednesday, the President similarly declined to weigh in on the news of Breyer's retirement from the court. "Every justice has the right to decide what he or she is going to do, and announce that on their own," Biden said. "There's been no announcement from Justice Breyer. Let him make whatever statement he is going to make, and I'll be happy to talk about it later." Breyer will be leaving the high court after two decades on the bench, and Biden's pick to replace him is expected be a younger, fellow liberal who could serve on the court for decades. It'll be the President's first chance to nominate someone to the high court. Breyer informed Biden of his decision to retire last week, two sources familiar with the conversation told CNN. Biden had said throughout his 2020 presidential campaign that he was committed to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court if elected. "I (have) committed that, if I'm elected as president and have the opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I'll appoint the first Black woman to the court. It's required that they have representation now it's long overdue," Biden said in March 2020. A short list of potential nominees had been circulating Washington well before Breyer's retirement plans became public, and officials in the White House Counsel's Office built files on various candidates in anticipation of a potential vacancy. Names on the list include: DC Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, South Carolina US District Judge J. Michelle Childs, North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Anita Earls, Minnesota US District Judge Wilhelmina "Mimi" Wright, Circuit Judge Eunice Lee, Circuit Judge Candace Jackson-Akiwumi and Sherrilyn Ifill, a civil rights attorney who recently announced plans to step down from her role as president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. On Wednesday, Psaki declined to comment on rumors that Vice President Kamala Harris could be considered for a Supreme Court vacancy. However, she reiterated that the President has every intention on "running for reelection with Vice President Harris on the ticket as his partner." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Biden stands by commitment to nominate Black woman to the Supreme Court, White House says." (CNN) -- UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's credibility was once again thrown into doubt on Wednesday, after leaked emails appeared to contradict his claim of having no involvement in the evacuation of animals from a British charity in Afghanistan as the country fell to the Taliban and people were scrambling to find a way out. The release of emails by a cross-party parliamentary committee on Foreign Affairs prompted claims that Britain's embattled leader had lied, at a time when he is already facing accusations of misleading Parliament over Covid-19 possibly rule-busting parties at Downing Street, which are now the subject of a police investigation. Suggestions that vital resources were used to rescue animals instead of people at Johnson's request have been circulating for months, after tweets on the issue from the UK Defense Secretary in August and then in written testimony from an ex-UK Foreign Office staffer, who detailed the UK's "dysfunctional" and "chaotic" evacuation effort. In December, the Prime Minister dismissed the allegation as "complete nonsense." But emails published by Parliament on Wednesday, supplied by the whistleblower Raphael Marshall as evidence in an ongoing inquiry into the UK's messy Afghanistan exit, paint a different picture. One email, sent by a Foreign Office official on August 25 at 12:20 p.m. local time, states that "The PM" had just "authorized" the evacuation of staff and animals from Nowzad, a charity run by former British Royal Marines Cmdr. Pen Farthing, while lobbying a colleague to help with evacuations for another animal charity. "Equivalent charity Nowzad, run by an ex-Royal Marine, has received a lot of publicity and the PM has just authorised their staff and animals to be evacuated, [animal charity -- name redacted] are hoping to be treated in the same capacity (granted LOTR)," the email reads, referring to permission to leave outside the rules of immigration. A second email, sent between Foreign Office officials later that day, references the "PM's decision" to evacuate Nowzad staff, but doesn't mention animals. "In light of the PM's decision earlier today to evacuate the staff of the Nowzad animal charity, the [animal charity -- name redacted] (another animal rights NGO) is asking for agreement to the entry of [details redacted] staff, all Afghan nationals," it reads. On its website, Nowzad confirms that its founder, Farthing, was rescued from Afghanistan with the organization's staff and their immediate families, along with 94 dogs and 68 cats. In a statement responding to the leaked emails, Nowzad said it had no insight into how the decision was made to evacuate their animals and it is "appalled to find ourselves at the centre of a political media debate on who did what and when" in relation to the evacuation. It said Farthing had also submitted evidence to the select committee. Downing Street has continued to deny that Johnson had any involvement in evacuating more than 150 animals, while evacuation requests from thousands of desperate Afghans went unfilled. "It remains the case that the PM didn't instruct officials on this case," a Downing Street press officer said Wednesday. The revelations mark the latest blow to Johnson, who is clinging to power despite drowning in scandals -- among them, being accused of lying to Parliament over his knowledge of gatherings held at Downing Street during lockdown. Opposition lawmaker John Healey tweeted Wednesday: "Once again, the PM has been caught out lying. He should never have given priority to flying animals out of Afghanistan while Afghans who worked for our forces were left behind." "We need to know why the PM overruled the Defense Secretary with this decision," Healey said. UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace had publicly said people must be prioritized when the military was in the midst of evacuating thousands at risk. But that changed suddenly on August 25, when Wallace announced on Twitter that they had been given the green light. Once authorization was given, he tweeted "those most at risk" would continue to be processed first, adding, "no one has the right in this humanitarian crisis to jump the queue." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Leaked emails suggest UK's Boris Johnson may have lied about evacuating animals before people from Afghanistan" (CNN) A high-ranking official in Cuba's foreign ministry is calling for the Biden administration to restore relations with the island in light of a recent CIA report that found most "Havana syndrome" cases were unlikely to have been caused by a foreign power. The spate of mysterious health incidents that have plagued American diplomats and CIA personnel in Havana, Cuba, among other cities, can be explained by environmental causes, undiagnosed medical conditions and other factors, rather than "a sustained worldwide campaign" by a foreign adversary intended to harm US personnel, CIA officials said last week, describing interim findings from a wide-ranging study. While Cuban officials rarely agree with anything their longtime nemesis, the CIA, says, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio Dominguez, a vice minister at Cuba's foreign ministry, told CNN that the report should provide enough evidence for US President Joe Biden to order the reopening of embassies and normalize relations. "The logical step by the US government with this evidence, with what they know now would be to put aside the excuse used at the time about attacks and then normalize the functioning and the operating of their embassy in Havana and to normalize our embassy in Washington," said Fernandez de Cossio, who served as director general of US affairs at the Cuban foreign ministry. In 2016, US diplomats and undercover CIA officers in their homes and hotel rooms in Havana began complaining of unexplained symptoms, such as dizziness and pounding headaches. These sometimes were accompanied by an unidentified "piercing directional noise" that sounded as if metal was being scraped across a floor. Eventually, 24 diplomats were diagnosed with brain damage that ranged from mild impairment to injuries "so severe they may never be able to return to their previous jobs." US officials feared the unexplained illnesses might have been caused by "sonic attacks," an unknown directed energy weapon or microwaves. In 2017, the US ejected 15 Cuban diplomats and withdrew most of its diplomats working in Havana, ending consular services for Cubans seeking visas to the US. Last year, the US government estimated that more than 100,000 Cubans had been unable to receive visas to travel to the US as a result of the closure of the consulate in Havana. As investigators examined the circumstances surrounding the incidents, President Donald Trump said he believed Cuba was to blame. Even though additional US diplomats in China, Austria, and other countries reported feeling similar symptoms, Cuban officials say they were singled out by Washington. "Cuba is the only country that is being punished because of this, which proves there was no justification -- which proves that this was a government delivered operation to use the excuse of symptoms suffered by diplomats to take action against Cuba," Fernandez de Cossio said. In the interim findings delivered to Biden and briefed to Congress in recent weeks, the CIA reported it had yet to find any evidence that a nation-state is behind any of roughly 1,000 reported episodes around the globe. Some of the diplomats and their family members expressed frustration following the release of the interim report that the US government still was unable to identify the cause of their symptoms. A senior CIA official said the agency hasn't ruled out that a smaller subset of incidents could be attacks, and the intelligence community continues to investigate "whether any device or mechanism plausibly could cause the symptoms reported." Fernandez de Cossio said the CIA may once again try to accuse the communist-run island of being involved in the incidents: "It's an agency known for its tricks and not for its honesty so one would think that they are leaving room for themselves to produce whatever version in the future." This story was first published on CNN.com, "Cuba calls on Biden to restaff embassies, normalize relations following CIA 'Havana Syndrome' report" (CNN) Moderna announced Wednesday that the first participant has been dosed in the company's Phase 2 clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine booster shot that is specific to the Omicron variant. "We are reassured by the antibody persistence against Omicron at six months after the currently authorized 50 g booster of mRNA-1273. Nonetheless, given the long-term threat demonstrated by Omicron's immune escape, we are advancing our Omicron-specific variant vaccine booster candidate and we are pleased to begin this part of our Phase 2 study," CEO Stephane Bancel said in a news release. "We are also evaluating whether to include this Omicron-specific candidate in our multivalent booster program." Moderna promises to share its data from the trial with public health leaders so they can make evidence-based decisions on the best booster strategy against the coronavirus going forward. Omicron currently accounts for 99.9% of US Covid-19 infections, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. The Delta variant makes up the remaining 0.1%. A study published Wednesday says the Moderna Covid-19 booster shot remains durable against the Omicron variant, but the antibody protection wanes and is six times lower six months after getting boosted. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also found that the neutralizing antibody levels declined against the Omicron variant much more rapidly than against the dominant strain of the virus that was circulating two years ago. Research teams from Moderna, Duke University, Emory University, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health looked at blood samples from adults who had two doses of the Moderna vaccine, as well as those who also had a booster dose. Some of those were boosted with the 50-microgram dose and some at 100-g levels. The current booster is authorized at the 50-g level. With the primary two-dose regimen, the Moderna vaccine generated neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant in 85% of the people in the trial one month after the second dose. Seven months after the participants got their second dose, neutralization against Omicron was detected in only 55% of the blood samples. A 50-g booster dose improved the durability of neutralization at 20 times higher than the levels seen in those who just got two doses of the vaccine. (CNN) Russian and Ukrainian negotiators agreed that a permanent ceasefire in eastern Ukraine must be observed "unconditionally" following hours-long talks in Paris on Wednesday. The announcement came after a meeting at the Elysee Palace of the so-called Normandy Format a four-way conversation between representatives from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France that has been trying to broker peace in eastern Ukraine since 2014. Tensions between Moscow and Kiev are at their highest in years, with a large Russian troop build-up near the shared borders of the two former Soviet republics spurring fears that Russia could launch an invasion. Speaking after Wednesday's meeting, Moscow's chief negotiator Dmitry Kozak said the ceasefire must be observed "unconditionally" but that many other issues in eastern Ukraine remained unresolved. Western officials are continuing to push for a diplomatic solution to the tensions through the full implementation of the Minsk agreements a ceasefire protocol signed by Ukraine and Russia in 2015. "We agreed that regardless of different discrepancies of the Minsk agreements that exist between Ukraine and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the truce in Donbas must be observed unconditionally," Kozak said. He added that the "obligation" to implement such agreements "lies with the armed forces of Ukraine and the armed formations of the (eastern separatists) Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic." Ukrainian negotiator Andriy Yermak said all parties were in support of a permanent ceasefire and Ukraine was ready to negotiate around the clock to prevent war and to de-escalate tensions around the border. Yermak called the renewal of the Normandy Format talks first held after Russia's 2014 invasion of Crimea a "very positive signal" and the first such substantive agreement since the end of 2019. He called talks "really substantial, but not an easy discussion" and while there were still disagreements there was an interest in working through them. "The work continues and I can tell you that Ukraine as usual is ready to negotiate, to meet 24-7. Because for us, for (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, for the entire team, the goal of stopping the war, of ending the war and returning our territories and today that this also includes easing the tensions the de-escalation around the Ukrainian border, is the priority," Yermak said. Kozak and Yermak said the talks would resume in about two weeks in Berlin. As many as 100,000 Russian troops have remained amassed at the Ukrainian border, despite warnings from US President Joe Biden and European leaders of serious consequences should Russian President Vladimir Putin order an invasion. Russia has repeatedly denied it is planning an invasion but has argued that NATO support for Ukraine including increased weapons supplies and military training constitutes a growing threat on its western flank. As the Normandy Format got underway on Wednesday, the United States delivered a written response to Russia's concerns over Ukraine. Putin's central demand is that the US and NATO commit to never admitting Ukraine to the 30-member defense alliance. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to detail specifics presented to Moscow but said it reiterated the West's public response to uphold NATO's "open-door policy." "There is no change. There will be no change," Blinken said of US and NATO support of the alliance's open-door policy. "We make clear that there are core principles that we are committed to uphold and defend, including Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of states to choose their own security arrangements and alliances," he added. Blinken said the US response to Russia "sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it" and outlines areas where the US has said it sees potential for progress with Russia -- arms control, transparency and stability. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Russia and Ukraine agree to continue ceasefire talks." (CNN) The United States Navy is trying to retrieve its most advanced fighter jet from the depths of the South China Sea, an extremely complex operation that analysts say will be closely monitored by Beijing. The F-35C, a single-engine stealth fighter and the newest jet in the US Navy fleet, crash-landed on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson during routine operations on Monday, the Navy said. The $100 million warplane impacted the flight deck of the 100,000-ton aircraft carrier and then fell into the sea as its pilot ejected, Navy officials said. The pilot and six sailors aboard the Vinson were injured. While damage to the Vinson was only superficial, and it and the carrier's air wing have resumed normal operations, the Navy faces the daunting task of attempting to pull the F-35 off the ocean floor in some of the most contested waters on the planet. The Navy is giving scant details on its recovery plans for the F-35C, the first of which only became operational in 2019. "The US Navy is making recovery operations arrangements for the F-35C aircraft involved in the mishap aboard USS Carl Vinson" is all a spokesman for the US 7th Fleet, Lt. Nicholas Lingo, would tell CNN on Wednesday. Though the Navy has not revealed where in the South China Sea the crash occurred, Beijing claims almost all of the 1.3 million square mile (3.3 million square kilometer) waterway as its territory and has bolstered its claims by building up and militarizing reefs and islands there. Chinese naval and coast guard vessels maintain a constant presence in South China Sea waters. The US disputes those Chinese territorial claims and uses deployments like the one the Vinson was on to push its case for a "free and open Indo-Pacific." There has been no official Chinese comment on the crash, with state media reporting it only citing "foreign media." But China will almost certainly want to get a look at the lost F-35, analysts said. "China will try to locate and survey it thoroughly using submarines and one of its deep diving submersibles," said Carl Schuster, a former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center in Hawaii. Schuster, a former US Navy captain, said it's possible China could make a claim for the salvage rights based on its territorial claims in the South China Sea. "Salvaging the plane with commercial and coast guard assets will enable Beijing to claim it is recovering a potential environmental hazard or foreign military equipment from its territorial waters," Schuster said. But such an operation would present political risks, said Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. "To overtly go about doing this may risk worsening tensions with the US. I don't believe Beijing has stomach for that," he said. "However, we can expect the Chinese to shadow, hang around and keep tabs on any such American salvage and recovery operation," Koh said. Schuster said the US Navy will likely keep some presence in the area where the wreckage is believed to be in an operation that could take months, depending upon how deep under the South China Sea the F-35 is. US salvage vessels are 10 to 15 days transit time to the site, Schuster said, and recovery once there could take up to 120 days. Asked whether the US could just destroy the wreckage with a torpedo or an explosive charge, analysts said that was unlikely. "My question is whether you truly leave behind nothing of potentially consequential intelligence bonanza amongst the scattered smithereens on the seabed which any interested party with the capability may still retrieve after all?" Koh said. This US Navy recovery effort will mark the third time a country flying the F-35 has tried to pull one from the depths. Last November, a British F-35B crashed on takeoff from the deck of its aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth into the Mediterranean Sea. Britain's Defense Ministry confirmed to news outlets in early January that it had been recovered in December amid worries the sunken aircraft could have been a target for Russian intelligence. And after a Japanese F-35A crashed into the Pacific in 2019, worries emerged that it could be a target for Russian and Chinese intelligence. But only small pieces of the Japanese aircraft were recovered by Japan as that plane is thought to have hit the water at full speed. In the case of the Mediterranean crash and this week's mishap, the planes were moving more slowly, so more of the wreckage is be expected to be found. This story was first published on CNN.com "US Navy wants to get crashed stealth fighter back -- before China can" (CNN) Israeli settlers in a convoy of cars rampaged through a Palestinian town in the West Bank near Nablus on Monday evening, marking the latest in a string of violent incidents involving settlers in recent months. Israel's Defense Minister condemned the settlers' behavior and promised to take action, though Palestinians say they are skeptical of Israel's willingness to carry through those pledges. The group of settlers, who according to local reports were celebrating the release from prison of a man convicted of assaulting Palestinians, threw rocks through windows of businesses and vehicles, injuring at least one person. "Last night a march of settlers came from Zaatara towards Huwwara driving their cars. They attacked houses, shops and cars," Huwwara's mayor, Mueen Al Dmeidi, told CNN. The Israeli military confirmed the incident on Monday, saying in a statement that a confrontation broke out between Israelis and Palestinians in the village of Huwwara, south of Nablus. "The confrontation began when a number of Israeli civilians drove into the village and threw stones, causing significant damage to businesses and vehicles," according to the military statement. One widely circulated video shows two men apparently throwing rocks at a parked car, before they get back into their own car and rejoin the convoy. A 17-year old Palestinian was injured, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa, with other reports suggesting that at least three people suffered injuries. The incident prompted Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz to promise tough action against what he called "nationalistically motivated violence." In a Monday statement, Gantz said than anyone who throws rocks or sets cars aflame "is a terrorist and will be treated as such." He went on: "I have recently initiated several meetings to discuss this issue, and we currently find ourselves at the height of the process to strengthen our troops on the ground, to build forces with the police and (the internal intelligence agency), and to determine operational and legal proceedings vis-a-vis such incidents." Israeli officials have made similar statements vowing to take action against settler attacks in recent months, but rights groups say the army does not often intervene. For its part, the army says it is committed to the security of all residents in relevant areas. An Israeli police spokesperson told CNN that there had been no arrests relating to the incident but said the matter was still under investigation. Palestinian mayor of Huwwara, Al Dmeidi, told CNN he was skeptical any perpetrators would be punished. "Imagine if the opposite had happened and it was Palestinians who had attacked Israelis," he said, adding: "A massacre would have been carried out against Palestinians. You would have seen dead Palestinians, while the whole world would have spoken about the poor Israeli victims." The incident in Huwwara comes just days after settlers attacked a group of Israeli peace activists on Friday in the nearby West Bank village of Burin. In that incident, which was also captured on video and widely shared, a group of about a dozen masked settlers attacked a group of Israeli anti-occupation activists and Palestinians with stones and clubs, setting fire to one of their cars. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 10 of the activists, who had been helping Palestinian farmers to plant trees, had been injured in the attack. This story was first published on CNN.com, "Israeli settlers rage through Palestinian town, marking the latest 'nationalistically motivated' attack in the region" Continuing today with part II honouring a fellow Ottawa radio DJ, William Drake. Born in Dodge City, Kansas, Bill Drake worked as a DJ at several radio stations in the Midwest before ending up at WCOP in Boston in the 60's. Around 1970 he heard of an opening at CKSO in Sudbury and decided to apply, despite never having visited Canada. He spent a couple years there before he moved to Ottawa and CFRA. He spent the next decade at CFRA, at which time CFRA was the most popular station in Ottawa. In the early 80's he left the radio business for good to become a writer for high tech in Ottawa, but he kept his passion for music until the end of his life. Bill Drake was also the father of my brother-in-law and I enjoyed talking music with him over the years. I am now the grateful custodian of a large music collection from him. Bill Drake's first love in music was jazz and Americana. His favourite jazz was primarily American musicians from the 30's to the 60s; as well, he had some early and mid-20th century American composers. All of which really defined a national American sound in the 20th century. You can listen to part I here: https://cod.ckcufm.com/programs/105/54408.html It has been another busy week in the Legislature. There were an additional 593 new bills and 22 new legislative resolutions introduced for the 2022 session. Public hearings for these new bills have begun and will be held in the afternoons until early March. Senator Brewers priority bill, LB773 which I am co-sponsoring had a hearing in the Government, Military and Veterans affairs committee. This bill would authorize the concealed carry of handguns without a permit in Nebraska. Senator Hallorans priority resolution, LR14 is a resolution to the United States Congress to call for a convention of states under Article V of the U.S. Constitution in order to propose amendments to the U.S. constitution. This resolution recently passed on the second round of debate and was advanced to Final Reading. I have introduced a few bills which have hearings coming up that I would like to highlight. LB913 requires the Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) to reconstruct a highway approach, which is the part of a county road located on the States right of way, when it is destroyed by a natural disaster or as a result of faulty engineering. Currently, counties are responsible for this maintenance, but many lack the necessary funds or staffing to rebuild these approaches. This bill ensures proper construction in the replacement of destroyed approaches. LB1046 changes the makeup of the board of directors for Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) and Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) so that half of the board of directors, as well as the CEOs of NPPD and OPPD would be appointed by the governor. This bill also ensures that at least one of the appointed board members is from a low populated area to represent our small communities and farmers. LB1047 updates statutory language to reflect what the Southern Power Pool (SPP) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) highlighted in their investigations of the February 2021 polar vortex event. This bill adds a definition of reliable as it applies to energy generation and would amend the states policy to say electric providers should provide adequate and reliable energy. Last week, Governor Ricketts signed a proclamation declaring January as Human Trafficking awareness month in Nebraska. The Nebraska Attorney Generals website has a page dedicated to information on and resources for combating human trafficking at https://ago.nebraska.gov/combating-human-trafficking. This website provides educational videos which range from what is trafficking, how to identify signs of trafficking, what traffickers look like, and what to do if someone suspects trafficking. Additionally, the state is allocating $1.5 million in federal grants for child advocacy centers and health providers to help youth who have experienced trafficking. If you think you have encountered a victim of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888. I appreciate hearing from constituents on issues affecting District 23 and encourage you to contact my office on legislation at 402-471-2719 or bbostelman@leg.ne.gov. Romania, Latvia Mull Changes To Crypto Regulations, Taxes Source: AdobeStock / Oleksii Romania and Latvia are among the latest European countries to launch analytical work on updating their respective regulations for the cryptoasset and blockchain industry. In Romania's case, this could potentially mean increasing national taxes on crypto-related operations and transactions. In Latvia, the government aims to intensify its anti-money laundering (AML) efforts. Representatives of the Romanian and Latvian Ministries of Finance told Cryptonews.com that the next regulatory steps to be taken at the national level will largely depend on the outcome of the ongoing discussions within the European Union of which both countries are member states. A spokesperson for the Romanian Ministry of Finance said that the ministry is fully aware of the relevance of cryptoassets for the countrys fiscal system. At the same time, the government finds it is necessary to update the countrys tax regime. Having in view the dynamics and the challenges of this sector, the present [regulatory] framework needs revising and updating both from the point of view of fiscality and from the perspective of providing a definition for crypto assets, the Ministry representative said. To this end, they said, "specialists" within the Ministry are actively following the taxonomy implemented in other countries, taking part -- internally and within the international institutions -- in activities and the process of "analysis and identification of solutions for the implementation of the market of cryptocurrencies, according to the spokesperson. Potential higher Romanian taxes on crypto Updating Romanian fiscal rules, also with regards to cryptoassets, is on the government agenda, and it was communicated to the EU via the countrys National Plan for Recovery and Resilience, a document that outlines Romanias strategy of jumpstarting its economy following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the representative said. To support the economies of its member states, the 27-member bloc is making available EUR 723.8bn (USD 807.5bn) worth of loans and grants. Among the "objectives of the component of fiscal reformation" that was assumed by the Romanian Government in the above-mentioned plan and approved by the European Parliament, is revising the fiscal framework which aims to align the taxation system to the present and future stage of economic development of Romania, the spokesperson said, adding: "This is to be achieved through improving the structure of fiscal revenues as well as the elimination of distortions and failures in the fiscal system." The above suggests that Romanias government finds it is necessary to revise the countrys fiscal framework to improve the structure of its tax revenues, also generating more tax revenues from crypto-focused operations, among others. Latvia looks to EU for crypto regulations update Meanwhile, in Latvia, the countrys Ministry of Finance is looking to enhance the overall virtual asset service provider (VASP) supervisory framework." According to Aleksis Jarockis, Director of the ministrys Communication Department, they plan to do so by: strengthening analytical functions; expanding the amount of information available for supervisors and other authorities; introducing improvements and strengthening monitoring and control tools, according to the identified level of risk. Jarockis said that the Latvian State Revenue Service (SRS) supervises virtual currency exchange service providers, as well as all VASPs. Therefore, the scope of supervision comprises all providers of virtual currency services, including digital wallet service providers. Furthermore, the SRS has identified seven VASPs that provide or are in process of providing services to Latvian residents in Latvia, according to the ministry official. Considering that the Latvian market is relatively small, as well as the fact that VASPs are not subject to licensing (only registration), VASPs in Latvia are not widespread. Non-licensing may restrict the ability and rights to provide cross-border services, Jarockis said, adding that the overall interest in crypto operations is growing in the Latvian market. The director emphasized that Latvias potential legislative plans will be closely related to the direction in which the EU takes its AML and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations. Jarockis said argued that work at the international level suggests that there is a need to expand the scope of sectors/entities covered by the EU AML/CFT rules, as well as to assess how these rules should apply to VASPs not covered so far. Hence, further legislative and practical actions in regard to Latvias national VASP regime will be decided more specifically on the basis of the proposal for the EU level AML regulation/directive discussed in the European Council, and [among others] accounting for factors of cross-jurisdictional activity and the EU single market, the official said. ___ Learn more: - 2022 Crypto Regulation Trends: Focus on DeFi, Stablecoins, NFTs, and More - Council of European Union Advances Talks On MiCA, DORA Regulations - EU Regulation May Harm Small Crypto Players, Stablecoin Users, And Elon Musk - Putin Talks up Russias Crypto Credentials as Ukraine Tension Mount An artist's impression of what the object might look like if it's a magnetar. Magnetars are incredibly magnetic neutron stars, some of which sometimes produce radio emission. Known magnetars rotate every few seconds, but theoretically, "ultra-long period magnetars" could rotate much more slowly. Credit: ICRAR. A team mapping radio waves in the Universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour, and it's unlike anything astronomers have seen before. The team who discovered it think it could be a neutron star or a white dwarf--collapsed cores of stars--with an ultra-powerful magnetic field. Spinning around in space, the strange object sends out a beam of radiation that crosses our line of sight, and for a minute in every twenty, is one of the brightest radio sources in the sky. Astrophysicist Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, led the team that made the discovery. "This object was appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations," she said. "That was completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there's nothing known in the sky that does that. "And it's really quite close to us--about 4000 lightyears away. It's in our galactic backyard." The object was discovered by Curtin University Honours student Tyrone O'Doherty using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope in outback Western Australia and a new technique he developed. "It's exciting that the source I identified last year has turned out to be such a peculiar object," said Mr O'Doherty, who is now studying for a PhD at Curtin. "The MWA's wide field of view and extreme sensitivity are perfect for surveying the entire sky and detecting the unexpected." Objects that turn on and off in the Universe aren't new to astronomers--they call them 'transients'. ICRAR-Curtin astrophysicist and co-author Dr Gemma Anderson said that "when studying transients, you're watching the death of a massive star or the activity of the remnants it leaves behind." 'Slow transients'--like supernovae--might appear over the course of a few days and disappear after a few months. 'Fast transients'--like a type of neutron star called a pulsar--flash on and off within milliseconds or seconds. But Dr Anderson said finding something that turned on for a minute was really weird. She said the mysterious object was incredibly bright and smaller than the Sun, emitting highly-polarised radio waves--suggesting the object had an extremely strong magnetic field. Dr Hurley-Walker said the observations match a predicted astrophysical object called an 'ultra-long period magnetar'. "It's a type of slowly spinning neutron star that has been predicted to exist theoretically," she said. "But nobody expected to directly detect one like this because we didn't expect them to be so bright. "Somehow it's converting magnetic energy to radio waves much more effectively than anything we've seen before." Dr Hurley-Walker is now monitoring the object with the MWA to see if it switches back on. "If it does, there are telescopes across the Southern Hemisphere and even in orbit that can point straight to it," she said. Dr Hurley-Walker plans to search for more of these unusual objects in the vast archives of the MWA. "More detections will tell astronomers whether this was a rare one-off event or a vast new population we'd never noticed before," she said. MWA Director Professor Steven Tingay said the telescope is a precursor instrument for the Square Kilometre Array--a global initiative to build the world's largest radio telescopes in Western Australia and South Africa. "Key to finding this object, and studying its detailed properties, is the fact that we have been able to collect and store all the data the MWA produces for almost the last decade at the Pawsey Research Supercomputing Centre. Being able to look back through such a massive dataset when you find an object is pretty unique in astronomy," he said. "There are, no doubt, many more gems to be discovered by the MWA and the SKA in coming years." The Murchison Widefield Array is located on the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia. The observatory is managed by CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, and was established with the support of the Australian and Western Australian Governments. We acknowledge the Wajarri Yamatji as the traditional owners of the observatory site. The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre in Perth-a Tier 1 publicly funded national supercomputing facility-helped store and process the MWA observations used in this research. Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) is a member of the MWA. China's SKA Regional Centre Prototype, funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is hosted by SHAO and contributed to processing the MWA observations used in this research. PUBLICATION 'A radio transient with unusually slow periodic emission', published in Nature on January 27, 2022. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Like most 17-year-olds, Michelle Donaghy of Mechanicsburg is done with school. Unlike her peers though, the statement isnt figurative to Donaghy. Shes completed not only high school, but college as well, earning her bachelors degree in business administration from Central Penn College in December. An article on Central Penn Colleges website outlined how Donaghy accomplished the feat, crossing it off her to-do list before getting her drivers license and becoming old enough to vote. Donaghy, who attended Commonwealth Charter Academy, is now the youngest person to graduate from Central Penn since it was founded in 1881. She packed a four-year experience into a year and a half, taking on extracurricular activities like Student Government and a job as a business analyst for Highmark. Donaghy said she wants to be a leader in whatever career field she chooses to enter and has focused on setting herself up for success. The Sentinel gave Donaghy an opportunity to talk about her achievement: Q: What made you want to graduate early and how did you do it? A: Graduating early was never a goal, I unintentionally set myself up for success. In high school, I had a mentor, who shared a piece of advice with me; when opportunities arise take action because every opportunity impacts your career, knowledge, and network. Those words of advice helped me develop a mindset of capitalizing on given opportunities, which has helped me explore, try, and become better. My high school, Commonwealth Charter Academy, offered dual enrollment classes, so during my third and fourth years I took some general education classes to earn college credits. I was able to transfer roughly 30 credits to Central Penn College, which allowed me to start college as a sophomore. Since I was already familiar with college-level classes and expectations, the transition was easy. Central Penn Colleges unique accelerated year-round schedule of four 11-week terms allowed me to finish my bachelor of science degree in business administration in a year and a half. Q: How has the pandemic helped and/or hindered this process for you? A: The pandemic did not hinder my ability to accelerate. When the rest of the world was trying to figure out how to move to a virtual setting, I already was in the setting. Commonwealth Charter Academy is a cyber charter school, so everything was done virtually. I had developed the good habits of completing work on time and finding ways to stay motivated while at home in high school before the pandemic. So when the pandemic hit it was not that different for me, besides the fact I was not able to go and see people on occasion. It is funny because when I started Central Penn College my first on-campus class I was facing an opposite problem the classroom setting was unfamiliar to me. So it took some adjustments, but I am grateful for the small classroom sizes and personalized experiences I developed with my professors because they helped enhance my oral communication and other social skills. Q: Did you have to make any sacrifices to graduate early, and if you could go back, is there anything you would do differently? A: Everything comes with a sacrifice, every decision we make has opportunity costs. In my case, I sacrificed sleep. My last term at Central Penn College was a challenge, some situations occurred during my first week that negatively impacted my performance. One of my main sacrifices was sleep, not the best decision on my part but I always managed to push through. Some nights I got little to no sleep, which came at a cost. If I could go back and do anything differently I probably would have put less on my plate, so I could get some more sleep, and be less stressed. But regardless, I think those experiences have taught me a valuable lesson about time management and recognizing your limits. I am grateful for the relationships I have created during my time at CPC, meeting facility, being in leadership positions, creating quality friendships, and gaining professional experience. Q: Graduating that early takes a lot of hard work. What kept you motivated to push through? A: I had various motivators. A lot of it came from the end goal, what I desired. On the late nights and the days where I told myself you have to finish this essay or you need to read this chapter, I was reminding myself you are doing this for your degree for your credibility to get a job. Not only the job but opening up a business, so you know how to do the accounting and file the proper forms, so you gain the knowledge to apply yourself in the real world. Q: What comes next? A: Well this year I plan on traveling abroad to Iceland, and to gain some more professional experience in the field. I am considering going back to school next year for a masters degree, but I want to solidify which field or topic I would like to continue my studies in before committing. Maddie Seiler is a news reporter for The Sentinel and cumberlink.com covering Carlisle and Newville. You can contact her at mseiler@cumberlink.com and follow her on Twitter at: @SeilerMadalyn 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. A surge in COVID-19 cases has prompted the Carlisle Area School District to close two additional elementary schools. The rate of positive cases within the past 14 days has moved both the LeTort and North Dickinson buildings over the 5% threshold for closure as designated by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, acting Superintendent Patricia Sanker said. This is the third such closure in as many days for the district. In an advisory Tuesday, Sanker announced that the Mount Holly Springs Elementary School will be closed through Friday due to the surge in COVID-19 cases. This was followed Wednesday by a second notice advising families that the LeTort building will be closed through Friday. A third advisory was then posted Thursday afternoon regarding the closure of the North Dickinson building Friday into Monday. The current plan is to reopen the Mount Holly and LeTort schools for in-person learning on Monday and the North Dickinson school for in-person instruction on Tuesday. In each case, the district is adhering to Health Department guidelines on building closures resulting from an increase in active student and staff cases, information from contact tracing and the level of community spread, Sanker said. All other schools will remain open. At all three buildings, the principal and/or classroom teacher will communicate the learning plan for students on the closure days. Email Joseph Cress at jcress@cumberlink.com. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 0 HARRISBURG A Pennsylvania judge on Thursday launched a review of competing proposals to redraw the boundaries of the state's congressional districts, the morning after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a plan sent to him by Republican lawmakers. Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough warned the parties the hearing could go into the weekend, reflecting the pressure to draw new boundaries for 17 congressional districts in time for the May 17 primary election. With gridlock in the statehouse, McCullough has to consider at least a dozen proposed maps that must account for demographic shifts over the past decade. Complicating the matter is Pennsylvania's loss of a congressional seat because the state grew more slowly than the rest of the country since 2010, according to U.S. Census findings. The hearing began with brief arguments from parties backing their own proposals, including Wolf, Democratic and Republican lawmakers and others. Wolf on Wednesday evening announced he vetoed the plan that passed the Republican-controlled Legislature with every Democratic lawmaker opposing it. In his veto message, he argued that the legislation "fails the test of fundamental fairness." McCullough, an elected Republican judge, could pick a plan or recommend one, but any decision she makes is highly likely to be appealed to the state Supreme Court, where a 5-2 Democratic majority currently sits. Robert Tucker, a lawyer for House Republican leaders, told McCullough the map passed by the Legislature was fair to both parties. McCullough should defer to the General Assembly, Tucker said. "This court need not and should not turn this into a beauty contest of selecting the prettiest map," Tucker said, saying "fair is in the eye of the beholder and determined by how you define 'fair.'" The Senate Democrats' lawyer, Marco Attisano, described the vetoed map as the product of a failed legislative process. "They're asking you to promote the Legislature over the executive branch in the normal legislative process," Attisano said. Congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania is handled as regular legislation, requiring passage by both chambers and the governor's signature. Courts, however, drew or picked maps in 1992 and 2018. In 1992, a new map of congressional districts was picked by a Commonwealth Court judge and subsequently upheld by the state Supreme Court in a similar process that lasted six weeks. In 2018, the state Supreme Court threw out a Republican-crafted plan that had been in place for three elections, producing a 13-5 Republican advantage. It replaced it with a map that has resulted in a split, 9-9 congressional delegation in two straight elections. Registered Democrats in the state outnumber Republicans by 4 million to 3.4 million. A three-week period during which candidates circulate petitions to get on the primary election ballot is scheduled to get underway Feb. 15, but could be delayed if the court case drags on. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 HARRISBURG Two months after the omicron variant of the coronavirus slammed hospitals with unvaccinated patients, Gov. Tom Wolf signed fast-tracked legislation Wednesday to help keep burned-out health care workers on board during a staffing crisis. The House unanimously approved the bill earlier Wednesday just before Wolf signed it. It authorizes $225 million, mostly for hospitals to give workers retention and recruitment payments. Of that, about $36 million will go to facilities that provide inpatient behavioral health services. Another $15 million will go to an oversubscribed program promising nurses up to $7,500 in student loan-debt relief, although officials acknowledged that the extra money still will not satisfy all of the more than 8,000 applications it has received. The money is from federal pandemic relief signed by President Joe Biden last March. The 14-day moving average of hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients hit an all-time high of above 7,000 in recent days. The surge in unvaccinated patients came during what Andy Carter, the CEO of the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, called the most severe health care staffing shortage in recent memory. Neither lawmakers nor Wolf administration officials could estimate how many health care workers will be eligible for an increase in pay. They said they negotiated the sum with provider groups and insisted the money is adequate, at least for the time being. The hospital association said the number of workers who benefit will depend on how each hospital decides to use the money. The money is intended for staff who are involved in direct patient care, environmental services or clinical care, and not for executives, contracted staff or administrators. Hospital systems and health care labor unions say staffing problems, including burnout and fatigue, existed long before the pandemic and urged lawmakers to keep working to fix it. SEIU Healthcare PA, which represents unionized health care workers in hospitals and nursing homes, called the money a good step towards the urgent reform thats needed." However, it also said in a statement that lawmakers must pass legislation that deals with the underlying staffing problems in health care by requiring hospitals to maintain minimum ratios of patients to nurses. Hospitals would save money by avoiding malpractice lawsuits and costly mistakes, the SEIU said. That legislation is bottled up in House and Senate committees. The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania also applauded the money, and said it had recommended a number of ways lawmakers could help fix the underlying staffing crisis. Those include putting more money into clinical education programs to train more nurses and into student-loan repayment programs for health care workers, as well as removing regulatory hurdles for military veterans with certifications and international health workers. HARRISBURG Pennsylvanias Republican-controlled Legislature signaled again Wednesday that it wants to stop municipalities in the nations No. 2 natural gas state from adopting building codes that prohibit gas hookups, as some states, cities and counties consider all-electric building codes as a way to fight climate change. Legislation passed the GOP-controlled House, 118-83, three months after the state Senate passed a similar bill. The bills prohibit municipalities from writing new building codes that restrict utility service based on the energy source. The move protects the state's hometown natural gas industry, and as well as utilities and companies that refine and deliver fossil fuels to residential and commercial buildings. Neither bill has reached Gov. Tom Wolf's desk. States, cities and counties elsewhere have begun looking at all-electric building codes that exclude gas infrastructure as a way to fight climate change and accelerate progress toward a carbon-free electricity grid. In December, New York City barred most new building projects submitted for approval as early as 2024 from using natural gas or oil for heating, hot water and cooking. Hospitals, commercial kitchens and some other facilities are exempt. The Marcellus Shale reservoir beneath Pennsylvania is the nations most prolific natural gas reservoir, and Pennsylvania has subsidized the build-out of gas infrastructure to help the industry find new customers. Combustion of natural gas emits carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, while natural gas contains methane, which is far more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, according to researchers. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sentinel President and Director of Local Sales & Marketing Kim Kamowski has been named president of the Community Northeast SBU (strategic business unit) within Lee Enterprises Community Media Group. Lee Enterprises, owner of The Sentinel, made the announcement Wednesday afternoon. As Northeast SBU president, Kamowski, a Carlisle native, will now also work with market leadership in Glens Falls and Auburn, New York, in addition to Carlisle. She was named president in Carlisle in 2018 after having served as interim publisher since November 2017. While Carlisle is and always will be home for me, Im excited to get to know the Auburn and Glens Falls communities, said Kamowski, who will continue to work out of the Carlisle office. My goal is to learn from them while also sharing what has worked in the Carlisle area. This is a great opportunity for all three communities and Im just excited to be part of it. A 1999 Carlisle High School graduate, Kamowski began her career with The Sentinel in 2008, advancing to print sales and marketing manager, interim publisher, and eventually her current role as president and director of Local Sales & Marketing. Kamowski currently serves as a Carlisle Family YMCA board member, a Summerfair Carlisle board member, a MANSI Media board member, and a Pennsylvania Newspaper Association Audit Committee member. She is a former board member for the United Way of Carlisle and Cumberland County and an alumni of Leadership Cumberland. I am extremely excited to begin working with the outstanding teams in both Auburn and Glens Falls, Kamowski said. My goal is to help facilitate each market to achieve their overall goals while growing and enhancing our digital footprint in the Northeast. In a related announcement, Michelle Rice has been named president and director of local sales and marketing for The Post Star in Glens Falls, New York. I could not be more excited and pleased to name these two experienced sales leaders to their new positions in the Community Media Group and Lee Enterprises, said Cathy Hughes, president of Lees Community Media Group. Their talents fit perfectly with our commitment to digital transformation, including matching customers needs to our multitude of marketing services. Both have proven records of success in community-sized markets and are accomplished at leading sales teams. Lee Enterprises is a major subscription and advertising platform and a leading provider of local news and information with daily newspapers, rapidly growing digital products and, following the closing of the acquisition of BH Media Group, publications serving 77 markets in 26 states. Lees newspapers have average daily circulation of 1.0 million, and reach more than 47 million digital unique visitors. Email Jeff at jpratt@cumberlink.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelPratt. 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. ST. LOUIS Two St. Louis police officers were shot while trying to arrest suspects in Ferguson, leaving one in critical condition, St. Louis police Chief John Hayden said. The officers were shot about 1 p.m. near West Florissant Avenue and Northwind Estates Drive while approaching a vehicle associated with a St. Louis homicide on Tuesday night, police said. The officers had been following the vehicle. One officer was shot in the leg and was in stable condition. The other was in critical condition after he was struck in the abdomen and needed life-saving surgery, Hayden told reporters Wednesday outside Barnes-Jewish Hospital where the officers were receiving treatment. Doctors reported the officer's condition had improved after surgery Wednesday evening, Hayden told reporters. "He's by no stretch of the imagination is he out of danger," Hayden said, his voice momentarily catching. "Please everyone continue to pray. He's not out of the woods." A man in the car the officers were following was also shot and taken to the hospital for treatment, St. Louis County police Lt. Col. Steve Sack told reporters. Sack, whose agency is leading the investigation, said he could not immediately say if the officers shot the man in the car. Police did not say if any officers fired their weapons. Sack did not give details about the shooting from Tuesday night or what connection the man in the car had to the incident. There was one homicide reported overnight by police in the city. One person was shot and killed about 1 a.m. Wednesday outside Diana's Royal Palace, a bar at 4266 West Natural Bridge Avenue in The Ville neighborhood. In that shooting, police said four men approached a group of four people in the bar's parking lot, announced a robbery and took property before the shooting. A security guard at the business fired shots at the suspects. Hayden said Wednesday afternoon that officers had followed a car connected to a homicide to Ferguson. When they approached the vehicle, someone inside fired shots, Hayden said. Four people in the shooter's car were in custody Wednesday, Hayden said. The status of those four was not immediately available. "I'm asking for the public to pray for our officers," said a visibly upset Hayden Wednesday afternoon. "This is a very rough time." The shooting comes just two days after two other St. Louis police officers were hospitalized with critical injuries on Monday evening. In that case, the officers were struck by a vehicle on Interstate 64 while responding to a crash. Five others were also injured. Hayden said one of the officers injured in that crash remains at Barnes-Jewish hospital. The shooting also comes less than two weeks after St. Louis firefighter Benjamin Polson was killed in the line of duty. "The officers are out here working hard, doing everything that they can to keep people safe and we keep having these critical incidents," Hayden said. Hayden thanked the hospital workers who treated the injured officers. "If you had been there, you could have seen how feverishly they were working," Hayden said, adding: "They clearly were in desperation trying to make sure our officer is safe." The critically injured officer has been with the department for about 3.5 years, Hayden said. The other injured officer has been with the department about 2.5 years. Both are in their mid-20s. Dozens of police vehicles converged on both the hospital and the shooting scene, just north of the Urban League's Ferguson Community Empowerment Center, after the shooting. At least two dozen police cars had arrived at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital emergency room by 3 p.m., lining Kingshighway for at least a block. Police at the hospital were directing pedestrians across the street and away from the emergency entrance to the building. Dozens of officers, in uniform and in plainclothes, were at the entrance, talking, waiting. At about 3:05 p.m., Mayor Tishaura O. Jones arrived, and, soon thereafter, a police chaplain said a prayer. Several aldermen who heard about the shooting during a meeting of the public safety committee reacted viscerally to the news. Alderman Marlene Davis, who's served on the board since 2007, called for prayers for the officers who were shot, as well as the two officers who were struck and injured Monday night on Interstate 64. Our city is under siege, Davis said. We are in a position where people believe they can do anything they want to do. ... I am just, again, so sorry that we are in the predicament that we are in, but we must do better and God have mercy on all of us." Alderman Jeffrey Boyd echoed Davis comments. Over the past several years, it just seems like the community has been so hard against our police officers. And they deserve a lot more respect and they deserve a lot more support, Boyd said. The two officers were shot just blocks from where Darren Wilson, a white Ferguson officer, fatally shot Michael Brown, an 18-year-old Black man, on Aug. 9, 2014, setting off months of unrest. Wilson was not charged and resigned from the police force in November 2014. While several residents walked near the scene and screamed, the neighborhood was calm in the hours after Wednesday's shooting as dozens of police cars lined the streets near the scene. Staff writers Joel Currier, Robert Patrick and Austin Huguelet contributed to this report. Erin Heffernan 314-340-8145 @erinheff on Twitter eheffernan@post-dispatch.com Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 This has been updated to correct the spelling of Jason Inofuentes and that Connect Holdings has committed a $2 billion investment, not $3 billion as previously said by CenturyLink/Lumen staff. Albemarle Countys broadband authority supports sending a letter to the State Corporation Commission to express concerns about Centurylink/Lumen and the proposed sale of its assets, the authoritys board members said Wednesday. At the broadband authority board meeting Wednesday, the members discussed a draft of the letter, which it, or the Board of Supervisors, would submit as a public comment to the SCC, which needs to approve the transfer of the local exchange telecommunications services. In 2021, Lumen Technologies, the parent company of CenturyLink, announced it was selling its local exchange carrier operations, its physical mostly-copper phone and DSL network and residential fiber broadband in Virginia and 19 other states to affiliates of Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, as Connect Holdings. Many CenturyLink customers in Albemarle have had long-standing issues with the companys phone and internet service, and with getting information about issues in a timely and consistent manner. Across the area, many people have no other options except CenturyLink for phone and/or internet services. Jason Inofuentes, the countys broadband program manager, said Lumen staff has declined to answer questions about whats going to happen after the sale except to emphasize that Connect Holdings has committed a $2 billion investment across all 20 states as part of the sale. The questions that remain are related to a willingness to invest in the copper-plant to remedy whatever issues and degradation exists to cause us to have so many reliability issues and outages, he said. Inofuentes said the letter is not to endorse or oppose the sale. We are simply writing to address our concerns, he said. A draft of the letter was not available before press time. Inofuentes said the letter asks for specific assurances regarding investment in copper plant to improve present level of service. This is to actually get our telephones to work reliably and to not have long and extended outages, especially in the interest of public safety, he said. The letter also asked for specific assurances that the copper plant would not be de-facto retired abandoned nor would it be formally retired without sufficient replacement. If these promises are kept, it would secure 911 access for our residents that lack fiber or wireless service in their homes for at least a few years, at the point where there is general availability at every possible residence for fiber service, and nobody else is asking for copper service to be maintained, then that would be a suitable time for Lumen to decide to retire their service, he said. To try to get answers about the consistent phone and internet service issues, supervisors had a work session earlier this month with representatives of CenturyLinks parent company. Few answers were provided to the board. At Wednesdays meeting, Steven Brewer, the director of government affairs for CenturyLink/Lumen, said they have been actively working on responses to the countys questions and have an internal meeting Thursday about the questions. Mike Culp, the countys director of its Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Office, said they have to be aware of the public safety issues that could be overlooked in this sale. I think its the broadband authorities role to present something, or nothing, to the SCC as part of this transition because we are aware of the continued issues when there are storms in Albemarle County, theres delays and restoring telephony services and if people cant dial 911 then we do have a public safety issue, he said. Supervisor Donna Price, who also serves on the board, said she wanted to ask the rest of the Board of Supervisors if it supports the letter at its meeting Feb. 2. Jim Andrews, another supervisor on the board, questioned Lumens comments that it does not intend to make further investments in their infrastructure prior to the sale and how that affects current maintenance of the copper infrastructure. Im really worried about the timing between approval and the eventual closing of the sale, that things would just stop, he said. Is it possible to express our concerns that there may need to be continued investments to maintain this infrastructure prior to the sale, regardless of what we expect Connect Holdings to do? Members of the public can submit comments to the SCC regarding the sale on the states website at scc.virginia.gov/casecomments/Submit-Public-Comments. The deadline for public comment submissions is Feb.17 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. Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares decision to fire University of Virginia counsel Tim Heaphy threatens academic freedom. Miyares, a Republican, canned Heaphy last week, while he is on leave helping a U.S. House committee investigate the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol attack by defeated President Donald Trumps loyalists. The AGs spokeswoman told the Washington Post that Heaphys firing had nothing to do with his work helping document Trumps attempt to overturn a legitimate election that he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. The spokeswoman maintained it is business as usual for an incoming attorney general to clean house and refill it with people who reflect his philosophy and legal approach. Firing a schools lawyer because he does not meet an elected officials ideological litmus test may substitute whats best for a politician for whats best for the university. But state law allows it. So the president of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and Commission on Colleges told the Daily Progress that she will not investigate UVas accreditation that forbids undue influence by external persons or bodies. State Sen. Scott Surovell wants to reduce that threat by changing the patronage policy. I dont view general counsels positions as being political, said Surovell, who believes Heaphys sacking resulted from his role with the Jan. 6 commission. Virginians of all parties and their representatives in the General Assembly need to think hard about the current policy. Making colleges and universities political pawns bodes badly for students education. A philosophy of political indoctrination guarantees administrative chaos each time power shifts in Richmond. Stetson University law professor Peter Lake, a highly respected expert on higher education, says that state politicians attempts to micro-manage public universities and colleges have grown tremendously across the country. State legislative and executive incursions into higher education have become a platform for management of internal [school] policy, Lake told the Daily Progress. As so many things changed with Trumps defeat and his big lie about election fraud, the countrys culture wars have turned uglier and angrier than at any time in recent history. The Jan.6 Capitol invasion, where thousands used criminal behavior and deadly violence to try to overturn the electoral college results of the 2020 presidential election, is the best example. But there are a growing number of others. The list now includes Heaphys removal from UVa, where by most accounts he did a good job and no one from the school complained. Higher education consultant David Shufflebarger, a former Old Dominion University official who worked on Virginias constitutional reforms, acknowledged that the states system of patronage allows newly installed constitutional officers to clean house. Yet as one ideologue overtakes another and political manipulation of state schools grows more frequent and deeper, the situation becomes disconcerting, Shufflebarger said. In the past 18 months, he said, culture wars have become vicious and brutal, especially for universities. In November, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the University of Florida to stop professors from testifying as expert witnesses in lawsuits attacking new state election laws that the professors believed suppressed voting rights. It took a federal court judge to overturn that politically motivated censorship last week. Who knows if an appeals court will reinstate it. Meanwhile, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias, a UVa law school graduate, called firings such as Heaphys a potential threat to academic freedom. University counsels supposedly owe allegiance to their schools governing boards. For people like Surovell, that means they should be nested in universities. That will leave them as advisers, not managers. As long as general counsels owe their jobs to political patronage, that will never be the case. Lawyers can also be weaponized, Lake said. If the attorney general tells you to do something, youre probably going to have to do it. RTHK: UK's Johnson waits for report on lockdown parties Boris Johnson on Thursday awaited a report into lockdown-breaking parties at Downing Street that could determine his future as Britain's prime minister, and rejected new claims that he prioritised pets over people in the chaotic Afghan evacuation. Senior civil servant Sue Gray had been expected to publish her findings about the "partygate" allegations, which have seen mounting calls for Johnson to quit. But its publication has been put on hold, due to the Metropolitan Police launching its own probe into the claims that have caused public and political outrage. Johnson's spokesman said he remained committed to publishing Gray's report in full, but Downing Street had yet to receive a copy. The government also wants reassurance from London police that it does not "cut across" their investigation, so as not to prejudice any future legal proceedings, the spokesman added. "We are in no way seeking to block the report," he said. Government lawyers and human resources officers, along with civil service trades unions, are also reportedly vetting the report. Johnson has promised to address parliament once Gray's report is out but the prospect of that happening this week was fading. The prime minister on Thursday was in north Wales, while no further government statements were scheduled in the House of Commons. On Friday, most MPs will be back in their home constituencies. The few left in London will be debating only "private members bills" - personal initiatives that stand little chance of legislative success. "What I hope people understand is that while we wait for all that to go on, you've got to get on, and the government is getting on with our work," Johnson told reporters. There has been a steady drip of revelations about Downing Street gatherings that broke social distancing restrictions the government set for the public. Political opponents have accused Johnson of misleading parliament by insisting all the legally binding rules were complied with and that the events were work-related. Newly released foreign ministry emails about the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan from August, however, have fuelled further questions about Johnson's truthfulness. Johnson in December denied insisting on preferential treatment for a British animal charity, Nowzad, run by a media-savvy former Royal Marine, Paul "Pen" Farthing. But emails released on Wednesday showed diplomats referring to a decision taken by Johnson to evacuate the staff and animals as the Taliban seized Kabul. Johnson dismissed the new claims in the emails, given to parliament's Foreign Affairs committee by a whistleblower, as "total rhubarb (nonsense)". The military evacuation - dubbed Operation Pitting - managed "an amazing thing to move 15,000 people out of Kabul in the way that we did", he told reporters. "But I can tell you that the military always prioritised human beings, and that was quite right." The rushed nature of the evacuation meant thousands of Afghans, who had served Britain in various capacities, were left behind. The UK has been working since to repatriate those it can reach under Taliban control. Senior Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat said it was possible that some civil servants had exploited Johnson's name after his wife Carrie - an animal rights campaigner and friend of Farthing - reportedly intervened. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace insisted he had been given no order from the prime minister to prioritise pets. Johnson's official spokesman told reporters: "The prime minister and Mrs Johnson had no involvement in the Pen Farthing evacuation, as we said previously." Nevertheless, the Nowzad affair raised anew questions about Johnson's track record on honesty, coming on top of "partygate" and other allegations of government sleaze. "Somebody is lying about what happened during the events that led up the evacuation of the animals from Afghanistan, and I think it has become increasingly clear that the prime minister story's not credible," Lisa Nandy, a senior MP for the opposition Labour party, said. "I think it's becoming increasingly clear that you cannot believe a word that our prime minister says," she added. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2022-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. A U.S. resupply ship completed its 24th International Space Station cargo mission after returning to Earth on Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, back in space the Expedition 66 crew had hearing tests while working on a myriad of orbiting lab and science maintenance tasks. The SpaceX Cargo Dragon space freighter parachuted to a splashdown off the coast of Florida carrying over 4,900 pounds of science experiments and station hardware on Monday at 4:05 p.m. EST. The commercial cargo craft undocked from the Harmony module's space-facing port on Sunday at 10:40 a.m. completing a 32-days attached to the space station. On Tuesday, three astronauts participated in a pair of different hearing studies. Flight Engineer Matthias Maurer of ESA (European Space Agency) kicked off his day working on the Audio Diagnostics study to measure how station noise levels impact an astronaut's hearing. At the end of their day, NASA Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei and Raja Chari took part in a hearing assessment as part of regularly scheduled exams. Continuous orbital maintenance is necessary to keep the station and its multitude of systems in tip-top shape. NASA astronaut Kayla Barron worked on transferring water into tanks, then searched for a camera pan tilt unit for the Mission Control based Inventory and Stowage Officer before cleaning up the U.S. Quest airlock after spacesuit battery work. NASA Flight Engineer Thomas Marshburn organized cables in the U.S. Destiny laboratory module before making space inside the Leonardo permanent multipurpose laboratory module ahead of an upcoming U.S. cargo mission. Over in the Russian segment of the station, Commander Anton Shkaplerov participated in a human research study to determine the effectiveness of exercising in weightlessness. Roscosmos Flight Engineer Pyotr Dubrov assisted the commander during the exercise study then worked on European Robotic Arm computer systems inside the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. Kerrville, TX (78028) Today Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms. Low near 70F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 50%. An Albany man is being accused of assault and strangulation constituting domestic violence. The victim, said to be his fiance, is dead. The Benton County Sheriffs Office arrested Charles Lynn Golliher, 50, on Saturday, Jan. 22 on suspicion of assault and strangulation. According to a probable cause affidavit from police, the now deceased victim, Candi Marie Libke, 35, was Gollihers partner. Golliher was arraigned in Benton County Circuit Court Monday, Jan. 24 on one count of second-degree assault, two counts of strangulation and two counts of fourth-degree assault. He has not been charged with murder. This is an ongoing investigation. Its an active death investigation regarding Candi Libke, Benton County Sheriffs Lt. Christopher Duffitt said. Officials are waiting on a cause of death, he said. The second-degree assault, one count of strangulation and one count of fourth-degree assault are said to have occurred on or between Jan. 21-22. One count of strangulation and one count of fourth-degree assault are in relation to an alleged incident from on or about Aug. 1, 2020. The alleged crimes and injuries Court documents allege Golliher unlawfully and knowingly caused serious physical injury to Libke by hitting, striking, and/or strangling her. These documents also say Golliher was a family or household member of Libke at the time of the alleged crimes. According to the probable cause affidavit for the case, Albany Police Department officers were dispatched to Albany General Hospital on Friday, Jan. 21 for a deceased woman. She was identified as Libke, and officers learned her boyfriend, Golliher, was the one who took her to the hospital. The unidentified 911 caller said Libke seemed to have been assaulted and had black eyes and facial trauma. The affidavit said Deputy Medical Examiner Jeanne Seelye examined Libkes body and documented the following injuries: Bruising raccoon eyes to both eyes with color ranging from dark blue to black Bruise on the right side of the chin area with a cut consistent with striking an object Bruise and swelling across the top of her forehead Multiple bruises across her body, including on her chest, arms, upper flank area and back. Seelye noted these bruises seemed to be in various stages of healing, ranging from old to within 12 to 24 hours Bruising around the mouth Rigor mortis in the legs and arms and livor mortis which had become blanchable, or non-fixed On Jan. 22, the Oregon State Medical Examiners Office conducted another exam of Libke. The following injuries were documented: Petechiae in the left eye, mouth and nose consistent with manual strangulation Neck bruising, internal bruising to the neck muscle, and pressure to restriction to the jugular vein, all consistent with manual strangulation Police interview the suspect The BCSO investigated the case and interviewed Golliher, according to the affidavit. Golliher told the agency he was engaged to Libke and lived with her inside of his truck that he parks in an area near Hoskins Road to camp at night. The suspect admitted to being with Libke on the morning of Jan. 22, saying they woke up at around 5:30 a.m. He said Libke complained about having a stomach ache, according to the affidavit. Golliher said he then drove the two of them to his jobsite in Alsea at around 9 a.m. After this, the couple went to Corvallis and stopped at the Bi-Mart, Safeway and WinCo. Golliher told detectives Libke laid in the backseat of the truck the whole day and did not go into any store or speak with anyone. He then drove to Fort Hoskins Park in Philomath where Libke went to use the bathroom and Golliher smoked a cigarette and let their dog out, according to the affidavit. He said he went to check on Libke in the bathroom after several minutes after hearing something, and found her on the bathroom floor. Golliher said Libke was alone and he suggested all of her facial injuries were caused by Libke falling and hitting her head while on the toilet, according to the affidavit. Golliher described finding Libke on her side with her pants around her ankles and feces all around her on the floor. He told detectives he tried to save Libkes life and gave her chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth CPR. He said he attempted to clean up Libkes body and wrapped her in a blanket and started driving. At some point during the drive, he called his mother and asked to meet her in North Albany, according to the affidavit. Gollihers mother confirmed to detectives that her son called her and she met with him in North Albany. According to the affidavit, Gollihers mother noticed Libkes body was stiff with rigor mortis. She told her son he needed to call the police or go to the hospital. Golliher said he didnt want to get police involved and drove to Albany General Hospital. Gollihers right hand was visibly swollen and bruised during the police interview. Golliher also allegedly tried to hide his hand multiple times during the interview. His right wrist also appeared swollen and bruised, according to the affidavit. During the interview, Golliher denied having physical fights or arguments with Libke. He did admit to being the only one with Libke on Jan. 20-21 and said he did not see her harm herself. A possible history of domestic violence Although Golliher denied any physical altercations with Libke, the affidavit says detectives interviewed multiple members of Libkes family who say otherwise. Family members told detectives Libke had confided in them that Golliher often hurts her. They also say Golliher beats the shit out of her. They recounted seeing injuries and bruises on Libke and provided BCSO with photos showing injury to Libkes neck. One family member told detectives Libke had told him that Golliher choked her until she passed out and left her to die on Aug. 1, 2020. Libke allegedly told the family member to take pictures of what he did to me in case I end up dead. She also allegedly said Golliher told her, Do you know how easy I could kill you right now? Witnesses to Golliher and Libkes relationship say it was an abusive one, according to the affidavit. Cause for arrest and an ongoing investigation The affidavit said evidence shows Golliher transported a likely deceased and severely injured Libke to the hospital after his own admission that he was the only person to see her during the timeframe she died. Based on the injuries to Libkes body, officers do not believe a single fall from a toilet caused them. Instead, multiple blunt force strikes or blows appear to be the cause, according to the affidavit. Duffitt said the agency is working on positively identifying the cause and manner of death of Libke, and those pieces of information are all relevant to the case. He said a final report regarding Libkes cause of death has not been provided to police, and he noted this usually takes a little bit of time. Golliher is a suspect and person of interest in regards to Libkes death investigation, according to Duffitt. The sheriffs office, district attorneys office, Albany Police Department and Corvallis Police Department are helping process this investigation, and we intend to release more detailed information at a later time once we get to that point in the investigation, Duffitt said. During Gollihers arraignment on Monday, Judge Locke Williams appointed Daniel Armstrong as Gollihers attorney and set the suspects bail at $300,000. Golliher is prohibited from having contact with Libkes family. His next court appearance is set for 8:30 a.m., Monday, Jan. 31 Maddie Pfeifer covers public safety for Mid-Valley Media. She can be contacted at 541-812-6091 or Madison.Pfeifer@lee.net. Follow her on Twitter via @maddiepfeifer_ 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. As we watch or look away from the suffering of the unhoused among us, and as we watch communities struggle to respond to the most vulnerable of our population, ask a simple question: What would a program to eliminate homelessness in the U.S. in one year look like? Perhaps something like this. The president declares: The unhoused amongst us are in fact internal refugees. They are victims of socioeconomic and environmental circumstances that include income inequality, unequal access to health/mental health care and increasing environmental disruption from climate change. The president declares: The crisis of the unhoused in our country is a national emergency, and we will marshal all of our resources to mitigate this emergency in one year. The president creates, within the executive branch, an Office of Internal Refugee Relief, with funding commensurate with the task. The funding would be redirected from the military budget the U.S. currently spends more on the military than the next seven countries combined! The Office of Internal Refugee Relief is tasked with coordinating strategy and resources among relevant federal agencies and state and local resources. As in a natural disaster, the first priority would be to provide for all unhoused persons emergency shelter in a safe environment, with food security, sanitation and clothing. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in coordination with state and local agencies, including the National Guard, would be tasked with providing this initial component. Components of our military infrastructure would be repurposed to help achieve this phase think mobile military units repurposed for compassion. Simultaneous with the provision of emergency shelter, a division of Internal Refugee Relief, Comprehensive Care, would be created to provide primary care medical support, mental health services to include trauma-informed behavioral therapy, and substance abuse treatment. Comprehensive Care would augment and coordinate with existing community-based resources such as nongovernmental organizations, city/county health departments and local health care providers. Comprehensive Care would be staffed by both salaried professionals and by a cohort of volunteers who would serve two-year stints think of the Peace Corps as an example. Comprehensive Care Corps volunteers would receive housing, food support, health insurance and a stipend. Safety for both clients and staff of Internal Refugee Relief and of Comprehensive Care would be provided by colleagues trained in de-escalation, crisis intervention and the principles of nonviolent communication. Any engagement with local law enforcement would require a commitment to these same principles. Simultaneous with the above, Internal Refugee Relief would adopt the Housing First policy, proven in academic studies and adopted elsewhere, to transition clients into stable housing security. The staff and resources of Internal Refugee Relief and Comprehensive Care would be nimble and mobile, allowing rapid response to unfolding circumstances, for example, environmental events such as flooding, wildfires and earthquakes. The Internal Refugee Relief and of Comprehensive Care model would be transitioned into a humane approach to refugees at our borders whose numbers are predicted to increase under the pressure of climate change. Barry Reeves was an emergency medicine physician in Corvallis for many years. His interests and focus include social justice, nonviolence and community building as a pathway to respond to the dual threats of rising authoritarianism and environmental disruption from climate change. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Following news that the Supreme Court may overturn Roe V. Wade, pro-choice protesters took to the streets of Moscow, and Planned Parenthood officials want to remind people that its health centers are still open and abortion services are currently legal. The dashed curves represent the original spectra of the modern events that fit the 36Cl/10Be ratio of the 9125 years BP event. The scaled spectra are shown as continuous lines. The black line shows the average fluence spectrum. The fluences above 30, 200, and 430 MeV (F30, F200 and F430) of the average spectrum are reported. The uncertainties of the fluence estimates include the uncertainty of the 10Be enhancement factor and the standard deviation of the scaled spectra. Through analyzes of ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica, a research team led by Lund University in Sweden has found evidence of an extreme solar storm that occurred about 9,200 years ago. What puzzles the researchers is that the storm took place during one of the sun's more quiet phases - during which it is generally believed our planet is less exposed to such events. The sun is a prerequisite for all life on Earth. But our life-giving companion can also cause problems. When there is strong activity on the surface of the sun, more energy is released, something that can give rise to geomagnetic storms. This in turn can cause power outages and communication disturbances. Predicting solar storms is difficult. It is currently believed that they are more likely during an active phase of the sun, or solar maximum, during the so-called sunspot cycle. However, the new study published in Nature Communications shows that this may not always be the case for very large storms. "We have studied drill cores from Greenland and Antarctica, and discovered traces of a massive solar storm that hit Earth during one of the sun's passive phases about 9,200 years ago", says Raimund Muscheler, geology researcher at Lund University. The researchers scoured the drill cores for peaks of the radioactive isotopes beryllium-10 and chlorine-36. These are produced by high-energy cosmic particles that reach Earth, and can be preserved in ice and sediment. "This is time consuming and expensive analytical work. Therefore, we were pleasantly surprised when we found such a peak, indicating a hitherto unknown giant solar storm in connection with low solar activity", says Raimund Muscheler. If a similar solar storm were to take place today, it could have devastating consequences. In addition to power outages and radiation damage to satellites, it could pose a danger to air traffic and astronauts as well as a collapse of various communication systems. "These enormous storms are currently not sufficiently included in risk assessments. It is of the utmost importance to analyze what these events could mean for today's technology and how we can protect ourselves", concludes Raimund Muscheler. Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook. MONTGOMERY Alabama lawmakers have given final approval to a plan to use more than $700 million in pandemic relief funds on a mix of broadband, water and sewer projects and healthcare reimbursements. The Alabama House of Representative passed the bill 100-0, and the Senate passed it 26-0. The governor is expected to sign the plan. I commend our legislators for their efficient work in directing these funds to meet some of Alabamas toughest challenges. We are making smart investments to increase statewide broadband connectivity, improve our water and sewer infrastructure, as well as health care infrastructure, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement. Ivey called lawmakers into special session to pass the plan. We are also addressing measures to reduce employment taxes paid by Alabama businesses as they continue to rebound from the pandemic, she said. This was an overwhelmingly bipartisan effort by the men and women of the Alabama Legislature, and I am proud of their good work in dealing with the task the federal government dealt us. The plan allocates what remains of Alabamas first portion of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, approved by Congress and the Biden administration in March 2021, according to al.com Lawmakers voted last year to spend $400 million in ARPA funds to help build two prisons and provide $80 million to hospitals and nursing homes. Alabama will receive the second portion, $1.06 billion, in May or June. Legislators have not yet made decisions on using that money. The plan approved Thursday is expected to allocate the following funding: $277 million for broadband expansion. $225 million for water and sewer infrastructure projects. $80 million for hospitals and nursing homes. $79.5 million for Alabamas unemployment compensation trust fund to restore it to near the level of January 2020. $37 million for health care services through assisted living facilities, mental health, rehabilitative services, and other entities. $30 million for rural hospitals. $20 million for emergency medical responders, including $10 million for volunteer fire departments. $11 million for counties to help pay for state inmates held in county jails because of the pandemic. $7.8 million for the cost of the reporting and auditing requirements for using the money. $5 million for telemedicine. Alabamas criminal justice system has long been in need of adjustment. The war on drugs resulted in stiff penalties for drug possession, and the states three strikes law, which prescribed life imprisonment after a third felony conviction, helped to fill the states penitentiaries. As long ago as the late 1990s, then-Attorney General Bill Pryor pushed a raft of legislation that would reform sentencing guidelines in response to complaints that inmates were being released after serving a fraction of their sentences. Last week, the Alabama Supreme Court addressed one inequity in the system by raising the maximum bail amount a judge can set for a state murder charge from $150,000 to $1.5 million. Im very satisfied with the change, Montgomery County District Attorney Daryl Bailey told the Montgomery Advertiser. I think its ridiculous that you can be caught with drugs and get a $1.5 million bail, but if you murder someone the max is $150,000. Ridiculous and dangerous to society. Last year, a Mobile County man was released on bond for a murder charge. He was later arrested again, charged with fatally shooting his girlfriend. Its a good start to address inequities throughout the judicial system, from bond amounts to mandatory sentencing to pardons and paroles. Theres still work to be done. Public Bank Vietnam Limited has announced its cooperation with global payment technology company Visa to launch international debit and credit payment cards. Public Bank Vietnam's latest offering is integrated with the convenience of contactless payment features and secured 3D Secure 2.0 authentication technology. The banks credit card range includes Public Bank Vietnam Visa Classic, Public Bank Vietnam Visa Gold, Public Bank Vietnam Visa Platinum and Public Bank Vietnam Visa Signature with premium privileges to suit the preference of customers both in the mass and affluent market segment. Representatives of Public Bank Vietnam and Visa with mock Visa signature and Visa platinum cards. Photo by Public Bank Vietnam Apart from the convenience of hassle free payments when making purchases with a preferential interest-free period up to 51 days, all new Public Bank Vietnam Visa cardholders will enjoy benefits like unlimited cashback for customer spending within the same month for Gold level and higher. Public Bank Vietnam Visa Signature also provides customers with premium privileges like a complimentary airport lounge during travel, global insurance coverage for cardholders and family and preferential foreign transactions. In addition, cardholders will also enjoy a classy lifestyle with 6 percent cashback on dining and groceries spending and unlimited cashback on other spending. During the launch of the brand-new Visa cards, Public Bank Vietnam is also launching a promotional program, new Visa cardholders will enjoy free card issuance and first year annual fee for all credit card classes and many other attractive promotions. Chee Keng Eng, General Director of Public Bank Vietnam speaks at the launch of Public Bank Vietnam Visa credit and debit cards. Photo by Public Bank Vietnam Chee Keng Eng, General Director of Public Bank Vietnam said: "Public Bank Groups collaboration with Visa dates way back and we are glad that today this long rooted relationship will be further extended to Vietnam through the launching of the all new Public Bank Vietnam Visa Credit and Debit Cards. Through our network of 30 branches in all major cities and provinces of Vietnam, we are committed to not only bringing the best features and deals to our customers, but also being there to support when the need arises at all times." "Visa is constantly striving to improve services in order to assist our banking clients and partners to provide a variety of innovative, secured and diversified offerings, product and service portfolios, and comprehensive solutions to customers," said Dang Tuyet Dung, Visa Country Manager for Vietnam and Laos. PBVN representatives and Kelvin, Head of Products and Solutions, Visa Vietnam. Photo by Public Bank Vietnam Public Bank Vietnam launches Visa cards Public Bank Vietnam launches Visa cards Video on Public Bank Vietnam Visa card features. Public Bank Vietnam is a fully-owned foreign bank of Public Bank Berhad (Malaysia), one of the top-tier banks in Malaysia reputed for its strong nancial performance and consistent prudent management, with presence across Asia Pacific including Hong Kong, China, Cambodia, Laos, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Established on March 25, 1992, Public Bank Vietnam, formerly known as VID Public Bank, was one of the rst joint venture banks in Vietnam. Operating 30 branches and transaction bureaus, the bank has expanded its network to all major cities and provinces in Vietnam. To find out more, visit www.publicbank.com.vn. Many foreigners look forward to coming back to Vietnam soon, hoping for easy procedures. "Opening flights between Vietnam and other countries can only be a first step. But it is even more important when there will finally be regular visas for entry again. From February 1st, Vietnam should open its borders to fully vaccinated people with a current PCR test. We fully vaccinated people do not increase the risk of coronavirus. But we need more transparency in order to be able to plan and book trips to Vietnam again soon. Package tours are not the solution to the problem, they are just a drop in the ocean." peter.w.zimmermann "Go back to the normal visa process including pre approved online visas and visas on arrival and back to normal paid extensions for people wanting to stay longer. Control the flow of people coming in by limiting the number of flights if really needed but once you are able to book a ticket, obtaining a visa shouldn't be a roll of the dice." milky222 "Until you can enter Vietnam on a $30 visa issued at a entry point as before, have proof of 2 vaccine shots and show a negative test reading at the departure point ONLY and scrap the health insurance requirement, next to no tourists will come here for holidays. Unless this happens tourist will just go the the countries that are fully open." ianstyles83 "Just decide to open up in early Feb, so me and my loved one don't need to go elsewhere (Thailand, Cambodia) to meet and reunite, all the money for the trip goes to Vietnam economy to help the society instead of going to other countries." kenkolee2000 "Even if you opened up entry to 2019 conditions it would take at least 6 months to see any significant numbers as people plan ahead for vacations/business travel. So if you want decent numbers for Q3 and Q4 then open the doors now. If you wait until June then you are looking at 2023." Chris Roberts "We can wait for may 01 but open it to business and tourist once and for all with no paperwork that is asked now. Just deliver visa like before." sgutiere The withdrawal in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump from the Iran nuclear deal, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, has resulted in a challenging situation, said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Instead of keeping Irans nuclear program in a box . . . Iran has moved forward with its program in increasingly dangerous ways, he noted in a recent interview. We have to deal with that, and we are. Secretary Blinken emphasized the United States remains committed to seeing that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons. We still believe that if we can get back in the weeks ahead -- not months ahead, weeks ahead -- to the JCPOA, the nuclear agreement, that would be the best thing for our security and the security of our allies and partners in the region. In recent weeks, the United States and Iran have agreed that modest progress has been made during the talks in Vienna, where a mutual return to the JCPOA by the United States and Iran is being negotiated between Iran and P5+1 countries -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and, indirectly, the United States. Secretary Blinken warned, however, the time to complete the negotiations is becoming very, very, short. In recent months, Iran has been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade level. Iran is getting closer and closer to the point where they could produce on very, very short order enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon, said Secretary Blinken. And at the same time, theyre making advances that will become increasingly hard to reverse because theyre learning things, theyre doing new things as a result of having broken out of their constraints under the agreement. In case an agreement on a mutual return to the JCPOA is not reached in the coming weeks, Secretary of State Blinken said, the United States is working with its allies and partners in Europe, the Middle East and beyond on other steps, other options . . . Were prepared for either course, he declared. But it is clear that it would be far preferable for our security, for the security of allies and partners, if we can get a return to compliance. North Koreas continued pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs is a threat to international peace and security. North Koreas launches of ballistic missiles on January 4, 10, 14, 17, and 27 are the latest in a series of UN violations by the Kim Jong-Un regime. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield delivered a joint statement, on behalf of the United States, Albania, France, Ireland, Japan, and the United Kingdom, which warned that Each missile launch serves not only to advance the [Democratic Peoples Republic of Koreas] own capabilities, but to expand the suite of weapons available for export to its illicit arms clients and dealers around the world. In response to the DPRKs continued ballistic missile-related activities, which are violations of numerous UN Security Council resolutions, the United States designated eight Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea or DPRK-linked individuals and entities under Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. Specifically, the State Department designated one DPRK individual, one Russian individual, and one Russian entity that together served as a key source of missile-applicable goods and technology for the DPRKs missile program. The United States Department of the Treasury designated five Peoples Republic of China- and Russia-based DPRK representatives of a DPRK entity subordinate to a UN- and U.S.-designated entity responsible for research and development of the DPRKs advanced weapons systems. These actions further U.S. efforts to prevent the DPRK from advancing its WMD and ballistic missile programs and impede attempts by Pyongyang to proliferate related technologies. These actions also come in the context of the DPRKs continued launches of ballistic missiles in the last five months, each of which violated multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. We have been and continue to coordinate closely with our allies and partners to address the threats posed by the DPRKs destabilizing actions and to advance our shared objective of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, said Secretary of State Blinken. We urge all UN Member States to fully implement the UN Security Council resolutions addressing the DPRK. We remain committed to seeking dialogue and diplomacy with the DPRK and hope the DPRK will respond positively to our offers to meet without preconditions. It is the DPRK that now must choose dialogue and peace over its unlawful and threatening weapons program. ELKO A Wells man who rode to Elko with his brother in a borrowed car is accused of driving off with the car when his brother went into a con Department 1 Judge Kriston Hill Jan. 3 Jordan Seth Largey, 19, of Provo, Utah, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit failure to stop at the scene of a crash involving personal injury or death, and was given a suspended sentence of one year in jail. He was also ordered to pay $54.24 restitution to the victim and was placed on probation for one year. Department 3 Judge Mason Simon Jan. 10 Anibal Delgado Jr., 37, of Las Vegas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit cheating at a gambling game, was given a suspended sentence of 24 to 60 months in prison, was ordered to pay $2,052.75 restitution to the victims and was placed on probation for two years. - Gilbert Gutierrez Jr., 37, of Delano, California, pleaded guilty to attempted possession of a stolen motor vehicle, was given a suspended sentence of 19 to 48 months in prison, was ordered to pay $2,600 restitution to the victim and was placed on probation for two years. - Sean Michael Perdue, 36, of Salt Lake City, Utah, pleaded guilty to uttering or possessing with the intent to utter a forged instrument, was placed on probation for 19 to 48 months, was ordered to pay $756.34 restitution to the victim and was placed on probation for 24 months. - Jessi Dahn Smales, 29, of Elko pleaded guilty to possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance, was given a suspended sentence of 12 to 30 months in prison and was placed on probation for 18 months. - Trinity Ambrosia Thomas, 20, of Elko pleaded guilty to attempted uttering of a forged instrument, was given a suspended sentence of 12 to 30 months in prison, was ordered to serve 60 days in jail and was placed on probation for 18 months. Jan. 19 Javon Justin Keester, 21, of Rapid City, South Dakota, pleaded no contest to attempted battery resulting in substantial bodily harm, was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison and was ordered to pay $22.68 restitution to the victim. - Matthew Thomas Stratton, 39, of Salt Lake City, Utah, pleaded guilty to unlawful taking of a motor vehicle and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 By Azernews By Sabina Mammadli A senior business official has praised women's interest in establishing businesses on Azerbaijani lands liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020. Orkhan Mammadov, chairman of the Board of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency, made the remarks at the conference "Role of Women's Entrepreneurship in the Economic Development of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur." He thinks it's remarkable that women want to start businesses on Azerbaijan's liberated lands from Armenian occupation. Mammadov stated that Azerbaijani women's applications receive special attention. According to the chairman of the board, 42 out of 980 applications from people who want to start a business in the liberated territories have been submitted by women. "The process of accepting applications from local and foreign businessmen interested in starting a business in the liberated territories was launched immediately after the end of the 44-day second Karabakh war. The special attention is paid to the applications of Azerbaijani women, Mamamdov added. According to Mammadov, 24 applications from businesswomen are related to investment projects, while 18 are related to other work. "Approximately 13 of the projects submitted by businesswomen are related to trade and services, 10 to industry, six to agriculture and tourism, four to construction, two to education, and one to healthcare," he added. Mammadov emphasized that the economic regions of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur were established in 2021 and that the process of organizing such events and discussions with businesswomen is also important. Speaking at the same conference, Azerbaijani Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilhama Gadimova stated that agricultural processing enterprises will be established in Azerbaijan's liberated lands. Gadimova went on to say that this is critical for ensuring Azerbaijan's food security. She stated that after the territories were liberated from occupation, the process of selecting potential lands for sowing and clearing them of mines began. It should be noted that the conference was organized by the ruling New Azerbaijan Party and the Azerbaijani parliament's committee for family, women, and children affairs. ELKO Elko Convention and Visitors Authority is receiving three tourism-impact grants totaling $504,256 from the City of Elkos $27.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds. Elko City Council also voted Jan. 25 to grant $41,164 in rescue funds to the Elko County Fair Board and $20,582 to the Western Folklife Center, because both were also hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that curtailed their tourism events. A $51,455 grant to the Elko County Recreation Board was tabled, however, because of concerns about conflict of interest concerns that also led the council to approve each grant individually rather than OK the $617,457 total in one vote. Mayor Reece Keener said the Elko County Recreation Board oversees funds going to cities and towns in the entire county so Im having a hard time seeing a conflict because we arent using the funds for our own personal enrichment. City Attorney David Stanton said there is probably not a conflict, but he wanted to check before the council votes on that grant. Councilwoman Mandy Simons, who made the separate motions for the grants, said at least four of the council members are on the county recreation board. The fifth seat was held by the late Bill Hance, whose council seat is now held by Giovanni Puccinelli. The council agreed to provide $195,528 for ECVA itself, $144,073 for ECVA advertising, and $164,655 for ECVA facilities. Councilman Chip Stone abstained on each grant motion because he is on the ECVA board and chairs the Marketing Committee. Councilman Puccinelli abstained from the fair board vote because he is on that board, but the vote for the Western Folklife Center grant was unanimous because no one from the council is on that board. The tourism grants were based on a formula from the U.S. Department of Treasury for lost revenue calculation attributable to the citys transient lodging tax distribution formula for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2020, according to Jan Baum, the citys financial services director. The organizations that received funds are organizations that are designated to receive distributions from the (city) recreation fund per city code, she said in a Jan. 26 email. Requests from nonprofit organizations for a share of the grant pie have yet to be awarded. Deadline was Dec. 31 for applications. We are still meeting on grant applications, Baum told the council. In the email, she said that the city has more than $8 million in rescue grant applications, and the recommendation to council for grant amounts and grantees will be determined based on Treasury Final Rule guidance, needs in the community and available funds. Back in October, Elko City Council approved $18 million in rescue money for infrastructure projects, including adding another water source for Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital and a second water source at exit 298 off Interstate 80. The infrastructure projects qualified under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that was established to help states and cities mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Impacts to tourism and to nonprofit organizations also are covered. Elko City Council held two ARPA workshops in September and October to hear from city staff, the public and organizations regarding their funding needs. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 The New York Times recently praised the CDC: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was long revered for its methodical and meticulous scientific approach. Yet, there appears to be a large confidence gap between what people are told by agencies like the CDC and what people are willing to accept as true. The government and its various agencies are not building a positive reservoir of trust. A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll found that the majority of Americans disapprove of Bidens handling of the pandemic. This poll, given its sponsors, would be expected to be overly kind to Biden. Michael Steele, former chairman of the RNC, commented, The administration lost a lot of the gains it had made coming in the door because it shattered peoples confidence in their ability to not only handle what was going on but to actually know what was going on. One would expect such negative comments from a leader of the opposition party, but other evidence seems to back up his pessimism. I recently read a report on COVID testing and the percentage of Americans who could be thought of as already having been infected by the disease. The report was politically neutral and wasnt designed to advance any given opinion or position. I was surprised at the number of comments the short article produced. There were hundreds. They varied in subject and tone, and some comments attacked some others, but there was one constant in all of them. No one trusted the governments numbers. The comments were generally free from some of the wild-eyed nonsense that anonymous sites can generate. In fact, most of the comments were quite rational. A number gave personal experiences of their own history with COVID; most noted that their experiences were never shared with the government or, in some cases, with any medical authority. The consensus seemed to be that the government could not be trusted, and government agents and bureaucrats were attempting to make the pandemic seem worse than it really was. Whether this was true or not is not the point. The point is the general mistrust of government and the people who run it. Congress has about an 18% approval rating. Bidens approval ratings dropped below his negatives last August and have yet to recover. You know how bad it is when the best ratings for Biden actually came from a Fox News poll. The majority of American responding in a recent survey thought Dr. Fauci should resign. Is this reaction unfair? No. Many politicians come across as self-serving and incompetent. They appear as buffoonish characters living a life of unearned privilege. Meanwhile, the government bureaucrats seem more interested in their rule-bound dictates than they are in the welfare of American citizens. Overarching all this, is the expectation that these leaders will lie about almost anything, no matter how trivial, or important, if it advances their self-interest. Our leaders response to the COVID pandemic has sent us a dire warning. Such lack of trust could lead to a new group of principled and competent leaders, or, and this is the danger, it could lead to the immergence of a charismatic leader who, like Hitler, would consolidate power while the people cheer. Dennis Clayson is an Elko County native and retired professor of business. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 President Nguyen Xuan Phuc (left) meets local residents in Hai Phong city. (Photo: VNA) So far, Hai Phong has delivered Tet gifts from the President to 906 people who are Heroic Vietnamese Mothers, veteran revolutionaries, heroes of the armed forces and wounded war veterans, with each receiving 600,000 VND (26.5 USD). Meanwhile, 44,185 gifts worth 300,000 VND each have been presented to families and relatives of martyrs, wounded and sick veterans. Hai Phong has mobilised 265 billion VND (11.7 million USD) to support needy households in the city ahead the Tet festival, with the assistance value rising over 10 percent compared to that of last year. President Nguyen Xuan Phuc extended his best wishes to the Party Organisation, administration, soldiers and people of Hai Phong. He underlined that the Party and State have directed relevant ministries, sectors and localities to pay greater attention social policy beneficiaries, poor households, poor workers and victims of Agent Orange/dioxin, thus ensuring that no one is left behind. The State leader also reminded Hai Phong to make more efforts in providing housing support to workers, especially in areas with large number of industrial parks, export processing zones and seaports. Also on January 26, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc visited VinFast automobile factory located in the city and extended New Year greetings to workers here. The factory was put into operation in 2017 and provided first automobiles for the market in 2019. It began manufacturing electric vehicles in early 2021./. Mr. Madan Mohan Sethi, Indian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City, speaks at the event. (Photo: TDO) Delivering congratulatory remarks, Mr. Huynh Thanh Lap, Chairman of the Vietnam - India Friendship Association in Ho Chi Minh City, emphasized that Vietnam and India have a long-standing traditional relationship, from trade to cultural, artistic and religious exchanges. The historic meeting between President Ho Chi Minh and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1954 brought the two countries closer together, and they stood side by side through all the ups and downs of history. Since establishing diplomatic relations in 1972, especially when it was upgraded to a strategic partnership in 2007, the relationship between the two countries has gone through a long journey and made many great achievements. Currently, India is Vietnam's 10th largest trading partner. As of April 2021, India has invested in 299 projects in Vietnam with a total capital of USD909.5 million, ranking 26th out of 126 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Vietnam and India also achieved many positive results in cooperation in education, human resource development, culture and people-to-people diplomacy. Particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, in 2021, although it is still affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Union of Friendship Organizations and the Vietnam - India Friendship Association coordinated to organize many events relating to people-to-people diplomacy, business connection and investment promotion. Mr. Huynh Thanh Lap emphasized that the City Union of Friendship Organizations and the Vietnam - India Friendship Association of Ho Chi Minh City wished to continue strengthening cooperation with the Consulate General of India in Ho Chi Minh City and the Indian Business Association in Vietnam to organize more cultural, artistic and people-to-people exchange programs; and join hands to act as a trade bridge connecting Vietnam - India businesses to contribute to consolidating and promoting the relationship between the two countries to achieve more success. Sharing the history of Republic of India Day, Mr. Madan Mohan Sethi, Indian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City, said that January 26, 1950 is considered India's Independence Day - the Indian Constitution Day. India and Vietnam have a long traditional, historical relationship. That relationship is further strengthened by the great leaders of the two countries and the strong cooperative partnership in various fields. Vietnam is a key pillar of India's Act East Policy; and an important partner in India's Indo-Pacific Vision and the two countries share similar views on most international issues. According to Mr. Madan Mohan Sethi, in order to contribute to achieving the goal of bilateral trade turnover between the two countries soon reaching USD15 billion, in the past time, despite being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City has made efforts to organize many webinars on trade and investment in different fields, in an effort to promote trade and investment in Ho Chi Minh City with Indian localities, as well as between the two countries. He affirmed that in 2022, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 15th anniversary of the strategic partnership between the two countries, the Indian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City will continue to cooperate with the City Union of Friendship Organizations to promote people-to-people exchange activities, thereby opening up greater opportunities, promoting the potential between the two countries, tightening the friendly relations between the peoples, and contributing to bringing the bilateral relationship between the two countries to a new height./. Chinese President Xi Jinping chairs a virtual summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and five Central Asian countries and delivers an important speech in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 25, 2022. (Xinhua/Li Xiang) BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's speech, delivered at a virtual summit commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and five Central Asian countries, has charted course and injected impetus for an even closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future, experts have said. "No matter how the international landscape may evolve or how developed China may grow, China will always remain a good neighbor, a good partner, a good friend, and a good brother that Central Asian countries can trust and count on," Xi made the remarks in his address on Tuesday. Timur Shaimergenov, deputy director of the Library of the First President of Republic of Kazakhstan, fully agreed with Xi's words, saying that Kazakhstan and China have seen great vigor in their mutual support and cooperation. A freight train departs for Almaty of Kazakhstan, at a transit center in Jiaozhou, east China's Shandong Province, April 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Zhaomai) Noting that the two countries have been keeping close coordination within multilateral mechanisms, such as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Measures in Asia, Shaimergenov said the two sides have also supported each other's major cooperation initiatives, jointly practiced multilateralism, and played important and constructive roles in ensuring regional security. Sayfullo Safarov, chairman of the National Association of Political Scientists of Tajikistan, said that the successful hosting of the virtual summit has witnessed the solid friendship between China and Central Asian nations, and further elevated bilateral cooperation to a new level. Central Asian countries share many common interests with China, and the Tajik people hold a strong bond with the Chinese, Safarov said, adding that the Tajikistan-China relationship enjoys a solid foundation, the all-round cooperation has been deepened, and the two countries have conducted extensive and effective cooperation in various fields. Tourists visit the exhibition zone of Tajikistan during the "Tajikistan Day" event at the Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin) With close-knit relations and high-level political mutual trust, China and the five Central Asian countries are seeing increasingly frequent economic and trade cooperation, as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges, said Ruan Zongze, executive vice president of the China Institute of International Studies. During the summit, Ruan continued, the five Central Asian countries' heads of state said that they are eagerly looking forward to attending the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics next week, which has shown solidarity and mutual trust between China and the countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Kyrgyz Foreign Minister and former SCO Secretary General Muratbek Imanaliev said that over the past 30 years, Central Asian countries and China have deepened relations as good neighbors and friends, while cooperation in various fields has also yielded fruitful results. Noting that China does not interfere in other countries' internal affairs, Imanaliev said that China has actively provided help for developing countries, which is welcomed by Central Asian countries. Editor: WXY Residents clear ashes and rubbles from a road in Nuku'alofa, capital of Tonga. (Photo by Marian Kupu/Xinhua) As a good friend and partner of Tonga, China is willing to stand firmly with the Tongan people at this difficult moment, Wang said, adding that the emergency supplies purchased by China in Fiji will arrive in Tonga Thursday, and more Chinese assistance is on the way. BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday held a phone conversation with his counterpart of the Kingdom of Tonga, Fekitamoeloa Katoa 'Utoikamanu, over the recent volcanic eruptions. Wang said that since the volcano erupted in Tonga on Jan. 15, the Chinese government has paid close attention to it and the Chinese people have sympathized with the Tongan people. Chinese President Xi Jinping immediately sent a message of sympathy to King of Tonga, and China promptly delivered aids to Tonga, becoming one of the first countries in the world to provide assistance for the South Pacific island country, Wang said. A vessel carrying the emergency aid from China to Tonga is to set off at a port in Suva's Walu Bay, Fiji, Jan. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing) As a good friend and partner of Tonga, China is willing to stand firmly with the Tongan people at this difficult moment, he said, adding that the emergency supplies purchased by China in Fiji will arrive in Tonga Thursday, and more Chinese assistance is on the way. China has allocated disaster relief supplies and equipment to the country according to the needs of Tonga, such as drinking water, food, generators, water pumps, first aid kits, prefab houses and tractors, Wang said. Some of the relief supplies will be delivered by Chinese military aircraft Thursday morning, while the rest will be shipped by Chinese warships, he said, noting that the two sides should make a smooth handover and deliver the aids to most-needed places in Tonga in time. Wang said that the Chinese government is very concerned about Chinese citizens and institutions in Tonga, and hopes and believes that the Tongan government will guarantee their safety. It is believed that under the leadership of the King and government of Tonga, the country will surely overcome this natural disaster as soon as possible, he said. A vessel carrying the emergency aid from China to Tonga sets off at a port in Suva's Walu Bay, Fiji, Jan. 24, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhang Yongxing) Noting that the international community has extended a helping hand to Tonga, Wang said that China stands ready to work with all willing countries to give full play to each other's respective strengths and foster international synergy to help Tonga rebuild its home. For her part, 'Utoikamanu said that China responded at once and was one of the first countries in the world to provide emergency and disaster relief supplies for Tonga after the volcano erupted 11 days ago. She expressed heartfelt thanks to China for its assistance on behalf of the Tongan government and people. The Tongan side will closely coordinate with China on the delivery, storage and distribution of relief supplies to ensure that they reach those most in need as quickly as possible, 'Utoikamanu said. China is the largest developing country in the world as well as one of Tonga's largest development partners, the minister said, expressing her gratitude to China for its strong support in the country's post-disaster reconstruction. Tonga highly values its friendship and cooperation with China, and will continue to work with China to push for new progress in bilateral ties, she said, wishing all the best for the Chinese New Year. Editor: WXY SHANGHAI, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Some of Shanghai's universities are expected to have their walls and fences dismantled, making campus resources more accessible to the public. "We plan to remove the wall and open the campus to the public," said Xu Xu, secretary of the Communist Party of China committee of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, who is also a political advisor in Shanghai. Xu made the remarks at the annual meeting of the municipal committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference that concluded on Saturday. The school campus is located in Fenyang Road in the city's downtown area. There are six historical buildings on the campus, including the former Jewish club and the former Belgian Consulate in Shanghai. These old buildings shaded by green trees attract many music and history lovers. Xu said that the purpose of demolishing the wall is to allow artistic resources to better serve the society. The school is not alone in making the transition. A number of higher education institutions in the city have initiated similar moves or planned to tear down their walls to share campus resources with the public. Huang Changyong, president of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, said the school would make its theater more accessible to neighborhood communities, and it plans to build an art gallery and a drama space on the Huashan Road outside the campus to turn the street into an "avenue themed on drama and art." The school's Pudong campus, which opened in 2019, is already a fenceless one situated on the bank of Huangpu River, integrating the campus with a riverfront park and a nearby community. "Going fenceless has become a new trend for universities," said Ding Xiaodong, president of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, at the meeting. Ding also pointed out that universities open and share their resources with the public on the premise of comprehensive institutional guarantee, as school roads are transformed into public roads. Traffic safety and school security need to be clarified in terms of management responsibilities. He said the school is discussing these campus-opening arrangements with city and district authorities. Editor: Zhang Zhou BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese official has called on overseas Chinese to draw wisdom from the enduring Chinese civilization in the face of global changes unseen in a century. "The overseas Chinese will be well perceived in the world only when the Chinese civilization is correctly understood," Pan Yue, director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, said Tuesday. Pan extended greetings to overseas Chinese as well as those who have returned to China and their families ahead of the upcoming Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year. Noting that 2021 marked the accomplishment of the first centenary goal of the Communist Party of China, Pan commended the contributions by generations of overseas Chinese over the past century. Compatriots share the sentiments of overseas Chinese at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage globally and the international situation remains complex with rising unilateralism and racism, Pan said. Over the past year, China has provided COVID-19 vaccines to millions of overseas Chinese nationals working and studying in 180 countries and has stepped up assistance to overseas Chinese in need, Pan added. The official said that the Chinese government will continue to forge a closer bond with overseas Chinese by improving online medical, administrative and cultural services, among others. Editor: Zhang Zhou BEIJING, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- The ability to follow social norms has long been commended as propriety in China, as is reflected in the Chinese idiom "Ke Ji Fu Li," which means restraining one's words and deeds to comply with social norms. Proposed by ancient philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.), the term is recorded in The Analects, a collection of teachings and thoughts of him. It is the fundamental method that Confucius recommended for achieving benevolence, a key idea in his thoughts. Confucius' disciple Yan Yuan once asked him about benevolence. "To restrain yourself and practice propriety is benevolence," Confucius replied. Confucius' thoughts have had a profound influence on later generations in China and some other Asian countries. In modern days, littering, spitting, cursing, cutting in line and smoking in public venues are considered uncivilized and contradictory to the Confucian doctrine of practicing propriety to conform to social norms. Editor: Zhang Zhou By Trend Passengers of all three delayed flights on the Baku-Istanbul route departed to the destination airport on Airbus A340 which is the largest wide-body plane of Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL), Trend reports on Jan. 26 via AZAL. "Passengers of AZAL's canceled flights from Istanbul will depart to Baku on the same plane," the airlines said. Earlier, due to heavy snowfall, the Istanbul airport suspended its work, several flights of AZAL were delayed and canceled. Dmytro Boiarchuk, Executive Director of CASE Ukraine Little do the Ukrainians know about their taxes: how much does one personally pay to the treasury; who, citizens or oligarchs, fills the budget; what are the key line items in the expanded budget and so on. The low level of financial literacy of the Ukrainians has been confirmed by our regular sociological observations, the latest of them showing 88.5% Ukrainians have no clue about them giving away up to a half of their income to the State. With each shop receipt clearly stating the 20% VAT added to the product price everything would seem clear and transparent. However, it is something obvious, which sits in plain sight, that often poses the most challenge: a mere 19.8% respondents know of a fiscal mark-up added to the product prices. It is no surprise then that 61.7% fellow citizens have no idea of the most of the national budget being made with those minute contributions of millions of customers. The lack of understanding of who pays for what makes a nice premise for manipulations, which is used both by politicians/officials forgetful of whose money they manage and unscrupulous business persons who use schemes to keep the VAT, excise or import tax amounts paid by customers for themselves rather than transfer these taxes to the treasury. In 2018, our CASE Ukraine Analytical Centre launched in the scope of its Price of the State Project a tax awareness-raising campaign, the first in the history of the country. In the nutshell, we used a range of communication channels, from the Facebook to TV, to tell the public how much do they pay to the State, how much do public services cost to tax payers and how in reality everyone, including retirees, keeps on paying taxes. We involved in the campaign a number of retail chains that understand and support the importance of raising financial literacy. These chains let us use their sales areas to promote our educational materials. One of the businesses who joined the campaign was a petrol station chain; the fiscal mark-up (VAT, import tax, excise duty) in the fuel cost reaches a staggering 40%! In order to bring the attention of Ukrainians to fuel taxes, we suggested the petrol station chain somehow highlight the total amount transferred to the State in fiscal receipts. The idea did not fly that time, the company citing the cost of re-programming their tills. In our view, at that time businesses could not comprehend the importance of bringing up the information about taxes paid by their customers. From their perspective, the topic had not practical sense and looked rather another yet abstract attempt by civic activists. Three years later the fuel market had another yet price hike that sent ripples of displeasure among the voters. Politicians, looking for ways to evade the bad rap, began the hunt for cartel agreements among petrol station companies. The hunt led to price regulation on the fuel market to defuse tensions. In that crisis situation, the petrol station chain that had participated in our education campaign remembered our idea and started showing in a more accessible manner in their receipts how the fiscal mark-up makes for the most of fuel payments. The idea got traction with other petrol stations. A simple mention of the total tax amounts paid by the customers in sales receipts exploded the media environment, social media users posting their receipts and sharing the surprising amounts they have paid when filling their tanks. It was picked by the media and prompted an avalanche of reports and segments on taxes at points of sale. Government officials prefer Ukrainians think they pay no taxes. Government officials intentionally use their public communication opportunities during television shows, at press conferences, via press releases to underscore it is mostly businesses, oligarchs, public enterprises who pay taxes and fill the nations coffers. First of all, this makes so much easier the task of squeezing more money from honest businesses with tax hikes and various penalties because it is businesses, not ordinary folks, who have to pay taxes (this despite all costs then going into the prices for the end consumer). Secondly, a voter with no knowledge of how much he has to dole and why is much less fussy about the quality of services provided by the State. So, exactly in order to drive the idea of every one being the tax payer into the head of every Ukrainian, we created this Fair Price education initiative aimed at drawing customers attention to the fact that product prices include indirect taxes (e. g., VAT) and that by buying products or services people fill in the budget. The story is not free from one but though: not every seller includes indirect taxes (VAT, import tax, excise duty) in the price for his product and thus transfers these to the budget at all (or only partially). Therefore, CASE Ukraine will only engage in the Fair Price exercise with those businesses and entrepreneurs able to prove their integrity. The Fair Price education campaign has two components. The first one provides easy for citizens understanding clarifications as to the tax amounts they pay, when they do it and where do the money go. For this, we will use all accessible communication tools and channels from TikTok and YouTube to dedicated educational and awareness materials placed at points of sale. Our Analytical Centre has more than a decade of successful experience in that. The second component will offer positive highlights of white businesses shaping strong image of entrepreneurs with integrity. For this, the initiative participants will be granted the Fair Price decoration. We will use information materials to underscore it time and again the Fair Price decoration is a sign of responsible business-making when the owner fully observes the withholding agent obligations and transfers all indirect taxes received from his customers to the treasury thus financing, together with his customers, Ukrainian medics, military servicemen, teachers etc. We want the economic knowledge obtained by rank-and-file Ukrainians to help the fair white businesspersons stand out from the rest of the market. Our aim is to see that the very Fair Price education campaign evokes positive emotions among the citizens about fair and integrous business tagged with Fair Price decorations. At this time, we have the criteria for the four sectors the fuel, the home appliances, the strong spirits, and the pharmaceutical ones already designed. Criteria for other markets will be designed accordingly throughout the initiative progress. Businesses willing to participate in the Fair Price will have to fill in the self-evaluation questionnaire, which will serve the basis for candidate integrity assessment. Going back to our sociology, we expect that over time more than 50% of our citizens will be able to clearly answer the question of how much do they pay as taxes to the budget, and integrous businesses will receive better, vs. other market participants, recognition and respect from the public. KYIV. Jan 26 (Interfax-Ukraine) Agromars Complex LLC (Kyiv), a large poultry producer, against which a bankruptcy case has been opened, is delaying the forced sale of its seized assets at online auctions by filing counter petitions and applications to the courts of various instances, and also contributes to opening fictitious criminal proceedings against private bailiffs involved in the seizure of funds in favor of companies to which it has debts. The corresponding statement was voiced by lawyer of Vetsintez-Vip LLC (Kharkiv) Yuriy Burday at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency. "Today, we are creditors in the bankruptcy case of Agromars Complex LLC. Almost a year ago, we received a court decision, according to which Agromars had to return almost UAH 10 million of debt to Vetsintez-Vip for improper performance of debt obligations, that have arisen between us over the past two or three years. As of today, we have not received a penny either from enforcement proceedings or directly from Agromars," the lawyer specified. According to him, the legal confrontation between Agromars and private bailiffs who seize its assets for sale at online auctions and the subsequent repayment of its debts to creditors is painful for Vetsintez-Vip, since the company is unable to return funds for goods previously provided to the poultry complex. "There can be no contestation of the fact of the delivery of goods, since all invoices were signed by the debtor, and today we do not know what to do, since complaints are filed against the actions of private executors, fictitious criminal proceedings are opened against them on the very day when there should be held auctions for the sale of Agromars property, as a result of which we must return our money," Burday explained. He clarified that Vetsintez-Vip cannot participate in such litigation, since such applications and petitions are considered either at closed meetings, or the company does not receive notifications of the date and place of their holding. Burday also noted that the applications and petitions submitted by Agromars are considered by the courts within a month and a half, contrary to the norm of procedural legislation - 10 days. Vetsintez-Vip has been operating in Ukraine since 2000. It is engaged in the production of veterinary drugs for the main groups of farm animals, including antibacterial, anti-stress, anti-inflammatory and antiparasitic veterinary drugs, antibiotics, vitamins and feed additives. Blinken expects to speak with Lavrov in coming days to discuss next steps of talks U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, after Moscow received U.S. responses to security proposals, said that he was counting on a conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the coming days to work out the next steps of negotiations. "I expect to speak with Foreign Minister Lavrov in the coming days after Moscow has had a chance to read the document, and is ready to discuss the next steps," Blinken said at a press conference," Blinken said at a press conference. Among those killed in a shooting on the territory of the Pivdenny Machine-Building Plant (Yuzhmash) in Dnipro are four servicemen and one civilian woman, the press service of the National Police of Ukraine has said. "The police received a message that a member of the National Guard opened fire with automatic weapons. As a result, four soldiers and one civilian woman died on the spot, five more people were injured," the police said. As reported, the conscript opened fire on January 27 at 03.40, after which he fled with a weapon. It has been established that the attacker is Artem Riabchuk, a native of Izmail, Odssa region, born in 2001. Law enforcers have detained a soldier of the National Guard, who shot at the guard on the territory of the Pivdenny Machine-Building Plant in Dnipro and fled with a weapon. "Artem Riabchuk has just been detained by police in Dnipropetrovsk region. He will bear the strictest responsibility provided for by law," Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said on Facebook. He also said that a commission would be created to study the circumstances of the incident, which would establish Riabchuk's motives. "The circumstances of Artem Riabchuk's passing through the military medical commission, his mental state at the time of issuing a permit to weapons will also be studied. After studying the conditions and circumstances that led to the tragedy, conclusions will be drawn. Including personnel," the minister said. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met with European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi, who is in Kyiv on a working visit. "During the meeting, specific steps to ensure energy security of Ukraine and the EU countries in the face of modern security challenges were discussed," the press service of the head of state reported. Zelensky highly appreciated the results of the December Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels, first of all, the approval of the Economic and Investment Plan for partner countries, which provides for financing the implementation of reforms in a number of important sectors by allocating funds for the implementation of specific projects. In this regard, the President said that one of the biggest priorities for Ukraine is to ensure energy efficiency, because in 2022 Ukraine will launch the Great Thermal Modernization program, which will allow for the insulation of high-rise buildings, schools and hospitals throughout the country. "Despite the current security challenges, Ukraine continues to implement important economic projects. Therefore, the EU decision to allocate almost EUR 2 billion for the implementation of investment projects in Ukraine is a concrete manifestation of the support of our European partners. Along with the earlier decision of the European Commission to provide macro-financial assistance in the amount of EUR 1.2 billion is an important contribution to the stable development of the Ukrainian economy," Zelensky said. He also thanked the European Union for its strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and called for the preservation of the unity of all EU member states in these difficult conditions. Denmark has agreed to consider additional support opportunities to ensure the financial and economic stability of Ukraine, according to a report on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine on Thursday following the talks between Foreign Ministers of both countries Dmytro Kuleba and Jeppe Kofod during the visit of the Ukrainian minister to Copenhagen. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that, according to the decision of the Danish government, Ukraine will become a key recipient of Danish technical assistance under the next phase of the Danish Neighbourhood Programme (DANEP) in the period 2022-2026 with a total budget of EUR 170 million, 73 of which will be sent to projects in Ukraine. In addition, Kuleba and Kofod discussed the implementation of common investment projects. "We highly appreciate the desire of the Danish government to increase economic and investment cooperation with Ukraine. This sends a clear signal to foreign investors that, despite security challenges, the situation remains under control, our state is demonstrating economic growth, it is attractive for investment and successful commercial projects," the Ukrainian foreign minister said. The head of Ukrainian diplomacy informed his Danish counterpart about the security situation near the state border and in the territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, as well as about the results of the meeting of advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Format states in Paris on January 26. "Denmark is showing real leadership, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine at this time of heightened threats from Russia," Kuleba said. The minister added that Ukraine greatly appreciates Denmark's unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine both at the bilateral level and within the EU and NATO. According to the minister, Denmark's allocation of additional EUR 22 million for Ukraine's security sector is an important contribution to Ukraine's resilience and security. The parties separately discussed the preparation of a package of tough EU economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, as well as strengthening cooperation to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities and strengthen Ukraine's cybersecurity. The minister also met with leading experts and representatives of Danish non-governmental organizations, to whom he spoke about Ukraine's efforts to protect peace, justice and security in Europe, and the search for ways of the political and diplomatic settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had a telephone conversation with President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda, the presidential press service has said. "The head of the Ukrainian state briefed his interlocutor on the current security situation along the borders and in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. He stressed the importance of maintaining the unity of the EU and NATO member states in this situation," the office said. Zelensky thanked Nauseda for Lithuania's clear and consistent position in support of Ukraine, as well as for significant practical assistance to strengthen its defense capability. The interlocutors positively noted the traditionally high dynamics of bilateral dialogue at all levels. The presidents coordinated positions on the schedule of contacts for the near future within the Ukrainian-Lithuanian strategic partnership. Kuleba: Russia likely to remain on diplomatic track for next two weeks Following the meeting in Paris, advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four agreed to meet in Berlin in two weeks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said. "The good news is that advisers agreed to meet in Berlin in two weeks, which means that Russia for the next two weeks is likely to remain on the diplomatic path," Kuleba said at a press conference with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod in Copenhagen on Thursday. Ukrainian FM: We see US written response before it handed over to Russia, no objections on Ukrainian side The Ukrainian side has no objections to the U.S. response to Russia's security proposals, which was handed over to Moscow, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said. "We had seen the written response of the U.S. before it was handed over to Russia. No objections on the Ukrainian side. Important that the U.S. remains in close contact with Ukraine before and after all contacts with Russia. No decisions on Ukraine without Ukraine. Golden rule," Kuleba said on Twitter. As reported, U.S. Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan on January 26 delivered a written response from the U.S. administration to the draft bilateral treaty on security guarantees previously submitted by the Russian side. By Azernews By Ayya Lmahamad In recent days, amid technical problems with gas imports from Iran to Turkey, the latter requested that the Gas Supply Company of Azerbaijan (AGSC) import additional amounts of gas to eliminate the temporary deficit. On January 26, the Azerbaijani State Oil Company deputy head of public relations, Ibrahim Ahmadov, made the remark on his official Facebook page. "The AGSC, on behalf of the Shah Deniz Consortium, has already responded to Turkey's request, and having mobilized the available capacity, gas exports from Azerbaijan to Turkey will be increased in accordance with the arising needs," he wrote. Ahmadov also expressed his belief that this step will contribute significantly to the strengthening and development of the Azerbaijan-Turkey friendship and brotherhood. Previously, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov stated that the Shah Deniz field has supplied more than 85 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the Turkish gas market since 2007. Furthermore, in the first 11 months of 2021, TANAP transported 5.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Turkey. Azerbaijan and Turkey cooperate in a variety of economic fields and have completed major energy and infrastructure projects such as Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, and TANAP. Azerbaijan and Turkey signed the Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations on June 15, 2021, which focuses on defence cooperation, regional stability and prosperity, and the establishment of new transportation routes. The two countries agreed to set a target of $15 billion in mutual trade turnover by 2023. It should be noted that, so far, Turkey is Azerbaijan's second-largest investor followed by the United Kingdom. Furthermore, Turkey was among the first countries to express an interest in and willingness to participate in the restoration of Azerbaijan's liberated territories. Achieving a sustainable ceasefire in Donbas is a priority for Ukraine, and only on its basis can further steps be taken to resolve the conflict in the east of the country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says. "For our state, the first priority today is to achieve a stable and unconditional ceasefire in Donbas. The ceasefire must be guaranteed, reliable, and it is on this basis that the next steps can be taken," Zelensky stressed after a meeting of political advisers to the leaders of the countries participating in the Normandy format in Paris. According to the website of the head of state, the invigoration of work of the Normandy format (Ukraine, Germany, France, Russia) and at the level of the leaders of the respective countries with the organization of their meeting in the near future is an indispensable element of moving towards a stable peace in Donbas through the implementation of the Minsk agreements. Zelensky positively assessed the fact of the meeting, its constructive nature, as well as the intention to extend meaningful negotiations in two weeks in Berlin. On Monday, January 31, at 12.00, the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency will host roundtable conference entitled "Increasing threats to Ukraine. What should politicians offer under these conditions?" Participants include Director of the Institute for Global Strategies Vadym Karasiov; political expert Kostiantyn Matviyenko; Director of the Ukrainian barometer sociological service Viktor Nebozhenko; Head of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko (8/5a Reitarska Street). The broadcast will be available on the YouTube channel of Interfax-Ukraine. Due to quarantine restrictions, the number of places in the press center is limited, the presence of a PCR test or a certificate of vaccination is required. Admission of journalists requires registration on the spot. KYIV. Jan 27 (Interfax-Ukraine) Today, the fate of Georgia is being decided in Ukraine as well, believes Nona Mamulashvili, a member of the Georgian parliament and a representative of the opposition. "Today, the fate of our country, Georgia, is being decided in Ukraine. Who better than Georgia to know how terrible it is to fight with Russia, what Russia is capable of and what an insidious country it is," she said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday. According to her, what is happening in Ukraine today is what happened in Georgia in 2008. "We have one enemy, and it is important that we fight this enemy together," the parliamentarian said. She also called on representatives of the Georgian opposition to visit Ukraine. Among other things, Mamulashvili expressed support for the Georgian Legion, which has been on the territory of Ukraine since 2014. By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova Azerbaijan's traditional gowns has been discussed at the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation. The foundation's president Gunay Afandiyeva and the head of the Traditional Costumes Center, fashion designer Gulnara Khalilova exchanged views on joint projects aimed at promoting Azerbaijan's rich culture and traditions and the Turkic world as a whole. Gulnara Khalilova showcased Azerbaijani traditional costumes specially made for the foundation. Notably, the fashion designer presented her collection dedicated to Karabakh at the International Turkic Culture and Heritage Foundation last November. The collection, which originates from the epic "Book of Dede Korkut ", embodies the national traditions formed over the centuries. The traditional costumes reflect 12 historical cities of Karabakh - Aghdam, Aghdara, Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Khankendi, Khojaly, Khojavend, Kalbajar, Gubadli, Lachin, Shusha, Zangilan. The fashion collection celebrates liberation of Azerbaijan's territories previously occupied by Armenian occupants. Stunning national dresses have been successfully presented not only in Azerbaijan but also abroad. She also designed costumes for Azerbaijan's 2013 Eurovision representative Farid Mammadov and created a hand panel with the official mascots of the EuroGames. During the opening of Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, Champion of the European Games Ilham Zakiyev was in national dress, created by the designer which was a novelty in the history of the Olympic movement. Khalilova is the author of a number of books dedicated to the history of Azerbaijan national clothing. In 2014-2015 she worked as a teacher at the State Academy of Fine Arts. Since 2017, she has been teaching at Khazar University. The designer also heads the Women's Entrepreneurship Development Association. By Azernews By Vugar Khalilov Baku and Islamabad have discussed cooperation in bilateral and multilateral platforms, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reported on January 26. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Pakistani counterpart Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi praised the high level of development of bilateral ties in a variety of areas during a phone call. They emphasized that cooperation is carried out successfully on both the bilateral and multilateral levels. "Referring to the December meeting of the Azerbaijan-Pakistan Intergovernmental Joint Cooperation Commission in Baku, the sides stressed the importance of expanding cooperation in all areas," the ministry said. The ministers expressed satisfaction with the intensity of interactions between the two countries over the past year, both at the level of foreign ministries and other government agencies. The parties also talked about the 30th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relations, which will be celebrated in 2022. Furthermore, the ministers discussed the outcomes of the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's Council of Foreign Ministers, which was held in Islamabad on December 19, last year, and was dedicated to the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. The Pakistani foreign minister invited his Azerbaijani counterpart to the 48th meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to be held in Islamabad. The parties also discussed other regional and international issues of mutual interest. The parliaments of Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan have all signed the Baku Declaration on Cooperation. The document was signed on July 27, 2021, following a trilateral meeting of the speakers of the three countries' parliaments. In 2020, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Pakistan was $13.2 million, with $1.6 million in exports and $11.6 million in imports. The two countries' trade turnover was $3.1 million in the first quarter of 2021. Pakistan was one of the first countries to express political support for Azerbaijan during the 44-day war with Armenia in 2020. Amnesty International on Wednesday accused a powerful Libyan armed group of abuses against migrants and Tripoli residents. Last Wednesday, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli and Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem inaugurated the 52nd Cairo International Book Fair (30 June-15 July) at the Egypt International Exhibitions Centre (EIEC) in New Cairo. Held under the auspices of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, the fair is taking place in the summer instead of the winter as usual following a string of cancellations since the outbreak of Covid-19. The pandemic hit within two years of the first round of the fair to be held in its new, ultramodern venue in 2019 a move marking its 50th anniversary. The fair had been held at the Cairo International Fair Grounds in Nasr City, where it was dogged by administrative chaos and encroachment from outside the publishing industry in recent years, doubling as a working- to lower middle-class outing at the expense of book people. Many had opposed the move on the grounds that a new, remote location and the less would reduce the number of visitors to the fair, but the 2019 attracted an unprecedented 2,666,000 visitors and made for a more efficient, better organised and most importantly book-focused event. Held under the slogan In reading there is life, this year the fair brings together 1,218 publishers from 25 countries including Kuwait, Morocco, Bahrain, Palestine, the UK, Spain, Jordan, Lebanon, and Greece. It is housed in four spacious halls, but to ensure social distancing only 100,000 visitors were allowed in per day (the figure was raised to 140,000 on Monday. No launches or seminars are being held there, and many events are being organised online, a dedicated portal having gone live to that end. It provides tickets (the same person is allowed a maximum of four tickets on appropriately paced days) as well as online lectures and launches. As usual, the General Egyptian Book Organisation has joined forces with the Cairo Transport Authority to provide buses to reach the location of the Book Fair from different locations around Cairo. Mahmoud Abdel-Shakour, Habiba: Hekaya Hakaha Nadim (Habiba: A Tale Told by Nadim), Al-Karma Publishing House, 2021, pp180This is the first novel by the prolific literary and film critic Mahmoud Abdel-Shakour, author of, among other books, How to Watch a Film and Searching for a Knight: Mohamed Khans Cinema. It follows the love life of a journalist named Nadim, who falls virtually in love with Habiba, an online connection, and remembers his painful experience with the love of his life Youmna, a journalist at the newspaper where he used to work. Nadim describes how he joined the newspaper at a moment of despair, encouraged by the fact that it focused on economics, and after falling in love with Youmna wrote her a letter expressing his admiration for her column.The story is told in the third person but includes extensive stream of consciousness sections, and the protagonist emerges as a kind of observer of life. Neither Youmna nor Habiba agrees to have an actual relationship with him. But, drawing on The Ring of the Dove, Ibn Hazms famous treatise on love, his discourse raises serious and complicated questions about pain and passion, and how necessary vulnerability is to art. Hassan Abdel-Mawgoud, Al-Bashar wal Sahali (Humans and Lizards), The Egyptian-Lebanese Publishing House, 2021, pp155Al-Bashar wal Sahali is a collection of ten short stories, beautifully illustrated by Amr Al-Kafrawi. It combines myth with reality to depict the endless struggle between human and animal in a seemingly primitive village. Every story features a different beast.The Boar: Adonis Returns to the Palace is set in a village where boars are cursed. Only Copts can cook boar meat while Muslims are disgusted even by the smell. A boy from a Muslim home dreams of tasting the meat. He tells his schoolmate and secret sweetheart Maha the story of Adonis and the boar so as to convince her father, Zarif to accompany him to the Palace of the Boars.In another story, a blessed child who knows he will become a prophet at 40 (the age of prophecy in Islam) must decide on an animal symbol like all other prophets, and he chooses the lizard because it possesses a sacred key to heaven.Born in 1976 in Naj Hamadi, Hassan Abdel-Mawgoud has written two novels: Ain Al-Qitta (Cats Eye), which won the Sawiris Award in 2005, and Nasiyat Batta (Battas Corner), three collections of short stories: Al-Sahwo wal-Khataa (Forgetfulness and Error), Saq Wahida (Lone Leg) and Horoub Fatena (Alluring Wars, 2018), as well as a nonfiction book, Dheaab Monfareda (Lone Wolves, 2019). Mohamed Abul-Naga, Al-Wassfa Al-Ghariba (The Strange Recipe), Tanmia Publishing House, 2021, pp288This is the second novel by the young Egyptian author Mohamed Abul-Naga, following his 2016 debut, Al-Barouny. It opens with an epigraph from Karl Marx: Human history is the history of looking for food. With chapters headed by year numbers, each opening with a kind of recipe, it tells the story of a displaced Nubian family searching for water and food who encounter a strange girl. She emerges from a cave of decaying bodies. She is the only survivor among her people, and it is thanks to the fact that she can live without food. The story is about death, difference and fate, and it puts a new spin on ancient and perennial themes. Jalal Barjas, Dafatir Al-Warraq (The Booksellers Notebooks), The Arabic Institute for Research and Publishing, 2021, pp366The winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF, or the Arabic Booker) this year, this book is set between Jordan and Moscow over the period 1947-2019. Its protagonist Ibrahim is a schizophrenic bibliophile who owns a small kiosk selling books in Jordan. He lives with his brother who has a tendency to go missing.After a seven-month disappearance Ibrahims brother returns to hang himself in the kitchen. His kiosk ends up being removed, he loses his source of income and ends up on the street. Ibrahim begins to imitate the lives of his books heroes. A voice in his head directs him to avenge his brothers death by killing all those he hated, including neighbours and friends.The book, which doubles as a critique of capitalism and injustice, takes the form of notebooks with multiple narrators.Born in 1970, Barjas is the head of the Jordanian Narrative Laboratory and hosts a radio programme, House of the Novel. His short story The Earthquakes (2012) won the Jordanian Rukus Ibn Zaid Uzayzi Prize. Dreamers Guillotine (2013) won the Jordanian Rifqa Doudin Prize for Narrative Creativity in 2014, and Snakes of Hell won the 2015 Katara Prize for the Arabic Novel, in the unpublished novel category, and was published by Katara in 2016. His third novel Women of the Five Senses (2017) was on the IPAF long list in 2019. Hisham Al-Khashin, Bel Hebr Al-Azraq (With Blue Ink), The Egyptian-Lebanese Publishing House, 2021, pp216This novel opens with an excerpt from the diaries of Sydney Boyd, a secret agent who, posing as a journalist, sets out to meet an old British woman who spent most of her life in Egypt, Lydia Stone. Stone was a nanny who joined the palace of the Egyptian prince Mustafa Bahgat Fadel, and wrote letters to a man named Henry all through 1869-1914; her story is juxtaposed with that of Nazli Fadel, the founder of a cultural salon in Egypt and, following her sister moving to Tunisia with her husband, another salon in Tunis.Set in London, Constantinople, Paris and Cairo, the book brings to life a number of real-life historical characters, imagining how they lived and experienced the period.Born in 1963, Hisham Al-Khashin studied engineering but started his career as a writer in 2010 when he published his first collection of short stories, Hekayat Masriya Gedan (Very Egyptian Tales). His novels include Ma Waraa Al-Abwab (Behind Doors), 7 Days in Tahrir (both in 2011), Grafit (2014), Hadatha fi Berlin (It Happened in Berlin, 2018) and Shelet Libon (Libon Group, 2020). Haji Jabir, Rimbaud Al-Habashi (The Abyssinian Rimbaud), Takween Publishing House, 2021, pp263Set at the end of the 19th century in the Ethiopian city of Harar while Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) was there, this is the story of how Rimbaud meets Almaz, a secretly Christian khat seller who agrees to visit him daily to teach him Arabic on the understanding that he would teach her French. Almaz falls in love with Rimbaud, who remains of oblivious. But she never stops searching his private papers for any mention of her. At one point a man whose love for her is unreciprocated makes an appearance at one point, confronting Rimbaud.Born in 1976 in the city of Massawa on the Red Sea coast, Haji Jabir is Doha-based Eritrean writer. He has published four previous novels: Samrawit (2012), which won the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity; Fatmas Harbour (2013); The Spindle Game (2015), longlisted for the 2016 Sheikh Zayed Book Award; and Black Foam (2018), which won of the Katara Novel Prize in 2019 and was longlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction (Arabic Booker). Yasser Abdel-Latif, Moussim Al-Awqat Al-Alia (High Times Season), Al-Kotob Khan Publishing House, 2021, pp182This is a collection of seven short stories that vary greatly in length. The title story is the first, and it involves the hanging of a rapist in a notorious real-life case. Ranging widely from the Cairo suburb of Maadi to Stuttgart, where a Syrian refugee tells her story, these largely real-life narratives capture the grotesque and the lyrical in ordinary situations.Born in 1969, and based in Edmonton, Canada since 2010, Yasser Abdel-Latif writes poetry, short stories and novellas, and translates from several different languages. Two of his books, the novella, Qanoun Al-Weratha (The Law of Inheritance) and the short story collection Younis Fi Ahshaa Al-Hout (Jonah in the Belly of the Whale) won the Sawiris prize. Ezzat Al-Qamhawi, Ghorbet Al-Manazil (Alienation of Houses), The Egyptian-Lebanese Publishing House, 2021, pp207This novel, the latest by Ezzat Al-Qamhawi, traces the lives of a number of different characters brought together by the accident of living or working in the same building. Their tales of love and fear have only the flimsiest connection to each other, but through setting and mood they manage to create a whole. They include an aging gynaecologist who falls from a young woman, and a historian who gives up his practice as the pandemic hits.Born in 1961, Al-Qamhawi graduated from Cairo Universitys Faculty of Mass Communication in 1983. He has published 14 books, most recently the novel Ma Raah Sami Yacoub (What Sami Yacoub Saw, 2019) and the creative nonfiction book Ghorfet Al-Mosafereen (Passengers Room, 2020). He won the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for his Beit Al-Deeb (House of the Wolf) in 2012. Nasser Iraq, Ayam Hesteriya (Hysterical Days), Al-Shorouk Publishing House, 2021, pp208The hero of this book, Nabil, is a famous author in his late fifties, divorced, and suffering from a trauma following a house fire which he braved alone. His fear of solitude drives to marry Nesma, a selfish woman and sedatives addict in her forties. Through this seemingly simple situation, the author tackles countless of existential questions about love, death, and human relations.The Dubai-based Nasser Iraq graduated from Cairo Universitys Faculty of Fine Arts in 1984. He is the co-founder and the managing editor of Al-Thaqafiya magazine. His books include A History of the Journalistic Art in Egypt (2002), Times of Dust (2006), From Excess of Love (2008), The Green and the Damaged (2009), The Unemployed (2011), which was on the IPAF short list in 2012, Al-Azbakeya (2016), which won the Katara Prize, and Al-Lokanda (The Inn, 2020), his latest. Ahmed Yamani, Al-Wadaa Fi Mothalath Saghir (Farewell in a Small Triangle), Merit Publishing House, 2021, pp169Eight years after his last collection of poems Montasaf Al-Hougrat (In the Middle of Rooms), the poet Ahmed Yamani comes back with a new collection of 89 poems that use the theme of love to address such topics as growing old, longing for home and finding spiritual fulfilment.Based in Spain since 2001, Yamani was born in 1970 in Cairo, and graduated from Cairo University in 1992; he eaerned his PhD in Arabic philology from Complutense University in Madrid.He has published Shawarie Al-Abyad wal Aswad (Streets of the Black and White, 1995), Taht Shagarat Al-Aila (Under the Family Tree, 1998), Wardat Fil Raas (Roses in the Head, 2001), Amaken Khateiaa (Wrong Places, 2008), and Montasaf Al-Hougrat (Middle Rooms, 2013), as well as one in Spanish translation, Refugio de huesos (Refuge from Bones, 2015). He has also translated numerous Spanish language writers into Arabic including Jose Angel Valente, Ruben Dario, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Miguel Casado, Agustin Porras and Roberto Bolano.In 2010, he was among the 40 best Arab writers under 40 chosen for the Hay Festival Beirut39 festival. *A version of this article appears in print in the 8 July, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Teachers and students over 18 must be vaccinated against Covid-19 before the beginning of the academic year Unvaccinated employees in the education sector including all public and private universities and schools and students aged 18+, must be vaccinated against Covid-19 before the new academic year begins next month, according to directives by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi. Minister of Health Hala Zayed said students and employees in the education sector will be prioritised and that the ministry intends to vaccinate 40 per cent of Egypts population by the end of this year. Students will be offered locally manufactured Sinovac. State-owned vaccine producer VACSERA has so far produced 10 million shots of the Chinese vaccine, and aims to increase manufacturing capacity to 15 million shots per month. The start of the academic year is set to coincide with the beginning of the fourth wave of the virus. We are currently experiencing a rising curve in infections. The Health Ministry reported 263 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, up from 255 the day before, said Zayed. Nour Ashraf, 21, a university student, says taking the vaccine is the right way to lead a normal life during school. Victoria, a teacher at the British School of Cairo (BSC), backs obligatory vaccines for all school staff and children above 18. Vaccines are safe and it is better for all of us to have them, it is the only way forward, she says. Some students, however, have reservations about being forced to get the jab. Reem Amgad, 20, a mass communication student at Misr International University (MIU), opposes making the vaccination compulsory, arguing that individuals should have the right to refuse a vaccine if they are sceptical about its efficacy and side effects. Hadeer Mahmoud, 20, agrees with Amgad, and points out that some people may have allergies. Universities will require proof of vaccination before staff and students are allowed on campus. Nadine Ahmed, head of admissions at ESLSCA University, says all students have been told by e-mail to provide proof of vaccination and those who refuse to get vaccinated will not be allowed onto the campus. Manal Salem, coordinator of the Health Ministrys Scientific Committee for Combating Covid-19, says university hospitals will be responsible for vaccinating freshmen students during the medical examination ahead of their first year. The same hospitals will also be responsible for vaccinating higher grade students who could not access the vaccine before the beginning of the academic year. The Health Ministry will be responsible for providing hospitals with sufficient quantities of vaccines and the necessary equipment. In order to facilitate the vaccination process the ministry has added a dedicated section for educational employees to its website, says Salem. In addition, the Ministry of Education is instructing all educators to log on to the website and register for vaccination before 7 September. Habiba Mohamed, an assistant professor at Cairo University, says making Covid-19 inoculations mandatory among university staff and students will hasten the return to face-to-face teaching. She notes that moving education online has resulted in weak results and a learning gap among students. *A version of this article appears in print in the 2 September, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: The Ministry of Education continued its efforts to modernise the Egyptian education system by introducing new techniques in teaching and examining K-12 students. The new system, which Education Minister Tarek Shawki has been working on since 2018, emphasises students ability to undertake research and use technology rather than memorise and learn by rote. In Junes Thanawaya Amma exams, rather than traditional essay questions, for the first time students answered a set of multiple-choice questions on bubble sheets, and were allowed to consult text books during the exam. The students, who sat three trial online exams between April and June, were told days before the actual exams that they would be answering the questions using bubble sheets, a technique which they had never tried. While 81.5 per cent of students passed their exams in 2019-20, last year the figure fell to 74 per cent. This year 154,000 students had to re-sit exams in one or two subjects, compared to 1,000 in the previous year. Lower grades this year have also led universities to reduce their minimum qualifications, in the case of medicine faculties from 97 per cent to 90.7 per cent. Around 500,000 students have complained about their grades and asked for regrading. While Covid-19 impacted heavily on the 2020-21 school year, with many schools closing and families refusing to send their children to school for fear of their falling sick, the Education Ministry made it clear that 2021-22 would be a regular academic year. Teachers and school staff were required to be vaccinated before the beginning of the year, and in November it was agreed with the Ministry of Health that students aged between 15 and 18 be given the Pfizer vaccine. Early in the year the 20 per cent on foreign ownership of private schools was removed in an attempt to attract investment to the sector. According to Reda Hegazi, deputy to the minister of education, LE130 billion is needed to establish new schools, an amount which the ministrys budget falls well short of covering. The education budget for the year 2020-21, says Hegazy, was LE157.58 billion, of which 94 per cent was spent on salaries. Limited resources were reflected in images of students sitting on the floors of overcrowded classrooms that went viral at the beginning of the school year, placing Shawki under fire. The Ministry of Education also says there is a nationwide shortage of 320,000 teachers across Egypts 57,000 schools, and announced in October it was hiring part-time teachers for the 2021-22 school year to make up for the shortage. Part-time applicants, who should be less than 50, will teach a maximum of 24 classes a week, and be paid LE20 per class. In addition to using the Knowledge Bank and the YouTube educational channels, students now have access to three specialised television channels, Madrasetna (Our School) 1, 2 and 3. Launched in 2021, the channels cover the primary, preparatory, and secondary curricula. Shawki revealed earlier this month that the three branches of the current Thanaweya Amma system science, mathematics, and arts will be merged into two by academic year 2022-23. The science and mathematics sections will be joined, allowing all science students to obtain the mathematical knowledge required for their preferred university majors, said Shawki. The minister said the curricula will be changed in a number of subjects to avoid overburdening students. Dozens of MPs have tabled questions requesting details of the changes. Meanwhile, on 7 December the cabinet approved amendments to Law 126/2006 penalising parents who fail to send their children to school. They could now face a fine of LE500-LE1,000, and their access to public services be curtailed should the offence be repeated. Egypts constitution stipulates free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of six and 15. *A version of this article appears in print in the 23 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt will focus on meeting the obligations of the Paris Agreement on climate change and explore how the private sector and NGOs can play a role in financing green investments during COP27, which Egypt is set to host this year, said Egypts Foreign Minister and COP27 President Designate Sameh Shoukry. Shoukry made his statements during the AmCham in Egypts two-day forum, which kicked off on Monday under the title Building Momentum to the UN COP 27 Strengthening Public-Private Sector Collaboration on Climate Challenge. Shoukry said that Egypt is committed to working hand-in-hand with all parties to address climate change and its related negative impacts and to ensure the availability of sustainable and credible investments required in this regard. The minister also noted that COP27 will build on the momentum of COP26, which was held in Glasgow in October 2021. Shoukry asserted the need to push forward all efforts to meet climate action goals by 2030 by closely collaborating with the business community on the global and domestic levels. He also affirmed that Egypt is working closely with the US business community in the same area. During the event, Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly showcased the governments efforts on climate action, which include legislating new laws and amending existing ones to support green investments, setting environmental regulations for all business entities in the country, issuing MENAs first-ever green bond at $3.7 million, enacting a waste management law that encourages investors to pump investments in this area, and including green finances in the action plans and policies of banks operating in Egypt. The First US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Action John Kerry said that the world is not on a good track in terms of dealing with the severe impacts of climate change, adding that the current usage of coal is responsible for about 90 percent of the warming issue. Kerry noted that even though natural gas is important for green transition, the world needs to go faster and cleaner by capitalising on renewables and technology solutions to address climate change and to meet the goal of reducing the global temperature by 1.5 degrees by 2030. On COP26, Kerry said that countries that account for 65 percent of the global GDP have committed through this conference to meet its obligations on climate action. However, Kerry said the world does not have the ability to meet the 25 percent net zero goal by 2030 amid the ongoing challenges in terms of global supply chains, the spread of COVID-19 variants, and business disruptions. The business community has the ability to drive the green transition and to utilise its financing to reach innovative and good solutions for climate change. The private sector can structure the required financing for this transition and do what governments cannot do, Kerry explained. In this respect, Kerry asserted the need of collaboration between the private sector, banks, and financial institutions to secure the required finances going forward. He added that he has managed to conclude deals with six of the major banks in the US, including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, to secure investments totalling $4 trillion through 2030 for the sake of climate action. He also stressed that adaptation, mitigation, and finance are the major issues that all countries have to focus on in their climate action efforts. For her part, Suzanne Clark, the President and CEO of the US Chamber of Commerce, said that Egypt is uniquely positioned to host COP27 as a leading country in the region and the African continent. She also affirmed the role of the private sector in leveraging climate solutions and securing finances in this area. Clark pointed out that 2022 marks 100 years of diplomatic ties between Egypt and the US, stressing that the US in committed to backing Egypts efforts in addressing climate change. Mayron Brilliant, the Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, emphasised the role the private sector can play in leading the process of clean transition, especially in the energy sector, and driving forces to meet the UN2030 climate goals. Search Keywords: Short link: Kurdish-led forces hunted down jihadists hiding in the Gweiran prison Thursday, after the prison was hit by an Islamic State group attack a weak ago, as human rights groups appealed for urgent help for wounded inmates. Kurdish-led forces hunted down jihadists Thursday after retaking a Syria prison hit by an Islamic State group attack a week ago, as human rights groups appealed for urgent help for wounded inmates. Search operations across the sprawling complex in the city of Hasakeh found some jihadists still holed up in one wing of the prison a week after the brazen jailbreak attempt began. The assault and ensuing clashes around the prison left more than 200 people dead in the jihadists' most high-profile military operation since the loss of their "caliphate" nearly three years ago. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said they had retaken full control of Gweiran prison on Wednesday, ending six days of battles that turned the largest city in northeastern Syria into a war zone. In a statement on Thursday, the SDF said search operations inside the jail revealed "pockets of terrorists hiding in a northern section of the prison." It estimated that around 60-90 fighters were still holed up in one section of the jail and said that its forces have called on them to surrender. It said that 3,500 IS inmates have so far surrendered to its forces. In a statement overnight, the SDF said it was "chasing down IS cells on the southwestern outskirts of Hasakeh city". The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said "coalition aircraft targeted IS fighters hunkered down in areas around the prison overnight, killing at least seven." It said 151 IS jihadists, 53 Kurdish fighters and seven civilians had been killed in the six days of violence. The Kurdish authorities have insisted no inmates escaped from the compound but the Observatory has said significant numbers got away. 'Broader Crisis' Gweiran held an estimated 3,500 IS inmates, including around 700 minors, when the initial IS attack began with explosives-laden vehicles driven by suicide bombers. "The Kurdish-led forces' recapture of the prison ends this immediate deadly ordeal, but the broader crisis involving these prisoners is far from over," Human Rights Watch warned on Wednesday. "The US-led coalition and others involved need to quickly ensure that all prisoners, especially the wounded, ill and children, are safe and receive food, water and medical care," it added in a statement. Prisoners who surrendered were being transferred to safer facilities as operations in Gweiran continued, the SDF said. Kurdish authorities say more than 50 nationalities are represented in Kurdish-run prisons holding more than 12,000 IS suspects. The Kurdish administration has long warned it does not have the capacity to hold, let alone put on trial, all the IS fighters captured in years of operations. "I think we should not have been surprised, we have been warning about this for quite some time," UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council Wednesday when asked about the attack. The administration's foreign policy chief Abdulkarim Omar said it was up to the international community to put foreign jihadists on trial or repatriate them. The IS threat is "like a fireball, it gets more dangerous and complicated with time," he told AFP on Wednesday. The self-declared IS caliphate, established in 2014, once straddled large parts of Iraq and Syria. After five years of military operations conducted by local and international forces, its last rump was eventually flushed out on the banks of the Euphrates in eastern Syria in March 2019. Search Keywords: Short link: Kyrgyzstan accused Central Asian rival Tajikistan of firing on its troops Thursday in an outbreak of violence that comes after clashes at their contested border left dozens dead last year. "The Tajik side is using mortars and grenade launchers," in the attacks, Kyrgyzstan's national security committee said in a statement. The statement described the situation at the border as "tense", after an incident earlier in the day saw citizens of Tajikistan block a strategic road in the region. The road was later reopened, "but the situation worsened due to the use of weapons and fire by the Tajik side on the border units of" Kyrgyzstan, the statement said. Clashes between communities over land and water along the pair's long-contested border are regular occurrences, with border guards often getting involved. But the shooting that broke out last year between the two militaries, which left more than 50 people dead, was the heaviest fighting in years and raised fears that it might escalate into a wider conflict. Search Keywords: Short link: The Russian navy is to go ahead with live fire exercises off the coast of Ireland despite heightened tensions with the West over Ukraine, the Irish fishing industry said on Thursday. The drills, expected February 1-5 around 200 kilometres (130 miles) southwest of Ireland, had raised fears Irish fishermen would be unable to operate in the area -- in international waters but inside Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone. Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association (IFPEA) representatives held talks with Russian ambassador to Dublin Yury Filatov Thursday and a "fair deal" was reached for the drills and fishing to continue, the IFPEA's Brendan Byrne told AFP. The announcement came with relations between Russia and the West at their lowest point since the Cold War after Moscow deployed tens of thousands of troops on the border of Ukraine. Russia denies any plans to invade but last month demanded wide-ranging security guarantees from the West, including assurances Ukraine never be allowed to join the US-led NATO military alliance. Ireland is neutral and not a NATO member. IFPEA chief executive Byrne complained that the fishing industry "got no traction from the (Irish) government" in the discussions. Ireland's foreign and defence minister Simon Coveney, who represents Cork in southwest Ireland, has said they had no powers to prevent the exercises from taking place but had told Filatov they were "not welcome". "This isn't a time to increase military activity and tension in the context of what's happening with and in Ukraine at the moment," he said in Brussels on Monday. Byrne said Filatov was "extremely well informed about the difficulties the Irish fishing industry is in" and that there was "no intention on the part of the Russian navy to discommode the Irish fishing industry". "Through the discussion both sides could see a pathway whereby the naval exercises can continue uninterrupted and we can continue fishing on our traditional fishing grounds uninterrupted and that would be done by a buffer zone between both," Byrne said. "We're not getting involved in the politics of naval drills," he added, describing the area where the exercises are to be held as a "very lucrative and valuable fishing ground", particularly for shrimp. Search Keywords: Short link: The US supports Egypt in organising a successful United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP27) in November, said John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate. Kerry made the statement during a phone call with Egypts Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad. They discussed bilateral relations and Egypts preparations to host the climate change conference in Sharm El-Sheikh resort city later this year, the environment ministry stated on Thursday. Fouad and Kerry agreed on kickstarting cooperation in this regard by forming a joint action group between the US and the Egyptian ministries of environment and foreign affairs. They agreed on the importance of building on the outcomes of COP26, which was held in Glasgow in November 2021, the statement read. The two officials also agreed on working on implementing climate mitigation and adaptation actions, stressing the need for developed countries to fulfil their pledges to provide the necessary funding. In November 2021, Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called on developed countries during a speech delivered to the Glasgow conference to fulfil their pledge to provide $100 billion annually to developing countries to address the repercussions of climate change and to allocate at least half of all public climate finance to adaptation measures. Fouad and Kerry discussed the Egyptian-US cooperation programme within the framework of Egypt's National Climate Change Strategy 2050. The strategy was launched in November on the sidelines of COP26 to achieve five objectives, including fostering climate change action governance, increasing sustainable economic growth, strengthening adaptation and resilience, and enhancing scientific research. During the phone call, Kerry said the US is keen to cooperate with several countries, including Mexico, India, and South Africa, to support their efforts to counter the effects of climate change. Fouad and Kerry also discussed the prospects of the private sectors engagement in Egypts climate-related projects in the energy sector. Earlier this week, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Cairo will focus on meeting the obligations of the Paris Agreement on climate change and explore how the private sector and NGOs can play a role in financing green investments during COP27. Shoukry, the COP27 president-designate, made the remarks during a forum organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham) on Monday held under the title Building Momentum to the UN COP 27 Strengthening Public-Private Sector Collaboration on Climate Challenge. During the event, which was held with the virtual participation of Kerry, Shoukry highlighted the role played by the private sector to combat the repercussions of climate change and boost investments in the renewable energy and green economy sectors. Shoukry also affirmed Egypts aspiration to continue consultation with the US over this year, which marks the 100th anniversary of Egyptian-US diplomatic relations. Last week, Rola Dashti, the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), expressed the commissions keenness to coordinate with other UN bodies to present all the possible means of support to host COP27, including substantive and technical support. Dashti made the remarks during a meeting with Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in Cairo to discuss COP27 and several initiatives by the UN body on climate action. Last week, Patricia Espinosa, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Executive Secretary, said in a meeting with Shoukry that she is looking forward to cooperate with Egypt to ensure the success of COP27 and achieve positive results internationally. Search Keywords: Short link: By Azernews By Kiymet Sezer Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has received newly-appointed U.S. ambassador to Turkey Jeffrey Lane Flake, Yeni Shafak newspaper has reported. Flake expressed his delight at being in Turkey while presenting his credentials to Erdogan at the Presidential Complex, the report added. Flake arrived in Ankara, Turkey on January 7 to take over the diplomatic mission from former ambassador David Satterfield. Previously, Flake drew criticism for threatening Turkey during the congressional approval process. Ankara warned Flake that his appointment might not be accepted. Following the presentation of his letter of credence, Flake published an article on the website of the U.S. embassy in Ankara titled "Party politics ends at the water's edge". "Turkey is an indispensable ally, firmly attached to NATO, and an important partner in a volatile region. It is in our national interests to collaborate in order to counter very serious threats," Flake said in the article. Egypt reported on Wednesday 1,910 new coronavirus cases, the highest ever single-day toll of infections that has been reported so far since the start of the pandemic in February 2020, bringing the total infection tally to 415,468. Wednesday's figure is up from the country's all-time-high record of 1,809 cases recorded a day prior, according to the Ministry of Health and Population. The ministry also reported 29 coronavirus-related deaths over the past 24 hours nationwide, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 22,460. The statement added that 1,870 patients have been discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 349,427. Amid the continued increase in daily coronavirus infections over the past weeks, Egypt has implemented new coronavirus-related restrictions at airports, seaports, and land crossings to contain the spread of the Omicron variant. Egypt has included Merck's antiviral COVID-19 drug Molnupiravir in its coronavirus treatment protocol, acting Health Minister Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said on Wednesday, two days after the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) authorised the oral medicine for emergency use. Egyptian companies have already started manufacturing the Molnupiravir pills, Abdel-Ghaffar added during a cabinet meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Abdel-Ghaffar said Egypt has also secured deals to obtain doses of the Merck drug through UNICEF. Egypt has so far received a total of 136 million doses of the Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sputnik V vaccines, in addition to the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Abdel-Ghaffar noted. Egypt has administered over 63 million doses of the coronavirus vaccines, fully vaccinating over 25.3 million people since the start of the countrys vaccination campaign in early 2021. The country has also vaccinated around 37 million with the first dose and around 592,000 with booster shots, according to the ministry figures on Wednesday. Search Keywords: Short link: The 53rd edition of the annual Cairo International Book Fair saw a high turnout as it opened doors to the public on Thursday morning at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in New Cairos Fifth Settlement district amid tight coronavirus restrictions. This edition of the annual book fair, which will run daily from 10am to 8pm until 7 February, is organised under the auspices of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. The public queued in large numbers to attend the fair despite the cold weather spell that forced many to stay indoors. On Fridays, the fair will open at 1pm. Authorities have put in place tight security and coronavirus preventative measures including a mandate to wear face masks. In cooperation with the Cairo Transportation Authority, the fair is providing 11 bus lines from various stops in different parts of the capital, including Downtown Ramses Square, Misr El-Gedidas Hegaz Square, Nasr Citys Makram Ebeid District, Giza square, and Al-Azhar University in east Cairo. The 2021 edition of the fair, which was supposed to be held in January of the year as customary, was postponed to June 2021 instead due to the pandemic. Over a million visitors attended the fair in June, according to the culture ministry. Milestone in history of Book Fair Egypts Minister of Culture Ines Abdel-Dayem said the 53rd fair is a milestone in the history of the Cairo International Book Fair since holding the 2022 edition only six months after the 2021 one proves Egypts capability to overcome difficulties and that the pandemic that swept the world will not prevent us from celebrating culture through one of the oldest and largest fairs in the world. Inaugurated in 1969 and organised by the General Egyptian Book Organisation, the Cairo International Book Fair is one of the largest in the world and the oldest in the Arab world, bringing hundreds of book sellers locally and worldwide and receiving around 2 million visitors each year. The book fair was previously held since 1984 in the Cairo International Fair Zone in Nasr City but was moved in 2019 to a more spacious and better equipped International Exhibition Centre in New Cairo. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister Abdel-Dayem launched this year's edition of the fair on Wednesday under the slogan Egypts Identity: Culture and the Question of the Future. Various ministers and high-level officials attended the opening, including Algerian Minister of Culture and Arts Wafaa Chaalal, as well as a number of foreign ambassadors and intellectuals and media personnel. The Higher Committee of the book fair, which is headed by Haitham El-Haj, chose Greece as the guest of honour this year. Minster of Emigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram said choosing Greece as the guest of honour in this year's edition is a culmination of the historical and fa-reaching relations binding Egypt with Greece. Greece Ambassador to Cairo Nikolaos Garilidis affirmed during a conference on translation held on Wednesday his country's keenness to participate in the fair, adding that the Greek pavilion features numerous books in Arabic. President of the International Publishers Association Bodour Al-Qasimi highlighted during the conference the need for serious work to ensure that translators restore their high position in the world of culture, literature, and science. The late childrens writer Abdel-Tawab Youssef and late renowned writer and novelist Yahya Haqqi are the personalities of the year. The fair will showcase a hologram of Yahya Haqqi. Visitors can also watch one of Youssefs stories in 3D virtual dimensions. Prizes during the book fair will be bestowed upon the best Arabic publisher. The value of other prizes rewarded by the fair rose to EGP 40,000 from a previous EGP 10,000. Joining the 53rd edition As many as 1,063 Egyptian, Arab, and foreign publishers from 51 countries are participating in the 53rd edition of the fair, which comprises 900 pavilions. People seeking to attend the fair can book their tickets online through the book fairs website or through ticket windows at the fair headquarters for EGP 5 per ticket. Children below 12 years of age enter the fair for free. The website also allows online book purchases, where people can check books, order them, and receive orders within a week. Entering the book fairs pavilions does not require showing coronavirus vaccine certificates, but only vaccinated visitors will be allowed to attend the cultural seminars inside closed halls. Health plan for the fair The Ministry of Health and Population has allocated four mobile clinics and medical teams across the fair to provide services to the visitors, Health Ministry Spokesperson Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said on Wednesday. Two ambulances have been also deployed, including a self-sterilising unit to move coronavirus suspected cases during the event to hospitals, Abdel-Ghaffar said. A preventive medicine team will also be in charge of following up on the implementation of coronavirus preventive measures, including the sterilisation of all parts of the fair. Also, a medical booth will be stationed at the fair to provide awareness and medical advice to visitors and to secure preventive supplies, Abdel-Ghaffar said. Awareness banners will be distributed across the forum and short videos will be played in the fairs halls to spread awareness of what coronavirus prevention entails. There will also be two vaccination centres for visitors willing to receive coronavirus vaccine jabs inside the fair in addition to two bloodmobiles to collect blood donations. Search Keywords: Short link: Denmark will pull its small military force out of northern Mali after the West African country's transitional government said no permission had been given for them to deploy there, the Danish foreign minister said Thursday. The government in Bamako, under coup leader Col. Assimi Goita, on Wednesday told Denmark to withdraw its 90-person contingent, which arrived in Mali just a week earlier for a one-year deployment under a European counterterrorism operation. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod announced the pullout Thursday, following a briefing of parliament's foreign policy committee. The minister didn't provide a timeline. ``Last night, the coup generals (in Mali) sent out a public statement where they reiterated that Denmark is not welcome,'' he said. ``That we will not accept. We have therefore decided, after consultations in the foreign policy committee _ and there is backing there _ that we pull our troops out.'' The Danish contingent includes special operations soldiers, a surgical team and support personnel. Kofod also said Denmark will ``continue the good and close cooperation with our European allies'' and keep the pressure on Mali's rulers ``to get democracy back, to create safety for the population in Mali, to fight the terror groups.'' On Wednesday, the countries behind the 15-nation European Task Force Takuba that is in Mali on a counterterrorism operation said the Danish presence is legal, and called on Bamako ``to respect the solid grounds on which our diplomatic and operational cooperation is based.'' The statement expressed ``deep regret'' that Mali claimed the Danish deployment lacked a proper legal basis and consent from the Malian government. The Danish Foreign Ministry earlier had said Mali's former president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, had requested in 2019 that Denmark send troops to join the Takuba effort. But less than a year later, Keita was deposed in a military coup. The ministry said the Danish contribution also had been approved by the current transitional government led by Goita. Mali's government spokesman Col. Abdoulaye Maiga, said Wednesday that a Danish request to deploy troops had been under consideration but not approved. ``No agreement has authorized the deployment of Danish special forces as part of the Task Force Takuba,'' it said. After seizing power in August 2020, Goita initially pledged to uphold Mali's international agreements but recently has shown signs of reluctance, at one point even temporarily grounding U.N. peacekeeping flights in the north. Over the past 18 months, Goita has solidified his control, naming himself president of the government that was supposed to organize new democratic elections by the end of next month. Now Goita says that won't happen until 2024, prompting Mali's neighbors to impose punishing economic sanctions this month. Mali has been battling an Islamic insurgency in the north since 2012, and former colonizer France led a military operation in 2013 to force the insurgents from power in the major towns of northern Mali. Search Keywords: Short link: Israeli President Isaac Herzog will pay an official visit to Turkey in February, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Wednesday, hailing it as a chance to mend frayed relations with the Jewish state. "This visit could open a new chapter in relations between Turkey and Israel," Erdogan said in an interview with Turkey's NTV channel, adding that he was "ready to take steps in Israel's direction in all areas, including natural gas" Relations between majority-Muslim Turkey and Israel froze over after the death of 10 civilians in an Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla carrying aid for the Gaza Strip in 2010. In recent months, however, the two countries have been working on a rapprochement, with Erdogan, a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, holding telephone talks with Herzog and other Israeli leaders. The Turkish strongman had already said last week he was prepared to work with Israel on reviving an old project to ship Mediterranean gas to European clients via Turkey. His remarks came after the United States reportedly dropped support for a rival pipeline project involving Israel and Turkey's historic rival Greece. Turkey had strongly opposed the project, which was supported by the former administration of US President Donald Trump. Search Keywords: Short link: Envoys from Moscow and Kyiv on Wednesday committed to a fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine during talks in Paris and agreed to continue their discussions against the backdrop of warnings that Russia may be preparing to invade its neighbour. A Russian troop build-up close to the border with eastern Ukraine has raised fears the Kremlin is planning to intervene in its pro-EU neighbour to halt NATO's expansion in eastern Europe. A French diplomat said that more than eight hours of discussions brokered by France and Germany had sent a "good signal". A German government source later confirmed that the next round would take place in Berlin in the second week of February. An aide to French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed that the talks had been about resolving the separatist fighting in eastern Ukraine since 2014, not the threat of a Russian invasion. But "the question was whether the Russians wanted to signal a thaw", he said, adding that the "difficult" discussions had ultimately resulted in something positive. "In the current circumstances, we received a good signal," he said. For the first time since 2019, Ukraine and Russia agreed to sign a joint statement along with France and Germany about the ongoing conflict between Ukrainian forces and separatists in the east of the country. The four nations have been working towards reaching a peace deal for eastern Ukraine since 2014 and are known collectively as the Normandy Group. "However difficult the discussions have been since December 2019, the Normandy Group has been able to agree on several key points," the French aide said. The joint statement committed both sides to "an unconditional respect for the ceasefire" and also said that they would meet again in two weeks' time in Berlin. A 2014 ceasefire deal -- bolstered in 2020 -- helped end the worst fighting over two separatist regions in eastern Ukraine that has claimed some 13,000 lives. Western countries have been concerned that Russia could use a flare-up in fighting along the front between Ukrainian soldiers and separatists as a pretext to launch an invasion of its neighbour. 'Not Easy' The Kremlin's envoy Dmitry Kozak said the main outcome of the four-way talks was the agreement on keeping the ceasefire. He said that "despite all the differences in interpretations, we agreed that the ceasefire (in eastern Ukraine) must be maintained by all the parties in line with the accords". "We need a supplementary pause," he said. "We hope that this process will have results in two weeks." He said that the Berlin talks would take place at the same level as the Paris session, adding that for the moment a summit involving heads of state was "not on the agenda". "We hope our colleagues have understood our arguments and that in two weeks we will achieve results," said Kozak, who is also the deputy head of President Vladimir Putin's administration. He insisted that the situation in the east of Ukraine -- where pro-Russia separatists have declared breakaway regions -- and the tensions along the border were "two separate issues". Ukraine's envoy Andriy Yermak, speaking to reporters separately, said that the talks were "not easy". "The support for the sustainable ceasefire is extremely important," he said, adding that there were differences over the interpretation of the Minsk Agreement which ended the worst of the fighting in 2014. "The very important thing is that today's communique is the first meaningful document we managed to agree on since December 2019" when Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky met in Paris. Search Keywords: Short link: The UKs Standard Chartered Bank is poised to establish a fully-fledged banking operation in Egypt after obtaining the in-principal approval from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) on 27 September 2021, the bank announced on Thursday. The anticipated operation will be setting up a branch of the bank in Egypt instead of its current representative office. The bank is currently proceeding in accordance with the CBEs requirements and as per Banking Law no. 194 for 2020 in order to obtain the final approval for the branchs establishment. The move comes in light of the resilience and strength of the Egyptian economy, the bank said. Thanks to the wise leadership of the CBE, the banking sector has experienced great stability during the past few years, which enabled it to seamlessly manage various challenges, a statement by the bank said. It also added that the CBEs strategy established a successful framework centred on strengthening the sectors financial solvency, ensuring effective governance, implementing precautionary measures that led to maintaining financial support and high capital requirements that exceed the established minimum, as well as high liquidity ratios. This mirrored positively on the overall Egyptian economy, the bank noted. The Standard Chartered Bank a leading international banking group is a Limited Liability company based in the UK and owned by Standard Chartered PLC. It has a history of 165 years and currently serves clients in over 85 markets around the world. The Middle East, where the Standard Chartered Bank currently has a presence in nine countries, is a core part of the banks footprint, along with Asia and Africa. It is also a multi-award winner within Africa and the Middle East; the banks strong international network and its high financial capacity is well regarded by the business community and rated highly by international credit agencies. According to Law no.194 for 2020, the issued fully paid capital of a foreign bank that seeks to establish a branch in the domestic market must be no less than EGP 5 billion, while the capital dedicated to its branch activity must be no lower than $150 million or its equivalent in other currencies. The law also allows foreign banks to operate in the country without fear of prejudice in the rules of competitiveness or a monopoly. On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded Egypts real GDP growth projections by 0.4 percent in 2022 to 5.6 percent, up from the 5.2 percent the fund expected in October 2021. The IMF said that Egypt managed to do well amid the pandemic compared to oil-importing countries, adding that the impact of COVID-19 on the Egyptian economy has been well managed so far. It also noted that there is stronger data coming from Egypt in terms of economic performance that drove the revision of its real GDP growth without giving further details. Search Keywords: Short link: Russia furnishes over 40 percent of the natural gas Europe imports and in the event it invades Ukraine again those supplies could be at risk, throwing into question European countries's ability to keep the heat on in the dead of winter. Europe, which imports around two-thirds of its natural gas, has alternatives to replace some of what it currently buys from Russia. Moreover, experts judge it highly unlikely there would be a complete halt to Russian gas deliveries. The alternatives "There are pipelines from Norway, Algeria and Azerbaijan, but these countries don't have additional production capacity," said Thierry Bros, a specialist on the European gas market at Sciences Po university in Paris. That means Europe will need to turn to liquefied natural gas (LNG), which can be delivered by huge sea tankers from suppliers anywhere in the world. Washington is helping Europe find alternative supplies to cover a majority of Russian imports, and US President Joe Biden will host Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the White House next week. For LNG supplies, "the three giants today are Qatar, Australia and the United States," said Vincent Demoury, head of the GIIGNL international trade association of gas import firms. "So it's mostly these three countries which have the flexibility to produce more, or to switch to Europe volumes which traditionally go to other markets," he said. LNG only a partial solution "We can't replace all the Russian gas with LNG," noted Thierry Bros. That is because the ports and regasification facilities in Europe (UK included) can only handle 19 billion cubic meters (bcm) per month. The are currently handling about 8 bcm per month, which means they could take another 11 bcm per month. That would be able to compensate for most of the 14 bcm per month that Europe is currently receiving from Russia. But Demoury said it is one thing to look at capacity on an annual basis, and another to look at it in the middle of winter when the utilisation rate of LNG terminals is much higher. If Spain and Britain LNG terminals currently have sufficient spare capacity, said Demoury, French terminals are saturated. Unlikely Russia turns off taps Europe's gas reserves are weak for winter and imports from Russia are at historic lows for the month of January. But would Russia completely cut off supplies? "A full suspension of gas exports remains the least likely scenario," said analysts at Eurasia Group. Such a move "would carry severe long-term risks to Russia's financial stability and its political leverage in Europe as the EU would likely respond by aggressively diversifying its energy supplies," they added. Thierry Bros said "the Russians don't have any interest in halting deliveries" completely. Other than Moscow's interest in having money continue to flow into its coffers, maintaining some deliveries "would allow it to create divisions in Europe" as it could continue to supply certain countries like Germany while cutting off others such as Poland and Lithuania. While that would create political problems for Europe to manage, it would help it get by with additional LNG shipments. Search Keywords: Short link: Al-Ahram Weekly reviews a new book which provides hitherto unknown details of the upheavals Egypt passed through between 2011 and 2013 Yasser Rizk, the former board chairman of Akhbar Al-Youm press organisation, has released a book on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of the 25 January 2011 Revolution which led to the ousting of Hosni Mubarak from power. According to Rizk, a military correspondent for more than 20 years, The Years of Khamaseen: Between the Anger in January and Salvation in June, tells the story of the period between the 25 January Revolution which led to the removal of Mubarak from office and the overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. (Khamaseen is the annual sand storm which hits Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula and Syria, Lebanon, , and Palestine in March and April.) They were the most dramatic three years in Egypts modern history, says Rizk. As a journalist and an eyewitness, I was keen to record firsthand memories of the tumultuous events and expose secrets which very few know. The book, he adds, is less about recording the history of Egypt during a very critical period than showing future generations how they were about to lose their country to an irresponsible group. The volume is intended to be the first part of a trilogy about Egypts Second Republic. After throwing off the rule of the Mohamed Ali family in July 1952, Egypt was officially declared a republic on 18 June 1953. On 25 January 2011 this republic came to an end and after a two-year transitional period a new republic was declared on 30 June 2013, when the Egyptian people revolted to force the Muslim Brotherhood regime out of office, says Rizk. The first of the books seven chapters chronicles the fall of the first republic. The uprising against the Mubarak regime in February 2011, says Rizk, was no surprise to the Egyptian army. Rizk reveals that in April 2010 a year ahead of the revolution Mubaraks minister of defence Mohamed Hussein Tantawi received a classified report from Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi, then chief of Military Intelligence, warning that public discontent against the ruling regime was rampant. The report referred to corruption and Mubaraks grooming of his son, Gamal, as his successor as the main reasons for the simmering discontent, and noted that, after almost 30 years in power, Mubarak had lost interest in governing Egypt. According to Rizk, Al-Sisis report informed Tantawi that after the death of his grandson last year (June 2009) President Mubarak lost interest in power and on his 83rd birthday on 4 May 2010 he intends to resign from office and call elections which see his son Gamal succeed him. The report warned that the planned inheritance scenario will face two obstacles, mass public protests and rejection by the Armed Forces. Al-Sisis report predicted that the police would be unable to contain the outpouring of public anger and that the army would be called in, an event for which we should prepare for from now. The uprising Al-Sisi expected on Mubaraks birthday in 2011 came four months early because, says Rizk, of the rigging of parliamentary elections in November 2010, and the outbreak of the Tunisian revolution which led to the overthrow of president Zein Al-Abidine bin Ali on 14 January 2011. As presidential correspondent for Al-Akhbar newspaper between 1989 and 2008, Rizk had covered Mubaraks foreign visits and press conferences. Mubarak used to get annoyed whenever he was asked why he had not appointed a vice president, writes Rizk. Then, after his son Gamal entered politics in 2000, whispers began about an inheritance project, and Mubarak had refused to name a vice president. As a result, Tantawi and the then chief of [General] Intelligence Omar Suleiman met with Mubarak in early 2009 to warn him of such a course. Ignoring the warnings, and following the death of his grandson in May 2009, Mubarak allowed his son Gamal to act as a caretaker president. Rizks first chapter also repeats the theory that the 25 January uprising was an American conspiracy. The first step in this direction, he writes, came when US president Barack Obama delivered a speech in Cairo University in June 2009. Rizk cites Obamas own book, The Promised Land, as providing evidence for how Washington pressured Mubarak to allow the speech to be delivered at Cairo University, and subsequently step down in 2011. The second chapter, The First Transition, spotlights the growing political role of Al-Sisi. Even though I had served as a military correspondent for 23 years, my first meeting with Al-Sisi was in March 2011, a month after Mubaraks resignation, writes Rizk. He was struck by how Al-Sisi was keen to show himself to journalists not only as a senior military officer but also as a national leader. The third chapter, The Republic of Mirage and the Group of Treachery, recounts how Al-Sisi reacted when the Muslim Brotherhoods candidate Morsi was elected president in June 2012. When Morsi was officially declared the winner, I called Al-Sisi by phone, asking for a comment, writes Rizk. I asked Al-Sisi whether he thought Morsi would be able to free himself from the Muslim Brotherhoods tight grip and the control of its supreme guidance office. Al-Sisis answer was very significant: he said the question is not will he be able, but whether he really wants to free himself from the groups control. The third chapter deals with Morsis appointment of Al-Sisi as minister of defence. Al-Sisi was completely unaware that it was Tantawi who nominated him to be his successor, writes Rizk. On 12 August 2012 Morsis presidential spokesperson announced that Morsi had decided to send Tantawi and chief-of-staff Sami Anan into retirement, and had chosen Al-Sisi as the new minister of defence. The army was unhappy with Morsis decision to dismiss Tantawi, but at the same time it was pleased that one of their men Al-Sisi had been named as the new minister of defence, writes Rizk. On his way out from Al-Ittihadiya presidential palace, Tantawi told Al-Sisi: You are very dear to me and you are the best to replace me as minister of defence God bless you. Chapter four, The Beginning of the End, recounts how public opposition to Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood placed Morsi and Al-Sisi on a collision course. The beginning of the end of the Muslim Brotherhood regime came on 22 November 2012, writes Rizk, when the Muslim Brotherhood pushed Morsi to issue a constitutional declaration placing his decrees beyond judicial review, even by the Supreme Constitutional Court. On 12 December, Morsi asked Al-Sisi to mobilise the army to disperse thousands of citizens who had gathered around the Al-Ittihadiya presidential palace to protest against the constitutional decree. Al-Sisis response was it is impossible for the army to do this. Morsi then tried to pressure Mohamed Zaki, the current minister of defence and then leader of the Presidential Guard, to disperse the protesters. Zaki also refused, saying the role of the Guard was limited to protecting the presidential palace from infiltration. On 2 March 2013, four months after the start of protests against Morsis rule, newly-appointed US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Egypt and met with Al-Sisi. At the end of the meeting, Kerry asked Al-Sisi how he assessed these people [Morsi and the Brotherhood]. Al-Sisis response was Game Over, writes Rizk. Chapter five, The Fall of the Republic of Mirage, contains an account of a 25 June 2013 confrontation between Al-Sisi and Khairat Al-Shater, the Muslim Brotherhoods deputy supreme guide and de-facto leader of the group. On 23 June, an army statement warned that Egypt was facing civil war and that there must be dialogue between Morsi and opposition political forces, and that the army was willing to give a grace period of seven days for this dialogue to be initiated, says Risk. On 24 June, Al-Shater and Saad Al-Katanti [chairman of the Muslim Brotherhoods Freedom and Justice Party] asked for a meeting with Al-Sisi and on 25 June it took place. Al-Shater talked uninterrupted for 45 minutes, at the end of which he threatened that Egypt would sink into terrorism and violence if the Muslim Brotherhood was forced from office. In response, Al-Sisi, with red eyes, shouted at Al-Shater, What do you want, you want to either rule us or kill us? First digest what you have eaten before you ask for more food You did a lot of damage to this country and made the people hate religion You are the enemies of Islam and I will not let you terrorise people, and I swear that I will send to hell whoever shoots a citizen or comes close to a military installation. After moments of deadly silence, Al-Katanti asked Al-Sisi: So what do you want? Al-Sisi replied, I have sent three reports to the president about the current dangerous situation, asking him to solve his problems with Al-Azhar, the Church, the judiciary, the media, and public opinion before conditions spin out of control. On the same day, 25 June, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) held an urgent meeting, after which they requested a meeting with Morsi. Morsi was asked to respond to popular demands by changing the government and the prosecutor-general ahead of 30 June, and to use a public speech scheduled for the next day, 26 June, to declare a period of reconciliation with the people. On the morning of 26 June, Al-Sisi held a two-hour meeting (between 11am and 1pm) with Morsi, asking him to do his best to use his speech to contain public anger. Morsi promised to do so. The speech, scheduled for 7pm, was delayed by two hours. As Al-Sisi and army commanders were listening to the speech, they knew immediately why it had been delayed. By the time Morsi finished his rambling address at 12pm, he had broken all his promises to Al-Sisi. Al-Sisi, who was taken by surprise, concluded the Muslim Brotherhood would never stop manipulating Morsi, writes Rizk. On 28 June, Morsi and Al-Sisi met for the last time. Al-Sisi presented Morsi with a strategic report. This was the fourth, and last, report to be submitted by Al-Sisi to Morsi, writes Rizk, who reveals that on 29 June, the then US ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson, accompanied by chief of the American Military Assistance Office in Cairo, met with assistant minister of defence Mohamed Al-Assar, and informed him that American law prohibits the US administration from offering any military assistance to a state which leads a coup against a legally elected regime. After receiving the message from Al-Assar, Al-Sisi said: The American administration is mistaken if it imagines we will abandon the Egyptian people in return for $1.3 billion in American military assistance. The rest, as recounted in chapters six and seven, is history. *A version of this article appears in print in the 27 January, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: President Al-Sisi directs the Ministry of Education and Technical Education to appoint 30,000 teachers annually for the next five years to fill a shortage gap. As Egypt suffers a real deficiency in the number of school teachers, especially those of primary schools, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi last week instructed the Ministry of Education and Technical Education to appoint 30,000 teachers annually for five consecutive years. The problem of a teachers shortage in K12 education years surfaced at the beginning of the current school year in early October when Minister of Education Tarek Shawki asked for volunteers for LE20 an hour to fill in the gap resulting from the ministrys limited resources. Al-Sisi instructed the government to provide LE3.1 billion as additional incentives for teachers. The new teachers will be appointed through a competition, according to Mahmoud Hassouna, spokesman of the Ministry of Education and Technical Education. When the ministry finishes preparing and defining the technical and educational qualifications for choosing teachers, an official announcement on the contest will be made. Defining these qualifications is being worked on in coordination with the Central Agency for Organisation and Administration, Hassouna said. The results of the contest will be announced within two months and teachers will be chosen mainly from among graduates of the faculties of education, those who hold a diploma in education, and those who have previously served as part-time teachers, explained Hassouna. Fulfilling the needs of teachers for the schools, part of the Decent Life initiative, will be included in the competition, Hassouna said, adding that the contest will be public and open to all. Abdel-Raouf Allam, chairman of the Supreme Council of Education Trustees, praised President Al-Sisis directives, saying the shortage in the number of teachers ranges from between 200,000-300,000. By appointing 30,000 teachers annually for five years means a total of 150,000 teachers. This would help in developing the education sector, Allam said. According to Allam, the shortage of teachers had reached a stage where it was necessary to come up with complete and radical solutions. The new appointments reveal the governments high awareness of the problems which the education system is suffering from, Allam added. Educational expert and professor at Ain Shams University Mohamed Fathallah noted that according to the Egyptian constitution the government should allocate six per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to developing the education sector, four per cent for pre-university education and two per cent for higher education. But the government has allocated only 2.4 per cent to the entire educational system. This year the government has allocated LE56 billion for school education. Most of the money goes to salaries with very little invested in new schools and training teachers. According to Fathallah, the country needs at least 30,000 more classrooms. Figures from the Information Systems and Decision-Making Support Centre put the overall number of schools in Egypt at 57,749, with 518,553 classrooms for 24,403,924 students. There are currently one million teachers. *A version of this article appears in print in the 27 January, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the Near and Middle East of the International Committee of the Red Cross, tells Al-Ahram Wekly there can be no end to violence without political will. Fabrizio Carboni has been regional director for the Near and Middle East of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since September 2018. He was head of the ICRC delegation in Lebanon for four years before taking over as the head of the delegation in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2017. Carboni was in Cairo on a four-day visit to meet officials in Egypts foreign and health ministries. What is the aim of your visit to Egypt? For the ICRC, Egypt is a very important country. We have a long history dating from World War II when we visited detainees in Egypt. Today, Egypt is a country that has a unique position for us. It has one foot in Africa, one in the Middle East and one in the Mediterranean. It is a kind of a crossroads. When you look at the map or at the Egypts neighbours you see the challenges. The ICRC has important operations in Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia and Gaza. It is key for us to have dialogue with Egypt which is trying to play a constructive role in all these areas. The authorities in Egypt are interested in the law of armed conflict and in humanitarian action, issues that we discuss with universities, the armed forces and government bodies. It is the responsibility of the ICRC to promote and develop the law of armed conflict and help states that want to improve their knowledge of international humanitarian law. It is also interesting for us, as an organisation, to hear what states have to say about the challenges around the law, how it can be integrated and how it can be applied. We count a lot on Egypt in Geneva and New York. Egypt plays an active role in promoting humanitarian values. We also have constructive relations with the Egyptian Red Crescent, an important partner for us. We managed, in cooperation with the Egyptian Red Crescent, to support people affected by the situation in North Sinai and we hope to do more. We started by food distribution but now we work on what we call livelihood, that is to help the poorest families develop their own business and have the capacity to be autonomous. It is important to give people the opportunity not to rely on humanitarian support. You took part in the World Youth Forum in Sharm El-Sheikh earlier this month, and talked about climate change. How does climate change affect people, particularly during conflicts? If you look at the countries most affected by climate change, you will see an overlap with countries affected by conflict. When conflicts take place, the climate crisis can make the situation even worse. Take the situation in Yemen where there is conflict, but also falling levels of water. The challenge for the ICRC, on one hand, is to help people face and adjust to the climate change, and on the other to ensure the impact of our work does not aggravate the climate crisis. This is a problem. Money to tackle the climate crisis, whether from the private sector or states, does not go to areas affected by conflict. The paradox is the people who need that climate money most are the ones not receiving it because it is more difficult and riskier to invest in conflict zones. You have said that in places like Yemen and Syria, which have millions of people who need a safer life, more food, and better access to health care peoples basic needs remain unfulfilled. Why is this? I am convinced that if people work, provide for their families, have access to education and healthcare, most will not fight. Yet what we see in the region is that these basic have often not been met. After 10 years of conflict the level of violence has probably decreased a bit, but the reasons why people fought in Iraq or Syria have not been addressed. If you look at the health system and the provision of water or electricity, it collapsed in these countries. The level of violence may have decreased, but the individual experience of people has never been as dramatic as today. If you look at Syria, 90 per cent of the population live below poverty line. Ten years ago Syria was, in terms of development and economy, one of the more advanced countries in the region. Security is important, but if individuals dont feel the difference, there is a problem. This is why we always ask states that have an interest in these countries not to abandon them but to continue investing and making sure peoples minimum needs are met. If we forget about people, they will find a way to draw our attention, and that may be unpleasant. How do you deal with the humanitarian consequences of years of conflict in a country like Syria? Countries that host displaced Syrians need to be supported. It is not just a matter of money. Lebanon, for example, is hosting 1.5 million refugees though its population is just four million. Many Syrians would love to return, but they need services, security, and they need to rebuild their houses. This means a lot of investment is needed to stabilise and rehabilitate and, at a later stage, rebuild. If you want people to go back, then you need to build the conditions that can allow them to return. If, for political reasons, there is no will for rehabilitation and reconstruction, it is unlikely that people will return to destroyed houses in areas where there are no basic services. ICRC can do its bit as far as maintaining infrastructure is concerned, but we cannot replace the political mechanism. How are you coping with the Covid-19 pandemic, and what efforts are you making to ensure vaccines reach vulnerable populations? If you ask in the streets of Aden or Sanaa what the biggest threats are that people face no one will mention Covid. While it is important to focus on the impacts of the pandemic, we should not forget that for the poorest people providing food for their families is a greater challenge. At the beginning of the pandemic the guidelines were: wash your hands, stay at home, socially distance. But in a detention camp in Iraq, among the displaced in Syria, if you are in Yemen or in a poor neighbourhood of Tripoli in Libya, people will tell you there is not enough water. They will say, you want me to socially distance, then tell me how. Yes, this pandemic is very important, but the people issuing instructions on how to deal with it need to take account of the living conditions of the most vulnerable groups. Of course, we need to do more to make sure the vaccine reaches the poorest places. But people also do not trust the vaccine. We need to build their trust. How can you cooperate with regional organisations in Yemen to ease peoples suffering? The situation in Yemen is dramatic. People will need assistance and support for many years to come. The conflict we see today is just one aspect of Yemens vulnerability as a country. In Yemen there are also floods, low rainfall, the level of water decreasing, a mix of heat and humidity that make some areas difficult to live in, there is under investment and the economy is almost non-existent. We need to urgently stop the conflict because there are so many other issues to address. The ICRC cannot solve conflicts. To do so requires political will. Our job is to work on the frontline and help the displaced and wounded. We do that with the Yemeni Red Crescent. We have surgical teams and provide medical supplies. We offer an emergency response. Often people are displaced multiple times. Alongside providing emergency services, we try to maintain health and water systems. We have active in Yemen for more than 50 years. There are long-term issues that need to be addressed. One thing we are doing is helping people to be autonomous, and provide for their families. Rather than giving a bottle water to everyone, we prefer to work on improving the water supply network. In Yemen, we also have an important role in detention centres. We organised the release of more than 1,000 detainees a year and a half ago. As an organisation, we try to build a relationship with all parties in a conflict and discuss any miscarriage of the law in confidentiality, away from the attention of the media and public pressure. What is the ICRC doing to ease the suffering of people in the Palestinian territories? We are in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. During the last escalation in Gaza, we were the only organisation active during the conflict. We try to be prepared for such events, even if in reality you are never ready because the scale of violence is such that it is hard to predict the consequences. The last escalation affected everybody. The centre of gravity was Gaza, but violence was taking place all over. I think if you want to summarise the Palestinian crisis it is an issue of hope. It is an open-ended occupation with no end in sight. It leads back to the same point. Where are the politicians? What are they doing? You cannot escape the fact you have to negotiate, so when is that going to happen? How many times are we going to rebuild Gaza? Everybody focuses on humanitarian action, but it cannot substitute for politics. Political solutions are needed. What about Iraq? You are going to open a rehabilitation centre there Yes, and I am very happy about that. When the guns stop we have to deal with the consequences of the violence. Mines, for instance, pose a threat for decades after conflict has ended. In Iraq, a huge number of people need physical rehabilitation. We have built a large centre in Irbil from scratch which will not only treat people but provide training in rehabilitation techniques. Lebanon is facing an economic crisis that is compounding the countrys difficult humanitarian problems. What is the ICRC doing to ease the situation? We were present in Lebanon before the 1975 Civil War. Hundreds of ICRC staff work there, and we have a long-standing relationship with the Lebanese Red Cross. The level of poverty is huge. When we started working in Lebanons largest public university hospital five or six years ago the majority of patients were Syrians or other impoverished migrants. Two years ago, Lebanese patients started coming. The level of poverty among Lebanese is skyrocketing. The situation needs a massive response, led by states or the international community. The needs are so great individual response will not work. There is no electricity. The water network desperately needs stabilising. People in the region are the best capital you can have, and with the right support people can do great things for the region. Although we are an international organisation, most of our staff are local nationals. The majority of staff in our Egypt office are Egyptians. In Syria, the majority are Syrians. They need to be given space to work. What about your plans for Libya? Libya has been in violence for more than a decade. Is there a credible political process or not? The impact on Libyans has been devastating. It is compounded by the migration crisis, people passing through Libya to Europe. Conflict and migration, it is really appalling. Elections have not taken place yet, though they are the only option to escape the fighting. Libya has everything resources, people to be a successful country, but you need to put an end to the violence. Around a million people in Libya receive either food or cash from the ICRC. Covid restrictions, however, are complicating our work. Our most recent focus has been on providing emergency assistance for 30,000 displaced persons. We are also working to stabilise the water system, and support 63 hospitals in Libya. *A version of this article appears in print in the 27 January, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: The demand for industrial property is set to increase in Middle East on e-commerce boom along with prime offices, which will remain core assets in major cities as employees return to their workplace, according to real estate expert Savills. The residential and industrial property will be the strongest real estate asset classes globally in 2022, stated Savills World Research team in its latest report. In an update to Impacts, its global research programme, Savills says that in the 12 months to November 2021 global real estate investment volumes rose 38% on the same period in 2020 to $1.3 trillion. The number of funds targeting real estate also reached new heights as investors sought to diversify income streams: 1,250 real estate funds targeting $365 billion in capital between them were identified in 2021, according to Preqin data, up from the approximately 1,000 funds that were active in 2020. Savills' World Research team suggests that the total investment volumes bounced back very strongly in 2021 as an increasing number of funds looked to invest into real estate. While global investment in the offices sector remains below pre-pandemic levels, volumes in the highly sought-after industrial sector rose 54%; this is likely to continue throughout 2022, it stated. According to Savills, the residential (namely multifamily, but also student and senior housing) became the largest sector for investment globally in 2021, overtaking offices for the first time. The international real estate advisor says that investors are increasingly attracted to residentials secure, income generating qualities, robust underlying demand, and resilience against technological disintermediation, but while strong activity will continue in 2022 a dearth of standing stock means that development will be the entry point for many. Closer to home, the following investment themes emerged for the Middle East. With population growth picking up again, especially in UAE and Saudi Arabia, residential development will continue to remain a key focus area in the region. Swapnil Pillai, Associate Director, Middle East Research, said: "Covid-19 accelerated trends that were already set in motion before the pandemic took hold. While industrial has emerged as a strong but natural winner as a result of a flourishing e-commerce sector, prime offices found favour once again across the Middle East markets as employees returned to the workplace." "As population growth picks up again, especially in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, residential development will continue to remain a key focus area," he stated. Paul Tostevin, the Director in the World Research team, said: "While the stats show offices were less loved than residential last year, despite the multitude of headlines about ecommerce growth they still made up a greater proportion of the global market than industrial." "With cross border investors, particularly in Europe, focusing on ESG strategies in 2022 were likely to see opportunities to redevelop, reconfigure and repurpose office stock into high-performing sustainable assets, while in much of Asia and the Middle East the office is still very much the backbone of working life," noted Tostevin. "Retail bricks and mortar, while maligned in some markets, is still at the heart of the consumer experience in China, for example, even with its extremely high online penetration rate, while in the West, pricing of some assets now looks competitive and 2022 may see more opportunistic investment in the sector," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The conflict in Ukraine is part of a renewed Western-Russian geopolitical rivalry, but it also has huge implications for the Arab world. As the rhetoric between the US and Russia over Ukraine grows more bellicose amid warnings that Russian President Vladimir Putin could at any point send tanks rumbling into the country, attention has been focused on Europe since the continent is spiralling towards its worst security crisis in decades. But in the Arab world the crisis is also raising questions about what the Arab regimes and public think of the current tensions, especially if they escalate into a fully-fledged war. Whether because of competition between rival global powers or its proximity to the Middle East, a war in Eastern Europe would have far-reaching consequences for the region and the Arab worlds security order. For many analysts, the situation in Ukraine is bad, and war is increasingly becoming a possibility. The grim assessment comes as Russia continues to send troops to Ukraines eastern border and neighbouring Belarus and the US and its Western allies are upping weapon supplies to Ukraine. US President Joe Biden last week triggered the alarm by saying that he expected Putin to order his troops into Ukraine. Biden warned that any movement of Russian units across the Ukrainian border would be taken as an invasion. For now, the US and Russia have agreed to keep diplomacy alive in their standoff over Ukraine, even as both sides continue to raise the military stakes on the ground and step up the rhetoric. The escalation has attracted global attention with most of the concern centred around Europe and its security. Little attention has been given to the costs that could be paid by other parts of the world if there is an uptick in military activities and possibly a war. One of these vital areas is the Arab world, where the rising tensions have ignited little debate as to whether the region risks becoming embroiled in a terrible quagmire in case of a flare-up in Eastern Europe. In the larger Middle East arena, Iran, Israel, and Turkey are facing similar consequences, and the three countries seem to be trying to figure out what the crisis could mean for their strategic choices. History could be useful in understanding these implications, since the Middle East suffered tremendously from the geopolitical rivalries of the major powers during the 20th century, particularly during the two world wars when the consequences for the Arab region were dire. More than a century after the end of World War I, its impact still echoes across the region both militarily and geopolitically and reverberates in the Arab worlds politics. The experience of both wars in the Arab region was far-reaching, and their political, social, and economic effects were deep and devastating. The former Ottoman Empire, which included most of what is now the Arab world, joined Germany through a secret alliance before World War I. Its objective was to recover territories lost during the Russo-Turkish wars and to thwart attempts by the British-French alliance to seize its Arab provinces. The impact of the war is still exceptionally strong in the region and was demonstrated in the political arrangements entered into immediately afterwards that eventually led to the emergence of the modern Arab states as well as to the aborted birth of the state of Palestine. Many of the newly independent states attained their present borders as part of the post-war colonial arrangements between the victors, and that carve-up has continued to haunt the region. During World War II, the Middle East again became an active theatre for some of the major battles between the allied forces and the Rome-Berlin Axis because the allies thought the Germans might invade the region. The war witnessed a major shift in the major powers strategic orientations towards a region which had increasingly become vital to their national security and other political and economic interests. With the Axis defeated and the armies of the wartime allies no longer on the field, the Cold War started, and the former allies began openly to disagree about the design of the post-War map and their strategic global outreach. The Arab world found itself sandwiched between competing agendas and interests as the superpowers vied to expand their influence, spread their ideological preferences, and achieve long-term ambitions in the region. The Cold War may have had various goals, but in the Middle East the US and its Western allies had a fairly straightforward objective: to entrench their influence as the dominant external power in the region and to prevent or limit the influence of the former Soviet Union. This history helps the Arabs to understand how this violent past is responsible for the current turmoil in the Middle East and that the current crisis in Eastern Europe cannot be taken for granted. However, the Arab world seems to be sitting out the growing crisis between the US and Russia, leaving the conflict to solve itself and prevent a war on its doorstep. There are debates on social media, but little attention is being paid by governments or experts on what a war over Ukraine could mean for the Arab world and the regions choices. The Arab countries seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place on the US-Russian standoff, and their diplomacy is attempting to walk a fine line amid the complexities of the Middle Easts new geopolitics and foreign-policy challenges. No one knows how the Arab regimes will assess the risks to their countries and the possible implications if the negotiations fail and Russia invades Ukraine. While a full-scale invasion will have serious consequences on a region that is not far away from the theatre of operations, even a limited war will remain consequential. Apart from the military actions, the conflict could also play out in any number of ways, including so-called cyber-attacks, hacking, and disinformation campaigns that could signify a return to Cold War policies implicating the Arab world. With a strong military, political, and economic presence in many Arab countries, Russia enjoys extensive ties in a region where it presents itself as an alternative partner compared to the Western powers that have been the predominant external actors and security guarantors over the past century. While the Arab governments have so far been reluctant to respond to the Ukraine crisis publicly, apparently to safeguard their bilateral relations and economic interests with both parties, many in the Arab street have been more receptive towards Russia. This attitude does not express a realistic calculus or reflect favourably on Russia but rather indicates a tendency to review Washingtons Middle East policies negatively and a desire to see the US challenged by a rival superpower. The ambiguity in the official Arab position on the Ukraine crisis will certainly end if no diplomatic solution is found, in which case the Arabs will find themselves obliged to choose between the US and its Western allies and Russia. There is the question of how the Arab countries will react if the Western alliance imposes strict economic sanctions on Moscow, since Washington will expect these to be forcefully applied by its allies worldwide and they will have negative impacts on the Arab economies. The Arab countries should think about the broader consequences of the conflict and how it could affect their security and stability, not precluding the much-talked-about Putins quixotic quest to restore a Russian empire that could expand further south into the Mediterranean. Whether as a result of its naval strategy or its military outposts in Syria, its outreach in Libya, and its growing role in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East is becoming an integral part of Russias strategy for the wider theatre and its broader global ambitions. The conventional wisdom also dictates that the Arabs should also weigh up their options if the US and its allies get an edge over Russia in the crisis in the Balkans. The Arabs have always been divided on confronting challenges and safeguarding their common and national interests, but it is now time that they put aside their differences and took collective stands on the dangers posed by a looming international conflict on their doorstep. *A version of this article appears in print in the 27 January, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly. Search Keywords: Short link: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the first day of talks in Geneva were "open, comprehensive and direct," an assessment echoed by Washington. But Peskov said it was the result that ultimately matters. "So far, let's say we see no significant reason for optimism," he said in a conference call with reporters. At the Geneva talks, Russia demanded guarantees, rejected by Washington, that the West's 30-country NATO military alliance halt further eastward expansion toward Russia and curb military deployments in Eastern Europe. "NATO poses no threat to Russia. It is a defensive alliance whose sole purpose is to protect its members," Nuland said. But in the U.S., Victoria Nuland, undersecretary of state for political affairs, told reporters, "We haven't seen the slightest hint of de-escalation" on Russia's part. "It is Russia that created this crisis out of whole cloth" by deploying 100,000 troops just across from Ukraine's eastern border. After a day of talks with U.S. diplomats Monday in Geneva, Moscow said it would wait for the outcome of more meetings set for Wednesday in Brussels and Thursday in Vienna before deciding whether it's worth it to continue negotiations with Washington officials. The Kremlin said Tuesday it has little optimism about a breakthrough on talks with the United States this week about its European security concerns, while Washington said Moscow's massive troop buildup along the Ukraine border is at the root of current tensions. NATO and Russia are holding talks in Brussels, while the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is meeting in Vienna. "There are still several rounds [of talks] ahead of us, which will allow us to work out a clearer understanding, a clearer picture of where we stand with the Americans," Peskov said. He said Russia is not setting deadlines for the talks but also would not accept dragging them out. Western allies fear that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine after annexing its Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Russia has denied it plans to invade its one-time Soviet satellite state but also has not acceded to U.S. demands that it withdraw troops from the border. U.S. President Joe Biden has ruled out a military confrontation with Russia in the event it decides to attack Ukraine but says the U.S. and its allies would impose significant economic sanctions if it does invade. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who led the U.S. delegation in Geneva, said Tuesday on Twitter, "The United States is committed to working in lockstep with our allies and partners to urge de-escalation and respond to the security crisis caused by Russia." In Monday's bilateral talks, the two parties discussed "reciprocal action that would be in our security interest and proved strategic stability," Sherman said. That includes possible limits on both sides on the size and scope of future military exercises in the region. European Council President Charles Michel reiterated that "we have clearly said that if there was to be a military offensive against Ukraine, there would be a massive reaction from the European Union in coordination with our partners and allies." Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Laanet called the Russian demands to curb NATO expansion, if it wishes to do so, "completely unacceptable," adding that he expects the alliance members at Wednesday's meeting to "be very clear in saying that... NATO's collective defense continues to be a value that is being defended by its members." In Geneva, Russian negotiator Sergei Ryabkov rejected U.S. demands that Moscow pull back its estimated 100,000 troops from the Ukrainian border, saying it had the right to deploy them wherever it wanted. Germany is under mounting pressure from European allies to drop its long-standing refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine to help the country to defend itself from a Russian attack. Britain flew short-range anti-tank missiles to Ukraine on Monday, avoiding German airspace. British Defense Minister Ben Wallace indicated to lawmakers that more military aid and extra security assistance will likely be forthcoming in light of Russia's "increasingly threatening behavior" on Ukraine's borders, where the Kremlin has amassed more than 100,000 troops. Wallace said there is a "legitimate and real cause for concern" that Russia is planning an invasion. Russian officials have denied they have any such plans, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday, ahead of talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that the "sense of the threat to Ukraine is unprecedented." Ukraine has become increasingly frustrated with Germany on the issue of military supplies. Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov complained last month that Berlin had vetoed the purchase of anti-drone rifles and anti-sniper systems from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, calling the action "very unfair." Later, Berlin relented on blocking the purchase of anti-drone rifles after concluding they were non-lethal weapons. Kyiv has been scrambling to plug shortages in military equipment and capabilities, but Berlin worries that supplying arms may be seen by Moscow as provocative and could trigger a Russian escalation. Reznikov has warned that fears of confronting Putin from a position of strength were misguided. "Not provoking Russia -- that strategy does not work and will not work," he said last month. Ukraine has been buying arms through deals with the United States, Britain, Lithuania, France and Turkey, which has been supplying armed drones. Anti-missile and anti-aircraft systems, electronic warfare kits and cyber defense equipment are high on Ukraines shopping list. Ukraine is also eager to buy surface-to-surface missiles that can strike swarms of targets simultaneously. The Biden administration last month approved $200 million in additional defensive security aid to Ukraine and American officials Wednesday said the White House was weighing new supply options to try to raise the costs for Russian President Vladimir Putin should he decide to attack. With fears mounting that Russia is intent on major aggressive action, the administration is considering providing the Ukrainian army with more Javelin anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft missile systems. North Korea fired two projectiles that are presumed to be long-range cruise missiles on Tuesday morning. It was the regime's fifth missile provocation this year and the first show of force since it threatened to resume nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile testing on Jan. 20. The Joint Chiefs of Staff here called a press briefing only after media outlets already covered the launch and about six hours after the missiles were fired. "It's customary to let the public know only about the North's firing of ballistic missiles," a military spokesman claimed. The JCS added it cannot make public "their exact launch site, range, and the direction in which they were fired" for the purpose of protecting the surveillance assets of South Korea and the U.S. But there is speculation that the military here actually failed to detect them. North Korea has accelerated its weapons testing in 2022, conducting five missile tests since the start of the year and recently suggesting that it may resume testing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. Some analysts say the ramped-up testing is an expected progression of the North's military strategy, and that it may not end any time soon. "[Leader] Kim Jong-un has set the tone for how the [Workers'] Party will approach relations with the United States, and he's made it clear that he wants to move into a period of confrontation," said Jean H. Lee, a senior fellow at the Wilson Center and a longtime foreign correspondent and expert on North Korea. "So I think we need to brace ourselves for a period of ramped-up testing." After a six-month hiatus, North Korea resumed testing missiles last September, conducting at least seven missile launches since then. Five of those have been in the less than three weeks from Jan. 5 to Jan. 25. In this year's tests, North Korea launched six ballistic missiles -- almost as many as it launched in all of 2021. Most recently, on Jan. 25, North Korea launched what appeared to be two cruise missiles off its east coast, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. On Jan. 17, the country launched what is called "tactical guided missiles," which are reportedly capable of carrying out precision strikes. On Jan. 14, the North launched two ballistic missiles from train cars. And on Jan. 5 and Jan. 11, it launched "hypersonic ballistic missiles" with detachable gliding warheads. The Politburo of the ruling Workers' Party in North Korea also announced on Jan. 20 that they plan to "rapidly examine the issue of resuming all temporarily-suspended activities." The statement appears to refer to Kim's voluntary suspension of nuclear and long-range missile testing in 2018. The missile launches and threat of nuclear and long-range missile testing has elicited condemnation from neighboring Japan in addition to the U.S. and seven other members of the United Nations Security Council. The U.S. imposed unilateral sanctions over the missile launches. The U.S. also requested that the UN impose sanctions, though China and Russia are currently blocking those efforts. But to some analysts, the tests are not surprising, especially considering the state of negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington. Denuclearization talks have been stalled since the 2019 Hanoi summit between Kim and then-President Donald Trump ended without an agreement on denuclearization or sanctions relief. "I think like most people, I wasn't terribly surprised by the tests. The Biden people haven't been engaging with North Korea very much," said Robert Kelly, a professor of political science at Pusan National University. "And Trump created the expectation that North Korea now gets to meet with the American president, or theyll shoot off missiles, as we've seen." Trump and Kim's 2018 summit in Singapore marked the first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader. Over the past year, North Korea has indicated several times that it intends to advance its military capabilities. At North Korea's Eighth Workers' Party Congress, held in January 2021, Kim announced plans for further developing North Korea's military, including "a nuclear force." And last October, Pyongyang held an arms expo, where it displayed missiles including an apparent intercontinental ballistic missile. "The testing is not really a surprise. They showed us that this was coming," said Jeffrey Lewis, the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. "It's pretty clear that North Korea has embarked on an extended period of testing, which they outlined more than a year ago." North Korea also seems to have restarted its Yongbyon nuclear reactor last summer, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. The Yongbyon nuclear reactor, North Korea's main nuclear facility, produced the fissile materials for North Korea's six nuclear tests between 2006 and 2017. Lewis said he suspects that the North's period of more aggressive weapons development and testing may last for around two years. "The news [about potential nuclear and long-range testing] is kind of a final warning: North Korea has tried diplomacy, and that phase is over now," Lewis said. "To be honest, that phase probably ended this summer, when they restarted the reactor at Yongbyon, because they don't ever run that reactor for less than two years," Lewis continued. "So they locked themselves into a two-year period of testing and development, before they can come back and start talking again." The rapid succession of missile tests by the North has increased tensions at a delicate moment. South Korea's presidential election will be held on March 9, and the Winter Olympics in Beijing will run from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20. Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said the North will likely back down on testing during the Olympics. "Pyongyang should be relatively restrained in terms of provocations during the Olympics," Easley wrote in an e-mail to Chosun Ilbo. "So to the extent the North Koreans have missiles to test for improving military capabilities and sending signals before South Korea's presidential election on March 9, they should probably do that before Feb. 4." But even if the North temporarily scales back testing during the Olympics, analysts say that reprieve is not likely to last. Lee pointed out that 2022 marks a year of many celebrations in North Korea, including the 10th anniversary of Kim's rule, his father and predecessor Kim Jong-il's 80th birthday in February, and his grandfather Kim Il-sung's 110th birthday in April. "Those are huge milestones, and they tend to celebrate with tests and weapons," Lee said. Diplomacy with the North might have some effect on slowing down the North's weapons testing and development, according to analysts. For example, Lewis said the U.S. might be able to convince the North to continue its self-imposed ICBM testing moratorium by lifting sanctions. Sharon Squassoni, a professor at George Washington University and a member of the Bulletin Atomic Sciences Board, said it is important to conduct diplomacy in incremental, realistic steps. "The key to achieving risk reduction on the Korean Peninsula is that there are very clear, incremental steps," Squassoni said. "You don't move to denuclearization first." But some analysts are skeptical that diplomacy will be able to stop the North's more aggressive testing altogether. "I think the combination of the Biden people not being willing to give very much, and North Korea's asking price being very high -- there just isn't a lot of room for diplomacy at this point," Lewis said. While the North may be relatively resistant to diplomacy at the moment, Lee said she believes North Korea is pursuing more aggressive testing to ultimately return to nuclear negotiations and diplomacy with the United States. "We don't know how long this will last, but I don't think that it means we won't see any diplomacy," Lee said. "The nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea in 2018 and 2019 were extraordinary," she added. "But Kim Jong-un may have come away thinking that his nuclear arsenal wasn't strong enough, and that he needs to expand that arsenal, so that if and when he gets back to the negotiating table, he's in a stronger position." In the meantime, Kelly said he believes South Korea should improve its missile defense systems, especially if the North continues its aggressive testing. Pyongyang has outlined plans to test intercontinental ballistic missiles, a military satellite, and eventually a nuclear-powered submarine, according to Lewis. "If we can't talk them out further testing, which I think is highly unlikely, then the only choice we have is to build the roof. We just have to keep throwing money at missile defense," Kelly said. "And people will say, 'It doesn't work. It's really expensive.' But what else do we have? What else are we going to do?" The government plans to evacuate some Korean residents from Ukraine starting this week as the threat of a Russian invasion increases. According to Korean expats there, the Korean Embassy held an emergency meeting in Kyiv on Monday and decided to evacuate 50 citizens including children, students and senior citizens. Around 800 Korean nationals live in Ukraine. One Korean resident there said, "Some of them have already started to pack up. They're going to board planes to Korea until next week." The government is evacuating 15 Korean households in total who live close to the border with Russia, where military clashes are most likely to happen. They will be moved to Kyiv first. If the situation worsens quickly, the government plans to send more planes to evacuate all other Korean residents as well. The embassy there is currently gathering their contact details. Around a dozen diplomats and an unknown number of Korean travelers are also currently in the country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has issued a travel warning for Ukraine and continues to monitor the situation. LG Energy Solution on Wednesday confirmed that it will cooperate with General Motors to build their third electric vehicle battery plant in the U.S., following media reports early this week. The two companies will build the plant in Lansing, Michigan through their joint venture Ultium Cells. LG said the two companies will invest US$2.6 billion in the new plant, which will have an annual capacity of 50 GWh, enough for 700,000 EVs. Construction will begin within this year with a view to commencing production in early 2025. Once the No. 3 plant is completed, LG and GM will be able to produce 120 GWh of EV batteries in the U.S. annually along with the No. 1 plant in Ohio, which is set to begin production this year, and the No. 2 plant in Tennessee, due to start output next year. GM CEO Mary Barra said a total of $7 billion will be invested in the state of Michigan alone for EV production, including the latest joint venture plant. LG Vice President Kwon Young-soo said, "The third joint venture plant, which will be built in the heartland of the U.S. automobile industry, will become the gateway to millions of EVs in the future." North Korea suffered a massive cyber attack on Wednesday morning, which apparently brought its entre Internet down, Reuters reported. Junade Ali, a U.K. cybersecurity expert, told Reuters that a what appears to be a distributed denial-of-service attack on the North paralyzed all online traffic in the reclusive state for six hours. "When someone would try to connect to an IP address in North Korea, the Internet would literally be unable to route their data into the country," Ali said. "It's common for one server to go offline for some periods of time, but these incidents have seen all web properties go offline concurrently. It isn't common to see their entire internet dropped offline." A DDoS attack is an attempt to make an online service unavailable by overwhelming it with traffic from multiple sources. NK News, a website that monitors North Korea, reported earlier this month that network errors occurred in the North in what appears to have been another DDoS attack, when all e-mail and websites in North Korea were inaccessible. Nicholas Roy, another cyber security expert, told Reuters, "Someone either messed something up really bad, like Facebook did a couple weeks ago, or it could be some kind of attack." Roy added that the North's weak IT infrastructure makes it an easy target for cyber attacks. North Korea strictly controls access to the Internet with only one percent of its 25 million population being able to use it. KYODO NEWS - Jan 25, 2022 - 22:12 | All, Japan, Coronavirus Japan on Tuesday expanded a COVID-19 quasi-state of emergency to 34 of the nation's 47 prefectures with the addition of 18 more areas, as the country continues to battle record coronavirus infections amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Effective from Thursday to Feb. 20, the quasi-emergency is intended to reduce the strain on the health care system and prevent a shortage of essential workers that could result from a surge in infections and close contacts. Japan reported 62,610 new infections Tuesday, topping 60,000 for the first time as the highly transmissible Omicron variant has driven the acceleration of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. The country also reported 42 deaths the same day, the highest tally since Oct. 8. Once the quasi-emergency takes effect, the governors of the 18 prefectures, including Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo in the Kansai region of western Japan, will be able to request restaurants and bars to shorten their business hours and stop or limit the serving of alcohol. Other new areas are Hokkaido, Aomori, Yamagata, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Ishikawa, Nagano, Shizuoka, Shimane, Okayama, Saga, Oita, Fukuoka and Kagoshima. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also decided Tuesday to extend quasi-emergency curbs that have been in place since Jan. 9 in Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima prefectures beyond Jan. 31 to Feb. 20. Government data showed that as of Monday, the ratio of hospital beds occupied by COVID-19 patients had surpassed 50 percent in seven prefectures, with the occupancy rate reaching 68 percent in Okinawa. Amid the growing possibility of prefectural governments seeking a declaration of state of emergency, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said the central government will swiftly review such requests as they come in, but added, "Since the declaration entails strong restrictions on private rights, we need to carefully consider it." On Tuesday, Tokyo reported a record 12,813 new coronavirus cases. The capital and three neighboring prefectures were among 13 areas already added to the quasi-emergency last week, with no changes to the planned end date of Feb. 13 in those regions. Health experts say there is an increased risk of infection at social gatherings such as drinking parties. Kishida has said limiting people's movements and the number who can dine together may be necessary as part of anti-virus steps. Related coverage: Japan's largest business lobby calls for lifting foreigner entry ban Record 300 day-care centers in Japan shut due to pandemic Japan's daily COVID cases top 50,000, new record for 5th straight day KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2022 - 23:34 | All, Japan, Coronavirus Students across the world who have been unable to enter Japan for study due to the current COVID-19 entry ban mostly feel that their mental health has deteriorated, a private survey showed Thursday. Davide Rossi, who runs a Tokyo-based company helping foreign students study in Japan, said his online survey conducted for 10 days through Sunday found that 58.4 percent of 3,115 respondents felt their mental health "significantly declined" and 26.2 percent "slightly declined." Japan has banned entries by foreigners in principle since Nov. 30 following the spread of the highly contagious Omicron virus variant across the world. Students unable to come to Japan complain about being forced to alter their life plans and having to rely on online classes at inconvenient hours due to time differences, Rossi said. "In total, almost 85 percent said they are mentally affected," he said during an online press conference, adding that the Japanese government should "stop considering international students a major threat" to the country's fight against the pandemic. Rossi said the government should "start accepting international students immediately as every other G-7 and OECD country is already doing," referring to nations belonging to the Group of Seven and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. "At least, the government should present a clear road map as to how students will enter the country," said Rossi, who set up an organization last April to support foreign students affected by Japan's border controls. One respondent was quoted as saying, "It got so bad that I contemplated suicide many times," and that she should have chosen to learn Korean instead "because all my friends who chose that are enjoying their life and not feeling suicidal every day." Giulia Luzzo, a 27-year-old Italian graduate school student, told the press conference that a scholarship for studying at a Japanese university she had been qualified to receive was canceled since she could not travel to Japan, forcing her to give up her dream of becoming a researcher of Japanese literature. "I could not give up living in Japan, so I decided to continue to learn Japanese to work in Japan in the future. But sometimes I feel that all of my hard work would end up in vain," she said. Instead of studying in Japan, 46.4 percent of the respondents switched to studying in a different country. Among those who made such a change, around 27 percent picked South Korea, the survey showed. The respondents are of 101 nationalities, with 83.7 percent under 30 years of age. During the online press conference, Japanese language teacher from Myanmar Htoo Zaw Htat said his petition campaign demanding relaxing of Japan's border controls for overseas students has collected over 34,000 signatures as of Thursday since it started on Jan. 7. The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) has cancelled its flagship event, LiftEx Bahrain amid global uncertainities due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The two-day event was due to kick off in Bahrain on March 21. The LEEA is the leading representative body for all those involved in the lifting industry worldwide. It is the authoritative representative body for its members who work in every aspect of the industry - from design, manufacture, refurbishment and repair, through to the hire, maintenance and use of lifting equipment. Announcing this today (January 27), LEEA said the decision comes following discussions with its board members. "Whilst there has always been considerable interest in the event from both global and local vendors, it has become clear that mostly for reasons due to the global pandemic there is not enough commitment to make this a viable event at this current time," stated LEEA in its statement. LEEA remains fully committed to their membership in the Middle East, it added. Moving forward, LEEA board said it was looking forward to have a members meeting in Bahrain this year and a LiftEx Middle East in 2023, at a new location. "LEEA and the lifting industry can look forward to the return of the LiftEx Exhibition in the UK, which will be held at P&J Live, Aberdeen on October 5 to 6," said a spokesman for the global body. KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2022 - 18:41 | All, World North Korea on Thursday fired two projectiles presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles northeastward toward the Sea of Japan, the South Korean military said, the latest in a series of missile tests by the North this month. The Joint Chiefs of Staff said the suspected missiles were launched from the Hamhung area in the eastern part of North Korea five minutes apart at around 8 a.m. and flew about 190 kilometers while reaching an altitude of about 20 km. The projectiles are believed to have splashed down in the sea outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, according to the Japanese government. There were no reports of damage as a result of the firing. A South Korean military official told reporters that the missiles are presumed to have hit the target on an island off Musudan-ri in the northeast, adding that their type is still be analyzed. Thursday's firing is the sixth projectile launch by the North this year, if two suspected cruise missiles fired earlier this week are included. "It is very regrettable," Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters in Tokyo of the slew of launches by North Korea, adding that the launches were in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and that Tokyo has lodged a protest with Pyongyang over them. He said the government is gathering relevant information on the latest launch. North Korea is banned from firing ballistic missiles under U.N. Security Council resolutions that have imposed sanctions on the nation. In Seoul, South Korean officials held a meeting of the National Security Council and expressed "deep regrets" over the series of missile firings as they go against Seoul's wishes for peace and stability on the divided peninsula, according to the presidential office. Noh Kyu Duk, the country's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs held phone talks with Sung Kim, U.S. special representative for North Korea, and the two confirmed their close cooperation over North Korean activities. The U.S. military's Indo-Pacific Command, in a statement, called Thursday's event "ballistic missile launches," and said it is closely consulting with its allies and partners. The command added that the series of tests by the North highlight the "destabilizing impact of the DPRK's illicit weapons program." DPRK is the acronym of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. North Korea test-fired ballistic missiles on four occasions between Jan. 5 and 17. On Tuesday, the North fired two suspected cruise missiles from an inland location, according to a South Korean military official. North Korea last week hinted at resuming nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, which were suspended in 2018 when leader Kim Jong Un was seeking to build trust with then U.S. President Donald Trump. The country's media reported on Jan. 20 that a key ruling party gathering the previous day had concluded that North Korea should take "practical action to more reliably and effectively increase our physical strength" to counter the United States. As Thursday's suspected short-range ballistic missiles flew at a relatively low altitude -- about 20 km at the highest point -- experts said the North may have fired at a low trajectory projectiles such as "super-large multiple rocket launchers," which Japan and the United States assess to be ballistic missiles. "North Korea's significant development of nuclear and missile technologies of late cannot be overlooked," Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told reporters after Thursday's launch, adding that Pyongyang's repeated firing of projectiles including ballistic missiles is a "serious challenge" for the international community. While the United States is pushing for expanded sanctions against North Korea, China and Russia -- two other veto-wielding powers on the Security Council -- appear in no hurry to agree to such a move. Beijing and Moscow are traditionally friendly to Pyongyang. Related coverage: North Korea appears to have fired cruise missiles North Korea hints at resuming nuclear, ICBM tests to counter U.S. North Korea says it test-fired tactical guided missiles on Jan. 17 KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2022 - 21:17 | All, Japan A 19-year-old female university student from Osaka Prefecture has turned herself in to police in western Japan, saying that she was involved in cheating and leaking a unified university entrance exam question, investigative sources said Thursday. Her admission came after a photographed image of the world history question was leaked via a video calling app during the test earlier this month. The first-year university student, who turned herself in to Kagawa prefectural police, was quoted as telling investigators that she gave in to the temptation to cheat, seeing that her grades were not improving, the sources said. She took the test at an exam venue in Osaka Prefecture and aimed to enter a university in Tokyo, and said that she only cheated in world history and not in other subjects for fear of getting caught, according to the sources. Related coverage: Japan univ. entrance exam question may have leaked during testing Tokyo univ. knife attacker carried liters of flammable liquid The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is sending personnel to Kagawa to investigate the matter on suspicion of fraudulent obstruction of business. The incident came to light when a University of Tokyo student realized that the image he had received was sent during the exam on Jan. 15 and notified education ministry authorities. He was asked via a Skype app to try to solve the problem by someone claiming to be a 17-year-old female high school student that he came into contact with through a tutoring service website, according to the sources. The student joined the site in December last year. The man sent his answer but later found that the question was used in the exam. The purported high school had asked at least four people, including the man and another Tokyo University student she met through the site, for answers to the question, according to the sources. According to the National Center for University Entrance, exam takers are told to leave their smartphones and digital devices in their bags during testing. But the university student took photos with her smartphone that she hid in the sleeve of her jacket, the sources said. KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2022 - 18:59 | All, Japan Japan, the United States and South Korea are making arrangements to hold a meeting of their foreign ministers possibly in mid-February in Hawaii to advance their cooperation in dealing with North Korea, diplomatic sources said Thursday. If realized, it will be the first such gathering since Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida took office in October last year. The move comes as North Korea continues to test-fire ballistic missiles despite U.S. calls for dialogue. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui Yong will be the participants. The last time the three countries had an in-person foreign ministerial meeting was in September in New York. During the meeting, the top diplomats are likely to share their concerns that North Korea's recent series of ballistic missile launches poses a threat to the peace and stability of the international community, while discussing measures to discourage Pyongyang from further provocations. North Korea last week hinted at resuming nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests, both of which were last conducted in 2017, before the country began its diplomatic overture to the United States and South Korea. But direct talks between the United States and North Korea on Pyongyang's denuclearization failed to make headway before Donald Trump's departure from the White House in January last year. The U.S. administration of President Joe Biden has repeatedly said it is open to diplomacy and is willing to conduct diplomatic engagements with North Korea with "no preconditions." But North Korea has not responded to Washington's request so far. The trilateral meeting in Hawaii is also expected to take place around the time Japan, the United States, Australia and India are planning a meeting of the Quad group among their foreign ministers in Australia. While Japan, the United States and South Korea are hoping for an in-person foreign ministerial meeting, the latest wave of the coronavirus pandemic could lead to a change of plans, according to the sources. KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2022 - 17:04 | All, Japan Former Japanese prime ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Naoto Kan called on the European Union on Thursday to pursue a path toward zero nuclear power, with the bloc planning to designate it as a form of "green" energy in achieving net-zero emissions by midcentury. Both Koizumi and Kan were proponents of nuclear power generation while in office, but they have become prominent antinuclear voices in Japan since the 2011 Fukushima disaster triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. Kan was prime minister when the disaster struck northeastern Japan. "As a result of the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi (plant), we've learned nuclear power was not safe, cheap and clean energy," said Koizumi, a reformer who held office from 2001 to 2006, during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. "Even if we do not rely on nuclear power and not use fossil fuels, there are enough renewables to supply the needed power. This is true in Japan as well as other countries in the world," added Kan, who held office between 2010 and 2011. In the EU classification to guide and mobilize private investment in activities necessary to achieve climate neutrality in the next 30 years, it is proposed that energy from nuclear fission and natural gas be labeled as "green." The European Commission, the bloc's executive branch, believes there is a role for natural gas and nuclear power in transitioning toward a future based predominantly on renewable energy. Some EU members such as Austria, Germany and Spain oppose or remain skeptical of the proposal, while France has led the drive for nuclear power to be included in the green category of the classification. The regulation is expected to come into force in 2023, allowing for nuclear power and natural gas to join renewable energy on a list of technologies approved for private investment and EU financial support. The two former leaders of Japan warned of the risks associated with nuclear power. "At the time of the Fukushima accident, even Tokyo residents were close to having to evacuate. If such an accident were to occur in France, the residents of Paris would have to evacuate for as long as 50 or even 100 years," Kan said. Considering the situation in France, which relies heavily on nuclear power as a baseload source, Koizumi pointed out that Germany is phasing out and Japan is reducing its reliance on atomic energy. "Hopefully, it will help change the minds of the leaders of France (and other pro-nuclear power states)," said Koizumi, who owns a hydrogen-powered car. "Japan needs to export renewable technologies to developing countries instead of nuclear power technologies since many of those countries are blessed with natural resources," Koizumi added. KYODO NEWS - Jan 26, 2022 - 21:15 | All, Japan The Quad group involving Japan, the United States, Australia and India are considering holding talks by their foreign ministers in mid-February in Australia, diplomatic sources said Wednesday. The gathering of the ministers, if realized, would be their first in-person meeting since October 2020, taking place ahead of a summit of the Quad nations' leaders which Japan plans to host in spring with the aim of further showcasing the four Indo-Pacific democracies' deepening ties amid China's rising clout in the region. Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar are expected to attend the talks. The meeting could be switched to a virtual format depending on the COVID-19 situation, the sources said. Among likely agenda items for the meeting are their cooperation in such fields as security and the economy toward realizing a "free and open Indo-Pacific," and concerns over Beijing's military assertiveness in the East and South China seas, according to the sources. The ministers are also expected to confirm progress in their cooperation, agreed on at the previous Quad summit in Washington in September, in infrastructure building in the Indo-Pacific region, utilization of outer space and bolstering of the semiconductor supply chain, the sources said. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to hold the next Quad summit in Japan in spring during their bilateral virtual meeting Friday. The four nations plan to have their leaders' meeting every year. KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2022 - 17:35 | All, World U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi about the "global security and economic risks" of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, but they apparently fell short of reaching an agreement on the issue. The phone call took place as U.S.-Russia tensions are running high over Moscow's massive military buildup on the Ukrainian border, while President Vladimir Putin has demanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization pull back troops and weapons from Eastern Europe. Washington has warned Moscow of severe economic and financial sanctions should Russia choose to invade and called on it to de-escalate tensions. Meanwhile, China has asked the United States to respect the security fears of the world's largest country by area. According to the U.S. State Department, Blinken told Wang of the global "risks" posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine and conveyed that "de-escalation and diplomacy are the responsible way forward." Wang was quoted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry as telling Blinken, "Russia's legitimate security concerns should be paid attention to and resolved," underscoring that Beijing has supported Moscow's position. All parties should remain calm and should not do anything to stimulate tensions and exaggerate the crisis, Wang was also quoted by the ministry as saying. China and Russia's predecessor state, the Soviet Union, were competitors during the Cold War. They were at odds over interpretations and practical applications of Marxism-Leninism, the ideology of 20th-century communism. The two nations, however, have been deepening their cooperation of late while their relations with the United States have deteriorated. On the back of an improvement in ties between China and Russia, Putin has voiced willingness to attend the Feb. 4 opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, which Chinese President Xi Jinping has been keen to successfully host to enhance national prestige. Wang told Blinken that the United States should "stop disrupting" the Olympics, as the administration of President Joe Biden has pledged to stage a "diplomatic boycott," meaning Washington will not send its government officials to the global sporting event. The boycott, which would not affect the participation of U.S. athletes, is a response to China's alleged human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in its far-western Xinjiang region that Washington has labeled as "genocide." As for Taiwan, Wang told Blinken that the United States should "stop playing with fire" on the issue. The Communist-led government has expressed eagerness to reunify self-ruled democratic Taiwan with the mainland, by force if necessary. China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 as a result of a civil war. Relations have worsened since independence-leaning Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan's president in 2016. The mainland considers the island as a renegade province. The United States switched its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. But it maintains substantive though unofficial exchanges with the island and supplies it with billions of dollars worth of arms and spare parts for its defense. Also during the conversation, Blinken and Wang exchanged views on how to advance bilateral cooperation following Biden's virtual meeting with Xi in November, including in managing strategic risk and areas such as climate change, according to the State Department. KYODO NEWS - Jan 27, 2022 - 04:22 | All, World The Beijing Winter Olympics could affect the timing of Russia's possible invasion of Ukraine, as China would apparently be upset to see the events coincide, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said Wednesday. The Olympic Games are slated to be held from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20 and Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly expressed willingness to attend the opening ceremony of the global sporting event. During an online event hosted by a Ukraine-related group, Sherman said there is "every indication" that Putin is going to use military force against Ukraine "sometime perhaps (between) now and the middle of February." Noting that the Russian leader is expected to attend the opening ceremony on Feb. 4, she said, "I think that probably (Chinese) President Xi Jinping would not be ecstatic if Putin chose that moment to invade Ukraine," she said. "So that may affect his timing and his thinking." Fears have been growing for the United States and its allies in Europe that Russia may further invade Ukraine following its annexation of Crimea in 2014, as Moscow amasses troops on the border. Washington has been warning Moscow that any move by Russian forces across the Ukraine border will be met with a "swift, severe, and united response" from the United States as well as from its allies and partners, including through economic sanctions. Sherman said the United States is preparing for all kinds of scenarios ranging from a "full-on invasion" to "hybrid attacks or subversion or sabotage or coercion." Further invading Ukraine "breaches all of the principles of international security and says that another country can act with impunity, which has tremendous consequences for Ukraine and Europe," the diplomat said. It also sends "a message to the entire world that other autocrats can act with such impunity and go past long-held international principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity and an ability of a country to choose its own alliances," she told the Yalta European Strategy forum. Moscow has denied having any intention to invade Ukraine, instead seeking to blame the escalating tensions on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Ukraine, which aspires to join the alliance. Russia has also demanded security guarantees such as precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine and refraining from military activities there. People receive donated relief assistance in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Jan. 18, 2022. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua) "First and most urgently, we need to scale-up our humanitarian operations to save lives," the UN chief said, warning that six months after the takeover by the Taliban, "Afghanistan is hanging by a thread." UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday urged the international community to scale up humanitarian operations to save lives in Afghanistan. "First and most urgently, we need to scale-up our humanitarian operations to save lives," the UN chief told the Security Council meeting on Afghanistan, warning that six months after the takeover by the Taliban, "Afghanistan is hanging by a thread." "We need to suspend the rules and conditions that constrict not only Afghanistan's economy, but our lifesaving operations," said Guterres. "At this moment of maximum need, these rules must be seriously reviewed." Talking about the urgency for the humanitarian operations, Guterres said that for Afghans, daily life has become "a frozen hell." "They're in the grips of another brutal winter of blistering wind, cold and snow. Families huddle in makeshift tents under plastic sheets - even burning their possessions to keep warm." "Afghans are stalked not only by COVID-19, but by deadly preventable diseases like measles, diarrhea and even polio," he added. Speaking about the economic situation in the country, the top UN official said that "we need to jump-start Afghanistan's economy through increased liquidity." Workers load China-aided humanitarian food supplies onto a truck in Kabul, Afghanistan, Jan. 22, 2022. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua) "We must pull the economy back from the brink," he said. "This means finding ways to free-up frozen currency reserves and re-engage Afghanistan's Central Bank." Turning to the Taliban, the secretary-general said that "now is the time for the Taliban to expand opportunity and security for its people, and demonstrate a real commitment to be a part of the global community." "The window for trust-building is open. But this trust must be earned," he added. "I urge the Taliban to work closely with the global community - and this council - to suppress the global terrorist threat in Afghanistan and build institutions that promote security," the UN chief added. Referring to the sanctions imposed on the country, the secretary-general said that sanctions and mistrust by the global banking system have frozen nearly 9 billion U.S. dollars in central bank assets. The UN chief welcomed the Security Council's adoption of a humanitarian exemption to the United Nations sanctions regime for Afghanistan. "We need to give financial institutions and commercial partners legal assurance that they can work with humanitarian operators without fear of breaching sanctions," he said. TEHRAN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Wednesday that Iran seeks to promote the relationship with its northern neighbor Azerbaijan. Ties between Iran and Azerbaijan are based on the beliefs of the people of the two countries and have been established throughout history, Raisi made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Azerbaijan's Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov, according to Iran's presidential website. The policy of the Islamic Republic is to boost cooperation with its neighbors, particularly with Azerbaijan in the Caucasus region, Raisi said, adding that his country is ready to provide technical and engineering support to Azerbaijan. For his part, Hasanov described his talks with Iranian officials as "useful, fruitful and path-breaking" for the future of cooperation, according to the website. Earlier in the day, the defense ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan discussed regional issues and military cooperation in their meetings, and called for the boost of cooperation in the defense sector. Heading a high-ranking military delegation, Hasanov arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for talks on military cooperation between the two countries. Afghan police personnel attend a graduation ceremony at a police training center in Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2022. A total of 700 security personnel receiving military training have been commissioned to security forces of the Taliban-led caretaker government in Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday. (Photo by Hamidullah/Xinhua) KABUL, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A total of 700 security personnel receiving military training have been commissioned to security forces of the Taliban-led caretaker government in Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday. In eastern Nangarhar province, 500 police personnel graduated from a police training center after completion of a one-month training in the provincial capital Jalalabad city on Wednesday, Nida Mohammad Nadim, police chief of the province, told Xinhua. The newly graduate police forces will be deployed in four eastern provinces, including Nangarhar, he said. In the northern region, 200 border security soldiers graduated from military, professional and ideological training in the army's 209th Fatah Corps, according to a statement issued by the government. The soldiers will be deployed to provide better security in the country's borders, especially in the border areas of the northern provinces, according to the statement. Qari Fasihuddin, army chief of the Taliban-led caretaker administration, has recently said that the administration was trying to make a capable army to ensure security of the war-torn country. Afghan police personnel show their skills during a graduation ceremony at a police training center in Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2022. A total of 700 security personnel receiving military training have been commissioned to security forces of the Taliban-led caretaker government in Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday. (Photo by Hamidullah/Xinhua) Afghan police personnel show their skills during a graduation ceremony at a police training center in Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2022. A total of 700 security personnel receiving military training have been commissioned to security forces of the Taliban-led caretaker government in Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday. (Photo by Hamidullah/Xinhua) Afghan police personnel attend a graduation ceremony at a police training center in Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Jan. 26, 2022. A total of 700 security personnel receiving military training have been commissioned to security forces of the Taliban-led caretaker government in Afghanistan, authorities said Thursday. (Photo by Hamidullah/Xinhua) RTHK: UK police urged not to charge knife murder 'hero' Thousands of people on Thursday urged London police not to charge a car driver with murder, after he was arrested for allegedly knocking down a knife attacker. The 26-year-old was detained on Monday in Maida Vale, northwest London, after a man stabbed his ex-wife in broad daylight on a busy street. Shocked bystanders had tried unsuccessfully to stop Leon McCaskre from attacking Yasmin Chkaifi until he was struck by a car. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. McCaskre, 41, had reportedly repeatedly harassed Chkaifi since their divorce. An online petition was set up shortly after the car driver's arrest, calling him "a hero" and saying he "shouldn't be charged with murder". It had more than 25,000 supporters by Thursday morning. Cindy Chan, who launched the change.org petition, wrote: "I've never tried starting a petition but I am compelled to for the 26-year-old driver who saw this happening and tried to do something about it by driving his car into this horrific act to stop it. "He is a hero... He does not deserve a prison sentence. He acted to stop this horror," she added. Police said the driver was "fully cooperative with the investigation". He has been bailed to return to a police station in late February pending further investigation. (AFP) This story has been published on: 2022-01-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. Emerson, a global technology and engineering company, has signed an agreement with Saudi Aramco, thus reinforcing its partnership with the Saudi group in advancing localisation initiatives in the kingdom. The duo signed the deal at the In-Kingdom Total Value Add Program (iktva) 2022 Forum & Exhibition held recently. The agreement recognises Emerson as a major manufacturing and services provider of process automation systems and instrumentation, as well as operator of a central digital hub facility in the kingdom. The signing ceremony was attended by Vidya Ramnath, Emersons Middle East and Africa President, and Saudi Aramco Chief Engineer Dr Khalid Al Qahtani. "We are grateful for the continued partnership with Saudi Aramco in supporting critical national initiatives such as the In-Kingdom Total Value Add Program and Saudi Vision 2030. Over the years, Emerson has made significant investments in our local manufacturing and service footprint across the kingdom, which is a testament to our commitment to our customers," Ramnath said. "We continue to explore collaboration opportunities that can further our contribution towards the development of this region," he added. Liam Hurley, vice president and general manager of Emersons Automation Solutions business in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, said: "Emersons relationship with Saudi Aramco has evolved from a supplier to a collaborative stakeholder that supports the development of local manufacturing from a capability, supply chain and talent perspective. As our manufacturing capabilities in Saudi Arabia have matured, we have built strong relationships with a robust in-kingdom supply chain ecosystem, and a particular focus on local small and medium enterprises." "This agreement underlines our longstanding partnership grounded in our shared vision and goals for the local business and industrial landscape," he stated. Photo taken on May 26, 2020, Danderyd hospital in Stockholm announced that their intensive care unit would expand from eight to 30 beds to cope With the influx of severely ill COVID-19 patients. (Photo by Cecilia Larsson Lantz, Danderyds sjukhus/Handout via Xinhua) According to a recent survey conducted by the Karolinska Institutet, 20 percent of Sweden's young doctors reported symptoms of fatigue, and more than half of them said they had crossed the threshold for chronic fatigue syndrome. The survey also found that numerous senior physicians were also affected, albeit to a lesser degree. STOCKHOLM, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- "Our patients were extremely ill, the ventilator hoses and the monitoring equipment were all over the place ... I was really shocked," recalled Fibi Chahrestan, a medical student and assistant nurse, who works to save lives at Danderyd Hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) here. Despite having helped treat COVID-19 patients in the early days of the pandemic, the then 22-year-old did not fully grasp the severity of the disease until she first set foot in the ICU, where patients struggled for every gasp of air. "It was not until then that I realized how ill COVID-19 patients could become," Chahrestan told Xinhua about the experience, shocking even to a seasoned medical worker. That was the summer of 2021, and by then she had already worked with COVID-19 patients for more than a year. She first witnessed the death of a COVID-19 patient when she worked as an assistant nurse at Sodersjukhuset, one of the largest hospitals in the Swedish capital, in March 2020. During that month alone, the number of confirmed infections in the country surged from just 14 to almost 5,000. And at the time not much was known about the virus. Faced with a rapidly worsening situation, the hospital's staff had to comply with strict hygiene and safety protocols, which were updated almost every day. COVID-19 testing kits and basic personal protective equipment, such as disposable plastic aprons, were in such short supply that hospitals were forced to make their own protective gear, Chahrestan recalled. Later that year, when the cumulative number of confirmed infections had surpassed 40,000, Chahrestan witnessed a steady influx of COVID-19 patients to the emergency department of the same hospital. "The emergency department is usually crowded, but the virus made it even worse. It was extremely stressful," she said, adding that the routines were regularly tweaked to ensure that the latest scientific evidence-based techniques were used to minimize the risk of transmission. A man walks into a COVID-19 vaccination center in Stockholm, capital of Sweden, on May 6, 2021. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua) Sweden has adopted a light-touch approach to the pandemic since the very first days, preferring recommendations to the public to a nationwide lockdown. Meanwhile, the successive waves of the pandemic took the heaviest toll in Sweden of all five Nordic countries, creating an extremely stressful work environment for its medical workers. According to a recent survey conducted by the Karolinska Institutet, 20 percent of Sweden's young doctors reported symptoms of fatigue, and more than half of them said they had crossed the threshold for chronic fatigue syndrome. The survey also found that numerous senior physicians were also affected, albeit to a lesser degree. To make matters worse, many medical professionals have also been infected with COVID-19 themselves. Chahrestan was one of them. "I fell ill with COVID-19 almost immediately after I started working at Danderyd Hospital. I had an extreme headache, fever and chills, a runny nose and I lost my sense of smell," she said. Chahrestan does not know where she became infected, as the virus was present everywhere and the number of confirmed infections surpassed one million that summer. Already in April 2020, just a few months into the pandemic, about one in five of the 500-odd tested staff members at Danderyd Hospital were found to have antibodies. The proportion was even higher among those who had worked with COVID-19 patients, suggesting that medical staff risked getting infected at work. In its second interim report released in November last year, the Swedish Corona Commission concluded that the country's handling of the pandemic had been "marked by lateness" and that the "initial protection measures were insufficient to stop or even sharply limit the spread of infection in the country." The report described Sweden's pandemic preparedness as "substandard", and that "the lack of protective equipment during the pandemic's first wave in the spring of 2020 became so acute that staff -- especially in the municipalities -- occasionally had to work without adequate equipment." After about a week, the worst of Chahrestan's symptoms had gone, but it took longer for her to regain her sense of smell. Once in the clear, she went back to work at the ICU, where she did eight-hour shifts. "But the workload was high and doctors worked a lot overtime," she said. Some of the restrictions imposed by the authorities -- for instance the early closing times for restaurants or the caps on the number of people allowed to attend events -- were criticized by the public and by the affected businesses for being confusing or unclear. While acknowledging that the authorities' approach suited the Swedish mindset, Chahrestan felt that this strategy did not always have the desired effect. "Some people followed the recommendations, while others did not. For example, people were partying a lot. Although they did not always break the law, what they did was not morally right," she explained. A recent survey showed that 45 percent of the respondents supported the restrictions in force. However, 25 percent considered these restrictions too harsh, while another 25 percent said they were too weak. Early on in the pandemic, several countries encouraged the use of face masks. However, the Swedish Public Health Agency said that the masks could do more harm than good and could give a false sense of security. They also feared that face masks would contribute to transmission unless worn properly. However, in December 2020, the Public Health Agency did a 180-degree turn, suddenly urging the general public to wear face masks on public transport during rush hour. By then, the message that masks could do more harm than good sank in with many Swedes, who consequently ignored the new advice. In Chahrestan's recollection, most people did not use face masks at the time. "I do understand that it may be hard to grasp the potentially fatal consequences unless one has worked in a hospital," she said. The strongest and most persistent message sent by the Swedish authorities to the general public has been that the vaccines are effective. By Jan. 26, 86.6 percent of the population aged 12 and over had received at least one vaccine dose, 83.5 percent had had two doses, and 44.3 percent of those aged 18 and older had received three doses. Chahrestan said that one of her main concerns was that vaccination coverage was uneven globally, and the problem was more severe in low-income countries. "This poses a risk not only to individuals in those countries but to people all over the world. By helping other countries, one can also help oneself," she said. Photo taken on May 6, 2021 shows a sign asking people to keep social distance in a metro compartment in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. (Photo by Wei Xuechao/Xinhua) Photo taken on Jan. 8, 2021 shows freight trains at Erenhot Port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Photo by Guo Pengjie/Xinhua) HOHHOT, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Fruit and vegetable exports to Mongolia via the Erenhot Customs in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region topped 85,000 tonnes, worth 110 million yuan (about 17.4 million U.S. dollars), in 2021, official data shows. Erenhot, the largest land port on the China-Mongolia border, supplies about 80 percent of Mongolia's fruit and vegetables. In 2018, a green channel for agricultural products was launched, which has since been putting more than 30 kinds of fruit and vegetables, including apples, oranges, lemons, onions, peppers and cucumbers, on the tables of Mongolian people. Ma Tao with the port's customs said the two sides cooperated last year to overcome the impact of the pandemic and streamlined the clearance process, which has been effective in meeting the Mongolian people's need for fresh agricultural products. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on examining the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, in Washington, D.C. Sept. 14, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Pool via Xinhua) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the letter "sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it." WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States has delivered a written letter to Russia addressing Moscow's concerns amid escalating tensions on Ukraine's border. Blinken told a press conference at the State Department that the letter, which was delivered to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by the U.S. ambassador to Russia, "sets out a serious diplomatic path forward should Russia choose it." The letter, Blinken said, was in response to Russia recently outlining "its concerns and proposals in writing" to the United States. In addition to concerns of the United States and that of its allies and partners regarding "Russia's actions that undermine our security," what was contained in the letter also included "a principled and pragmatic evaluation of the concerns that Russia has raised, and our own proposals for areas where we may be able to find common ground," Blinken said. Washington's written response also included proposals for improving "reciprocal transparency" between Russia and the West regarding "force posture in Ukraine," as well as "measures to increase confidence regarding military exercises and maneuvers in Europe," Blinken said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken have a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, May 19, 2021. (Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs/Sigurjon Ragnar/Handout via Xinhua) It also included proposals addressing the placement of missile systems in Europe and arms control, such as "our interest in a follow-on agreement to the New START treaty that covers all nuclear weapons," he said. Blinken said "if negotiated in good faith," these proposals have the potential to enhance the security of the United States and that of its allies and partners, "while also addressing Russia's stated concerns through reciprocal commitments." The secretary reiterated that Washington prefers resolving the crisis through diplomacy and is "prepared to move forward where there is the possibility of communication and cooperation, if Russia de-escalates its aggression toward Ukraine, stops the inflammatory rhetoric, and approaches to discussions about the future security in Europe in the spirit of reciprocity." Blinken said the United States will not make the letter public and hopes that Russia will do the same, "because we think diplomacy has the best chance to succeed if we provide space for confidential talks." File photo shows Kazakhstan's first President Nursultan Nazarbayev delivering a speech during the Astana Economic Forum in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, May 16, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Yong) NUR-SULTAN, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- The upper house of Kazakhstan's parliament on Thursday decided to cancel Nursultan Nazarbayev's lifetime chairmanship in the country's Security Council and the Assembly of People, the country's Kazinform news agency reported. The lower house made the same decision last week. Deputies of the upper chamber also proposed canceling the requirement to consult with Nazarbayev on key foreign and domestic policies, according to the report. If the proposal is approved by the lower house, the amendment will be submitted to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to sign into effect, according to the news outlet. Illegal immigrants are seen boarding an airplane at the Misurata International Airport in Misurata, Libya, Jan. 27, 2022. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) TRIPOLI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A group of 165 illegal migrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to Niger, their home country, said a local official on Thursday. "After approval of the head of the Illegal Migration Control Department, a flight took off from Misurata City to Niger for a voluntary return of 165 illegal migrants, including women and children," Hussain al-Turki, head of the Illegal Migrants' Deportation Department of the Misurata International Airport, told Xinhua. The deportation was carried out in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), al-Turki said. Officials of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) distribute boarding tickets to the illegal migrants at the Misurata International Airport in Misurata, Libya, Jan. 27, 2022. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) The Voluntary Humanitarian Return program, run by the IOM, arranges the return of illegal immigrants stranded in Libya to their homeland. Libya has become a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores. In 2021, a total of 32,425 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 662 died and 891 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route, according to the IOM. BAGHDAD, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iraq's parliament decided on Thursday to hold a new session on Feb. 7 to elect the country's president. The decision was made after a meeting between Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi and his two deputies, during which they agreed to hold another parliamentary session to continue constitutional processes toward forming a new government, according to a statement issued by the parliament. The meeting also decided to announce the names of the candidates who are eligible to run for Iraqi president on Jan. 31, it said. Local media reports said that the most prominent presidential candidates include incumbent President Barham Salih, who is running for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and former Foreign Minister and Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who is running for the Kurdistan Democratic Party. On Oct. 10, 2021, Iraq held the fifth parliamentary elections since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, with Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr becoming the biggest winner with 73 of 329 seats. Iraq's Supreme Court ratified the election results in later December after rejecting the appeals from the Iran-backed Shi'ite factions which alleged fraud in the elections. The Iraqi president is elected by the Council of Representatives, Iraq's parliament, by a two-thirds majority, and is limited to two four-year terms. Once elected, the new president will ask the largest parliamentary alliance to name a prime minister-designate to form a government within 30 days. ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Recent successes achieved in exporting Ethiopian coffee to China will provide a roadmap in leveraging export potential of other African countries, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has said. "Success recorded in exporting Ethiopian coffee to China will provide a roadmap in leveraging export potential for other ten African countries, where ECA is working this year, to provide more export potential from Africa to China," an ECA statement sent to Xinhua quoted Vera Songwe, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive of the ECA, as saying. "We are delighted to work with the government of Ethiopia on this real opportunity, to see how this partnership will continue to improve the livelihoods of citizens in Ethiopia, by offering an interoperable platform for trade," Songwe said. According to the UNECA, more than 11,200 bags of Ethiopian coffee were sold within seconds last week during the Ethiopian Coffee Brands Launch on China's largest e-commerce platform, Alibaba (Tmall Global), in a joint effort with the ECA and the Ethiopian government. "This launch demonstrates the benefits that, not only Ethiopia, but Africa can reap in harnessing digitalization," an ECA statement quoted Gebremeskel Chala, Ethiopia's Minister of Trade and Regional Integration. "ECA has joined efforts with Alibaba Group, and the government of Ethiopia to bring more quality African products to one of the largest markets in the world today, the Chinese online market," it said. Through this partnership, the electronic World Trading Platform (eWTP) has successfully on-boarded three Ethiopian coffee brands that are Wild, Arada, and Hedero. The ECA, Ant Group from Alibaba Group, and the Ethiopian government exclusively featured freshly roasted authentic coffee produced by small and medium-sized Ethiopian businesses at a livestream event to promote the launch of new Ethiopian coffee products on Tmall Global. According to the ECA, using AntChain's track and trace technology, all coffee on display was airlifted from Ethiopia; thus, guaranteeing a safe and transparent journey from departure to arrival. The primary objective of the initiative was said to leverage the infrastructure provided by the eWTP in creating an enabling environment to promote e-commerce and tourism for African entrepreneurs, whilst bringing quality African products into the Chinese market. The ECA expects the initiative to enable other African countries to participate in and benefit from inclusive global trade. Eric Jing, Alibaba Group Director and Executive Chairman of Ant Group, on his part commended the milestone as Ethiopian coffee penetrates the emerging Chinese coffee market. "Through coffee, we will build a bridge fostering China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, and stimulating economic recovery," the statement quoted Eric as saying. Meanwhile, the launch set in motion a community project on Tmall Global, in which for each bag of coffee sold, a special donation will be made to purchase school supplies for Ethiopian primary school students. Ethiopia's Minister of Trade and Regional Integration stressed that "through your purchases, support, and the power of e-commerce, the cooperation will benefit coffee farmers, SMEs and students in Ethiopia." First proposed by Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma in 2016, the eWTP has been recognized by the G20 and launched in China, Malaysia, Belgium, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. It also offers training and support in areas such as e-commerce, logistics, financing, cloud computing and mobile payments. TRIPOLI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Several members of the Libyan Constitution Drafting Assembly on Wednesday rejected a proposal by the speaker of the House of Representatives, or the parliament, to establish a new constitutional committee. The speaker Aguila Saleh's proposal of appointing a committee "to draft a permanent constitution for the country, in place of the Constitution Drafting Assembly, is a flagrant violation of the interim constitutional declaration, and a deliberate and clear violation of the powers of the Speaker," said a statement issued by 43 assembly members. The members expressed their categorical rejection of any attempts to "infringe on the powers of the elected Constitution Drafting Assembly and to create parallel bodies taking over the tasks entrusted to the assembly." Last week, Saleh proposed the formation of a new committee of a number of Libyan experts from different cities, aiming to draft a constitution for the country. The members called on "all national and international parties not to deal with or recognize Saleh's proposal," warning that such actions could threaten the constitutional process, increase division and prolong the Libyan crisis. The Constitution Drafting Assembly had officially approved a draft constitution in July 2017. However, a number of its members challenged the legality of the draft and demanded not to refer it to the parliament for approval before a referendum. PARIS, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Advisors to the heads of states and governments of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia, met on Wednesday in Paris under the Normandy format and called for an unconditional ceasefire in the Donbas region of Ukraine. The officials reaffirmed that the Minsk agreements signed in 2014 are the basis of the work of the Normandy format, the four-party diplomatic group which was set up to resolve the conflict in the Donbas region. They also announced to support unconditional observance of the ceasefire and full adherence to the measures to strengthen the ceasefire of July 2020, "regardless of differences on other issues of the implementation of the Minsk agreements." On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron, along with several European leaders and heads of European Union institutions, held a video conference with U.S. President Joe Biden over the Donbas crisis. Macron expressed his deep concern about the situation on the borders of Ukraine and stressed the need to work collectively for a rapid de-escalation. Macron underlined that the EU can play its full part in an appropriate response to Russia's proposals raised in December last year on measures to ensure both the security of Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed the lives of some 14,000 people and left as many as 40,000 wounded, began in April 2014. Officials of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) distribute tickets to illegal migrants at the Misurata International Airport in Misurata, Libya, Jan. 27, 2022. A group of 165 illegal migrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to Niger, their home country, said a local official on Thursday. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) TRIPOLI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- A group of 165 illegal migrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to Niger, their home country, said a local official on Thursday. "After approval of the head of the Illegal Migration Control Department, a flight took off from Misurata City to Niger for a voluntary return of 165 illegal migrants, including women and children," Hussain al-Turki, head of the Illegal Migrants' Deportation Department of the Misurata International Airport, told Xinhua. The deportation was carried out in coordination with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), al-Turki said. The Voluntary Humanitarian Return program, run by the IOM, arranges the return of illegal immigrants stranded in Libya to their homeland. Libya has become a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores. In 2021, a total of 32,425 illegal migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 662 died and 891 others went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route, according to the IOM. Illegal migrants board an airplane at the Misurata International Airport in Misurata, Libya, Jan. 27, 2022. A group of 165 illegal migrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to Niger, their home country, said a local official on Thursday. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) Illegal migrants wait to depart at the Misurata International Airport in Misurata, Libya, Jan. 27, 2022. A group of 165 illegal migrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to Niger, their home country, said a local official on Thursday. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) Illegal migrants board an airplane at the Misurata International Airport in Misurata, Libya, Jan. 27, 2022. A group of 165 illegal migrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to Niger, their home country, said a local official on Thursday. (Photo by Hamza Turkia/Xinhua) The Middle Eastern countries are sharpening their focus on the $467 billion global stem cell market which will come under scrutiny at the first Mena Stem Cell Forum taking place from March 18 to 19, 2022. The global stem cells market is expected to grow at an incredible compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.5% from 2018 to $467 billion by 2024, according to a research by Market Watch. This significant event, at the Movenpick Grand, Al Bustan Hotel Dubai, takes place at a time when the world grapples to fight the different variants of Covid-19 viruses that disrupt global growth. Many experts look at stem cell research as a possible solution to tackle such pandemics in future. The stem cell therapy market includes large number of players that are involved in development of stem cell therapies of the treatment of various diseases, Market Watch said in its report. The growth of the market is attributed to the rising number of clinical trials and the growing adoption of stem cell therapies globally. In the context of Covid-19, government organisations in various countries, research institutes, and many biotech and pharmaceutical firms are focusing on effective and rapid technologies for the fast diagnosis of Covid-19. According to a 2020 research article published in the scientific journal Aging and Disease (2020), mesenchymal stem cells are a safe and effective approach to the treatment of Covid-19. At least 10 projects have been registered in the official international registry for clinical trials, implicating the use of mesenchymal stem cells to patients with coronavirus pneumonia. However, it is still at an initial stage of study in relation to the market studied. Organised by Great Minds Events Management (GM Events), the two-day conference and exhibition will be participated by more than 250 delegates from more than 15 countries where more than 30 officials and experts will discuss the latest scientific developments and innovations in the stem cell therapy and associated areas. The exhibition will feature more than 25 participants. Supported by Dubai Health Authority, Zewail City, American Board of Regenerative Medicine and American Academy of Regenerative Medicine, the event has attracted more than 10 specialised media partners. Dr Hatim Al Abbas Acting Director, Dubai Cord Blood and Research Centre, UAE, says, Working in the field of stem cell therapy makes you see the light shine again in those innocent eyes that have been exhausted by disease and then you realise that stem cells are like a miracle. Our meeting here on the land of Dubai, the land of achieving miracles, makes us work to make stem cell therapy of all kinds available to everyone. The Mena Stem Cells Forum is the first event of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) to focus on this sector. This exclusive meeting will discuss key trends and topics, such as stem cell banking, scientific research, applications, public awareness, and regulations. The event will be the regions biggest platform where local, regional, and international experts, key opinion leaders, researchers, physicians and other experts from academia and industry will share their experiences and knowledge on the latest advancements, crucial topics and the challenges in the stem cells research and therapy. Leila Masinaei, Managing Partner, Great Mind Events Management, says: Stem cell research has gained greater significance in recent times, and especially after the Covid-19 pandemic which many experts feel could be tackled through stem cell research and innovation. Greater research in bio-technology and stem cell could produce much better results and enhance average life expectancy worldwide. Stem cell research has the potential to develop greater insights and understanding on various diseases and how to tackle them. Further research could lead to the development of new medicine, solutions to life-threatening diseases that could ensure healthy and long life. Due to this, Mena Stem Cell Forum takes place at the right time and at the right place. In a world that has been repeatedly infected by different variations of the deadly Coronavirus, the UAE remains a safe haven for people who live in this country. We feel, the UAE and Dubai is the ideal place to host Mena Stem Cell Forum, where experts from all over the world can participate in the dialogue and share ideas. STEM CELLS Human beings are made up of cells. According to Medical News Today, cells in human bodies have specific purposes, but stem cells are cells that do not yet have a specific role and can become almost any cell that is required. Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that can turn into specific cells, as the body needs them. Adult humans have many more blood-creating stem cells in their bone marrow, ranging between 50,000 and 200,000 stem cells. A fully grown-up human body consists of some 37.2 trillion cells. Scientists and doctors are interested in stem cells as they help to explain how some functions of the body work, and how they sometimes go wrong. Dr Kayane Mheidly - Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program and Consultant Hematology - Burjeel Medical city Abu Dhabi, Consultant Hematology, Clemenceau Medical Centre Dubai, UAE, says: I will present a case of bone marrow transplantation for a multiple myeloma patient-Melphalan conditioning by using non -cryopreserved transplant (Fresh stem cells transplant). This technique was used because the cryopreservation was not available in UAE, the outcome of the procedure was very good in terms of duration of neutropenia and infectious complication. The conclusion is non-cryopreservation transplant is safe for multiple myeloma patients. Stem cell therapy has become a significant and innovative scientific development giving hope to both health professionals and patients worldwide. The development of treatment methods has achieved great results globally especially in the Middle East and North Africa, where stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine are fast-moving and expansive, and if progress continues at its current pace, the region could become one of the worlds centers for biomedical research. In fact, the size of the Middle East and Africa stem cell market is estimated to reach $2.85 billion by the end of 2026, according to Market Data Forecast. Mena Stem Cell Forum will address all the advances and the pressing challenges in the stem cells market through opening speeches, scientific presentations, panel discussions and more. It will run hands-on workshops providing the participants latest expertise and knowledge on the advances and updates of stem cells research and therapy.-- TradeArabia News Service NAIROBI, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Eddie Kamau's ancestral village located at the heart of central Kenyan county of Nyandarua has for decades been renowned for producing top-grade potatoes and a wide range of fresh produce including kales and tomatoes. The middle-aged farmer has an emotional attachment to the tuber which has always flourished in his backyard amid cool weather, abundant rains and the presence of volcanic soils. Despite a series of setbacks that have hit potato farming in Kamau's locality, mainly insect attacks, crop diseases, market volatility and extreme weather events, he is yet to give up on the once prized cash cow for his family. "The traditional methods of growing potatoes have proved challenging and that is why we are keen to borrow modern farming practices from China that promise improved yield," Kamau told Xinhua during a recent interview at his farm. He believed eyeing synergy with China to transform potato farming in the lush green plains that dot Nyandarua County has become urgent amid declining productivity linked to poor agronomic practices, soil acidity and pests' infestation. According to Kamau, as China-Kenya bilateral cooperation in strategic fields such as agriculture and infrastructure development flourishes, potato farmers are confident of some benefits flowing their way. He noted that China is both an economic and technological powerhouse whose partnership with the Kenyan government could help transform potato farming through technology adoption and enhanced market linkages. "It is through applying technologies from China for local potato farming that we hope yields will go up, expanding revenue streams for the farmers," said Kamau. "Simple technologies like harrowing machines, tractors for plowing and machines for sorting potatoes are all that we require to upgrade our favorite vocation." Also, through a partnership with China, Kenya could be better placed to develop genetically modified potato varieties that are disease-, pest- and drought-resistant. Kenyan smallholder potato farmers were also keen on adopting best practices on value addition from China, in their quest to boost exports to overseas and more lucrative markets, according to Kamau. "Once we process potatoes into crisps, we are guaranteed a steady market overseas. We look forward to partnership with Chinese retail outlets to market our produce," said Kamau. He said that farmers in Nyandarua County, which produces 32 percent of potatoes consumed in Kenya, have benefitted from China-built infrastructure projects including the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) thanks to seamless transportation of their produce to markets far away. "With modern railway and roads courtesy of our partnership with China, I am able to transport my potatoes to the markets speedily and at my own convenience. This is a milestone for the country," said Kamau. As for Jesse Kamutu, his 25 years' experience in cultivating potatoes has instilled in him the virtues of patience, perseverance and fortitude in the face of setbacks that include losing an entire plantation to voracious pests and potato wilt. Kamutu said that potato farmers in the expansive Nyandarua County are ready to change course as traditional methods of growing the crop have become increasingly unsustainable. According to Kamutu, his peers have lost in the overseas markets due to the inability to grow high-quality potato varieties, thereby worsening their financial hardships and sapping their morale. His optimism is yet to fade as he looks forward to a robust partnership between Kenya and China to modernize potato farming, ensuring the crop is profitable. "I think it is a good idea for us to work with China in the area of potato farming because the country has technologies that can help us address productivity challenges," said Kamutu. "We can even start exporting potatoes that are processed to China and farmers will benefit immensely." Kamutu said that if local potato farmers were assisted with appropriate technologies, had access to improved varieties, fertilizer and pesticides, they would produce higher yields to meet local and foreign demand. Statistics from the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture indicate that potato is the country's second most important staple crop after maize, grown on about 128,000 hectares per year with average yields of eight tonnes per hectare. Wachira Kangogo, the CEO of the National Potato Council of Kenya, said leveraging Chinese technologies would be key to transforming the livelihoods of an estimated 500,000 smallholder potato farmers in the country. "We have quite a number of technologies out there in China which can fit here including storage and processing. They can transform the entire potato value chain and unleash benefits to farmers," said Kangogo. MOSCOW, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday that the recent responses presented by the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to Moscow's security proposals give grounds for the start of a discussion, but on secondary issues. "As for the content of the document, there is a reaction there, which allows us to count on the beginning of a serious conversation, however on secondary issues," Lavrov said, adding that the responses did not contain a positive reaction to the main issue outlined in the original document. Lavrov explained that the main issue for Moscow was the "inadmissibility of NATO's further expansion to the East" and the deployment of strike weapons that would threaten Russia's security. According to the foreign minister, Moscow would consider both the NATO and U.S. responses together, and following an interdepartmental review, Russian President Vladimir Putin would make a decision on further steps. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday that the United States has delivered a written letter to Russia addressing Moscow's concerns amid escalating tensions on Ukraine's border. According to Blinken, the country will not make the letter public and hopes that Russia will do the same, "because we think diplomacy has the best chance to succeed if we provide space for confidential talks." In December 2021, Russia sent a draft agreement to NATO and a draft treaty to the United States both on security guarantees in Europe for the Western countries to consider. KIEV, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's first deputy parliament speaker Oleksandr Kornienko said assistance from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities, the Ukrainian parliament's newspaper Golos Ukrainy reported on Wednesday. "We are grateful to those partner countries that already support Ukraine, the Alliance in general - for systematic assistance in the development of our army, which will strengthen the defense capabilities of our country," Kornienko said at a briefing following a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council. Kornienko invited foreign parliament members to attend the NATO Parliamentary Assembly slated for May this year in Kiev. A meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Interparliamentary Council was held in Brussels on Jan. 24-25. Last week, the United States sent two batches of military assistance to Ukraine as part of a military package worth 200 million U.S. dollars. Another batch of U.S. defensive aid arrived in Kiev on Tuesday. Last week, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also received anti-tank defensive weapons from Britain, while Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania pledged military support for Ukraine. New Delhi: Congress' Nana Patole To Be Elected Unopposed As Maha Speaker After BJP Withdraws Nomination Congress MLA Nana Patole is all set to be elected as Maharashtra Assembly Speaker as Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Kisan Kathore has withdrawn his name. While Patole's name was proposed by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance, BJP had nominated Kathore for the Speaker's post. The election is scheduled today, the day 2 of the special Assembly session called specifically for the floor test and the election of Speaker. The deadline to withdraw the nomination was 10 am on Sunday. Read here First Night Trial Of Agni-III Missile Held At Odishas APJ Abdul Kalam Island The first night trial of the nuclear capable Agni-III surface-to-surface ballistic missile was carried out from a mobile launcher at the Integrated Test Range at the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off Odisha coast on Saturday, Defence sources said. The trajectory of the missile is being monitored and the outcome of the trial is awaited, the sources said. Read here Misconception Over NRC, Lack Of Campaign On CAB Led To West Bengal Bypoll Defeat, Say BJP Leaders The West Bengal BJP unit has identified the misconception over NRC and its failure to counter it as one of the main reasons behind the partys defeat in the just-concluded bypolls in three Assembly segments of West Bengal, a senior party leader said on Saturday. Apart from the NRC issue, complacency of party workers in certain areas and absence of free and fair polling in some of booths had led to the partys defeat, he added. Read here 9 Killed, 3 Injured In South Dakota Plane Crash: Reports At least nine people were killed, including two children, and three others were injured after a plane carrying them crashed shortly after takeoff in South Dakota. According to reports, the pilot of the plane is among those killed. The injured have been rushed to a hospital in Sioux Falls. Read here London Bridge Attack: Boris Johnson Vows Action Against Convicted Terrorist Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed Saturday to review Britain's sentencing system after a convicted terrorist released early from prison stabbed two people to death and injured three in a London Bridge attack. Bystanders have been hailed as heroes for preventing even greater loss of life by tackling Usman Khan before police shot him dead. Read here For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. London: A new test can detect signs of prostate cancer using urine samples collected at home, according to a study which could predict whether patients will require treatment for the disease up to five years earlier than current methods. The researchers, including those from the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK, said prostate cancer was one of the most common cancers in men, developing slowly in a man's lifetime with the majority of cases not requiring treatment. However, they said, doctors struggle to predict which tumours will become aggressive, making it hard to decide on treatment for many patients. The study, published in the journal BioTechniques, noted that the 'PUR' test -- Prostate Urine Risk -- could be performed on samples collected at home, so men don't have to come into the clinic to provide a urine sample - or have to undergo a rectal examination. "The most commonly used tests for prostate cancer include blood tests, a physical examination known as a digital rectal examination (DRE), an MRI scan or a biopsy," said Jeremy Clark, lead researcher of the study from UEA. "We developed the PUR test, which looks at gene expression in urine samples and provides vital information about whether a cancer is aggressive or 'low risk'," Clark added. The researchers provided 14 participants with an At Home Collection Kit and instructions, and compared the results of their home urine samples, taken first thing in the morning, with samples collected after a digital rectal examination. They found that the urine samples taken at home showed the biomarkers for prostate cancer much more clearly than after a rectal examination. The at home test was also preferable among the participants, the researchers said. "Using our At Home test could in future revolutionise how those on 'active surveillance' are monitored for disease progression, with men only having to visit the clinic for a positive urine result. This is in contrast to the current situation where men are recalled to the clinic every six to 12 months for painful and expensive biopsies," Clark explained. Also Read: Breast Milk May Help Prevent Heart Disease In Premature Babies: Study The researchers said following a diagnosis, patients usually go on to an active surveillance programme that involves repeated biopsies and quite intrusive MRI scans. "When we do diagnose prostate cancer, the urine test has the potential to differentiate those who need to have treatment from those who do not need treatment, which would be invaluable," said study co-author Robert Mills from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital in the UK. New Delhi: Telangana Home Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali on Friday said that the 27-year-old veterinarian, who was charred to death after possible rape, could have been save, had she called police and not her sister upon finding few strangers were following and stalking her. "We are saddened by the incident, the police is alert and controlling crime. It is unfortunate that she called her sister and not '100'. Had she called '100', she could have been saved," news agency ANI quoted Telangana Home Minister Mohd Mahmood Ali as saying on the sensitive issue. According to reports, the woman, an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital, was on her way home in Hyderabad when she was allegedly abducted and burnt alive by unidentified persons late on Wednesday. Before going incommunicado, the doctor had called her sister and informed that her scooter got punctured near a toll plaza, where she had parked it. She asked her to stay on call as an unknown person asked her to help. She reportedly told the man that she was fine on her own, he insisted on helping her. "You please keep talking until my scooter comes back. They [the strangers] are all waiting outside. You please keep talking to me, I am scared," The News Minute quoted the doctor as telling her sister on phone at around 9:44 pm on Wednesday. Also Read | Hyderabad Police Arrests Accused Involved In Alleged Rape And Murder Of Doctor She then hung her phone, saying that she will call back. However, after waiting for her call till 10:30, the concerned sister called her but her phone was switched off. Next day, the police found her charred body from a nearby underpass. The police has suspected rape before being burnt to death but it could not be confrmed. As soon as the case was registered, the Hyderabad Police formed 10 teams to investigate the matter. So far, the Hyderabad police has arrested four accused involved in the alleged rape and murder case of a woman veterinary doctor. Police suspect that the victim, working as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital, was killed near Tondupally toll plaza of Outer Ring Road at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad and her body was dumped and burnt 25 km away at Chatanpally bridge near Shadnagar town in Ranga Reddy district. The body was noticed by some passers-by who alerted police. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Indian Navy INET Registration process is going to commence today, and all eligible candidates need to apply through the prescribed format by visiting the official website of Indian Navy, i.e. joinindiannavy.gov.in. The last date to apply for the respective post is December 19, 2019. All candidates must make sure to read the official notification and eligibility criteria carefully before applying for the exam. The Indian Navy INET exam is being conducted to recruit Short Service Commission Officers for the January 2021 session at INA, Kerala. Indian Navy is going to fill 144 vacant positions through this recruitment drive. In order to apply for the respective posts, candidates need to have done Graduation degree or should be in the final year of graduation from a recognized Institute/University. The application fee of the exam is Rs 215 which needs to be paid through online. It is to note that SC, ST and women candidates are exempted from application fee payment. All candidates who are eligible and want to apply for the short service commission officers need to visit the official website and make the payment and submit the application form accordingly. For more details, candidates need to visit the official website, joinindiannavy.gov.in. It is to note that the education qualification and age limit varies depending upon the nature of the posts. All candidates need to refer the below mentioned links of detailed notification and apply online direct link: Indian Navy INET Registration Notification Direct Link Indian Navy INET Apply Online New Delhi: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah for promptly including Amaravati in the map after being pointed out by TDP ministers. "I personally thank you for the quick steps taken in this (inclusion of Amaravati in the map) and also bring wishes of people of Andhra Pradesh and TDP. I take this opportunity to thank the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi for taking the initiative and you for immediately publishing the corrected version of the India map," Naidu's letter to the Union Home Minister read. Naidu also took to Twitter and thanked Shah for the prompt action. Dear Sri Amit Shah Ji, truly appreciate your esteemed offices quick redressal of the issue related to Amaravati not being mentioned on Indias map. You have endeared yourself to Telugu people by taking this step, TDP chief tweeted. Dear Sri @AmitShah Ji, truly appreciate your esteemed offices quick redressal of the issue related to Amaravati not being mentioned on Indias map. You have endeared yourself to Telugu people by taking this step. N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) November 23, 2019 A similar letter by the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister was also sent to Minister of State (MoS) in the Home Ministry, G Kishan Reddy. After the correction of map on Friday, TDP general Secretary Nara Lokesh had through a tweet claimed it as a result of fight by party MP Jayadev Galla. Taking note of the issue of Amaravati missing from the map, raised by Honble MPs of AP in the Parliament yesterday, I took up the matter with the concerned. "It is Chandrababu who put Amaravati in the world map. Kudos to TDP MP Jayadev for fighting in Lok Sabha to get Amaravati included in the map and got released by the Survey of India," rough translation of Lokesh's tweet, which was in Telugu, read. Earlier on Thursday, TDP MP Jayadev Galla had raised the issue in the Parliament by stating that the latest map issued by the Home Ministry did not have, Amaravati in it. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Washington: The United States will send a diplomatic team but no senior members of Donald Trumps administration to a global climate change conference starting in Spain on Monday, according to a statement. The US is withdrawing from the Paris climate accord that set a goal of limiting global temperature rises to well within two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) from pre-industrial levels. Spain stepped in to host the COP25 meeting, which seeks to boost commitments to fight climate change, after Chile pulled out due to civil unrest. The United States will continue to participate in ongoing climate change negotiations and meetingssuch as COP25 -- to ensure a level playing field that protects US interests, the US State Department said Saturday. The US delegation will be led by ambassador Marcia Bernicat, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs. President Trump has cast the Paris climate accord as elitist, saying when announcing his decision to withdraw that he was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris. But scientists say the accord is vital to check the worst damage from global warming, such as increasing droughts, rising floods and intensifying storms. The United States is the worlds second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after China, and is the only country to pull out of the Paris agreement. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Mumbai terror attack mastermind and chief of the banned JuD Hafiz Saeed will be prosecuted for terror financing charges by an anti-terrorism court here next month, an official said on Saturday. An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore held a hearing against Saeed and his accomplices on terror financing on Saturday and fixed December 7 as the date for indictment of the Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief and others in the case. ATC judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta fixed December 7 for indictment of Saeed and others after hearing the arguments of prosecution and defence lawyers, a court official told PTI after the hearing. He said prosecutor Abdur Rauf Bhatti requested the court to hold day to day hearing to conclude the trial at the earliest which was opposed by Saeeds counsel. The judge said he has to conclude the trial on evidence and merit, the official said, adding that the court adjourned the proceedings till December 7. Saeed was brought to the ATC amidst tight security from the Kot Lakhpat jail. The journalists were not allowed to enter the court to cover the proceedings due to security measures adopted by the Punjab Police. The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab Police had registered 23 FIRs against Saeed and his accomplices on the charges of terror financing in different cities of the Punjab province and arrested the JuD chief on July 17. He is detained at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. The cases have been registered in Lahore, Gujranwala and Multan for collection of funds for terror financing through assets/properties made and held in the names of Trusts/ Non Profit Organisations (NPO) including Al-Anfaal Trust, Dawatul Irshad Trust and Muaz Bin Jabal Trust. Under pressure from the international community, the Pakistani authorities have launched investigations into matters of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), JuD and its charity wing the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) for their holding and use of trusts to raise funds for terrorism financing. According to the CTD, the investigation was launched into financing matters of proscribed organisations - JuD and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) - in connection with implementation of the UN sanctions against these designated entities and persons as directed by NSC (National Security Committee) in its January 1 meeting chaired by prime minister Imran Khan for implementing National Action Plan. These suspects made assets from terrorism financing funds. They held and used these assets to raise more funds for more terror financing. Hence, they committed multiple offences of terrorism financing & money laundering under Anti Terrorism Act 1997. They will be prosecuted in ATCs (Anti Terrorism Courts) for commission of these offences, the CTD said. The US Department of the Treasury has designated Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and the US, since 2012, has offered a USD 10 million reward for information that brings JuD chief to justice. On July 3, top 13 leaders of the banned JuD, including Saeed and Naib Emir Abdul Rehman Makki, were booked in nearly two dozen cases for terror financing and money laundering under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. The CTD had registered an FIR against Saeed and others for illegally grabbing a piece of land in Lahore and setting up a seminary. According to officials, JuDs network includes 300 seminaries and schools, hospitals, a publishing house and ambulance service. In March, Punjab police said that government seized control of 160 seminaries, 32 schools, two colleges, four hospitals, 178 ambulances and 153 dispensaries associated with the JuD and its charity wing FIF in the province. At least 56 seminaries and facilities being run by the JuD and FIF in southern Sindh province were also taken over by authorities in the same month. Saeed-led JuD is believed to be the front organisation for the LeT which is responsible for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack that killed 166 people. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Saudi Arabias Jeddah is set to become home to a 150-bed world-class multi-speciality hospital, which will be fully integrated with Kings College Hospitals facilities in London. Building on the success of Kings College Hospital Dubai, which in a short period of time has become one of the best hospitals in UAE, Ashmore Group, a specialist emerging markets investment manager, in partnership with Kings College Hospital London and Saudi Bugshan Group, has announced the start of construction of Kings College Hospital Jeddah (KCHJ). The hospital is scheduled to open its doors to patients in the second half of 2023, and this is expected to be the first of many similar projects providing Ashmore and Kings the platform for further growth in KSA. The state-of-the-art Kings College Hospital Jeddah, located on King Abdulaziz Road, will cover an area of over 32,000 sq m, with a capacity of 150 beds in the first phase. The hospital will be staffed with over 1,000 leading healthcare professionals, sourced from London, KSA and wider region, delivering care in line with the tested clinical pathways of Kings College Hospital London. Clinical innovation and smart technologies will be a prominent feature at the hospital, with 40 medical and surgical specialties and four Centres of Excellence in the following Institutes: Womens Health, Metabolic Diseases & Bariatric Surgery, Orthopaedics and Heart & Vascular. The patient-centred care model, staffing and services will all be fully integrated with Kings College Hospital London, designed to address a range of complex and critical care requirements unique to the residents and communities of KSA. KCHJ will be the countrys first truly integrated hospital bringing the full benefits of Kings College Hospital London to KSA, and playing its role in achieving the s 2030 vision in the healthcare sector. The London-based tertiary hospital is part of the world leading UK National Health Service, with a 180-year history of successfully caring for patients with complex conditions. Kings is also one of the largest teaching hospitals in the UK. The hospitals 13,000+ staff in London treat over one million patients every year. Ahsan Ali, Head of Healthcare Private Equity at Ashmore commented: We stand true to our ambition and commitment to bringing the best of British healthcare to the region in partnership with Kings College Hospital London. Following the success of Kings hospital and clinics in Dubai, entering Saudi Arabia marks a new chapter for Kings and Ashmore, with the first project being a landmark hospital in Jeddah. We expect to follow this with the establishment of similar Kings branded facilities, including specialised centres, in other parts of the kingdom. The London and Jeddah hospitals will share knowledge from established Kings research centres in the UK. Utilising Kings world-leading expertise in healthcare will ensure the very best quality of evidence-based care is accessible to patients in Jeddah, will encourage further collaborations between physicians in both countries, and enable seamless patient journeys between the Jeddah and London hospitals, reducing the need for patients to travel to the UK. Sir Hugh Taylor, Chairman of Kings College Hospital, London said: We are delighted that Kings, in partnership with Ashmore, is expanding its footprint to Saudi Arabia, following on from the success of our hospital and clinics in the UAE. Kings College Hospital has a long history of providing outstanding patient care in London and as part of our Strong roots, Global reach strategy we remain committed to delivering outstanding care for patients in Saudi Arabia. Mark Coombs, Chief Executive Officer of Ashmore Group plc, added: Ashmore Group remains committed to supporting KSAs continued development across multiple areas. We have been active in KSA over the last two decades and were the first international fund manager to establish local operations1 with a dedicated team in Riyadh, and we are now excited about playing our role in the development of KSAs healthcare sector by bringing Kings to the country. UK Governments Department for International Trade (DIT) has been supporting Ashmore and King's College Hospital with this project in Jeddah and added: The proposed Jeddah development will greatly benefit from having an NHS partner - King's College Hospital - which will support the kingdom's Healthcare transformation and allow for valuable expertise and knowledge transfer to help shape the healthcare provision. This will be the first hospital in the kingdom to partner with the National Health Service.-- TradeArabia News Service New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday held discussions with leaders of political parties, students bodies and civil society groups of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya on the contours of the proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), sources said. The meetings were attended by chief ministers of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya Sarbananda Sonowal, Pema Khandu and Conrad Sangma respectively, Union minister Kiren Rijiju and several MPs among others. Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said Shah met political parties and civil society members of Tripura and Mizoram for four hours on Friday night and things were moving in the right direction. Union Home Minister Sri @AmitShah on Friday consulted political parties and civil society organisations of Tripura & Mizoram for over 4 hrs on proposed #CAB. Today he will discuss it with delegations from Assam, Meghalaya & Arunachal Pradesh. Things are moving in right direction, Sarma tweeted. Union Home Minister Sri @AmitShah on Friday consulted political parties and civil society organisations of Tripura & Mizoram for over 4 hrs on proposed #CAB. Today he will discuss it with delegations from Assam, Meghalaya & Arunachal Pradesh. Things are moving in right direction Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) November 30, 2019 The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, in order to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who come to India due to religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan even if they dont possess proper documents. The home minister is holding the series of meetings on Friday, Saturday and on December 3 in the wake of strong protests in the Northeast against the CAB. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has written to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seeking an urgent inquiry into the alleged suicide of a Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) student, asserting that action in the matter is of utmost importance for the safety of girls in the state. On September 16, the body of 17-year-old Anushka Pandey, a Class 11 student of JNV, Bhongaon, was found hanging from the ceiling of her hostel room. A suicide note was found in the room in which she stated that she was taking the extreme step as her roommates had publicly humiliated and taunted her over the theft of some snacks, police had said. However, Pandeys father had lodged an FIR against the school principal, Sushma Sagar, hostel warden, and two students alleging that his daughter was murdered, they had said. Priyanka Gandhi, in her letter to Yogi Adityanath, said the incident was heart wrenching and it assumes importance in the context of the security of girls studying in various institutions in the state. The body of Subhash Pandeys daughter was found in the hostel under mysterious circumstances. Injury marks were found on her body but post-mortem was not done. The deceaseds family has said the girl was murdered, she said. Priyanka Gandhi said the family of the deceased has raised several questions about the incident and asked for action to be taken by authorities. They have every right to know what happened with their daughter and who all were involved. Is the administration trying to shield someone, she said in the letter dated November 28. In order to ensure justice for the family of the deceased, an unbiased inquiry should be conducted in the matter, she said and requested the chief minister to order a probe immediately. For ensuring the safety of girls in the state, it is very important that action should be taken in this matter, the Congress general secretary said. Senior Congress leader and Union Jitin Prasad had last week visited the deceaseds family and expressed solidarity with them, calling for an urgent inquiry. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: At least seven people were killed and 15 other injured after a van fell off a bridge in north Maharashtra's Dhule tehsil, police said on Saturday. According to reports, the accident took place near Vinchur village on the Dhule-Solapur Road shortly after midnight, an official said. This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Please refresh the page for the updated version. Keep reading News Nation for all latest updates. For other stories, click on english.newsnationtv.com New Delhi: The election of for Maharashtra Assembly Speakers post will be held today, a day after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena-Congress-NCP alliance cleared the floor test. The ruling alliance has announced party MLA Nana Patole as its candidate for the post, while the BJP named Kisan Kathore as its nominee. Nana Patole will be our candidate for the Speakers election, Congress leader Manikrao Thakre said on Saturday. Patole, who represents the Sakoli Assembly segment in Vidarbha, is a BJP rebel who joined Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections and unsuccessfully contested against Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and lost. Patole hoped he would be elected unopposed. They (the BJP) have the right in democracy (to field a candidate). But it has been a tradition in Maharashtra that Speaker is elected unopposed. We hope that tradition continues, the Congress leader told reporters. State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said Kathore, party MLA from Murbad in Thane district, will be its candidate. Both Patole and Kathore are in their fourth term as MLA. Kathore was elected as Thane zilla parishad president in 2002. He became MLA for the first time in 2004 on NCP ticket from Ambernath in Thane district. He went on to win 2009, 2014 and 2019 Assembly elections from Murbad. He contested the 2014 and 2019 elections on BJPs ticket. Earlier on Friday, Nationalist Congress Party MLA Dilip Walse Patil was on Friday appointed as pro-tem Speaker. He replaced BJP lawmaker Kalidas Kolambkar who was earlier this week appointed to the post. The ruling alliance has passed the floor test as 169 MLAs in the 288-member Assembly voted in its favour, while the BJPs 105 MLAs staged a walkout. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India, KV Subramanian on Friday defended the policies of the Centre after the economic growth slipped to 4.5 per cent in July-September quarter, which is the lowest since 2013. Subramanian claimed that the fundamentals of the Indian economy continued to be strong and the Gross Domestic Product or GDP growth will pick up in the next quarter. "We are saying again that the fundamentals of the Indian economy continue to be strong. GDP is expected to pick in Quarter 3," news agency ANI quoted Subramanian as saying. According to the official data released on Friday, India's economic growth in the second quarter slipped to the lowest in more than six years. The country's GDP grew at 4.5 per cent in the second quarter of the current financial year as compared to the 5 per cent in the previous quarter. The previous low was recorded at 4.3 per cent in the January-March period of 2012-13 during the UPA rule. During the six-month period (April-September 2019), the Indian economy grew 4.8 per cent as against 7.5 per cent in the same period a year ago. Also Read | Growth Down, But There Won't Be Any Recession, Says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Output of eight core infrastructure industries also contracted by 5.8 per cent in October, indicating the severity of economic slowdown. As many as six of eight core industries saw a contraction in output in October. Coal production fell steeply by 17.6 per cent, crude oil by 5.1 per cent, and natural gas by 5.7 per cent. Reacting to the abysmal GDP growth figures, the Opposition Congress accused the Narendra Modi government of pushing the countrys economy into "coma" through its "divisive" policies. "India's GDP has collapsed to an abysmal 4.5%, and we are in a virtual free-fall. But why is the BJP celebrating when this is the lowest our GDP has sunk in six years? That's because GDP means Godse Divisive Politics to them, and by that measure, India can be seen to have achieved double-digit growth. It's all about perspective," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Dharamshala : Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Friday played down the debate over his successor, saying it was too early to discuss it. All of you discussed a lot about my reincarnation. I am 84 or 85 years old and I am quite well. So why are you in a hurry about my reincarnation? he was quoted as saying at a meeting of Tibetan religious leaders here. The Nobel Peace Prize winner was addressing them on the last day of the three-day 14th Tibetan Religious Conference, where a resolution on reincarnation was earlier adopted. While China has been insisting that the tradition of reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should continue, many Tibetans are opposed to Beijings apparent attempt to impose a successor. The 14th Dalai Lama himself has said in the past that it is not necessary that the tradition should continue. At the conference held at the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) headquarters in this Himachal Pradesh town, the Dalai Lama said monasteries must focus more on studies. Chanting mantras only is not enough. Knowledge and education should be the base, he said. The participants adopted a resolution on the first day of the conference, saying that the Dalia Lama alone has the authority to decide how his reincarnation will occur. It added that no government has the right to interfere in that process. Karma Gelek, Religion and Culture minister in the Tibetan government in-exile, said the 14th Dalai Lama addressed a range of topics in his address. About his reincarnation, he said he is physically extremely well and mentally extremely happy so there is no hurry on talking about this subject, the minister said. Addressing the inaugural session of the conference on Wednesday, CET president Lobsang Sangay also criticized meddling by China. Chinas extreme hostility towards religious freedom in Tibet is totally unacceptable to us and likewise, we vehemently reject any advancement of Chinas interferences in the process of the reincarnation system, the CET quoted him as saying. If anything it should be for the Tibetans to decide, he added. Though China continues to put pressure on India, Indias consistent generosity and kindnesses towards Tibetans have always been the same, he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. West Bengal: In a fresh salvo at the TMC government in West Bengal, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has said there is a policy paralysis in the states higher education system, and that he is not consulted in the affairs of universities despite being the chancellor. Dhankhar also said that a black hole exists in the West Bengals higher education ministry in terms of communication with him. The Governor said he was pained at not being consulted over the recent appointment of the vice-chancellor of Sanskrit College and University in the city. In the ministry of higher education, there is a black hole in terms of communication with the chancellor. There is a policy paralysis and I am worried about it. I am doing everything under the sun to see that the education scenario in the universities improves, Dhankhar told PTI in an interview. Dhankhar has been at loggerheads with the state government on a number of issues since assuming charge in July. New Delhi: India and Japan on Saturday deliberated on the threat posed to regional peace by terror networks operating from Pakistan and asked it to take "resolute and irreversible" against them. In their inaugural foreign and defence ministerial dialogue, the two countries specifically called upon Islamabad to "fully comply" with its international commitments to deal with terrorism including the steps prescribed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global anti-terror watchdog. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar led the Indian delegation while the Japanese side was headed by Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Minister of Defence Taro Kono, officials said. The talks under the new two-plus-two framework took place following a decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe during the 13th India-Japan annual summit last year. "The ministers underlined the need for all countries to ensure that all territory under their control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries in any manner," an Indo-Japan joint statement said. "They noted in this context the threat posed to regional security by terrorist networks operating out of Pakistan and called upon it to take resolute and irreversible action against them and fully comply with international commitments including to FATF," it said. India and Japan also called upon all countries to take resolute action in rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupt terrorist networks, eliminate financing channels and halt cross-border movement of terrorists. "The ministers condemned in the strongest terms the growing threat of terrorism and acknowledged that it constituted a major threat to peace and security in the region," the joint statement said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Two former Jammu and Kashmir MLAs, who were under detention since August 5, were rushed to a hospital on Thursday night after their health condition deteriorated, according to news agency PTI, citing officials. The Kashmiri MLAs whose health condition worsened in the Centres custody were identified as National Conference general secretary and former minister Ali Mohammed Sagar and former Ganderbal MLA Ishfaq Ahmed. They were rushed to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) at Soura. The two leaders have been under detention at an unknown location since August 5 when the Narendra Modi government announced to stripe Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and divide the state into two Union Territories - Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. The officials said both of them have been admitted to SKIMS and are undergoing cardiac-related tests. Sagar, 61, has represented the Khanyar Assembly seat in downtown Srinagar and has served in important positions in the cabinet of Farooq Abdullah as well as that of his son Omar Abdullah. With no proper heating arrangements, the winter chill had taken a toll on the health of the detenuesNational Conference, PDP and Peoples Conference leaders and prominent social activists. Kins of the detained leaders have been complaining about the make-shift subsidiary jails poor facilities which includes inadequate heating arrangements to brave winters months in the Kashmir valley. Many of relatives had brought warm beddings for their detained kins as there was no heating system at the MLA hostel. The BJP has apprehension that if released, these political leaders will lead protests against the Article 370 move. However, the authorities had once said that these leaders will be released in a phased manner. Three former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers NCPs Farooq Abdullah, his son Omar and PDPs Mehbooba Mufti are among the prominent Kashmiri leaders caged by the Centre on August 5. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Singh Thakur made second apology in the Parliament in just two hours. In her second apology, Thakur said that she never took Nathuram Godses name and didnt refer him as patriot. "On November 27, during discussion on Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019, I did not call Nathuram Godse a 'deshbhakt'. I did not even mention his name. I apologise again if I have hurt any sentiments," she said in the Lok Sabha. Earlier, she apologised for the remark saying her statement was distorted by the Opposition. She also attacked former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, without taking his names, for calling her 'terrorist' despite being acquitted by a court. 'A respected member here insulted me by calling me a 'terrorist'," Thakur said. Earlier, Pragya Thakur was summoned by the Bhartiya Janata Party for her Godse remark in Lok Sabha. She was asked to clarify her remarks before the party's working president JP Nadda, general secretary Bhupendra Yadav and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi. The BJP had barred her from attending its parliamentary party meeting. But Congress said that her Lok Sabha membership should be revoked immediately. The party alleged that Thakur has disrespected India and Mahatma Gandhi through her remarks. Thakur created a controversy on Wednesday with her remark in Lok Sabha during DMK member A Raja's narration of a statement by Nathuram Godse before a court on why he killed Mahatma Gandhi. Amid the row, the BJP on Thursday removed Thakur from the consultative committee on defence. "We condemn her statement strongly. She has disrespected the nation and Gandhiji. We demand that Pragya's Lok Sabha membership be revoked forthwith," state Congress spokesperson Shobha Oza told reporters. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Aster Pharmacy, a retail division of Aster DM Healthcare, is showcasing three technologically advanced health and skincare products at Arab Health 2022. This includes, Naobay (Organic skincare from Spain); UAE homegrown brand - Nano Seha (Alcohol Free Nanosilver based Sanitisers that offer greater protection); and BioSepeedia (vitro diagnostics, a 15-minute rapid home test kits from France). In addition, Aster will be showcasing over 20 different brands with its distribution partner, Alfa One. Alfa One, is one of the companys top distributors - bringing world renowned and trusted brands in the Nutrition, Personal Care and Home Healthcare space. Balasubramanian, CEO, Aster Health said: Arab Health is the region's largest healthcare exhibition that brings together several healthcare professionals, trade visitors and exhibitors from across the Middle East - giving us an opportunity to showcase our wide range of health, wellness and beauty products and services to potential customers. This year we are also looking to expand our partner network and geographical presence via our unique franchise model. Aster Pharmacys participation in Arab Health also comes as leading healthcare providers view digital transformation to become more consumer-friendly. The pandemic accelerated the convergence of several trends in the healthcare industry, particularly consumers prioritising convenience and access to care. Aster is showcasing its products at Dubai World Trade Centre from January 24 to 27 January at booth E10 Hall 6.-- TradeArabia News Service New Delhi: The Congress party on Friday launched a scathing attack against Modi government over dismal economic slowdown. While addressing to the reporters, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala said for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) country's GDP means 'Godse Divisive Politics'. He further added that the ruling party has plunged the economy to another low. "This is the bankruptcy of economic vision. The latest GDP numbers show that the ruling BJP has plunged the economy to another low," Surjewala added. Indias GDP has collapsed to an abysmal 4.5%. We are in a virtual free-fall. This is the lowest GDP quarter in 6 years. But why is the BJP celebrating? Because their understanding of GDP ( Godse Divisive Politics) suggests double digit growth levels. All in the perspective! pic.twitter.com/HsJuIPDDgV Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) November 29, 2019 Indias economic growth slipped further to hit an over six-year low of 4.5 per cent in July-September, according to official data released on Friday. The previous low was recorded at 4.3 per cent in the January-March period of 2012-13. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth was registered at 7 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19. During the six-month period (April-September 2019), the Indian economy grew 4.8 per cent as against 7.5 per cent in the same period a year ago. The Reserve Bank had lowered the GDP growth projection for 2019-20 to 6.1 per cent from earlier forecast of 6.9 per cent. Chinas economic growth was 6 per cent in July-September 2019, which was the weakest expansion in over 27 years. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Our mums might be wrong for once because we can now be actually paid to sleep. In an attempt to focus on the importance of sleep, an Indian startup by the name of Wakefit is calling out to all the sleep-lovers for their sleep internship 2020 batch with a paid stipend of Rs1 lakh to sleep for 90 days. For the task, candidates will have to sleep for 9 hours, 7 days a week for 100 days after which you can get a reward of Rs.1 lakh. For the skills required, the post must have a fanatical passion and an innate ability to fall asleep in their pjs. The company will monitor the sleeping patterns of the candidates who are selected. They will also be given counselling sessions and sleep trackers. It will help the company to monitor the sleep experiences of the candidates before and after using their mattresses. This initiative is another step towards making sleep an integral part of maintaining work-life balance in our lives, Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, Director and Co-founder, Wakefit.co, was quoted as saying by bestmediainfo.com. "As a sleep solutions company, our biggest motivation is to inspire people to sleep better. As we continue to live life in the fast lane, sleep is unfortunately becoming a common casualty, adversely affecting our health, productivity and quality of life," Chaitanya was quoted as saying. "We are looking to recruit the best sleepers in the country who are willing to go to any lengths to make sleep a priority in their lives," he added. For all the Latest Offbeat News News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Two Maoists were killed in an encounter with the police on Saturday in Maharashtras Gadchiroli district, an official said. The encounter took place at Abujmad in Gadchiroli, when Maoists were in preparations of the Peoples Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Week, which the Maoists observe from December 2 to 8, the official said. Anti-Maoists operations commandos entered the camp of Maoists and destroyed the camp in the operation, he said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The United States called Friday on Iraqi leaders to address "legitimate grievances" of protesters including corruption after the embattled prime minister announced his resignation. "We share the protesters' legitimate concerns," a State Department spokeswoman said. "We continue to urge the government of Iraq to advance the reforms demanded by the people, including those that address unemployment, corruption, and electoral reform," she said, without commenting directly on Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi's decision to quit. On Thursday, at least 40 protesters were killed after thousands defied a curfew to join funeral marches and torched an Iranian consulate. Protesters closed roads and police and military forces were deployed across key oil-rich provinces. Demonstrators across Iraq have blamed powerful eastern neighbour Iran for propping up the Baghdad government which they are seeking to topple. Tehran has demanded Iraq take decisive action against the protesters, with foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi condemning the attack. Iran has officially communicated its disgust to the Iraq ambassador in Tehran, he told Irans state news agency IRNA. Later Thursday, three protesters were shot dead close to the burnt consulate, medics said. Irans consulate in Iraqs other holy city of Karbala was targeted earlier this month, with security forces shooting four demonstrators dead. In Baghdad, protesters attempted to cross the Ahrar Bridge leading to the heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraqs government, nearby. Protesters were occupying parts of three bridges - Jumhuriya, Sinak and Ahrar - all leading to the fortified area. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Protesters have accused the ruling elite of embezzling state funds that are desperately needed to restore failing public services and fix schools. Last month, four Iraqi parliamentarians have resigned in anger at the government's perceived failure to respond to mass protests, piling more pressure on embattled Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi. Earlier, the United Nations and Amnesty International urged Iraqi authorities to respect the right of peaceful assembly. "We are worried by reports that security forces have used live ammunition and rubber bullets in some areas, and have also fired tear gas canisters directly at protesters," Marta Hurtado, spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, told reporters in Geneva. Amnesty International's Middle East research director Lynn Maalouf condemned the use of "lethal and unnecessary force". An internet blackout was a "draconian measure... to silence protests away from cameras and the world's eyes", she added. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The first summit on the ongoing crisis situation in Afghanistan is set to be held in New Delhi today to discuss connectivity, trade, building an institutional framework for cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan. The summit will also be attended by five Central Asian countries, from whom India will discuss the Afghan crisis under the policy with an extended neighbourhood. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will attend the summit today. The leaders of these countries could not come to attend India's Republic Day celebrations on Wednesday due to the rapidly increasing cases of Corona in the country, but through virtual meetings, these leaders are attending the summit today. The five leaders have been invited as chief guests at the event, though no formal announcement has been made by any country. According to media reports, the summit is expected to discuss a number of proposals that are expected to focus on trade and connectivity, development partnership, the institutional framework for cooperation, culture and people-to-people contact between the two countries. The proposals include making the India-Central Asia Summit a regular event, creation of a permanent secretariat to promote cooperation and synergy, and greater engagement at the ministerial level in areas such as trade, connectivity, defence, security and tourism. India signs MoU with France for extended health research Jharkhand: Naxalites pasted threatening posters after blowing up railway tracks, many trains route diverted UK PM Boris Johnson greets India on Republic Day TEHRAN Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has stated that his country wants to strengthen ties with its northern neighbour Azerbaijan. Raisi made the statements during a meeting with visiting Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov on Wednesday, according to Iran's presidency website. Ties between Iran and Azerbaijan are built on the principles of the two nations' people and have been developed throughout history. Raisi stated that the Islamic Republic's aim is to strengthen relations with its neighbours, notably with Azerbaijan in the Caucasus region, and that his country is willing to assist Azerbaijan with technical and engineering assistance. According to the website, Hasanov praised his conversations with Iranian officials as "helpful, beneficial, and path-breaking" for future cooperation. Earlier in the day, the defence ministers of Iran and Azerbaijan met to discuss regional challenges and military cooperation, and to push for further defence collaboration. Following meetings with his Azerbaijani counterpart Zakir Hasanov, Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani stated that the two neighbours should deepen relations and strengthen cooperation in the defence and security sectors due to historical and cultural similarities. Iran condemns airstrikes in Yemen carried out by Saudi-led coalition UNICEF launches campaign to revamp Covid vaccine in Africa Taliban Govt makes it illegal for media outlets to organise conferences Seoul: South Korea met with the three members of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) on Thursday to discuss joining the world's first plurilateral digital pact. According to sources, the DEPA is an agreement struck by Singapore, New Zealand, and Chile to define important standards on digital trade concerns such digital identities, cross-border data flows, and artificial intelligence, which went into force in January 2021. The agreement, according to South Korea, could serve as a broad platform for establishing a global digital cooperation network. Canada and China have expressed interest in joining the digital pact, according to South Korea. According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, Yang Ghi-wuk, a South Korean chief delegate, met with his counterparts from Singapore, New Zealand, and Chile in their first Accession Working Group meeting to discuss Seoul's participation. In remarks released prior of the conference, Yang, the ministry's director general for free trade agreement policy, stated, "We will proactively proceed in constructing a digital trade order" amid an increasing digital change following the Covid-19 pandemic. South Korea applied to join the digital pact four months ago, and the virtual talks took place four months later. UN envoy calls for Taliban to enhance engagement with International community North Korea fires two short-range ballistic missiles toward East Sea US send written response to Moscow's concerns: Blinken According to media organisations, the Taliban government in Afghanistan prevented media outlets from holding a press conference in Kabul due to concerns about the country's media situation. The conference was supposed to take place in Kabul on Wednesday. The conference will be attended by 11 representatives from various media organisations, according to the Afghanistan Journalist Center. "All national and international media outlets were covering it," Ali Asghar Akbarzada, the head of the Afghanistan National Journalists' Union, stated. "Unfortunately, the conference was cancelled owing to a verbal instruction from authorities of the Islamic Emirate." The Islamic Emirate, according to members of the Afghanistan National Journalists Union, told them not to organise the conference until they had authorization. "We urge the Islamic Emirate to make a final choice in the near future. They should make a decision as quickly as feasible and issue us with a permission so that we can hold our conference "According to Akbarzada. The Taliban government did not say whether the conference of media outlets was prohibited or not, but it did say that it remains supportive of the media in accordance with Islamic regulations. Since the Taliban rose to power in Afghanistan, over 43% of media activities have been curtailed, and over 60% of media professionals have lost their jobs, according to media sources. UN envoy calls for Taliban to enhance engagement with International community Taliban delegates meets representatives of the United States, 7 other nations in Oslo Taliban plan to reopen girls' high schools in March TRIPOLI Stephanie Williams, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Libya, has urged Libyan political parties to set a clear schedule for holding general elections. Williams delivered her remarks during a meeting with members of the municipal council of Sabha, in southern India, on Wednesday. Academics, dignitaries, and officials from youth and women's organisations attended the conference, according to reports. "My visit today was an indication of my resolve to meet the people of Sabha face to face, listen to their worries and opinions directly, particularly about Libya's political future and how the UN can assist them in their quest for peace, stability, unity, and democracy," Williams tweeted. "From Sabha, I renewed my call to the House of Representatives, the High Council of State, the Government of National Unity, and other concerned institutions and parties to listen to their people and put the elections back on track, through a consensual path and a clear timeline that can lead to the holding of elections in the shortest possible timeframe," Williams said. Last December 24, Libya was scheduled to hold presidential elections. According to the country's electoral body, the elections have been postponed indefinitely due to technical and legal concerns. World Bank to offer USD 100 mn for flood victims in Sudan Afghan military have commissioned 700 security personnel Iranian President seeks closer ties with Azerbaijan Sudan: The World Bank has approved a USD100 million relief package for flood victims in South Sudan. Ousmane Dione, World Country Director for Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Sudan in the Eastern and Southern Africa area, told media in Juba, South Sudan's capital, that the already approved monies will be available to the government in mid-2022. "We feel the flooding in South Sudan should be handled seriously," Dione added. "Funds have already been approved and will hopefully be given." More than 840,000 people have been displaced by flooding in South Sudan's seven states since May 2021.According to UN organisations, the floods have worsened an already severe humanitarian situation, with 7.2 million people at risk of starvation, including millions of children. The World Bank has already committed usd 265 million to various ongoing initiatives in the agricultural, health, social protection, and community resilience sectors. Dione went on to say that they have raised an additional USD 38 million to help South Sudanese refugees and their host communities. Furthermore, he stated that they are not only supporting development programmes, but also funding capacity building in the youngest country. South Sudan: Children among the dozens killed in the violence Sudan condemns the attacks by the Houthi on the UAE and Saudi Arabia Afghan military have commissioned 700 security personnel Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports have registered a 26.1 per cent growth in November surging to hit SR26 billion ($7 billion) from SR20.6 billion last year, according to the November 2021 International Trade Report issued by the General Authority for Statistics (GASTAT). The kingdom's non-oil exports increased by SR2.1 billion or 9% compared to October 2021, it stated. According to GASTAT, the overall merchandise exports increased by 82.5% in November compared to the year before, when international trade was impacted by Covid-related lockdowns and travel bans in numerous countries. The value of exports amounted to SR107.3 billion in November, up from SR58.8 billion over 2020. This increase originated mainly from oil exports, which rose by SAR 43.1 billion or 112.8% in the same period. The share of oil exports in total exports increased from 65.0% in November 2020 to 75.8% in November 2021. Compared to October, the total merchandise exports increased by SR1.1 billion or 1%. The report further revealed that the kingdom's merchandise imports increased by 1.4% in November. The value of imports amounted to SR49.4 billion in November 2021 compared to SR48.7 billion the previous year. Miguel de Cervantes, a Spanish writer, once said, Believe there are no limits, but the sky. There are very few who live up to this statement among billions of people in the world and make their own legacy and mark in their own field in the world. We are talking about three fashion designers from Nepal who belong to that category. These three people have done something more than Nepals celebrated fashion designers. They have made a name of themselves among world-known fashion designers in the arena of glitz and glamour. From their residences in three continents of the world, they have made the Nepalis proud of their designs and creativity. But, why? What is special about them? We will discuss. 1. Prabal Gurung Prabal Gurung Prabal Gurung needs no introduction; he is a brand himself. Gurung, born in Singapore to his Nepali parents, grew up in Kathmandu. He completed his schooling at St Xaviers School. After that, he started his career as a fashion designer in New Delhi, India. He joined the National Institute of Fashion Technology there and studied fashion designing. During his course of study, he worked at many local production houses and for many fashion designers. He also did an apprenticeship under Manish Arora, who is regarded as the John Galliano of India. He received plenty of exposure and experience during the foundation years of his career. Grabbing the opportunity, he assisted designers in Melbourne and London for fashion shows and global media. He then went to New York in 1999. He enrolled himself at Parsons School of Design and alongside he worked under Donna Karan. After completing his education, he worked with Cynthia Rowleys design team for about two years. Then, he joined fashion house Bill Blass as design director and worked there for five years. And, finally, the celebrated fashion designer launched his own line, Prabal Gurung, in 2009 during New York Fashion Week. Following this, his designs made it to a fashion show at Bryant Park in Tents; this was his debut at runways. His designs have been worn by personalities including Emma Watson, Jennifer Lawrence, Catherine, Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Kamala Harris, Demi Moore, Kerry Washington and also Bollywood celebrities like Katrina Kaif, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra. He had many accolades in his name including the 2010 Ecco Domani Fashion Fund Award, 2010 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund runner up, the 2011 CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear and the inaugural Creativity Award from The Drawing Center. 2. Sanyukta Shrestha Photo: Screengrab from Sanyukta Shresthas website. Sanyukta Shrestha is another Nepali-born fashion designer celebrated worldwide. Shrestha, who is based in London, launched her first international collection under her own name in 2011, specialising in sustainable bridal and luxury wear. With the launch, the celebrated fashion designer introduced sustainability to the bridal wear industry for the first time, thus redefining the market for bridal wear. Her designs are made out of eco-friendly fibres such as hemp, banana, milk, organic silk and wild nettle and are handcrafted and timeless. Due to her commitment towards sustainable fashion, she has earned accolades from media in words such as the dawn of the sustainable movement and the Greta of the Wedding World. One of her sustainable creations was preserved in the Fashion Museum in Bath in 2012. Shrestha envisioned a sustainable and eco-friendly fashion brand a long time back when she was volunteering for World Wildlife Fund Nepal (WWF) and Womens Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) in Nepal during the early years of her career. She has won multiple awards nationally and internationally, including the winner of the luxury category at the PETA Vegan Wedding Awards 2022, Wedding Boutique of The Year London for her bridal outlet named Behuli Boutique, and The Bridal Buyer Award. Her designs are featured in many international magazines and seen in personalities like Candice Swanepoel, Laura Wright, and Amy Nuttall. 3. Mishu Shrestha Photo: Screengrab/Instagram page Mishu Shrestha is another celebrated fashion designer in Nepal who has reached many international platforms. Shrestha completed her diploma from the fashion hub of Milan. Immediately after that, she started her own fashion brand, MISHUS Fashion House in Thapathali, Kathmandu, in 2012. Like Sanyukta Shrestha, Mishu Shrestha is also into promoting sustainable fashion and is known for her cashmere gowns. She also incorporated Tamang prayer flags, Mithila art and artistic motifs in her western clothing designs. Shrestha is also the first Nepali to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival in 2018. There, she presented her designs along with three designers from India, Kenya and France as a part of a fashion show, Seven Continents of Fashion. Her designer gowns were worn by celebrities during the festival. Besides, she has also designed outfits for many celebrities including Hollywood actress Katianna Ley. She has also collaborated with Asia Pacific Rayon for producing and exporting sustainable denim and cashmere collections internationally. (Updates with details) SAO PAULO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Brazilian shoemaker Arezzo Industria e Comercio SA announced on Thursday a follow-on share offering of 7.5 million shares as it aims to raise money for long-term investments, including new stores and potential mergers and acquisitions. Arezzo said in a securities filing the offering could be increased by up to 35%, or 2.63 million shares, if demand allows it. Considering the closing price of 81.91 reais in Arezzo on Wednesday, 829.34 million reais ($153.03 million) would be raised if all the additional shares are sold, it said. The offering is expected to be priced on Feb. 3. Investment banks Itau BBA, BTG Pactual, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, XP Investimentos and Santander Brasil will manage the offering. "The company expects to use all of the proceeds to invest in long-term assets, including brand development, new store openings, supply chain and technology, and M&A," Arezzo said. ($1 = 5.4195 reais) (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by Toby Chopra and Bernadette Baum) Andres Leighton / AP Legislation often needs to change with the times and that includes state tax rules. Child Tax Credit: You Could Get a Double Payment in February Heres Why IRS: Free File Now Open, Do Your Taxes For Free When New Mexico legislators passed a ruling in 2019 that excluded receipts from launching, operating or recovering space vehicles or payloads in New Mexico from gross receipts taxes, they were thinking largely of cargo scientific equipment, technology, satellites and potentially even plants or animals. Under the ruling, since it wasnt specified, human passengers are also considered freight, and not subject to gross receipts taxes. But that could change with an amendment to the statute, which would tax passengers on Virgin Galactics $450,000 sub-orbital flights, which travel 360,000 feet above earth. The tax, according to ABC News reports, could be at least $31,000, putting the total cost of a flight from Spaceport America up above $480,000. Considering the cost of the flight and the unusual value it delivers its unlikely the added tax would deter Virgins high net worth passengers. Yet, it would bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars to local communities and the state of New Mexico. When those exemptions were drafted, it was not in anyones mind that people would be a payload, Republican Rep. Jason Harper of Rio Rancho told ABC News. Harper, along with Democratic Rep Matthew McQueen, is sponsoring the bill. Stimulus Update: IRS Announces All Third-Round Economic Impact Payments Have Been Sent Explore: How To Live Your Richest Life in 2022 I cant think of a particularly good reason why we wouldnt tax this activity, McQueen told ABC News. More From GOBankingRates This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: $450K Virgin Galactic Tickets To Space May Also Get Taxed in New Mexico CHARLOTTE, N.C., January 27, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allspring Global Investments (Allspring), the pure-play, independent asset manager with US$575 billion in assets under management*, today announced the appointment of Andy Sowerby as managing director, head of Client Group APAC ex-Japan. Reporting to Deirdre Flood, head of International Client Group, Andy will assume responsibility for leading Allsprings business development across the APAC region, identifying ways to best partner with existing and prospective clients. Andy brings a wealth of experience with over 30 years across top-tier global companies. He has deep expertise in partnering with clients to develop innovative investment solutions with a goal to exceed their investment objectives. Throughout his career, Andy has held senior executive roles focused on institutional and wholesale markets. He joins from Legg Mason, where he was head of Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) and CEO of its Australia and New Zealand operations. Earlier, he worked as global head of distribution for Martin Currie for 11 years, where he established its international business, including offices in Singapore and Australia. He also held various roles with Investec Asset Management. Joe Sullivan, executive chair and CEO at Allspring, said: "Our international client base is strategically important to us, and investing further to expand our value proposition and better serve these markets is a priority for Allspring. Andys hire is an important one as we seek to grow and enhance our international footprint". Deirdre Flood, head of International Client Group at Allspring, said: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring someone with Andys experience into the Allspring team. We are proud to serve a prestigious group of clients in the APAC region and look forward to identifying more ways to help meet their investment objectives and to be increasingly relevant to them". Andy Sowerby added: "Allspring is one of the most exciting asset managers in the market today. With global reach and a full suite of investment capabilities, I believe that Allspring has much to offer. With the formation of the new company comes a fresh energy and impetus but with the benefits of scale, heritage and deep resources. I am honoured to join at this juncture and look forward to working with both clients and colleagues to develop our business in the months and years ahead". Story continues About Allspring Global Investments Allspring Global Investments is a leading independent asset management company with more than US$575 billion in assets under management*, offices around the world and investment teams supported by 450 investment professionals. Allspring is committed to thoughtful investing, purposeful planning and inspiring a new era of investing that pursues both financial returns and positive outcomes. For more information, please visit www.allspringglobal.com. *As of 31 December 2021. AUM includes US$91 billion from Galliard Capital Management, an investment advisor that is not part of the Allspring trade name/GIPS company. This information is not a marketing communication and is provided for informational purposes only. For Professional/Qualified clients. Recipients who do not wish to be treated as Professional should notify their Allspring contact immediately. Allspring Global Investments ["Allspring"] is the trade name for the asset management firms of Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC, a holding company indirectly owned by certain private funds of GTCR LLC and Reverence Capital Partners, L.P. These firms include, but are not limited to, Allspring Global Investments (UK) Limited ["Allspring UK"] an investment management company, authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Allspring Global Investments Luxembourg S.A ["Allspring Luxembourg"], authorised and regulated by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF). Allspring Luxembourg has branches in Frankfurt and Paris and is allowed to provide services on a cross-border basis in the EEA. Allspring UK does not provide services to retail clients, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) rules for retail clients will not apply and the United Kingdom Financial Services Compensation Scheme is not available. THIS MATERIAL DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OR SOLICITATION IN ANY JURISDICTION. Past performance is not a guarantee or reliable indicator of future results. All investments contain risk. Unless otherwise stated, Allspring is the source of all data (which is current or as of the date stated); content is provided for informational purposes only with no representation regarding its adequacy, accuracy or completeness; views, opinions, assumptions or estimates are not necessarily that of Allspring or Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC and are subject to change without notice; information does not contain investment advice, an investment recommendation or investment research, as defined under local regulations. 2022 Allspring Global Investments Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved. PAR-1121-00824 View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127006050/en/ Contacts Aryna Kastavetskaya aryna.kastavetskaya@peregrinecommunications.com +44 (0) 7969 516 159 PHOENIX, January 27, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Creative Brands of Phoenix, AZ has acquired the Bella il Fiore Company of Tulsa, OK. Bella il Fiore was founded in 2000 and is a family owned and operated company focused on providing exceptional sleep, spa and beauty textiles to the specialty gift, spa, and wellness markets. (www.bellailfiore.com). For over twenty years Bella il Fiore has solidified its position as the market leader in pajamas, sleep masks, robes, spa raps and headbands along with beauty, face and skin accessories. What once started as a body care line with just five products has now flourished into a collection of over 200 products that are helping empower women to become the best version of themselves. Bella is proud to encourage every woman to create an affordable, spa-like experience at home. The Bella team has had huge success in leading a brand that encourages self-care with signature style, a good nights sleep, and an elevated beauty routine. "We are very pleased to have a new strategic partner who will share our vision for Bella and help us grow our business in the future. This team is well versed with the needs of our industry and can help strengthen our marketing position in womens sleepwear products across all channels of distribution," said Suzanne Maniss. "With their resources, and the help of their field sales force, telemarketing staff and sophisticated web presence, we firmly believe Bella il Fiore will continue to grow profitably and offer our customers the highest quality products and superior customer service that our industry has come to expect." Creative Brands, founded in 1948, is a distribution, importing and manufacturing firm with six distinct catalogs selling to an assortment of retailers across the country. Recent acquisitions include Santa Barbara Design Studio, Slant Collections, 47th & Main, Stephan Baby, Heartfelt and Face Two Face Designs in the gift industry in addition to their Faithworks brand that distributes inspirational products to the Christian retail channel. Story continues Paul DiGiovanni, President of Creative Brands, said, "We are thrilled to be a part of this wonderful Bella il Fiore brand. The Maniss family have combined vision and hard work to build this unique womens gift and spa brand and we look forward to offering this exclusive grouping of quality products to our new combined customer base." Creative Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of CBC Group headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona with manufacturing facilities, a call center, and a distribution center in Lewisburg, TN. (www.cb-gift.com) View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127006090/en/ Contacts Brian Schroeder Vice President of Sales & Marketing (513) 608-3080 bschroeder@cb-gift.com TORONTO, January 27, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cybin Inc. (NEO:CYBN) (NYSE AMERICAN:CYBN) ("Cybin" or the "Company"), a biotechnology company focused on progressing Psychedelics to Therapeutics, is pleased to announce that Adelia Therapeutics Inc. ("Adelia"), a wholly-controlled subsidiary of Cybin, has achieved the milestones identified as Y1, Q4 (iv), Y1, Q4 (v) and Y2, Q1 (vi) as contemplated by the terms of a contribution agreement dated December 4, 2020 (the "Transaction Agreement") among Cybin, Cybin Corp., Cybin US Holdings Inc. (the "Acquiror"), a wholly-controlled subsidiary of Cybin, and all of the previous shareholders of Adelia (the "Adelia Shareholders"). Pursuant to the terms of the Transaction Agreement, Class B common shares in the capital of the Acquiror (the "Class B Shares") shall be issued to the Adelia Shareholders, in satisfaction of the $551,171.99 (approximately US$437,229.88) due to them on meeting a portion of the relevant milestones, at an effective issue price determined in accordance with the Transaction Agreement and applicable securities law. The Class B Shares issued by the Acquiror to the Adelia Shareholders are exchangeable for common shares in the capital of Cybin (the "Cybin Shares") on a 10 Cybin Shares for 1 Class B Share basis, at the option of the holder thereof, subject to customary adjustments. No Class B Shares were exchangeable prior to December 14, 2021, and not more than: (i) 33 1/3% of the Class B Shares will be exchangeable prior to December 14, 2022; (ii) 66 2/3% of the Class B Shares will be exchangeable prior to December 14, 2023; and (iii) thereafter, 100% of the Class B Shares will be exchangeable. Additional information related to the transaction is available in the Transaction Agreement, which is filed under Cybins profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Story continues About Cybin Cybin is a leading ethical biotechnology company, working with a network of world-class partners and internationally recognized scientists, on a mission to create safe and effective therapeutics for patients to address a multitude of mental health issues. Headquartered in Canada and founded in 2019, Cybin is operational in Canada, the United States, United Kingdom and Ireland. The Company is focused on progressing Psychedelics to Therapeutics by engineering proprietary drug discovery platforms, innovative drug delivery systems, novel formulation approaches and treatment regimens for mental health disorders. About Adelia Adelia is a wholly-controlled subsidiary of the Company, that aims to develop medicinal psychedelics with improved dosing efficacy and therapeutic indices to address unmet medical needs. Adelias primary focus is on the development of treatment regimens consisting of proprietary psychedelic molecules and related clinical protocols. This proprietary development strategy is based on chemical modifications to the known and well understood tryptamine derivatives that significantly modify their pharmacokinetic properties without changing their therapeutic potential. These proprietary approaches seek to minimize inter-patient variability by better controlling drug metabolism without loss of efficacy that together have been shown to produce more predictable and favorable patient outcomes. Cautionary Notes and Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements in this press release constitute forward-looking information. All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, statements regarding Cybins future, strategy, plans, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the Companys development of innovative drug delivery systems, novel formulation approaches and potential treatment regimens for psychiatric disorders and Adelias proprietary development strategy and development of medicinal psychedelics with improved dosing efficacy and therapeutic indices to address unmet medical needs. These forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Company at the time such statements were made. Actual future results may differ materially as forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to materially differ from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors, among other things, include: implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's operations; fluctuations in general macroeconomic conditions; fluctuations in securities markets; expectations regarding the size of the psychedelics market; the ability of the Company to successfully achieve its business objectives; plans for growth; political, social and environmental uncertainties; employee relations; the presence of laws and regulations that may impose restrictions in the markets where the Company operates; and the risk factors set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis for the three and six months ended September 30, 2021 and the Company's listing statement dated November 9, 2020, which are available under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure shareholders that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law. Cybin makes no medical, treatment or health benefit claims about Cybins proposed products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada or other similar regulatory authorities have not evaluated claims regarding psilocybin, psychedelic tryptamine, tryptamine derivatives or other psychedelic compounds or nutraceutical products. The efficacy of such products has not been confirmed by approved research. There is no assurance that the use of psilocybin, psychedelic tryptamine, tryptamine derivatives or other psychedelic compounds or nutraceuticals can diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. Vigorous scientific research and clinical trials are needed. Cybin has not conducted clinical trials for the use of its proposed products. Any references to quality, consistency, efficacy and safety of potential products do not imply that Cybin verified such in clinical trials or that Cybin will complete such trials. If Cybin cannot obtain the approvals or research necessary to commercialize its business, it may have a material adverse effect on Cybins performance and operations. Neither the Neo Exchange Inc. nor the NYSE American LLC stock exchange have approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release and are not responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the contents herein. Unless otherwise indicated, all dollar amounts in this news release are expressed in Canadian dollars. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127006110/en/ Contacts Investors & Media: Leah Gibson Vice President, Investor Relations Cybin Inc. leah@cybin.com By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Thursday threw out the convictions of two former Deutsche Bank AG traders for rigging Libor, once among the world's most important financial benchmarks, and ordered acquittals for both men. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan found a lack of evidence that Matthew Connolly and Gavin Black caused Deutsche Bank to make false Libor submissions. Connolly, from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, had led Deutsche Bank's pool trading desk in New York, while Black worked on the bank's money market and derivatives desk in London. Both were convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy in October 2018. Connolly was sentenced https://www.reuters.com/article/us-deutsche-bank-libor-crime/ex-deutsche-bank-traders-avoid-prison-time-for-libor-scheme-idUSKBN1X32EH to six months of home confinement and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine, while Black received nine months of home confinement and a $300,000 fine. Federal prosecutors had sought "substantial" prison time for both. The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "We are elated that Matt Connolly has been fully exonerated in this contrived case," said Kenneth Breen, a partner at Paul Hastings. Black's lawyer Seth Levine, a partner at Levine Lee, was "deeply appreciative" of the outcome. "Mr. Black did his job, as he has lived his life, with honor and honesty," Levine said. Before being phased out this month, Libor, or the London interbank offered rate, had underpinned hundreds of trillions of dollars of financial products including credit cards, mortgages and other loans. Libor had once been calculated based on submissions from 16 banks, including Deutsche Bank. Prosecutors said Connolly directed subordinates to arrange false submissions consistent with his traders' interests, while Black encouraged false submissions to benefit his own derivative trading. The alleged conspiracy ran from 2004 to 2011. Story continues Libor-rigging investigations resulted in about $9 billion of fines worldwide for banks, including $2.5 billion for Deutsche Bank https://www.reuters.com/article/us-deutschebank-libor-settlement/deutsche-bank-fined-record-2-5-billion-over-rate-rigging-idUSKBN0NE12U20150423 in 2015. Connolly and Black's trial was the second in the United States of traders accused of rigging Libor for their own benefit. The convictions in 2015 of two former London-based Rabobank traders were also thrown out https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-rabobank-libor/u-s-appeals-court-voids-libor-convictions-of-ex-rabobank-traders-idUKKBN1A41N9 on appeal. The case is U.S. v Connolly et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 19-3806. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Frances Kerry and Leslie Adler) From one man, Edward D. Jones, and one office, to 50,000 associates across 15,000 locations - the firm is poised for the next 100 years ST. LOUIS, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial-services firm Edward Jones announces today the celebration of its Centennial, marking a century of transformative growth and the positive impact it has made for its clients, colleagues, communities, and society. This year and beyond, Edward Jones' more than 50,000 colleagues will join in activities that celebrate this monumental milestone and set the stage for the continued growth of the firm's impact in the next 100 years. Edward Jones. (PRNewsFoto/Edward Jones) (PRNewsfoto/Edward Jones) Throughout 2022, Edward Jones will celebrate its Centennial across the communities it serves throughout North America, with virtual and in-person events, connections to philanthropic and community efforts, and much more. "Since Edward D. Jones Sr. opened the doors of our firm 100 years ago, our focus has been helping people connect to their own purpose and achieve things in their lives they might not have known were possible," said Edward Jones Managing Partner Penny Pennington, the sixth leader in the firm's history. "We are committed to providing guidance and tools to millions of families in North America, that raise their confidence in achieving greater possibility in their lives. We are looking forward to the impact we can make on society one person, one colleague, one community at a time as we partner together and begin our next 100 years." Having achieved tremendous growth and impact over the past century, including increasing its branch office footprint by 1,400% since 1986, Edward Jones remains dedicated to continuing its extraordinary level of serving individual investors and business owners in a human-centered and complete way helping clients put their purpose into action and achieve financially what is most important to them and their families. During the Centennial celebration, the firm will initiate volunteer activities to achieve impact in the areas of partnering for lasting financial strength, promoting healthier futures, and advancing inclusive growth. It will also expand on its efforts to foster economic inclusion in the communities it serves, actively collaborating with organizations to make meaningful progress that enables every community to thrive. Story continues On January 27, the firm kicked off its Centennial with a virtual event for all associates and retirees across North America. Pennington served as keynote for the event and was joined by several colleagues throughout the firm for remarks. Just in time to commemorate this milestone, Edward Jones' storied history of building deep personal relationships with clients to make a difference in their lives is told in a new book, The Business of America Is Business, by authors Robert L. Shook and Carrie Coolidge. This book spans more than 500 years of American history and the role the business world has played in our nation's development. Edward Jones is one of a small handful of iconic U.S. companies the authors selected for such an extensive profile. About Edward Jones Edward Jones, a FORTUNE 500 firm headquartered in St. Louis, provides financial services in the U.S. and, through its affiliate, in Canada. Every aspect of the firm's business, from the investments its financial advisors offer to the location of its branch offices caters to individual investors and businesses. The firm's nearly 19,000 financial advisors serve more than 7 million clients with a total of $1.8 trillion in assets under care. The Edward Jones website is www.edwardjones.com, and its recruiting Web site is https://careers.edwardjones.com. Member SIPC. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edward-jones-celebrates-centennial-anniversary-and-continued-commitment-to-making-a-positive-impact-for-clients-colleagues-and-communities-301469852.html SOURCE Edward Jones Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of GIG Insurance - Egypt (S.A.E.)Global Credit Research - 27 Jan 2022Limassol, January 27, 2022 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of GIG Insurance - Egypt (S.A.E.) and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review discussion held on 18 January 2022 in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology (ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.This publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future. Credit ratings and outlook/review status cannot be changed in a portfolio review and hence are not impacted by this announcement. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.Key rating considerations are summarized below.The Ba2 insurance financial strength rating (IFSR) for GIG Insurance -- Egypt (S.A.E.) ("GIG Egypt") reflects Moody's view that the company would receive support from its parent Gulf Insurance Group K.S.C.P. (GIG, A3 IFSR) in case of need. Given the strong brand association with the Group as well as the sharing of technical expertise, reflecting the Group's continued commitment to the region, Moody's incorporates three notches of support into GIG Egypt's IFSR.GIG Egypt's stand-alone credit profile reflects its top three position in the Egyptian P&C insurance market and a growing brand, good product diversification of non-life products and very good operating profitability. Nonetheless, it remains constrained by the meaningful direct exposure to Egypt's sovereign risk in terms of investment portfolio and the operating risks inherent in the increasingly competitive Egyptian insurance market.This document summarizes Moody's view as of the publication date and will not be updated until the next periodic review announcement, which will incorporate material changes in credit circumstances (if any) during the intervening period.The principal methodologies used for this review were Property and Casualty Insurers Methodology published in September 2021 and Life Insurers Methodology published in September 2021. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of these methodologies.This announcement applies only to EU rated, UK rated, EU endorsed and UK endorsed ratings. Non EU rated, non UK rated, non EU endorsed and non UK endorsed ratings may be referenced above to the extent necessary, if they are part of the same analytical unit.This publication does not announce a credit rating action. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history. Nondas Nicolaides VP - Senior Credit Officer Financial Institutions Group Moody's Investors Service Cyprus Ltd. Porto Bello Building 1, Siafi Street, 3042 Limassol PO Box 53205 Limassol CY 3301 Cyprus JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454 Benjamin Serra Senior Vice President Financial Institutions Group JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service Cyprus Ltd. Porto Bello Building 1, Siafi Street, 3042 Limassol PO Box 53205 Limassol CY 3301 Cyprus JOURNALISTS: 44 20 7772 5456 Client Service: 44 20 7772 5454 2022 Moodys Corporation, Moodys Investors Service, Inc., Moodys Analytics, Inc. and/or their licensors and affiliates (collectively, MOODYS). All rights reserved.CREDIT RATINGS ISSUED BY MOODY'S CREDIT RATINGS AFFILIATES ARE THEIR CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES, AND MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND INFORMATION PUBLISHED BY MOODYS (COLLECTIVELY, PUBLICATIONS) MAY INCLUDE SUCH CURRENT OPINIONS. MOODYS DEFINES CREDIT RISK AS THE RISK THAT AN ENTITY MAY NOT MEET ITS CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AS THEY COME DUE AND ANY ESTIMATED FINANCIAL LOSS IN THE EVENT OF DEFAULT OR IMPAIRMENT. SEE APPLICABLE MOODYS RATING SYMBOLS AND DEFINITIONS PUBLICATION FOR INFORMATION ON THE TYPES OF CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS ADDRESSED BY MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS. 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(MSFJ) is a wholly-owned credit rating agency subsidiary of MJKK. MSFJ is not a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO). Therefore, credit ratings assigned by MSFJ are Non-NRSRO Credit Ratings. Non-NRSRO Credit Ratings are assigned by an entity that is not a NRSRO and, consequently, the rated obligation will not qualify for certain types of treatment under U.S. laws. MJKK and MSFJ are credit rating agencies registered with the Japan Financial Services Agency and their registration numbers are FSA Commissioner (Ratings) No. 2 and 3 respectively.MJKK or MSFJ (as applicable) hereby disclose that most issuers of debt securities (including corporate and municipal bonds, debentures, notes and commercial paper) and preferred stock rated by MJKK or MSFJ (as applicable) have, prior to assignment of any credit rating, agreed to pay to MJKK or MSFJ (as applicable) for credit ratings opinions and services rendered by it fees ranging from JPY100,000 to approximately JPY550,000,000.MJKK and MSFJ also maintain policies and procedures to address Japanese regulatory requirements. Focusing on Ultra High Net Worth Individuals and family offices, DMCC, the worlds flagship Free Zone and Government of Dubai Authority on commodities trade and enterprise, has signed an MoU with Monaco. The MoU also aims to aims to further strengthen the economic synergies and expand bilateral trade relations between Monaco and Dubai. The MoU was signed by Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DMCC, and Michel Dotta, Chairman, Monaco Economic Board (MEB). With both Dubai and Monaco being two of the most popular places for the worlds ultra-wealthy, the agreement targets enabling Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWI) and family offices, with DMCC serving as the premier destination to set up a global business. Bin Sulayem said: Doing away with all direct taxes since 1869, Monacos recipe for governance has proven to be highly successful, resulting in virtually no public debt. Monaco was also one of the first nations to commit to Expo 2020 Dubai, with their impressive pavilion also being one of the first to be completed. As such, Monaco represents one of our priority markets and we are proud to sign this agreement with the Monaco Economic Board. The agreement will build on our existing strategic bonds and allow us to explore further trade opportunities between our two countries. In line with its mandate to attract trade to Dubai, DMCC continues to expand its global network and work closely with its stakeholders to nurture a thriving business ecosystem in Dubai. Dotta said: The UAE offers great opportunities to Monacos business community, with DMCC being a key strategic partner for their international expansion. The agreement will consolidate our efforts and will stimulate growth, providing our respective business communities with access to new and fast-growing markets. We look forward to working closely with DMCC to facilitate trade, increase economic activity, and support the businesses of Monaco in navigating Dubais vibrant business environment. Guillaume Rose, CEO, MEB, added: The agreement signed today is significant to say the least. It serves to show the synergies between Monaco and Dubai and more importantly, the endless opportunities for future collaboration. I commend DMCC for its vision for Dubai and willingness to engage with likeminded international partners such as ourselves in Monaco. The agreement comes after a recent European roadshow held by DMCC, during which it signed agreements to strengthen collaboration with key counterparts and strategic partners, attract foreign direct investment to Dubai, and showcase the ease of doing business in the emirate. During their visit, DMCC attended UNITEUnlocking New Investments, Trade, and Economies, an event that provided a platform for family offices and funds to explore what Dubai has to offer through DMCC.-- TradeArabia News Service Proud to be a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Guidehouse, a leading global provider of consulting services to public sector and commercial clients, received a 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign's 2022 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), the nation's foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Guidehouse Logo (PRNewsfoto/Guidehouse) Guidehouse is recognized for ongoing efforts in satisfying all of the CEI criteria including having non-discrimination policies across business entities, applicable employment benefits, a demonstration of organizational competency and accountability around LGBTQ+ inclusion and diversity, and a public commitment to LGBTQ+ equality and responsible citizenship. A Great Place to Work-Certified Company, Guidehouse's Inclusion & Diversity Program is committed to fostering a progressive work environment that creates awareness, supports an open exchange of ideas, and encourages a collaborative culture. The company's OPEN Inclusion Network (LGBTQ+ Employee Network) is an internal global employee network formed around the support and allyship of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities. The network provides support, education, and awareness. The OPEN Inclusion Network also actively participates in LGBTQ+ recruiting events such as Reaching OUT MBA and Out & Equal. Finally, it drives support of and partnerships with LGBTQ+ organizations key to Guidehouse's mission, including the Point Foundation, PFLAG, and Whitman Walker Health. "We are incredibly proud to once again be recognized as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality," said Scott McIntyre, Chief Executive Officer of Guidehouse. "At Guidehouse, our commitment to inclusion and diversity is an integral part of our mission and a critical core value of our business. Our CEI score reflects how we prioritize and embrace diversity across our workforce so employees can grow and contribute to their fullest potential." Story continues The CEI evaluates companies against its four central pillars that include, non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ+ employees and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility. "Achieving this perfect score for 13 consecutive years exhibits the magnitude of Guidehouse's commitment to inclusion and diversity," said Dominica Groom Williams, Chief Culture, Inclusion, and Diversity Officer of Guidehouse. "We remain dedicated to deepening our commitment, driving ongoing dialogue around LGBTQ+ inclusion, and further advancing our inclusive culture." The full 2022 CEI report is available at www.hrc.org/cei. About Human Rights Campaign Foundation The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community. About Guidehouse Guidehouse is a leading global provider of consulting services to the public sector and commercial markets, with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk consulting. By combining our public and private sector expertise, we help clients address their most complex challenges and navigate significant regulatory pressures focusing on transformational change, business resiliency, and technology-driven innovation. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and digital services, we create scalable, innovative solutions that help our clients outwit complexity and position them for future growth and success. The company has more than 12,000 professionals in over 50 locations globally. Guidehouse is a Veritas Capital portfolio company, led by seasoned professionals with proven and diverse expertise in traditional and emerging technologies, markets, and agenda-setting issues driving national and global economies. For more information, please visit www.guidehouse.com. Media Contact: Guidehouse Cecile Fradkin cfradkin@scprgroup.com Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/guidehouse-earns-perfect-score-on-human-rights-campaigns-2022-corporate-equality-index-for-13th-consecutive-year-301469574.html SOURCE Guidehouse Northampton, MA --News Direct-- The Home Depot This past week, The Home Depot Foundation partnered with local nonprofits in more than 40 cities to complete service projects in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s life and legacy. On Monday, Jan. 17 in Pontiac, Michigan, The Home Depot Foundation partnered with Lighthouse Community Development to complete a service project at their transitional shelter for the homeless. Lighthouse Community Development is an organization that aims to alleviate poverty in Southeast Michigan. Team Depot, Home Depots associate volunteer force, cleaned, prepped and painted three apartments within the community. They also helped install countertops and cabinets in the units to make them move-in ready. On Thursday, Jan. 20, The Home Depot Foundation joined HandsOn Greater Phoenix to complete several projects for students at a school in the Phoenix area. Team Depot and HandsOn Greater Phoenix volunteers worked together to beautify Taft Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona. Volunteers planted trees, built benches, painted a mural and refreshed the schools de-escalation room. On Saturday, Jan. 22, The Home Depot Foundation joined New York Cares to complete several projects for students at a school in the South Bronx. Team Depot and New York Cares volunteers worked together to build a new jungle-themed library. They cleared out a classroom, assembled shelves and furniture and arranged the room in preparation for the library books. These projects are a few of the dozens that happened this past week in cities across the country. The Home Depot Foundation is dedicated to driving sustainable change in the communities we serve. Visit HomeDepotFoundation.org to learn more. Keep up with all the latest Home Depot news! Subscribe to our bi-weekly news update and get the top Built from Scratch stories delivered straight to your inbox. View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from The Home Depot on 3blmedia.com View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/the-home-depot-foundation-partners-with-local-nonprofits-in-honor-of-dr-kings-legacy-659851190 COLUMBIA, Maryland, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mexico Fund, Inc. (NYSE: MXF) announced that it will pay today a distribution of $0.18 per share in cash to stockholders of record as of January 20, 2022, according to the Funds Managed Distribution Plan (MDP). As a general matter, the amount of distributable income for each fiscal period depends on the aggregate gains and losses realized by the Fund during the entire year. Distributions may consist of net investment income, capital gains and return of capital, but the character of these distributions cannot be determined until after the end of the Fund's fiscal year. However, under the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Fund is required to indicate the source of each distribution to stockholders. The following table sets forth an estimate of the sources of the January 27, 2022, distribution and distributions paid in the current fiscal year: Distribution Estimates January 2022 Fiscal Year-to-date (YTD)1 Source Per Share Amount Percent of Current Distribution Per Share Amount Percent of Fiscal Year Distributions Net Investment Income $0.0626 34.78% $0.0626 34.78% Net Realized Short-Term Capital Gains - - - - Net Realized Long-Term Capital Gains - - - - Return of Capital $0.1174 65.22% $0.1174 65.22% Total Distribution $0.1800 100.00% $0.1800 100.00% Information regarding the Fund's performance and distribution rates is set forth below: Average Annual Total Return for the 5-year period ended on December 31, 20212 7.06% Current Annualized Distribution Rate (current fiscal year)3 - Current Fiscal Year Cumulative Total Return4 5.46% Cumulative Distribution Rate (current fiscal year)5 - 1 The Fund's current fiscal year began on November 1, 2021. 2 Average Annual Total Return represents the simple arithmetic average of the Annual NAV Total Returns of the Fund for the last five years. Annual NAV Total Return is the percentage change in the Fund's NAV over a year including distributions paid and assuming reinvestment of those distributions. Story continues 3 The Current Annualized Distribution Rate is the Cumulative Distribution Rate as of December 31, 2021, annualized as a percentage of the Fund's NAV at the same date. As of the date of this press release, this rate is zero because the $0.1800 distribution has not been paid yet. 4 Current Fiscal Year Cumulative Total Return is the percentage change in the Fund's NAV from November 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021, including distributions paid and assuming reinvestment of those distributions. 5 Cumulative Distribution Rate for the Fund's current fiscal period (November 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021) measured on the dollar value of distributions in the period as a percentage of the Fund's NAV as of December 31, 2021. As of the date of this press release, this rate is zero because the $0.1800 distribution has not been paid yet. You should not draw any conclusions about the Fund's investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the terms of the Fund's MDP. The amounts and sources of distributions reported above are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for accounting and tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund's investment experience during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the calendar year that will tell you how to report the distribution for federal income tax purposes. CONTACT: Tofi Dayan +5255-9138-3350 Email: investor-relations@themexicofund.com About The Mexico Fund, Inc. The Mexico Fund, Inc. is a non-diversified closed-end management investment company with the investment objective of long-term capital appreciation through investments in securities, primarily equity, listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange. The Fund provides a vehicle to investors who wish to invest in Mexican companies through a managed non-diversified portfolio as part of their overall investment program. This release may contain certain forward-looking statements regarding future circumstances. These forward-looking statements are based upon the Fund's current expectations and assumptions and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in such forward-looking statements including, in particular, the risks and uncertainties described in the Fund's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Actual results, events, and performance may differ. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Fund undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. The inclusion of any statement in this release does not constitute an admission by The Mexico Fund or any other person that the events or circumstances described in such statement are material. Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-mexico-fund-inc-pays-distribution-301467849.html SOURCE The Mexico Fund, Inc. SINGAPORE, Jan. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Panduit Singapore announces a collaboration with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) on a multi-pronged programme to equip students with skills for the digital economy. (Left) Mr Harry Woo, Managing Director and Senior Vice President (Asia Pacific) of Panduit Singapore and Ms Low Khah Gek, Chief Executive Officer of Institute of Technical Education, sign a Memorandum of Understanding to kickstart the skills enhancement partnership. (Left) Mr Harry Woo, Managing Director and Senior Vice President (Asia Pacific) of Panduit Singapore and Ms Low Khah Gek, Chief Executive Officer of Institute of Technical Education, sign a Memorandum of Understanding to kickstart the skills enhancement partnership. Addressing skill gaps in the Singapore job market brought about by digitalisation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the five-year programme will focus on grooming students for careers in information network infrastructure. There is robust demand by Singapore employers for roles such as network engineers, infrastructure engineers, system integrators, and system installers. For ITE students looking to join the workforce or to further their education, ensuring they are up-to-date with the skills of a rapidly evolving economy is key. For ITE students to have hands-on opportunities to work on network infrastructure projects, Panduit Singapore will build a state-of-the-art ITE-Panduit Learning Hub at ITE College East. Panduit Singapore has also generously donated Cabinets & Cold Aisle Containment to ITE for the training of trainees from WSDip in Data Centre Infrastructure & Operation. Lecturers and students will be able to access Panduit's e-learning resources via the University of Panduit Online platform as part of their training and learning programmes at ITE. In addition, Panduit will train students at its offices and host training and attachment programmes for ITE lecturers in Singapore and the APAC region. "We're very excited to embark on this partnership with ITE," says Mr. Harry Woo, Managing Director and Senior Vice President (Asia Pacific) of Panduit Singapore. "Economies are in a state of flux and will continue to evolve amid the pandemic. We aim to equip students with the skills for the workforce of tomorrow." The partnership is part of Panduit APAC's corporate social responsibility initiative, Skills Change Lives Campaign Educate Youth, Promote Skills and Prepare Youth for Jobs. Over the next five years, the company will provide financial assistance for underprivileged students, book prizes for outstanding students and internship opportunities with its network of installation partner companies. Story continues About Panduit Since 1955, Panduit's culture of curiosity and passion for problem solving have enabled more meaningful connections between companies' business goals and their marketplace success. Panduit creates innovative electrical and network infrastructure solutions for enterprise-wide environments, from the data centre to the telecom room, from the desktop to the plant floor. Headquartered in Tinley Park, IL, USA and operating in 112 global locations, Panduit's proven reputation for quality and technology leadership, coupled with a robust partner ecosystem, helps support, sustain, and empower business growth in a connected world. For more information, visit www.panduit.com. About ITE The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) was established as a post-secondary institution in 1992, under the Ministry of Education. ITE is a principal provider of career and technical education and a key developer of national skills certification and standards skilling Singapore for the future economy. It offers three key programmes - (1) Pre-Employment Training for youths after secondary education (2) Continuing Education and Training for adult learners and (3) Workplace Learning and Work-Study Programmes with employers. Under its 'One ITE System, Three Colleges' Governance Model, ITE has three Colleges - ITE College Central, ITE College East and ITE College West. For more information, please visit our website at https://www.ite.edu.sg. SOURCE Panduit NEW YORK, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The quick-service restaurants market is segmented into two categories based on the service (home care and design, repair and maintenance, health, wellness and beauty, and others) and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and MEA). The market share is expected to increase by USD 119.20 billion from 2020 to 2025, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 3.55%. Attractive Opportunities in Quick Service Restaurants Market by Service and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025 For further insights on market overview and dynamic analysis, Read our FREE Sample Report Parent Market Analysis The global quick-service restaurants market is classified by Technavio as part of the global restaurant industry under the overall hotels, restaurants, and leisure market. Hotels, bars, pubs, fast-food outlets, take-out facilities, and food catering services are all included in the worldwide restaurants market. Technavio uses the total revenue generated by manufacturers to estimate the global quick-service restaurants' market size. External factors influencing the parent market's growth potential in the coming years have been thoroughly investigated in our research analysis. To know more about the levels of growth of the quick service restaurants throughout the forecast period, Download a free sample . Quick Service Restaurants Value Chain Analysis To maximize profit margins and evaluate business plans, an end-to-end understanding of quick-service restaurants services is required. The report will help vendors drive costs and enhance customer services during the forecast period. Inputs Inbound logistics Operations Outbound logistics Marketing and sales Service To unlock information about vendor drive costs and customer service, download our free sample report. Vendor Insights The quick-service restaurants market is fragmented, and the vendors are deploying various organic and inorganic growth strategies to compete in the market. To make the best of the opportunity, the market vendors should focus more on the fast-growing segment's growth prospect while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments. Story continues We provide a detailed analysis of vendors operating in the quick service restaurants market, including some of the vendors such as American Dairy Queen Corp., Chick-fil-A Inc., Doctors Associates LLC, Domino's Pizza Inc., Dunkin Brands Group Inc., Inspire Brands Inc., McDonald Corp., Starbucks Coffee Company, The Wendys Co., and YUM Brands Inc. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the quick-service restaurants market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile, and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support. Product Insights and News American Dairy Queen Corp. - Offers a wide range of snacks, meals, and beverages through its chain of quick-service restaurants named Dairy Queen. Domino's Pizza Inc. - Offers a wide range of pizza, snacks, and meals through its chain of quick-service restaurants to its customers. Dunkin Brands Group Inc. - Offers a wide range of snacks and ice creams through its chain of quick-service restaurants named Dunkin and Baskin Robbins. The quick-service restaurants market forecast report offers in-depth insights into key vendor profiles and offerings Download Free Sample Report Geographical Highlights The quick-service restaurants' market share growth in North America will be significant during the forecast period. The US and Canada are the key markets for quick-service restaurants in North America. Market growth in this region will be faster than the growth of the market in Europe, MEA, and South America. The United States and Canada are the leading contributors to market expansion. This is due to the region's proclivity for eating out, which pushes restaurateurs to open new establishments. As a result, the number of fast service restaurants in the area is expanding. Restaurant chains typically have substantial foot traffic, which is notably true in the United States and Canada when contrasted to Mexico. Another factor that influences market expansion is brand loyalty. Furthermore, the US is North America's top producer of quick-service restaurants, owing to the consumers' preference to eat out, brand loyalty, interest in new restaurant experiences, and the introduction of new cuisines and flavors in the region. To unlock the top strategies practiced by the maximum growth generating region, View Sample Report Key Market Dynamics- Quick Service Restaurants Key Market Driver: The increase in the number of quick-service restaurants is one of the primary drivers driving growth in the quick-service restaurant business. The increased demand for fast food, particularly in emerging nations, is driving up the number of quick-service restaurants. Fast-food chains are being encouraged to develop both domestically and internationally as a result of this. Specialty coffee shops have sprung up as a result of diverse tastes and preferences for various varieties of premium coffee. Quick Service Restaurants Key Market Trend: Another key reason driving the growth of quick service restaurants' market share is innovation in food packaging and serving. Packaging is frequently thought of as an extension of a brand's value. As a result, the packaging of any brand is critical in stimulating consumer attention and curiosity. Biodegradable packaging, compostable packaging, and packaging adapted to the shape and size of a food product are all examples of innovations. Download a free sample for highlights on market Drivers & Trends affecting the quick service restaurants market. Customize Your Report Don't miss out on the opportunity to speak to our analyst and know more insights into this market report. Our analysts can also help you customize this report according to your needs. Our analysts and industry experts will work directly with you to understand your requirements and provide you with customized data in a short amount of time. We offer USD 1,000 worth of FREE customization at the time of purchase. Speak to our Analyst now! Related Reports: Take out Fried Chicken Market by Distribution Channel and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Specialty Coffee Shops Market by Type and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025 Quick Service Restaurants Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 119.20 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 2.87 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and MEA Performing market contribution North America at 43% Key consumer countries US, China, Japan, UK, and Canada Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled American Dairy Queen Corp., Chick-fil-A Inc., Doctors Associates LLC, Dominos Pizza Inc., Dunkin Brands Group Inc., Inspire Brands Inc., McDonald Corp., Starbucks Coffee Company, The Wendys Co., and YUM Brands Inc. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. About Us: Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: media@technavio.com Website: www.technavio.com Technavio (PRNewsfoto/Technavio) Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/quick-service-restaurants-market-segmentation-by-service-eat-in-service-takeaway-service-drive-thru-service-and-home-delivery-service-and-geography-north-america-apac-europe-south-america-and-mea--forecast-till-2025t-301467640.html SOURCE Technavio The American Queen Voyages Ocean Victory in Alaska Courtesy of American Queen Voyages Adventurous vacationers itching for an escape can now combine a classic rail journey with a cruise through the Alaskan wilderness. Celebrating the inaugural season of its Ocean Victory ship, American Queen Voyages is partnering with the Rocky Mountaineer for pre or post-cruise trips journeying through the Canadian Rockies between Calgary and Vancouver, the cruise company shared with Travel + Leisure. The add-on option is available on six sailings from May through September. Referred to as "a magnificent add-on to our new expedition experience," by American Queen Voyage's chief operating officer, Shawn Bierdz, he added the trip pairing will combine "the adventure of expedition cruising in Alaska and the romance of rail travel through the Canadian Rockies." The Landscapes & Luxury Rocky Mountaineer City Stay Package includes a two-day Rocky Mountaineer train experience, a hotel stay in spectacular locations like Banff, and tours of Vancouver. Trips will be six days if travelers choose a pre-cruise option, or five days if guests choose a post-cruise option. The pre-cruise package includes an extra hotel night in Calgary as well as a full-day sightseeing tour from Calgary to Banff. "Rocky Mountaineer journeys are the perfect complement to an Alaska cruise, offering guests views of breathtaking scenery while enjoying delicious cuisine, friendly service, interesting storytelling and the social atmosphere from our luxury glass-dome trains," Jonathan Hope, the managing director of sales of the Rocky Mountaineer, said in the statement. The train trip would bookend a voyage on the 186-guest Ocean Victory ship, which is going to sail 12 and 13-day journeys through Alaska's Inside Passage, focusing on lesser-traveled sections that larger ships can't access. The ship includes kayaks and zodiacs along with the chance to view marine research up close by California Polytechnic State University students. Last year, The American Queen Steamboat Company added expedition voyages to Alaska and Central America, consolidating its brands into a new umbrella company, American Queen Voyages. Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. When she's not in New York City, she likes to spend her time at the beach or exploring new destinations and hopes to visit every country in the world. Follow her adventures on Instagram. SEABROOK A teenager reported missing after wandering off from an underage drinking party last weekend was found safe, but police said it serves as a cautionary tale. The 17-year-old teen from out of town was reported missing at 7:48 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 22, when a call to Seabrook Police dispatch reported the youth disappeared after a drinking party at a Seabrook Beach address. When officers responded, they learned the teen had already been missing for hours; his friends trying to find him themselves before calling for help. Given the circumstances, Seabrook police brought in additional officers and resources to help in the search. We knew he had left the party intoxicated and had already been missing for about three hours, said Seabrook Police Chief Brett Walker. With the frigid temperatures the way they were and the ocean so close, this was a serious situation. Not a game: Seabrook fifth-graders disciplined for Death Note. What parents should know. Seabrook police called in extra officers, two helicopters and a drone to locate a teen who went missing after leaving an underage drinking party. With memories of a missing University of New Hampshire student who died after heading into the woods after a night of drinking not long ago under similar circumstances after wandering off from a fraternity party, Walker said the department mobilized quickly. Seabrook requested help from a number of agencies, including the New Hampshire State Police and Massachusetts State Police, both responding with aircraft to search the area from above. Walker said the Portsmouth Police Department also deployed its drone unit in the hunt for the teen. On the ground, Walker called in part-time officers to augment the search and organized a coordinated search with friends and family, including the school resource officer from the Lowell Police Department. Also involved were the Seabrook Fire Department, New Hampshire Fish & Game and Marine Patrol, the Coast Guard, and officers from the police departments in Kensington, Hampton Falls, and Salisbury, Massachusetts. More: Epping man, ordered to stay home, charged after scuffle with police in North Hampton Story continues What also helped, Walker said, was information provided by the location-sharing app Life360, which was installed on the teens cell phone. Life360's app allows the user to see the precise, real-time location of friends or family members, including the speed at which they are driving and the battery level on their devices. We knew he had left the party intoxicated and had already been missing for about three hours, said Seabrook Police Chief Brett Walker. With the frigid temperatures the way they were and the ocean so close, this was a serious situation. According to Walker, it provided critical information that defined the search area. With all the resources allocated, police located the teenager by about 11 a.m. The app gave us good time and location information and the direction hed traveled as we were looking for him, Walker said. When he called his friend, officer Mike Maloney was there. The app gave us the location of Commonwealth and Beacon streets, at the beach. Walker said officer Chet Felch was in a cruiser looking for the boy and went over to that location and found him. The teenager was very cold, Walker said. The Seabrook Fire Department checked him out, then took him to Seabrook ER to be evaluated. Soon after, the 17-year-old was reunited with his father, whod come to Seabrook when he learned his son was missing. 'Perfect for this town': Hampton Falls Police Chief Robbie Dirsa retiring after 26 years Walker said the case is still under investigation as detectives look into the circumstances that led to the underage drinking party. It is unlawful for an adult or anyone to permit those under the age of 21 to drink alcoholic beverages or to provide it, no matter the circumstances, he said, even when under adult supervision. Walker wants to caution teenagers and adults alike about the hazards involved in underage drinking and binge drinking, no matter the age. The more responsible thing is for parents not to allow that behavior, Walker said. As this incident indicates, there can be serious consequences. This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Teen reported missing after drinking party in Seabrook NH found safe jetcityimage / Getty Images Most of the first SNAP benefits of the new year have already been paid out, which means many families are planning their February payments. See: Social Security Schedule: When the First COLA Checks Will Arrive in February 2022 Find: Didnt Get a January Child Tax Credit Payment? Heres Why Not In most states, SNAP benefits are transferred to recipients via a prepaid debit card with their specific benefit amount already loaded onto the card. Some states call it an EBT card and other states, like Texas, customize the name where its known as a Lone Star Card. Individual states are responsible for SNAP schedules and when payments specifically go out. Generally, states will distribute payment schedules according to the last numbers of your identification number for their programs. To find the information, search for a specific states SNAP program/provider website. For example, for Texas, simply type Texas SNAP into your search engine and the first link provided is that for the Texas Health and Human Services Department. From there, you can sign up for benefits, check your eligibility and when you will get paid. The USDA released a memorandum in October of 2021 stating that SNAP allotments would be increased for 2022. According to the agency, maximum allotments will increase for the 48 contiguous states and Washington D.C., Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Families of four will receive a maximum allotment of $835 if they are in the 48 contiguous states and Washington D.C. A family of four will receive a maximum of $1,074-$1,667 in Alaska. A family of four will receive a maximum of $1,573 in Hawaii A family of four will receive a maximum of $1,231 in Guam. A family of four will receive a maximum of $1,074 in the U.S. Virgin Islands. See: Social Security COLA: Seniors Will Receive the Highest Increase in Decades, But Its No Match For 6.2% Inflation Surge Find: Avoid Buying These 25 Grocery Items That Are Now More Expensive Story continues These increases in maximum benefits are the COLA increase adjustment accounting for the increasing prices in food and everyday grocery store items. More From GOBankingRates: This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: SNAP Schedule 2022: February Payments Celebrating its 40-year anniversary in 2022, Gulf Craft is further solidifying its position as an industry leader with the first milestone being the opening of an Experience Centre. The Gulf Craft Experience Centre will deliver a personalised luxury experience to its rapidly expanding international clientele. The Centre is designed to elevate and heighten the unique and exclusive experience of yacht customisation. A process usually reserved for later in the yacht purchasing cycle, Gulf Craft have developed a fully interactive experience that can be enjoyed by serious buyers and yacht enthusiasts alike. Clients will be able to touch and feel the luxurious finishings which go into every yacht such as high-quality marble, carpets, and wooden veneers, as well as place new orders and get professional advice on servicing and maintenance. Virtual reality is available for clients to explore the variety of yachts Gulf Craft has on offer. Mohammed Hussein AlShaali, Gulf Crafts Chairman, said: As we mark 40 years of a continuing legacy, we must take time to reflect on our achievements from the past and our ambitions for the future. With the launch of our new flagship, the Majesty 175 we have cemented our position on the international stage as trailblazers in the field of composites yachts. As our global presence continues to expand at a significant pace we must adapt and change the way we do business with our international clients, which is why we are incredibly proud to be delivering a luxury experience through our new hub in Dubais Port Rashid. As we look to the future, we will continue to see Gulf Craft strengthen its reputation as a globally recognised manufacturer of the worlds finest vessels which can be found in marinas all over the world. Today, 92% of all vessels built at the companys Umm Al Quwain shipyard are exported across the globe. The Gulf Craft Experience Centre creates an additional touchpoint for existing and new clients alike, to further support the companys rapid global expansion. Talal Nasralla, Gulf Crafts CEO, said: We are witnessing the growth and demand of the industry, and in response to this we have made the strategic decision to expand our UAE operations to Port Rashid. The city is a hub to the world, and our new luxury Experience Centre connects the Gulf Craft brand to its international yachting community with a focus on becoming closer and delivering an exceptional experience. Port Rashid is the natural partner for this expansion as a home port with strong international travel links and conveniently located close to Dubai International Airport. You can also expect our expanded presence in other global locations very soon as we continue our international growth.-- TradeArabia News Service President of GetWellNetwork Brings Twenty Years of Experience Scaling Healthcare Technology Businesses to Social Risk Analytics Leader WASHINGTON, January 27, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Socially Determined, the healthcare analytics company that provides Social Risk Intelligence to organizations committed to effectively addressing the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), today announced that Nikia Bergan has joined its board of directors. Nikia brings a depth of experience working with healthcare providers and scaling healthcare technology-enabled companies to her role on Socially Determineds board, where shell help guide the strategic direction of the fast-growing business. Nikia is currently president of the patient engagement company Get Well, where she drives the long-term strategy for expanding the organizations domestic and international footprint, drawing upon her 20 years of experience working with strategic account executives at leading health systems. Prior to joining Get Well, Nikia held a variety of sales and client service leadership positions at The Advisory Board Company and Optum Insights, where she helped steer government, pediatrics, and international business segments for more than 19 years. In addition, Nikia recently served as an independent board member for RubiconMD, a company that democratizes access to healthcare specialists through virtual consults that was acquired by Oak Street Health in October 2021. "I've always been drawn to companies using technology to solve access issues in healthcare. Its what drives my work every day at Get Well, why I joined the board at RubiconMD and what makes me excited about the unique approach Socially Determined is taking to help people, communities and organizations overcome the barriers associated with the social determinants of health," said Bergan. "Ive known members of Socially Determineds talented executive team for many years and have seen their commitment to doing the hard work thats required to improve care for people most in need. Im looking forward to working with them to accelerate the impact that Social Risk Intelligence can have for communities and organizations across the country." Story continues As a Socially Determined board member, Nikia will help guide the company through a period of exponential growth as it continues to advance the unparalleled insights and actionable intelligence its team of experts deliver to clients through its pioneering HITRUST-certified platform, SocialScape. The companys most recent innovation to help organizations address the social determinants of health at scale includes the launch of its Digital Landscape metric which gives full visibility into the role digital equity plays in influencing health and business outcomes. Demonstrating Socially Determineds innovative approach and market traction, the company was also recently named to Fierce Healthcares annual list of the 15 most promising healthcare companies. "As a business, Socially Determined is hitting a significant inflection point. Weve proven that our mature team, technology, and approach can make a significant impact, and at the same time, more organizations are realizing that they need better insight and actionable advice to ensure their SDOH investments are sustainable and measurable," said Trenor Williams, MD, CEO and co-founder of Socially Determined. "With her unique understanding of the strategic priorities and challenges facing healthcare institutions, Nikia brings an invaluable perspective to our already talented team that will help us expand the impact our company and platform can have." About Socially Determined Socially Determined provides Social Risk Intelligence solutions to organizations committed to addressing the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) impacting their communities and populations. The companys platform, SocialScape, delivers unmatched insights into social risk dynamics and their effect on health outcomes and business performance through secure, scalable data processing and proprietary analytics. With SocialScapes unparalleled view of social risk and Socially Determineds advisory services expertise, clients can deploy interventions and investments that translate to quantifiable impact. Socially Determined is headquartered in Washington, DC and operates a second office in Blacksburg, VA. For more information, follow Socially Determined on Twitter (@SocDetermined) or LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/company/socially-determined), or visit www.SociallyDetermined.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005078/en/ Contacts Mike Reilly fama PR for Socially Determined Sociallydetermined@famapr.com HEFEI, China, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading inverter solution supplier for renewables, announced that the Company ranked first in the 2021 China Top 500 ESG Companies list released jointly by the well-known organization Sina Finance ESG Rating Center and CCTV-1 "Brand of Great Power" program. Logo (PRNewsfoto/Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd) The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company's operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. It's an evaluation of a company's collective conscientiousness for social and environmental factors. Relying on the ESG rating database, Sina Finance conducted a comprehensive ESG evaluation of outstanding Chinese A-shares, Hong Kong stocks, U.S. stocks. It selected ESG rating data from 6 domestic and overseas rating agencies and related data published by a large number of think tanks as data. Nearly 50 key issues under the three dimensions of E, S, and G and around 450 specific indicators to which they belong are evaluated. "ESG plays an important role in helping Sungrow build trust with our stakeholders and delivering sustained outcomes, and it's an area of focus for us," commented Cao Renxian, Chairman of Sungrow. With a continued commitment to ESG, the Company has been rated AA by MSCI ESG for two consecutive years something few peers have achieved. It has also won the "2020 Corporate Social Responsibility Report AA Rating" awarded by the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as well as the "Social Responsibility Award" from the World Brand Lab. Notably, Sungrow joined China's ESG leaders' organization in mid-January 2022. Sungrow is poised to leverage its comprehensive strengths to pave the way toward a net-zero carbon future. Focusing on renewable energy technologies, Sungrow takes PV and energy storage as its core businesses. It now goes way beyond this and is operating in wind power, the EV sector, and the green hydrogen markets. Story continues The solutions it offers achieve environmental sustainability while maintaining prominent product quality and services to realize sustainable operations and development. As of December 2021, the Company's accumulative inverters shipments reached 224 GW -- a number equivalent to generating around 315,200 GWh of clean electricity per year and eliminating 252 million tons of carbon dioxide. As an active player in global decarbonization initiatives, Sungrow is a dedicated member of RE100, pledges to source 100% renewable electricity across its entire global operations by 2028, illustrating its determination to slash its own climate impacts. The Company, being a member of UNGC, always aligns with the UN 17 Sustainable Development goals. "Sungrow is committed to actively promoting ESG initiatives in the future. We'll keep applying our wealth of expertise and skills to deliver sustainable solutions that are competitive, resilient, effective, and deliver joint benefits for all stakeholders," Prof. Cao added. About Sungrow Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. ("Sungrow") is the world's most bankable inverter brand with over 224 GW installed worldwide as of December 2021. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial & industrial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions. With a strong 25-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power installations in over 150 countries. Learn more about Sungrow by visiting: www.sungrowpower.com. Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sungrow-ranks-first-in-2021-china-top-500-esg-companies-301469256.html SOURCE Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. Stockton, California--(Newsfile Corp. - January 27, 2022) - Vibe Growth Corporation (CSE: VIBE) (OTCQX: VIBEF) (the "Company" or "Vibe"), a vertically integrated California cannabis enterprise, is pleased to announce that its iconic Vibe By California branded retail dispensary in Stockton, California, is a finalist in the Official Community Choice Awards in San Joaquin County for Best Cannabis Store. The OCCA is part of the Stockton Record and the USA Today Network. Vibe's Stockton dispensary has set out to redefine what it means to be a quality cannabis dispensary and attributes its success to a culture of client care and knowledgeable staff. Vibe is renowned for its large selection of cannabis products at the best prices, featuring Hype Cannabis Co. and an expertly curated selection of California's top brands. The Vibe Stockton Team (Image: Vibe By California) To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/7473/111847_5729241aa442e89a_002full.jpg "We take pride in our friendly and diverse environment, which encourages interaction and helps in building a better understanding of our customers," stated Richard McLean, Vibe's Head of Retail. "I am extremely honored to work with a team that is so dedicated to customer satisfaction, and proud to be chosen by our community," added Stockton store manager, LaToya Daniel. To learn more about Vibe please visit www.vibebycalifornia.com. About Hype Cannabis Co. Hype Cannabis Co. products are hand-crafted, hand-picked, naturally cured, and trimmed by hand in limited batches. Our cultivators are involved from cultivation to packaging ensuring a high-quality craft product. The pesticide-free process produces a diverse range of strains from popular crowd-pleasers to unique cultivars to satisfy a variety of taste sensations and experiences. Everyone on our HYPE team is passionate about the plant, and every product we create showcases the care and attention we give to our cultivation. From flower to wax, we stand behind everything we produce. We are fanatical about plant education and community, reach out to us on social media to join the conversation on how this amazing plant connects the world. Story continues About Vibe Growth Corporation Vibe Growth Corporation and its cannabis retail brand, Vibe By California, is a trusted, vertically integrated cannabis enterprise with retail dispensaries; cannabis greenhouse cultivation; premium indoor cultivation; commercial cannabis distribution; brand sales and marketing; e-commerce platform; home delivery; and Hype Cannabis Co. marijuana and Vibe CBD (cannabidiol) products. Vibe is focused on maximizing shareholder value through accelerating organic growth, opportunistic acquisitions, distressed workouts, and new license applications. The Company operates retail and e-commerce under its iconic Vibe by California brand. To learn more about Vibe, please visit: www.vibebycalifornia.com Company Contact Bill Mitoulas Phone: +1 416.479.9547 Email: ir@vibebycalifornia.com Website: www.vibebycalifornia.com 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. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/111847 Justin Bourque continues to shine as leader through national recognition by The CEO Publication for his commitment to forward thinking, innovation, and his cultural roots. REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF WOOD BUFFALO, AB, Jan. 27, 2022 /CNW/ - Willow Lake Metis Nation (WLMN) is thrilled to announce the recognition of their CEO, Justin Bourque, as one of Canada's Top 20 Dynamic CEOs by The CEO Publication. Throughout the past year Justin has relentlessly focused on restructuring the WLMN as an organization to ensure that it is accountable to its members, driven for community prosperity, and remains culturally grounded. He committed to bringing new community-based services to the Nation, determined to protect and enhance the community's rights, and to ensure the Willow Lake Metis have an economically sustainable future for generations to come. The CEO Publication recognizes Justin Bourque, CEO of Willow Lake Metis Nation, as Top 20 Dynamic CEOs 2021 Canada (CNW Group/Willow Lake Metis Nation) "I am honoured to be one of 20 truly impressive individuals bringing leadership to communities and industries across Canada," Bourque says. "For me this is confirmation that our approach and our creative solutions are resonating not only with our community but those looking to explore new approaches across the country." The CEO Publication notes that 'Justin's forward-thinking on technology paired with a drive for climate resilience has provided an opportunity for initiatives that will benefit his community and Indigenous communities everywhere.' They highlight his significant tie to the Anzac community and the energy industry as well as his passion for protecting the traditional cultural practices that characterized Metis communities in north-eastern Alberta including living off the land by hunting, trapping, fishing, and plant gathering. "Justin challenges and empowers his team to be innovative, communicative, and proactive. There is always one more step that can be taken to propel his vision forward and that's the easy part. Justin has been dreaming of all he is accomplishing alongside his community for decades. The vision and the excitement are what keep him going," explains The CEO Publication. And for this reason, he could not be left off the list of 20 Top Dynamic CEOs for 2021. Story continues "I am humbled, and I look forward to continuing to build partnerships, find creative solutions, and stay true to my journey with the Creator as we gear up for a productive, exciting, and innovative 2022," explains Bourque. "Being a Top 20 Dynamic CEO only provides more momentum to move forward and accomplish more for our community." View the publication online. Read Justin's feature online. About Willow Lake Metis Nation Willow Lake Metis Nation (WLMN) are a Metis community whose members now mostly reside in the community of Anzac, Alberta. WLMN's roots lie in the history of the fur trade in Alberta and the economic and political circumstances that evolved during and after the fur trade. The historical Willow Lake community was close to trade and travel routes that connected Fort McMurray and Willow Lake to Lac La Loche to the east, to Fort Chipewyan to the north, and to Lac La Biche to the south. Willow Lake Metis people lived on and derived their livelihood from the lands between these locations through much of the later fur trade period, and WLMN people continue to use these lands to exercise their Indigenous rights, sustain their culture and identity as Metis people, support their community, and pass their knowledge and way of life on to their descendants. Key Metis family lines represented in the WLMN community include Bourque, Cardinal, Huppie, Lavallee, McKenzie, Quintal, and Whitford. For more information, visit: https://www.wlmn.ca/about-us Willow Lake Metis Nation (WLMN) are a Metis community whose members now mostly reside in the community of Anzac, Alberta. Their roots lie in the history of the fur trade in Alberta and the economic and political circumstances that evolved during and after the fur trade. (CNW Group/Willow Lake Metis Nation) SOURCE Willow Lake Metis Nation Cision View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2022/27/c2745.html WASHINGTON, January 27, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Women from across the US, Mexico and Canada are launching the Women in AI (WAI) Awards North America to honor female pioneers who take the road less traveled and pave the way for others to reach even further. The kick-off event takes place virtually on February 1, 2022 at 5pm ET when applications for category nominations will also open for: AI in Startups, AI in Research, AI for Good, AI in Government, AI in Industry, Young Role Model in AI. Winners will be announced at a hybrid event on May 13, 2022. Please email us at waiawardsna@womeninai.co or visit our website for more information. Susan Verdiguel, WAI Ambassador to Mexico says, "Through this collaboration, we are able to amplify the AI ecosystem in Mexico for a more robust, informed, and organized community." Sponsors/partners include Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, Topcoder, The Institute for Education, IVOW AI and GET Cities, an initiative designed to accelerate the leadership and representation of women, trans, and nonbinary people in tech. "We know that AI and machine learning are the future, and we know the risks of not including diverse perspectives in designing solutions for this future. That's why we're thrilled to be a strategic partner for the Women in AI Summit and to celebrate all of the amazing people leading the way in co-creating an inclusive tech economy." - Leslie Lynn Smith, National Director of GET Cities Davar Ardalan, CEO of IVOW AI and Senior Advisor to WAI North America says, "Our ultimate goal is to recognize the role women are playing in AI and to encourage more young women to enter the field of computer science and AI." "This collaborative endeavor of Women in AI will provide an exclusive platform for every women AI professional across North America, no matter their age, role or field of work, to be recognized for their contributions in AI," says Frincy Clement, WAI Ambassador to Canada. Story continues "Our diverse communities at the grassroots level drive amazing societal impact by applying AI, ML and Data Science integrated with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals," noted Bhuva Subram, Founder of Wallet Max and the Regional Head of Women in AI North America & USA. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220127005418/en/ Contacts Media: Bhuva Subram, WAI NAR/USA Ambassador, waiawardsna@womeninai.co Spotsylvania County Public School officials are proposing a operating budget for the next fiscal year that includes $8.2 million in unfunded needs. Acting Superintendent Carol Flenard and Chief Business Officer Prashant Shrestha presented the proposed budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 to the School Board on Tuesday evening. As presented, the $353 million operating budget assumes no increase in local funding, but identifies needs that increased state and federal money will not cover. Those needs include modernizing the teacher salary scale, estimated to cost $5.6 million; creating six new full-time positions, four of them in health and wellness, at a cost of $350,000; and $2.2 million to fund increased health insurance costs. The salary scale modernization under consideration would affect about 2,000 division employees, including English language teachers, special education teachers, psychologists, school counselors, social workers, speech and occupational therapists, instructional specialists and librarians. Updating the scalewhich would address starting salary and compression and would reflect degrees earnedwill allow Spotsylvania to be more competitive among surrounding districts and better retain employees, officials said. To summarize what I heard, modernization just gets us to being competitive with our local areas and if we dont modernizeif we go with zero local moneythan basically the train will be riding backwards and it will be extremely difficult to attract anyone new, said Nicole Cole, School Board member for the Battlefield District. The spending plan assumes an increase of $19 million from the state and $22 million from the federal government. The increase in federal funding is larger than usual because it includes the pandemic relief funds. Those funds must be spent for the specific services outlined in the federal grant requirements. The state funding increase will be used to cover a 5 percent pay raise for all positions mandated by the Virginia Department of Educations standards of quality and for new positions required by the standards of quality. State funding will also be used to raise the hourly pay for custodians to $15 per hour and the starting salary for bus drivers to $21 per hour. Shrestha told the board that in theory, these workforce investments would be a shared responsibility, whereby some of the responsibility falls on the state and some on the locality. The proposed budget with no local increase assumes that about $8 million in carryover funds from a previous fiscal year will be returned to the schools for the Health Reserve and Other Post Employment Benefits trust funds. The School Board in December approved a spending plan for $14.6 million in carryover funds, which must now be approved by the Board of Supervisors. School Board members Rabih Abuismail, Lisa Phelps and Kirk Twiggwho became chairman in Januaryvoted against that spending plan. Supervisors must hold a public hearing prior to voting on the plan for the carryover funds, but have not yet done so. In December, supervisors failed to set a date for the public hearing, with two votes on two motions failing in 33 ties. At the Jan. 11 Board of Supervisors meeting, County Administrator Ed Petrovitch told supervisors that the school divisions finance department asked for a continued delay in scheduling the public hearing to allow the new School Board to give them guidance. Supervisors did not approve any new local funding for the school division, aside from money for the payment of debt services, in 2020 or 2021. Tuesdays budget presentation noted that the local allocation for schools amounted to 42.7 percent of the countys General Fund last year, compared with 61 percent in 2001. Shrestha said during the presentation that 80 percent of the divisions operating budget is dedicated to workforce investment. He presented data showing that non-compensation related expenditures in the current fiscal years $312 million budgetwhich includes federal pandemic relief grantstotal about $33 million. Of that, $12 million went to instruction, $11.7 million to maintenance, $7.5 to technology, $3.8 million to administration and health and $2.9 million to transportation. The division has regained students it lost during the pandemic, according to the presentation. Enrollment as of Jan. 19 was 24,005, exceeding the pre-pandemic fall 2019 count of 23,882. Also for the first time, the number of minority students enrolled in the system exceeds the number of students who identify as white, Flenard said. The fastest-growing population of students is those with English language learning needs. This population grew by 91 percent between 2015 and 2021, according to the presentation. The special education population grew by 29 percent in that time and the minority population by 21 percent. The population of students identifying as white decreased by almost 15 percent. The presentation also noted that the Spotsylvania system has a lower ratio of central office and school staff for every 1,000 students than Fredericksburg, Stafford, Fauquier, Culpeper and Prince William counties, according to Virginia Department of Education data. Following the presentation, School Board members had a chance to ask questions and offer initial thoughts on the proposed budget. Abuismail said he would like to see the division hire more new school counselors on top of the three new positions that are required to comply with state mandates. He noted that the number of risk assessments conducted for students at all grade levels the first semester of this year already exceed totals for all of last school year. Phelps said she would like to see what it would look like to modernize the salary scale for support staff in addition to teachers. The teacher salary scale modernization is not part of the no-local increase budget. Shelley said the division needs much more than what is included in the proposed budget, even beyond the $8.2 million in unfunded needs. What bothers me most is, were expecting zero local transfer [increase]. That I dont understand, Shelley said. There should be more money coming from the locality based on state codes. I hope this board has more priorities to say, County government, you need to be paying the schools more money for the kids of this county. 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. FROM STAFF REPORTS The early 19th-century medical diplomas of two Fredericksburg physicians are among historical items deemed endangered by the Virginia Association of Museums. Dr. James Carmichael was the first of four generations of Carmichael physicians to practice medicine in Fredericksburg. Their practice, Carmichael & Sons, was located in a detached brick building at the familys residence on Hanover Street, which still exists today. The documents, housed at the Fredericksburg Area Museum, are the medical diplomas of Carmichaels son, Dr. George Carmichael (dated 1817), and grandson, Dr. Spotswood Carmichael (dated 1852). The ... diplomas are true works of art and symbolize the impact of the care he and his sons provided to the Fredericksburg area community, the Virginia Association of Museums website states. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the organizations Virginias Top 10 Endangered Artifacts program, according to its website. Representatives from partner organizations, such as the Library of Virginia, Preservation Virginia, Virginia Conservation Association and Virginia Department of Historic Resources review nominations and select the items they deem most in need of conservation. The list is publicized, and the artifact that receives the most votes will receive $2,000 in conservation funding. The public is invited to vote online at vamuseums.org. Thursday, Jan. 27, is the last day for voting. Should the diplomas be properly conserved, the museum will display them with other supporting documents and objects to interpret the history of medicine and education in the community, according to the Virginia Association of Museums. The other artifacts on the list include a Bridgewater College WWII service honor board; a photograph of the Natural Bridge and Jefferson family cabin; a photograph titled Negro Building, Jamestown Exposition 1907; a 1930s manure spreader; a ledger containing transactions from what was once the largest gristmill in Loudoun County; an oil painting of Lewis Nusbaum, an early member of Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk; a watercolor of Patrick Henrys last home near the town of Brookneal; an ancient cat skeleton at the Virginia Museum of Natural History; and a Preston and Olin Institute steamer trunk from the birth year of Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College. Charles Bullock doesnt recall learning anything about the history of his peoplethe Patawomeck tribe of Virginia while growing up in Stafford County, despite the tribe existing in the area for thousands of years. You never hear about more than contact [the first interactions between Europeans and indigenous peoples in the Americas], said Bullock, who is now chief of the Patawomeck tribe. We never learned the nuts and bolts of our true story. The Patawomeck really helped the colonists survive, Bullock continued. If it wasnt for our people, we probably wouldnt have had a country. Things like this, these important nuggets of our history, they have to be told. The Patawomeck storyand that of the Rappahannock tribe, which has called the area along the river home for thousands of yearswill be told more thoroughly by a Native American heritage trail that is coming to King George County. Development of the trail and its signage was a joint project between the tribes, King Georges Department of Economic Development and Tourism and historic preservation students at the University of Mary Washington. Nicholas Minor, director of economic development and tourism, said he came up with the idea for the trail while working on a strategic plan for King George County tourism. I just sort of connected the dots, Minor said. Its using the same model as the Civil War Trails program, but applying a different heritage. Historically, both the Rappahannock and Patawomeck tribes lived along the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers all the way down the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula, including what is now King George County. Today, the Patawomeck have a tribal center in Stafford and the Rappahannock have one in King and Queen County. Minor grew up in Spotsylvania County and said he never learned about the local Native American tribes. Being from here, you see all these namesthe Ni River, the Mattaponiand you know they are associated with some sort of Native American stories, but nobody has told them, Minor said. Minor knew he didnt have the staff or the expertise to conduct research for a Native American Heritage Trailand he also didnt want to move forward without the blessing of the tribes whose stories the trail would tell. So he reached out to UMW assistant professor of historic preservation Lauren McMillan, who had worked closely with the local tribes in the past and was preparing to teach a course titled Preservation in the Community. Juniors and seniors enrolled in the course this past fall semester conducted historical archival research, read archaeological reports, consulted oral histories and talked with tribe members to determine what stories the tribes wanted to tell about their lives in the area. The tribal leaders were involved from day one, McMillan said. A big thing was that they didnt want to get stuck in the past. These are contemporary, vibrant communities that still exist today. Yes, they wanted to talk about 1,000 years ago and yes, they wanted to talk about 400 years ago, but they also wanted to talk about how the community still exists today. Students in the class worked in teams of two to research and write the text for one trail sign. UMW senior Libby Wruck and her partner conducted research on Native American trade systems within King George. She said the focus was always on bringing the history of the tribes into modernity. We tried to emphasize in our trail signs that these people are still here and their history is still impacting the area, Wruck said. Her classmate, Luka Molloy, worked on a sign that will be placed in Caledon Forest about how the tribes used forest resources in everyday life. Working with the tribes and making sure they liked [our work] and seeing that they did like it was really phenomenal, Molloy said. Molloy and Wruck are now interning with Minor to bring the trail project to fruitionhaving the actual signs made and placing them in the landscape. There will be seven signs on the trail, which will circumnavigate the county by following the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. Minor said he hopes the signs will be installed this summer, pending cooperation from private landowners and local and state government. McMillan said that the King George trail will be if not the first, then one of the first Native American heritage trails in Virginia. And one of the few for which there is clear communication with the tribes, she said. Minnie Lightner, administrative assistant for the Patawomeck tribe, said the trail is coming at the right time, as the tribe is also preparing to open a museum and replica Patawomeck village on its property in Stafford this summer. This program with the signs really fits in well with what were trying to do, Lightner said. Its just one more thing that goes further into our story. Bullock said he is looking forward to sharing the tribes stories with more visitors. Any time we can get the Virginian Indian narrative out, Im all for it, he said. Im very excited. The students put a lot of time and effort into this project and they did a really great job. Anne Richardson, chief of the Rappahannock tribe, said the tribe was proud to collaborate on the project. I believe the Native American history of King George County is important for public education and to showcase the histories of the collaborating tribes, she said. We look forward to working with King George County and partners to support the tourism plans for the County. It demonstrates equity in how municipalities can enhance their tourism by displaying a more complete story of everyones shared story. 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. Facing opposition from commonwealths attorneys to his request for broad new power to prosecute cases in circuit courts, new GOP Attorney General Jason Miyares is scaling back his proposal. A major part of Miyares agenda legislation to give him new powers to prosecute violent crimes at the request of a local police chief or sheriff is widely opposed by the states commonwealths attorneys. So Miyares and lawmakers are rewriting the proposal to give the attorney general new prosecution power only in sex crimes involving minor victims. Members of the Virginia Association of Commonwealths Attorneys, which represents the 120 elected prosecutors across Virginia, held a virtual meeting Jan. 19 to discuss legislation that would grant Miyares the new power. The associations administrator told prosecutors during the meeting that a vote by commonwealths attorneys on the proposal showed 91% of them opposed, 9% neutral and none in support, according to two prosecutors in the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity because prosecutors dont publicly comment on internal association deliberations. The group has influence with members of the General Assembly, and opposition to the bills from the prosecutors would put the legislation in jeopardy. Victoria LaCivita, a spokeswoman for Miyares, said by email Tuesday afternoon that the bill is being rewritten and a new version will be offered Wednesday. Nate Green, the president of the prosecutors association and the Republican commonwealths attorney for James City County and Williamsburg, did not respond to questions about why there was such strong opposition by prosecutors to the original legislation. Republican Commonwealths Attorney Colin Stolle of Virginia Beach, the associations past president, could not be reached for comment on his stance. In a tough-on-crime campaign last year, Miyares called for legislation that would allow him to prosecute certain cases if a commonwealths attorney failed to be tough enough. Miyares is a former assistant commonwealths attorney and state delegate from Virginia Beach who defeated Democrat Mark Herring in the attorney generals race in November. One case Miyares cited was a plea deal in Fairfax County in which a child molester was sentenced to about 17 years. When an elected commonwealths attorney publicly states that he will not prosecute a crime, citizens should have a backup plan to ensure that victims get their day in court, Miyares wrote in a Washington Examiner column after his election. I will work with law enforcement officials to prosecute criminals when commonwealths attorneys make pre-determined decisions not to prosecute particular types of violent crimes. Sen. Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, and Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle, are sponsors of the legislation that the commonwealths attorneys opposed. Current law says that unless requested by the governor, an attorney general cannot conduct criminal prosecutions in the states circuit courts except in certain circumstances, including violation of alcohol, election and child pornography laws and theft of state property. The Senate version of the legislation would amend the law to allow an attorney general to conduct a prosecution of violent crimes like murder, abduction, malicious wounding and robbery if a police chief or sheriff makes the request cases that are handled by elected commonwealths attorneys across the state. The vote last week by the members of the Virginia Commonwealths Attorneys Association shows that even conservative prosecutors in rural areas dont want local police or sheriffs going directly to the attorney general to start a prosecution. The new version of the bill, according to Miyares spokeswoman, would give the attorney general concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute only sex crimes in which a minor is the victim, not a broad group of violent crimes, as originally proposed. Hitachi Energy today announced it has won a major order from Samsung C&T Corporation, one of the worlds largest engineering and construction companies, to connect Adnocs offshore operations to the onshore power grid in the UAE, owned and operated by Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa). Hitachi Energys HVDC Light technology and MACH (Modular Advanced Control for HVDC) digital control platform1 will enable the transfer of cleaner and more efficient power from the mainland to power Adnocs offshore production operations, enabling a carbon footprint reduction of Adnocs off-shore operations by more than 30 per cent. This innovative solution reinforces Hitachi Energys commitment to helping customers and countries to transition towards a carbon-neutral future and help enable the 2050 Net-Zero Initiative of the UAE. With a capacity of 3,200 megawatts (MW), the two HVDC links will be by far the most powerful power-from-shore solution in the Middle East and North America (MENA) region to date. It is also the first HVDC power-from-shore solution outside Norwegian wa-ters. This innovative solution reflects how Hitachi Energy continues to pioneer technolo-gy to address the growing interest from national and independent oil and gas companies to power their offshore production facilities with carbon-free energy from onshore power grids. We are proud to be enabling Abu Dhabi and Adnoc to make significant progress on their pathway toward achieving the United Arab Emirates ambition to be carbon-neutral by 2050, said Claudio Facchin, CEO of Hitachi Energy. He continued: At Hitachi Energy we are championing the urgency of the clean energy transition, and this major order is further evidence that we are a go to partner for developing and deploying technologies and solutions that are advancing the worlds energy system to be more sustainable, flexible and secure. S H Kim, Procurement Manager at Samsung C&T Corporation, commented: In Hitachi Energy, we have selected a trusted partner who brings deep global competence and a strong mindset of collaboration and innovation. Kim continued: Together, we will serve Adnoc with pioneering technologies that are proven to deliver for such a large HVDC project. The entire power-from-shore project will comprise two HVDC power links, which will connect two clusters of offshore oil and gas production facilities to the mainland power grid, a distance of up to 140 km for each cluster. Hitachi Energy is supplying four converter stations, which convert AC power to DC for transmission in the subsea cables, then reconvert it to AC from DC for use in the offshore power systems. The HVDC technology will be supplied from Hitachi Energys global competence centres. Also included in the order are system studies, design and engineering, supply, installation supervision and commissioning. Hitachi Energy will support the customers with a long-term life-cycle service agreement leveraging digital technologies to ensure system availability and reliability over the HVDC links long operating life. HVDC Light is a voltage source converter technology that was pioneered by Hitachi Energy. It is the preferred technology for many grid applications, including interconnecting national power grids, integrating offshore wind parks with mainland transmission systems, feeding more power into congested city centers, interconnecting asynchronous networks that operate at different frequencies, and power from shore. HVDC Lights defining features include uniquely compact converter stations (which is extremely important in space-critical applications like offshore wind, offshore production facilities and city-center infeeds), exceptionally low electrical losses, and black-start ca-pability to restore power after a grid outage. Hitachi Energy pioneered commercial HVDC technology almost 70 years ago and has delivered more than half of the worlds HVDC Classic projects and more than 70 percent of the worlds voltage source conversion HVDC projects, the company said. - TradeArabia News Service The saber rattling in Eastern Europe has 8,500 troops on alert for possible deployment. It also has military families everywhere once again facing the possibility of their loved ones going to war. Its an enormous burden shared by too small a portion of our society, and military families very often feel forgotten. A portion of our society doesnt really understand what military personnel and their families go through, says Master Sgt. Trent Clark, who is based at Fort Belvoir. That too many dont understand is easily explained. Troop levels have fallen dramatically since 1990, from just over 2 million active-duty personnel to just under 1.2 million today. Consequently, our connection to military members is falling. Just 33 percent of adults aged 18-29, for example, have a family member in the military. While military families may be out of sight to many, they should never be out of mind. According to a 2018 report from Military OneSource, 122,314 active-duty personnel are stationed in Virginia. Thats a higher number than any other state save for California, and a significant number of these people and their families live and work in our community. We see them in stores, at the gas station, in our schools, and in our neighborhoods. Its easy to avoid talking with military families out of fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. Thats understandable, but the truth is there are a number of very simple things we can all do to support these people in these trying days. The easiest is showing simple courtesy. Daniel Cortez is a former U.S. Marine, Purple Heart recipient and has a son recently discharged from the military. So he knows what it is to deal with the stress of deployment as a Marine and as a family member on the home front. A simple, kind word of support to a family [member], he says, works wonders. Just taking the time to call someone, or visit, means a lot, he continues. The reality of tactical advance or being in a defensive posture takes its toll on everyonesoldier and family. Also, Cortez continues, remember that stress is compounded and PTSD triggers pulled when discussing or viewing hawks calling for force on force. Master Sgt. Clark shares Cortezs view of the importance of respect and kindness. Clark encourages us all to take a moment and just say thank you for the service active-duty personnel give, and the sacrifices their families make while their loved ones are deployed or preparing for deployment. He also encourages people to consider sending care packages through the USO. If you know someone serving, or their family, you can address the package directly to that individual, even if you just know their name and rank, and the USO will get it to them, Clark says. Volunteering to help a military family in your neighborhood is another easy way to help make their lives a bit easier. As troops prepare for deployment, and once they are gone, everyone in the military family has to take on greater responsibilities at home. Offer to watch the children for a while, so the spouse can run errands or just catch a breath, or offer to do some lawn work. Every little bit helps. One final thing we can all do is wear red on Fridays. The word RED is an acronym for Remember Everyone Deployed. So even if youre shy about talking with military families you may not know particularly well, simply wearing red on Fridays is a gentle reminder to them that you are thinking of them. Every branch of the military offers a range of services to families before, during and after deployment. And of course, military families lean on one another. With fewer people serving, however, and the prospect of yet another conflict on the horizon, we all have a responsibility to help those who sacrifice so much for each of us. Its the least we can do. Manchin, Sinema betrayed president President Joe Biden came within two votes of the most consequential first year in presidential history since Franklin Roosevelts New Deal. If taken individually, the parts of the total package were supported by the American public. It decreased drug prices, provided needed money for climate change, pre-k education, child support and many other things, and it was fiscally supportable. It would, however, require changes in the filibuster rule to get through, something Republicans have been willing to do when it suited their devices. It needed all 50 Democratic senators to vote for it to pass. Two said no. And then in an encore act of perfidy to their party and the public, they killed the vitally important voting rights legislation. Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema couldnt take yes for an answer as Democrats twisted themselves into a pretzel to find a way to get them to agree. But these two senators decided to stab Biden in the back and kill the hopes of their party for one of the most significant successes in American political history. Make no mistake, Republicans showed a united front in their obstruction, entirely in character for them. Now the Democrats are forced to go piecemeal to salvage something or anything. President Biden is weakened in the face of a difficult midterm election. For that, we can thank a pair of DINOs, Democrats in name only, not to be confused with large prehistoric creatures with small brains. Ronald Apter Spotsylvania Serve your constituents, not your party I agree with Ron Parsons letter detailing how damaging the Democratic Partys policies have been to our economy [Mr. Billingsley wrote a good letter, but I disagree with his points, Dec. 30, 2021]. And he is correct to cite Sen. Manchin for his clear thinking and well-reasoned opposition to them. We should all be grateful to Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema for opposing the grossest of the Democrats assaults on our republic, opposing the socialist Build Back Better giveaway and now Democratic assault on the core of the republic: preserving minority rights in the Senate. But it should have never reached this point. We Virginians have two senators: Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. Where are they in all of this? Have they lost their sense of duty? Each of them should have joined Manchin and Sinema in opposition. They have been portrayed as moderates over their careers. But they are not. Viewing their positions on BBB, their support for the nuclear option in the senate, and their voting records that align quite closely to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, we must conclude that they are, in fact, socialists hiding in plain sight. Warner had said the original BBB didnt spend enough money. That version claimed a cost of $2.7 trillion, but $6 trillion is a closer figure. And that is the Democrats playbook: giving away stuff we do not have. I would like to think they are redeemable, but politics was never meant to be a career, and they have lost their way. We need new senators, ones that reject socialism, respect the republic and put our commonwealth ahead of their party. Id like to see someone who has not lost their grounding, such as former Marine and current Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears. Richard Dynes Fredericksburg Diane Wilson hopes the public will share some hope in the form of a flower. From now until Feb. 14, the American Cancer Society is asking area residents to support a fundraiser called Blooms of Hope, formerly known as Daffodil Days. The longstanding program involves offering daffodils to donors each year in appreciation for their contributions. For a donation of $10, supporters will receive a bouquet of fresh-cut daffodils. For a $15 donation, they will receive a pot of mini daffodil bulbs or a pot of mini hyacinth bulbs. The daffodil is first flower of spring and the societys symbol of hope for a world free of cancer. Daffodils and hyacinths are such a bright and cheery sign of spring and of hope. And, after the past two years of dealing with the pandemic, everyone needs that sign of hope! said Wilson of the Relay for Life, Dodge County. The order deadline is noon Feb. 14. Flowers will be available for pickup the week of March 7. Anyone wishing to order daffodils and/or hyacinths can email rfldodge1@gmail.com, contact Wilson at 402-880-8569, contact any Relay For Life team member or call ACS Community Manager Stephanie Stephenson at 402-690-3734. Wilson encourages people to participate. Participating is so easy and every dollar donated helps whether it be needed services for our cancer patients or funding critical research, Wilson said. Stephenson also encourages participation. It is an opportunity to share hope for a world with less cancer and more birthdays, where cancer never steals another year from anyones life, Stephenson said in a news release. The ACS, which has almost 2 million volunteers, states that it helps people in a variety of ways from breakthrough research, to free lodging near treatment, a 24/7, 365-days-a-year live helpline, free rides to treatment and convening powerful activists to create awareness and impact. For more information visit www.cancer.org. 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. The Fremont City Council unanimously approved an interlocal agreement to apply for an inland port authority and heard an update from Keene Memorial Library at its meeting Tuesday. This is just a first step tonight of a long-term process that would allow us to be considered to be one of the up to five inland port authorities, Mayor Joey Spellerberg said. The agreement, announced last week, will allow the city and Dodge County to apply for a port authority later this year. The Dodge County Board of Supervisors also approved it at its meeting Wednesday. After the passing of the Municipal Inland Port Authority Act in May 2021, Nebraska allowed for the creation of up to five inland port authorities within the state. An inland port authority would act as an economic hub near areas of transportation and would be governed by a board. By pursuing this opportunity, the city of Fremont and Dodge County are designating an area of focus for industrial development for the future and creating a mechanism for the development of infrastructure, Spellerberg read from the testifying letter he wrote last year. Fremont is proposing to place the port authority southeast of the city, near the Union Pacific Railroad. The area has been accounted for in the citys comprehensive and land use plans. If selected, the mayor would choose a board for the port authority, which would then be approved by the city council and county board. A study from the Greater Omaha Chamber estimated that 12 projects on the site during a 10-year period could result in $917.5 million annually during the construction period and $872.1 million in annual local impact from operations. Spellerberg said the area would take truck traffic into consideration to avoid impacts to the city and that he plans to engage and educate the public on the port authority. Al Sawtelle, chairman of the Greater Fremont Development Council Board of Directors, said the GFDC had been working on the topic for a year and that the landowners in the proposed area had signed a memorandum of understanding. Many times, Sawtelle said manufacturers come to the GFDC looking to relocate with shovel-ready land. Through this port authority and the monies that theyll receive, they can develop the infrastructure, if thats what they want to do, they can build buildings, they can lease land, he said. GFDC Executive Director Megan Skiles said more companies are looking at Fremont and Dodge County as an opportunity for growth and expansion, whether theyre established or incoming businesses. But Skiles said Nebraska often loses quality projects to other states due to lacking the necessary infrastructure. This act will allow our region to begin planning and give us a tool to think ahead of development instead of being reactionary, she said. It will take time and effort to come to fruition, but it will allow us to plan and focus our industrial development for the next decade. With the area located within Ward 4, Councilmembers Brad Yerger and Sally Ganem said they had both received questions on the port authority, but were in favor of it. On Dec. 13, Ganem went on a tour with Spellerberg and Dodge County Board Chairman Bob Missel to a port authority in Kansas City, where they learned more about the concept and its benefits. What theyve done is absolutely amazing, she said. We have the same kind of opportunities here, and I would be saddened if we let it slip away because theres so much potential. With the library update, Director Laura England-Biggs said it saw 122,000 items checked out in 2021, up 10,000 from last year. Online downloads made up a quarter of its circulation and were up 6,000 this year. I think that speaks to a lot of COVID time, people who are still not as willing to come out, but theyre willing to download on their devices, England-Biggs said. England-Biggs said the librarys children and young adult material was up 7,000 in 2021. I dont know why, but Im glad, she said. I think thats great theres more kids books being read. While the library saw an increase in membership by 52, England-Biggs said it had more weeding, or discarding books that are out of date or in bad condition, than purchasing in 2021. We didnt keep up with replacing those at the same rate, but Elisa (Cruz) has been working her way through the adult nonfiction collection, which has been neglected for years, she said. So I think that explains the increase in the discards. And while the library experienced a decrease in programming by 100, with 134 programs in 2021, England-Biggs said more people showed up to the events. People are hungry for even Zoom storytime, she said. Its not the same, but it replaces that in-person experience when you cant get out. England-Biggs said while computer use was down, Wi-Fi visits were up 3,000, website visits were up 30,000 and public printing up was up 4,000. I think thats a testament to the number of people doing resumes and job applications online and trying to take those with them to their interviews, she said. Yerger said the statistics demonstrated the need that the Fremont community has for the library. I think they demonstrate the vital services that have been provided to the community and that you and your staff should be commended for what were seeing tonight with regard to the modifications and changes and the usage of the library, he said. Ganem also thanked England-Biggs and the library, library board and volunteers for their work. Great job with the library and all that youve done and the growth that youve seen, even in COVID, Spellerberg said. And it is an exciting time for the library right now, especially with the renovation coming up, so a lot of great things to look forward to. The council also unanimously approved a reduction in the food and beverage tax from 1.25% to 1%. Good news: Its not often that we come before you and ask you to reduce a tax, interim City Administrator Jody Sanders said. But in fact, sales at local restaurants have been so robust, were in danger of going over the amount thats set out in state statute. To avoid the $700,000 lid, Sanders said the change would be effective April 1 to give restaurants the opportunity to reprogram cash registers. In regard to the tax, councilman Glen Ellis expressed support at designating the money to a community project, something he said hed seen in other Nebraska communities such as Norfolk. When that bond finishes, the tax goes away unless theres another bond that comes up that we want to make life just nicer to live in Fremont, he said. And so I approve this very much tonight, but I just wanted to put that seed out there that Ive had a lot of constituents ask me about this. After a proposition from councilman James Vaughan to skip the ordinances second and third readings, the change was approved. Thank you Fremont for shopping local, Spellerberg said. The council also unanimously approved changes to the guidelines, applications and scoring matrix of the Keno Grant at the request of the Keno Advisory Committee. When the committee met last October to review the applications, there were lots of concerns and questions on the best way to use the funds to reach the most organizations throughout our community, Grant Coordinator Angie Olson said. Olson said the revisions focus more on community betterment for the proposed projects, which are now required to state how they would achieve that. All of the projects that are funded need to have a community betterment aspect, she said. So weve kind of honed in on what that means within the application process. The changes also lower the annual cap from $10,000 to $5,000 to accommodate for more organizations and require applicants to include a summary of past awards, which will be weighted in the scoring matrix. So if youre a new applicant, youll score a little bit higher in that area than someone whos received in the past, Olson said. As a member of the committee, Mark Legband, council president, thanked Olson for her work on getting the changes made for the Keno Grant. It is getting harder to determine who gets what, so I like your changes and I appreciate the work youve done on them and I think it looks good, he said. The council also unanimously approved a Local Option Economic Development Loan of $200,000 for Wheelhouse Solutions, or My Central Supply, pending its approval of the loan agreement. Olson said MCS provides various products including janitorial supplies, chemicals and equipment, food service products, office furniture, and print, imaging and technology supplies. MCS, which also provides free training for customers, has been in business for two months since owners Amy and Justin Brown sold their previous company, Bluffs Sanitary Supply, and moved from Scottsbluff. Our biggest focus right now is to grow our business in Fremont first and cover about an hour around us and obviously grow from there, Justin Brown said. In Fremont, the company plans on creating eight new full-time positions and retaining its four full-time roles. It has secured $500,000 in commercial lending, as its estimated cost for year one is $1 million. Ellis, who received a Local Option Economic Development Loan in 2015 for Milady Coffeehouse, said he was in favor of granting it to a small local business. I appreciate you guys picking Fremont and I wish the best of luck to you guys, he said. The council also approved extending the FurEver Homes animal control contract by two months. Sanders said the organization and Police Chief Jeff Elliott had met during the last two weeks to go over the contract. Both sides agreed in principle that things were working, but there were a couple of things on each side that folks felt the need to kind of tweak, she said. As a result, Sanders said the two parties decided to extend the current contract as-is to buy time to continue negotiations. The council also approved Spellerbergs recommendations to reappoint Phil Bang to the Building Code Advisory and Appeals Board, Tim Schulz and Sandi Proskovec to the Citizen Advisory Review Committee and Aaron Paden and Dian Hillis to the Parks and Recreation Board. I thank all of the volunteers willing to step up and am pleased to be able to present these reappointments tonight, Spellerberg said. Additionally, the council also approved Spellerbergs appointments of Nicholas Morris and Zachary Klein, who received standing ovations, as captains of the Fremont Fire Department. In other news, the council also unanimously approved a five-year agreement with Southwest Power Pool for point-to-point transmission service from Cottonwood Wind Energy Center and Fremont Municipal Airports 2022 Capital Improvement Plan and held a second public hearing for a Community Development Block Grant project at Business Park. The councils next meeting will be held 7 p.m. Feb. 8 on the second floor of the Fremont Municipal Building at 400 E. Military Ave. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 As a little girl in Ukraine, Zoryana Popken had to wear a red star on her school uniform. It was a symbol of the Communist Party and she didnt want to wear the red pin star with the picture of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin. She and her family members were Christian. As Christians, our devotion was to God, said the rural Fremont woman. We didnt worship Lenin, so youd be persecuted for your faith. One of Popkens grandfathers was thrown into jail for listening to Christian tapes and almost was sent to the horribly cold Siberia, where many prisoners died. Church people prayed and he was released. Today, Popken lives in rural Fremont with her husband, Kevin, and their children. Shes an American who loves the United States and is concerned about the Russian buildup of troops near Ukraine. The Rev. Gundar Lamberts, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Fremont, is concerned, too. Lamberts parents escaped from Latvia after it was taken over by the Soviets in 1944. Latvia is about 650 miles away from Ukraine. Lamberts and his wife, Kathy, have a daughter who has lived in Latvia for 15 years. Popken and Lamberts have been watching the news. In recent news accounts, Kremlin has denied its planning to invade its neighboring country, but the Associated Press reported Wednesday that the U.S. and its NATO allies are worried about Russia deploying an estimated 100,000 troops in that area. I am very concerned about the current situation in Ukraine, Popken said. It breaks my heart for the country, where I was born and still have friends and relatives. Born in a small town in western Ukraine, Popken came from a family of six siblings. She recalls a school principal driving around on Easter morning to see if any children were going to church. If they got caught, theyd be expelled from all types of school groups. During the time of Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev and perestroika (a reformation movement), people were allowed to leave. Popken was 15 when she and her immediate family came to the United States in December 1990, seeking religious freedom. She describes whats taken place in Ukraine since then. Ukraine has been moving toward becoming more like the West and this threatens (President Vladimir) Putins totalitarian control over Russia, she said. Popken describes Ukrainians as kind-hearted, peaceful people, who want desperately to remain free. The taste of freedom is contagious and once you have tasted of freedom you do not want to go back, Popken said. If Putin invades Ukraine, he will take that freedom away. Everyone wants to be free and Putin cannot allow that if he is to stay in power in Russia, Popken said. This is why all those who have opposed him have been silenced within Russia. Popken points out something else about Putin. Having the most powerful military in Europe, he does not fear Western Europe, she said. He has been emboldened by Americas recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, but he does fear having a free, Russian-speaking country, like Ukraine, on his border. Gundar Lamberts father was born in Kursk, Russia, where his family was doing mission work before they returned to Latvia. Lamberts paternal grandfather, George, was a pastor in Latvia and Russia. In a 2010 Fremont Tribune article, Lamberts said his grandfather had many close calls while in Latvia during World War II. In 1941, his grandfather was preaching and didnt realize that a Communist officer was in the church. The man came up while George was preaching and pointed a gun at his head. The man threatened to fire, if George didnt stop. That didnt deter George. He told the man, My life is in Gods hands and you cant kill me if God doesnt want me dead. He started to witness and the man put his gun down and let him finish the message. My grandfather didnt let this man intimidate him, Lamberts said. Lamberts recently told the Tribune that in 1944, the Soviet Union took over the Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, along with other nations. They told lie after lie about their peaceful intentions, he said. Lamberts also noted concerns about Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion Russian-owned pipeline, which when activated will bring natural gas from Russia to Europe. The Associated Press reported Putin as saying the pipeline, which extends to Germany, could quickly help stabilize surging energy prices in Europe. Other published reports indicate that once Nord Stream 2 is online Russia and Europe will have less need to rely on a pipeline that runs through Ukraine. If you read in the news, you also see about how clever Russia is to try to divide Europe with the new pipeline that is to open soon from Russia to Germany, Lamberts said. Will it happen again that European nations will try to get peace at any cost and the cost will be greater than they could imagine? Lamberts provides another geography lesson. He said Latvia borders Belarus, which is part of Russias influence. The Ukraine has borders with Belarus and Poland on the west. Poland borders Lithuania, which borders Latvia. Russia has already sent some ships and planes to the Baltic Sea in the last several years, Lamberts said. I read they had some ships off the coast of Ireland in the last week. The Associated Press reported that on Monday NATO said its putting extra forces on standby and sending more fighter jets to Eastern Europe as Ireland warned that new Russian war games off its coast are not welcome given tensions over whether Putin intends to attack Ukraine. The U.S.-led military organization indicated its beefing up its deterrence presence in the Baltic Sea area. Lamberts told the Tribune of his concern for Ukraine. I have never been to Ukraine, but a number of my Latvian brothers and sisters in Christ have been there for discipleship training, he said. In a Facebook post, Lamberts said hes praying for protection for Ukraine and against Russian aggression. Popken is praying, too. I pray for Ukraine, for Gods mercy over them, Popken said. I know that many young people will rise up and give their lives for their country. They will fight to the end. It grieves my heart that this world has so many evil people who want to control and dominate others. My hope and prayer is for Ukraine to remain free. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 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. A statewide strategy to battle rampant use and distribution of methamphetamine in Nebraska will aim to create a network of collaborative policing and education efforts accessible in every corner of the state. The new campaign, announced at a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Kearney, will bring together federal and statewide law enforcement agencies to serve as a resource for local police departments and sheriff's offices as Nebraska's major criminal justice power brokers come together in an attempt to solve the state's meth problem, which has persisted for more than 20 years. The livestreamed press conference, which featured Attorney General Doug Peterson alongside representatives from the FBI, DEA, Nebraska State Patrol and U.S. Attorney's office, marked the beginning of the campaign, titled "It's a matter of Life or Meth." Addressing reporters at the Kearney Police Department headquarters, Peterson compared the campaign to a previous effort to prevent opioid use and overdoses, pointing to campaign as "not only a law enforcement effort, but it's also a public awareness effort." "Much like in the opioid approach that we took four years ago in the coalition that we created there, it's a three-prong approach of both prevention, treatment and law enforcement," Peterson said. Nearly every official who spoke at the news conference including Peterson, Acting U.S. Attorney Jan Sharp and Special Agent Justin King of the DEA described meth as "the No. 1 drug" problem facing the state, casting the increasing distribution of the substance as the primary in Nebraska's battle against drug use. The officials conceded that meth has been the state's most prevalent drug for the last two decades, but recent trends in the amount of meth being seized in Nebraska have ushered the drug to the top of law enforcement's priority list. "We hear a lot today about fentanyl and opioids and what they're doing," said King, who has worked for the DEA for close to 20 years. "But it's important that we don't lose sight of the fact that methamphetamine continues to be our No. 1 drug threat." He said the amount of meth seized had surged close to 300% in the last five years, with agencies combining to seize 768 pounds in 2021. The distribution of meth has evolved over the last two decades, the officials said, making meth more accessible at a lower cost in Nebraska today than it was in 2005. Sharp, who has served as the acting U.S. Attorney since last February, said meth was initially largely distributed by biker gangs in the late 1980s before moving on to locally operated drug labs. Now, the officials said, nearly all the meth circulating in Nebraska is manufactured in other parts of the country or world, often linked to Mexican cartels. And the product, once only prevalent in metro areas, is now being used and seized indiscriminately in the state, found in Nebraska's biggest cities, smallest towns and within the state's Native reservations, Sharp said. As the state rolls out its collaborative response, Eugene Kowel, a special agent in the FBI's Omaha Field Office, said the campaign's primary focus is "to reduce the supply of meth coming into the state of Nebraska." Kowel said state, local, tribal and federal partners will work together to track, apprehend and bring criminal charges against Nebraska's most prolific drug traffickers. He said law enforcement will also work to identify the source of each trafficker's supply and hold meth manufactures accountable, too. "Like all our our partners, we will not stand idly by as we watch meth degrade our communities and our neighborhoods here in Nebraska," he said. The officials drew a line between meth users and meth distributors, acknowledging that the prosecution of people who are addicted to meth is and has been an ineffective pathway to solving the state's meth problem. Instead, the new campaign will aim to create a link between every law enforcement agency in Nebraska, providing a network of shared information that might link local meth users to more regional distributors, while enhancing education and treatment effort, the officials said. "Frankly, you can't arrest your way out of this problem," Peterson said. The statewide collaborative will mirror the work of metro-area narcotics tasks forces, which Sharp called "the lifeblood" of the fight against meth thus far. In Lincoln, meth was the prevalent drug when Ryan Dale joined the city's police force nearly two decades ago. Now the captain overseeing the Lincoln-Lancaster Narcotics Task Force a group of investigators from LPD, the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office and Nebraska State Patrol Dale has watched the local distribution of the substance evolve over the last 20 years, and its pervasiveness soar over the last five. In all of 2017, the task force seized about 5.7 pounds of methamphetamine. In 2021, that figure ballooned to 94.5 pounds more than 16 times the meth seized just four years prior. But in the same time frame, felony arrests made by the task force for all drug-related crimes, not just for the distribution of meth increased only gradually. The task force made 369 felony arrests in 2017, 404 in 2018 and 408 in 2019. In 2020, Dale's task force made 319 such arrests a five-year low for the group of investigators he said coincided with a decrease in the local supply of meth. It seemed to be a turning point, progress made in the local fight against the substance. But in 2021, the number rose again, though only moderately over the five-year average. The task force made 435 felony arrests 66 more than in 2017 while seizing 88.9 more pounds of meth in 2021 then they did four years prior. It's impossible to "illustrate how the supply of meth has gone up," Dale told the Journal Star. Dale said the task force has altered tactics over the last half-decade, holding off on initial arrests of local distributors, instead monitoring the sellers in an effort to track down regional distributors. In that way, the task force has been successful, arresting more dealers on felony charges and seizing more drugs than every before. But the challenge posed to the local task force by the recent flood of methamphetamine isn't a lack of information, but a lack of resources, Dale said. "If we had staffing to have double the size of a narcotics task force, these numbers would go up way more," he said. "Because we've kind of reached our threshold of efficiency. And you can only do so much with there's not enough hours in the day to deal with every drug dealer that there is." It's not clear how the local task force stands to benefit from the new statewide campaign. Peterson acknowledged that the metro-are task forces, like the ones in Lincoln and Omaha, would largely be the model for what the state is trying to accomplish elsewhere. "Frankly, those groups are pretty well developed," the attorney general said. "As I see the lay of the land, I thought we we were looking very strong in Omaha and Lincoln. ... I think it's working very well in the metro area." While it's true that arrests and meth seizures have increased in Lincoln under the direction of the task force, those outcomes haven't changed the prevalence of the drug itself nor has it affected the number of overdoses, which hit a seven-year high in 2021. Dale said the best effect of the campaign may be an increase in meth users seeking treatment, a development that would both improve the quality of a user's own life while helping curb the local demand of the drug. And he said an increase in local narcotics investigators would help, too. But even as statewide and federal officials unveiled a new plan, Dale's outlook on meth use in Nebraska remained grim on Wednesday. "I honestly think it will continue to be the prevalent drug for my entire career," he said. "I don't see it changing anytime soon. "You have to keep perspective and be willing to appreciate small wins, because it's probably a war that's never gonna end." Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The Pakistani military says 10 of its soldiers were killed earlier this week in an attack claimed by separatists in the restive southern province of Balochistan. Militants attacked a security post in the Kech district, triggering a firefight that killed 10 soldiers and an assailant, the army said in a statement on January 27. The attack happened overnight from January 25 into January 26, it said, adding that one attacker was killed as the troops returned fire. The military said security forces later arrested three insurgents and that a search for those who launched the assault was still under way. In a statement, a purported spokesman for the Balochistan Liberation Front said the separatist group was behind the attack. The spokesman said one of the militants was killed in the clash and that the military death toll stood at 17. Resource-rich Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has been plagued by sectarian violence, attacks by Islamist militants, and a separatist insurgency that has led to thousands of casualties since 2004. The latest violence came days after a newly formed separatist group based in Balochistan -- the Baloch Nationalist Army (BNA) -- claimed responsibility for a January 20 explosion that killed three people in Pakistan's second-largest city, Lahore. Rockwell Automation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Aramco aiming to focus on several areas of collaboration, from product localisation to IIOT software, to workforce development and training. The goal of the collaboration is to increase the companies contributions to Saudi Arabias localisation efforts and create additional employment opportunities as a result. Rockwell, a leading global company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, will be supporting Aramcos In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) programme, designed to drive domestic value creation, and to encourage the development of a diverse, sustainable, and globally competitive energy sector in the kingdom. The signing of this MoU was commemorated at the IKTVA Forum & Exhibition from January 24 to 26 in Dhahran KSA, under the theme Paving the Way To Economic Success. This strategic collaboration highlights Rockwell Automations support of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 that is built around three main pillars: a vibrant society, a thriving economy and an ambitious nation. Sebastien Grau, Regional Vice President Sales for Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Rockwell Automation, said: This agreement is the confirmation of our commitment to support Saudi Arabias 2030 Vision and marks yet another milestone in the strong relationship between Rockwell Automation and Aramco. We are thrilled to be playing a role in achieving the kingdoms Vison 2030 Plan. Rockwell Automation has been operating in Saudi Arabia for more than 50 years, with an official headquarters in Khobar, demonstrating it to be a key market for the company in the Middle East. With this partnership, Rockwell Automation aims to participate in Aramcos long-term growth strategy and play a vital role in the Kingdoms expanding energy and chemicals supply chain. Safwat Wahba, Country Sales Director for Saudi Arabia at Rockwell Automation, said: At Rockwell Automation, we recognise the importance of Saudi Arabias 2030 plan. This MoU will reinforce synergies for joint advocacy and support of the IKTVA initiative, another demonstration of our successful presence in Saudi Arabia.-- TradeArabia News Service The arrival of Southwest Airlines at the Colorado Springs Airport lifted passenger numbers last year to a 13-year high. The 935,952 passengers on outgoing flights in 2021 was up more than 150% from 2020, when air travel nearly came to a stop in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic before slowly recovering the rest of the year. Last year's total also was up 11.3% from 2019, before the pandemic spread widely in the U.S., and is the highest annual total since nearly 1 million passengers boarded outgoing flights in 2008. Southwest boarded 339,185 passengers, or more than 36% of the 2021 total, in just 9 months. The Dallas-based low-fare giant launched its Colorado Springs service March 11 with 13 daily flights to Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas and Phoenix. Passenger numbers for the airport's other four carriers American, Delta, Frontier and United were all up double-digit percentages from 2020 but down from 2019. Airlines sold nearly 72% of their seats last year, up from 65.4% in 2020 but down from 84.4% in 2019. Greg Phillips, the city's aviation director, said the airport is forecasting passenger numbers will continue increasing this year to between 1.05 million and 1.1 million. If the low end of the forecast is met, that would be the most since 1.06 million passengers boarded outgoing flights in 2002; the high end of the forecast would be the most outgoing passengers since 2000's annual total of 1.22 million. The airport's forecasts assume no change in current service levels. "Last year was a good year, and we certainly owe that to the great service by all of our carriers, especially the new service from Southwest," Phillips said. "COVID certainly had an impact on travel last year, and as it fades there is certainly pent-up demand. We are expecting continued incremental growth in 2022. It's important to remember that we are still proving to Southwest that our market values and will use their service." Record numbers of COVID cases in El Paso County and across the nation, which slowed travel somewhat and caused some flights to be canceled as crews weren't available, slowed passenger numbers somewhat in December, Phillips said. The 87,958 outgoing passengers last month was the fewest since May, but was up more than 170% from December 2020 and up 22.4% from December 2020. Earlier this month, the court staff at Buxar undertook a cleaning drive which lasted for around four hours. Neel Madhav | TwoCircles.net Support TwoCircles BIHAR Two notices issued by Buxar District Court in Bihar have raised questions on the independence of the judiciary in the state ruled by the coalition government of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (United) (JDU). The notices issued by the Court for cleaning of temples have been questioned by some lawyers who said the judicial officers should use their work time for judicial matters only and there should be the separation of church and state as laid out in the constitution of India. They have also asked why they were supposed to clean the site of a specific religion. Recently, two notices were issued by Buxar District Court, Bihar. The first dated January 6 is signed by the in-charge officer of the Civil Court in Buxar. One of the two notices, dated January 6, said that the Court staff had to clean temples on the morning of Sunday (January 9) as directed by the Chief Justice of Patna High Court. The notice said that all presiding officers of Courts along with their respective Courts staff were ordered to clean temples if they were not engaged in special sitting for the final hearing that day. A source privy to the development told TwoCircles.net that Chief Justice Sanjay Karol noticed garbage during a personal visit to various historical and religious sites in December last year. He asked the district court judges orally to clean it on a holiday. Later, the oral instruction was converted into a written one and this notice was issued, the source said. On January 9, the Court staff at Buxar undertook a cleaning drive. Responding to this development, Sanjay Hegde, senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India told TwoCircles.net, I do not know what prompted the High Court to issue a notice on the conditions of temples, while on a judicial inspection, he said. All judicial officers must bear in mind that their work time can be dedicated to judicial matters only & that the separation of church and state is always maintained. The following day, a notice issued by the District said that the previous notice, dated 6th January was not issued under the directions of the Buxar District Judge and there has been some mischief in the issuance of aforesaid notice. The notice issued on January 10 claims that the earlier notice asking to clean the temple on January 9 wasnt authorized. At the same time, the same notice conveys the withdrawal of the previous notice. While the subsequent notice dated 10 January 2022 issued by the District Judge, Buxar notes that no such directions were given by the Honble Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Patna, there appears to be an inconsistency between the first line and the fourth line of the notice dated 10 January, Harshit Anand, an advocate from Patna said. Neel Madhav is an independent journalist based in Khagaria, Bihar. He tweets at @NeelMadhav_ Denver Police chief Paul Pazen speaks about the cross-town shooting spree that left five people dead the previous night during a press conference at the Lakewood Police Department on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021, in Lakewood, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/The Gazette) Barry Fagin is Senior Fellow at the Independence Institute in Denver. His views are his alone. Readers can contact Dr. Fagin at barry@faginfamily.net. Passenger train derails following collision in Ha Nam A passenger train which was running from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi derailed after crashing into a truck in the northern province of Ha Nam early Thursday morning. A passenger train derails after colliding with a truck in the northern province of Ha Nam on January 27 According to Ha Nam Provincial Traffic Police, the accident occurred in Duy Tien District, about 50km south of Hanoi at around 04:10 am when a truck carrying timber crashed into the fencing and hit the running train. The strong crash caused the locomotive of the train SE4 to derail and plunge into a ditch. Another carriage close to the locomotive was also forced to separate from the train, lying horizontally on the tracks. The accident also caused the lorry to overturn and deform. Timber pieces were littered onto the rail tracks. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the accident. Initial investigation showed that the truck lost control and crashed into the train. A representative of the Vietnam Railway Corporation said that the accident was serious and it would take a long time to clear the site. The accident has impacted the trip schedule of other North-South trains departing from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The SE7 train which was scheduled to leave Hanoi Station at 6am this morning had to be canceled. Two arrests have been made in a string of convenience store robberies in Clear Lake and Mason City, according to police. Houston D. Conway, 23, and Alexa Cockrell, 25, both of Britt, were arrested and charged with felony second degree robbery after an investigation into an incident at Casey's at 202 Hwy. 18 East on Sunday, according to a press release issued by the Clear Lake Police Department on Thursday morning. Conway was also charged with three additional counts of felony robbery in conjunction with three robberies in Mason City, according to a separate press release issued by the Mason City Police Department. Police say Conway struck the Yesway at 1224 N. Federal Ave. on Jan. 6, Casey's at 813 N. Federal Ave. on Jan. 23 and the Yesway at 637 12th St. NE on Jan. 25, according to the release. The two police departments worked together on the case. Conway is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on a $65,000 bond. Cockrell is also being held in Cerro Gordo County on an $11,300 bond. Love 0 Funny 2 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. Mason City police are looking for a man who they say robbed a Yes Way on the northside. Police responded to a call at 5:44 a.m. on Tuesday for a report of a robbery at the convenience store located at 637 12th St. Southeast, according to a press release issued Wednesday afternoon by the MCPD. An employee at the scene told police a man came into the store, demanded money from the register, and then fled the scene on foot with an undisclosed amount. The employee was not injured. The incident remains under investigation. Anyone with information on the robbery or the suspect is encourage to call the police department at 641-421-3636. Love 0 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. DES MOINES Iowa Department of Public Safety Director Stephan Bayens makes clear hes not a cop. But as the son of a police officer, Ive walked in their kids shoes, he told the House Justice Systems Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday while requesting funds for a department wellness coordinator. Based on his fathers experience and what he sees among the departments personnel sucking it up is a common way of dealing with trauma. We cant continue that way, he told the committee. Were burning out. Based on his own experience responding to the April 2021 fatal shooting of Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Jim Smith in Grundy County, there are certain radio transmissions I still hear and certain sights I still see, Bayens said. Public Safety has seen a significant increase in the use of its critical incident stress management and peer support programs, Bayens said in his annual appearance before the budgetary committee. Requests for critical stress management debriefings tripled in 2021 to 54. Public Safety personnel logged about 690 peer support contacts totaling 1,408 hours. Three or four people share the duties for those programs in addition to their regular duties, Bayens said. Demand, however, has reached the point a full-time wellness coordinator is needed to meet the needs of his department and its law enforcement partners across the state, he said. A full-time coordinator would manage employee wellness programs, broaden services to family members and oversee the departments therapy dog program. He estimated the all-in cost, including salary and benefits, to be $191,000. The governor has recommended a general fund allocation of nearly $120.8 million for the Department of Public Safety. Wellness, Baynes said, also plays a role in recruiting new employees, which has become a challenge. Research shows that Gen Z and millennials, who make up nearly half the U.S. workforce, want to work for employers that care about their well-being, he said. Thats the age group the department must recruit to offset the 50 percent of Iowa State Patrol troopers who are retiring in the next five to six years, he said. The patrol, which is 20 troopers short of its allocation of 399, just graduated a class of 24 from its academy and has a new class of 19 recruits starting training. Bayens noted the patrol has had interest from as many as 1,300 people for past academies. The most recent academy drew interest from 300. The benefit of a full-time wellness coordinator goes beyond officers personal well-being, Bayens said. There's also a lot of research to suggest that when your officers are well, they tend not to engage in misconduct, they don't have unlawful use of force issues, he said. So your civil liability tends to drop as well because they've been able to deal with that trauma and respond to it appropriately. 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. GREENSBORO A Virginia man jailed here early Monday on multiple charges grabbed an officers Taser on Wednesday morning and used it against him, according to the Guilford County Sheriffs Office. Its unclear what led to the incident. Lori Poag, a spokeswoman for the sheriffs office, said the altercation with Eric Dwayne Swain happened at 9:30 a.m. The officer a sergeant who works in the Guilford County jail was taken to a local hospital to be evaluated. Hes OK, she said by telephone Wednesday afternoon. Swain, 21, of Roanoke is scheduled to have his first appearance in court on a new charge stemming from the incident at 2 p.m. today. Swain is also scheduled to appear in court today on unrelated fugitive from justice charges. The Henry County Sheriffs Office in Virginia announced Monday in a news release that Swain will be extradited to Virginia to face outstanding charges in Henry County and Roanoke. Swain was initially arrested in Greensboro not long after a reported carjacking at 10:45 p.m. Sunday in the 3900 block of North Church Street. Swain is wanted by the Henry County Sheriffs Office in connection with an armed robbery at about 10 p.m. Sunday at a business in Bassett. GREENSBORO County Commissioner Carolyn Coleman leaves behind a legacy of good work and good will, an advocacy for people and their plight and a history of supporting causes and change. She's protested. She's been in jail. But through it all, she's been involved. Coleman, who died Wednesday at age 79, had been a civil rights activist since the 1960s, serving as a national leader for the NAACP. In 2005, she became the first female African American chair of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, a highlight in a life that had many. And when you've touched as many lives as Coleman, the impressions you leave behind often depend on the person and the circumstances at the time. For some, Coleman was a rock. For others, a voice of reason. For Sharon Hightower, she was a mentor. And friend. "I'm not her family like a blood relative, but it's almost like someone that you considered a mother figure being snatched away from your heart," said Hightower, a City Council member. Hightower said conversations with Coleman reminded her to never lose focus of being an advocate for people. "It changed me in a lot of ways," she said. "Sometimes you didn't know she was quite in the room until she made a statement, but that was just her way. Even when things are controversial, she didn't just throw stones. She made those concerns known out loud. She wasn't the loudest person in the room. But sometimes, she was the smartest." And usually the calmest. "In a lot of instances, (the commissioners) would go back and forth for 15 to 20 minutes and Carolyn Coleman will speak for about two minutes and we'd change everything that we said we were going to do," said Melvin "Skip" Alston, who chairs the Board of Commissioners. "She was a voice of reason." The Rev. Cardes Brown, pastor of New Light Missionary Baptist Church and immediate past president of the Greensboro NAACP, said he didn't always agree with Coleman on issues, but he never doubted her sincere commitment to supporting the poor and disadvantaged. "At times, we did not agree," Brown admitted, "but there was never a question about our affection and love for each other." Coleman, who lived in Pleasant Garden and is the mother of one son, was a Democrat who represented District 7, which is the eastern side of the county. A native of Savannah, Ga., Coleman graduated from Savannah State College. In what would foreshadow a life spent fighting for equality, Coleman was among the first students to be arrested in sit-in demonstrations in Savannah. Years later, in 2013, Coleman was arrested at an NAACP protest in Raleigh. She told a reporter that day: They got us processed in about two hours, which is good, because I had a church meeting I had to get to in Greensboro. Coleman held a bachelor of science degree with a major in history and a minor in economics and sociology. She also held a master of science degree in adult education from N.C. A&T. Her career in public service was extensive, working as a special assistant to Gov. Jim Hunt for two terms as well as being involved in numerous civic and volunteer organizations. Coleman advocated for and personally managed the county's Feeding the Communities program, which provided 8,000 boxes of food to families in need between December 2020 and July 2021. She recently received the N.C. Association of Black County Officials Frederick Douglas Award for her work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alston said he considered Coleman to be his staunch supporter and, in many ways, his biggest. Coleman was the executive director of the state's NAACP chapter when she began urging Alston to get more involved, he said. She helped him to become vice president of the organization, a position he held for nine years. Later, as president of the state NAACP, Alston said he helped return the favor by assisting in Coleman's campaign to be elected to the NAACP's national board of directors. In 1992, the Board of Commissioners was expanded and a district created that would likely elect an African American commissioner, Alston said. Coleman was the logical choice. But when she was selected to join Hunt's administration, local leaders told Alston he would be the best person to run for the seat, regardless of the fact that he didn't live in the district. So he sold his house and moved into the new district and won his first term as a commissioner. Fast forward to 2002. "Then she came back and got on the county commissioners board," Alston recalled on Thursday. "And when she got on the board, I had a big comfort level because I knew her. I knew her advocacy. I knew that she would really be an effective voice out there for our community and she was and always has been, almost 20 years now." Even as recently as two weeks ago, she took exception when Republican Commissioner James Upchurch said the board is seen as "a joke" because mask mandates are difficult to enforce. Coleman said a personal scare drove her to respect the coronavirus. I can tell you this is no joke, she said during the meeting. When someone tells you that they tested positive for COVID and now you are wondering if youre testing positive, that is one of the scariest feelings that Ive ever had. Your constituents are my constituents. I dont care where they live. If one person in Greensboro, one person in America, dies from this disease, it impacts all of us. And she has impacted many of us. "I learned a lot from her," Hightower said. "She has made a difference in my life. She is one of the few people that I can say I know she genuinely cared about how I existed. As a person. I had trust in her and she had integrity. Her value system, I'm telling you, it is something that we all should have achieved." Contact Richard M. Barron at 336-373-7371 and follow @BarronBizNR on Twitter. The first half of 2021 couldnt have gone much better for Nicci Carr, the actor who found sudden acclaim as one of the stars of the funny Scoop, There It Is Geico commercial. As far as exposure, that has been the biggest, Carr said of the commercial, which was named by industry trade publication Adweek as the No. 1 ad of 2021. The success of the commercial left her, she says, on cloud nine. And then? All of a sudden, she said, this happens. This arrived in July when she felt a lump in her breast. In years past, she had been diagnosed with benign cysts, but, this, she thought, feels different. In early September, Carr, 50, was diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease, and, as you might expect, the news hit hard. I was like, for real, God? This is how its going to go down? she recalled. It felt so overwhelming and so unfair and, well, like a death sentence, she said, acknowledging now she was in a dark and scary place back then. At first, she didnt even want to proceed with treatments. I was so deeply depressed, she said. Her outlook has shifted entirely from that initial panic, as she describes it, when she was afraid of what people might think about her for being sick. Which doesnt make sense, I know, she says. Now? She is in a much different place. She is deep into weekly chemotherapy treatments, which will continue until surgery likely in the spring to remove whats left of the shrinking tumor. Now, Im just a woman whos conquering it, she said, part of a legion of women and men who are doing the same. Im stronger and more courageous than I thought I was. Carr moved to Richmond from New York when she was about 8. She taught school in Washington and moved to Los Angeles, where she scrambled to find acting jobs (which included roles as an extra in Beauty Shop and The West Wing, among other films and shows), completed a masters degree in student development in higher education, worked at UCLA and the University of Southern California, burned out on acting as a career, moved to Atlanta and settled into a job at Georgia State University. In Atlanta, she relaunched her acting career, landing gigs on shows such as Atlanta, Good Girls and P-Valley, which led to the Geico commercial. It was shot in November 2020 and debuted on Christmas Day. The commercial opens with Carr as the apron-wearing Tasha in a kitchen, cutting vegetables, but by the end she has joined in the dancing with the hip-hop duo Tag Team as they joyfully scoop ice cream in a comical version of their 1990s hit Whoomp! (There It Is). The upbeat commercial, which couldnt help but make you smile, was produced by Richmond-based The Martin Agency, whose senior vice president and creative director, Sean Riley, said Carr brought so much energy and humor to the spot. Just a perfect performance. Riley said all of us at Martin are thinking about Nicci and wishing her the best. The success of the commercial left Carr at the top of my game, making her feel she was turning the page on a new chapter in her life. At Georgia State, Carr was undergraduate coordinator in the biology department, but she was also a student, seeking a bachelors degree in film. She was planning to graduate in August after completing her final project: production of a documentary about James Solomon Russell, founder of her alma mater, Saint Pauls College, and a major figure in the history of Southside Virginia. The college closed in 2013. Carr is producing the film for the James Solomon Russell-Saint Pauls College Museum and Archives in Lawrenceville, which hopes to use it as an introductory orientation video for visitors, said Bobby Conner, a founder and vice chairman of the museums board who has become a friend of Carrs in the short time he has known her. When she came [to Lawrenceville] to work on the documentary, everywhere we went people recognized her from the commercial, Conner said. People may not know her personally, but they connected with her, and they just love that commercial. However, her diagnosis put the documentary on hold and everything else in her life, which was already in a state of flux as she had quit her job, sold her house in Atlanta and relocated a 90-minute drive east to Athens, where she enrolled in a graduate theater program. The dark days after the diagnosis eventually gave way to a more clear-eyed view. And hope. I shouldnt have doubted myself, she said. Shouldnt have doubted the process. A turning point proved to be in a meeting with one of her professors when she and a classmate were performing a scene from August Wilsons The Piano Lesson. As she immersed herself in a poignant part of the scene, she began to think of the hard stuff she has endured throughout her life her difficult younger days, her divorce, fighting for her health in a new city and the emotions poured from her. I felt so alone, she said, and I left it in that scene. In that moment, I thought, I want to win an Oscar, Carr said with a laugh. How crazy is that? But in order for that to happen, I have to live. It was the hope I needed in such a dark place. As she started treatment, she also remembered what her sister, Adrain Walls, herself a survivor of breast cancer, told her soon after the diagnosis: Do you think for one minute that what youve gone through is just for you? Its for you to help somebody else. At the time, Carr was having none of it. She had no interest in telling anyone, as she put it, the Geico lady got cancer. But everything is different now, and shes pleased to use whatever platform a funny commercial has afforded her to provide encouragement and comfort or simply a little assurance to others. She knew chemo was going to take her hair, so she cut it all off on Oct. 31 after the first clump of hair fell out while she was on a Zoom call and in late November she went public with her battle on her Facebook page. She has been gratified by the support she has received and by those who say she has inspired them when it comes to their own health. She even enlivens chemo treatments by making fashion statements, wearing bold and bright clothes from Philthy Ragz, a company operated by a California friend and designer, and posts pictures on her Facebook page. She is out of work at the moment and some days the chemotherapy leaves her feeling awful, but she is embracing the challenge and is able to look back on the roller coaster that was 2021 and say, My year was pretty good. As she enters 2022, she begins a new, even more intense round of chemo. I dont know what to expect, she said. I just know Im ready to live. RALEIGH Some North Carolina hospitals that receive tax breaks to provide charity care are billing poor patients at three times the national average, an analysis released Wednesday by the North Carolina State Health Plan shows. They face little to no accountability for doing so. Nonprofit hospitals promise as part of their tax-exempt status to provide charity care the practice of forgiving all or part of a patient's bill but they set their own standards for how much to waive. And hospitals can hide how much charity care they provide because of the lack of federal and state oversight. "Without standards and accountability, it has become difficult to tell nonprofit hospitals apart from for-profits," the report's authors wrote. The data referenced in the report is pulled from 2019, before the pandemic, and state officials predict 2020 and 2021 data will show this problem worsening, as more families have struggled to pay medical bills amid rising costs and an unprecedented labor and economic crisis. In 2020, around one in five families had medical debt, according to the Urban Institute. "Our medical debt crisis will only get worse because the pandemic will only make it worse," said Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Democrat from Wake County, in a news conference held about the issue Wednesday morning. Eighteen nonprofit hospitals billed close to $150 million to poor patients whose health care costs should've been waived in 2019, according to the analysis, which was conducted alongside the National Academy for State Health Policy. That is likely an underestimate, however, as only 16% of hospitals in the state provided data, the report's authors wrote. "Clearly there are severe problems in terms of data transparency, that there are so many hospitals that are failing to report all the required information," said Dr. Vivian Ho, a health economics chair at Rice University. "And that puts North Carolinians at a disadvantage." State Treasurer Dale Folwell, backed by fellow Republicans as well as Democrats in North Carolina's legislature, is calling for legislation that sets minimum requirements for how much charity care nonprofit hospitals must provide. "The findings in this report show the need for greater accountability," Folwell said in a news release Wednesday. "Despite lucrative tax breaks, nonprofit hospitals do not always provide more charity care than their for-profit counterparts." Medical debt for poor, uninsured A 2012 investigation by the Charlotte Observer and News & Observer came to similar conclusions. Among other things, the investigation found that most hospitals devoted a fraction of their expenses to help the poor and uninsured. In 2010, most of the state's hospitals spent less than 3% of their budgets on charity care, the investigation found. At UNC Rockingham Health Care in Eden, according to the report, 95.7% of the bills that the hospital was unable to collect on were sent to poor people eligible for charity care. Randolph Health in Asheboro, Scotland Memorial Hospital in Laurinburg, Chatham Hospital in Siler City and Caldwell Memorial Hospital in Lenoir also had among the highest rates of uncollected debt sent to patients eligible for charity care. It does not exactly break your heart to see Mitch McConnell used as a pinata. He is a man of uniquely pious hypocrisy, able to affect moist-eyed sincerity while ruthlessly chopping the legs out from under democracy. Whether it is stealing Supreme Court seats or defending an indefensible president, his superpower is the uncanny ability to lie, to know that you know hes lying and yet to keep a straight face through it all. So one does not weep to see him smacked about, as happened last week after he rhetorically implied that African Americans are something other than real Americans. But one hopes both ardent critics and casual observers understand that ultimately, this is not simply a McConnell problem which is to say, not just a transient gaffe reflecting only one senators clumsy syntax. For those who missed it, a recap: Asked last week about African American anxiety over the Senates failure to pass legislation to expand and defend voting rights, the minority leader replied: Well, the concern is misplaced, because if you look at the statistics, African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans. Ouch. It was a framing for which he is rightly being pilloried. Black voters have filled Twitter with images of themselves over variations of the message, We Are Americans, with the hashtag #MitchPlease. The NAACP tweeted archly, Senator McConnell, what is the difference between African Americans and Americans? On Friday, McConnell pushed back, claiming he meant to say all Americans and dubbing the criticism deeply offensive, which youd say, too, if your mouth ratted you out while your brain was off duty. But if you think McConnell is the only one who needs to be reminded that, as Black poet Langston Hughes once put it, I, too, sing America, you havent been paying attention. You missed Chuck Todd of NBCs Meet the Press describing how parents are worried about critical race theory while parents of color might have a different view. You also missed CBS News tweet asking, How young is too young to teach kids about race? As if children of color dont learn about race about the same time they learn about walking. Finally, youve missed all those news stories where reporters talk about working-class voters, suburban moms or evangelicals when they mean white as if Black and brown people did not work, live outside the city or go to church. Granted, this is not the bigotry of torches and hoods. No, this rhetorical decoupling of African and American, of Black people from normal human functions, represents only the bigotry of the implicit assumption, the things some people believe without consciously knowing they do much less interrogating why they do. And yet, they do. For them, white is the default position, the color of generic American-ness and, truth be told, generic human-ness. By contrast, Black and brown are the colors of exoticism, noteworthy only for how they diverge from, challenge or impinge the perceived norm. Thats what McConnells mouth revealed about him. But it is necessary to recognize that he is not an outlier. Nor is inexact language the sin here. Rather, it is language that implicitly disavows, disinherits and disrespects tens of millions of people who are every bit as American as Mitch McConnell on his best day. Yes, its only the bigotry of the implicit assumption. But thats the most common kind. Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald, 3511 NW 91st Ave., Miami, FL 33172. Readers may contact him at lpitts@miamiherald.com. Dr. Kaitlen Lawton-Betchel grew up in Lemoore. An alumni of West Hills College and Fresno Pacific University, she graduated from Midwestern University in Arizona with her doctorate of veterinary medicine and her business certificate. Dr. Kait currently practices out of Karing for Kreatures Veterinary Hospital, also known as K+K. The hospital is located at 377 Hill St., Lemoore. To make an appointment, call 559-997-1121. Her column runs every other Thursday. And Syria Democratic Forces announced, through a press conference on January26, that they thwarted the plan of ISIS and its supporters in the attack on Al-Sina'a prison and took full control of the prison, and that sweep operation is continuing in rest of north and east Syria to eliminate the rest of the cells that moved in conjunction with the attack. During the battles that took place between Syria Democratic Forces and Internal Security Forces on one side, and ISIS mercenaries attackers who organized a rebellion inside Al-Sina'a Prison, which lasted for seven days, the forces managed to control the entire prison, And the arrest of a large number of attackers mercenaries and who escaped from prison, and their number reached 550 mercenaries. Nearly two hundred of the attackers and who escaped from prison and clashed with the forces, were killed. The clashes happened in the vicinity of Al-Sina'a prison, and inside the prison, with ISIS prisoners who seized the guards' weapons, Ghweran and Al-Zhour neighborhoods, and the outskirts of Khabur River. Commander-in-Chief of Internal Security Forces, Siyamnd Walat, in a special statement to ANHA agency from inside Al-Sina'a prison in Ghweran neighborhood, said: "After seven days of clashes within Al-Sina'a prison in Ghweran neighborhood with ISIS mercenaries who organized a rebellion and seized the guards' weapons, And in response to the attacks launched by ISIS mercenary cells from outside on the prison, Al-Sina'a prison was controlled, and he continued: "Some of the attackers came to the region from the areas occupied by Turkey, and came with Turkey's instructions, and others came from areas under the control of Syrian regime." Siyamnd Walat explained: "Syrian and Turkish regimes have a hand in this plan that targeted Al-Sina'a prison, and the goal is to revive so-called Islamic State." Walat confirmed the failure of the plan that was prepared by Damascus government and Turkish regime, and the attacks were repelled with great resistance by Syria Democratic Forces and Internal Security Forces, and said: "Syrian Democratic Forces and Internal Security Forces have great experience in dealing with these mercenaries, and were quickly able to control the situation." Walat drew attention to the propaganda campaigns that were followed by the media affiliated with Damascus government, Turkish state and so-called Syrian opposition, and said: "They promoted in their information that we are killing mercenaries, the whole world is now watching how we deal with these mercenaries who were intending to commit massacres against our people." And for ISIS prisoners who surrendered to Syria Democratic Forces, Siyamnd Walat explained: "They are now being transferred from the old prison to a new one." without explaining its location. Sh-S ANHA If you go What: Brunch for retirees and employers When: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15 Where: Doubletree hotel, 22 N. Last Chance Gulch in Helena Cost: Free Contact: McKinley Winkle, mwinkle@helenachamber.com Karolyne Redding, 73, has been working at Touchmark on Saddle Drive for 24 years and has no plans to retire soon. When I turned 70 I said 'It is the new 50,' she said. I am not ready to give up my job." Redding, the business office manager, said she loves what she does and working with the residents. I decided I wanted to stay and stay active and keep my mind sharp, Redding said. The Helena Area Chamber of Commerce is hoping to find a few more like-minded people such as Redding. It is holding a Feb. 15 brunch for folks who are retired -- but apparently not tired -- who want to re-enter the workforce with jobs that may fit into their new lifestyles and help out in a time when employers are struggling to find workers. Local employers who are willing to hire retirees are also encouraged to attend the free event. Our workforce in Helena is at an all-time low unemployment rate and we are calling our retirees back to the workforce! the invitation for the retiree brunch reads on Helena WINS' Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/HelenaWINS/. YOU are wanted, valued and invited with open arms to join us for brunch and to start thinking about going back to work! McKinley Winkle, director of Helena WINS (Workforce Innovation Networks), said the event is scheduled for 10-11:30 a.m. Feb. 15 at the Doubletree hotel, 22 N. Last Chance Gulch. Retirees will be encouraged to consider jobs that may require a few less hours. And employers will be encouraged to consider hiring not just one person, but two to three employees to work various shifts to share that workload. Organizers hope the event will create opportunities that add value to our retirees and help our community thrive! Montanas unemployment rate dipped to 2.5% in December, a new record low for that month. That, coupled with the pandemic, has left employers scrambling to fill vacancies and to offer higher wages. Also, analysts note a "gray tsunami" is occurring as the Baby Boomer population retires without enough younger workers to replace them. Winkle discussed the retiree brunch at a recent meeting of Hometown Helena, a grassroots civic group. A Helena-area labor report released by Helena WINS in July found that 61% of non-working Montanans are retired, and office and administration jobs are going to have the most job openings in Lewis and Clark County in the next 10 years. Brian Obert, executive director of the Montana Business Assistance Connection, a nonprofit economic development organization, said projects such as the retiree brunch are necessary to dig out every employee we can get. Weve known this was going to happen, he said. Weve been looking at the demographics at the region around here and we knew we were going to have an issue that was coming. The pandemic just created that perfect storm to make it worse. Obert said employers need to re-examine established ideas about the 40-hour work week. Were going to have to get more flexible on what work looks like," he said, adding employers need to tap into younger workers as well. It needs to be all hands on deck to think about how we improve our talent, talent attraction, talent upscaling and our career development, Obert said, adding Winkle was the tip of the spear on this issue. Steve Reiter, senior operations specialist at AARP Montana, said there is a growing trend of retirees returning to work. Reiter, who has worked with senior community service employment programs, said AARP plans on encouraging members to attend the Helena chamber event because its an excellent idea. He said ResumeBuilder.org did a survey in September that found 34% of retirees are considering going back to work because of the opportunities they see. You drive down the street and throw a stick and theres a help wanted sign someplace, Reiter said. He said 20% of the people polled said their previous employer had called and asked them to come back to work. The 'gray tsunami' has hit a lot sooner than some people estimated, Reiter said. He said the jobs are there, and the question is how do employers entice workers and make jobs attractive. Reiter said the job sharing model is gaining legs. Instead of hiring one full-time person, several part-time people are hired instead. He said some employers have balked at the idea, but there are several models of companies that have hired predominantly part-time workers. He said employers have to convince their retiree recruits that its a job that will be meaningful. And they have to consider why a job is attractive to a senior. Reiter said they need to say This a place to receive some fulfillment, which is one of the main reasons retirees volunteer. He said the chamber retiree brunch is a great idea. Its a good start to bring employers and employees together, Reiter said. Im hopeful a number of employers will attend as well to have that actual discussion of Yes, we are interested in hiring you. He encourages employers to attend. Redding still puts in 40 hours a week. Redding said she has been asked about why she hasnt retired. The morning I wake up and say 'Oh God I have to go to work is when I will retire, she said. But I am not there yet. She said there are Touchmark residents who volunteer to do activities or volunteer to help at food pantries, in churches or elsewhere in the community. Redding said the chambers plan to get seniors who have retired and in good health to find a part-time job is a wonderful idea. Its good to keep their mind busy, she said. If there is something out there a retired person wants to do after they leave their main job, they should go for it, dont sit around and grow old, Redding said. Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021. Love 10 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 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. The Montana Supreme Court has reversed a Helena man's rape conviction and ordered a new trial after finding that his legal counsel was ineffective. However, the man is still serving a sentence of life in prison for a kidnapping conviction that was affirmed by the court. In 2019, Jor-El Ruben Quiroz was convicted of felony sexual intercourse without consent, felony aggravated kidnapping, felony assault with a weapon (knife), felony meth possession and misdemeanor partner or family member assault. He was found not guilty of felony assault with a weapon (hammer) and felony strangulation of a partner or family member. Quiroz received concurrent sentences of life in prison for both the kidnapping and rape charges, 20 years for the assault, five years for meth possession and one year for the PFMA. In an order issued Tuesday, the Supreme Court found that there was reasonable probability that inadmissible statistical evidence swayed the jury to convict Quiroz of the offense of sexual intercourse without consent. Court documents state that the defense counsel's deficient performance sufficiently undermines the confidence of the Supreme Court in the outcome of the proceedings. The court remanded the matter to the First Judicial District Court for a new trial on the charge of sexual intercourse without consent. The court found no basis to overturn Quiroz's convictions for aggravated kidnapping and assault with a weapon (knife), which were affirmed. Quiroz did not appeal his convictions for PFMA and meth possession. During his trial, Dr. Sheri Vanino testified as an expert witness on the dynamics of sexual abuse and myths about rape and the reporting of rape. Quiroz argued that his defense's failure to object to this testimony had no plausible justification and that the information improperly biased the jury toward the defendant. Justice Beth Baker dissented with the Supreme Court's decision, voting instead to affirm all of Quiroz's convictions. Baker argued that Quiroz did not meet his burden to show prejudice from the trial counsel's failure to object to Vanino's testimony about the statistical likelihood of false reports. Quiroz was accused of holding a woman for more than 12 hours inside her Helena home. The prosecution alleged that he beat her, threatened her and her children and raped her. Due to the seriousness of the situation and his other convictions dating back to his mid-teens, the prosecution requested maximum sentences on all counts. Love 4 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 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. The world premiere of A Real Boy, written by Grandstreet Theatre artistic director Jeff Downing, opens on the Grandstreet stage 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4, and runs through Sunday, Feb. 13. Due to COVID onslaughts, getting the play on stage before a live audience has proven an epic undertaking. (It was supposed to open this Friday, but as this story was going to press, the opening got pushed back for a week.) Downing has taken a favorite fairy tale and given it a twist to create a story of a very special hero, whom he also plays in this production. The concept of a queer Pinocchio had been rolling around in my head for several years, said Downing. He promised himself, Someday, Im going to write that, and then left the idea to whirl around in his brain while he worked on all sorts of other plays. With the arrival of COVID-19, pandemic shutdowns and postponed shows, Downing suddenly had the time and he needed a creative project so he wouldnt go stir crazy. There are so many exciting elements of the original Pinocchio story that lend themselves to a gay adaptation, Downing said. One of the biggest is that Pinocchio comes into this world knowing that hes different than everyone else. The famous Italian childrens story by Carlo Collodi about a wooden puppet that comes to life as a young boy was a perfect fit. The whole trajectory of the story is for Pinocchio to be something hes not. Does Pinocchio need to become flesh and blood and not wooden? Or can he be happy with himself exactly the way he is? Can he accept himself as he is, knowing hes different from other boys? He cant lie to himself. Whenever he does, his nose begins to grow and grow. In this rollicking adventure, thats also a coming-to-truth story, Pinocchio gets to have an amazing adventure, become a hero and fall in love. He also deals with bullying, darkness, unkindness and the power of hurtful words. He has to confront who he really is, said Downing. Will he hide it or accept it? Now that his play is actually coming to the stage, Downing is wondering when other writers and production companies like Disney, Netflix and TikTok will venture into the land of queer fairy tales and stories for young people. The idea of a 12-year-old Jeff being able to watch this play I know my world would have been rocked, Downing said. It helps young people to be seen. Maybe it will help them be less alone. I like that we are being brave, he said of the Grandstreet production. He hopes more theaters stage plays featuring young gay characters. Even if his play doesnt prove to be a great success, he said. It will still be a victory for me. Pinocchio will have a sweet little romance with another male character. He also wants audiences to know that this is a family-friendly show, but that it has layers to it and a sophisticated undertone. Writing and staging A Real Boy has been Downings own personal COVID challenge. It was last January, when he reached out to Helena theater director and puppet artist Retta Leaphart to share his idea, and she joined his collaborative team and co-directs the play with Downing. Retta has been so steady and intelligent and creative. Its so wonderful to have someoneexcited about it. Jeff called me last year on Jan. 31, she recalled. I have an idea for a project. Do you want to help? The answer was an enthusiastic yes from her and a team of collaborators who joined them Mia Crivello and the cast of Ryan Eggensperger, Molly Roby, Elizabeth Spindler and Alan Zackheim. The play evolved from a one-person show, to an ensemble of puppeteers, to a cast of five with each actor playing a variety of roles. Rehearsals were originally by Zoom, and then outdoors, and then in masks. It was ready to launch in October only to be derailed by the Delta variant. And now, on the verge of opening, Omicron reared its head. Its been very stressful, said Downing. Some cast members are from New York City, so when the show was postponed, they had to leave and come back. One cast member just had to go into quarantine and they rehearsed on FaceTime. I have never worked so hard on anything, said Downing. Theres no comparison because weve been working on it for a year. We are ready for the next step. We know its not perfect, but we are ready to share what weve got. Grandstreet producing original work is a big deal! added Leaphart. This play is about finding connections and community, she said, about feeling accepted for who you are and ultimately celebrating and feeling celebrated for who you are. Love 8 Funny 5 Wow 0 Sad 1 Angry 1 A group of voters opposing an attempt to change how Supreme Court justices are elected in Montana is hoping their legal arguments carry the same water as a similar case nearly a decade ago. In that previous challenge, the high court agreed the proposal was unconstitutional. Since the ink dried on the first state constitution in 1889, justices have been elected on a statewide basis, like the governor or attorney general. But the GOP-led Legislature last year decided to put a referendum to voters on whether to continue that system or carve the Supreme Court elections into seven districts. Republicans passed the referendum through House Bill 325 on a near party-line vote, arguing the new arrangement would make the high court more representative of Montanas varied regions, particularly between the mountainous west and the eastern plains. The Legislatures proposal to elect the seven state Supreme Court justices by district should be removed from the 2022 ballot and found to be unconstitutional, argued Jim Goetz, attorney for the group of plaintiffs that include the League of Women Voters of Montana, in a hearing Wednesday in Gallatin County District Court. Allowing it on the ballot could set the stage for a mud-slinging campaign to undermine the nonpartisan nature of the judiciary, Goetz said. Reshaping the judiciary has been a priority for Republicans since they took control of every statewide office and expanded their majority in the Legislature in the 2020 election. Given the present climate, and the attacks, the meritless attacks, on our court system, and particularly the Supreme Court, given ... what I think is a harebrained attempt to dilute the Supreme Court can you imagine the kind of campaign that this would unleash? Goetz said during the hearing. Wednesdays arguments largely turned on whether the district court has the authority to weigh in before voters have their say at the polls in November. One door that allows the courts to strike a referendum down before the election is a judge finding that the proposal itself is unconstitutional. The same proposal to elect justices by district was struck down in 2012 by the state Supreme Court, which found the measure unconstitutional. Among other violations pointed out by the high court then, the 2012 ballot measure required candidates to live in their districts; the proposal at hand does not. Still, the 2012 court ruling found that neither the Legislature nor the voters can change the structure of the Supreme Court into a representative body through a statutory referendum. But attorneys defending the referendum argue a recent Supreme Court ruling gave new authority to the Legislature to establish how judges reach the bench, particularly when the constitution mentions the phrase: a manner provided by law. Representing the Montana secretary of state, Assistant Solicitor General Christian Corrigan argued the referendum should remain in place until voters have the chance to approve or turn down the proposal at the polls in November. The referendum was one of several attempts by Republicans during the 2021 session to reshape the judicial branch, which they have alleged to be stocked with liberals. One of those bills eliminated the Judicial Nominating Commission, a panel that vetted judicial candidates before sending a shortlist to the governor for appointment. The bill replacing the commission granted the governor new power to choose judges without the vetting panel. That bill also produced a contentious lawsuit, and the Montana Supreme Court upheld the law last year, finding the governor was allowed by the constitution to appoint judges in a matter provided by law and passed by the Legislature. Corrigan argued Wednesday that the court only intervened in the 2012 measure because it would have affected elections that year. The proposal debated in court Wednesday is slated for a statewide vote in November, but would not affect any candidates until the 2024 election. Corrigan largely dismissed Goetz's argument about threats to the judiciary as a "policy disagreement." Corrigan also said without the urgency of affecting the upcoming election, the courts should not have jurisdiction in the case until the referendum is on the ballot and passed by voters. "Montana law is clear that the people have a constitutional right to participate in the referendum process," Corrigan said. "Absent extraordinary cause, this court has no ability to adjudicate a pre-election challenged HB 325." The plaintiffs filed the case less than a month after the Legislature passed HB 325. They include the Montana League of Women Voters, as well as a Butte nun, a former Democratic lawmaker, the former Confederated and Salish Kootenai Tribes chairperson and a member of the 1972 Constitutional Convention. Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen is the lone defendant. Time is of the essence in this case, which is likely to be appealed to the Montana Supreme Court, Goetz told District Court Judge Peter Ohman on Wednesday. The voter information pamphlet that contains all the proposed ballot issues and initiatives is mailed out to voters in October and must be approved by the secretary of state by Aug. 25. Ohman did not signal to the parties at the end of Wednesdays hearing if he would move swiftly on issuing his decision. Love 0 Funny 1 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. DECATUR Free non-surgical N95 masks will be arriving in Decatur stores soon, some as early as Thursday. Local Kroger stores are expected to receive deliveries starting Thursday, the Ohio company said. Up to three free non-surgical N95 masks will be available to every customer. Other local stores, including Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy and Walmart, also have plans to offer the masks. Last week, President Joe Biden announced plans to provide 400 million masks to U.S. residents through pharmacies and community health centers. The governments Strategic National Stockpile has more than 750 million of the highly protective masks to distribute. The pharmacies have partnered with the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program to provide masks and vaccinations against COVID-19. Contact Donnette Beckett at (217) 421-6983. Follow her on Twitter: @donnettebHR Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 1 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. In 2020, China confirmed more than 2,700 cases of the new coronavirus with more than 80 deaths in that country; authorities postponed the end of the Lunar New Year holiday to keep the public at home. U.S. health officials said they believed the risk to Americans remained low and that they had no evidence that the new virus was spreading in the United States; they advised Americans to avoid non-essential travel to any part of China. In an effort to stave off the worst of climate change, President Joe Biden signed executive orders to transform the nations heavily fossil-fuel powered economy into a clean-burning one, pausing oil and gas leasing on federal land and targeting subsidies for those industries. The Department of Homeland Security issued a national terrorism bulletin warning of the lingering potential for violence from people motivated by antigovernment sentiment. Ty Garbin, one of six men charged in an alleged plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Europes aviation safety agency said a modified version of the Boeing 737 Max had been approved to resume flights in Europe, following nearly two years of reviews after the aircraft was involved in two deadly crashes. Cloris Leachman, who won an Oscar for the The Last Picture Show and Emmys for her comedic work in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and other TV series, died at 94. The Decatur woman charged with abducting a Decatur businessman and trying to ransom him back to his family told a judge Wednesday she was willing to skip a formal hearing to test the evidence against her. DECATUR The former food service manager at the Decatur Correctional Center appeared in court and entered a guilty plea to a charge of custodial sexual misconduct and a further charge of official misconduct. Michael S. Williams, 52, of Auburn, told Macon County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Geisler he was accepting a plea deal negotiated by his defense attorney, Baku Patel. The judge, hearing the case Wednesday, then agreed to dismiss 24 further charges alleging custodial sexual misconduct and seven additional counts alleging official misconduct/obstructing a criminal investigation. Geisler scheduled a sentencing hearing for March 31. Williams remains free on bail set at $200,000. Williams had been arrested at the Decatur Correctional Center by State Police detectives on Sept. 25, 2019. Police said they had been notified of the allegations against Williams in April of that year and the Macon County State Attorneys Office had approved filing charges Sept. 24. 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. Former U.S. secretary of education Arne Duncan criticized Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoots controversial ordinance aimed at fining gang members and seizing their property, saying it wont work to reduce skyrocketing crime. Most gang members dont have any assets to speak of, said Duncan, who is considering a challenge to Lightfoot in the 2023 mayors race. His comments Wednesday follow an address to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce on a series of proposals he said could reduce high crime. In September, Lightfoot unveiled a proposal called the Victims Justice Ordinance that, if approved, could allow judges or court officers to impose fines as high as $10,000 for each offense and seize any property that is directly or indirectly used or intended for use in any manner to facilitate street gang-related activity. It also calls for the seizure of any property that gangs obtained through illegal means such as drug-dealing or other crimes. The measure has been criticized by civil rights lawyers, who said the ordinance would invite civil rights abuses. Fraternal Order of Police president John Catanzara also said its a waste of everyones time to pretend she is doing something of substance. Lightfoot faces broader criticism of the ordinance. Several aldermen pushed back on her asset forfeiture proposal, saying it would end up hurting working class families rather than effectively zeroing in on gangs ill-gotten gains. In an attempt to build more City Council support for the measure, the mayor last week brought forward a retooled ordinance that seeks to more narrowly target gang leaders for forfeiture to avoid harming low-level gang associates. The Lightfoot administrations latest plan also gives families of people who get cars or other assets seized a way to appeal on the grounds other family members need the vehicles for legitimate purposes. Still, at a Public Safety Committee hearing on the ordinance Friday, several aldermen remained unconvinced, saying it seems like a solution searching for a problem. No committee vote has yet been scheduled on the measure. For her part, Lightfoot has downplayed the civil rights lawyers concerns and said the ordinance will allow the city to go after gangs blood money. On Wednesday, Duncan proposed sending more police officers to the departments patrol division and finding ways to shift responsibility for responding to calls about traffic accidents and community complaints from cops to social workers or other professionals. Also a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools under Mayor Richard M. Daley, Duncan later founded Chicago CRED, an anti-violence organization. He also wants the city to spend $400 million a year on violence prevention street outreach groups and find jobs for high school students and residents leaving prison. Some of Duncans proposals mirror actions already taken by Lightfoot. The mayor has expanded city funding for violence prevention programs, for instance, though Duncan and others propose City Hall spend more. Sign up for The Spin to get the top stories in politics delivered to your inbox weekday afternoons. For her part, Lightfoot has criticized Duncans push to spend more on community anti-violence measures, likening his proposals to defunding the police. Duncan in 2020 wrote an op-ed saying the city could take hundreds of millions from police vacancies and spend them on outreach and alternative response programs. Asked about the criticism, Duncan denied the charge. What we want to do is rethink the role of police. Having them focus on the violence, having them focus on homicides and shootings, trying to prevent the next one, trying to solve the one that just happened, thats the best use of their time and energy, Duncan said. He also accused Lightfoot of defunding the police. Lightfoots 2020 budget eliminated hundreds of vacant police positions while hundreds more officers have been lost through retirements and attrition. Her next budget, however, boosted police spending. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The governor's order violates an individual's rights to refuse medical treatment, Deering said at the time. Citizens won't be coerced into giving up their medical freedom. This fits with the message from Deering's announcement, which state's that she "knows that progressive Democrats are out of control when it comes to trying to insert more government into the day-to-day lives of Illinoisans." Deering was not available for an interview Wednesday. The district stretches from the Metro East region near St. Louis to Champaign-Urbana, picking up the urban cores of Springfield and Decatur in between. President Joe Biden carried it by 11 points in the 2020 presidential election. New Braunfels, TX (78130) Today A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 89F. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph.. Tonight Cloudy skies this evening followed by scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds SSE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 50%. BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. A Sullivan County deputy continues to recuperate after authorities say he was shot by a Bristol man who died Thursday, three days after being found unresponsive in a jail cell under unknown circumstances. On Monday, Deputy Evan Wade was released from the hospital. We are happy to report that he is expected to make a full recovery, the SCSO said in a statement Thursday. Wade was shot last week while attempting to take a wanted man, Alan Coulter, 54, into custody. This is an example of the danger officers are faced with every day, the SCSO said. We are thankful that Deputy Wade is recuperating and we look forward to having him back to work soon. During the early morning hours of Jan. 21, officers with the SCSO attempted to initiate a traffic stop in the 400 block of Riley Hollow Road. The pursuit led deputies to a property on Riley Hollow Road in the countys Hickory Tree community, where deputies encountered Coulter inside a garage structure, according to a criminal affidavit filed in Sullivan County General Sessions Court. During the encounter, Coulter fired shots and struck Wade, who then returned fire along with Deputy Corey Hall, the affidavit states. Due to his injuries, Wade was removed from the scene, and Sullivan County SWAT was called to assist. While deputies were present, along with other officers from surrounding jurisdictions, Coulter continued firing shots toward the officers, the affidavit states. Eventually, Coulter came out of the structure and was taken into custody. Officers recovered a semi-automatic handgun from Coulters waistband, the affidavit states. Then, on Monday at 7 p.m., corrections officers at the Sullivan County jail in Blountville were alerted to a situation inside a cell, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said. Upon checking the cell, Coulter was found unresponsive. Officers and medical staff immediately began CPR until paramedics arrived, the TBI said. Coulter was taken to a local hospital for treatment but died early Thursday. No information about what may have led to Coulters death has been released. The TBI said his body will be sent for an autopsy. Both Fridays shooting and standoff and the circumstances surrounding Coulters death remain under investigation, the TBI and Sullivan County District Attorney General Barry Staubus said Thursday. They declined to release any additional details. Coulter, who was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, among other charges, in the shooting and standoff, had a lengthy criminal history. He also had pending charges, including aggravated assault, domestic assault and failure to appear in Sullivan County. The pending aggravated assault charge was from December 2021, records show. Coulter had made his first court appearance on the charges stemming from the shooting and standoff earlier in the day on Monday. The judge denied bond and reset the case to February. BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. Authorities in Sullivan County continue to investigate after a man charged with attempted murder in the shooting of a deputy last week was found unconscious in a jail cell. Alan Coulter, 54, of Bristol, Tennessee, remained hospitalized Wednesday evening, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Coulter was found Monday evening in the corner of a cell, the TBI said. Two other inmates were in the cell. The TBI and Sullivan County District Attorney General Barry Staubus declined to release additional details Wednesday, saying that the investigation is ongoing. They would not say what led to the man being found unconscious. We simply serve as fact-finders in all of our investigations, TBI spokeswoman Leslie Earhart said in an email. Upon completion, the findings are given to the District Attorney General for review and consideration. Coulter was taken into custody Friday after authorities say he shot a Sullivan County Sheriffs Office deputy during a standoff in the Hickory Tree area. The SCSO has not identified the deputy, who has since been released from the hospital. Coulter is scheduled to return to court Tuesday on two counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of reckless endangerment, one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of use of a weapon during the commission of a dangerous felony. The Virginia Department of Health will stop contact tracing for every COVID-19 patient, acknowledging that it cannot continue in the face of astronomical case counts but embracing the fact that the practice is no longer effective. Instead, the health department will refocus on monitoring outbreaks and cases in high-risk settings. The omicron variant has caused case counts to balloon. In Virginia, cases peaked two weeks ago at about 18,000 per day three times as high as Virginia's peak in Jan. 2021. But at the same time, almost 6 million residents have been vaccinated, and omicron has caused milder infection, lowering the need for contact tracing. When the pandemic began, health officials made an effort to interview infected residents and locate their close contacts. Since September 2020, health workers have investigated 750,000 cases and notified 400,000 close contacts. During omicron, however, such investigations became untenable. The VDH interviewed only 7% of infected patients the first week of January, according to its website. Less than two-thirds of those interviewed were called in the first 24 hours. Among the infected, staff contacted 35% of their close contacts. "Omicron is now the most common COVID-19 variant and is spreading so quickly, it is not possible or fruitful to track every case," the department said in a statement Tuesday. The health department also has responded to 6,500 outbreaks and will continue to watch for the virus spreading quickly in long-term care facilities, health care settings and other high-risk environments. It will continue developing prevention strategies for K-12 schools in order to keep schools open and safe. "This response is more effective when a virus spreads very easily and quickly and many infected people do not have symptoms," the department said. "VDH's current staff are still critical in the fight against COVID-19 and are needed to continue with tracking COVID-19 and ensuring an adequate public health response." Cases in Virginia have declined sharply the past two weeks, following national and international trends. There were 12,000 average cases in the state Tuesday, still significantly higher than any previous wave. Hospitalizations appear to have peaked in the state. There were 3,754 people hospitalized with COVID in Virginia on Tuesday, down from 3,875 seven days ago. Businesses owners on Broad Street routinely hear the rev of engines as motorcycles ride up and down the street during rush hour, but on Tuesday that turned into a confrontation that ended with a police officer getting struck, a scene witnesses described as like a movie. A video shared with the Richmond Times-Dispatch shows the bikers performing stunts on Broad Street, followed by police cars attempting to stop the group. An officer leaves his vehicle and steps into the road, where he is hit. According to a news release by the Richmond Police Department, the officer was directing traffic near the intersection of Broad Street and Terminal Place at about 5:13 p.m. when he was struck and injured. He was transported to a local hospital and is being treated for a head injury. One of the motorcycle drivers was later stopped in Henrico, and charges are pending. Joseph Kincaid, co-owner of No Limits Nutrition Center, said he watched the whole scene from his storefront. I was like, Oh wow, thats crazy, but things like that happen on Broad Street, Kincaid told The Times-Dispatch. According to Kincaid, multiple police vehicles were tailing a group of bikers on both sides of the street attempting to flag the drivers down. Police vehicles were lined up to stop the bikers from moving farther along Broad Street, and a crowd of people watched from the sidewalk. Kincaid said he saw one officer get out of his vehicle. Another witness, Adam Elhajj, said what happened next was like a cinematic clash. I didnt see them directing any traffic, Elhajj told The Times-Dispatch. It was like a clash between police and bikers. It was like a movie, literally. Elhajj was working next door to Kincaid at RVA Good Times and captured the events on video with his iPhone. You could hear the brake squeal like hes trying to slow down, but he has nowhere to go, Elhajj said. The cop just ate it full on. I was stunned. Bikes revving up and down Broad Street happen at least once every week or two, according to Elhajj. He said he often sees them running down bus lanes riding with and against traffic, avoiding passenger lanes. He said there was tons of foot traffic at the time, and he believes the response from Richmond police was reckless. It was interesting to see the cops taking it so like abrasively and being so violent because honestly, it was just super reckless, Elhajj said. There are like a lot of students walking around between now and 6 p.m. People are parking, getting out of cars and scooters. So in my eyes, I was like, this is really reckless of them. The whole thing just seemed very silly on both ends. The Times-Dispatch has requested comment from the RPD about the witnesses version of events. A request for body cam footage from the officer was declined, because it pertains to an ongoing criminal investigation or proceeding. In the news release, both Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and Police Chief Gerald Smith gave statements supporting the officers. Smith said what happened that evening was despicable and cowardly, and that RPD stands with the officer and his family. We are grateful for the way our men and women work every day to protect this community, despite the risks they face, Smith said. Stoney expressed his support for RPDs officers, and wrote that hes grateful the officer involved survived a potentially deadly encounter. This brave officer put himself in harms way to protect the residents of our city, Stoney said. This incident is a reminder of the challenges our first responders face every day and the sacrifices they are willing to make to serve and protect us. Police encourage anyone with information to contact the Richmond Police Department at (804) 646-1718, Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000 or use the P3 Tips Crime Stoppers app. Italian by blood and gregarious by nature, June Amundson says I felt like I came home when I moved to Little Italy. The 50-year-old embraced the social aspects of the close-knit East Baltimore community, spending nights and holidays with her neighbors. Increasingly, though, her fondness for the more than century-old neighborhood has turned to concern for her safety. She worries about walking from her car to her house on S. High Street after dark. Advertisement Last Sunday, Amundsons friend Chesley Patterson, the general manager at La Scala restaurant and a beloved figure in the community, was shot dead while driving home from work. He was blocks away from the restaurant where he spent much of the past 17 years. Baltimore police say they do not yet have a suspect in the killing, one of 32 homicides so far this year alone. This kind of is the straw that broke the camels back, Amundson said through tears Wednesday evening at a vigil honoring Patterson. Advertisement People gathered outside La Scala restaurant Wednesday evening in Little Italy for a candlelight vigil to honor the longtime general manager Chesley Patterson, who was fatally shot last weekend. (Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun) Amundson was one of around 300 mourners who gathered outside the Eastern Avenue restaurant where Patterson worked, braving the frigid temperatures to remember a man they say embodied hospitality. Always impeccably dressed in a suit, he would stop to chat with neighbors on his way to buy bread every afternoon for the evenings dinner service. Chesley was a friend of mine, his death hits pretty personally, said city councilman Zeke Cohen, whose district includes Little Italy. Patterson, he said, had an otherworldly quality that made people feel good. Patterson, 44, was one of those people who made everyone feel like his best friend, recalled longtime customer and friend Suzanne Costa through tears. The 72-year-old nurse came with her husband from Ellicott City for the vigil. Its just such a tragedy, she said. It makes you almost not want to come downtown anymore. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 13 Ted Jabara and his fiancee Thomasina Poirot light candles for the candlelight vigil to honor the longtime general manager of La Scala restaurant, Chesley Patterson, who was fatally shot early Monday morning. Jabara said of Patterson, He was one of a kind who made sunshine on a cloudy day. (Amy Davis / Baltimore Sun) Many present said the death was prompting them to consider moving out of the neighborhood despite long ties to the area. Mark Orendorffs family has been in Little Italy for 100 years. Now, the 41-year-old who works for the city and his wife, Jesel, say they are contemplating leaving Baltimore because of the violence, particularly as they look to start a family. The citys not safe at all, said Jesel, 26, who moved from the Philippines three years ago. The crime in the area makes me think crazy, she said. I think we should move. While homicides have long made headlines in Baltimore, recent killings in the city have brought the violence home. Advertisement Among the victims are James Blue III, 43, who was married to a Baltimore police lieutenant and the brother of Shelonda Stokes, president of the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore. Hours after Pattersons death, a 51-year-old grandmother was killed in Northeast Baltimore while delivering food for DoorDash. Flowers festoon the front entrance of La Scala restaurant in Little Italy in memory of longtime general manager Chesley Patterson, who was fatally shot in the 1700 block of Eastern Avenue, less than a half mile from the restaurant. (Amy Davis/The Baltimore Sun) In the wake of Pattersons killing, his former co-worker Julio Cervantes said he and his wife were planning to move from their home in Ridgleys Delight to Baltimore County with their young children. I have no belief that this is going to get better, he said. It was hard for him to wrap his mind around the killing of someone as generous as Patterson, whom hed worked with at La Scala a few years ago before changing careers. The lack of information about Pattersons death makes it all the more disturbing for residents, said Seema D. Iyer, an associate professor at the University of Baltimore who has researched Baltimore communities and the reasons residents move away. In the majority of fatal shootings, the perpetrator and victim are connected in some way. Deaths like Pattersons, she said, are the types of things that do drive people from the city, when it seems so random. While researchers have much to learn about how communities have shifted during the pandemic, Iyer said an overall drop in foot traffic in urban areas has made many areas feel less safe. Advertisement Weve had two years where the density of our activity is so much lower than it normally would be, she said. You can imagine in a normal situation there would be other people on the street. Pam Needleman, who owns the Little Italy hair salon Sweet Louies, recalled how just over the weekend she had been remarking on the beauty of newly-installed cafe lights illuminating the areas old Formstone facades. She remembered thinking: It looks good to see the neighborhood coming back. Just more than 24 hours later, Patterson was killed. We take one step forward and then the city drags you three steps back, she said. His death was a gut punch, gut punch, gut punch. Chesley Patterson, longtime La Scala manager, was shot and killed last weekend after leaving work in Little Italy. Photo by Samantha Stern/handout (Samantha Stern/Samantha Stern) Needleman, who lives in the neighborhood, said shes become jumpy and suspicious of strangers. She too, is considering a move. Baltimore is a bad boyfriend I cant defend anymore, she said. Advertisement In addition to Pattersons killing, other violence has put the area on edge, too. Last November, Father Bernie Carman, the pastor of St. Leo the Great Roman Catholic Church on S. Exeter Street, was mugged and pistol-whipped at four in the afternoon. The crime shocked and outraged residents. 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. > Still, until Pattersons killing last weekend, Paula Pizza, 59, said she had been looking at apartments near Little Italy, where she grew up. She had recently moved to Sparrows Point, partly to escape the crime of the city. But for all the peace and quiet, she said, its lonely out in the county. Her social life remained in her old neighborhood, particularly at La Scala, where she and Patterson were very close. He greeted her with a loving Paulaaaaaa! Despite Baltimores notorious crime, Pizza said, village-like Little Italy felt insulated from whatever violence surrounded it. But Pattersons death has shattered her view of the neighborhood. Days later, a grief-stricken Pizza has been unable to return to work and cant imagine moving back. Supporters of the city and of Little Italy hope the neighborhood will press onward. Advertisement Im hoping that we all galvanize and strengthen Little Italy and address some of these issues in his memory and make Baltimore an even stronger place, Iyer said in the aftermath of Pattersons death. Leaving wont do that. La Scala, for now, will remain open. Plans are underway to move the Catawba Rosenwald Education Center to Catawba Valley Community College for the 2022-23 school year. The Catawba County Schools Board of Education agreed this week to start negotiations with CVCC to use the college campus for the center. The move will give students a more engaging and aesthetically pleasing learning environment, more learning opportunities and a location closer to the center of the district, Catawba County Schools Superintendent Matt Stover said. Catawba Rosenwald is currently located in the town of Catawba. Another reason for the move is Catawba Rosenwalds current building needs renovation, including flooring, plumbing, roofing and electrical work. The total estimated cost of remodeling the building is over $4 million. Once moved, the center would be housed in the lower level of the Robert E. Paap Building at CVCC, Catawba County Schools Assistant Superintendent of Operations Daniel Moore said. Catawba Rosenwald is the districts alternative school. The center educates sixth- through 12th-grade students who have not demonstrated success in a regular education setting. The center provides a smaller, more structured learning environment that focuses on setting high expectations for academic, personal, social and emotional growth. The center currently has 55 students enrolled, Catawba County Schools Director of Marketing and Communication Kim Jordan said. Currently, the only career and technical course offered at the Catawba Rosenwald Education Center is an automotive class. At CVCC, juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to enroll in other career and technical courses. About two weeks ago, students took a field trip to CVCC to explore some of the programs that are offered. The students were excited at the possibility of participating in the courses, Catawba Rosenwald Education Center Principal Timothy Adams said. We already have one (student) in the welding program over there (at CVCC). He is doing fabulously. Weve got another one whos doing IT (information technology), Adams said. We have another one starting automotive this semester. He took automotive with Mr. (Jim) Averett, but couldnt go to the next level because we dont have an automotive shop. School board member Becky Brittain asked Adams how students from the center would get around campus and if they would need to be monitored while on the campus. The first answer to that would probably be a shuttle. We havent worked that out yet, Adams said. CVCC has asked that they (the students) move through some kind of behavior program, like we currently have in place, and that they be at the top tiers of that. We will have to continue having some kind of monitoring program so that we can make sure that we are meeting both our requirements and CVCCs requirements. Four core teachers, four or five teaching assistants, a counselor and a job coach, along with other staff members, were included in the preliminary staffing list for the move. Once the center moves, staff members will have the option to continue working for the Catawba Rosenwald Education Center at CVCC or transfer into a different position within the district, Catawba County Schools Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Rae Thompson 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. Hickory Smokehouse BBQ will close this week after more than 35 years in business. The restaurant announced it would be closing in a Facebook post. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, closing after that. Its not lack of business, owner Lorin Weaver said of the decision to close. Its lack of labor and being able to service people the way we want to. He said the restaurant, which usually operates with six or seven employees at a given time, has recently been down to three. The lack of employees led to the restaurant closing its dining room on some days or closing early on busy days like Saturdays. Weaver said the restaurants business model would not allow it to compete with other restaurants and grocery stores without raising prices in a way that would be unsustainable. The restaurant sells pulled pork trays with two sides for $7.95, beef brisket sandwiches for $6.95 and a flounder filet sandwich for $6.50, according to an online menu. Weaver said he knew of at least one employee who had gone to work at the Food Lion supermarket across North Center Street because the grocery was offering $3 more per hour. Weaver also recalled a recent conversation with one of his managers. I said, Well, you can easily go somewhere else and make more money. Weaver continued. The very first interview that our co-manager did was 23% more than what we were paying their salary. So its just, the economics dont work. It reached a point where the applicant pool dried up for Smokehouse BBQ. We couldnt get anybody in to give a pay increase to, Weaver said. There just are no applicants, period. Weaver started the restaurant in 1986. He said his wife had family in Shelby and they would go to visit Red Bridges BBQ Lodge. He noted that there was not a place like that in Hickory. Weaver approached his friend Bert Huffman, then a manager at Village Inn Pizza, and the two founded the restaurant together. We opened up thinking barbecue would be good and its been really great to us, Weaver said. Hickorys been great to us. He added that rising food prices and the supply chain crunch were also factors in the decision to close. The restaurant was filled with patrons Wednesday eager to eat at the restaurant at least one more time. Newton resident Vanessa Page, 66, was among them. She said she has been coming to the Smokehouse since it opened because of the brisket Its tender and its moist. Its got a lot of flavor and the sweet barbecue sauce. She described the restaurant as being like a longtime friend and lamented what she sees as the erosion of community character as a result of the closing of the Smokehouse and other signature Hickory establishments. Its losing a lot of what Hickorys about, Page said. Hickorys about small businesses. Its always been about small businesses and now a lot of our small businesses are closing. Kevin Griffin is the City of Hickory reporter at the Hickory Daily Record. 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. Carroll County Public Schools reported a decline in COVID-19 cases among students and staff for the second consecutive week. The school systems COVID dashboard, which updates weekly on Wednesdays, reported 635 positive cases this week, down from 946 in the seven-day period that ended Jan. 19. For the period the ended Jan. 12, the total number of positive cases was 1,313. Advertisement This weeks total includes 51 staffers and 584 students. A total of 171 people were in quarantine this week, which is the lowest number of reported quarantines this school year, according to the dashboard. Quarantine data reflect the number of individuals required to quarantine because they are a close contact to a positive COVID-19 case. The quarantine data do not reflect individuals in quarantine because they are COVID positive. Advertisement In CCPS this week, Runnymede had the most positive COVID cases among elementary schools with 29, while Mechanicsville reported 25. Freedom, Carrolltowne, Westminster and Friendship Valley each had 20. Mount Airy had the most positive COVID cases among middle schools with 36, while West reported 32. East had 25 cases and Oklahoma Road reported 19 cases. Westminster High reported the most positive COVID cases among high schools with 30, while South Carroll had 27. Liberty had 25 cases and Century reported 20 cases. Carroll school numbers align with other county and state metrics showing fewer COVID-19 infections. Carroll Hospital said Tuesday it is seeing fewer COVID-19 positive patients. However data from the Carroll County Health Department released the same day show that 15 county residents died as a result of the virus in the past week. The funeral was held yesterday (24 January 2022) for Professor Juris Reinfelds, one of the landmark pioneers of computer science and the last survivor of a team that made Wollongong a global brand. Reinfelds died on 13 January. He was 85. He was the Foundation Chair of Computer Science in the Department of Mathematics, but his impact was felt far beyond UOW. Reinfelds helped establish an international reputation in the field of computer science for the University of Wollongong, with colleagues Ross Nealon and Richard Miller. While at UOW, the three academics are credited with the first port of the operating system, Unix, to Interdata in 1977 the first successful port of any operating computer system. This enabled Unix to run on cheaper and more widely available computers than just mainframe super computers. In the process, they helped democratise the operating system. He created the first Apple Macintosh lab in the world in 1984, achieving a six-month jump on North America, located in Skylab (a re-purposed portable teaching building), thereby proving all first-year Computer Science students with access to a personal computer. He also pioneered computer summer schools for primary and secondary students, again driven by a vision of providing access to computers for all students. The current head of the UOW School of Computing and Information Technology, Professor Willy Susilo, said Professor Reinfelds scientific contributions were prodigious. As a result of his work, many people in the US know the name Wollongong not from the University, but from the Wollongong Group, Inc., the company he helped set up in California to commercialise the research, he said. Born in Latvia, Professor Reinfelds earned a Bachelor of Science at the University of Adelaide in 1958, and his doctorate in mathematical physics at the University of Adelaide in 1963. He worked at a number of institutions in Europe, Australia and the United States, including stints at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Centre in 1965-1966 and CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva Switzerland from 1973-1975. Following his work at UOW, he spent many years working in the United States, holding professorial roles at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces and a visiting fellowship at the University of Texas, El Paso. His ongoing support for student achievements at UOW are marked by the establishment of the Ross Nealon prize for second-year students in the Bachelor of Computer Science degree. He moved back to Wollongong in 2006 to spend more time with his children and grandchildren, and is survived by his wife Lauma, sister Gundega, sons Peter and Ivars, and five grandchildren. MATTOON An upcoming Prairies Edge Master Naturalists event will give attendees the opportunity to learn about early Native American cultures in Illinois through archeological information. The Master Naturalists have arranged for Fred Christensen, president of the East Central Illinois Archeological Society, to present Illinois Archeology, An Overview at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 8, at the Douglas-Hart Nature Center in Mattoon. The Master Naturalists program is part of University of Illinois Extension. People have lived in Illinois for 12,000 years, and archaeology provides most of the information about them for all but the last four centuries. Christensens talk will provide a survey of those millennia before written history. Ways of life during that era ranged from the Paleo-Indian Ice Age hunters and gatherers through the mound building Hopewell and Mississippian cultures to the Native American peoples contacted by 17th-century French missionaries and fur traders. Historical archaeology continues the story to the present. Christensen will describe these cultures, and the scientific techniques used now to understand them. He is a former history instructor at University of Kentucky and ROTC instructor at the University of Illinois, and he taught the Armys Command and General Staff Course for eight years. He retired in 2007 from the U of I Admissions and Records office. There, he oversaw the issuance of diplomas for graduates and maintenance of graduate records for PhD candidates. He spent 28 years in the Army Reserves, including five years of active duty, before retiring as a lieutenant colonel in 1997. Since retirement, Christensen has taught adult-education classes for 13 years at the U of Is Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. His lifelong interest in and study of history and archaeology have contributed to these classes and their content. Registration is free for Christensens talk at the Nature Center, 2204 DeWitt Ave. Attendees can register at https://go.illinois.edu/digillinois or call the Extension office in Coles County at 217-345-7034. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Stay up-to-date on what's happening Receive the latest in local entertainment news in 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. MATTOON An Arcola man has been charged with having sexual intercourse with a juvenile on multiple occasions. According to a news release from the Mattoon Police Department, Jacob M. Atterberry, 20, was arrested on Jan. 6 for criminal sexual assault of a juvenile from November to December 2021. Coles County Circuit Court records show that three charges of criminal sexual assault were filed against Atterberry on Jan. 7. He has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a court appearance on Feb. 7. A check of the Coles County Safety and Detention Center shows that Atterberry is still in custody with a bond set at $150,000, meaning he must post a $15,000 bail to be released. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The iconic Old Main has been a dominant part of the Eastern Illinois University skyline for more than 120 years. Technically the Livingston C. Lord Administration Building since 1956, the landmark Gothic Revival structure is made of Indiana Bedford limestone and covers nearly an acre. 1896 Year Old Main started being built, with work finishing in 1899. More than 100 windows are on the northern facade of the building, which originally housed all of the school offices and classrooms, as well as a gym, library and assembly hall. 122 Height of tower, in feet. 5 Medieval-style campus buildings built under the administration of Gov. John P. Altgeld, including the Eastern one. The governor from 1893 until 1897 discussed his vision for the buildings during a speech to state lawmakers. The others are at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, Illinois State University and Northern Illinois University. 4 Turrets that top tower. The architect of Old Main was George H. Miller, of Bloomington, who also designed the "castle" at ISU. 10 Years that Old Main functioned as the school's only building, until Pemberton Hall was finished. 3 Gothic arches supported by granite columns at the main entrance. 1981 Year the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The first dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as well as the Johnson & Johnson, are available at the Mattoon Walk-In Clinic, 200 Dettro Drive, and the Charleston Walk-In Clinic, 2040 Lincoln Ave., Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. No appointment is necessary. The 2021 workplace fatalities report released Wednesday by the state Labor Department lists three deaths in Forsyth County. The report, however, does not include Winston-Salem Police Sgt. Michael McDonald, a 25-year veteran who died at age 49 on Oct. 22. McDonalds death certificate lists COVID-19 among three causes for his death, and his family says it believes that he contracted the disease while working at the Carolina Classic Fair. The N.C. Labor list includes four law enforcement or first responders statewide who died from a COVID-19 related illness, including an employee with the Guilford County Sheriffs Office. John Mallow, an N.C. Labor public information officer, said Thursday the departments Occupational Safety and Health division has not received a workplace fatality report for McDonald. An employer only reports fatalities if they are work related, Mallow said. The Journal asked City manager Lee Garrity whether the city had submitted McDonalds death for inclusion on the list. Garrity said he has asked city staff whether McDonalds name was submitted. An underlying cause of death for McDonalds death was COVID-19 pneumonia, according to his death certificate, along with cardiac arrest and refractory hypoxic respiratory failure. Refractory hypoxic respiratory failure is a condition where the body cannot adequately absorb oxygen or expel carbon dioxide, according to WebMD. Consequently, there will not be enough oxygen in the blood to be carried elsewhere in the body. McDonalds widow, Cheryl, is involved in a dispute with the city of Winston-Salem of his death benefits. Cheryl McDonald said earlier this month her husband died from COVID-19 pneumonia that his family believes was contracted on the job at the Carolina Classic Fair. The city has hired a private attorney to dispute the sergeants survivors claim to benefits that are offered to officers lost in the line of duty. The Journal has reported that the survivors of a law-enforcement officer who died as the result of the job get more than whats offered by standard employer-provided life insurance. The benefit which in the case of a veteran police officer could approach $1 million is covered by multiple sources. Forsyth fatalities Forsyth has had a work-related death for 10 of the past 13 years. Altogether, the Triad and Northwest N.C. accounted for 19 workplace fatalities, up one from 2020. There were a state-high 11 fatalities in Guilford County. Of the 19 deaths in the 14-county region, six were COVID-19 related, including two in Forsyth. The first Forsyth workplace fatality occurred when a 63-year-old male employee of Waste Management Carolinas, during business as Winston-Salem Hauling, died from injuries from being struck by a bulldozer on June 11. The Journal reported that Thomas Michael Thompson, 63, of Pinnacle, was pinned between a truck and a bulldozer at the Hanes Mill Road Solid Waste facility. He was struck by the bulldozer that backed into him. Thompson was pronounced dead at the scene by Forsyth County emergency medical technicians, Winston-Salem police said. On Dec. 8, N.C. Labor imposed a $7,000 fine against the city for what state officials described as a serious violation of safety measures involved in the fatal workplace incident. State OSHA investigators determined that a city employee was using a cellphone as he was operating a Caterpillar bulldozer that struck Thompson. In addition, the employee drove the bulldozer at a speed excessive for the landfill, the labor department said. The agency didnt mention the speed of the bulldozer when the incident happened. The employee, who no longer works for the city, had three previous accidents within five months while operating heavy equipment and received disciplinary action for carelessness and recklessness in operating city equipment, the labor department said. The second Forsyth death was reported to have occurred June 15 when a 44-year-old female employee of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center died from a COVID-19 related illness. The third Forsyth death was reported to have occurred Sept. 1 when a 54-year-old female employee of Novant Health Inc. died from a COVID-19 related illness. Other regional fatalities Besides the two COVID-19 related workplace deaths in Forsyth, there were three in Guilford and one in Randolph. Other workplace deaths included: * In Davidson: a 54-year-old man employed by Billy Holt was struck by a felled tree on Jan. 24. * In Watauga County: a 25-year-old man and a 38-year-old man, both with the county sheriffs office, were killed in the line of duty on April 28; and a 47-year-old male who was employed by Hound Ears Club who died on May 31 from a fatal fall. The two deputies died during a 13-hour standoff in Boone involving a gunman who killed his mother and stepfather before killing himself. Sgt. Chris Ward and K-9 Deputy Logan Fox were dispatched to the home on Hardaman Circle after the homeowner and his family didnt report to work or answer telephone calls. Both deputies were hit by gunfire. Other officers were able to pull out Ward, who died at a hospital in Johnson City, Tenn. Fox died at the scene. Statewide totals North Carolina experienced a sizable year-over-year decline in workplace fatalities during 2021, even with a similar level of COVID-19 related deaths. There were 74 workplace fatalities. Thats compared with 91 in 2020 the highest total since at least 2010. Still, the 2021 count was the second-highest over the 11-year period. Workplace fatalities keep me up at night, state Labor Commissioner Josh Dobson said in a statement. Although I am encouraged by the overall reduction in workplace fatalities, we still have work to do. Dobson said education and prevention efforts include reducing the risk of COVID-19 exposures in the workplace. However, Dobson, a former Republican state legislator, has been very vocal about his opposition to employer-mandated vaccine requirements. Dobson said in response to the Supreme Court ruling striking down the Biden administrations vaccine mandate for employers with more than 100 workers that a COVID-19 vaccine mandate represents a serious government overreach and is the wrong approach, especially given the current workforce shortage. The state Labor totals exclude workplace deaths handled by the U.S. Labor Department, such as traffic accidents which typically account for a majority of workplace fatalities and on farms with 10 or fewer employees. Law enforcement agencies investigate homicides and suicides that occur at workplaces. There were 46 men and three women statewide who died from non-COVID-19 injuries. The service industry has the most fatalities at 24, of which most were related to COVID-19. The construction industry, which has been the most hazardous sector in the state, had 15 work-related deaths. Thats compared with 26 in 2020, 20 in 2019 and 16 in 2018. Manufacturing had 10 deaths, down five from in 2020. 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. A surge in production costs and labor challenges contributed to a sharp decline in second-quarter net income for Unifi Inc. Unifi, based in Greensboro, has about 1,330 production employees in Yadkinville and more than 250 in Rockingham County. Unifi reported after the stock market closed Wednesday net income of $929,000. Thats compared with $8.7 million in its first quarter and $7.4 million a year ago, as the company began to rebound from the drop-off in demand for its products in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Diluted earnings were 5 cents a share, compared with 40 cents a year ago. The average earnings forecast was 29 cents by two analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Analysts typically do not include one-time gains and charges in their forecasts. Unifis fourth-quarter sales were $201.4 million, up 2.7% from the first quarter and 42.3% from a year ago. However, cost of sales jumped to $184.5 million, up 8.6% from the first quarter and 45.4% from a year ago. Second-quarter sales exceeded our expectations, driven by continued strong international performance, but labor and input cost headwinds for our domestic operations pressured overall profitability results, Unifi chief executive Eddie Ingle said. Our teams in Asia and Brazil have performed very well against a dynamic business environment, while the polyester and nylon operations have experienced significant cost and efficiency pressures that weighed on gross profit. We feel that we are better positioned to navigate our domestic headwinds going forward, Ingle said. As the demand for sustainable solutions grows, we will remain focused on capturing momentum towards long-term growth and are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead of us. Unifi recently split its international revenue reporting. The second-quarter sales breakdown was: a 20.5% increase in polyester to $92.4 million; a 32.3% increase in sales in Asia to $59.1 million; a 13.8% increase in sales in Brazil to $27.6 million; and a 31.3% increase in nylon to $21 million. Revenue from its Repreve fibers represented 40% of net sales. Repreve, introduced in 2006, is polyester yarn made from chips that come mainly from recycled bottles. Sorbtek is its moisture management yarn. Repreve-based yarns are used to make products for the apparel, outdoor, home textiles and automotive sectors. Unifi provided a limited update to its full-year financial guidance. Net sales are projected to be at least $800 million, up from $750 million projected in October and $734 million projected in July. It still plans to spend between $40 million and $44 million on capital investments during fiscal 2022, mostly in its Americas facilities. It spent $1.2 million to repurchase 51,500 shares during the second quarter. Antidumping update Unifi provided a brief update on a foreign trade dispute. The U.S. Commerce Department announced Oct. 19 final antidumping duty deposit rates on imports of polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The U.S. International Trade Commission is expected to announce its final determination on Nov. 30. In November 2020, Unifi Manufacturing Inc. filed a petition with two federal regulatory agencies alleging that dumped imports of polyester textured yarn from the four named countries are causing material injury to the U.S. industry. Unifi Manufacturing was joined by Nan Ya Plastics Corp. America. Antidumping duties are intended to offset the amount by which a product is sold at less than fair value, or dumped, in the United States. The margin of dumping is calculated by Commerce. The companies say the dumping margins are most egregious in Malaysia at 75.1%, followed by 56.89% from Thailand, 42.3% from Vietnam and 15.5% from Indonesia. Unifi has said the ITC has determined there is a reasonable indication of material injury from imports of polyester textured yarn from the four countries. On Wednesday, Unifi said that in December the Commerce Department issued unanimous final antidumping duty orders on subject imports. Following these concluded petitions, the company continues to expect an increase in annual revenue of $20 million or greater as a result of a more normalized pricing environment, Unifi said. 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. A Baltimore man was sentenced to life plus 52 years in prison for a shooting spree near Mondawmin Mall in 2019 that left one man dead and injured three others. Levar Mullen-El died from the injuries he sustained in the shooting April 11, 2019, which left a crime scene that stretched multiple city blocks, the Baltimore States Attorneys Office said in a news release. Advertisement A jury on Oct. 7 found Donte Patterson, 29, of the Alameda, guilty of second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and using a firearm in a crime of violence. Circuit Court Judge Barry Williams handed down Pattersons sentence Jan. 12. The states attorneys office said 15 years of Pattersons life sentence will be served without the possibility of parole. Advertisement Pattersons attorney, Roland Harris, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Online court records show Harris already has filed an appeal to Marylands Court of Special Appeals. A shot spotter alert summoned Baltimore police to the area of Mondawmin Mall around 11:17 a.m. the day of the shooting, prosecutors said. An officer found four people who had been shot, including Mullen-El, who later died from his injuries The 2200 block of Ruskin Ave. was dotted with 9 mm and .40 caliber shell casings, according to prosecutors. The states attorneys office said police pieced together the case using surveillance footage, license plate reader technology and a jail phone call, determining the April 11 shooting was carried out in retaliation to a double homicide the night before. Marcus Alston, 20, and Diarah Baxter, 21, died in that April 10, 2019, shooting. Police have said a 19-year-old man was shot in the leg during the same encounter. 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. > The next day, a camera captured a silver Infiniti at the scene of the shooting near Mondawmin Mall, and the technology available to police confirmed the vehicle was at the scene of the homicides a night earlier in the area of N. Chester Street and E. North Avenue. That intersection is around the citys South Clifton Park and Broadway East neighborhoods. Prosecutors said an inmate named Rodney Baxter, in custody at the time for a shooting he was later convicted of, placed a call around 8 p.m. April 11 and referenced in detail the people killed in the double homicide April 10. The person Baxter was speaking to, who prosecutors did not identify in the news release, told Baxter he retaliated for the killings. There were five people in Pattersons Infiniti at the time of the shootings near the mall, the states attorneys office said. Advertisement Its unclear if anyone else was arrested or charged in connection to the shooting. Police found the Infiniti six days later, with Patterson sitting on the hood. According to prosecutors, Patterson told investigators in a taped statement that Alston and Baxter were close friends of his and he claimed the Infiniti. The states attorneys office said shell casings found in Pattersons car matched those recovered from the crime scene around the mall, and prosecutors said there was a video on Pattersons cell phone captured about an hour before the shooting near Mondawmin in which he was pictured with a gun on his lap. Revenge and retaliatory acts circumvent the criminal justice process and simply continue the destructive cycle of violence, States Attorney Marilyn Mosby said in a statement. The stiff sentence ensures that Mr. Patterson will never pull a trigger on our streets again. On this episode of Utterly Moderate we are joined by editor-at-large of the Bulwark Bill Kristol and University of Baltimore law professor Kimberly Wehle. Both Kristol and Wehle help host Lawrence Eppard sort through a bizarre story about elector fraud in the 2020 presidential election as well as how to fix the Electoral Count Act. Most Americans are probably aware that we use the Electoral College to elect presidents. When this happens, state government officials sign certificates of ascertainment which verify the states electors and who they voted for in the election. These are sent with documentation signed by the electors themselves to the National Archives who process them and then send them to Congress to count on January 6th. According to documents obtained by an organization called American Oversight and covered by Politico, CNN, the Bulwark, and others, in the weeks after the 2020 election, Trump supporters sent fake election certificates to the National Archives declaring that Trump won five states that he actually lost: Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nevada. Some of the people involved were top GOP officials in the states in question. The Bulwark has covered this extensively: On January 15th Bill Kristol commented, The forged electoral certificates show coordination across. . . states. Those fake certificates were key to the plan of the Eastman memo and to the Jeffrey Clark DOJ draft letter to Georgia. On January 16th Charlie Sykes wrote, Some perspective: If an average voter lied on their registration forms or forged an absentee ballot, they would face criminal charges and a world of legal hurt. But this case is far worse because the forged electoral certificates were coordinated, and part of a larger conspiracy to overturn the presidential election. On January 17th Philip Rotner argued that, These phony certifications were not isolated, one-off events. They were highly coordinated. A single glance at the five phony certificates shows that they are nearly identical in format and text, right down to the fonts. The strong implication: Somebody somewhere was running this show. One of the biggest problems with all of this has to do with the Electoral Count Act. A lot of political commentary right now is focused on voting rights, and for good reason. But the biggest immediate threat to our democracy seems to be loopholes in the Electoral Count Act. As Philip Rotner notes, Nothing in either of the voting rights bills currently pending before Congress would inhibit partisan state officials, acting under color of law, from attempting to overturn popular elections in their states. Our guest today, Kimberly Wehle, noted last October that, There are massive holes in the Electoral Count Act. It is stunning that there is nothing requiring states to count the popular vote. Arizona is proposing legislation to ignore the popular vote and allow the state legislature to pick the electors. That is not democracy. If this is not addressed, state legislatures and/or Congress can steal the next election. The future of our republic is at stake. Writing in the Bulwark on January 17th Chris Truax noted that, Congress is free to reject any states electoral votes for any reason at all. All that is required is the votes in Congress and the political will to act. Segment One: Bill Kristol Bill Kristol taught politics at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University before going on to serve as chief of staff to Education Secretary William Bennett in the Reagan Administration and as chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle in the George H. W. Bush administration. He would then go on to help found the well-known conservative political magazine the Weekly Standard. Today he is editor-at-large of the Bulwark and a regular guest on leading political commentary shows. Segment Two: Kimberly Wehle Kimberly Wehle is a law professor at the University of Baltimore and has written extensively about the issues that we discuss in this episode. Check out her academic work here and some of her pieces for a general audience here. Articles Referenced in this Episode: Wearing surgical gloves and a KN95 face mask, Topher Hansen, the CEO of CenterPointe, officially handed a 93-year-old time capsule to the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln on Wednesday afternoon, returning the box of history to its rightful owner. The capsule, discovered in late November by contractors at Trabert Hall, was buried in the historic building's cornerstone in 1928 and forgotten about until Mike Plescak, a Hampton Construction employee, unearthed it while working in the initial stages of $23.5 million renovation to the hall. Finished in 1929, the five-story building at 2202 S. 11th St. was for 40 years a dormitory for students attending the St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing before Lancaster County bought it and named it Trabert Hall in 1969. Now, the structure will transform into an all-encompassing campus for CenterPointe, which has promised to preserve the 100-year-old brick building and add a glass, multi-tiered entrance. When complete, the new facility will include an outpatient behavioral health clinic, pharmacy, a medical clinic and offices, and the top two floors would provide housing. The Rev. Justin Fulton, who on Wednesday accepted the unearthed time capsule on behalf of the diocese, said the Catholic nuns who started St. Elizabeth in 1889 hailed from Colorado Springs but were invited and sponsored by the Lincoln Diocese to come to Nebraska and run the hospital, Fulton said. They built the dormitory 40 years later. Hansen said the affiliated nuns in Colorado Springs told him to give the capsule to the Diocese of Lincoln. "It's humbling, first, that the sisters would want to do that," Fulton said. He said CenterPointe's future plans for the building seemed to be the perfect ode to the women who first ran a hospital near the site -- and who buried the time capsule he accepted. "To know what CenterPointe does -- it's basically the same mission of those sisters," he said. "They were serving those people who need them the most. Their service was out of love and compassion and respect." "That's icing on the cake," he added. Included inside the capsule was was a collection of newspapers from the fall of 1928, all in varying states of decay due to moisture that had circumvented the sealed capsule. The top headline on the Lincoln Star from Nov. 13, 1928: "4000 MARCH IN LINCOLN PARADE." Just beneath the newspaper's name is a headline describing a sinking British ocean liner, followed by another referencing Gen. John J. Pershing. The paper cost 2 cents. Then there was the Halloween edition of the Morning World-Herald, with a ghost-themed editorial cartoon about the Prohibition-era bootleg industry jumping off the front page. And tucked beneath an issue of the True Voice, a Catholic publication printed in Omaha, was a photo art edition of the Omaha Bee-News from Sept. 6, 1928. The paper would only survive another nine years, sold to and discontinued by the World-Herald in 1937. The artifact that remains most intact is a painted, metal crucifix the capsule's most obvious nod to the origin of Trabert Hall and those who buried the steel box nearly 100 years ago. Stacked on top of the old newspapers, when the capsule was first unsealed, was an array of largely unrecognizable trinkets, buttons and pins. In December, Hansen said it will take a real archivist to determine what they are, a fact that could then hint at why they were included. But in at least one instance, it didn't take an archivist at all -- instead, a Catholic priest. Fulton recognized one trinket as a holy medal of Saint Joseph, the biblical foster father to Jesus to whom the nuns at St. Elizabeth had a special devotion. "And it probably speaks to their charism, too," Fulton said. "I mean, St. Joseph was called to be the dad of Jesus -- that probably came out of nowhere. These sisters became mothers to the people they cared for in the city Lincoln. ... They had no idea what Nebraska was, let alone Lincoln." "A fitting medallion," Hansen said. In December, Hansen asked local photographer Michael Farrell to photograph the time capsule's contents. Farrell's photos will eventually hang in CenterPointe's renovated Trabert Hall campus, a nod to the nuns who came first. But from the beginning, Hansen was adamant that the capsule itself and all of its contents be returned to the diocese. "It's their history," he said. "Not mine." Now, their history has been returned. Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley 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. A judge has agreed to move the trial out of Lancaster County for an 18-year-old accused of fatally shooting a longtime Lincoln Police officer in 2020. Felipe Vazquez's trial -- for the alleged first-degree murder of Police Investigator Mario Herrera, attempted assault on an officer, escape and gun charges -- now is set to start March 7 in Columbus. On Aug. 26, 2020, law enforcement went to Vazquez's family's home at 33rd and Vine streets looking for him on a second-degree assault charge in connection with Edward Varejcka's stabbing death five months earlier. In court records, police said as members of the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force gathered outside, Vazquez, then 17, and Orion Ross, then 19, broke out a window in an escape attempt, with Vazquez allegedly firing shots at Herrera and other officers. Herrera who had been in plain clothes, not wearing a bulletproof vest and there, in part, to serve as a translator was struck in the torso. He underwent numerous surgeries but died of his injuries at a hospital in Omaha on Sept. 7, 2020. After, the Lancaster County Attorney's Office upgraded Vazquez's charge to murder. In late October, his attorney, Nancy Peterson, filed a motion seeking a change of venue pointing to pretrial publicity that she argued would make it impossible for him to get a fair and impartial jury here. She pointed to prayer vigils, the escort of his body to Lincoln, his funeral at Pinnacle Bank Arena and the recent unveiling of the "Fallen Officer Memorial," which honors Herrera and others who have died in the line of duty, a short distance from the entrance of the courthouse as evidence Vazquez couldn't get a fair trial here. "Jurors will walk by that memorial and that picture of Officer Herrera every day as they are considering the fate of the young man accused of causing his death," she said. In an order late Monday, Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen agreed to move the trial to Platte County, finding "that the pervasive publicity makes it impossible for Vazquez to receive a fair trial in Lancaster County, or even southeast Nebraska," under the U.S. Supreme Court standard. He said Platte County District Judge Robert Steinke, who has announced his retirement starting Feb. 2, would make his courtroom available for the trial. Lancaster County will have to pay the costs associated with the trial, but the jurors will come from Platte County. The clerk of Platte County will draw 100 names for the jury panel. Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSpilger 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. A judge Thursday sentenced a 67-year-old Lincoln man to 45- to 50-years in prison for sexually assaulting a young girl. "I think it goes without saying that this is one of the more reprehensible crimes that our society has to endure," Lancaster County District Judge Lori Maret told Leonard Lovorn first. She said what Lovorn did could only be described as the ultimate violation of the position of trust he had. In court records, Lincoln police say a 9-year-old girl disclosed to a family member last March that Lovorn had touched her inappropriately at his home more than once during the winter of 2019 to 2020. She was 7 at the time. It led to a police interview, where Lovorn admitted he had touched the girl sexually twice, according to the affidavit for his arrest. He later pleaded no contest to first-degree sexual assault, setting up Thursday's sentencing, where Deputy Lancaster County Public Defender Tim Eppler argued for probation, saying that Lovorn had a limited criminal history before this and that, given his age and physical health issues, a prison sentence "would essentially be a life sentence for him." "He does have great regret and remorse for this," Eppler said. Lovorn declined to say anything before he learned the sentence. In the end, the judge said Lovorn was of similar age and physical health but that didn't get in the way of him committing the crime. "And the court cannot believe it would get in the way of you committing similar crimes if you are released to the community," she said. With credit for the 10 months he has served, Lovorn will be eligible for parole at age 89. Love 1 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. A Lincoln man who the Securities and Exchange Commission accused of "cherry picking" investment trades at his clients' expense for his own benefit has agreed to pay just under $165,000 to resolve the matter. In a final judgment filed this week, Corbin Lambert, the former CEO of Omaha-based Continuum Financial Advisors, agreed to pay 12 monthly installments of $13,748.74 without admitting or denying the allegations. In the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in 2020, the SEC alleged he carried out block trades of stock options in Continuum's omnibus account, which allowed securities to be bought at the same time for more than one client. Rather than allocating all trades equally to all accounts, Lambert "cherry picked" the successful trades, allocating them to his personal account more often, while saddling his clients' accounts with losing trades more often, the SEC said. The agency said the scheme went on for more than a year, from January 2017 to March 2018. Charles Schwab & Co., which acted as Continuum's custodian broker-dealer for Continuum's client accounts, discovered it and terminated its relationship with the company in April 2018. Continuum in turn removed Lambert as CEO. The SEC was seeking the return of all profits he made through the trading scheme as well as civil penalties for the violations of the Securities Act, the Securities Exchange Act and the Investment Advisors Act. Chief Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr entered the judgment Monday. The SEC said the amount agreed upon reflected the net profits Lambert gained and net losses he avoided by his conduct, $81,777; an equal amount for a civil penalty; plus $1,430.84 interest. Reach the writer at 402-473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSpilger 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. President Joe Biden on Thursday affirmed his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying it was long overdue. He praised retiring Justice Stephen Breyer as a model public servant and promised a nominee by the end of February. Breyer joined Biden at the White House, a day after news broke of the 83-year-olds upcoming retirement. Advertisement Since Biden took office in January 2021, he has focused on nominating a diverse group of judges to the federal bench, not just in race but also in professional expertise. He installed five Black women on federal appeals courts, with three more nominations pending before the Senate. Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer holds up a copy of the United States Constitution as he announces his retirement in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (Andrew Harnik/AP) Biden has already met personally with at least one top nominee, Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, Breyers former clerk worked at the U.S. Sentencing Commission and has been a federal trial court judge since 2013 in the District of Columbia. The two met when Biden interviewed her for her current post as an appeals court judge in the D.C. circuit, where she has served since last June. Advertisement Early discussions about a successor are focusing on Brown Jackson, U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss White House deliberations. Jackson and Kruger have long been seen as possible nominees. Since Biden took office in January 2021, he has focused on nominating a diverse group of judges to the federal bench, installing five Black women on federal appeals courts, with three more nominations pending before the Senate. Other possible candidates for the high court could come from among that group, Biden aides and allies said, especially since almost all of the recent Supreme Court nominees have been federal appeals judges. He has a strong pool to select a candidate from, in addition to other sources. This is an historic opportunity to appoint someone with a strong record on civil and human rights, said Derrick Johnson, the NAACPs president. By the end of his first year, Biden had won confirmation of 40 judges, the most since President Ronald Reagan. Of those, 80% are women and 53% are people of color, according to the White House. Jackson, 51, was nominated by President Barack Obama to be a district court judge. Biden elevated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Early in her career, she was also a law clerk for Breyer. Childs, a federal judge in South Carolina, has been nominated but not yet confirmed to serve on the same circuit court. Her name has surfaced partly because she is a favorite among some high-profile lawmakers, including Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. Kruger, a graduate of Harvard and Yales law school, was previously a Supreme Court clerk and has argued a dozen cases before the justices as a lawyer for the federal government. Breyer, 83, will retire at the end of the summer, according to two sources who confirmed the news to The Associated Press on Wednesday. They spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to preempt Breyers formal announcement. Advertisement But the Senate can confirm a successor before there is a formal vacancy, so the White House was getting to work and it was expected to take at least a few weeks before a nomination was formalized. Biden said Wednesday he wasnt going to get ahead of Breyers announcement. Every justice should have an opportunity to decide what he or she is going to do and announce it on their own, Biden said. Let him make whatever statement hes going to make and Ill be happy to talk about it later. When Biden was running for the White House, he said that if he had the chance to nominate someone to the court, he would make history by choosing a Black woman. And hes reiterated that pledge since. As president, Id be honored, honored to appoint the first African American woman. Because it should look like the country. Its long past time, Biden said in February 2020 shortly before South Carolinas presidential primary. Adding a Black woman to the court would mean a series of firsts four female justices and two Black justices serving at the same time on the nine-member court. Justice Clarence Thomas is the courts only Black justice and just the second ever, after Thurgood Marshall. Advertisement And Biden would have the chance to show Black voters increasingly frustrated with a president they helped to elect that he is serious about their concerns, particularly after he has been unable to push through voting rights legislation. At the same time, Breyers replacement by another liberal justice would not change the ideological makeup of the court. Conservatives outnumber liberals by 6-3, and Donald Trumps three nominees made an already conservative court even more conservative. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Bidens nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full United States Senate with all deliberate speed. But Republicans in particular remain upset about Justice Brett Kavanaughs contentious 2018 hearing. Still, Democrats have the 50 votes plus a tiebreaker in Vice President Kamala Harris that they need to confirm a nominee. Republicans who changed the Senate rules during the Trump-era to allow simple majority confirmation of Supreme Court nominees appeared resigned to the outcome. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, an influential Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement, If all Democrats hang together which I expect they will they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support. Nonetheless, Democrats have also been unable to get all their members on board for Bidens social and environmental spending agenda or to move forward with a voting rights bill. 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. > As a senator, Biden served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, overseeing six Supreme Court confirmation hearings from 1987 to 1995, including Breyers. And one person who will be central to Bidens process is chief of staff Ron Klain, a former Supreme Court law clerk and chief counsel to that committee. Two other Black women whom Biden appointed to federal appeals courts are also seen as contenders: Holly Thomas, a longtime civil rights lawyer he named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, and Candace Jackson-Akiwumi, a former public defender he named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. Biden could also choose someone from outside the judiciary, though that seems less likely. One contender would be the head of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Sherrilyn Ifill, 59. She has headed the fund since 2013 and has announced she is stepping down in the spring. The Supreme Court has had three women on it for more than a decade, since 2010, when Obama named Justice Elena Kagan to the court to replace the retiring John Paul Stevens. Kagan joined Obamas other nominee, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the courts first Latina justice, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. When Ginsburg died in September 2020, Trump announced his choice of Amy Coney Barrett eight days later. ___ Advertisement Associated Press writer Mark Sherman contributed to this report. A statewide strategy to battle rampant use and distribution of methamphetamine in Nebraska will aim to create a network of collaborative policing and education efforts accessible in every corner of the state. The new campaign, announced at a Wednesday afternoon news conference in Kearney, will bring together federal and statewide law enforcement agencies to serve as a resource for local police departments and sheriff's offices as Nebraska's major criminal justice power brokers come together in an attempt to solve the state's meth problem, which has persisted for more than 20 years. The livestreamed news conference, which featured Attorney General Doug Peterson alongside representatives from the FBI, DEA, Nebraska State Patrol and U.S. Attorney's office, marked the beginning of the campaign, titled "It's a Matter of Life or Meth." Addressing reporters at the Kearney Police Department headquarters, Peterson compared the campaign to a previous effort to prevent opioid use and overdoses, touting it as "not only a law enforcement effort, but it's also a public awareness effort." "Much like in the opioid approach that we took four years ago in the coalition that we created there, it's a three-prong approach of both prevention, treatment and law enforcement," Peterson said. Nearly every official who spoke at the news conference including Peterson, Acting U.S. Attorney Jan Sharp and Special Agent Justin King of the DEA described meth as the "No. 1 drug problem" facing the state, casting the increasing distribution of the substance as the primary target in Nebraska's battle against drug use. The officials conceded that meth has been the state's most prevalent drug for the past two decades, but recent trends in the amount of meth being seized in Nebraska have ushered the drug to the top of law enforcement's priority list. "We hear a lot today about fentanyl and opioids and what they're doing," said King, who has worked for the DEA for close to 20 years. "But it's important that we don't lose sight of the fact that methamphetamine continues to be our No. 1 drug threat." He said the amount of meth seized had surged close to 300% in the past five years, with agencies combining to seize 768 pounds in 2021. The distribution of meth has evolved over the past two decades, the officials said, making meth more accessible at a lower cost in Nebraska today than it was in 2005. Sharp, who has served as the acting U.S. Attorney since last February, said meth was initially largely distributed by biker gangs in the late 1980s before moving on to locally operated drug labs. Now, the officials said, nearly all the meth circulating in Nebraska is manufactured in other parts of the country or world, often linked to Mexican cartels. And the product, once only prevalent in metro areas, is now being used and seized indiscriminately in the state, found in Nebraska's biggest cities, smallest towns and within the state's Native reservations, Sharp said. As the state rolls out its collaborative response, Eugene Kowel, a special agent in the FBI's Omaha Field Office, said the campaign's primary focus is "to reduce the supply of meth coming into the state of Nebraska." Kowel said state, local, tribal and federal partners will work together to track, apprehend and bring criminal charges against Nebraska's most prolific drug traffickers. He said law enforcement also will work to identify the source of each trafficker's supply and hold meth manufacturers accountable, too. "Like all our our partners, we will not stand idly by as we watch meth degrade our communities and our neighborhoods here in Nebraska," he said. The officials drew a line between meth users and meth distributors, acknowledging that the prosecution of people who are addicted to meth is and has been an ineffective pathway to solving the state's meth problem. Instead, the new campaign will aim to create a link between every law enforcement agency in Nebraska, providing a network of shared information that might link local meth users to more regional distributors, while enhancing education and treatment effort, the officials said. "Frankly, you can't arrest your way out of this problem," Peterson said. The statewide collaborative will mirror the work of metro-area narcotics task forces, which Sharp called "the lifeblood" of the fight against meth thus far. 'A war that's never going to end' In Lincoln, meth was the prevalent drug when Ryan Dale joined the city's police force nearly two decades ago. Now the captain overseeing the Lincoln-Lancaster Narcotics Task Force a group of investigators from LPD, the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office and Nebraska State Patrol Dale has watched the local distribution of the substance evolve over the past 20 years, and its pervasiveness soar over the past five. In all of 2017, the task force seized about 5.7 pounds of methamphetamine. In 2021, that figure ballooned to 94.5 pounds more than 16 times the meth seized just four years prior. But in the same time frame, felony arrests made by the task force for all drug-related crimes, not just for the distribution of meth increased only gradually. The task force made 369 felony arrests in 2017, 404 in 2018 and 408 in 2019. In 2020, Dale's task force made 319 such arrests a five-year low for the group of investigators he said coincided with a decrease in the local supply of meth. It seemed to be a turning point, progress made in the local fight against the substance. But in 2021, the number rose again, though only moderately over the five-year average. The task force made 435 felony arrests 66 more than in 2017 while seizing 88.9 more pounds of meth in 2021 then they did four years prior. It's impossible to "illustrate how the supply of meth has gone up," Dale told the Journal Star. Dale said the task force has altered tactics over the past half-decade, holding off on initial arrests of local distributors, instead monitoring the sellers in an effort to track down regional distributors. In that way, the task force has been successful, arresting more dealers on felony charges and seizing more drugs than ever before. But the challenge posed to the local task force by the recent flood of methamphetamine isn't a lack of information, but a lack of resources, Dale said. "If we had staffing to have double the size of a narcotics task force, these numbers would go up way more," he said. "Because we've kind of reached our threshold of efficiency. And you can only do so much with there's not enough hours in the day to deal with every drug dealer that there is." It's not clear how the local task force stands to benefit from the new statewide campaign. Peterson acknowledged that the metro-area task forces, like the ones in Lincoln and Omaha, would largely be the model for what the state is trying to accomplish elsewhere. "Frankly, those groups are pretty well developed," the attorney general said. "As I see the lay of the land, I thought we were looking very strong in Omaha and Lincoln. ... I think it's working very well in the metro area." While it's true that arrests and meth seizures have increased in Lincoln under the direction of the task force, those outcomes haven't changed the prevalence of the drug itself nor has it affected the number of overdoses, which hit a seven-year high in 2021. Dale said the best effect of the campaign may be an increase in meth users seeking treatment, a development that would both improve the quality of a user's own life while helping curb the local demand of the drug. And he said an increase in local narcotics investigators would help, too. But even as statewide and federal officials unveiled a new plan, Dale's outlook on meth use in Nebraska remained grim on Wednesday. "I honestly think it will continue to be the prevalent drug for my entire career," he said. "I don't see it changing anytime soon. "You have to keep perspective and be willing to appreciate small wins, because it's probably a war that's never gonna end." Reach the writer at 402-473-7223 or awegley@journalstar.com. On Twitter @andrewwegley Love 1 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. It was already clear that public officials who were part of a months-long dive into Nebraska criminal justice data weren't all on board with every resulting idea for policy reform. But a public hearing on a bill informed by that process Wednesday further showcased those divides. LB920, introduced by Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, contains a range of efforts aimed at spending state money more wisely and reducing prison overcrowding and recidivism. Lathrop chairs the Judiciary Committee and co-chaired the working group that produced the ideas. That process was facilitated by the nonprofit Crime and Justice Institute. A recent Omaha World-Herald analysis of national corrections data shows Nebraska has now surpassed Alabama to become the state with the nations most overcrowded prison system. Past legislative efforts have done little to alleviate that pressure. Lathrop has long referred to this moment as a crossroads for the state's criminal justice system, where it can decide to "build its way out" or enact reforms. On Wednesday, he referenced a chart with prison population projections and what prison capacity would be if the Legislature approves a new 1,500-bed prison to replace the Nebraska State Penitentiary, as requested by Gov. Pete Ricketts and corrections director Scott Frakes. The chart showed that, even with that new prison, the system would still be overcrowded come 2030. Specifically, the gap between the average daily population and operational capacity (125% of the capacity for which it's designed) would be 1,326 beds. The state asked for CJI's help because those who've been paying attention know that "we cannot build our way out of this problem," Lathrop said. "This is not a left-wing exercise," he said. "This isn't 'people, feel sorry for the people in prison.' This is about what direction the state is going to take with respect to corrections." Data from the process showed that, while the prison population has increased over the last decade, admissions to prison decreased a consequence of enacting mandatory minimum sentences and growing sentence lengths, Lathrop said. The group's final report included 17 policy ideas that all its members agreed on and four they didn't. Lathrop's bill includes all of the legislative ideas, regardless of consensus, that fall under the jurisdiction of the Judiciary Committee. Ricketts, another of the working groups co-chairs, said earlier this week he doesnt support any of the four nonconsensus recommendations, saying they arent right for Nebraska. It was clear from testimony and senators' questions that most opposition stems from a few proposed sentencing and penalty changes. Other efforts including expanding problem-solving courts, improving reentry practices for people released from prisons and expanding access to behavioral health services appeared to have broad support. Opposition mostly came from prosecutors and law enforcement, while public defenders, groups such as the ACLU of Nebraska and service providers testified in favor of the bill. In addition to testimony at the hearing, there were 56 comments submitted in support of the bill, two in opposition and one neutral. Aaron Hanson with the Omaha Police Officers Association argued that that the prison system is underbuilt and that there hasnt been enough investment in rehabilitation. "The metric should be safer communities, not necessarily less people in prison, he said. A few topics in the bill that attracted opposition: a change to penalties for drug possession, changes that discourage the use of mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent felonies and other changes aimed at reducing the number of inmates who "jam out" or complete their full sentence without being paroled. The bill would make most drug possession charges a misdemeanor, rather than a felony, when a person has less than half a gram. The aim would be to distinguish people who have drugs for personal use and reserve costly prison beds for dealers. Lancaster County Public Defender Joe Nigro was among those who advocated for that change, saying even residue in a pipe can be charged as a felony today. About half of the drug possession cases in his office would become misdemeanors with the change, he said. This change would reduce our prison population, he said. The bigger issue is: Why should we treat a health problem as a felony? But Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln questioned why the bill doesnt distinguish between drugs like fentanyl and other drugs, and was concerned that it might discourage people from getting help through drug courts. State Patrol Superintendent Col. John Bolduc said prison is typically the "last resort" for drug possession offenses. One of our judges has told me, 'Well, if you take these and make them all misdemeanors, you're going to destroy our drug court," Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said. Kleine and others also raised concerns with proposed changes to mandatory minimum sentences. In one change, the bill would limit when a "habitual criminal enhancement" can be applied. That can currently apply when someone has been convicted twice of any felony, and it requires a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence. A Lincoln Journal Star analysis found last year that habitual criminal convictions are sought inconsistently across the state and convicted defendants are disproportionately Black. Prosecutors often threaten to add that enhancement to compel a plea, Nigro said, and it often works even if a person might have a good defense. The bill would limit it so that the two prior convictions would have to be a sex offense or violent offense, Lathrop said. Other proposed changes include eliminating mandatory minimums for drug offenses that currently have them, limiting the minimum sentence for certain sex crimes to no more than 70% of the maximum sentence (it would not change the maximum possible sentence) and limiting minimums for other crimes to no more than 50% of the maximum. Under state law, Lathrop said, the time between a person's minimum and maximum sentence is what's available for parole. So, this would create that space. The working group also found that flat sentences limit inmates' incentives to participate in programming while they're in prison, he said. I don't disagree that there needs to be a separation between the bottom number and the top, as you said, to have some incentive for parole," Kleine said. But he wasn't happy with the 50% and 70% numbers. Meanwhile, Douglas County Public Defender Tom Riley, who supports the bill, said he wished those numbers were lower. Certainly there are people that belong in prison, and I'm not advocating here for some abdication of our role for public safety," Riley said. "But we've tried all of this tough-on-crime stuff, and here we are. Its time to look at the facts as they are. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A legislative proposal to rely on a half-cent of current sales tax revenue matched by state appropriations to help fund local schools ran into a variety of opposition Wednesday from agricultural organizations and the superintendent of Omaha Public Schools. The bill (LB891), introduced by Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, is viewed as a companion funding mechanism for LB890, sponsored by Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, a bill designed to increase state funding support for K-12 schools. While spokespersons for a number of smaller Nebraska schools supported Lindstrom's proposal, Omaha Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Logan told the Revenue Committee that she is concerned that the plan might divert funding away from "districts with greater needs" like the Omaha schools. It's understandable that some school officials may be skeptical that the state would fully maintain its funding commitment, she said. Monty Stoddard of Harrisburg, speaking for Nebraska Cattlemen and a host of allied agricultural organizations, said they could not support the bill because of a provision that would repurpose the Nebraska Property Tax Incentive Act to fund property tax relief through the school aid formula rather than serve as an income tax credit. In response to opponents, Lindstrom said "this is not a one-and-done scenario" in establishing a foundation for increased state aid to schools accompanied by increased property tax relief. The bill "eliminates the burden of claiming the property tax credit on the (state) income tax return and will deliver immediate property tax relief through lower (school levies)," he said in a statement of intent that accompanied introduction of the bill. A number of officials from smaller communities in the state endorsed the proposal. The committee did not take immediate action on the bill. Dave Welsch, president of the Milford School Board, said the proposal has the potential to "increase state aid to all schools, providing direct and transparent property tax relief." Reach the writer at 402-473-7248 or dwalton@journalstar.com. On Twitter @LJSdon 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. The states top election official said his office fielded no reports of voter fraud as Nebraskans cast a record-breaking number of votes in the November 2020 election. Secretary of State Bob Evnen said at the time that roughly 45% of the 936,000 votes were cast through the mail as Nebraskans took advantage of expanded opportunities during the coronavirus pandemic. While conservative politicians in deep-red Nebraska have said publicly they believe the states elections are secure, several lawmakers have proposed measures to tighten elections in the Cornhusker State. On Wednesday, Sen. Mike Groene said his bill (LB785) shortening the window Nebraskans can vote by mail in a general election from 35 days to 22 days the same time allowed for special elections would leave voters with plenty of time to cast their vote. The North Platte senators bill would also restrict voters from submitting more than two other voters ballots to their county election office. Its currently legal for Nebraska voters to collect and deliver others' ballots a practice often referred to as ballot harvesting. I want to shorten the harvest season, Groene told the committee, and shared a rumor that nonprofit advocacy groups often dropped off large numbers of ballots at election sites on the last day of early voting. Lancaster County Election Commissioner Dave Shively, asked to respond to Groenes comments by Sen. Steve Halloran of Hastings, said he hadnt noticed anything unusual in the states second-largest county. Shively said the returns of early ballots often follow the same pattern, with an initial spike days after ballots go out, following by a trickle that increases again in the days leading up to Election Day. We always see a spike in the last couple days, Shively said. Thats pretty traditional. Early voting in Lancaster County has increased in popularity in every presidential election since it became widely available in 1999, when Nebraska became a no-excuse state. In the 2000 general election, there were about 5,000 request for absentee ballots; that number rose to 90,000 in 2020, driven in large part by the pandemic, Shively said. Groenes bill was backed by several individuals who said they believed mail-in ballots should be outlawed altogether, many repeating debunked claims the practice was full of fraud. Other groups, including Civic Nebraska, the ARC of Nebraska, the AARP, ACLU of Nebraska and the League of Women Voters of Nebraska said tightening the window for early voting would disenfranchise individuals with disabilities, older voters and others who may not be able to go to the polls to vote. Edison McDonald, executive director of the ARC of Nebraska, credited the state with making election sites more accessible, but said the mail-in voting option remains important to many Nebraskans with disabilities. And Westin Miller, director of public policy at Civic Nebraska, said that while the states ballot return system could be improved, providing postage-paid envelopes and ballot tracking would create a more secure system. Another bill (LB858) from Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood would prohibit state and county election officials from apply for or receiving grants or donations to help pay for election costs. Clements said the Center for Technology and Civic Life, which received a $350 million donation from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, had funneled money into areas that tended to vote for Democratic candidates, saying those areas saw boosts to turnout in 2020. Lancaster County was the only county in the state that received funding from the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, receiving $405,000 that was put toward purchasing non-central election equipment and paying for early voting costs, Shively said. Deputy Secretary of State Wayne Bena, who testified in support of the bill, said the grant from the Center for Technology and Civic Life did not affect the election outcome in Lancaster County. Clements said allowing private groups to fund elections was bad optics at best and a dangerous trend at worst, and said the states elections should be entirely taxpayer supported. Danielle Conrad of ACLU of Nebraska said bills like LB858 perpetuate the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, and continue to cast doubt on the integrity of the election process and the people behind it, however. The committee also deliberated a measure (LB843) introduced by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon on behalf of Evnen that codifies several practices allowed during the pandemic. The omnibus bill provides a mechanism to withdraw ballot initiatives, clarifies the process for voters who use a signature stamp or mark their ballots, and allow counties to recruit poll workers from a neighboring county with vote-by-mail to work on Election Day. Weve found great success during the pandemic being able to use poll workers from counties that do their elections by mail to go into a neighboring county to help, Bena told the committee. It also allows for the National Guard to help out on Election Day if necessary, either by operating the polls or moving equipment to and from the precincts, at the Secretary of States discretion. LB843 also prohibits electioneering within 200 feet of a drop box as well as public opinion polling or interviewing within 20 feet of a drop box. Senators voiced concern about one provision of the bill that allows election commissioners or county clerks to remove voters from a list of early voting registration lists if they miss two consecutive elections. Bena said maintaining those lists can be costly to some counties, but said the state elections officer was open to several amendments proposed by Civic Nebraska, including limiting striking voters from the rolls during an election year. The committee did not take any action on Wednesday. Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or cdunker@journalstar.com. On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS Love 1 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 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. The substitute teacher shortage is hitting the educational arena in Grand Island on another front. The Grand Island Education Association, the collective bargaining unit for Grand Island Public Schools teachers, alleges the district is shorting some of its members pay under a misclassification. We discovered that many of the long-term subs, who the district had classified as long-term subs, were actually filling a full-time equivalency position, said Michelle Carter, GIEA president and a fifth-grade teacher at Dodge Elementary. Under Nebraska law, an employee who is hired to fill an open position is not considered a substitute. A news release from the Nebraska State Education Association states: The petition points out that those misclassified employees are part of the GIEA bargaining unit and should be paid under GIEAs agreement with the district. The district, however, is paying them as substitutes. According to the school district website, the highest pay a substitute teacher can make per day is $200. Additionally, the website specifies, there are incentives for substitutes who work a high percentage of available days per pay period and/or work 125 days or more. Still, that falls short of certified staff pay, Carter said in the Nebraska State Education Association release. They could be making $250 to $300 a day if they had a contract. A full days pay for a teacher who has been here at least five years is over $300. As a result, the Grand Island teachers union filed a petition with the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations against the school district Jan. 21, alleging a violation of the Industrial Relations Act. In a statement, the district said: GIPS is confident that we are operating in good standing with the terms of our existing agreement. Jessica Votipka is the education reporter at the Grand Island Independent. She can be reached at 308-381-5420. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The introduction of LR282CA this year to remove the nonpartisan status of the Nebraska Legislature requires vigorous defense of Nebraska's unique nonpartisan arrangement. The Nebraska Constitutional amendment pioneered by George W. Norris 87 years ago dealt with the partisan excesses he saw in Congress at that time. Given the even more toxic political climate in our time, retaining Nebraskas unique nonpartisan status is even more important now. The legacy Norris still resonates in Nebraska and throughout our country. This man, the father of the Nebraska Unicameral, singlehandedly led a statewide campaign to create our unique nonpartisan, one-house legislature. Nebraska voters approved, on a strong vote, a constitutional amendment to create the Unicameral Legislature. Norris was asked to speak at its first meeting. Eighty-five years ago, at noon on Tuesday, January 5, 1937, Lt. Gov. Walter H. Jurgenson called to order the 52nd session of the Nebraska Legislature. Before any business was conducted on that, the very first day of our states new legislative body, Norris, who needed no introduction, was recognized for his lifes work, work that was immensely important to Nebraska and the entire country. Norris served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 10 years and as a U.S. senator for 30 years. He was a key supporter of the Rural Electrification Act, which brought electrical service to rural areas of America. He also sponsored the Tennessee Valley Authority Act to improve the lives of people in the southern states during the depression. He proposed and helped pass the 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution, that set Jan. 20 as the date a newly elected president takes office. Senator Norris also helped to craft the Norris-La Guardia Act, which was a great boon to working men and women throughout the nation. Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy had great respect for Norris. He was one of eight U.S. senators featured in Profiles in Courage, Kennedys 1956 prize-winning volume of biographies. The book focused on individuals displaying integrity, usefulness, courage and consistency characteristics Kennedy called the four measures of greatness. In his address to Nebraskas new legislators, Norris said, Your work will attract the attention, not only of the people of our great commonwealth, but of the entire country. Upon you, and your work, will be focused the eyes of all students of government all over the nation. Your constituents do not expect perfection. They know that it is human to err, but they do expect, and have the right to expect, absolute honesty, unlimited courage, and a reasonable degree of efficiency and wisdom. The people of Nebraska will not condemn you even if they do not agree with all of your official actions. We realize that honest men, patriotic men, and wise men do not always agree. In fact, disagreement on things which are not fundamental is evidence of courage and independence. We expect an economical and efficient administration and, above all, an honest administration free from any partisan, bias, political prejudice, or improper motives. You have an opportunity to render a service to your fellow citizens that no other legislature has ever had. I believe you will meet your responsibilities with courage and ability. From now on Nebraska has a right to expect a business administration. Your work will be watched to a greater extent than the work of any legislature in the past. That your work may be successful and that it may receive the approval of all honest-minded citizens is not only my personal wish, but I believe it is the hope and desire of a great majority of the loyal citizens of Nebraska. As Norris also once stated, The voters selected us, in short, because they had confidence in our judgement and our ability to exercise that judgement and our ability to exercise that judgement from a position where we could determine what were their own best interests, as a part of the nations interests. This may mean that we must on occasion lead, inform, correct and sometimes even ignore the constituent opinion, if we are to exercise fully that judgement for which we were elected. In his time, Norris actions and words cautioned about the hindrance of good government from partisanship and special interests. So it is in our time, as well, and democracy suffers as a result. We should listen to our better angels and heal our fractured country. Sen. John McCollister of Omaha represents District 20 in the Nebraska Legislature. Love 3 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 I am writing to express my disappointment in Mike Floods announcement that he is going to challenge Rep. Jeff Fortenberry for the 1st District congressional seat in the upcoming Republican primary. His announcement wasn't focused on the real issues that confront the district today. Instead he strung together an impressive list of sound bites aimed at burnishing his credentials pleasing to the party of Trump. To wit: * Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are using the House of Representatives to ram through a radical socialist agenda that would destroy the country we love. * With just a razor-thin majority, (Democrats) have claimed a mandate to pass trillions of dollars in big-government giveaways, raise our taxes, grow government power, seize control of our elections, and wage partisan witch hunts that are tearing our country apart. * Biden is an inept president," Flood said, adding that the nation's enemies are "emboldened every day by the weakness they see ... * Flood said he "would take the fight to the radical socialists in Congress who threaten our values and our way of life and This is a race we have to win to save America." Nothing here indicates that Flood represents Nebraska values. As for saving America, the voters have that responsibility. Voters must become informed, choose carefully and vote accordingly. Nebraskans are not well served when candidates offer sound bites instead of positions intended to please the interests able to pay their way into office. William B. Bevans, Waverly Love 7 Funny 4 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 RACINE A man who claimed to have witnessed the shooting death of his friend nearly two years ago testified for the prosecution Tuesday. The witness told the jury he was with DeMarcus Anderson, 28, who was shot and killed on Feb. 25, 2020 in the private club of the Sin City Motorcycle Club, 901 S. Memorial Drive. He alleged Donley Carey, 36, was the person who pulled the trigger. However, the defense was able to cast doubt on his testimony due to inconsistent statements from the witness. Carey is charged with first-degree intentional homicide. If a jury finds him guilty, he is almost certainly going to spend the rest of his life in prison. The trial began Monday in Racine Circuit Court. The name of the witness is being withheld to protect his safety. Case history The Racine Police Department responded to the private club after an anonymous 911 call reported that there was a deceased person inside. Investigators found Anderson, wrapped in trash bags, in a small bathroom. Later it was determined he had been shot seven times with a .40-caliber firearm. Investigators theorize that someone wrapped the body after the killing and intended to move it later. During the course of the investigation, RPD investigators issued a warrant for Carey, who was arrested eight days later in Michigan. Background The witness told the jury that Anderson was like a brother to him and they had known each other since they were children. They were kin of a sort, as the witness has two children with Andersons sister. Carey, too, was an acquaintance of both men. According to the witness, Carey and Anderson referred to each other by cousin. The witness said he had known Carey for about five years and called him by his street name, Fifty. The three men were not members of the Sin City Motorcycle Club; however, the witness knew the owner of the club and was allowed entrance. It was Andersons first time at the club, his friend said. He explained the club had security at the main door, which included people to watch the video from the cameras. A person did not have to be a member of the club to get inside, but it was necessary to know someone on the inside. Once inside, the two men were patted down to ensure they were not bringing firearms to the party, the witness told the jury. When asked what would have happened if he had a gun, the witness responded, DeMarcus would be here right now. The witness said in the early-morning hours he was not sure of the time someone came and told him Go get your little brother. Each accusing the other of being a snitch The witness found Anderson in a small bathroom with Carey, both nude, each calling the other person the police i.e., they were someone working with the police, a snitch. When asked why the two men had stripped out of their clothes, I guess to show they didnt have a wire, the witness said. He was asked if the two men were fighting, and he responded, No. Carey dressed and left, and the others in the bathroom left, but Anderson needed help getting dressed because he was inebriated. I got down on my knees to help put his clothes on, the witness said. As he was doing that, the witness said he looked up and saw Anderson put his hands up. He told the jury he looked back, saw Carey with a gun, saw him pull the trigger, then leave. When asked if he believed his friend was dead, he responded, Yes. The witness said he went after Carey but did not know where he went. The witness was then locked out of the club and would not let him back in. He jumped in a friends car and left. He called someone he knew and had her call 911, twice. He told her, Tell the police you know for sure theres a body in there. The witness ended up at a friends house where he went to sleep. He had been up for days and was exhausted, he told the jury. The friend who had given the witness a ride described him as distraught and crying. The mother of his children, who saw him later, said he was in shock. Witness The testimony of the witness was not without issues that were highlighted by the defense, the first of which was it had changed over the two years since the homicide occurred. Assistant District Attorney Antoinette Rich acknowledged the issue in her opening statements saying that he is trying to recall what happened two years ago. Under questioning by Mindy Nolan, the defendants attorney, the witness acknowledged he had been up for three or four days on the day of the homicide, using Ecstasy, without so much as a nap. While the general narrative did not change since the witness spoke with police in February 2020, many of the details were changed. Nolan reviewed the witnesss statements, noting those that had changed from two years ago. For the most part, the witness responded that he did not remember exactly what he had originally said. For example, when confronted on the stand about his story changing as to where he changed his clothes after the homicide, he responded, I dont remember that. Other statements he denied outright. He said from the stand the door bouncer would not let weapons in the club. However, Nolan pointed out that he told police in 2020 that all those Sin City Motorcycle Club guys had weapons, to which the witness replied, I didnt say that. Continuing The jury trial continued Wednesday, including that the jury was told that DNA evidence recovered did not match the defendant. A witness who allegedly saw Carey get a firearm from the bouncer, Jeffery Ramos, also testified. That witness said that Carey appeared incensed that night. Ramos pleaded the Fifth and was taken back to Racine County Jail. He is facing charges for allegedly providing the gun to Carey. 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. WASHINGTON President Joe Biden and his legal team have spent a year preparing for this moment: the chance to make good on his pledge to name the first Black woman to the Supreme Court at a time of continuing racial reckoning for the country. The decision by Justice Stephen G. Breyer to retire will give Biden his most high-profile opportunity since taking office to reshape the federal judiciary, having already nominated dozens of district and appeals court judges from a range of racial, ethnic and legal backgrounds. Advertisement His promise also underscores how much Black women have struggled to become part of a very small pool of elite judges in the nations higher federal courts. Speculation on Wednesday focused on a rarefied group of well-credentialed Black women who have elite educations and experience on the bench. The short list included Ketanji Brown Jackson, a 51-year-old judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit who graduated from Harvard Law School and clerked for Breyer, and Leondra R. Kruger, a 45-year-old justice on the California Supreme Court who graduated from Yale Law School and clerked for former Justice John Paul Stevens. Advertisement J. Michelle Childs, 55, a little-known U.S. District Court judge in South Carolina whom Biden recently nominated for an appeals court, is also seen as a potential contender. One of Bidens top congressional allies, Rep. James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, told Biden during the presidential campaign that he believed she should be appointed, in part because she came from a blue-collar background, another underrepresented group among federal judges. Jackson and Kruger attended Ivy League law schools, unlike Childs, who attended the University of South Carolina. And while there are some differences in the womens backgrounds and experience, they are united in being among a relative handful of Black women who have the kind of credentials normally considered qualifications for the Supreme Court. The first Black woman to serve as a federal appeals court judge an experience that in the modern era is usually a key credential in becoming a justice was appointed by President Gerald R. Ford in 1975. By the time Biden took office more than 40 years later, only seven more had served in such a position. If you just look at the raw numbers, its a telling and a sobering statistic, said Leslie D. Davis, the chief executive of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms. That makes it clear that we must do better. Biden has said he hopes the diversity he has brought to the high ranks of the federal government will be a centerpiece of his legacy. In addition to his record on judgeships, his decision to pick Kamala Harris as his running mate during the 2020 campaign led to her becoming the first Black woman to serve as vice president. Half of Bidens first 16 nominees for federal appeals courts have been Black women as many as all previous presidents combined had appointed. That emphasis has attracted scrutiny from across the ideological spectrum. For Davis, the important point of comparison is how few Black women had previously been appointed to the federal bench. Its a story that Black womens voices have not been appreciated, she said, that their perspectives have not been valued, and their voices have not been heard. But conservatives like the National Review legal commentator Ed Whelan have pointed out that the number of Black women Biden has nominated is strikingly disproportionate to the available pool of Black women with law degrees. Advertisement According to a 2021 profile of the legal profession by the American Bar Association, just 4.7% of American lawyers are Black and 37% of lawyers are female. The report did not break out Black women in particular, but the implication is that roughly 2% of American lawyers are both Black and female. By Bidens declared standard of demographic diversity, his first year of judicial nominations has clearly been a remarkable success, Whelan wrote this month, calling Bidens record on appointing Black women extraordinary while also taking some delight in noting that liberal white males, with just two appellate nomination slots so far, were the big losers. Biden made his promise to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court at a debate in February 2020, just days before facing his Democratic rivals in the South Carolina primary, where Black people make up a large portion of the partys voters. At the time, his campaign was struggling amid losses in two of the early presidential contests. Im looking forward to making sure theres a Black woman on the Supreme Court to make sure we in fact get everyone represented, Biden said that night. The promise helped Biden secure the support of Clyburn just days before the partys contest in South Carolina. I have three daughters, Clyburn told Bloomberg. I think I would be less than a good dad if I did not say to the president-to-be, this is an issue that is simmering in the African American community, that Black women think they have as much right to sit on the Supreme Court as any other women, and up to that point none had been considered. Advertisement Biden went on to win the South Carolina primary, proving the durability of his support among Black voters and setting in motion a string of victories on Super Tuesday a short time later. Bidens Supreme Court selection will take place in a country still feeling the reverberations of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020 and subsequent mass protests over racial justice. It also would come as the conservative-dominated court agreed this week to hear cases challenging race-conscious college admissions programs, raising the possibility that it may ban affirmative action policies aimed at maintaining racial diversity. Bidens political support has been especially strong among Black women. New York Times exit polling data from the 2020 election showed that while they made up just 8% of the electorate, they were Bidens most lopsided supporters: 90% of Black female voters cast their ballots for him. And in Georgia, Bidens win was followed by Democrats sweeping a pair of crucial runoff elections for Senate seats that gave the party razor-thin control of the Senate and with it the ability to confirm judges without needing any Republican support. Several factors went into those narrow wins that flipped the state blue, but one was that a group of Black female organizers most famously Stacey Abrams, the former candidate for governor who founded a voter registration group called the New Georgia Project had been working to register hundreds of thousands new voters and encourage them to turn out. Advertisement For Democrats, maintaining enthusiastic support among Black voters, and especially Black women, may be critical in Novembers midterm elections. Democratic activists urged Biden on Wednesday not to back down from his promise. There would be little to no rationale for President Biden to miss this opportunity, Aimee Allison, the president of She the People, a liberal advocacy group, said in a statement. It is and could be a defining moment for his presidency. Polls show Democrats trailing in their efforts to keep control of the House and the Senate, and Biden has had a rocky first year, in part because the Senate filibuster rule means Republicans can block much of his agenda, like passage of a social spending bill and an expansion of federal protections for voting rights. But since the Senate abolished the filibuster for judges Democrats did so for lower and appellate court judges in 2013, and Republicans did so for Supreme Court justices in 2017 a party that controls both the White House and the Senate by any margin can appoint life-tenured federal judges, including to fill any vacancies among the 179 federal appellate seats. In April, when Biden announced his first three appeals court nominees, all three were Black women with Ivy League educations, including Jackson. Two more of the next 10 appellate judges he appointed are also Black women. And of his six appellate nominees still pending before the Senate, three are Black women. Bidens decision to use his power to place numerous Black women on the bench as well as in district court judgeships and high-profile roles in the executive branch is transformative considering the many decades during which they have rarely exercised power in the legal system. Advertisement The history of Black female judges mirrors the larger story of African Americans since the Civil War, according to a 2010 article in the Howard Law Journal by Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, who is the chief judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Black women judges came to the judicial table much later than Black men (by more than 80 years) and also much later than white women (by almost 60 years), she wrote in the article, Black Women Judges: The Historical Journey of Black Women to the Nations Highest Courts. New York City did not have its first Black female judge until 1939, when Jane Matilda Bolin was appointed to the Domestic Relations Court, Blackburne-Rigsby wrote, adding that when the citys mayor, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, appointed Bolin, he first consulted her husband a sign of the times and of the limits placed on Black women in the court system. Blackburne-Rigsby declined to comment Wednesday. But in her article, she sounded a note of caution about viewing that demographics slow rise to judicial power as a matter of numbers alone. 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. > Being both Black and female brings an important additional voice to the deliberative process, she wrote, but that voice is varied because there is no singular Black woman perspective. Even after the civil rights movement in the 1960s, which included President Lyndon B. Johnsons appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first Black Supreme Court justice in 1967, Black womens access to the levers of judicial power remained limited. Advertisement In 1966, Johnson had also appointed the first Black female federal judge Constance Baker Motley, whom he placed in the Southern District of New York. And in the years that followed, Motley was sometimes mentioned as a potential future Supreme Court justice, said Tomiko Brown-Nagin, a Harvard legal historian who published a biography of the judge this week, Civil Rights Queen. But Brown-Nagin, who is also the dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, said that while Motley was eminently qualified for elevation, her political window closed: As a former civil rights lawyer, she was seen as a liberal, and from 1969 until 1993, there was no Supreme Court vacancy while a Democrat was president. This appointment has been a long time coming, Brown-Nagin said. c.2021 The New York Times Company BURLINGTON A Burlington teenager has been accused of sexually assaulting a girl under the age of 15. Malaky K. Flynn, 18, of the 100 block of South Perkins Boulevard, was charged with three felony counts of second degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age. According to a criminal complaint: On Oct. 14, a deputy met with a girl that was under the age of 15 about a sexual assault. She said that on Jan. 26, she invited Flynn to her fathers home in the 3500 block of Fischer Drive. He asked her if she wanted it and she told him no. He asked several more times about having sex and he eventually went against her wishes and allegedly sexually assaulted her. Flynn was given a $1,000 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Tuesday. A preliminary hearing is set for Feb. 2 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show. RACINE Absentee ballot drop boxes: They were allowed. Then they werent. Now they are again. But they might not be for long. More than 240 Wisconsin communities both in Republican-leaning and Democratic-leaning communities, including Racine used absentee drop boxes to make it easier for voters to deliver ballots in 2020, especially amid the pandemic when many were expressing concerns about going to polls in person. There have also been seemingly constant fears being professed that the use of the boxes allows for election fraud to be committed more easily, but there are zero known situations where this occurred in Wisconsin. Jan. 13, ahead of spring local elections, a Waukesha County judge ruled that absentee ballot drop boxes are no longer allowed. But then on Monday, a state appeals court overruled that judge and said they actually are OK. On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court was formally asked to make a ruling to settle the issue, for the time being at least. With all this uncertainty, the City of Racine is not expected to use the drop boxes again this spring. On Monday, after the appeals court overruled the Waukesha judge, The Journal Times reached out to the city to find out if drop boxes would be used again. Shannon Powell, city spokesperson, replied in an email Tuesday that City Clerk Tara Coolidge would employ drop boxes if a court determines it to be legal to do so. And so, as of Tuesday, Coolidge cant say 100% because we dont know if this is the end the judicial process on this issue and she doesnt want to create confusion for voters. As such, dont expect to see drop boxes on local street corners this spring. Standstill More than 500 drop boxes were set up statewide during the 2020 election. They had been used in prior elections, but sparingly. The Wisconsin Legislature has not moved decisively to pass any laws on this, despite the uncertainty of the past 14 months. State Sen. Kathy Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, a former county clerk, said she was working on a bill to legalize drop boxes and solidify how they could (and couldnt) be used, such as allowing municipalities to have no more than four drop boxes regardless of the size of the community. But her plans appear to have been derailed when Donald Trump inserted himself into Wisconsins discourse. Trump said in a public statement Monday: Some RINO (Republican In Name Only) Republicans in Wisconsin are working hand in hand with others to have drop boxes again placed in Wisconsin. These fools are playing right into the Democrats hand. Drop boxes are only good for Democrats and cheating, not good for Republicans. There is no evidence that anyone has ever used ballot drop boxes for cheating in Wisconsin. Nor is there evidence that the votes that were dropped off in drop boxes were the sole difference in Joe Biden defeating Trump by 20,682 votes in the state. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said in a statement Monday he opposes expanding the use of drop boxes in the state. But after Trump spoke up, Vos refused to say Tuesday if he supports legalizing drop boxes at all. Without Vos support, theres virtually no chance of bills getting through the Legislature. Bernier, who plans to retire after her current term, has divided Republicans by lambasting Trumps false claims that he won the election and by criticizing ongoing probes of the 2020 election. Theres been recount after recount, court case after court case and, at some point, I wish he would come out and say, you know, I accept the results, she told Wisconsin Public Radio earlier this month. Not only for the greater good of the Republican Party, but the greater good of the United States. If the Republican-majority state Legislature passed a bill that outlawed the drop boxes entirely, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers would likely veto it. In 2021, leading Wisconsin Republicans had backed a bill that would have allowed drop boxes, but it appears Trump has silenced that support. As such, the standstill continues. In December, state Sen. Steve Nass, a Whitewater Republican whose district includes a portion of western Racine County, called on the Wisconsin Elections Commission comprised of six bipartisan appointees to set definitive rules on the use of drop boxes by February. Mitchell Schmidt of Lee Newspapers contributed to this report. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 1 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. RACINE COUNTY Shawn Rivers has been appointed the next county veterans service officer to fill a vacancy after Zach Zdroik left the job to become the nonprofit Veterans Outreach of Wisconsins executive director. The appointment came at the Racine County Board meeting Tuesday evening with a majority voice vote; a count was not taken. Supervisors Nick Demske and Thomas Pringle were excused from the meeting. We had many great applicants for the position of Racine County Veterans Service Officer, but Shawn stood out because of his track record for ensuring our veterans community receives exceptional customer service and access to the benefits they so richly deserve, said County Executive Jonathan Delagrave in a statement. Rivers served 21 years in the Air Force, 1994 to 2015, then was a contractor as assistant veterans service officer for the county starting in January 2018. He moved into a full-time position in March 2019. Rivers said in a news release that this role is the most important role hes had in his life, second only to becoming a father. Veterans deserve an advocate in the community who cares, listens and addresses their concerns. I am proud to take on this role and excited to continue serving Racine County and our veteran community, he said in the release. Rivers addressed the board at the meeting and said he wants to make himself available for questions or veterans services needs. He called it an honor to serve the veterans in his county. Racine County has, as you all know, well over 12,000 veterans, so the need is there, Rivers said. Were here as advocates for our veterans. The veterans services team tries to cast a large net, reaching out to as many veterans as possible, because for every veteran that knows the office exists, one or two mutual veteran connections dont know of it, Rivers said. District 6 Supervisor Q.A. Shakoor II said Rivers has an excellent resume and looks forward to working with him. We are very fortunate to have a highly qualified member of our staff who has received this appointment, said District 11 Supervisor Robert Miller. On behalf of the Racine County Board, welcome aboard, and we look forward to watching all your wonderful work, said County Board Chair Thomas Roanhouse. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 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. Copperas Cove, TX (76522) Today Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 88F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.. Tonight Cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 71F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. 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 Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyers retirement gives President Joe Biden a chance to make his first nomination to the high court. Its also a chance for Biden to fulfill a campaign promise to nominate the first Black woman to be a justice. Possible picks for the Supreme Court to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. (AP Graphic) (Kevin S. Vineys/AP) Some things to know about the women seen as leading candidates: Advertisement Ketanji Brown Jackson, nominated to be a U.S. Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit, testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on pending judicial nominations, April 28, 2021 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Tom Williams/AP) KETANJI BROWN JACKSON Ketanji Brown Jackson has known Breyer for decades. A graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law school, she was a law clerk to Breyer from 1999 to 2000. She is comfortable enough with her former boss to have a little fun at his expense. In 2017, after Breyer accidentally brought his cellphone to court and it rang, Jackson introduced him at an event and pretended to get a call mid-introduction from Breyers colleague, Justice Neil Gorsuch. After clerking for Breyer, Jackson was as a lawyer in private practice, worked as a public defender and served on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. President Barack Obama nominated her to be a federal trial court judge in the District of Columbia in 2013. Biden elevated her to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she has served since June 2021. Advertisement Recently, Jackson was part of a three-judge panel that ruled against former President Donald Trumps effort to shield documents from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol. Jackson, 51, also has the advantage of a connection to Republicans. She is related by marriage to former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. Jacksons husband, Dr. Patrick Jackson, a surgeon, is the twin brother of Ryans brother-in-law. The judge and her husband have two daughters. Deputy assistant U.S. attorney general Leondra Kruger, stands during her confirmation hearing to the California Supreme Court in San Francisco on Dec. 22, 2014. (S. Todd Rogers/AP) LEONDRA KRUGER Leondra Kruger would be the first person in more than 40 years to move from a state court to the Supreme Court if she were to be chosen and confirmed as Bidens nominee. The last was Sandra Day OConnor, a barrier-breaker who was the courts first female justice. OConnor was an Arizona Court of Appeals judge when nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, fulling his campaign promise to put a woman to Supreme Court. Kruger, 45, has been on the California Supreme Court since 2015. She was just 38 when chosen for the job by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. Shes seen as a moderate on the seven-member court. Kruger grew up in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of a Jamaican mother and Jewish father; both are pediatricians. She attended Harvard before getting her law degree from Yale. Like Jackson, she was a law clerk to a Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens. Before moving back to California, Kruger worked for the Department of Justice. She argued a dozen cases before the Supreme Court on behalf of the federal government, including one involving religious schools ability to fire teachers. Kruger is the first California Supreme Court justice to have a baby while serving on the court. She and her husband have two children. Judge J. Michelle Childs, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to the U.S. District Court, listens during her nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 16, 2010. (Charles Dharapak/AP) J. MICHELLE CHILDS J. Michelle Childs resume doesnt include a law degree from Harvard or Yale or service on a federal appeals court, common characteristics of the current justices. But she has a powerful backer who has Bidens ear: Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C. Advertisement Clyburn and Biden are longtime friends. Clyburns pivotal endorsement of Biden before South Carolinas Democratic presidential primary in February 2020 is seen as critical in Bidens path to the nomination. Childs, 55, is a graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law. She has a masters degree from the school as well as a different legal degree from Duke. She was previously a state court judge and has served as a federal trial court judge since 2010. In 2014, before the Supreme Court ruled that gay couples had a right to marry nationwide, she ruled in favor of a gay couple seeking to have their District of Columbia marriage recognized in South Carolina. Biden nominated her in December to be a federal appeals court judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, but senators have yet to act. Among the current justices, only Justice Elena Kagan wasnt a federal appeals court judge before joining. Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, speaks at the President's Task Force on 21 Century Policing, Jan. 13, 2015, at the Newseum in Washington. (Cliff Owen/AP) SHERRILYN IFILL If Biden decided to go outside the judiciary, the choice could be NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund head Sherrilyn Ifill, 59. She is a deeply respected civil rights lawyer who has held the post since 2013. Ifill, who has announced she will step down in the spring, is the second woman to lead the organization. Ifill started her career at the American Civil Liberties Union, then worked on voting rights legislation at the legal defense fund before she joined the faculty at University of Maryland School of Law, where she taught for more than 20 years. Ifill graduated from Vassar College and earned her law degree from New York University School of Law in 1987. She was among the group of lawyers named to study the Supreme Court by Biden in 2021. 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. > Shes a prolific author and writer, and in February of last year wrote an opinion column in The New York Times on how the legal profession must reckon with the fact that lawyers helped President Donald Trump by enabling him to effort the most dangerous assault on American democracy in more than a century, through his meritless lawsuits challenging the election, efforts to install a sympathetic attorney general who would help him, and by the growing movement in Congress to adopt Trumps election lies. This undated photo provided by the U.S. Courts for the Ninth Circuit shows Circuit Judge Holly A. Thomas. (AP) HOLLY THOMAS Holly Thomas, 43, was just confirmed to the largest federal appeals court last week, the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. She is the second Black woman ever to sit on the court. Thomas is a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School. She had been in the Family Law Division of the Los Angeles Superior Court since 2018, and before that she was the deputy director of executive programs at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. She has also worked at the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and was as an appellate attorney in the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. She overcame a party-line vote deadlock in the Senate Judiciary Committee, requiring an additional floor vote to move her forward after Republicans questioned her ability to separate her prior advocacy for progressive issues from her work as a judge. During her time in the New York Solicitor Generals office, she filed briefs advocating for policies that allowed transgender people to use the bathrooms that correspond to their gender identity. At her confirmation hearings, she said she was more than able to set aside her work in order to fairly serve as a judge. EUNICE LEE Eunice Lee, 51, was named to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in August, the first former federal defender to serve on the court. Her appointment was lauded as a recognition of the need to broaden the judiciarys legal expertise, particularly because defense lawyers are not a common choice for such posts. Advertisement Lee graduated from Ohio State University and Yale Law School. She then clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Susan J. Dlott, and later for Judge Eric Clay on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. She spent time from 1998 to 2019 at the office of the appellate defender in New York City and also taught clinical law at New York University Law School. KEARNEY Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are launching a total war on Nebraskas methamphetamine problem. Wednesday and today, about 200 law officers from across Nebraska were at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney learning how they can collaborate with other agencies and at all levels to combat meth. Some of the top generals of the war, including Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, announced at a Wednesday press conference that the anti-meth effort wont be one of those kick off and go home events because meth is Nebraskas No. 1 drug problem. The war will be waged under the slogan, Its a matter of life or meth, and it will be fought at the local level by Nebraskans from Omaha to Ogallala who wont allow meth to ruin their communities. A public relations campaign will tell Nebraskans to refuse to tolerate meth because it will tear apart the fabric of their families and towns. Nebraska law enforcement will target big distributors, while federal authorities will attack the cartels and other suppliers that are flooding the state with potent and dangerous methamphetamines, said Doug Peterson, Nebraskas attorney general. Were awash in meth, said Jan Sharp, the U.S. attorney for Nebraska. He said leaders of Nebraskas three reservations fear the effects meth is having among Native Americans. Nebraskans age 30-39 make up he fastest growing age bracket for meth addiction. DEA special agent Justin King said the aim of criminals peddling meth in Nebraska is to give users what they want: quality product at a low price. Most of the meth were seeing is produced in Mexico, and its flooding the market to keep people addicted. It has a life-altering effect on anyone who uses it. As the states top law enforcement officer, Peterson said during Wednesdays press briefing at the Kearney/Buffalo County Law Enforcement Center that Nebraskas meth problem is so severe it contributes to about 75% of the states criminal prosecutions. He said addicts rob, burglarize and even prostitute themselves to feed their habits. Others who spoke at Wednesdays press conference represented the Nebraska State Patrol and FBI. While in Kearney, these agencies, along with local and tribal law enforcement partners, were exchanging ideas and best practices to fight the meth problem. A leading goal of this partnership is to sound the alarm that meth use continues to spread across our state, Peterson said. We want citizens to be fully informed about the dangers of meth consumption and understand the destruction it brings to communities. The volume of meth seized in Nebraska has surged 293% in the last five years, with law enforcement agencies combining for approximately 768 pounds in 2021. Thats enough meth, according to statistics at the press conference, to fill each seat at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln with 65 doses of meth. King, with the DEA, said the purest and most potent meth once was called ice. He said meth quality still is high, but costs have dropped during the past decade from about $20,000 per pound in 2010 to $3,500 to $6,000 per pound today. Trafficking of methamphetamine is not a victimless crime, said FBI Special Agent Eugene Krowel. Meth is exceptionally destructive. It wreaks havoc in our communities, and the people selling and trafficking it should see this initiative as a warning. KEARNEY Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are launching a total war on Nebraskas methamphetamine problem. Wednesday and today, about 200 law officers from across Nebraska were at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney learning how they can collaborate with other agencies and at all levels to combat meth. Some of the top generals of the war, including Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, announced at a Wednesday press conference that the anti-meth effort wont be one of those kick off and go home events because meth is Nebraskas No. 1 drug problem. The war will be waged under the slogan, Its a matter of life or meth, and it will be fought at the local level by Nebraskans from Omaha to Ogallala who wont allow meth to ruin their communities. A public relations campaign will tell Nebraskans to refuse to tolerate meth because it will tear apart the fabric of their families and towns. Nebraska law enforcement will target big distributors, while federal authorities will attack the cartels and other suppliers that are flooding the state with potent and dangerous methamphetamines, said Peterson. Were awash in meth, said Jan Sharp, the U.S. attorney for Nebraska. He said leaders of Nebraskas three reservations fear the effects meth is having among Native Americans. Nebraskans age 30-39 make up he fastest growing age bracket for meth addiction. DEA special agent Justin King said the aim of criminals peddling meth in Nebraska is to give users what they want: quality product at a low price. Most of the meth were seeing is produced in Mexico, and its flooding the market to keep people addicted. It has a life-altering effect on anyone who uses it. As the states top law enforcement officer, Peterson said during Wednesdays press briefing at the Kearney/Buffalo County Law Enforcement Center that Nebraskas meth problem is so severe it contributes to about 75% of the states criminal prosecutions. He said addicts rob, burglarize and even prostitute themselves to feed their habits. Others who spoke at Wednesdays press conference represented the Nebraska State Patrol and FBI. While in Kearney, these agencies, along with local and tribal law enforcement partners, were exchanging ideas and best practices to fight the meth problem. A leading goal of this partnership is to sound the alarm that meth use continues to spread across our state, Peterson said. We want citizens to be fully informed about the dangers of meth consumption and understand the destruction it brings to communities. The volume of meth seized in Nebraska has surged 293% in the last five years, with law enforcement agencies combining to collect approximately 768 pounds in 2021. Thats enough meth, according to statistics at the press conference, to fill each seat at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln with 65 doses of meth. King, with the DEA, said the purest and most potent meth once was called ice. He said meth quality still is high, but costs have dropped during the past decade from about $20,000 per pound in 2010 to $3,500 to $6,000 per pound today. Trafficking of methamphetamine is not a victimless crime, said FBI Special Agent Eugene Krowel. Meth is exceptionally destructive. It wreaks havoc in our communities, and the people selling and trafficking it should see this initiative as a warning. Is opioid addiction a problem in Nebraska? You bet it is, but the king of the hill is methamphetamine abuse. According to research, meth is involved in more deaths than synthetic opioids. From 2018-19, Nebraska experienced a 58.8% increase in psychostimulant-involved overdose deaths. In 2018, 1.7 Nebraskans out of every 100,000 of us died from a meth-involved overdose. One year later, in 2019, the meth overdose rate climbed to 2.7 Nebraskans out of every 100,000. That jump is in line with increases we see at the federal and regional level, said Ryan Herrschaft, one of a trio of researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincolns Rural Drug Addiction Research Center. Across practically all of the United States, overdose deaths have increased in recent years, especially overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids and methamphetamine, Herrschaft said. He and his research partners, Bergen Johnston and Patrick Habecker, examined national data and determined that overall methamphetamine usage rates, treatment admissions and overdose deaths are disturbingly high in Nebraska. We have no reason to doubt the trios findings because meth is an exceedingly dangerous drug. Its addictive, its extremely powerful and its easy to get. Meth also seems to always be in good supply. Theres always enough of it around. Profits are high so the people who transport, manufacture and sell meth here have an irresistable profit incentive. Its that profit motive and strong supply chain that make meth so confounding to law enforcement. Efforts never cease to remove meth suppliers from the streets and lock them in prison, but these people are like cockroaches. Where you see one, there are dozens more hiding in the dark. Today, representatives of five state and federal law enforcement agencies in Nebraska were scheduled to address the media about an innovative strategy to combat meth. During a press conference today, representatives of a first-of-its-kind partnership will talk about their plan to take on the states No. 1 drug threat. Leading the press conference will be Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson along with representatives of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Nebraska, the Drug Enforcement Administration-Omaha Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Nebraska State Patrol/DEA Task Force. Its critical that these law enforcement efforts are successful. If meth doesnt kill, it will find ways to ruin lives. Overdose deaths continue to climb despite our current efforts, said Herrschaft, the UNL researcher. The most recent data from the CDC suggests that in the 12-month period from May 2019 to May 2020, there were an estimated 91,862 overdose deaths in the U.S. What we have done to this point does not appear to be stopping people from dying.